Initiation Rite for Divination and Augury +10 (Target: 21)
Divination is much prized by the Neo-Mercurians and those who understand it are respected in the cult. Still, it is not strictly necessary for many of the cult’s activities and is often initiated over a prolonged period.
Those wanting to be initiated into the mystery are appointed to oversee the Quindecimviri, a college of mundane servants of the cult who are charged with the reconstruction and preservation of Roman divinatory methods – Augury, Haruspexy, the Sibylline Books, and other less common methods. While ungifted and not privy to much of the cult lore, their singular dedication means the Quindecimviri have higher scores in the Divination ability than most gifted members of the cult. There are always fifteen members of the college and one or two gifted overseers.
The college is mostly autonomous, and the duties of oversight are not especially onerous. Most magi can manage through correspondence, but some may choose to be more involved to better learn from the college’s wisdom, and to win the favour of its members - they decide when the initiate is ready to progress. (Initiate spends time serving the cult +1)
The initiate cannot advance without the approval of the Quindecimviri, who decide by a majority vote. Once the college agrees, the mystagogue assembles the college and performs an augury personally. If the day is auspicious, the initiate is led through a day long ritual involving exposure to certain vapours and herbs which induce visions. Their awareness expands, and over the following season they will become increasingly perceptive of omens and portents (acquiring a score of 1 in Divination). This comes at a cost, however. As the season progresses they will become aware of their magic ebbing and flowing, able to function at full capacity only at auspicious times. Thus, learning to read omens becomes not just a desire, but a necessity for the initiate. This inflicts the Major Flaw Deleterious Circumstances (Omens) (see below). (Major ordeal +9)
Some magi choose to spend this season visiting some of the Sibyls, seeking their prophetic wisdom. This is purely optional and does not form part of the initiation script. An initiate who does this gains no xp for the journey (their focus for the season is, ultimately, on comprehending their new mystery virtue) but if they return with new Sybilline prophecies they gain 5xp towards a positive reputation in the Neo-Mercurian cult. New prophecy is always a hot topic of conversation among Neo-Mercurians (and an excellent way to introduce plots to a saga…)
Initiation Rite for Divination and Augury +1 (Target: 21)
There is a variant of the script given above which does not give a flaw. As the bonus is only a +1 it is functionally impossible without a highly skilled mystagogue and a previous major ordeal. Many magi who experience the major ordeal to acquire Mercurian Magic subsequently pursue this initiation for this reason. The cult has several mystagogues skilled enough to accommodate this and the character’s mystagogue will strongly encourage this course of action if the character doesn’t think of it themselves.
The mystagogue may optionally add a quest involving the Sibyls (see the script below) to increase the script bonus to a +4, but this is still only viable if the initiation is performed immediately after a major ordeal.
Initiation Rite for Divination and Augury +12 (Target: 21)
Another version of this initiation exists for the ungifted Quindecimviri. It inflicts the Major Flaw The Falling Evil instead (see Grogs pg. 79 – the flaw is equivalent to an incurable case of the disease, described in Art & Academe). Instead of oversight of the cult, the initiate is given a quest to travel between the European sibyls and collect a true prophecy from each. The Persian, Hebrew, and Libyan sibyls may also be visited, but it is not required for the script. The Quindecimviri collect these prophecies, paying special attention to those of the Cumean sibyl. This script has a bonus of +12 (major flaw +9, quest +3)
In theory a magus could also use this rite if they or the mystagogue wanted, but ungifted characters must use this script (or a modified version of it). As with the optional step above, the quest portion of this rite grants the initiate 5xp in a positive reputation among Neo-Mercurians.
edit: forgot to describe the flaw mentioned in the scripts!
Major Deleterious Circumstances (Omens)
Major, Hermetic
Your magic is fundamentally linked to natural rhythms which can only be perceived through signs and portents. All magic totals are halved unless you successfully perform a divination (taking an additional round to do so) before casting each spell. The ease factor of this divination is determined by the stressfulness of the current situation and is equal to 3 times the required number of stress dice. In non-stressful situations success is automatic, but still takes an extra round.
Any number of attempts at divination can be made before casting the spell, and the type of divination used does not matter.