You can make a tablet to any one. It gets increased penetration
You can "quickly" fix arcane connections if the AC comes from the body of a victim.
You may create AC to the restless dead, and to animals and spirits able to recognize their name. Create, not collect: Hermetic Magic can collect AC, but it can't create them. So if there's a ghost wandering a castle, how do you find an AC to it? You can't. But with Leadworker, if you know its name, you can create a tablet that serves as a AC to it.
Arachné doesn't, although she tries to attend mass once a year. She went more often while in Insidiae, but that was years ago.
Antonio and his family go once per month, more if they can: It's family time to travel and meet people!
I can agree with all that. That's a neat little package of bonuses to get from a Minor Virtue. I still don't think I'd necessarily take the virtue myself, but it doesn't seem like a worthless choice.
Regarding church attendance:
Rilcheaux does, he is concerned about the status of his soul given the kind of work he does.
Fleur- no
Yanni does. He doesn't understand it, but it seems to be what he is expected to do.
Donna doesn't bother, she figures if she goes it is a matter of time until she is excommunicated, and so her soul is safer avoiding church.
Turtle goes, because his parents took him, and they have really neat carvings and stuff.
Adan doesn't go, but entertains his own religious needs.
Magda goes for the music
Mayhew was raised by Epona, Fleur and Donna, so I doubt he goes.
Patxi goes, in large part to see all his friends who didn't make it into the covenant.
I have recently considered the possibility of Adan going infernal- given his recent acquisition of Infernal and divine lore and his uncertainty about the validity of doctrine, plus having begun to gain decrepitude points- I don't think he would go there yet but I could see the character doing this in the future.
Obviously this would have a dramatic impact on the saga. It could be a one time adventure which winds up with Adan being dealt with in some way (perhaps turned over to Vilanus, or presumably killed in a confrontation with Solomon) or it could be a protracted storyline where he hides his new status and generates multiple adventures.
Or perhaps the group would rather just not go there, in which case he can quietly consider the option but never go through with it.
So what do others think?
I think the Infernal is best avoided for player characters. Don't do it, or I will kill them off without mercy.
As for Church Service, things got a bit altered with players running stories and my neglecting things. Originally, Father Clemente was the priest at the castle, there especially for magi. How he wound up in town I have no idea.
Well~! Playing here has given me the confidence/inclination to run Ars for my fleshy group. This will probably be an exercise in disaster, but to the Theban tribunal, ahoy! :mrgreen:
Silveroak, I noticed in the Magi Planner that Fleur is developing her Vision of the Unborn Babe spell shortly before Vibria has her first child. If she can be convinced that it's safe, Vibria is willing to let Fleur cast it on her for practice and whatnot.
Re: the story thread - Return of the Dragon Bride (Winter, 1238) I'm happy to run companions or grogs as needed. Even just to offset mechanics if that helps. Let me know.
I recommend to you The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture, by Mary Carruthers. It's a classic on the subject. She opines that medieval culture was fundamentally memorial to the degree that modern culture in the West is documentary.
I will check it out, but it sounds like a romaticization and/or perhaps a cultural affectation.
Then again, I tend to view "Modern" culture as begining before Ancient Greece. If the whole span of human history were compressed to a minute, the time between the pyramids and now would be a blink of less than a second.
There's been more recent studies done on the subject - as relates to the availability of information on the internet and things like that. The general trend is people remember what they need to remember, but if they don't need to remember something (i.e. it's stored elsewhere) they're more likely to memorise how to efficiently re-find the information (if needed) rather than the totality of the information itself.
Silveroak - After reading the rules on agents I've been pondering the Rilcheau's involvement in the Book Trades thread. I've a few ideas for slow & small stories which might be use OK to help win over Father Vilanus, but I'd love to know what you had in mind. My thinking is that it wouldn't make sense to find diabolists around every corner. I'm thinking that as Father Vilanus is more of a good guy, a positive story or helping story might also trigger his appreciation. Would assisting in a practical problem facing local abbey? Being involved in the finding of a minor but thematic church widget?
That could be added as an aside to the Book Trades without too much difficulty, and won't introduce a huge scope either.
Those would certainly work. My primary thought was that Catharism in southern France was a particularly thorny problem because local nobility could not be depended upon for help (according to what I have been able to find on the subject) in part because it was so widespread that every noble knew someone they cared about who was a Cathar- plus there were apparently various versions of Catharism being floated by different groups, and I could easily see Rilcheau inserting himself into the situation to try and root out the more dangerous versions while trying to maintain some degree of diplomacy. But I don't see him turning down any opportunity to ingratiate the Father.
