A few questions that have come up across the various Covenant calls; 

Where is the site? 

The game is taking place at Ingestre Hall the postcode is ST18 0RF and the nearest Rail Station is Stafford. We will try as best as possible to offer lifts to site for anyone travelling by train and would encourage people to ask on the Dead Air Facebook chat to co-ordinate and share lifts where possible. 

What time can we get on to site? 

The earliest the Refs can get on site is 16:00 on the Friday and we’ll have a lot of setting up to do so we’re asking players not arrive before 17:00 if at all possible. If you need to arrive before this, please email contact@carcosadreams.com so we can make sure someone can meet you.  

When is time in on Friday?  

We realise a lot of people will be travelling and will be arriving at different points on Friday evening so there is no specific Tribunal business on Friday at all. We will give a safety briefing, OOC overview and meet and greet around 19:00 on Friday, and aim for time in when we reach a critical mass of people, hopefully around 20:00. Please don’t worry if you arrive after this, you will be able to get to dorms and change into kit without disturbing the game. 

When is time out on Sunday? 

We are aiming to finish Tribunal business around 14:00 on Sunday, and leave an hour for OOC debriefing, muahahaing and general ‘what happens next’ questions. Everything will be wrapped up by 15:00. 

Is it a catered event? 

Yes, catering is provided by Conspiracy Catering, who already have your allergy and dietary preference information. There will be a meal on Friday evening, 3 meals on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday. Meals will be basic but filling. There will be tea, coffee, squash and snacks available through the day but please feel free to bring extra food and drink if you want to supplement this. 

AHHHHHHHHHH my character sheet is huge and I can’t remember anything! 

Don’t fret! Everyone is in the same position, and this is supposed to be fun, not an exam! We have put what you need to know to play the game in the grid on the first page of your character sheet. Treat everything else as flavour to hang things off but please don’t feel like you need to memorise it all. We have tried to make a multi-layered, plot rich environment for you to explore or ignore as you see fit. When you received the character sheet, the character became yours, so play them as you wish, take what you want from the sheet and toss away anything which doesn’t interest you. We are trying to tell the best collaborative story we can with 60 people in a room for a weekend; all we ask is you approach it with this in mind and have fun. If you ever get in a bind or say something you shouldn’t, the Twilight mechanism is there for you. 

How much do I need to know about the Ars Magica setting? 

Obviously, the writers love Ars Magica and have borrowed significantly from the themes and source material, but the game is designed as a stand-alone, and it deviates significantly from a lot of the ‘canon’. All you need to know to play the game should be on the Dead Air Website, there is a lot of information to explore, including; 

• An Introduction 

• The Code of Hermes 
• A Timeline of Events 
• A Who’s Who of Attendees (which you will also get in hard copy at the event)  
• And the Rules of how to play 

And if you get into any difficulties at the event, come a see a Ref. 

What should I wear? 

The game is set in 1347 so anything appropriate to that timeframe is great, however, you are playing wizards. In a mythic setting. Please don’t worry about being historically accurate, wear what you feel confident and comfortable in. Order Magi are considered particularly outré, and most would struggle to blend into medieval society (except possibly House Jerbiton, but even they tend to dress more wizardy for Tribunal!) There are specific ideas on each of the House outlines for trends or affectations that mark a particular House out (Criamon tend to mark themselves with tattoos and dress ascetically, Bonisagus tend to look like archetypal WIZARDS, Verditius tend to cover themselves in talismans and visible spell foci etc) but these are only suggestions and there are always exceptions to the rules. 

I don’t have any stats! 

No one has at the moment, but we have deliberately kept the rules of the game very light, and you will only have 2 numbers assigned to you; Spend and Magnitude. The rules are here and we will assign stats before the game but we do not expect the game to be rules or combat heavy and there are very few problems that can be solved by the size of your wand. 

What if I need a Ref in the game? 

There will be a Ref desk which is staffed at all times through the event, and Refs will either be in clearly marked Hi Vis or dressed as Red Robed Ghosts to allow them to pass unobtrusively through the IC areas. Feel free to approach them at any time but otherwise please ignore them. They are not a plot function and if they are listening in to your conversations it’s only to get an idea about what the heck is going on! 

Is this game part of a series? 

No, this is a one-off game, react accordingly and make sure you have no arrows left in your quiver by time out on Sunday.