Stories for the Dev (Terram Vis) currently averaging 3 per season:

Contested

Deep in the underground passages of the covenant is a tiny alcove in which is a vein of obsidian. Four times a year as the seasons change some of the obsidian is imbued with terram vis and may be harvested. Amount: Contested each season by telling a story to a Persian Dev (pre Zoroastrian spirit). Communication + 1 if Persian language speciality (storytelling), + 1 if Free Expression virtue, +1 if Persia Lore (stories) =>6, -3 (and no bonuses) if language used is not fluent Persian (the Dev will still understand, but wants to hear Persian spoken well) + Simple die v 6

Currently averaging 3 per season, as the daughter of one of goatherds tells the stories (Com: 2 +1 Persian (storytelling) +1 Free Expression). The girl’s father (a good Muslim) is not happy with his daughter imperilling her soul by holding converse with this "Devil." What if she falls for its smooth talk of other worldly pleasures? Should the magi try to educate this young girl in Persia Lore to enhance their harvest? Perhaps some of the more powerful hermetic magics can be employed to increase the girls Com? To what effect on the other coven folk? Perhaps a search should be made to find a professional storyteller? What effect would removing the girl have on the Dev? What if the girl bares a child of the Dev? Perhaps the Dev can be bullied into giving more, or should be destroyed, and the harvest just taken?

Nobody has pushed the boundaries (using a stress die) of the storytelling genre that pleases this spirit, so no-one knows what may happen in the case of getting it all very badly wrong (botching). Certainly no vis now, and perhaps none next season, as well as an increase in the difficulty by +3 per botch?

The Cauls of the Foals (Animal Vis) currently 6 each spring:

Uncontested

In the spring of each year, the covenants herd is gathered so that proper care may be given to the mares in foal. The blind canyon used for this purpose is a little removed from the sancta of the magi, and has proven to be beneficial for the birthing. Each year, during spring, the covenfolk responsible for the herd can collect the birth sacs and placentas of the newborn foals for processing by one of the magi. This processing requires a number of lab days equal to 10 - (Rego+(average of Animal & Vim) [minimum 1]. The lab work is generally passed down to one of the lower members of the council, assuming that no-one volunteers. There appears to be no correlation between the number & gender of the foals born each year, and the quantity of the harvest. It is unknown what may happen if the mares are moved to another location for their foaling.

The Skins of the Serpents (Perdo Vis) currently averaging 6 each Autumnal Equinox.

Contested

Physiologus writes, that when the serpent grows old and his eyes grow dim, he will fast for forty days until his skin is loosened. He will then wriggle through a narrow crack in the earth to slough off his old skin. The serpent is rejuvenated by shedding his skin, and he can thus live a long time. Thus the snake is a wise animal, for he knows the secret to long life.

Each year, on the three nights of the first full moon after the autumnal equinox, as the year begins to wane, serpents in the hills to the east of the covenant shed their skins. These skins, if collected as they are shed, will each contain a single pawn of Perdo vis. The number of skins collected is equal to the number of successful stress tests of + Per + Awareness v 9 (to find the serpents as they are shedding). A test of Dodge - Brawl (Fist) v the Serpents Attack +2 to avoid being bitten is also required. This is a dangerous task, as there is some risk of death. Compelling unwilling covenfolk to undertake it will have a deleterious effect on morale. There are usually about a dozen reckless/brave grogs willing to undertake the collection of this vis, and as yet, no-one has died. Perhaps a greater yield can be achieved if the grogs are assisted/protected by appropriate magics e.g. Eyes of the Cat to make the search easier, and some MuCo effect to make the gatherers more resistant to venom.

The Cave of Magic (Vim Vis) variable, one (or more?) pawns at each solstice & equinox.

Uncontested

Three days travel to the west of the covenant, deep into an unusual limestone formation, there lies a chamber with what seems to be a minaret rising to meet the roof of the cave. Around the base of this structure are mystical symbols carved into the floor of the cave, with five depressions having the ideographs for Creo, Intellego, Muto, Perdo, and Rego etched into them. There is a weak and flickering magic aura here, which will produce one pawn of Vim Vis if one pawn each of Creo, Intellego, Muto, Perdo, and Rego vis left for an entire season in the depressions around the base of the column. At the end of a season, the Vim vis can be harvested, and the technique vis can be collected or left in place to produce more Vim vis.

There have been no experiments to discover what would happen to the production of Vim vis, or to the flickering aura, if the number of pawns of Technique vis were to be increased, or harvested on a regular basis. Currently the site is used intermittently, and is not guarded while it is in use. If a large investment in Technique vis were to be placed in the cave, in the expectation of an increased harvest of Vim vis, the cave would certainly need to protected in some way, and monitored for changes in the aura.

The Lightning Catcher (Auram Vis) nine pawns (one every ten days) from the Summer Solstice to the Autumnal Equinox:

Uncontested

On a ridge overlooking the covenant is a windmill, in a design similar to those of the Persian geographer, Estakhri (or Abul Qasim Ubaidullah ibn Abdullah ibn Khurdad-bih, to give him his proper name). Generally, this machine is used to grind grain, or to draw water from a very deep well. However, in summer, when the weather is hot and dry, it may be used to harvest Auram Vis during the thunderstorms that produce little or no rain, but much wind and lightning. These storms are easily identified by the golden tops of their clouds, allowing the necessary preparations to be made.

In order to harvest the lightning, the millstones must be faced with one dozen new lambs fleeces before the Summer Solstice (ensuring a feast of Spring Lamb for the covenant! and a very busy time for the covenant’s percamenarius), and the grist to be added to the mill must be thirteen pieces of amber, each with a flying insect embedded within it. The amber must be added as the first breezes of the storm stir the vanes of the mill, and must be left until the storm has blown itself out. It can be (and has been) reused from storm to storm and Summer to Summer, but the lamb skins must be renewed each year. If any of the pieces of amber are handled, or become wet, after having been processed through the mill during one of these storms, the lightning captured as Auram Vis will be dissipated. Collection can be managed by using wooden utensils, or Rego Terram magics, to gather the amber, and transport it to a laboratory for extraction. The Vis need not be extracted from the amber immediately, but the risk of its loss makes this the preferred option, and enables the pieces to be used for the next harvest.

The downside of the use of the mill for this purpose is that there can be no other productive work obtained from it during the summer season, for once the lamb skins are removed from the stones, they are ineffective when replaced. This obliges the covenfolk to grind grain and draw the necessary water by hand while the Vis harvest is in progress. Perhaps other methods of water extraction and milling can be found, or another windmill constructed?

The Purest Salt, the Blessed Water

10 Pawns, 6 of Imaginem, 4 of Aquam, collected annually on September 14th

Uncontested

The great salt basin of Tuz Golu lies about 60 miles northeast of the covenant.

Tuz Golu, also called Tatta in ancient times, is a closed lake with no way out, surrounded by plateaus on 4 sides. The sources feeding the lake are insufficient, so in summer, evaporation causes the lake to dry out and a 30 cm layer of salt forms. .

Tuz Golu is one of the richest salt beds in the world. Salt can generally only be taken from the lake from July through August. To ensure clean salt it is only collected from areas where the surface layer is more than 5-6 cm thick. The salt is dug, the dirty layer is removed and the clean salt is gathered into mounds and then loaded for transport.

On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14th) at dawn at one location on the lake bed there is a final accumulation of purest white salt. This defies collection unless certain magic is performed. If it is, the salt may be removed, up to 6 pawns of Imaginem Vis. The collector, if he has a jug, may then collect the water that wells up to the amount of 4 pawns of Aquam Vis.