Aetherius ex Mercere

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: A Sudden Spring
1

Aetherius ex Mercere
updated through Winter 1289-1290
durer-self-portrait

Background

  • Aetherius is the eldest son of a redcap father from Fengheld and a mundane mother from Magdeburg he met on a trip. His first few years were growing up in his mother's city, whom his father would visit from time to time, before he decided to marry her and bring her back with him to the local Mercere house. It is on site that his gift was discovered. As a descendent of House Mercere, he was refered to his parens, Xavier ex Mercere of Durenmar, a magi of some experience who soon took him as an apprentice.
  • His parens was a member of the societas merceris - the milvi antiquiti - who had setup shop in Durenmar, feeling the Great Library of the Order was a worthwhile successor to the Great Library of old the lineage came from. His interest in the conservation of books would be passed onto his filii and enable his parens to achieve a worthwhile role in Durenmar in the archives.
  • Aetherius on the other hand, opted not to stay at Durenmar for long. His youth rather drove him to find ancient sites and lost manuscripts that might reveal the wisdom of old.

Description
Aetherius is of mixed origin, part italian, part german. He keeps long flowing hair and a beard which leaned towards the blond in his youth, would turn more and more brown as he aged. He wears comfortable clothes, compared to the robes of some magi, tending to prefer clothes made out of silk or vellum. He is somewhat handsome, but his reserved demeanor tends to create a barrier with others. He stands 5'7 and is rather lean.

Voting Sigil - a quill and a duster, superposed on an antique column

Stats

Size: 0
Age: 20
Decrepitude: 0
Warping: 0
Twilight Scars: None
Confidence: 1 (3)
Personality: Reserved +1, Preserve knowledge +2, Agnostic +1
Equipment: Comfortable silk or vellum clothes, some notebook and a pen
Combat:
Dodge Init +1, Def +1
Fist Init +1, Att 0, Def +1, Dam 0
Soak: +1
MR: Animal 15, Auram 13, Corpus 11, Terram 14, Vim 10, others 5
Fatigue levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead (21+)

Characteristic Score Characteristic Score
Intelligence +3 Perception +1
Strength +0 Stamina +1
Presence -1 Communication -1
Dexterity +0 Quickness +1

Virtues: The Gift, Hermetic Magus, Mutantum Magic, Skilled Parens, Hawthorn-gild trained, Puissant Terram, Study Bonus, Inventive Genius, Puissant Muto, Magical Focus - Self-Transformation, Puissant Magic Theory, Minor Potent Magic - Ghosts, Book Learner

Flaws: Deficient Perdo, Driven, Seeker, Ability Block - Martial, Magical (Being) Companion

Category Ability Specialty Score XP
General Area Lore: Durenmar Libraries 2 15
General Awareness Searching 3 30
General Native Language: Saxon Slang 5 0
General Survival Mountains 2 15
Academic Artes Liberales ceremonial magic 1 5
Academic Dead Language: Latin hermetic usage 4 50
Arcane Magic Lore creatures 2 15
Arcane Magic Theory Muto 5+2 75
Arcane Order of Hermes Lore mystery cults 2 15
Arcane Parma Magica Vim 1 10

Arts:

Art Score XP Art Score XP Art Score XP
Creo 6 21 Animal 10 56 Ignem
Intellego 6 21 Aquam Imaginem
Muto 9+3 53 Auram 8 36 Mentem
Perdo Corpus 9 52 Terram 6+3 21
Rego 3 6 Herbam Vim

Spells:

Spell Art Level Reference Casting Total Note</th
Repair Cracks and Tears CrAn 20 TBD +17 Ritual
Image of the beast InAn 5 TBD +17 -
A Simple Test for the Completeness of Books InAn(He) 15 TBD +17 -
Circling Winds of Protection Cr(Re)Au 20 TBD +12 -
Doublet of Impenetrable Silk MuAn 15 TBD +23 -
Gift of the Bear's Fortitude MuCo 25 TBD +22 magical foci
The Crystal Dart Mu(Re)Te 10 TBD +13 -
Tales of the Ashes InIg 5| TBD +7 -
Wizard's Sidestep ReIm 10 TBD +4 -
Hand of the Antiquarian ReTe 15 TBD +13 -
Sense of the Magical Weight InVi 5 TBD +7 -
Sense the Nature of Vis InVi 5 TBD +7 -
Shape of the ancient Kite MuCo(An) 40 TBD +22 -
Laboratory Characteristics Score Details
Size 2 ---
Refinement 6 Requires MT 10 to upgrade
Occupied Size 2 8 virtue points - Refinement 6
Virtues and Flaws n/a Vile Surroundings (Free Flaw), Spacious (Minor), Specimens (Minor), Greater Feature - Antechamber (Major), Lesser Feature - Maps (Minor), Lesser Feature - Astronomical Equipment (Minor), Lesser Feature - Mirror (Minor)
General Quality 0 ---
Upkeep +1 Specimens
Safety +6 Refinement, Spacious, Occupied Size
Warping 0 ---
Health -2 Vile Surroundings
Aesthetics +6 Lesser Features x3, Vile Surroundings, Spacious, Specimens, Greater Feature - Antechamber
Experimentation +3 Greater Feature - Antechamber
Perdo +1 Vile Surroundings
Vim +1 Specimens
Intellego +3 Lesser Features x3
Personal Library's Book Name Subject Type Details
--- Area Lore:Cairo Summae L8 Q16
--- Profession: Seeker Summae L8 Q16
--- Dead Language: Hieroglyphs Summae L:3 Q: 14
Magics of Egypt Magic Lore Tractatus Q11
The Hungry Desert Magic Lore Tractatus Q12
Bidayat al Mouridin Theology (Sufi) Tractatus Q9, Arabic
Tahfat al Arib Theology (Sufi) Tractatus Q9, Arabic
Diwan Theology (Sufi) Tractatus Q9, Arabic, Collection of poems
Kitab al-i’tibar (On Reflection) Theology (Sufi) Tractatus Q10, Arabic
Kitab khawass al-huruf (Characteristics of Letters) Theology (Sufi) Tractatus Q10, Arabic
Tawhid al-muqinin (The Certain Profession of the Oneness of God) Theology (Sufi) Tractatus Q10, Arabic
Incoherence of the Philosophers Theology (Sufi) Tractatus Q8, Arabic
The Deliverer From Error Theology (Sufi) Tractatus Q8, Arabic
The Revival of Religious Sciences Theology (Sufi) Tractatus Q8, Arabic
The Jerusalem Tract Theology (Sufi) Tractatus Q8, Arabic
The Revival Theology (Islam) L5 Q8 ---

List of short-hand unlearned lab texts from previous life:
Leap of Homecoming (ReCo 35), Twinning the tome (CrAn:50), The Transformed Folio (MuAn:35), Hunter’s Lethal Arrow(PeAn:40), Shape of the Ancient Kite (MuCo:40), The Tireless Flight(ReCo:20), Sense of the True Path(InTe:15), Reveal the lingering spirt (InVi:20)

Notes on insight for the potion of creation- a level 25 charged item (CrCo) which will cause any fertile woman who drinks it to conceive a child with the next man she engages in the appropriate activity with, if done within a sun period. The insight was obtained from a grey stone statuette carved to look like a woman with huge breasts and a massive, pregnant belly.

Seasonal materials regarding a lost temple of mercury.

A small jade statue of a scarab beetle found outside of Morocco - uninvestigated but magical.

2

a member of the Societas Merceris of the Milvi Antiquiti with an interest in recovering knowledge of the ancient world.

3

I'm brainstorming and would love some feedback.

  1. Thoughts on a magical focus related to archeology which would cover effects used to locate, unearth, analyze or restore relics. Allowable? Minor or Major?

  2. Can gild trained be combined with strong parens in your game? Not sure I'll have the virtues for both, but checking.

  3. If I take gild trained, I'm thinking hawthorne. I think the experience would probably include Animal Handling, Survival, Intellgo, Animal, Herbam. What do you think of that list, and would you add to it?

1 Like
4

  1. covers a lot of potential ground, "ancient documents" would cover a small slice of herbem, animal and terram as a focus, but still qualify as minor.

  2. Yes

3)I think going by the examples that the list will be narrower- survival, faerie lore, magic lore, and animal magic.

