1168

YEAR 1168

Scribed by Medius

Spring 1168 AD

I will not begin with a lengthypreamble but I feel I must record my sadness that Maga Dialectica no longerresides at this covenant, and indeed my concern as to her whereabouts. TheSenior Quaesitor has heard no word of where our sodales has travelled andI sense that she too is aware of how out of character this behaviour is. Ihave read the journal for last spring but in truth it reveals little aboutthe events that occurred, although this is no part the fault of Magus Tiarnanas scribe. Why has a pagan spirit taken an interest in the apprentice of oneof our order and given that Maga Dialectica is of House Bonisagus I wouldexpect the Senior Quaesitor to further pursue her investigations into suchan alarming mystery. Despite my disquiet I would also like to record my confidencethat our new Pontifex Aelfwin will discharge his duties to the highest standard,and while I am sure that I will not always agree with his decisions I shallseek to offer him what support and counsel I may.

The Concilium started with allof our number present save for Magus Theodosius who had travelled into thefaerie regio in winter and had been given permission by the Pontifex to missthis meeting should he not return in time. We began with a discussion of whetherto make trip to Mynydd Myrddin this season given that Quaesitor Galfredaswishes to make his investigation in summer. It was agreed that the Imperatorand Magus Cormoran would accompany him in that season and make no journeyin spring. Magus Cormoran raised the issue of the charge laid by Prima ExMiscellanea against Holy Isle and after further discussion I agreed that Iwould accompany the party to ensure that it could be plainly seen by all thatthe investigation was a just one.

Magus Tiarnan confirmed that hehad transferred the laboratory equipment from Maga Dialectica's former sanctumto his own. His own previous equipment now resides in that subterranean chamberalthough it remains packed in crates.

The Pontifex decided to grant2 pawns of Vis for each season's service to the covenant. He will ensure thatsufficient Vis is stockpiled to pay the last tribunal tithe. I raised theissue as to whether the magical animals that it seems Magus Cormoran's amicuseats should be considered a Vis site. It was agreed that we would registera pawn with Blackthorn immediately and then Magus Cormoran would ascertainwhether there will be sufficient to harvest.

There was also a discussion aboutthe continued activity at Snig's End. Magus Theodosius has done fine workin his efforts relating to Huntley but we must pursue our investigation againstwhat still remains of the fells and I agreed that I was prepared to make journeyto that fell place in autumn. The Imperator immediately stated that he wouldaccompany me on such a mission.

For the season's activities allthe Magi of Severn Temple expressed their intention to follow Hermetic study.Studying from text were the Pontifex, myself and Magus Tiarnan with the artsinvolved being Vim, Corporem and Rego. The Imperator chose to develop a spelland Magus Cormoran to study Magic Theory from Corlear's notes.

With all residing within the covenantthere were no events of note save for a visit from the Redcap Loretius. Hebrought the news that in the mundane world Henry Plantagenet has been crownedas King after defeating Henry of England. He has summoned all the nobles ofthe land who wish to swear peace to him to London, and has pardoned some ofhis former enemies who have done so. It seems that the final battle betweenthese two nobles was extraordinarily fierce and very many were left dead.Loretius also brought a package for Magus Tiarnan and letters from Magus Moraviusfor myself, the Imperator and Magus Theodosius.

Summer

I write this even before QuaesitorGalfredas has arrived at the covenant, so worthy are the events of the lastConcilium of accurate recording. With Magus Theodosius now returned it beganwith the Pontifex declaring that Cormoran would be making a statement. ThePontifex instructed that we were to allow our sodales to finish without interruptionand that it was then his intention to make some comments before the rest ofour number would be permitted to make any comment. It was thus with some trepidationthat I listened as Cormoran began.

