Anjou and Aquitaine

Anjou and Aquitaine are united in that both were until recently ruled by the Angevin Dynasty and in conflict with France (see Chapter 2: The Mythic History of France, Romance and Rebellion).

Anjou currently encompasses the counties of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine. The region has seen many great struggles for power. The earliest inhabitants, backed by their druids, strongly resisted Roman conquest, but the cities of Anjou all contain traces of their Roman origins. The Norsemen's attempts to invade in the ninth and 10th centuries saw major cities sacked, and many fortresses were consequently constructed for defense. Weakness in the Carolingian dynastic rule allowed local barons to build up their power, and great rivalries developed in this part of the kingdom. Fulk Nerra (The Black Falcon), who was the Count of Anjou from 987 to 1040, and Count Henry, who became King Henry II of England, are the most significant of these rulers. Under Henry, Anjou became part of a kingdom that reached from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees. Under King John I of England, Anjou was acquired by the French king, Philip II, but he was obliged to fight for many of its strongholds individually. There has been no count of Anjou since 1203, and all of the historic rights, powers, and duties of the count are claimed by the French crown. As in the duchy of Normandy (see Chapter 5: Normandy), Philip delegates his authority to professional bureaucrats called bailli, who each administer a region of Anjou in his name.

The center of power in the once-great Angevin lands, Anjou retains a plethora of castles, monasteries and churches, such that there is little evidence of any powers other than the church and mundane nobility. These buildings are concentrated in the river valleys, leaving the uplands between clad in forest (pine to the north, deciduous to the south) as the hunting territory of the nobility. Many menhirs and dolmens from earlier times remain among the trees.

The most important river is the Loire, which flows from east to west through the southern part of Anjou. In summer, it is reduced to a few braided streams flowing around islets and sand banks, and in spring and autumn it is prone to flooding, but it is the chief route for trade and travel where flatbottomed boats with square sails ply. Channels of stagnant water along the sides of the river are refreshed when the river bursts its banks. Fish, eels, and waterfowl are caught here. Tributaries of the Loire cut down through the soft white tufa of the plateaus to expose coarse sands and gravels, which make up many of the valley sides and are excellent for growing vines. These tributaries then flow over fertile alluvial plains. Along many of the tributary river valleys, where there are caves in the white limestone cliffs, up to half the local people live in homes built into the sides of the cliffs, using caves as rooms.

Angers, capital of the county of Anjou and for long the center of Plantagenet power, lies on the River Maine. Its buildings combine the pale tufa of "White Anjou" with the dark schist and locally quarried slate of "Black Anjou." The cathedral, dedicated to St. Maurice, is reached from the quay by a long flight of steps; pilgrims come to pray for relief from gout and cramp. Among the monastic buildings of the city are the abbey of Ronceray, founded by Fulk Nerra, the Abbey of St. Serge and the Abbey of St. Aubin. The fortress was a favorite abode of King Henry II of England, Count of Anjou, and it was he who founded Angers' Hospital of St. John.

Southwest of Angers, on Béhuard Island in the Loire, is a small Christian oratory built over an ancient shrine dedicated to a goddess of the sea. Local people come here to pray for those who work on the river; their attentions have raised a Dominion aura to swamp the level-2 Magic aura of the old pagan shrine. To the north of Angers, the River Mayenne flows through a valley unsuitable for habitable caves and too steep for construction, and so is one of the few places in this vicinity free of a Dominion aura.

Chinon, on the banks of the River Vienne, was a favorite residence of Count Henry, the first Angevin King of England, and he had the great castle built here. The fortress extends along the top of the wooded north bank of the River Vienne, about a quarter of a mile from one end to the other. The buildings of the town below line the narrow streets that run parallel to the river at the foot of the slope. Wine is the most common local trade commodity handled at the quay. The church is dedicated to St. Maurice. Caves in the cliffs to the east are inhabited, and one of these has been expanded to form the Chapel of St. Radegonde. Beyond the town boundaries lies the Forest of Chinon. It was at Chinon that Henry died in 1189, and John, his son, married Isabelle of Angoulême here in 1200. The Treaty of Chinon, signed in 1214, gave the city to Philip II.

Anjou and Aquitaine Covenants

Current Covenants: Atsingani, Nidi, Oleron

Ruined, Abandoned, or Lost Covenants: Alcuin's Auberge , Ligurio, Nauche-Fleur, Sinapis, Vexatores

Tavant

Six miles upstream, at Tavant, vivid paintings of astonishingly life-like figures decorate the inside of a small church. Christ in Majesty adorns the ceiling of the apse, but the paintings in the crypt are less obviously religious. The people depicted to either side of the crypt entrance hold lilies. The church is also decorated with fine carving, including griffins, sirens, a monster with two bodies, and a tree with a serpent. This building is all that remains of what was once the powerful covenant of Sinapis. Founded in 855, it spawned several vassals including Aedes Salii, Lapis Crudus, and Rothomagus (See Chapter 3: Hermetic Culture, Past and Present Covenants of the Normandy Tribunal). Following the conflict between House Tytalus and House Flambeau, it was abandoned in 1063 as its members left for Provençal and Iberia. Ignorant of its past, a parish that was too poor to build a stone church took advantage of the existing structure. The residual Magic aura can only reassert itself when the Dominion aura is at its weakest.

The capital of Maine stands beside the River Sarthe and is encircled by the original Gallo-Roman city wall. It contains a cathedral dedicated to St. Julien, the sculptural decoration of which is rivaled only by that of Chartres. At the south corner of the west front of the building stands a striped, pinkish-hued menhir with a few indentations. When seen from the side in a certain light, it looks like a cowled figure. The menhir is left from the days when this site was sacred to pagans, and the belief continues that it is good luck to put one's fingers into the holes; see the nearby insert for details.

The Abbey of St. Peter at Solesmes, to the southwest of the city, owns a Holy Thorn from Jesus' crown of thorns, brought from the Holy Land by the Lord of Sablé. The relic has a Faith score of 2 (see Realms of Power: The Divine, page 45).

Story Seed: Leftovers

The menhir was the ritual center of a fertility cult. Folk memory has become somewhat confused (it was not fingers that were put in the holes) and the primary ritual has been forgotten, in which the blood of a sacrificed sheep was poured over the stone at the equinox. If the blood is left to dry, it may be scraped off as several pawns of Creo vis. The early Christians wished to plant their church on the same site to quell the cult, but a nasty accident befell anyone who attempted to move the stone, so in the end they incorporated it. The menhir used to generate a small Magic aura in its immediate vicinity of level 6, but as the cult died this faded; now it would give a level 4 aura if it were not for the cathedral. About a year ago, some drunk, local lads rediscovered the old use for the stone's holes, and their wives and sweethearts produced strong, healthy babies nine months later. The tale spread and others have been trying their luck. The church wants it stopped. Their own attempts to deal with the problem have failed. They do not want to ask for help from other clergy, since rivalry is rampant, or to say anything in public that might only encourage the practice to spread; so, through a contact, they ask the magi to find a discreet way to remove the stone.

The menhir might be investigated by a Seeker, as a source of insight into fertility cult practice (see Ancient Magic, page 54).

This city lies on the south bank of the Loire, where it is well placed to draw in trade. The fortress and major ecclesiastic buildings stand within the repaired Roman walls. The major buildings of interest in the old part of the city are the Basilica of St. Martin, an important place of pilgrimage where the saint is interred, and the Abbey of St. Julien. An extension to the city was built beyond the old walls to the west following Viking raids in the nineth and 10th centuries. King Philip took the city from the Angevins in 1205.

As a center of learning, well placed for roads and river transport, with pilgrims coming and going from all parts, Tours seemed a good place for a Mercer House. When the covenant at Lixivia disbanded in poverty in 1124, the Redcaps moved to Tours and a pilgrim hostel was extended below ground to provide accommodation for two resident Redcaps and for Redcaps and magi passing through the city. Alcuin's Auberge prospered but, like its predecessor, drew unwanted attention and fell to raiders in 1197. Some believe Fudarus sent the ruffians, but nothing has been proven.

To the west of Tours, on a ridge above the north bank of the Loire, is a Gallo-Roman brick tower, 16 feet square and about 100 feet tall, without openings. Its purpose is unknown locally. Roman soldiers constructed it as a vantage point for a Mercurian magician during the conquest of Gaul. The bottom of the tower is in a level-1 Magic aura, but the top is in a level-5 aura.

Southwest of Tours, on the banks of the River Indre and around the village of Azay-le-Rideau, are several small settlements where the people live in caves in the cliffs of soft white tufa. An enclosed valley about four miles to the south, where the many damp caves are currently unoccupied, has a Magic aura of level 4 and a steady source of a little Aquam vis, so it might be made into a suitable covenant location.

About six miles northwest of Tours, deep in the forest, is the Faeries' Cave, a dolmen of eight large stones supporting three enormous slabs to form a covered chamber 12 feet long and 4 feet high. A horizontal stone cuts off one end of the chamber to form a small private space. The structure normally has a Faerie aura of level 3, but this rises to 5 when the fae are present; they hold a feast here at least once a year.

