Character Development: Magus Einarr of the Younger House (Player: Nithyn)

Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Isle of Wrath
1

Alrighty folks, as promised, here we go! I've got the character more or less ready at this point, but we'll take it in pieces and let folks jump in rather than just throwing it all out there.

So as I said, general idea, Trollsynir are a thing, and so I figured, why wouldn't there be one or two Hermetics running around? So I went with:

Giant Blood
Minor Magical Focus (Human Augmentation)

Necessary Condition (Runes)

Giant Blood for the Major Supernatural for obvious reasons. It's kinda their whole shtick. The Minor focus is mostly MuCo stuff that improves on humans (not transforming them into things mind you). But there is a tiny subset of ReCo that could apply too. Think Endurance of the Berserkers. For the Necessary Condition, it's means he's got to draw big ol' glowing runes. So nothing subtle there, and it feels thematically appropriate.

Here's everything else!

Gentle Gift
Famous (Mercenary Captain)
Cautious with Great Weapon
Puissant Parma
Warrior
Tough
Great Characteristic (Strength) x2

Short-Ranged Magic
Study Requirement
Pagan
Close Family Ties

Pretty bog standard stuff for a Ramius type chap who wants to hit folks with the biggest damn axe he can find (again, Gallowglass). He'll be coming over to Hibernia proper from the Kingdom of the Isles (in his case Man). But more on that later.

General first thoughts? Questions, comments, or concerns?

2

Why not the local Damhadh-Duidas rather than the Scandinavian version?

3

Totally fair! I had strongly considered them actually (obviously, since I just reskinned them slightly). I just wanted to play up the Norse-Gaels angle a bit (was gonna have 'em come from the Kingdom of the Isles). Plus as I said, Gallowglass. And they are about to be entering Hibernia (mid 1200s is the first time we've got 'em on record if memory serves), so that'll be a fun angle for some great stories.

Not opposed to Damhadh-Duidas mind you, just the Trollsynir fit a little better for the character concept?

4

It seems worth pointing out that there is a sizable Norse minority on Hibernia, so Norse/scandinavian things are also just as local. Hibernia is kind of interesting and challenging both for being a melting pot.

5

Probably a good idea.

Overall I agree. I think they should be sensitive to potential hostility from Stonehenge/Mainland Magi, especially the more Latin ones. But in Hibernia & Loch Leglean I would infer there is more of a legacy norse presence and that is part of the flavor of being in the Isles that makes it unique. (Not that the Gaelic influences aren't also a part of that to be sure.) But I wouldn't advertise being a Scandinavian magical tradition Ex Misc in say the Rhine Tribunal.

Giant Blood and Necessary Condition here seem perfectly reasonable. I think I'd like to have it determined what sort of giants and where the Trollson lineage is located, and whether you see them just as a troll-blooded family or having any actual giants around etc. We should flesh that out more but overall given they aren't under your control ... I think letting you color that in a bit is fine as well.

Human Augmentation I think we need more details on. I think as a minor it is mostly fine? It is certainly a distinct subset of Corpus and arguably Mentem as well. I would say this should not apply to things like Imaginem magic to improve senses. But if it is about improving human performance I would think it affects all of Muto, Creo, and Rego buff spells, and attribute improvement spells and rituals. But only things that are directly affecting a human body or mind and "improving" it. Flight spell, clear no. Wings to fly with? No, that is a transformation. Improved Athletics by jumping better or being stronger to jump farther etc etc etc. All yes. Healing, no. Healing and augmentation are very different. On the Mentem side, things that directly improve your faculties. Not memory or memory locus creation or manipulation, but if something improves your ability to memorize things in some way, then that is augmentation. Mental performance enhancement seems like it should count, but only direct performance enhancement.

Thoughts?

Can we get a bit more rundown here?

Famous would imply he is an active Mercenary? Which category of Reputation is this?

Most of this is pretty simple however.

6

Yup, was going to dig into this a bit with the actual character history and all that. But general rule of thumb was going to be the Isle of Man. And I was going to tie his lineage to sea giants of some sort. Feels apt given the whole raiding/Kingdom of the Isle connection.

That's more or less my take on it as well.

He is indeed! And it's a Local.

