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Jordan

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Here is my companion idea.

Andrew Beckett

Andrew grew up as one of the covenfolk in the Covenant where his father served as the Autocrat. He has been groomed and trained to take up the duties as Covenant Autocrat and is excited to be given the opportunity to put his skills to the test. He is a driven man who doesn't let his slight stature get in the way of getting the job done and as such has gained both the respect and the ire of many of the covenfolk. He is well educated, organized and efficient although according to the Grogs he has a small tree up his bum.

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Flambeau Magus - Michael Goodman

Michael is the 2nd son of a minor knight whose small lands are a day or two away from the Covenant. He was spotted and apprenticed to his Parens when he was acting as a page at the court of his father's liege further away in Cornwall. He had been there for a few years before being spotted, and so had recieved some training before he came to the Covenant. Contrary to the stereotype he is not a hot-headed mage who is only capable of wielding Fire magics. He is both more thoughtful and has a wider range of magics at his disposal. However, he is quite capable and willing of fighting in defence of the Covenant and the Order, and actively going after the enemies of the same.

Since coming to the Covenant he has had little interaction with his family, but has generally kept on good terms with them.

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I'm wrestling with two competing concepts.

A fey-blooded "face" mage who's happy and cheerful and outgoing, and probably flirts with the 'no intervention with mundanes' rule a lot. Good with illusion magic. Gets in trouble a lot.

Or!

A shapeshifting mage...possibly Bjorn, possibly just with the Virtue that lets you do it. I'm thinking this mage has traveled rather extensively, having first joined the Order in the Holy Land, then traveled north and west into Europe proper to explore and seek out hubs of magical knowledge. Quiet and secretive. Even...sneaky.

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I like the concept Rorx! Sounds solid and interesting.

Both concepts are interesting Smax and both could have places in the Saga, so the question is; what do you think would be the most fun for you to play? smile

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Thanks Jordan, now I just need to work out the right Virtues and flaws to make it useable wink

I was thinking Priveleged Upbringing would probably be one, other than that I think a carefull re-reading of the flaws (again) to see what I think are appropriate and liveable with before I get too hung up on what Virtues I might want wink

I guess he will have the standard childhood xp up to the age of about 5, then another couple of years as a page etc to make him 8 or 9 when he entered his Apprenticeship, so he would start the game at about 23-24?

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That is the basic idea, yes. you getthe Early Childhood xp and then can take upto 5 years of Later Life xp before entering Apprenticeship. If you went into your apprenticeship at the age of 5 you'd be starting at 20 years old.

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My idea for a magus is a Tremere who had just completed his training around 1016 or so, just about the time that the Schism war was drawing to a close, and Coeris' numbers were dwindling.

He, his masters army and a few other hastily trained young apprentices were led into combat with Diedne forces escaping into a faerie regio. The task force assaulted their stronghold even as the anathema mages succeeded in opening the regio. The task force continued to press them even into the edges of Arcadia before the Diedne forces were finally routed.

The Tremere were already cut off from home, however, and my would-be Tremere was stuck in faerie for the last year of his apprenticeship.

When the group finally made it out, while only a season or two had passed for them, 200 years had passed in the real world, and he and his comrades had become anachronisms.

He is a product of a time of war, and spent his entire apprenticeship training for battle. Now, in this time of relative peace, circa 1220, he wonders what to do with himself.

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Okay. I think what I'm gonna do is have my fey character be a Companion; a socially savvy, somewhat sneaky, charming little rogue with a few supernatural gifts in reserve for when things get dicey.

The mage will be a stranger to these lands, inducted into a far branch of the Order and with strange powers, dark secrets, and an endless burning need to learn.

I'm thinking perhaps my fey character might have a tie to Saint's Tremere...perhaps they met in that half-world, poised between the normal world and Faerie... Or maybe they just struck up a conversation, both being oddities in the covenant.

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I've developed my mage character concept a bit; still working on a Companion idea, but here's what I've got.

A Criamon whose Master went into Final Twilight in the middle of his apprenticeship; he was adopted by a Hermetic cousin of his first master's in another, and was taken out of his apprenticeship by a Bonisagus invoking his privelege. Eventually said Bonisagus realized his new apprentice was prone to Twilight and not very helpful in the lab because of it, decided to cut his losses, and brought him back to Stonehenge to finish his apprenticeship under what would have been an older Hermetic brother.

