I think attacking someone's personal take on a use of a power or calling them bad for it is not an appropriate thing.
Just because something might not be used in your table doesn't mean its sick to discuss it in terms of a fantasy game.
Also, there are many ways to use a bad thing that isn't itself bad. Like have an enemy use it. Or have someone stop it.
But even if that is not true this is pretend.
Thank you for your understanding. As a woman, it's difficult to hear positivity regarding women being treated as sex slaves and animals. It's shocking, and painful, especially for women who have had to deal with abuse and the threat or reality of human trafficking in the past.
I appreciate both your clarification and your empathy.
Whatever the case may be in your Saga, and if it is indeed compatible with absolutely every Cult Lore in existence, the matter of fact is; developing mysteries to mimic the mysteries of the Mystery Houses would be difficult.
The Bjornaer guard their lore through oral tradition, to my understanding there are no books on Bjornaer Lore, and the Order, by their chapter's description, has very superficial knowledge of the Bjornaer. You would have to be able to find a Bjornaer willing to betray his House, Clan and Sept and support a project that will produce nothing that can benefit him. To further complicate the matter, the Bjornaer have a clan dedicated to hunting down those who would steal the secrets of the House. Assuming you do gain access to some of their secrets (and the assumption is Principles Lore is becoming as widespread in your saga as you suggest) then you can assume you will be targeted by a dozen Wizard Wars.
I can see the same scenario unfolding for Verditius, since they already had something like this happen in the past, and we saw what the results were. A traitor in the ranks integrated Automata and spread it through the Order. The deed may have already been done, but they still killed him.
Not so sure what would happen with the Criamon...Gorgiastics are a thing but they aren't really pursuing the Enigma anymore and thus aren't considered a threat. Someone trying to spread Criamon mysteries without a "proper guidance" might get a visit from the Path of Strife...lest he stumble upon some moon shenanigans he is not supposed to know about 
Merinita are very disfunctional as a House, almost like Ex Miscellanea. I can see you getting their mysteries without incurring the wrath of the entire house. They are known to occasionally initiate Bonisagi into their Arcadian Mysteries for the sake of research.
A two year prep school is a huge boost to the order. A lot of magi have adequate communications at best and most have 0 teaching, until they are forced to improve to not have crap apprentices.
The order could hire a bunch of teachers. The very best could be generating over 20 XP a season. Obviously the order could afford the best, because no amount of mundane money can compete with magical rewards such as a longevity potion.
3 season of Latin, 3 seasons of Magic Theory, 1 seasons of Artes Liberales, 1 season Order Lore. Beautiful.
I think a magi would be more than willing to forego 6 season of relatively lame help from a weak lab assistant, and also not spend 2 seasons training the apprentice, for all that learning.
The Criamon would love if other people got interested in the Enigma and wanted to learn more about it, and they would be happy to explain as much as they can about it to anyone who can be bothered to listen.
Basically, the Criamon don't even try to protect their mysteries - they protect themselves well enough in that you can't understand them unless you are already thinking like a Criamon.
Fundamentally though the ability to develop an initiation script for a virtue has to be limited in some way such that people would work with or join mystery houses to get their virtues rather than just create a generic mystery cult and create an initiation script for what was a house virtue.
This is not that unusual an idea and several sagas (including my current one) do some version of this. Since I mentioned that my current saga does it, here are the basics. We have a school wing in our library with several classrooms (Elementary Labs with Teaching +3), two full time (3 seasons a year) and several part time (0 or 1 seasons a year, if not working normal job) teachers. They actually provide teaching to all of the children of the Covenant, similar to the "3 Years (Parish School)" in grogs, giving them all Latin and Artes Liberales.
While all children only receive basic teaching (enough that everyone in our Covenant is literate), that only uses up a small portion of the teachers time. All the remaining time is used for focused and specialized teaching. They will provide a "Teaching" class for part timers, more teaching for those whose jobs benefit from it, one has scores in all the [Realm] Lores that he can teach, along with (lowish) abilities in Medicine, Philosophiae, Profession: Scribe, varies Languages and Area Lores. In addition you have the part time teachers, which while no where near as good at teaching, have a wide range of abilities. A season of study in Magic Theory for example is required for all future Scribes. Future Hermetic Apprentices will normally get a few years of straight study, giving them a solid start.
There is actually one of the classrooms reserved for Hermetic teaching. Anytime fostering is performed (which is fairly often, with 4 Bonisagus) the teaching sessions are conducted here and opened to all Hermetic Apprentices in the Covenant. Teaching apprentices is also an accepted Covenant Duty (though only 1 season worth a year and the majority are not your own) and also something that visiting Magi can perform to get access to our Library.
