1173

YEAR 1173

Scribed by Tiarnan

Spring 1173AD

Winter is often a quiet seasonat Severn Temple, for the ferocious winds and deep snow that blankets thehills hereabouts make it difficult to travel far. Spring, in contrast, tendsto see much more activity, as the Magi here take advantage of the clementweather and the sense of invigoration that it brings to venture forth andput plans into action. Or that is what usually happens, but this season passedalmost without event or activity of note. After a short Council meeting, theMagi all departed to spend their season in laboratory work or other similaractivity.

Little else occurred during thefollowing months, though I learned later that Aron, an associate of Mediusfrom the Kabala, visited the covenant to seek our Quaesitor's advice on whichHouse he should join. I am not privy to Medius' advice on the matter, andAron left a few days later, presumably to travel to the Domus Magnus of hischosen House to seek entry.

Summer

At the Council meeting at thebeginning of the season, Cormoran announced that he had travelled to Blackthorncovenant last season. He had spoken with Praeca Eloria and offered to managethe population of magical fish in Blackthorn's lake in return for a shareof the harvest. Eloria's reaction had been frosty, if not downright hostile.She initially accused him of damaging the site, having convinced his father,who previously tended the fish, to move down to Severn Temple; with his father'sdeath, the future of the vis site was in doubt. After some discussion, Eloriaagreed to consider paying Cormoran if he could return the site to its formerstate, though she insisted that one of her henchmen should accompany him onall of his visits there. Whether her concern was to ensure that he did notsteal anything, or whether she merely wished to learn how he carried out histask remains unclear, but Cormoran clearly felt uncomfortable, as he returnedto the lake only a couple of times during the season and did not manage tofind any magical fish there.

Furthermore, Cormoran admittedthat he had found the fishing along the Severn to be equally unproductive,which meant that he had had to go hungry for part of the season. This createda sense of alarm among the Council, for we all remembered well the dark daysof Cormoran's past, and Aelfwin suggested that Cormoran spend the entire summerfishing in the Severn to ensure that he had sufficient time to achieve a bountifulcatch. Aelfwin also suggested that I accompany Cormoran to lend my knowledgeof the Severn, or perhaps it was really Kai's unrivalled ability to terrorisethe local fish population that he was after. Cormoran initially demurred,claiming that he could not work with me given our past conflicts, but aftersome cajoling, he was persuaded to accept my assistance.

The rest of the meeting passeduneventfully. Medius declared that he planned to travel to Narwold covenantto meet up with his manservant, Giovanni, who had spent the past year investigatingdiabolic cults in London. Theo noted that he planned to spend the season visitinghis landholdings along the Welsh border. Astrius and Aelfwin decided to spendthe season at their studies, experimenting with vis and developing a spell,respectively.

The fishing expedition did notgo well. Normally, spending a season by the river would be a relaxing treat,but almost from the beginning, it was clear that Cormoran was nervous andunsure about the whole process. He repeatedly gave muddled and contradictoryinstructions about his previous expeditions, and we moved spot a couple oftimes without any real sense of purpose. I found this very odd, as Cormoranwas clearly an experienced and skilful fisherman, and he was able to catcha goodly quantity of fish, though none of the magical ones he sought. Eventually,I persuaded him to create an image of one of the fish he was after - a brownspecimen with some pink colouring on the belly - but this did not help usat all, with even Kai failing to glimpse any fish of that type. At one point,Cormoran insisted that we fish along the stretch of river known to be hometo the water-leaper, though we were forced to seek another spot after thatcreature began to menace his coracle.

Six weeks into the season, matterscame to a head when Cormoran, who had become increasingly grumpy during theseason as his hunger grew, accused me of deliberately sabotaging his attemptsto catch magical fish. I replied that this was nonsense, for I had been workinghard and had just as much incentive as he did to ensure that he remained wellfed. As his accusations became bolder, I stated that I had little sympathyfor his predicament as it was entirely of his own making. With that, he declaredour partnership at an end, and he stormed off, though I thought I detectedsome relief as well as anger in his manner. I returned to the covenant andlearned from Aelfwin that, despite the considerable journey, Cormoran haddecided to seek out his Pater in Cornwall to see if he could learn any moresecrets of catching magical fish. I returned to the riverbanks the next morningand spent an enjoyable if ultimately unsuccessful few weeks looking for theseelusive fish.

It is my opinion that the fishdo not currently dwell within the Severn. Perhaps the Lladra will be ableto provide some advice on where they can be found.

