Allain informs the council that the covenant is short of money and food for next winter. We have some grain, but it costs to have it milled, and it's not enough, and some sheep, but not enough to feed us the whole winter. We've exhausted the stores we found and what We brought with us. Allain and the cooks are amazed at how well food keeps in the storehouse.
[mechanics: without an ample store of food next winter ageing rolls will be harder]
Adigius
So do we need to clear more land, acquire a bigger flock, improve our productivity, what?
Allain
All those are good, but as the magi are the lords of the coven and should set the direction of our endeavours, and it's your purse we're emptying.
Adigius
We've already cleared some land over the ford. Could we put that into production? Or are we already using it to graze sheep?
We probably shouldn't clear things any closer to the tower - I still don't want anybody going up there.
Allain
We're already grazing the cleared land, but without oxen or farm horses we can't pull up the stumps, so we can't use it for crops. Some of the covenfolk are suspicious of the stones and of the stories of dryads in the woods. Fortunately the shepardess from Seaborne is a bit more level-headed, that and her covenant upbringing. The builder's stonemasons wanted stone from the old tower to repair our buildings, as they say that's where it came from. The added expense of buying and transporting stone is one of the reasons we are short of money.
William
Why are we not using the tower stones, again? I have no problem with the old tower being dismantled.
Adigius
I'm concerned that whatever destroyed the old covenant was in some way linked to the tower. Remember, the mind control exerted by the Ash Crown was renewed there. We should be cautious until a full investigation has been done, including a search for a regio.
William
Can anyone detect any kind of magic/fae/infernal/dominion influence on the stones (separate to the site itself)? If not, then there is no impediment to using the stones? I agree that there is a possibility of a regio in the area, but the stones are obviously *not* in the regio. The are here at level 0.
Adigius
The stones themselves are not magical. Its more the possibility that misfortune could befall those sent to transport them, or that further disturbance of the tower could awaken or reawaken any malign presence.
Ethylred
We could as Marina of Marinita from Seaborne if she could provide us with something for the fae? As for the infernal and the divine, they can be sometimes difficult to detect with hermetic magic. If Adigius is unhappy about disturbing the tower, perhaps he should study it himself?
(Magi can study a thing for a season with an unknown outcome)
Adigius
I am certainly planning to do so, when time permits.
Agnes
Would Jock be able to spend a season casting spells to make the land softer so that the stumps can be removed?
Jock
IGNEM! Tatll teachem.
Ethylred
Using ignem so close to the Dryad wood which neighbours that area would be impolite. Some muto, rego or perdo herbam would be more elegant. An improved Unseen Arm would be a better use of terram. Perhaps a Stump Clearing competition between us... We all spend summer researching a spell and whoever makes the most effective spell has the season considered their covenant work?
Adigius
I for one have better things to do with my time than that, and my skills lie in other areas in any case.
Ethylred
Ah, competition drives the sprit to self improvement my brother.
Adigius
Time is our most valuable resource. Rather than wasting it in pointless competition, it would be better to co-operate - plan, and assign duties to those who are best suited for them.
Agnes
I was thinking that Muto Terram to loosen the earth so that the stumps could be pulled out easily by men with ropes.
Unfortunately I cannae do this. I don't know about the competition idea. It seems a better idea for every to work on a task suited to their strengths, rather than to all compete on one thing.
AGNES
However, I could do Muto Herbam to break up the wood and make it easier to move.
Ethylred
Ah well, I shall strive to make something suitable, though you should not underestimate how useful such spells may be.
Agnes
I could start looking into rituals for a bountiful harvest - I might not be good enough yet though. At least we do have a plentiful supply of Herbam and Ignem vis though.
Adigius
That is a powerful ritual, and probably beyond any of us here. But we may be able to acquire a copy from another Covenant if we were willing to perform service for it. Or we could pay another magus to do it for a suitable fee. Do we know of any nearby Magi who both know the ritual and desire herbam or Terram vis?
Jock
IGNEM! Wayhey noo eey canne gimme heed aroond thetthin.
Adigius
What's the legal situation with milling grain again? Does the Lords monopoly extend to using something other than water- or wind-powered mills? Would we get into trouble for making magical hand mills?
William
Even if we're legally entitled to do this I suspect the Lords would enforce their monopoly and worry about legality later.
