Alpha Storyguide: Chris Blake
Mildryth the Redcap arrived at Corona Montis, bearing two letters for its magi.
The first letter was from John, basically informing the magi and Richard that John had arranged for Clothilde to enter her apprenticeship with Mildryth if Mildryth thought that she was capable enough and ready for such training. After evaluating the young Austhwaite, Mildryth was very impressed with how prepared she was and was eager to take her as her as an apprentice.
The second letter was from Eglentine of Blackthorn. In this letter, Eglentine asked as to why the magi had not brought him the Eye of Argus, as they had earlier agreed (see the story The Eyes of Argus). He stated that he was still willing to purchase the Eye from them. So the magi set off for Blackthorn to settle matters with Eglentine. Upon their arrival at Blackthorn, Eglentine started questioning them about Phædra and what they did with the Eye. After some discussion they decided to sell what remanded of the Eye to Eglentine for a rook of vis.
That business done with, Eglentine then brought up the matter of Prava's attack on his person. It was decided that if Corona Montis could help them retrieve an item from Lord Pennington in Mulcaster, then the matter of the attack would be forgotten. Pennington had claimed one of Firman of Tremere's magic items as a tax for traveling though Ravenglass. The item in question was a wine bottle that has the power to restore health, or make one forget the events of an evening.
The magi agreed to retrieve the bottle in order to avoid any more trouble with Blackthorn. So a small group set out to sneak into Pennington's keep and steal back Firman's wine bottle. They had little trouble getting into to the keep, and not much more trouble finding the wine bottle. However, on their way out the cook caught them in the act. Though they quickly and quietly knocked the cook out, the cook underwent a strange transformation. He grew much taller, stronger, and now had nasty little horns and claws! He then attacked anyone who held on to the bottle. Nicolaus and Baelthornon were nearly killed by the ferocious beast, as was their grog Kenric. After a pitched battle, the cook lay dead in the road.
The magi decided to keep the bottle for further study before they returned it Firman.
Cast: Prava (Mike), Roland (Ann), Baelthornon and Kenric (Patrick).
Alpha Storyguide: Chris Blake
While taking his friends and family to Carlisle for the spring carnival, Richard and his party happened upon a pregnant peasant woman named Audrey. It seemed that this poor lady was trying to drive her cow and cart while trying to handle two other young kids. Apparently Audry was on her way to Carlisle the buy her husband Jumel's freedom. He had been in jail for a year for roughing up some of the town guards in a tavern brawl. The Captain of the Guard had imposed the largest possible fine, and it seemed he had engaged in a little extra activity with Audrey for good measure. Lady Gwendolyn was appalled at the captain's actions, though Richard insisted that although what he did was immoral, it was not illegal. However, Richard agreed to have a word with the Captain at Gwendolyn's behest.
When Richard went to speak to Captain Robert about the young lady, he learned that Audry's husband escaped just before they arrived. Captain Robert and two other guards had gone to bring him back.
Meanwhile, Father Brendan stopped by to see the local priest, and was asked if he would mind tending to the church for awhile; Father Nelson had to leave town unexpectedly. This struck Father Brendan as odd - especially at Carnival time - but Brendan was glad to lend a hand. One of Brendan's duties was to take care of Audry and her young ones while they waited for her husband to be returned. Another oddity was that the boy Randal complained about hearing strange noises at night. No one thought much of this until some of the grogs also complained of weird noises around the farm were they where camping. On the third night in Carlisle the noises returned, so the grogs sought their origin. What they found was that the farmer who was allowing them to camp on his land seemed to have some creature locked in a cave under his barn. When the magi confronted the farmer about this creature he confessed that it was actually a friend of his, a werewolf. He told them how he locked up the man every full moon, in hopes of keeping him from doing any or receiving any harm. The most shocking new was that the lycanthrope was in actuality Father Nelson. The magi had likewise learned through arcane connections to Jumel that his body lay deep underground beneath a tree where there was no turned earththe caves seemed a likely explanation. Rodney the grog had also disappeared after getting drunk; clearly, something was amiss in Carlisle.
The next day the magi went to talk to Father Nelson to learn how he befell his fate, suspecting his involvement in the troubles, yet the good father knew not how he became a werewolf. He simply worried that he might escape his prison through some other caves he has discovered and cause grievous harm. Investigating these other caves, the magi discovered a small aperture leading to some other caverns that Father Nelson had apparently been trying to dig his way into in wolf form, as evinced by many claw marks on the walls. The smell of blood coming from these new caves was very strong.
With the help of Perdo Terram magics the magi forced their way into these new caves, and soon discovered the source of the smell. They interrupted a very decrepit old man in the process of performing a gruesome ritual. The old man claimed to be Captain Robert who was performing a ritual of renewal to regain his youth. He related that some two hundred years ago he was cursed with immortality by a faerie, but his body still showed the ravages of time. The renewal ritual he had learned from a local witch some 150 years ago. It required the blood of one man, the heart of another, and the skin of a newborn baby. The blood gave him his wisdom and purity, the heart gave him courage and strength, while the skin gave him his youthful looks. He had slain Jumel to use his blood for the noble deed he did in defending the honor of a barmaid from some drunken soldiers. Audry was found dead as well: her baby (and vilely, Robert's own child) was a perfect choice for the newborn, but Audry did not survive the birth. Rodney was lucky that the magi arrived when they did, for he was about to be sacrificed for his heart. After some debate the magi decided that Captain Robert's wish that he be killed be granted. Robert laughed bitterly, for every attempt he had made to kill himself had failed. Roland used vis to cast a mighty Perdo Vim spell upon the despicable Robert; while the magi were doubtful he could spontaneously cast a spell to defeat such a powerful faerie curse, it was hoped the magic could be dispelled long enough to fell him. Sir Christopher stepped forth, drew his sword, and deftly cut off Robert's head. Apparently successful, the magi thew his body, and the statue that was to be used in the ritual, into a nearby pit.
