Oddly enough (and despite rumours to the contrary), "I" am not an Ars Magica character.
And for roughly the same reasons that one would be "Hammer of Thor" and not just "Thor". There is more in names than is found by a quick Google (and you are not the first to ever ask this!). Cuchulain was a Celtic hero, and he had two faithful hounds who played a significant role in that mythic cycle (spec. the "Ulster Cycle"). It makes a good read if you enjoy that sort of thing.
The Celtic knotwork image I use for my avatar depicts them.
I know it's a mouthful (or a keyboardful) for some- anything from CH to Hound to C-dog to Cuchycoo (:roll:) has been used. Feel free if you really need to.
I know the stories, no reason to get snarky.
Actually if I had done the google search, I wouldn't have asked the question. I forgot about his dogs. I only remembered the one he killed.
For those not familiar, he got the name when he killed the watchdog of a blacksmith ("Cu"?), and promised to serve in his place for a time.
The hounds are not central in the "standard" version, but are mentioned in folklore about the hero, implying that the surviving version has been edited at some point.
Was watching the History channel, and one of those "Holy Blood" bits was on, about the whole "San Graal/Sang Raal" blather- whatever. However, they mentioned the Merovingians, and how the Royal line was descended from King David (of Jerusalem), etc etc (and let's just ignore the "etc." for purposes of this discussion, 'kay?)
Anyway, the show mentioned in passing that the Merovingians were attributed with miraculous powers, like being able to heal with a touch, and talking to animals. While in AM the former is right out (nothing permenant), the latter seemed just the ticket!
And what's more, it fits almost perfectly into the "Level 25, Spoken Only" category. So, that's where I went- he's not a labrat (ie, he'll be outside on a regular basis), so it will be useful on a regular basis (and I gave him Inoffensive to Animals to compliment it), so we'll see how it all works out.
So do you see your mage as a descendant of King David, or a more recent descendant of a Merovingian? (or just a strange restauranteur in a Matrix movie?)
Not sure- I think if he ties into the more recent Noble line (Pippin thru Daggobert & etc), he'll possibly have some political considerations, and I don't know yet if I want to go that way- but maybe!
As for the King David thing... well, 1200 years is a lot of water under the bridge. (Altho' I hadn't even considered the possibility of making him Jewish! Oooh!)
But because magi already get spells, and because many can easily cast a level 30 spell right from the start, I consider Mythic Blood to be less than essential, perfect for a few concepts but hardly one of the better virtues. I'm suprised about the amount of discussion here compared to the threads about magical foci, which I consider to be two of the best virtues available for magi.
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