AMG-Covenant

Basic Stats

Covenant Name: Le Covenant de l'Arbre de Fer [The Covenant of the Iron Tree]
Tribunal: Provencal
Year Founded: 1220 Current Year: 1220
Aura Type: Magic Aura Level: 5
Living Conditions modifier (Magi): +3 Living Conditions modifier (Mundanes): +2
Season: Spring
Aegis of the Hearth: None
Reputations: None

Description

Short

East end of the France-Spain border, small town Prades, smaller village of Codalet. SW trail out of Codalet, for an hour, takes you to new magical tree, and new fork going up into the mountains and a Faerie Regio. Covenant proper (magi) probably going on the Faerie path, away from pilgrims.

Abbey of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa an hour south of Prades.

'Nearby' cities: between Toulouse (~80 miles), Carcassone (~40 miles), and Narbonne (~50 miles) to the north, Barcelona (~80 miles) to the south, Perpignan (~30 miles) on the eastern coast, Andorra (~40 miles) to the west. Distances by map ruler, not footpath measurement; given local terrain, maybe 10 miles/day to a city?

Map

Long

On the far southern (modern day) border of France and Spain, just past the small town of Prades, is the community of Codalet, a small village with only a handful of roads, some farmhouses and a little church. Around 1200, this area was the western end of a small territory controlled by the Counts of Barcelona, and historically was an element of the area today recognized as Catalonia/Catalan. For a very long time, this region was controlled by the Moors, though as far into the wilds of the Pyrenees as Codalet is, the influence of Moorish/Muslim was not very strong. (Seclusion)

The surroundings are idyllic, with forest of varying density clustered around rocky mountain ridges, beautiful mirror lakes of cold water, and many streams and rivers. The Tet River runs right alongside the small village and a roadway for trade follows the river back up through the pass in the mountains to the southwest. This far from the cluster of town life, amidst pure air and fresh spring water, people live longer and healthier lives. (Healthy Surroundings x2, +2 Living Conditions modifier)

Near the town, about an hour to the south, is a Benedictine Abbey known as Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, founded around 840 CE. This abbey is modestly famous: a Pope once studied here, amongst other things. In 1130, a school for sculptors in the Romanesque style was founded here, its graduates working all over Catalonia. (Monastery) In 978 the Doge of Venice, Pietro I Orseolo, retired to Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa to live a life of asceticism. After some years as a monk, he lived as a hermit in the surrounding forest until his death in 987. The Bishop of Elne beautified him in 1027. He will not be canonized by the Pope as St. Peter Urseolus, nor his cultus ratified, until 1731. However he has been locally venerated as a saint for almost a hundred years by 1220, and people have witnessed miracles after invoking his intercession. His body is buried in the church in Prades.

The local area thus sees a fair few pilgrims. Some of them are visiting the Abbey, or the grave of the saint. Others are taking a small step on a much larger journey: The Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St James. Thanks to several recent Papal publications, the Santiago de Compostela is currently in the height of its popularity as a pilgrimage destination. While this small road up in the mountains does not see anywhere near the thousands of pilgrims a year that one might see on one of the main routes, it still gets a few. (Pilgrimage Route)

If one takes the southwestern road leading into the mountains, that such pilgrims might take, and follows it for about an hour out of Codalet, they will come upon a strange sight. A hundred-year old oak with leaves shining like gold and acorns that glitter in the sun like the midsummer reflections on a pond, growing right through a fork in the road with one branch leading up to the remotest part of the mountains. If one asked around in the village in 1220, they would learn that neither tree nor fork were there a year before. The path heading up the mountains leads to a Faerie Regio. Nothing has emerged from it yet, but it might be only a matter of time. (Fairie Regio) The area around the tree boasts a strong magic aura. (Aura x2) The area around and inside the Regio might hold a wealth of other treasures. (Hidden Resources)

The Provencal Tribunal - following the lead of Vestali of the Cotes-du-vent Covenant near Perpignan, some thirty-five miles to the east - has determined to set up a new covenant to monitor the situation. The Tribunal, which is noted for being fair and welcoming to new Covenants (Felicitous Tribunal) has agreed to support the Covenant for the first few years of its existence (Temporary Resource). Some covenants, particularly Cotes-du-Vent, expect some return on this investment (Favors), but for the most part the young magi have been left largely in control of their own destinies, with only the strict command not to provoke the ire of whatever might dwell within the nearby Regio, unless it can be constrained to the will of the Order.

