Spring

Spring starts with the Spring Equinox mid-March 1220. The saga starts 18 March.

Session 2 February 2021

Cast Siemer, Gesche, Talpa, Ingraham

NPCs introduced Leon a wanna-be crusader, Captain Hindrik, Elizabeth the Stable Keeper, Farmer Fiete, Jens the Carpenter, Jørn the Fletcher, Rieke, Rufus Potter, Vladimir the Russian merchant

• Udala the Widow Toller announced the crusade tax of 1d per soul.
• Maria the Stable Maid was killed by a big animal.

Sessions 16 February 2021

Cast Andreas, Werner, Volkert, Ingraham

This takes place a few days after the previous story.

Andreas receives a letter from Ilse, saying that she will be sent to a nunery the next day. It is written in poor Latin, which is her usual style. Andreas tries to send her a letter to meet, which Volkert takes to her families house, a decent townhjouse on the southside. Volkert has to wait for a long time before the servants return with a letter in response. It takes some time before they think that it might be a forgery. Comparing the writing, it clearly is. When Andreas, with the help of Werner and Volkert, return to investigate, they see a cart leaving Ilse’s family home via the South gate. This is strange, since the most plausible nunnery would be to the East.

They hire horses from Elizabeth’s to pursue the cart, and find it an hour or so South of the city. Two people appear to have fled the seen, but Ilse’s footprints disappear as if she sunk into the Earth. The soil around the cart has been overturned. Andreas uses a spontaneous ReTe spell to remove a big chunk of earth, revealing a subterranean tunnel.

In the tunnels they meet a group of giant badgers who have taken Ilse hostage as part of a deal with another magus.
The group are mediocre fighters at best, and the badgers are too many. As they are talking to the badger, somebody else arrives, clearly unexpected and threating to the badgers. The chief badger erects a wall between them and the troupe.

As the badgers have to deal with the new threat, the troupe explores the rest of the tunnel system. Andreas finds 1p Terram Vis in the form of a crystal, and then he spots a regio. Inside the regio, they see a hill, with beautifully carved routes, which they ascend to find a building surrounded by a moat on the top. A spell makes a bridge to cross the moat. Inside the building they find Ilse in chains, guarded by a badger.

Session 2 March 2021 (continued)

Cast Andreas, Werner, Volkert, Ingraham

Future Session: Back at the Novgorod Inn

Cast Jenico, Gesche, Werner?, Talpa?, Ingraham?, Basilus?

Future Session: The Unfamiliar Familiar.

Teaser

This story will feature a potential familiar, an award of vis, and could lead to a difficult choice.

The Guest magi at Occulus receive an invitation for dinner at the house of Henri de Tours - the leader of the covenant. Dinner is an ostentatious affair with several luxurious courses and plenty of imported wine; anyone with a score in Intrigue knows this is a show of power & wealth not a display of resect for his guests. Dinner conversation ranges across many topics but Henry carefully steers the convesation away from Hermetic interests until the meal is finished and the servants are gone. “Now that we can talk freely, I have a request to make - a business proposition if you like. There is a hermit living in the forest near Nortorf. Gulos is one of us, a brother in the Order. He is nominally a member of our Covenant - in return for the protection that a magus gains through membership of a recogognised covenant, he provides to me a tithe - one rook of vis in the spring every year. However, the tithe is overdue and I am concerned that something may have happened. Times have been hard for the common folks since the danes took control, brigands on the road to Schleswig have become quite bold over the last year or so. I would normally tend to this matter myself but I am tied up with matters of business. So I would like someone to visit Gulos on my behalf, make sure everything is alright and bring back this years tithe. If for some reason he has decided not to pay the tithe, then you will deliver to him a letter expelling him from the Covenant. I understand that your time is precious, and that you might not want to take time away from your studies, and I will not be offended if you decline my offer. But as payment for your time, I will divide the tithe with you - 5 pawns of vis for your troubles.”

Adventure played 16 March 2021

Cast Artal, Werner, Angelhart, Basilus

The two magi with their companions travelled to claim the tithe, but they found the cabin raided, with three corpses left behind. The magi explore a cavern behind the cabin to find quite some treasure. Angelhart is assaulted by a oversized wolverine, a completely
unknown animal form them, while digging graves for the corpses. He flees into the cabin, and the joint efforts of his axe and Artal’s fire bolts put it to rest. Angelhart takes a paw as a trophe. Nobody checks it for vis.

When they returned home, a fox followed them, and seemed to want to adopt Basilus.

