Present your concept and character design here before it is finalized.
[i]To Stentorius Tremeris and the most honored Council Members of Fengheld
I should first offer to introduce myself, I am Iris of Brocalita, Maga of Verditus. I write in reply to your letter requesting applications for members of a new chapter house. Below are my particulars,[/i]
Hi guys - First a bit about myself - Im UK based and this will be my first time playing Ars Magica - though I am running a game which has been going on for around 3 months now with a bunch of friends where we are all new to the system - I've been rping for about 3 years now - systems I've got a decent amount of experience in are 7th Sea, Runequest/Mythras and Shadowrun.
My idea for Iris is for an aquam Verditus maga focused on making jewelry (Crafting skills of Silversmith, maybe ironworking and a major magical focus of Jewelry?) - thinking she has the strong fay blood virtue (unseelie) and with a mercurial temper - usually being very reserved unless someone insults her or her work, at which point she can fly off the handle (thinking fury story flaw?). Iris is originally from the Stonehenge Tribunal.
I have no problem shifting the Arts of the character to augment what the covenant already has and then altering things like fay blooded to either a different type of fay or chainging it to something else.
I would really like to play a Verditus mage though.
I would quite like to play around with Aquam as I don't think it gets enough love but since you already have an Aquam mage I could also create a Verditus focused on either Auram or spread out the arts a little more and create a general Elementalist - what are your thoughts?
Welcome aboard Imreai!
Which books do you have available? Although I ask for the characters to be initially created using only things that are in the core book, the other sourcebooks can provide quite a bit of inspiration going forward. Mainly, you might be interested by the Verditius section of Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults, as well as Guardians of the Forest, which describes the Rhine Tribunal where the saga takes place.
Note that a Magical Focus (whether Minor or Major) helps you boost your totals when creating effects related to the focus. So a focus on jewelry would help only for magical effects that affects jewelry -- creating, manipulating, changing it, etc. -- but not at enchanting jewelry with other magical effects. As such, it wouldn't help at all for a maga focused on Aquam magic -- since pretty much all jewelry is made out of Terram materials (metal, precious stones).
An elementalist Verditius would certainly be interesting -- I've toyed with the concept once but without playing it. It would certainly tie in well with the chapter house's current need to create some magical items to help the magi harvest its main vis source.
I'll let the other players chime in and welcome you as well. 
Books I have - Core rules, Covenants, all 3 HoH books, the 4 RoP books, Hedge magic, GotF, Ancient Magic, Apprentices, Hermetic Projects, Rival magic, Lion and the lilly, Mysteries Revised, Tales of Mythic Europe, Tales of Power, Transforming Mything Europe (I got a lot of this from Bundles of holding so I've not really used a lot of them and then I've picked up others that I did want to go through - not read though most of them though and skimmed quite a lot- Besides the core rules I really only know covenants, GotF, Mysteries and HoH Mystery Cults well - currently going through RoP Infernal)
If the main purpose of the chapter house is to gather vis then I could make a Vim specialist? Though that kind of feels like it might remove some of the fun inherent in the story of getting together enough stuff to gather vis.
I have run up a character and background based on the virtues and flaws for you to look over. Let me know what you think and if there is anything you want changing or that doesn't fit the group dynamic or the story;
Iris of Brocolitia
Filla Renatus of Burnham (deceased)
Background: Iris is the daughter of an unknown mundane and one of the Fay that resides near to the ruins of the old Mythrian temple at brocolitia - located near to Carrawburgh in Northumberland - she claims to trace her linage back to a nymph once worshiped at that site called Coventina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventina.
Iris' Undine mother struck a deal with a Verditus magus by the name of Renatus who lived in the covenant of Burnham. Renatus took her as an apprentice when she was on the cusp of being 7 years old and made a deal to enchant an item for the Undine in exchange for her allowing the Magus to take her daughter as his apprentice - it was agreed that the item was to be delivered before the young apprentice would undertake her gauntlet.
