On the topic of modern versus hermetic perspectives- would scrying on the front door to your own covenant be a breach of the hermetic code? Obviously at some point other mages will be at that location, on the other hand I have to think that "we wanted to see who was calling" Has to be a reasonable use of magic- especially if the covenant is in a regio so you can't just look out a window.
Also what about enchanted devices that could count as scrying? For example if I give you a ring with InMe that casts pillum of fire when you think "Fuego" That seems to be allowed, but if it rings a bell with an arcane connection whenever you think my name that would seem to be a different thing altogether...
it seems to me that there is a very thin line between scrying and magical communication.
Ultimately, I think that it boils down to the fact that any "crime" has to be adjudicated by your peers, and in normal circumstances very very few magi, if any, would object to a Covenant scrying/policing its own grounds (and you can always declare a little space around the Covenant proper as "covenant for legal purposes"). I believe one easy way to avoid any censure is to make yourself known in the scrying; I can't remember where I read it, but I seem to remember an Image from the Wizard Torn, despite allowing you to sense stuff remotely, does not count as scrying because those you observe are aware you are observing them.
The difference is whether you made the ring-bearer aware of the bell-ringing thing, or not. If you did, you certainly are not scrying. If you did not .. possibly .. or possibly not, since ultimately it's his choice to wear and thus "use" the ring.
In general, however, whether it's through a spell, an ensorcelled grog, a summoned spirit, an enchanted device, or even a familiar ... if you act to acquire information surreptitiously about another magus, and said action is made possible by magic you directly or indirectly control, it counts as scrying.
Hermetic justice largely comes down to a popularity contest. If the tribunal likes you then you are not going to be convicted of a crime for minor or arguable cases like scrying out of your front door, if most of your fellow magi hate you them that indeed is something you could get convicted of.
My Covenant in our current game in located in a Regio and has an enchanted observation on the entrance (which is actually based on the baby monitor for new mothers from MoH).
The entrance is located inside of a walled in garden, with the Covenants sigil engraved on the gate into the garden. Additionally that same symbol is engraved into large marble slab that the four portal stones are around. The AC that is used to observe is in the middle of a cover that uses the four portal stones as legs, looking down at the symbol.
It is setup this way because we asked our SG and he stated that the peripheral code in our Tribunal allows security detection magics to effect non-member magus in your Covenant. The restrictions were there must be some means that they could identify that they had entered your Covenant and the magics were limited to detecting their presence.
However once they were met and allowed into your Covenant as a guest, things could change drastically if you had formal rules regarding guest (and you made them aware of them). For example, if one of the rules was that "Outside of the guest quarters all guest must agree to magical observation" then the guest has the choice of accepting this or leaving. If he stays, he has agreed to be observed by magic while he is in your Covenant (outside of the guest quarters). He could not bring a charge because he knew about it and willingly accepted it.
Long story short, talk to your SG about the peripheral code of your Tribunal. It comes down to their judgement, but things that commonly occur (such as a magical observation on the entrance of your Covenant) should have at least some notes and prior rulings. You SG might make you roll against your Code of Hermes Ability, though the difficulty would most likely not be very high.
Since there is no write up of the peripheral code, it all comes down to how your group wants to play the game.
In this case I am the SG and just wanted a second opinion.
Then I hope my small input helped you out.
I think it helps a lot to think about it and consider how it makes you feel. I know that feeling is a discredited notion in modern scientific thinking, but as pointed out above this would have to be adjudicated by a tribunal of peers, and their feelings on the subject matters a lot.
How would you feel if it happened to you? How would you feel if you did it to someone and they sued over it?
Does it feel like you are doing something sneaky when you are using magic to conjure an image of your front door, essentially a door camera? Not to me. To me that feels normal and reasonable.
Does it feel sneaky to be sued over it? Yes, to me it feels like the suing person is out to get me or trying to enforce the right to get away with shenanigans.
What about the ring?
Does it feel sneaky to get an item with a mental trigger from someone? No it feels like buying a normal item with a normal trigger.
Does it feel sneaky to be sued by someone who bought said item? Yes it feels like they are trying to abuse the law to get their money back while still keeping the item they bought.
Does it feel sneaky to buy an item with a mental trigger and find out that said item also feeds information to the seller whenever the mental trigger is activated? Yes it feels like they tried to abuse the trust that the code makes possible in order to spy on me.
Does it feel sneaky to be sued over selling such an item? It feels like getting caught red handed.
