My last Bonisagus was a Blatant-Gifted lab rat, but since such a character will be ill suited to going out and taking on stories, I’m thinking of something different. I’m tempted by some sort of seeker-ish type with a touch of faerie blood who might be motivated to go and investigate Irencilla’s former location, and possibly other clues.
Gentle Gift would be beneficial but a bit dull; Elementalist or Mythic Blood (I had a lineage inspired by GotF which I might be tempted to re-use) seem rather more interesting.
I’m assuming that Faerie Magic is likely to be off-limits, even via a Bonisagus parens who was poached from House Merinita as an apprentice. If it isn’t, that would be extremely tempting.
Anyway.
The questions burning in his mind would be,
Firstly, did House Merinita depart, or were they taken?
Secondly, vis supplies and House Mercere are two of the things that help maintain the Order in its current form; chipping away at them by whatever means is likely to foster increased discord within the Order; there are other means of weakening the Order, but maybe those are more difficult, or risky for some reason. If this theory is accurate, then it’s a very long-term plot, but what is the connection to House Merinita? Were they an easy target the rest of the Order might not miss much, or a potential roadblock to a long-term plot with some kind of fae connection?
Might such a wearisome obsession account for his difficulty in finding a place at another Covenant?
Lab rats can be fun to play, so long as they have reasons to get out of the lab once in a while. Just because they have to go out (due to their research or some obligation) doesn't mean they have to like it.
So, since this is a character-driven saga, you have to provide reasons for your character to go out. This can be related to his area of research (such as dried-up vis sources) or interest (such as investigating what happened to House Merinita). He may have a Flaw, which requires him to study away from the lab (Study Requirement ArM5 p.59) or an outside force that pushes him outside of the lab (most Story flaws).
Ah, that is the question! No one knows. Or if someone does, they're not sharing their findings.
From the Saga announcement post:
Roughly twenty years ago, House Merinita disappeared. Some of their magi gathered their belongings and left. Others simply vanished. Rumors have it that some were found dead, brutally murdered in their sanctum and their belongings ransacked. The domus magnus of House Merinita, Irencilla is simply gone. No one know what really happened, although many theories exist.
The rarification of vis sources began several decades before the disappearance of House Merinita. Which does not preclude them being linked. 
Diminishing vis supplies have indeed weakened the unity of the Order of Hermes. Many theorize that it is the main cause for the current fragmentation of the Order.
The Order of Hermes is threatened by its greatest enemy ever: itself. For the last few decades, things have been uneasy between the Houses, as their diverging priorities has led them in different directions. Many magi are suspicious and jealous of their brethren form other Houses. They keep their secrets close, for knowledge is power.
Sources of raw vis are becoming harder to find throughout Mythic Europe, so they are guarded jealously and smaller sources are more valuable than in the early history of the Order. This forces magi to seek out places where vis can be found, even when such locations are less than ideal, so that they can secure them.
In this context, the formation of single-House covenants is becoming more frequent, as their elders provide them support so that their House can secure those few vis sources that are found, and to help promote their House’s goals and interests in an area. A few covenants have grown larger, but more and more, new covenants are being established in regions that hide their presence from mundanes.
It could be. Most magi treat the disappearance of House Merinita as "a good thing", "old news" or "something for the elders to worry about". Thinking that the increasing scarcity of vis sources is the work of some outside agency is considered paranoid.
Either could be charaterized through one or more Personality Flaw:
- Ambitious - "I will be to one to solve that mystery because it will prove I am better than other!"
- Delusion - "It is a plot by (your choice) to destroy the Order!"
- Driven - "I have to know who did this because it will help me deal with (whatever loss) !"
- Vow - "I promised on (select person) that I would solve this mystery!"
I think I like Driven: “I have to find out what happened because if the Order cannot stand up for its own it is doomed AND if it is a plot the next blow may be too severe to recover from.”
I didn't realize we were core only so a couple of my ideas wouldn't work.
But that's fine, just helps me decide.
I'm thinking about someone who was raised/apprenticed in Hibernia and left, not sure exactly why yet but basically a combination of being driven out by enemies among the hedge wizard community and fleeing because "it's crazy there".
But had been to Durenmar early in his apprenticeship so knew about it, showed up and managed to avoid the problems of being an orphan by immediately impressing people there with his talent for Theory and getting bonisnatched. But his old House is pretty annoyed about all that so in the new Order environment that means it's hard for him to find a place anywhere that's not a Bonisagus House covenant.
There will be more details when I have more time to write, including what former House - I think it will be Flambeau but not sure yet - and more about what happened in Hibernia.
That's a workable concept.
He would have needed to be still in his apprenticeship in order to be snatched by a Bonisagus. It is doubtful that his talent for Magic Theory would be the reason -- more likely some rare focus in his magic that made him valuable/interesting to his new pater/mater's area of research.
The move would need to have happened while he was young enough that he would be able to integrate into his new House (and provide enough benefits to the new master to counterbalance the fallout from the snatching), yet mature/willful enough that he would leave his former master's covenant and travel by himself to Durenmar. That suggests a whole array of possible virtues/flaws.
We're on the same page re apprenticeship and his attitude.
Not sure about magical focus. I considered something related to MuVi and changing spells, but not sure how to make it narrower than just the TeFo of MuVi.
