Events:
Disceptator of the covenant passes from Richard to Elaine
Elaine becomes Pietas by 2 votes
Richard Fratres by 4 votes
Lucas Valetudino by 3 votes
Orsinio Mortis by 2 votes
Hygwald Lucrum by 2 votes
Oswin's continued visits to Etal Castle.
Vengeance of Hannelore Hay: Lucas gets a message — apparently from the Legion — telling him to go to Lauder and investigate the Salmon Tavern. When he gets there he discovers that Lord Hugo de Giffard is already in the cellar. Lucas observes him invisible and he appears to be waiting for something, and so he reveals his presence. They are also joined by Nicholas de Giffard: all three have been lured here for a different reason. The door to the cellar is barred, and the tavern set on fire. While Lucas struggles to escape from the cellar, Jaeger (who came along) has spied Hannelore Hay escaping the scene, and chases her down. As his teeth clamp around her calf she bursts into flame, burning him slightly. They grapple briefly, before she transforms into an owl and flies away. At that moment Lucas comes on the scene, sees the escaping witch, and hits her with a Perdo Vim spell. Her shapechanging fails and she plummets to the earth, but cannot be found when they investigate the site of her crash landing.
Lucas has some awkward questions to answer to Nicholas Giffard. He explains to the canon that his magic is different from the infernal magic practised by his sister, and swore an oath to that effect. When asked he also revealed the names of all the other magi at Manor Head, but requested that Nicholas did not discuss this matter with his superiors. Nicholas made no such promise.
The covenant grogs (including Oswin) come across some disaffected mercenaries from Etal Castle while visiting Eyemouth. They are quite drunk, and upon seeing fellow soldiers they gesture them over and offer them beer. It is clear that the townsfolk are staying well away, and the Brabançons are getting annoyed at the reticence of the tavern-owner to continue to serve them (beer is scarce and therefore expensive, and he's not sure these men can afford to pay. The foreigners don't speak much English ("beer, now"). Once the grogs join them or try to move them on, they recognise Oswin, and they make it clear that they know him. "You! Fancy-man of the crazy-man's bitch-mother!" Bathild had a few questions for Oswin which he did not answer.
Midsummer Night's Dream — Vengeance of the Fae (Effects on the Covenant): The covenant is suffering from saplings growing in amongst their crops. Suspecting that Lise's sphere might be involved, Hygwald hides it on the coast to see if the expanding forest changes direction in response.
Actions:
Elaine: Study Vim from Summa
Hygwald: Teach Andreas Intellego
Lucas: Teach Jocelyn Perdo
Orsinio: Study Magic Theory
Vis: 1 Aq (Inner Farne), 1 Vi (Giant's Heart), 1 Au (Eildon Hills)
Events: A wolf-shaped faerie delivers the following message, together with a pawn of Muto vis:
To my friends Wolf,
Squirrel, Ox, Mouse, Hedgehog and Horse.
Greetings!
Too long have you been
gone from here, and the Entertainments are diminished by your absence: the
other Visitors fail to amuse me!
In memory of that
Entertainment I send a small Gift, of little value and without obligation; I
would be pleased if you would visit us again.
Elaine protests rigorously, but Lucas is adamant that the pact with Burnham should not be broken. She seems to forget that she is the disceptator, but writes a letter to the other covenant trying to renegotiate the deal.
Midsummer Night's Dream — Vengeance of the Fae (Hagen's Madness / Public Confession): Hygwald and Lucas travel to Berwick to hear an announcement from Nicholas de Giffard. Fearing the worst, what they hear instead is a public confession (with no absolution, of course) from Captain Hagen. He states he has been tortured by God with visions of severed heads, and he felt it necessary to publicly confess the murder of innocent souls.
While in Berwick, Badda introduced the characters to Sir Veldegard, an ancient knight who has a story about a beautiful faerie maiden he met in his youth who he would like to visit again before he dies. She has promised to allow entrance to her court to anyone who recites the love ballad that Veldegard composed for her, if it is read near her court on Midwinter's day.
