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  Issue #3
  
  Hermes’ Portal
  Issue n° 3
  February 2002
  � � �
  Who’s Who? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
  Familiars  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
  by David Chart
  Publisher’s corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
  Why Don’t Bjornaer Magi Bind Familiars?  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
  by Timothy Ferguson
  The Silver Harp  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
  by Niall Christie
  House Traditions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
  by J. Angus MacDonald
  Dear Abelard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
  The Curious Tale of Vaska Praskovaya  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
  by Robert Hansen
  Deus ex Magica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
  by Erik Dahl
  Corrosives  Poisons and Medicinals  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
  by David Woods
  Ex Libris  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
  by Michaël de Verteuil
  hermes’ portal
  Publisher: Hermes’ Portal
  Layout: Eric Kouris
  Contributors: David Chart, Niall Christie, Erik Dahl, Timothy Ferguson, Robert Hansen, Angus MacDonald, Michaël de Verteuil, David
  Woods
  Editorial and proofreading help: Sheila Thomas
  Illustrations: Angela Taylor (cover, and interior), Radja Sauperamaniane (back and interior), Robert Hansen (interior), and illustrations
  from Lacroix P., Sciences & Lettres au Moyen-Age et à l’époque de la Renaissance (Firmin-Didot, Paris, 1877)
  Thanks: All the persons who helped in the production of this issue.
  Hermes’ Portal is an independent publication dedicated to Ars Magica players. Hermes’ Portal is avaible through email only.
  Hermes’ Portal is not affiliated with Atlas Games or White Wolf Gaming Studio. References to trademarks of those companies are not
  intended to infrige upon the rights of those parties. Ars Magica was created by Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein Hangen.
  Hermes’ Portal # 3, Copyright ©2002, Hermes’ Portal. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work is allowed for personal use only.
  Contacting HP
  Email
  Hermes.Portal@wanadoo.fr
  Web site
  www.hermesportal.fr.st
  
  Who’s Who?
  David Chart
  David Chart has been writing material for Ars
  Magica since the first Wizard’s Grimoire. He was co-
  developer of the Wizard’s Grimoire Revised Edition,
  author of Heirs to Merlin and is currently the Ars
  Magica Line Editor. In real life, he is a mild man-
  nered teacher of philosophy.
  Niall Christie
  Niall Christie is a mediaeval Islamic historian,
  currently teaching and researching at Cornell Uni-
  versity in upstate New York. His wife, Steph, is a
  Visiting Professor in the Department of Mathe-
  matics at Cornell, and so they don’t argue about
  their work very much.
  Niall has been playing and writing material for
  Ars Magica since he was first introduced to the
  game in 1992. He is also involved in the Society for
  Creative Anachronism as a singer and storyteller.
  He says his hobbies allow him to explore the
  “what-ifs” of history that wouldn’t stand up to
  academic study, but this may just be an excuse for
  being a roleplaying geek.
  Erik Dahl
  His name means “King of the Valley.” He is a
  Cancer, which means that today is a 7. He works as
  an information architect, which involves applying
  strategy to web design and drawing up site maps.
  He has been playing Ars Magica for about seven
  years, and has been a part of a troupe for almost a
  third of that time. He and his wife live in Davis,
  California with a lot of books, theater props, musi-
  cal instruments and cooking utensils. He also
  heads his local chapter of the American Associa-
  tion Against Acronym Abuse, Abbreviations and
  Ambiguity (AAAAAAA). You can listen to the
  wacky music of his band Volvo Maroon for free at
  http://www.volvomaroon.com/.
  Thimothy Ferguson
  Timothy Ferguson is 28 and works as a library
  locum in Thuringowa, North Queensland, Aus-
  tralia. He’s currently fossicking about for a new
  job, as locums do, and studying for his next degree.
  Robert Hansen
  Robert Hansen is a mundane currently study-
  ing engineering. He spends his copious free time
  playing RPGs, creating computer artwork and
  sleeping. He has been known to ask his teachers if
  the formulas provided are ‘in paradigm’. His alter-
  ego Vaska, a scarred member of House Flambeau,
  is known for carrying a very large sword with
  which he total fails to hit his enemies.
  Eric Kouris (publisher)
  Eric is 34 and teaches mathematics. He began
  playing RPGs in 1982 with FGU’s Chivalry & Sor-
  cery (instead of AD&D), then Space Opera, Call of
  Cthulhu,… In 1989, he turned to Ars Magica, and in
  1994, he began publishing a French zine for Ars
  Magica named Ars Mag.
  Angus MacDonald
  Angus MacDonald has been playing RPGs
  since 1976 and Ars Magica since about 1990. Aside
  from a fixation on Criamon characters, he has a
  fascination with the Arthurian legends that now
  extends to over 500 volumes on three book-
  shelves. He is still looking for the proper cat with
  whom to share his apartment. He is also a part-
  time storyteller, full time punster and noted pilgarlic.
  Michaël de Verteuil
  Michaël de Verteuil, Canadian political analyst,
  Ars Magica storyguide, co-author of Ordo Nobilis,
  amateur medievalist, occasional contributor to Ars
  Mag, and a noted Berklist pugilist, is the lead writer
  for Heretic’s Corner, a column devoted to sug-
  gesting simplifications to the Ars Magica rules and
  to providing simple solutions to rule problems.
  Michaël (pronounced Mee-ka-el) is currently a
  consultant for the pre-planning phase of an
  upcoming French language medieval adventure
  TV series based on the house of Savoy and aimed
  at young teens. Interested readers are invited to
  submit suggestions or comments concerning
  Heretic’s Corner to m_de_verteuil@sympatico.ca.
  Radja Sauperamaniane
  Radja is working in a game store in Paris. He
  worked on the card game Zoon. He has been doing
  illustrations for Ars Mag since issue #11.
  Angela Taylor
  Angela studied English Literature at Clare Col-
  lege, Cambridge, and Mediaeval History at York,
  taught for some years, then married Neil. She
  draws and paints, while making rude comments
  about Neil’s gaming (fair enough, really!); she is a
  non-gamer… almost a “gaming widow” even!
  Sheila Thomas (editor)
  Sheila Thomas has been editing technical pub-
  lications for paper and electronic publication for
  years. This is her first attempt at doing it for game
  material. She discovered RPGs about ten years ago
  and has been playing Ars Magica for half that time.
  She also plays AD&D regularly, enjoys board and
  card games, and is on the committee organising
  the UK Conjuration convention for August 2003.
  David Woods
  David Woods is an Optical Designer in the
  Telecoms industry. He lives in the county of
  Devon in the UK with his wife Amanda. They are
  expecting their first child around the end of May.
  David has been playing Ars Magica since 1993.
  He is currently involved in two Ars Magica sagas,
  one fortnightly and the other when his old univer-
  sity friends can be gathered from the far corners of
  the globe. Currently most of his spare time is
  spent writing material for Ars Magica and buying
  baby equipment.
  3
  
  Familiars
  by David Chart
  T
  his is a completely revised system for
  binding familiars in Ars Magica. The
  primary aim is to encourage magi to
  bind familiars by making them obvi-
  ously useful, and making it sensible to bind them
  early in a magus’s career. The secondary aim is to
  bring the process within the normal laboratory
  rules, rather than requiring its own rule set. The
  first stage of the process, finding the familiar, pro-
  ceeds as before. The magus must find an animal
  with inherent magic, which accepts the magus as a
  companion.
  Initial Binding
  The laboratory total for binding the familiar is
  any Technique + any Form + Int + Magic Theo-
  ry. Affinities may apply to this, as may laboratory
  specialisations. The level for the enchantment is
  equal to the familiar’s Magic Might plus five times
  its number of Body Levels (including the OK and
  Incapacitated levels). A magus can only bind a
  familiar if his lab total equals or exceeds this level.
  If it does, he can bind the familiar in a single sea-
  son. This costs one pawn of vis for every five
  points or fraction thereof of the level. The vis
  used must match either the Technique or the Form
  used in calculating the Lab Total, and the magus
  may use both kinds.
  Examples (taken from The Medieval Bestiary,
  Revised Edition):
  - Binding a cat has a level of 15 (No Magic
  Might, 3 Body Levels). It costs 3 pawns of
  vis.
  - Binding a magical raven of virtue has a lev-
  el of 30 (Magic Might 15, 3 Body Levels). It
  costs 6 pawns of vis.
  - Binding a wolf of virtue has a level of 35
  (Magic Might 10, 5 Body Levels). It costs 7
  pawns of vis.
  - Binding a stag of virtue has a level of 70
  (Magic Might 25, 9 Body Levels). It costs 14
  pawns of vis.
  - Binding a Tatzlwurm (a dragon) has a level
  of 95 (Magic Might 40, 11 Body Levels). It
  costs 19 pawns of vis.
  The familiar binding gives both the magus and
  the familiar the +1 virtue True Friend, relating to
  the other half of the partnership. Thus, they also
  gain personality traits of Loyal (partner) +3.
  The familiar will not die of old age as long as
  the magus is alive, and it only suffers ill effects
  from aging when the magus does. It gains human
  intelligence, with a score equal to that of the
  magus, and scores equal to the magus in any lan-
  guages. Any familiar can understand the languages
  understood by its master, and can speak them if it
  has the relevant vocal equipment. Familiars can
  learn abilities in the same way as humans. They
  cannot, however, learn magic.
  The magus and the familiar are magically
  linked. Each serves as an Arcane Connection to
  the other. Neither needs to overcome the other’s
  magic resistance in order to affect them with a
  spell or magical ability.
  When the bond has been created, the magus
  and familiar both gain a score of one in the ability
  Familiar. This ability can only be increased by
  granting familiar powers, and has effects as
  described below.
  Both the familiar and the magus retain any abil-
  ities that they had before the ritual was performed.
  Familiar Powers
  A maga may, at any time, grant powers to her
  familiar. This is a laboratory activity, and the rules
  are the same as those for investing a power in a
  lesser enchanted device, with five exceptions.
  - First, there is no limit to the number of
  powers which may be invested in a familiar.
  - Second, the maga gets no bonus to the lab
  total from other effects already invested in
  the familiar. Instead, she gets +5 if the
  effect matches either the technique or form
  used to bind the familiar, and +10 if it
  matches both.
  - Third, the maga may invest any number of
  powers in a season, provided that they are all
  of the same technique and form and their
  levels add to less than or equal to half her
  lab total.
  - Fourth, powers are limited to effects which
  target the maga, the familiar, or both.
  - Finally, Verditius Magic does not add to the
  lab total.
  If the enchantment affects only the maga, it is
  under the control of the familiar. If it affects only
  the familiar, it is under the control of the maga.
  For the use of effects enchanted into the familiar
  bond, the maga and familiar are always considered
  to be touching one another.
  The enchantment is applied to both the maga
  and the familiar, so effects restricted to the maga,
  the familiar, or both, benefit from having their
  final level divided by two. Such effects must be
  based on the forms of Animal, Corpus, or
  Mentem. Other powers may be invested, if they
  target only the maga or the familiar, but they do
  not get this bonus. Affinities that cover the famil-
  iar apply to the investment of all powers, no mat-
  ter what they do. Affinities that cover the power
  apply as normal.
  Every pawn of vis used in investing a power
  counts as an experience point to raise the Familiar
  abilities of both the maga and familiar.
  Example Powers
  Speech: Giving an animal the ability to form
  human speech is Muto Animal, level 20 (a minor
  change that makes the animal unnatural). The
  4
  
  duration can be dropped to Concentration, and
  the bond enchanted to maintain concentration, for
  no net change. Adding ten levels allows the maga
  to do this an unlimited number of times. The final
  level is 30, which divides to 15.
  Mental communication: Two effects, one
  allowing each partner to communicate with the
  other. The effect is Creo Mentem, as one partner
  is creating things in the mind of the other. If only
  words can be transmitted, the level is five, plus ten
  for unlimited use, which is 15, divided to 8. If
  more complex thoughts, such as images and emo-
  tions, can be transmitted, then the base level is ten,
  plus ten for unlimited use, dividing to 10.
  Shapechanging: The most efficient way to get
  controllable changes is to drop the duration of the
  spell to Concentration, and then enhance the
  effect so that the device maintains concentration.
  To change the familiar into a human, the effect is
  Muto Animal with a Corpus requisite, and the base
  level is 25. The duration modifiers do not change
  this, so it divides by two for a total of 13. Unlim-
  ited uses raise the final level to 18. The level
  required to transform the maga into the form of
  her familiar varies. Both can also take on other
  forms, if the appropriate powers are invested.
  Shared Senses: Looking through the other’s
  eyes or hearing through their ears is an Intellego
  Mentem effect. The base level to share a single
  sense is twenty (by analogy from the guidelines),
  and that is already at Touch range. Add five levels
  to raise the duration to Concentration, and anoth-
  er five so that the bond maintains the effect. The
  final level is thirty, divided by two to fifteen, or 40,
  divided to 20, if unlimited uses are allowed.
  Location: The level to find the partner is 15,
  divided to 8. This is Intellego Corpus to find the
  maga, and Intellego Animal to find the familiar.
  Healing: The effect is level 20, either Creo
  Corpus or Creo Animal, to heal one body level. +3
  levels to allow the duration to be boosted with vis,
  and +5 to allow 24 uses per day (how many
  wounds are you likely to take?), for a final level of
  28, which divides to 14. Note that the effect still
  requires four pawns of vis to boost it to Instant
  duration.
  Aura of Fire: Wreath the maga or familiar in
  flames, which do not burn her but do burn any-
  thing that comes within them. This is creating
  flame in an unnatural shape, so the fire does dam-
  age equal to level - 5. The Arts are Creo Ignem,
  with a Rego requisite. +5 levels to raise the dura-
  tion to Diameter, -10 levels to drop the range to
  Touch, +10 for Unlimited Uses. Final level is dam-
  age + 10, which does not divide.
  Razor-sharp steel claws: The base level is 15,
  to create a small amount of metal. This drops to 5
  because of the reduced range. The duration can be
  altered to Concentration, and then boosted so that
  the item maintains concentration, for no net
  change. Because the claws are supposed to be
  magically sharp, the level is raised by five. Add ten
  levels so that the effect can be invoked at will, for
  a final level of 20. This does not divide, as the
  effect is Terram. The claws give +5 damage to all
  attacks with them.
  Protection from weapons: To deflect all
  attacks from wooden weapons, on one of the
  maga or the familiar, the base level is 25. Add five
  levels for Constant Effect, taking it to 30. This
  does not divide.
  Familiar Abilities
  The Familiar ability has a number of effects.
  First, it may be used as a normal ability when
  rolling to understand the behaviour of individuals
  of the familiar’s species, or be used by the familiar
  to understand humans. As a guideline, assume that
  all human beings have a base score of 6 in under-
  standing people, and that Folk Ken adds to that.
  Thus, a raven with Familiar 9 is as good at under-
  standing people as a human being with Folk
  Ken 3. A raven with Familiar 1 will miss just about
  every social cue going. In theory, a familiar could
  become incredibly good at understanding people,
  but that would require the magus to invest about a
  thousand levels of powers. The magus gains a sim-
  ilar level of understanding of the familiar’s species.
  Second, for every level in Familiar, the magus
  and familiar each gain one behavioural, personali-
  ty or physical quirk of the other. Thus, a magus
  with a cat familiar might acquire a tendency to sit
  in the sun, one with an owl might tend towards
  being nocturnal, and one with a fox might gain red
  hair. The Medieval Bestiary, Revised Edition can pro-
  vide further ideas on what these traits might be, as
  they should be appropriate to Mythic Europe. A
  magus or familiar may choose to increase the
  intensity of an existing quirk rather than gaining a
  new one, but they should be encouraged to gain a
  number of quirks first. These quirks are merely for
  characterisation, and are not flaws. Thus, the play-
  er may ignore mental or behavioural quirks if it
  would be inconvenient for the magus to be gov-
  erned by them at a certain point.
  Extended Example
  Showoffica of Flambeau wants to bind a really
  impressive familiar. She decides on a Tatzlwurm,
  as a fire-breathing dragon seems appropriate. She
  finds one, Sparky, and entices him back to her lab.
  There follows some messing about with windows,
  platforms, and canopies, because Sparky won’t
  actually fit in the building. Showoffica manages a
  Creo Ignem lab total of 95, and Sparky is bound.
  Everyone is really, really impressed.
  First, she grants both herself and Sparky the
  ability to create thoughts in the other’s mind, so
  that they can communicate. Each effect is level 10
  (see above), and her Creo Mentem lab total is 45,
  so she can grant both of the powers in a single sea-
  son.
  5
  
  Next, Sparky decides that he wants to be able
  to turn into a human being, so that he can fit
  inside Showoffica’s laboratory. This is level 18, but
  Showoffica only has a Muto Animal lab total
  of 30. (What use is Animal?) Sparky sulks for a
  season, Showoffica learns some more Animal, and
  with a lab total of 36 she grants the power. Never
  underestimate the power of a sulking dragon.
  Especially when it can project the sulk directly into
  your mind.
  After this, Showoffica decides that she wants to
  be able to turn into a Tatzlwurm, like Sparky. Her
  player tells the storyguide that this has a base level
  of 25, and so should be a level 18 effect. The sto-
  ryguide tells the player that Tatzlwurms are not
  land animals, and sets the base level at 50. He says
  that there are Vim and Ignem requisites, as well as
  Animal. Showoffica’s player sulks for a season, but
  sulking players are much less effective than sulking
  dragons. Showoffica can’t manage the Muto Cor-
  pus lab total of 60 which is required for this effect,
  so she, reluctantly, shelves the plan for a later date.
  Instead, Showoffica decides to make Sparky’s
  breath hotter. At the moment, it does +35 damage,
  and she wants to raise the damage to +50. At first,
  the storyguide rules that this is Muto Ignem, but
  after some wheedling he is persuaded to allow it to
  be Creo Ignem. He sets the level at 50, since
  Sparky can already breathe fire. 10 levels must be
  added to this for unlimited uses. Showoffica has a
  Creo Ignem lab total of 110 (because she’s an
  example, and thus gets whatever stats I want), to
  which she gets a +10 bonus because she bound
  Sparky using Creo and Ignem. Thus, she can grant
  the power. Sparky now vapourises trees when he
  sneezes, as long as he asks Showoffica first.
  Impressed by this, she decides that she wants
  to breathe fire herself. She thinks that this is Creo
  Ignem as well, but the storyguide rules that, in
  order to be affecting Showoffica, and thus some-
  thing that can be invested in the familiar bond, this
  needs to be Muto Corpus with a Creo Ignem req-
  uisite. Showoffica’s player sulks again, but Show-
  offica can manage a Muto Corpus lab total of 40,
  so she settles for a level 20 effect. The storyguide
  decides that the breath does +20 damage: it is
  Touch range (it starts at her mouth), Concentra-
  tion duration (it keeps going as long as she blows),
  and Individual target (it’s quite a big flame). Show-
  offica grants the power, and now she can breathe
  flame whenever Sparky lets her.
  Parhedroi
  Hermetic Theurgists can bind Parhedroi as
  familiars. These are spirits rather than animals. To
  do so, the maga needs the +2 virtue Parhedros, as
  described in The Mysteries. These rules completely
  change the procedure for binding Parhedroi as
  they do for normal familiars, however.
  The ritual to summon and bind a Parhedros
  takes a season. The maga must sacrifice Vim vis to
  the spirit to give it substance. She may sacrifice any
  number of pawns of vis up to the normal Vim +
  Magic Theory limit, and the summoned spirit has
  a Magic Might equal to the number of pawns sac-
  rificed. The Parhedros ritual automatically draws
  vis from the aura, as if the maga had spent the sea-
  son extracting vis according to the normal rules.
  This vis must be sacrificed to the Parhedros, but
  other vis may be added.
  A newly bound Parhedros is linked to the maga
  in the same way as an animal familiar, except that
  no Familiar ability is gained. Further, the Parhe-
  dros and maga may communicate mentally at any
  range, as long as they are not separated by regio
  boundaries or magical wards.
  A Parhedros can be granted powers in the
  same way as any other familiar, and Theurgy
  always applies as a bonus to the Lab Total. In addi-
  tion, there are certain powers which can only be
  granted to a Parhedros.
  
