1108

YEAR 1108

Scribed by Turold

Spring 1108AD

The beginningof a new year failed to bring much of the optimism that the turning of theweather normally heralds, our thoughts focussed as they are on what the summer,and with it the Tribunal, may cause to befall us. Once more it was a fullcouncil that initially gathered and the discussion immediately turned to thatsubject, and also the matter of Ruaridh's continuing tribulations. Lotharsuggested that it may be worthwhile for Ruaridh to try and appease the Morriganin some way, thus gaining that spirits aid. Not surprisingly this was an ideathat Ruaridh, and indeed the rest of us, considered of less than great meritand it was quickly dismissed. Ruaridh annonuced that it was his intentionto learn 'Rend the Magic Veil' and excused himself from us. After he leftthere was some further talk on his situation and I fear that we are all greatlyconcerned as to his position. On the matter of a potential motion againstthe Covenant we failed to come to any real conclusion as to the best courseof action. The possibility has been raised that if all looks like it is goingill for us Petrus, as patronus, may have to suggest a senior magus is appointedto oversee Severn Temple. I certainly hope that things do not reach such apass; it is our freedom and equality that are some of the most important thingsabout this Covenant and I am sure we would all be very loathe to lose them.Petrus spent the seaon speaking to some of the magi of the tribunal on ourbehalf, a service that his prestige makes him eminently suitable for. I workedon the item that Scarfell commisioned from me, with Lothar studying the Mutotexts and Antonius the lore of our order.

During the courseof the season the two magi who had approached us as potential members arrived,and both were invited to stay for a while. The Flambeau is a Maga from Iberia,named Isabella. She is certainly talented in the art of Ignem though initiallyI must say I find her somewhat aloof. From Scarfell came Edith, formerly anapprentice of Blodwyn. She has no small facility with healing magics and avery interesting non-hermetic item. In the form of a staff this enchantmentgrants the user some control over the trees, an ability that was impressivelydemonstrated within our own walls. If we decide to invite her to join I certainlyhope that she may grant me an opportunity to examine this item to a greaterdegree. The two have been informed as to some of the potential problems thatwe are facing and a decision on their applications will be taken after thetribunal.

There was oneother piece of news to impart during the course of these months and it isa pleasure to record it. At the equinox the spring once more produced halfa rook of Creo vis and it is certainly our hope that the infernal taint hasnow departed.

Summer

I write this first part of therecord on the eve of our departure for Tribunal and as I do so the Covenantis in turmoil, recent events having brought some good news but also greatconcern as to the well being of our sodales Ruaridh. I shall neverthelessbegin my account with our council meeting in order that this jounal best reflectthe ordering of events in our history. Ruaridh attended the council meetingbut a brief while before setting off to try and do battle with the diabolicservant that has so plagued him. His departure certainly brought on a greatdespair among us as we wondered whether we would ever see him again. Petrusrelated to us the news that he had learned during his travels around the tribunal.It seems that opinion is somewhat divided among the various magi as to ourposition. We certainly have the support of Scarfell who are certainly provingstrong friends, but others are less commital and iti is hard to say how thesituation will resolve itself. The meeting of House Tremere is occurring atthe same time as the Tribunal and it seems our old friend Darius is to remainwith the votes that House holds. Antonius believes that it may be possibleto negotiate with him, and while I find it hard to believe that he bears usmuch good will I hope that he is right. One other fact that Petrus learnedwas of particular interest to me. It seems that a new magus of my House, bythe name of Moravius, has joined Solis Castle. I will certainly be findingtime to speak with him at the Tribunal.Our discussion then moved once moreto our plan to try and aid Ruaridh. We invited Lucian to join us on this matteras he had been of great aid in our initial preparations and would be requiredto help once more. It was decided that using his contacts he would try andlure the demonic imposter to a meeting and there attempt to destroy it usingthe potions that we had created. Of the rest of us Petrus decided to studyfrom Creo vis, I extracted Vim as my service, Lothar took the Corporem tomesand Antonius would use his service in furthering our contacts in Bristol,Chepstow and Hereford.

The news that brought us happinesswas the success of Lucian's mission. With the aid of the leader of a gangthat he has cultivated in Gloucester the creature was tricked into a meetingin a tavern room. Not knowing for sure whther it was the real Ruaridh or not,Lucian and his companion nevertheless flung two bags of the sand over theirguest, and it was related to us that the creature was destroyed almost instantly.However the real Ruaridh did not attend the meeting as had been arranged andthus under the second amendment to the charter we decided as a council thathis life may be in very real danger. We entered his sanctum and located ahair from his head. Using this as an arcane connection Petrus cast his spellsto try and locate our sodales but no sign of him could be found on our maps,neither living nor dead. It was surmised that he may well be in a regio butwe do not have the time to search for him now. Thus we travel to the Tribunalwithout him and our fear is that his non attendance, regardless of Petrus'preparations for his defence, may be enough in some eyes to damn him for breachof the code. We will take Lucian in order that he may give evidence as tothe destruction of the demon but our hearts are filled with foreboding.