Famous Men of Tours

Saint Martin

For details of this saint, see Realms of Power: The Divine, pages 79 and 90. In 371, Martin was living as a hermit near Poitiers but was tricked into visiting Tours. As he neared the city, he heard the shouts of a great crowd assembled to welcome him as their new bishop. He did not want this honor so hid, but a flock of geese honked so loudly that he was quickly found. He then accepted the role and served as bishop for 26 years, although he chose to live simply in a monastery by the city gate, at Marmoutier, during this time.

Gregory of Tours

In 563, Gregory was miraculously cured when praying at St. Martin's tomb. He stayed in the city and became the bishop there in 573. He wrote books on history and theology including:

Decem Libri Historiarum (History of the Franks, in ten volumes): Summa, Organization Lore: Frankish Royalty (Level 4, Quality 14); Summa, Area Lore: France (Level 3, Quality 14); Summa, Magic Lore (Level 3, Quality 12); Summa, Divine Lore (Level 2, Quality 14); Summa, Intrigue (Level 2, Quality 10). Contains details of the Merovingian rulers, who were known to have supernatural powers.

Lives of the Fathers: Tractatus, Church Lore (Quality 10)

Books on the Miracles of St. Martin (in four volumes, the last incomplete): Tractatus, Dominion Lore (Quality 8).

On the Courses of the Stars: Tractatus, Artes Liberales (Astronomy) (Quality 6); Tractatus, Church Lore (Quality 12). A commentary on the psalms with details of how to use the position of the stars to determine the time when the night office should be sung.

Alcuin of York

When he retired from his post as adviser on education at the court of Charlemagne in 769, Alcuin became abbot at St. Martin's Abbey in Tours. There he established a school teaching Artes Liberales and developed a highly productive scriptorium, which still flourishes.

A fortified monastery was built here in the 9th century for the relics of St. Florent, and a town grew up around it. It was fought over by the counts of Blois and Anjou and, perhaps in memory of the conflict, tournaments are held here during the last week in July. The castle has been damaged and rebuilt repeatedly, most recently following conquest of the town by Philip II in 1203.

Gennes

Downstream of Samur, at Gennes, is a Roman amphitheatre. There is a small Magic regio close beside this, where several nymphs live in a Gallo-Roman shrine. They will happily talk to visitors about the water cult that gave them honor in Roman times, and may give gifts of Aquam vis to those who amuse, honor, or serve them. However, male visitors might have trouble leaving the regio since the attractive and attentive nymphs are very persuasive and loathe to part with male company.

Dolmen of Bagneux

The forests covering the hills around the town hide many menhirs and dolmens. The Dolmen of Bagneux, the largest in the region, is a chamber 66 feet long and 23 feet wide, formed by 16 vertical slabs supporting a roof of four flat rocks, with one central rock pillar. This has a low Magic aura, as do many of the other megaliths that are far enough away from Dominion influence.

Fontevraud

Upstream, at Candes-St-Martin, a chapel marks where the saint died. It has its porch on the north side, towards the river where pilgrims arrive. South of here is the Abbey of Fontevraud, where the Plantagenêt family tombs are. It was founded in 1100 by an ascetic hermit who lived in the woods and gathered about him both men and women. He insisted that the foundation should continue to house both sexes and be under the rule of an abbess. The post is usually held by a member of an Angevin noble family. The abbess guides six communities that live close together but independently, for priests, lay brothers, contemplative nuns, lepers, invalids, and lay sisters. Eleanor of Aquitaine spent the last ten years of her life here and was buried here in 1204.

Doué-la-Fontaine

Southwest of Samur, at Doué-la-Fontaine, is an exposure of rock that contains Creo vis and has the power to preserve flesh. During the Merovingian dynasty, thousands of stone sarcophagi were carved out here, but the properties of the stone have been forgotten. To the south, at Le Puy-Notre-Dame, is a church much larger than needed for the local population, but which is a stopping point on the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela. It houses the Girdle of the Virgin, an aid in childbirth, brought here from Jerusalem not long ago. This relic has a Faith score of 1.

Vendôme is criss-crossed by streams, because the River Loir splits into several braids as it flows through the town. Geoffroy Martel, Count of Anjou, founded the Abbey of the Trinity in 1032 when he saw three flaming spears fall from the sky and pierce the ground near a spring. He donated to the abbey the arm of St. George (Faith score of 2) and a tear of Christ, shed at the tomb of Lazarus (Faith score of 3). It is one of the most powerful religious foundations in France. The castle overlooks the town from an outcrop on the south side.

Many of those who live in the valley of the River Loir dwell in caves. The greatest concentration is at Trôo, where the damp caves of the poorer homes are at the foot of the cliff, and steps carved into the rock lead to the homes of the more wealthy on the higher level.

Story Seed: Three Spears

One spear is on the wall in the castle of Vendôme, where Count John IV of Montoire lives. It looks unusual, having a surprisingly short, dark wooden shaft and a plain, dark iron head of a very out-dated shape. It is useless as a thrown weapon, having no lift and always landing flat. There are two elderly people in the castle who believe that this is one of the spears in the legend. It should not be too difficult to swap it for a new one, but safer to do so by negotiation than theft. One of the others lies forgotten in the bottom of an old chest in a dark corner of the oldest part of the abbey crypt. A farmer's wife who lives a few miles from the city treasures the third as a family heirloom.

Each spear acts as an Arcane Connection to the other two. Once reunited, a drop of red flame containing a pawn of Divine-tainted Ignem vis drips from the point of each on the first Sunday after Pentecost.

The duchy of Aquitaine is the largest in France. It extends over 240 miles from the Bay of Biscay on the west coast to the upper reaches of the River Loire, and the northern boundary lies 100 to 150 miles from its southern border. The west is limestone plateau covered in deciduous woodland and carved deeply by rivers, which flow north into the Loire or south into the Dordogne. Both of these two great rivers rise in the Central Massif, a rugged area of hard volcanic rock punctuated by mountain peaks known as puys, which makes up the eastern part of the duchy. The mountain climate is harsh, supporting little agriculture but suiting sheep and goats. The south-facing slopes in the limestone country are perfect for viticulture. The primary special trade goods carried away from here along the great rivers are wine, truffles (see insert), and walnut oil. Along the coast, extensive marshes lie behind sand dunes. Castles stand guard over every road and river route, and there are monasteries, churches and chapels almost everywhere, leaving little space outside the direct influence of the mundane authorities and the Dominion.

This area was civilized when Gaul was part of the Roman Empire, and the cities all contain traces, at least, of former Roman occupation. The kingdom of Aquitaine was founded by Charlemagne in 778. By the tenth century, powerful barons in their strongly fortified castles were locked into feuds with each other, largely ignoring any central authority. When Eleanor of Aquitaine married Louis, heir to the Frankish throne, in 1137, their united territory included Poitou, Limousin, Périgord, Saintougeb and the Auvergne, which currently make up the duchy of Aquitaine. Following Eleanor's divorce from Louis and marriage to Henry, Duke of Anjou, in 1154, Aquitaine has been central to the ongoing political struggles between the King of France and the King of England. Henry, the present Duke of Aquitaine and second to bear that name, is also King of Engand (Henry III).

The northern part of Aquitaine, north of the River Dordogne, is generally considered to be part of the Normandy Tribunal, even though the people in its southern regions speak Dordonha, which is one of the langues d'oc. The only covenant in the region, Nidi, predates the 1103 ruling of the Grand Tribunal (see Chapter 3: Hermetic Culture, The Shaping of the Normandy Tribunal). However, any new covenants founded that far south belong by rights to Provençal, not Normandy.

The northwest corner of Aquitaine is largely thinly populated forest, moor, and marsh. There are no cities in the region and so the Breton city of Nantes (see Chapter 4: Brittany, County of Nantes) is the center of trade. The highest point in the area is Mount Mercury with its village of St. Michael, where the church stands on the site of a former shrine to Mercury, patron of travelers. Since a maga with a particular interest in seeking out such places identified the former dedication, this has been viewed as a place of pilgrimage by Redcaps, who come to pay their respects to Mercury or the saint and take in the excellent view over the forest out to the ocean.

The most extensive of the Vendée marshes covers over 80 square miles. The covenant of Ligurio, a vassal of Fudarus, endured here for about one hundred years (see Chapter 3: Heremtic Culture, Past and Present Covenants of the Normandy Tribunal). Very little remains of its buildings as they have sunk into the marsh. A few people live here by fishing and wild fowling. There is a priory of monks from Marmoutier built on a higher patch of land at Sallertaine, and a Benedictine abbey at Chauvet. The local ruler, lord of Montaigu-en-Vendée, lives on the northeast fringe of his watery lands, in a castle at La Garnache.

The coast to the south of the pine-forested dunes, which hold the sea back from the marsh, is rocky and rugged. A demon is trapped in a cave, well below sea level, in the cleft at the far end of one of the rocky promontories. As the waves break and the sea surges up the cleft, his frustrated wailing can be heard and, at high tide when the wind blows strongly, he bellows loudly and shows his anger by sending great explosions of spray up over the cliffs. Longer ago than anyone living here can recall, the sea surged over the low-lying land. The desperate people prayed and St. Hilary came to their aid. He found that a demon was causing the floods, captured him, and drove him down beneath the waves.

Noirmoutier

The island of Noirmoutier lies off the coast just south of the Loire estuary. It is low lying and marshy in the center, while the southern part is elongated toward the mainland. A dangerous current limits crossings at this point. The isle has a Magic aura of level 3. A sheltered beach on the northwest coast, where the aura rises to 5, was sacred to Gallic druidesses and still has a reputation that keeps most people away. A covenant on this island would benefit from the wealth of seafood available and could gather and sell salt from the marshes.

