Hello, since it seems my copy of HoH:MC will not arrive till half next week at the least:cry:, can you tell me how, according to the new abridged Mystery rules, how an hypothetical House Diedne Mystery might look like (typical Virtues, Flaws, Quests, etc.), and if any new Virtues (and Flaws) told in MC might look appropriate for a such a Mystery (I guess that some Bjornaer, Merinita and Criamon Virtues and Flaws) might theoretically be appropriate for druids also).
Tentatively, I guess possible Virtues might include:
Diedne Magic (the Outer Mystery)
Life-Linked Spontaneous Magic
Elemental Magic
Mythic Blood
Entrancement
Shapeshifter
Cyclic Magic (Day, Moon, Spring-Summer)
Free Study
Harnessed Magic
Quiet Magic
Special Circumstances (in a forest, singing)
Study Bonus
Subtle Magic
Death Prophecy
Ways of the Forest
Animal Ken
Enchanting Music
Premonitions
Second Sight
Wilderness Sense
Apt Student
Enduring Constitution
Inoffensive to Animals
Unaging
And possible Flaws
Blatant Gift
Chaotic Magic
Cyclic Magic
Deleterious Circumstances (in a city)
Disfigured
Fury
Greater Malediction (aversion to blessed objects and Divine symbols)
Incomprehensible
Hedge Wizard
Pagan
Loose Magic
Lycanthrope (wolf, bear)
Magic Addiction
Necessary Condition (singing)
Nocturnal
Poor Formulaic Magic
Poor Student
Prohibition
Restriction
Rigid Magic
Social Handicap
Study Requirement
Supernatural Nuisance
Susceptibility to Divine/Faerie/Infernal Power
Unpredictable Magic
Unstructured Caster
Vow
Weak Enchanter
House Bjornaer and Merinita both include a Nature Mystery that might be appropriate with some modification. Guardians of the Forest, with their Paths of the Forest would also offer some good ideas. The problem is no one really knows what the Diedne were like. Part of the reason they were Marched is because they were so secretive. Even Houses they were friends with knew almost nothing about them. The main things that the Houses knew was that they were Druids, Spontaneous Magic experts, nature wizards and very secretive to the other Houses and the Order. Their destruction also included the destruction of their craft and their allies too. Flambeau and Tremere were pretty darn thorough in their work.
A decent story idea would be to have different groups of 'Diedne' all claiming to be the true inheritors of the House and competing with each other for what little Lore remains, as well as hiding from the Order which would kill them on sight.
Really ? Could you give me some general description of its features ? My HoH:MC hasn't reached me yet
Well, even from the little we know, it should be possible to hypothesize what form a set of Diedne House Mysteries might take. Lessee, a Spontaneous Mastery mystery might look like something like:
As it regards the nature magic mystery, it might indeed look like the Huntress of the Moon mystery detailed in HoH:MC (which unfortunately I do not know anything about, except the hints given in GotF), and nature-focused magics theoretically is such a broad field that so many variations of mysteries focusing on it could be given:
e.g. Wilds Branch
Special Circumstances (in the wilds) <> Deleterious Circumstances (in civilization)
Cyclic Magic (positive) <> Cyclic Magic (negative) (day, moon, or seasonal)
Free Study <> Poor Student
Study Bonus <> Incomprehensible
Ways of the Forest <> Blatant Gift
Elemental Magic <> Weak Magic Resistance
or the Savage Branch
Inoffensive to Animals <> Social Handicap
Animal Ken <> Clumsy
Wilderness Sense <> Palsied Hands
Unaging <> Afflicted Tongue
Shapeshifting <> Deficient Technique (Intellego)
Mythic Blood <> Chaotic Magic
I would think the purest way for a Diedne is sacrificing/blood magic from killing small animals to sacrifice hundreds of humans for Wotan and other pagan gods to gain power.
So a path of blood should be a good idea, since THIS was the magic that brought this house to extinction.
No, implacable prejudice from Tremere was the cause, that was the excuse. Anyway, a path of sacrificial magic might be a good idea, too, but unfortunately I presently do not have the inspiration to write a whole path out if it, with 3-6 different initiations, plus likely it would need to conceive several entirely new Hermetic or Supernatural Virtues out of whole cloth. Life-Linked Spontaneous Magic might be indirectly related to the concept of blood magic, even if it better fits in a spontaneous magic-oriented path.