Autumn

We briefly discussed Cormoran'srecent actions at the Council meeting, and some voiced fears about what hemay have been doing to sate his hunger in recent months. Still, with Cormoranstill absent, it was decided to postpone any action until he returned fromCornwall. Medius brought greetings from Narwold covenant, which seemed tobe well on the way to recovering from its recent problems, though he madeit clear that Theo was still regarded in a poor light by the Magi there. Astriusand Medius also reported that they had toured the infernal sites at Snig'sEnd and the Dell, but they had found no signs of recent activities by theFells.

[Tiarnan's private journal:At the Autumn Equinox, Theo convened the first meeting of the King's Council,an august body designed to provide him with advice on important matters. Wearingmy finest robes, I made my way out to the spring, where I caught sight ofthe other members of the Council that Theo had selected:

Representing the faerie courtsof Wood, Stone and Water respectively were Yago the centaur, Sir Turold andthe Lladra respectively; a grave-faced lord introduced himself as Mythinor,which I immediately recognised this as the place where Aeddan had said Dialecticaresided; an owl in the branches of a nearby tree announced that he was Ymir,a representative of Gwydion, a pagan spirit connected to bards; a slightlynervous-looking though evidently high-born man turned out to be the Princeof Powys, an important mundane ruler from hereabouts; and finally, ArchimagaSylvania of Cad Gadu covenant stated that she was here to represent the Orderof Hermes.

Theo had scarcely begun toaddress his Court, when another figure emerged from beneath the bows of theforest, and as she pulled back her hood, we saw that it was Dialectica! Imust confess to struck momentarily dumb by the surprise and my confused emotions,for though I was truly glad to see that she had escaped from whatever predicamentshe had recent faced, I could tell from Theo's grim demeanour that her presencecould cause us terrible problems. Dialectica announced herself and claimedher right to sit on the Council, since she was the mother of Aeddan, who allhere considered to be Theo's heir. She implied that she had been greatly wrongedby Theo, and she was concerned to see that Aeddan's future was protected.Theo had spoken little, but he agreed to consider her request, and he askedthe Council to vote on the matter. There was a swift debate, following whichDialectica was elected to the Council, by a vote of 5 to 3, with Mythinor,Ymir and Sylvania casting votes against.

With Dialectica now among us,Theo moved to discuss the reasons why the Council had been convened. He declaredthat he wished to discuss two matters; the first he merely wished us to considerwithout coming to a formal conclusion for the moment, as he felt it was notyet the right time to act, whereas on the second he wished us to debate andprovide him with advice.

The first matter concernedthe actions of the three dread spirits that Theo had inadvertently releasedseveral years ago while on a mission in Annwn. He described the actions ofone of the creatures, Mona, in animating the corpses of long-slain inhabitantsof the marshes and sending them to attack the covenant of Narwold. The issueat hand concerned whether Mona had broken the "King's Peace" by attackingsomeone under Theo's direct protection. The exact circumstances of the eventsthat took place when Astrius, De Camp and Fulgaria entered Mona's lair nearthe covenant of Narwold are still somewhat hazy, though it is clear that Astriusescaped with his life only because Mona decided not to kill him due to hisconnection to Theo. After De Camp and Fulgaria's deaths, Mona animated theircorpses and sent them after Astrius and his grogs, though it was unclear whetherthe death of at least one of the grogs was due to Astrius or these undeadcreatures. The debate seemed rather esoteric to me - it was clear that Theosought a ruling that would entitle him to act against Mona, but he did notwant to declare her an enemy at this time, as he was not ready to confronther yet, and he feared what she might do in the meantime. I sense that hewill have little difficulty getting the Council to agree to his wishes inthe future, though I would hear considerably more about his plans to put anend to Mona before we take any rash actions.

The second matter concernedTheo's son and heir, Aeddan. Theo said that he believed that he did not havelong to live, for the various forces arrayed against him would no doubt draghim down at some point. I was rather alarmed by his unduly pessimistic assessmentof his future, but Theo seemed convinced that his time was short. His greatdesire, he said, was to ensure that Aeddan was put in as good a position aspossible to inherit his Kingdom, so that his work was not wasted. He claimedthat Aeddan's time in the faerie court of Water must come to an end, for thoughAeddan was undoubted safe there, he would not learn the art of mundane kingshipwhile he remained among the fae. To this end, Theo proposed to move Aeddanto a mundane court in Wales, where Theo would ensure that he was recognisedas a High Prince or some similar rank, thereby safeguarding him against anyHermetic repercussions, for he claimed that Dialectica surely meant to destroyhim, and he did not want Aeddan to be endangered by the coming conflict. Withthis, there was some uproar, with Lord Mythinor and Ymir in particular arguingthat, if Dialectica posed a threat, she should be treated as a traitor anddealt with most severely. At this point, Dialectica asked whether the Councilunderstood exactly why Theo feared she would act against him. Some said thatthis was irrelevant, but I argued that it was better for the matter to beset before the Council so that we could act with full knowledge of the factsand circumstances, though I said that we should not pass any judgment on thematter, for I suspected that Dialectica sought to use the power of the Councilagainst Theo, as by calling and investing us with some of his authority, hetoo might be bound by the Council's rulings.