Ethylred
It's a form of taxation, if you want your grain turned to flour you have to take it to the lord's mill (Hammeringham or Bollingbroke) and pay. The Earl of Lincoln had his courtyard paved with querns (hand mills), I doubt he'd care if it were magical...
Adigius
If they found out. We need not even make it a mill. Just something you wave at a pile of grain to turn it into finely milled flour. But yes, if we suddenly stop taking grain to the mill, people are going to wonder, and pay us a visit, and demand we pay them no matter what. Unless we just bribe them into leaving us a lone with some worthless magical trinket.
Jock
Ahk, whee canne allus burnem, oh, arr, IGNEM!
Agnes
Oh dear, someone'd better refill Jock's tankard.
Jock
Fankyee.
Allain
Our grain is wild sown, we need more seedcorn, and if we milled it all we wouldn't have enough to last the winter anyway.
Agnes
Oh, I don't know. Looks like more'n we had in me ol' village in Scotland.
Adigius
I dare say we have more people than in your old village in Scotland as well.
Adigius
We have plenty of Herbam vis, and in extremis we can always eat that, but I'd rather not if we can avoid it.
William
How significant are the covenant money problems?
Allain
We can not afford to buy all the food we need for next winter to feed the entire coven after paying the freemen's wages and the builder's materials. Let alone spend any to improve our situation. I have account sheets if you wish to look at them.
(Allain has ample Artes Liberales, and a head for money)
William
I'll get Bodvar to look at them.
(William considers "I know it is not covenant funds but I thought that Callista was running a profit. What is her money situation? (Not that I'm likely to tell the other Magi what her situation is, but William would expect to know).", which reminds me we haven't done the income from last year's)
Adigius
What can we do to earn more money? Grow more wool? Provide it pre-coloured in shocking pink?
Ethylred
Purple would sell better.
Adgius
How much better? And is it more worthwhile to turn it straight into cloth while we're at it? Is it worth spending the vis to do this, or should we just create dead sheep and eat them?
Allain
The flock is currently small, and a ram needs to be purchased, then it shall become less small every year. Currently the income from the flock is not significant, but it will make us self sufficient in mutton in a couple of years.
Adigius
So, next person to go into town has to buy a decent ram.
Allain
Not just a ram, we need oxen, more cows for milk and meat, farm horses. Boston isn't the best place for this kind of thing. We're better looking at Horncastle, Market Rasen, or Lincoln.
AGNES
Ooo, this sounds expensive. Surely this no way we could afford all that.
Ethylred
Perhaps a trip for us all to the spring market at Market Rasen then? It's only a couple of days from here, it would be good for us all to travel together and see what the local produce is like.
(Note: Market Rasen sells local product for the local market, Boston is an import/export market.)
Adigius
Even Jock?
I may be able to take time off from my experiments for that.
Jock
Aye, I dunne 'ave time fa been lynched. Ay'll send th' St.John's
Adigius
Maybe we should be directing our research and covenant work towards things that will help get the Covenant on a stable economic footing - or even start putting in an extra season a year if we have to.
Allain
So far the only economic development the covenant has had is the production of woad, and the use of Agne's carding comb, Robert has yet to bring our share from Boston.
Adigius
Well, that might help a bit. But what else can we do? Any ideas?
Agnes
Couldn't we use some of them sneaky merchant tricks where you sell sheep to buy more sheep?
Adigius
I think that's really William's department. William?
William
Maybe. The covenant's share from Boston will help. Of course, Claxby could enter into a formal trade arrangement with Hamburg-Luberk. I'm sure that would help too.
Adigius
That would very much depend on what such a trade agreement involved, and it may bring unwelcome mundane entanglements.
Allain
The sheep we have are very fine sheep, and the only way to buy more would be to buy poorer quality sheep. Our farmers all advise against this. We shall have our first lambs before spring, and one of the farmers insists that all the ewes are carrying twins.
Allain
As our population is grown beyond our means to keep them. We could release some of our more expensive covenfolk, but that would mean losing the builder…
Adigius
His task is nearly complete, but we need the old library building properly finished before we can release him - so not until the end of summer at the earliest, and later if we have him work on a new sanctum so I can move out of the manor house.
Allain
It would take more time and money to recruit another builder. He says he could build you a stone house by the end of next spring. You've got till the end of summer to work out where it's going to be and its layout.
Ethylred
The Council should approve the location, though the internal arrangement of his sanctum is a Maga's own business.
