Ok, besides the magi (all going well in their creation process) we need companions and grogs.
Here are some ideas for companions and a rule that I want to discuss with all of you.
RULES: VIRTUES & FLAWS
Some of you have pointe dourt that some of the magi characters are "companion level". I tend to agree with you when I look at some sagas in this forum and some sagas I have participated in my table (in one we had pegasi cavalry and were using mountains as slingshot to sink fleets if our pet dragons, plural, 2 of them, were not enough). I actually like this "companion level " power level.
However, this means that the actual companions might outshine the mystical characters. Since we do not want that, and since IMS a character concept rarely needs 10 V&F to be built, what about we put a cap of 5 V&F for companions? this way they will be able to be significantly better than grogs, but (hopefully) not outshine the magi.
INTEGRATION OF COMPANIONS
While the magi are expected to come from outside the manor proper (even if some are from the neighbouring area), the companions are expected to be somewhat more local. Badsically because the Triamore book is rich in companion ideas already and it is easier to integrate these (or create near-subsittutes) than to start bringing a bunch of foreigners in. So if you have a companion idea and being an ourtsider to the region is central to the character, I would suggest looking at the book and see what character you can substitute or build upon. If for example you want an Alewife, and the one in Bois de Haillot does not satisfy you, change it, but do not bring one from Stuttgart. You get it
COMPANION CHARACTER CONCEPTS
KNIGHT/FIGHTERS. There are 2 potential knights already in the setting: Johan, the captain of Triamore, and Oswin, the knight of Arbois (and a vassal of the count of Namur!). Other potential "companion level" fighters are Hugh, the bailiff and Froese the enforcer.
ACADEMIC TYPES. These are easy to integrate in the covenant given its library. There are 2 clerks, the flamboyant librarian and a very skilled illuminator and philosopher. Other characters could be integrated or these substituted without much problem. Visiting scholars to the library can also play a role, like Brother Chretien.
FORESTERS. There is a forester and a master of kennels in the covenant. A third character, a young girl, seems to have Animal Ken.
The village also contains most professions (smith, miller, alewife, ...) usual in large medieval villages.
Instead of weakening Companions, why not strengthen the hedge wizards instead? Makes for less headaches.
A simple way of doing this without being over-powered is to give the Gifted Companions 1 Minor Virtue + (1 Major Virtue or 3 Minor Virtues) + (1 Major Flaw or 3 Minor Flaws) much like an Ex Miscellenea.
I.e. 1 Minor Virtue and up to 13 V&F (as opposed to 10)
I am quite neutral about the 5/5 Companions. We used them before without too much ado - and I can offer Isabel de Bruges (Triamore p.62f), the flamboyant librarian, in that format already. Isabel would be an unlikely Companion for me to play, though: too much overlap with Frère Sulpice.
I think I should rather watch this discussion before bringing forward a Companion.
If we stay with 10/10 Companions, I would already have a really badass knight, who just needs a little adaptation to house rules and saga: one directly out of Bertran de Born's wet dreams.
A well-rounded 'shield grog' for Frère Sulpice I could already provide now, if you set up a thread for him. Fra Taddeo is a Franciscan. Franciscans must never travel overland alone as long as they can help it: so he would accompany Sulpice from Paris to Triamore and stay there with him.
I am still waiting for the other members of the group to give their opinion. I am tending towards normal magi and 5/5 companions. Wilhem, your mechanician, is a magician level character, so he is a 10/10 in any case.
Basically what I have come to see in ArM is that companions (and in fact, magi as well) do not need that many V&F to be well rounded characters. 10/10 are just used to create "too perfect" specimens instead of broad characters. It is a feature of the game, and one I can embrace (been there lots of imes, of course) but I think weaker characters make for better stories. However, I am still waiting for the group to give its opinion here, so I do not have a final decision for you.
I am throwing the group a lot of curve balls and see which ones hit home and which ones do not. Do not expect everything I put forward to be implemented in the end, because there is too much stuff to cover and I want to make a saga people want to play in
5/5 sounds reasonable to me. I would be OK with a little wiggle room, such as someone perhaps wanting two Major Virtues or two Major Flaws going to 6/6 since they can't land within 5/5.
While Frère Sulpice could by no means have brought a bodyguard with him from Paris, the Covenant certainly can assign him one. And if a suitable shield man in Triamore volunteers, so much the better!
The guardian angel grog sounds great. I can see a professional killer with such a weird attitude washing up to a covenant and the angel acting as a fangirl for the new friar until he is assigned to the task. Having a guy carrying sharpened steel so near him might not be the preferred thing for sulpice though.
Then I propose to play a messenger of the Restored Order of Hermes, based on the radiant beacon of the Order that is now Triamore.
He/she is perhaps best built around the HoH:TL p.106 Lone Redcap, as there are no Mercer Houses, magic items and longevity potions for free any more - and maybe not even complimentary votes graciously declined.
He/she could be kind of a living fossil, whose great-great-great-grandfather once delivered that message in the schism war, that ... - and certainly tries to raise children to pass on this glorious legacy to.
