sorry I haven't posted in a bit, my gf who is basically my wife we just don't believe in marriage just lost her mother and it has caused the house to go a little nuts here of late. I am still interested in the game but it might not be til monday before I can get everything back to a semblance of normalcy. If you can't wait I understand but I really want to be a part of this game.
Given that I accidentally disappeared for about a month, I think you're OK by comparison. 
Scott
Oh yeah. Life comes first. And players go absent and return all the time. Realities of PbP gaming 
Marko bids me drop by and introduce myself, and I leap to the keyboard to obey!
I'm a reasonably experienced ArM storyguide and player, and I'm taking on one of the NPC roles. I don't really know much more about things than that, so your best guess about my character is probably as good as mine.
This is probably a lot to ask, given how long this saga has been going, but is there a potted history of the story somewhere? A wiki would be ideal (and suit my negligible attention span), but anything will do. I realise that the entire archive of the story is right here, but my baby daughter has put a serious damper on my ability to read long stretches of stuff on the net.
I use a mix of plotted elements and sandboxing. Meaning that there is an overarching theme/plot, but mostly the game has consisted of people just doing stuff and living their lives.
What you do know is this. You are from the Alpine Tribunal, and your mentor is a Flambeau Archmagus named Pietro. Pietro was originally a Tytalus magus, who won his membership as a Flambeau by defeating seven champions in a grand contest (he used his exceptional mastery of Incantation of Lightning to do so). He is extremely popular amongst some Flambeau magi, but quite the opposite amongst other Flambeau. He has fought and won a few Wizard Wars over the years, and though the conflict and controversy has somewhat subsided, he still has many enemies (thus the Infamous Mentor flaw).
However, he also has many friends. Powerful ones. Pietro is one of the Archmagi, and holds the title of Antares (war leader). One of Pietro's closest friends and most powerful allies is Antonio of Flambeau, the leader of Andorra (this covenant). His daughter Carmen has been abducted, and an expedition to rescue her is being formed. Pietro received a message asking him to send assistance, and he has chosen you (Pietro is busy with a larger crisis at the moment).
YOU hold the title of a Warden of the Antares, a powerful magus (not an Archmagus though) who is designated as an agent of the Antares. This girl that needs to be rescued, Carmen of Flambeau, she is also a Warden of the Antares. You have met her before, she spent several years in the Alps running around as an errand girl for Pietro and putting out fires. You found it amusing, but you were pretty impressed when she took out that giant that was threatening that one covenant. That's what you Wardens do, put out fires and protect the Order as directed by the Archmagi. You are not a Hoplite. They work for the Quaesitors.
Anyway, so you are being sent to Andorra via a Hermes Portal enchanted archway (a Mecere Portal). You have heard of this covenant before. They achieved recent fame when they discovered the lost covenant of Val-Negra (or so they claim). They are also associated with the Knights of Seneca, a societas I described in detail a few posts previous (scroll up). Basically, you have heard pretty good things about them, and if they need help, then duty calls.
Capital! Thanks heaps.
arawn, please change your speach color to something that is not as light nad bright. It is almost painful to my eyes to look at and I can't fully read it.
Sorry I was missing for a few days. Lost my internet connection again. But I have it for now 
. It usually just works a few hours a day, but for the past few days it has been nothing. I am piggybacking off of someone elses signal, so, you get what you pay for 
Ouf!
Read the main thread!!!
An insight:
Base 3 is the guideline for tainting someone with Magic (Making people react as if he had the gift). Is this valable for creating "false vis"? It may be. To me, this seems right.
I'd also suggest CrVi Gen (Create a magical shell which looks real to Intellego spells with a level less than twice its level plus one magnitude), although this is more to make a mundane item appear magical.
I'd say the 2 guidelines may be combined, with base 3 being the minimum level for this, but InVi spells designed to detect Vis being able to pierce this if their lvl is over... 
2*3 + 1 magnitude = lvl 15
Dude, it is just a game. And I am the one who plays the "character" of God. Not the real God, but the Mythic fictional representation thereof. And these are not real Cathars, they are mythic Cathars. And accepting a Divine that incorporates multiple monotheistic traditions is a big step for me and quite divergent from my own beliefs (I am Greek Orthodox). And I see that my little rant was out of place and out of line, but you should realize that your off-topic rants inspire me. I mean, why do you keep bringing up Cathars again and again? They have nothing to do with the story at hand
And I totally went to bat for you against Octavian. Don't tell me I backed the wrong horse.
As the Game Master/ASG, Marko is the one that plays the role of God in the Chronicle. This is the role he has to play.
In third through 5th editions of Ars MAgica, God has sanctioned mass murder of its own worshippers by its other worshippers based on their devotion and completed adherence to their sect of the faith. God supports the devout muslim on Jyhad as much as he supports the Devout Christian on Crusade. He does it for his own purposes and on reasons that probably have to do with the outcomes of the battles on the faithful but man does not understand it.
Actually, Islam, Judaism and Christianity are not an abomination at the core. As somone that has studied the actual bible, Torah and Koran and looked the words, it is not as violent and hostile as Mythic europe makes it out and also note that most saints are sainted for Good deeds,healing, protection and kindness, not killing in war. Even those St. for war were mostly stained for dying in DEFENSE as Martyrs of the faith, not for success in offence or falling during an attack.
Free will exists, you can choice faith and heaven or sin and hell.
For Christianity: No matter what you sin, faith and confession can free you from sin and you can still go to heaven so free will exists as long as you have faith. It is a religion with few action/behavoral constraints but many belief constraints.
for Judaism: Faith requirement is single statement "The lord is our god, God is one" everything else is behavoral but even those can be kept by most fairly easily.
For Islam, Free will is the most flexible of the three but the behavoral code is mostly liberal (well pork and alcohol are right out). Certain behaviors are required and certain things forbidden but lots of flexibility outside that.
In prior versions and even in 5th, where divine and another conflict the divine won out for auras and for creatures, divine rarely interacted or acted at all and when it did, it was usually subtle through sainted, though influence into the aura, occassional miracles. Magic, Faerie and infernal can corrupt, test, and defy the divine in most cases because heavy or steady proof/protection negates the need for faith. Even in fifth, a strong magic, faerie, infernal aura will overpower a weaker divine (aura 1 divine, aura 2 faerie ii going to be faerie aura 2 except on very special holy days for the divine like Christmas and Easter).
yes they are and when they die, they go to heaven or hell. The religions are focused mostly on what happens when you die, not what is going on while you live.
By the way, It is not slavery. Because 1) purgatory does exist, 2) people can go to heaven despite a mostly sinning life with belief and confession. It is a lot stricter for thos of the priesthood (priests and nuns (brides of God)) but even they have free will and choice. Again, the bulk is important for what happens after death, not in this life.
God is not going to smite Vares for his lies, deceptions, trickery to Khyron if he is successful. he is not even going to punish you if you fail and yet live. It is just that if he fails and dies, he goes to hell. Ameline does not want that fate to befall vares. She worries over his soul. The most God is likely to do on the mission is protect Ameline or let her demonstate a minor miracle to try to sway Khyron and that is if Ameline attempts to invoke some sort of intervention and is successful. God is all powerful but he doesn't intervene much directly save through the holy people. That has generally been the case even from biblical times (As of the book of Exodus in Torah. It was Moses, Aaron, Joshua, etc that channeled god's power,not god acting unilaterally without a true believer agent).
I am glad that the reason aura was done away as it was an abberation that really doesn't have a place in a game for Mythic europe.
The laws of physics as we know do not exist. Some elements are there but many are not. If you dig too deep into the earth you enter hell. You can only fly so high before you are struck down for trying to reach heaven. The lunar sphere and heaven above are beyond limits of magic. Faerie, Mages, demons, angels, saints and creatures of magic do things that physics says CAN NOT HAPPEN regularly. Please tell me how laws of physics account for fact that Sigmundo just breathed fire at you and roasted three goats or how a dragon can fly in the first place.
this is the time though that a holy person with faith in God can face down someone that is more powerful than them and speak the words of God and move them. Considering the Djinn, Efreet, Marid and such are generally faithful, Speaking words of faith might move Khyron to give up his vengence even cease his kidnapping (he is wary of religious persons after all). Ameline has to try even if she fails, She believes in the words of god and this is her duty. Open attack is not her way, she is a pacifist.
I have posted a lengthy reply to the core issues. It is in a new thread, "Cathars, Heresy, and the Divine". In it I have tried to explain why I cannot tolerate this arrangement, why I find it utterly flawed, and why I do not see any benefit from continuing with it.
Other points can be addressed separately, but these are core issues which have only grown over time.
Tolorance goes both ways. I have been respectful of your religious beliefs, yet you have not returned the same respect for mine.
Not the right Ars campain, not canon either, but I like it for an "evil god" campain 
In fact, it's more appropriate for the Infernal (That fact shows the root of the problem, btw)
A more canon version could be similar, with the Divine being not devious and fueled by martyrdom, with this happening because of ameline's faith and actions, not him manipulating her.
So many people in bible history with nothing but faith in god went among the unbelievers, preached the word of God, trusting in their own faith. Some died, Some lived and were successful. To all of them, it was faith that was the key. For Ameline, she knows her role. To Go in and confront the Djinn and sway him to free Carmen speaking the words of faith and her trust in God. Yes, Martyrs sometime create areas of faith in the wilderness but Ameline doesn't expect it nad she is hoping she doesn't die and trusts in God to come out intact.
Hello!
My apologies about my long absence. I hate the sound of myself making excuses however... it seems as if I should. At first my absence was due to my personal state post the sudden death of my mother, which had a rather significant draining effect on my creative energies and an upsurge in my general crankiness, if you will. After that I was deployed, yet again, and am now at least back somewhere where I have access to the internet even if I am not precisely 'home' yet.
I would like to become active in the game once again, though I do not 'assume' that my spot is still present. Do you the troupe have any objections to my catching up / updating Ludo, and finding some way of getting involved in things once again? It looks as if, at a brief scan, you guys have been rather busy!
If you feel like fighting over your/marie's apprentice, do! It's just a bunch of bytes, not like you wanted to steal my Mercedes (wish I had one).
This could become like an aside to reintroduce your magus (if Marko is ok with it)
You are always a welcome part of this game
No need to update Ludo, as only a few days have passed since you last checked in. I know! PbP games can go so slow sometimes!
I won't be able to get you in the main adventure, but I can put together something on the side where you assist Antonio in figuring out who or what broke into the Vault of Valdarius and stole the Phoenix Sword.
I have been called to go on a business trip and will thus be intermittently unavailable until May 12th.
The sheet needs some very slight updating that wasn't done prior to my departure actually. I found the notes I posted about what progress he made and where, and will update shortly. I will contact Marko to work out where to pick up Ludovico in the plot.