That is one we do not teach to others very much if at all. Any mischief or crimes commented by someone with that knowledge falls back to the master who taught it and the Mercurians as a whole. As such we weight each request very carefully. Normally, a Prima would have to make the request on behalf of the magus for it to be considered. Even then the magus' name is sent to all of the tribunal's Quaesitors as having learned this mastery.
I recommend that you have some payment ready to discuss with Vincentius or Jareth. It will be one of those two that you will have to bargain with to gain the mastery of Harnessed magic. I will try to approach Jareth first as he taught me the mastery of Boosting a spell's power. But if he refuses it will have to be Vincentius whom I've only met once but have heard he is quite a ... character.
((I thought this might happen - totally fine, but I should rescind my offer to play Jareth in this thread - obvious conflict of interest. I'll be happy to take on other NPCs.))
((Yes and no... I can pick that piece up when it comes time to negotiate. Or Jareth doesn't deal and Vincentius is the one who does. Or you convince Korvin to mentor you for a season of training...))
Her brow furrowing, Tranquillina asks, "Disclosure to the Quaesitors? Even after ... all we know, about their corruption? Do you - does House Mercere deem this policy wise?" Her voice now carries genuine concern for the situation.
"But I understand the potential for abuse where this masking ability is concerned; I have only the comfort of our covenfolk as my intentions, but I cannot pretend other students might not have motives more sinister. Let us not close this door completely, then, but rather wait until I am better known as a trusted friend to others in House Mercere."
"Payment should not be an obstacle: either might well be interested in my magical knowedge, to say nothing of a simple vis transaction - I have barely touched my allotment from this council," she says with a small shudder.
"You are most kind to trouble yourself on my account, Korvin: I deeply appreciate your introductions to these Mutantes masters." Tranquillina smiles winsomely at him and gently takes one of his hands between hers. "I look forward to representing Mons Electi well as an apt student of this ancient magical control."
Please remember that very few if any of the other Mercurians know the truth about Guernicus and I would guess we would be luck if one of those fully believed it. These rules are set in place and can not be changed at this time. If you want to mask your sigil you must gain permission. Even as a friend and Covenant-mate, I would not teach you without assurances from your Prima.
I will caution you to go into the negotiations with a ... liberal mind. Jareth may take vis or he will demand some other service. Do not be surprised if the service takes more than one season. I really have no idea what Vincentius might ask for if he were to do it. This is a tradition that is not often taught outside of our House. Even the mastery of spells. The Mutants may sell it dearly.
Wait a minute, I'm making comments based on what players are saying, not necessarily which NPC is Mercuran or Mutantes...
Mutantes may or may not be Mercurian. The spell mastery ability Tranquillina is looking for is Mercurian in origin. Tranquillina is looking for Mercurians in actuality...
There seems to be an inconsistency of what the player and characters know here. Jebrick's assessment that the mastery ability Tranquillina is looking for is Mercurian in nature, not Mutantes is correct. So...
Harnessed magic is Mutants. Disguised sigil is Mercurian. If she wants harness magic it must be from someone who has the virtue ( as per HoH:TL). Korvin has the Boosted Magic mastery but he could not teach it to anyone else based on the RAW.
All these could work - but since I picked a couple of names essentially at random and nothing's happened yet, the easiest fix is probably for me to just pick a different name at random
It doesn't matter who you pick; just consider that much like Tranquillina's conversation with Korvin has soured and formalized, if she tries to get too much from the magi of House Mercere, she's going to be disappointed. Since Mercere have like 12-18 magi at most, Korvin is, in large part, representative of the tone of the Magical Merceres. Something always wants something from them.
And almost all of them have a chip on their shoulder and expect magi to come to them wanting...stuff.
I think you misunderstand me. The first post in this thread included a call for players to take on NPCs for fun. I volunteered, more or less at random, to take Attravere and Jareth. But now Jareth actually has a role in a story involving Tranquillina, so that's not a good NPC for me to play. So instead I can play Attravere and RandomMagus2. Or any NPC(s), or none.
