Overview

Est Anno Domini 1200
It is the Year of Our Lord 1200, the 433rd year of the Order of Hermes, 31 years since the last Grand Tribunal was held, gathering all the Houses of the Order in one place to make momentous decisions.

The west is filled with turmoil. In England, the death of Richard the Lionheart has led to his weak brother John taking the throne. In France, Philip II is cementing the power of the Franks as the absolute ruler of his domain. The Kingdoms of Castille, Leon, Aragon, Portugal, and the Caliphate of Almohad squabble over the Iberian peninsula.

The Holy Roman Empire in, in theory, the most powerful political force in Europe, but Italy remains a fractious lot of bitterly feuding city-states, and power is centering in the Kingdom of Germany. The Scandinavian kingdoms are barely more than the brutal Norsemen of old, slowly adopting Christianity.

To the east of these petty, feuding monarchies stand modern, civilized nations like the Duchy of Greater Poland, the Principality of Halych, Serbia, Croatia, and to the south of them, the eastern Roman Empire.

At the edge of it all is the nation mighty Attila carved out for his people, the Hungvari -- the Kingdom of Hungary. A place where no man is a mere serf, and lords do not beg like dogs from their monarch. Hungary is a place of proud, free men, civilization, a center for Christendom, and hosts majestic cities alongside soaring mountains and vast forests. And yet it still has pockets of mystery where the old ways reign supreme and it is not safe to wander too far from the light of your home.

Beyond this mighty kingdom's border is the land of the Cuman and Kipchak Confederacy, a fancy name for an unruly horde of pagan nomads who rule the largest swath of land in the known world. Hungary is a nation of wealth, culture, and vast military might.

Râșnov
Named for the plentiful fields of roses in the area and pronounced "Roosh-nov" by English tongues, this tiny hamlet stands at the base of a small mountain, along the Ghimbășel (gim-bah-sell) River, at the eastern edge of Hungary.

The nearest city is Brașov, a day's ride to the east, and the next nearest is cosmopolitan Sibiu, three days' ride to the east.

Râșnov is little more than an inn surrounded by a few small houses. The hamlet itself is only slightly younger than the walled manor that stands 650 feet above the hamlet on a small mountain, accessible only through a narrow, winding trail. To the north and west, the manor looks down on a broad plain; to the south and east, the Carpathian mountain ranges stands like a brooding sentinel. The hamlet itself is essentially the only settlement of note, guarding the entrance to a pass that heads sout and east to the outer edge of the known world.

Established a century ago, the manor is Râșnov Covenant, the last bulwark against the forces of pagan hedge wizards, creatures of all manner and origin, and the armies of mortal men. For decades, it stood as a war covenant, a gathering of wizards whose sole purposes was to hold this strategically important position.

In the last 30 years, though, all of the threats have been quelled by both the work of the magi and the increasingly stable Hungarian kingdom. Though still held in high regard, Râșnov's time of importance was passing, and her resident magi were settled into a pleasant retirement, led by the Archmage Marco Vampa of Flambeau.

3 months ago, everything changed. After a brutal winter in 1199 that isolated the hamlet from the rest of the country and the manor from the hamlet itself, a Redcap finally made it through to deliver messages, and found the covenant empty of all but the Archmage, and it is said that he has ran mad. A covenant of six wizards and nearly a hundred staff, gone without a trace.

The Praeco of Transylvania, Archmagus Albertus of Lycaneon, of House Tremere, has determined that Râșnov must be held. The reasons are many: out of respect for its storied past; as a show of power to the enemies still extant in the area and beyond; and to determine what happened. As such, he has put out a call for volunteers, and assigned Caspar the Subtle, a legendary Redcap, to act as the messenger in the area.

This is as how it stands in the spring of 1200.