Issue #6

Hermes' Portal

Hermes' PortalIssue n° 6 November 2002

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News from the Line Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

The Miraculous World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4by Adam Bank and Jeremiah Genest

Twilight and Ageing Revisited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15by David Woods

Ars Sympathia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20by Mark Shirley

Publisher's corner and Who's Who? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Saint Walaric's cures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30by Sheila Thomas

Omnibus Grimoire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32by Andrew Gronosky

Monty's back! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35by Jérôme Darmont

The Separation of Church and Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36by Mike Sloothaak

Ex Bibliotheca Magvilli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39by Eric Minton

The Unbearable Lightness of Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41by Michaël de Verteuil

Dear Abelard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

hermes' portalPublisher: Hermes’ PortalLayout: Eric KourisContributors: Abelard, Adam Bank, David Chart, Jérôme Darmont, Jeremiah Genest, Andrew Gronosky, Eric Minton, Mark Shirley,Sheila Thomas, Mike Sloothaak, Michaël de Verteuil, David WoodsEditorial and proofreading help: Sheila ThomasCover, border, back and page numbering: Radja SauperamanianeInterior illustrations: Angela Taylor (p. 31, 37, 38, 45), Alexander White (p. 4, 8, 10, 14, 24, 28, 29, 35, 47), Radja Sauperamaniane (p. 3,33, 40, 50, 51)Thanks: All the people who submitted ideas, texts, illustrations or helped in the production of this issue.Hermes’ Portal is an independent publication dedicated to Ars Magica players. Hermes’ Portal is available through email only.Hermes’ Portal is not affiliated with Atlas Games or White Wolf Gaming Studio. References to trademarks of those companies are notintended to infringe upon the rights of those parties. Ars Magica was created by Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rhein Hagen.Hermes’ Portal # 6, Copyright ©2002, Hermes’ Portal. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work is allowed for personal use only.

Contacting HP

Email

Hermes.Portal@wanadoo.fr

Web site

www.hermesportal.fr.st

News from

the Line Editor

October 2002

Books

Niall Christie’s excellent Blood and Sand: TheLevant Tribunal started appearing in bettergame shops shortly before I wrote this. Ithink the new hardback format looks

great, and this book should mark the beginning of anew period of roughly quarterly releases for Ars

Magica. It is also the first book I have developed forthe line, so let me know what you think of it.

For future releases, The Black Monks of Glastonburyis on schedule for a January/February release. Sanctu-ary of Ice is still making progress through editing, butI am not going to say anything more about that bookuntil we have the final draft in hand.

Living Legends is currently in final edit, and soshould be out some time around June next year.Between Black Monks and Living Legends we shouldsee the release of Land of Fire and Ice by DavidWoods and Mark Shirley.

Land of Fire and Ice provides setting details forIceland, and two epic saga arcs to get magi involvedwith that spectacular land. It also includes rules forvarious kinds of Icelandic hedge magician. In Ice-land, the magical is closely involved in mundane life,and magicians have their own place in the social sys-tem. Meanwhile, the icy and volcanic wastes are thedomain of giants, trolls, and powerful spirits. I ammost of the way through the final edit of the book,so it will probably be released around March 2003.However, we don’t have final, edited drafts of Landof Fire and Ice or Living Legends yet, so these are notofficial release dates. Indeed, Black Monks hasn’t beenofficially announced yet.

Questions

Alex White emailed me with some questions forthis column. As I believe this is the first time that anyLine Editor has received questions for his zine col-umn, I feel I ought to answer them.

In the last issue of Hermes Portal you said thatyou’d answer questions etc.

So, for HP6, I was wondering if you’d give ussome information on what the thoughtprocesses are behind the possible Ars Magica5th edition. If you’ve got no concrete info,then tell us, and if the decision has been madeto make it 2 books, then tell us. :-)

Also the status of Sanctuary of Ice and BlackMonks. Additionally, I’d like to know yourfavourite colour and whether you have afavourite pair of socks (humour me, please?).

I’ve dealt with Sanctuary of Ice and Black Monks, soI suppose I should say a bit about the fifth edition.There will be a fifth edition, and most likely soonerrather than later, although it will, of course, be

released after all the currently announced books, andafter some others at earlier stages of development.

I have two goals for a fifth edition. The first is tofix known problems with the rules, both broken rulesand the ambiguities that cause so many mailing listdebates. Thus, combat will be revised and betterguidance provided on the way in which magic resist-ance works.

The second is to make Ars Magica more acces-sible. I would like someone to be able to play thegame within hours of seeing the rulebook for thefirst time, without any assistance from experiencedplayers. This will require the more substantialchanges. Some changes will have to be made to therules, but most changes will be in presentation. Howdo you play Ars Magica? What makes a good maguscharacter? What can you do with magic? And so on.

A second aspect of this is that I want the newedition to better support single session games. Role-players are often willing to try a single session ofsomething new, even if they are involved in anothercampaign, because it gives the GM a break. A wholenew saga, however, is a much harder sell. BecauseArs Magica is such a good game, people who play asingle session will, of course, want to play a saga, andso the game’s fanbase will grow.

We are considering issuing ArM5 in two volumessimply because all the material needed to fulfil thosetwo aims is unlikely to fit in a single volume at a rea-sonable price. While subscribers to Hermes’ Portalmight be willing to pay $60 for fifth edition, such aprice point would most likely prevent us from gain-ing new players.

Finally, my favourite colour is midnight blue, andI don’t have a favourite pair of socks.

Further questions that people would like to seeanswered in this column should be sent to me at:

arsmagica@dchart.demon.co.uk

with a note that you would like me to answerthem here.

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The Miraculous Worldby Adam Bank and Jeremiah Genest

Lyceum for Empirical Metaphysics

The Lyceum consists of a half-dozen Bon-isagus magi, each at least several decadesout of apprenticeship, and the “visiting”Jerbiton or Verditius drawn to their

cause.

The Lyceum, named after the legendary schoolfounded by Aristotle, functions both as a covenantand secret society. The Lyceum covenant nestles onthe Italian coast near Pisa. As a secret society, theLyceum recruits members through the time-honoredtradition of House Bonisagus — taking apprenticesfrom other magi. In recent decades, the Lyceum vis-ited covenants in all Tribunals, investigating possibletalent for their projects.

The members of the Lyceum are dedicated Aris-totelians. They believe Bonisagus, a brilliant Aris-totelian mind, was lead astray by the mysticism of theother Founders, especially Diedne, whose non-Aris-totelian theories corrupted Hermetic magic withfalse species and categories. To this end, the Lyceumstudies the sympathies between the Hermetic Artsand Aristotle’s physics. As their ultimate goal, theyhope to discover how to manipulate light with theForm of Vim. Aristotle, Ptolemy, and countless oth-er philosophers observed that light is the force ofmagic and change. The Lyceum searches for amethod of uniting the Order’s notion of aether andvis with lux and lumen, expecting everything else tofall into place once the key breakthrough is made.

Many Bonisagus magi scoff at this notion, sayingthe Lyceum takes certain philosophical questions toofar and abuses the privileges of their House. The firstfew, newly gauntleted magi to come from the Acad-emy, however, are some of the most promising ele-mentalists in centuries.

Virtues Taught: Hermetic Alchemy (+1), Her-metic Astrology (+1), Vulgar Alchemy (+2), Affinitywith Aquam (+3), Affinity with Auram (+3), Affini-ty with Ignem (+3), Affinity with Vim (+3).

The Lyceum widely circulates The MiraculousWorld a tractatus advertising the Lyceum’s theoriesof magic and the cosmos. Written as a lecture of amaster to apprentice, The Miraculous Word purportsto explain the Limits of Magic.

In the Beginning“Tell me, pater, how did the limits of magic come

into being?”God created the universe. To doubt this turns the

discussion from science and magic to the domain oftheology, and that argument must await another day.What you have asked me, although you may not real-ize it, is how God set about the difficult task of cre-ating the world. How did he bring forth plants andanimals from the lifeless elements? How were theheavens divided into stars, orbs and intelligences?What forces and connections did He establishbetween the heavenly and earthly realms so that thechain of events ran smoothly? What dispositionsoriginally given to the universe provide for all thatwas to follow?

Ex Nihilo

The creation of the universe ex nihilo, the cre-ation of all things from nothing, lasted six days.Everything created during those blessed days sharesone obvious commonality — they exist. Whateverthing, whether man or beast, mind or matter, sharessome property that sets it apart from nothing, whatwe call being. Before we examine objects created inthose the six days, therefore, we must understandbeing as being, or how God created existence itself.For this, we turn to the metaphysics of Aristotle.

Matter

Matter is the formless raw material of the uni-verse.

Since nothing exists prior to creation, mattermust come into being ex nihilo. Alternatively, eternalmatter (the hyle) somehow exists apart from Godand cooperated with Him in the creation of the uni-verse. Along with the overwhelming majority ofauthorities on the subject, we reject this notion. Howcan something exist before it is created? The verywords are absurd.

Form

Form is the outline and design of what some-thing (namely matter) will become.

In the beginning God brought form to the uni-verse. Forms possess the capacity to shape matter,but until form is introduced to matter, form belongsto nothing, rather than being. Creation ex nihilo,therefore, is the process by which the form of theuniverse transferred from the mind of God to therealm of being.

Matter and Form

God brought forth the universe threefold, as mat-ter, substantial form, and accidents. Matter underliesthe universe and serves as a passive medium for theordering activity of forms. Substantial forms trans-form undefined matter into particular things throughthe process of information. Accidents give (or, more

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properly, “inform”) particular things their particularcharacteristics.

For example, a magus’ canine familiar may pos-sess the accidents of fat or thin, golden or dun, dis-temperate or vibrant, but it still possesses the sub-stantial form that permits anyone to identify it as adog. While the stout mastiff shares little accidentallikeness with the courtly pug, both these furryobjects are informed with the substantial forms thatmake up “dogness.”

Matter, it may surprise you to know, cannot beperceived, or even known. Perception and knowl-edge of the human mind is limited to accidents, theparticulars of life. Substantial form can only be indi-rectly experienced or understood through philoso-phy and magic. Magic lifts the cloud of accidents andreveals the truth underneath.

In Principio

To understand creation, we must first attempt theunderstanding of the Creator, and the state of inprincipio — the state of inception. We must try tosee into the mind of God when He chose to createthe universe.

The Creative Act

God in His omnipotence could have created theuniverse as whatever or in any way He desired.Because all possibilities were open to Him, He couldhave created a million worlds, leaving us to foreverwonder whether our world had any importance at all.He could have created a universe devoid of naturallaw, operated by Divine will alone. Happily, as thephilosophers have shown, He did not.

Though omnipotent, God does not deny the nat-ural order. Creation should not be thought of as aninstantaneous, all-powerful act, but the product of arational, chosen, willful course of action. In princi-pio, God chose the things that inhabit the universe,plucked them from the infinite possibilities availableto Him. In His wisdom He knew not to create oneinfinite world, or many finite worlds, but one, bestfinite world.

He populated the world with beings and things,for this was the best course of action. He created theworld in six days, in a series of orderly steps, becausethis was best. He established the laws and order ofnature because this was best. Of course, God and hisagents can, and occasionally do, transcend the natu-ral order and suspend those laws. But these excep-tions prove the rule: miracles, by their nature anddefinition, are so rare as to be beyond the scope ofmortal learning.

Why the Limits Exist

What does this tell us? Magic, even the greatspells of the Order, is not miraculous. Magic can beworked by a precious few Gifted mortal minds. Itfollows that magic is natural, and obeys the laws andorder of God. A magic spell, like any natural process,can only act on the combination of matter and form,not on matter or form by itself.

For this reason alone, the limits of magic exist.

Rational Creatures

Between God, who exists neither as matter norform, and the creatures of the Earth, who live bothas matter and form, dwell beings existing only ofform. They are the creature rationales, incorporealentities created by God solely for their incrediblecapacity of thought. They are the angels, demons,and movers of the planets, called the intelligences.

Because they exist only as forms, the rationalcreatures were not created during the first six days,but before them. They existed prior to matter, asforms or ideas in the mind of God. While the earthand all its occupants transferred from the mind ofGod to creation ex nihilo, the angels, demons, andintelligences have always remained in principii. Inother words, the rational creatures existed “in thebeginning” whilst the universe awaited creation dur-ing the first week.

The Limit of the Divine

These are but illustrations to bolster a centralpoint: all those things that remain in principii cannotbe affected by magic. Magic, as a natural force, canonly influence material created ex nihilo, those thingswhich were created during the first six days.

Angels and most aspects of the Divine mademanifest on Earth are immune from magic. Demons,fortunately, chose to corrupt themselves with matter,allowing magic some defense against them. But as totheir purpose in the universe, as the source of falsity,demons remain in principii, making demonic decep-tion as immune as angelic intervention.

The Limit of the Soul

The human soul takes on its purest form beforebirth and regains it after death. In the state of pre-lifeand afterlife, souls exist free from any matter. Thesoul, in other words, is the substantial form of the

“Heavens refer not so much to the visible fir-mament as the empyrean, which is immediatelyfilled with angels.”

Walafrid Strabo, Glossa Ordinaria

Amorphous Morass

Pe Im 30R: Per D: Conc T: SightRequisite: Quartz (+1)As long as the caster concentrates, the accidents

of all objects within sight are separated from theirsubstantial form. The result is a giant amorphouszone of incomprehensible sensory experience. Thechaos assaults all five senses. Nothing makes sense,even the victim’s own thoughts and screams. Eachround, everyone within the zone (including thecaster) must make Sta + Concentration roll of 12+or fall into a conniption and lose a Fatigue level. Ifthe caster fails this roll, the spell ends. If the ypuuse a Rego casting requisite, however, you are notaffected yourself.

This spell is often used to torment members ofsecret societies during initiation ordeals.

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material object we call a human body. Magic, as Ihave shown, can only affect things that exist both asmatter and form. Thus, magic cannot create or recre-ate life, or affect a soul that has returned to God byproper unction and burial.

The Limit of Essential Nature

I also posit that substantial form itself, even whenimpressed upon matter, remains in principii. Acci-dents are dependent upon matter, but substantialform began in the mind of God. If so, magic cannotaffect substantial form in any way. The soul, forexample, can be removed from the body with magic,as any warrior among us would readily attest, butmagic cannot affect the makeup of the soul itself.

Here I equate the Christian notion of in principiiwith the ancient notion of Platonic Forms. The Her-metic essential natures, the Platonic forms, the Aris-totelian substantial forms, and the in principii ideasof God are one and the same when understandingthe limits of magic. All four notions concern theunchangeable forces that bring order to the con-stantly changing material world. Magic, which relieson the natural laws of change to influence the mor-tal world, cannot affect the immortal and changeless.

From the idea of creation, we now move to theprocess of creation itself.

The First DayGod’s first act on the first day? “Let there be

light.”

Lux

Light, the first manifestation of Divine fiat,enjoys special importance in the universe. Light orig-inates in the heavens and is visible on earth. Light hasmany obvious and crucial functions in the world. Itspresence and absence provides the ultimate instru-ment of time, the dividing day from night. It is alsothe instrument of vision, humanity’s most noblesense. Through vision we have contact with not onlyearthbound objects but also the remoteness of theheavens, themselves illuminated by light.

Light, as Aristotle showed, is neither fire nor mat-ter. Light is a quality of a light source. The Sun, forexample, has the quality of being round. It also hasthe quality of producing light. In other words, light isthe Aristotelian form of a luminous body. In Her-metic terms, the substance of light is the essentialnature of a luminous body, known to us all as lux.

Light, the one aspect of all creation that is com-mon to both the superior and inferior regions, acts asa bond to draw the two together. Scripture equateslight with the Word of God. It comes as no surprise,then, that an entire science devotes itself to the studyof light. I speak of the science of perspective.

Lumen

Perspective studies the lines or rays of light, notas geometrical constructs, but as natural entities. Raysof light are divided into three categories: direct,reflected and refracted.

Direct light radiates in straight lines from a lumi-nous source through an intervening medium. The

physical process of illumination occurs as follows: atfirst, light resides only in its source as lux. The com-mon medium of radiation is air. Lux sends out mul-tiples of itself, called lumena, that propagate throughthe air. Lumen passes through a medium withoutaffecting it. Likewise, lumen does not otherwise alterthe objects it illuminates.

Reflected radiation bounces at an angle from amirror or some other hard surface. Refracted radia-tion is the bending of light as it passes through mediaof varying densities. This explains the behavior ofthe light of celestial bodies as it passes through thespheres of Fire and Air.

Light and Ignem

Light existed in principii, as Augustine says. Thus,light should be immune to magic. But then what isthe Art of Ignem?

Light existed in principii, but only as form, or lux.It had yet to multiply and illuminate as lumen, sothere was darkness over the abyss before the Word.Darkness possesses neither matter nor form. Dark-ness is not a thing to be manipulated by magic orphysical toil; it is the absence of things. On the firstday, by God’s command, lumena separated day fromnight, and filled the darkness with light.

It follows that Ignem must govern lumen, but bepowerless over lux, a claim born out by examination.Since lux fills matter to make it visible, controllinglux would allow the control of illusion. Ignem, as weall know, cannot be used to create illusions. Lumen,on the other hand, is merely the radiation of light,not the generation of it. Thus Ignem is not only theArt of heat and the element of Fire, but also oflumen, albeit not lux.

Imáginem creates illusions, not by the manipula-tion of lumen but through the manipulation of oth-er accidents impressed into the air and other mediawithout connection or reference to any substantialform in the same medium. Imáginem governs theAristotelian secondary qualities, which I shall discussduring Day Four, their proper place.

Rain of Lumen

Mu Ig 30R: Per D: Conc T: SightRequisite: RegoFocus: Dollop of honey (+2)As long as the caster concentrates, all light with-

in sight is imbued with impetus and strikes allobjects (except the caster himself) with physicalforce. If the spell is cast in full daylight, the lumenpummels for +10 damage a round. If the spell iscast during twilight or its equivalent (such as undera heavily overcast sky), the light strikes for only +5damage per round. Light radiating from a weak arti-ficial source such as a torch or candle only does +1damage per round. The relentless jabbing (sincelight travels in straight rays) is extremely distractingregardless of its intensity, causing from -3 to -9penalties on all rolls.

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Empyrean

On the first day, God created the Empyrean,house of the purest light, the unmoving dwellingplace of the angels and the Throne of God. TheEmpyrean lies beyond the sphere of fixed stars (cre-ated on the second day), the outer boundary of theworld.

Of course, “dwelling place” should not implythat an angel occupies physical space in the Empyre-an. Angels, being rational creatures, possess no mat-ter (unless they manifest to perform miracles), andthus have no physical dimension. Consequently, aninfinite number of angels fill the space of theEmpyrean, as they could the head of a pin.

The Second DayOn the second day, God created the firmament

and the Earth, together called the cosmos. TheEmpyrean is both part of the cosmos and beyond it,created in the same instant as light itself, its unmov-ing perfection surpassing even the timeless beauty ofthe starry and planetary spheres.

Cosmogony

The cosmos is a great sphere, with the heavensabove and the Earth at the center. The cosmos isfinite, and likewise had a discrete beginning in time.These two initial truths are unquestionable, althoughwhat followed leads to uncertainty and debate.

Many theologians hold that God limited His cre-ative activity to the moment of creation. In otherwords, after the six first days, the natural laws direct-ed the course of things, not divine fiat. The experi-ence of the Order of Hermes confirms this claim,save in those rare and unfortunate occasions whenthe Heavenly Host makes its displeasure known.

The cosmic sphere divides into two distinctregions, composed and functioning under opposingmaterials and principles of circularity and linearity.Circles, possessing neither beginning nor end, aretimeless and unchanging. Lines, beginning at onepoint and ceasing at another, are transient and fluc-tuating. Below the Moon lies the terrestrial region,formed out of the four elements. It is the place ofgeneration and corruption, birth and death, tran-sience and linearity. The Moon and realms abovemake up the celestial region, the place of circularmotion, perfect and eternal.

Aether

The Moon and the celestial bodies above spin onperfect spheres of aether, called quintessence, the“fifth element.” Aether, also called the “water above”in Genesis, is aqueous, crystalline, fluidic, totallytransparent, and unchanging.

We now possess the vocabulary to explain themechanics of the cosmos in Hermetic terms.

Radiant Vis

Vis is to aether as lumen is to lux.Aether is the substantial form of vis, the essential

nature of the Art of Vim. It resides, incorruptibleand unreachable, in the celestial realm. As Ptolemyexplained, power emanates from the aether and per-

meates the terrestrial realm. This power directs themotion of Fire and Air, and in turn the motion of allelse, Earth and Water, plant and animal.

This power is known to the Order as radiant vis.

Ambient Matter

The terrestrial region consists of formless mass,known to the Order as ambient matter. The radiantvis coaxes the ambient matter into motion. That is tosay, the radiant vis informs the ambient matter, giv-ing shape and design to the world.

Raw Vis

Most objects, being flawed and far from their ide-al forms, disperse and corrupt the radiant vis, allow-ing the vis to propagate through informed matter. Aprecious few material objects, however, approachtheir substantial form and reflect God’s in principiiidea of them. These treasured items become reser-voirs for radiant vis in its pure form, known as rawvis, the closest approximation to aether that can existin the terrestrial realm.

Limit of the Lunar Sphere

We can now derive the limit of the lunar sphere.Magic, as I established, manipulates the laws ofnature. The laws of nature govern the mortal portion

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Upper Air: The Cosmology of Robert Gros-

seteste

For the life and times of Robert Grosseteste, agreat man of letters who will reach his prime (andbe elected Bishop of Lincoln) early in a typical ArsMagica Saga, see Heirs to Merlin.

Light is the cornerstone of Master Robert’s cos-mology. The cosmos began when God created adimensionless point of matter and light, the “firstform” or “corporeal form.” The point of lightinstantaneously diffused itself into a great sphere,drawing matter with it, resulting in the corporealcosmos. Subsequent radiation (from the outermostlimit of the cosmos back toward the center) and dif-ferentiation gave rise to celestial spheres and thecharacteristic features of the sublunary region.

The theme of microcosm and macrocosm alsodominates his cosmology. Humanity represents thepinnacle of God’s creative activity, mirroring thedivine nature and the structure of the cosmos. Inhis early writings Master Robert toys with the Greeknotion of a World Soul overseeing the terrestrialregions, but he rejects it in his later works.

Master Robert, along with theorists who retain aplatonic tradition, disagrees with the notion of afifth Element in the celestial regions. The heavensare not made of a separate Element, but finer quan-tities of earthly elements Air and Fire in an ulti-mately rarefied (minimally dense) state impossibleto replicate in the mortal regions.

Those magi seeking to break the limit of thelunar sphere take great interest in his and similartheories. If the same elements exist in the celestialrealm as the terrestrial, surely terrestrial magic canaffect them? Though even here one must deal withthe issue of incorruptibility.

of the cosmos. The lunar sphere and the realmsabove, however, belong to the immortal portion ofthe cosmos, and operate under different laws.

Magic helps us understand, predict, and takeadvantage of the celestial realm’s control over theterrestrial, but magic has no jurisdiction in the heav-ens themselves.

The Heavens

Before entering the cosmos, let us pause just out-side it: what, if anything, exists there? All agree thatno material substance is found outside the cosmos.The cosmos, by definition, contains all matter Godcreated. Could the cosmos float in an empty void?Aristotle proved the impossibility of vacuum, andthus all right-thinking people agree that nothing, noteven vacuum, exists outside the cosmos.

As we enter the cosmos, we first encounter thecelestial spheres. How many of these exist? What istheir nature? What are their functions?

Each of the seven planets is placed on concentricspheres in the following order, from innermost toouter: Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, andSaturn. Beyond them lies the primum mobile, thesphere of the fixed stars, the Houses of the Zodiac.

Each sphere nestles in perfect contact with oneanother — otherwise between them would be emptyspace, an impossibility. Likewise, no gaps or inter-stices occur in the individual spheres themselves. Allrotate, frictionless, in proper directions and precise,preordained velocities. The planets are small spheri-cal regions of greater density and lucidity in thetransparent aether. Astronomers have determinedthat 55 spheres exist in all, including the counter-turners, which absorb the excess motion of the larg-er spheres.

Our model of the cosmos still cannot provide forthe elliptical wanderings of the planets. Ptolemyshowed how epicycles and deferens, wheels withincelestial wheels, account for the planets’ eccentrici-ties. Each planetary sphere, therefore, must be thickenough to house epicyclical spheres without creatingany gaps between the spheres.

The Intelligences

How do the planets move? Who turns thespheres?

Aristotle called them Unmoved Movers. Eachsphere has its own Unmoved Mover, the object ofthat sphere’s desire, whose perfection the sphereseeks to imitate by rotating in eternal, uniform circu-lar motion. In the terms of metaphysics, theUnmoved Movers are final, rather than efficient,causes. Everyone recognizes the ultimate or “prime”Unmoved Mover, the entity which inspires the starsthemselves to move, to be God Himself.

