Alpha Storyguide: Chris Blake
With the thaw of spring, Sir Christopher took the young Milo and Nicholas into Ravenglass to buy some supplies. Upon hearing that a warship had put into port, the boys cajoled Sir Christopher into taking them to see it. The lads were impressed by the ship's immense size, while Christopher was more alarmed by the ships name: Dayal's Folly. Remembering the rogue magus Dayal and his apprentice Adwen (Sir Aeddan's misguided sister) he quickly collected the children and rode for home.
Christopher told the magi what he had seen, and the magi set out to see if it was indeed Baelthornon's sister. Roland approached the ship and asked for a conference with the ship's captain. The ship's mate intimated that the captain was up at the castle procuring supplies, and that he would be back tomorrow. The magi not believe a word of what the mate told them, so they set up an ambush from a nearby warehouse.
Meanwhile, back at the manor house, "Sir Aeddan" returned soon after nightfall. He told the sentry that he has come back to get some supplies. Aeddan then ran into Andrea out side of the labs and asked her to help him gather the supplies. She agreed and in return was rewarded by being allowed to return with Aeddan to Ravenglass. On the road, they were joined by two strange men, and when Andrea inquired about them she was attacked. Andrea fled back to the manor house, and told everybody still there what had happened. Celer then flew down to Ravenglass and told the real Aeddan and Roland of the night's events.
Shortly after Celer's arrival, and just before dawn, three men were spotted approaching the ship. Christopher, Aeddan and Roland moved to block the ship's gangplank, intending to make certain that the men approaching were the men that the group wanted to question. A lengthy battle ensued, ending with most of the sailors on the ship dead or badly wounded, two enemy magi missing, and "Aeddan" — Adwen in disguise — in custody. The battle also gained the attention of the Pennington garrison. Christopher told the guards that they were pirates that had attacked a ship he was on a few years earlier, and turned over all the pirates and their ship to Pennington. While he had the guards' attention, Baelthornon and the others snuck away with the unconscious Adwen.
Adwen was turned over to the Quaesitoris, but despite the harm she had caused his family, Aeddan pleaded for her life. In the end, her life was spared. Instead, she was stripped of all memories that involved Dayal or pirates, and purportedly purged of her hatred for the Willoughbys. Baelthornon was then charged with keeping an eye on her. Baelthornon toyed with the idea of having her join Corona Montis, but given her past transgressions against the covenant and the potential damage she might cause within it if she were to suffer a relapse, the magi decided to pawn her off on nearby Rector Maris covenant.
Alpha Storyguide: Chris Blake
On their way home from a visit to Penrith in the fall of 1230, some of the grogs came upon a knight. He was badly wounded and could barely sit in his saddle. The grogs helped the knight back to the manor, were Richard could see to his recovery. At first the knight was too incoherent to make any sense of, but after a couple of days he recovered enough to tell his story:
"My name is Marcus, and I have been chasing a man named Durant for ten years, ever since Durant slaughtered my whole family, even the dog. Durant is no orderly man…he thrives on the blood of others, and he welds powerful magics. Durant has come to England in search of his dead master's head — it would seem that their type cannot be completely killed unless you burn their remains. At the time Durant's master was beheaded, this fact was not known, and if Durant can reunite the head, heart and body he will revive his master. It was his search for his master's heart that brought him to my family, but I know not the exact details of how he came to my family."
The next day reports of dead livestock started getting back to the manor. Brendan also reported a strange man walking around the graveyard, who had greeted him politely then entered the inn. But when Brendan later went to the inn, the innkeeper had no knowledge of a guest meeting that description, nor could Brendan find the man at the inn. The magi then sat up watching the graveyard for three nights running, but the man did not return.
A week later, Brendan noticed the man was back, so he quickly got the magi. The magi did confront the strange man, and he had a story to tell that involved Marcus:
"Marcus' grandfather, Cervatius of House Tremere was my master, and yes I did kill his family. But it is not like he said…they knew of Cervatius' past, and Marcus sought to follow in his grandfather's footsteps. I went to his home in hopes of finding my master's heart. Marcus captured me and kept me bound and weak, until I told him about a ritual that would make him immortal. While he was preparing for the ritual, I stole his grandfather's heart and fled; unfortunately, I had to kill his family in the process. Marcus seeks me for the hearts that I possess, mine and his grandfather's. I only wish to revive my old master so that he may release me from this curse he has placed upon me. I wish to be absolved of my sins and die in the grace of God."
Brendan and the magi agreed to help Durant revive his master, so that they could then kill Cervatius. Marcus proved to have some kind of Might that the magi had to best before they could get any information out of him, but this led them to Hadrian's Wall, where the magi used Cervatius' heart to locate his head. Once Durant had the head, he flew away, but he did tell the magi where they could find him in London. The magi quickly set out after him, and they had little trouble finding the burned-out church where Durant said he would be. They arrived just as Cervatius was revived, and much to everyone's relief he seemed willing to release Durant. But the undead Tremere claimed he was too weak and needed to first feed before he could do so. At this point, Marcus arrived, beheading Durant before he was himself subdued. At this point, Cervatius tried to get away, and he managed to bite the hapless Sir Bernard before he was beheaded.
