Adelbert, a "Magi of Hermes" look at intellego and Astrology

Another season with the help of Claritas he'll create this wand.

and in one season without Claritas's help

While intended to be used primarily with the intangible tunnels supplied by the Gabbro Matrix the fact that this item used some of Adelbert's best arts allowed him to create it with range sight and give Claritas the season off.

With uncertainty of about how the table of the tiny world will turn out, I've probably got one to three more seasons to do.

This lesser enchanted device may be the last one for the period depending upon what else goes on with the table

Edited to make it somewhat less confusing (I suspect I still have a ways to go).

One season to open, one season for Gazing within the Miniature, three for creation of the tiny world (two with an early riser routine), one season for Location of the Unwitting Surveyor, and one season (using a nocturnal schedule) for Reworking the Tiny World.

This version took fewer seasons than the previous version.

I had previously had Adelbert learn this spell primarily for the similar spells bonus.

I'm going to have him skip that for now.

I gave Adelbert 24 seasons this period and the work so far takes up only 20, leaving 4 for other stuff.
Table of the Tiny World 7
Gabbro Matrix of Connection 4
Retrieval of the Feathered Agent 1
Shears of Indirect Trimming 1
Crown of Inhuman Perspective 1
Bag of Endless Squirrels 1
Stick of Bestial Obedience 1
Stench of Feigned Malice 1
Wand of Mnemonic Engraving 1
Wand of Animal Recollections 1
Sphere of Inadvertent Interrogations 1

Adelbert (unassisted) spends a season opening more capacity in his talisman. The talisman goes from having two pawns open of 33 to having 24 pawns open of 55. He access the attunement for Agate to gain a +3 on spells dealing with air.

Adelbert spends a season instilling this enchantment in his talisman, (also unassisted):

He opens the attunment +10 against demons.

Adelbert and Claritas spend a season making this device to exchange for a device from a fellow magus.

in exchange they will get this device for use through the Gabbro Matrix

In the final season of this period, without the assistance of Claritas, Adelbert enchants the following device.

Adelbert wanted a way to quickly get an animal to a place for which he does not have an arcane connection.

I'm curious as to where you got the base for this spell; if it did short teleports every step, or telekinetically threw them further, it would make sense for me perhaps; Also, this description you've used seems to feel more like a muto spell then a rego.

I stole the rego corpus guideline for transport the target instantly 5 paces. It's a bit of a stretch but it was the closest thing I found. I was going for a feeling of the magic pushing the creature through space rather than a muto animal effect.

TME page 107 has expanded Re(Fo) movement. ReAn ends up at the same level as you used tho.

I can get that, and certainly like the 'rego pushing' feel of it. I just don't think that making a bird fly x5 as fast is the same effect as flinging a rat through the air. I might be biased, but I kind of think that you're enhancing the animal, so should be Muto (or Creo if its enhancing within natural animal limits), rather than Rego.. unless you actually are just making a squirrel catapult, in which case I'm totally okay with it - though the speed the creature moves with the spell shouldn't be tied to the creature's normal speed... a swift falcon will move the same speed as a three-legged shrew when catapulting, because the rego is doing the moving, not the creature's natural state.

I switched to the level 15 move a target quickly in any direction. It feels a bit of a high choice in that the directions that creatures move is more limited than any direction but it's overall no to bad of a fit. I gave more detailed language to show that a muto animal effect was not intended. I make the movement speed independent of the critter

How I see this whole thing working:

The Grand Observatory of Adelbert is a cavernously huge and exceptionally well lit room in Adelbert's Covenant (suitable for setting cool scenes with the PC's in). It was the focus of this fifteen year period and it grew out of a lot of stuff which he had worked on previously.

The room has 5 major features of interest

The Aviary of the Watchful Covenant, this enchanted device (check the character sheet ) creates flocks of ravens and gives them complex instructions it has an instilled enchantment to search for information in the minds of the animals that touch it but this has largely been replaced by the gabbro matrix. The aviary sits next to a large window that allows the birds to pass in to and out of the observatory to the outside. It is also a place where there is occasionally bird poop. When this device is use to create a group of birds generally three arcane connections are taken from each individual bird for later use.

