Vanadís as an apprentice

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Stealing the Future
1

This is going to be a work in progress, for sure, and I would very much appreciate help in making sure the numbers add up correctly.
Right now, she is at end of the first regular year. The summer season has not yet been added.

Changes are listed at the very end as well as implemented throughout, between versions.

If, after an ability, there's an indication similar to (+3), it means there is 3 xp invested towards the next rank. Abilities marked with * indicate current priorities.

Year: 1270 /1271
Age: 11 (her birthday is in March)
Born: 1263 - She "gained" three years among the Faeries in Vinland. Doubtful that anyone but clerks in Iceland or Norway will notice.
Size: -1
Confidence: 3 (max 3)
Decrepitude: 0
Faerie Warping: 2
Magical Warping: 0
Divine Warping: 0
Infernal Warping: 0

http://www.deviantart.com/art/Valkyrie-351795762

This is a picture of a dream Estrid had - or was it a memory of something she encountered in Vinland? The recollections of those days are fading, and she yearns for them to return.

http://www.deviantart.com/art/Valkyrie-383310077

Estrid's self-image. She does need to find a teacher to show her how to hold a sword somewhat believably, mind. I know, mages aren't supposed to care about that, but presentation is important, too.

Birth Name: Estrid "Hårfagre" ("fair-hair") Håkonsdattir
Gender: Female
Race/Nationality: Norse
Birth Place: Trondelag (raised in Vinland)
Religion: Nordic Pagan
Title: Apprentice
Height & Weight: ? [I have not found much in the way of useful information on child sizes in the 13th century]
Hair: blond as eaves of wheat in summer
Eyes: green
Handedness: left
Personality: sanguine
Sigil: The soft sound of quickly drawn-in breath, then a giggle.

Note: I don't own "Apprentices", so if there's special rules in that book I should be aware of, please let me know. I understand that we all operate at -2 to all sizes and to all characteristics.

Characteristics
Intelligence: +1 (+2)
Perception: +1 (+2)
Presence: 0 (+1)
Communication: +1 (+2)
Strength: -2 (-1)
Stamina: 0 (+1)
Dexterity: -1 (0)
Quickness: -3 (-2)

Current Virtues:
The Gift (special)
Hermetic Apprentice (free, Social Status)
Faerie Sympathy (minor, Supernatural) - inherent? Not sure how to treat this.
[She has attended worship of the Lord & Lady (Freyr & Freya) several times, and has since latched onto Freya's Cats as her fylgja (~fetch, totem). She's also had a lot of exposure to a powerful Faerie regio. Since her Gift was not awakened at the time due to her very young age, it took the form of a positive Faerie Calling, not Twilight.]
[It is quite possible she will develop other, related, Sympathy Traits over time, each of them accompanied by another "exemplar" from her favourite legends. Which ones these would be I will likely base on the stories she participates in. This same idea may also manifest as a Minor/Major Magical Focus; we'll see.]
Independent Study (minor, general) - She's inquisitive, and not afraid to push the boundaries.
Faerie-Raised Magic (major, hermetic) - Inherent
Unknown House Virtue - yet to be determined

Flaws:
Pagan (Major, Story)
Faerie Upbringing (minor, personality)
Offensive to Infernal beings (minor, hermetic) - She mocks them, for belonging to the only realm that cannot create beauty; such is her belief. A mage might frown at her quips, but to some creatures, this is likely a bit more serious.
Higher Purpose/Driven (minor, personality) - This is not yet present, but she'll develop it later, after the Arts are opened. She will want to integrate aspects of folklore/traditional faith with existing Magic Theory and Faerie Lore. She considers this for the good of the Order, since she's latching onto the idea that the Order are shepherds of a mythical tradition (Cult of Hermes, Diana, Völundr/Hephaistos, etc) that is at risk of fading when people keep forgetting their old tales and faith. Details will probably develop over time, since it's currently too broad to be workable. of course, a second personality flaw may not be a good idea; the rules frown on it.
Weird Magic (major, hermetic) - This manifested as her Arts were opened up, and it's the gateway for other merits/mysteries she will learn.

