Houses of Hermes: Societates Chapter Three: House Jerbiton

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House Jerbiton

The Founder of House Jerbiton, and many of his successors, believed that a great artist designed and constructed the world. The world is beautiful, and contains obvious marks of his process of creation. Those suffi ciently skilled in the creation of beauty can collaborate in this great work. Everyone else has the joy of being a member of his audience.

House Jerbiton’s founding members came from the cities of the Eastern Roman Empire. Its current members see their way of life as an echo of what would have been, had magicians not fl ed the Dominion. They are the custodians of a magical culture that, they hope, will blossom into a civilization.

Each member of House Jerbiton is free to seek or create beauty however she wishes. The role of Primus grants little political power, although the incumbent is skilled at ensuring his wishes are considered. Members of the House often form groups, called leagues, to collaborate.

The History of House Jerbiton

Jerbiton was born in a remote village in the Alps, but taken as an apprentice by a maga from the Imperial East. His tradition’s ancestors are the cosmopolitan magi from the cities of Greece. Jerbiton was sent as an emissary to the forming Order, but for many years the other members of his tradition did not join it. House Jerbiton still feels that the Eastern Empire is its heartland, and has been stunned and angered by the fall of Constantinople in 1204. A new generation of apprentices, trained after the pillaging of the greatest of cities, is about to enter magushood. They represent a new way of being Jerbiton magi.

Flavius of jerbiton, The founder

The Founder was born in a secluded Alpine valley in 729, and was named Flavius. He was a cheerful, pleasant child who particularly enjoyed horse riding. Nearby objects changed color to match his mood. Jerbiton was the son of the ruler of his valley, so he was raised as a minor nobleman.

Jerbiton’s family was of Rhaeto-Roman stock. They were descended from a Roman solider who was granted land in an isolated Alpine valley during the early Imperial period, and the remoteness of their home had preserved this community against the tides of invaders that had washed through the Alps. The Ierbi, as they now call themselves, live much as they have since Roman times, and speak a language that is a deformed descendant of Latin.

Young men from Alpine villages often travel to surrounding countries to seek work as mercenaries, returning with their fortune to fi nd wives and settle as farmers. One such returnee, retired from service with a Thracian magus, recognized Jerbiton’s Gift, and encouraged his parents to send the boy for training. The Thracian magus did not desire an apprentice, but mentioned the boy and his unusual community to his allies. One of them, Bernice of Thessalonica, traveled to the Alps to collect the young Jerbiton, and explore the Rhaeto-Roman culture.

Key Facts Population: Currently 102 magi, 26 of whom live in the Tribunal of the Greater Alps. A wave of apprentices will become magi in the next couple of years. This will increase the number of magi, and reduce their average age, substantially. Domus Magna: Valnastium, a secluded valley in the Greater Alps Tribunal. This covenant currently has 21 members, although nine of them live in chapter houses the covenant owns in Vienna, Constance, Geneva, and outside Saint Gallen. Primus: Andru filius Astrolabe, a charming, effective leader of middle age. Favored Tribunals: The Greater Alps and Thebes, traditionally. In the last century, members of the House have dispersed across the Continent because of the rise of the great cities, the fall of Constantinople, and the fashion for magi reconnecting with their mundane families. motto:. Quae pulchra, placent (“Beauty is all that pleases”). Symbol:. A pennant flown from a tower. The pennant is often marked with the alchemical symbol for mercury.

The League of Iconophiles, the Tradition of the Founder’s Teacher

When the first Christian emperor, Constantine, moved his capital to Constantinople in 330 AD, the Church and Empire persecuted those in the region who had the magical air caused by The Gift. The surviving magi had the Gentle Gift, or sufficient wealth to interact with society through servants. Gently Gifted magi do not suffer the mutual distrust that The Gift causes, so they were able to form a loose society. These magi, involved with mundane culture and living in or near cities, are the ancestors of House Jerbiton.

The magi of the eastern Empire formed alliances called leagues. Each league focused on a single charismatic figure, or a single issue, so they were transient. While the Order was forming, the most powerful was the League of Iconophiles, formed to oppose Emperor Leo III. In 729 Leo III declared that all images of Christ or the saints should be destroyed. He also forbade the display of crosses in places of worship. The Empire’s magi worried that the violation of the sacred places of the Church would weaken the Dominion and give comfort to the Infernal.

The League of Iconophiles opposed the Emperor in several ways. It aided non magi who were part of the broader movement of Iconophiles. It intrigued against the Emperor’s supporters. It performed acts of sabotage against Imperial armies. Finally, its members transported icons to isolated monasteries for storage, waiting for a time when they could again be used in public.

The Apprenticeship of the Founder

Bernice, the Founder’s teacher, took her apprentice to Thessalonica, the second most important city in the Empire, to complete his schooling as a nobleman, and training as a magus. Bernice named her apprentice Flavius Ierbitonis, “the fair haired one of the town of yesterday.” During Jerbiton’s training, the fortunes of the Iconophiles waxed briefly when an iconophilic nobleman seized Constantinople, then waned dramatically when ruthless Imperial reprisals followed.

Jerbiton completed his training and returned home, but returned to Bernice after she suffered a spinal injury in a laboratory accident. While acting as her apprentice and aide, he met Bernice’s allies and their apprentices. Bernice and Jerbiton seem to have preferred magic of deception and illusion.

Valnastium Founded

In 753 the Imperial army began to systematically sack iconophilic monasteries. The icons and relics it seized were burned or thrown into the sea. The League of Iconophiles could not ensure any site within the Empire would remain unmolested, so a coterie of young Iconophiles was dispatched to Jerbiton’s valley. They prepared a repository for relics and icons in the distant West, beyond the reach of the Imperial army.

The Iconophiles dwelt in the villa that was Jerbiton’s childhood home. Their apprentices, following the city-based naming style of the Iconophiles, were said to be “of the House of Jerbiton.” This style of naming later spread to the followers of the other Founders. The covenant they formed is called Valnastium in 1220, and is the domus magna of the House.

The Order of Hermes Forms

Trianoma was unable to convince the Iconophiles to join her new league: they believed it was too geographically diffuse to be effective. Bernice of Thessalonica was unable to travel due to her injury, but was interested enough in the project instruct her protégé, by then usually called Jerbiton, to deliver some of her books to Bonisagus and answer his questions.

This is Only the Beginning The magi of House Jerbiton are fascinated by mundane people and institutions. This chapter does not grapple with the mortal institutions that serve as the crux of urban stories, because other books, particularly Realms of Power: The Divine, City & Guild, and Art and Academe deal with these ideas in greater detail than is possible here. This chapter explores the part of the House’s lifestyle that is alien to mundane institutions, with the understanding that players will steal ideas from the rest of the line to integrate these magi into medieval society. Jerbiton assisted Bonisagus in refining the Arts of Imaginem and Mentem, and helped perfect the system of vocal and gestured guides to spellcasting. He also convinced Bonisagus to name his fields of study the “Arts,” and the capacity to use magic “The Gift.” Bernice of Thessalonica accepted membership in the Order, but died in 763, before the First Tribunal could be held. At the time of the First Tribunal, the League of Iconophiles was still completely engaged in their intrigues against Emperor Constantine V, the son of Leo III. Monasteries continued to be sacked. Icons continued to be burned. Conventions of bishops, filled with Imperial puppets, gave false instructions to the faithful. The Iconophiles were too buzy countering imperial and Infernal forces to pay attention to the musings of a dozen hedge wizards in the Black Forest. Famous Figures Early figures of the House tend to have names that give the place from which they came. Flavius of Jerbiton: The Founder of the House. Believed that beauty is an expression of the love of the Divine, and that art brings the artist and his audience closer to the mind of the Creator. Saw the emerging Hermetic culture as a stunted, sickly thing. Bernice of Thessalonica: The Founder’s teacher, who negotiated with Trianoma to bring some of the magi of the Eastern Empire into the Order of Hermes. Petrus of Verdun: A Primus from the tenth century, who advocated life within mundane communities. During his Primacy, Jerbiton magi abandoned multi-House covenants to live as wealthy citizens near, or in some cases within, major cities. Mattieus of Cherson: A Primus from the 12th century, who saw Jerbiton magi as ambassadors from the Order to mundane rulers. During his tenure, large Jerbiton covenants accepted members from many other Houses, so that almost all Jerbiton magi lived in multi-House covenants. The philosophies of Petrus and Mattieus continue to represent rival conceptions of the role of the House in 1220.

Attitude To the Order

Jerbiton, and the other magi who were members of his household, participated in the Order only as a secondary concern. The Order was an interesting idea, and the Parma Magica was useful, but the future of civilization was being fought for in Constantinople, and none of Jerbiton’s new “sodales” seemed interested. Indeed, the Code said that it was wrong to fight the emperor, aid the Church, or incite the wrath of the Infernal. Although Jerbiton’s followers stayed within the wording of the Code, they continued to materially support their allies in the East. Eventually Jerbiton developed friendships with Bonisagus, Criamon, Mercere, and Tremere, although the youngest Founder betrayed his trust.

In 775, House Tremere invaded the Empire, slaying magi, stealing their treasure, and claiming their vis sources. Conflict with the emperor, the Infernal, and House Tremere was too much for the magi in the north of the Empire. They formed a military alliance called the Theban League, and joined the Order of Hermes under Jerbiton’s nominal leadership. Trained in the Parma Magica, these magi were able to reclaim territory from House Tremere. The Thebans eventually founded the Tribunal that bears their name. One of Jerbiton’s allies, named Pelagius, traveled Europe seeking further recruits. Jerbiton’s coterie became the leaders of a greatly expanded, but almost unstructured, House.

The House After the Founder

Jerbiton died in his sleep, and is buried beside his wife under the Church of Saint Cyprian in Valnastium. In his later years Jerbiton had opposed the increasing influence of House Tremere, with mixed success. Jerbiton’s death allowed the Domination to enter its final phase. Some Jerbiton claim a role in the Sundering. Others, in the Tribunals of Thebes, the Greater Alps, and Novgorod, continue to watch their neighbors in the Transylvanian Tribunal for signs of expansionism.

During the Schism War, from the Primus of Jerbiton’s perspective, a House filled with pagans was annihilated and a House dedicated to tyranny was shattered. House Jerbiton’s members retreated to their strong places or cities and waited for both sides to be too exhausted to fight any longer. House Jerbiton assisted with the period of reconstruction following the war, but privately, the leaders of House felt that it had turned out for the best. This attitude struck even some Jerbiton magi as callous.

In the two centuries following the Schism, various fashions swept through the House. Most Jerbiton magi during this period did not study combat magic. As residents of multi-House covenants, they saw their role as ambassadorial and political, leaving violence to their servants and sodales. This focus on individual interests left the House incapable of concerted action, save during crisis.

The Fall of Constantinople

The fall of Constantinople was an appalling event, which shattered the certainties of educated people throughout Mythic Europe. It destroyed both the sense of destiny within the Empire, and the credibility of the crusading movement. Similarly, the fall of the City as Jerbiton magi still call it, destroyed the House’s arrogant certainty that its members were living in the best possible way. If the House could not prevent the fall of the City, then something was fundamentally wrong with the House.

Andru, the House’s Primus, has used the fall of the City to draw the House’s members away from their personal contemplations. He has rallied the House around its ancient values, hiding precious works from vandals and covert interventionism. A new way of living as a Jerbiton magus is emerging.

The Diaries The Founder was a diarist, but his notes deliberately obscure many important matters. His descendants have studied many of these exclusions, but some have remained unexplained. Two unclear topics include: Miriam, Jerbiton’s Wife: Her cultural group, history. and magical tradition, if any, are completely unclear. She did attend the first Tribunal, but her capacity is not described. The Other “Apostles:” A single line in the diaries indicates, if read a certain way, that the Iconophiles sent three teams of students to create archives like Valnastium. Most Jerbiton magi refuse to believe this, because they believe that the members of the other two groups would have made contact with the House after the final victory of the Iconophiles. Others contend that, lacking the Parma Magica, the other groups may have been destroyed. Some suggest that the other apostles went into Russia, Africa, or along the trade routes into Asia. Ancient Ideas of Beauty Jerbiton’s followers encountered pre-Christian aesthetic ideals retained in Valnastium’s culture. This led to research into ancient forms of artistic expression, and the development of the House’s philosophies of beauty. Valnastium, in 1220, is filled with delightful works of architecture and sculpture that appear completely alien to contemporary mundane artists. Many ancient ideas about what makes art beautiful, like realistic depiction of human models, are not followed in Mythic Europe. The House has tried to gently coax Europe back toward the great secular art of the past, but under the current Primus, this task has been seen as less important than maintaining good relations with the Church, which has unpredictable but often censorious views concerning novel art.

Why Is Constantinople So Important?

Players may have difficulty understanding why the fall of a single city had such powerful impact on European thinking, and on the beliefs of Jerbiton magi. There were three reasons for this.

The Destiny of the World Was Known, Which Provided Emotional Security

Mythic Europeans believe that the world’s history is evolving as ordained by God, toward an outcome predicted in the Book of Revelations. As first enunciated by Eusebius, the Christianized Roman Empire is the tool of God, destined to prepare the world for the Kingdom of Peace, which Jesus will rule after Armageddon.

When Rome fell different people adjusted their beliefs to suit local circumstances. In the West, the role of preparer of the world was given to the Church, and then to the Holy Roman Emperor. In the East, the fall of Rome did not matter, because, decades before, its role had been accepted by New Rome : Constantinople.

There Is No Byzantine Empire

Players may be used to calling the Empire around Constantinople “Byzantium,” but this is a modern convention. Mythic Europeans call the Empire some variant of “Romania,” which means “land of the Romans.”

Most of the Empire’s people are culturally Hellenic, but see themselves as politically Rhomaioi. The Roman Empire, centered on New Rome , is the heir to Augustus and Constantine, and the tool of God on Earth, destined to prepare the world for the Second Coming.

The destruction of the City by crusaders stunned Europe. To Westerners, it demonstrated that something had gone terribly wrong in the crusading movement. To Easterners it was even more shocking: Providence no longer worked as they thought it should. Their unique role in the Divine plan seemed lost. The whole future of the world no longer made sense.

Time Has Not Healed the City

Constantinople had been controlled by non-Romans before, but these Emperors married into the local nobility, took their place in the elaborate rituals of the court, and defended the City. Constantinople healed, and its culture continued. This has not followed the sack of the City during 1204. The Latin Empire was instead created by crusaders who cared only for what they could take. The current Latin Emperor is more interested in the wellbeing of his home, Flanders, than in the City, because it is clear that his Empire is nominal, and that it is the weakest of the four powers feuding for control the Balkans (the other three being the Kingdom of Bulgaria, the Imperial court in exile at Nicea, and the Despotate of Epirus).

Travel to Constantinople Constantinople remains a dangerous environment for magi. It was sacked by an army of excommunicated crusaders, who practiced every depravity after they took the City, so it has many pockets of Infernal influence. Slightly after the conquest, to cover a retreat during civil unrest, some Venetian troops started a fire which they lost control of, burning down half the buildings and leaving thousands of anguished ghosts, many of whom still haunt the streets, killing foreigners. The crusaders’ puppet emperor seized the treasures of the churches, melted down their reliquaries, and sold their relics, profaning many holy places. This has weakened the Dominion, but it is still a formidable obstacle to spellcasting. Characters may still wish to visit the City for many reasons. Suggested stories include: A magus of their House died during the sack, and senior figures in the House now feel it is safe to attempt to recover his remains. A covenant is to be founded there, and characters wish to aid or oppose it. A cache of treasure, left by a magus during the sack, was not recovered, and indications of its whereabouts have come to light. The characters wish to deal with a nobleman involved in the court. This can involve people from a wide variety of countries, because the Empire’s ruling class is extremely diverse. Covenants familiar with Venice, where many covenants maintain townhouses as informal embassies with each other, want to establish a similar system in Constantinople, and call a meeting of interested parties.

The Future, and the Antigones

The Primus convinced many of his sodales to take apprentices in commemoration of the City. These apprentices are often named Constanta or Constantine, and do not change their names when they become magi. This has led to a revival of the idea of second names among Jerbiton magi. This wave of apprentices, who call themselves antigones (“those like their ancestors”), will begin to seek places in covenants over the next two years. Some children whose training had begun before the fall of the City, but who share antigonic ideals, have already become magi.

The beliefs of the antigones represent a generational shift in the attitudes of the House. They are a triumph of the interventionist beliefs that Andru represents over the more passive, aesthetic ways of living found in most magi of his generation. Many apprentices are still trained in the older, more self-absorbed style, but they lack the concerted opinions, drive, and bitter anger of the antigones.

Young magi from this group often bear symbols that express their allegiance to its developing ethos. These include double-headed phoenixes, ash wood accouterments, and unostentatious, gray clothing. Their use of the name “antigone” refers to a character from several Greek plays, who leads her blind father through the wilderness after he has lost his kingdom through his own foolishness.

The antigones are not formally organized, but many know each other, through the House’s practices of tourism and fosterage. Some plan to form large House covenants, which are currently very rare. Others will live among magi from other Houses, but take a far more political role than their elders. One of the Primus’s students, Constanta the Tessellatrix, is extremely active in the coordination of her age-mates.

Émigrés from Constantinople When the City fell many members of its ruling and merchant classes lost their positions. The Order of Hermes, particularly the members of House Jerbiton, has accepted many émigrés as companions. Emigration from Constantinople is a useful background for characters whose players want them to have rare capabilities, like knighthood or glassblowing , with none of the usual social constraints that come with these roles in intact societies. Characters seeking employees for Spring covenants can find emigrant communities in many Mediterranean ports. These communities, which were spread throughout Constantinople’s trade network, have lost much of their wealth and influence since their trade was claimed by the Venetians after the invasion. Some maintain links with the Greek successor states, and because these have greater wealth, they have attracted displaced Constantinopolitans.

Living Tastefully

House Jerbiton is held together by its culture, rather than a political structure. Jerbiton magi live tastefully. Tasteful living usually embraces a series of ideas that have been popular among urban magi since before the beginning of the House. This section examines elements that most Jerbiton magi would agree contribute to tasteful living. Magi from other Houses may also live tastefully — the special interest that Jerbiton magi take in matters of taste is not preclusive.

Seeking Beauty

Beauty has many definitions among Jerbiton magi, and these are often compatible. Beauty is that which pleasantly enlivens the senses. Beauty is that which stirs the higher emotions. Beauty is that which draws the soul closer to the Creator. Beauty is what artists create through expression. The Founder Jerbiton taught that the capacity to sense beauty, like the sensations of cold, saltiness, roughness, or loudness, was provided by the Creator to allow humans to properly interact with their environment. Jerbiton believed that magi had a duty to collaborate with God, and make the world more beautiful. This would make the world, in a fundamental sense, better and more pleasing to God. Jerbiton magi are not required to believe this to be true, but most agree that beauty guides ethical living.

Avoiding Ugliness

Jerbiton magi see ugliness as a mark of the wrongness of something, much like a putrid smell marks food as bad. The philosophy of the Church guides magi in their quest for beauty, by pointing out, as Bernard of Clairvaux does, that inner beauty is more precious than outer beauty. Modern players may have far more restrictive concepts of beauty than Mythic Europeans do. The Romans and Greeks, in whose aesthetic tradition this House continues, saw beauty in a wide range of things. People of other races were beautiful, because of their contrast to Europeans. Signs of aging could be beautiful, if they added character to the appearance. The crack in a gemstone could be beautiful, if it enhanced the luster of the stone. The ability to see the hidden beauty of things is a form of wisdom.

Jerbiton magi know that demons and faeries play with the appearance of beauty. This is because faeries and demons are ugly in essence, and must lie to appear beautiful.

Taste

Taste is best described through analogy. The Creator endowed humans with an instinct for beauty, much as they can sense whether food is rotten or wholesome. Beyond wholesomeness, however, different tasters prefer different flavors of food. Similarly, different people prefer dissimilar things, either across the length of their life, or at various times based on their mood. This capacity, to tell beauty from ugliness, and to prefer a particular style of beauty, is called taste.

Taste is an emotional response, but can be learned, and with training, articulated. Young Jerbiton magi are shown correct manners, exquisite art, and delightful scenery, and taught to discuss them, much as young noblemen are taught the features of regional wines. The ability to articulate taste is a vital social skill for Jerbiton magi.

That even people of good taste vary in their preferences is an important acknowledgment among polite magi. Jerbiton magi live according to their taste. The acknowledgment that something may be in good taste, and yet not be to a particular magus’s taste, allows a space for diplomatic disagreement about deeper issues, such as religion and politics.

Art

Jerbiton taught, and many of his descendants agree, that art requires skill, exercises creativity, and intends to express beauty. This implies that art is something done best by people who have trained to be artists. Art draws on the gifts of the artist, and is therefore a method of associating with the Divine. It also implies that things done primarily for productive ends are not art.

Excellent art requires skill, which is learned, and creativity, which is a gift from God. Some artists are more skilled than other artists, much as some bakers are better than other bakers, and their art is therefore better or worse, at a level stronger than opinion. Many Jerbiton magi develop Finesse or other artistic Abilities. Those who lack talent extend patronage to mundane artists. A character is talented at the discretion of the player: this selection has no mechanical cost, but talent cannot be expressed without a suitable Ability.

Creativity, the capacity to design unique art, cannot be learned. It is an innate gift, granted by God, that finds expression through the skill of the artist. A character creating beauty is acting as an artistic tool wielded by God. Jerbiton magi believe that even poor artists should continue to express their creativity, while developing their skill, because even poor art brings the artist into the hand of God.

Craft, which is functional, is not art. A potter who makes a bowl to carry water, or a mason who builds a wall to hold up a roof, are engaged in craft, rather than art. Many crafters are, however, artists. The decoration of a pot may be artistic, because it is inessential to the function of a vessel. A wall may have decorative features that serve no function but to beautify it. Jerbiton magi similarly differentiate between the magical Arts and spellcraft. Each spell has a function, but each casting of a spell can be beautiful.

Why Are Faeries Ugly? Members of House Jerbiton usually dislike faeries, despite their beauty and artistic prowess, because faeries lack souls. Their outward beauty is just a distraction from inner ugliness. Many faeries are cute and funny, but that’s a deliberate, calculated manipulation of the viewer. They are parasitic animals, an affliction on the human race and an impediment to the spread of civilization. Faeries treat humans as prey, stealing creativity or blood, which is why the Church protects people from them. Demons frequently disguise themselves as faeries, because foolish people commit many sins with the aid of faeries that they would disdain if they suspected their helpers were Infernal. Sex with a faerie is a mortal sin — it is a type of bestiality — but sometimes the partner is really a succubus, which is worse. Most members of the House think useful faeries should be controlled and dangerous faeries should be rendered down for vis. Members of this House are some of the firmest advocates of the idea that it is only illegal to molest faeries if it brings down ruin on members of the Order. This does not endear them to House Merinita.

Places of Beauty

Jerbiton believed that magi, by seeking beauty, would naturally create spaces around themselves that were beautiful. Those followers who share this idea tend to live in estates near cities: close enough for easy access to the city’s services, far enough to minimize the influence of the Dominion. Such followers often invest in magical items that assist rapid travel. Other magi create private places of beauty within cities, or make delightful spaces within multi-House covenants.

As the wild areas of Europe have become increasingly settled, it has become more difficult for magi to arrange private places of beauty near towns. As towns become more powerful, as many did during the 11th century, their agricultural hinterlands become contested zones, disputed between neighboring nobles and the town. This has forced odd alliances between Jerbiton magi and those from Houses that traditionally preserve wilderness, like Bjornaer and Merinita.

Leisure

All the great philosophers agree that a person is not truly free unless he has the right to determine how he spends his time. Mundane philosophers usually express this idea in terms of independent wealth, but most magi can achieve mundane wealth very simply. Jerbiton magi take this further, believing that a maga is not living as she should when constrained by duties to a covenant, or lack of vis. Jerbiton magi in young covenants that make demands on the time of magi or lack sufficient vis strive' to improve their covenants, even at the expense of magical study, until they are rich enough to support magi in the correct way.

In Tribunals where House Jerbiton is strong, it uses its influence to limit the population of magi. This limits conflict over vis. The antigones, described earlier, will rapidly enlarge the House. The desire to have readily available vis, and the comparative anonymity offered by the Gentle Gift, may encourage them to found covenants on the edges of the Order, particularly in Muslim Africa, the Holy Land, and perhaps even places beyond, along the trade routes to the east.

Sufficiency

A magus who feels compelled to study the magical Arts for life is an addict. Jerbiton magi study toward particular goals. When the magus feels that the slight increase in power offered by additional seasons of study is unappealing, he forsakes magical study altogether. Some cease to study for life, while others, discovering new challenges, pursue fresh goals after a hiatus.

Intrigue

Jerbiton magi use their leisure time to live as they like, and for many a favoured pastime is influencing mundane institutions. Jerbiton magi develop networks of supporters using the rules given in the Agencies appendix. Players may, alternatively, use the far simpler rules given in City & Guild for the hire of certain types of unsavory underlings. Jerbiton magi engage in intrigue to support causes they hope will prosper. These can include political and religious movements, but many Jerbiton magi focus their efforts on nurturing their mundane families.

Family

The nurturance of a family and the simple pleasures of life in a community are important anchors for the life of a Jerbiton magus. If a magus was rejected by his birth family, because of the taint of The Gift, he will have found an alternative one. Storyguides wanting to avoid many of the usual tales of lost sisters and troublesome nephews might wish to tuck this family safely among the covenfolk at Valnastium. Players may prefer to design their characters’ families as agencies, as described in the appendix.

Jerbiton magi select apprentices from noble families more frequently than magi of other Houses. The Gentle Gift favors no social class, but lacking an apprentice with that most valued of Virtues, an apprentice from a noble family is preferred to similar apprentice from the peasantry. This can sometimes create confusing circumstances with regard to inheritance.

Magi may not enter into feudal relationships, and so may not inherit land. They may, in some Tribunals, inherit other property, like rights or money, and their children may inherit land in some kingdoms. This system is identical to that used when noblemen enter monasteries, or the priesthood. Children who inherit in lieu of a living parent need a steward, approved by the parent and the child’s liege, who acts as the child’s agent until majority is reached. The Quaesitores are always concerned by these arrangements.

Why Do Many Other Magi Have Such Bad Taste? Many magi who are not from House Jerbiton live in a way that is simply ugly, and thus wrong. Sinful acts are ugly, so violence is often in poor taste. Living a life separated from human interactions is ugly. Being cooped up in a laboratory for many years is, therefore, wrong. The way most Hermetic magi live, in wilderness castles and reviled by mundanes, is a pitiable existence for a person with the wonderful capacity for expression offered by The Gift, although it is rude to point this out. The ugliness prevalent in many other Houses occurs because many of the Founders were unpleasant people who lived in ugly ways, which have become traditional for their descendants. One element of the House’s traditional attitude, that violence is something the rich pay the poor to do, is less popular with the rising generation of Jerbiton magi than their elders. The antigones see this belief, and the dependence it places on servants and magi from other Houses, as the greatest contributor to House Jerbiton’s inability to defend Constantinople from the Fourth Crusade. These younger magi are not, usually, specialized magical warriors, but are far more interested in developing the capacity for aggression than their elders are. For them, indolent luxury is a form of ugliness.

Interference With the Mundanes

Jerbiton magi continually test the boundaries of the Order’s prohibition against meddling with mundanes. The Code’s provision against meddling is virtually unenforceable in the Greater Alps. It is weaker wherever Jerbiton magi are active, and in most Tribunals, it is not interfering with the mundanes to:

• Defend oneself or one’s servants from threatening mundanes, other than by forming alliances with the foe’s enemies.
• Aiding their enemies anonymously is permitted, provided the magus’s identity is never discovered, even by those assisted.
• Correspond or converse with mundanes, or tell them general information about the Order.
• Be identified as a magus, or cast spells before witnesses, provided this doesn’t provoke the mundanes.
• Be involved in commerce, so long as the magical nature of the business is hidden by a mundane servant, who acts as its apparent leader.
• Offer goods or services to noblemen, provided that observers would be unable to tell that the magus was a supporter of that nobleman in his disputes. Kidnap Gifted children.

Nepotism Jerbiton magi often use members of their own families as their agents, as described in the appendix. This allows the magus to use the incidental benefits of their adventures to enrich their family members. More powerful family members, in turn, are more powerful agents. A player engaged in nepotism finds ways of linking the wellbeing of one or more of the character’s family members to the events in each story. This allows the magus to spend Bond Maintenance points, which equal the Adventure experience they receive for the story, on their family members. For the examples given below, imagine a Jerbiton magus from a noble family, with Close Family Ties. His father is a Landed Noble, and his brothers are a Gentleman, a Mercenary Captain, and a Priest. The player could control his brothers indirectly, simply by taking his father as an agent. He chooses instead to take all of them as agents, with a weak Bond representing the time he spent away as an apprentice. During each story, the player finds plausible ways to link the success of the story to the fortunes of his fathers or brothers. This allows them to become more powerful, and strengthens their Bond scores. Nepotism examples might include: The characters defeat a powerful faerie, and the magus arranges the wood it dwelt in to be granted to his brother’s church, hinting that the faerie might come back otherwise. The covenant needs to defeat some bandits, to increase their Reputation with the ruling council of a local town. They destroy the bandits magically, and then hire the magus’s brother’s mercenary company to claim they killed the bandits. This avoids trouble with the Quaesitores (who may wonder if the bandits were hired by the town’s noble rivals), gives a plum job to the mercenary company, increases the loyalty of the mercenaries to the magus’s brother, and improves the Reputation of the covenant with the town council (who know the magi arranged it all) and of the mercenary company with potential employers. The characters meet an excellent minstrel in an inn. He lacks a patron, so the magus directs him to his father’s court, with an introduction. This makes the father’s court more glorious, and gives the father a skilled courtier to send on diplomatic missions. The troupe decides this is too tenuous a connection to the main story, to which the characters were simply traveling when the encounter took place, to allow more than 1 point to be spent on the father’s Bond Strength. Family Reputation Families have reputations, similar to individuals, and characters engaged in nepotism often improve their family’s Reputation. The actions of every character within the family modify the Reputation, and characters may use this Reputation instead of their own, among people who do not personally know the character. That is, people who know that a character is a liar will not be fooled by the family’s Reputation for fair dealing. Characters besmirching family Reputations are dealt with by other members of the family. Characters who hide their family membership can avoid undesired Reputations.

Travel

Jerbiton magi travel for pleasure, but also because it broadens a magus’s repertoire without formal study. This is because a character cannot create a thing she cannot imagine. Magi who travel see things they have never imagined, allowing them to create or mimic a broader range of things. Many Jerbiton magi travel frequently throughout their lives, but arduous travel is best undertaken while young and vigorous. House Jerbiton has two traditions which help to season young magi in this way, fosterage and tourism.

