Talia of Tytalus

Looks good. Go ahead and post her in the Character Sheets thread.

Not sure where to put this exactly, but this is her casting roll for Conjuration of the Seaworthy Cog

♬If there is one place I long to be, it is in my own ship on the sea.♬
CS of 42 + Die roll of 8=50

So, we have a brand-spanking new cog...somewhere? Still has that new-boat smell.

Well, it's been gently used. Back and forth from Inverness to Antwerp and whatnot...

I've tweaked Talia a bit. Her master was a bit twisted, he completely deemphasized her natural gifts, and pushed her in the area where she was weakest: Ignem
I dropped Linguist, as I'm making a companion where Linguist is a better fit. Additionally, I dropped Affinity w/Muto, in their place I took Puissant Magic Theory and Affinity w/ Magic Theory, because if she's going to enchant a ship, those need to be pretty high. So, the only MT she picked up was helping her master in the lab, the two times he was in the lab: to get her to an effective score of 3. The rest is just raw talent (but she hasn't really stopped to think about this, yet). I shuffled some experience points around, adding a spell and making up for the change in affinities. I pulled back a bit from Finesse, too. I changed her from Greek to Italian, too, to make the running from her apprenticeship/past/master more of a theme.

Talia
Covenant: Insala Canaria Talia's Portion
Characteristics: Int +3, Per +3, Pre +1, Com +1, Str 3, Sta +2, Dex 2, Qik 1
Size: 0
Age: 36 (36), Height: 5'6'', Weight: 158 lbs, Gender: Female
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Confidence: 2 (8)
Virtues and Flaws: The Gift, Hermetic Magus, Self Confident (Confidence: +1)*, Major Magical Focus (Ships and boats), Affinity with Creo, Puissant Creo, Method Caster (Formulaic Spells: +3) [Include in Casting Totals], Affinity with Magic Theory, Educated, Personal Vis Source (Herbam) [Location], Puissant Magic Theory, Deficient Form (Ignem), Weak Magic, Lecherous, Infamous Master, Seeker, Enemies (Fengheld)
Reputations: Bumbler (Among magi) 3
Combat:
Dodge: Init: 1, Attack , Defense 1, Damage
Fist: Init: 1, Attack 2, Defense 1, Damage 3
Kick: Init: 2, Attack 2, Defense 2, Damage +0
Soak: +2
Fatigue levels: OK, 0, 1, 3, 5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: 1 (1 5), 3 (6 10), 5 (11 15), Incapacitated (16 20), Dead (21+)
Abilities: Italian 5, Scots Gaelic 1 (3), Arabic 3 (ports and nautical terms), Awareness 2 (at sea) (4), Charm 1 (men), Folk Ken 1 (sailors), Sailor 2, Leadership 2 (sailors), Order of Hermes Lore 1 (3), Code of Hermes 1 (3), Carouse 2 (faking drunkenness), Latin 4 (hermetic terms), Artes Liberales 2 (astronomy), Parma Magica 2 (Terram), Magic Theory 6+2 (spells), Etiquette 0 (1), Finesse 4 (Creo)
Arts: Cr 13+3, In 3, Mu 9, Pe 2, Re 2, An 0, Aq 2, Au 1, Co 0, He 10, Ig 14, Im 0, Me 0, Te 10, Vi 5
Equipment:
Encumbrance: 0 (0)
Spells Known:
Pilum of Fire (CrIg 20) +18
Break the Oncoming Wave (ReAq 10) +9
Hull of Unbreakable Iron (MuHe(Te) 30) +33. Change a plant or item made from plant products into metal or stone
Conjuration of the Seaworthy Cog (CrHe(Te) 45) (3) +43
Charge of the Angry Winds (CrAu 15) +22
A Spell of Fair Wind (CrAu [strike]10[/strike]20) +23. Creates a wind blowing in the direction indicated by the caster at the time of casting, intended to fill the sales of the ship.
The caster may change the direction later by concentrating.
The Expeditious Rigger (ReHe 15) +19. This spell quickly furls, unfurls or changes the rigging of the sails of a ship, without the invovlvment of the crew.
A successful furling, unfurling or change of rigging for the wind is acomplished on a Finesee + Perception Ease Factor of 9.
Creeping Oil (CrAq 15) +23
Transformation of the Thorny Staff (MuHe 10) +24
Wizard's Communion (MuVi 20) +19
Repel the Wooden Shafts (ReHe 10) +19, Mastery 2 (fast casting, multiple casting)
[strike]The Unseen Porter (ReTe 10) +17[/strike]
Invisible Sling of Vilano (ReTe 10) +17