Theo decided that he shouldbe the one to set the matter before us. It was with a resigned countenancethat he described the events that caused the Ceridwen to kidnap Aeddan andDialectica to leave with her apprentice once she found out the reasons forthe spirit's actions. Following Dialectica's departure, Theo had had a vision,most likely inspired by the Morrigan, where he learned that Dialectica's bloodlinewas inimical to his, for she was related to the infamous sorceress of legend,Morgana. Theo claimed that he believed the vision, for it also tied in witha warning given by his brother before he died. Theo did not expand on thismatter, though it was clear that he regarded it as an event of great import.

In the vision, Theo also sawthree versions of his future, with the choice between them being dictatedby his next actions: in the first, Aeddan became a great but cruel King withDialectica at his side, with Theo reduced to rags and eventually being executedon his son's orders; in the second, Aeddan also wore the crown, though hewas merely the puppet of one his advisors, an ancient and crafty Magus thatI took to be the former Primus of House Ex Miscellanea, Lanndolwyn; in thethird and final vision, Theo remained King, though from his furrowed browand severe expression, he had suffered much, though Aeddan seemed to havebeen protected from it all. Theo stated that the three options representedthe consequences of leaving Aeddan with Dialectica, handing him over to Lanndolwynand placing him with the faerie court of Water, respectively.

With this knowledge, Theo haddecided to pursue Dialectica, and he tracked her down to a castle in magicalregio, ruled over by the same Lord Mythinor who sat with us. Dialectica andTheo had both claimed the right to be Aeddan's guardian. They agreed thatLord Mythinor should be the judge of the matter, and after hearing their cases,he decided in favour of Theo. It was here that Theo admitted that he had facedone of his greatest and darkest decisions - he asked Mythinor to keep Dialecticaas a prisoner, for he knew if she was set free she would claim Aeddan backas her rightful Hermetic apprentice. Four year went by here in the mundaneworld, yet a full fifty passed in that magical place, and Dialectica, fortifiedby years of study of her magical arts, managed to escape, which explainedher return to Severn Temple.

I must admit that I found thetale very uncomfortable. In truth, I knew something of it already, but I hadnot realised the full scale of Theo's betrayal of Dialectica. Despite Theo'sclaims to the contrary, I do not believe that Dialectica freely entered intothe agreement to have Mythinor judge their respective fitness as Aeddan'sguardians, for it is clear that she would not have chosen to do so had hadany other option open to her. Mythinor also refused to elaborate on the matter,which reinforced my view that Theo had effectively stolen Aeddan and lockedaway his mother. To seal the matter, Theo also admitted that Dialectica hadappealed to the Morrigan for vengeance, who had agreed that her case was just.Having finished this part of the story, Theo stated that he had decided totake the third of the three options shown to him in the vision, placing Aeddanwith Nimue at King Llyr's court.

We then discussed the wisdomof placing Aeddan in a mundane Welsh court. After much discussion of how hecould be protected from Hermetic, infernal and pagan enemies, it was decidedby a vote of 8-1, with only Dialectica dissenting, to do so. This vote inmany ways binds Dialectica to the enterprise, for she cannot go against thewill of the King's Court without incurring the wrath of those members whoare already looking for a reason to get rid of her. Indeed, Lord Mythinorand Ymir openly proposed that the Court should either imprison or slay Dialecticsgiven the potential danger she posed to Theo, but after some prompting, Theodeclared that he would not hear their arguments. With this business settled,the Court broke up, with all leaving to go their separate ways. I managedto speak with Sylvania before she left, but she seemed as surprised and uncertainof the implications of the whole business as I did. I think the decisionsthat were taken will have great importance, and they must be carried throughcarefully so that our enemies to not have chance to turn the changed circumstancesto their advantage.]

Little else happened that season.

Winter

The Council meeting at the startof the season proved fractious and divisive, with accusations of treacheryand disloyalty bandied about freely. Cormoran was still absent on his tripto Cornwall, so the remaining members of the Council met to discuss the previousseason. Theo began by describing his trip to check up on the free miners inthe Dean and Edwin at Huntley, which proceeded uneventfully and did not revealany new information.

