Praxiteles
Characteristics: Int +2, Per +5, Pre +1, Com +1, Str -2, Sta -1, Dex 0, Qik 0
Size: 0
Age: 31 (31), Height: 5'6'', Weight: 158 lbs, Gender: Male
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Confidence: 1 (3)
Virtues and Flaws: The Gift, Great Perception × 2, Hermetic Magus, Free Expression (Bonus: +3 to create new work of art)*, Gentle Gift, Subtle Magic, Affinity with Finesse, Puissant Finesse, Puissant Sculpting, Well-Traveled (50/50), Greedy, Disorientating Magic, Waster of Vis, Favors (Mathieus)
Combat:
Dodge: Init: +0, Attack --, Defense +0, Damage --
Fist: Init: +0, Attack +0, Defense +0, Damage -2
Kick: Init: -1, Attack +0, Defense -1, Damage +1
Soak: -1
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: Greek 6, High German 4, French 4, Artes Liberales 2 (geometry), Magic Theory 3 (Terram), Parma Magica 1 (Mentem), Finesse 6+2 (precision), Sculpting 3+2 (stone), Awareness 2 (searching), Charm 2 (being witty), Concentration 1 (spell concentration), Etiquette 1 (nobility), Folk Ken 2 (nobles), Bargain 2 (hard sell), Order of Hermes Lore 1 (politics), Intrigue 1 (rumormongering), Architecture 1 (Roman) [Category: Buildings], Area Lore: Koblenz 1, Area Lore: Constantinople 1, Area Lore: Paris 1
Arts: Cr 4, In 3, Mu 4, Pe 6, Re 9, An 4, Aq 0, Au 0, Co 3, He 5, Ig 1, Im 2, Me 4, Te 6, Vi 2
Equipment:
Encumbrance: 0 (0)
Spells Known:
Aura of Ennobled Presence (MuIm 10) +5
Panic of the Trembling Heart (CrMe 15) +7
The Invisible Glass-Worker (ReTe 4) +14
Sight of the Transparent Motive (InMe 10) +6
The Spell of Wrought Iron (ReTe 15) +14
Repel the Wooden Shafts (ReHe 10) +13
The Phantom Blacksmith (ReTe 20) +14
The Unseen Porter (ReTe 10) +14
A Window of Singular Direction (MuTe 15) +9
The Call to Slumber (ReMe 10) +12
Binding the Hermetic Codex (ReAn 20) +12
Praxiteles is finally at a spot where I feel comfortable with him. I've made his parens Mathieus from Thermakopolis in Constantinople, and I'm going to have him owe favors for the things he's bringing with him, which will likely be paid off sometime in 1204 or shortly thereafter.
Praxiteles condensed history
Cyrus’s mother wept. Tears of joy and sadness filled her heart. Her baby boy, though he was more a young man was leaving her. He was destined to become a great artist or perhaps more, so she was told. The kindly man with a snow white beard offered to pay for him to be educated above and beyond what she could manage, especially now that she was penniless. Cyrus was born the bastard child of Theodore Styppeiotes and his lover Argentea.
Argentea was a gifted weaver, widowed early but never remarried and left without children from her husband. Nonetheless, she possessed a shrewd and capable mind and a preternatural ability to weave and seemed to make others better weavers by her own presence. She parleyed these abilities into head of the gynæceum and soon came to the attention of Theodore. The two dallied, and Cyrus was born.
Cyrus grew up with some measure of wealth and was modestly educated learning to read and write his native tongue. However he possessed a remarkable gift for sculpting often working with clay and wood, practicing techniques of carving and molding with equal ease. At times it seemed as if he could will the shape to conform to his inner vision. He was well taken care of until he was nearly ten years old.
Theodore was married and an accomplished intriguer. However, he underestimated his enemies in the Byzantine bureaucracy and was charged with treason and blinded. With her chief source of financial support gone, Argentea was only able to rely upon her small stipend as a weaver to support herself and Cyrus.