The identities of the other Unmoved Movers,however, remain in debate. Many astrologers andmembers of our Order call them the planetarydeities of Plato’s Timaeus, last true vestige of thegods of old. Christian theologians, members of theOrder among them, call the Unmoved Movers theintelligences, angels who never take on material bod-ies or descend below the lunar sphere. Those whoargue against the existence of aether itself seek toexplain the turning of the spheres in terms of thephysics of motion.

The Third DayWe enter into the terrestrial region by descending

beneath the lunar sphere. Here lie the four elements,

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Fedoso’s Ball

A white, crystalline, mostly opaque sphere aboutthe size of a clenched fist. A band of gold wrapsaround its equator, with the following inscribed inelegant Latin: “This is the Globe of Firmamentwhich Fedosso Found Whilst Hiding From theHandmaids.” The inscription refers to a scene fromthe Travels of Fedoso (Houses of Hermes page 32),when Fedoso hides in the Sun Queen’s wardrobe.While in the wardrobe, Fedoso opens a chest andfinds the entire Universe, in the shape of a crystalball, trapped in a glass bottle.

The globe feels heavier than it looks. Whenrolled across a surface, it will wobble and weave astrange trajectory. If held up to the light, shadowsof rapid, spinning movement can be seen within. Ifheld to the ear, the globe emits the sweet sound ofall eight notes being chimed at once.

The globe has been tossed aside by many frus-trated examiners, only to be found by anothermagus. It seems completely impervious to magic;no spell cast at it has ever worked, including Intél-lego spells, preventing anyone from even discover-ing what makes it so resistant to magic.

arranged in concentric spheres, each in its properplace: first Fire, then Air, followed by Water, andfinally Earth and the center. The light elements, Fireand Air, naturally ascend and disperse while theheavy elements, Water and Earth, naturally descendand coalesce.

The Terrestrial Spheres

The elements continuously transmute one intoanother through the influence of the vis radiatingfrom the aether within stars and planets. Thus, forexample, water is transformed into air in the processwe know as evaporation. Conversely, air can be trans-formed into water to produce rain. The formsinvolved in this process are called the primary quali-ties, which I shall discuss after first describing thecontents of the entire world.

Spheres of Fire and Air

The fiery and aerial spheres house the grandestphenomena of meteorology, including comets,shooting stars, rainbows, lightning and thunder.Rainbows, it has long been known, appear in thesphere of Air when sunlight reflects from thedroplets of water in a cloud.

A comet is the burning of hot and dry exhala-tions that ascend from the Earth into the sphere ofFire. That means comets are not only sublunary, butalso begin their lives on the Earth, making themobvious targets of Ignem magic. I have heard rumorsof rituals that can send comets up, but many magiwill be relieved to note that I have not heard of anyspell that can bring a comet down.

Meteors and other celestial phenomena also fallinto sphere of Fire. While Aristotle and his succes-sors would place the Milky Way here, there is somedebate amongst astrologers to the validity of thisview.

Sphere of Earth

At the center of everything is the sphere of theEarth upon whose surface mortal life unfolds. Theancients determined the Earth to be a sphere with acircumference of about 252,000 stades, or 28,968miles, an estimate we accept as fact. The terrestrialland mass divides into the three continents ofEurope, Asia, and Africa, with the Holy Land in thecenter, and surrounded by sea.

How do the continents protrude out from thesphere of Water that surrounds the Earth, so we maylive upon them? The Earth could be slightly off cen-ter, thereby causing its sphere to extend out throughthe sphere of Water. This would require some per-manent celestial power forever pushing the earth toone side. The earth could, on the other hand, bemore triangular than a perfect sphere.

Perhaps, as Plato suggested, the Earth is porous,drawing in water to expose some land, or, as Aristo-tle suggested, evaporation removes enough water toallow the Earth to peek through. Most enticingly,perhaps the waters that would otherwise cover thecontinents are stored somewhere on the globe, piledhigh by divine or magical forces that have alreadyfailed once in history at the time of the Deluge.

The terrestrial globe is divided into five climaticzones or climes: two frigid zones around the poles(the Arctic and Antarctic), two temperate zones adja-cent to the two frigid zones, and one torrid zonestraddling the equator. The torrid zone, according tosome geographers, divides into distinct rings arounda great equatorial ocean.

Most believe the torrid zone to be uninhabitabledue to its extreme heat. For whatever reason, no onehas yet to report crossing this region. The existenceof the antipodeans, the upside-down walking inhab-itants of the southern temperate clime, remains amystery.

Properties of Matter

Terrestrial combinations of matter and form arecalled substances. If the substance in question is a“natural object” (as opposed to one produced artifi-cially, by an artisan), it also possesses a “nature,”determined first by its form and second by its matter.A substance’s nature disposes it to certain kinds ofbehavior. Fire naturally communicates warmth, rocksnaturally fall if lifted out of their natural place, babiesnaturally grow and mature, acorns naturally developinto oak trees, and so on.

Natures can be isolated through long and persist-ent observation: whatever cannot be the product ofchance (because of the regularity of its occurrence)or of artifice (because no artificer had anything to dowith it) must be the result of nature. Because naturesdetermine all cases of natural change, they fascinate

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Fiery Calamity

Cr Ig 75 ritualR: Near D: Spec. T: Spec.This ritual must be performed on a volcano, hot

spring, or similar area producing hot gasses fromthe depths of the Earth. Once complete, the air fillswith a roaring, searing vapor, causing everything inthe area (the volcano, spring, mud flat, etc) to take+25 in scalding damage. The inferno of steam onlylasts one round as the exhalation soars into the sky.

Upon the next sunset, and for the next week, theexhalation burns as a bright comet in the sky, oftenwith two or three tails, visible across the knownworld and perhaps beyond.

In addition to whatever wonder or hysteria thecomet inspires in the populace, the comet wreckshavoc with any astrological magic attempted thatweek, anywhere in the world. Any benefits from aninception are lost if calculated before the cometappeared, even if the incepted spell were to takeplace long after the comet disappears.

All rolls involving astrological magic, Hermeticor otherwise, have a negative penalty equal to thepenetration total of the ritual/5, and suffer doublethe normal botches.

Several archmages are said to be hard at workinventing a version of this spell with Rego andAuram requisites to turn the spell into a terrificweapon.

the physicist, natural philosopher, and Hermeticalchemist.

The Primary Qualities

The familiar substances of everyday experienceare complex rather than simple. In other words, allsublunary objects are either compounds or mixturesreducible to fundamental principles, the four ele-ments.

In Aristotelian terms, the elements are forms ofmatter. Each elemental form contains two of the pri-mary qualities. There are four primary qualities, andevery substance under the Moon contains someamount of each: hot, cold, wet, and dry. Coldnessand wetness combine to yield Water. Matterinformed by coldness and dryness produces Earth.Hotness and wetness produce Air, while hotness anddryness produce Fire. The behavior of everythingterrestrial can be understood by studying the primaryqualities and natures of the four elements. You can-not separate these qualities and obtain one withoutthe other. All things in the terrestrial sphere are com-binations of these four qualities.

Secondary Matter

Two types of matter exist and help explain theprocess of motion, insubstantial primary matter andsubstantial secondary matter.

Primary matter combines with the primary quali-ties to produce elements in their pure form. Withoutquality, primary matter is insubstantial. Secondarymatter already contains primary qualities, is substan-tial, and can take on accidents and secondary qualities.

The marble slab, for example, already exists and hasproperties (size, shape, color, density, et cetera) beforethe sculptor endows it with the accidents of a bust ofPallas.

Motion

Do not think that the cosmos is static. In the sub-lunary realm, natural motion ceases when a movingobject reaches its natural place, and violent motionends when an external force no longer acts. If Godsuddenly put every object in its proper place andeliminated external movers, the world would comescreeching to a halt.

Or would it? This misapprehension comes fromconcentrating on only one kind of motion, thechange of place. Nature exists in a constant state offlux and transition from potential to actual. Constantchange occurs in biological matter, as all things livingare always growing, developing, or withering. Themotion of life, as microcosm, reflects the motion ofthe terrestrial realm.

Impetus

Why, for example, does a rock continue to movethrough the air once it leaves the hand of the throw-er? Aristotle’s answer looks to the action of Air. As arock travels, it pushes air, which either swirls aroundto push the rock from behind, or transmits themotion to the next piece of air, which carries therock along with it.

Here, perhaps uniquely, Aristotle is wrong. Thosewho study the Art of Rego adopt a theory of impe-tus, which has found its way into the lectures of theso-called scholastics in Paris and beyond.

A projectile moves because the process of throw-ing imparts to an object an additional qualitative dis-position (an additional form or nature), which in turnaccounts for the object’s continued motion. The rockcontinues to move along its trajectory because it has,once it leaves the hand of the thrower, a quality nat-urally present and predisposed for moving the body.Its nature now becomes that of an object movingalong a path that had previously not been natural toit. As it moves the projectile, this added quality isweakened, either because it is not a permanent qual-ity, and therefore naturally remitted, or because ofthe resistance of the air. As a consequence, the pro-jectile slowly loses its imparted motion and assumesits natural motion, that is, toward the center of theuniverse. Consequently, a rock thrown away from theEarth falls through an arced trajectory back to theground.

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See the Antipodean!

Saturnin, a Criamon magus known for hisbizarre antics even among his fellow Criamon,claims he has captured an antipodean spy. In a fieldnear his covenant, he has tied a strong rope arounda large rock. The free end of the rope rises straightup into the air and disappears in the clouds. Therope is pulled tight, and twitches as if somethingvibrates on the other end.

According to Saturnin, a recent Twilight episodepropelled his spirit high above the clouds to thevery boundary of the sublunary world. There hefound hundreds of antipodeans who had walkedupside-down from the bottom of the earth to theinner surface of the lunar sphere to spy on him.From their reverse position, they gazed “up” at theearth bellow.

In his Twilight-dream he grabbed one of theupside-down antipodeans, tied one end of a ropearound his captive’s neck, tied another around arock he summoned with magic, and let the rockdrop. When Staturnin awoke from his temporaryTwilight episode, a grog reported to his covenantthat a rock with a rope tied around it had snakeddown from the blue sky like a worm on the end ofa fishing line.

He proudly displays the rock and its rope, butadmits to never having the desire to actually seewhat lies on the other end.

The Fourth DayDuring the first three days the outlines of the

universe were sketched out in the amorphous massthat became the cosmos. Now, on the fourth day,began the process of filling out the details. Theolo-gians call this and the next two days the ornamentingof the universe.

The Stars

Ornamentation begins in the heavens. God setsout two luminaries, the Sun and Moon, to rulerespectively over day and night, and commands theother heavenly lights to take up residence in theirrespective orbs. Except for the occasional and mirac-ulous additions, the work of the fourth day sees theheavens established in the arrangement we see today.

How do the stars and planets influence the ele-ments and creatures below? We already know themedium of influence, vis propagated from theaether. But how does the process unfold?

The Golden Chain

Putting together all we have discussed, we canreconstruct the golden chain of cause and effect,from the uncountable effects occurring at this verymoment to God’s in principii choice to bring forththe universe.

The stars perform a crucial role in helping theuniverse run smoothly and according to God’s plan.They are the most essential and obvious links in thegreat golden chain that joins Heaven to Earth andhumanity to God. Every effect observed in the sub-lunary world initiates at least in part in the stars. Inother words, the motions of the celestial bodies arethe efficient causes of every effect.

At the beginning of the golden chain comes God,Creator and First Mover of all that follows. First Hecreated all things movable and subject to change andthen He moved them. God’s presence is necessary tokeep nature running smoothly. If God were to with-draw from nature we would not live, nor be moved,nor exist.

God does not immediately involve Himself ineach and every activity that takes place in nature. Heis not the direct, universal cause of all natural effects.Instead, efficient causation proceeds from Godthrough many series of secondary agents, each ofwhich is superior to the one that immediately followsit in the order of causation, forming the links in thegolden chain.

The very next links in the golden chain after Godare the intelligences, the celestial Unmoved Movers.The intelligences move the stars and planets, induc-ing the aether within to radiate vis. Through themedium of radiant vis, the stars and planets movethe four terrestrial elemental spheres, causing the pri-mary qualities to impress upon primary matter.

The Effects of the Primary Qualities

When radiant vis changes some of the qualities ofan object without changing the substance itself, theobject has been altered. Cold water, when influencedby a warming quality, becomes warm, while remain-

ing water. Such changes can become quite complex ifthe subject being altered is itself complex. Changesin the human body, including disease, are manifesta-tions of alteration.

Radiant vis cannot affect the substantial formsthemselves, but can add or subtract substantial formsof an object by changing the primary qualities in theprocesses known as generation and corruption. Bymanipulating the primary qualities, radiant vis caneither introduce substantial form to primary matteror separate matter from a substantial form. Forexample, vapors trapped in the earth slowly ripeninto minerals under the generative influence of theprimary qualities, while food spoils under corruptiveinfluence.

God selected in principii the finite number ofsubstantial forms that exist. There shall never bemore, or fewer, substantial forms than those Godenvisioned. In other words, radiant vis (and the Artsof magic) cannot generate, corrupt, or alter substan-tial forms, just the matter informed by them. This isthe Aristotelian expression of the limit of essentialnature.

Secondary Qualities

In addition to causing accidental and substantialchanges, primary qualities also give rise to secondaryqualities: softness, hardness, viscosity, mass, levity,rarity, density, odor, flavor, color, incandescence andso forth. Secondary qualities differ from primaryqualities, as they do not affect the medium throughwhich they pass.

The Art of Imáginem creates and manipulatessecondary qualities, which do not themselves affectchanges or motion in matter. With Imáginem, youcan impress into the air the secondary qualities of aflying carpet, allowing others to feel the carpet’splush softness, but you cannot actually bring motionto matter, and so your flying carpet can support nocargo.

Both primary and secondary qualities radiate overdistances. Both can be reflected and refracted. Eachcan be expressed in varying degrees through theintension and remission of forms. As the goldenchain stretches out through the sublunary region, theradiant vis reflects, refracts, intensifies and remits,causing infinite variations of qualities.

The changes of qualities give us a model for theactive Hermetic Techniques. Creo, obviously, bringsabout creative change by impressing primary qualitiesinto primary matter. Perdo, likewise, brings aboutdestructive change by removing primary and second-ary qualities from secondary matter. Muto, the art ofalteration, changes the substance and qualities ofsecondary matter. Rego concerns the fourth type ofAristotelian change: locomotion, the change ofplace. Everything locomotes, including thoughts andphantoms.

Magic and the Golden Chain

This and nothing more is the process of magic.Only through the manipulation of the radiant vis can

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we grasp the golden chain. Magic is truly golden, asits study and use brings the magus close to celestialperfection and the light of God. But magic is alsoenchaining, because the magus is bound to the lawsof nature and cause and effect.

The Limit of Creation

With the Arts of Creo and Terram, a magus cancommand the radiant vis to impress upon ambientmatter the form of a flawless diamond. The celestialspheres continue to turn, however, and the vis radi-ating down from the heavens continues to caress allthings, including the diamond, coaxing the forms tochange. The duration of a spell expires when itspower can no longer keep the eternal kiss of the radi-ant vis at bay. When its original Creo Terram spellexpires, the matter of the diamond literally gives upthe ghost, and vanishes back in the ambient back-ground.

By using raw vis, the closest approximation toaether on the Earth, the magus can create enduringobjects, the closest approximation to ex nihilo cre-ation achievable by mortals. Such “permanent”objects can still be dispelled by Perdo Vim, breakingup the raw vis shell that protects the object from thebombardment of radiant vis, but they possess suffi-cient permanence to provide nutrition. Truly perma-nent objects require the greater magic of ritual, or, inthe case of spells that heal or improve, the presenceof already informed matter, such as a cracked stoneor severed limb.

Even the oldest among us know we live on timeborrowed from raw vis, and one day inevitability willcall the debt due.

The Limit of Arcane Connection

Vision, being the most powerful sense, is the nor-mal boundary of human understanding and influ-ence. Even the greatest astrologers, with their ancientcharts and precision instruments, still must gaze atthe heavens with their eyes. The golden chain, easy tobehold and understand with the naked eye, becomeshopelessly complex and incomprehensible beyondthe scope of vision.

Arcane connections bring part of the unseen intothe magus’ field of view, thereby allowing the magusto affect it. For example, taking one cobblestonefrom a road allows you to see part of the roadregardless of your actual distance from it. With anArcane Connection, you can grasp links of the gold-en chain otherwise inaccessible. Of course, as timepasses, the golden chain between the Arcane Con-nection and the intended target lengthens and throwsout branches. Consequently, the effectiveness ofArcane Connections fade with time.

The Limit of Time

Time, in and of itself, does not exist. We perceivethe passage of time by observing secondary qualitiesproduced by motion. Motion comes from the PrimeMover through the golden chain. “Time passes” isthe vulgar way of saying “the golden chain has manylinks.”

To stop time, equivalent to stopping all motion inthe entire world, we would have to keep the heavensfrom spinning. Journeying back in time, to reversemotion, requires the celestial spheres to rotate back-wards. To move forward in time, to speed motion ofall things but ourselves, we would have to coax theintelligences to push harder.

The past lives on only in the sense of memory. Itcan only be visited with the Art of Mentem, if themagus has access to a witness of the past, or with ofrituals of Intéllego Imáginem that distill images ofthe past from the secondary qualities impressed inthe present. The future has yet to be created by theUnmoved Movers, and can only be glimpsed throughthe science of divination.

The Fifth Day

Once He finished ornamenting the celestialrealms, God turned His attention to the elementsthat lay below. The work of the fifth and sixth daysadds the final details to the elemental spheres, theforms of life that pertain to each. The watersbrought forth all forms of marine life, including rep-tiles and sea monsters. Air became the natural abodeof birds. Lastly, on the sixth day, Earth gave rise toanimals and the human species.

God imparted to each living creature a commandthat he gave no other object in all creation: “thriveand multiply.” Growth and reproduction distinguishthe animate from the inanimate and permit livingcreatures to populate the Earth.

The Four Powers

Living creatures, like everything else, combinematter and form. The soul, the substantial form oflife, impresses into organic matter, and manifestsitself in four basic ways, called powers.

The most fundamental manifestation of life, thevegetative power enables living beings to followGod’s prime directive to thrive and multiply. Eventhe lowest form of life, the mould on the very lastlink of the golden chain, possesses the vegetativeimpulse, the ability to utilize nutrition to grow andmultiply.

The capacity to perceive the external world, thesensitive power, separates plants from animals. Crea-tures that can react to what they sense possess thepower of appetite, the ability to act on desires andinstincts. True reaction requires locomotion, and ani-mals with the propensity to move possess the motivepower.

The Fifth Power and the Soul

All living beings embody souls in this sense, butseveral kinds of souls exist. Plant souls only possessthe vegetative power. Animal souls possess the vege-tative, sensitive, appetitive, and motive powers. Afifth power, the intellective (the ability to think), sep-arates humanity from all living creatures, and sets thehuman soul just below rational creatures in the grandscheme of things.

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The Sixth Day

God’s ornamenting the terrestrial realms endswith the creation of humanity, as if the mortal worldand the creatures within it existed just to provide anabode for our kind, as if God made the cosmos forus.

Even with all of its shortcomings, faults andweaknesses, humanity is still God’s greatest creation.Man is rex et dominus, king and lord, of the sensiblesublunary world. He embodies all that there is in theuniverse. Humanity’s microcosm mirrors the macro-cosm in perfect completion. Like angels we think andact freely; and like animals we sense; like plants wegrow and reproduce; and like the heavens and Earthwe are composed of a mixture of the elements, aduality of perfection and imperfection. God createdonly humanity in His likeness. Neither the angels norany other creatures enjoy such a gift and burden.

Language

Language is divine. In Genesis, God gives theresponsibility (and power) of naming all living thingsto Adam. In Plato’s Cratylus, the gods first fix thenames of things in the proper way. Some Seekersclaim these two versions describe the same event.

Higher powers also gifted writing to us. Cadmus,Phoenician demigod of ancient myth, foundedThebes and brought written language to the Greeks.According to Islam, God gave Arabic script and lan-guage to the Biblical Adam. Before Moses couldbring the Law of God to the people of Israel, Godfirst gave Moses the script of Hebrew so that hecould inscribe the Law and teach it to others.

Which language represents the oldest and truesttongue of humanity? The Greek historian Herodotusclaimed that Egyptian is the true tongue. Most Chris-tian and Jewish scholars, of course, look to Hebrew,the language spoken by God in the Bible, as the old-est and purest language. Many academicians insist

that all humanity first spoke Syriac, the Aramaic lan-guage of the Christian Orient.

The tale of the Tower of Babel tells us, however,that such a question can never be answered withcomplete satisfaction. By God’s command, languagenaturally fragments and multiplies into mutuallyincomprehensible tongues. The father tongue, there-fore, must remain forever lost.

Yet the Tower of Babel teaches us another lessonin metaphor. With the power of the first tongue,Nimrod built a tower that threatened the very vaultsof Heaven. Without the first tongue, the tower fell,the celestial regions were safe from a mortal siege.Does this mean that the first tongue contained thepower to break the limit of the lunar sphere? At leastone group of Seekers hunts the father tongue, theonly antediluvian artifact to survive the Deluge, asthe key to breaking every limit of magic.

The Language of Angels

The very words we speak join the planets on thegolden chain that governs the motions of the Earth.All spoken words, called vocables, gain power andmeaning from the heavenly harmony that producesthe radiant vis, just like all other things under theMoon. Some vocables sympathize with the divinelanguage, with the many aspects of the Word Godspoke to create the universe. These are the “magicwords” of incantation. The planets, intelligences, andelder powers all have lexicons of magic vocablesfilled with their strength.

When a mortal speaks, the power of his willchannels into the vocable, and his soul enters thegolden chain. The soul of a mortal, however, pos-sesses little sympathy with the heavens above, and hiswords cause nary a stir in the rain of vis. The Giftedsoul of the magus, unlike the souls of mortals, shinesas a mirror of the heavens. When the magus speaks,the power of his Gifted soul infuses his words. Thevocables of magi, therefore, contain greater powerover the radiant vis than those of mortals. “Magicwords,” the words we learn as apprentices to castspells, sympathize with the angelic language of thecelestial realm. When magi incant, they send forthvocables doubly empowered by their own souls andGod, vocables capable of the greatest marvels.

Every uttered word always affects some mattersomewhere, though not always in perceptible ways.Vocables have the greatest effect on air and sub-stances of an airy nature. Words, therefore, affect liv-ing creatures and human beings above all otherthings because of the spirits’ airy composition.

The Power of Latin

Latin is the principle language of the Church,state administration, theology, philosophy, science,history, biography, and belles lettres. The rich litera-ture of today’s Latin binds our society and way of lifeto the legacy of Roman times.

Language channels occult power. In the age ofEmpire, wizards called upon the power of theancient tongues of Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Egyptian,

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Catreus filius Hyale

Catreus, middle aged magus of House Tremere,hopes to one day make everyone in the world speakthe same language. If every object in the world hadjust one name, he argues, then anyone could workgreat magic over anything simply by saying its name.While a fascinating idea in the abstract, most magidismiss Catreus’ unattainable notions.

To bolster his theory, Catreus has taken to moredemonstrable methods. He is abducting young chil-dren from various parts of the world, and raisingthem together in isolation, hoping clues to the pri-mal tongue will emerge as they try to communicatewith one another. The mind of a child, many claim,is innocent and unsullied, and may have sympathet-ic links to humanity’s primordial existence.

Catreus has abducted a child from a village nearthe covenant. When unnatural things stalk thenight, the local villagers always blame the playermagi, balancing the covenant’s need to retain friend-ly relations with neighbors against meddling in theaffairs of other wizards.

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Persian, and Latin. Centuries after Rome’s light fadedin the West, as Bonisagus created the Hermetic Artsand Trianoma assembled the Founders, they realizedthat language would underpin their new Order. Asingle language of power would have to be picked toinsure unification across culture and magic tradition.

The language they chose, and rightly so, wasLatin.

Since God struck against Babel, language natural-ly fragments, and since language is the medium ofenchantment, magic fragmented along with it intothe scattered hedge wizardry of post-Biblical times.Latin, however, carries in it the power of the Empire,the might of the united world. The Founders knewthat Latin possessed the same force as the languageof Nimrod and the tower-builders, and chose Latinas the one true tool of hegemony.

Is this power real, or symbolic? If we were tospeak and work Hermetic magic in our nativetongues, would we not only lose our communitybonds, but also our magic as well? Either way, theFounders chose well, and the quaesitores act justlywhen they enforce the very first rule of the Found-ing Tribunal: that all political discourse, magical writ-ing, and occult speech, remain now and forever inLatin, the language of the Emperor and the power ofGod made manifest on Earth.

The Seventh Day

Now, at last, and without coincidence, we canexamine the limit of energy as God rests to

contemplate His creations. The limit of energyrequires mortal creatures to rest after their temporallabors, be they magical or mundane. Unlike the oth-er limits, the limit of energy comes not from thestars, but from our biological bodies.

