Guardians of the Forest Chapter Eight: Central Germany

Fengheld

The covenant of Fengheld is the largest in the Rhine Tribunal, both in sheer physical size and in the number of magi who it claims as members. It is also perhaps the most diverse of the Rhine covenants, having no single House or gild dominating its membership. This Autumn covenant is perceived as the most neutral of the covenants in the Tribunal, although the more paranoid magi have suspicions regarding its true agenda. It likes to give the image of being politically impartial, and a peacemaker — both the Apple and Linden Gilds were formed by members of this covenant — and often adjudicates conflicts between covenants; nevertheless, its main purpose is to keep all the other covenants so bound up in political machinations that they don’t notice the burgeoning power of Fengheld. So far, this policy has been successful — although the covenant now commands more than forty Tribunal votes, nearly a quarter of the total, they are seldom all cast together.

History

Fengheld was founded in 1039 by veteran members of Houses Flambeau and Tremere returning from the Schism War in Stonehenge and Normandy. The Tribunal had no problems agreeing on the founding of a covenant for these “war heroes,” but it was originally intended as a place that older magi could spend their glory days in isolation from mundanes. However, the founding of the covenant coincided with the reign of Henry III, and the politically inclined Tremere magi of Fengheld, in cahoots with the Transylvanian Tribunal, were involved in his conquests of Bohemia, Poland, and Hungary, seizing numerous vis sites in the process.

As its main site grew full, Fengheld tried to sponsor daughter covenants populated by young Tremere magi, but were blocked by the Tribunal. Instead, they resorted to the founding of chapter houses, copying the common practices of and citing as precedent the Greater Alps Tribunal, reckoning that they had enough martial power to defend multiple sites. Fengheld has recently loosened its ties with the Transylvanian Tribunal, and is no longer seen as being dominated by House Tremere.

Fengheld's Chapter Houses

Each of Fengheld’s chapters is still a part of the main covenant. All magi must accept the charter of Fengheld, and any strictures or rulings from the Tribunal that apply to Fengheld also apply to the chapter houses (and vice versa). However, a chapter usually has a local charter that applies only to those magi who live in the chapter house.

Of the eleven magi of Fengheld that live in chapters, only six are detailed in the five chapter houses given below. The placing of the other five magi has been left to the storyguide to determine. We suggest that Fengheld’s biggest chapter, run by Clemens filius Stentorius, the most senior master of Fengheld, could be sited close to the player covenant. Alternatively, the player magi could themselves constitute one of the remaining chapters, which would make them beholden to the dictates of Fengheld’s senior magi.

Fengheld House: The most remote of Fengheld’s chapters is located in the city of Cherbourg in Normandy. Only a single maga lives here, Marguerite of Flambeau. The chapter is a simple, fortified townhouse owned by Sir Jozef of Poznan, a crusader of Polish birth. Marguerite is a woman of stunning beauty, who considers mundane folk beneath her. She is as rude as she is beautiful, and does not hesitate to make the most cutting remarks she can. This chapter runs a small trading business with England and France.

Rheingasse: Two Gentle-Gifted magi live at this chapter in the center of Cologne. Their purpose is to arrange the supplies and organize the mundane contacts of Fengheld, and they are remarkably adept at their task. Wilhelm Weiss of House Jerbiton poses as a wealthy merchant, and his companion Garrinchus is a newly apprenticed member of House Ex Miscellanea, whose master was acknowledged as an expert in physick. Both magi are members of the Apple Gild, and Wilhem is its co-leader.

Turris Acontiarum: Hassan El-Megrayhi maintains a lone tower in the Kyffhäuser Mountains, where he studies the stars with but a single, mute companion.

Lusatia: Taking its name from the March of Lusatia (see Chapter 9: The Eastern Marches, The Margravate of Lusatia), Lusatia is only 10 miles from the agreed border with the Novgorod Tribunal, and the foundation of this chapter house was the cause of the most recent boundary dispute between that Tribunal and the Rhine (see Chapter 3: Tribunal History and Customs, History). Located in an idyllic spot on a bend of the River Sprec, this chapter has a single inhabitant, Odorpes filia Urgen of House Bjornaer. Odorpes is not exactly a model member of her covenant, and Fengheld has accused her at Tribunal more than once of failing to fulfil her duties, although they are reluctant to discipline her harshly for fear of her aggressive and powerful parens. Odorpes spends most of her time in her heartbeast (a bear), and hibernates for the whole winter.

Durenmar Chapter: Plans are currently underway to establish a chapter at Durenmar. This scheme, the brainchild of Rudolph of Bonisagus, is cautiously supported by Fengheld, although some senior members question the wisdom of this action.

