Legends of Hermes Chapter Two: the Four Aspects of Conciatta

See Also

• The Ars Magica Reference Document
• The Legends of Hermes Open Content page.
• The Legends of Hermes product page on this wiki

Chapter Two: The Four Aspects of Conciatta

Lifetime: c. 885 AD – 1007 AD (Final Twilight)

Overview: A brilliant researcher who advanced Bonisagus' theories, unifying the four Realms under Vim magic. It's said she left behind the secret of fueling Hermetic magic with Divine auras. But her spirit — fractured into four aspects — guards this secret and more.

Of all the Arts described by Bonisagus' unifying theory of magic, used by all those magi and descendants of magi gathered by Trianoma, there is one that has been overlooked more often than not: the Art of Vim. Vim is the tool through which raw supernatural power can be conjured, controlled, and shaped. But the modern Order of Hermes has a legendary maga to thank for the ease with which it uses Vim to see and touch the supernatural. Conciatta of Bonisagus was troubled both in life and in restless death, but because of this her contributions to the Order have not all been explored yet.

Shunned by her House, she worked tirelessly on new applications of Hermetic theory, but never published them. Rumors persist that she had found ways to overcome the deleterious effects that the Divine has on magic, but few believe them and Conciatta is fast becoming a footnote in Hermetic history. But her research is still to be found, and those who find it and bring it to the Order will become almost as famous as the Founders themselves. But at what cost?

Legend

Raised in Barcelona as the daughter of a wealthy merchant, the young Dolorita was taken away by Baltasar of Bonisagus to study with him in Leon. Before her apprenticeship was up she had been fostered with magi as far afield as Al Andalus, Provence, and Lombardy. However, something in her apprenticeship under Baltasar had stirred a great interest in the unseen realms and a desire for Hermetic Theory to affect them without recourse to "other means."

Once free of her apprenticeship, Conciatta traveled Europe for several years visiting covenants within Iberia and beyond. She gave service as a laboratory assistant in exchange for room to conduct her own studies. It was on one such journey that she met Currito of Jerbiton. While his impetuous confidence reminded Conciatta of her parens, Currito found her reserved bookishness both amusing and appealing.

He had recently returned from the city of Zaragoza where he had found a series of supernatural auras, only some of which seemed beneficial to his magic. He wanted to understand these auras and as Zaragoza had yet to be claimed by any other magus he wanted to found his own covenant in virgin territory. Within a year the magi had raised a tower inside a regio, founded their covenant, and sealed the pact with marriage.

Research

While Currito plied his artistic trade, Conciatta began her research. She corresponded with the most eminent Bonisagi of her day and learned that those with an interest in the realms were seeking to extend the theory by incorporating new Arts. Instinctively, she knew this was wrong and argued against it. Despite failures, the addition of new Arts to solve the problem was the prevailing wisdom and Conciatta was challenged to fall in line or to produce a working alternative.

In 930 she published her first notable work, The Application of Vim to the Supernatural Humors (tractatus on Magic Theory, quality 7). This major breakthrough showed how Magic Theory could adapt and differentiate the four identifiable auras. This was revolutionary in two ways. Firstly, it reduced auras into four categories that matched directly with the accepted realms. Secondly, it demonstrated the use of Vim to directly affect those supernatural realms. The House was at first skeptical, but as each of her peers studied from her work and validated her results, so word of her achievement spread. Before long, the text was distributed to the Tribunals and Conciatta's place in Hermetic history was sealed.

And then Baltasar was marched. By his own admission, he had become Infernally corrupted. Some say he threw himself on the mercy of the Quaesitores in the hope for leniency. He received none. The details of his crime are now lost and the magus himself would be forgotten but for his filia. But this scandal hit Conciatta hard and her rivals now had new ammunition. They used this, her gender, her relative youth, indeed any excuse against her, and she was soon quietly ostracized from Bonisagus society. She sent her last set of unfinished notes to Durenmar and concentrated on new projects.

For the next forty years she worked tirelessly. She visited mysterious supernatural sites and recorded everything she could. Meanwhile, Currito kept her supplied with vis, bartered for the latest works, and scouted new areas on her behalf. He supported his wife to the detriment of his own studies and his own artistic aims. But all the while she kept her results secret from the Order.

Currito of Jerbiton

Currito of Jerbiton was an artist at heart. He was a man swept up in selfless tortured love, and for a while he channeled this into his painting. Much of his work was religious in nature, though he gained popularity for a time in the more wealthy covenants of the Order for a series of Hermetic triptychs. But his best days were far behind him by the time the Order descended into Schism War, a time when the hope and glory of those early days seemed almost irrelevant.

He lived out his later days as an itinerant artist: trading on past glories, enjoying the hospitality of old friends, and moving on when his welcome wore thin.

The Growing Ailment

She even kept secret the changes to her Gift. Currito had noticed that her Gift had become more blatant but he did not realize that she was losing control of her spell-casting. Magic was starting to leak from her, to find and manipulate targets around her. It was unconscious, automatic, and near constant. Seasons of study were ruined and Twilight came upon her more and more frequently.

Frustrated at being held at arm's length (Conciatta went a full year without setting eyes on him), and humiliated by his peers, Currito left Zaragoza. He did not leave empty handed. In his bitterness he took a number of her research notes in the hope that he could use them for profit. It is from these notes that rumors of Conciatta's later work have arisen. It is unclear where Currito settled but reports put him in the Levant before 1000.

Conciatta remained in Zaragoza for a further five years, alone in her tower. She had lost interest in the mundane world and ignored the servants who provided for her. Slowly the outside world forgot about her.

The Death of Conciatta

As the new millennium dawned, Conciatta finally abandoned her tower and retired to a convent near Toledo that she had come to know through her research. She hoped that the strong Dominion would dampen her constant spell-casting and give her respite from her own magic. The convent took her in and cared for the weary and warped maga and she lived there for the next eleven years in relative peace. But her connection with the Dominion soon strengthened and the old ailment came back. Warping eventually caught up with her and she fell into Final Twilight.

But instead of fading into the realm of Magic, her lifelong studies dogged her even at the end. Her spirit fractured into four aspects, each matching one of the four supernatural realms and they fled the convent. While Conciatta herself is dead, distorted images of her remain to be found. And while the world at large doesn't know of Conciatta's greatest breakthroughs, the four aspects that survive her remember.

What the Order Remembers of Conciatta

Members of House Bonisagus may remember more about Conciatta due to House Acclaim. Conciatta's early research, before she cloistered herself away, earned her the rank of Cannophori (Houses of Hermes: True Lineages, page 21) and this provides Bonisagus characters with a +3 bonus when rolling to remember about her. See the Introduction: What the Order Remembers for rules.

Known by All

• She unified the understanding of the four realms under the single Art of Vim.
• Her famous work, The Application of Vim to the Supernatural Humors, is often studied by apprentices.
• She withdrew from Hermetic society in her later years.

Widely Known

• She lived in Iberia and had links with both Christian and Muslim communities.
• Her parens was marched on charges of diabolic corruption.
• She was assisted in her work by her husband, a Jerbiton artist.

Uncommon Knowledge

• There were suggestions that she did not publish all of her research to the Order.
• She found a way to overcome the Dominion's effect on magic.*
• Conciatta disappeared into Twilight before the turn of the millennium.**

Lost Secrets

• She paid a terrible price for the hubris of her research and lost control of her magic.
• She died in a convent near Toledo.
• Just before her death she was visited by four women, to each of whom she gave a magical treasure.
• \* A distortion based on Currito's later writings.
• \** This is what the Order at large believes.

Legacy

Conciatta's legacy is a series of breakthroughs that she made while in seclusion. These are available through the research notes and laboratory texts that can be found in the various locations that were key to her research. But, uniquely, Conciatta has also left behind four supernatural aspects of herself who can provide insight into these breakthroughs.

New Virtues

The following virtues represent the ways Conciatta's unique research affected both her Gift and her understanding of the Hermetic theory. They can either be gained through original research, assisted by her own laboratory texts, or used as inspiration for integrating with Hermetic Theory as with researching ancient magic. As some of Conciatta's work has already been integrated with Hermetic magic the following virtues represent new breakthroughs with effects currently unavailable to Hermetic magi.

Confluence of the Realms

Minor, Hermetic

This Virtue allows the maga to benefit from her knowledge of the supernatural realms while undertaking laboratory work.

A maga using a laboratory text creates an exact copy of the spell or enchantment, with the Range, Duration, Target, and effect as described in the text. Many Vim spells are designed to affect a given realm, and that realm is a fixed part of the laboratory text. A maga cannot use a laboratory text for the Demon's Eternal Oblivion spell to re-create the same effect targeting creatures of the Magic Realm.

For magi with this virtue however, the realm specified as part of a laboratory text, whether a spell or device, can be changed during any subsequent use of that lab text. Thus, the maga may use laboratory texts for realm-specific Vim spells to invent variants with the same Range, Duration, Target, and effect aligned to another realm. This can be applied to any spell that references a realm in some way, such as warding, or spells to investigate or affect auras.

This change cannot be effected in the field, through the use of Virtues such as Flexible Formulaic Magic, and is restricted to the laboratory.

This Virtue also provides the understanding needed to extract vis from any of the four realms. This uses the existing rules with the extraction total modified by the standard aura modifiers. The vis produced is typical of that found in the appropriate supernatural aura, including any side-effects that such vis typically has.

It takes 30 research points to integrate this Virtue.

Insight of the Realms

Minor, Hermetic

Characters with this Virtue draw upon their knowledge of the supernatural realms to support magic typically used outside of the laboratory. Magi with this Virtue may substitute the appropriate Realm Lore Ability for either Artes Liberales or Philosophiae in any ritual or ceremonial spell totals cast within or related to the matching realm.

This Virtue also allows the Dominion Lore, Faerie Lore, Infernal Lore, and Magic Lore Abilities to be used to detect and see through a target regio boundary, as described in ArM5, page 189. These abilities are used in place of Second Sight or Sense Holiness & Unholiness as appropriate to the aura. The use of the Realm Lore ability for this purpose is treated as aligned to the current aura, being a deep understanding provided by arcane knowledge, and so is modified as normal.

It takes 30 research points to integrate this Virtue.

True Understanding of the Realms

Major, Hermetic

When the maga achieves true understanding of the realms, represented by this Virtue and through the four Realm Lore Abilities, she is able to manipulate and use auras to better serve her magic.

On entering a supernatural aura foreign to the maga, the effective level of that aura is reduced by the score in the appropriate Realm Lore Ability to a minimum of 0. This reduces both the penalty associated with that aura and the number of additional botch dice activities are subject to. Note that some auras provide a bonus to spells and powers. In such cases, the bonus is retained but the number of botch dice is reduced.

The Nature of Vim

Though it wasn't recognized at the time, Bonisagus' theory of magic, as taught to the Founders and early members of the Order was flawed. Vim originally concerned active magic such as spells and enchantments and the study of auras was beyond that early theory. The first advance was in using Vim to perceive and affect the existential realm of Magic. Being so different, the moral realms of the Dominion and the Infernal and the existential realm of Faerie could not be manipulated in this way by Hermetic magic. Instead, the ten Forms were used to affect supernatural entities: Herbam was used to ward against faeries of the wood, or Animal used to ward against an Infernal hound. That legacy is evident in some of the common uses for the Forms in the Order today.

This meant that early magi had great difficulty in perceiving, describing, and traversing supernatural auras and regiones, and more adventurous magi had to learn many similar spells across the ten Forms in order to affect creatures of the realms. Some House Bonisagus scholars attempted to extend the theory with further distinct Arts, each covering a separate supernatural realm, but these attempts died a natural death. It took a generation and the gauntlet of Conciatta before a new approach was explored; the application of Vim to the four supernatural realms.

Conciatta's Glossary

Many of the common words that magi use to talk about auras originated in Conciatta's early works.

