Pytheas named himself for the Greek explorer Pytheas of Massilia, who circumnavigated Great Britain and is to blame for all the legends about a distant land in the North named Thule
History
Pytheas was born (under the name of Gwenaël) in 1188 on the island of Ushant, the same island that houses Fudarus, Domus Magna of House Tytalus, to a family of fishermen. He quickly became the talk of the village (and not in a good way) for his habit of holding conversations with, he claimed, a blue fish living in a tidal pool, which no one else could see. This was in fact the spirit Peska, an elemental spirit of water.
Pytheas was apprenticed at seven to Kybella ex Tytalus, a close friend of Buliste and a leading member of the Titanoi, a theurgist cult within House Tytalus. Given his Blatant Gift, fostering him out for his general education was not an option, and Kybella resolved herself to having to teach everything to her apprentice herself. Being an apprentice caught in the middle of a Tytalus feud of such proportion was harrowing, but Pytheas was very occasionally able to work the supporters of Buliste against those of Harpax, and get his own way in small things. In this he was helped by Adanos Lutorum ex Tytalus, a stauch supporter of Harpax and who bears the blood of an earth spirit. Merging together the hints dropped by Peska and Adanos with the teaching on elemental spirits from Kybella he acquired quite an affinity for Elemental Magic.
After successfully passing his Gauntlet, Pytheas reversed his purple cloak (Buliste's color), revealing the green (Harpax') lining he had secretly sewn there for the occasion. He then knelt to Harpax and thanked him for accepting him into the House. While the two Primi were insulting each other he walked off and left the island. This incidentally nicely shelved the plans Kybella had made for her apprentice to join the Titanoi, which held little interest for Pytheas.
Pytheas' departure had been planned with the help of his mentor Adanos, who well understood that Pytheas would not want to stay in the same covenant as his parens after such a public insult (although the insult itself was very much in the Tytalus tradition). Adanos gave him some coins and gems worth 10 Mythic Pounds of silver (no one want to lug around 10 pounds of metal if he can help it), as well as an open boat, about 20 feet in length, with two pairs or oars and a removable mast bearing one sail. He also asked Pytheas, as a favor, to stop at a former covenant that sunk underwater and retrieve an artifact for him, telling him to keep anything else he found there. Pytheas left Ushant on that boat, together with a shield grog (a reformed pirate) and a servant (the son of a fisherman), both skilled at sailing and rowing.
The closest thing I could find to Pytheas' boat, although his wasn't built in Norway 
Pytheas and his grogs traveled up the coast of Brittany in a leisurely fashion, sailing or rowing by day, stopping by night or whenever the fancy took Pytheas, avoiding villages except to buy supplies. In time they arrived at the covenant mentioned by Adanos. Pytheas spent a few days exploring the underwater site, and found the artifact mentioned by his mentor, as well as what looked to be a couple of minor magic items, some valuable objects (silverware, glassware, a mirror, ...) and some vis. But Adanos had carefully neglected to mention that the site was claimed by another covenant, and Pytheas found himself having to flee hurriedly and leave the Tribunal. He contacted a redcap Adanos had mentioned as amenable to skirting the letter of the law, Bernhard, to arrange the delivery of the artifact back to Ushant and to find a buyer for the other two minor magic items (Pytheas only knew they where magical, not what they might do or how to use them, and he did not have the skill to find out).
Bernhard, who clearly had some history with Adanos and probably heard of Pytheas from him, took the opportunity to invite Pytheas to join in the founding of the new covenant. Pytheas agreed and made his way to the meeting point at Anvers/Antwerp.
Pytheas' conflict with the Sea
Adversity brings positive change, that is the basic philosophy of Tytalus and the basis for the House's Motto, Auctus ex dimicatione (“from conflict, growth”). Pytheas fully espouses that, but he also believes that to focus entirely on interpersonal conflict is not enough. In fact, he believes that the current feud between primi, while no doubt excellent for both of them, isn't doing the House any favor, and he takes no part in it (although he is on record as supporting Harpax). Instead he has chosen the sea itself as his adversary, and he intends to force it to reveal its secrets. As a mark of this, Pytheas wears blue, not green or purple, at formal occasions.