The magi then sealed up the caves, and asked Father Nelson to take care of the kids that Audry and Jumel left behind. He agreed to do his best to find them a home together.
Cast: Baelthornon and Christopher (Patrick), Roland (Ann), Prava (Mike).
Beta Storyguide: Mike Daumen
Spoiler Note: This story uses several persons and locations described in the Ars Magica sourcebook Ultima Thule.
As winter settled on the covenant, the garrison received two strangers asking to speak with the Austhwaites' guests. Confronted by the magi, they revealed they were from Odin's Rood, traveling at the behest of Volstagg. For some unknown reason, the Red Bull had asked them to journey to him for some favor. Intrigued, Baelthornon, Celer, Roland and Prava set forth with a small party of grogs.
The trek was uneventful, save for the first view of the covenant's mighty ash tree, from whence its name derives. Within the covenant proper, they first spoke to the Criamon Venor Celata, who explained that Volstagg was in mourning for Ingabritt, his recently deceased daughter. The party then found Volstagg and expressed their sympathies. At this point the Red Bull revealed that his reason for summoning the magi was to beseech them to return his daughter's body to her husband's lands in Norway. Naturally, the party was curious and Volstagg answered most questions directly. Ingabritt and her groom Thorvald had been married five years' hence, but after a falling out between fathers, Volstagg left for England. Torn between love for her father and obligation to her new family, she chose to honor the former and lived a sullen life at Odin's Rood. Volstagg admitted he feared going to Norway because of accusations about the Order of Odin leveled at him by Phitelet of Blackthorn. He hoped that if Corona Montis undertook the journey they could quiet those rumors.
With instructions to seek out Hogni, a rune magician at the court of Jarl Togsvig near Stavanger, the party made the treacherous passage across the North Sea. Arriving at the steading, they were received cautiously, but once they explained they came on behalf of Volstagg they were welcomed, more out of duty than compassion. Their welcome was improved by Roland's retelling of several tales, and in return the skald sang of what happened at Ingabritt's wedding. At the feast, Volstagg began trading good-natured boasts with her father-in-law, until Jarl Ogmund challenged him to eat as much as he could from the steading's stores. Volstagg had responded by cleaning out every jar and basket. When the party announced their intention to reunite Ingabritt and Thorvald, they were told the rest of the story. After dishonoring Volstagg, Jarl Ogmund was cursed: his crops failed, his treasury dwindled, and finally two giants had come down from the mountains and prevented travelers from reaching his lands. Thus he had not been heard from for over a year. Undaunted, the party was allowed to sail one of Togsvig's boats, accompanied by the bear-shirt warrior Vandrard. While Hogni drew up a rune script to protect the boat from the giants, the party discovered that Vandrard was fated to die at the hands of a giant, much to everyone's consternation.
Undaunted, the party set off, and as the boat inched along the shore, a mighty storm descended upon them. As they rounded the promontory where the giants were said to live, several sentinels saw what looked like torches being carried in sequence along the cliffs. But as the wind died down, those with the keenest eyes saw they were the ghostly eyes of two giants, wading out to meet the boat. As they closed, ice forming and cracking where their mighty legs plunged into the sea, the party prepared for battle. Although one giant was gravely wounded by arrow fire, both reached the boat and sent several sailors over the side. When it seemed like the pair was unstoppable, Vandrard, who had held back in fear, suddenly removed the rune script from the mast, wrapped it over his arm and leapt at one of the giants. As both disappeared beneath the waves, the second giant, no longer prevented from attacking the boat, crushed the hull with his mighty arms. Singularly occupied, the giant at last succumbed to the rest of the party.
But the boat was sinking fast. Unable to retrieve Ingabritt's coffin, or even the smallest of personal possessions, the party was able to reach the shore. Vandrard and both giants - save for one massive arm - could not be found. Still, the party was almost to Ogmund's lands, and they were able to limp to his steading, a dilapidated, empty hall. Nothing stirred within until the party started a fire and settled to rest. Then the Jarl, aged and nearly mad, entered the great room and confronted them. After hearing the story of their journey he looked contemplative, finally stating that his son had died in the last year at the giants' hands, his body going overboard in the sea about where Togsvig's ship has gone down.
The bedraggled Ogmund seemed pleased that the curse could be finally lifted, and he pledged that he would make amends with Volstagg. However, the party was more interested in the location of the giants' lair, where he stated much of his treasure was now kept. He then led the party to the headland, traversing an ice floe that had begun to melt with the giants' deaths. At the giants' lair the party realized the extent of the Jarl's dementia, as he rejoiced over recovering a flea-bitten pelt and other trinkets. However, the party did find a magical helmet, used as a wine cup, which Ogmund cared nothing about and gave to the magi. Later, the party freed an immense calf, called an 'auroch' by Ogmund, from the giants' pens. The party eased him to the boat and after leaving the crazed Jarl to his solitude returned to Togsvig's steading and England.
Cast: Baelthornon (Patrick), Roland (Ann), Richard and Celer (Chris).
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