The Covenant of Pedn An Laaz

[Jordan]

A Brief History

Pedn An Laaz was formed in the year 1070 by a group of 6 Magi seeking to escape their respective Covenants and the politics of the Tribunal. They were;

Tavalous Ex Miscellanea – Master of Storms

Gwyndon Ap Rhiann of House Bjornaer – Master of Beasts

Irella of House Jerbiton – Mistress of the Heart

Caerdos of House Merinita – Student of the Elements

Julius of House Bonisagus – Student of All Arts

Eleni Ex Miscellanea – Mistress of Plants

Building at Land’s End, what they considered to be the middle of nowhere, the 6 Magi were able to study and work in relative peace and as the years passed their humble home became well known in the Order as a repository of learning. The Magi first build a great building to hold their library and laboratories and soon, many magi sought out Pedn An Laaz to marvel at their creation and study from it’s books.

With the influx of money and resources from visiting Magi who sought access to their library, the Magi constructed a large menagerie; a zoo to hold the wondrous and exotic beasts that the master mage Gwyndon Ap Rhiann collected and experimented with, again adding to the covenant’s renown and reputation.

For 100 years, Pedn An Laaz grew in power until one night it was gone. The buildings still stood but all sign of anything living had simply vanished. The only ‘survivor’ of whatever happened was Tavalous Ex Miscellanea and he would not or could not speak of what happened. And so for the last 50 years the remains of Pedn An Laaz were left to age, it’s resources and wonders lost to the rest of the Stonehenge Tribunal until now.

Quite recently, Tavalous has entered his final twilight and the fighting for the right to claim the remainders of the lost covenant consumed the most recent Tribunal meeting. Finally the threat of the Quaesitores officially banning any exploration of the site forced a compromise. Each covenant of the Tribunal would be allowed to send 1 Magus who’d recently passed his gauntlet to revive the old Covenant and discover what happened. While it was considered most fair solution, several Covenants were unable to take advantage of the situation, as there were no Magi who fit the imposed requirements.

[Jordan]

The Coventant

Pedn An Laaz was founded close to the landmark known as “Land’s End,” supposedly the most westerly point of England. The actual site itself is close to the Cliffside in an above average ( +4) Magical Aura. Rumor and history claimed that when the original covenant was still inhabited that the aura was even more powerful but the aura is still quite strong.

Due to its location, the Covenant is under a constant benefit of fresh sea air, making the Covenant a generally pleasant place and improving the overall health of the inhabitants.

The main building of the Covenant is the expansive, 3 story Manor House that serves as the residence for the Magi. The building has enough room for 14 bedrooms, the kitchen, pantry, and dining room, a parlor, the Autocrat’s office, The Magi’s council room and storage for mundane items in the basement.

The Library building is a large, ornate building that is connected to the Manor House by an open aired covered walkway. It houses a large space for the Covenant’s library (which includes writing and study alcoves), modest living quarters for a scribe or librarian, and in the subterranean levels a storage vault for collected treasures and vis, and 6 laboratory spaces. More lab space can be added by any magus with excellent scores in Rego and Terram magic if needed.

The Menagerie was built specifically for Gwyndon Ap Rhiann of House Bjornaer, a master of beast magic. It is a large building behind the library that contained Gwyndon’s Lab and sanctum, as well as pens for dozens of creatures large and small. It is outside the compound but attached to the compound wall so if any of beasts inside did escape they would be more likely to get loose outside the compound rather than inside.

The manor compound also has wooden outbuildings and workshops including; dormitories for the covenfolk, stables, a carpenter’s shop, a smithy, a stonemason’s workshop, a weaver’s loom, an armory (which also serves as the Grog Captain’s quarters, and a small brewery. There is a small garden surrounded by a 2-foot stone wall, which is off limits to the covenfolk. The centerpiece of the garden is an apple tree that grows 6 golden apples each year. The entire compound is encircled by a fairly thin, 6’ high wall and 5’ deep trench. While the wall will not deter heavily armed forces, it does keep out bandits and wild animals.

[Jordan]

Residents

There are 46 people living and working at the Covenant, not including the player characters. The majority of the Covenfolk come from the surrounding Cornish communities, from families whose decedents once served the original Covenant of Pedn An Laaz.