Overall it makes a huge difference in the power level of a Magus who has just gauntleted. They are also a much better lab assistant for most of their apprenticeship.
If you're thinking of Farrago Bonisagi, she actually joined House Merinita as part of being integrated into Faerie Magic. That said, I agree that whilst the Merinita generally think that if you're going to learn their stuff you should join, they're less likely to become murderous over you spreading it more widely than the Bjornaer or Verditius.
Because Medieval Europe was still a brutal, barbaric place compared to modern standards. People, no matter what the time period, are willing to make all sorts of wild justifications for abominable behavior. I don't know what @thompsja said... But there are people out there who only see their own children as a function of themselves (narcissistics and sociopaths). My parent's did fostercare, and I have many apalling stories of how people treated their own children.
Having gifted children who are kept, for example, as lab assistants and never properly trained in Hermetic magic, is a distinct possibility of widespread fertile LP's and fertility rituals.
I wouldn't even necessarily say they needed to be sociopaths or narcissists, unless we are saying huge swathes of humanity were sociopaths or narcissists...... Maybe that's true?
The view of children having their own rights is relatively new. Think of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. The father offers his two daughters to be pack raped as they are his property to do with as he will. He is the only man God considers worth saving, so the behaviour is seen as admirable.
In a fictional setting where any emotional attachments need to be imagined instead of being real, the power-gamer can often put aside a lot for the quest of better numbers.
As others have mentioned, Fertility magic can easily go down a eugenics path; custom bred slaves, and is probably worth avoiding Fertility magic being easily accessible for those reason.
As it happens, I have some experience and ideas about this issue, albeit from a singular PC perspective, since it is relevant for my old PC and my plans for a revised/optimized revival of the character. In my old group, I was a player and assistant SG in charge of rules and setting issues; so I had a great degree of authority on such concerns. What follows is a back history and life plan that broadly covers the mage’s career to immortality and beyond. Part of this we achieved in play; part is planned character development (or retrospective revision) when I get an opportunity to continue the story.
IMS we dropped character creation limits to Major Hermetic Virtues, Minor Personality Flaws, and Story Flaws as dysfunctional to creative freedom. Fertile Longevity Ritual and Subtle Opening breakthroughs are widely available. It is unheard for a mage or their apprentice to waste time copying books, since every covenant has skilled and trustworthy scribes that know Magic Theory and the four Realm Lores as well as illuminators and bookbinders to take care of the task. Suspicion and prejudice about Diedne stuff almost entirely faded away; it is no more a relevant issue for the Order. The other breakthrough and magitech advancements described in this thread are a fuzzy issue.
PC is a generalist mage, spontaneous-only specialist, Mystagogue, Seeker, and would-be immortal. His approach to magic is shaped by having Cailleach Magic, LLSM, Chthonic Magic, Faerie Magic, Subtle Opening, SFB (Sidhe), Rigid Magic, and Unstructured Caster. He is Ambitious, Pagan, and a Seeker, got a Covenant Upbringing, and has a Lesser Malediction about painful contact with iron and holy objects. He easily acquired Comprehend Magic, Mythic Herbalism, Persona, Second Sight, Shapeshifting, and Sihr thanks to Subtle Opening and SFB. Just like Chthonic Magic, he deemed he could get away with having the Goetic Arts if he was cautious with their use. Therefore, he learnt Ablating, Binding, Commanding, and Summoning (Spirit) the same way.
He originally was Ex Miscellanea, but switched to Merinita soon after apprenticeship. Both Houses have enough of a loose approach to membership that the transition took place without much controversy on both ends. In fact, both Houses are content to let him claim de facto dual membership most of the time. He is equally at ease with belief, practices, and environment of both Houses. He is not careless about management of House Mysteries, but neither he is stingy or paranoid about them.
I had him switch to Merinita since I found most of its House Mysteries of considerable relevance and usefulness for his approach to magic. He eagerly initiated Animae Magic, Arcadian Travel, Charm Magic, Glamour, Spell Timing, and Unaging (surely faerie-like enough to fit in Merinita mysteries and have scripts for it). He mostly used canon scripts when available, except I found Harmless Magic and Social Handicap too dysfunctional and burdensome for his concept. Therefore, I replaced them with Faerie Metamorphosis and Warped Magic (dreamlike). Consecrated ground seemed an appropriate choice for Vulnerable Magic. The PC also unearthed an old Diedne script for Hidden Ways and Places, adapted it to Merinita Lore and self-initiation, and used it. It is a Minor Virtue that works as an analog of Arcadian Travel for paths and regios associated with the Magic Realm. Details are in Sub Rosa #13, except Merinita Lore replaces Diedne Lore and Comprehend Magic can be a substitute of Magic Sensitivity. The Ordeal was Motion Sickness, as in the original script.
