Scribed by Branwen

Spring

As the task of recording our history turns once more to me I can not but wonder at how many more times I may be called upon to scribe this record. The great death from the East is approaching; now less than a decade remains before we must find a way to turn it aside or find a refuge that can withstand it. I place no faith in the efforts of House Tremere, and even if they can find a way to defy all prophecy and utilise Hermetic art against the infernal plague, I wonder what kind of future we would face in a world dictated by them. No, I believe that a path is slowly revealing itself to us, but time remains our great enemy. Some combination of the investigation that Jari, Theoclea and myself are making to awaken the great power of this land of Albion is surely our best hope, but how it may be best combined to practical effect is still tantalisingly not fully revealed. We continue to study Taliesin’s prophecy for further cluse but there is still much that we do not understand. Yet we must persevere for the alternative is unthinkable.

To that end the majority of the magi of Severn Temple outlined how we would continue our efforts at the first council of the year, surely after we once more elected Naevius as our Princeps, with none opposing his nomination. Theoclea, now returned from binding her familiar Alatus and bearing some change from that process – her hair now black rather than chestnut and standing several inches taller than she did when we saw her last – announced that she planned to test whether her facility with the ancient magic of Myddyn was now sufficiently strengthened. Her plan is to travel to the south coast of Wales, to a magical place that Jari has identified, and there seek to draw on the power. Terentius has agreed to accompany her. Jari is continuing his efforts to weave his magical facility with music into his rituals, his studies last season not having proved as fruitful as he had hoped, while I shall once more return to study with the shade of Morgana La Fay. Both Naevius and Pyrrhus said that they would be about personal study this season.

Terentius shared with us the results of his investigation into the Brethren of the Red Moon in winter. He had travelled to Bridgewater and learned that several people had gone missing and that there were tales of a shadowy figure seen at night. His investigations led him to a merchant named Stephen Rowley and he found coded papers that once the cipher had been broken suggested that over the last six months there have been payments moving between members of the cult, whose activities seem to have shifted eastwards to focus on Somerset. He could not identify whether the shadowy figure was a demon or a cultist, perhaps cloaked in shadow, but did learn that it had the power to freeze a body and to affect a mortal mind. As of yet there has been no report of bodies found with their hearts removed and Terentius also confirmed that there has been no return of any infernal activity in the woods near the town. After he returned Jari took some time to observe Stephen Rowley through an arcane connection that Terentius had recovered and discovered that a payment had arrived late from another cultist named Martin, causing Rowley some consternation as he has payments that he must make and lacks the funds to do so. It seems that he plans to call in other debts. Terentius is confident that he could capture Rowley if required but fears tipping our hand before we have learned more. It was agreed that we should share what he has learned with the magi of Trevalga and Carrion Moor and Pyrrhus agreed to bear the massage this season. Pyrrhus also made one of his rare sensible interventions, suggesting that we might slip a coin into Rowley’s payment that we can trace as an arcane connection.

With Terentius having visited Mynyydd Myddyn last season the allocation of vis for services was generous but again no monetary stipend was made. It seems that at our current level of spending we have perhaps five years of funds remaining to us, though I suspect that the personal fortunes of many of the magi, myself included, means that we need not worry too greatly about coin before we must face the shadow from the east.

Pyrrhus took ship to Trevalga initially where he met with Loraticus who apparently expressed no small degree of surprise that we had chosen not to participate in the plan set out by Euros Aquilae. He was able to tell our noble Flambeau that he believed that the Red Moon cult was based in Plymouth. He accepted that they were involved in some degree of diabolic activity but did not believe that they held any great power, rather he suspected that they were primarily using their dark practices to support the extortion of monies. He reported that he had assassinated half a dozen of those he believed led the cult, in both Plymouth and Exeter, and that he did not believe they still presented any threat. He said that he had heard from Valens that the remainder had moved to the east, in his view due to his actions. However, when Pyrrhus recounted what we have learned he did agree that it sounded like the network remained more extant than he had believed and that their activity did not entirely match with his initial view and agreed to maintain a watch for any further activity. He also reported that Mortimer, consort of the King’s mother and recently appointed Earl of Gloucester, had been arrested and charged with treason. He speculated as to whether the cult was involved with raising funds for a noble for political purposes, perhaps to try and buy the Earldom. He suggested that we were wise to try and follow where the money was moving to. While at Trevalga Pyrrhus also met briefly with Phaedra, who remains interested in the research that Jari is undertaking regarding the henges of the tribunal.

