Character Creation for Julia (OOC)

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: The Heir of Laimunt Valley
81

Just to streamline the math (I always find [Te]Vim guidelines quite confuse): "Dispel effects of a specific type with a level less than or equal to the level + 4 magnitudes of the Vim spell + a stress die (no botch)."

  • A lvl 1 spell with R:Personal, D:Momentary, T:Individual would dispel an effect up to lvl 5+stress die (Base 1 +4 mag = 5);
  • A lvl 2 spell with R:Personal, D:Momentary, T:Individual would dispel an effect up to lvl 10+stress die (Base 2 +4 mag = 10);
  • "Erase the Mirror" must dispel at least a lvl 10 effect for sure (meaning the base must be 2), but the Range must be Touch; therefore, "Erase the Mirror" is a level 3 spell (Base 2 +1 Touch) that dispels a lvl 10+stress effect (Base 2 + 4 Mag).

A magic item that casts "Erase the Mirror" up to 50 times/day would have an enchantment lvl 9 (lvl 3 spell + 6); to be more cost effective in vis terms, it could go up to 10. Then, it could be useful to raise the spell to lvl 4, with two options:

  • base 3 +1 Touch, effect base 3+4 mag-> dispel lvl 15+stress, no penetration);
  • base 2 +2 Voice, effect base 2+4 mag-> dispel lvl 10+stress, no penetration).

Another options would be lvl 5, with only 24 uses/day:

  • base 4+1Touch, dispel base 4 +4 mag -> lvl20+stress
  • base 3+2 Voice, dispel base 3 +4 mag -> lvl15+stress

I think the idea is that the item should be a small gift or trinket from her master or another friend. It is "almost" a toy to pair with her spell; if it gets too powerful it kind of breaks the character, so it doesn't really needs penetration... By the same token, a friendly magus wouldn't care so much for the small payoff. For example, a magus could easily instruct an apprentice to enchant this item in a season that the magus is not occupied with his lab; or Lyrus could have enchanted the item for her because she was crying.

But yeah, from a practical point of view, Lyrus could have decided "well, I'll make something that will be more useful" and enchanted (or commissioned) an item for 2 or 3 pawns of effects (6~9 total cost if bought from a Verditius).

Side question: what is the sigil of the enchanter?

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82

Arthur's improved version makes sense, and the character definitely has vis enough.

That leaves the when question: Can I assume she has ordered it early, so she has it now?

As for the enchanter's sigil. I think that is something I shouldn't choose myself: So I'm fine with any normal sigil - smell of fart would be embarassing.

  • the item turns cold
  • there is a smell of hay
  • people nearby think of the number 3
  • there is a fade effect
  • whatever...
83

You could integrate delivery of the enchanted item into your next season's narrative, explaining that the order for the item was made a number of seasons before.

As for the sigil of the enchanter, how about: When the Imaginem effect is dispelled, it gradually dissolves away much like sea foam washing away on a beach, as per Serene of Verditius' wizard sigil.

To activate the ring, you need to point the finger wearing the ring at the Imaginem effect to be dispelled and tap the ring three times in a quick succession.

EDIT: Have you decided what to do with the 5 extra levels possible for the effect with that amount of vis? This could change the triggering action.

84

1198, season 4
Renardine beamed: "He's a gift."
Eikona looked at the man directing his donkey cart up the hill dubiously. He was fat like a pig and had a flat nose that reinforced the porcine impression. Was Renardine making fun of her?
Renardine, sensing her disbelief, laughed: Oh that dirty mind of yours. Men have more uses than the one you are always thinking.
She changed her tone as Caius came into hearing distance. "May I present you the honorable Magister Caius, a paedagogus of the first rank, who has mastered the tongues of the Romans and the Greek!"
Caius slid of the wagon stolidly, grunted, and eyed Eikona with his pig eyes. "Do you speak Latin?", he asked in the ancient tongue of Rome.
"I do, magister, and I am looking forward to learning Greek from you."
When he realized she knew her Latin better than the average village priest, he grunted again and smiled porkily.
"Can you show Magister Caius his quarters, Renardine . He must be tired from the road."
She embraced the ginger woman next to her. "Thanks. What a great idea!", she beamed.

Renardine and Caius made their way to the guest quarters. Just then, she heard a voice behind her.
"Mistress Eikona, I've got a delivery for you from Serene of Verditius. Please sign here.
With a quick motion, Eikona shook the ring out of its bag. It was golden and had a black opal that shimmered green and red in the light. It looked fantastic. Quickly, she cast a Veil of Invisibility, which made the Redcap look around, panicked. She knocked the ring against her arm, and with gradual elegance, her features reappeard.
"Where do I sign?", she asked.

