The Quaesitor
The Bath of Healing and the Lost Son
Wrath of the West Wind
The Mysterious Path
3rd - 5th October 1220
With the beginning of autumn the magi started to use the newly arrived lab equipment to complete their labs. Only Titus decided to delay this work in favour of learning the Aegis of the Hearth. Father Clement started to teach Olivier and some of the coven folk Latin. Sertorius discovered that the water in the bath house at Rennes le Bains contains corpus vis.
During the night of the 3rd October a black carriage and several guards on horses arrived in front of the covenant gates. This turned out to be the arrival of Quaesitor Bernadus Cupidus and his two hoplites of house Flambeau. They were greeted by the magi and assigned rooms in the covenant. Bernadus announced that he will investigate the fate of the old covenant at this site to determine whether the founding of a new covenant at the same site is legal. He made it clear that he expected to speak to all magi the next day.
Gathering in the council chamber the magi were questioned about their arrival at the covenant, what they had found out about the previous covenant, and what their intentions are. Hearing that Zeebebah and Sertorius had been in Carcassonne in spring he asked them if they had heard anything about an attack on an priest at the cathedral. They denied knowing anything about this incident. The Quaesitor then went on to question Etienne, Sir Bertrand, and other coven folk. During his investigation he showed much interest in the Carcassonne incident and learned that Dominic had spoken with the priest.
Later that day Zeebebah decided that it would be best for her and Sertorius to confess their involvement in the Carcassonne attack. At night she went to see Bernadus to tell him everything. He talked to Sertorius afterwards who confessed as well. Threatening them with a wizards march Bernadus left the next day for Carcassonne.
Bernadus stopped at Bugarach to talk to Dominic. Walking into the village alone he had no trouble finding Dominic at the Priory. While talking to the suspicious Dominic and the bishop the carriage and guards were passing through the village. Dominic sensed an evil presence and was about to run out to deal with whatever he may find there but was held back by Bernadus.
At sunset, several hours after Bernadus had left Dominic realised that he had been tricked into staying away from the presence he had sensed. It was now obvious to him that he had to chase down and destroy this evil. He went to the covenant asking for help. Sir Bertrand was very happy to help him but the magi refused any help and tried to persuade Dominic to abandon his plan. Dominic was unimpressed by their arguments and magic. Eventually he headed back to Bugarach alone. Here he asked Maximillian? and Father Francis? for help and received holy relics to aid and protect him as well as the bishops blessings. On his horse Dominic rode off into the night and towards an uncertain fate.
7th October 1220
Sertorius, Titus, and Zola went to Rennes-les-Bains to investigate the vis Sertorius had discovered in the local bath house. They found out that the bath is owned by Lord Montferrand. Inside they discovered that the water in the main basin contains three pawns of corpus vis. But they were unable to find any cause for the presence of the vis.
Arriving back at the covenant they found that André? had returned. André had gone missing during a visit to Mistridge. He was greeted by the magi and questioned by Titus. André reported that he was attacked by strange creatures while trying to leave the forest that surrounds Mistridge. Badly wounded he was found by Jeannette and brought to a small hut just outside the forest. There she treated his wounds and nursed him for several month. After André had recovered from his wounds she told him that she won't be able to come to the hut any longer and asked him to return to Bugarach. Titus was unable to detect any active spells on André.
13th October 1220
While the magi were enjoying their dinner in the court yard Zola noticed a change in the aura surrounding the covenant. Titus confirmed that it had changed to a strong faerie aura. While they were still discussing this matter lightening started to strike all around the covenant. They hurried to the roof to get a better view of the surroundings. From the top of the main building they noticed to figures standing between the houses. The strong wind blowing over the mountain top increased to a storm and the magi thought it best to leave the roof and greet the two strangers.
Zola remembered a story about two faeries praying to Jupiter to protect the area from the strong west wind. Jupiter answered their prayer by creating the Pech de Bugarach.
Leaving the main building to enter the bailey the magi were met by the increasing force of the storm as a giant figure formed out of clouds at the other end. The cloud giant assaulted the two faeries, demanding that they should disappear and announced his intention to destroy the mountain. Trying to approach the scene Titus and Zola were thrown back by the storm. Sertorius managed to get hold of Titus and both were thrown to the ground while Zola was stopped by the wall of the main building. A giant thunderclap knocked out Titus and left Sertorius and Zola stunned for a moment.
After sending one of the faeries to the ground the West Wind unleashed a hord of cloudy horses against the magi. Sertorius managed to fly into the air in time to avoid them. Struggling against the storm he managed to control his movement so that he was not blown away. Zola used her magic to take out the horses and drag Titus into relative safety inside the covenant.
The remaining faerie asked for help from the magi as the West Wind smashed one of the houses. Sertorius drew his sword and trew himself against the wind to get within reach of the cloud figure. Zola failed to hit the clouds with one of her spells. While Sertorius continued his efforts in battling the cloud giant Zola gathered all her power and immobilised the giant. Sertorius was flung away by one of the West Wind's blows while Zola continued to dump earth on the cloud figure. Eventually this caused the West Wind to disappear. With him the two faeries and the faerie aura disappeared and everything returned to normal. Three destroyed houses,four dead, and six wounded grogs were still giving evidence of the madness of this night.
A messenger was sent to fetch Father Clement from the village. Accompanied by Bishop Maximillian? he took care of the funerals and tried to comfort the survivors.
On the covenant grounds where the last lightening had struck Titus discovered a pawn of Auram vis.
17th October 1220
At the night of the next full moon Titus, Sertorius, and Father Clement set out to investigate the series of standing stones. Reading the cryptic instructions on one of the loose pages they found in the books they suspected that the path marked by the stones leads to the devil's seat. Accordingly they travelled to the stone furthest from the covenant. On their way they investigate the stone that is known as the knight and Titus discovered a weak infernal aura around the stone.
When the moon came out at night they walked back along the stones but nothing happened. They arrived at the other end shortly before dawn and discovered that an inscription had appeared on the last stone:
Titus discovered a regio boundary close to the stone. Much to Father Clement's surprise they walked through it to find themselves in strange looking version of the landscape in the middle of the night. They followed the stones, reading the inscriptions that appeared on them.
At the end they found a fourth stone that had not been there before.
Passing this stone they found themselves back in the mundane world, in bright day light. They did not find any vis as they had hoped. But the newly discovered stone remained in the mundane world.