Diffuse: An aura with no fixed sustaining source.

Tethered: An aura that is generated by or sustained by one or more sources.

Stable: An aura that is neither growing nor shrinking in magnitude.

Waning: An aura that is losing strength over time.

Waxing: An aura that is gaining strength over time.

Existential: The Faerie and Magic Realms.

Moral: The Divine and Infernal Realms.

Apparent: The strongest aura present at a given location.

Subsumed: An aura that is present but has been overpowered by a stronger aura covering the same area.

A foreign aura is one that imposes some penalty to the maga's supernatural powers or spell casting. The standard realm interaction table on ArM5, page 183, applies as normal.

The associated effects of any aura are also affected by the level of the appropriate Realm Lore ability. While the maga gains full magical benefit from a Magical aura aligned with aggressive emotions, she may use her knowledge of the Magic Realm to reduce the aura's effect (as per the table in Realms of Power: Magic, page 15). Similarly, the penalty to statistics imposed by Abyssal Infernal auras (Realms of Power: The Infernal, page 16) is reduced.

This Virtue manifests as an integral part of the character's Gift, on the same level as the maga's own magical sigil. As with the sigil, it cannot be suspended and it influences all spells cast by the maga and all enchanted items created after the maga acquires this Virtue.

While not directly affecting the use of enchanted devices, auras do affect their penetration. Just as a maga's sigil manifests in the effect, so does her understanding of the realms. On acquiring this Virtue, the maga's score in the Realm Lore abilities should be recorded when she creates a new enchanted device effect. When the device is used in a foreign aura, the effective level of that aura, for penetration purposes, is reduced by the maga's Realm Lore ability at the time the effect was instilled. This is a function of the maga's personal enchantment process and is not described by the Laboratory Text and can not be reproduced by another magus following the text.

The maga's talisman always uses her current Realm Lore when used by the maga regardless of when the effects were enchanted into it.

If either Confluence or Insight of the Realms have been integrated, it takes 30 points to integrate or research this virtue, otherwise it takes 45 points.

Exempli Gratia: The magus Zebulon has a Faerie Lore of 2 and an Infernal Lore of 4. On entering an Infernal Abyssal regio of level 3, his Infernal Lore reduces the effective level of the aura to 0 for all non-Infernal powers and spells. This reduces the realm interaction penalty and botch dice to 0 and negates the Abyssal aura’s deleterious effects on his characteristics. Even after a day spent within the regio, the Intelligence stress roll has an Ease Factor of 0 as the effective level of the aura has been reduced to 0. See Realms of Power: The Infernal, page 16 for details on Abyssal regiones.

Later, he finds a Faerie aura of level 2. His understanding of the aura allows him to retain the +1 bonus as indicated by the realm interaction table but the number of additional botch dice for spell casting is reduced to 0.

New Flaws

The Flaw below represents the defects to Conciatta's Gift that she acquired through her research. Magi who find a way to Initiate Conciatta's Virtues must go through the ordeal of acquiring this Flaw, though it is not gained in research or integration.

The Constant Expression

Major, Hermetic

The maga forms the center of a magical maelstrom, perpetually casting nonfatiguing Spontaneous magic effects. The resulting effects are minor due to the nature of non-fatiguing Spontaneous magic but are likely to cause distraction and/or other problems. Though nonfatiguing, the effort of marshaling the magic into less dangerous forms is tiring and the maga is considered to have lost one long-term Fatigue level which cannot be regained through sleep.

The effects produced by the constant expression may target anything that the maga could normally target with spontaneous spell, including herself, though are more likely to target things touched by or seen by the maga.

The maga may actively concentrate in order to suppress this automatic magic entirely, making an initial Stamina + Concentration simple roll against Ease Factor 3 + (Warping Score). On a failure, a further roll is allowed every two minutes after the maga has composed herself. If the magic has been suppressed, the maga may cast spontaneous and formulaic spells normally.

In order to cast ceremonial or ritual magic the maga must make a concentration roll as described above. One attempt can be made every 15 minutes, a successful attempt sufficient to cover the duration of the casting. But the maga suffers a number of additional botch dice equal to her Warping Score.

The constant expression of magic also makes laboratory work inherently risky. Any laboratory the maga works in is treated as having a free flaw providing a Safety penalty of –3 (see Covenants, page 111).

Penalties from foreign auras, or from effects such as Aegis of the Hearth, may dampen the constant expression. Where the penalty reduces the casting total to 0, no magic is expressed.

The player should decide, based on personality, sigil, and favored arts, how the constant expression most often manifests, though the storyguide may vary the actual effect scene-by-scene.

New Spells

The following are new spells affect auras of various kinds.

New Spell Guidelines for Auras

The following new guidelines may be used by any maga who has studied from at least one of Conciatta's unpublished works on the breakthroughs described here, through a tractatus or a laboratory text for instance. No insight or additional research is required.

New Intellego Vim Guidelines

Natural and Preternatural tethers are described in Realms of Power: Magic, page 10. Tethers are objects or circumstances of mystical significance that draw fluid vis to a location and both cause and sustain an aura. Storyguides should feel free to extend the metaphor to all of the four supernatural auras.

Level 1: Detect the presence and strength of a supernatural tether of level 5 or higher.

Level 2: Detect the presence and strength of a supernatural tether of level 4 or higher.

Detect the presence of a subsumed aura.

Level 3: Detect the presence and strength of a supernatural tether of level 3 or higher.

Level 4: Detect the presence and strength of a natural or supernatural tether of level 2 or higher.

Level 5: Detect the presence and strength of any natural or supernatural tether.

New Rego Vim Guidelines

General: Suppress an aura of strength less than or equal to the spell's magnitude. The aura is not destroyed but its effects, including any casting bonuses/penalties, are suppressed for the spell's duration. The aura returns to full strength at the end of the spell's duration. The presence of the suppressed aura is detected by magic or abilities that can normally detect such auras. This Ritual cannot affect regio levels beyond the mundane level. As the target aura is still in place, merely locked away, events and actions that fuel the aura may raise the level beyond the power of this Ritual to contain it. If this happens, the Ritual's power is broken and the aura is made apparent again. (Ritual)

New Intellego Vim Spells

To See What Binds this Magical Place

InVi 30
R: Personal, D: Diameter, T: Vision

On casting this spell within a Magic aura, the maga sees a light emanating from any natural or supernatural tether currently feeding and binding the aura. The light is brighter the stronger the tether is, allowing the maga to estimate the relative importance of that tether to the aura.

(Base 5, +1 Diameter, +4 Vision)

This Heart of Darkness

InVi 20
R: Touch, D: Momentary, T: Room

Cast within an Infernal aura, this spell reveals whether actions taken within this room were responsible for drawing in the Infernal. This could be through a personal evil or sin, or an Infernal ritual. Any event that induces a corruption roll (Realms of Power: The Infernal, page 11) taints the location and is equivalent to a tether. This spell cannot provide information about the evil that took place, nor even how long ago it was committed.

(Base 5, +1 Touch, +2 Room)

New Rego Vim Spell

Dominance Over the Infernal

ReVi General
R: Touch, D: Year, T: Boundary, Ritual
Causes the apparent Infernal aura of strength equal to (ritual magnitude – 9) to abate. The Infernal aura, though still present, is held at bay and its effects are not felt. Other auras present that may have been suppressed are now expressed.

(Base, +1 Touch, +4 Year, +4 Boundary)

Integration vs. Research

There are two paths to acquiring Conciatta's lost knowledge. A magus may seek out sources of inspiration, enchanted devices, books, or teachers, that provide insight into her breakthroughs. The magus uses these sources of insight to conduct experiments, undertaking Hermetic laboratory projects, to re-create key discoveries.

Original research may take longer but allows the magus to progress even without sources of insight; the magus experiments and stretches his own understanding of magic to reach the eventual goal.

The rules for integrating Conciatta's discoveries with Hermetic magic can be found in Ancient Magic, page 7, while the original research rules can be found in House of Hermes: True Lineages, page 26. The two approaches are compatible and research points are cumulative with points gained by studying artifacts and texts. An additional summary is provided in Hedge Magic Revised Edition, page 14.

This chapter suggests effects and artifacts that magi following Conciatta's trail may find. While not specified, storyguides may also want to provide laboratory texts for these effects to best suit their saga goals.

List of Artifacts

The following table lists the spells and devices that can be discovered through this story, the Virtue that they provide inspiration for, and the integration/breakthrough points that each provides.

Artifact	Virtue	Points
Maintaining the Divine Conjuration	Confluence of the Realms	6
The Fourfold Lens	Confluence of the Realms	11
Subsume the Apparent Dominion	Confluence of the Realms	10
Clearing the Mind of the Caster	Insight of the Realms	6
The Insightful Stylus	Insight of the Realms	5
The Lodestone	Insight of the Realms	7
The Sands of Time	Insight of the Realms	4
Ward Against Woodland Spirits	True Understanding of the Realms	9

Adventure: Four Corners of the World

Conciatta's spirit has been sundered and aspects of it reside within four auras or regiones across the Iberian peninsula, one for each realm. The aspects in each of the four realms have lost much from the original, but have retained key personality traits. Each aspect is protected in some way, but the aim of the story is to seek Conciatta's treasures and to reunite her fractured spirit.

The adventure takes place in those four locations:

• The first location is Conciatta's sanctum, where the magi are confronted with a Conciatta devoted to and obsessed by study. In her the magi may see an exaggerated reflection of themselves.
• The second place is the convent where Conciatta spent her final living years. It is here that the characters are given the opportunity to show true qualities of the Divine: mercy and sacrifice.
• The story of the third location, a sunken faerie city, is riddled with loss. The city of Tartessos was lost a thousand years ago or more, and the magi themselves must participate in the story of loss when they discover that the spirit they are seeking has long since gone.
• The final spirit of Conciatta is buried deep within the Infernal where conflict, hardship, and pain rule supreme. This encounter is dangerous and deadly, like the Infernal itself.

The quest can be played out as a single storyline allowing the characters to collect all of the treasures before retiring to their laboratories. Episodes can also be played separately. Provision has been made for clues leading from one place to another, but storyguides who wish to take a more episodic approach may like to move the clues and allow the players to engage with the story over a longer period.

Relocating the Story to Other Tribunals

This story is designed as a treasure hunt and requires the magi to leave their covenants and maybe even their Tribunals, allowing magi from across Mythic Europe to follow Conciatta's trail. However, the events and places described in this chapter can be moved with relative ease: Tartessos could translate to Sybaris in the Roman Tribunal, Zaragoza may become Paris in the Tribunal of Normandy with the Ebro becoming the Seine, and Jerusalem might be used in place of Toledo. The action, by default, occurs in Iberia, but storyguides should not feel constrained by this.

Précis

The adventure presented here has the following structure. Note that the story starts with two encounters with Conciatta and her history. Those encounters can be run in either order as suits the storyguide’s plans.

• The first encounter is the discovery of Conciatta's history made manifest in the Magic Realm.
• The second encounter is the acquisition of Currito's journal, a book that provides the clues as to where Conciatta's four fractured spirits can be found.
• The troupe may then go searching for the four aspects of Conciatta in any order that they wish. Some approaches may be easier or more logical than others, but the troupe should have freedom to explore.
• Finally, the spirits of Conciatta can be reunited, allowing the magi to learn her last secrets and bring new breakthroughs to the Order.

Foreshadowing

Prior to introducing Conciatta's legacy and presenting the Four Corners story, it will be useful to plant certain seeds to make her discoveries more immediate and tempting. The storyguide should also use Conciatta's name in largely unrelated stories to raise her profile with the troupe.

