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Scribed by Justinian

Spring 1270AD

We met for council on the cold morning and greeted each other warmly. I explained to my sodales the powers and effects of the Septum Sancti but I was not sure they understood how spells are different from devotions. We discussed my taking vows next spring and this led to a discussion of understanding of the rules of Excordis in the charter. It was obvious to me that Urla was not happy with me taking vows and worked out that the vote might go three to three and wanted to make sure I needed a majority to enable me to do so. I think she knew that Hussam a muslim and Astrius a Druid would not want me to take vows but could not guarantee the votes of Lysimachus or our newly accepted magus Nais. She proposed to council that actions proposed whilst under Excordis now needed to be voted on a majority or not be allowed. this vote passed three to one with two abstentions. I then asked that in the spring of 1271 I be allowed to take vows and that failed in a three three tie. I agreed to abide by council ruling and to contemplate my future as a monk in my own mind. We discussed our plans for the future year and then Vis and monies were handed out.

During the Season Astrius left for his house meeting which was in the country of Bulgaria which lies north and west from constantinople, he took some grogs but not the ship with him so how he intends to get there I do not know. This season I performed my covenant service and I bound into our new sapphire dagger the power to sense the elusive boundary with twenty four uses daily, also the item maintains concentration which should make it much more useful.

Summer

Lysimachus yet again took on the role of acting Pontifex and his style of leadership is quite different from our Pontifex ,more a democratic meeting than an assignment of duties and resources. I requested the right to do a survey of Tintern’s dominion aura as requested by Hussam which was voted through without problem. Hussam left the covenant this season taking the ship with him on covenant service looking for the An Fayan. Nais proved his diligence by performing a second covenant service extracting Vim vis.

I performed the survey as requested before settling down in my lab with the aquam texts. I found that generally there was a magical aura in the woods surrounding both the trellech stones and the grey hill but as soon as you left the treeline they vanished and as soon as the road was spotted I detected a dominion aura.

The season was quiet with Hussam and Astrius out

Autumn

We met as a full council again but it was a subdued one. Astrius had mixed news, although his house had been successful in stripping the Mongol army of its magical power and leadership it was not without cost and his apprentice Justicia was one of the fallen, I feel so sad she was here for 15 years studying and I still remember her happy laugh at lunch time around the big table in the great hall, such a loss and I imagine my loss must be but a shadow of what Astrius is feeling, I know Astrius and myself rarely agree but in this we were united in grief, I will remember her in my prayers. Astrius also reported that a grog he took with him was released from service but did not elaborate and given his grief and temper I knew better than to press him on the issue. Hussam stated that between him and the spymaster they had located the An Fayan which only two weeks ago had docked at Deptford a port on the thames not far from London, but its business there was unknown. Astius then asked who would go to the Symposium for the season and everyone wanted to go, knowing that they all desired this I volunteered to stay and guard the covenant to avoid argument or disappointment. They left fairly early in the season for blackthorn where Theophilus gave talks on the insight of forms, liberata on her understanding of the occult, Astrius on his recent ideas of how to better cast magics at multiple opponents at once which sounds interesting if I was assailed by multiple demons at once and Lysimachus lectured on his findings from the book he found on aristotelian astronomy.

The season at the covenant was quiet and gave me a long time to think on my future and whether joining the franciscan order was correct for me.

Winter

The days grew shorter and the nights longer, and our council chamber was chilly in the post dawn haze although a fire took the edge off of it. We discussed the Symposium and Lysimachus alone thanked me for remaining behind, but i'm sure the others would have done it it was just that my friend was first. Not much was discussed as the previous season had been very quiet. Lysimachus made a mighty device for the ship in this season enabling it to banish storms from the sky.

A few weeks into the season the Redcap arrived with news both hermetic and mundane.
The Bulgarians had repulsed the mongols and pursued the leaderless rabble and killed many of the stragglers

Borri-tor was attacked by undead creates and although many of them were dispatched with dust to dust there was one not affected by such a spell and they have put out a call to any skilled with spirits to help them. There was also news about Louis the ninth of France of whom the church loved, Louis resolved to land at Tunis to give him a foothold and base of operations to attack Egypt. The crusaders landed at Carthage but disease broke out in the camp. Many died of a flux in the stomach and Louis himself died of this flux only a month after landing on the African coast.

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