Timeline

Small images between paragraphs divide the seasons to gaming sessions.

[ 1198 | 1199 | 1200 | 1201 ]

Winter 1198:

On the docks there was a boat filled with furniture, man and a woman, and two children. When the man stepped on the pier, he introduced himself as Dikaios ex Miscellanea, and asked us for sanctuary. After a short interview, we told him to unpack his things and wait for us to have a council meeting. In the council we had many things to discuss, especially about the state Tomas' death - or the death of Disgrace, as he will be known from this point forward - left us. We called Dikaios to the council, interviewed him and later approved him.

At winter solstice, we casted our new Aegis of the Hearth. All covenfolk were joined in it, but Absolon and Dikaios were left outside the ritual. They were given tokens later. Praeco, Caitlin Suil Uiaine, had sent us the letter to get busy in matters of Lord Goulis, since we were no magi of Scotland. All the magi on the mainland were ordered not to get involved by punishment of death, we on the Isle of Man were not scottish wizards, and should do something about it. We decided, that since the word of Praeco is a law, we would travel to Monksend in spring, when travelling is easier.

The day after winter solstice, we casted the Bountiful Feast Dikaios had brought with him. Now we expect to see the best crops the Calf has ever seen. The prematurely aged grog, Niall, was cured with Restoration of the Defiled Body and covenant's vis. We sent Caligula to Horsingas to get his broken bone in his leg healed, and some vis to cover the expenses. Dikaios asked and received our permission to build a wooden house for himself and his family; since only magi and custos are allowed in the sanctum area, he built it a bit lower, near the fields and the guesthouse. There was also talk about building an infirmary.

In spring after all the preparations we set out on journey to Monk's End. It used to be a monastery, until Lord Goulis murdered the abbot, buried his mangled body under one of the corners of the castle he built on the site. On the way there we stopped for the night in a small village, buying rooms from an inn.

In the morning we awoke to angry yells and stomping of men, who barged into the inn with a priest in the lead. They accused us, the evil witches, of murder. It took quite a while of convincing until they understood that we did not know anything about it. Absolon, a former templarite footsoldier, was a good help in persuading the priest to allow us to investigate the scene. A man was found outside the village in the woods, with a cracked skull. His blood had been drained into an iron bowl, and then threwn on the ground.

There were prints from a horse and from some dogs. While Absolon distracted the villagers, the other magi had the chance of questioning the corpse through Whispers. The man, Lawrence, had sneaked into Monksend to retrieve the body of his brother, the abbott. Lawrence told us that he had been hidden in the castle for weeks, and knew that almost all of the people there rode out during the full moon. Alas, he could not get to the body, so when he saw the hand, he decided to save at least that. He had planned his theft at that moment, but somewhy nobody had left that night and he was caught in the act. Grabbing the hand he ran and was quickly pursued by a man with a red cap. Lawrence claimed the man to be a monster, his eyes being the source of all evil, and that the red colour in his hat was actually blood.

Lawrence told us that he had hidden the hand in a hollow tree trunk nearby, and we left to retrieve it. Near a pond with the tree his tracks abruptly ended. Nelly's Faerie Eyes noticed the regio border, quivering in the air at the exact spot where the tracks began. Forming a line we entered the regio, which was much greener and alive than on the outside.

Dikaios, having more knowledge about matters like this, took control of things, and casted Converse with Plant and Tree at the tree, to ask for it's permission to retrieve the hand. Mister Beech (as the tree wanted us to call him) was delighted to get company and people he could talk with. He gladly let Dikaios remove the itching parcel from his trunk. While magi were following conversation, the water in the pond began to ripple, and a watery female form formed out of the water, turning into beautiful woman. Mister Beech told us that she was called Esk. Those of us more familiar with faeries knew, that Esk was a naiad, a water nymph.

Talking to her proved to be quite difficult, since she was partly very ignorant of the matters beyond her normal realm, and felt like a child. She quickly snatched the parcel from our hands, and then suggested trading it to Peadar. We declined, of course, but then she cast some kind of charm on him, and he began to wander into her arms, into his death. Our efforts of talking him out of it met no understanding ear, so strong was the lure. A quick Trap of the Entwining Vines probably saved Peadar's life, since it slowed him slightly, and gave Bearnárd time to cast a spontaneous, long-lasting Lungs of the Fish on him. We made her promise to bring Peadar back first thing in the morning, and with uneasy feelings let him walk into the pond.

