Mix & match: Lascaux, fertility, Cro-Magnons & Nightwalkers

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

Salve y'all,

I've been sick as a dog and unable to think about my upcoming Ars session much, so I'm hoping you guys can jump-start my now-mostly-healthy imagination.

Our game is set in the Dordogne Valley (http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/commarque-saga). This area, as you know, is chock full of Paleolithic caves featuring Cro-Magnon art, the most famous of which is undoubtedly Lascaux. The covenant gets its aura from one such site, and they draw vis from Lascaux, as a matter of fact. We haven't explored them much yet, other than to recognize their obvious magic nature.

I'm trying to formalize a big story arc involving these caves, and in doing so, looking to rationalize the existence of these things. My take so far has been that the Cro-Magnons that painted these things were shamans whose power lay in both fertility magic and nightwalking (per Ancient Magic and Hedge Magic). This is of great interest to the resident Bonisagus, who is shopping for Breakthroughs. Now, obviously the Cro-Magnons are not quite the Cro-Magnons of history - the world has only existed for a few thousand years, after all! - but are mysterious beings of the Realm of Magic. I want them to become a threat to the covenant...the nightwalking in particular should scare the bejeesus out of the players.

Fertility battle between the Cro-Magnons and the mundane world? Sapping of aura to power their own purposes? Mysterious "theft" (return) of artifacts found in the caves from the covenant? What do you think would make for exciting, fun ways to incorporate these ideas into a source of conflict for the covenant?

Thanks for your help, and best regards,
Patrick

2

I don't know the form of the vis you guys are getting from Lascaux, but one story could be that the taking of this vis is somehow hurting the area magically and the Cro's want to stop that. So they curse the area so that no plants grow, babies have three heads, that kind of stuff until the magi sort things out. Of course the locals will blame the magi instead of the Cro's, which makes things even more interesting. The Nightwalker thing is cool, except I wonder if they can get through the Aegis at the covenant. Thus, the mundanes need to be affected and the magi get blamed again. Maybe this is how the mundanes came to blame the magi in the first place (as they received this information from an angel or something. I am thinking the local clergy would not think the visitation was anything less than a Divine visitation, thus making the "Blame the Magi" game all more fun. You could also put an avenue in the story where the Magi and the Cro's could actually end up working together against the mundanes and maybe even join the order.

3

Well, the Nightwalkers can pass right through the Aegis of the Hearth, which appropriately scared the crap out of the players. :slight_smile:

P

4

I'm glad that worked for you...and people say Nightwalkers are the weakest magicians in the book... :laughing:

5

No, I commend you, Tim. Weak, strong, whatever, they're alien, and that's what I'm looking for. :wink: