House Bjornaer
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This is how mages from each of the other Houses of the Order see the House Bjornaer. It represents what any apprentice learning basic Order of Hermes Lore in Stonehenge, Rhine and Normandy tribunals would pick up and therefore is therefore sketchy, particularly for houses concentrated in far away tribunals.
Domus Magna - Crintera in Rhine Tribunal (Baltic Coast)
Primus - Falke
Symbol - Cone
Favoured Tribunals - Novgorod, Loch Leglean, Rhine
House Bjornaer is a Mystery Cult, although it is suspected by outsiders that within the House are a number of subsidiary esoteric cults.
Magi of Bjornaer concern themselves primarily with beasts and the animalistic side of human nature. Because of this emphasis in their training, each Bjornaer magus can take the form of an animal, known as his "heart-beast." Understanding the heart-beast in particular and animals in general is considered more important than Hermetic magic by many in this house. Due to their nature, Bjornaer magi are unable to create the necessary links to have a familiar, and the very concept is alien to them. Some Bjornaer deride magi who take familiars, which they call "substitute" heart-beasts. On the other hand, other magi are wary of followers of Bjornaer because of their perceived fascination with the bestial. Furthermore, House Bjornaer is less respected than it might otherwise be because its founder was from a Germanic rather than a Roman magical tradition.
Crintera, the Domus Magna
It is located on the Island of Rugen in the Baltic, where the covenant occupies a wooded peninsular on the eastern coast.
Recent History
In 1168 the Island was invaded by the King of Denmark, Valdemar I in conjunction with Bishop Absolon of Roskilde. Their stated aim was to destroy the pagan temple at Arkona, on the northern tip of the island. The final destruction of this took place in 1169. Since then, Christians have settled across most of the island, including the construction of a Cistercian monastery near the centre, and there has been a gradual encroachment of the Dominion on the covenant.
No Crintera representative attended the Tribunal of 1172 but the then Primus Urgen attended in 1179. He made strong representations for support from the Rhine Tribunal but received none. He did accuse the recently formed Oculus Septentrionalis covenant of being behind the invasion. Eventually, he killed Prudentum the leader of that covenant in a wizard war. As has been documented at every Tribunal meeting ever since, the whole matter has raised considerable anger within some sections of Crintera. The covenant has tried to invoke the "Guardians of the Forest" clause of the Rhine tribunal. However, Caecilius the Quaesitor pointed out that no wilderness had been lost, at least to date: the Christianisation of Rugen has not advanced as quickly as had been feared and no forest or magical resource has been lost. This is doubtless at least partly because of the actions of some members of Crintera.