Here's the first log of the new Covenant of Dragon's Rise. Shannon -- Season: Spring, 1217 to Summer, 1218 [From THE ROLLS OF DRAGON'S RISE]: Full Members: Angus of Bonisagus Lab Worker (Don) Demoror of Quaesitor Teacher (Billy) Dubius of Criamon Faerie Envoy (DaveW) Fabricatio of Verditius Lab Worker Flamma of Tremere Protector (Eric) Marlon of Tremere Hunter (Philip) Meles of Criamon Protector Nicholi of Jerbiton Chancellor (John) Tolas of Tremere Leader Verdan of Bonisagus Lab Worker (Shannon) Members: Lysander of Jerbiton Associate Member (ChrisV) Malcolm of Jerbiton Associate Member (Matt) Musculus of Quaesitor Associate Member (ChrisF) Pumilio of Erimor Associate Member (DaveP) Mundane Leaders: Lamneth Head Chirurgeon Luigi, Iron Grog Grog Captain Guardian of Flamma Manual Ship Captain (Billy) Mundanes: Bartolini, Mercury Grog Guardian of Dubius Beneletto, Mercury Grog Guardian of Fabricatio Bolo Covenant Guardian (Dave) Guiseppe Bottelli, Mercury Grog Guardian of Angus Iago, Mercury Grog Guardian of Tolas Jaques Entertainer (Philip) Jocopo, Mercury Grog Guardian of Demoror Karelos, Mercury Grog Guardian of Musculus Luchino, Mercury Grog Guardian of Pumilio Martin, Mercury Grog Forest Specialist Marcel, Mercury Grog Guardian of Meles Pietro, Golden Grog Guardian of Nicholi Reginald, Mercury Grog Guardian of Malcolm Samson, Silver Grog Guardian of Lysander Turati, Mercury Grog Covenant Guardian Turelli, Golden Grog Guardian of Marlon Vicent of the Shield, Mercury Grog Guardian of Verdan Victorio Covenant Guardian (Don) * * * [Dramatis Personae]: Certus of Bonisagus Magus David Scholar (Doug) Domita Maga (Doug) Guiseppe Farmer Maria Peasant Marco Paulo Noble (Shannon) Muris Infestus of Verditius Magus (Donald) Silva Ambages of Merinita Maga Stagnum Os of Bonisagus Magus (Scott) Tractare of Tremere Magus * * * [A Timeline of Dragon's Rise]: Fall, 1210 Fabricatio brings word of the Dragon of Sardinia and the great aura that he lives in. The Dragon is slain, Flamma claims the island, and Fabricatio sets up his lab there. -Vardian Log #42 Summer, 1211 Word of Guiseppe's tower brings a period of peace to Vardian's Tomb. Plans of many of the younger magi to move on are temporarily set aside. -Vardian Log #43 Summer, 1213 Peace at the Tomb is finally broken. -Vardian Log #49 Spring, 1214 Stagnum Os comes to Sardinia from the dead Covenant of Saint Nerius. -Vardian Log #51 Summer, 1214 Tolas begins actively politicking for his new Covenant of Dragon's Rise, gaining the support of Certus at home, and Arliandus at the Tribunal. -Vardian Log #52 Spring, 1217 Work begins on the Charter of Dragon's Rise. Books are copied from the library of Vardian's Tomb throughout the year. -Vardian Log #53 Spring, 1218 Eleven magi set off from Ostia, headed for Sardinia. -Rise Log #1 * * * [From THE DIARY OF VERDAN OF BONISAGUS]: It was just a few months after Innocent III had died, while the Cardinal of Colleges was still meeting in their secret places, making their secret plans, that down in Vardian's Tomb, we were doing much the same. 1216 was just coming to a close, and the fresh, new hope of 1217 had come to life. Finally, after several years of preparation, we were sitting down to write the charter to our new Covenant, Dragon's Rise. When first we began to write, there were nine of us, namely myself, Angus, Domita, Dubius, Flamma, Marlon, Meles, Nicholi and Tolas. Demoror, who had exiled himself to Magvillus several years before, kept in constant contact while we wrote the Charter, often offering good suggestions. Fabricatio, the Verditius who Flamma left on Sardinia, had no input upon the matter. Of those eleven of us, all would eventually sign the charter except Domita. She had wanted to come to Sardinia with us, but favors owed to Tractare kept her from achieving that goal. The writing of the charter was an interesting thing. The majority of the magi seemed quite indifferent about the thing. Only Flamma, Tolas, Angus and I had any great conflicts. The Bonisagus and the Tremere. Just as it has always been, I suppose. In the end, I think we came up with a Charter that we can all bear. I believe it is quite innovative, and may lead Dragon's Rise to greatness. Time will tell, I suppose. It's going to be sad to leave so many people behind. The elders. Acutus. Arridere. Muris. Vates. Most of the Mundanes. Still, Certus promises me that it is the correct thing to do. He has assured me that I can do more good at Dragon's Rise than I could at Vardian's Tomb, which is rife with Bonisagus. I hope he is right. Now, we just have the last preparations to complete. Tolas has been bargaining with Certus over what grogs we will take, and at the same time has been sending correspondences to Postestas, asking for grogs from them. The covenfolk have begun carefully moving our personal goods to the Vicious Ballerina, which Fortunatus has given to us. In a few weeks, we should be ready, upon the island of Sardinia with our new charter in hand. I dearly hope we shall not repeat the mistakes of the past. * * * [THE COMPLEAT CHARTER OF DRAGON'S RISE]: This is the charter of the covenant of Dragon's Rise, founded in the year of our lord 1218, on the island of Sardinia. This covenant was written and signed by Angus the Younger of Bonisagus, Demoror of Quaesitor, Dubius of Criamon, Fabricatio of Verditius, Flamma Incendere of Tremere, Marlon of Tremere, Meles of Criamon, Nicholi Fyoder Ivanovitch of Jerbiton, Tolas of Tremere and Verdan of Bonisagus under the auspices of the respected Quaesitor, Flamma of Tremere. DEDICATION This covenant is forthwith dedicated to increasing the strength of the Order and bringing harmony to the Order as a whole. This dedication is made not simply in name, but shall be the guiding principle of the folk of Dragon's Rise. May the strength and the peace of the order increase as does ours. REQUIREMENTS OF MEMBERSHIP Each member of this covenant shall be a member in good standing of the Order of Hermes. In ever a magus is cast out from the Order, they shall be considered cast out of this Covenant as well, without any delay. To become a Associate Member of Dragon's Rise, a magus must simply apply at a Council Meeting. Henceforth, they shall be a Associate Member as soon as they swear an Oath of Allegiance to Dragon's