Covenant Development

Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Base Camp
81

The Rus civillization eastablished itself because river travel is very good across such a wide swath there ... The Volga river stretches all the way from the north to the Crimean (or at least the smaller tributaries reach the sea in a bunch of places). So regardless, base camp should be on the Volga somewhere becuase travel with small river barges used by the early Rus is a really good way to get around and it is one of if not the key river. With a quick scan of google earth & maps it does seem to be possible to sail right from Nizhny en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Russia, and mentions specifics. It also mentions an important bit - the Rus are in the north becuase for hundred of years (even past the game era) the key export is grey squirrel. You donèt tend to find as much of that in the south and te European demand was huge. So much so that the grey squirrel trade was important in founding the Hanseatic league, with the Volga principalities being their eastern anchor. My point there is that we can thus supply the base camp by traveling back along the export route, and that the Rus civillization is located where it is for reasons that do not nescessarily allign with a Hermetic exploration mandate.

Even if not on the sea directly, being in the south makes sense for a huge reason: exploration is very difficult in the northern winter. It makes alot of sense to be as south as possible (still on the north shore of the crimean) becuase the exploration can occur over a much greater seasonal range, conditions will be easier. Politically, this also extends the formal reach of the Novgorod Tribunal where the Theban Tribunal might someday decide to reach. IIRC the Theban Tribunal is not at all looking to expand in that direction - I think sundered eagle even said that in the last few centuries there has been a lack of interest or some such comment - but in the long term base could be impotant in Hermetic colonization, opening up Persia (which Europeans of the time, especially those in the east, do know to be great ... just Euro trade with Persia is very sporadic ... but Persian coin and signs of regular local trade are found on the south Volga route).

Plus there was the idea brought up earlier that the rest of the Novgorod covenenants are in the north - far less need of exploration there anyway. With the southern Volga position we still have access to the Rus too, but we are on the fringe this way.

Not that my Magus is involved with the setup, but I thought I would add my two cents OOC :slight_smile:

82

Even on the rim of the Black Sea, we'll get contact with slavic culture, as successive invasions had people establishing themselves there. Further north you go, the more Slav influence you get. Although a lot of the Greek and Roman influences have faded with thime, there are still villages that speak mostly Italian or Greek scattered along the coast and upstream of the many rivers. On the steppes, you've got a lot of nomadic influences from the turkish tribes, and some of them are settled down (no longer nomads).

As to the material, we could try adapting some of it. The faerie creatures, at least, seem to correspond to myths I have seen for the Slavs. (Maybe we should move this part of the discussion over to OOC Discussion, as I see it as something to do with house rules that will affect the stories we create as a troupe, rather than the covenant itself.)

83

Just thought I'd share a first bit of info with the troupe about the location of the covenant. This should help situate the characters and settle some of the questions. I'm sure it will raise some more. :laughing:

The site I am researching and where the covenant will be is Berezan Island, the the north shore of the Black Sea. The estuary was known by the Slavs as Beloberezhye. There was an early Greek colony on Berezan island, and another one in Olbia.

Here's a picture of the island.

I plan on putting a village on the mainland, not very far from the island.

84

My problem with the Volga is that for most of it stands outside of the Novgorod tribual boundaries.

I must admit it could have worked, though, if the covenant was set high on the Volga (Nizhny Novgorod, for example) and exploration proceeded downstream.

As it is, setting up a covenant on the north shore of the Black Sea reinforces Novgorod's claim on the territory against the Tribunals of Thebes and the Transylvanian Tribunal. It also opens up a new route in and out of the tribunal.

But if people overwhelmingly prefer for me to investigate a site on the Volga river, I can make the change.

85

Black sea is good for largely the same reasons as the Volga. Being able to supply the site, logistics, nice climate, the politics of strengthening the Tribunal hold, all still work.

Plus it still leaves open a nice seaside villa option ... there are some very nice places in the area. I have never had the pleasure but my family has vacationed at very nice resorts on the Black sea.