For every creature walking the Earth, “energy”means food, or more technically, nutrition. Galenexplained the limit best…

Growth without restoration is just like the infla-tion of a balloon (a sheep’s bladder). The balloongrows as it fills with air, but the growth is false. Theballoon does not gain in strength or size. Instead, itsskin is stretched and thinned to the limit as it fillswith an inert substance. Nutritious growth, however,fills the living body with enlivened sustenance thatcan be transformed into strong muscle, blood, andbone.

Taking nutrition from magic fills you up like aballoon. False growth can distort and damage yourbody. Growth and restoration reinforced with rawvis, over time, saps the body of its natural vitality asit becomes more accustomed to consuming magicrather than the food God intended. This principleexplains many costs of magic: why mortals warp anddistort when subject too often to spells, why longevi-ty potions cost us fertility and bring us closer to Twi-light, why so many of us withdraw from the world,and why mortals often see us as monsters, not men.

God rested after six days, and, by your leave, somust I, unless I have failed to live up to your expec-tations.

Twilight and Ageing

Revisitedby David Woods

Here I am at the hearthOf my host, YngvarThe Generous, who grantsGold to heroic men;Free-handed fosterer,You’ll find no three-yearBabe among bardsMore brilliant than me– Egil Skallagrimson, Egil’s Saga

Foreword

You may wonder what exactly is wrong withthe current Ageing and Twilight rules thatneeds revision. Having a rabid simulationiststreak, I have identified a number of issues.

These issues can be split between the rules withrespect to mundanes and with respect to magi.

I would like to thank Eric Grove-Stephensen andMark Shirley for their comments and suggestions.

Mundane AgeingI’ll deal first with the problems I see with respect

to mundanes. Using computer simulations I ranthrough the lives of thirty thousand subjects with thecurrent ageing rules. I compiled results for differentliving conditions, staminas and even initial Decrep-itude Points. Taking the Sta. +0 results, the distribu-tion of life expectancy was remarkably tight (950/0

between 70 and 80). Out of thirty thousand people,not one died older than 84. Living conditions didhave an effect, but not as great as might have beenexpected. The only factor that made a huge differ-ence to life expectancy was decrepitude points,gained either from story events or freak rolls on age-ing. This accounted for the few deaths before 70.

Most people simply gained five ageing afflictionsat level six around 64 and then accumulate +1decrepitude per year from that point i.e. death 10years later.

Original Ageing Histogram

So in the main, the current ageing rules are mere-ly an exercise in dice rolling, giving the illusion ofchance but actually delivering very little variation.Given the number of rolls and the nature of the

table, the number of Afflictions points you havesoon approaches the statistical mean. By the time youhave five Afflictions at level six, gaining +1 decrep-itude per year becomes certain. The only point ofreal tension is the rare circumstance of rolling 19+.Other than this rare possibility, players may as wellconsult a lookup table.

Although we have accounts of medieval peopleliving into their nineties, the ageing rules do not allowfor this. Conversely medieval people did die in theirforties and fifties. In my opinion there needs to bemore variation in the system, in particular more vari-ation in age of death.

DecrepitudeAnother point is the use of Decrepitude Points.

As a generalised measure of age, it served its purposein previous editions. However, with the introductionof ageing Afflictions in ArsM4, Decrepitude startedto look too abstract in my opinion. What are Decrep-itude points, what are they measuring?

There are two ways of gaining Decrepitudepoints: from Ageing rolls or particularly severe injury.Some storyguides imagine ageing Decrepitude is alsoinjury, interpreting Ageing rolls as falls on ice andother common accidents. However, this leads to thequestion of why Creo magic cannot heal this injuryand thus remove the Decrepitude point? Claimingthat it cannot be removed because it is beyond Her-metic Limits does not appear satisfactory to me. Wehave one group of injuries that are fixable by Her-metic magic and another that are not. However, thedistinction between the two appears to lie with anarbitrary game-term designation rather than any dis-tinction between them on a physical level.

Injures caused by supernatural creatures orthough magical rituals may be marked on a meta-physical level, but the supernatural element makesthis plausible. Claiming that the injury is distinct on ametaphysical level merely because it arose from anAgeing roll appears to me a crude intrusion ofmechanics on the game world.

If Decrepitude is not injury, but deeper process-es of age, why can it be caused by injury? Again thisappears to me to be a crude intrusion of mechanicson game world.

The solutionThe new system introduces Cosmetic Afflictions

to add more variability. Decrepitude is now definedas the accumulation of life threatening conditions.With this system, it is possible for a man of eighty tobe in good health while others will have droppeddead in their fifties.

People often die as a result of a medical crisisfrom which they fail to recover. This new system willattempt to model such events, which may occur anumber of times during a lifetime. The older the per-son, the more difficult it will be for them to recover.The presence of a skilled herbalist, physician ormagus will be an important factor in survivalchances.

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The ageing roll is unchanged, except that Decrep-itude is not added, as the feedback of this would nar-row the distribution drastically.

Quality die + age/10 (round down) + LivingCondition Modifier + Longevity Potion Modifier

Note that even those who use longevity potionsstill use a Quality die under this system.

The Ageing Table

2 or less No apparent ageing *

3-6 No effect

7-9 +1 Cosmetic Affiliation

10 +1 Physical Affliction

11 No effect

12 +1 Mental Affliction

13-14 +1 Cosmetic Affiliation

15 +1 Physical Affliction and Crisis

16 +1 to Decrepitude

17 +1 Mental Affliction and Crisis

18 +1 to Mental and +1 to Physical

19+ +1 to Decrepitude and Crisis

* This integrates/replaces the apparent ageingrules in WGRE. Longevity potions designedto minimise apparent ageing work on a roll of6 or less.

Cosmetic Afflictions are descriptive but have lit-tle or no effect in game terms. They may be physicalor mental in nature. Physical examples include hairloss, leathery skin, warts, tooth loss, impotence,weight gain or weight loss. Mental examples take theform of personality traits such as intolerant, tolerant,rambling, considered, belligerent, passive, paranoidand trustful. These range from 1 to 5 as other Afflic-tions. These Afflictions are for roleplaying effectonly. Characters can have no more than five Cosmet-ic Afflictions. Further gains add to Physical or Men-tal Afflictions (player choice).

Decrepitude is similar to a physical affliction, butis life threatening. Conditions associated withDecrepitude normally involve organs thought essen-tial for life by medieval physicians (heart, lungs, liver,and brain) or the blood in general. For the purposesof this system a character may only have oneDecrepitude score. However, in roleplaying terms,Decrepitude score may represent a combination oflife threatening medical problems rather than a singlecause.

If characters reach a Decrepitude score of 4, theyare extremely frail. Long journeys and other stressfulactivities are likely to cause such people a Crisis. Assoon as Decrepitude reaches 5 the character is bed-ridden and dying. The character may last hours, daysor even months, at the storyguide’s discretion, buttaking into account the skill of any attending physi-cian or herbalist. This is an opportunity for charac-ters to put their affairs in order before moving on.

Once five non-cosmetic afflictions (physical plusmental) have been gained at level 5, further physicalor mental afflictions add +1 to the subject’s Decrep-itude score.

It is recommended that the Living Conditionmodifier is restricted to -1 to +1, as every point shiftsthe distribution over by a decade.

Ageing MetaphysicsAgeing Afflictions and Decrepitude scores are

not injuries. Rather they are emergent properties aris-ing from the interaction of time on the individualbody. Good diet, lifestyle and longevity potions candelay the onset and progression of these properties,but they cannot reverse them once manifest.

Afflictions and Decrepitude can be caused by apoorly healed injury. However, these should be des-ignated as Injury Afflictions or Injury Decrepitude.If the body is restored by Creo magic, Injury Afflic-tions and Injury Decrepitude can be removed. How-ever, points added by genuine ageing processes cannever be. Unless an injury is marked on a metaphys-ical level, by powerful non-Hermetic magic, it can berestored by Hermetic magic. The initiation rites ofvarious Mystery Cults are known to generate suchmarked injuries.

For example, the grog Peter injures his back in hisyouth. He recovers but it is never quite right (+2 BadBack). As he grows older ageing rolls add 3 points tothis, giving him a +5 Bad Back Affliction. He tells amagus of his old injury and as a reward for goodservice, the magus restores it. The character now hasa +3 Bad Back Affliction. Much better, but not gonecompletely.

The Crisis TableOnly roll on the Crisis table if the character’s

Decrepitude rating is at level 1 or more. Otherwisethe character is bedridden for a week but recovers,unless the storyguide wishes to make a story event ofthe illness.

Roll a simple die and add the subject’s age indecades as well as his Decrepitude score.

7 or less Bedridden for a week8-13 Bedridden for a month14 Minor illness. Sta. Roll of +3 to survive15 Serious Illness. Sta. roll of +6 survive16 Major illness. Sta. roll of +9 survive17 Acute illness. Sta. roll of +12 to survive18+ Terminal Illness (magical assistance

required to survive)An illness usually develops over the course of

weeks or months. If a herbalist, physician or magusis called within this period they may be able to help.An herbalism or medicine roll of 6+ will allow thepatient to use the Herbalism or Medicine score as abonus to his survival roll. If the herbalist or physi-cian botches, then the subject rolls with a -3 modifi-er.

Characters who survive an illness still require arecovery period. The wound recovery table can beused for this purpose. Treat an Acute or Major illnessas a heavy wound. Treat a Serious or Minor illness asa moderate wound. As usual, competent nursing carecan help reduce recovery times. Alternatively simplyassume the season is lost.

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Magi can use Creo Corpus to help the subjectover the crisis. Required spell level is dependent onthe class of the illness. Minor 20, Serious 25, Major30, Acute 35, Terminal 40. Without vis these spellsmerely delay the roll (possibly to allow the arrival ofthe herbalist or physician). Use of Muto Corpus totemporarily boost Stamina stresses the body and thesubject must make the test again unaided when thespell expires.

The chart above shows the results generatedfrom the system proposed in this article. For stamina0 characters, living in average conditions, with accessto a moderately skilled physician or herbalist (scoreof 3).

Magical Ageing

Very few sagas (none that I have heard of) runlong enough for magi to die of old age. Even sagasthat restrict longevity potions, either by house rule orsaga circumstance, rarely have magi reaching 10decrepitude points. Rather the life expectancy ofmagi is limited by Twilight. Still the lifetime of anaverage saga is generally shorter than this, with onlya minority of magi entering final Twilight before itsconclusion. Restricting the availability of super pow-erful longevity potions normally results in a fewminor ageing afflictions being gained and vis spent inre-brewing before final Twilight or the end of thesaga is reached.

Other sagas allow longevity potions to be madeby a specialist, either a fellow covenant member withan interest in Intellego Corpus, or by a true profes-sional that markets his skills and his confidentiality tothe Order at large. In such sagas magi can avoid age-ing rolls entirely, as their potions will certainly renderthem immune for well beyond the end of the saga.

Neither of these situations is particularly satisfac-tory. One necessitates house rules and/or anOrwellian paranoia within the Order; the other ren-ders the Ageing table obsolete for the most impor-tant class. Also the mechanics of longevity potionsmake them next to worthless to mundanes except inthe most extreme cases.

Under this system, instead of a simple die, sub-jects under the effect of a longevity potion now rollthe normal quality die. However, longevity potionsonly fail on a Crisis result. The potion averts the

crisis, but its power is spent doing so. In this waymundanes may gain benefit from a modest longevitypotion for a number of years and even magi withpowerful potions may occasionally suffer an Afflic-tion, or even Decrepitude and potion failure.

TwilightThere are two main sources of Twilight points,

from longevity potions and temporary Twilights. Thefirst is easy to generalise as it is regular and universal.However, temporary Twilights are extremely difficultbecause their occurrence is dependent on the sagaand the individual character. Without Enigmatic Wis-dom magi gain D10 points per temporary Twilight.Given that only 24 result in final Twilight, this leadsto a huge element of luck in how many you canendure. The feedback of adding Twilight points tothe roll to enter also makes a huge difference. This isthe reverse of the problem encountered in the Age-ing table where the results were too predictable.

To enter temporary Twilight a number of eventshave to (usually) occur:

1 The character must botch or encounter a pow-erful magical force.

2 The storyguide must decide to call a roll forTwilight

3 The storyguide must decide on any modifier.4 The character must roll 24+ to enter.The first is rare or dependent on the storyguide.

The second and third is arbitrary. The fourth isextremely unlikely unless the storyguide has applied alarge modifier or a number of Twilight points arealready possessed. What this means is that the sto-ryguide decides how often you go into Twilight - notnecessarily a bad thing of course. If a player isunlucky early in a saga by gaining 14+ points, the sto-ryguide can ensure he does not exit the saga too ear-ly by shielding him from further Twilights. On theother hand, storyguides can be tempted to pile on themodifier in order to produce the story event hedesires. But applying a large modifier virtuallyensures the character will suffer a bad effect.

This is hardly very satisfactory from a simulation-ist point of view. Twilight is also the measure of magilife expectancy. Very careful magi may avoid tempo-rary Twilight entirely, giving a theoretical maximumage (if taken at 35) of 515 years! Many (includingmyself) feel this is way too long even on a theoreticallevel.

The solutionTwilight points act like experience points in the

normal pyramidal way to give a Twilight Score. Whenyour Twilight Score has reached 24 (300 Twilightpoints) you enter Final Twilight.

Twilight points accumulate in the following ways.* +1 per year under the effect of a longevity

potion* +20 per dose of Elixir* +D10 every temporary Twilight* +1 per magical botch (spell, lab or Arcane

Ability)17

* + Your score in your highest Technique

* + Your score in your highest Form.

For example: The magus Andros has 30 in hishighest Technique and 25 in his highest Form, hasbotched 10 times, has gained 10 from temporaryTwilights and has been 30 years on longevity potions.He has a total of 105 twilight points. This equals aTwilight Score of 14.

Temporary Twilight should be unpredictable andmay occur ‘out of the blue’, as well as from botchesand encountering dangerous magic. As a rule ofthumb, a storyguide may send a magus automaticallyinto the Twilight void around the time (give or take afew years) his Twilight Score reaches 6 and everythird increase from that point (9, 12, 15, 18 and 21).The timing, if it happens at all, is entirely up to thestoryguide. He may wait until a botch is rolled andsimply skip the normal entry roll. Or he may pick asuitable moment (or unsuitable to the character)from a story point of view. If the character hasalready entered Twilight during the intervening peri-od, the storyguide might forego the opportunity tosend him there automatically.

The consequence of this is that temporary Twi-light happens to all magi. Even hyper-cautious magiwill have trips into Twilight. The number of botchesyou roll is still a factor, but not the only one. Playerswill now potentially enter twilight from increasingtheir Arts, drinking an Elixir or even completely pas-sively by living with a longevity potion.

In addition the storyguide should call a roll forTwilight on every magical botch. Asking for Twilightrolls on every botch serves to even out the incidentsof Twilight throughout a Magus’s lifetime. Early inhis life a magus may experience automatic Twilight(from storyguide fiat) at relatively short intervals, buthe is unlikely to enter from Twilight rolls. As his Twi-light Score increases the number of Twilight pointsneeded to cross a threshold increases greatly, but heis far more likely to enter Twilight on a roll.

The mechanics of entering Twilight areunchanged. However, Enigmatic Wisdom no longersubtracts from the number of Twilight points gained,but it still adds to entry and control rolls. ThereforeCriamon are more likely to enter and gain GoodEffects with the cost of an earlier Final Twilight.

Theoretically you could give a gifted person alongevity potion at 35 and as long as they practisedno magic, encountered no potent magical forces androlled a 1 every automatic Twilight, they might live to329. Of course magi generally learn Arts and occa-sionally botch. It is imagined that the vast majoritywould enter Final Twilight well before 200. Thenumber of Twilights, botches and what Arts scoresare reached is still going to vary considerably fromsaga to saga and individual to individual. However, Iimagine the average age to be about 150, with 5 per-centile edges at about 75 and 200. If you still thinkthe upper end is too high, consider that it was 515…

Twilight EffectsThis system will lead to magi experiencing far

more temporary Twilights during their lifetime. TheTwilight Effect tables therefore need to be reworked.As ever the tables are only an aid. If a storyguide andplayer feel a particular result is especially appropriatethen there is no reason to roll.

On a controlled twilight, the player has the optionof foregoing a roll on the Good Effects table inorder to reverse a previously gained Bad Effect.

Good Effects

1 Increased Understanding2 Experience points in Affinity3 Experience points in Arcane Ability4 +1 experience point in Magic Sensitivity5 Experience points in Art, one quality die6 Potent magic (+1 to penetration rolls)7 Innate magic (+1 to Concentration rolls

involving magic)8 Precise magic (+1 to finesse rolls)9 Insight into discovery or Story event10 +1 Hermetic Virtue and Roll Again

Bad Effects

1 Deleterious Circumstance (minor, rare) *2 Deficiency in Form (minor) *3 Crippled Ability (-1 to rolls on an Arcane

Ability)4 Cursed Ability (double botch dice involving

an Arcane Talent)5 Madness for D10 months6 Impotent magic (-1 to penetration rolls)7 Awkward magic (-1 to concentration rolls

involving control of magic)8 Poor control (-1 to finesse rolls)9 Deficiency in Technique (minor) *10 -1 Hermetic Flaw and Roll Again* If taken repeatedly an existing effect may

increase in severity rather than a new onegained.

Twilight AfflictionsEvery journey into the Twilight Void marks the

magus, granting them +1 to a Twilight Affliction. Ingeneral these Twilight Afflictions are similar to cos-metic ageing Afflictions, but generate a bizarre mag-ical appearance rather than the appearance of age.They should be created to reflect the magi’s uniquemagical character.

The nature of these Afflictions depends onwhether the Twilight was controlled or not. Afflic-tions gained through controlled Twilights are benign,while those gained from uncontrolled Twilights aremalign. These Afflictions should range from 1 to 5,with 1 being hardly noticeable and 5 being obvious.In general benign afflictions will not interfere with amagus’s life, whereas malign afflictions will reach asimilar level to Flaws.

There are three types of Twilight Affliction: a weirdphysical affliction, a weird mental aberration or anautomatic supernatural effect. The type of Affliction

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should be agreed between the player and the sto-ryguide.

Weird physical afflictions include things likestrange hair, eye or skin colours; animal features likefeathers, changes to facial and other bone structuresor dietary requirements. Alternatively the afflictioncould be conditional on the type of aura you are in.For example, a magus might experience pain if out-side a magical aura equal to or greater than his afflic-tion rating. Strong Dominion auras may cause theloss of fatigue levels to such magi. Similarly a malignaffliction may mimic a flaw like ‘Painful Magic’, butin a graduated way. By the same measure, the troupemight consider benign afflictions mimicking virtuesas well, but this should be rare.

A weird mental aberration causes the magus todevelop or increase a highly eccentric personalitytrait. Examples include obsessive rituals involvingmundane activities, compulsive hoarding of magicalparaphernalia, a specific paranoia against someimprobable threat or any other trait associated in lit-erature with weird old wizards. Again the differencebetween a benign and malign affliction should bepreserved.

An automatic supernatural effect normallyinvolves the magus’s specialism. An Ignem specialistis likely to gain an affliction related to fire or heat. Abenign Twilight Affliction may manifest as a changein temperature around the magus related to hismood. At level 5 it will be strong enough to be obvi-ous, leaving people sweating or chilled. However, asit was a result of a controlled Twilight the effect isnever dangerous. Alternatively, a malign affliction

may affect the flammability of material around themagus. At level 5 nearby fires will flare up wildly andthe merest spark may set things alight. Such an afflic-tion may make the magus a menace to himself andothers. Grogs will need to build and watch fires care-fully if travelling with the magus, at least after thefirst nasty accident…

Points from controlled Twilights always go into abenign Affliction and vice versa. Magi must max-outtheir existing Afflictions (benign or malign) beforegaining others. Therefore a magus who has had onecontrolled and one uncontrolled Twilight will havetwo Afflictions, one benign and one malign. He canonly put points into a new benign or malign Afflic-tion when the first Affliction of its type is at level 5.

Those with Magic Resistance easily resist auto-matic twilight effects. Magi with Parma can sensethat their Parma is resisting something but also sensethe trivial penetration. Such events would be com-monplace when associating with Magi and would notbe cause for alarm.

Twilight Afflictions heavily influence interactionswith mundanes. A character with a normal or BlatantGift has an additional social penalty with unfamiliarmundanes equal to his highest Twilight Affliction.Afflictions gained from controlled Twilight are stillinitially shocking to mundanes but they can becomeaccustomed to them. Ongoing relationships only suf-fer a penalty from the highest malign Affliction.

The benign afflictions of Magi with Gentle Giftsare generally subtle or even pleasing. A Magus with aGentle Gift can ignore his benign afflictions even

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Helena the IllusionistHelena the Illusionist is 76 years old.She never bothered obtaining a powerful

longevity potion and her own has failed her twice sofar. She has gained the following ageing afflictions:

+3 Loss of Hair Colour (Cosmetic Affliction,physical)+2 Rambling (Cosmetic Affliction, mental)+1 Failing Sight (Physical Affliction)+1 Painful Joints (Physical Affliction)

She has been through nine Twilights so far.Three have been controlled and six have not.

She gained the following Good effects:Increased Understanding (Imáginem)Innate Magic (+1 to Concentration rollsinvolving control of magic)Experience points in Art (Intellego)

And the following Bad effects:Deleterious Circumstance (In the dark, minor,rare)Madness for 7 monthsCrippled Ability (-1 to Certámen rolls) Deficiency in Form x 2 (Mentem, now major)Impotent Magic (-1 to penetration rolls)

Her Twilight Afflictions are:Brightened Image (benign) +3

Twisted Sight (malign) +5Dark Vision (malign) +1

The first two twilight afflictions were both auto-matic effects. Her benign Affliction causes her imageto appear brighter than lighting conditions wouldnormally allow. This effect is now quite noticeable intorch or candlelight conditions. Her first malignAffliction causes the images about her to appear sin-ister and threatening. In particular the images ofpeople subtly shift in accordance with her fears andsuspicions. This is now immediately noticeable, evento the unobservant.

Her third twilight affliction is a mental aberra-tion. The resulting personality trait involves paranoiaabout a magus she helped March decades ago. Hertwilight vision predicts he will return from the graveto enact revenge (despite assurances that he was giv-en a Christian burial). She constantly looks out forsigns of possession in people about her, signs sheoften finds. She now provides her servants withmagic resistance charms, as powerful as she canmake or afford to commission.

Of course the vision may be true or false, but itconstantly plays on her mind. On her next twilightshe intends to explore the vision further, to test itstruth. The success of this depends on her controlroll.

when interacting with unfamiliar mundanes. Malignafflictions still apply in full.

Options

Increasing or decreasing the rate at which magigain Twilight points is fairly easy. For instance, thevarious options below may suit various styles ofSaga.

+1 per year living within a Magical Aura of 6

or more

This could apply to magi and covenfolk. Mun-danes wouldn’t enter twilight, but they might developTwilight Afflictions. When a mundane gains a Twi-light score of 6 they gain a Twilight Affliction andanother at 9 and so on. A grog born and raised in amagic aura of 6+ would therefore gain his first Twi-light Affliction at twenty-one, his second at forty-four and his third at seventy-seven (or there about).If he were given a longevity potion he would gainafflictions at an increased rate. The nature of theseafflictions (benign or malign), for each individual,would be a troupe decision. Generational accumula-tion of Twilight Afflictions is often observed. Inaddition, such aura generated ‘warping’ Afflictionsoften have a theme unique to the site.

-1 per season abstaining from all magical

activity

You must foreswear magic for an entire season.You must avoid casting a single spell, totally give uplab work, you can’t even study the Arts. You can nev-er reduce your Twilight Score, only those points

gathered after it last increased. In this way magi fear-ful of Final Twilight can stave it off, but only bydenying their vocation. This is not possible if themagus uses an Elixir.

+1 per season subject to powerful magical

forces

If a magus habitually lives under spell and/oritem effects exceeding a sum total of 10 magnitudes,he gains +1 twilight points per season. Aegis, Parma,Longevity and Elixir do not count towards this total,but all other effects do. So if a magus sleeps within a‘Circular Ward against Demons’, has a D: Perm ‘Sight ofActive Magic’, and wears a constant use enchanteddevice warding against weapons, he will gain pointsvery quickly.

Final WordsAs you now need 300 twilight points for Final

Twilight, there is vastly more flexibility in how youobtain them. Handing out Twilight points could beused as a breaking mechanic on all sorts of actions aparticular saga wishes to discourage. The choice, asthey say, is yours.

The end is all.Even nowHigh on the headlandHel stands and waits,Life fades, I must fallAnd face my own endNot in misery and mourning,But with a man’s heart.– Egil Skallagrimson, Egil’s Saga

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Ars Sympathiaby Mark Shirley

There are Laws of Magic that are so fun-damental to Hermetic magic that fewmagi (other than the researchers ofHouse Bonisagus) give them much con-

sideration. Yet there are groups of magi within theOrder for which these basic laws form the centraltenets of their magical practices. One such group arethose who understand the Ars Sympathia, the Art ofSympathy.

