Koios, Guardian of the Pool of Knowledge (Might 55)
This kosmokrator guards the threshold of the pool of knowledge, which in theurgical legends represents a sum total of all things that are known and which can be known. He embodies the loss inherent to the quest for deep knowledge – for everything that is gained something else must be sacrificed, be it time, relationships with others, pleasure, or more literal sacrifices.
He is a daimon of far reaching power, who can grant the theurge almost any skill or power imaginable. However, he requires a steep price. Just as they would have had to sacrifice time and effort to learn what he gives them the hard way, to gain his permission to drink from the pool of knowledge the theurge must sacrifice a part of themselves. Nothing comes from nothing.
The sacrifices listed below are only examples. Almost any magic aligned ability and many supernatural virtues can be gained by drinking from the pool of knowledge, so long as a suitable sacrifice can be thought of.
Characteristics: Int +9, Per +9, Pre 0, Com 0, Str +3, Sta +7, Dex 0, Quik 0
Personality Traits: Mournful +3, Fair +3
Size: +2
Soak: 0
Wound Penalties: –1 (1-7), –3 (8-15), –5 (16-30), Banished (31+)
Abilities: Bargain 17, Brawl (Blocking) 14
Powers:
Sight for Sight
If the theurge blinds their eye irrevocably they may be granted the power of sight – the right eye grants a score of 1 in the ability Second Sight , the left a score of 1 in the ability Divination and Augury .
The Past for the Future
The theurge gives up all memory of their past in exchange for a score of 1 in the ability Divination and Augury . The memories are lost forever. The theurge may learnt the facts of their life but will never truly remember them.
The Future for the Past
The theurge sacrifices their ability to plan and think of the future in exchange for a perfect recollection of the past. They are afflicted with the flaws Short Attention Span, Simple Minded, and Unimaginative Learner but in return gain a score of 1 in the ability Art of Memory, the virtue Affinity with Art of Memory, and the new minor virtue Eidetic Memory.
Minor General Virtue: Eidetic Memory
You are especially skilled at memorising things and have a natural ability to recall details others would forget. Any roll to recall something gains a bonus of +3 and rolls to intentionally memorise an item of information gain a +6 bonus.
Health for Health
The theurge must drink from a special cup provided by Koios. The water of the pool in it is transformed into a terrible poison which destroys the natural healing abilities of the theurge’s body. From then on they can never recover from any wound except by supernatural means. This is described in the new Major Supernatural Flaw No Natural Healing. In return they gain the new Supernatural Ability Lay on Hands.
Major Supernatural Flaw: No Natural Healing
Either from warping or some kind of curse the character has lost the normal capacity to heal from injuries. When they are called on to make a wound recovery roll do so as normal but if the wound would improve it instead remains stable. If a sufficient amount of magical aid is provided they can heal as normal (+12 for light wounds, +15 for medium, +18 for heavy, +21 for incapacitating). In these cases roll as if no magical aid was applied but if an improvement is rolled the wound actually improves. Instantaneous magical healing (such as from a CrCo ritual) works on them as normal.
They recover from fatigue and disease as normal, only their wound recovery is effected by this flaw.
Major Supernatural Virtue: Lay on Hands
This grants a score of 0 in the supernatural ability Lay on Hands which works as follows:
The character has a supernatural ability to heal others. They can replicate any Creo Corpus effect relating to healing injuries with a roll of Stamina+Lay on Hands against the ease factors listed below. By default the target is the character themself. To target another person add +3 to the ease factor to make the effect touch range.
To cause instantaneous healing the character must expend a long term fatigue level per 3 points of ease factor. If they fall unconscious from this any further levels of ease factor will inflict a wound (light for 3, medium for 6, heavy for 9, incapacitating for 12, mortal for 15+). A magus who knows this ability may expend pawns of Creo or Corpus vis to reduce this by 3 points of ease factor per pawn.
Effects from this ability which are not instantaneous last at least moon duration then decline by one level of effect each time the new moon rises until they fade away entirely.
| Ease Factor | Healing Effect |
|---|---|
| 3 | Grant a +3 to recovery rolls. |
| 6 | Grant a +6 to recovery rolls. |
| 9 | Grant a +9 to recovery rolls. Instantly heal a Light Wound. |
| 12 | Grant a +12 to recovery rolls. Instantly heal a Medium Wound. |
| 15 | Grant a +15 to recovery rolls. Instantly heal a Heavy Wound. Restore a lost limb. |
| 18 | Grant a +18 to recovery rolls. Instantly heal an Incapacitating Wound. |
| 21 | Grant a +21 to recovery rolls. Instantly heal an all Wounds. |
Air for Air
The theurge is afflicted with the new Major General Flaw Short of Breath in exchange for a score of 1 in the supernatural ability Whistle up the Wind (see HoH:Societates for details).
Major General Flaw: Short of Breath
The character is afflicted with a chronic shortness of breath. They are prone to fits of breathlessness whenever they overexert themselves. Whenever the character fails a roll involving Stamina they begin to suffer deprivation from lack of air. After each deprivation roll the character must make a Stamina+Concentration roll against an ease factor of 6; with success meaning they can breathe normally again.
Freedom for Fortune The theurge sacrifices that most precious of all things: their own death. They are issued with a Death Prophecy by Koios and in exchange gains the ability to influence their own fortunes up until the point of their now inevitable death, granting a score of 1 in the supernatural ability Threads of Fate (see Rival Magic for details on this ability). The particulars of the death prophecy are left up to the storyguide, but it should never be one that would please the theurge – this is a sacrifice, after all.