Fosterage

Fosterage occurs when an apprentice is sent to live with a Jerbiton magus other than his master for a few seasons. Masters often make reciprocal fosterage arrangements, each taking the apprentice of the other under their charge. During time away from the laboratory, the apprentice is encouraged to develop familiarity with the mundane language and culture surrounding the fostering covenant. Fostered apprentices also have the opportunity to meet magi from their fostering covenant, which can be enlightening if their home covenant has a different ethos, political structure, or mix of personalities . It is almost a tradition that apprentices from Valnastium are fostered to an urban covenant, and those from other covenants must spend at least a little time in Valnastium.

The Itinerarium

Many Jerbiton magi enjoy travel, and spend a season every few years engaged in sightseeing. The apprentices of these magi accompany their masters, and benefit from this informal tourism. Tourism, particularly disguised as pilgrimage, is popular with the rich of Mythic Europe. The House also sponsors travel by apprentices near the completion of their training. The trip each takes is called the Itinerarium, and is meant to mirror the tour of Greece, Ephesus, Troy, and Egypt undertaken by many young Romans in the Imperial era, providing young magi with a sense of their history and their potential.

The first Itinerarium was an accident. In the tenth century a Jerbiton Archmage named Anna of Naples sent a letter to her sodales. She indicated that her apprentice would be ready to join the House nine months before the annual Ceremony of Welcome. Rather than attend the Ceremony in another Tribunal, she had decided to take her student to Constantinople, and some neighboring sites, for a six-month immersion in the life of the City. The Archmage gave her itinerary of enticing places, and asked if any other magi would like to accompany her. Some attended, but six magi asked if their apprentices could accompany her on her travels instead. She accepted them, in exchange for remunerations and a promise that she would not be held responsible for their misbehavior.

The modern Itinerarium, similarly, is an adventure undertaken by apprentices who are near the completion of their magical studies. The House sponsors the Itinerarium, and selects the official tour guides for the year. The ancient Greek word for tour guide is mystagogue, which the House uses despite the more recent meaning that word has acquired in those Houses that are Mystery Cults. It is an honor to be an official mystagogue.

Informal tours also occur. This splintering of the tourists is a result of the sack of Constantinople, the obvious place for young magi to see the best of art and culture. Lacking Constantinople, tours have gone to many other places; Paris and Italy have become popular. The tour of 1219 compromised, starting in Paris, going over the Alps to Valnastium, then to Venice and Rome.

The House favors the tour for many reasons. It broadens the minds of young magi, providing familiarity with a broad range of new objects. It provides them with a spiritual anchor, by showing them beauty before they enter the flowering of their Arts. It allows the younger members of the House to meet and form personal bonds that will prove significant in Hermetic politics. It allows the apprentices to perform many minor transgressions against tasteful living before they are considered magi, and thus entirely responsible for their actions. It gives practice in the art of traveling unsuspected in cities.

Apprentices from other Houses sometimes attend the tour, which has led to the House sometimes dividing it into two parties, one Gently Gifted, the other not. Apprentices who lack the Gentle Gift mistrust each other. This can be overcome by each wearing a charm that suppresses the negative thoughts evoked by The Gift, or being accompanied by a magus who wraps the apprentice in his Parma Magica. These measures do not prevent negative mundane reactions to the group, so it is more challenging to guide this portion of the tour.

Mappa Mundi In 5 BC, a new monument caused a sensation in Rome. It was a detailed map, 60 feet long and 30 feet high, surrounded by marble pillars on which were chiseled a geographic commentary. This led to the first wave of Roman tourism, the ancient ancestor of House Jerbiton’s Itinerarium. The monument was destroyed, but its most valuable portion survives. When the monument was opened a smaller, but equally precise, version of the map was given to Augustus Caesar. It was cast in solid gold, with gemstones for provincial capitals. Many magi of 1220 would pay a fortune for the map. On a symbolic level, the gold map was given to the first Roman Emperor as the owner’s deed to the Roman world, so House Tremere would like it simply for the sentiment. As a shape for enchantment as a magical device, the map would offer unequalled bonuses for many effects, so older members of House Verditius would compete for it. It may also act as an Arcane Connection to all of the places named, or marked with gemstones, making it very useful to House Mercere and Jerbiton, who travel so often. Some pagan magi, particularly from the Houses of Merinita and Ex Miscellanea, claim that the Dominion exists because the Pope has the Golden Map. This is false in the core setting, but that would not stop them from paying well for it.

Paradoxography

After the Itinerarium, it is traditional for a young magus to express his experiences in a letter to his intimates. Over time, it has become fashionable to fill these letters with a mixture of actual events and humorous, convincing lies. By creating these documents, young Jerbiton magi enter the game of symbols that serves as the foundation for the House’s languages of etiquette. Older Jerbiton magi read collections of paradoxographia as an amusement. Some even create paradoxographia after particularly interesting journies.

Reading or writing paradoxographia is a simple leisure activity. It requires no time away from laboratory work, and offers no experience points.

Story Seed: Paradoxographia A murder victim was recently found near a pilgrimage route. He was given Christian burial, but because he had the distinctive clothes of a magician, a knowledgeable merchant passed the story on to a Redcap, who has recovered the body under the pretext of being a family member. The Redcap was also able to recover the deceased’s grave goods, and sewn into the hem of his shirt was a line of 28 small seeds that each contain vis. The magus was young, and the only clue concerning the location of this vis source, and perhaps his murderer, is a paradoxographic letter he sent to his teacher. Characters must find his vis source by following his route and trying to construct real places, people, and situations from the murder victim’s parodies. When they find the vis source, they may also find clues to the murderer’s identity.

Display

Jerbiton magi believe that it is the duty of magi to dress in a way that allows other people to recognize, and respond to, their status. This prevents magi from being treated rudely by accident, making life more pleasant for everyone. It also allows magi who do not wish their status to be discerned to hide more easily, by removing the symbols associated with magi.

Dress

Most Jerbiton magi who wish to display their status to mundanes wear robes of fine fabric and expensive colors. They avoid purple, because it has Imperial connotations, so woad blue is popular. The robes of each magus have a personal design, but it is these designs that lead to the common impression that magicians dress like scholars, but have stars on their robes. Jerbiton magi sometimes wear liberty caps (pointy wizard hats) because this symbol of magushood has been widely spread by House Mercere. They do not, however, wear red ones. Jerbiton magi like being asked to leave a worthless staff behind when negotiating with mundane potentates, so the idea that magi are weaker without their staffs is popular in Mythic Europe, while the existence of wands is little known.

Servants are an important part of the display required of the rich and powerful. A magus surrounded by grogs demonstrates both the wealth required to support a retinue and the possibility of violence as a method of ensuring his wishes are followed. Tatty equipment and unskilled grogs make a magus look weak and silly, so Jerbiton magi ensure that their servants are well equipped.

Animals

Animals are an important part of the display required by the rich. Horses, for example, are significant to Jerbiton magi. They symbolize wealth, because they are expensive to maintain, and warfare, because they are used for mounted combat. Horses are also widely known to refuse to carry wizards, so riding one is a useful way of hiding the magus’s status.

Every class of person in Mythic Europe has a particular raptor assigned to them, for the sport of falconry. The correct bird for magi, according to House Jerbiton, is the lammergeyer (bearded vulture). These birds usually have deep orange plumage, gained by rubbing themselves on ironrich rocks. Those living near covenants develop a wide variety of alternative colors. Lammergeyers prefer to eat the small bones of medium sized animals, which they swallow whole. The bones of lammergeyers are particularly good for making magical flutes.

Jerbiton magi rarely have hounds, the other animal used to display wealth, because cats descended from the Founder’s familiar often reside with them instead. Cats of the Black Lineage are intelligent and understand human language, although only a few can vocalize human sounds. Many have Second Sight. They live, on average, for 40 years. The cats have a parliament, and elect a monarch. Each cat adopts a family, and some young cats are selected for training as familiars. The cats are capable of a form of hedge magic, described in Realms of Power: Magic. The current Jerbiton Primus’s familiar, Crucifixio, is not the King of the Cats, but may well become so when the current king, his mentor, dies.

Etiquette

The rules of etiquette are not arbitrary, although they can be obscure. They are designed to assist persons of quality to interact smoothly. Etiquette is also used to separate those who have been trained in proper behavior from those who merely aspire to it. Etiquette regulates, codifies and encourages communication between participants in events.

Characters skilled in etiquette can use a bewildering variety of symbolic languages to convey messages to each other. Some of these languages have been codified, so that any Hermetic magus skilled in etiquette can explain the subtle messages that may be conveyed by the selection of different flowers given in a posy, or the serving of different dishes to various guests at a formal dinner. Other messages are conveyed by reference to adjoining symbols in famous works of art, or snatches from obscure poems. The challenge, which if met is considered admirable by Jerbiton magi, is for a person engaged in such communication to merge the clarity of the message’s expression with the beauty of its encapsulation.

Characters who gather for an event are able to use their skill in Etiquette for three types of performance. They may attempt to claim central place in the memories others have of the event. They may use their skill to force rivals to make mistakes. Finally, they may work to ensure an evening goes smoothly. An observer watching a participant is able to determine which style of performance he is undertaking with an Intelligence + Etiquette roll against an Ease Factor of 3.

Individual

A character wishing to make an individual impression at an event makes a Communication + Etiquette roll. The Ease Factor for this roll is set by the host, who uses his control over the flow of events to determine how lax or precise the etiquette of participants must be. At minimum this is 6, but can be as high as 21. A failure represents a forgivable, but poor, performance. A botch represents a serious faux pas. If a character’s successful roll is better than that of any other participant, she is the most memorable person to attend, and gains experience points toward a suitable Reputation. A character may give a successful roll to another person. For example, a guest may give their result to the host, so that the host’s party, rather than the guest, is remembered, and the host gains Reputation experience.

Competitive

Two people attempting to make fools of each other, while not breaching the rules of etiquette directly, can be amusing to observe. Each participant in an etiquette duel chooses a penalty before the Communication + Etiquette rolls described above are made, which represents how rude he is willing to be to place his rival at disadvantage. A participant cannot choose a penalty greater than his Etiquette score. The results of the two rolls are compared, to see who fared better, in the game of subtle snub and faint insult.

The sum of both selected penalties is subtracted from the standard Etiquette roll of both individuals. This substantial negative modifier may cause both participants to fail their rolls, in which case both look foolish. If one fails, and the other succeeds, then the failure looks boorish. If both succeed, the one with the greater roll can take satisfaction that he got the better of the exchange. Characters who fail etiquette duels may develop poor Reputations.

Collaborative

Collaborative etiquette is used when several people attend an event with the intention that it should be a success, regardless of personal aggrandizement. In this case, the rolls of all participants are added together, to create a score that is compared to the scores for similar events given in the past. A person who botches during such an event reduces the score by 10, and may develop a poor Reputation. Hosting a successful event improves a character’s Reputation, and attending allows a character to develop social contacts that may prove useful in later stories.

The commonest large event, among magi, is the Tribunal Feast, sponsored by the League of Gastronomers, described below. It usually has around 50 participants. The average feast has a collaborative Etiquette score of 445. That is, the average Communication + Etiquette score of participants is 4, the average magus rolls a 5, and one person botches in an evening, so [50 x (4 + 5)] –10, with an additional +5 bonus for gifts, which are described below.

The appointment of a new Primus is rarely a purely collaborative event, but in such cases, around 90 magi participate, and have a Communication + Etiquette average of 3. Assuming the average mage rolls a 5, and one participant botches, this is [90 x (3 + 5)] – 10, for a score of 710.

The average symposium, a sort of dinner and debate held by Jerbiton magi as a social event before Tribunals, has 12 par ticipants, with an average Communication + Etiquette of 4. Assuming no attendee botches, all roll an average of 5, and the host gives two gifts as described below, this provides [12 x (4 + 5)] +2, for a total of 83. Excellent hosts find ways to give better gifts, or recruit guests with higher Communication + Etiquette totals, to improve this number toward 100, which is considered an excellent party. Having more than 11 guests, plus the host, is considered cheating.

Money and Good Manners

A mundane character making an Etiquette roll may add to the roll by spending money on materials given up as part of the Etiquette check. This represents gifts given to a host, donations made to causes to shame a rival, bets placed with spectators, sumptuous food offered, costumes purchased, rooms rented, and fine wines consumed. The bonus is equal to +1 for each time the character spends the weekly income of all of his guests. A character cannot gain a bonus higher than his Etiquette score by spending money.

The loss of money represents the character purchasing particular items that have been sanctified by time as suitable for this style of competition. The selection of costume, gifts, food, and location all have complex associated rules of appropriateness that the character must follow. Collecting suitable items for an Etiquette check takes time: a character living in a city can spend no more than one pound per day, while one living outside a city must travel to one, or send a skilled procurer.

Magi cannot impress other magi with items that are mere expressions of wealth. Magi may find or procure rare and relevant items during stories. They frequently store items suitable for Etiquette check bonuses for many years, waiting for the perfect moment, and perfect recipient. Some Jerbiton magi barter these items with each other, or leave these items as gifts to their filii at death. A gift of this type grants a bonus of between +1 and +5 to the Etiquette check, with the highest score representing unique items that perfectly match the desires of the recipient.

An Intelligence + Order of Hermes Lore + Reputation (of the receiver) roll against an Ease Factor of . .

• . . . 6 tells a magus what sorts of gifts are appropriate for another magus. For example, whether the magus is known to collect a certain type of art, or books by a certain author. Conversely, this result also tells a magus which magi are likely to want an unusual item found during a story
• . . . . 9 refines the above information, telling the giver what items within that range of gifts are considered particularly common or precious by collectors of similar material. For example, a magus might learn that copies of the author Lucian’s True Story are considered less precious than copies of his Lovers of Lies among Bonisagus magi, but that Jerbiton magi esteem the first higher than the second. This level of result also allows a magus to select a single magus most likely to value an exceptional item found during a story. For example, if the PC magi defeat a magical tortoise and take its shield-sized shell, this result tells them that Martial of Tytalus collects turtle shells inscribed with bellicose Latin quotations.
• . . . 12 refines the information yet further, so that a magus can define the perfect gift to give to a particular magus, or know that the item they are holding is the perfect gift for a particular magus, if such a magus is active in Hermetic society.

When giving gifts to mundane people, Intrigue may be used in lieu of Order of Hermes Lore.

The Great Feasts The Gastronomers, described below, hold great feasts under strict rules of collaborative etiquette. They have common feasts regularly, but they also hold occasional, exceptional meetings. The most frequent exceptional feasts are the Tribunicals, held at Durenmar every 33 years to accompany the Grand Tribunal. The next is due in 1228. The Seculars are held every 120 years: they take their name from a Roman measurement of time. A secular is the time it takes for all of the witnesses to an event, in this case the founding of the Order, to die. Among the Romans this was set at 90 years, but the Order uses a longer duration. The next is due in 1247, although there is some discussion of canceling it, because of the unprecedented feast that will follow in 1248. In 1248, the Order will celebrate the 2,000th anniversary of the founding of Rome. A feast of unprecedented opulence and size will be hosted by the magus who most impresses the other Gastronomers during an annual feast between 1218 and 1228, as decided at the tribunical feast in that year. During the 20 years that follow, the host, aided by all Gastronomers, will be expected to arrange the grandest celebration in the Order’s history. Perhaps it will be held at the very dawn of the year, so that the secular and millennial feasts flow together. Others hope that a defeated rival for the millennial feast is offered the secular feast, so that the two enter a competitive etiquette duel for 20 years, trying to outshine each other to the benefit of all other magi.