We camped on the spot, and killed time talking to the beech - altough the spell was ended long before. The fact that everybody could understand his speech was strange as well, altough his stories were quite boring to everybody else but Dikaios. Bearnárd was partly listening, partly examining the magical golden signet ring on the hand's finger, but mainly worrying about his custo. Esk remained true to her word, bringing the happy Peadar back to surface, and asked him to return. Caligula and Kif returned the ringless hand to the village to be properly buried. We packed our things and continued our journey to the Monksend.

[ 1198 | 1199 | 1200 | 1201 ]

The travel to Monksend was a long one, and filled with bickering. We arrived in a small village near Monksend in the evening. A boy directed us to the local tavern, where we met with a gloomy innkeeper. His business was suffering because of the difficulties in the village. One peasant had suddenly become very rich - he was suspected of finding something valuable - and started treating himself as the village elder; although one was already in the village. Communicating with the locals was hard, since they only spoke scottish; Caligula and Kif were the only ones who could understand and be understood, so they were our translators.

As we were enjoying our meals and some ale, a woman's cry was heard outside. Peadar and Brennan were sent to investigate it. Outside they saw a few men advancing towards the inn, looking grim, and went to meet them. Since nobody could understand each other, a small mistake in communication led to a push, and almost a fight. The two men stormed into the tavern, accusing the magi of being witches and stealing a child. Supposedly we had taken the child and brought it to Lord Goulis.

We thought best to investigate the matter, but nobody wanted our help. There were already search patrols outside, so we returned to the tavern and went to bed. A grog in the guard duty heard something moving outside, but since he couldn't see anything from the windows, he let it go. When the rustle was heard again, he woke the next guard up, and went outside to investigate. The rustling turned out to be the same obnoxious man from the earlier night, who thought that we were the kidnappers. He was quickly immobilized, and then investigated. He woke up in the next morning in an alley, reeking of old ale and piss.

The missing child was found in the morning, and returned to his mother. Things were fine once again. Before leaving, we met with David, a local noble, who lived near Lord Goulis' castle. We were able to squeeze some information from him, and eventually he joined our cause in storming Monksend.

We arrived at the Monksend, and circled to the hill on the north side. It took long to make decent plans for attack, and in the end we just decided to charge in. Nelly investigated the place with Image from the Wizard Torn and Bearnárd with Wings of the Soaring Wind. Both found some unnaturally large dogs. When we stormed the manor, the first two started howling. Their sound make our grogs insane, and they started dashing around.

[ 1198 | 1199 | 1200 | 1201 ]

We had to regroup, and get the grogs together. Seumas was sent to take Dikaios back to the town, since the madness did not wear off from him. The other, crazied grogs, were grouped and put to sleep. Then the remaining magi, Absolon, Bearnárd, Caligula and Nelly invaded the Monksend with Kif, the only grog still standing.

Inside we entered the church, and encountered the evil redcap, Robyn. He was put down pretty fast, altough his hurled boulders did hurt quite a bit, breaking Kif's leg. The altar contained three sacrificial daggers, which Absolon melted down.

We found the study of Lord Goulis after this, and while searching inside we found some warplans. In the next room we were attacked by the demon dogs again, and to our grief, Nelly perished in the battle. The howling of the dogs got to Bearnárd as well, and he was rendered crazy. Unlike the grogs, he did not wake from it as quickly as the others.

Caligula took the Necklace of Feathers and flew to Crun Clach, and brought the news to Caitlin. She summoned a scribe to translate the norse runes, and the evidence of treason became evident. Caitlin told Caligula, that these news should be taken to William the Lion, the king of Scotland. After returning to Longholm from Crun Clach, Caligula met with the others. Bearnárd was still out of his mind, but others had recovered fully.

The group decided to leave Bearnárd to be treated by Dikaios, since the obese and greedy abbott, Morris, couldn't do anything about the curse. He still required payment for his worries. Caligula took the long route with magi and grogs, in order to give Bearnárd time to regain his composure, but sadly, that did not happen. The group reached William's court, and with the help of Aura of Rightful Authority was granted an audience after the king had feasted.

We tried to tell the truth to king William, but he did not listen. A big part of the problem was the fact that we had only two people, who could speak Scottish, and the ones that could, were not really the best public speakers. In the end, the king threw us into his dungeon, since his advisor had been insulted and we did not have enough evidence to back our case up. The dungeon did not hold us for long, and we were soon following the kings hunting troupe, which was heading towards Monksend.

