Towards the end of Summer, but before Nauvi returns from Lincoln, Elric of Bonisagus makes his way through the Lake District. He has been told that the covenant of Ungulus, with its lone tower in the middle of the Lake District, is still operational. He is rather surprised to find a pair of towers in the middle of the Lake District.
Sheep are grazing around the towers, and shepherds watch his approach with interest. A few approach, but they stop at a safe distance putting their heads together to whisper.
Elric breathed easily when he saw Ungulus. Finally, he can be back among other Magi, and not live in the ruins, or hide among the common folk for fear of Diedne attack.
And it definitely looks like there are people living here. He was excited to find a place a mong them, and to prove his worth to the Order.
He approached, quite gingerly, despite his limb, and a smile on his face, eager to meet his new Sodales.
As Elric approaches, one of peasants working in the courtyard is seen running into the tower, and Elric is met on stairs by a broad-hipped woman. The lhair that can be seen under the headscarf is part ginger and part grey. She introduces herself as Mildred the Stewardess. «Welcome to Ungulus, stranger. How can I help you?» she asks.
Once Elric identifies himself as a magus, word is sent to Thadeus of the new arrival.
Elric takes note of the peasant running to the tower, and continues to make his way there. When the woman introduces herself, he smiles and says "Pleased to meet you Madam Mildred. My name is Elric of Bonisagus, and I have heard that Magi once more inhabit this fine covenant, and I was hoping to join them."
While they wait for Thadeus to arrive, he will have some chit chat with Mildred, telling her a bit about his travels, and inquire about how she and the others got here.
Elric can feel the tingle of the Aegis, since he came to the foot of the small hill where the towers stand.
«Why don't you come inside?» asks Mildred. «You must be tired and hungry from the journey.» If he does not object, he is shown into the reception area on the first floor, and food and drink is brought within a quarer of an hour. Mildred sits down to listen curiously to the news from the country beyond Carlisle and the Lake District. «Is the War truly over?» she asks.
Thadeus arrives at his convenience. Janus gets the news too, but is not expected baring hosility and dire emergency..
Elric gives a sigh of contentment at feeling the familiar tingle of the Aegis. It has been too long since he's felt it, and even knowing it now hampers his magic, he welcomes it as a lost lover.
"Yes please, I could sure use a bit of rest, and some food, if you can. Thank you for this." He tries to regale her with stroies of the countryside he's passed through. "I have stayed away from the war, since I am not suited for war. I do hear it's winding down, but it's not clear if it's over yet."
Upon learning that a visiting magus has arrived, Thadeus quickly washes up the dust and sweat from working on his lab and changes to clean robes. He then makes his way down from the new tower and walks quickly to its older twin and enters it, walking to the reception area on the first floor. It is perhaps a quarter of an hour since he has learned of the arrival when he shows up.
Spotting Mildred and the visitor, he puts on a polite smile on his face as he approaches them. Their last Hermetic visitors have been a mixed bag, so he wonders what this one wants.
"Greetings, sodalis," he says in a pleasant tone in Latin. "Welcome to Ungulus. I am Thadeus of the lineage of Pralix. What brings you to our remote corner of the Order?"
Getting slowly up on his right foot, Elric steadies himself on the table to stand up, and greets Thadeus "Greetings Sodalis, it's a pleausre to be here. I am Elric of Bonisagus. I came here, almost literally out of the woods, to finally be part of a covenant, after hearing some Magi got it up and running again, and that the war is winding down. My former covenant got destroyed by the war while I went to explore the country after my Gauntlet."
Thadeus nods at Elric's words, "Yes, a few survivors have come out of hiding in the last couple of years. Many covenants were brought down in the last few years, and many magi were killed. There is much rebuilding to be done."
"Out of curiosity, which covenant were you originally from?"
Elric halts a bit. The memory is still fresh, coming back to his covenant to see it destroyed, before he fled away, hoping to just find a place to hide it out, and not always thinking it could happen.
He had to stop the tears before he could reply "I was apprenticed at Castrum Antiquum. I was Gauntleted just a month before it was destroyed, and had gone to see the world beyond the covenant. I could have easily have been one of the casualties there." And he stops, tears forming at the corner of his eyes, as he wipes them away, and tries to steady himself, both figuratively and physically.
"The cost of the war was high indeed," answers Thadeus after a moment. Then he inclines his head, "I believe one of my sodales mentioned Castrum Antiquum some months ago. I can't remember for sure if this is where he too was apprenticed, or just took refuge there at some point."