Travelling next to Carrion Moor Pyrrhus met with Valens and learned that there had been no signs of the cult on the north coast of Cornwall. He discounted any possibility that a noble might be trying to buy an Earldom, stating that the sums are not large enough and that the King would wish to use Gloucester to reward a loyal supporter rather than to raise funds. He also agreed that our news suggested that the cult was operating differently to how it had previously and warranted further monitoring.

Terentius was scouting upon the road to the site on the south coast of Wales that had been identified for Theoclea’s experiments, a little way past Cardiff, when he met a man who seemed to be waiting for someone and said he had a strange tale to tell. When asked to tell his tale he said that he had been fortunate to father two sons. The first had grown up as a strong boy, but the second, whose birth had heralded the death of the man’s wife, had never been in good health, with lungs that sought to drown him. He said that this second son, who he named Brockwell, was touched in some way, often seeming to be in a dreamlike state, and who frequently spoke of things he could not know and that could not be such as great battles, dragons and trees come to life, places he had never visited and people he had never met. The man spoke to a kindly friar who advised him that the boy was not tainted by the devil but that his strange nature arose from some other source, but also advised that the boy would not live past this winter. The man then related that Brochwel had for several months been saying that he had an important message to deliver to a cabal of wizards who resided in a hidden temple east of the River Wye. The man had refused to undertake such a journey but three weeks ago Brochwel begged him to come to this very place where he would meet a man and a woman accompanied by a great horse and this was why he now waited in this place. Bidding his leave Terentius swiftly returned to Theoclea and her familiar and they speculated as to whether this was a tale of Myddin once again reborn. Returning together to the man they asked to be taken to meet his son and after a little over one day’s travel were brought to his rude dwelling. Within they met Brochwel, a boy of about eight years, who immediately identified both our sodales by name. He told them that he knew his time in the world was short but said that it was neither the first nor last time that he would die. He said he had borne many names over the ages, one of which was indeed Myddin, and it was from him that he had a message to bear. In ancient Cymric he then related a prophecy, which Theoclea was able to transcribe and has since placed a copy within our library for the interested reader. After a discussion between themselves Terentius swiftly returned to the covenant to fetch the Chalice, one of the great treasures of Britain with the power to heal even the most grievous maladies, but alas by the time he had returned the boy had succumbed.

Reaching the stone circle that Jari had suggested, where the stones were attuned to the control of weather, Theoclea spent several days trying to reach the mystical state that she needed to attain but when she did so Terentius reports that her voice changed, reverberating as the air around her sucked in small leaves, the waves crashing heavily on the rocks below. As her voice grew louder still dark clouds began to roll in and as she completed her words she collapsed, but with her familiar granting her strength she recovered quickly, having come far less close to death than previously. They waited two weeks for a storm to arrive, in order to fully test her success, and when it did so the winds around the henge were no greater than a stiff breeze, despite the raging storm that surrounded them. The effect seemed to have a radius of perhaps a half mile and lasted for an hour before beginning to fade, the storm fully raging where they had made camp within another hour. The two then travelled along the coast to another magical site, once more attuned to the weather. The experiment was repeated and with similar results, although the storm that followed three weeks later was perhaps not abated to quite the same extent. Once more she repeated her ritual, this time with Terentius having increased her size through his art, and for the first time she was not rendered beyond consciousness. This time when a storm came, after but a few days, it was fully resisted for approximately six hours.

