This is Carmen's outline for Lucian's first fifteen seasons, begining from when she opens his Gift in Winter 1239 through till the end of Summer 1242 when the Exarch takes place. IBT, I would like your input as a Troupe Player. Lucien doesn't get much of a choice. Carmen will slowly allow him to make choices on what to study once she feels he has gained some strategic wisdom and tactical insight.
Insightfulness is the key to all Flambeau wisdom. Whatever your magic style, think in terms of the properties of Ignem and it's relation to the other Arts. Even if you never use Ignem. Hot and cold, light and dark, loose steam and harnesses steam, tempered by fire or reduced to ash. Then use insight to derive deeper meaning in metaphor. Light of wisdom. Shadows of secrecy. The heat of passion. The coldness of logic.
Then there is the metephor of Battle-Axes and Poison Daggers. Some say it represemts the dualistic nature of the House, the bombastic and flamboyant versus the subtle assasin, the path of fire and the school of Apromor.
But that is the speculation of the outsiders. There are many styles and schools of House Flambeau, and many several lineages of equal distinction.
The true meaning is to have more than one strategy. Be familiar with multiple tactical approaches. Everyone's a specialist and everyone's a generalist. Don't be a one trick pony. My father lectured me about that when I was a young maga. He berated me for focusing to much on wind and weather magic. I used to take some extra training from him once in a while, so he taught me the Pillium of Fire and had me Master it. Not that I use it much, but I got the point. I picked up a few attack spells in other Arts. I picked up a few back up meathods of flight besides Auram. I addes a few useful tricks and continue to develop more.
But first, you must understand the cosmic mystery of the fifteen Hermetic Arts! Open your mind to the Arcane Laws and the Celestial Comprehension! The ancient secrets of Wundunugo and the Hory HOsts of Haggoth!
Maybe, one day, Arachné will give him her best advice
Know your enemy
Which in turn requires Insight 
Now, I am not yet sure of the sewuencing. But I want to divide Lucien's time in roughly four parts. Two parts are training, at least one being personally taught by Carmen, and another in Fluer's grammar school system. Then one part work and one part free time. The work will usually be as a lab assistant to herself or another, until he can be trusted with more difficult tasks and self directed activity. The free time is to do whatever he wants. Study the library, tinker in a guest lab, find a mentor, whatever. Again, until he is old enough and can be trusted, no leaving the covenant grounds without permission.
Now if Fleur wants another stab at a children's adventure, Lucien knows that it is easier to ask forgivness than for permission. :mrgreen:
As you learn to speak and think and read in Latin, your understanding of existance will expand along with your ability to define and command the world about you.
Literacy is the most profund form of magic ever dreamed of, and is proof of the existance of an intelligent rational soul.
As for systems of magical magic, I have Opened your Gift to receive knowledge of fifteen magical Arts. Hermetic Magic. Or rather, Bonisagus style Hermetic magic. The Founder based his system on his Mercurian roots, and incorporated the wisdom of the other Founders into a knitted fabric. Some still hold to their secret mysteries. You will learn their names and what they could do. All in time.
But it all begins with Bonisagus.
It was nearly five-hundred years ago, a cold dark night in the Black Forest. Alone in his laboratory, the old wizard worked in frenzy. Passion fuled his genius, and wisdom drove his passion.
He had invented the Parma Magica! First as a spell, with strange side effects and lacking many benefits we take for granted. Then he refined it. Mastered it. Made it an ability, an item of knowledge anyone could study. A universal magic truth that any wizard of any tradition could use. It offered true resistance and protection from magic and supernatural forces of all varieties! But as great as this new power was, the even greater power and his true goal was the softening of the effects of the Gift one received from other wizards.
Let me explain. Earlier I asked your permission to extend my protection upon you. Since then, myself and the others seem far less strange to you. We who are wizards, those who posess the Gift to work magic, we are also afflicted with a supernatural air. We radiate negative vibrations that distrupt the cosmic harmony. Some have it worse than most. My Gift is Blatant. Some are blessed with a Gentle Gift, but this is a rare trait amongst those with a rare trait.
You also have this Gift and this curse. I am not affected because of Parma Magica. You are unaffected as long as I shelter you, and in time I will teach it to you. Your Gift will still affect mundanes and those who are not magi. But if you are paitirnt and thry grow to trust you, then you can extend the protection and relate to that person on a normal human level.
There are further stories of what followed after Bonisagus invented Parma Magica then met Trianoma. I will let you read about it when you learn Latin. But because of the gentle effects of Parma, he and the other founders met and established an order of fellowship. The Order of Hermes! And each contributed to the new system of magic he was developing.
It is called Hermetic Magic for two reasons. First is the method in which knowledge is transmitted, texts and sealed secrets. Second is the system it is based on, the Mercurian traditions and the mysteries of Hermes Trimestigus. Fancy words. All it means is a codified system of parameters and proceedures being followed.
The Bonisagus system builds upon all that and provides a system of categorization. There are five things you can do and ten categories of things you can do it to!
Creo! You can conjure and create, evoke raw essence and generate material reality.
Intellego! You can comprehemd and understand, analyze and percieive.
Muto! You can transmute and transform. Alter the propertirs of a thing or change it into another thing entirely!
Perdo! You can destroy. Wither and weaken a thing, obliterate or age it. Time destroys all things. Only God is eternal.
Rego! The ability to command and control. You can move a thing, create a barrier to protect from it, force it into another shape, and more.
Those are the Techniques!
Enough for today. Next lesson I will teach you the meaning of the Forms, and tell you what the limits of magic are. Plus the secret of the Seven Hermetic Mysteries that every magus knows. And there is a cult to extend each one!
Carmen has a negative Communication scre, and has issues with punctuation. She avoids the simple "." when she can, in favor of "?" or "!".
These training sessions would be intense, especially daunting when Carmen gets on a roll.
Over time my desire for the character is to have him study Ignem as a fascination and predilection.
Lucien will earnestly be trying his best, as to fail means returning to his previous life. He does not even really understand the doctrine he learns in the early stages but knows that Apprentices do not seem as limited as common folk.
Lucien suspects he is exceedingly lucky but also suspects that this might get taken away; so studies incredibly hard. He's also a little in awe of Carmen - being a woman and one of the most senior. In a world that doesn't make much sense, he's decided to roll with everything.
As time passes he'd slowly learn that the apprentice is a position of privilege, and try to do his best to not abuse it. Bottom of the hermetic pecking order is still higher than some covenfolk.
Now all that above means he's mostly behaving, but Lucien is also a curious and a not afraid to push a few boundaries. Probably not with Carmen, but certainly with finding ways to get chores done, get time to explore, and probably get caught in places he shouldn't be (like looking at the portal network, or the eternal flame)
Along the way he'll try find a gap in the sessions to ask a few questions, like:
(although not sure if he'd have the Latin to be this eloquent)
"How does the Church treat us? Or don't they know?"
"As Parma Magica protects sorcerers and will allow mundanes to not distrust us should I concentrate my learning there, and quickly?"
"I understand that Wizards don't collect power or land like Lords and Knights, so what do they covet? Why not share?"
Advancement wise it sounds like a season of formal study, a season of knowledge education, a work season and a self study season. That sounds great.
Winter will be your free season. Except the first one, in which the Gift is opened. Spring will be your Personal Training season. Not sure about the work schedual yet, nor about what Fleur's school is like.
The First training session, taking place the Spring following opening of the Gift, will be in Creo. 8xp. You will pick up Latin and Magic Theory in Fleur's school. So training sessions will be in Arts for now. The next one, as requested, will be Ignem. The Founders Art. 8xp. The third lesson will be Perdo. 8xp. That rounds out the triad. Then the fourth lesson will be Auram, her own specialty. By then Carmen will have gained enough exposure xp to increase her Teaching score to one. So for Auram, you get 9xp.
I will look up information about teachers and figure out what classes you will take. As for Lab work, I will skip that the first year and have you take two classes to get your roots. After that, we will work on creating some sort of ward against TMIBWASOHB.
Now as for Lucien's questions...
-
The Church is complicated, and there is more than one of them to consider. The Papacy has never made a formal statement concerning the Order. And in the past we have come to their aid. Especially House Flambeau. There are magi in the church and clergy in the Order. To a very minor extent. There are some magi who disregard the church, and others that follow different faiths. So sometimes the church is wary of us. It is so written into the Oath of Hermes that we magi shall not interfere with the affairs of mundanes, lest we bring ruin upon our sodales. So it is pretty much understood by the church that we will leave them alone if they leave us alone. But individual relations may vary widely. Not sure what the Orthodox church thinks of us, Sephardic Jews seem to be okay with us and there is that Geonim treaty. I am Catholic, but I have a strong Jewish heritage. My mother is by no means pious, but it is her heritage and mine and we are proud. Islam? I have no idea. There are Moslem magi in Iberia, but most wizards of the Islamic world become hedge wizards of their own cultural tradition.
If you are a good Christian, bee good to the Church and do good deeds. You will be thought well of by them. If you follow different ideas, then just stay out of their way and keep a low profile. In fact, just do that. Follow the Rule of Shade and keep your true power a secret from mundanes. -
You misunderstood me. Parma protects you from magic, but does not help mundanes trust us. It will shelter you from the effects of the Gifts from other wizards. That is the reason the Order is able to cooperate on such a large scale. Now, you can share this protection with others, only if the agree, and only then will it shield them from the Gift and help you gain trust. But if you know a person long enough, after repeated exposure, they will get used to your Gift. You will have to work twice as had to get respect, but in the long run good treatment will earn double the respect and loyalty.
And yes. You should study it as much as possible. Once you are able. As I said, it is the first and greatest mystery of Hermetic Magic! Once you have taken the Gauntlet and have sworn the Hermetic Oath, once you have been raised to a full and true Magus, only then will the understanding be reveiled. And lnow that the secret meaning of reveil is to re-veil! To cover again. Once you know the secret you must guard it at all cost! Death to any outsider that attempts to steal it! -
Many magi do seek these things. Just not in the same way. Behold this castle here! We own businesses and properties throughout the Catalan speaking region. Minor stuff, as a cooperative. Not the same as nobles.
Wealth is irrelevant. It is a means to an end. We can conjure gold if need be. But there is no need and it would disrupt the economy if done to often. But still, what a wizard seeks is a matter for that individual wizard to decide. Knowledge? Power! Control. To know peace? To cause fear? To be the best, become a paragon. A champion for a cause! A visionary teacher?
The variety is endless. We are all individuals from a diversity of backgrounds. I seek the prosperity and longevity of this covenant. It has ever been my home since infancy. My father rules here as an Archmagus. Perhaps I seek to preserve his legacy and live up to it.
Vibria is a hussy. She seeks glory and attention and thinks she is all bad ass now after the Tremere made her a general in their stupid little army. But I got to give her credit. She manages to pull it all together and makes wise tactical decisions. And she is part dragon!
Roberto is a dick. You will catch on to the fact that House Flambeau is full of jagholes. I can be a megabitch sometimes. It is just who we are. There is a part of us that stays hard, that stays sharp. Ever prepared for the next conflict to come. And unto death we charge.
Anyways, Roberto is a dick and his motives elude me. His nature is dualistic. On one hand he tries to act like mister normal and live in solitude and peace in his lighthouse. On the other, he is always seeking adventure after adventure, and likes to show of how skilled he is with Flambeau magic.
Then there is Fleur, who like many of the noble House Bonisagus, seeks to push the boundaries of magic and make new breakthroughs. We have a new maga, Cecelio, another Bonisagus seeking the same.
Vocis, Lucas, and Solomon. They seek the strength of the Order of Hermes. It is the very fabric of life to them!
Arachne is an old woman. She has seen a lot of suffering and seeks peace and security most of all. This covenant is the only sanctuary and home she has left in this world. And she has made this her web! She controls the caverns. She is Mistress of security and intelligence. She is the warden that keeps us all safe!
There are others here you will meet. I have no idea what Snakewoman and Sharkman are up to. Antione seeks to master his craft. Fredrika sough scholatic prestige and has left us.
In 1239 and 1240 the teaching schedule is comprised of classes on teaching, except that Draganna has one seaon free each year... she can teach 1 on 1 with SQ:20- Gift penalty (presumedly 17 unless blatent or gentle) except when teaching languages where she has a SQ of 23strike[/strike], so she can instruct in arts Liberales, Latin, magic theory, Order of Hermes Lore, Penetration, Philosophae, etc... at Carmen's discretion. I would sugest Latin for obvious reasons, which would give 40 points (assuming a normal gift) in Latin over those 2 years, though obviously the choice is yours.
in 1241 Dragnna leaves the covenant, Marius is teaching Apothacary in the summer and teaching teaching in the winter, and Pataxis is still finishing up her studies to become a teacher.
plans for 1242 have Pataxi teaching Latin in Winter and Summer (at base SQ:16 for a group of students- Patxi's Latin maxes out at 5), Marius is available to teach lessons in a number of subjects for more advanced students. Patxi is unaffected by the Gift, so there is no SQ penalty when learning from her.
