It being the nature of this covenant, the traveler was welcomed and offered shelter, and granted an audience with the coven's leader, Jason, scheduled for the next day.

As he did choose to explore the covenant's fortress, he ran into an unusual person anon. She did not walk as others do, but bounced, as a particularly happy child is wont to do. Though she appeared human, there was some of the elf in her features, and her voice musical as the elves of the Seilegh Court. This did puzzle the wanderer, for this person, Nysta by name, did not act like anyone, human or elven, that he had come across in his travels. But after only a brief greeting Nysta continued on her way, leaving only confusion behind.

Nysta, unknown to this poor traveler, was not of the Fae, but had been raised by them and so took on some aspects of her adopted people. Though her nature could be called cheerful, nay, manic, she was also a good healer and it was in this capacity that she had come to serve the covenant.

The next day dawned sunny, and that afternoon were expected the new Magi. In the latter part of the day, they began to arrive and were escorted to their rooms. The first to arrive was a Magus whose master had charged him to go forth and make something of himself. After seeing to his rooms and having food brought from the kitchens, he retired to the library to read. The second to arrive was myself, Robyn, a Maga who came to this covenant to escape the torments of my former teacher, who felt I was not ready for the world.

After seeing to my own rooms, I explored the covenant I had now joined. Outside, near the gardens, I found Nysta, who I had not then met, singing in a strange tongue. After establishing that we could not communicate in a common language, I gave up and thought to return to the covenant. However, Nysta ran on ahead and I traveled to catch up. Upon entering the kitchens, however, I was shocked to hear her speak to one of the cooks in flawless Latin, a tongue I had tried to speak to her in without any luck a scant 5 minutes agon! I asked her why she had not spoken in Latin earlier, and she replied that she was not speaking Latin, but I that was now speaking Saxon, which was a language I did not then know. Having thus established that something in the nature of this covenant allowed men to speak their own tongues and have others understand, even when there was no common language, Nysta and I were rather unceremoniously chased out of the kitchens by one of the cooks and told to wait for dinner.

Meanwhile, at the gate, the final of the new Magi, a Magus from Ireland named Brion, had arrived, along with the traveling Moorish scholar, Ibn Aben Abu. Ibn's arrival was somewhat of a surprise to the folk of the covenant, but they cheerfully made arrangements for another guest. Ibn joined those of us already present at dinner, while Brion saw to his own rooms. Nysta lost her interest in questioning me on every detail of my life and all I knew, to my intense relief, only to focus on the poor unsuspecting Moor. Having never seen a Moor before, Nysta had many a question for Ibn, who tried his best to field them off before he was called before Jason.

Jason spoke to Ibn, who told him he was a traveling scholar who wished to exchange knowledge with the Magi and study in our library if he could be allowed. Jason willingly agreed, being a good man of cheerful spirit, but admitted he had no guest chambers to spare at the moment. Ibn agreed it would be no trouble to sleep in the barracks, and left Jason to go check on his books and get settled.

Jason then spoke to the Scottish wanderer MacKay. MacKay wished to purchase an item with protective magics, unaware that such sale is forbidden by our Order. Jason questioned MacKay, who finally admitted that he wished the item for protection against Unseilegh Fae. Jason welcomed MacKay to stay at Drevlan's Ridge for a while, as Drevlan's Ridge was allied with a nearby Seilegh Fae mound, where Nyssa had lived previously.

Having now spoken with the two non-Magi visitors, Jason called in his new Magi and healer. He spoke to us of the area around Drevlan's Ridge, the people who lived there, and other things which we might find need of in our new home. Soon, we were all close to sleep, awaiting the next day to find out what our new home might bring with the dawn.

Brion chose some Herbaum books from the library to study, Sailen closeted himself in his lab, and I traveled between the covenant and the village nearby to improve my knowledge of Saxon, and to learn more of the people. Ibn followed the Magi around if we didn't tell him to leave, and studied in the library of mundane resources, and spoke with the local peasants about various matters. Nysta spent time getting to know the people, and working with Jason, who endeavored to teach her to read. All was quiet for several days after our arrival.

Several days after our arrival, a messenger sent by the clergy of the village arrived at the covenant. He seemed quite agitated, and insisted that he must speak to Jason immediately. He was granted an audience with Jason, and they spoke for a while, after which the messenger left for the village, it being a good half-day's walk.

Jason called us all together, though Calum MacKay and Sailen declined to attend...Calum was busy training the guards, and Sailen was occupied in his lab. Jason informed the rest of us that the village might have a problem, but he doesn't have time to investigate.

It seemed that the villagers were upset because they had found a sheep with its throat torn out in an unusual manner, and they wished the help of the Magi from Drevlan's Ridge. So Nysta, Brion, Ibn and myself set off for the village the next day, accompanied by Ibn's porter and Geoff, a guard from the covenant. The half-day spent traveling to the village was uneventful.

We went to the parish, where I was known due to studying Saxon there with the clergy. I asked if we could see Father Eric, the head of the parish. The lay brother who answered the door went to see, and finally another lay brother, Brother Donald, came and escorted us to Father Eric's study. Nysta, being of fae upbringing, became very nervous in the church, but followed after the rest of us. Father Eric observed this nervousness, and worried for Nysta's health, but Nysta explained she was just frequently nervous. Father Eric continued that he had sent the messenger, and gave some background.

"We worry because the sheep was found dead, yet the shepard heard nothing and saw nothing unusual that night. The throat was torn completely out, and there was very little blood around it. No tracks were around in the mud except the sheep's own tracks. We thought it must be a demon, but we could find no sign of such. We suspect therefore that it is a magical creature, and so I sent a messenger to Drevlan's Ridge to ask for Jason's aid."

Brion asked if we could see the field, and when the sheep was found. Father Eric informed us that the sheep was found in the middle of the night, and then assigns Brother Donald to show us to the field and act as a translator, since we Magi spoke little Saxon, and Nysta spoke no Latin.

Brother Donald showed us to a field on the far side of the pasture area, which looked to be on the verge of overgrazing. A square was staked out on the field, where the sheep had been found. The sheep carcass was gone. It had been dragged off for food, explained Brother Donald, then went to find the sheepherder who found the sheep carcass.

Nysta tried to use second sight, but could find nothing, at least nothing recent enough to have left a trace. Trying to convey this to the Magi, she informed us "No demon, no faerie. Not now." I got the idea, after a couple repetitions.

Brother Donald returned with Geoffery, the sheepherder who found the dead sheep - an old, weatherworn man. Geoffery did not hear anything out of the ordinary that night. Ibn asked if it was common to lose sheep to wolves - Geoffery replied that it was not frequent, maybe once a season. We were told that no meat other than the throat was missing, but most of the blood was gone. Nothing else unusual had happened except that a lot of sheep had fallen ill for some reason.

Sailen now arrived, having finished his business in his lab and joined us in the field. He decided to try to look into the past using a spell, but all he could see was that a sheep had been there, which did not provide a lot of useful new information. He decided to try to see what had killed the sheep by finding the neck of the deceased sheep and casting a spell on it. Nysta and I were both somewhat nauseated by the prospect of going in search of rotting sheep bits, but followed the others towards the butcher.

Brother Donald explained to the rather dubious butcher that we needed to find the neck of the sheep that had been killed, and we were informed it was somewhere out in the bone pile in the back. Nysta declined to go watch the search, while Sailen and Geoff the guard went to search. I stood in the door in case I was needed, but somewhat reluctant to root through rotting sheep parts. Finally, Ibn found the neck.

Using the neck, Sailen tried to get a glimpse of the thing that killed the sheep. All he was able to get was a sense of something large and black. So, reluctantly, I tried my hand at it. I was only a little more successful, sensing something large, black and furry.

Nysta spoke to the butcher, and learned that some dogs had been disappearing lately. As her conversation concluded, Sailen suddenly came dashing through, heading back to the field, followed by Ibn. I trailed along behind.

