1207

This year began with a return to the school at Icy North and the lessons of Profundus. Spring

The apprentices have seen Profundus studying and taking his ease in Valnastium over winter, while they were scribing, and it is no surprise to see him again in February when school reconvenes. As in the Fall, a magus has been tasked with supervising the school and ensuring its safety and security. This semester, that person is Archmage Vincent, a very unusual Criamon magus. Rene and Gustov know Vincent's unusual habits already, but the other apprentices might find it odd to see a Criamon laughing, drinking, and indulging his appetites. He gets along well with the Grogs, but not with other Criamon.

To this point, the students have had the use of books on mundane topics, probably salvaged from universities in Italy or France. This time, however, something is different. With the assistance of two Grogs from the covenant, Profundus has a single massive volume brought in. This is no mere book. The pages are each five feet wide and some seven feet high, and the lettering on the pages is similarly huge. This is a congregational: a book designed to be read by multiple people at once. Its topic: De Theoria Magica, by the Founder Bonisagus. This is the authoritative work on the subject of Magic Theory. By standing around the book, which covers the schoolhouse wall when opened, all twenty of the apprentices can read it simultaneously. It is a magnificent work of art. Sometimes the illuminations animate and move, the picture of Bonisagus pointing with one stiff arm as he recites from his own book.

Profundus does not lecture from this text. Rather, he calls upon the students to read from it and translate, while he elucidates confusing points and occasionally observes how the study of Magic Theory has advanced since the time of the Founders.

Aside from this very exciting development, there is other news: the masters are all preparing for Tribunal, which will be held next winter, in 1208. La, Primus of House Criamon, will lead the Tribunal as Praeco. Athena Alpina will serve as Quaesitor. Many of the Archmagi are expected to attend. The first order of business will be the vote of Ostracism. As part of the Alps' traditions of exporting problems and keeping things peaceful and quiet, the assembled magi of the Tribunal will vote to exile one magus. Provided at least one quarter of all magi vote for the same person, and that person has more votes than anyone else, that magus is bound to leave the Greater Alps by the next full moon or be Marched.

Most of the apprentices are very anxious about the possibility their master could be kicked out of the Tribunal.

Advancement

All students get 15 XP in Latin. (This probably puts your total at 65 XP, not yet enough for a score of 5.)

All students get 5 XP in Magic Theory. (This gets most students a 1; some are working towards a 2.)

And everyone gets the traditional 2 Profundus XP. (7 for Apt Students.)

By now, everyone also has 9 Cantation XP. Please spend some of this! Buy at least one Cantation. You might have as many as three. Cantation details can be found on our page.

Summer

Before the students left school to return to their masters, there was a brief confrontation which revealed that the vote of ostracism is congealing around Diana of Tremere. Ordinarily, the general resentment towards House Tremere in the Greater Alps would not be enough to oust the Heir to the Lunarian Chair -- as the Lunar Project is respected and admired throughout the Order -- but Diana's success at alienating the senior magi of the Tribunal has been thorough. Profundus suggested to Breandan that magi are very proud creatures and, if he wishes to help his domina and stay in the Alps, the best strategy to pursue is one which plays on their resentment. He used the example of the tale of the Fox and the Grapes: Breandan is the grapes, and the magi are all foxes. If Breandan could persuade the other magi of the Alps that he was "sour" (a poor apprentice, and a fitting punishment for Diana), they would consider themselves to have "won" and leave her alone. This strategy was not well recieved by Breandan, who resolved to think of a better way to avoid leaving the Alps.

In preparation for the MidSummer Fair, the apprentices were all given various tasks by their masters, primarily the buying, selling, or trading of books, vis, or other magical trinkets. All of them were warned that, if they should cast spells at the Fair, do so forcelessly, so that no magi of the Order will be affected by them. With this admonition, the apprentices were left to enjoy the Fair and visit with their friends while the masters pursued other matters. Mircalla was briefly sighted, and she apologized to Akakios for leading the other apprentices into danger, but she insisted they were in even greater danger the longer they remained apprentices in the Order, and they should flee for their lives. Akakios more or less agreed.

