Claudia the Laboratory Assistant

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Phoenix - Rise from the A
1

[table][tr][td]Current Year: 1213[/td]
[td]Religion: Muslim[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Age: 12[/td]
[td]Title/Profession: Laboratory Assistant[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Size: -1 (currently)[/td]
[td]Height: 4'11” (150 cm)[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Confidence: 0 (0)[/td]
[td]Weight: 95 lbs (43 kg)[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Birth Name: Nasira bint 'Abbas[/td]
[td]Hair: Black[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Year Born: 1201[/td]
[td]Eyes: Brown[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Gender: Female[/td]
[td]Handedness: Right[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Race/Nationality: Arabic[/td]
[td][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Place of Origin: La Lantejuela, Al-Andalus[/td]
[td][/td][/tr][/table]
[table][tr][td][u]Characteristics*[/u][/td]
[td][u]Virtues[/u][/td]
[td][u]Flaws[/u][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Intelligence: +3[/td]
[td]Affinity with Magic Theory[/td]
[td]Disfigured (severely burned from a lab accident)[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Perception: -1[/td]
[td]Affinity with Scribe[/td]
[td]Low Self-Esteem i[/i][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Presence: -1[/td]
[td]Apt Student[/td]
[td]Magical Air i[/i][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Communication: -1[/td]
[td]Failed Apprentice[/td]
[td]Reckless[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Strength: -1[/td]
[td]Good Teacher[/td]
[td]Visions[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Stamina: 0[/td]
[td]Great Intelligence[/td]
[td][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Dexterity: -1[/td]
[td]Hyperborean Descent**[/td]
[td][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Quickness: -1[/td]
[td]Magic Sensitivity[/td]
[td][/td][/tr]
[tr][td][/td]
[td]Puissant Magic Theory[/td]
[td][/td][/tr][/table]

  • includes -1 to all Characteristics due to her age. Size score also reduced due to her age.
    ** from Ancient Magic, p. 104

[u]Abilities[/u]
Arabic 5 i(good manners)[/i]
Area Lore: La Lantejuela 2 i[/i]
Artes Liberales 1* i[/i]
Awareness 2 i[/i]
Charm 2 (first impressions)
Code of Hermes 1 i[/i]
Covenant Lore: Phoenix 1 i[/i]
Etiquette 1 i[/i]
Folk Ken 2 i[/i]
Latin 3 (lab lingo)
Magic Sensitivity 2 (enchanted items)
Magic Theory 2+2 (enchanting items)
Order of Hermes Lore 1 (magi of the tribunal)
Scribe 2 (lab texts)
Stealth 1 (not being noticed)

  • Claudia is only literate with the Latin script.

Experience Spent: 150

[u]Personality Traits[/u]
Brave: 0
Reckless: +3

[u]Reputations[/u]
none

Nasira bint 'Abbas was, as near as anyone around her could tell, a relatively normal child in the little village of La Lantejuela. Well, except for the whole not-getting-along-with-others thing, and being exceptionally bright (especially for a girl). Her father was somewhat relieved when Salamandrus ex Flambeau came and offered to take her off of their hands, taking her back to the Covenant of the Phoenix. It didn't take long for Nasira to settle into being Salamandrus's apprentice. She was enjoying learning new things and was in awe of what she thought she could do once she had become a maga like the others, and she was fascinated by the strange new place she was living...so different from La Lantejuela.

Then, about two and a half years ago, she was assisting Salamandrus in some laboratory work when something went terribly wrong. The last thing she remembers from that day was a bright flash of light and a near-deafening crackling sound. The rubble of Salamandrus's laboratory gives mute testimony to the fact that she is blessed to be alive today. The explosion critically injured her, though, and while a casting of Incantation of the Body Made Whole was able to keep her from dying, it was not able to heal the scars caused by the magical explosion. Furthermore, the explosion, mystical in nature, somehow ripped the Gift from her body.

Unable to ever work magic, all but unbearable to look at*, and with no hope of returning to the family that was happy to see her leave, the child decided to remain at Phoenix. Taking the name of Claudia (which, in turn comes from the Latin claudus, which means “lame” or “crippled”, reflecting how she now felt after losing the Gift) and being cursed with the memory of her potential, she made the difficult decision to help the magi in whatever way she could. She still retains her knack for learning Magic Theory, and has discovered a gift for scribing as well, which makes her feel like she's less of a burden on the now-decimated covenant than before.