The walk from Nortorf back to Lubeck takes two days. While the weather is bright & hot when you start, by the time you reach Lubeck on Thursday evening it is grey & wet again - it looks like the soft rains of April are not over. The journey to Gulos cabin and back has taken 5 days. It will take around a week for Basilus and Artal to properly evaluate the books and documents.

Treasures

1. Lab Artal & Basilus now have have access to a viable hermetic lab with an actual magic aura, although it will need some fixing up to be effective.
2. Latin Texts Basilus has several texts written in a mixture of hermetic & church latin.
3. Vis He also has the box containing the vis (6 feathers 1p Animal each and 2 vials of liquid, 5p of Aquam each). The feathers are unusually potent in some way. Additionally, Artal took 3p Perdo Vis from the stomach of the wolverine.
4. Gothic Texts Artal has some parchments written in a gothic script. From scanning the documents, he knows they are evidence that someone (presumambly Gulos) had been spying on the magi at Lubeck but he doesn’t yet know if there is any significant information.

Transcript from Discord

• Q. @RSC (Artal ex Bjornaer) do you tell Basilus what the Gothic documents seem to contain?
• Q. @Van Silke (Basilus) have you told Artal that the feathers are potent vis?
• Q. @Van Silke (Basilus) are you going to hand over the whole cache of vis to Henry?
• Q. @RSC (Artal ex Bjornaer) , @Van Silke (Basilus) when will you go to see Henry?
• Q. @RSC (Artal ex Bjornaer) , @Van Silke (Basilus) what are you going to tell Henry about what has happened?

Artals research

First Artal will spend the time to decipher all the parchments, so he can give Henry a clear picture

1. The Gothic documents. The loose parchments are observational notes of the comings and goings of people in Lubeck. The people are not usually named, just described, but occasionally there will be a name of one of the magi in brackets, sometimes witth a question mark. The content is remarkably boring, people going about their lives, as seen from the perspective of a watching animal. (The papers comprise a Summa for Area Lore Lubeck L4 Q5. If studied in full, the papers reveal a lot about the business of the magi of Oculus - anything that an animal could observe.)

2. The book, written in the gothic script, is a journal that has been kept over many years. The early pages tell the recent history of House Bjornaer, from context, you believe it is written by a Wilderist, a supporter of Urgen, the previous Primus of the House, who was replaced by Falke in 1203. The journal covers several events, all written with obvious rage; the invasion of Rugen (the island upon which Crintera is sited) by the Danes; secretive attacks on the invading Danes by Bjornaer magi; Urgen’s slaying of the head of Oculus Sepentrionalis in Wizard War; Urgen’s replacement by Falke as Primus of the House. This first section of the text ends with a lengthy rant about the weakness of Urgen and how much the unnamed mage hated and blamed Oculs for the misfortunes of his House. The next part of the journal start with the words ‘where Urgen failed, I will not. Oculus will pay’. The journal continues with many lengthy rants about the many violent things that the writer wanted to do to the magi of Oculus. The writer moved to a cave on the mainland not far from Lubeck and, using birds and other animals as spies, begun to observe the covenant, looking for something, anything that could be used at Tribunal to bring them down. The journal also tells how a he spotted magical raven nearby, and of how he lured it into his cave and captured it. However, the next few pages have been torn out so what became of the raven in unknown.

   The remainder of the book, working backwards from the back, are lab texts for two spells.

   • Tithing the Essence of the Beast ReViGen (the version in the notes is level 15) R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Ind If the spell penetrates the magic resistance of the target, it concentrates the magic power of a creature with a might score into one part of the creature, which can then be removed as vis. Might equal to the spells level minus ten is concentrated into one pawn of vis per five points of might (ie the level 15 version strips away 5 might and creates 1 pawn of vis). The type of vis created is dependent on the target creature. Draining a creature of its entire might pool leaves it in an incapacitated state, likley resulting in death. Creatures do not easily recover might stripped from them in this manner; each 5 points of might lost takes a full season to return.

   The notes indicate that this spell was developed with insight from non-hermitic sources (Ablation, RoP:tI). the notes also indicate that this spell is extremely painful for the target creature and it will likely attack if not contained.

