Polyaigos

A robust Autumn covenant, Polyaigos has dedicated itself to the protection and defense of the Theban Tribunal and its magi. Correspondingly its members, the undisputed masters of their

island home on the Aegean Sea, possess a considerable degree of martial and magical prowess. Rather than posing a threat to the Tribunal's other covenants, however, they are widely appreciated and respected for their tireless service. Whenever magi are threatened by war, conflicts, or renegade magi and hedge wizards, magi from Polyaigos are first to stand up in defense of the Order. Due to this positive reputation, their famed apprentice school, and their closeness to the Tribunal gathering site of Delos, Polyaigos tends to receive many visitors.

During the 11th century, the small Cycladic island of Polyaigos became infested with a nest of stringles witches (see Chapter 12: Infernal Landscape). These tainted crowwomen plagued the Cyclades, including Delos. When it was discovered that a renegade Flambeau magus was hiding in their midst, aiding their depravities, the People's Assembly of the Tribunal called for action. The hoplite Quaesitor Laskaris battled his way onto the island, whereupon he encountered a native drakos (see Chapter 10: Faerie Landscape), Varazes; he hastily negotiated an alliance with the faerie giant against their common enemy. Laskaris engaged the renegade in a magic duel and managed to protect Varazes so that the giant was able to bludgeon the Flambeau to death. After having killed or evicted the witches and cleansed the site, he decided to found a covenant on the spot, which he named after the island. Resolving that the Tribunal must respond more forcefully and swiftly against such enemies in the future, Laskaris pledged his covenant to this purpose.

Since then, the magi of Polyaigos have notched up several successes against various enemies of the Tribunal, earning the respect and trust of most — but not all — of the Theban magi. In the course of gradually building up their own strength, which is by now considerable, they have made a point of collaborating with nearby covenants instead of antagonizing them.

Polyaigos is a small island on the western edge of the Cyclades, four miles by three miles across. It is rocky and mostly barren, with two thousand-foot-high peaks. The higher peak is the focal point of the covenant, atop which the magi have constructed

a watchtower that also serves as the council chamber and library. Further downslope, eight dragonhouses (drakos-houses) are equidistant from the peak, arranged in an octagonal shape. One is directly north from the peak; its neighbor is northeast from the peak, and so on. The dragonhouses are crude-looking but very solid structures, squat and conical, made out of large boulders and slates. The covenant's founder, Laskaris, sought out the aid of an expert in Hermetic Architecture (see The Mysteries Revised Edition, page 97), both in determining the best arrangement of the buildings and to instantiate a Magic aura to replace the Infernal one. Most of the labor was undertaken by the giant Varazes, who heaved the boulders for the houses from all over the island. Each dragonhouse has two floors, consisting of the living quarters and laboratory of its resident. Over the years, the Magic aura surrounding the peak and the sancta has strengthened to 4.

The lower peak, Stroggylo, is topped with a larger dragonhouse that houses the covenant's patron, Varazes. It has a Faerie aura of 2. Dotted around the isle are the remains of other such houses; some are by now reduced to merely a few clumps of great boulders. In the center of the island, in a flat and greenish spot, is a small village of stone buildings that is the home of the covenfolk. At the center of the village is a square bell tower, surrounded by four pavilions which are used for military practice and communal teaching. The pavilions are surrounded by barracks, kitchens, stables, and other workshops and lodgings.

Apart from the covenant and its patron, there are no other settlements on the island — it is a rocky wilderness overrun by wild goats (the name Polyaigos means "many goats"). Three miles to the west lies the significantly larger and greener inhabited island of Melos, where the covenant sources many of its basic goods.

Polyaigos' Patron: Varazes

Polyaigos is unusual in that it has a Faerie patron, yet the covenant itself is strongly associated with Magic. Indeed, it has a Magic aura, with few, if any, of its magi showing a deep interest in the fay. Varazes is a huge drakos — a faerie giant possessed of immense bravery and strength — who considers himself the island's protector. While he is a formidable ally, his stupidity and clumsiness sometimes make him a bit of a liability to the covenant, which he visits when bored and lonely. He tends to become hopelessly infatuated with any attractive female visitors, which is always an awkward situation requiring some delicate diplomacy to resolve peacefully. The magi some time ago promised to find Varazes a suitable wife, but seem to have thus far made little progress towards this goal. If offended, he may take the form of a huge serpent, although his blocky human-like head doesn't change shape.

Magi of Polyaigos, several of whom are hoplites, are often called upon when a battle is expected. The covenant is thus run with military precision and discipline; its leader, elected from the council of magi, assumes the role and title of general. The covenant is wellknown for the two large schools that it operates. One of these is a military school where grogs are constantly drilled; its reputation is such that several other covenants send their soldiers and captains here for training. The other school teaches classical Greek, Latin, philosophy, and the liberal arts. Its principal function is to educate Gifted children who are waiting to be assigned a master in the Tribunal's apprentice auction. Many such apprentices-in-waiting are sent to Polyaigos; during the seven-year period between Tribunals, the dormitory set aside for Gifted children gradually fills up, housing up to a dozen such children and adolescents. A small number of un-Gifted persons are also schooled here; They are destined to serve this or another covenant as autocrats, stewards, or scribes. The covenant only receives a small stipend of vis from the Tribunal for these services.

