Diary of Mnemosyne

=Magi=
==Ambrosius==
==Bedo==
==Eirlys==
===The 19th of April, 1220===
My first impressions of Eirlys was not a good one. In fact, simply put she scared the life out of me as I took her to be a demon. I have never encountered someone with such hideous deformaties. The fact that she would flaunt them and take it as sign of prestige of her House is... alien to my thought.
I fear I have damaged my relationship with her irrepairably by my attitude. They do say that first impressions are the most lasting. On the other hand, her own comments seemed rather insulting. Referring to us magi as mundanes. It seemed even her weasel possesses more social graces than she does. The creature, Alysious, is rather disturbing as well. I do not know what to make of it. Some kind of stole if it not careful, perhaps. I am unfamiliar with the fae and this one is impertinant and well spoken both. Clearly it is highly intelligent. I wonder if it is dangerous.
This is all most disappointing. When I learned of a fellow maga who was interested in the endevour, I was rather pleased. To be surrounded constantly by men is unsettling and makes me nervous. It is difficult to relax in such surroundings. It does not seem likely that myself and Eirlys have a great deal in common though, from my first impressions. I hope that time will bring us closer together and we our common goals will transcend any differences that exist arising from her strange attitudes and her deformed appearance.
===The 23rd of April, 1220===
Well, obviously I will never have any sort of friendship with Eirlys. She stormed off in the middle of a vital meeting. I must say that this is perhaps a relief, more than anything else. The irrational attitudes she has presented over the last two days since her solo return from Hockstow Forest have been fractuous and play on the nerves. She seems as inconstant as the wind and remarkably quick to take offence and show hostility. It seems evident that she was only ever interested in her own goals and had no consideration at all for anyone else. I think if we had made the mistake of allowing her to join us formally, it would not have been long until she was endangering us all. Of course, she may have already done so with her antics in Church Stretton. Her refusal to answer any of the questions about her actions and subsequent departure has shown her as an immature and dangerous person. I am glad to see the back of her.
However, I have the feeling I will hear the name of Eirlys again. I cannot believe it will be in good circumstances though. I just hope she leaves the Tribunal and returns to Scotland. She can cause the Order less harm there.
==Longinus==
==Marcus==
==Phaedrus==
==Reynaldous==
===The 19th of April, 1220===
I must admit, I am most disappointed that Reynaldous was unable to join us here in the Strettons at this time. I cannot believe he got lost or mistook the time or place after his comments to me on the subject. No doubt there is a simple explanation and the Redcap has been delayed on business for the Order. However, I cannot help but worry about his safety. I hope he will arrive soon and be able to lend his voice to these matters. In him I thought I had found a useful ally to accomplish what needs to be done if this new Covenant is to succeed.
In truth though, he was the only one of the gathering magi that I had met with face to face. No doubt I shall find different allies amongst the others. Already I feel that some of the magi offer potential. It will be interesting to see what develops over the coming days and what sort of accord we can agree on.
===The 23rd of April, 1220===
After the departure of Eirlys, I wonder again if Reynaldous will put in an appearance eventually. With so much high tension it would be good to have a stablising voice about the place. But then, I suppose I know the Redcap less well than I do some of other magi now. Our further investigations into each site should allow a much greater connection with each of them, which is a good thing. I must understand them even more more urgently than I must understand the qualities of the Covenant site. The site will be a mere place - but my sodales shall be the foundations. It is good to know if your foundations need shoring up early on. Perhaps Reynaldous would have proved a weak foundation. After all, he did not keep his promise to be here.
There is still time for him to make an appearance, I suppose. I wonder if the others will resent a late coming. We have not even agreed to form a Covenant yet. Things are still in the discussion stage, so perhaps he still has time.
===The 8th of May, 1220===
Still no sign or word from Reynaldous ex Mercere. Such a delay without even a message seems either something to either be concerned about or a definite rudeness. Either way, the Redcap may not find the same welcome he would have if he shows at this point.
I should speak to Longinus about this matter. I have been meaning to for some days now, but other things always seem to get in the way or to be more important. I will try to approach him on the subject soon.
===The 15th of May, 1220===
Asking Longinus about his thoughts on Reynaldous, he told me that Redcap's are often called on for the Order's official business. He seemed to think that there was nothing unusual about him being late, and he may eventually put in an appearance in a few months.
Longinus has mentioned that he may take the opportunity of the interval between now and our plan to be at Potter's Field at the solstice to visit his parens and attend to some details. I have asked him to relay my concerns about Reynaldous on to his parens, who can pass them through the Rednap network I expect. There is probably no reason to be concerned, but I feel better having done my duty and given a warning.
=Places=
==Church Stretton==
===The 19th of April, 1220===
My first impressions of this village yesterday were not especially glowing. It seemed rather parochial and uninspiring. However, today as I sit here on the overlooking Mynd, my thoughts no longer tainted by travel sickness, I find myself taking a somewhat different opinion. The valley I overlook is green and pleasant and the weather is clement. It is a welcome change from the windswept Northumberland coast which has been my home for all these years and the incessant pounding of the sea. I wonder what winter will be like here. Which makes me curious about what winter would be like in the regio.
===The 20th of April, 1220===
We have elected to remain on the Long Mynd and make use of the cottage for our own purposes. Ambrosius has set about transforming with vigour which I find most marvellous, but rather beyond me and sadly not especially entertaining. I feel a little guilty that I cannot share in his enthusiasm and so have removed myself so as not to dampen the atmosphere.
Overlooking Church Stretton I wonder what sort of place it will be and will it serve our purposes. Ambrosius pointed out that remaining here would be wiser as our gift would rub less people the wrong way - especially stangers visiting in force. I suspect we caused quite enough gossip staying there two night past. I look forward to hearing more from Marcus, who elected to stay behind and investigate the more populated areas.
