The Tytalus who dwells in my heart salutes the Tytalus who dwells in your heart.
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So I'd like to propose purchasing the following books with the remaining vis. I'll sketch out brief concepts now and write a more in depth description once the overall concept is approved and ratings/ideas are more firm. In general I see most of these as being things he paid to have copied/produced by either Rellantali or other places where members of the Haruspex tradition are located, they being lore from said tradition he wants to have as a foundation for himself.
I'd also like to apply his remaining unallocated adventure reward to being enough vis to cover the difference on these purchases. I'm aiming for roughly a L5 Q (whatever is reasonable) book of each type. I'm not really certain what the prices for non-Art books are expected to be.
Divination Summa: The Celestial Spheres
A work forming the central body of astrological lore passed down by the astrological line in the Haruspex tradition. By one of the first astrologers to have fully converted over to Hermetic Magic during the early founding of the Order of Hermes. Considered the "authority" on astrological divination.
Premonitions Summa: Understanding Foresight
A more recent work by Chaldeaus himself. This tome meticulously categorizes the symbolic associations of various vision elements and their different means of interpretation. The great emphasis on attending to details found in visions and their importance to interpretation later makes this work also able to serve as a tractatus on Awareness.
Second Sight Summa: Seeing Behind The Veil: The Varied Influences of the Realms & Their Interpretation
Another classic by the same author of the Divination authority. This work extensively documents different types of supernatural influences and their appearance to the user of Second Sight. Extensive explanations are provided regarding what may or may not be inferred about the forces of different Realms by what one has observed with the Sight. This also enables these sections of the book to be each read as a tractatus on Realm Lore for each Realm.
Concentration Summa: The Foundations Of Will
A series of exercises of increasing complexity designed to hone mental prowess. (More Pending.)
Art of Memory Summa: On Constructing A Memory Palace
(Pending.)
Classic Greek Language Summa
(Pending.)
I basically see them as "their own thing" as a kind of unique process that is able to be done by all Hermetics but isn't fully integrated and thus isn't just a CrCo guideline. But being their own thing to me doesn't mean that Mercurians wouldn't be more efficient users of vis in casting the effect. And as the inset mentioned in that discussion (TMRE pf 42) makes clear, they are essentially cast akin to rituals using vis. So there are strong arguments as to why they would be analagous/get the benefit.
Most of the arguments I've seen against Mercurians getting the benefit there tend to seem technical and/or gamist to me. "In the spirit" as it were of the Mercurians ... it seems very in keeping with it all.
Nope. It makes clear that the limit on vis is based on the Arts, not MT. This clarification is necessary because repeating the ritual isn't a lab activity.
I see the spirit of the Mercurians as getting several magi to cast a single, powerful ritual spell. Which isn't exactly what a longevity ritual (bath, potion, incense, gem, etc) is.
Humm.... Maybe this is one more discussion to bring to the Table Talk? But I'd suggest the others (familiars and fast-casting) get solved first, to avoid things getting lost in the thread.
It can be tabled for a while. The other two are certainly more important.
Let's make it simple.
Unless the magus create it himself as a lab activity, a longevity ritual designed before the start of the saga costs 1 pawns per magnitude up to the fifth magnitude and 2 pawns per magnitudes 6 to 10, plus the cost of activating the ritual (based on age).
No longevity ritual higher than level 50 during pre-play advancement.
So a level 40 longevity ritual would cost 11 pawns to acquire. If the magus is 36 years old when it is activated, this costs an additional 8 pawns.
The cost of a longevity ritual is not reduced by the Mercurian Magic virtue.
Edit: I've just added it to this post: About the Ars Magica 5th Edition: The Heir of Laimunt Valley category - #3 by Arthur
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Thank you for setting a price. And it looks like this is a general rule for a price and I like that.
Only potential addendum needed would be ... how much is the adventure reward discount worth? Since someone arguably should be able to simply devote time/vis to buying a Longevity Ritual without such an additional factor being involved.
I’ve been thinking about this character a bit more and I think perhaps the Hermetic Flaw “Slow Caster” would be more apt for him and his magic style. I’ve been mulling today about whether to switch over to it and make a few other accompanying changes.
Thoughts on how this would affect/synergize with the concept?
No adventure discount.
Consider that the guideline for yearly vis includes that gained during adventures. That vis is virtual and can manifest itself in different ways -- including a "rebate" on the actual cost (as opposed to the virtual cost) of a longevity ritual.
If I awarded a discount because of an adventures, you'd be getting the benefits twice.
Vis Accrued: 30 pawns
Vis Expenditure In Post Gauntlet:
Longevity Ritual: ?
Bind Familiar: (Lab Total: 35) -7p
Remainder: (Pending)
Other Expenditures:
(Pending)
Adventure Reward x 2 (siege battle & bird problem)
I think these are my lingering issues other than perhaps a Companion and/or Shield Grog or two.
Am I missing anything additional?
Anyone have any ideas or preferences regarding where the Mercurian Grove/Temple and High Priest that Vorsutus interacted with in his early career in the Roman Tribunal is located and/or the identity of such person?
Italy? =9
But really, no particular opinion for either.
The Wikipedia article on the Oracles mentions several places where they were located. Any one of these might be appropriate. Delphi and Cumae seem the most likely in Italy itself, but there are also mane in Greece and Asia Minor.
This is very interesting! Thank you for the link. I think given my intent is a Grove/Temple in Italy/the Roman Tribunal for this instance that Cumae makes a lot of sense there. I think I'll call it then the "Temple of the Cumaean Sibyls" and having a surrounding sacred grove and regio.
The High Priest, since now we have a location associated with an Oracle, would likely be some variety of Haruspex (or other such Diviner) then.
I think I'll name him "Acer of Ex Miscellenea, High Priest of ..."
I'm thinking of rolling these into the below ideas, since I'm not sure what I could/should use these for without seemingly being able to profit from them. And I feel like I've already taken enough items of quality.
Vis Accrued: 30 pawns
Vis Expenditure In Post Gauntlet:
Longevity Ritual: LT: 30 (6pt bonus)(-14p)
Bind Familiar: (Lab Total: 35) -7p
Remainder: 9p
Other Expenditures:
I have in mind a different set of book purchases than before.
- Finesse Summa: L5 Q: ?? (In Latin, Greek, or Gaelic)(Or Norse for that matter, just meaning he is willing to buy a book from Hibernia or wherever.)
- Magic Lore Summa: L5 Q:?? (In Latin, Greek, or Gaelic)
- Artes Liberales Summa: L6 Q:?? (I'm aiming for a worthy companion to the weighty tome for Philosophae in the library!) (In Latin or Greek)
- Classical Greek Language Summa: L5 Q:?? (In Latin)
- German Language Summa: L5 Q:?? (In Latin or Greek)
I'll wait on working up descriptions for now.
So something I've written into the "important characters" area of the Vorsutus Stats thread but haven't stated here.
After the affairs/events in Constantinople Vorsutus left Amina (his wife) there, but took the children with him before being transported magically to the Temple in Cumae. He has not seen/contacted Amina since, though no doubt that is just a matter of time.
He has since also taken on Isabella Carraro, who I imagine to be a lady of aristocratic birth from Venice but also from a line/tradition of un-Gifted Malocchi (Societates pg 108). I see her as being an "old flame" of Vorsutus that as he recuperated after the war was rekindled. Now she is basically the new wife and stepmother to the children. I have been pondering whether she should have a child of her own in the intervening year or so before Vorsutus undergoes a Longevity Ritual and prepares makes his way to Tugurium. Right now I'm thinking this is the direction I would like to go. Which means ... Vorsutus has at least four "Dependent" characters at the Covenant once he arrives and settles in.
"Historically accurate" Divination Summa? =]
I suggest the Libri Almagesti from Ptolemy. Summa on Artes Liberales (Astronomy) L5Q8 (greek). Canon book presented in A&A, the only book I wanted Regulus to bring from Thebes that he couldn't get done in time. XD
There are a few other books (summa and tractatus) presented in A&A that could also be suitable.
Personal opinion: I don't really see a L5 summa on languages as possible. To me the highest possible score in a language is 6 (never seen higher in any book, and it doesn't make much sense to me), meaning a summa of at most L3...+ 3 tractatus, possibly.
But I will defer to the troupe / alpha SG.
We do have possible teachers both for Greek and High German to help us go from L3 to L4/5.
There's this list of all canon books in the Atlas Games page, organized by Ability, with mentions to the source. I refer to it either to have a canon book in hand or to get a grasp of what the source books think are acceptable values for a summa/tractatus when I want to create a book from scratch to suit my saga. Maybe you could check it and suggest values you find reasonable for the books you want?
L5 summae are pretty rare. Regardless of quality I'd like to know who was this author, why and when he wrote the book, if this is his magnum opus, and other details. Even if only to get the context behind the book. =]
(A L5Q10 summa on Intrigue written by roman emperor at the prime of his life is very different from a L6Q9 summa on Infernal Lore written by a derranged Bonisagus just before the fall of his covenant.)
I think that would be a very interesting idea.
There also seem to be lost scrolls from them (of course?) so they could make for an interesting thing to try and hunt down for both study and/or insight/inspiration for a research/integration project etc.
This seems interesting and promising. And I'm liking the idea that this seems to be developing into a more broadly erudite group of Magi/library.
I'm not sure I agree with you there but it has seemed to beg the question to me in the past whether it is really beneficial in any way to raise a Language above 4. I'm sure there have been extensive discussions about it on the boards in the past. I'm not sure though that there is any functional reason to cap a score at 6 just because it is what we have examples of.
It does seem like a higher language score should somehow be rewarded but I can't think of any way that it is. There is this line from the language ability description.
This Ability also covers artistic compositions
in the language, and telling existing tales
with verve and passion.
I don't think this line gets much (any?) mileage. I would think overall that social abilities should be impacted by language fluency. Also likely the quality of any books written should be similarly impacted. But we have no rules for this and I'm not sure whether anyone would be eager to adopt any. The point however is that directly higher skill in a language isn't supposed to be meaningless (nor should it be) and we have no reason to handwave away the potential for it existing or being written about in and of itself.
You need a score of 4 to be able to study from a book in that language.
You need a score of 5 in order to be able to write a book in that language.
A score of 6 is useful when you have to speak with someone with a different regional dialect. Or when you want to impress someone with your mastery of the language. 
In any case, having a higher score in a language allows you to copy texts faster.