Who is who in the Normandy Tribunal

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

Salvete Sodales,

I am planning to create a list of all the current Covenants in this Tribunal with theirs vassals but there are some "holes" that I must fill up. After a careful reading of the handbook I have found only 14 Covenant but if I remenber correctly the Covenants should be 24 (20 described inside the book and 4 free to the DM's wishes).

Please I need your help controlling the following list to verify if I have understood correctly the Liege Covenants with their vassalls:

Fudarus (Exspectatio, Atramentum Renatus)
Montverte (Atsingani)
Oleron (Conventio Nidi)
Florum (Spider’s Palace, Requies Aeterna)
Confluensis (Cunfin, Dragon’s Rest, other unnamed)

I also need your help to find Indipendent Covenants (Eboris, Lapis Crudus?) and I will appreciate any suggestion on the name of the other lacking Covenants with suggestions on their respective Liege Lords.

Sincerely thanks!

2

Well, we used to play our last saga (just recently ended in a final battle in Scotland) in Normandy, Brittany concretely, but we were not canon given the fact that we had set up our covenant before the current tribunal book was out.

Our covenant was called Carnac, and you guess where it was located :wink: It was a mystic tower on a rocky promontory, and we carved the promontory for extra space as well.

If we would have had a liege I guess it would have been Fudarus given our warlike predisposition, but any warlike covenant would have made it. We were at odds with Fudarus, but that is OK for tytaleans, so no biggie Fudarus could still be our liege due the teenager-like behavior of your average tytalus mage.

4 mages there: 1 knightly jerbiton, 1 wolf exmiscellanea (not clear if it was a wolf with the Gift or a magus with a panache for wolves), 1 old school unsubtle flambeau that would make Pitsdim cover in shame and a Bonisagus expert in auras that thought the other 3 were mad but useful to protect him while he investigated the shifting auras of Carnac and the dangerous wild.

Covenant obsession/mission: to investigate the shifting pattern of the aura of Carnac. It ended up developing into an armed camp when we got hold of a potential return of Davnalleus. It happenedto be true and it became a full fledged war saga. But that is our case :slight_smile: A team of investigators of Carnac sounds feasible for one of the covenants in your saga.

Can't recall if this was the case in the current tribunal book, but just for the sakes of annoying the tytaleans, we had a Tremere covenant in the Alpine foothills that "curiously" always went to test their area of effect spells near Fudarus for spells that cause floods, earthquakes and people to hate hermetic magic. We know it is not canon, but we like tremeres being the embittered younger brother. Specially because we ruled in a previous campaign that the Sundering was caused by tytaleans.

There was also a Jerbiton dominated covenant in Avignon.

IIRC the new Flambeau domus magna is in Normady as well, right?

Cheers,
Xavi

Dido - I don't believe in love
Tina Turner - Simply the best

3

Someone knows kindly something about the missing Covenants or has any other interesting ideas and suggestions that I could use in my incoming campaign? Thanks!

4

Eboris is in Paris itself.

5

And Lapis Crudus is south of Paris in "ÃŽle de France".

In my campaign, we use the "Land of Fire and Ice" saga seed that places our covenant in Iceland with a portal to De Panne, Flanders. In the already crowded Flanders, we had the Covenant of Wormhout in a regio (2 Verditii, 1 Trianoman Bonisagus, 1 Guernicus). We entered a liege/vassal relationship with Wormhout, and as a new liege covenant Wormhout became a significant rival in influence to Florum.

As for the new Flambeau D.M., I think it still is in the northwest of the Provençal Tribunal.

6

I would like to know how could Lapis Crudus host or take part to a Tourney, considering that it is partially within a Regio. Any idea?

7

Lapis Crudus, as defined in L&L, is in no position to host any hermetic event. The closest possible would be other magi organizing something in the vicinity of the mundane location of Lapis Crudus.

To participate in tourney elsewhere, they would need to convince magi to either represent them or to temporarily take their places in the regio. There is the filius of one of them representing the covenant in the outside world... He could get some independant magi and form a team that would represent Lapis Crudus.

