Stranggore

Stranggore is a very old covenant that has sunk into stagnation and decay. It has a proud and regal heritage and was once one of the pre-eminent covenants of the Stonehenge Tribunal, but has now fallen into the senility and decrepitude of Winter. It has roots that go back to ancient times, before the Order of Hermes arrived in the British Isles. In the early days it was sworn to the service of a royal court. The covenant still has symbols and customs that acknowledge that heritage. Some of these are subtle -- for example, the head wizard of the covenant is called the Chancellor -- and others are overt, like the grogs' green-on-gold livery or the carved wooden throne that stands empty in the council chamber, a reminder of its ancient (and, officially, forsaken) royal allegiance.

The official name of the covenant is "the Wizards' Council of the Kingdom of Stranggore."

The covenant has a certain nostalgia for the ancient Britons, though by now the Britons in England are only a legend, even among wizards. (The remaining descendants of the ancient Britons in 1220 are the Welsh.) Certainly the covenant pays no homage to the heirs of that upstart Norman usurper William the Bastard.

Location and Surroundings

Stranggore is located in Somerset, England on the historical site of Maesbury Castle, along the ancient Roman road known as the Fosse Way. It is near several interesting magical sites, including Glastonbury Tor and Wookey Hole Caves.

Our Google map shows the location of the covenant, sites of mystical interest, and the other covenants of the Stonehenge Tribunal.

As far as I can tell (from a cursory browsing of Wikipedia), Somerset is divided into about 700 fiefs, not under control of a single noble. Presumably they are a mix of royal fiefs, ecclesiastical fiefs (controlled by the Bishop of Salisbury and/or the Bishop of Wells), and local barons. Some of these fiefs no doubt are held by great nobles of the realm. The royal fiefs are each maintained by a constable; manors would be maintained by a bailiff.

Neighbors

The Domesday Book online maps the villages of medieval England. The nearest settlement to Stranggore is the fictional hamlet of Barstow. The nearest historical settlements are Shepton Mallet, Charlton, and Doulting.

Village of Barstow
Mericas the hedge wizard
The covenant of Aquae Sulis
The Bishop of Wells
Godwyn's Chase

Road

Stranggore has is about a quarter mile northwest of the Fosse Way, so travelers occasionally mistake its towers for those of an abbey and stop by.

Residents

Several of the grogs live in the nearby village of Barstow. This section includes only characters who live at the covenant. See Category:Stranggore Grogs and Category:Stranggore Covenfolk for a full list of the guards and servants, respectively.

Magi	Companions	Grogs	Covenfolk
Argus Caballus Godwyn Hywel Mawr Sandre Paen	Agnes Paul Randolph	Bloody Bill George the Bastard Joan of Barstow Joseph Junior Rhys	Bertha the cook Brian the Mad Catherine the chambermaid the Ghosts of Stranggore Marie LaMont, Sandre's wife Valera the scholar

Physical Structure

The covenant stands in the ruin of an ancient ring fort, of which only the ditch and rampart remain. The gateway into the ring fort has been improved with a wooden gate.

Within the rampart is a large, open yard. At one end stands a two-story stone manor house with four square, three-story towers. Although the covenant stands on a hilltop, the towers extend high enough above the rampart to be clearly visible. The upper tower windows have a grand view of the countryside.

Also inside the compound are a number of outbuildings:

A stable with attached kennel
Junior's cottage
George the Bastard's cottage
Bloody Bill's cottage

Main Floor

Brian's Hoard: Brian the Mad hoards all kinds of useful or valuable property (plus a good deal of useless junk) that he's found around the covenant over the years: old and broken furniture, serving platters, tools, jewelry, old clothes, musical instruments, etc., etc. He had 20 years to accumulate this stuff without interference. The grogs have reclaimed the arms and armor from this hoard, but who knows what else is in there? This room was once a sanctum, and it could be again if it could be cleaned out.
Entry Hall: The entry hall is sparsely furnished with a couple of benches and a faded and moth-eaten old tapestry portraying the deeds of some of the former magi of Stranggore.
Great Hall: The great hall is dominated by the ancient Throne of Stranggore, a wooden throne with bloodstained arms that allegedly dates back to the ancient kingdom. The Throne stands empty on a small dias, looming over the great council table and its twelve rune-carved chairs. Servants set up trestle tables in the great hall on feast days, but usually only the magi dine here.
Marie's Chamber: Marie LaMont enjoys this spacious chamber to herself. Her husband, Sandre, has a separate laboratory.
Kitchen: The enchanted fireplace needs no firewood and is large enough to roast a whole ox.
Office: This is Brian's office, which is kind of like his hoard except for papers. This is one of two offices in the Stranggore manor house. The covenant probably doesn't need both.
Pantry: It's unfortunate that the entrance to Hywel Mawr's sanctum is through the pantry, because Hywel has a tendency to eat everything in sight. Savvy grogs have taken to hiding the most attractive foods, like butter and nuts, in other places around the covenant.
Parlor: Magi use this room for informal entertaining and, sometimes, socializing. The parlor is furnished with several shabby old chairs and decorated with two dragons heads mounted on the wall. The bigger one was slain by Caradoc and the smaller one is much more recent, having been slain by Angus the Dragonslayer.
Servants' Day Room: Indoor chores like darning clothes and scrubbing the magi's glassware get done here. Grogs and covenfolk take their meals here on ordinary days.
Servants' Quarters: The maidservant, Catherine, and the cook, Bertha, live here.
Store Room: Most of the worthwhile stuff has been pilfered by Brian the Mad, and what's left is some lamp oil, cheap tallow candles (Brian hoards the wax ones), old bed linens, moth-eaten cloaks, and some basic lab supplies like charcoal and chalk.