Possessions
Pytheas brings with him 15 Mythic Pounds in portable wealth; one 20 foot boat (suitable for rowing or sailing); one copy of the Analects of Tytalus (summa on House Tytalus Lore L3 Q8, tractatus on Philosophiae Q8; tractatus on Order of Hermes Lore Q6); on copy of The Book of Instructions (no educational value whatsoever); 1 pawn each of Aquam, Auram, Ignem and Terram vis; and two grogs, Morlaer (a repented pirate) and Benarec (a servant/fisherman)
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[table][tr][th][left]Virtues[/left][/th][th][left]Flaws[/left][/th][/tr]
[tr][td]The Gift (free special virtue),
Hermetic Magus (free social virtue),
Cyclic Magic: Rising Tide (minor hermetic virtue)
Elemental Magic (major hermetic virtue),
Improved Characteristics (minor general virtue) x2,
Long-Winded (minor general virtue),
Mastered Spells (minor hermetic virtue),
Second Sight (minor supernatural virtue),
Self-Confident (free house virtue)
Tough (minor general virtue)[/td]
[td]Blatant Gift (major hermetic flaw),
Cyclic Magic: Falling Tide (minor hermetic flaw)
Driven to Explore the Ocean Floor (major personality flaw)
Mentor (minor story flaw): Adanos Lutorum ex Tytalus,
Overconfident (minor personality flaw)
Weird Magic (minor hermetic flaw)[/td][/tr][/table]
His Cyclic Magic is, in Pytheas' mind, an important clue to the existence of magic (and therefore magic auras and vis) in or under the oceans. His active childhood and harrowing apprenticeship have left him quite tough physically and mentally, and in fact a touch overconfident in his own abilities. On the other hand his rather eclectic learning of magic (from his parens Kybella, his mentor Adanos Lutorum ex Tytalus, and the water spirit Peska) have left him with a slightly flawed understanding of Magic Theory, manifesting in occasional strange effects.
Characteristics
Int +3, Per +2, Pre -2, Com -2, Str +2, Sta +3, Dex +1, Qik +0
Confidence Score 2 ; Confidence Points 5
Age: 22
Decrepitude 0; Warping 0
Pytheas' learned to swim before he could walk, and spent most of his childhood swimming since the villagers wanted as little to do with him as possible. This prepared him well for the physical rigor of a Tytalus apprentice, and he has a strong body, but his social graces, already hampered by the Gift, never developed at all.
Abilities (270 xp: Native Language 75 + early childhood 45 + later life 30 + Second Sight Virtue 5 + Apprenticeship 115)
Area Lore: Ushant 1 (Fudarus), Artes Liberales 1 (astronomy), Athletics 1(1) (climbing), Awareness 1 (alertness), Breton 5 (storytelling), Hunt 1(1) (fish traps), Latin 4 (hermetic usage), Magic Lore 2 (airy spirits), Magic Theory 3 (Aquam), Parma Magica 1 (Mentem), Profession Sailor 1(1) (small boats), Second Sigh 3 (airy spirits), Stealth 1 (underwater), Swim 3(5) (underwater)
Personality Traits: Overconfident 4, Driven to explore the oceans 3
Combat Scores
Dodge: Init +0, Dfn +0
Fist: Init +0, Atk +1, Dfn +0, Dam 2
Soak 6
Wounds: Light 1-5, Medium 6-10, Heavy 11-15, Incapacitated 16-20
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Arts (115 xp)
Creo 4, Intelligo 5, Muto 5(1), Perdo 0, Rego 0
Animal 0, Aquam 10(1), Auram 4, Corpus 0, Herbam 0,
Ignem 3, Imaginem 0, mentem 0, Terram 2, Vim 1
Spells
(60 xp spent on spell mastery: apprenticeship 10 + Mastered Spells 50)
Mighty Torrent of Water, CrAq 20 (+20)
R:Voice, D:Mom, T:Ind
A 3-foot-diameter jet of water sprays from your outstretched arms towards your target. The target of this gusher of water takes +10 damage and must make a Strength + Size stress roll of 9+ or be sent flying back. AM5 p.121
In Pytheas' version of the spell the water is blue.