The port of La Rochelle was granted a charter of independence in 1199, and has strong trade links with England and Flanders. Stout stone walls protect it, because ownership of this important port has been disputed between France and England. Currently it belongs to England (although if your saga follows history, a siege in 1224 ends in its transfer to France). There is a castle, a mint, a church belonging to the Templars, and a nunnery dedicated to St. Catherine.

North of the town is an extensive area of marshland around the rivers Vendée and Sévre Niortaise. Five local abbeys have recently begun a project together to drain the northern part of the marsh, in order to create more land suitable for cultivation. Unknown to them, this threatens several minor vis sources (see the insert for details). A fortress at Niort, to the east beyond the marsh, guards the region. The extensive Argenson Forest of oak and beech covers the hills to east and south.

The city stands on a promontory between the River Boivre and the River Clain. The earliest Christians of the region congregated here, and it has remained an important ecclesiastic center. Until the last century, baptisms in Poitiers were only ever celebrated in the fourth-century Baptistery of St.John; the Dominion aura there has faded to level 4. Other church buildings in the city include the magnificent Church of Our Lady the Great, St. Peter's Cathedral (still under construction), the Cluniac Abbey of Montierneuf, the Abbey of the Holy Cross, and the Church of St. Hilary, the most famous of the bishops of Poitiers. The relics of this doctor of the Church are venerated here.

Just south of Poitiers is the Abbey of Ligugé, the oldest monastery in the west. It was founded by St. Martin in the year 361, when he came here to learn the Christian faith from St. Hilary and lived here for ten years. A small and very ancient basilica stands on the ruins of the Gallo-Roman villa where St. Martin lived; it has a Dominion aura of 5.

Just north of the city is the site of the battle of Poitiers, where Charles Martel defeated the Moors and turned back their advance through France (see Chapter 2: The Mythic History of France).

Vis Sources Under Threat

Drainage of the marsh by five abbeys wishing to increase their agricultural land, and hence their wealth, will damage or destroy several vis sources in the vicinity. These include:

Animal: Molted tail feathers from pintail ducks over-wintering at a certain pool. Yield 4 pawns per year.

Auram: The leaves of a particular aspen tree that quiver as if in a breeze even when in still air. Yield 3 pawns per year.

Creo: Unusually large seed cones from a certain alder tree. Yield 3 pawns per year.

Imaginem: Plume feathers from some of the egrets that nest in a particular grove of trees. Yield 2 pawns per year.

Rego: The bark of a certain white poplar tree on which the usual pattern of black diamond-shaped marks is particularly regular. Yield 4 pawns per year.

The castle at Lusignan was built by faerie magic. A family related to the Counts of Poitiers owns it, and whenever a count is about to die or a new one is about to be born, a female water sprite appears on the castle ramparts. She is named Mélusine, a name taken more than once by supernatural females. Long ago, the Count of Poitiers and his adopted son, Raymond, were tracking a boar through the forest. Cornered, it attacked the count, and while trying to defend his father Raymond accidentally slew the count. Raymond fled away through the forest in panic and did not stop until he entered a glade where three beautiful women stood around a bubbling spring. One of them, Mélusine, agreed to become his wife on condition that she be allowed to spend the Sabbath alone. The couple had many children, all fine people but each with some odd defect. The second son took up residence at Parthenay, where his mother conjured a castle for him, and his descendants live there today. Raymond eventually learned why his wife required a day in solitude: she was under a curse that meant that she spent that day with the lower half of her body in the form of a serpent. He loved her so kept silent on the matter until one day, under stress because one of their children had been murdered during a raid by the Norsemen on the monastery where he was a monk, he let on that he knew her secret. On learning this, she fled the castle forever.

Story Seed: Mélusine's Warning

Mélusine is seen on the ramparts of the castle for several days on end, although the count is known to be in fine health and his wife is not expecting. A maga is asked to make contact with the sprite and find out what she knows or what she wants, while the count is kept as far from hazard as possible. Mélusine seeks help to protect her spring, which is being turned into a well for a new convent.

Story Seed: Mélusine's Legacy

The eldest child of Mélusine and Raymond had drooping ears and eyes of differing colors. The second had a red face. The third had one eye higher than the other. The fourth had claw-like nails. The fifth was missing an eye. The sixth had two protruding teeth like little tusks in his lower jaw. Several people displaying one or other of these characteristics turn up at the covenant. They all have Undine Blood and might make useful recruits. One has the same curse as his ancestor and seeks help from the magi to remove it.

Bougon lies about half way between Niort and Poitiers. Six grass-covered mounds built of stones and earth are hidden in the forest. It is believed to be haunted, and local people avoid the place. This is an undiscovered pagan necropolis, which could be of great interest to some magi. It was constructed by a tribe who lived here long ago as the burial place for a tribal leader, his family, and a retinue to guard and serve them. Three mounds are grouped close together. The largest of these is circular, covering a chamber 27 feet across with a domed roof built up with carefully placed small stones. A smaller slab, tipped on edge, divides this chamber into two sections. Close by is an elongated barrow containing two burial places at each end. The smaller of the two circular mounds in this group is 17 feet in height and covers a chamber containing a rectangular platform. Three more mounds are separated from the former three by a low earth wall, and similar walls surround a rectangular enclosure about 260 feet long in which there are two small oval mounds, each of which has a passage leading to a rectangular chamber. An entrance at the east end of the sixth mound leads down a low passage to two chambers.

What the Tumuli Might Contain

It is possible that wild animals or darkness-loving fae have taken up home in one of the mounds. Another suggestion is that they are entirely undisturbed. In the largest are meager remains of about 20 skeletons amid a scattering of stones; these were hunters and warriors. The elongated barrow is empty. The smaller of the two circular mounds contains decayed pieces of one disassembled skeleton in a filledin pit beside the platform; this was a tribal shaman. In each of the two small mounds beyond the earth wall lie fragments of a female skeleton, each with a couple of jet bracelets; these were the chief's daughters, or perhaps his concubines. In the two chambers in the last mound are the remains of a man and a woman; these were the chieftain and his wife. One or more of the mounds probably holds a ghost.

Angoulême occupies a promontory overlooking the River Charente. Stone walls surround the city, which has a cathedral that was built last century and dedicated to St. Peter. The castle is home to the beautiful Isabella, Countess of Angoulême and widow of King John of England. She is currently betrothed to Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche. Outside the walls, houses and business premises cluster around the small port.

To the west, at Chassenon, are the remains of a Roman city built around healing springs. A short section of the city wall still stands, and overgrown remnants of the temple and theatre can be found by searching. The only Roman building that is easy to locate is the baths. The roofs fell long ago but much of the walls, pools, hypocausts, and tunnels remain, and the traditional series of changing room, warm room, hot room, steam room, cold room, plunge pools, and exercise room is visible. The healing water contains Creo vis, but its flow is now weak and intermittent. The pagan statues in the temples and shrines were torn down and thrown into the gutters and sewers when Christianity reached here, then buried when invaders demolished the buildings The water flow will become stronger and predictable if the statue of the right god can be retrieved from the rubble in the ancient drains under the Roman bath complex, and restored to its rightful place in the ruins of the temple.

Limoges is divided into two rival settlements. The ecclesiastic center, known as the Cité, surrounds the Cathedral of St. Stephen, and close by a bridge of the same name was built over the River Vienne in 1210. The foundations of a temple to Jupiter lie below the cathedral. The commercial center has developed away from the river, on the slopes around the castle and the Abbey of St. Martial, which stands on the site of a necropolis where St. Martial was buried. He converted the people of this region to Christianity, and his relics are held in the abbey. The scriptorium here is particularly noted for the splendid quality of its work. Three other churches are grouped around the site of the saint's tomb, to accommodate the great number of pilgrims. The abbey, too, has a new bridge, put up in 1215 and named after its saint.

To the south of the city, at Solignac, is a major monastery set up in 632 by St. Eligius, who was first a goldsmith in Limoges then adviser to King Dagobert I in Paris. To the west, at Noblat, is the Monastery of St. Léonard, a godson of Clovis who lived as a hermit in the forest there.

Saintes is a regional capital on the River Charente where the Romans built a bridge, on which stands the Arch of Germanicus, a Roman votive arch. There is an almost constant stream of traffic crossing here, including many pilgrims on the Way of St James. Pilgrims rest at the Monastery of St. Eutrope on the west bank or the "Ladies' Abbey," a convent dedicated to St. Mary, on the east bank. The town clusters around the Cathedral of St. Peter on the western side of the river. The hillside to the east of the river was the site of a Roman settlement. Only two places

St-Èmilion stands on a south-facing hillside on the north bank of the River Dordogne. Èmilion, a monk from Brittany who set up a hermitage here, founded it in the 8th century. The town is surrounded by a wall, beyond which lie extensive vineyards that produce the best red wine in the country. Export of this to England is so important that Richard I of England granted the town a charter giving it the status of a self-governing commune, and it is still ruled by the Jurade, an assembly of citizens that oversees justice, tax, defense, and the quality of the wine. In the town center adjacent to the marketplace is an underground church excavated around the hermit's cave. The church is about 130 feet long, 65 feet wide, and up to 35 feet high, carved to form three aisles divided by square pillars. Many catacombs have also been dug into the soft limestone under the town.