The Gabbro Matrix of Connection,AC's harvested from the ravens created by the Aviary of the Watchful Covenant are placed into the Gabbro Matrix of connection in a systematic way. This allows the people that Adelbert has working for him to quickly survey all of the available targets and use the Opening the Not Completely Intangible Tunnel enchantment to further control and augment the animals with additional magic. While targeted animals do get quite warped in short order, they are as a rule spell effects themselves and disappear after duration moon anyway.

The Board - the board is not an enchanted device it is in fact, as the name would suggest, a large board. On this board are a series of hooks that exactly mirror the holes in the gabbro matrix. On the hooks are both wax tablets containing notes regarding the information concerning the animal who's connection is in the matching hole and a small pouch containing the unused arcane connections.

The Table of the Diminutive World Because you want your PC's gathered around a huge model of their objective, arguing about what they should do, that's a scene that's worth playing out.

The cabinet of enchanted implements. This is a set of shelves containing the rest of the enchanted devices that are used with the observatory, the place for each device is clear, labeled and both Adelbert and his employees are fastidious in their discipline to not leave the devises in any other places. This self contains
Shears of Indirect Trimming
Crown of Inhuman Perspective
Bag of Endless Squirrels
Stick of Bestial Obedience
Stench of Feigned Malice
Wand of Mnemonic Engraving
Wand of Animal Recollections
Sphere of Inadvertent Interrogations
Wand of Makeshift Fire Drakes
Glove of Animal Celerity

While with the use of the unlimited arcane tunnels provided by the Gabbro Matrix of Connection Adelbert could use most of his spells at a distance some of the most relevant ones are:
Retrieval of the Feathered Agent
Cloud of Gold and Ebony
Coterie of Burly Advocates(a squirrel can be used to ferry AC's of the bears back to the covenant)
Sight Hounds of the Order
Open the Tome of the Animal's Mind
Mastering the Unruly Beast
Commanding the Harnessed Beast
Summoning the Distant Image

In practice I see the observatory being manned by one or two custos who run it most of the time and make requests to Adelbert when they need his help, most frequently for teleportation of animals.

Also it's so much easier for Adelbert to gather AC's from a flock of newly created ravens that he'd be kind of a prick not to do so. I posted this spell a few weeks ago. While written with thought to the ravens from the Aviary, it would work just as well with any group of animals:

I imagine that he'd cast it three times to get three connections from each creature in a group.

I think it would work best for day to day functioning with only 120 ravens. 120 ravens is the output of the aviary for 4 days. specifically two days after the full moon and two days after the new moon - that way even the days after the setting of the full or new moon the observatory would have 90 birds in the air. Also it means that most of the time (6/7th's of the time) an additional flock of ravens is available at a moment's notice. The ravens are, even if there is no other need, constantly used for updating the map. Obviously he observatory can employ a whole lot more animals when needed. By use of the other devices and spells, the controlled creatures could also detect thoughts within hearing range of any of the animals, detect faeries that the animals can smell, or detect vis that the animals can see.

Use of only 120 animals allows the surveying ability of the Gabbro matrix to finish reading the minds of the animals in just two minutes. If the custos want to enchant all of the animals through the matrix it wouldn’t be too strenuous to get through it in a half hour, and much faster if they’ve trained.

When something of interest is found Adelbert can use Retrieval of the Feathered Agent to deposit a few extra ravens or squirrels in the vicinity. He could use Summoning the distant image on the critters or the custos can use the Crown of Inhuman Perspective.

By use of the Shears of Indirect Trimming controlled animals can grab AC’s from native, non-creo magic created animals and use them for their purposes. Controlled creatures could also be instructed to grab items that would be AC’s to locations (Such as picking leaves to serve as an AC to a tree). After grabbing an AC an animal and its new AC can be collected using Retrieval of the Feathered Agent.