I believe this is balanced, with a major and two minors for both active flaws and merits, plus the extra Ordeal hermetic flaw. I suspects I'll end up with more flaws than merits, since she'll push the agenda when it comes to seeking out initiation, breakthroughs, and so forth. Am I correct that merits bought with xp still count against the 10-point limit? I've got a pretty solid wish-list I could dip into, otherwise :slight_smile:.

Priorities:
Learn Second Sight! Can't experience the Mystery if you can't find it.
Learn Magic Theory! Can't integrate the Mystery if you can't understand it.
Learn politics and discourse! Can't spread the word if people won't listen.

Considerations:
The Wild? Magic springs from tradition, tradition is strongest where people fight to survive. But the world of cities and artifice is being tamed. Can you find the Mystery among the mundane-but-free? Can you be attuned to the process and the subject at once? Need to find mages to ask more questions.
Need to research the Enigma and Criamon thought. Isn't Aptness doing the right things because they are right to do? I think Criamon talk people into what they cannot understand themselves. Maybe. Either way, the world being an illusion doesn't make it any less real, which is the whole point.
Familiars? The mages back home couldn't explain much useful about them...

Traits:
Inquisitive +3
Courageous +2
Plainspoken -2
Sympathy: Cats +3

Reputations:

Abilities:
Animal Handling 1
Area Lore: Scandinavia 1 (Trondelag)
Artes Liberales 1 * (rhetoric)
Athletics 1
Awareness 1
Bargain 0
Brawl 1
Carouse 1
Charm 1 *
Code of Hermes 1
Concentration 0
Craft: scrimshaw 0
Etiquette 2 (pagan) (+2)
Faerie Lore 2 (Vinland)
Finesse 0
Folk Ken 1 * (motives) (+5)
Guile 1 *
Hunt 0
Intrigue 1 (negotiations)
Language (Dead): Greek 1 (literature) *
Language (Dead): Latin 4 (literature) (+10) *
Language (Living): Kashubian 1 - the language of the Wends of Pomerania; a west-Slavic language (not a Baltic one).
Language (Living): Norse 5 (native) - does this include Danish or Icelandic? The three languages were essentially closely-related dialects.
Leadership 0
Legerdemain 0
Magic Lore 1
Magic Theory 1 (+7) *
Music 1 (singing)
Organisation Lore: Order of Hermes 1 * (+4)
Organisation Lore: Jotuns 1 - Nordic giants
Parma Magica 0
Penetration 0
Philosophiae 1 (moral philosophy)
Ride 0
Stealth 1 (hiding)
Survival 1 (deciduous forests)
Swim 0
Teaching 0 (+2)

Arts
Creo: 1
Intellego: 2 (+1) *
Muto: 1 *
Perdo: 2 *
Rego: 1
Animal: 3 *
Aquam: 1
Auram: 1
Corpus: 3 *
Herbam: 2
Ignem: 0
Imaginem: 1
Mentem: 1 *
Terram: 2
Vim: 0 *

Questions:

  • How would Charmed Virtues (RoP: Faerie) that are Supernatural in nature influence the Opening of the Arts?
  • How hard is it for non-Criamon to acquire Enigmatic Wisdom? Is it taught only, or can you have a natural predilection for it? Would it impact how Faerie Warping works at all?

Changes:
Removed Gentle Gift (to be opened sooner rather than later) and made Faerie-Raised Magic inherent.
Exchanged Apt Student for Independent Study, and corrected xp.
Lost a season during the Latin year due to supernatural virtues; corrected skills for the lost xp.
Added the Summer season of the Latin year (10 xp towards Latin, due to Independent Study and spending her time around mages).
Added the first regular year (1270/1271), broken down below. No XP saved towards Virtues have been spent yet, since I need to figure out the rules for that!
Added the bonus xp from Fabricus' class: 2 xp exposure to Teaching.

