Bath

The town of Bath, in Somerset, in the Stonehenge Tribunal has been a site for the healing of the weary and sick since ancient times.

Places that have been used continually, not only over decades but through the coursen of whole civilizations, gather many stories about them.

The town of Bath was founded by a Celtic prince called Bladud, who ruled wisely for twenty years. He studied in Athens, bought Greek scholars and books of learning to his kingdom, founded a university at Stamford which was later suppressed by the Church, studied necromantic magic, and died when his enchanted wings ceased working as he flew over the Temple of Apollo in New Troy (now London). Some say he was a leper, healed by the local waters.

Bladud created the hot springs of Bath with his magic, and dedicated them to Minerva. He created balls of flame in her temples. These turned to stone after a time, but were replaced with fresh balls, again by magic. Geoffrey of Monmouth says he that named the baths after his consort, Alaron, because the waters are particularly beneficial to women.

Bladud was a potent wizard-king, and his baths have an aura of 5. The Realm this aura is aligned to depends on the role played by the baths in the saga. Bladud was the father of Leir, and thus arguably the grandfather of the magician-king Mannanan Mac Leir. Saint Patrick fought Mannanan when he Christianized the Isle of Man, and a faerie taking the king's name and form is one of the threats that has made a stable covenant on the Isle, thus far, impossible.

Rumors

The history of Bath is relatively well-known, as are many of its secrets. Players can make an Intelligence + Area Lore: Stonehenge Tribunal to see what their characters know. Organization Lore: Church is also possible, as the baths are now operated by monks, but characters who live near Bath have a –3 penalty on the roll, as Organization Lore: Church is not primarily about the area, and those who do not live nearby have a –6 penalty, because they are unlikely to have heard of the town in any detail.

WHAT IS KNOWN BY ALL

• The medicinal nature of the baths, in a general sense.
• The method of bathing.
• The role of the hospital.
• The myth of Bladud discovering the springs, and his death when he fell from the sky in London.

WIDELY KNOWN

• That the priory has only 40 monks,
• which is far too small a number for the truly massive cloister placed here.
• Many people of learning can give a relatively accurate medical explanation for the effect of the baths on the humors
• The story that the baths are heated by a magical stone, enchanted by King Bladud.

UNCOMMON KNOWLEDGE

• Any secret rooms in the bath house or surrounds.
• The location and use of a fourth set of baths, if one exists.
• The detailed version of Bladud's history, including the suppression of a university of necromancers at Stamford for heresy.

LOST SECRETS

• The existence of the Fermenter of Bladud, if it exists.
• Bladud's necromantic teachings.

Bath has been rebuilt several times. Some myths say Bladud's reign began in 863 BC, but others disagree by many hundreds of years. When the Romans arrived, the hot springs of Bath were sacred to a goddess called Sulis. The Romans kept her name and called the rebuilt town Aqua Sulis, dedicating it to Minerva, with whom they identified the local goddess. On the orders of the Emperor Claudius, the buildings around the springs were rebuilt and extended, taking on the form of Roman bath houses

After the Romans abandoned England, Bath Abbey grew to great prominence. It was founded as a nunnery, possibly on the site of a pagan temple, in 675, but over time became a powerful monastery. Alfred the Great redesigned and expanded Bath, making it a borough. In the middle of the tenth century the abbey adopted the Benedictine Rule, under Saint Alphege. A king of England was crowned in Bath Abbey in 973. This Saxon settlement was again redesigned with the coming of the Normans.

William II sold the town to John of Tours, his physician, in 1088. He also appointed John Bishop of Somerset, the bishop's seat of which was Wells. Wells was an unimpressive little village, so John moved his seat to Bath and, using the great wealth he had gained from royal favor, started building a religious precinct there in 1091. This included a palace and a Norman cathedral priory, which replaced the Saxon abbey previously in Bath. Locals, confusingly, continue to call the priory "Bath Abbey." John also oversaw the reconstruction of the baths. John's current successor, Joscelin of Wells, prefers the city of his birth, and has been gradually moving his administration there. In 1220, this process seems likely to be completed. Many of the richer residents in Bath chafe at the control of the bishop, and, if your saga's history follows the real world's, they convince the king to allow them to elect a mayor in 1230.

Within the religious precinct is the king's house, which was built by King John before 1201. If your saga's history follows real world history, John's son, Henry III, regularly uses this house, and spends lavishly on its decoration. It is recorded as being hung with green fabrics studded with gilt stars.

Hospitals

The first hospitals around Bath were outside the town itself. The baths were considered particularly beneficial for skin conditions, and so they were an obvious source of succor for lepers. They could not be housed in the town, so a leprosarium was endowed over the river, outside the city proper. Similarly, the hospitals which dealt with the sick were placed away from the town, to prevent the spread of sickness.

The hospital inside the town, Saint John the Baptist, was built about forty years ago. It caters for the infirm poor, rather than for the acutely sick, so many 'inmates' live for extended periods at the hospital, under the care of the master, the monks appointed by the priory, and two or three women "not noble, but suitable." The hospital follows the classic design of medieval hospitals, in that it is a long hall, with beds along either side, and a chapel at one end. The inmates are given blue robes to wear, so they are called the 'Blue Alms' by the people of the town.

Ancient Sites of Power: Story Seeds for King Bladud

Prince Bladud led a life filled with mystical events, and so many stories can be developed from his legend.

Great Stone of Bladud

Some writers suggest that the heat of the baths comes from a stone enchanted to be perpetually hot, placed deep within the Earth by the spirit familiars of Bladud. If this is true, then the stone is guarded by powerful cthonic spirits, to prevent tampering or removal by wizards of the following centuries. Recovering the stone might, however, prove valuable. A magus researching ancient cthonic magics, for example, might gain guaranteed Insight from the stone.

It is, of course, possible that the stone has already been found, and is used in the Ordeals of a Mystery Cult. Removing and keeping the stone is, then, even more dangerous, but InTe spells directed at the artifact may provide information about the rituals of the cult.

Kaerbadon

In the time of King Bladud, his capital was called Kaerbadon. Some writers, like Geoffrey of Monmouth, suggest it as the location of the Battle of Mons Badonicus, a great victory by King Arthur over the Saxons. This is not provable, but many people tell the story, so faeries enact it in the fields around Bath. Faeries also like the area around Glastonbury, which they conflate with Avalon.

The Temple of Apollo in London

The Temple of Apollo in London is lost, but is of particular interest to the Seekers. Many Seekers believe that Great Britain was a penal colony of the Atlanteans. They are not quite correct: the Temple of Apollo in London was originally founded by the Hyperboreans (see Ancient Magic for the Hyperboreans). Finding the temple is difficult, but King Bladud, who is buried there, was not buried with Christian rites. Characters who find things intimately bound to Bladud may develop Arcane Connections to his body, and use these to determine the location of the Temple.

University at Stamford

An obvious question which rises from the story of King Bladud is why he placed his university so far away, in Stamford. Some magi suggest it was so that he did not need to share his place of power with his allies, but that, in itself, does not explain why he settled the allied group at Stamford in particular. Magi seeking the remains of the university of necromancers may be puzzled by many odd traditions in the town. Why do local men participate in a running of the bulls each year? Is a cthonic wizard-king, skilled in fire magic and interested in bull sacrifices, a follower of Mithra or Zoroaster? Is the local river, the Welland, named for the magician-king Weyland the Smith, who also made magic items and flew? How could all of these cthonic necromancers have had the Gentle Gift?

If, in your saga, a fermenting engine (described later) is the source of the bath's magical properties, then the player characters may first become aware of the Bladud myths when a second fermenter, at Stamford, malfunctions. It might cause strange effects in those who touch the water of a nearby well, or drag a lake off into a regio, or explode. If the fermenter incinerates the town, player characters may need to mitigate the effects of a crackdown by the Church and nobility. It's vital the player characters find the Bath engine, to ensure that it will not similarly malfunction, in a town where the young king often resides.

In this variant, King Bladud was a wizard who was more than willing to use a bit of trickery to eke out his magical powers. Remember those balls of perpetual flame that turned into stone when they went out? He carved those from coal. He died trying to overawe people with a stunt: flying to the top of the Temple of Apollo isn't actually all that difficult, for a magician, and in this variant, he didn't fail because of wards or guardians, just incompetence.

The baths have a Faerie aura of 4, and perhaps contain a Faerie regio. The story of the almost-mad, flying, leper, swineherd, wizard-king, with his strap-on wings and perpetually flaming balls, is the sort of thing that local faeries like. In this variant, local will-o-thewisps are called the Balls of Bladud. Children are sometimes born with an odd variant of faerie blood that allows flight, but requires Concentration. Great faeries claim to be his familiars, or guardians set over places by Bladud during his decades of power. None of this is technically true, but that doesn't matter.

The baths themselves are a place outside the normal life of the bathers, a place where they can relax and let go of their worldly concerns. Bathing is a sort of ritual rebirth, and that means it lies close to the land of the dead. Some faeries pretend to be ancestral spirits and they come to bathers in dreams. They carry messages that, if followed, lead to adventure, terror, love, death, or some other state of heightened emotion.

Bath is found in Somerset, England. It lies on the River Avon, and has protected the crossing there against the Welsh for centuries. The south-east corner of Bath is filled with the Bishop's Quarter, which contains the palace, priory, and baths. Much of the city of Bath is built of a local stone, called Bath stone, which is very soft and creamy white or gray. Bath is a market town, and has, at times, housed a royal mint, so its craftsmen are relatively wealthy, and the local economy uses coin more often than other parts of England.

Although this section uses English town of Bath as its model, similar towns were found in many of the territories of the Roman West, smaller than and Roman style baths are still found in the Empire of the Romans around Constantinople. Baths can, therefore, be easily placed in many Tribunals. Storyguides may simply create ahistorical towns if they wish. If they would prefer a historical town, these rough guidelines may prove helpful.

In many areas, the presence of hot springs is noted in the names of towns. In French speaking areas, for example, towns with Aix (which means "waters") in their names have hot springs. Further, in German speaking areas, towns with Bad or Baden in their names are similarly blessed. One particular Baden, on the border of the Greater Alps and Rhine Tribunals, contains a Mercere House. Baths may be found even in those areas that the Romans did not conquer; the Church has embraced baths as a source of healing and, in some cases, revenue, while the horse nomads from the East often combine their own tradition of steam bathing with plunge bathing, once they settle into towns.

Towns with baths also exist outside the old Roman Empire. For example, in Sijilmasa, which is the staging ground for caravans about to cross the Sahara, there are no lepers. This disease, along with many others, is treated by a set of wonderful baths, built by a mysterious benefactor, centuries ago. It takes very little invention to make him a wizardking who died trying to fly to Heliopolis.

Troupes whose sagas are not in Stonehenge should just insert Bladud's story, with minor changes, into the region which their characters inhabit. Bladud's kingdom was little larger than a county, and has little bearing on modern England. Similarly, storyguides may place a minor, ancient king in the Alps, on the borders of the Pyrenees, on an individual island in the Mediterranean, or at an isolated oasis in North Africa, without stretching the credulity of players.

The mistress of Bath has not abandoned her demesnes, although the silencing of the oracles has weakened her, and forced her to hide in plain sight. Storyguides seeking alternatives, either for this site of baths found elsewhere in Europe, may find the latter two creatures more suitable for their stories.

Anne, a Lady "Not Noble But Suitable"

Anne is a Forgotten God, the elemental goddess of the waters worshiped by the primitive peoples of Britain before the Romans came. After the rise of the Dominion, she took on human shape, to allow her to continue to care for the baths, and, over time, she has developed a desire to aid humans as well. Anne is one of the female servants of the priory of Bath. She is believed to be the spinster daughter — or perhaps the widowed wife — of a wealthy merchant whose name people can never quite remember. It just doesn't seem to matter. She's been here a long time. That's never really mattered either.

Magic Might: 30 (Aquam)

Characteristics: Int +3, Per +1, Pre +2, Com +2, Str +1, Sta 0*, Dex +1, Qik +1

* Tireless

Size: 0

Season: Autumn

Virtues and Flaws: Wealthy, Unaffected by the Gift, Proud (Minor), Anchored to the Baths.

Qualities and Inferiorites: 2 x Focus Power (Control the Waters. Memory of the Waters), Greater Power (Inconspicuousness), 3 x Ritual Powers (2 x Enliven the Gross Waters, Healing), No Fatigue, 3 x Improved Characteristics, 3 x Improved Abilities.

Personality Traits: Anne +5, Compassionate +3, Proud +3, Private +2

Reputations: That nice lady at the baths 9 (people from Bath) No-one notices that everyone knows Anne, but that what they know is incredibly bland.

Combat:

Improvised club: Init +1, Attack +6, Defense +1, Damage +6

Soak: +0

Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead (21+)

Abilities:

Area Lore: Bath 5 (ancient sites), Animal Handling 1 (domestic pets and owls), Athletics 2 (running), Awareness 3 (things out of their usual place), Bargain 4 (merchants), Brawl 2 (bludgeon), Carouse 3 (sobriety), Charm 2 (bathers), Chirurgy 6 (bathers), Concentration 3 (Aquam), Craft: Weaving 3 (old fashioned designs), Dead Language: Latin 5 (devotees*), Dominion Lore 4 (local), Etiquette 2 (bathing), Faerie Lore 2 (aquatic), Folk Ken 5 (folk traditions), Guile 2 (monks), Infernal Lore 2 (sins of bathers), Intrigue 1 (bathers), Leadership 2 (devotees*), Legerdemain 2 (bathers), Living Language: English 5 (monks), Magic Lore 5 (Celtic spirits of place), Magical Meditation 1 (baths), Music 2 (for bathing), Organization Lore: Bath Priory Lore 3 (power), Penetration 3 (Aquam), Profession: Healer 3 (bathers), Ride 1 (pony), Stealth 2 (baths), Survival 1 (urban), Swim 5 (baths), Teaching 3 (healing).

* She doesn't have any of these anymore, in the technical sense. Frequent bathers still count at the troupe's discretion.

Powers:

Enliven the Gross Waters, 4 points, Init –9, Aquam: Anne can transform water into small elementals, which serve her. She can also use this power to take control of other elementals, although that use requires Penetration. The created elemental can be of any Might smaller than Anne's. After she has no further use for the elemental her control of it lapses, but the creature remains. This is a Ritual Power and reduces Anne's Might pool for a time after its use. Her Might pool replenishes by 1 point for every month, at the rise of the full moon, and by 5 points on spring tides. Making sacrifices to her in the ancient Roman style also regenerates her Might, but no-one has done that in centuries, and she would not encourage it in these, more Christian, times.

CrAq 30 (Base 25, +1 Touch) Ritual Power x2 (20 levels, – 2 Might Cost, +2 Init).

Focus Power (Control the waters), 5 points, Init –4, Aquam. Allows ReAq spells up to level 25.

Focus Power: (Memory of water), 2 – 6 points, Init –4, Aquam: Anne receives a mental image of a fragment of the past witnessed by the body of water she is touching. The memory has Concentration length. The use of this power has a variable cost, depending on the age of the memory. A memory up to Diameter old costs 2 points, up to Sun old 3 points, up to Moon costs 4 points, up to Year costs 5 points, and beyond this costs 6 points.

InAq 25 (Base 3, +1 Touch, +1 Conc, +4 Special Effect), Focus power 25 levels.

Healing, 2 points, Init – 9, Animal or Corpus: Anne can heal a person or animal in the bath of the worst level of a target's wounds, unless that target is from Bath, in which case she heals all wounds. This is a Ritual Power and reduces Anne's Might pool for a time after its use. Her Might pool replenishes by 1 point for every month, at the rise of the full moon, and by 5 points on spring tides. Making sacrifices to her in the ancient Roman style also regenerates her Might, but no-one has done that in centuries, and she would not encourage it in these, more Christian, times.

CrCo 30 (Base 25, +1 Touch) Ritual Power x 2 (30 levels –4 Might cost)

Inconspicuousness, 1 point, Init –2, Mentem: With a single word, Anne can destroy the capacity to notice that she is unnatural.

(Base PeMe 5 (destroys the capacity to notice that Anne is unnatural, +2 Voice, –2 Might cost)

Equipment: Medicines, accoutrements suitable for a wealthy merchant's wife.

Vis: 6 pawns of Aquam, tears.

Appearance: Anne looks like a woman in her early forties, with dark hair and eyes. She is shorter than average. Her manner is friendly but reserved. She dresses like a wealthy woman of the merchant class, but over her clothes she wears a simple apron, like the other helpers from the monastery. She sounds slightly Welsh, but if asked, she says that she comes from Bath.

Xaphan

Page 76 of Realms of Power: The Infernal includes a demon particularly suitable for bathhouses not heated by a spring, but instead warmed by boilers. Xaphan is the stoker of the fires of Hell. He is a lord of arsonists.

Magi may be drawn to Bath for healing, by the society of others, by the presence of mystical creatures, or by the rumor of ancient artifacts.

Taking the Waters

Many characters suffer injuries, or are subject to the effects of Flaws, that can be soothed by the baths. Different bathing places are known to be useful for varying conditions, and there are at least three bathing places here. Storyguides can use this flexibility to make the baths a site desirable to the characters.

Alternatively, a non-payer character with resources useful to the player characters may seek treatment, with the player characters following her to the baths.

The Process of Roman Bathing

The complete Roman ritual of bathing is not followed in most of the baths still found in Mythic Europe, but which features are excluded vary by site.

Roman bath-houses, called thermae, vary in elaborateness, but many have the following features. Passing by outer buildings or rooms, which may house various entertainments, sporting facilities, temples and food sellers, the bather chooses to enter the male or female section of the baths. After either choice, the bather arrives in the apodyterium. In this room there are benches where the bather may wait for friends, places to store clothes, and slaves who are notorious for theft. The bather may choose not to follow the usual order of the rooms, heading directly to a swimming pool or sauna if he wishes.

The rooms are named for their water temperature. The order in which they are visited seems to vary by place. One usual sequence has the cold room (frigidarium), warm room (tepidarium), hot room (caldarium), then a sweating room if the bather chooses, then the tepidarium again, perhaps for a massage. Following this, in some baths, the bather then goes to the laconium, or resting room, where he can either sweat further or relax. In many places, the visit ends with a plunge into a cold pool.

Soap was a luxury, so bathers were coated with oils instead. The precise time at which the bather is oiled varies; in some baths it occurs before the fridigarium, in others before the caldarium. The coating process may occur in the tepidarium, or in a special room. Perfumers had stores surrounding the baths or, ins some cases, sold scented oils in the coating room itself.

The bath also has other rooms, which are not visited by bathers. One room contains furnaces to heat the hypocaustic floors, the walls of sweating rooms, and the bathwater itself if the bath is not supplied by a hot spring. Other rooms are used to store fuel, oil, and maintenance materials.

Minerva Sulis

This Romano-Celtic goddess has not been active for many centuries, but if a person wakes her, she may return to her traditional duties. One way of waking the goddess (or convincing a faerie to take on the role of goddess) is finding, and then worshiping, the head of the statue that once presided in the temple of Minerva at Bath. This artifact was buried in a ditch by the Christians who smashed the statue, and lies five feet beneath the surface of the ground, but could be uncovered by a gravedigger, a builder laying foundations, or tradesmen excavating a cellar. Minerva Sulis is not designed as a player character.

Minerva Sulis has a very tenuous physical presence, and restricted powers. These may be an effect of her long sleep. Continued worship may allow her to develop new Virtues and shed Flaws.

Faerie Might: 25+10* (Aquam) * Place of power – the Baths.

Characteristics: Int +3, Per +3, Pre +3, Com +3, Str N/A, Sta N/A*, Dex 0*, Qik +1*

* Intangible.

Size: 0

Virtues and Flaws: External vis source, 6 x Focus Power, Faerie Sight, Faerie Speech, Human Form, 6 x Improved Characteristics, 4 x Increased Faerie Might, Personal Faerie Power, Place of Power (the sacred spring of the bath); Traditional Ward (The Dominion); Incognizant, Intangible Flesh.

Personality Traits: Sleepy +3, Vengeful +2, Cruel +1

Reputations: None: long forgotten goddess.

Combat: Prefers to fight using her powers. Brawl: Init +1, Attack 0, Defense +1, Damage +2

Soak: +2

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –2 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)

Pretenses: Area Lore: Bath 2 (history), Awareness 3 (mystical events in her realm), Bargain 2 (worshipers), Brawl 1 (escaping), Charm 6 (wise men), Concentration 3 (while fulfilling curses), Faerie Speech 6, Finesse 6 (Curses), Folk Ken 6 (people of Bath), Guile 7 (her enemies), Intrigue 7 (aiding mortals), Penetration 6 (when fulfilling curses), Swim 9 (baths)

Powers:

Extended Glamor, 0 points, Constant.

2 x Focus Power (control of the waters), (1 Might point per magnitude), Init –6, Aquam. Allows ReAq spells up to level 35 in the baths, or 25 elsewhere.

Effects up to level 35, +3 to Initiative.

4 x Focus power (Requested Vengeance), level of final effect / 5, Init –19, Corpus. The faerie may craft a punishment which causes startling and horrifying death or disfigurement, but only if requested to do so, either by prayer in a temple to the goddess, or by writing on a lead tablet, and dropping it in the bath. Sometimes the faerie, as an alternative, just grants a Flaw with an Until duration. This usually happens when the written request has a condition, like "May whoever stole my clothes be blind, impotent and have weeping boils on his buttocks until he returns them."

(Base 40 (can kill), +4 Arcane Connection, may have +1 Part. Is limited in that it can only be used on someone targeted by a human (no level adjustment, but allows Minerva Sulis to break the usual rule about not using effects with a Level higher than her Might score.)

Vis: 7 pawns Aquam, in severed head of buried statue.

Appearance: Sulis Minerva appears as a woman, dressed in classical robes and crowned. Her body appears to be made of bath steam. She is colorless and translucent.

The Process of Bathing in Bath in 1220

Bathing is less civilized than it was in Roman times. The baths are open to the sky, although there are arched alcoves about each in which bathers may sit. There are no changing rooms: people simply remove their clothes at the bath, and place them on racks or seats. People bathe naked, which is considered shocking by distant religious people, and entirely normal by locals. Mixed bathing is not, technically, forbidden.

In Bath in 1220, although the Roman facilities are still used, they have been simplified and made smaller. The frigidarium has been filled in, as plunging into a freezing pool, while in a roofless room in England, has never been popular or, according to the common wisdom, sensible. Hot water from the springs fills the other baths so the old tepid and hot baths are at similar temperatures. This is cheaper to maintain.

When the sick use the baths, the process differs depending on how wealthy the bathers are. At the simplest, ill people just bathe with everyone else unless they have worrisome sicknesses like leprosy; then they bathe separately. A sick nobleman might expect to fast or eat food that aids his condition, be bled or otherwise treated, pray, and be carried to the baths. He is then coated with the magical mud of the area or with oils suggested by his physicians. After a pause to allow the treatments to have effect, he stews in the water for a suitable time, then is lifted from the water and again coated with suitable medicines. He is finally swaddled in thick fabric and carried to bed. The bedclothes may be treated with strong-smelling herbs. Further treatment may follow under the care of his physician. Poor people may be bathed in a way similar to this, if monks are providing the services through a hospital.

Balneator: Lord of the Merry Devils

Balneator is a Merry Devil, a sort of demon that encourages the hedonism of groups. Balneator particularly encourages conspiracy and fornication. He takes the form of a young nobleman often found in the baths.

Order: Vessel of Iniquity (Merry Devil)

Infernal Might: 25 (Mentem)

Characteristics: Int 0, Per +1, Pre +3, Com +3, Str +1, Sta +4, Dex +3, Qik +4

Confidence: 2 (6 points)

Size: 0

Virtues and Flaws: Improved Characteristics, Puissant Carouse.

Personality Traits: Depraved +6, Merry +6, Back-biting +5, Stimulated +2

Reputations: Reveler with a pack of mortal puppets 2 (Infernal)

Hierarchy: 2

Combat:

Sharp Nails: Init +3, Attack +7, Defense +7, Damage +5

He prefers to get his humans to fight for him. Balneator's physically capable of battle, but only really enjoys it when he knows he's going to win and can string it out.

Soak: +9

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Athletics 6 (sport), Brawl 3 (claws), Carouse 6+2 (bath-house games), Charm 6 (bathers), Folk Ken 2 (rich people), Guile 6 (drunkards), Intrigue 5 (encouraging sexual misadventures)

Powers:

Form of Wickedness, 2 point, Init 0, Mentem:

Allows the demon to manufacture a solid form of pure sin. It forces those around the demon, if they lack sufficient Magic Resistance, to begin desiring to either have sex with or betray their neighbors. A Stamina stress roll against an Ease Factor of 6 is needed every hour, failure costing a Fatigue level, and a success breaking this Power's hold. The Power also ends when the victim falls unconscious. A botch causes temporary insanity and imposes a Minor Personality Flaw appropriate to the sin. This form may only be maintained for one round, after which the demon must take spiritual or human form.

Form of Man, 0 point, Init 0, Mentem: After assuming corporeal form (see Form of Wickedness, earlier) the demon can take solid, apparently mortal, form.

Contagious Obsession, 1 point per victim, Init 0, Mentem: When a person is committing a sinful thought or deed, the demon may impose its Obsession Trait if this Power defeats Magic Resistance. This gives the person a temporary Personality trait of Uninhibited and at the next opportunity he must make a roll, opposed by any suitable Personality trait, to prevent attempting to act licentiously. If the Obsession fails, the temporary trait is lost. If it succeeds, the trait is acquired permanently. Any human who becomes a victim of this demon's Obsession power becomes a carrier of that Power and can pass it on to anyone he is uninhibited toward, using the same series of rolls. Every added victim costs the demon 1 Might point, and the Power ceases to be contagious if either he runs out of Might or a day passes without someone being infected. Once the power ceases being contagious, it continues to affect the afflicted as described earlier.

Pleasant Clouds in the Mind, 1 point, Init +0, Mentem: Allows the Merry Devil to cloud a single thing in illusion. Often the devil uses this power on two victims, so they do not recognize each other, and goad them to coitus or violence. It can also make corpses seem like willing sexual partners, and blood seem to be wine.

Possession, variable points, Init +2, Mentem: The demon stores some of its Might in a temporary pool in a victim, after overcoming Magic Resistance. When this pool is spent, the possession ends. The two pieces of the demon can only communicate if in sight of each other. The demon controls the actions of the host, but must spend Might to have the victim perform tasks he considers abhorrent. This requires the demon to make a roll of stress die + spent Might points against the victim's Personality trait roll. It also costs 1 might to use a Supernatural ability, or the same number of Might points a possessed supernatural creature spends to use one of its powers. This demon prefers not to use his possession power, as it is less fun than corrupting people.

Weakness: Protected Group (the priests who tend the bathers)

Equipment: Perfume, a smile and a large, fluffy towel.

>Vis: 4 pawns Aquam, testicles.

Appearance: A handsome man, with a charming manner, a spare glass of wine, and a fascinating rumor to share.

Magi meet for many reasons other than Tribunals. These meetings are often held in places where the participants can do or see something a little unusual or interesting. Thermal baths may host meetings such as Ceremonies of Welcome, Mystery Cult worship, the activities of the social societies of House Jerbiton, the planning meetings of Tremere vexillations and mutual meditation circles of Criamon magi. The characters may attend the baths deliberately, but initially as a venue for another story to which they are incidental.

Redcaps control many properties, spread in a loose network over Mythic Europe, and these may include thermal baths. The baths may have initially have been settled to provide facilities for traveling magi. Others may have been developed as sites to provide medical care for redcaps injured in their duties, or suffering age-related infirmities. Player characters may first encounter the baths casually, while on their way to another story.

Bladud was a leprous, cthonic magus who was cured by some secret method. Later real-world myths say he bathed in magical mud while working as a swineherd. This is of particular interest to members of House Tytalus. Many Tytali are afflicted with leprosy. It cannot be treated by Hermetic means, as it is closely tied to their cthonic powers, but Bladud shared these, and is said to have been easily cured by some method he discovered at Bath. It may simply be that the baths themselves suppress the illness, in which case it is imperative to some members of the House to claim the waters for their own use and examination. The Cross Baths are used by lepers; they are forbidden the other baths.

Effects of the Baths

The baths grant bonuses to characters healing from sickness, by correcting the humors through application of heat, cold, and medicinal oils. A character attempting Disease Recovery rolls adds +5 if given a full course of care, +3 if she bathes regularly and cares for herself, and +1 if she simply bathes each day until the symptoms abate. See Art and Academe page 46. If using the rules on page 58, then apply this bonus to the Disease Recovery total as a form of stackable magical aid.

Alternatively, choose an effect or effects to tempt the player characters:

• Removal of the mechanical or cosmetic effects of a Flaw, for a set period of time (a week, a month, a year). At the whim of the troupe, even magical Flaws and faerie curses can be suppressed in this way.
• One Flaw deserves special attention: there are several wells in Mythic Europe that can treat lycanthropy. Bladud's name means "Wolf Lord," a useful clue for storyguides wanting to grace the baths with a werewolf pack. In this case, his leprosy story was misinformation he spread, to hide his condition.
• Bonus on Aging rolls, due to healthy environment.
• Bonus on rolls required to heal from injuries. The baths suck ill humors from lesions, or are surrounded by medicinal muds which can be used to salve wounds.
• A bonus on study totals. Some ancient writers suggest that vigorous physical training is more beneficial if performed in facilities similar to those of a full Roman bath. In such facilities, the student follows a special diet, to improve his health, and uses the baths and their staff to recover rapidly between training sessions.

The foundation of Bath is recorded in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (The History of the Kings of Britain). Geoffrey gives a little further information in Vita Merlini (The Life of Merlin). (Tractatus, Area Lore: Britain, Quality 9)

Details about the administration of the Church lands of Bath, including the accounts of the priory, are held in the library of the Priory at Bath. (Tractus, Organisation Lore: Bishopric of Bath and Wells, Quality 9).

A Fourth Set of Baths?

In the local language the three main baths here are called the Hot Baths, the Baths of the Cross, and the Baths of Alaron. The latter either means "foreign, old writing" and refers to the Latin inscriptions left by the Romans, or, if you accept Geoffrey of Monmouth's account, was the name of King Bladud's consort. If your saga follows real history, the Baths of Alaron are renamed the King's Bath in 1225. For many hooks, it is convenient to assume that in addition to the public baths, used by the mundanes and the sick, there is at least one additional set of baths maintained for Hermetic convenience.

The fourth set of baths are deep in the earth, and are lit with the ceaseless fires of King Bladud. The magi who know of these baths either call them the Baths of Bladud or the Greek Baths. The waters here suppress the negative communication effects of The Gift, for a week with each bathing. They also have minor healing powers and allow characters who have spent at a Confidence point during a story to regain it. No more than one point per story may be regained in this way.

The Gift sweetening effect allowed Bladud to be a wizard king, able to use magic but still retain the trust of his vassals. Bladud and his followers knew Mysteries which allowed this effect to last for a year per immersion. This permitted his followers to form a university, despite living at some distance from the baths. There was once a Mystery cult, of a sort, among the hedge magicians of Somerset, descended from the university's survivors. It no longer meets, but Anne, the attendant of the baths, can begin it again at any time by teaching an acolyte.

When a Gifted person bathes a pawn of Vim vis seeps from his skin as a sort of black, oily scum marked with his sigil. This disgusting substance can be corralled for skimming off, for example by having the magus enter the water by stepping into a large wicker hoop floating on the water's surface. In Bladud's time, a magus anointed with the correct oils could produce other varieties of vis. Anne the serving-woman knows all of these recipes, and some local faeries have learned one each. The oil can only be drawn from a magus once after each time his Warping Score increases, and forms an Arcane Connection to the magus.

Most characters return repeatedly to Bath because the effects of its waters fade over time, or are needed again as the character incurs new injuries. Characters can be drawn back to Bath by the society which forms around the baths, as different people meet there. Beyond this, player characters may seek out the magical secrets of the baths, or indulge in local politics.

The Great Fermenter of the Seven Salts

A little known local poem states that the springs are heated, not by an enchanted rock, but by a strange alchemical engine of Bladud's devising. It is fueled by seven salts, combined with brimstone, wine, and many other things, in four large barrels. Two of these are of brass and two are of glass. The way the salts are combined in the machine is not clear, but an alchemist or Learned Magician who sees the device, and has the opportunity to test its salts, gains Insight into effects that mask The Gift, and can replicate the device. Bladud probably left powerful elementals, or demons, guarding this machine.

The part of the poem that describes his magical device reads:

Two tunne* ther beth of bras,
And other two imaked of glas;
Bladud, King of Britain
Seve salts** there beth inne,
And other thing imaked with ginne.***
Quick brimstone in them also,
With wild fire imaked thereto.
Sal Gemmce and Sal Petrce,
Sal Armonak there is eke,
Sal Albrod and Sal Alkine,
Sal Gemmce is mingled with wine.
Sal Conim and Sal Almelke bright,
That borneth both day and night.
All this is in the towne ido,
And other things many mo;
And borneth both night and day,
That never quench it ne may.
In your welsprings the tonnes lieth

* A tun is a barrel. A tun of wine weighs a ton, non-coincidentally.
** Some versions say "seven seats."
*** Tempting as it is to say this is the alcoholic beverage called gin, this is unknown in Mythic Europe. It's a Middle English word the modern relative of which is "engine." It means a mechanical tool, as in "cotton gin."

Player characters may wish to replicate the device for several reasons:

• To create baths identical to those of Bath, sharing whatever positive traits have been assigned in your saga. For example if, in your saga, the baths suppress the magical air caused by The Gift, then a device which allows this is of great value. The characters can manufacture multiple copies, using one and selling the others.
• A recipe for eternally-burning Greek fire that requires no vis is valuable, both as a weapon and to create fuel for industries like metalwork.
• Bladud's engine may be a device used as part of the Initiation rituals of a Mystery cult. This is more likely to be true if the disputed line is read as "seven seats," suggesting that the virtues of the public baths are just a side effect of the machine's powers, which are focused on a smaller group of privileged users.
• The seven seats of the device may be for a group of operators, rather than beneficiaries. If this is true, then what does the machine do?
• The seven seats might also hold elementals or demons, who power the device.
• The poem also suggests that whenever Bladud failed at anything, he returned to the baths and they restored him. This may mean they heal long-term Fatigue, or allow Confidence points to be restored after they are spent during a story.
• Once the player characters have replicated the Fermenter, it may be possible to change the salts within it, either creating baths which offer different virtues, or relief from different flaws.
• The Fermenter may be a more versatile device that it appears. For example, salts may be a potion which has a magical effect, the brass sections may give that effect an Until Duration, and the glass sections may spread the effect through the medium of the water. If this is the case then player characters may be able to replace the potion, allowing the bath to be tuned to individual needs.

Story Seed: Penitent Ghosts

Throughout the Empire the capsarii — bath slaves — were notorious for stealing the personal effects of bathers. In Imperial Bath, however, theft was a terrible mistake. Minerva Sulis accepted the sacrifice of, or at least killed, thieves nominated on the lead curse tablets thrown into the waters.

The baths are, therefore, haunted by pitiful, disfigured ghosts, who are attempting to return spiritual versions of the things which they stole. This is very difficult, because they cannot leave the baths and are most active at night when there are few visitors. Magi who aid these ghosts may be given secrets in exchange. The ghosts often overhear the conversations of the bathers, and can pass useful details to their allies. Some also know how things were done in Imperial Bath, and can locate lost structures, like temples, the causeway, and the library.

Vis

This chapter leaves open the ultimate Realm alignment of the baths, so the vis and auras found here vary depending on the creatures the storyguide chooses to include.

St. Keyne

To the northeast of Bath is a village called Keynsham. It is named for a pious virgin, St. Keyne, to whom the local abbey is dedicated. Saint Keyne is responsible for a type of vis that can be found locally, and a miraculous effect that some characters may wish to seek out, either for themselves or for patrons. The waters of her miraculous well are guarded by the monks of the Abbey of Saint Keyne, if currently only in an affable and indulgent fashion.

Saint Keyne's Well, the location of which is known to the monks and some locals, has the miraculous property that, of a married couple, whomever drinks of it first has the upper hand in the marriage. Saint Keyne presumably felt strongly about this, as she visited her brother, a saint living on Mount Saint Michael, and left a magical chair there with the same property. It's said that various other wells attract her intercession.

In the Somerset Moors and Levels, wild areas to the west, there are no living snakes or dragons. At a prayer from Saint Keyne, God turned them all into stone. The stone snakes, which strangely never seem to have heads, always contain a least one pawn of vis. The largest examples, some many yards across, contain up to 20 pawns.

Stanton Drew

To the west of Bath are a series of megalithic rings, one of the largest sets in Britain. They were formed when a wedding party, held on a Saturday night, was visited by a demon in the guise of a musician. He charmed the dancers with is music, so they danced until dawn, and they were then turned into stone for profaning the Sabbath. They await the devil's promised return: his music could, perhaps, release them.

There are three rings of stones at Stanton Drew, and an added cove (small assembly) of stones. Two rings are the dancers, one the musicians, and the cove is the bride and groom, with a drunken priest lying at their feet. If a musician plays in the circles, when a Saturday night falls on the anniversary of the wedding, the stone people come alive for long enough to ask "Are you come to release us?" When it is clear that the musician is not able to, they turn back into stones, but continue to weep inconsolably until dawn. Their tears contain Terram vis, but it may be tainted by the Infernal.

Pagan's Hill

Slightly to the west of Stanton Drew is a small village called Chewstoke, which sits below Pagan's Hill. The hill was the site of a small Mercurian temple during the Imperial period. Pagan's Hill has a Magic aura of 2, and characters excavating the hill may find the altar stone. This slab of carved limestone prevents the evaporation of any quicksilver poured into the carvings on its surface. It slowly transforms this mercury into Intellego vis. The transformation only occurs within a Mercurian temple that retains its Magic aura.

Excavators also find a large statue of a dog, made of limestone and with a golden collar, cut into pieces. If they put the pieces back together, while within the temple's aura, the guardian of the temple is summoned. The spirit takes the form of a huge dog, three feet high at the shoulder. It is fierce in defense of the temple, but recognizes The Gift, and is perfectly biddable by the Gifted. It even leaves the temple if commanded to do so by someone it considers likely to be a priest; it was used in Imperial times to find apprentices for the priests.

Willow Wicker Dolls

In the marshy areas of western Somerset, willow trees grow. These are farmed by pollarding: that is, they are cut so that they set forth new shoots, which can be trimmed for use in wickerwork. Wicker is useful to peasants because its a cheap, strong, light material which takes a variety of shapes. In thanks for good harvests, the women of one of the villages make little dolls of willow and wheat that they fling into the sea.

The faerie who receives these tries to fulfill one wish. The local women no longer know this, and so they have, in effect, been wishing good harvests, year on year, for centuries. The faerie also gives one of these dolls back to the village, by allowing it to wash ashore in a particular cave. This part of the ritual, which is meant to involve the men bringing the doll home, has degenerated into escorting the women back from the cliff top.

The returned doll grants a particular building a ward against faeries of Might 10 or less. It also contains 1 pawn of Rego vis. The cave contains dozens of these dolls, although many have been damaged beyond use by the seawater.

Bath Staff

Baths traditionally had slaves who acted as barber-surgeons, masseurs, and entertainers. These roles are now either not performed, or are performed by monks. It is only at the most successful baths, which are visited by large numbers of people, that lay people can support businesses providing services to the bathers. Some nobles, knowing this, bring large numbers of their own servants to the baths.

Vendors of food and drink are an exception; they found at most baths, if not forbidden by the monks. They may be excluded for two reasons. Selling food to bathers is lucrative, so the monks use the baths to convert their agricultural rents into cash. In some baths, consuming food is forbidden because, like the Somerset Baths, they cannot be drained and cleaned, so any dropped food must be fished out or left to rot down in the heat of the water. The type of food available at a bath depends on local surpluses and the average wealth of the facility's visitors.

Bath staff are ignored by most people, who, in the relaxed circumstances of the bath, are more loquacious than usual. Player characters may bribe these staff, or plant agents among them, to spy on their rivals.

Seeking the Mystical Salts

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. It is made in quantity in many parts of Mythic Europe, but particularly Islamic areas and in Germany. There are some brassworkers who are willing to make strange items for magi, but many have links to the Church, so the characters need to be circumspect in selecting an artisan.

Glass is made, in finest quality, in Venice, but it is so popular in Hermetic laboratories that spells used to create glassware, using vis for permanence, are widely recorded. The characters can seek out a powerful covenant with an excellent library, and trade their services for the spell.

Quick brimstone is highly flammable sulphur. This is made in kilns, where stones high in sulphur are cooked. It is cheapest in Sicily, where some of the stones are one quarter sulphur. Areas high in sulphur tend to have Infernal auras, and be visited by demons. Brimstone burns and acts as a fumigant. It is a component of vitriol.

Wild fire is a weapon, used in the navy of the Empire of Constaninople. Its composition is a state secret, but magi with suitable spells, perhaps of the Mentem type, may find a way to discover it. It burns even when submerged in water.

Sal Gemmce is made from transparent rock salt crystals: indeed this salt is is so pure that it can be mistaken for diamond. It is mentioned twice in the recipe, once mixed with saltpetre and once mixed with wine. When mixed with wine, it is a preservative. When mixed with saltpetre, it dilutes it, so a certain volume of saltpetre has a less powerful effect. Perfectly pure salt can be made by magi in most labs, or it can be mined in many areas. Such salt mines are usually haunted by odd faeries, the most famous of which are the Hallstadt faeries, from the Greater Alps Tribunal, which demand hearts carved of salt as sacrifices.

Sal Petrce (Saltpetre) is made from decayed vegetable and animals matters, particularly their refuse. In Poland saltpetre is mined from mounds (called tumuli) which are actually the ruins of ancient human habitations. In some other areas it is made from street sweepings. The method is to find land that has been richly fertilized by decay, or, if this is unavailable, decaying matter, and put it in a barrel. This barrel has a tap in the base, and a pad of straw on the inside before the tip, to act as a filter. After the matter has completed its decay, a substance heavier than water, called lixivium, can be be poured out, to evaporate in the sun, or over boilers. Saltpetre is a flux: that is, it encourages the components of glass to melt at lower temperatures, and combine more readily.

Sal Armonak (Sal Ammoniac) is made from the strong urine of camels, which carried pilgrims to the temple of Jupiter Ammon in Cyrene, which is now lost in the desert sands of Libya. A similar salt is thrown out in chunks by Mt Etna, but whether it is similar enough to replace the true Salt of Ammon is unknown. At the discretion of troupes, Sal Ammoniac might instead come from the pillars of salt found in the desert, near the site of the fallen temple, or from camel dung. An artificial Sal Ammoniac can be purchased from Egyptian merchants, although its source is secret. It is probably made by Egyptian alchemists using a secret technique — out of seawater, vitriol and an artificial Sal Alkaline made from animal dung and straw — but in sagas interested in Mysteries, the existence of this salt may indicate that a community of worshipers of Zeus Ammon still exists. Sal Ammoniac makes tin bind into alloys with copper or iron more easily.

Sal Albrod is presumably salarbrut, which is unprocessed "brut" or "gross" salt, which players may know as bay salt. This is insufficiently interesting, so storyguides should suggest that Albrod is a proper noun: the name of a place that produces, or a creature who guards, the salt.

Sal Alkine can be made out of most trees, if burned, but the finest and purest comes from Asia Minor. This substance is considered a strategic substance by the Venetians, since it is used in glass making.

Sal Conim is an odd ingredient. The term conim appears in some versions of the Bible, to refer to the plague of lice sent against the Egyptians. The lice which produce mystical salts are presumably parasites on some greater, more terrible, beast, as suits each saga.

Sal Almelke (Sal al-Malki) means "salt of the king." What this refers to is unclear. It may be a salt of Bladud's own devising, and storyguides can send the player characters to the ruins of the Stamford University, or some other place, to look for its method of manufacture. It may refer to any number of other kings, the most difficult perhaps being King Melchior of Persia. In the Western tradition, Melchior was one of the three kings who came to witness the Nativity of Christ. He was probably a Zoroastrian, so this may be some secret kept by the priests of that religion. The relics of the gifts of the Magi were kept in the Royal Palace of Constantinople until 1204, but following the invasion of that city, their whereabouts are disputed.

Story Element: Secret Rooms

The bath-house or outer buildings may also contain other, secret rooms. These may include:

-> Private rooms for patrons, sumptuously furnished and used for assignations, or meetings. Player characters may break into these rooms to steal Arcane Connections, or may be may be invited to them by a potentate who wishes to impress.

• Storerooms for criminals. The baths are an excellent distribution point for contraband items, as carts are expected to make deliveries to the baths, and many people are expected to visit them regularly.
• Religious rooms. The baths may have chapels, or even temples, to saints, pagan gods, demons, or spirits. These may be abandoned, converted to other functions, used for simple worship, or employed for Mystagogic Initiations.
• Living quarters: Creatures from most realms find it more comfortable to reside in auras of their realm. Such beings may have claimed rooms in the bath complex as domiciles.

Paths through the Material

It's best to tell stories which are closely bound to the goals of the player characters, and the themes negotiated through the covenant creation process. It's also good to be able to just pick up material and use it right away, without having to digest it. If you're short on time, try these paths through this chapter

The player characters lose a valuable informant in Bath. He was murdered by Balneator's followers. The story ends with a fight scene in the baths.

The player characters have an ally whose sanity is lost in the baths. They discover Minerva Sulis, and ask her to lift her curse. She counters that they must put right the theft their ally committed. They find proof he was not guilty, and implicate some Infernalists. Minerva Sulis offers the characters some of her mysteries in exchange for aid against the Infernal.

The Stamford Fermenter (see earlier) explodes, destroying the town. Faeries implicate magi in the destruction, making reference to Bladud while mocking the servants of the Order. The player characters quieten the nobles, and then come to Bath seeking answers Anne can offer them, for a price: she wants the magi to aid the bishop. Anne's plan is for the bishop's reforms to succeed. This brings wealth to Bath, but also leads the bishop to either relocate permanently to Wells, or become the Archbishop of a larger see. A more easily swayed alternative replaces him, just as Anne wishes.

There are powerful people around Bath who need favors, and could prove useful allies to magi willing to accommodate them.

William Brewer

William Brewer has many properties locally, and is one of the most powerful members of the royal court. As lord of the Exchequer he is responsible for the finances of the court's operations. He also labors under the lengthy title of High Sheriff of Berkshire, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Sussex, and Wiltshire. As sheriff, he is responsible for enforcing the law, which in the time of King John was altered to ensure many fines were levied, and passed on to the king. The common people loathe him as a grasper and a leech. Other nobles dislike him because his birth was relatively humble: his father was a hereditary forester, a task William also performed before coming to the royal notice.

Brewer has discovered that some people in Somerset are collecting money to pay the king to remove him from office, or at least exclude him from sherrifdom in the county. Brewer cannot, however, discover who his enemies are. He has heard rumors either that one of the companions may be able to help him, or about the magi directly if they have been flagrant in their use of magic. Brewer is wealthy, has many small properties scattered around England, has political offices in his gift, and has the ear of the senior nobility and king, so he might make an excellent ally. He is, however, personally abrupt and grasping, so perhaps the player characters wish to aid his enemies?

Joscelin of Wells

The current Bishop of Bath took office in 1206. Although he is respected by the chapters of Bath and Wells, he has lost the support of the Glastonbury monks, and the title "of Glastonbury" was taken from him in 1218 by the Pope. Joscelin was born in, rose through all of the ranks of the clergy in, and loves, Wells. He has asked the Pope if he might take "of Wells" as a replacement for his lost title.

Joscelin had an adventurous life during the civil war under King John and in the early years of Henry III. In 1220, however, he plans to settle in Wells, state he would prefer not to go anywhere else again, and move his throne here from Bath. He has long wished to build a great cathedral in Wells, so that his home city could hold its head high against the claims of precedence made by the chapter of Bath. He anticipates resistance from the Bath Priory, and from wealthy crafters, who lose business if his court leaves the city (or town, as it will be then. A city is where a bishop has his cathedral.)

The Bishop of Wells makes a useful ally for magi. He can grant them the right to investigate many interesting Arthurian sites, to examine many pre-Roman sites (including Glastonbury Tor), and to seek the secrets of Bladud. In exchange he wants political and material support for his building scheme. His enemies inside the Church, the townsfolk and the nobility could all be distracted with other problems, and if the magi were sufficiently subtle, it would be untraceable. He cannot be seen to be accepting money, but donations to the building of the cathedral in materials or the pay of craftsmen would be most welcome. Players wishing to be more circumspect might build a small hospital and donate it to the Church.

Seeking An Apprentice

A Criamon magus has a vision which suggests that an apprentice found in Somerset will be like a new Bonisagus. He cannot give more information than suggesting that the apprentice has something to do with pigs. This allows the storyguide to send the player characters on a wild goose chase to fight Averna's Hogs (see Chapter Six: Lead). The child referred to is an eight year old boy who lives on a property held from Ilchester Priory. Living in Ilchester, under the strong Dominion of a county town filled with monasteries and nunneries, makes him difficult to find. His name is Roger Bacon.