Skip Elder Runes if you want to learn the Iberian Script Mystery of the Valdarians. They also teach Items of Quality, Major Magic Focus in Armaments, and I forget what else.
Thanks, good ideas. Imbued with... is especially cool, although I'm not sure it's the route I want. Lesser power is an option if I can think of a good one. I already have 1 Great Int. Social Contacts had occurred to me, but I'd forgotten it. I could easily go for that, in "Goldsmiths".
Woah, fuuunky. I'm definitely up for some of this, or the Valdarian virtues 
. In what way are Cursed items cursed? Is that a virtue variable?
Sorry I haven't progressed this all that much; I have a young family, so weekends have less free time that workdays, when I can at least post in my lunch hour!
I like powers, too, the trick is picking up the right one :-/
Bind Curses grant a minor or major flaw to those who take the item IIRC. I think these are "cursed items", period, so good for trapping those who would plunder your secrets.
This is a mystery virtue.
And no problem, you're totally right to take care of your family first Time lost doesn't grow back. This is very sweet, and I wish you all joy and hapiness.
Some progress - wow, 150xp isn't much on abilities. I might have to rob my Arts a bit. It'd be nice to be able to write a book (Latin 5); but it would also be nice to be able to get better Shape and Material bonuses (Magic Theory).
For that last virtue, I'm leaning to Side Effect or a Power; but being a noob I don't know what sort of thing would work. Is there a repository of sample Side Effects or Lesser/Personal Powers I could get inspiration from? My only initial thought for a SE was something like "Can spot and identify nature of Vis sources by sight after casting".
Edit: Ooh, would a power like "Can change a gemstone to any other of the same 'rarity' - that is, any semi-precious gemstone into any other semi-precious, but not into a precious gem" work? And actually, would it be fun? It'd make jewelling easier, but that's not always a good thing, I suppose...
Are you aware of the house rulesregarding chargen? Just in case. Still sleepy.
IIRC, there's no list of side effects, but we can try to find one. What you describe sounds a little too powerful for me, because it'd imply that casting any lvl 05 could double as a suitable InVi spell of, say, lvl 25 (base 4, +1 diam, + 4 vision). I'd say drop that to "identify nature of vis by touch for diameter" (lvl 10), which means you must know or suspect something contains vis.
Based on the only exemple we have, I might try to suggest creating your side effect as a temporary minor virtue, with a possible drawback. Like, casting a spell gives you 1 more confidence score (not point) for a Diameter, but sometimes makes you feel a little too confident. Hard to judge, anyway :-/
Lesser/Personnal Powers: look at creatures for exemples. There are some on the wiki (familiars, ghosts, beasties) that may inspire you. Look out for spells, too. Any spell of level under 25 can be built as a Power.
A personnal power giving you Vis sight is perfectly possible, although it'd cost fatigue.
A lesser Power changing a Gem into any other would be possible... But it wouldn't last (Muto) 
You could take one to make gems more malleable, but, since you're a verditius, this is useless (you've got a build-in ability for this). You may have a Personnal power to sniff out gems (serf's parma).
Taking a power that correspond to a Te/Fo combo you're weak in, or maybe defficient, might be a good choice. Dunno.
I want to sleep.
Ah, I thought I was, but I'd forgotten the Language discounts. Do I get anything trying to buy , given French 5?
Thanks for all that. Your ideas are good - I could get behind a Vis-spotting personal power; but I like the idea of a Virtue-emulating Side Effect, so I'll scour my core book for ideas.
Heh. I know that feeling.
Right, Side Effects. I've found a minor virtue that feels nice (flavourful, potentially useful); which is Clear Thinker. So I'd like to propose for approval:
Side Effect: For a Diameter after casting a spell, gain +3 to resist lies, confusion, befuddlement and subterfuge. (Does this cover illusions?)
If possible, it'd be nice if it could have a small secondary benefit; perhaps "Those within Voice range gain +1 similarly"; or "If already under magical mental influence, immediately roll to break free". I'd be willing to take a hit to +2 bonus, or a possible disadvantage to balance - I just haven't thought of one yet. I reckon I could tie that into Antoine's magical sigil, which could be "creates a slight scent of sulphur" - which would thematically act as "smelling salts"!
I've also allotted some Arts points. I'm pretty close to reaching Gauntlet now (just a few points to allot, and spells to choose), so I'll update the abilities section to allow for specialties shortly.
Wow. It looks... Fine, actually 
This wouldn't cover resistance to illusions, which doesn't exist, but would help with noticing "off" details with an illusion, or resisting anamorphs.
My first reaction was to say "no", based on the 2 examples given for the virtue.
But! 
They are, IMO, not very good examples, in that they do no scale with the spell's magnitude, and are, actually, weaker that Great Presence or Puissant Concentration, which are always on.