86

It looks like a good location, but isn't it a bit far west for an exploration base camp, unless you're exploring mostly up-river?

Scot

87

Lovely!

88

I agree that it's a bit more to the west than I would have preferred. I looked at the Sea of Azov, I found at that it's very shallow (average depth is 7m, and most bays are only 1m deep). I don't know how navigable it is, and I felt accessibility would have suffered.

Also, considering that there are no covenants in the southern part of the Tribunal, this leaves a wide tract of lands unexplored by the Order. In fact, a map from The Dragon and the Bear (the fold-out at the end) shows the Tribunal's boundary not including this area -- it excludes from Novgorod all the territory held be the Cumans, so the boundary passes half-way between Kiev and the Black Sea.

But indeed, I was seeing a lot of the exploring starting off by going upriver. There are a lot of rivers in the esturary: the Diepner (towards Kiev) and the Southern Bug are both major waterways, but there is also the Sosik, the Tusla and Berezanka which were all bigger at the time, according to what I read. The area to be explored is easily over 500,000 square km in size. It includes steppes, forests, some small mountains, marshes, lakes. There has been Greek, Roman, Cimmerians, Scythian, Byzantines, Goths, Huns, Avars, Bulgars, Slavs and Varangians invasions, settlements and influence over that territory.

By the way, we could depart from canon slightly by saying that the covenant is being sponsored by a tribunal other than Novgorod (Thebes or Transylvania), trying to get access to the territory not currently claimed by Novgorod. This might add a political twist that I'm not sure about, though.

And even if on paper it looks like it's to that far east, Novgorod is still the border of the known world for the Order. Agreed, up north the last covenant is much farther east (it's in the Ural mountains), there is nothing comparable in the south. We're almost as far east as the Tribunal of the Levant.

89

I've prepared a quick summary about the mundane Berezan island here.

If people would prefer that I post the information directly as texte here, simply let me know.

90

The island sounds cool. Defensible, has some interesting terrain features and ancient habitation (both good prereqs for a powerful, maybe vast magic aura). Also very close to the inland river network.

91

Here's a stupid question, but did this island have any trees at the time? It looks to be almost completely devoid of them now, and that would make both Viola and, I'm guessing, Aetos, very unhappy.

Scott

92

Right now, all that I can see are small shrub trees. But I plan on making Mythical Berezan more lush then the real one. I did plan on having a small forest in the middle of the island. How big would you like the trees? :slight_smile:

93

Well, I suppose that''ll work.

Right now, the biggest question is a raison d'etre: timewise, Berezan Island is not that far from Constantinople, maybe 350 miles across a fairly calm sea, which is a journey of only a week or two (I'm not sure if they sailed along the coast in the Black Sea back then). I can't see Novgorod putting an exploration covenant there, and it seems too close for Theban magi to get much benefit from it. It would have to be another Tribunal, or the Order as whole, or something like that, doing the sponsoring, though the proximity to ancient Greek sites would certainly be very appealing.

Oh, BTW, yes, I think the Sea of Azov was navigable back then--as I recall an important fur-trading route when up the Don.

Scott

94

Here's a revised version of the covenant charter, taking into account Salutor's suggestions.

Dedication

The covenant of Nova Castra has been dedicated by [xxxx] to provide hospitality, including a temporary Sanctum and laboratory, to any member of the Order of Hermes, for as long as he or she wishes to make residence at the covenant. In exchange for this duty, which shall exist in perpetuity, the Tribunal [or whoever] grants Nova Castra books for a library, equipment for the establishment of 12 laboratories, and the services of sufficient specialists, grogs, and covenfolk to establish the new covenant site.

Members and Council

The initial members of Nova Castra are Ennia of Verditius, Viola of Merinita Aelos of Bjornaer, Gorianus Ex Miscellenea, and Gregorius of Tremere. [Am I missing anyone?] Any magus who maintains his Sanctum at the covenant for an unbroken period of three years may become a member, on the approval of a majority of the Covenant Council.

Each member may vote in the Covenant Council, with all decisions to be made by a majority of those present. Decisions of the Council may establish permanent Ordinances for the covenant. Meetings will be held at regular intervals, at least once a year; they can be called at irregular intervals, but in such a case, every effort must be made to notify all members in advance. A change to this charter requires a vote of two-thirds of members present, at a regularly scheduled meeting.

Ennia of Verditius will serve as the leader of the Council, for a period of three years. At the end of this term, the Council will elect a new leader for a new three-year term. A leader may serve consecutive terms. The duty of the covenant leader is to conduct the meetings of the Council, as well as other such duties as the Council may specify.

The Council may, at its discretion, designate a mundane autocrat to administer the covenant, and may, also at its discretion, allow any such autocrat to vote in the Covenant Council.

All members of the covenant, as well as their unGifted servants, are entitled to participate in the covenant's Aegis of the Hearth ritual.

All members of the covenant are charged with maintaining it so that it can fulfill its duties to the Order, and the Council has to power to allocate specific duties to the members as necessary, though this allocation should to the extent possible place an equal burden on all members.

Visitors

A visiting magus is entitled, for himself and up to three of his servants, to accommodations, a laboratory, and sufficient mundane provisions, with provisions to be made even while the magus or his servants while on expedition when using the covenant as a base.

A visiting magus is entitled to a token from the Aegis of the Hearth ritual. However, no visitor, magus or servant, is allowed to participate in the ritual itself.

A visitor may be expelled, on a majority vote of the Covenant Council, for violation of this charter, whether or not such violation constitutes a Hermetic Crime.

A magus engaged in a Wizard's War (whether the aggressor or the defender), for the length of that war, is not entitled to residence or hospitality in the covenant, and a visitor must leave the covenant before the beginning of such a war. However, after the conclusion of the war, the visitor may return at any time, with no loss of normal visitor privileges. Moreover, time spent outside the covenant due to Wizard's War does not interrupt a visitor's residence for purposes of establishing a three-year period of residence in order to become a member.

Decorum

All inhabitants of the covenants are expected to respect the lives, property, and enterprises of one another. Engaging in violent combat within the Aegis or its vicinity, whether magical or mundane, except in cases of self-defense, or in an attempt to enforce this Charter and the ordinances of the Council, is forbidden. Certamen, of course, will not be regarded as violent combat. [This is possibly unnecessary under the Peripheral Code, but basically designed to make sure the visitors don't pick on or push around the covenfolk.]

Vis

The members of the covenant are entitled to take half the vis collected from recurring sources by the covenant, as salary. The other half will be used or stored for later use as dictated by the Council. Visitors are entitled to no vis from the covenant's recurring sources or stores, unless the Council decides otherwise.

Members and visitors alike are entitled to keep for personal use any vis they obtain, including vis from previously unknown recurring sources. However, the future production of vis from any recurring source discovered by a Magus who maintains a temporary sanctum at the covenant belongs to the covenant. An attempt to conceal a recurring source of vis will result in the expulsion of the magus in question from the covenant, and the forfeit of its services.

Is there anything I missed? I figure allocation of mundane resources can be handled by the Council, without requiring a charter provision.

Scott

95

Gorianus did not expect to be a member of the covenant upon his arrival. I expected him to be a visitor at first. Of course, this may have been something arranged by his pater, without telling him about it. :astonished:

The leader should be able to name a deputy, to act in his/her absence.

Gifted servants cannot participate? Simply remove "UnGifted".

What if there are more visitors than labs?

Errr, should specify that the time of the WW does not count towards the 3-year period. The wording could be interpreted as if the visitor continued to accrue time during WW.

What happens if a member becomes involved in a WW? It only says that a visitor must leave, but first it says that a magus engaged in WW is not entitled residence.

Unauthorized or reckless use of magic outside of their laboratories, or on covenant servants, is ground for explusion if the Council decides so.

Visitors shall be held liable for damage to provided laboratories, quarters and other covenant resources.

