Timeline

Small images between paragraphs divide the seasons to gaming sessions.

[ 1195 | 1196 | 1197 ]

Winter 1195:

In the anniversary of death of Profanus, his ghost was sighted on the Calf of Man. The magi investigated the matter, and found out that the ghost just walked every night from his grave to the statue of the troll he killed before his death, and just stared at it. When Tomas went to talk to it, it seemed that the ghost did not know it was dead. The magi decided not to take any immediate action about the situation because the ghost seemed harmless, but also warned grogs not to interfere with it.

In the tribunal of 1194, we were invited to Crun Clach by Caitlin, the Praeco of Loch Leglean, to discuss the matter with Lord Goulis. We travelled there, and spoke with her. She told us not to take action before the matter had been investigated.

After the many seasons, Nelly had learned how to cast Eyes of the Past, and was able to track down what happened to the books that were stolen from us. The exact time came from brother Bruce and our scribe. In the vision she saw that our books were stolen by a naked man we recognized as Corvus from Voluntas.

We headed to Horsingas next, took some vis for trade and barrels of beer and one of our books, Occult Lore 4, with us to give them as a gift. We told them of the book thieves, and they told us, that they had made a pact with Voluntas and could not intervene. After curing hangover for a day we left to make a legal claim for our books in Voluntas.

They had expected us, Julia ex Jerbiton said. She told us that when they were on their way home from their raiding trip, they were robbed, east of Hexham. Band of riders had struck hard and fast, grabbing the satchel where the books were and then fled.

We travelled to Hexham and found a shepard to guide us to the place of the battle four years earlier. He became greedy, so Tomas threw a spell on him that made him think he had already been paid twice as much, and he told us the hideaway of the raiders.

We sent four men to investigate, Ewan, Seumas, Kif and Duncan. They found the hideaway, but the sentry saw them, and they had to fight. Someone blew in a horn, and suddenly our men were outnumbered by more than 3 to 1 with raiders. Kif was using Caligula's brilliant Assassin's Quiver, sneaking to better positions to fire arrows at them, while the three others engaged in melee.

The fight was a disaster. First, Seumas fell unconscious by a hit in the groin, then was Duncan's turn with a hit to the head. Seeing that two of his friends had fallen and third was nowhere to be seen, almost-dead Ewan yelled his battlecry "Glory for Clan O'Connor" and attacked the four swordsmen, who quickly hacked him to pieces.

Neither Seumas nor Duncan were actually dead. Kif was found by four horsemen, charging towards the camp, and had to surrender. The magi had heard the sound of the horn, turned themselves invisible and headed towards the sound, following the wall like the grogs earlier. When they came to the same place, it looked deserted. Not knowing what had happened before (nobody came back), the magi returned some way back and circled to the other side. Still nothing.

Bearnárd went up in the air, flew around the place, and almost got hit by an arrow and fell. The mercenaries were hiding on the other side of Hadrianus' wall, and few of them could see invisible things. Tomas and Caligula heard the snap of the bow, and started walking towards the hut hand in hand. Nelly was left behind and heard when Bearnárd landed on the crossed twigs that was the sign.

An earthquake followed and few of the gallowglaigh fell off the ridge, but only a few. The others jumped over it and started giving our magi hard time. A chaotic battle followed, where both sides were on the brink of winning and losing, where terrified men were chased by mad little magi with knives, others were beaten with their own weapons, some were burned and some horsemen found themselves falling into a pit while riding.

The magi looted the place, founding several items and their loyal grogs (Ewan too), but not the books. Their search continues.

[ 1195 | 1196 | 1197 ]

When investigating the dead gang leader with Whispers through the Black Gate, he told us that our books were taken by Kenneth to Horsingas, who were "co-operating" with the gang. Kenneth never returned. Since it was only 10 or so miles to Horsingas, we left the wall, and headed that way. After a while we came to a swamp, where there was some fog on ground. A man was sitting on ground, grimacing, and when he saw us, he asked for our help.

Harry, as he introduced himself, told us that he was a merchant, who had just sold his goods and was returning to Hexham, when his horse saw something in the fog and run away, dropping him from his saddle. He also said that he had hurt his leg, but Duncan did not find anything broken or hurt in it.

Harry asked, if he could accompany us. We agreed, and he wanted to offer us a dinner. Snapping his fingers he summoned fish from the swamp, who just jumped to the path. Bearnárd created a bonfire, where we roasted the fish. Harry had been walking with Nelly for some time, trying to get to know her, and after dinner he took Nelly for a walk, wanting to show her something.

