1133

YEAR 1133

Scribed by Turold

Spring 1133AD

It is but a few years since responsibilityfor this journal fell to my hand so I shall dispense with the customary preamblethat has on occasion been referred to by many of the former scribes of thesepages and press on with recording the few events that befell the covenantduring the season. With Antonius, Audacia and Ospectus away pursuing the importanttasks that the tribunal has allocated them in this time of unrest it was justmyself and Caelestis who met at the first council of the year. There was littleto discuss save the allocation of excess vis and with just the two of us presentit was of course an easy decision to put this task off until we were oncemore gathered as a full contingent. Caelestis announced that he would spendthe season studying hermetic law in case his role as an overseer of contactswith the Ex Miscellaneans required it whilst I took the opportunity to availmyself of the Aquam texts.

During the spring equinox preparationswere made to harvest the Creo vis from the spring, but once again the waterbubbled as blood yielding 5 pawns of Perdo vis. This is a troubling developmentas such events in the past have heralded either coming war or the influenceof the diabolic present in the area. Given recent events it is hard to knowwhich is the most likely but it is confirmation, if any were needed, thatevents have once again taken a troubling turn.

The other event of the seasonwas a disquieting and perplexing one. Darius came to visit in response toAudacia's report of events during the winter that we felt may be related tothe un-named house. That magus wished to speak to Meredith on the matter andon being informed that the boy was away his attitude became most aggressiveas he demanded the boy be located that he could be interrogated with magicks.I informed him that I did not know where the boy was and that Darius wouldbe advised to remember that Meredith was Amicus to myself whereupon he beganto make threat against the boy (and therefore myself) claiming that he maylevel charges against him. I once again reminded him of what I had alreadysaid and he decided to depart, though not before informing myself and Caelestisthat Meredith should be brought to him immediately he returned. I shall speakwith a Quaesitor on this matter as I am not sure that Darius may have steppedbeyond the bounds of his role with his behaviour.

As a last note Caelestis showeda great deal of interest in the location of the boy, and despite my assurancesthat I did not feel he was in any danger, was insistent almost to the pointof rudeness about the matter. Nevertheless he eventually ceased his questioningand I do not feel it was anything more than an excess of idle curiosity, atrait which he has shown in the past on occasion.

Summer

I may have been somewhat overgenerous towards Caelestis' questionings about Meredith as we had barely metfor the summer council when he once more began to badger me. The discussiongrew somewhat heated as despite my respect for my sodalis I feel he has noright to pry into my affairs unless it be a matter of great importance. Heeven went so far as to ask me if I believed Meredith to be a member of theun-named house, a question that I hope speaks more of his lack of tact thanhis attitude towards me. I barely felt the need to answer, as if I did indeedbelieve such a thing then I would be the first to take the appropriate actionsagainst such an enemy of the order and I felt a certain degree of anger thatCaelestis could not recognise this. Nevertheless, answer I did and my sodaliseventually ceased his harassment so that we could press on with discussionof the studies we would pursue during summer. I took the Aquam texts againwhile Caelestis chose to peruse the Mentem tomes.

Early in the season Antonius returnedthough he was of course unable to furnish us with information of his investigationsdue to the sensitive nature of the task. He announced that he would once moreride abroad in service to the covenant.

At midsummer I planted an oaksapling within the grounds of the covenant in order to fulfil my bargain withLlyn-y-fan and it was not long before the arrival of one of the Golwyg Haffydd.The creature was a typical example of its species, intelligence far outweighedby curiosity, and after a lengthy discussion about the restrictions on itsactivities and travels it took residence within the tree (though it complainedquite noticeably that it was but a sapling).

Shortly before summer drew toa close one of the men made report that there were ghosts in the vicinityof the spring. Myself and Caelestis went to view these spirits which had theappearance of hooded figures without legs hovering in the air. It was decidedto question Bledwyn about these beings and after a short while he informedus that they were but magical illusions and he was happy to disperse themto the four winds. After some further discussion he intimated that he mayknow something about the Sun that was arisen in the otherworld, but insistedthat we would learn no more of his secrets until the conditions placed uponhim were eased to such an extent that he could once more work his spirit bindings.

