I've been trying to work this out to my own satisfaction.
Given the Duresca scrolls are uncovered in 937 and then the Quaesitores move in, it seems likely that Guernicus was not involved originally. IIRC from ToH: Iberia the covenant was meant to be founded in 917 but that's not necessarily canonical these days...
Has anyone used the Duresca scrolls mystery in their Saga?
(BTW, I know Trianomae is not really a House on it's own but I just think it's an interesting option to consider. I'd also consider Tremere, Verditius and Ex-Miscellanea to be unlikely so I've left them lumped together. Likewise, the early Order seems to be described as being composed of mainly House covenants rather than multi-House covenants but I'd be interested in any other opinions).
I voted Diedne. Duresca is located in Galacia, where Celtic influence is very strong, and the Diedne have often been associated with the Celts. I suggest the Diedne magi who lived there were keeping the scrolls as insurance against House Guernicus betraying them, who they did not trust because of their infernalism-- or else invented them to discredit the Quaesitores, in case they learned of their infernalism.
I think the answer to this question is "Whichever House you think would be most interesting." I must admit, that never having read ToH: Iberia (never saw any reason to, to be honest), I'm not at all familiar with the details given about Duresca. What sort of covenant is it supposed to be?
Well, I'm actually interested in answers from both those who have read the flawed but fascinating ToH: Iberia and those who are only acquainted with the concept of the Duresca Scrolls from the more recent editions.
The ToH: Iberia version is no longer canonical, so don't feel the need to be restricted by that version - I'm interested in a wide range of views.
Well, given the general situation in Spain, i.e. the Reconquista, I'd suggest a strong Flambeau influence. But if you're approaching this question with the Duresca scrolls in mind, I really don't think it matters because the Houses are far from monolithic. If you decide the scrolls are fake, they might have been the work of just one or two magi who did them in secret, rather than the whole covenant. Moreover those magi might have come from Houses generally well disposed towards House Guernicus, but perhaps they had a few individual axes to grind.
IMS they were founded by roman houses affiliated with the christian realms of northern iberia. That meant flambeau, bonisagus and jerbiton to us in our iberian saga. It is bound to have been a multi-house covenant. Some merceres and maybe a guernicus as well, since SOMEONE must have brought/written the scrolls. If they were written by someone here (so they are fraught) it might easily be that there was a tytalus in residence as well.
You surely know better than I, living in Iberia, but doesn't ToH:I say it's in Galicia? It's near enough to Santiago de Compostela that the people may be found there if not at the covenant, and isn't SdC in Galicia?
This is the second thing that I will have to check tonight when I get home, but IIRC the iberia map, it was placed in Cantabria or around that area, right? Been a while since I read the Iberian supplement. IM(iberian)S it was in Cantabria for sure.
Hmmm... my understanding was that Duresca was in a shire named A Terra Cha, in the north of Lugo (Galicia).
By the way, I will vote for Diedne as being the founders of Duresca. Maybe that was the reason behind the Quaesitors taking over it some years before the schism war?
I stand corrected. Duresca is in Galicia. For some weird quirk I had always thought that it was in Cantabria. The map and text leave no doubts about it: it is Galicia
Though I wanted to vote Diedne, I voted Flambeau because of the basic description of Duresca said it already was a castle, and the old castle was expanded upon, I don't see the Diedne as castle builders really, more the sort that live in separate cottages and meet in a grove under a full moon.
which interestingly was abandoned from about the 5th century although was used in official records. It used to be a site of an altar to the Celtic god Lugh. There's a lot of Diedne potential in Galicia - there's a site called "Ara Solis" (Altar of the Sun) at Finistere ("lands end") just to the west of Compostela.
The ToH: Iberia version of Duresca mentions it being along the Pilgrim route of the Camino de Santiago which today runs a bit further south but may have passed further north in medieval times (hard to tell). IIRC the pilgrimage route didn't take off until much later than Duresca's purported founding in 917 so perhaps that's a bit unreliable...
Speaking of the area of Galicia, this quote is interesting from "St James's Catapult" detailing the emergence of the pilgrimage route:
"From the eighth century until the eleventh Galicia was effectively cut off from the community of western Christendom. Poised on the margin of the Christian world, hers was a world apart."
I might give it a bit more of a read - it looks like quite a good summary of Galicia (the author has written an excellent book "Moorish Spain" as well).