He also initiated a ‘Wild’ version of the Gentle Gift that has Offensive to Divine, Infernal, and Human Beings as an Ordeal. Past communication with the author of HoH:MC told me this combo is valid, the Ordeal is worth two Minor Flaws, and scripts for it exist in the House. Adding Unbearable to all three would have been just as valid and the equivalent of a Major Flaw. However, I deemed having the equivalent of the Blatant Gift was too much trouble. Building on that, he also initiated Alluring to Faeries and Alluring to Magical Beings. Binding the Gift seemed icing on the cake about having an optimized familiar and being a social god with faeries and magical beings, but probably good enough to acquire after he got Spirit Familiar and could get a companion to his tastes.
I am still uncertain whether Mystical Choreography (surely of significant usefulness to PC) fits in the Merinita bag of tricks, and whether Performance Magic (Music) (certainly faerie-like enough) is worth the initiation effort for him. As a rule, he is not the subtle kind of mage and tends to avoid mundane society and the Dominion. I also wonder if MC would be worth the effort of self-initiation through Principles Lore, since the Jerbiton are not a Mystery House and hence unlikely to have scripts for the Virtue. As far as I can tell, however, they are not going to care if another mage gains it.
I decided Nature Lore was inferior to Ways of the (Land) and the other nature mysteries were of little use to him. Therefore, he initiated Ways of the Forest, with Ordeals making him even more avoidant of cities and the Dominion (Deleterious Circumstance (in a city) and Divine Stigmatic). Susceptibility to Divine Power was thematic but seemed too inconvenient since he expects the Divine to be a recurrent enemy. I am uncertain whether adding Ways of the Mountain and/or less likely Ways of the Plain or Ways of the Seawould be worth the effort. These Virtues combined would cover the vast majority of terrain in Mythic Europe. However, Ways of the Forest alone already covers a great deal of land in 1220, and he loves the woods. Ways of the Town is obviously inappropriate, and I am doubtful he is going to spend enough time in the Arab world for Ways of the Desert to be useful. I deemed Story Magic was of little value to the character. Symbolic Magic and Perpetuity are useless to the PC given his inability to use ritual magic, and I would not touch Unnatural Magic with a 10-foot pole.
I eventually plan for him to gain access to ritual effects by pursuing the Quick Charged Items and Ritual Items breakthroughs. He could not care less about the loss of formulaic magic, finding it too inflexible, dependent on unwelcome long-term preparation and planning, and a source of choice paralysis. He prefers to get by through a mix of optimized spontaneous magic, enchanted devices, and other supernatural powers. However, he acknowledges inability to use ritual magic is a serious handicap he plans to remedy.
He is greatly interested in becoming immortal, but Becoming seems quite dysfunctional for a spontaneous specialist. Therefore, he is going to pursue the path of alchemical immortality combined with Spirit Familiar, Inscription on the Soul, and Durable External Soul. He loves going on Seeker adventures and sensual pleasures too much for Living Ghost or Ascension to the Hall of Heroes to be good options. Theoretically speaking, however, I have a few ideas to supplement Living Ghost with other resources to make it an acceptable, if suboptimal, alternative. These include using a living corpse, enchanted devices for instant travel to the Haunt, and Canaanite Magic.
As it concerns Bjornaer mysteries, I was greatly interested in adding Sensory Magic to the PC bag of tricks, also b/c the Virtue seems thematically fitting for Merinita mysteries. The affinities with Glamour are obvious, and it seems a rather faerie-like power. I am not too concerned about the Bjornaer getting upset, since the Virtue only has loose affinities with the rest of their House Mysteries. It has relatively broad scope for Hermetic magic well beyond the Heartbeast stuff. In fact, it would have been part of the standard system if only Birna and Bonisagus had been a little more efficient about integrating it. It is quite plausible a Merinita Mystagogue might independently re-invent it. As far as I can tell, a non-Bjornaer can use the Virtue fine as long as they ignore Heartbeast references, and you can use the canon script with few adjustments.
As it concerns actual acquisition of the Virtue, it might indeed happen by reverse engineering, or by the PC persuading a Bjornaer to share it in exchange for some other valuable secret. In the case the House might indeed get seriously upset about the issue, the PC may well keep his knowledge of the Virtue a secret (as he does with Chthonic Magic and the Goetic Arts) until he is too powerful and/or too popular in the Order thanks to his Seeker achievements to fear Bjornaer retribution. As it happens, the PC acquired it in a roundabout way.
I could not care less about the rest of the Bjornaer mysteries, since I find the combo of Shapeshifter, an optimized familiar, Great Elixir, and IotS superior to all of them. The PC regards House Bjornaer as a potential good ally of Merinita and Ex Misc. to protect Faerie and Magic beings and places from mundane and Dominion encroachment. He is the Merinita/Ex Misc. equivalent of a Wilderist, and could not care less for what the Jerbiton or Christian/Muslim mages hold dear. However, he has little sympathy or patience for Bjornaer obsession about ancestors, paranoia about shapeshifters, and dislike of faeries.
As it concerns Verditius Mysteries, the PC has serious interest to acquire Bind Magical Creatures when he masters alchemical mysteries in his path to immortality. I deem it a good complement to Hermetic Alchemy and Major Philosophical Alchemy, and a less risky alternative to Ablating for seizing supernatural powers. More or less the same points I made for SM and Bjornaer apply for BMC and Verditius. The other Verditius mysteries have little interest for the PC. Becoming a competent enchanter is a secondary pursuit for him to help replace formulaic magic (as well as ritual spells with appropriate breakthroughs) and/or a welcome side benefit of his quest for alchemical immortality. I dislike being too reliant on tools, and I frown on most of the Ordeal prices Verditius mages pay for their secrets. At most, I might be interested in Reforging Enchanted Items, but only if I get to change the canon Ordeal, since being unable to experiment does not fit the concept. As a rule, the PC tends to have a rather businesslike relationship with this House.
As it concerns Criamon stuff, I have zero interest in their beliefs and practices, or the vast majority of their Mystery Virtues, and I find the PC’s abilities often are adequate replacements for them. Theoretically speaking, I might have some potential interest in the Spiritual Nourishment and Repose stations in Path of the Body. At the very least, however, I would have to avoid or remove the Ordeals that turn you into a true believer, since I dread getting shackled by them. The PC tends to find the Criamon tiresome and incomprehensible, if not necessarily malevolent, and best left alone.
As it concerns the rest of the character’s development, besides doing all the Merinita stuff mentioned above, he got involved in the Adamic language, Ptolemaic Coordinates, Conciatta’s, Fortunata’s, and Herisson’s quests, as well as gathering insight material for the Fertility Magic, Rune Magic, Folk Witch, and Learned Magicians breakthroughs. He mastered Adamic language and Ptolemaic Coordinates, and studied Principles Lore as his versatile self-initiation tool for anything that would not fit in Merinita Lore. He initiated Spirit Familiar (and avoided getting a familiar until he unlocked this option) and Puissant Principles Lore, but had no interest in the rest of Fortunata’s scripts. I planned for him to get a different kind of Focus and a better option for access to ritual effects than torturing and draining captive spirits. The other insight gains needed some serious lab work to be useful, so he put them on the backburner. In this regard, his top research priority is to acquire the Quick Charged Items and Ritual Items Virtues to remedy his ritual deficiency, but he eventually plans to unlock all of these breakthroughs as well as Hermetic Realm Initiation.
Another notable achievement was defeating a corrupt Children of Hermes offshoot and raiding their script library. We got ample leeway from the SG about choosing the scripts we got, as long as we kept it at a half-dozen per character or so and mostly Minor Virtues. My choices included Bjornaer derivatives for Cautious Sorcerer and Sensory Magic, Green Cockerel derivatives for Hermetic Alchemy and Lesser Elixir, a Disciples of the Worm derivative for Inscription on the Soul, and a script of uncertain origin (perhaps a Flambeau mystae) for Major Magical Focus (Damage). As assistant SG in charge of rule issues, I decided Vulgar Alchemy, Planetary Magic, and Names of Power are an utter waste of time and effort, and best expunged from the system IMS. We replaced them with Hermetic Alchemy, Celestial Magic, and Invocation Magic respectively without any need for prerequisites.
