1105

YEAR 1105

Scribed by Petrus

Spring 1105AD

The first meetingof the year began by discussing events relating to the previous season.One of the patrols reported seeing acts of slaughter and arson being committedby the King's retinue whilst wintering in Gloucester. On the way backtwo of the grogs were surprised by a boar and were slain. We decidedthat we would offer shelter to any of the peasant folk who managed to escapeas far as Blacknee or the covenant, and perhaps recruit some of the men folkto our grogs.

Lothar, successfullyreturned from Blackthorn with a copy of the Aegis of the Hearth, reportedthat he too had seen a vision during the Winter solstice. He describedseeing animals in the forest running from a pack of large black wolves anda great black stag. In the dream he also espied Idris, walking determinedlytowards the covenant, carrying a strange staff and wearing a look of war uponhis face. Does Idris lead the wolves? Are the wolves the ones from thedell? We know not the full nature of the danger, but we agree that there isgrave danger. We decide to be watchful.

To this aim, Ruaridhwill spend his covenant service developing a spell which will allow him todetect Idris's location from the blood we yet retain as corporem vis.Whilst the renegade is hidden we may not detect him, but if his cover is brokenwe might gain warning of his approach. I shall learn the ninth magnituderitual, also as a service, so that in future years the aegis need not be castfrom text. Lothar will copy up the last of the mentem books in readinessfor the Tribunal. Turold will continue his study of Corlear's notes.

Some good news,at last, came the equinox of spring; a pawn of Creo vis is delivered up tous. At last perhaps the aura here returns to its natural state.Indeed the process here is fascinating, and one worthy of further magicalinvestigation. If my theory of supernatural auras is correct it maybe possible to fortify the integrity of an aura, thus making it more resistantto the influence of other, incompatible, auras. I wonder if such workhas been researched at Durenmar. Also upon the equinox I cast the newAegis from the text. I must confess that, given we require a rook andfour pawns to cast and extend the aegis to cover the grounds, I was most concernedthat the ritual be a success. I would not wish to make a habit of castingsuch dangerous and vital rituals from text.

Archimagus Casitusand Quaesitor Dionysus arrive at the covenant - yet not without incident.It appears that the two Tremere apported to a spot upon the forest road, andsurprised a grog patrol. One of the grogs opened fire with an arbalest,impaling and almost killing Casitus. Dionysus, quite understandably,responded with force, killing several of the grogs with fire magics - andwhen the grogs pressed the attack - killing the others with a magical itemin his possession. As soon as we heard word of what had happened wesent Ruaridh to assist. Dionysus was able to use a potion to alleviatethe Archimagus's wounds, and Casitus was able to finish his journey to thecovenant, though he shortly returned to Holy Isle to seek further care.The Quaesitor remained at the covenant and carried out an investigation intothe activities of Idris.

After his lengthyinvestigations Dionysus prepared to leave with much of Idris's lab notes andpersonal diaries. He said to us that, in his view, Varsavia had beenpersuaded or tricked into assisting Idris's escape and that her trust in hersodalis had been repaid with murder and betrayal. He explained thatthey had long been suspicious of Idris, particularly after the death of Daffyd,but because of the political tension between Holy Isle and Ex-Miscellaneathey had been unable to do very much. This is why that had snatchedIdris's son, so that they might have an arcane connection to Idris.Dionysus left us the sancti of both Idris and Varsavia, and also left us Varsavia'spersonal notes on the fae folk of the Dean. He also warned us that whilehis recommendation would be to leave Varsavia's name untainted by the actionsof the renegade, there may be others within the Tribunal who might seek capitalfrom our disadvantage. We also agreed to Dionysus's suggestion to arrangea spot beyond our aegis where our men might expect magi to apport to.We paid for the healing spells used upon Casitus, and assured the Quaesitorthat we would inform the red caps of this location and provide an arcane connectionto it - in order to avoid such incident in future. Indeed, I think wepaid lightly for the assault upon such senior magi from a dedicated covenant.

The season endedwith a newcomer, Antonius filius Maria discipulus Tytalus, who requested tobe considered for membership to our covenant. We considered his applicationand, after considerable argument with Lothar, agreed to offer him a provisionalmembership for the rest of this year.