This is otherwise unrelated to Tranquillina's in-character attempts to get something from the Mercere magi (who will not be happy to hear you calling them rabbits ).
OR not. There are other magi available to enter into trades with. Pick your rabbit, Jareth may or may not still be available to you to play, and like I said, I can plan the bits where you're negotiating with him.
I'm not calling the Mercere Magi rabbits, and even if I were, they're just NPCs, and I'm the SG. I clearly outrank them. I'm calling the goals you are chasing rabbits. And I'm saying it as SG. If you go for both, you're not going to get either. Take it under advisement as to how you wish to proceed. Korvin's tone is indicative of the tone you're going to encounter...
Korvin greets each arriving Mercere magus as they arrive through the portal from Harco. He is chatty and presents each with a aegis token ( Jacques standing by with the book). He give each a short tour after showing them to their quarters. When the delegation from Harco arrives(4 magus and 1 apprentice) he greets and bows to a very old magus and they chat for a bit. Then he moves down the line greeting each one. When he gets to the apprentice he give her a big hug and chats with her for longer than most while still holding her hands.
Welcome my friends to what I can only hope is a regular meeting of the Gifted of our House. I see many that are dear friends but many others that I have only met in passing or through delivered messages. I want to make sure we all can know each other better and thus make discussions easier.
Man of you have met my apprentice Abigail. She and Beatriz’ apprentice Francese are making sure to capture the points of the circle. So if you do not want something written down you should be on their good side.
Ah Xavier my friend, I can see from your expression, you caught my use of the word circle. Yes my friends. I would rather this be a Socratic Circle than just a meeting or cabal. There will be questions asked and answers discussed. I can not ask all of the questions and certainly do not have all of the answers.
Some of you have questions as to what happened at Harco 6 years ago. From the rumors I’ve heard, I am either Palamedes or Bellerophon. Traitor or hero. I will answer any questions you have on that matter. It is, one might say, the reason I wanted us to gather.
So I would like to open the discussion by asking why can we, the gifted members of our House, meet more often for cooperation and to strengthen our House bonds?
Korvin will look around assembly like a professor waiting for an answer.
((I'd like to join in as the voice of an NPC or two, but to be honest I don't understand Korvin's question. Did he mean, why can't the Gifted Mercere get together more? Or did he mean, why can Gifted Mercere meet more often than non-Gifted Mercere can? ...))
I see by the looks of confusion on some faces that I have leaped far forward in my question. I admit that I have given this much thought in the last six years so perhaps I made the mistake of asking the question that is troubling me rather than leading up to it. So I will rephrase it in another direction. Why do we allow our House to be treated like a servant to all.
Korvin raises his hands for a moment to quite the outburst.
I've touched a nerve for some I see. Yes. I know we have sworn an Oath to serve the Order selflessly as our Founder did. It is the cost of allowing our un-Gifted Brothers and Sisters to be sworn as magi. But lets look at how we of the House act. We do not vote at Tribunals? No. That means we have no voice and thus are servants in a great house. I'm sure others will listen to the concerns of our House and help but they are not of Mercere. Listen to some of the cases that come up in the Tribunal. Many Magi are stunned that we can refuse to carry messages. They feel that if they cross our palms with silver that they can use our House in their schemes as unwilling accomplices. That we perform services for them but are just tolerated as long as we know our place. Just like a faithful house servant. Many Magi of the Order think of us in this way because we ACT his way.
[color=purple]"And what would you have us do instead?" Beatriz asks, a bowl of steaming stew in each hand that she was about to place before him and Vincentius. A wooden tray holding another ten bowls floats in the air behind her.
[color=purple]"We're all descended from Mercere, no matter how distantly. Can you imagine the uproar at Harco if we started joining other Houses?"
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