   (base 10, +1 Touch)

   • The Servants Eyes InAn20 For the duration of the spell, you can see what the animal sees. However, you are visually unaware of your own surroundings. R: Touch, D: Conc, T: Ind (base 10, read surface thoughts, +1 Touch, +1 Concentration)

3. The Latin texts. These books are much less dramatic, a mixture of Summae & Tractatus, with some spells.

   • Decretum Gratiani by Gratian. Civil & Canon Law S5 Q11
   • Rights, Priviliges and Obligations Under the Code of Hermes by Diurnus of Guernicus. Code of Hermes S9 Q6
   • Natural Histories by Pliny the Elder. Philosophiae (natural philosophy) T Q6
   • The Maddened Beast by Gorog of Bjornaer. Animal T Q10
   • Opening the Tome of the Animals Mind. InAn25 (core p118)
   • The Gentle Beast. ReAn25 (core p120)
   • Commanding the Harnessed Beast. ReAn30 (core p120)
   • De Operationes Daemonum Dialogus by Michael Psellos. Infernal Lore S5 Q12
   • Demons Eternal Obilvion. PeVi10 (core p160)
   • Extracting the Essence of Power by Praetorius of Verditius. Vim T Q11
   • Gather the Essence of The Beast. ReVi15 (core p162)

Artal ex Bjornaer: Wait, there’s a Level 9, quality 6 Code of Hermes book?!

Artal ex Bjornaer: Can Artal figure out if the cave mentioned is the same cave the lab was in?

SG: Does he have any knowledge of who the Bjornaer Magi is? If not, can he send word to Crintera, maybe with a sample of the handwriting, and ask them? (If needed, he’ll fly there and ask, forcefully)

Artal: Is there a way to discover if the various animal skeletons we’ve found there used to be magical animals? If needed, he’ll see if the fox can help with that.

SG: The journal describes how the mage reshaped the cave using Terram magic and built a cabin to conceal the entrance - you are confident that it is the same cave.

SG: Knowing who the mage might be would need a good roll on Bjornaer lore (Dc 15), it was before your time and history is not Iltefu’s role. Sending a message by Redcap would be slow. You could be there in a day or two, carrying a small bag in your talons.

SG To determine if the animals were magical would require InVi, the older and weaker the effect, the stronger the spell required. You could fly there and back in a few hours of you want to try it.

Wracking his brain, Artal would fail to remember who the Magus is, so he will fly, first to the cave, to see about the killed animals, and then to Crintera, to try and get an answer.

Artal tells Basilus that the documents say that someone was spying on Oculus, for a few years, but that it doesn’t look like it was the Ex Misc Magi.

Adventure played 23 March and 6 April 2021

Cast Jenico, Luciano, Siemer, Antoni, Gesche

Jenico arrives in town together with Luciano and Antoni. Siemer is the first they meet, at the door of the Novgorod Inn. Gesche recognises Jenico from previous encounters.

During the night, there is another grisly murder. The troupe suspects a werewolf. Jenico is arrested, suspected for being the murderer. His magical air gives him away.

Siemer informs Henri, and he is asked to keep watch and keep him informed. Gesche talks to the councillor to inquire about the process.

After another murder in the night, Jenico is released the next day. The characters keep watch and do see the werewolf exit a neighbouring house and attack a sheep in the field. It escapes though.

Adventure played 20 and 27 April 2021

Cast Serapis (+3 conf pts), Siemer, Gesche, Ingraham, Arthal (+2 conf pts), Jenico (+2 conf pts)

Topic Toy Market at Devil’s Lane

Reference Mythic Locations

Werewolf Part III (11 and 25 May 2021)

Cast Serapis, Gesche, Artal, Jenico, Basilus

The magi succeeded in killing the Werewolf, who turned out to be Captain Hinrik.

Serapis appointed Dieter, who slew the werewolf with a pitchfork after it had been incapacitated by Artal’s pilums of fire, as the great hero, and boosted his reputation with Creo Mentem. Serapis was the only magus or associate identified at the scene, and he came out convincingly from the interviews with the guards.

Rewards 3 conf. pts. for all characters.

Season rewards

Story Source Qualities 10xp for Luciano, Antoni, Angelhart, Volkert, Talpa

Story Source Qualities 15xp for all magi, Gesche, Werner, Siemer, other characters appearing in at least two stories over the course of the season

• Antoni: Tu 5xp, Fo 5xp
• Andreas: Parma Magica 5, Awareness 5, Second Sight 5
• Jenico: Low German 5, Philosophae 5, Muto 5
• Gesche: 5 in Guile, 5 in Theology, and 5 in Divine Lore, all things he rolled.
• Artal: 5 in Creo, 5 in Ignem, 5 in Mastery for Heat of the Forge. (Creo and Ignem are still 10, just 2 XP shy of next level.
• Luciano: 5 in Low German, 5 in Area Lore: Lubeck.
  