(Base 10, +2 Voice)
Mastery 3: Fast Casting, Multiple Casting, Penetration
Lungs of the Fish, MuAq 20 (+20)
R: Touch, D:Sun, T:Part
Turns water into air as it enters your lungs, allowing you to breathe water as you do air. AM5 p.122.
In Pytheas' version of the spell the water turns into blue air, causing him to exhale blue bubbles underwater.
(Base 4, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +1 Part, Auram requisite ignored thanks to Elemental Magic)
Mastery 2: Quiet Casting x2
Long Sight of the Naiad, InAq 15 (+18)
R: Per, D:Sun, T:Vision
You can see as clearly through water as through air. Clear Sight of the Naiad, AM5 p.122 with increased Duration.
Pytheas' version of the spell turns the white of his eyes blue.
(Base 1, +2 Sun, +4 Vision)
Sweet Water of the Island-Bound, PeAq 20 (+13)
R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Ind
Turns up to a small pool of sea water into fresh water. The magi of Ushant developed this spell to supplement rainwater during dry spells (which admittedly are rare on Ushant, but magi like their bathwater fresh). Custom spell based on the AM5 p.123 guideline "Destroy one property of a liquid (like alcohol’s ability to intoxicate or sea water’s saltiness".
In Pytheas' version of the spell the water turns bright blue for an instant, before settling down to its natural (lack of) color.
(Base 15, +1 Touch)
Ward Against the Faeries of Water, ReAq 10 (+13)
R: Touch, D:Ring, T:Circle
No water faerie whose Faerie Might is equal to or less than the level of the spell can affect those targeted by the spell. Faeries cannot directly or indirectly break the magic circle, nor can they use ranged attacks or magic to affect those within it.
Seen from certain angles at night, the ring appears as a light blue dome. AM5 p.124
In Pytheas' version of the spell the dome is visible even during the day to a careful observer.
(Base Spell)
Ward Against the Spirits of Water, ReAq 10 (+13)
R: Touch, D:Ring, T:Circle
No water magic creature whose Magic Might is equal to or less than the level of the spell can affect those targeted by the spell. Faeries cannot directly or indirectly break the magic circle, nor can they use ranged attacks or magic to affect those within it.
Seen from certain angles at night, the ring appears as a light blue dome. AM5 p.124 with different Realm
In Pytheas' version of the spell the dome is visible even during the day to a careful observer.
(Base Spell)
Lamp Without Flame, CrIg 10 (+12)
This spell creates a steady light as bright as daylight on a cloudy day. The light has no apparent source, but illuminates an area about ten paces across, centered on a point indicated by the caster. This point may be a mobile item. AM5 p.140
In Pytheas' version of the spell the light has a bluish tinge.
(Base 4, +1 Touch, +1 Conc)
Mastery 2: Quiet Casting x2
See the Nature of Vis, InVi 15 (+9)
R: Sight, D:Mom, T:Ind
You can tell what Art a supply of raw vis is connected to. To you, the vis appears to glow with an aura that is appropriate to the Technique or Form that the vis is associated with. Creo is white, Intellego gold, Muto constantly fluctuating, Perdo black, Rego purple, Animal brown, Aquam blue, Auram violet, Corpus dark red, Herbam green, Imaginem pearly blue, Ignem bright red, Mentem orange, Terram dark brown, and Vim silver. Some of the colors are very similar, but are easy to distinguish if the item is studied for a few seconds. Sense the Nature of Vis, AM5 p.158 with increased Range.
Pytheas' version of the spell turns the white of his eyes blue.
(Base 4, +3 Sight)
Sigils
Pytheas' voting sigil is a smooth pebble painted with a labyrinth made of four square spirals.
Pytheas' casting sigil is that all his spells involve the color blue.
