1172

YEAR 1172

Scribed by Theo

Spring 1172 AD

Once again I turn my attentionto transcribing this journal; however I would beg the indulgence of the readerif my style is not quite as fulsome as once it was as I find that my heartis not as light as it used to be. The council meeting started with Mediusannouncing that during his investigation he had discovered that the KabbalistAaron was in fact Gifted. Subsequent to this discovery Medius asked Aaronto join the Order and after discussing what this would mean for Aaron andhis faith, I am pleased to say that Aaron accepted. He has now left the covenantso that he can investigate which House he should join.

After this news, Cormoran reportedthat his mighty scribing abilities had resulted in his creating a spare copyof the spell "Form of the Rainbow Scale". Once last seasons news had beendelivered, Aelfwyn distributed some monies to the Council as there was notenough spare vis to hand out. After this we each stated what our season'sactivities would be, with Aelfwyn creating some more Leap of Homecimng potionsas a service; Astrius studying ignem vis; Cormoran would enchant an item forme; Medius would study the rego texts and I would be about the mundane worldengaging in my normal activities. Tiarnan of course was not present as hewas still engaged with whatever his House had him doing.

Overall it was a quiet seasonwith nothing much of importance to report. I met with the nobility of Walesand arranged for Medius' skull cap to be commissioned, which I believe hewishes to enchant as a talisman. I also had report from the 'bard' concerningthe whereabouts of the others; the 'warrior' had been attached to Normandy'sarmy and was now thought to be in Wales; whilst the 'sorceress' had vanished.Overall this is not the best of news, but I continue with my plans to engagethese beings if they break my peace.

{not reported in the journal:Towards the end of the season I received some news that I had expected buthoped would be a few more years in coming. It seems that Dialectica has arrangedfor her escape from Mythnor and has invoked the Morrigan against me in a 'just'vengeance. One of the worrying aspects of this is that she has spent 50 yearsin that fortress, whilst just 4 passed outside, she now knows how to createand manipulate the passions of man. I was given evidence of this from theLladra, who reported that Dialectica had appeared at the spring and talkedwith one of our guards (which I do not know, but I suspect one of the sergeantsor captains as there remained a man on the wall during this event) - thisguard was asked to watch her enemy (myself) for signs of further betrayalbut in the meantime await her command. Now I feel my timetable is limited,and I must move quicker and more drastically than expected.}

Summer

A few days before the CouncilTiarnan returned from his adventures, I have managed to piece together whathappened and I am impressed by not only his actions to save someone he hadnever met, but also the bravery of the men that accompanied him. I have relatedthis tale elsewhere and will not burden this journal with its retelling.

Various issues were discussedat Council. Medius suggested that he and Astrius investigate Sniggs End tosee what, if any, changes there have been to this evil site. In addition hereminded us that we need to keep a close eye on Edwin of Huntley, as whenhe eventually figures out that Yvonne is gone, he may become more bold. Mediusalso brought up the issue of finding new sources of vis to replace those lost.The final issue raised was by Medius who reminded us that Cormorans sevenyears of Ex Cordis were finally over and he was once again a member of thecouncil in good standing.

Once these discussions were overwe discussed our activities. Aelfwyn was to study creo vis; Astrius was inventinga spell whilst Cormoran declared that he would enhance his already mightymagics by studying the animal texts. Medius set about extracting vim vis forhis own use and Tiarnan, Archimaga Silvania and myself would enter the faeregio in an attempt to travel to the Sky Lord's lost realm.

