FOREWORD
I was initially inspired for this saga by picking up a figurine of Alfonse Mucha's Spring during my stay in Japan back in 2005, the same time I started getting into Ars Magica to begin with. While I started out rather sketchy on European history, the saga turned out to be rather historical while running its course, equally cause and effect of me reading up on the period. A lot of the local color is inspired by real historical events, persons, and locations. As we live only a two hours drive from the covenant site, this has given us opportunity to visit there and benefit greatly from local history. While magic is not uncommon in this saga and I'd hesitate to call it low-fantasy, it's definitely far from being high-fantasy. We mostly stick to 5th Edition RAW, with only minor house rules. The players were allowed to add up to six years of character development after the end of their apprenticeship. We initially planned on multiple storyguides, allowing me to play a character as well, but this idea eventually fell through as a.) no one was motivated enough to carve out a piece of the action, and b.) my story took on a life of its own, not leaving much room for beta-storyguides. The saga features minor crossovers to some of our other games, mostly in the form of player characters from our 4th edition game set in the 1160s showing up as NPCs. I also tried to start several other side-games, all of which fell flat so far, but which have proven to be a useful source of NPCs from other regions.
PREMISE
The covenant of Opus Lumen has entered final winter. During preparations for the Rhine tribunal meeting of 1214 Redcaps found the covenant abandoned and in ruin. Unfortunately, the covenant was situated in a big castle on loan from an allied noble, Gibizo of Twiel, friend to House Jerbiton. Since the castle on Mt. Hohentwiel was situated in a strong magic aura, and since the Order is intent on fixing relations with this noble, it was decided that the covenant should be founded anew if none of its magi return from twilight before the next tribunal meeting. As this came to be, Durenmar intended to create a chapter house there; a notion that was strongly vetoed by Fengheld and other local powers that want to contain the reach of Durenmar. As compromise it is now decided that the freshly gauntleted magi of the tribunal should be given the chance to create their own covenant on Hohentwiel, making them a neutral party in this conflict... and also expendable scouts, as the misfortune that befell Opus Lumen is still a mystery. During the tribunal meeting of 1221 five new tirones enter the stage...
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
The Founding Members:
Adamas, follower of Tytalus
An ambitious and sometimes ruthless gentle-gifted magus who loves meddling in the affairs of the mundanes. Originally apprentice to a Jerbiton magus, who discovered him at university where he studied law, he was later acquired by Omnius of Fengheld, a troupe favorite who shall be introduced adequately later on. Adamas is a generalist when it comes to forms, but specializes in Muto and Rego as techniques.
Alexios Chthonios, follower of Merinita
A strongly faerie blooded child of Byzantine nobles who was originally apprenticed by a distant relative in house Jerbiton. But his whole world collapsed with the death of his pater during the sack of Constantinople. Taken as a slave, the ship he was on shipwrecked off the coast of Thessaly. He was then apprenticed by Echidna of Achaea, a member of the Witches of Thessaly, who taught him about his faerie heritage, explaining his dreams of dark faerie rites involving his mother. Interested in learning more about faeries, he traveled to Irencillia in the Rhine Tribunal and ended up joining the house after resonating well with the ideas he found there. He is a strong Rego and Perdo Vim specialist with a magical focus in spirits.
Darius, follower of Guernicus
Apprenticed to Niobe at the covenant of Theopacis in Cologne he was a rather unremarkable apprentice. He excelled in Intellego and Mentem magics, fueling his ambition to one day become a quaesitor as behooves a magus of his house. This eagerness made him reckless, leading to a social faux-pas during a meeting with the archbishop of Trier – an ally of Theopacis – embarassing the latter and ensuring his ongoing disdain.
Rupes, follower of Bonisagus
My GM PC. A giant-blooded Terram specialist who is the filius of Claudius (my 4th edition character in our 1160s game; now founder and headmaster of Theopacis). He grew up as part of an infernal cult led by Cerberus, follower of Verditius, member of Rheinstein. Following the fall of Rheinstein, Claudius (himself a quaesitor) led the march on Cerberus, eventually hunting him down amongst his demon cult. The exact events are not public knowledge, but Claudius claimed Rupes as his apprentice under the Bonisagus privilege, sheltering the then 12-year old from further questioning. He has since displayed a strong affinity with the Parma Magica, developing a massive magic resistance for such a young magus.
[spoiler]I set up the background of this character so that our 4th edition GM (player of Adamas) could easily reference his 4th edition plot if he were to ever take up storyguide duties. The cult worshipped a demon that Claudius has been hunting for a long time. Trying to rid himself of his nemesis, he ended up binding the demon within the young Rupes, realizing his strong potential for magic resistance. As it seems unlikely now that I'll ever give up GM duties, this aspect of his background will go mostly unused.[/spoiler]
Wigand of Hechingen, follower of Bjornaer
A Bjornaer blessed with the gentle gift and the heartbeast of an eagle. As filius of a Norse magus named Olafsson (heartbeast bear) he displayed strong pagan leanings, resonating well with his weak faerie blood. He also has a strong artistic bend, displaying the gift of enchanting music. On the Hermetic side he's a generalist with a magical focus in birds of prey. (This character actually suffered from a few retcons, being played by two different players in succession. But the basic concept as presented here remained the same.)
Other Covenant Magi:
A Tremere Whose Name Has Been Lost to Time
A friend of the Wigand player was initially set to join our game, but decided to drop out after the first session. He was simply retconned out of existence.
Artemis, follower of Criamon
Walking on the Path of Strife, this young maga didn't leave her home in the Greater Alps far behind. She will join the covenant for a short while in the future. More about her then.
Gregorio Calcaterra, follower of Verditius
A dwarf-blooded mason and Rego expert who joined the covenant only recently. More about him when his time comes.
The Initial Turb:
Walter (companion character of the Darius player), a former Knight Hospitaller quickly appointed as new turb captain. He is haunted by an infernal past and, unbeknownst to him, is actually a lycanthrope.
Otto the Giant, a one-eyed powerhouse of a man wielding a warhammer. He prefers to shave his head bald to maintain an edge. Adamas seems to be quite fond of his services.
Albert the Sweet-Tempered, a jolly fellow likely to overindulge during feasts, yet always gentle and polite. His fair temper makes him a favorite tagalong of the magi during social outings.
Franz the Lazy, an archer who always finds a way to either dodge an annoying responsibility or catch a quick nap.
THE COVENANT SITE
Mt. Hohentwiel is located in the region of Hegau in the Duchy of Swabia (nowadays southern Germany), which is practically littered with mountains of volcanic origin, making the entire region quite fertile and home to lots of vineyards. The strong magic aura on top of the Hohentwiel (magic aura with a strength of 5) extends slightly outward, spiking again on the two winehills at its foot, making for an exquisite harvest. The lord of the castle, Gibizo of Twiel, has run into financial troubles as the rather large castle (the former seat of the dukes of Swabia) is too costly for him to maintain – basically the reason why he decided to rent it out to the Order of Hermes, letting them take care of upkeep and allowing him to collect a tithe on the wine profits. He has since started construction on a smaller castle on Mt. Rosenegg nearby. Castle Hohentwiel is now basically a ruin, showing strong signs of decay. Covenant resources are thus at an absolute low, having lost most of its library and pretty much its entire stock of vis. Yet there are some vis sources registered in the name of the covenant in the ledgers of house Mercere, allowing for a regular base stock. There is a small hamlet called Twielfeld beyond the forest at the foot of the mountain, housing only a handful of peasants. The larger settlement of Singen on the other side of the local river (the Aach), which once also belonged to the lords of Twiel, has since been acquired by the burgeoning lords of Friedingen. Not far off (and actually visible from the mountaintop) is Lake Constance and the city of Constance, seat of the local bishopric, itself. This puts the covenant at the very borders of the Rhine tribunal, neighboring on the Greater Alps tribunal. The covenant of Juno's Spire, home to archmage Pietro, is just on the other side of the lake.
COVENANT TRAITS
Boons:
[spoiler]Aura (Minor x2, Site)
Bedrock (Minor, Fortifications)
Curtain Walls (Major, Fortifications)
Difficult Access (Minor, Site)
Hidden Resources (Minor x4, Resources)
Local Ally (Minor, External Relations)
Right (Minor, Resources)[/spoiler]
Hooks:
[spoiler]Castle (Minor, Fortifications)
Crumbling (Minor, Fortifications)
Magical Disaster (Major, Site)
Regio (Major+Minor, Site)
Regional Produce (Minor, Resources)
Tribunal Borders (Major, External Relations)[/spoiler]
THE TRIBUNAL
The Rhine tribunal is mostly as presented in Guardians of the Forest. The two most major changes were the removal of the covenants of Triamore and Dankmar which were replaced with Theopacis and Opus Lumen respectively. Theopacis is located within the city of Cologne, and led by Claudius (my 4th edition PC), a strongly pious archmage who strifes to ally the Order with the church and thus establish a place for magi in mundance society. Other than that, I replaced and added a few magi characters of my own design, and shifted a few chapter houses around. While the guilds are present and active in our game, they have yet to play a larger role as the player characters have remained undeclared so far.