Loose Ends and Missing Pages

James travels to the Dunster Priory in western Somerset to visit Brother Alfred, a Benedictine Monk and fellow Watcher, for advice on a phrase he found in the margin of 'Piercing the Infernal Realm' to remind Jonas to, "Check the Six Hallows." The Priory is a well-built Norman tower which stands on a high hill over the village of Dunster. James and travelers, the scribe Paul and his assistant Eustace, were greeted by the monks who brought them to a private room to wait.

Alfred, an old, nearly blind man, arrived accompanied by a youth named James. Alfred passed the Watcher question, replying, "We do." James then discussed the matter openly that he was investigating a magic tome belonging to a marched wizard and ran across a glossed note of seeming importance for which his own lore on the subject failed him, and he had brought the book for him to review. They excused themselves to the scriptorium where, since it was occupied, they refrained from discussing the matter until after the noon prayers.

On Alfred’s advice, James tried to get friendly with Brother Philip the Librarian. The meeting with the Librarian was at first tense, for a few moments the brutish Scottish knight and an erudite Norman monk just stared at each other. But then in direct opposition to his appearance, James spoke perfect Latin and was well versed in the Arts and Sciences. This intrigued the scholar to find out more and after dropping names from Oxford, such as the Magister in Artibus Edward of Milton, he was given full access to the extensive library of over twenty books. Later Eustace told James that Philip was completely drunk, something which James found a little disappointing.

Alfred joined them and they set upon the books looking for clues on the Six Hallows. The astute Eustace noticed that pages were cut out with a sharp knife, and Alfred confirmed by memory that the missing pages were relevant to the Hallows. Alfred was alarmed and wanted to report this to the Prior but we asked him to hold his tongue until the next evening so we could have time to investigate. James grabbed an Arcane Connection from each page, returned the books, and dropped hot wax down the backs of the chests to alert him if they were opened again. The bell rang for supper and Philip collected them and locked the door to the Library.

While the monks ate supper, James attempted to cast a spell to determine if the page was still in the Priory. The Divine aura was strong and the spell was too weak to be effective. His wizard's sigil barely left a mark where his finger touched the wall. He gave that up and went to dinner.

During supper, the sun went down and James realized his horses had surely disappeared. We quickly excused himself "to exercise" and hurried to the stable. Luckily, no one was there, and with great effort he summoned the three horses back. He returned to supper sweaty and exhausted to engage in conversation with the monks.

Eustace had excused himself to engage Brother James in a friendly conversation and they talked for some time. Seeing this as a good opportunity to learn more about the Priory, and perhaps who took the pages, James told Paul to inquire at the oblates' table about what it’s like being a monk. Reluctantly, Paul went over to talk. After supper, Brother James escorted the visitors back to their room. There James inquired about what they learned. Eustace discretely mentioned that he thinks Brother James was interested in James especially after he came back sweaty from exercise. James did not understand and asked again what Eustace meant by "interested", to which he said, "like a man is interested in a woman," to which James replied, “Oh God no."

That evening after evening prayers, they saw a light in the scriptorium. They snuck up and found Brother Laurent working late into the night with his two grey cats. The monk noticed them and discretely hid the page he was working on. Eustace appealed to his pride asked to see his most excellent illuminations and distracted the monk long enough for Paul to uncover the hidden vellum. He did not see diabolical plots but a risquée illumination of a knight carrying off a lady for nefarious purposes. Laurent recovered his senses and dismissed the curious visitors who returned to the guesthouse.

James went to bed. Paul and Eustace did not and Paul came up with a plan to spy on the Library door. Eustace snuck Paul out of the Priory gate where he lumbered out of sight. A while later a deformed rat scratched at Eustace’s leg. Eustace warned him of the cats and returned to the guesthouse to keep watch. Paul hid in the shadows and was awoken by a monk unlocking the library door. He raced back to the guesthouse but was spied by a cat who tried to make a meal of him. Paul barely made it back to Eustace who picked up the pursuing cat and tossed him outside. Eustace then left to check on the library while Paul scratched at James’ door who awoke to find a rat and tried to kick it. After some creative pantomime, James determined that the rat was Paul. He followed him back to the scriptorium. The monk, now discovered, attempted to flee but Eustace, who was quicker, tackled the monk who immediately became possessed with supernatural strength. The monk was Brother James and it took both James and Eustace to hold him down until the monks arrived. They called for the Exorcist and the Prior who demanded to know what had passed.

Eustace made light of their subterfuge by claiming they saw a light and feared fire, but James stepped in and asked Brother Alfred to disclose their findings in the library and more or less confessed that this was an ambush set to find out who was sneaking into the library at night. They brought the possessed monk to a room near the chapel where they performed the exorcism and James got to see the demon billow out like black smoke and then disperse.

The next morning the Prior, Charles - a young man about James' age, questioned James on his business. He was obviously annoyed that James had any influence over Alfred and perceived it as if he asked him to lie. James further announced himself a magus of the Order of Hermes, deepening Charles suspicions of him. James claimed he was on the side of good in the fight against evil and presented accounts of his fight against demons, which again did not sit well with the Prior. Last James gave a rough address of "near Wells" in case the Prior should ever need magical help. Reluctantly after speaking with Alfred, James and party were allowed to stay long enough to finish their study of the Priory's Infernal Lore.

With Brother Albert's guidance they found that the Six Hallows are sacred magical sites located in Britain:

• New Forest
• Cerne Abbas
• Glastonbury Tor
• Tintagel
• Avebury
• Stonehenge

With this information they returned to the Covenant, where James recounted the events and put Paul to work copying a text for Brother Philip, for Paul had insulted the size of his Library and needed to make amends. Though it was Paul’s plan and daring - to spy as a rat among cats - Eustace took the credit for catching the diabolist monk, and James was none the wiser.