The pleasures of the Fair were interrupted, however, when the apprentices visited a secret auction being held that evening, where the personal papers of Solomon of Jerbiton were being sold off. This, it was discovered, was the same archmagus who dwelt in the tower where Rene, Gustov, Eva and Breandan battled a giant. It was agreed to investigate, and the apprentices interrupted the auction, with Breandan and Rene loudly accusing the auctioneer of breaking the law (whether of the Order, or of God, or some terrestrial authority was unclear -- perhaps all of the above) because the recovered documents properly belonged to Solomon's filia or parens. Nevertheless, the auction continued and, pooling their efforts, the apprentices were able to purchase the papers of Solomon for 6 pawns of vis.

The auction broke up and the apprentices became concerned that they would, as the bearers of the papers, now be attacked by rival parties who also wanted the documents. They fled the site of the auction, ignoring the sights and sounds of disturbance behind the pavilion -- wolf noises and a large billowing cloud of smoke. Gustov, however, sent Cassandra to investigate.

Under Breandan's direction, the apprentices went to Diana of Tremere and handed over the documents, to be held in trust for Solomon's filia or parens, should any appear. But Cassandra soon returned and told them that two other apprentices who had been seen at the auction -- Martin of Merinita and Ilsa of Bonisagus -- had been abducted by demons!

Everyone went in search of their masters, and soon a major investigation was taking place, led by Athena Alpina. It was soon verified that two of the Shadow Magi, Grigori and Hermia, had abducted Martin and Ilsa with the help of a pack of demons. A war party was swiftly organized to bring back the children, who were tracked through the use of arcane connections. The war party included Athena Alpina, Kentigern Ex Miscellanea, and Adrasteia of Tytalus (all Quaesitors), Hugh of Flambeau and Katrina of Bjornaer (Hoplites), and the two domina of the stolen apprentices, Yselt of Merinita and Philomena of Bonisagus. Eva persuaded her domina, Balbina, to offer her aid, but this aid was refused. A sleepless night was spent waiting for word. The next afternoon, the war party returned, blooded and defeated. Apparently a trap had been placed in anticipation of a rescue effort, and the war party had been attacked by a large horde of potent demons. Philomena was nearly killed; Athena was seriously injured. Everyone else sustained moderate injury.

The Amaranth

With Martin and Ilsa gone, the apprentices tried to return to their duties. The Fair had lost its splendor.

Seeing that the magi were injured, Gustov gave over some Creo vis he had acquired at the Fair, only to learn that the purple flowers which he had acquired from Akakios were, in fact, a banned substance in the Alps. Amaranth is a Corpus vis source grown and tainted by Arcadia; using it boosts magical power, but also causes addiction. It is illegal to own or sell. Gustov was sternly warned not to associate with Akakios. By nightfall, Sebastien is located and he calls both Akakios and Tomas before him, with Kentigern present.

"It is my understanding," Sebastien begins, a rather sly sound in his voice, "that one of you has been a Very. Naughty. Boy." He explains that Amaranth is a banned substance in the Alps, "And, therefore, you must never, ever, under any circumstances, purchase, handle, or use it. After all, it creates a mild hunger for more of the plant and, in exchange, it's sole benefit is to strength one's resistance to all magic. Well, and it also increases our perceptions, so that we see magic more clearly and more usefully. Oh, and I suppose it grants heightened confidence and will, allowing whoever takes it to persevere when he would otherwise fail. But, really, what good are all these things if you have to drink purple wine once in a while?"

After this performance, Kentigern goes into a long and withering exposition on the evils of Amaranth addiction. It seems to be directed as much at Sebastien as it is towards the apprentices. Kentigern asks for permission to search Sebastien's rental home; Sebastien consents to this with a nod and a casual wave. Notably, Kentigern has the help of Tobias, his Faerie Hound. Akakios' belongings get a long sniff-over; no Amaranth is found. However, three books and a handful of brilliantly colored bird feathers are found in Akakios's belongings. (Akakios had intended to give these to Eva when it came time to travel home but, on this second day of the Fair, still had them stashed in his personal stuff).

