The Covenant Saxum Caribetum
History |
Geography |
For the benefit of those from other Tribunals, allow me to recap a little.
The 1220 inter-calary Tribunal meeting in Gallia Transalpina (Normandy Tribunal), at Mummolides, authorised the foundation of a new Covenant. Three founders settled on a site previously discovered by Thomas scholæ Merinitæ. The Covenant has since been entered formally into the rolls of the Normandy Tribunal as Saxum Caribetum, or vulgarly "La Roche Caribet".
The covenant occupies a glade on the slopes of a hill, deep in the Forêt de Lorge, in Brittany. A stream runs from a spring further up the hill, and onwards downslope, and a Menhir stands at the centre of the clearing. A rough trackway runs north/south through the clearing, now guarded by palisades erected across both ends of the glade; the dense scrub around the perimeter of the glade adds to the Covenant's defence. Fields have been cleared in the forest beyond the glade, planted with crops and enriched by The Bountiful Feast.
The
Covenant has a fine stone Tower (meriting a page of its own!), which was conjured by or with the support of parentes of covenant
members. The tower contains the Council Chamber, Laboratories, Library
and well-lit Scriptorium right at the top of the tower. There are also various low
buildings in fine, dressed stone.
The Library (secure in the ground floor of the tower) currently has few books, although due to some notable book dealing a quite adequate start has been made. The magi have also made progress on writing Tractatus and Libri Quaestionii for themselves; their writing is aided by Alban Vauremy (a skilled bookbinder) and Fulk Malavis (an excellent, if somewhat warped Illuminator). There are also several magical devices held in the Library.
The Magi have made some interesting discoveries concerning the nature of the site, and the changes occurring at the magical quarter days, recounted in the Saga Journal. There is a good Magic Aura (5th magnitude), generated by the Menhir's magic; the surrounding forest has a weaker aura (2nd magnitude) fading into a Dominion aura as one reaches settled areas. There is a Magical Regio around the Menhir (7th magnitude), but it is only 2 paces across! [However, the Regio expands to cover the whole glade at the Summer Solstice and at the Equinoxes when it also has links to IV Elemental Glades.]
The magi found a ruined tower at Cesson, outside St. Brieuc, in a magical aura and protected by enchanted thorns. They have now invited Maga Elise filia Hardis Ex Miscellanea to reside there and make it the Covenant's Chapter House; she has made some repairs and equipped herself with a basic laboratory.
Thanks to the enchantment of the Stone-Cutting Knife by Magus Joachus, the Covenant has made significant progress on the construction of stout buildings. The first stone cottage was occupied by the 3 newlywed couples, who can expand out from there as their children come; the masons have now started on a stone barracks for the main Turb. By 1224, there are a number of fine stone cottages, although some of the cottages in the Village are still wattle-and-daub. (The covenant has an easy source of dressed stone by using the Stone Cutting Knife and the Labourer's Gargoyle devices.)
With the growth in the Covenant, the number of mundane buildings in the clearing began to alarm the magi, who felt it might threaten their Magical Aura, or the growth of the Vis-yielding flowers, or the inner Regio around the Menhir. To counter this moved some of the grogs, their cottages and workshops, and all the farm buildings into a New Village north of the glade. There are now two large fields providing food for all (boosted by an annual Bountiful Feast ritual.)
The various Lords and Ladies, and Holy Clergy who surround our Covenant, have an entire chapter devoted to them. They can also be located on the Covenant maps.