A few years passed, with Argentea and Cyrus making due reasonably well word had spread about the young sculptor and a kindly man with a snow white beard called on mother and son. One of the sculptures that young Cyrus had made had somehow ended up in his hands and he knew it for what it was, not a product of skill alone, but a product of skill and Magical Arts, young Cyrus possessed The Gift, and a Gentle one, at that.
Cyrus continued his education at Xylintes, and the man who discovered him later became his master. For 15 years Cyrus and his master enjoyed the fruits of a master and student relationship. Cyrus’s abilities with Arts were honed, and he his inner talent to control magic was trained and honed. Cyrus never gave up sculpting by hand and tool, but soon discovered he was much more accomplished with Art and finesse.
As is the case with all Jerbitonis, the last year is typically a grand tour of Europe, culminating in visiting Paris. It was there, that Cyrus met the love his life and spent the rest of the year learning her tongue and wooing her. Upon his return to Constantinople he brought Alips with him to witness his gauntlet ceremony.
So, I'm thinking that Octavius is working with other magi to secure the creation of the new covenant. One of those he might reach out to Henri De Tours (I think the deal between Fengheld and Oculus Septentrional is secret). Henri could be Praxiteles's sponsor in the Rhine, and could be a sponsor for this covenant in addition to Octavius.
And let's say that Henri de Tours and Alips have some tangential relationship, and Praxiletes is manipulated into joining this endeavor. It's not entirely of Praxiteles choice and his wife makes decisions "on his behalf." Mistranslating things on purpose and steering the covenant towards things that that Henri would prefer. So ultimately there's the matter of is the marriage real? Are there children? What happens to his muse? Is his art a lie?
Comments and discussion are most welcome.
Henri de Tours is still young at 30 in 1184, so how influencial would you think he is at that time? Still, this has some potential.
Here we go, some wild ideas.
Henri learned of Octavius' intent to get a new covenant recognized by the Tribunal. Instead of opposing the idea, he decided to use this as an opportunity to improve his status in the Apple Gild by subtly influencing the new covenant so as to partially foil Octavius' goals. So, when Oculus Septentrionalis was approached to sponsor the new covenant, Henri was the one to step forward and offer to be that sponsor. In exchange, the new covenant would offer membership to a Jerbiton magus from Thebes. Seemed innocent enough.
Alips is either Henri's cousin, or a former lover (or perhaps even both). Either way, she is still a very useful informant of his. When he learned that she was being courted by Praxiteles, he encouraged her to wed him. He used her influence so that Praxiteles would be a Trojan Horse, introducing Alips into the new covenant. She will be able to keep him informed of what goes on within the covenant, so that it can be manipulated at convenient times. So Oculus Septentrionalis will know what buttons to push to get the magi's votes and thus may be able to foil Octavius' interests (at least partially).
It's up to you to decide whether Praxiteles is oblivious to this, or is a participant in that spying scheme.
If Praxiteles is an unwilling participant, Alips may have convinced him to move North through some argument (or possibly some form of pre-nuptial agreement). She may be actively denying him children, or maybe her children are not from him. They could even be Henri's. Whether this is because he is sterile, or there is some magic involved... How much of this he would know is really up to you.
This may mean a lot of political stories. Is this what you're looking for?
Drat, forgot about the time. So he is young and politically adept. As long as he meets the needs of Oculus's other magi he can conduct all the political machinations he wants; that's not their interest. The death of Prudentum leaves a power vacuum within the covenant which Henri fills... The other option is to just move him back in time a bit and leave his age the same as in GotF.
I don't mind writing political stories. It may put more shape on the overall saga direction, so that's my only concern. I could possibly write so it's a battle of skirmishes and at the end of the saga there is no clear winner...
I think we can work him in as a younger magus. He would be about Praxiteles' age, so makes a good outward ally within the Tribunal and Oculus, while a bit manipulative.
Some facts about Oculus in 1184:
- Shortly after 1158, two magi of House Jerbiton decided to join the covenant. (Henri would not be one of them, since he is not even an apprentice at this time.) Those two plus one of the original members establish sancta in the new port city of Lübeck. There are 3 magi at that point, at least 2 of them Jerbiton.
