There they found what they had suspected, Karl Rittenvald, the servant of Rillion the mage lay where he had fallen; his fearsome scent and aura keeping even these few, well acquainted with magic, from coming too near.
Umberto and Laurel raised him and took him to the Covenant itself, where he quickly recovered enough to tell his tale. Several weeks ago, he had heard a strange sound from within the wellhouse and entered to investigate. He saw the face of Rillion on the waters of the pool. It tried to speak to him, but nothing coherent was said, then it vanished. It was then that he also noticed an oddly shaped plank floating in the pool.
Karl also mentioned that for some time he had noticed strange tracks and smells in the area, but he couldn't identify them. Umberto and Laurel jogged his memory by querying him about the smells and asking if it was similar to that of the zombie that had attacked them the previous year. Karl agreed that it was somewhat similar.
Continuing, Karl said that he waited for several weeks after the ghost (for he was sure it was a ghost) appeared, in case it returned. When it did not, he took wolf shape and made haste to Rochehaut.
Umberto and Laurel consulted with Anna and determined that there seemed to be sufficient cause to enter Rillion's sanctum - he had been missing sufficient time to warrant an investigation. Anna was involved in a project at the moment, but Umberto and Laurel quickly prepared to travel to Val du Rillion. They chose to travel lightly and quickly, that is, they went alone and flew, Umberto by means of his art, and Laurel by means of her owl form. Smells Strange and Karl accompanied them as wolves(not that Smells Strange has any choice in the matter of form).
Upon arrival, Karl recovered for them the strange plank which he had hidden and led them into the Sanctum of Rillion. There was a moment of tension as the first body crossed into the Sanctum, but no unpleasant surprise seemed to have been left behind. The laboratory area was dusty and appeared to have been mostly undisturbed for the last year, Karl mentioned that he entered the lab from time to time which accounted for such disturbance of the dust as there was. A pool dominated the end of the laboratory/Sanctum/wellhouse, and a small bridge crossed it just as it began to trickle away as a stream. Jutting from this bridge was a small platform which extended over the pool itself.
Several points stood out strongly from the investigation of the area. First, there was a shelf which was rather obviously missing four out of a matched set of jars. There was also nothing in the way of enchanted items or raw vis present in the lab proper. Secondly, there was an accumulation of crystals at the bottom of the pool below the gap where the stream began to run off. These crystals were extracted and examined, and found to be vis, eight pawns of Creo and five pawns of Aquam, to be exact. Karl recalled that on more than one occasion he had seen Rillion gather crystals from the pool as Umberto and Laurel were doing.
The plank also aroused great curiosity, investigation showed that it was oddly rounded on the edges, and that down the middle of one long face the grain did not match up, reminding Laurel of a seam. A spontaneous spell from that same Laurel, opened the plank up along the seam like it was a book to reveal a bundle of notes within.
The notes concerned signs in the sky and amongst the Kingdoms of the Earth that a great conflict was brewing in the Order, perhaps precipitating a conflict with the mundane world. Further, the signs indicated that the crisis had as its focal point the island of Sicily.
The intrepid investigators secreted their findings and then being to try to track down the foul smell and associated tracks. Smells Strange was able to steer them aright, and with Karl's help they followed a long and convoluted path of something that resembled at times a large snake. The track led them to a plateau, the southern half of which possessed a mild aura that Smells Strange didn't like. The magi assumed it to be infernal.
The northern half of the plateau was thoroughly desecrated. Bones were piled in odd shapes, barrows had been opened and their contents strewn about and so forth. All save one barrow that is. A single barrow was untouched by the systematic vandalism which had run rampant over the half of the plateau. Upon entering the barrow they found it slightly looted but mostly untouched, although the central figure was missing. An examination of the remaining bodies showed that they were armed and accoutered much like the creature that had attacked them on their last visit, and they decided the missing body was that creature.
