Character Development: Polyoppeties of Tytalus

Maurice D'Ambrosio
aka Maurice filius Pernoites of Tytalus
aka Donatella of Tytalus
aka Grace Gordano
aka Anthony
aka Tony Romo
aka Lucia Romo
aka Marcia

Polyoppeties of Tytalus: Character Concept (pah-lee-Ō-pa-tees)
Maurice was born in (year) in Naples Italy, second son of the D’Ambrosio family. He had an older brother named Anthony, whom he idolized, and his sister Donatella was born three years later. However, Donatella died from childhood illness when she was less than three years old. Stricken with grief, Maurice started pretending he was his little sister, and eventually became his sister. Born with a Gentle Gift, Maurice instinctively developed the Persona Virtue. But for Maurice, this was no mere game of pretend. While in his normal form, he knew it was just pretend and thought that he was just really good at fooling people. However, when in the form of Donatella, she really believed that is who she really was and that it was Maurice that died, she was just really good at fooling people.
This caused his family some confusion, but this didn’t last long. The D’Ambrosio family was wiped out in a feud against their rivals the Licciardi family later that year. The child was spared in the bloodbath, but given by their mysterious ally named Carmine the Shadow. Carmine was in actuality the nefarious and acclaimed magus named Pernoites of Tytalus, from the (Falling Leaves) covenant in Normandy. Entangled in the politics (Hermetic and mundane) of no less than four different tribunals, Pernoites was the one who originally provoked the feud, as the D’Ambrosio family was a hindrance in his own financial affairs in (another location where they controlled banking). In fact, the child would have been killed, except that the assassin witnessed the child shifting forms from girl to boy (instinctively seeking to protect his “sister”). Thus, he was brought to the strange scholar Carmine, who was pleased with the prize that was discovered, rewarding the henchman by murdering him and obliterating his ghost, preserving the secret.
Maurice was thus raised up as an apprentice in (Falling Leaves) since age 7. Donatella began her study soon thereafter. Pernoites wondered at the child’s strange delusion, and wondered if he could somehow obtain two apprentices out of one. His experiments failed to separate the child’s psyche, but he did fracture it further. Each form gained a different and distinct personality, including a Major Personality Flaw that affects that Persona only. Pernoites continued his twisted mind-games and experiments, but this instead resulted in the child developing the strength of will to resist further changes (a beneficial result nevertheless in the eyes of Pernoites).
Hover, the abuse didn’t end there. Maurice avoided further fractures by adopting new guises and disguises, resisting the development of a new Persona and instead developing a Minor Focus in Self Transformation. But eventually Pernoites pushed too far. It was while in the Persona of Donatella when the third Persona emerged. Pernoites what putting her through physical and mental torture meant to simulate the childhood slaughter of the D’Ambrosio family, himself playing the role of the thug that killed her parents. In recreating the scene where the thug moves in to kill the girl, Pernoites had placed a spell upon her to prevent her from reverting to Maurice, hoping that she would spontaneously develop a new Persona under stress. She did, adopting the form of her murdered older brother Anthony. Encompassing all of the repressed wrath and remorse from that tragic day, Anthony lunged to try to kill Pernoites. He failed of course, and the phantasm ended. Pernoites had succeeded in breaking his apprentices will, and was satisfied.

Anthony murdered Pernoites in his sleep three days later. He did it in a very clever way that he won’t reveal to anyone. He burned the lab notes and disposed of all evidence of the experiment. Anthony left the body there but disposed of the ghost of Pernoites (don’t ask how, he won’t tell). He then fled to Italy, through the portal his master controlled leading to a house in the hills of Tuscany.
Then, changing into Donatella, she took on the name Grace and mingled in with society. She met a wealthy merchant widower named Salvadore Giordano, and became his trophy wife and stepmother to his children. This gives her the Dependants Flaw and the Temporal Influence Virtue (she isn’t wealthy, her husband is, and this is what gives her influence).
He returns to Normandy a year later latter as Anthony (uses the excuse of visiting her mother in Naples), and starts a gang of thugs (source of the Social Contacts – Underworld Virtue). His intent was to scope out the situation at Falling Leaves and see if it was safe to approach. He decided to be bold and make his move (earning is Tytalus House Virtue of Self Confident), becoming Maurice once again and proudly taking the blame for the death of Pernoites (keeping all the details secret).
He says that he is the rightful heir to the sanctum of Pernoites, and has the right to now call himself a Tytalus Magus. He is brought before the primus, and the magi there proudly agree and give him the name Polyoppeties. This is of course a fictional name with a fictional meaning, alluding that there are many of him/her. To the Order of Hermes at large, Polyoppeties of Tytalus is Maurice, who specializes in shape shifting. House Tytalus and a few select sodales know that Polyoppeties is also Donatella. It is in fact this Persona that is preferred at exclusive Tytalus gatherings (Eristic Moots).

Maurice of Tytalus: at Gauntlet
Characteristics: Int +2, Per +0, Com +1, Pre +2, Str -1, Sta +0, Dex +0, Quik +1
Size: 0
Age: 20 (apprenticed age 7, killed parens at age 20, given his name by the Primus at age 22)
Decrepitude: 0
Warping: 0 (0)
Confidence: 2 (5)
Virtues: +0 Gifted Hermetic Magus, +Ty Self Confident, +3 Gentle Gift, +1 Deft Mentem, +1 Minor Magic Focus – Self Transformation, +1 Persona, +1 Puissant Guile, +1 Strong Will, +1 Social Contacts (underworld), +1 Temporal Influence
Flaws: -3 Dependants (secret family), -3 Major Malediction (each persona has a different and distinct Major Personality Flaw), -1 Ambitious, -1 Delusion (believes whatever Persona he is currently in is his “real” self), -1 Incomprehensible, -1 Weak Parens
Personality Traits:
Maurice: Overconfident +3, Ambitious +1, Brave +2, Loyal +1,
Donatella: Haughty +3, Ambitious +2, Discriminating +2

We have edit powers :smiley:

Anyways, where I left off, the rest of my stats at start.
Note: He killed his Parens at age 20, but he received his name at the Moot two years later at age 22. The Weak Parens Flaw represents his early Gauntlet, and the fact that his parens spent more time experimenting on him that teaching him.
In the intervening two years, he went back home to Italy. There, as Donatella, she takes the name Grace and became the Trophy Wife of her first husband Salvadore Giordano, and the stepmother to his children (later, when he dies and they are grown, she remarries another merchant named Salvatore Giordano and becomes a stepmother again). This gives her the Dependants Flaw and the Temporal Influence Virtue (she isn’t wealthy, her husband is, and this is what gives her influence). He returns to Normandy a year later latter as Anthony (uses the excuse of visiting her mother), and starts a gang of thugs (source of the Social Contacts – Underworld Virtue).
Then at age 22 he returns to claim his Master’s Sanctum at Falling Leave’s, and is accepted as a Tytalus and given his name (he was on the lamb, because he didn’t know that whacking your parens was legal).
More gets developed later, I am focusing at just at starting character creation (age 22, when the name Polyopeties was received).

