Hello there!
Last Friday we were discussing how to proceed with our Manx saga in our local bar, when Marc, one of our casual Ars players, put forward a quite intrepid idea.
We are playing around the Partitio Monaviae (Partition of Mann in faulty latin AFAIK). Our covenant (Lumen Australis) vouches for the island to become part of the Hibernian tribunal, while a rival covenant (Gloom) supports an inclusion on the Loch Leglean tribunal. Stonehenge tends to side with Gloom, but it is mostly unhappy at the current situation and we tend to side together in front of an external enemy when they come with the idea of kicking us out of our island to maintain the status quo.
Now, we have had Gloom as THE nemesis for a long time. More than the dragons, the faerie gods of the island or any mundane conflicts. However, Lumen is getting the upper hand, and is likely to emerge as the victor in the end. Especially since we are older by 6 months than the Gloom covenant, and the Grand Tribunal pof 1195 said that "the older covenant takes precedence" in case we both survived a full Grand Tribunal period (1195-1228).
Now the twist.
Mann is full of non hermetics. There is a Pralixian Quaesitor likely to join the Gloom covenant. Marc suggested that we could try to push forward for Mann itself to be a full tribunal by incorporating 2 groups of magicians (a group of vitkir and a Gruagach collective) into the Order and declaring them to be covenants. Mann is certainly rich enough in vis to still have a surplus after we all take our shares, so it can support a thriving hermetic community like that.
We are finding ways to end our destructive relationship with Gloom, so that could be a step to take.
Now, do you think that this could fly? Or do you think that it breaks down? It would mean both us and Gloom to declare that we would like Mann to be part of its own tribunal in the grand tribunal of 1228.
Besides all 3 other tribunals surrounding us having to be calmed down (I think it could be done by vis tributes and with the support of Redcaps, that are finding Lumen to be highly useful as a springboard) and the native magicians to be convinced this would be A Good Thing (TM) for them, what other problems do you envision?
For the record, the isle of Mann and the Realm of Mann and the Isles is the only place in the British isles where the Norsemen really rule along the old norse traditions (tinwald et al), and here there is an overflow of vis and the faerie gods of the norse are still strong along with the Celtic Church. So, we could try to claim this to be different from the other regions somewhat mundanely as well as hermetically. Until (or if) the English conquer it, that is
Cheers,
Xavi