Renatus was overconfident and immensely proud, and in his negotiations with the Undine he failed to spot a loophole in the terms they laid down that allowed the fay to request a device of such complexity and power that to complete it he would require more vis than his covenant currently possessed.
The deal was made and there were dire consequences put in place should Renatus failing to abide by the agreement. He was stuck. Despite her mother's duplicity Renatus dedicated himself to teaching the young Iris as much as he could whilst he worked on the payment for the fay. Renatus became more insular and isolated from anyone but his beloved Filla as he focused on teaching his apprentice and finishing the device the fay had tricked him into producing.
As the deadline approached and iris' gauntlet grew closer Renatus became more and more desperate - in an attempt to gather the necessary resources he had begun stealing vis from already claimed sites before it could be harvested - in the year of Iris' gauntlet her master was caught raiding the vis source of a Loch Leglean covenant - he escaped with the vis but shortly thereafter was marched by a group of Scottish magi and killed - his covenant refused to protect him believing he had stolen Vis from their stocks as well.
Iris' gauntlet was administered by a Quasitor for lack of a master and though she is still a member of House Verditius she is viewed by the other members of her house as being the reason for the downfall of Renatus, who had been well liked in the house. Many blame her for the situation he ended up in - believing she and her fay mother had somehow bewitched the Magus and tricked him, whilst Magi of other houses view her with suspicion, fearing that the apple has not fallen far from the tree non are happy to see her in their territories and would undoubtedly blame her if any Vis were to go missing whilst she is around.
She is looking for a new start - and has hopes that the letter from Fehngeld indicates that someone is willing to treat her as an individual rather than assume she bears the same sin as her parens. The cold and formal letter inviting her to an interview at Fehngeld is the nicest and warmest correspondence she has had with another Mage since completing her gauntlet and she is desperate for a new start
Appearance:
Pale skin and long black hair - Iris favors a long gown or robe of muted colors, usually a worn blue. Her eyes are a particularly noteworthy feature being a muted green and without irises marking her fay heritage. She is quite lithe and normally composed and calm - unfortunately she has inherited a mercurial temperament from her fay side and can be thrown into a raging fury if her ability is mocked or if someone mocks her creations.
Age: 23 (born ???? A.D.)
Size: 0
Gender: Female
Confidence: 1 (3)
Int +3, Per 0, Pre -2, Com +1, Str 0, Sta +2, Dex +1, Qik -1
Virtues: The Gift, Hermetic Magus, Verditius Magic, Elemental Magic, Strong Undine Blood (Underwater Actions: +2), Greater Immunity (Drowning), Inventive Genius (Invent Lab Totals: +3 or +6 Experimenting)
Flaws: Fury - when her craft ability or products are made fun of (Enraged: +3 damage, -1 on all other scores), Weak Magic Resistance (When Hair is Dry), Driven - minor(Become respected in the order - wipe away the stain of my Parens), No Sense of Direction, Judged Unfairly, Infamous Master
Reputations : Reputations: Parens Stole Vis (Among magi) 3
Personality Traits: Inquisitive +2, Mercurial +3, Pensive +1
Abilities: --
Area Lore: Northumberland 2 (Rivers & Lakes), Artes Liberales 1 (astronomy), Athletics 1 (grace), Awareness 1 (searching), Brawl 1 (Dodge), Code of Hermes 1 (tribunal procedures), Concentration 1 (lab work), English 5 (expansive vocabulary), Finesse 1 (targeting), Goldsmith 1 (Jewelry) [Category: Laboratories], Latin 4 (hermetic usage), Magic Lore 1 (magical traditions), Magic Theory 2 (enchanting items), Metalsmith 1 (Bronze) [Category: Laboratories], Parma Magica 1 (Ignem), Penetration 1 (Vim), Philosophiae 1 (natural philosophy), Second Sight 1 (regiones), Silversmith 1 (Jewelry) [Category: Laboratories], Stealth 1 (In Water), Survival 1 (Lakes), Swim 3+2 (underwater maneuvering)
Magical Arts:Arts: Cr 5, In 5, Mu 5, Pe 5, Re 5, An 0, Aq 4, Au 4, Co 0, He 0, Ig 4, Im 0, Me 0, Te 4, Vi 4
Wizard's Sigil: Fizzing bubbles
Spells:
The Crystal Dart (Mu(Re)Te 10) +11
Rock of Viscid Clay (MuTe 15) +11
Heat of the Searing Forge (CrIg 10) +11
Palm of Flame (CrIg 5) +11
Broom of the Winds (CrAu 15) +11
Jupiter's Resounding Blow (CrAu 10) +11
Call of the Rushing Waters (InAq 15) +11
Comfort of the Drenched Traveler (PeAq 5) +11
Touch of the Pearls (InAq 5) +11
Clear Sight of the Naiad (InAq 5) +11
Gather the Essence of the Beast (ReVi 15) +11
Sense the Nature of Vis (InVi 5) +11
Scales of the Magical Weight (InVi 5) +11
Initial comments, more discussion welcome.
