Character Creation for callen (OOC)

Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: The Heir of Laimunt Valley
#86

I need to figure out the language around Aedes Mercurii - Found it: Basque has withdrawn to about Pau and Lourdes, but it still stretches a little further east south of Lourdes, so the covenant is solidly in the Basque region. (I should go with a Basque birth name then.) And there is a new spell (or pair of spells) at the bottom.

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Int +3, Per 0, Str -2, Sta +2, Pre +1, Com +1, Dex 0, Qui -1

Affinity with Mentem [1]
Arcane Lore [1]
Cautious Sorceress [1]
Deft Mentem [1]
The Gift [free]
Hermetic Maga [free]
Imbued with the Spirit of Mentem [1]
Minor Magical Focus: Permanent Mental Destruction [free - Schools of Sebastian]
Natural Leader [1]
Puissant Intrigue [1]
Puissant Mentem [1]
Puissant Parma Magica [1]
Skilled Parens [1]

Ambitious [-3]
Covenant Upbringing: Aedes Mercurii [-1]
Hermetic Patron: Cult of Heroes [-1]
Small Frame [-1]
Unimaginative Learner [-1]
Weak Elemental Resistance [-3]

Area Lore: Provençal Tribunal 1 (Aedes Mercuri) [5]
Artes Liberales 1 (Ceremonial Casting; Alphabets: Latin) [5]
Athletics 1 (Dancing) [5]
Awareness 1 (Alertness) [5]
Brawl 1 (Evasion) [5]
Charm 2 (Debate) [15]
Concentration 2 (Spells) [15]
Code of Hermes 0 (1)
Divine Lore 0 (1)
Etiquette 1 (Nobility) [5]
Faerie Lore 0 (1)
Finesse 1 (Certamen) [5]
Folk Ken 2 (Debate) [5]
Guile 1 (Debate) [5]
Infernal Lore 0 (1)
Intrigue 2+2 (Debate) [15]
Language: Latin 4 (Hermetic) [50]
Language: Basque 5 (Basque) [75-75=0]
Magic Lore 0 (1)
Magic Theory 3 (Spells) [30]
Organization Lore: Cult of Mercury 1 (Cult of Heroes) [5]
Organization Lore: Order of Hermes 1 (Certamen) [5]
Parma Magica 1+2 (Certamen) [5]
Penetration 1 (Certamen) [5]
Profession: Scribe 1 (Latin) [5]
Swim 1 (Underwater) [5]

Creo 1 [1]
Perdo 10 [55]
Rego 10 [55]
Animal 10 [55]
Mentem 7+3 (1) [29/1.5=19]
Vim 10 [55]

But a Shell of What It Once Was (PeAn 40), Mastery 3: Adaptive Casting, Multiple Casting, Penetration
But a Shell of What He Once Was (PeMe 40)
These are basically the same spell, one targeting an intelligent mind and one targeting an animal mind (which I believe still uses Size, so up to a Size +1 animal). Base 25 + 3 Sight. This spell destroys the target's mind, leaving behind only a mindless husk, if the target fails a Stamina stress roll of 15+.

Repulse the Unwanted Attention (ReCo 20)
Wrappings of Metaphysical Iron @ Concentration (ReVi 20)
Sustaining the Demanding Spell (ReVi 30), Mastery 2: Imperturbable Casting, Quiet Casting

#87

Nowadays that would not be permitted. Imagine exposing a pregnant woman to mercury and other chemicals in the lab? Where's the Guernicus? Lawsuit! :rofl:

This shows some callousness and disregard towards human life, but that's not typical of the period historically.

Will be interesting to see how that affects her personality traits.

I thought you were going for the mundane relationship spot and the Gentle Gift? Mental control is not quite the same... particularly when dealing with mundane allies. Just wondering.

#88

Also, having a magus know two custom made level 40 spells that fall in their Magical Focus (which their pater does not share) right after Gauntlet seems a bit over the top... :thinking:

#89

OK. I can drop the Animal one, Mentem being one of the parens' major things.

As for Gentle Gift, I'm still doing much of the same background stuff (children with Mercere) and path (Matres & Matrones) without getting sidetracked by all sorts of Verditius stuff simultaneous with alchemy.

Yes, some callousness. Of course, they were all sentenced to die already. A bunch being rapists also fits with where she's headed with Matres & Matrones.

#90

I made some adjustments, dropping both those high-level spells. I'll have her invent those later, fitting for her ambitious nature; and then they're unique to her. I moved points from Animal to Corpus to more closely match her parens' best Arts. She can still complete the same gauntlet by putting all her opponents to sleep.

At gauntlet, age 27:

Int +3, Per 0, Str -2, Sta +2, Pre +1, Com +1, Dex 0, Qui -1

Personality Traits: Ambitious +5, Hedonistic +1, Organized +3

Affinity with Mentem [1]
Arcane Lore [1]
Cautious Sorceress [1]
Deft Mentem [1]
The Gift [free]
Hermetic Maga [free]
Imbued with the Spirit of Mentem [1]
Minor Magical Focus: Permanent Mental Destruction [free - Schools of Sebastian]
Natural Leader [1]
Puissant Intrigue [1]
Puissant Mentem [1]
Puissant Parma Magica [1]
Skilled Parens [1]

Ambitious [-3]
Covenant Upbringing: Aedes Mercurii [-1]
Hermetic Patron: Cult of Heroes [-1]
Small Frame [-1]
Unimaginative Learner [-1]
Weak Elemental Resistance [-3]

Area Lore: Provençal Tribunal 1 (Aedes Mercurii) [5]
Art of Memory 1 (Average Memories) [5]
Artes Liberales 1 (Ceremonial Casting; Alphabets: Latin) [5]
Athletics 1 (Dancing) [5]
Awareness 1 (Alertness) [5]
Brawl 1 (Evasion) [5]
Charm 2 (Debate) [15]
Concentration 2 (Spells) [15]
Code of Hermes 0 (1)
Divine Lore 0 (1)
Etiquette 1 (Nobility) [5]
Faerie Lore 0 (1)
Finesse 1 (Certamen) [5]
Folk Ken 2 (Debate) [15]
Guile 1 (Debate) [5]
Infernal Lore 0 (1)
Intrigue 2+2 (Debate) [15]
Language: Latin 4 (Hermetic) [50]
Language: Basque 5 (Basque) [75-75=0]
Magic Lore 0 (1)
Magic Theory 4 (Spells) [50]
Organization Lore: Cult of Mercury 1 (Cult of Heroes) [5]
Organization Lore: Order of Hermes 1 (Certamen) [5]
Parma Magica 1+2 (Certamen) [5]
Penetration 1 (Certamen) [5]
Profession: Scribe 1 (Latin) [5]
Swim 1 (Underwater) [5]

Creo 9 [45]
Perdo 10 [55]
Rego 10 [55]
Mentem 9+3 (1) [45/1.5=30]
Vim 9 [45]

Casting Sigil:
Certamen School: Hoplomachus

Mercury’s Winged Sandals (ReCo 20)
Repulse the Unwanted Attention (ReCo 20)
Whispering Fingers (CrMe 5)
Memory Palace of the Sage (CrMe 25, Ritual), Mastery 1: Adaptive Casting
In the Sight of Somnus (The Call to Slumber @ Sight) (ReMe 15), Mastery 1: Multiple Casting
Unraveling the Threads of Vim (PeVi 15), Mastery 1: Quiet Casting
Wrappings of Metaphysical Iron @ Concentration (ReVi 20)
Sustaining the Demanding Spell (ReVi 30), Mastery 2: Imperturbable Casting, Quiet Casting

#91

What age is she at Gauntlet?

I'm getting her total xp (excluding native language) at 505 (Abilities 230, Arts 245, Masteries 30).

Early childhood is 45, apprenticeship is 240 and Skilled Parens 60. That leaves 160. If she started her apprenticeship at 13, this should be 195, so I think something's off (or maybe I'm kust missing something somewhere).

What will be her role for the covenant?

#92

Oops, meant to write 27, so apprenticeship at 12. You missed Arcane Lore, but I think something is still off a little. With Arcane Lore it should be:

Childhood 45 + Youth 15x7 + Apprenticeship 240 + Skilled Parens 60 + Arcane Lore 50 = 500.

