Spina Nigra

(Black Thorn)

Covenant Members

Magi

Gratian

130 years out of apprenticeship, 157 years old. Filius of Martial, follower of Tremere, Primus Pilus of the covenant. Gratian holds five sigils: those of his three filii, and the one from the filius of his filius, as well as his own. He has led the covenant for 25 years, and has done a good job. It was largely thanks to his planning that the covenant still had a good hold over Henry when John died, and he is working to consolidate that hold. He is utterly devoted to the plan, and not purely for the personal power. Indeed, despite the excellent longevity potions prepared by Doranus, he does not think that he will live to see the plan come to fruition. He is intelligent, subtle, and not blindly fanatic. He is quite possibly the most dangerous magus in the Tribunal.

Vladislav

97 years out of apprenticeship, 124 years old. Filius of Gratian, follower of Tremere, Pilus Prior of the covenant. Gratian still holds Vladislav's sigil, something that grates on the younger magus. Vladislav really is driven by the desire for personal power, and desperately wants Gratian out of the way so that he can assume the position of Primus Pilus. So far, he has stopped short of trying to have the other magus murdered, but it is only a matter of time before he reaches that point. Vladislav is arrogant, and cares for nothing but his own power. He doesn't have any plans for the use of the power once he has it: he just wants the power.

Henarix

89 years out of apprenticeship, 115 years old. Filia of Cuthillus, follower of Tremere, Hastatus Prior of the covenant. Henarix holds two sigils, her own and that of her filia. She is fully behind the plan, but has her sights set on higher goals. She is an Arch-Mage, and is looking for influence in the Order and House Tremere, with a firm basis in Spina Nigra's mastery of Britain. Ultimately, she wants to see House Tremere controlling the Order and Europe, but she now doubts whether she will live that long. Still, she believes that she can set the process moving along the right path.

Theoderic

73 years out of apprenticeship, 98 years old. Filius of Gratian, follower of Tremere, Hastatus Prior of the covenant. Gratian still holds Theoderic's sigil, and that of Suetonius, Theoderic's filius. Theoderic would really like his sigil back, and has been honing his cert㍊en skills in an attempt to accomplish this. He is fully behind the plan, although he takes a wider view: the purpose is to raise Spina Nigra to a position of power in the Tribunal, and it may be that the current route is not the best one. Certainly, they are not having as much luck as they would like in becoming an Hermetic power, and perhaps it would be better to control the Order before moving on to mundanes. Still, he is loyal, and his doubts take the form of worries voiced at the council, not treachery.

Tetillia

78 years out of apprenticeship, 109 years old. Filia of Sarus, follower of Flambeau, Hastatus Posterior of the covenant. Tetillia is currently the lowest-ranked maga in the covenant, but this does not bother her a great deal. She can easily convince the council that working on spells and items of mass-destruction is useful work for the covenant, and so she is allowed to continue doing what she loves. She is starting to get a bit impatient: the Tremere strategy calls for subtlety, and she want to get out there and burn things. At the moment, however, this impatience will not lead her to do anything stupid, although it may in the future.

Jana

119 years out of apprenticeship, 151 years old. Filia of Derrin (f), follower of Flambeau, Hastatus Prior of the covenant. Jana is a Perdo-specialised Flambeau, and delights in subtle destruction, where something appears perfectly secure, and then collapses all at once for no apparent reason. She is totally committed to the plan, as it gives her a very large canvas on which to plan such collapses: the English state is one of her targets. The main conflict is that the plan calls for there to be something left to control, while Jana would quite like to leave the whole of England a desolate ruin.

Margaret

45 years out of apprenticeship, 60 years old. Filia of Henry, follower of Mercere nuncius of the covenant. Margaret is an unGifted Redcap. She knows the suspicion that the covenant is held in, but is extremely loyal because the magi have provided good longevity potions for her, her husband, and their three children, as well as jobs and security within the covenant. She carries out her Redcap functions effectively, but her loyalty to Spina Nigra is higher than her loyalty to her House, so she will break confidentiality and pass on information if she thinks that it would be useful.

