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Scribed by Caelestis

Spring 1131 AD


So it falls to me again to scribe this tome. It seems such a short time since I last wrote here, but with the additions of two new magi hopefully my studies will not be interrupted again so quickly. The snow lay thick on the ground, with not a sight of the welsh flower poking through. I hated the chill that persisted it reminded me of the mountains near Antioch. How I longed for the warmth that summer brings.

The council met and Audacia related the tale of how she bested the Ruadan when Turold discussions about the return of the repaired wand turned sour. She apparently had no problem resisting the Ruadan’s enchantments and then broke her arm with a simple formulaic spell. Audacia then took the Ruadan’s mask as a reminder to her that she must fulfil the bargain!

Antonius discussed his foray into Bristol where a watching spirit apparently followed him but when it got close to the covenant Idris dispelled the evil spirit. The share out of Vis was done with 3 Ignem and 7 Herbam being divided equally between the 5 magi. Antonius reported that blackthorn had voted to continue the alliance after Eloria had pushed for its dissolution. Apparently she had suffered a Mentem twilight and has been acting strangely especially towards Antonius who seems to be her pet hate at the moment. Antonius declared that he would be travelling in the spring , I was learning from the Aquam texts, Ospectus was learning from the Imagonem texts, Turold declared that he was going to make an infernal ward for Antonius and Audacia was going to learn a tenth magnitude "lay to rest the haunting spirit".

Early in the season Gofynwy arrived to speak with Turold. A council was called to allow his admittance and he was admitted. Turold then left his work in progress and after consulting with Sylvania in Cad Gadu covenant he disappeared into the Faerie Regio.

The rest of the season past without incident at the covenant and we had a very peaceful if cold spring.

Summer

The council meeting convened with Turold informing us of an alliance in the faerie regio between Gofannon the king of the mountain and Nynniaw the Lord of the oaks with the objective of recapturing the Summer glade. Turold then related how he went to the summer glade to reconnoitre the area as he was supposedly an ally of the Erechwyth who held the glade (this did seem a bit dubious to me but I bow to Turold’s great understanding of the fae and their ways). Apparently things did not go smoothly in the glade with Meredith losing control of his shapeshifting and attacking a stone fae before then fleeing. When Turold tried to follow him he found he could not easily escape the glade as his magics were turned awry by the strange fae regio.

Eventually he escaped the glade and returned after reporting the force strength. Audacia reported speaking with Dialectica during the spring season and discovered that a wizard’s war had been declared between Eloria and Marea. Antonius reported that he discovered that Baron of Monmouth had been asking about the Baron of Chepstow’s lineage, which could mean a precursor to a claim on his lands and an attack. He also reported that the Fells were observed in Lydney, in the guise of a fake merchant and Gerald’s grave had been disturbed. Sir Martin had apparently had a bad dream about it and when shown the disturbed grave he ordered a manhunt for this merchant. I suggested that the "eyes of the past" spell might reveal the visage of this merchant and it was decided that after Audacia looked for watching spirits we would go and cast the ritual at the Inn where the merchant stayed. At this council my sigil fell out of my pocket, which was very strange, as I had gone to Blackthorn and handed over to the Quaesitor. We then sent to Blackthorn for a Quaesitor but none were there as they were busy investigating House Ex Miscellanea. We held a discussion about the sigil and I suggested that a spirit might be bound into the item and would Audacia investigate it. I then submitted to be put to sleep in case my mind was altered or changed to defend the sigil. Apparently there was a spirit of an Arab boy in the sigil and through the use of tongue of the folk Audacia was able to interrogate it. It transpired that my pater had had the spirit bound into the device to stop me returning to the Levant because if I did some dark prophecy could come to take place. Audacia then destroyed the item freeing the bound spirit and freeing me from its influence. I was then awakened and quizzed about my past with Antonius prying quite intensely. Turold stated he was going to read from the Ignem texts if his time in the faerie regio didn’t disturb his studies too much. Antonius declared he was going out and about once again, when does this man ever study magic? Audacia was going to learn the spell "gift of Achilles", Ospectus was again learning from the Imagonem texts and I studied from the Herbam texts.

A few days later I went down to Lydney with Antonius and cast the eyes of the past in the room to determine the identity of the merchant. When I cast the spell I felt through some infernal magics he was aware of my scrying and so I fled the tavern. When we gathered at the covenant I cast an illusion of the man I had seen and it was determined that it was not a fell that Antonius recognised.

Later that season we heard reports of animals disturbed in the woods and Turold declared that this must mean the Fae war had started. A few days later the entire Seelie Fae contingent arrived at our gates and was granted entry by council permission. They held talks with Turold about his Fae holdings and he swore an oath to Nynniaw that the "Lord of the Oaks" can have the resources of this land (exactly the oath he gave to the defeated Erechwyth).

The rest of the season passed without incident.

Autumn


The season started cold and foggy with a thick dense mist rising off the Severn obscuring all. Our council meeting started with us discussing what we were going to study. Antonius decided to study from the rego vis, Audacia studied from 3 pawns of Perdo vis, but to accomplish this she had to exchange a rook of Muto for a rook of Perdo with her parens. Turold decided to make the ward versus demons for Antonius that he had been meaning to make but had been interrupted before by his activities in the fae regio. I observed my obligation to the covenant by extracting Vim vis from the aura and Ospectus improved his English.

The fog persisted for many a day and Antonius decided to cast perceive the magical scent to determine if the fog was magical. He discovered it was and mounted an expedition with 4 grogs, Ospectus and Meredith. Ospectus in falcon form flew far and wide and discovered a man shaped form in the river. When he reported this to Antonius, Meredith announced that it might be a water elemental of ancient legend called the Ladra. We then had a council meeting where we were appraised of the facts. At this meeting Turold informed us that Meredith had spoken with the shade of Idris and had confirmed his suspicions that this was the creature called the Ladra. We decided to ask our Blackthorn allies for assistance and Ospectus flew up there that afternoon. He returned with Caisus who reported earthquakes at Blackthorn and he immediately returned to Blackthorn with Audacia to clear the fallen rocks with her Perdo spells.

A few days later Mathus arrived at our covenant tired and feverish. Indeed as he was putting his horse in the stable he collapsed. Antonius took him to the infirmary and the chirurgeon applied a balm apon his chest. Antonius wanted to try magical healing but was stifled by the fact that he knew that Mathus would have some sort of magical protection. He started to strip Mathus but then saw an obviously magical piece of jewellery around his neck and he instructed the chirurgeon’s helper to remove it.

A spell was cast and the girl fell dead at Antonius’ feet, the rest of the mundanes in the room were struck down with a sleep spell of some variety and Antonius himself felt his parma Magica resist a spell. Later that evening Mathus awoke and healed himself with potions he carried. We then held a council meeting where Mathus told us the following news

The Mundane news was sparse and reported that famine was about and that some Christian priest had been acting inopportunely which did not surprise me as they seem as corrupt a bunch of people as any in this land. The hermetic news was more interesting in that Blackridge covenant had been thrown out of the order and that the order Ex Miscellania might be re-formed. Four of the Ex Miscellaneans had been quizzed by the Quaesitors and had been passed by them but confined to their respective covenants for the duration of the march. He also reported that several other of the covenants had been attacked by weird occurrences like our fog and Blackthorn's earthquakes. He informed us that there was supposed to have been a meeting in Borri-Tor covenant 4 days ago but because of the fog he could no find the covenant so we had missed this. I had a small sack of mail for Mathus to deliver for the forum idea that I had.

Later in that season I had a vision (my first) of a door with the stars revolving around it. I asked Meredith about this but he offered no suggestions.

Winter

The council meeting convened with Audacia being absent, due to helping Blackthorn covenant with its earthquake problem. Antonius had unfortunately been pursuing a dead end of research involving the rego Vis he used and had gained no insights into that technique. Ospectus declared he would perform his covenant research and scribe the spell "True sight of air". Turold was enchanting a device for the tribunal for its efforts in assaulting Blackridge covenant. Antonius developed a spell and I studied from the Herbam texts. I am getting very close to being proficient in all the techniques and arts now and within a few years will be able to take on an apprentice as all followers of Bonisagus should.

Audacia returned a few days later to report that she had been up to Borri-Tor for a meeting to discuss the attack on Blackridge covenant. She reported that there were no representatives from Carrion moor, Narwold, Morstow, Lear valley or Scarfell. She also stated that she would be studying from 3 pawns of Perdo Vis this season.

Meredith went missing which apparently wasn’t an unusual occurrence but he had been gone for nearly a week which prompted Turold to search him out. Turold decided that as the boy liked to talk to Idris for long periods of time he would examine the spring area. We were alerted to these events only when a grog came running back into the covenant from the spring to alert us to the fact that Turold and another grog had vanished while inspecting the spring. Suspecting foul play we dispatched Ospectus to scout the area who spotted a shadowed form. I then with Audacia providing defence went down to the spring and using my own vis performed the ritual of "Eyes of the past". I saw Turold walk down to the spring , the missing grog then spotted something in the water and pointed this out to Turold. A hand then rose from the water and touched both the grog and Turold causing them to liquefy in some manner and descend into the spring pond. A day later Meredith returned and informed us that he was hiding from some malign entity (the shadowed form) and could not leave the otherworld as he calls it. He stated that he spotted Turold from this otherworld and fearing for his safety asked Idris to help. Idris apparently asked the Ladra to assist who took both Turold and the grog into its realm for safekeeping.

The next day Turold and the grog returned unharmed at dawn. We then called a council and at that meeting we summoned the spirit of Idris and quizzed him although Audacia’s attempts to coerce the spirit seemed to not achieve the results she wanted. I then suggested that I use the spell "Voice of the Lake" cast from text, to quiz the Ladra about who summoned it here. We set up by the spring and successfully summoned the entity who stated that she had been summoned by a druid of some sort which instantly made us think of the unnamed house. Audacia went and reported this information to Caisus at Blackthorn.

The rest of the season passed uneventfully.
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