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 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. Andrew G also found a National Geographic map of Medieval England online (almost certainly in violation of copyright laws) that shows towns and roads from a later period.

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. The nearest city is Wells.

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 Merewen	Agnes Paul Randolph William Robert	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

See Stranggore manor for floorplans and details of the manor house.

Covenant 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.

Magical Resources

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

The covenant's vis sources are but a remnant of what it once claimed.

The library and collection of lab texts are pretty good, though quite a few valuable books and lab text were lost when the library was allowed to decay in the early twelfth century.

Lands and Chattels

Main article: Stranggore Mundane Resources

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.

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

Traditions

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

Laws

As the lords of Stranggore manor, the magi have the right to make laws. They cannot mete out penalties of life and limb: that is reserved for royal justice.

Protection of Ravens: No man may kill a raven. This is one of Stranggore's most ancient laws. Wizards of Stranggore could shapechange into ravens or kept them as familiars, so they barred the peasants from hunting such birds. The penalty for killing a raven is to be cursed by the wizards.

Festivals

The grogs have long celebrated St. George's Day (April 23) with a feast and entertainments.

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

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. From time to time, this means the grogs may be unavailable for service or the magi may need to perform errands on their servants' behalf!
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.
Superiors (minor): The elder magi of the covenant feel entitled to send the junior magi on missions. Technically, the junior magi have the right to decline these requests.

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.
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. We've uncovered about half of them so far.