Northwest of St-Èmilion, on the bank of the Gironde at Blaye, is Rudel castle. The troubadour Geoffroy of Rudel was born here about a century ago. He composed some of the greatest songs of courtly love and followed its ideals in his own life, being devoted to the far-distant Countess Hodierna of Tripoli.

Lanterns of the Dead

One night, a novice at the monastery at Charlieu was visited by his deceased uncle, who guided him outside to stand in the cemetery. There he saw a vision of a stone tower with a lamp shining from the top of it. The dead man urged his nephew to light a lamp every night in honor of the holy men who rested there. Since then numerous stone towers have been put up in cemeteries across Berry, Limousin, and Dordogne. The height of each is six or eight times the diameter. In the largest, steps lead up to a small platform large enough for two or three people, and there is a place to stand a lantern so its light shines out across the graves. In smaller ones the lantern is raised from inside by pulleys. If a covenant has its own cemetery, tradition-minded grogs request such a tower, but if those buried there are not worthy an angel takes action to have it pulled down.

Le Cité is situated in fertile, wooded countryside by the River Isle and is the capital of the county of Périgord. A spring, called Vésone and located on the south side of the Isle, was sacred before Christianity arrived. The site is known to some local people, and is a source of Aquam vis. St Front converted the area and established St. Stephen's Cathedral over a temple to Mars, part of the extensive remains of the Roman city of Vesunna. He was buried outside the city, on a hilltop close by, where pilgrims and trade have built up the town of Le Puy-St-Front. The basilica over the saint's tomb is in the Byzantine style. There is great rivalry between the citizens of Le Cité and those of Le Puy-St-Front. In the latest manifestation of this, Le Puy-St-Front sided with King Philip II while Le Cité, under the Count of Perigord, remained loyal to King John as Duke of Aquitaine.

North of Le Cité is Brantôme, on an island in the River Dronne. The rich Benedictine abbey just outside the town, below the cliffs on the north bank, was founded by Charlemagne in 769. Charlemagne donated a relic of St. Sicaire. The formerly pagan Fountain of the Rock, in caves in the cliffs here, has been taken over by the monks. Pilgrims come to bathe sickly infants in the water.

Downstream, the town of Aubeterresur-Dronne clusters around the Church of St. Jacques, its western door decorated with carved zodiacal signs. Beside the river, monks are nearing completion of a church carved from a single block of rock. Unlike a traditional church, this has a gallery, a baptismal pool, and side-chapels with tombs. A hexagonal structure, carved out of the same block, is said to contain relics brought back from the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem by Pierre de Castillon, the crusader whose family owns the castle that stands on the cliff above the monolithic church. A steep passage connects the castle to the gallery in the church.

East of Le Cité is Hautefort. The castle here belongs to the de Born family. Not long ago, Bertrand de Born, a well-known troubadour, fought over the castle with his jealous brother, Constantine. Bertrand was a favorite of Henry II of England, who gave him the castle in 1185. Constantine, supported by Henry's son Richard, ruined it the following year. Bertrand's supernatural gift with music was matched by something darker and more destructive in his brother, and it is probable that magic was used to bring down the fortress.

The Way of St. James

After Jerusalem and Rome, Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain is one of the great places of pilgrimage. The main overland route traverses Anjou and Aquitaine, taking in Tours, Poitiers, Melle, and Saintes, to a crossing over the Dordogne at Libourne near St-Èmilion. Alternative popular routes are via Angers and Niort, and from Poitiers to Angoulême and Aubeterre. Pilgrims from England, Normandy, and Brittany are likely to travel by sea and join the route at one of the ports on the Gironde estuary. Hostels and hospices along the way accommodate the travelers. They call at a great many shrines, chapels, and churches along the way. Joining such a group is a good way for magi to travel without exciting too many questions, as long as they are careful.

Bergerac is on the north bank of the Dordogne, where the broad river flows into a wide valley. It is an important crossing point and a port, where wine is the chief commodity. The riverbank behind the town is covered in vineyards.

Upstream is the village of Lalinde, where the river flows through rapids. A dragon, La Coloubre, lived in a cave on the south bank of the river, making it hazardous for anyone skirting the rapids on foot. St. Front (see Le Cité above) defeated the dragon and burnt its body in a great bonfire on the hill above the cave mouth. A chapel marks the spot and commemorative fires are lit here annually. It is possible that the fires act as a warning reminder to keep other dragons from taking up residence in the cave.

Further still upstream, beyond where the Dordogne forms two great loops, near the village of Limeuil, is a small chapel dedicated to St. Martin that was completed in 1194. A foundation stone set into the wall of the nave reports that it was built at the expense of King Henry II of England in penance for the murder of Thomas à Becket and completed by his son, Richard I.

Truffles

A nodular fungus grows around the roots of certain oak trees growing on the limestone plateaus around Le Cité and as far south as the Dordogne. It is valued as an aphrodisiac and some of the nodules contain Herbam vis. Each nodule has a purplish-black skin, while the inside is paler and finely veined in white. Fresh ones smell earthy, but overripe ones smell horrible. They are harvested from December to March with the aid of pigs or dogs. While the fungus is common, the potent and vis-containing truffles are rare.

The River Vézère flows southwestwards to join the Dordogne close to Limeuil, winding between high limestone cliffs. There are very few settlements in the valley, the only one of any size being against the cliffs at St. Christopher's Rock, about half way along the valley. Here, people live at five levels up the cliff face, in homes that are partly caves; these are built on ledges and reached by staircases.

An extensive Magic aura lies under much of the lower part of the valley and stretches tongues out to Rouffignac on the west side and along the Beune valley to the east. The aura reaches the surface in a few places at level 1. Below ground, and as yet undiscovered, lie numerous caves and passages. The walls and ceilings of many of these are decorated with carved or painted images of creatures — deer, horses, powerful bulls, and massive beasts with great curved tusks. Places with the most vivid depictions have a Magic aura of 5 or 6, aligned with Animal (see Realms of Power: Magic). Members of Clan Ilfetu in House Bjornaer know of a cave in this vicinity that is an ancestor site, suitable for House rituals (see Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults, page 25). There are also other caves adorned with the natural sculptures of colored rock, stalactites, stalagmites, and crystals. The most spectacular have the highest aura, up to level 6, and one or two of these are aligned with Imaginem. A series of linked small caves and low passages leads into a regio. At the lowest level, with a Magic aura of 3, there is enough light to see unaided and the pictures on the walls look fresher. The higher level has an aura of 5. Within it, a wide landscape opens up of rolling hills, grassy plains, dense forests, and broad rivers populated by a wide range of animals, some very familiar and others only recognizable from the pictures on the cave walls.

Story Seed: The Rivals

The rivalry between the bishop of Clermont and the Count in Montferrand (see the section on Clermont), and that of the bishop of Le Cité and the Count of Perigord with the bishop of St. Front (see the section on Le Cité), are both potential traps for the Order. Both sides in each dispute want the higher prestige nationally, the greater respect and influence in the surrounding area, and the maximum opportunity to gain income from taxes.

A covenant, or an individual magus, comes to the attention of one of the protagonists, in circumstances where it is not easy to escape. Someone has been seen using magic, perhaps, or has been discovered flouting the law of church or state. The incident will be forgotten, if only the magus, or the whole covenant, will use their abilities to aid one side against the other. What if both sides are trying to use members of the Order to help their cause?

The site now occupied by Clermont was formerly a sacred wood used by druids when the Romans ruled here. There is nothing left of this now except a clump of stunted trees on a site to the southwest of the cathedral, adjacent to a market, where the soil is infiltrated by a mineral-rich spring. Some members of House Diedne knew of this place and discovered a way into a regio containing a healthy grove of trees with a Magic aura of level 3. Inside the regio, a spring yields Terram vis. The way in and out is only accessible when the moon is full.

The Lord Bishop of Clermont rules the city. The buildings, largely of the local black stone, include a basilica and cathedral, both dedicated to Our Lady, and over thirty churches and chapels. The adjacent town of Montferrand developed around the Count of Auvergne's castle. There is great rivalry between the two rulers and the fortifications of Montferrand are being strengthened at present.

A road leads south from Clermont between two vast areas of upland forest, where population is sparse and confined to the valleys, and winters are harsh. The forest to the east covers the lower slopes of the Livradois uplands and, beyond, the slopes of the granite mountains of Forez. The summits are moorland, and often shrouded in mist. In summer, women and children tend livestock here while the men till the valleys where the villages are located; the moors are deserted the rest of the year. The area of Forez is ruled from Couzan Castle. The most powerful ruler on the southern part of the plateau is the abbot of the monastery of St. Robert at La Chaise-Dieu, who is responsible directly to the pope and whose monastery of around 300 monks heads a network of over 200 priories in France, Spain, and Italy.

On the west of the road south from Clermont lie the ancient volcanoes of Puy de Dôme, Puy de Sancy, and the Cantal Mountains. On top of the Puy de Dôme is a shrine, dedicated originally to Lug and then to Mercury, and finally to St. Barnabas. Local belief is that the sorcerers of the Auvergne meet here at the dead of night, but this is a memory passed down from the days of the Mercurian magicians of Rome. The remains of a Roman road lead up to the summit through the forest that covers the steep sides of the Puy de Dôme. If one ascends on foot, staying exactly on the road, the route leads through a regio boundary into a small regio with a level-3 Magic aura where the temple of Mercury stands abandoned and roofless. As yet, no one has found the higher regio level here, where the temple is intact, nor a pre-Roman route up the puy to the shrine of Lug.