My counts:
Abilities 240
Arts 230
Spell Mastery 30

I think you counted Mentem as 45 rather than 30 (due to Affinity), which makes your Arts total off by 15. I accidentally had Folk Ken 2 listed as 5 rather than 15, which is where the undercount on Abilities comes from; I fixed that. So it looks like the total is correct for starting apprenticeship at age 12.

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#93

To make things easier, we should post ages (mundane and years post-Gauntlet) whenever we post stats. Makes accounting easier! :wink:

#94

Yes. I'd remembered to do it before and forgotten this time around.

#95

She seems a bit... underwhelming... stats-wise, for her role as mundane ambassador/relationships. Without a Gentle Gift and with fairly low social Abilities, how well will she perform with mundanes?

Sure, she can probably manipulate them with ReMe magic, but that isn't so useful in making and keeping mundane allies. (Edit: I guess that depends on how strongly the others will enforce the negative effects of the Gift.)

This is an interesting character, and I hate to sound like I'm (again) criticizing, but she is barely better than Clusius himself for dealing with (friendly or neutral) mundanes. Is mundane relations the right role for her? :upside_down_face:

#96

I built her to join Matres & Matrones. I realize I've mentioned that, but you may not know it. One of their first initiations is the Gentle Gift. On top of that she's got Natural Leader and Puissant Intrigue. Meanwhile, she's got Deft Mentem along with a great Mentem score to be able to do all sorts of Mentem stuff to manipulate people or read their minds. She's going to get sidetracked a bit with service/adventure along the way, but she'll still be really good by game start. One of the things I like compared to the other is that I can waste a couple years with just fun background and still be able to do her stuff.

#97

I hadn't realized that the mystery cult would initiate Gentle Gift. That explains it. :+1:

#98

Are you able to change the name on the stats thread, or should a new thread be made and that one be deleted after I transfer I couple things like formatting a spell descriptions?

#99

Done, name changed to Mariana of Flambeau.

#100

Thanks.

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Onward!

End of Apprenticeship (spring 1195)

Being one of the few to swear the Oath of Hermes at a Grand Tribunal was an honor not lost on Mariana. She enjoyed her status and freedom and got to know as many magi as possible. On top of the general socializing, Hannah was able to reunite with the Redcap parents of her children, most of whom she had not seen in several years.

Unlike most the other apprentices just promoted, Mariana was not looking for a new home. The Cult of Mercury and the Cult of Heroes had plans for her, and she was aware of that. She knew she would remain at Aedes Mercurii for quite a while and was happy about that. But she would also have to work for the covenant to earn her junior membership there.

The Mercere Portal made returning from the Grand Tribunal trivial and gave her enough time to move into one of Aedes Mercurii's many abandoned labs. Mariana chose one that appealed to her, as it was well-organized, even if it had been partially gutted to move supplies to other labs (Aura 5, -3 Basic, +1 Highly Organized = +3, just flavor on how it comes about).

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Serving the Covenant (summer 1195, 1st season after apprenticeship)

Right away Mariana was put to work for the covenant to earn her keep. In her first seasons she was slower with the vis sources and stores, as she had to familiarize herself with them as well as maintaining them. The difficulty varied for her. For instance, being able to fly made catching the mountain-peak wind in a bottle for Auram vis fairly straightforward. But milking a special Pyrenean ibex proved tricky because it reacted poorly to her Gift and she lacked specific training with Animal to help her deal with the situation. While all this kept her busy, it also left plenty of room in her schedule to look after her two youngest children, including celebrating Elena's seventh birthday just before the end of the season. Fortunately she was naturally talented enough with Parma Magica that she was able to shield both of her children from the Gift's effects already, making for much better family time.

Meanwhile the leadership of Cult of Heroes was getting its plans underway for her, making sure the needed resources were available. Ophilio of Mercere, the High Priest of Mercury, directed things. The goal was to take advantage of Mariana's talents with Mentem. It wasn't a secret from her. She already knowingly participated in the Cult of Heroes and House Mercere's plans, giving birth to several children with Redcaps. The Cult of Mercury was also the religion she'd grown up with. So she looked forward to doing more with them.

