Companion: Benedict ex Mercere

Player @Plot_Device
Double check the xp and the devices and we are good to go.

Name: Benedict Ex Mercere
Gender: Male
Age: 34
Size: 0
Personality: Lecherous +6, Trickster +5, Carefree +3
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 188 lbs.
Warping:
Confidence: 1 (2)
Soak: +2
Combat: Ini -2, Attack -, Defense 0, Damage -

Description: A tall, lean man, with close-cropped blond hair and a short beard, and gray eyes

Animal Forms: Bear, Shark, Golden Eagle

Personas:
Eva Laski, a buxom and beautiful redhead, a rich widow, a terrible gossip of easy virtue
Per Adley, a beaten down old beggar, who was once a rich trader but lost everything.

Characteristic Score
Intelligence +1
Perception 0
Presence +3
Communication 0
Strength 0
Stamina +2
Dexterity 0
Quickness -2
Virtues Level Type Points Notes
Redcap Major Social 3 See ArM 48
Well-Traveled Minor General 0 Free from Redcap - See ArM 50
Shapeshifter Major Supernatural 3
Persona Minor Supernatural 1
Gift of Tongues Minor Heroic 1
Animal Ken Minor Supernatural 1
Unaging Minor Supernatural 1
Total 10
Flaws Level Type Points Notes
Ability Block Minor General 1 No Martial Abilities
Legacy Minor Heroic 1
Lecherous Major Personality 3
Age Quickly Major Supernatural 3
Heroic Personality Minor Heroic 1
Carefree Minor Personality 1
Total 10
Ability Specialty Score XP
Area Lore: Rome Tribunal Geography 1
Area Lore: Iberian Tribunal Geography 1
Area Lore: Theban Tribunal Geography 1
Area Lore: Rhine Tribunal Geography 1
Area Lore: Provencal Tribunal Geography 1
Area Lore: Normandy Tribunal Geography 1
Area Lore: Alps Tribunal Geography 1
Area Lore: Stonehenge Tribunal Geography 1
Animal Handling Horses 3
Athletics Endurance 3
Awareness Alertness 3
Bargain Stolen Goods 3
Brawl Grapples 2
Carouse Games of Chance 1
Charm Women 3 1
Concentration Reading 1
Etiquette Nobles 2
Folk Ken Nobles 2
Guile Complicated Lies 3 1
Intrigue Gossip 3
Leadership Intimidation 1
Legerdemain Picking Pockets 3
Native Language: East Norse Danish 5
Order of Hermes Lore Politics 1
Profession: Scribe Hermetic Books 1
Ride Horse 1
Stealth Sneak 1
Survival Mountain 1
Swim Long Distances 2
Art of Memory Written Materials 2
Artes Liberales Astronomy 1
Dead Language: Latin Hermetic Uses 5
Code of Hermes Mundane Relations 1
Dominion Lore Divine Creatures 1
Faerie Lore Faerie Forests 1
Infernal Lore Demons 1
Magic Lore Regiones 1
Magic Theory Writing 1
Animal Ken Birds 5
Shapeshifter Eagle 3 5
Persona Peasants 2

Magic Items:
Bag of Skin and Fur
A large leather shoulder bag

  • Secret Cargo - MuAn (Co,He,Te) 45
    Touch (+1) Conc(+1) Group(+2)
    3/day (+2) Env Trigger (+3) Maintains Conc (+10)
    Upon command, the bag transforms to a scar on the body of the commanding person, in both human and animal forms.
  • Tiny Cargo - MuAn(He,Te) 23
    Touch (+1) Sun (+2) Room (+2)
    2/day, Env Trigger (+3)
    Any object is shrunk to 1/10th of its normal size while inside the bag

Background:

Benedict was raised by a traveling peddler and tinker, traveling through Denmark and the northern reaches of the Holy Roman Empire. He was ignorant of his family, thinking the peddler was his father, but in fact the peddler had bought him from a woman who wanted to be rid of a child born out of wedlock, and the tinker fed the babe on goat's milk, treating him as the son he'd never had. Benedict found that, as he got older, he had strange gifts. He could talk to any living creature. He sometimes dreamed of being animals, or even other people, and occasionally woke up in a body not his own. He gradually learned to control these things, and was a great help to his "father".

When he was 9 years old, his "father" died in his sleep. He tried to carry on, but the first time he encountered adults, they beat him, and stole everything he had. He was barely able to escape with his life, and he ran into the wilderness. For the next couple of years, he lived literally as an animal, wandering the forests in the form of a bear, and it was there he was found by Pascal, a Redcap with the gift of divination who used it to trace bloodlines for his house. He convinced the boy to come with him, and Benedict found out that his real father was a redcap named Marco, and he was of a special bloodline. When Pascal learned of his gifts, he suspected that the boy also had hero blood, descended from some archetypal trickster, perhaps even Loki himself.

