Anyone else want to comment of the spells? Is it OK to have a tool like this that can steal books? Should i have to integrate it with the art of memory somehow?
If everything is OK there then I'll continue. Before going to the next fifteen years I post my thoughts on what mystery cult to use for him. That way I won't put up more mechanics before people are done hashing out the questions brought up by the last set.
From my notes:
I wanted to do a mystery cult because I hadn't done an esoteric mystery cult before and the cults all are lacking in initiations. You might appreciate having someone else create a few initiation for a cult to take the work off your back or, if you hate them, to use as an example of what not to do.
But what mystery cult to use? I wanted to go with one that already had a write up. Then it would be more likely to be of use to others. Here are all of my choices (or at least the ones that I looked at)
Order of the Green Cockerel: starts off with vulgar alchemy. vulgar alchemy is a mess and I don't want to strongly tie a character I think others might use to either the official version or whatever fix I chose for it.
Volshebnii Mechtaneli: these folks are hidden from the order (which doesn't work well with the very order centric character I'm creating. Also their abilities don't work in conjunction with intellego well, (as in there isn't much synergy, there aren't any actual problems that crop up).
Neo Mercurians: They require mercurian magic and I see this character as relying on spontaneous magic a bit more than is a good fit for that.
Legion of Mithras: first they learn inscription on the soul then they sacrifice their talisman (this is not an optimal plan). Also the first few initiations don't especially appeal to me as they seem somewhat too martial for my investigator character.
Philosophers of Rome: Too pagan
Children of Hermes: I absolutely hate everything about this cult. For me, it is right up there as a contender for the worst bit of text of the entire fifth edition line. I certainly don't want to draw any positive attention to it.
Mystic Fraternity of Samos: This one is a pretty good fit for my character. I don't really see him going to look for immortality but he could stop initiating sooner.
Magoi of the Stars: Hermetic divination as a final initiation is a bit worthless for someone who has a very high intellego score (even with its neat "you don't need an AC to cast intellego stuff at a target" trick) but otherwise it fits very well. As you probably guessed from the thread title this is the cult that I went with.
Disciples of the Worm: necromancy really isn't his thing. Also the cult would probably be especially cagy around a quaesitor
Knights of the Green Stone: Vulgar alchemy again and this cult initiates the art of memory as a virtue when it isn't actually a virtue (or is that the magical memory virtue which I suppose would be OK, IIRC the magical memory virtue says you can sell off your lab notes for profit and still keep a mental copy). Also it is too young for a character that I intend to take 100 or more years past apprenticeship.
So Magoi of the Star is the choice (even though Adelbert will choose to cease pursuing initiations before reaching the deepest secrets).