Scribed by Theodosius
Spring 1149 AD
As I sit here at the Council table writing these lines, I find it hard to reflect on all that has happened to Severn Temple. In just over a single season our council has been halved and the covenant has most definitely been sent spinning back into Spring. I still do not understand fully what happened to bring about the end of Madoc, Turold and Ruaridh - one small, petty argument over a simple lie and the three of them are now dead. That makes Aelfwin the longest serving member of Council at six years, and myself the oldest member! If the entire thing was not so lamentable and disastrous I think I would be laughing. Of the previous season I will add nothing to Astrius' words, except to say that although I am shocked and dismayed at what happened I still trust that Turold and Ruaridh worked for the best interests of this covenant.
The season itself started on a crisp, sunny day, much at odds with our mood at Council. We talked of little other than our seasons work, other than that Clifford (Turold's ex-apprentice) had abided by our request not to leave the covenant and that Aelfwin would use his help in the laboratory. Astrius reported that he had successfully developed the light spell we talked of last season. We also discussed the possibility of going to Blackthorn to register the Heart of the Forest as a Vis site, but it was decided that with bandits upon the road it would not be safe to do so. As for our season's work, Astrius would study the Aquam texts, Aelfwin would extract vim vis and I would seek out the Heart of the Forest as there was no longer any within the covenant that knew of it's location. At the same time we said that during the year, Astrius and myself would work upon our Parma Magica and Aelfwin would practise his affinity with potions.
Cormoran, although not yet a member of this covenant and therefore not at Council decided that he would spend this season about the covenant being trained in how to use the sword, a weapon he has never been able to afford before. Nor, I would have thought, would he have been able to find a sword for someone his size to wield. It was shortly after this that Cormoran was sparing with the Castellan, when the Castellan decided to show off his magical protections. Much to his surprise and our eventual dismay, Cormoran's blow landed full upon his person, although the Castellan was unharmed it appears that the enchantments in the sword and tabard had faded. Upon discovering this we thought to check the rest of the covenant's magical items, it turns out that all of the items made by Turold had ceased to function. Both Aelfwin and Astrius had heard of this sort of thing happening before, it seems that with some magi their magic is so strongly bound to them that it 'dies' when they do. This has bereft the covenant of many powerful and useful magical items. Yet another strike of bad luck against us all. Still on the plus side, at least we discovered this now, rather than when using the items would have been critical. Cormoran has only just arrived and he has already helped us - although inadvertently.
Later on in the season whilst I was about in the forest, Dialectica paid us a visit; she had come to return Madoc's belongings to us. A decent gesture on her part as Blackthorn knew that Madoc was no longer a part of this or any covenant and I would have thought could quite fairly have claimed his belongings for themselves. Anyhow, within his packs there were apparently three large sacks of Vis, to be exact 31 pawns of vim Vis! When I consider Madoc's arguments and stalling over paying the covenant the vim Vis he owed I am amazed at this seemingly blatant act of duplicity. There was worse to come however, Aelfwin tried to determine where the Vis had come from and randomly chose a pawn of Vis from each bag - he discovered that the original form for this Vis was acorns! Madoc had been going to the Heart and taking its Vis from it without informing us. So not only did he lie to us, but he stole from us as well - we do not know for how long, but I would imagine for the previous four or so years. I hope that we never see the likes of him within this Council again - we have enough problems without one of our own working against us. I wonder did this theft have anything to do with Idris' warning to him? Well I'll never know now.
As for my travels, well I set off and headed towards Blackney, as I do like to start my season's travels by going and relaxing with the good folk there. From there we headed towards the southern part of the wood, we knew only that the Heart was in this area of the forest, but so is the Dell - I made very sure not to go anywhere near this area. I talked initially to an old Chestnut tree, it informed me of the direction the Heart lay in but that the path was hidden - if I was meant to find it I would. Talking with trees is an interesting and rewarding experience I have found, but time does seem to fly by when I am immersed in conversation. When I came round from the spell it was already night, so we set up camp and I told some stories to keep us all entertained. During the evening Ferret (one of our scouts and heavily fae touched) and Dylan spotted a Cor hiding in the trees. I thought little of it as I vaguely remember that these creatures wander the woods when the fae season of Winter is ascendant. However not long after, Ferret and the others spotted many more of them in the trees, along with many wolves moving through the shadows. What this presaged I had no idea, but as they made no move upon us I bade the guard to remain still. Then a small figure wearing a dark mask approached the edge of the shadows; she said (she seemed to have a young girls voice) that she had a message for me and that I should approach her. Obviously I was a little concerned by this and I was not going to go into the darkness with the wolves and Cors about the place, so I approached to near the edge of the firelight and said that she could give me the message there. Unfortunately, she was either not affected by the weak light this far from the fire, or I had stepped to close to the shadows, she reached forward and touched me. The next thing I knew the woods were whistling past me at an incredible speed and the land about got even darker and colder - as if the world spun about me and I moved not a single step. Then I stopped and found myself on a dark hill with a single stone atop it. There I was given a message about a vision of my future - a warning if you will. Once I had received this I was sent straight back to the covenant only to discover that they had been warned of my disappearance and Aelfwin had left for Blackthorn to get help from Sylvania. Sylvania had herself arrived and left in the time I was gone, it seems she has little sway over the Unseelie folk and was going to fetch the Merinitan Quaesitor from Loch Leglean, Lynaris.
Of course I did not wish to waste the Quaesitor's time but neither Astrius nor myself could think of a way to get message to her to stop her coming. As it happened Lynaris could obviously travel exceptionally quickly, she arrived shortly after I had returned. She was kind enough to ask how I fared and then took her leave.
I went back out into the forest to continue searching, but other than many more conversations with the trees of the Dean nothing exciting or informative happened and as the season drew to a close I returned to Severn Temple.
[Theo's private journal: What really happened in the woods? A few small details were left out of the official records when I described being taken to the dark hill. Obviously this was the Morrigan's hill and it seems that the small woman or girl was Bethwyn, as I talked with her I discovered that Primus Tytalus had taken her. He had brought her here and killed her, but it seems that her death was withheld and she was transformed into a fae. What her true nature is, either Morrigan puppet or some strange fae creature, I have no idea, nor do I think I ever will. However much more disturbing news awaited me. As I stood there I saw a figure start to appear within the stone that marks that hill, it was Ruaridh. With his eyes entirely black he told me of a vision that 'had been seen', a vision of myself entering Swallowcliff and facing the serpent that killed Audacia and bringing back her skull. Apparently the serpent guards something, a key to understanding or evidence about the suspected corruption within House Tremere. Ruaridh asked me to take up his sword, apparently he had broken it at some point, the spirit within dying at that time - he said that he was willing to become the new spirit within the blade, if it gave him a chance of striking at House Tremere. All he asked for was that I try to help Audacia, that if possible I bring back her skull to the hill so that she can be freed.
Now I have no proof that what he spoke was truth or lies, but on past experience of Ruaridh and on the small hope that a spirit can be saved from evil I agreed. It also occurred to me that having such a tool might well be useful if ever I was to enter such a place. On the other hand I knew that accepting the blade would bind me to the Morrigan, not something I cherished (especially after what happened to Astrius) but something that had to be done.
Ruaridh then mentioned something about a prophecy and hoped that he was wrong, but my mind was elsewhere at the time. Once I had agreed the light about the place changed, although I have little recollection, and Bethwyn offered me the sword I had seen Ruaridh use. Then I was returned home.
The worst thing about the entire event was the fact that I could not talk this over with Astrius. I know his feelings towards the Morrigan, and to an extent he is right, but if it helps fight a greater darkness then so be it.]
Summer
The first, happy order of business at the Council meeting was to accept Cormoran as a member of this covenant. One of his first acts was to offer to the covenant an exceptionally large pearl, with the magical property of being able to purify a liquid! This has been put to good use by being placed in the covenant's well - thereby giving us safe drinking water, and the happy additional benefit that the beer we brew has never tasted sweeter. A most generous gift indeed. It was also decided that Cormoran's lab would be at the top of the tower next to Astrius.
I reported over my lack of success to find the Heart, which was hardly unexpected, in truth I expect to have to work to gain the Dean's acceptance and this may take some time.
For our seasons work Astrius will once more study the Aquam texts, it seems he has some plans for working in the element that few within his House study. Aelfwin would study the Corporem texts and Cormoran would read the journal as a covenant's service (oh, he would also be joining Astrius and myself in working on our Parmas). Whilst I would try to get to know the lay of the land within the forest with a hope of working to gain it's trust.
Whilst I was journeying the covenant had two visitors. The first was Quaesitor Yania, she came to finish her investigations and to release the sancti of Turold and Ruaridh - the pair of them have been declared dead, with no proof that they were involved in the attack on the Redcap or the death of Ianeous. Madoc has also been declared dead but what happened to him is unknown. Their cases, along with that against Venius, will be heard at the next Tribunal.
Later in the season the second visitor was the Redcap Loretius. He delivered the following news. Of mundane interest the King has begun to buy land from the church at a paltry price, apparently some dissent within the church is allowing him to do this. The abbey at Tintern has been re-consecrated, the Dean of the abbey has heard of rumours of an evil in the forest and an expedition is being mounted. There is some suspicion that Yvonne of Micheldean may be involved in this. Considering her past, her significant influence over mundane matters is very suspect. Finally the English King has won a significant victory over the Scots, so it seems the English prosper in both Scotland and France. Of Hermetic interest, there were two letters, one for Astrius an invitation to explore the old Vis sites of Moorstow, the second for the council from Jordael. My Pater was informing us of a possible new member to the Council, a young Quaesitor called Medius. Jordael encouraged us to accept his application as this may help stave off an investigation or even dissolution of the covenant at the Tribunal. Finally Clifford sent message to Shaun of Merinita, an old friend of Turold's - I assume over the issue of who will continue Clifford's apprenticeship.
What of my season out in the woods of the Dean? Well it was eventually successful; I gained the support of a guide who would show me the way into the Heart on the condition that we planted the acorns instead of using the Vis. At Council it was decided that as we were not going to get access to the vis anyhow and that this may in the long run help strengthen the magic of the forest I should accept the guides help. I do hope in the future, when our goodwill has been seen to see if this Council can reap somewhat of the rewards of the forest - after all not all acorns become oaks.
During this season, when I was within the covenant Cormoran approached me and reminded me that we were to go and capture the Vis from the Boar tide. This we did and subsequently gained three pawns of Aquam Vis. I must add here that I am most impressed with Cormoran's proficiency with magic - although he is only newly graduated he is able to enact spontaneous spell effects that the rest of us certainly could not manage, so once again we are able to harvest vis from the Severn.
[Theo's private journal: After spending more time in the south, mainly learning which landmarks to use to make sure that I go nowhere near the Dell. I decided to go north to go and speak to the walking tree that was mentioned in this journal. This tree is in fact a particularly ancient oak, generally the older they are the more intelligent they are. However I was not ready for what I sensed when I cast my spell, this was not only an old oak, but it was a truly intelligent oak, it was already 'awake' and seemed to be remarkably friendly, if somewhat reserved. To gain each others trust, it decided to set me a task - namely to go and talk to the hind in the forest, a hind with golden eyes, apparently this hind is as important to the health of forest as the Heart. Accepting the task, we set off to find her, Ferret remembered that there were many deer tracks to the south west of our position and so we headed that way to start our search. Hunting in such a large party is a tiresome business, but searching for a particular, probably magical, hind I expected to take ages - certainly the rest of the season. Much to my surprise however we found her after only a few days, so I can only surmise that she knew I was looking and came to find me. She wanted to know if she could trust me, thinking that honesty would be the best approach I said that I could think of no reason that would convince her. Other than the fact that I was the guardian of the spring, to which she asked if I was going to extend my guardianship to the forest? Considering I have very little idea what is involved in guarding the spring, extending this to cover the entire forest seemed a bit daft, so I replied that I could not do so currently. In the end she told me a brief tale of the forest, a tale of loss and destruction at man's hand, also that the acorns from the Heart are a potent power for renewal, that with them being planted the forest could not only hold it's own against man, but possibly grow. The hind then told me that she knew the path to the Heart and would show me if I promised to plant the acorns through the forest - without the Council's permission I obviously could not do that. However we did part agreeing to try and earn each other's trust.
Ah yes, one other thing. The hind also told me that she was unwilling to show the path to the Heart as she had been betrayed. It appears that she had shown Raegwulf the way and he had in turn shown Madoc - on the understanding that Madoc would spread the acorns through the forest. Obviously he had not, he had kept the acorns and in so doing not only betrayed his friends at Council, but his travelling companions, including his brother and the very forest about us. No wonder Idris was angry with him! I hope his spirit finds no rest and it walks lost between the worlds until he has redeemed his betrayals.
After talking to the Hind we returned to the old oak, where he asked what I had learnt. Conflict, loss, betrayal by man, and that I had been reminded of the link between acorn and forest. That was my answer, which the oak seemed content enough with. We then talked for a long time, during which I got more and more worried. This oak knew far too much about magic, not only that but of the nature of the Order, this could mean that it was connected to someone within the Order - more than likely a member of my House or had connections outside of the Order, like with Diedne. That was a route I did most certainly not want to take - even knowing of such things is enough to get me burnt by those bastards Dionysus and Ponrius. I was even more worried when he asked if I would like to meet his 'Other' - he could take me there immediately if I said yes. Obviously I said no, there was little trust between us as yet. So we agreed to continue talking, the oak then surprised me further by asking after Ruaridh! I told him of his death and the connection with the Morrigan. The oak enquired into his death, and desperately wanting to know more of what I had taken onboard the previous season, I mentioned that he had a sword. Just the mention of that obviously worried the tree and it asked to know more of the sway of the Morrigan on the Dean. During our talk of the nature of the Morrigan and the Anu, I obviously gave away too much of my interest in the subject and he guessed of my connection. Whilst connected to the oak I could feel it's mind, like a vast green presence at the borders of my own mind, at this stage it's attention was diverted - it was like nothing I had felt before, it simply was not with me but still there. I later came to the conclusion that it was talking with it's 'Other'. It appears that this 'Other' was concerned that things in the Dean were more worrying than it expected and wished to talk to me at once. However as I was still obviously concerned he then told me that he was in fact a familiar! Not only that but he was the familiar to Llandolthwyn - an exceptionally old magus of my House who had twice been Primus! The last I knew of him was that he had left the House before the recent purge; I also knew that Jordael had told me he was a wise and powerful Magus. Considering the old adage, 'in for a penny, in for a pound' - I thought, why not, it's not everyday you get to meet such a famous person. So I agreed and was transported there by the oak, or I suppose by Llandolthwyn through the oak.
Once again I felt the world spinning about me as I was transported across an unknown distance into a beautiful glade with a large pool in the centre. From behind me came Llandolthwyn, his appearance was rather shocking as he appeared to be made of wood with oak leaves for hair! He immediately asked me what deal I had made with the Morrigan. At first I was unwilling to tell him everything, but he could obviously help me if he chose, and in the end it came down to being desperate to talk to someone about it and offer me hope of balancing my own path. When he heard of the sword, he reminded me that the Morrigan was very good at manipulating people and getting them where they were weakest but the best way to counter the Morrigan was by dealing with the Anu.
We talked of the Heart and advised me that the best way to favour the Anu was to plant the acorns, thereby increasing the sway of the Anu not only over myself but also over the entire forest. When I look back at what has happened to Severn Temple in recent years, I wonder how much of the death and destruction that has afflicted us has been influenced by the Morrigan having such a strong grip within the covenant. I am determined that I will not be the same, I will not bring down such destruction upon my friends - I must find a way to deal with the Anu.
Llandolthwyn gave me a piece of heartwood that he said I should give to the Hind if I wanted to be shown to the Heart. We then talked of the Tribunal and he decided to go and talk to Jordael for more information. With that my interview was over and he sent me back to the oak - I had been gone just over two days.
The next day we returned to the covenant and I called a Council meeting. At this we discussed the Morrigan, the acorns and the Anu. I explained that without the Hinds help I would not be led to the Heart and the Vis is lost to us anyhow. Therefore I might was well promise to spread the acorns in the hope that the Anu would be strengthened and the Morrigan weakened.
Hence we ventured back into the forest. Only a few days into the forest we were awoken at night by Dylan's hounds - they were running off into the forest and Dylan was running after them. The rest of us quickly got up and followed them, they led us into a small glade at the centre of which stood a man sized tree stump. The dogs went up to the stump like a long lost friend, a strange sight indeed, well until the stump turned and looked at us. After casting my spell I asked it what it wanted - to guide me apparently. So Dylan and myself quickly took off after it, leaving to others at the camp to wait for us. It led us to a small hill, and left us there. This hill was one I had read about and had been meaning to come to at some point, at it's peak stood a small stone with animals carved upon it face, as my hand approached the stone the symbols glowed silver. This is something I must investigate at some point I feel.
We waited for the next guide, who turned out to be the spirit of an old woodsman. He led us through the woods and we found the path into the Heart! What a place, a place of peace and growth, just entering the glade about the tree was a relief. As Dylan looked for last year's acorns, I couldn't resist the temptation to talk to this tree. As I did so the usual peaceful green that my mind feels about me was bathed in bright sunlight and I gazed upon a beautiful figure, this was the Anu. She told me not to worry and to rest, that although I had taken the Morrigan's blade as long as I remembered the reason for doing so (which was to help others) then I would not be her servant. I rested then and was happy and carefree for the first time in months.
Eventually I woke to find Dylan looking at me, or perhaps I should say glaring at me. I know he has a decent heart, but his manner is always so baleful. However even his looks could not puncture my current good mood. He had found four acorns, so we left the glade and travelled back to find the others. It took us a while to find them again, we then struck camp and spent the rest of the season travelling around the north, east, south and west of the Dean - planting a single acorn in each area. We then returned home in better spirits than when we left.]
Autumn
This was a quiet Council meeting we discussed our seasons work and nothing more. Astrius is to create a lantern enchanted with the light spell he invented, this can then be placed in the pit from which the shadows come. So hopefully we will be warded from them for good now. Aelfwin will be studying the Terram texts; obviously he is expanding his knowledge of the Arts other than Creo and Corporem. Cormoran as a second covenant service will go and extract the Ignem vis from the cave, this may take time as none of us know the way there, although I'm sure the description in the journal will be accurate enough. Whilst I will spend time amongst the locals, expanding my knowledge of the local area and trying to counter these rumours of evil in the Dean. If possible I will see what else I can learn of Yvonne and the missing children.
About two days into the season we have a visitor, Medius finally joined us. The Council immediately voted to allow him to stay. Several issues arose from this. Medius signed the Charter but declined to sign the codicil of the Charter allowing the other members of the Council to enter his sanctum if we judged he was in trouble. After which we discussed his seasons activity, Medius requested that he be allowed to read the Journal, which the Council agreed to as his first covenant service. It seems that the consortis that came with Medius, called Giovanni, is an educated man (to be expected coming from the Rome Tribunal I suppose), and would also like to read our mundane library, to which the Council acceded. As a final item of discussion, Medius said that he would be using Ruaridh's old laboratory and would use one of the decent sets of equipment. Cormoran very kindly allowed me to have the fourth set of this old but precious equipment.
Following this meeting we had a feast to formally welcome Medius to the covenant, I told a few stories and played some music, although I'm not certain our new sodalis appreciated some of the bawdier songs.
The next day, suffering from a mild hangover I met up with Cormoran and we both set off for Blackney and then Chepstow, where we would part and go about our seasons work. I write about Cormoran's adventure first as he told me off it when he returned.
At Chepstow Cormoran hired a barge to take them up river to Monmouth from there they would walk to Raglan, thence to Abergavenny and just beyond that to the vis site. The journey to Monmouth and then Raglan was easy with no problems arising. However at Raglan they started hearing rumours of bandits and armed caravans being sacked. Therefore as a precaution they decided to see if they could travel with some merchants travelling that way, assuming that there would be safety in numbers. To explain away what they were doing travelling to Abergavenny, they said that they were just mercenaries looking for work, as Cormoran has no sense of the Gift about him, this seemed to work fine.