Persona Personality Flaws:
Maurice: -3 Overconfident,
Donatella: -3 Proud,
Anthony: -3 Wrathful,
Personality Traits:
Maurice: Overconfident +3, Ambitious +2, Brave +2, Loyal +1,
Donatella: Haughty +3, Ambitious +2, Discriminating +2, Loyal -1
Anthony: Vengeful +3, Ambitious +2, Brave +2, Loyal -1
Social Status: (at Gauntlet)
Maurice: Hermetic Magus (Maurice of Tytalus)
Donatella: Hermetic Maga (Donatella of Tytalus), Gentlewoman (Grace Rosatti)
Anthony: Outlaw Leader (Tony Romo)
Reputations: *Indicates a secret identity as far as the Order is concerned
Maurice: Maurice of Tytalus 3 (Hermetic), *aka Donatella (House Tytalus)
Donatella: *aka Maurice 2 (House Tytalus), *Grace Giordano the wealthy matron 3 (mundane),
Anthony: Thug Boss 1 (mundane)

Abilities:
Artes Liberales 1 (literacy), Brawl 1 (knife), Charm 2 (being witty), Concentration 1 (magic), Etiquette 1 (townsfolk), Finesse 1 (grace), Folk Ken 2 (opposite sex?), Guile 2+2 (?), Intrigue 2 (plotting), Italian 5 (Neapolitan), Latin 3 (Hermetic), Leadership 1 (intimidation), Magic Theory 4 (Rego), Normandy Area Lore 1 (rogues), Order of Hermes Lore 1 (House Tytalus Lore), Parma Magica 1 (Mentem), Persona 3 (?), Rome Area Lore 1 (her town?), Stealth 1 (ambush),

Arts: Cr 0, In 0, Mu 6, Pe 1, Re 0, An 0, Aq 0, Au 0, Co 7, He 0, Ig 0, Im 0, Me 3, Te 0, Vi 0

Spells Known:
MuCo15 Disguise of the New Visage:
MuCo15 Preternatural Growth and Shrinking:
MuIm10 Aura of Ennobled Presence:
MuIm10 Aura of Beguiling Appearance:
MuIm10 Aura of Childlike Innocence:
CrMe15 Panic of the Trembling Heart:
MuMe4 Recollection of Memories never Quite Lived:
PeMe10 Trust of Childlike Faith:

Magic Sigil: purple

Symbolic Sigil: a clockwise labyrinth spiral

Looks really good!

Your maximum Hermetic age is 48, but can be as low as 40.

Oooh, someone's a good boy! :slight_smile:

I'm soooo jealous!

Anyway,

Ken

It gets better :wink:

Development for Polyoppeties, first 5 years
Not sure what age I want to advance him to in total. I will retrofit his DoB and stuff after I have settled where I want him to be.

Narrative
After receiving recognition as a magus and his Hermetic name from the Primus of Tytalus (a name he rarely ever uses), he returned to (Falling Leaves) as the rightful heir to the sanctum of his former parens. The Gray Tower was erected with ritual magic long ago, and it mostly consists of a single piece of stone; as if it were carved from a single massive pillar of rock. Additions and modifications soften this unnatural appearance somewhat, but it still seems eerie if closely examined, and a skilled stonemason can tell how odd it is by a mere glance. He spent most of his first year familiarizing himself with the lab that was now his, and customizing it to his tastes. He also focused his attention on gaining an understanding of the covenant (he spent most of his tome as an apprentice locked up inside the Gray Tower), as well as establishing Tony Romo’s criminal agency.

However, extended absences strained Donatella’s relationship with her husband’s family, even with the use of the portal inherited from Pernoites, leading to a townhouse in Tuscany. Thus she urged her husband to build for her a private study and scriptorium

Year One

Winter: Take over the Gray Tower, as per rules for “Taking over a Laboratory” (Covenants, p. 118), reducing the Refinement to only 1 and removing several Virtues (odd junk stored in the basement). New Lab Stats as defined below (2xp Magic Theory from Exposure)

Spring: Practice Area Lore of the local city while he sets up his criminal agency (7xp (City) Area Lore)

Summer: Invent ReCo15 Wizard’s Leap, using a Lab Text (2xp Rego from Exposure)

Fall: Return to Italy as Donatella (in the guise of Grace Giordano), having to explain her long absence to her husband and family. She pretended to be various relatives she brought home with her, using spells to fool everyone. Using all three Personas combined with her vast repertoire of spells to change appearance and fool others, Polyoppeties played the roles of Grace, her brothers Michal, Angelo, and Raphael, her old mother Diana, and uncle Peter.
The introduction of them all at the same time was a feat of magic and acting to an extraordinary degree. She introduced them each one by one, and each in turn went out and sent the next one in. She altered everyone’s memories and rendered them all gullible to any lie she gave them. And supper was even harder to pull off! He had to Wizard Leap around, quickly shifting into different disguises, sending different members of her real family in and out of different rooms to go get things, meeting them each separately in different disguises in the hall or kitchen or at the table, manipulating different servants by changing their facial features without their knowing it, and coming up with the wildest outrageous lies to cover it all up. It was worse than an episode of I Love Lucy, except she never got caught. The Giordano family simply believes that Momma Diana forgot to shave that morning and that Uncle Pete was wearing a kilt not a maid’s dress. (Adventure, 5xp Guile, 3xp Concentration, 2xp Persona)

Year Two

Winter: Return to Falling Leaves to participate in the Aegis at Winter Solstice. Study “Magical Control” (Rego Summa; L 11 Q17)

Spring: Invent “MuIm15 Disguise of the Transformed Image” from Lab Text (2xps Imaginem from Exposure)

Summer: Go back to Tuscany (I decided that’s where my Italian family is), and play the social housewife bit (5xp Tuscany Area Lore)

Fall: Convince her husband to purchase a townhouse for her poor old mother, up in the suburban hills; which also happens to be the house he owns as Maurice, where the Portal of Pereonites is. Donatella takes the money Salvadore pays Maurice, and has a study & scriptorium installed (2xp Magic Theory). Maurice wanted to spend the money on second house and become a land mogul, but Donatella had other ideas.

Year Three

Winter: Finish installing Scriptorium (2xp Magic Theory)

Spring: Return to Falling leaves, get yelled at for being lazy and shirking my duty. I turn the whole argument around and point out how hard my pirates work to provide the covenant with wealth and luxury. The pirates haven’t really paid off yet. But I outwit my elders with guile, and tell them I will return with an example of the wealth I am providing. No one knows of my Anthony Persona, so I introduce them to Tony Romo as my Agent and Factor. This was hard to pull off. Not only having to avoid being in the same place twice at the same time, but also having to deter the use of scrying upon myself as Tony. Even if I were to resist such magic, the fact that I have magic resistance would set off alarms. I first introduce another young magus (perhaps one of you) to my agent Louis the Pirate Captain. I pass them off to him, and leave, change into Anthony, disguise myself as Tony Romo, and meet with the young magus. From then on, Louis plays the role of the point of contact with Tony Romo’s crime syndicate. As Tony, I try to only meet with young magi with low penetration scores and no Intellego magic. If I get caught with having Magic Resistance, I make the excuse that I (Tony) have a Relic of saint Nancy of the Sea. .
But that’s not all! Now I have to produce wealth, and refrain from using magic in a way that this observing magus can detect! I let him help us infiltrate a ship somehow, which we hijack and take to England to sell the cargo on the black market. We then scuttle the ship and return home.
How do we do this? Very carefully. I talk the other magus into not watching us. Just cast a spell or something that can help with our plan. Better yet, as Donatella I gave that other magus a “magic ring” to give the pirates. Once he delivers the excuse and confirms the pirates work for me, they can go about their business. As Tony, I tell the other mugs that the ring lets me magically disguise them, my excuse for my use of “Disguise of the New Visage” and “Disguise of the Transformed Image”.
I first disguise us as members of a gang of thus we don’t like so they can take the rap. We then ambush a number of sailors staying ashore, tying them up and then disguising ourselves as them (with help from the excuse ring). The rest is a piece of cake.
Except for the part in England with the ugly pirate with leprosy that just wouldn’t die.
(10xp adventure; 5 in Profession – Seaman, 3 in Guile, 2 in Mentem)
(as for just now learning how to be a seaman, I often use Mentem to convince people I knew something already and it was me teaching them)

Summer: Return to Tuscany with several “borrowed” books.
Study “Concerning the Binding of Ghosts”, Mentem Tractatus, Q 11 (11xps Mentem)

Fall: Still in Tuscany, I want to invent a spell from text (aura of rightful authority). But family life massively interferes. The season is spoiled, and I decide my husband needs a mistress.