As they came close to the end of the season they returned via the Gower in order to make an assay of the crops around the site of the earlier ritual. It was clear that the area of bounty previously observed still stood firm but the lands surrounding it are suffering to a greater extent than before, with poor harvests having occurred.

For myself the second season spent with Morgana La Fay involved much of the same practice as my previous time spent with her, hour upon hour spent inscribing runes upon the wood until she was satisfied with the form that they took. She told me that I would need to spend another two seasons with her, but even with that time I could only learn a fraction of her art. She bid me bring a plan when next I returned, so that she could focus on what I needed to know. She suggested that I consider the heart of Avebury as if we wished to defend more than a small grove against what was to come then there was no better place, for a henge of wood had once stood in that place. Of course, she also reminded me that with the greater power represented there came far greater danger and that I would need to mitigate it as best as I could. She believed if we were to work a ritual in that place then I would require aid, not only from Jari and Theoclea, both of whom she believed had a role to play, but also the strength of my sisters. She also stated that I would need the Anu to hold sway in that place and that some way to placate or subdue the Horned God would be required. I agreed that I would return in Autumn and present a plan as best I could. As I prepared to depart, she impressed upon me that we must make fate and not meekly accept it.


Summer

Our council began with much discussion on the new prophecy that had been brought to us. The first stanza supported the suggestion of Morgana La fay that Avebury is where any ritual must focus as we know well it is sacred to the Horned God. The reference to Old Thunder Bones suggests henges, and our reading is that a circle of these surrounding Avebury marks an area that we might hope to enchant against what is to come. We believe that the second stanza represents the specific henges that we are looking for. Jari was able to name Stonehenge, Whitestones, Wayland’s Smithy, Haydon’s Stone and Bannerdown as strong candidates, with just two left for us to discover. The third stanza suggests that there is a path we must follow around the stones although Theoclea wondered whether the reference to ‘walk not straight – step sunwise and attend’ may mean that the stones must be addressed widdershins before being walked sunwise on return. The fourth stanza suggests that we need to wake these stones from their slumber and guid their power towards the heart of Avebury, the reference to forgotten lexes perhaps referring to the runes that I am learning as a means of channelling that power. The fifth stanza seems to reference our sodales observations in the Gower last season, that such power will have a deleterious effect on the area surrounding the haven that might be created. It also suggests that there will not be many who avail themselves of this place, although some may seek to force their way in. The final stanza suggests that two must be involved at the heart of the ritual, of whom one would perish. This reflects the words in Taliesin’s Prophecy regarding ‘two bound by threads of fate and woe’ and one or two suggestions of who this may refer to were proffered among our council, not always entirely helpfully. This prophecy is a great boon to us, finally giving some greater shape to the ideas that we have been pursuing. Once more Theoclea, Jari and myself shall each spend this season furthering our efforts towards this end, with Naevius crafting an item for Theoclea to aid her.

The second topic of discussion at the council concerned the Brethren of the Red Moon. Terentius is keen to locate other members of the cult and identify the nature of whatever has been prowling the back streets and warrens of Bridgewater and we agreed that his time this season would be well spent pursuing this matter. We also discussed the arrest of Mortimer. We do not know who currently holds the greatest influence over the fourteen year old King of England, but resolved to try and find out who has his ear and also who he has appointed as his treasurer, for we are keen to see if there is any way that what we have lost might be restored.

Pyrrhus decided to spend the season studying in the library.