Upon the discovery of the books, Sebastien suddenly sits up and seems to start paying attention. When Kentigern asks to use Intellego magic on Akakios to find out if he has any more of the Amaranth, and to learn more about the identity of this mysterious "Creon," Sebastien categorically refuses. There is a brief show-down between the pair, with Sebastien noting, "Don't you think you have other things to worry about -- with diabolists on the loose and two apprentices abducted?" Eventually, after vowing to get Kentigern the answers he wants, Sebastien prevails upon the Irish Quaesitor and all but kicks him out of the house.

And that's when things begin to get really interesting. Akakios admits he purchased the Amaranth, but apologizes. "I'll know better next time," he says. "Had I known it was illegal, I'm sure I could have gotten at least eight pawns of it."

Sebastien laughs at this. "I didn't think you had it in you. Of course, I will have to confiscate these feathers and these three books. Which, presumably, you purchased with my vis." Briefly he goes over the three tractatus. The first, Secondary Insights into Ritual Healing Magic, is quickly passed over. It is a large, slender folio heavily decorated with diagrams used in the performance of ritual spells. Sebastien judges it, "Practical. Boring." The second book is smaller, an octavo eight by five inches, bound in leather. Sebastien reads the title out loud. "Necronimicon Keltoi? What in Hermes' name were you intending to do with this?" He unlaces a leather tie from an embossed silver button, which keeps the book shut, to see it is written in a faint black and silver handwriting. He reads from the inside cover. "She won't stop until she has it back." A long stare at Akakios follows. "I wonder who she is."

Finally, he looks to the third book, Commentary on 'The Ties That Bind'. It is the thickest, but the binding is damaged and, when Sebastien opens it, a few pages drop out. But Sebastien's eyes are wide and he looks up to Akakios with surprise. "Do you know what this is?"

"A Rego tractatus?"

"No ordinary Rego tractatus. The Ties That Bind was written by a former Primus of House Tremere, who survived the Sundering, and your commentary here is by one of his filia." He looks back at the pages. "Recopied at least once, judging by the age of this vellum. Yes, we'll just take these into safe keeping. You obviously can't be trusted with them. There are diaboilists about who are making off with apprentices, and the Hoplites don't appear able to kill them. So we shall be returning to Sinews of Knowledge, where your chores will be doubled. I can see now that I've not been disciplining you properly, Akakios. In fact, I've been far too indulgent. That was my mistake, but it won't happen again."

Breandan's Plan

After realizing that he and his domina are in very real danger of being ostracized from the Alps, Breandan begins to take matters into his own hands. His strategy is two-fold: first, to inform his grandfather -- a Hibernian Archmage -- of his situation in the hope of a rescue out of Diana's service, and secondly, to follow-up on Profundus' suggestion that the magi of the Alps will not punish Diana for her effrontery if they think Breandan is "sour grapes."

For the first part of this plan, he writes a letter:

Dear Pop-Pop

I hope this letter finds you well, that you eventually recovered from what I now know was a Twilight Episode. The faerie stranded me on the coast of Normandy after you were incapacitated and by some luck I made my way to Cherbourg where I was able to eek out a meager existence. Eventually I came to the attention of a maga who lived in Cherbourg, or so I was told, and a Redcap later came to collect me and sell me off to a magus. Apparently this Redcap, name of Arnulf, wasn’t all too bright and was involved with some wizards called the Shadow magi, who seem to be causing difficulties for the magi in the Greater Alps. Yes, this Tribunal is where I am. A maga of House Tremere claimed me as her apprentice. She’s good enough to me, I suppose, but she, nor any of the other masters, haven’t taught us as required for at least a year, maybe two. We’ve instead been trained to read and speak Latin, and some Magic Theory. I am concerned that this letter won’t be understandable to you, since I haven’t mastered Latin to my satisfaction, yet. Oh, my domina’s name is Diana, and I reside at The Covenant of the Moon. When in school, we are in Covenant of the Icy North.

Oh, the names of these Shadow magi are Grigori and Hermia, at least the ones I can remember, and there’s some evidence that Grigori has a pact with the infernal.

I expect I’ll be punished when she finds out about this letter and other things I’ve done. Punishment is just another form of learning. I’ll just need to be better next time so I don’t get caught.