Does it feel sneaky to sell a magical item that allows the user to feed information to the seller? No it does not.
Does it feel sneaky to be sued by someone who bought said item? Yes it feels like selling a telephone and then being sued because the telephone can transmit the persons voice to the person they call.
All of this is of course subject to differences in opinion. Unfortunately I can only give you mine.
The one catching point I still have is the door camera, in that it is a modern analogy. Also the fact that the covenant in question is hidden in a regio and does not advertise their existence never mind their location. Their "front door" is a collection of rocks to anyone who doesn't know the twisted path between the rocks that allows you to reach the regio.
On the other hand it's not like they can look over the wall of their covenant and see who is coming either. It probably would help things if charges were ever brought that the spell in question is a simple InIm for sight and sound.
For me it would help that the spell purely detects the looks and sounds of the person on the doorstep. IMO there is nothing inherently suspicious about having a look at someone who is on your doorstep.
It however somewhat suspicious that they are not advertising the fact that this is their doorstep. That would leave me conflicted if I were a magus at tribunal having to vote on a case. I think they could help themselves a lot merely by putting up some sort of marker such as a stone stela bearing the covenants coat of arms. It neednt be overt either for all I care as long as a reasonable magus/redcap can identify it.
Well they are in a homemade version of novgorod and trying to avoid things like might 150 giants and dragons... except of course when they are hunting them.
That is the wild west in Ars Magica. It shifts who you fellow Magi in the tribunal are away from the norm for most of the Order. There are only six Covenants in the varies editions of AM scattered over a area as large as most of Mystic Europe. Most of that area is inherently hostile to the Order in varying degrees.
Being located in Novgorod makes it highly unlikely a Magus would be able to charge you before the Tribunal. Heck the Tribunal is essentially nonexistent, and so is Hermetic Law. Even if someone managed to get the far flung Covenants (isn't Iceland part of Novgorod?) together enough to hold a Tribunal and charge you, do you think a bunch of your fellow Magi who are also living in an extremely hostile land would charge you for part of your security or would they be far more angry at the guy who dragged them across vast hostile territory to lay such a paltry charge?
I think that a counter charge against that person for endangering his fellows has a higher chance of passing. "Yea, he made me trek a month through the wilds and lose two of my guards getting here, to charge a Covenant for their magic door knocker?"
So is norway, according to the Rhine sourcebook (Sinus Wodinus), and there are discrepancies between the amount of wilderness in the history of the period and the canon books- the books still seem grounded in the idea of vikings and untamed wilderness rather than the establishment of cities in Kiev's Rus and the succession wars for the monarchy of Norway, so there is a lot of room to play with how Novgorod manifests in your campaign. In mine the human aspects are more civilized by the magic is really out of control... (note the might level of giants and dragons and consider that these are not extraordinary in this version of the tribunal). Good news is that the tribunal pretty much redefines the idea of abundant vis...
Yes, I just mentioned Iceland to point out that you are looking at a massive spread of land. Iceland to Rus is a very long distance. How many other Tribunals exist between those two? Every other one in the order?
Unless your homebrew version drastically increases the number of Covenants, I stand by my position that there is little chance of you being charged. I wish Atlas had put out a 5th edition version of the Novgorod Tribunal.
It does, but they also tend to have a short life expectancy (see dragons and giants above), and not by enough to fundamentally change the dynamics. There are two covenants in Norway, one in Denmark, one in Poland, one in an area that is between the Cumin and Greeks at the moment but will be fully Cumin or Rus when the saga finishes the preview and reaches 1220. A few more in the general area of Rus (which fluctuated depending on politics)... a grand total of 10 covenants, half of which I expect will be gone by 1220.
The poor recaps in Novgorod have it rough. Both covenants I ran in different sagas had Mercere Portals to major towns just so the Redcaps wouldn't have to go 500 miles out of their way every time they had a message. Stuff like enchanted boats/sleds become very useful in Novgorod!
My Mercere won't put a portal in Novgorod. A dragon or something might come through it and a might 150 dragon rampaging through Italy is a Very Bad Thing.
This is why Mercere Portals tend to have things like restrictions activation "Only By Those Of Mercere Blood".
So the dragon can only come through while holding a mercere in it's teeth. No, complete lack of portals seems much more secure.
I'll let you have that one for cool image. But I meant that the activation had be be conducted by someone with Mercere blood, so jamming their dead or nearly dead body against the portal would not work.
In that case the dragon just follows them through after they activate the portal while fleeing in terror...