Actions:
Elaine: Study Vim from summa
Hygwald: Investigate Sphere CW (successful)
Lucas: Design spell CrCo20 +9 to recovery rolls (base 4, +1 Touch, +3 Moon)
Orsinio: Design spell Cr(Re)Ig 10. Burst of flames doing +5 damage from caster's body.(base 4, +1 requisite, +1 size)
Vis: 1 Cr or An (Oak or Waimie) , 1 He (Llawen's Heart)
Midsummer Night's Dream — Vengeance of the Fae (Nicholas's Request):
Events:
Last year's grain: 34 tons
Consumed: 1.5 tons
Sold: 2 tons
Charity: 1 tons
Spoilage (10%): 3.4 tons
Balance: 26.1 tons
Actions:
Elaine: Study Creo from Summa
Hygwald: Invent ReIm invisibility spell "The Discarded Image"
Lucas: Invent PeVi parma-destroying spell "The Wizard's Stiletto"
Orsinio: Design spell Wizard's Span of Ignem (increases size modifier by one) 1st season
Vis: 1 Vi
(Giant's Heart), 1–3 Pe (Basilisk Tree)
Events:
The Shortest Day: Aline, Hygwald, Coll, Bathild travel with Sir Veldegard to the hill outside Embleton where the entrance to Lady Eleri's court is. They are asked by a faerie on a bridge to leave behind their hearts, and the characters divest themselves of their most treasured possessions (Furcula, Bathild's wedding ring, etc.), and not enter the court in iron weapons or armour. They receive a warm welcome at the court of Dame Eleri of High Noon, and are treated to storytelling (including one of their own exploits) and a feast of their favourite foods. Velgarde's youth is restored by the lady's touch, and he spends the day at her side. At dusk the faeries all have to retreat for the night, and a misshapen dwarf called Hermone warns them not to emerge from a protective circle. However, Hygwald detects that he is lying, and they resolve to spend the night back at the bridge. On their way to retrieve their weapons they are set upon by wolves, and are very nearly killed. They observe a ritual taking place under the guidance of a dark copy of Lady Eleri.
On the second day, Eleri heals the wounds, but will not speak of what went on. Another faerie fills them in; Dame Syracusta of Low Noon has always sought to limit her sister's power, and today is actually shorter than the previous day, rather than longer as it should be. Something has clearly changed to shift the power in Syracusta's favour. Eleri will not hear of moping, and declares it a day of dance and feasting. Aline accepts a challenge for a battle of feet (a dancing contest), and manages to comport herself well with some highly unusual dance steps. Hygwald finds himself singing a song; he casts a spell to improve his singing voice, but ends up coughing up a toad who sings the song in falsetto on his behalf (he botched the spell). He has to force himself to swallow the toad to recover his singing voice. Hygwald also partakes in a battle of tongues - a collaborative story in which each person tries to outdo the other. However, his storytelling abilities are not up to the task and he is beaten.
On the second night, the characters head out to their cache of weapons at dusk. Sir Veldegard and a faerie bee called Viaroche have agreed to help them. Unfortunately, Veldegard's old age returns at sunset, so he proves little use to them. Hygwald finds that he cannot break the protective ring around the weapons, so he tries to suppress it, and botches. This creates a faerie daimon who resents Hygwald's attempts to destroy it; it is eventually beaten to death by Aline's makeshift cudgel. With their weapons and armour in hand, they head for the courtyard and find it deserted except for some fingernail clippings from Lady Eleri. However, this is a trap, and the characters are soon surrounded by wolves, whilst a group of witches attack with fire. Hygwald manages to cast himself into Twilight when combating the witches, leaving the others to deal with the arrival of Syracusta. Aline fights her but is felled; Bathild and Coll manage to hold her off, barely. Since her ritual to shorten the day has been disrupted by the characters she does not stick around very long.
The next day the characters tell Eleri of the role that her manservant Hermone had in Syracusta's ritual (he provided the fingernail clippings) and she exiles the dark faerie. In gratitude for their help she asks the characters for their heart's desire. Bathild wants to be treated equally to men (and is transformed into one); Coll wants help with his stealth (and receives a wand that turns him into an animal); Aline asks for the way to stop the plague of infertility (and is told, and also given a copper oak leaf which will protect her when she is on her travels); and Hygwald (once the day-long twilight ends) is given a pearl "to light the way from darkness". They take their leave of Eleri, but not before taking warping from their visit to her court.
Actions:
Elaine: Study Vim from Summa
Hygwald: Inventing charged item (subliminal messages, 1 charge)
Lucas: Inventing charged items for Badda (Veil of Invisibility, 5 charges)
Orsinio: Design spell Wizard's Span of Ignem (increases size modifier by one) 1st season
Vis: