Notable NPCs
The Irish Mission
The Irish Demon
Very little is known of this demon, other than his penchant to claim he is an ancient Irish hero, Cu Chulainn. Astute party members noticed oddities about him, like the fact he left hoofprints instead of footprints, and an unusually warm aura about him. Ultimately, Adria's sensitivity to the Holy and Unholy left little doubt about his origins, and he reacted with shock and surprise when Ritter Sigmund's sword drew an ichor instead of blood. The demon had no way of knowing the blade bore a relic from the Crucifixion of Christ.
He was last seen flying away from Dublin bearing both the "Tear of the Virgin Mary" (the unholy meteorite the townsfolk mistook as a holy sign from Heaven), as well as Aed, the glassblower's apprentice whose Guardian Angel made him aware of the demon's and the meteorite's true nature.
Storm
Storm was encountered near the peak of Mount Snaefell, on the Isle of Man. She considered herself the rightful ruler of the mountain and offered her hospitality the Irish expedition. She appeared as an eight-foot tall gull who inhabited a series of caves, a mix of worked and naturally formed. Forest animals of all types seemed to respond to her instantly, as if she were their queen.
One interesting find was a nearly full set of dragon bones in one of the caves she didn't use. She invited the party members to take what they wanted; a few took a tooth from the massive frame. She has invited the characters to return and claim the whole thing if they wanted. A few questions indicated that she had been inhabiting the caves since before the Norse came to claim the islands, and that the dragon was already dead and bones before she got there. Adria found a single partially melted gold coin bearing the face and name of 'NERO' on it.
Storm has an open invitation for any party member to return and visit her.
The Hospital's Due
The covenant members met the following people in Poole, Wales while looking for a missing Redcap. (The modern name is Welshpool, renamed in 1835.)
Prior Constable Hermann of Cologne
The senior brother at the Hospitaller Prior in Poole, Hermann handles the logistical, management, and militant members of the prior. Originally from Germany, he has spent many years in the Holy Lands and other Hospitaller outposts and was posted in Poole to command this outpost. He is pragmatic enough to know that that the worldly politics of both the Church and the nobles affects his priory and knows how to deal with it. As the commander of the Knights of St. John, he is answerable only his hierarchy and to the Pope, which puts him in conflict with the local bishop, Cristoforo.
Prior Fulk of Tyre
Fulk is the religious head of the priory and was responsible for the schism between Bishop Cristofor and the priory. A pious, compassionate man, he was the one who offered communion and final rites to a man excommunicated by the bishop. But since the priory doesn't answer to the bishop, there was nothing he could do about it. Fulk holds some unorthodox views on doctrine, which adds to the friction with the bishop. However, as the religious head, and co-prior of the fortress, he has final say on non-military decisions. In any case, Prior Constable Hermann has enough on his plate to leave Fulk on his own with doctrine.
Fulk also manages the charitable work the priory does, including the hospital and soup kitchen for the poor and the travellers that stop by the Priory.
Bishop Cristoforo
The local bishop of Poole, he resents the presence of foreign knights in 'his' bishopic when he can't order them to do what he wants. The magi and Sir Daniele met him briefly after the noon mass.
Enrico the Venentian Merchant
A formerly trusted merchant who has dealt with the covenant for years, bringing goods from the Holy Land and the far east through Venice. He is a middle-aged man who keeps a mistress in Poole and is only in kingdom for half the year as he trades primarily in Wales, while collecting up goods to sale back in Venice and storing them in Poole.
Loyalty and Law
This adventure involved a Jerbiton magus from the Normandy Tribunal asking for help for a distant cousin, a widow, who is dealing with two power-hungry local nobles wanting her dead husband's estate.
Important developments:
- Sir William is now betrothed to Catherine of Pulverbatch
- Catherine is writing to, and enamored with, Galaxio
- Sir Jusef has indicated his interest in Lady Martha
Tholin of Jerbiton
Hailing from the Normandy Tribunal and an unusually non-Gentle Gifted Jerbiton, Tholin visited Geoffrey seeking assistance for his distant cousin in a holding named Pulverbatch, southwest of Shrewsbury.