Jari set himself to identifying the two unknown henges referred to in Brochwel’s prophecy and to visit those he has not previously travelled to. He began with Haydon’s Stone, heading initially to Cirencester before venturing southeast into the hills. After a few days he achieved his goal, finding four stones, one slightly taller than the others, lying within a magical aura of the third magnitude. From there he travelled southwest towards Chippenham and upon a lightly wooded hilltop some miles south of that town discovered a large stone with a pair of much smaller stones set back from it – Bannerdown – which once again lay within a third magnitude aura. Close to the henge he found a patch of ground within the woods that bore traces of a campfire that he determined had been set less than three weeks previously and making further investigation he identified that there must have been three of four tents set in its vicinity. Casting the spell Sense the Lingering Magic he identified a sigil of burning ash where a low magnitude Creo ignem spell had been cast. He did not recognise this, confident that it was none of the magi who reside at Carrion Moor nor Magus Plautus of Trevalga either. Returning to the stone he made closer investigation and found flecks of blood upon it that he was able to identify as human. Given that much must have been washed away by the rain that fell towards the end of spring he surmised that the amount spilled must have been greater than a mere cut and with further spellcasting he identified it as heart’s blood, surely from a fatal wound. He conjured an image of the man who had his blood so spilled and saw an individual, perhaps in his thirties, with a short moustache and beard, dark hair and brown eyes. He managed to trace the body and found it lying in a shallow grave a short way down the hill, clothed in the manner of a merchant. Later we discovered that the man’s name was David Timble and that he was a minor merchant. The corpse had clearly been stabbed in the chest and upon the body he found a further sigil, this one of Green Flames. Recognising it well as the necromancer of the Unnamed House he departed rapidly and returned to the covenant.

In those first few days of Summer Terentius was also abroad, having travelled once more to Bridgewater. There he learned that Stephen Rowley had taken six or seven wagons upon the road towards Bristol, a significant amount of tin that would be worth a great deal of coin. He once more entered the merchant’s house, removing the remainder of the coded notes to take copies before he returned them the following evening. He also took the opportunity to take an arcane connection to Rowley’s bed and to slip some of our marked coins into Rowley’s own monies.

Terentius was in the covenant returning the copies he had made when Jari returned and called an emergency council to highlight his discovery of the Unnamed House being present at Bannerdown. Terentius said that he would travel to Holy isle to make report, with Jari agreeing that he would travel to Carrion Moor to warn the magi there – later speaking with Maga Phaedra (who also agreed that she was content to allow my sodalis to make an investigation of Whitestones, a registered vis site of her covenant).

During the conversation my sodales once more recounted all those members of the Unnamed House that we have identified so that all might be reminded of their sigils. Given the threat that they pose I shall set them out here.

A ribbon of Green Fire is the mark of the necromancer.
Eerie Sounds upon the Wind shows the presence of the seer.
The tang of the Salt Wind is the shapechanger.
A sigil of Broken and Splintered Bone is one proficient in perdo and corporem.
Yellow Flame with the smell of Sulphur marks one proficient with Ignem.
Foul and Brackish Water marks the passing of one strong in Creo and Aquam.
The sigil of Watery Yellow Pus belongs to one with a focus in Corporem.
Burning Blood marks another strong in Ignem.
The Burning Motes of Ash suggest a third wizard with an Ignem focus.
A sigil of Cracks in Stone and Rock belongs to one who is yet unknown.
The final sigil we have discovered is of Milky Eyes.

With Terentius now otherwise occupied it was agreed that Captain Merrick and Stephan the Master of Spies would travel to Bristol to pursue further investigation into the activities of Stephen Rowley. They discovered that he had cornered much of the tin market within Bristol, a known centre of such trade. After some investigation they were able to identify the townhouse near the market square where Rowley had been staying and the warehouse that he used. At the latter they saw the merchant’s scribe and bodyguard accompanying four wagons as they departed upon the road, most likely bound for London. They estimated that each wagon must have been bearing 500d in goods. Within Bristol it was rumoured that Rowley has a number of business partners in the city and that his control of the tin trade has progressed rapidly over a short period of time, with tales that others within the trade had met untimely ends. The townhouse he had been staying in had recently been auctioned and bought by an older man and woman with reports of others residing there and many ‘comings and goings’. Rowley himself was said to have returned to Bridgewater. Letar in the season Stephan was able to decipher the remaining documents recovered by Terentius and found that a little over half a year previously there had been a significant increase in the payments that Rowley was having to make which were now of a significant level.