The mundane affairs and needs of the Covenant have been under the stewardship of an educated Englishman named Andrew Beckett in the absence of any Magi. The Grog Turb consists of 10 soldiers led by a Sergeant (all of whom are English) who, in the absence of a higher ranked commander has taken over the duties of Turb Captain. There are 6 ‘specialists’ living and working in the covenant proper. 2 of the specialists arrived at the Covenant with Andrew and the Grogs, the other 5 are locals who have been convinced to move to Land’s End recently by Andrew.

As recently as a month ago, a small group of bandits whose leader was killed by a Knight came to the covenant begging for asylum, claiming they’ve seen the errors of their ways. Begrudgingly Andrew has allowed them to join the Covenant and they have been working as general laborers ever since.

The remaining 22 people are simple servants and laborers of which only 6 are English; the remaining 16 are all Cornish commoners. There are 12 women (3 English) and 10 men (3 English). The majority of the Cornish Covenfolk have little to no experience with Magi, and so are not used to the effect of The Gift yet, unlike Andrew, Felix, Charles, Daniel, and the Grogs.

Notable personalities are below.

Andrew Beckett – Autocrat

Andrew grew up as one of the covenfolk in the Covenant of the Five Oaks where his father served as the Autocrat. He has been groomed and trained to take up the duties as a Covenant Autocrat and is excited to be given the opportunity to put his skills to the test. He is a driven man who doesn't let his slight stature get in the way of getting the job done and as such has gained both the respect and the ire of many of the covenfolk. He is well educated, organized and efficient although according to the Grogs he has a small tree stuck up his bum.

Felix of Lincoln - Leader of the Grogs

Felix is a man under a lot of pressure. He is a gruff but competent man who’s been unceremoniously thrust into a position of authority he neither asked for nor wanted. As leader of the Grogs, Felix is responsible for the mundane security of the Covenant and he is doing his job admirably despite his discomfort. He is an excellent swordsman and a competent bowman and has made sure that every man in the Covenant has basic training in the longbow. He is willing to teach anyone the basics of swordplay so long as it doesn’t detract from their duties. Felix does not speak Cornish and apparently has no interest in learning, instead relying on his second in command, Louis, for any translation he might need. Felix stands about 5 and a half feet tall and has a slim but muscular build. His hair and eyes are brown and he has a closely cut beard with is well kept.

(Communication +2, Teaching 4, One Handed Melee 4)

Charles of Lincoln - Blacksmith

Charles is a simple man of simple pleasures. He is a large Englishman with black hair and watery blue eyes who was all too happy to leave his old Covenant so he could have his own smithy. While far from a master, he is dedicated to his craft and his goals in life include finding a pretty wife and starting a family.

Craft: Blacksmithing (Repairing Equipment) 2

Daniel of Lincoln - Stonemason

A young man convinced by Andrew to leave his master and join him at Pedn An Laaz, Daniel is quiet and shy, a gentle giant. So far Daniel has been kept very busy making needed repairs to the Covenant’s stone buildings. Daniel is terrified of going near the Menagerie, convinced that it is haunted by some sort of evil spirit.

Craft: Masonry () 2

Brithael of Porthcurno - Carpenter

Older brother of Hedyn, Brithael is a quiet man. He wasn’t all that excited about coming to the Covenant and originally only came to look out for his younger brother. Having his own workshop has mollified him somewhat, but he doesn’t really trust the Englishman of the Covenant yet and has never met a Magus before. Brithael is of average height and weight, with coppery red hair and sparkling green eyes and many of the female covenfolk would consider him a fine catch for a husband if not for his moodiness.

Craft: Carpentry (Furniture Making) 3

Hedyn of Porthcurno - Bowyer

Younger brother of Brithael, Hedyn is his opposite is personality. He is friendly, outgoing and easily puts his trust in others. While not the carpenter that his brother is, he never the less takes pride in his fletching and bow making skills. Hedyn has the same red hair and green eyes as his brother and while not as physically as attractive as Brithael, he tends to attract more attention from the women of the Covenant due to his outgoing nature.

Craft: Bowyer (Fletching) 2

Gurdilic of Eglosborrie - Brewer

The Covenant Brewer is everyone’s friend. The short, portly man is a talented brew master and has made great strides in learning English to better get along with the rest of the covenfolk. He is so well liked in fact that he’s been unofficially acting as a translator for the two cultures of the Covenant. Gurdilic has turned the front of his workshop into a tiny tavern, which many of the covenfolk use as an unofficial meeting place and he intends to petition the magi for the funds to build a full tavern hall.