Summary of Hooks and Boons

Boons: Aura (minor)x2, Difficult Access (minor), Felicitous Tribunal (minor), Healthy Environment (minor)x2, Hidden Resources (minor), Seclusion (minor)
Free Choices: Peasants, Democracy (magi), Autocracy (covenfolk)
Hooks: Faerie Regio (major+minor), Dwindling/Temporary Resource (minor), Favors (minor), Monastery (minor), Pilgrimage Route (minor)

Resources

Land and Buildings

The Covenant possesses deed over nine acres of land encompassing the section of road housing the ancient oak. This plot of land is heavily weighted to the south side of the roadway, away from the river.

The Covenant holds a farmhouse converted to an inn with 7 large private rooms (not suites), fifteen private single rooms and a common room that can house two dozen. This lies outside the Covenant's proper holdings along the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route, and is not within either the Faerie regio or the Magic aura around the Covenant.

Magic Items and other possessions of note

The covenant owns no magic items, nor any other possessions of great note.

Vis Sources

The Golden Tree: this seemingly hundred year old oak at the heart of the covenant produces 6 golden acorns a year, each of which contains a pawn of Creo vis. If one is instead planted and tended to for at least a year, the resulting sapling can be harvested for 1 pawn of Herbam vis. (6/year, Cr or He.)

Aqua tends to find Vis in weird places, being a Faerie and all. Leon has convinced her to share some of it with the covenant in exchange for access to his sanctum. (2/year, Aq.)

Undiscovered Rego Source (3 pawns/year)

Undiscovered Corpus Source (3 pawns/year)

Library

Lab Texts

Aegis of the Hearth ReVi 25

Lord of the Trees, ReHe 25

Gather the Essence of Magic, ReVi 25 R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Part This spell concentrates the raw vis found in any item into a small part of it, like a more general version of Gather the Essence of the Beast. Casting requisites of the appropriate Form for the vis container are required. (I am assuming the casting requisites allow for a more general spell) (Base 10, +1 Touch, +1 Part, +1 Size)

Crystal Binding, ReTe 10 R: Touch D: Mom, T: Ind Requisites:Vim, The relevant art. This spell permanently attunes a clear crystaline object(Quartz, Diamonds, Very high quality glass, ect) to a specific art, changing the color of the crystal to that art(as per "Sense the nature of vis"), and enabling it to be used as a reusable vis container for at least a single pawn of that art. This spell requires a pawn of vis in the relevant art to be consumed upon casting.

Most of Faith Redeye's library will be available for borrowing.

Magic Books

Rego, Level 20, Quality 10

Mundane Books

Faerie Lore. Level 5. Quality 10

Stocks

Money: 26 pounds

Vis: 5 pawns Intellego, 5 pawns Rego, 2 pawns Ignem, 3 pawns Terram, 5 pawns Vim.

Inhabitants

5 Magi: Faith, Leon, Gerulf, Varius, Symeon (25 points)
3 Companions: Brienne, Marie (6 points) (Adalyde, Esteve and Eulàlia are not members of the covenant)
4 Specialists: Bob, Guillem, Felise, Flore (8 points)
6 Grogs: Arnau, Bjorn, Matthew, Mario, Obano, Rachel (6 points)
3 Dependants: Audrey, Carolina, Jori (3 points)
10 Servants
6 Teamsters (At least one of these is 'effectively' the surcharge Eulàlia charges for her merchandise, but counts as an inhabitant for cost purposes)

Total: 64 points of inhabitants (from ~35 people)

Loyalty

Base Loyalty Points (due to the Gift): -18
Familiarity: 0
Living Conditions Modifier: +20
Wages Modifier: 0
Equipment Modifier: 0
Specialists: Brienne:turb captain +3; Flore:steward +6 and chamberlain +8

Current Loyalty Points: +19
Prevailing Loyalty Score: +2

Potential Trouble

Rachel is a Jew. Our arranging sponsor, Abu Yusuf, is a Muslim. Varius is weakly atheist or at least non-worshipping. Eulàlia is Catholic but dislikes the Church. Leon is faerie-raised and irreligious. Bjorn is a Norse pagan and desecrated a church. Leon, Faith, and Caro look weird. Faith, Varius, and Gerulf are normally Gifted. The custodes running the covenant, Brienne (military) and Flore (admin), are women. In a sense, Faith was raised to undo the Fall, which is extremely heretical, but that's unlikely to get out, and not her fault unless she continues...

Finances

Income

Charity: Support from the Provencal Tribunal. 100 pounds/year

Expenditure

Category of Expenditure	Amount	Cost Saving Limit	Cost Saving	Total
Buildings	0	(50% per craft)	0	0
Consumables	13	(2 per craft)	0	13
Inflation	0			0
Laboratories	0	(20% per craft)		0
Provisions	32	(16 by Laborers + 6 per craft)	0	32
Wages	13			13
Weapons and Armor	1	(0.5 per craft)	0	1
Writing Materials	7	(3 per craft)	0	7
Sundry	0			0
Total	66		0	66

Sundry Expenses so far: None