While the two were abroad they also learned some mundane news which may be of interest to some (though in truth I find it largely uninteresting myself). There has been several attacks on ports around the southern and southeastern coast by French vessels. The wool market has been booming with the popularity of English wool never greater. Both nobles and monasteries are giving over greater swathes of the land to the keeping of sheep, with many nobles borrowing heavily from the church. Of some interest, there is discord between the Baron of Chepstow and Tintern Abbey over money he has borrowed from them but is repaying more slowly than they desire. Finally, the border lords are buying vast quantities of timber and stone and hiring masons and carpenters as they embark on improving their fortifications.

At Holy Isle Terentius was received by Severus, Cyrillus and Tilius who said that they would investigate his report with urgency. They told my sodalis that this was not the first time that blood had been spilled on a henge by the Unnamed House for the same thing had occurred at Halls of the Forest, where Lluddwyn is leading the effort to counter the infernal taint placed upon the place. They asked Terentius to inform Jari that they may ask him to accompany them as an investigative hoplite and may possibly also call upon Pyrrhus if more martial power is required. Terentius returned with the news at which point Pyrrhus informed him that he was departing for an extended period at the start of Autumn as he was accompanying his Primus on a mission to reconnect with House Aethiopicus (whoever they may be).

Terentius then set out to continue his investigations in Somerset once more. He began in Axbridge where there had been reports from last winter that the church bells had rung despite the clergy there claiming not to have been responsible. The local knight had posted watchmen at the church who saw no soul approach and yet the bells continued to ring at night, and it was said locally that a ghost must be responsible. Our sodalis was able to force the ghost to materialise and discovered that it was a burgher of the town, once called Simon, who was trying to alert the living of a great crime committed. He had been murdered by the Red Moon cult at a stone locally named the Wedding Stone. Terentius compelled further information from him and discovered that the man had been recruited by the cult for his acumen with coin and trade although he himself had never taken the mask of a cultist. He enriched both himself and others of the Brethren but the original leaders of the cult based in the west fell silent and soon new leaders emerged in Bristol who demanded ever greater amounts of coin. Simon had tried to identify who these men were and was met by two men who took him to the Wedding Stone where another man waited for them. This man was cloaked in shadow although Simon believed that he might have heralded from Ireland due to his strong accent. He was immobilised by a spell cast against him by this man and then stabbed to death. The man then used further spells to compel secrets from Simon. He was able to reveal two contacts within the cult that he knew, Stephen Rowley being one and the other man named Paul, a tin trader from Stanton.

Taking what he had learned Terentius made Stanton his next destination and there he gained directions to the Wedding Stone. It stood within a second magnitude magical aura but as he investigated further he discovered the sigil of green flame once more, a mix of hermetic and infernal magic that had been used to communicate with, and compel, an occult entity. From there he travelled to Wedmore, where a house had been burned down in Spring, killing a notable, but not well loved, merchant named Andrew Dawe and his family. Investigating at night Terentius found another sigil, this one with motes of burning ash, attached to a spell that our sodalis identified as being a fifth magnitude Creo Ignem. Again he was able to force the appearance of a ghost, this time the wife of the merchant. She knew little save that she had been murdered, and she believed that it was surely the business partners of her spouse who were responsible.

The final settlement he visited was Taunton where he discovered that in Spring a merchant named Paul Lovell had been arrested and hanged after being accused of committing a murder. Locating the man’s former home, now abandoned and locked up, he discovered that it had an unsettling smell within the master bedroom, a subtle scent of decay that he believed identified that some evil had occurred there. He erected a ward against demons and as he did so he heard a scraping sound from beneath the bed. Looking closely, he saw a small wooden box that must have been repelled as the enchantment was cast. He could sense no magic upon the vessel so picked the lock, revealing some coin and a fine dagger with a skull motif engraved upon its hilt. Later that night he was woken from his slumber as he felt his Parma Magica challenged but hold strong, no effect manifesting save that he believed he may have heard the faintest of words spoken from somewhere close by. The assault was not repeated and the following day he decided to bury the dagger in a deep hole in the woods that lay close to the town. Later in the season Stephan determined that Paul had been alleged to have slain a beggar woman, eyewitness testimony condemning him.