On route they came across a recently burnt caravan and some expertly shot guards - after discussing this they decide to head on back to Raglan rather than risk pushing on. Once back there the merchant tells the local Knight, whose name escapes me, what has occurred, and the Knight decides to do something about these local pests and hires the merchant guards to go with him. Unfortunately Cormoran and crew having mentioned that they were mercenaries could not get out of this. So a large armed party head on to the site of the burnt caravan looking for the bandits.
After a few days of searching, in which they found a few traces of the bandits, the night watch reported hearing several wolf howls in the forest. Now it was a full moon and Cormoran has read this Journal and wondered how close to the hunting grounds of the werewolves they were, however his knowledge of local geography was not up to the task. However he kept a close watch on events just to be on the safe side, luckily nothing happened that night.
The next night was a different story. Following some tracks the party plans on attacking the bandits the next morning, and set up camp. The Knight orders a double watch, which was just as well as later into the night, with the full moon beaming down upon them, they hear wolves and see shadows move in the trees. The way Cormoran tells it, it was a short ugly fight with the wolves eventually been driven off, but from what I can gather from the grogs it was Cormoran himself who slew two of them. Having seen this creatures from behind a powerful magical ward I can only say that I am most impressed with the bravery of both Cormoran and the grogs that stood with him.
With the fight over there were several dead and two wounded, unfortunately for them Cormoran did not remember in time to purge their wounds with fire to ensure that the curse did not take a hold of them. One of these poor souls was Rumbold, a member of our covenant.
So the badly beaten party returned to Raglan, as soon as they got there Rumbold and the Knights man were taken to the church and held there. Where they fasted and prayed in the small hope that the curse could be removed. The priest obviously could not manage this and after one month they were both burnt alive. This is a terrible way for a brave man like Rumbold to die, especially when Aelfwin could have helped control the curse somewhat. Still there was nothing Cormoran could do to rescue Rumbold, in fact he and the grogs had to go and attend the priest so that he could hear their confessions. A pointless exercise, still it did get them out of the village and at last they could head back to the covenant, where they reported that the road to Abergavenny and the vis site is closed to us for now.
In the meantime I had been travelling about the Dean. I had heard in Chepstow of the re-consecration of the Abbey at Tintern, whilst I fear that this will just be another source of trouble for the covenant, it is also possible that we may gain from them. We might be able to sell them glass, and I established a contact to talk to about this after I raised it with the Council. Then I got about my work. I discovered that after the first investigation into the 'wizard' and his death, Yvonne of Mitcheldean, petitioned the Baron to keep tracking the Wizard - the Baron refused. So she then petitioned the Earl, whom she convinced, the Earl then ordered the Baron to continue the hunt for the Wizard. However with the Baron of Monmouth still searching for Cadfallen and believing that the Wizard is dead, it's unlikely to be a problem from that quarter. As for the rumour of evil within the woods, these seem to be coming from Gloucester, with Monmouth mainly ignoring them and them not taken too seriously in Chepstow. As the main trade and travel route to Tintern is through Chepstow I decide to spend most of my season there quashing these rumours and starting a few of my own. His seemed to go really well, so I moved onto Monmouth to continue my activities there. By the end of season I had made a good start on stopping the circulation of these rumours, but it would take a bit longer to make sure. Then I will need to move onto Gloucester.
I also heard news that Geoffrey Plantagenate refused the King and therefore the English may face war with both the Scots and the French. Of course the Welsh are going to take advantage of this as well I would suspect.
After this I returned to the covenant.
Winter
At the last Council meeting of the year, Cormoran and myself told the Council of last seasons activities. Due to the problems with the werewolves Astrius suggests that we commission the making of another "Ward Against Fantastical Beasts" to replace the one that was destroyed when Turold died. With the ward he would then go and deal with the wolfs. As they are now threatening our safe passage to Blackthorn this is an important issue, in fact a joint venture with Blackthorn may be appropriate.
During my own report it is suggested that the rumours from Gloucester may be connected to the Fells, however I need to keep countering the current rumours and investigating where they are coming from. During this Cormoran comes up with the idea of establishing our own merchant in Chepstow, as a more direct way to sell our glass and other items and at the same time create a safe house in that town.
Then we discussed our seasons activities. It turns out that we were all studying within the covenant this seasons, with Astrius studying some Ignem vis, Cormoran the Rego texts, Aelfwin the Terram texts, Medius the Intellego texts and I was to study the mundane books on pagan lore.
With that the Council ended and a quiet season commenced. For the first time since I have been living at this covenant everybody had a peaceful and prosperous season.
At the very end of the season we had three magi visit us: Magus Shawn of Merinita, the Redcap Mathus and the Magus Tiarnan of Merinita. Shawn had come partly to escort Tiarnan but mainly to come and collect Clifford, as he knows of a maga of his House who is both looking for an apprentice and quite an expert on the fae of the stone court. So Clifford seemed quite pleased by this and has left us, I do hope he finds happiness in his future, he was an odd sort and his voice was rather annoying but seemed to have a fair heart. Tiarnan was here to petition the Council for membership, he had newly been accepted into the Order at his House meeting and had heard of us there. As his interest is in the magical and fae properties of bodies of water he was most interested in the nature of the spring and river here. Considering we have barely studied these powerful magical sources at all, the Council was very interested in having him join us. However we thought it best to be honest with Tiarnan concerning the current problems of this covenant and this definitely made him re-consider his application. In the end it was decided that he be allowed to read the journal to familiarise himself with the history of this place, then he could make an informed decision next season.
Then we had the dreadful news from Mathus that Garius was dead. He was at Bori -Tor, fighting the renegade magi of McGraine, who are still rousing the mundane forces of Scotland to attack the covenant. The enemy set a trap, and Garius knowing it was a trap decided to risk spring it in the hope that he could strike at his elusive enemy. So Magus Garius went and triggered the trap, in doing so he killed three of the eight magi there, including McGraine's right hand man - however in doing this his lost his own life. This is a terrible loss to the Tribunal and that night we toasted his memory and wished his brave spirit a safe journey.
The rest of Mathus' news was tame in comparison. Of the mundanes, he told us of the problems that the English are having with the Scots and French and that the 2nd Crusade to the Holy Lands had failed. So I would have thought we can expect some angry, scarred men returning soon. Of hermetic news: the Tribunal has been called for next midsummer at Blackthorn; Serenia has been re-appointed as Senior Quaesitor for Stonehenge. Of the current investigations it is going to be recommended that the Tribunal rules that Ruaridh murdered Madoc, that Turold is dead (but can not be connected to any crime), that Venius was a diabolist and finally that Ianeous was killed by a powerful spirit (suspected to be the Morrigan). Finally that Narwold covenant is requesting help from someone who can deal with spirits, in return they would be paid in vis.
The final event of note this season was Astrius going to Cad Gadu for Garius' funeral, he returned just as the season ended. On that sad note I end my year's service to this Journal and will let Medius continue.