Practitioners of Sympathetic Magic are oftencalled defigatores (singular defigator, meaning ‘one whobinds’) because they understand the world to be inti-mately connected with strands of magic. By creatingor pulling on these magical strings, the world can bemanipulated. Such bonds can be created by separat-ing a part from the whole (which is the standardunderstanding of an arcane connection), but theycan also be created by making something appear tobe something else. To the defigator, image is every-thing. The defigatores believe that by changing animage, changes may be effected upon the source ofthat image. The image projected into the world is areflection of the soul, in their philosophy, in thesame way that the shadow is a reflection of the

image. To the defigatores, the shadow is a usefulmetaphor — the shadow is an image of the bodyprojected by a worldly source of light. The image, onthe other hand, is a simulacrum of the soul project-ed by an other-worldly light. In the same way that ashadow is a distorted image of the body, flat and fea-tureless, the image is a distorted image of the soul.

The practitioners of this path of magic are oftenexpert manipulators of images. Most of their work isachieved through identification of images with reali-ty, and thus producing stronger magics as a result.They are not necessarily great illusionists — althoughImaginem is often their most powerful Art — theirwork concentrates upon simulacrum, not illusion.Arcane connections are very important to thesemagi, particularly symbolic ones. Much of their workinvolves identifying the threads of similarities thatlink all things.

Natural magicians place much more reliance onthe laws of sympathy than do standard Hermeticmagi — in fact at least half of their magic is onlypossible through these laws. The defigatores findthat they have a lot in common with natural magi-cians, and watch their rise with interest.

Principles of SympathyThe term ‘Sympathetic Magic’ was coined by

Bonisagus (well, it was Frazer in The Golden Bough,

really) to describe two closely related facets of magi-cal practice. These are encapsulated in two Laws ofMagic:

The Law of Similarity

Often expressed in the phrase similia similibus(‘like to like’), it expresses the concept that the mate-rial world can be manipulated by drawing upon anal-ogy. “Just as this lead figurine is cold and immobile,”runs an ancient Greek curse, “So may my enemy becold and immobile.” Hermetic Magic utilises this lawin the use of some spell foci, such as a piece of rust-ed iron to help casting Rusted Decay of Ten-Score Years(“just as this iron has rusted, let this sword do thesame”); or in some Form and Effect Bonuses formaking enchanted items, such as a clam shell to gaina protection bonus (“Just as this shell protected theclam, let my armour protect me”)

The Law of Contagion

Pars pro toto ‘the part for the whole’, encapsulatesthis magical rule. This law is most familiar to Her-metic magi as Arcane Connections — by possessinga piece of a person, a change can be enacted on thatpiece which will cause a similar change to occur to itsoriginator. In a similar way there is a mystical linkbetween a cobblestone taken from a town square andthe whole square. The law of contagion also cropsup in some spell foci, such as the use of a wolf ’stooth to aid in the casting of Shape of the WoodlandProwler. Unfortunately, the longer that such connec-tions spend apart, the weaker these links become, asthe Arcane Connection gradually becomes an item inits own right rather than a piece of the original.

Note that many spell foci and Form/Effectbonuses operate through neither of these Laws. Thetwo main alternatives are the Law of Occult Proper-ties (hidden resonances cause effects, such as theability of Sapphire to assist all knowledge-relatedspells) and the Law of Antipathy (where an opposingsympathy assists a spell: an axe can be used to aidspells to destroy wood because the two are ‘naturalenemies’)

Outer Mystery: Hermetic Sympathy

(+1 Virtue)The Outer Mystery of Hermetic Sympathy gives

the possessor an Affinity, starting at level 1, whenev-er working with an image or similacrum to effect achange on what it represents. The Affinity applieswhenever a spell utilises the Law of Contagion (i.e.when using a Range of Arcane Connection). In addi-tion, spells created with a Range of Arcane Connec-tion can be invented at one magnitude lower than astandard Hermetic version of the same spell, equiva-lent to Range Sight.

In addition, any spell focus which operatesthrough the Laws of Similarity or Contagion pro-vides an additional +1 bonus to casting totals in thehands of a defigator. For example, when castingStench of the Twenty Corpses, possession of a piece of arotting corpse grants a +4 bonus to the casting roll inthe hands of a defigator rather than +3 — in the

same way that the piece of a corpse smells, so will thesurrounding air.

Storyguides who have not introduced the Univer-sal Mystery of Sympathetic Magic (The Mysteries,p. 25-27) may wish to make these effects unique tothose initiated into this outer mystery. Alternatively,the score in Hermetic Sympathy may act as a bonuswhenever using Sympathetic magic.

The Wizard’s Grimoire, Revised Edition gives moreinformation on the lifespan of different Arcane Con-nections.

Specularii (+2 Virtue)This Inner Mystery is used to gain glimpses of

information about the future. This is a subject nor-mally closed to Hermetic magi, but through theirknowledge of how images are reflections of theMacrocosm, initiates of the Ars Sympathia canbroach the veil of the future.

The defigator needs a polished surface to gazeinto, and the surface used must be appropriate to theinformation he or she hopes to glean. Thus the edge

Confound the ConnectionThis spell can severely limit the power of a defi-

gator, whose power revolves around arcane con-nections. There are two basic ways in which you candeal with this, if this mystery is going to be promi-nent in your saga. Firstly, the spell can be simplydeemed to be not effective The law which governsarcane connections is pars pro toto, the part for thewhole, not the whole for the part. It could be rea-soned that this connection is one way only, fromthe smaller part to the greater. Thus a lock of hairis an arcane connection to a person because it rep-resents that person. However, the person is not anarcane connection to the lock of hair — the personis more complex than the part, therefore this spellwill not work.

Secondly, this spell may be deemed only to workon a known arcane connection. A person shedshairs all the time, but only if he can identify the hairthat has been lost may this spell work. Thus theremains of a fingernail forms an arcane connectionto the cut nail, and may be targeted by this spell.The strands of hair that have been cut are connect-ed to the lock that has been taken, and this positiveidentification may be targeted with the spell. How-ever, Confound the Connection may not be used as a‘blanket’ spell to sever all arcane connections to amagus.

A third alternative is that defigatores may knowways to preserve their collections of arcane con-nections from such magics. Firstly, if carried ontheir person, it would not be unreasonable toexpect the caster of Confound the Connection to haveto breach the defigator’s Parma Magica to destroy thecontagious bond. Defigatores may be in the habitof crafting special boxes which have a Charm againstMagic effect (or even a Charm against Corpus Magicwhich would be more effective for the same level),as well as some variant on Charm against Putrefaction.

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of a sword is suitable to divine futures regarding con-flicts or battles, a new coin for mercantile matters,the eyes or fingernails of a person for health, etc.The defigator must then cast Summoning the DistantImage whilst concentrating on the light scattered bythe reflection. The arcane connection used for thisspell must also be appropriate to the subject matter.Initiation into this virtue includes the learning ofsecret names which are then chanted, exhorting theairy spirits and daemons to reveal the future. Theimages seen by the magus through the spell will thenchange to reflect the most likely future. The defiga-tor must specify how much in advance he wants toscry, bearing in mind that the further into the futurehe reaches, the less reliable his results. The defigatormust formulate a specific question in his mind thatpertains to the arcane connection that he possesses.The Storyguide should then make an Intelligence +Hermetic Sympathy stress roll on behalf of the defi-gator.

Depending on how good the roll was, the defiga-tor will see and hear snatches of the important future

events revolving around the person or place to whichhe has the arcane connection. These images will beappropriate to answering the question asked. Notethat some events may not seem important at thetime, but the airy spirits are not bound by time, andare aware of their true importance. In addition, thevisions appearing are of importance to the target —not the scryer. A defigator may wish to see the futureof a keep during a siege by using an arcane connec-tion to the castle’s chatelaine, but instead learns ofher personal escape plans, a matter of far moreimmediate import to her! Note also that the infor-mation gained pertains to the object of the connec-tion; thus if you have an arcane connection to thecastle walls you may discover the answer to “Will thewalls withstand the battering ram” or “Will the wallsbe stormed”, but not “Who will win the battle.”

When specularii is attempted, the storyguideshould determine the Importance and Influence ofthe subject of the vision. The Importance is howstrongly the event under question affects the peopleinvolved. A Trivial event might be one that relates toan unimportant detail of someone’s life, or has littledirect relevance to the questioner or the surroundingarea. For example, trying to get a vision at the site ofa theft from a farmer might fall into this category.The theft has no direct effect on the character, nordoes it have any reaching consequences on anyoneother than the farmer’s immediate family. A Minorevent might have a moderate influence on a person,community or region. An example of a Minor eventwould be one relating to the disappearance of thelocal priest. He has the potential to affect the lives ofa large number of people, especially seeing as thereason he has disappeared is that he has been kid-napped by an Unseelie faerie. A Major event wouldrelate to an event with far-reaching consequences, orthat changes someone’s life in a major way, such as adeath.

The Influence of an event is how many people itaffects. An event of Personal Influence is only direct-ly relevant to a single person. An event that is Local-ly Influential might affect a small region or commu-nity, such as the covenant, or a smallish town. Anevent of Regional Influence will affect a wholeregion — the county that the character is in at themoment, or a city. It might have even further reach-ing consequences, at the discretion of the storyguide.

Once the storyguide has determined the Impor-tance and Influence of the event under question, theroll should be made. The Ease Factor is dependenton the Importance and Influence — note that it iseasier for the airy spirits to show the defigator eventsthat influence more people. An attempt to view anevent that affects the whole of the Languedoc ismore likely to be successful than a specularii to dis-cover who stole the widow Hebburn’s chickens.

The visions that the magus sees are only one pos-sible future, albeit the most likely one given currentconditions. However, a defigator can only scry uponthe future of a particular person or place once in a

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New Hermetic Flaw: Contagious

Vis -2This flaw is virtually unique to those who follow

the Ars Sympathia, but by no means do all practi-tioners of this mystery possess it. It may be pur-chased at character creation, or may be gainedthrough an initiation ordeal.

Whereas most magi can use vis without consid-eration of its physical form or its origin, those magiwhose magic hinges on Sympathy find that the ori-gin of the vis they use — for whatever purpose —influences the outcome of their magic. Thereforethey need to carefully select the vis used as appro-priate to the project at hand as well as ensuring thatthe Hermetic Art is correct. Strange side-effectsoccur with the ‘wrong type’ of vis, even though theintended effect still occurs as planned. The side-effects produced are appropriate to the laws of sim-ilarity. Thus to cast a spell to create a tree (CreoHerbam), Creo vis deriving from any vegetablesource is most appropriate. Creo vis contained inhazel nuts will create a hazel tree, Creo vis fromsunflowers will create a tree with unusual blossoms.However, Creo vis from the reproductive organs ofa billy-goat would produce a bizarre tree, such asone with obscenely-shaped fruit, or one that bleat-ed whenever it was touched.

Vim vis distilled fresh from a magical aura isconsidered the ‘purest’ vis, but even this may beinfected with contagious resonances, if, for exam-ple, the aura results from a mighty battle betweentwo wizards. The storyguide must adjudicate thesuitability of any vis used to the task, and decideupon the potential side-effects of using the ‘wrongtype’ of vis. Vis from Infernal or Faerie sources areparticularly unpredictable. The only activity requir-ing vis which is exempt from this effect is studyingArts from vis.

week; all subsequent attempts at Specularii just showthe current image.

Nota bene: The intent with the current system isthat events which affect a lot of people are easy toforsee, but only in general details. Specific informa-tion is much more obscure. Some storyguides mayprefer, for purposes of game balance, that unimpor-tant information is easy to obtain through specularii,but important information is harder. In this case,reverse the order of the ease factors in the tableabove.

Vultivoli (+3 Virtue)

This inner mystery allows a defigator to craft aneffigy which then becomes a durable arcane connec-tion. The effigy may then be used as a standardarcane connection, a Sympathetic Connection forboosting Penetration, Certámen or Parma, or it canbe used to cast a specialised groups of spells calledDefixiones.

Vultivoli only works on specific individuals; itcannot be used to create an arcane connection to aspecific place. The process starts with the creation of

a mannequin, a mundanerepresentation of the per-son to be affected. Thesemannequins are usuallymade of some pliablematerial such as clay orwax, but may also becarved from wood orbone. The mannequin canbe made by hand (inwhich case a specific

Craft skill is required), else it can be made with a spe-cific spell, Informing the Wizard’s Effigy. The disadvan-tage of the spell is that it requires an active arcaneconnection, but this can be of limited duration, suchas shed skin or excrement which has a short life span(See Wizard’s Grimoire Revised Edition p. 74 for moredetails). This Mystery requires that the mannequin isof high quality — it must be as near to an exact copyof the target as possible.

Once the mannequin has been prepared, the defi-gator spends several weeks incanting secret chantsover it, forging an arcane connection. The exact timevaries with the defigator’s skill — he can make asmany effigies in a season as he has levels in Hermet-ic Sympathy, although he can only have one effigy ofany one person at once. After this time has beenspent, the mannequin is ritually given the same nameas the target, at which point it becomes an activearcane connection. This creation, now called an effigy,has a lifespan dependent on its quality: make a stressroll modified by Dex + Craft (if the mannequin washand-made) or Int + Finesse (if made with a spell).A total of 6+ means the arcane connection will lastfor several months; a 12+ means it will last for sev-eral years; a 15+ means it will last for several decades.For the exact length of time, if needed, roll a simpledie each time a period of time elapses. If the resultof the die is lower than the total number of timeperiods elapsed, the connection fades. For example, aconnection that lasts for ‘months’ will always last atleast one month; fail after two months only if the dieroll comes up a 1; fade after three months on a 1 ora 2; and so on. Note that the defigator can choose forthe effigy’s connection to last for a shorter time cat-egory if desired, and all connections fail upon thedeath of their maker.

Effigies are more powerful than standard arcaneconnections. For a start, the connection can be bro-ken only in three ways — when the duration elapses,if the effigy is physically destroyed or if the defigatorwho made it dies. Spells such as Confound the Connec-tion have no effect. Secondly, as well as being anarcane connection, the effigy also counts as a +3modifier for Sympathetic Connections (The Mysteriesp. 25-27). Thirdly, they allow the use of Defixionesspells.

Defixiones

These are a special group of Hermetic spells thatare amongst the oldest practices of the Order, reach-ing back in an unbroken line to the sorcerers of

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Informing the Wizard’s Effigy

Muto Terram, Level 15 (20 without HermeticSympathy)

R: Arc, D: Diam, T: SmallSpell Focus: +2 a potter’s sculpting toolsRequisites: Intellego, ImaginemThis spell creates an exact copy of a particular

person in wax, clay, wood or bone, perfect in everydetail except for size. First, a rough mannequinmust be made in wax, clay, wood or the like. Thisspell is then cast using an arcane connection to theperson whose image is to be imprinted on the effi-gy; and a casting requisite (if necessary) appropriateto the material of the mannequin. The spell sum-mons the image of the person in question, and thenmoulds the image to fit the form (thus it is like aCreo spell, which starts with a Platonic form, whichthen informs primal matter to make substance).The spell is used particularly by defigatores with theVultivoli Inner Mystery to transform a short-livedarcane connection into a long-lived one.

Casting requisites depend on the material usedto craft the image — Animal if wax, Herbam ifwood, etc.

Level rationale: Muto Terram 3, +4 mag forRange, -1 mag for Duration, +2 mag for InImeffect.

Importance and Influence Example Roll Required

Major, Regional The Albigensian Crusade 9+Minor, Regional The appointment of a new Bishop 12+Trivial, Regional The trysts of the king’s daughter 15+

Major, Local The murder of a priest 10+Minor, Local The marriage of the mayor 13+Trivial, Local The temperament of the local Fae Court 16+

Major, Personal The murder of a farmer 11+Minor, Personal The location of a lost valuable 14+Trivial, Personal The theft of a horse 18+

Rome, and before them, Ancient Greece. A defixio(sing.) is a curious mix of ritual spell and enchanteditem, and they are only possible though the InnerMystery of Vultivoli.

Defixiones consist of three components — aneffigy, a lead tablet (lamella) and an incantation. Theeffigy must be made using the Vultivoli Inner Mys-tery. The lamella is engraved and infused with visduring a season of laboratory work. The incantationwhich accompanies the defixio is crafted at the sametime as the lamella is made, and is effectively a one-use ritual spell. Design the spell according to theguidelines given below. The defigator may experi-ment if he wishes. The spell’s level must be less thanthe maker’s Int + Technique + Form + Aura + Her-metic Sympathy, else the defixio is beyond themagus’s power to create. One pawn of vis must beinvested into the lamella for every 5 levels (or frac-tion thereof) of the spell’s level. Each defixio isunique to the named target, and if the defigatorwishes to use exactly the same curse against a differ-ent target, he must create the lamella and defixioagain.

The lamella bears the ‘charges’ against the targetand the effects that the spell will have — a list ofcrimes and punishment, if you will. To lay the defixioupon the target, the defigator must chant the incan-tation over the lamella whilst rolling it up and ham-mering it flat. Copper nails are then driven throughritually proscribed parts of the effigy. This processtakes fifteen minutes for every magnitude of thecursing spell, and consumes the vis invested into thelamella. The effigy and lamella are then buried some-where where the target of the magic is likely to comenear. As soon as the target comes within RangeReach of the buried effigy, the effects of the defixioactivate (assuming that any magic resistance of thetarget is overcome), and can only be broken with thedestruction of the effigy. Note that the target of thedefixio is named in the lamella and is the origin of

the arcane connection used to make the effigy. Thistarget is the only one who will be affected by thiscasting of the ritual spell.

Creating a defixio: All defixiones should bedesigned like normal spells, with the following guide-lines. All defixiones have a Range of Arcane Con-nection. The Duration is a special duration, UntilExpiry of Effigy, (normally equivalent to Permanent,but for those with Vultivoli, treat as Season. TheDuration of Until (Condition) was introduced inWizard’s Grimoire Revised Edition p. 137 as a Durationof Faerie Magic). Spells with this duration cannotusually be dispelled by formulaic magic if that is notpart of the condition. These spells can thereforehave a duration of several decades! The Target of thespell is nearly always Individual. All defixiones areeffectively one-use ritual spells, and will not workwithout an effigy and lamella, and can only be madeto work by those with the inner mystery of Vultivoli.In addition, they will only work for the intended tar-get.

Lifting a defixio: There are only a few ways inwhich a defixio may be lifted. The first is the destruc-tion of the effigy, if it can be found. Expiry of theduration of the effigy will also end the spell, as willthe death of the caster. Finally, ritual spells designedto break curses (such as Free the Accursed Body andReturn of Mental Lucidity) can remove the effects ofthe defixio; the level of these spells must match orexceed the level of the curse-spell.

There are five traditional types of defixiones,each designed to have a particular effect on the tar-get. Note that each of these categories includes anumber of Technique / Form combinations. Thesespells tend to be very high level, because of theextreme range and duration, however, they are alsovery difficult to break. They are all designated as‘Defixio’ spells, indicating that not only do they haveall the requirements of a ritual spell, they also need alamella and an effigy to work. All the example spells

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given below are named after excerpts from real defix-iones discovered around the Greek and Romanworld.

Defixiones iudicariae, were originally designedto do harm to one’s adversaries at a trial. These spellsgenerally fall under the Hermetic Technique ofMentem, particularly Perdo Mentem to make peopleforget, Rego Mentem to make them unable to speak,and Muto Mentem to leave them confused about thedetails. Although they need not be used exclusively incriminal proceedings, many magi have found themuseful at Tribunal against specific political enemies(although this is against the Code). Spells of this typeare tied to a particular event — the target will beaffected whenever they attempt to recall or speakabout things tied to the event specified on the lamel-la.

Defixiones amatoriae, which have the aim ofcausing wild passion in the target. The Ancients usedthese spells to make sexual conquests, but any posi-tive emotion can be affected. Thus these spells canbe used to inspire love, loyalty, even worship. Theycan be very useful for gaining the assistance of influ-ential mundanes, although the Order frowns on suchactivities.

Defixiones agonisticae, designed originally forthe amphitheatre, can influence the outcome of con-flicts and contests by sapping strength and skill. Themajority are Perdo Corpus spells, leaving their targetsdrained of fatigue levels or inflicted with wasting dis-eases.

Defixiones ulciscendes, traditionally usedagainst slanderers and thieves, form a general cate-gory of spells of revenge against those who havewronged the caster.

Defixiones mercatoriae were used against eco-nomic competitors, and to bring ruin to craftsmen.They can cause bad luck or loss of skill, or promptnegative personality traits.

Imaginarii (+3 Virtue)The mystery of Imaginarii allows a magus to cre-

ate an illusion with a significant amount of reality.

I bind Lusanias the blower from the silver works, andwhatever work he produces and his possessions

Perdo Terram, 40, DefixioR: Arc., D: Until, T: Spec.This curse is carried by the spell’s target, but

affects everything in the room that he works in (thisis an example of the non-Hermetic nature of defix-iones). Every small item in the room touched by thespell’s target is damaged, although not necessarilyobviously so. Items will break or crumble with thesmallest force, and generally prove useless. (Athens,5th century BC)

Level rationale: Guideline 10, +2 mag forRange, +3 mag for Duration, +1 mag for Target

I call upon and beseech the highest god against those whoby deceit murdered or cast a spell on poor Heraklea, untime-ly dead, causing her to spill her innocent blood in unjust fash-ion

Rego Vim, 55, DefixioR: Spec., D: Until, T: Ind.This spell summons spirits of vengeance, called

erinnyes in Greek, to enact the vengeance specifiedin the lamella. The spirits attach themselves to theirtarget using the arcane connection of the effigy,and start by causing misfortune to him. Over timethey will systematically destroy his livelihood anddrive him from his home, until eventually he goesmad. The erinnyes appear as three dog-facedwomen with brass scourges, but treat them as a sin-gle spirit with a Magic Might of 40. The originalcurse was set up on a stone on the island ofRheneia for all passers-by to see, the effigy presum-ably made with an arcane connection discovered atthe murder scene. (Rheneia, Greece, 2nd centuryAD)

Level rationale: Guideline 40, +3 mag for Dura-tion

I invoke you, holy angels and dwellers in the underworld,in order that just as I hand over to you that impious, lawlessand accursed Kardelos, so put him on a bed of torment

Perdo Corpus, 35, DefixioR: Arc., D: Until, T: Ind.This spell will cause severe pain so that the tar-

get is unable to move. (Rome, end of the 4th centu-ry AD)

Level rationale: Guideline 10, +2 mag forRange, +3 mag for Duration

I ask of you, angels who rule the fates of the children ofAdam and Eve, let Michael find favour and affection inSarah’s eyes and do not let her belong to any man save him

Muto Imaginem, 30, DefixioR: Arc., D: Until, T: Ind.Requites: Intellego, MentemThis spell will cause the named man to appear

more attractive to the named woman. The spellfinds what qualities are most desired by the femaletarget, and changes the man’s image to match thosequalities. As far as she is concerned, his Presence isincreased by +1, or rises to 0, whichever producesthe highest result. The man gets a +3 on rolls tocharm the named woman. He may prove to beequally attractive to other women, however. (Pales-tine, 3rd century AD)

Level rationale: Guideline 10, +2 mag forRange, +2 mag for Duration

Let Pherenikos be bound before Hermes and Hekate,just as this lead is worthless and cold, so let that man andhis hatred be cold towards me

Muto Mentem, 55, DefixioR: Arc., D: Until, T: Ind.This spell will cause a person to abandon their

hatred for the magus and be forever his staunchestally. (Attica, Greece, 4th century BC)

Level rationale: Guideline 20, +4 mag forRange, +3 mag for Duration

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The defigator uses Imaginem magics to create oralter an image which not only has the same proper-ties that a real item of the same type would have, butcan act independently and intelligently if it is an illu-sion of a living being. These images are called imag-inarii (singular imaginarius)

All imaginarii are Creo or Muto Imaginem spells.They may only be created by those with this virtue,but may be spontaneous or formulaic spells. Whencreated as a formulaic spell, they cannot be cast bythose who have not been initiated into this mystery.When a magus creates an imaginarius using this mys-tery, he is actually briefly creating a standard Her-metic Imaginem spell which is then ‘occupied’ by anairy spirit (see ‘Theurgy’ in The Mysteries). The airyspirit (or daemon) then inhabits the illusion until itsduration expires, giving the image its solidity andindependent action. The spell is therefore a particu-larly powerful expression of the Law of Similarity -by making something that looks like a horse, themagus creates something that is a horse, albeit for abrief time.

The basic level for an imaginarius is 20 for anunliving thing and 30 for a living thing (either targetor effect), whether it is Creo or Muto (Range: Reach,Duration: Sun and Target: Individual). These illu-sions affect all five senses and are physically tangible.It behaves as a real item of that type would behave,so that flames flicker and spread, and a sword can beused to strike opponents. A level 30 Muto Imaginemimaginarius could make a rock look like a horse. Thehorse would move, make noises, smell and possiblyallow itself to be ridden.