For myself I visited several of the pagan powers to see if I could identify a way to placate the Horned God so that we might work a ritual within Avebury. Perhaps there is a way for me to do so but I am yet unsure of the consequences that this might result in, and I shall seek to identify whether there is another route that I might take.

Branwen’s Private Journal: At the start of Summer I visited with my Prima to discuss what we had learned from the prophecy granted us by the child Brochwel and outline the path that I feel must surely be the best way forwards, despite the implications upon her own preferences. Unsurprisingly she presented argument as to why I was mistaken and told me that she did not believe that there was any way that I could face the Horned God given the vengeance that burns in me for the wrongs that Pyrrhus has done to our sisterhood. Gwylla suggested to her that she slay Pyrrhus so that such vengeance would be sated but Lluddwyn stated that she could not do so while Guido lived for he had made it clear that any assault against that snivelling excuse for a man would be met with equally savage force. Yet as often before my Prima bade me seek the voices of others, suggesting that I speak to the Goddess in all her aspects to see what wisdom she might share.
First I sought audience with the Anu, once more travelling to her glade with Lluddwyn but alone laying my head to sleep beneath the boughs of the tree within. In my reverie the Anu spoke with me and echoed the words of my Prima, that the vengeance I hold in my heart would be seized upon by the Horned God and I would surely become a member of his hunting party if I faced him. But to work the art that is needed to bring her to Avebury he must be dealt with. She said that she could take the vengeance from me if I so desired but the change upon me would be profound and she could not see what might befall from it, for the influence of such a choice would surely affect more than just this one decision. When I asked her which of the two paths before me might have the greater chance of success, Lluddwyn’s preference of a refuge within the Halls of the Forest where my sisters and perhaps one or two more might survive or my own growing desire to seek to achieve a greater sanctuary she asked merely why I would not seek the greater reward.

Second did I seek out the Morrigan, meeting with her within the forest close to the covenant. Of course, she urged that I do not give up my vengeance saying that if I did so I would be giving up far more of myself than a single hand, for my vengeance is what makes me strong enough to face the challenge to come. She suggested that the answer to my problem was simply for Pyrrhus to die, whether at my hand or another’s. If he lived she warned that I could not face the Horned God myself and another must therefore do so. Yet she also said she believed that if I made the right choices the path I outlined might yet succeed.

Third I travelled to Mynydd Myddyn to speak with the daughter. As I entered the regio around the spring I felt the tenor change, and as I made the rites to that fair lady I heard soft laughter and felt a gentle wind moving around me, the grass teasing Gwylla’s whiskers and petals floating, coalescing into the figure of a youthful figure. She told me that I was following a road that was hard enough without bearing a heavy burden. She asked why I did not just set my burdens aside for to keep carrying them was surely foolishness. She said that there was no darkness that can resist the light so I should make myself lighter, and full of life. I need to be the candle that can illuminate even the darkest night. As I left, I’m embarrassed to say that I could think of little save why I have always chosen to seek counsel from her other two aspects in the past. I think of myself as an optimist but that is tempered by a nature that I do not believe any would call light or free of burden.

I returned to Cad Gadu to speak once more with my Prima and to tell her that I was yet determined to tread the harder path, despite the greater risks that it carries, including to my sisters. I need their help, and told her so, and asked whether she could gather our coven together so that I may speak with them. She said she would put out the call and see how many might be gathered for a meeting to take place following the tribunal next year.

