The Queen of the Grove (Magic Might 20, but see below) has been the mistress of her own little Regios (and her twelve adoring consorts) since before the fall of the Gauntlet of the Four Quarters[1]. She is, in effect, a biological construct capable of manipulating Regios (though on an oak tree's time scale - decades rather than seasons).
The Queen's Glade has two levels, +5 and +6. The outer regio surrounds the Glade as a whole, while the inner one actually meshes with the Queen's bark. The Queen controls both Regios and has been holding the outer one closed for centuries. This closure is performed with an effective Magic Might of ten, sufficient to prevent casual observation or penetration but not to prevent magically assisted entry[2]. Should forced entry occur, the Queen and her consorts will be aware of it; at the moment, however, they are presently considerably distracted.
The Grove is currently a dim and pleasant place, veritably pulsing with life and joy, and buzzing with the sound of bees. At sunset the bees will all return to their hive and the Grove will subside into a doze, waiting for sunrise. Given that there are only thirteen trees in the Grove, intruders will be puzzled at how easy it is to loose one's sense of direction.
The consorts are obviously four hundred year old oak trees (Magic Might 10, but as difficult to damage as is the average four hundred year old oak), and are just as obviously awakened. The Queen, however, wrapped in the inner layer of her Regio, appears to be only a few inches in diameter, with perfectly smooth bark. Should she be persuaded or forced to release her grip on her Regio, however, it will become obvious that she is even larger than her husband's[3]. (She is also hollow. Her creator, for his own purposes, used Rego Herbam spells to cause her to grow a chamber in her interior. Communication with the Queen tends to be easier inside the chamber.)
Communication with the Queen is best done by means of Mentem spells, though she is capable of creating a projected image within her chamber.
Once Communication has been achieved, it will become obvious that the Queen a) has no hostile intent, and b) is willing to assist the magi in their researches - for a price. She wishes help in finding suitable locations for her children[4].
If the party ends up fighting with the Queen and her consorts, things are not likely to go well. The consorts will fight to the death to defend the Queen; if she is destroyed, they will go berserk. If the Queen is destroyed, her Regios will subside to the background level of the Caldera within a few days.
No Vis can be extracted from the corpses of the Queen or her Consorts; in fact, the Grove itself acts as a kind of Vis sink, reducing the output of any Regio in which the Grove is growing by one pawn per year; effectively, the Grove metabolizes it.
One final point: The Queen will produce thirteen seeds per every seven years, and will expect the covenant to find some appropriate place to plant them.
[1] About which she knows nothing. All she will be able to say, if asked, is that her magus (whose name she never knew) stopped coming a long time ago. She hasn't particularly missed him.
[2] The closure is set to admit bees, which make sex between Queen and her consorts possible.
[3] Forcing the inner Regio will be perceived by the Queen and her consorts as assault, and they will react accordingly.
[4] Thirteen seeds, each about the size of a large pear. They will be ready for harvest by Autumn, and should be planted before next summer in an aura of at least two. If the seeds are properly plant ed, within fifty years the new Queen will have begun to wrap herself in Regios, and within a century will be able to open a Gate between her Grove and her mother's.
Last modified: Thurs Nov 19, 1998 / Jeremiah Genest