You know what to do!
Round three! Third times the charm!
2:
While she has her own personal tastes and tendencies (like thinking all Mercere should use more magic rather than the Gifted Mercere holding back), for the most part Áine (pronounced nearly Anya) is a Gifted Mercere through and through. She descends from multiple Mercere lines, was born into House Mercere, and has spent her life around Redcaps. She is small and weak, but not so much so to be truly notable (e.i. no Small Frame). Meanwhile, outside of being quite clever and pretty, she is pretty but unexceptional socially. Being very clever, a little weak, and having a penchant toward hedonism that includes her magic sometimes overwhelming her, Áine has always leaned toward a cautious approach to her magic. But what really stands out about her magically is the results of her being conceived in a fertility site, causing her to be infused by regenerative magical energy and also making magical energy feel invigorating.
.
Int +3, Per +1, Str -2, Sta +1, Pre +3, Com +2, Dex -1, Qui -3
Personality Traits: Ambitious +6, Calculating +3, Hedonistic +3, Motherly +3
House Mercere:
- The Gift [free]
- Hermetic Maga [free]
- Mutantum Magic [1] - This is from the other side of her lineage.
- Puissant Creo [free] - Apprenticed by a Mercurian parens.
- Skilled Parens [1] - Ophilio
- Ambitious (major) [-3] - She has lofty goals of bringing back more of the Cult of Mercury and raising a great many Redcaps, perhaps even elevating the status of the typical Redcap along the way.
- Covenant Upbringing [-1] - Born and raised at Leth Cuinn.
Clever and cautious with her magic:
- Affinity with Magic Theory [1]
- Book Learner [1]
- Cautious with Artes Liberales [1]
- Cautious with Concentration [1]
- Puissant Magic Theory [1]
Conceived a strong fertility site, leaving her infused with regenerative magical energy and also making magical energy feel invigorating:
- Imbued with the Spirit of Corpus [1]
- Lesser Benediction: Unusually Fecund [1]
- Minor Magical Focus: Aging [1]
- Dependents [-3] - Due to Unusually Fecund and Redcap practices, she will have a lot of children. So this isn't specifically an individual child or similar, but recurring issues of pregnancy, little children, dealing with fathers, finding suitable paths for her children, etc.
- Magic Addiction [-3]
3:
Áine was born at Leth Cuinn, south of Antrim and not far from Lough Neagh, in Ulster, to two Redcaps. At first her upbringing was fairly typical for the child of a Redcap, playing around with the other children and growing up in amazement of the magic around them. The most unusual thing, though not at the covenant, was that the religion in which she was raised was the Cult of Mercury, as the Cult of Heroes runs the covenant.
Area Lore: Hibernian Tribunal 1 (Navigation) [5]
Athletics 1 (Dance) [5]
Awareness 1 (Alertness) [5]
Brawl 1 (Dodging) [5]
Charm 1 (Debate) [5]
Folk Ken 1 (Debate) [5]
Guile 1 (Debate) [5]
Language: Gaelic (Ulster) [75-75=0]
Stealth 1 (Natural Areas) [5]
Swim 1 (Underwater) [5]
4: 5 years
Things changed dramatically for Áine when her Gift emerged. She was fortunate to be in a Redcap covenant as it happened, so rather than be rejected by parents, she became a treasured child at the covenant, even if her turbulences and Gift's social effects could cause some problems. Knowing she would end up trained by a Gifted Mercere, the covenant made sure she received some training in Latin and a few other useful skills while they sent word to the leaders of House Mercere.
Concentration 1 (Spells) [5]
Etiquette 1 (Hermetic) [5]
Intrigue 1 (Debate) [5]
Language: Latin 4 (Hermetic) [50]
Organization Lore: Order of Hermes 1 (Hibernian Tribunal) [5]
Profession: Scribe 1 (Latin) [5]
I'm looking at altering Pull of the Skybound Winds (core, p.126). I think it's getting either a minor description change to say you can hold things up for a while or a level change to downgrade Concentration to Momentary. I don't want to hold things, so I'm working off the Momentary version, which is what the description is for. I'd like to add a magnitude for a choice of direction, still requiring Finesse if you want to be super-accurate with it. Based on things like Gift of the Frog's Legs and Tossing the Brawling Brute, horizontal tosses are about 5/3 as far, so up to 50 feet upward or 80 feet horizontally (or down). So that would be:
Toss of the Tempest (CrAu 30)
R: Voice, D: Momentary, T: Ind
Makes winds in a direction chosen by the caster, pulling one object, creature, or person up to 50 feet before letting that target drop, or flinging the target up to 80 feet horizontally or downward. Even a small building can be torn from its foundation, though such a building can be no larger than 20 feet to a side, and cannot be built out of a material heavier than stout wood. Uprooted objects land fairly randomly in the chosen direction, unless you make a Finesse stress roll against an Ease Factor of 12 to choose where the objects will land.
