Apprenticeship: 240xp
Latin: 4 (50xp)
Italian: 1 (5xp)(+3xp)
Artes Liberales: 3 (30xp)
Philosophae: 1 (5xp)
Profession: Scribe: 1 (5xp)
Code of Hermes: 1 (5xp)
Order of Hermes Lore: 1 (5xp)
Magic Theory: 3 (30xp)
Parma Magica: 1 (5xp)
Concentration: 1 (5xp)
Penetration: 1 (5xp)
Intellego: 5 (15xp)
Rego: 8 (36xp)
Vim: 8 (36xp)
Eadric and his new Master, who introduced himself as Chaldeaus, soon departed Wexford by ship. Nearly all his life Eadric had watched the ships come and go from the port of Wexford. Watched them bring and take people and goods in a constant flow. And somehow the idea that he would ever be on one of them had never been in his consideration. He came to understand that his life with Chaldeaus would be completely different from what came before.
On the way his lessons began almost immediately, in Latin. And in manners befitting an Apprentice instead of a street urchin. Slowly these things started to be hammered into some semblance of early form and with that the realization of how much he would be needing to learn. The guardsmen as well were strange and their speech unfamiliar. They seemed as unsettled by Eadric as anyone else but to keep that feeling under close control. Chaldeaus explained they were all from Italy and had traveled far to follow the vision that had led them to Eadric. All this soaked into his mind with a sense of wonder. He was going to Italy?
The quick mind of the boy was eager ever to take in more. He devoured the instruction. Indeed the lack of trust in their Master than many Apprentices struggle with in the beginning not present at all. Both Eadric and Chaldeaus had foreseen their meeting and the forming of their bond. And further that it would be of strong character and benefit for the both of them. Both placed such faith in that vision and its fulfillment that Master and Apprentice bonded readily to one another.
The ship brought them to England landing in Northern Wales. From there the small party of Magus, Apprentice, and Guardsmen made their way to Cad Gadu. The mysteries of the Domus Magnus and its Regio were seemingly well known to Chaldeaus. And he seemed there to find much respect and amity though they traveled quickly. Still there, for the first time, Eadric saw the wonders of unbridled magic and the raw power of Magi on display. It was a place of wonder secreted away inside an otherworldly Regio. It was also there he encountered for the first time other people besides Chaldeaus that reacted to him with kindness and even indulgence. Cad Gadu remains a place he remembers fondly.
There using the Mercere Portal of the Domus Magnus the small party traveled rapidly to Harco, encountering yet more wonders, before departing overland and in a matter of just a few days arrived in the chief homestead of Rellantali. Venice. A completely different and yet recognizable world from that which Eadric left behind. A land of different customs, different language, and different appearances. A much larger and more cosmopolitan city full of people, wealth, and commerce. And yet still ultimately a port city with strong similarities between it and the port city of his birth.
It required far more to grow accustomed to the wealth of Rellantali and the comfortable abundance and security which accompanied it. The former street urchin had much to adjust to and yet much of it was done in quick order with the immediate deep connection between Eadric and Chaldeaus. The two seemed of one mind on almost everything during the early days. The unity of their respective visions was unsettling even to some of the other Magi of Rellantali. Yet their Sodale had brought home an Apprentice, one so obviously suited to him, and ultimately what was there to complain about?
Years passed in exacting and demanding tutelage and the boy developed into a young man with a manner and bearing much like his Master. Some whispered as the years passed that Chaldeaus had somehow spawned a bastard on the other end of the world and then gone there to bring him back as an Apprentice years later. If anything this talk amused both Master and Apprentice both.
As he grew older, better trained, and gained the language of his environment Eadric slowly started to be included in various activities of the Covenant in Venice. And thus Eadric was exposed for the first time to crime beyond stealing bread to avoid going hungry for the night. At first the young man had reservations about the now revealed way in which Rellantali maintained their wealth, privilege, and power. His visions had warned him that the affairs of the Covenant were not always pleasant or straightforward. Yet as he came to understand the extent to which that was true he realized that the people of Venice were treated as little more than prey. Prey which, due to the precarious position of Rellantali in the Tribunal, must not be allowed to realize their state. And so Rellantali was ruthless. And in fulfilling their demands of him Eadric was forced to be ruthless as well. He took no pleasure even as he grew into understanding the necessity of their position. His Blatant Gift restricted the degree to which he went out among the people to do the work of the Covenant. Yet his growing facility with sympathetic magic was easily put to use and the severity of the impact of his Gift was in some ways useful when say intimidation was called for.
