Transylvania and House Tremere

I didn't register that you wrre referring specifically to a chapter house, rather than using it as an example of how even the most minor thing was out of the window, so apologies if I misunderstood you there. Are you referring to a different post, though, when you say the rest of the post was about ways it could work? All I can see in the rest of that post is more about how bad an idea it is to go near Translyvania (which doesn't gel well with my reading of the Tribunal).

Perhaps, I am doing a lot of stuff working with the game I am running so I may well have lost track. I apparently confused a covenant in Norway with a covenant in Russia within my game in one conversation earlier today... regarding sun duration and the arctic circle.

Or 'the wrong thing for self-serving reasons'. I'm not sure why House Mercere has not plucked this thorn.

Personally I think its for a 'Can't be bothered to deal with it' reasons. Like so what if this one tribunal is doing weird non-dangerous stuff because its not leaving said tribunal and nobody else cares and its not harming anyone and so lets just leave sleeping dogs to lay.

Of course, you could always get a new young active Mercere who doesn't like the status quo and who will act, which of course will cause all sorts of interesting plot points and twists. Not bad ones either, pretty good (in the fun way) ones.

Hmm. So actually, the more I think about it the more I might use this hook as a sort of way for Heru to get House Mercere to maybe agree to construct a hidden portal in whatever location Heru finds. He basically aids them in solving the major issue that crops up in such a way that they win. In response they say that while he will need to gather all resources and do all the work to find and get the material but that if he does give them a location they will build the portal for him. All hush hush even.

With Tremere liking him for the other plot seed reasons I could see certain works to basically smooth certain things over.


Soooo right now, using my memory of Agains the Dark (from like two days ago when I read it) the plot points I am thinking to use right now are :

A student of the Scholomance has a Supernatural Ability that is causing problem. They know that Heru is highly skilled in Comprehended Magic and so might be of use figuring out what the problem is, how to fix it, and how to aid the student to become better. I will need to figure out what particular ability said student has.

Something happens in the Tablinum, maybe with the artifacts or maybe with the regiones that form it, and Heru's name comes up as an indiivdual with regio and aura magics that might be able to help solve the issue.

Something occurs with the magical wolves of Lycaneon that could potentially go bad and somehow Heru hears of it and knows that his Lupercai could help with the matter. The problem with this is that the supernatural nature of the Lupercai isn't exactly something he spreads far and wide and so there is no real reason for Tremere to know about them.

Dragons. The whole thing with the Pax Dragonis and the Dragon War and stuff. Either before it starts, after it starts, or whatnot. Heru is good with magical beings, gets many bonuses to interactions, which could come in handy with the magic dragons and his ability to subsume the Infernal and such could aid him in fighting the infernal dragons. Additionally, his access to basically a fast transport network between at this time most of the tribunals could totally be handy when Tremere need some specializes resources far and wide.

These are pretty complex issues on their own which means I probably only need one or maybe two of them since there is but a year worth of time spent in Translyvania.

schoolomance seems like the best option for getting your foot in the door. It is more used to seeking specialist from outside the tribunal, doesn't involve stuff the Tremere want to keep quiet (aside from the school itself, and that is just secret to mundanes), and doesn't have an obvious military solution, which is where the Tremere really shine.

Yeah I agree.

My thought is that he gets a letter from the Scholomance asking for assistance. He arrives at the tribunal borders by Histria and gets 'targeted' by the redcaps there who seek him out for some assistance on their whole house issue. He will say he will help, but no promises, and that in exchange he wants some aid in getting them to agree for a mercere house somewhere else in the tribunal.

He then begins making hsi way to the Scholomance, via exploring and such all the way, maybe even making some detours to see interesting sites and such.

He gets to the scholomance at say maybe part way through the second season and will spend the second and third seasons, and part of the fourth, working with the student.

I was thinking that maybe, during the period, he will visit Tablinum to research something to help the apprentice. Though I don't know what.

I was also thinking that maybe he finds something which causes the reappearance of a lost sanctum or something in the plains of Hungary, somewhere between say Veszto and Igris. After an intereting and fun and useful adventure the site is secured and such. Afterward he can basically push for House Mercere to make it a Mercere House, with an associated portal (and a secret one or something for him, details on that are vague).

If I go with this I just need to begin figuring out the chain of events that truly lead from one to the other and then I can start filling in blanks, writing it out, and looking up the mechanics that get applied.

Sooo, for those who know Tremere a bit more than me, does the outline seem logical? I mean I know I can, and I will, make changes to fit what I am trying to do, but I would like to make sure the general structure works. hehe

I have this image of some poor young Tremere who has been assigned to escort Heru to scholomance and has to deal with the Magus repeatedly getting "Lost" as he goes to explore.
The only thing that remains is what contract Translyvania will offer him regarding his help at scholomance. They are likely to begin by offering him a status of Domostron, such as most redcaps and guernicus have, which must ask before creating an Oppida, and are required to fulfill their duties (in his case assistance at Scholomance)

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To be in the tribunal you need a purpose. The Tremere often hire other magi to do jobs. Pick an area from pg 8-10. The Magi could be hired to explore and catalog the area. You will get a Tremere as Aediles as I assume that non-Tremere outnumber Tremere. Can you wander about the Tribiunal? Not really but it gets you there. You would be Foeferati.

Ooh. Yeah. Okay. I am totally going to include this. I think its kind of brilliant to be honest. Said Tremere will find himself becoming friends with Heru to the point that it will be hard to say whether his loyalties are with him or his House. Thankfully, of course, Heru has no interest in doing harm to the House so there really isn't any trouble. The House itself like its because it gives them an 'in' with Heru and Heru likes it cause it gives him an 'in' with the House.

But yeah the image of Heru going "oh look at that, I seem to be lost," as he clearly makes a turn down a road whose sign says 'To Trencin". hehe

It starting with helping to train then being boosted by him working to aid the Tribunal Redcaps and then made greater by his discovery and examination of the ancient site could be nifty. I could use the story seed of a Tremere scouting force being lost, the House asks Heru for help finding them since his magic is different from theres, in the act he discovers the ancient site and secures it and saves the people.

i could even see Heru agreeing with something like 'provide a season of education in the Scholomance every two/three years'. This doesnt harm him and gives him a good reason to be in the area.

Also Domostron makes perfect sense for him as it gives him the advantages he needs to do what he wants to do without him even having to pretend to follow asking for permissions.

The one thing I know will not be an issue is either the whole 'multiple covenants' or the 'multiple tribunal' thing as the Tremere do it all the time. All Tremere are considered a member of both Coeris and Translyvania even when they are elsewhere.

Hmm. Interesting ideas. Not sure if they really work but they do serve as a nice starting place.


By thr way I am not really set on the whole 'Translyvania doesn't allow magi to visit' thing that some have going on. The order is the Order and magi should be welcome on a temporary basis everywhere. So yeah, I won't be adding any particular hurdles to overcome that.

Now, that said, as I mentioned above, I still plan on having him be 'invited' so that there are no issues but I don't think a random magus just traveling about is automatically going to cause supreme issues.

So I was thinking on the whole student has a supernatural ability that needs to be trained. And that led me to think on maybe simply having it be Comprehend Magic makes sense. But then i thought, well, if Heru comes upon this young man and he has the same ability he does then wouldn't he think to take him as an apprentice, which as a member of House Bonisagus he totally could do.

Then I thought, sooo wouldn't it be interesting if there wasn't just one guy with a special trait but say two, and they are brothers and they both have the Gift. One brother has Compherend Magic and the other has something else. Heru will take in one brother and make him his apprentice while the other brother can be the apprentice of Tremere. By this point Heru is 18 years post gauntlet (age 43) and definitely has the skills necessary to overcome a student having a supernatural ability.


Okay so while going through the map of Hungary to try and pinpoint where I want him to establish the actual oppidum site (I should mention I wanted it in the great plains by where the map on page 36 says Hungary) I randomly looked up Oradea. Now, this was after discovering that the area around it not only had long been populated but that it also had a Roman presence. And then I discovered, and I wish this was in the book, that Oradea is near thermal springs.

Seriously! What more could I have asked for, and the answer is nothing.

Because Heru has long had access to Baden, an ancient Roman bath complex, but even more, he has access to hidden knoweldge of that place through his 'friendship' with the Magical spirit of the bath.

Transyalvania needs a Bath, a bath that can reduce the negative effects of the Gift by months per week dipped inside. A bath that could easily serve as a Mercere House. A bath that could totally be located in a regio that takes the form of an Ancient Roman Castrum.

So yeah, he comes to help with the Scholomance and 'stays' to build a magical bath complex. If that doesn't lead to the Tremere giving him permission to stay around and do what he wants then I don't know what would.

. Yes, I learned about the springs a few months after publication. It would have made a better Tribunal site.

There's some stuff in the Alps book, and in Mythic Locations.

Honestly, countries are huge. I mean I had the advantage of looking up names on the map and even then it took me over an hour of concentrated searching. I could only imagine how much time it would take if one had a blank map they were trying to fill in with interesting stuff.

A part of it is that the horror stuff that the book has to me is pointless, even though I figure a lot of people like that, so I would have used that space for more location stuff.

My one big thing is the lack of plot points for outsider magi coming to adventure in the tribunal. Its all about insider magi.

That said I found a number of interesting plot points inside the book itself and good starting points for potential future plots and so I very much do enjoy the book, even as some sections lead me to go 'and..." hehe


Ooh so here is an interesting thing I did, which I wanted to share as it might be amusing to others.

While at the Scholomance a number of young Tremere magi go missing while near Oradea. Because of the whole 'things that would effect Tremere mean its best not to ask Tremere to help find them" Heru was asked if he was willing. He was. Why wouldn't he.

At Oradea he finds a Magic Aura of 3 over a wide area and a Magic aura of 5 over a particular point, which he soon realizes is a regio access. They head inside where they find a damaged but relatively stable Roman Castrum. Some searching around leads to the discovery of a second regio entrance by the Command Building. They head up a level into a regio whose exit is sort of blocked, though thanks to Heru's knoweldge of Aura magic he can open it. Anyway, inside the find the three missing magi, all bloody but thankfully alive, a stone tower on a hill, and a clearly injured being with collared in five chains (two leg, two arm, one neck). To Heru's senses he is more than mortal, he is in fact a dragon chained to human form. The three magi had fought the guardians of the tower, and with Heru's group, would defeat them.

The idea I had is that said being, said dragon, was Fetillusclaviceps and that someone or something (non-Hermetic, he is sure of it) captured and imprisoned him. Heru can't remove all five chains, the magic is too powerful, but he can sooth the now somewhat childish dragon (the bindings didn't remove his memories but sort of fogged them and reduced power output). What caused it, when, and why are all potential plot points as is figuring out how to remove the chains.

In my own story the Oppidum of Varadinum will have the dual purpose of Bath and Mercere House. The first regio level will be for general oppidum use and the second one will be for Heru's personal use. The baths will have both a magical user section and a public mundane section, which Tremere figures will provide them with say a knoweldge source as soon as nobles start coming to the area.

Heru, because of his knowledge of the secrets of Baden, will work to build some similar facilities here, facilities that will allow those Gifted to bathe in the waters to reduce the social penalties for seasons at a time with but a weekly dip.

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