Spring 1149 AD
As I sit here at the Council table writing these lines, I find it hard to reflect on all that has happened to Severn Temple. In just over a single season our council has been halved and the covenant has most definitely been sent spinning back into Spring. I still do not understand fully what happened to bring about the end of Madoc, Turold and Ruaridh - one small, petty argument over a simple lie and the three of them are now dead. That makes Aelfwin the longest serving member of Council at six years, and myself the oldest member! If the entire thing was not so lamentable and disastrous I think I would be laughing. Of the previous season I will add nothing to Astrius' words, except to say that although I am shocked and dismayed at what happened I still trust that Turold and Ruaridh worked for the best interests of this covenant.
The season itself started on a crisp, sunny day, much at odds with our mood at Council. We talked of little other than our seasons work, other than that Clifford (Turold's ex-apprentice) had abided by our request not to leave the covenant and that Aelfwin would use his help in the laboratory. Astrius reported that he had successfully developed the light spell we talked of last season. We also discussed the possibility of going to Blackthorn to register the Heart of the Forest as a Vis site, but it was decided that with bandits upon the road it would not be safe to do so. As for our season's work, Astrius would study the Aquam texts, Aelfwin would extract vim vis and I would seek out the Heart of the Forest as there was no longer any within the covenant that knew of it's location. At the same time we said that during the year, Astrius and myself would work upon our Parma Magica and Aelfwin would practise his affinity with potions.
Cormoran, although not yet a member of this covenant and therefore not at Council decided that he would spend this season about the covenant being trained in how to use the sword, a weapon he has never been able to afford before. Nor, I would have thought, would he have been able to find a sword for someone his size to wield. It was shortly after this that Cormoran was sparing with the Castellan, when the Castellan decided to show off his magical protections. Much to his surprise and our eventual dismay, Cormoran's blow landed full upon his person, although the Castellan was unharmed it appears that the enchantments in the sword and tabard had faded. Upon discovering this we thought to check the rest of the covenant's magical items, it turns out that all of the items made by Turold had ceased to function. Both Aelfwin and Astrius had heard of this sort of thing happening before, it seems that with some magi their magic is so strongly bound to them that it 'dies' when they do. This has bereft the covenant of many powerful and useful magical items. Yet another strike of bad luck against us all. Still on the plus side, at least we discovered this now, rather than when using the items would have been critical. Cormoran has only just arrived and he has already helped us - although inadvertently.
Later on in the season whilst I was about in the forest, Dialectica paid us a visit; she had come to return Madoc's belongings to us. A decent gesture on her part as Blackthorn knew that Madoc was no longer a part of this or any covenant and I would have thought could quite fairly have claimed his belongings for themselves. Anyhow, within his packs there were apparently three large sacks of Vis, to be exact 31 pawns of vim Vis! When I consider Madoc's arguments and stalling over paying the covenant the vim Vis he owed I am amazed at this seemingly blatant act of duplicity. There was worse to come however, Aelfwin tried to determine where the Vis had come from and randomly chose a pawn of Vis from each bag - he discovered that the original form for this Vis was acorns! Madoc had been going to the Heart and taking its Vis from it without informing us. So not only did he lie to us, but he stole from us as well - we do not know for how long, but I would imagine for the previous four or so years. I hope that we never see the likes of him within this Council again - we have enough problems without one of our own working against us. I wonder did this theft have anything to do with Idris' warning to him? Well I'll never know now.
As for my travels, well I set off and headed towards Blackney, as I do like to start my season's travels by going and relaxing with the good folk there. From there we headed towards the southern part of the wood, we knew only that the Heart was in this area of the forest, but so is the Dell - I made very sure not to go anywhere near this area. I talked initially to an old Chestnut tree, it informed me of the direction the Heart lay in but that the path was hidden - if I was meant to find it I would. Talking with trees is an interesting and rewarding experience I have found, but time does seem to fly by when I am immersed in conversation. When I came round from the spell it was already night, so we set up camp and I told some stories to keep us all entertained. During the evening Ferret (one of our scouts and heavily fae touched) and Dylan spotted a Cor hiding in the trees. I thought little of it as I vaguely remember that these creatures wander the woods when the fae season of Winter is ascendant. However not long after, Ferret and the others spotted many more of them in the trees, along with many wolves moving through the shadows. What this presaged I had no idea, but as they made no move upon us I bade the guard to remain still. Then a small figure wearing a dark mask approached the edge of the shadows; she said (she seemed to have a young girls voice) that she had a message for me and that I should approach her. Obviously I was a little concerned by this and I was not going to go into the darkness with the wolves and Cors about the place, so I approached to near the edge of the firelight and said that she could give me the message there. Unfortunately, she was either not affected by the weak light this far from the fire, or I had stepped to close to the shadows, she reached forward and touched me. The next thing I knew the woods were whistling past me at an incredible speed and the land about got even darker and colder - as if the world spun about me and I moved not a single step. Then I stopped and found myself on a dark hill with a single stone atop it. There I was given a message about a vision of my future - a warning if you will. Once I had received this I was sent straight back to the covenant only to discover that they had been warned of my disappearance and Aelfwin had left for Blackthorn to get help from Sylvania. Sylvania had herself arrived and left in the time I was gone, it seems she has little sway over the Unseelie folk and was going to fetch the Merinitan Quaesitor from Loch Leglean, Lynaris.
Of course I did not wish to waste the Quaesitor's time but neither Astrius nor myself could think of a way to get message to her to stop her coming. As it happened Lynaris could obviously travel exceptionally quickly, she arrived shortly after I had returned. She was kind enough to ask how I fared and then took her leave.
I went back out into the forest to continue searching, but other than many more conversations with the trees of the Dean nothing exciting or informative happened and as the season drew to a close I returned to Severn Temple.
[Theo's private journal: What really happened in the woods? A few small details were left out of the official records when I described being taken to the dark hill. Obviously this was the Morrigan's hill and it seems that the small woman or girl was Bethwyn, as I talked with her I discovered that Primus Tytalus had taken her. He had brought her here and killed her, but it seems that her death was withheld and she was transformed into a fae. What her true nature is, either Morrigan puppet or some strange fae creature, I have no idea, nor do I think I ever will. However much more disturbing news awaited me. As I stood there I saw a figure start to appear within the stone that marks that hill, it was Ruaridh. With his eyes entirely black he told me of a vision that 'had been seen', a vision of myself entering Swallowcliff and facing the serpent that killed Audacia and bringing back her skull. Apparently the serpent guards something, a key to understanding or evidence about the suspected corruption within House Tremere. Ruaridh asked me to take up his sword, apparently he had broken it at some point, the spirit within dying at that time - he said that he was willing to become the new spirit within the blade, if it gave him a chance of striking at House Tremere. All he asked for was that I try to help Audacia, that if possible I bring back her skull to the hill so that she can be freed.
