Editing AMG-Covenant (section)

=== 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.