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Mechanical bits:

Exposure: Magic Lore +1 → Magic Lore 0 (2), Magic Theory +1 → Magic Theory 4 (1) (Spells)

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Beginning Preparing to Cast Rituals (autumn 1195, 2nd season after apprenticeship)

Midius of Flambeau, on behalf of Ophilia, provided Mariana with the covenant's copy of Genesis Magica by Yannis ex Jerbiton (Creo Summa L14 Q15), instructing her to study it closely for several seasons, and that she would receive more instructions later. As Ophilia's second in command, instructions coming from Midius were not surprising; and knowing they wanted her trained for their rituals, working on Creo wasn't surprising, either. So Mariana dutifully set to work studying.

As studying didn't take her abroad so much, Mariana had notably more time at the covenant. Mostly that allowed her to dote on her two youngest children. But the covenant had an interesting, long-term visitor as well. Celerius of Mercere had spent most of his time in Iberia, but he was currently moving things between Iberia and the rest of the Tribunal. Being on the edge of the Provençal Tribunal and having a Mercere Portal made Aedes Mercurii an ideal location to be based at. To Mariana he was a handsome man with some flare and stories from exotic lands. Thus began a hot and heavy affair that would never lead to more children, as Celerius had received his first Longevity Ritual four years earlier.

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Mechanical bits:

Books: Creo +15 → Creo 10 (5)

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Continuing Her Studies (winter 1195, 3rd season after apprenticeship)

Mariana continue her intense study of Genesis Magica by Yannis ex Jerbiton (Creo Summa L14 Q15). From discussions with Midius of Flambeau she knew they wanted her casting powerful Mentem rituals she was currently unprepared to manage. While excited, her ambition drove her to delve deeply much more than her excitement did. Not only would she be able to achieve a higher position within the Cults, but she could also use her Creo Mentem training to further her own ends elsewhere.

Mariana continued to spend time with her family, celebrating Rolando's sixth birthday. Her steamy affair with Celerius continued as well. Mariana received her first pawn of covenant disbursement at the end of the year, only one pawn because she was so low ranking. Overall these felt like very good times, advancing herself while having time to be a mother and being able to enjoy life's pleasures.

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Mechanical bits:

Books: Creo +15 → Creo 11 (9)
Vis: 1 Vi

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#101

Slogging Onward (spring 1196, 4th season after apprenticeship)

Yet one more season studying Genesis Magica by Yannis ex Jerbiton (Creo Summa L14 Q15). If it weren't for her the combination of her ambition and her preference for order, leading her to like well-laid-out schedules, she would probably have wanted to go another route. But she pushed forward through the dense tome.

Celerius departed early in the spring, leaving a bit of a void compared to past seasons. Though he hung around just long enough for a great celebration of Mariana's 28th birthday. With the arrival of spring Mariana's children were excited to get back outdoors. So they occupied more of her time than they had the last two seasons. Watching and helping them grow and frolic nicely filled the remainder of her time.

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Mechanical bits:

Books: Creo +15 → Creo 12 (12)

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Finishing Her Creo Studies (summer 1196, 5th season after apprenticeship)

The end was in sight. Only the last few chapters of Genesis Magica by Yannis ex Jerbiton (Creo Summa L14 Q15) remained. That added a little excitement to the year-long task she'd been assigned by proxy. Soon she was able to return the summa to Midius, task accomplished. She neither expected nor received congratulations; this was the job and it had been done - the effort was respected, and that was the end of it. Unfortunately she'd been spending a lot of time on Cult business and not in tournaments nor similar, so the tiny bit of acclaim she'd earned in her gauntlet and competing at the Grand Tribunal was starting to slip away.

Elena's eighth birthday arrived toward the end of the season. Ophilio and the Redcaps were paying a lot of attention to her. No Gift had yet emerged, though, so it was likely Elena would go on to be trained as a Redcap like her older brothers before her. Mariana spent more time with Rolando than she did with Elena, allowing Elena to receive some tutoring in advance of whatever sorts of studies she would soon begin.