Autumn

Our council began with discussion about the resurfacing of the Unnamed House and what their plans might be. What we have seen of the behaviour of those traitors to magic suggests that they understand something of our methods of intelligence gathering but also that they have some great need for coin. Do they know of our plans? To what end will such monies be put? As of yet we have had no communication from Holy Isle regarding their investigation and we await news eagerly. While I sense that Terentius would welcome an encounter with some of their number, others of us are very conscious of how dangerous it would be to come upon such enemies while about the business of seeking to thwart the peril that is coming. Yet once more four of us will be abroad on such business this season, with Jari and Terentius travelling to find the missing stones, Theoclea heading to Cad Gadu to see whether she can learn some more of what she needs from within their library, and myself returning to Morgana La Fay. The pressure of the relentless efforts is beginning to tell within the covenant however, even those who are aligned with one another becoming less tolerant and quicker to anger. At one point Theoclea almost bit my head off when I suggested that I believed that dealing with the Horned God was my responsibility rather than hers, although she later apologised for her irate words. At least Pyrrhus is abroad for some time, off on his adventure with his Primus. Maybe luck will shine and he won’t return. Naevius will spend the season extracting vim vis for the covenant. His keenness to play his part by supporting the rest of us is apparent and I welcome it, and his calm demeanour, more and more with each passing year.

Jari and Terentius commenced their season by seeking out the henge that we believe lies between Bannerdown and Haydon’s Stone. After some searching they found five modest stones covered in lichen and moss, encompassing a spring hidden within a small copse of trees. The aura was magical and of the second magnitude but the wildflowers that were growing in abundance despite the season were a clear marker that this was a place once dedicated to the maiden. They later identified it as the Druid’s Stone, a place reputedly once visited by Myddin himself. Jari took some time to speak to the stone, and it told him that it was keen to help our endeavour although it did not know how it might do so. The final henge they sought lay between Bannerdown and Stonehenge, southwest of Avebury but before they could seek it out message was sent to them via their regular contact through the mirror that the magi of Holy Isle had come to the covenant and they swiftly returned to attend upon them.

Our visitors were the magi Severus and Cyrillus and they related the progress of their investigations to date. The evidence suggested that about a year ago the Unnamed House had taken control over the Brethren of the Red Moon, killing five members of that cult in the process. They believe that four of those renounced wizards now formed the leadership of the cult, marked with the sigils of green flame, burning motes of ash and eerie sounds upon the wind. The final sigil was of sweat mixed with blood and belongs to a wizard we were not previously aware of. We were told that he bore power over flesh and is believed to be the figure cloaked ion shadow that Terentius had heard tale of. They investigated the house at Bristol and there found evidence of a demonic spirit that had been summoned from the flames of the hearth. They believe that as many as a dozen mundane servants are bound to these four. They had not yet discovered what purpose they might be putting the coin they were raising towards although they had identified that Stephen Rowley had delivered money to the house in Bristol which had then been tracked as far as Oxford. Severus speculated that the uncharacteristically cavalier behaviour of the cult may be due to the wizards fear that we might quickly detect them, and thus they were seeking to complete their business in the region swiftly. The dedicated covenant believes that their best leads now lie in London, but asked Jari whether he might accompany Cyrillus to see whether any of the three henges that they had been visited by the Unnamed House had been corrupted. He and Terentius readily agreed to this.

They travelled first to Bannerdown and there Jari detected that something was out of tune with sound of the stone there, what he calls the resonance. It was his belief that he might be able to draw upon the power of a neighbouring stone to cleanse whatever taint had been lain upon the place. Next they travelled to the Wedding Stones but Jari could not detect the resonance of that site. Finally they visited 12 stones, said in legend to be the murdered rivals of an ancient king, that lie at Gorsey Bigbury on the northern slope of the Mendips. This time Jari was again able to detect the resonance, and once more he said that it was discordant. Wondering why the Unnamed House had chosen to work some dark rite at these three sites they sought out the point at which a direct line might converge from all three points of the triangle that they form. There Terentius was able to identify a large copse of trees surrounding a clearing, which placed him in mind of a grove. He saw a blackish tinge on the ivy growing on one of the trees and Jari was able to identify the footprints of two or three people approaching the clearing. As they reached the glade there was a subtle shift in the wind and they reported that the shadows seemed to darken. Terentius entered first, swiftly erecting an ward against the infernal, and he determined that there was a magical aura of the first magnitude present. The others entered and Jari was able to detect the sigil of green flame once more, the lingering remnant of an enchantment to summon some kind of occult entity. Magus Cyrillus attempted to cast the Eyes of the Past but could see only darkness and Jari suggested that the grove had surely been corrupted, with no trace remaining of the god that might once have been venerated there. Questioning a tree outside of the grove he learned that it was in pain and believed the place to be cursed. It said that the change occurred at the last summer solstice and believed it would be better if the trees were burned rather than left in such torment. With this Cyrillus announced that he must depart to rejoin Severus but not before giving a small mirror to each of my two sodales, to facilitate rapid communication if needed.

