1227, Winter

Spring, 1227 – Pisciculus ex Criamon

I had spent the start of the season reading the covenant’s book on Parma Magica. It’s an important protective ritual that allows Hermetic Magi to stand apart from other gifted individuals. Until now, I hadn’t had much time, nor reason, to study it in depth, but some of the nasty things that we’d encountered had encouraged me to take the effort to learn it.

When my sodalis arrive back from their expedition to Skene, they told of their encounter with the strange spider creature. What they spoke about seemed very similar to the Dreamer that the giant Hamish had spoken about. They had fled south in order to avoid it. If its interests were coming this way, then the more we know about it the better.

We have also heard rumours about people suffering from a sickness that gives bad dreams. 

Parma Magica -> 3/37

Summer, 1227 – Pisciculus

Some of us head over to talk to Hamish at the beginning of summer. We find him hammering at his forge, bringing him cheese and beer. He seems somewhat grumpy to talk to us, but he’s willing to sit down and listen to Maedbh’s story about what happened about Skene.

He pretends to not be interested, but his eyes light up when the magic sword and armour is mentioned. We ask him for information about the Dreamer, and he asks us what we’re willing to pay for knowledge.

Maedbh offers to show him the armour and sword, and he agrees to take a look and then settle a price. Maedbh takes it out of the bag, and he complains that it isn’t very practical. He mentions that it’s still part of the fey who wore it. It still has a story to tell, so leaving it around could just mean that it finds another way to continue it.

If someone were to take up the sword and armour, they would very likely become part of the story.

Overall, he doesn’t find it that interesting after all. When Maedbh takes out her other sword though, he takes a step back and refuses to touch it. Instead, he gets out a small hammer and starts tapping at it. He mutters about being able to study it for ages.

Hamish says that it was one blade of a King, which was used for ceremonial purposes. However, the king’s son stole the blade and in the end it was used to slay the king. This is the sort of thing that could happen again. The blade itself though is one that will enforce judgement, and the writings of wrong. He recommends treating it with a great deal of caution. Its name is Clarent.

On getting him back on topic about the Dreamer, he asks how much we know about the history of our own Order. Damhan-Allaidh was known as the Spider. He remembers the battles at the start of the ninth century, when the forces of Damhan-Allaidh fought against the Order.

Some seventy years later, many of our covenants were destroyed by supernatural forces. Pralix eventually had to call for aid from the rest of the Order. Eventually the Flambeau got too enthusiastic, and had to be kicked back out of Loch Leglean.

Damhan-Allaidh’s body was never recovered after any of his defeats. Apparently he is very hard to kill, unless one knows his secrets. Possibly this being is the spider, and is now awakened again. He decides that the information is an even trade and he doesn’t feel a need to ask for something in return.

On the way back, we remember that the standing stones at our covenant are arranged as eight laying down and pointing outwards, and eight smaller upright ones in a cluster at one end. Legs and eyes?

We inform the head of our covenant, Alexandria, of this information. She isn’t too surprised, since the covenant was the refuge of Gruagach at some point, and they sided with Damhan-Allaidh at one point.

The rest of summer is spent continuing to study the book on Parma Magica.

Autumn, 1227

I spend the season studying Veil of Invisibility. By the end of the season I can make myself invisible, though my shadow is still present.

Winter, 1227

I spend the season curled up in my lab with the covenant’s book on Muto.

Rumours

• The raids on villages by supernatural denizens of the moving wood of Aberdeenshire have ceased. Locals tell of a mysterious noblewoman and her entourage who defeated the twisted redcaps and felled their leader, the unicorn riding shining knight. The woods themselves remain, but have not moved far since last year. A few cattle and other animals have however gone missing, and locals report hearing strange ‘scuttling’ sounds at night.
• Tadc Mac an Filidh, an itinerant Irish preacher, has been arrested for spreading sedition and “unlicensed soothsaying” in the borders region. While no-one is entirely sure that the latter is actually a crime, locals suggest that as Tadc was actively preaching that Lord Goulis was an evil man who would bring all to ruin, there is little chance that he will not be convicted. Tadc is being held in a manor outside Jedburgh until Lord Goulis’ duties allow him the time to personally oversee the trial. Suggestions that Tadc is not subject to secular law have been rebuffed – a delegation of local preachers were whipped naked around Jedburgh by the Lord’s men when they attempted to intervene.
• There are rumblings of discontent in Moray. Gillespoc M’Scolane a charismatic local chieftain has spoken against taxation levied by King Alexander II and has threatened his neighbours with violence should they cooperate with the King’s tax-collectors. Informal soundings of the local population indicate broad support for the Chieftain’s stance.
• Troubling news from over the waters, where the departure of the Sixth Crusade for the Holy Land has been disrupted by plague. The suspicion of deviltry is so high that the new Pope Gregory IX has excommunicated the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, the leader of the crusade. Frederick however still intends to depart for the Holy Land in summer. Those wishing to reclaim Jerusalem from the infidel are urged to make haste to Brindisi as there is a need for new healthy volunteers.
• Iron production from Glen Docherty has dropped sharply after the disappearance of a number of workers over the last few months. A small number of villagers have also disappeared. In all cases the victim was alone at the time of their disappearance. The locals now say that to sleep alone is a death sentence, and refuse to do anything that would require them to spend a night without the company of others.
• A holy man has cleansed the lands near Inverkip of the dreadful manifestations of undead spirits that had driven away much of the population. After a full season of praying, chanting and strange foreign religious rituals, locals say that there is no further sign of the Sluagh. People are beginning to return to their homes and referring to the holy man as a Saint. The Abbot of Paisley Abbey has no comment on the matter.