Rise. The only limitation to acceptance as a Associate Member of Dragon's Rise is that no members shall be accepted that are older than the current oldest member of the covenant. Associate Members shall have all rights and priveleges, and all duties and responsibilities of a Full Member except the right to vote at Council Meetings. Additionally, Associate Members of Dragon's Rise have two further obligations. These obligations are to met by every member of the Covenant, and where met by the founders of Dragon's Rise at the time of the founding. An Associate Member must, at once, donate one year of service to the covenant. Additionally, he must donate five pawns of colored vis or ten pawns of vim vis to Dragon's Rise. This vis need not be donated immediatelly, but a magus may not rise to Full Member status without said donation, except by vote of the Council. When the vis is donated, it shall be credited to the Covenant and placed in the vis pool. By vote of Council, other means may be used to meet the requirement of time, or the requirement of vis, or some portion of either. After an Associate Member has completed his obligation of time to the covenant, he becomes a Probationary Member of Dragon's Rise. At this point, he has all rights, priveleges, duties and responsibilities of a Full Member, including the right to vote. Magi shall retain Probationary Membership status until they are voted into Full Membership status, unless they are asked to leave the Covenant. At any Council meeting, any Full Member of Dragon's Rise may ask an Associate Member or a Probationary Member of Dragon's Rise, but not a Full Member, to leave the Covenant. This shall be done if the Full Member determines that he shall not vote for the Associate Member or the Probationary Member to become a Full Member. At once, the Associate Member or the Probationary Member shall lose his status at Dragon's Rise, and may never join again, not even as an Associate Member, except by vote of the Council. After a magus has been at Dragon's Rise for two years, as long as he has completed his two obligations, and risen to Probationary Member status, a vote shall be taken at a Council meeting to see if the magus shall gain Full Membership. If the Council unanimously votes to accept the Probationary Member, he shall at once become a Full Member of Dragon's Rise. Elsewise, he shall immediatelly lose all status at the covenant, and may never join again, not even as an Associate Member, except by vote of the Council. In exceptional cases, by vote of Council, the vote to accept a magus as a Full Member may be applied at any time after he has completed his obligations and left Associate Member status. RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES All members of this covenant, including Associate Members, Probationary Members and Full Members shall have all of the following rights and priveleges. The only exception shall be that Associate Members will not be given the right to vote, except by vote of the Council. If one of the servants who has been entrusted with the responsibility to oversee the finances, the equipment, the grogs, or the library of the covenant has good reason to believe that a resource is in perilously short supply, they may delay providing it to a magus until a Council meeting has been called. All rights, except the basic rights to food and lodging, may be denied by vote of Council. All members of the covenant of Dragon's Rise are entitled to the basic rights of the food and lodging required for good health, all mundane resources required for their ongoing studies, and the right to attend and speak at a meeting of the Council. All magi of Dragon's Rise may borrow arcane resources of the covenant for their own use by vote of Council. This includes, but is not restriced to, the right to borrow from the vis pool and the right to borrow any magical items belonging to the covenant. In extraordinary circumstances, any magus may access these resources without the vote of Council. Such allocations shall be discussed and voted on at the next meeting of the Council. If an expendable resource such as vis is consumed, the magus shall be expected to repay it in a timely manner, except by vote of Council. All magi of Dragon's Rise may have use of the vis pool, as is outlined in the section, 'VIS STORAGE,' below. When going upon a covenant expedition, a magus may take coins out of the covenant coffer or vis out of the covenant supply in the vis pool. Normal rules for minimal levels of money or vis still apply, except by vote of Council. If the magus should expend the money or vis while upon the expedition, he must account for it at the next meeting of Council, but shall not be expected to repay it from his own supplies, except by vote of Council. All magi of Dragon's Rise are entitled to access the skills and talents of any and all of those Mundanes who live and work at the covenant, and owe their time and service to the covenant, for the purposes of an excursion outside the covenant, except by vote of Council. All magi of Dragon's Rise are entitled to access the full library of the covenant, both mundane and arcane. Each magus is allowed to keep a book for no more than one season before they must allow another magus to read from it. Magi may expect to have their longevity potions made for them, but must pay the vis costs from their own credits. When a magus is hurt upon a covenant Mission in a manner which will not heal normally, he may expect that covenant resources will be used to heal him. This shall include, but not be limited to, expenditure of vis and seasons spent to invent appropriate spells or rituals. All grogs and companions shall be subject to these same protections if they are wounded upon covenant missions. Each magus who is a member of Dragon's Rise shall have a room filling one floor of one of the towers at Dragon's Rise. If there is no room in any of the existing towers, a new one shall be constructed as soon as is possible. VIS STORAGE At all times, the Covenant shall maintain supplies of vis in some central place, voted upon by the Council. A ledger shall be maintained that records, seperately, the number of pawns of Technique vis, colored Form vis and vim vis that are the Covenant's share of this vis pool. Said ledger