  Parhedroi can learn the Hermetic Arts, but
  only from their maga. Before a Parhedros can
  learn an Art, the Art must be opened. Opening an
  Art is the same as granting a power with a level
  equal to (number of open Arts +1) × 5. Thus,
  opening the first Art has a level of five, while
  opening the tenth has a level of fifty. This level is
  not divided by two because it applies only to the
  Parhedros. When opening a Technique, the lab
  total is based on that Technique and Vim. When
  opening a Form, the lab total is based on that
  Form and Creo. A Parhedros with open Arts can
  use them as described in The Mysteries, pages 131-2.
  The maga can grant increased Characteristics
  to the Parhedros. This effect is Creo Mentem for
  Intelligence, Perception, and Communication, and
  Creo Corpus for the others. The level of the effect
  (which, again, is not divided by two) is fifteen
  times the characteristic to be granted. Note that
  this grants a characteristic value, not a bonus, so it
  is not possible to give the Parhedros +3 Intelli-
  gence by granting +1 Intelligence three times. The
  Parhedros can use physical Characteristics as
  described under Shared Force, The Mysteries, page
  130. Treat the Hekate Bond, for these purposes, as
  another physical characteristic, granted according
  to these rules.
  Finally, the maga may spend a season to
  increase the Magic Might of her Parhedros. This
  costs one pawn of Vim vis for every point of
  increase to Magic Might, with an overall limit of
  Int + Magic Theory + Creo + Vim + Theurgy +
  aura. She cannot sacrifice more than Vim + Mag-
  ic Theory pawns in a single season, and does not
  get the benefit of free vis distillation, in contrast to
  the initial binding.
  Thanks to Neil Taylor and Sheila Thomas for
  feedback on earlier versions of these rules.
  7
  Publisher’s corner
  Hello!
  Who said Ars Magica is a dead game? As you
  certainly already know, David Chart is the new line
  editor of our beloved game. And he will produce
  four supplements! But even before the release of
  the first, we should see Timothy Ferguson’s Sanctu-
  ary of Ice, the Tribunal of the Greater Alps and
  Michaël de Verteuil’s Bishop’s Staff (an adventure).
  But right now, you can appreciate the ideas of
  the fine people who also took the time to write for
  Hermes’ Portal.
  This issue is quite focused: two articles on
  familiars and two articles on Mysteries and Secret
  Societies.
  First, David proposes new rules for binding of
  a familiar, while Timothy gives us twenty reasons
  to explain why Bjornaers don’t bind familiars.
  You’ll just have to pick the one that best suits your
  saga!
  Then, after his take on Bjornaers’ Mysteries,
  Erik Dahl is now having a look at the pious magi
  while Angus MacDonald is trying to reconcile
  Houses and Secret Societies.
  Of course, you’ll also find the regular columns:
  “Dear Abelard” and “Heretic’s Corner”. Again,
  don’t hesitate to send your questions to the
  authors — if they are published (and why should-
  n’t they be?) you’ll receive a free copy of Hermes’
  Portal.
  Last, I hope you’re working hard for the sce-
  nario contest. I changed the deadline — now you
  have until May 31 to send your stories.
  As we say in French, "Jamais deux sans trois!"
  And soon, a fourth!
  Eric
  
  Why Don’t Bjornaer
  Magi Bind Familiars?
  by Timothy Ferguson
  T
  here’s something different about Bjor-
  naer magi: that’s the reason they’re
  such fun to play. Earlier works always
  make clear that this house is unlike the
  Roman houses, but never quite detail how. Why
  they differ is hinted at. We are told they are Ger-
  manic, then Russian. We are told they gather from
  across Europe to perform pre-Hermetic rituals.
  We are told that they derive from an earlier tradi-
  tion, now hostile and vengeful. Storyguides build
  upon these foundations, and characters are given
  the opportunity to explore an alien society which
  accepts them as a member.
  Characters from this house are a joy to play
  because Bjornaer has unresolved mysteries at its
  core. This article can’t give you the definitive rea-
  son why Bjornaer magi lack familiars, because to
  present a final answer would rob the house of
  much of its charm. The best way of keeping the
  house’s secrets alive is to tailor them to each saga,
  so the best answer to “Why haven’t they any famil-
  iars?” is “Well, it might be…”. The article suggests
  twenty possibilities.
  Storyguides should alter the value of the Bjor-
  naer virtue package depending on which of these
  options they choose. Since each option contains
  variants and spells which the storyguide may dis-
  allow, no suggested package values have been giv-
  en. Decide them for yourself, but try not to be so
  stingy that your players refuse to take a Bjornaer
  magus. Emphasise that they are paying more than
  usual because their house will teach them novel,
  powerful — and fun — things at a later stage. Try
  selling Bjornaerhood as a cheaper version of the
  Latent Magical Ability virtue.
  Missing persons
  The familiar ritual has Permanent duration and
  lapses when its magic is unable to locate both tar-
  gets. The ritual cannot detect the Hidden human
  Shape of a Bjornaer in heartshape form. When the
  magus takes heartshape, the Hermetic ritual can-
  not identify the human partner any longer, and so
  the bonds snap.
  This solution is the blandest, which makes it
  the most easily adapted to any saga. It’s also useful
  as the cover story used by the Bjornaer when one
  of the other suggestions is correct within your
  saga.
  Blood of the Beast
  The ritual which creates familiars assumes one
  party to be Merinita, and the other to be her stag.
  Although the design can be altered a little, to des-
  ignate another magus and animal as targets, the
  design assumption, that one target be a human
  (Corpus) and the other a beast (Animal) is
  inflexible. Bjornaer magi are often the descendants
  of human-animal pairings in the distant past, and
  this confuses the ritual so that it fails to distinguish
  targets, so bonds cannot form. Ancient cross-
  breeding may also account for the handful of non-
  Bjornaer magi who cannot take familiars.
  It is possible, if this is the case, that transfusion
  is a necessary component of training that develops
  additional shapes. Given that blood can be kept
  fresh magically, and that some Bjornaer have
  mixed ancestry, the house meeting may include
  trade in and ceremonial use of sanguinary fluid.
  This provides a new class of treasure for Bjornaer
  magi. To restrict the availability of suitable blood,
  the storyguide may limit suitable donors to beasts
  of virtue, as described in Hedge Magic, to paragons
  of their species, to shapechangers, or to those
  whose blood contains vis.
  New spell
  The Garnets of Bjornaer
  Mu An (Te) 20
  R: Touch, D: Sun/Permanent, T: Small
  Spell Focus: A garnet (+5)
  These spells change animal blood into gem-
  stones, which are usually carmine red. The spell’s
  Permanent duration allows the blood to be
  returned to its natural state. This permits fresh
  blood to be stored and transported without decay-
  ing. The Garnets of Bjornaer can incorporate an
  identifying symbol within the stone, using an
  Imaginem requisite. Alternatively, with a finesse
  roll of 9+ the blood can be shaped into a minia-
  ture statuette.
  Breeding Pool
  In a related idea, the House may agitate against
  familiars because it undercuts Bjornaer’s future. If
  Hermetic magi are descended from ancient ani-
  mal-human pairings (as per the Medieval Bestiary)
  then they may require magical animals interacting
  with human populations to maintain their appren-
  tice pool. If familiars are made sterile by the ritual
  when it extends their lifespans, then, in the long
  term, it may deplete the shapeshifting population
  of Europe.
  Domestication
  The word “familiar” derives from the Latin for
  “servant”. Magi who feel that they are truly ani-
  mals may find the idea of employing animal ser-
  vants offensive because this forces the magus to
  assume a human role — the master. Familiarisa-
  tion is a form of domestication, and domesticating
  an animal then binding it also domesticates and
  binds the magus. It anchors them to the power-
  relationships of human society. This, in turn, pre-
  vents them from developing closer links to their
  animal nature, as represented by an increasing Will
  Over Form score.
  Even binding an animal of your own species is
  an assumption of the human role of master,
  because of the way the bonds work. The familiar
  8
  
  is bound through human means, rather than
  through instinct and intimidation, as would be nat-
  ural for the magus’s species. There are a few excep-
  tional species, such as dogs, which prefer domesti-
  cation, and it’s not impossible for a Bjornaer
  magus to have a domestic animal as their
  heartshape, but when this occurs, they should be
  trying to find a human master to serve. Binding
  that master is letting the horse ride the jockey, and
  again draws them away from their heartshape.
  Could a magus of another House bind a will-
  ing Bjornaer with a domestic animal heartshape as
  a familiar? Possibly… ask your storyguide. Since
  magi have no method of determining the presence
  of the human shape, a domestic Bjornaer may
  hide as a familiar for years. Given that a familiar
  learns what their master does, loss of study may
  affect them only mildly.
  New spells
  Lest They Know Us In Our Solitude
  Cr Im 25
  R: Touch, D: Permanent, T: Group
  Spell Focus: Fool’s gold (+2), tin (+2) or cobalt
  (+2) or all together (+6)
  This spell creates illusory cords between a
  Bjornaer magus and an animal, or between two
  Bjornaer magi. Its provenance is unclear, but it
  appears to have been developed to allow Bjornaer
  magi to hide within another House of the Order.
  The Bridle Breaks and the Yoke is Put Aside
  Cr An 35
  R: Touch, D: Sun/Instant, T: Individual
  Spell Focus: A horse’s bit (broken during use)
  The precise operation of this spell is unclear.
  Bjornaer claim that it heals the broken will of ani-
  mals that have been domesticated. Other magi
  suggest it creates behaviour patterns which the
  magus desires. That the spell uses creative rather
  than manipulative prowess is deliberate. The spell
  creates the capacity for wildness, yet does not
  compel it, allowing the liberated animal to act as
  would be natural for an undomesticated member
  of its species in its situation.
  Species that have been selectively bred for
  domestic use, such as sheep and dogs, are immune
  to this spell. Animals so thoroughly abused that no
  spark of resistance remains within them are simi-
  larly unliberatable, much like human slaves whose
  Confidence has been reduced to zero.
  The Answer Which Is Not An
  Answer
  It may be that there is no magical difficulty in a
  Bjornaer taking a familiar, but they refuse to do so
  simply because it’s not considered appropriate
  behaviour. This constraint may have a sound basis,
  and ideas for what that might be are given in some
  of the later paragraphs. It might also simply
  descend from house members modelling their
  lives on Bjornaer’s. That is, there may be no objec-
  tive reason why Bjornaer magi refuse to take famil-
  iars, they simply don’t.
  In Mythic Europe cultural inertia is a potent
  force. The new and novel are celebrated in our cul-
  ture, but were often considered inferior copies of
  Roman and Greek models by the Mythic Euro-
  peans. Although social pressures are justified by
  the societies which enforce them, they need not be
  based on an objective threat or benefit. The nature
  of this social pressure will vary by saga, but, for
  example, would usually include a desire not to
  shame your branch of the family, to be seen as
  perverse, or considered unwise.
  Bjornaer social pressure is far less genteel than
  other magi might expect, because animals are less
  friendly than many players imagine. House Bjor-
  naer relishes a natural lifestyle, meaning that civi-
  lized values, like mercy, are foreign to many of its
  members. Compassion simply doesn’t make sense
  to the average wolf, and may be seen by senior
  magi as a human vice. Similar “civilized” traits may
  be considered moral weaknesses, or spiritual flaws
  which the enlightened purge by drawing closer to
  their true selves,
  as represented by their
  heartshapes. A younger magus attempting to over-
  throw the House philosophy is a danger, and may
  well be killed as dispassionately as a litter of cubs
  from a non-dominant bitch. On the most superfi-
  cial level, Bjornaer may not take familiars simply
  because their elders tell them not to.
  New spell
  Consultation with One’s Elders
  In Me (An) 55
  R: Sight/Arcane, D: Sun, T: Ind
  This spell allows telepathic communication
  with the target. Arcane connections are usually
  exchanged or renewed during the Gathering of
  Twelve Years to allow this spell to be effective over
  large distances. Generally the communicatee is the
  caster’s master. By tradition, this spell is used at the
  first hour of the night of the full moon, although
  masters with several filii may arrange separate con-
  tact times for each. A ritual form of this spell,
  Communion Between Masters and Filii, is of 60th level
  and allows communication between a group of
  magi. These are usually a parens and their filii, but
  is occasionally a grandparens and their descen-
  dants.
  The Wolf Madonna
  When the Bjornaer gather they worship some-
  thing; something that’s ordered them not to take
  familiars, since it would interfere with their devo-
  tions. When Russia was being Christianized, one of
  its saints slaughtered bears, to cast out the pagan
  forces of the land. What if one of those spirits hid
  within Bjornaer, bear on the inside but human on
  the outside, as she fled to the West? Centuries of
  worship have strengthened this spirit, so that she is
  somehow linked to each of her acolytes. Since the
  magi are her familiars, her servants, they cannot, in
  9
  
  turn bind animals. Perhaps binding animals
  anchors them spiritually in a way she finds
  unpleasant.
  If this option is selected, then the storyguide
  should consider what sort of spirit the Bjornaer
  revere, and what it desires, beyond survival and
  worship.
  The spirit’s connection to each Bjornaer magus
  should be defined. How direct is her connection to
  each of her acolytes? Can it give instructions and
  advice? Can it sense what they do? Can it take
  material form? Is it bound to Crintera? How can it
  be summoned elsewhere? Do all Bjornaer know
  about the spirit, or is the house a mystery cult? If
  it is, what are younger Bjornaer told, and how do
  they demonstrate readiness for the next degree of
  illumination?
  New spell
  The Teeth of the Wolf Madonna
  Mu An (Vi) 40, Ritual
  Note that the Wolf Madonna is never referred
  to when outsiders might overhear. Among other
  magi, and when written, this spell is called “That
  Our Teeth May The Necks of Our Enemies
  Rend”. It is usually taught at the sixtieth level to
  Bjornaer who have demonstrated their loyalty to
  the House and the Mother, and is used most effec-
  tively by groups.
  This spell modifies the natural weaponry of
  the Bjornaer, in animal form, so that it can damage
  magical creatures and energy forms. A blow
  enhanced by this spell
  - acts as a general Eternal Oblivion spell of
  10th level.
  - ablates away 4 Might when it fails to over-
  come Resistance
  - ablates away 8 points of Parma Magica
  - acts as a 10th level Perdo Vim spell (similar
  to Wind of Mundane Silence)
  - ablates energy from spells. As a guide,
  reduces a spell’s level for resistance by eight.
  Instant and Momentary spells can’t be
  chewed on, since they disappear too quickly,
  and Permanent spells repair themselves at
  magnitude points per round.
  Higher level versions of this spell are increas-
  ingly damaging. For every four levels, add one
  point to the Eternal Oblivion and Mundane
  Silence effects. For each magnitude add one point
  to the levels of the Parma and spell ablation
  effects.
  Note this ritual provides no defence against the
  natural attacks of the creature assailed. For exam-
  ple, a Bjornaer wolf can use this spell to chew into
  minor fire elementals, but will still suffer burns.
  The Shapes of the Founder
  Familiars may be forbidden because they pre-
  vent the character growing in a way that the house
  considers laudable. Imagine a house where, at
  Bjornaer’s death, she bequeathed parts of herself
  to her followers. Bjornaer’s shapes may still be
  around, passed down to her descendants, each one
  containing a fragment of her personality. In such a
  House, the Great Bear who convened each Gath-
  ering would always be the same shape, carrying the
  wisdom of centuries. The Raven sent to deal with
  those who would betray the house may always be
  the same raven. Familiars may bind a magus into
  his lifestyle, so that they are unable to accept an
  ancestral shape. Since the Shapes’ selection criteria
  for hosts are unclear, all magi are expected to make
  themselves available for the honour of possession.
  New spell
  Beckon Our Ancientmost Protectors
  CrVi 50
  R: Near D: Momentary T: Individual
  This spell creates pulses of concentrated mag-
  ical force. They surge repeatedly outward, creating
  viscous waves in the field of vis that coats the
  Earth. Although this has no obviously useful
  effect, among members of the house, it is a pre-
  arranged signal. Bjornaer’s shapes can sense the
  direction from which the wave has come, and can
  use simple spells to determine the position of the
  epicenter, based on triangulation. This ritual is
  used only when other means of communication
  are blocked and a matter of absolute urgency has
  arisen.
  When the Shapes sense the spell, they detach
  from their hosts and swarm toward the Beckoning
  locus. Humans in the area may manifest one or
  more of Bjornaer’s forms while her shapes grap-
  ple with the problem, and, in extreme instances,
  Bjornaer’s shapes all possess the spellcaster, briefly
  reconstituting the Founder. This process causes
  the caster to suffer Twilight when the spell ends
  and the shapes return to their preferred bearers.
  Spirits are often curious about the epicenter of
  the waves, and may infest the area for years after-
  ward, as they arrive from far-distant places.
  The Mentors
  Bjornaer who have forsaken the human shape
  may hold a special role in the house, as proselytiz-
  ers. The Bjornaer may encourage the animal ver-
  sions of their eldest and wisest to enter friendly
  relationships with magi of other Houses. The
  Magical Animal Companions of many apprentices
  are likely Bjornaer magi who have escaped Twi-
  light by forsaking anthropomorphism. Once
  returned to sentience they exert a subtle influence
  that prevents the House from suffering extermina-
  tion, despite being unRoman and secretive, the
  “crimes” of Diedne. Familiar links are easily
  detectable, and would prevent the placement of
  mentors.
  New spell
  Somnambulism
  Re Me (Co) 55
  R: Near, D: Sun, T: Individual
  10
  
  Spell Focus: Hermetic familiar cords linking
  caster to target (+10)
  This difficult spell combines two powerful
  effects. First, it takes control of the victim’s mind,
  then it appropriates control of their body. Alone
  these spells are tricky and their use together would
  be extremely problematic if the Hermetic cords
  did not act as perfect conduits of control.
  The spell implants the desire to repeat a magi-
  cal formula, then the limbs are controlled to
  ensure that the gestures made are correct. This
  spell is usually cast on those who are asleep, and is
  followed by a Pe Me effect such as Loss of but a
  Moment’s Memory. It’s difficult to notice that one’s
  recollection of getting up and casting a spell, for
  no reason in the middle of the night, is absent.
  Simpler forms of this technique are available.
  It’s possible to do the same sort of thing with a
  Re Me 30 effect, but the unpractised magus is
  more likely to fumble their gestures (spellcasting
  rolls at -5). Also, this version uses the art scores of
  the victim, not their puppeteer.
  The Deluded
  The reason that Bjornaer can’t have familiars is
  because they have them already. Each Bjornaer is
  bound to an animal spirit in the Magical Realm.
  When they “shift shape” they steal this creature’s
  body and store their own in the Magic Realm. As
  juvenile Bjornaer are not given instruction in this
  theory, most truly believe that they take an animal
  shape. When Bjornaer enter Final Twilight, they
  remain trapped in the Land of Spirits, as described
  in Shamans, while their animal spirit is released into
  the mortal world. Bjornaer with additional training
  may be able to call forth their animal spirit without
  taking its place in the Magical Realm, for example
  by summoning it into a fetish.
  New spell
  Spirit Guide
  CrVi (Re) (Special), Ritual (Non Hermetic)
  R: Touch, D: Ring, T: Small
  Spell Focus: The skull of the guide’s species
  (+5)
  This spell calls up the spirit guide of a magus
  and places it temporarily within a container. The
  spirit guide has a Might equal to twice the caster’s
  Animal score. Successful casting requires this
  resistance to be overcome. The magus can then
  freely converse with the creature along the mysti-
  cal connection which would usually allow
  shapeshifting. The more skilled a magus becomes
  in the art of Animal, the more potent his spirit
  guide becomes. With power comes status in the
  spirit world, and with status comes ease, informa-
  tion, reflection and wisdom.
  Most spirit guides, of Bjornaer mature enough
  to have been taught the ritual, are wise in the ways
  of their species. Unless a metaphorical parallel can
  be used they are not able to give advice on mortal
  matters, which they usually find confusing. Wolves,
  for example, will offer advice by starting stories
  with phrases like “When I wanted to be alpha
  wolf…”, “When I sought out a bitch with which
  to build a den…” and “There was this potent buck
  I wished to catch…” Much of the time this is an
  extremely complicated way to borrow the Com-
  mon Sense virtue of a particularly wise creature.
  The Spirit Guide can teach the magus how to
  increase their Animal personality trait and Will
  Over Form ability, using Training techniques.
  The Flight from Twilight
  Many Bjornaer escape Twilight by transform-
  ing into a magical, but unintelligent, member of
  their heartshape’s species. Linking oneself to a
  familiar may prevent this occurring, by tying them
  to Hermetic magic’s source of power. The Void
  must be unspeakably dull for a Bjornaer magus.
  Bjornaer may not take familiars because it damns
  them to an eternity of tedious nothingness.
  New spell
  Damnation to an Eternity of Tedious Nothingness
  Cr Vi 35
  R: Sight, D: Sun/Permanent, T: Ind
  This spell creates a ring of coherent magical
  energy which wraps around the target magus.
  Although it has no effect in the short term, if the
  magus faces Final Twilight with the ring still in
  place, they are unable to shelter in their animal
  forms. They are instead projected into the Void.
  Bjornaer magi have made sure no-one outside
  their House is aware of the existence of this spell.
  It is reserved for judicial use, when recalcitrants
  are forced to wear the ring for a time, where the
  condemned are burdened with it and then slain, or
  for battle with the shapeshifting tradition which
  Bjornaer betrayed.
  The Sacred State
  The familiar is the lifelong soulmate of the
  magus, fulfilling many of the emotional roles of a
  spouse. If the Bjornaer practice arranged mar-
  riage, then familiar links may add a jealous third
  party, or may prevent a magus forming an ade-
  quate pair-bond with the mate selected by their
  elders. Strong social pressure may be exerted to
  prevent the formation of familiar bonds if they
  are seen to compromise the house’s interest in a
  couple’s welfare. Familiars may be seen as a danger
  to “family values”.
  If House Bjornaer practices arranged mar-
  riage, it makes the Gatherings of Twelve Years
  between Gauntlet and Potion vital for the magus’s
  happiness. If two meetings occur in that brief
  span they will be assessed at the first and married
  at the second. If they have the misfortune to have
  only one Gathering between adulthood and impo-
  tence, they, and their equally desperate age-mates,
  must chase spouses hectically for the length of the
  meeting. It’s possible, however, that structures
  exist to ensure the right buck meets the right doe.
  11
  
  Bjornaer cannot be unaware of the value of
  selective breeding. It’s possible that magi with cer-
  tain affinities are deliberately paired, in the hope
  that a strain of magus can be bred in which the
  Gift runs true. If this is the case, then the Bjornaer
  will be more interested than the usual magus in the
  affinities of
  magical children whom they
  encounter. The house may determine that certain
  flavours of Gift will make useful contributions to
  the family project in twenty years, or that a gender
  imbalance has occurred, so that more children of
  a certain gender and talent are required.
  New spells
  Sense the Waxing of the Inner Tide
  In Co 5
  R: Personal, D: Momentary, T: Individual
  Allows a Bjornaer maga to sense when her
  optimum breeding period is in human form. In
  animal form, she almost certainly knows this any-
  way, but if her species doesn’t have a period of
  heat, the equivalent is an In An spell of level 4.
  Determining the Day
  In Co 5
  R: Personal, D Momentary, T: Individual
  Allows a Bjornaer maga to accurately predict
  when her term of pregnancy would naturally end.
  In animal form an equivalent spell is In An 4.
  Prosthetic Shapeshifting
  Bjornaer magi may consider familiars a pros-
  thesis. As such, taking a familiar may be consid-
  ered an admission of weakness. This belief may
  have come about due to an early demonstration of
  the shapechange bond quality, where Merinita bor-
  rowed the form of her stag. Bjornaer could have
  pointed out that although this had carried Merini-
  ta a little further along the true path, it required the
  presence of an animal as assistant, and was there-
  fore suitable only for those whose limitations were
  grave.
  New spell
  Altering the Prosthesis of the Unilluminated Magus
  Mu An 70 *, Ritual (Non Hermetic, Bjornaer
  only)
  R: Touch, D: Instant, T: Individual
  * Requires requisites if final form is other than
  Animal.
  This ritual utilizes that portion of Bjornaer tra-
  dition which allows alteration of essential nature,
  as reflected by the “Hidden Shape” virtue, without
  breaching the Hermetic Limit of True Nature. It
  assigns a new shape to an animal, making its pre-
  vious species undetectable using Hermetic magic.
  Although this has few apparent applications, it
  does allow a magus using the shapechange bond
  quality to utilize the new shape, although they lose
  the capacity to transform into the animal’s previ-
  ous species. With appropriate requisites this ritual
  can alter an animal into a natural object, allowing
  the magus to simulate inanimate heartshapes.
  False Revelation
  To extend the idea of prosthetics further, it
  may be that Bjornaer deemed the use of trans-
  ferred familiar forms a travesty. Being able to take
  a familiar’s shape may draw one away from one’s
  inner nature. It may prevent the introspection nec-
  essary for the discovery of one’s lesser shapes. As
  such, familiarisation is a cul-de-sac which Bjornaer
  magi may become trapped within, unable to con-
  tinue their researches into their essential natures.
  New spell
  Wean Our Cousins From the Bilious Milk of Hereti-
  cal Practices
  Pe Vi (Me) 35
  R: Near/Sight, D: Vim component: Inst.
  Mentem component: Sun/Moon, T: Individual
  Spell focus: a sharp sliver of sapphire (+2)
  Wean, as the spell’s name is usually abbreviat-
  ed, is little used in the modern House, now that the
  heresy of familiarisation has been revealed in the
  completeness of its error. For a brief period, how-
  ever, the enlightened strove to sever the addictive
  bonds that chained their kin to the animals upon
  which they had become dependant. This formula
  is an artefact of that time, perhaps of greater
  interest to the historian than the modern magus,
  despite its occasional combat utility.
  12
  