Talia's Aging roll for 35 Apparent Age Increase by one year

Spring 1222: Practice: Scots Gaelic-0 to 1, Exp: 8
Summer 1222: Experience, Exp: 8
Summer 1222: Experience, Exp: 7
Summer 1222: Experience, Exp: 4
Summer 1222: Experience: Magic Theory, Exp: 5
Summer 1222: Experience: Etiquette, Exp: 1
Summer 1222: Spell Experience: Conjuration of the Seaworthy Cog,Exp: 3
Summer 1222: Experience: Order of Hermes Lore, Exp: 3
Summer 1222: Experience: Code of Hermes, Exp: 3
Summer 1222: Experience: Awareness, Exp: 4
Autumn 1222: Summa: Magic Theory-1 to 3, Exp: 15
Autumn 1222: Study Summa on Magic Theory, Exp: 15
Winter 1222: Summa: Magic Theory-3 to 4, Exp: 15
Winter 1222: Study Summa on Magic Theory, Exp: 15
Spring 1223: Summa: Magic Theory-4 to 5, Exp: 15
Spring 1223: Study Summa on Magic Theory, Exp: 15
Summer 1223: Summa: Magic Theory-5 to 6, Exp: 15
Summer 1223: Study Summa on Magic Theory, Exp: 15

The following back story takes here to about 3 years from the start of play. Leaves room for encountering some other PCs that aren't from the Isles.

Samanta was born to loving parents in 1187 in small fishing village in the duchy of Naples. She was a precocious girl enjoying the sea and the ocean. Her keen intellect interested a local wise man who began teaching her some letters and a bit of Latin. However, this person wasn’t a wise man, so much as a watcher for those who possessed the Gift. He was beholden to a Tytalus magus by the name of Erimas. Erimas took Samanta as his apprentice, stealing her from her home in the dead of night.
Life with Erimas, beginning with the kidnapping from her home at the age of 10 was never really good. She was taken from the sea, and lived in an inland mountainous area she was unfamiliar with. The first few months she spent with Erimas were tortuous for her, as he did things to Samanta, drawing out her Arts. Sometimes when she slept, she thought she heard Erimas weeping, but the sound was quickly replaced by cursing of himself in Latin.
Years passed slowly, and Erimas, in concert with his sodalis Flaren pushed Samanta to learn the Art of mastering flames. She was ineffectual with the Art of Ignem, never quite as good as she felt they thought she should be. Sometime later they showed her how to make things manifest themselves, and she and Erimas discovered that she had a bit of a gift for that. Her studies continued haphazardly, and Erimas never really pushed her to learn much of the academic fundamentals beyond what she picked up when she assisted him in the lab. When she accompanied him in the field, her task was usually to take out the mundane forces while her master concentrated on the more magical creatures. At one point she was taught to sling stones with her Arts, and she became rather proficient at it, since it masked one of her weaknesses.
The last two years of her apprenticeship were marked by little magical study and an intense affair, culminating in her rejection of Erimas, and being named a magus in her own right and taking the name Talia. She quietly left Luctatio and lived for a time in Naples. She had assembled something of a crew of men, and one day, while a ship was in port and the captain away she and her men boarded it, stealing it and taking it for her own. When on board the ship she felt some of her magical nature begin asserting itself. She quickly set sail for Favonius, a covenant she’d hear Flaren speak about.
When searching for Favonius she first found Memnos, the Verditian shipwright responsible for building the magical ships of the covenant. She spent a few years working with him, helping him finish the construction of the Halcyon. Her primary job was doing the shakedown cruise with the intended captain, given Memnos’ fear of sailing.
As Halcyon was finishing construction she met Aeliophanes, and the pair fell madly in love. She sailed with him on his adventures for quite some time, honing her sailing skills, and hunting for the magical creatures, secret sites of magic. As torrid and passionate affairs often do, it ended poorly, and she left Favonius. A few months later she discovered she was with child, and bore a son, keeping the knowledge of her son a secret from Aeliophanes.
She spent some time in the seas of the Levant, but eventually made her way out of the Mediterranean. She was initially hounded at the Pillars of Heracles but managed to win through by setting the galleys coming after her ship aflame with a combination of Creeping Oil and several judiciously cast Pila of Fire and followed it up with a casting her Spell of Fair Wind.
The nef she had acquired foundered in the heavier seas of the Atlantic, and she and her crew were run aground not far from Lisbon. She spent a few years there, and filled out her crew, and investigated the ships of the region, completing her research into a spell to construct ships more accustomed to the winds and seas of the Atlantic. During her research she ran into a ship captain claiming to do work for Fengheld House, who was rude and insulted her, though he understood her status as a Maga.
In the dark of night she and her crew boarded the ship from Fengheld House, subdued her regular crew and set sail from the port. When at sea she wove her magic and created a cog, and transferred all the cargo over to it. They then set the other ship and crew adrift with only a main sail, and enough rigging to manage the main sail.

I missed the Finesse roll for creation of the ship
Total of 15 against an ease factor of 9.

I'm putting this here for lack of a better idea.

Talia's Lab
Owner: Talia of Tytalus
Location: The Whoa Buoy (Talia's ship)
Floor: Below deck
Build Points: 20
Names Added to Sanctum Marker: Talia of Tytalus
Size: -1 (-1) [350 sq. ft.] Refinement: +0
General Quality: -1 Upkeep: +3
Safety: -1 Warping: +0
Health: +0 Aesthetics: +2

Virtues & Flaws
Mobile (Free Structure Virtue): Experimentation: +1
Extensive Stores (Minor Structure Virtue): Safety: +2
Greater Feature (Major Structure Virtue): Aesthetics: +2;
Feature: Desk; Texts: +3
Priceless Ingredients (Free Outfittings Virtue): General
Quality: +2; Upkeep: +4; Longevity Rituals: +2
Superior Construction (Free Structure Virtue): Safety: +1;
Aesthetics: +1
Well Insulated (Minor Structure Virtue): Safety: +1;
Aesthetics: +1
Awkward Shape (Minor Structure Flaw): Safety: -2;
Aesthetics: -1
Cramped (Minor Structure Flaw): General Quality: -1;
Upkeep: -1; Safety: -2; Aesthetics: -1; Specialization:
Experimentation +1
Greater Focus (Major Structure Flaw): General Quality: -2;
Feature: Desk; Texts: +4
Missing Equipment (Minor Outfittings Flaw): Upkeep: -1;
Specializations: Enchanting Items
Unstable (Free Structure Flaw): Upkeep: 1; Safety: -1
Specializations
+2 Experimentation
+2 Longevity Rituals
+7 Texts
Impossible Activities: Enchanting Items
Features
Desk: Type: Greater

Talia's life at sea since her gauntlet has allowed her to collect many devices that make life at sea easier for her and her crew. She came by these devices in a lawful manner so as to not be accused as depriving a magus of their magic.

Talia has a bit of a fastidious nature and takes pains to keep the Whoa Buoy ship-shape. There are two Nailed Down Chamber Pots, one in her quarters, and one in a room for other crew members. To keep her men looking sharp the crew employs the Abluere Magica. The crew also enjoys fresh food during their voyages, for extended periods at sea while Talia is hunting monsters or vis sources, because of The Vitalizer of Provisions. And to keep the rats that invariably infest cargo ships at bay, they Employ The Death of Vermin to lure them to their death. Finally, as running out of water can be problematic there is the Cask of the Naiad, which removes the salt from ocean water. At times, she'll make the water taste like wine, mead or ale for a day (MuIm CS of 11+die/2 against a total effect level of 5, Base 2 affect to change 2 sensations of an object [taste and smell] D:Sun T:Ind) . She keeps meaning to invent a spell to do it, but has yet to get around to it. Talia always chuckles to herself when the men begin acting drunk, but they really aren't, since only the taste and smell is affected by the spell. Of course, the spell has other advantages which she takes advantage of later at night. Usually a day of consuming the enchanted beverage leaves the men's spirit quite willing, but their flesh is never weak unlike with wine and other potent potables.

As can be noted above Talia has a well apportioned laboratory aboard the Whoa Buoy.

[table][tr][td]Item[/td][td]BP's[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Abluere Magica[/td][td]6[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]The Vitalizer of Provisions[/td][td]8[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]The Death of Vermin[/td][td]8[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Cask of the Naiad[/td][td]8[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2 Nailed Down Chamber Pots[/td][td]12[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]20 pawns Vim[/td][td]4[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]20 Pawns Corpus[/td][td]4[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]10 Pawns Creo[/td][td]2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]5 Pawns Terram[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]5 Pawns Aquam[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Total[/td][td]54[/td][/tr][/table]

With the total of 20 build points in the lab above and the items subtotal to 74 build points. For the lab, with an Upkeep score of +3, requiring 6 pounds a year to maintain. Talia takes 1 build point for 10 pounds of silver 6 of which were used for the extensive stores.