Don't mind the goal of the chapter house during character creation. First off, your character (and her pater) wouldn't have known about the chapter house during apprenticeship -- it didn't even exist at the time. Second, the vis-gathering is there just as a reason to locate the chapter house there. It provides a time sink for the magi, providing a short-term goal to improve its efficiency. Third, as a Verditius you will probably be asked to perform other duties.
It's raining Renatus magi! There are already 2 magi of that name at the chapter house, so it is going to get confusing fast! 
I wonder how likely it is that so many magi would have that name?
Regarding the background and her pater's story, that is probably what Iris believes and was told. The reality may be quite a bit different, because there are a number of elements in that story that are strange enough to be hiding something else. Particularly since you took a Driven flaw that involves the story. 
Now, drowning is unlikely to be a common occurence in this saga, so I would allow you to take it as a Lesser Immunity (instead of Greater). That doesn't mean your character can breathe water just like air (it wouldn't even with Greater), just that she cannot drown. It is still a painful experience, she simply cannot die from it.
At first glance, your background suggested the Iris would have Sheltered Upbringing, but I see that you decided to avoid it.
Was Iris neglected by her master during apprenticeship? Because with such low scores in her Crafts and Magic Theory, it certainly looks like it. With Magic Theory of 2, she cannot even set up her own laboratory without it having a flaw.
All of her Craft abilities seem to be somewhat redundant. You could take a single one -- like Silversmith -- and would be able to use the same skill with different related materials with only a -1 penalty and without being able to use her specialty when working with a different material. This is from a sourcebook you do not have, City and Guilds:
Thus she could take Craft: Silversmith (jewelry) and be able to craft items out of gold, bronze, brass, etc. at a score of 1 (no specialty). Not exactly the same as having 3 seperate abilities, but more efficient.
Note that a good score in Magic Theory and Craft are very important to Verditius magi, with Philosophiae playing a secondary role as well. With Iris' current scores, she would be regularly ridiculed by other Verditius magi (and trigger her Fury flaw). This might be part of your character's design; I just want to make sure!
Note that her Arts are really scattered as well. This is not as much of a problem for a Verditius, but it makes me wonder what kind of magical effects you want your character willl want to specialize in.
Facepalm I was looking for a name and that popped into my mind - now I know where I had heard it before... that can be changed - though in my own personal head cannon there is a really powerful Tytalus at work here with multiple Personas that really likes the name Renatus.
Yep - to quote one of the guys in my usual group "I just love to see my character suffer"
I did have it originally but to fit other flaws in I dropped it - I was thinking of covenant upbringing or fairy upbringing. I can look at swapping around flaws to fit it in - it does feel right for the character but the other flaws I picked also felt good for the character to me (I really like the idea of no sense of direction just for the pitiable situation of her continually getting lost in the marshlands near the covenant)
Not my intention - more she has been neglected by me. I think this is too much of me wanting a lot of skills and not correctly focusing on the most important things for her - I will revise the abilities in full as well as the arts
I will put up a version taking into account what you have said - will probably change the arts quite a bit and focus more on two of the elemental magics rather than splitting out between all 4
While you are revising your character, here's a few things you might keep in mind.
