Vardian Log #1: Arrival Date: Summer, 1198 ** The Characters Angus of House Bonisagus Magus (Don) Certus of House Bonisagus Elder Magus Chavin of House Tytalus Elder Magus Demorar of House Quaesitoris Magus (Billy) Durus of House Ex-Misc Magus (Eric) Fernando Grog Ferramentum of House Verditius Elder Magus Fortunatus of House Jerbiton Elder Magus Geoffrey Leeds of House Verditius Magus (Phil) Hadrian of House Flambeau Elder Magus Luke of House Jerbiton Elder Magus Meles of House Criamon Magus (Dave) Sigmundo Merchant, Rome Sophia Sigmundo's Wife Terra Natus of House Ex-Misc Elder Magus Tiro of House Jerbiton Magus (Chris) Tractare of House Tremere Elder Magus ** From the Journal of Certus ** Today, four new magi arrived. It was not due to my choice, for I would prefer that the young fools not be running around my Covenant, but I was far outvoted. All of the other stubborn fools felt that our Covenant was slipping into Winter, and that it would not survive if we did not do this. Bah. If nothing else, it will give me new people to run my errands. We all agreed that we would advertise for the new magi, and I can only think that that fool Fortunatus must have cheated in this, for of the new magi that came to our Covenant two, the Jerbiton, Tiro, and the mushroom farmer, Durus, both sat on his side of the table, while only one, the Criamon Meles, sat towards me, and he seemed hesitant even in that. The Quaesitor, Demoror insisted on sitting right in the center of the table, which I acceded too. But, I have shown the fool. To spite the fact that his chair was nailed down, I moved the entire table, and now he truly sits closer to me. However, I was bound by my earlier agreement to accept all who came. I was still able to force these magi to go upon a mission for me, however, before they be accepted. Stubborn Fortunatus has claimed the same privilege. By simply insinuating that I might challenge Fortunatus to Certamen I forced him to allow my mission to go first. Even now, the foolish youngsters are preparing to go deep below our Covenant, to the dangerous lake that we collect vis from. With luck, some of the Jerbiton will disappear like Taron did so long ago. ** From the Journal of Fortunatus ** The new magi seem relatively pleasant, even if one of them does sit on Stubborn Certus' side. Although we had agreed to accept all who came, Certus insisted that the magi be sent upon a mission first. I was forced to ask for a mission for myself as well, to keep things balanced, so now the young magi will run off first to the lake far below us where the dangerous vis may be had, and then up to the city of Rome, to deal with a problem that two of my old friends are having. Ah well, Certus is always complicating things. With any luck, we shall see who may truly survive in the city above. ** From the Accounts of Tractare ** These new magi are wonderful! Already, I have been able to do many favors for them. Tiro has been given a set of nice clothing, while I have agreed to help Demorar with his longevity potion. Durus seems to be quite enjoying this favor business, for I have already given him a very large lab, adjoining a room large enough to grow mushrooms in, and he has also approached me on the question of challenging Chavin, whom he has already been beaten at Certamen by, to Certamen. Durus wishes Chavin to be forced to sit at the other side of the table, so that he may sit nearer to Certus' side. I think the agreement shall be quite lucrative. Even better, I have heard that two more magi have arrived. The first is Angus, a Bonisagus, and the second is Geoffrey, a Verditius. I shall soon have to see what I can do for them. ** From the Journals of Fortunatus ** The new magi seem to be solidly with the Bonisagus' inhumane mentality if their first little journey is any indication. About a mile below us is a large lake that we collect about twenty pawns of vis per year from. It is a very dangerous place, however, for the lake is so magical that it occasionally spawns monsters, who take the vis as a part of them, and must be killed to retrieve it. Well, stubborn Certus sent poor Fernando with these magi, to lead them to the lake. When the magi were near the lake, something scared Fernando, and he apparently went running off. When the magi caught up with him, poor Fernando was dead. They spoke with his spirit, and found that something had scared the poor grog to death. Damned Caverns. When the magi finally arrived at the Cavern, a very beautiful place, they thought at once of the vis, of course, and soon had retrieved ten pawns from the lake itself. However, deciding that this was not enough, they began searching for things to kill to obtain more vis. Soon, they came upon a helpless beastie that called itself Wetfur, and they descended upon it with glee, for they sensed that the poor beast had ten pawns of animalem vis in it. From the scattered reports that I have heard, Geoffrey held the creature out, while Durus hit it with his morning star, as hard as he could. Durus hit it with such a powerful blow, doubtless wishing to be sure that it was little more than a crushed pulp, that the creature's corpse bounced back into the lake. This was a mistake, for the magickal properties of the lake mutated and then reanimated the body of the marmit, and the magi were soon faced with a huge reptilian monster, with the head of the peaceful beast that they had just killed. From what has been told me, the beast nearly maimed Demorar, which would have been no great loss, for a Quaesitor will only cause problems here, before the rest of the magi killed it. The youngsters proudly returned to the Covenant with their twenty pawns of vis, and the dead grog, and Certus was quick to congratulate them. I, however, am almost afraid to send them to my friend Sigmundo, in Rome, to deal with his problem. ** From the Journals of Certus ** After what they did in Rome, while on that fool Fortunatus' mission, I am almost afraid to let the young fools back into the Covenant, for fear of what they may destroy here. Fortunatus had apparently sent the magi up to Rome because a merchant there, who sells some items for us had complained of some hauntings. Well, the magi ran up to Sigmundo's residence, in Rome, and instead of moving straight to the problem like any wise man would do, ate with the merchants, and spoke with them for many hours. Finally, they moved onto business. Showing a glimmer of intelligence, they began to investigate many of the items that the merchants were selling. They were mostly things that our grogs had excavated, and brought to them to sell, to help bring money into the Covenant for our continued research. Apparently, they finally came upon a whitewashed vase, which had a tiny piece of bone fragment in it. The reports that I heard following this were somewhat chaotic, but apparently, a ghost came at them, which, from their descriptions could only be that of Vardian himself, whose skull was used long ago, by the hedge wizards when they tried to fight off Flambeau. I am somewhat worried that he is active again, for last time, when he caused his undead army to rise, he nearly destroyed our Covenant. However, instead of fleeing, and bringing the bone fragment to me, or perhaps even banishing Vardian's shade, the fools, primarily Angus, who should have known better, destroyed the fragment, causing the ghost to quickly leave, no longer having a reason to be in Rome above. They insist that the fragment was non-magical, unlike those that we have now, but I do not trust the word of such young magi. They probably failed to cast Sense the Nature of Vis correctly, or didn't know how to. Alas, I am bound to accept these fools into my Covenant, and I shall not break my word now. I am sure that they will not survive long if they continue as they have.