I'll include detail for the Cask of the Naiad and the Nailed Down Chamber Pots in the Magus Labs thread, these are pulled from Magi of Hermes, although I come up with a different effect level for the Cask of the Naiad than Magi of Hermes does.

Also, for construction of the Whoa Buoy 9 pawns of Herbam were used, acquired from her Personal Vis Source which she discovered 1 year post gauntlet. Peregrine has indicated it is worth 8 pawns annually, so she also has 63 pawns of Herbam vis in her possession (8x9-9=63).

The vis source is a small log from which a vine grows throughout the year. Every spring it buds, and it fills with vis at this time and is ready for harvest. The vine can be cut into lengths containing one bud each, and each section contains one pawn. The vis has been moved into other items for convenience.
Edit: corrected silver expenditure for Extensive Stores.

Vis flow worksheet:
[tableborder][tr][td]Summer 1222[/td][td]9 pawns Herbam used, Creating Atta Buoy[/td][td]54 pawns remaining[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Autumn 1222:[/td][td]5 pawns of Creo traded to Ysebrand for 1 pawn of Corpus[/td] [td]5 pawns Creo[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Autumn 1222:[/td] [td]1 pawn of Corpus added from trade, 21 pawns of Corpus used for her Longevity Ritual.[/td][td]0 pawns Corpus remaining.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Spring/Summer 1223[/td][td]9 pawns Herbam used to create Go Get 'em Buoys 8 pawns harvested;[/td][td]53 pawns remaining.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Spring/Summer 1223[/td][td]5 pawns Herbam used to create wood for River Barge[/td][td]49 pawns remaining.[/td][/tr][/tableborder]

The Whoa Buoy? Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!?!?

I think according to Covenants page 65 it costs 1 pound per 10 points of laboratories, so an upkeep +3 one is 60 points, or 6 pounds per year. It's not as bad as you thought.

Could have been worse. She could have called it the Whoa Nessie.

Yeah that flew right past my check, check, double check. You're correct. So I need to revise a bit. More bps...

I edited the post above detailing my personal build point allocation.
Now I need to get busy and finish up my band of merry seamen...

I've been narrowing down what makes Talia's master infamous. His infamy is such that he gauntlets magi other's would not. Tytalus apprentices need to stand up to their masters and demand the gauntlet. His method is to push the apprentice hardest in the areas where they are weakest and completely ignore the natural strengths and talents of his apprentice. The Order as a whole doesn't understand his method, and his House as a whole could care less one way or another. Only by acknowledging or understanding their own weakness can the apprentice be a responsible magus creating their own path for studying the Arts in their own specific way.

At Talia's gauntlet, there was a debate, but Talia would not initiate magic. When Erimas did, by casting a forceless Pilum of Fire at Talia, and she responded with Invisible Sling of Vilano instead of her own Pilum of Fire, he declared Samanta a magus, and she took the name Talia, because she understood that despite the efforts undertaken to teach her Ignem to the exclusion of almost everything else, Invisible Sling of Vilano was the better spell, even though it might leave her weakened. (I'm not really happy with this, I'll probably revise it here, but I'm on my phone and don't have a good WP to do this on.

There is a mistake with a Talia's Spell of Fair Wind, based on discussion in the Ars forum. Should have +2 magnitudes for unnatural phenomenon. Her LT is sufficient to learn it at the beginning of play, so I will drop a 10th level spell. Probably Transformation of the Thorny Staff, I'll look into it in more depth when I am home this afternoon.

I corrected Talia's Spell of Fair Wind to the appropriate level above. And struck The Unseen Porter from her Grimoire.

Roger that.

I think I've used Method Caster a handful of times. In those times, they didn't do anything except for the ritual spells which might have changed the fatigue lost from 1 to 2, but otherwise it had no impact on the story.

Can I swap this out for Adept Laboratory Student? The "cool" thing about doing this is that Talia will never have taken advantage of it heretofore, and I'd work it into something in a kind of accidental way. Adept Laboratory Student fits the underlying concept a bit better, and I can still sing the spells, it just provides no real benefit, as far as I had envisioned it for Talia.

Sure...I can't remember off the top of my head it being used. Go right ahead.