Magic Theory: This determines how much raw vis you can use in the lab in a single season (MT x 2). As such, it determines how "big" an item you can enchant (see Size and Material table on ArM5 p.97), though the amount needed to open the item is reduced by your Craft score.
Craft: It reduces the amount of vis needed to open an item for enchantment. It also adds to all lab totals when enchanting effects into the item. Puissant and/or Affinity with your Craft is usually a great choice for a Verditius.
Philosophiae: Allows you to add a further bonus to lab total for enchanting the effects into an item (Verditius runes). The total of (Verditius Runes Bonus + Shape and Material Bonus) is still limited by the enchanter's score in Magic Theory.
Arts: Focus on a smaller number of Arts to begin with. Considering that you have Elemental Magic, it is probably best to pick 2 elements as primary (high scores) and let the other 2 elements be relatively minor to start with. It is probably best not to spread yourself around too much amongst the Techniques, either. So again, I would advise to concentrate on 2 Techniques as primary and accept lower scores in the others.
Vis: Note also that a Verditius always needs raw vis to create additional items (as your background story illustrates). Personal Vis Source is certainly worth considering, although not having it provides with so much more story potential, as you would then need to trade for vis.
Spells: First-magnitude spells are fairly easy to cast spontaneously. It is of course safer to know them as formulaic, but you are wasting a lot of level in stuff that is very easy to learn. Knowing a few higher-level spells are good, because it makes it easier to enchant similar effects into items. BTW, I don't get why you would want to know Comfort of the Drenched Traveller, since you want to stay wet because of your Weak Magic Resistance flaw. 
In fact, I would expect her to eventually invent a spell or enchant an item that would keep her hair wet all the time! 
Ok - Revision time - Im just going to put down what I currently have rather than format it as you want the character sheet to be so you can have a look over it and see if there is anything I should change - then once its finalized I'll get it correctly laid out.
Given that the reputation should cover the story side I have got rid of judged unfairly and replaced it with covenant upbringing
Iris of Brocolitia
Characteristics: Int +3, Per 0, Pre ‑2, Com +1, Str 0, Sta +2, Dex +1, Qik ‑1
Size: 0
Age: 22 (22), Height: 168 cm, Weight: 72 kg, Gender: Female
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Confidence: 1 (3)
Virtues : The Gift, Elemental Magic, Hermetic Magus, Strong Undine Blood (Underwater Actions: +2) [Physical Quirk: Eyes without irises], Second Sight(From Strong Fay blood), Lesser Immunity (Drowning), Affinity with Magic Theory, Puissant Silversmith, Inventive Genius (Invent Lab Totals: +3), Verditius Magic*
Flaws: Fury ‑ when enchanting ability or creations are mocked (Enraged: +3 damage, ‑1 on all other scores), Weak Magic Resistance (When Hair is Dry), Driven (Become respected in the order ‑ wipe away the stain of my Parens), No Sense of Direction, Infamous Master, Covenant Upbringing
Personality Traits: Inquisitive +2, Mercurial +3, Pensive +1
Reputations: Parens Stole Vis ‑ Declared Orbus (Among magi) 3
Area Lore: Northumberland 1 (Rivers), Artes Liberales 1 (astronomy), Awareness 2 (searching), Code of Hermes 1 (tribunal procedures), English 5 (expansive vocabulary), Finesse 1 (precision), Folk Ken 1 (magi), Latin 4 (hermetic usage), Magic Theory 4 (enchanting items), Parma Magica 1 (Vim), Philosophiae 1 (natural philosophy), Second Sight 1 (regiones), Silversmith 2+2 (Jewelry) [Category: Laboratories], Stealth 1 (In Water), Swim 2+2 (underwater maneuvering)
Arts: Cr 3, In 7, Mu 4, Pe 3, Re 8, An 0, Aq 6, Au 2, Co 0, He 0, Ig 1, Im 0, Me 0, Te 6, Vi 4
Spells Known:
Lungs of the Fish (MuAq(Au) 20) +12
Push of the Gentle Wave (ReAq 15) +16
The Crystal Dart (Mu(Re)Te 10) +12
The Earth's Carbuncle (Re(Mu)Te 15) +12
The Miner's Keen Eye (InTe 20) +15
Crest of the Earth Wave (ReTe 20) +16
Gather the Magical Essence (ReVi 20) +14.