Cormoran related the tale of whenhe travelled to Trevalga covenant to aid them in their difficulties with alocal Giant that was stealing from one of their Vis sources. After the failureof negotiation our sodales was tasked with slaying the Giant and he spenta few days with the creature gaining his trust. Cormoran then told us allthat in those few days he was introduced to a Giant practice of eating theflesh of men, partaking of a stew made of such. To add to such an abhorrentrevelation he then said that he had also assisted with the gathering of foodwhich following Magus Astrius' attempted interjection he clarified as beingthe kidnapping and murder of two shepherds who were then cooked and eaten.He went on to say that following his slaying of this Giant he discovered thathe could no longer eat ordinary food as on his tongue it tasted as if it wereexcrement and ash. Beer and Cider were barely palatable and being forced tohunger he turned to the eating of human corpses, a practice that went on fora year. This only ceased when he met with his mundane father, now his amicus,who prepared food for him that was palatable and Cormoran then swore an oaththat he would no longer eat of human flesh. Since his amicus came to livein the Forest of Dean he has been sharing meals with him once in each month.Our sodales further revealed that he suspected that the animals being cookedwere magical but did not test this until instructed to do so whereupon heconfirmed two pawns of Animal Vis in each beast. He said that his amicus hadspecial skills as a hunter that enabled him to capture such creatures, butthat men may be able to catch some themselves. He finished by repeating thathe no longer partook of the flesh of men.

The Pontifex spoke next, sayingthat he had visited with Cormoran's amicus. He had found him to be suspiciousof Magi but prepared to strike a bargain that in return for being built acottage he will carry out some hunting on behalf of the covenant. He wenton to say that Cormoran had been worried about revealing the full story tohis sodales which is why he approached the Pontifex, and it was after a discussionbetween the two of them that it had been brought before us. The Pontifex hopedthat this full and frank admission, of events going back some time, wouldclear the air and allow for a new start. He stated that he was aware thatCormoran's actions had been horrific but believed his promise never to repeatthem. He then said that he hoped that people would stay calm.

Magus Theodosius asked whetherour sodales felt contrition for his actions and he replied yes, but then wenton to say that he had had no choice when the hunger came upon him until hisamicus showed him an alternative path. Magus Tiarnan wanted to know whetherCormoran had wanted to eat human flesh before he had tasted this Giant's stewand Cormoran replied that he had not but believed that the first taste stimulatedthe legacy of his blood. He also confirmed that he had known what was in thestew before he took the first mouthful but was trying to gain the Giant'strust. The Imperator then asked whether he would have brought this matterbefore Concilium if he had not been placed under scrutiny by his sodales andhe replied that he would not have. For myself I raised my belief that by referringto the killing and eating of two men as gathering food he was not as remorsefulas he would have us believe. The Imperator then brought forward a motion ofexscilium and the meeting was adjourned to allow tempers to cool.

That evening we reconvened andthe Imperator stated the grounds for his charge. He said that some would speakof their abhorrence for Cormoran's cannibalism but that he believed the purposeof this sanction was to deal with a Magus who had persistently failed to mendhis ways and he believed the fact that even after the vote of excordis Cormoranhad failed to be honest with his sodales. He further said that Cormoran wouldnot have admitted to effectively stealing Vis had he not been forced intoa corner.

The Pontifex said that the Viswas the least of the matter and that this was the result of Cormoran's honesty,and his attempt to make a break with his past. The Imperator responded thatit was Cormoran's continuous deceit and betrayal that was worthy of exscilium.Cormoran then said that he had thought that if he told us the truth his amicuswould no longer be permitted to hunt the magical beasts and that his secrecywas in large part driven by fear of returning to human flesh and shame abouthis actions. He said that he believed he had been changed by the sanctionof excordis that he is currently under and when challenged on this by theImperator said that he was now more honest and open. The arguments becameextremely heated at this point and it was agreed to adjourn the meeting onceagain.

The following morning we gatheredonce more and the Pontifex said that while he would allow the charge, he believedthat whilst the excordis was still in effect it was inappropriate to banishCormoran until the effectiveness of that sanction had been seen. Cormoranhimself said only that he realised he had done wrong in the past but was nowa changed man. The matter then moved to a vote with both Magus Astrius andMagus Tiarnan voting in favour of exscilium and the Pontifex, Magus Theodosiusand Cormoran voting against. I chose to abstain, for while I am appalled atthe actions of my sodales I believe that there was merit in what the Pontifexhad to say.

