1111

YEAR 1111

Scribed by Ruaridh

Spring 1111 AD

It has become customary when takingover the duty of recording the covenant's history in this journal to castan eye back over the work of previous authors and declare both admirationfor their endeavours and an intention to be as faithful to the truth as possible.I shall ignore this tradition, partly because I find that the two statementssit rather uncomfortably together, and partly because the winter chill hasnumbed both my fingers and my brain.

The season began as always witha council meeting. Antonius announced that a cursory examination of the texthe had discovered in his sanctum revealed that it contained information onmatters relating to the Schism War. We agreed that it would be best to informHoly Isle covenant of the discovery and to lock the tome away in my sanctumin the meantime. Little else of note was discussed, though there was a ratherheated debate centring on Petrus' rather profligate attitude to the use ofmagical resources.

Later in the season, we discoveredthat a local knight, Sir Kenneth of Coleford, had set up a village close toClearwell hill. The rationale for his actions became clear when we heard thatthe Reeve had recently reduced taxes on iron ore to encourage higher productionto aid the King's war effort. The tax charge for own iron mine near Blackneyfell by some 150 pennies, though we were told that taxes in general mightrise in the future because of the impending war. I visited Clearwell villagelater in the season to check on its size and progress, and I was alarmed tosee that the villagers had dug several wells and dammed parts of the streamto divert the water flow. These developments lie very close to the naturalwell that produces Rego vis each summer.

Midway through the season, Gyrianiaof Mercere arrived bearing news from elsewhere in the land. Though honouredby her presence, we were saddened to learn that our usual contact, Stassius,had died last winter when his longevity potion failed. Gyriania informed usthat she was in the process of training a replacement who would in due coursetake over Stassius' former route through Wales and western England.

Turning to mundane matters, welearned that the Dean had been declared a Royal Forest. We are unsure of theexact implications of the decree, though I suspect that it will inevitablylead to more intrusion and taxes. Further afield, there were encouraging signsof an alliance against the King forming on the continent. Through the marriageof his daughter to the German Emperor and the exchange of hostages with theKing of France, Duke Henry of Normandy appears to have cemented relationswith his two most powerful neighbours, potentially opening the way to an invasionof England. Furthermore, the King has been excommunicated by the Pope. Itseems he is fast running out of friends.

There was also a good deal ofHermetic news, most of it troubling. Primus Guernicas announced that the mandateof the dedicated covenant at Holy Isle had been extended to include investigatingMagi who might have lent aid to members of the Unnamed House during the SchismWar. Jordael of Cad Gadu had been asked by Dionysus to present himself atHoly Isle, though no charges had been levied against him. Krekaranius of Morstowdeclared that a recent eclipse had been the second of three omens he had foreseenin a vision. The third omen - a comet - would apparently bring great ruinto the Order.

A new head of House Mercere, PrimaCecilia, had taken office following the death of the previous incumbent. Oneof her first actions appears to have been to write to Turold, which seemsrather strange. Closer to home, Xeros of Blackthorn slipped into final twilightlast year. Petrus received a letter from the remaining Magi at Blackthornoffering him a place at that covenant. He decided to travel there to considerthe offer over the rest of the season as he needed to consult their libraryanyway. We passed on our condolences to him, and said that, though it wouldbe a great shame to lose him, we would not stand in his way if he decidedto move to Blackthorn permanently. Before Gyriania left, we asked her to passon a message to Holy Isle about the books Antonius had discovered.

I received a private letter fromLothar, who was in the midst of his studies at Irencillia. He claimed thathis tutor had uncovered secret memories hidden deep within his mind (I shallrefrain from making the obvious remark here). It seems he was ensorcelledby the Ruadan when they met outside the Aegis a few seasons ago. She showedhim a vision of Varsavia's death where the fatal blow was struck not by Idrisbut by me. Acting on this knowledge, he had plotted to slay me when I returnedfrom Magvillus. I was greatly alarmed by this news as I had not realised thatthe Ruadan's anger was so deep.

Later in the season, the MerinitanQuaesitor returned from the faerie glade. She told us that she had spokenwith several of the fae, though she had not seen Ninniaw. The wounds madeby Lothar's pater had healed, and the faeries he slew had been reborn. Furthermore,she had sensed no hostility towards the covenant, which is good news indeed.On an unrelated matter, she informed us that Palug, the diminutive faeriewho used to guard the mushrooms on the lowest level of the Regio, had toldher that they had been stolen by Varein on behalf of another faerie namedMorfannon.

Summer

I raised the matter of Lothar'sletter at the council meeting that began the season. The threat was apparentto all - though young, Lothar possesses formidable strength in his bear form,and he is clearly a danger to us all if he cannot protect himself from theRuadan's wiles. I only wish that it was Turold she sought to use as her weapon.Antonius raised the matter of Lothar's untruthfulness when questioned aboutthe matter by council. His previous claim that his conversation with the Ruadandid not concern the covenant was proved false, and we resolved to questionhim closely when he returns from Germany.

Antonius brought news of mundaneaffairs from his travels into Wales. The inhabitants of Monmouth and Chepstowwere worried about an impending attack by the Welsh, though there was alsoa feeling among some that the Welsh might bypass the two castles in a bidto advance as far as the Severn. Whatever happens, we would do well to prepareour defences as thoroughly as possible. The excommunication of the King hadcaused severe problems for several of Antonius' contacts among the clergy.The Rector of Chepstow's position appeared particularly vulnerable, sincehe could not obey a monarch who had been renounced by the Pope. We agreedto offer Stuart, the steward at Lydney and a friend of the Rector, sanctuaryif the situation became dangerous.

