1101

YEAR 1101

Scribed by Idris

Spring 1101AD

Petrus claimsto have made some magical breakthrough with his research into creating a magicalbarrier against supernatural auras and he says that he is going to try anddevelop a spell using it.

On checking theDell I believe that the moon will wax full very soon, by next summer at thelatest. Petrus decided to go into the dell and try the Perdo Vim ritualto destroy or weaken the regio there. I counselled against it, believing thatit was too dangerous to do without loss of life. Ruaridh, Varsavia, Petrusand Myrvyn went in though. I waited just outside the Dell in wolf form lestthings go badly wrong. The wolves attacked but the ritual was completed intime. However poor Mtrvyn was unable to get out and was torn apart as theother Magi fled. I saw him though later at the pool as he passed on to thenext life and the Morrigan bore his spirit safely on. Happily he still hadspring in his step and a smile on his face as he did so.

Later in the seasonwe had a messenger from High King Cadoc of Wales informing us that King Hughof England had taken Gloucester and killed the Earl. The treaty has, as Ifeared, been broken, and Wales invaded. Monmouth has been evacuated. Pierre,when he returned with the women and children, said that Cynddylan thoughthe was being followed so he headed west into Wales as he was concerned. Throughuse of corporem scrying magicks I made a horrific discovery. It seems, ifmy magicks are to be believed, that Blodwyn and Cynddylan lie dead in theMaesteg forest, but Ieuan’s whereabouts I cannot determine. Ruaridh wasable to further determine that Blodwyn had had her throat cut and Cynddylanhad been shot but somehow Ieuan lives still. Who would have cut the throatof a four year-old girl?Have Holy Isle stoopedto new depths? If so then I will have bloody vengeance against them.

Summer

In the weeks beforethe Tribunal at Midsummer I journeyed into Wales to seek out the bodies ofmy friend and daughter and perhaps a little more of the truth surroundingtheir deaths. Eventually I came across their bodies. I discovered that Cynddylanhad fought before he died, shot in the back of the head by a crossbow. Hisstaff had struck an armed man who it seemed had a tattoo of sorts on his neck,much like that the spy from Holy Isle. Of Blodwyn’s spirit there wasno trace, blameless innocent that she was she will surely have passed swiftlyon to her mother’s arms in the Otherworld.

However I didespy Cynddylan’s spirit, it seems he feels still bound to this place.He was able to lead me to the body of a Holy Isle grog who he had fought andslain. There was the spirit of the murderous grog whom Cynddylan had bested.It seems that Cynddylan had been pursued for many leagues across Wales beforebeing ambushed in his sleep. Against three well-armed men there was littlethat he could do and whilst he was able to best one he was shot from behindwhen he went to aid Blodwyn. As they had fought in the life they had justdeparted so they fought on in the next. However I was able to free Cynddylan’sspirit and enable it to move on by absolving him of the guilt he felt forthe loss of my children; the responsibility for their safety was after allmine. The spirit of the Holy Isle grog though I condemned to roam the woodsthere for the long years to come and I hope it rots there. So it was witha heavy heart that I moved on to the Tribunal.

Scribed byVarsavia

Autumn

This journal,which is a history of this covenant since it was refounded in 1080, is a creditto all who have written in it. As a relatively young maga, and havingonly recently joined this covenant, this is the resource which proved mostuseful to me in the early months of my membership. Within these pagesthere is the history of all the important events which the covenant has weatheredand enjoyed, but also I feel something of the writers' personalities writtenhere for all to witness. It is with pleasure that I shall undertakethe task of recording this covenant's progress. I hope that any whoread this tome take pleasure from it also; for here is written the story ofour lives.

Autumn began withthe surprise return of Turold, back from his House meeting at Verdi Covenantin the Rome Tribunal some five months earlier than we had expected.Perhaps the journey to Verdi, which involved an encounter with some infernalminions, attacks by bandits, and contact with plague infested towns, has helpedTurold overcome something of his fear of sea travel. We were all relievedand pleased to see our sodalis returned safely to our covenant, not leastPetrus who I feel sure had missed Turold greatly. It appears that our sodalis,despite being the youngest in his house, accounted well for himself in thecompetition. I am sure that Turold's lyre brought no little interestand amusement to his House. The ulimate prize, however, was won by Norticusfrom the Transylvanian Tribunal; with a horn which when blown would summona dragon, no less.

Our council metin full for our Autumn meeting. Petrus already eager to begin teachinghis experimental spell to Ruaridh. Though I am certain that Ruaridhis a keen and able student, ready to learn the complex theories involved inthe spell, he does appear susceptible to sudden headaches and more than onceI have seen him resting in deserted corners of the covenant whilst Petrusis looking for him. I cannot help but feel a little sympathy for Ruaridh.None of us have quite the mind that Petrus has for magic theory, and thisseason must have seemed overly long for our Ruaridh.

Idris and myselfdecided to study from vis, whilst Turold was happy to undertake a covenantservice. He shall create a Perdo Ignem item to extinguish any fireswhich might break out around the covenant.

Two events ofnote occurred this season, which I shall relate. The first was the unexpectedvisit by Holy Isle. Archimagus Casitus and Quaesitor Dionysus arrived,accompanied by Orlania of House Flambeau (who I feel sure desires to obtainthe title of Hoplite). Idris was cautious, which given that Holy Islespied upon us, murdered his daughter and kidnapped his son, appeared a mostrational response. Casitus requested that Dionysus be allowed to performa ritual to locate Idris' son, the bond of blood acting as an Arcane connection.They expressed the hope that the location of some of the magi of the unnamedhouse might be determined by this spell. At first Idris was reluctant,given the crimes committed against him and the events surrounding the deathof his pater. However, eventually he saw the wisdom of allowing thespell to be performed and with three small stipulations he consented to actas an Arcane connection. The stipulations were that Dionysus cast onlythe spell to find Idris' son, that Idris and a small number of sodales beallowed to accompany any expedition mounted to track members of the unnamedhouse, and last that the agreement made with Petrus at the last Tribunal behonoured. Dionysus accepted all three requests and performed the riteusing a large set of maps copied from the great atlas held in the libraryof Harco covenant.