Yeah, if there's something in particular, let me know, but I can't imagine there's too much.

Giant Blood, Tough, Great Characteristics all fit together due to his heritage.

Warrior, Cautious with Great Weapon and Famous all blend together

Pagan and Close Family Ties are easy enough to explain too. Trollsynir are usually a family thing, and he's no exception. Having Gentle Gift makes it even easier to explain why he's still close. And Pagan is even easier to justify given the realm supremacy rules changes you've got. I mean he knows the gods/jotun are out there and doing stuff, even if they're far less active.

7

Let’s dig in here a bit since the Isle of Man isn’t in Order territory though it is in the Isles. How do you see the character ending up apprenticed to an Order Mage and what does this mean about the rest of the family etc? And we perhaps would need to ask some questions about the Isle of Man and any assumptions we may be making for the purposes of the game as we move forward.

8

See it being one of the rare completely blank sandboxes was quite attractive to me, hence one of the reasons why I picked it.

Being connected to the Order is easy. Given the amount of Ex-Misc floating around the Isles, I imagine there's a Pralixian or two. And by I imagine, there absolutely would be. Figure he was spotted while off doing some sort of mercenary work of some kind, and the rest is, as they say, history. That said, I do think it's very likely that he received some training as a Trollsynir (likely both before and after being found by a Hermetic). For example, I was going to make the terrible life choice to take Jotun as a language out of his apprenticeship xp. Because fluff. And the off chance that I run into a giant. Call it his parens trying to retain some of his tradition's culture and what have you?

As for the rest of the family, I figure most are probably un-Gifted. The one or two that are, are too far gone to bring over to the Order. At least as full mages. But he'd be interested in trying to get them admitted as members of Ex-Misc potentially. If only for their protection. Granted being on Mann comes with its own level of protection, so we'll see. That said, he'd also be keeping tabs on his family to see if anyone that if Gifted pops on up. For obvious reasons. After all, if the family is a bunch of Hermetics and any potential rivals aren't... well that's a very good thing for them. And by them I mean his family.

Anyhow, circling back to the Isle, I'd very much love to pick folks' brains here about why the Order hasn't been able to settle there. I generally don't like 'insert big beastie here' because why didn't the Order just so smack it? Lord knows there are enough older Flambeau/Tytalus who would love the chance. And it's not like Man is in the total middle of nowhere (looking at you Iceland). So maybe something a little more subtle?

Also, if I'm correct, there's a bit of a dynastic struggle going on on the island proper at this time (and for the foreseeable future), so that'll potentially give us some fun stuff to play with. Especially for a character like this.

9

If you want to use 4th ed material as inspiration, there's a whole bunch of stuff in Lion of the North, both about gruagrach and the Isle of Man. Going by that, there are already Ex Misc Gruagrach.

One distinct group in House Ex Miscellanea, the gruagachan (GROO-uh-guk-an), is blatantly
non-Hermetic [...] However, its members are accepted by House Ex Miscellanea and the Order in Loch Leglean. [...] House Ex Miscellanea readily accepts gruagachan, but their Hermetic status can (and probably will) be in doubt if they leave the Highlands.

It explicitly puts them as being one of the groups that joined Pralix. I imagine we could simply make this true for the trollsynir as well?

However, from HM:RE:

The traditions described here have also not (yet) been assimilated into the Order of Hermes, via House Ex Miscellanea

What do you guys think of Einarr being the first Hermetic Trollsynir? As a result, his free Major Virtue could be Cailleach Magic, External Soul, or the result of a different integration?

Yep, agreed.

LotN says:

There are occasional meetings with representatives from the Stonehenge and Hibernia Tribunals regarding the Isle of Man, which is vis-rich and claimed by all three tribunals.

Magi from the Order of Hermes fought a number of battles over the island and its vis sources until 1145. In that year a special tribunal made up of delegates from the Hibernian, Stonehenge, and Loch Leglean Tribunals issued the Partitio Monaviae. This document acknowledges the neutrality of Man until “such time as a covenant shall be founded on Man or its dependent islets; [...] No one has yet founded a covenant on the island, in large part because of the presence
of a band of wizards who settled along with the Norse invaders.