Nysta and Brion decided not to follow, but instead to go visit an old tracker who lived in the village. From speaking with Brion later, I learned that as they approached the tracker's house, his dogs became upset, barking and howling. Nysta informed Brother Donald that dogs sometimes dislike her. They then spoke to the tracker about dog disappearances, but found nothing unusual. Nysta then asked the tracker about faeries, and was kicked off of his land for mentioning such an unChristian thing. So Nysta and Brion headed towards the woods.

Back in the field, Sailen and Ibn were studying the eating habits of sheep, trying to find if there was something that sheep preferred over something else. I saw Nysta and Brion heading across the field towards the woods, so I decided to join them.

We searched the woods for a while, with no luck. Nysta found deer tracks, but nothing else, so we rejoined the others. Sailen and Ibn had decided that sheep prefer clover, and were preparing to settle in to watch the sleep for the night. Brion went back to the church to sleep. Nysta went herb-hunting, and I settled into a tree to rest...but alas, I fell asleep, so I cannot rely on my own memories to scribe what happened that night. Sailen and Geoff slept while Ibn and Nysta took the first watch. Nysta wandered around, trying to see if anything unusual was in the field, but found nothing. After following the shepard and nearly scaring him to death by mistake, Nysta returned and she and Ibn exchanged places with Sailen and Geoff for the second watch.

Sailen and Geoff saw nothing during their watch, just shepards wandering around the field, and sheep.

However, the next morning, another sheep was dead. No one heard or saw anything. Nysta, Ibn and I found a footprint near the sheep, though. Sailen cast a spell to clarify the footprint, and we saw that there were some sort of claw or nail marks near the front of the footprint. Nysta tried using second-sight on it, but once again, found nothing, and informed me "No demon, no faerie. Not now." The shepard went to fetch Brother Donald.

Brion arrived at the field when Brother Donald returned, by which time Sailen had left to search the woods, where he found deer tracks and old wolf tracks, but nothing unusual. Brother Donald tried holy water on the footprint, but nothing happened. Sailen returned and used a spell to transform the earth the footprint was in into stone, and then pry it out of the ground. Then we all returned to the covenant.

Sailen took the stone footprint to the library, and Brion and I followed. In the stone, we found a dark hair with a white tip, which we decided to use to try to locate the creature which had done this. Brion cast a spell, and began a search over a map of several hours, during which Nysta and myself raided the kitchens to get some food for everyone. After some hours of searching, Brion located the creature some three miles outside the village on the map. With a power boost from myself, Brion cast a spell to turn the hair into a compass, and we decided to track the beast down that night.

I cast Eye of the Cat on all party members so we could see in the dark. We followed the tug of the compass, but the creature moved faster than we could. Then it stopped, however, and the compass stopped tugging. I spotted the creature...some sort of huge bird, it seemed...just before it flew over our heads. Sailen also spotted the beast, and cast a spell of flight, taking off in pursuit of the creature. Poor Ibn, who was skeptical of magic, fainted at this point. We set off, with Geoff carrying Ibn, in the direction that Sailen and the creature had gone.

Sailen later told me of the pursuit, so I can put to paper the events therein. Sailen tried to set the creature on fire while in pursuit, but failed. A second attempt set the creature on fird briefly, but it did not stay alight, and tried to attack Sailen. Sailen and the creature both landed, and the creature became another shape, more wolf-like, and loped away. Sailen tried to hit it with another blast of fire, but did no apparent damage.

The rest of us reached the clearning then, and Nysta fired an arrow at the creature, missing. I tried to entangle it in a spell, but missed as well. The creature fled into the woods, and we followed. The compass was tugging again, and it led us across another sheep field, and past some very confused shepards.

The tugging stopped, and we had one moment of warning before the creature, again a bird-like shape, flew at us from behind. I entangled it in a web this time, only to have Brion's spell of torrential water wash it out. The creature escaped, only to be stopped by a wall of air that Sailen had conjured. As it fell to the ground and turned to a human shape, Nysta fired an arrow at its leg to immobilize it. However, her arrow went wide and killed it.

We came closer to the body to investigate it, and found a medallion that was definitely a wizard's sigil, which I recognized as one of House Bjornaer. We took the corpse and returned to the covenant for further study, and to sleep off the past day's activity, unsure of what this would eventually lead to.