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Mechanical bits:

Books: Creo +15 → Creo 14

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Dreary Covenant Service (autumn 1196, 6th season after apprenticeship)

Mariana was asked to extract vis from the covenant's aura. Clearly the leaders knew what they'd planned, asking her to do this only after she'd studied Creo intensely rather than the other way around.

Overall, the work was quite boring and more intensive than studying Creo had been. But it kept her around the covenant rather than traveling about dealing with vis sources, which made more time for her children.

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Mechanical bits:

Extract Vim vis: Int 3 + Creo 14 + Vim 9 + MT 4 + lab/aura 3 = 33 → 4 pawns for the covenant

Exposure: Magic Theory +2 → Magic Theory 4 (3) (Spells)

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Back to the Books (winter 1196, 7th season after apprenticeship)

Midius brought her another book, Minds Easily Manipulated by Invictus of Tremere (Mentem Summa L13 Q 15). It was not quite as thorough a book as Yannis's, and Mentem came easily to Mariana, so this would not take nearly so long to get through. Knowing the next steps would be upon her soon and seeking to capitalize on her studies of Creo and Mentem, Mariana asked the Redcaps to procure copies of several known, lower-level CrMe lab texts and a few other lower-level lab texts for her, spending the pawn of Vim vis she had just received from covenant dues, notably less than she'd extracted for the covenant not long ago.

The winter was brutal, especially as Mariana's bed was noticeably cooler than it had been last year. But being cooped up with her children was nice; knowing she did not have many years left with her little ones, Mariana spent what time she could with them. Rolando's seventh birthday didn't bring a lot more height for him, but that didn't stop him from celebrating his growth.

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Mechanical bits:

Books: Mentem +23 → Mentem 11+3 (2)
Vis: +1 Vi (dues) - 2 Vi (for 75 levels of lab texts, plus Recap bonus) → 0

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#102

Finishing Her Mentem Studies (spring 1197, 8th season after apprenticeship)

As anticipated, Minds Easily Manipulated by Invictus of Tremere (Mentem Summa L13 Q 15) ended up being a rather short read. Toward the end of it Mariana decided that she could probably write something like this eventually. Actually, she should be able to do better... She should write a new branch for Mentem. But that would have to wait for a while; there remained a lot more Mentem to study before she could sit down to write a new branch.

Outside of her studies, most of her time was spent with her children and her parents. They celebrated her 29th birthday together, and the little ones loved the chance to get outdoors again after long days chased the winter's cold away.

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Mechanical bits:

Books: Mentem +23 → Mentem 13+3

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Instruction in Natural Philosophy (summer 1197, 9th season after apprenticeship)

Beside being able to learn the spells they wanted her to learn, Mariana was going to have to be able to cast them with a certain amount of ease, too. To help guarantee this, a baccalaureus was hired to teach Mariana Philosophiae, being able to teach in Latin and costing much less to hire for a season than a Magister in Artibus. The biggest difference for her between this and instruction during apprenticeship was that she used her Parma Magica to protect the instructor rather than her parens protecting her.

She played hostess to her instructor, and picked up on little tidbits about the world outside of a covenant. So used to a covenant, it surprised her that women trained at nearly no universities. She heard about Hildegard of Bingen and Trotula of Salerno, who she logged in her mind alongside though definitely below Elaine and Cindrallon.

At the end of the season Mariana celebrated Elena's ninth birthday with her family, what might turn out to be their final birthday celebration together the five of them. That would depend on when a Redcap came calling to collect Elena. Mariana simultaneously looked forward to and dreaded that day. And she didn't really have that much longer with Rolando.

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Mechanical bits:

Teacher: Philosophiae +9+6=+15 → Philosophiae 2 (Ritual Magic)

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Her First Genuinely Free Season (autumn 1197, 10th season after apprenticeship)

Ophilio informed Mariana that this would be the one season she could do as she pleased. The next couple years had already been planned out, including Ophilio scheduling his once-every-seven -years season of Redcap duties around those plans. So Mariana should make the best of this season. Noting that she was already 29 and knowing she might be busy several more years with the Cults, Mariana considered her Longevity Ritual. While Ophilio was certainly near at hand, there was no way she would be able to afford his prices in the near future; he was the premier among the Mercere and was himself ancient, surely commanding vast sums for his service. Mariana would be better off making her own, meaning she should study Corpus, and the covenant, being an established one, had a good Corpus Root (L6 Q21). With her meticulous nature, that made the plan easy for Mariana.