With the laboratoriesof Idris and Varsavia now free for use, I decided to move into the tower,whilst Lothar moved into Varsavia's old laboratory. Antonius will thusoccupy my old laboratory, and inherit the equipment of Idris.

Summer

The summer warmthis made unbearable by the heat of the magical fireplace in my new laboratory.For this season I shall endeavour to investigate it, with the hope of findingthe command required to turn it off during the hottest months. Ruaridhwill continue his studies of Perdo, and Turold will press on with his studiesof Corlear's notes. Lothar will turn his energies to sorting out hisnew laboratory and our new member Antonius shall study English with Pierreso that he might communicate more easily with the grogs.

The season passeswith little disruption for the first month with only a messenger arrivingfrom the Reeve, demanding the usual taxes. At mid-summer Ruth is sentinto the faerie regio with Pendaran, Eanfled as a guide, and a couple of grogsled by Varein. Their trip passes peacefully, if a little disappointingly,with the collection of but a single tear of the Ruadan. The winter seasonin the faerie realm grows deeper, and the snows become so thick that evenPendaran's strength was tested. It seems that Ruth stole a diamond from theFaerie stone smith, Gofynwy. He discovered her theft and cursed herso that everything she ate or drank tasted of earth and stone. Facedwith starvation the greedy girl took back the diamond and convinced Gofynwythat she had mended her ways.

The worst newsreached us at the end of the season. It appears that Osric, our Steward,and three grogs which accompanied him, became trapped in Bristol when thecity gates were closed on report of an outbreak of plague. Osric andThurkil, one of the veteran grogs, were able to bribe a member of the Watchand make their escape by coracle. However, the tiny vessel was spottedby a member of the guard upon the city walls and in the subsequent arrow fireOsric was struck. Thurkil tried his best to tend his wounds, but thehardship of travelling cross-country proved too much for the Steward, andhe died a few days later from infection.

Having investigatedthe enchantment in my laboratory I have discovered that there are commandsto raise the fire hotter as well as lighting and extinguishing the flames.Indeed I was able to raise the heat to a degree whereby it would melt iron.Surely this must be part of a laboratory intended to be specialised to theart of Ignem. 'Tis a shame perhaps that my own interests lie elsewhere.With some time spare at the end of the season I perused some of the notesVarsavia had made upon the local fae. I must confess that the memoryof her still moves me, and it is with sorrow. I find myself recallingher carefree manner and her laughter, and like the others I find myself missingher. Our grief for Varsavia is matched only by our anger towards hermurderer. That Idris should have betrayed our trust and consorted withthe unnamed house is a crime worthy of renouncement in itself, but to haveabused Varsavia's trusting spirit and to have murdered her ... Of thisI can write no more.

Autumn

The conciliumof autumn met to discuss our activities for the season. Ruaridh willcontinue his studies of Perdo, whilst Lothar will use three pawns of Animalto study from. By way of covenant services Turold shall extract Vimand Antonius shall scribe some of his spells for our library. I shallstudy the Creo books.

It appears thatTurold has been less than forthcoming regarding his seasonal activities.Whilst claiming to have been studying from Corlear's notes, he was in factcreating an item for an unknown patron. He explains his secrecy andit comes to light that he had been concerned that by informing council hemight have broken a promise of discretion. He hands to the covenant4 pawns of the vis that made up his profit from the transaction, and we advisehim that we shall respect any patron's privacy so long as he simply informsus that he is enchanting. To this Turold agrees, seemingly relievedthat we have understood the difficulty of his position.

