Arnau d'Orfes. Flame Captain & Firecaster

[Xavi]

Name: Arnau d’Orfes
Covenant: Andorra [Sa Dragonera]
Saga: Light of Andorra (Sa Dragonera)
Characteristics: Int +2, Per 0, Pre +1, Com +1, Str +2, Sta +1, Dex +1, Qik 0
Age: 27
Conf: 1(5)

VIRTUES AND FLAWS
FIRE CASTER (accelerated ability)
Life Boost
WEALTHY
Mercenary Captain: 20-ish almogavers under his direct command with medium armor, swords and shields. Some of them carry crossbows.
Improved Characteristics
Arcane Lore
Flight (HMRE p.35) Earned through Initiation
Veteran. Earned in his campaigns
Well travelled. Earned in his campaigns

AGE QUICKLY
OATH OF FEALTY (Flame Brothers; original Flambeau tenets)
Deleterious circumstances (when wet, -3 casting)
Reckless
Infamous (Butcher 4 among Muslims)
Driven (“Mystical reconquista”).
Lame (Ordeal for Flight) Earned through Initiation

ABILITIES
Speak Occitan (Catalan) 5
Speak Latin (church) 3
Speak Arabic (low class) 3
Catalonia Lore (politics) 2
Iberia Lore (Arab lands) 3
Balearic Islands Lore (geography) 1
Maghreb Lore (geography) 1

Animal Handling (horses) 1
Athletics (flying) 2
Awareness (alertness) 2
Chirurgy (slashing wounds) 1
Ride (comfort) 2
Stealth (at night) 2

Carouse (social) 2
Folk Ken (soldiers) 2
Charm (soldiers) 1
Bargain (services) 3
Leadership (soldiers) 3+2
Etiquette (court) 1
Guile (feigning strength) 1

Org Lore: OoH (militant magi) 1
Org Lore: Sahirs (personalities) 1
Org Lore: Flame Brothers (initiations) 3
Org Lore: Church (militant orders) 1
Tactics (raids) 3
Magic Lore (djinn) 3
Faerie Lore (Catalonia) 2
Infernal Lore (infernal djinn) 1
Profession: Scribe (letters) 1
Artes Liberales (arithmetic) 1
Warlock Magic Theory (set up hearth) 2

Flight (take off) 3
(Second Sight 3)
(Hex 3)
FIRE CASTING 15+3
Penetration (djinn) 4

Brawl (dagger) 2
Single weapon (Sword) 5

The XP also pay for the Flight, Veteran and Well Travelled virtues (plus the lame flaw), 4 enriched items (one major, 3 minor) a quality items [Firebringer (pyrite)] his sword (Talladora) and his armor (Aegis of Faith)

PERSONALITY TRAITS
Reckless +3
Brave +2
Flamboyant +3
Lecherous +1
Dislikes Muslims +1
Loyal +2

COMBAT
Combat totals with no Encumbrance factored in.
Brawl: -1, +2, -1, +2
Brawl (dagger): -1, +5, +2, +5
Talladora, longsword (+shield): +1, +12, +8(+14), +10

Soak: +4 (no armor, clam shell); +5 (helmet, load 1); +12 (Quality hauberk); +16 (full armor);
Load: 6 (longsword, large shield, helmet, mail half armor; the most usual combo)
Encumbrance: 0 (no armor), –1 (half armor), -2 (full armor)

Enriched Items

• Clam shell in a necklace (Tough Virtue)
• Topaz in his quality helmet (Puissant Leadership)
• Dripstone in a pendant (Second Sight 3). it can be worn "pirate style" over one of his eyes using a series of bands and hooks.
• Blackthorn branch (Hex 3; 13 uses only)

Weapons

• Talladora, Excellent quality arming sword (longsword) from a master craftsman of Toledo. (+2 attack, +2 damage)
• Aegis of Faith. Exceptional quality mail hauberk (+3 protection = +8 protection, load 3)
• Fire Tail, Exceptional quality large shield (+3 defence; +6 defence, load 2).

Quality Items

• Firebringer, pyrite (+3 fire related effects)
• Fire Tail (shield) has been enchanted to act as the (necessary) prop for the Flight ability. It depicts a flaming comet. it is a comet shield, something somewhat dated given the current fashion in shield design in Iberia.