shall be incremented every time vis is credited towards the Covenant. This shall include, but not be limited to, the payment required by Associate Members, the share the Covenant retains on any Covenant missions, and any vis made by members during seasons of service to the Covenant. If at the Winter Council Meeting of a year, the Covenant supply of Technique vis exceeds fourty pawns, the Covenant supply of colored Form vis exceeds fourty pawns, or the Covenant supply of vim vis exceeds sixty pawns, the excess shall be divided equally between all members of the covenant. A number of pawns of vis equal to to the number of members of the Covenant shall be taken from the Covenant supply of the appropriate category, and three credits in the vis pool shall be given to each member of the Covenant if the pawns taken were Technique vis, two credits if they were colored Form vis, and one credit if they were vim vis. This procedure shall be repeated until the three categories of vis are all below the earlier proscribed numbers. If dividing the excess among all of the members would drop any of the three categories of vis below twenty pawns, said allocation shall not occur. If there is an excess of vim vis, and the colored Form vis pool is less then twenty pawns, then vim vis shall be turned into colored form vis, of a type decided upon by the Council, until such a point that the pawns of vim vis owned by the Covenant drops below sixty, or the pawns of colored Form vis in the pool exceed twenty. All that point, allocation of excess vis may continue normally. At any time, magi of Dragon's Rise may gain credits in this vis pool by putting vis in it. Credits may also be gained due to vis found upon Covenant missions. A magus shall gain three credits for every pawn of Technique vis, two credits for every pawn of colored Form vis, and one credit for every pawn of vim vis that is put in the vis pool. It is suggested that all magi keep all vis not being used in the vis pool, except in special circumstances. Magi of Dragon's Rise may draw from the vis pool at any time, as long as they have sufficient credits, and as long as drawing from the vis pool would not reduce either the total pawns of Techniques, colored Forms or vim below twenty pawns. The magus shall lose one credit for every pawn of vim vis they take, two credits for every pawn of colored Form vis they take, and three credits for every pawn of Technique vis they take. Magi may draw from the vis pool, even if doing so would lower a category below twenty pawns, by vote of Council. In extraordinary cases, they may do so without a vote, in which case the allocation shall be discussed and vote upon at the next Council. Vis may be drawn from the Covenant's share of the vis pool by vote of Council. Votes may either be for one time use, or for regular use, as for an Aegis of the Hearth. This vis may be used for, but is not limited to, the making of magic items during seasons of service, rituals for the Covenant and the allocation of vis for Tribunals. ALLOCATION OF LABS As is noted earlier, every magus is guaranteed a lab within the Towers of Dragon's Rise, as well as lab equipment for that place. The following rules shall also be taken into account with regard to the labs at Dragon's Rise: A minimum of three additional labs, outside of the labs in the towers and the two labs in the cave shall be maintained. Experimentation shall be allowed in these labs, except by vote of Council. In general, these labs shall be used by members wishing to experiment, or by visitors to the Covenant. No arcane experimentation shall occur within the Towers of Dragon's Rise. Allocation of the two cave labs, in the area of higher aura, shall be decided at each Council Meeting, for that season, by vote of Council. If experimentation is planned in the caves, it should be mentioned, for it could factor into the decision of who shall use the labs. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES All members of the covenant, including Associate, Probationary and Full Members, shall be expected to follow all of the following duties and responsibilities, unless otherwise noted. Any magus may be excepted from a duty only by vote of Council. All magi shall provide an arcane connection to themselves when they enter the covenant, and they shall provide new ones if the old ones are ever destroyed. These arcane connections shall only be used by vote of Council, except in extraordinary circumstances, in which case they may be used at once, but shall be discussed and voted upon at the next Council. Each magus must surrender all vis and all money acquired on Covenant expeditions. Half of the Technique vis, half of the colored Form vis and half of the vim vis gained on these expeditions shall be allocated to the appropriate vis pools, and credited towards the Covenant's stores. The remaining vis shall be divided among the magi of Dragon's Rise, by allocating three credits for each pawn of Technique vis, two credits for each pawn of colored Form vis and one credit for each pawn of vim vis, and then dividing the sum of all of these credits equally among all members of Dragon's Rise. Said allocation shall only occur at the Winter Council Meeting of each year, and all of the excess vis, as well as any overflow, mentioned earlier, shall be allocated at that time. Any excess vis, which does not divide equally, shall be donated to the Covenant supply of vis. Any magic items gained upon Covenant missions shall go to the covenant, and be allocated by vote of Council. Each magus must donate one season per year to the covenant. By default, this season of duty shall match responsibilities that are appropriate to each magus by their Covenant Position, as outlined in 'COVENANT POSITIONS' below, but the matter of exactly what each magus is doing each year shall be voted upon by the Council at each Spring Council meeting. During the year that an Associate Member does the first part of his required year of duty for the Covenant, he shall be considered to have completed this duty. A year spent at Literatus shall also satisfy this requirement for one year. Each magus of the Covenant should be assigned a position by vote of Council at the first meeting in which they are not an Associate Meeting. This procedure is further