  • As an aside, it was after the accident that Nisara decided to start wearing the burka, despite her being a simple village girl at heart. Allah would forgive her presumption, as long as looking at her would detract others from what is right.
2

Might I suggest that Claudia takes the Disfigured flaw, to represent some kind of explosion or attack that destroyed her Arts? We could either say this happened at Phoenix, and have a burned wreck of a building somewhere on the grounds, perhaps some ominous foreshadowing of the Final Battle. Or she could have been the sole survivor of an attack upon some other covenant, either before or after the revelation of Infernalism rampant through Iberia.

Also, recall that, as a companion you are playing, she can't be your Magus's companion. Perhaps she doesn't even go into the labs. There's many a use for such a talented young lady in a covenant.

I'm a bit groggy from all the driving, so let me know if that was coherent.

3

So, if I'm understanding correctly, her loss of the Gift and becoming a Failed Apprentice is the result of a lab accident that destroyed her Arts, rather than simply her master getting killed before he (or she) had a chance to fully Open her Arts. I can live with that. I don't really see her as being Disfigured, though she does only have eight points of Virtues and Flaws. Since Disfigured is a Minor Flaw, she could take that, and we could come up with an additional Virtue to balance it out. Ravenscroft did suggest Affinity with Profession: Scribe, so that's an option for me to consider. Tomorrow, I think, after I go back to bed.

Hadn't wanted her to be. I was planning on her being basically a Covenant resource-type character. If a magus needs a lab-monkey, she's right there for any of us to use, which I think might not be for a while yet. And I'm comfortable with Cygna being last-in-line on Claudia's waiting list (preferably with a suitable in-game justification). I'm not really sure that Cygna's personality is suitable for...um...prolonged close personal contact. ("No, Cygna, Claudia is not a projectile weapon, I don't care how many Terlinguan flagons she dropped!")

4

~shrug~ Just a suggestion, to sidestep the debate you guys were having about whether or not your previous history for her would have had the result you want. If she's a player character, her back story should have Oomph. If we're gonna sit around discussing whether or not the events would have the effect intended, then I vote to increase the drama of the narrative.

5

All good points, and well taken. I think I am going to go with the Disfigured and the Affinity with Scribe to up her V/F to 9/9, and oomph up her backstory a little bit. I'll tweak her character sheet after my meeting, and have it posted tomorrow sometime.

6

Posted an updated version of Claudia.

Major changes:
[]Increased her age from 10 to 12 (mainly due to new background and Ravenscroft's suggestion)[/]
[]Added Affinity with Scribe Virtue (toth to Ravenscroft)[/]
[]Added Disfigured Flaw (toth to Amul)[/]
[]Oomphed up her background some[/]

The blanked-out spots in her background are for whatever magus (or maga) had taken her in apprenticeship. Don't know if Amul has a dead magus from Phoenix that would be suitable, but I would like her to have been in Phoenix. I'm having a hard time seeing why she would leave another covenant only to come to this one, instead of leaving the Order altogether if she were going to run away because of the accident.

I decided to keep the Hyperborean Descent Virtue because, in addition to the -2 to Aging Rolls, she also gets a +1 to resist disease.

7

Jaime Lannister, deceased Flambeau, is the first option that comes to mind.

EDIT: Nevermind, Jaime Lannister is the surviving covenant founder, not one of the deceased ones.

It seems, from my notes, that I have not outlined any of the other founders yet. Looks like I'll be working on backstories today.

Peregrine, you are free to name one of the deceased Flambeau magi.

8

Peregrine, you can either come up with the name of the 4th co-founder of Phoenix House, or Claudia can be the failed apprentice of Cersei Lannister.

9

I came up with what I think is a pretty cool name for a Flambeau - Salamandrus. Already went in and made the edit on Claudia's backstory, and I'll add his name to the Wetpaint as well.

10

It occurs to me that Salamandrus probably died in the explosion. At the very least, his lab blew up, which means there is a crater where a lab was. Is that a 7th lab, or one of the 6? Point expenditure suggests it was a 7th.

Were there 2 magi who were not Founders? Apprentices who walked through the Gauntlet, perhaps, and stayed to push on the cause?