Rhiannon's Visit to the Library of Cad Gadu (Spring-Summer 1227)
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The Wizards' Council of Spiritus Draconis decided in 1227 to send a
representative to the covenat of Cad Gadu in order to learn about the
history, lore, and legal precedents of the Stonehenge Tribunal.
Rhiannon was the obvious candidate to go.

Arriving at Cad Gadu
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Early in Spring 1227, with patches of snow still on the alpine meadows,
Rhiannon and her escort arrived on the shore of the misty lake in which
Cad Gadu stands on an island.  You hadn't had time to write ahead, so no
one was there to greet you.  At first, you decided to camp on the lake
shore in the hope that the covenant would notice you and send out a
herald.  You waited overnight, with trepidation slowly turning to
dread.  Cad Gadu is known for its dislike of visitors.

The lake shore wasn't totally deserted; there were pastures and a few
cottages around.  You found a cotter who had a small fishing punt, and
who could be persuaded to lend it to you for a few pennies (he adamantly
refused to ferry you out to the "haunted island").

You were met at the jetty by a force of a dozen grogs in ill-fitting,
ill-kept,  and mismatched armor, armed with spears.  They were downright
rude.  You tried to explain, as politely as possible, that you were here
to visit Catrin and could they please give her the message before
throwing you and your grogs in the lake.  No dice.  With some shoving
and cursing, they set you firmly back in the borrowed punt and pushed it
off the small jetty with their spear-points.

You did not become a magus by giving up easily, though.  You returned
the boat to the cotter and managed to purchase some food from him (at
an extortionate price).  Then you steadfastly camped by the shore of
the lake for another three days, keeping a campfire burning.

On the fourth morning, a longboat appeared out of the morning mist with
Catrin standing in the bow and a surly-looking handful of grogs at the
oars (they were some the same grogs who had turned you away earlier).
Catrin apologized for the "enthusiasm" of the first reception committee
and invited you to join her at Cad Gadu.  By that time, everyone was
eager for a hot meal and a soft bed.

I've given you a description of Cad Gadu already in your character
background.  You were ferried across to the island and entered the
ruins of the original fortress of Cad Gadu.  Catrin asked your grogs
to remain in the guest cottages on the lowest level of the regio,
while she and her grogs escorted you along the white path to the
second level.

There, in the guest magus quarters, you and Catrin sat down and
chatted, catching up on the news and how everyone back at Spirtus
Draconis was doing.  Catrin's questions seemed friendly and innocent
enough, but you tried to keep the answers discreet and simple.  You
definitely avoided giving away anything about the treasures you found
in the mine or the gift of the dwarfs. Eventually, Catrin came around to
asking the reason for your unexpected visit.

I believe your answer would be something along the lines of "to catch
up on Stonehenge Tribunal history in preparation for the coming
Tribunal meeting."  At which point Catrin sighed and warned you the
library was in a sorry state of disrepair- books misfiled, crumbling
with age, and many missing altogether.  Furthermore, the library is a
sore point with many of the Cad Gadu magi and its very mention always
provokes arguments at council meetings.  Just about everyone would
want to keep Rhiannon out of the library: some because they're ashamed
of its deplorable condition, and others because they are deluded into
thinking it contains some kind of priceless secrets that must be
protected.

But after a long journey, you were prepared to be patient.  And there
is an important difference between the private, magical library of the
covenant of Cad Gadu, and the official records of the Tribunal, and of
course the official history of House Ex Miscellanea.  You felt you
were entitled to have access to the official documents, at least, and
you were prepared to argue with anyone who told you differently.

The first person to talk to was the covenant librarian, a mundane
named Gwydion.  A large, burly man who looked more like a middle-aged
bouncer than a scholar, Gwydion was not sympathetic to your cause.  He
steadfastly refused to let you enter the library, but begrudgingly
offered to retrieve books from the library at your request.  Without
knowing what books the library had, the best you could do was describe
what you wanted and hope Gwydion saw fit to "find" it and bring it
out.  He basically did nothing but stall you and bring you useless
junk for the better part of a week.

The next try was Madoc, Cad Gadu's esteemed Quaesitor and offical
chronicler of the House.  Unfortunately, even though Madoc is a
magician of Anegin's line, just as are you and your pater, Madoc
holds your pater in deep contempt.  Much of his ill-will rubs off onto
you.  The only thing he offered you was to lend you his copy of the
House history that he wrote.  You accepted, and by skimming the book
you inferred that Madoc had done considerable historical research,
though his conclusions were bland and orthodox.  Still, he must have
got his material from somewhere.

There was not much hope of asking Rhodri ap Madoc for any kind of
help.  If anything, he likes Elwyn even less than Madoc does, and he
seems irritated with Spiritus Draconis since the tournament-
probably because of the fatalities that occurred while he was referee.

You had never talked to Saereid, the pagan mystic and self-styled
priestess of the Celtic gods, but now seemed a good time to introduce
yourself.  Saeried is a seeress was well as a
maga, and she has a keen interest in history (though Tribunal
history is a bit more recent than her main interest.)  Saereid looks
like a middle-aged woman, so she must be quite old when one accounts
for the effects of a longevity potion.  She was sympathetic to your
cause, but informed you that the library was not what it once was, on
account of generations of magi pilfering books and hoarding them.  She
agreed to let you study from her private stash on condition
you didn't tell anyone about her hoard, but all her stuff falls under
the category of Legend Lore and is of no relevance to Hermetic law.
You got along quite well with Saereid, and ended up spending hours in
conversation with her.

Catrin didn't have enough clout at the covenant to intervene with
Gwydion on your behalf.  She did, however, know where he hid his
keys!  A little Mentem magic to deepen his sleep one night, tiptoe
into his room, and you could sneak into the library and discover
whether you were really wasting your time here after all.  Catrin
seemed downright keen on the idea.  

Another thing you haven't tried yet is to talk to Lleison the
Crooked, nominal leader of the covenant and Primus of House Ex
Miscellanea.  

At this point we're going to go interactive.  Not as much as in
face-to-face roleplaying, but I would like to give you some choices at
this point.  Between the trip to Cad Gadu, all the stalling and
hassles trying to get into the library, and the return trip, one of
the two seasons is effectively burned up and you will
have one season to do useful research- if you can get to the books.

I've given you two choices, sneak into the library or talk to the
Primus, but you may be able to imagine others.  What would you like to
try?