Breandan

Once the letter is written, a few hours are spent locating a Hibernian Redcap. One mention of his grandfather's name secures the help of the Redcap, who solemnly agrees to put it in the master's hands personally.

With that accomplished, Breandan turns to the second part of his plan: becoming the biggest cutpurse of the Midsummer Fair. After Martin and Ilsa's abduction, this is much harder than it otherwise would have been: Breandan is not supposed to leave Diana's rental home without strict permission, and there are patrols everywhere in the Fair now, keeping an eye out for suspicious characters. However, they are looking for magical foes, not mundane ones, and by keeping a low profile and picking his targets carefully, Breandan is able to slowly fill his purse over the next seven days. Most of his loot is vis in various forms, but he also nets a few rings, a gold brooch marked with an emerald, a small traveling copy of a book on the Limit of Time, and a silver ring marked with a dragon which -- he discovers in a surprising moment behind a market stall -- shoots Balls of Abyssal Flame.

All of this is very incriminating, but Breandan needs to ensure success. He needs a piece de resistance and, moreover, he needs to get caught in a particularly spectacular manner. The hardest part of this is picking the mark, because if he were to choose another magus who hates Diana, this might actually result in a desire for vengeance against Breandan, ruining the plan. Instead, he must pick someone who the other magi of the Alps don't really care about, someone they do not need to avenge. Someone whose suffering they can point at in amusement and say, "Better him than me."

In other words, another Tremere.

Swallowing his trepidation and reminding himself that it is all for Diana's own protection and for the good of his House, Breandan ingratiates himself at the Tremere camp at the Fair; this is especially easy because it is the one place Diana will allow him to spend hours unsupervised. There is only one day of the Fair remaining when Breandan, while saying goodbye to Horatius, a Tremere magus who had befriended him, slides the man's wand out from the holster in which it is kept, beneath the sleeve of his robe. They part, vowing to see each other again at the Decennial next year. Breandan returns to Diana's rental home and waits for the hammer to drop.

It does not take long. The wand was Horatius's Talisman and, as an arcane connection, is easily tracked with the proper spell. Athena Alpina, Horatius, and a pair of other Tremere appear at Diana's door, with a pack of Grogs trailing. Diana finds the accusation of thievery insulting, and her opinion of Athena drops precipitously. "I thought you weren't like the others," she says in an accusing tone. But Athena presses, and Diana consents, in frustration, to let the woman into the house. When, after a brief search, all of Breandan's plunder is discovered, Diana is honestly stunned, even heartbroken at the betrayal. Messengers are sent, resulting in a humiliating train of magi who come to Diana's door to collect each of the items Breandan stole. After the initial shock, Diana is stoic, formally apologizing to each of the magi and offering compensation beyond the return of the items. When the victimized magi demand excessive fines, she accepts this silently. Through this process, she is put into debt for many pawns of vis.

This lasts for hours, late into the night. Finally, after the last apology has been made, Diana's shoulders sag and, with a final chilling stare at Breandan, she retires to her chamber and closes the door. Perhaps she hopes that, in the morning, he will be gone. In this, she is disappointed yet again.

The Rest of the Spring

Most of the apprentices spent their summer in the laboratory, affixing a permanent arcane connection to themselves. This includes Gustov, Rene, Akakios and Tomas. For most, it is a relatively interesting time, since it is the first time working in a lab. Akakios, however, has long hours of additional chores and the Book of Instruction makes his life miserable. For stealing vis from his master and trying to acquire his own books, contrary to his master's teaching regimen, Akakios suffers severe punishment, most notably including daily whipping with a wooden switch, carefully measured to a precise length, thickness, and flexibility according to the Book. He sleeps for only a few hours at a time, since Sebastien wakes him up for chores constantly. These tasks are always either boring and repetitive (scrubbing the ritual circles clean), physically repulsive (cleaning out the privy) or both.