Hermetic Courtesy and Hospitality

Members of this House have a code of conduct for visiting those areas under the control of other Jerbiton magi. It is considered a serious offence to vary from this code, and such departure is sufficient for Jerbiton magi — although not others — to consider themselves deliberately insulted. Hospitality places obligations on the host and visitor. To comply with the code of conduct, guests must:

• Announce their arrival
• Introduce themselves
• State the reason for their visit, and the things they intend to do
• Indicate when the visit will end
• Leave immediately, if asked
• Offer a small gift, which is not payment for hospitality
• Aid the host, if difficulty ensues during the stay
• Be amusing
• Not leave without informing the host

The host must:

• Clearly either offer hospitality or decline it, so that the arrival knows if he is a guest
• Offer the guest good counsel, particularly of dangers in the region, taking particular note of the guest’s intended activities
• Offer food and wine, and a place to sleep
• Offer a small gift, which is compared with the gift of the guest, imbalances creating debts of honor
• Be amusing
• Protect the guest from harm

It is rude to refuse to offer hospitality, but it is also rude to demand it. Jerbiton magi intending to visit each other often send a Redcap ahead, to ensure they will be welcome.

Such Structure as the House Has

House Jerbiton is held together by a sense of difference from the magi of other Houses, mutual interest in each other’s activities, and the charisma of its informal leaders. The Primus acts an ideological, rather than political, force within the House. Valnastium is the only large House covenant. Most Jerbiton magi are members of smaller organizations within the House, called leagues, which are clubs for magi sharing similar tastes or ambitions.

The Primus

The Primus of House Jerbiton has few formal powers. The Primus has sole authority to grant any magus residency in the covenant of Valnastium and to offer or deny membership of the House. The Steward of the House, its administrator between primacies, is a resident of Valnastium, and is therefore appointed or dismissed at the Primus’s whim. Valnastium is a very wealthy covenant, and the Primus may spend a portion of its resources on personal projects. The Primus may attend the Grand Tribunal to speak for the House. These and some ceremonial rights aside, the Primus is much like any popular Jerbiton magus. The Primus rules for life, but is required to live for the majority of his time in Valnastium, so many have resigned to pursue other interests.

Electing the Primus

A new Primus is elected when the previous holder of the office dies, abdicates, is dismissed, or is missing for more than a year. At such a time, the Steward of the House sends letters to all Jerbiton magi, inviting them to Valnastium for the election. The Steward chooses a time for the meeting, but the delay is never longer than a year. Any member of the House may nominate any other member, and may technically nominate members of other Houses although such candidates have never been elected. The nominator praises the candidate, and then lays his sigil at the candidate’s feet, if present.

Jerbiton magi sometimes honor their elderly sodales by nominating them for the role of the Primus, despite knowing that they will decline candidacy. The Steward is careful, in these situations, to not permit the elderly magus to decline the offer until all of the nominators have spoken. This allows the nominators to heap a great pile of sigils before the magus’s feet, and is an example of collaborative etiquette.

After all nominations have been made, and accepted or declined, a series of votes is taken at hourly intervals. The candidate, or candidates, with the fewest number of votes is removed from the pool of nominees at each ballot. Declined nominations do not affect the series of votes, because these nominees are not considered. A maximum of fourteen hourly ballots are taken in a day.

On the few occasions when there are many accepted nominations, much of the first day is spent weeding through unpopular candidates. Between votes magi may engage in politics. When it is clear that a wasteful day is inevitable, young magi who are performance artists arrange impromptu entertainment for their sodales and gain Reputations. Unpopular candidates usually prefer to decline nomination, rather than gain a handful of votes and be eliminated, so these wasted days rarely occur.

Each Jerbiton magus has a single vote per ballot. Magi unwilling to attend the election may give their sigil, and written voting instructions, to any Hermetic magus, provided the proxy is witnessed by a Quaesitor. The House has a tradition, borrowed from the Papacy, that the Primus is not required to honor any promise made while campaigning for the position, although this would probably not be validated if a case came before a Tribunal.

The Primus can be dismissed by one-third of the members of the House requesting that he resign. These petitions are presented at the Festival of Welcome held annually in the Greater Alps Tribunal to celebrate the graduation of apprentices for that year. Successful dismissals are extremely rare. Petitions on other matters are also presented at this time, and are more common. Popular petitions do not bind the Primus, but usually convince her to negotiate with the petition’s sponsors.

The Current Primus and His Family

Andru became Primus at the age of 43, in 1182. Many Jerbiton Primi are surprisingly young, because the role is rarely sought by the House’s senior magi. Their places of beauty, networks of agents, and interests are elsewhere. Andru’s election was assisted by his fame among his housemates.

Andru discovered the site of Akrotiri, an ancient city buried in volcanic ash on the island of Thera (Santorini). Thera’s people had discovered many magical and technological secrets, were enormously wealthy, and produced many beautiful works of art. Andru was able to recover several of these. He has since suspended his work on Akrotiri, because the island is infested with vampires, and his skill at combat does not suffice to secure and maintain an excavation.

He is tall, muscular, and clean-shaven. His hair is dark and curled, worn short. He appears dignified when speaking to large groups of people, but is warmer when conversing with individuals. His most difficult spells are all illusions. Andru’s familiar, a small aristocratic cat named Crucifixo, travels with him. Andru has the Gentle Gift, the True Love Virtue, and always carries a flame-red wedding veil, which is his talisman.

Andru’s wife, Carmine filia Susannah of House Flambeau, acts as hostess for visitors to Valnastium. She is of mixed Iberian ancestry. Carmine follows the School of Sebastian within House Flambeau, has magic focused on molten metal, and assists House Jerbiton when situations require extreme violence. She has the True Love Virtue, and has a ring as her talisman. She is also a muse , per the new Virtue described below.

Andrus and Carmine’s children are middle-aged. They have grandchildren in their 20s. None of Andru and Carmine’s descendants have The Gift, but some have been trained as autocrats, scribes, priests, and librarians. Several have left the valley, to seek their fortune in the outside world.

The Primus’s Policies

Andru’s primacy is conciliatory and appears conservative, but may radicalize the House. He drew House Jerbiton away from the ideological fancies of his predecessors, either for complete withdrawal from the Order into urban life or as the Order’s ambassadors to every troublesome nobleman. The House, under Andru’s early Primacy, re-centered itself on allowing its members to live as they wished, seeking beauty to their taste.

Andru initially appeared content to raise his young family, resolve minor disputes, and restore some of the buildings in Valnastium. He also sought out Islamic and Jewish thinkers. He hoped to allow his Housemates to travel to great centers of Islamic learning, like Ishafan in Persia. Subsequent events make it clear that he was developing a network of correspondents and agents throughout Europe during this time. Having established that Jerbiton magi should not shun each other based on matters of taste, Andru tried to convince his Housemates to collaborate toward mundane political goals, with little success beyond his immediate circle of friends.

For the members of House Jerbiton, the fall of Constantinople was shocking. Andru rallied many other Jerbiton magi around a campaign to preserve the artistic legacy of the City. Andru’s allies have also become far more active in the political life of the Latin Empire, the Nicean court in exile, and the Venetian Republic. He maintains a personal grudge against the Italian town of Amalfi, whose bishop stole the relics of Saint Andrew from Constantinople in 1210. In the last 15 years, Andru has become a powerful, ideological force within his House, and his influence will become only stronger when the apprentices taken after the destruction of Constantinople become magi.

Andru’s policy toward the nobility of Europe has overt and covert elements. He favors contact with senior mundanes, stressing the benefits of cooperation, and explaining the Code’s limitations on Hermetic intervention. He also maintains a network of agents, who assist him with important matters.

The Primus’s policy toward the Church is straightforward, but mired in details. Andru is hoping to demonstrate that The Gift is a charism, a gift given by God and stamped upon the soul, like the others mentioned, in a non-exclusive list, in the Bible. House Jerbiton gives covert assistance to any research into the source of The Gift. The hostility between the Eastern and Western halves of the Church is so intense that a victory in one half might lead to condemnation in the other, unless the matter is handled carefully. Lacking proof of The Gift’s Divine origin, Andru encourages churchmen to judge magi by their acts.

Societates Valnastium

Valnastium is a picturesque Alpine valley, made more beautiful by generations of tinkering by magi. Its weather is regulated with magic, and its entrance is hidden from those the covenant considers undesirable visitors. Powerful mystical defenses, dating from the Schism War, would give most assailants pause. The little villages of the valley, and the town that surrounds Jerbiton’s villa, have almost 1,000 residents.

During the early years of the House, each Primus built a palace in Valnastium’s main town, about its central plaza. When Petrus of Verdun encouraged his sodales to leave the House covenants and embrace urban life, many palaces were given to the covenfolk. Most are now either the residences of extended families of favored servants, or used as public buildings, like the hospital, tavern, and bakery. The Primus lives in the little villa on the hill, as the Founder did. Most magi have rooms about the town, but have their laboratories in the covenant’s extensive gardens. One section of the gardens also contains the graves of many Jerbiton magi. These elaborate, enchanted monuments commemorate significant events in each magus’s life.

Valnastium’s library is a genuine Museum — a temple of the Muses — moved magically from Greece. The Founder carried it to his valley because he believed, correctly, that its presence would create a Magic aura in which he could build his laboratory. The aura of Valnastium is higher than it was in the Founder’s lifetime, having a value of 3 in most areas, but the presence of the Church of Saint Cyprian has prevented it from developing further, despite the age and size of the covenant. Much of the valley has a Divine aura of 2, rising to 6 at Saint Cyprian’s.

Valnastium’s library is the finest in the Order for research into many mundane matters. It has a guesthouse, for the many visitors it attracts, and for the Redcap who carries the many letters requesting answers of the librarians. Failed apprentices, from all over Europe, are sometimes sent to the library for training.

Rhaetian Valnastium’s mundane residents speak a Rhaetian dialect bought to the area by Roman settlers. A character with a score of 5 in Rhaetian can speak to a person who knows Latin as if he had a score of 2 in that language, and Latin speakers may converse with similar ease with Rhaetian speakers.

League Membership

Jerbiton magi form groups, called leagues, based on similarity of interest, driven by the charisma of temporary leaders. Most leagues are small, between five and 20 members, but some, like the Gastronomers, have many more. Some leagues continue intergenerationally, but many others complete a single task and then dissolve. A Jerbiton magus may join many leagues and participate with greater passion in some than others. Many leagues accept members from other Houses, if Jerbiton magi guarantee they can behave tastefully. The largest leagues all have members from other Houses.

The leagues also allow House Jerbiton to stretch its ethos to include magi from traditions that do not venerate beauty, who have joined the House for political or philosophical reasons. In other Houses, for example, an exile from House Criamon might found a lineage of successors. In House Jerbiton the exiled Criamon maga, and her students, would form the nucleus of a new league dedicated to seeking beauty in a certain way, or exploring a particular facet of the magical Arts. Interesting new leagues are rapidly joined by other Jerbiton magi, interested in collaboration. The new league will soon find a way to describe what it is doing it terms of the search for beauty, because beauty is a matter of taste.

Jerbiton magi have such wide interests that players should not feel constrained to select a league from one of the examples given later. Players designing Jerbiton magi should discuss league membership with their troupes. Troupes may find it convenient to arrange their sagas so that a Jerbiton magus, regardless of the number of leagues he is involved in, only has a leaguerelated story about as often as characters from other houses are required to fulfill their obligations.

Designing a League

Players attach their characters to leagues so that they are involved in stories suited to the league’s activities, and to gain advantages used in other stories. A troupe should consider these motives when selecting the following advantages for their league.

Desired Stories: Players use league membership to differentiate the Jerbiton magi that they play, to provide novel experiences. The same character, if in different leagues, would participate in stories that differ not just in plot, but also in style and genre.

Connections to Senior Magi: The activities of a league allow the magus to develop social connections with its leader and senior members. If the league is focused on a task, the character may also be able to find material support for his plans. The troupe may prefer to channel most of the league’s assistance to the character through a single, senior figure, who can be developed as stories progress. Headquarters: Many leagues have property for use in common by the members. This can include a headquarters, library, workshop, laboratory, or many other things. Membership of the league lets the character access this resource, although there may be a waiting list, or seniority system that rations access. Troupes can also ration access by stating that the league’s communal facilities are far from the troupe’s covenant.

Reputation Bonus: Two characters who are in the same league have probably heard of each other, and may be familiar with each others’ work. All Reputations act as if they were 3 points higher, between colleagues. The character’s higher Reputation with colleagues ensures he is a preferred recipient of invitations to events with limited numbers of participants. This is reflected by choosing members of the league as suppliers of information, materials, and influence in other stories.

Assistance: The members of a league often collaborate on a single piece, or task. Members are expected to assist each other in the completion of such magnificent works. These works are often called “homages” and are dedicated to the memory of an influential member of the league who the others wish to honor.

Obscure Name: Most Leagues have a name that refers only indirectly to its members concerns. Example: A player wants his character to be a member of a league that calls up the ghosts of ancient artists to question them concerning their vision and techniques. The troupe’s members decide the character’s primary contact will be an older magus specialized in Mentem magic, who will be fleshed out as stories progress. They chose the Mausoleum of Herlicarnasus as the group’s headquarters, because it is an epic site and distant from their covenant. They decide that the homages that this group performs involve constructing tombs, or searching for them. The league needs a name, so they call it The Singers in Hollow Rooms.

Example Leagues

The Daughters of Echo: This group is interested in magical methods of recording and reproducing events. They often dispatch magi to seek out unique performances or events. These magi must often act inconspicuously among mundanes, and negotiate for access with faeries and spirits. This league’s leader is a Merinita maga who lives near Burnfoot, in Hibernia. Members of this league support each other by trading recordings and subscribing missions to record great events and artistic performances. The Maze of Singing Mirrors, where a copy of all the recordings made by the Daughters of Echo is kept, also sells copies to Jerbiton magi unable to attend performances.

The Gastronomers: Members of this League take turns to host an annual, lavish party. Stories for this league are based on politics, favors, and esteem, but lack the bitter, violent edge of similar stories told in other Houses. The league is led by whomever will hold the next party, and its members often assist each other to gather ingredients, secure entertainment, and make the venue, which is always unusual, safe. Some members begin preparation for their party years in advance. Particularly popular with magi from outside the House, this is arguably the largest league.

The Keepers of the Pearl of Great Price: This league’s members surreptitiously stave off poverty in large cities. Stories for this league involve travel and doing good by stealth. They believe that famine causes the collapse of civilized ways of thinking, and provides opportunities for the Infernal.

The Keepers had their headquarters in Constantinople, but the crusaders sacked it. The group has been effectively leaderless for 16 years, with three prominent members claiming that they should serve as leader. Many of the younger members of the league recently presented a petition to the Primus of House Jerbiton. They will acknowledge as leader whichever claimant recovers the magical sacks, sieves, and millstones that were lost when the City fell.

The Humble Brethren: This group tries to influence the politics of the College of Cardinals, to limit the possibility of a fiercely anti-magical candidate becoming Pope. The Humble Brethren are based in Rome, and includes the mistresses of four Cardinals, one of whom is always its leader.

The New Iconophiles: This group is attempting recover the artistic treasures of Constantinople. Their stories often involve delving into ruins, burglary, and physical combat, or its skilled avoidance. The Primus leads them, ideologically, although most of this league’s members act on their own recognizance. This group helps each other identify pilfered relics and artwork, then steal them. This group is based in Valnastium.

