The master's version of Hajar Almaealij is out. It's been serious work, in particular, of struggling with the layout as we assembled the progress updates and the other unpublished documents. This is likely to lead to a tweaked methodology for the next covenant to avoid spending as much time making sure the boxes and the text lines up the way we want it to. The covenant document makes 32 pages long with 8 illustrations. I've bundled up the large-resolution greyscale maps which were released earlier in the same publication. What is new in the file compared to previous updates, including the covenant resources and a section on using the covenant in play either as a PC covenant or as an NPC background covenant. Additional story seeds were peppered through the text and we have an Adder of Virtue there.
What we're working on:
Itzhak Even has gotten back to me, answering my questions which will allow me to progress on editing his hedge tradition. He's added few paragraphs to his document, and is working on sample characters.
The Adder of Virtue will be bundled with an additional animal of virtue to be released in an upcoming article for all backers.
I've received the files for Usaybi'a's archmagi version and an alternative version of one of the magi in 1220. I'm in the process of editing those, and once I'm done, we'll publish the archmagi version of the covenant. The file should be about 75-80 pages long.
Lothindil has started work on the master's version of Aedes Veritatis and we're discussing opening the apprentice and magi version of a third place.
As the author of the Jinn / Silk Road sections of tCatC, I'm also very glad to see this is happening!
Please reach out if you want to chat about any aspects or use my old "My Life as a Grog" site for links and resources if you haven't stumbled across it already.
"Jarkman" / Lachie
PS howdy Niall, its been a while since you dragged me into tCatC all those years ago and I don't think I can ever thank you enough for inviting me to "play in the sandpit" and vouching for me with David Chart.
I had a rule for Ars Magica books of "no more than four authors", after RoP:M, which almost fell apart due to the logistical problems of coordinating everyone.
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Ah yes... Faith & Flame had 5 and it came out almost last?
I think it took us over 2 years but there's some magical stuff in there I feel.
And that young Ben guy turned out to have some talent eh? LOLOL
There it is. The archmagi version of Hajar Almaealij is 73 pages long and includes everything that's in the Master's version, with color illustrations, illustrated MoH-style magi, an alternative version of Hamdi for 1220 with story implications, plus the maps, released earlier.
Errata:
*Prior to the Master's version being released last Week, one of the covenant's companion, RaĂŻf, had his virtues/flaws revised, as we're going to use LotN slave material rather than what is in GotF.
We took some much needed overseas vacation traveling Mythic Europe at the end of July - beginning of August, which did give us quite a few story ideas and allowed us to refresh and brainstorm, but delayed the writing end editing. Thank you for your patience. Here is todayâs update and news.
Whatâs new:
Apprentice: An article with two animals of virtue: the adder & the Fennec. The first was previously included in the Master level covenant of Hajar, while the later is completely new.
Master: The next step towards the Masterâs level version of Aedes. Weâre tweaking a bit how weâre releasing the files but the end result should look like Hajar did. This update includes the stats of every magi in the covenant, and an extended version of the covenantâs history and description. Wardat is our first solomonic sahir, so that took some more time during the review process. We had to address some rule issues in this update as some sections of the rules havenât been thoroughly errataâd, I have the feeling this will happen more than once with the sahirs. Comments are welcome, as usual.
What we're working on:
Weâve discussed extensively with Ars Magicka author Lachie Hayes on our project and he has agreed to allow us to integrate / modify his Levant non-open licenses material he made for this project. We'll discuss more our plans to integrate some of that content down the line.
Weâve discussed the history of the Tribunal which has been turned into an article which I need to review in depth as weâve had to discuss how that compares to the canon for consistency. This may take some time, but hopefully not too much, and it should give everyone a better idea of where we're going with the Tribunal once that article comes out.
We have a rough outline of the planned hermetic landscape: Covenant names, location, solitary / wandering magi, names of the magi, houses, age, lineage, factions, faith, mysteries and that kind of thing. We've had a few planning discussions arround those and itâs still being adjusted to ensure we integrate the various elements found in the various books linking to the Levant somewhere in the Tribunal while balancing it with our vision for the Levant.
Future articles we plan to work on in the near future includes: more mythical animals and jinns, the outline of Mar Takla - a Criamon covenant, an adventure site, and more solomonic sahirs content, while we finish up Aedes Veritatis.
Some covenants are coming back (Aedes Veritatis, Foothold, Domus Pacis, Para Belli, Al Arama, Venti Rosa). Some of them are moving. About half of those are seeing significant twists.
A lot of the old covenants are gone: Urbs Rubra, Urania, the Hermetic embassy are gone. We have other plans for Petra.
8 new covenants are planned.
Some independent magi are not featured on the map, and neither is the Suhhar.
Whatâs new:
Apprentice: A very significant setting defining article about Tribunal history into which a lot of work has went. Though it is 5 pages long, this article was edited first in March, a second time in August, and a third time now, and was significantly rewritten both times. Care was taken to ensure it's compatible with canon maps, dates and hermetic jurisprudence. I think it sets the tone of the setting, and with this piece done, other articles will be easier. This article includes 2 maps, including the one above and another one at Tribunal foundation which explains why we have covenants outside official Tribunal boundaries. Archmagi get the maps in colors.
Master: The second update for Aedes Veritatis is here, adding covenfolks, companions, boons and hooks to the covenant.
Archmagi: The full version of Sharaf is available. I really enjoy the humanity of the character - with his good sides and his bad sides.
Errata:
Updates to the magi and apprentice versions of Aedes Veritatis. It fixes some typos and adds Wardatâs solomonic laqab.
I'm advancing on Red Shadow Claws' hedge tradition. I'd ideally like to find some playtesters to identify additional zones needing polish, clarification and tweaks.
Lothindil is almost done with Wardat, which means the archmagi version of Aedes is coming out soon.
We plan to start side by side exploration of the palace of Damascus, a local House of Wisdom, and an hermetic covenant in Syria.
A mystery path is in the plan. We hope to have it semi-finalized before we launch the apprentice version of the hermetic covenant it's tied to.
The peripheral code article dealing with the Infernal was submited to me and reviewed. It will require some discussions and tweaking before publication.
Lothindil is working on an illustrated adventure site to incorporate in your games.
Weâve fixed some basics on the blurry elements of how Solomonic laboratories work. This will be the subject of a publication soon as well.
Great to see this project ongoing and I am curious to see what comes out next. Itâs also painfully obvious to me my 1st Crusade Campaign is so wild and wonky that much of this will not be immediately helpful, but if nothing else have stats for magi and background motivations etc is always interesting to read.
I remember reading about your no-god crusade campaign a while back, that looked fun. Weâre very much looking to support Crusade campaign, with the Fifth Crusade in full swing in 1220, and the evolved magi by decade should support a Third Crusade (1189) start with little adaptation. First Crusade, youâll obviously more adaptation and filtering of what you decide to use and how, especially for an established campaign thatâs a few years into swing. But even then, it can probably serve as a repertoire of NPCs and stories, yes. I expect you wonât take the entire setting for obvious reasons, but you should be able to pull from the stories and mechanics weâre weaving for you to insert when you need those. Thank you for following us.