Of the visit to Snigg's End, thereis little to say, the wood itself remains a dark and unquiet place, the pathsunused and traps unset. The regio still lies at the heart of that place butMedius reported that it was harder to reach then last time. The only eventof note was that whilst there Astrius' ignem magics escaped his control andbadly burnt some of the others with him. There were fortunately no deathsand they returned to be treated by Aelfwyn and Helena. Once those involvedhad recovered from their wounds Medius, Cormoran and Astrius set off to investigatethe Dell. This was an action agreed upon at Council where Medius rightly statedthat we had left this site alone for too long and that a more active formof observation was required to ensure that the known infernal sites near uswould be monitored. This way we would be ready to deal with any problems atthese places before they became too dangerous for us to deal with. Upon examinationof the area around the Dell it seems that no-one had used the site for years.The Dell itself is a small enough clearing in the forest, it is surroundedby many small trees and brambles which makes approaching it difficult, evenseeing through these obstructions is difficult. Within the Dell itself, atits centre there is a single leafless tree, possibly some form of focus, thisshould be investigated further in the future. Drudwyll reports that the earththereabouts smells foul, whilst Medius reports that even during the day andoutside of the Dell there is a first magnitude infernal aura. They then enterthe Dell, initially they detect no obvious regio, however there lies aboutthe place a very old taint of wolves and men. Upon leaving the Dell howeverDrudwyll disappears, Astrius suspects that this must be due to a regio thatthey had failed to note and therefore turns around to cross the boundary again.In so doing he is also transported into the infernal regio, where he findsDrudwyll. Drudwyll had tried to leave but when he failed to do so he decidedto investigate the area, revealing that the scent of man and wolves was muchstronger here but just as old. They both examine the tree at the centre ofthe Dell, in this level of the regio it is much larger and seems more ominous,in fact it may be the cause of the difficulties they had in climbing to thelip of the Dell - as Astrius noted that the roots of the plants would growover him (but not Drudwyll) if he stayed in one place for too long. Once theyfinally reach the edge of the Dell they find that passage through the regiois impossible and so settle down to wait for Medius and Cormoran to aid them.Outside of the region only a little time had passed, with Medius using Petrus'dagger in an attempt to rend the veil, however the regio here is extremelyhard to open and so the dagger was unsuccessful. Indeed it took Cormoran tospontaneously cast a ninth magnitude version of that spell before they couldget through, and even then the boundary was unstable and almost escaped thecontrol of Cormoran's mighty magics and awesome physical prowess. At thispoint both Astrius and Drudwyll manage to leave the regio and they returnto the covenant. Considering what we know of this regio they were very lucky,as from past investigations it seems that the boundary is only easily passablewhen the moon within is full, and this happens very rarely.

Shortly after they had returned,Archemaga Silvania arrived and along with Tiarnan we set off into the faerieregio. The journey to the Sky Lord's realm was a long and difficult one; atone point we spent over three days climbing a single tree! The difficult partof the journey lay ahead of us however, from the top of the tree the startof the path to the palace was formed of clouds and hung in the air over ahundred paces from where was stood. As I had taken the form of an eagle Iflew over there and landed on the cloud steps, it felt very firm and I thoughtthat maybe it could take my weight as a man. I really should have known better,of course this realm is attuned to those that are at home in the sky, whichmost certainly does not include man. Hence when I reverted to my normal form,I immediately fell through the clouds and started on my way back down thetree by the significantly quicker route. It may be worth adding here thatif you ever fall from a significantly high enough point, that after the firstfew exhilarating seconds it quite quickly becomes a bit tedious with onlythe final landing to worry you. Fortunately I never discovered the disadvantagesof this predicament as I managed to take the form of the eagle again and flewback up to join the others. In this way we discovered that only beings athome in the air could continue, I was safe as long as stayed in the form ofan eagle, whilst Tiarnan drank a potion of transformation that Silvania wascarrying, this turned him into a songbird and he too was safe to continue.The archemaga took a slightly larger risk in flying across and landing asshe was, fortunately her fae blood was that of the air and although she didnot find firm purchase on the path she was able to continue if she did notstay in one place for too long. The last part of the journey was uneventfulbut the scenery we saw was magnificent, an entire kingdom made entirely ofclouds, forests, fields, lakes, animals, hills everything, except for theavian denizens themselves. As we approached the palace of the King we allmarvelled in the wonder of just being there, the first mortals to approachthis place in many years. After introductions to the King I asked of him aboon, that he in his turn granted a boon to Silvania. This he graciously did,allowing her permission to return to his court now that she knew the way.Once this was complete we returned home via the same route, which was mucheasier on the way back, but I think Tiarnan was finally glad to have his feetback on solid earth.