Autumn

The beginning of autumn broughtthe return of Audacia and with her news of the assault on Blackridge, an attackthat left that covenant in ruins but at a great cost to those who assailedit. It is with a heavy heart that I must here record that one of those whopaid the ultimate price in this battle was our sodalis Ospectus and whilsthe had been here but a short time the loss of another from our concilium isa grievous one indeed. He was not a strident voice in our meetings but whenhe did speak his words were well considered and I feel sure that in time hewould have developed into a fine magus. It is perhaps best if I attempt torecount the tale as Audacia presented it to us and if there are any omissionsor inaccuracies then consider the fault to be my own and not that of thatmaga.

The assault began with a mundanearmy, led by DuClerc, sacking the castle of Balblair and thus ensuring thatmundane reinforcements were unable to support the rebels in their battle.As arranged at Borri-Tor the primary group made assault directly against Blackridgeand they quickly overran the walls, killing all the soldiers who stood againstthem. At the same time the secondary group pushed forward from another positionfurther away, and it seems they were attacked by a horde of giant creatureswhich sorely waylaid them. As Audacia heard it there were wolves as largeas a horse and these alone would have provided serious threat but worse wasto come as a magical mist was raised about them and many of the magi therewere transformed into beasts themselves. Three magi of the order were slain,Vortinus of Flambeau, Praeberus of Tremere and our own Ospectus. It seemsthat our sodalis' death was not caused by these creatures however, but insteadby Ignem magicks and Audacia reported that later investigation by Sereniahad revealed that it was Isabella who had slain the Bjornaer. This maga whohas caused so much grief to this covenant is to be charged under the primarycode.

As these events occurred the firstgroup pressed further into the covenant of Blackridge and there they discovereda wide ranging tunnel network beneath the ground. This contained many traps,both magical and mundane, and a number of rebel magi who fought hard to protecttheir positions. Duncan of Blackridge slew Rastia of Tremere before beingslain in turn by Primus Hastus of Flambeau. Tenea of Flambeau was also killedin this melee but she was the only other member of the order who fell, theEx-Miscellaneans unable to resist the assault in the end. Another 11 of themfell - 2 from Loch Leglean, 5 from Hibernia, 2 from Normandy and 2 from Novgorod.Throughout the assault there was no sign of McGreine although the magicalmist that wrought such havoc was found to bear his sigil. In truth this informationis most disturbing as it indicates that those who have chosen to rebel aredrawn from a wider range of that house than we at first thought likely. Indeedthe schism may be very wide as sometime after the battle Eloria met with severalof those from the Stonehenge tribunal and not a one agreed to submit to theQuaesitor's investigations, Archimagus Jolyon included.

We discussed this for some time.Audacia believes that the Ex-Miscellanean rebels may well choose to resortto tactics of guerrilla warfare, or possibly they will even attempt to gatheraway from the sphere of the order, perhaps to the north of Novgorod. It seemsthat most of the Ex-Miscellaneans in Stonehenge have disappeared, Scarfellnow only containing the Criamon magus Torius. There is still the hope thatthe vast majority have not joined the rebellion but merely seek to lie lowuntil such time as they perceive that it will be less dangerous to submitto investigation and thus be received back in to the order.

One other thing of note arosefrom this discussion. Audacia was most surprised to hear of the visit we receivedfrom Darius as it seems he had been appointed as an assistant to Hastus, andas the result of some significant political manoeuvring. She wondered whetherhe had permission to leave the force at that time, and further whether itshould not be Dionysus pursuing such investigations anyway. It seems Darius,who has in the past shown some enmity towards some who have resided withinthis covenant, may indeed be straying into areas that are more properly theconcern of others and when I finally speak with a Quaesitor he may well havesome explaining to do.

Antonius also had some news ofhis wanderings in the local area. Chepstow and Lydney, having indeed beengiven permission to wage war, were victorious against Coleford who was forcedto flee to his master Monmouth. It seems that he is no longer held in theesteem that he was formerly and now Martin has been granted the holdings ofColeford and Clearwell our mundane position seems to be much stronger. Therewas also some discussion about Bledwyn. As a council we are agreed that wedo not trust him and that he will have to be killed. A provisional plan wasformed which I am sure will be used sooner rather than later.