Two reasons - One I get the feeling she will be quite happy jumping in and out of water so its more to dry off her clothes etc - secondly hypothermia
I can see her creating two lesser enchanted devices (thinking earrings) one that makes her hair wet and the other that drys it off so she's able to increase her magic resistance as needed and still be able to go and meet important people without waking into a room of senior mages with wet hair.
From what I can see, you seem to be missing 4 xp.
Childhood (0-5): 45 xp
- English 5: free
- Second Sight 1: free
- Area Lore 1: 5 xp
- Awareness 2: 15 xp
- Folk Ken 1: 5 xp
- Stealth 1: 5 xp
- Swim 2: 15 xp
Early life (6-7): 30 xp
- Latin 3: 30 xp
Apprenticeship (8-23): 240 xp / only 236 spent
- Latin 3 to 4: +20 xp
- Craft 2: 15 xp
- Artes Liberales 1: 5 xp
- Philosophiae 1: 5 xp
- Code of Hermes 1: 5 xp
- Finesse 1: 5 xp
- Magic Theory 4: 34 xp (x1.5 for Affinity = 51)
- Parma Magica 1: 5 xp
- Cr 3: 6 xp
- In 7: 28 xp
- Mu 4: 10 xp
- Pe 3: 6 xp
- Re 8: 36 xp
- Aq 6: 21 xp
- Au 2: 3 xp
- Ig 1: 1 xp
- Te 6: 21 xp
- Vi 4: 10 xp
My comments (feel free to ignore any or all of them):
- Considering your spell selection, Iris has very little use for Creo and Perdo at this time. These points would be better spent elsewhere.
- Considering Elemental Magic, it would be surprising for Iris to have a score of only 1 in any of the elemental Arts.
- The Craft score is stil very low. Puissant helps bring up the total, but Verditius pride themselves on their craft skill. Right now Puissant only gives you the equivalent of 35 xp. Any of the xp-boosting virtues would provide you with a greater benefit initially (though this changes over time as your skill in Craft increases).
- Note that a score in Penetration doesn't help when enchanting items. It is still a useful ability, but less so for a Verditius since they often rely on items for their greatest magical effects.
- If you selected the spell Gather the Magical Essence because of the vis-harvesting nature of the chapter house, feel free to spend those spell levels elsewhere. Most magi find that Gather the Essence of the Beast useful enough, while just as many simply have their grogs bring the whole carcass home with them. This will also be a spell that is easy to learn when the saga starts.
- All of your combat spells are Terram-based. You also have 3 of them, which may be overkill for a maga right out of Gauntlet. Consider that Iris doesn't know any defensive spell and very little in the way of general utility spells.