With that the season ended.

{not reported in the journal:My discussion with the King was short and to the point, he told me that Iam at the apogee of my power and that my fall lies close by in wait. Thisonly matched what I felt myself but it did give me a certain impetus to finalisemy plans for the near future. I also had a very interesting talk with himaway from the others, concerning the nature of the 'trap', it seems that theother powers involved did this out of love, as directed by Nimue. An interestinginterpretation and one that my bards soul would wish to be true - still aninvestigation into this lies in the future.}

Autumn

This council meeting went veryquickly, with us all reporting on our activities from the previous season.There was additional discussion concerning the Dell and how we might be ableto purify it, with Medius agreeing to write a letter to Petrus to determineif he knew of any way to do this. The seasons activities were: Aelfwyn andTiarnan would study their own vis (corporem and creo respectively); Astriusand Medius were going to be inventing spells; whilst Cormoran would once againstudy the animal texts so that his puissant magics would be further enhanced.Finally I was to visit Cad Gadu and see if my Prima was there.

With the end of the council wewent about our business and the season passed uneventfully.

{not reported in the journal:On my journeys I visited several realms, where I made several discoveries.The first was that Bethwyn would no longer aid me, as due to Dialectica'sintervention the Morrigan's servants have turned against me. The good newsin this was that whilst she and I fought it was plain that neither of us wantedto actually kill the other and we were merely 'going thought the motions'so to speak. In travelling to the fae courts, I discovered that the fae themselvesare powerless to help me beyond their own realms, this was something I hadsuspected but it was still galling to have confirmed. The good news was thatin talking with Turold he remembered a vision he had from many years ago.Without going into details, it seems that I may very well be able to get avery powerful ally in helping me complete another vision, however the mannerof this 'completion' may make it difficult for those who have the key to actuallyuse it. I must weigh the options here before I move.}

Winter

With the turning of the seasonswinter was once again upon us and my time recording this journal drawing toa close. Nothing much was reported at council, other than my report from ourspy in Huntley, which indicates that Edwin is still laying low and has nothired a new priest to take up duties in the church.

With that short piece of newsover we moved onto seasons activities. Aelfwyn was going to invent the spell'Free the Accursed Body', whilst Astrius invented 'The Immaculate Beast'.Medius has decided to open the enchantment on his talisman (the skull cap)and Cormoran would exercise his mighty mind in learning more from the magictheory books. Tiarnan asked to study three pawns of creo vis and I asked tolead the Turb for a single season, this request was denied as Astrius feltthat this might confuse the grogs, hence I decided to attend upon my landholdingsin Skinfrith where I invited various local nobility to a mid-winter feast.

Of brief note, is that the covenant'sSteward Robert died of consumption during the season. Whilst he was neveran obvious man about the covenant he was dedicated and capable, his silenthand directing the affairs of the covenfolk will be missed.

During the season the Redcap Lorretiusarrived with the following news. Of mundane interest, King Henry has establishedmany courts about the country and magistrates dedicated to act in legal mattersfor the crown. The King has also invaded Eire, which as the Irish surrenderedwas a relatively easy task. However Henry has not had everything his own wayas there is rumour of a possible rebellion against the King in France. Athome there is unsettling news that Thomas Beckett (the Archbishop of Canterbury)has been murdered at the King's command, as a result of this the King hasbeen excommunicated.

Of Hermetic interest, Blywythnhas sent news that travel around their covenant has become increasingly dangerousdue to bandit activity and that none should approach them, nor do they wishfor help in dealing with it. Narwold announces that they have two new magi,Magus Matthew and Maga Marissas (the very same from Tiarnan's recent adventure)and that they are continuing to rebuild.

Lorretius also had a letter forMedius from Petrus, but I have not yet learnt of the contents and so I willleave this to next years scribe to detail as my time as recorder of the eventsat Seven Temple draws to a close once more.