I noticed little of the village previously, but I understand it to be a market town of sorts. This will be useful to us in more than one way. We should be able to obtain goods slightly more easily than if it were simply an out of the way hamlet. We should also be able to visit during market days and others perhaps and cause less suspicion, if strangers are not totally uncommon. We may be able to sell or trade goods from the Covenant as well, if we have such mundane things. I presume we will need some kind of income, but I must admit I am rather at a loss. I never paid much attention to such details previously. Now I wish I had.
==The Long Mynd==
===The 19th of April, 1220===
=Random Thoughts=
==Transportation==
===The 19th of April, 1220===
Travelling across the length and bredth of England on horseback has been one of the less pleasant experiences of my life. Stopping to throw up so many times and the lingering feeling of nausia which has dogged my every waking hour since we set has taken a severe toll on me. If it had not been for Geraldous, I am not sure how I would have coped. We have travelled far, but yet I can barely remember any of the country we have passed through. I would love to travel, even to go beyond the shores of this fair country, perhaps to the land of the Fins or mysterious Egypt, or even to Italy to the domus major. Then today even the trip up the Long Mynd made me throw up. Once I elected to walk things were much better.
It occurs to me that the problem here is that I cannot ride a horse and a cart or carriage is even worse. I shudder to think about what would happen with the constant rocking of the sea. However, walking under my own power presents no problem, other than the fact that it is rather slow and wearying over long distances. It occurs to me that magic is the best way to solve this problem. I must turn my attentions to some sort of magical solution as a priority when I get my lab set up. Apart from my own wish to travel, I will need to be able to get around this corner of the Stonehenge Tribunal for my quaesitorial duties.
There are various methods which could prove worthy. A mastery of aurum would allow me to fly and cover great distances in a short time, but I fear that such a method would make me feel worse than ever and suffering from a bout of illness at a great height would likely prove deadly. There is the option of using something like Seven League Stride, which I have heard of, to travel great distances quickly and safely. While this method may still induce nausia, it will at least be brief I should imagine if at all. The main disadvantage would probably be my lack of knowledge of corporum magic. I will have to research the matter more fully, but I suspect that such a spell is rather beyond me for a long time. Then there is the possibility of changing my own form to that of some kind of beast which could travel more swiftly and easily than myself. A hawk or some other bird could be an excellent choice, but I am unsure if any kind of flying would set me off or not, even if it were under my own power. It would be irritating, to say the least to study for so long to create such a spell, only to find it useless. Perhaps a land based animal which could travel quickly, like a horse would be better. Of course, though the spell would be easier to invent, I would need to study both animal and corpus.
===The 21st of April, 1220===
I was intrigued to learn today that Marcus arrived via magical transportation. From what I have been able to learn it is some version of Seven League Stride, the same spell mentioned above. I will have to speak to Marcus on this topic at some point, but if I could use a laboratory text to aid in duplicating my own version of the spell, it would make things much easier. Of course, from what I understand it has certain limitations based on distance or perhaps sight, or even both. I vaguely recall that such methods of transportation are dangerous to places that one does know intimately, which would be fine for a return journey, but to travel to new places would be less than usefull.
I also learned that Eirlys can take the form of an owl today, which again, if I could translate her laboratory texts accurately would speed any of my own research into a similar spell. I still think a flying creature to be a risk in terms of time and effort, but surely the principle is similar enough to a walking creature that it would be of use. I have given the topic some thought and to take on the form of a deer would be of great benefit to travel save for the risk of the hunter's arrow. This is probably of less risk though than an unattended horse galloping across the countryside or something like the furor of seeing a wolf might stir up. In any case, to take the form of a predator seems rather repugnant to me. A doe seems much more appropriate to me. This should be easier to accomplish than an owl.
===The 22nd of April, 1220===
With the departure of Eirlys, so passes my opportunity to use her text which describes the spell which transforms the caster into an owl. Of course, one of the other magi may know a similar spell, I have not pried into their powers. It seems rather rude before we have formally decided to bind ourselves to eachother, but I am not particularly hopeful. Of them all, Marcus seems to have demonstrated corporum the most clearly, though I have no idea if he knows more than even myself on the subject of animal. Phaedrus possesses a fine hawk companion, somewhat more than a pet but less than a familiar I gather, so he may have some knowledge of that form.
==Weather==
===The 19th of April, 1220===
It was perhaps my imagination, but the weather inside the regio seemed subtly different to that outside. Perhaps it was meerly the quality of the air or the the magical aura enhancing what already existed. It did seem however as if the air was fresher, the sky more blue and perfect and cloudless - though now it seemed as if clouds were below us. I am unsure if what lay below was clouds or fog or simply the product of the regio boundry. I wonder if on a clear day one could see Church Stretton from within the regio. I am not sure if such a thing is possible.
I shall have to investigate the regio again during differing weather, here in the mundane world, and see if there exists a difference. Will the weather in there correspond to the weather out there? Will it have its own patterns? Does the weather inside the regio remain constant. I was an uncommonly fine day within the regio, and I could nary a cloud in the sky, but it still had the feeling of spring. Surely the whole regio could not be locked in one season. However, if that were so, it would be an excellent place to spent the winter.
Then of course, if the weather differs inside the regio to that of outside it, how does it differ from layer to layer of the regio. While I believe I detected a difference outside to in, I failed to perceive any between the first and second layers. Does this mean that one did not exist? Or is it just that there did not happen to be one at that time? Or there was one, but I did not discern it? I look forward to making future observations - and wish I knew rather more about aurum'.
Category:Mnemosyne