Scribed by Gnaeus
Spring 1282AD
To what extent can we separate the notions of time and place? Within the Timaeus, Plato argues that time relates to the motion of the heavenly bodies, and describes space as ‘that in which things come to be’. Therefore, for Plato the concept of space appears fundamentally related to time; it is the void which shall, in the future, be occupied.
Aristotle’s Physics develops this further. He divides the concepts of place, void and time, but argues that the concept of void is unnecessary and leads to the contradictions of Zeno (that is, making movement impossible). Place, he argues, is like an immobile container or a vessel. The innermost, motionless boundary of what contains, is the place of a body; it is a boundary or a surface. Time is the constant attribute of motion, and Aristotle agrees that it only exists relative to the movement of things. Time and place share another commonality, in that they are not divisible into indivisible parts; they are not discrete but smooth and continuous, or infinitely divisible. Amongst other things, this means that there can be no definite (indivisible) moment when a motion begins; which Aristotle believes resolves the paradox of Zeno.
A temporal unit, an instant, is therefore ‘kinetic length’. For a given rate of movement, the length of travel of a body denotes the passage of time.
The position of the sunrise this morning is between that of the mid-winter solstice and the next equinox, therefore it is the beginning of spring here in Severn Temple.
The council was incomplete as we met, for Jari had not yet returned from his meeting with Maeronwyn. Oratio announced the completion of an enchantment within Petrus' Gladius. In addition to a spell already in place to ‘Rend the Mystic Veil’, it will allow the wielder to enact the spell ‘Glimpse through the Mystic Veil’. The Pontifex noted there was still capacity within the open enchantment for a further enchantment in future.
Covenant services were discussed. We have considerable need for Vim vis, so Volutus and myself shall extract what we can from the aura this season. Hypatia announced she would need to attend the royal court in London, and Terentius will take advantage of the new powers of the dagger to resume his investigation of the cave where we suspect the demonic Hugh is hiding in autumn.
There was discussion also of the Stonehenge Tribunal next season and a decision about which of us would attend. I agreed to remain within the covenant next season, as there was considerable interest in hearing the debate regarding the Domus Magus Tremere and the trial of Olafsson in Iberia.
Each member of the council was rewarded with five pawns of vis for each season of service last year. A stipend of fifty pennies for each magus was also made available from covenant funds (Hypatia waiving her right to the sum as usual).
Jari returned to the covenant a week after the council meeting. It appears that the faerie sorceress, Maeronwyn, would be prepared to reverse her enchantment upon Jari’s companions last season. A trade, like-for-like, was struck. For each animal that Jari can obtain and bring to her by the end of autumn, she will restore that companion to human form. Whilst some might be relatively easy to find in the wild, the fox, perhaps also the polecat and the boar, a bear cub might be difficult. Oratio suggested that one of the markets in London might be a place to obtain the animals, and offered to accompany Jari in summer. The rest of the season passed without event of note.
Summer
With all present at council, the Pontifex asked for any news from the last season. Hypatia told us that the new Archbishop of Canterbury had been causing trouble in London – issuing an edict against the Jews: ordering all the synagogues closed and for the Jews to be cast out of the city. King Theo was apparently furious when he heard the report and sent royal troops into the city to prevent the Archbishop’s orders from being carried out. This does not bode well for the relationship between the Church and Crown. Though evidence of Theo’s strong character, this is especially dangerous given the pressure on him regarding the status of the Order of Hermes within England and Wales.
Jari and Oratio will travel to London this season to see whether they can procure some of the animals for the deal with Maeronwyn. Everyone else was engaged in personal studies, though (other than myself) all will attend Blackthorn for the Tribunal and, for Hypatia and Oratio, the House meeting thereafter.
From the reports of my sodales, Primus Julius gave an impressive speech outlining his reasons for wanting to move the Domus Magus of Tremere to Stonehenge. There are some obvious political advantages to having, what is now, such a well-regarded House centred within the Tribunal. Firstly, it may ease some of the tensions and suspicions towards us from magi on the continent still dealing with the consequences of the Pope’s condemnation. Secondly, the House is well-organised and able to offer significant aid in the defence of the Tribunal – which has seen in recent years attacks by the Unnamed House and Davnalleous returned from the grave, and not least the potential future threat of the Templars.