  This spell slices through the familiar cords, sev-
  ering the bonds and thereby dispelling the trans-
  ferred shape bond quality. It also contains a
  Mentem requisite, which is directed toward the
  magus to prevent them from feeling grief at the
  loss of the cords. This provides a brief period in
  which their caring family can explain the crippling
  nature of the ritual of familiarisation to them.
  A similar spell, developed later and usually
  known by the same name, replaces the Mentem
  requisite with a complete Cr Me effect, similar to
  The Gift of Reason. It is this version which, along
  with Aura of Rightful Authority, and a spell which
  permits animals to converse, was placed in the
  Collars of the Unfettered, magic items borne by
  those senior magi whose task was to wean their
  misguided cousins. The Collars of the Unfettered
  also change size as the Bjornaer shifts shape. Since
  they have other, quite useful enchantments, Unfet-
  tering Collars are still prized within the House.
  The Ancestress
  Bjornaer could never master fire magic, and
  this flaw has travelled through her descendants.
  The Hermetic Ritual of Familiarisation requires
  the brief use of magical fire. That Bjornaer’s fire
  deficiency was the cause of her house’s inability to
  have familiars has been forgotten. In part this is
  because the use of fire, the great civilizing tool of
  primitive man, is considered disgusting in this
  House.
  Talismanic Animals
  Since magi of Bjornaer are unable to bind
  familiars, they sometimes create talismans from
  living animals. These creatures have many of the
  advantages of familiars, although they lack bond
  qualities and extended lifespans. It’s possible to
  create a longevity formula for an animal using the
  same mechanics as those for humans, substituting
  the Animal form for Corpus. Creatures with Mag-
  ic Might are rarely chosen as talismanic animals, as
  they resist enchantment, subtracting their might
  from all lab totals.
  For enchantment opening calculations, flesh
  has a base score of 2 and animals usually lie
  between × 3 (skull) and × 5 (human to small
  room) size. It’s possible to separately enchant por-
  tions of animals, but that’s beyond the scope of
  this article, and should be discussed with your sto-
  ryguide. It’s also possible to implant magic items
  onto animals, or give them magical tattoos,
  although these items are created as normal invest-
  ed or lesser enchanted devices.
  A talismanic animal has all the usual benefits of
  talismanhood, including magic resistance, arcane
  connection and increased touch range. Talismanic
  animals can be attuned to effects. As they are
  always connected to the magus, it’s common
  among Bjornaer to invest healing spells in their tal-
  ismanic animals and get them to carry little sacks
  of vis. Note that a talismanic animal which has
  died often remains a talisman while its corpse is
  fresh. It’s usual to resuscitate such animals or pre-
  serve them using Cr An magic.
  The Transfer of Shapes
  Bjornaer magi may learn new shapes by form-
  ing a temporary bond with an older magus. The
  familiarisation ritual could prevent this occurring.
  Although this may seem unproblematic for older
  magi who have already acquired a multitude of
  shapes, it would prevent them passing these shapes
  to younger magi. Given the house’s emphasis on
  animal behaviour and opinion, embracing sterility
  might disgust. Social pressure may indicate that a
  magus has a duty to remain able to pass on their
  shapes. A magus making themselves impotent is
  failing to honour the traditions of the house, by
  failing in their custodianship of the shapes given
  them by more responsible ancestors.
  Fear of Intimacy
  Bjornaer magi are enormously self-centred.
  Unlike the arrogant magi of other houses, howev-
  er, their introspection focuses on their inability to
  do more than that which they are currently able.
  Since Bjornaer concentrate on themselves to the
  exclusion of others it is difficult for them to make
  the bond of mutual respect necessary for familiar-
  ity. Even if they could find a partner willing to be
  ignored, the house belief that magical tools make
  one weak extends to manipulated animals. Friends
  are, to some Bjornaer, a style of tool, and there-
  fore a sign of ineptitude.
  Hinduism?
  A Criamon magus has suggested that Bjornaer
  magi, to wax Hindu, are magical animals who in a
  previous life practiced sufficient austerities to be
  reincarnated into human form. To link to an ani-
  mal and make it intelligent would grant it the priv-
  ileges of those with good karma, regardless of
  their spiritual state. This would lead to them suf-
  fering terrible tragedy, as the negative karmic bal-
  ance induced would strike down the animal. Bjor-
  naer magi have often alluded to this theory, par-
  tially because they find it reassuring, confirming
  that they are truly animals, and because they find
  the assumption that humanity is their goal humor-
  ous. Possibly, they comically retort, animals are too
  good for them.
  The Enemy
  Bjornaer magi cannot recognize each other in
  their heartshapes using magic. This is unfortunate,
  because it indicates an inability to detect members
  of the tradition which Bjornaer betrayed by join-
  ing the Hermetic Order. The ban on familiars may
  exist to prevent espionage by these most persistent
  of enemies. A well-placed mole could disrupt or
  expose the rituals of Crintera, and seriously com-
  promise the house.
  13
  
  Contamination
  Bjornaer don’t take familiars because they fear
  that Merinita’s magic was tainted. Her process is
  likewise suspect. Differing sagas may suggest dif-
  ferent sources for the Merinitan corruption, but
  these could include:
  - All familiar animals are redesigned as minor
  fae, so that all magi with familiars go to the
  Arcadian lands. (Quendalon wasn’t the first
  faerie mage. See? They had you fooled!)
  - The bonds designate magi as sacrifices to a
  creature similar to the one that Bjornaer
  worship.
  - The cords attract magical predators or ill-
  nesses.
  - The cords prevent the Gift passing to one’s
  biological children.
  - The cords make one deaf in the ultrasonic
  range, which the Bjornaer use for silent
  communication.
  - All familiars are easily replaced or possessed
  by demons, who can ride them through pro-
  tective magic.
  - One does not accrue Twilight points
  through age (or Vim score, or whatever)
  unless one’s ancestors had familiars.
  - The Primus of Merinita’s illusions cannot be
  resisted by anyone with a familiar.
  - Familiars must answer any question from
  the Primus of Merinita truthfully.
  - Familiars must follow any order given by the
  Primus of Merinita.
  - The familiar conduits can be used as holes
  through the Parma Magica by a suitably
  trained Merinita magus.
  - When a magus fades into Twilight his famil-
  iar, if it too fades, goes to a particular Arca-
  dian realm, where it can be interrogated,
  killed and harvested as a vis source.
  - Merinita is still alive, but can only continue
  to exist by remaining in a regio and being
  fed a steady diet of magically-enriched ani-
  mals.
  Note that these rumours need not be true,
  merely believed accurate and unverifiable.
  An interesting twist is that the followers of
  Myanar were adopted into the House of Bjornaer,
  after the skirmishes with Quendalon. Given that
  Myanar was chosen, successor to successor, as
  House Merinita’s Primus it may be that whatever
  advantage the poisoned ritual gave that house has
  passed either to the Primus of Bjornaer or to a
  hidden line of Myanaran shapeshifters.
  14
  
  The Silver Harp
  by Niall Christie
  T
  he sunlight streaming through the
  open shutter woke me up this morn-
  ing. I rolled over, reaching to put my
  arm around Estelle. Where she should
  have been, the blankets and sheets were thrown
  back and cold. Suddenly I was wide awake, my
  stomach knotting, and a curse on my lips. Wrench-
  ing the bedclothes from me, I leapt out of bed and
  across the room to the window. Violently I threw
  back the second shutter, which crashed against the
  tower wall. I scanned the courtyard below quickly,
  looking for any sign of her. The smith was hard at
  work in his forge, black smoke pouring from its
  chimney pot, and one or two of the grogs were
  looking up at me, stifling yawns.
  “Can I help you, Master?” one of the guards
  called. He was some twenty feet below me. He
  looked tired, which was no surprise, as it was bare-
  ly past dawn. Silently I gave thanks that my win-
  dow faced east, otherwise I might have been sleep-
  ing still, and my Estelle God-only-knew where.
  “Have you seen the lady Estelle?” I called to
  him, suppressing rising dread at what his answer
  might be.
  “No, Master.” he replied, his face puzzled.
  “Well gather some men and look for her. She
  must not be allowed to leave the covenant. Use
  force if necessary!” One advantage of being a
  magus is that grogs rarely question your orders,
  however odd they may sound. He touched his
  forelock and ran off. I hoped it would be enough,
  but was not willing to take any chances. I turned
  back into my chamber, reaching for my robes.
  � � �
  The woman walked slowly through the wood,
  her eyes fixed on the ground. It was a bright, but
  chilly day at the start of autumn, with a slight
  breeze that played with the few wisps of black hair
  that protruded from her hood. She shivered and
  pulled her cloak closer around her with her right
  hand, her searching gaze never wavering from the
  ground. In the other hand she carried a basket,
  currently half-full of assorted herbs and fungi. She
  had been wandering the woods for the last two
  hours, collecting plants for both herself and her
  husband. When she had announced her intention
  to go out that morning, he had asked her to look
  out for one or two more unusual herbs, ingredients
  for his mysterious experiments, at the same time
  giving her the usual warning about not straying too
  far into the wood. She had laughed, kissed him
  lightly, and skipped out of the room, leaving him
  to his books and bubbling beakers.
  She saw something glitter on the grass and
  knelt to look closer, pushing the cloak back with
  her elbows and lifting the hem of her woollen
  dress to avoid stepping on it. When she looked
  closer, she saw that it was the grass itself that was
  glittering. It caught the light and reflected it as if it
  was wet, even though it was mid-morning and the
  dew had evaporated long ago. She touched it, and
  found it was dry. Looking up, she realised that the
  path she had been following was gone, and around
  her the trees loomed like great, dark sentinels. She
  turned in a full circle, realising that she was lost.
  � � �
  As it was, I found her before the grogs. This
  was to be expected, since I had some idea of
  where she was likely to go. She was on the top lev-
  el of the central watchtower in the west wall of the
  covenant, looking out at the wood that spread like
  a rippling green sea to the horizon. At least she
  had taken the time to put on her dress, although it
  was scant protection against the cold. I went up
  behind her and put my cloak around her shoulders.
  She did not register my presence, her eyes fixed on
  the trees while she sang wordlessly a barely audible
  tune, the same lilting, tripping tune she had been
  singing since the day she got lost in the wood. For
  the moment I said nothing, merely putting my
  arms around her and holding her to me.
  � � �
  The woman heard a quiet chuckle, and turned
  to face the figure that had appeared behind her. He
  was tall and slender, with short, blond hair, an
  aquiline face and pale skin. His silver eyes were
  slanted, with something disturbingly feral in them,
  and his ears were finely pointed. He wore a tunic
  made of strange, silver cloth and britches of the
  same material, but his feet were bare. Hanging on
  a strap from his left shoulder was a silver harp.
  “Welcome, Estelle,” he said, “You honour me
  with your visit.” His voice was unearthly, some-
  thing between a tinkling brook and a lively jig. His
  gaze resting on her was enough to make her blush,
  her cheeks flaming redder than she had ever
  known them to before. She knew him for what he
  was and she was afraid, but unable to tear her gaze
  away from his.
  “Fear not,” he said, “I mean you no harm. I
  would merely spend some time in your company.”
  His eyes spoke of more than pleasant conversa-
  tion, and she found that this both repelled and fas-
  cinated her in the same moment. When he came
  forward to push the hood away from her hair, she
  wanted to step back, to flinch away from his touch,
  but she was rooted to the spot, her hands limp at
  her sides, the basket having tumbled to the earth.
  His touch was gentle, but she could feel the animal
  lust behind it. Sensing her reluctance, he stepped
  back.
  “Does my shape offend you, my dear? Perhaps
  you would prefer me like this?” As he spoke, his
  form shifted before her eyes, becoming that of a
  man closer to her own height, gaunt rather than
  slim, clad in a simple brown robe. The harpist
  looked at her with her husband’s pale grey eyes,
  reaching up to brush a wisp of brown hair out of
  15
  
  his face with her husband’s gesture. As he stepped
  forward again she felt panic rise, numbing her
  senses, but she managed to croak out from a dry
  throat and parched lips:
  “Lord God help me…”
  � � �
  I do not know how long I held her for, but
  when I eventually moved around in front of her to
  look her in the face, she continued to ignore my
  presence. I deliberately blocked her view of the
  16
  
  wood, but she merely moved her head to look over
  my shoulder, all the time singing that same tune. I
  took her by the shoulders and shook her, calling
  her name, but she did not react, her eyes fixed on
  the trees beyond. Even when I turned her away
  from the wall and began to walk her back to our
  chambers, she continued looking back over her
  shoulder. When the wood dropped out of sight,
  she struggled briefly in an absent-minded fashion,
  then acquiesced, all the time staring off into space
  somewhere ahead of us. I took her back to our
  room and laid her on the bed. She continued to
  stare off into nothingness, still singing the tune
  that had occupied her mind for the last week.
  I stood back from the bed and looked down at
  her. This was the worst I had seen her. When she
  had first returned from the wood she had been dis-
  tant, and quietly singing the tune, but she had
  responded when she was spoken to, only drifting
  off into her reverie if her attention was not occu-
  pied by an external stimulus. Naturally I had
  noticed the change in her usually lively demeanour,
  and suspected the faeries of the wood of being
  responsible. I had attempted, through use of Intel-
  lego Mentem magics, to discover more. I began
  with spells of low magnitude. These were all
  greeted with the same result, a snippet of the tune
  I had heard her sing, played out of the empty air
  on a stringed instrument which I guessed to be a
  harp. I had attempted spells of higher magnitudes,
  eventually taking the drastic step of augmenting
  them with raw vis, but all had been greeted with
  the same snippet of music. Deeply worried and
  frustrated, I had consulted other members of the
  covenant. Naturally, the first person I went to was
  Talion, the Merinita. He listened to my story, then
  laughed openly at me.
  “You should be pleased, sodalis. It sounds as if
  your wife has been blessed by a lord of the wood.
  She is not in obvious pain, so leave her to her
  music.”
  No amount of persuasion, cajoling, threats or
  bribery would convince Talion to help me, nor was
  I confident of beating him in Certamen, and so I
  left him and went to seek help elsewhere. Calliope
  of Criamon muttered unintelligibly at me about
  the enigmatic significance of what had happened,
  and Damocles of Flambeau was characteristically
  unhelpful, merely suggesting that I should seek out
  the offending faerie and “charcoal” him. Finally I
  approached Eloise Ex Miscellanea, a village witch
  who had joined the Order and the covenant some
  months ago. She invited me into her chamber, and
  refused to let me tell my story until she had made
  sure I was sitting comfortably in a chair by the fire,
  a steaming goblet of spiced wine at my right hand.
  Then she eased her aged body into another chair,
  looked over at me with clear green eyes and bade
  me begin. I poured out my tale from start to fin-
  ish, with her gently interrupting me from time to
  time to clarify a detail here, have me expand on a
  reference there, so that by the time I was done, I
  had given her an account that was much more
  complete and detailed than that which I had given
  to Talion. Then she leaned back in her chair and
  spent some moments deep in thought, her eyes
  fixed on the fire. At last she stirred, and told me
  what she thought I must do.
  � � �
  No sooner had the words passed her lips than
  her husband was gone, and the faerie harpist was
  towering over her, feral eyes blazing with rage, and
  his face twisted in an animal snarl.
  “You dare mention His name here, with me?
  You DARE?”
  She shrank away in terror, although he had not
  touched her. She was still unable to command her
  legs to run, but she tried to be as small and inof-
  fensive as possible to the creature that raged at her.
  He raised a hand, and she thought he would strike
  her, but suddenly he was silent, looking at her
  through eyes which continued to burn with anger.
  When he spoke his voice was cold.
  “You do not know it yet, Estelle, but you are
  mine. No one can keep you from me, not your
  indifferent God, not your pathetic cantrip-mum-
  bling husband, no one. From now you will think of
  me and no other. You will not be at ease until you
  come back to me.”
  He reached behind him, taking his harp in his
  left arm. With the fingers of his right hand he
  plucked a lilting melody, a tripping jig, which
  repeated itself over and over. She felt the tune
  enter her ears, blocking out all other sounds. It
  danced through her brain and dominated her sens-
  es, making it difficult to think clearly. She was
  enveloped in a thick veil, which obscured her sur-
  roundings. Finally the force rooting her to the spot
  slackened, and she was able to move. She
  wrenched herself away from the clearing, feeling
  as if she had left a piece of herself bleeding on the
  glittering grass, and knowing now that she was tru-
  ly lost.
  � � �
  I have been putting this off for days, but as
  time has passed, Estelle has become more and
  more distant, although this is the first day that she
  has refused to acknowledge me. No one here can
  help her, and I am afraid to take her to any of the
  greater covenants, for fear of what they might
  want to do to her. So I am following Eloise’s
  advice, and taking my Estelle to the woods. There
  I will plead for her to be restored to me. I have lit-
  tle hope of success, for I do not know what dan-
  gers will face us, nor how best to deal with them.
  So if I do not return, let it be known that Lucianus
  of Jerbiton and his wife Estelle are somewhere
  within the wood.
  Dear reader, should you attempt a rescue, you
  will find us singing to the lilting tune of a faerie
  harp.
  17
  
  House Traditions
  by J. Angus MacDonald
  Since magi are independent by nature, they have little
  need for organization and politics. (WGRE, p. 15)
  C
  ovenants are the centrepieces of the
  Order of Hermes, maybe even more
  important in their own way than the Tri-
  bunals. Certainly they matter above all
  else in play. From a gaming point-of-view,
  covenants are the creation of the players and sto-
  ryguide in tandem; from an Order of Hermes
  point-of-view they are the dynamic expression of
  the Order in toto. According to Wizards’ Grimoire
  Revised Edition, less than one third of all Covenants
  are single-House covenants; the reason is that such
  covenants become stagnant in their studies
  (WGRE, p. 43).
  Houses of the Order are keepers of tradition,
  both their own idiosyncratic ones and those of the
  Order as a whole. Each House has certain tradi-
  tions and tendencies, some quite rigid, others more
  open and flexible. Such traditions and tendencies
  are passed along from parens to apprentice with
  each successive generation. This is the standard
  view.
  The problem here is actually quite a complicat-
  ed one. Given that few covenants are mono-
  House institutions, how do these traditions con-
  tinue to be passed down without significant
  changes? In this article I intend to provide answers
  to this puzzle, with suggestions for how they
  might be inserted into various campaigns.
  Traditions and Tendencies
  First a couple of definitions should be made of
  terms that will be used in this article. The word
  “Tradition” is herein taken to mean not merely
  dietary habits, celebrations, manners of dress and
  the like, but also the hard-and-fast rules particular
  to each House. “Tendency”, by way of contrast, is
  taken to mean those notions surrounding a House
  that are not absolutely required by rules or tradi-
  tions, but are seen as a standard image of the
  House.
  Example 1: By Tradition members of
  House Bonisagus are given deference (Her-
  metic Prestige), may take promising appren-
  tices away from other magi to train as their
  own, and are required to make their new
  findings public; by Tendency they are theo-
  retical lab-rats, but there is also a sub-ten-
  dency towards being politically inclined.
  Example 2: House Flambeau by Tradition
  has a meeting amongst its members at ran-
  dom times and in random locations; by
  Tendency they are magi of Ignem, but some
  prefer Perdo.
  What are the traditions and tendencies we
  speak of within each of the Houses? For conven-
  ience I present the following guidelines gleaned
  from various rules and supplements (next page).
  Now let us return to the problem. Each magus
  was once an apprentice. Each apprentice is taught
  by a parens steeped in the traditions and tenden-
  cies of a given House. Over fifteen years of train-
  ing the apprentice makes these traditions and ten-
  dencies part of his or her own being. This makes
  a certain amount of sense. On the other hand the
  apprentice is also living in a Covenant. In this
  Covenant, according to game canon, are members
  of differing Houses, each with a differing point-
  of-view as to how one is to view magic, what is
  important in and to the Order of Hermes, and
  how to approach magical and philosophical prob-
  lems. Also there is the very real possibility that
  there is more than one apprentice in this
  Covenant. In other words the apprentice is not
  merely learning from his or her parens, but also
  from the Covenant environment.
  Possible Comparisons
  How then are traditions passed along unbro-
  ken? If we are to compare a House to anything
  contemporary to the characters, the best corollary
  is a monastic order. Carthusians have slightly dif-
  ferent practices from Benedictines, but all are part
  of the Church. The two groups believe in the same
  God, agree on the same theology, accept the
  authority of the Pope, and other such external
  matters. Within their monasteries Carthusians, like
  Benedictines, study the Bible, copy books, say
  rounds of prayers, say Mass, and live in seclusion.
  On the other hand, the two orders have slightly
  different schedules for their prayers, important
  feast days, views on how much manual labour
  should be balanced by how much contemplative
  work, and so on. Each monastic order therefore
  maintains its own set of traditions.
  The corollary breaks down when we jump
  from the Church to the Order of Hermes. Where-
  as Carthusians and Benedictines do not share
  monasteries with each other, the Houses of the
  Order share Covenants. Where an oblate to the
  Benedictines would be inculcated in the rituals of
  that order in an environment utterly given over to
  the Benedictine Order and its view of how the
  worship of God should take place, the apprentice
  of a given House is brought up in an environment
  far from conducive to maintaining such traditions.
  Indeed, it would seem that each Covenant would
  form at a minimum new tendencies that would be
  picked up by the apprentice, rather than strictly
  those espoused by a particular House.
  Now, the Houses could be compared to the
  newly-emerging guilds rather than to monasteries.
  Here there is an advantage in that cities are dynam-
  ic environments with many people maintaining a
  variety of traditions and tendencies. On the other
  hand, each guild is localized, rather than spread
  across a wide area, and the actual training and
  18
  
