Island of the Magicians discussion

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

I have been fiddling with a island of the magicians project for a while, and what would the legality of a covenant claiming the entire island, I am planning for roughly the size of ireland, as covenant property. could it be argued that the island is a part of the mystical resources of the magi as it was created with vis? Also, because there are no mundane kings of the island could they declare themselves magus lords?

Also, I would really appreciate ideas for how to magically improve a city, I have already sketched some ideas for water purification and sanitation to help the people, does anyone have other ideas?

2 Likes
2

I think the key questions will involve which tribunal it is in, which is related to where you are placing an Island that large.
The other question is where you are getting enough people for a city that quickly without interfering with mundanes. Sure Fredrick II managed to establish a new city n a few years but he only did so b forcibly removing the entire population of Malta to the mainland so he could colonize the island with Christians.

1 Like
3

I am going to create a walled island in the middle of the atlantic, and probably be a member of the stonehenge tribunal.

I am planning of bringing a large suite of pagans who will not be missed and ise magic to make up for the low population

1 Like
4

There is the thread started by Pendragon Tremere which is about creating a 14 mile island with a fair bit of input.

You could also look at my "Covenant collection of enchanted items" thread in the post-a-day, which has a lot of things for an island since our Covenant has claimed Levant island just off the southern coast of France.

1 Like
5

Thank you

1 Like
6

I think claiming sovereignity over a small island in an unimportant location wouldn't raise too many eyebrows, but if the the size of Ireland than it's essentially a kingdom-in-the-making and unless it's hidden magically or somesuch mundane kings would want to conquer it. So it would be mighty difficult to hold to it as magi lords without the dispute spilling over to the right of magi to be magi-kings and claim land in Europe. Which is a fine way to go for a saga.

I once had a City of Mages, called Gormenghast and inspired by the namesake book. It was hidden in a regio, however. It was partly a result of thinking about whether a city could be self-sufficient with magic.

The city had huge silos, that were enchanted with Ring-duration anti-spoiling magic and were filled yearly with permanent food and raw resources created by Momentary Ritual spells. Part of the duties of the magi-lords that ruled the city were to learn, Master, and cast said spells. I found that this was still quite difficult, as (a) they needed quite a lot of such spells, (b) it provided little variety, (c) it required quite a lot of raw vis that they needed to import from outside the city anyway. The result was that trade into the city persisted, and the rituals were cast but sporadically and only for some key ingredients.

The city also imported water from a nearby lake through an Arcane-Connection fed evelasting fountain. This required a pact with the lake's spirit. An elaborate caste of "Water Engineers" covenfolk developed in the city, constructing and maintaining a complicated system of canals, bath, and fountians fed from this main water source.

Garbage and water disposal was taken care of with a Perdo pit. Making the city exceptionally clean and healthy.

The ruling council of magi also provided the city with some city lights, and a central magical floating Great Dance Floor used as both a market and an arena for public events of all sorts.

Crucial for the city's self-sufficiency, was the development of an assortment of Guilds. These competed in yearly Contests, with the magi gifting the winning guild with magic items that improved their craft. This structure led to a wide structure of citizens quite loyal to the magi and with extremely high Craft and Finesse scores.

Perhaps the most important contribution of the ruling magi, however, was the Chamber of Truth. Where the judges of the city presided; or the ruling magi, in rare cases. This provided a lot of good law and order to the city.

Finally, there was the Palace, which was really a covenant of 6 magi. Well, 6 ruling magi, and perhaps some others. It has other features, such the Tower of Birds that was the air wizard's laboratory, and so on.

2 Likes
7

How did you get enough people if I may ask?

1 Like
8

Please keep in mind that in the standard Ars Magica Cosmology the middle of the Atlantic is defined by impenetrable storms. How this fits with Viking settlements in Greenland and America in the 11th century is unclear, but you probably don't want to even attempt to be in the exact middle.

That being said, I would expect there to be some friction trying to claim to e part of the Stonehenge tribunal, since the tribunals you would arguably border would be Ibernal, Hibernal, Provence and Normandy.