Difficulties with Auras

Conciatta's work is all related to the supernatural realms and auras. Stories with auras and regiones at their core pose interesting challenges for magi: the Dominion in particular limits the effectiveness of Magic, and Infernal auras have considerable deleterious effects even at low levels. Currently, Hermetic magic has no easy way to identify the phenomena that anchor auras of each realm so any story where this is important will start the troupe looking for solutions to this problem.

Casting tablets may provide useful solutions to aura-related problems and the covenant may already hold one or two, written perhaps by Currito in his later years.

Books and Spells

When Conciatta's husband Currito left the covenant he took a number of useful texts and devices. It is possible that some of her work has made it to the troupe's covenant over the years. Such books or devices can be presented to the troupe as obscure items in their library or stores.

Also, works by others may contain Conciatta's own glossing, and these hint at her greater understanding of the realms, or individual correspondences may be found within other volumes. Any time a character studies the Art of Vim from a book there is an opportunity to include Conciatta's name in the experience.

The Art of Currito

Currito never fulfilled his potential but some of his artwork, particularly his frescoes, survives and could be found anywhere across the Order. These surviving works can be used to foreshadow story events, such as by showing the same subject or character as though influenced by the four realms.

History Unfolding

While engaged in a story involving the Magic Realm, the magi discover a series of tempora, static yet tangible vignettes, describing the life of Conciatta. They unfold the story of Conciatta's background and provide clues as to her discoveries, her fate, and the location of her sanctum.

Each tempus has an associated Personality Trait that may enhance the emotions of those within it, as described in Realms of Power: Magic, page 15. Characters with a supernatural ability derived from the Magic Realm are unaffected, otherwise characters gain the specified temporary Personality Trait of +3 while they remain within the tempus.

Although they are presented chronologically here, there is no order in which they must be presented. Storyguides should choose a tempus that most closely matches their needs and let the players explore from there. If using the Magical Travel rules in Realms of Power: Magic, page 23, each vestige has a level of 5, for an Ease Factor of 15 to travel to the next tempus.

None of the vestiges form a connection to the mundane world so they cannot be used to directly access the remains of Conciatta's sanctum.

The Vestige of Study (Studious)

This tempus shows Conciatta in her sanctum. She is with Currito and they both appear relaxed, though frozen as though mid-conversation. Currito sits in a sizeable chair, his hands aloft as though shaping something invisible and his eyes wide and enthusiastic. Conciatta stands behind a work table, like those that fill hundreds of Hermetic laboratories across the Order. Her finger rests on an open book, marking the very line that drew Currito's reaction.

The pages of the book cannot be turned but the subject matter is clear. It appears to be a journal. The unnamed author was apparently a magus who suffered a magical accident. This accident sent him into a regio that inhibited his magic. He became trapped inside for what seemed like weeks until he expended all the vis he carried in an attempt to force the same magical accident and reverse its initial effect. The point that drew Conciatta's finger was the reveal that all of the vis the magus carried was of the Form of Vim.

A tractatus on the Art of Vim also lies open on the table. It appears to use an archaic form of Hermetic Latin. The open pages show that the author considered it impossible to affect the four supernatural realms with anything other than new Arts. Any magus reading this will immediately recognize this as outmoded and absurdly incorrect. The book harks back to the early days of the Order, and this should remind magi that it was Conciatta of Bonisagus who made the breakthrough that banished such outlandish ideas.

In life, this moment fueled Conciatta and provided yet more evidence that the Art of Vim could manifestly affect all of the supernatural realms, that the grand theory of magic needed no other Arts.

The walls of her sanctum are lined with laboratory texts, tractatus, scrolls, and devices. It is rich and colorful, vibrant and thriving. There is even a view from the windows, though it is peculiar and can only be seen as though from Conciatta's vantage point, as though a window-shaped image hung against a white drape some feet beyond the window frame. The Moorish city of Saraqusta can be seen outside the tower, with the Noor Mosque rising above the low streets.

The door provides the means of traveling into or out of this vestige.

The Vestige of Acclaim (Proud)

This tempus takes the form of a great lecture hall, recognizable to any Bonisagus as one of the halls of Durenmar. The tempus here behaves oddly as the images shift, jumping from one to the next as the observers walk the hall.

The hall has a central door at the rear, which serves as the point of entry for characters who find this tempus. Rows of benches, filled with magi of several Houses, face forward and are bisected by a central aisle. At the front of the hall, on a raised dais, Conciatta stands at a lectern.

On entering the hall, the tempus shows Conciatta as she begins her presentation. As the observer moves towards her, magi can be seen posing questions. Further still, and magi appear by turns dismissive and approving. Again further, and pockets of discussion can be seen breaking out among the assembled magi. Some quickly examine Conciatta's new ideas while others voice their anger. Eventually, the magi stand and applaud, while a few of the more senior magi storm from the hall.

The last image, seen only from Conciatta's perspective, gives a hint to the loss of magical control to come. Her gaze suddenly becomes surprised and she looks to a silver stylus on her lectern. The stylus has bent, curled in on itself, and floats just above the lectern's wooden surface.

But there is one constant with each change in image: Currito sits at the back of the hall. He looks on proudly, lovingly. So content is he that he does not even stand when the other magi give Conciatta their applause; he knows her achievement and lets her soak in the acclaim.

Characters entering or leaving this vestige do so through the door at the rear of the hall.

The Vestige of Seclusion (Bitter)

The characters enter this tempus at the bottom of the winding stair of Conciatta's tower. The steps behind them disappear into mists while Currito stands sorrowfully in front of them. His head is bowed and his shoulders sag. He is dressed as though for a journey and has a large bag slung over his shoulder. The tower here has no walls and the winding stair is alone in the eerie blank whiteness. Stepping off the stairs sends the character into the void.

The steps behind Currito stop at Conciatta's door. Characters may peer around Conciatta's door and will simply see the other side of it. But if they look through the keyhole they will see her darkened sanctum. Characters see Conciatta surrounded by items floating around her, held up by some unseen force. Conciatta herself stands at her work table, fists clenched and tears welling from her tightly closed eyes.

Characters leave this tempus by opening the door.

The Vestige of Death (Fearful)

Characters entering this tempus find themselves suddenly at the foot of a bed, as described below.

This is the moment of Conciatta's death at the convent near Toledo. At the center of the room, an aged Conciatta lies in bed. A nun by her bedside holds her hand and prays. Another by her other side, leans in close so as to hear her last words. A third, more senior nun stands at the foot of the bed. The scene moves on and Conciatta takes her last few breaths. As Conciatta dies, the candles in the room extinguish and the room is plunged into a gloom. Characters may now see, in the four corners of the room, obscured by shadow, the four spirits of Conciatta. The images last long enough for the spirits to manifest…and then the scene replays from the beginning. This happens over and over: Conciatta's neverending death.

As the image plays out, those present may notice the effects of Conciatta's uncontrolled magic. Small items are picked up by invisible forces, but the power appears tired and the items are soon dropped.

Characters listening to Conciatta's last words hear her ask for the spirits to be reunited, "My soul is broken and cannot rest. I am here, I am in fire and damnation, I am deep in the lost city, and I am home at last. Find me and make me whole."

A triptych in the room shows the appearance of the Virgin Mary to Ildefonso's mother during her pregnancy; just before her death; and her appearance to Ildefonso himself at the moment of his mother's death. The triptych exists in the mundane world and was a gift to the convent by Currito for their help with Conciatta's studies. An Intelligence + Church Lore simple roll vs. 6 is enough to recognise the saint as Ildefonso.

But the triptych also seems to have other images, mystically coexisting with Currito's work. Characters looking closely see reflections of the other three tempora and may use the images to travel to each.

Story Seed: The Invisible Enemy

A private messenger representing a magus of a foreign Tribunal arrives at the covenant asking for access to Currito's journal. The messenger claims that his master has an interest in the life of Currito of Jerbiton and is searching for clues concerning his earlier years. The magus understands that the book has made its way into the covenant's possession and is willing to pay handsomely for it. A note of suspicion may be raised when the messenger insists that his master wishes to buy the volume outright and while he appreciates any offer to study it, it is the book itself he wants.

But the messenger is merely a Trojan horse unknowingly carrying a number of possessing spirits (as per the power described in Realms of Power: The Infernal, page 32) across the Aegis boundary. Once inside, these spirits search the covenant, looking for the book, and bring fear and mischief in their wake.

Currito's Journal

A Redcap brings sad tidings to one of the covenant's magi: his pater has died or drifted into Final Twilight. But the magi bring with them an heirloom: a tattered book in an unrecognized hand. The book comes with the old man's instructions to read it carefully.

The book was written by Currito in his old age (described in the nearby box) and from him it went through many uninterested hands until it has now landed in the character's possession.

But each delegate has designs upon the book. The Quaesitor suspects foul play and sees the book as a clue; the Bonisagus is intent on seeing the magic within made public; and the Redcap is acting on behalf of Zebulon, offering a small fortune in return for the book.

Storyguides should feel free to make the book available in any other way that suits the stories they are telling. The book may already be in the library, or it may be found in Currito's long-abandoned sanctum.

The Life of Currito

Bound between leather flaps and written in an uncertain and aged hand, this volume describes the long life of Currito of Jerbiton, especially his youth and middle age spent with Conciatta of Bonisagus.

Reading this book, something that can be done as a five-day distraction, reveals the following:

• The covenant Currito shared with Conciatta was hidden within a regio but still plagued by birds flying in from the mundane world.
• Conciatta remained in Zaragoza after the dissolution of La Torre no Vista.
• She studied the Dominion at a convent in Toledo, also the place where she spent her final days.
• They survived deadly challenges in an Infernal cave system at the town of Narixa.
• They left some of their notes and a map in the library of the al Narixa mosque for safe keeping.
• Currito saw the extent of her ambition when she bargained for knowledge with the king of a lost city outside of Qadis, and it was this that began to turn Conciatta's feelings against him.

This last point is evidently a source of great bitterness for Currito and the nature of the bargain is not dwelt upon.

One of the features of this book is a large full-page illumination showing Conciatta standing beneath a wide arch. The pillars are supported on one side by an angel standing atop a demon, and on the other side by a dragon standing atop a winged man playing a lute. Behind Conciatta and all around the arch the wall is filled with Hermetic text. The wording is incomplete but it looks as though the text is taken from a casting tablet.

The Tower by the Water

The Magical spirit of Conciatta can be found at the site of her old covenant, La Torre no Vista. The covenant is mentioned by name both in written works and in the spoken tales that surround Conciatta. While the information that the covenant was housed in Zaragoza is easily available, finding the covenant itself is a matter of piecing together the clues and using perhaps a little magic.

Zaragoza

In Conciatta's time Zaragoza was the Arab city of Saraqusta, part of the Emirate of Cordoba in the northeast of Iberia. The city enjoyed relative peace and stability under Arab rule for over two hundred years, until rival Muslim dynasties began challenging for control. With the destruction of the Cordoban Caliphate in 1018, years after Conciatta left, Zaragoza became one of the independent Taifa Kingdoms ruled first by the Banu Tujib and then the Banu Hud.

The Banu Hud negotiated an alliance with Castille against their Almoravid enemies sweeping north and the great El Cid served as commandant of the city's armies between 1081 and 1086. The city was able to resist the Almoravids until 1110 when Abd al-Malik Imad ad-Dawla, the last emir of Zaragoza, was driven from the city. Eight years later Alfonso I el Batallador, aided by the forces of Abd al-Malik, took the city from the Almoravids and it soon became the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon.

When Alfonso captured Zaragoza in 1118, many of the city's libraries were taken south by fleeing Muslims. The contents of the remaining libraries were sent north to Paris where they can still be found in the trust of the university. By this time, these libraries contained a number of Hermetic texts, Conciatta's among them.

A Note on Languages

Each kingdom or region across Iberia has its own language. For simplicity, they can be treated as similar enough to be interchangeable while still being readily identifiable. In addition, Iberia was for a long time dominated by the Moors of north Africa and Al Andalus, so Arabic is still commonly used by those of Moorish descent who still live in the Christian kingdoms.