Long before people lived here, this region was the scene of a great struggle between powerful magical creatures of air, water, earth, and fire (for details of such creatures, see Realms of Power: Magic). Their battles left the dramatic mountain scenery. There are numerous places with a low-level Magic aura, usually where there is a particularly lovely lake or waterfall, or a distinctive rock formation; some of these yield vis. For example: a rock at Tuillière looks like gigantic sheaves of wheat and contains Creo vis; throwing a piece of polished black basalt into Lake Pavin on the darkest night of the year summons up a great storm, from which several pawns of Auram vis can be gathered; Rego vis is contained in certain pebbles, reminiscent of foodstuffs in shape, caught periodically in the hollows known as giants' cauldrons at Bort-les-Orgues, and Bort is also a source of Imaginem vis, contained in the echo off the gray columnar rock there, when the right sound is made.

A powerful fire elemental has dwelt deep underground here for eons. Its presence has given rise to the hot springs and heated gases found at Royat, le Mont-Dore, and la Bourboule. Both the water and the gas can aid healing — the water for skin complaints and aching joints, the gases for respiratory ailments. Treat half an hour spent immersed in the water or breathing in the gas as giving a +3 to the recovery roll (see ArM5, pages 179 and 180). Prolonging the exposure is counter-productive and will cause injury, due to the temperature and noxious composition of the water and gas. Aquam, Auram, Creo, and Ignem vis can be gathered in these places as tropaea.

The covenant of Oleron is descended from a faerie court of the Arthurian Age. Its members are Merinita magi who enjoy stories of feats of arms, passionate wooing, and tragic deaths. For members of their House, they display an unusual interest in certamen and in the lives of the peasantry. The covenant is linked to the mortal world at an orchard, called the Apple Mile, where the leadership of the covenant is contested.

In the time of King Arthur, a young knight named Lanval won the heart of Triamour, the Faerie Queen of Oleron. After an adventure of love, loss, and reunion, he was taken there to live forever. Knights of Arthur's court were invited to challenge him at the entrance to the regio any Midsummer's Day, to prove their manliness. None who fought him prevailed. In time, memory of the challenge site's location was lost, retained only in folksongs. The challenge site, an orchard whose trees produce small, sour apples, was shunned as unlucky.

In 1028, Kherion of Merintia found the challenge site and defeated Lanval. He married Lanval's daughter, who had become the Faerie Queen of the Court of the Apple Mile. The covenant's isolated location, and the enormous defensive capabilities provided by the Sleepers on Stone Couches, described below, has allowed the covenant to take part in the Order's crises without suffering reprisals. The covenant is now ruled by Caprican of Merinita, the consort of Triamour's great granddaughter. The covenant has five members, three of whom are Merinita magi.

The Apple Mile is a regio on a small island in the Bay of Biscay, named Oleron. The island is famous for its fisher folk and traders. The regio corresponds to a portion of the north of the island, and some of the surrounding sea. The people of Oleron know that the Apple Mile exists, and generally avoid its inhabitants.

Within the regio, which has a Faerie aura of 5, it is always summer. The magi and their chief servants live in a splendid castle, surrounded by a town that houses their lesser servants. The town has a harbor, and is surrounded on the landward side by cropping fields that peter out into an endless orchard filed with sweet apples. Roads appear to lead to other places, but after long detours come back to meet each other, so that the covenant lies isolated. Only two roads, one leading to the mortal world and the other to the Stone Couches, lead to anywhere of significance.

The Stone Couches are tumuli: cenotaphs built from great slabs of stone that have been covered with earth to produce artificial hills. Each Stone Couch commemorates a particular hero. Over time, the cenotaph creates a skeletal corpse as its inhabitant. This faerie duplicate of the commemorated hero gains flesh over the years, until after many decades it begins the slow, steady breath of a sleeper. The Sleepers are roused during crises, but otherwise await a prophesied day when they will awaken to wage war against evil.

This covenant's traditions are a curious mixture of historical chivalry and contemporary romanticizations of the past. The covenant changes slowly, so that its buildings and inhabitants seem suited for historical stories of courage and love. Magi interested in history will notice many discrepancies. The three most significant examples are the castle in which the magi live, which could not have been built in Roman times, Lanval's coat of arms on many ancient items, when knights of his period did not use coats of arms, and Lanval's armor in the dining hall, which is too modern and too shiny.

The covenant is ruled by a faerie queen, her magus consort, and his council of advisers, which includes most of the covenant's magi. The inhabitants of the covenant are a mixture of humans and faeries, gathered together from a multitude of cultures and times. Faeries have been spiriting people away to the Apple Isle for thousands of years. Human abductees, faerie versions of these humans, and the descendants of these humans, mix under the distorting influence of the ascending queens, maintaining an eclectic, colorful culture.

The Queen's Champion and the Challenges

The consort of the faerie queen, who embodies the realm, rules the Apple Mile. The right to act as consort is won by defeating the previous champion in a contest of arms at the entrance to the regio on Midsummer's Day. The challenger drives an axe into one of the apple trees that surround the site, a desecration of which the faerie queen is immediately aware. The champion must confront the challenger before sunset on the following day, or the link between the mortal realm and the Apple Mile will fail, a detail known only to magi within the covenant and a handful of outsiders.

The confrontation must be a demonstration of arms, although it need not be fatal: in recent decades, certamen has sufficed. If the challenger flees or is defeated, he must apologize and make restitution to the faerie queen. This takes the form of a difficult task, set by her and enforced by the mystical traditions of the site. This may be resisted as a ReMe effect with a Penetration of 75 (due to the mystical connection forged by the process of the challenge), that forces the magus to complete the task. The queen cannot set suicidal tasks, but challengers tend to be magi skilled in combat, and tasks that such challengers merely find extremely difficult are acceptable.

If the challenger is victorious, he must marry the daughter of the current faerie queen, who takes her mother's role once the ceremony is complete. If the current queen has no daughter, one appears the evening following the challenge, already an adult and with a lifetime of memories. The faerie residents of the regio, and the humans without Magic Resistance, also remember the princess' life. If the challenger refuses to marry the princess and take the role of champion, he is considered defeated and must apologize, as detailed above. When a new queen embodies the land, it often changes slightly to suit her personality.

The defeated consort and his emeritus queen generally continue to live in the Apple Mile. Some ex-queens take the opportunity to travel the mortal world, visiting major faerie courts and Merinita covenants. Some defeated consorts allow their Magic Resistance to fail at an appropriate time, so that they can recall the life they are believed to have led with their new daughter.

Spreading Stories and Creating Heroes

The Stone Couches, described above, are like kilns used to craft faeries that duplicate folk heroes. The creation of new tumuli is one of the powers of the Faerie Queen of Oleron, so Stone Couches are not known to be found elsewhere. The power of the faerie that the Couch creates is strongly tied to the Reputation of the original folk hero among the common people of the lands touching the Atlantic.

A tumulus will build a skeleton for its hero after three years, and grow his flesh over the next eighteen. At this point, the hero begins to breathe and is called a Sleeper. Sleepers continue to gain power: even the oldest Sleepers are continuing to do so, although the rate at which their Might increases slows dramatically after the first one hundred and fifty years. The powers, abilities, and Might of Sleepers conform to what they are believed able to do in the folklore of the communities that border the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

The Sleepers wake only when the covenant itself is endangered, when awakened by the faerie queen, or when roused by a particular incident suited to their story. After this disruption is complete, many return to their Stone Couches to wait for a time when, the covenfolk say, all the Sleepers will wake, for a final battle against an unnamed evil. This belief may itself be a story designed to wake all of the Sleepers at the covenant's most desperate need. Some Sleepers remain awake, living in the Apple Mile or other places. The Couch of such a Sleeper begins growing a duplicate of him, which, if roused, has all of his memories.

Real humans, not aligned to another realm, may be buried in a Stone Couch. They become faerie versions of the previous human and suffer the lassitude of most Sleepers. They are generally not famous enough with the common people to be more than minor faeries, unable to safely venture from the Apple Mile. Faerie magi consider this style of life as a minor faerie far less than their due, and prefer the Mystery of Becoming detailed in Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults.

Oberon

An example of the construction of faerie heroes is Oberon, who was a Sleeper but is now active in the Apple Mile. Several centuries ago, the magi here began to grow a faerie version of Alberich, the magician brother of Merovech, the founder of the Merovingian Dynasty. Recently, they decided he would not be as useful as they had hoped. The rise of the Capetians had eclipsed his usefulness, and some Merinita magi had claimed to have met a similar creature already, in Arcadia. They decided to change his character, and have been spreading a song called "Les Prouesses et faitz du noble Huon de Bordeaux" ever since.

This tale is based very loosely on fact and set in the 9th century. The wicked son of the Emperor Charlemagne ambushes Huon of Bordeaux, who kills him in selfdefense. Huon is banished from the imperial court until he can visit the palace of the Amir of Babylon, steal a hank of his hair and four of his back teeth, kill the amir's finest knight, and kiss the amir's daughter three times. Huon does this with the aid of a dwarf-king named Oberon, who has many magical powers and a cup of plenty.