outlined under 'COVENANT POSITIONS,' below. If vote of Council can ever not reach an agreement on some magus' work during a year, that magus shall extract vis for the covenant during his season of service. COVENANT POSITIONS Every magus shall be assigned a Position at the Covenant at the first Council meeting at which they are not an Associate Member. These positions should be reflective of the strengths of each individual magi. Every Spring, when jobs are assigned to the magi for the year, the magi's positions should be taken into account, as they reflect what each magus is best at. Many of the positions carry responsibilities which take less than a season of service a year. All magi shall always be responsible for a full season of service per year, except as otherwise noted in 'DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES' above, so other responsibilities shall be assigned by vote of Council whenever this is the case. Each magus may hold no more than one position at a time, although his position may be changed at any time by vote of Council. Enumerated, the positions shall be seven. They are: Leader, Chancellor, Faerie Envoy, Hunter, Protector, Teacher and Lab Worker. The Leader shall be a unique position, unless voted otherwise by the Council, and should be filled at all times. In general, the Leader shall oversee the activities of the covenant. He shall also be responsible for acting as an outward representative of the covenant, which shall include attending Tribunals in the covenant's name. Due to this role, the magus who is assigned the Leader position may not be a member of any other covenant, and his sigil may not be pledged to any other. A magus who has not won his sigil from his master is not considered to have it pledged to that person, and thus may fill the Leader position. In his absence, the Leader shall deputize a Vice Leader, who shall take on the Leader's normal responsibilities while the Leader is gone. The Autocrat shall directly report to the Leader, except for matters which require the full attention of the Council. The Chancellor shall be a unique position, unless otherwise voted by the Council, and should be filled at all times. In general, the Chancellor shall be responsible for external affairs, especially including Mundanes, and shall also be in charge of correspondences. The Faerie Envoy shall be a unique position, unless otherwise voted by the Council. He shall be in charge of all Faerie affairs. The Hunter shall be the default position, and every magus should be assigned to it if they are not well suited to any other position. The Hunters shall be in charge of vis collection and all external military affairs. If there are multiple Hunters, a Head Hunter may be chosen by vote of Council. The Protectors shall be in charge of all internal military affairs, which shall also include specific protections for the Covenant, such as the Aegis of the Hearth. The Grog Captain shall report directly to the Protector, or to the Head Protector, if there are several. By default, the grogs shall be under the jurisdiction of the Protectors, except when they are otherwise assigned, by the Protectors, or as noted in the 'MUNDANE POSITIONS' section below. If there are multiple Protectors, a Head Protector may be chosen by vote of Council. The Teachers shall be in charge of training apprentices. When it is possible, Dragon's Rise shall try and constantly keep apprentices at the covenant, and the Teachers shall start the training of them. If after three years, no magi of the covenant wish the partially trained apprentices, they may be distributed to other covenants by vote of Council. The Lab Workers shall be responsible for making all arcane things, including but not limited to, magic items, spells and longevity potions. MUNDANE POSITIONS There shall be seven major Mundane Positions at Dragon's Rise. They shall be: Autocrat, Grog Captain, Head Chirurgeon, Head Cook, Head Farmer, Sage and Ship Captain. The Autocrat position shall be filled by vote of Council. All other positions shall be filled by the Autocrat, although a vote of Council may override any such election. The Autocrat shall be responsible for the general Mundane runnings of the covenant. Among other things, he shall be directly responsible for the monetary resources of the Covenant and the Library, except when such matters require the attention of either the Council or the Leader. The Autocrat shall report directly to the Leader, and the other six Major Mundanes shall report directly to the Autocrat. The Grog Captain shall be responsible for all of the grogs of Dragon's Rise. He should be one of the grogs of the highest rank, preferably Lead, as explained below in the 'GROG HIERARCHY' section, although exact decision upon the Grog Captain will be made by the Autocrat, as explained above. The Grog Captain shall be expected to make appropriate reports both to the Autocrat and to the Head Protector. The Head Chirurgeon shall be a skilled healer, responsible for the well being of the members of Dragon's Rise. If the covenant is sufficiently large, he may have other chirurgeons under his control. The Head Chirurgeon shall report to the Autocrat. The Head Cook shall be responsible for the meals of the covenant, as well as other mundane matters assigned him by the Autocrat. If the covenant is sufficiently large, he may have other cooks or servants under his control. The Head Cook shall report directly to the Autocrat. The Head Farmer shall be responsible for overseeing any and all farmers who grow crops on and about the lands of Dragon's Rise. He shall report directly to the Autocrat. The Sage shall be responsible for learning Mundane subjects. He shall do his best to be well versed in many manners, Arcane and Mundane, so that when an obscure fact is needed, he can provide it or a reference to it. The Sage shall report to the Autocrat. The Ship Captain shall be responsible for the covenant's boat, the Vicious Ballerina. He shall take care of trading done upon the ship as well as the shipping of magi, when necessary. If Dragon's Rise gains multiple boats, each shall have a Ship Captain, and one shall be named the Head Ship Captain. Only that one shall be considered one of the seven major Mundanes. GROG HIERARCHY At all times, Dragon's