Characters, finished

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Fire in the North
1

Easier to find that way:

Morphiste filia Flavius ex Misc in 1245 (beginning of winter):
Morphiste ex Miscellanea (at Gauntlet)
Short history:

Virtues/Flaws (house virtues and flaws in brackets)
(3 restriction: cannot cast spells on non-magical animals, including Bjornaer in Heartbeast form, at all, except on himself)
3 Driven (sabotage house Bjornaer)
1 busybody
3 dark secret: plans to destroy House Bjornaer
1 Hedge Wizard (Note: reduced to lvl 1 by many deeds)
1 Unimaginative Learner
1 Ability block: Martial abilities

( 3 shapechanger)
(1 affinity with muto)
1 puissant shapeshifting
1 bound tongue (see HoH: MC, Bjornaer)
1 subtle magic
3 life-linked spontaneous magic
1 Pack Leader
1 improved characteristics
1 book learner
1 Venus blessing
Acquired virtue: hermetic prestige

Int 2 Pe 0
Pr 1 Com 2
Sta 2 Str 0
Quk 0 Dex 0

Reputation:
Hedge Wizard 1
Maga in Good Standing 3

Skills (alphabetical): Animal Handling (sea birds) 2, Area Lore Scottish Islands (animals) 3, Artes Liberales (Ceremonial Casting) 2(3), Awareness (alertness) 2, Carouse (staying sober) 2, Charm (old men) 3, Chirurgy (binding wounds) 1, Code of Hermes (Wizard’s Marches) 3, Concentration (shapechanging) 3, Etiquette (gifts) 3, Guile (shapeshifting) 3, Intrigue (nobility) 4, Latin (Hermetic) 4, Leadership (political) 2(5), Magic Theory (Me) 5(21), Medicine (physcician) 1, Native Language Gaelic (telling stories) 5, Order of Hermes Lore (House Bjornaer) 4, Parma (Mentem) 5, Philosophy (Ceremonial Casting) 1, Profession Scribe (diligent) 1, Teaching 2(14), Shapechange (bear) 4+2 (Bear, dolphin, heron, cat)
683xp
Arts:
Cr 9(2), In 10, Mu 18, Pe 6, Re 6, An 6, Aq 6, Au 6, Co 9, He 6, Ig 6, Im 6, Me 13, Te 6, Vi 10
536xp arts
Spells:
Enchantment of detachment (PeMe15)
Loss of but a moment’s memory (PeMe15)
Invention of but a moment’s memory (CrMe15; B4; +1 eye, +2 day; works best if target talks about Memory during duration, so he or she has a non-magical memory of talking about it)
Aura of Rightful Authority (ReMe20)
Doublet of Impenetrable linen (MuHe20, cf. Doublet of Impenetrable Silk MuAn20)
Disguise of the new visage (MuCo15)
The call to Slumber (ReMe10)
Wizard’s Sidestep (MuIm10)
Cavebuilder PeTe 10 (B: 4, +1 Touch, +1 Part)
Makes one cubic pace of stone or dirt diappear.

Age: 60 (27 past gauntlet)

Notes: 45xp early childhood (+Gaelic) + 195xp childhood + 240xp as a maga = 480xp until gauntlet
739xp post gauntlet = It takes 23 years with 8xp to achieve this (ignoring the +3 reading bonus)
lab activities:

  • created talisman with three effects
  • familiar
  • apprentice
  • setting up a lab

Morphiste’s lab
A steep cliff hangs over the sea. About 7 paces below the waterline, there is a narrow entrance to an artificial cave, just inside the aegis.
There is a labyrinth of narrow tunnels inside that can only be mastered by someone with both the ability to fly and to dive.
Morphiste’s sanctum is a large hexagonal room, and has a large stone ring on the floor for circle spells. Since there is no contact to the outside air (the only entrance is under water), the air has to be kept fresh by a minor magic item (an agate). There is a second room for sleeping nearby.