We have been back but a few daysand it is only now, after the events of this gathering, that I am collectedenough to set them down on parchment. Never have four days seen such a changein fortune and it is hard to believe that what has passed was not a dream.We arrived on the eve of the meeting and were shown to our quarters. Thatfirst evening was spent dining and and initial attempts to secure supportfor what was to come. I had the opportunity to meet Moravius who has travelledfrom Novogrod to join Solis Castle. It seems that he is quite old for onewho has recently passed his gauntlet, and he seems already to have specialisedin the creation of weather devices. Indeed, his Covenant appears to be givinghim plenty of time and a good quantitiy of vis to aid him prior to his firstHouse meeting. He is certainly an ambitious individual and while our conversationwas pleasant enough I feel I may have to be cautious in any future dealingswith him.

The first day of the meeting beganwith the Praeco's address. We were informed that Feremir would act as seniorQuaesitor in the absence of Dionysus. Garius then made quite a long speechrelating to his concern that there should be no schism between the dedicatedCovenant, Holy Isle, and the members of House Ex Miscellanea. He emphasisedthat the law of the order must be applied in a manner of equality for all,with no exceptions for any. This seemed to have the broad support of mostpresent though it is apparent that some members of that House have strongconcerns with regard to this matter. This opening was then followed by a reporton the Quaesitor's findings with regards to the traitor Idris. It was confirmedthat he had consorted with members of the un-named House and was further responsiblefor the murder of Varsavia. This caused an outburst from Harnul, a well knowntrouble maker in the tribunal, but he was quckly silenced by Garius. Somediscussion concerning the activities of the un-named House then followed.In the evening we gathered together to discuss the events of the day. It wasdecided that we would pardon Llandolwyn for his mistaken theft of our Ignemvis without levying a penalty. We certainly felt we were in need of all thegood will we could muster. Antonius reported that he had spoken with Dariusand has offered to try and help broker a peace between Holy Isle and Ex Miscellanea,an action that it seems may well gain the support from that magus Antoiusclaimed was possible. He also revealed that a magus outside Covenant, by thename of Edwin, had left with Lucian to try and rescue Ruaridh, a feat thathe seemed to believe might be possible. I must admit I retired somewhat confusedby this news, though hopeful that some good result might yet come our way.

The second day dawned with thefinest news that could possibly have occured, Ruaridh had indeed been returnedto us. Apparently Edwin (Erin's pater; perhaps explaining in part why he wasprepared to help) has some knowledge of the Coven that we have been opposing.Somehow he was able to locate the regio where Ruaridh lay being assaultedby some foul creature that can suck the spirit of a man. There he defeatedthe creature and with great difficulty manged to escape the regio and return.Ruaridh's condition was of great concern at first, he was alive but seeminglywithout spirit. Blodwyn was summoned and once more proved her enormous talentsusing spells and vis to bring him to himself. He and Petrus then went to speakwith Garius on the instant and seemingly satisfied him that the problem wasresolved. Garius said that he would speak with Ponrius in an attempt to dissuadehim from raising a motion against Ruaridh, though he could provide no guaranteesthat Ponrius would listen.

It was thus with very much lighterhearts that we entered the hall for the continuation of the Tribunal. Thefirst announcement was of a vis tithe for the next Tribunal, a sum of threepawns per magus being required. Jordael then asked whether a new Quaesitorwould be elected after the sad death of Tyriania, and if so whether it wasnot time that an Ex Miscellanean rose to the post. Feremir announced thatthere would indeed be an election, but that there was no question of candidatesbeing limited to on House. The Covenant motions for the day were then announced.

Caissus began for Blackthorn bysuggesting that territories should once more be granted to Covenants in orderthat they exclusively could harvest vis within them. Jordael raised strongobjections to this, as did all the magi that reside outside Covenant. Xerosthen spoke, announcing that he was concerned at the situation whereby theSenior Quaesitor of the tribunal also belonged to a dedicated Covenant. Wewere informed in response that Dionysus had already requested a ruling fromPrimus Guernicus on this matter and a ruling would be forthcoming.

