I recall there is a title for a Tribunal's magus responsible for leading Marches.
What is this title, and where in 5th edition canon can I find it?
Are you thinking of the Polemarch of the Thebes Tribunal (TSE, page 26)?
A magus who participate in a march is a Hoplite. The leading Hoplite of a Tribunal would be known as the Chief Hoplite.
See HoH:TL p.60 for Wizard's Marches.
See HoH:S p.18 for the role of a Hoplite.
There is a rumor that there's a chief marshall for all hoplites, who takes charge during Order-wide war, and carries a prehermetic magical stone that somehow aids in this role. He's called the Antares (as is the stone) and the current one may live in the Alps.
If a wizard is marched in one tribunal, can another tribunal offer refuge? I don't see anything to indicate that this couldn't happen... presumably given the oath requesting they be cast out if they violate the oath would require the covenant providing protection to believe that he was cast out unjustly- either for something he did not do or for something which did not in any way violate the code...
Being given that a wizard marched is casted out of the Order, I don't think he could de facto find refuge in another tribunal. At this point, it is a matter of allies and politics, to see if he can have his march revoked before he is slain. And once marched, he may find his alliances thinner than before.
For a Tribunal to offer sanctuary I would think there would have to be a substantial backing for the mage. I would tend to think this would require a push by the Praeco and/or Chief Quaesitor, or the declared will of the Tribunal voting population, or an otherwise extraordinary case. Perhaps the wizard Marched by Tribunal A is an attendant of Tribunal B, and the legal case is hotly contested by the two Tribunals.
I'm not immediately aware of a test case. It would probably have to go to an extraordinary Tribunal, a third Tribunal, or possibly the Grand Tribunal.
I suppose a Tribunal can threaten to March any mage who executes the Marched / Protected mage.
Achlys has it right. To be Marched is to be cast out of the entire Order. It crosses Tribunal boundaries.
Hi,
Although life gets interesting when one Tribunal decides to March a magus visiting from some other Tribunal, or even not visiting but just because.
This could never happen, of course, because of the great respect every Tribunal has for every other, especially for Hibernia, and because of the legendary prudence and responsibility of all magi, especially the Tytali across the Channel.
Anyway,
Ken
Isn't the Antares the millitary leader of the order? A position introduced by the the council of archmagi at the first grand tribunal after the schism war ended.
As I recall he is chosen among and by the archamgi and his/her identity is known only to them.
There had better be one heck of an identifying system for a secret critical officer that no one knows the identify of, in an office virtually no one knows exists. Even if legitimate, who would believe it?
"I am the Antares; I reveal myself as the commander in chief of all the Order!"
"Seriously, we have a crisis at hand. The Primi of Bonisagus and Tremere are dead and a dozen major covenants are burning. This is no time to mess around with 'secret officers' nonsense."
"No, I have a mystic stone proving it."
"... That's a polished rock with a first magnitude illumination spell on it."
"No it isn't!"
Are there references for such a military leader?
Tmk not in ArM5.
ArM4 Sanctuary of Ice p. 52 hints at dubious rumors - and many ArM5 campaigns, but not ArM5 canon, accept Sanctuary of Ice as a source. Considering the Code of Hermes, I don't see how such rumors could be true in either ArM4 or ArM5.
Shane Appel made an attempt in subrosa #16 p.70ff THE SHADOW OF THE WAR to bring the Antares into ArM5 for 1050 AD campaigns.
Cheers
Not to mention that any sane Presiding Quaesitor would veto such an irregular Wizard's March.
What's more likely (and interesting) is a corner case, such as Theban Tribunal declaring punishments against Latin chapter-houses in Theban territory, or Provencal Tribunal Marching magi in Normandy for engaging in political intrigues that spill over into the South.
Thanks for the info!
Or Hibernia Marching a Norman mage, for ordinary Norman mage behavior, who flees to Stonehenge or Normandy, where he has already arranged sanctuary.
Or Provence Tribunal Marching a Normandy mage... for essentially the same!
In my view, the March is the ultimate recourse the Order has as a punishment. I don't see used simply to get rid of unruly behaviour. I would see such a case start with smaller punishments, and if it continues, an escalation of coercitive measures. Only if the cultrip doesn't alter its behaviour, after many tribunals, would it culminate toward a March.
A March is the ultimate recourse, and yes there is supposed to be an escalation for mages who are repeatedly offensive, but there's a lot of room for situation. A previously well behaved mage may have committed a sudden horrific crime. A mage may apply his local Tribunal norms in a foreign Tribunal. A mage may be generally obnoxious but legal until one day he make an error and the full weight of his behavior crashes on him. A group of magi (say, a cult) might seem normal but be at the heart of a wide-spread conspiracy.
It's possible the (presumably fleeing) mage may then find sanctuary in a Tribunal, either short term ("While the matter is investigated.") or long term ("The Tribunal of Novgorod rules that the Wizard's March declared by the Tribunal of Hibernia to be irregular and invalid, and upholds the sanctuary offered to Magus Exemplus by the Covenant Ursus Major. The Tribunal of Novgorod holds that the legal point must be decided by the Grand Tribunal.")
...actually, I've been looking for something for my covenant's quaesitor to get involved in... hmmm
First, a Tribunal is seven years. If a culprit has been making trouble for magi for fourteen years, they're lucky if they make it to the second Tribunal to be Marched.
And second, yes, you can be Marched for a single action that causes enough actual damage to other magi, if it's a High Crime - such as "interfering with the affairs of mundanes, and thereby bringing ruin on my sodales." How to interpret that line is probably the single biggest division between Tribunals, so you can have marchable Interference in one Tribunal that would not even be a crime next door.
Exactly how far all of these things apply is a saga question.
A Tribunal can be convened at any time with 12 magi from 4 different covenants. It's not strictly held every 7 years if there is sufficient need. Transylvania hold Tribunal every year.