Nerius Log #3: The Fay Forest, Part II

The Players:

Acer, filius of Andru, follower of Jerbiton and Nerius	Magus (Ian)
Anchises Tarquinius , filius of Aeneas, Ex Miscellanea	Magus (John)
Atratus, follower of Flambeau				Magus (Dave)
Cleopatra Pleides, follower of Tremere			Magus (Henry)
Dirnano, filius of Ferrita, follower of Bonisagus	Magus 
Somnium Lupus, follower of Bjornaer			Magus (Shannon)
Stagnum Os, filius of Depard, follower of Bonisagus	Magus (Scott)
Gerard							Grog
Timidus Rene						Grog
Vincent of the Shield					Grog
Alondra of the Fay					Seelie Faerie
Yuval of Fudaris, follower of Quaesitor			Magus
Brother Alan						Head Chirurgan

**
[] From the Secret Diary of Somnium Lupus

And so, we made our quickest preparations to flee this place, but they
would be in vain, for, while trying to exit the forest, we were
confronted by a tall beautiful woman.  Another Fay.

Unpredictable as the Fay ever are, this woman, named Alondra, and
apparently a noble of her kind, demanded to know how Atratus planned
to repay the damage he had done to the forest.  Atratus explained to
the Fay woman that we had been attacked, and were only defending our
selves, while Stagnum said, "How about we plant a few trees."  The Fay
woman, expected us to do just this, spending the rest of our lives
tending her forests.

I became angered at this Seelie faerie, and pointed out quite clearly
that I would not have let these people destroy the forest, if it had
not been a defensive maneuver.  I explained to her that it was the
Unseelie who were the true despoilers of the land, who raped it,
destroying your children with no love for life itself.  Finally, I
offered to heal the land for this Fay with our magic, and she agreed.
Little did I know that Alondra was truly as malevolent as her Unseelie
cousins, and was hoping to draw us further within her web of deceit.

I suppose I should have been enlightened to the truth of the situation
by our escort of Fay archers, clothed each in black ring mail.  But,
something blinded me to it, as Alondra joined me in wolf form, and we,
together with the slow humans, moved towards the burnt out area left
by our recent battle.

Indeed, when we arrived back there, we at least kept our part of the
bargain.  Dirnano forced the Unseelie to, for once, contribute to the
land, by using their essence, their vis, garnered in our recent
battle, to cast healing spells upon the trees.  Then, Alondra again
drew us deeper into the forest, by taking us to the silver laurel tree
that we had hunted for.  And, indeed, she seemed sincere, mother, for
under the tree we found buried a box, imprinted with the sigil of
Saint Nerius.  And inside the box, which Rene bravely opened for us,
was the iron ring that we sought.  Thus, we prepared to leave the
Faerie Forest, thinking that we had met new friends, and come out of
the experience richer, but, I should have been warned by my years of
experience that there would never truly be truth or kindness in
members of the Fay.

Fortunately, we would find a friend in an unlikely place.  Yuval,
follower of Quaesitor, and member of the Covenant of Fudaris suddenly
appeared, destroying Fay right and left, explaining how we had been
deceived by these Faerie, and that we should flee before they killed
us.  I looked around me at the creatures that surrounded us, my
childhood coming back to me in a surge, and I fled. Once again, I had
given my trust to the Fay, and it had been betrayed, and I fled as far
and as fast as I could, following Yuval.  Atratus, Dirnano and the
grogs too realized the truth of the situation and fled with us.  Alas,
Anchises and Stagnum refused to be moved, and thus were lost, in the
clutches of the Fay.

As we escaped the forest, Yuval of Fudaris, explained to us that he
had been attracted by our magic in the forest, and had come to release
us from the Fay.  He was worried about us being in the forest, since
it was claimed by his Covenant.  However, when we explained that we
were simply there to gather a demonic artifact, he was relieved.  As
he explained, he did not want any conflict.

And thus, mother, I returned from the land of the Fay once again, but
we had been forced to leave two of our friends behind.  Yuval
journeyed with us, back to our Covenant, wishing to see that the
demonic ring was truly destroyed.

Upon our return to the covenant, we found Acer, who had traveled to
the Covenant of Caharel de Lorre, the original covenant of Saint
Nerius.  There, he had gained, by some bargain that he refused to
speak of, several locks of the hair of Saint Nerius.

And, shortly afterwards, Anchises and Stagnum were returned to us, but
they had both been corrupted by the Fay.  Anchises openly wore Elven
Ring Mail, while Stagnum too had their scent around him.  Someday,
this will have to be dealt with.  With luck, we may win them back from
the Fay, if only they are not too far gone.

Thus, with the ring, and the hair, we were able to perform our ritual, and
our Covenant gained it's aura, and it seemed, for a time, that the bad times 
might just be over, and that this new Covenant might be able to survive.  And,
I was happy, mother, feeling that I had in some way begun to repay the debt 
that Bjornar owed to Saint Nerius.