Breandan and Eva had already created an arcane connection, however. Eva is put to work assisting Balbina in the lab. Balbina is, for perhaps the first time Eva has seen, furiously angry after her offer of assistance in the war party was rejected. She knows this was because she was considered useless in battle. With a muttered oath to "P-p-p-prove them wr-ong," she corrals Eva into assisting her in enchanting her Talisman into a potent weapon. For her part, Eva finds that, since her traumatic failure casting a spell on Rene, she cannot work Spontaneous Magic. This is a terrifying revelation, until she tries using a casting tool, much as she does when she works cantations. With these tools, she is able to again work magic, and she spends a day or two making a complete set of casting tools, one for each Form. In this way, she ensures that she will never make such a foolish mistake again, and harm her friends.

Diana, likewise, puts Breandan immediately to work on the invention of a new spell, a version of Spectral Quinreme which is empowered by sympathetic connections and Potent Magic. Ordinarily, this might be an exciting time, working with his domina on a challenging project. But Diana's mood towards Breandan is chilly, driven by necessity now, not desire. Drawing on the moon's control over the tides, and the name of the goddess Diana, the new spell transforms a ghost ship into something which can be used by mortals. Working largely in silence, Diana and Breandan make substantial progress inventing the spell (which is Muto Mentem), and they have some help from a laboratory text of a non-Potent version of the spell which Diana appears to have acquired at the Fair, but are less than halfway to completion when Autumn comes.

Advancement

Gustov, Rene, Breandan, Akakios and Eva get 5 Adventure XP which they can spend on anything relevant to the MidSummer Fair story.

Tomas and Garcette get 2 XP in Exposure to Magic Theory.

Breandan's "Compulsive Liar" Flaw changes to "Dutybound," and his Inconspicuous becomes "Subtle Magic."

Eva gains "Spontaneous Casting Tools" and "Cautious Sorcerer."

Autumn

In the fall, class resumes at Icy North. Everyone is very aware of the absence of Martin and Ilsa. Even Garcette is silently respectful of their memory, often found gazing at Ilsa's empty desk. Only Akakios knows that, in fact, Mircalla has returned to the class and has claimed Ilsa's chair, where she sits chin held high in her best "I told you so," posture.

Rene has taken the loss of Martin and Ilsa very badly. Ever the good soldier, he goes through the motions of attending to his studies, but not with the zeal of seasons past. He has abandoned his gardening and spends as little free time with Profoundus as possible. His questions for the teacher are almost always theological in nature, concerning heretics. Each morning he is found in the yard, exercising mercilessly. Evenings, prior to sunset, he takes up his swordsmanship, pitting himself against the more experienced Grogs, often to exhausting effect. After these bouts, Rene shows up to class with welts and injuries. He withdraws from social settings almost entirely and takes his meals alone. He neglects his prayers, but this is more than made up for by Eva, who is often found praying and, in occasional moments, promising God's vengeance on her enemies.

Profundus continues his lectures, using your congregational text of Bonisagus' De Theoria Magica as a text. You also learn the last few Latin terms that made reading Hermetic books especially challenging. As winter nears and it becomes time for everyone to return home, he announces that -- for now -- your studies with him are through.

"You have much yet to learn, especially about how to construct and best utilize your own laboratory. But your masters have been without you for three years now and are anxious to see you all. It is my hope we have the chance to learn together again one day. But, in the meantime, you are apprentices who would bring honor to any magus of the Order, as well trained as anyone could ask for."

And with a grog carrying his baggage, he departs for Valnastium.

Advancement

Everyone's Latin rises to 5 and Magic Theory rises to 2. For most of the apprentices, this requires 20 XP. However, any XP left over after these scores are attained can instead be spent as "Profundus XP," added to the traditional 2 XP of this type earned this season.

Breandan only needs 5 XP for Magic Theory 2, so he has Latin 5 and 7 Profundus XP.

Akakios already has Magic Theory 2, so has Latin 5 and 12 Profundus XP.

Eva only needs 5 XP for Latin 5 and 6 XP for Magic Theory 2, so she has 11 Profundus XP.

Rene and Garcette both have Latin 5, Magic Theory 2, and 7 Profundus XP thanks to Apt Student.

Gustov only needs 6 XP for Magic Theory 2, so he has 6 Profundus XP.