15xp Classical Greek (reading), -6p Vis

Item:
Ring of the True Image
To activate the ring, you need to point the finger wearing the ring at the Imaginem effect (level 20 + stress die (no botch) to be dispelled and say: "End this illusion" (in Latin). When the Imaginem effect is dispelled, it gradually dissolves away much like sea foam washing away on a beach, as per Serene of Verditius' wizard sigil.
Base 4+2 Voice, +10 unlimited uses

EDIT: Voice range is cooler!

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85

1199, season 1
Stentorius was angry again. This time it was about Caius, the teacher. He said he expected to be asked if stranger were invited into the walls.
Eikona retreated into her lab with an Ignem Primer: Fire light by Morphea ex Flambea. Still she was unhappy, and that unhapiness with Fengheld deepened when Demosthenes sent a letter from Thermakopolis, a Jerbiton covenant, and praised it's enlightened charter and his charming sodales. By the end of the season, she knew that she'd had enough of Fengheld.
Renardine, hearing that they'd set out for an urban covenant, was very excited about the idea and kept asking when they'd finally leave.

21xp Ignem

PS: That's a lousy season, but the Corona fever is wrecking my brain. I'll write the next season in the morning: hopefully I'll be fitter then.

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86

No problem. Take care of yourself.

Is Caius a permanent member of Eikona's entourage? Or just a one-time teacher?

87

one time. She's going to learn the other xp by talking

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88

1199, season 2
Eikona and Renardine had finally packed. They were going to miss Peter and Horst, but not Eule's moody stares nor Stentorius grim eyebrows. The weather turned out quite suitable for traveling.
They were going to make a detour to Valnastium before continuing onwards to Constaninople: Eikona wanted to present Renardine to her father, and she hoped to see Lyrus, too.
Coming home felt strange. She had been among magi from other houses for quite some time, so she was surprised that Lyrus had organized a welcome feast. She met other friends as well, including Mirabelle, and between good music and good food, time flew. She also took up her hobby of chess, losng a game each day to her father - except in the last week, when she managed a draw.
Her father had added a room to his house, which he called his museum, and she gifted him her collection of mirrors, and the book on finesse.

5xp concentration, Reputation Artistic talent 5xp

1199, season 3
Mirabelle, Renardine and Eikona decided to travel to Venice and take a ship from there. On the sea, a storm wrecked the ship, and if it hadn't been for Mirabelle's Lungs of the Fish spell, Renardine and Eikona would surely have perished. After several hours of thrashing water, they crawled onto a beach. Eikona cried bitter tears: Unicorn had gone down with the ship.
After a short pause, they spotted the smoke of a fire, so they made their way inland. They came across a young man with fiery red hair who was holding his hands into the fire. He withdrew them, looking caught, when they crested the dune. Mirabelle translated for them: The young man had run away from home, because everyone claimed he was a devil's child, because the flames didn't hurt him. He himself claimed it was a Gift from God. Eikona surpressed her parma: This boy was Gifted! What a coincidence!
Later Renardine admitted to using her Gift of Luck while out in the storm: She had hoped it would increase their chances of survival.
The young man also told them where they were and offered to guide them to the next town. Eikona was unsure about what to do with a potential apprentice. She knew that she was several seasons away from knowing the necessary arts. So when Mirabelle suggested gifting the boy to the tribunal, she gladly agreed.

5xp swim

1199, season 4
They were welcomed at Thermakopolis, and praised for finding an apprentice. Eikona was welcomed by Demosthenes, who announced she could have the empty lab at the covenant if she was going to stay. He didn't ask Mirabelle, knowing that their friend was not willing to settle down.
Usually, this was a season for reading, but, much to her dismay, Eikona discovered that there were no useful books in Latin. So she used her time to get to know the covenant, and the city. With a few mirros, practicing her art was all she needed.

8xp Classical greek

1200, season 1
Looking back at that winter, her only memories are of mornings in bed with Demosthenes or of prowling the city in search of fun.
Well, there was one memory that was unforgettable: Demosthenes took her to the Hagia Sophia and asked her to marry him. She agreed and they set the date for the summer equinox of 1201.
That evening, they told their familiars, worried they might be jealous, but Demosthenes tortoise Testudino and Renardine were enthusiasthic. Demosthenes told Eikona that Testudino had asked him that evening if he could enchant the bond so the familar could take human form, too.

Language 7xp Classical Greek (Could be 8xp, but then the character will always have that single xp on her sheet, and that is not beautiful)

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89

Next season will be the tribunal of 1200. They are going to make her a member of the tribunal. This can be purely cosmetic to show that she is attached to her new home.

If everyone involved wants that, she could of course try to return for the next tribunal to keep her membership, and then use it as an argument why the covenant is neither Alps, nor Rhine, nor Normandie. But as I've said, if this seems odd or far-fetched, I'm also completely okay with her losing member status the moment she moves away.

90

I'm fine with the membership in Thebes being only cosmetic. Maybe the covenant has a probationary status for new members that lasts for a few years, giving both the prospective member and the covenant a chance to test each other out?

91

She doesn't need to be provisional, there were a bunch of covenants destroyed in the sack of Constantinople, which transformed citizen magi into refugees until they found a new covenant - the location of which determines their future citizenship. This could be a reason she was only a member of Thebes for a short time, there were suddenly over a dozen Jerbiton looking for a home anywhere they could find one, and the place she found was in distant Rhine...

2 Likes
92

Good point!

93

1200, season 2: Tribunal
It made sense to hold the tribunal on an island. All these magi might easily upset the mundanes, and the last thing a tribunal needed was a visit by farmers with pitchforks and torches. Eikona was curious about the shrines and Renardine looked forward to what she called 'cleansing herself in a good aura'.
They were sorted into groups called Phyles. Constantinople was in the Propontian phyle. Demosthenes had written to someone, an archon or archai, who had been willing to sponsor her because she had found the apprentice. The explanation had been more detailed but she had found it all rather bureaucratic and confusing.
There was a dinner where almost everybody applied to become an archai although nobody really wanted. There was one surly Merinita witch who refused to consent, which made the assembled magi hiss and whisper. Demosthenes explained to Eikona that there was a punishment for refusing to volunteer, making the ritual a strange parody of volunteering.
She saw the boy again that she had given to the Tribunal, and he was disappointed when she said that she wasn't going to bid on him. But he had gotten two shards from a Flambeau magus, and was excited to learn about fire magic.
The forum was a bit like Durenmar, but more organized, and she had to wear a grey robe because she wasn't a citizen yet.
It started with a few rounds of bickering, of magi complaining about each other. There seemed to be no system that decided which cases were solved by debate, by inquest or by certamen. Still everyone seemed to respect the decisions taken.
The next bit was her speech. It was highly formal and she had practiced it with Demosthenes to get the grammar and the pronunciation right.
Then there was more accusations and magi begging for mercy, which was a sorry sight to behold. Just when she thought, it would never get better, the redcapshad a round of order news, which was fun.

On the second day, the apprentices were presented, and theyoung man she had found was happy to get a Flambeau master. Interestingly, apprentices were told that they had rights. She could see the disgusted lokk on the face of the Tytalus next to her, and she had to admit that she herself found the idea rather strange, too.
Then they took a vote on whom to ban from the tribunal: It turned out to be the stubborn Merinita from earlier on - so much for volunteering, Renardine commented.
Then there was more law stuff and Renardine had to gently nudge her so she kept awake. She was glad when they thanked the old officials and introduced the ones.
When she suggested an after tribunal party, Demosthenes shook his head and said that this wasn't done on Delos.
All in all, the tribunal turned out to be stuffy and formalized, but at least it was only once every seven years!

5xp intrigue, 5xp concentration (a tribunal is a major thing - even if it is major boring :-))

Can I give her an extra personality trait: Likes ship travel -1?

94

If she invents spells, can I assume that the core book ones are in the covenant library, and the others aren't? Or is there a level limit, like the core book spells up to lvl20 are in the library?

95

Whatever makes sense for the narrative. Anything not from the core book is, as always, subject to review.

96

Season 3, 1200
Looking through her old lab notes, Eikona found an idea from her apprentice days: A spell to make her harmless to animals. She told Demosthenes, who seemed surprised, and she asked Renardine, if it was okay to spend more time in the lab, but the vixen just smiled and replied: "This is the city of the world's desire. I'm feeling like a fox in a henhouse".
And so, Eikona invented a spell:

The Beauty and the Beast ReAn10
This spell allows Eikona to move among mundane animals and to collect their species without disturbing them. It is a day length variety of Disguise of the Putrid Aroma (p. 120). Of course, this spell doesn’t cause any putrid aroma: She’s a Jerbiton, not a Bjornaer.

Magic theory (spells) 4 + Aura 3 + Int 2 + re 5 + an 6 = 20

2 xp Magic theory gained

season 4, 1200

That morning, Eikona was sick. The covenant's cook looked her up and down and chuckled: "You are pregnant, mistress", clearly amused that she could read the signs and Eikona couldn't.