"'Myself, I was on the continent for much of the war. My pater didn't want any part of the fighting, and prevailed upon me to wait for most of it to be over before I returned."
He then shakes his head, "But that was then, and we are now. You are intertested in joining Ungulus, you said? As you can see, we have plenty of space and a solid magical aura. So far, out of the seven magi you are based here, three have committed to staying here, while four are investigating the possibility of establishing themselves at a different location."
He continues, "With two towers, we have enough space for at least two more sanctum and labs. We've located a number of vis sources and the nearby land provides us with a decent amount of food. Our library is a bit weak for now, though we hope to be able to trade for some texts and grow it. We have a few scribes to help us with that. I can give you a tour later, if you want. For now, let us get you some temporary quarters and time to clean up from your travels. And a token for the Aegis."
"Thank you." He says after calming down. "I would do my best to contribute my talents to the covenant. In fact, my focus is Vim, so I can cast the Aegis, if you need me to, help find more Vis sources, and investigate any enchanted items you find. I'm afraid my other Arts suffer for it, but whatever the state of the library, I can at least use it to be of more use." He sounds confident, but there's a hint of desperation in his voice.
For the first time since this war started, he had a real chance to do what he studied, improve his magic, and find solace in his Sodales.
"If you are already strong in you favored Form," Thadeus continues while he leads Elric out of the reception towards the stairs to the guest quarters, "then you will be happy to learn that we have decent summae in the Techniques."
"We currently have someone able to cast the Aegis, but she is one of those who would prefer to move to a different location. She's strong with Rego, rather than Vim. I'm currently the closest thing to a Vim expert, even though it is not my favoured Art. Several of us are also slated to learn Wizard's Vigil to help make the Aegis stronger."
As they enter the guest room, Thadeus says, "Here we are! I'll have the servants bring you some hot water to clean up. I'l come back to get you in, say an hour? Or later, if you need some rest. I'll get you an Aegis token in the meantime. And we can talk some more."
The magi have enjoyed the conversation on their own. The stewardess left them when Thadeus arrived, just making sure they had the food and drink they needed.
They are just getting up to find the guest room when they hear feet scraping at the threshold to the room. It is one of the rangers who look for Thadeus attention, without much self-confidence.
Euh, ah. L-lord Thadeus. ... I don't want ... There is ... euh ... something I think you should know. I hope you do not mind. I did not want to bother you, but euh! For the last couple of days we have seen a couple of strangers roaming the hills. We have seen them in the distance and come across a campfire. There are at least two, a man and a woman, but I think there may be more.
Today, when I was hunting with Arlaine, I saw her talking to a stranger behind a tree, whispering. When they saw me, he ran off, and Arlaine came back. She said he was just a wanderer asking for directions, and brushed it off. Maybe it is true, and maybe he was not one of them who have been roaming for a few days, but ... I hope you do not mind telling you.
"Come with me, please... Oswald, is it?" asks Thadeus, before leading the ranger to a place where they can sit down and talk with some privacy.
"Arlaine, the one who came back with us in the spring? You are doing the right thing by coming to see me. Can you tell me anything more about that stranger, or those you saw roaming the hills?"
Elric was about to go inside his new room, and get settled, when this guy walked up to Thadeus, and told him about a mysterious stranger. "Ehm... Do you want me to come with you and see if if I can be of help?"
"Thank you for the offer," replies Thadeus with a smile, "but for the moment I do not think this will require your assistance for now. But I will keep your offer in mind."
Elric felt mixed emotions. He finally found a covenant he can join, and definitely needed the rest, and to change clothes, but he was curious as to what is going on, and would like to show that he's eager to help.
In any case, Thadeus has told him to stay, and he knew better than to act against a member of the covenant, andhe felt sure that if his assistance is needed, he would be called upon.
Before walking in and closing the door behind him, he turned to Thadeus "Please do that. I'd like to prove my worth."
Thadeus understands Elric's eagerness to help, but he needs to know more before he decides on a course of action. He also doesn't know - yet - what Elric may be capable of.
All of this cross his mind and he walks with Oswald to a suitable place for discussion. Once they are sitting, Thadeus' attention focuses on the ranger.
Euh .. We have seen at least two, a man and a woman, carrying bows and spears. I don't know, but I think there are more. We have never seen more than two at the same time, and they have always been far away. The camp site we found, they had tried very hard to clean it up, and it was impossible to tell how many had been camping.
There is not an awful lot he can say, but when you push, he adds,
When we have seen them, they have been scouting from the hilltops, as if they keep watch on us.