This is difficult to adjudicate, I think :-/
So, maybe something like: For a Diameter after casting a spell, gain + (Magnitude) to resist lies, confusion, befuddlement and subterfuge, as per the Clear Thinker virtue. Those around you (say, magnitude paces) gain half this bonus, which may include your enemies.
Hey, why not take a sigil which is a good smell? With a side effect that make people smelling them more susceptible to suggestion (- magnitude to rolls to resist blablabla for a Diameter), you included (- magnitude/2)? I dunno.
Just bouncing ideas around.
Oh, I like . And applying it to allies gives it an uncommon drawback - usually any enemies won't realise they can take advantage of it.
So I will be going for: "Side Effect - After casting a spell of the nth magnitude, the scent of Antoine's sigil causes those within n paces to become more susceptible to suggestion. They suffer a -n penalty to rolls to resist lies, suggestions, confusion, befuddlement and subterfuge, whether magical or mundane. However, this also applies to Antoine's allies, and - to a lesser extent (n/2 penalty) to Antoine himself."
And for the pleasant scent... mm, I think I'll take Cinnamon.
Out of curiosity, how would this be handled in terms of the Code when other magi are around? Would it be considered casting magic on fellow magi? Would the Side Effect simply "bounce off" of Parma (like a penetration 0 spell), or would it use the penetration of the spell?
I've got myself confused with this. Does the statement "Craft-Jeweller is required for setting stones" imply that "Craft - Goldsmith" just flat out can't? Or is it assumed that "You can make a ring or a necklace (chain) with Craft-Goldsmith" implies gem-setting in rings etc (meaning Jeweller is required for setting stones in things Craft - Goldsmith doesn't make)?)
Basically, if I want to make a silver ring set with an opal, can Goldsmith do it?
Uh, pass. No idea. Someone (anyone!) with more setting knowledge than me?
IMO Craft: jeweler allows you to close the holding points in a chain or medalion so that it holds the jewel you have worked on, but it does NOT allow you to prepare the chain/medalion/ring by yourself. You need Craft: "appropriate metal" for that.
In the same approach, you can set stones just fine with craft: goldsmith. What you will need is someone to work the stones/jewels for you before you incorporate them into the final product.
A jeweled goblet is craft: metal-type 100%. The stones are just pre-designed to fit and then used as mere attachments. You require the metal craft to set them.
A verditius with a fair finesse can get worked stones/jewels just fine easily. As long as they are used as a component, I see no problem here.
Xavi
Xavi has it right as far as skills go. As for the side effect, I say call it a zero penetration deal.
Excellent, all understood (I think!)
What about languages? Do I get any benefit to learning due to my native French? Or are they too dissimilar?
There is no native language of Transylvania unless you are from Transylvania, which you are not. And since you cannot tell me the name of the language, the answer is no. 
And, by the way, there are many languages spoken in that region of the world. Thinking they all have one language is another reason to say no.
I know I sound mean, but I am helping you. The correct response is "oh. no, I knew what I was talking about all along. I didn't think you did so I simplified it for you. Here are the real facts...", and spit back everything I am about to tell you and pretend that you new it all along.
:mrgreen:
The major language categories (as some relevant dialects) include: South Slavonic (Serbian, Bulgarian), Vlach (Romanian), Oghuz (Turkish, Turkman, Azerbaijani, Pecheng), Kipchak (Cuman), Magyar (Hungarian, Transylvanian), Low German (Saxon), and Greek (Romaic).
Only one Language on this list is a Romance Language, but I will not tell you which one. Distantly related with French, you can speak it at a -4 penalty (and thus have an equivalent score of 1, so it is not really worth it).
And no, it isn't Transylvanian 
If you speak French and Latin, those should be able to get you by.
Heh - nope! My knowledge of mediaeval Europe is ropey at best. I bow to your superior knowledge 
I was merely hoping for 5 extra XP
Ok, fair enough. I think I still want one, though, so that I can actually talk to my fiancée (wife, perhaps? Otherwise we'll be marrying very late). I also intend to be in the covenant Vocis is visiting, so I can meet him. If that doesn't have a defined "local" language, I'll pick one at semi-random; hmmm, South Slavonic. (Edit: Which I know is not the Romance language - at a guess, it's Romanian [clue's in the name])
He is at Coeris, which is in (looking it up); it is in Hungary. His next stop is Scholomance, which is...also in Hungary. Usually. And Lycanedonis,um, Hungary.
So Hungarian it is?
That's a very good question, one that also applies to Twilight Scars, and has never been answered AFAIK. In so far a I can tell, Marko's answer is just as good as any.
Okey-dokey, Hungarian (well, Magyar, since my speciality isn't a dialect).
Getting pretty close to Gauntlet now - mechanically, I'm just picking spells. Which is hard, especially given I only own ArM5.