Season: Spring
Year: 1220
Location: Ebro Delta
I am not using the Iberia book but we are using ARM 4.
At the Iberian Tribunal held at Isla de Encanta (another real covenant with a great web site) in Sept. 1219, a female magus named Rebecca approached certain magi of various other Iberian covenants, explaining a new opportunity. It seems that the noble family of Barcelona have had a 10 generation curse upon them that the eldest son shall not inherit the title. If the four stones taken magically from the castle at Mont Juich are restored before 10 generations pass, then the curse will end. If not, the castle will collapse. In 1219, the son of the count approached Rebecca and asked for help, in exchange for land and startup money.
They had a choice of three sites, one in the Ebro Delta (very remote, high aura, swampy), one at a large castle at Tivissa (minor village, close to wood, low aura) or the Cape Salou lighthouse (caves at base of cliff, medium aura). They chose the Ebro Delta site since it is far away from Tarragona (the Archbishop), it has good resources (sand, lots of wildlife, close to water).
I sent out a similar message when we started our game, but got no replies. Consequently, I had to make up my covenants. I put Duresca in the Cantabrian Mts, Al Cadiar near Granada, Carteia at Gibraltar, Jaferiyah in Eastern Portugal and Castellum Scopuli northwest of Toledo. I also have Malinbois (see its web page) trying to garner support for its transfer to the Iberian Tribunal from the Provencal Tribunal.
Only two of the magi are ``presentable''. Rebecca, the founder is quite old and due for a longevity potion. She is a jewish Guernicus maga as well as being very good with astrology and numerology she is a competent negotiator. Jabir is a Bjornaer with a raven heartbeast who specializes in ReCo and MuCo. Jabir is constantly lecturing the other magi on the value of subtlety. The others have the blatant gift or obnoxious personalities.
There is also another plot that is developing as we go. A very old, but vital mage who developed his skills in the courts of Damascus, then was implicated in a plot to kill the Sultan (a century ago) and fled will appear in the western Mediterranean. He will have organized the Marinid dynasty in north Africa into a new powerhouse and will try to extend his empire to northern Spain. The covenant of Carteia is on his side and are just waiting for war to begin, probably in 1221.
There are lots of Spanish themes one can use such as El Camino de Santiago (the road from France to Pamplona to Santiago used by pilgrims going to one of Christendom's major sites), the fact that is is faster to travel by boat to most places, the mix of regional languages, the fact that Aragon hated Castile, Mallorcan cartographers, Barcelonan trading fleets, the Archbishop of Toledo (a religious fanatic) and many others.