With the vote being passed infavour of Cormoran it was clear that there was going to be another spate ofCertamen, and so it proved. I do not wish to bore the reader with a list ofall the battles fought; instead I shall record those in the legal recordsof the covenant which can be found here. What Ishall say is that these battles continued on into the 4th day of the season,with the Pontifex calling adjournments on a regular basis to allow the membersof this covenant to continue to press their cases. This might have continueduntil all possible combinations had been fought but on the 4th day the Pontifexhimself lost a battle.

Cormoran then failed in his attemptto change my decision and as acting Pontifex at that time I decided to endthis prolonged confrontation and draw the vote to a close, with the vote standingto exile Cormoran at the close of the meeting. I decided to adjourn one furthertime however to allow the Pontifex to make the decision as to when the meetingwas closed.

The following morning we met againand the Pontifex, utilising his authority as laid down by the charter, decidedto veto Magus Astrius' motion of sanction. None were prepared to raise anotherchallenge, despite the Imperator's obvious anger, and the meeting quicklyended. The only discussion following was an agreement that a wooden cottagewould be built for Cormoran's amicus and agreement as to our activities forthe season. Magus Tiarnan is studying from the Herbam texts and all othersare performing services. Myself and the Imperator go to Mynydd Myrddin, thePontifex is extracting Vim Vis, Cormoran will be acting within the area ofLydney and Magus Theodosius will be meeting his contacts in the Dean.

It is clear to me that there ismuch bitterness within our covenant. There is much anger against the Pontifexand he himself has made it apparent that he resents my decision not to allowthe Certamen to continue indefinitely. Indeed it is clear from recent yearsthat Certamen is becoming a danger to this covenant rather than a just wayto resolve disputes. I shall propose that in future cases such as this, thatwhere a challenge is made to change the vote of another then the challengersvote itself should also be at risk of change. Perhaps then all will considermore carefully whether Certamen is the best course of action. I sincerelyhope that the remainder of this season allows tempers to calm but I fear thatour Pontifex will find the coming years to be difficult ones.

It was but a few days after theevents that I have recorded above that Quaesitor Galfredas arrived at thecovenant. I met with him and we took some time to talk about the loss of MagaDialectica and how well our new Pontifex was fitting in to his role, no greatsurprise with the Concilium Quaesitori acting as guardians of our charter.Magus Astrius then joined us and we discussed the events that had befallenhim within Mynydd Myrddin. The Quaesitor was clearly interested in the higherlevels of regio within that place and questioned us as to who from the covenanthad been there before. Quaesitor Galfredas also asked that Magus Astrius actas his hoplite during the investigation. As I needed time to arrange my ownhoplite if I was to accompany the investigation it was agreed that the Quaesitorwould examine the journal records concerning Mynydd Myrddin for the next fortnight.I sent Giovanni to Blackthorn to see if message could be sent to Fulgariaof Narwold covenant but unbeknownst to me this season was the meeting of HouseMercere and no redcap was present within the tribunal. Praeca Eloria spokewith Giovanni and she quickly travelled here to the covenant and offered herservices as hoplite, an offer that I gratefully accepted.

Our Praeca's good nature did notlast for a great length of time however. When she learned of our mission shewas clearly angered that we had not thought to inform her covenant of thesighting of a suspected member of the un-named house so close to Blackthorn.In truth I had assumed that Pontifex Dialectica would have passed messagewhen she sent word to Holy Isle but it is clear that she did not. Mattersbecame even worse on the journey to Mynydd Myrddin. When passing SkenfrithCastle the Praeca was informed that the noble of that place was cursed asa werewolf. Again she angrily questioned us as to why we had not informedBlackthorn, or at the very least the redcaps who sometimes stay there whentravelling. This is no small failure on our part for it is a duty upon allin the order to advise the redcaps of those events that might make their travelless safe. Matters became quite heated for the Praeca chose to make none toosubtle threats of charges being raised against our covenant, although we clearlyconceded that we had been remiss in our duty. We shall see whether anythingcomes of this or whether she seeks only to gain some advantage over us forthe future.