(Base 5, +2 Voice, +2 unnatural, +1 flexibility)
5:
Once Áine was old enough, the Redcaps of Leth Tuin brought her to Ophilio at Aedes Mercurii, in the Provençal Tribunal, for there were no Gifted Mercere magi in Hibernia. There he was able to put her talents with Corpus to good use while training her to be somewhat his successor. Due to his great age, everyone figured Áine would be his last apprentice, but as a master of Longevity Rituals it is certainly possible he could be around plenty longer and train another.
Throughout Áine's apprenticeship Ophilio moved between Provençal and Hibernia (the guest lab at Leth Moga), as the intention of House Mercere was that Áine would return to Hibernia to be the one Gifted Mercere there. With the exaltation give to a magus such as Ophilio, who had been even been high priest, she had essentially been prepared to be dutiful since birth and so was ready to serve him well.
But she unintentionally threw a kink into Ophilio's training. It was at 13 that Áine became pregnant, and somehow by two different Redcap apprentices, though this was not discovered until after the children were born. At 14 she gave birth to identical twins Aoife and Béibhinn, followed immediately by their half-brother Ciar. Ciar's obvious African heritage made it rather obvious he was fathered by the boy Nadim Áine slept with a couple weeks after she'd become pregnant by Velasco. The Cult of Heroes took note of her fecundity. Ophilio couldn't really discipline her, as it is an important duty of a Mercere to give birth before undergoing a Longevity Ritual, but he had to make sure the apprenticeship would not be ruined. He worked to keep the Cult of Heroes at bay until after her apprenticeship, and through the Redcap network he searched for and vetted a number of girls who could act as Áine's servant and a nurse to her children. He also checked to make sure whoever he found bonded well with Aoife to help keep her out of trouble. This is how Sadb became Áine's confidant, lover and midwife, as well as her children's nurse.
Area Lore: Provençal 1 (Navigation) [5]
Artes Liberales 1 (Ceremonial Casting; Latin) [5]
Finesse 1 (Certamen) [5]
Magic Theory 4+2 (Spells) [33]
Organization Lore: Cult of Mercury 1 (Cult of Heroes) [5]
Parma Magica 1 (Sharing) [5]
Penetration 1 (Certamen) [5]
Philosophiae 1 (Ceremonial Casting) [5]
Creo 11+3 [66]
Rego 9 [45]
Auram 5 [15]
Corpus 9 [45]
Vim 8 [36]
Circling Winds of Protection (Cr(Re)Au 20)
Toss of the Tempest (CrAu 30), Mastery 1: Multiple Casting [5]
Midwife's Elixir (CrCo 25, Mutantum)
. . . Provides +6 to Childbirth rolls.
. . . (Base 5, +1 Touch, +3 Moon, Tethered)
The Key of Theodorus (ReTe 5)
Suppressing the Wizard’s Handiwork (ReVi 20)
Aegis of the Hearth (ReVi 20, Ritual), Mastery 1: Penetration [5]
Mastering the Demanding Spell (ReVi 30, Mutantum), Mastery 2: Imperturbable Casting, Stalwart Casting [15]
. . . (Maintaining the Demanding Spell @ Moon, Harnessed, Tethered)
I see no problems with +1 Magnitude to achieve greater control. I think holding things up for a prolonged period with control might require Rego (I could see arguments either way), but a single blast of more accurate wind moderated by Finesse seems well within the scope of Creo.
I agree. And holding things for a prolonged period feels like it would absolutely require Rego, and potentially a Finesse roll. Thankfully that's not the aim here. So yeah, seems like a quite solid offensive/defensive tool.
6:
For her macgnímartha, Áine generally wandered Ireland, exploring. While she was unhappy leaving her children, she could fly fast enough to frequently return to Leth Cuinn to check on them now and then; and she knew they were in good hands with Sadb. For a little while she passed through Leinster, intentionally making herself a good target for some Normans without actually picking a fight. The Normans that fell for her bait found themselves flung away by strong winds. While she got a little joy from this, it really wasn't what she was after, so she next moved northward to Meath. In Meath Áine traveled more unassumingly just observing, until she came across a knight who seemed more clever than her Norman victims had been. She quickly took to the air, surrounded by a miniature tornado, and flung strong winds at the knight. She couldn't shake him, but neither could he hurt her. He probably could have waited her out, following on horseback, since she had tired herself out. But he did not know that, and offered Áine a truce if she would walk with him and share stories. Áine did so, having no idea the knight she now knew as Donnchad was leading her along the Slíghe Assail to his home. There they had a passionate affair for perhaps a week. But she came to the realization that something was amiss when she began showing as though she were in her third trimester. Using Creo magic to reconstruct some memories, she discovered the affair had lasted far longer than she realized, and that the reason she had not been able to unseat this knight with her wind is that he was actually one of the Tuatha Dé. So she disappeared, but it took her most of the next trimester to escape Faerie, figuring out where she was, and return to Leth Cuinn. She only just arrived in time for Sadb to help deliver Domnall shortly before she would need to begin her gauntlet.
