[Note: I don't have access to many tribunal books, so NPC names and characterizations are my own.]
Antoninus of Mercere was born in the Harco covenant in 1189 to a non-Gifted Redcap mother and one of several shield grogs. He was identified as Gifted very early in his childhood and immediately taken in by his maternal great-grandmother Argenta of Mercere for preliminary Hermetic training. After several years of Latin lessons and extensive travel within the Roman tribunal, Argenta opened his Arts and started his apprenticeship in 1199.
Within a few years, Antoninus’s Mutantum abilities became clear and Argenta’s pleasure (and pride) with her great-grandson increased further. She missed no chance to brag about her line ‘breeding true’ and showing him off, even if finding such a chance required traveling via Mercere portal to the ends of Mythic Europe. Antoninus spent time in covenants throughout the Order, receiving the best training House Mercere could acquire. He also became accustomed to complete strangers telling him he was destined for great things.
It all eventually grew to be too much for the young apprentice. The relentless pressure and expectations for greatness began to overwhelm him as he approached his tenth year of apprenticeship. Argenta’s constant suggestions that he pass his Mutantum blood on to the next generation made matters worse, as Antoninus was beginning to realize he preferred the company of men. By the age of 20 he was seriously considering fleeing the Order altogether.
While working on his escape plan, Antoninus was fortunate enough to befriend Moirin, a young Redcap apprentice, during one of his many visits to the Loch Leglean tribunal. She provided an outlet for his fears and complaints, giving him someone with whom he could finally be honest. Moirin ‘talked him down’ and convinced him to complete his apprenticeship, pointing out that a magus would have far more freedom and influence than a runaway apprentice. With Moirin’s help, Antoninus began to develop a new goal – fundamentally changing the traditions of his House from within. He returned to Argenta with a new sense of purpose and completed his Gauntlet on schedule in 1214.
Antoninus spent the first few years developing his plan for the House. His ultimate goal is to convince his sodales that restricting membership to blood descendants of Mercere is doing the House a disservice. To have any hope of effecting this change, he has determined he must first gain a strong reputation within the House. He spent his first few years post-Gauntlet in Harco, making contacts and seeking a niche to fill. In recent years he has decided to focus on developing new enchantments for Redcaps and new magical correspondences (shape/material bonuses). He thinks this strategy will increase his fame both within his House and the Order as a whole. This plan also gives him the luxury of escaping the madhouse of Harco and gaining renown while living on his own terms. After discussions with Moirin, the covenant of Insula Canaria seems like a good fit.
Animal 5 (2)
Aquam 1
Auram 0
Corpus 5 (3)
Herbam 4
Ignem 0
Imaginem 4
Mentem 1
Terram 2
Vim 6 (1)
Spells
Doublet of Impenetrable Silk MuAn 15 Touch/Sun/Ind
Cloak of the Duck’s Feathers ReAq 5 T/S/I
Eyes of the Cat MuCo(An) 5 T/S/I
Aura of Ennobled Presence MuIm 15 T/S/I
The Crystal Dart MuTe(Re) 10 V/M/I
The Unseen Porter ReTe 10 V/C/I
Disguise of the New Visage MuCo 15 T/S/P
Transform the Ravenous Beast to the Torpid Toad MuAn 25 V/S/I
Rise of the Feathery Body ReCo 10 T/C/I
Aegis of Unbreakable Wood MuHe 15 T/S/I (HoH:S)
Coat of a Hundred Colors MuAn 10 T/S/I (Net Wizard’s Grimoire)
Form of the Night Hunter MuCo(An) 20 P/S/I (see below)
Form of the Night Hunter – as Shape of the Woodland Prowler with Personal range, except the caster is turned into a Scottish wildcat
8 years of advancement (30 xp/year)
Gaelic 15 xp
Brawl 15 xp
Magic Theory 45 xp
Magic Lore 45 xp
Teaching 5 xp
Concentration 5 xp
Creo 18 xp
Muto 40 xp (60 xp)
Rego 11 xp
Animal 11 xp
Aquam 2 xp
Corpus 18 xp
Ignem 1 xp
Terram 3 xp
Vim 6 xp
1 year of lab work (4 seasons, no xp)
Bonded familiar (MuCo 35, 7 vis)
Designed longevity ritual (CrCo 26, 7 vis)
Enchanted Cloak of Wilderness Refuge (MoH p. 142, 2 vis)
Invented Skin of Pure Water (waterskin that changes any natural liquid within into drinkable water, MuAq base 2, +1 Touch, +3 Moon, 24/day +5 levels, 2 vis)
I intend to use Skin of Pure Water as a first attempt at developing a new Shape/Material Bonus via Vulgar Alchemy, but I'll save that discussion for the Table Talk thread.
