Session 23
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Winter 1228
Village Business
See also: Village Rumors
The Unsexy Librarian
Covenant librarian, Elishiva, recently married a much younger man under pressure from her family but she has refused to give much consideration to her marriage or her husband by spending most of her time in the library. This has allowed Joseph to chase village teenagers, much to the disapproval of the village (especially the fathers of those teenagers).
Ruth, as head librarian, is taking the opportunity to convince her that as a member of the jewish community, she should be build up her family. She has used both Rabbinical law and her own experience as a wife, mother, and librarian to show that it's possible. Meanwhile, Louis - sensing a rival in the village - decided to take Joseph aside and offer some advice. Also, Louis arranged for Joseph to be a new teamster on a trip to Paris. While there, they will locate a book on erotica for Elishiva to 'teach' Joseph (who is illiterate).
On the Market
After hearing about one of the local farmers who was indiscreet and cheated on his wife while at market in Oswestry, Jusef sent Hagit David to Oswestry to ferret out rumors about this affair. While the town didn't seem particularly riled up, a few local gossips (who apparently disliked the woman in question) knew about it, and were willing to gossip about it with Hagit.
Jusef has banned the farmer in question from attending the Oswestry markets, which were his weekly visits to his mistress.
Sheep Thief/Blacksmith's Boy
Following rumors on missing sheep with 'mysterious tracks' in the nearby village of Llandrinio, Veloxia, Sir Hywel, Braeden, Madog, and Mildegod go to investigate. They find the farmer, Rhys, who points out a stream where barefoot human footprints and a hooved animal tracks can be occasionally spotted. They followed the stream deeper into Wales and found a village where pandemonium had broken loose. Multiple huts were on fire, animals were crazed and attacking villagers. Women and children were screaming, laughing, or both in the streets while the men were all in one hut eating anything that could fit in their mouths.
One woman named Eudokia seemed unaffected by the pandemonium and told the story about her husband had gone 'treasure hunting' in the hills and brought back a sarcophagus lid as a new trough. Shortly after, however, they all became crazed which she claims is a result of all the spirits freed from the sarcophagus - would the party return the lid?
Rigging up an improvised sling to Sir Hywel's war horse, they dragged it back into the hills about a mile and half where they found a 12-foot pit excavated and an empty sarcophagus with its missing lid. As they replaced it, the spirits were sucked back into it, resealed for the moment. Reading the latin, art, and symbols of the lid reveals that St. David, patron saint of Wales, was responsible for the artifact. As he baptized the Welsh during his Christianization of Wales, the evil spirits were released from the bodies of the newly-baptized Welsh which he bound into the sarcophagus, piled it with stones, and then buried it in the Welsh hills.
Back in the village, the villagers were coming out of their possessed state and recovering. Eudokia, who claimed to be a spirit herself from Greece, noted that an evil spirit that had also come from the far east had been lurking around for the past 6-7 years and lately she spotted him in and around the village. She claims that he whispered into her husband's ear and directed him and his friends to the exact spot of sarcophagus and had them free the spirits.
Taking control of a few of the villagers, he had them sneak along creek beds to wreak havok in nearby villages. In Llandrinio they killed some sheep in a messy fashion; nearly Llandysilio they caught the blacksmith's boy and slaughtered him. The villagers don't have much memory of the event, but know they were possessed or in a trance for a while.
Unknown to the current party, the demon in question is the one stalking Ritter Sigmund. However, when reported back the magi, they did notice a series of Infernal-related issues all within a 1-3 days of the covenant.
The magi had the artifact retrieved and additionally secured with iron bands to prevent it from being opened again. They play to gift it to Bishop Abraham.
The Drunken Fisherman
Jusef reported to Geoffroy that one of the Christian fisherman named Louis had spent his time drunk and refused to work or pay the fine for not working. He asked for help as the fishermen seemed to be rallying around him to protect him. Summoned to the covenant to answer, Louis arrived with his friend Matthew, who explained why Louis was drunk. It appeared that his remaining family, consisting of a sister living to the south, was killed during a border raid resulting from an English Earl infringing on Welsh territory. He had promised his mother to take care of his sister and her family when his mother died, and was despondent for not being able to do so.
Taking mercy for Louis' loss, Geoffroy ordered him to St. Silin's Hospital that the covenant operated to recover and to assist patients there. He ruled that if Louis stayed at least a month, then his fine would be waived. Matthew promised to ensure that he would make it there. Geoffroy then wrote to his sister, who was working there with patients, to keep an eye out for him.
Magi Business
The Faerie King's New Wife
While visiting a local faerie king for their vis source, Magni discovered that had since married Phessalia who had poisoned his ear about the covenant's involvement in her recent troubles. He banished Magni from his court, who returned home and promoptly declared Wizard's War on Phessalia. Geoffroy, Obscurus Ignis, and Paden visited the court to try and salvage what they could, and convinced him that the they were not as bad as she made them out to be.
Meanwhile, Phessalia had retaliated by sending Wizard's War declarations to every member of the covenant along with a note from the faerie king warning of retaliation against covenants in Wales should he attack Phessalia and threatened his own wife and daughter should Phessalia die. Magni and Obscurus Ignis instead went to Voluntas to loot and vandalize her sanctum, which they did, taking a few trinkets left behind in her lab (which was largely emptied) and leaving behind a trap should she return before the moon was out.
In the end, the Wizard's War period lapsed without additional retaliation - she was hiding in the faerie king's palace while the covenant's defenses and Aegis were relatively powerful.
A Visit to Stonehenge
Geoffroy visited Stonehenge armed with a spell to discover entrances to regiones. At Stonehenge, the grogs reported that a farmer visited them and told them that the ruins were under control of a local lord, although most avoided the place as 'haunted'. He could see the ruins from his farm and noticed nothing happening, though he could spot visitors.
Casting the regio-discovery spell, it illuminated an entrance but showed that the way in was to repair one of the famous arches so that it could be passed under.
A London Gemcutter
In 1227, Joshua had Paden seek out a gemcutter willing to travel to the covenant and work with him to train up in gemcutting. Paden ended up finding a gemcutter in the Jewish quarter named Alan, who arrived at the end of the Winter season.
Experience Points
For dealing with the released spirits and tracking down the origin of some of the disturbances in nearby villages, Veloxia, Sir Hywel, Braeden, Madog, and Mildegod receive 5 Adventure XP. Dominion Lore, Infernal Lore, Area Lore, Hunt, or Perception are appropriate skills to spend this on.
For participation in raiding Phessalia's lab, Magni and Obscurus Ignis receive 2 Adventure XP.
Alan's relevant statistics: Communication +1, Craft (Lapidary) 5, Teaching 0. This means Alan can either do 1:1 Training for 8 XP/season, or he can do dedicated Teaching for 10 XP/season for 1:1 teaching or 7 XP/season for two students. He will be paid £1 for half a year for this service.