The way of travelling should've been forgotten forever, but here it is. The magi casted Lifting the Dangling Puppet to the grogs and Rise of the Feathery Body to themselves, formed a chain and used the Necklace to fly ahead of the troupe. It was already dark when we arrived in Monksend, but there was a light in Goulis' study. Fast plan was formed: attack the place again.

Inside the manor, we did not meet the man with the stooping back, but a warrior, dressed in black armour. He moved quickly and seemed resistant to our blows, but one by one our blows weakened him. He called for his steed, jumped on it, and rode away, with Peadar and Absolon running and Caligula flying after him. The spell from Absolon melted his armour and one from Caligula filled his lungs with water, and Peadar's sword hacked him to bits.

After leaving a note for William the Lion, we returned to Longholm and collected our group again. The road back to Insula Maledictus was long. Caligula took a message of the fall of Lord Goulis to Praeco.

The last Founder of Insula Maledictus was dead, and there were lots of things to be discussed in the next council meeting.

[ 1198 | 1199 | 1200 | 1201 ]

Winter 1199:

Nota Bene! The next chapters deal with the adventure Cause & Cure. If you ever are going to play it, stop reading now.

In the council, Absolon got his vote, and Caligula was elected to the High Council. We also decided to unite the duties of Treasurer and Steward, elected Absolon to be the new War-Leader, dealt 13 pawns of vis per magus, decided that new magi (Absolon and Dikaios) will have to work for the covenant for two seasons before fall of 1200, mainly copying books and scribing spells. We also talked about the next tribunal, and about inviting other magi into Insula Maledictus to read our books for a fee.

The next day Nathair was summoned to the docks, where a white ship had brought an old scholar. Nathair and him had been in correspondence, and he had an invitation for us. The man worked for a rich librarian (magus?), who had a collection of over 80 books. She had a problem, and thought that we could help her. As a gift he brought us two books, one of which was really valuable: an authority on medicine, written by Hippocrates himself, in greek though.

We left the following morning, heading for England. The sea was ruthless against us, and one by one we began to feel ill. Peadar thought he was going to die - when he was conscious. The last one standing was Caligula, and he too fell asleep suddenly, but noticed that the ship had risen into the air, and all the crew disappeared.

When we woke up, we were sleeping in a fine, decorated rooms, each depicting the magical abilities of the magi who were sleeping there, and each having a servant of their own, bringing them food. The servants did not know anything that was going on around them, they did not know where we had came from and how. The food they served was not poisonous though. Outside there was a strange fog, and even the True Sight of Air did not see through it.

All were waking up, and we summoned everybody into Bearnárd's room. After a bit of brainstorming, we left the bedroom area and headed downstairs. There was a big foggy hall, with eight fuzzy crystal pillars in the center, seven balconies rising up towards the high ceiling, four differently coloured doors in the corners and big dual doors on one wall.

The balconies all contained many rooms, all filled with books, containing a multitude of information both on the earthly knowledges and magical arts. While we were investigating the library, we heard a voice behind us. There, amid the fog, was a form of an old man. When talking to him we learned that he had been there for long and had forgotten who he was and what he was doing there.

[ 1198 | 1199 | 1200 | 1201 ]

Nota Bene! The next chapters deal with the adventure Cause & Cure. If you ever are going to play it, stop reading now.

Later, we realized that this man was in fact Carolus ex Jerbiton, a Corpus master from the Schola Pythagoranis covenant in Stonehenge tribunal. He had been missing for four decades already, only to be found in this strange place. He had been reading the books, and was a bit upset from losing his custo Milos, who had walked out of the Guardhouse, and somehow died on the bridge. We did not want to suffer his fate, so we stayed clear of the courtyard after the first peek.

The pillars in the main hall seemed strange, and after magical investigation we realized that there were human bodies trapped inside them, slowly dying. Even more strange was the fact, that they were our bodies. Bearnárd tried to free his body, destroying the crystal around it, but this lead to his immediate death. After this we stayed away from the pillars, which grew back up to cover the body. Bearnárd himself appeared a few moments later, having woken up again in his bed.