The end result is that this character has gotten a chance to see the world, and more importantly what house Criamon looks like from the outside, and he doesn't like it. They have a reputation for being weird and incomprehensible and they tend to alienate other people. (And the Order is recently getting past the Schism War; if history is going to repeat itself, the next-weirdest and reclusive house after Diedne is probably Criamon.) So he tries to be more laid-back and friendly, preferring to study the Enigma through the natural world and its meanings in its own context in order to better understand their symbolic meanings in the greater scheme of things, and isn't so bizarre that he can't explain it to other people (yet).

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:in response to SalmonMax:

I don't have a problem with this, merely the requirement that you can ride a horse, and pass for a soldier, or disguise yourself as one, if necessary.

[Tremere] is going to be something of a warhorse, whose most likely aspiration will be finishing the Schism war (ie hunting Diedne remnants with the Vexillation of the burning acorn.)

But that would be at the most, one season out of the year.

He's got a bit of interest in mercenaries will likely try to make himself useful to the order with his specialties, which are leading men to war, leveraging situations with force, and being a gentle-gifted elephant in the room durring noble gatherings.

Chances are, a modicum of stealth would help that out. After all, intelligence is what really wins battles.

If that didn't scare you off, then go for it.

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Character concept is a guy with Undine blood. Mother was travelling at sea and had a...night-time visitor. That was the end of any possibility of marriage for Mum, so she gave him to a sister and entered a convent. The sister was largely indifferent to our protagonist's existence, and was glad enough when a passing magus recognized his Gift. The mage in question was too young and intrepid to take an apprentice but a Merinita magus was found who was willing enough. He knows the area around the Covenant pretty well, which is probably one reason why he was chosen by House Merinita to revitalize it. Slight specialization in water magics, but he's also interested in the possibilities of Imaginem.

There. Rough outline for you, and keeping in mind I'm pretty starved for sleep right now.

Faerie type characters: i can haz background ties?

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I think we all need to step back and read what Jodan has posted about the target Covenant in the other thread - None of us is going to have come from or been trained at the Land's End Covenant.

I would guess the next nearest Covenant would be somewhere like Glastonbury, or Tintagel, or Avebury. St Ives is a good place for another covenant within Cornwall, there is an impressive high 'island' of rock in the harbour, that I assume would have been bigger back in 1220 than it is today, that could have housed a small Covenant amidst and interesting confluence of Air, Earth and Water.

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While you are correct Rorx, I have no problems with one of the characters having been born and raised in the area before being whisked away to another covenant in England by their future master.

There are currently no other active covenants in Cornwall.

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From his background he is the 2nd or 3rd son of a lesser Cornish knight who was sent to the knights lord as a page. Micheal learnt to pseak French, read/write and Latin as well as various other things during his time at the court. His Parens spotted him at the Lords court and took him off to the Covenant at/near Glastonbury where he spent his apprenticeship.

Although he could talk to the other Magus/Apprentices in Latin, he would want at least a smattering of English to be understood by the bulk of the Covenfolk, especially over a 15 year period wink

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Well, back in 1066 the Normans invaded and replaced the previous Saxon (English) Nobles, but by now they would be speaking English most of the time to their servants etc with French more on formal occasions and perhaps amongst themselves. After all it is ~150 years later ~5/6 generations or more since the invasion.

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I can take Aegis of the Hearth. Criamon. :3

Jordan, how do you feel about characters starting with their own spells? I don't really see my character being the kind of guy who studies out of a book real well.

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Okay Sarah, that question has been asked by more than one person so here is my official ruling on the matter

I will allow each character to start with no more than 2 personally created spells. These spells should be no higher than level 15 or 20 and still cost starting spell levels. Apprenticeship doesn't give you a lot of time to do your own labwork but it is plausible that in the short time you guys have been Magi you couldv'e come up with a spell or two.

Edit: When PMing me with the spell concept and details please put the tag [Labwork] in the title to make it easier for me to sort out in my inbox

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Just for future reference - I assume that the general guidelines in the book for things like CrCo that list the base level for healing for example would be the level at which you could invent a spell that affected yourself rather than the equivalent spell that was described and given a name that probably has a range of touch or more.

Similarly I assume you could create a PeIg spell for putting fires out. Hmmm, probably have to give it a Voice range so you don't burn yourself.

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I've created a character biography thread where you can post the information about your character that would be public knowledge.

For now, character sheets and detailed backgrounds should remain secret from one another.

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I just thought you guys should know that I am also creating a magus for myself. In any other game I wouldn't make a characte r for myself while STing, but the nature of AM actually encourages it. The advancement rules would make it pretty hard for me to cheat or take advantage of my ST position were I so inclined (Which I am not).