Visitors must report the location and a full description of any source of vis obtained, as well as any known dangers related it. (Not attempting to conceal is not the same as fully report on the source.)

There has to be something in it for [xxxx]. What about: "One in ten pawns of raw vis gathered by the covenant in a year shall be paid to [xxxx], until such a time as 5 Queens of vis have been paid back. The nature of the vis paid should be representative of the variety of raw vis gathered by the covenant."

Other resources can be charged for? The Charter covers basic labs, but there could be a superior one that can be rented. Mundane or magical resources could also be rented out or sold (ex: a boat and crew to go upriver, charms to protect grogs, enchanted item to return quickly to the covenant in case of emergency).

96

I wasn't sure. You, the player, have joined us early enough that you can make your character a charter member if you want, but of course you don't have to.

I'll think about adding that.

Gifted servants presumably come under the "Join or Die" rule. :slight_smile:

In the short term, tough luck. In the long term, it means we need to add more labs. However, I'm not going to add a niggling rule to the charter for every possibility that could occur.

That was my intent. However, since it's only one month, it doesn't make much of a difference, and also allows us to keep everything on the season calendar.

Remember that this is in the "Visitors" section, but I can clarify that it only applies to visitors. I don't think it would be proper to expel temporarily members involved in a WW, and in fact I think that whoever is sponsoring the covenant would take a rather dim view of a WW declared against one of the members. Having a member declare WW against someone else would be an interesting situation.

I can add that "and of the covenant" to the first sentence, and that should cover it, though it would give the Council discretion over how to handle particular cases.

That comes under "concealing", as any lie of omission would. Indeed, the very nature of concealment is preventing someone from knowing something.

That depends on whether or not we consider the covenant to have a debt to the sponsoring entity. It may be that the grant of vis and books and equipment is provided in exchange for the services that will be provided in perpetuity (which qualifies as the "Hermetic Services" Hook).

I don't know that our sponsors would like that, though I suppose it's a possibility for going above and beyond.

Scott

97

Covenants says "up to 5 miles across", which seems smaller than I'd initially thought when I was only vaguely remembering the boon existed, at least until I stop and think how big an area 5 miles in diameter actually is, and remember how lost I've got in a hilly wooded area only about a mile in diameter.

98

We can play it with the "arranged by the pater" membership. Of course, he'll protest that he's not good enough, that another more skillful member can certainly found, blah blah blah. (Humble!) :wink:

Then I'd say why specify it? It's always good for the covenant to have wiggle room. I like wiggle room. :smiling_imp:

I smell a story hook there. Get some large party of magi showing up that includes a Tytalus. Doesn't have a lab for him? He'll require that one of the member's! :smiling_imp:

I was thinking that some spells on servant could be quite unpleasant and offensive, while falling outside of combat. Claim it was the servant who was disrespectful. Create an incident.

I think the Charter needs to be iron-clad in this instance. We don't want to have to call the nearest Quaesitor to rule on each abuse that visitors can claim is not prohbited by the Charter. Of course, we can always decide he went against the spirit of the Charter and expel him/her, but its risks coming back to us at the next Tribunal meeting...

Again, I think we need a more solid position than that, or someone with good debate skills will eat us alive. Strong wording is needed, or someone is bound to try it. Could make for a good story, though.

No matter the entity, I doubt they are ready to invest so much resources so that any magus of the Order can exploit it. Even the Bonisagi are more selfish! I know that when I pay for something, I want to get the benefits. So what's the benefit here? I admit it can be something intangible, like recognition. But that goes only so far, IMHO.

Cheers!

99

Looks generally good (if, as has been previously remarked, a bit further west than would be ideal). However, your summary mentions the island was of considerable military importance during the middle ages - does that include our time period, and if so aren't we going to have mundane problems if we try and occupy it with a covenant?

100

At the same time, we do want to maintain some ability for the full members of the covenant to discipline the covenfolk should it become necessary (and we don't want to have to organise a Council meeting to pass an ordinance each time it becomes necessary to do so).