  ceremonies of the guild take place somewhat
  removed from outside influences. This is especial-
  ly true given that many cities group types of busi-
  nesses (e.g. fullers and weavers) in a specific sec-
  tion of town.
  Other writers and list-contributors have com-
  pared the Houses to university departments, mod-
  ern business environments, or other non-contem-
  porary groups. As these groups are not part of
  Mythic Europe I find the comparisons forced.
  They might work from a game mechanics point-
  of-view, but certainly they do not fit the general
  environment in which the game takes place.
  Possible Solutions
  As I see the problem, there are three possible
  outcomes.
  - Option 1: Maintain the Houses as written.
  In this case most Covenants of the Order
  would have to be mono-House Covenants.
  This would allow for full maintenance of
  traditions and tendencies. Essentially the
  communities would be established in which
  such traditions would be accepted, regular,
  and acknowledged. The Order of Hermes
  becomes an overarching structure that legit-
  imizes the formation of Houses and possi-
  bly even licenses when and where new
  Covenants could be established, much like
  the Church did with monastic communities
  and the newly-emerging mendicant orders.
  The Tribunals become regional designa-
  tions, but are not nearly as important politi-
  cally. Tribunal meetings would address
  regional issues and concerns, but the Hous-
  es would look into most matters regarding
  Covenant function, as each House would,
  almost of necessity, police its own. Houses
  would definitely have special meetings and
  some form of internal authority structure to
  make sure that the dictates of the House are
  maintained. There is a very strong chance
  that the designation Quaesitor and Redcap
  would become offices rather than Houses as
  they serve the Order of Hermes as a whole
  before anything else.
  - Option 2: Maintain the Covenant structure.
  However, this reduces the importance of
  Houses; Tendencies might well be main-
  tained, but few traditions. At this point the
  Order functions more or less as currently
  written, with the Tribunals acting as region-
  al administrative units overseeing the
  Covenants for the larger body of the Order.
  House designation is usually a badge one
  creates for oneself, although there are others
  who might label you. Houses could then
  function as political parties, schools of
  thought, or trading groups, but they would
  not really be recognized by the Order as a
  unit. The number of Houses might actually
  increase and become more regionalized.
  Again Quaesitor and Redcap become office
  titles, rather than particular Houses. Tri-
  bunals become the political centre of the
  19
  House
  Bjornaer
  Bonisagus
  Criamon
  Ex Miscellanea
  Flambeau
  Guernicus/Qaesitor
  Jerbiton
  Mercere
  Merinita
  Tremere
  Tytalus
  Verditius
  Traditions
  Heart-Beast;
  Gathering of Twelve Years;
  no familiars
  Position of respect;
  allowed to take apprentices from
  other magi;
  must make all discoveries public
  Form in clutches;
  have tattoos; Enigmatic Wisdom
  None
  Erratic gatherings of the House
  Do not vote at Tribunal meetings (at
  least directly);
  maintain the laws of the Order
  Larta magi accepted
  Messengers of the Order
  Faerie Magic
  Problems of getting one’s own sigil;
  complete control of House by elders
  Struggle
  Poor casters without devices;
  great inventors; use Verditius Runes
  Tendencies
  Dislike of fire magics;
  nature-loving
  Theoretical researchers
  Speak in koan or otherwise mystical
  manner
  None
  Most are Ignem magi
  Split between those who follow the
  Letter and the Spirit of the law
  Like art or philosophy or close ties
  with mundanes
  Most are non-magical
  Like faeries
  Strong with Certámen
  Struggle
  Create enchanted items regularly;
  poor use of spontaneous magics
  
  Order and meetings become very vibrant,
  perhaps even dangerous, affairs.
  - Option 3: Say, “Hey! This is only a game!
  The Houses are a convenient way to intro-
  duce people to the Order of Hermes!” Fol-
  lowing this wise “get a life” attitude, we
  would just ignore this article. Sometimes
  this is a sane attitude…
  The Special Cases: Verditius,
  Bjornaer, Merenita & Ex Miscellanea
  These Houses each pose problems of their
  own. Verditius, Merenita, and Bjornaer are the
  Houses that truly mark one as a member by actu-
  ally affecting the Gift.
  When one apprentices with House Bjornaer, a
  Heart-Beast is awakened (or in some cases a
  Heart-Shape). This sets the magus apart from oth-
  er magi not of this House. As such the Bjornaer
  magus gains deep insight into this animal (or
  shape), but loses the ability to have a familiar.
  While there has been some discussion as to “Just
  how different is a Bjornaer from a [fill in House]
  shapeshifter?”, the major point here is what
  becomes of the Follower of Bjornaer virtue? If
  the Houses are maintained (see Option 1 above)
  there is no real trouble. Indeed it becomes easier to
  explain how the gaining of the Heart-Beast takes
  place — there are particular secret ceremonies
  known only to House Bjornaer that bring out the
  Heart-Beast.
  When one apprentices with House Verditius,
  all magic is suddenly tied to widgets. For each spell
  learned the Verditius magus crafts an artifact that
  must be used when actually casting the spell. This
  does create the problem of what a Verditius uses
  for spontaneous magic, but that is not specifically
  addressed. One imagines a Verditius carrying a
  host of “just in case” items that would aid in vari-
  ous combinations for spontaneous spells, but this
  is pure speculation. Conversely the Verditius
  magus gains the ability to craft superior enchanted
  items. This I see as a true “guild mystery”, much
  more so than the specialties of other Houses.
  Each master imparts secret wisdom to his or her
  apprentice with special instructions not to pass
  these mysteries to others who are not true mem-
  bers of the guild.
  When one apprentices with House Merenita,
  all magic is somehow attached to “Faerie Magic”,
  one of the most ill-defined terms in Ars Magica.
  Unlike the Verditius flaw, Faerie Magic does not
  hinder the mage. Instead it is supposed to add a
  particular “flavour” to one’s magic. Until WGRE
  was published this addition caused little trouble
  other than minor amounts of confusion, such as
  what truly constitutes a “fay” spell. Chapter 11 of
  WGRE, however, added new levels of headaches.
  Now one’s score in Faerie Magic actively degrades
  one’s ability to use standard magic while simulta-
  neously granting very large bonuses with “fay”
  spells. The problem, as always, is that the nature of
  such faerie magics is still ill-defined and is open to
  wide levels of abuse. Then again, I have yet to find
  a campaign that uses the modified Faerie Magic
  rules without major levels of modification.
  Ex Miscellanea is to me more of a philosophi-
  cal conundrum. What exactly is the purpose of
  this House? From a straight gaming point-of-view
  it is gumbo — whatever you want to be, if it does-
  n’t fit somewhere else in the Order of Hermes, it
  fits here in House Ex Miscellanea. The history of
  the House, however, points to something a little
  different — it is the refuge for those magi not of
  the Hermetic tradition who wish to be acknowl-
  edged as part of the Order of Hermes. This leaves
  in question the exact position of the House. It
  could be:
  - Option 1: A House devoted to individuals
  who do not learn in the Hermetic style, and
  thus are always a foreign body within the
  Order. In this case none of the magi of the
  House would be created in the “normal”
  manner; instead they would be vitkr, cun-
  ning folk, gruagachan, and the like. Essen-
  tially the House would act as a “dumping
  ground” for those not truly Hermetic and
  the “magi” of this House would perpetuate
  these traditions under the auspices of the
  Order. The House would have no real polit-
  ical power as the members would be sec-
  ond-class citizens within the Order (those of
  a corrupted Gift).
  - Option 2: A half-way House, given to intro-
  ducing hedge-magi to the Order. In this case
  while one is nominally part of House Ex
  Miscellanea, this is only a designator until
  such time as the rudiments of the true Her-
  metic tradition are learned; at that point one
  is most likely re-designated as a member of
  another House. The few actual members of
  the House act more like mentors, diplomats,
  and social workers than fulfilling the func-
  tion standard magi. In this case the House
  needs no real political status within the
  Order as it charitable institution and crash-
  training centre.
  - Option 3: A true hodge-podge House of no
  coherence whatsoever. A few magi would be
  Hermetic, albeit with some odd quirks, a
  few would be hedge-magi, and a few would
  some melding of the two. This is more or
  less how the House currently functions, yet
  it is the most tenuous. Obviously there is
  nothing to keep this functioning as a single
  House other than the designation as such by
  other Houses. Indeed, it would seem that
  wherever this House, in this form, is strong,
  the rules of the Order would be weaker as
  the tendency to recognize the central
  authority of the Order as a whole would be
  vastly weakened.
  20
  
  The Mysteries
  I have a great fondness for The Mysteries, as do
  many of us currently involved with Ars Magica.
  These groupings provide a much-needed medieval
  flavour to the magic system of Ars Magica. As has
  been said many times, the least medieval aspect of
  Ars Magica is the presence of the magi themselves.
  The Mysteries goes a long way towards correcting
  this problem by providing a more period feel to
  the Order.
  The Mysteries do pose problems however. The
  first problem has been addressed by many people:
  how many breakdowns and groupings can there be
  in the Order? This is related to the number of
  magi people feel are in existence in toto for the
  game. The second problem relates more directly to
  this article: how much do the Mysteries and Hous-
  es overlap?
  Looking to the two possible solutions I have
  proposed to the House problem, the position of
  the Mysteries could be answered in two entirely
  different manners. If Houses become more
  prominent (i.e. most Covenants are mono-House),
  the Mysteries become a sort of underground net-
  work that both ties part of the Order closer
  together by cutting across House lines as well as
  tears it apart by creating cabals that function in
  spite of House affiliations. Whether a given Mys-
  tery tears apart or binds together is more or less
  dependent on the particular Mysteries themselves.
  Equally the Lineages become interesting — given
  the same situation it would seem that the Lineages
  are tied to specific Covenants (e.g. the Line of Luj
  for House Tremere is really a specific Covenant
  somewhere in the Balkans).
  The second solution to their position comes
  into play with the withering of the Houses (i.e.
  “House” is merely a badge or loose affiliation). In
  this case the Mysteries become something more
  informal than the Houses as currently written, yet
  less tenuous and more important that the “badge”
  or “label” level of Houses. The Mysteries at this
  point form coherent groups that range across Tri-
  bunal borders creating links and alliances within
  the Order as a whole. Indeed they would probably
  be the seed point for the politics of the Order, but
  only if they actually have semi-regular meetings
  that would help reinforce their structure. Such
  meetings are already discussed in The Mysteries. Lin-
  eages become something more problematic unless
  they are themselves recast as Mysteries. Certainly
  this would be an option.
  Conclusions
  The Houses of Hermes are useful guides into
  the game of Ars Magica. They help us get ideas for
  character generation and help formulate notions
  of alliance and rivalry. These are very good from a
  gaming perspective. As I have tried to demon-
  strate, however, the Houses as currently portrayed
  make less sense from a political or sociological
  perspective. I hope this article gives some food for
  thought in your campaign. Even if no one else
  changes the structure of the Order of Hermes in
  their campaign after reading this, I hope it has pro-
  vided some entertainment.
  My thanks go out to everyone who has ever
  answered one of my annoying postings on the
  BerkList, Gaming Outpost, and WebRPG Townhall
  Forum. I would like to give special thanks to Jere-
  miah Genest for providing me with feedback to
  my meanderings over the years (one day we must
  meet in person…).
  Most especially Niall Christie deserves men-
  tion, both for his willingness to provide direct
  feedback to this article and to listen to my ram-
  blings both by telephone and e-mail. Any person
  willing to tackle an editing job in the middle of an
  international move is going above and beyond the
  call of duty. THANKS!
  21
  Dear Abelard
  Translator’s Note:
  D
  ear Abelard is a column devoted to the
  writings of an elderly follower of Bonisagus
  who believed the best way to fulfill his duty to
  the Order was to share all of his advice and
  research in the form of written correspondence with a net-
  work of readers, carried by Redcaps to magi throughout
  Mythic Europe. If, through the course of your saga or stud-
  ies, you discover a question that you think could have at one
  time been answered by Abelard, please forward it to the edi-
  tor,
  Hermes.Portal@wanadoo.fr or to
  dearabelard@yahoo.com
  and we will attempt to find a record of his reply.
  � � �
  Salvete Sodales,
  This winter season, while the snow lies upon
  the ground and the wind blows through the trees,
  as the cold days and colder nights seep the warmth
  from my skin and draw out the youth from my
  body, my thoughts turn to the memory of a story
  I heard while travelling in Britannia, in the Stone-
  henge Tribunal. It concerns a king of men, and a
  king of faeries. I am told the tale is true, but I am
  no expert in Faerie Lore and I mean no offence to
  the Good Folk. I merely offer this tale as an illus-
  tration of winter and the effect it may have on
  kings and men.
  “In an older time, many years ago, the ruler of
  the Britons was named King Henga. One winter,
  while hunting,
  a strange dwarf
  creature
  approached him, riding on a goat. He had a large
  head and a bushy red beard, and his feet were
  
  hooves. However, he spoke well and behaved with
  a noble bearing. ‘Hail, King Henga!’ he said. ‘I am
  the lord of a mighty realm with many vassals, and
  I bring you a message of friendship. You are the
  best of all kings who rule this upper world, and to
  do you honour I mean to be your guest when you
  are married next year. Perhaps you do not know it
  yet, but ambassadors from the King of France are
  already on their way to offer you his daughter’s
  hand. Farewell until then!’ With that, the dwarf-
  king turned swiftly and vanished.
  “The next day, as the creature had said, the
  ambassadors arrived, and the marriage was
  arranged. The daughter was widely regarded as
  beautiful and good, and when she arrived a year
  later, she and King Henga were happily wedded.
  As they sat to the feast, the strange king he had
  met hunting was suddenly there with a great crowd
  of followers, so that they filled every seat and
  crowded the courtyard with silk tents. They
  brought rich wine and fine musicians, and heaped
  gifts before the bride. All were amazed and
  pleased. Then, the dwarf said to King Henga,
  ‘Most excellent king, I have fulfilled my promise. I
  only ask that a year from now, when I am married,
  you will honour my wedding as I have honoured
  yours.’ Henga agreed, and the strange guests
  returned to their tents and were gone by morning.
  “King Henga did not forget his promise. All
  that year he gathered presents worthy of such a
  noble friend, and on the day when the dwarf king’s
  guides arrived, King Henga and his knights set out
  with them, laden with gifts. They had not gone far
  when they reached a high cliff, and they were led
  deep into a dark cave lit with torches. Soon they
  emerged into a green meadow, and a great castle
  stood before them. There the Dwarf King met
  them, and led them into his splendid palace. The
  wedding was held, and all of them feasted and
  made merry for three days and nights. Before they
  left, the king gave Henga a little hound, small
  enough to sit with him on the saddle, and said,
  ‘The return journey is dangerous. None of you
  must dismount from your horses until this hound
  leaps from the saddle.’ With that, they left, and
  rode through the caves until they emerged on the
  other side, where the entrance closed behind them.
  “Henga was anxious to return to his wife, and
  when he saw a peasant working he summoned him
  and asked what news there was of his queen. The
  peasant stood for a moment, then said: ‘Sir, I hard-
  ly understand you, for you speak in the old Welsh
  tongue. I think I have heard the name of the lady
  you mention, for an old story tells that she married
  a king named Herla, who ruled this land long ago.
  Men say that he rode away to a distant land and
  was never seen again.’ Upon hearing this, some of
  Henga’s knights cried out, and two of them leapt
  to the ground. As their feet touched the earth, the
  weight of their years came upon them, and they
  crumbled into dust. Henga anxiously bid the oth-
  ers to remain seated, for the hound still sat before
  him, and they rode on.
  “It is said that Henga never found his lands, for
  all had been destroyed in battle by the conquering
  Saxons. Snow and ice lay heavily on the earth, hid-
  ing all that was familiar, and wherever the king and
  his knights travelled, all was changed and foreign
  to them. To this day, they are sometimes seen rid-
  ing madly through the country, waiting in vain for
  the hound to leap from the saddle, and mourning
  the many years that were lost to them in Faerie.”
  So too might we all yearn for the years that we
  have lost, and seek to undo the choices we have
  made that have worked out for ill. Perhaps even we
  magi of the Order may regret the choices we have
  made in the past, and long to experience the joys
  of marriage or friends we have forsaken. But time
  cannot be broken, and age cannot be undone. As
  we read on to those others who have written here
  with advice and goodwill, let us consider this sto-
  ry and think upon what we have now that we val-
  ue, that we may thank God for his blessings and
  wisely spend the time that we have given to us.
  � � �
  Dear Abelard,
  I am writing to ask you to help me with my dif-
  ficult situation. I am not a member of your Order,
  but I am familiar with it and your writings due to
  my fortunate position as a servant in the covenant
  of Bellaquin, in what you call the Provençal Tri-
  bunal. As I help to manage our covenant’s
  resources, specifically our expenses and income, I
  believe that I have earned the trust of the great
  men and women whom I serve. However, I feel
  the difference between us keenly, for I do not
  wield the power and presence of my masters, and
  thus I try to keep to my place, as a good servant
  should.
  I am secretly affected by great anguish, which
  none but you will now know fully. One of the
  newest magi to join Bellaquin is a handsome,
  strong and charismatic man very close to my age.
  The gods of beauty have truly blessed him. I have
  lived for four and twenty years, and I assure you I
  am not given to girlish fantasies of true love or the
  lustful desires of the flesh. I have been courted
  many times before, but I have never thought to
  seek a husband. Yet I cannot stop thinking about
  this man. I fail in my duties when I spy him from
  afar, as I stare at his body and imagine him hold-
  ing me in his arms. My cheeks and hands become
  warm when he draws near, such that I cannot hold
  a quill, and my breath accelerates so that my dis-
  tress must be obvious, though fortunately he has
  seemed not to notice.
  I feel that these thoughts I have of him are sin-
  ful and wrong, but I cannot stop them. If he
  should come to me, I could not refuse him. Yet I
  do not know if we could ever be married, for I do
  not know if your Order would punish him for
  choosing a partner below his station, and I believe
  22
  
  I am surely not as desirable a mother for his child-
  ren as a woman with your Gift. Please, dear
  Abelard, can you advise me what I should do?
  Have I no hope of a virtuous relationship with this
  man? I am frightened that I will have to leave this
  place for ever if I cannot control myself and in
  weakness expose my longing for him.
  Signed,
  Margaret in Provence
  My dear Margaret,
  Your letter has caused me great concern and
  worry for you, for your position is not a happy
  one. I regret that I must give you unpleasant
  advice. I beg you to be strong.
  While it is not impossible for a union such as
  you describe to occur, it is very unlikely. Few magi
  in my experience take wives or husbands, for the
  magic that sustains us beyond our years makes it
  impossible for our bodies to sire or bear children.
  As the Church teaches that this is the rightful pur-
  pose of marriage, it is wrong for us to enter into
  that holy union without the ability to fulfil our
  duty. Perhaps you have some little hope in this
  regard, for if the magus you love is younger than
  thirty, he may not yet have need of a longevity
  potion, and thus his virility may remain undam-
  aged. If this is so, he may physically be able to take
  you as a wife.
  But, alas, there are the issues you fear concern-
  ing the differences between a magus of the Order
  and their custodes. Having consulted my wise ami-
  ca Moratamus, I can tell you that there seem to be
  no traditional prohibitions within the Order
  against magi taking wives or husbands, but in Nor-
  mandy and Provence, at least, there are social pro-
  hibitions. Many magi come to think of those with-
  out the Gift who live with them and serve them as
  men and women beneath their station. Like a lord
  who loves his servant, such marriages are often
  considered unthinkable.
  It is unfortunate that your position at Bellaquin
  may be threatened by this (you will notice I have
  substituted the name of a different covenant to
  protect your reputation). If an unpleasant situation
  develops between you and the magus you seem to
  love, it is possible that the governing body of Bel-
  laquin would send you away. This is not just, but
  the Order tends to value our brethren over our
  custos. I bring this fact to your attention to warn
  you of the possible consequences of acting upon
  your desire.
  And yet, this magus may admire you and con-
  sider you worthy of him. I cannot be sure of this.
  You might try to give him some signal, a sign of
  your feeling for him, to see how he responds. If he
  treats you with respect and affection, he may have
  or develop honourable intentions towards you. If
  he continues to treat you as a servant, or callously
  tries to take advantage of his position and your
  desire for him, you must begin the unpleasant task
  of suppressing your feelings for him. If you do
  not, I fear the pain will only grow worse.
  � � �
  Dear Abelard,
  Iardanus filius Marta of Bonisagus, patron of
  my covenant, has informed me that you and your
  readers might be interested to know something of
  the nature of pregnancy and childbirth and those
  aspects that would have particular significance to
  magi of the Order. He has asked me to send you
  my thoughts on the subject, as I have some per-
  sonal experience that may lend weight to my
  words. Personally, I am of the opinion that many
  magi attach a certain stigma to this topic and will
  therefore be uninterested in such a work.
  First, to speak to the physical effects of preg-
  nancy on a maga: it is certain that she will under-
  go some changes to her body and its functions
  that may hinder her ability to perform physical
  activities, but not so much as to render her inca-
  pacitated except in the event of extreme circum-
  stances. I have found that the first season of a
  pregnancy is the most physically taxing, although
  certainly some fatigue is felt throughout. By the
  third season her abdomen may have expanded
  such that she may experience some difficulty keep-
  ing to her feet, and her movement and agility will
  be decreased. If the maga was in good physical
  condition prior to the pregnancy, however, I
  believe she will be capable of performing all but
  the most gruelling of tasks, although it may not be
  wise to do so for fear of the child being harmed in
  some way during the process. Further, she may
  find that her eyesight changes or worsens, and she
  will perhaps experience an inability to properly
  concentrate on the task at hand, seeing as her mind
  is occupied with the upcoming birth and all its
  implications.
  Labour and birth itself require tremendous
  effort, and encompass an element of real danger
  for the maga. However, there are means, both
  mundane and magical, to alleviate these stresses.
  Many midwives possess knowledge of herbs and
  tisanes that will ease the pain of the process and
  perhaps act to staunch any undue bleeding. Fur-
  ther, I am sure that your readers will be familiar
  with spells such as Easing the Strain of Childbirth
  that also can assist a maga at this time, as will many
  of the standard Corpus spells that help us heal the
  body in other circumstances. I have heard that
  some secret magical lineages and cults of fertility
  may possess even more specific spells and charms
  of this sort, but I myself did not search these out.
  This said, however, I would not advise trying to
  seriously alter the course of a pregnancy through
  magical means. I would think any attempt to mag-
  ically create or alter a fœtus would run up against
  the limits of the soul and of essential nature.
  There are those who may consider infusing such a
  created child with a spirit, daemon or ghost, but I
  believe that you would only create a monstrous
  thing with a half-life that would soon have to be
  put down. There are other magical means to
  23
  
