1230

Scribed by Maximus

Spring 1230 AD

The council met and we discussed the actions of the previous season. The fight against the demon in the regio dominated our discussion and we tried to determine the magnitude of the two demons that we had encountered that were related with the diabolist Benedict. We determine that the rams headed demon in the regio that we defeated was probably of the seventh or eighth magnitude but the red faced horned one that seems to be Benedict’s minion might be of the ninth, which threatened our Aegis of the hearth. After that discussion Marius told us his future plans he declared he intended to separate from the law of the church the universities and place them under secular law. He also said that he would set up royal guilds to be available for the needs of the country whilst granting benefits for members. He brought a smile to Lysimachus’ face when he said he would invest heavily in Gloucester to endow the college there with a regal building and library. When I asked about the rumors of the Hanseatic league being in league with the devil he said it was probable that this was just the mutterings of various nobles from around the Baltic who were jealous of the power and wealth these merchants had accrued, but that he would keep an eye on the situation to ensure that no demonic influence comes to England's shores. Monies and vis were then distributed to all in attendance and we determined our seasons activities.

A few days into the season a man in Gloucester colours came to the main gate and passed message that the Earl has requested that I investigate a case for him as a prisoner of a knight had invoked the King’s new law and called on the protection of a hermetic scholar. I traveled to Gloucester to find out more information and was informed that tis incident had happened in the county of somerset in the village of Chippenham. The knight of the village was called Stephen and I was informed by the Earl DePercy that hr was a bit of a thick and evil tempered man. The Earl invited me to dine with him and I had a lovely meal of game bird and a delightful Perry of Pesoun was presented. During the meal I was drawn into a discussion about the order with some house knights and I tried to keep the conversation light but I am sure I confused the knights a lot as I was not very good at being duplicitous. I was given a guide called Harold who seemed very good with a wagon and knew of the villages location who took us to the village of Chippenham. On the way there we stayed at Frampton in a nice inn where the bread was well baked and fresh, We also stayed at the town of Berkley but even though the town was larger the quality of the Inn and especially the food was nondescript, bordering on poor and I will definitely be seeking alternative accommodation if we ever go into that town again, I mean how hard can it be to have fresh bread and cheese that you could not hammer in nails with. The only other place of note we stayed at was the market town of Chipping Sodbury which provided us with a very nice mushroom pasty. We arrived in Chippenhham which was a reasonably sized village with its own smithy and a small b ridge over a river and a fortified manor, We passed many strips of verdant land being worked by peasants and so it would of been fairly safe to say that the knight was well off. On our entering the village there was a stir of excitement as people were obviously in an agitated state for some reason and must have seen my arrival as the final chapter in the troubles that had been afflicting it. We met Sir Stephen who invited us to stay in the manor and I graciously accepted his offer. I did notice that the blacksmith watched us go up to the manor, he was a big man and I would not wanted to of upset him without a couple of men to protect me.Sir Stephen was in his early thirties and seemed pleasant company at dinner, he told us the tale, The was a young woman, skilled with herbs that visited the Village from time to time but recently she had come to the village and an argument had broken out between the blacksmiths wife and the girl, who was called Blanche. The knight continued to tell me that Blanche must have laid a hex on the wife as she later the next day broke out in boils and died three days later. I was informed there were three witnesses to the fight, the blacksmith himself and two other men, The motive described to me was that Blanche wanted the blacksmith as a husband for herself and so had disposed of the obstacle to her goal. Sir Stephen had presented me with what he saw as an open and shut case and hoped I would give judgement at the dinner table between courses of soup and fish, I had to disappoint him though and stated I would want to hear the evidence myself.

I met Blanche and although I did not recognize her as a member of the order she swore to me that she was and that she was the apprentice of a maga Daphne, another maga who I had never heard of but that would not be too unusual with those magi who live in the wilds , outside of covenant. She appeared as a straggly woman whose wrists and ankles were obviously sore from the tight leather binds the knight had commanded that she be restrained in. She was in here late twenties with long blond hair covered in grime, she was very attractive and had a very delicate nature apart from her gift which Duncan informed me later presented to him as a feeling of resentment or vengeance. She confirmed verbally that she was a member of ex-miscellanea and I discussed the charge with her. I was not sure she was a member of the order and asked permission to cast magics on her to confirm the fact and confirm her innocence of the charges but she refused. when questioned about the parma she did not know anything about it and I was in two minds about whether she afforded protection under the kings law. I determined to sleep on the matter, The next day magus Renwick arrived and confirmed that she was a member of the order who he had a special care for. Leaving the girl in a small room under Renwick’s protection and the door guarded by my grogs I went to interview the witnesses. The blacksmith, an old man called Martyn and a peasant farmer called jack all confirmed the story but it was the young woman with Martyn that gave the most interesting testimony, it was apparent that all the women in the village resented Blanche due to her looks and flirting with their men folk. I went back to the manor and when I expressed to Stephen that there was little or no proof that it was witchcraft that killed the woman and could just be a coincidence. Seeing that I was probably going to acquit Blanche of the crimes she was accused of , Stephen tried a different tack and tried to accuse Blanche of not being a member of the Order of scholars, he stated that she was a woman, could not write and knew nothing so how could she be a scholar. I told him I would determine if his claims were accurate and went back into the small room Blanche was being kept in. To determine if she was a Magus I asked Renwick to step out but he refused wanting to protect the girl from magical questioning. I asked her about Cad Gadu where she would have to of gone to swear in as a member of Ex Miscellanea but before she could answer Renwick guilelessly tried to give her the answer, I then asked her about Erin and the robes he was wearing, she could not describe them and I then stated that she was not a member, at this she broke down and admitted that she was not, but that she also had nothing to do with the blacksmith’s wife’s demise. Renwick also then admitted lying to protect Blanche and I then stated that I would confirm the tale with magics and cast Intellego magics to confirm the woman's story. She was not lying about the charge of witchcraft and so as an innocent I determined to assist her. I suggested to Renwick that she could be claimed as amica to him and thus be afforded the same protections as himself under the law. I explained the responsibilities of taking an amica to him and he readily agreed to my solution. I then explained the situation to Sir Stephen and told him he was free to complain to the Earl which he stated he would do. I then escorted Blanche to the covenant as Renwick had asked if she could be given protection of living in the covenant and I had agreed to such as having a pretty woman like Blanche in the covenant will brighten up all the Magi’s days. I told Renwick that as he had tried to obstruct justice I would have to bring charge of lying to a quaesitor, he said he was prepared to pay the fine as Blanche was safe and that was what was really important to him.