In deference to the difficult history of House Tremere in Stonehenge, the Primus was keen to offer a number of reassurances: Firstly, the Domus Magus would encourage applications from magi outside of House Tremere to join their council; secondly, that the House was willing to restrict the numbers of Tremere who could be permanently resident within the Tribunal at any time; and lastly to allow the Tribunal to decide whether the House based itself in the north or east of the country, away from other covenants so there would be no question of contest over resources.
The overarching question of whether House Tremere could base itself within Stonehenge was voted upon first – and was carried by a strong majority of the magi present. The Tribunal went on to vote in favour of some restriction in numbers of Tremere magi; determining that no more than ten of that House may be considered permanently resident and members of the Tribunal. Finally, the decision was made to cite the new Domus Magnus in the north of the Tribunal – to provide more support to the otherwise isolated Borri-Tor covenant.
There were other matters also decided at the meeting: Stonehenge Tribunal has joined House Bjornear in condemnation of the Iberian ruling against the former Primus Olafsson. The foundation of a Great Library at Blackthorn has been ratified and the Tribunal will pay eight pawns per season of service in scribing or copying texts to extend its contents beyond the donations of Blackthorn. There will be a Tribunal tithe of five pawns per magus, to be paid by the next meeting. Theophilus announced a Symposium will be held at Blackthorn in the summer of 1290. Lastly, a vote on whether to elect a replacement for Archimagus Astrius as Praefectus was narrowly defeated.
Of the meeting of House Ex-Miscellanea which followed on from the Tribunal, I heard little. It seems that Primus Gailoin will retain the Domus Magnus at Cad Gadu and that, unsurprisingly, the House has also condemned the ruling against Olafsson.
In other news, Jari and Oratio were successful in procuring the animals in London, ready for the deal with Maeronwyn. However, Oratio was badly injured in an accident right at the end of the season. Having previously managed to secure Roger Bacon’s recipe for explosive black powder, he had sought to test whether he could recreate the process. Carrying a heavy earthen pot of the powder outside of the Aegis, Oratio sought to set light to the material to test its effectiveness. Unfortunately, his efforts to reproduce the volatile mixture succeeded rather too well! Oratio was knocked off his feet and thrown back several paces by a truly ferocious blast. For a moment I feared he had been killed. Luckily he survived, though his hearing appears to have been badly damaged by the explosion.
Autumn
Oratio’s hearing had not returned by the time the council sat at the beginning of autumn. With some initial difficulties, Oratio was eventually able to communicate that I was to run the council meeting and that he intended to work with his apprentice to develop a spell to restore his hearing. Other than Terentius, travelling to Ipswich to pursue his investigation, the other magi planned to undertake personal studies over the course of the season.
Later this season, Jari visited the faerie regio taking the animals he’d bought in London to conclude the deal with Maeronwyn; accompanied by Oratio who was able to use ‘The Gentle Beast’ enchantment to keep them calm and easy to transport. The deal itself went without a hitch; Sigurd, Eric, Jetta and Moss all now safely returned in their proper forms. However, prior to the deal, the bear the magi had brought managed to break free of its bonds and run amok. Walter, one of the grogs accompanying the wizards, was struck and killed by the bear before Oratio was able to reapply the magic and bring it back under control.
The rest of the season passed peacefully.
Winter
The last council of the year met in full, with the Pontifex’s hearing now restored. There was some discussion regarding Maeronwyn; a question as to whether she is fully faerie or perhaps retains some element of mortal blood (much like the sorceress Bethwyn who was believed to be, to a small extent, still human).Jari argued that, given she had dealt straightforwardly and kept to her bargain, there might be opportunities to deal with her again in future. This positive view was not shared by all, however. Oratio pointing out that these dealings had lost the covenant thousands of silver and cost the life of a grog.