  induce pregnancy, as one of my socii has been
  considering. As he is interested in the subject of
  breeding and lineage, he has been working on rit-
  uals designed to increase the fertility of an area or
  group of people, or to inseminate a subject (or
  garner the seed, were it the other way round) by
  magical means so as to avoid any unwanted
  romantic encounters.
  The effects of conceiving or gestating in a
  magical aura or at a certain astrologically signifi-
  cant time would be unpredictable at best. I think
  you can guarantee that the child will have some
  manifestation of magic, but not what form that
  manifestation will take. I have not heard anything
  to the truth of this, but I would caution a maga
  who follows Bjornaer to think carefully before tak-
  ing the form of her heart-beast during a pregnan-
  cy, as the resulting child may also change, becom-
  ing more bestial than human or stuck somewhere
  between two shapes.
  Finally, there is much discussion as to whether
  one can influence breeding so as to insure that the
  children produced will be gifted, but no clear evi-
  dence has been reported either for or against. For
  more argument perhaps you might turn to Iar-
  danus to recommend any works on the subject; my
  socii has not yet published any of his findings on
  the matter.
  Thank you for taking an interest in this subject.
  I hope your readers do the same. Perhaps they will
  come to understand that reproducing is part of
  the natural life process of a human, even a gifted
  human, and is essential for the fullest understand-
  ing of the technique of Creo. I have frequently
  been dissatisfied with the derision that is some-
  times heaped upon those of us who choose to
  continue our line not only through our apprentices
  but also through our blood. Although I have more
  than adequately proven myself to the Order and
  neither fear nor tolerate such scorn, it does serve
  to discourage those younger and less accom-
  plished.
  Signed,
  Hoplite Cara Ayesha
  filia Adolphus doctrinae Flambonis ab Illyria
  My dear Cara Ayesha,
  I appreciate your advice, as I am also sure my
  readers will. Let us all consider your wise words
  and ponder the fact that as powerful as our magic
  is, it cannot create new life. God determined that a
  man and a woman can together make a child, and
  that no vis is required. This miracle of creation is
  indeed something from which we can all learn.
  Moratamis, my learned colleague, points out
  that since the child of a follower of Bjornaer
  might be damaged by changing shape, a spell
  designed to change a woman into an animal or
  some other form might also have deleterious
  effects on her unborn child. Even spells designed
  to aid magi by affecting their bodies, such as Gift of
  the Bear’s Fortitude or Endurance of the Berserkers may
  cause unexpected damage to women carrying
  children. Magi should therefore take great care
  about how they affect their sodales in this delicate
  condition. There is no precedent for legal recourse
  within the Order should an unborn child be dam-
  aged by magic, but there are certainly those who
  would support the mother with a Wizard’s War
  against the offender, especially if he acted with the
  intention to harm her or her offspring.
  � � �
  Confidential to Timor Flammae:
  You are in terrible danger. The Order forbids
  intercourse with the individuals you mention for
  very good reason, and unless you free yourself
  from this unfair arrangement, you will perish in
  more ways than one. Yes, I say unfair, for the cur-
  rency you offer in exchange is worth more than all
  the vis in Europe, and is impossible for you to
  replace, even with a lifetime of study of the most
  mysterious Arts. Thank God that you have had the
  strength to write to me, and seek solace in His
  Church. You must now set aside your magic and
  your studies until such time that you have atoned
  for your wrongdoings and have proven your
  repentance to the ultimate authority. Then the
  merchant of which you speak will have no further
  power over you, and you can begin to make
  amends for the child whose innocent soul you sent
  to God.
  Until next issue, my dear readers,
  abelard
  “Dear Abelard” was written by Lanatus, follower of
  Bonisagus, and his amica Moratamis, follower of Guerni-
  cus. To receive his regular correspondence, or to ask for his
  advice, please send your name, covenant and Tribunal to
  Dear Abelard, Scriptoris Socii, Normandy. Your confiden-
  tiality will be respected.
  24
  
  The Curious Tale of
  Vaska Praskovaya
  by Robert Hansen
  V
  aska was born to a young couple in
  Boraska, a market townlet in eastern
  Poland. His father had long hoped for
  a child, and the previous nine months
  had found him swelling with pride at the local tav-
  ern, where he spent most of his evenings, or the
  market stall where patrons found themselves buy-
  ing produce just to halt the flow of hyperbole.
  Most locals gave him the benefit of the doubt;
  Boraska had been but a small village until the
  opening of the market three years earlier, now,
  with farm producing being bought and sold the
  population was growing rapidly, the hamlet had its
  own priest, and the general feeling in the town
  itself was one of birth. Still, as the months passed,
  and the delivery approached, many prayed for an
  early birth to quiet the man.
  Vaska’s mother, in contrast, was always quiet
  and reserved, but as she swelled she seemed to
  develop the gentle radiance and beauty of one for
  whom the entire world is as it should be. The new
  priest, a passionate young man, blessed the unborn
  child, and the midwife warned of no complica-
  tions. The birth, when it came, was no more anx-
  ious than most, though the father had spent the
  afternoon drinking himself into a stupor in an
  effort to calm his nerves. The neighbours, clus-
  tered around the small house’s door, smiled in
  relief as the sound of grunting was replaced by the
  lusty wailing of a newborn.
  Their expressions changed, however, when a
  scream from the midwife was added to the gener-
  al clamour. Dropping the baby on the corner of
  the bed she fled the dwelling, pronouncing the
  child to touched by the devil. Hustling inside, the
  listeners found the exhausted mother staring in
  sick fascination at the tiny red object squalling on
  the bedding. Half of the child’s face was hideous-
  ly twisted and disfigured; one ear was missing and
  the eye was sunk deep into the skull. In a gaggle,
  they fled to inform the priest, the father and any-
  one else who would stand still to listen.
  The priest arrived to find the child being care-
  fully suckled by a grim-faced mother. “I have
  named him Vaska” she announced, before any
  could forestall her. “He is my son”.
  “He is touched by the Dark One” announced
  the priest, after examining the tiny face. “No good
  will come of this”. With a flourish of his heavy
  cape, he strode from the little house, followed by a
  flock of questioning neighbours.
  The father knew nothing of this; he had held
  to consciousness long enough to hear his new
  son’s first cry, and then had slipped quietly into
  unconsciousness, a smile imprinted on his face.
  This changed the next morning, when he roused
  to examine the new centre of his world, and
  beheld something clearly not of his get. He had
  spent the previous half of the year extolling the
  quality of his bloodline; the mother must have
  consorted with the Devil to produce such a mal-
  formed offspring.
  Vaska’s first memories were of the thin
  screams of his mother being beaten yet again by
  his father. The neighbours, knowing full well what
  was going on, refused to interfere in what they saw
  as his right as husband. The child was just nine
  months old when his mothers heart, tired by car-
  ing for a child single-handed and wearied from the
  ostracism of her neighbours, gave out during one
  of these chastisements. With an expression of sat-
  isfaction the drunken man reeled out of the house
  and collapsed unconscious in the snow. With none
  willing to approach the dwelling after dark for fear
  of what they might witness, it was not until the
  next morning that a sweeper found him dead of
  hypothermia.
  With both parents dead, young Vaska officially
  became a ward of the state, and, in a tradition
  brought with the recent influx of Christian influ-
  ence, was given into the care of the priest, much to
  the dismay of the minister, who’s opinion of his
  own rights and duties did not include caring for a
  small devil-child. However, orders from the bish-
  op that he must obey all aspects of the charter
  detailing the duties of a priest, drawn up at the
  baptism of the King, left him with little choice,
  and the assurance of his parishioners that he
  would be just the mentor required to “beat the
  devil out of that child” that decided him.
  Vaska’s childhood was short and brutal. The
  slightest mistake or wrongdoing, whether imagi-
  nary or real, was punished with harsh blows or
  constraint within a tiny cupboard. Almost as soon
  as he was able to walk, he was expected to earn his
  keep, performing the numerous chores even a
  small church requires to continue functioning.
  The child was considered subhuman, and treat-
  ed as such. He was expected to make do with
  ragged clothing and scraps, while those around
  him gorged on the donated bounty of the God-
  fearing villages. He was not even accorded the
  basic right of baptism; according to the scriptures,
  when he died he would have no hope of entering
  heaven, as he had not been cleansed of original
  sin.
  Vaska discovered this shortly after his fourth
  birthday; he had been taught to read latin at an ear-
  ly age to increase the range of menial tasks he
  could perform. This ability was put to the test by
  the priest, who would order him to memorise pas-
  sages of the Bible in addition to his ordinary tasks.
  However, the young boy showed an incredible
  aptitude for these challenges, though this went
  unnoticed for many years; Vaska quickly discov-
  ered that memorising more text simply resulted in
  the next task being made correspondingly more
  25
  
  difficult. Thus, while openly displaying moderate
  skill, he began to rapidly devour the tiny cache of
  religious texts owned by his guardian. While there
  was much he did not understand, he read and
  reread every page, pondering and discarding theo-
  ries and world-views.
  As he aged, the discrimination of those about
  him became more obvious. He quickly realised
  that all those around him did not live as he did, but
  that the world contained such wonders as love and
  joy. While he had vague recollections of a woman
  who would hold him in her arms and make every-
  thing seem right with the world, he forced himself
  into a more cynical outlook, ignoring love as soft
  and weak, merely because he had never experi-
  enced it himself.
  No adult would speak to him without some
  overriding reason, and when they did so they use
  harsh, clipped terms. They refused to allow their
  children to play with him; a needless order, since
  the only time one of his peers would speak with
  him was when dared by another. Vaska discovered
  that merely wandering around the town would
  earn him a scolding at best, or simply result in the
  setting of more chores.
  The solution to this dilemma was readily avail-
  able. Though Boraska itself was dependant on
  farmers and produce for its wealth, all of the
  cleared cropland lay to the south and the east. To
  the north lay vast expanses of wilderness; rocky
  outcrops studded with dripping fur trees. It was
  here that Vaska found what he considered to be
  his first true home.
  The boy whiled away many happy hours in the
  forest. Though he had no formal training, he
  taught himself the lore of the forest and wilder-
  ness. He learned the habits and tracks of the
  inhabitants, the properties of different species of
  plant (though not by their correct names). By fol-
  lowing the wild boar through the wilderness, he
  determined which plants would be safe to supple-
  ment his meagre diet. As his legs and arms became
  more powerful from the outdoor living, he learned
  to hunt down small animals. His first attempts at
  cooking ended badly, but soon he grew to depend
  upon this new source of energy to provide the
  vigour needed by a growing boy.
  This state of affairs might have continued, had
  it not been for the great storm that year. Vaska had
  spent three whole days polishing and arranging
  ornaments in the church for the feast of Boraska’s
  patron saint, and was desperate for some time
  alone. While the service started (he was, of course,
  excluded from such an important ceremony), he
  ignored the driving rain and made for his forest, to
  shelter under the outstretched branches.
  A few hours were spent happily hurling stones
  at a twig stuck upright in a tree stump, and halted
  only when the sound of dripping from the
  branches was shattered by a crash of thunder. The
  rain began to pour down through the trees, turn-
  ing the forest surface underfoot into a muddy
  morass. Turning to hurry home, Vaska caught his
  leg under an exposed root and crashed to the
  ground, badly twisting his ankle.
  In his earlier exuberance, he had ventured fur-
  ther that was his wont from the town, and he knew
  full well that he would be unable to drag himself
  the five miles back to the church in the storm.
  Twenty minutes of agonising crawling brought
  him to a small outcrop of rock under which he
  gratefully slid.
  Lying half-submerged in a pool of water, Vas-
  ka slowly realised that, unless he could find some
  way to warm himself, it was unlikely that he would
  survive the night. Unable to venture out, he was
  able to collect a small pile of twigs from within
  reach, but every branch was soaked through.
  Unwilling to admit defeat, he constructed a small
  pile and tried desperately to spark a warming fire
  into life.
  After almost an hour of effort, his attempts
  were becoming more, not less frantic. His legs had
  gone numb from the cold. His fingers raw and
  bleeding from the frenzied impacts of the flint on
  the striker, lungs raw from the hacking cough he
  had developed, he wished, more than anything he
  had wanted before, more than he had ever wanted
  to be whole and normal, more than he had prayed
  for the return of his loving mother, that the fire
  would catch and warm him.
  He assumed the tingling sensation building in
  his arms and legs was yet another symptom of
  approaching death from the cold, but it swelled
  inside him, making him feel as if he would burst
  from the pressure. As he opened his mouth and
  screamed, the pile of dead wood exploded into
  flames, incinerating much of the wood, and
  throwing the tiny shelter into harsh relief. Dizzy
  with exhaustion, Vaska had just enough energy to
  pile more damp wood onto the tiny inferno before
  sleep claimed him.
  On waking, the storm had slackened, and he
  was able to drag himself back to civilisation. He
  barely felt the beating he received for dirtying his
  rags, so preoccupied was he with what had
  occurred. On waking he had examined the fire,
  and was sure that his memories were not mere
  cold-fuelled hallucinations; even if he had some-
  how lit damp twigs no normal fire would have
  been sufficient to melt the solid rock above the
  flames.
  As far as he knew, unnatural powers came from
  two sources; his guardian often preached on the
  subject. Large-scale demonstrations of power
  were good things, granted by God. Smaller uses of
  power, such as a cow falling ill unexpectedly, were
  evil sent by some witch in the neighbourhood,
  powers that came directly from the Devil.
  However, the identity of a third group was
  slowly uncovered by some judicious listening and a
  few questions. Mages were a necessary evil, whose
  26
  
  power was not openly acknowledged as coming
  from the Dark One, although this seemed to be
  the source secretly considered most likely by the
  inhabitants of Boraska. Direct questions on the
  subject, however, drew even more blows that usu-
  al from those around him, and he resorted to the
  small stock of theological texts. In these, mages
  were often mentioned, but rarely more than in
  passing. Scholars and priests in the book often
  travelled ‘in the company of mages’, or van-
  quished evils ‘with the assistance of a mage’. No
  details, however, were forthcoming.
  Instinctively, Vaska knew that mentioning his
  new-found ability would be an extremely bad idea.
  Instead, he spent as much free time as he could
  sneak out in the wilderness, trying to recreate that
  27
  
  night he had formed fire. Hon his first attempt, he
  spent many hours attempting to summon the
  power from inside himself. Enraged by his failure
  when evening came, he eventually managed to
  channel his fury and blast a tree.
  Practise brought control and finesse. He no
  longer required hatred and anger to wield his pow-
  er; the memory of the priest beating him, or the
  losses he had suffered, was enough to draw the
  energy out of him and summon fire. He was care-
  ful never to display any indication of power in
  town; if anything, abuse became easier to stand
  with the knowledge that he had to power to take
  revenge if he chose to use it.
  Just six months after he began experimenting
  with this new-found power, a stranger in a dark
  cloak arrived in the town. While Boraska was not
  unused to stranger, this one had an air of mystery
  and power which caused those around him to
  avoid him where possible. It drew Vaska to him
  like a moth to a flame.
  Vaska trailed the man around the markets for a
  day. Vaska was good at making himself inconspic-
  uous, but he was sure from the way his target held
  himself that his presence was known. Eventually,
  the memory of chores undone forced Vaska to
  return to the church, determined to finish his pol-
  ishing as quickly as possible and track down the
  mysterious man again.
  He felt, rather than heard, the presence behind
  him. Turning, he found himself staring into the
  dark, glinting eyes of one he knew to be a kindred
  spirit. The dark man proceeded to explain the
  basic system of Hermatic magic; the process of
  apprenticeship, power and responsibility. He
  acknowledged himself as a member of House
  Flambeau, and offered Vaska the place as his
  apprentice.
  Vaska had never had anyone speak openly to
  him, as an equal, and his thirst for knowledge
  drove him to a rapid decision. “This is not some-
  thing to enter into lightly, however”, noted his
  master-to-be, before Vaska could voice his accept-
  ance. “I will leave town at first light tomorrow
  morning, it was your power that drew me here
  anyway. If you wish to dedicate your life to magic,
  you may join me”.
  As the man he now knew to be an authentic
  mage swept from the church, Vaska felt like he was
  about to explode with joy. He had the opportunity
  to find a place he would fit in, where he would be
  accepted for what he was, rather than what he
  looked like. He was capering with glee as he
  replaced the ornaments on their respective shelves;
  he would be gone by tomorrow morning, no need
  for polishing now. It was as he was doing so that
  he heard that tap of a shoe on the floor behind
  him.
  “So, I always knew that you were touched by
  the Devil! Consorting with that spawn of Satan,
  who wields evil powers openly! Well, since I can-
  not rouse the village and turn their righteous anger
  against him, I will ensure that his evil influence
  spreads no further!” So saying, the priest sent Vas-
  ka sprawling. Seizing a candlestick from the shelf,
  he declared “But, before I lock you in the closet to
  ensure you remain true to the faith, I will beat the
  evil from your hide!” So saying, he began to rain
  blows upon the cowering Vaska, screaming
  “Repent!” with each impact.
  Vaska’s mind was filled with a soundless
  scream of rage. His opportunity for a good life,
  for fulfilment and happiness, was being snatched
  by this ignorant cleric, too sure of his own right-
  eousness to acknowledge his prejudice or selfish-
  ness. Finally, the rage took over; as his parent for
  the last ten years raised the weapon to head-height,
  it exploded in a shower of molten metal. Scream-
  ing, trying to protect his face, the man hurled the
  misshapen lump from him, where it set fire to
  some draperies. Soon the church was burning vio-
  lently, and its pastor was crawling outside, attempt-
  ing to sooth his ruined hands and face. Vaska
  limped out unnoticed in the confusion, and tired
  to put as much distance between himself and the
  blaze as possible, until he was halted by a figure
  blocking his path.
  “This was not what I had in mind when I
  offered you an apprenticeship. It may be that you
  do not have to control required to act as a Mage”.
  It was only then that the man noticed the bleeding
  wounds covering Vaska’s back. “However, I think
  that perhaps in these very special circumstances I
  can afford to be lenient. Now, let us leave before
  that priest decides that something else needs burn-
  ing, eh”. With that, he led Vaska to a pair of hors-
  es, which, instead of snorting violently as most
  animals did in his presence, tolerated his touch and
  allowed him to mount. Together, the pair rode out.
  Vaska served a fifteen year apprenticeship, and
  entered House Flambeau as a member at the age
  of twenty-six. He has an incredible affinity for fire,
  and almost all of his formulaic spells are of this
  form, though he shows some aptitude with earth,
  particularly metal. He is still extremely shy and
  reclusive, and avoids strangers whenever possible.
  After the last, nightmarish night of his mundane
  life, he has developed a great deal more control
  over his powers, and is no longer prone to sponta-
  neous outbursts.
  He still despises those who believe too strong-
  ly in their own righteousness, while he goes out of
  his way to protect the crippled and disabled. To
  hold together his fragile self-esteem, he has come
  to consider those who shun him to be insignifi-
  cant, else he would likely by crushed under the
  weight of their distain. However, while he affects
  a gruff and sour disposition he cares very much
  for those who accept him as a friend.
  28
  
