Helena of Jerbiton

Born in Paris in 1119, Helena of Jerbiton is a mature maga who has spent most of her life working towards integrating the Order and the Church. She is devout, supports the Papacy, and believes that the Order's future would be secure if it were to be recognized as an Order by Rome. Helena travels extensively, but she is in Hibernia in 1222 because she has been monitoring Fedlimid Ex Miscellanea, her oldest rival. Fedlimid is a Holy Magus but also a mystic who considers Church authority a distraction at best and, at worst, a corrupt institution which the Order is wise to avoid. Now that Fedlimid is preparing to be interred at Qui Sonant, Helena has decided to move to silence him forever. The last thing she wants is for Fedlimid to oppose the integration of the Order and the Church from beyond the grave.

Helena has trained an apprentice, bound a familiar (a cat), and forged her Talisman, a set of rosary beads. She is an Imaginem specialist but, like many of her House, Helena's magical skills are not relatively modest for her age. Instead, she has pursued other interests, in particular issues of faith and theology, travel, and mundane affairs. She is prepared to kill in the name of the greater good, and while murdering Fedlimid is against the Code, she intends to leave no witnesses. If the fight is over quickly enough, she will use Loss of But A Moment's Memory on the survivors, make her and her soldiers invisible, and flee.

Helena of Jerbiton

Age 104, apparent 73 (Helena made her own Longevity Ritual; it grants her a +6 bonus)

Size 0

Warping 6 (33)

Decrepitude 0

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

Virtues: Hermetic Maga; Well-Traveled (0); Gentle Gift (+3), Quiet Magic (+1), Subtle Magic (+1)

Flaws: Higher Purpose (-1), Pious (-3), Weak Characteristics (-1)

Abilities: Animal Handling 2 (birds), Artes Liberales 5 (classics), Awareness 3 (alertness), Brawl (dodge) 3, Charm 4 (churchmen), Church Lore 5 (Holy Orders), Civil and Canon Law 5 (Holy Orders), Code of Hermes 2 (relations with the church), Concentration 4 (spells), Divine Lore 5 (regios), Etiquette (church) 4, Finesse 4 (Imaginem), Folk Ken 5 (magi), French 5 (Paris), Greek 5 (Hermetic), Guile 4 (lying to churchmen), Hunt 3 (with birds), Intrigue 5 (Order/Church relations), Latin 5 (Hermetic), Leadership 3 (grogs), Magic Lore 3 (Holy Magic), Magic Theory 8 (Imaginem), Music 5 (religious), Normandy Tribunal Lore 4 (churchmen), Order of Hermes Lore 3 (integration with the Church), Parma Magica 6 (Ignem), Penetration 4 (Mentem), Philosophiae 5 (natural philosophy), Ride 3 (jennets), Roman Tribunal Lore 3 (churchmen), Teaching 3 (apprentice), Theban Tribunal Lore 3 (libraries), Theology 5 (debate)

Arts: Cr 10, In 10, Mu 10, Pe 10, Re 10; An 5, Aq 5, Au 5, Co 5, He 5, Ig 5, Im 20, Me 20, Te 5, Vi 5

Lab Total: Te + Fo + 22 (Int 2 + MT 8 + Aura 3 + Familiar 6 + Lab 3)

Spells

Phantasmal Animal +33T (CrIm 20)

Haunt of the Living Ghost +33T (Cr[In]Im 35)

Prying Eyes +37T (InIm 5)

The Ear for Distant Voices +33T (InIm 20)

Eyes of the Eagle +37T (InIm 25)

Summoning the Distant Image +33T (InIm 25)

Aura of Ennobled Presence +35T (MuIm 10)

Notes of a Delightful Sound +31 (MuIm 10)

Disguise of the Transformed Image +33T (MuIm 15)

Image Phantom +33T (MuIm 20)

Ambush on a Deserted Road +36T (PeIm 20)

Veil of Invisibility +36T (PeIm 20)

Silence of the Smothered Sound +31 (PeIm 20)

Chamber of Invisibility +36T (PeIm 25)

Wizard's Sidestep +33T (ReIm 10)

Restore the Moved Image +33T (ReIm 25)

Image from the Wizard Torn +33T (ReIm 30)

Look at Me +37T (CrMe 15)

Voice of the Trembling Heart +31 (CrMe 20) As Panic of the Trembling Heart but Range Voice.

