It is the Year of Our Lord 1229. On a misty hilltop in northern Wales, a small group of wizards has come together to practice their mystic arts. It is a wild land, with rugged hills and dark, tangled forests. It is home to dragons and giants. It is the source of the legends of Llys Arthur (King Arthur) and the magicians Merlin and Math. It is a place where the flame of magic still burns brightly, where the faerie folk still walk their ancient trods.
The land is troubled, wracked by feuding among the Welsh and threatened by the looming ambition of England's Norman lords. It lies between the mighty kingdom of Henry Plantagenet and the rising principality of Llewelyn ab Iowerth. As the Welshmen struggle for their independence and their identity, so we struggle to preserve our heritage and to adapt to a changing world. Their fate and our fate are as one.
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Spiritus Draconis was designed as a Summer covenant according to the rules in Ars Magica, 4th Edition, Chapter IX. The initial balance of covenant Characteristics was therefore 40 positive and 30 negative points.
During play, the covenant's characteristics have gradually changed. This page describes the covenant's current Characteristics to show how Spiritus Draconis has developed over time. A general principle of the Saga is that only the choices and actions of player characters can change the overall balance of covenant Characteristics.
| Positive attributes: +49 (originally +37) | Negative attributes: -36 (originally -31) | |
| Site +2 |
Stores: -1
|
Library -2
|
| Buildings: 0 | Improvement:
-1
|
Mystical Attributes: +4 |
| Defenses: 0 | Relations
+4
|
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Spiritus Draconis is located in hilly terrain in the midst of a thick forest. Carrying in supplies by pack mule is an arduous, never-ending task. The covenant's remote surroundings are mitigated somewhat by its proximity to the River Clwyd and to the sea.
| Travel Time (one way) | Fraction of Supplies | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Within the covenant | 20% |
Water from the well Vegetables and herbs from the gardens |
| Within a half day | 40% |
Grain, ale, cider, and other foodstuffs from surrounding
farms Bows and arrows from local craftsmen Dairy products, leather, and beef from the covenant's cattle Wool, parchment, honey, and beeswax from St. Asaph's Abbey Timber, firewood, game, berries, nuts, and wild herbs from the forest |
| Within one day | 20% |
Fish and seafood caught by the covenfolk at Rhyl Scrap iron, earthenware, linen, etc. from neaby towns |
| Within two days | 0% | None |
| Within a week | 0% | None |
| Beyond one week | 20% | Most laboratory supplies must be imported, as must be wine and any costly items such as linen or pewterware. Typically, these goods come from England or Norman-controlled Ireland. |
Wales is a poor country. Due to the covenant's seclusion and the underdeveloped state of the surrounding countryside, Spiritus Draconis has a hard time getting quality supplies. The covenant tries to be self-sufficient by maintaining its own cattle herd and gardens, but the result is that supplies are no better than those of prosperous farmers. Even money cannot entirely solve the problem: local markets are too limited and unstable.
Spiritus Draconis has always been secluded, located on a densely-forested hilltop and surrounded by magical mists. In the Winter of 1368 (1228 A.D.), Cygnar invented the spell The Shrouded Glen (ReMe 40, ArM p. 149) and cast it on the covenant, using enough extra vis to increase its duration to Permanent.
The covenant now gets unexpected visitors quite rarely. Because of the enchantment, only people who are actively looking for the covenant can find it. This doesn't mean the concealment is perfect - it is well-known that wizards live in the general area, and some adventurous souls might still go looking for the covenant, for any of a variety of reasons.
The environment of Spiritus Draconis has two advantages:
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The covenant's structures are solidly built from wood, with thatched roofs. The covenant site was originally quite spacious, but over time, its population has grown and the compound is now becming a little cramped (see Inhabitants).
Spiritus Draconis has recently (c. 1224) attracted three new magi. This left quarters too cramped. In Spring 1225, the Council decided to invest in a construction project to create more laboratory and living space for the magi.
The result is that the covenant now has accomodations for:
The covenant has no impressive structures. All the buildings are fairly simple, built by unskilled labor.