First Year: 1270/1271

Magia Theoria (10 xp)
Magic Theory (5+5)
XP saved for Virtues: 0

De Architectura (10 xp) Corpus, Imaginem, Mentem
Corpus (+6), Imaginem (+1), Mentem (+1)
XP saved for Virtues: 2

Elementa (10 xp) Aquam, Auram, Ignem, Terram
Aquam (+1), Auram (+1), Ignem (+0), Terram (+3)
XP saved for Virtues: 5

Flora et Fauna (10 xp) Animal, Herbam
Animal (+6), Herbam (+3)
XP saved for Virtues: 1

History of the Order of Hermes (10 xp) OoH Lore, Code of Hermes, Magic Lore, Faerie Lore
OoH Lore (+0), Code of Hermes (+5), Magic Lore (+5), Faerie Lore (+0)
XP saved for Virtues: 0

Artes (10 xp) Creo, Intellego, Muto, Perdo, Rego
Creo (+1), Intellego (+4), Muto (+1), Perdo (+3), Rego (+1)
XP saved for Virtues: 0

Extracurricular Season 1270/1271 (15 xp)
Language: Classical Greek (+4), Folk Ken (+5), Etiquette (+2), OoH Lore (+4)

2

I might recommend Independent Study to help with Fairy Raised Magic.

3

You have to choose between Faerie Raised Magic and Gentle Gift. It is possible to "learn" the Gentle Gift in play, while at the school, as we have 1 professor who has it, so my suggestion is to drop Gentle Gift but pick it up as you progress the character, and I'll show you how to do that. But, as far as starting the saga, all characters have only one Major Hermetic Virtue wither it is inherited or already manifest. That's kind of one of the bonuses of the school. Students can come out with more than one major hermetic virtue. If your concept is having trouble with that, take Inoffensive to Humans, and it will be replaced by the Gentle Gift once it's learned.

Apprentices with Supernatural Virtues must have their Arts opened traditionally, or they lose their Supernatural Virtue. Elizabeth's method of Hermetic instruction didn't take Supernatural virtues into account. Elizabeth has a high enough InVi lab total to Open the arts and preserve a major and minor Supernatural Virtue. Laterala has enough to preserve 1 major virtue. When the Arts are opened in a traditional season one on one, the apprentice loses a season. As of now, there is room in the Latin Year to lose the season.

She gets 66 xp. She has to have Latin 4 (50xp), at least and 1 in Artes Liberales 1 (5xp) and Philosophiae (5xp) and then the other 6 xp as you desire from the list below.
She can take 2 exposure XP in Intellego, Vim or Magic Theory for that season. Also pick the Hermetic Flaw that manifests here, and don't forget it counts as an Ordeal when learning a virtue from one of the teachers.

Church Lore
Classical Greek
Folk Ken
Infernal Lore
Order of Hermes Lore
Teaching
Awareness
Etiquette
Gardening

4

I could not a find a Virtue by that name. The closest I could find is Free Study, which does not seem to apply.

5

Independent study is in Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults.
It adds +3 to Adventure experience and +2 to practice experience.

6

How is the Summer season handled, xp-wise? Is it all exposure/adventure? Can she sign up for additional classes, for instance, the extra-curricular ones Fiona is scheduling? So much to learn, so little time! :slight_smile:
As a related question: am I correct that xp can only be earned towards Virtues if a student trains with a teacher that has that same Virtue? If that is the case, could extended exposure also lead to picking up Flaws that teacher has, especially Hermetic Flaws if she is trying to learn Arts or Arcane Abilities?

7

For the summer after the Latin year, apprentices can only take practice in something, barring that, exposure in one of their existing skills. They can't really do anything magical, yet, so finesse and penetration are out. Concentration is OK, though.

Pretty much all the extracurricular stuff, including the one I'm running called As You Like It is available to anyone (mine's required) and there are mainly there for additional RP opportunities and for excuses to provide some experience available to other abilities. For example in As you Like It, I'm providing opportunities for Athletics and Brawling right now. And like any class that has multiple options it's entirely up to the student to allocate the experience points that the class offers.
So for the Techniques class, which provides 5 xp, it's recommended that all students put 1 xp in each of the Techniques so that they can open them and then the next class they can focus on a specific technique, but it doesn't have to happen that way.

8

Found it; thank you. It does seem to be very useful, since it applies to both the Faerie-Trained Magic and the summer season xp, but I'd feel dirty taking both that and Apt Student. I like the idea of her having the option to figure some stuff out on her own, but I also like it that she'll have to struggle a little to do so. Not everything's handed on a silver plate in life!