Asmorn of Guernicus, Quaesitor
A Quaesitor that the party met while leaving Pulverbatch, he seemed to have followed Tholin and wanted to see what he was up to. He questioned, briefly, the party about their dealings, but assured him that it was all done through companions and that the magi were hands off. He seemed to let the matter rest, but probably now has some interest in the covenant to ensure that their dealings stay within the Code as well.
Lady Martha of Plessis
The younger daughter of a minor noble house, she married a reasonably respectable husband and had the good fortune to fall in love with him. They had 3 daughters, but he had a riding accident that crippled him and made him unable to father a son. He died, still young, and without an heir. She has been running the estate with the help and loyalty of her husband's retainers and villeins, who are quite loyal to her as she has been a good estate master. Two local nobles from larger estates nearby have eyed her property and made arguments that she should remarry, or have her youngest marry one of their family members, but she has refused all offers. She is still young enough to receive marriage offers, not to mention the property she would bring with her.
Her two eldest daughters are married but live on the east and south coasts of England, respectively. Her youngest, Catherine, is only 13 and too young to be married.
Courtship by Correspondence
This involves Sir Jusef's courtship of Lady Martha of Pulverbach.
Sir Jusif is a man torn two ways. He has a familial responsibility to get Veloxia married off and settled down, but his heart yearns to contract marriage with Lady Martha of Pulverbach. He has written her but does not yet know her feelings.
Facts against him:
- He is a foreigner and does not speak good English
- He is a landless knight. By some, he could be construed as an opportunist.
Facts for him:
- He has also written to Tholin of Jerbiton, seeking his permission to court and marry his cousin.
- He truly does love her and seeks only her happiness. If her other two suitors should offend her in any way, he will challenge them.
Lord Michael of Pontesbury
An older warrior with a smaller estate than Martha's, but with more knights and money. Avoided taking the Cross and going on Crusade, and acts quite thuggish to his lessers. He has already demanded that Martha marry him, seeing as husbands become the master of his wife's property and lands via marriage. Martha fears he will simply attack her estate and seize it by main force.
Lord Roger of Ratlinghope
Cooler and more courteous, but more polished and practiced in courtly intrigue, Roger wants Martha's lands as a step up to possibly becoming a greater Baron, or Sheriff one day. Considered more dangerous from a legal perspective as he has the resources and connections to spin a legal case for Martha to lose her home. He has offered his infant son for an arranged marriage with Catherine, content to have the family enlarge their estate down the road, but Martha has refused.
The French Connection - Geoffrey's Love and Family
Madame Jeanne de Dreux
Sister of Geoffrey de Dreux, with whom she is close to. Jeanne has come to the Covenant of Nova Semitae to stay with her brother and to get away from the stifling rigidness of French nobility. Jeanne is a close friend of Angharad.
Warring Families
The covenant traveled to Woolston near Oswestry to investigate unusual behavior exhibited by the villagers according to a traveling Redcap.
Peter the Crusader
Peter is a bastard son of a local noble, has never been acknowledged, and lives as an influential peasant. Two decades ago, at the age of twenty, Peter decided to leave his home to join the Fourth Crusade. In the course of his expedition, he came into possession of a powerful Hermetic device. Mistak- ing it for the container of a magnificent relic, Peter returned to his home village with the pillaged device. Once home, Peter gifted the reliquary to the village’s church, where it was ceremonially placed in a position of great honor.
Peter’s prestige was greatly increased by this gift, and by the other riches he returned with from the crusade. He is now a middle-aged man, with a wife and several children, and occupies an influential position in the village. His chief rival in the village is the Baldwin, a proud elder whose family was traditionally the most important and authoritative.
Although Peter was once quite wealthy, most of the treasure he brought back from the Holy Land is now gone. He now has little free time, although he does control more land than the other families in the village.
Father Herbert, the Village Priest
Herbert is only recently arrived at the village, replacing the previous priest who died five years ago. Herbert is rela- tively young, and is still finding his way around the village. Originally from a cathedral school in a distant town, Herbert resents his posting in the village, which he sees as a dead end. This view means that he takes his duties with only a grain of seriousness, and is starting to despair that he will never leave.