  Deus ex Magica
  by Erik Dahl
  M
  any players of Ars Magica have
  expressed a desire to play “pious”
  magi: those who do not ignore
  God, who do good works with
  their magic and whose powers are not sinful and
  thus not limited by the Dominion. Pax Dei pre-
  sented 3rd Edition rules for creating such a char-
  acter, which culminated with a magus who could
  intimately combine his magical Arts with the
  Divine. However, those rules have not been updat-
  ed for the 4th Edition, and the following article
  attempts to present ideas for adapting the concept
  to a newer, more balanced style of play.
  This article proceeds from the assumption that
  magic is not evil, nor is it necessarily sinful. It sug-
  gests that magic as practiced by the Order of Her-
  mes is worldly and often stained with vanity and
  pride, and that it is steeped in idolatrous pagan rit-
  uals and symbolism handed down from the Cult of
  Mercury. Christian magi might argue that it is these
  factors that cause magic to be penalized in Divine
  areas, and that it is these practices that endanger
  the soul of a Christian magus.
  Below are two suggestions for paths that a
  magus could follow to avoid obvious conflict with
  the Divine, and thus practice magic without appar-
  ent heavenly disfavour. The first is a humbling
  vocation, where the magus chooses to practice a
  form of magic that relies entirely on the natural
  world, drawing forth the supernatural properties
  of things through knowledge of alchemy and phil-
  osophy, a newer practice often scorned by other
  members of the Order. The second guides the
  character through a personal transformation to
  align his magical practices with Biblical teaching,
  whereby he may perform good and holy works
  with his Arts and use his powers in harmony with
  the Divine will.
  Both paths require a character to sacrifice the
  comfortable aspects of life normally afforded to a
  Hermetic magus, in pursuit of his salvation.
  Virtues are included to allow characters to begin
  with these goals in mind, though storyguides may
  prefer to leave them as achievements that are only
  attainable through soul searching and experience.
  Also included are two secret societies that use the
  rules for mystae (see The Mysteries), which may give
  ideas of how to slowly initiate a character into the
  secrets of magic pleasing to God.
  Natural Magic
  In order to practice his Arts in a way that is not
  sinful, a magus might choose to study natural mag-
  ic, a form of hedge wizardry that draws upon the
  natural properties of objects to capture their mys-
  tical essence. This esoteric branch of knowledge is
  studied by Natural Magicians, and is fully
  described in Hedge Magic, page 40. However, Nat-
  ural Magicians are not magi, as they do not have
  the understanding or power required to practice
  the Hermetic Arts. Because the supernatural activ-
  ities of Natural Magicians are not hindered by
  Divine auras, it may seem that they can work mag-
  ic without sin. These rules allow magi to voluntar-
  ily give up some of their power, in order to use
  Hermetic magic in more or less the same way as
  Natural Magicians.
  Natural Magicians rely on two important
  Knowledges: Philosophiae and Alchemy. Hermet-
  ic magi can learn these Abilities, and once they
  have been exposed to the principles of natural
  magic, they can use them to perform Natural
  Alchemy, Spellcrafting and Enchantments in
  exactly the same way as Natural Magicians. Of
  course, natural magi can still perform Hermetic
  magic whenever they choose, accepting the spiri-
  tual consequences of apparently sinful practices in
  exchange for increased power and versatility.
  Natural magi bridge the differences between
  Natural Magicians and Hermetic magi, and can
  translate their understanding of the magical prop-
  erties of nature into formulaic spells that all magi
  can cast without penalty in the Dominion. This is
  a groundbreaking new form of magic, recently
  developed in Mythic Europe, and probably found
  only near major cities of learning like Paris or
  Bologna in 1220. In a saga focusing on natural
  magic, Hermetic magi might come across one or
  two low-magnitude examples of natural spells,
  perhaps inspiring them to seek out their origin and
  thus learn more about natural magic.
  A natural spell is indicated with an (N) after its
  name, and can be taught to other Hermetic magi,
  even those without understanding of natural mag-
  ic. When casting a natural spell, Hermetic magi use
  the Natural Magician listing on the Aura Interac-
  tion table (which has no penalty in the Dominion)
  and do not need voice or gestures. The caster must
  use the Spell Focus, though he gains no bonus to
  his spell total for doing so.
  To avoid sin and to take advantage of their
  higher Ability scores, natural magi can spellcraft
  natural spells instead of using Hermetic magic.
  They assemble the effect as usual, making their
  preparations and releasing the spell, using the Spell
  Focus to determine their form and effect bonus.
  When using a natural spell, this process takes them
  only 5 minutes for each magnitude of the spell,
  rather than 15, and costs them no Fatigue levels.
  Otherwise, the process exactly corresponds to a
  Natural Magician’s spellcrafting ability.
  To develop a natural spell, you must first
  design the effect. You must have high enough Art
  scores to be able to cast the spell using Hermetic
  magic, treating Alchemy and Philosophiae as
  respective Technique and Form requisites. Deter-
  mine a Spell Focus for the spell, using form and
  effect bonuses to describe its bonus for natural
  29
  
  magi. After a season of effort, you develop a nat-
  ural spell.
  For example, Episein of Bonisagus wishes to
  design a natural version of Chirurgeon’s Healing
  Touch (CrCo20). He has Alchemy 7, Philosophi-
  ae 8, Creo 10 and Corpus 3. For the purposes of
  inventing the spell, he has Creo 7 and Corpus 3,
  since Alchemy limits his Creo and Corpus limits
  his Philosophiae. He uses a small bloodstone as
  the spell focus (+3), and his lab total gives an addi-
  tional +7, making him just barely able to invent the
  spell in one season.
  Most laboratory activities involve Hermetic
  magic, so apart from Natural Alchemy, Enchant-
  ments or study, it is very rare for natural magi to
  perform lab work. Natural magi do not typically
  have familiars, talismans, imprints or the like, and
  are unlikely to engage in Certamen or invoke oth-
  er symbols of Mythic Europe’s wizardly culture.
  However, when it is necessary to convert Hermet-
  ic magic into natural magic, use Alchemy and
  Philosophiae as requisites to Technique and Form,
  as above.
  Many learned clergymen consider natural mag-
  ic a form of philosophy, a rational method by
  which an educated person can bring out the bene-
  ficial properties of God’s natural materials. Even
  the most righteous Christian often accepts that
  natural materials can be used to create effects that
  others would regard as magical. Natural magi may
  find that they can maintain a close association with
  the Church in spite of their magical pursuits.
  Members of the Order of Hermes, however,
  tend to consider natural magic a form of hedge
  wizardry. They generally question why a person
  with the Gift would practice a weaker and less reli-
  able form of magic, behaving like a charlatan or
  charm-maker, when he could wield much greater
  power with Hermetic magic. Natural magi thus
  risk acquiring a poor reputation among the other
  members of the Order, similar to the -1 Hedge
  Wizard Flaw.
  Magi can learn natural magic through the
  course of a saga, by studying from a natural magus
  and learning Alchemy, Philosophiae and Magic
  Sensitivity, or they can create a character that has
  already developed his knowledge in these fields.
  Below is a Hermetic Virtue to represent a begin-
  ning character that has already developed this
  understanding.
  Natural Magic, +2: You have been taught the
  practices of Natural Magic, which you have
  learned to practice using the Hermetic Arts. You
  begin with Alchemy 3, Philosophiae 3 and Magic
  Sensitivity 1, which you can increase like other
  Abilities, but you also have a negative Reputation
  within the Order of Hermes as a hedge wizard, at
  level 3.
  Secret Societies
  The Carpenters
  Symbol: Four nails and a wooden hammer
  Motto: Versa, Verte, Volve (“Consider, Inter-
  pret, Pass On”)
  Goals and Practices: The Carpenters are a
  small and relatively new sect of magi who have
  adopted the principles of Natural Magic as a hum-
  ble way to practice magic with heavenly favour.
  Similar to monks or mendicant friars, the Carpen-
  ters take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience,
  cultivating God’s earth to produce what they need
  and at all times respecting the authority of their
  elders. Curiosity and industry are highly prized
  attributes, and most have strong ties to the univer-
  sities. They often manufacture simple items that
  are blessed with natural charms for those in need
  and discuss philosophy with those who will listen.
  All members practice natural magic exclusively;
  performing Hermetic magic is grounds for pun-
  ishment and even expulsion from the society. For
  this reason, they tend to remain separate from
  their Hermetic brethren, though they will occa-
  sionally help those magi who seek them out.
  Virtues: Alchemy +1, Healer +1, Animal
  Ken +1, Higher Purpose +1, Magic Sensitivity +1,
  Sense Holiness/Unholiness +1, Premonitions +2,
  Training +2, Visions +2
  Preferred Ordeals: Good Works, Magical
  Vow (obedience, poverty and chastity), Pledge,
  Obligation.
  Pious Magic
  Magi devoted to God and His works may seek
  to completely divorce their practice of magic from
  the idolatrous influence of pagan religions, and
  associate it wholly with God, invoking His will
  through prayer and piety. This process is difficult,
  for it requires that a magus be willing to relearn
  much of what he has already discovered about
  magic and the Hermetic arts.
  Pious magic is a gift given by God to those
  who follow His teachings and perform His works.
  It is a transformation of thinking, where the
  magus comes to believe that Hermetic magic is
  30
  
  wrong, and seeks an alternative. Once gifted with
  Pious magic, magi can continue to use and learn it
  so long as they maintain their piety, abstain from
  sin, and follow the Divine will.
  Once this decision has been made, such char-
  acters should no longer perform Hermetic magic.
  Practitioners of pious magic believe that using
  Hermetic magic is a sin that will stain their souls in
  much the same way as perjury or theft. In spite of
  this, it is not unusual for characters to regress, per-
  haps believing that they are better serving the
  Divine with their magic, and the temptation to
  revert to old practices might be the central strug-
  gle for their pious characters. Should a pious
  magus commit a terrible wrong, or fail drastically
  in his devotion, the storyguide may decide that his
  pious magic has ceased to function. This crisis may
  require drastic action to overcome; the character is
  tested, requiring him to prove his faith using mun-
  dane means, with each new regression forcing
  greater and longer penances. Only by making
  amends and sincerely repenting can a character
  overcome these lapses.
  Pious magic does not need to be miraculous,
  but it is infused with love and respect for God. Its
  effects need not feel holy; while it serves the
  Divine, pious magic is still magic. It is important
  that characters do not develop the belief that they
  are somehow “backed” by God, or that they speak
  for God, for that is the sin of presumption, a kind
  of Pride. Pious magic does not need to show off,
  since God’s power is manifest in the world He cre-
  ated. Pious magi simply use these tools to share
  God’s glory with those who cannot see it, and to
  protect the weak from those who would lead them
  astray. Pious magic does not need to break Her-
  metic limits to achieve these goals.
  With that in mind, however, pious magic might
  overcome some of the limits of magic on occa-
  sion, though in what situations and for what rea-
  son is up to the troupe and the storyguide to eval-
  uate. One reason for this might be Divine inter-
  vention; God may miraculously assist a pious char-
  acter by subtly boosting the effects of his magic, if
  the circumstances are particularly appropriate.
  Some effects, particularly those that affect the
  Infernal, might circumvent Hermetic limits by
  allowing the character to see through a demonic
  illusion, for example. However, these effects
  should never be commonplace, and the troupe
  should take care to ensure that such wonders are
  clearly associated with Divine favour and not per-
  sonal power. The faithful should never be deceived
  into believing that a pious magus is a miracle-
  worker or a saint, for he is only using his magical
  talents in God’s service.
  Those who practice pious magic are tempting
  targets for demons and other infernal adversaries.
  Pious magic acts like a beacon for all manner of
  evil creatures. The storyguide should balance the
  character’s attunement to the Divine with hatred
  and temptation from the Infernal, and be prepared
  to plot his downfall by dark forces if he should
  begin to stray from the path. In fact, while pious
  magic has no effect when a magus tries to use it
  for evil (according to the Limit of Sin, below)
  demonic powers may step in to fuel such corrupt
  spells, further damning him through their inter-
  vention and perhaps misleading him into believing
  that God wills his evil actions.
  Faeries may also be negatively affected by the
  character’s presence or use of pious magic. Those
  who dislike the Church and the Dominion for
  intruding upon their habitats may similarly despise
  pious magi, and the pious character may find that
  he is harassed when travelling through faerie lands.
  Many who follow the path to pious magic may
  begin to see faeries as enemies, since they can lead
  believers away from God. However, not all faeries
  are opposed to the Divine; many stories exist of
  fae who are interested in God and salvation, and
  who live happily among pious folk (see Faeries for
  more information about Church faeries).
  The Order of Hermes has little understanding
  of pious magic, but the subject is not looked upon
  with political favour. The Mercurial tradition is
  strong within the Order, and the suggestion that it
  is a form of idolatry is insulting to powerful magi.
  Pious magic, were it understood, would likely be
  seen as inferior and weak in comparison to Her-
  metic magic, since it is inherently limited and
  requires so many sacrifices. For many magi, pious
  magic is clearly interference in the affairs of the
  mundanes, and while there is no compelling rea-
  son to seek them out to destroy them, pious magi
  stand a good chance of being Marched if they call
  too much attention to themselves.
  31
  Suggested Limits for Pious Magic
  The Limit of Divinity
  Like Hermetic magic, pious magic cannot over-
  come the power of the Highest Divinity, though it may
  circumvent the deceptions of infernal powers in a lim-
  ited fashion. By identifying the truth, pious magic can
  deduce the presence of supernatural deception or illu-
  sion. It cannot determine the purposes behind those
  deceptions or illusions, nor can it clearly distinguish
  between demons and angels, since they seem to be
  made of the same “substance”. Thus, pious magic can
  sense holiness and unholiness, but not holiness or
  unholiness — it cannot tell if something is Divine or
  Infernal, only that it is either Divine or Infernal.
  According to these guidelines, pious magic can
  detect angels and demons in spiritual form with Intel-
  lego Vim, and can see through illusion to a target’s true
  form with Intellego Imaginem (for physical images) or
  Intellego Mentem (for mental illusions).
  The Limit of Sin
  Pious magic cannot be used to commit a sin, no
  matter how minor, not even indirectly. Sinful effects
  simply do not function, or cease to function as soon as
  they are used for ill.
  
  Like the practitioners of magic associated with
  exotic lineages such as Bjornaer or Merinita, or the
  followers of secret Hermetic societies that study
  branches of esoteric magic, pious magi recognize
  that there is little value (and perhaps some danger)
  in emphasizing the differences between their prac-
  tices and those of other magi. They thus tend to
  be reclusive rather than calling attention to their
  beliefs or the faults of others.
  Learning Pious Magic
  Characters who cleanse their magic of idola-
  trous influence must devote themselves to it; they
  travel down a path that is distinct from Hermetic
  magic. They must abandon their years of magical
  training and understanding of the supernatural
  world to see the created order in a new way. To
  begin this journey, pious magi must be touched by
  the Divine in some meaningful way, be it a bless-
  ing from a saint, or the witnessing of a miracle.
  The criteria for gaining a Faith point are good
  examples of this sort of event (though True Faith
  is not a requirement for pious magic). Because of
  this holy experience, magi are transformed, and
  may begin to learn how to use their magic to serve
  the Divine.
  Characters can study pious magic from some-
  one who practices it, or by embarking upon a spir-
  itual quest to discover it alone. As pious magic is
  extremely rare and does not have a positive repu-
  tation in the Order, finding a mentor may be diffi-
  cult. Many magi who practice pious magic live in
  isolated places, rarely associated with a covenant.
  The search for a mentor, or for the understanding
  that allows magi to conform their magic to the
  Divine will, may be the subject of many adven-
  tures.
  Through study, pious magi eventually gain a
  new Arcane Knowledge, Pious Magic Theory.
  This can be taught or learned like Hermetic Magic
  Theory, and fills much the same role for pious
  magic: it may be used for lab activities and repre-
  sents how deeply magi understand the principles
  of harmony between magic and the Divine. They
  retain their knowledge of Hermetic magic, but
  must adapt it to serve their new purpose. This
  requires that they effectively re-learn Magic Theo-
  ry.
  Pious magi may study Pious Magic Theory, if
  they have access to a teacher or a text. They may
  also train themselves — magi gain experience for
  each season they practice. If their Magic Theory is
  higher than their Pious Magic Theory, magi may
  meditate upon the differences between Hermetic
  and pious magic, improvinng Pious Magic Theory
  through self Disputatio. In this manner, they may
  gain ((Intelligence + Disputatio + 6) / 5) experi-
  ence points of Pious Magic Theory in a season of
  meditation and prayer.
  Once they understand Pious Magic Theory,
  pious magi must relearn all of their formulaic
  spells. Pious spells are not compatible with Her-
  metic ones, so to learn new spells they must either
  seek out those written by other pious magi, or
  invent their own. A pious magus may also translate
  spells learned as a Hermetic magus — he may
  convert a spell in one season as long as his lab total
  is greater than the level of the spell, or multiple
  spells if his lab total exceeds their combined levels.
  Arts written or taught using Pious Magic The-
  ory are incomprehensible to other magi without
  this Ability; treat the character as if he had the
  Incomprehensible -2 Flaw when teaching magic to
  Hermetic students. Pious spells cannot be taught
  to Hermetic magi.
  Pious magi cannot use Hermetic words or ges-
  tures with their magic, since they are the root of
  Hermetic “idolatry” and invoke the symbolism of
  worldly rituals and unholy powers. A pious magus
  learns to draw his power from God. Thus, pious
  magi receive any penalties to their magic totals that
  they would normally accrue when practicing mag-
  ic without voice or gestures. Over time, as pious
  magi increase their understanding of the Divine,
  they can learn to substitute prayer and ceremony in
  place of their Hermetic practices — see the Pious
  Words and Gestures Table. These bonuses only
  appply if the character normally suffers a penalty
  for not using words or gestures.
  With all of these penalties, there are a number
  of mechanical benefits. Pious magic cannot be
  botched; pious magi use a quality die rather than a
  stress die when rolling for effects. Instead of using
  32
  
  vis, pious magi may spend long-term Fatigue; each
  Fatigue level spent is equivalent to one pawn, and
  is not recovered until the magus has a meal and a
  full night’s sleep. These benefits do not apply to
  laboratory work — those activities still require a
  stress die as appropriate, and actual vis must be
  spent to enchant an item or study Arts.
  Pious magic gives the caster partial benefits of
  a Divine aura, but negates any bonus normally
  received in a Faerie aura (see the Pious Magic Aura
  Interaction table). The Divine nature of pious
  magic is strong enough that characters especially
  susceptible to the Divine are penalized when
  resisting it.
  It is possible for pious magi to instruct their
  apprentices in pious magic, rather than Hermetic
  magic. These characters will encounter in reverse
  the same difficulties as a normal magus would
  when learning pious magic, should they wish to
  convert their practices to Hermetic magic. For
  starting characters, the following Virtue might be
  used to sum up the value of this training.
  Pious Magic, +4: You have been taught the
  holy practice known as pious magic. You begin
  with Pious Magic Theory instead of Magic Theo-
  ry, and use pious magic for all of your magical
  activities. Your starting spells and Hermetic abili-
  ties are pious variants that would be incomprehen-
  sible to a normal magus. You can never have a
  familiar. You start with a negative reputation of
  Hedge Wizard 3 among the Order of Hermes
  because of your eccentric practices and lineage. At
  some point in your life you have experienced some
  miraculous event, opening your heart to the
  Divine and making your understanding of Pious
  Magic complete.
  Pious Ranges, Durations and Targets
  Pious magic includes several new categories for
  spells that are not normally available to those who
  practice Hermetic magic. These categories are
  described below.
  Presence (Range): The caster can affect a tar-
  get who can hear his words or see his expression.
  The spell must be cast using either pious words or
  gestures at a volume or intensity that is powerful
  enough for the target to perceive. The range cate-
  gory to which this range corresponds depends on
  the caster’s Presence, as described below. A spell
  designed with this range will not function for a
  character with lower Presence than the inventing
  magus unless the level is recalculated accordingly.
  Note that targets with neither sight nor hearing
  cannot be affected at this range.
  Sabbath (Duration): The spell lasts until sun-
  down of the next Saturday, the Biblical Sabbath. A
  spell cast on Sunday with this Duration will effec-
  tively last seven days. This category is equivalent to
  Sun.
  Grace (Duration): A spell with this Duration
  lasts as long as the caster is in a state of Grace.
  Such a spell is cast after taking Communion and is
  broken by committing a sin, such as lying or prac-
  ticing Hermetic magic. This is equivalent to Moon
  in level, though it could theoretically last forever.
  Multitude (Target): The spell affects all those
  within sight of the caster, as long as they are loose-
  ly gathered into a large group, like an army or a line
  of pilgrims. This is similar to Group, but affects a
  larger number of targets and thus is equivalent to
  Circle.
  Faith (Target): The caster can target all those
  of good will within sight. Those who have been
  baptized or confirmed into the faith can be sepa-
  rated from the infidel with Finesse rolls when the
  spell is cast. It is equivalent to Sight.
  Pious Arcane Connections
  Many aspects of Mythic Christianity naturally
  establish bonds between members of the Church,
  and pious magi may use these relationships as
  Arcane Connections. A pious arcane connection is
  formed between one performing a sacrament and
  the one receiving it, which typically lasts for a year.
  A baptized character may be affected by using one
  of her Godparents as a pious arcane connection,
  and a husband and wife, married in the Church,
  are mystically joined to each other in the same way.
  These bonds are considered permanent; they do
  not fade over time. However, if a character breaks
  the oaths associated with these ceremonies, or in
  some way strays significantly from the path, the
  arcane connection might fade. This decision is left
  to the storyguide to decide, based on the circum-
  stances.
  Pious Spells
  The following spells are examples of the sort
  of effects that might be achieved with pious mag-
  ic, using these new guidelines and limits. When
  written down, pious spells can be abbreviated with
  33
  Pious Words and Gestures
  Voice
  Modifier
  Booming:
  Theology -9
  Firm:
  Theology -10
  Soft:
  (Theology / 2) -10
  None:
  -10
  Gesture
  Modifier
  Vigorous:
  Church Lore -4
  Bold:
  Church Lore -5
  Subtle:
  (Church Lore / 2) -5
  None:
  -5
  Pious Magic Aura Interaction
  Magic
  Divine
  Faerie Infernal
  Pious Magic
  +1/2
  +1/2
  -
  -2 ×
  Presence
  Range category equivalent
  -5/-4
  Sight
  -3/-2
  Far
  -1/0/+1
  Near
  +2/+3
  Reach
  +4/+5
  Touch
  