At a council meeting early in the Saga (somewhere around 1219 or 1220), Rydderch mumbled something about acquiring the Ritual Conjuring the Mystic Tower to magically create an imposing stone tower for the magi. No one knows whether he as abandoned this goal or if he's still working toward it.
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As a Troupe, we feel that the Defenses rules in Ars Magica, 4th Edition (p. 207) over-rate the benefits of mundane defenses. We decided not to apply the official rules here and just assign a score of zero.
Spiritus Draconis is located on a hilltop and surrounded by a ditch and pallisade. It has no defensive towers or other structures. These basic defenses are enough to keep out wild animals or repel a raid by brigands, but the mundane defenses could never hold off a serious army. We decided that this level of defense should be typical of a Hermetic covenant, so we assigned a rating of 0.
If we were to rate the defenses according to 4th Edition rules, they would break down as follows:
We didn't think it should cost +7 of our +40 positive points just to have a picturesque site on a hilltop.
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All covenants have a supply of basic food and necessities sufficient to get through the winter- and the winters in North Wales are long and hard.
Spiritus Draconis started with about 100 pawns of vis on hand. Whenever a large surplus accumulated in the stock room, the Council voted to divide that surplus among the magi (and no, this does not mean I support President Bush's tax-cut plan). Therefore, the stocks are not much larger than they were at the start of the Saga.
Spiritus Draconis does not have a large reserve of cash, but it does have one significant mundane asset worth Characteristic points: its stable. The armory is slowly improving and may one day be worth points as well.
At the beginning of the Saga, the stable didn't exist and the armory included no Expensive equipment. Both of these facilities have been developed primarily through the actions of player characters.
The magus Augustin Colaire has worked since the covenant's founding to establish good relationships with nearby mundanes. His efforts have been quite successful, resulting in alliances with the castellan of Rhuddlan and the abbott of St. Asaph's monastery. The covenant's favorable reputation has been strengthened by the magi's visible, repeated, and often heroic efforts to lift curses and thwart supernatural threats.
The rival covenant of Blackthorn has exploited Spiritus Draconis' friendships with mundanes in a smear campaign at Tribunal, both in 1214 and 1221. This has hurt the Spiritus Draconis's political position significantly.
Additionally, Spritus Draconis publicly lost face in the Stonehenge Tribunal of 1221 when two specific complaints were lodged by different parties:
| Location | Reputation | Level | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Vale of Clwyd | White Magicians | 2 | +6 |
| Stonehenge Tribunal | Fraternize with Mundanes | 2 | -6 |
| Stonehenge Tribunal | Violent and Lawless | 1 | -2 |
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Early in the Saga, we protrayed Spiritus Draconis as financially struggling and offered the nearby silver mine as a possible solution. While this presents an interesting possibility, it doesn't make much sense from a long-term point of view. The covenant has existed for over 20 years, and it should logically have either opened the mine for production, or found alternate sources of income. To preserve the adventuring potential of the mine, the Storyguide decided to reinforce the covenant's base income.
The covenant has enough income to provide basic upkeep, but not enough to make any significant improvements. Its main sources of income are fishing and cattle herding.
Spiritus Draconis has a regular income of 30 pawns of vis, divided as follows:
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To allow greater detail, the covenant's allies are listed on a separate page. It's not really complete. The adversaries page was never completed, and now that the Saga is over, it never will be.
Spiritus Draconis has no formal contacts or intelligence network of its own, but several of its grogs saved Melody the Redcap from a trio of giants in Summer, 1220. Since then, Melody has shown preferential treatment to Spiritus Draconis and she makes it a point to keep her friends well-informed of Hermetic events in the Tribunal.
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The magical aura throughout the covenant is +4. The aura extends over the whole hilltop, though it grows weaker away from the covenant. There is also a strong magic aura inside the mine, but the mine is still much too dangerous for the magi to study there.
The originally covenant has 300 Levels of enchanted devices, most of them contributed by Verditius Clementis. These are listed on the Enchantments page.
Each magus has standard laboratories.
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