The four mundanes are German sailors from Schleswig that were crew on a merchant ship in the Baltic Sea when pirates of Slavic origin attacked them. Most of the crew were slain or captured but these four jumped overboard to try to save themselves. They would have drowned though if Japik hadn't found them. With the help from some local porpoises (small dolphins so he should be able to communicate with them in Heartbeast form) he moved them to safety in the cove. There they recovered with the help from Hjalmar and Yulia. Only a few weeks later Japik found a stranded knarr a couple of miles down the coast the day after a severe storm. He went back to show Hjalmar and the sailors the location. It needed some urgent repair to be able to sail which the sailors happily helped with. About the same time as the ship was sailable Japik finished his apprenticeship with Ardea and they parted ways. He recieved some Creo vis and they all packed up. Japik's goal was to head back to Frisia and he had convinced the four sailors to join him, Hjalmar and Yulia to crew the knarr. First they needed to find a port to make the ship fit for rougher sea though. Lübeck was the nearest port.
At Lübeck Japik visited Oculus and met Prochorus who were just about to finish his apprenticeship as well and knew he couldn't stay at Oculus. They started to make some plans together but before they took form a Redcap named Bernhard contacted them both and they met in one of the city's taverns to discuss a prospect. Bernhard told them to meet him in Anvers in a couple of weeks. In the meantime Japik traded most of his vis for lab equipment since Bernhard had hinted something about building a new covenant. Hjalmar and the sailors repaired and outfitted the knarr so it was as good as it could get. Then they set sail north, rounded Jutland and landed at Japik's home village in Frisia. There they did some research what had happened to the plundered remains of the village and found that Waddenzee was the most likely perpetrators. They continued to Anvers for their meeting with Bernhard.
How about that?
Wits feel free to fill in anything you like when you have time.
Oculus Septentrionalis is a shipyard covenant. They are in a city. They are richer than Midas. That means that 1) they have very easy access to mundane supplies and ships 2) are able to repair ships like yur knarr to pristine condition easily and 3) they value vis quite a lot. I can see the vis of Japik being quite valuable around there
About circumnavigating jutland, remember to take the channel that crosses Denmark. It is open at the time IIRC
Nice map Xavi, but if you mean the Limfjord in the north of Jutland it wasn't possible to sail through it all the way until the 1800s.
Would be nice if vis was extra valuable at Oculus of course. That may have explained how I got the lab equipment and the ship fully repaired and still could keep 2 pawns of vis.
I thought all the sailors arrived pretty close to Japik's split up with his mater, but then he rescued them one at a time over several years perhaps and they all decided to stay and help him. Hjalmar was merely the first of them and also the only one with martial abilities. I will name them all and assume that they have good ranks in Profession: Sailor, maybe one of them has some Leadership and has taken the role as captain of the knarr. However they are all afraid of Yulia.
I have a suggestion regarding the Magical Animal Companion. What do you think about changing the Flaw to True Love and make it a female Magical dolphin? Or is there enough love in this saga already with my grog and servant and Quercus' ditto in love with each other respectively?
In the last days (don't ask me where) when researching shipbuilding stuff I read that the fjord was open in old times (maybe up to the time period) but that it was closing due to sedimentation and currents. This is one of the reasons for the development of tougher ships: the need for them to travel round the upper cape of jutland on a regular basis. So, maybe it is still open.
I know Wikipedia is not reliable for academic references but here it says according to Saxo Grammaticus it closed around 1200. So yes give or take a couple of decades it may be open.
Ah, that's what you were talking about ! I thought you were speaking of an early North Sea - Baltic canal, but Wikipedia said the first was only opened in 1398.
Although, if the Order ever came out of its ivory towers, building such canals would be trivial for them.
That would make me a bit uncomfortable, as my understanding of True Love in the paradigm is something related to the soul (this is why Hermetic magic cannot affect it). Having it link a human and an animal (even a magical one) would kind of imply that they have (or can have) souls. Its not a can of worm I want to open in this saga.
It would also give a very central role to the companion as regarding your magus. Too much, perhaps.
I agree with Arthur o the true love: it is supposed to be the top of the top. Maybe you could instead have a dolphin wife and lil' dolphin kids if you want a romantic relationship :mrgreen: It makes for a good (or at least novel!) Dependents flaw.
Or you can just take the Dolphin as a Dependent without making little baby dolphins with her.
That said, regarding the soul issue a magus and his familiar both have the True Friend virtue regarding each other. (the other name for the True Love virtue/flaw, but in this case the minor virtue, because a familiar usually has enough power to help his master). And if a familiar can have it, maybe a magical animal companion can...
Dependent is a major story flaw which means I need to make some other changes to the Flaw list and probably drop Hatred vs. Waddenzee. I like that story potential better than Dependent. Now that I have a crew that is bound to me I feel that I have enough followers. On the other hand the crew should be a covenant feature when we join and start building the covenant.
I will keep the Magical Animal Companion flaw and stay with my original otter idea. The description of the flaw says the smaller the animal the more intelligent so stat-wise I would like to see an intelligent and quick creature but physically quite weak and since he is very curious it's deemed to result in some rescue stories. I'll stat up a proposal for a mundane otter unless there are some published stats somewhere. He will not be needed for the introductory meeting in Anvers anyway so no hurry.
As there might have been a season from when Japik started his travels until he reaches Anvers. Any chance to get xps for that time?
Exposure if nothing else.
Just asking.
You mean from he split up with his mater until they got to Lübeck?
I thought that was just a a few weeks tops? The vis I figured he got from Ardea as a parting gift or something. Then he used most of this vis (except the 2 pawns) to buy at least some of the lab equipment from Oculus. Maybe he asked to get silver for some of the vis and bought the remaining simpler stuff without any other magi involved, just to avoid too much suspicion.
I don't know how much time I have to work with. I was assuming approximately three months from leaving the magic cove until they reach Anvers.
As much time as you want to. What did your magus want to do once he was out of apprenticeship? Was he looking to join a covenant right away?
And even though his mater left the cove after he was Gauntleted, he may have returned there for a while. The vis source belongs to Crintera, however, so the best he could have done is harvest it for them in exchange for small privileges. Nothing much, as we already determined what resources he starts the saga with.
And any trip towards Lubeck may have been interrupted by a story of some kind. It may have led to very little material gain, but some experience is certainly possible.
In short, it's up to you. I will simply arbitrate the results of such efforts, and clarify the saga context as needed.
When Japik was Gauntleted and his mater decided to move east, his immediate thought was to go back home where he was born. He never really thought about joining one of the established covenants, not immediately anyway. He lived at Fengheld the first years of his apprenticeship and never liked it, big and landlocked as it was. Basically all other landlocked covenants he has heard would go away as options. Crintera is by the sea and full of magi from his own house but since Japik is not the typical Bjornaer and dislikes the in-house factional conflicts that was never an option either. Oculus Septentrionalis could have been an option if he had been Gentle Gifted and a bit more interested in humans. Waddenzee is the only other option within the Rhine Tribunal but since they seems to be responsible for the lundering of his home village that's out of the question as well.
When Bernhard presents his prospect it really is "like a glove" to Japik's mindset.
I was making a timeline from Now (in Anvers) and backwards. It's end of spring 1210 when we arrive in Anvers. The sea in the north has only just opened after the winter which means Japik and his crew must have been "stuck" somewhere over the winter. Either they got to Lübeck and Japik bought some time to study for a season at Oculus. I can then use a season before that to gather the vis needed for this time in an adventure. Here is my proposed timeline then.
Summer 1209: Japik finishes his apprenticeship and Ardea moves east.
Autumn 1209: Japik and his followers moves west along the Balitic coast. Adventure to get some vis.
Winter 1209: In Lübeck studying at Oculus Septentrionalis paying with the vis that was gathered in the autumn. Meeting Prochorus and later Bernhard.
Spring 1210: Preparing for the trip to Anvers and then via a stop at the home village arrive in the port city.