Year Four

Winter: Return to Falling Leaves, participate in the Aegis. As Maurice and in disguise, I recruit a wanton gold digging social climbing wannabe woman. As pretty and stupid as I can possibly find. Bargain to hire her as my “sister’s” handmaiden. Then as Carmen (Grace), sail back to Tuscany. On the voyage, I hit her with Mentem and lies about the burden my “wifely duties” (sex), and how I secretly wish there was someone who could relieve me and take up these chores for me so I could spend more time with my old dying mother. Basically I talk her into an “unspoken” bargain :slight_smile:, that it would be okay if she were to have a secret affair with my husband as long as I was kept ignorant of it. I give her the idea that I would cooperate in every way, and yet I was still somehow ignorant of it all.
Back in Tuscany, I introduce them, spur things on with some deft Creo Mentem magic, and let them carry on behind my back.
(10xp Adventure, 5 in Guile, 2 in Mentem, 3 in Creo)

Spring: Undisturbed, Invent “ReMe20 Aura of Rightful Authority” from Lab Text. (2xp Exposure in Magic Theory)

Summer: Back to Falling Leaves, as Maurice, return borrowed books. I totally got away with taking the books out, no one ever noticed they were gone. However, I did get spotted returning them by the covenant’s scribe and librarian. He kept snooping into the situation, and discovered the fake books I had used to take the place of the ones that I borrowed. The whole season it kept distracting me from my lab work, not enough to disrupt the season, but I did have to spend a lit of time and effort in coming up with elaborate excuses and stories and proving them “true”. Lab Activity consists of inventing my very own brand new spell from scratch, “MuCo10 The False Persona”. The Back Story allows me to place my 2 exposure xp in Guile.

Fall: I change to Donatella and prepare to return to Tuscany, when I am distracted as I become entangled in..
The Curse of the Serpent Crown!

(this story is a work in progress, stay tuned!)

Year Five:
Winter:
Spring:
Summer:
Fall:

[u]Changes[/u] (so far)

Abilities:
Artes Liberales 1 (literacy), Brawl 1 (knife), Charm 2 (being witty), Concentration 1 (3xp) (magic), Etiquette 1 (townsfolk), Finesse 1 (grace), Folk Ken 2 (opposite sex?), Guile 3+2 (elaborate lies), Intrigue 2 (plotting), Italian 5 (Neapolitan), Latin 3 (Hermetic), Leadership 1 (intimidation), Magic Theory 4 (8xps) (Rego), Normandy Area Lore 1 (rogues), Order of Hermes Lore 1 (House Tytalus Lore), Parma Magica 1 (Mentem), Persona 3 (2xp) (female), Profession – Seaman 1 (sail), Rome Area Lore 1 (Tuscany), Stealth 1 (ambush), Tuscany Area Lore 1 (merchants), Vannes Area Lore 1 (2xps) (pirates)

Arts: Cr 2, In 0, Mu 6, Pe 1, Re 7 (7xp), An 0, Aq 0, Au 0, Co 7, He 0, Ig 0, Im 1 (1xp), Me 6, Te 0, Vi 0

Spells Known:
MuCo10 The False Persona
MuCo15 Disguise of the New Visage:
MuCo15 Preternatural Growth and Shrinking:
ReCo15 Wizard’s Lear:
MuIm10 Aura of Ennobled Presence:
MuIm10 Aura of Beguiling Appearance:
MuIm10 Aura of Childlike Innocence:
MuIm15 Disguise of the Transformed Image
CrMe15 Panic of the Trembling Heart:
MuMe4 Recollection of Memories never Quite Lived:
PeMe10 Trust of Childlike Faith:
ReMe20 Aura of Rightful Authority:

Main Laboratory: The Gray Tower (Magic Aura 4)
Characteristics: Size +2, Refinement +1, General Quality +0, Upkeep +1, Safety +0, Warping +1, Health +0, Aesthetics +7
Specializations: +1 Experimentation, +1 Texts, +2 Rego, +3 Imaginem
Virtues: +0 Dedicated Building, +0 Superior Construction, +0 Magical Light, +1 Gateway (Mercere Portal to Tuscany), +1 Superior Decoration (Illusionary), +1 Lesser Feature – Orb of Illusions, +1 Lesser Feature – Antechamber,
Flaws: -1 Lesser Illusion (Superior Decoration)
(15 expenditure points)

Tuscany Laboratory: Study and Scriptorium (Dominion Aura 1)
Characteristics: Size +0, Refinement +0, General Quality -2, Upkeep +2, Safety +0, Warping +0, Health +3, Aesthetics +4
Specializations: +7 Texts, +1 Teaching, +1 Creo, +1 Rego,
Virtues: +0 Dedicated Building, +0 Idyllic Surroundings, +0 Precious Ingredients, +1 Opulent, +1 Gateway (Mercere Portal to Falling Leaves), +3 Greater Feature – Desk
Flaws: -0 Disguised, -0 Missing Sanctum Marker, -1 Missing Equipment (no Items), -1 Missing Equipment (no Vis Extraction or Experimentation), -3 Greater Focus – Desk
(30 expenditure points)

Agents: Maximum of 8 Agents (Pre +2 plus Intrigue 2, times two)
Social Contacts (+12 Points)

Elise: Barmaid in Vannes
Bond +1 (Friendship with Betty (Donatella))
Resistance +1 (+0 Commoner, +1 Gossip)

Long Tom Hired Killer
Bond +1 (Respect for Tony Romo (Anthony))
Resistance +1 (+3 Exceptional Skill – Brawl 9 (knife), -1 Branded Criminal, -1 Infamous)

Wallace the Merchant: A wealthy merchant shipper from Vannes (Factor)
Bond +2 (Fear of Tony Romo (Anthony))
Resistance +1 (+0 Merchant, +3 Wealthy, +1 Underlings, -3 Dark Secret (criminal enterprise of his own))

Louis: Pirate Leader in Vannes (Factor)
Bond +2 (Loyal to Tony Romo (Anthony)
Resistance +3 (-1 Outlaw Leader, +3 Many Underlings, +1 Social Contacts (other pirates))

Betty: Handmaiden and Husband’s Mistress
Bond +1 (Silent Arrangement)
Resistance +1 (+0 Servant, +1 Gossip (knows husband’s secret business gossip))

New Spells
MuCo10 The False Persona
R: Per, D: Sun, T: Ind
This spell utterly changes your appearance to look like another human being. You basic size and physical characteristics remain the same, but you can change any other features even including gender or pretending to be obese. You can even duplicate another person with accuracy based on Finesse roll, the Ease Factor being based on how well you know the person (3+ Intimate, 6+ Well Acquainted, 9+ Familiar, 12+ Vague Known, 15+ Seen Once).
(Base 3, +2 Sun, +1 complexity)

I like everything except the "borrowing of books." I'm pretty sure the books in an established Autumn covenant are well secured. Can we change the story a little bit: you "borrowed" the books, and while you easily talked your way around the librarian (a man in his dottage that looks more like a traditional "wizard" than any of the actual magi), you suspect that the older magi may well know what you pulled off. They aren't saying anything directly, but a few dropped hints and sly innuendo suggests that they may be keeping a sharper eye on you than you would like. On the other hand, how do they know? If they used magic, obviously the code has been breached. Maybe Maurice is the kind of person to stay up and night and worry about such things, maybe not.

:slight_smile:
I was planning to use such an idea as a later hook, so I'll go with your plan.
In my back story, I wrote that I have to go though this seriously long mission, and in the end I get the right to borrow books, but the elders get the right to use the portal in my sanctum.