8

Reading the book I have noticed no evidence of the presence of Criamon Magi in this Tribunal, therefore I suppose that the decision to insert them is left to the storyteller...
I thought to create a Covenant with only 4 Criamon Magi, someone has ideas and suggestions about the best place to locate this Covenant and its name? In my opinion the best site is Burgundy with the Covenant inside a monastery, but this idea is not very original...

9

Note that the listing of population for the cannon covenants in L&L do not include their entire population. There well could be some Criamon in the cannon covenants as well as any covenants you wish to add.

For myself, in the Normandy campaign I'm about to start, the premise is that the newly gauntleted PCs are given a chance to join a covenant's which was dealt a tragic blow in it's autumn (details to be worked out). The hope is that the introduction of new young blood will enable the blow to become a setback to spring or summer rather than decent into winter. To facilitate this arrangement I'm introducing a Criamon NPC who's particular war against strife manifests as concern for the young. By his reckoning, much strife is created in the Order's tendency for the old to dominate the young. I'm toying with an idea for another NPC Criamon on the path of strife. In theory, the first Criamon would hope that his facilitation on behalf of these young Magi would be a seed that might eventually spawn apt harmony. Of course, if some of the PCs ended up developing into people who create too much strife, the first Criamon would be guilt-ridden at the strife his actions help foster. The second Criamon (on the path of strife) might take (harsh and possibly secretive) actions in order that this never comes to pass, so as not to allow his house-mate's path toward apt harmony and the Enigma.

10

When I peopled my version of the Normandy tribunal for my tribunal meeting, I did note the absence of Criamons from L&L. I concluded that, as a "civilized" tribunal, it has very few crazy old magical hermits speaking like fortune cookies (or like Yoda).

I did add one Criamon to my NPC version of Atsingani, a seer who reads the future in his enemies' guts. My PC Criamon, very keen on meeting others of his house at tribunal, was suddenly much less enthusiastic when he learned of the reputation of that colleague.

Also, one or two Criamons could well count among the hermetic hermits that are supposedly quite respected in that tribunal.

To more directly answer Methodicus' interrogation, I would suggest that if you have a covenant in a Burgundy monastery, that you remove Cunfins from your version of the Tribunal so that their "role" falls to your covenant.

11

My personal modifications to the setting

Added two new Spring Covenants (indipendent), Filiae Lunae situated deep inside the Le Mans Forest in a small two-floor stone building with only 3 magae all Merinita (Sylva follower of Nature Mysteries, Diana follower of Illusion Mysteries and Irina with unknow plans for her future) and Cogito, situated in a ruined tower near Ardennes and with two Criamon Magi (Cogitatus and Memoratus) all with a strong affinity with Mentem. Their few Covenfolk and Grogs are all fouls recruited from various cities

Added some new Magi for other Covenants such as Rutilus (aggressive Bjornaer, his name come from the particular red-gold colour of his hairs) and Sigloroi (a Criamon seer who reads the future in his enemies' guts, thanks Siglorel) for Atsingani, Christoph, Thomas e Giltrap (Redcap) for Dragon's Rest, Xavi, Calarius e Verticus (all Tytali) for Exspectatio, Praeconius (Ex Miscellanea and Hermetic Haruspexes with a strong affinity with Intellego) for Lapis Crudus, Filibertus filius Runilde (Tremere, Inner Circle), Ignatio ex Flambeau, Angado ex Verditius, Riccardo ex Jerbiton and Calissandrus ex Bonisagus for Montverde.

Now I have to decide their interest using the beautiful book Art & Academy and to hand out some Regalia from Covenant.

12

New vassal of Montverde

I read somewhere that Montverde could have another vassal Covenant so I create Ferro Ignique an aggressive Covenant near Bethuard, in the same provinvia of Oleron and Atsingani, another Monterve's vassal. Its proximity with Oleron is very strategic posing a theat to these enemy, following the politcal plans of Geirlaug. It has three Magi: Hyberno (Flambeau Pe/Ig specialist), Adamantis (Ex Miscellanea Terram specialist) and Validus (a simple but aggressive Tytalus)