Forum ex Mercere

Hermetic Name: Forum ex Mercere

Normandy Tribunal

Reputation: Skilled Author and Traveller 5 (Redcaps), Reclusive Scholar 1 (Normandy)

Preferred Topics: Auram, Aquam, Rego

(Note, I'm assuming every single Redcap has heard something about the dozen Gifted Mercere.)

Forum of Mercere was the son of a Redcap who was well-regarded by the Order, and much disliked by the covenfolk and administrators who had to deal with his attitude and prodigious urges. He had left a large collection of bastard children around the Normandy Tribunal, and used the single Gifted child he produced as an excuse for it. Forum was not even found by the Redcaps, in fact, but originally was apprenticed to a Bonisagus maga. When her lineage was discovered, the maga traded the barely-trained apprentice to the Mercere on the condition that his father be made to care for his many children. Forum's parens very firmly agreed, and the Redcap rapidly found himself with over thirty children he had to pay for.

Young Forum, however, found he did not care about the history.  He enjoyed the travel.  Though as a Gifted Mercere, he had numerous responsibilities, he managed to somehow not shirk them - rather than finding his time spread too thin, Forum worked at his studies and his House requirements with aggressive eagerness, and then would immediately disappear to go on an adventure, returning a season or two later looking hale and refreshed before diving into his work once again. Forum accepted an apprentice early in his life, and trained the apprentice well, and later on began to author books for the local Mercere house. Most of the Tribunal was unaware of Forum's regular adventures, assuming he just was focused on his work.

Walking the Winds by Forum ex Mercere, Auram tractatus in Latin, Quality 11

This eloquent book features a number of beautiful illustrations, as well as six different poems that read as love-songs to the four winds and the spirit of travel. More importantly to the Magi who read the book, it describes techniques to utilize wind-patterns as an aid to travelling quickly, as well as ways to track the changes in the wind to avoid being misdirected.

Walking the Waves by Forum ex Mercere, Aquam tractatus in Latin, Quality 11

This opus describes spells utilizing currents and waves to move about the world at an accelerated speed. Forum often used solidified water as a vehicle for transport, when he wasn't riding the winds. The chapters, like the previous, featured lovely illustrations of different aquatic environs, but did not feature any poetry.

Travel and Transport by Forum ex Mercere, Rego Summa in Latin, Level 11 Quality 11

When Forum was training his first apprentice in Normandy, he also ended up writing this book. It was a long term study of means of transportation, so he could continue exploring to his delight without shirking his duties to the apprentice.  In the end, he dedicated his time to the protege, and when gauntleted, he gifted this book to his former apprentice.

The Clouds as a Means of Transport by Forum ex Mercere, Auram Summa in Latin, Level 15 Quality 11

Forum's favorite book is the longest of his written works. It includes a large amount of poetry, woodcuts and illuminations, and a few maps of the Rhine and Normandy Tribunals as seen from atop a cloud. This book discusses weather patterns, wind patterns, and the easiest ways to transform normal weather into a means of useful utilization.

Hidden Glens in Burgandy by Forum ex Mercere, Area Lore: Burgandy tractatus in Latin, Quality 11

This book was regularly passed between the Redcaps on duty, as it described a number of locations in Burgandy with minor Magical or Faerie auras and the beneficial or dangerous properties of spending time in them. Of particular note, Forum had located a seemingly bottomless well that lead through Faerie to the Lavant, traveling it took only seven hours by the explorer's reckoning, but seven weeks in actual seasonal time.