When Adelbert wishes to converse, he can use Summoning the distant image often along with a magic to maintain concentration for him such as his talisman’s Magically Attentive Talisman enchantment or the spell Minute’s Respite then use non-fatiguing spontaneous magic to cast a creo imaginem spell to allow him to carry on his side of the conversation.

While the Wand of Makeshift Fire Drakes can be exceedingly destructive to some targets, it can't be used directly against anything with magic resistance higher than 2. Also, the Table of the Diminutive World's image collection ability fails against anything with magic resistance at all. While the controlled creatures can see and interact with magical targets, things with MR won't show up on miniature to be examined.

With this set up, I see him having tools to let him find and interact with most anything that is within a 14 day raven flight of his covenant, and thus be an interesting NPC to have players interact with.

Finishing up then
His aging rolls are Age /10 (so 17 or 18), living conditions -3, ritual -26, and -3 from a bronze cord.

Having done the rolls on a spreadsheet, Adelbert gets a single year of apparent age increase from rolling a 1 followed by a 9 he now looks 101 (he dodged a bullet with a roll of 1,1,4).

Claritas has five free seasons. I'll put 30 xp into her Intrigue score, this is not enough to get her to the next level.

Upon a reread, I see that I gave him one too many seasons of lab work. I'm torn between just leaving him as is (perhaps just one season older), dropping the season of Rego Imaginem spells (Image from the Wizard Torn, Wizard's Sidestep, and Illusion of the Shifted Image), or dropping the Glove of Animal Celerity.

Looking forward, Adelbert is pretty happy with his well equipped observatory. He didn't lean many spells but back from the beginning (the crossbow) he's often been more about the enchanted devices. I imagine that he'd create a few more devices for it in the coming years, most importantly a device to do the animal teleportation so he can leave more of the work to his custos. He certainly feels better about the observatory than he does about the longevity ritual work.

I don't see any changes in store for his personality traits but I'll give him a new reputation or two to reflect his expanded collection of enchanted devices.

I think that this period made him a more rewarding character to interact with than the last.

I'll get the final versions of the character sheet, the Familiar sheet, the unique spells, and the enchanted devices up within the next few days

[strike]All of the Casting totals are wrong. I'll come back to edit them later.[/strike]
I've decided to dump the Glove of Animal Celerity. I had an original idea of having the creatures sort of intermittently teleport but chickened out when it came to writing a description, the final item I did write up doesn't really sing to me at all.

As with 121-135, no additional twilight scars for this period, I didn't do the math but I'd wager that he'd have a really good chance to be lost forever from any twilight episode.

[quote]
Adelbert at 150 years out of apprenticeship
Characteristics: Int +5, Per +4(1), Pre 0, Com 0, Str -2, Sta +4*, Dex 0, Qik 0
stamina lowered by 1 aging
Size: 0
Age: 180(101)
Decrepitude: 0 (2)
Warping Score: 9(15)
Confidence Score: 2 (6)
Virtues and Flaws: The Gift; Hermetic Magus Affinity Artes Liberales, Affinity Intellego, Affinity Magic Theory, Cautious with Artes Liberales, Celestial Magic, Educated, Hermetic Prestige
, Keen Vision, Periapts, Potent Magic minor, astrological house of Genitor, Puissant Intellego, Puissant Magic Theory, True Friend , Claritas, Restriction Complete Darkness, Arcane connection from place of his birth, Astrological mutable flawed magic resistance (vim and mentem), Busybody, Cyclic Magic negative (nighttime), Deleterious Circumstances (underground), Fear of Darkness, Incompatible arts (CrIg and ReIg)
*Free virtue for House membership.

