Peacock

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

Sodales!

Here is my attempt at a peacock. First a mundane one, then a magical one suitable for a Familiar.

Mundane Peacock
Size: -2
Characteristics: Cunning -1, Perception, +3, Presence +3, Communication -1, Stamina +1, Strength -4, Dexterity -2, Quickness +4

Abilities
Brawl 2
Awareness 4
Athletics 3

Qualities
Domesticated:
Imposing Appearance
Keen Eyesight
Eater of Snakes*

*This is a homemade quality:

Eater of Snakes
+3 rolls versus poison, +3 Brawl against serpents.

Magical Peacock, Magic might 10
Size: -2
Characteristics: Intelligence+2, Perception, +3, Presence +5, Communication +1, Stamina +1, Strength -4, Dexterity -2, Quickness +4

Abilities
Brawl 2
Awareness 4
Athletics 3
Concentration 3
Second Sight 4
Sense Holiness and Unholiness 4
Order of Hermes Lore 3

Virtues and Flaws:

Sense Holiness and Unholiness
Second Sight
Improved Characteristicsx2
Great Characteristic x2 (presence)
Personal Power: Sight Beyond Sight (RoP:M 39)
Personal Power: Aura of Ennobled Presence (15 xp in concentration)
Personal Power: Hand of the Magical Animal
Gift of Speech:
Covenant Upbringing:

Peacocks are surprizingly common in Europe. Charlemagne specified in a Capitulary https://www.gardenvisit.com/history_theory/garden_landscape_design_articles/europe/capitulary_of_charlemagne that each of his manors should have a peacock 'for ornament' and so grand houses quite often have them. I therefore asserted that a magic peacock could well have been brought up in a Covenant.

In myth Peacocks are sometimes associated with guarding the Tree of Knowledge and also eat serpents hence the sense Holiness and Unholiness. The Eye things are I hope obvious....

2

The Size is right at the cut-off. I'm not sure if I'd go for -2 or -1. Indian peafowl are in the 8.8-13 lb range, and the cut-off from -2 to -1 for birds is 10 lb, 5-10 lb for -2 and 10-22 lb for -1.

Oh, and Magic Might is incompatible with Sense Holiness and Unholiness.

3

Where is it specified ?
That Virtue/ability may be linked to any Realm, as far as I know.

Peacocks may be Divine creatures if that can solve the problem.

For the Size issue, I would grant -2 for mundane peacock, and -1 for the more fabulous ones, as supernatural creatures tend to be "better" versions of their mundane counterparts.

You could add the Shape bonuses associated with peacock feathers, add the fact the peacock's meat is known as really tasty, and suggest locations for pawns of Vis (Imaginem in the feathers ? Rego in the tail ? Auram or Animal, because it is a bird ?)

Think about Personality traits too : I would suggest pride +4, coward +2, delicate +2

4

Hi,

It would. No books handy, but it's incompatible, iirc.

Note that peacocks can come with various Realm affiliations, similar to wolves. (Divine for guardians, magic doing their own peacock thing, infernal for vanity, faerie for whatever makes a good story.)

For Size, I'd consider to round up. Though not for a peahen. That ginormous feather train makes it appropriate, I think.

Anyway,

Ken

5

Sense Holiness and Unholiness is noted to be linked to the Divine Realm and not the Magic or Faerie Realms in the ability description on page 67 of the main Rule book. (I'm pretty sure there is an infernal version as well).

As far as a Divine Virtue being incompatible with Magic Might goes, I'm having more difficulty finding a reference than I'd expected. The closest I've got is the note in the Transformed Being virtue (pg 47 of RoP:M) that "If the character has Supernatural Virtues or Flaws associated with other realms, these are also affected by the transformation. Generally, divine powers are lost..."

For comparison, Faeries can't have Divine or Infernal Powers, but they can have other divine-aligned virtues/flaws "only after close consultation with the Troupe".

There is an example of a duck with Magic Might that has a (presumably divine-aligned) lesser benediction which allows it to be aligned to both the Magical and Divine realms as a result of a miracle by St Cuthbert on page 60 of Mythic Locations.

1 Like
6

I'm currently playing a peacock-heartbeast Bjornaer in a PbP game...

https://forum.atlas-games.com/t/magi-characters/11830/1 has our characters, "Pavo" (latin for peacock) is mine. I took stats from a partridge in LoM and made it more imposing, and then the SG adjusted slightly.

For magical powers, I would follow this

7

The core book says that Virtue cannot be from Magic. Several books say beings with Might are disallowed from having Virtues and the like with sources of the other three Realms. I believe this was first written out in RoP:tI, in the box on p.84. That box spells it out pretty thoroughly.

I don't think that solves the problem as it was stated that this was supposed to be a suitable familiar, thus the Magic Might.

I had exactly the same thought.

8

Ah, right - I had forgotten that was a general statement rather than specific to Infernal Might.

If getting a Peacock familiar with Sense Holiness and Unholiness is the main aim, familiars don't actually have to have Might, just to be aligned to the Magic Realm in some way, which could just mean a mundane peacock having a magic-derived virtue in addition to a divine one.

9

Yes, that would work.

10

I don't think peacocks MUST have that Virtue anyways.

Double Sight seems enough for me. Magic sensitivity may qualify as well.

Btw does that mean even angels and other divine beings with Might cannot have Sense holiness ? It is a bit odd for me.

May a Maga bound a divine animal as a familiar ? I know regular familiars are Magic-aligned animals (or mundane ones) but Merinita Mai discovered a way to bound faeries. Would it be a breakthrough to find a similar ritual with Divine animals ? Infernal beasts ?

11

They have Divine Might - so there should be no problem, right?

These may be research goals for Holy Magi and practitioners of tainted Hermetic Traditions: both are notoriously secretive.

Cheers

12

Thanks for the feedback!

I will go with size -1 and you are right about the personality traits.

Vis should be indeed Imaginem in tail.

thanks!

bob

13

Just a quick thank you to Salutor, as I am prepping a familiar for a player in my saga and I was trying to figure out how I could give him a Divine Might creature as a familiar. But with the example of the Eider Duck of Virtue, I can make a Magic Might bird who is aligned to both the Divine and Magic realms!