Rise will try and maintain a number of grogs approximately double the number of the magi who are members of the covenant. Each grog shall be given a specific position. These positions shall be broken up into two major categories, the Guardians and the Specialists. The Guardians shall comprise approximately two thirds of the grogs at Dragon's Rise. First, each magus who is a member of Dragon's Rise shall be assigned a Personal Guardian. This assignment shall be permanent for the life time of the grog or magus, unless the magus requests a change, and there are grogs available. A Guardian shall be assigned to a magus as soon as possible, when there are grogs available. The rest of the Guardians shall be known as Covenant Guardians. It shall be their jobs to work directly with the Protectors to defend the Covenant. The Specialists shall comprise approximately one third of the grogs at Dragon's Rise. These will be grogs who are well trained for work in specific environments. Positions shall include Wood Specialists, City Specialists, Mountain Specialists and Water Specialists. The Wood and Mountain Specialists shall work with the Hunters, and the City Specialists with the Chancellor unless the Head Protector decides otherwise. In addition to the Guardians and Specialists, there shall also be a Grog Captain. He is one of the seven major Mundanes of the Covenant, detailed above. If there are less than the total desired number of Grogs at Dragon's Rise, Personal Guardians shall be assigned first, first to Hunters and others who especially need them, and there may be overlap among the positions. If the grogs at Dragon's Rise is approximately the desired number, double the number of magi, there should be no overlap among positions. Among the grogs, there shall be seven ranks. The higher ranks shall have better working and retirement benefits than the lesser ranks, although the exact decisions as to what these shall be shall be made by the Autocrat, except by vote of Council. The grogs of higher rank shall also have authority over the grogs of lesser rank upon any expedition. The ranks shall be represented by the metals associated with the spheres. In order, from least to greatest, they shall be silver, mercury, copper, gold, iron, tin and lead. After every five years of service, a grog shall come up for review, unless a magus asks a grog to be brought up for review earlier, due to exceptional service. If any one member is willing to step forward and speak for the grog, the grog shall be promoted by one rank, except by vote of Council. All grogs, as well as all Major Mundanes, who are wounded in the service of the Covenant shall be given Covenant supplies to heal their wounds, as is noted above in 'RIGHTS AND PRIVELEGES.' Longevity Potions and Magic Items will not be provided to Mundanes by the Covenant, although any individual magus may provide such rewards to any grogs that he wants to. COUNCIL MEETINGS Four times a year, at the start of each season, there shall be Council Meeting at Dragon's Rise, held in the Council Room, except in extraordinary cases. If Council Meetings are held at other times, all magi at the covenant must be notified. Only magi, their apprentices, their familiars, their guardian grogs, and the seven major Mundanes, noted above, are allowed at Council Meetings, except by vote of Council. Decisions may only be made at Council Meetings if there is a quorum. There shall be a quorum if three quarters of the magi of Dragon's Rise are present. If a magus is absent, he may leave his vote with another magus, an apprentice or a familiar. As long as someone at the Council Meeting holds a magus' vote for the meeting, by means of a proxy, the magus shall be counted as present for purposes of quorum. Unless otherwise noted, all votes at Dragon's Rise shall require three quarters of the votes to pass. Votes to admit new Full Members and change this charter shall require unanimous consent, while votes to remove Full Members from the covenant shall require unanimous consent minus one. To remove a Probationary or Associate Member from the Covenant shall only require one vote, as is mentioned in 'REQUIREMENTS OF MEMBERSHIP.' LAWS OF COMMUNITY Within the confines of Dragon's Rise, the members should do what they can to obey the rules of common courtesy to all others. This shall include, but not be limited to, the following: The rules of sanctums shall not be applied to the other magi of Dragon's Rise, although normal rules of courtesy are to be observed. Visitors within the covenant shall not be hurt. Items shall not be taken from other members of the covenant, except in extraordinary circumstances. These circumstances shall be reviewed at the next Council Meeting, and the item shall be returned as soon as it is no longer needed. If a magus finds an object or pet belonging to another memeber of the covenant, he should try and return it as soon as possible. Magi should try to control their possessions, pets, children and guests. If someone has some item and is not using it, and someone else could use it, the owning magus should lend out the item, until such a time as the owning magus needs it, or the borrowing magus no longer does. If some magus possesses an item which is useless to him, he should donate it to the covenant for appropriate allocation. OUTSIDE RELATIONS The following rules should be applied by magi when dealing with the world beyond Dragon's Rise: The location of Dragon's Rise shall be kept secret from all Mundanes, except by vote of Council. The magi of Dragon's Rise shall not attack or offend the grogs or magi of other Covenants, unless their life is in danger or the matter is part of an official Wizard's War or March. By vote of council, this rule can be abridged. The magi of Dragon's Rise shall be united at Tribunals, as is described later, in the 'TRIBUNALS' section. Vardian's Tomb and Postestas shall be given aid and support if requested, due to the debt that Dragon's Rise owes them. When at Literatus, magi of Dragon's Rise shall not sit upon the roof, except by vote of Council, or by approval of the head of Literatus. TRIBUNALS At the Spring Council Meeting, before each Tribunal, the magi of the covenant shall come together to decide upon votes at the coming Tribunal. All magi shall