Hello,
In my saga a neighbor envies the lands of the covenant and wish to steal it and plan an invasion (has a Marcher Lord he can declare war) and his right-hand know the PC has supernatural power. As a savvy knight he want to hire a (hedge) wizard.
I know that no edge wizard can match a hermetic magus, let alone 4 of them, but which tradition can offer interesting approach and/or nasty surprises ? Knowing that the knight in not pious and won't hesitate to hire someone shady but I could also "hire" someone associate with divine powers by convincing him the PC are warlock
Most if not all traditions can offer nasty surprises to the Hermetics.
Folk Witches - Shapeshifter ability does not need to penetrate Magic Resistance to affect someone, thus they can fight them unimpeded. Perhaps try to assassinate one of the magi as a venomous Asp? Potions can have quite high penetration; tricking a magus to drink a Curse Potion is an option.
Nightwalkers - Nasty piece of work. Their phantasmal forms cannot be blocked with Rego Vim wards due to the lack of might (and thus Aegis won't stop them either). Only Rego Mentem against spirits wards can actually ward them off. They can materialize to attack but then lose a solid form to avoid retaliation. They are ideal guerilla fighters.
Gruagach - An appropriate curse could significantly weaken a magus if it penetrates. Shape Magic lets them become giants who could then fling stones at Magi from distance, which Parma won't block. They don't need to actually see the Magi to afflict them with their curses, since they bend the limit of Arcane Connections.
Vitkir - Runes create natural things akin to Hermetic Rituals, thus a vitkir flaming sword will just ignore Parma.
Just to name a few.
Besides the magic there is also the fact that most Hedge Traditions are at least somewhat more integrated into mundane societies, and might enjoy the support / respect of the local populace. Turning a whole village / town against the magi and unleashing a peasant mob upon them could also work. Said Hedge Wizard could also try to mobilize other nobles against the magi, or even the Church.
Hiring hedgies depends on the area, as most can make excellent use of it. Vitkir and Gruagachan (like HMRE p.75 Conall and Domhnall) can be useful among warrior cultures. In more civilised areas, a Learned Magician is a good support for intrigues.
He should come with a fedora, use m'lady excessively and keep being the devil's advocate for the sake of anything, to finish make unnecessarily offensive remarks and finish off by activating a MuCo power to turn into an actual troll.
This vitkir I created has a Kauno(Ingwaz) 30 rune as his ultimate project so he can set fire to buildings where people live and everything barely flammable within - applied to a covenant, you can torch the grogs and library horrifically.
HMRE p125 states "target with Magic Resistance can still resist the effects, but once the effect
has manifested, it becomes a real thing. This means that a sword marked with runes for causing great damage is not a magical sword for the purposes of penetrating Might, and an animal summoned with the magic of the runes is a real animal that can attack a person who would otherwise be safe because of his Magic Resistance."
I take this as your Parma will stop you from being set on fire, but you still take damage from anything that is set on fire and now burns naturally, so you'd better jump off that chair and keep away from any furniture until you figure out how to use ignem to stop/move the fires or find a way to flee.
It's a bit closer to "If I try conjuring fire directly on your person, then I need to Penetrate. If I conjure the fire to engulf my sword -- well the spell is already cast, the flame is created and is natural." Parma won't stop the latter.
This thread has a huge number of effects that can be used, so you may find it worth mining for inspiration. I probably ought to add some effects to it to bump it up again.
The Augustan Brotherhood (Virgilian magi) from Rival Magic love being court wizards, and want to pursue political ends to enact their vision. By creating big animated creations as mobile siege engines (obscenely expensive on vis, but very cinematic) or by creating structure size rites to destroy stone buildings or spoil all the food in a building, they can be masters of siege warfare.
All types of hedge magi could annoy a covenant by trying to locate and steal their vis, as a bid to deny the covenant their resources and boost the hedge mage's own power.
Thanks everyone and don't hesitate to suggest more ideas!
The saga is in the welsh marches, but any hedge tradition from western Europe would be OK for me. I don't want Sahir (that I love but there is already one in the area, and one hermetic mage in the Tribunal) nor learned magician (ironically I am sure they would be perfect for what I am looking for, but I didn't introduce them and I would like to avoid doing it as an antagonist)
Ooo Wales! In that case I got a particular Tradition in mind; the Nemthengacha. Their origin is not entirely clear, with one of the theories being that they originate from a certain Welsh Hero, Efnisien.
Their deal is that they have a power similar to Entrancement, called Embitterment. Embitterment is very potent tool of subterfuge, allowing you to conjure feelings of envy, hatred, and absolute loathing within someone. You can direct whom these feelings are directed towards and their potency (make it petty or downright murderous, perhaps even forcing a vassal to rebel).
It's greatest strength is it's subtlety. There are no obvious magical gestures or incantations when you use the power. You just have to utter a phrase that will dictate/imply the feelings subject will have for someone else. From then on changes in emotions are natural and don't leave a Sigil behind.