Personality Traits: rumor hound +2, protective of other magi +2, Distasteful of legal maneuvers +2, defensive of the code of Hermes +1
Reputations: Quaesitor investigator +3 (order), Master of intellego magic +3 (tribunal), Thorough Investigator +2 (House Gurnicus), Presiding Quaesitor Iberian Tribunal +4 (order), Has spells and devices for searching Iberia +2 (Tribunal)
Combat:
Brawl (fist): Init 0, Attack +1, Defense +1, Damage 0
Brawl (bludgeon) : Init 0, Attack +3, Defense +1, Damage +2
Magical Crossbow Init +4 (+5 from the weapon modified by an encumbrance of 1)
Attack +16 (+7 weapon, +4 skill, +2 steady hand of the marksman, +3 track the quarrel) with an associated -6 from the target's dodge totals, also the +2 from steady hand can at times be a penalty, additional range increments only impose a penalty of 1 per increment. Damage +18* Range 40, fires every round
Soak: +7
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: Athletics 1 (running), Artes Liberales 9 (1) (Astronomy), Awareness 5 (searching), Bows 3 (crossbow), Brawl 1 (dodge),Call for Justice 2 (against infernalists), Carouse 1 (Magi), Code of Hermes 6 (political intrigue), Charm 1 (magi), Concentration 5 (spell concentration), Faerie Lore 1 (faeries that interact with the order of Hermes), Finesse 4(aimed spells), Folk Ken 1 (monks), German 5 (Tyrol dialect), Infernal Lore 1 (demons that interact with the order of hermes), Intrigue 2(rumor mongering), Latin 5 (Hermetic use), Leadership 2 (in the lab), Magic Lore 1 (regios), Magic Theory 15 +2 (6) (enchanting items), Magoi of the Star lore 5 (conducting initiations), Medicine 2 (physician), Organization Lore Order of Hermes 3 (tribunals), Parma Magica 8 (Ignem), Penetration 4 (Mentem), Philosophae 2 (ceremonial magic), Portuguese 3 (grogs), Profession Scribe 1(copying hermetic texts), Stealth 1 (hide), Teaching 1 (apprentices), Will of Alatheia 2 (leading the ritual)
Arts: Cr 16, In 33 +3 (3), Mu 15, Pe 7, Re 18, An 20, Aq 5, Au 5, Co 16, He 5, Ig 5, Im 15, Me 20, Te 11, Vi 21
Twilight Scars: those who are targeted by his spells often remember pleasant sights from their past, sparrows screech at him in hate (they don't necessarily feel it, they're just compelled to screech)
Equipment: 5 pawns of mentem in the form of rosary beads, 3 pawns animal as a rabbit skin, 4 pawns intellego as a pouch of fish scales, the face of fear (1 charge remaining not carried), a white poplar twig, Azure candle (*2), a small copper crown (carried in a pouch, not worn), piece of rock crystal, glove of intrigue (1 charge left, not carried), Talisman of Adelbert, Pouch of Foreshortened Arrows, Wand of the Earthbound Constellation, Gaze of the Protective Father, Crystal Ball of the Magvillus Outer Counsel (not carried),
In Lab: Sphere of Revealed Flesh, Chest of Animated Flesh, Wand of Measured Decrepitude, Least Obtrusive Servant, Redundancy of Organization and Memory
In Observatory: Aviary of the Watchful Covenant, Table of the Diminutive World, The Gabbro Matrix of Connection, Shears of Indirect Trimming, Crown of Inhuman Perspective, Bag of Endless Squirrels, Stick of Bestial Obedience, Stench of Feigned Malice, Wand of Mnemonic Engraving, Wand of Animal Recollections, Sphere of Inadvertent Interrogations, Wand of Makeshift Fire Drakes

Encumbrance: 0
Spells Known:
Cloud of Gold and Ebony (Cr(Re)An 40/+43)*
Coterie of Burly Advocates (Cr(Re)An 45/+43)*
Open the Tome of the Animal's Mind (InAn 25/+59)*
Foretelling the Predator's Intent (InAn 45/+65)*
Learning Antipathy for Felines (InAn 45/+65)*
Sight Hounds of the Order(Mu(In)An(Vi) 35/43)*
Mastering the Unruly Beast (ReAn 25/+45)*
Commanding the Harnessed Beast (ReAn 30/+45)*
Sculptor's Menagerie (ReAn 30/+45)*
Retrieval of the Feathered Agent (ReAn 40/+45)*
Voice of the Waters (InAq 35/+48)*
Purification of the Festering Wounds (CrCo 20/39)*
Eyes of the Cat (MuCo 5/+38)*
Whispers Through the Black Gate (InCo(Me) 15/+59)*
The Inexorable Search (InCo 20/+59)*
Unwavering Sight of Flesh (InCo 20/+61)*
Whole from the Part (InCo 20/+59)*
Sight of the Molting Magus (InCo 25/+61)*
Eye of the Sage (InCo 30/+59)*
Leap to Safety (ReCo 20/+42)* (mastery 1, fast casting)
Ward Against the Curious Scullion (ReCo 30/+55)p +10 potency - floor and crown
Leap of Homecoming (ReCo 35/+41)

