Aporhmos of Criamon
Characteristics: Int: +4, Per: +2, Str: 0, Sta: +2, Prs: 0, Com: -2, Dex: 0, Qik: +1
Size: 0
Age: 34
Decrepitude: 0 (0)
Warping Score: 0 (3)
Confidence Score: 1 (3)
Virtues: The Gift, Hermetic Magus, The Enigma; Flawless Magic; Affinity with Muto, Great Intelligence, Improved Characteristics, Personal Vis Source (Creo: Kentigern's eggs, see below), Premonitions, Puissant Muto, Study Bonus, Enhanced Meditation, Enduring Constitution, Potent Magic (minor, self-transformation)
Flaws: Chaotic Magic, Compassionate (major); Ability Block (martial), Magical Animal Companion (Kentigern, see below), Carefree, Warped Magic (causes vertigo in those nearby), Disfigured, Predictive Stigmata
Personality Traits: Curious +2, Compassionate +3, Peaceful +3
Reputations: None
Combat:
Dodge: Init +1, Att n/a, Def +1, Dam n/a
Soak: +2
Fatigue Levels: 0, 0, -2, -4, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20) (overall wound penalty is reduced by one due to Enduring Constitution)
Abilities: Area Lore 2 (the Mairches), Artes Liberales 2 (Ceremonial Magic), Athletics 2 (contortions), Awareness 3 (alertness), Concentration 2 (spells), English 5 (Lowland Scots), Enigmatic Wisdom 4 (seeing connections), Finesse 2 (Corpus), House Criamon Lore 1 (Path of the Labyrinth), Latin 4 (Hermetic usage), Magic Lore 2 (regiones), Magic Theory 4 (Muto), Parma Magica 1 (Corpus), Penetration 2 (Corpus), Philosophae 2 (Ceremonial Magic), Premonitions 3 (mystical threats), Swim 1 (rivers)
Arts: Cr 5, In 5, Mu 14+3, Re 4, Pe 0, An 8, Aq 0, Au 6, Co 8, He 0, Ig 0, Im 0, Me 6, Te 0, Vi 6
Spells Known:
Sight of the True Form (InCo 15/+16), Mastery 1 (Penetration)
Doublet of Impenetrable Silk (MuAn 15/+28), Mastery 1 (Fast Casting)
Disguise of the New Visage (MuCo 15/+28*), Mastery 1 (Fast Casting)
Call to Slumber (ReMe 10/+13), Mastery 1 (Fast Casting)
Wizard's Reach (Corpus) (MuVi 20/+26), Mastery 1 (Fast Casting)
The Form Reverted By Childhood's Call (MuCo 15/+28*), Mastery 1 (Fast Casting)
R: Voice, D: Sun, T: Ind
This spell reduces the size of the target by 2, which decreases their Strength by 4 but increases their Quickness by 2. It does not truly affect the age of the child but does revert them to a childlike appearance as well as size. The target's mentality is unaffected by the process.
(Base 3, +2 Voice, +2 Sun)
He Who Paces the Path (MuCo(An) 20/+28*), Mastery 1 (Still Casting)
R: Per, D: Sun, T: Ind
This spell grants the caster the form of a cat, typical in size and physical abilities to its species but with his normal mental capacity intact. He may end the spell when desired, regaining his human form again.
(Base 10, +2 Sun)
As Ignorance Blinds the Mind (MuAu 10/+26), Mastery 1 (Fast Casting)
R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Ind
By casting this spell, the magus changes the air around him into an exceptionally dense fog. This affects an area centered upon the location of the magus when the spell is cast. All within this area are effectively blind, unable to see more than half a pace around them in any direction, until the spell ends or the wind disperses the fog. Note that, like most fog, the enchanted air is dense and heavy, and thus tends to flow into the lower areas. Even before the duration has expired, hilltops and other elevated areas are likely to have emerged from the coverage. Likewise, a heavy wind or other dispersive effect can banish the fog completely long before the actual expiration of the spell.
(Base 3, +1 Touch, +2 Sun)
The New Perspective of a Humbler Form (MuCo(An) 30/+29*), Mastery 2 (Multiple Casting, Fast Casting)
R: Voice, D: Sun, T: Ind
This spell functions in the same manner as Curse of Circe but turns its subject into a sheep instead.
(Base 10, +2 Voice, +2 Sun)
-
- Receives additional +3 from Potent Magic if cast on self
Sigil: A dizzying alteration in perspective; difficult to miss and uncomfortable for those around.
Equipment: Simple woolen clothing, typically mismatched and seemingly selected at random, but always very clean and kept in good condition. Often has a pouch filled with chicken feed stuffed through his belt or tucked into a pocket. He also always carries a feather or two from Kentigern, to act as an Arcane Connection in the event she has wandered off.
Encumbrance: 0 (0)
Description: Aporhmos is a tallish, somewhat lanky man whose long brown hair has often escaped his attempts to tie it back. His brown eyes often give people the unnerving impression that he is staring right through them, fascinated by things they can't perceive. His stigmata have begun to appear upon his brow and on the backs of his hands in the knotwork-like maze pattern common to those walking his Path. He is pleasant, friendly, and seemingly open in his expression, but has difficult communicating with even other magi. Fortunately for him, this does not seem to phase him. He may not even notice.
He was born in 1176 on a small farm by the Ettrick Water near the city of Selkirk in the lowlands of Scotland, and was known as Edan in his youth. He was fascinated by mazes and the like from an early age, and would spend hours by himself tracing elaborate labyrinths in the dirt with a stick. It was not unknown to find him at the end of the day at the center of a complex pattern several paces in diameter that he'd painstakingly etched into the riverside mud. He also tended to talk to himself, especially after the accidental drowning death of his older brother, Kentigern, who had been his only really close connection. Needless to say, he spent much if not most of his time alone, separated from his siblings and the other local children as much by his peculiar ways of thinking as by their aversion to his fledgling Gift.
Despite this, he grew into a remarkably kind and compassionate child. It was not unusual to find him constructing miniature cairns for deceased wild animals and bestowing them strange funerary rituals apparently of his own devising. It was after one such solitary ceremony, as he was finishing up the elaborate tracing he had made in the dirt around the rock-pile, that he was discovered by the woman who would set him upon his life's path. Aikaterine of Criamon was traveling down the river and spied the strange child there by himself. When he showed no sign of fear of her, she approached in friendship and was startled by what she saw in his work. She wasted no time in approaching his parents, who were glad enough to have apparently found a place for their inexplicable son.
Edan was a hard worker and very diligent in his studies. After his Gauntlet, he showed little signs of wanderlust and has stayed mostly in his native area as junior member of his paren's covenant. Even during his apprenticeship, he showed an obvious aptitude for the more obscure Path of the Labyrinth and was lucky enough to find a mentor in the form of Iuvenalis, a master of that way. Aporhmos has recently arrived at the first Station upon the Path of the Labyrinth after some years of study, but feel unready to consider the second at this point in his development. Instead, perhaps awakened in a sense by his ritual ordeal, he feels it is time for him to finally begin to explore the world.
He is bringing with him a strange ally. Like most that reach the Station of the Flexible Form, he entered Twilight for a brief time during his initiation. While there, he received what he holds to be a mystical visitation by his late brother. During this event, he was told that Kentigern would have manifested the Gift if he had lived and further that it was time for him to be reborn. Sins of the past had not yet been expurgated in his live as Edan's brother, however, and so this time, Kentigern was to come back in a humbler form. Aporhmos promptly set out on a quest to find his reborn brother and soon had returned to his covenant proudly bearing a plump black hen of that species known as the Scots Dumpy. Those outside his House were somewhat taken aback by the young magus presenting this chicken as his brother reborn, and even Iuvenalis cautioned his student that all is not what it appears in Twilight. Kentigern the Chicken might even be a sort of Adulteration born from Aporhmos' youthful trauma. This has not dissuaded Aporhmos' belief in the slightest, however, and once the hen began laying eggs rich in Creo vis, few others have felt justified in complaining.
Apprenticed: Age 9 (1185)
Gauntleted: Age 24 (1200)
Kentigern the Chicken
i (sanguine)[/i]
Magic Might: 14 Animal (base 10 - -4)
Characteristics: Cun -3, Per +2, Str -8, Sta +1, Prs 0, Com -2, Dex +2, Qik +2
Size: -4
Season: Spring
Confidence: 0 (0)
Virtues: Magic Animal; Luck, Sharp Ears, Unaffected by Gift
Flaws: No Hands, Mute; Magic Friend, Weak Characteristics (x 2)
Magic Qualities: Personal Power (?)
Magic Inferiorities: Susceptible to Deprivation, Weak Characteristics (x 2)
Personality Traits: Chicken +3*
Reputations: None
Combat:
Claw: Init +2, Atk +8, Def +10, Dam -6
Soak: +1
Fatigue: 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1), -2 (2), -3 (3), -4 (4)
Abilities: Athletics 3 (flapping around like a fool), Awareness 4 (food), Brawl 2 (dodge), Survival 3 (beach)
Powers:
Laying the Egg of Creation
Kentigern's only obvious magical power appears to be the laying of Creo vis-laden eggs. She produces these only every so often, interspersing them with perfectly normal eggs.
Vis: 3 pawns of Animal in heart
Description: Kentigern is a hen of the Scots Dumpy variety, meaning she has notably stubby legs and a rather plump build even for poultry. Her feathers are black.
Despite her ability to lay vis-bearing eggs, Kentigern is a very normal chicken in her behaviors and abilities. Her breed is a docile one, which is lucky for Kentigern since she gets toted about under Aporhmos's arm quite often. She does not appear to understand human speech, although Aporhmos seems to believe otherwise.
For whatever reason, Kentigern does seem especially favored by Fate. When disaster abounds and the roof is caving in, she'll often find herself standing in the one safe spot. Aporhmos claims this is because she has not yet fulfilled her destiny; others claim it is just dumb luck, with a strong emphasis on the "dumb".
Some notes:
I wasn't sure how to handle adding the vis generation power to Kentigern. I OKed the concept with Zaubersberg but was left with a bit of a puzzle trying to figure out how to represent it mechanically. I finally decided that, since I didn't want Kentigern to have any kind of real powers aside from that (and the actual "price" of getting the vis is covered by Aporhmos' Personal Vis Source virtue), I'd just consider it a wash. That's why there's just a ? where her list of qualities would be; ignoring the vis, she'd technically have a bunch of points left to buy stuff with, but there really wasn't anything I could find that felt right and in character for what she's supposed to be.
I assumed Aporhmos' last year was spent in his initiation procedure. That may be a bit higher than necessary, but assuming he had 1 season taken with normal duties, spent 1 with Iuvenalis learning and studying, that leaves just 1 more for the actual initiation and its aftermath, so that seems balanced.