I’ve been thinking about adventures that could be independent of covenants entirely, which led me to think about non-Magi freelance vis hunters.
Someone who wanders the lands, possibly under contract, looking for possible vis sources, exciting new regiones, weird kids who might have the Gift, etc.
Assuming that sounds at all plausible, I’m at a bit of a loss as to what Tribunals might be best-suited for these sorts of shenanigans. Maybe Transylvania? It seems like something that might fit into the chapter-house model.
Any other suggestions about how to approach this would also be appreciated.
Vis-hunter from the Rhine Tribunal venturing in the vast lands of Novgorod. This territory is so vast that it is unlikely that they will be poaching in a covenant lands. But on the other hand, it is not for beginner: surviving in these lands requires skills to negociate the wilderness, the supernatural fauna, the mongol’s patrols…
If they want to make good profit, they might be willing to travel to trade their good as far as the Roman Tribunal where the vis is scarce and three Domus Magnus are likely willing to pay premium. Of course, it means being fluent in several languages. It could make an interesting heroic companion.
There won't be an open market in Transylvania. You’ll either work for Tremere or sell to them at a price they choose. Probably better perks with the former: work hard and you can get full dental and Purification of the Festering Wounds.
Why go that far? The Białowieża Forest isn't nearly as long a walk, has no canonical covenant (!), is an unspoilt wilderness which should have a lot of vis, and you only need to be able to speak West Slavonic.
Seems an approach for some Redcaps and companions. They’d need tools.
Loch Leglean, Hibernia, Rhine, Novgorod Tribunals, plus Scandanavia or Africa, for vis.
Gifted and supernaturally talented seem something to sent scouts out for. They might show up anywhere, but probably most are among the farming peasantry simply because they are the largest segment of the population.
If you want to go 100% non-hermetic, this might be a fun agent of a University, if you had a scholar (perhaps a Learned Magician) trying to learn more about vis. Possibly someone who has very little proper Magic Theory, doesn’t even know the Order of Hermes exists, and thus the vis-hunter doesn’t. At first.
Might also be a fun agent of a Monarch, one who’s clocked that having access to magic and magical power is useful politically, but doesn’t have much of a framework. It would be easy to be like “And he has a Witch pulling the strings who wants all this vis for her secret plot” etc, but honestly I think it’s more interesting if it’s JUST a very above-board thing, no greater plot than
Step 1: Amass magic power
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Profit
even if there’s a court mage who’s advising the process.
Hibernia/Stonehenge/Loch Laggan might be a fun place for that, play with some of the Merlin-And-Arthur vibes, or the various magic kings in the Mabinogion.
Someone with magic lore 5+ and the folk magic virtue from Theban book. So they can spend 15 minutes to get some minor effect, but then blowing through Vis let’s them reach much more respectable numbers.
Thanks for the comments and feedback, everyone. Some good ideas here.
To speak a bit more to what I’m trying to accomplish here… it struck me that the typical covenant establishment procedure was sort of all backwards, as far as patterns of human settlements go.
By which I mean that it’s not often successful to establish a settlement and then later go looking for vital resources, hoping there’s some nearby.
The foundational assumption of every covenant IOS is that they want a Magical aura. Ideally 3-5.
If you are a forming covenant, the next question are usually along the lines of other resources:
Is the site private?
Is there access to travel?
Can the land be secured?
Are there other magical resources (such as vis)?
Are there mundane resources?
Is the site physically or otherwise difficult (too cold, too remote, in the middle of a war)?
If the site is aura rich and has some other valuable quality, set up shop and worry about the rest later. Most Magical auras produce vis, but I don’t think vis is valuable enough IOS to significantly sway things: if a site has a good aura and otherwise suitable, vis can be sought out or traded for. Possibly with some vis hunters.