MUNDANE EQUIPMENT
Arnau dresses like a knight. He has a penchant for red and orange. His best possessions are his weapons and armour: [b]Talladora /b, a Toledo steel arming sword (longsword) that has been worked buy a master craftsman; Fire Tail, the shield he uses for both defence and flight; and Aegis of Faith, his armor, bult with exceptional craft ability and containing a higher proportion of interlinked rinks than the usual armor that most warriors wear. Due to a savy distribution of weight, it is still light depsite the extra protection it affords. The helmet that Arnau wears contains an enriched topaz in its brow that acts as a focus for his leadership abilities. His flamboyant helmet makes Arnau highly visible on the battlefield, and this is a good thing for leadership purposes.

Arnau generally wears his half mail armor. He only equips the whole armour set when he expects heavy trouble. In the cross of his sword he carries Firebringer, a pyrite of quality that he grates against his armoured rugged forearm to generate sparks, that then he intensifies into full firecaster effects. He got Firebringer from the charred body of a dead sahir he bested in magical combat. He also has all the apparatus and paraphernalia of his role. Horses, weapons, tents, supplies and all the equipment needed for an Almogaver unit and its HQ.

Other: Arnau has a warlock hearth (witch kitchen) near Sa Dragonera.

Fire Casting
Major, supernatural
Accelerated Ability. Creating fire and controlling flames thus created. Roll Stamina + Fire Casting for a casting total, the ease factor is the equivalent level of the desired spell effect. You benefit from a Magic Aura and can add pawns of vis to your casting total. You determine what level you are going for before you roll, and what you roll over that counts towards Penetration.

[Xavi]

BACKGROUND

The Flame Brothers are an almogaver mercenary band. There are between 450 and 600 active Flame brothers at any given time. They tend to work for Christian armies fighting the Muslims, and tend to be active in both Iberia and the Levant. Their origins and one of the areas where they recruit the most is located near castell Toló, in the County of Perelada, in northern Catalonia, even if they tend to work throughout Christendom, especially in its southern frontier areas.

The Flame brothers specialize in siegecraft, both offensive and defensive. They are especially adept at taking enemy fortresses by escalade. Troops that tend to associate with them have noted that enemy fortresses have a surprising tendency to burn when the Flame Brothers are around.

The Flame Brothers trace their (mythical?) origins to the auxiliary troops that helped Flambeau and his seven champions during their campaign against the Sahirs of Iberia. Acording to their foundation story, they were present in the final battle where Flambeau fell. Delendos took the survivors of the engagement and retreated to the Pyrenees. Here, he decided to teach the leaders of the men a version of fire magic. The objective was for them to continue the war against the Sahirs unrestricted by the code. Some Sahirs were already in negotiations to enter House Ex Miscellanea and continuing to wage war against them (even Wizard’s War) was deemed undesirable politically by the leaders of the Order. The creation of the independent (but likely-minded Flame Brothers) by teaching them a version of Ignem and making them swear an oath to wage a crusade against the Muslim magic wielders was Delendos’ response to his needs under the political mood of the time.

Acting under the guise of a mercenary band, the Flame Brothers brought down some of the killers of Flambeau and ensured that the Sahirs looked more keenly to acquire the Parma Magica and be under the aegis of the Order. By 1230 the attention of the Flame Brothers tends to centre more on Berber magicians than Sahirs, but their general crusade against Moorish and Berber magic wielders continues to this day. They have a long story of animosity with the Iberian and Middle Eastern Sahirs, since they have waged a low intensity war for centuries, and some members of the Flame Brothers still try to bring down a Sahir when they can.

Most leaders of the company are Firecasters. Firecasting is a mystical ability that allows them to access their Inner Fire and summon and control flames at will, giving them great military power. However, this comes at the cost of them consuming themselves, and they tend to die relatively young. In the mid XIIth century the Flame Brothers learned from a captured folk witch that folk witch magic can be taught in the same way that they initiated Firecasting. With the (not necessary willing) help of a captured coven they developed their own folk witch tradition and now are able to Initiate the full powers of a witch coven. This has increased their power substantially, and they have become bolder in some of their operations ever since. The taking of Tortosa marked the start of them using their capacity for flight as one of their main escalade tools.

Given their expertise with magic users and the supernatural, the Flame Brothers work for the Order of Hermes from time to time. They are commonly contracted to act as Redcap escorts or as auxiliaries for magi during hunts and wizard wars. When contracted by magi, they have learned to bargain for magical resources as well as silver.