Tomas's XP is uncertain, dependent on previous seasons. Because he started the game with Latin 3 and Magic Theory 1, he has certainly reached Latin 5 and needs no more than 5 XP for Magic Theory 2 by now, and has a large amount of Profundus XP, including this and previous seasons.

Winter

Eva spends the Winter in the workshop with Balbina. The project of enchanting Balbina's Talisman with the Twilight Gaze is a big one (effect total of 100), and she has jumped into it with both feet. Eva currently adds +8 to Balbina's lab total (thanks to Int, Magic Theory with specialization, and Inventive Genius) and the two of them have made a total of 23 points of progress on the enchantment over two seasons.

Gustov and Garcette are both on the Quaesitor circuit in the Winter, in preparation for the upcoming Tribunal. There are various cases which the Quaesitors would like to see resolved, so there is no need to put them on the Tribunal agenda. Athena prefers economic issues -- questions of fair compensation, vis, and so on. This leaves Low Crimes like accusations of spying and deprivation of magical power to Kentigern, Vincent, and Adrasteia. Travel is largely accomplished through the Portal Arches, since Alpine winters are brutal and the magi who need to be met with are all at covenants anyway. Both Athena and Kentigern find their job harder, as their authority has suffered after the failure to rescue the kidnapped apprentices. Athena weathers this better -- she has a long track record of service, she is highly regarded, and her role is investigation, while the deceptions of demons are infamous. Kentigern, as a hedge wizard from Ex Miscellanea with no record, and whose usefulness is supposedly martial, comes in for much harsher criticism. There are suggestions Magvillus should be pressured to recall him and send "a real Quaesitor." Kentigern is Not Amused.

Rene hardly sees Hugh over the winter. There are demons loose in the Alps and Hugh takes a large number of the Grogs out to take care of the problem. Rene is left in the care of Icy North's Drill Sergeant, who trains him and some of the other Grogs on the use of Great Weapons such as the great sword, long spear, and pole axe.

Breandan returns to Diana's laboratory, only to find his domina spending long hours by night in the lab without him. She sleeps late and rises around noon, leaving Breandan to work for hours in the lab unsupervised, carrying out instructions she left for him the night before. Over the course of the winter, her nocturnal schedule seems to take its toll on her. She is even more pale than usual, and at times, in the moonlight, her skin seems almost to glow. In January, Diana proclaims the spell complete and she curtly, but sincerely, thanks Breandan for his help. Perhaps her dissapointment in her discipulus is fading.

When Akakios returns from school, Sebastien says, "I hope you enjoyed yourself. Because there won't be any more of that nonsense for a good long while." Akakios is forced to work in the kitchens and personally serve Sebastien his meals, pouring his wine while Sebastien slowly reads through all of the books Akakios bought, at the supper table. Akakios can see the illuminations and diagrams from within the book as Sebastien leafs slowly through them. "Mm," he says. "Interesting..." Sebastien doesn't seem to do much lab work himself, so there's no tasks for Akakios in that regard. Instead, Akakios shirks his chores when possible and sneaks away at night to learn from his mother's spirit in the cavern she now haunts. This routine takes its toll on him; he is always weary, and his sunken eyes betray a lack of both sleep and food.

Once, in the middle of the winter, Sebastien departs for about two weeks. He is wearing light leather armor of black and is carrying a large leather pack, into which a variety of gear has been stuffed, including an arsenal of about a dozen wands, each carved from a different type of wood and tipped with a different stone. During his time away, Sebastien locks Akakios in his room with twelve buckets of water, six loaves of bread, and a dead pig. "Don't try anything," he says.

Advancement

Everyone ages a year.

Eva gets 2 Exposure XP in Magic Theory, Creo, or Vim.

Breandan gets 2 Exposure XP in Magic Theory, Muto, or Mentem. Age 14, he has lost all Characteristic and Size penalties.

Akakios gets 15 XP in Infernal Lore, and an Aging Roll for Double Overtime.

Gustov and Garcette get 5 Practice XP in Code of Hermes or 4 xp in Alps Lore or 2 Exposure XP in anything they might be exposed to.

Rene gets 17 XP in Great Weapon.