Terentius gave report of his investigations in Ipswich. Upon travelling to the town, he discovered a trail of fresh scent within the woods behind the castle. It seems that corpses were, once again, being smuggled out of the dungeon to the cave some distance beyond. Daring to approach, Terentius used Petrus’ Gladius to spy within the regio. The cavern beyond the boundary appeared littered with bones and he saw a dark passage leading away, deeper into the ground. Having confirmed in his mind that Hugh was likely present, Terentius withdrew, but it seems either his presence or his spellcasting drew the attention of infernal spirits in the form of bats. These winged creatures managed to track Terentius back to his camp.
In the dead of night, heralded by a host of flies, the camp was attacked by the undead Baron. Fortunately, Terentius was protected within an eighth magnitude ward against demons and the creature was unable to assail him. It paced around the ward for a long time, but wisely the Tremere remained within his protection spell. As dawn approached, the infernal creature withdrew, but before Terentius could relax, he spied sign of riders along the road approaching hastily towards him.
Terentius was chased into the marshlands and forced to make his way cross-country to evade his pursuers. Over the course of the rest of the season, he discovered that the new Baron of Ipswich appears to behaving in disturbingly familiar ways. He has been out, hunting down outlaws in the region and imprisoning them within the castle. Rumours say that no magistrate is called to judge these men; they simply disappear and are never seen again. Other reports suggest that lights are occasionally seen at night in the woods behind the castle, and it seems clear that the new Baron is feeding the inhabitants of the cave the corpses of prisoners.
Our sodalis thinks he has enough evidence now to approach Emerius for assistance in destroying the infernal presence within the cave.
The redcap, Maga Acerbia, arrived later in the season. She related some mundane news we had not heard: It seems a new college, Hartford, has founded at Oxford. It also seems that Theo’s father in law has had trouble within his Kingdom of Sicily – a great rebellion against him, being called the Sicilian Vespers, has led to the deaths of thousands of Charles’ men.
The last weeks of the year were cold but uneventful.
Spring 1282AD
To what extent can we separate the notions of time and place? Within the Timaeus, Plato argues that time relates to the motion of the heavenly bodies, and describes space as ‘that in which things come to be’. Therefore, for Plato the concept of space appears fundamentally related to time; it is the void which shall, in the future, be occupied.
Aristotle’s Physics develops this further. He divides the concepts of place, void and time, but argues that the concept of void is unnecessary and leads to the contradictions of Zeno (that is, making movement impossible). Place, he argues, is like an immobile container or a vessel. The innermost, motionless boundary of what contains, is the place of a body; it is a boundary or a surface. Time is the constant attribute of motion, and Aristotle agrees that it only exists relative to the movement of things. Time and place share another commonality, in that they are not divisible into indivisible parts; they are not discrete but smooth and continuous, or infinitely divisible. Amongst other things, this means that there can be no definite (indivisible) moment when a motion begins; which Aristotle believes resolves the paradox of Zeno.
A temporal unit, an instant, is therefore ‘kinetic length’. For a given rate of movement, the length of travel of a body denotes the passage of time.
The position of the sunrise this morning is between that of the mid-winter solstice and the next equinox, therefore it is the beginning of spring here in Severn Temple.
The council was incomplete as we met, for Jari had not yet returned from his meeting with Maeronwyn. Oratio announced the completion of an enchantment within Petrus' Gladius. In addition to a spell already in place to ‘Rend the Mystic Veil’, it will allow the wielder to enact the spell ‘Glimpse through the Mystic Veil’. The Pontifex noted there was still capacity within the open enchantment for a further enchantment in future.
Covenant services were discussed. We have considerable need for Vim vis, so Volutus and myself shall extract what we can from the aura this season. Hypatia announced she would need to attend the royal court in London, and Terentius will take advantage of the new powers of the dagger to resume his investigation of the cave where we suspect the demonic Hugh is hiding in autumn.