Julia

62 years out of apprenticeship, 77 years old. Filia of Marcus, follower of Mercere, Nuncius of the covenant. Julia is an unGifted Redcap. Julia appears as loyal to the covenant as Margaret, but in reality she is twisted against them, and is merely biding her time, waiting for the right moment, and the right ears. Her husband died two years ago, and she blames the magi for failing with the longevity potion. It wasn't really their fault, but she isn't being entirely rational. As a result, she is trying to find out as much about the plan as possible, in order to have plenty of information to bring the covenant down with, when she can find someone appropriate to tell.

Theophrastus

84 years out of apprenticeship, 113 years old. Follower of Tytalus, filius of Vesterta, Hastatus Prior of the covenant. Parens of Henry of Abingdon, at Schola Pythagoranis. Theophrastus is a great believer in conflicts where the magus risks everything for the potential gains. Thus, he gets personally involved in the political manipulations involved in the plan, and leads soldiers personally on the military actions which back it up. He delights in conflicts with other magi, especially cert㍊en: he could possibly join House Tremere, if he wanted to. Certainly, he has a fair chance of beating any of the Tremere in the covenant. He has a great contempt for his filius, and uses opportunities to make his life a misery. Henry restricts himself to intellectual conflict, and never does more than argue points or write tracts against people: he doesn't really risk anything.

Denovus

81 years out of apprenticeship, 104 years old. Filius of Roger, follower of Guernicus, Hastatus Prior of the covenant. Denovus is responsible, within the plan, for handling the Hermetic authorities. To a point, he can be thought of as the head of the secret police: he makes sure that no actions can be traced back to the covenant, unless they are legal. He checks for loop-holes that allow the covenant to act more freely, and generally handles any Quaesitorial investigations that might be launched, making sure that they investigate all the wrong things, while appearing very helpful, and even vigorous. He is very good at this, and actually has a good reputation in House Guernicus, which is one of the reasons that the covenant is not investigated even more vigorously. He would, however, never countenance diabolism.

Rufus

106 years out of apprenticeship, 138 years old. Filius of Carolus, follower of Jerbiton, Pilus Prior of the covenant. Rufus is, to a point, a typical Jerbiton, fascinated by mundane things. The area of mundane affairs that holds his attentions is war, and he is the commander of the military forces of the covenant, as well as the adviser who organises the wars and skirmishes that the pawns of the covenant fight with each other. He is a skilled tactician and strategist, and loyal to the covenant and the plan. He has grave suspicions of Vladislav, suspecting that he is unstable and likely to be an extremely bad leader. He is building support among the other magi, so that, in the event of Gratian's death, he can become Primus Pilus.

Doranus

113 years out of apprenticeship, 142 years old. Filius of Rastania, follower of Verditius, Hastatus Prior of the covenant. Doranus is ugly, a hunchback, and smells. Oddly enough, he is quite bitter about this, especially as, for some reason, the problems have defeated the best efforts of Hermetic magic: he has traded magic items to the greatest Corpus specialists in the Order for an attempt at a cure, but he is still disfigured. In Spina Nigra, he aims to take his revenge on the world, by supporting them in their bid for power, and then turning them into a tyranny. He makes the magical items that the covenant needs, and he is good at this.

Companions

William of Hereford

William is the covenant auotcrat, responsible for keeping the internal affairs running smoothly. This is a job he does superbly, and he will respond well in a crisis. Not only does everything get done, but he manages to keep people's morale up. The magi have let him deal with all the mundane affairs, and he has happily shouldered the burden and carried it. He is now worried by one major problem. He is 60 years old, and, although he has a longevity potion, he knows that he will not live for ever. However, he can't find anyone suitable to train as a successor. This is because he is setting his standards rather too high: he is very unlikely to find anyone of his own calibre. However, it does mean that, should something happen to William, there is no-one who could take his place quickly.

