A new covenant has settled by the Quiet Hill. A handful of mages from a few different traditions has taken refuge there with their companions and a number of guards, retainers and servants. They want to survive, grow, harvest new magic and gain honor and reputation within the Order.
Players take turns telling the tale of the covenant in 40 acts from its Spring to its Winter. The narrator asks the other players for one sentence long questions, ideas and impressions and incorporates as many as she likes in the story. These could be about the covenant, companions, mages, the Order, the Church, the infernals, the faeries, the villagers, local lords and other covenants.
After that she can decide to:
- start a project, magical or mundane, that will take 1 to 6 acts
- hold a covenant council to ask a question to the mages
- introduce a new element to the story
Spring is about discovery and bravery, Summer is about conquest and passion, Autumn is about dominance, pride and corruption, Winter is about excess, false hope, hard choices and tragedy. By the end of Winter the covenant will have fallen and each player will hint to a new possible spring.
This small game is a love letter to both The Quiet Year by Avery Mcdaldno and to Ars Magica and its amazing troupe system.