Now I have no proof that what he spoke was truth or lies, but on past experience of Ruaridh and on the small hope that a spirit can be saved from evil I agreed. It also occurred to me that having such a tool might well be useful if ever I was to enter such a place. On the other hand I knew that accepting the blade would bind me to the Morrigan, not something I cherished (especially after what happened to Astrius) but something that had to be done.
Ruaridh then mentioned something about a prophecy and hoped that he was wrong, but my mind was elsewhere at the time. Once I had agreed the light about the place changed, although I have little recollection, and Bethwyn offered me the sword I had seen Ruaridh use. Then I was returned home.
The worst thing about the entire event was the fact that I could not talk this over with Astrius. I know his feelings towards the Morrigan, and to an extent he is right, but if it helps fight a greater darkness then so be it.]
Summer
The first, happy order of business at the Council meeting was to accept Cormoran as a member of this covenant. One of his first acts was to offer to the covenant an exceptionally large pearl, with the magical property of being able to purify a liquid! This has been put to good use by being placed in the covenant's well - thereby giving us safe drinking water, and the happy additional benefit that the beer we brew has never tasted sweeter. A most generous gift indeed. It was also decided that Cormoran's lab would be at the top of the tower next to Astrius.
I reported over my lack of success to find the Heart, which was hardly unexpected, in truth I expect to have to work to gain the Dean's acceptance and this may take some time.
For our seasons work Astrius will once more study the Aquam texts, it seems he has some plans for working in the element that few within his House study. Aelfwin would study the Corporem texts and Cormoran would read the journal as a covenant's service (oh, he would also be joining Astrius and myself in working on our Parmas). Whilst I would try to get to know the lay of the land within the forest with a hope of working to gain it's trust.
Whilst I was journeying the covenant had two visitors. The first was Quaesitor Yania, she came to finish her investigations and to release the sancti of Turold and Ruaridh - the pair of them have been declared dead, with no proof that they were involved in the attack on the Redcap or the death of Ianeous. Madoc has also been declared dead but what happened to him is unknown. Their cases, along with that against Venius, will be heard at the next Tribunal.
Later in the season the second visitor was the Redcap Loretius. He delivered the following news. Of mundane interest the King has begun to buy land from the church at a paltry price, apparently some dissent within the church is allowing him to do this. The abbey at Tintern has been re-consecrated, the Dean of the abbey has heard of rumours of an evil in the forest and an expedition is being mounted. There is some suspicion that Yvonne of Micheldean may be involved in this. Considering her past, her significant influence over mundane matters is very suspect. Finally the English King has won a significant victory over the Scots, so it seems the English prosper in both Scotland and France. Of Hermetic interest, there were two letters, one for Astrius an invitation to explore the old Vis sites of Moorstow, the second for the council from Jordael. My Pater was informing us of a possible new member to the Council, a young Quaesitor called Medius. Jordael encouraged us to accept his application as this may help stave off an investigation or even dissolution of the covenant at the Tribunal. Finally Clifford sent message to Shaun of Merinita, an old friend of Turold's - I assume over the issue of who will continue Clifford's apprenticeship.
What of my season out in the woods of the Dean? Well it was eventually successful; I gained the support of a guide who would show me the way into the Heart on the condition that we planted the acorns instead of using the Vis. At Council it was decided that as we were not going to get access to the vis anyhow and that this may in the long run help strengthen the magic of the forest I should accept the guides help. I do hope in the future, when our goodwill has been seen to see if this Council can reap somewhat of the rewards of the forest - after all not all acorns become oaks.
During this season, when I was within the covenant Cormoran approached me and reminded me that we were to go and capture the Vis from the Boar tide. This we did and subsequently gained three pawns of Aquam Vis. I must add here that I am most impressed with Cormoran's proficiency with magic - although he is only newly graduated he is able to enact spontaneous spell effects that the rest of us certainly could not manage, so once again we are able to harvest vis from the Severn.
[Theo's private journal: After spending more time in the south, mainly learning which landmarks to use to make sure that I go nowhere near the Dell. I decided to go north to go and speak to the walking tree that was mentioned in this journal. This tree is in fact a particularly ancient oak, generally the older they are the more intelligent they are. However I was not ready for what I sensed when I cast my spell, this was not only an old oak, but it was a truly intelligent oak, it was already 'awake' and seemed to be remarkably friendly, if somewhat reserved. To gain each others trust, it decided to set me a task - namely to go and talk to the hind in the forest, a hind with golden eyes, apparently this hind is as important to the health of forest as the Heart. Accepting the task, we set off to find her, Ferret remembered that there were many deer tracks to the south west of our position and so we headed that way to start our search. Hunting in such a large party is a tiresome business, but searching for a particular, probably magical, hind I expected to take ages - certainly the rest of the season. Much to my surprise however we found her after only a few days, so I can only surmise that she knew I was looking and came to find me. She wanted to know if she could trust me, thinking that honesty would be the best approach I said that I could think of no reason that would convince her. Other than the fact that I was the guardian of the spring, to which she asked if I was going to extend my guardianship to the forest? Considering I have very little idea what is involved in guarding the spring, extending this to cover the entire forest seemed a bit daft, so I replied that I could not do so currently. In the end she told me a brief tale of the forest, a tale of loss and destruction at man's hand, also that the acorns from the Heart are a potent power for renewal, that with them being planted the forest could not only hold it's own against man, but possibly grow. The hind then told me that she knew the path to the Heart and would show me if I promised to plant the acorns through the forest - without the Council's permission I obviously could not do that. However we did part agreeing to try and earn each other's trust.
Ah yes, one other thing. The hind also told me that she was unwilling to show the path to the Heart as she had been betrayed. It appears that she had shown Raegwulf the way and he had in turn shown Madoc - on the understanding that Madoc would spread the acorns through the forest. Obviously he had not, he had kept the acorns and in so doing not only betrayed his friends at Council, but his travelling companions, including his brother and the very forest about us. No wonder Idris was angry with him! I hope his spirit finds no rest and it walks lost between the worlds until he has redeemed his betrayals.