The discoverywhich the Quaesitor made shocked us all. The pendant which Dionysusused to track Idris' son pointed to the ruined covenant of Ashenrise.The fact that the unnamed house have made base in a covenant brought downby demons brought us small hope of recovering Idris' son. Even the Archimagusseemed pale and drawn by the discovery. The magi of Holy Isle left quicklyto request that Urien call an emergency meeting of the Grand Tribunal.If any attack was to be attempted it would require the cooperation of manyhouses to have any hope of success.

The second eventwas of a much lighter vein. A magus of Bjornaer named Lothar vistedus to request that we might consider him for membership to our covenant.We met in council to discuss the merits and problems an additional magus mightbring. Lothar appears relaxed and amiable, and his forest skills mightallow us to discover more sources of vis within the Dean. We decidedit was only fair to request that he live with us for the remainder of theseason; so we might better get a measure of him and he of us. My concernwas for the attitude displayed by many of his House towards my cousins, buthe shows little sign of such prejudice and indeed appears interested to learnsomething of the fae and their ways.

Winter

With the coldand snows already manifest, we met for our first meeting of winter.Our first matter of discussion was the application of Lothar to join our number.We discussed the matter for a while; Turold and Petrus appeared unconvincedat first, but Idris seemed better disposed to the idea. After some timewe reached a conclusion; that we would invite Lothar to join if he agreedto a small number of conditions; first, that he would learn to speak enoughEnglish to be able to communicate with the grogs, and second that he undertaketwo seasons of covenant service. Lothar had brought with him some gold,of which half would be donated to the covenant, and a rook of Animal vis whichwould also be given over.

I had thoughtthat Lothar would have readily accepted, but to all our surprise he appearedquite reserved at the invitation. He had brought with him the copy ofthe charter from the library and began to question us about several of therules and amendments. The discussion became something of an argument,with Turold, surprisingly, becoming the most agitated. Eventually Lotharrelented and agreed to join, but I fear that the argument soured the atmospherefor the rest of the meeting.

After Lothar hadformally sworn to the charter he joined us at council and we moved on to theactivities we would endeavour that season. Lothar would undertake aseaon of covenant service and search the forest for sources of vis, Ruaridhwould construct a second wand which could be used to destroy demons; a taskI would assist as covenant service also. Petrus agreed to extract Vimvis, although too late for the casting of the aegis and not for the firsttime. Once again we would be forced to use Rego vis. As usualPetrus exchanged the Rego vis which would have been used for some of his personalsource of Vim. Our sodalis now boasts three rooks of Rego vis obtainedin this manner. Idris and Turold would return to their studies for theseason.

Winter appearedto pass peacefully enough until Idris reported to us that some of the menhad seen strange shadows around the covenant. Then also some of themen had a vision of a black, ragged cloaked figure riding a pale horse throughthe covenant. Shortly after we were informed that Osric and three ofthe men had been detained in Chepstow whilst attempting to purchase food.Idris investigated and discovered that the English, who now hold Chepstowand Monmouth, have placed an edict upon the covenant so that any merchantwho deals with us will be hanged. With midwinter approaching we helda council meeting to discuss how we might avert starvation when our storesrun out. Lothar insisted again and again that we must make contactswithin the mundane society, tho' he had no council as to how this could bedone with the edict in place. Once again our council descended intoargument and it was some time before more practical solutions could be raised.

We invited Thurstan,our noble Castellan, to sit at our meeting. Thurstan, as ever, had someplans in mind which he could bring to aid. As well as rationing theremainder of the food he suggested that an ambush be laid for food suppliespassing between Gloucester and Monmouth. With much of the army campedin the towns, extra food would need to be brought in throughout the wintermonths. Lothar claimed that he could prepare such an ambush, havingexperience of such things from his time in the Rhine, but it was felt thatThurstan was more qualified by virtue of his experience with the men and localknowledge. The ambush was laid, but unfortunately intercepted a wagonof scrap iron sent to make arms and armour in Monmouth. Rather thanrisk alerting Gloucester to our activities it was decided that we must tightenour belts and wait until spring when we could try to buy food from Bristol.

I feel that Thurstan,despite our instructions, tried to afford more food to the magi than the restof the men. Some of the men became quite sick for want of food, and we lostone of them to the famine. Eanfled became quite thin and I feared for hishealth. Working with Ruaridh I saw his face become hollow with hunger as weworked upon the enchantment. That four weeks of cold and hunger borea toll upon the morale of the men, but Thurstan, as ever, roused them.I saw him many times amongst the grogs, joking with them and keeping theirresolve firm. I suspect that without his guiding hand some of our menwould have deserted to find food. Those long, dark weeks will remain longin my memory.

With the firstthaw, Thurstan began to organise shipments of food from Bristol and, withthe better hunting from the forest, at last we felt our bellies full again.We now see the grip that these mundanes have over us. Perhaps, withour walls and our arts, they cannot hope to storm our covenant with anythingless than an army. But, it is certain they have other means of bringingruin upon those who defy them. It is humbling for magi to realise howmuch they depend upon their mundane neighbours. It is all the more disturbingthen that the influence of the infernal has reached the upper echelons oftheir nobility. It was with little cheer that we ended the year of 1101.