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The tower itself is a truly impressive sight. Situated in the center of the Rhone atop a tall island it rises at least 120 feet above the highest point of the island. The tower is a truly impressive example of the stonemason's craft, if the tower of mortal origin that is. The tower has stood at this place for centuries, uninhabited except for its faerie prisoner, the once and future owner, Rhoven. The construction of the tower is obviously magical upon closer inspection, the outer surfaces are all unnaturally smooth and the tower seems almost to slender for its height.
Located near the southern edge of the Black Forest and just a few days ride from Dijon we have the dubious distinction of being on the border between the Provençal and Rhine Tribunals (as well as incidentally the mundane Duchy of Burgundy and Upper Lorraine).
The current year is AD 1215 and our covenant is recovering from an attack by the Albigensian Crusaders during the height of the Crusade in June AD 1211. The fortuitous year that a certain Phaelius scholae Jerbitonis ex Literatii in Roma arrived to warn the magi of the pending attack. Those particular events would see many brave covenfolk and magi die or flee. The unprepared state of my sodales forced us to abandon the covenant with most of its library hidden in the catacombs. The others assumed the books were safe even when the rampaging crusaders set fire to the covenant tower.
The attack forced a general exodus from the tower. This was due partially to the fact we were clearly outnumbered, even from our superior defensive position, as well as the fearsome reputation of the Christian crusaders who had destroyed several covenants in the neighboring Provençal Tribunal without a great deal of effort. During the exodus several magi and grogs were killed by a small force of the crusaders who pursued the river boat in which most the remaining valuables were stored.
After the crusaders moved on we moved back into our shattered covenant, fortunately our mundane cash supplies escaped and we began to rebuild. Now we discover that some of our magical texts had been taken during the 3 months the crusaders occupied the tower. Which we discovered was an act of sabotage by the rival covenant of Satesvaldo. Apparently the other magi had incurred the wrath of the more powerful summer covenant by interfering in Satesvaldo's mundane affairs.
Our efforts at rebuilding were interrupted by a strange faerie from Iberia during the summer of AD 1212. Apparently a powerful faerie noble was seeking magi for permanent companionship and she had chosen all of us. On a brighter note our ranks were bolstered by the return of Anakin scholae Jerbitonis from his hiatus in Hibernia.
After fending off the powerful faerie without hurting its feelings, we returned home in order to continue our rebuilding efforts. At this time Gunthars traveled to a nearby covenant to study the arts of Ignem and we elected Anakin as Princeps to replace Gunthars. He appointed Phaelius as his assistant and chief of mundane interactions.
Other adventures...
Finally during the Tribunal year of AD 1214 we made our presence felt throughout the Tribunal. Our suspicions were confirmed that another covenant had stolen our magical texts. We obtained Quaesitoris backing and successfully accused Satesvaldo of stealing our texts. The Tribunal decreed that Satesvaldo should return our texts within 1 year along with 2 rooks of vis or face additional penalties. We also made an impression in the debate over the effects of the new vis distillation technique developed by Mariannus scholae Bonisagi. Our Quaesitoris backing necessitated that we vote as a bloc against Mariannus throughout the Tribunal.
Our votes placed several new clauses into the peripheral code about depriving another mage of their magic through certámen. As well as stiff penalties for Mariannus, whose method of vis distillation caused the auras of several covenants to weaken. It was the judgment of the Tribunal that Mariannus was negligent and performed insufficient tests upon his method.
It was also revealed that Inigo scholae Criamonis had developed a similar method that apparently has fewer problems. Needless to say that information set the Tribunal on its ear, since our covenant had never paid the necessary price to obtain Mariannus' method.
I have used the Hermetic Latin Grammar Crib Sheet while constructing these Hermetic names, because I feel that latin names look cooler. Although few others in the saga agree with my personal views.
We currently use three vis sources. Two of them are claimed by us and recognized as such by the Tribunal. The third, our newest source is located over the border in the Provençal Tribunal. We have decided to keep the existence of this source secret in order to head off any disputes. What they don't know won't worry them.
Our first source is a contested source of Faerie Perdo vis. The local Fae Queen Lady Balanchia demands that we entertain her on the Winter solstice. In return, if we succeed we gain access to faerie mushrooms containing 18 pawns of Perdo vis per year. These mushrooms are collected each month.
The second claimed source is located under the covenant. An enchanted well provides us with Aquam vis throughout the year.
The third source, located in the neighboring Provençal Tribunal is a faerie's cave located behind a waterfall. Deep within the cave is a stalagmite which gives vis only on the summer solstice, when the water which drips off the tip is charged with magical energy. The water collected can be distilled into 10 pawns of Vim vis.
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Last Modified: Friday, July 3, 1998