Leafy enclosure (CrHe 15/+31) p potent - wood +3
Converse with Plant and Tree (InHe 25/+47)*
Eyes of the Flame (InIg 35/+47)*
Words of the Flickering Flame (InIg 35/+47)*
Trapping the Fire (MuIg(Te) 25/+24)
Engraving the Whole of Experience (InIm 10/+55)
Eyes of the Eagle (InIm 25/+60)*
Summoning the distant Image (InIm 25/+58)*
Discern the Images of Truth and Falsehood (InIm 35/+60)*
Discern the Images of Truth and Falsehood (InIm 50/+60)*
Veil of Invisibility (PeIm 20/+26)
Illusion of the Shifted Image(ReIm 10/+37)
Wizard's Sidestep (Rem 10/+37)
Image from the Wizard Torn(ReIm 30/+37)
Refresh the Engravings of Imagination (CrMe 20/+40)
Oratory of Pentecost (CrMe 30/+40)
Gift of Reason (CrMe 35/+40)
Circle of Heroic Intelligence (CrMe 60/+41) (mastery 1 imperturbable)
Intelligence of the Heroes (CrMe 60/+40)
Frosty Breath of the Spoken Lie (InMe 20/+63)*
Posing the Silent Question (InMe 20/+63)*
A Question for Those Without Eyes (InMe 25/63)*
See the Strike (InMe 25/+65)*
Thoughts Within Babble (InMe 25/+65)*
Ear of Truth (InMe 30/+67)(Mastery 2, acute sense, penetration)
Peering Into the Mortal Mind (InMe 30/+63)

Sounds of Aggression (InMe 30/+65)*
Oblivious Informer (InMe(An) 35/+65)*
Beacon of Experience (InMe(An) 45/+65)*
Peering into the Minds of a Multitude (InMe 50/+66)* (Mastery 1, acute sense)
Vision of Movement (InMe 58/+65*)
Loss of but a Moment's Memory (PeMe 15/+31)
Scent of Peaceful Slumber (ReMe 25/+42)
Enslave the Mortal Mind (ReMe 40/+43) (Mastery 1, defense)
Sense the Feet that Tread the Earth (InTe 30/+56)*
Stone Tell of the Mind that Sits (InTe 30/+54)*
Tell of the Forged (InTe 45/+54)*
Invisible Sling of Vilano (ReTe 10/+33)
Falling Star of Evening (CrVi 15/+42) (Mastery 1, defense)
Restore the Faded Threads (CrVi 30/+41)
Restore the Faded Threads (CrVi 50/+41)
Feeding the Font of the Covenant (CrVi 55/+41)
Bitter taste of Betrayal (InVi 15/+66)*
Map of the Faerie Hearth (InVi 20/+72)p +3 potency - rock and white poplar
Piercing the Divine Veil (InVi 20/+66)

Piercing the Faerie Veil (InVi 20/+66)*
Piercing the Infernal Veil (InVi 20/+66)*
Piercing the Magical Veil (InVi 20/+66)*
Invisible Eye Revealed (InVi 28/+66)*
Humiliate the Unclothed Spirit (InVi 30/+66)*
Impression of the Faded Sigil (InVi 30/+67)(Mastery 1, acute sense)
Sense the Lingering Magics (InVi 30/+66)