Fall: I change to Donatella and prepare to return to Tuscany, when I am distracted as I become entangled in..
The Curse of the Serpent Crown!

It all started with Wallace, the merchant from Vannes. Wallace had respect and fear for Tony Romo and his gang, and he had a healthy business relationship with them as well. Wallace dealt in imported goods, legitimate and black market. He would buy up the stolen wares that Tony and Louis brought him, and he would resell them elsewhere. Wallace also had a similar arrangement with a band of highway men led by a rogue named Ulrich One-Eye. He would buy Ulrich’s loot and resell it in Vannes. Part of the agreement Wallace has with all of his underworld associates is that his shipments are off limits. Tony Romo made sure his pirates always kept their end of the bargain. Ulrich was no so honorable, though he did it rarely and always claimed it was a mistake.

But one day Wallace and Ulrich had a falling out that led to bloodshed. It started as a drunken argument over gambling debts, old and new. Ulrich accused Wallace of cheating, and stuck a knife in his big-fat gut. The wound was serious but not lethal, nevertheless Wallace fell unconscious and Ulrich mistook him for dead. Ulrich fled, and considered any treaty he had with his other associates to be nullified.

A week or two later, he and his men come across a caravan headed along the old orchard road. Paying no heed to “secret word” that Wallace’s teamsters use, Ulrich slaughtered them all and stole everything. One of them put up a good fight, killing two of Ulrich’s men before he fell. He was tall and wearing a strange red hat.

This was a shipment of supplies meant for Falling Leaves Covenant. Riding with them was a magus named Tall Marvin the Redcap. He was carrying with him a special package for one of the elders of Falling Leaves, a Hermetic artifact known as the Serpent Crown. Made of precious metals and gems and fashioned to look like a venomous serpent perched coiled upon the head, the Serpent Crown was one of the fiendish creations of the infamous Himnis the Mad of Verditius. One of the elder Bonisagus magi of Fallings Leaves was set to examine it and see if he could find a cure for it’s curse.

But now Ulrich had it, and he was amazed at the priceless treasure he had found. In his hubris, he places the crown upon his head and fancies himself the king of cutthroats and thieves. The crown makes it so, and all the thieves that meet his gaze obey his every command. He travels south and east, on a tour of thievery and plunder that became a legend amongst rogues for many years to come. Knights were sent in pursuit of him, he evaded their every move and even stole their horses.

But eventually his followers became jealous of Ulrich. They conspired against him, and one of them volunteered to sneak up behind him and stab him in the back, avoiding his commanding gaze. Ulrich was murdered, and his assassin took the crown for himself. The cycle repeated, and again twice more, each time the crime spree taking a new random course of direction.

The final assassin was of strong will, and he resisted the temptation to wear the crown. Instead, he wrapped it in a bag and sold it to a merchant, who wore it and thought of himself as the king of merchants and usurers. He quickly built a financial empire, muscled the local banking family out of business and bought them out, and so on. Eventually his enemies conspired against him and he was murdered, the crown passes on, and etceteras. By the end of the season, the crown somehow winds up in possession of a scholar in Bologna.

Meanwhile, the elders at Falling Leaves assigned me to track down the crown, hoping my criminal connections would be of an advantage. However, I was in Donatella form at the time and loathed the idea. I didn’t want to become Maurice again, and I didn’t want anyone to know I was really Tony Romo. So, as Donatella, I create the new cover identity of Lucia Romo, Tony’s cousin. Louis, Tony’s henchman, believes my story because I know all the secret code words to use (pre arranged in case such a situation would arise). The other magi simply believe I am using a new disguise (though one of them wonders why Tony is mysteriously unavailable). Lucia tells the pirates that it is she that is hiring the pirates and the magi to help her, and offers to pay handsomely.

So Lucia and three loyal men from the Romo gang (including Louis), along with two other magi and their grogs, set out to find the Serpent Crown. We know very little about the nature of the curse upon it, other that it grants the wearer authority over his peers, and that their loyalty eventually turns into envy and murder. And this is what we come across again and again, always two steps behind the crown as it travels. We come to learn that the wearer not only becomes obsessed with the crown, but they are compelled to travel and attract followers.

The trail leads up and around and all over the place, throughout France into Germany and then Italy. I wind up having to use my “magic ring of disguises” (my excuse for spell casting) over and over again, because my sodales are incompetent in the arts of infiltration and intrigue. We track the crown through the underworld and mercantile circles, witnessing the aftermath of the misfortunes mentioned. There was also the Battle of Barons in France, the Blood Feud in Burgundy, Seven Swordsmen in Swabia, and the Fiasco in Florence. All season long and into the winter they travelled, the Serpent Crown always slipping through their fingers. Exhausted, they decided to rest in Bologna and rethink their strategy.
(10xp Adventure; 3 in Leadership, 2 in Intrigue, 2 in Guile, 2 in Normandy Lore, 1 in Rhine Lore; make new contacts)

Year Five:

Winter:
The Curse of the Serpent Crown: Part II:
While I (as Donatella, posing as Lucia Romo, Tony Romo’s cousin) was out trying to track down what little information I could find on the scholar from Bologna that last had the crown, the other magi were visiting Literatas to see what lore they could research there. It seemed obvious to us at that point that the crown was somehow aware that it was being followed, directing whomever wears it to wander and avoid us, even assisting them at times. How it did this, we did not know. Spirits? Himnis the Mad was not known for binding entities into his items. But perhaps the crown was not made by Himnis, but instead by a follower of his school that knew other magics. The crown had no runes, nothing about it’s exterior that could be defined other than it’s shape and material. No one has of yet been able to examine it in the lab successfully (remember, it was on it’s way to Falling Leaves to be examined by one of the elders).

All that is known are the tales of the woe and misery it causes, recorded in the annals of Hermetic Lore and in the journals of Valten of Flambeau (the magus who retrieved the crown twenty years earlier). Curiously, the crown seems to seek out to ruin mundanes of all social classes, yet avoids magi. Again, it seems as if the crown has its own sentience, causing those that wear it to act with deliberate purpose and plan. But its main ability, to inspire an obsession to own and wear the crown, has no Penetration value and does not affect magi or those with Magic Resistance. Thus, when discovered by Valten in the ruins of an abandoned tower in Picardy, he was able to safely handle it and lock it withing a special magical casket.

Valten also had to fight off the many ghosts of that tower, and interrogated the ghost of the previous owner. At Literatus, for whatever reason, there was a copy of Valten’s Journal that detailed his expedition and what he learned. The previous owner had set a trap for his followers that had become envious enemies. He led them all into the tower, having them all locked within, and filled the tower with poison gas (smashing a bottle open, which was provided to him by a mysterious merchant of strange wares). The front door and the windows were rigged with a mechanism to lock them all shut. His plan was to escape through the roof hatch and wait until the gas had done its work and dissipated. However, someone had locked the roof hatch from the outside, and somehow managed to leave it that way. Everyone inside died, and the Serpent Crown had laid inert since then.

Until now.

In the meantime, while the other magi are researching that, I am out investigating this mysterious scholar. I am still in the Persona of Donatella, in the guise of Lucia Romo. My small gang and I, we infiltrate the University; posing as scholars, students, and servants; and we learn the legend of the pedagogue named Cornelius, who was quite popular amongst the students until recently. He started to develop some revolutionary ideas, and had dreams of leading his students across Europe to teach this new ideology. That’s when people started turning their backs on him. He tried to stir things up and make a martyr of himself, developing a Christ complex. But instead of turning against him in murderous envy, his former followers marginalized him and tried to distance themselves. Eventually he martyred himself, turning to suicide.