**
** From the Memoirs of Henry of Louton, Volume VIII

As Anchises and Stagnum continued to tell me of their visit to the
beautiful Elven Forest, they came to a very saddening tale.  Yuval of
Fudaris, a misguided magus, descended from the sky, scattering the
questors and killing the faerie who had been aiding the party.  The
valiant warriors Anchises and Stagnum did indeed manage to drive the
misguided magic-user away, but their fellowship had been sundered.
However, selfless as always, Anchises and Stagnum moved to heal the
elves who Yuval had hurt.  Finally, exhausted by their actions, the
two fell asleep, with their last thoughts being the hope that their
friends were safe.

They were woken by the beatiful faerie, Alondra.  She thanked them for
their heroic help, and invited them to return with her, to the heart
of faerie, for a festival.  The two fretted about their friends, but
knew that it would be impolite to refuse Alondra, and so accepted the
invitation.

And thus, the two heroes feasted with the elves, and danced with the
elves, and sang with the elves, as heroes have a wont to do.  Anchises
Faeriefriend even dared to wrestle with the satyrs, defeated many a
foe in the combat ring, include his fellow mage, Stagnum, before he
was finally defeated by a nymph, in a battle that any hero would be
destined to lose.  And Stagnum Os, although defeated in the wrestling
ring, also made a conquest among the faeries that eve.

When they awoke, Alondra once again thanked the questors for their
help against the misguided magus, and gave them gifts, naming them
friends of her realm.  To Anchises she gave a beautiful set of ring
mail, marking him a true elven warrior, and to Stagnum she gave many
pawns of herbam vis, the true life of the forest.

And thus, Anchises and Stagnum returned from the forest of the elves,
having gained new friends, and become enrichened by the experience.
Surely, when they told Dedecus, confined to bed due to a sickness, of
their wonderful experience, he would want even more to go to the
Faerie realms that he had been forced to miss.

Upon their return to the covenant, the heroes would pleased to find
their compatriots, unharmed by the misguided sorcerer.  Also there was
Cleopatra Pleides, follower of Tremere.  She had come to the Covenant
of Saint Nerius for it's knowledge, and she would surely share her own
as well.  Thus, it was a time of great celebration in the covenant,
for the preparations for the creation of their aura were complete, and
a new member was joining them.  Surely, the Covenant of Saint Nerius,
new-born though it was, was moving on to fine times.

**
** From a letter in the archives of Durenmar, Domus Magnus of Bonisagus,
** by the magus Dirnano. Entitled "An account of the Ritual of the Covenant
** of Saint Nerius and the theory behind it, with thoughts on rationals,
** implications, and extensions."

...but the two most critical components of the ritual are those that
were closely tied to the Saint's life: a relic of Nerius and a sign of
the evil that opposed him. By putting these two close together, one
creates an acrebitic tension, which leaves the relic with additional,
undirected resistive power when the latter is destroyed, much as is
done in the Bountiful Feast ritual (cf).  In this case, I used the
Ring of the Demon's Heart, (which was found in the Forest of
Brecelien) as the sign.  It's own evil pseudo-aura would enhance the
effectiveness of the Ritual.

At sunrise, take the two, the relic and the artifact, and place them
within 7 finger lengths of each other, the artifact in the bowl
prepared earlier.  Hold the bowl over the flames of a fire burning
naught but the purest of sandelwood, that their essence of repulsion
shall drive away the magic of the Ring even as the heat drives away
its shape, thus maintaining a symmetry of the third type. Repeat the
Our Father three times.  Upon each time, strike the bowl lightly with
a silver cross. This conflict should activate the latent power of
both.

Drain the molten iron into the crystal vial, add 5 pawn Vim vis to
channel the aura towards magic and the relic to conflict with the
residual & image powers of the iron. Stop the vial, and fuse it shut
with a Muto Terram spell.  Nerius willing, the aura held by the relic
will lessen as its holy sourcespot is covered by the weaker image
powers of the iron.

Wait for the iron to cool. It will take a full day, which must be
spent by all in fasting and prayer.  At the next sunrise, trace the
first 4 Legendre patterns on the vial (They must be orthogonal to each
other.) and the Rune of Creo beneath it with your right ring finger,
dipped in holy water. Place the vial within an incense holder; then
light the incense. Sprinkle 5 more pawns of vis into the incense. As
you walk the perimeter of the aura's bounds, alternate the saying of
the rosery with the incantations of Creo Vim (see attached diagram).
As the incense flows outward to merge with the air, the fragile
strands of magic shall also merge with the Dominion, infusing and
mixing.

Finally, stand at the center of the circle.  Clean your mind of all
sinful thoughts. Raise the container high, until you can smell the
incense as it pours off.  In the Voice, call out "Sac Niagram Vern
Pyanlin; Alsta Predada Mantri."  At the last word, raise the incense
and swirl it around it.  Ask the blessing of Saint Nerius, asking that
in his name shall these powers merge.  Call out to him; and if he will
bless your words and strengthen your arts, complete the ritual with
the word of closing - "Eigenanx".

This ritual will need to be renewed each year, for the magic shall
drift away as the incense down. To do so requires the following: the
vial mentioned above, 10 pawns of vis...