put their sigils into a central pool of sigils, to be used by the Covenant at Tribunal, unless their sigil is pledged to some person outside of the covenant. Magi who do not put their sigil in this pool, due to it being loaned out, may not vote on how the sigils shall be used. Important issues that are expected to be discussed at the Tribunal shall be brought up at the Council Meeting, and each member of Dragon's Rise shall vote how he would like the sigils used. A simple majority shall win the vote, and the sigils shall all be used in that manner at the Tribunal. Any magus may ask that his sigil be abstained from any specific vote, but this should only be done in the most extraordinary of cases. Magi should try to support their covenant, even if the final decision goes against what they originally voted for. If new issues are brought up at the Tribunal, a vote among all members of Dragon's Rise who are present shall be taken, and all of the sigils shall be used in the manner that the majority decided, except those for which abstentions have been requested. Vis may be allocated for use at Tribunals as per the usual vote of Council necessary for allocation of arcane resources. * * * [From THE CHRONICLES OF SALVADORE, AUTOCRAT OF VARDIAN'S TOMB]: The Council Meeting of Spring, 1218 was a sad one, for eight of the magi of Vardian's Tomb were leaving. For a time, the air was full of poignant goodbyes and saddened farewells. Finally, Certus of Bonisagus called the meeting to order, to put forth one important issue. When Certus had everyone's attention, he told of several recent changes that the elders had made to the Charter of Vardian's Tomb. First, he stated that it had been ruled that magi whose primary residence was another Covenant could not remain elders of the Tomb. However, he did say that any magus could chose to remain either a Full or Associate Member of the Tomb. As a Full Member, magi would be required to pay shares of vis and money, as always. As an Associate Member, they would simply be required to aid Vardian's Tomb if it was necessary. In both cases, magi would be able to use the resources of Vardian's Tomb, although in the latter case, this usage would be more limited. After weighing the choices, Angus of Bonisagus, Dubius of Criamon, Marlon of Tremere, Meles of Criamon, Nicholi of Jerbiton and Verdan of Bonisagus all chose to become Associate Members of Vardian's Tomb. Flamma of Tremere and Tolas of Tremere decided to let their membership at the Tomb lapse entirely. * * * [From THE RISE JOURNALS OF TOLAS OF TREMERE]: We have now all boarded The Vicious Ballerina, and Manual is ordering his men to cast off. Slowly, Ostia is fading away from us, and the open sea opening before us. In a few days, we shall be in Sardinia, ready to establish Dragon's Rise. I have taken this time to write the first entry in my new journal, The Journal of Dragon's Rise. Coming with me to Sardinia are ten other magi. The first eight, which are Flamma, Marlon, Dubius, Meles, Nicholi, Demoror, Verdan and Angus shall all sign the Charter as full members, along with Fabricatio, who awaits us in Sardinia, and myself, of course. The other two magi who have joined us on The Vicious Ballerina are Malcolm of Jerbiton and Musculus of Quaesitor. The first is Angus' former apprentice, who picked up his Jerbiton teachings in his years at Literatus, before Angus took him from that place. The second is the former apprentice of Demoror. They will both be becoming Associate Members when we hold the first Council Meeting at Dragon's Rise. I am not pleased with all of the magi who are coming, but I can deal with them at a later time. For now, while we're working on setting up the Covenant, they should be extremely useful. I also have word that there are three more magi waiting for us in Sardinia. The first is Lysander of Jerbiton, a merchant who has lived in Sardinia for a time. The second is Pumilio of Erimor, who should be able to fill the seemingly empty position of Hunter. The last is Stagnum Os of Bonisagus, a magus who showed up a couple of years ago and abruptly set up a lab next to Fabricatio's. I am not yet sure what to make of the last magus, but the first two should make valuable additions to the Covenant. Currently, we have sixteen grogs allocated for the Covenant. Vardian's Tomb gave as five, as did Postestas. The grogs of The Tomb are Guiseppe, Iago, Luigi, Pietro and Turelli, while the grogs of Postestas are Bartolini, Jacopo, Luchino, Karelos and Turati. I am confident in the abilities of the grogs of the Tomb, and quite sure of the loyalty of the Postestas grogs, to myself at least. When Stagnum Os took up residence on my island, he brought with him four grogs from the old Covenant of St. Nerius. They are Marcel, Martin, Reginald and Vicent. They are all relatively old, in their thirties and fourties. While we will have to replace them relatively soon, at least we will have their experience in the formative years of Dragon's Rise. Fabricatio has his own grog, named Beneletto, and Lysander has already corresponded that he had a personal bodyguard as well, a Norseman named Samson. And that brings our total to sixteen. I should note certain other specialists that we have brought to Dragon's Rise with us. Lamneth was convinced to come with us, and be the Head Chirurgeon. He was a bit regretful to leave Rome, but I convinced him that the wilderness surrounding our Covenant would be just as beautiful. The warriors Bolo and Victorio, who were never officially grogs of the Tomb, came as well, each for their own reasons. Finally, we also have Jaques, an entertainer who has been hanging around the Covenant for several years, and Manual, the captain of our own Vicious Ballerina. In total we have perhaps two score people who will be founding this new Covenant with me. Still, there are numerous voids that need to be filled. We shall need farmers, to grow our food, and servants, to meet our needs. Also, we need to at least double our number of grogs. And still, we have the problem of money. Vardian's Tomb and Postestas have promised to support us for a time, but we will eventually need to break that bond. We can not expand our retinue of Mundanes too much until we are able to do that. I must now end this entry, for I hear Manual