Another bonus to studying a book now was that it kept Mariana near her children with a fair amount of free time before she would be kept very busy on Cult of Mercury and Cult of Heroes business. It also wouldn't be that long until Elena was taken as an apprentice, and even Rolando was getting there; so Mariana cherished the time they could spend together this season perhaps more than any other.

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Mechanical bits:

Books: Corpus +21 → Corpus 6

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Walking the Roman Roads (winter 1197, 11th season after apprenticeship)

Ophilio gave Mariana plenty of warning at the end of the autumn to prepare for a long journey. So she said goodbye to her children and her parents. She'd never been apart from any of them for very long; this would be quite a change. At least she had confidence her mother would look after her children well as she'd been doing for so many years.

Ophilio led Mariana along the paths of the ancient Roman roads as he made a number of his stops to carry out his duties as a Redcap. He pointed out various features and how they connected to the Cult of Mercury and Mercurian magic. While Mariana had grown up knowing about ancient Rome, she had been fairly sheltered at Aedes Mercurii; this was her first time really spending time away from the covenant. It was eye-opening in many ways. First, the Roman roads and ruins were not cared for in general, but they were still marvelous. Second, the lifestyles she observed while passing through were so different than within her covenant. Third, it really struck her how poorly women were treated, especially compared to at the covenant. That she wasn't expected to have much influence bugged her; even if Ophilio really was her superior, those they encountered didn't know it. Yes, the Gift made it worse, but there was still the comparable difference between her and Ophilio. Additionally, the women she viewed were always subservient, the men always in charge. By the end of the season it was really starting to piss her off, and they weren't even home yet. Missing Rolando's eighth birthday didn't help her mood, either. But Ophilio kept her in check when she would have let her Flambeau training kick in, his job made all that much easier because he had to translate most of what was said anywhere and so could watch her reactions as he conveyed everything. Secretly she vowed that she would change things, but that would have to wait. It would help if she could communicate better, too; perhaps her Mentem training could help there?

When they eventually did return to Aedes Mercurii, Mariana would receive her measly single pawn of dues for the year.

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Mechanical bits:

Adventure: Area Lore: Europe +2 → Area Lore: Europe 0 (2), Organization Lore: Cult of Mercury +4 → Organization Lore: Cult of Mercury 1 (4), Magic Lore +1 → Magic Lore 0 (3), Parma Magica +1 → Parma Magica 1+2 (1)
Vis: +1 Co (dues) → 1 Co

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#103

The Return Brings Change (spring 1198, 12th season after apprenticeship)

The delay at the end of winter was a side trip to a shrouded Magical Regio at the site Porta Capena on the Appian Way. Mariana completed a task for a spirit there guarding an ancient Mercurian well, receiving a small amount of water from the well as a reward.

Ophilio and Mariana returned to Aedes Mercurii a little bit into the spring season, but before her 30th birthday. For her birthday Mariana had two big celebrations, one with her family as this might be the last the five of them had together, and one with a bunch of Redcaps in a Roman orgy to also acknowledge the coming ritual.

On May 15th, the date of the ancient festival of Mercuralia the ceremony was conducted. During the ceremony Mariana's head was sprinkled with the water she'd won. She formally forswore any allegiant to other faiths, dedicating herself to the old pagan gods of Rome. In this process she took on the official title of Priestess of Diana.

Separately, Mariana was happy to see that a number of her lab texts had arrived, with a note that the remainder would come soon.

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Mechanical bits:

Initiation: Consecration of the Priamitus → Mercurian Magic, Pagan
Exposure: Organization Lore: Cult of Mercury +2 → Organization Lore: Cult of Mercury 1 (6)

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Starting to Learn the Rituals (summer 1198, 13th season after apprenticeship)

Now the Cult of Heroes could start training her in the rituals they wanted her to use. They could save some vis by having her cast their Mentem rituals. So Ophilio arranged for several CrMe lab texts to head her direction. The first of them was Communication of the Followers. Examining it cursorily, Mariana decided it wasn't going to be so difficult, so she added one of her own lab texts to her docket: Construct the Memory Palace.