After the story became popular, the Faerie Queen of Avalon permanently woke Oberon. He is sufficiently powerful and cunning to be able to work as a servant of the covenant in the mortal world, but he looks like the most beautiful three-yearold boy ever born, and his appearance limits his usefulness in towns. He is said to be the son of Julius Caesar and Morgana Le Fay, which might indicate the abilities that he uses on behalf of the covenant. He has a horn that banishes hunger and thirst, cures sickness, draws people to the horn regardless of their will, and lifts heaviness from the heart. It is a simple roll on Faerie Lore to recall that he has a power that captures the will of those who speak to him. He is skilled in illusions, and either owns many other magic items, or creates their semblances using his powers.

Now that the childlike Oberon is permanently active, a second Oberon is growing on his Stone Couch. This one is surprisingly tall — larger than human size. The magi of the covenant do not know why the new version appears so strange.

Looking for Other Exits

Magi from this covenant worry that their link to the mortal world might be severed by failing to meet a challenger. Those skilled in Arcadian travel often explore the roads leading from the covenant, or voyage on the covenant's sea, hoping to find links either to the mortal world or to Arcadia. None of these voyagers has yet been successful.

The covenant's magi embrace its culture of romantic feudalism, so they are more interested in warfare than is usual for members of House Merinita. They also have an ideal of the obligations required of nobility, so they patronize their common people to an unusual degree. The three magi most likely to interact with outsiders are described below.

Caprican of Merinita

Age: 92 (Apparent age 55)
Personality Traits: Loves Wife and Family +4, Proud +3, Suspicious of Tytalus Magi +2

The covenant's leader and champion is an older magus who spent his early years fighting as a mercenary in wars between the faerie courts. He became leader of the covenant at the request of the previous champion, who feared he would die without being bested by a challenger, which would have unknown results. Caprican's wife is called Lysette, and he has an infant daughter named Columbine. Caprican sees Columbine's birth as an indicator that he is likely to lose the right to rule the covenant in the next few decades.

Caprican follows the careers of other magi, and the gossip that surrounds them, with a great deal of interest, attempting to determine the identity of his heir. Lacking any promising challengers, he may begin to cultivate a character that catches his interest. He dislikes Tytalus magi, and is willing to use Wizard's War, even war between covenants, to prevent his heir coming from that House. His history of rivalry with Tytalus magi aside, he knows that his daughter will necessarily love his heir, regardless of his qualities as a man, and cannot see how a woman could be happily married to a creature dedicated to strife and subjugation.

Caprican's dislike of Tytalus magi has been fruitful in recent years. Fudarus is all but empty, its leaders busy with their internal struggle and its members decamped to Brittany. During this time of weakness, Caprican has assisted other covenants in claiming the resources of his rivals. He has increased the number of vassals his covenant has, and fortified them. He knows that if the Tytalus magi discover his role, he will suffer reprisals when the House coheres behind a new leader. This does not trouble Caprican: given the persistent desire to inflict strife on others found in House Tytalus, and the proximity of Oleron to Ushant, periodic attack seems almost inevitable anyway.

Caprican has Strong Faun Blood, and his magic is focused on controlling the emotions of people and animals. He is an active member the Keepers of a Thousand Tales, but his role is controversial. He does not share that group's focus on Arabic stories. Some members of the group, who are aware of the Stone Couches, see them as directly opposed to the group's goal of making sure that stories live on in Arcadia. The see the Couches as fixing stories to a single place, and a single version.

Amelie of Merinita

Age: 33 (Apparent age 33)
Personality Traits: Curious +3, Meddlesome +2

Amelie is the maga most likely to act as spokeswoman for the covenant, and to travel on the covenant's behalf. She is shorter and slighter than average, and uses illusions to give herself blonde hair. She has the blood of a river nymph in her ancestry, which in her particular case causes her to be naturally bald. She also has webbing between her toes and fingers, so she always wears mittens and shoes in public.

Amelie is not a particularly skilled negotiator, but she knows this and so she is willing to allow deals to fail, or to ask potential partners to make their case to Caprican. She uses her role as spokesperson and negotiator for her covenant as an excuse to travel and visit interesting places and people. Her magic is focused on the art of Aquam, and she is particularly skilled at creating unnatural liquids.

Quintinus of Verditius

Age: 40 (Apparent age 35)
Personality Traits: Self-effacing +2, Enthusiastic +2

Quintinus is an odd Verditius magus who came to this covenant because he was interested in magical brewing, particularly using cider. When an earlier member of the covenant who was skilled in similar things passed away, Quintinus asked for membership and access to the laboratory of his predecessor, which was granted. Quintinus is now the magus charged with the construction of new Stone Couches for the queen. He sees his current work, helping the queen make faeries by constructing their incubators to her design, as far more rewarding than his House's culture of magic item creation, and he might soon request to change Houses.

He refused to participate in the games of status played by Verditius magi, which has allowed him to avoid the antagonism of his Housemates in the Tribunal. His refusal to discuss his work with the Stone Couches does, however, make it appear that he is lazy or incompetent, so his reputation and status within his House is very poor.

Ogier the Dane

One of Charlemagne's paladins was a Danish prince named Ogier. Folklore says he was carried off by Morgana le Fay, to the Isle of Avalon. She gave Ogier a magic ring that rejuvenated him, and she kept him as a lover for two hundred years. After this, Ogier accidentally dislodged the crown of forgetfulness she had placed on his head, and he escaped Avalon. He traveled to the court of one of the Capetian kings, marshaled the French forces against a Norse invasion, and was about to marry the widowed Queen of France when Morgana recaptured him. Myths in Denmark say he will return when his homeland needs him. Some of the Sleepers predate Hermetic colonization of this regio, and there is one Sleeper who might be a powerful faerie version of Ogier the Dane.

Denmark is of interest to select Rhineland and Norman magi, who see the potential to colonize it. The assistance of a mythical hero might make this simpler. The problem is that Ogier, if the myths of his French adventures refer to this faerie, is very difficult to control. One of his first actions would be to seek service with Phillip II, which would almost certainly bring unwanted attention. Ogier has awakened and escaped the regio at least once already, so he might spontaneously do so again if something terrible happens in Denmark.

The Sleeper is wearing a ring that seems similar to Ogier's rejuvenating ring. A person who puts it on dies instantly: his soul flees his body. In his place is a faerie that believes it is, and might even actually be, the person's spirit. These faeries are rarely powerful, and Merinita magi who follow their House Mysteries become faeries that are far more significant.

This covenant prefers vassals who have strong defensive features, and arranges vassalage as an economic relationship in which surplus vis harvested in the regio of Oleron is exchanged for mundane resources that the vassals procure. This supplements supplies purchased through House Mercere. The covenant has traditionally refused to take vassals lacking strong defensive features, but has accepted unusual vassals to exploit Fudarus' present weakness.

Oleron usually limits its acquisition of vassals for fear of harassment by House Tytalus. The faerie regio itself is likely unassailable — any invader would face the combined power of the magi and all of the Sleepers, including a few designed specifically for home defense in the covenant's earliest years. The easiest way for Fudarus to harass its rivals, then, is by attacking their interests outside the regio. Weak vassals are perfect targets, and have been the foci of battles between Autumn covenants.

Bjornaer and Merinita magi usually see urban spaces as wasteland, but the magi of Conventio Nidi are exceptions. They see that as towns grow into cities, and the communities within them fragment, wildness creeps back into urban spaces. They seek niches in towns that they can exploit. Their symbol is the badge of Henri, the nobleman who serves this covenant. Nidi has no distinctive mark of its own.

This covenant was founded as a vassal of Oleron in 1100. Its site was lightly forested and far from mundane settlements. As the cities of the tribunal grew in the twelfth century, this area was transformed into cropland. The thriving port of Bergerac lies barely an hour away by foot. Most of the Merinita magi of the covenant left for wilder places. The two remaining magi, Regulus of Merinta and Micropedus of Bjornaer, decided to embrace urbanization. They were recently joined by Luna of Bjornaer. This covenant changes its name each time a new magus becomes its leader – its current name refers to the starling heartshape of Micropedus.

The magi live, and have their council chamber, in a small castle belonging to Lord Henri, a minor nobleman of Aquitaine. Henri's father was recruited as nominal overlord of the covenant once deforestation made the covenant's discovery by mundanes inevitable. Henri knows that his "guests" are wizards, and that in exchange for acting as their host and providing other services, he will be granted a healthy and extended old age. Henri retains his pride, and so the magi never give him orders, but instead make requests of him. Henri has never actually declined a request, but it would rankle him to be treated like a grog.

The manor that Henri now governs was originally the covenant’s main building, and the forest to the south and east has been cleared for farmland. The land to the west is used as “waste:” forested land where peasants can leave their animals to forage and collect wood. To the north of the covenant is the chase — a piece of land kept exclusively for the lord to hunt in.

The chase hides the rich vis source that justified the covenant's foundation. It is a grove of oaks, possibly druidic, overgrown by enormous lilac bushes that are perpetually in flower. These flowers produce Herbam vis. Regulus has found a way of converting the vis in the flowers into honey that contains Animal vis, but one third of the vis is lost in this process. The areas around the grove are scattered with wax statues of classical heroes, created by Regulus and his bees.