For Borri-Tor Du Clerc began byinforming us that the new Archbishop of Canterbury was a blessing for theorder because some of his family had dealings with House Jerbiton. He furthersuggested that the Order should cultivate the support of all religions inthe country. Feremir then issued a stern reminder that if there was a civilwar in England it was imperative that no Magi should take a side.

Solis Castle began with Orlaniamaking a request that Holy Isle inform the Tribunal of the truth in the rumoursthat the un-named House are present at Ashenrise. She was informed that spiesin the area had seen no sign of a Hermetic Magus. Moravius then announcedhe was available to create items particularly in the arts of Creo, Rego, Auramand Aquam.

After this there was a break fornominations to the post of Quaesitor, to be followed by speeches from thepotential candidates. Three magi announced themselves: Harnul, Kira and Ruaridh.We discovered that Jordael had approached our sodales and persuaded him thathe should stand, primarily because his mixture of traditions might prove aunifying force, but alos in part that it would mean he might have a chanceto receive any judgement at the hands of Primus Guernicus rather than theTribunal. The three made short speeches, Harnul directing his ire at HolyIsle with a highly militant position that indicated him entirely unsuitablefor the job. Kira was very much more balanced, speaking of a balance betweenthe traditions and utilising the spirit of justice in final decisions. Ruaridhalso emphasised this theme and spoke further on the code being the tool thatallows our personal freedom to study magic; he proved to be an effective andpassionate speaker.

That evening we gathered to assesshow our politicking efforts had proceeded. It seemed that Antonius had certainlythrown himself wholeheartedly into the task, and he had to be cautioned atone point that as a council we were not prepared to countenance the buyingof votes with vis. With that we retired, waking for the third day and it'scontinuation of Covenant motions.

Lazarus spoke twice on behalfof Morstow. His first news was that Krekaranius has suffered a severe twilightand was now spending the majority of his time lost in visions. Secondly heoffered an exchange of several forms of vis in exchange for Mentem, the dealto be at favourable rates as long as it was a large trade.

Lear Valley raised one point,Jolyon offering vis in exchange for books with which to improve their library.At the end of the Tribunal we accepted this offer and agreed to trade ourIntellego and Rego texts for 30 Vim, 11 Terram, 11 Creo and 11 Animal, thedeal to be concluded over a six year period.

Blywyddan's turn came and as Ponriusstood up to speak we were all apprehensive. He asked that he and another Quaesitorbe permitted to visit us and examine the workings of the entire Covenant.This request went to a vote which we supported; only Harnul placed his sigilin opposition. Regarding the specific matter of Ruaridh no mention was made.

Erin spoke first for Scarfell.He announced that they had now attained the status of a summer Covenant, astatement that Garius confirmed acclaiming them as a successful model forany other young spring Covenant. Blodwyn informed us that they had set upan infirmary with several skilled healers. Scarfell wished to dedicate thisservice to the tribunal and asked that tribunal resources be made availableto open it to all the magi of Stonehenge. It was decided that a decision bemade on this matter at the next Tribunal.

For ourselves Petrus once morerequested people prepared to field test his new spell in incompatible auras.I then announced once more that I was still taking commissions in order thatMoravius doesn't try and gather all the work available in the tribunal.

As the only member present, Dariusraised both motions for Holy Isle. The first was a tithe of two pawns permagus, and the second another warning from Dionysus to be vigilant for membersof the un-named House.

Carrion Moor followed with Cailannouncing that he was leaving the Covenant to live independently. Kira thenstood and stated that Carrion Moor had a vacancy for a new member.

Finally, the magi who reside outsideCovenant's had two motions. Edwin asked that the Tribunal confirm the rightof magi to hold personal religious beliefs. Harnul then demanded that dueto numbers the Magi of no Covenant be granted more than two motions. Therewas some discussion on this, followed by a vote whereby it was decided thateach region (North, South and Wales) be granted one motion each. Strangely,considering his avowed desire to build bridges, Darius was one of the magithat voted against this proposal. This vote ended proceedings on the day.

The vote for the new Quaesitorwas the final event of the Tribunal. The first news was that Harnul had withdrawnfrom the race and was giving his support to Ruaridh's candidacy. I must admitto some small initial concern as to Ruaridh's motivations, but a small conversationbetween us certainly eased my concerns and I was happy to vote for him. Indeedit seemed a fair majority of the tribunal felt that way, and Ruaridh was dulyelected Quaesitor, subject to the approval of Primus Guernicus. Thus the weekthat we had been so concerned would lead to the downfall of our companionresulted in him being granted a signal honour that can only benefit us all,and we returned very much more optimistic than at any time in the last fewyears.