The southern half had not only a bad aura, but was also riddled through with warren-like holes, such as might be used by vermin or serpents. One barrow was immediately apparent; it was open and the aura of evil seemed stronger near it. With some trepidation, the magi, Karl and the wolf approached. Laurel entered the barrow cautiously, and after a great expenditure of will power, Umberto managed to control his irrational fear of caves enough to step just inside the barrow. At the crook of an "L" shaped turn, the magi could see both the outside world and into the depths of the barrow. In the barrow they beheld what resembled a bizarre court; four skeletal creatures, richly robed, sat on low stools flanking another ancient corpse which sat facing the magi in a higher chair. Without warning, a hellish light flared in the eyes of the chieftain, and was quickly kindled in the eyes of the others thereafter.
The foul ones seemed willing to talk, and after a very disturbing and unquiet conversation, the magi were able to learn that a battle had been fought on this soil many years ago, and that the enemies of these "men" were buried on the other half of the plateau and that these had been revenging themselves by descrating the graves of their ancient foes. They eventually managed to extract from the leader that he and his lieutenants were searching for an item, a belt, which had been removed from the untouched barrow by black robed men, one of whom wore a beard. These men looted the barrow in an indolent manner taking little other than the belt, and were protected at night by great and powerful magics. The magi departed having reached a very uneasy truce with the animate dead men.
At this point, Umberto decided to stay and use Rillion's lab for the summer to develop a spell to create a small crack of lightning. But before he settled in, he travelled to Stonehollow to warn them. By a stroke of luck, Karkoff the Redcap was in residence, and so the word would be spread by him. Word was also sent to Jeremiah the Quaesitor at the Covenant of Rivenhelm that the magi of Rochehaut believed Rillion to be dead, had impounded some of his possessions to protect them, and wished to register a claim to his former land should he be found dead. Laurel and Smells Strange returned home and sent a contingent of grogs back to Val du Rillion to support Umberto. They gave over to Julius the notes from the plank and he began to study them with keen interest. Anna was busy in the lab at Rochehaut working on a spell to propel a flying carpet.
The more the magi at Rochehaut thought about it, the more they decided that it was likely that the ghost or apparation would reappear on Midsummers Eve. They even managed to convince Julius that this was the case. Thus it was that a few days before the Summer Solstice, Anna, Laurel, Julius, Smells Strange and a number of guards travelled to Val du Rillion. Julius seemed very interested in the pool, claiming that it held powerful magic. Umberto pointed out several small encurstations on the back wall of the pool that seemed to be getting larger. The days until Misummer passed without event.
As midnight passed, a face appeared in the pool! It spoke, or rather mumbled, but no intelligable words passed its spectral lips. The young magi noticed as Julius suddenly cast an Intelligo Mentem spell, then a moment later the image vanished. Julius stated with authority that the image was a ghost and not a sending, and the case for Rillion's death gained another proof.
Then it was that they noticed the encrustations on the back wall had broken free and were drifting slowly down in the pool towards the place the other crystals had gathered. These were quickly caught up and found to be Intelligo vis. Satisfied that they had seen enough, and eager to return to their libraries, the party (save Umberto) returned to Rochehaut.
When they were returned, they were shocked and disturbed to find that André and Jacques had returned, accompanied by soldiers and craftsmen, and bearing a charter from Baron Charles de Castlemore granting them the right to build a church in the valley and for André, who had taken vows to serve as its priest. An angry, though outwardly calm, Julius produced a document of his own from the Covenant library. His docuement was a grant from the current Baron's grandfather granting the Covenant the land. A section of the grant also explained the necessity of one of the magi always serving as judge on the land.
André sent word back to the Baron, and when the messenger returned he verified the magis claim (though it had taken a bit of time looking through archives). Undaunted, André examined the grant and found that the land outside of the valley was not included. So it was that a small chapel began to take form just outside the valley.
Jacques, more worldy than André, spent some of his time practicing with the grogs, and it was soon obvious that he was the best soldier in the valley.
Anna continued to work on her spell. Umberto completed his studies at Rillions by studyin Imagonem from vis. He then prepared to return home. Since he could not live in the cave, winter would be too hard. Preparations were made to render the area inhabitable for next winter. Ideas began to circulate among the three young magi about possibly founding a new covenant on the site of Rillion's former dwelling.