The rest of the season passed without incident.

Summer

At the council meeting Lysimachus reported the good news of the growth of the college in Gloucester. He said that they were trying to lure masters from Oxford and Cambridge universities to join the college and that the library although not yet completed, would be magnificent, possibly one of the greatest buildings in the country.

I explained about my case during the previous season and seeing that everyone wanted to go to the symposium at blackthorn I agreed to stay in the covenant so a magus was present to direct the grogs in case of an emergency.

Petrus reported about his findings that in his investigation of the aura a subtle magic remained. It consisted of an unstructured Rego component which led him to the conclusion that it was caused by a magical accident. He also stated that the tidal flow of magic was now flowing out from the spring and not in as when Petrus was living at the covenant. Petrus then offered his services in constructing a ritual to escape the upper levels of the regio if the covenant was to fall into it again. offers that he can develop a spell to help escape if the covenant fell into the upper level again but he could not do it in summer as he was giving a talk about aurae at the symposium. During this discussion we talked about spirits and elementals and whether the Lladra was fae or elemental or a bit of both, which interested Lysimachus.

Although I was not at the symposium i will report here the themes and talks that were presented at it. There were four speakers at the symposium, Petrus who spoke on his theories on auras and regios. Kedrick who lectured on the nature of beasts, Edith offered a talk on her understanding of herbs and finally there was Alicia who offered an interesting view on the Harmonising of effects of muto,rego and perdo techniques.

Surprisingly no one went to Preca Ediths talk and so she went herself to Petrus lecture which most of the attending Magi went to. Lysimachus and Jolyon went and listened to Alicia's talk and Astrius was the sole attendee to Kendricks talks but as they both love animals that rapidly turned into a discussion rather than a proper lecture. What transpired from that discussion was a theory that it would be possible to summon a creature with certain traits already formed in it such as a dogs willingness to follow orders. Alicia taught that she did not understand why there were five techniques when Rego, Muto and Perdo seemed so alike in many ways maybe there was a parent technique they all inherited from. Petrus lectured about his theories concerning regios and much was learned by those who attended. I was very jealous when I heard that Petrus was talking as regios are a popular method of magi evading justice.

The season at Severn temple passed without incident and was very peaceful being at the covenant all alone.

Autumn

We met that morning at council and Marius started the proceedings with a report about what had been happening in the wider world. he told us that the Emperor Frederick had reached an accord with the pope and was no longer excommunicated. He also told us that the inquisition was established and working near the City of Toulouse in southern France to root out the remains of the Cathar heretics. The Cathars would be offered the opportunity to recant but if they refused they would be burnt at the stake. The powers of the Bishops to judge these cases had been turned over to the inquisition by order of the Pope, a move the Bishops were apparently unhappy about.

We talked about Petrus’ offer to develop the spell to escape the higher regio and although Fabius and Marius were pensive about it we decided as a council to allow him to go ahead and create the spell for the good of the coven folk and ourselves.

A few days into the season I took the boat around England to near Narwold covenant with the intention of learning spirit magics from the magus Fergus. I would not see Severn temple till next year.

Winter

I was told what happened at the council and so I report it here. Husam reported on his successes in the Bristol operations, He had successfully set up a house of courtesans which will will use as a base of operations and a centre for information gathering in that fell city. He told us of the gang structure in the city that consisted of an East side and West side gang. He also reported that there had been no attempt to extract monies through extortion yet. Marius offered an extra thousand silver pennies for further expansion of the business. Lysimachus reported that the ritual had been created but was untested it was of the fifth magnitude and of the form and technique of Rego and Vim. He said Petrus would scribe it into the library so that we could easily learn it and in return we would give him a copy of the the Aristotle text that I gave to Lysimachus. Marius asked that his son be given a place in Severn temple when he passed his gauntlet and they talked about the chances of Marius becoming primus Jerbiton and what the implications would be.

The rest of the season passed uneventfully in the covenant.