The scholar’s name was Chhistopher. By some strange coincidence, the scholar’s brother Stephan happens to be courting my stepdaughter, he has the crown, and he is on his way to Tuscany!
:exclamation:

So I go grab the bookworms (the magi researching at Literatus), and we beat feet over to Tuscany. So more intrigue, more disguises, more use of my “magic ring of disguise”. Louis and the two pirate mooks (Zeb and Jeb), they conclude that Lucia Romo is really one of the wizards, but she is cooler than the rest and trying to keep it secret. “Of course! That’s why Tony does jobs for those wizard folk, his cousin is one of them so it’s like family.” (Later, after they return, they explain all of this to the other pirates, and thereafter all of the wizards of Falling Leaves are considered honorary members of the “family”, and think of them more like a biker family than a mafia family, though I do want elements of both). In fact, this lie becomes so firmly entrenched, that the other magi believe that this is so.

After seven disguises, and having to adopt the Anthony (as Tony Romo) and Maurice guise again twice each to make my pack of lies make sense; and after to infiltrate my husbands mercantile network and defend it against a local extortion ring (we took over that gang, and later I leave Zeb and Jeb in Tuscany as my enforcers to assist the new local boss I put into power as my agent (Carlito)); and after convincing Louis (while I am in the guise of Maurice) to allow me to magically disguise him as “Grace” (the mundane guise of my other Persona) so he can play the housewife role and serve dinner while I (in the guise of my own stepson, whom I conveniently sent away on a cool vacation), so I can sidle up close to Steven.

I discover Steven is secretly a Jerbiton magus (independent of Literatus),who is easily distracted by the ladies, and had no idea how powerful the Serpent Crown really was. He thought it was just a curious magic trinket, locked it up in his sanctum, and was going to check into it after his wedding. Perhaps give it to his bride (my “stepdaughter” Maria) as a wedding gift. Glad to nip that one in the bud!

We race back to his sanctum to retrieve the crown, but it has been stolen by one of his servants who is leading a small uprising. There is some fighting and violence, but in the end we retrive the crown, lock it in the magical Iron Box, and all is well.

For now…
:smiling_imp:

(10xp Adventure; 5 in Mastery of “False Persona”, 2 in Guile, 2 in Intrigue, 1 in Persona; develop new Personality Trait “Dislikes Switching Personas” at a score of 1; make new contacts)

Spring: The elders grant me the right to borrow books, one at a time, and study them in my scriptorium in Tuscany. They agree to keep knowledge of my “second sanctum” a secret, but I must grant them access to my magical portal.
This sucks, but there is not much I can do about it, except to study Magic Theory and prepare to build a new secret lab somewhere else.
But there isn’t a good Magic Theory book for me :frowning:
So, as Maurice, I reorganize my lab to deal with the new portal traffic, adding a servant attendant and a guard to enhance safety and security (and make me look cool).
(2xp Magic Theory)

Summer: As Donatella, I refine the Tuscany Lab (2xp Magic Theory)

Fall: Second season of reorganizing and installing new Virtues (2xp Magic Theory)

Maurice of Tytalus: after five years
Characteristics: Int +2, Per +0, Com +1, Pre +2, Str -1, Sta +0, Dex +0, Quik +1
Size: 0
Age: 27
Decrepitude: 0
Warping: 0 (0)
Confidence: 2 (5)
Virtues: +0 Gifted Hermetic Magus, +Ty Self Confident, +3 Gentle Gift, +1 Deft Mentem, +1 Minor Magic Focus – Self Transformation, +1 Persona, +1 Puissant Guile, +1 Strong Will, +1 Social Contacts (underworld), +1 Temporal Influence
Flaws: -3 Dependants (secret family), -3 Major Malediction (each persona has a different and distinct Major Personality Flaw), -1 Ambitious, -1 Delusion (believes whatever Persona he is currently in is his “real” self), -1 Incomprehensible, -1 Weak Parens
Persona Personality Flaws:
Maurice: -3 Overconfident,
Donatella: -3 Proud,
Anthony: -3 Wrathful,
Personality Traits:
u[/u]: Convinced Current Persona is “True Self” +3, Ambitious +2, Dislikes Switching Personas +1
Maurice: Overconfident +3, Brave +2, Loyal +1,
Donatella: Haughty +3, Discriminating +2, Loyal -1
Anthony: Vengeful +3, Brave +2, Loyal -1
Social Status: (at Gauntlet)
Maurice: Hermetic Magus (Maurice of Tytalus)
Donatella: Hermetic Maga (Donatella of Tytalus), Gentlewoman (Grace Rosatti)
Anthony: Outlaw Leader (Tony Romo)
Reputations:
Maurice: Maurice of Tytalus 3 (Hermetic), aka Donatella (House Tytalus)
Donatella: aka Maurice 2 (House Tytalus), Grace Giordano the wealthy matron 3 (mundane),
Anthony: Thug Boss 1 (mundane)

Abilities:
Artes Liberales 1 (literacy), Brawl 1 (knife), Charm 2 (being witty), Concentration 1 (3xp) (magic), Etiquette 1 (townsfolk), Finesse 1 (grace), Folk Ken 2 (opposite sex?), Guile 3+2 (5xp) (elaborate lies), Intrigue 2 (4xp) (plotting), Italian 5 (Neapolitan), Latin 3 (Hermetic), Leadership 1 (3xp) (criminals), Magic Theory 4 (14xps) (Rego), Normandy Area Lore 1 (rogues), Order of Hermes Lore 1 (House Tytalus Lore), Parma Magica 1 (Mentem), Persona 3 (3xp) (female), Profession – Seaman 1 (sail), Rome Area Lore 1 (Tuscany), Rhine Lore 0 (1xp) (Swabia), Stealth 1 (ambush), Tuscany Area Lore 1 (merchants), Vannes Area Lore 1 (2xps) (pirates)

Arts: Cr 2, In 0, Mu 6, Pe 1, Re 7 (7xp), An 0, Aq 0, Au 0, Co 7, He 0, Ig 0, Im 1 (1xp), Me 6, Te 0, Vi 0

Spells Known:
MuCo10 The False Persona: Mastery 1 (Subtle)
MuCo15 Disguise of the New Visage:
MuCo15 Preternatural Growth and Shrinking:
ReCo15 Wizard’s Leap:
MuIm10 Aura of Ennobled Presence:
MuIm10 Aura of Beguiling Appearance:
MuIm10 Aura of Childlike Innocence:
MuIm15 Disguise of the Transformed Image
CrMe15 Panic of the Trembling Heart:
MuMe4 Recollection of Memories never Quite Lived:
PeMe10 Trust of Childlike Faith:
ReMe20 Aura of Rightful Authority:

Magic Sigil: purple
Symbolic Sigil: a clockwise labyrinth spiral

Main Laboratory: The Gray Tower (Magic Aura 4)
Characteristics: Size +2, Refinement +1, General Quality +0, Upkeep +1, Safety +0, Warping +1, Health +0, Aesthetics +10
Specializations: +1 Spells, +1 Texts, +2 Rego, +1 Corpus. +2 Imaginem, +2 Mentem,
Virtues: +0 Dedicated Building, +0 Superior Construction, +0 Magical Light, +0 Guard, +0 Servant (Int +1), +1 Gateway (Mercere Portal to Tuscany), +1 Superior Decoration (Illusionary), +1 Lesser Feature – Orb, +1 Lesser Feature – Antechamber, Lesser Feature – Statue,
Flaws: -1 Lesser Illusion (Superior Decoration), -1 Thoroughfare (for elder magi of Falling Leaves)
(15 expenditure points)

