1089

YEAR 1089

Scribed by Idris

Spring 1089 AD

Ruaridh went into the faerie forestto look for Auram vis; luck was with him and he managed to find two of themulti-coloured birds. He then went into the higher level of the Regio to speakto the fey lady of that place. She told him that Jean's problems with thedark fey were over. Ruaridh then offered to perform a service for her andshe asked him to find the Amaranth for her. This is a mythical plant of greatpower, but though Ruaridh was able to find the dell where it reputedly lies,he was unable to penetrate the thick brambles that jealously guard it. Indeed,at one point he was pulled underground by the briars, but one of the grogsmanaged to rescue him.

At council we agreed on an amendmentto the covenant's charter after Jean in a fit of jealouslyor greed brought up the issue of personal vis. The amendment statesthat if a Magus collects contested vis in his own time, he may claim two thirdsof that vis for himself, provided that the council has declared that it hasno interest in collecting vis from the contested source that year. It seemsthat the Earl of Gloucester has bought out the Norman-claimedtitle to the land here.

Summer

I travelled to the cave whereour Ignem vis is found to hunt down the small wyrm that now lives there. Eventuallywe managed to lure the creature out and, after we had wounded it with severalarrows, Cadog felled the beast. In its belly were ten pawns of Ignem vis thatit had consumed, presumably to fuel its fiery breath. There was an earth tremorwhile I was away, apparently felt across the whole land, theearth spirits are angry about something which caused the roof of thecathedral at Gloucester to collapse. It seems that even the christ god must respect the power of theland.

There is a large Welsh war bandin the woods near Symond's Hill. I went to speak with their leaders and Imet a priest of the Morrigan who predicted a bloody future for me. Indeed, he said specfically that I would be the strike the criticalblow in the Welsh rebellion that is soon to come. The Welshmen wishedto return back to Wales but they were unable to recross the river as the Normansheld all the fording points. I spoke with Eadric, who arranged for a bargeto ferry them back across the waters at night.

Autumn

The Morrigan priest arrived forthe Autumn Equinox as arranged. To avoid trouble, I ordered our two Normangrogs to stay inside the Great Hall all night. Jean confronted me angrilyabout this. I asked him to avoid the spring that night, but he refused. Iwent to speak to the Morrigan priest, but I could see the lie in his eyeswhen he said he would not attack the Normans if they interfered with his dedications.I also saw Jean's face in the fire the priest used for divining the futurewhile he spoke of battles to come and talked to his raven familiar. I grewworried and ordered Wulfstan and Bryhtnoth to man the walls overlooking thespring in case of trouble. They were ordered to shoot the priest and his followersshould trouble break out.

I then went to speak to Jean againto ask with him to stay away from the spring that night, but he ignored mypleas and strode off there straight away. I ran past and tried to stop himby barring his way through the door, but he made to levitate over the wallso I ran through to speak with the priest to stop him causing trouble whenJean arrived. I stood between them, and the priest insulted Jean in Welsh,which I refused to translate. Jean shouted for Bryhtnoth to come down fromthe wall and translate the priest's words, but I told him to hold his position.Suddenly the priest and his two companions attacked without warning. I wasthrown to one side as they cut down and killed Jean. I tried to stop them,but the spell I cast - The Treacherous Spear - backfired and the priest'saxe came at me. I was just quick enough to destroy it with Perdo magics, andI pursued the now fleeing priest, his companions having already been broughtdown by arrows. The pursuit took over a day and a night, but he could notevade me in the woods I knew so well and eventually I was able to strike himblind. I then entrapped him in a tree as he slept and slew him. Hedid as he saw fit as a servant of the Morrigan and I did what I saw as rightas the guardian of this sacred site.

Winter

I fear that the spilling of bloodat the spring on the Morrigan's Equinox has shifted the balance of the placeand possibly the land. Ravens, crows and similiar birds of ill omen line thetrees around the covenant, Ceadwith's child miscarried and dark dreams werehad by Pybba and others sensitive to such things.