Musing, and feel free to tell me to go pound sand...
I'm wondering how Good Teacher fits, and Teaching Redcaps fits with a Merceris Magus? I'm wondering if there's something else that could make your character better at making things for Redcaps? How often do you see Antonius teaching Redcaps? Do you have goals of bringing a Mercere House from Edinburgh to Inverness or some place closer to Insula Canaria?
He's in a transitional stage. Phase 1 of his master plan is making a name for himself, which will involve writing in a minor way (tractatus for new S/M bonuses, maybe a Muto summa). Phase 2 is taking apprentices from outside the Mercere lineage to demonstrate the value they can bring to the House, so he has a lot of teaching on his horizon.
As for the specialty, your question reminded me that I was assuming a house rule - being able to change specialties when you increase an Ability's level. If we're not doing that, I'll change it to apprentices. I went with Redcaps for now because I wasn't sure who he would have taught during his early years.
And with the Mercere House, I have only the vaguest notions about what they are beyond 'Redcaps live there and trade happens'. I don't have any plans for it.
Yes, I am using that rule. Actually, it's such a universal house rule that I forgot that it's not an actual rule-as-written. I'll put it on the wiki now.
The Mercere society listed for Mutantum magi receives Mutantum Magic as their free virtue per HoH:TL p. 98. Though Antoninus probably isn't a member of that society, so if you'd prefer I stuck with the standard virtues I can swap out my Affinity for Puissant Muto.
Also, I don't have Magi of Hermes. Tell me about the Enchanted Cloak of Wilderness Refuge.
Also, part deux: It looks to me like the Lab Total should be 29 for his Longevity Ritual, not 26: Creo 8 + Corpus 8 + Int 2 + Magic Theory 5 + Aura 3 + Inventive Genius 3.
I've always included Inventive Genius for Longevity Rituals. (And so does MetaCreator, which is how I caught it). For that matter, I include Inventive Genius in almost every lab activity; the only ones I can think of off-hand that don't include the bonus are extracting vis from an aura and for teaching/being taught spells.
Sound good to me. I'll make the change for his LR and keep this in mind for future lab work. Would you mind adding this to your house rules for those of us who don't use Metacreator (possibly just me)?
Peanut gallery: You need Mutantum Magic minor virtue to take Tame Magic. Just replace Boosted Magic virtue. Mutantum gives all three virtues for formulaic spells. Tame allows you to use them in spontaneous spells.
My understanding is that Mutantum Magic allows me to design formulaic spells with the three Mutantum abilities, while Tamed and Boosted Magic allow me to apply those abilities to spells which were not specifically designed for those purposes. Also, Tamed Magic only provides Harnessed and Tethered Magic, so it looks like I need the Boosted Magic virtue if I want to apply it to spells that are not designed as 'Boosted'. This is why I took both Tamed and Boosted Magic.
That said, I could probably drop Boosted and just add Boosted to a few of my original formulaic spells that I'm likely to Boost.
Last sentence in the Tamed Magic virtue says you need Mutantum Magic. The third sentence of Mutantum Magic says it allows you to take Tame magic. THey are linked. Boosted Magic can't be used in spont spells. Even taking Boosted separately will not allow it since it is in the description of Boosted Magic. Just taking Mutantum Magic gives you all three for formulaic spells plus tame to use Tethered and Harnessed for spont spells.
I wouldn't care if some of the spells that Antonius knows are Boostable, to be honest. I'd think, given the long line of Mutantum magi that there is a pretty respectable library of these spells to be learned. The further afield from the Core, the less likely, though.
You only need Boosted Magic to boost any and all spells you know, without inventing the "boosted" version. This may save you lab time down the road, as the Insula Canaria library doesn't have any boosted spells. You would have to request such lab texts from the House, or invent the spell from scratch, or learn the spell from the normal lab text and reinvent the spell with the bonus of knowing a similar spell. Only you can know if that's the route you want to go.
but talking Mutantum Magic gets you all of the benefits of Boosted Magic, Tethered Magic and Harnessed Magic plus allow you to start with 1/2 you spells as tamed. It is a no brainer for a Mercere Magus ( who wants to be of this lineage).
Mutantum does not give all of the benefits automatically. Mutantum allows a magus to invent a spell so that it can be boosted. Boosted allows the action to be taken on any formulaic spell that is known, and it even qualifies that later in the description of boosted, that a Mutantum magus must have spells that are designed to be boosted.
I'll make the change for his LR and keep this in mind for future lab work. Would you mind adding this to your house rules for those of us who don't use Metacreator (possibly just me)?