Human Figment of the Waking Mind +31 (CrMe 25)

Borrow the Eyes of Another +37T (InMe 30)

Loss of But a Moment's Memory +35T (PeMe 15)

Dissolving the Wall of Shields +35T (PeMe 20)

The Call to Slumber +31 (ReMe 10)

Call the Dream +34T (ReMe 20)

Combat

Dodge Init 0, Def +4

Soak Wizard's Sidestep, then +6 (Stamina 1 + Bronze Cord 2 + Robes of Impenetrable Silk 3)

Possessions: Robes of Impenetrable Silk, Talisman, Dagger, 5 pawns Imaginem vis, 5 pawns Mentem vis.

Helena's Talisman

Helena's paternoster (prayer beads) is her Talisman; it includes beads of amethyst, clear glass, opal, quartz and topaz on a silver chain. It is enchanted with a number of useful effects; with it, she can silently draw the attention of someone in order to cast Eye target spells on them, make herself look and sound more impressive, adopt a disguise, or simply vanish.

Casting Bonuses

• +6 Eyes

• +5 Invisibility

• +5 Seeing through Something

• +4 Leadership

• +4 Courage

• +4 Memory

• +3 Dreams

• +2 Images

  • +2 Intellego

Eye-catching Bead

R: Sight, D: Mom, T: Ind

Effect level 25, Penetration +14

Duplicates the spell Look at Me (A&A 32), causing the target to look at Helena. If the target is trying to concentrate on another task, a Sta + Con roll of 6+ resists the spell.

Base 4, +3 Sight, +10 Unlimited Uses

Bead of Ennobled Presence

R: Pers, D: Conc, T: Ind

Effect level 19

As Aura of Ennobled Presence, this adds a +3 to rolls to intimidate, persuade or lead.

Base 3, +1 Conc, +10 Unlimited Uses, +5 item maintains concentration

Bead of the Transformed Image

R: Pers, D: Conc, T: Ind

Effect level 20

Helena uses this effect to adopt the appearance of any person. As Disguise of the Transformed Image.

Base 4, +1 Conc, +10 Unlimited Uses, +5 item maintains concentration

Bead of Invisibility

R: Pers, D: Conc, T: Ind

Effect level 25

As Veil of Invisibility; Helena prefers to use her Talisman for this effect so that it can be easily dispelled.

Base 5, +1 Conc, +10 Unlimited Uses, +5 item maintains concentration

Charity, Helena's Familiar

Charity is a black cat from the line of Egyptian felines raised by House Jerbiton. She was bound with a lab total of 45, has Golden Cord +2, Silver Cord +2, Bronze Cord +2, Might 6, and the power to walk a Boundary Ward Against Demons.

Helena's Companions

Helena is accompanied by a Knight Templar and his squad of six seargents.

• Knight (mounted, with lance and heater shield): Init +1, Atk +17, Def +16, Dmg +6. With long sword instead of lance: Init +2, Atk +16, Def +16, Dmg +7. Soak +10. Leadership 5.

• Serjeants (mounted, with spear and round shield): Init +2, Atk +12, Def +9, Dmg +8. With long sword instead of spear: Init +1, Atk +10, Def +8, Dmg +7. Soak +12. Leadership 4.

• Typically, the knight acts as vanguard and leader, leading 5 serjeants into trained group combat for a +15 Atk/Def bonus.

• This leaves 1 serjeant to act as Helena's shield grog, though when she is invisible this man can't really defend her.

General Tactics

Helena doesn't have much combat magic. Instead, she relies on armed and armored soldiers to do her violence while her own magic sets up an ambush, weakens her foes, and keeps her safe.

First, she uses Ambush on a Deserted Road to keep she and her soldiers invisible till the target is spotted. While the targets are still in a group, she uses Dissolving the Wall of Shields upon their grogs. She uses her Talisman to place a Veil of Invisibility upon herself as soon as possible, then targets wizards with Silence of the Smothered Sound (spending vis to boost her Penetration) and swordsmen with Panic of the Trembling Heart, usually focusing the fear on their own armor, since this takes them out of the fight until the armor has been removed. She can use Restore the Moved Image on targets with Wizard's Sidestep, and if things go south for her and her men she covers them with Chamber of Invisibility (including enemies in the Group target if necessary) and everyone scatters.