Imaginarii are no more flexible than normal for-mulaic spells, and tend to be less flexible than normalImaginem spells. Thus while the Hermetic spell Phan-tasmal Animal creates any animal, there are manyimaginarii, one for every species of animal. In gener-al, use Creo and Muto spells of other forms as guid-ance for how broad imaginarii should be, but remem-ber that these spells create effects rather then dupli-cating other spells.

An object affected by a Muto imaginarius is ‘real-ly’ whatever it is underneath. The horse in the aboveexample is really a rock, and can be detected as such.Second and Faerie Sight allows characters to detectthe presence of the airy spirit if they make a Per +Sight roll against an Ease Factor of half the spell’slevel. Note that even if you know that something isan imaginarius it will still affect you as if it was whatit appears to be.

An imaginarius cannot have a duration longerthan Sun unless vis is used. Without any sustenance,the airy spirits will depart after this time. The effectsof an imaginarius do not disappear at the end of theduration; however, only a semblance of reality is cre-ated by the airy spirit inhabiting the image, not truereality. The ashes of a scroll burnt by an imaginariusfire, if examined, turn out to be fragments of theoriginal, and no information has actually been lost (itis just in pieces). A person wounded by a sword cre-

ated by Creo Imaginem using this Mystery turns outnot to have a wound after all; but one wounded by arock changed into a sword by Muto Imaginem willsuffer from blows from a rock (which is invariablyless damaging than the sword blows, else why botherwith the imaginarius?)

(NB: The details of this Mystery draw heavily onLesser Glamour, a +3 Virtue for ‘Merinita Mysteries’by David Chart, published in Hermes Portal #4)

Simulacrum (+4 Virtue)

Through this Inner Mystery, the defigator learnsto stave off the ravages of old age by creating a sim-ulacrum that will display the effects of age ratherthan the magus himself. This mystery does notenable the magus to live any longer than a non-initi-ated magus, however, he will tend to weather old agebetter.

The process begins with the creation of a man-nequin, much like the inner mystery of Vultivoli,which is a prerequisite for this mystery. The man-nequin is formed from a year’s worth of the magus’sexuviae — toenail clippings, hair, dried skin, etc.,ground and mixed to a paste using the magus’s ownblood. Any item that forms an arcane connection(see the table in Wizard’s Grimoire, Revised Edition) maybe used to constitute the mannequin. Most defiga-tores choose to make a man-sized mannequin, butthey can be smaller if desired. The next process, afterthe mannequin has been created, is to transform itinto a durable material such as stone, bronze or thelike. The choice of material is down to the magus,but the material affects the utility of the simulacrummuch as the size does. The transformation processrequires a Muto Corpus spell with a Terram requisite,of eighth magnitude, vis-boosted to instantaneousduration. If the magus is not capable of creatingsuch a spell, he may be able to acquire it from fellowmembers of this Mystery. The final step in the cre-ation of the mannequin is to use Informing the Wizard’sEffigy to make the mannequin into an effigy of him-self. A new version of this spell may need to belearnt with a Target of Individual rather than Small,depending upon the chosen size of the simulacrum.It is vitally important for the following steps that theeffigy is as perfect as the defigator can make it. TheInt + Finesse roll to craft the effigy into the likenessof the magus must exceed 18. If this roll is failed, itmay be recast, and the defigator receives a +1 bonusto the finesse roll for each previous attempt. Howev-er, a botched finesse roll will ruin the mannequin andthe magus must begin again. Note that if the magushas a talisman or a familiar (or both), these must alsobe figured into the effigy.

Up until now, the process has deviated onlyslightly from that to create a standard effigy. Howev-er, the magus now spends a season imbuing the effi-gy of himself with Vim vis. This process is exactlythe same as if opening the item for enchantment interms of the amount of vis required, based on thesize and material of the effigy. To complete the sim-

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ulacrum, the defigator needs to spend time incantingsecret words taught him upon initiation into thisvirtue. In the first season spent doing this, make anInt + Hermetic Sympathy quality roll, with a easefactor equal to the number of pawns of Vim vis usedto open the simulacrum for enchantment. If the rollfails, for each additional season a simple die roll isadded to the total until the accumulated total equalsor exceeds the ease factor. At this point, the simu-lacrum is primed.

As soon as this process is finished, all arcane con-nections to the defigator cease to work, even if theyare effigies created by another defigator. From thispoint forth, the only arcane connection that will everexist to the magus is the simulacrum itself. Sympa-thetic connections (see The Mysteries, p. 25-27) nolonger apply either, and astrologers cannot createastrological connections using their inner mystery ofCelestial Magic. The disadvantage is that anythingthat happens to the simulacrum will happen to themagus. If an enemy manages to get their hands on amagus’s simulacrum, they can inflict all sorts of tor-tures upon it knowing that the magus is suffering inexactly the same way. Any spells cast upon a simu-lacrum affect the magus as if the spells were castupon him, without the need for a Range of ArcaneConnection. For this reason, defigatores keep theirsimulacra well hidden.

The simulacrum has a number of ‘slots’ equal tothe number of pawns of Vim vis used to open theitem for enchantment, just like a standard enchanteditem. These slots may be used to instil standard pow-ers into the simulacrum using the standard Ars Mag-ica rules, including the level of the effect and anymodifications from frequency of use, penetrationtotals and so on (although limiting use by others isnot an available option). All of these powers instilledinto the effect manifest through the magus however,rather than the simulacrum, regardless of the dis-tance between the two. Instilling powers that have aRange of Reach or further have +10 added to theirlevel of effect, those with Range Personal (meaningthe magus rather than the effigy) have a -5 to theirlevel of effect. Powers specifically designed to affectthe simulacrum (but not the magus) have their finallevel divided by two. Such effects might include spellsto protect the simulacrum from harm. When instill-ing powers into a simulacrum, Hermetic Sympathy isadded to the lab total.

More useful to the magus than instilling powershowever, is the facility for the ‘slots’ in the simu-lacrum to stave off the effects of old age. To enablethis effect, one slot must be dedicated to the effect byapplying a dose of the magus’s standard longevitypotion. This process takes less than a day (thus doesnot interfere with standard seasons). From themoment this is done, the defigator will not appear toage a single day. In addition, when the longevitypotion next fails, the results of the ageing roll areapplied to the simulacrum rather than the magus.One free slot is consumed for each level of an Afflic-

tion or each Decrepitude point. If there are no freeslots, the magus suffers the effects of the ageing rollinstead. When a simulacrum absorbs an ageing effectit develops a blemish or rust spot appropriate to theeffect absorbed. After absorbing the effect caused bya failed roll, the simulacrum must be ‘primed’ againby applying another dose of the magus’s longevitypotion. If the simulacrum has no spare space toabsorb ageing effects, they are applied to the magusinstead, but the simulacrum continues to store theeffects it has already absorbed. Thus if a magus hasa Physical Affliction stored at level 4, and suffers anageing effect which increases this Affliction by 2, hesuffers the effects of the Affliction at level 2, but itis counted as if it were a 6 for all other purposes (thatis, it cannot be increased further). Defigatores do notlive any longer than other Hermetic Magi, but theyweather the ravages of old age much better.

A defigator can only have one simulacrum at atime. He can choose to dissolve the bond betweenhimself and his simulacrum safely, without destroy-ing himself in the process. This takes a few days toperform, but is automatic, requiring no roll. Howev-er, all powers invested into the item are lost, and allstored ageing affects are immediately transferred tothe magus. Anyone with the outer mystery of Her-metic Sympathy can make an attempt to dissolvesomeone else’s simulacrum if they possess it with anInt + Hermetic Sympathy roll of 12+, with the sameeffect. Note that dissolving the simulacrum of yourenemy is often a more subtle form of revenge thansimply destroying it — although the latter will resultin the death of the opponent, the former will causeall of his afflictions to come back and haunt him.

Mystae

Wanderers within Wisdom

Symbol: A road, stretching to the horizon, with apair of figures upon it.

House Affilations: Criamon, Mercere, Bonisa-gus

Origin Myth: The Wanderers within Wisdom, or‘peregrinatores’, as they sometimes style themselves,claim ancestry from an unnamed wizard, with whomBonisagus was said to have spent a winter in study. Itis said that after these talks, Bonisagus added twonew concepts to his growing theory of magic — theart of Imaginem, and, more subtly, the way of inte-grating the Law of Similarity into spell foci. Someclaim that this had more wide-reaching effects, forthe Law permeates itself throughout Hermetic mag-ic, from arcane connections to the Parma Magica,from the casting tools of Verditius to the certámenof Tremere. It is interesting to some that Greek textsmention a class of vagabond priests who begged foralms and uttered mystic pronouncements. Perhapsthis society is more ancient than anyone realises.

Levels of Initiation: there is no formal structureto this society. They do not even meet regularly, andit can be quite a trial for a young initiate to find oth-er members to advance his learning. Much of the

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transmission of this art is between magister (master)and tyro (pupil) as they wander from place to place.

Goals and Practices: These magi are rarelymembers of covenants; if they are, then they willrarely spend much time there. They usually travel inpairs, magister and tyro, and rent laboratory spacefrom other magi, paying in the knowledge that theygain. The goals of this group have been lost to theravages of time, so that the society is now complete-ly fractured, with only remnants existing. Some aretrying to gather the scattered facts about their myste-rious founder, believing that once his history hasbeen reconstructed, their goals shall once morebecome clear.

Whereas it is true that these mystae are linked toboth Criamon and wanderers, there is no evidencelinking them to the wandering covenant of Semitaein the Stonehenge Tribunal. To some, the very lack ofevidence raises suspicions.

Note that a tyro often has the Patron Virtue, butsuffers from either an Obligation to assist his masteror the Subservience ordeal. A magister gains assis-tance from his tyro for all laboratory activities.

Virtues: All defigatores mystae Virtues, MagicalImagination (+1), Affinity with Intellego (+3), StudyBonus (+2)

Preferred Initiation Ordeals: Subservience,Sacrifice of Power (Slow Caster), Sympathetic Reso-nances, Contagious Vis

Line of Hetera

Hetera was never a magus, but the name has beenused to describe a lineage of members of house ExMiscellanea. Claiming to spring directly from aRoman haruspex, these magi are possibly the bestseers in the Order. They also claim lineage from theDelphic Oracles, but few consider this to be morethan just a story. The current Prima of house ExMiscellanea, Immanola, is rumoured to be a memberof this line. The line is based primary in the Tri-bunals of Thebes and Rome, and it is believed thatone member of the line is always present at a partic-ular well in Constantinople. They choose theirapprentices based on natural intuition for omens, andhave been known to perform bizarre initiations thatgrant the abilities of Visions or Divination. Snakesare very popular amongst this line; its members oftenhave snakes as Magical Animal Companions, andwhen they take familiars, they are invariably serpents.

Starting Abilities: Magic Theory 3, Parma Mag-ica 2, Scribe Latin 2, Speak Latin 4, Speak Own Lan-guage 4, Augury 3, Hermetic Sympathy 3

Starting Experience: 13 + age

Required Virtues/Flaws: Hermetic Sym-pathy +1, Augury +3, Specularii +2

Line of Fabianus

Fabianus was a member of House Tytalus in theearly part of the tenth century. Doubtless he was amember of a lineage harking back to the magicalpractitioners of Rome, for his descendants are stillthe masters of defixiones. Following rumours, hespent a lot of time travelling around the Baltic Sea inthe north of the Rhine Tribunal, and even beyond itslimits into Lithuania and further. There he met agroup of pagan priests whom he managed tobefriend, and learnt that their magic had strong reso-nances with his own. He resolved to learn from theseSlavonic ‘Curse-Makers’, and he taught what helearnt to his apprentices.

The Line of Fabianus are notorious within theOrder for being aggressively political, even for mem-bers of House Tytalus. Proportional to the numberof members, more Wizard’s Wars have been fought(and won) by members of this line than any groupwithin the Order. The Quaesitores see them as dan-gerous troublemakers, and will harass known mem-bers of this line. They are particularly despised byHouse Flambeau because they do not ‘fight fair’ —they level curses against their opponents, causing badluck and bad health, ruining concentration and influ-encing votes at tribunals. As well as their natural tal-ents for Hex and Vultivoli, they can also be taught /initiated by elder members of the lineage to theVirtues of Craft Bane (+2) and Grant Curse (+4)

Starting Abilities: Intrigue 2, Magic Theory 4,Organisation Lore (Order of Hermes) 1, Parma

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Magica 3, Scribe Latin 2, Speak Latin 5, Speak OwnLanguage 4, Hermetic Sympathy 2, Hex 2

Starting Experience: 3 + ageRequired Virtues/Flaws: Hermetic Sym-

pathy +1, Vultivoli +3, Hex +2, Discredited Lin-eage –1

BibliographyFaraone & Obbink (1991) Magika Hiera. Oxford

University PressFlint, Gordon, Luck & Ogden (1999) Witchcraft

and Magic in Europe Volume II: Ancient Greece andRome. Athlone Press

Gager (1992) Curse Tablets and Binding Spellsfrom the Ancient World. Oxford University Press

Graf (1997) Magic in the Ancient World. Har-vard University Press

Kieckhefer (1989) Magic in the Middle Ages.Cambridge Unversity Press

Thorndike (1928-1958) History of Magic andExperimental Science, Volumes 1-2. Columbia Uni-versity Press

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Publisher’s cornerHello!

It looks like things went completely out of con-trol this time! Ten articles, more than ten contribu-tors and 52 pages. But who will complain? (Maybe Ishould raise the cover price?)

So, while you’re reading these lines, you’ve cer-tainly already discovered the news from the line edi-tor, David Chart (you’re doing a great job!), AdamBank and Jeremiah Genest’s take on the creation ofthe world, new rules for twilight and ageing by DavidWoods and Ars Sympathia by Mark Shirley. Now thatyour magus has gained a few more years to under-stand the world he is living in, he can experience thelaws of sympathy and rediscover the magical prac-tices of Antiquity.

And you still have to read (if you read this zinesequentially) the legend of St. Walaric by SheilaThomas (parental control: explicit content), a newlook at the Order and the Church by Mike Sloothaak(Quaesitorial control: dangerous content), Monty’sback! by Jérôme Darmont (almost no danger, justhilarious), Michaël’s new Heretic’s Corner (Ars fancontrol: provocative content) and a few safe articles:the Omnibus Grimoire by Andrew Gronosky and ExBibliotheca Magvilli by Eric Minton, giving morethan enough matter to fill the empty shelves of yourCovenant’s library, and our Dear Abelard’s chroni-cles.

Last, I asked Radja to draw a cover on the themeof the world’s creation to fit with Adam and Jeremi-ah’s article. Of course, I got a gorgeous creation ofthe world (as you’ve certainly already seen). At least,

Radja remembered she had to be dressed. I just hopethat, seeing Sheila’s article and Radja’s cover, parentsof young Ars Magica fans will not be too angry withme.

Next issue should be ready at the end of Febru-ary, and this time, things will be under control!

Who’s Who?

Adam Bank

Adam Bank co-authored Ars Magica supple-ments Kabbalah: Mythic Judaism and The Mysteries.Adam recently contributed to Atlas Game’s OccultLore by adapting astrology, alchemy, and magicalmemory for use in d20. He lives with his family inTexas.

Jeremiah Genest

Jeremiah Genest is the co-author of Kaballah:Mythic Judaism and The Mysteries.

Mark Shirley

Mark Shirley is, according to his last appraisal, abiological systems modeller, but is unsure what thatmeans. His work involves nice fluffy things such assquirrels, badgers, arctic foxes, slugs and bubonicplague. He lives and works on the border betweenthe Stonehenge and the Loch Leglean Tribunals (amere 20 miles from the covenant of Horsingas),where he shares his home with two ferrets namedafter his grandmothers. Mark has been an avid fan ofArs Magica since second edition, and is currentlyjoining his fifth saga, while still story-guiding thefourth.

Saint Walaric’s curesby Sheila Thomas

Summary

In Picardy, not far from the abbey where St.Walar-ic was a monk, lies a chapel in the woods wherepilgrims go to pray for the cure and prevention ofkidney stones. The shrine is adorned with wax

models of male and female genitalia. At one end ofthe altar are fixed two silver rings, one larger, the oth-er smaller, through which a man in need of the curemay put his penis. There is a monk on duty by thealtar who will give a pilgrim a blessed piece of Venet-ian gold thread which the visitor may take away withhim and, to prevent kidney stones, tie in a certainfashion about his penis while praying. (In More’saccount, the monk is teased about how a woman maymake use of the thread.) It is also a tradition at theshrine that, as a last resort against kidney stones, aman may have a candle made to the same length ashis penis. This candle is then lit in the chapel and cer-tain prayers are said as it burns away. More reportsthis last information as being passed on by a womanat the chapel and adds a suggestion that doing somight shrivel the penis.

Source

More, Thomas (1529) Dialogue Concerning Heresies,Book II, Chapter 10 (In: Medieval Popular Religion1000-1500, A Reader, ed J. Shinners; Ontario, Cana-da; Broadview Press; 1997. 1-55111-133-0) pages203-204.

Legend

I was making my way across the gentle country-side of Picardy after a period of study amongst thescholars in Paris, en route for the coast and a boathome to England. The road I followed was little fre-quented but from time to time I encountered a mer-chant, farmer or pilgrim and often I took the oppor-tunity for conversation.

All over Christendom there are places of pilgrim-age; often these are centers for the veneration andimportuning of a saint who has become associatedwith particular ailments. One such is Saint Walaric(also known as Waleric and Valery) who died early inthe seventh century. The abbey most closely associ-ated with the saint is Leuconaus, near the mouth ofthe River Somme but he is known and veneratedthroughout France and England and probably fur-ther afield. There is a church dedicated to St.Walaricin Alnmouth, close to my place of birth in Northum-bria, so when one of my temporary traveling com-panions mentioned that he was headed for the chapelof Walaric, where he hoped to be cured of a verypainful condition, and that this special shrine was buttwo hour’s walk away, I decided to join him for thelast part of his journey. The pilgrim walked slowly,obviously in considerable discomfort for he oftenstopped, grimaced and clutched at his lower back.Throughout our walk, I never heard him complain

about the pain and he would not speak of whatafflicted him; I soon returned to my musing as herecited prayer after prayer.

The abbey, strikingly sited on a promontory, is amuch grander building than the little church at Aln-mouth and I strode eagerly ahead towards the mainentrance to the monastery but my companion calledme back. He gestured towards the woods beyond andsaid we should go first in that direction. We followeda narrow but well-trodden path away from themonastery, into the woods. Just a few hundred yardsalong the path we entered a clearing where a smallwooden chapel stands. The man went straight insideand I followed close behind. He went to the frontand knelt before the altar, while I stayed standing alittle further back and offered up prayers of thanksfor my journey so far and prayers that I might, withGod’s grace, reach England on the morrow.

It was quite dark inside the chapel, with but onelamp high up near the altar and a few candles on theepistle side. Just as in every other curing shrine I evervisited, petitioners had left replicas of their ailingbody parts. Mindful of my clerical vows, I tried tokeep my gaze averted for there were waxen images ofthe private members of both male and female per-sons affixed to the walls so that I dare say there wereabove one hundred of the things in view. I was grate-ful that no women were here to pray today. The onlyother supplicant was a monk standing near the can-dles. In fact, my first impression was mistaken and hewas not there as a supplicant but to assist the pil-grims, as I observed a little later when my formercompanion got to his feet and went to exchangewords with the brother.

The sick man was instructed to loosen his lowergarment and to insert his member through one orother of the two round silver rings that I could nowsee where fastened to the end of the altar. I saw theman look at the smaller then the much larger ringbefore picking one to use. While he reverently per-formed the prescribed act, the monk offered upprayers, humbly requesting St.Walaric to intercedewith Our Lord for the sick man. I too prayed for hishealing.

After these intercessions, the monk instructed theman to reinstate his clothing and then to kneel besidethe altar. As I watched, the monk pulled out fromsomewhere I could not see a small ball of whatappeared to be gold thread. He carefully cut off alength of perhaps two hand spans using a smallknife, put the ball away and laid the cut piece uponthe altar. Taking up a ceramic bowl from the altar, hesprinkled the thread with holy water while intoning aprayer so softly that I could hardly catch any of it.Replacing the bowl, he made a sign of the cross overthe thread whilst reciting a recognisable blessing.Then he took up the piece of thread and handed itto the man, and seemed to be giving instruction ofsome kind. Intrigued, I moved a little closer. Indeed,the monk was showing the sick man how to loop thethread, how to tie it, and explaining what prayers

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should accompany the operation. This thread is aremedy that one takes away to apply to one’s privateparts on reaching home, as a means of warding offany recurrence of the painful stones.

The hour of Sext was approaching and I desiredto join the community for prayer and Holy Mass so Ileft the pilgrim still on his knees. I had not yet left theshelter of the trees when I saw a woman comingtowards me along the path. She was of middle ageand a peasant by the look of her. I bade her ‘Godbless’ and stopped at the edge of the narrow track toallow her to pass, but she was determined to stop andspeak with me. Not surprisingly, she assumed I hadcome for the cure, and she offered advice. If I wouldtell her the length of my male member, she wouldundertake to make a candle of the exact same length.If this candle were lit in the chapel, and allowed toburn away whilst certain prayers were said, sheassured me that I would never again suffer from thestone.

Story hooksThe silver rings are Invested Devices enchanted

with Creo Corpus to effect a cure, the ritualdescribed being the trigger. They have been in use atthe chapel for as long as anyone at the monastery canremember and there is no record there of their ori-

gin. If someone broke the Code in providing therings, it was probably so long ago as to be irrelevantnow but a curious magus or maga might wish toinvestigate them.

Is there any truth in the recommendation of thespecial candle, or is it, as has been said by some,nothing to do with the Saint, but witchcraft? Will theburning of the candle bring a very unpleasant curseon the person it was made for?

According to the legend, only Venetian goldthread is used. Has some form of enchantment beenplaced upon it before it reaches the monastery? If so,would there be any strange result from using it forsome other purpose? If it works to protect a manfrom this ailment for a period, surely it works for awoman too? Is the thread, in fact, just any gold-col-ored thread that carries no more benefit than themonk’s simple blessing?

Note that St. Walaric’s feast day is 1st April; thismight be a suitable date for a party to find the chapel,although this place would not generally be consid-ered especially amusing to the pious medieval mind.

Additional references

Oxford Dictionary of Saints

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/st.valery/histoire.htm

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Omnibus Grimoireby Andrew Gronosky

Author’s Note: the Omnibus Grimoire is now acceptingnew spell submissions. E-mail your submissions to

agronosky@attbi.com.

All spells will be peer reviewed before being published inthis column. Authors will receive a free issue of Hermes’Portal. All spells in this column were written by AndrewGronosky, except where otherwise noted.

Esteemed colleagues of the Order of Hermes,

It is my honor to present to you the second scrollof my collection of lesser-known spells, assem-bled from various obscure grimoires throughoutthe libraries of the Order. I am in the process of

creating ten scrolls of spells, one devoted to eachForm of magic, in my House’s tradition of fosteringcollaboration and communication among magi. Thisseason’s scroll is devoted to the Art of Aquam.

The Form of Aquam is overlooked by manymagi. In fact, Aquam is a useful Form, especiallysince it includes many well-known spells devoted toforming objects out of ice. This grimoire focusesmainly on liquid-related spells, since these do notseem to attract the attention they deserve. Seafaringmagi need not be reminded of Aquam’s usefulness,and this scroll includes a few spells that are of par-ticular interest to sailors.

I am gratified by the warm reception the firstscroll of this grimoire has received. Some of my cor-respondents have even gone so far as to send me viaRedcap spell manuscripts from their own libraries,which I am most happy to include on this scroll.Interested magi may contact me at Harco covenant inthe Tribunal of Rome.

Your colleague and servant,

Jarius of House Mercere

Creo Aquam

Wizard’s Washtub

Cr Aq 5

R: Reach; D: Sun; T: Individual

Spell Focus: A lump of soap (+1)

Requisite: Ignem

Fill a container up to the size of a bathtub withwarm water. The water is not hot enough to scald aperson (unless the caster botches) but may be tepidto steaming. It is suitable for washing people, clothes,or what have you, though one must bring one’s ownsoap. This spell is popular among apprentices, for itsaves them the laborious work of heating and carry-ing water by hand. The water will disappear when thespell duration expires.

Design: Fill a container with water, level 5.Reduce Range to Reach (-1 magnitude) and increase

Target to Individual (+1 magnitude). Add anIgnem requisite to heat the water.

Flood of the Creeping Waters

Cr Aq 20

R: Near; D: Special; T: Room

Spell Focus: A stone from the basement of aflooded building (+2)

Cause water to bubble vigorously up from theground or floor. The water can only originate at orbelow ground level, so this spell could be cast on aground-floor room or an open pit, but not in an attic.

The water rises at about three inches per round(two feet per minute) for as long as you concentrate.The water will flow away normally if there isdrainage, but if there is not, the room will eventuallyfill to the top. As soon as you stop concentrating, thewater recedes at the same rate it rose. All traces ofthe water disappear at the next sunrise or sunset.

If you use raw vis to extend Duration, the wateryou create is nonmagical and does not recede whenyou stop concentrating.