The Ponderers of Weight and Distance: This league’s members are primarily merchants, and are interested in gaining money through mundane trade. Members claim this allows them to sponsor great works of art, and some claim to delight in the complexities of the movement of people and materials, particularly as they affect political structures in mundane courts, as a sort of performance art. This group enjoy the way that life in courts can be upset in interesting ways by adding or removing money from the economy, and the Quaesitores have cautioned them against further experiments based on causing sudden, mundane wealth in the courts of small kingdoms, by ensuring exceptional harvests. Their meddling also annoys other leagues, who see their work as capricious and likely to ruin carefully laid plans. They claim not to have a leader, and seem to be based in the Rhineland.

The Silent Ones: This group is dedicated to integrating the Silent Magic and Subtle Magic Virtues into standard Hermetic practice, believing this will aid magi to live inconspicuously. The league has a Bonisagus magus as its leader, and has its headquarters at his covenant. Their original research is only in its preliminary stages. Members of this group sometimes help each other find and interview urban hedge magicians. Members of this league seek guaranteed research Insight in the works of past magi, and among the musical traditions of House Ex Miscellanea.

The Single Ocean: This league explores the cities of the Levant and North Africa, and seeks peaceful relationships with Jewish and Muslim sorcerers. This league’s stories involve strange places, odd customs, and danger far from re-supply. They are led by Edward the White, a magus skilled in the magic of the sea and famed for his unsuccessful attempts to find Atlantis. This league’s headquarters are technically in Ireland, but effectively they are wherever Edward berths his enchanted ship. This work is dangerous, so instead of homages, this group stages rescues.

The Viticulturalists: This group believes that peasant life has virtue, and engage in magically assisted manorial agriculture. Sabina of the Seine, a relatively young maga, leads them, but they lack a headquarters, meeting when Jerbiton magi gather for Tribunals or Ceremonies of Welcome. Sabina keeps the group’s collection of casting tablets for rituals with agricultural uses, like improving soil, controlling weather, raising fences, and branding herds. Members of the Viticulturalists visit each other’s estates very frequently, so they are suited to stories where the player character just happens to be in the area, and will move on afterward, for example, classic English murder mysteries.

Societates Design Notes for Jerbiton Magi

Members of House Jerbiton can live as they wish, and seek beauty as they desire. The culture of their House is, arguably, the least constraining of all of the Houses. The flexible structure of House Jerbiton can leave new players overwhelmed with choices when designing a new magus. This section gives advice, to assist storyguides and players to narrow their choices down into a single character concept.

Less Intelligent Magi?

Sagas vary concerning the prevalence of The Gift. In sagas where The Gift is rare, and mundane hostility to magi is acute, House Jerbiton’s magi may select apprentices with serious Flaws, provided they have the Gentle Gift. As an example, the usual Intelligence score for magi described in earlier supplements is +3. An Intelligence score less than +3 reflects a premium placed upon Gentle Giftedness by masters in House Jerbiton. As a counterbalance, these apprentices are often healthier and more charismatic than their sodales from other Houses.

Free Virtue

Players of Jerbiton magi are allowed to select for themselves the Free Virtue their character acquires for being a member of the House. This choice is limited to Minor Virtues that relate to scholarship, art, or interacting with people. Suitable virtues from ArM5 include: Affinity with Ability, Apt Student, Book Learner, Cautious with Ability, Educated, Enchanting Music, Free Expression, Good Teacher, Gossip, Inspirational, Learn (Ability) From Mistakes, Light Touch, Long Winded, Piercing Gaze, Privileged Upbringing, Protection, Puissant (Ability), Social Contacts, Temporal Influence, Troupe Upbringing, True Love, Venus’s Blessing, and Well-traveled.

Many of these Virtues require the player to select an affected Ability. Suitable choices include (Area) Lore, Artes Liberales, Bargain, Carouse, Charm, Civil and Cannon Law, Common Law, Craft (any related to art), (Dead Language), Enchanting Music, Etiquette, Folk Ken, Guile, Infernal Lore, Intrigue, Leadership, Legerdemain, (Living Language), Magic Lore, Music, (Organization) Lore, Philosophae, Profession (any artistic), andT heology. If a character has a Virtue linked to an Ability, the magus does not lose this advantage when the Ability is used on non-mundane people, like grogs, magi, or companions.

Favored Virtues and Flaws

This section highlights groups of Virtues that suit lifestyles enjoyed by many Jerbiton magi. In addition to those Virtues specifically mentioned, players should consider how the Ability-related Virtues might assist their characters. The Abilityrelated Virtues are: Affinity with Ability, Cautious with Ability, Learn (Ability) From Mistakes, and Puissant (Ability). Special Circumstances is also so general that it could prove useful for any lifestyle.

• The Gentle Gift is the most prized Virtue in the House, and Jerbiton magi go to great effort and expense to find Gently Gifted apprentices.
• Those Jerbiton magi who are artists prize the Free Expression Virtue. Performers often seek students with the Inspirational or Light Touch Virtues.
• Characters who are interested in philosophy or scholarship might prefer to select Apt Student, Book Learner, Educated, or Good Teacher.
• House Jerbiton’s magi sometimes take apprentices from noble houses, and these students renew their connections following the culmination of their training. This relationship to the aristocracy can be expressed with Virtues like Privileged Upbringing, Protection, Social Contacts, or Temporal Influence, or Flaws such as Black Sheep, Close Family Ties, Dependent, Feud, or Heir.
• The desire to cast spells inconspicuously in urban settings restricts many magi to low magnitude effects. These limitations can be loosened by the Deft Form Virtue, or the Quiet Magic and Subtle Magic Virtues. Flawless Magic and Mastered Spells allow the magus to compensate for the Dominion by increasing the Penetration of spells to be used in urban areas. Players planning to cast their magic ceremonially should choose Virtues that increase Philosophiae or Artes Liberales scores. Ways of the Town also offers a minor, broad bonus.
• Supernatural Abilities, like Enchanting Music and Entrancement, can be used surreptitiously in cities, but the protection provided by the Dominion in most cities limits their effectiveness.
• Jerbiton magi have the True Love Virtue and Lost Love Flaw far more often than other magi. They also often have children who may be represented as Dependents. Those players desiring characters with weaker emotional attachments might prefer the Venus’s Blessing Virtue, or Curse of Venus Flaw.
• The Weakness Flaw is tolerated in Jerbiton magi to a degree not found in other Houses, provided it is for a particular form of beauty. Beauty is a subordinating force.
• Many Jerbiton magi are Well-traveled.

New Virtues and Flaws

House Jerbiton is a loose society of magi: it has no secret arts. Non-Hermetic Virtues and Flaws below may be selected by any companion or magus.

New Virtues

Muse

Supernatural, Minor

A muse possesses that rare beauty that encourages others to rise to worthiness. A character with this Virtue may grant Free Expression to a single other character, or can double the effect of Free Expression that a single character already possesses, while the muse is with him. The artist typically holds the muse in such high regard that he feels the need to continually improve, both in artistic technique and as a person, to be worthy of the muse’s attention. Muses may be of either sex, and need not have beautiful bodies.

Mystical Choreography

Hermetic, Minor

The magus’s skill at manipulating the shape and movement of the body allows him to reduce the amount of time required to perform Ceremonial Magic. The character performs ceremonies as per page 83 of ArM5, but requires only five minutes per magnitude. If the character has a prepared space, used frequently for ceremonial casting, this falls to one minute per magnitude.

This Virtue is particularly important to those Jerbiton magi who use ceremonial casting to overcome the penalties associated with the Dominion.

Supernatural Beauty

Major, Supernatural

The character possesses that style of mystical beauty that, when threatened, calls royal power, folk magic, and heroism to its defense. A player may use this Virtue, once per story, to ask a storyguide to insert a fortunate coincidence, of the storyguide’s choice, into a scene. The troupe may veto the use of the Virtue in any situation where supernatural aid seems profoundly unlikely. Characters with this Virtue are frequently assisted by passing knights of chivalrous inclination, often find magic weapons, and frequently have their jailers, or their jailers’ daughters, fall in love with them.

Faeries frequently assist characters with this Virtue. Faeries understand the classic forms of aid that beauty evokes in stories, and so many of the magical steeds and wandering princes the character encounters are actually faeries, watching the story unfold from the inside.

A character lacking a positive Presence score may not have this Virtue.

New Flaws

Brutal Artist

Hermetic, Minor

The magus creates and enjoys art that is ugly, according to his Housemates. He suffers a –3 penalty on social rolls with Jerbiton magi, and cannot develop a positive Reputation in the House, because his mind is so obviously disturbed. This restricts his involvement in the leagues. Over time, the character might convince his sodales that his work is not ugly, but this requires stories, much as removing any other Flaw.

Envied Beauty

Story, Major

'The character’s beauty draws revulsion and jealousy. This envy does not strike everyone, but vain persons of the character’s gender are particularly susceptible to it.

Characters with this Flaw may avoid its penalties by refusing to reveal their beauty to the world, which creates its own complications.

A character lacking a positive Presence score may not have this Flaw.

Urban Magic

Members of House Jerbiton are pioneers. They travel to, or even live within, towns and cities. The cities of Europe have grown rapidly in size, population, and Dominion for the last 50 years. Jerbiton magi believe these modern cities are something new to the West: magical wastelands completely unlike the ancient cities in which the Cult of Mercury thrived. Jerbiton magi have dwelt in similar places in the East, most notably Constantinople, and use the techniques developed by their ancestors to explore these new, beautiful, treasure-filled impotentators .

Lacunae

A lacuna, Latin for “hole” or “hollow,” is a place within an urban environment where the Dominion does not dominate: a small patch of some other aura within the city. Lacunae allow magi to cast spells without realm interaction penalties due to the Dominion, provided they do not target things within the Dominion. Lacunae may have Magical, Infernal, or Faerie auras, but most have no aura at all. Lacunae sometimes move or disappear, and do not have the mystical boundaries that make it difficult to enter regiones.

Every city has a unique array of lacunae, and knowledge of these spaces is vital to the lives of urban magi. Although Jerbiton magi are the most frequent users of lacunae, and discuss them at greatest length, other Houses also exploit them. House Mercere’s members, for example, are adept at discovering new lacunae, and finding ways to use them.

Most lacunae in large cities are small. In Paris, for example, there are several lacunae that are single rooms in larger buildings, one that fills the shadow of a particular tree, and one that can only be accessed from within an enclosed coach drawn along a particular road. Larger lacunae do occur, but there are rare, difficult to access, and likely to already be in the possession of powerful owners. Larger lacunae are often underground.

Magi do not really understand how lacunae form. The following theories might all be correct, in different cases:

• Lacunae are the sites of ancient temples, or repeated magical rituals, or the lairs of potent monsters. Some appear around the laboratories of magi who practice the mystical Arts in the same place for an extended period.
• Lacunae occur in places of great natural or manufactured beauty. Some lacunae are the sites of places of beauty crafted by early Jerbiton magi that have been overwhelmed by expanding towns and forgotten. Some lacunae appear following the completion of an exquisite artwork, theatrical performance, or musical rendition. These tend to vanish if the artwork is removed, or the performance not regularly repeated.
• Lacunae occur when a single activity, of any type, occurs in an area so often that the spirit of the area becomes accustomed to it, and assists. This is why some bakeries, for example, seem to produce bread that is consistently (but non-magically) excellent, regardless of the skill level of the chief baker.
• Many lacunae are inexplicable: the reason for their existence is lost to history. Gifted children seem strangely attracted to such places.

Realms of Power: Magic will include additional information on how magical spaces form.

Finding New Lacunae Lacunae enter the saga in several ways. A lacuna may be purchased during covenant creation, simply by selecting a resource and stating that it is in a lacuna in a certain location, accessed a certain way. A lacuna may be purchased in character creation, by selecting an appropriate Virtue, stating that it is in a lacuna. Lacunae may appear during stories. Characters may claim these sites, as a reward for skilled play, or may simply use them if an appropriate opportunity arises in a future story. Characters may search for lacunae. A character seeking lacunae spends a season, then rolls Intelligence + Area Lore against an Ease Factor of 9. The first time this is done, the character discovers all of the obvious lacunae, those in major public spaces that do not require obscure rituals or times to access. Characters raised in an area by a magus gain this knowledge as they develop their Area Lore, and do not need to spend a season acquiring foundational knowledge of lacunae. This list of lacunae is generated by the player, under the supervision of the troupe. Characters who spend additional seasons searching for lacunae are engaged in Area Lore Practice, and may change the specialization of their Area Lore score to lacunae. A player whose character is familiar with local lacunae knows the locations of three small lacunae per level of Area Lore. Each lacuna should provides a place to cast magic unhindered by the Dominion. If the lacuna provides other resources, was not purchased at covenant creation, is not the result of a Virtue, and is not a reward for a completed story, then it must also include a limitation. This can include, for example, that it is unavailable during daylight hours, that it has inhabitants whom the magus must placate each time that it is used, that overuse may lead to mundane exposure, or that the lacuna has an Infernal aura. A character with extensive Area Lore may know many lacunae, and troupes may prefer to allow a player to make them up during stories, until they have their complete complement. The troupe should veto any new lacuna that seems too convenient a solution for the magus’s current difficulties.

Small Effects and High Penetration Bonuses

The resistance of the Dominion and desire to keep their nature secret mold the way magi think about learning and using magic in cities. Young magi determined to live in cities usually select spells in three categories: subtle, public, and wilderness. The number of spells in each category reflect how the magus chooses to live, the conflicts he expects, and the non-magical resources he has to supplement his power.

Subtle Spells

Subtle spells are used when the caster does not want to be identified as a magus. The spells must not have an obvious magical medium, so they are often Imaginem or Mentem effects. They are usually level 5 or below, although some young magi can manage more powerful effects. The low level of these spells increases their effective Penetration, making them suited to conflict on expeditions outside the city.

The low levels of these spells allow the magi to cast them, despite severe penalties. Most cities have a Divine aura of 3, which means that spellcasting rolls are penalized by –9. Potential witnesses make casting with subtle gestures and quiet words (–7 modifier), or silently and without gestures (for a penalty of –15), useful. These casting penalties combine to a maximum of –24.

Examples include:

• A Personal Range version of Aura of Ennobled Presence (ArM5, page 145)
• A Touch or Eye Range version of The Call to Slumber (ArM5, page 151)
• Prying Eyes (ArM5, page 144)
• Recollection of Memories Never Quite Lived (ArM5, page 149)

Performance Magic, In Brief Performance Magic is a Minor Hermetic Virtue that may be purchased at character creation, or learned through Initiation, following the rules given in The Mysteries Revised Edition. It is so useful for urban spellcasting — and of such great popularity in House Jerbiton — that its rules are presented here in abbreviated form. Many Hermetic magi have learned to disguise spellcasting with mundane activities. Each activity requires a separate Virtue linked to an Ability, for example Performance Magic (Music). The Ability nominated in the Virtue must be performed each time it is used to disguise the casting of a spell. Activities that include both verbal and physical aspects, such as singing while playing music, acting, and formal dining, are those prized by the House, since they replace both the words and gestures required by spellcasting. More limited activities are possible. Storytelling or bargaining, as examples, replace only the words, and athletics (for example dancing) replaces only the gestures. Abilities that allow the replacement of both gestures and words usually require props. A character who uses the Music Ability for Performance Magic, for example, must play an instrument if she wishes to replace her Hermetic gestures. She may also sing, unaccompanied by music, to replace only the words of her spell, or may play without singing, to replace only her gestures, if she wishes. The instrument also extends the Voice Range of her spells. Characters who are performing may gain the normal bonuses for loud words or exaggerated gestures, although this may draw unwelcome attention. It is difficult to recognize Performance Magic. Discerning the Form of a spell as it is being cast, so that a counter-spell may be fast cast, requires the following roll: Recognize Form of Performance Magic Spell Stress Die + Perception + Awareness + Effect Magnitude Vs. Ease Factor 15 The Ease Factor is adjusted by: –3 if Hermetic words can be heard +0 if Hermetic gestures are seen +3 if both words and gestures are mundane Characters with this Virtue may create spells with a new Duration, Performance, which is equivalent to the Concentration Duration. A spell with Performance Duration lasts while the caster performs. The caster automatically succeeds on all Concentration rolls required to maintain Performance spells. To cast a Performance Duration spell, the magus’s player must make a roll, simple or stress as the situation dictates, of: Cast a Performance Duration Spell Die Roll + Ability’s Characteristic + Ability Vs. Ease Factor 3 If this roll fails or botches, so does the spell.