Simon of Bristol

Simon is the leader of the 400 grogs who guard the covenant. He is loyal and devoted to his job, determined that his troops will be the best in Europe, if not the world. Of course, since they do nothing except guard the covenant, he has little chance to test them. Thus, he would quite like the covenant to be beseiged, just to try the mettle of his men. He might even take the step of provoking such a confrontation, if it is too long delayed. On the plus side, he is a very good leader and trainer, so his troops quite possibly are the best in Europe, at least when it comes to resisting a seige. So if he does provoke one, Spina Nigra will probably survive.

Isabel

Isabel is one of the covenant's agents. She is extremely beautiful, and has very high social skills. She uses the oldest technique in the book: seduce your victim, and then manipulate him. She does use this technique very well, however, and is fully capable of seducing a bishop. Her memory is a bit scatty, though, so the manipulation has to be kept simple, and information has to be constantly fed to her. This, of course, increases the risk that she will be discovered. So far, she has not been.

Eva

Eva is another agent, but she has all the social skills of an ox. She is, however, very observant, and has an excellent memory. She gathers information at many events, and can pick up amazing tidbits just by standing in the crowd. She is the most important of the covenant's information gatherers, but she doesn't have the skills necessary to act on that information. A combination of Eva and Isabel is Gratian's dream: the alternative combination is his nightmare.

Grogs

Spina Nigra has a lot of grogs. There are four hundred in the main turb, of whom 360 will be on guard duty, in three shifts, at any one time, two grogs to each tower and four to each gatehouse, with four more patrolling each wall. The other forty are training and resting. These grogs are all trained in resisting a seige, and are armed with bows and crossbows as well as melee weapons. All the grogs have chainmail.

There are also fifty elite grogs, who are responsible for guarding the magi both inside and outside the covenant. These are all extremely loyal (naturally), and most have some minor magic item or other to make them more effective. They are trained in melee combat, fighting retreats, and the like: they are not supposed to win battles, but to get the magi out alive.

There are also five hundred ordinary covenfolk.

Covenant Site

The covenant is built on the peak of Waun Fach, in the Black Mountains in South Wales. The site has a magical aura of +1 as of 1220. At the current rate, this will have disappeared by 1240, so the covenant is looking for a new site.

Covenant Buildings

The covenant is a fine castle, with three curtain walls and a strong central keep. The outer curtain wall is oval, rather than roughly circular, and the rest of the walls and keep occupy about half of its internal area. The other half forms an outer bailey, which contains an array of service buildings, stables, dormitories, and the like. The whole bailey is paved, and there are drains underneath it to keep it dry.

The central keep is hexagonal, eighty feet along each exterior wall. At each corner there is a round tower of twenty feet radius, so that the total length from the outside of one tower to the next is one hundred and twenty feet. The main body of the keep is two hundred feet high, and the towers extend a further thirty feet. There are twelve floors to the keep, as well as a cellar. The cellar and ground floor are used for storage, as prisons, and the like. The first floor includes the entrance to the keep, and the Council Chamber. This is in the centre, and is hexagonal, one hundred and twenty feet across, and topped with an hexagonal dome of stained glass. There is a band of rooms twenty feet wide outside the council chamber, and these are used for less formal, and smaller, conferences between the magi and their guests. Above the first floor, only this band is continued, so that there is a light well. The next floor contains the covenant library. The next three floors contain three laboratories each, the next three two each, and the top three one each. The top floor laboratory includes the tops of the towers, and is held by Gratian. There are thus eighteen laboratories, of which only ten are currently occupied.

The inner curtain wall is also hexagonal, two hundred feet along each side. It is ten feet thick and fifty feet high, with towers thirty feet in diameter and sixty feet high at each corner. The gatehouse is sixty feet square, and in the centre of the wall which bisects it. The bailey is planted as a kitchen garden.

The middle curtain wall is, again, hexagonal, this time three hundred feet on a side, eight feet thick, and forty feet high. There are towers at each point and in the centre of the wall sections. The gatehouse is sixty feet wide and one hundred and fifty feet long, and includes the Great Hall of the covenant. This bailey is also planted as a kitchen garden.

The outer curtain wall has three sections, each 450 feet long and 150 feet (at the corners) from the middel wall. It then has two sections, each 500 feet long, which are closed at the end by another three 450 feet sections. Each wall section has a corner tower and two central towers.

Constitution

Spina Nigra is a strongly hierarchical covenant, with four grades of magus. At the bottom are the Hastati Posteriores: these are the newer members of the covenant, and those who have yet to achieve anything significant. There can be up to nine of them at a time. Next are the Hastati Priores. There can be up to six of these. Then there are the two Pili Priores, and finally the Primus Pilus, a post currently held by Gratian. The Primus Pilus has total authority, within the limits of the constitution and Code, and can only be questioned at a council called by at least half the other magi. At this Council, a vote of 75% of the other magi can remove the Primus Pilus. On the death of the Primus Pilus, a vote of the Hastati selects one of the Pili Priores as his successor. All other appointments are made by the Primus Pilus. UnGifted Redcaps have the status of Nuntius.

The consitution guarantees each magus two seasons per year for his own work, and full access to the library, as well as the basic requirements for living. Under Gratian, the other two seasons are spent working for the covenant. Council meetings are held, and Gratian actually listens to the points of view put forward, although he makes all the decisions in the end.

Mystical Attributes

Library

The arcane library is good, although nothing desperately remarkable. It has the texts required to get up to a score of fifteen in most arts, with the potential for about 20 in Rego, Int四lego, and Mentem. There are hundreds of spells in the Grimoire.

Laboratories

The quality of the laboratories varies. Those of the Hastati Posteriores are of normal quality, those of the Hastati Priores are +1, those of the Pili Priores +2, and the laboratory of the Primus Pilus is +3. Magi may increase the quality of their own laboratory, on their own time.

Vis Supplies

Spina Nigra gets 36 pawns of vis per year. 8 pawns of Int四lego (from a source of 1 and a source of 7), 4 pawns of Corpus, 7 pawns of Herbam, 6 pawns of Auram, 8 pawns of Perdo, 3 pawns of Anim㌫. These sources are declining over time, so little vis is handed out. 1 pawn is given to each Hastatus Posterior, 2 to each Hastatus Prior, 3 to each Pilus Prior, and 4 to the Primus Pilus. The remainder are traded or kept in reserve. The covenant is particularly interested in obtaining Creo vis, but anything that they have no supply of will be considered. As they can also produce Vim vis by vis extraction, they are not interested in that.

The covenant has large vis reserves: around 500 pawns, about 75 of Creo, and a scattering among the other Arts, with more in those Arts of which they have a supply.

Magical Artifacts

There are a largish number of magical artifacts around the covenant, since the magi spend a lot of time working for it, and this is one of the things that they do. Most are concerned with defending the covenant against mundane or magical assault, but others are concerned with gathering information, or distributing it, or controlling people from a distance.

Other Notes

The Covenant has a fifteenth magnitude Aegis of the Hearth. This is cast by Wizard's Communion, and several magi spend a season every year extracting the Vim vis necessary to keep it up.

Mundane Resources

Income and Reserves

The covenant has an income of about ｣1500 per year, from lands, trade, and more illicit sources (such as magical robbery). This allows them to keep all their covenfolk and grogs well fed, equipped, and paid, and thus loyal, and also permits them to maintain the buildings, and pay spies and the like. They have cash reserves of ｣10000, and these are maintained at that level as far as possible. The annual surplus is around ｣300, so the reserves rarely need to be touched.

Mundane Library

The mundane library is closed to everyone except magi and a few companions. It has some volumes on most subjects, but it is excellent on military, political, and legal theory, both Hermetic and Mundane, and has very detailed information about the contemporary political situation in the Stonehenge Tribunal, both mundane and Hermetic. It also contains a large number of maps, and of battle plans, and details of various speculative plans for taking control of the Tribunal. Study of this library could grant a score of 9 in any of the special skills covered.

Equipment

The covenant's equipment is of very high quality, but not fancy. Nothing is wasted, although everything works extremely well. It can afford to buy good warhorses, expensive armour, and the like, and does so, but it does not waste money on such things as works of art.

Treasure

None to speak of. All resources go into the grand plan, and treasure that is found is sold off to help finance the plan.

Other Notes

The covenant has been planning to survive a seige for a very long time. There are storerooms throughout the covenant which magically preserve food, and there are wells with a great deal of protective magic on them. The entire covenant, all 1000 of them, can be kept alive on stocks and things grown in the gardens for two years, and the rations involved are full enough to keep people healthy and full of energy. With the aid of magical sallies, the magi think that they could survive a mundane seige indefinitely, and that a substantial amount of magical aid would be needed to bring them to submission soon after the two years were up.

Relations

Hermetic

Stonehenge Tribunal

General Interaction

Reputation

Spina Nigra is viewed with a great deal of suspicion. It is a powerful voting bloc at the Tribunal, with twelve sigils, but the Tremere dominance, and its obvious ambitions to greater power, make other magi wary. Further, there are widespread suspicions of diabolism, although these are not true.

Redcaps

Redcaps are not over eager to visit Spina: the accommodation is adequate, but not wonderful, and the stories of diabolism make them slightly nervous. Nevertheless, they are here quite a lot, as many people need to deal with them

Quaesitores

The Quaesitores have grave suspicions of Spina Nigra. They are fairly sure that the allegations of diabolism are without foundation, but they are convinced that the covenant wants to dominate both the mundane and the Hermetic worlds of the Tribunal. They don't have any evidence of interference that would stand up at a Tribunal, but they retain their suspicions.

Other Covenants

Cad Gadu

You are pushing north into their territory, taking over their vis supplies and other territory. As a result, they are hostile to you, but as a dying winter covenant, they are unable to muster the political support to cause you problems.

Caligo Fulgens Crepusculi

Domus Doctrinae

Insula Sancta

Little interaction, although they seem to be pressing south into Cad Gadu's territory, which may bring them into conflict with you soon.

Peregrinatores Glandis

Rosa Aurea

This covenant seems to have taken over Fulmen Candidum's role as your principle opposition. As yet they are untried, but you certainly need to keep an eye on them.

Schola Pythagoranis

Theophrastus keeps trying to convince you to do something really unpleasant to this covenant, but you don't see any real reason to waste resources in that way. Their close links with mundane society would make them useful as an ally, and the fact that those links are dubiously legal means that you might be able to offer them support.

Scopulus Ungularum

This covenant is on the verge of Winter, but currently very useful to you. Gyraldus of Guernicus represents them at Tribunals, and votes with you. He wants to join Spina, but as long as there is life in Scopulus he is more useful with all their votes. Of course, if Scopulus falls, then there is no reason not to accept him into the covenant.

Silbury

In Winter, this covenant is filled with old magi, including a Jerbiton who used to be a Tremere of Spina Nigra. There is a small risk that she will betray the plan, but not much. Silbury houses the Praeco and hosts the Tribunal: it would be useful if this event could be shifted to Spina, but there is no obvious way of doing so.

Turris Papilionum

Other Tribunals

In order to dominate Britain, it is necessary to also dominate the Loch Leglean Tribunal. Thus, the covenant gathers information there, although as yet it has taken little action, concentrating on securing Stonehenge first.

Non-Hermetic

History

Spina Nigra was founded in the tenth century, and has been a Tremere strongpoint from the start. Its goal, complete control of the island of Britain, with more later, has been constant all those years, and the discipline of the members of the covenant has brought it very close on several occasions. The biggest set-back was the demonically-inspired Norman Conquest. It was necessary for them to join with the other covenants in the fight against Malkurrag, for they would not tolerate the idea of allying with the demon. After the civil wars that finally banished the demon, there was not really any strong central authority, and the covenant had to build again. It chose John as its creature, and arranged for Richard's long absences. The covenant of Fulmen Candidum, which has recently falled to unknown causes, opposed them, and managed to whip the Barons up into producing the Magna Carta. Now, Spina Nigra is working on John's son, Henry III, and trying once again to centralise the power.

The plans for Hermetic control are less well developed, because there is no central authority in the Tribunal. A network of allies goes against the grain, because it does not give Spina Nigra absolute power, but as other tacks seem unpromising, there is more support within the covenant for such an approach, at least as a start.