  a (P) to indicate their association, such as Chiur-
  geon’s Healing Touch (CrCo20)(P).
  The Holy Spring
  CrAq 20
  R: Near, D: Sun/Inst, T: Ind
  Causes a spring of water to well up from the
  ground where the caster directs. The water is
  unusually clean and pure, ideal for a baptism, and
  burns Infernal creatures as if it were acid, doing
  +15 Damage each round they remain in contact
  with it.
  Manna from Heaven
  MuAu 30
  R: Far, D: Spec, T: Mult, Ritual
  Requisite: Herbam
  This spell changes rain or snow into an edible,
  doughy substance as it falls, enough to feed
  approximately forty people. The bread is filling
  and sweet, tasting of rainwater, and slowly «melts»
  unless it is collected from the ground. A person
  can survive on nothing else for months, if neces-
  sary.
  Feed the Multitudes
  MuHe15
  R: Touch, D: Sun/Inst, T: Ind
  Requisite: Animal
  This spell changes a single meal into enough
  food to feed a dozen. Such a meal is typically bread
  and meat, reminiscent of the miracle of the
  Loaves and Fishes, though it may be used to affect
  any meal. With an Aquam requisite, the spell may
  also affect wine or other potables.
  Brilliance of God
  MuIg 10
  R: Near, D: Conc, T: Room
  Illuminates an area as if in full daylight, as long
  as there is some light, as from a torch or moon-
  light. The light seems to come from everywhere,
  casting little shadow, and has a pale, luminous
  quality. This spell is likely to strike fear in demons
  and other creatures of the night, and unless they
  make an appropriate bravery roll they will flee into
  dark areas until the spell ends.
  See No Evil
  InIm 5
  R: Near, D: Conc, T: Room, Ritual
  Allows the caster to close his eyes and perceive
  in his mind an image of his surroundings as they
  truly are, past any illusions or falsehoods that
  might otherwise be present. This does not over-
  come Infernal powers of deception, it only cir-
  cumvents them; unless they affect the caster’s
  mind, he simply cannot see what is not truly pres-
  ent. He will still perceive other illusory sensations
  if they are present, such as sounds, smells and sub-
  stances, though other versions of this spell might
  allow him to circumvent those as well.
  Voice of the Apostles
  MuIm 10
  R: Near/Sight, D: Sun/Year, T: Ind
  Causes the target to become easily heard and
  more pleasing to listen to. He gains a +3 on rolls
  to convince or influence others, effectively can-
  celling out the negative social consequences of the
  Gift.
  Heavenly Inspiration
  CrMe 25
  R: Eye, D: Sabbath/Year, T: Ind
  Inspires the target with a vision of God, drawn
  from the caster’s experience. For the duration of
  the spell, the target is affected as if he possessed
  the +1 Virtue Free Expression, gaining +3 on
  attempts to produce artistic works of great and
  original significance.
  Sense the Spirit of God
  InMe 20
  R: Near, D: Conc, T: Ind
  Tells the caster whether or not the target has a
  soul, and what kind it is. People, angels and
  demons have immortal souls, and faeries have
  mortal souls. Ghosts, magical creatures and ani-
  mals have no souls.
  Oath of God
  ReMe 20
  R: Eye, D: Sun, T: Ind, Ritual
  Requisite: Intellego
  The target is unable to speak a lie for the dura-
  tion of the spell. The target simply cannot force
  himself to make statements that are partially true,
  or mixed with lies, though the true parts may slip
  out. Otherwise, the sounds of lies vary from unin-
  telligible grunts and moans to utter silence, as if
  the target were mute. This spell effectively forces a
  demon to be silent, since it is prevented from
  uttering falsehoods.
  The Search for Shelter
  InTe 25
  R: Spec, D: Conc, T: Str
  The caster gets an intuitive sense of the direc-
  tion and approximate distance to the nearest place
  of welcome, be it a monastery, town or hermit’s
  cave.
  Sense of the Unholy
  InVi Gen
  R: Near, D: Conc, T: Ind
  This spell must be equal to or greater than the
  Might of the target. Similar to Sense Holiness and
  Unholiness, it allows the caster to sense if the tar-
  get is associated with either the Divine or the
  Infernal, and gives a general idea of its strength.
  The spell cannot distinguish between the two, but
  the behaviour of the target may give the pious
  magus a clue as to its origin.
  Secret Societies
  Sol Invictus (“The Unconquered Sun”)
  Symbol: A rising sun behind a cross
  Motto: Sol Etiam Oritur (“The Sun Also Rises”)
  Origin Myth: In the centuries following the
  Crucifixion, before the fall of the Roman Empire,
  many Romans believed the emerging Christian
  34
  
  faith to be associated with the worship of the sun-
  god, as Christ had been called “the sun of right-
  eousness” by the prophets, churches were often
  built facing east, and Christ’s birth was celebrated
  on the winter solstice, commonly regarded as the
  day when the sun regains control of the heavens.
  Members of this cult believe that God is one of a
  pantheon of early gods who overshadowed the
  others and rose to dominance. The Christian
  Church administers to the people, but members of
  this cult believe they alone represent the true
  priesthood, and that their magic is a Divine gift.
  They believe that it was their efforts that brought
  Emperor Constantine victory in 312, and that it is
  through their influence that the Church has grown
  and supernaturally conquered virtually all of
  Europe.
  Goals and Practices: The followers of Sol
  Invictus seek to spread Christianity and the Divine
  to all corners of the earth, and thus sweep the last
  traces of other gods from the world. Because their
  philosophy is considered heretical (the Church
  does not generally recognize the existence of oth-
  er gods), they do not work with the Church, and
  their association with the Order of Hermes is sim-
  ilarly shaky due to the legal ramifications of their
  purpose (such as regularly molesting the fae). The
  Cult is extremely careful when recruiting and test-
  ing new members, to be sure that its initiates are
  true believers. All those who join are first taught
  Pious Magic as the foundation for their beliefs.
  Virtues: Sense Holiness and Unholiness +1,
  Magical 
  Affinity 
  (Creo) 
  +4,
  Mystic
  Understanding +4, Purifying Touch +4
  Preferred Ordeals: Initiation Quest, Sacrifice
  of Power (Susceptibility to Divine), Crime-bound
  (molesting the fae), Zealot.
  35
  Corrosives, Poisons
  and Medicinals
  by David Woods
  Preface
  T
  his article expands and provides addi-
  tional guidelines for players and sto-
  ryguides who wish to play around with
  acids and poisons. They also provide
  rules that allow magi to generate substances with
  medicinal effects. These substances fall into three
  broad classes, corrosives, poisons and medicinals.
  I would like to thank Richard Peaty and
  Andrew Smith for their advice and editorial sup-
  port.
  Corrosives
  Corrosives are generally liquids, such as acid,
  that eat into flesh, wood or stone. The damage
  done by a corrosive is dependent on coverage,
  time and potency. The creation of simple alchem-
  ical materials such as acids lies entirely within the
  scope of Aquam and so no requisites are needed.
  Corrosives are rated according to the damage
  they do. A Small amount of conjured acid can ful-
  ly affect up to an Individual sized object. Howev-
  er, the volume of liquid could be anything from a
  drop to a bucket. So the same level of spell might
  soak a person with a bucketful or merely a drop.
  The potential damage is the same, although a drop
  is more easily washed off.
  Spreading a Small amount of acid on an object
  larger than an average human will have a less con-
  centrated effect. The Storyguide should determine
  how much reduction in the corrosive’s damage rat-
  ing to apply.
  When conjuring larger volumes of acid, larger
  areas can be affected. An Individual amount of
  acid can cover up to a Group of individuals. Liq-
  uid conjured at target Room can cover a whole
  building and so on.
  Some Sagas may consider corrosives above a
  certain damage rating as unnatural and require a
  Perdo requisite to create such fluids.
  Poisons
  Poisons and drugs work by interaction with the
  processes on which life depends. Simple alchemi-
  cal liquids like Mercury (that are naturally toxic)
  can be generated via Aquam, with no requisites.
  This principle applies to all naturally occurring
  poisons. CrHe can create hemlock; CrTe can cre-
  ate arsenic and CrAn can create cobra venom.
  Naturally occurring substances however, are
  often uncertain in application and affect. The
  Magus also needs to know of their existence. This
  is simple for alchemical materials found in any lab-
  oratory like mercury or well-known poisons like
  
  hemlock. However, a liquid that causes the drinker
  to fall unconscious for a day, but is otherwise
  harmless is far more difficult.
  So even if a particular plant extract does exact-
  ly what the Magus wants, the Magus needs to
  know of it to conjure it. The Storyguide should
  require appropriate Herblore, Alchemy or Medi-
  cine score before the Magus can generate such
  material. As such material is not naturally occur-
  ring, the magnitude of spell required to conjure it
  will be proportional to the complexity of the pro-
  cessing normally required.
  As a general guide the base level to conjure
  such material would be equal to the required abili-
  ty score × 5.
  It is up to the Storyguide to determine exactly
  what is and is not possible for various scores, but
  guidelines are given in the Aquam Guidelines giv-
  en below. In essence the Magus is saving himself
  the ‘legwork’ of processing a mundane poison or
  drug from mundane materials.
  For instance, consider the storytelling classic of
  causing a coma so deep that the victim appears
  dead, only to awaken 24 hours later? The Sto-
  ryguide might require a Herblore score of 6 or
  more and assign it a base level of 30.
  It is not possible for the Magus to create a
  magical potion this way. This process only applies
  to mundane concoctions.
  Onset Time and Persistence
  Poisons generally require a number of minutes
  or hours to have an effect. Even injected venoms,
  that may cause symptoms very quickly, still do
  damage over the course of hours. However, most
  poisons are expelled or neutralised by the body
  within a day.
  Therefore the appropriate duration for most
  poisons is Sun. Diameter is too little time to have
  full effect and poison will generally be clearly from
  the body within a day, making Moon duration
  unnecessary.
  The exception to the general case is systemic
  metal poisoning. These poisons can remain in the
  body for years, causing chronic ill health. Obvi-
  ously a magically created metallic poison, once the
  duration expires, would not cause chronic condi-
  tions.
  The standard onset time for symptoms is 5
  combat rounds for inhaled, 1 minute for injected
  and 30 minutes for ingested or contact poison. A
  standard poison of any type will cause its full dam-
  age gradually, over the course of the next 6 hours
  (after symptoms begin).
  These times may be reduces by adding magni-
  tudes to the effect. Each extra magnitude will
  halve the times quoted above.
  Some Sagas may consider poisons above a cer-
  tain damage rating as unnatural and require a Per-
  do requisite to create such fluids.
  Doses
  When creating specific poisonous material, a
  Small amount will affect one person, an Individual
  amount will affect a small wedding party, a Room
  amount will affect a village, Structure a town and
  Boundary will generate enough poison to affect a
  city. This represents one standard dose for each
  person. However, the guidelines for the effects
  assume a size +0 creature and one dose.
  The effect of a poison will vary according to
  the size of the victim and the number of doses
  ingested, injected or applied.
  When a victim receives one dose, subtract its
  Size from the poison’s effect magnitude. Partial
  and multiple doses also affect the magnitude of
  the poison. Doubling or halving the dose will
  increase or decrease the magnitude by one level
  respectively.
  Example
  A Magus decides to poison a local Giant. His
  CrAq (He) spell conjures enough poison wine to
  kill an entire wedding party (about 64 people).
  Drinking 64 doses shifts the magnitude up
  by 6. The Giant however is Size +6 and this is sub-
  tracted from the poison’s magnitude, bringing the
  total back to the original fatal effect.
  The plan should work, if the magus can get the
  Giant to drink all the wine…
  Concentration
  A Small amount of conjured liquid can be any
  volume between a drop and a bucket, at the choice
  of the caster. But, whatever the volume the liquid
  will still contain one standard dose. When larger
  amounts of liquid are created each cupful repre-
  sents one standard dose. Adding magnitudes to
  the spell may increase this concentration. So by
  adding two magnitudes to the spell a cupful would
  contain 3 standard doses. By adding three magni-
  tudes a cupful would contain 4 standard doses and
  so on.
  Medicinals
  Magi with Alchemy, Herblore or Medicine do
  not need to spend time digging in flowerbeds to
  obtain their medicines. But like poisons, conjured
  medicines are only useful at a duration of at least
  Sun. Also because of the diverse natural of ali-
  ments a Magus is unlikely to have a formulaic for
  a particular remedy.
  However, material conjured at less than Instant
  duration has no occult properties. Thus their
  effect is limited and no dramatic cures can be
  achieved. For example, a honey and herb poultice
  might be used to prevent or treat infected wounds;
  an herbal infusion might be given to reduce a per-
  son’s fever, relieve pain or reduce swelling. A con-
  jured medicine cannot directly cure anything
  though.
  In medieval medicine illness was caused by
  imbalances in the bodily humours. Medicines
  36
  
  worked to correct these imbalances. This could be
  achieved by causing the humours to move to or
  from particular regions or by removing humours.
  Some however, were considered to add humours
  and conjured materials are not suitable for this
  purpose.
  Conjured medicines can be used to control dis-
  ease symptoms and help prevent or treat infected
  wounds. It is the body that fights the disease or
  heals the wound, not the medicine. The medicine
  only provides support for this process.
  Magically created medicines are thus limited
  and the Magus must work within these limitations.
  Therefore good knowledge of Herbalism, Alche-
  my or Medicine is essential.
  Conjured medicinals can provide a bonus to
  Herblore or Medicine rolls, equal to the magnitude
  of the effect (R: Touch D: Sun T: Small). The
  Magus’s score in Alchemy, Herblore or Medicine
  also limits the magnitude of the spell, to half that
  score. So a Magus with a Medicine score of 6 can
  only obtain a +3 bonus.
  Although animal and mineral materials were
  used, medicines were commonly herbal in nature.
  The Storyguide should penalise players who only
  conjure Animál or Terram material.
  Aquam Guidelines
  The following guidelines on poisons (or drugs)
  relate to those that are ingested. Generating a con-
  tact poison is one magnitude more difficult.
  Inhaled poisons are two magnitudes more diffi-
  cult. Conversely, injected poisons are one magni-
  tude less difficult.
  Poisons created with these guidelines would
  normally (in a mundane process) have to be specif-
  ically processed from raw materials, rather than be
  naturally occurring. As such they need knowledge
  of Alchemy, Herblore or Medicine equal to the
  guideline magnitude to create.
  Naturally occurring poisons should be created
  with the appropriate Form.
  The exact effect of a particular poison is up to
  the Storyguide. The numbers and mechanisms giv-
  en below are examples only. Although they focus
  on poisons they can be used judge an appropriate
  level for a particular drug.
  Note that ageing afflictions gained through the
  action of a poison are treatable with Creo magic.
  As they are not the result of the ravages of time
  the Hermetic Limit does not cover them.
  Creo Aquam
  By default Creo Aquam poisons are made
  colourless and tasteless. Mimicking particular liq-
  uids like wine or milk may be reliably achieved by
  adding appropriate requisites.
  General: Creates a corrosive liquid that does
  + Level -5 damage on contact per minute of expo-
  sure, for five minutes. Increasing the Target
  increases the volume of liquid and so the area that
  can be affected. The liquid emits a strong odour
  and is generally unpalatable. However, if a human
  or animal were to ingest it, they would take + Lev-
  el damage per minute for five minutes.
  Level 5: Creates one dose of colourless and
  tasteless poison that causes stomach cramps,
  drowsiness or equivalent. The victim rolls Sta + a
  stress die and subtracts the result from 48 hours,
  which gives the duration of the symptoms. The
  victim suffers a -3 penalty during this time.
  Level 10: Creates one dose of colourless and
  tasteless poison that causes severe stomach
  cramps, drowsiness or equivalent. The victim rolls
  Sta + a stress die and subtracts the result from 48
  hours, which gives the duration of the symptoms.
  The victim suffers a -5 penalty during this time.
  Victim must make his natural resistance test (Sta
  stress roll of 9+) or suffer minor complications
  for days.
  Level 15: Creates one dose of colourless and
  tasteless poison that causes incapacity. The victim
  rolls Sta + a stress die and subtracts the result
  from 48 hours, which gives the duration of the
  symptoms. Victim must make his natural resist-
  ance test (Sta stress roll of 9+) or suffer minor
  complications for weeks.
  Level 20: Creates one dose of colourless and
  tasteless poison that causes minor symptoms for
  days. Treat poisoning as a Hurt wound for recov-
  ery purposes. Victim must make his natural resist-
  ance test (Sta stress roll of 9+) or suffer an annoy-
  ing ageing affliction (0).
  Level 25: Creates one dose of colourless and
  tasteless poison that causes major symptoms for
  weeks. Treat poisoning as a Medium wound for
  recovery purposes. Victim must make his natural
  resistance test (Sta stress roll of 9+) or suffer a
  minor ageing affliction (-1).
  Level 30: Creates one dose of colourless and
  tasteless poison that is potentially fatal. Treat poi-
  soning as an Incapacitated wound for recovery
  purposes. Victim must make his natural resistance
  test (Sta stress roll of 9+) or suffer a major ageing
  affliction (-2).
  Level 35: Creates one dose of colourless and
  tasteless poison that is almost always fatal. Victim
  must make his natural resistance test (Sta stress roll
  of 9+) or die about 6 hours after the start of
  symptoms. If the victim succeeds, treat poisoning
  as an Incapacitated wound for recovery purposes.
  Victim must make his natural resistance test (Sta
  stress roll of 9+) or suffer a debilitating ageing
  affliction (-5).
  Muto Aquam
  The Creo Aquam poison guidelines can also be
  used when changing a liquid into a poison.
  37
  
  Ex Libris
  by Michaël de Verteuil
  T
  his is fourth in a series of articles pre-
  sented as a regular column in Hermes’
  Portal called Heretic’s Corner, which is
  dedicated to cleaning up, simplifying
  and harmonizing the Ars Magica rules. So far, we
  have covered reducing the number and types of
  die rolls (“The Magic of Simplification” in Mythic
  Perspectives 11), as well as the number of Abilities
  (“Less is More” in HP1), and how to convert the
  Arts into Exceptional Knowledges (“Artistic Abil-
  ity” in HP2). Each of these articles has been pro-
  gressively more ambitious, but the time has come
  to rein things in a bit and concentrate on a less
  central, but still significant, feature of the game:
  the book rules.
  This had not been my original intention. I was
  toying earlier with an article on simplifying com-
  bat, and then on a system for systematizing the
  cost of Virtues. A future article on the learning
  and teaching rules is also in the works. Sad to say,
  there are few rule features of our beloved game
  that couldn’t benefit from the treatment of a
  strong dose of a healthy purgative and a reduced
  calorie diet.
  I finally settled on the book rules for two rea-
  sons. First off, they are a mess. Half of them are
  in the main rules, half of them are in the WGRE,
  and yet another (virtual, which is why I can have
  three) half is in HP1. The second reason was the
  persistent but polite and pleasant hectoring and
  badgering I was subjected to by Bjarke Roth, who
  insisted on receiving my views on his own pro-
  posed reform of the book rules.
  I never got very far in commenting on Bjarke’s
  draft, but I found our brainstorming so stimulat-
  ing that I dropped my initial plans and decided to
  tackle the book rules instead. I think it would be
  safe to say that without Bjarke’s help, this article
  would not have been written. You can perhaps
  look forward to Bjarke’s own take in a future issue
  of HP, though obviously it won’t be quite as
  focussed on simplification for its own sake as this
  or any other Heretic’s Corner article would be. For
  now, however, the stage is mine.
  So let’s start with a basic question: What’s
  wrong with the current book rules? Well, I’m sor-
  ry to tantalize you like this, but I only have so
  many pages and so am not going to answer this
  question directly. Instead, I will pose another
  (completely objective and value free, of course):
  Why are the book rules so plethoric, contradicto-
  ry, unsystematic, over-detailed, and (let’s be honest
  here) just plain broken? I can offer six reasons for
  this sad state of affairs. But let me begin by mak-
  ing it perfectly clear that I am not blaming anyone.
  The original rules were rather silly anyway, and the
  new rules at least represented an effort to make
  books more interesting, useful and realistic. On all
  these three counts the guil…, I mean the authors,
  were at least partially successful, but…
  Here are the six reasons I promised:
  1. The new book rules were not sufficiently
  playtested. I am not being catty here; this is
  just a statement of fact. If you check the
  rogue’s gallery of ArM4 playtesters, you will
  find this heretic’s name prominently dis-
  played in that hall of shame. All I can say in
  my own and the authors’ defence is that
  inadequate playtesting is a natural conse-
  quence of introducing major changes cold
  with a new edition. This is why it is so
  important for proposed new rules to circu-
  late as widely as possible beforehand during
  the hiatus between editions. This is just my
  way of saying that if any of these Heretic’s
  Corner suggestions find their way into an
  eventual ArM5 and bomb like the current
  book rules have, it will be your fault for not
  trying them out and doing the preliminary
  brushwork for the future playtesters. As a
  mad inventor might say: “I am not responsi-
  ble”.
  2. The authors appear to have been inordi-
  nately enthralled by the many different types
  of books available in the Middle Ages, and
  sought to convey this authentic medieval
  “feel” to their fellow Ars fans. In this they
  were reasonably successful as we have since
  all been pontificating about summae, tracta-
  tus, libri quaestionum and commentarii (all
  varyingly glossed, of course, except for the
  authorities) as if we all had intimate first
  hand experience with them. Unfortunately,
  this simulationism has come at the expense
  of play balance (read “inflated power lev-
  els”) and simplicity (a far greater sin from
  the perspective of Heretic’s Corner).
  3. Despite the authors’ aspirations at simula-
  tionism, none of them were professional
  medievalists. As this heretic doesn’t happen
  to be either, this must be assessed as an
  entirely forgivable failing. Nevertheless, it
  has led indirectly to the rather quirky conse-
  quence that the rules ended up being written
  from a rather narrow and not entirely
  appropriate perspective: namely that of the
  medieval academic curriculum. 990/0 of
  medieval books did not figure on the aca-
  demic curriculum and, presumably, none of
  those on Hermetic magic did. To give
  another example, the basic medieval text
  was the tractatus, not the stodgy summa so
  dear (cough, cough) to the hearts of diligent
  schoolboys everywhere. Yet a surface read-
  ing of the rules suggests that tractatus were
  merely a residual to which one only resorted
  after 
  having 
  exhausted 
  a 
  summa.
  (WRONG!)
  38
  
  Let me give you an even more specific
  example of what I mean. One of the most
  common types of medieval books is a
  monastic chronicle. Such a book would
  count as a tractatus on Local Area Lore with
  lots of juicy gossip about local figures and
  families, local geography and local history.
  No one is ever likely to write a summa on
  Local Area Lore. Such a tractatus would be
  a perfectly acceptable introductory text for
  anyone wanting to know about the local
  area. Most medieval books are like that.
  They don’t pretend to comprehensive cov-
  erage. They aren’t written for the schools.
  And no one plans to use them for systemat-
  ic study.
  4. Despite this skewed focus on the academic
  curriculum and the incongruity of magi (the
  main consumers of books in most sagas)
  never having received the benefits of a “lib-
  eral” education in the formal sense in the
  first place, another problem emerges from
  the fact that the rule mechanics were written
  with the Hermetic Arts in mind, with cover-
  age of the mundane Knowledges (i.e. the
  actual subjects taught under the medieval
  curriculum) being treated as an awkward
  afterthought.
  5. Nonetheless, and in spite of this apparent
  focus on the interests of magi, the new
  book rules astonishingly failed to cover
  whole categories of books that are just as
  central to the practice of Hermetic magic. I
  am talking about spell books and lab texts.
  In this, the authors simply ended up rein-
  forcing what is, in my view, a rather
  unhealthy and munchkinistic (Yes, you there
  in the back, this means you) obsession with
  improving one’s Arts as the be all and end all
  of Hermetic existence. The fact that this
  article is the first to address this issue in the
  soon-to-be six years since the appearance of
  ArM4 is rather telling.
  6. Finally, a belated recognition by the authors
  of some of the mechanical shortcomings of
  the ArM4 and WGRE rules led to an unsys-
  tematic and patchwork effort at repair in
  HP1. While these proposed changes defi-
  nitely make abuse of the earlier inconsisten-
  cies in the rules more difficult, they leave the
  whole with the unfortunate appearance of a
  threadbare quilt, barely held together here
  and there by a mess of arbitrary stand-alone
  ukases.
  Having cunningly outlined reasons why the
  rules might be less than perfect, without actually
  describing all the alleged specific mechanical fail-
  ings in any detail, Heretic’s Corner will now offer
  up its own version of the book rules as they ought
  to have been written originally.
  The Book Rules: Smaller, Shorter
  and Definitely Cut
  (with apologies to South Park; blame Hibernia)
  I propose we reduce the number of “types” of
  books to two: summae and tractatus. A summa is
  aimed at providing comprehensive understanding
  of a field which can extend from a relatively nar-
  row specialization, spell or enchantment to a
  whole Art or Knowledge. A tractatus, on the oth-
  er hand is a text focussed on a specific issue, sub-
  ject or topic. While often quite detailed, a tractatus
  does not aspire to the broad general coverage of a
  summa. Nonetheless, both book types can serve as
  excellent introductory texts: the summa because of
  its systematic laying out of the field, the tractatus
  because its pointed yet discursive approach stimu-
  lates interest and in so doing introduces key con-
  cepts to the reader.
  Deeper study is initially best pursued from a
  summa, but no summa can easily encompass all
  there is to know about a Knowledge or Art. Even-
  tually the student must rely on various individual
  tractatus and try as best he can to cull and integrate
  the often apparently disconnected facts and obser-
  vations they contain into a systematic understand-
  ing of his chosen field of study. This, in simplified
  form, represents the approach to medieval self-
  study these proposed rules are meant to simulate.
  Summae and tractatus exist across four “class-
  es” of subjects. These are the Knowledges as well
  as the Hermetic Arts, Spells and Enchantments.
  The last three are normally only of interest to
  magi. Summae and tractatus perform analogous
  roles within each of these classes.
  Every book has a level determined at the start
  of its composition. The level of a book represents
  its breadth, originality and utility. A high level book
  will contain facts, arguments and observations not
  commonly encountered elsewhere and, as such,
  will prove more useful to a student than a low lev-
  el counterpart. A book’s level remains constant
  and may never be improved other than through
  rewriting.
  Each book also has a Quality which represents
  the accessibility of the information it contains for
  the reader. By this I mean the clarity of the ideas
  expressed as well as the appropriate and unam-
  biguous use of words and phrasing. A book’s
  underlying Quality is also fixed at the start of com-
  position (though it can be optionally improved by
  glossing, and subsequent copies can optionally
  benefit from improved physical presentation and
  layout).
  Whatever a book’s level or Quality, a reader’s
  score in an Art or Knowledge may never be
  increased by more than three levels as a result of a
  single season of study. A Scribe score of at least 3
  is required to write or copy a book. Writing a book
  is done in whole seasons, but several books can be
  copied in a single season depending on the book
  39
  
  type and length. Seasons spent writing or copying
  a book need not be consecutive.
  Knowledges
  An author can write a summa on a Knowledge
  of a level equal to half his score in that Knowl-
  edge (rounded down). The Quality of such a sum-
  ma is equal to the author’s COM + Scribe + 3 at
  the start of composition. Writing a summa on a
  Knowledge is done in two stages. In the first, the
  author researches his material and gathers refer-
  ences and notes at the rate of INT + Scribe expe-
  rience points per season. Once the number of
  experience points accumulated in this way equals
  the total indicated by the level of the summa (i.e.
  1 ep for level 1, 3 eps for level 2, 6 eps for level 3,
  etc.), the preparatory stage is complete. The author
  then begins the actual composition process at the
  rate of COM + Scribe experience points per sea-
  son. Once the number of experience points accu-
  mulated in this way again equals the total indicated
  by the level of the summa, the work is finally com-
  plete. If the author dies or abandons his work after
  completing the preparatory stage, a second author
  who has studied the notes for a season and whose
  score in the Knowledge at least equals the intend-
  ed level of the book may resume the work at the
  beginning of the composition stage, substituting
  his own COM + Scribe for that of the original
  author. If either author suffers from the Incom-
  prehensible Flaw, the summa will as well.
  Here is an example. Incitus, a professor at the
  university of Bologna, has scores in Civil and
  Canon Law and Scribe Latin of 7 and 4 respec-
  tively, an INT of +2 and a COM of +1. He refus-
  es to have his students use an already existing
  summa on Civil Law composed by his rival
  Majorus whom he despises, and so sets about writ-
  ing his own summa which will have a level of 3
  (i.e. his Civil and Canon Law 7 divided by 2,
  rounded down) and a Quality of 8 (COM +
  Scribe + 3). After consulting previous authors,
  combing through precedents and organizing his
  material, which takes only one season (as his INT
  + Scribe equals the six eps contained in a level 3
  summa), he begins the actual composition of the
  work. This takes him a further two seasons (as his
  COM + Scribe only equals 5, one short of the 6
  required to finish the work in a single season) for
  a total of three.
  A scribe can copy a summa on a Knowledge at
  the rate of 3 × (DEX + Scribe) experience points
  per season of copying. A reader gains a number of
  experience points in a Knowledge equal to
  (INT + Quality)/5 (rounded up) per season spent
  studying a summa. The reader may continue study-
  ing from a given summa over several seasons until
  his score in the Knowledge equals the level of the
  summa.
  An author can write a tractatus on a Knowl-
  edge of a level equal to his score at the start of
  composition. There is no limit to the number of
  tractatus an author can write on a Knowledge. The
  Quality of such a tractatus is equal to the author’s
  COM + Scribe. Tractatus are simpler and much
  easier to write than summae. As such, they do not
  require any separate research time. Writing a trac-
  tatus on a Knowledge takes one season, and three
  can be copied in a single season. A reader who
  spends a season studying a tractatus on a Knowl-
  edge gains a number of experience points in that
  Knowledge equal to (INT + Quality)/5 (rounded
  up). A tractatus may only be studied once for
  effect, and the score achieved may not exceed the
  level of the tractatus.
  Arts
  Summae and tractatus may also be written on
  each of the Hermetic Arts. The rules are the same
  as for works on Knowledges, with the following
  modifications. A season spent on the preparation
  of a summa on an Art advances that stage by a
  number of points equal to 5 × (INT + Scribe). A
  season spent on composition of
  the work
  advances completion by 5 × (COM + Scribe)
  points. A summa on an Art can be copied at the
  rate of 15 × (DEX + Scribe) points per season. A
  student gains a number of points in an Art from
  reading a summa equal to INT + Quality per sea-
  son. A mage studying a tractatus on an Art for a
  season will gain a number of points in the Art
  equal to INT + Quality.
  Spells
  A summa on a spell (or ritual) is called a gri-
  moire. Conventionally, these are often bound
  together into collections (also called grimoires),
  but each summa on a spell will have its own level
  (equal to the magnitude of the spell) and Quality
  (equal to the author’s COM + Scribe). Working
  from lab notes gathered while inventing or learn-
  ing a spell, a mage can write a grimoire on one or
  more spells he knows for the use of others at the
  rate of 5 × (COM + Scribe) magnitudes per sea-
  son, and may copy a grimoire at the rate of
  15 × (DEX + Scribe) magnitudes per season. An
  unlearned spell can be cast from a grimoire with a
  modifier to the casting total equal to the grimoire’s
  Quality – 6. The same modifier applies to lab totals
  when attempting to learn a spell or ritual from a
  grimoire.
  A mage can write any number of tractatus on
  a spell he has already mastered. The level of such
  a tractatus is equal to the magnitude of the spell,
  and the Quality is equal to the author’s
  COM + Scribe. It takes one season to write a spell
  tractatus, and three can be copied in a single sea-
  son. A mage gains a number of experience points
  towards mastery of a spell he has already learned
  equal to (INT + Quality)/5 (rounded up) from
  studying a tractatus on that spell for a season. A
  mage may only study a given spell tractatus once
  for effect, though he may usefully study any num-
  ber of different tractatus on the same spell until he
  40
  
  has mastered it. One cannot cast or learn a spell
  directly from a spell tractatus, but one can add the
  lower of its level or Quality to one’s lab total if one
  consults the tractatus while inventing an identical
  spell.
  Enchantments
  A summa on an enchantment or on a lab
  improvement or modification is called a lab text.
  Working from lab notes gathered while enchanting
  a device, potion, familiar or lab improvement, a
  mage can write a lab text for general use once the
  enchantment has been completed at the rate of
  5 × (COM + Scribe) magnitudes of the enchant-
  ment per season. If the author is not the original
  enchanter he must spend a season studying the
  enchanter’s notes before writing the lab text. A lab
  text can be copied at the rate of 15 × (DEX +
  Scribe) magnitudes per season. The level of a lab
  text is equal to the Magic Theory score of the
  author and the Quality is equal to the author’s
  COM + Scribe. A lab text is not studied. Rather, it
  is consulted by a mage while attempting to repro-
  duce the enchantment it contains, and adds the
  lower of its level or Quality to the mage’s lab total
  to this end. If the enchanting mage is the author
  of the lab text, it adds its full level to his efforts to
  reproduce the enchantment regardless of Quality.
  In fact, the enchanting mage can gain the same
  benefit from his own notes, and need not go
  through the process of actually writing a full lab
  text unless he wishes to share his experience with
  others.
  Options
  The rules proposed above preserve the essen-
  tials of the existing book rules, while simplifying
  them, ironing out their inconsistencies (such as Art
  tractatus based on spell mastery) and extending
  their coverage to grimoires and lab texts. We can
  now look at various options that reintroduce some
  of the features culled from the original rules for
  the sake of simplicity, that harmonize the pro-
  posed rules with those offered up in previous
  instalments of Heretic’s Corner, that extrapolate
  from existing rules in the canon, or that simply
  provide minor but interesting variations.
  Libri Quaestionum
  These were one of the more popular innova-
  tions introduced in ArM4. I propose treating them
  as specialized summae (described for emphasis as
  “summae (LQ)”) whose comprehensiveness has
  been partially sacrificed for the sake of enhanced
  Quality. An author cannot write a summa (LQ) at
  a level higher than one third his score in the rele-
  vant Art or Knowledge (rounded down). The
  Quality of a summa (LQ) is equal to the author’s
  COM + Scribe + 6. Otherwise a summa (LQ) can
  be used exactly like a conventional summa with no
  special rules for “target level” or restrictions on
  the number of seasons it can be profitably studied
  from, up to a score equal to its level.
  Authorities
  A popular, though problematic, feature of the
  WGRE was the introduction of rules aimed at
  providing mechanics for the authorities tantaliz-
  ingly alluded to in the section on Academic
  Knowledges in ArM4. Aside from complicating
  the picture, the WGRE ended up adding to the
  confusion surrounding what exactly an “authority”
  was intended to be. I propose a return to the orig-
  inal definition which can be inferred from ArM4,
  i.e. an authority consists of the collected works on
  a Knowledge or Art by one or more recognized
  “auctores” for that Knowledge or Art. While any
  book, such as a tractatus (now described for
  emphasis as a “tractatus (A)”), written by such an
  auctor will be considered “authoritative” for that
  Knowledge or Art, only summae written by an
  auctor (now described for emphasis as “summae
  (A)”) are so in a comprehensive sense and can be
  treated as “core texts” for that Knowledge or Art.
  I know this sounds complicated, but it’s really
  very simple. Once a student with a positive Intelli-
  gence has exhausted all he can learn normally
  from a summa (A), he may continue to study from
  the work as an authoritative core text at a reduced
  Quality of 0 by relying on implications, allusions
  or analogies that can legitimately be inferred from
  the work. How long he can continue to do so with-
  out having to seek additional insight from another
  authoritative work depends on his Intelligence: 2
  seasons with a +1 INT, 6 seasons with a +2 INT,
  12 seasons with a +3 INT, 20 seasons with a +4
  INT, 30 seasons with a +5 INT, indefinitely with
  Mythic Intelligence.
  If he wishes to continue to study from the
  “authority” once he has exhausted these seasons,
  he must first find a new (i.e. unread by him) text of
  any kind on that Art or Knowledge written by one
  of the field’s recognized auctors (this is where an
  unread tractatus (A) might come in handy, though
  this new text could just as easily be another as yet
  unread summa (A)). After he has studied from this
  authoritative text for a season (usefully or not), our
  student will have regained sufficient insight to
  return to the same or another core text (i.e. sum-
  ma (A) for that Knowledge or Art) and may study
  from it again as an “authority” for the indicated
  number of seasons depending on his Intelligence,
  after which he must search out a new authoritative
  work for inspiration yet again.
  Commentaries
  As there are no longer any restrictions on the
  number of tractatus that can be written by an
  author, there is no longer any need for commen-
  taries as a separate type of book. If characters
  wish to write commentaries, they may, but from a
  mechanical point of view, these are indistinguish-
  able from regular tractatus.
  41
  
  Physical Quality
  From what I can tell, the current rules for
  Physical Quality are fine, except that they should
  apply to grimoires and lab texts as well. One addi-
  tional option, however, would be to modify the
  Quality of 0 used in “authoritative study” from a
  summa (A) by the book’s Physical Quality. Under
  the current rules it is not clear whether authorities
  are affected by Physical Quality.
  Glossing
  A book can be glossed to improve its Quality.
  A glossator substitutes his own COM + Scribe for
  that of the author, but a book’s Quality may never
  be increased by more than 3 through glossing. It
  takes as long to Gloss a book as it does to copy
  one. All books, including tractatus can be glossed.
  Glossing does not affect authoritative study. A giv-
  en copy of a book may not be usefully glossed
  more than once. An “incomprehensible” book
  remains “incomprehensible”, even after glossing.
  This is because it is an author’s ideas that are
  incomprehensible, not his words.
  Rounding
  Because of frequent division by 5 in some for-
  mulae, rounding can be very significant. For exam-
  ple a mage with a +5 INT can study authoritative-
  ly from a summa (A) on an Art five times as effec-
  tively as a mage with an INT of +1. The same two
  magi, however, will study authoritatively from a
  summae (A) on a Knowledge at exactly the same
  rate. One option would be to round off to the
  nearest integer instead of rounding up.
  Arts as Abilities, and Speak vs. Scribe
  Diligent readers of Heretic’s Corner will have
  noticed that the Hermetic Arts can be dispensed
  with as a separate class for books if Arts are treat-
  ed as Exceptional Knowledges as proposed in
  HP2. Also, if Scribe is limited to the purely
  mechanical aspects of writing (as proposed in
  HP1) and not extended to composition, Speak
  Latin can be substituted for Scribe Latin when
  writing a book if one is assisted by a sufficiently
  competent amanuensis. Such a change would tend
  to increase the average quality of books, but not
  abusively so.
  For example, an author with a +1 COM, Speak
  Latin 5 and Scribe Latin 3 working with an amanu-
  ensis with a Scribe Latin of 6 would be able to
  “write” a tractatus based on the lower of his Speak
  Latin score of 5 and his amanuensis’ Scribe Latin
  of 6. If the author scribed the book himself, it
  would have had a Quality of 1 + 3 = 4. With the
  aid of the amanuensis, however, the book can be
  written with a Quality of 1 + 5 = 6. This assumes,
  of course, that the amanuensis can speak enough
  Latin to take dictation.
  Spell and Enchantment Mastery
  The more perspicacious readers may have
  noticed that all but the least intelligent of magi are
  probably better off practising their spells in an
  effort to acquire spell mastery than attempting to
  learn such mastery from a tractatus. This is
  because the current spell practice rules are idioti-
  cally generous as compared to other forms of
  practice, and need changing.
  The perspicacious may also have noticed that
  no mechanics are proposed here for tractatus on
  enchantments. This is because there are no rules in
  the canon for an enchantment counterpart to spell
  mastery. I could tentatively suggest that one ep
  towards the mastery of a particular enchantment
  be granted to a mage each time he successfully
  completes it, and that such mastery automatically
  grant him the benefits of a lab text (whether he
  has one on hand or not) when repeating the
  enchantment, while also permitting him to com-
  plete three such enchantments simultaneously
  (using three times the vis, of course, and risking
  the corresponding extra botch dice). But as this
  article is about book rules, I won’t. Do your own
  extrapolation!
  Affinities
  Affinities which cover a whole or several Arts
  (e.g. Elementalist) are either irrelevant to book
  writing, or they add to the author’s score when
  computing the level of a book on an Art or
  Knowledge. Take your pick. If you choose the lat-
  ter interpretation, however, I would strongly rec-
  ommend dropping the Increased Understanding
  result from the Twilight Results Table (along with
  any similar Virtues) and replacing it with the gain
  or improvement of an Affinity in a relevant Art.
  Summae as Tractatus
  Even with the rules proposed here, there is still
  little incentive to keep low level summae in your
  library if you have a higher level one available
  (assuming Quality is constant). One optional solu-
  tion to this problem would be to permit a reader
  to treat a summa from which he has not studied as
  a tractatus in the relevant Art, Spell or Knowledge
  with the same Quality but with twice the level. For
  example, Scroungeus checks through a book mon-
  ger’s stall near the university of Paris and comes
  across a copy of Bede’s De natura rerum, a level 3
  summa on Philosophiae which he has never read.
  His own score in Philosophiae is 5, so he buys the
  book and studies from it just as if it were a level 6
  tractatus (i.e. twice its level as a summa). As 6 is
  higher than his score of 5, he can profitably study
  the work for a season.
  Analysis
  There are a few key (and lots of minor)
  changes involved in these proposed book rules
  that might not be immediately obvious, mainly
  those relating to tractatus. There is now no longer
  any limit on the number of tractatus an author can
  write. On the other hand, tractatus now have lev-
  els beyond which they can no longer advance your
  score in an Art or Knowledge. These levels are
  generous, but strictly related to the score of the
  42
  
  author. It is through tractatus that an author can
  set down what he knows (or thinks he knows) but
  cannot integrate within the framework of a sum-
  ma.
  There are two reasons for the division of writ-
  ing time into research and composition. The first
  is simply that it sets the total number of seasons
  involved in writing a summa at what I think it
  should be, without having to rely on unnecessarily
  complex formulae. The second is that it brings the
  process of writing a summa on an Art or Knowl-
  edge into greater conformity with that implied in
  the original rules for grimoires and lab texts. I also
  like the fact that it creates the potential for inter-
  esting adventure seeds centred on plagiaristic com-
  position based on stolen, discovered or inherited
  research notes, or even collaborative book writing.
  (“Here, you know all this stuff and have a gifted
  quill. Take these notes and see what you can do
  about writing them up in good Latin.”)
  Looking at these proposed rules from the per-
  spective of the more constrained range of scores
  for Knowledges, rather than the wider ones for
  Arts, provides some insight on what might be an
  appropriate level for various types of summae.
  The maximum score in a Knowledge a superhu-
  manly single-minded mundane scholar might
  acquire while teaching an average of three out of
  four seasons a year is probably 15. This is a highly
  improbable score, however, and the game mechan-
  ics tend to break down, in any case, once Abilities
  begin to exceed 10. Nonetheless, this can be used
  to conclude that the maximum level of a summa is
  probably 7, with the vast majority being level 3, 4
  or 5. Keep in mind that while writing books may
  make you a famous and valued member of your
  intellectual circle, it also takes up a lot of time.
  That magnificent Level 7 first edition summa on
  Magic Theory you may find on the shelf in the
  library at Doissetep will have taken over two years
  of continuous writing time to complete, and prob-
  ably even longer given the inevitable breaks and
  interruptions.
  A level 1 summa would obviously be pointless.
  The level restriction is too severe given that study-
  ing virtually any book for a season will provide you
  with more than one ep. But why not a level 2? For
  the simple reason that a level 2 summa (LQ) is rel-
  atively easy to write and obviously superior to its
  low level ordinary summa counterpart. Why write
  an ordinary level 2 summa, when there are proba-
  bly level 2 summa (LQ) available that can do the
  job better? Summae (LQ) of levels 3, 4 or 5 would
  also be superior to their ordinary counterparts, but
  would also be very difficult to write. There may
  not be one for every Knowledge. One would
  assume that scholars with the necessary scores
  have better things to do with their time than write
  primers for mid-level scholars. In any case, we can
  thus conclude that a summa of level 2 is likely to
  be a summa (LQ), one of 4 or 5 is likely to be an
  ordinary summa, while a level 3 summa might be
  either, but probably only an ordinary one.
  What of summae (A)? There is no reason to
  assume that auctores had astronomic scores in
  their respective Knowledges (even for Artes Lib-
  erales!). They were merely the first to define the
  conceptual parameters for their respective fields. If
  summae (A) were of level 6 or 7, there would be,
  in any case, no point in anyone writing or using
  ordinary summae. For purposes of play balance
  and simplification, I suggest that summae (A) that
  cover a whole Knowledge all be treated as level 5.
  Those that cover a narrow specialization (like one
  of the Artes Liberales) should be treated as level 3,
  while those covering wider specializations or a
  number of narrow ones should be level 4.
  The natural inference that one can draw from
  this analysis of summae on Knowledges is that Art
  summae (LQ) will range in level from 5 to 7, ordi-
  nary Art summae would range from 7 to 12 or so,
  while the three kinds of Art summae (A) would
  range in levels from 6 to 8, 8 to 10, and 11 to 13
  respectively. In practice and according to the cur-
  rent rules, however, they would probably tend to
  hover somewhat above each of these ranges
  because of generous rules for learning Arts from
  vis (which need changing), the possibility of
  “Increased Understanding” (which I have banned
  from my sagas) resulting from Twilight, and, most
  importantly perhaps, the longer average life span
  of magi. Much would depend on your saga. There
  is definitely room for thought here.
  In any case, that’s it for this instalment of
  Heretic’s Corner. I hope to see you in HP4. Keep
  those ideas coming. I am sure there is enough
  material out there for a couple more years of arti-
  cles unless ArM5 comes upon us by surprise. And
  then we can always work on simplifying that!
  43
  
  Coming in Issue #4 of
  Hermes’ Portal
  News from the Line Editor
  by David Chart
  Merinita Mysteries
  by David Chart
  Stories for Elder Magi
  by Timothy Ferguson
  Hermetic Information
  Storage and Flow
  by Timothy Ferguson
  Heretic’s Corner
  by Michaël de Verteuil
  …
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Hermes' Portal/Hermes' Portal 03.pdf