The City in 1220

Zaragoza is a strong city in the heart of Aragon served by well-maintained roads. The principal routes are north by road to Jaca and southeast by river to Barcelona.

The walled city is situated in a shallow valley that slowly rises up into mountains. The valley presents a number of different landscapes, from the Los Monegros desert and deep woodland, to open plains and farmlands. But the most striking feature of the city is the mighty river Ebro that bounds Zaragoza to the north and its tributary, the Huerva, that bounds it to the east.

A number of bridges span both the Ebro and the Huerva and lead into a city where church spires and Islamic minarets fill the sky. They seem to concentrate and reach higher towards the middle of the city giving Zaragoza almost a domed appearance. The legacy of hundreds of years of Islamic architecture still remains. The narrow streets are filled with markets and Christian, Jew, and Muslim alike can be seen, and heard, bartering for goods. The only sounds that cut through are the regular church bells and the Islamic calls to prayer.

Zaragoza is surrounded by mountains and has a variable climate. The spring sees great rainfall, but the summer turns to scorching drought. Winter is a harsh time contested by two great wintry spirits. The first manifests as a cold fog that settles about the city while the second is a cold dry wind that blows down from the encircling mountains and attempts to overcome the fog.

The Ebro provides ample irrigation to support farming and wheat is a big export. Wine is produced further north along the Ebro and much of the wealth from that business accumulates in Zaragoza.

Story Seed: The Books of Al-Mu'taman

Yusuf ibn Ahmad al-Mu'taman ibn Hud ruled Zaragoza between 1082 and 1085. Aside from his secular concerns he was an accomplished mathematician, writing extensively on geometry. However, those reading his works also discover references to magic.

Al-Mu'taman was a Learned Magician (Hedge Magic: Revised Edition, page 79) and his lineage schooled Conciatta in their ways of overcoming the deleterious effects of auras. Modern magi might also learn much from this line of magicians, if they can be found and bargained with.

La Torre No Vista

Conciatta's sanctum occupied the upper levels of a tower near the banks of the river Ebro. The tower fills a regio that hangs high in the air with seemingly no way to reach it. As was revealed in Currito's book, he always had a trouble with the birds that seemed to find his sanctum windows.

At the covenant's founding, having acquire mundane title to the land, Currito used ritual magic to raise a tower hidden inside the already-present regio. At the same time, in the mundane world, he helped his agents build wharfs and a warehouse to both disguise the entrance and provide an important income.

Finding the Covenant Remains

As the Magic aura that housed the covenant is now subsumed by the Dominion, finding the site requires a number of clues.

There are still references to La Torre no Vista in the records House Mercere retains at its domus magna of Harco. But this only places the covenant in the city of Saraqusta and records that the covenant dissolved in 990. The Mercer house in Barcelona, known as Yuval's (Houses of Hermes: True Lineages, page 82), has more detail:

• It records Currito and Conciatta as members and that the tower was raised from within a regio on the southern bank of the Ebro.
• It provides a location in the eastern part of the city that Redcaps should attend and notes that this is separate from the sancta.
• It also has an oblique reference to the regio being to the north of the Noor Mosque.
• The final clue is that the mosque mentioned in the Mercere directions no longer exists. An Intelligence plus Zaragoza Lore roll against an Ease Factor of 9 reveals that the Aljafería palace now stands where the old Noor Mosque used to.

Alternatively, if characters are actively searching for unusual sights in the air, such as birds suddenly appearing or disappearing, they may make a Perception + Awareness simple roll against Ease Factor 9. The search takes one week plus one additional week for every point by which the roll missed the Ease Factor.

Storyguides may wish to run a story connected with gathering these clues and identifying the correct warehouse along the Ebro river. In any case, the troupe finally discovers that the covenant site is now occupied by the merchant Reyes de Barbastro.

Reyes de Barbastro

The site of the old covenant is in the north west of the city, where the Ebro turns sharply back on itself. It is now occupied by buildings owned by Reyes de Barbastro. His property looks out over the Ebro and includes both his home and a large warehouse, beneath which is a cellar that bounds the subsumed Magic aura. He is unaware that his cellar has any significance. Reyes has a comfortable living and supports a fine household. His principal business is trading wine from the Logroño region, where he maintains another warehouse, but he will buy and sell most things.

Reyes has three daughters of or nearing marriageable age. The eldest is 17, the middle daughter is 16, and the youngest is 14. He has no sons to pass his growing business on to, so is keen to find suitable husbands for his daughters. But he needs to be sure that any prospective husband will care both for his business and his daughter (admittedly in that order). Characters hoping to gain access to Reyes' warehouse and the important cellar may want to appeal to this side of him.

Reyes de Barbastro

Characteristics: Int +1, Per 0, Pre +2, Com +1, Str 0, Sta 0, Dex 0, Qik –1

Size: 0

Age: 35 (35)

Confidence: 1 (3)

Virtues and Flaws: Capo*; Clear Thinker, Famous, Vernacular Education*, Puissant Bargain, Gossip; Many Marriageable Daughters*; Weak Characteristics, Greedy, Weakness (Hedonism)

Personality Traits: Bombastic +2, Greedy +2, Tolerant of Fools –1

Reputations: Generous Host (merchants) 4, Gossip (Zaragoza) 1

Combat:

Dodge: Init –1, Attack N/A, Defense +0, Damage N/A

Fist: Init –1, Attack +1, Defense +0, Damage +0

Bludgeon: Init –2, Attack +4, Defense +1, Damage +2

Soak: 0

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1-5), –3 (6-10), –5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Arabic 4 (Zaragoza), Area Lore: River Ebro 3 (geography), Area Lore: Zaragoza 4 (personalities), Artes Liberales 1 (arithmetic), Awareness 1 (alertness), Latin 3 (trade usage), Bargain 3+2 (wine), Brawl 1 (bludgeon), Carouse 3 (drinking songs), Aragonese 5 (Zaragoza), Charm 3 (being witty), Etiquette 3 (mercantile dealings), Folk Ken 4 (strangers), Guile 4 (lying to strangers), Leadership 4 (workers), Profession: Merchant 4 (wine), Music 2 (flute), Ride 2 (distance), Reyes' Company Lore 2 (personalities), Teaching 1 (Profession: Merchant)

Equipment: Merchant clothing

Appearance: Reyes is a large man taken to eating and drinking to some excess. His face is round and ruddy and topped with thinning black hair. He dresses well and fully displays his wealth as is expected of a man of his standing.

\* City & Guild, pages 108 and 109

The Cellar

The cellar beneath the warehouse is currently used as a storeroom and is filled with forgotten crates and barrels. The gloom and an uncomfortably low ceiling make for a claustrophobic space. There is a Magic aura of level 1 currently subsumed by a level 2 Dominion. In the middle of the cellar, opposite the stairs, are two pillars.

The cellar walls have been plastered over and, though whitewashed, are grubby with age. Here and there the plaster has flaked off, exposing an earlier fresco. A search of the cellar reveals some peculiarly Hermetic words. Reyes knows nothing of the design. It has been covered for as long as he has owned the property.

The concealed design is actually a casting tablet, in the form of a fresco painted by Currito, for one of Conciatta's rituals, Subsume the Apparent Dominion, ReVi 40 (Ritual). The Hermetic text is entwined with images of the city under Cordoban rule. But the casting tablet is both purposefully incomplete and also damaged.

The missing section of the casting tablet is provided by the illumination of Conciatta in Currito's journal. The characters now realize that the illumination shows Conciatta standing between the two pillars and that the Hermetic text that appears clearly written on the wall behind her was never added to the fresco. If it can be exposed, magi may use both the fresco and the book to complete the casting tablet and cast the spell.

An Intelligence + Magic Theory stress roll against an Ease Factor of 9 is required to read between the lines and fill in the gaps caused by damage. A bonus of +1 is granted for each magus beyond the first who collaborates on the effort. The effort takes one day, plus one day for each point by which the roll missed the Ease Factor. On a botch, the magus believes he has completed the casting tablet, but the casting roll is automatically treated as 0 and the magus must roll for a botch with six additional botch dice. Rules for using casting tablets can be found in Covenants, page 89.

Once the Dominion has been subsumed, the level one Magic aura becomes apparent and entering the higher regio much easier.

The Tower Revealed

With the Magic aura revealed, the way is now clear to the level 6 regio that houses the covenant's tower. Spells or abilities that allow a character to see through the regio boundaries reveal the start of a staircase that winds around the outside of the cellar, up into unseen levels. Taking these stairs automatically pushes the character through the boundary.

The tower is several stories tall and each floor is large enough for a number of rooms including a Hermetic laboratory. What's clear is that the tower did not support a large staff. Magi may conclude that either Currito and Conciatta led very frugal lives or they also had other property nearby.

Traversing the Regiones

As per the rules in ArM5, page 189, it is possible for a character to see from an aura of one realm into a regio of different realm. To enter the level 6 Magic regio directly from within the level 2 Dominion requires a Perception + Second Sight simple roll against an Ease Factor of 5 + (2 x (2 + 6)) = 21. The Dominion aura also directly penalizes any non-Divine power used to detect the boundary.

Once the ritual has been cast and the subsumed Magic aura has been made apparent, it is much easier to traverse the regiones, requiring a Perception + Second Sight simple roll against an Ease Factor of 5 + (2 x (6 – 1)) = 15.

Currito's Sanctum

Midway up the tower is the former sanctum of Currito. The door is shut and warped with age. On forcing the door, a sudden flurry of feathers fills the air as three dozen birds, startled by the intrusion, launch themselves and scramble for the windows. Two wide shutters swing freely and open out onto a balcony overlooking Zaragoza, the Aljaferia palace visible though muted as though through a magical mist.

Every surface in this room is covered with guano, deposited over centuries. The smell is stifling and the guano has ruined everything that may once have been of use. Cabinets have been emptied and left open while such laboratory equipment as was left behind has been smashed through the years.

Conciatta's Sanctum

Towards the top of the tower is Conciatta's sanctum, the marker still clearly apparent upon the door. Characters making a Perception + Awareness roll against an Ease Factor of 6 hear the sound of movement within the chamber.

Opening the unlocked door, the visitors see a maelstrom of books, bottles, boxes, and other items floating and rotating in the air. Here and there is a flash of light, or a momentary illusion of some distant view or a face from the past. And in the middle of this flow of magic, working at a large orderly table, is Conciatta. Flustered, the spirit of Conciatta looks up. As she does so doors fling open and items dart towards the visitors, before she pulls them up sharp. The strain on her face is obvious.

Conciatta is flustered and angry at the uninvited intrusion of others. With as much confidence and authority as she can manage, she commands the strangers to leave her sanctum at once, very nearly chasing them out. And then her mind races to sort through the implications. She waits for the strangers to make proper overtures in the proper manner, not simply intrude in her sanctum. In time, she will find a reason to conduct business with them calmly.

Conciatta understands that she is dead. She suspects that her condition is the result of an extended Twilight event, likely Final, that has somehow become permanent. She suspects that there may be others like her, aligned to the other realms.

She also recognizes that she is unable to learn anything new of any note, except perhaps what happens if her Final Twilight is allowed to complete.