They celebrated with their familiars and Demosthenes told Eikona that alcohol was bad for babies. That showed her she had no clue how the human body worked, but luckily, she found a Corpus primer named: From toothless babe to toothless senex - an introduction to the human body, which she devoured. In the end, it didn't help: At the end of the third month, she was shaken by severe cramps, and lost the baby.

21xp reading Co

97

1201, season 1
Still depressed, Eikona didn't feel like making preparations for the wedding, and neither Demosthenes nor Reanrdine could coax her out of her lab, where she spent a season reading Water and Tears, an Aquam primer.

21 xp Aquam

1201, season 2
Demosthenes and Renardine still tried to coax her out of her lab, and told her about their plans for the wedding. Demosthenes talked about inviting 77 fairies and Renardine about inviting 77 magic beings. They also raved about inviting all of House Jerbiton, showing her an invitation letter they said they had sent in her name. Eikona flew into a rage and threw her ring at Demosthenes: "Are you mad? You know that I wanted us to celebrate quietly with just a few guests!"
Only then did they tell her that they hadn't prepared anything yet, but if they didn't start right away, the wedding would be an affair of poor taste. That finally got her going. There wa so much to do:

  • She decided to have a Christian wedding at a Pagan temple and sent Demosthenes to find a location and Renardine to find a Priest.
  • She, in the meantime, wrote a serious of poems, each personal, to invite, Lyrus, her father, Mirabelle, Horst and Peter, the familiars and the magi from Thermakopolis. It would be a small gathering, but that was fine with her, and Demosthenes said that her happiness would be his happiness.
  • There still was the issue of food and wine, so the couple and their familiars, Testudino in his new human form, spent a lot of evenings out sampling.
  • Lyrus promised to take care of the musical entertainment
  • Eikona's father insisted on making the wedding rings
  • and an Auram magus from Thermakopolis promised favorable weather

The day came, but the priest had bailed out, so they used a mixture of illusion and bribes to find another one. That didn't change the fact that it was a perfect wedding.

5 Intrigue, 5 etiquette

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98

1201, season 3
The honeymoon was cut short by a rumor that a pre-apprentice had vanished from a school that the order used to educate these talents. They asked Eikona, because she had found an apprentice before, and also, because she hadn't done much for the good of Thermakopolis since.
So Demosthenes and Testodino posed as teachers, and Eikona and Renardine posed as students. For a time that seemed endless they sat in classrooms learning about the laws of physics. Then they managed to befriend a student who said she had a lock of Alexander's hair.
This allowed Eikona to use her Distant Image spell, but the effects were less than optimal because of the strong divine interference. They showed a study from which you could see the Hagia Sophia in the distance. Armed with that knowledge, they started a series of invisible house searches, taking them around the city.
In the end, it turned out that the kidnapper was the child's father, Studiosus ex Miscellanea, from a lineage of natural philosophers, who had hidden his child from the Order until another magus had stolen his son to donate him to the Order.
They decided to look the other way, and were gifted with some vis by the father who fled the tribunal.

2 warping points (many spells cast in a divine aura), 3p of vis, 5xp philosophiae (natural philosophy), 5xp Area Lore Constantinople (Hagia Sophia neighborhood)

I assume they'll never see the father again, unless of course, a storyteller wants to dig this up.

99

It took me a while to understand who "her" was in the sentence. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Give us names, both the apprentice's and the father's, just in case! :grin:

These are, after all, (one current and one future) members of the Order of Hermes.

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100

1201, season 4
To keep things at night interesting, Eikona looked at magically creating different appearances. She came across a spell that seemed ideal for her purpose: Aura of Ennobled Presence, for all those erotic princess roleplaying fantasies. When Renardine heard of her plans, she volunteered to help, after getting Eikona's promise that she'd use the new spells on her.

lab total: Im 11 + Mu 6 + Aura/Int/Magic Theory 9 + 5 familiar = 31
10 used to invent Aura of Ennobles presence (labtext)
20 used to invent aura of Childlike Innocence (no labtext)
2xp exposure

1202, season 1:
Pregnant again: which spell had they used that night...?! This time, Eikona took no chances and immediately started to browse the library for a spell that might help. She cursed her inability to use Creo Rituals and therefore settled on a classic. Purification of the Festering wounds (CrCo20), which she was able to learn from a lab text without even having to ask Renardine for help

Cr 5+ Co 6 + Aura 3 + Int 2 + Magic theory spells 4 = 20
2xp exposure

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