Now, you got me thinking...
He could create, or commission, harnesses with a lesser CrIg effect, with an appropriate trigger (that's the hard part). Equip his sharks with it, and here we go! 
Jumping out of the water as the trigger should work. Not something sharks are very good at doing. And underwater usage would be somewhat impaired, I would say.
Creo Ignem!
Doctor Evil would be so proud 
So Iāve been thinking over this and Iām not quite sure exactly which of these is what Iām looking for, but I think it might be a combination of the two.
My thought is that Acutus believes that just as Bjornaer are capable of making a ābetter versionā of their Heartbeast, they should be able to do the same for their āheartmanā. He sees this as essentially a parallel effort.
So, I donāt think heād just want to engage in original research to apply the heartbeast refinement to the āheartmanā, because that would mean their inner āheartmanā would essentially be completely influenced by their inner heartbeast.
What he is looking for is developing another House Bjornaer Inner Mystery (so no need for a new mystery lore) that parallels the Inner Heartbeast [Epitome] mystery. So while the script will obviously be different, the bonuses granted from the initial initiation would be equivalent (a +3 to an attribute in the inner āheartmanā and a +1 on the general heartbeast of the same attribute). Subsequent further initiations would follow a similar ruleset as those for further Inner Heartbeast initiations.
Yes, it seems Iwas unclear, but that's what I meant by "apply heartbeast refinements rules" 
However, since "current" bjornaer are unable to do this, this would, IMO, mean doing OR to expand the heartbeast scope. Contrary to developping another ability.
Applying similar provements to the man form is cool. I am not sure that mainstream bjornaers would not be horrified at the idwa though. My knowledge of house bjornaer is extremely limited since it is one f my least favourite houses and have not read MC in quite some time, but my imprwssion is that they almost consider the human form to be a sad mistake that they want to get rid of, not something that thwy want to improve. They would like to be magical (gifted) animals more than better humans. Am i right? (I can be very wrong here).
There is a lot of story potential here (imagine the reaction of the gathering of twelve years...) but maybe it is worth a flaw r something? And if i am right it is important to b aware of this 
Looking forward to see how Acutus develops. It is an imteresting take on the subject in any case
Okay, I thought what you were meaning with āapply heartbeast refinements rules" was to engage in original research with the end goal of the inner heartbeast mysteries modifying both the inner heartbeast and the āinner heartmanā at the same time, completely revolutionizing those inner mysteries within the House. Whereas what I want is a separate and distinct mystery for the āinner heartmanā that mirrors/parallels the inner heartbeast mystery. In the end, it sounds like weāre saying the same thing, I was just interpreting what you said incorrectly.
You other point is good though, and I hadnāt thought about it. I guess it would require the creation of a new ability to cover the transformation into the āinner heartmanā or a modification of the Heartbeast ability. I think I would lean towards a modification of the Heartbeast ability upon initiation, since the Heartbeast ability is really already about changing between human and heartbeast, not just o heartbeast. I donāt have my books with me, so I probably need to think about that some more.
PB is probably the resident expert on Bjornaer, but here are my thoughts. I donāt think House Bjornaer would see something like this as heretical, but perhaps more like apocryphal. I donāt think they see the human form to be a mistake, in fact they see the human and heartbeast as part of the mind/body/soul equationā¦so they are equally important.
However, in practice I think what you are saying fits with some of the NPC Bjornaer Iāve read about, as well as they few PCs Iāve seen. These Bjornaer do tend to favor their heartbeast over their human side, and they would definitely have an issue with this. And that is exactly why Acutus is doing it. He thinks the House leans too heavily towards their heartbeast side and neglects the human, which should be equally important. This is why Bjornaer who enter final twilight become beasts of virtue and not āmen of virtueā; because they focus too heavily on their heartbeast. Itās no mistake that Acutusā scores in Corpus and Animal are identical, and Iām going to do my best to keep them that way, to show that he doesnāt favor one over the other.
This is why I gave Acutus a (relatively) high intelligence score and made him a member of Clan Ilfetu, the āwise menā clan. Heās a visionary and quite Ambitious in his pursuit of revolutionizing his house. His ultimate goal is to develop one more inner mystery that can only be initiated once someone has initiated an inner heartbeast mystery and the āinner heartmanā mystery. This mystery would transform the Bjornaer into a magical creature that is both a magical human AND a magical animal, capable of freely shifting their form and nature between the two (much like they can switch between mundane human and mundane animal). The idea would be that the Bjornaer would undertake this initiation late in life in an effort to escape Final Twilight after they have improved themselves as much as possible using the other inner mysteries. This would enable them to break the cycle of their heartbeast overwhelming their human nature once reaching Final Twilight.
Ah, I see. Nice
Yes, I love it, too 
A thought: What about a final form that is a Chimera mixing man and best? Like a centaur, or a minotaur, or an harpy?
Eh, I could see some Bjornaer going that route (similar to the heartbeast chimera inner mystery) but Acutus wouldn't go that route. Maybe there would be a couple of different routes to go, like the inner heartbeast mysteries, depending on each mage's proclivities. But to Acutus, human and heartbeast are separate, yet equally important, parts of his nature. He has no interest in merging them together.
His Highness of Ennui has the gist of it. Basically, Bjornaer believe that everyone has both a soul (the Human side) and a Spirit (the Animal side). Both are equally important. Humans being what they are, they tend to focus on the human side and neglect the Animal side. Some Bjornaer (Wilderists) tend to overcompensate and feel (or act like they feel) like mankind is a blight on the world and that civilization or development should be halted and their damage undone ā in effect, focusing on the Animal side and neglecting the Human.
I think the reason magi Bjornaeri haven't worked on a Heart-man form before is because everyone in the world is already in what could be considered their Heart-man form, if you know what I mean. Now, as to whether the Bjornaer mysteries could be extended to encompass the maga's human form...that would be an intriguing avenue of pursuit.
That is also something that had occurred to me, and the only reason I can think of that would make it unfeasible, if not impossible, would be that while Soul and Spirit are both essential parts of Man, they are still two separate and distinct things, and a (for example) Centaur Chimera would be like combining fire and water, so to speak.
Okay, so here's an initial draft of Acutus' lab. I still need to add one more minor virtue to get the Occupied Size equal to the Size. Once I do that the lab will cost me 15qp for the 3 minor virtues. Marko, let me know if the flaws I've picked are acceptable for offsetting the free virtues I've taken.
Magic Aura: 3
Size: +3
Occupied Size: +2
Refinement: 0
General Quality: +5
Upkeep: +6
Safety: 3
Warping: +3
Health: +1
Aesthetics: +4
Laboratory Specializations:
Items: +1
Texts: +1 (not active)
Vis Extraction: +2 (not active)
Longevity Rituals: +2
Creo: +1 (not active)
Muto: +1
Rego: +2
Terram: +1 (not active)
Aquam: +1
Ignem: +1 (not active)
Imaginem: +1
Virtues
Spacious (Minor Structure Virtue)
Safety: +2
Aesthetics: +1
Lesser Expansion (Minor Outfitting Virtue)
Upkeep: +4
General Quality: +2
Aesthetics: +1
Intellego: +1
Vim: +1
Dedicated Building (Free Structure Virtue)
Upkeep: +1
Aesthetics: +1
Rego: +1
Superior Construction (Free Structure Virtue)
Safety: +1
Aesthetics: +1
Priceless Ingredients (Free Outfitting Virtue)
Upkeep: +4
General Quality: +2
Longevity Rituals: +2
Superior Tools (Free Outfitting Virtue)
Upkeep: +1
Safety: +1
Items: +1
Gateway (Minor Supernatural Virtue)
Aesthetics: +1
Creo: +1
Flawless Equipment (Free Supernatural Virtue)
Upkeep: +2
General Quality: +2
Vis Extraction: +2
Inexhaustible Supplies (Free Supernatural Virtue)
Upkeep: -3
Warping: +1
Magically Superior Heating (Free Supernatural Virtue)
Aesthetics: +1
Health: +1
Ignem: +1
Magically Superior Lighting (Free Supernatural Virtue)
Upkeep: -1
Aesthetics: +1
Texts: +1
Imaginem: +1
Preserved (Free Supernatural Virtue)
Upkeep: -1
Aesthetics: +1
Health: +2
Warping: +1
Creo: +1
Regio (Free Supernatural Virtue)
Size: +3
Warping: +1
Flaws
Undecorated (Minor Outfitting Flaw)
Upkeep: -1
Aesthetics: -1
-1 to all specialties greater than 2
Thoroughfare (Minor Supernatural Flaw)
Safety: -1
Subterranean (Free Structure Flaw)
Upkeep: +1
Aesthetics: -1
Health: -1
Terram: +1
Damp (Free Outfitting Flaw)
Upkeep: +1
Aesthetics: -1
Health: -1
Aquam: +1
Yiu hve 10 free Virtues and only 2 free Flaws. I give Heat and Light to everyone, so wave that. Superior Tools, Building, & Construction are fairly standard. Regio was a mandate.