Benedict resumed his traveling lifestyle, this time as an apprentice Redcap, and had an enjoyable time, seeing new things and meeting new people, as he travelled over the whole of Europe. As he got older, he developed habits that he himself finds strange – occasionally doing or saying things that he didn't intend to, which often results in complicating social situations that are already fraught. He also developed a powerful libido, pursuing dalliances with magae and others all across Mythic Europe. He watches his children, as does the House, but he stays clear of any responsibilities, which is easy with the children he shares with magae, less so otherwise. He found the gift distasteful at first, but he got more used to it, and since he was never looking for emotional connections, that also made things easier.

The Mercere were quite happy to have one of the bloodline be so active in procreation, and while Benedict formed little emotional attachment to his flings or their offspring, he does keep a flawless mental record of his exploits (his memory palace would make most scholars blush), and House Mercere has a record of the additions he has made to the bloodline.

Background Brief

This is the information passed to him from his house, when Benedict heads for Stonehenge. Other magi may or may not have the informations. It is a feature of the setting that news are usually out of date when you first hear it.

Covenants

Three covenants have been served by redcaps travelling in the Irish Sea and passing message via Fudarus in Britanny. In spite of recent contact, the redcaps do not have complete information, since many members have been out campaigning.

  • Blackthorn founded 818 is a Tremere covenant in South Wales.
  • Cad Gadu founded 815 in Wales. Domus Magnus of House ex Miscellanea. The covenant is huge and they used to be more than ten members. The praeco lives here, but she has no information about what goes on in the rest of the tribunal.
  • Ungulus founded 984 in the Lake District. A Flambeau stronghold in the Schism War, they have suffered badly.
    • the redcap Maine ex Mercere at Ungulus resides here with his filius

From the other covenants there have been little or no news for several years.

  • Semitae. Three magi with mobile labs in a caravan of wagons. Led by Ridlix of Criamon. You have no idea how to find them.
  • Castrum Antiquum founded 851 on Hadrian's Wall.
    • Two mature magi of some reputation live here: Balder of Bonisagus and Mildred of Merinita
  • Lux Draconis founded 915 in the Pennines. According to the lates information available, the following magi reside here.
    • Pontius Arbiter, preciding quaesitoris.
    • Reynard ex Mercere, redcap. It would be surprising if he is still alive, given that no news have been received.
    • a couple of followers of Merinita
  • Castellum Veridian found 898 in the Sherwood forest, East in Mercia,
    • Janus ex Flambeau

Other Information

Eadric, the Ealdorman of Mercia, outlawed magic completely soon when he took power in 1007. This bold move has also influenced attitudes in East Anglia and Wessex, even if it is not official law there. The ban has caused serious problems to many Hermetic Magi and one or two covenants fell as a direct result. Redcaps are warned to avoid rousing suspicion or risking associations with the Order.

Other points of contact

Carl is a retired grog from one of the covenants in Normandy and now he runs a tavern called the Old Broom in Calais. He is very helpful to the redcaps and other travelling magi. Because of the Schism, he tries to keep a low profile, so this is not universally known. However, redcaps, quaesitores, and hoplites with a commission will normally be told.

His tavern is widely used as a meeting point for redcaps from neighbouring tribunals. They try to meet there the last full moon of Spring and Autumn. However, redcaps from Stonehenge have not been seen for years.

Sometimes, when they can spare the time, redcaps stay at the tavern for a season or two, to serve as a contact point. Still, the tavern is too vulnerable to serve as a Mercere House, even in peace time and certainly now.

Mission

  • Carry a message to the preciding quaesitoris, Pontius Arbiter, and any other quasitores he encounters. Luciu Ragusa of Guernicus is believed to be in Stonehenge.
    • Diedne secrets must be destroyed before anybody starts a new Cult, and it is imperative that the quaesitores take responsibility and oversee this.
    • Please return contact details for remaining quaesitores in the tribunal.
  • Get updated inforamtion about current Hermetic population and infrastructure, on behalf of houses Guernicus and Mercere.
    • visit Lux Draconis and Sherwood
    • requires news about Reynard ex Mercere
    • visit Castrum Antiquum if possible, but prioritise returning messages from the other two covenants before Winter.
  • News may be passed to the redcap Maine ex Mercere at Ungulus, if this is easier than returning to Calais to meet with continental magi