The first order of business thatconcerned us when we had returned from the Tribunal was that of the two magiwho had applied to join us. After an initial discussion, where we agreed thatin principle we will want at least one further magus at some time in the future,we held formal interviews with both candidates. If any proof was needed thatrecent events had released a lot of the pressure that we had all felt underthe heated discussion that followed these interviews provided it. Isabella'sarrogant manner and intemperate statements certainly unified the majorityof us in our opposition to her membership. Antonius disagreed, feeling thather martial talents would prove a useful boon if there is to be a civil war,and this action certainly roused Lothar back to his old stubborn and opinionatedattitudes. However, that decision was as nothing compared to the views airedon Edith. While she was certainly an affable individual, and greatly skilledin healing magics and Herbam, myself and Antonius did not feel that we couldoffer her a place at the Covenant. Lothar then launched a tirade against usand Ruaridh also seemed less than happy with our position. It took a longand vociferous conversation to persuade them that our decision was final.Isabella was very unhappy about being rejected and left immediately. Edithwas of course also disappointed, but it seems that she had been attemptingto re-establish the Vervain and she decided to remain until the end of theseason to continue this attempt. This proved a success and at the end of theseason we were very happy to harvest three pawns of Herbam vis. As thanksfor her assistance we granted a gift of half a rook to Edith, and I believeshe bore us no ill will when she departed.

The only other event of the secondhalf of the season was the arrival of Stassius. He brought us news that Philip,King of France, had died leaving the throne to his son Louis. Black Hugh wentto Normandy to parley with his brother Henry and attempt to sue for peace.Of Hermetic news we were told that there had been some discussion of HolyIsle's position after Primus Uriens' concerns. Stassius also informed us thatthe Covenant of Woden's Wood in Novogrod had been destroyed after an attackby the un-named House and the Order of Odin.

Autumn

It is beginning to get cold asI write these words, but while there was one disturbing event this seasonI find myself looking forward to the future again. The meeting of Councilat the beginning of the season was an easy affair. Ruaridh announced thathe would be at Domus Magnus Guernicus for a year beginning next spring, andPetrus will also be away for his House meeting. Ruaridh spent the season onhis first service for some while, being asked to write up the Perdo work.Petrus studied from Muto vis while I worked on an enchantment into my Talisman.Antonius was granted three pawns of the Imagonem vis to study from and Lothartook the Corporem books.

Early in the season Stuart arrivedas had been arranged. Antonius informed him of those areas of the Covenanthe was restricted from and has kept an eye on him throughout his stay. Apartfrom a few brief encounters in the Great Hall I have not noticed his presenceat all. Unfortunately the weather was not so unobtrusive and it seems thatwe will have to supplement our food budget due to poor harvests throughoutthe region.

The event I spoke of earlier occurredon the equinox when once more we were visited by a shade from the past. Antoniuswas summoned and from his descriptions it seems that it was the ghost of thediabolist Jean de Caen. Due to the corrupt and false nature of these servantswe certainly do not trust this shade but like Radulfus his cryptic mutteringsseemned to make some sense. The shade apparently talked of a child, corruptedand deformed, that will bring great ruin and great evil. Concerned that thismay be a further reference to events in Lydney, Antonius will gently seekinformation from Stuart.

Winter

It has been a bitter Winter, bringingwith it a fever that sadly took the life of Pierre, and struck me hard enoughthat Ruaridh was forced to use vis to heal me. Jaques also had to be aidedin this manner and it seems that with but one healer we will have to be cautiousas these cold months arrive. Petrus left for Durenmar shortly after the councilthat heralded this last season. There Ruaridh was asked to scribe some morespells as his service, with Lothar being asked to start copying the Rego forour trade with Scarfell. I continued work on my staff and Antonius spent aseaon in the library studying from the Perdo books. The only other businesswe discussed was to reward Lucian for his valuable service in summer, andit was decided to gift him a fine silver ring.

During the season there was butone event of sufficient note to record. Casitus and Caisus came to the covenantrequesting our aid. They had discovered that a wizard, believed to be fromthe un-named House, was in the area and had tracked him to the hills nearCirencester. We sent four grogs and granted them some vis and Ruaridh decidedthat he would accompany them. He related the events to us when he returned.Casitus' grogs tracked the magus and two companions to a camp in the hills.While approaching the point it seems that the magus became aware of theirapproach and a fierce battle ensued. In the fight Caisus killed the wizardand one of his companions; the other escaping into the dense woods. We lostone grog and had two severely injured. From Ruaridh's description it appearsCasitus was less than happy with the result and Caisus found himself somewhatberated for their failure to catch the magus alive, despite his attempts toblame the situation on the grogs that we had provided.