The Magical Conciatta

Magic Might: 30

Characteristics: Int +4, Per 0, Pre –1, Com +1, Str –1, Sta –1, Dex 0, Qik 0

Size: 0

Age: Appears in her late thirties

Confidence: 1 (3)

Virtues and Flaws: Magic Spirit; Hermetic Magus; Major Magical Focus (Auras), True Understanding of the Realms; Affinity with Magic Theory, Confluence of the Realms, Famous, Great Intelligence, Insight of the Realms, Inventive Genius, Puissant Magic Theory, Student of Infernal, Well-Traveled; Blatant Gift, The Constant Expression, Driven (Extend Hermetic Theory); Deleterious Circumstances (when not within a supernatural aura), Judged Unfairly, Study Requirement

Qualities and Inferiorities: Focus Power (x3), Greater Power

Personality Traits: Driven +3, Introverted +2, Scholar +3 (Essential Trait)

Reputations: Bonisagus House Acclaim (Magi Bonisagi) 3

Soak: –1

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Animal Handling 2 (owls),

Arabic 4 (poetry), Area Lore: Qadis 2 (ghostly personalities), Area Lore: Zaragoza 3 (lacunae), Area Lore: Narixa 2 (regiones), Area Lore: Toledo 2 (the convent), Artes Liberales 3 (ceremonial magic), Awareness 2 (spell effects), Aragonese 4 (poetry), Charm 2 (first impressions), Code of Hermes 1 (Bonisagus obligations), Concentration 3 (lab work), Dominion Lore 5 (divine places), Etiquette 2 (faeries), Faerie Lore 5 (ancient faeries), Finesse 2 (precision), Folk Ken 2 (magi), Infernal Lore 5+2 (regiones), Intrigue 1 (House Bonisagus), Latin 5 (Hermetic usage), Leadership 1 (laboratory work), La Torre no Vista Lore 3 (history), Magic Lore 5 (regiones), Magic Theory 15+2 (Vim), Order of Hermes Lore 2 (history), Parma Magica 2 (Vim), Penetration 2 (Vim), Philosophiae 3 (ceremonial magic), Teaching 3 (Magic Theory)

Powers:

Crafter of Vim, variable points, Init 0 minus Might points spent, Vim: Conciatta can spontaneously produce the effect of a Creo or Rego Vim spell of level 25 or less at a cost of 1 Might point per magnitude. (Focus Power)

Eidolon, 0 points, Init 0, Imaginem: Creates an illusionary form that can be both seen and heard. The body can be created and destroyed at will, though Conciatta always maintains this form. As the power in Realms of Power: Magic, page 102. (Focus Power)

Ghost Touch, variable points, Init 0 – Might points spent, Terram: Moves objects that are neither held by another or fastened down. For 1 Might point, up to 5 pounds can be moved, and every additional Might point doubles the weight. This power is in constant use and is largely outside Conciatta's control. Use of it often leaves her Might Pool drained. As the power in Realms of Power: Magic, page 102. (Greater Power)

Master of Vim, variable points, Init 0 minus might points spent, Vim: Conciatta can change or destroy weak sources of magic that she is able to perceive, spontaneously producing the effect of a Muto or Perdo Vim spell of level 25 or less at a cost of 1 Might point per magnitude. (Focus Power)

Appearance: Conciatta is two steps away from being presentable. Her long hair is tied up but struggling to be free. Her fingers are ink stained, as is her once-valuable gown.

Conciatta's Spells, Devices, and Laboratory Texts

Though Conciatta's sanctum appears filled with books and devices, most are copies of the same book. Through the years, her misplaced studies have resulted in many books being scraped clean simply so she can overwrite them with what she thought was new work. Even devices have not escaped. Some have been broken down to be rebuilt or scavenged, their parts contributing to copies of the same old device.

However, Conciatta's sanctum still contains a number of useful enchanted items and laboratory texts, each of which can provide a source of insight. Where noted, each laboratory text or device provides a bonus to the insight roll (as described in Ancient Magic, page 8) equal to the magnitude of the effect. Where a device is enchanted with more than one effect, only the highest level effect provides insight.

Subsume the Apparent Dominion

ReVi 50
R: Touch, D: Year, T: Room, Ritual
This spell allows a subsumed aura to manifest by temporarily suppressing an apparent Dominion aura of strength less than or equal to three. It has a Room Target and so produces a localized effect, ideal for mimicking a weak lacuna. If there are any other auras present, the strongest of these manifests.

Casting this ritual creates a preternatural tether of level one and provides a +1 yearly aura modifier, both as described in Realms of Power: Magic, page 10.

This laboratory text is for a level 50 ritual but the effect is general. By re-creating the spell from this laboratory text, the maga accumulates 10 points towards researching Confluence of the Realms (see earlier). To do this, Conciatta's own code must first be broken (ArM5, page 102), which requires at least a season working with the text to decode it. The only available casting tablet for this spell is the one written into the cellar fresco.

(Base 15, +1 Touch, +4 Year, +2 Room)

The Sands of Time

InVi 19
R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Individual
This large three-chambered hourglass, standing one foot in height, indicates whether a Magic aura is waxing, waning, or is stable. If the aura is waning the sand flows through the hourglass into the lower chamber. If the aura is waxing the reverse is true and the sands run upwards. If the aura is essentially stable then the sands collect in the middle chamber.

The only example left in the sanctum is broken, its glass chambers smashed and the sand blown away. However, the wooden frame survives and the device can be reforged by a skilled Verditius.

(Base 2, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +2 complex effect; +1 for 2/day, +3 triggered at sunrise/set)

If the device were working it would provide a bonus of +3 to an insight roll. In its current state it provides no bonus but does provide 4 points towards integrating Insight of the Realms.

The Lodestone

InVi 33
R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Individual
This small palm-sized silver device contains a pointer beneath a glass lens. When exposed to a Magic aura the pointer aligns in the direction of the closest supernatural tether currently anchoring the aura. If the aura is diffuse and has no anchor the pointer moves with the casing and aligns to no particular direction.

(Base 5, +1 Touch, +2 Sun; +1 for 2/day, +3 triggered at sunrise/set)

Given the simplicity of its working, the lodestone provides no bonus to the insight roll. Recreating the effect grants 7 points towards integrating Insight of the Realms.

The Tome of Binro

Binro was an early follower of Bonisagus who took an interest in the realms and sought to extend Bonisagus' theory to include them. The early House saw Bonisagus' great theory as being a set of principles against which to invent and apply new Arts. But while the House's wisdom was that the three new Arts should be researched, one each for the Divine, Faerie, and Infernal realms, Binro saw Bonisagus' theory as flawed from the outset. His opinions on the theory led some of his Bonisagus colleagues to label him, only partly in jest, "heretic." This volume is a collection of 60 correspondences (Covenants, page 90), many in Binro's own hand, each contributing to a discussion on how Magic Theory could, or should, accommodate the supernatural realms.

The tome can be studied in two ways. Firstly, as a level 6 tractatus on Magic Theory. Doing so reveals that the text contains a casting tablet. The spell is clearly experimental, even by contemporary standards, and is a variation on the common Ward Against Faeries of the Wood spell.

Ward Against Woodland Spirits

ReHe(Vi) 41
R: Touch, D: Ring, T: Circle

This experimental spell is a ward against all creatures with a Herbam-based Might Score, irrespective of their supernatural realm, of 10 or less. The casting tablet has a penetration score built in, but magi recreating this spell do so without this and at a level of 30.

Recreating this spell provides 9 points towards integrating True Understanding of the Realms.

(Base 10, +4 Vi representing each of the Realms; +11 for penetration)

Her Final Resting Place

A short distance from the city of Toledo sits a convent dedicated to Saint Ildefonso of Toledo. It was here that Conciatta came looking for the Divine when engaged in her studies so many years ago and it was here she returned when her magic overcame her. But the spirit that now dwells within the convent may not be what those who come looking for Conciatta expect.

Characters searching for Conciatta here face two distinct challenges. The first is to gain access to Conciatta, either persuading the protective abbess or by taking more direct actions. The second is facing up to what they find and deciding how best to deal with the spirit.

The City of Toledo

Toledo sits on a rocky promontory that is bounded on three sides by the river Tagus, leaving only the north accessible from the land. But the city, wary throughout its history of attack, is surrounded by strong, high city walls. While Toledo may look drab and brown from afar, up close it is a dazzling mix of slender, winding streets and impressive open squares. Given its position near the center of the peninsula, Toledo is filled with people from all across Iberia, making it a vibrant and often surprising place.

Toledo is the heart of the church in Iberia, a status it held even through the years of its Islamic occupation. The Dominion is particularly strong in Toledo as Christians, Jews, and Muslims are free to practice their faith. Jews especially find themselves treated better here than in many other Christian cities. Toledo enjoys a high Dominion aura of level 4 during the day.

Scholarly pursuits are also strong here and for the last hundred years a school of translation has been active in the city. This has brought texts from across the known world to Toledo. Magi and other scholars stand a chance of finding almost anything here.

Toledo and the Holy Orders

Given its importance in the ongoing reconquest of Iberia from the Islamic world, Toledo finds itself surrounded by castles owned by various military orders. The Order of Calatrava follows the Benedictine rule and is identified by the red cross fleurdelisée on their white mantle. They have enjoyed mixed fortunes through their history and honor has only recently allowed them to return to their name of Calatrava, after losing the original castle at Calatrava to the Almohades.

Wearing the red cross of Saint James, a cross terminating in a sword, the Knights of Santiago follow the Augustinian rule. Their primary role is to protect pilgrims as they journey through Iberia, a role that earns them great wealth. The order is unusual in that aside from the religious knights there are a number of secular knights and lay members of different professions. In some circles this has prompted accusations of corruption within the order, not helped by their growing wealth and influence, not least within Toledo.

There is a very public rivalry between these two orders within Toledo. On the one hand the openly devout Order of Calatrava suspects their counterparts of corruption, while the Knights of Santiago view their opposites as ineffectual and weak.

Story Seed: The Generous Knight of Santiago

Having become friendly with a knight of Santiago on the road, the characters are invited to his castle to celebrate the occasion of his birthday. His wife has arranged food, wine, and entertainment from all across Iberia to be brought for the feast. But the dour priest, a member of the knight's household and scornful of his excesses, may be right to refuse the celebrations. How long before the magi notice the debauched Infernal aura? Will they succumb to indulgence? And will they give the devil his victory or risk damaging the knight's reputation?

Convento de San Ildefonso

The convent is a series of low whitewashed buildings bounded by a low dusty white wall. It sits off to the side of the road and is backed by a few small, dust-filled fields. The relentless sun bleaches the color from everything; not even the almond trees that dot the landscape bring color to the wide, low horizon. Inside, the convent sinks down into the ground with a sunken courtyard surrounded by narrow cloisters topped with terracotta tiles. The convent enjoys a constant level 5 Divine aura.

Characters asking about the convent before they visit learn that it is poor and relies upon the charity of Toledo to survive. There are rumors that the convent is home to a young novice who receives divine visions. It is also rumored that the wealthy of Toledo and beyond sometimes consult this modern-day oracle for divine guidance.

The abbess, Prudencia, is seen as strict and aloof, though this last part is in truth more to do with the contempt with which she views the men who visit for their own secular gain. She knows little of magic and does not approve of magi coming to her convent. She does not admit men inside the boundary wall unless and until she fully trusts them, or they are visibly very wealthy.

Those looking around the area find a small graveyard, clearly associated with the convent, some way off in the shade of a low hill. It is here that a gravestone with the name of Conciatta can be found.

Conciatta's Grave

Conciatta has a small simple grave in the convent's cemetery, identifiable by a small headstone bearing her name. However, according to convent tradition, upon her death, the novice who last carried Conciatta's spirit is buried here. Conciatta's bones, like those of all subsequent hosts, have been moved to the ossuary. There is no record of which bones are hers.

The Spirit and the Vow

Conciatta's spirit cannot be found at the convent in the same way that it can in the other three realms. Instead, Conciatta persists in this place as a personality and as a series of ill-fitting memories. The spirit actually possesses one of the novices, Immaculada.

Immaculada is cared for by the holy sisters as she is unable to care for herself; the power of Conciatta's spirit that dwells within her is too strong. It overpowers her own personality and has left her unable to act on her own except for the apparently automatic writing and the speaking in tongues, either of which may attack at any time.