With the Jari and Terentius returned to the task of identifying the remaining henge and towards the end of the season, in hills about 5 miles southeast of the settlement of Bath, they found what they were looking for, three modest stones standing within a dell with a second magnitude magical aura. This is the henge of Stoney Littleton and Jari was able to discover that men once came here to dream of the secrets of the past. Deciding to see whether he might learn something of use he chose to sleep there without raising his Parma Magica and reports that in his dreams he saw earthworks and excavations, seemingly clearing the ground for the erection of the stones at Stonehenge. He saw a grey-haired man carrying a staff gently patting the stones with affection while talking rhythmically in the ancient Cymric tongue, flames the colour of starlight springing up and an increasing resonance in the air. Jari believes that this was a vision of the stones being awakened.

Before returning to the covenant our sodales checked for any signs of corruption at Stonehenge, Whitestones and Wayland’s Smithy and were glad to report that all seemed clear.

My time with Morgana La Fay passed without incident, my mastery of the runes growing quickly with her instruction. As we talked over the course of the season, she told me that she believed that Myddin has escaped his prison, perhaps due to the departure of the fae from this realm. She is suspicious of his intent and believes that there is still some trick he is yet to play. I outlined what we had learned and the path that we now believed gave us a plan. She listened carefully and turned the focus of my study towards how we might create a wheel to protect against the storm. She believes that I must carve a rune of each of seven trees within the heart of Avebury, one for each of the surrounding henges, inscribing them with the power of the Cran Beddad. With the aid of the Anu we might then be able to draw upon the power of the awakened henges, although as to how that might be achieved she said she had no insight. I am to visit her once more next year to complete my lessons.

Winter

At our final council of the year the events of last season were recounted before we began to discuss the practicalities of living in the area bound by the seven henges around Avebury, and how we might share our plans with others. For the first I can not see why there should be any great difficulty, although Terentius eagerly volunteered to spend this season mapping the area, and for the latter I sense that there are some differences in opinion within our number which I suspect will become more strident as we near the tribunal next year, no doubt to be made even more difficult should Pyrrhus return from the lands of Africa. We do however seem to be in agreement regarding the path that we have chosen although there was a point when Jari for some reason suggested that Theoclea might be best placed to awaken the stones, an opinion that we swiftly countered. That will surely be his task. I believe that it will be at the centre of Avebury where Theoclea shall bear her responsibility, standing alongside myself.

Jari’s vision at Stoney Littleton must have inspired him for he has some ideas about how he might craft a spell to awaken the stones and shall spend this season developing it, assisted in his laboratory by Theoclea. Naevius is studying from Terram vis but also using his spare time to review some of Theoclea’s notes and I shall for the first season in a good while be spending some time in my own sanctum, extracting vim vis that I shall need if I am to craft a talisman to aid me in my endeavours.

Over the course of the season the covenant was largely quiet although a number of minor magical effects were observed, such as the silence that blankets our home becoming ever stronger. We also recovered three pawns of aquam from the boar tide, rather than the single pawn commonly seen. Quite what this heralds I am not certain. There were no other events worthy of recording although I should say that at the end of the season Terentius returned in rare good humour. I’ll warrant that his mapping went well.

And thus, another year has passed. I hope that my dear reader (as I have grown to think of you as I scribe these words every few years) shall have ample future occasions to laugh, cry, agree or frown at my words but if this does turn out to be the final time I scribe within these pages I should perhaps share a final secret.