Adigius
It seems that the best location would be on the site of Probitas' house, which will need to be fully cleared in any case. I will look at plans, and perhaps at other alternatives.
Ethylred
That would be a fine location, if you mark the perimeter I think we could agree on it quickly enough.
(the covenant has the materials to make a single story stone house on that site about the same size as the original structure)
Jock
Aye canne ken alhcimeny, maken geld.
Ethylred
Manufacturing gold, per se, is prohibited in the peripheral code. Using magic to make mundane goods or services to sell, though this is beneath the station of a Magus, is acceptable.
Jock
Bastiches, allus spoilin mafun.
Adigius
So what other mundane goods and services can we sell? We can't manufacture much, lacking a good smithy. We can't make pots, as we don't really have the proper resources. We could get some beehives and sell candles (we need the wax anyway for our writing), or we could our surplus of oak galls (I believe we currently receive a substantial surplus of those), but there doesn't seem to be much else. [Edited: the covenant has no beehives or a beekeeper, we do have a store of beeswax based muto vis
Allain
It's not just about having goods to sell, it's also about reducing the cost of services and goods the covenant purchases. As you mention the smithy, Ethylred's is considering to setting up the smithy and use it to make window bars and iron bound doors for the new library. This will save us considerable money. As will the good will Adgius has fostered with the people of Miningsby. It has made pig iron available to us quite cheaply, hence the desire for our own smithy. The master builder says will only need to buy locks and other finely made goods that Ethylred has yet to master.
Adigius
Can we assist this with magic? An Ignem charm to make the furnace hot, Terram to make the iron malleable?
Ethylred
I already use some spontaneous magic when smithing, like as you said, but it simply makes me a better smith and lets me work iron faster or better than I could without it.
(Ethylred's difficulty rolls are often reduced)
Adigius
We really need a mundane smith to free Ethylred from these duties. But we will not be able to attract one unless we can guarantee them a full belly.
Ethylred
Alas, for my gift to work its best I must make an item myself, fortunatly this is part of the season's work, at least for small or simple items. The assistance of a smithy would help me greatly when enchanting items. I think if I study a bit of herbam I could make an Axe of Felling and an Adze of Splitting quite easily. With that aside, a smith would be of great use to the covenant in general.
(Ethylred has the Mage Smith bonus, craft skills are added to his Lab total!)
Adigius
Perhaps that should be done as your Covenant service this year or the next, then.
Ethylred
Next year, Axe of Felling and an Adze of Splitting, if I have the Herbem.
Adigius
Well, that is one area at least where we do not lack for books. Though they are all of quite low quality. If someone wishes to spare the season, they could prepare a gloss.
AGNES
I've read all the Herbam books so I could gloss them. But I'm no sure I could make it simple enough for the likes of some.
Adigius
Speaking of Covenant service, I will do two seasons of vis extraction so that we may maintain the Aegis next year. However, it would be best if we did more, as I have a need for a small quantity of Vim Vis in the near future, and others will likely need it for their potions.
Ethylred
Vim sources are hard to find, I hear they are often found within natural regius(sp?).
Adigius
So we should seek out local tales of anything "magical" in the local area. Peasants disappearing for years at a time and returning having not aged a day with tales of strange realms, or the converse, that sort of thing.
Adigius
There are plenty of things we can do to improve things within the Covenant. For example, rather than spending a season casting spells to provide roofing slates for the library, Jock could make an item which would allow the builders to do it without him. And the stumping is another example - maybe an axe enchanted with Perdo Herbam or a spell to make them simply rot would be useful. We should be thinking about some of those as well as ways of producing goods for export.
Ethylred
Enchantments are all fine, but the low powered trinkets we're currently producing aren't the thing that builds a covenant's reputation in the order. It's spells and books that build's one's standing as they are things that can be shared with the entire Order of Hermes. That is always our true purpose.
Adigius
Indeed. But these things take time, and require a solid foundation. It seems to me that we must pay attention to the mundane world a little more than we have been, in order that we may later focus our minds on the magical.
Making great works and spells will come, if we can make our way out of spring and into summer.
Still, as someone has raised the topic of the library, what should be our next priority for it? For myself, I would like to see further works on Corpus - they would help greatly in the brewing of my potion in a few years time. I can contribute an introductory work on Muto for those who have none, and another on Vim, but my strong areas seem well-covered by the library already, so apart from that all I could add would be a work on Magic Theory.
