The Letter

After three days have passed, if the characters have not embarrassed themselves too terribly, the abbess summons them to her again, but this time without Sister Palona and Sister Alice. By now, she has probably made up her mind, and she would like to give them an opportunity to explain themselves before she acts as she thinks best. Her opinion can still be swayed if the characters do particularly well or poorly at this interview, however.

Sister Hedwig will speak candidly with the characters about what happened during the days they spent at the convent. She

Magi of Hermes:

I will soon leave this world, and so I will my remaining knowledge to you, that it will not be lost forever. I hope that the letter I once carried reached you. I hope you were able to prevent disaster and recover the good works of Calebais from within the fallen walls.

You may not realize that the Bell of Ibyn is much more than it appears. If you have not yet retrieved it, as it is well hidden, you should persevere. It is more powerful a force of good than I can describe. It will protect you from all evil, save that which preys upon the soul. Though, if you wish to avoid the fate of the wizards of Calebais, do not wear the crowns that control the Bell for any longer than is needful, for they will change you assuredly!

To reach the treasure vault of Calebais, you must find the magical doorway in the wizards' council room. You will discover my former love's hand to guide you. I do not know why, but the wizard Crenvalus sealed David in the door as he passed through, and I took the letter from his hand as he died. I beg you, please retrieve his remains and see that they are given a Christian burial, for I wish him to be at peace.

To make use of the Bell, you must complete a special ritual. Each rune on the Bell has its own meaning, and describes a particular virtue or vice. They are tied to the knobs on either side, which are opposites. I do not remember what each rune meant, but they were often compared to the figures in the forest and the wizards' titles, and everyone who participated in the ritual represented one of them. I remember that my trait had to do with "devotion."

During the ceremony, the leader of the ritual held a mallet with which to strike the Bell, and did not wear a diadem, for he would have been deafened by the sound if he had. Each of us would put on a crown, and come forward to stand beneath the Bell when our symbol was announced. He would then strike the knob, which would make the Bell toll most awfully if that person was participating for the first time. The leader would then file the knob that corresponded to that person's trait until the tone had become clear.

A few times, the magi decided after unsuccessfully tuning the Bell that a person did not best epitomize the trait, and brought forth another. This caused great arguments, for the magi feared that the Bell would lose its powers when the knobs were filed down too far. Yet every time one of us died, the magi would perform the ritual again.

After every knob's particular tone was realized, the leader would break five magical stones he carried, to release the magic that increases other magic, what they called vis. I believe from what he said while doing this that these stones bound all of our essences to the Bell.

Once the ritual was complete, the many powers of the Bell would become apparent. You will find that some of them may be used even before it is tuned, for the will diadems allow you to see through illusions, and if you wear one and say "The crown is broken," you may see great distances through the eyes of others.

The sisters have always been kind and true to me, and I revere Sister Hedwig as my holy mother and friend. I am deeply grateful for their help. If my convent is ever in need, promise me you will give us aid however you can, in return for my pains on your behalf. May the good Lord bless you on your perilous road and deliver you safely from evil.

Yours with Christ

Sister Larine

will ask specific questions about why they did what they did, revealing for the first time how closely she has been observing them. After discussing the details and how they have affected her opinion of them, she will ask them if they have felt any change come over them during their stay. Encourage the players to treat her as a sort of confessor, and allow that their characters might have been transformed a little by this story. Even if they have done terribly before now, they can still receive the reward if they repent and accept penance for their actions.

Finally, Sister Hedwig will give the characters one final test, to see how they react to defeat. She wants to know if their behavior at the convent is true or merely a show for her benefit. She

will inform them gravely that she is sorry, but she cannot help them, as they are not virtuous enough for her standards. Gently, she will suggest that they take some time away from the convent and return when they feel they are ready. She will stand peremptorily, announce that their discussion is at an end, and escort them to the gate, watching them carefully for signs of humility and resolve.

After this last event, if Sister Hedwig has decided to help the characters, she will stop them with a word and motion for them to follow her, leading them back through the refectory, around the cloister, and into the church. She kneels at the back of the nave, crosses herself, and murmurs a short prayer. Then she goes

As the letter describes, the characters must perform an intensive magical ritual to bring forth the hidden powers of the Bell of Ibyn. This involves determining what traits the 24 symbols on the Bell represent, and finding characters to best represent each one. This may be the source of many interesting stories in the future, if the covenant does not have enough people or if they do not embody certain traits. The details of these traits are left to you to decide, based on what works best for your saga, but you might start with traits of the animals in the Veil or traits based on the titles of the magi on the council. You might use this hook to encourage players to design characters with traits that they otherwise would not consider playing, with the powerful incentive that if the characters do not embody their traits well enough, the Bell's powers will begin to fade.

The ceremony needs at least twelve participants, a diadem, and a leader, who must have the Gift. He calls a person forward to stand beneath the Bell, and strikes it with a mallet, tuning only one knob on either side to fit that person's traits. If he wears a diadem during this process, he will be permanently deafened. Once the Bell is in tune, he spends five pawns of Vim vis. If the ritual is carried out correctly, the diadems will resonate with the tone of the Bell, vibrating slightly whenever it is struck.

The new powers of the Bell include:

• I. Those who wear diadems and who are within the Bell's boundary will be magically directed towards any people who were not within the boundary during the tuning ritual. They sense a tug in the direction from which strangers approach, and may easily follow this sense to locate them. (InMe30)

• II. Diadem-wearers may make the Bell ring at will, from any distance. The control is not very fine, and can only be activated once every round, so it is not very useful for sending complex messages. The sound is tuned to match a pitch

• that corresponds to the wearer, though, so it is possible to recognize who activated it. (ReTe30)

• III. If any magical creatures or devices which were not within the boundary during the ritual come within a mile of the Bell, it will give a huge, deep toll of warning. (InVi40)

• IV. Those who wear diadems can hear the sound of the Bell ringing, no matter how far the intervening distance. (InIm20)

• V. Those who wear diadems may cast the spell Aura of Rightful Authority three times per day. Doing so causes the Bell to ring very gently at a particular high pitch. (ReMe20)

• VI. While characters wear diadems, their Personality traits associated with the ritual become emphasized, increasing or decreasing by 3. Characters will be compelled to act on these traits as if they were Major Personality Flaws. (MuMe20)

• VII. If anyone who was part of the tuning ritual dies, the Bell will toll twelve times, becoming more and more out of tune as it rings, and it will again cease to function. (InMe20)

A note of caution: the repaired Bell of Ibyn is an extremely powerful artifact, and it may be unbalancing if your players are new to the game and have only starting-level characters. You might consider suggesting ways for the characters to get rid of the Bell in return for rewards appropriate to their station. For example, the characters' masters might expect their descendants to hand it over, and will cause them more trouble than it is worth if they refuse. Or perhaps the covenant that Ornath joined registered a prior claim with the tribunal, stating that as the last living member of the covenant, Ornath was entitled to the Bell, and that if recovered it should be delivered to his descendants in accordance with the former covenant's charter. They might nicely settle out of court with the characters, perhaps paying them a hefty amount of vis, but promise them all kinds of political grief if they dispute it.

down the aisle to the high altar, reaches behind it, and removes a sealed parchment.

Bearing this prize, she returns to her quarters, still leading the characters, and places it before them, saying: "Though Sister Larine was weak, she still found the strength to lift a quill and write this letter for you in her last hours. Perhaps it will answer your questions about the life she forsook when she came here.

Only I know of it, and if you wish to ensure it remains secret, you need only deal with me." She says this last piece with a smile or with deadly seriousness, depending on how she believes her speech will affect the characters.

If Sister Hedwig were aware of the contents of this letter, she would probably have burned it, as she has no interest in encouraging the practice of magic or teaching magical methods. She

would also think less of Sister Larine for passing on such knowledge, and if the characters are wise they will politely thank her for the letter and leave, rather than read it in her presence and tempt her curiosity.

This story ends after the delivery of the letter. Because of their actions at the convent, the characters may have made new friends or enemies, and as long as they impressed the abbess they will be welcome if they pass by in the future. She and the other nuns may make contact with the characters in the future, as part of other stories or inspiration for new ones.

There are other ways the characters could retrieve the letter, of course. For example, they could try to coerce the abbess into telling them what she knows. Against this eventuality, she is careful not to mention that there is a letter, instead making it seem that Sister Larine told her something before she died. Yet there may be ways for the characters to discover this information using magic, guile, or force; you should simply decide whether you want that kind of behavior to be successful.

Perhaps Sister Alice had a vision several months ago, and warned Sister Hedwig some of what would happen when the characters arrive. Sister Hedwig isn't sure how much of these visions to trust, but you can rule that the letter isn't where the characters would find it. That is, if they ransack the church, she has hidden it in her quarters. If they search her house, she has buried it in the garden. If they dig up the fields, she has given it to another convent for safekeeping.

If characters are failing at the tests, you can allow desperate players to find it with searching, but anyone who attacks the defenseless nuns or murders them to retrieve the prize should suffer dramatic consequences: besides being cursed by God, they will probably have to go into hiding as most of Mythic Europe (shocked nobility, an outraged Church, even the angry Order of Hermes) will pursue them. There are some things that go beyond the pale, and slaughtering innocent sisters is about as horrible as you can get. Warn the players of this if they seem set to pursue this course, as it could ruin the rest of their saga.