Petrus informed us that he haddecided to remain at Severn Temple. The Magi of Blackthorn were disappointed,but they had given him until the next Tribunal meeting to change his mind.

Two weeks into the season, Lotharreturned. We called an immediate council meeting to discuss what had happenedto him, and the implications of his letter. He recounted the story about hismeeting with the Ruadan and his subsequent plan to kill me. When challengedon the issue of misleading council, he argued that the Ruadan's enchantmenthad prevented him from revealing the plot. We accepted this explanation, butwe demanded that he take precautions to avoid the incident reoccurring. Specifically,we agreed that Lothar should learn the Parma Magica to the forth magnitudeand the art of Mentem to the second magnitude before venturing into the faerieregio again. Lothar accepted this on the proviso that he could attend Ninniawif called. Later that night, Lothar approached me to ask my opinion on whetherI had broken the Primary Code by angering the Ruadan. His faith in my impartialityis both touching and bewildering.

A few weeks later, a group ofWelsh bandits attacked one of our barges near to Blackney. Several men onboth sides were killed before the brigands escaped with a load of iron ore.Troubling though this was, worse was to come. Our well produced no Rego viswhen the water failed to boil over as usual. This is undoubtedly a consequenceof the developments at Clearwell village.

Autumn

Little of note happened in thecouncil meeting, though I cannot resist recording the gleam of excitementin Petrus' eyes when he described the Wand of Arcane Fire that he proposedto create with Turold as this year's covenant service. Perhaps our learnedBonisagus is not as uninterested in "vulgar" magics as we all thought.

A curious event occurred a fewdays into the season. One of the grogs apparently unearthed a golden coinjust outside the covenant. He instantly became extremely possessive of thecoin, refusing to let anyone else touch it. Several other grogs who saw thecoin also developed an unnatural desire for it, and a long chase and violentscuffle broke out. Eventually, Lucien managed to grab the coin, and Antoniusordered him to return with it to his sanctum. We fetched a device designedto protect the wearer against magic, and gave it to Lucien. Instantly, theenchantment was broken, and Lucien was happy to give up the coin. We lockedit away in the treasury, and eventually broke it down into its constituentvis, Mentem. The origins of the coin remain a mystery.

A few weeks later, I receiveda visit from Cornelius, one of the Magi of House Jerbiton. He told me thathe had found the body of Edwin of Ex Miscellanea a week ago in manor houseon the outskirts of the town of Southampton. In my capacity as Quaesitor,I accompanied Cornelius to determine the cause of Edwin's death. It was agrisly sight. Edwin appeared little more than skin and bones, taking on theappearance of a man many years past his natural lifespan. He lay slumped overa writing table, his diary open before him. Three pages of that document hadbeen ripped out.

Through magical and mundane investigation,I determined that Edwin had been literally aged to death using some non-Hermeticpower or device. The sixth magnitude Circular Ward Against Demons with whichhe protected his room had not saved him. Piecing together the stories of hismundane servants, the remaining parts of his diary and Cornelius' statement,I surmised that he had probably been slain by servants of the Infernal powers.Some of the information pointed to the coven of diabolists active in Gloucester,but the deed may have been carried out by agents closer to Southampton.

Whatever the nature of his assassins,Edwin's death was a great blow for me personally since he was one of the fewMagi I knew with real insights into how to recognise and combat the Infernal.I had also hoped one day to repay the aid he had given me at the time of thelast Tribunal. I sent news of my findings, which included the fact that Corneliuswas not implicated in any way in the murder, to the Praeco and Erin, Edwin'sfilius.

Towards the end of the season,we learned that several strange eggs had been laid close to the mine in Blackney.I shall not recount exactly how we discovered this, but suffice it to saythat two of the grogs have been told in no uncertain terms that they willregret it if they ever try to extort money from us again. Petrus used hismagics to investigate the eggs, and he determined that they contained strangecreatures with the head and bodies of men but the lower parts of snakes. Thoughthe eggs each contained a pawn of Corporem vis, we decided to keep them safeuntil we discovered more about their origins.

Winter

As ever, we opened the seasonwith a council meeting. Jacques the scribe had learned more about the mysteriouseggs from one of the bestiaries in the library. Legend has it that when apregnant woman is bitten by an adder and survives, her offspring developsinto a half-human and half-snake hybrid. The creatures are not necessarilythought to be hostile towards men, though they are apparently most vengefulif spurned because of their appearance. The scales of an Adder Queen, as theyare called, are known to cure snakebites. We decided to return the eggs tothe forest in order to avoid incurring the wrath of their mother. Lothar andI ventured deep into the woods, and placed the eggs in the hollow of a treefar from any of the local villages.

We discussed the issue of thenew village near Clearwell hill and its impact on our source of Rego vis.We determined that I should travel to the village under cover of darkness,dam one of the village's wells that was draining water from the vis site andopen up a less damaging source of water. This I accomplished, though it remainsto be seen whether it will have the desired effect of raising the water pressuresufficiently next summer.

Later in the season, Lothar reportedthat he had come across a mighty stag dying in the forest. This was clearlyno ordinary beast, for it offered Lothar its antlers on its death if he wouldpromise to protect the forest from human encroachment. Lothar readily agreed,since this aim tied in with his own intentions anyway. Though I think we wouldall sleep a little sounder at night if we knew that the forest would remainisolated from the prying eyes of the mundanes, we made it clear to Lotharthat he should be careful that fulfilling his bargain did not place him inbreach of the Code.