Odor of Lingering Magic (InVi 30/+67)(Mastery 1, acute sense)
Sight of the Active Magics (InVi 40/+67)
(Mastery 1, acute sense)
Sight of the Sigil (InVi 50/+67)* (Mastery 1, acute sense)
Wizard's Communion (MuVi 18/+40)
Wizard's Reach (Mentem) (MuVi 30/+40)
Demon's Eternal Oblivion (PeVi 9/+42)*
Dreadful Bane of the Fae (PeVi 9/+39)*
Sapping the Griffon's Strength (PeVi 9/+32)
Revoke the Protection of Bonisagus (PeVi 20/+33) (Mastery 1, magic resistance)
Cutting the Cords (PeVi 35/+32)
Touch of Mundane Silence (PeVi 40/+32)
Aegis of the Hearth (ReVi 30/+46)p
Circular ward against demons (ReVi 30/+53)*
Opening the Intangible Tunnel (ReVi 30/+44) (Mastery 1, magic resistance)
Spell of Punctuality (ReVi 30/+48)*
Minute's Respite (ReVi 50/+48)*
* bonus for talisman attunement
p potent spell bonus

Appearance: Adelbert is a thin man who's sharp eyes and youthful movements seem to conflict with his ancient appearance. He frequently dresses in robes emphasizing his position as a Quaesitor.
Sigil: all of Adelbert's spells involve thematic elements of eyes or vision
[/quote]emphasized text

Here is the apprenticeship +150 character sheet for Claritas.

I'll still need to edit this to add the personality traits that Adelbert and Claritas have each acquired from the familiar bond enchantments.

All of the unique spells known by Adelbert at 150 years out of apprenticeship.

Animal spells

Corpus spells

Herbam spell

Imaginem spell

Mentem spells

Vim spells

Here are a few common sponts

I've listed all of the enchanted devices that Adelbert has at 150 years out of apprenticeship. Not a complete list of every enchanted device ever. I kept some of the earlier charged devices around with the idea that they no longer provide anything that he can't do better with spells, and I can see him being reluctant to part with their very last charge.

Adelbert posses one casting Tablet that should be included in this list. (This tablet is protected by the Cow and Calf oath and can not legally be copied)

Talisman of Adelbert

Aviary of the Watchful Covenant (somewhat revised here in terms of vis capcity and physiscal description)

Pouch of Foreshortened Arrows this is a lesser enchanted device

Gaze of the watchful Father

The Face of Fear is a mask, it is a charged device with but a single charge remaining

The Glove of Intrigue is another charged device

The wand of the Earthbound constellation is a lesser enchanted device that Adelbert acquired through trade. It is important to him because, while has has it, it allows him avoid most circumstances where his restriction flaw would be in effect.

Adelbert has two azure candles that he carries with him at all times (also , like the wand, as protection from his restriction flaw)

Here is a description of Adelbert's lab:
Size 0
Refinement 1
General quality 4
Upkeep 0
Safety 0
Warping 0
Health 0
Aesthetics +1
Specializations:
Longevity rituals +8
Intellego +4
Corpus +8

Virtues and Flaws:
Highly organized
Lesser Feature (orb)
Magic Item: Sphere of Revealed Flesh
Magic Item: Chest of Animated Flesh
Magic Item: Wand of Measured Decrepitude
Magic Item: Least Obtrusive Servant
Magic Item: Redundancy of Organization and Memory

So that's what an older magus looks like.

They look like a somewhat less old magus with two chapters of Hermetic Prrojects added to their spells list and enchanted devices.

Erik, I want to thank you for writing this up. Archmages are difficult and time consuming to create.

So Adebert needs a 100 ReAn lab total to make this. So this is how it went down:

Int 5, Magic Theory 18 (with specialty), Re 18, An 20, Aura of 3 = 64
Help - Familiar provides a +18 (with MT specialty) = 82
Lab has a +4 General Quality = 86
Adelbert makes a +5 Lab Horoscope (works unless he botches) = 91
Shape and Material bonuses provide a +9 , totaling 100.

I didn't think he could do it, not without a magical focus. Little bonuses add up.

It's so comforting to see that someone else is looking at some of the numbers. Thanks