The entrance to the covenant's laboratories is hidden within a clay riverbank half a mile north of the castle. To enter the laboratories it is useful to be of smaller than human size. The one human-accessible entrance is through a hollowed tree that is infested with bees. The stings of these tiny soldiers encourage local people to leave the significant portion of the riverbank alone. This part of the river was once the home of a water nymph, and has a weak Faerie aura.

Starlings are wild birds, but they make their nests in the eaves of human houses. This allows them to use humans as protectors, because mundanes are unwilling to allow predators to survive near them. The starlings also consume any overlooked resources, like spilled food or water. Micropedus of Bjornaer convinced his colleagues that this philosophy might serve magi just as well.

A small group of magi can, they believe, survive in the spaces ignored by mundanes. It can draw unconscious protection from nearby people, and live as a parasite on their communities. They have adopted the family of a minor knight as their nobleman, arranging for him to have mundane title to the lands and buildings that comprised their covenant. This hides their presence from other landowners, and provides them with shield grogs. They have declared their key sites a chase: an area which people expect the knight's men to patrol, to dissuade trespass and prevent settlement. This should prevent the Dominion from spreading to them.

Story Seed: Deliberate Weakness

Nidi is relatively feeble: it has few magi, relatively few magical resources, and is very close to mundane settlements. Its apparent weakness is a deliberate ploy on the part of the Oleron, its liege. Nidi has many magical items that it never uses, and the Covenant of Oleron has rapid travel magic that will enable it re-enforce Nidi when it faces particular challenges. The magi of Nidi are forbidden to use these extra resources except with the permission of their liege, or when threatened by magi from Fudarus.

Oleron's leadership believes that eventually the magi of Tytalus will resolve their civil war, or the lieutenants of each side will tire of it and leave to seek their own challenges. When this occurs, the Oleronese believe the Tytalus magi will return to their historical pattern of provocation in the Tribunal. Oleron is a powerful covenant, and therefore a suitable challenge for them, but so self-reliant and well defended that only trivial troublemaking is possible. Nidi, which is the weakest vassal of Oleron, has been designed to appear as a suitable proxy.

Nidi has been subtly reinforced so that the Tytalus magi involved in any serious challenge underestimate it, are repelled, and can be revealed to the Tribunal. Its hidden resources include many small magic items, copies of a very impressive Aegis of the Hearth, and servants trained by awakened Sleepers. Nidi also makes a show of paying its tithes, by Redcap and at Tribunal, but has had this vis reimbursed or traded at favorable terms for other types for over thirty years. Nidi's magi have been promised membership of Oleron, or one of its other vassals, should their covenant fail.

The magi of this covenant are from Houses whose members traditionally favor living in wilderness. They see themselves as pioneers of a new future for magi, and as trailblazers into new, urban territories. They are aware that Micropedus is near the end of his life, so they wish to recruit more covenant members.

Regulus of Merinita: The Bee King

Age: 72 (Apparent age 21)
Personality Traits: Joyful +3, Fierce +2

Regulus has blond hair, amber eyes, and golden skin. He smells pleasantly of candles. His unusual and attractive appearance is a result of his Strong Faerie Blood. Regulus is a Bee King.

Bee Kings are extremely rare. Some Merinita believe they are created when a young woman accidentally swallows a drone from a faerie hive. Such creatures are the steeds of the tiny knights who serve a queen of the diminutive sprites. Her court progresses through Mythic Europe, and so Bee Kings appear, rarely, in many kingdoms.

Luna: A Noble Rat

Age: 26 (Apparent age 26)
Personality Traits: Sly +3, Shy +1

Born in Sicily, Luna has the dark hair and eyes common to people of mixed Italian and Arabic ancestry. She is far shorter and slighter than average, just under five feet tall. Luna is in her twenties, and prefers clothing with a minimal number of layers, so that she can slip into and out of her heartbeast more easily. She does not have a talisman yet, and is looking for a suitable object to enchant.

Luna lives at Conventio Nidi because her Housemates consider her a freak. She trained, initially, in the Beast Master tradition within House Ex Miscellanea. Micropedus was able to draw out her heartbeast and have her accepted, if not respected, as a member of his House. Heartbeasts are supposed to be wild and noble, but Luna's is a rodent. She feels that rats are noble creatures: sneaky, tenacious, and durable. They are also perfectly suited to life alongside humans, who are messy and wasteful, but skilled at making small, dark, dry spaces near food.

Luna has developed a psychological quirk. She spends at least an hour per week sitting, in her heartbeast form, on a rafter near the roof of the granary that feeds the covenant. She stares down at all of the food, more than a rat could eat in a century, as the impulses in her rat brain tell her that life cannot be better, or more surprising, than this. Luna also does this whenever she feels stressed.

Luna's strongest Art is Animal, although her studies have not been as focused as those of other magi. She has learned the Arts she requires to study certain tricks she finds useful. She has mastered a spell that allows her to tunnel through stone or wood while in rat shape. Her combat spells are poor, but she has retained her original tradition's ability to call and command animals, so she can defend herself with hordes of rats.

Bee King Virtue

Bee Kingship is a variety of the Strong Faerie Blood Virtue. It grants the following advantages:

Bee Kings do not appear to age, but every Bee King not killed by circumstances dies of a rapid illness precisely a century after birth.

Any Bee King may command any group of bees to perform any action of which they are physically capable, even if it will lead to their deaths. Usual instructions like attacking people, increasing the population of the hive, or constructing objects from wax continue to be performed until the instruction is countermanded (Penetration 50). Simple commands of a sentence or less long can be given orally.

Bee Kings may communicate complex messages to bees by having a single bee land on the Bee King's tongue. This bee then acts as the king's representative to the hive. Bee Kings can understand the speech of hives, and can read the minds of bees that they are touching.

Bee Kings are never stung by any variety of biting insect. An attacking bee swarm is treated as an environmental effect, rather than an opposing mêlée group. The swarm does +10 damage automatically each round. This damage may be Soaked normally.

Story Seed: Child in the Hive

Peasants a few days south of the covenant found a wild hive of bees, and when they domesticated it, they found a baby inside. The girl is unharmed, but there is something strange and repulsive about her. A Redcap reports the child to the covenant, knowing she will be of interest to Regulus. Regulus can do little for the child, but may seek the aid of the player characters.

Regulus feels for the child, because she is either the child of similar faeries to him, or his child by a forgotten sexual adventure. He cannot aid her directly, because Bee Kings can never meet. Just as bees cannot accept two monarchs in a hive, if Regulus comes within scent of the child, he will enter a homicidal rage and be forced to kill her. He wishes to see that she is raised happily, but far away. Characters may aid by transporting or fostering her. Regulus is interested in her progress partially due to his sense of kinship, and partially because he has never heard of a human Bee Queen before, and he wishes to see how her powers manifest themselves.

Blood of the Bee King

This Minor Supernatural Virtue provides the following advantages:

The children of Bee Kings age more slowly than other humans, reducing their Aging total by 1.

The children of Bee Kings may give simple instructions to bees they touch, and may understand the thoughts dominating hives of bees. They are unable to give bees instructions that will kill them, except to command warrior bees to attack, since warrior bees are so willing to die. (Penetration 25)

Story Seed: Faeries Return

Nidi thinks of itself as inhabiting agricultural space, but seen from another perspective, it inhabits those spaces that faeries have abandoned in the face of the encroaching Dominion. In many areas, after the initial appearance of the Dominion the forces of Faerie adapt, and generate hardier forms. The two sites most vulnerable to repossession are the riverbank laboratories, and the vis-harvesting site in the chase. The loss of either might prove a fatal blow for the covenant.

Micropedus of Bjornaer: The Starling

Age: 93 (Apparent age 60)
Personality Traits: Determined +3, Fidgety +1

The covenant's name, which means starling, refers to Micropedus. He spends a great deal of time in his bird shape, and has difficulty transforming back into a human. A Twilight Scar has left him unable to change patches of his feathers into scalp hair when he takes human form, and he is finding the process slower and more painful as his Warping score increases.

His name, which means "small feet," refers to a scar suffered in Twilight, so that his heartbeast looks more like a starling from folklore than from a forest. Many people think starlings lack feet entirely. Macropedius's feet have become progressively smaller as he has aged. They are now child-sized, and he suspects that they will fall off entirely when he enters Final Twilight.

Micropedus was the magus who had the idea that small covenants could exploit the uncharted spaces within towns. He has written extensively on his philosophy, and trained a few apprentices, but many of his Bjornaer sodales reject it. He is grooming Luna as his heir, although he was not her teacher.

Micropedus is an Auram magus, skilled particularly in control of the weather. The covenant will miss him when he enters Final Twilight, because he sometimes uses his spells to break drought with rain and kill grain fungi with frost. His meddling, and the prosperity it bought to the area, is arguably responsible for the founding of a town so close to the covenant.

Story Seed: A Suitable Boy

Nidi's members pretend to be the guests of Henri, the local nobleman. A difficulty is that Henri has only one child, a daughter, and will soon desire to take a longevity potion. For the covenant's longterm welfare, it is vital that Lila, Henri's daughter, marry a man suited to manipulation. There are several covenants that hide behind mortal families, and a son from any of them would be ideal, but there is the difficulty of assuring Lila's happiness, on which Henri insists. Young magi, newly made members of this covenant, might be sent on a tour of similar covenants to allow Lila to select a husband. Or characters from another covenant might instead travel to Nidi, to present a servant as suitable.