The Premiums are Priceless Ingredients, Flawless Equipment, Inexhaustible Supplies, and Preserved.
I would otherwise ignore it except for your cries for balance. That and the +5GQ really caught my attention there.
So there are four free Virtues that should be balanced, with four free Flaws. You have two, so you need two more. Suggestions: Impregnable (since you have to swim underwater to get to it), Haunted (seems to be a theme), Infested (mold or algae), Damaged (since it is a shipwreck), Hidden Defect (just for fun), Missing Sanctum Marker (the place is still new to you).
Note that some of these suggestions are things easy to fix once rolling in play.
Okay, I finally have another draft of Acutusā lab for review. It costs 15 qp for the one major and one minor flaw. I still need to figure out what personality trait goes with the warping, but itās going to have something to do with the ancient magic related to the original owners of the ship.
Magic Aura: 3
Size: +3
Occupied Size: +3
Refinement: 0
General Quality: +6
Upkeep: +7
Safety: 0
Warping: +3
Health: +1
Aesthetics: +2
Laboratory Specializations:
Items: +1
Texts: Unable to use Lab Texts
Vis Extraction: +2 (not active)
Longevity Rituals: +2
Creo: +2
Muto: +2
Rego: +1 (not active)
Terram: +1 (not active)
Aquam: +1
Ignem: +1 (not active)
Imaginem: +1
Virtues
Spacious (Minor Structure Virtue)
Safety: +2
Aesthetics: +1
Dedicated Building (Free Structure Virtue)
Upkeep: +1
Aesthetics: +1
Rego: +1
Superior Construction (Free Structure Virtue)
Safety: +1
Aesthetics: +1
Greater Expansion (Major Outfitting Virtue)
Upkeep: +4
General Quality: +2
Aesthetics: +1
Muto: +2
Priceless Ingredients (Free Outfitting Virtue)
Upkeep: +4
General Quality: +2
Longevity Rituals: +2
Superior Tools (Free Outfitting Virtue)
Upkeep: +1
Safety: +1
Items: +1
Gateway (Minor Supernatural Virtue)
Aesthetics: +1
Creo: +1
Flawless Equipment (Free Supernatural Virtue)
Upkeep: +2
General Quality: +2
Vis Extraction: +2
Inexhaustible Supplies (Free Supernatural Virtue)
Upkeep: -3
Warping: +1
Magically Superior Heating (Free Supernatural Virtue)
Aesthetics: +1
Health: +1
Ignem: +1
Magically Superior Lighting (Free Supernatural Virtue)
Upkeep: -1
Aesthetics: +1
Texts: +1
Imaginem: +1
Preserved (Free Supernatural Virtue)
Upkeep: -1
Aesthetics: +1
Health: +2
Warping: +1
Creo: +1
Regio (Free Supernatural Virtue)
Size: +3
Warping: +1
Flaws
Missing Equipment (Minor Outfitting Flaw)
Upkeep: -1
Lab work using lab texts is completely impossible
Undecorated (Minor Outfitting Flaw)
Upkeep: -1
Aesthetics: -1
-1 to all specialties greater than 2
Subterranean (Free Structure Flaw)
Upkeep: +1
Aesthetics: -1
Health: -1
Terram: +1
Damp (Free Outfitting Flaw)
Upkeep: +1
Aesthetics: -1
Health: -1
Aquam: +1
Missing Sanctum Marker (Free Outfitting Flaw)
Aesthetics: -1
Impregnable (Free Supernatural Flaw)
Aesthetics: -2
Thoroughfare (Free Supernatural Flaw)
Safety: -1
Sorry, no time to review this. Just one unrelated question: Do you have some background info/description on him I could put on the wiki? Thanks!
