Ostal des Exiles

Where do you go when your covenant is destroyed, your lab burnt down, your library in ashes? The Ostal des Exiles is one answer. Just as faidits make up a significant group in the politics of the region, so with the fall of great Hermetic covenants, it is unsurprising that some magi have found themselves similar dispossessed and become known as Hermetic faidits*.* Older, established magi have left for other Tribunals, yet for many younger magi this is unacceptable.

The Ostal des Exiles has come to exist as a new covenant, created since the Tribunal of 1214, whose members were shocked by the wanton destruction wrought upon Mistridge, Windgraven, and Lariander. Potentially an important new force in the Tribunal, dedicated to the defense of their homeland and Occitanian civilization, the Ostal may welcome new Spring covenants as allies, and do all they can to recruit new members to their bold defense of the county of Toulouse from the northerners. Not just outcasts, but potentially outlaws, the faidits are willing to interfere with mundanes if that is what is required to stop the destruction of the south, even at the cost of being Marched. There are currently seven members of the covenant; four of the more influential are detailed here.

Whether the Ostal des Exiles would really go as far as to interfere with the Crusade remains to be seen, but one thing is certain. Should they do so in defense of their homeland, their chosen method will be subtle, designed not to bring "ruin upon their sodales." They have already experienced that.

Aguilar had its origins in a Roman fortress, later strengthened by the Visigoths, and the grotto underneath was well known to the Order of Hermes as the site of a mithraeum and vis source. One of the great fortresses of the region, and long home to a substantial Cathar population, Aguilar has more recently become a place of shelter for large number of dispossessed minor nobles and knights.

In the summer of 1211 a column of crusaders, mainly from the Rhineland, were

marching to join the siege of Lavaur when they were ambushed by peasants and some southern knights in the woods near Montgey and massacred. The few survivors told stories of seeing white ladies, the faerie demesoilles, using strange enchantments to devastate the column, and of the very trees attacking them. In fact all of this is true; Garsenda of Lariander, a self-styled outlaw, had helped inspire the villagers to rise up and attack the column in the hope of saving Lavaur.

She was to come to regret this; de Montfort's crusaders marched south, destroyed the village, and in the course of the assault burned the woodlands and slaughtered the confused magi of House Tremere, mistaking their black robes for Cathar perfecti. As far as she knows, Garsenda is the only survivor.

The destruction of Mistridge in a Wizard's War by Tres Ex Miscellanea added to the exiles, and it was Rixenda who first took shelter here at Aguilar. It was the charismatic Gilbert of Flambeau who united the Hermetic faidits however, and gave them a cause — resistance to the northerners, at any cost.

Castle d'Aguilar was a Trencavel possession, taken by de Montfort in 1210. The de Termes family retreated to Termes, but the castle was retaken in 1213 and became a center of resistance to the crusade, with many faidits taking shelter within its walls and in the surrounding villages. The grottoes, a natural cave system that riddles the rocky mount on which the castle stands, are extensive and little known, but have a Magic aura of 3. Deep within the caves can be found a mithraeum (Magic aura 5), long used by members of House Flambeau pursuing mithraic mysteries. The Flambeau may soon discover the nascent covenant forming here, and be forced to decide how to react to the newcomers, though the mithraeum itself has been left untouched by the Hermetic faidits. It does, however, lie within the Aegis of the Hearth of the new covenant.

The Hermetic faidits do not formally owe allegiance to the Lords of Termes, but their presence here is both known and tolerated. As a new covenant, as yet unrecognized by the Tribunal, the exiles act as a clearing house for any magi willing to work to fight the Crusade, and they are particularly keen to welcome any new members. The number of magi here fluctuates from the four magi who have established sanctums here, to sometimes eight or nine magi. If your saga includes the Knights of the Green Stone, an esoteric Mystery Cult detailed in The Mysteries Revised Edition, then the Ostal des Exiles is an important center for the cult.

Gilbert of Flambeau

Age 95 (Apparent age 40) Personality Traits: Aloof +3, Vengeful +2, Genteel +1

Born near Marseilles, Gilbert is unusual in that, while embracing the Apromor (Perdo) tradition of his House passionately, he is both Gently Gifted and of noble birth. Apprenticed late in life, he Gauntleted as a Jerbiton, having served his apprenticeship in the Coenobium. Gilbert spent years wandering the Tribunal, uninterested in the politics of the Order. His decision to renounce his House and enter House Flambeau has earned him the undying enmity of the Coenobium. He may well be a mystagogue in the Cult of the Green Stone if they exist in your saga, with a few scattered allies in that cult. He is a man of deep culture and well versed in etiquette, and while his guise as a knight and romantic troubadour are known throughout the region, few of the noble ladies who offer him patronage (and other favors) are aware of his magical abilities.

An outcast in the Order before the Crusade, he found new purpose in defending the Order that had shown so little affection for him when the crusaders destroyed Lariander, and began to affect the Tribunal. After Tres destroyed Mistridge in a Wizard's War, it was clear to him that the Tribunal was falling apart under the impact of the Crusade. Now courtly love has been replaced in his affections with a love of battle, and he has found that in his years of solitude he gained the inner strength to be a leader. He has sworn to protect the Order from its enemies, and slay those who would try to prevent him. A charismatic, unstable individual, he has proudly boasted that even if the Grand Tribunal were to condemn him, he would be willing to fight a Second Schism War in defense of his homeland and the magi therein. Few want to risk discovering whether this is just hyperbole.

Rixenda Mistridge of Jerbiton

Age 40 (Apparent age 38) Personality Traits: Forgiving +2, Optimistic +2

As Gilbert embodies the righteous anger of the wronged, Rixenda embodies the hope of rebirth, and reconstruction. After the destruction of Mistridge by Tres she was the first to settle in the ancient fortress at Aguilar, and she welcomed Gilbert and the others when they arrived as fellow exiles. A Mentem maga with a strong interest in dreams and nightmares, Rixenda wants acceptance from the Tribunal, and has no interest in vengeance. She believes that the future of the Order may lie in hiding from the mundane world, and her calming influence and good sense make her a strong rival to Gilbert's leadership.

She has a deep sympathy for the Cathars, but is not personally a Cathar. She corresponds with a group of learned Perfecta, but fails to understand why they accept such a misogynistic world-denying faith. Still, she has tried to bring the best female scholars under her subtle protection by using what influence she has in their favor. She was shocked when Marc the Gorgiastic Cathar declared Wizard's War on Augustus, and is deeply saddened by the events at Tolosa Paratge, being one of the few magi to have paid attention to the rapid disintegration of one of the Tribunal's oldest covenants. She does, however, understand; like most of the faidits, she has not forgiven Tres, and so she has entered into an alliance with Gilbert fully aware that she lives in dangerous times.

Age 35 (Apparent age 35) Personality Traits: Troubled +2, Brash +2, Vengeful +1

Only a few years out of gauntlet when Lariander was destroyed, Garsenda fled into the forest, and somehow survived. Garsenda is a Seeker, dedicated to uncovering the magical secrets of antiquity, but in particular those of ancient Faerie powers that were worshipped as Gods. She may also be a member of the Cult of the Green Stone, and it was through an esoteric Mystery cult that she met Gilbert. She is currently interested in stories of the Drac, fabled draconic creatures that are said to haunt the rivers of the region, and is troubled by strange dreams. Religiously, Garsenda has much sympathy for the Cathars, but only because questioning authority is something that comes naturally to her. She is personally not religious in any way.

Garsenda dresses as an outlaw, eschewing the chivalric trappings favored by most of her cult. A specialist in Imaginem, she has a strong relationship with several local demesoilles and shares their passion for protecting the rights of the poor and oppressed. She is currently suffering from a terrible guilt at her actions that brought about the ruin of her covenant, Lariander, and is frightened the Order may learn that she brought ruin upon her sodales. This makes her nervous and irritable around new magi she meets.

Popilia Ex Miscellanea (Pharmacopoeian)

Age 60 (Apparent age 51) Personality Traits: Angry +3, Proud +2, Protective +1

Popilia came to the Order late in life, after her village exiled her. A former midwife, she had a second trade as a herbalist. Her midwifery led her to a dispute with a Perfectus named Sicart of Lavaur. Condemning bringing a child into the world as the greatest of sins, and denouncing sex, procreation and child rearing in the strongest of terms, he personally attacked Popilia, who flew at him with a knife. Expelled from her village for the assault, she broods over the incident still, and has developed a passionate hatred for the Cathars, while retaining an equally passionate determination to resist the northerners. However, the Crusade has only hardened her hatred of the heretics, whom she believes brought this horror upon the south. She has three children, two of whom are now adults, and the youngest of whom, Jacquemart, is only 15. Her loathing of the Cathars extends to the Gorgiastic Cathars of House Ex Miscellanea. The Pharmacopoeian tradition is described in Houses of Hermes: Societates, page 123.

The covenfolk of the Ostal des Exiles are largely seasoned fighters. Unlike many covenants, the proportion of women and children is low, and if the covenant is to survive, this gender imbalance must be addressed. While many refugees have fled to the shelter of the castle, a large number of the womenfolk are celibate Cathars. This has led to an unusually masculine feel to the grogs, few of whom reside within the dark caverns, preferring to live in the surrounding villages. The turb trains for combat constantly, and is supported by the companions, mainly faidits; minor lords and knights, and serjeants, well mounted, armed, and armored, and willing to risk all in defense of their homeland.