As the years continued Eadric, as a more senior Apprentice, was expected to somewhat regularly participate in and help facilitate the criminal enterprises of Rellantali in Venice. He came to be fluent in Italian and able to handle these matters directly with the retainers and associates of the criminal network maintained by the Covenant when called upon. This also caused him to occasionally meet with people in affluent positions, sometimes even Nobles, who had matters with Rellantali what required more than a retainer or Custos and yet did not necessarily warrant a Magus. And in this he excelled as much as any young Gifted could becoming adept at reading those who would deceive and managing such affairs and schemes as he was entrusted with. Blackmail, smuggling, extortion, bribery in the right hands ... he grew increasingly comfortable with the way the illicit true power structures and influence networks of the city functioned. And how so very many of them were under the boot of Rellantali. The handicap of his Blatant Gift in dealing with the powerful was offset by his ability to interact with his allies from afar among a collection of other similar tactics. Some of the criminal retainers of the Covenant had become accustomed to him over time and these became his closer allies and agents.
Increasingly Eadric came to embrace the power wielded by Rellantali and the ascendance they maintain for themselves in Venice. He exerted that influence on his own behalf, unbeknownst to the full Magi of the Covenant, to become a known and accepted if mysterious and ominous presence in the upper tier gambling halls and gentlemen's clubs favored by the wealthiest and most noble of patrons in the city. His reputation in Venice became so scandalous and sensational that Chaldeaus called him to task over it in no uncertain terms. How could Rellantali escape notice from the mundanes, much less the other Covenants of Rome, if he made a spectacle of himself in public iniquity with noble sons and the bewitching and bedding of noble daughters? Chaldeaus demanded that he must learn the hard lesson that Magi must live in the shadows. His Master was always cautious and even fearful. Always hesitant and giving way before true resistance to approach a situation from another angle entirely. Rellantali survived, he insisted, because it enforced the secrecy and discretion of hiding their power and affluence away from the mundane world. Doing otherwise was to court disaster. Especially in Rome.
Chaldeaus displayed power that Eadric had not known that he possessed, so infrequently and discreetly was it exercised, in wiping all traces of his Apprentice's misdeeds from the city. His scandalous reputation, his young noble acquaintances and conquests, all gone. The entire fabric of the city rewoven around his absence outside the criminal networks of Rellantali that he would still need to work with. With one awesome ritual his Master could reweave the minds of the populace.
And yet the man feared them?
All throughout his Apprenticeship yet especially during the later years Chaldeaus built up and emphasized the importance of the Pagan Deities to the practice of magic. Especially the deep mysteries of divination that were the specialty of their magical lineage. One could not fail to recognize the Gods in the great cycles of creation. Their Astrological significance was undeniable. This cosmic truth, Chaldeaus taught, permeated all of reality. The Gods are the foundation and font of magic and to deny them is akin to denying The Gift itself. This Eadric absorbed deeply.
When in the fullness of time the young Magus, now visibly coming into his own as a young man of capability, was nearing the end of his Apprenticeship the usual tension between a Master and Apprentice before the Gauntlet was not to be seen. Instead both became somewhat distant from one another. They both knew what was to come, even more so with the intensity of their respective Gifts and prescience. Silently they both prepared while giving one another knowing and resigned looks.
Until one day Eadric and Chaldeaus walked in haste to meet one another, as if both at an appointed hour, in the courtyard of the great townhouse of Rellantali in Venice. There they paused and not looking at one another instead both observed their environment. The angle of the sunlight. The dew on the leaves in the garden. A bird passing by overhead. And then, both seeming satisfied that some mystically appointed hour had arrived, they turned to one another.
"It is time." said Eadric, his voice determined. Chaldeaus responded. "Yes, my boy. Your test begins today." he says, a slight grimace passing over his features. "In the city I have created three very different agents that will seek your death. They are simple mundanes yet do not doubt they could do you harm. I have selected and prepared them with care in order to provide an adequate test of your abilities. Each bears a small token which I have given them. It will not be a token that you know, but one they have received from me. You must find them and retrieve the tokens. Survive and bring all three tokens to me, without leaving the city, and you shall have passed." he says. For a moment his Master hesitated, then reached out and placed an old hand on his shoulder. "Have care and do not fail me my boy."
Three days later Eadric returned to the townhouse bedraggled, dirty, and bearing two visible wounds. Yet the wounds were already bound and the young man, eyes full of pride and determination, challengingly presented three tokens when Chaldeaus came to inspect him. The wicked grin and glee of the devious old man brought a smile reaching from ear to ear of new Magus. Pater and Filus laughed together.