Iris of Brocolitia
Characteristics: Int +3, Per 0, Pre -2, Com +1, Str 0, Sta +2, Dex +1, Qik -1
Virtues and Flaws: The Gift, Elemental Magic, Hermetic Magus, Lesser Immunity (Drowning), Strong Undine Blood (Underwater Actions: +2) [Physical Quirk: Eyes without irises], Second Sight*, Affinity with Magic Theory, Puissant Silversmith, Inventive Genius (Invent Lab Totals: +3), Verditius Magic*, Fury - when enchanting ability or creations are mocked (Enraged: +3 damage, -1 on all other scores), Weak Magic Resistance (When Hair is Dry), Driven (Become respected in the order - wipe away the stain of my Parens), No Sense of Direction, Infamous Master, Covenant Upbringing
Personality Traits: Inquisitive +2, Mercurial +3, Pensive +1
Reputations: Parens Stole Vis (Among magi) 3
Abilities: Area Lore: Northumberland 1 (Rivers), Artes Liberales 1 (astronomy), Awareness 2 (searching), English 5 (expansive vocabulary), Folk Ken 1 (magi), Latin 4 (hermetic usage), Magic Theory 5 (enchanting items), Parma Magica 1 (Vim), Philosophiae 1 (natural philosophy), Second Sight 1 (regiones), Silversmith 3+2 (Jewelry) , Stealth 1 (In Water), Swim 2+2 (underwater maneuvering)
Arts: Cr 2, In 7, Mu 5, Pe 0, Re 7, An 0, Aq 6, Au 2, Co 0, He 0, Ig 2, Im 0, Me 0, Te 6, Vi 2
Spells Known:
Lungs of the Fish (MuAq(Au) 20) +13
Push of the Gentle Wave (ReAq 15) +15
Broom of the Winds (CrAu 15) +6
The Miner's Keen Eye (InTe 20) +15
The Crystal Dart (Mu(Re)Te 10) +13
Heat of the Searing Forge (CrIg 10) +6
Piercing the Magical Veil (InVi 20) +11
Intuition of the Forest (InHe 10) +9
Ok -Ive bumped up both Magic Theory and Craft by one - I know silversmith's base is only 3 but puissant brings it up to 5 so she's as good as anyone can be at her age without either puissant or affinity - which seems fine to me, she could be better but it would be a case of stealing EXP from Peter to pay Paul.... so I'm ok with this as is, she can improve this in game by practice or finding someone to teach her (which could make for an interesting story?)
Everything looks fine, except perhaps her spell selection.
She still seem heavy in offensive spells to me and has no defensive spell. You might want to consider Circling Winds of Protection as a fairly nice defensive spell. But that's really up to you!
Piercing the Magical Veil has a bit of overlap with Second Sight, but since her score in Per + Second Sight total is low I can understand the choice.
If you are satisfied with the character, go ahead and create the final version in its own topic, named "Maga: Iris of Verditius" (you can include Brocolitia as well if you want, but I want the House name to appear in the name of the topic). Include a finalized background (make any adjustment you feel justified based on the new stats).
Take some time to think about her shield grog. He/she will need to be statted out as well (start in this topic), though that shouldn't be as time-intensive as the maga herself. When that's done, I'll start you up with an introductory story as soon as I can.
Cheers!
I unfortunately cannot learn it as character creation says I can only learn spells with a level of Te+Fo+MT+Int+3 according to the book (so CrAu would be 2+2+5+3+3 = 15) I will have a look at replacing Pearce the Magic veil with a more defensive spell if I can find one - or I will look at creating one myself and get your approval
True enough.
As I mentioned, your character is heavy in offensive spells. Yous should consider removing one of the offensive spells instead of Piercing the Magical Veil in order to get one (or two low-level) defensive spells.
Something like Doublet of Impenetrable Silk works for your grogs too and makes a nice enchanted effect.
I'll revise some of the spells and post the full character some time tomorrow
My idea for a shield grog is Brynn, a gregarious albino musician. Unable to hold down any kind of regular work both because of his temperament and because of the fact that as an Albino he seems to draw negative attention if his is in one place for any period of time. Brynn is a relentlessly cheerful character who can't hold down a stable job and so makes money traveling and entertaining - he probably fell in with Iris when he found a way of 'working' in the covenant she was apprenticed in without actually having to do any work - He's followed Iris because he has some loyalty to her - though he will not actually admit that and claims that he was getting bored and his innate wanderlust has again claimed him so he quite fancies a trip to Germany.
Brynn the White
Characteristics: Int 0, Per +1, Pre +2, Com 0, Str +1, Sta +2, Dex +1, Qik +1
Size: 0
Age: 24 (24), Gender: Male
Virtues : Puissant Music, Improved Characteristics, Wanderer, Warrior (50/50)
Flaws : Carefree, Disfigured (Albino), Ability Block (Crafts and Manual Labour)
Personality Traits: Brave +1, Gregarious +3, Loyal +3
Combat:
Dodge: Init: +1, Attack --, Defense +3, Damage --
Axe & Shield, Round: Init: +1, Attack +10, Defense +8, Damage +7
Fist: Init: +1, Attack +4, Defense +4, Damage +1
Kick: Init: +0, Attack +3, Defense +2, Damage +4
Soak: +2
Abilities: Area Lore: Norfolk 2 (legends), Awareness 3 (keeping watch), Brawl 2 (Fist), Charm 3 (Patrons), English 5 (storytelling), Folk Ken 4 (Patrons), German 2 (storytelling), Music 5+2 (sing), Guile 2, Single Weapon 4 (Shield, Round), Stealth 3 (natural areas), French 4(Story Telling), Teaching 1 (Music)
Equipment:
Shield, Round (Init: 0; Atk: 0; Dfn: +2; Str: -1; Cost: Inexpensive)
Axe (Init: +1; Atk: +10; Dfn: +8; Dmg: +7; Cost: Standard)
Encumbrance: 1 (2)
Welcome Imreai! I look forward to when your characters join the covenant. I do have some questions about Iris' and Brynn's Presence scores though, to help fill in some gaps in my mental picture of these people. Firstly, what is it about Iris' appearance or demeanor that causes her to be so uncompelling (Presence = -2). Secondly, with Brynn, you've taken the Disfigured flaw, and then given him a presence of +2, so the flaw is substantially mitigated. What is it about Brynn that allows him to almost overcome the negative impacts of his extreme whiteness?
Hi Emelric,
For Iris Im seeing her as having a rather weak charisma and having problems with social interactions with strangers thanks to her covenant upbringing - particularly as she has lived almost all her life with people who have gotten used to her gift, interactions with people being rude or innately disliking her are going to be even more shocking for her. I also see her as being very deferential and self conscious, so whilst she will put forward ideas she will not push them unless someone else also seizes on it.
Physically I see her looking quite meek - usually very reserved, and a little shy - which is going to make it all the more shocking when she finally succumbs to her fury flaw and tries to tear someone's face off with her bare hands.
For Brynn I'm imagining that his presence represents the incredibly gregarious and friendly nature he has - I'm seeing him as having had to work all his life to overcome peoples immediate reaction to his albinism so I'm seeing him as having to always convince people to accept him, but once that has happened his force of personality will allow him to ingratiate himself in spite of his albinism .
I see him being almost aggressively friendly, first to offer a drink, crack a joke, always trying to diffuse any situation with humor. Once he has managed to break the ice his personality and skills should allow him to be accepted - but it is something he has to work for all the time.
I hope that makes sense as to why I gave the characters the
Coming up short on Brynn's xp. Looks to me like he should have an additional 35 xp in his abilities.
With all this travelling, this would make sense in various Area Lore. Depending on how long he has spent at a covenant, then some Organization Lore: Order of Hermes might also make sense. Other abilities he would have been likely to pick up during his wanderings are Carouse and Bargain.
I'm still getting this as correct - age is 24 so he should have 45 for childhood and then ((24-5)x 15)+50(Warrior) exp - Total experience to spend being 380 - which is what I have spent?
English 5 - free
Area Lore (Norfolk) 2 - 15xp
Awareness 3 - 30xp
Brawl 2 - 15xp
Charm 3 - 30xp
Folk Ken 4 - 50xp
German 2 - 15xp
Music 5+2 - 75xp
Guile 2 - 15xp
Single Weapon 4 - 50xp
Stealth 3 - 30xp
French 4 - 50xp
Teaching 1 -5xp
Total - 380
I can look to move some XP into additional area lores and carouse and bargaining - just want to make sure i have the total XP i should be spending correct first