1 Like
5

Aetherius ex Mercere
Characteristics: Int +3, Per +1, Str 0, Sta +1, Prs -1, Com -1, Dex 0, Qui +1
Size: 0
Age: 20 (20)
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Confidence Score: 1 (3)
Virtues: Hermetic Magi (Free), The Gift (Free), Mutantum Magic (Free), Skilled Parens (Minor), Hawthorn-gild trained (Minor), Puissant Terram (Minor), Study Bonus (Minor), Inventive Genius (Minor), Puissant Muto (Minor), Magical Focus - Self-Transformation (Minor), Puissant Magic Theory (Minor), Potent Magic - Ghosts (Minor), Book Learner (Minor)
Flaws: Deficient Perdo (Major), Driven (Major), Seeker (Minor), Ability Block - Martial (Minor), Magical Being Companion (Minor), Weird Magic (Minor)
Abilities: Awareness 3 (searching), Parma Magica 1 (Vim), Artes Liberales 1 (ceremonial magic), Magic Theory 5+2 (Muto), Native Language - Low German 5, Latin 4 (hermetic usage), Order of Hermes Lore 3 (Mystery Cults), Survival 2 (mountains), Magic Lore 2 (magical traditions)
Arts: Cr 6, In 6, Mu 7+3, Pe 0, Re 3, An 10 (1), Aq 0, Au 8, Co 6, He 0, Ig 0, Im 0, Me 0, Te 6+3, Vi 0
Spells Known:
Repair Cracks and Tears CrAn 20 (ritual)
Image of the Beast InAn 5
A Simple Test for the Completeness of Books InAn(He) 15
Circling Winds of Protection Cr(Re)Au 20
Doublet of Impenetrable Silk MuAn 15
Gift of the Bear's Fortitude MuCo 25
The Crystal Dart Mu(Re) 10
Tales of the Ashes InIg 5
Wizard's Sidestep ReIm 10
Hand of the Antiquarian ReTe 15
Sense of the Magical Weight InVi 5
Sense the Nature of Vis InVi 5

6

I would like a bit more background in this character, as well as a better description of their goals and ambition.
Also I am coming up with 435 xp in arts and abilities, at age 20 with skilled parens you should have 345, putting you 90xp or 6 years over.

7

Yes, posting background / personality, etc. is the next step. I will also reformat a bit to make the character sheet easier to read and update.

I wanted you to be able to review the mechanical side. Also, I think the 90 xp difference comes from Hawthorn-gild trained.

8

that fits

9

Placeholder for format change experimentations.
Will make a separate post once I'm done.

Aetherius ex Mercere
durer-self-portrait

Background

  • Aetherius is the eldest son of a redcap father from Fengheld and a mundane mother from Magdeburg he met on a trip. His first few years were growing up in his mother's city, whom his father would visit from time to time, before he decided to marry her and bring her back with him to the local Mercere house. It is on site that his gift was discovered. As a descendent of House Mercere, he was refered to his parens, Xavier ex Mercere of Durenmar, a magi of some experience who soon took him as an apprentice.
  • His parens was a member of the societas merceris - the milvi antiquiti - who had setup shop in Durenmar, feeling the Great Library of the Order was a worthwhile successor to the Great Library of old the lineage came from. His interest in the conservation of books would be passed onto his filii and enable his parens to achieve a worthwhile role in Durenmar in the archives.
  • Aetherius on the other hand, opted not to stay at Durenmar for long. His youth rather drove him to find ancient sites and lost manuscripts that might reveal the wisdom of old.

Description
Aetherius is of mixed origin, part italian, part german. He keeps long flowing hair and a beard which leaned towards the blond in his youth, would turn more and more brown as he aged. He wears comfortable clothes, compared to the robes of some magi, tending to prefer clothes made out of silk or vellum. He is somewhat handsome, but his reserved demeanor tends to create a barrier with others. He stands 5'7 and is rather lean.

Voting Sigil - a quill and a duster, superposed on an antique column

Stats

Size: 0
Age: 20
Decrepitude: 0
Warping: 0
Twilight Scars: None
Confidence: 1 (3)
Personality: Reserved +1, Preserve knowledge +2, Agnostic +1
Equipment: Comfortable silk or vellum clothes, some notebook and a pen
Combat:
Dodge Init +1, Def +1
Fist Init +1, Att 0, Def +1, Dam 0
Soak: +1
MR: Animal 15, Auram 13, Corpus 11, Terram 14, Vim 10, others 5
Fatigue levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead (21+)

