The Glastonbury Compact was an alliance of the Fae and Mages of England.
Overview[]
One of the most celebrated alliances between mages and fae in the history of the Isle took place in Glastonbury. Though it happened many centuries ago, bards still tell the story of the battle between the undead sorceress Meerlinda and the legions of fae and mages who fought to protect the land they loved.
Meerlinda was one of the Inner Circle who followed Tremere into undeath, and the first assigned to "oversee" the British Isles on behalf ofher clan. Her early sorties in the southeast and Londinium were easily rebuffed by the Ventrue, who had already established themselves as the sole rulers of those areas. Under pressure from Tremere and the Inner Circle to establish at least one base of power, she chanced upon information about the West Country village of Glastonbury. It was located a good distance from any Ventrue-held city, and was not far from a bay on the western coast of the island, providing easy transportation to and from the Continent. Most enticing, though, were the legends of the area's ties to blood magic. Various reports told of stones that fed on blood, an ancient chalice that flowed with the blood of ancient sorcerers, and a well of blood that sprang from where the Holy Grail itself was supposedly buried. Other documents told of sleeping dragons, rivers of Quintessence lying just below the surface, and other even more fantastical tales that Meerlinda was hesitant to credit. But surely, even if most of these tales were the invention of storytellers and charlatans, there must be some truth to them. So many legends centering on a single place merited at least a visit.
After investigating the place with a small escort parry, Meerlinda decided that she had found the ideal place for her new base of operations. She returned to Vienna to prepare the invasion force, certain that a new Chantry would establish her place in the hierarchy of the clan.
Her plans had been observed by a sluagh who made his home in the marshes outside Glastonbury, and he quickly reported back to Megan, guardian of Bride's Lodge, that something was amiss. That same night, a vision appeared to one of the novices at the abbey. Some credit one of the wraiths fettered to the area with the vision, while others believe it was a divine revelation from the One of what lay ahead. A woman with the fangs of a beast, bathed in blood, spread her cloak over the abbey. The novice believed the vision to have been sent to test his faith. He dutifully told the abbot, who in turn consulted with several of the monks known to have a gift for foresight. They reached the same conclusion as Megan and her fae allies: An undead army was about to descend on Glastonbury.
Both sides rallied their forces, but each feared it would be unable to mount a sufficient defense. This was proven quickly, as the first wave of Meerlinda's attack began. Misshapen beasts made of stone were seen in the wood outside the town, and they soon terrorized the townsfolk. Weapons seemed to have little effect on the beasts, and the town's defenders feared that the end was near. Megan sent messengers on fae steeds to every nearby glade and palace, while those at the abbey who were familiar with the supernatural arts reluctantly made contact with a coven of witches nearby. Even the spirits of the land and the dead still tied to the land rallied together. Within three nights time, two hastily assembled armies waited for the next attack from Meerlinda's gargoyles... but the night remained still. Meerlinda had received word that the town was attempting to mount a defense, which she knew would disintegrate in a fortnight or less if no enemy presented itself. The undead sorceress was nothing if not patient, so she waited with her forces in a cave outside the nearby village of Wells for the defenders to disband.
As she predicted, both the fae and the united Church and mages soon grew uneasy. Many of them had come to Glastonbury from far away, yet the supposed danger was nowhere to be found. Before long, the assembled forces dispersed.
In desperation, one of the witches (a proto-Verbena) from the area appealed to the leaders of both sides to meet and form a united force. After some hesitation, representatives of both the abbey and the fae met atop the Tor at twilight, where they resolved to ally their forces to drive out the undead sorceress and her minions. United, the two groups plotted their attack through the long night, and just before dawn attacked Meerlinda's encampment. Though the undead attempted to flee by sinking into the ground, most were stopped and staked as the first rays of dawn spilled into the cave. Meerlinda herself escaped, but her hopes of taking Glastonbury were forever dashed.
The undead sorceress continued to try to establish a permanent base of operations in Britain for several centuries, with mixed results. Eventually her clan placed her in charge of the New World, where she fared somewhat better.
Though the alliance between mages and fae was never as strong once the threat was removed, ties between the two groups in the West Country have remained cordial to this day.
References[]
- CTD: Isle of the Mighty, p. 43
- DA: Dark Ages: British Isles, p. 99