Although it was our plan to investigatethe standing stones where our Imperator had espied the man we suspect of beingan enemy of the order events led to a different conclusion. Questioning theDruid within the Celts' village it became apparent that he knew somethingof this man. Given his reluctance to share such knowledge it was agreed thathe would be taken to Holy Isle and questioned there. We decided that we wouldtry and think of a way of taking him that would not anger the Celts and wouldenable us to continue our investigation within the regio. It was clear thatonly the Praeca had such arts as to make this a relatively simple task butshe said that she would not aid in this matter unless we agreed to make atithe of some portion of the vis from the regio, a request that even werewe minded to agree we could not under our charter. Strangely, following along discussion between myself, Quaesitor Galfredas and Magus Astrius as tohow best to effect the taking of the Druid, our Imperator was heard arguingwith his familiar for some time and at no small volume. I do not know whatthe matter was about for they spoke in the barking and growling that dogsuse but the following morning Quaesitor Galfredas announced that he had dispensedwith the services of my sodalis as hoplite. This is some dishonour to MagusAstrius but I did not press him as to the cause for it seemed that there wasno great anger in Quaesitor Galfredas and he continued to behave with courtesyto my sodalis. As Magus Astrius is my usual hoplite I was happy to appointhim once more and free the Praeca from the burden. Quaesitor Galfredas askedif she would act as his hoplite but she refused claiming that she had othermatters that she must attend to.

With the Quaesitor from Holy Islenow unprotected it was clear that the investigation would have to wait forthe future and it was decided to take the Druid immediately and depart. Theplan was to engineer a confrontation that would allow it to appear that theDruid gave Quaesitor Galfredas no choice but to take him leaving ourselvesas helpless in the matter. Again events did not go to plan for no sooner hadthe attempt began when one of the grogs from Holy Isle slew the chieftainof the Celts. It seemed for a moment that a melee would ensue but Magus Astriusquickly quelled any notions of attack from the Celts by conjuring fire uponhis blade. Once the Druid had been taken clear of the village Quaesitor Galfredasoffered the life of the man who had so rashly ignored his instructions butthe Imperator declined and asked only that he be punished by Holy Isle forhis indiscipline. With the Celts so angry it was clear that we could leaveno grogs within Mynydd Myrddin and thus I fear that we will have some workto do in the future if we are to have as easy a time within that place inyears to come.

Early in the season, whilst wewere away, Magus Theodosius returned to the covenant with news from Hugh,the man that we have placed within Huntley to learn more of Edwin's activities.It seems that no priest has yet been appointed to replace the last and thechurch there remains empty and unused. Edwin himself has grown even more paranoidand now rarely leaves his manor, having doubled the guard. From the descriptionsgiven it seems that at least two of these guards have the taint of the infernalupon them. Although Edwin's night journeys have apparently ended he did makeone trip to London, a journey that only last 3 weeks, of which at least twomust have been spent travelling there and back. The timing would seem to indicatethat he was present around the time of the new king's coronation.

It was Magus Theodosius' beliefthat he might be able to obtain a key to the church from the Rector of Monmouthand he decided to visit with Baron Martin to share some of the fears regardingEdwin, although perhaps fortunately the Baron would not hear any allegationsagainst a man not in his service. On his journey he learned that the Earlof Gloucester had died and that there were rumours that some of the Marchbarons might make a move upon the city. It seems that he told Baron Martinof this and the baron took a number of men to Gloucester to 'protect' thecity for the king. The Sheriff and Captain of the castle were glad of hissupport and welcomed them with no resistance. Hearing reports that Worcesterhad a large force of men on route our sodalis was asked to parley with him.The negotiations were successful and that noble returned to his own landsalthough it sounds like he was less than happy with events. Magus Theodosiushas assured us that there is no chance that he can be identified as a Magusof the order but I must admit to having some concerns as to how deeply heseems to be drawn into mundane affairs. I regret now that I gave my supportto the arrangement we have struck for our landholding for he travels on theedge of the code and it will take but one misstep to lead to disaster.