• Talpa (Working). Takes ADV XP. Magic Lore +5XP, Guile +5XP.
  
• Volkert (working). Takes ADV XP. Magic Sensitivity +5XP, Single Weapon +5XP.
• Serapis. Takes ADV XP. Posing the Silent Question (Mastery 1, Multi-cast) +5XP, Magic Theory +5XP, Second Sight +5XP.
• Angelhart: 10xp story - 5xp Single Weapon and 5xp Awareness

Aftermath

• Aftermath Spring 1220

Summer

Andreas received a letter from Helena of Flambeau, where she claims that Ilse was promised to be delivered to her by her parents shortly after she was born. That promise was put down in writing, and as Ilse has some supernatural ability, and therefore you taking her, and keeping her away, is robbing Helena of magical power. In addition, your battle in the regio has caused problems for Helena with a local Faerie court.

Serapis and Andreas investigated this further, meating with Henning, Ilse’s father, who is adamant that the promise was made to the priory one week travel NW of Lübeck, via a messenger. He refuses to explain why Ilse was sent South and taken by force.

Behind Henning, during the conversation, was a woman posing as maid. Serapis asked her flat out if she was Helena, and she appeared not to understand the question. Taking a hair as an AC, Serapis could confirm that she was disguised. He used the badger’s regio (aura 3) to cast.

Henning had four books in his library: a Bible, a ledger, a travel account from Italy, and a book in foreign script, possibly Arabic.

Visiting the priory they found a covenant planning to seek recognition at the next tribunal. They met with Beatrix of Jerbiton who could confirm that also Helena is a member. They are five members total, all magæ, with an arrangement with the priory. She was also well aware of the dispute with Andreas.

Ilse is just waiting for a sign from God before she is willing to do anything at all.

Seasonal Activities

• Andreas reads Im L10Q17: 22xp. A painting at the Hundestrasse suffices to give study bonus.
• Artal reads Re L17Q14: 14xp.
  
• Jenico learns Low German from Talpa: 16xp
• Basilus reads Co L6Q21: 21xp (maxed at 16xp)
• Gesche practices in Theology: 5 xp.
• Werner has taken Awareness 5, Animal Handling 5, and Hunt 5.
• Luciano practices in Profession: Shipbuilding: 5 xp.
• Antoni practices Low German: 8 xp
• Talpa (working) Exposure XP. Teaching +2.
  
• Angelhart: 2xp teaching (teaching somebody) - could swap with Autumn
• Volkert Study Single Weapon with Angelhart (Q13, L6). Single Weapon +13
• Serapis Practice Code of Hermes +3XP. ¹

Autumn

Seasonal Activities

• Andreas reads Cr L6Q19: 21xp.
• Artal reads Im L10Q17: 17xp.
  
• Jenico reads Co L6Q21: 23xp. (Co 21, Pe 1, In 1)
• Gesche practices in Theology: 5 xp.
• Luciano practices in Leadership: 4 xp.
• Basilus reads Re L17Q14: 14xp
• Antoni practices Low German: 8 xp
  
• Talpa Study Magic Theory (New omnibus after Bonisagus): +12xp
• Angelhart: Practice Lübeck Lore 5xp
• Volkert (working) Practice Danish +8XP.
• Serapis Reads Artes Liberales (De inventione, Priscian) +10XP ¹

Winter

Andreas sends a Letter to Henning 1220.

Seasonal Activities

• Andreas read Re L17Q14: 19xp Study bonus from watching managers and law courts,
• Artal reads Co L6Q21: 21xp.
• Jenico reads Cr L6Q19: 22xp. (Cr 18, An 1, Aq 1, Ig 1, Me 1)
• Gesche gains exposure in Teaching: 2 xp. Teaching Angelhart Bows (SQ 11)
• Luciano practices in Low German: 8 xp.
• Basilus reads Re L18Q11: 11xp
• Antoni practices Low German: 8 xp
• Angelhart: 11xp Bows - trained by Gesche
• Talpa practices Magic Theory: +4XP
• Volkert (working) Practice Danish +8XP.
• Serapis Reads Magic Theory (L5Q12, New omnibus after Bonisagus) +8XP. ¹

Footnotes

1. Serapis is also engaged in Quaesitorial duties for this year (for which he will be paid by the Tribunal), but this will affect his studies, so he only gains 2/3 of each seasonal XP award (already calculated in figures above).