Craft: Brewing () 3

Medguistl of Mousehole - Weaver (Female)

The Covenant weaver is an older woman who never married. Her grandmother served the original covenant and the reputation of being one of “those people” never left the family. When Andrew came to her and asked her to come to the Covenant she was only too happy to leave the suspicion and whispering behind her back. Medguistl is still reserved about being at the Covenant now that she is actually there and is looking at taking on a young student.

Craft: Weaving () 2

10 Grogs

All of the Grogs are male and are of English decent and came Andrew from the Covenant of the Five Oaks. All except for 1 use the Standard Grog template. The 10 Grog is Louis who is Felix’s second in command and has a few leadership skill in addition to the standard grog template.

6 Criminals

The former bandits are all Cornish and grew up within a 3 days walking journey of the Covenant. There are five men and one woman. The woman is currently serving in the main house as a maid and the men are currently being utilized as laborers. They are built as grogs and all of them have low levels of wilderness survival and thievery skills.

22 Covenfolk

The Remainder of the Covenfolk are a mix of men and women and are both English and Cornish. The English Covenfolk those servants who traveled with the Magi from their various home Covenants and the Cornish are locals who Andrew hired shortly after arriving. There are ten men, three of whom are English and 12 women; also with 3 being English

[Jordan]

Resources

Currently the Covenant is struggling to make ends meet. The Covenant has only one source of revenue that is pulling in about 40 Silver pounds a year from a local area farming community, while the current expenses is just over 100 Silver pounds a year.

The Covenant does have a supply of 250 Silver pounds, which if used judiciously could last about couple of years, however any large expenses could prematurely deplete that. The Covenant is not living in the lap of luxury.

Library

The covenant library is tiny compared to the space it occupies. Consisting entirely of books and tab texts that were donated to the characters by their home Covenants, or those books they managed to copy without anyone knowing. While suitable for a young, starting Covenant, the Magi will want to grow their library shortly. See the Library thread for a complete listing.

Vis Stocks

The Covenant has very few pawns Vis readily available; pretty much whatever was gifted to individual members by their Parens and Sodales of their former Covenants, which for ease have been pooled here.

Creo: 3 Pawns, A small glass vial of black blood.

Corpus: 1 Pawn, A mummified human index finger.

Ignem: 4 pawns, A small ball for bright red twine that is warm to the touch.

Vim: 2 pawns, 2 slivers of quartz crystal glowing faintly from within.

Vis Sources

There is one known source of yearly Vis that the covenant has access to and that is the apple tree in the Covenant garden. The tree is well documented in the lore of the Stonehenge Tribunal.

The Apples of Hesperides

Years ago, a stranger visiting the Covenant told a story about an apple tree that was a wedding present to Hera, Queen of the gods and of Hercules, who labored to steal the apples from it. The stranger then offered a single apple seed in trade for one of the Covenant’s most valuable books, claiming the seed was descended from that very tree. Why he was believed none can say, but the deal was struck and the seed was planted.

Now the tree produces 6 golden apples each year, although heeding the stranger’s advice, three of these are not harvested. If three apples are not allowed to rot where they fall to nourish the roots, then a stress die is rolled with as many botch dice as there are missing apples. For each botch, the tree forever produces one fewer apple per year.

The skins are pure gold and, once cut open, the flesh of a single apple will sustain a man for a week and is proof against many illnesses (+6 rolls to resist illness). However, the apples are rarely eaten as each contains 2 Creo vis.

So far all attempts to get the tree to reproduce have failed, but the prospect of being able to create an orchard of vis-producing trees has lured many a Magus to try and unlock the secret.

[Jordan]

Surrounding Environment

The Covenant is located on a rocky clearing close to the cliff’s edge at Land’s End. To the southeast are the few simple farming homesteads and the fields that service the covenant. To the north the land is clear as well and an old ruined keep, known as Maen Castle, stands not far from the Covenant. The fishing village of Sennen Cove, nestled in the hills at the southern end of Whitesand Bay, is just a little further north, approximately a mile away from Covenant.

Directly east of the covenant is forest, which stretches largely unbroken to the farming community of St Buryan/Eglosborrie, 5 and a half miles away. 4 miles south and east of the Covenant lay the tiny village of Porthcurno and a small abbey called St. Levin. A little south west of Porthcurno is the Gwennap Head and a phenomenon known simply as “The Hole” which superstition claims is a doorway to some horrible place, perhaps even Hell itself.

North of Sennen Cove, forest follows the rocky coastline until it reaches the outer farmsteads of Lanust, another farming community 6 and a half miles away. The church there serves the religious needs of the covenfolk. A mile and a half north of Lanust lays the mining town of Bostalek. Primarily mining tin but also collecting some copper and arsenic oxide (which is used in white paint).

