Int +3
Per +2
Pre -1
Com +2
Str -3
Sta +1
Dex 0
Qik +1
Virtues:
Major Magical Focus: Weather
Unbound Tongue
Subtle Magic
Affinity with Auram
Puissant Auram
Affinity with Intellego
Puissant Intellego
Method Caster
Flaws:
Dark Secret
Chaotic Magic
Driven: Protect House Bjornaer (Minor)
Optimistic (Minor)
Small Frame
Difficult Spontaneous Magic
Abilities:
Italian (?) 5
Artes Liberales (?) 1
Athletics (Running) 1
Awareness (Alertness) 2
Brawl (Dodge) 1
Charm (Wit) 2
Concentration (Spell Concentration) 2
Finesse (Auram) 1
Folk Ken (Magi) 2
Guile (?) 2
House Bjornaer Lore (Magi) 1
Hunt (Tracking) 1
Intrigue (Plotting) 2
Latin (Hermetic) 4
Leadership (Inspiration) 1
Order of Hermes Lore (History) 2
Magic Lore (Magical Beasts) 1
Magic Theory (Auram) 3
Parma Magica (?) 1
Penetration (Auram) 1
Arts:
Cr 6
In 6
Mu 6
Re 1
An 6
Au 14 +3
Me 6
Spells:
Charge of the Angry Winds CrAu 15
Circling Winds of Protection CrAu 20
Pull of the Skyward Winds CrAu 30
Incantation of Lightning CrAu 35
True Sight of the Wind InAu 15
Whispering Winds InAu 15
Talons of the Wind InAu 20
Post-Gauntlet Advancement:
1200 Exp
90 -> Calculated into Apprenticeship
20 -> Longevity Ritual
15 -> Order of Hermes Lore 3 (30)
50 -> Code of Hermes 4 (50)
35 -> Intrigue 4 (50)
35 -> Folk Ken 4 (50)
20 -> Magic Theory 4 (50)
45 -> Magic Lore 4 (50)
70 -> House Bjornaer Lore`5 (75)
25 -> Parma Magica 3 (30)
34 -> Cr 10 (55)
99 -> In 20 (210)
34 -> Mu 10 (55)
1 - > Pe 1 (1)
105 -> Re 14 (55)
34 -> An 10 (55)
70 -> Au 20 (210)
34 -> Im 10 (55)
34 -> Me 10 (55)
280 exp -> Spells
Opening the Tome of the Animal's Mind InAn 25
Toughen the Wolf's Pelt MuAn 20
Form of the Sanguine Heartbeast MuAn 20
Command the Harnessed Beast ReAn 30
Beast's Leap of Homecoming ReAn 35
Ward Against Rain ReAu 10
Ward Against the Fiercest Winds ReAu 20
Clouds of Thunderous Might ReAu 30
Ward Against Storm's Fury ReAu 40
Whispers Through the Black Gate InCo 15
Eyes of the Eagle InIm 25
Summon the Distant Image InIm 25
Peering into the Mortal Mind InMe 30
Trust Me ReMe 20
Characteristics:
Int +3
Per +2
Pre -1
Com +2
Str -3
Sta +1
Dex 0
Qik +1
Virtues:
Major Magical Focus: Weather
Unbound Tongue
Subtle Magic
Affinity with Auram
Puissant Auram
Affinity with Intellego
Puissant Intellego
Method Caster
Flaws:
Dark Secret
Deficient Technique: Perdo
Driven: Protect House Bjornaer (Minor)
Optimistic (Minor)
Small Frame
Difficult Spontaneous Magic
Abilities:
Italian (?) 5
Artes Liberales (?) 1
Athletics (Running) 1
Awareness (Alertness) 2
Brawl (Dodge) 1
Charm (Wit) 2
Code of Hermes (Political Intrigue) 4
Concentration (Spell Concentration) 2
Finesse (Auram) 1
Folk Ken (Magi) 4
Guile (?) 2
House Bjornaer Lore (Magi) 5
Hunt (Tracking) 1
Intrigue (Plotting) 4
Latin (Hermetic) 4
Leadership (Inspiration) 1
Order of Hermes Lore (History) 3
Magic Lore (Magical Beasts) 4
Magic Theory (Auram) 4
Parma Magica (Ignem) 3
Penetration (Auram) 1
Arts:
Cr 10
In 20 +3
Mu 10
Re 14
An 10
Au 20 +3
Co 1
Im 10
Me 10
Spells:
Opening the Tome of the Animal's Mind InAn 25
Bestial Senses InAn 30
Toughen the Wolf's Pelt MuAn 20
Form of the Sanguine Heartbeast MuAn 20
Command the Harnessed Beast ReAn 30
Beast's Leap of Homecoming ReAn 35
Charge of the Angry Winds CrAu 15
Circling Winds of Protection CrAu 20
Incantation of Lightning CrAu 35
True Sight of the Wind InAu 15
Whispering Winds InAu 15
Talons of the Wind InAu 20
Ward Against Rain ReAu 10
Ward Against the Fiercest Winds ReAu 20
Clouds of Thunderous Might ReAu 30
Ward Against Storm's Fury ReAu 40
Whispers Through the Black Gate InCo 15
Eyes of the Eagle InIm 25
Summon the Distant Image InIm 25
Peering into the Mortal Mind InMe 30
Trust Me ReMe 20
Dark Secret...what is it? That you know about Diedne in your House? That's not a particularly compelling story flaw for me, it's kind of mimicking the overall saga arc. This needs some exposition and discussion. I don't keep a lot of secrets in this saga, so players will know things but I expect them to compartmentalize that information from their characters.