Design: Create water that is not contained, level10. Treat Duration as Sun. Increase Target to Room,+2 magnitude.

Torrent of Vitriol

Cr Aq 25R: Near; D: Diameter; T: IndividualAimed -1Spell Focus: A vial of aqua regia (+3)Requisite: PerdoShoot a narrow stream of corrosive acid at a tar-

get within range. The acid does +15 damage. If thedamage is at least double the target’s armor Protec-tion, the armor is destroyed. The target’s other equip-ment may also be damaged at the storyguide’s discre-tion (Quik + Enc 9+ is suggested for Natural Resis-tance rolls). The acid remains for the spell’s durationand may cause additional damage if the target doesnot remove his clothes or armor. The acid corrodesmetal and organic matter, but not earth or stone.

Aqua regia is an alchemical mixture of concen-trated nitric and concentrated hydrochloric acid, socalled because it can dissolve the royal metal (gold).

This spell was invented by Sebastian of HouseFlambeau, an outspoken magus who asserts thatCreo Ignem is not the only Art combination that caninflict impressive damage. Sebastian is noted for hisrepertoire of unconventional combat spells.

Design: Create a liquid that does +15 damage oncontact, level 20. Reduce Duration to Diameter (-1magnitude) and increase Target to Individual (+1magnitude). Add an extra 1 magnitude for the bonusability to destroy equipment. Add a Perdo requisite tocreate a destructive liquid, acid.

Intellego Aquam

Probe for Pure Water

In Aq 10R: Personal; D: Concentration; T: BoundarySpell focus: A dousing rod (+3)Requisite: TerramThis is a Hermetic version of the common folk-

magic practice of dousing for water. Walk slowlyover the area enclosed by the boundary, and you willsense ground water beneath you when you pass overit. If you are using a forked dousing rod, grasp the

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two ends of the fork and hold the rod horizontally infront of you. Its end will dip to point out the pres-ence of water.

You can gauge the depth (below ground) of thewater by the strength of the sensation you feel. Thedepth at which you can detect water is greatest inloose soil, decreasing from 50 feet through loosesand to 5 feet through hard-packed clay. You cannotdetect water through stone.

This spell has been discredited by certain Her-metic theorists who claim it violates the Limit ofArcane Connection, and who therefore assert it mustbe a fraud. Before publishing it in this grimoire, Imade a detailed study of this spell and I can assurethe reader that it operates not by sensing waterthrough the intervening earth (which would indeedviolate the Limit of Arcane Connection), but bydetecting tiny variations in soil moisture due to waterthat has seeped up from below. For this reason, thespell is not infallible. It is unusually subject to mun-dane conditions such as soil density and the depthunderground of the water. It is particularly unreliablewhen the ground is moist, such as within two days ofrainfall.

Design: Get an image of water and its immediatesurroundings, level 3. Decrease Range to Personal (-1magnitude) and increase Target to Boundary (+4magnitude).

Sense of the Tides and Currents

In Aq 25

R: Personal/Touch; D: Concentration; T: Sight

Spell focus: A lodestone (+3)

You can perceive the invisible motions of waterwithin sight: whether the tide is ebbing or flowing,the strength and direction of currents, the presenceof an undertow, etc. If you convey this informationto the pilot of a ship or boat, the pilot gains a bonusto relevant rolls equal to 3 plus your Communication(maximum +6), and has one less botch die. If you arepiloting yourself, the bonus is +6 (regardless of yourCommunication) and two less botch dice. Thisincludes rolls to avoid submerged obstacles like rocksor reefs, which become apparent from their effect onthe water’s motion.

Design: Learn the natural properties of a liquid,Level 5. Increase Target to Sight (+5 magnitude) anddecrease Range to Personal (-1 magnitude).

True Sight of the Waters

In Aq 35R: Personal/Touch; D: Concentration; T: SightSpell focus: The eye of a fish (+1)Similar to True Sight of the Air, but with a larger

Target, this spell allows you to see through waterregardless of its clarity. You can see through dis-solved and suspended materials such as mud, octo-pus ink, or algae, but not solid objects like schools offish or kelp beds. You can see as far as line of sightand light conditions allow. If you are outside thewater looking into it, this spell eliminates the effectof refraction. If you are under the water looking out,you can see clearly into the air. This spell does notcreate light, so if you wish to see well at considerabledepth, you will need a magical light source.

Note that this spell has a much larger Target thanTrue Sight of the Air, and that the Target guidelinesfor Intellego Auram are more generous than forIntellego Aquam. A variant of this spell (Eyes of theFish, Level 25) exists with Target: Room. In openwater, it allows clear visibility to 10 paces.

Design: Make your senses unaffected by water,Level 15. Reduce Range to Personal (-1 magnitude)and increase Target to Sight (+5 magnitude).

Muto Aquam

Thaumaturgical Transformation of Water to Wine

Mu Aq 5R: Reach; D: Sun/Instant; T: SmallSpell focus: A grape (+2)Transform up to a bucketful of water into wine.

The wine changes back when the spell expires. Anyimpurities in the water are unaffected by this spell.

The caster’s Wizard’s Sigil may affect the appear-ance and flavor of the wine. If using the spell focus,crush the grape so its juice falls into the water.

Alas, I have no first-hand experience on whetherthe wine’s intoxicating effects remain when the spellends, and have not had the opportunity to consult aknowledgeable Corpus theorist who can settle this

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question. I suggest users of this spell conduct exper-iments on their grogs — judging by the reputation ofgrogs in general, there should not be a shortage ofvolunteer subjects.

Design: Change a liquid to another natural liquid,Level 4. Increase Range to Reach (+1 magnitude).

Ice in the Heat of Summer

Mu Aq 25R: Touch; D: Instant; T: SmallSpell focus: A snowflake (+3)Transform a Small amount of water (up to a

bucketful) into ice. The transformation is permanent,though the ice melts normally if the temperature isabove freezing. If using the spell focus, drop thesnowflake into the water.

Some magi use ice in their laboratory processesand this is one way of creating it in the summer.Since ice is a natural state of water, the transforma-tion can be permanent without using raw vis (thoughthe ice must then be kept at a freezing temperature).

Design: Change a natural liquid into a correspon-ding solid, Level 5. Increase Duration to Instant (+4magnitudes).

Purification of the Corrupted Well

Mu Aq 25; RitualR: Reach; D: Instant; T: IndividualSpell focus: Water from a pure spring (+1)Purify a poisoned, corrupted, or disease-carrying

water source, such as a well or spring. The waterfrom that source will henceforward be clear andpure, though it could become corrupted againthrough mundane or supernatural means. This ritualis effective against mundane contamination, and itcan also lift supernatural curses, dispel Hermeticspells, and drive out evil spirits, if a Vim casting req-uisite is used. Resolve these situations by analogywith the Perdo Vim guidelines, ArM 4 p. 158.

Design: Change a characteristic of a liquid withinthat liquid’s normal range, Level 3. Increase Range toReach (+1 magnitude), Duration to Instant (+4 mag-nitudes) and Target to Individual (+1 magnitude).The spell was deemed a Ritual because it is perma-nent and cannot be dispelled, though this ruling goesbeyond the Ritual guidelines (ArM 4, p. 70 and seealso the official errata at http://www.atlas-games.com/arm_errata.html).

Perdo Aquam

Shake of the Dog’s Back

Pe Aq 15R: Reach; D: Instant; T: IndividualSpell focus: Fur from a dog (+1)Instantly dry a wet person or object. This spell

does no harm to the target and can gently dry deli-cate materials, such as paper. With an Imaginem cast-ing requisite, it can also remove stains caused by liq-uids — useful for cleaning up ink spills in the scrip-torium.

Design: Destroy a liquid, Level 5. Increase Rangeto Reach (+1 magnitude) and Target to Individual(+1 magnitude).

The Impotent Venom

Pe Aq 20; contributed by Eric Minton

R: Reach, D: Instant, T: Small

Spell Focus: A Unicorn’s Horn (+5)

Nullify the baneful effects of a poisonous liquid.None of the liquid’s other characteristics, such as itscolor or flavor, are affected. At the Storyguide’s dis-cretion, this spell might not be completely effectiveagainst a particularly virulent or magical poison, suchas a dragon’s venom.

Design: Destroy one property of a liquid 15,increase range to Reach (+1 magnitude).

Drain the Malodorous Swamp

Pe Aq 35; Ritual

R: Touch; D: Year/Permanent; T: Boundary

Spell focus: A fly whisk (+1)

Drain a swampy or marshy area, making theground firm and dry. Surface water will not naturallyreturn while the spell remains active.

Design: This is a variant of Calling the OdiousDrought (Pe Aq 35, Ritual).

Rego Aquam

Calm the Turbulent Waters

Re Aq 20

R: Near; D: Concentration/Sun; T: Room

Spell Focus: A conch shell (+2)

Quiet all waves, swift currents, and other waterturbulence within Near range. Unlike Break theOncoming Wave (ReAq 10), this spell affects all cur-rents and waves in the area, not just those comingtoward you. If using the spell focus, blow the conchshell like a horn to calm the waters.

Design: Control an amount of liquid which ispart of a larger body in a natural fashion, Level 10.Increase Target to Room to affect all water in thelocal vicinity (+2 magnitude).

Command the Steady Current

Re Aq 25

R: Near/Far; D: Concentration; T: Individual

Spell focus: An aquamarine stone (+3)

Control the strength and direction of one currentin a body of water, even making it flow uphill. Thespell affects an area about 15 paces across. Reversingthe current causes great turbulence at the edge of theaffected area, where your current collides with thenatural current. This spell does not help you controlthat turbulence — beware of botches.

Design: Control an amount of liquid which ispart of a larger body in a slightly unnatural fashion,Level 15. Increase Target to Individual (+1 magni-tude) to affect one current. Add 1 magnitude to allowprecise control.

Neptune’s Chariot

Re Aq 35

R: Far/Sight; D: Conc; T: Structure

Spell focus: A piece of cork (+1)

Cause water to flow under and lift an object, evensomething as large as a ship or a beached whale. The

34

object must be in or adjacent to the water — within5 paces of the water’s edge.

The waters then carry the object at walking speed,anywhere in or adjacent to the body of water andwithin the spell’s range. If you are riding on theobject (or if the object is your body), you may travelthis way for as long as you can maintain concentra-tion. You need a casting Requisite for the Form ofthe object to be moved. The object you move need

not be buoyant, but if it is not, you need a castingrequisite for the object’s Form and it will sink whenthe spell ends.

Design: Control an amount of liquid which ispart of a larger body of water in a slightly unnaturalfashion, Level 15. Increase Range to Far (+1 magni-tude) and increase Target to Structure (+3 magni-tude).

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Monty’s back!by Jérôme Darmont

“Ah ah! I read some imprudent reader com-plained about the incompleteness of my lasteffort at vulgarizing my mighty magic in Myth-ic Perspectives #4 (remember all those silly

spells inspired by Monty Python and the Holy Grail). Heeven requested some insults uttered in an outrageousFrench accent (free interpretation)! So be it! I am anexpert in French accents, believe me!”

Sillywalkus le Drôle, House Ex Miscellanea

Compel the Outrageous Insult

Re Me 30; Requisite: ImR: Near; D: Diameter; T: IndividualFocus: A pair of mustaches (+2)Unless s/he makes a Stamina roll of 9+, the tar-

get of this spell suddenly feels offensive toward theclosest person. The target starts uttering colorfulinsults to its unfortunate victim. Worst of all, theinsults sound like they are spoken in an outrageousFrench accent (the Imaginem requisite)!

This spell has been invented by Jacatus the Volu-ble, of House Jerbiton, who presumably didn’t likehis consortes from the Normandy Tribunal. Obvi-ously, his invention is less effective in France…

Level rationale: 25 (more powerful than control-ling an unnatural emotion, but less than a complexcommand), +10 (range boosted to Near), -5 (dura-tion lowered to Diameter).

Vengeful Rain of Farm Animals

Cr An 55; Requisite: ReR: Far; D: Diameter; T: GroupAimed: -2Focus: A catapult (+4)This spell merely creates a whole bunch of live

farm animals, ranging from chickens, turkeys andgeese to goats, sheep and pigs, and even cows (!).Then the power of magic projects them through theair in a perfect parabola toward the spell’s target (theRego requisite). The animals are usually scared todeath and yell it aloud! Quite an effect, for sure…The falling animals do from +5 to +25 damage.

This spell was invented in darker times. Besiegedin his home covenant, Pancreatus of House Merini-ta needed some projectiles to throw at his enemies.Unfortunately, he was an Animal specialist…

Level rationale: 40 (create a very large animal;rather a herd, in our case), +15 (range boosted to

Far), -5 (duration lowered to Diameter), +5 (targetboosted to Group).

The Holy Hand Grenade

Potion Pe An 35; Requisite: Ig

This mighty, roughly spherical item is designed tokill the animal onto which it is thrown outright, in aflash of fire and smoke. It is perfect to stop such adreadful creature as a Bunny of Vengeance, for instance.Actually, it has been designed for this purpose.

Level rationale: 35 (kill an animal), the Ignemrequisite is for the smoke (ain’t that kinky?).

The Separation of

Church and Orderby Mike Sloothaak

Introduction

Afantasy game system like Ars Magica,which assumes real magic exists within ahistorical foundation, is bound to run intoinconsistencies and paradoxes. One of

the central — and ultimately irresolvable — issues isthe relationship between the Church and the Order.There is no right way to resolve this issue. The bestway is that which brings your troupe the most enjoy-ment, but the inconsistency must eventually beresolved. The types of magi Ars Magica encouragesus to play can only — when given enough time — settheir eyes upon the thrones of Europe. The powersgiven to the Church by 4th edition rules would notstop them. Gifted players find fewer and fewer chal-lenges as they mature — unless the troupe is willingto completely abandon the medieval historic contextof the game, and change history.

Presented here is a historically inspired back-ground that hopefully will be simple, fun to play, andprotect the long-term historical context that inspiresmany Ars Magica players.

The rules found in Pax Dei, a supplement basedon the 3rd edition rules, create a number of “domin-ions” and “tempers” which provide a counterweightto Hermetic powers. In Pax Dei’s mythic Europe,crusaders stand ready, carrying with them a righteousdominion and waiting for the story guide to orderthem into battle when a troupe gets a little too arro-gant in their relations with the Church and its mun-danes. Not surprising for any supplement, some ArsMagica folks have been critical of its approach, whileothers make much enjoyable use of it. Pax Deideploys a number of complex rules to limit the ulti-mate power of player-magi to disrupt the underlyinghistorical foundation of the game. While they may beinteresting, the Pax Dei rules add another whole lay-er of complexity to every game in which they aredeployed — rules that must be incorporated fromthe beginning if they are to be consistently applied.

The short background presented here canbe used to create an alternative explanation of thecontinuing balance of power between the Dominionand the Order of Hermes consistent with 4th editionrules. This background can be “held back” however.Like the righteous crusaders of Pax Dei, one cankeep these mythic secrets in reserve, waiting for thetime that megalomania overwhelms your seniormagi.

Historical Background

To understand the medieval myths and traditionsthis background is built upon, one must begin byunderstanding a little about the introduction ofChristianity into Pagan Europe. Christianity is flexi-ble when first encountering new cultures. Pagans rec-

ognized their own magic users. In addition, paganrulers have often claimed magical powers to justifytheir positions. Missionaries have always been readyto compromise with powerful rulers and influentialclasses in a target culture — especially nobles andwarlords. From the earliest of times, the Churchthreatened to burn peasant-witches and shamans atthe stake, but would wink at the medieval king orqueen who claimed the healing touch, or that theirblood line included mystical or divine componentsfrom the pre-Christian era. This compromise is soingrained in Western culture that it survives in someforms to modern times. The Archbishop of Canter-bury crowned Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbeywhile she was sitting atop the mystical Stone ofScone. The stone is supposed to (magically) guaran-tee the ascension of her progeny, and the Archbish-op made no complaint of sacrilege or superstition.Queen Anne (1702-1714) is believed to be the lastBritish Monarch to attempt the royal touch of heal-ing [1], and rulers of many other kingdoms claimedsome sort of healing power until the early 19th cen-tury [2].

Thus the early church needed to justify a limitedassimilation of local magical traditions and beliefs, inexchange for the support of the ruling political class-es. But the church insisted that all magic and magicusers in a culture had to demonstrate their submis-sion to the ultimate “magic” of the omnipotent Trin-ity. Early missionaries recognized they could only goso far to change a belief system in a culture.

Some precedent was necessary to justify suchcompromises, and the Bible is pretty consistent incondemning witchcraft, necromancy, divination,shape-shifting, calling up the dead, etc. There wasone practical, positive portrayal of “pagan” magi-cians in the Bible — that of the magi who followedthe star to the Christ Child, as described in theGospel According to Matthew. These wise men werenot Jews, and were using stars and ancient writings togain knowledge that was not generally available. Theywere pagan astrologers who recognized and devotedthemselves to the Christ Child. Missionaries coulduse them as an example of a type of magus approvedby the Gospels—one who recognizes and bows toChrist as King of Kings. According to The CatholicEncyclopedia:

It is said that after their return home, the Magiwere baptized by St. Thomas and wroughtmuch for the spread of the Faith in Christ.The story is traceable to an Arian writer of notearlier than the sixth century, whose work isprinted, as “Opus imperfectum in Matthæum”among the writings of St. Chrysostom (P.G.,LVI, 644). This author admits that he is draw-ing upon the apocryphal Book of Seth, andwrites much about the Magi that is clearly leg-endary. The cathedral of Cologne containswhat are claimed to be the remains of theMagi; these, it is said, were discovered in Per-sia, brought to Constantinople by St. Helena,

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transferred to Milan in the fifth century and toCologne in 1163 (Acta SS., I, 323) [3].

The medieval Church (and thus we may assumeArs Magica’s mythic church) recognizes that magican exist in God’s plan, provided that:

- They recognize the ultimate authority ofChrist.

- They use their magic for advancing justice orrelieving human suffering.

- They do not attempt to short-circuit a person’sfree will by magical means.

Some segments of the Church go so far as to setaside a day in their calendar to recognize and cele-brate magi, as described in The Rise of Magic in EarlyMedieval Europe by Valerie I. J. Flint

There was, of course, very little firm liturgicalunity in early Europe, but from as early as thelate fourth century, Matthew’s Magi had theforemost place in a great feast on 6 January [4].They were not, however, alone. [The day wasalso designated as the date Christ was baptized,the day Jesus turned the water into wine, andsometimes the day of the miracle of the loavesand fishes.] “All added up to a considerablecelebration of supernatural power, and ofthose wielders and objectives of this powerwhich were thought appropriate to Christiani-ty… and kept Matthew’s Magi firmly in theforefront of devotional attention. And it keptin the forefront too, with them, the image ofthe good magus. In the later Middle Ages thisfeast became the ideal occasion for the coro-nation of a king, and the moment of theOffertory a fine media moment, as it were, forthe king to stand in the tradition of these magiand bring gifts of many kinds, including, per-

haps, supernatural ones… The liturgy stressed,then, miracles of supernatural and virtuousprevision and provision, miracles introducedby those Magi who were present at Christ’snativity.” [5]

“Matthew’s Magi thus become fine New Tes-tament supports for later types of Christianmagus similarly equipped.” [6]

Enter Ars Magica

The alternative background — built upon Dr.Flint’s comments — follows.

Although not generally known in the Order ofHermes, every year, on the Feast of the Epiphany (6January) a delegation of senior Hermetic magi donhumble peasant clothing, and travel incognito toCologne cathedral. They bring gold, frankincense,and myrrh, along with funds necessary to conductthe feast. Once the gifts are placed on the altar, thelocal cardinal, with the knowledge of the Pope, bless-es the delegation and thus the “truce” between theChurch and the Order is sanctified for another year.The representatives of the Church demonstrate thatthe relics are still in their reliquary, and they promisethe relics shall remain there for another year. Theyalso swear that they will tolerate no magicians otherthan members of the Order of Hermes. In exchange,the representatives of the Order promise to assimi-late all non-Christian magic users into its ranks, oreliminate them. They also promise not to “show off ”magic and so distract the mundanes from the beliefthat ultimate authority and power come from God.

Whenever local friction between church and acovenant gets out of hand to the point that itbecomes a concern to the entire Church and Order,the same ceremony is ordered locally. Local magi are

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told to acquire the gold, frankincense, and myrrh,and to present it to a local Bishop on the Feast day.Bishops are ordered to accept the gifts in an openceremony, thus recognizing the local magi as part ofGod’s Creation and his flock.

The Hermetic pilgrimage to the Relics of theMagi has occurred (first to Milan, and now toCologne) since the relics were brought to Milan fromConstantinople in the fifth century. They werebrought West specifically because of the effect therelics have on human magic users. Leaders in thehouses of Jerbiton, Bonisagus, Mercere, and Guerni-cus have always warned successors to conduct thepilgrimage, and never to openly come in conflict withthe Church. At least one of the primi of the above-mentioned houses always leads the pilgrimage. Anymagus or maga who has participated has beenexposed to the relics, and thus knows their powerfirst hand.

If their containers are opened, or if the relics —even a portion of them — are exposed in any way, allmagical power in a region the size of a typical parishis affected. The relics of the magi of the Epiphanywho bowed to Christ operate in this way to assurethat their Hermetic successors do the same. Anymagic that doesn’t conform to God’s plan (asdescribed in the three points above) shuts down. Themechanics of the magic is immaterial, and allows noquibbling over fine points. If an Aegis of the Hearthspell is protecting any such deeds or people partici-pating in such deeds, it shuts down. Love potions fail(as they affect free will) human created deceptionslike fogs fail if they hide works or schemes that inter-fere with God’s plan. Even the parma magica ofindividuals collapses and can not be re-establishedfor those who in any way are interfering with God’splan. The solution:

- Stop interfering with the free will of otherswith magic,

- Stop using magic for injustice or to cause suf-fering,

- Demonstrate one’s submission to Christ bybringing the three gifts to the local cathedralon 6 January.

or

- Convince the Church fathers to return therelics to their reliquary in Cologne.

Game Play Options

1 If you struggle to get your troupe out of theircovenant laboratories, have a group ofKnights Templar (with a small bone of one ofMatthew’s magi) pass near the covenant. Asthey approach, the effects as described abovetake place. Permanent magic is restored afterthe relic is gone, but the Aegis and similar rit-uals that require periodic renewal need to bere-established. Most players will see the needto investigate this catastrophe. Do they evenknow the story of the relics? How did the rel-ic leave Cologne? Do the remains of another

“wise man” exist somewhere in the Levant?Let their efforts slowly expose the history ofthe relics.

2 After your troupe has a conflict with the localchurch, a Quaesitor is called in and orders theplayers to find gold, frankincense, and myrrhand to present it to the local Bishop during theFeast of the Epiphany. As they venture out tocollect the necessary gifts, they are slowlyexposed to the story of the relics.

3 Unknown to the players, a conflict betweenthe Vatican and the Order begins to boil over,and the local redcap announces that revisionsin the Code will be considered at the nextgrand tribunal meeting. The “join or die” ruleand non-interference with the mundane rulemay be eliminated. The players investigate, andfind that a newly installed cardinal in Cologneis refusing to participate in the ceremony. Red-cap messages encourage the players to try tosmooth over any conflicts between them andany local faeries and hedge wizards, as theOrder will need all the allies it can get if openconflict with the Church is likely in the nearfuture and the relics are used against them.Things are deteriorating fast and the playersneed to beseech the Pope to put pressure onthe cardinal, or the whole of mythic Europecould fall into chaos.

References

[1] www.friesian.com/perifran.htm

[2] www.charlescoulombe.com/coronat.html

[3] www.newadvent.org/cathen/09527a.htm

[4] B. Botte, Les Origines de la Noel et del’Epiphanie (Louvain, 1932)

[5] Flint, Valerie I. J. The Rise of Magic in EarlyMedieval Europe. (Princeton, New Jersey, 1991) p.366-7.

[6] Flint, Valerie I. J. The Rise of Magic in EarlyMedieval Europe. (Princeton, New Jersey, 1991) p.372.

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Ex Bibliotheca Magvilliby Eric Minton

It takes a good bit of time and effort to create acovenant library. Turning that library into some-thing more than a list of names and numbers ismuch harder. Here you’ll find all manner of pre-

generated magical and mundane books to flesh outyour Saga’s libraries. Feel free to submit your ownbooks, scrolls, clay tablets, and so on for inclusion inthis column.

Note that the costs listed for purchasing thesebooks for a covenant’s library during covenant cre-ation do not include additional costs for any specialbenefits that may apply to a given book. Such alter-ations to the book’s cost are left to the discretion ofthe individual Storyguide.

To determine a book’s point value duringcovenant creation, use the following formulae:

Liber Quaestionum: Target + Quality

Summa: 2 × (Level + Quality)

Tractatus: 3 × (Quality)

The Peripheral Code of the Order of Hermes

By various authors

Appearance: The Peripheral Code comprises afull sixty-two volumes of unadorned text. Most ofthe volumes bear the marks of significant age: tat-tered covers, curling and dog-eared pages, and fadedink. The more recent volumes are fresher, however,with the newest being clean and crisp.