Public Spells

These spells are used when the caster does not mind being recognized as a magus. These allow obviously supernatural travel or help the magus to tidy up mistakes, by killing people or changing their memories. The majority of spells of most young Jerbiton magi fall into this group. They suffer only the casting penalty due to the Dominion, which is –9 in most parts of most cities.

Wilderness Spells

The final category, spells in which the magus has little surplus ability, are used in the wilderness, in lacunae, or cast ceremonially at targets within the Dominion. Many older Jerbiton magi dislike the idea of studying spells they rarely use, preferring to allow allies and servants to deal with difficult contingencies, like combat.

Ceremonial Magic

Magi can use their understanding of the natural forces of the world, and their correspondence to mystical forces, to increase the power of their spellcasting. Rules for unprepared ceremonial casting are given on page 83 of ArM5. Characters may also increase the effectiveness of ceremonial casting by using props, and by using a prepared spellcasting space.

The use of props slows ceremonial casting, but provides a bonus based on the mystical significance of the items used. Large props are the most effective, but are very expensive, because master craftsmen must make them from rare materials.

Large props are also difficult to transport. Medium-sized props are the ones magi can create or acquire most easily. Many evocative items that may found during stories are medium-sized props. Tiny props are expensive because they must be made from precious metals and gemstones that accord with the Arts. Props aid magic, but are not magical items. They may be constructed or repaired by a skilled craftsman (Ability of 5 or more) under the guidance of a magus, without distracting the magus from study.

Bonuses for casting with ceremonial props, by prop size, are:

• +1 for gemstones and other tiny items that can be carried in a belt pouch by a magus
• +2 for small props, 15 of which completely fill a backpack
• +3 for medium-sized props, such that 15 would completely fill a horse’s saddlebags, or a barrel
• +4 for large props, such that 15 could only be transported by a wagon
• +5 for props so large that it is impractical to move them from the room in which they are constructed

As an example, Carmine of Flambeau, the wife of the Primus of Jerbiton, prefers Creo Ignem effects. She wears a ruby necklace and a coral brooch, and uses these as a small ceremonial kit when casting small effects in cities. Her husband prefers Rego Imaginem magic. He has a medium-sized ceremonial kit, two items of which are a wand made of the crown of a fairy king that he defeated (Imaginem), and his cat familiar (Rego, for this particular cat).

Ceremonial spaces are almost always prepared in lacunae. Prepared space reduces the time required to cast spells ceremonially. Casting times when using ceremonial spaces, in minutes per magnitude, are:

• Twelve Minutes per Magnitude: A space that the magus has created as a temporary recourse. For example, a series of chalk circles on the floor of a rented room in a foreign city.
• Nine Minutes per Magnitude: A space naturally suited to the performance of ceremonial magic. These spaces are often beautiful. For example, a cliff ledge that faces the sunrise, the pinnacle of the covenant’s tallest tower at night, or the depths of an autumn forest. Six Minutes per Magnitude: A space that the magus has carefully designed to have suitable architectural features, lines of light and reflection, and appropriate placement of color.
• Three Minutes per Magnitude: The magus’s laboratory, or other place of magical contemplation.
• One Minute per Magnitude: A room designed solely for ceremonial casting, which contains props of the largest variety, and mystical choreographies permanently inscribed on the floor. Characters with the Mystical Choreography Virtue cast ceremonial magic at this speed regardless of how temporary their prepared space.

Invocation of the Civic Patron As noted in Realms of Power: The Divine, it is possible for a character to ask a saint for a miracle. The formula and its modifiers are too detailed to repeat here. The usual miracle that Jerbiton magi ask for is the right to defend the City from harm. If the miracle is granted, the Dominion does not oppose virtuous use of the character’s magic for one scene, or story, at the troupe’s discretion. That is, the penalties the character suffers due to the Realm Interaction Chart are reduced to zero.

Spell Mastery for Urban Characters

Many Spell Mastery special abilities, described on pages 86–87 of ArM5, are useful to urban magi. They allow the magus to reduce or eliminate the penalties of casting spells without gestures or vocalizations, or increase the spell’s Penetration bonus. Another form of Spell Mastery, described in The Mysteries Revised Edition, allows characters to use the bonuses of ceremonial magic with individual formulaic spells. This capacity requires no initiation — it is not a Mystery, just an unobserved possibility of Hermetic magic — and it has been spreading quickly through House Jerbiton.

Arcane Connections

Arcane Connections make it far easier for magi to penetrate the magical protection provided by the Dominion. Magi have many methods of acquiring Arcane Connections, such as by making social contact, through magically-supported stealth, or by hiring servants.

The Creation of Beautiful Things

Magic assists in the creation of things, by providing detail. A magus who wants to create a horse, for example, need only know that he wants a horse, and cast the appropriate spell, and a horse will appear. The magus does not need to know how a horse’s heart works, or that horses do not have eyelashes on their lower lids. These additional details come from a place magi call the World of Forms.

Magi do not agree on what the World of Forms is. Some magi suspect that the World of Forms is the realm of Magic. Others disagree, suggesting that the forms are found in the minds of all humans, or are drawn from the mind of God. These finer points of the metaphysics of creation are insignificant for most players. Jerbiton magi, however, and others who pursue the creative and decorative branches of the mystical Arts, can use the way magi interact with the World of Forms — whatever it is — to their advantage.

Beautiful Objects and Detailed Illusions

The training in the mundane arts given to some magi assists them when they are creating intricate magical effects. Usually, Hermetic magi form a vague mental image of their desired effect. Their magic then fills in many of the details of the finished shape, based on the Form of the creation. The magus then consciously alters the outcome, represented by the use of the Finesse Ability. The final product is also infused with the magus’s sigil.

Creo Magic

A magus creating a natural object using Creo magic always makes a functional version of that object, provided the spell is not botched. The magus may use an Intelligence + Finesse roll to add detail, making the creation particularly beautiful or suited to a task. An illusion of an object, natural or otherwise, always looks like a functional example of the object, but the magus may make Intelligence + Finesse roll to add detail.

When creating artificial objects, the same level of Finesse is required as when using Rego to make them from raw materials.

Rego Magic

Magi can use Rego magic to do anything a mundane artist could do with tools. The Finesse roll required is three more than the Ease Factor the mundane craftsman would have to make.

The Ease Factor is also modified by the length of time it would take a mundane artist to complete the work of art.

To do what a mundane artist could do in a day does not change the Ease Factor. To do what a mundane artist could do in a month adds +3 to the Ease Factor. To do what a mundane artist could do in a season adds +6 to the Ease Factor. To do what a mundane artist could do in a year adds +9 to the Ease Factor.

Flourishes

All magi incorporate their sigils into every spell effect, usually without considering it. A maga whose spells are accompanied by the scent of orange blossoms does not need to give her sigil any thought, because it is fixed, except in magnitude. The sigils of artistic magi are more flexible than this. An alternative expression of a sigil is called a flourish.

The sigils of artistic magi are a collection of related motifs. To follow the example given above, the maga’s motif may be “orange.” When she does not concentrate, her magic creates the scent of orange blossoms, but when she concentrates on changing her sigil, she can generate an alternative effect. Attempting to create a flourish adds 3 to the Ease Factor for the spell’s Intelligence + Finesse roll.

Flourishes are purely cosmetic effects, but make the maga’s practice of the Arts more personal and aesthetically pleasant. Anyone familiar with a maga’s sigil can easily identify flourishes as variations upon it. Flourishes for the theme of “oranges” could include could include:

• The color of oranges
• The scent of orange juice, orange blossoms, or crushed citrus leaves
• The taste of oranges
• The smooth, but dimpled, texture of oranges, or the wood of orange trees

Crafting Items Using Rego Magic The table below is designed to assist players of magi to create spells that make items from raw materials, using the Art of Rego. These levels are correct for all spells that make items of Individual size, at Touch Range, with Momentary Duration. The beauty of these items depends on a Finesse roll, described in an adjoining section. Raw Material Level Bone (animal) 3 Gemstone 4 Glass 3 Leather (tanned) 1 Metal 4 Stone 4 Timber (dried and prepared) 1 Wood (unprepared timber) 5 Wool (prepared) 1 Wool (raw) 3 Ease Factors for Creating and Crafting Objects The Ease Factors in the table below include the +3 adjustment for magic use (see Rego Magic), assume the magus is familiar with the created thing (+0), and that a mundane artist would have to spend less than a day (+0) on the work. A character using Creo magic need not roll Finesse unless he desires the finished product to be of a quality higher than that represented by an Ease Factor of 9 on the following table. Artistic Task Ease Factor Notes Trivial 3 Almost never worth rolling for Simple 6 regularly done by untrained people, like whitewashing a house Easy 9 The daily work of semi-skilled artists Average 12 The daily work of skilled artists Hard 15 The daily work of highly skilled artists, or exceptional work by average artists Very Hard 18 The daily work of exceptionally skilled artists, or exceptional work by highly skilled artists Impressive 21 Exceptional work done by grandmasters of an art Remarkable 24 he finest work done by grandmasters of an art Almost Impossible 27 The epitome of skill in an art Levels of Success for Illusions Magi may create illusions directly, or by transforming the appearance of existing objects. The magus makes either a Perception + Finesse roll to copy something, or an Intelligence + Finesse roll to create an image without a model, and uses the following scale to judge success. 3 The character can choose how his sigil is incorporated into the creation. For example, the magus may determine that a created animal has eyes the color of the magus’s sigil. 6 The character can select one feature of a creation, so that it varies from the universal form of the image being created. This selection must still suit to the natural range of the creation. For example, the magus may select the precise color of an illusionary snake. This is also the level of Finesse required to create a copy of a particular person’s appearance, so that it fools casual acquaintances of the original person. 9 The character may make several minor selections about the features of the image, so long as they remain within the natural range of similar objects. Alternately, the character may instead make a single cosmetic, unnatural selection. For example, a magus creating an illusory creature might determine that it has a pelt pattern never found in nature, or makes unusual sounds. This is also the level of Finesse required to create a copy of a particular person’s appearance, so that it fools friends of the original person. 12 The character may precisely tailor the appearance of the image, provided it stays within the natural range of objects of its type. Alternatively, the character may make a single, moderately unnatural selection. This is also the level of Finesse required to create a copy of a particular person’s appearance, so that it fools intimates of the original person. 15 The character may precisely tailor the appearance of the created thing, provided it is unnatural only in cosmetic ways. This allows the creator to make the image unnaturally beautiful by incorporating mystical coloring, supernatural grace, and other attractive features. 18 The character may perfectly express his artistic desire to the tiniest detail. This is the level required for exact duplication of an object, with all its tiny flaws and imperfections. It is also the level of Finesse required to create a duplicate that the original person believes reflects his appearance and mannerisms exactly. 21 The character may create images that appear to be the epitome of the class of object represented. Finesse Bonuses and Penalties for Familiarity The pattern underlying the range of variance in the shape, color, and structure of a class of objects is called the “simile” of that class of objects. The simile differs from the form. The form of an apple allows a magus to make an idealized apple. The simile of apples allows a magus to make apples that look natural, and vary from the ideal within the natural range. The more familiar a character is with an object’s simile, the easier it is to recreate the object convincingly. The Finesse roll for using magic to create, craft, or simulate objects is adjusted by familiarity with the simile in the following ways. Automatic Failure: Characters auto matically fail the Finesse roll if they attempt to create objects that they cannot imagine. –3: This penalty is appropriate when the character… …can distinctly recall an example of the object, but has not seen it for more than a year. …has not seen an example of the object, but has an Arcane Connection to one. …has the Free Expression virtue, and has seen skilled art depicting the object. +0: General knowledge of the simile grants an adjustment of zero. All magi have this level of familiarity with the similes of things that… …they encounter on a weekly basis. …commonly occur in any area where they have an Area Lore of 1 or more. …are uncommon, but occur, in any area where they have an Area Lore of 3 or more. …are rare, but occur in any area where they have an Area Lore of 5 or more. …are used to perform any Ability in which the character has a score of 1 or more. …the troupe feels that they are likely to know, due to the character’s history, Abilities, background, or Virtues. +3: Magi have deep familiarity with the similes of things that… …they possess, and use as models. …they encounter on a daily basis. …commonly occur in any area where they have an Area Lore of 3 or more. …are uncommon, but do occur, in any area where they have an Area Lore of 5 or more. …are used to perform any Ability in which the character has a score of 5 or more. …the troupe feels that they are likely to know intimately, due to the character’s history, Abilities, background, or Virtues.

Perception and Deception

The Founder was skilled in magic that altered perception. His tradition continues, alongside those of many others who have joined the House since its beginnings. Perception is a complex process, which makes it fragile, and easily manipulated, at each of its stages, by magi. The process of distorting the perceptions of others is called deception, and members of House Jerbiton claim to be its masters, even though skilled practitioners of deception can be found in many Houses.

Species

Species are particles that are continuously emitted from objects, and that, when they strike the sense organs of the body, evoke a response. Humans regularly encounter four types of species:

• Iconic species are carried in light, and are interpreted by the eye.
• Echoic species are carried in air and register with the ear.
• Haptic species pass only through direct contact, and are perceived by the skin.
• Olfactory and gustative species are sensed either in air (using smell) or water (using taste). These are the same species, just experienced by two different senses in two media.

Mundane humans are unable to directly manipulate species, instead having to manipulate the objects that emit species, so that the pattern of emission is pleasant. Species do not themselves shed other species, and are weightless. This makes most species invisible and intangible. They are also limitlessly available, because all objects emit a continuing stream of species.

Magi, using their Arts, may manipulate either the capacity of an object to make species, or the species directly. Muto spells transforming other Forms into species treat them as a slightly unnatural solid, liquid, or gas, and require an Imaginem requisite.

The following Targets are used for species, supplementing those found in the core rulebook.

• Individual: Sufficient species to create and maintain a life-sized illusion of a human being or smaller object, affecting all the senses.
• Part: Sufficient species to create and maintain a life-sized illusion of a human or smaller object, affecting one sense, or part of a human affecting all senses.
• Group: Sufficient species to create and maintain a life-sized illusion of a group of humans or smaller objects.

Hermetic magi have not yet found a way to make solid objects from species using Muto magic. There are several theories as to why this is the case, but many thinkers believe it is because of the difficulty in distinctly sensing a cluster of species to be transformed.

The Process of Perception

Magi can deceive by interrupting the process of perception at any of its many stages. The stages of perception, and the points at which magi may disrupt the process, are:

• An object exists, and sheds species.
• The species travel through a medium.
• The species strike an organ of perception.
• The organ signals the brain. This stage is not discussed further in this chapter, as it lies within the Corpus form.
• The mind interprets the signal, giving it meaning.
• The signal is remembered.

