Pollices of Jerbiton

Age 69 in 1226Confidence 1 (3)Virtues & Flaws Hermetic Magus; the Gentle Gift (+3); Affinity with Corpus (+1), Linguist (+1), Major Magical Focus: Disease (+3), Puissant Corpus (+1), Study Bonus (+1); Ability Block: Martial (-1), Enemies: Hibernian magi (-3), Study Requirement (-3), Susceptible to Infernal Power (-1), Vengeful (-1), Wrathful (-1)

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

Abilities Artes Liberales 3 (rituals), Awareness 3 (search), Brawl 3 (dodge), Carouse 3 (nobility), Charm 3 (nobility), Chirurgery 3 (bloodletting), English 4 (nobility), Etiquette 3 (nobility), Finesse 5 (surgery), French 4 (nobility), German 4 (nobility), Guile 3 (nobility), Hibernia Lore 3 (plagues), Infernal Lore 3 (demons of disease), Italian 5 (Sicilian), Latin 4 (Hermetic), Magic Theory 7 (28) (Corpus), Medicine 3 (diagnosis), Parma 3 (Corpus), Penetration 2 (Vim), Philosophiae 3 (rituals), Ride 1 (palfrey)

Arts Cr 12, In 6, Mu 5, Pe 16, Re 16; An 5, Aq 5, Au 5, Co 20+3 (140 + Affinity), He 5, Ig 5, Im 5, Me 5, Te 5, Vi 16

Combat

Dodge Init -1, Def +3

Soak +7 (Sta 1 + Bronze 3 + Doublet 3)

Gear Leather plague doctor jacket enchanted with Doublet of Impenetrable Silk, black plague doctor mask, Rod of the Plague Doctor (talisman), knife, 16 pawns Corpus vis in various chess pieces.

Lab Total Te + Fo + MMF? + 23 (3 Int + 1 Aura + 5 lab + 7 MT + 7 familiar) + personal (+1 Co), lab (Cr +1, Pe +2; Co +1), and familiar (+1 Co) specializations

Spells

Bind Wound +39T (CrCo 10)

Charm Against Putrefaction +36 (CrCo 10)

Purification of the Diseased Body +51TF (CrCo 20)

Gentle Touch of the Purified Body +59TF (CrCo 20, Ritual); heals a Minor disease

Purification of the Festering Wounds +39T (CrCo 20)

Restoration of the Defiled Body +59TF (CrCo 25, Ritual)

Gentle Caress of Aesclepius +47T (CrCo 30, Ritual)

Purifying Touch of the Gentle Body +59TF (CrCo 40, Ritual)

Revealed Flaws of the Mortal Flesh +32T (InCo 10)

The Inexorable Search +32T (InCo 20); Pollices uses this spell to find plague victims. In these cases, his Focus applies.

Curse of Pneumonia +59TF (PeCo 20)

Curse of the Leprous Flesh +59TF (PeCo 25)

Incantation of the Milky Eyes +59TF (PeCo 30)

Curse of Apoplexy +59TF (PeCo 30)

Curse of the Unportended Plague +67TF (PeCo 55, Ritual)

Hermetic Phlebotomy +44T (ReCo 15)

Blessed Relief of the Benighted Reins +60TF (ReCo 25) A&A 60

Remove the Malignant Tumor +60TF (ReCo 25)

Ward Against Demons of Disease +59TF (ReVi 20)

Banishing the Demons of the Disease +60TF (ReVi 35) Mastery 1: Penetration

The Rod of the Plague Doctor

Pollices's talisman is an aspen rod capped with a ring of rock crystal and a silver rat's skull. The eyes of the rat are red coral. The iron tip of the rod is a magnet. Pollices uses the rod for defense and transportation. It has been opened for 26 spaces and has 10 remaining.

  • +10 vs demons

  • +4 Rego Corpus

  • +3 Cause Disease

  • +3 Healing

  • +2 Intellego

Veil of Invisibility

PeIm 25

The rod and its bearer vanish, as the spell. Their shadow can still be perceived. Pollices enchanted this effect in a single season.

Base 4, +1 Conc, +1 changing image, +10 levels for unlimited/day, +5 levels item maintains concentration.

Seven League Stride

ReCo 35

The rod and its bearer travel seven leagues in an instant, as the spell. Pollices enchanted this effect in a single season.

Base 30, +5 levels for 24/day

Shriek of the Impending Shafts

InHe 19

Constant effect

The rod detects incoming wooden weapons and emits a shriek, as the spell. This is a constant effect. Pollices enchanted this in a single season.

Base 2, +2 Sun, +3 Hearing, +4 levels for constant effect.

Shadow, Pollices's Familiar

Shadow is a Raven of Virtue with Might 9. He has Int +1 and Magic Theory of 6 specialized in Corpus. Pollices uses Shadow's premonitions and understandings of portents to guide the pair to outbreaks of the plague. Shadow was found in a plague field feeding on the dead, and is linked to PeCo. Pollices recently re-bound him with a total of +65. Gold +3, Silver +1, Bronze +3.

Pollices's Laboratory

Pollices has two floors in a tower of Ashenrise's castle, so his lab is spacious, but the local aura is only 1.