Description: These volumes contain a compila-tion of every ruling ever put forward at Tribunal inthe history of the Order. The sheer quantity ofinformation available within the Peripheral Code isonly outweighed by the difficulty involved in findinganything specific within it. Due to the size of thePeripheral Code, only a few rare covenants (such asMagvillus and Harco) possess a complete copy.

Mechanics: Authority for Hermetic Law; Her-metic Law Summa, Level 10, Quality 0; HermeticLore Summa, Level 6, Quality 0.

Special Rules: If used to prepare for a legal caseor dispute, a successful Int. + Conc. roll gives the lit-igator a +3 bonus to his or her Hermetic Law score.Copying the entire Peripheral Code requires severalyears’ work by a skilled copyist. The Peripheral Codemay not be glossed.

Cost: 82 points of Knowledges.

A Commentary on the Code of Hermes

By Guernicus

Appearance: A square volume bound in sleekbrown leather, its front cover blazoned with theQuaesitorial balance in gold leaf. Corner-pieces and alocked clasp, all of brass, protect the work. The textwithin, scribed in a clear hand upon supple white vel-lum, bears highlights in several colors of ink. Numer-ous small illustrations of Guernicus, interspersedwith a few depictions of the other Founders, offerreference points in the text, and glosses by early Pri-

mi of House Guernicus have been reproduced in themargins.

Description: Many Quaesitori consider this text,written by the Founder Guernicus in order to pointout potential flaws in the Code, to be the first steptowards establishing the Peripheral Code as the livingcrux of Hermetic law. Although its language lacksthe polish to be found in the work of later genera-tions of Quaesitorial scholars, this seminal workremains a cornerstone of legal thought in the Order.

Mechanics: Hermetic Law Summa, Level 5, Qual-ity 9; Hermetic Law Tractatus, Quality 6.

Cost: 46 points of Knowledges.

A Reconciliation of Tribunal Law

By Fenicil scholae GuerniciAppearance: This volume’s black canvas cover

has been so thoroughly worn as to turn glossy inpatches, and the edges have begun to fray. Rustsmears its blackened iron corner-pieces. Within, arainbow of faded arabesques adorns the text’s brittlepages, highlighting significant passages in the text.

Description: An early attempt to codify the diver-gent rulings of the individual Tribunals of the Orderin order to find a set of overarching legal principles.The author’s conclusions regarding the autonomy ofindividual Tribunals with regard to legal precedentsforeshadows the expansion of the Peripheral Codeinto the bloated, unwieldy corpus it has becometoday.

Mechanics: Hermetic Law Summa, Level 6, Qual-ity 7; Hermetic Law Tractatus, Quality 4.

Cost: 38 points of Knowledges.

Interpretations of the Peripheral Code

By Tanaquil Iustifica scholae GuerniciAppearance: A plain leather-bound volume. The

script is relatively clear, marred by a few blotches andsmudges, and unadorned by additional colors orillustrations. A pair of leather bands holds the coversshut when not in use.

Description: A recent attempt to integrate thedisparate rulings of the Peripheral Code into a cohe-sive set of legal principles. Not the most eloquentwork on the subject, but more up-to-date than any ofthe classics in the field, and a valuable work in itsown right.

Mechanics: Hermetic Law Tractatus, Quality 5.Cost: 15 points of Knowledges.

The Legacy of Guernicus

By Chiron Raucus scholae BonisagiGlossed by Scrupulosa scholae GuerniciAppearance: Inside this text’s clean new binding,

one finds low-quality ink on worn palimpsest. Thescript itself is clear and refined, but the inferior inkhas smeared and smudged in several places. Crabbedglosses fill virtually all of the available space in themargins.

Description: Written sometime in the pastdecade, this text presents a view of the ways HouseGuernicus and the Quaesitori have changed sincetheir inception. Its thesis is that Guernicus’ original

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aim was to establish order by challenging assump-tions rather than blindly accepting them, and that byrejecting this approach, the Traditionalist movementhas led the Quaesitori and the Order into moral andethical decline. The glossator, clearly a Traditionalist,argues against the author’s thesis; Guernicus’ work,she declares, was necessary to bring the Order out ofits infancy, but a mature Order requires stability andcomplexity. Returning to the techniques employed inthose early days, she writes, would subvert the goalsthat Guernicus strove to bring about in the firstplace.

Mechanics: Hermetic Law Tractatus, Quality 6;Hermetic Lore Tractatus, Quality 6.

Cost: 36 points of Knowledges.

Quaesitorial Grimoire

By Sensimira, Quaesitor ex Bonisago

Appearance: A plain-looking volume stored in awooden box. Its leather covers feel dry with age butshow little sign of wear. Written in a taut, jaggedscript with red accents. Tiny sketches of birds andcats stalk one another in the margins.

Description: The text comprises seven spells,along with extensive marginal notes regarding theirproper use in the course of a Quaesitorial investiga-tion. These notes provide a wealth of useful infor-mation as to what authority a Quaesitor actually haswhen questioning a fellow magus.

Mechanics: Hermetic Law Tractatus, Quality 5.Contains the following spells: Whispers Through theBlack Gate, Eyes of the Past, Frosty Breath of the SpokenLie, The Manifestation of Memory, Sense of the LingeringMagic, Bind the Gift (Level 40), Chamber Without Magic(Level 40).

Cost: 15 points of Knowledges + 200 levels ofspells.

The Manifestation of Memory

Intéllego Mentem 35

R: Touch, D: Conc., T: Spec

Spell Focus: A Sprig of Rosemary (+1)

Requisites: Creo, Imáginem

Calls forth a specific memory from a living tar-get’s mind, and projects an image of the rememberedevent into a medium such as a mirror, water orsmoke. The projected image encompasses both sightand sound, and is as detailed as the target’s percep-tions were at the time of the remembered event, nomatter how much time has passed since then. If youuse the spell focus, it must be in contact with themedium, and the spell ends if the focus is removed.

The target may resist this spell with a successfulIntelligence stress roll of 9+. Alternatively, the targetmay attempt to alter the manifested memory; thisrequires a successful Int + Guile roll, and the diffi-culty ranges from 15 (minor changes) to 21 or more(wild alterations).

Casting requisite: the Form of the medium.

(Design: Read a person’s surface thoughts 20,increase duration to Concentration +5, compleximagery +5, moving imagery +5)

Bind the Gift

Perdo Vim General

R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Ind

Spell Focus: Iron Shackles (+5)

Suppresses a single target’s ability to use magic.Whenever the target attempts to cast a spell, reducehis or her casting total by half the level of this spell+ 5. To use the spell focus, you must affix the shack-les upon the target’s wrists; removing the shacklesends the spell. Quaesitori and hoplites have beenknown to employ this spell, or shackles enchantedwith it, to restrain potentially dangerous magi beforea Tribunal.

(Design: Reduce the casting total for all magiccast in the target:

General, reduce range to Touch: -5)

Chamber Without Magic

Perdo Vim General

R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Room

Spell Focus: An Iron Bell (+3)

Suppresses the use of magic within a room.Whenever a spell is cast within the room, reduce itscasting total by half the level of this spell. Pre-exist-ing spells, spells cast outside the room and broughtinside, and spells cast outside that target things insidethe room are all unaffected. When casting the spell,you may designate one or more objects as tokens;whosoever bears such a token may use magic withinthe warded area without penalty. When using thespell focus, you must ring the bell as the spell is cast.

Designed in the early days of the Order to pre-vent belligerent magi from magically assaulting oneanother during Tribunal, the Chamber Without Mag-ic fell into disfavor during the 12th century. The spellstill finds use in places where the political climateseems especially volatile, such as the Iberian, LochLeglean and Normandy Tribunals.

(Design: Reduce the casting total for all magiccast in the target:

General, reduce range to Touch: -5, increase tar-get to Room +5)

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The Unbearable

Lightness of Readingby Michaël de Verteuil

This installment of Heretic’s Corner begins withan interesting proposal sent in by Michael Schloss.

� � �

Heretical Attribution

It is the goal of the Heretic’s Corner to simplifythe needlessly complicated aspects of the ArsMagica game system. So far it has focused on thegameplay aspects of the game, but some aspects

of the character creation system are overly compli-cated as well.

Ars Magica characters have eight Characteristicscores, which is among the highest number of scoresin RPGs today. Most RPGs have at most 5 or 6. Inaddition, Ars Magica also has the Virtues and Flawssystem, which is a further tool for detailing charac-ters’ specific capabilities, which by its very naturemakes much of the fine-differentiation of Charac-teristics unnecessary.

Characteristics can be infinitely subdivided, so theargument that two traits must be different Character-istics because they reflect different capacities is notsufficient. There certainly is a difference betweenagility and quickness, but there is also a differencebetween hand-eye coordination, balance, flexibility,reflexes, running speed, and fine motor control,between explosive strength (such as is used in com-bat and running) and static strength (carrying), andbetween verbal reasoning ability, memory, mathemat-ical ability, and intellectual creativity.

All these traits and more could be made into sep-arate Characteristics, but for the sake of simplicitythe best approach is to make the Characteristics fair-ly broad, and use Virtues and Flaws to reflect finedifferences within each Characteristic. Virtues andFlaws should also be used to reflect personal traitsthat could be Characteristics but are not, such aswillpower.

When deciding whether a certain Characteristicshould be amalgamated with another or left inde-pendent, there are two fundamental questions thatneed to be asked.

Correlation in Characters: How often does acharacter in this genre have a high level in one aspectof the Characteristic but a low level in another? Ifsuch contrasts are very common, then perhaps theyshould remain different Characteristics. If such con-trasts are uncommon, then there should be a singleCharacteristic, with the rare contrasts reflected withVirtues and Flaws.

Conceptual Differentiation: How clear is thedifference between the different aspects? For exam-ple, in the social realm it’s often difficult to decidewhether to use Presence or Communication, as thetwo are too interrelated. If there is any confusionover which Characteristic is most appropriate in a

variety of circumstances, it’s best to amalgamatethem.

With these criteria in mind, the current eightcharacteristics can be reduced to a more simple andelegant five.

Vigor

An amalgamation of Strength and Stamina.

In some genres, weak but vigorously healthycharacters are common. However, in the medievalworldview, strength and stamina usually go hand inhand. Barring accidents like disease, injury, and age-ing (which have their own rules), people who are bigand strong are seen as being more full of life andhealth than skinny weak people.

It may seem obvious to twentieth century eyesthat there is a significant difference between strengthand stamina, but in medieval society the two areoften strongly correlated. Those people who arestrongest — farmers, warriors and blacksmiths —also have the most stamina, as well as the physicalbulk to resist injury. The diet and acts of labor thatproduce strength also create stamina.

There are exceptions of course, such as mendi-cant monks who walk from one end of Christendomto another, and strong but fat nobles, but theseexceptions can be reflected with appropriate Virtuesand Flaws.

With the current Characteristics, the Strength/Stamina split conceptually blurs in many circum-stances, especially in combat. When a person isstabbed or hit with a weapon, physical bulk andstrength often play more of a role in resisting theinjury than cardiovascular fitness and health, and astrong person will tire more slowly than a weak per-son, given equal loads.

Quickness

An amalgamation of Dexterity and Quickness.

Medieval stories are replete with archetypes ofquick graceful characters and slow clumsy characters,but quick clumsy characters and slow graceful char-acters are very uncommon. There is an argument forslow characters with excellent fine motor control,clumsy master craftsmen, clutzy scribes and the like,but even the current Characteristics division doesn’treflect this well, as agility and fine motor control areboth governed by Dexterity. Encompassing it allunder Quickness, and using Virtues and Flaws toreflect especially good or bad balance, coordination,reflexes, flexibility, running speed, or manual dexter-ity is both simpler and more potentially detailed.

It’s possible to find examples of tasks that useonly dexterity or quickness, but most of the tasksthat are common in stories rely on both. Combat isthe most obvious example. Hitting an opponentrequires not only good coordination, but also thespeed to beat an opponent’s reflexes. Defendingagainst opponents requires not only the speed toreact to their attack, but also the coordination tomove in the best way to avoid or intercept the blow.Even running requires both muscle speed and the

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coordination to keep good balance and steady foot-ing.

Intelligence

An amalgamation of Intelligence and the literaryand explanatory aspects of Communication.

In general, intelligent people are also better spo-ken, able to more clearly communicate their ideas toothers. There are exceptions of course, such as bril-liant scholars who can only explain their ideas inobtuse ways, and dim-witted peasants who speakclearly and directly, but those exceptions are not thenorm.

However, Intelligence does not correlate wellwith persuasiveness. Simply having good ideas doesnot make a character better at convincing others tofollow them. For that reason, the interpersonalaspects of Communication are amalgamated withPresence.

Perception

Perception is the only one of the original charac-teristics that cannot be easily combined with another.Intelligence and perceptiveness are related, but thereare numerous literary examples of oblivious intelli-gent people and astute simple people, so perceptionis best kept as a Characteristic of its own.

Presence

An amalgamation of Presence and the interper-sonal aspects of Communication. Presence, suave-ness, and persuasiveness in general.

Social relations involve a combination of person-al magnetism and carefully chosen words, so it’s dif-ficult to determine whether Com or Pre is moreimportant in social situations. More significantly,there are many interactions between the two, suchpersonal magnetism and likeability lending credenceto words.

What to do with the current game

mechanics?

Combat

All dexterity and quickness-based characteristicsare now based on Quickness. All strength and stam-ina based characteristics, including damage, fatigue,and soak, are now based on Vigor.

Learning and study

Book Quality is now based on Intelligence.Teaching quality is based on Presence.

Spellcasting

Lab work and spontaneous magic are unchanged.When casting formulaic magic, add Vigor to spell-casting rolls in place of Stamina.

� � �

I have to admit to having felt a certain degree ofscepticism when I first read Michael’s proposal.Reducing the number of player Characteristics from8 to 5 certainly sounds radical. But then I remem-bered that Heretic’s Corner was a bout radical think-ing. If a proposed change simplifies the rules withoutdoing any damage to the feel and flow of the game,

and if the end result is still recognizably Ars Magica,it’s worth considering.

So I carefully reviewed his arguments, extendedthem to their logical conclusions and, after seriousreflection and consideration, determined that he waswrong! The arguments against subsuming Perceptioninto Intelligence are not convincing in light of therole he suggests for Virtues and Flaws. The numberof Characteristics can then be reduced from 5 to 4.

The beauty of Michael’s proposal (or of myminor variant) is four-fold. The changes can beseamlessly integrated into all the existing gamemechanics that use Characteristics. His consolidationlargely reflects the natural pairing already implied inthe “die-roll” method of character design. It alsoruns counter to what I consider to be a rather sillyobsession with adding “new stuff ”. The natural ten-dency of ideas of this nature is to add to, rather thansubtract from, the number of Characteristics. Finally,the proposal helps balance and equalize the values ofthe resulting Characteristics.

This last addresses what has always been a sourceof some irritation to me. All the characteristics aretreated as if they were of equal value. They areassigned from the same pool of points, for example.But when you think about it, is a +1 Quickness cur-rently worth the same as a +1 Intelligence? I doubtit.

All in all, excellent work Michael!

The two insights I draw from Michael’s proposalare that bundling related features together can helpequalize attributes, and that residual variation can bereproduced through Virtues and Flaws. I plan to useboth insights in the next few instalments of Heretic’sCorner. The current article has a dual purpose. Itconcludes our treatment of books and Abilities, andit launches into a completely new area: Covenantdesign. Specifically, “The Unbearable Lightness ofReading” is about designing a Covenant library.

It is traditionally at this point that I clear theground for heresy by badmouthing the standard rulesand the most recent efforts to fix them. As DavidChart has clearly indicated that the “standard rules”had never been intended as a basis for Covenantdesign, I believe I can dispense with flogging thisparticular (dead?) horse. But, as Lenin once wrote,you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. SoI am going to badmouth the 3rd edition Covenantdesign rules instead.

When you get right down to it, the ArM3 (andArM2) rules for library design were stingy. This isnot a criticism, because in my book “stingy” equalled“good”. It prevented magi from starting the game aspassive library fungi, and it gave player magi someimplicit early collective tasks to perform in strength-ening their Covenant. Specialists wrote books to fillthe inevitable gaps in the Covenant’s collection, andother magi copied the better texts so as to trade themfor works that would fill the gaps the specialistscould not. The main drawbacks of these earlier ruleslay in their arbitrary division of libraries into three

42

(Arts, spells and Knowledges), and in their excessiveabstraction such that only the best single availablebook on a subject had any value.

The single greatest conceptual advance that canbe attributed to ArM4 lies in its treatment of books.They now have texture, feel and individual value.This “individual value” poses a serious problem,however, for library design rules, as these must nowbe based on the likelihood of multiple books on agiven subject. Lots of books have to be designed(which is time consuming), and clear rules are need-ed on how these books interrelate with one another.

Erik Dahl and Bjarke Roth have taken a stab atnew Covenant and library design rules in Erik’s“Covenants as Characters” in HP4. But their rules donot appeal to me for a number of reasons. They takethe analogy between player characters and Covenantstoo far, in my view, by trying to make the designmechanics essentially similar. I don’t think this doesjustice to the subtle complexity of a Covenant.“Covenants as Characters” justifies its high level ofabstraction as a response to the time and effort pre-viously required for Covenant design. I don’t see why,however, Covenant design should be either quick oreasy. The Covenant is not just any “character” to bedesigned as quickly and simply as an NPC or a PC.ArM3 puts it this way:

“The Covenant is the most important characterin your Saga, for the Covenant is the constant char-acter in your Saga. Players’ characters may come andgo, but the Covenant remains and is the refuge ofthose transient people who reside in it. It’s thereforeimportant to understand and develop every aspect ofyour Covenant, for it is the foundation of yourgame.”

A case in point can be found specifically in Erikand Bjarke’s proposed new rules for library design.Not only is the richness brought to the game by theArM4 rules on individual books set aside, but wewould not even be left with the clear “we have this,but we don’t have that” library descriptions that wereavailable under ArM3 or ArM2. Planning a magecharacter’s long-term course of study based on thecontents of his library is, or at least was, one of thepleasures of running a mage. I also have a low toler-ance for requiring die rolls in character or Covenantdesign, and a strong preference for a clear “you getwhat you pay for”.

It follows inevitably from this discussion that theCovenant and library design rules I will be proposingin this article are going to be more complicated thanthose proposed by Erik and Bjarke. This does notmean that I don’t think that they have advanced theargument significantly, because in fact they have. Inthe same way that I am going to draw on insightsfrom Michael Schloss (consolidated Characteristicsleavened by Virtues and Flaws), I will also be draw-ing insights from “Covenants as Characters” (inte-grating the concept of Virtues and Flaws intoCovenant design and making it generally closer tocharacter design) as well as from Erik’s “Seasonal

Characters” in HP5 (linking the number of Virtuesand Flaws to the character’s, or in this case theCovenant’s, season). I also freely admit that my reser-vations concerning “Covenants as Characters” donot apply to NPC Covenants that do not have to bedescribed with the same degree of loving detail andattention as player Covenants.

But “‘nuff histry”, let’s get down to the actualnew heretical rules I want to propose. But first I wantto thank my corps of playtesters: Gary Barber, MattRyan and Michael Schloss, of course, and even ErikDahl who was kind enough to comment even thoughI have just publicly strangled his babies at birth, andfinally the indispensable Bjarke Roth who must bewell on his way to apotheosis as the muse of hereti-cal rule writers. Enjoy!

Covenant CharacteristicsEach Covenant has four consolidated Character-

istics: Library, Aura, Resources and Relations. All theCovenant attributes in the standard ArM4 Covenantdesign rules are meant to fit under one or another ofthese Characteristics. Here I am taking a leaf fromMichael’s proposal. A Covenant should not havemore Characteristics than it really needs, and eachCharacteristic should be of equivalent value. I thinkthese four Characteristics can readily embody every-thing about a Covenant players feel is important. Ascore in each of these four should give a reader aquick appreciation of the relative strengths andweaknesses of their own or any other Covenant sodescribed.

Characteristic scores ranging from -5 to +5 arepurchased with Characteristic points according to thestandard pyramidal function. Negative scores insome Characteristics yield additional Characteristicpoints that can be allocated towards higher scores inothers.

The number of Characteristic points availableand the maximum score a Covenant can have in anyone Caracteristic depend on its season and the num-ber of resident magi.

A Spring Covenant has a number of Character-istic points equal to 0 +1 for each resident mage over3, for a maximum total number of points of 3. Themaximum Characteristic score for a Spring Covenantis +3.

A Summer Covenant has 4 + 1 for each residentmage above 3, for a maximum total of 9 points, anda maximum score of +4.

An Autumn Covenant has 10 + 1 for each resi-dent mage above 3 with no maximum number ofpoints. Its individual Characteristic scores can rangeas high as +5.

A Winter Covenant has less than 0 points a max-imum score of +5.

Season Point Range Maximum Score

Spring 0 - 3 +3Summer 4 - 9 +4

Fall 10+ +5Winter < 0 +5

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A Characteristic score serves two purposes:

1 It is cross indexed with one or more tables todetermine the number of purchase pointsused in fleshing out the features of a Covenantassociated with that Characteristic. For exam-ple, a Covenant’s Library score will ultimatelydetermine how many Book points will beavailable for allocation between the variousbooks on Arts, Knowledges, Spells and LabTexts in the Covenant library.

2 It also determines the base number of Virtueand Flaw points that can be applied to thosefeatures. These Virtues and Flaws help give thefeatures of the Covenant their unique qualities.(See Virtues and Flaws below.) Where Erikproposed applying Virtues and Flaws to aCovenant as a whole, I prefer to treat them asan opportunity to reinsert the variety thatbundling the Characteristics tends to dampen,by applying Covenant Virtues and Flawsspecifically to each Characteristic. It also leavesscope for a lot more Virtues and Flaws in total,but without opening the door to all or most ofthem being applied to only a narrow range ofCovenant features.

Positive scores yield an equivalent number ofVirtue points for that Characteristic. Negative scoresyield an equivalent number of Flaw points. TheseVirtues and Flaws do not have to be counterbalancedby equivalent Flaws and Virtues. Five additionalVirtue points can be acquired for each Characteristic,but these extra points must be compensated for bytaking on a matching number of Flaw points.

Having set the general rules, we now proceed tothe specific rules for the Library Characteristic.Future articles will deal with the other three.

Book Points

A given Covenant’s Library score corresponds toa number of Book points that can be used to pur-chase books on Knowledges, Arts, Spells andEnchantments (Lab Texts).

Subject Ratings

Book points are used to purchase books within alimited number of “subjects”. Each of the Arts is asubject, as is each Knowledge. These consist of theAcademic Knowledges including Christian, Islamic

and Jewish Theology, Speak Greek and SpeakHebrew, as well as the probably rarer and more eso-teric Speak Armenian and Speak Coptic. They alsoinclude the Arcane Knowledges, though I do not useHermetic Law, preferring to subsume that in HermesLore as described in “Less is More” in HP1.

There are also the Casual Knowledges whichinclude varying Area Lores and vernacular languagesas well as Common law and Strategy mentioned inOrdo Nobilis. The two main types of OrganizationLore that might be found in a Covenant librarywould be Church and Hermes Lore, of course.There might be some books specifically on individualHouses, Hermetic secret societies or religious orders,but I would tend to just consider these Hermes andChurch Lore respectively.

A particularly well endowed or unusual Covenantlibrary might also include works on ExceptionalKnowledges such as Alchemy and Herbalism or, ifyou are using The Mysteries, Craft Automata, Hermet-ic Astrology, Oneiromancy, Augury, Theurgy and ArsNotoria, though these latter books may only be forthe initiated. Finally, each individual spell or enchant-ment also counts as a “subject”.

Each subject in a library has a rating. This ratingcan be 0 if the library has no books in that subject.Ratings can be used to compare the coverage anddepth on a subject between different collections, butit can also be used to determine the combined studyor research value of a collection of books on a givensubject. Book points are not spent twice, once onsubject ratings and then a second time on books.Instead, points allocated to a given subject are usedto buy individual books or, alternatively, points usedto buy books on a given subject are then totalled upto produce a rating.

Point Cost: This is the old familiar pyramidalfunction and indicates the Book point cost of a giv-en rating in one subject. As new books are added orold ones lost, the subject’s rating rises or falls corre-spondingly.

Research: This is the bonus applied to a relevantKnowledge roll made while consulting the collection.