Since Conciatta's death, generations of novices have been possessed and carried the spirit of Conciatta within them. This has happened for so long that it is now seen as part of God's miracle and knowledge of its magical origins has been all but lost.

By the rules of the convent, no outsider is allowed to see the holy sister who carries the spirit. But those making a contribution to the convent may be permitted an audience with her so as to hear what her visions might reveal for them (though this may not be what it first seems). A vow to protect the spirit has been passed from abbess to abbess for generations. It has become part of the duties of the convent and is a secret entrusted to the holy sisters.

Gaining the Abbess's Trust

Simple attempts at negotiation are unlikely to be enough to persuade the abbess to allow visitations. She has guarded her ward for many, many years and will not break her sacred vow lightly. But there are a number of things the characters can do to earn her trust. The easiest is for the storyguide to define some important task that the abbess needs doing and set this as a story for the troupe. The task need not necessarily be dangerous, or involve any overt conflict, but it should provide opportunities to show virtuous qualities.

The characters could also spend time to persuade the convent of their good intentions. To do this they would need to gain a good reputation in or around Toledo. Word of kindness, charity, or even shows of good judgment travel to the convent and the abbess. And of course as the convent is so poor that a show of generosity to the convent itself makes up for a shortfall of generosity elsewhere.

Abbess Prudencia

Magic Resistance: 10 (from her relic)

Characteristics: Int +2, Per +1, Pre 0, Com +1, Str –1, Sta +1, Dex 0, Qik –1

Size: 0

Age: 45 (45)

Warping Score: 0 (0)

Confidence: 1 (3)

Virtues and Flaws: Senior Clergy*; Clear Thinker, Educated, Puissant Leadership, Relic; Monastic Vows, Poor; Weak Characteristics

Personality Traits: Contempt for Men +2, Prickly +3, Compassionate +1

Reputations: Abbess of a convent in need of money (Toledo) 4, Aloof (Toledo) 2, Strict (convent) 3

Combat:

Dodge: Init –1, Attack N/A, Defense –1, Damage N/A

Fist: Init –1, Attack +0, Defense –1, Damage –1

Soak: +1

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Arabic 2 (markets), Toledo Lore 3 (people of the Church), Artes Liberales 2 (rhetoric), Awareness 3 (things being out of place), Castilian 5 (commerce), Chirurgy 3 (minor wounds), Church Lore 4 (Toledo), Concentration 1 (accounts), Etiquette 3 (wealthy visitors), Folk Ken 4 (men), Latin 4 (church ceremonies), Leadership 5 + 2 (novices), Medicine 3, Profession: Scribe 1 (copying), Teaching 3 (theology), Theology 4 (psalms)

Equipment: Cord belt containing a relic with one Faith Point.

Appearance: Abbess Prudencia strides around her convent with supreme authority and a withering look. Her neck is always erect, her back always straight, her eyebrows always arched, her hands always clasped, and her eyes forever finding fault.

\* Realms of Power: The Divine, page 93.

Abbess Prudencia gets bonus of +3 to resist lies, confusion, and subterfuge from her Clear Thinker Virtue and she has a Divine resistance of +10 from the relic of San Ildefonso she unknowingly wears (a cord from his robe wound into a belt passed from abbess to abbess). She is also attended by two novices who follow her and carry out her instructions.

An Audience with Immaculada

Money can convince Prudencia to allow an audience with Immaculada. She instructs the characters to return the following day so that she can prepare the girl. Upon their return, one character is shown into a chamber, which is divided by a curtain. The chamber is empty as far as the character can see, apart from a simple chair and candles to light the gloom. The curtain obscures the other side of the room, though there is clearly someone behind it.

The character is accompanied by Prudencia and one of her attendants and she prompts the character to put his questions, receive his answers, and leave.

The ritual is a sham. Immaculada is not behind the curtain. The other of Prudencia's constant attendants plays the part of Immaculada and attempts to tell the character what she thinks they want to hear. She claims to see a great journey and great revelations along the way. She tells of adversaries and their slights, which may be endured through God's grace. And lastly, she advises that actions must be both forceful and temperate in equal measure. These "visions" have served the convent well for years as their noble visitors usually interpret them any way they wish.

If the audience is revealed as the charade that it is, Prudencia is far from apologetic; she is protecting both a vulnerable girl and a Divine Miracle. But at this point she will, by way of demonstration and because she thinks this is enough to get the strangers to leave, take them to Immaculada.

The girl is in a room with no windows and only candles to illuminate it. Her fingers, face, and clothes are covered in the chalk she uses to write her visions down with. Her room is sparse and untidy with slates, parchment, and bedding strewn across the floor.

As the characters enter, the nonsense train of words begins to take shape. Here and there, sentences that make sense seem to form themselves: "I had many brothers and sisters but now I have but three and yet they leave me alone and hide themselves from my view though I know where they are even if they think I do not, for I remember where I went and I remember why I went and I remember

who I was, but I do not now know who I am, but Seiffeddin knows as he will remember me, do you know Seiffeddin? He is an actor, in Qadis. And he is still there they say, though I do not know who they might be who say such things for if he is still there he must be very old, but old as he is he knows where I went and perhaps he knows where I am. I should like to see my sisters again, I think that would be fitting, do you not think so?" And so her racing words go on. She pauses now and then to write another word or two, first searching for the right slate or parchment to scribble upon.

Automatic Writing

This is a huge collection of scrolls, books, slates, and so on, and constitutes some of the writings of various hosts inspired by the knowledge of Conciatta within them. If a season is spent collating these sources, the apparently disconnected writings form a number of tractatus. The storyguide is free to create a number of volumes that can be studied for benefit on Magic Theory, Vim, and Dominion Lore.

The collection also includes a laboratory text describing a large summoning or casting circle enchanted with Maintaining the Unstable Conjuration, with elements of lore concerning each realm. Constructing the circle according to the plan provides a +1 laboratory specialization towards experimentation and adds +1 to laboratory Safety. The laboratory text provides a +6 bonus to the roll to gain insight. Completing the laboratory project to finish the ring provides 6 points towards initiating Confluence of the Realms.

Maintaining the Unstable Conjuration

ReVi 30
Pen +16, 3/day
R: Personal, D: Ring, T: Circle
This enchanted circle sustains a target spell of level 15 or less cast within the circle. Importantly, in support of Conciatta's research, this effect also works on the non-Hermetic magic of the Learned Magicians. The spell is canceled if the target of the spell moves outside the circle or any other spell is cast within it.

The laboratory notes describing this effect suggest that this is one of four effects to be enchanted into this Greater Enchanted Device. While this effect is aligned to the Magic realm, the others not only targeted effects of the other three realms but also the non-Hermetic effects of supernatural spirits. Astute readers will realize the implication that Infernal spirits must, at some point, have contributed to Conciatta's research.

The ring itself is described as a large iron construction, made in pieces and riveted with brass rivets to the floor, opened with 20 pawns of vis.

(Base, +2 Ring, +1 Circle; +2 for 3/day, +8 Penetration)

Novice Immaculada

Characteristics: Int +1, Per +2, Pre 0, Com 0, Str 0, Sta 0, Dex +2, Qik 0

Size: 0

Age: 17 (17)

Warping Score: 1 (5)

Confidence: N/A

Virtues and Flaws: Peasant; Sense Holiness and Unholiness, Puissant Sense Holiness and Unholiness; Enfeebled*, Plagued by Supernatural Entity (Spirit of Conciatta), Monastic Vows; Visions*

Personality Traits: Fearful of being alone +3, Confident –2, Strong-Willed –1

Combat:

Dodge: Init +0, Attack N/A, Defense +0, Damage N/A

Fist: Init +0, Attack +2, Defense +0, Damage +0

Soak: 0

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Artes Liberales 1 (music), Music 1 (sing), Church Lore 1 (the convent), Profession: Scribe 1 (copying), Chirurgy 2 (minor wounds), Castilian 5 (poetry), Charm 2 (first impressions), Concentration 2 (prayers), Farmer 2 (almonds), Folk Ken 2 (clergy), Sense Holiness and Unholiness 4+2 (the unseen), Latin 4 (church ceremonies), Swim 1 (short distances), Theology 3 (biblical knowledge)

Appearance: Immaculada is a small girl of 17 years old. Her skin is washed out and tear-streaked, her eyes red through crying. Her hair has been shorn and her habit replaced with a grubby white smock and cap. Her fingernails are picked and bitten raw.

\* Imposed by the spirit of Conciatta

Immaculada is only the latest in a long line of novices that Conciatta has inhabited, but she is faring the worst. With the exception of the flaws imposed on her by Conciatta, the game statistics here represent Immaculada as she should be. In her possessed and enfeebled state she rarely sleeps, so is constantly at a –3 Fatigue penalty. Her Warping Score is Divine in origin.

The Divine Conciatta

Divine Might: 30 (Mentem)

Personality Traits: Fearful +2, Confused +1, Distraught +1

Qualities and Inferiorities: Focus Power, Ritual Power x3

Additional Powers:

Possession, 30 points, Init 0, Mentem: Conciatta has used this power to possess novices through the years. By spending all her Might, Conciatta inhabits her target and her personality traits overlay and add to her host's. (Focus Power)

Grant (Visions), 0 points, Init 0, Vim: This power, used automatically when Conciatta possesses a target, grants the Visions Minor Story Flaw (ArM5, page 60) to the target. It is also through this power that Conciatta's memories of her Hermetic work surface in the host. (Ritual Power)

Grant (Enfeebled), 0 points, Init 0, Vim: This power, used automatically when Conciatta possesses a target, imposes the Enfeebled Major Flaw (ArM5, page 53) on the target. (Ritual Power x2)

Beyond simply overlaying her host's personality, Conciatta's knowledges also operates just below the surface of the mind, beyond conscious control. A character choosing to carry the spirit of Conciatta within her does not have conscious access to that knowledge, but does suffer the effects of her Personality Traits. She also gains the protection of Conciatta's Divine might.

Freeing Conciatta

Leaving Conciatta's spirit within Immaculada is good for neither of them, and if Prudencia can be persuaded of this she allows the magi to try to separate the two; the abbess will not allow suffering to continue if there is a way to end it. It is Immaculada's fear of being alone that binds Conciatta to her. If this can be abated, the spirit can freely move into another host. It is left to individual troupes to decide how this can be achieved.

The new host suffers both the Enfeebled and Visions Flaws while possessed by Conciatta, though the storyguide is free to use the Visions to provide further information and/or direction in later stages of Conciatta's story. These visions could include seeing Conciatta as a queen, or wreathed in serpents, or sitting in the heart of a great fire. They may also include visions of a great shining city sinking beneath a mighty river.

The Lost City

Another of Conciatta's fractured spirits can be found deep within a faerie realm of faded glories and forgotten stories; the lost city of Tartessos. Tartessos can be found under the marshes that surround the Guadalquivir river delta. But to find this, the magi must first visit Qadis.

The City of Qadis

The mouth of the Guadalquivir lies a day's ride north of Qadis, a city still in Moorish hands. It is an ancient place with a history already thousands of years old, and some of that history does not rest easy.

Qadis is built on a sand spit jutting out into the Atlantic ocean a little way to the north-west of the Pillars of Hercules. Its loose foundations do not support many tall buildings so the skyline is much lower than cities like Zaragoza

and Toledo, but it is a busy port and the view across into the sea is filled with masts and sails from all corners of the world. Qadis has a relatively low Dominion aura, averaging at level 2, dropping to level 1 at night. The city is also filled with lacunae, not only Magic but also Faerie and Infernal.

As the sun sets on Qadis, the city exchanges one population for another; the living give over their city to the dead. Ghosts from all through Qadis's history wake and go about their business. Most are invisible to all but their own kind and many still haunt the places they knew while alive. The ghosts know and understand their existence, but having found that they persist, they face the fact and get on with the business of living, such as it is. There are perhaps a thousand or more ghosts that haunt the streets of Qadis. These divide into factions based on their origin in life, including their nation, their former roles, and even the times that they lived in.