We investigated the different coloured doors next. Each one represented a different bodily humor. We started with the yellow one (yellow bile). Inside the room Peadar couldn't control his sudden rage, and dashed to beat Alistair, but luckily others could control his outburst, which then died as soon as it had appeared. Inside the room there was a small library, with papers filled with our own failings and shortcomings. In one corridor we encountered a knight in a golden armour, who taunted us with the voice of our conscience, spilling out the darkest, innermost secrets, and wanting to hear us admit them. Behind him there were many cauldrons boiling with yellow ichor in them. After removing them all from fire, the yellow pillar in main hall changed into even, normal shape.

The next door was black (black bile). Inside it was dark, and depression hit us many times on the way deeper into the rooms. In one hall there was a big worm blocking our passage, again taunting us and feeding our depressive minds with feelings of futility. Our brave grogs attacked it, Madog and Peadar in the first line. The beast's thick, black skin was surprisingly resistant to blows and our magic did not seem to work on it at first. Our persistance was rewarded, when the worm died after many wounds. Behind it in the corridor were stairs to a tower, and its top was filled with black dirt-like substance. It took a while to dig our way through it, and atop the tower there was a half of a barrel, buried under all the black dirt. We threw all of it down from the tower, and returned to the main hall, where there were two normal pillars, yellow and black.

Next in line was the red door and room behind it. The door itself was not really a door, we went straight through it and couldn't get back afterwards. We found ourselves in a round courtyard with many statues surrounding it, and with many rooms on the outer ring containing various items, animals and comestibles. After some thought, we planted some flowers in pots, released the animals, gave wine and beer to the statues - which they happily took - and hanged colourful cloth to surround the room. Lastly we took some colours and painted the statues to look alive, and Alister, Caligula and Peadar supplied us with some music. The red pillar in the main hall was fixed.

There was only one door left, the white one. The room was filled with fog, and when it was cleared there was a table and seats for us all. There were also two doors, one which opened to the bedroom corridor and another, which opened into a kitchen, where there were many servants. They were as ashtounded to see us as we them. They quickly asked if we liked to eat something, and then they made us some food - cold and moist. When we tried to heat the food in the fireplace, it burned, when we tried bringing our own heated food, ordered into our rooms, into this one, it was put aside and not eaten until it too was cold.

While eating, the servants offered to teach us skills or give us books to read. Nathair and Bearnárd took up books, others trained their weapon skills or such. Later they found out that they hadn't really learned much. It seemed like a short while, but a lot of time went by. We returned to the library and tried to look for clues there, asked Carolus too, but nothing came up. We were eager to get back to the room, so we returned there. When the cool atmosphere lulled us back into stupor, we got enough. It took lots of spontaneous high level Creo Ignem magic from Bearnárd to give us light and warmth, but at last we got to the top of the tower. When we destroyed the source of all the phlegm, we could return to the main hall.

The pillars were gone, and a stairway went down where they had been. Before venturing there, we all collected some books from the library, trying to take them with us. The room downstairs was actually a roman spa, and something told us we should try to bathe in the waters. There were pictures and reliefs of people going into the hot, cold and temperate baths, and we followed their example. The water sucked us in, and we awoke again in a different place.

There was a roman woman waiting for us, with a raven on her shoulder. She wanted to know everything about "her experiment", and after a bit of persuasion - and a promise of getting us home - we complied, and told her the whole story. She sent us back home with her white ship, and we came back to Calf in one piece.

On Calf there were some newcomers waiting for us. The other of them was an albino maga, wrapped up in protective cloaks. She wanted to join the Insula Maledictus, and later had a chance of showing her capabilities to the Council. The other newcomer was a gigantic norse man, at least eight feet tall. He was a skald (bard), and had been travelling with the maga. We welcomed both to stay on the island, and prepared for the tribunal in the fall.

[ 1198 | 1199 | 1200 | 1201 ]

Fall 1200:

The Tribunal of Loch Leglean came closer. After a short council about our issues in it and about general topics, we packed our bags, and left. Absolon took his grog, Brendan, with him, and went via Castletown to the tribunal, while the rest of us, Dikaios excluded, took one of our ships and headed straight for Loch Leglean. The travel took many days, and was not without complications.

While staying at one village, we learned there was some quarrel between the scottish people and a band of norsemen. One of the norse was actually a cousin to Madog, Nathair's grog, but we were more concerned about one of the norsemen in particular; he was Harek Ogmundsson, the same man responsible for the theft of Lochtan (highland sheep) earlier. None of the magi present was familiar with him except for Nerienda, who had run into him with Absolon and Thorbrand earlier.