I have decided to posit an additional NPC teacher who is unnamed, with Com:2 and teaching:7 from the same class (but affected by the gift) which gives teaching SQ of 12, with a -0/3/6 for the gift, if that Is okay with everyone else...
Is there a Character sheet for Lucien nywhere? I am trying to crunch some numbers and set the sched.
Yes, linked at https://forum.atlas-games.com/t/lucien-flambeau-apprentice-development/10063/1
All on the same page as his background. I've a at Gauntlet version to at home.
Groovy. I can make this work. The first two years will be heavy.
1239
Winter: Gift opened, 2xp exposure in whatever interests him about the experience?
Spring: Carmen Teaches basic Magic Theory (8xp Magic Theory 1.3)
Summer: Teaches Lucian Creo (8xp Creo 3.2)
Fall: Latin Lessons from Draganna (17xp Latin 2.2)
Carmen will pay Draganna for her private time.
1240
Winter: Lucian has the season off, but his time is not free. Carmen takes him to Ibiza and makes a formal request to Roberto to be his Mento according to the traditions of the Knights of Seneca. Roberto complains but accepts. Roberto feels like teaching the kid to swordfight, but Lucian pesters him about the Founder's Art. So Roberto teaches him Ignem (10 xp for a score of 4), and Luciens Ignem powers become manifest/realized.
Spring: Carmen lectures Lucas abut the importance of Technique over Form. She teaches him Perdo (8 xp Perdo 3.2)
Summer: While Carmen is off at Wadanzee then Asgard, Lucian takes Latin lessons from Dragana a second time. 17xp Latin 3.4
May we divert some of the Latin xp to Artes Liberales. With a score of 0 but specialized in Literacy (same for Latin), the kid can start to read on his own.
then/or
Autumn: Carmen sends him to read or teaches him how to read. In fact, that is what she does. Using the even third split from RAW, and now being a SQ 9 teacher, 6xp Artes Liberales and 3xp Order of Hermes Lore.
If he spent his Exposure xp from the OPening season on it as well, Lucian has an Order of Hermes Lore score of 1. As good as most new magi after only two years of training. Well on his way to his quest.
As far as what is believed of his heritage, at this point this is merely only what Lucian thinks.
That's a good start
When studying Latin a student my (according to Artes and Acadame) place up to 1/2 the experience into artes Liberales or teaching- any other subject they can divert points into Latin or teaching.
I am also amicable to the diversion idea. So the revision is as follows...
Winter 39: Gift Opened, 2xp exposure as he wills.
Spring 39: Carmen teaches Magic Theory (SQ8, 5xp Magic Theory 1, 3xp Latin 0.3).
Summer 39: Carmen teaches Creo (SQ8, 6xp Creo 3, 2xp Latin 1).
Autumn 39: Private lessons from Draganna (SQ17, 12xp Latin 2.2, 5xp Artes Liberales 1)
Winter 40: Roberto becomes his Mentor and teaches him Ignem (SQ10, 10xp Ignem 4) ?
Spring 40: Carmen teaches Perdo (SQ8, 6xp Perdo 3, 2xp Latin 2.4)
Summer 40: Second and final lesson from Draganna (SQ17, 17xp Latin 3.6).
Autumn 40: With Literacy (or some such) as his Specialization in Latin, Lucian may study one Summa of his choosing (provided that a member magus is not using it).
Winter 41: Lucien visits Roberto and meets his mentor's new student. Edith Andorra Rudolphius. aka Dora of Flambeau. Or at least she will be so officially made after this season's adventure to hunt a (mid-sized) giant kraken plaguing the area.
I still want to tweak some things. I just took a closer look and discovered Lucian already knows some Latin. So by season eight he will be set to read on his own.
But I do know for certain that he spends Winter of 1240 with Roberto learning Ignem (this is before Edith comes along, feel free to resent her when she shows up latter).