Tuscany Laboratory: Study and Scriptorium (Dominion Aura 1)
Characteristics: Size +0, Refinement +1, General Quality +0, Upkeep +2, Safety +0, Warping +0, Health +3, Aesthetics +7
Specializations: +8 Texts, +1 Teaching, +1 Creo, +1 Rego, +1 Mentem
Virtues: +0 Dedicated Building, +0 Idyllic Surroundings, +0 Guard, +0 Highly Organized, +0 Precious Ingredients +0 Servant (Int -1), +1 Opulent, +1 Gateway (Mercere Portal to Falling Leaves), +1 Lesser Feature – Tablet, +1 Extensive Stores, +3 Greater Feature – Desk
Flaws: -0 Disguised, -0 Missing Sanctum Marker, -1 Missing Equipment (no Items), -1 Missing Equipment (no Vis Extraction or Experimentation), -1 Thoroughfare (for elder magi of Falling Leaves), -3 Greater Focus – Desk
(30 expenditure points)

Agents: Maximum of 8 Agents (Pre +2 plus Intrigue 2, times two)
Social Contacts (+12 Points)

Elise: Barmaid in Vannes
Bond +1 (Friendship with Betty (Donatella))
Resistance +1 (+0 Commoner, +1 Gossip)

Long Tom Hired Killer
Bond +1 (Respect for Tony Romo (Anthony, as Tony))
Resistance +1 (+3 Exceptional Skill – Brawl 9 (knife), -1 Branded Criminal, -1 Infamous)

Wallace the Merchant: A wealthy merchant shipper from Vannes (Factor)
Bond +2 (Fear of Tony Romo (Anthony, as Tony))
Resistance +1 (+0 Merchant, +3 Wealthy, +1 Underlings, -3 Dark Secret (criminal enterprise of his own))

Louis: Pirate Leader in Vannes (Factor)
Bond +2 (Loyal to Tony Romo (Anthony, as Tony))
Bond +1 (Loyal to Romo family (Donatella, posing as Lucia))
Resistance +3 (-1 Outlaw Leader, +3 Many Underlings, +1 Social Contacts (other pirates))

Betty: Handmaiden and Husband’s Mistress
Bond +1 (Silent Arrangement (Donatella, as Grace))
Resistance +1 (+0 Servant, +1 Gossip (knows husband’s secret business gossip))

Carlito: Tuscany crime boss
Bond +2 (Loyal to the Romo family, owes them for his position)
Resistance 1 (-1 Outlaw Leader, +1 Underlings, +1 Cover Identity as Merchant)

New Spells
MuCo10 The False Persona
R: Per, D: Sun, T: Ind
This spell utterly changes your appearance to look like another human being. You basic size and physical characteristics remain the same, but you can change any other features even including gender or pretending to be obese. You can even duplicate another person with accuracy based on Finesse roll, the Ease Factor being based on how well you know the person (3+ Intimate, 6+ Well Acquainted, 9+ Familiar, 12+ Vague Known, 15+ Seen Once).
(Base 3, +2 Sun, +1 complexity)

Development for Polyoppeties, years six through 10
Narrative
The next few years are relatively tranquil. Donatella has gotten her husand a mistress so as to get him out of her hair, and soon her oldest stepdaughter will be married off, and can alleviate much of Donatella’s duties as housewife. As Anthony, his pirate gang in Vannes prospers, and his new gang in Tuscany is doing well (though problems later develop. Maurice is able to devote most of his time being “himself”, engaged in study and lab work.

Year Six:

Winter: At Falling Leaves, I participate in the annual Aegis ritual. I then explore the deepest recesses of the Gray Tower, areas I have never looked into that closely before. I am looking for any equipment or artifacts left behind by my former parens, hoping to find items I can use in the construction of a third more private laboratory. I discover a heretofore unknown passage into the deep catacombs beneath the covenant, and amongst the tombs and sarcophagi I discover a forgotten silver cask covered with dust which radiates with magical energy. My InVi is weak, and I barely manage a spont that detects vis in the casket. I remove it and take it back up to my lab for further examination. I open the cask to get at the vis, and unwittingly release the addled specter bound within. This is the ghost of my great grand-parens (the master of my master’s master), and it is his ashes that are contained within the box. The vis takes the form of the ever replenishing ash and shards of bone that are generated within the cask.

I think I have found a secret treasure and plan on keeping it to myself, and I plan to reorganize my lab to account for this vis source and the haunting ghost. But the elders notice what I am up to, and realizing I have discovered the Cask of Gigordicus, they confront me about it. I say the cask is mine, I found it and it had long been forgotten and untouched. The elders say that they were well aware of the cask, harvesting the vis from it using spells and thus never needing to touch it. I say that I found it while exploring my sanctum, they say that it was located in the catacombs of the covenant, which are separate from the Gray Tower. It comes down to Certamen, which I loose. However, as consolation I am allowed to keep the cask in my lab and to purchase a magic device to help keep the specter of Gigordicus contained. I am given 3 pawns of Mentem vis and told I will receive another every two years. In time, as I grow in seniority, I will be granted an ever increasing share of this yield. But I am expected to deal with the ghost, keep it contained and preserved. To this end, they sell me a magic item to install in my lab, an Enchanted Icon from Byzantium. It is a Lesser enchanted device, 40 levels, and it costs me 6 pawns of vis (my 3 Mentem and 3 from my “Miscellaneous” stash). I doubt it is strong enough for the ghost of a magus, but the specter has become weak and addled from decades of vis drain, and the ward protects my lab & adds to the beauty.
Lab Reorganization: add +1 Vis Source, -1 Haunted, and +0 Magic Item
(2xp Magic Theory)

Spring: Attend the wedding of my stepdaughter Maria to Steven.
This is another complex social adventure that I am glossing over. I wrote plenty for the previous adventure :smiley:
Suffice to say it involves the Groom, the Bride’s Maid, the cake baker, the jewler, my new Tuscany syndicate, my old Vannes syndicate, Donatella, Maurice, Tony Romo, Lucia Romo, Larry the Lummox (a new cover using Anthony, False Persona, Growth, and Child Like Innocence), and a trained body double.
(10xp Adventure; 4 in Guile, 3 in Etiquette, 2 in Concentration, 1 in Charm,

Summer: Study “The Magical Use of Plants” (Herbam Summa, L12 Q 13)
13xps Herbam

Fall: Study “On Animals” (Animal Summa, L5 Q15),
15xp Animal

Year Seven:

Winter: Participate in Aegis,
Study” Magical Properties of Silkworms” Vol I (Muto Tractatus, Q 10)
(10xp Muto)

Spring: Study” Magical Properties of Silkworms” Vol II (Animal Tractatus, Q 10)
(10xp Animal)

Summer: at the Gray Tower, invent “MuCo(An)30 Cloak of Feathers”
Simple Die Roll to check for Warping = 10, no Warping
invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2235751/
(2xp Magic Theory)

Fall: Spend the season wheeling and dealing in my criminal empire. High points include…
~ I set up an arrangement with Wallace the Merchant. I gather a load of valuable wares, such as a huge stock of German iron. Wallace trades it with an Englishman for several crates of wool, some French wine, and some silks. The other merchant, English Archie, ships the iron back to England while Wallace sells the goods traded for it. Tony Romo and the pirates hijack the English ship, returning the goods to Wallace to trade all over again. We do this twice with the iron and once with a shipment of salt and pepper. That was a risky job, and we decided to work on a better money making plan.
~Impersonated several Italian Bankers, traders, and merchants. Commit massive fraud.
~Hire ourselves out as protection for merchant ships, causing misfortunes for those that didn’t hire our services. This one scheme persisted, and we eventually run a legitimate protection service. Somewhat legit. Almost. Not quite. You’ll see :wink:
(10 Adventure xp; 5 in Bargain, 5 in Leadership)

Year Eight:

Winter: Participate in Aegis at Falling leaves, receive 1 pawn of Mentem vis
Study “Cancelling Magic, part I” (Vim Tractatus, Q 10)
(10xp Vim)

Spring: As Donatella posing as Grace, I spend the entire season socializing in Tuscany. I get involved with a bunch of social drama with the desperate housewives of Tuscany. I help some friends out of trouble, dig up dirt to destroy our rivals, and find some blackmail to hold over little miss prissy Christine.
(5xp Etiquette, 5xp Folk Ken, new contact)

Summer: More Drama, as this time it is Donatella that takes a secret lover! But hers is a scheming purpose, not lust. Utilizing her “False Persona” spell, she poses as Marcia and becomes the young mistress of her husband’s business rival, Dino. She would use her position to gain information, then feed it to Betty (her husband’s mistress) and to Carlito (leader of the Tuscany gang).
But the whole thing nearly blows up in her face. Maurice didn’t mind Dino, but Anthony hated him. One night in bed, Anthony emerged as the dominant persona and murdered Dino in his sleep. Then he shifted into Maurice and dumped the whole thing on him. So as Maurice, he had to use magic to pretend to be Donatella posing as Grace, as Marcia, and as Lucia Romo. Plus he had to pretend to be Dino (after disposing of the body), and he had to pose as Tony Romo. Neither the Donatela nor Anthony Personas would come out to handle the mess they created.
But Maurice pulled it all off, he made the big deal and executed the perfect heist, paid everyone off and stashed a tidy profit for himself.
(10xp Adventure; 3 in Guile, 2 in Folk Ken, 2 in Intrigue, 2 in Leadership, 1 in Persona)

Fall: Return to Falling Leaves as Maurice. Study “Cancelling Magic, part II” (Perdo Tractatus, Q 10)
(10xp Perdo)

Year Nine:

Winter: Participate in Aegis. At the Gray Tower, after the annual Parma Ritual, Invent three spells from Lab Text; “ReMe10 The Call To Slumber”, “ReMe10 Snap of Awakening”, and “ReMe15 Confusion of the Numbed Will”.
Lab Total 38 (Int +2, Magic Theory 4 (Rego), Rego 11, Mentem 6, Aura +4 (Magic 4), Texts specialization +1, Spells specialization +1, Rego specialization +3, Mentem Specialization +5)
Simple die check for Warping = 1! Shit
invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2235760/
According to Covenants, p111, I roll once for a Side Effect. Since I was working on multiple projects (ArM5, p102), I will apply the results equally to all three spells.
Here we go…
invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2235763/
Another 1!
This means my sigil is exaggerated to many times its normal strength, becoming a significant part of the effect. My sigil is the color purple. Hmmm…
For “Call to Slumber”, the dreams of the sleeper are vividly shaded in different purple hues. The spell is renamed “Call to Mauve Slumber”.
For Snap of Awakening, the sleeper is hit with a bright purple light that everone can see. This is what wakes them, not a snap. The spell is renamed “Violet Flash of Awakening”.
For “Confusion of the Numbed Will, the victim’s head is surrounded by a purple coud while they are affected by this spell, and thus it is renamed “Confusion of Purple Haze”.
(2xps Magic Theory)

Spring: In Tuscany, invent “ReMe20 Coerce Spirits of the Night” from Lab Text
Lab Total 31 (Int +2, Magic Theory 4 (Rego), Rego 11, Mentem 6, Aura -3 (Divine 1), Rego Specialization +1, Mentem Specialization +1, Texts Specialization +8)
(2 Exposure xp; 1 in Magic Theory, 1 in Mentem)

Summer: In Tuscany, Invent “MuAn(He)10 Transformation of the Wizard’s Raiment” from scratch
Lab Total 20 (Int +2, Magic Theory 4, Muto 7, Animal 5, Herbam 4, Aura -3 (Divine 1), Early Riser routine +1)
2xp Magic Theory

Fall: I have to deal with the stepchildren. The oldest is married off, but the youngest is now becoming a young troublemaker. Sal Junior drinks and fights to much, and he has no useful skills. Labor is beneath our family status, he’s not at all ambitious when it comes to business, and I don’t want to get him involved in my gang. He has no talent for education, no discipline for military endeavors, and no skill as a craftsman. After much trial and error, I do find one hidden talent in him. He is an excellent cook, and with my encouragement he becomes a chef whose services are sought after by many wealthy families and aristocrats in Northern Italy to cater their parties and banquets.
(10xp Adventure; 4 in Folk Ken, 3 in Leadership, 2 in Etiquette, 1 in Tuscany Area Lore)

YearTen:

Winter: Participate in Aegis, receive a pawn of Mentem vis
Study “Magical Control” (Rego Summa; L 11 Q17)
17xp Rego

Spring: Study “Magical Control” (Rego Summa; L 11 Q17)
17xp Rego, reach limit and drop excess xp

Summer: At Tuscany Lab, Invent “ReCo35 Leap of Homecoming” from Lab Text
Lab Total 35 (Int +2, Magic Theory 4 (Rego), Rego 11, Corpus 7, Aura -3 (Divine 1), Texts specialization +8, Rego Specialization +1, Similar Spell bonus +3, Early Riser routine +1)
2xp Magic Theory

Fall: Receive Teaching in Parma Magica, giving a gift of 2 pawns of Mentem to the elder that tutors me. (Q12; 12xps Parma Magica)

Then everything really does blow up in my face. At the end of Fall, The Quaesitors come knocking on my door at the Gray Tower. Something about Interfering with Mundanes. I am not home, as the Elders conveniently usher me through the portal just before they arrive. I change to Donatella (Grace), and arrive in Tuscany. But they are on to me, and Q’s are waiting for me just outside my door. I surrender peacefully.

More to come!
:smiley:

:smiley:

Polyoppeties of Tytalus: after ten years
Characteristics: Int +2, Per +0, Com +1, Pre +2, Str -1, Sta +0, Dex +0, Quik +1
Size: 0
Age: 32
Decrepitude: 0
Warping: 1 (5); 10 from miscellaneous
Confidence: 2 (5)
Virtues: +0 Gifted Hermetic Magus, +Ty Self Confident, +3 Gentle Gift, +1 Deft Mentem, +1 Minor Magic Focus – Self Transformation, +1 Persona, +1 Puissant Guile, +1 Strong Will, +1 Social Contacts (underworld), +1 Temporal Influence
Flaws: -3 Dependants (secret family), -3 Major Malediction (each persona has a different and distinct Major Personality Flaw), -1 Ambitious, -1 Delusion (believes whatever Persona he is currently in is his “real” self), -1 Incomprehensible, -1 Weak Parens
Persona Personality Flaws:
Maurice: -3 Overconfident
Donatella: -3 Proud
Anthony: -3 Wrathful
Personality Traits:
u[/u]: Convinced Current Persona is “True Self” +3, Ambitious +2, Dislikes Switching Personas +1
Maurice: Overconfident +3, Brave +2, Loyal +1,
Donatella: Haughty +3, Discriminating +2, Loyal -1
Anthony: Vengeful +3, Brave +2, Loyal -1
Social Status:
Maurice: Hermetic Magus (Maurice of Tytalus)
Donatella: Hermetic Maga (Donatella of Tytalus), Gentlewoman (Grace Rosatti), Outlaw Leader (Lucia Romo
Anthony: Outlaw Leader (Tony Romo)
Reputations:
Maurice: Maurice of Tytalus 3 (Hermetic), aka Donatella (House Tytalus)
Donatella: aka Maurice 2 (House Tytalus), Grace Giordano the wealthy matron 3 (mundane), Lucia Romo the crime boss’s sister and secretly a wizard 1 (mundane)
Anthony: Criminal Leader 2 (mundane)

