1146

YEAR 1146

Scribed by Theodosius

Spring 1146 AD

So it seems that it is my turnto contribute to this record of events. Having only been here for a few seasonsI would ask the readers forgiveness if I seem unsure of my statements in anyregard. It is my nature to tell tales but to write them down seems to me toleech somewhat of their vitality. Still I can hardly say that this recordhas not been useful to myself and Astrius since we came to Severn Temple,so I will do my best to record events for those who come after me.

The Spring council meeting ofthe year 1146 started with a full council - or at least I should say a fullHigh Council, the Low Council of various consortis and amici being held atdifferent times. I must admit to having a small hangover from the night before,but the fresh air that morning cleared that right up.

As everyone walked into the councilchamber and took their seats, I noticed that Aelfwin had a tired but happylook to him - this was due to the fact that his wife Helena had given birthto their son, whom they have named Matthew. I've seen Helena with Matthewand he's got a fine pair of lungs on him, I can understand how Aelfwin hasn'tgot a lot of sleep since he was born.

Anyhow the meeting started withus talking about issues arising from the last season. I told of the rumoursI had heard during my time in Monmouth, namely the Baron's wife is pregnantbut the rather snide and nasty talk is that it may not be his. Also our Earlseems not to be too bothered by talk of the Welsh going against their treaty,in that he is leaving the levy for others to organise. Still if this meansthat there is less chance of war hereabouts then I'll be glad. I do love totravel but doing so when war is about the land strikes me as unwise.

I also told of my meeting withSheriff Theobald, and as much as he seems to have a slimy and untrustworthymanner to him our conversation was remarkably polite and helpful. I wouldn'ttrust him as far as I could spit him, but it does give me hope for our futurerelations. The outcome of this conversation was that we owe a sum of 1,600dtax, but he was willing for us to pay 400d a year (in addition to our usual400d tax) over four years to pay this off. Now I know that we have the moneyto pay this off all at once, but to appear too rich would not be too clever,so I said I'd have to check the state of our finances but I would get backto him in the new year.

That was my news, Astrius toldcouncil that he had extracted 6 pawns of vim vis. More disturbingly Aelfwintold of young Bethwyn's kidnapping. It seems that Primus Tytalus is not contentwith having to ask for what he wants but has decided to just take anythingthat takes his fancy. Bethwyn was gifted and it seems he might have takenher as an apprentice, so Aelfwin is to go to Blackthorn early in the seasonand talk to the Primus and find out what is going on, Ruaridh is also to gowith him.

Once the council had debated recentevents we moved onto the future, and what we were all going to do this season.Aelfwin wants to go to Cad Goddeau to do some research into a more efficientpotion for Raegwolf, who is currently cursed with the spirit of the wolf.He was bitten by one of the wolf changers, the werewolves, and it is hopedthat this potion will help him maintain his sanity during times of the fullmoon. Helena and Sara have been working on a potion but their knowledge islimited in this area, hence Aelfwin's journey to study the alchemy texts inCad Goddeau. Ruaridh was to go out and about on his Quaesitorial duties afterhe and Aelfwin travel to Blackthorn, as there is some trouble over a vis sitebetween Lear Valley and Scarfell.

Turold is to make an item as covenantservice. It seems he can enchant a sixth magnitude Ward Against FantasticBeasts in a single season, I must admit that I was impressed when I heardthat. Astrius will be studying from the ignem books as next season he intendsto take the item Turold makes and go hunting the werewolves that have takenup shop near our settlement at Mynydd Merddin. I truly wish I was going withhim, still I know he'll regale me with the tale when he returns.

Madoc will be continuing to inventa spell that will allow him to shapechange his familiar into a man. Consideringhis familiar is a horse and is of course limited as to where he can go, thiswill be immensely useful to him. I think he hopes to finish the spell thisseason. He said he would also be spending time in the library studying someof the books we have there. I will just add as an aside here, that it seemsMadoc has angered the spirit of Idris somehow, I don't know if this is important,just thought I'd mention it.

As for myself I planned to spendboth of my covenant services this year travelling about the country gettingto know what's what and who's who. I planned to do this in Spring certainly,and possibly Summer as well, a much nicer season to go walking in, but I wouldalso like to go hunting with Astrius. Still I will decide when summer comes.

So once the Council meeting ended,I went about my business around the Dean. I went from the covenant to Blackneyvillage, I must admit that after getting stuck here last winter I actuallyquite like the place. It's not the biggest or most prosperous of villagesand it's had more than it's fair share of bad luck but the people there arevery welcoming. My plan for the season was to get to know the villages southto south east of the covenant. So I headed off from Blackney to Frampton,I stayed in the Dog and Duck and plied my trade. Well I won't bore the readerwith details of which are the best inns around the Dean and Gloucester, I'llsummarise what I learned.