There was discussion also of the Stonehenge Tribunal next season and a decision about which of us would attend. I agreed to remain within the covenant next season, as there was considerable interest in hearing the debate regarding the Domus Magus Tremere and the trial of Olafsson in Iberia.
Each member of the council was rewarded with five pawns of vis for each season of service last year. A stipend of fifty pennies for each magus was also made available from covenant funds (Hypatia waiving her right to the sum as usual).
Jari returned to the covenant a week after the council meeting. It appears that the faerie sorceress, Maeronwyn, would be prepared to reverse her enchantment upon Jari’s companions last season. A trade, like-for-like, was struck. For each animal that Jari can obtain and bring to her by the end of autumn, she will restore that companion to human form. Whilst some might be relatively easy to find in the wild, the fox, perhaps also the polecat and the boar, a bear cub might be difficult. Oratio suggested that one of the markets in London might be a place to obtain the animals, and offered to accompany Jari in summer. The rest of the season passed without event of note.
Summer
With all present at council, the Pontifex asked for any news from the last season. Hypatia told us that the new Archbishop of Canterbury had been causing trouble in London – issuing an edict against the Jews: ordering all the synagogues closed and for the Jews to be cast out of the city. King Theo was apparently furious when he heard the report and sent royal troops into the city to prevent the Archbishop’s orders from being carried out. This does not bode well for the relationship between the Church and Crown. Though evidence of Theo’s strong character, this is especially dangerous given the pressure on him regarding the status of the Order of Hermes within England and Wales.
Jari and Oratio will travel to London this season to see whether they can procure some of the animals for the deal with Maeronwyn. Everyone else was engaged in personal studies, though (other than myself) all will attend Blackthorn for the Tribunal and, for Hypatia and Oratio, the House meeting thereafter.
From the reports of my sodales, Primus Julius gave an impressive speech outlining his reasons for wanting to move the Domus Magus of Tremere to Stonehenge. There are some obvious political advantages to having, what is now, such a well-regarded House centred within the Tribunal. Firstly, it may ease some of the tensions and suspicions towards us from magi on the continent still dealing with the consequences of the Pope’s condemnation. Secondly, the House is well-organised and able to offer significant aid in the defence of the Tribunal – which has seen in recent years attacks by the Unnamed House and Davnalleous returned from the grave, and not least the potential future threat of the Templars.
In deference to the difficult history of House Tremere in Stonehenge, the Primus was keen to offer a number of reassurances: Firstly, the Domus Magus would encourage applications from magi outside of House Tremere to join their council; secondly, that the House was willing to restrict the numbers of Tremere who could be permanently resident within the Tribunal at any time; and lastly to allow the Tribunal to decide whether the House based itself in the north or east of the country, away from other covenants so there would be no question of contest over resources.
The overarching question of whether House Tremere could base itself within Stonehenge was voted upon first – and was carried by a strong majority of the magi present. The Tribunal went on to vote in favour of some restriction in numbers of Tremere magi; determining that no more than ten of that House may be considered permanently resident and members of the Tribunal. Finally, the decision was made to cite the new Domus Magnus in the north of the Tribunal – to provide more support to the otherwise isolated Borri-Tor covenant.
There were other matters also decided at the meeting: Stonehenge Tribunal has joined House Bjornear in condemnation of the Iberian ruling against the former Primus Olafsson. The foundation of a Great Library at Blackthorn has been ratified and the Tribunal will pay eight pawns per season of service in scribing or copying texts to extend its contents beyond the donations of Blackthorn. There will be a Tribunal tithe of five pawns per magus, to be paid by the next meeting. Theophilus announced a Symposium will be held at Blackthorn in the summer of 1290. Lastly, a vote on whether to elect a replacement for Archimagus Astrius as Praefectus was narrowly defeated.
Of the meeting of House Ex-Miscellanea which followed on from the Tribunal, I heard little. It seems that Primus Gailoin will retain the Domus Magnus at Cad Gadu and that, unsurprisingly, the House has also condemned the ruling against Olafsson.
In other news, Jari and Oratio were successful in procuring the animals in London, ready for the deal with Maeronwyn. However, Oratio was badly injured in an accident right at the end of the season. Having previously managed to secure Roger Bacon’s recipe for explosive black powder, he had sought to test whether he could recreate the process. Carrying a heavy earthen pot of the powder outside of the Aegis, Oratio sought to set light to the material to test its effectiveness. Unfortunately, his efforts to reproduce the volatile mixture succeeded rather too well! Oratio was knocked off his feet and thrown back several paces by a truly ferocious blast. For a moment I feared he had been killed. Luckily he survived, though his hearing appears to have been badly damaged by the explosion.
Autumn
Oratio’s hearing had not returned by the time the council sat at the beginning of autumn. With some initial difficulties, Oratio was eventually able to communicate that I was to run the council meeting and that he intended to work with his apprentice to develop a spell to restore his hearing. Other than Terentius, travelling to Ipswich to pursue his investigation, the other magi planned to undertake personal studies over the course of the season.
Later this season, Jari visited the faerie regio taking the animals he’d bought in London to conclude the deal with Maeronwyn; accompanied by Oratio who was able to use ‘The Gentle Beast’ enchantment to keep them calm and easy to transport. The deal itself went without a hitch; Sigurd, Eric, Jetta and Moss all now safely returned in their proper forms. However, prior to the deal, the bear the magi had brought managed to break free of its bonds and run amok. Walter, one of the grogs accompanying the wizards, was struck and killed by the bear before Oratio was able to reapply the magic and bring it back under control.
The rest of the season passed peacefully.
Winter
The last council of the year met in full, with the Pontifex’s hearing now restored. There was some discussion regarding Maeronwyn; a question as to whether she is fully faerie or perhaps retains some element of mortal blood (much like the sorceress Bethwyn who was believed to be, to a small extent, still human).Jari argued that, given she had dealt straightforwardly and kept to her bargain, there might be opportunities to deal with her again in future. This positive view was not shared by all, however. Oratio pointing out that these dealings had lost the covenant thousands of silver and cost the life of a grog.
Terentius gave report of his investigations in Ipswich. Upon travelling to the town, he discovered a trail of fresh scent within the woods behind the castle. It seems that corpses were, once again, being smuggled out of the dungeon to the cave some distance beyond. Daring to approach, Terentius used Petrus’ Gladius to spy within the regio. The cavern beyond the boundary appeared littered with bones and he saw a dark passage leading away, deeper into the ground. Having confirmed in his mind that Hugh was likely present, Terentius withdrew, but it seems either his presence or his spellcasting drew the attention of infernal spirits in the form of bats. These winged creatures managed to track Terentius back to his camp.
In the dead of night, heralded by a host of flies, the camp was attacked by the undead Baron. Fortunately, Terentius was protected within an eighth magnitude ward against demons and the creature was unable to assail him. It paced around the ward for a long time, but wisely the Tremere remained within his protection spell. As dawn approached, the infernal creature withdrew, but before Terentius could relax, he spied sign of riders along the road approaching hastily towards him.
Terentius was chased into the marshlands and forced to make his way cross-country to evade his pursuers. Over the course of the rest of the season, he discovered that the new Baron of Ipswich appears to behaving in disturbingly familiar ways. He has been out, hunting down outlaws in the region and imprisoning them within the castle. Rumours say that no magistrate is called to judge these men; they simply disappear and are never seen again. Other reports suggest that lights are occasionally seen at night in the woods behind the castle, and it seems clear that the new Baron is feeding the inhabitants of the cave the corpses of prisoners.
Our sodalis thinks he has enough evidence now to approach Emerius for assistance in destroying the infernal presence within the cave.
The redcap, Maga Acerbia, arrived later in the season. She related some mundane news we had not heard: It seems a new college, Hartford, has founded at Oxford. It also seems that Theo’s father in law has had trouble within his Kingdom of Sicily – a great rebellion against him, being called the Sicilian Vespers, has led to the deaths of thousands of Charles’ men.
The last weeks of the year were cold but uneventful.