Just over nine miles east of the Covenant is the primary trading town of the area. Pensans is under the control of a Norman Lord, Guy DuVain. Lord DuVain is pleasant enough for a noble but is primarily concerned with the turbulent politics of the area. The Covenant gets all of its non-local supplies from Pensans and a round trip journey to market requires two full days. Surrounding Pensans are the usual complement of rural and farming communities, and a few manor houses belonging to landed knights. There are also a number of interesting sites rumored to be old tombs and quoits, or places of magical power. A short distance of about three or four miles east of Pensans is the town of Marazion, which exists primarily to support the unusually large monastery of St. Michael’s Mount.

To the far west, in the Celtic Sea are the Isles of Scilly; strange islands that are the only remaining portion of the old kingdom of Lyonesse that did not sink beneath the sea. They are rumored to be filled with magic and danger.

[Jordan]

External relations

While the Covenant has no known enemies or allies at the current moment, that is not a situation that static for very long. The Tribunal is rife with infighting and political backbiting, as one Covenant stands dominant for the most part. For the past decade Blackthorn Covenant has dominated Tribunal politics due to sheer numbers. Most of the Covenants have no more than 3 to 5 members whereas Blackthorn has 8 attending Magi; as such it is almost impossible to push an agenda opposed by the Magi of Blackthorn without serious support from the other Covenants of the Stonehenge Tribunal.

Blackthorn’s biggest rivals are the Covenant of Glastonbury Tor, and the Covenant of Burning Leaves. All three are in competition for resources in the south-west region of England, so it is likely that the Magi of Pedn An Laaz will run up against one or all three of these covenants in the future.

The Stonehenge Tribunal consists of 11 Covenants. In addition to Pedn An Laaz they are;

1. Cad Gadu. On an island in a lake in Northern Wales, it is the Domus Magus of House Ex Miscellenia. With 8 Magi attending, it could be a contender against the power and influence of Blackthorn but the Magi of Cad Gadu tend to abstain from politics.

2. Blackthorn. The most politically powerful Covenant in the Tribunal, the Magi are skill and ruthless about getting their way. They have yet to get caught breaking the Code of Hermes but everyone assumes they’ve done so. 8 Magi attending.

3. The Covenant of Burning Leaves. Founded by a small group of Merinita magi, Burning Leaves has always been dedicated to the study of the fair folk. Like the faeries, the magi of burning leaves have been known to be as fickle and capricious as the faeries they study. 3 Magi attending, all Merinita.

4. Glastonbury Tor. Built just outside the city of Glastonbury, the Magi of this Covenant are consumed with the Arthurian myth and uncovering it’s truths, secrets and magic. They often make exploratory trips into Cornwall investigating the rumors of magical phenomenon related to Arthurian lore, often causing friction with both Blackthorn and Burning Leaves who both view western Cornwall as their territory. 5 Magi attending, a mix of Ex Miscellenia and Bonisagus

5. Spatha Obscuris. Based entirely out of the city of London, Spatha Obscuris was originally founded as a bastion against House Diedne during the Schism War and most of the Order would be shocked to learn that it is still running strong in it’s autumn, hidden away in deep catacombs beneath London proper. The Covenant is made up of an odd cross of Jerbiton, Tytalus and Tremere Magi and they seen dedicated to stamping out any threat they perceive to the order. 6 Magi attending.

6. The Covenant of Five Oaks. Founded not far from the township of Lincoln, the Covenant of Five Oaks has no dedicated purpose, the Magi researching whatever their fancy strikes. There are 4 Magi attending, 3 of which are Ex Miscellenia with the fourth being of House Bjornaer.

The remaining 4 Covenants will remain undefined for the time being.

From a mundane standpoint, Pedn An Laaz has yet to come to the attention of any of the major political or clerical powers that be. The priest of Lanust is aware that some unusual new members have joined his flock but is, as of yet, unaware of their nature. This level of anonymity will not last long as word of the Covenant’s reoccupation will spread among the peasants rapidly, until it comes to the attention of the Nobility. How they will react is anyone’s guess, but according to stories about the old Covenant, the magi enjoyed a cordial relationship with the local nobility.

The peasants, being the superstitious folk that they are will naturally be wary (at best) or afraid (at worst) of the new magical folk and many will out and out shun them until they prove through time that they are not evil, the spawn of the devil, or dangerous.