In the town of Berkeley Castle(very near the village of Stone, so I was rather cautious), I heard rumourof a great, black hound with baleful red eyes, that has been seen around theVale of Berkeley. Even some rumours that farms are being abandoned or worse,that this terrible beast has killed their inhabitants. I talked to two peoplewho were reputed to have seen it, one, a man called Old Jake, was not willingto tell me the details about it but who struck me as the sensible down toearth type. The second Richard, a merchant from Gloucester, who had seen itduring a storm, when heading south to Berkeley from Gloucester. He saw twored eyes watching from the darkness, foolishly (but which of us have not beenfoolish at times) he sent two men to investigate the darkness about the road.They did not return. Then they heard a howl from the darkness and they decidedthat travelling at night was safer than staying where they were. Since thenRichard has been too scared to leave the town.

It seems very worrying, especiallyconsidering that Stone is so near. Also it's possible it could be connectedwith other news I heard. Baron Evan of Berkeley has a terrible reputationas a scoundrel with a beautiful wife whom he spoils hideously. Recently itseems that Evan has hiked up his taxes so that the freemen can not affordto keep their land, hence he can claim them for himself once they have gone.The Sheriff, Tristram, is a weak man who never stands up to the Baron andhence very little is being done here. Now I have no evidence for this butit wouldn't surprise me if the Baron claims the farmland that has been abandonedin the Vale - a nice co-incidence for the Baron that tales of this Hound arehelping him claim land is it not? It's also interesting to note that the Baronhas been petitioned to 'do something' about this evil beast, and so far hasdone nothing other than put a 50d reward on it. Also whilst the townspeopleare afraid of the beast they are less likely to complain about the Baron'snew taxes. As I say I have no evidence for this but these events are curious.So I plan to tell Astrius, I'm sure he'll love to hunt down this beast andthen we can see what happens around Berkeley.

On a different note, whilst inBerkeley, one of my guards, Martin, contacted some thieves and suggested thatwe help them. He thought that this would be a good way for me to get somecontacts in the local area. Whilst I agree with this in principle, I was fartoo near Stone for me to be comfortable with dealing with anybody around there.So I told him not to for now and I would raise it at council. Still it washeartening to see such initiative. I later heard that Richard the merchantwas attacked and killed on his way south, possibly by these bandits that Martinmentioned, which may give us a hold over them.

The rest of the season was ofa similar vein, I heard news of the Hound to the north but it was not withsuch concern. I also heard news that the Abbey of Tintern is being rebuilt,and apparently there is a ghost of a monk there who warns of a great evilin the wood.

Finally I heard tell of some sortof wyrm that had been sighted near Cheddar Gorge, it has taken some farmerssheep. This is definitely worth investigating as I know Astrius would loveto hear of this and eventually hunt such a beast down. That would be an interestingtale.

So ended my seasons wandering,and I returned to the covenant.

Summer

The season opened with everyoneat the council meeting, I reported on what I had discovered in my journeylast season, whilst Madoc told us that he had been successful in developinghis spell, so he can now turn his familiar into a man when required. Aelfwintold us what he had learned from his studies in Cad Goddeau, which was thatit may be possible to cure the curse. The two ways he has read about are totake the teeth from the wolf that inflicted the wound and use these to liftthe curse. Or to use the heart and blood of the Grandfather wolf - this mayeven be used to remove the curse from everyone of that 'lineage'. Aelfwinreminded us that these are rumours only, that much more work would be requiredbefore he could say with any certainly if it could work, but he was willingto try. Turold said that he had completed the Fantastic Beast ward - an itemwe would find exceptionally useful in the coming season. Ruaridh told us thathe had resolved the dispute between Lear Valley and Scarfell, and had ruledin favour of Lear Valley, although I'm still not too clear on what the disputeactually entailed. After Ruaridh had reported this he raised an issue thatseems to cause some tension at the meeting. He asked Madoc when he would bereturning the vis he owes the council, after a little discussion Madoc saidthat he will return it all in the next seven years. For our seasons work,Astrius, Madoc and myself decided to go and check out the werewolves nearMynydd Myrddin. Ruaridh is going to extract vim vis, whilst Turold instructsClifford and Aelfwin studies the Corporem book.

After the meeting ended Astriusstarted to prepare for our expedition. For a full account of what happenedplease read elsewhere in the journal. Suffice tosay that we went and fought the werewolves, no-one died although it was aclose run thing, and we have left it at somewhat of a stalemate.

Autumn

At the council meeting we discussedthe events of the previous season and it was decided to leave things as theystand and see if the wolves would do likewise. However Astrius will continueto prepare spell and arts just in case, whilst others would see what couldbe learned of Jak'o'Green, werewolves and the Grandfather wolf itself.

