My main difficulty is creating new effects that aren't obvious or re-inventing the wheel. Now I've got my familiar ready, I should be able to finish 31-45 tomorrow, and then 45-60 will be quicker as I will take an apprentice and that takes up 15 seasons.
I stopped with Janus about halfway through+46-60 in order to better coordinate with the rest of you and the plotline.
He has been improving lab and building some powerful devices for trade, for political reasons.
He intends to make Mercere portals, some time at the end of this period this should be possible, with his old filia Vesta assisting.
As for the whole demonic plotline, this really isn't Janus' specialty, but then again neither was the dragon, so he should be able to whip up some spells and devices anyway. A lot of Janus' focus may be with studying Infernal Lore plus Covenant & Area Lore and Folk Ken in order to best spot the rotten apples in the barrel.
Janus wants a white cat of the Mercere lineage as familiar, it seems appropriate. Teaching Magic Theory seems more of a priority than adding boatloads of effects. Gold Cord may be nice to prioritize, since Janus often experiments in the lab and has been lucky until now. Bronze Cord is good for Aging as well.
Tellus and Erik: How did you two further develop your respective magi's familiars? How many exp per year?
I wrote down ideas on how to spend 300 xp and ideas that would take up (a bit more than) 20 seasons of lab work, mostly about making caves pleasant and things that are generated by that and a little bit about swords.
As far as fighting demons, Andreva has an idea for a device for detecting nasty emotions and she has the arts for a reasonable ward but she can't do any worthwhile perdo vim.
I'm giving Grace (the familiar) 25 xp per year. You could argue that without any demands on her time that she is entitled to 30 xp per year or perhaps even more in that very few issues will come to the familiar to demand their attention. I think that 25 is generous however because she's a horse and probably has less interest in study than a human, despite her now mentem rather than animal mind.
I see Janus' cat familiar as very involved in labwork so I'll have to compensate, but perhaps more of a scholar than Andreva's horse. As long as the activity is about protecting home and Hearth which I see Janus' cat being about.
For finding and flushing out Infernalists sensing sinful emotions a great idea. I thought about using InVi to detect residue of Infernal sorcery.
But these are activities for someone not with an Intellego Deficiency. Paging our resident Quaesitor?
Janus is not good with Mentem but a MuMe effect to reverse sinful emotions? Would this flip the person to pious thoughts?
I thought a bit about it, and decided I wouldn't go the same level of detail with Callidus as Erik appears to have planed for Grace.
With Bausas, I'm already busy trying to think like a Criamon and designing new spells/effects. Some of those effects are in the familiar bond. I'm not going to fully detail Callidus on top of that.
Saoirsé will develop more anti-demon spells, make items to help against the demons and overall slay the infernal hordes. She'll also train two(!) apprentices.
The wording of the law of the infernal is particularly harsh. I can see it thwarting even many indirect methods of using intellego. I don't think that magi can detect spell traces left by the demon's work. (I'll have to double check though.)
Erik, sensing sinful ideas is awesome, mind if Saoirsé jumps on that wagon too ? she'd be more keen on researching the spells, than making the item.
it is ... but not nearly as harsh as many make it out to be.
The infernal is not 'blanket immune to Intelligo' - demons can lie undetectably. There is a difference.
Here's the quote from page 80
It is somewhat more than just lying.
It means that things like Infernal Aurae and Regiones can still be detected (unless a demon actively prevents detection).
Which is occasionally rather significant.
But could one detect whether the emotions felt by a person - and driving their actions - are fueled by demonic meddling?
I'd be tempted to say: No! IMHO this is the kind of situation where demons are devious bastards. IIRC it is important for demons that you sin of your own free will, so direct, forcible powers to sin won't do it for them. But delicately luring you further and further into sin...
And can active infernal - of traces of recently active - effects be detected by Intellego Vim? And does this come in degrees of succes? I.e. you can detect the presence of active or recent mystical effects, but not determine whether they are infernal? Or can you just not sense it, like whether a sick person is naturally sick or affected by a demonic curse?
IMHO, the first. After all you can determine if you are in an infernal aura, and even sense the way to enter an infernal regio (unless I'm mistaken). So it seems reasonable to me that you can sense there is something supernatural, and if specifically looking for infernal taint you can sense it.
And a follow up question to free will, sinning and infernal manipulation. if a demons has been luring and tempting a person further and further into sinful thoughts and behavior, would it even help if a magus casts MuMe to flip the emotions and thus stop the sinful acts? Is this forceful manipulation and thus no longer free will? Or will it slow down the corruption by stopping the person sinning and perhaps give him opportunity to stop listening to the tempter and mend his ways?
I'm thinking of effects for Janus to develop to help contain or reverse the spread of corruption.
Probably not.
But you could sense whether a character's emotions and feelings were disproportionately focused on sex, murder, theft, greed, jealousy, rage etc. A breeding ground for infernal auras and demonic incursion. Couple that with normal good wits "Could Sarah the maid have had some many emotions related to strangling Martha the cook? I better keep an eye on her!", and you have at least some way to unravel a demon's influence. No?
Janus +60 has been posted in his thread. Including Familiar, Lab and latest filius.
There is a boatload of devices the covenfolk can use to ease their workload and boost the economy, with effects to gather and process animal and plant products.
Plus Anulens Connectens now has a Hermes Portal. If it is installed to one of the major covenants in one of the two Tribunals we're bordering there are bound to be some jealous magi. Maybe it would be mostprudent to link to Harco instead, and then to spend time during the next period to make a few more.
How are the rest of the magi doing?
IIRC, I just need to handle Twilight, then Bausas +60 years will be ready.
Andreva needs more work I have a ton of spells and effects yet to detail for her 16 as of yet undescribed seasons. I probably won't be done before the weekend
Has the covenant developed/acquired a more powerful Aegis of the Hearth ritual in recent years?
I just looked at the characters and apparently we all learned day of communion so that we could get a great penetration on a level 30 Aegis. But no one learned an aegis with a level higher than 20 to use it on.
Thank you ArM community, your comments are very welcome, and are in fact a large part of this project we're doing.
I had not given thought to that. Since I'm already done with Janus+60 he is not going to invent a better Aegis. But he could in year 61, His Rego is 13 and his Vim 10, so his lab total - even without help from an apprentice - is more than enough to invent from a text. Do we want higher than lvl 30? IMHO no, since we'd be struggling with Penetration.
Anyway, who among us has the best ReVi? Because that is the person we'd be calculating Penetration from, right? The rest of the magi in the Communion just need to cast their part of [level/#magi] the spell.