Later in the seasonStassius arrives bearing news. It appears that Black Hugh's campaignagainst his uncle in Normandy bring him victory. Indeed it seems thatDuke Henry is besiged at Evreux. It also seems a new Archbishop hasbeen appointed, one Geroul du Lac. This Geroul is the cousin of DukeEdmund of York, one of Black Hugh's most dangerous potential enemies.Of Hermetic news, Du Clerc has sent a healer to aid Duke Edmund of York, whowas sick after defeating the last Archbishop's assassin. The Praeco,Garius, has kindly offered to test my magical breakthrough within Faerie auras.Venius and Darius of Tremere have captured a druid in the Tribunal of LochLegaen, much to the consternation of that tribunal's Praeco, McGreine andPrimus Urien. The latter has requested that Tyriania investigate theconduct of the two Tremere in their interrogation of the man. ArchimagusCasitus has announced that survivors from the fight within the unnamed houseat Y Llethr may have met with a bard named Stephen who has been seen at CadGadu and Carrion Moor (indeed, our own covenant also). Casitus is concernedthat this bard may be assisting the renegade Idris, he is to be captured orkilled if encountered.

Around the equinoxwolves are sighted at the spring, and Ruaridh spies that image of the Morriganin the spring. The omens are followed up by an attack upon the aegis.Each of us felt, save Antonius who was not a part of the ritual, the aegistouched by some unknown, and invisible, force. This force travelledaround the covenant widdershins, touching the aegis occasionally as it travelled.During this period Ruaridh and myself sought to identify the source of thetrouble, but to no avail. Indeed Ruaridh was struck by some fluencewhich drove him mad with fear. Indeed no comforting from myself or Turoldcould pull him back to himself. Eventually this force had circled theaegis, finally touching the aegis one and twenty times. Upon this finaltouch the aegis appeared to lift, as if a Wind of Mundane Silence had struckit - tho' I could sense no such magics in the area. Fortunately theaegis held, though for a short time its effectiveness was reduced by somefive magnitudes (enough to have destroyed the original aegis we used to cast).Ruaridh shortly recovered himself and we met as council, talking late intothe night, to understand what had happened and decide what to do. Itseems possible that Ruaridh was affected by some infernal force, which Antoniuscalled psychomachia. It appears evident that an attack is imminent,and each of us must be prepared.

Another incidentblighted, quite literally, the season. A devil was spotted in the fieldsaround Blacknee, causing mould and black spot rot to infect the wheat ripeningfor harvest. The devil managed to kill a girl from the village and twoof the grogs before Godwin and his servant Andrew were able to slay it.It appears that the insane priest and his warrior side kick may prove moreuse than we had expected. As a result of the loss of food, and combinedwith the waste caused by the King's retinue last winter, we were forced topay an extra one hundred and two score pennies for food. It is a signof our mundane stability that the cost did not ruin us as it would have donein many previous years.

Finally, it appearsthat Ruaridh suffered an accident in the laboratory whilst studying from Perdovis. The experiment became unstable and as he sought to rectify theerror, the magic flashed across his face and destroyed his eyes. Byvirtue of his powerful spontaneous magic, Ruaridh was able to create somenew, but temporary eyes, but he will need to develop a formulaic spell inorder to permanently heal his vision.

Winter

This season Ishall assist Ruaridh in attempting to design a spell that may heal his sight.Whilst Antonius shall continue to develop his understanding of English, Turoldand Lothar shall study from the Creo and the Corporem books respectively.Shortly into the season a cart arrives carrying Jordael of Ex-Miscellaneaand a large number of books from Cad Gadu. It appears that the traitorIdris had arranged, and paid for, a number of mundane texts to be copied andtransported to our covenant. Thinking that the deal had been commissionedby the council of Severn Temple, the scribes of Cad Gadu had completed makingcopies and brought them down to us. There are some three score and sixtomes many of which are written in Welsh Cymric, which none of us can read.They appear to relate to the pre-Christian religion which Idris followed,and may still be of some use in trying to ascertain some of the powers andweaknesses of those followers. We managed to store the few Latin andEnglish texts within the library (some thirteen books), the others have beendistributed in piles on the library floor. Though it pains me to leaveany book uncared for, we are forced by lack of space to store them in thisway until we decide where to put them. We really need to separate themundane and magical libraries and store the mundane texts somewhere else.

The morning ofthe solstice we met at a council to discuss our plans. Given that eithertoday or tonight we may be attacked, a battle plan was hastily arranged.We had only just finished our meeting and returned to our sancti when thealarm was raised. Storm clouds were rapidly gathering from the north,as in Ruaridh's dream. The men were ordered by Thurstan, the archerswould keep to the north battlements joined by Ruaridh, Lothar, Thurstan andLucien (Antonius' Amicus). Meanwhile the rest of the men and magi wouldhold the great hall. The sky darkened to such an extent that it seemedas night. Thurstan ordered fires lit in the compound so that the archerscould see. One of the archer's thought he heard Idris' voice over bythe spring, but his attention was drawn back to the north by the eerie howlsof wolves and the appearance of shadows approaching along the ground towardsthe covenant. Then we started feeling impacts upon the aegis, like theones felt in the previous season.

Suddenly, Ruaridhwas struck by the psychomachia, in unnatural fear he fled from the battlementsback to his sanctum. Then great wolves started materialising from theshadows on the battlement walls, surprising the men there. Thurstanand the archers fought valiantly, but many of the men died at the teeth ofthe wolves or from the weeping wounds caused by the wolves bite. BetweenLothar, in his heart beast form, and the surviving grogs it seemed that thefirst tide of shadow wolves might be turned back, but then a new and greaterenemy appeared. Unseen by Thurstan, a shadow of a great black stag wasat his back. Though Lucien and one of the archers tried to shout warnings,this infernal stag moved some enchantment against Thurstan. As our Castellanfinished off one of the wolves, his heart suddenly burst in his chest.As he fell like a rag doll from the gatehouse, Lothar and Lucien could nowsee the stag materialised. Though Lucien battled valorously againstit, it was too strong, and Lucien was eventually forced to flee for his life.

Meanwhile, thefirst of the shadow wolves had reached the keep. The candles and fireslit within were suddenly extinguished and we were plunged into darkness andconfusion as the shadows of wolves started to materialise around the hall.The fighting was confused, but Varein led the men despite their fear againstthe infernal foe. Pendaran launched himself into the fray, casting hisgreat axe to and fro and slicing through the wolves dark hides. Thegrog's champion, Triawc, slew several wolves in single blows, until a wolftore out his throat. The men were hard pressed, and as we shelteredat the back of the hall within the influence of the amulet enchanted witha circular ward against demons, the battle did not look good.

Outside a newcreature had arrived, a Griffon. Coming from the direction of the springit fell into the courtyard and attacked many of the shadows making their wayacross the compound. Then at the command of a voice, which was reportedto belong to Idris, the Griffon turned back to the spring. There oneof the grogs espied a man carrying a staff holding out against the wolvesand the great black stag. To his aid came a boar and the Griffon.Between them the Griffon and the boar attacked the stag, whilst the man triedto defend himself against the ravages of several wolves. The man fell,torn apart by the infernal wolves, but the Griffon had better luck in slayingthe black stag. Upon the death of the stag the wolves began to vanish,and even the storm clouds began to break apart and reveal again the lightof day. With the man dead, the Griffon took up the staff he had carriedand flew away into the air and over the forest.

We lost many goodmen that night, not least our trusted Castellan left vulnerable by the factthat Ruaridh was possessed by the infernal fear and fled the battlements.However, the covenant survived - and what is more - we discovered that thebody of the man was indeed Idris, now slain. We found a note upon hisbody. The note claimed that he had not known about Varsavia's death,and beseeched us to protect the spring in the future now that he was dead.We took his claim as lies, after all, who else upon the boat could have takenher life. None of us were fools enough to believe for even a momentthat it was the Quaesitor or Ruaridh who used a stone to smash in her head.I for one believe it was a disingenuous ploy by Idris to put suspicion uponthe others.

We quickly tookthe news to Blackthorn, and with a few days Dionysus and Casitus arrived toinvestigate the body. They confirmed Idris's identity and did shortlyleave with his remains. As the season and indeed the year came to aclose, we could rest in the satisfaction that the traitor Idris was at lastnow slain. Though the reason of his return, and his apparent aid inthe battle, remains a mystery.

After the burialsand a rather sombre feast, we recast the aegis that night. We electedVarein to act as Castellan. The grogs also elected a new champion, andchose Pendaran. The rest of the season passed with further incident,much to our relief.