Combat:
Dodge:
Grapple/Fistfight:
Knife:
Soak: +
Fatigue: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, ko
Wounds: -1 Lt (1-5), -3 Med (6-10), -5 Hvy (11-15), Incap (16-20), Dead (21+)

Abilities:
Artes Liberales 1 (literacy), Brawl 1 (knife), Charm 2 (1xp) (being witty), Concentration 1 (3xp) (magic), Bargain 1 (shady deals), Etiquette 2 (townsfolk), Finesse 1 (grace), Folk Ken 2 (11xp) (same gender), Guile 3+2 (12xp) (elaborate lies), Intrigue 2 (6xp) (plotting), Italian 5 (Neapolitan), Latin 3 (Hermetic), Leadership 2 (3xp) (criminals), Magic Theory 5 (Rego), Normandy Area Lore 1 (rogues), Order of Hermes Lore 1 (House Tytalus Lore), Parma Magica 2 (2xps) (Mentem), Persona 3 (4xp) (female), Profession – Seaman 1 (sail), Rome Area Lore 1 (Tuscany), Rhine Lore 0 (1xp) (Swabia), Stealth 1 (ambush), Tuscany Area Lore 1 (1xp) (merchants), Vannes Area Lore 1 (2xps) (pirates)

Arts: Cr 2, In 0, Mu 7 (3xp), Pe 4 (1), Re 11, An 5 (4xp), Aq 0, Au 0, Co 7, He 4 (3xp), Ig 0, Im 1 (1xp), Me 6 (1xp), Te 0, Vi 4

Spells Known:
MuAn(He)10 Transformation of the Wizard’s Raiment
MuCo10 The False Persona: Mastery 1 (Subtle)
MuCo15 Disguise of the New Visage:
MuCo15 Preternatural Growth and Shrinking:
MuCo(An)30 Cloak of Feathers:
(Maurice – Gray, Donatella – White, Anthony – Black)
ReCo15 Wizard’s Leap:
ReCo35 Leap of Homecoming:
MuIm10 Aura of Ennobled Presence:
MuIm10 Aura of Beguiling Appearance:
MuIm10 Aura of Childlike Innocence:
MuIm15 Disguise of the Transformed Image
CrMe15 Panic of the Trembling Heart:
MuMe4 Recollection of Memories never Quite Lived:
PeMe10 Trust of Childlike Faith:
ReMe10 The Call To Mauve Slumber:
ReMe10 Violet Flash of Awakening:
ReMe15 Confusion of Purple Haze:
ReMe20 Coerce Spirits of the Night:
ReMe20 Aura of Rightful Authority:

Twilight Scars & Effects:
Magic Sigil: purple
Symbolic Sigil: a clockwise labyrinth spiral
Equipment:
Vis: 3 “Miscellaneous”
Encumbrance: 0
Main Laboratory: The Gray Tower (Magic Aura 4)
Characteristics: Size +2, Refinement +1, General Quality +0, Upkeep +1, Safety +0, Warping +3, Health +0, Aesthetics +10
Personality Traits: Mysterious & Spooky +1, Wise +2
Specializations: +1 Spells, +1 Texts, +3 Rego, +1 Corpus. +2 Imaginem, +5 Mentem,
Virtues: +0 Dedicated Building, +0 Superior Construction, +0 Magical Light, +0 Guard, +0 Servant (Int +1), +1 Gateway (Mercere Portal to Tuscany), +1 Superior Decoration (Illusionary), +1 Lesser Feature – Orb, +1 Lesser Feature – Antechamber, Lesser Feature – Statue, +1 Vis Source
Flaws: -1 Lesser Illusion (Superior Decoration), -1 Thoroughfare (for elder magi of Falling Leaves), -1 Haunted
(15 expenditure points)
Magic Items: Magic Icon; Lesser Enchanted Device, ReMe40 Ward the Room against Spirits of might 16 or lower; (Base 11, +2M Sun; +2M Room, +4L Constant, +5L Penetration 10, doubled to 20 according to the Wards House Rule for being Form Specific); (+1 Safety, +1 Aesthetics)

Tuscany Laboratory: Study and Scriptorium (Dominion Aura 1)
Characteristics: Size +0, Refinement +1, General Quality +0, Upkeep +2, Safety +0, Warping +0, Health +3, Aesthetics +7
Specializations: +8 Texts, +1 Teaching, +1 Creo, +1 Rego, +1 Mentem
Virtues: +0 Dedicated Building, +0 Idyllic Surroundings, +0 Guard, +0 Highly Organized, +0 Precious Ingredients +0 Servant (Int -1), +1 Opulent, +1 Gateway (Mercere Portal to Falling Leaves), +1 Lesser Feature – Tablet, +1 Extensive Stores, +3 Greater Feature – Desk
Flaws: -0 Disguised, -0 Missing Sanctum Marker, -1 Missing Equipment (no Items), -1 Missing Equipment (no Vis Extraction or Experimentation), -1 Thoroughfare (for elder magi of Falling Leaves), -3 Greater Focus – Desk
(30 expenditure points)

Agents: Maximum of 8 Agents (Pre +2 plus Intrigue 2, times two)
Social Contacts (+12 Points)

Elise: Barmaid in Vannes
Bond +1 (Friendship with Betty (Donatella))
Resistance +1 (+0 Commoner, +1 Gossip)

Long Tom Hired Killer
Bond +1 (Respect for Tony Romo (Anthony, as Tony))
Resistance +1 (+3 Exceptional Skill – Brawl 9 (knife), -1 Branded Criminal, -1 Infamous)

Wallace the Merchant: A wealthy merchant shipper from Vannes (Factor)
Bond +2 (Fear of Tony Romo (Anthony, as Tony))
Resistance +1 (+0 Merchant, +3 Wealthy, +1 Underlings, -3 Dark Secret (criminal enterprise of his own))

Louis: Pirate Leader in Vannes (Factor)
Bond +2 (Loyal to Tony Romo (Anthony, as Tony))
Bond +1 (Loyal to Romo family (Donatella, posing as Lucia))
Resistance +3 (-1 Outlaw Leader, +3 Many Underlings, +1 Social Contacts (other pirates))

Betty: Handmaiden and Husband’s Mistress
Bond +1 (Silent Arrangement (Donatella, as Grace))
Resistance +1 (+0 Servant, +1 Gossip (knows husband’s secret business gossip))

Carlito: Tuscany crime boss
Bond +2 (Loyal to the Romo family, owes them for his position)
Resistance 1 (-1 Outlaw Leader, +1 Underlings, +1 Cover Identity as Merchant)

Christine: rival wealthy housewife that I have blackmail on
Bond +2 (fears having her secret affairs exposed by Grace)
Resistance : +1 (+1 Gentlewoman, -6 Blackmail, +1 Gossip, +1 Social Contacts, +1 Temporal Influence, +3 Wealthy)

New Spells
MuCo10 The False Persona
R: Per, D: Sun, T: Ind
This spell utterly changes your appearance to look like another human being. You basic size and physical characteristics remain the same, but you can change any other features even including gender or pretending to be obese. You can even duplicate another person with accuracy based on Finesse roll, the Ease Factor being based on how well you know the person (3+ Intimate, 6+ Well Acquainted, 9+ Familiar, 12+ Vague Known, 15+ Seen Once).
(Base 3, +2 Sun, +1 complexity)

MuAn(He)10 Transformation of the Wizard’s Raiment
R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Ind
This spell transforms a worn set of clothing into different clothes.
(Base 2, +1 Herbam, +1 Touch, +2 Sun)

Excellent stories, I'll almost be surprised if Maurice isn't dead before we even start, given some of the hijinx he's involved in. I'm enjoying it and not seeing anything that strikes me as unbalanced or inappropriate.