Theo then described the meetingof his King's Court at the Autumn Equinox, outlining the purpose of the bodyand matters it had been asked to consider. Medius and Aelfwin questioned thewisdom of calling such a body together so close to covenant, particularlygiven the power of some of the entities involved. Medius suggested that theproximity of the Court could have placed the covenant in danger, though thisseemed a little like scare mongering based on an insufficient appreciationof the facts to me. Aelfwin reminded Theo that he had recently been judgedExcordis, which required him to seek the Council's permission to undertakeanything other than routine actions during each season. Theo apologised forhis oversight in not informing the Council of his intention to summon theCourt, and argued that he had been fully prepared to take responsibility shouldthe Court have proved dangerous. At this point, Medius declared that he wishedto raise a formal charge of Exlegis against Theo, arguing that Theo had wilfullydisregarded his duties under the charge of Excordis. This appeared to be anexcessive step to me given that the problem was one of oversight rather thandeliberate deception, and the punishment under Exlegis seemed very harsh.The charge was swiftly rejected by a vote of 4-1, with only Medius himselfvoting in favour.

We were about to turn to othermatters when a messenger arrived stating that Dialectica had returned to thecovenant and wished to address the Council. Of course, we adjourned the sessionwhile she was summoned before us. After a hearty welcome, Dialectica explainedwhat had happened to her in the intervening years. Theo did not contest herstory, and it was clear that most members of the Council were shocked anddismayed by what they heard. Dialectica stated that she did not wish to pressany charges against Theo for the loss of her apprentice or her imprisonment,partly because she claimed that Theo now enjoyed the protection of variousmagical and faerie powers, which could potentially do great harm should hebe hurt. She also asked that she be allowed to return to the covenant, thoughshe laid no claim to her former position as Pontifex. With her petition finished,she retired from the room to allow us to debate these matters.

The debate itself was fairly shortand to the point. Boiling with rage, Astrius accused Theo of betraying histrust in him, forsaking their friendship and caring nothing for his oath tothe Order. He proposed a motion of Exsilium, but Aelfwin said that he wouldnot allow it to proceed, for cool heads rather than hot tempers were neededto consider the matter, especially given that Theo enjoyed the protectionof the powers Dialectica had mentioned. Astrius demanded that he be allowto raise the motion, and he challenged Aelfwin to Certamen over the matter.Aelfwin agreed, but he conceded the contest almost immediately. Astrius madethe charge, but Aelfwin used his authority as Pontifex to veto the motionbefore it could be heard. I was slightly surprised that Medius allowed thisto happen, though very glad that he did so. Aelfwin wisely suggested thatwe all take time to consider the news he had just heard before rushing tojudgement. He did, however, propose two more motions. First, that Dialecticabe invited to rejoin the covenant, which was defeated even though all butTheo voted in favour, as such a vote requires unanimity; and second, thatTheo be charged with Delictum for failing to inform the Council of the meetingof the King's Court, which also failed as the vote ended in stalemate, withAstrius and Aelfwin voting in favour, Theo and I voting against and Mediusabstaining. With that, Aelfwin called an end to the Council and we went aboutour business.

I know Dialectica stayed in thecovenant for at least a few more days, as she joined us to hear the news ofLoretius the redcap. As usual, he brought new both Hermetic and mundane. Inmundane circles, the most dramatic news concerned attempts by the French andScots to wrest lands back from the grip of the English King, Henry, thoughboth attempts ended in bloody failure, on the battlefields of Normandy andNorthern England, respectively. Closer to home, he brought news that severallone travellers such as pilgrims and merchants had gone missing on the roadsbetween Gloucester and Bristol, which suggested that criminal gangs (or worse)were active in the area. The most pressing Hermetic news concerned an urgentrequest from Trevalga covenant, where one of their members, Maga Alicia, hadbeen kidnapped by a tribe of bestial men while on a vis hunting expedition.Astrius, Theo and Medius immediately declared that they intended to traveldown to Cornwall to lend their aid, and Dialectica agreed to join them. Ido not know the full details of their trip, but they returned a week or solater having been successful in their mission. Theo managed to lure the creaturesfrom their network of caves, creating a distraction while Dialectica and Astriussnuck inside to rescue the captive.

So, with winter still grippingthe land around us, my journal for the year comes to an end. I can scarcelyremember the covenant at such a low ebb, with the Council split and distrustful,former friendships turned to bitter enmity and the prospect of future conflictson the horizon. I cannot imagine that the events of the past few weeks willbe swiftly or easily forgotten, and I hope that we do not spend our time andeffort fighting each other, rather than our common enemies. Time will tell,though for now I find it difficult to muster much optimism.