There are two acknowledged kings of the Man faeries, Arawn and Manannan Mac Lir. These two
kings control the land and the sea, respectively. The good will of Manannan is necessary to leave the island, as he has great power over the waves and storms.

I think it can be framed as a mix of an Hermetic truce between the three Tribunals and with the Order not willing to cross two Might 50+ faeries while there are other problems to face?

10

Let me expand on this.

You raise:

What I'm suggesting is for your character, Nithyn, to come from a established lineage of Ex Misc full hedge Trollsynir, but for his Gifted elder (father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, uncle, you name it) to have decided, whatever the reason, they would allow Einarr's Arts to be opened in the Hermetic manner, perhaps following to some key aspect of the tradition being integrated with the help of an ExMisc (in the manner of your Major Virtue, whatever it is).

11

I think these are some interesting and helpful options and citations. I'm impressed @RafaelB . I think giving the tradition the option of having some of those things as tradition virtues makes sense, though I think (especially given the stacking Great Characteristic selections) that @Nithyn was aiming specifically for Giant Blood. And I can't say that is an unrealistic choice in this instance either. I do think it kind of establishes things like Cailleach Magic, Flexible Formulaic Magic, and the rest as being in the lore of the tradition.

Regarding the Isle of Man

I think this kind of nails it? I already kind of mentally pegged it as a like Iceland in the regard that it simply was "not conquerable" with plot armor in that regard? It is worth noting that Manannan is one of the Tuathe De which makes him a significant figure in Hibernian lore as well. This would make him a significant figure in the Faerie Courts and if he and Arawn claim dominion over the island Hibernia would likely regard openly contesting that as dangerous molestation of the fae, and very notable fae at that.

12

I was just thinking that, if the tradition was integrated into the Order, there should be a result of that integration, and Cailleach and External Soul were the obvious (but not only?) options.

But yes, the intent in going for Giant Blood is clear, and I fully agree that it's a very appropriate virtue.

13

I think that's a fair take, and I'm all for it!

Also all for it!

Sold, and oh hey look, more plot stuff for us!

Oh I don't disagree in the slightest! Personally I'm really interested in Fetch as I think it would make for an interesting familiar. Curious if folks think an integrated version would allow for someone to bind them like a spirit familiar, or if you'd still need to go grab Spirit Familiar first. Either way, definitely on my to do list sooner rather than later I think.

14

Alrighty, let's move on to general life stuff then?

Here's roughly where I'm at right now. Just a note that spells will come after this, as they deserve their own post/discussion. Also, I haven't added specialties (or upon further reflection personality traits); they'll come in the final pass. So after this, spells, then I'll get some history up. Then a final draft for review as it were.

Int: +1
Per: 0
Pre: 0
Com: 0
Str: +6
Sta: +4
Dex: 0
Qik: -3

Giant Blood*
Minor Magical Focus (Human Augmentation)*

Gentle Gift
Famous (Mercenary Captain)
Cautious with Great Weapon
Puissant Parma
Warrior
Tough
Great Characteristic (Strength) x2

Necessary Condition (Runes)*
Short-Ranged Magic
Study Requirement
Pagan
Close Family Ties

Early Childhood:

Area Lore: Isle of Man 1 (5xp)
Athletics 2 (15xp)
Awareness 1 (5xp)
Brawl 2 (15xp)
Folk Ken 1 (5xp)

45/45xp (Early Childhood)

Later Life:

Area Lore: Hibernia 1 (5xp)
Athletics 3 (15xp)
Bargain 1 (5xp)
Carouse 1 (5xp)
Charm 1 (5xp)
Concentration 1 (5xp)
Etiquette 1 (5xp)
Gaelic 4 (50xp)
Great Weapon 5 (75xp)
Hunt 1 (5xp)
Intrigue 1 (5xp)
Ride 1 (5xp)
Survival 1 (5xp)
Swim 1 (5xp)
Thrown Weapon 1 (5xp)
Leadership 5 (75xp)

225/225 (15 years)
50/50 (Warrior)

Apprenticeship:

Latin 4 (50xp)
Finesse 1 (5xp)
Magic Theory 3 (30xp)
Parma Magica 1 (5xp)
Penetration 1 (5xp)
Artes Liberales 1 (5xp)
Philosophiae 1 (5xp)
Hibernian Tribunal Lore 1 (5xp)
Magic Lore 1 (5xp)
Trollsynir Lore 1 (5xp)
Jotun 4 (50xp)

Perdo 4 (10xp)
Muto 4 (10xp)
Rego 4 (10xp)

Animal 4 (10xp)
Corpus 4 (10xp)
Terram 4 (10xp)
Vim 4 (10xp)

240/240xp (Apprenticeship)

15

Alrighty, before I get into things too much with spells, I want to touch base with everyone and make sure that I'm operating under the correct assumption. That assumption is, the MuCo(An) guidelines that give a minor ability is roughly comparable in scope to an animal quality. Obviously this isn't a perfect comparison as some grant skills, stat boosts, etc, but still.

16

That is essentially my view. Though it seems pretty flexible in the examples that we have, so something roughly equivalent in power level or based off of a natural ability of an animal is likely to be fine.

I will note that the guideline however doesn't restrict itself to being combined with Animal, it just says change someone so as to give them a minor ability. Though I can't think of an example of it being used with something other than Animal it should be theoretically possible.

17

Alrighty, first pass at spells!

ReAn 4 Ward vs Animal Attacks (Base 2, +1 Touch, +1 Con)
Wards the target against attacks from mundane animals.

PeAq 10 Cloak of Apromor (Base 4, +1 Touch, +1 Con)
A modified Comfort of the Drenched Traveler at Concentration.

MuCo(An) 4 Borrowing the Bat’s Eyes (Base 2, +1 Touch, +1 Con)
Gives the target the Eyes of the Bat quality.

MuCo(An) 5 Borrowing the Aspect of the Bird (Base 2, +1 Touch, +1 Con, +1 Additional Effect)
Gives the target the Sharp Ears and Keen Eyes qualities.

MuCo(An) 5 Borrowing the Aspect of the Horse (Base 2, Touch, Con, +1 Additional Effect)
A modified Avalanche of Flesh and Steel at Individual. Additionally, gives the target the Tireless Quality.

MuCo(An) 5 Borrowing the Aspect of the Fish (Base 2, Touch, Con, +1 Additional Effect)
Gives the target the Aquatic and Fins qualities.

MuCo(An) 4 Borrowing the Dog’s Nose (Base 2, +1 Touch, +1 Con)
Gives the target the Keen Sense of Smell quality.

MuHe 10 The Unbroken Lance (Base 4, +1 Touch, +1 Con)
A modified Aegis of Unbreakable Wood at Concentration.

Cr(Pe)Ig 5 Comfort of the Traveler (Mod.) (Base 2, +1 Touch, +1 Con, +1 Perdo Requisite)
A modified Coat of Prometheus designed to keep the target at a comfortable temperature, not too hot, and not too cold.

CrIg 10 The Flameless Campfire (Base 4, +1 Touch, +1 Con)
Allows the caster to heat an object enough to boil water. Useful when cooking and you don't want a fire to give away your position/it's too wet outside.

MuIm 4 Make Tolerable the Soldier's Rations (Base 2, +1 Touch, +1 Con)
A modified The Magic Spice at Con.

MuIm 4 The Convincing Leader (Base 3, Personal, Con)
A modified Aura of Ennobled Presence at Concentration.

ReIm 5 Circle of Undisturbed Rest

ReIm 10 The Soldier Obscured (Base 2, +1 Touch, +1 Con, +1 Changing Image, +1 Image Matches Changes)
A modified The Wizard’s Sidestep at Touch/Con.

ReTe 15 The Instant Ring Fort

ReVi 15 Maintain the Wizard’s Magic (Base 4, +1 Touch, +1 Sun)
Sustains a spell up to Level 10

CrCo 5 Bind the Soldier’s Wounds (Base 3, +1 Touch, +1 Con)
A modified Bind Wound at Con.

18

I don't see any problems here with a quick read through.

19

A quick note: Not that we have to use it, but I spotted that ArM DE (maybe more, but at least that book) places the Isle of Man in Loch Leglean Tribunal.

20

Where in DE?