Autumn

A full Concilium met and we discussedthe events of the summer. It was agreed that Magus Theodosius should see whetherhe can obtain a copy of the key to the church at Huntley but such an investigationwould have to wait until we had learned what we may at Snig's End. Myself,the Imperator and Magus Theodosius confirmed our intention to travel thereearly in the season. There was also some talk of the events in Mynydd Myrddinand the question was raised as to whether we could still investigate the eventsat the standing stones. It is my belief that we could jeopardise the investigationsof Holy Isle and that we should wait until Quaesitor Galfredas had completedhis own inquiry and my sodales agreed. We decided that the three grogs whowere to be stationed there due to their unnatural appearances could not returnto Blackney given our desire to create a mundane barrier between there andthe covenant and that they would instead be posted in the forest under thewatchful eye of Magus Cormoran's amicus.

Our activities for the seasonwere declared. The Pontifex would be studying from the Intellego texts andMagus Cormoran from Corlear's notes. Magus Theodosius would once more travelthe Dean and both myself and the Imperator were learning new spells (althoughfollowing events at Snig's End Magus Astrius decided to study from some personalvis instead). Magus Tiarnan requested three pawns of Herbam vis to study fromand was granted his request. I understand that he spent some time within thefaerie regio during the season but I do not believe that it interfered withhis studies.

We decided that we would takeno grogs to Snig's End with us due to their vulnerability to magical attackbut only Magus Astrius' familiar Drudhuil, my consortis Giovanni (who thePontifex generously loaned an item of magical protection more usually borneby his amica) and Zedekiah of the Kabbalah. We travelled as close as we couldby barge and then continued overland. We were highly cautious as many trapshad been encountered on the path through this dark place in the past and soit proved again. We had avoided a number of pits and snares before some kindof creature was sighted deep within the trees, with small flickering flameswhere its eyes would have been. Although it was quite overcast Magus Astrius'keen eyes identified that rather than a living beast it was some form of statueand he and his familiar quickly approached it, although with a certain amountof stealth. It was quickly revealed that they had been espied by somethingas we saw a large flash of flames surround our sodalis, although his ParmaMagica was sufficient to protect him from them. Magus Theodosius reportedthat he saw the head of the statue turn in the direction of our sodalis andthe flames in its eye sockets briefly flared. As the Imperator swiftly approachedhe was twice more engulfed in magical flame before he conjured a mighty torrentof water to wield against it, although his aim was awry. Once more he wasattacked and his protection must have been pushed to its very limits as hisspell failed and there were clear signs of smouldering on the cloth beneathhis armour. Again the flames struck him but he pressed on, bringing forthwater once more and this time he struck the statue cleanly and with a largecracking side it splintered down one side and the threat was ended. The statuehad a dark countenance about it although there was no magic upon it that wecould see.

Drudhuil once more led us alongthe path and suddenly he was surrounded by flames that burst from the groundto the height of a tall man. The familiar was quick on his feet and leaptthrough the fires which instantly died down. Magus Theodosius viewed it throughhis second sight and says that he saw the shadows of creatures with blackwings within the flames. Finally we reached the clearing and Zedekiah immediatelytold us that he sensed the presence of something evil. I was able to castthe spell 'Sense the Elusive Boundary' and could see a regio boundary, a blackmiasma rising from the ground a few feet into the clearing. Magus Theodosius,whose knowledge of the occult is I believe quite substantial, said that whateverhad created this had great power, likely a demon within the regio. No soonerhad he spoken than all three Magi were alerted to an enchantment of scrying.Casting The Invisible Eye Revealed I could see an eye surrounded by thickoily smoke watching us. Deciding that it would be foolishly dangerous to presson within the regio we turned and followed the path back to the edge of thewood.

