In 385, the Covenant at Felchester, first of the so-called "cottage" covenants, joined with its fellow Plenilunial Covenants in demanding that Vertagus' murderer be found and punished, although they were not nearly so vocal in their demands as most of their Plenilunial allies. Apolitical as always, Felchester restricted itself to a simple statement of support for an investigation.
Late in the year, an Alae Fractan Savacion, Siccoculus, came as a visitor to the Covenant. Siccoculus had served as a kind of a mentor to Felchester's Anguis Proditor during Anguis' apprenticeship, and the two were on friendly terms --although Siccoculus had always found Anguis' decision to join with the Castrian Amicitians both disappointing and frankly bewildering. Siccoculus was clearly in some distress when he arrived at Felchester, a condition which the Felcastrians assumed was due to the fact that he was suspected by many in the Order of complicity, if not direct participation, in Vertagus' murder, and which was also, they thought, probably not helped much by the fact that he appeared to be very, very drunk. Understanding that this must be a stressful time for him, they tactfully did not bring up the Vertagus issue at all while he was there.
Siccoculus stayed at the covenant well into the evening, during which time he drank even more and conducted a rambling, meandering monologue, mainly about the Felcastrians. Becoming rather morose, he assured Chrysolitha that she was all right, really, even if she was a female Touccian, the Manereans that they were all right, really, even if they were Dawn diabolists, every last one of them, and the group as a whole that they were all all right, even if they were a bunch of damned Plenilunials. Then, unexpectedly, he declared that he did not kill Vertagus and left them with a strange comment to the effect that the cottage covenants really ought to protect themselves better --didn't they know that they lived in a dangerous world?
The Felcastrians were rather worried about him, and they tried to convince him to stay the night, but Siccoculus wouldn't hear of it. He left some time in the wee hours. The next morning, a group of Cristofereans and Savacions arrived to the covenant, bringing word that Siccoculus had been strongly implicated in Vertagus' murder, that his filius Simus had attacked the investigators and been killed, and that Siccoculus himself had vanished.
The Felcastrians claimed they hadn't seen him.
When Siccoculus was declared rogue not long thereafter, the Felcastrian magi refused to join in the hunt for him, and they would insist to the end upon his innocence. Many within the Order were deeply concerned about the unprotected cottage covenants' safety over the next few years and in the face of Siccoculus's terrorist attacks on Plenilunial Covenants, the Castrians were repeatedly urged either to temporarily abandon their homes or to fortify them. They, however, would do neither, maintaining throughout the rogue hunt that they were in no danger from Siccoculus -- a claim which struck the rest of the Order as patently ludicrous.
It was also, as it happened, incorrect: in 390, shortly before his apprehension and death, Siccoculus did finally attack the Castrian covenants; the final stand-off before his eventual death in 390 began in the town of Felchester itself, and in the course of the confrontation, Felchester's house was destroyed and the covenant's relationship with the townsfolk permanently damaged. Even after this, however, the Felcastrians remained firm in their conviction that he was innocent of Vertagus' murder, and they were the only Plenilunial magi to express regret when they heard of his death.
