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-====== Bullington Priory ======
+====== Spiders ======
 //Spring, 1224//
-Friar Luke Walding obtains a letter of introduction from the village priest near Nocte Flamma to Bullington Priory, enquiring as to the missing covenfolk. At the Priory he is able to ask questions and determine that the guards who accompanied the nuns remember coming across dead bodies on the road, apparently attacked by bandits. They brought them back to the Priory for burial. Their memories seem incomplete and sketchy.
+The area around Cruentis Petram in the Yorkshire Dales is full of caves, many of which are home to the supernatural. Having spent much of the season investigating the deaths at Nocte Flamma, it is decided to use the rest of their time spelunking looking for vis.
-Karl-Erik is also able to gain access to the canons, and using Luke's letter is also given the opportunity to question the nuns. One of them has a much clearer memory of what happened, but insists that the bodies were found on the road, not at the manor that is the covenant. The nuns had gone with another of their number who was starting a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and were returning from the port where she had boarded a ship down to London. They stayed at the manor on the way back, and say they found the bodies the following morning.
+Several caves are investigated, and some vis sources are located (including some magical berries growing on the roots of a tree, and the pool of a blind water faerie with a fear of loud noise). One cave has a magically created back wall, about 300 years old. Carved onto the wall are the words "Here lays the flesh of Helione ex Tytalus. May she find wisdom in her sleep." They decide not to explore further until they can find out some more about Helione.
-There have been a couple of unfortunate deaths here in the last year, and many of the nuns seem to be remarkably skilled and are very prideful of those skills. Friar Luke picks up a hint of unholy taint in one of the nuns, who is gifted at flower arranging.
+A cave of giant spiders is also investigated. Most of the small spiders (the size of a large dog) are destroyed, as are a couple of larger spiders (bigger than a man). There is evidence that an even larger spider dwells within though, and a rest is declared before any further exploration is done.
-Uriel sneaks inside the priory and investigates the nun's quarters, eventually finding some sharp, thin knives in their cells. They possibly match the wounds the magi determine are on the bodies - precise strikes into the brain. One of the canons, a gifted scribe who was also prideful of his work, was possibly killed in a similar way. Uriel also investigates the libraries at the priory, which seem to be of good quality and contain some interesting works on academic knowledges, as well as languages and music.
+----
-There is much discussion as to motives and the nature of the assassins. Though many aspects of the situation points towards demons, some of the motives seem odd.
+The magi investigate the smoking caves of the spiders and harvest what vis they can. There is also vis in the bodies that the spiders have wrapped in their webs, Animal in the animals and some Corpus in the body of what is presumably a peasant. They are not sure whether the victims were magical in nature, or whether some process created the vis. There are still larger spiders dwelling deeper in the caves, so they decide to leave them and come back later, in case they can harvest them for vis.
+There is a large eye carved on a weathered rock on a hill, which has a strong magical aura. The eye seems to be part of a face, mostly buried in the top of the hill. Reckoning that the face belongs to a large stone humanoid, they estimate a total height of about two hundred paces. Any attempts to investigate the stone magically fails to penetrate its resistance, though they determine that it has a magical might of around twelve magnitudes. The magi do no currently have a way to investigate directly any further, so leave it alone for the time being.
 ----
-After some more investigation of the Priory, it is decided to send word to the parens of the two deceased Flambeau to make them aware of the situation, and to leave things alone. If those of House Flambeau wishes to risk causing problems with the Church then the risk is theirs.
+=== Historical Research ===
+== Proceedings of the Stonehenge Tribunal, AD 927 ==
+Kalsua ex Tytalus of Sursum covenant wishes to declare the maga Helione ex Tytalus as rogue and an enemy of the Order. She charges her with theft of property from the sanctums of several magi in Sursum, of betraying the covenant charter, and of declaring an illegal wizards war against the whole covenant in an attempt to cover up her crimes.