Not long ago, he embarrassed himself by getting involved in an interfamily feud — he broke the confidence of village elder Baldwin to Peter, and then to make it up to Baldwin, re- vealed a secret of Peter’s to Baldwin. This resulted in both Peter’s and Baldwin’s extended families boycotting his sermons for almost a year. In order to better find a niche, he has be- friended Peter, who has started to champion Father Herbert with the villagers. This has resulted in the villagers slowly coming to see him as a figure of some authority and respect.
The one thing that Herbert finds remarkable and worth- while in the village is the church’s reliquary. He is immensely proud that his church has such a valuable item in it, and one of his very few joys is to polish and clean it every week.
Several months ago, Herbert accidentally dropped the reliquary, which broke off a valuable jewel fixed prominently on top. He tried to reattach it, but has since hidden the gem and hides the damaged face of the reliquary. He is too afraid to seek anyone’s help to fix it, since he believes that the villagers would be furious with him.
Baldwin the Village Elder
Baldwin is the rival village elder to Peter, and is a minor officer of the local lord (such as a reeve or similar appropriate position). Until Peter’s return from the Fourth Crusade, Baldwin’s father was the most respected and influential man in the village; Baldwin inherited that position when his fa- ther passed away. Following the death of the previous vil- lage priest, Peter’s influence and authority over the village increased, to Baldwin’s detriment.
Baldwin and Peter are in a bitter dispute over the boundary of some land that both claim to own. The plot runs along a small stream, which recently dramatically changed its course after a flood burst its banks and diverted it for several miles. This is the same stream that runs through the village, although the land is a mile or so away from the village proper.
Baldwin is a grumpy old man, approximately sixty years old, with a large extended family — several sons and daughters and a veritable army of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. There is an air of bitterness and resentment held by Baldwin and his children towards Peter, and also towards Father Herbert.
One of Baldwin’s nephews, Conrad, was kidnapped and killed by the cultists the covenant members found.
Villagers
There are approximately 70 villagers in Woolston, with just over half of adult working age. The remainder are old and feeble or children. Three large families dominate the village. The family of Peter is the most influential, due to his prestige as a returned Crusader and the riches he once had. Baldwin’s family is the second most influential, due to Baldwin’s hereditary position, and has suffered a loss of prestige due to Peter’s rise to prominence.
The Monolith
Between Nova Semitae and Powys Fadog is a hill with a peculiar monolith.
Khras-Nagar
King of an ancient Briton kingdom, Khras-Nagar was filled with hubris and eventually cursed by his gods to an endless existence watching his former kingdom die away and his people scattered to the winds. He resides in a regio in a stone statue form until a descendant of his kin can be brought to him to forgive him for his excessive pride.
After a number of years of the covenant being aware of his existence, they finally managed to track down a descendant of his original kin and brought them to Khras-Nagar. He recited his story as a statue for the last time and asked for forgiveness for his ancient offense before finally being set free. In exchange for freeing him, he pledged to serve the covenant for a period of five years. The magi have asked him to record his tales, resulting in a number of new texts added to the library.
In early 1235, Khras-Nagar declared his pledge fulfilled and set off for places unknown. He has expressed a desire to explore more of the world than the tiny corner he sat it for millennia and possibly find more descendants of his original tribe.
Lake Vyrnwy
Morgana of Merinita
A magus whom lost her daughter to a Tytalus plot and whom Aulus had helped getting her returned. She is the closest known Hermetic magus to the covenant, where she lives in a tower in the lake connected by a bridge. She lives largely alone with her daughter, whom she has claimed as her apprentice and filia.
Morgana has been invited to visit Nova Semitae by Geoffrey and has a generaly positive view of the covenants' members for helping support a Peripheral Code amendment to grant priority to blood relatives in claiming Gifted apprentices. She is particularly grateful to Aulus for helping reunite her with her daughter at the 1222 Tribunal.
Geoffrey suspects she and Maribus of Mercere were once intimates. He disappeared 3 years before Morgana's daughter was born, however.
The King of the Lake
A powerful faerie who appears out of a whirlpool has claimed Lake Vyrnwy as his 'kingdom' and was the creature responsible for Maribus' disappearance. He has an agreement with Morgana, who largely stays out of the lake, to abide by her presence. He otherwise keeps others away as there are no settlements on the shore or even nearby. The nearest villages avoid fishing as he has attacked others in the past.
The 'King' has the ability to send people to an unknown Roman town on a hill through a fountain in the center of town.