Setting and Physical Description

Fengheld’s main site is a sprawling hilltop fortress in a fairly isolated spot among the hills of the eastern Harz. The south side of the hill is covered in vast vineyards and orchards, whereas grain and root crops are grown in the valley floor below. On the rest of the hill, sheep and goats graze, watched over by shepherds. On the top of the hill, an immense curtain wall surrounds the entire covenant complex, which consists of a score of individual buildings, including a tower for each of the resident magi, an elaborate guest house, an immense meeting hall, and numerous buildings inhabited by the various covenfolk and grogs. Well over two hundred people dwell in Fengheld and its outlying hamlets; most of the food — except for a few luxuries — are grown on site. The isolation of the site partly — but not wholly — explains how this vast farming operation has remained unnoticed by the local nobility, but Fengheld has never been openly accused of manipulating mundanes to ignore their presence. The covenant is magically rich in terms of minor items and raw vis, harvesting from about two dozen different sites, some of them hundreds of miles away. Fengheld’s library, while vast is dominated by books of lower levels than one might expect from a covenant this large. Consequentially, magi trained here tend to be generalists, although the covenant actively tries to invite specialist magi as guests so they can enhance the library. The hilltop has a Magic aura of 5.

In addition to the main site, there are also half a dozen chapter houses spread throughout northern mainland Europe. Each is inhabited by one or more magi, and they take a variety of forms, depending upon the location and needs of the inhabitants.

Culture and Traditions

Fengheld currently boasts a membership of 23 magi, although only a dozen live at the main site. The internal structure of the covenfolk is an elaborate hierarchy, headed by Archmage Stentorius. Directly beneath him are Fengheld’s eight magi of master rank, five of whom dwell at the main site (Eule of Bjornaer, Horst of Mercere, Peter von Würzburg of Verditius, Dorana of Bonisagus, and Indulius of Flambeau), and three at the various chapter houses (Clemens of Tremere, Hassan El-Megrayhi of Criamon, and Wilhelm Weiss of Jerbiton). The third rank of the covenant consists of 14 journeymen, with the six who dwell at Fengheld itself being given a slightly higher precedence to the other eight.

Fengheld is home to one of the Rhine Tribunal’s two Mercer Houses (see Houses of Hermes: True Lineages), the other being at Durenmar. It is also the home of the Tribunal’s senior Redcap, and its central location and the great generosity that is shown to Redcaps ensures its popularity over Durenmar. Those who visit the northern covenants (including Boris of Novgorod, from Oculus Septentrionalis) meet here at agreed times with those who serve the southern half of the Tribunal. They exchange information and news, and occasionally meet with Redcaps from other Tribunals who do not wish to brave the Black Forest to visit Durenmar. This monopoly on the news of the Order has proved to be a great benefit to Fengheld.

Magi

Stentorius, follower of Tremere

• Age: 107 (Archmage)
• Personality Traits: Proud +3, Stickler for Rules +2, Forgiving –3
• Guild: Eichengilde (Oak Guild)

Stentorius is one of the most politically powerful magi in the Rhine Tribunal. He is the authoritarian leader of the largest of the Tribunal’s covenants, an Archmage in his own right, and the Tremere exarch of the Rhine Tribunal (see Houses of Hermes: True Lineages). As such, he administers about three-fifths of the sigils of the Tremere magi in the Tribunal, including those of his filius and the two Tremere magi of Triamore (the rest are held by Severicus of Roznov). Stentorius is a large man, nearly a hundred years from his apprenticeship, but bearing his advanced age well. He has an impressive, bushy beard, iron-gray in color, which covers his chest, and a craggy nose. He is known, rather predictably, as a master of Rego magics, although he is equally adept with most Forms. He wears ostentatious robes of deep crimson red, covered in the Hermetic symbols for Rego and the Forms, and of House Tremere.

His familiar of more than half a century is a supremely arrogant large gray cat by the name of Oswald. He wears a bejeweled golden pendant crafted for him by Stentorius (imbued with multiple uses of Aura of Rightful Authority, amongst other effects) and seriously considers himself the ruler of Fengheld and all its inhabitants, if not the whole Tribunal. When he deigns to visit Durenmar, he is much annoyed by the taunting of Kolkrabus, the raven familiar of Murion. Kolkrabus believes Stentorius has usurped his human’s rightful role as the leader of the Oak Gild.

Horst, follower of Mercere

• Age: 68 (Master)
• Personality Traits: Widely-Read +3, Fascinating +2, Political –3
• Guild: Lindengidle (Linden Guild)

Horst is a famed author who has written books of high quality on a huge range of subjects, both mundane ones and on Magic Theory (despite having no Gift). His books are usually the mainstay of a Rhine magus’ apprenticeship, and he is considered almost encyclopedic in his knowledge. The corpulent Redcap is asked to use his prodigious memory at Tribunals to recall obscure points of Hermetic law, and his vast knowledge about the business of the Order would be a great asset to Fengheld, were Horst not completely apolitical. Horst is the senior Redcap of the Rhine Tribunal, overseeing the Mercer House, and many Redcaps may be found here, resting from their journeys.

Eule, follower of Bjornaer

• Age: approximately 160 (Master)
• Personality Traits: Owlish +6, Apathetic +3, Wise +3
• Guild: Eichengilde (Oak Guild)

A contender for the oldest magus in the Tribunal (along with Caecilius of Durenmar and Schadrit of Dankmar), Eule is an interesting phenomenon — a follower of Bjornaer who has received the honorary rank of Quaesitor from House Guernicus. For many years she was the only senior Quaesitor in the Rhine Tribunal, but is now in retirement from her official duties. Her heartbeast (as her name suggests) is an owl, and she is still sought out by magi for her famous good advice.

Only her filius (Günther Lupus) suspects that Eule has entered Final Twilight. She has not taken her human form for many years, and has not spoken for even longer. The myth of her wisdom has been perpetuated by a fraud set up by Günther; in the floor of the room where she receives her visitors is hidden a magic item with a low level (but very high Penetration) Perdo Mentem effect that calms the mind and removes emotion. With a few verbal promptings by Günther (who is “interpreting” his mistress’ hoots), her petitioners usually manage to find their own answers to their quandaries, but attribute the solution to Eule’s wisdom.

Peter von Würzburg, follower of Verditius

• Age: 62 (Master)
• Personality Traits: Charming +3, Generous +2, Industrious +2
• Guild: Apfelgilde (Apple Guild)

Peter is a famed grower of grapes and maker of wine, both within the Order and among the nobles of southern Saxony and Thuringia. A number of minor magical items assist in the cultivation of the grapes that cover Fengheld’s southern slopes, which would otherwise struggle at this relatively northerly latitude; he cultivates special varieties into wine as Charged Items. His squirrel familiar is as industrious as he is, and they are often seen together, tying up the vines with twine, testing their sweetness and fertilizing the soil. Peter is often the first magus met by visitors to Fengheld as he tends to his precious grapes.

Dorana, follower of Bonisagus

• Age: 76 (Master)
• Personality Traits: Hedonistic +2, Peaceful +1, Secretive –2
• Guild: Lindengilde (Linden Guild)

Dorana is the foremost maga of the lineage of Irmele filia Trianoma in the Tribunal, having settled down at Fengheld after several decades of travel as a peregrinator, during which time she accumulated a detailed knowledge of nearly all the Tribunal’s covenants and many of its magi. Although she generally argues for rationality and peace in Fengheld’s dealings — and her viewpoint often prevails — she nevertheless cannot stand her prima Murion. She urges Stentorius to challenge her for the leadership of the Oak Gild, and her close ally Occultes at Durenmar to challenge her for the Primacy of House Bonisagus. Dorana’s expertise with weather magics is put to good use as Fengheld’s agriculture requires a careful balance of sun and rain, with occasional thick fog to deter unwanted visitors. Her latest apprentice Felecia has just completed her Gauntlet and set out on her travels.

Balastor, follower of Criamon

• Age: 26 (Journeyman)
• Personality Traits: Feral +3, Mischievous +3, Contempt for Humanity +2
• Guild: Weissfdorngilde (Hawthorn Guild)

Balastor believes that enlightenment may only be gained by throwing off the shackles of mundanity. He was born feral, and his master noticed a powerful vital spirit, which dwindled as Balastor learned to speak and took on the other trappings of humanity. Now, Balastor seeks to return himself (and others, whether they want to or not) to that primal state. His Warped Magic causes his features to take on a savage, feral cast when he uses his magic, which is concentrated on releasing suppressed emotions and behavior. He is a mischievous, puckish figure who delights in causing trouble amongst selfimportant mundanes; nevertheless, his philosophy is in concordance with the Hawthorn Gild.

Beechleaf, follower of Merinitia

• Age: 20 (Journeyman)
• Personality Traits: Otherworldly +2, Suspicious +2, Naive +1
• Guild: Holundergilde (Elder Guild)

This fresh-faced journeyman, apprenticed at Irencillia by his master, Primus Handri, is privileged to have been offered a position at the covenant’s main site, but is not sure of the political reasons behind his appointment and is justifiably nervous. Beechleaf is strongly influenced by the fae; he was raised by a dryad, and understands the ways of faerie better than he does humans. His skin is a faint shade of green, and his bronze-colored hair seems to have a life of its own, ruffled in an unseen breeze.

Other magi

Another five magi dwell at Fengheld’s main site. These include the remaining master, Indulius follower of Flambeau, who is a feared hoplite. He forms an unusual (but effective) team with Günther Lupus, who has the heartbeast of a wolf, when hunting down oath-breakers. Fengheld also maintains eight laboratories for the use of guest magi at the main site (and at least one at most chapters), and is a famed host of peregrinatores. As the largest Mercer House of the Tribunal, there may also be up to a half-dozen Redcaps here at any given time.

Covenfolk

The mundane inhabitants of the covenant are managed through similar hierarchies to the Hermetic members, each terminating in one of the magi. For example, Peter von Würzburg is in charge of the head vintner, the orchard keeper, and the farming foreman, who each in turn head up a team of workers.

Fengheld employs about fifty soldiers, fifteen companions, and nearly ten dozen other covenfolk, from craftsmen such as smiths, glassblowers, and percemenarii; to specialists such as scribes and huntsmen; right down to laborers such as herders and serfs.

Attribution

Content originally published in Guardians of the Forest - The Rhine Tribunal, ©2005, licensed by Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games®, under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license 4.0 ("CC-BY-SA 4.0)