[color=red]ignem may seem simple, but there are hidden mysteries. Temperatire and Illumination. Heat and Cold, Light and Dark. Ignem is circumscribed by these four points, but much remains within. And unanwered questions.
For example, Fire. You can create a fire, and with it you burn. Fire consumes. It can be used as a tool to create or a weapon to destroy, but it always consumes. You can create a magic fire, that burns without consuming, shedding both heat and light. You have magic resistance. You can resist the burn. The heat cannot affect you directly but becomes ambient in the room and still warms you.
The light, that is an Imaginem thing. Deal with that later.
The heat is ambient because fire is contagious. Just as the magic palm held flame needs no fuel but can catch a thing ablaze anyways. Just as you can heat a knife to the red and cauterize a wounded magus's injury. Just as a Pilium of Fire can kill a wizard even though he resists it, for it set fire to his surroundings and the fiery cage consumed him.
You can create a fire, but you can never uncreate it. You can quench it, halt it and stop it from consuming. Cease the contagion. But you can never undo what it has done.
You freeze something, you can unfreeze it. But what is burnt is forever ash.
Now don't push the metaphor too far. You can heal burn injuries and a frozen death is just as dead.
But still, Ignem is a very multifaceted subject.
1239
Winter: “Strange Serendipity”; in which the monks he had attached himself to come to Arans (as his Visions told him), and he is discovered by Solomon.
Carmen take him as her Apprentice
Gift Opened (2xp Exposure as he wills)
The Virtues and Flaws detailed above take their current form.
Spring: Carmen Teaches Lucian Magic Theory (8xp Magic Theory 1.3xp)
Summer: Carmen Teaches Lucian Creo (8xp Creo 3.2)
Fall: Gets enrolled in school, Private Lessons from Draganna (SQ 17xp; 12xp Latin 2.12, 5xp Artes Liberales 1)
[b]1240[b]
Winter: Sent to hang out with Roberto. He becomes Lucien's Mentor and teaches him Ignem. His aptitude becomes apparent and he also develops the Minor Dark Secret (or Delusion) that he is descended from Flambeau. (SQ 10, 15xp Ignem 5+3)
Spring: Carmen Teaches Lucian Perdo (8xp Perdo 3.2)
Summer: Private Lessons from Draganna (SQ 14, 7xp Magic Theory 2, 7xp Latin 3.4)
Fall: Lucien is let loose in the Library for a season of free study. He may study any text not currently in use by another. (TBD)
1241:
Winter: free season (TBD)
Spring: Lucien get's introduced to Edith, Roberto's second protege. Does he feel jealous or resentful? He is then taken on Adventure with Roberto & Edith, “To Kill a Kraken” (TBD)
Summer:Get sent to a weapon's class with Fausto (13xp Single Weapon 1.8)
Fall: Carmen teaches Magic Theory (9xp Magic Theory 2.10)
Carmen's Teaching Score has, by this point, risen to a score of 1 (specialized in Apprentices)
End of First Fifth
1242:
Winter: free season (TBD)
Spring: Learn Auram from Carmen (10xp Auram 4)
Summer: School with Patxi (16xp Latin 4)
then The Exarch
End of First Quarter
Fall
1243
Winter: free season (TBD)
Spring: Learn CrIg20 Pilium of Fire from Roberto
Summer:
Fall:
End of First Third
1244
Winter: "Ancient Discovery" (TBD)
Added activities for free seasons into plan (see below), and updated the Magi Planner spreadsheet with Lucien and the plans as per below.
I stopped at the start of 1243.
Question on the learning of spells from Roberto: I believe that he might be able to teach more than one spell in that season (see Ars p95). Using Roberto's LT for CrIg (somewhere between 25 and 30?) is the combined levels of spells which can be taught, with any one spell (which can be outside CrIg) must be lower than Lucien's appropriate LT (which is 21+aura for CrIg).
So basically he could add smaller spells up to Roberto's total lab level, so potentially throwing in a few more low levels spells in that season.
In that season, he is also teaching spells to Edith. He wants you each you each to have certain specific spells mastered just the right way. Call it the School of Roberto. :mrgreen:
I gotta research and write a bunch of details about this and generate results. But it doesn't need to cling on as a story.
Yep, agree totally.