To make things more fair and add a little transparency I want to discuss certain elements of my character with all of you.

He is Ex Miscellanea, from a tradition of pagan beguilers and claims to be a blood relative of the legendary wizard Merlin. His House Virtues and Flaws are Entrancement, Cyclic Magic (Positive) and Weak Magic Resistance.

Naturally I'm taking Cyclic Magic (Negative) and linking both the virtue and the flaw to the seasons. I am giving him Mythic Blood (Gentle Gift would work too with his social skills but alas I cannot have 2 Major Hermetic Virtues).

Mythic Blood Gives the character a Minor Magical Focus, a special power he can use at will, and a Minor Personality Flaw. For the Flaw I took Prohibition - Alcohol, which means he has a geasa against drinking alcohol and he suffers some sort of penalty/curse. Since this is my character I'd like you guys to suggest what the penalty/curse should be. For the Focus I was thinking it would be "shaping spells" which means any Muto Vim spell that directly affects another spell would get the Focus Bonus. Does that sound reasonable?

His strongest Arts will be Vim, Auram and Mentem in that order.

Any feedback, comments or criticism?

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Sounds fine to me Jordan.

For a penalty how about short/bad-tempered, or his face turning red, or immediate drunkeness for 4 hours followed by a 12 hour hangover when he wakes up - so almost a full day at a pemalty on most/all actions. Magical drunkness and hangover of course so you can't just cure them wink

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Talking with Alex in chat he suggested that being a decendent of Merlin may be a bit too cheesy so doing a little research reminded me of the Welsh bard Taliesin. The mythic accounting of his life (as opposed to the purely historical account) is interesting and I think would be a great reason for a mythic bloodline.

What do you guys think?

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The time has come for us to compare notes on mages and companions, so we can tell what each of us are aiming for. I understand a few of us have already had to redo concepts because they were too close to what someone else had in mind. Lets make sure that ends now.

My mage is an Arabian shapeshifter from the Holy Land. She's skilled in magics of mind and body, healing and learning. She's quite skilled in the wilderness, having spent long periods of time in the form of one animal or another. She's very curious about magical lore and the history of the Order of Hermes, coming as she does from a small, backwater Covenant. Before being assigned to Cornwall, she spent time at the Lincoln Covenant, and was transferred from there. She has spells with defensive and offensive capabilities, but she often relies on her shapechanging to give an advantage in combat. As such, she's not heavily focused in battle magic.

My companion...is currently too unformed to tell much about. I'd like to see what others are planning before I start going into details. In particular we need to sort of get an idea of the character's focus. Is this a warrior? A quick roguish pilferer who strikes from shadows? An archer? A sage and scholar? A charming, winsome socialite?

Some idea of what "role" this character will be playing...what skills and value you expect them to bring to a group...will be invaluable.

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Companion - Johnathan Smithson

Freeman from Cornwall, who was assigned as a soldier to his Lord when he went out to battle. Unfortuantely things did not go well and he ended up the only survivor of his Lords men, his Lord didn't make it either. Since then he has made his way back across country and ended up as a hunter with a Covenant.

Links to a Mage various possibilities.

1. Found on the Battlefield in a bad way and healed up by a Mage who he has then accomanpanied back to their Covenant.

2. Met a Mage abroad and travelled back to England as a protector/companion or guide.

Looking at mainly Combat and Outdoor type skills with a smattering of langauges - Cornish (Native), english, one or two foreign languages, perhaps picked up some Latin while in his current Covenant.

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My magus is Victor, who is rather available in the characters thread.

Victor could use a companion like Smithson. A solid, reliable man with some combat experience who isn't afraid to play vanguard now and then. (some equestrian skills a +)

As of the begining of the game he's training up grogs for London's covenant, and doesn't speak much English, being Bulgarian. It's been 200 years since he's been to Bulgaria, however, and someone who can put up with some language issues would be great for him.

My companion is shaping up to be a scholarly, adviserly type. He'll be able to handle mundane affairs for a magus who likes the idea of having some, but is held back by the gift. He's not a born leader, but could easily act as a diplomat, teacher, adviser, church-emissary, or decoy monk.

He's worked with mages before, and is eager to continue. They're so neat!

So far, I can see his working well with Middle-eastern Shape-shifters, flambaeu fringes and Enigmatic Philosophers alike.

[edit] He also makes an entirely passable lawyer for both civil & Cannon law, being above the common law himself.

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