Minor structure virtues:
Auspicious shape: +1 Aesthetics, +1 Vim
Spacious: +2 safety, +1 Aesthetics
Well Insulated: +1 safety, +1 Aesthetics
Free structure virtues:
Superior construction: +1 Safety, +1 Aesthetics
Free structure flaws:
Disguised: -1 Aesthetics
Subterranean: +1 Upkeep, (-1 Health, countered by Agate), -1 Aesthetics, +1 Terram)
Minor supernatural flaw/virtue:
Labyrinth (modified): -2 Aesthetics, +2 Vim, (-1 Safety, -1 health for other users only)
Highly organized: +1 General Quality
Spotless: +1 health, +1 Aesthetics, +1 Creo
Magical lightning: +1 Texts, +1 Aesthetics, +1 Im
Magical heating: +1 Health, +1 Aesthetics, +1 Ig
Ring of white-hot fire: -1 safety, +2 ignem

Total:
Aesthetics: +3
Safety: +2
General: +1
Health: +2
Vim: +3
Ignem: +3
Creo +1
Terram +1
Texts +1

2

Thanks, JeanMichelle. You're right - it does make it easier to find everyone!

Do you want to post Morphiste up on the wiki, or would you like me to take care of it?

3

Ishbel Nic Morgan apprentice to Annaeus Aurelian

Characteristics: Int +3, Per 0, Pre +1, Com 0, Str -1, Sta +1, Dex 0, Qik 0

Size: 0

Age: 20 (20), Decrepitude: 0, Warping Score: 0 (0)

Confidence: 1 (3)

Virtues and Flaws:
The Gift, Hermetic Apprentice, Light Touch, Linguist, Second Sight, Affinity with Harpmaking, Inventive Genius, Major Magical Focus (emotions), Apt Student

Spontaneous Casting Tools, Noncombatant, Nocturnal (All Rolls: -1 between dawn and midday), Restriction (Cannot affect the wind), Rigid Magic

Personality Traits: Shy +3, Practical +1, Keen to Impress +2

Soak: 0

Abilities: Artes Liberales 2 (logic), Brewer 2 (dark ale), Folk Ken 1 (warriors), Gaelic 5 (formal), Guile 1 (lying to authority), Harpmaking 4 (gaelic harps), Islay Lore 2 (faerie sites), Latin 5 (hermetic), Magic Theory 4 (enchanting items) (+2 xp), Order of Hermes Lore 1 (Loch Leglean) (+3 xp), Philosophiae 2 (natural philosophy) (+8 xp), Second Sight 2 (invisible things) (+8xp), Stealth 2 (hiding), Verditius Cult Lore 1 (modifying initiation scripts), West Norse 1 (poetry)

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

Spells Known:
Bridge of Wood (CrHe 20) +12
Piercing Shaft of Wood (Mu(Re)He 10) +10
Preternatural Growth and Shrinking (MuCo 15) +12
Sight of the True Form (InCo 15) +10
Eyes of the Treacherous Terrain (InTe 15) +9
Rock of Viscid Clay (MuTe 15) +11

Ishbel has spent the last 11 years as Annaeus' apprentice, and while the relationship between master and student has blossomed, Annaeus' ability to raise a child to well-adjusted adulthood leaves a lot to be desired. Like her parens, Ishbel is something of a recluse. Unlike Annaeus, this stems less from any genuine love of solitude and much more from a crippling shyness. Time will tell if she is able to overcome this and become a more outgoing, successful maga.

EDIT: Whoops! I haven't updated her stats since she was 11 years old. I've gone back and added 1 point to all of them, which brings them to their correct level.

4

Re: Character Creation
draft:
Lucky Wodin Whoreson, the pirate
Flaws:

  • 1 greedy
  • 1 story: Visions
    -3 Outlaw
    -1 Weakness gambling
    -1 Afflicted tongue
    -1 Disfigured
    -1 Missing eye
  • 1 fluctuating fortune (from A&A p. 134: alternating: one year virtue rich, the next year poor flaw)

Virtues:
3 Ways of the sea (Can this be made to include coasts – so he gets those benefits for beach operations too?)
1 Premonitions [associated with the magic realm]
1 Perfect balance
1 Affinity with a skill that fits (weapons sth)
1 tough
1 puissant weapons sth
1 Self-confident
1 Luck