After talking to the Hind we returned to the old oak, where he asked what I had learnt. Conflict, loss, betrayal by man, and that I had been reminded of the link between acorn and forest. That was my answer, which the oak seemed content enough with. We then talked for a long time, during which I got more and more worried. This oak knew far too much about magic, not only that but of the nature of the Order, this could mean that it was connected to someone within the Order - more than likely a member of my House or had connections outside of the Order, like with Diedne. That was a route I did most certainly not want to take - even knowing of such things is enough to get me burnt by those bastards Dionysus and Ponrius. I was even more worried when he asked if I would like to meet his 'Other' - he could take me there immediately if I said yes. Obviously I said no, there was little trust between us as yet. So we agreed to continue talking, the oak then surprised me further by asking after Ruaridh! I told him of his death and the connection with the Morrigan. The oak enquired into his death, and desperately wanting to know more of what I had taken onboard the previous season, I mentioned that he had a sword. Just the mention of that obviously worried the tree and it asked to know more of the sway of the Morrigan on the Dean. During our talk of the nature of the Morrigan and the Anu, I obviously gave away too much of my interest in the subject and he guessed of my connection. Whilst connected to the oak I could feel it's mind, like a vast green presence at the borders of my own mind, at this stage it's attention was diverted - it was like nothing I had felt before, it simply was not with me but still there. I later came to the conclusion that it was talking with it's 'Other'. It appears that this 'Other' was concerned that things in the Dean were more worrying than it expected and wished to talk to me at once. However as I was still obviously concerned he then told me that he was in fact a familiar! Not only that but he was the familiar to Llandolthwyn - an exceptionally old magus of my House who had twice been Primus! The last I knew of him was that he had left the House before the recent purge; I also knew that Jordael had told me he was a wise and powerful Magus. Considering the old adage, 'in for a penny, in for a pound' - I thought, why not, it's not everyday you get to meet such a famous person. So I agreed and was transported there by the oak, or I suppose by Llandolthwyn through the oak.
Once again I felt the world spinning about me as I was transported across an unknown distance into a beautiful glade with a large pool in the centre. From behind me came Llandolthwyn, his appearance was rather shocking as he appeared to be made of wood with oak leaves for hair! He immediately asked me what deal I had made with the Morrigan. At first I was unwilling to tell him everything, but he could obviously help me if he chose, and in the end it came down to being desperate to talk to someone about it and offer me hope of balancing my own path. When he heard of the sword, he reminded me that the Morrigan was very good at manipulating people and getting them where they were weakest but the best way to counter the Morrigan was by dealing with the Anu.
We talked of the Heart and advised me that the best way to favour the Anu was to plant the acorns, thereby increasing the sway of the Anu not only over myself but also over the entire forest. When I look back at what has happened to Severn Temple in recent years, I wonder how much of the death and destruction that has afflicted us has been influenced by the Morrigan having such a strong grip within the covenant. I am determined that I will not be the same, I will not bring down such destruction upon my friends - I must find a way to deal with the Anu.
Llandolthwyn gave me a piece of heartwood that he said I should give to the Hind if I wanted to be shown to the Heart. We then talked of the Tribunal and he decided to go and talk to Jordael for more information. With that my interview was over and he sent me back to the oak - I had been gone just over two days.
The next day we returned to the covenant and I called a Council meeting. At this we discussed the Morrigan, the acorns and the Anu. I explained that without the Hinds help I would not be led to the Heart and the Vis is lost to us anyhow. Therefore I might was well promise to spread the acorns in the hope that the Anu would be strengthened and the Morrigan weakened.
Hence we ventured back into the forest. Only a few days into the forest we were awoken at night by Dylan's hounds - they were running off into the forest and Dylan was running after them. The rest of us quickly got up and followed them, they led us into a small glade at the centre of which stood a man sized tree stump. The dogs went up to the stump like a long lost friend, a strange sight indeed, well until the stump turned and looked at us. After casting my spell I asked it what it wanted - to guide me apparently. So Dylan and myself quickly took off after it, leaving to others at the camp to wait for us. It led us to a small hill, and left us there. This hill was one I had read about and had been meaning to come to at some point, at it's peak stood a small stone with animals carved upon it face, as my hand approached the stone the symbols glowed silver. This is something I must investigate at some point I feel.
We waited for the next guide, who turned out to be the spirit of an old woodsman. He led us through the woods and we found the path into the Heart! What a place, a place of peace and growth, just entering the glade about the tree was a relief. As Dylan looked for last year's acorns, I couldn't resist the temptation to talk to this tree. As I did so the usual peaceful green that my mind feels about me was bathed in bright sunlight and I gazed upon a beautiful figure, this was the Anu. She told me not to worry and to rest, that although I had taken the Morrigan's blade as long as I remembered the reason for doing so (which was to help others) then I would not be her servant. I rested then and was happy and carefree for the first time in months.
Eventually I woke to find Dylan looking at me, or perhaps I should say glaring at me. I know he has a decent heart, but his manner is always so baleful. However even his looks could not puncture my current good mood. He had found four acorns, so we left the glade and travelled back to find the others. It took us a while to find them again, we then struck camp and spent the rest of the season travelling around the north, east, south and west of the Dean - planting a single acorn in each area. We then returned home in better spirits than when we left.]
Autumn
This was a quiet Council meeting we discussed our seasons work and nothing more. Astrius is to create a lantern enchanted with the light spell he invented, this can then be placed in the pit from which the shadows come. So hopefully we will be warded from them for good now. Aelfwin will be studying the Terram texts; obviously he is expanding his knowledge of the Arts other than Creo and Corporem. Cormoran as a second covenant service will go and extract the Ignem vis from the cave, this may take time as none of us know the way there, although I'm sure the description in the journal will be accurate enough. Whilst I will spend time amongst the locals, expanding my knowledge of the local area and trying to counter these rumours of evil in the Dean. If possible I will see what else I can learn of Yvonne and the missing children.
About two days into the season we have a visitor, Medius finally joined us. The Council immediately voted to allow him to stay. Several issues arose from this. Medius signed the Charter but declined to sign the codicil of the Charter allowing the other members of the Council to enter his sanctum if we judged he was in trouble. After which we discussed his seasons activity, Medius requested that he be allowed to read the Journal, which the Council agreed to as his first covenant service. It seems that the consortis that came with Medius, called Giovanni, is an educated man (to be expected coming from the Rome Tribunal I suppose), and would also like to read our mundane library, to which the Council acceded. As a final item of discussion, Medius said that he would be using Ruaridh's old laboratory and would use one of the decent sets of equipment. Cormoran very kindly allowed me to have the fourth set of this old but precious equipment.
Following this meeting we had a feast to formally welcome Medius to the covenant, I told a few stories and played some music, although I'm not certain our new sodalis appreciated some of the bawdier songs.
The next day, suffering from a mild hangover I met up with Cormoran and we both set off for Blackney and then Chepstow, where we would part and go about our seasons work. I write about Cormoran's adventure first as he told me off it when he returned.
At Chepstow Cormoran hired a barge to take them up river to Monmouth from there they would walk to Raglan, thence to Abergavenny and just beyond that to the vis site. The journey to Monmouth and then Raglan was easy with no problems arising. However at Raglan they started hearing rumours of bandits and armed caravans being sacked. Therefore as a precaution they decided to see if they could travel with some merchants travelling that way, assuming that there would be safety in numbers. To explain away what they were doing travelling to Abergavenny, they said that they were just mercenaries looking for work, as Cormoran has no sense of the Gift about him, this seemed to work fine.