The Flame Brothers were contracted by the Catalan crown for the conquest of Mallorca. Around 350 of them were available for the campaign. Their high water came when the knights refused to enter the breach in the wall of the capital city (“shame on you, gentlemen, shame on you!” Jaume dixit); the Flame Brothers spearheaded the assault. Ciutat de Mallorca burned. This earned them the gratitude of the king and the contempt of some of the nobles in the campaign since it put them in evidence. The king has kept some of his mercenaries on Mallorca in pacification operations and they are to be used in further Balearic actions. Around 200 mercenaries left for the Levant after the fall of the city, to reinforce the operations that the Phoenix (Grand master) of the company was performing there. This has left around 150 Flame Brothers in Mallorca under the command of Bernat de Ferrofós, one of the 3 Conflagrations (triad of leaders) of the mercenary company. They are doing mop up activities around the island while waiting to attack Eivissa.

Arnau is one of the Campfires (middle ranking officer) of the Flame Brothers. He commands around 20 Flames (warriors) and has three Torches (sergeants) under his command. He can command larger forces if he petitions them, but generally tends to work with smaller ones for field actions. Arnau’s unit is specialized in escalades, and some of its members have undergone initiation to be able to fly to help secure a wall section and help their companions to climb it. Their performance so far has been good in their actions, but the fact that this leaves the warriors lame has meant that they tend to act as support crossbowmen when not in active escalade actions. Arnau is the bastard son of the Compte d'Empuries (Count of Empuries). He was well cared for in his early years, and has maintained contact with his family, even if they were glad to see him go off with the Flame Brothers. Being one of the Firecasters of the Brotherhood he has had formal training regarding the supernatural and liberal arts and is well educated by medieval standards. He is both a leader and an ambassador of the Brotherhood and the wares it offers, so they ensure that he is capable of conducting a series of activities with a modicum of success. Arnau likes women, likes his wine and likes to laugh loudly. He hates being lame, but enjoys the possibility of flying that it brought him.

Ranks in the Flame Brothers

• Flame (Soldier)
• Torch (Sgt). Commands 4-6 Flames
• Campfire. Commands 3 Torches (Arnau is one of these)
• Bonfire. Commands 3 campfires.
• Combustion. Commands 3 bonfires
• Conflagration. Commands 3 Combustions (Bernat de Ferrofós is in Mallorca)
• Phoenix. Commands all.

[Xavi]

DEVELOPMENT

1234

Spring: Salt Wyrm adventure. 10XP, 1 confidence point earned overall. He gets a Medium Wound (-3) and spends one month with a grim face. Now he is lame in both legs... Spends the 10XP in Leadership.
In the sharing of resources afterwards he gets the collarbone of the salt wyrm (1 pawn of terram vis) in the sharing of resources. Can be enriched to provide the Tough virtue by putting it in a barrel of salt for a season, preventing light to touch it or the salt. He also gets the scales of the salt wyrm. These can be manufactured into armor. They provide 20 points of armor and wirght 10 points of Load overall. the load can be shared in whatever way Arnau wants.
Summer: Single Weapon class. 13XP. Can form Trained groups with every fighter in the covenant.
Autumn: Goes to Mallorca to be initiated into Animal ken by Bernat de Ferrofós. Spends a season living as an animal. Meets Beauty.
Winter: Depends on the results of Autumn, but it might be to link with Beauty as a familiar, an ugly boar he befriended while undergoing Initiation. In the solstice he petitions the council of Andorra for the 15 points worth of scales (30 points worth of armor) from the salt wyrm. He hopes to get at least 1 third of them so he can get a good (protection 10 load 5) dragon scale armor for Pau. He decides not to press the claim for the dragonstone. However, to his surprise the council decides to grant him both the scales and the dragonstone.

OOC rewards:
+1 confidence point for doing funky things in the forum.
+10XP for reading the city of brass adventure from 1001 nights (WIP). XP will be spent in leadership.
+1 Confidence point for having participated actively in the saga reborn (lots of messages since reactivation).
+1 pawn of vis for the same reason.
15 points (load) of drake scales (protection 30) to be fashioned into armor.

Confidence at the end of year: 1(5).
Vis 2 pawns.
15 points (30 protection) worth of wyrm scales