After he takes his longevity potion, Henri will age far too slowly to remain inconspicuous. For a few decades, simple cosmetics will allow him to seem to age. After that he will require illusions to maintain his role as an elderly man. In his true old age, he will need to be hidden away from public view. There are several other people like Henri in Mythic Europe, and the covenant may be asked to find a place for a similar man who is inconvenient.

The small Spring covenant of Atsingani, a vassal of Montverte, is mobile, consisting largely of soldiers of questionable repute, with wagons and tents. They make a living of sorts either by brigandage or by serving as mercenaries. Once they have stirred up enough trouble and resentment in their current resting place, they flee, only to set themselves up somewhere else where they will attract less attention.

The covenant's founding maga, Aureliana, was from a Byzantine tradition of wandering sorcerers named Atsingani, from which the covenant takes its name. These itinerant seers served the Latin Emperor Constantine IX for a time in the middle of the 11th century, protecting his lands from wild beasts and rebellious peasants. However, these wizards later fell out of favor among the Byzantines. Aureliana left the Theban Tribunal as the Byzantine Empire was declining in the 12th century, with one other magus and her apprentice Viviana, wandering westward in search of a Tribunal that would accept them. They were hounded out of the Transylvanian Tribunal, and the Rhine Tribunal refused to recognize them as a covenant, and so they finally ended up in the Normandy Tribunal, where a covenant may establish itself with considerably less difficulty. As a practical matter of survival they needed to pledge allegiance to a liege, and chose Montverte as that liege most closely aligned with their philosophy.

Since their arrival a few decades ago, the magi of Atsingani have moved about mostly in the southern reaches of the Tribunal, and have begun to make a nuisance of themselves by raiding some of the weaker covenants. Their acts have attracted few friends and gained them considerable mistrust in the Tribunal.

The covenant is currently located in a sparsely populated region in the uplands of Auvergne, in the east of Aquitaine. It consists of a large semi-mobile camp, hidden a short way inside a forest: a semicircle of wagons, numerous tents including some that are sturdy and opulent and others in a poorer state of, a temporary barracks, and a corral for the horses. Moving from place to place the covenant has no native aura, although the magi usually set themselves up in a Magic aura if they can find one.

The permanent council chamber of Atsingani is a ruined and windswept hilltop tower, which was originally gifted to them by their liege, Montverte. It is a couple of days travel from their current camp; the magi travel here every summer to hold council and gather vis. The Tribunal's customs forbid them from moving their council chamber, which is a matter of some inconvenience. On more than one occasion, Quaesitors have checked that the magi do indeed hold council at the tower.

The wandering nature of the covenant is highly suitable for a community that consists largely of Brabançons (see insert), brigands of questionable legal status, and which has a habit of whipping up trouble. They have been known to move entirely several times. On the other hand, the lack of a permanent base presents several hardships. The covenant is unable to establish any permanent, stable source of income, and instead the magi live from year to year; they are lucky when their mercenaries have wealthy masters to serve, and when not, they subsist on robbery, either from isolated villages and monasteries, traveling merchants and pilgrims, or from weak covenants. Atsingani has no stone buildings or fortifications, and can only establish rather poor temporary laboratories (apart from the one belonging to Viviana) in tents, which they share. They have only one permanent source of vis, harvested at their neglected and uninhabitable "council chamber." The remainder comes from what they can find or win at Tourney. Adversity does, however, draw the magi and covenfolk together — they are a close-knit and loyal community, and the magi are not at all aloof from their valued servants.

Story Seed: The Covenant of Atsingani Attacks

The covenant of Atsingani settles down not too far away from the player characters' covenant. They soon notice the weakness of the covenant and begin to prey upon their supply convoys. As they get more confident, the Brabançon mercenaries begin to stage more daring and crippling attacks. Fighting them off may be a viable approach, but will surely anger their liege, Montverte.

Alternatively, the magi of Atsingani may offer their services to the covenant of the players. They will likely appreciate being pointed in the direction of any juicy targets and are not afraid of dirty work, provided they are ensured a generous share of the spoils.

The Brabançons and Capuchonnes

Brigandage is widespread in the south of the Normandy Tribunal, with organized troupes of highly trained but disaffected soldiers roaming and blighting the land.

The Brabançons, also known as Brabanters for the duchy of Brabant to the east of Flanders where they originate, are active in Aquitaine. In 1179, Pope Alexander III included freebooting soldiers in a ban against heretics, mentioning the Brabanters specifically by name, and ordering the excommunication of anyone who attempted to hire, retain, or encourage them. However, few took any notice. Philip, the King of France, recruited a troupe of Brabançons to harry the lands of several of his troublesome vassals, including the count of Sancerre. When they were done, he sent them to Aquitaine to assist the son of Henry II of England (also called Henry) to make war on his father. On the way to Limoges, they massacred the town of Noialle and made off with its wealth. When they met up with the younger Henry, they were welcomed until they discovered that the rebel could not afford to pay them, at which point they cut loose and started pillaging monasteries.

In the 1180s, a freeman named Durand started a movement specifically to eradicate the brigands and bring peace; they were called the Capuchonnes, and were exhorted to wear a particular style of dress, to live honest and moderate lives, and not to gamble or frequent taverns. They spread from Le Puy through the southern part of France (including southern Aquitaine), and attracted noblemen, abbots, and bishops, as well as freemen. They massacred 3000 brigands in Auvergne in 1183. Things being what they are, however, the Capuchonnes soon became brigands themselves, robbing from the rich and keeping the spoils.

Two of the magi of Atsingani are detailed below. It is a small covenant, but it may possibly count one or two additional magi among its members, should you so wish.

Viviana of House Ex Miscellanea

Age: 54 (Apparent age 41)
Personality Traits: Restless +2, Passionate +1, Thoughtful +1

Viviana, the spiritual leader and guide of the covenant, is a fading beauty of Mediterranean descent. She is the filia of the eldest founding maga of Atsingani, Aureliana, and is a soothsayer and healer from the same Byzantine tradition. She owns a grand wagon of faerie origin, which is the covenant's most valued possession. The interior of the wagon is far larger than it appears from outside and is opulently decorated; it has room for a laboratory as well as a bedchamber, and it provides fresh supplies of clothing and linens for its owner that are never exhausted. The wagon has an unnaturally smooth ride; its contents are thus undisturbed by what would normally be jolting travel along uneven roads.

Jacques of House Flambeau

Age: 44 (Apparent age 39)
Personality Traits: Disciplined +2, Questionable Ethics +2, Greedy +1

Jacques leads the mercenary contingent of the covenant. He began his apprenticeship under the tutelage of an Ex Miscellanea eremite at the relatively late age of 18, by which time he was already an accomplished Brabançon warrior; thus he is only about ten years past his Gauntlet. Upon becoming a magus, he immediately left the covenant where his pater had settled to rejoin his kinfolk. Soon after, he joined House Flambeau. One of his burning goals is to exact revenge on the Capuchonnes who murdered his father in 1183.

Baudouin

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

Size: 0

Age: 32 (32)

Decrepitude: 0

Virtues and Flaws: Branded Criminal; Puissant Bows, Tough; Weakness (loose women), Depressed

Personality Traits: Surly +2, Brave +1, Bored +1

Combat:

Dagger: Init 0, Attack +9, Defense +6, Damage +4

Axe and round shield (mounted): Init +1, Attack +17, Defense +14, Damage +7

Axe and round shield (on foot): Init +1, Attack +14, Defense +11, Damage +7

Crossbow: Init +5, Attack +16, Defense +10, Damage +8

Soak: +7

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

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

Abilities: Animal Handling 3 (horses), Aquitaine Lore 2 (wilderness), Athletics 2 (running), Awareness 3 (keeping watch), Brawl 3 (dagger), Bows 5+2 (crossbow), Carouse 1 (dice), Concentration 1 (ambush), French 5 (Walloon), Hunt 3 (rabbits), Profession: Carpenter 2 (wagons), Ride 4 (long distance), Single Weapon 6 (axe), Stealth 3 (ambush), Survival 2 (forest)

Equipment: Partial leather scale armor, axe, round shield, crossbow, grog pack containing carpenters' tools and his lucky dice.

Encumbrance: 2 (3)

Appearance: A shifty-looking man with an unkempt beard and fierce blue eyes, whose face is somewhat marred by his criminal brand. He carries his weapons expertly.

Baudouin is one of the more experienced Brabanters and has been in the service of Atsingani since his youth, when he received his criminal brand for thievery. Banditry has become second nature to him, although he is not particularly satisfied with the wandering life of the covenant, intermittent poverty, and lack of available womenfolk. He is usually selected for the vanguard whenever a raiding party is assembled, since he is reliably violent although not a natural leader.

The covenant consists of about fifty persons, among which are a troupe of three dozen Brabançon mercenaries, and nearly as many horses. They are a mixture of Byzantine and Brabant origin, mostly young and middle-aged adults — the covenant can hardly support the infirm, and women who have children often choose to leave the covenant and settle down. The Brabançons are coarse, crude men, but they are expert soldiers and horsemen, skilled with the crossbow.