Maintaining these famed schools, in addition to the sancta of the magi, is an expensive business, which has required the covenant to invest heavily in its sources of income; These are predominantly mining and quarrying. Just over a mile to the northwest of Polyaigos is the island of Argentiera, so named on account of its prized silver-colored stone. The covenant has established a quarrying monopoly there. It has also secretly reopened the ancient gold and silver mines on the island of Sifnos, a little further to the north.

Relations with the outside world are currently in a state of flux. Since the Fourth Crusade, the Cyclades have nominally fallen under the dominion of the Venetian duke of Naxos. He has heard rumors of the wealth of the school of Polyaigos and is envious.

Given the predetermined number of sancta, the membership of the covenant tends to stay at eight. Houses Flambeau and Guernicus each have more than one magus here, and Polyaigos unsurprisingly tends to attract magi with a predilection for either fighting or teaching.

Age: 94 (Apparent Age: 58)

Personality Traits: Warlike +2, Stubborn +2, Pedantic +1

Maria is a sturdy-looking grey-haired woman who tends to wear a soldier's garb in the ancient Greek style. She is the filia of the covenant's founder, Laskaris, and is named after him. She is an experienced hoplite with a reputation for ruthless efficiency, and is the current polemarch of the Tribunal, having been elected in 1207 and 1214. A master of Rego and Terram magics, one of her trademark attacks is to rain a mighty hail of stones down on her enemies. Her familiar, Hadrianus, is a fearsome wild goat native to the island, which is adept at negotiating its way through its stony terrain. Woe betide any ill-prepared trespassers on Polyaigos, for Hadrianus makes a habit of patrolling his domain vigorously, violently headbutting any suspect arrivals down the steep rocky shores back into the sea.

Gerasimos the Simple of House Flambeau

Age: 54 (Apparent Age: 44)

Personality Traits: Dim-witted +3, Courageous +3, Pious +2

Having the blood of the drakoi in his veins, Gerasimos is characteristically huge, strong, and brave. Furthermore, he is reckoned to be the actual grandson of the giant Varazes, and has inherited his mythic strength. Unfortunately, he has also inherited the woeful stupidity of the drakoi; one would be hard-pressed to find even a grog at Polyaigos less intelligent. Compared to most magi, he is a lackwit, and he drove his longsuffering and patient master to tears. Gerasimos has had to dispense with most book learning, and subtle Arts such as Mentem and Vim are almost completely beyond him, but he compensates for his profound handi-

cap with the raw power and simplicity of his primal earth and fire magics. Like many of his House, he is honestly pious. Despite his legendary stupidity, Gerasimos has proven his worth to the Tribunal, successfully participating in more than one Wizard's March.

Age: 49 (Apparent Age: 41) Personality Traits: Organized +3, Shrewd +2, Effeminate +1

Purchased as a castrated slave, Ioannes was educated and originally destined to serve, like many eunuchs, in the imperial court. Until, that is, he was discovered by a Jerbiton maga from Moero's Garden. She wished to adopt him herself, but he was instead claimed at Tribunal by a Bonisagus magus from the lineage of Trianoma, who immediately recognized his exceptional intellect. Since becoming a magus, Ioannes has already served twice on the Council of Magistrates and has proven himself to be a brilliant administrator, both on the Council and at his covenant, so much so that on the occasion of his second term, he was elected as archon — a rare honor for a relatively young magus. He is lanky and blond-haired, wearing simple white robes.

Age: 53 (Apparent Age: 53)

Personality Traits: Opulent +2, Elegant +2, Vain +1

Caterina, a Venetian maga apprenticed in the Roman Tribunal, has recently arrived in the Theban Tribunal — a marked contrast to many in her House who have migrated in the opposite direction. Her apparent link to Venice, which was largely responsible for the Fourth Crusade attack on Constantinople, causes other Jerbiton magi here to regard her with considerable mistrust. At Polyaigos, Caterina has been assigned the job of overseeing and expanding the covenant's mining and trade enterprises, for which she has a typical Venetian talent. Also, she has met with the Duke of Naxos under her guise of a wealthy noblewoman, and has begun laying the groundwork for a discreet arrangement. Until recently she had resisted taking a Longevity Ritual, like many in her House, but her fading vigor has forced her to accept the need for one. She is hoping that the Tribunal may sponsor her; to that end, she is busy trying to build up a positive reputation and gather tokens.

Polyaigos has a large number of covenfolk, and a formidable turb that is exceptionally well trained and outfitted, and renowned for their strength and fitness. Three or four of the soldiers are huge, undoubtedly also having drakos blood. A crew also serves aboard the covenant's warship, which is stationed at the island's small harbor. Given the martial and scholarly bent of the covenant and its servants, the covenfolk are predominantly male. Several have wives and families on Melos.