Turold asked for the vis for Cliffordto make into an item (one that would refine sand for the glassmakers), thisis part of Clifford's apprenticeship but the item will go to the covenant,so the council agreed to this. Turold himself said that he was going to learna spell, but shortly into the season the Cyrgyg arrived with some Terram visfrom Turold's fae holdings and Turold went off with him back into Arcadia.In the meantime Aelfwin would study the Creo books, Astrius would study theIgnem books, Ruaridh would study from Creo vis, Madoc would study the PaganLore books and I would talk with Viremos to learn more about the various legendarybeasts that roam the countryside.

We were only ten days into theseason when Turold returned and informed us that the seasons were turningwithin the fae regio and the Erechwydd was expanding her snowy realm. As aresult the Terram mines and Stonevail were under threat, and Turold expectsthem to be attacked early on in the fae winter. Astrius offered to help Turoldwhen the time comes and the covenant gave Turold the monies to buy supplies(such as oil) to defend his holdings. Turold changed his seasons work to studythe Creo books instead of Aelfwin (who studied the Intellego books instead)to better prepare for an attack. I also changed my studies, I worked uponhow to effect the spirit world more directly with Viremos. However beforethat I went to Monmouth to pay our taxes of 800d (and get a receipt) and buywhat Turold requires.

The rest of the month passed quietly,until near the end, when Viremos told me that the storm which has been buildingin the spirit world was about to break. I called upon Idris and he told methe same, he started to prepare himself for the storm and told me that hewould 'die' in this fight with Ieuan (his son) who had been corrupted andturned against him. Once he was gone then I would then be the new guardianof the spring. He also asked me to pass on a message to Madoc, which I didso. Finally he tells me that the storm will break before the end of the year.

As it was only a day until theWinter council I held off calling a council to discuss this, this proved tobe a mistake.

Winter

At the meeting I told of Idris'warning and we worked out that he meant the end of the pagan year, Halloween,that very day. The covenant starts to prepare for an attack, with the covenfolkbeing evacuated to Blackney.

Ruaridh and myself to went intothe Otherworld through the regio boundary to see if we could help Idris fightoff any spiritual assault. Once we were in the regio we waited for a whileduring which all was quiet, until we saw a large black storm wall approachingus - within it are hundreds of demons, if not thousands. I was staggered atthe thought of someone raising so many. Ruaridh managed to cast a demon wardabout us and this held back the onslaught, but it was impossible to see beyondthe beating wings of so many foul spirits. Suddenly a large demon landed withinthe ward, with a man upon its back. This demon attacked Ruaridh and Idris,with Idris being hurt whilst Ruaridh desperately fought back. I managed tohit it in the face with my staff, which I don't think hurt it at all, butI did draw it's attention to me and it struck and wounded me.

By this time the figure on theback of the demon used some strange lightning effect to strike Idris, thisdissipated his spirit and he was with us no longer. At this point the manand his demon leave the circle which left Ruaridh and myself surrounded bymany smaller but still powerful demons. Ruaridh again tore a hole betweenregio levels and we quickly left. The demons tried to follow, and indeed aftera short while they ripped a way between levels to come through themselves.We just made it into the covenant as they fell upon it, but the aegis easilyheld them all at bay - after a short while they dispersed about the forest.

I was wounded and taken to betended, the others met up and discussed what had happened, it seems that otherthan our little adventure the covenant was safe. Although we soon learnedthat the demons that escaped went to attack the villages of Blackney, I wonderwhat other damage they caused? Some vis was used to heal my physical injuriesand I was able to re-join the Winter Council meeting.

At the meeting we decided thatI must learn more about what it means to be the guardian of the spring andthat Ruaridh would go and check on the Heart of the Forest at some point soon.As for our studies: Turold was to enchant a flaming sword, Aelfwin would readthe Creo books, Astrius the Ignem books, Ruaridh would develop a spell, whilstMadoc would continue with the Pagan Lore books and I would read the textsconcerning Pagan rites and rituals.

Later in the season we had a Redcapjoin us, with mundane news that Stephen Du Bois has joined with France andthat Henry had called for a levy again the French. It seems that the Marchlords did not want to join due to a possible uprising urged on by a Welshmancalled Cadfallen. There was also news of the black hound near Berkley, wewere told the names of three people who have seen the beast. There was thenthe hermetic news, which was of chaos and trouble as usual, the senior quaesitorhas been recalled and another appointed, and House Tytalus has lost its Primus.Serves him right for taking Bethwyn. We were also informed that Dionysus wouldbe coming to investigate the recent attack by the Unnamed House.

Which he eventually did. BothDionysus and Fenriata** turned up and start to interrogate Ruaridh and myselfas if we had been the guilty parties. Dionysus twisted Ruaridh's words, whichangered Ruaridh, at which point he was asked to leave. This left me alonewith Dionysus and Fenriata and the rest of the session did not go quicklyenough for me. Dionysus asked to remain for a few weeks to investigate therest of the covenant, so the council allowed him to stay.

Well Dionysus finally left havingasked far too many questions about my spiritual talents, and the season drewto a close. So ends my first year of writing in this journal. I hope the nextyear will be quieter but I fear not.