During the battle with Cervatius, Marcus was not idle. He cut out and ate Durant's heart, and howled with glee that he was now immortal. His immortality was short-lived, as he was soon beheaded by Sir Christopher. All the bodies and heads were later burned to insure that they could not be revived.
While these foul creatures had happily been disposed of, Sir Bernard was turning into a vampire, and nothing anyone could do would prevent this, short of his death. Therefore, the noble Frenchman asked to be killed, before he became an infernal creature. Sir Richard beheaded him, with the other knights supervising this grim duty. Father Brendan vowed to see his blessed sword returned to his family.
Cast: Brendan (Mike), Roland (Ann), Christopher (Patrick), Marcus, Cervatius and Durant (Chris).
Session Dates: 12/10 and 12/17/00
Gamma Storyguide: Patrick Murphy
With the cold of the winter of 1230 beginning to creep in, a Hermetic visitor made himself known at Austhwaite Manor. Introducing himself as Effrenatus of Carpandus (see House Rules), the awkward young magus produced a letter from Loretta of Jerbiton, self-styled Supreme of the covenant of Rabenstein. Between the letter and Effrenatus' explanation, the magi gathered that their friends from Rabenstein feared that Cynric Ex Miscellanea, a Hoplite of the Order with the reputation of "carnifex" ("executioner"), had suffered some sort of Twilight and was on his way to slay Octavus Lassitor, professed priest of Díedne. Effrenatus turned out to be Prince Aleksandr Misurov ("Sasha"), Cynric's former apprentice.
Journeying to Dresca, Lassitor decided to stay in Boot and await Cynric's arrival. When Cynric arrived, Epileus and Celer moved to confront him, but after a few tense words, it was discovered that Cynric's warpath was a ruse designed both to keep his home covenant unassociated with his actions, and to throw off the suspicions of the Hoplites with which he had recently been keeping company (it seemed his ruse worked all too well, as Loretta had dispatched Sashato stop him). The Ex Miscellanea explained that while hunting down a rogue magus with his companions, he had learned that the wizard professed to know where Díedne had hidden itself all these years. Questioning the dying magus, Cynric learned that they were purportedly secreted beneath Holy Oak, and with some research, he learned that this now-destroyed covenant rested in the Kingdom of Scotland. Knowing from his sodalis Merento that Lassitor was nearby, he sought the Díedne's help in locating the lost House.
Arriving at the site of the old covenant, the magi were confronted by three magi: a Tytalus and two Flambeau of the Cult of Empedocles. The Tytalus intimated that Cynric had been duped into leading Lassitor to Holy Oak, and it seemed he knew that only a Díedne magus would be able to afford entrance. A battle ensued, with a lucky crossbow bolt seemingly felling the Tytalus immediately. The magi of Corona Montis and Rabenstein were victorious, though the wounded Tytalus had somehow vanished.
Investigating, Lassitor alone saw an aperture leading below the now-felled oak from which the covenant had drawn its name. Although the rooms below were empty, the Díedne did discover a torc which afforded him understanding of water and a corridor leading to the shores of a nearby loch. With the aid of the torc, Lassitor saw an opening out in the water, with a stairway leading straight down. Entering the chambers beneath the lake, the magi were perplexed to be queried by young boys, all of whom seemed to look alike. Not long after, the magi of the remnants of Holy Oak arrived, also curiously looking exactly alike. They held council with the newly-arrived magi, and only Lassitor's Díedne lineage avoided conflict. Still, it became clear that they sought to wreak their vengeance upon the Order, and were cool to Celer of Bonisagus' overtures to reconcile them to the Order at large. The magi agreed to send an emissary to Dresca for consultation, but he proved to be as uninterested in diplomacy as the rest. When he left Dresca, both parties were sorely disappointed. At this point, one of the covenant's grogs, who had been wounded and tended to by the magi of Holy Oak, died, apparently poisoned. Barloff of Díedne, Supreme of Dresca, impressed upon the magi of Corona Montis the need to destroy the rogue covenant. Insisting that the good of the Order must come even above Dresca's own interests, he convinced his friends to journey with him to March them before renewed persecution could sweep the Order of Hermes. However, upon their arrival, the army of magi found that Holy Oak had evacuated their outpost for some new hideout.
Cast: Epileus of Bjornaer (Mike), Effrenatus of Carpandus (Ann), Celer of Bonisagus and Lassitor of Díedne (Chris), Cynric of Ex Miscellanea and Sainrith, Rhiannon and Gryffydd of Díedne (Patrick).
This page last modified August 26, 2011 10:55 PM
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