Characteristic Score
Intelligence +3
Perception +1
Strength +0
Stamina +1
Presence -1
Communication -1
Dexterity +0
Quickness +1
Virtues Level Type Points Notes
The Gift Free Hermetic 0
Hermetic Magus Free Hermetic 0
Mutantum Magic Free Hermetic 0 House Virtue
Skilled Parens Minor Hermetic 1
Hawthorn-gild trained Minor Hermetic 1
Puissant Terram Minor Hermetic 1
Study Bonus Minor Hermetic 1
Inventive Genius Minor Hermetic 1
Puissant Muto Minor Hermetic 1
Magical Focus - Self-Transformation Minor Hermetic 1
Puissant Magic Theory Minor General 1
Minor Potent Magic - Ghosts Minor Hermetic 1
Book Learner Minor General 1
Total 10
Flaws Level Type Points Notes
Deficient Perdo Major Hermetic 3
Driven Major Personality 3
Seeker Minor Personality 1
Ability Block - Martial Minor General 1
Magical (Being) Companion Minor Story 1 I did not define whether this was an animal, spirit, human, item or whatnot, as I intended this to be a link that was obtained post-gauntlet, so it's really a story hook about things we forgot as the age clock has reset
Total 10
Category Ability Specialty Score XP
General Area Lore: Durenmar Libraries 2 15
General Awareness Searching 3 30
General Native Language: Saxon Slang 5 0 (Native language)
General Survival Mountains 2 15
Academic Artes Liberales ceremonial magic 1 5
Academic Dead Language: Latin hermetic usage 4 50
Arcane Magic Lore creatures 2 15
Arcane Magic Theory Muto 5+2 75
Arcane Order of Hermes Lore mystery cults 2 15
Arcane Parma Magica Vim 1 5
Art Score XP
Creo 6 21
Intellego 6 21
Muto 7+3 28
Perdo
Rego 3 6
Animal 10 56
Aquam
Auram 8 36
Corpus 6 21
Herbam
Ignem
Imaginem
Mentem
Terram 6+3 21
Vim
Spell Art Level Reference Casting Total Note
Repair Cracks and Tears CrAn 20 TBD +19 Ritual
A Simple Test for the Completeness of Books InAn(He) 15 TBD +9 -
Circling Winds of Protection Cr(Re)Au 20 TBD +14 -
Doublet of Impenetrable Silk MuAn 15 TBD +23 -
Gift of the Bear's Fortitude MuCo 25 TBD +25 magical foci
The Crystal Dart Mu(Re)Te 10 TBD +15 -
Tales of the Ashes InIg 5 TBD +9 -
Wizard's Sidestep ReIm 10 TBD +6 -
Hand of the Antiquarian ReTe 15 TBD +15 -
Sense of the Magical Weight InVi 5 TBD +9 -
Sense the Nature of Vis InVi 5 TBD +9 -
10

I'm trying to work out how the hawthorn gild and the membership in milvi antiquiti works together- these seem nearly diametrically opposite in terms of their goals. The only thing they have in common is becoming animals, and bjorner is generally unfriendly with other forms of shapechangers who don't have the heartbeast... could you please explain how you see this working out?

11

Mechanically, there has been no change from the previous version, except:

  • specialties added
  • 15 xp removed from order of hermes lore and moved into Durenmar lore to fit the background
  • language skill clarified

I've added:

  • Picture
  • Background
  • Voting Sigil
  • a note on my story flaw
  • personality traits
  • derived stats
12

I get that, however I'm into the less mechanica part of trying to understand the character's perspective, ideals, and ambitions, and am having issue with the aforementioned apparent contradictions.

13

Absolutely. First, let me say that I chose a gild by a process of elimination:

  • Punishing or living with mundanes are not high on his agenda (rules out Apple gild and Ash gild);
  • He doesn't care about faeries either (rules out Elder gild);
  • As a seeker, he's inclined to seek out lost knowledge, not shun it. Also, you placed the covenant location somewhere "hot and dry", as I recall. I've interpreted that as meaning the magi was inclined to move out of the Rhine tribunal at some point. Both of these together, and the fact he's not necessarily a traditionnalist, ruled out the Oak gild.

This left me with Hawthorn and Linden, because in my mind, it's far more important not to clash with your gild than agree on everything they want to push forward - the former gets you kicked out.

As to why he went in the hawthorn gild:

  • He mostly agrees that the mundanes should be avoided;
  • He has an interest in animal magic (in part to develop spells similar to those that are common in the Milvi, like shape of the ancient kite);
  • He globally agrees with the protection of wild places agenda, when there may be mystical sites concerned in one way or another (or ruins that reverted to the wilderness mundanes might prevent him from studying in peace if they went back on the site).

As to the bjornaer, my memory is that they are hostile to shape changers, but merely consider muto corpus animal spells to be inferior to the heartbeast, which they are. I don't recall them being hostile to the point they would refuse someone who would be content to vote with them on most of the gild's issues.

14

I suppose he could have went Linden too, from a perspective of sharing knowledge, which the Milvi do. I just didn't see him a go-between diplomat. It's an angle I didn't consider when I picked the gild. You'll note he's sunk more points in things like magic lore and survival, than say, Charm or Etiquette.

15

No gild would also have been an option from a character standpoint, but if he was close enough to trade support for training I could see them making that deal given their paucity of members, which also clarifies how the two philosophies effectively fit together. Thank you.

16

What year did he complete his gauntlet?

17

Remind me what the range of possible dates was?

18

1170-1210

19

Thank you. 1175 would be fine.

20

Do you need anything to help you with the reticulating splines? :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: