Archmage Busiran

Busiran an Taotalus is Breandan's grandfather; his daughter was a non-Gifted covenfolk in Hibernia, and Breandan was expected to become Busiran's apprentice. But Busiran had a Twilight episode and Breandan was separated from him by Faeries.

Busiran is Gently Gifted and makes extensive use of Personas; through multiple identities he influences all the greatest families of Hibernia. His goal is to unite them against the Normans. Busiran's Archmage challenge requires another magus to adopt one of Busiran's own Personas and steal the identity from him. He wields Subtle and Quiet magic from his various Personas.

All of Busiran's Personas are placed in the households of Irish kings and archbishops. He does not consider the English to be a threat to the Tribunal and has spent too long getting himself positioned among the Irish to adapt to the new situation.

His first Persona is in the service of the King of Connacht, who in 1220 is Cathal Ui Conchobhair, younger brother of the last High King, Rory O'Connor. The family home is Clonalis, a few miles southwest of Rathbeg, in the Diocese of Elphin. The King rules from here, having abandoned Tuam after the cathedral was burnt to the ground.

A second Persona is in the palace of the King of Thomond in Munster, where the covenant of Circulus Ruber is located. In 1220, the King is more worried about expansion from Connacht across the river than the English; Busiran may be pursuing a policy of using the Coill Tri either against the English or against the Order.

A third Persona is within the household families who support Domhnall Mor, king of Tir Chonaill in Ulster. This family is a branch of the Ui Neill dynasty which rules Connacht, and which Busiran also influences through his Persona in Clonalis. See tCI p. 90.

Busiran's fourth Persona is a librarian at Cashell, the spiritual heart of Munster and the center for learning in the Tribunal. From this vantage, he has the ability to monitor and influence the Irish Church as well as the noble families who send their sons to Cashell for an education.

A fifth Persona inhabits the Cistercian abbey of Mellifont in Meath, which is at the center of a scandalous controversy with the Cistercian order. Busiran may be partly to blame for this, possibly as resistance to the English Church. Alternately, he may be corrupted, or be monitoring, the corruption of the Cistercian order from here.

Archmage Busiran an Taotalus

Age 132 (longevity ritual +12, +2 living conditions modifier)

Size 0

Confidence Score 3 (8)

Warping Score 8 (24)

Virtues & Flaws Hermetic Magus; the Gentle Gift; Self-Confident; Affinity with Imaginem, Affinity with Mentem, Good Characteristics, Persona, Quiet Magic, Subtle Magic; Ability Block: Martial, Busybody, Driven: Dominate Mundane Politics in Hibernia, Enemies: English lords and magi, Susceptible to Faerie Power

Int +3, Per +1, Pre +1, Com +2, Str -1, Sta 0, Dex 0, Qik 0

125 + 75 + 240 + 3,210 = 3,650

1,530 = Abilities

1,486 = Arts

634 remaining = 20 years of lab work, 84 seasons (plus 4 XP extra)

30 = preparing, opening, and expanding his talisman, then a season binding his familiar (8 XP MT)

30 = four seasons refining his lab (8 XP MT)

120 = four years finding and training an apprentice (30 XP Teaching, 2 XP Folk Ken)

150 = 20 seasons inventing spells from lab texts

= Inventing new spells

= Enchanting his talisman

= enchanting the familiar bond

Abilities (1,530) Athletics 2 (evasion), Animal Ken 2 (hounds), Artes Liberales (debate) 5, Awareness 4 (while in disguise), Bargain 3 (Hibernians), Carouse 4 (Hibernians), Charm 4 (Hibernians), Church Lore 3 (Hibernian), Civil & Canon Law 2 (Hibernian), Concentration 4 (spells), Dominion Lore 1 (auras), Etiquette 5 (court), Finesse 4 (Imaginem), Folk Ken 4 (Hibernians), Gaelic 5, Guile 4 (English), Hibernia Lore 5 (politics), Hunt 1 (with dogs), Intrigue 6 (politics), Latin 5 (Hermetic), Leadership 3 (Hibernians), Legerdemain 2 (quick grabs), Magic Lore 1 (legends), Magic Theory 7 (enchanted items), Parma Magica 7 (Mentem), Penetration 4 (Mentem), Persona 4 (Hibernian), Philosophiae 4, Profession: Scribe 2 (copying), Profession: Steward 3 (court advisor), Ride 2 (palfrey), Stealth 3 (in disguise), Theology 2 (Hibernian)

Arts (1,486) Cr 19, In 19, Mu 19, Pe 19, Re 19; An 6, Aq 6, Au 6, Co 6, He 6, Ig 6, Im 23 (184 + Affinity), Me 23 (184 + Affinity), Te 6, Vi 6

Certamen:

Initiative +4 (Imaginem)

Attack Art + 1

Defense Art + 1

Weakening +4 (Mentem)

Resistance +7 (Mentem)

Laboratory

Busiran has a lab in the tower of Circulus Ruber.

Spells

Bind Wound (CrCo 10)

Phantasm of the Human Form (CrIm 25)

Prying Eyes (InIm 5)

Summoning the Distant Image (InIm 25)

Discern the Images of Truth and Falsehood (InIm 35)

Aura of Beguiling Appearance (MuIm 10) HoH:S p96

Aura of Ennobled Presence (MuIm 10)

Image Phantom (MuIm 20)

Veil of Invisibility (PeIm 20)

Dispel the Phantom Image (PeIm 30)

Wizard's Sidestep (ReIm 10)

Image from the Wizard Torn (Re[In]Im 30)

Panic of the Trembling Heart (CrMe 15)

Rising Ire (CrMe 15)

The Far-Speaking Voice (CrMe 20) HoH:S p97

Memory of a Distant Dream (CrMe 20)

Perception of the Conflicting Motive (InMe 15)

Posing the Silent Question (InMe 20)

Thoughts within Babble (InMe 25)

Betraying Whispers of the Jealous Mind (InMe 30) HoH:S p98

Peering into the Mortal Mind (InMe 30)

Trust of Childlike Faith (PeMe 10)

Calm the Motion of the Heart (PeMe 15)

Loss of But A Moment's Memory (PeMe 15)

Lay to Rest the Haunting Spirit (PeMe 20)

The Call to Slumber (ReMe 10)

Ring of Warding against Spirits (ReMe 20)

Scent of Peaceful Slumber (ReMe 25)

Burning Issue of the Day (ReMe 30) HoH:S p98

Enslave the Mortal Mind (ReMe 40)

The Shrouded Glen (ReMe 40)

Day of Communion (MuVi 25)

New Spells

Night of Peaceful Slumber, ReMe 15

T: Ind, R: Touch, D: Sun

The target is placed in a magical sleep that lasts till dawn or sunset.

Base 4, +1 Touch, +2 Sun

Spell of Trespass, ReMe 30

T: Structure, R: Touch, D: Sun

Everyone inside a castle or other building collapses in a magical slumber. They do not awaken until dawn or sunset, and receive 1 Warping point.

Base 4, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +3 Structure

Busiran's Ring

Busiran's talisman is a ring which he has enchanted for a number of defensive and constant effects.

Moth

Busiran's familiar is a moth.