Troupes may wish to play out stories against this otherworldly backdrop to support the gathering of information about the location of Tartessos. In any case, the presence of magi, especially foreigners, attracts the interest of the ghosts of Qadis.

After several days in the city, the characters may begin to notice things at the edge of their vision. Second Sight rolls or suitable magic reveal ghosts watching them. These are likely to be loosely-formed specters with little intelligence or will of their own sent to spy on the strangers by more powerful masters. Most flee if challenged. Once these first ghosts have been seen, the characters start to see other ghosts abroad at night.

Storyguides may want to introduce a ghost at this point to act as a guide and ally in the strange nighttime world of Qadis. The ally can arrange introductions to other spirits and even point out places of power within the city. But any ally also has expectations of his new friends.

The Roman Theater

If they have visited the convent outside Toledo, the characters may have learned the name Seiffeddin and that he is an actor. There is an old Roman theater in the city and the Qadis living know of this but do not recognize the name Seiffeddin. The Qadis dead know of both.

The theater itself is a sunken semicircular pit lined with chipped and broken marble steps. None of the other accoutrements of a theater remain and it has clearly been disused for centuries. It is probably only because of the stories of its haunting that it has not been built over.

Seiffeddin is the only ghost who haunts the theater, though the other Qadis dead visit often to watch performances, less out of enjoyment of his art and more through the constraints of their unearthly roles. The actor is nervous of strangers, having been killed by one in life, but is welcoming once reassured. He remembers Conciatta and her quest for Tartessos. He describes how he spent time teaching Conciatta some of the signs of portents of things both Faerie and Magic, an offer he makes to the visiting magi. He claims that Conciatta and Currito visited him over the course of a year and that under his instruction they created a set of stones that added great power to their magic.

The actor can describe how to get to Tartessos but warns that it can only be accessed on one night of the year; the anniversary of the city's loss. Depending on what stories the storyguide would like to tell in Qadis, the important night can be relatively sooner or later. Seiffeddin instructs the characters to seek out Bruja, a crone who lives out on the marsh, as she knows the way into the city.

Seiffeddin the Actor

Magic Might: 10 (Mentem)

Season: Autumn

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

Size: 0

Age: Appears to be in his late fifties

Confidence: 0

Virtues and Flaws: Magic Spirit; Gossip, Inspirational, Puissant Profession: Actor; Baneful Circumstances (exposed to sunlight), Noncombatant, Soft-Hearted

Qualities and Inferiorities: Focus Power (x3)

Personality Traits: Artistic +3, Brave –1, Paternal +2

Reputations: Gossip (Ghosts of Qadis) 1, Actor (Ghosts of Qadis) 3

Combat:

Dodge: Init +0, Attack N/A, Defense +0, Damage N/A

Soak: +0

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Arabic 5 (storytelling), Artes Liberales 3 (rhetoric), Awareness 2 (audience), Carouse 4 (with his audience), Charm 2 (being witty), Concentration 3 (recitals), Disguise 4 (masks), Dominion Lore 1 (Divine creatures), Etiquette 3 (Qadis ghosts), Faerie Lore 2 (places), Folk Ken 2 (the living), Greek 5 (storytelling), Guile 3 (subtle deceit), Infernal Lore 1 (undead), Intrigue 3 (the ghosts of Qadis), Latin 5 (ancient works), Magic Lore 4 (ghosts), Profession: Actor 5+2 (plays of many parts), Qadis Lore 5 (history), Teaching 4 (Profession: Actor)

Powers:

Crafter of Illusion, variable points, Init 0 minus Might points spent, Imaginem: Seiffeddin can create illusory props and sounds as the needs of his play dictate, spontaneously producing the effect of a Creo or Rego Imaginem spell of level 10 or less at a cost of one Might point per magnitude. His illusions are never truly lifelike, designed instead to convey an idea or an emotion. (Focus Power)

Eidolon, 0 points, Init 0, Imaginem: Creates an illusionary form that can be both seen and heard. The body can be created and destroyed at will. As the power in Realms of Power: Magic, page 102. (Focus Power)

Master of Illusion, variable points, Init 0 minus might points spent, Imaginem: Seiffeddin can alter the appearance of anything he touches, spontaneously producing the effect of a Muto or Perdo Imaginem spell of level 10 or less at a cost of 1 Might point per magnitude. The effects are never lifelike and always appear as mundane props, scenery, or costumes would within a play. (Focus Power)

Equipment: A long white toga and various ephemeral props and masks.

Vis: Seiffeddin contains no vis.

Appearance: Seiffeddin manifests as an aging man with the mobile features of a trained and experienced actor. His white hair and pale skin contrast with his dark and dazzling eyes. His movements are measured and purposeful. His hands, like his expressions, are rarely still, constantly ... marking every ... phrase.

Seiffeddin uses his powers to raise illusions that populate the theater with a backcloth, scenery, props, and sometimes even other actors. But the exertion, or rather the expenditure of his Might, leaves him drained at the end of each performance.

Seiffeddin's Secret Knowledge

Conciatta and Currito did study under Seiffeddin, and other Qadis spirits, Magic and Faerie, to learn both Magic and Faerie Lore. The stones that Seiffeddin refers to are props for use in ceremonial casting as described in Houses of Hermes: Societates, page 59. A season of studying Magic Lore under Seiffeddin can be used as a source of insight for integrating Insight of the Realms. This provides a bonus of +10 to the initial roll. The maga must then enchant a group of props, laced with magical symbols drawn from arcane lore. They are medium sized and, on completion, provide a +3 ceremonial casting bonus. The effect is to eliminate all distractions and focus the attention of the caster. The props do this by dulling species not associated with the Magic realm.

Note: Props used in Hermetic casting do not in themselves need to be magical, and indeed most are not, but these props are an extension of Conciatta's research and an important stepping stone to her new discoveries.

Clearing the Mind of the Caster

PeIm (Vi) 30
Pen +0, 1/day
R: Touch, D: Ring, T: Circle
The magic in this set of fifteen slate tablets, laced together with leather cords and each carved with a magical symbol, is activated when they are arranged in a circle around the caster. The alignment of the tablets is important, so laying out the stones takes three rounds.

All sights, sounds, and other sensations crossing into the circle are dulled unless they are created by a Magic-aligned source. The effect is to allow the caster within the circle to better ignore distractions arising from sources not aligned with the Magic realm. Sensations are not destroyed completely and the caster may attune herself to them simply by concentrating.

The magic on its own provides a +1 bonus to Concentration rolls to activities that are entirely contained within the circle. When used as props in ceremonial casting the circle of stones provides a +3 ceremonial casting bonus.

Recreating this effect gives six points towards integrating Insight of the Realms.

(Base 10, +1 Touch, +2 Ring, +1 requisite)

Habib al-Hadi the Astrologer

One of Conciatta's devices is in the hands of a Qadis scholar. He recently found it and, thinking it a device for searching the heavens, he began to use it at night. The Fourfold Lens (described in the nearby insert) instead showed him auras of all different realms and the ghostly inhabitants of the city. He began to think that the lenses instead showed the distillation of the four elements, part of the essential cosmology of the world. He has categorized many of the sights he has seen into the four elements, which he has related, with some uncertainty, to the four supernatural auras.

Habib can be encountered at night, using the device to search the city for strange supernatural things. As a scholar he is keen to share his knowledge and discuss with knowledgeable people but he is reticent to lend or sell his device. But he may be persuaded if his growing knowledge of the supernatural can be fed. He invites these new friends to his observatory, his living quarters on the top floor of a tenement in a poor and noisy district.

Habib al-Hadi

Characteristics: Int +2, Per 0, Pre 0, Com +2, Str –2, Sta –1, Dex –1, Qik –1

Size: 0

Age: 45 (45)

Warping Score: 0 (0)

Confidence: 1 (3)

Virtues and Flaws: 'Alim*, Educated, Arcane Lore; Poor

Personality Traits: Inquisitive +2, Humble +1, Persistent +1

Combat:

Dodge: Init: –1, Attack N/A, Defense –1, Damage N/A

Fist: Init: –1, Attack –1, Defense –1, Damage –2

Bludgeon: Init: –2, Attack +1, Defense –1, Damage +0

Soak: –1

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Arabic 5 (Qadis), Art of Memory 2 (academic texts), Artes Liberales 5 (astronomy), Awareness 2 (searching), Cadis Lore 3 (geography), Concentration 3 (reading), Dominion Lore 1 (auras), Faerie Lore 2 (auras), Folk Ken 2 (townsfolk), Greek 3 (ancient texts), Infernal Lore 2 (auras), Islamic Law 4 (Ijma'), Latin 3 (academic usage), Magic Lore 2 (auras), Philosophiae 5 (metaphysics), Scribe 3 (copying), Teaching 4 (Artes Liberales), Theology: Islam 4 (Sunni)

Equipment: The Fourfold Lens (see later), slates and chalk, quill, ink, and parchment.

Appearance: A small wiry man with gray hair and beard. He has a large nose and a brow furrowed by both concentration and worry. He has a disheveled appearance and his clothes are noticeably worn and threadbare, a result of spending what little money he does have on his studies.

\* Realms of Power: The Divine, page 114

Habib is a scholar, cleric, astronomer, translator, and teacher. In fact, given his perpetually poor finances, he takes on any job that is asked of him so that he can maintain a roof over his head, food in his belly, and parchment for his studies – but not always in that order. He has an inquisitive mind and is fascinated by the sights he has recently seen. He may be tempted to part with the magical device in his custody, but only if his study of supernatural Qadis can be supported in other ways.

The Fourfold Lens

The Fourfold Lens is an iron stand of adjustable height with four hand-sized lenses, each on an armature that allows it to swing free or into alignment with the other three. Each of the four lenses detects a separate aura and each has been enchanted separately. Where a lens fails to detect its dedicated aura it remains transparent and simply displays the mundane world.

This device goes further than simply detecting the apparent or dominant aura. It detects all auras present, even those that have been subsumed. For example, where the lens is used in a Dominion aura of level 3 it also detects the subsumed level 2 Infernal aura that hides beneath the Dominion.

Conciatta created this device rather than simply formulate a spell so that her custos and Currito could take it with them to investigate and record rumored auras. It was on such a journey that the device was lost.

Unveil the Subsumed (Realm)

InVi 54
Constant Effect
R: Personal, D: Sun, T: Vision
Each lens can be used to see through the apparent aura into the subsumed aura of the appropriate type, if such an aura is present. The image seen by looking through the lens shows the world as it would look if that aura were dominant. So a subsumed Infernal aura shows the potential for unnerving shadows, while a Magic aura may appear somewhat cleaner or more regular.

Although subsumed auras of any level can be detected, the enchantment is only strong enough to penetrate a level 3 apparent aura. Only the lowest level of each subsumed aura type is detected, so regiones cannot be directly perceived using this device.

(Base 20, +2 Sun, +4 Vision; +1 for two uses per day, +3 triggered at sunrise and sunset)

Recreating this device provides 11 points towards integrating Confluence of the Realms.

Story Seed: The Ghosts of Qadis

The ghosts have a hierarchy within themselves based on their recollection of their mortal life. This matches the list of ghostly types from Realms of Power: Magic, page 115. Apparitions in Qadis are at the top of the hierarchy. They are generally not so concerned with being laid to rest as they are with protecting their interests, their descendants, and their city. At the other end of the scale, specters with little will of their own are used as tools by the lucid apparitions.

There is also a new phenomenon; faeries. Those who die in the city now are usually accorded proper burial rites, which prevents their ghosts from dwelling on Earth. But faeries have been attracted to the city for the last several hundred years and they have taken on the roles of the more recently dead. The faeries are completely immersed in their new roles and see themselves simply as ghosts, indistinguishable in all ways except the nature of their Might. They feed their need for vitality by making their presence known to the living and subtly influencing their lives.

