Mercuria of Mercere (development)

Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Light of Andorra
1

Mercuria of Mercere

Age: 30 (30)

Warping: 0 (4)

Characteristics: Int +3, Per +1, Pre +2, Com -1, Str -3, Sta +3, Dex -1, Qik -1

Virtues and Flaws: The Gift; Hermetic Maga; Major Magical Focus (growth, improvement, and restoration), Mercurian Magic*; Book Learner, Educated, Hermetic Sacrifice, Hermetic Theurgy, Puissant Creo (free), Skilled Parens, Well-Traveled, Withstand Casting*; Compassionate (major), Deficient Technique (Perdo), Low Self-Esteem; Cabal Legacy, Covenant Upbringing, Infamous Master, Magical Spirit Companion, Pagan (as Minor Personality Flaw)*

Abilities: Artes Liberales 4 (ceremony), Awareness 2 (people), Concentration 2 (casting), Cult of Mercury Lore 3 (people), Folk Ken 2 (girls), Greater Alps Tribunal Lore 1 (people), Iberian Tribunal Lore 1 (people), Latin 5 (Hermetic), Magic Lore 2 (gods and spirits), Magic Theory 4 [5] (spells), Normandy Tribunal Lore 1 (people), Occitain 5 (Languedoc, Provençal), Order of Hermes Lore 2 (magi), Parma Magica 5 (Mentem), Philosophiae 4 (ceremony), Profession: Scribe 1 (Hermetic books), Provençal Tribunal Lore 2 (people), Roman Tribunal Lore 1 (people)

Arts: Cr 12+3 (6), In 5, Mu 5, Re 11 (1), An 5, Co 11, He 5, Me 10, Vi 11 (2)

Spells:
Soothe the Savage Bear (ReAn10)
Bind Wound (CrCo10)
Chirurgeon's Healing Touch (CrCo20R)
Restoration of the Defiled Body* (CrCo25R)
Severed Limb Made Whole* (CrCo25R)
Cheating the Reaper* (CrCo30R)
Incantation of the Body Made Whole* (CrCo40R)
Call to Slumber (ReMe10)
Wizard's Curse (CrVi20, R:Voice, target gains two Warping Points)
Invoke the Spirit of Creo Herbam (CrVi30)
Invoke the Spirit of Creo Imaginem* (CrVi30)
Wizard's Communion* (MuVi40)
Circular Ward Against Demons (ReVi20)
Circular Ward Against Faeries (ReVi20)
Circular Ward Against Magical Beings (ReVi20)
Invoke the Spirit of Rego Imaginem (ReVi20)
Invoke the Spirit of Rego Corpus* (ReVi30)

  • gained after Gauntlet

Vis: 86 pawns

Mercuria was born to Redcap parents, her father Radulphus having been the former Chief Redcap in the Provencal Tribunal in the late twelfth century and a member of the Cult of Mercury. Thanks to a special House ritual, he and his wife Meritxell were lucky enough to produce a Gifted babe, born on the spring equinox of 1200. The child was prophesied to be Mercury reborn, but surprisingly was female. They named her Mercuria, and they and the cult had great ambitions for her.

Radulphus desperately wanted to raise the girl himself, but unfortunately could not because of the rules of Hermetic apprenticeship-- she must be taught magic one season each year, something he could not do. He had a friend Adustus of Bonisagus who offered to apprentice her, but for some reason Radulphus was never quite comfortable with the idea (though Adustus could have simply claimed her). Together they came up with the idea of a Hermetic university, with the plan that they would hire magi to teach the students, each with an advisor who would act as their official parens, but all the students would benefit from multiple parentes. And in that way, Radulphus could still help teach his daughter, as well as other children.

They chose the city of Lyon as their covenant location, on the site of a former Diedne covenant called Lughdunum, located on the southwest hilltop just outside the city. Radulphus had been living there since he retired as Chief Redcap, though he and his wife still served his House and brought Mercuria with them wherever they traveled. The area had a strong magic aura from the many ancient Roman structures that still stood hidden beneath the trees atop the hill, though it was uncomfortably close to the city's newly constructed cathedral. They named the new covenant Aurora Nova, or "the new dawn."

Mercuria was apprenticed at the tender age of 6, and her father thought her clever and stalwart, if a bit too humble-- all the qualities of a good Mercere. She learned to read very early, and was always more comfortable with books than with direct instruction. She was not particularly close to the four other students (they were all significantly older than she was) or the teachers, but she did her best to listen and do what the adults told her to do. She showed a particular affinity for Creo magic, perhaps because of her tender heart, and so she often studied with Adustus, who was also a Creo specialist.

Eleven years into her instruction, a terrible event occurred. Few details are common knowledge. All four of Mercuria's fellow students died, as did Adustus the headmaster, two other teachers, and Mercuria's father Radulphus. The Quaesitorial investigation from Magvillus declared that while Adustus was responsible, both as headmaster and as having performed the effect that caused the disaster, it was essentially a magical accident, with none of the survivors suspected of wrongdoing or subject to threat of Hermetic punishment. Aurora Nova was shut down, and Mercuria and her mother moved to Doissetep, where a Gifted Mercere associated with the Priesthood of Mercury was willing to finish her instruction in exchange for her greater dedication to the cult. She was named a maga at the Tribunal of 1221.

