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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 1384947" data-attributes="member: 3448">From Monthey Up the ValleyMonthey will be the nearest significant settlement to our covenant, and so our brief stay on the trip up the valley was primarily an opportunity to get to know the village.  Monthey's population is small; perhaps a few hundred people live in the village.  I was able to identify a few lads with some skill at carpentry.  When we have situated the covenant, we may hire them for the construction.  Some of the shepherds of Monthey travel up into the valley with their flocks, but most avoid it because strange things happen to those who spend too much time in the valley.  We, of course, delighted in hearing news consistent with a strong magical aura.I fear that our first encounter with the villagers was not as graceful as might have been hoped.  The Gift's typical effects on common folk drew some attention to our group.  Later, Wilhelm got into something of a brawl, apparently by flirting with the wrong woman.  Fortunately, he suffered no injury, and we were able to sort the whole thing out before he injured the local fellow too badly.Even in Monthey, Celeste mentioned feeling a magical aura, except immediately around the small church.  She was eager to head further up into the valley, as was Brigitta, so after reprovisioning in the morning, we followed the smaller river up the valley.  Brigitta talked worriedly about the spring floods that periodically surge down the valley, but the snowpack in the upper mountains was still solid, and by mostly remaining high on the banks, we avoided any danger.  Each time we forded the river, which we did frequently to seek out easier routes, Brigitta would stare intently up the valley before dashing across.The going was much more difficult heading into the valley.  Tsaran and Wilhelm had to lead their horses most of the way, and we were forced to slowly traverse switchbacks and ravines.  The whole valley is not more than 15 miles long, and yet we travelled no more than a quarter of the way up the valley in the first day of hard travel.  Near nightfall on the first day, we first noticed a wild goat watching us as it bounded along, far above near the snowline.  We paid it no mind; the animal's behavior seemed strange to Brigitta, but unusual animal behaviors are common enough in highly magic areas.Our travel was somewhat slowed by Celeste's efforts to, as she put it, hear the music that surrounded us.  She assured us that the aura was strong throughout the valley, and that the music was harmonious.  [Magic Aura=3 everywhere.] As we progressed, she stated that she could hear a more intense, purer music from ahead.We discovered the nature of the strange goat on our second day of travel.  After several hours of travel, the goat began to observe us again.  Brigitta's own goat, a strange creature in its own right, bounded up after it with unnatural speed, but the beast retreated before Brigitta's could catch it.  Brigitta ran up the slope, finding her footing through fantastic good fortune, or perhaps a charm to ease her stride, but she could not even catch her animal.  The rest of us were left far behind, although Tsaran and Wilhelm tried to keep up in case danger threatened.  Celeste, meanwhile, was simply staring up at the strange animal, while hushing the rest of us so she could concentrate on listening to a strange melody that none of the rest of us could hear.  After a few minutes, comprehension dawned."Ah, now I can hear his melody," Celeste said.  "That goat has the Gift.  It must be a magus of Bjornaer."Fearing a disastrous conflict, I cupped my hands and yelled up the slope as loudly as I could, "Salve, Sodalis!" The goat continued to bound away, but Brigitta slowed up in confusion, at least.  We reassembled by the river bank, where Celeste explained her conclusion.  Contrary to my expectations, Brigitta openly scorned a Bjornaer magus with a goat as his heart-beast.  "Goats are for livestocks, companions, and possibly familiars.  To be a goat at heart, though..." She shook her head disparagingly.The presence of another magus complicates matters considerably.  Our worries were confirmed on the third day of our travel, when Celeste led us up further into the mountains towards an area where the aura was stronger.  We camped on the slope in a glen, not reaching the destination she was seeking until the middle of the fourth day, when we hiked up into the snowy lower peaks.  The aura was stronger throughout this area of the valley [Magic 4], but as we approached a high, clear mountain lake above a striking waterfall, the aura reached a truly powerful level.  {Magic 5].  Unfortunately, our goat Bjornaer sodalis awaited us at the top of the waterfall, standing next to two large cairns.  Emblazoned on the cairns was the unmistakeable circle in a square with quartering lines symbol that marked the area within as a magus's sanctum.  We would need to proceed carefully.Before we could fully strategize, Brigitta cried out the traditional greeting.  The magus transformed into his human form.  The unimposing, scraggly-bearded man before us responded, "Salvete, sodales" in a voice whose accent was dismayingly Germanic.  His tone left no doubt that we were unwelcome.Brigitta proceeded, while the rest of us winced a little, "This valley belongs to our covenant."Tsaran stepped forward.  "I am Tsaran of House Tremere.  Brigitta of Criamon speaks the truth.  The covenant of Lemannus had the prior claim on this land, and they have ceded it to us.  We should appreciate it if you would move on."The bearded man scowled.  "I am Karl, filius Johan, of Bjornaer.  This land is mine.  I have established my sanctum hear, and none have challenged my claim.  I see no reason why I should give way to you."Celeste looked up at this.  "None have challenged your claim, you say.  But have any recognized it?""I do not need the recognition of any to establish my sanctum where it will, so long as it is not within another's covenant.  Lemannus may have asserted some claim on this valley, but you would agree, I feel sure, that they have not established their covenant here.""Please, sodalis Karl," I interrupted.  "My socii did not expect this turn of events.  Would you mind if we conferred to figure out how we may resolve this problem?""As you will."We withdrew down the slope some distance; Tsaran prudently posted the grogs as guards, while Celeste invoked a spell to ensure that we were not being scried on.  While it would violate the Oath, it seemed a wise precaution.We quickly discussed our options.  We could try to reach an accomodation where we shared the valley, but that was unlikely to be to our advantage, as Celeste believed that this area had the strongest aura of the whole valley, and Karl would be unlikely to agree to cede it to our covenant.  A certamen challenge would clearly be a proper way to resolve the dispute, but what if we lost?  I think I have heard of Karl, as another young magus, but if Tsaran issued the challenge, Karl would choose the Form while Tsaran would only choose the Technique.  Especially if he had raw vis to use, that could go badly, and a defeat would give him a clear legal claim over the valley, perhaps dashing our covenant's prospects permanently.  Jacqueline impertinently spoke up and suggested that we broach the possibility of his joining our covenant, but Karl's response was distasteful.  He stated that he would be willing to join, but on the condition that we recognize him as Primus for life, and in the strongest sense of the term Primus.  Our carefully constructed charter would mean little if we acceded to that demand.When we explained to Wilhelm, who was very confused about the whole incident, what the matter was, he suggested that we could simply handle it like vulgar nobility would handle a dispute over territory: with the sword.  We made it clear to him that he should take no action against Karl; the last thing we need is an accusation of violating the Oath.  But Wilhelm did have something of a point; even among magi, mutually conflicting claims on aura-rich lands is the most traditional casus belli of all.  Still, the Tribunal frowns on Wizard War, and if we prosecuted one with so little provocation, our effort to win recognition at the next Tribunal would be complicated tremendously.It might be possible to bribe Karl, with an offer of vis or copies of some of our texts, but we do not have sufficient resources that such an offer would be easy to make.  Rather than deal with the problem directly, we spent a few more days exploring the valley further, and were depressed to confirm that Celeste's belief was correct.  While there was one other area where the magic aura was particularly strong [Magic 4], nowhere else had as strong an aura as the area around the mountain lake.  We thus had no choice but to face the problem head on.</blockquote>

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