Okay, now that we're going to have some "downtime"/time jump, I want to start Acutus down his research path.
My question is what rules to use? I think what I'm looking for is a bit of a combination of what Fixer said in the quote above. So here are my thoughts...
- Acutus wants to create another inner mystery, within the structure of the House Bjornaer mysteries (ie. using the same lore)
- That new inner mystery (that I've been calling the "inner heartman" for now until I come up with something better) will essentially involve "revealing" the existence of the magus' "inner human" just as the inner heartbeast mysteries reveal a magus' inner heartbeast.
- The mechanical effects of this new mystery will basically be exactly the same as the Inner Heartbeast-Epitome mystery
- He is NOT attempting to reconcile this with hermetic theory. This is a new mystery within the House Bjornaer mystery cult
So, what rules should I use to pursue this? I don't think it's the Original Research rules from HoH:TL, since those are for reconciling something into hermetic theory. Should I use the rules for creating a new mystery in The Mysteries? Or is there some other set of rules I should be using?
You'd probably start by looking at the mechanics to self-initiate (HoS:MC, pg.4). This works for existing virtues at least - whether it works for entirely new, nonexistent virtues I cannot say. You might have to make it a research project with breakthroughs and whatnot.
I agree with Cannonball. IMO, changing the nature of the heartbeast skill would require a breakthrough (this would, essentially, be the second path outlined there).
But yes, this would totally use OR rules: You're changing the functioning of an hermetic virtue and mystery, breaching new ground... Just like if you wanted to, say, allow Mercurian Magic to act as a focus on Ritual Magic.
Anyway, in both cases, I can see the stories being the same: Acutus would pursue stories of "Exemplar" humans, being Helen of Troy for her beauty, Hercules for his Strenght, Pythagoras for his intelligence...
- If looking to change the Heartbeast ability, this could yield insight (like in Ancient Magic), which could be combined with original research to accrue breakthrough points.
- If looking to create a new mystery cult, I'd just rip a page from Legend of Hermes and Fortunata, and put adventure XP from these stories into the new Cult Lore ability, which would allow Acutus to design his own initiation scripts. Her project is, as far as I remember, very close to what you want to do, in spirit if not in deed.
Or you could use the research rules from True Lineages under Bonisagus.
I don't think he's trying to change the Heartbeast ability any more than the Inner Mystery of the Heartbeast-Epitome changes the Heartbeast ability.
Here's my thought. The Heartbeast ability already allows a Bjornaer to change to his heartbeast form OR to change to his human form. This is why, when affected by a hostile shapechanging spell, a Bjornaer can use the Heartbeast skill to change into EITHER his heartbeast or his human form. So, the heartbeast skill already covers shifting to human form.
The Mystery of the Inner Heartbeast (in all its versions) initiation basically has the mystagogue (a Great Beast) modify the heartbeast of the magus, creating the inner heartbeast. So, it doesn't seem to be so much of changing the Heartbeast skill, as it is changing the form that the Heartbeast skill changes one into. The script treats this as gaining a Major Virtue, so that's a good target.
So basically, what Acutus wants to do is conduct research that leads to the ability to modify his "humanness" to create an inner human, just as the Great Beast modified his Heartbeast to create an inner heartbeast. I think I would put this on the level of a Major Breakthrough in the Original Research rules, since he's modifying something that already exists.
Once he proves that creating an "inner human" is possible, he would then develop a mystery script to initiate himself. Then, he'd create a script to initiate others.
I like this! I could see him trying to learn more about the Cult of Heroes and tracking down these stories. I also figured he'd find a Criamon on the Path of Body, and see if he could gain some insight there as well. Beyond that, I would assume creating the various Creo Attribute boosting skills through experimentation would lead to some breakthrough points.
He's not looking to create a new mystery cult. Hes looking to create a new mystery script within an already existing mystery cult (House Bjornaer).