Editing Aquila Saxum:Setting

This is the setting for the [[Aquila Saxum]] saga for the Ars Magica game.

== Mythic Europe ==
Information on Mythic Europe is listed here.

http://www.mythiceurope.com/tribunalmap2.jpg

== Locale ==
Information on local geography is listed here.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Valier.JPG/800px-Valier.JPG

The covenant is located in the French Pyrenees, atop a difficult to reach plateau in the shadow of a mist-shrouded peak.  A robust, ice cold stream, fed by a magical spring, passes down through the covenant.  The stream spills into a ravine, pluming as a beautifully majestic waterfall.  The only way across the chasm and into the covenant is across an ancient rough-hewn stone bridge.

http://www.fossli-hotel.com/Fossli.jpg

== Tribunal == 
Information on the Hermetic Tribunal is listed here.

The Provencal Tribunal is that division of the Order of Hermes which covers Provence, Languedoc, Gascogne, Savoy and the Pyrenees. 

It contains a strong Flambeau presence, being that the Domus Magna of the house, Castra Solis, is located here.

== Commonfolk ==
Information on the local commonfolk is listed here.

The covenant is remote, and there are not many commonfolk to be found in the area.  

The "Mountain Trolls", a gang of mountain bandits, has traditionally used the covenant grounds as a base of operations, thanks to its defensible geography.  They have preyed upon several of the local goat herders, who have always been more wealthy than they could have been expected.

With the arrival of the wizards, the Mountain Trolls have accepted their claim over the territory in exchange for protection from the strange creatures that make the mountainside their home.

The local goat herders have also, grudgingly, accepted the wizard's dominion over their territory, seeing as how the wizards have brought many head of goat from the lowlands, and provide protection not only from the monsters, but also the Mountain Trolls.

Still, the traditional unease between the Mountain Trolls and the goat herders may cause some unrest in the covenant in the future.

== Nobles ==
Information on the local nobility is listed here.

Count Raimond-Roger of the House of Foix is the nominal liege lord of the region.  He is a veteran crusader, a poet and patron of poets, and, though a catholic, he is a defender of the Cathar heresy.  He resides in Foix Castle, and though the covenant lies outside the raiding distance of his knights, he does command vast influence and resources that could be placed to bear should his ire be risen.

Lord Gilbert is a minor landholding noble whose mountainous land grant seems to include the pass that leads up to the covenant.  He commands a handful of men-at-arms, but has no knights sworn to his service.  His wife, the lovely Lady Sabine, is an ambitious young woman who might cause trouble for the covenant should the opportunity arise.

== The Church ==
Information on the local church is listed here.

The Catholic Church believes in humanity's potential to achieve spiritual perfection through the grace of God, and salvation through the sacrifice and teachings of Jesus Christ.  In this, it is absolutely correct.  The Divine God, in this setting, is a purely spiritual being, a God of limitless Love.  The material world is one of suffering, and a limited existence of pain, desire, and fear.  

However, the Church's believe that the world was created by the Divine God is incorrect.  The material world was created by Satan, populated by his demons, and a prison for the divine spirit that exists in mankind.

The Dominion of the Catholic Church is a divine aura, and rises up through the very faith in Heaven and the realm of Spiritual Perfection.  However, belief in Heaven is not enough to escape the prison of the material world, and those who pursue hatred, lust, greed, and the other sins of the flesh and denial of the Perfect Love of God are unwitting servants of Satan.  Still more, the mere worship of "God the Creator" of the Old Testament empowers the Devil.

== The Fae ==
Information on local faeries is listed here.

== The Infernal ==
Information on local demons and diabolists is listed here.

== Others ==
Information on other factions is listed here.