In the nine years since, Mercuria has served the Cult of Mercury faithfully. She has been named a priestess of the temple, and taught the secrets of Mercurian magic. During this time, she also studied her Arts and performed the cult rituals given to her on casting tablets for deserving Redcaps and grogs at Doissetep. Through a theurgical rite, the cult brought forth the aspect of the spirit of Mercury that is bound to her from her conception, though she does not have much control over it as of yet. She has also learned several theurgical spells from the cult's laboratory texts, and knowledge of Mercurian Road Magic, in exchange for her dedication.

Recently, Mercuria's mother (who has been living at Doissetep and still serving as a Redcap two seasons each year) became terribly and inexplicably ill. Her body was wracked with pain and she became nearly paralyzed, barely able to speak or move. Mercuria has devoted all of her free time to trying to discover a cure, spending months and months in the lab learning healing spells from lab texts, but nothing has helped. Realizing that she is dying, Meritxell asked Mercuria to see that she is brought back to her home village of Arans in Andorra while she can still see it before she passes. Mercuria agreed, receiving dispensation from the elders at the covenant to go. The older magi knew of a former covenant site nearby, with a Mercer House, and there has been talk of rebuilding it. Sending her there to do so fits in so well with their plans that it is almost as if the gods have willed it.

2

Ah, we do have a healer. Yay! BTW, Mercurian Road Magic is not a Virtue. It only requires studying appropriately.

3

It looks like it can be learned from teaching, or initiated as a Minor Virtue. Is it okay for for us to just say Mercuria has learned this? If so, I will take Withstand Casting instead. In fact, that might be better anyway...

4

I just looked it up and I believe this is correct. It takes a season to learn, but I would agree that this was part of your apprenticeship.
But I will still charge you 10 xp!
:mrgreen:
I noticed your character has a few wards. Are you aware of the Wards house rule?

5

All right. Maybe I will do that with one of my free seasons instead of learning a spell.

Yes, and I figure she can spontaneously cast more specific wards when necessary (it takes her a little while though, because of Mercurian Magic's requirement to cast ceremonially). Maybe I should exchange some of them though, especially if we have another magus specialized in wards.

6

It is often handy to have a ward or two. And I can see an advantage in using eather style of ward.
Note that a Specific Ward must still penetrate, it is just easy because level is not subtracted from casting. But you can have a low casting total requiring you to spend fatigue, so penetration may still be short of the full level.

7

What would it cost to bring some Cult of Heroes casting tablets from Doissetep? I would like her to be able to reward our covenant's Redcaps with spells like Stamina of the Followers and Quickness of the Heroes. I suspect her goals are going to become very focused on making our Redcaps the best agents they can be. :slight_smile:

8

I think Casting Tablets are riceut out the same as Lab Texts. I will check later. Those will be expensive to cast vis-wise :wink:
As long as it is done in game. In the previous saga I had one player use them to bring a few stats up in chargen, and it caused endless arguments.

9

Expensive, yes, but only half as much for a Mercurian Maga. :wink: I figure she will charge the Redcaps the necessary vis for this service, and I suspect they will gladly save up the vis to pay for it.

10

That's how the rich get richer and the poor get poorer :wink:
I think a few magi may be willing to pay sfor such a benefit as well.

11

Just looked up Casting Tablets, and they are twice the cost of Lab Texts. Also, the amount and Arts of vis are set by the tablet instructions, which negates the Mercurian Magic bonus.

12

Don't Casting Tablets let you specify Virtues necessary to cast the spell? Hmm, if not, I will probably just have to suck up the extra vis cost. :confused:

13

Now that you mention it, maybe so in an indirect way. Everything about the spell is predetermined. A spell could be purposefully designed to be cast with more or less vis, and the caster would need to cope with that somehow. Or perhaps Casting Objects are incorporated into the design.
But there should be a limiter.
You can take one specially custom designed tablet. The others follow regular rules (they were written by a Mercurian with a different Major Hermetic Virtue related to Mercurian Magic, such as Flawless Magic).

14

All right then, in that case Mercuria will muster up a casting tablet for Quickness of the Heroes (CrCo60), designed to be cast with Mercurian Magic, as I think that's the most "Mercury" associated rite. That costs 24 build points, or 6 pawns of vis.

If I understand the mustering rules, I can only take half of her build points as vis? Half of all her vis salary is 43 pawns. 32 Creo and 11 Vim. So minus the casting tablet, that leaves her 37 pawns to spend on lab texts. She also had to buy lab texts for all the spells she learned after apprenticeship. That came out to 36 build points, or 9 more pawns. That leaves her 28 pawns to spend.

Let's do: Soothe Pains of the Beast (CrAn20), Quickness of the Followers (CrCo35), Stamina of the Followers (CrCo35), Stamina of the Heroes (CrCo60), Shadow of Life Renewed (CrCo75), Gift of Vigor (ReCo20), Leap of Homecoming (ReCo35), The Bountiful Feast (CrHe35), Communication of the Followers (CrMe35), Mercury's Blessing (CrVi25), Invoke the Spirit of Creo Imaginem (CrVi50), Invoke the Spirit of Creo Herbam (CrVi50), Aegis of the Hearth (ReVi35), and Aegis of the Hearth (ReVi50).

15

Half right. You must convert half your vis into bp. A bp is the value of a quarter pawn of vis. Maybe I should call them QPs in game :slight_smile: