Merinita Familiars

Games Discussion Ars Magica
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Merinita, in cannon are kinda the house of familiars. Not sure I understand how to make that happen.

They do not seem to have anything that makes them really better at locating/binding familiars but here's what I have so far.

  • Faerie Magic combines Magic & Faerie lore making it easier to invest in the skill to find a familiar
  • Faerie Magic adds to Magic Theory binding lab total & vis use if we use solely Faerie Vis
  • HoH:S p.89 has a MMF Familiar which is one of the weakest MMF but it specifically says it applies to all lab activities that affect a familiar so that will help. Not exactly restricted to House Merinita but maybe more common in the house?

But then there is all the Faerie stuff that gets in the way. Seems that hermetic Familiars are optimized for magic creatures as to bind Faeries, you have to use negative cords that drive the faerie familiar mad ... sometimes leading to their suicide!?! & Then, is there stigmata in the house if you bind a magical familiar? Is the best faerie Queen out there really stuck with a magical companion that will never really, really understand her Fey side?

Tell me I missed something... please!

W

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As for those:

  • FM doesn't really replace either Faerie Lore or Magic Lore, just like MT doesn't replace Magic Lore.
  • FM doesn't add to MT for the Lab Total. It can replace it. It does add with only Faerie vis.
  • MMF in Familiars is just worse for almost anyone than a mMF that covers your Familiar.

But there are some cool things Merinita get:

  • Faerie Familiars: The can bind any sort of living Faerie as a Familiar and get a bunch of extra benefits through the bond.
  • Negative cords: You can let the cords decay rather than using those cords. Renew the bond after a while.
  • Binding the Gift: The bond, whether with a Faerie or not, can provide a bunch of social bonuses.
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Merinita the Founder, who first figured out how to bind familiars, didn't have much of anything to do with faeries. She was a nature maga.
The faerie focus of the house came after her time, so it is not so strange that faeries do not match bindings meant for magical animals all that well.

House Merinita does have some extra options for familiars that most magi don't, but I wouldn't call them the "house of familiars". And that is probably what you have missed - that they aren't really the "house of familiars" in canon.

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See HoH:MC p.89:

It is also generally held that Merinitae who are extremely fay in personality should bind magical familiars, not faerie ones, to help balance their two natures, and so there is no stigma associated with this choice — in fact, a Merinita maga might even bind a magical familiar simply to increase her reputation as faerielike.

Ime, this works nicely. Here is an example of a young Shadow Master strongly focused on Faerie Magic and benefitting from such balance.

Cervus Purpureus

Covenant: Covenant

Characteristics: Int +3 (Shrewd), Per +1 (Alert), Pre +1 (Fae), Com 0, Str ‑1 (Weak Grip), Sta +1 (Enduring), Dex ‑1 (Unhandy), Qik 0

Size: 0

Age: 25 (25), Height: 168 cm, Weight: 62 kg, Gender: Male

Decrepitude: 0

Warping Score: 0 (1)

Confidence: 1 (3)

Virtues and Flaws: Hermetic Magus, True Friend (Familiar) (Bonus: +3 to appropriate Personality Traits), Glamour, Inoffensive to Faeries, Deft Form (Imaginem) [Form: Imaginem], Skilled Parens, Affinity with Imaginem, Faerie Magic*, Minor Magical Focus (Glamour), Puissant Creo, Puissant Imaginem, The Gift, Vulnerable Magic (Magic dispelled when crossing over running water), Deficient Technique (Perdo), Ability Block (Martial), Disfigured (Antlers on Forehead), Cabal Legacy: Shadow‑Masters, Faerie Upbringing

Personality Traits: Brave +2, Loyal (Familiar) +3, Fae +2, Political +2

Reputations: Shadow‑Master (Hermetic) 1, Fae Wizard with Antlers (Hermetic) 1

Combat:

Dodge: Init: +0, Attack ‑‑, Defense +2, Damage ‑‑

Fist: Init: +0, Attack +0, Defense +1, Damage ‑1

Kick: Init: ‑1, Attack +0, Defense +0, Damage +2

Soak: +2

Fatigue levels: OK, 0, ‑1, ‑3, ‑5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: ‑1 (1‑5), ‑3 (6‑10), ‑5 (11‑15), Incapacitated (16‑20), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Latin 4 (Hermetic Usage), Artes Liberales 2 (Grammar) (2), Code of Hermes 1 (Faeries), Faerie Magic 1 (Faerie Vis), Finesse 1 (Precision), Magic Theory 5 (Inventing Spells), Parma Magica 1 (Ignem), Penetration 1 (Imaginem), House Merinita Lore 1 (Initiating Others), Faerie Lore 1 (Faerie Forests), Magic Lore 1 (Creatures) (7), Concentration 1 (Spell Concentration), Awareness 1 (Alertness), Survival 3 (Woodlands), Brawl 1 (Dodge), Italian 5 (Large Vocabulary), Order of Hermes Lore 1 (Politics), Bargain 1 (Faeries), Etiquette 1 (Faeries), Charm 1 (First Impressions), Area Lore: Covenant 1 (Forests)

Arts: Cr 9+3, In 9, Mu 0, Pe 0, Re 0, An 0, Aq 0, Au 0, Co 0, He 0, Ig 0, Im 15+3, Me 0, Te 0, Vi 6

Equipment: Small Porphyry Statue of Feronia; Stone painted with a deer (Permanent Charm); Stone painted with a bear (Permanent Charm); Stone painted with a horde of charging boars (Permanent Charm); Survival Kit; Wax Tablet; Wizardly Robes

Encumbrance: 0 (0)

Spells Known:

Charge of Enraged Glamours (CrIm 35) +43 - Glamour

Glamour Animal (CrIm 45) +43 - Glamour

Remote Stand‑In Image (Cr(In)Im 25) +28

Eyes of the Eagle (InIm 25) +28

Disguise Self (MuIm 10) +19

Wizard's Sidestep (ReIm 10) +19

Vis: Crystal of Imaginem Vis: 1 Pawn of Imaginem vis, Penetration: 0, Range: Touch, +1, Duration: Sun, +2, Target: Ind, +0, Level: PeIm20, Pawns Used For: Bind Familiar (9); Physical Form: rock crystal;

Pica

Type: Magpie

Characteristics: Int +1, Per +2, Pre ‑1, Com ‑2, Str ‑8, Sta +1, Dex +3, Qik +6

Size: ‑4

Soak: 1

Magic Might: 35

Cord Scores: Gold +3, Silver +1, Bronze +1

Familiar Powers: Invisibility (Points: 1; Initiative: 0; Form: Imaginem; Can become completely undetectable to normal sight, but still casts a shadow. R: Per, D: Diam, T: Ind); Athletics 4 (Nimble Flight); Awareness 5 (Spotting Items); Legerdemain 4 (Stealing); Survival 4 (Woodlands); Fight 2 (Dodge); Latin 4 (Hermetic Usage); Italian 5 (Large Vocabulary); Area Lore: Covenant 1 (Forests); Artes Liberales 1 (Grammar)

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Lovely bit of writing in the original, very nice application in yours.

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Ya.... This part could be clearer : " Faerie Magic might also represent the union of Faerie Lore and Magic Lore, the knowledge of similarities between the two realms. Often this combination can inspire surprising insights, especially when dealing with entities traditionally associated with both realms, like pagan gods, ghosts, and chimerae. It is also an appropriate Ability to use when trying to distinguish between Magic and Faerie, as it can address differences between the two realms." HoH:MC p.88

W