More importantly, my share of the booty also included scripts from a ‘Cult of Hermetic Excellence’ (a mystae offshoot of Bonisagus) about becoming a ‘Hermetic Prodigy’ (a Major Virtue package of Book Learner, Free Study, and Study Bonus) and a ‘Research Prodigy’ (a Major Virtue package of Affinity with Magic Theory, Inventive Genius, and Puissant Magic Theory). Ordeal choices for the former were Ability Block (Martial Abilities) and Master of None. Ordeal choices for the latter were Exciting Experimentation and Prone to Chance. There also was a script for becoming a “Prodigy Student” (a Major Virtue package of Apt Student, Good Teacher, and Independent Study) with Unspecialized and Weak Scholar as Ordeals. Cautious Sorcerer and Sensory Magic scripts had no Ordeal as per canon examples. Inscription on the Soul had an Ordeal of Deleterious Circumstances (when not touching talisman), due to its affinity with the Consummate Talisman Virtue. The Ordeals for the Focus script concerned coming under greater influence of Mars, which meant a combination of Ambitious (raised to Major in the PC’s case), Lecherous, and Wrathful.
I am skeptical about sanctioning astrological Virtues as a strict prerequisite for alchemical immortality. However, I acknowledge Celestial Magic may be a valid optional addition to Major Philosophic Alchemy and Bind Magical Creatures in an alchemical mystery path to improve enchantment proficiency. Therefore, the PC is going to get an opportunity to acquire these Virtues in the late phase of his quest for immortality.
My Ordeal ideas for these other Virtues and Great Elixir include Environmental Sensitivity (bad air), Magic Spirit Companion, Nocturnal, Viaticarus, Vulnerable to Folk Tradition, and Weak Magic Resistance (touching filth), as extensions of the concepts of alchemical purity and the character becoming a supernatural being. Canon scripts for BMC include no Ordeal. PC adapted all of these scripts to Principles Lore, used them, then went on an extended reading spree to boost his Arts and Abilities and make up for all the time spent on adventures and initiations. He also adapted these scripts and Fortunata’s one for Spirit Familiar to Merinita Lore, since he deemed them valid additions to the House’s body of knowledge.
He hopes he can drive House Merinita to welcome addition of the alchemical immortality path to its body of lore as a potential alternative to Becoming for mages like him. He would be glad to help spread his preferred approach to Hermetic magic by developing Merinita and Principles Lore scripts for spontaneous-boosting Virtues with Ordeals that penalize formulaic magic, esp. since suspicion of Diedne-like stuff has faded from the Order. At least Poor Formulaic Magic; Rigid Magic and Unstructured Caster if he can get away with it. Much the same way, in all likelihood he would attempt to drive mages interested in his Mystagogue assistance to turn their backs on the Dominion and help protect Faerie and Magic places and beings by using Pagan, Depraved, and/or appropriate Vows or Prohibitions as Ordeals.
When he deems he has raised his Arts and Abilities scores enough, or simply gets tired of reading all the time (managing the effects of Master of None is easy for a generalist), he is going to pursue breakthroughs from the insights he got. As it concerns adventures, he is almost surely going to complete the round of Ancient Magic, Legends of Hermes, and Mythic Locations quests. Even if he is not necessarily or even likely interested in all of their rewards, they might appeal to cabal mates, and most of them seem fun and interesting experiences.
Then there is studying even more, becoming an alchemical immortal, and complementing the Great Elixir with Durable External Soul by persuading or forcing the Koldun to share their secrets. The combination of GE and DES promises excellent synergy for immortality. As it concerns Durable External Soul, I suppose Supernatural Nuisance and Visions might be good Ordeals. External Soul seems best initiated with no Ordeal since the script is supposed to be repeatable if the stone gets destroyed. Of course, it also depends on which sequence the PC uses to initiate these Virtues since Ordeals are inappropriate for immortals. OTOH, they have unlimited time to pile up Quests.
After getting immortality, other long-term projects include complete Hermetic integration of the various Hermetic and Supernatural Virtues he got, mastering an easy way to heal without vis even beyond the options Rune Magic may offer (Hyperborean magic looks like a promising line of research in this regard), and developing several magitech improvements detailed in Transforming Mythic Europe. Moreover, he hopes to find a way to cripple the Church and marginalize the Dominion or at least push it back to being an option among many in the marketplace of religion for those who really want it.