Harry took Nelly to a pond, changed into his horse form (he was really a kelpie) and started to lead Nelly into the depths. She screamed for help, of course, and after a short battle Harry retreated into the pond without Nelly. We were tired and wounded, and continued to Horsingas, where we told them the news, returned some of their equipment and stayed the night.

In the morning we returned with the intention of taking our books back from the faerie's lair. Bearnárd scouted the area with Intellego Terram magic, but lost his consciousness and fell into the waters. The others heard a splash, and headed to the lair on their own. Eventually they found the lair with Harry and Bearnárd inside, but with Bearnárd missing a foot. They got him out of the cave with some equipment (including the missing wet books), and sent him with Nelly to Horsingas, where they attached the foot back to his leg.

Back at the pond, Caligula, Kif, Tomas, Seumas, Duncan and Nora headed to the lair. Harry told them to leave a few times, but a Muto Mentem spell from Tomas changed his mind from fearful to overconfident, and he attacked, and died after Seumas had chopped him in the side, while Duncan ran him through. We looted the corpse for vis and the lair for other equipment, and headed home.

On the way home, the magi spent a night in a borderland village, where they were invited to the shack of an old, blind woman. She spoke as though she would have know lots of things about the past and the future of the magi. She warned that "they would face darkness once again" and that "their ship would sink because of damage done from inside". To everyone's surprise (and amusement), she wanted to meet Kif in private.

We returned to our own covenant, where we could be in peace for a few seasons. Also finally after many seasons, we had the certámen about the Varina's lab equipment, between Tomas and Bearnárd, in the arts Creo Vim. Not surprisingly, Tomas won. Bearnárd had the possibility of taking Brian's specialized Intellego lab equipment, but he declined.

[ 1195 | 1196 | 1197 ]

Fall 1196:

The magi and their companions were asked to look into a dark matter concerning a village called Breasal. Nathair wrote a story about the journey and the things they saw.

[ 1195 | 1196 | 1197 ]

Spring 1197:

After the trip to Breasal, the covenfolk announced the worst yield of crops ever, because of the dry summer. Even the fish had dived deep in search of cooler waters, so the winter would be rough. The magi returned to their labs. Later in the autumn, Horsingas paid a visit to our covenant, bringing a gift of a spellbook (Rallying the defeated troops) and foods and drinks to feast on. We had quite a feast and generally a good time. But there were also sad news: James received a letter from his Primus, his time in our covenant had ended. He was summoned to mainland Europe to be sent somewhere else. This would remove a political edge from our covenant, having one of the only two quaesitors in the whole tribunals. Now we just have to keep good relations with Frithowebba of Horsingas.

The winter passed by with struggle. Duncan got very ill and suffers from arthritis ever after. No one had full stomach during the whole winter.

In april, we received a peculiar guest: a raven, with pitch black pearls as eyes. It talked to us about the legendary faerie bull Tarroo-Ushtey who had been caught by a Nobleman in Parish Lonan. The faerie lord Arawn wished that a rescue party from our covenant would be sent to Lonan, for the bull was a good friend of Arawn. He promised some vis as reward. So, a party was sent: Bearnárd and his new guardian Peadar, Duncan and Emmett, Caligula and Kif, Tomas and Seumas. They sailed to Laxey, a sleepy fishing town, and from there forward to Lonan Town.

In Lonan, Caligula paid lots of pennies, so they got the whole tavern just for theirselves. They talked to locals who informed them that Bishop Roderick would arrive in the mornig to slaughter the captured animal, because he believed it to be a demonic creature. The local priest, Ailean, did not seem to agree on the Bishops point of view. The beast was held in the barn in the churchyard, guarded by two elite warriors. The streets were patrolled by local militiamen. The local noble, Hersir Eoin Murdach, seemed to consider the bishops visit very important, as he let a man be beaten up because he did not partake in cleaning and decorating the town. The magi decided to rely on "straight action", so during the night part of the posse sneaked to the barn while Seumas and Peadar were distracting the watchmen. Emmett and Kif were guarding by the horses. Everybody's faces were altered by Muto Corpus -spells.

The action broke loose when Bearnárd cast a Perdo Terram -spell to make an opening in the barn wall. The militiamen ran away after they noticed that Peadar was too lethal for them to handle. The elite warriors fought valiantly, but fell before magical and physical power of the rescue party. Even Emmett took part in the battle, killing a local man who came out of a house with an axe in his hand. Behind were left a grieving wife and three starving children. The party escaped, succesfully with the bull but also with getting terrible lot of attention towards themselves. Trackless Step was cast on everybody, and they vanished without leaving a trace.