complaining that the geography has gone all wrong. If he has gotten us lost in the Faerie Realms again due to this wretched ship, I will not be pleased. * * * [From THE DIARY OF VERDAN OF BONISAGUS]: After being lost at sea for five weeks, due to the cursed Faerie Magic of the Vicious Ballerina, we finally arrived in Sardinia. After docking in Cagliari, we collected Lysander and Pumilio, two magi who had been awaiting our arrival, and set to marching inland, towards our new Covenant. Two and a half days later, I had my first view of Dragon's Rise. There rose a hill, and it was in that hill that the cave which had once been the lair of a dragon was. Surrounding the hill, marking the edges of the more powerful aura, was a small wall, perhaps five feet tall, as well as a shallow ditch. Within the wall were two buildings. One belonged to Fabricatio, and the other to Stagnum. Beyond the walls, several more huts stood, and those held the five grogs who were already at Dragon's Rise. After we had spoken with Fabricatio and Stagnum for awhile, we began to make preparations for our rituals. Flamma unpacked the book which contained Conjuring the Mystical Tower and The Shrouded Glen and gathered the vis to cast the first spell. Very soon the first of the towers of Dragon's Rise rose upon the hill, dwarfing Fabricatio's old lab. Flamma was too tired to cast further rituals in that same day, so we retired to the Council Room, on the ground floor of our first tower. And thus, the first Council Meeting of Dragon's Rise was begun, in the seventh week of Spring, 1218. First, the ten of us who had already put our time into the founding of the Covenant signed the Charter, becoming the first ten full members. Then, we accepted Lysander, Malcolm, Musculus and Pumilio as our first Associate Members. Stagnum Os was also accepted as an Associate Member, but he left the Covenant a few days later. It seems that he was upset over not being named a Full Member at once, when he had been at the site of Dragon's Rise for several years already, and had provided us with four grogs. I was sorry to see another Bonisagus go. At least, his grogs did remain, for he had no real means of supporting them, while we did. After those formalities were done, we began to make the assignments of positions, as per our Charter. Tolas was named the Leader, Nicholi the Chancellor, and Dubius the Faerie Envoy. Flamma and Meles were made Protectors, and Angus, Fabricatio and I became Lab Workers. Marlon is our sole Hunter. I should note that Tolas was quite a manipulator during these proceedings. He tried to get me made a Hunter, because he was unhappy that I had opposed him on many matters in the Charter. This simply tells me that certain worries that I have had about him are true. As much as I hate to distrust another of the members of my own Covenant, he shall have to be watched. After we were finished assigning the magi's positions, we proceeded to argue about the ranks of the grogs from the various places. Finally, it was decided that the grogs of Vardian's Tomb would be given their rank by their years, and that all other experienced grogs would be named Mercury Grogs. Afterwards, assignment of all of the grogs was made. My personal guardian is a warrior named Vicent of the Shield, originally from the Covenant of Saint Nerius. He seems a nice enough fellow, although the other grogs make occasional jibes about shaving wolves. I'll have to ask him exactly what that means some time. With all of those matters out of the way, we finally began to talk of the deeper matters of Dragon's Rise. Although we had a Covenant, made up of several buildings and two score people, it was quite economically unsound. Fabricatio had a bare minimum of income coming in, due to magical aide his grog was giving to a nearby silver mine, but that was only enough to support a few people. We clearly needed much more money to keep our Covenant solvent. For a time, Postestas and Vardian's Tomb have promised to give us the finances that we need, but that state of things can not last forever. So, we began to make decisions on how to supplement our income. First, we would take in a number of farmers to grow crops on the nearest lands to us. Then, we would build a road, to make travel to our Covenant easier. Additionally, we shall begin to use the Vicious Ballerina for mercantile commerce. This will not be nearly enough, but definitely seems a good start towards putting Dragon's Rise on stable financial grounds. Shortly, we broke. Over the next two days, Flamma created a second tower, and warded our Covenant with a Shrouded Glen. Afterwards, we all joined together to cast the ritual of the Aegis of the Hearth. I have never seen so much vis disappear in such a short time. Now, we are all going about the many Mundane tasks that we need to accomplish, to complete the foundation of this Covenant. Lysander and Angus returned to Rome on one of Lysander's ship. They are to collect the lab equipment that Postestas has waiting for us in a warehouse. Manual has returned to Rome as well, aboard the Vicious Ballerina. He is to speak with Marco Paulo, and try to collect farmers who would be willing to grow crops upon our land. Marlon, Dubius, Meles and I have begun work upon a road, heading from the nearby village of Vienchiza to Lake Omeda, North of us. It will swing right by our Shrouded Covenant, so that we can make use of it. The others have engaged in a variety of jobs. Buildings and huts need to be constructed and labs set up and a score more things. I suspect that the work over the rest of Spring will be more grueling than any of us are used to. But, we shall be setting up a bright new Covenant. A new hope for the Tribunal. I think it will be worth it. * * * [From THE WIT AND WISDOM OF DUBIUS OF CRIAMON]: On Building Roads: "That's a waste of [my] talent!" On Decisiveness: "Watch this! What should I do?" On Friends: "I have a friend?" On His Personal Guardian: "He's not uglier than I am!" On Meles of Criamon: "He's my brother!" * * * [From THE RISE JOURNALS OF TOLAS OF TREMERE]: Spring has passed on to Summer, and now, the Council Room of Dragon's Rise has known two Council Meetings. My magi all gave reports of what they had done during the season, and I am quite pleased with the results. Our