This summer the Redcaps came for Elena, too. The family celebrated quite a bit, as they had for Elena's two older brothers. But Elena's departure saddened Mariana more than even Bernardo's, her first, departure. With her Parma Magica Mariana had been able to spend more quality time with her youngest two children. And Elena was her only daughter, so that bond was special in another way. But becoming a Redcap would put Elena in a great place for the rest of her life, so Mariana accepted in wholeheartedly, even while weeping.

Mechanical bits:

Learn spells: Int 3 + Cr 14 + Me 16 + Foc 14 + MT 5 + Lab/Aura 3 = 55 ≥ 20 + 35

New spells: Construct the Memory Palace (CrMe 20 Ritual), Communication of the Followers (CrMe 35 Ritual), Wizard's Vigil (MuVi 20), Wizard's Vigil (MuVi 35)
Exposure: Creo +1 → Creo 14 (1), Mentem +2 → Mentem 13+3 (2)

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Learning a Harder Ritual (autumn 1198, 14th season after apprenticeship)

The ease with which Mariana learned the first ritual pleased Ophilio. It also indicated to him she was ready for harder ones, which would also be more useful to the Cult of Heroes. He had a lab text of Communication of the Heroes sent to her. Glancing at that, Mariana knew it was near her limit. Still, learning a 12th magnitude spell less that four years from gauntlet should impress some and make her value her more. So Mariana set to work.

Family life was subdued this season. The dynamic of the past several years had been shaken up by Elena's departure. Mariana still spent a lot of time with Rolando. There just wasn't the same energy that there had been. Still, getting out and about before the full cold of the winter set in was a good thing.

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Mechanical bits:

Learn spells: Int 3 + Cr 14 + Me 16 + Foc 14 + MT 5 + Lab/Aura 3 + Similar 7 = 62 ≥ 60

New spells: Communication of the Heroes (CrMe 60 Ritual), Wizards' Vigil (MuVi 60 Ritual)
Exposure: Creo +1 → Creo 14 (2), Mentem +2 → Mentem 13+3 (4)

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Learning a Second Harder Ritual (winter 1198, 15th season after apprenticeship)

After her success with the first of the rituals, Ophilio had a second one, Presence of the Heroes, delivered to her. Most of the season went well, with everyone cooped up for the winter. But things really fell apart at the end of the season for Mariana. First her father died defending Pila of Flambeau as she pursued her hoplite activities. While it was an honorable death, that did little to console Mariana. Meanwhile she tried to do her best with Rolando as his ninth birthday arrived and he mourned the loss of his grandfather. But then the Redcaps came for Rolando to begin his apprenticeship. With only Mariana, her mother, and Rolando there and grieving, his send-off wasn't as celebratory as the other children's had been. Due to all this and in spite of her determined nature, Mariana missed a lot of time from the laboratory and only just managed to salvage her work at the end of the season.

Mechanical bits:

Learn spells: Int 3 + Cr 14 + Me 16 + Foc 14 + MT 5 + Lab/Aura 3 + Similar 12 - Distraction 6 = 61

New spells: Presence of the Heroes (CrMe 60 Ritual)
Exposure: Creo +1 → Creo 14 (3), Mentem +2 → Mentem 13+3 (6)

#104

I will note that the Pagan flaw will really make it hard for her to perform her role in mundane relationships for the covenant. The description in HoH:TL makes it quite clear that she cannot just pretend to get along.

#105

Well, a Pagan can pretend to get along with the people. They can't pretend to get along with the religion. You can't take part in Mass or a Christian wedding to blend in, for example. But that shouldn't always stop a negotiator for the strange magicians, just like there were foreign ambassadors of different religions. I would think it would open the door for a companion who is Christian to do a lot, too. I don't mind that opening for another player to have available. Also, I'm looking at being able to negotiate with Faeries, hedge magi, etc. well.

Yes?