Adigius
There are some other issues we need to discuss. Firstly, as I mentioned upon my return from Miningsby, it appears that we have a shapeshifter amongst us, who took the shape of the boy Adam. I would like to know who this person is, and whether they pose any danger to the Covenant.
William
The only shapeshifter in the covenant is Agnes. Do you think that she poses a danger to the covenant?
Adigius
I fear that you were not paying attention when I gave my report on the matter. I was speaking of whoever impersonated the boy Adam. He accompanied us to Miningsby, yet as numerous of the covenfolk later attested, remained here the entire time. One or other appearance must have been some form of shapeshifter, or individual covered by Imaginem, and I want to know who.
William
Well, I guess you could round up the covenant and cast some kind of "reveal true shape" on everyone. However, if I remember your report correctly "Adam" did not accompany you back from Miningsby. Perhaps, the shapeshifter accompanied the original delegation from Miningsby? This might explain why it did not return with you to Claxby.
Adigius
I think that we would need to be rather more subtle than that.
An interesting theory, and one that I had considered, but I do not believe the evidence favours it. As many accompanied us to Miningsby as arrived here, and none spoke of a missing companion or any strange disappearances while at Claxby. From my dealings with them I judged them to be honest men, who knew nothing of matters magical, let alone shapeshifters, and would not conspire so as to hide the presence of one amongst their number.
The fact that the false Adam did not return to Claxby may mean that it is no longer here - or that it is here under a different guise. Either way, we must be on our guard.
Ethylred
The intellago book will assist. Hmmm, there are other ways of concealing one's appearance, and it's not all about shapeshifting. Imaginum is also good for that kind of thing. How would one get past the aegis, apart from being within the circle when it was cast?
William
Being of greater might than the aegis? It doesn't stop the Ignem dogs. How do you know this shape-shifter is within our aegis, anyway? Adigius encountered it in Miningsby.
AGNES
But we can feel when the Ignem doggies go through the Aegis. Unless we've overindulged in Jock's fine ale, that is.
Adigius
I had given some thought to inventing some simple spells to get to the truth of the matter - "Sight of the True Form" (Intellego Corpus) or "Discern the Images of Truth and Falsehood" (Intellego Imaginem), but it will require some further study and could disrupt my current programme.
I am now also giving some thought to developing or trading for a better Aegis, but I am not sure whether our supplies of Vim and Rego vis would support it, especially with potions and other items to work on.
Adigius
Secondly, we need to discuss the leadership of the turb. Leofric will not last forever, and his recent illness may hasten the day of his retirement. We need to plan for an orderly succession. The obvious replacement is Bruce the Scot - he is well-liked, and competant, but we need to have several backups as well. I suggest that we have Leofric train Bruce, Geoffrey, Harold, and Dydded in Leadership to ensure that we have a well-disciplined Turb in the future.
Finally, we should vote on the matters raised and discussed earlier.
AGNES
Not yet. We've still got plenty to discuss. Besides I can see one of the grogs has gone to fetch more chicken.
[Ethylred] That we have a competition to invent the best spell for clearing tree stumps
FOR: Ethylred
AGAINST: Adigius, William, Jock, Agnes
[Adigius] That all magi do two seasons of covenant work this year to build our resources and get the Covenant on a more secure footing.
FOR: Adigius, Ethylred, William, Agnes
AGAINST: Jock
[Adigius] That we negotiate with other Covenants to engage the services of another to cast The Bountiful Feast, or purchase a copy of the ritual for our own use, to be paid for with either Vis from the Covenant stores, or service from one of the magi (which will be counted as fulfilling Covenant service).
FOR: Adigius, Ethylred, William (if purchase ourselves), Agnes (for the spell only)
AGAINST: Jock
[Adigius] That we use Herbam and Creo vis from the Covenant stores to create enough grain to eat for the winter
FOR: Adigius, Agnes (only if needed though)
AGAINST: Ethylred
[Allaine, through Ethylred] That we spend some of our limited resources on establishing a basic smithy
FOR: Adigius, Ethylred, William, Agnes
AGAINST:
[Adiguis] The covenant is to build a sanctum on the site of Probitas’ old sanctum for Adigus:
FOR: Ethylred, Jock, Adigius, Agnes
AGAINST:
[Adigius] Ask Leofric to train senior turb members in leadership in summer.
FOR: Ethylred, Adigius, Agnes
AGAINST:
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Last updated: 31/07/2004.