Shouldn't we use the location of Triamore outlined in the book? It is close to the Chateau de Fontaine. but its location in the area is a little different.
1 Like
yes, using the official setting is what I plan to do. Makes the SG's life easier after all 
My google-fu failed me and I cannot find any mention of Bois de Haillot or Lucien's Folly, so I defaulted to the closest real-world match
As far as I know those 2 are totally made up locations. I did that same google search a few years ago. The only answers were ArM triamore sagas
We can take the picture of the keep we like and change the location. 
Given time and inclination one can actually make an orthographic drawing out of the castle map provided in the book
TRIAMORE: MAIN FEATURES
The covenant is as described in the ArM4 supplement.
The main change is that the covenant is just a few years old. It was given to a pair of Virgilians in 2017 and they are still around. Now they are doing a roll call for new recruits, as they are finding the running of the covenant taxing and they are facing problems they fear will not be able to overcome on their own.
The player characters are the mystical users that answered their open invitation.
INFRASTRUCTURE
As described, except that the towers are not guttered since there has not been a mystical attack o the covenant. Not very relevant, but just in case.
INHABITANTS
All this can change, but we are taking the setting characters as our working default except for the changes outlined below. The players will also bring companions and grogs no doubt, so some of this information will change for sure as some characters are removed to make space for new arrivals or are taken over by players and designed anew.
The most relevant changes will be as follows.
Anaxagoras and Ulisterius (NPC) are around, and members of the Virgilians. They are the ones that created the covenant a decade ago. Daria LaGris is apprenticing to Anaxagoras, while Lars is apprenticing to Ulisterius. Daria is a serious 14-year-old with a marked sense of duty, way above her age. Lars is a 13-year-old gentle gifted young man. He is easy going and seems to be very smart and liked by the servants of the covenant. There are currently no other magi. A maga named Forba stayed for a pair of ears in the basement and did some weird things with the cellars, but nothing untoward for an Architect.
The magi and their apprentices are out for periods of game time, as they need to attend the court of the Emperor.
The turb is downgraded to just 5 mercenaries (crossbowmen) and 1 Custos per magus, plus Froese and Johan the gentleman that acts as the knight and captain of the castle.
INHABITANTS OF TRIAMORE
NPCs (unless someone wants to play them) that live at Lucien’s Folly and the covenfolk that depend on them.
Anaxagoras. Augustan. Gentle Gift. Powerful in Animo. Stern and serious, but with a reputation of being fair and having a keen mind.
- Daria laGris, apprentice. 14 year old. Serious
Ulisterius. Augustan. Diviner an astronomer. Older than Anaxagoras and more approachable.
- Lars, 13 year old. Gentle Gifted and very easy going. Liked by the covenfolk, specially the women.
Morris the Steward (specialist)
- Elias Clericus, clerk and scribe
- Froese, thug
Richer, cellarer (specialist)
- Alma, cook
- Edith, Joan and little Matilde (12 year sold), scullery maids.
- Edwin, boy that tends to the sheep and goat herd
Beatrice, Housekeeper (specialist) (30 years old)
- Margery, Alice and Goscelyna. Housemaids
- Athelina, Geoffrey, Sophie, Gerard. Personal servants for the magi (will be reduced to 2 if you bring your own). Sophie is mute but is implied to have Animal Ken.
Cortini, Stablemaster (specialist)
- Thurold, huntsman and master of kennels. Acts on his own most of the time.
- Brendan, stablehand
- 9 riding horses (2 are in the village), 10 plow horses, 3 mules, 4 hounds (8 cats)
Isabel of Bruges, Librarian (flamboyant woman (!) and lover of books (specialist)
- Martin, scribe
- Richildis Illuminator [COMPANIOMN LEVEL NOBLEWOMAN]
Johan, Captain (specialist). A knight and nobleman [CAN BE A COMPANION EASILY]
- 5 guards.
- 2 Custos (Gigot and Gerard) belonging to Ulisterius and Anaxagoras.
- There are 5 semi-trained peasants in the village that will also act as officers if the village needs to be mobilized in times of war.
- A castle the size of triamore could use a second knight easily.
The book also mentions Brother Chretien, a visiting monk scholar, and Nasir a Moorish from the court of Granada. None of them are given much role in the covenant, so we can use or remove them as we see fit.
All of these are up for grabs if any player wants them, or they can be removed at our convenience to make space for our own characters.
There are also the 3 following main characters in the village: Hugh the bailiff, Gilbert le long the Reeve, and Pere Hugo, the priest. The village also has a miller, alewife, jurist, hayward and other persons of note but minor status.
As far as I could tell the real-world area equivalent of Lucien's Folly places it between Anhée and Dinant.
Still working out the details of Onfroi but he will likely be a knight.
Since the number of guards are being downgraded from ~20 to 5, why retain them as mercenaries? It would make more sense for them to be vassals at that number.
Oh yeah. I also ignored the map on p.105 as it made absolutely zero sense.
I am not sure, why Triamore could have vassals. AFAIK they don't even have a liege, but between 1217 and 1220 just some royal protection. This may really lead them to tread very softly.
Based on their manorial charter they're an imperial, not royal, holding.
Also, the Lord of Bois de Haillot, enjoys a status equivalent to a non-hereditary landed noble while the members of the covenant are considered knights under the service of said lord. That's why Triamore had the number of grogs it did in the original write-up and why it was not remarkable since the lord of the manor can have knights and the knights can have vassals.
Correct! But between 1217 and 1220 there is no Emperor! Just Frederick II as a new king of Germany. So there also can be no Imperial charter in 1217.
Typical German knights - ministeriales - can't have vassals. Even their own status of vassal and the ability to themselves hold further ministeriales has only been recently confimed to some wealthier knights (greater ministeriales).
But 'mercenaries' in the time and area indeed sounds bad: 'armsmen' is far better for Triamore's remaining fighters.
1 Like
I was going to say men-at-arns, but armsmen will do. 
The thing with 30 armed men in triamore is that they are very powerful. Nearby manors will have 2 fighters at most, and they will look at 30 armed men the way we all would look at a fortification of Al Qaeda dudes 2 blocks away. Most castles (let alone manors) did not have permanent soldiers in time of peace. Only the inhabitants were "guarding" it. So a buch of around 10 armed men will still be considered considerable military power.
We can have them being armsmen. I wrote "mercenaries" to distance them somewhat from the local population, but that can be corrected easily.
Triamore certainly does NOT have other manors as vassals. That is the whole point: it is not a landlord, but a single manor that happens to have a freakin' castle in it. The idea of granting the castle to the magi was to remove the castle from the local politics. It failed as a strategy since it is still there and people are VERY aware of its existance, as it should be, but at least the castle is not in the hands of the local magnates.
Great stuff!!! I didn't know that and I find it very interesting. It can be the reason of WHY you are being invited to the covenant: we can either have you invited BEFORE one o the mundane lords takes advantage of the situation to advance on Triamore, or just AFTER the crisis because the Augustans fear that in the future this will repeat and they will not be able to deal with the crisis alone.
Armsmen for the warriors. I stand corrected. Thanks.
I am learning a lot about particularities of the German political and knightly stuff here. Thank you guys.
Feudal obligations are not the beautiful spiral orb webs, but the messy tangle webs.
The manorial charter is imperial and thus does not owe fealty to the King of Germany, but does answer to the local Duke who is a vassal of the King of Germany who in turn is a vassal of the Holy Roman Emperor (and in our case also a vassal of the King of France).
And the Magi are the Cribellate spiders all up in the mess.