1 Like
9

Well, I figured the city was quite-old, and that it (a) attracted quite a lot of people over the ages, and (b) had quite a high growth rate, with magical health and such. At this stage, the city was basically a huge covenant, with its folk even havig the Covenfolk background. It still bothered me whehter the city size was reasonable, but I decided to let it slide.

Keep in mind medieval cities were rather small, however. According to Medieval Demographics Made Easy, which I remember I used, we're talking about 10,000 people. I took Gormenghast to be smaller, but to have a lot of artisans. wo perhaps 5000 people. A huge amount for a covenant, and enough to ground all those guilds and other assorted covenfolk, but still not that many.

1 Like
10

The trick for this would be to have a Hermetic Alchemist who is willing to spend their time distilling Vis of different forms out of the Aura. They could easily be worth 28 pawns of Vis a year.

1 Like
11

In my saga we are probably going to figure out hermetic Viresculture

1 Like
12

I've seen a couple of references about people who go to the "Far West". One found a Faerie realm in which every person was a king of their own island.
In Covenants pg8 mentions that to the Far-East lies a city that has a Vast magical aura and Wise Old Magi who knew Trianoma but did not know of the Order.
It is known that the world is round, but the Medieval world does appear to be bounded in some way.

1 Like
13

As others have pointed out, Ireland is entirely too large for something like this.
Ireland is the size of an entire mid-sized Tribunal. Are you American by any chance?

Consider what would be required to cast any spell affecting something the size of Ireland:
it's got about 2000 miles of Coastline, which would take about half a year to walk.
If you wanted to affect it with magic it would be a Boundary effect with +7 to size. (Meaning that any spell would be +11 magnitudes to effect the whole island.)

There are also not many pagan populations in the 13th Century in Europe. Certainly not enough to populate a place the size of Ireland.

Might I instead suggest either the Isle of Wight on the South Coast of England or the Isle of Man which lies between Ireland, Wales and England. Both are (as far as I know) not home to any canonical Magi and support their own existing populations and are easily within the sphere of Influence of Stonehenge. Although still vast in size in comparison to a covenant.

1 Like
14

I am trying to eventually raise the population to rival england over a few centuries, so the reason I want the large island is for room to grow

1 Like
15

On a semi-related note; is it actually stated anywhere one must walk the boundary he wishes to affect? The only place I found that was the Aegis, which is unique in how it actually works.

I recall Hibernia also having a story hook about a dyke dug by a giant boar that allows the Magi to target a whole province, though no mention of any difficulties about walking said Boundry.

1 Like
16

Not even for the Aegis (AM5 p.161) it is stated, that walking the boundary is needed to cast it.
It appears to be often useful to define the beings involved in its casting and the Boundary target for that spell, though. If this is well-defined from the onset, there is no need for the procession.

2 Likes
17

I imagine that the need to walk the boundary is implied rather than explicit.

Magic can only affect things which the Magi can discern. Corebook: pg 80 "Hermetic magic cannot affect an unsensed target without an Arcane Connection."

Meaning that if you're standing in the middle of a farmers field or a covenant and can perceive the entirety of the boundary of that field or covenant grounds, you don't need to move. But if you're standing in Dublin, you would either need to do some very weird scrying to perceive the island in its entirety whilst casting the ritual, or you would need to walk at least close to the entire coastline, so you knew where it was that you were laying that boundary.

1 Like
18

You don't need to be able to sense the entire target in order to affect it with a spell.
Being able to see part of it is generally quite enough to cast a spell at the target.

1 Like
19

That's true for most things.
Even if you can't see 100% of a person you can still target them with a spell, but in that case you still have an awareness that the rest of the person is there and their approximate shape and size. But when dealing with a huge Island like this, you wouldn't be able to visualise its shape or boundary as they are things you have never perceived.

1 Like
20

You could create a smaller island then create new islands as you grow, and connecting them in some way. You might even leave a casting tablet for future generations.

5 Likes