Int 0 Pe +1
Com -2 Pr -2
Sta +2 Str +2
Dex +2 Quk +2

Early childhood:
Native Language Gaelic (Hebrides) 5
Athletics (Climbing) 2
Brawl (dagger) 2
Survival (fishing) 1
Awareness (seeing things at a long distance) 1
Swim (Salt Water) 1

Wodin was born on Skye. His mother was a red-haired public woman who found her customers among the fishermen, smugglers and pirates. Her hands were as large as bed-pans and her voice as deep and loud as any man’s. She had no idea who his father was, but as she said: “He was a sailor - that’s all I can say for sure.” Wodin’s childhood environment was marked by loose morals, hard drinking and periodic violence, and there was never shortage of rough father figures for him to imitate. One of these encounters left him with a permanent scar in the face and a lisp (his face is slightly asymmetrical).
He became a rather violent child, who nursed his bruises in his frequent bruises in his secret hiding place: A small cave in the cliffs.

Later life
Year 6: Wodin: Wodin stays at home, and learns about drinking, and gambling [Carousing (games of chance) 2]
Year 7+8: Wodin’s mother is stabbed to death by a suitor. Wodin puts a knife in him, runs away and is taken on as a ship’s boy by a smuggler. [Profession: Sailing (Irish Sea) 2, Area Lore Irish Sea (Coast) 2]
Year 9: The smuggler is caught by the authorities. All the adults are hanged, the boy has an eye put out.
He starts seeing things with his blind eye. Folk Ken (authorities) 1, Premonitions 2]
Year 10-18: Wodin is taken on by another vessel – pirates. There he spends the next ten years of his life living the cruel life of a pirate, and gets promoted to the position of Watch leader. He also acquires a reputation for being the luckiest bastard on the seas that surround Albion. He warns the other pirates that their last trip is going to end in disaster, but they scoff at his murky predictions. So he leaves the ship, only to learn of their bloody end at the hand of a rival pirate group some days later. His visions then lead him to Ailsa Craig, where he finds refuge, good pay, and magi who might eventually explain[Single Weapon (Axe) 5+2, Carousing to 3, Profession Sailor to 4, Area Lore Irish Sea to 3, Premonitions to 4, Leadership (ship) 1]

Skills:
Athletics (Climbing) 2 [+6 for perfect balance if applicable, +3 for Ways of the sea if applicable]
Area Lore Irish Sea (Coasts) 3 [+3 for ways of the Sea]
Awareness (seeing things at a long distance) 1 [+3 for ways of the sea, if applicable]
Brawl (dagger) 2 [see below]
Carouse (Gambling) 3
Leadership (ship) 1 [+3 for ways of the sea, if applicable]
Native Language Gaelic (Hebrides) 5
Premonitions (threats to himself) 4 [+3 for sea-linked dangers like storms]
Profession: Sailor (Irish Sea) 4 [+3 for Ways of the sea]
Single Weapon (Axe) 5+2 [see below]
Survival (fishing) 1 [+3 for Ways of the sea, if applicable]
Swimming (Salt Water) 1 [+3 for salt water]

Personality: Brave +3, uncouth +2
Reputations: Pirate (port towns) 2, lucky (pirates) 1

Equipment: A well-made sailor’s leather outfit, complete with 2 daggers (one hidden in his boot), and an axe [Load 1] that is primarily a tool, but can also be used in combat.
For raids, or fights he sees coming, he equips a heater shield [Load two] and a full leather scale armor [load 5]
Load: 1/8 encumbrance: 0/-3

Combat Values (-1 attack for missing eye included; +3 in sea regions in […], -3 for armor has not yet been included because he normally doesn’t wear it)
Soak: +5 naked/ normal outfit, +10 when expecting battle
Punches: Initiative+2 [+5] Attack +3 [+6] Defense +4 [+7] Damage +2
Dagger: Initiative+2 [+5] Attack +6 [+9] Defense +5 [+8] Damage +5
Axe: Initiative +3 [+6] Attack +13 [+16] Defense +10 [+13] Damage +8
Axe and Heater shield: Initiative +3 [+6] Attack +13 [+16] Defense +13 [+16] Damage +8

5

Cool, that all checks out. Wodin and Morphiste both have 10 xp from Chapter 1 to spend (as per the usual rules for story xp).