1120

YEAR 1120

Scribed by Antonius

Spring 1120AD

Following thetraditional council meeting at the start of the New Year Ruaridh departedto try and seek the Heart of the Forest to see if there was indeed any corruptionthere. Meanwhile Petrus began the construction of a laboratory with the woodsinside a separate magical aura from the one that encapsulates this covenant.There he can safely pursue his researches into the nature of magical auraswithout risking the integrity of the aura upon which we all depend. Afteran apparently erroneous casting of the Intuition of the Forest Ruaridh cameacross a cottage in the woods which was hidden from normal sight by some mannerof illusion. When he entered the cottage he triggered a warding spell whichreleased a malign Perdo Corporem spell upon him that caused him to age ashe watched. Luckily he was able to shake off the effects of the spell beforeit caused him too much harm though his hair is noticeably greyer and his facemore lined than before.

Believing thecottage to be that belonging to Deanne which Idris had spoken of Edith andRuaridh made to return to the place to try and find out as much as they couldabout the place and its occupant. They met Petrus en route and learnt fromhim that the berries that provide us with our source of Muto vis had beenharvested. Could this be by Deanne as well? With the aid of a substantialquantity of vim vis Petrus was able to cast the Sight of Active Magicks todetermine that the ward that had been placed upon the door was spent and nolonger a threat. He was also able to espy many magicks about the place inside.A Creo Ignem enchantment about the hearth and many potions. Ruaridh afterentering cautiously found a wand hidden under the bed which contained a greatmany enchantments, the Curse of the Leprous Flesh, Bane of the Decrepit Body,spells to shapechange into the form of a wolf and a cat, illusions and spellsto harm animals. Both of the malign Corporem spells were of higher than normalmagnitude and seemingly not entirely of hermetic origin. Given what they hadfound it was decided that it would be safest to fetch a Hoplite and wait forher to return and then kill her given the obvious threat that she posed. Casusof Blackthorn came at once and after three days of waiting Deanne returned.She seemed to sense that something was amiss as she entered the clearing butwas unable to save herself from Casus' fire magicks and so perished. Her remainsand details of what had been found in the cottage were sent immediately toHoly Isle.

On my travelsabroad I heard many disquieting rumours about merchants doing deals with thedevil and more specifically tales about a jew and his brother who sold theirsouls and made lots of money for seven years before the devil claimed themfor his own. There was also talk that the iron from Blackney was not of goodquality and could not be trusted. On investigating the source of such talesI found that Isaac was indeed dead though not through any supernatural means,it seems that his heart simply gave out on him. His brother's ship was caughtin a storm but I have no reason to suspect that the devil's hand was at workthere. Someone skilled in the art of intrigue was definitely using the rumoursto try and discredit my merchanteering operations, I suspect the involvementof some powerful merchant interests in Gloucester. No great damage was donethough I shall have to keep a careful eye on the situation. The new Earl inGloucester is also cracking down hard on crime, with luck this will make itharder for the Fells to regroup.

More interestinglythough, to those who care not for mundane matters at least, I believe I mayhave found a gifted child. The boy is the son of a small farmer from the RhonddaValley who came to Chepstow for the annual fair there. He was able to somehowperceive my gift and from speaking to his parents it seems that he is a brightchild who claims to be able to speak to the dead and tells stories of meetingstrange creatures. I have told his father who despairs of the child's futurethat I may be able to find a good apprenticeship for him. I think it shouldbe possible to get the child to the covenant with the full consent of hisparents. I was able to obtain a new steward and a librarian in Gloucester.The former took some hard bargaining and no little coin but it was money wellspent for Colford's business activities will be hampered by the loss of thisman.

Alarmingly Luciendid not meet me as arranged in Gloucester after he had gone about his ownbusiness in Gloucester enquiring about the activities of the Fells throughthe network of underworld contacts he has built up. Back at the covenant Itried to use Lucien's figurine on Turold's enchanted map but the figurinesplit and smoke poured forth from it. I called Ruaridh fearing some infernalpresence but he saw nothing and the figurine appeared untouched to him. Thensuddenly he cast the Demon's Eternal Oblivion saying that the figurine hadturned and looked at him even though I had seen nothing. We decided to removeit from the bounds of the Aegis immediately though on the way out the figurinebit the grog who was carrying it. I fear that the Fells have Lucien and thathe is lost to us.