Rating Point Cost Research Knowledge Art

2 3 +1 2 53 6 +2 3 74 10 +2 4 95 15 +2 5 116 21 +3 6 137 28 +4 6 158 36 +5 7 169 45 +5 7 1710 55 +5 8 1811 66 +5 8 1912 78 +6 9 2013 91 +6 9 2114 105 +6 10 2215 120 +6 10 2316 136 +6 10 2417 153 +7 11 25

Library Score Book points

-5 0-4 30-3 60-2 80-1 900 100

+1 200+2 400+3 700+4 1100+5 1600

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It is based on the optional rule described on page 75of Ordo Nobilis, but the underlying formula isslightly different. The main text (usually a summa or,if using the Ex Libris rules, possibly an LQ) con-tributes its level in ep equivalents. All other workscontribute one point each. The pyramidal function isthen applied to the total to produce the researchbonus. In theory this bonus could be applied to thistype of research on other subjects such as a spell ordevice enchantment. For example, a successfulresearch check against a spell might determine alter-native usable foci, or optimal environmental or astro-logical casting conditions. A successful researchcheck against a device enchantment could answer aquestion relating to possible material substitutions inthe enchantment, identify the specific magical tradi-tion of the original designer, or determine what formthe designer’s sigil might take when applied to a dif-ferent magical effect. It is possible that some such“research” applications could exist for Arts as well,though I can’t think of any off hand. I would rec-ommend leaving the maximum Research bonus at+7.

Knowledge: A collection of books on a Knowl-edge can also be treated as a single Summa with areduced base Quality of 6. If the collection includes

any books with an even lower Quality, the Quality ofthe collection is that of its lowest Quality book.Because books can be consulted collectively as wellas individually, a subject rating can thus act as ashortcut for troupes that would prefer to avoid ordefer until later a book by book determination of alibrary’s contents. By and large, however, book bybook study is more efficient. There is thus a contin-uing incentive for players to actually eventuallyknuckle down and develop a comprehensive cata-logue of their collections. Note that the Quality andusability of a collection can be affected by thelibrary’s Virtues and Flaws.

Art: If not treating Arts as Abilities as suggestedin “Artistic Ability”, a given rating in an Art producesthe indicated Art Summa equivalent. Otherwise therule is the same as for Knowledges above.

Books Costs

Each book in the library costs a certain numberof Book points. The tables below may appear com-plicated as there are three sets of them, but this isbecause they must cater to three sets of rules: thestandard rules, and those found in “Ex Libris” HP2and “Artistic Ability” HP3. Just a quick reminder, the“Ex Libris” rules cap the level of Tractatus and turn

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LQs into specialized Summae. “Artistic Ability”scales back Art scores and treats Arts as ExceptionalKnowledges.

If Using the Standard ArM4 Book Rules

All Tractatus and LQ cost 3 each when using thestandard rules. The level of a spell book is equal tothe spell’s magnitude. The level of a Lab text is equalto the magnitude of its enchantment. If more thanone effect is contained in the enchantment, treat eacheffect as if it was covered by a different book. Forexample, if the enchanted item involves a level 25effect and a level 15 effect, treat the Lab text as if itwere a combined level 5 and level 3 summa for 15Book points. The minimum cost for a summa, spellbook, or Lab text (or Lab text component) is 3.

Table I. Summae on Knowledges, Spell books

and Lab texts

Table II. Summae on Arts

If using the “Ex Libris” and “Artistic Abili-

ty” rules

The cost of all Summae on Knowledges, Arts,Spell books and Lab texts is the same as that indicat-ed in Table I above.

Table III. Tractatus on Knowledges, Arts,

Spells and Enchantments

Table IV. LQs on Knowledges and Arts

If using the “Ex Libris” but not the “Artistic

Ability” rules

The cost of Summae on Knowledges, Spellbooks and Lab texts is the same as that indicated inTable I above. The cost of Summae on Arts is thesame as in Table II. The cost of Tractatus on Knowl-edges, Spell books and Lab texts is the same as thatindicated in Table III. The cost of LQs in Knowl-edges is the same as that indicated in Table IV.

Table V. Tractatus on Arts

Table VI. LQs on Arts

* Only available for Knowledges if the Excep-tional Books Virtue is chosen

** Not normally available for Knowledges, andonly available for Arts, Spells and Enchant-ments if the Exceptional Books Virtue ischosen.

*** Only available if the Exceptional BooksVirtue is chosen.

Book Quality

Unless affected by Virtues or Flaws, all bookshave the following standard Qualities

Tractatus: 6; Summae: 9; LQs: 12

Authorities

As previously mentioned in “Ex Libris” there issome confusion as to what exactly an Authority isunder the standard rules. I am using the following“standard” definition:

An Authority in a given field consists of the

collective major works on the subject written by

all those authors (auctores) who are deemed to

have defined it.

Thus an Authority is rarely, under the standardrules, a single book. For example, the Authority onArtes Liberales as described on page 57 of ArM4 con-sists of the writings of Priscian and Donatus, the

Level Cost Level Cost

5 2 11 136 3 12 16***7 5 13 19***8 7 14 23***9 9 15 27***10 11

Level Cost Level Cost

14 2 33 1516 3 34 1618 4 35 1721 5 36 18***23 6 37 19***24 7 38 20***25 8 39 21***26 9 40 22***27 10 41 23***29 11 42 24***30 12 43 26***31 13 44 28***32 14 45 30***

Level Cost Level Cost

2 2 5 17**3 5 6 26**4 10*

Level Cost Level Cost

6 2 14 14*7 3 15 16**8 4 16 18**9 5 17 21**10 6 18 24**11 8* 19 27**12 10* 20 30**13 12*

Level Cost Level Cost

7 3 16 248 5 17 279 7 18 3010 9 19 34***11 11 20 38***12 13 21 42***13 15 22 47***14 18 23 52***15 21

Level Cost Level Cost

3 3 7 25*4 7 8 33**5 12 9 42**6 18* 10 52**

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Logica vetus and Logica nova of Aristotle, the works ofCicero (notably his De inventione), Boethius’ De arith-metica and De musica, Euclid’s Elementa and Optica, andPtolemy’s Libri almagesti (themselves a set of severalbooks). Because of their complexity and their highlylimited use under the standard rules, Authorities arenot purchased like normal books, but are insteadacquired through the Authoritative Works Virtuedescribed below.

The “Ex Libris” rules offer a different definitionand different mechanics for what they describe as“Authoritative works”. These consist of any bookwritten by an Auctor for a given Art or Knowledge,and costs +5 Book points more than an equivalent“normal” book.

Enchanted BooksWe are not just talking about any library here, but

the library of a Hermetic Covenant. Previous ruleshave neglected the possibility of low magnitude mag-ical enhancements to books. Here are a few ideas:

1 “Illuminated” books that cast a CrIg Moon-beam effect when they are opened and thuscan be read in the dark;

2 “Masked” books that cast a CrIm illusion overtheir pages so as to make them seem blank orcovered with gibberish (very useful for disguis-ing Occult Lore books from prying eyes);

3 “Responsive” books endowed with a ReAneffect such that if opened they automaticallyturn to the next page containing a word men-tioned in their presence (triples their value forresearch purposes and creates added incentivesfor keeping quiet in the library);

4 “Cursed” books that cast irritating effects onanyone displacing them from the library, suchas MuIm blue skin (MuIm), CrIm stench ofrotting fish, or PeCo clap or severe anal itch.

All these effects would be 1st magnitude, and sofar too weak to bother a mage wearing a Parma. Theywould, on the other hand, be quite effective againstpotential light-fingered mundane “long-term bor-rowers”. Each such enchantment raises the cost ofthe book affected by +10. As most smaller medievalbooks were bound two or more to a volume, a singleenchantment could affect several books, though onlyone could be read or studied at one time.

Virtues and Flaws

Virtues +1

Multiple Copies: Up to an additional 10th ofthe total book points can be assigned to multiplecopies of existing books in the library. These extracopies are free, but must be at least one PhysicalQuality level less than the originals. This Virtue canbe taken more than once. These multiple copies maynot be automatically traded as part of the ExchangeAgreement Virtue, though they can be traded as partof an adventure. They also obviously do not affectthe library’s subject ratings. The Physical Quality ofthese extra books can be reduced by more than oneto satisfy the -1 Poor Physical Quality Flaw.

Authoritative Works: If using the Ex Librisrules, this Virtue negates the +5 cost for 10 Author-itative works in any fields. If using the standard bookrules, it grants a free Authority in one field. ThisVirtue may be chosen more than once.

Enchanted Books: This Virtue negates the +10cost of any five book enchantments (as describedabove). This Virtue may be chosen more than once.Note that the enchantments apply to “volumes” andnot “books”, so several books bound together canbenefit from the same enchantment. A given volumecan also benefit from more than one enchantment.

Exceptional Book: Permits the purchase of abook of exceptionally high level as indicated by theasterisks (* or **). This Virtue can be taken morethan once.

High Physical Quality: This Virtue grants theequivalent of 200/0 of the total book points towardsthe improvement of the physical Quality of some ofthe books in the library. Each time a book is “repur-chased” with these extra points, its physical Qualityimproves by one. This Virtue may be taken morethan once, and is compatible with the -1 Poor Physi-cal Quality Flaw.

Clearly Written Books: The collection special-izes in unusually well written masterpieces. ThisVirtue grants the equivalent of 100/0 of the totalbook points towards the improvement of the under-lying Quality of some of the books in the library.Each time a book is “repurchased” with these extrapoints, its underlying Quality is improved by one.This Virtue may be taken more than once, and iscompatible with the -1 Poorly Written Books Flaw.

Virtues +3

Exchange Agreement: Any new high or stan-dard quality copies of books from the library made

47

48

by the Covenant can be automatically traded with fornew books of equivalent value from other libraries.

Flaws -1

Lending Obligation: A long-established andbinding policy of lending books to other Covenantsmeans that not all books may be available for a sea-son when needed by a player character. Roll a stressdie with a single botch possibility. On a 0 the book is“out”. On a botch, the book is permanently lost andno return or compensation can be expected. Need-less to say, perhaps, but taking inventory while sub-ject to this Flaw is not recommended.

Divided Collection: The books in the library areheld in two separate collections of roughly equal sizeunder the control of different NPCs, or alternativelyare kept in separate locations one or more days’ jour-ney apart. Individual players normally have easyaccess to only one or the other, and must normallyexchange favours with the relevant NPC or travel toobtain access to the other collection. This Flaw maybe taken more than once. If taken twice, the libraryis divided into three collections. If taken three times,it is divided into four collections, and so on.

Poor Physical Quality: This Flaw imposes theequivalent of 400/0 of the total book points towardsa reduction in the physical Quality of some of thebooks in the library. Each time a book is “repur-chased” with these points, its physical Quality isreduced by one. This Flaw may be taken more thanonce and is compatible with the +1 High PhysicalQuality Virtue.

Poor Underlying Quality: Many of the booksin the collection are by authors with poor writingskills. This Flaws imposes the equivalent of 200/0 ofthe total book points towards a reduction in theunderlying Quality of some of the books in thelibrary. Each time a book is “repurchased” with thesepoints, its underlying Quality is reduced by one. ThisFlaw may be taken more than once and is compatiblewith the +1 High Physical Quality Virtue.

Non Standard Language: Some of the booksin the library are written in a language and script not

normally used at the Covenant (which usually meanssome language other than Latin). At least 100/0 of thelibrary’s book points must be assigned to works inGreek, Hebrew, or Arabic, or 50/0 in some other evenmore esoteric academic languages (such as Coptic,Syriac, or Armenian). This Flaw may be taken morethan once.

Double Cost Lab texts: The Covenant librarynever made a point of collecting copies of lab texts,leading to their relative rarity within the collection.

Flaws -2

Double Cost Grimoires: The Covenant librarynever made a point of collecting copies of spellbooks, leading to their relative rarity within the col-lection.

Decaying Collection: Because of climate, ver-min, a Covenant-wide habit of eating while reading,or just plain bad luck, the physical Quality of the col-lection is in inexorable decline. Each time a book isconsulted, roll a stress die with a single botch possi-bility. On a 0 the book’s physical Quality has declinedby one since its last use. On a botch, the book is nowcompletely unusable. This Flaw can be countered tosome extent with labour intensive frequent recopy-ing, though this involves employing extra scribes andlibrarians and in itself risks damageing the originals.

Flaws -3

Double Cost Knowledges: The Covenantlibrary never made a point of collecting works onKnowledges, leading to their relative rarity within thecollection. Note that this Flaw will severely affect alibrary’s subject ratings. This Flaw does not apply toArts, even if using the “Artistic Ability” rules.

So that’s it. Next issue we will move on to anoth-er Covenant Characteristic. Until then, just remem-ber that any day without slaying some uselessly com-plicated Ars Magica sacred cow is at least a partiallywasted one. Really fulfilling days involve the breakingof Ars taboos as well. And keep those ideas coming.I need them, and they can only lead to better here-sies.

Dear AbelardTranslator’s Note:

Dear Abelard is a column devoted to the writingsof an elderly follower of Bonisagus who believedthe best way to fulfill his duty to the Order was toshare all of his advice and research in the form of

written correspondence with a network of readers, carried byRedcaps to magi throughout Mythic Europe. If, through thecourse of your saga or studies, you discover a question that youthink could have at one time been answered by Abelard, pleaseforward it to the editor,

Hermes.Portal@wanadoo.fr or to

dearabelard@yahoo.com

and we will attempt to find a record of his reply.

� � �

Salvete Sodales,My dear and loyal friends, I must beg your for-

giveness for my terseness this season, for a foul spir-it has seized control of my body, and at intervals offour days I feel its cold touch take over my frame. Itis a chilling experience, gentle reader, for as a magusI can see the shape of this ague that besieges me, andyet I am unable to banish him. He is a pale shade,with long nails, and he draws forth my humours evennow, so that I can feel them collect in sweat upon mybrow, and I burn with fiery fever though I am allshivering ice within.

I am frightened, and in pain and worry I havemany times cursed my Arts, for they bring me nocomfort. I can see the quartan that ails me, and I canperceive the imbalance within my blood, but I cannotright it, for such magical physicking is only tempo-

rary, and does not allow me time to heal while itholds my body in place. Neither I nor the other magiwithin my covenant have the skill to banish a spirit ofthis strength, and so it seems I must endure his touchif I am to overcome his influence. I am forced to relyupon more earthly remedies, and thrice a day I drinka tonic of herbs and fortified wine that will eventual-ly sicken and drive away the spirit that assails me, orso I am assured.

I admit that I have been choleric of late, and I didspend much time in the sun during the waning sum-mer. My thoughts became sad and solemn, and I keptto myself as I watched our fair earth again lose its lifeand begin to wilt and wither with the comingautumn. I will not tell you of the unkind thoughtsthat sometimes cross my mind, or of the times I havelied to people in the village, or even the covenant, inorder to keep my secrets and my confidence, butthese transgressions are now foremost among mythoughts. I confess that I do at times covet anddesire, more than for that which I am due (for I amalways wishing to regain the time I have lost, amongother things), and I keep to myself, hiding behind myletters, rather than going forth into the world andhelping others more tangibly in the flesh. These sinsmake me cold and dry, and yellow in color, and fromthis drying field the disease spirits may reap greatharvest. I am certain I deserve this illness, and that ithas come as punishment from God.

Thus, I caution you, my patient reader: live well,but live temperately, seeking moderation and avoid-ing sin. I would wish this awful malady on no oneelse, but my illnesses could easily be yours, if you arenot mindful of your health and spirits.

� � �

Dear Abelard,A season ago, a maga in my covenant of Ricany

was involved in a magical theft, which saw her swapher body with that of another. The body-thief, whowas not a Hermetic mage, managed to get away, leav-ing my sodalis, Aleska, in the thief ’s body. Apartfrom the necessity of getting the body back, we arealso left with two other pressing questions.

Firstly, we have ascertained that it is truly her inthe body, and surprisingly she is still able to performHermetic magic, albeit with difficulty. I was taught bymy parens that one of the Hermetic limits was thatof the Soul, and also learnt that the Gift was con-tained within the soul. What is your more eruditeopinion? My sodalis Elek says that there are twoessences within the body: the Spirit and the Soul,both of which can contain the Gift. According tohim, the Spirit is tied to the Realms of magic and thefae, whereas the Soul is the spark of life granted byGod. My own research has been less fruitful due to arecent calamity that saw the loss of much of ourlibrary (and the great hall to boot!).

Additionally, we are left pondering Aleska’s statusunder Hermetic Law. Neither Elek nor I have anyknowledge of the intricacies of the law. Would yoube able to consult your sodalis Moratamis of Guer-

nicus? Once again, we are unsure on this matter. TheHermetic Oath seems to place importance upon thepresence of the Gift. Is the Oath binding upon thebody or soul, or both? Is there precedent for magibeing in a different body than the one in which theyswore the oath? Can Aleska still vote at Tribunal, andis she protected under the Code?

Yours under the Oath,Alias, follower of Tremere,

member of the Ricany Covenant in A.A. 1359

My dear Alias,Such calamities! My own troubles are nothing

compared to the loss suffered by your sodalis and thedisasters that have befallen your covenant. The thiefmust surely be punished, and I suspect you will findmany of our Order who would be willing to help youdeliver justice. Here we see again the reason for ourfounders’ attempts to introduce all those who prac-tice magic into the Order, for were the miscreant sogoverned, a Hermetic tribunal could address hiscrimes. As things stand now he is a menace, a foxamong the chickens, and because of his magical ploy,any outside assistance must be handled with extremedelicacy and care.

I have asked my good friend Moratamis (towhom I always turn for answers to difficult legalquestions, and who because of the situation was kindenough to waive her usual fee) about her status underthe Code. Things are not going to be easy forwronged Aleska. There are apparently few prece-dents, but generally the Order looks to the body ofthe magus, and not the spirit. Consider those magiwho have died before experiencing Final Twilight,and returned to earth in ghostly spirit form: withouttheir living bodies, they are no longer consideredmembers of the Order. They cannot vote, and theyare not afforded the protections that those withinour society take for granted.

Your enemy, it could be argued, armed as he iswith the body of your sodalis, can exploit all of therights normally accorded to her while he is control-ling her body. Similarly, her situation is perilous, forshe is not protected by the Code, and while it wouldbe a regrettable misunderstanding, none of ourOrder could be faulted or punished for slaying orotherwise treating with her as the hedge wizard sheappears to be. It is as if the thief is magically manip-ulating Aleska while he is trapped in your midst.When the spell ends, or perhaps when he dies, Ales-ka may naturally return to her own body, but I wouldnot risk her life on this experiment.

You ask some very difficult questions concerningthe soul and the spirit. Of course Hermetic magic(and, we must assume, whatever variety of magic thethief practiced) cannot affect Aleska’s immortal soul.Therefore, he cannot exchange his fate for hers, andultimately he will suffer the consequences for hisactions. The soul is the beautiful individual unknow-able self; I cannot begin to speculate whether it con-tains the Gift, or if the Gift is part of the spirit, thebody, or some of all three. It may be that the Gift is

49

part of the body, but that as the thief possessed italso, Aleska may use his in lieu of her own. Or, it maybe that the Gift is part of her spirit and travels withher (this I think more likely, as many of the aspectsof our Gift that animals and others find disturbingare also evidenced by ghosts and magical spirits). TheGift may also be tied to the soul in some way, but wehave no way of knowing the truth until we havejoined with our Creator in the lands beyond the heav-ens.

Let us now turn to a letter that concerns one ofmy previous letters, in essence, and continues ourdiscussion of the practice of certámen and otheraspects of Hermetic law among those of HouseMercere.

� � �

Dear Abelard,Greetings and salutations!I am a member of House Mercere. While humbly

in the performance of my duties, a young member ofanother House came into conflict with me over atrivial matter (the right to cross a narrow bridge). Heinsisted that I resolve the matter through certámen. Iconceded his point and allowed him to have his wayand cross first. I explained that most members of myHouse do not have the Gift necessary to conduct thisduel. I neither confirmed nor denied my ability toengage in the duel.

Later, this same magus attempted to use magicalmeans to interfere with my personal affairs, namelythe recruitment of an apprentice for another mem-ber of my home covenant. I responded in kind anddestroyed a magical item he was using to control thechild in question.

This magus now intends to complain before mytribunal that I refused to engage him in certámen onthe earlier occasion, and that this refusal, not hisfoolish interference in my affairs, cost him his magicitem, and that I should now compensate him for itand deliver the apprentice to his control. He con-tends that, had he known I was Gifted, he wouldhave resolved the matter of the apprentice in a morestraightforward way (through certámen).

I contend that it was part of my duties as a Red-cap to keep obscure the status of my Gift, as well asthe Gift-status of my sibling Redcaps whenever pos-sible, as it adds much to our protection when amongstrangers. If a magus can challenge us to certámenover a trivial matter and thus expose some of thestrengths and weaknesses of a Redcap, the securityof my House — and the Order — would be com-promised significantly.

Even now I refuse to make clear whether Iaccomplished the destruction of his toy with a mag-ic item of my own, or through the exercise of any

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natural Gift. This refusal of course continues to infu-riate my adversary.

Do you believe I acted within the Code and tra-ditions of our Order?

Horrace ex Mercere, Novgorod Tribunal

My dear Horrace,As I wrote in my letter before last, certámen is a

method whereby two mages can settle their differ-ences quickly, instead of the more lengthy means ofresolution involving participation in Tribunal orquaesitorial mediation. Any magus may challengeanother to certámen as a means of resolving a dis-pute, and both parties implicitly agree that the resultsof the contest are binding. There are, of course, oth-er methods of resolving these conflicts.

Translator’s Note: Abelard refers to the letters publishedas Dear Abelard in Hermes’ Portal issue number 4, whichdiscuss the subject of certámen in much greater detail.

These conditions apply also to followers of Mer-cere, even if they cannot engage in certámen. Whilerefusing challenges is frowned upon, I believe it isunderstandable if the magi in question cannotdefend themselves, and Tribunals will probably showleniency in such matters. However, I have heard thatfor this reason (I cannot confirm it in my weakenedstate) many Redcaps enlist friends or associates (orquaesitores, Gifted Redcaps, or other magi devotedto fairness in principle) to act as their champions incertámen. There is not, as far as I can tell, any formalprocedure for this, but it is simple enough to insistupon a champion as part of the terms of the contest,or for the champion to challenge the adversary on hischarge’s behalf when their roles are reversed.

Moratamis, my learned colleague, writes inresponse to your letter: “This magus to whom [Hor-race] caused such consternation seems to have beennettled beyond his faculties. Had he presented hiscase to me, I would have laughed at him. [The Red-cap] conceded the earlier contest, for whatever rea-son, and in any case it had no bearing on the later dis-pute concerning the apprentice…” I have not includ-ed the remainder of Moratamis’s reply, as I do notwish her more spirited tone to offend anyone. How-ever, suffice it to say that she thinks little of his claim.

My opinion is this: you must admit that yourattempts to keep secret whether or not you bear thegift have had their intended effect. Your adversarydoes not know whether or not you have the capacityto perform magic, and therefore he does not knowwhether or not it is effective to challenge you on anytrivial matters that may occur between you. For howlong do you intend to mislead him? I suspect that thismagus will continue to throw pebbles at you, tospeak analogously, until he knows the truth, and youmay come out better if you simply tell him.

I do believe you should be commended for yourrestraint and your thoughtfulness, for you seem toconsider your House and your peers without the Giftin everything you do. I find such consideration quiterefreshing in these troubled times. That said, I cannotconfirm that I think you acted according to the tra-

ditions of the Order, though you seem to have fol-lowed the strict letter of the Code. By refusing toexplain why you conceded the certámen on thebridge, allowing a magus to believe that you do nothave the Gift, you misled him into thinking you wereunable to accept his challenge. I feel this goes againstthe spirit of the Order, for while it is his own faultthat he did not challenge you again on the matter ofthe apprentice, you must admit that you did not actin an entirely straightforward manner during yourdealings with him.

I understand your reasons for wishing to keepyour Gift hidden, if indeed you have it, but I thinkyou will find it is more difficult than it is worth. Forexample, you are aware of the tradition that a Giftedmagus must have reached a certain level of under-standing in every Art before he may take a newapprentice? If you are planning to teach your newapprentice magic, your Tribunal may require ademonstration of your knowledge, and it would beimpossible subsequently to keep your magic a secret.It is true that you could likely teach the child as a nor-mal Redcap for many years without having to answerthe question, but as soon as you wished to beginteaching the Arts, you would have to have increasedyour magical abilities to an acceptable level.

I am, of course, not a member of your House,and you may have traditions and standards of whichI am not aware. Perhaps your Tribunal handles thesequestions differently than mine. If you would takemy advice, though, I suggest that you let go of thissubtlety and deceit and share your talents honestlywith all who have need of them. I believe it would doyour peers a much greater compliment should youperform your good works, magical or otherwise, intheir name and in service to the Order, rather thankeeping them to yourself. Do not hide your lightunder a bushel; God has given you many virtues, andI believe you must make the most of all of them.

Until next issue, my dear readers,Abelard“Dear Abelard” was written by Lanatus, follower

of Bonisagus, and his sodalis Moratamis, follower ofGuernicus. To receive his regular correspondence, orto ask for his advice, please send your name,covenant and Tribunal to Dear Abelard, ScriptorisSocii, Normandy. Your confidentiality will berespected.

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Coming in Issue #7 of

Hermes' Portal

Mythic Academiaby Adam Bank and Jeremiah Genest

Hermetic Law

and the Quaesitoresby David Woods

More Merinita Mysteriesby Scott D. Orr

Holy Animals!by Mike Sloothaak

A New Look at

Experimentationby Kevin Sours

…