Second Floor

Antechamber: This is the antechamber to Argus's sanctum. It is outside his sanctum proper. He uses it as a private meeting room, when he dines alone, this is where he has the servants bring his food. This room could probably be put to more productive use.
Autocrat's Quarters: Brian the Mad has spacious quarters. They're cluttered, but less so than his hoard, because Brian's draws a distinction between personal property (which he keeps in his quarters) and covenant property (which is in his hoard downstairs).
Gallery: This is a showroom of trophies and oddities the covenant has accumulated over its storied history.
Guest Room: The guest room doubles as a storeroom for items Brian doesn't want to hoard: mostly clothes that are a hundred years out of style.
Infirmary: In Autumn 1200, around the time Merewen engaged the services of Harold the Barber, the covenant converted the second gallery into an infirmary. There are three beds in here and a cabinet for herbs and bandages.
Library: Both the mundane and arcane books are kept locked in chests in this room. There are nine chests in all, so the room is crowded with them and has room only for one lectern for reading. Brian the Mad has the keys to the chests containing books of mundane lore. Argus has the keys to the chests of arcane lore. There is one special, enchanted chest which is highly resistant to magic and difficult to open without the key: this contains the books on Parma Magica and the lab texts for the covenant's enchantments.
Meeting Room: The magi use this room for routine meetings because it's less draughty than the Great Hall and doesn't echo. They use it for private meetings as well as plenary ones.
Scriptorium: No one has written or copied a book at Stranggore in fifty years or more. Half the writing desks have been ripped out, but there are still four remaining -- three more than the covenant is likely to need any time soon. Paul has cleared out the junk from this room and is using it as his quarters.
Solar: This is the second of two offices in the manor house. Long ago, a more fastidious and efficient autocrat used it as his workspace. Eustace has found it useful for keeping copies of ledgers and documents he doesn't want Brian to lose.

Tower Level

The upper floors of the towers were once the sancta of magi, but three of them now stand empty.

Basement

Covenant Resources

Main article: Stranggore Resources

The covenant is designed with 1250 points of resources, which puts it at the high end of the "medium" power scale. Our objective is to give the player magi enough resources that they can develop and pursue their own agendas, but not so many that they can get everything they need without leaving the covenant walls.

The covenant is the feudal lord of the village of Barstow and owns the serfs of that village. It owns some of the surrounding lands, including the stretch of forest now known as Godwyn's Chase, but its mundane holdings have been greatly eroded by the covenant's decades of failure to resist encroachment by its mundane neighbors.

Similarly, the covenant's vis sources are but a remnant of what it once claimed.

Stranggore now does own some livestock: several horses fit for riding in battle, some hunting dogs, and a flock of sheep.

The covenant owns a number of enchanted items including some arms and armor.

The library and collection of lab texts are pretty good.

Traditions

Unlike most covenants, Stranggore has no formal charter. All members swear the Oath of Stranggore and renew that oath each Winter.

Since 1194, Hywel of Stranggore has hosted an annual Imbolc Feast.

Boons and Hooks

Hooks

Hooks are more interesting than Boons, so we list them first.

Flickering Aura: The magi of Stranggore must perform occasional mystical ceremonies in order to maintain the Magical aura. Sometimes these ceremonies require odd ingredients, involve obscure prophecies, or are otherwise interesting.
Protector: The covenant is the mundane landlord of the village of Barstow and some surrounding hamlets. This provides income in the form of rent but also creates an obligation to protect the village.
Rights and Customs: The grogs and covenfolk have traditional rights and customs that go back to ancient days. They expect lots of holidays and two annual feasts. Only the Chancellor can dismiss grogs from service.
Rival (x2): Stranggore's rivalry with Blackthorn is a major theme of the Saga, but Blackthorn does not seem committed to Stranggore's destruction, so the Hook counts as Minor. (Blackthorn was formerly an Unknown Hook that has now been revealed) The Crimson Brotherhood is also a rival of Stranggore, but weak enough that it also counts as Minor.
Road (minor): The covenant is located along the Fosse Way, one of the mystical ancient roads of Britain. We chose this as a Minor Hook because we don't want it to dominate the Saga. It will definitely create some stories, though.
Unknown: We one Unknown hook left, which can be developed later.

Boons

Autocephalous (Major): The magi's predecessors negotiated the independence of Stranggore with William the Conqueror himself. The royal charter was found in 1200 in the middle of a pile of old receipts for salted herring.
Aura: The Magical aura for the covenant and its living area used to be +4, but it flickers. When John usurped the throne, the aura suffered as England suffers.
Informants: The villagers of Barstow report interesting happenings to the covenant. Merewen also has other descendants scattered about the shire who can occasionally feed information, and of course Argus (or more accurately, his familiar, Cedric) is a significant source of information in his own right.
Loyal Covenfolk: Largely because of their rights and customs, the covenfolk and grogs are especially loyal.
Hidden Resources: There is probably all kinds of useful stuff in the hoard of Brian the Mad, the disused laboratories, and the sancta of the senior magi.