I was also thinking about taking a personal vis source - might that have been enough to get him taken?
Just to let you know, I'm not a big fan of MuVi as a specialty.
Be careful about an excessive specialization in Vim. It tends to leave the magus useless in more mundane situations. The training from his former master would (and should) probably counterbalance that, at least where skill in the Arts is concerned. Spells tend to be taught by the master in the last few years (so the Bonisagus would have done that), though low-level utility spells are usually simple enough that any decent master (all the Arts at 5+) would know at least some of those.
A personal vis source might indeed have weighted in the balance, if the Bonisagus was researching vis production. But this brings you back to your second master being Vim-focused.
I don't feel a need to pursue MuVi if it's not your favorite thing. I didn't have a particularly exotic mmf in mind as a core part of the character, so we can leave it off.
What about this: Inventive Genius, which goes to the master if he's assisting and the master doesn't have it, and a Creo vis source (probably something from his body but I'm not sure what yet... trying to think of something interesting but not gross.)
As I think about him more, I'm liking the idea that he's sort of a frustrated Flambeau. As in, actually would make quite a good Flambeau, but they hate him, and he's a Bonisagus now, and all his new Bonisagus friends have no respect for his proclivities to combat magic and he has to prove himself as a magic researcher instead, to have any respect. And he's good at research, but always looking for an excuse to do something else.
Thinking of a magical focus myself; either a major “One with the Land” applicable to the earth and things naturally rooted in it (so earth, rock, rooted plants, but no worked metals, gems, structures less than a century old, and other features such as watercourses, faeries or regiones only if similarly old and tied to the land), or a minor equivalent “Hear the Land” applicable to the same areas, but only regarding communication or understanding, i.e. Intellego mostly.
Thoughts?
Could be something that happened when he was young (either before or early apprenticeship).
Possibility: While young, he stumbled upon a hive of magical bees that had just lost their king. They mistook him for a prince (because of his unmanifested Gift), captured him and fed him royal jelly. That's where his first master found him as he was harvesting the hive for raw vis. The experience transformed him; his legs are now quite hairy (much like the hind legs of a bee) and will produce a golden dust in the spring that can be collected for 2 pawns of Creo vis.
Note that a personal vis source is usually thightly linked to a magus' Gift, so the nature of the source will also be reflected other virtues and flaws.
Perhaps caught between both worlds? Fled because he didn't like the violent/destructive behaviour of his Flambeau pater and his part in the conflict in Hibernia (that's Ireland btw, if you were thinking Spain that's Iberia, but it applies in both cases). He's creative but not really a lab rat, so after so much time under his second master he would prefer to see the outside world, but many Bonisagi aren't convinced he's really one of theirs now, so he feels pressure to do research. While many Flambeau are angry that he spurned the honor of being one of theirs.
I'd be hesitant to include rooted plant in a Major Terram-based focus, as that makes it very broad even in Herbam.
ArM5 p.45 lists "Herbam: Trees or food plants" and "Terram: Metals or stone" as examples of Major Magical Foci. Natural earth and rock would be Major. Man-made structures makes it too broad, I think.
Rooted plants would seem broad enough to constitute a Major Focus on its own, based on the examples.
I love all that, and thanks for the vis idea. Works well for him being Creo-focused, which I was thinking of doing.
I did know Hibernia = Ireland, but your mention of Iberia gives me a better idea - unhappy with Flambeau because of his distaste for the "pointless" infighting between the Mithrans and the Mercurians, and departure on the eve of his master going off to fight in the reconquista (which he found morally objectionable and ridiculous). So he'll probably be from Provence instead.
To Carologus I would point out there are mysteries to be uncovered in the forests of the Rhine, if SG is including them would give you a goal (of discovery) closely aligned with the idea of becoming one with the land, and has interesting ties to the lost Merinita.
A Bonisagus trying to re-discover and revive the mysteries of the original Merinita (Nature Lore and the other Nature Mysteries in HoH:MC), which pretty much disappeared with House Merinita, would certainly be viable.
I think there's a forest path that gets to the same thing via a different method.
Yes, there is. Though initiating in those mysteries can be harder when you investigate them on your own. Finding old Merinita initiation texts would make it a whole lot easier.
If Carologus wants to go that way with his character concept, we can say that the whole path was "lost" with House Merinita's disappearance. Though bits and pieces may still exist, for example from the lineage of magi who left that House when Quendalon took it over.
That might be somewhat at odds with Faerie Blood, which he was considering.
Can I have a thread for Bellator ex Bonisagus?
I see what you mean; I was trying to exclude most man-made structures, only including those old enough to have become part of the landscape to keep the scope under control, but I really need to choose whether an aspect of Terram or Herbam will better fit what I’m trying to realise.
You can post your draft version here so we can discuss and refine it. The named topics are for the final version, with the struture as follow:
Got it. I assume we are newly gauntleted, and core book only for build, right? I think I saw somewhere no custom spells; what about minor changes of a R/D/T parameter, or canon spells from other books?
Do you think Enemies is too much for the Flambeau enmity? It seems a bit overkill (literally, maybe) but not sure what a better alternative would be. Though if you don't think it's too disruptive of the game I'll go for it.