- Since then, the covenant’s magi have adopted an informal policy of peaceful contact and trade with any magically inclined folk of the northlands they encounter. Indeed, two such individuals have since married magi of the covenant. The remaining magi embraced the teaching of the new Apple Gild that arose in the middle of the 12th century, seeking a harmonious existence with the mundanes of their city. They were largely successful.
- Crintera is hostile to Oculus Septentrionalis. They suspected Oculus Septentrionalis of aiding the Danes in their invasion of Rügen. At the Tribunal of 1179, the then Primus of Bjornaer, the pugnacious Urgen, resorts to a declaration of Wizard’s War against Oculus Septentrionalis’ leader, Prudentum of Jerbiton, who is killed. The other magi hurried back to Lübeck licking their wounds, fearing outright destruction at the hands or claws of avenging Crintera magi. (Flake is not yet leader of the covenant in 1184, so that enmity is still present.)
That gives good reasons for Oculus to support the creation of another "city" covenant. And since not all members (more specifically Praxiteles) would be known to Crintera at the Tribunal meeting of 1179, we could still have gotten their sponsorship for a different reason. The recognition of our new covenant would have taken place before the WW between Urgen and Prudentum.
Note that we don't have to use Henri for your "contact" within Oculus. There are two other Jerbitons there at that time, both of whom would have more pull since they are older. One option might be for Alips to be the unGifted daughter of a Jerbiton from Oculus, who sent her to France for education. She was whoed by Praxiteles and they married, but her father manipulated things so that Praxiteles would move to the Rhine so he can see his daughter (and potential grandchildren) more often. Young Henri may still have been involved with her at some point, but there would be less political machinations and more personal ones.
This would have less impact on the saga direction, but still some interesting hooks for stories. Basically, it all depends on the kind of stories you want your magus to be involved in. I can help SG some of those, whether about family issues or political ones.
I like this more and more. I'll work this into some background stories.
Personally, I have him well fleshed out enough to do some interaction. Perhaps someone has sent a letter to Prudentum seeking support. And Praxiteles is the selected choice. Oculus needs objects d'Art to satisfy some of their luxury goods they supply to Fengheld, and Praxiteles could certainly do this.
Just making sure there is no misunderstanding, the description for "Greedy" in ArM5, p.54, is "You like to eat and drink, and do so to excess whenever given the chance." Is that what you intended? If you wanted your magus to be greedy in the usual sense of the word, the flaw is "Avaricious".
Who is Mathieus and what kind of favours would you owe him? This could be Alips' father...
BTW, an interesting stone that might explain why your magus would have been interested to move to the edge of the Rhine tribunal.
Noir Belge is a kind of black marble that can be polished to a amazing shine. These statues are quite impressive.
No, he's going to become...corpulent over time. He is about indulging in excess, he doesn't hoard he consumes...
Forgot to reply to this question.
Mathieus, from The Sundered Eagle is the sole survivor of Thermakopolis when Constantinople is sacked in 1204 and Praxiteles parens. He "retires" to Normandy and resides in Paris as an eremite of the Tribunal, thereafter. At some point Mathieus is going to tell Praxiteles to get off his fat ass...
So... would that still apply considering that the saga starts in 1184?
Well if we get that far along in timeline, sure. Otherwise, I have other ideas for Favors I could write/play. I see the relocation to Paris as being the culminating story that resolves this particular flaw. But leading up to that, there are other things that can be done. So, for this saga he is in Constantinople at Thermakopolis.
Ok, just wanted to make sure I understood correctly. In the 20 years between saga start and 1204, what kind of favors do you expect him to ask of your character? This will give us some idea of the kind of stories you may expect us to SG for your magus.
I'll have some seeds in some other stuff I have written (half baked).
I made some adjustments to Praxiteles, he's in the 1st post, the previous incarnation is in quotes.
Adjusted characteristics
Reduced his Age
Changed Virtues and Flaws a bit
Took away some spells, adjusted abilities and Arts...
Looks good. 
How many years post-Gauntlet is he?
Would you like me to copy his stats over to the wiki?
He's now down to 4 years PG.
I'll get him over there this weekend, thanks for the offer, though!