The last action of the councilwas to distribute the vis that had been waiting since the beginning of springand announce our activities for the season. Antonius and Caelestis studiedfrom the Corporem and Mentem texts respectively, Audacia from Corporem visand I had a commission to fulfil.

The season passed without eventsave for Blackney and Lydney playing some game involving a pigs bladder, anevent that I seem to recall Ruaridh having recorded some 10 years ago. Antoniusseemed to find this quite fascinating and informed me for the record thatthe match resulted in no outright victor.

Winter

Council had a great deal lessto discuss than in autumn and we quickly resolved how we would spend our timeduring the cold months of winter. Antonius, as the only one of us who hadalready carried out his service, chose to visit Blackthorn and learn the spell'Leap of Homecoming'. Caelestis extracted Vim vis, Audacia wrote up some ofher spells for the library and I created an item of healing for the covenant.

We also decided that now was themoment to deal with Bledwyn and after the council had come to an end Antoniusvisited with him. After casting a spell to render him asleep Antonius usedfurther magics to read Bledwyn's mind to question him about the illusionsthat he had dispersed. It was revealed that rather than dispel them he hadbound them to himself to be commanded as a defensive measure should he beassailed. Further questioning regarding the rising sun ascertained that hehad indeed heard of such a phenomenon and believed it to be an omen markinga rise in the powers of the occult. He was unaware of the level of threatthat it posed but did know that there can be no spirits present wherever thesun shines. Further questioning revealed nothing more and accompanied by Audaciahe was taken to the road near Huntley Priory where he was slain in such away as to make it appear that bandits had attacked him. Antonius, in the guiseof a merchant, brought his body to the monks and this ensured that he wasgiven a christian burial so that his spirit will not torment us. Audacia destroyedhis possessions outside the Aegis and also dispelled the spirits, which turnedout to be a mixture of illusions and infernal spirits. I am glad that thisman is gone and hope in future that those who have truck with the workingsof the infernal are dealt with less kindly in future. On a somewhat relatedmatter the two magi also travelled to Snigs End and discovered that therewas still an infernal aura of the 1st magnitude.

A little later in the season QuaesitorSerenia came to visit us concerning two separate matters. The first was withregard to her investigations into the death of our former sodalis Ospectus.It is now certain that Isabella did indeed slay him with an Ignem spell ofsuch force that no earthly remains were left. In her defence she has claimedthat it was not intention to attack him and that she only sought to do harmto the rebels that were besetting her group. Serenia did not seem entirelyhappy with the Flambeau's explanation and so Isabella is to be charged witha breach of the primary code and the Quaesitor will press for a wizards marchas punishment. Dionysus will be acting as patronus and for the time beingIsabella is confined to the covenant of Holy Isle. Serenia also brought usthe condolences of Primus Hastus, who has further apologised to the PrimusBjornaer. It seems from all accounts that the contribution to the assaultprovided by Ospectus was of a very great order and that his death has angeredmany senior members of the order.

The second matter she spoke tous concerned my displeasure at the visit of Darius. This event roused a certaindegree of anger in the normally implacable Serenia and she stressed quitefirmly that as Darius was not a Quaesitor he has no right to involve himselfpersonally in the investigations to which Holy Isle are dedicated. It alsoseems unlikely that he had been granted permission to absent himself fromthe force that was to set upon Blackridge and in truth I hope he is made toanswer for his behaviour.

Later in the season a patrol ofthree grogs approached the village of Lydney only to be sent away as therewere plague fires burning in that settlement. In there hurry to inform usof this disquieting situation they were caught on the road at night and therethey were beset by wolves seemingly under the command of a great wolf of considerablesize. Two of the men were slain, just one managing to hide in the topmostbranches of a tree until dawn dispersed the fell creatures. It was decidedthat it would be wise for us to ensure the wellbeing of the new knight thereand, after being fetched from Blackthorn by Audacia, Antonius immediatelytravelled to Lydney. There he discovered that Martin was indeed gravely illbut with the use of a potion Antonius was able to ensure the survival of ourally who I am sure must now feel even more closely entwined with us. I believethat our Tytalan has provided us with a stable position within the mundaneworld for the first time within this covenant's history.