Middle Waters
Minster of the Mother
The monks are living in famine, struggling under the Mountain Court.
People
Factions
Locations
Folklore
Chapters
Looks like a miniature Sigisfarne. Built on old ruins but with well-maintained monuments. Two churches, one on each side of the housing area. Two bridges to cross the flooded river.
Monks are followers of the Weeping Mother.
Precise illumination of holy tomes. Vassals of the Mountain Court. Some believe the Court is cursed.
Monks are all thin. Lack of produce. Waiting for help from Sigisfarne for food.
The Abbot has a letter from the Crown allowing him to buy out their vassalage for 10,000 coins.
Mid-winter crisis, 1026
South of Sigisfarne stands the Middle-Waters Minster, an old religious house raised where slow rivers braid through the lowlands.
For generations, the monks have lived quietly here, tending orchards, fishing the waters, and copying sacred and scholarly texts in their scriptorium.
Their library is known across the region for its illuminated manuscripts and careful records of law, faith, and history.
But the Minster now faces a slow and creeping ruin
Harvests have failed repeatedly in recent years, and the monastery’s lands produce less food with every passing season.
The monks have endured famine since autumn, their granaries thin and their livestock dwindling.
Unlike Sigisfarne, they have not yet received refugees. But neither do they have the labourers needed to restore their lands or gather food beyond the monastery walls.
Worse still, the Mountain Court has taken a growing interest in the Minster. Lord Griffin demands a steady supply of illuminated manuscripts, treasures that bring prestige and influence to the court.
The monks cannot easily refuse their liege—but producing these books requires time, pigments, parchment, and skilled scribes, all of which drain the monastery’s remaining strength.
Yet Middle-Waters Minster still holds something precious: its library.
Within its stone halls are centuries of knowledge, relic texts, and illuminated volumes that scholars and nobles alike consider priceless. Losing the library would mean the loss of the Minster’s purpose—and perhaps its protection.
Goal
Your goals are therefore twofold: Protect the library and survive the winter.
Pressures
The Famine: Food stores have been shrinking for years. Without new supplies, the monks may not survive the winter.
Demands of the Mountain Court: Lord Griffin expects illuminated manuscripts from the Minster. Refusing him could invite punishment or seizure.
Isolation: The Minster lacks labourers and defenders. Without help, it cannot easily gather food or protect itself from outside threats.
The Piot Chants: The molefolk burrow beneath farmland across the region. If their tunnels spread beneath the monastery’s fields, the Minster’s last food sources may be lost.
The Basajaun: The giant of the hills claims that the knowledge of farming belongs to him and the land, not to human books. He may seek to destroy or reclaim any writings that preserve this knowledge.