Arawn was very pleased, and the Raven showed the magi a secret place, Lerghey Veg. There they found a large alignment of quartz stones that moss never grows on, and that catch the light of rising and setting sun in dazzling display of white. Every year, three pawns of ignem-vis could be collected there.

[ 1195 | 1196 | 1197 ]

Summer 1197:

One morning a boat appeared on the docks, containing a man dressed in the clothes of a templar and his companion, an old monk. The man introduced himself as Absolon ex Flambeau, and asked, if he could join the covenant. After heavy questioning we decided to take him in as a prospect member. In council we also decided to grant Nathair a vote of his own. We also divided some work and responsibilities in the covenant for certain maguses.

One of the grogs designated for the salt trade approached Nelly, the Steward of Insula Maledictus. They were leaving for Dublin, and since she had earlier told them that she had business in big cities, they wanted to know what she might have wanted from there. We packed a ship full of salt barrels, and headed to Dublin.

Father Laurentius had informed an old friend of his, the old Bishop of Dublin, Kenneth, that he would be coming to visit him. Dublin had its fair at the same time, and the town was packed. Luckily Kenneth provided us with accomodations. He also told stories of local legends, and one of them, the story of Cross of Gilchrist, awoke our interest. The cross had been made by Rigard of Verditia, and it had some strange and powerful powers.

The cross was believed to be buried in the chapel of Justin an hour's travel outside Dublin. We thought about it, and left for the chapel next morning. At the chapel we found three graves, on which the engraving had seen better days, and could not be intepreted fully. We opened the one that had belonged to Angus of Coventry, an english monk who was mentioned in Kenneth's book. The land near the enge of the pit crumbled down the hole, and took Seumachios and Seumas with it to the bottom.

At the same time a ghost or a spirit rose from the grave, and started following Seumas. Hector noticed a golden glitter in the sand, and found the cross buried there - and awoke another spirit. Laurentius quickly banished them away, but still had an uneasy feeling about the cross.

Later Laurentius confessed the story to Kenneth, and he as the elder bishop convinced us to give the cross to the local parish. The official ceremony was the next day, but we did not know about the ambush that was also waiting for us. When the bishops and Laurentius were about to enter the church, men rushed from the shadows and snatched the cross. The grogs, Hector and Belisarios were quickly up and running after them while they played rugby with the priceless cross.

The game came to an end when Seumas threw a single throwing dagger and killed the leader of the thieves. Others caught the other men, who later confessed, that the dead man had hired them to steal the cross. We found a signet ring on the corpse, which Tomas later recognised to be from Nova Conchre, a Hibernian spring covenant.

The cross broke in half during the throwing when its catcher fell dead, and a small, celtic stone statue was found in the middle of it. Seumas hid it well under his cloak, and later the theologians were convinced, that since nothing was found to be in the hollow point inside the cross, it must've been holy spirit, who was residing there.

[ 1195 | 1196 | 1197 ]

Winter 1197:

We got a word from Brother Bruce during one of our councils, that Profanus' ghost was meddling with the covenfolk. Niall was praying in the chapel, his face aged 20 years. He told us, that Profanus had been in his house in three consecutive nights, and had done this to him, because he did not understand Profanus' order to stay away from the church, and made him promise not to help at the chapel anymore. Our scribe, Gavin, was spared of the same fate, since he stopped going to the chapel.

Profanus wandered around at nights as usual, but his route did not go from his grave to the troll statue but circled around the island. We summoned his ghost, and coerced him to tell us what was going on. After a while, he told us he wanted to see the wings that were in Varina's sarcophagus (the things he died for), but when Bearnárd wasn't going to show him, he used some of his power to choke him. After a lot of arguing and promises to bless Profanus' grave, Caligula first showed Profanus his wing, and when it appeared safe to do that, Bearnárd did the same, giving Profanus a chance to begin his rest.

Just as we were going to leave to confront Lord Goulis, we got awakened at night only to hear that the chapel was burning, and was already almost destroyed. Our elementalist quickly extinguished the fire, and search in the ruins revealed a burned corpse. Bruce was nowhere to be seen, so we thought it might be him. Whispers through the Black Gate confirmed this, and told us alarming news. Bruce said, that it had been Tomas, who had started the fire, and forced Bruce back into the chapel magically.

Eyes of the Past did not reveal anything important, since the firestarter was invisible. The ferocity of the fire and pools of oil told us that the fire was deliberate. Following the oil (magically) led to a shed, where we kept it. We tried to search for the perpetrator, but his tracks disappeared on a path. Another Eyes of the Past later showed that it had been Tomas, who had taken the oil from the shed, and returned the bucket later.

Next night we doubled the guards, and even some of the magi were out, patrolling the area. It was Absolon and Nora, who found a man, who was supposed to be guarding in the Watchtower, hacking the hull of our ship into pieces. They quickly stopped him, but were alarmed by his tale of how Bearnárd told him to go there and destroy the ship. The ship itself was going to fetch supplies to the chapel's construction site the next day.

Next day was spent in reconstructing the chapel and still searching for the guilty party. It was never found. More grogs received the call to guard during the night, but it did not help much. Very early in the morning the magi were awakened again. There were two guards at the construction site, their throats slit. The supporting beams of the chapel were twisted beyond all recognition. Again, tracks led to the path, this time with a staff marks along them. The guards themselves told us (through Whispers) that they had fallen asleep.

We stopped the construction, fearing more deaths, but the following two nights were peaceful. Next day Tomas, as the War-leader, gave orders to start building a watchtower on the base of the chapel. Steward of the Covenant decided that her sanctum was a better place to be, and returned there, locked the door and stayed inside. Bearnárd and Caligula were strongly opposing Tomas about his new plans, thinking that it will lower the morale and in the end turn the covenfolk against the magi. Tomas stormed out of the council, since it could not come to a conclusion, and continued to oversee the construction of the watchtower.

Angered by this, Bearnárd and Caligula began the construction of a new chapel near the old one, to ensure the peaceful atmosphere on the island. The night after this was again peaceful, no deaths occurred or any other mischief. The winter solstice came closer and closer.

As planned earlier, the position holders of the council were subjected to questioning on the winter solstice. At the fireplace, we debated for hours about the uselessness of the church and the growing power of dominion. Tomas began making pointed arguments in favor of the other powers we hadn't really taken into account and repeating the thoughts of Profanus about getting rid of the Church. Alarmingly, the christian magus Absolon joined Tomas in his ideas. After some time of debating, Caligula had had enough, and lunged at Tomas with his short sword. Tomas cried for Tormod, who jumped out of some bushes, his greatsword ready.

A fight ensured. Caligula's attack went straight through Tomas' image, which disappeared. Absolon drew his sword and casted Enchantment to Block the Assault of Iron, and Bearnárd rose up to air with the Feathered Necklace. Nelly turned invisible and wasn't heard since, Nathair promised to be back promptly and casted Seven League Stride. Things were not looking good for Tormod, who first got blasted by Pilum of Lumen, then attacked by an angry Redcap. Absolon fired up his sword with Blade of Virulent Flame, as Tomas casted Captive Voice on him. Tormod hit Caligula in the leg, wounding him horribly, but this wasn't his day. Absolon was quickly at him, and his ankles were suddenly grasped by earthen hands.

After two swings of the flaming greatsword, Tormod laid on the ground, very dead. Tomas was nowhere to be seen, and Caligula turned himself invisible as well. Bearnárd was still up in the air, casting defensive spells on himself. Suddenly there was Tomas' voice, chanting spells of Creo Herbam, and Absolon's feet were caught up in some vines. The others scanned around, but nothing was seen. Then Tomas started casting spontaneous Rego Auram, and got into the air, only to drop quickly down as his concentration failed when his lungs were suddenly full of water - Caligula's Kiss of Neptune had caught him by mid-air.

As Tomas laid coughing up water on the ground, Bearnárd landed and began throwing Pilums at him. Absolon and Caligula crept closer as fast as they could. The end of Tomas was not a pretty sight. His invisible, burned body was hacked to pieces by angry magi.

After exhausting battle, the three magi decided to investigate Tomas' sanctum. It was filled with magical traps, but the only way to find them was to walk straight into them; neither Absolon's nor Bearnárd's spontaneous Intéllego Vim spells revealed nothing, although there were quite many of them. We found two small chests inside, one filled with aesfotedia. Opening them was risky as well, since the one had Instant Twist of the Tongue placed on it, and the other was trapped with Instant Incantation of the Milky Eyes.

When we returned them to the treasury, we noticed that the stone statue we found in the belongings of the vitki. Tomas did study it earlier, but now it was nowhere to be seen.

To complete the day, the grogs alarmed us of a newcomer at the docks. With heavy hearts and fatigued minds we marched towards the pier.

[ 1195 | 1196 | 1197 ]

Continued in next chapter.