He loathes what he sees as the implacable exclusivism and tyranny of the Divine even if he equally despises the overwhelming drive of the Infernal to create misery for its sake. In favorable circumstances, however, he is not averse from opportunistically using infernally tainted powers and resources, as shown by his use of Chthonic Magic and the Goetic Arts when he thinks he can keep the Order in the dark. The Maleficia, however, seem to come with too much baggage, no matter their undeniable usefulness. Stealing the demonic power that conceals Infernal taint from magic scrutiny with Ablating or Bind Magical Creatures seems a promising option to cover his tracks in this regard. However, he is not ever going to cooperate knowingly with the forces of Hell. As it concerns tapping Divine powers and resources, he deems they come with too many behavioral constraints to be an acceptable option.
Fertility magic can be very useful, but there are some pros and cons. It will never be the one and only way people will bring children through, because to really work, you need to tailor the ritual to the specific child. And if it's used again for another, it could cause some side effects. Plus, developing each ritual is a seasonal activity, so few Magi would take that time.
On the other hand, as Lee said, children at the time were part of their father's property, to be used as he wishes. they had no rights of their own.
But I think most Magi would use it to affect either their own offspring (if the LR doesn't remove their fertility), or that of their covenfolk. The only ones likely to use it in larger numbers, and to affect other mundanes are Mercere, Jerbiton, and Tremere. The Mercere both to increase the number of Magi amongst them, as well as to create redcaps for specific roles. The jerbiton can use it both to increase the number of Gentle Gifted, as well as to manipulate mundanes better, by affecting noble children. And the Tremere will use it to create better soldiers, increase the number of Magi in their house, and to improve the bloodlines of those rulers within their Tribunal that they wish to control.
Yes Fertility magic is useful, and yes there are people who treat their children as possessions. What I do not find credible is the idea of a functional eugenics program in order to create a slave race from your own children. Generally speaking people who invest that much effort into their own children do not see them as being simply something to own and use. Its the fact that the two parts of the mentality described are so oppositional to each other- like modern urban myths of women getting pregnant and having babies to use as human sacrifices.
If you ask my opinion about the 'magical eugenics' issue, from a transhumanist PoV of course, there is little chance a significant number of mages shall be willing to engage in the considerable effort of using the Fertility Ritual on a sizable amount of children for something as unrewarding as getting customized slaves. The reward simply does not seem worth the effort for the vast majority of mages, esp. since the Ritual has to be custom-fitted for every individual to get decent results.
If anything, it seems most likely mages only deem the effort worthwhile for the Hermetic equivalent of positive eugenics and genegineering enhancement, to ensure apprentices are customized to their preferences, Gifted children mostly come from their own offspring and Covenant population, and they can have 'super' companions (and possibly grogs) that are unaffected by the Gift.
Morality is a fairly ineffective guide to help decide how people are going to behave, but practical concerns and self-interest are usually rather effective in this regard.
A few minor virtues or flaws, like unaffected by the gift or prohibition where they must follow your directions (or the directions of an organization) could be worthwhile. unaging will certainly help you get more out of your investment. Of course the question s to whether these traits are themselves inheritable is also a very significant question.
Also note that it is possible to reuse a fertility ritual there are simply so side effects from doing so. Definitely something worth further research...
You make good points. By analogy with sci-fi genegineering, I am not sure at first glance you can fine-tune changes at conception as subtle as imprinting loyalty to a specific organization such as the Order of Hermes. On second thoughts, however, it is demonstrably possible with Initiation (e.g. with Prohibition or Vow Ordeals, which show up frequently in canon scripts). Therefore, it is probably possible with the right kind of FR, which is rather similar to Initiation in character.
It is also explicitly allowed in the example in ancient magic page 57.
Of course if that is something inheritable that becomes a massive ability...
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Let's get back to breakthroughs.
Looking at the limit of warping, I was thinking of having my Rego specialist (mostly in Corpus and Vim) see what he could come up with that my troupe wouldn't immediately throw out as game-breaking.
Having familiars remove warping (in the way that they eat paradox in that other game about wizards by Mr Rein Hagen) sounds interesting, but reducing warping already required is potentially game-breaking and having it linked to familiars would disadvantage Bjornaer.
Having some kind of insight into heavy warping so that warping 10 doesn't mean eternal Twilight on a botch, but ever-increasing periods in Twilight (Twilight 10 - 7 + two stress die years, Twilight 11 - 7 + three stress die years) means you could go a very long time, but botches remove you from the mortal world - possibly removing your character from most sagas, but allowing recurring characters in games that skip big chunks of time.
I think if you can remove warping slowly it need not be game breaking. From a research perspective I would want to look at the formation of vis in the magic realm and acclimation of magic beings in the mundane world to see if I could find a relationship between the three effects. Maybe a way to "acclimate" warping...