Mimicry: Making Illusionary Objects

The Hermetic illusions described in the core rulebook are almost all based on mimicry — the term for the creation of illusionary objects. Mimicry requires little Finesse , but is unsubtle. As an example of mimicry, a magus who wants to make a victim think a serpent is lying on his bed creates an illusion that sheds natural, non-magical species like those of a serpent from the top of the bed. Everyone nearby sees the illusionary serpent, and reacts to it as if it were real. Mimics have convincing reflections, because they shed species omnidirectionally. Mimics are not resisted by the Parma Magica, because their species are not magical.

Species Magic Example Scattering Like Light MuTe(Im) Level 30 R: Voice, D: Mom, T: Ind This spell changes the metal in an object, a sword for example, into iconic species. Passing light carries off these species, which are absorbed when they strike a non-reflective surface. This spell disintegrates objects, so it has obvious combat advantages, but it was originally created by an artist seeking an efficient method of plating objects in metal. He placed the metal and the object he wanted to plate, levitating, in a supernaturally lit box, mirrored on the inside, and used this spell to turn the metal first into species, then back again. This created a smooth coat of metal around the object, and the interior of the box. (Base 5, +2 Voice, +2 metal +1 Requisite) Additional, Minor Senses The body has internal senses that complement the five external senses. Like the five greater senses, the ability to interpret internal senses may be targeted with Mentem magic, and the organs these senses use may be attacked with Corpus spells. Internal senses are difficult to target with Imaginem magic of Range greater than Touch, because the species they use are haptic: that is, they travel only through the medium of direct contact on flesh, like the species of touch. Proprioception is the sense that the body uses to monitor the position and orientation of its parts. It is regulated by messages carried along the nerves. The body uses this sense to regulate movement. It is vital for coordination, because it tells the body’s parts how far they need to move to work together adequately. There is no single organ of proprioception, but messages originate from the joints. Balance is a minor sense that the body uses to determine which way is down, and, by inference, which way is up. Hermetic magicians have not discovered the organ of balance, but they have never looked for it in a concentrated way. Pain is not, technically, a sense. It is the signal used by the body to report to the mind that the body is damaged. Corpus spells can heal the damage that the pain signal reflects, or create the sensation of pain, but the mind’s ability to detect the signal can be inhibited, and false signals created, with Mentem magic. Pain, proprioception and balance are treated as mental capabilities with regard to base levels for spellcasting given in the core rulebook.

Traveling Species

Magi may manipulate the streams of species that pour from objects. The simplest manipulations either replace or destroy the species created by an object. A magus making a leaf look like a coin is replacing the coin’s species. A magus making a dagger invisible is destroying its capacity to create optic species. There are, however, subtler ways to manipulate traveling species.

Transparency

An illusion of transparency destroys the species of an object before they strike the eye, or sometimes the ear, of a particular viewer. Other people can still see the spe cies emitted by the object. Transparencies can only be maintained in relatively static environments, because the trick of perspective they employ is too difficult to maintain if attempted against multiple viewers moving in relation to the object and each other.

A transparency has the same base level as the effect it emulates, as given on page 146 of ArM5. Transparencies use the Individual Target to represent the stream of species between the hidden object and observer. Casting an illusion of transparency requires a Perception + Finesse roll against an Ease Factor of 6. The Ease Factor is modified as follows:

Mod.	Target
+3	Objects of Room or Group size
+6	Structure
+9	Spaces described by the Boundary Target

Transparency Examples Transparencies are not resisted by the Parma Magica, because they involve destroying species before they strike the target. Ambush On the Deserted Road PeIm 20 R: Touch, D: Ring, T: Circle This spell destroys all of the species that the group of things within the Circle emit in a single direction. It can — for example — make a magus’s traveling party invisible from the direction of another group they wish to ambush. The base level of this spell includes an adjustment that accounts for the magus’s ability to gently move the direction of effect, so that as the enemy group passes by, they cannot spot the hidden party. Other people, for example the members of the magus’s company, can still see each other, because the species reaching their eyes are unobstructed. The transparency requires a Perception + Finesse roll against an Ease Factor of 9 to be convincing. (Base 5, +1 Touch, +2 Ring) Hiding in the Crowd PeIm 10 R: Per, D: Sun, T: Ind This spell makes the caster selectively invisible. It destroys a thin cone of the species the magus emits, so that a single person cannot see the caster. People around the magus, who are outside the cone, continue to see the caster. This is particularly useful in city crowds, because it stops the magus being buffeted by oblivious passersby. Note that this spell only works if the magus knows the location of the single viewer to be excluded, and if the viewer moves predictably. If the viewer moves rapidly out of the cone, the magus becomes visible to him. The transparency requires a Perception + Finesse roll against an Ease Factor of 6 to be convincing, if the target remains stationary. If the target is moving slowly and predictably, as, for example, a sentry on a route or a pedestrian strolling to a gate, this increases to 9. It increases to 15 for a character moving very swiftly but predictably, for example, a horseman following a road. (Base 4, +2 Sun)

Mimesis and Medieval Art Medieval artists do not attempt mimesis, or mirror-like accuracy, in their art. As an example, a king portrayed in a medieval statue does not look like the actual king, but instead looks as a king should look, so as to impress the viewers of the statue with how regal the portrayed person is. If, while the statue is carved, a usurper replaces the king, then the usual practice is simply to change the name of the statue. Accuracy is not important in medieval art; influencing those who view the art is. Jerbiton magi have classical Greek examples of mimetic art available to them, but the philosophy of the arts in their own period sees mimesis as a flaw. The function of the artist is to render the simile, with subtle changes so that the differentiating features of the model are expressed. If the key features of the model and the simile conflict, then a skilled artist firmly adopts the features of simile, not the model. A magus who paints a sleeping king and does not include his crown has, by definition, painted badly, because he fails to include a compulsory feature. This creates a dichotomy in the thought of the House. Magi of House Jerbiton are capable of perfectly mimetic art using magic — but for them it is effortless and thus not an expression of skill. Many magi are capable of both highly mimetic art, created with magic, and mundane art that depends on rendering idealized shapes.

Striking the Organs of Perception

Unusual effects can be achieved by modifying species slightly before they strike the senses of the target.

Macrotures: Illusions of Proximity To the Organ of Perception

A macroture is an image magnified beyond the possibility of the human eye, created by forcing the species of an object to strike the eye in a less concentrated way. These are already discussed in the Intellego Imaginem guidelines in ArM5 (base level 3). Jerbiton magi use macrotures to determine the method and technique of artifacts through the tiny marks left by the tools of the artisan. They also use macrotures to see artworks from angles inaccessible to mundane people, to see objects from great distances, and to determine the quality of precious materials they intend to purchase. Macrotures can also be used to correct vision impairments.

Synaesthesia: Switching Organs of Perception

Using synaesthetic illusions, the species of a weak sense are altered so that a stronger sense perceives them instead. In humans, sight is the most powerful sense, so most synaesthetic spells make species of less-detectable types visible. Species for external senses, like sight, if changed into those for internal senses, like pain, have no effect because they cannot reach the internal organs that detect them.

Synaesthesia Examples Spells that transform the species that trigger one sense into those that trigger another have a base level of 2. Glowing Footprints of the Thief MuIm 20 R: Sight, D: Conc, T: Group This spell makes the traces of sweat left by a person visible, by transforming the stream of olfactory species of the person’s scent into a stream of iconic species. The way this light appears is dependent on the sigil and Finesse of the magus. This spell is mimetic, so all nearby people can see the scent traces. Note that to cast this spell, the magus must be distinctly aware of the scent of the thief, so that there is a valid target for the spell. (Base 2, +3 Sight, +1 Conc, +2 Group) Sight of the Warm Surface MuIm 15 R: Touch, D: Conc, T: Vision Although Imaginem magic cannot create heat, warm surfaces emit species, which humans can sense through touch. This spell transforms those into species that the eye responds to. How the warmth is seen varies by magus. (Base 2, +1 Touch, +1 Concentration, +4 Vision) S Visible Demand for Repair MuIm 5 R: Touch, D: Ring, T: Circ This spell transforms the groans and squeaks of damaged pieces of equipment into iconic species reminiscent of the magus’s sigil. This makes it easier for magi to find the flaws in damaged parts, granting a +3 bonus to Craft or Profession rolls. (Base 2, +1 Touch, +2 Ring)

Tricks of Interpretation

There are two different styles of attack on a mind’s capacity to interpret what its senses perceive. The magus can attack the mind directly, reducing its ability to think clearly. The magus can, alternatively, use the mind’s techniques of constructing meaning to force it to infer false conclusions.

The Brushstrokes Revealed InIm 10 R: Touch, D: Ring, T: Circle This spell makes the species cast by an object within the circle more vivid, so that the magus can see tiny details that are otherwise invisible. This spell has traditionally been used to investigate the physical construction of artworks, but nature-oriented Jerbiton magi have recently begun using it to investigate the handiwork of God, by examining the tiny structures of creation. (Base 3, +1 Touch, +2 Ring)

Anamorphs

People classify the objects in their environments, and often mistake confusing objects for familiar things. Anamorphic (“shapeless”) illusions lack detail, and hijack this tendency. These illusions depend on the viewer failing a Perception + Awareness roll, so that they misperceive the illusion, which tricks the viewer’s mind into filling in the details that the illusion is missing. Characters who are tired, emotionally roused, or inebriated are more likely to be tricked.

The Ease Factor of the victim’s Perception roll is the sum of a die roll, the victim’s dominant active Personality Trait, the caster’s Perception, and the caster’s Finesse.

Victim’s Perception Ease Factor

Die + Value of Dominant, Active Personality Trait + Caster’s Perception + Caster’s Finesse

• If the victim’s total exceeds the Ease Factor by 6, he sees the anamorph as it truly is: a shapeless, supernatural thing.
• If the victim’s total exceeds the Ease Factor by 3, he sees the anamorph as a false thing, with a mundane explanation.
• If the victim’s total exceeds the Ease Factor by less than 3, he barely registers the anamorph’s existence. He knows that something is there, but it’s not important enough for his mind to classify without prompting. If forced to consider the anamorph by his situation, he investigates it further.
• If the Ease Factor exceeds the target’s total, he sees the anamorph as a thing that suits his current emotional state, but is not sufficiently important to investigate.
• If the Ease Factor exceeds the victim’s total by 3, the target sees the anamorph as characteristic of his mental state. For example, a frightened person may see a menacing figure, or a happy person might see a carnival performer.
• If the Ease Factor exceeds the victim’s total by 6, the anamorph appears to do what the character assumes it should do. A menacing figure may seem to slink toward the target, while a performer may seem to juggle.
• If the Ease Factor exceeds the victim’s total by 9, the character constructs a very detailed memory of his interaction with the anamorph. In threatening situations, this may include minor scuffles, and in a happy situations it may include brief, uninformative conversation.

Anamorphs usually fool only a single sense, by sending out vague visual clues that the target misconstrues. As images that affect a single sense, they have a base level of 1. Some magi prefer to create anamorphs that affect multiple senses. For each additional sense the magus includes, and that the victim experiences, reduce the victim’s Perception total by 3. Anamorphs do not require a Mentem requisite, because they do not magically influence the mind, they merely subvert the human reflex to classify sensations.

Anamorph Example A maga wants a guard to mistake her servant for the Duke of Rothesay, but she has no idea what the Duke looks like. She casts an anamorphic illusion on her servant’s face, so that people tend to see what they expect to see. Then, to aid the illusion, she arranges for him to arrive at night, on a horse with the Duke’s badge on its blankets, carrying a shield with the Duke’s coat of arms, while another servant yells, “Open the gates for the Duke of Rothesay!” The trappings of the Duke and the suggestion by the other servant that this person is the Duke have prepared the guard’s emotional state. The guard’s roll has an Ease Factor of a die roll (5, in this case), plus the guard’s Loyalty score (+2), the caster’s Perception (+1), and her Finesse (4), for a total of 12. If the guard makes a Perception + Awareness roll of… …18 or more, he sees the face of the Duke as a shifting, supernatural thing. …15–17, he sees a face that is similar to the Duke’s, but clearly not the Duke’s. …12–14, he knows there is something wrong with the face, sufficient to investigate further. …11 or less, he is taken in by the illusion, with more complicated misperceptions for lower rolls.

Created Emotional Bias

Magi may attack the decision-making abilities of their enemies by clouding their minds with emotions, which provide artificial +5 Personality Traits. Spells that create extreme emotions can be resisted with a roll of any opposed Personality Trait against an Ease Factor of 9. Spells that create milder emotions are resisted by a roll against an Ease Factor of (4 + the score of the artificial Personality Trait), but have the same level as more powerful spells. Base level guidelines are as follows:

• Creo Mentem spells that create emotion directed at a particular person or object have a base level of 4. Panic of the Trembling Heart and Rising Ire (both ArM5, page148) are examples of this spell type.
• Spells that generate an undirected tendency toward a particular emotion have a base level of 5. Examples effects include a spell that makes its victim furious at all the people around him, or makes him find anything said uproariously amusing.
• Spells that generate an emotion directed toward a general class of people or things have a base level of 5. Examples include spells that direct hatred toward people wearing a particular badge, or from a particular place.

Diminished Mental Capability

Perdo Mentem spells allow magi to diminish the mental capacity of their targets. This has a base level of 4, noted on page 150 of ArM5. The example given is Trust of Childlike Faith, which destroys adult judgment regarding truth and falsity. Hermetic magic can create many similar spells, which diminish the target’s mental capacity in a host of other ways. Using Trust of Childlike Faith as a template, characters skilled in Perdo Mentem may inhibit a target’s ability to do any of the following:

• Ignore irrelevant detail to find the core properties of a thing
• Articulate words
• Assess details without emotional bias
• Command muscles to complete learned movements
• Concentrate Deduce facts from observations
• Estimate the passage of time
• Form memories or learn
• Infer the properties of a thing from previous experience with similar things
• Integrate sensory information (which makes the character appear clumsy, as if inebriated)
• Read facial expressions
• Recover from nervous shock
• Write
• Understand and form words
• Understand simple mathematical concepts
• Understand speech

Miniatures: Tricks Using Perspective

A miniature is a small illusion that sends species only in a single direction. It is designed to fool the viewer using a trick of perspective: that small, close objects look just like larger, distant objects. Miniatures are convenient in cities because they are inconspicuous. They require more Finesse than normal illusions, but this does not hinder Jerbiton magi.

Urban magi often use miniatures because, within buildings, the lines of sight of targets are restricted. A miniature on a window or doorway, which are Individual Targets, can appear to show an entire panorama, which requires a Boundary Target if performed with mimetic illusions. The doorway or window lowers the magnitude of the spell by providing a surface on which to trace a Circle and Ring. Even unframed miniatures can make images that seem, to the viewer, to have Room, Structure, or Boundary Targets. The miniature retains its Individual Target, and instead requires increased Finesse. These miniatures affect all viewers on the active side of the illusion, so they do not require the Part Target that must be used by miniatures that are targeted at the head of a single victim.

Miniatures may also be used to create illusions that only a single victim can sense. A conventional illusion of a snake on a bed can be seen by all the people in a room. A tiny illusion of a snake placed just in front of the eyes of a victim, that sheds species only in the direction of his eyes, is invisible to the other people in the room. Similar tricks can create illusions of sound, producing music or voices that only the target can hear.

