Kostas o Skiatchro

Not many mistake Kostas o Skiatchro for a magus of House Bonisagus when they first meet him. His skin is a deep brown from time outdoors and his hands are calloused. Usually he wears a peasant's coarse shirt and trousers, and they are usually stained with sweat, dirt, and sometimes flecked with animal blood. He speaks with a rumbling country accent. And he seems more concerned with cabbages and ewes than Aristotle or the current theory on the Lunar Limit.

Kostas was born to a peasant family in Morea that already had too many mouths to feed. The child was odd. He was stubborn and always making mischief. On the other hand, he did seem to have a knack for farm work, so he was not driven out. However when the stranger came and offered to buy him, his family was quick to accept.

His early apprenticeship was difficult. His first master grew exasperated with the boy's stubbornness. More often than not, Kostas was out in the garden or with the covenant's flocks instead of studying. A Bonisagus at the same covenant became interested, sensing the boy had an apptitude for Creo. When questioned, the covenant grogs admitted they considered Kostas a bit of a good luck charm. Seeds he planted always seemed to grow better. And he could always tell when one of the flock was about to give birth. When confronted with this information, Kostas' first master threw up her hands and said, 'Of course they grow better around him! He's always out there scaring away the birds! He's more the making of a scarecrow than a magus!' Like his family before, his first master was only too glad to be rid of him when the Bonisagus claimed him.

The third time appeared to be the charm. Kostas' new master was as stubborn as he was, but wise enough to give the boy some freedom. Kostas improved rapidly. His new master encouraged his interest in fertility magic, though there was scant information to go on. Shortly before his gauntlet, his parens asked him what he wished his Hermetic name to be. Kostas grinned and said, 'Kostas o Skiatchro' or 'Kostas the Scarecrow'. His master simply shrugged, commenting the boy had been called far worse.

Kostas is stubborn and gruff. His saving graces are that he takes a long time to form a solid opinion, prefering to gather all the facts, and that he keeps his mouth shut on the matter at hand until then. Once he's formed an opinion though, arguing with him is like trying to chip away at Mount Athos with a dull spoon. His goal is to devise a system of Hermetic fertility magic. Mostly because it is a subject Kostas considers of use. It also gives him an excuse to get out of the lab and do what he considers an honest day's work once in a while. Kostas plans to marry soon. He wants to have as many children as possible before his longevity ritual.

Perhaps due to his knack with fertility, at odd times an animal will take to following Kostas around. Once it was a young bull. Another time a hare. Currently he is shadowed by a rooster he calls Moulari or 'Mule'. The joke in that only makes sense to Kostas.

Kostas o Skiatchro
Magus of Bonisahus
Pater? ??????

Age 22

Characteristics

Int +3 Per +1
Str +1 Stm +2
Dex 0 Qik 0
Pre -1 Com -2

Flaws

Driven : Create system of Hermetic Fertility Magic (Major), Def. Perdo, Proud (Minor), Animal Companion, Social Handicap: Gruff

Virtues

The Gift, Hermetic Magi, Puissant Magic Theory (All free)
Affinity w/Creo, Puissant Creo, Minor Focus: Fertility, Strong Willed, Enduring Con, Enduring Magic, Inoffensive to Animals, Free Study,Inventive Genius

Personality

Stubborn +3, Proud +1, Earthy +2

Abilities

Romiac Greek 5
Folk Ken (Peasants) 1
Carouse (Drinking with the fellas) 1
Athletics (Manual Labor) 1
Brawl (Dodge) 1
Swim (Against currents) 1
Animal Handling (Birthings) 2
Profession:Farming (Planting) 3

Latin (Hermetic Usage) 2
Magic Theory (????) 4+2
Magic Lore (Fertility Magic) 2
Artes Liberales (Rituals) 2
Concentration (Lab work) 1
Finese (Precision) 1
Penetration (Herbem) 1
Parma Magica (Corpus) 1
Philosophae (Natural Philosophy) 1
Medicine (Birthings) 1
Order of Hermes Lore (Hedge Traditions in Order) 1
Profession: Scribe (Lab texts) 1

Arts

Cr 7+3 (Affinity Bonus included)
Mu 2
Re 3
In 4

An 3
Aq 2
Co 4
He 4
Te 1
Vi 4

Spells are TBD. Also believe I have 10 pts left

Feedback/comments would be appreciated. Thanks.

IIRC you need level 4 in a language to study from a book. Currently he has an effective score of 3 in Classical Greek (at Romaic Greek -2), and 3 in Latin if his speciality applies. Given his backstory it wouldn't be unreasonable for him not to be as good a reader as most magi, but it would be a handicap so you should make sure that's what you intend.

Also, given his language skills and backstory I'm surprised he has points in Profession: Scribe. I'm not sure what I'd swap it for, though.

If we are in Thebes, shouldn't he have Classical Greek instead of Latin?

[strike]And I have to check my math, but the characteristics don't look right.[/strike]

Fundamentally the character is conflicted- Bonisagus tend to be highly academic, and the gauntlet is traditionally in the form of a 3 day oral exam. Technically a master can declare him passed based on whatever performance he feels is adequate, I just have trouble seeing a Bonisagus in the Theban tribunal (where apprentices can get pre-training until the tribunal meeting, and are given tokens to indicate interest) considering this magus ready. Technically once the boy was bought he would have been taken to the tribunal and turned over for teaching in exchange for a token, trained until the next tribunal, where his new master would have given him tokens to express interest in having him as an apprentice.

6+1+1+3-1-3 = 7. check

Using a personality trait to justify the Social Handicap flaw means that you will need to play him as gruff beyond being simply rude. It's a bit like taking a third personality flaw. I also don't get the "Proud" vibes from him, the way you described his background.

May I suggest changing Proud to Compulsion (being gruff and rude)? I would also expect him to be somewhat poor with formal study, so perhaps Poor Student might be a good selection for him to replace the Social Handicap.

All good. Though you are using only 9 points of virtues and flaws, so you'd have room for an additional minoir virtue balanced by a minor flaw.

As mentioned, Latin is not the formal language of magic in Thebes. That would be Classical Greek. If you don't take Latin, it means you won't need Artes Liberales at 2.

You will need an effective score of 4 in Classical Greek if you want to be able to read books. Whether you want to be able to read all books or just hermetic ones will influence how you would reach that score. See this post for details.

There are typos in "Romaic" and "Herbam".

I'd suggest the specialty "original research" for Magic Theory.

You have 205 xp in Abilities and 77 xp in Arts, for a total of 282 xp.
At age 22 you should have 45 (childhood) + 30 (before apprenticeship) + 240 (apprenticeship) = 315 xp.

As silveroak wrote, House Bonisagus may not be the best fit for this concept. Making him an Ex Miscellanea would give him the Control Fertility virtue right away, and he might still have the goal of fully integrating it into Hermetic Magic.

Yeah I made a note to myself about the language. Looks like I overlooked it when I typed this up. Also didn't spell check. My apologies there.

I like the suggestion regarding the Proud virtue. Thanks Arthur. That's a good solution.

I'll rethink and revise. Appreciate the feedback all.