Ophilio did not put forth an easy gauntlet, though it was one for which Áine was particularly well suited and he knew it. She was tasked with casting the Aegis of the Hearth for Leth Cuinn, traveling to Leth Moga, creating a 10th magnitude Longevity Ritual for the Redcap Muiredach there, and casting the Aegis of the Hearth for Leth Moga all in a season. With her ability to fly surreptitiously, Áine took off across the country with the most direct path she could think of the day after casting Leth Cuinn's Aegis. She went up the Blackwater from Lough Neagh, cut southwest until hitting Upper Lough Erne, followed its feeder river south, turned overland to the west until hitting the outflow from Lough Ree, and then found her way to Praesis, where she spent the night. Despite her reservations about Praesis, she knew they would not act against a Redcap gauntlet, especially that of an apprentice to a great continental magus. The next day she crossed Lough Ree, followed the Shannon to Lough Derg, crossed Lough Derg, and turned northwest to find Elk's Run, again to spend the night. She felt much better there than at Praesis, even if Elk's Run did have a more questionable past; and she marveled a the library even though she could not spend time perusing its tomes. The next day she returned to Lough Derg, followed the Shannon to the bay, followed the Maigue upriver as far as she could, turned south to pass the Blackwater until she hit the sea, and followed the coast to Leth Moga. She was welcomed at Leth Moga, though still not yet a maga. After a couple days of rest she began on Muiredach's Longevity Ritual. Of course, this required Áine to work with Muiredach for the season, and she was far from Sadb, so she became pregnant before Muiredach became sterile. At the end of the season she cast Leth Moga's Aegis in the presence of Ophilio and Visioturpis, completing her gauntlet and becoming a maga upon swearing the Oath. Then it was back to Leth Cuinn to reunite with her family and head off to their new covenant.
Reputations: Red Mother 1 (Hibernian magi, faeries)
Confidence: 1 (3)
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Certamen Style: Hoplomachus
Wizard's Sigil: A breeze
Other Characters of Note: (will add stats later)
With Áine:
Aoife & Béibhinn - Áine's firstborn twins, Aoife followed shortly by Béibhinn. They are the daughters of Redcap Velasco. They are now 11 years old. Like their father, they are sensitive to magic but are not Gifted. As they don't seem inclined toward becoming Redcaps, Áine has had them trained to be useful around the lab.
Ciar - Áine's third child, who followed right after Aoife and Béibhinn. He is the son of Redcap Nadim. He is now 11 years old. Due to his wanderlust and the Second Sight he picked up from his father, Áine is hoping to get him trained as a Redcap.
Domnall - Áine's fourth child, born after her time in Faerie with a Sidhe. He is not yet half a year old, though he already bears characteristics of his Sidhe ancestry.
Sadb - Áine's confidant, lover and midwife, as well as her children's nurse. She is only a year younger than Áine and was specifically trained to be a midwife and nurse when it was seen she had bonded well with Áine. She seems to have a knack for knowing when those in her care need extra attention.
Elsewhere:
Donnchad - He is a Sidhe knight in Éire, the one who tricked Áine to getting stuck in Faerie during much of her macgnímartha. He is also the father of Domnall.
Ophilio of Mercury - Her parens is detailed in F&F p.85.
Redcap Muiredach - He is a Redcap of the Hibernian Tribunal, the one for whom Áine made a Longevity Ritual as part of her gauntlet. He has just turned 36 and is the father of the child still in her womb.
Redcap Nadim - He is a Redcap of the Iberian Tribunal, only a little older than Áine. He is Ciar's father. Due to his home tribunal and their apprenticeships, Áine has only seen him a few times since Ciar was born.
Redcap Velasco - He is a Redcap of the Provençal Tribunal, only a little older than Áine. He is Aoife's and Béibhinn's father. As their apprenticeships were somewhat in the same tribunal, Áine has seen Velasco periodically over the year, which has allowed him to check in and see how his daughters have been doing.
I'm brainstorming Companion concepts, but nothing is immediately occurring to me. Do you have any roles that you think Aine needs and/or would have filled that seem important to you?
@callen I am open to other paths with this as well, but wanted to be sure this conversation thread wasn't lost in the churn of the main thread.
I'm letting this concept stew in the back of my mind.
I don't think you would "have" to be a Redcap to be associated with the Cult of Heroes/Mercury, but it would certainly help.
I'm not sure how much it stretches belief to have two Redcaps at one Covenant that isn't a Mercere House. Though also having a Gifted Mercere there would lend some credibility to that and maybe even raise the potential for developing a Mercere House at the Covenant.
I'm pondering and exploring ideas here as to what would really fit my "wanna-be Irish Hero Knight" concept and/or if something else develops that I find more interesting as we explore ideas.
Yup. I was figuring she would frequent both Mercere Houses anyway, so there isn't as much incentive to specifically settle where she is. There is a lot of incentive for Redcaps to drop by, though, since they'll want to stay in close contact with her.