Most miniatures are one magnitude higher than the base level given by the table on page 144 of ArM5. The added magnitude allows the miniature to move slightly, so that the movements of a single viewer’s head do not ruin the trick of perspective vital to the miniature’s success. A miniature’s caster must make a Perception + Finesse roll against an Ease Factor of 9 to successfully create the illusion. The Ease Factor is modified as follows:

Modifier	Circumstance
+3	Miniatures mimicking Room Targets
+6	Miniatures mimicking Structure Targets
+9	Miniatures mimicking Boundary Targets
–1 to –3	The viewer’s range of movement, or lines of observation, are restricted

Miniature Examples Many of the following spells have a Part Target. This means the magus is creating a stream of species aimed at the head of a single viewer. A magus doing this is targeting a victim with a magical medium, so these spells are resisted by the Parma Magica. An Enemy Awash in the Pure Sigil of the Magus CrIm 15 R: Sight, D: Conc, T: Part This spell washes the target with concentrated visible species, overloading the eyes. It requires no Finesse roll, because the species do not construct an image. In this case, the sheer number of species is being used to overload the capacity of the eye, so that the target is unable to see anything else. The spell’s name comes from its appearance, which is always based strongly on the sigil of the caster. The victim’s eyes recover two minutes after the spell is complete, or in only a round if the victim thinks to close his overburdened eyes when first struck by the spell. Spells similar to this one can create detailed images, but that requires Finesse rolls. (Base 2, +3 Sight, +1 Concentration, +1 Part) False Window CrIm 5 R: Touch, D: Sun (some versions use Ring), T: Ind This spell allows the magus to trace the frame of a door or window and create a miniature that seems to show something that lies beyond the frame. A Perception + Finesse roll is required to craft a convincing illusion. The Ease Factor is 9 if the image seems to show a room, 12 if it seems to show a structure, or 15 if it seems to run to the horizon. These numbers already include the reduction for limiting the viewer’s line of sight, but could be reduced or increased by familiarity with the depicted scene. Many casters of False Window add an additional magnitude, so that figures within the image appear to move, and the pattern of light changes to suit the time of day, but this simpler version creates only a static image. This spell also models similar spells for the other senses: a mirror that plays a tune, provided its face is not turned toward a wall, is an example. Directly created species like these are resisted by the Parma Magica. (Base 2, +2 Sun or Ring, +1 Individual) Silent Shout CrIm 10 R: Sight, D: Mom, T: Part This spell creates a burst of species, matching the caster’s voice, which strike the target in the head. This spell requires a Perception + Finesse roll against an Ease Factor of 6 to make the voice sound convincingly like that of the magus (the base Ease Factor is 9, with a –3 modifier for deep familiarity), but even if the roll fails, the target still hears the message. This spell is used on battlefields, or to instruct apprentices in the Tribunal chamber. It takes advantage of the directional nature of miniatures to prevent others from overhearing its contents. (Base 2, +3 Sight, +1 Part) Fooling the Eye CrIm 10 R: Sight, D: Mom, T: Part A magus using this spell creates the correct species for the swift movement of a small bright object, and casts them at the head of the target. Virtually all humans have in involuntary reflex that makes their eyes track the paths of moving objects, particularly those that might strike them. The magus uses this reflex against the victim, because when she looks where the object should be, she makes eye contact with the magus. This allows the magus to cast spells with Eye Range on the victim. This spell does not require a Finesse roll, because it does not simulate a particular object. (Base 2, +3 Sight, +1 Part)

States of Consciousness

Magi skilled in the Arts of Rego and Mentem may cast spells that influence the mental state of a target. These spells have a base level of 4 (ArM5, page 151). Examples given in ArM5 include Call to Slumber, Snap of Awakening, and Confusion of the Numbed Will.

A mental state is defined by the target’s perception of his relationship with his environment. The core rulebook gives awake, asleep, and confused as mental states, with awake being the superior, complete form of perception; asleep being the failed form of perception; and confused being something between the two. The spells given in ArM5 act as templates for spells that manipulate other mental states.

Other possible mental states include the following:

• Animalist, where a person, for example a Bjornaer maga, sees her environment through the sensory apparatus of, and with the sense of time of, an animal. This may require an Animal requisite.
• Anaesthetic, where the person is ignorant of the existence of his body, but engaged in the environment. A person captivated completely by an artistic performance is in this state.
• Daydreaming, where the person is contemplating some thought to the exclusion of the environment.
• Dreaming, where the person is contemplating the realm of dreams, described in The Mysteries Revised Edition, rather than the waking world.
• Self-aware, where the person is contemplating her own reactions or sensations, rather than her environment. Pain makes people intensely self-aware.
• Somnambulistic, typical of sleepwalkers, where the perception of the real world is filtered through dreams.
• , the more general category, of which “asleep” is used as an example in the core rulebook. An unconscious person is aware of neither himself nor his environment. There are several forms of unconsciousness, for example asleep, comatose, and fainted.

A List of Emotions Characters creating emotions have many options, which are subtly different from each other. The following list gives a small sample of the range of emotions magi may evoke: absorption, amazement, anger, annoyance, anxiety, arrogance, apathy, awe, benevolence, bitterness, boredom, callousness, calm, cheerfulness, compassion, confidence, courage, cynicism, delight, depression, despair, disappointment, embarrassment, enmity, enthusiasm, excitement, friendliness, gallantry, fortitude, fulfillment, fury, generosity, gloom, grief, hatred, hope, horror, infatuation, indifference, joy, love, modesty, offense, optimism, placidity, passion, patience, pity, resent ment, resolution, restlessness, reverence, sentimentality, shyness, sorrow, startledness, surprise, tantilizedness, terror, unctuousness, vexation, vindictiveness, and wonder. Most characters don’t speak English, and players may also wish to identify terms for emotional states described best in other cultures. Examples include the German schadenfreude, the gladness that a terrible thing is happening to someone else; the Italian magari, which might be translated as the emotion giving rise to resigned, spontaneous cries of “Oh, if only!;” and the Portuguese saudade, the feeling that nothing important ever happens here, at least not anymore.

Altering Thoughts

Mentem magic can target thoughts. A thought is the expression of an idea, currently active in a mind. Skilled magi may target either individual thoughts or a mind’s capacity to think. Mentem magic can also influence the way the mind turns sensations into thoughts. Magi may do this by altering the way characters categorize sensations, or by impairing the mind so that the victim loses a particular cognitive capability.

The core rulebook contains base spell levels for creating, understanding, and controlling thoughts. It is also possible to change and destroy thoughts, using the same base levels as for memories. Examples of spells that impair thought are found in the core rulebook. Tip of the Tongue (ArM5, page 150), for example, affects the capacity to think a word, rather than the memory of the word, because the capacity returns when the spell expires.

Memory

There are many types of memory. The three classes of greatest interest to Hermetic magi are the following:

• Inscribed memories, which are etched into the mind by study and experience.
• Procedural memories, which are sequences in which actions are performed to complete a greater task.
• Episodic memories, which recollect particular events. Autobiographical memories are episodic memories.

Hermetic magic should, in theory, be able to duplicate procedural and inscribed memories from a donor to a target, allowing the transfer of Abilities. At the present time, no magus has accomplished this using conventional spellcraft. Inscribed and procedural memories remain valid targets for other magical manipulations, but the creation of Abilities using magic is currently beyond the limit of Hermetic understanding.

Hermetic magic can create episodic memories, as detailed in the core rulebook and expanded below. Hermetic scholars suggest this is because the process of remembering an episodic memory creates a fresh episode, and thus a fresh memory, not sustained by magic. Episodic memories do not grant Abilities, although they may grant individual facts. Memory of a particular event may, at the troupe’s discretion, provide automatic success on a particular Lore check. The core rulebook assigns a base level of 5 to spells that create a single memory.

Inscribed Memories

The most important memories, from the perspective of the medieval educator, are those that the student, through diligent effort, inscribes into his brain. These include facts and bodies of knowledge.

Inscribed Memory Spell Examples Creation of the Simile CrMe 20 R: Eye, D: Sun, T: Ind This spell creates a new category of thing in the mind of the viewer, granting unconscious familiarity with a broad range of instances of that thing. Alternatively, the spell may be used to grant a broad knowledge of a category of thing of which the target is already aware. A magus deeply familiar with a simile, as described earlier, may make the target deeply familiar with the simile, while a magus only broadly familiar with a simile may only create broad familiarity in the target. This spell is usually created with a long Range and Duration, because it allows the magus to create unreal similes in the minds of hostile targets. This is most effective when the target does not already have a ready category for the thing the magus wishes to hide. As an example, a magus carting odd spell components into a city may convince the guards that they are “geegaws,” or some other meaningless category, and thus unimportant. This will not work if the guard already has a simile that includes things that look like spell components, for example “tools of the Devil.” (Base 5, +1 Eye, +2 Sun) Agnosia PeMe 10 R: Eye, D: Sun T: Ind This spell destroys familiarity with a category of object represented by a single noun. The victim of this spell cannot recognize instances of the thing, although she is that aware such things exist. If confronted with a representative object, the victim cannot identify or use it. This spell does not destroy Abilities, so if the character is placed in a position where she uses an object without conscious monitoring, her Abilities return. This can be alarming for the spell’s target, since she cannot consciously use the tool to repeat her inadvertent actions. (Base 3, +1 Eye, +2 Sun)

Procedural Memories

Procedural memories are sequences of actions, completed in order without conscious effort. All physical Abilities that characters use without considering their minutiae are procedural memories. Hermetic magic may target procedural memories, but cannot create them.

Some magi report encountering children who have inherited procedural memory from their parents. The most common example, in folklore, is scions of noble houses who can intuitively use weapons. This may be a form of Warping, but some magi believe that procedural memories can be carried in the blood, along with the procedural memories that are innate to all people. This sort of inheritance is rare, and can be represented with Virtues.

Procedural Memory Spell Example Dissolving the Wall of Shields PeMe 20 R: Voice, D: Mom, T: Group This spell removes the memories that allow a group of soldiers to fight as a unit. This spell can be used to destroy other simple skills, too small to be encompassed by an Ability. For example, a magus might cast it on a group of courtiers so that all of them forget the steps of a particular dance. These memories do not return when the spell concludes, but may be regained with simple demonstration and practice, requiring time but not experience points. This spell does not damage autobiographical memory, so it is obvious to the victims that he has lost a skill he previously possessed. The spell does not impair judgment, so the victim may infer that the magus is responsible. A version of this spell with Sight Range (level 25) is less conspicuous. (Base 4, +2 Voice, +2 Group)

Episodic Memories

Episodic memories relate to events. A magus who remembers another because they met at a particular Tribunal meeting, for example, is using this sort of memory. Autobiographical and prospective memories, which are memories about expected future events, are also of this type. These memories, if damaged or distorted by magic, mend themselves through the processes of deduction, inference, and abduction. Magi exploit this by creating vivid, false memories that rapidly become indistinguishable from natural ones.

The loss of episodic memories does not prevent the use of other abilities. An amnesiac, a person who has no autobiographical memories, can still work and use language. A character with damaged episodic memories may not know which Abilities he is capable of using, but if placed in a situation of instinctive use, the character may use his Abilities normally. He can not, however, understand the minutiae of what he has done afterward.

The level of detail in an episodic memory is dependent on an Intelligence + Finesse roll against an Ease Factor of 6.

• Botch: The character has created an element in the memory so obviously false that the target notices it as soon as the memory is examined.
• Fail: The character has created a memory so unconvincing that the target dismisses it as whimsy.
• Success: The caster creates a memory, but the details are entirely drawn from the experiences and expectations of the victim. For example, a victim from London who has been given a memory of a visit to Venice may remember its muddy streets, because he does not know that he should remember canals instead.
• Success by 3 or More: The magus may incorporate a few details that he knows into the memory. If the person seeks to confirm the memory, he is sure that he could not have known these details except from the experience of the remembered event. This can include, as an example, an accurate view of a significant building, or the layout of a room’s furniture.
• Success by 6 or More: The magus may include many small details, known to him, which make it easy to confuse a person attempting to confirm the veracity of the memory.
• Success by 9 or More: The magus may include extremely detailed information in the memory. If the target attempts to verify the memory, this detail will make it appear sound.

Episodic Memory Spell Examples The spells given in the core rulebook tend to suit this style of memory. Examples include Recollection of Memories Never Quite Lived, Past of Another, and Loss of But a Moment’s Memory, each of which relate to memories as records of events. Creation of an Undeserved Reputation CrMe 20 R: Eye, D: Sun, T: Ind This spell creates the memory that a certain person has confessed to having an extremely enjoyable evening of intercourse with another person. The second person may be named, if the magus wishes, or, with a penalty of 3 on the Finesse roll, merely suggested so that the target of the spell draws his own conclusions. When the Duration expires, the details of the episode vanish, but the character remembers recalling them. This means the character may not be able to remember where or when the confession was made, but remembers that it was. If pressed, the character starts to infer the context of the memory, which then becomes more solid with each recollection. (Base 5, +1 Eye, +2 Sun) The Unbidden Task MuMe 25 R: Eye, D: Moon, T: Ind This spell creates a simple prospective memory in the target, which repeats itself so often that the target infers a reason for the memory. Simple memories, like, “I need to leave the back door unlocked tomorrow night” draw out reasonable inferences like, “because his lordship is sneaking out for a night on the town after her ladyship falls asleep.” The magus takes advantage of the action the prospective memory guides, so in the example above the magus could send a servant to rob the house, knowing the door would be unlocked. If there is no possible reasonable inference, the spell fails, so it cannot force most characters to commit suicide or do things that are abominable. Characters cannot be convinced to do things that are dangerous unless the character regularly faces that sort of danger as part of his profession. A shepherd might fight off a wolf, or a town watchman arrest a violent drunk, but neither would reasonably infer that they should perform the task better suited to the other. (Base 5, +1 Eye, +3 Moon)

The Memorization of Created Knowledge

Created thoughts and memories fade from the target’s mind when the spell that generates them expires. Some characters may wish to retain these thoughts. Using the thought or memory, so that the mind creates episodic memories around it, allows the mind to reconstruct the memory once the magic has faded away.

This is not an effective teaching aid, because it requires an hour of work for each image or significant cluster of facts to fix itself in memory. For example, if a magus creates the image of a map in the mind of a servant, the servant can fix that memory by drawing the details of the map for an hour, before the spell expires. Reconstructed memories are also imprecise copies of the original memory. This does not inhibit the use of simple, reconstructed facts, but for complex information, these errors accumulate.

Other Tricks of Memory

• Storage: The core rulebook gives a guideline for turning a mind into a solid object, and gives the example of a bird (ArM5, pages 150 and 149, respectively). It is similarly possible to turn a memory or emotion into a solid object. The base level of this is 5, and it requires a Requisite for the final form of the memory. The originator may feel the emotion, or recall the memory, while holding the object, but other people may not.
• Inclinations: The core rulebook gives a guideline for inclining a person to a particular sort of response. It is a Rego Mentem base effect of level 5 (ArM5, page 151). One of the most important inclinations, from the perspective of Jerbiton magi, lies toward belief. That is, spells of this type are used to make targets more gullible, so that other illusions and hallucinations have a greater possibility of success. A second inclination, lack of interest, is also useful. Rego Mentem spells cannot be used to destroy memories, but a character who simply does not care about what she sees is far less likely to remember it.

Attribution

Attribution Based on the material for Ars Magica, ©1993-2024, licensed by Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games®, under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license 4.0 ("CC-BY-SA 4.0"). Ars Magica Open License Logo ©2024 Trident, Inc. The Ars Magica Open License Logo, Ars Magica, and Mythic Europe are trademarks of Trident, Inc., and are used with permission. Order of Hermes, Tremere, Doissetep, and Grimgroth are trademarks of Paradox Interactive AB and are used with permission.