On route they came across a recently burnt caravan and some expertly shot guards - after discussing this they decide to head on back to Raglan rather than risk pushing on. Once back there the merchant tells the local Knight, whose name escapes me, what has occurred, and the Knight decides to do something about these local pests and hires the merchant guards to go with him. Unfortunately Cormoran and crew having mentioned that they were mercenaries could not get out of this. So a large armed party head on to the site of the burnt caravan looking for the bandits.
After a few days of searching, in which they found a few traces of the bandits, the night watch reported hearing several wolf howls in the forest. Now it was a full moon and Cormoran has read this Journal and wondered how close to the hunting grounds of the werewolves they were, however his knowledge of local geography was not up to the task. However he kept a close watch on events just to be on the safe side, luckily nothing happened that night.
The next night was a different story. Following some tracks the party plans on attacking the bandits the next morning, and set up camp. The Knight orders a double watch, which was just as well as later into the night, with the full moon beaming down upon them, they hear wolves and see shadows move in the trees. The way Cormoran tells it, it was a short ugly fight with the wolves eventually been driven off, but from what I can gather from the grogs it was Cormoran himself who slew two of them. Having seen this creatures from behind a powerful magical ward I can only say that I am most impressed with the bravery of both Cormoran and the grogs that stood with him.
With the fight over there were several dead and two wounded, unfortunately for them Cormoran did not remember in time to purge their wounds with fire to ensure that the curse did not take a hold of them. One of these poor souls was Rumbold, a member of our covenant.
So the badly beaten party returned to Raglan, as soon as they got there Rumbold and the Knights man were taken to the church and held there. Where they fasted and prayed in the small hope that the curse could be removed. The priest obviously could not manage this and after one month they were both burnt alive. This is a terrible way for a brave man like Rumbold to die, especially when Aelfwin could have helped control the curse somewhat. Still there was nothing Cormoran could do to rescue Rumbold, in fact he and the grogs had to go and attend the priest so that he could hear their confessions. A pointless exercise, still it did get them out of the village and at last they could head back to the covenant, where they reported that the road to Abergavenny and the vis site is closed to us for now.
In the meantime I had been travelling about the Dean. I had heard in Chepstow of the re-consecration of the Abbey at Tintern, whilst I fear that this will just be another source of trouble for the covenant, it is also possible that we may gain from them. We might be able to sell them glass, and I established a contact to talk to about this after I raised it with the Council. Then I got about my work. I discovered that after the first investigation into the 'wizard' and his death, Yvonne of Mitcheldean, petitioned the Baron to keep tracking the Wizard - the Baron refused. So she then petitioned the Earl, whom she convinced, the Earl then ordered the Baron to continue the hunt for the Wizard. However with the Baron of Monmouth still searching for Cadfallen and believing that the Wizard is dead, it's unlikely to be a problem from that quarter. As for the rumour of evil within the woods, these seem to be coming from Gloucester, with Monmouth mainly ignoring them and them not taken too seriously in Chepstow. As the main trade and travel route to Tintern is through Chepstow I decide to spend most of my season there quashing these rumours and starting a few of my own. His seemed to go really well, so I moved onto Monmouth to continue my activities there. By the end of season I had made a good start on stopping the circulation of these rumours, but it would take a bit longer to make sure. Then I will need to move onto Gloucester.
I also heard news that Geoffrey Plantagenate refused the King and therefore the English may face war with both the Scots and the French. Of course the Welsh are going to take advantage of this as well I would suspect.
After this I returned to the covenant.
Winter
At the last Council meeting of the year, Cormoran and myself told the Council of last seasons activities. Due to the problems with the werewolves Astrius suggests that we commission the making of another "Ward Against Fantastical Beasts" to replace the one that was destroyed when Turold died. With the ward he would then go and deal with the wolfs. As they are now threatening our safe passage to Blackthorn this is an important issue, in fact a joint venture with Blackthorn may be appropriate.
During my own report it is suggested that the rumours from Gloucester may be connected to the Fells, however I need to keep countering the current rumours and investigating where they are coming from. During this Cormoran comes up with the idea of establishing our own merchant in Chepstow, as a more direct way to sell our glass and other items and at the same time create a safe house in that town.
Then we discussed our seasons activities. It turns out that we were all studying within the covenant this seasons, with Astrius studying some Ignem vis, Cormoran the Rego texts, Aelfwin the Terram texts, Medius the Intellego texts and I was to study the mundane books on pagan lore.
With that the Council ended and a quiet season commenced. For the first time since I have been living at this covenant everybody had a peaceful and prosperous season.
At the very end of the season we had three magi visit us: Magus Shawn of Merinita, the Redcap Mathus and the Magus Tiarnan of Merinita. Shawn had come partly to escort Tiarnan but mainly to come and collect Clifford, as he knows of a maga of his House who is both looking for an apprentice and quite an expert on the fae of the stone court. So Clifford seemed quite pleased by this and has left us, I do hope he finds happiness in his future, he was an odd sort and his voice was rather annoying but seemed to have a fair heart. Tiarnan was here to petition the Council for membership, he had newly been accepted into the Order at his House meeting and had heard of us there. As his interest is in the magical and fae properties of bodies of water he was most interested in the nature of the spring and river here. Considering we have barely studied these powerful magical sources at all, the Council was very interested in having him join us. However we thought it best to be honest with Tiarnan concerning the current problems of this covenant and this definitely made him re-consider his application. In the end it was decided that he be allowed to read the journal to familiarise himself with the history of this place, then he could make an informed decision next season.
Then we had the dreadful news from Mathus that Garius was dead. He was at Bori -Tor, fighting the renegade magi of McGraine, who are still rousing the mundane forces of Scotland to attack the covenant. The enemy set a trap, and Garius knowing it was a trap decided to risk spring it in the hope that he could strike at his elusive enemy. So Magus Garius went and triggered the trap, in doing so he killed three of the eight magi there, including McGraine's right hand man - however in doing this his lost his own life. This is a terrible loss to the Tribunal and that night we toasted his memory and wished his brave spirit a safe journey.
The rest of Mathus' news was tame in comparison. Of the mundanes, he told us of the problems that the English are having with the Scots and French and that the 2nd Crusade to the Holy Lands had failed. So I would have thought we can expect some angry, scarred men returning soon. Of hermetic news: the Tribunal has been called for next midsummer at Blackthorn; Serenia has been re-appointed as Senior Quaesitor for Stonehenge. Of the current investigations it is going to be recommended that the Tribunal rules that Ruaridh murdered Madoc, that Turold is dead (but can not be connected to any crime), that Venius was a diabolist and finally that Ianeous was killed by a powerful spirit (suspected to be the Morrigan). Finally that Narwold covenant is requesting help from someone who can deal with spirits, in return they would be paid in vis.
The final event of note this season was Astrius going to Cad Gadu for Garius' funeral, he returned just as the season ended. On that sad note I end my year's service to this Journal and will let Medius continue.