9

Well, it only applies to the summer.
Apt Student has a useful life of primarily the Apprenticeship. It's possible to get others to teach you after gauntlet, sure. But that is a bit beyond the scope of the saga and it also typically has a cost of at least as many seasons being taught of being someone else's lab slave. I've never taken Apt Student for any of my characters, and if I did it would only be for an apprentice character. But I love Independent Study for virtually any character who is going to be active on adventure or practice a lot.

10

You have a good point there. I do get the feeling I may end up taking this character into full maga-hood eventually. There might be more potential in Independent Study than there is in Apt Student. Either fits her nature (hence the Inquisitive trait, after all), and I'd not want to take both, so I think I will take your advice here and switch them around.

By the way, is there a virtue that allows you to see "destiny" in people? I think I want to work on a valkyrja-type aspect for her (which is as much a part of Freya as the sensuality, the social abilities, and the care for the growing world). I could aim for a minor magical focus: wounded people, but that seems a bit awkward... Maybe Puissant Intellego? I'm not sure.
I'm tempted to make whatever I end up with a Charmed Virtue (from RoP: Faerie), which means that she'd have to give a secret supplication to Freya (or Freyr, as appropriate) for it to work. I imagine this would be a phrase she learned in Faerie-land.

11

Fairy-Trained Magic is a bit weak by itself for a major virtue but adding Independent study really helps it out. With FTM, you could learn a mag 6 spell (max) if you spent 10 xp the season you saw the spell. Independent Study gets that to a mag 9 Or allows you more XP to spend on something other than the spell.

12

Not really and it wouldn't be a Hermetic one if there were. The closest I can think of off the top of my head are Visions and Premonitions, which again aren't quite right. The reason why it wouldn't be Hermetic is because such a virtue would be in conflict with the Limit of Time. I know of only one spell that can see into the future, and that's Sailor's Foretaste of the Morrow and that only tells the weather, which I can reconcile to a long range viewing of weather phenomenon coming towards the caster...

13

I was considering various Supernatural Virtues, actually. At first, I was unsure whether I would want her to have that "gift" inherently, since playing a mad prophet is a very depressing thing to do, but I figured that if it was something she could call upon through a "sacred word" (ie faerie charm), she wouldn't have that constant exposure that would drive any sensible person a little off-balance.

The more I think about it, the more I feel that the Intellego route is correct. It's easy enough to say that she used to have a supernatural gift that allowed her to see the people closest to a passage into the other realms, but that it got lost when her own Gift was opened. Now she'll just have to use InCo, like everyone else.

As an aside, I think that her Summer season will be practicing Latin, since she's a little behind due to the lost season. I assume that the Academie counts as "local native tongue" for purposes of learning Latin (since it's the language everyone speaks), ie SQ 8? That would mean 10 xp towards learning more of the language due to Independent Study, and it'll also be a great way for her to get to know people better.

14

The summer doesn't happen at the school. Students go back home, or there might be a covenant that is sponsoring them if they don't have a home. So, yes, practicing Latin isn't a problem.

Don't forget about my admonition about two Major Hermetic Virtues above. You need to pick one (and I recommend it be the Faerie-Raised Magic with the idea that you'll learn to Gentle your Gift at the school. I'll be bringing in one Gently Gifted teacher in subsequent years, so it will be quite easy to learn the virtue. Right now Clement is the only active teacher with the Gentle Gift, IIRC.

See here my example for Ambrose on learning a Hermetic Virtue. I need to update it since Fiona is now teaching two classes during both terms of the first year.

15

That's odd, I removed The Gentle Gift about 3 edits and 2 hours ago; it's certainly not showing in the first post of the thread for me anymore.

If the Summer season is essentially time off from school, Vanadís will do her best to take a tour of major covenants. Aside from Latin, she wants to learn more OoH Lore and Folk Ken/Etiquette/Charm in the near future. Can she tag onto a Redcap, perhaps? Latch onto a Quasitor's coat tails? :wink:

16

Oh, well, it happened unremarked, so I wasn't paying attention to that.

Not in the first year. Everyone else is pretty much in the same boat. Probably have some internship opportunities between the 4th and 5th and 5th and 6th years.