Scamandrius

Scamandrius of Tremere is the greatest duelist of his generation and a master of magical combat, specializing in the Certamen styles of Retiarus (a high-Initiative style) and Hoplomachus (a very defensive style). He was apprenticed at the age of ten to Barbaros, an infamously cruel magus now thankfully dead, and Gauntleted in 1160. When a young magus, he fell in love with a beautiful maga of Trianoma's lineage, but he was forced to duel her and, in the process, she botched a roll and was turned to diamond. Scamandrius's detractors -- and he has many -- say his heart died that day. Certainly, it has done nothing for his demeanor, which is hard, demanding, and unforgiving. Now he spends most of his time teaching Certamen to apprentices, participating in Wizards War, and acting as a designated champion in duels which attract the interest of House Tremere.

House Tremere has supported the Scholastic Project and, as part of that support, ensured that a magus would be assigned to teach the principles of magical combat to the apprentices. Over the last few years, the House has sponsored a series of Certamen tournaments in every Regional Tribunal, and the victors traveled to the Tremere Decennial to determine the ultimate champion. Scamandrius was that champion.

Scamandrius is a tall, lean, imposing figure in deep black robes. When he wields magic, his gestures are particularly precise and evocative. When he travels, he is in the company of his white wolf familiar, Penthesilia, who is as large as a pony and usually unable to go indoors. He does not have a Talisman, considering it to be a weakness, and has never taken an apprentice.

Teaching Schedule:

Season One: 5 XP in Order of Hermes Lore, 5 XP in Code of Hermes, and 1 point in Finesse, Penetration, and Magic Theory.

Season Two: 4 XP in Penetration and Finesse (raising most apprentices to a score of 1) and 5 points in Concentration (for a score of 1)

Season Three: 10 points in Concentration, Finesse, or Penetration. 1 point in whichever two skills you did not choose, and 1 point in Parma Magica.

Season Four: 4 XP in Parma Magica (for a final total of 5) and 9 XP in any of the following: Awareness, Concentration, Etiquette, Finesse, Guile, Intrigue, Penetration.

Scamandrius filius Barbaros of Tremere

Age 75 in 1210

Confidence 1 (3)

Warping 6 (4)

Int +2, Per +2, Pre +2, Com 0, Str -1, Sta +2, Dex -1, Qik +2

Virtues (+10) The Gift (0), Hermetic Magus (0); Enduring Constitution (+1), Good Teacher (+1), Haranarius (+1), Improved Characteristics x2 (+2), Minor Magical Focus: Certamen (+0), Puissant Concentration (+1), Puissant Finesse (+1), Puissant Parma Magica (+1), Puissant Penetration (+1), Strong Parens (+1)

Flaws (-10) Ability Block: Martial (-1), Blatant Gift (-3), Creative Block (-1), Lost Love (-1), Proud (-3), Weak Enchanter (-1)

Abilities Artes Liberales 1 (rhetoric), Athletics 2 (hiking), Awareness 3 (ambush), Code of Hermes 3 (Certamen), Concentration 5+2 (Certamen), Etiquette 3 (duels), Finesse 5+2 (Certamen), Hungarian 5, Guile 3 (feints), Intrigue 3 (forcing a duel), Latin 5 (Hermetic), Leadership 3 (magi), Magic Lore 3 (weapons), Magic Theory 6 (recognizing spells), Order of Hermes Lore 3 (Wizard's War), Parma Magica 5+2 (Certamen), Penetration 5+2 (Certamen), Profession: Scribe 1 (Hermetic), Survival 2 (mountains), Teaching 4 (Magical Combat)

Arts Cr 6, In 6, Mu 6, Pe 20, Re 20 (9); An 6, Aq 6, Au 6, Co 6, He 20, Ig 6, Im 6, Me 6, Te 20, Vi 6

Lab Total: 50 + Aura

Spells

Curse of the Rotted Wood +42 (PeHe 5)

The Great Rot +42 (PeHe 25)

Dance of the Staves +42 (ReHe 5)

Repel the Wooden Shafts +44 (ReHe 10) (Mastery 2: Fast-Cast, Multiple Casting)

Tangle of Wood and Thorns +42 (ReHe 15)

Coils of the Entangling Plants +42 (ReHe 20)

The Treacherous Spear +42 (ReHe 25)

Ward Against Wood +42 (ReHe 25)

Freeing the Striding Tree +42 (ReHe 30)

Ward Against Faeries of the Wood +42 (ReHe 30)

Sustaining the Striding Tree +42 (ReHe 35)

Fist of Shattering +42 (PeTe 10)

Rusted Decay of Ten-Score Years +42 (PeTe 10)

Pit of the Gaping Earth +42 (PeTe 15)

Stone to Falling Dust +42 (PeTe 20)

End of the Mighty Castle +42 (PeTe 25)

Obliteration of the Stone Colossus +42 (PeTe 30)

Exarmo +44 (ReTe 5) (Mastery 2: Fast-Cast, Penetration)

Unseen Porter +42 (ReTe 10)

Wielding the Invisible Sling +42 (ReTe 10)

Crest of the Earth Wave +42 (ReTe 20)

The Earth Split Asunder +42 (ReTe 30)

Ward Against Faeries of the Mountains +42 (ReTe 30)

Familiar: Penthisilia, a Size 1 "Common White Wolf" with Magic Might 10 and Int +1, see HoH:TL 129. Golden Cord +3, Silver and Bronze +1. Penthisilia has Magic Theory 2 (7).

His Teaching Total is 0 + 5 + 5 + 3 = 13 with up to 25 students, if he is teaching magical combat. Otherwise, Teaching total of 12 and 20 students. If secured as a private tutor, his Teaching Total is probably 19.

Scamandrius's Spells

Exarmo (ReTe 10)

T: Individual, R: Voice, D: Momentary

The target is disarmed of a single object. The spell has a casting requisite if the object is not predominantly made of metal or stone. For example, staves, wands and wooden-hafted weapons will have an Herbam requisite. The spell acts with Str +5; it takes a Str roll of 12+ to resist the spell. The object usually flies up out of the owner's reach and about twenty paces behind his back, but a Finesse roll on the part of the caster can direct its flight.

Scamandrius developed this spell to strip magi of their talismans. He begins almost any conflict by Fast-Casting it. If used for this purpose, it must penetrate Parma.

Base 3, +2 Voice, +1 for sudden movement. Based on Hugh of Flambeau's Disarm the Warrior.

Sustaining the Striding Tree (ReHe 35)

Like Freeing the Striding Tree, but the duration is raised to Sun, freeing the magus of the need to concentrate.

Obliteration of the Stone Colossus (PeTe 30)

Like Stone to Falling Dust, but with additional +2 magnitudes for size. A base individual for stone is a pace across, or a foot across for metal; this spell can affect a hundred times that.