As we came to the edge we werealerted to the sound of horses approaching, as has happened on previous visitsto this place. We quickly hid, although in the hurry Zedekiah dropped thepotion of Leap of Homecoming that had been given to him. Fortunately I wasclose enough to pass another to him before the air darkened and we could seean eerie green glow draw near. There was an unearthly shriek, which soundedlike a human at first but ended in a bestial roar. I could see nothing butZedekiah and his expression chilled me to the base of my spine as he lookedfrom his hiding place. He swiftly reached for his potion and stood up, tooka step and disappeared. I heard a rasping, gurgling sound and being so closeI too apported back to the covenant. I was quickly joined by both Magi andZedekiah told us all that what he had seen was a creature from hell stalkingthrough the trees, a heresy of the deceiver. The Imperator reported that hehad felt his Parma Magica assailed and then almost overcome as dread imagesfluttered on the edge of his mind. He believes it likely that to come so closeto swamping his magical defences then the effect must have been of an orderaround the 10th magnitude. On his authority I cast the spell Sense of theLingering Magic upon him and could see that he had been attacked by virulentfire with oily black smoke trailing off it. Of the assault upon his mind therewas no sign - clearly the work of the infernal.

Magus Astrius set forth to recoverhis familiar who had fled on foot from the scene and when he finally returnedthe following morning it was agreed that he would ride forth and see whetherhe could track the riders. Magus Theodosius also set out again, to see whetherhe could get the key to the church at Huntley. From his reports it seems thatthe Rector, a man named Luke, is a worthy type who is somewhat ill judgedby his peers due to his good family connections. My sodalis was unable toobtain the key however. Magus Astrius had more fortune, setting out with atracker in his service and his familiar. At Snig's End they saw a green glowwithin the trees even during daylight and decided it would be foolhardy toapproach. Casting around some way off however he discovered the tracks thathe was looking for and while he did not follow them to the end he stated thathe was sure they led to Red Morley. We agreed that we would infiltrate Huntleyduring spring and investigate the church no matter what. If Edwin was involvedin the raising of this demon and regio then we must move against him and Iwrote a letter to Magus De Camp asking him how best we might raise a chargeagainst him in the mundane sphere should we find suitable evidence, withoutdirectly involving ourselves.

Later in the season Magus Theodosiustook it upon himself to pass through Red Morley, being extremely cautiousto disguise his true identity. It is a small town, not on any market routes,and he heard of nothing suspicious within its boundaries. Indeed it seemsthat the Knight is considered to be of upstanding character and is loyal tothe Baron of Eastnor. The suggestion was raised that Red Morley might notbe the source of the riders. He did hear reports that wolves had been heardhowling in the vicinity of Snig's End however and that peoples animals andlivestock had been behaving skittishly. There have been no tales of wolvesin the area before and this is perhaps worthy of some investigation.

The final matter that I must recordfrom the season was the visit of the Redcap Loretius. He had limited newsas he had just returned from his house meeting at Harco but was still ableto inform us that there had been a few minor uprisings against the new kingbut nothing that threatens his position. We were also told that ArchimagaCrathia has died, news that he thought would interest us as he has borne manyof our messages during our attempted trade with her. He also bore packagesfor myself and Cormoran and I was able to deliver my reports as to the recentdiscoveries regarding the infernal.

Winter

As usual we began with a recountingof the events of the previous season and Magus Cormoran had news of interest.He told us that the infernal wolves within the dell had been heard leavingand moving north through the forest. Although we can not be certain it seemslikely that they made their way to Snig's End for the timing of the eventseems to match what Magus Theodosius had learned. We discussed this issuefor some time with it being noted how similar the situation at Snig's Endwas to that at Lydney in the past. It was agreed that our plan to investigatethe church at Huntley was of the utmost importance and thus I decided to spendthe season inventing a spell so that I might easily manipulate locks withoutdetection. The Pontifex agreed to craft some more potions so that we mightswiftly return to the covenant if danger befell us and Magus Astrius announcedthat he could now learn the Incantation of Lightning and would do so overwinter. Of my other sodales, Magus Tiarnan was tasked with extracting visfrom the aura for the covenant, Magus Theodosius was receiving instructionon how to lead men and Magus Cormoran continued to study Magical Theory fromthe notes of Corlear.

Happily for us all the seasonpassed uneventfully. Our only visitor was Redcap Loretius once more, who broughtnews to me that a meeting of my house had been called at Magvillus next summerand all were required to attend. A ship has been arranged from Chepstow forearly spring and thus as the winter snows melt outside my window I can onlypray that the plan that we have developed to gain entry to the church at Huntleyis a good one for we will set forth in but a few days.