Siz +1, Refinement +3, General Quality +5, Upkeep +5, Safety +3, Warping 0, Health +1, Aesthetics +5

Specializations Cr +1, Pe +2; Co +1, Me +1; Vis Extraction +1

Virtues Greater Expansion (+3; +2 GQ, +4 Upkeep, +1 Aesthetics, +2 Pe), Guard (0; +1 Aesthetics), Highly Organized (0; +1 GQ), Magic Item: Tireless Servant (0; +1 GQ, +1 Safety), Servant (0; +1 Safety, +1 Aesthetics, +1 Me), Specimens (+1: +1 Upkeep, +1 Aesthetics, +1 Co), Spotless (0; +1 Health, +1 Aesthetics, +1 Cr), Superior Equipment (+1 GQ, +1 Safety, +1 Vis Extraction)

New Spells

Purification of the Diseased Body, CrCo 20

As Purification of the Festering Wounds, but the bonus aids disease Recovery rolls instead of wounds.

Purifying Touch of the Gentle Body, CrCo 40 (Ritual)

This spell cures any disease, at the cost of 1 Warping point. Pollices used Gentle Touch of the Purified Body to gain a bonus to his lab total when he researched this spell.

Base 35, +1 Touch

Curse of Pneumonia, PeCo 20

The target is struck with sudden and advanced pneumonia. He loses one long-term fatigue level and gains the Enfeebled flaw. He cannot perform intense physical actions of any kind, including combat. If he casts a spell, he expends twice as many fatigue levels as he normally would. See A&A 49 for the recovery rules for pneumonia. Pollices uses this spell to incapacitate his foes when he does not want to kill them.

Base 10, +2 Voice

Curse of Apoplexy, PeCo 30

The target suffers immediate apoplexy, massive damage to the heart felt as crushing pain in the chest. He collapses and suffers a disease Crisis. See A&A 47 for the rules for a disease Crisis and the recovery rules for Apoplexy. This is Pollices's go-to spell to murder someone.

Base 20, +2 Voice

Hermetic Phlebotomy, ReCo 15

This spell opens a vein on the target, usually on the arm or forehead. The target loses one fatigue level. The caster must succeed in a Dex + Chirurgery test of 3 or a Int + Finesse test of 6. While this spell can be used for medical purposes, Pollices also finds that opening up veins with the flick of a finger often frightens his enemies, and he finds it useful in intimidation.

Base 5, +2 Sight

Remove the Malignant Tumor, ReCo 25

The magus uses magic to perform surgery, removing a tumor from the victim. If the tumor is cold or hot, the Dex + Chirurgery roll required is 12. Add +3 for consumptive tumor. If the magus is using Int + Finesse, add +3. The target sustains a Medium Wound. While Pollices can cure tumors with Purifying Touch of the Gentle Body, that is a ritual requiring both time and vis.

Base 15, +1 Touch, +1 Part

Ward Against Demons of Disease, ReVi 25

The target is warded against any demon of disease up to Might 20, including those who seek to possess him or otherwise give him a disease. While ReVi spells usually ward against all demons, Pollices designed this spell to only affect disease-carrying demons so that he could take advantage of his Magical Focus.

Base 15, +1 Moon

Banishing the Demons of the Disease, ReVi 40

Demons of disease of Might 20 or less within a house or other building are cast out of it and cannot return. Pollices designed this ward to only affect disease-demons so he could take advantage of his Magical Focus.

Base 15, +3 Structure, +1 Moon

Pollices is second-in-command at the covenant of Ashenrise and was one of its founders. A sophisticated Sicilian cursed by a magical accident to have two thumbs on each hand, he is briefly described in TCI. Pollices has developed many spells to cure, inflict, and perform surgery on disease. He knows the demons of disease well and has specialized wards against them. While he developed his mastery of disease, he made himself useful with other healing magic, and he crafted the longevity rituals for his sodales at Ashenrise. Pollices believes that an intense plague, far more deadly than any ever seen before, is coming. He suspects it may be an Infernal plot. Hermetic magic can't foresee the future, and is easily fooled by demons in any case, so Pollices has turned instead to increasing his understanding of disease, so he can cure this "Coming Plague" when it appears. Because Hibernia has a long history of plagues, he believes it will appear here first, and he travels frequently to outbreaks of disease to look for signs.In 1226, Pollices is Ashenrise's agent at Mournemount. His goal is to protect this fledgling covenant for a year, so it can present itself at the 1227 Regional Tribunal. He has won over the Mournemount grogs and covenfolk with a combination of Gentle Gift, Etiquette, Charm, and Carouse, and has brought an English knight and five English men-at-arms to help defend the cathach. He will not initiate Wizard's War, which he takes more seriously than Hibernian magi do, and if anyone seizes the cathach or cattle, his response will be non-lethal and relatively easily cured (pneumonia or blindness). He is not above Certamen, but prefers to duel his equals, and will not use it to bully young magi. If made the target of a Wizard's War, Pollices will pull no punches; his first strike will probably be to strike his enemy down with apoplexy.Pollices is accompanied by his familiar, Shadow, a Raven of Virtue, and by Sir Lucan, an English knight of Ashenrise. Use the knight write-up in ArM5 for Sir Lucan, but remove the Relic and Proud, and change Overconfident to Major.Pollices ("Thumbs") of Jerbiton