In the scope of things, with a 30 year pg advancement, Skilled Parens isn't as powerful as a virtue.
I see your point about Skilled Parens ... I'll reflect on it.
As to the dark secret, I was considering something along those lines, but with my magus more tied up in it. The idea I had was that my parens was involved somehow with these Diedne, and he planned to involve Allegro in this tradition. Catching wind of this, Allegro brought this information to one of the few Quaestiors within House Bjornaer. The Quaesitor, realizing the delicate situation presented by a Diedne within House Bjornaer, conspired with Allegro to kill the Diedne. Once the deed was done, the Quaesitor finished Allegro's training. I figures if the secret somehow emerged, it would ruin Allegro's reputation, and greatly endanger the house.
One way or another, I would like to incorporate this into my background. If you don't feel it's worth a major flaw, I will be happy to revisit my flaws, perhaps promoting Driven to a major flaw, or something of the like. You will notice he has some difficulty with spontaneous magic ... a distaste he acquired after his experience with the Diedne.
Is said Bjornaer Quaesitor complicit in the Guernicus coverup and conspiracy? In other words, has he passed a litmus test and is a trusted lieutenant of the Magvillus inner council? Are you a mole for Magvillus, unwitting or otherwise?
Now that's an excellent question. I had presumed the Bjornaer Quaesitor (are there any canon characters that might fulfill this role?) had kept the secret to protect his house. Perhaps he has deeper plans, however ...
Eule of Bjornaer, of Fengheld Covenant in the Rhine Tribunal. Guardians of the Forest, p. 84. But she has drama of her own (may or may not have passed into Final Twilight some time ago).
She also has a (or another) filius, Günther Lupus (wonder what his heartbeast is?!) We'll say that you and Gunther have an adversarial relationship... Maybe even both of you were gauntleted around the same time... Günther Lupus stayed close to his mater and is her mouthpiece as described in GotF.
IS your character interested in pursuing being named Quaesitor of House Bjornaer?
Or they become lovers. But their love is condemned by someone with great power, who curses them both. One is human only by day, the other only by night. They only have a diameter together, at sunrise and sunset, and have dedicated themselves to finding a way to break the curse.
This is something I was debating. He would be cautious about the possibility of divided loyalties. Nonetheless, I think he would see it as an outstanding opportunity to protect his house, so yes!
Well, I think your Dark Secret should take into account some aspect of Eule being complicit in certain initiatives of the Magvillus Inner council. Your lineage should probably be shrouded. While Eula completed much of your training, you were gauntleted under your original pater, and this fits with the sharing of apprentices within House Bjornaer. Peregrine's the Bjornaer expert and can opine better on this than I can. You may have received instructions from a Guernicus to seek membership with Mons Electi, or offer services. They could use a deep knowledge of the Code of Hermes, what with their upcoming role as Tribunal host. At gauntlet, if she was ostensibly trained by the Bjornaer Quaesitor, she should have a Code of Hermes score.
That all sounds good to me, in particular Eule's machinations, of which Allegro would be unaware.
I will be replacing Skilled Parens with a more Quaesitorial virtue ... for the sake of simple accounting, I'll simply take those 90 exp from the those later gained, so as not to have to recalculate what I've done. He will certainly be taking Code of Hermes, and we can presume some of this was learned during his apprenticeship.