Ruaridh's investigationsinto the assassination attempt on Primus Ex-Miscellania were setback as thespirit of the would-be assassin seemed to have disappeared from the body.He summoned the shade of Idris and found out that Idris had banished the spiritfrom the place in his role of guardian of the spring. Idris also claimed thatthe dragon raised by the UnNamed House had attacked again. Caelestis and Turoldflew off at once to try and ascertain the veracity of this statement.

Summer

At the councilmeeting it was decided that we will move the mundane library into the formerguest laboratory, this will alleviate the growing problem of lack of spacefor and should make it safer to allow mundanes to use our mundane tomes. Turoldreported news from Blackthorn that a dragon had indeed attacked Holy Islebut had been repulsed without serious loss.

Soon after thismeeting Mathus arrived along with Magus Moravius who had come to speak toTurold. Mathus was able to give us further details on the attack. It seemsthat the dragon was able to penetrate a twelfth magnitude Aegis of the Hearthand destroyed the gatehouse and surrounding walls. However Maga Fenriata,using a large quantity of vis, was able to wound the creature with conjuredlightning. The dragon then withdrew having left ten grogs and one consortisdead. Mathus said that they had requested a tithe of one pawn of vis per magusto repair the damage that was done save for the ourselves and the other Welshcovenants who remain likely targets of further attacks.

Of news mundanetaxes were light this year, back down to two hundred pennies as the war isover. My business is now fully established and should provide a hundred penniesa year for the covenant funds. I made a few tentative steps to track Lucienbut there is realistically little that I can do.

Autumn

After speakingwith my sodalis at council I agreed to journey into Wales to fetch the boywhom I had seen in Spring. I told his father that I knew of the scholars onBriavels hill who would take in the boy and give him a trade as a scribe.Happily I was able to come to good agreement and I left with the child andthe good will of the father. The boy has a definite feeling of the gift abouthim and curiously he seems somehow familiar, something about him reminds meof the feel of the aura here. On our return Petrus confirmed that the boydoes indeed have the true gift. It is as yet unclear who will take the childas their apprentice but for now he is being taught his letters in the library.

The season passedlargely uneventfully until the arrival of Mathus a few days before the wintercouncil meeting. The King has returned to England though a great storm inthe Channel claimed many lives including the Earl of Chester. Archbishop Thurstanhas been reconciled with the King thanks to the intercession of the Pope.Mathus also reported that some of the local knights seem to have formed somealliance. Alan of Red Morley is allied with Coleford and there are almostcertainly others. Mathus thinks this curious and will spend a couple of weeksinvestigating this winter.Grave news from Loch Laglaen as it seems that awizards war sanctioned by Ruaridh against Praeco Magrane has started a massconflict which threatens to engulf the entire tribunal. Primus Ex-Miscellaniais journeying North to try and resolve matters.

Winter

I travelled toLydney to speak with Sir Gerald and inform him of the possible alliance betweenthose of the North and West of the woods. He was rightly concerned by thisand will speak with the new Norman noble de Facon with a view to allying.I agreed to take a gift from him to the Bishop in Gloucester to help curryfavour there. A month later we heard reports of wolves near Blackney thoughno one was attacked. Two weeks later though, after a villager from Colefordwas attacked, Sir Kenneth organised a big hunting party. We watched carefullyfearing it might be cover for another attack on Lydney. The Baron of Monmouthand several other local knights took part which speaks volumes for Coleford'sgrowing influence but nothing untoward happened. However Mathus returned withworrying news from his investigations. The alliance spreads to Bromsash aswell, the knights are being lent money by a merchant in return for grantinghim freedom of movement and they communicate through messengers. It seemsthat despite being very discreet whilst trying to follow one of these messengershe was pursued by three mounted men at arms. He followed the messenger asfar as Eppney before being chased off. Is it possible that the infernally-taintedmerchant from Stone could be re-establishing himself? News also from CastellanGareth that one of our iron ore barge skippers has been murdered in Bristol.I suspect that having lain low for a while following the death of Black Hughand Earl Benoir the infernal agents are once more seeking paths to power.We shall have to take great care in the future.