+Kalsua also wishes to charge the magus Bulrion ex Tytalus with theft of property, of aiding an enemy maga against his own covenant and of breaking the covenant charter by leaving without payment of dues.
+The decision of the Tribunal was to deny the request of Sursum covenant in regards to declaring Helione ex Tytalus a rogue. Helione was also found innocent of the charge of illegally declaring a war. Sufficient notice is deemed to have been given according to the strict letter of the law. Since the magi of Sursum refused to state what damage was done, what items were stolen, or which cult secrets were betrayed, Helione ex Tytalus was declared innocent of all charges.
+Bulrion ex Tytalus was charged with paying 7 pawns of vis to Sursum for the breaking of their charter, but all other charges are denied due to lack of evidence.
-Next on the covenant's agenda is the issue of what happened to the maga Matilda ex Miscellanea. The demon that caused her death was Nithael, the same demon that had been causing problems for the magi for the last few years. This time they decided to try and come up with a plan to finish him for good.
+== Proceedings of the Stonehenge Tribunal, AD 934 ==
-The raven Zephon scouts out the village of Fox Hill for them, and determines that Nithael is mostly possessing one person, but has parts of himself possessing other targets as well. They will need to make sure that they kill all the parts to finish him for good. Zephon also believes that the demon has a weakness to topaz.
+The charge of the murder of the maga Kaliste ex Tytalus had been made against Helione ex Tytalus by Kalsua ex Tytalus of Sursum covenant. Other than the disappearance of both maga, no evidence was presented. Given that Helione had not been seen for several years, and those who brought the charges were now dead, this Tribunal decided to take no further action.
-His main target is Joseph, who has built a small infernal shrine up in the woods to which he goes to every Sunday afternoon after church. Joseph is taking over control of the village, though seems prone to fits of possibly suicidal depression. The magi set an ambush, with Columbanus laying out a circle of infernal warding and dampening it's effects to mask it from the Demon, and Shale laying in wait with him.
+The maga Morridir ex Diedne of Lux Draconis covenant claimed damage to her lab by the magi of Sursum covenant and sought restitution. The Tribunal found Sursum to be guilty. However, given that the only surviving magus of Sursum was an apprentice at the time, the Tribunal decided that he could not be held responsible and therefore no restitution was permitted.
-The others go to the village with Jeremiah shortly after Joseph has left. Jeremiah has a part of the True Cross. They pose as traders, offering samples of free beer (mixed with ground topaz) to the locals, and wait for the more belligerent villagers to force their way to the front. Hoping that these are the possessed, Jeremiah then presents his Cross and begins a sermon, hoping to drive the parts of Nithael out of the villagers and back to his main host, at least temporarily.
+Quaesitor Jardunicus of Blackthorn has investigated the destruction of Sursum covenant and all the magi within. Due to the covenant’s close relationship with the nobles of Cornwall, it was attacked and destroyed by the forces of Athelstan in 931. The Tribunal will take no further action in this, and revenge attacks against Athelstan were forbidden.
-At the shrine, Joseph begins his rituals and a demonic figure appears, which takes the form of an old woman. Columbanus cancels the suppression of the warding circle, and hits the woman with Perdo Vim, whilst Shale uses darts of Topaz. The demon is defeated, and as far as they can tell they have destroyed him for good.
+Examination of the surviving notes left in the ruins implied that several magi of the covenant, including Kalsua ex Tytalus, were Titanoi cultists who were experimenting with the summoning of demons. Several letters imply that at least one other member of the cult outside of Stonehenge may also be involved in these diabolic practises. The Quaesitor at Fudarus covenant has been notified. The surviving apprentice was declared innocent of these events and now resides at Blackthorn, under the tutelage of Bordanus ex Bonisagus.
-Joseph breaks down on the death of his 'mother', and Shale prevents him from killing himself. They get him back to the village and deliver him to the priest for him to look after. Possibly, the demon was using his mother's form as a means to corrupt and destroy him.