For two seasons of service (20 xp) you can find a specialist to create your LR, it would be an LR 70 total.
If you make your own LR, you need to advance to a certain point, freeze advancement and give me a snapshot of when the LR is made.
That seems fair. Also, if possible, I would like to initiate the Mystery of the Inner Heartbeast (Epitome Falcon of Quickness). How might we go about that?
The last couple of Gatherings of Twelve Years were in 1215 and 1203, with one coming up in 1227. Not sure how old Allegro is when he comes into play, or even when he comes into play. He can be "claimed" by any Bjornaer as an apprentice, but has a risk of being given to someone with a more suitable or compatible temperament at GoTY. For example, my namesake's mater was an owl, while Cygna's original dominus was a wolf who was given to a crane. As near as I can tell, there aren't any hard-and-fast rules about what's compatible and what's not, beyond the blindingly obvious ("Really, Luka? What made you think that Lupus wasn't going to eat Cunicula as soon as the Gathering was over?"), and apparently the more gifted ones, or those with a particular talent, are often argued over. Someone who is particularly intelligent with a strong reasoning ability, or affinities in Intellego and/or Mentem, could well be poached by a Quaesitorial type.
But in the time between when you're first apprenticed and Twelve Years, it's apparently not uncommon for apprentices to get traded around to get a more rounded education. For example, if your pater isn't particularly strong in Magic Theory, he may well send you to a lab-rat Bjornaer (e.g. Eilid, from my Canaries saga) to get you a stronger education than he could give you.
Depending on the time-frame of when Allego was gauntleted and when Eule slipped into her current condition, I can easily see her claiming Allegro to finish his apprenticeship. Although, if she did, I would expect a pretty decent Code of Hermes score, and to be built with an eye toward the Guernicus stuff from HoH: TL. Or, at least, that's what I would do if I were building a Bjornaer with aspirations to Quaesitor-iness.
I'm thinking that this needs to be handled in play. PG 30 is arguably Hermetic adulthood, and I wouldn't see any Great Beast sharing its secrets with a child, if you take my meaning. Consider that you need a Bjornaer House Lore score of 5 and it is transmitted orally, primarily. I doubt that there are any books, or any books are secured at Irencillia and only allowed to be studied there (and also in high demand). I'd say that you could have, by the time you're finished PG advancement a score of 5 in Bjornaer House Lore and begin the quest to find the Great Beast...
This all sounds good to me. I've taken Affinity and Puissant Intellego to solidify the potential Quaesitorial aspect. I've also taken Level 4 in Code of Hermes ... I do believe this should be enough for the moment. I've also taken Level 5 House Bjornaer lore. While falcon of quickness was my initial idea, this was before the quaesitorial direction fully emerged ... I'll reflect on what might be appropriate. I look forward to the search for the great beast.
The second post contains Allegro (not 100% sure on the name) 30 years post gauntlet. There may be a few adjustments, but I'm pretty happy with things overall. I haven't really built a magus at this stage of development, so if anyone sees any particular omissions, please let me know.
He won't be a Quaesitor when he arrives at Mons Electi. He has hopes and dreams of being one.
Here's the Dark Secret, as I see it: he was trained in his late years by the Bjornaer Quaesitor, but his lineage does not reflect that. He, at the urging of House Guernicus and a misguided but sympathetic or puppet Bjornaer Quaesitor suggested he make friends with the magi of Mons Electi. His Dark Secret is that he's a mole. If the player wants the character to have longevity in the saga, he's going to come to realize that House Guernicus is corrupt and bad, and at some point confess himself to his covenant mates. Or he's going to die when he gets discovered. This concept isn't necessarily easy to play, but it could be a lot of fun for everyone involved if everyone understands the implications of certain choices. I'm sure there are other options I'm overlooking...
Note, some may argue that this spoils the surprise, but, in my experience I don't like players to have a lot of super-secret information for long periods of time. I like all the players to be on the same page, and then let their characters do the story. I may give secret information out from time to time, but I generally have a very short window where I want this information to be exposed. Repeating myself for clarity, a character like this could be a lot of fun to play, and at some point, in this saga, he'll have a clear choice to make exposing his Dark Secret. How that gets resolved will be shaped by the choices the character makes. I won't have many private discussions on how this shakes out. Most of them will be public and open to review by the troupe.