There was some bad blood between the locals and the norse, and they seemed to have something against us as well; there were disdainful looks and quiet muttering. In the inn we met Lago, a tytalus magus from Stonehenge tribunal, who was about to change to Loch Leglean tribunal. We welcomed him to join our company and travel with us, since the way was unfamiliar to him.

When we were sleeping, grogs and Caligula in the common room, other magi upstairs, Shawn, who was in guard duty at the time, heard some sounds outside. Other grogs were quickly awakened, and the intruders sneaked into our trap. The large norsemen beated the front door into bits with their axes, but our grogs were awake - although unarmoured - and ready to get into a fight. The magi upstairs awoke, and rushed downstairs to protect their assets. The intruders were defeated after a struggle, and the chief of them, Erlend, suddenly shapechanged into a crow and flew away. He had some magical protection on him as well, since our spells couldn't hurt him.

Lago cast a spell, turned into a hawk and dashed after him, as did Bearnárd in his nightshirt, but since he left a while later, he couldn't see the chase anymore, and returned into the tavern. Lago was chasing Erlend, and trying to take him out. At last one of his attacks succeeded, and the sharp talons of the hawk pierced the crow's skin. Erlend changed back into a human and landed, and so did Lago. His landing didn't go as well, and Erlend noticed him and dashed towards him.

A fast-casted Veil of Invisibility saved Lago, and Erlend was left wondering where his target had disappeared. He seemed to talk to someone, and started to retreat, scanning the ground behind him. Lago returned to us at the tavern, and told us the news.

Journey into Loch Leglean was quite uneventful, and at the tribunal things were proceeding normally. A few new magi recited their vows, and some magi were initiated into this tribunal. There was some demands from Stratus Intimus for vis from Dikaios, but the issue was postponed to a tribunal, where Dikaios too would be present. Praeco, Caitlin Suil Uiane, publicly thanked Insula Maledictus and told everybody about our good deeds in defeating Lord Goulis. It was then suggested that the tribunal would dedicate our covenant to fight Hell and its minions, and after the vote it was done.

The tribunal's matters were surprisingly all covered in one night, and the next day was reserved for trading of vis, spells, books and stories. Absolon tested his powers against the three other Flambeau of the tribunal (Ignus, Giuseppe del Mato and the new one from Hibernia) with Test of the Flames, and lost his bet of vis to Ignus, who emerged victorious. Everybody was able to trade some vis, foci and spells, and we left for home very content.

[ 1198 | 1199 | 1200 | 1201 ]

Summer 1201:

After a council, where we decided on the new seasons dedicated to the public good: every magus will use two seasons before the fall of 1204 to further the welfare of Insula Maledictus. We didn't decide to deal any vis just yet, since there are a lot of takers and storages aren't as full as they could be.

After the council, Ian the turb captain came to talk to us with some of the grogs, who were badly beaten up. They had left the Broken Gnome in Port Erin, and had been attacked by some norsemen, quite unfairly and with superior numbers. They had even kicked them while they were already down, and crushed the windpipe on one of the grogs, Batair.

These acts called for retaliatory action, so we packed our packs and took off to Broken Gnome. Barry's son Garry knew the place the attackers lived in, and gave us the instructions how to get there. On the scene, Caligula and Kif went ahead to scout the area, but they didn't get much information. We circled the area and tried to sneak up on the unsuspecting victims from the stairs on the cliffside, but our plan was clearly anticipated.

The norsemen threw rocks at us, which sped through the air at an impossibly fast speed. After rushing up to the houses, some archers shot arrows at us, but the clubs they used smashed us hard, and their leather armours resisted our blows unnaturally. In the combat, Shawn perished, and Alistair and Kif came close to death's door themselves. The norsemen were defeated after a struggle, and some of them ran away. There was a raven flying around the village, and while it didn't respond to our efforts in communicating with it, it's magic resistance kept our spells away from it. Crossbow bolts and crystal darts made it flee. We believe to see more of the vitki later on.

We took some cattle and armour and weapon of the norse leader to give to Batair, to show the grogs that we will take care of them. Before we left, we saw some of the runic magic the vitki had inscribed on the stones in the village, which had caused the trouble in the combat for us. After smashing them, we left and headed back home.

[ 1198 | 1199 | 1200 | 1201 ]

Continued in next chapter.