Questions about Fengheld in the Rhine

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

Hey,

I'm about to start a new campaign with a new group, and in it, the characters will all start out as members of the Fengheld Covenant in the Rhine Tribunal. So I was wondering if there were any more detail on Fengheld anywhere.

First, what does Fengheld mean? Is it German for something? :stuck_out_tongue:
Second, is Fengheld based on some existing castle or holding? Where exactly in the Harz mountains is it? I see there is a castle around the same place already (one of many castles called Falkenstein in Germany).

Also, anything particular I should keep in mind when running a campaign set around Fengheld? Maybe something I've forgotten. :stuck_out_tongue:

So, anyone know anything about this? :slight_smile:

Cheers,

Eirik

2

There is a write up of Fengheld in Guardians of the Forest along with the rest of the Rhine tribunal

3

Yes, I decided on going for Fengheld after reading that. :slight_smile: But I'm more curious about the inspiration the authors had for Fengheld. The meaning of the name. The exact location. And so on. :slight_smile:

E.

4

Exact location is shown on the map in guaridians of the forest.

Looks like it is near the town of Qudlinberg and just south of a peak called Hexentanzplatz. You can do your own research from that I guess.

Anything not in the guardians of the forest I guess you will have to invent.

There are a couple references at http://lonedm.googlepages.com/tribunal

5

That description of the tribunal unfortunately says very little about Fengheld itself. Note that it is also somewhat non-Canonical, as it is about a century earlier and also plays fast and loose with both Hermetic and mundnae politics - moving Crinterta to the Bohemian Forest (leaving a new covenant called Ostee in its place), and inventing the Oborite kingdom where once there was a more scattered aggregation of princedoms, and so on.

Unfotunately, the guy who wrote that stuff doesn't know anything worth mentioning about Fengheld. I should know - it's me.

6

All right, then I'll just add the needed detail myself. Reason I asked was that I didn't want to miss something canonical. I'm using Goggle Earth to find how the area looks like. Using Google Earth is somewhat "dangerous". I often get too hung up on details. :unamused:

E.

7

As one of the writers of Fengheld, I can assure you that you are not missing anything from canon. Fengheld has one mention prior to GotF, which was in a 3rd edition adventure called 'Deadly Legacy'; where the characters come across an output of the Rhenish covenant in Cherbourg. This was the inspiration for a covenant with many widely distributed chapter houses, and I believe that Fengheld is the largest covenant currently described, with 23 members (although only 12 are at the main site). They have at least six chapter houses; the five described plus another which is recommended to be placed near to a PC covenant.

We were deliberately vague about the exact placement of the covenant, so that you could put it wherever you want.

Mark