lab equipment has arrived, and although several sets were deficient, we have plenty for all of the magi. Manual returned from Rome with a load of farmers, who have since settled beyond our walls, and begun to create a community. Nicholi and Lysander travlled during the seasons, and were able to provide good reports on the nearest villages. To the South, perhaps five miles away is the closest village to us. It has a population of about 100, and is named Caseseppi. Off to the West, about nine miles, is the city of Aritzo. It has about 180 residents, as well as the silver mine which is providing us with a small bit of income. Finally, off to the South West eleven miles is Vienchiza, a village of 160. It is a bit troublesome, for there are both a Church and a Priest there. Eventually, that place may have to be dealt with. After the others have finished with their reports, I explained that I had been continuing to examine our financial situation. I revealed the tracts of woodland that I had discovered which were owned by various Pisans, but utterly ignored. We shall begin selling some of the wood from these areas when we have woodsman to harvest it. It was also decided during the Council Meeting what tasks our Associate Members would undertake during the season of Summer. It was determined that Lysander, Musculus and Pumilio would search the island for possible sources of vis, while Malcolm would stay within the lab, acting as a vis source himself. The second Council Meeting of Dragon's Rise was called to an end after Fabricatio, Flamma and Meles all announced that they would be heading to Literatus to put in their year of service. Before he left, I made Fabricatio lend me his Wizard's Boost Amulet. It has been too useful in the last month to let it rot in Ancona for a year. * * * [From THE DIARY OF VERDAN OF BONISAGUS]: The air has begun to warm a bit as Summer has descended upon us. It is quite strange to see the changes in the season, as slight as they truly are, after so long in the caves. Now, however, this season has been marred, by blood and torture in our village. The first I head of it was when Demoror called a special Council Meeting, several weeks into the season. Very soon, we had all gathered, and Demoror began to explain our problem. Apparently, there had been a killing in the village that we had set up for our farmers. A man called Guiseppe had killed another, for various obscure reasons. It was hard for me to say, but I had to suggest that Guiseppe be killed, for he seemed a horrid beast. The others all agreed. We determined that we would allow the villagers to choose the manner of execution, and to perform it as well. The villagers decided to kill the fellow by impalement, which is said to be a slow and horrid death. I hid myself in my lab, and tried to avoid the spectacle that I knew was neccessary. I think I have managed to convince myself that I was right in my suggestion. * * * [From THE DIARY OF VERDAN OF BONISAGUS]: In Mid Summer, Lysander of Jerbiton was married to Maria, the daughter of a merchant. I hope he finds happiness. Likely, he will not. * * * [From THE RISE JOURNALS OF TOLAS OF TREMERE]: Summer is approximately half done already, and Lysander, Musculus and Pumilio have thus far been unsuccesful in their searching for sources of vis. All they have been able to come up with are tales of a dragon's cave and a faerie forest. Hopefully by the end of things, the season will be more productive. * * * [From Silva Ambage's Notes on THE LAST DAYS OF SAINT NERIUS]: Today, I saw an old friend. Stagnum Os, one of the old members of Saint Nerius came into my Faerie Forest, looking for me. After he and Georgie and I talked for a while, I finally set him on his way. I told him of the aura that the Tomb Magi had claimed down in Sardinia, and assured him that they'd be happy if he joined that other Verditius magus down there, to help claim the area. Of course, they probably won't be, and if Flamma does ever decide to actually set up a Covenant there, there could be a bit of a squabble. But, what fun is life if you don't create a bit of trouble every once in a while? Before Stagnum left, he told me the complete story of Saint Nerius, and everything that had happened after Georgie and I left. It was quite interesting to hear of my former Covenant. In the early days, Saint Nerius was a constantly boiling pot of problems. Two magi had already died before I arrived, and after my arrival, problems seemed still to be assaulting us from all directions. There were corrupt church man, and the demon Rose, and all other manner of things. I still remember the hostility that was apparent at the Tribunal of 1200. And then, Georgie took off, when he knocked himself out by that lake, and I followed shortly afterwards. According to Stagnum, Marbaid too left the Covenant, shortly after we did. In early 1202, the magi of St. Nerius had a climatic confrontation with a diabolist who had been trying to corrupt them. Apparently, the Covenant of Ignagena had all been a farce, created by him to lure the magi down the road of blackness. He had been responsible for certain troubles at the Tribunal as well. After his death, things settled down. For a time. By 1211, however, things had become bad again. Many of the magi were still at the Covenant, including Acer, Anchises, Atratus, Cleo, Dedecus, Nihilidum, Rusticus and Stagnum, but things had changed. Due to the legacy of Nerius, the monks of the Monastery had not yet banished the magi, despite the Papal Bull of 1209, but things were not good. In Spring, Magvillus declared that St. Nerius must be disbanded, but by then, it was too late. While that message was being carried to France, an uprising came at the Monastery of St. Nerius. The magi were all forced to flee, lest they be burned by the advancing churchman. According to Stagnum, all of the magi did flee except one. Acer. Stagnum said that he watched from a nearby hill for a while. Acer tried to talk with the monks for a bit, no doubt explaining the compassion of God. But, the monks showed no compassion that day. Acer was killed, and the remnants of the Covenant of St. Nerius torn down and burned. Such is the way of things today, I suppose. I almost shed a tear for St. Nerius, which was my home for a few years. Almost.