Demons too take on the forms of the dead, though their aims are usually to corrupt the living. As much as they can, the Magic and Faerie ghosts protect the city from their demonic counterparts, but the fight is hard.

From time to time workers of spirit magic come to Qadis eager to find powerful new servants. Those who are allowed to leave do so disappointed. The ghosts do not tolerate attempts to control them and unite against those who try.

Tartessos

Tartessos was once a powerful trading city of the ancient world. It supplied Greece with silver to fund defenses against the Persians, traded with the Tin Islands to the far north, and with the Phoenicians in the east. And through this time, Arganthonios was its absolute king. But a great calamity befell it and the city was lost, sinking beneath the sea in a single day.

The city can now only be found in the Faerie Realm, accessible from the marshlands at the mouth of the Guadalquivir river.

Finding Tartessos

The area of the marsh where the city once stood has a low Faerie aura of 2, but some sections of the old city walls manifest themselves within Faerie regiones. Realms of Power: Faerie, page 16, has more information on Faerie regiones. One particular regio (of level 5) contains what's left of the city gates; two broken down pillars and great shards of rotted wood rising out of the marsh. This is the way into the city. But the characters may need a guide, first to find this regio and second to help them cross the Threshold into the Faerie Realm.

Assuming the characters spoke to Seiffeddin and were told to look for Bruja, they should be looking for her torch out in the marsh. Storyguides may wish to consider that there are other faeries in the marsh that lure the unwary to their doom (Realms of Power: Faerie, page 92).

On finding Bruja, combing the marsh for frogs and other slimy things, she is willing to help on condition that she is given a creature or a herb that cannot be found in her marsh. If this is given, she takes the characters to the city gates. If using Realms of Power: Faerie, a Threshold Total (page 20) should be calculated. The Threshold Strength here is 24. Assuming that the characters have come out on the night of the sinking of Tartessos, they already have a Threshold Total of 15 (6 for the city gates + 9 for the anniversary). Bruja will prompt the characters to show their willingness to visit Tartessos. This is essentially the moment when the other factors, such as personal Thresholds, artistic endeavors, and Arcadian Mysteries are taken into account. If the Threshold Total is still not enough, Bruja will brew a particularly unpleasant potion (likely in the form of a live frog that must be swallowed whole) that will impart her Spirit Away power. Bruja does not have a store of potions as such and must expend her Might to brew a new dose. But the action of "brewing" can be anything that best fits the scene, such as taking the character back to her shack to use her cauldron, or having the characters help her to find a particular ingredient.

If the Realms of Power: Faerie supplement is not being used, it is safe to assume that Bruja has enough power to guide the characters through into the Faerie Realm, though frogs are still involved.

With the Threshold drawn to the characters, the road to the city becomes clear through the gates. Bruja also serves as the guardian of the road in this story and so must offer the character the choice between kingdoms of silver and gold or a kingdom of loss and despair. In this case, Tartessos is the kingdom of loss and so is the right choice. If the characters choose otherwise, the road ahead disappears and Bruja directs the characters back to Qadis.

Bruja will not accompany the characters on their journey into Tartessos, but will meet with them again when they are ready to leave.

The sky above the city is filled with flashes of lightning that trail rolling thunder behind them. Ruins lie all about and the weeping and pleading of an unseen dying populace can be heard all around. The city is in a state of perpetual desolation. For every brick that falls, there is another yet to fall. This is the city’s role: that of the lost city. And in the center of the ruins stands the shell of a once-great palace.

Bruja, the Marsh Witch

Faerie Might: 15 (Corpus)

Characteristics: Int +1, Per +1, Pre –3, Com 0, Str +1, Sta +2, Dex +3, Qik +1

Size: 0

Virtues and Flaws: Focus Power x2, Greater Power; Faerie Sight, Faerie Speech, Lesser Power, Humanoid Form; Incognizant

Personality Traits: Irascible +3, Stubborn +2

Combat:

Claws: Init +6, Attack +7, Defense +7, Damage +3

Soak: +2

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)

Pretenses: Awareness 3 (gifts), Bargain 6 (riches), Brawl 1 (claws), Brew Potion 4 (healing), Chirurgy 4 (treating poisons), Faerie Speech 5 (threats), Folk Ken 5 (seeing the evil of men), Marsh Lore 3 (geography)

Powers:

Spirit Away: variable points, Init (magnitude/2), Vim: By brewing a potion, Bruja can add Threshold Points to a character's Threshold Total at the cost of 1 Might Point per Threshold Point. The character must already have a Threshold Total and the Crone cannot contribute all the points needed to send the character into Faerie. The potion can take any form as described below. (Greater Power)

The Malicious Brew: variable points (magnitude), Init –8, Corpus: Bruja uses this power to brew any Perdo Corpus effect with an Individual target up to 9th magnitude into a potion. The effects of the poison, whatever they may be, are not immediate but increase towards a significant moment (such as sunset, or the full moon, or as the cock crows), giving the target or his friends time to find a cure. While the effect is supernatural, an Intelligence + Medicine simple roll against an Ease Factor of 9 identifies how long the target has. Bruja regains the Might spent on this power at the end of the effect's duration. (Focus Power)

The Merciful Brew: variable points (magnitude), Init –9, Corpus: Bruja uses this power to brew a healing potion. The effect is as the standard Purification of the Festering Wounds spell but with a duration of "Season" rather than Moon. This allows the potion to benefit those recovering from heavy wounds. Bruja regains the Might spent on this power at the end of the effect's duration. This potion is also able to instantly relieve the effects of a Malicious Brew, as described nearby. (Lesser Power)

Vis: 3 pawns Aquam in her legs.

Appearance: Bruja is hunched with craggy wrinkled features. She wears a large-sleeved cloak of green that drags behind her and has plants growing within its threadbare warp and weft. She carries a satchel into which she drops the things she finds. But while Bruja looks human at first sight, her oversized lower legs are like those of a wading bird. These legs help her move effortlessly through the marsh.

Bruja apparently roams the marshes looking for herbs, roots, and small creatures that she can use to ferment her noxious potions. Her powers are transmitted through these potions, poultices, possets, bandages, or any other shape or material that seems fitting at the time. Bruja's healing potions frequently take the form of marsh leeches or unpleasant concoctions of animal parts and marsh water. While her Might is expended at the time of brewing, the potion can be carried away and is not activated until applied to the target in the appropriate manner. Her potions are usually brewed with a given person in mind, whether present or not, and so do not cause Warping.

A Eudokian Story

On entering Tartessos, the characters continue the quest of reuniting Conciatta's spirits, but the Faerie Realm makes that story manifest around them. The theme of the story is reunification and a number of choices based upon this theme are presented to the characters. Passing each challenge takes the characters closer to the palace where they face their last challenge, but failure takes them closer to the mundane world. A few brief examples are given that storyguides might like to expand upon.

• A mother stumbles through the ruined city calling for her lost daughter. If the characters help the woman search, they find the girl and pass the test. The mother then directs them towards the palace.
• Two brothers quarrel over a last loaf of bread. Each throws insults at the other as they scuffle and tug at the loaf. If the characters reconcile the brothers such that each is satisfied, they are shown the next part of the path towards the palace.
• A stone statue of a young naked warrior stands high on a pedestal. His shield rests easily in his hand, but his spear is missing from his outstretched hand. On the ground, a finely crafted spear (treat this as an Excellent quality long spear with a +2 bonus to both attack and defense) untouched by age or wear crosses the characters' path. If the characters return the spear to the statue, they see the warrior pointing the way to the palace. If they take the spear, they may face robbers that lurk amid the ruined streets.
• An old man is trying to draw water from a well but the rope has come unwound and the bucket has dropped down the well shaft. If offered water, the old man gratefully takes it. But if the characters fetch the bucket and fix the well the old man leads them to the palace.

If the troupe successfully completes two or more of these tasks, they find the palace of the Silver King. But if they fail in three of these tasks, the palace they find is a facade, the doors of which lead back to the mundane world. For each success, the characters are awarded a Fable Point (Realms of Power: Faerie, page 21).

The Silver King

The palace is a skeleton of pillars and broken arches from which dust and rubble occasionally tumble. The steps lead up into the grand throne room and there, upon a raised dais, is the despondent form of Arganthonios, the Silver King, ruler of Tartessos. Seated beside him, her hand comforting his, is Conciatta.

Arganthonios is a bearded and crowned man formed from fluid silver. His features are classical and his body muscular, like some great oversized Greek statue. Conciatta appears human and as she was in her younger days, though dressed in classical garments and arrayed with silver and jewels.

While the silver giant sits detached and brooding, Conciatta angrily demands explanation for their presence in her husband's kingdom and commands them to show deference to her king.

Any mention of Conciatta's earthly life, her studies, or the spirits the characters now seek elicits scorn from her. That world, she explains, is lost to her and means less than the dust upon her sandals to her. The concerns of magi and the Order have been taken away from her.

But soon enough Arganthonios breaks his malaise and speaks. His voice low and smooth, filled with calm authority, he explains that the woman next to him is not truly Conciatta. The spirit the characters seek faded a century ago, turned instead to glamour; a true inhabitant of the Faerie Realm.

He further explains that she returned to him centuries ago to fulfill her side of a bargain: to rule at his side in exchange for knowledge of the Faerie realm. But her heart pined away for what she had lost and soon she died a second death. The faerie Conciatta does not react in any way to this, as though she did not hear or did not understand his meaning.

But Arganthonios bears a great sorrow. The bargain he made with Conciatta, to teach her and help her learn the secrets of Faerie places, was at the cost of renouncing her love for Currito. And though it would mean that he would suffer yet further loss himself, he offers the characters a choice of their own. If they reunite this remnant of Conciatta with Currito's love, then he will release her from his service and return her to the world of men.

If it is clear to the storyguide that the players are not able to meet this challenge on this visit (perhaps they have an idea but need to prepare, or simply need to return to the mundane world to plan), then Arganthonios will grant them leave to return. At this, Bruja appears and the King commands her to grant them safe passage when next they seek the lost city.

However, if the characters can remind Conciatta of the love she and Currito shared, the King's hold over her is broken and she is released. Though still faerie in nature, she now understands that her role is to be reunited with her sisters.

Arganthonios

Faerie Might: 35 (Mentem)

Characteristics: Int 0, Per 0, Pre +3, Com 0, Str +4, Sta +1, Dex 0, Qik –1

Size: +2

Age: N/A

Virtues and Flaws: External Vis (Major), Huge, Ritual Power (x2); Faerie Speech, Humanoid Faerie, Improved Soak (x2); Sovereign Ward (cannot leave Tartessos); Depressed, Incognizant, Role Requires Suffering

Personality Traits: Resigned +3, Commanding +2, Depressed +2

Reputations: King of a Lost City 3 (Iberia)

Combat:

Grappling: Init –2, Attack +6, Defense +4, Damage +4

Long spear: Init +1, Attack +9, Defense +5, Damage +11

Soak: +5

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–7), –3 (8–14), –5 (15–21), Incapacitated (22–28), Dead (29+)

Pretences: Athletics 4 (running), Awareness 3 (searching), Bargain 3 (foreigners), Brawl 5 (grappling), Etiquette 3 (messengers), Faerie Lore 3 (Iberian faeries), Folk Ken 4 (peasants), Great Weapon 5 (long spear), Intrigue 4 (spies), Leadership 5 (intimidation), Penetration 5 (Mentem), Tartessos Lore 5 (past glories)

Powers:

Binding Oath, 10 points, Init –22, Vim: This power enforces the power of a solemnly-sworn oath or contract between two or more parties. All parties must agree to the oath of their own free will, and the power must penetrate the Magic Resistance of all parties to take effect. If one participant attempts to act in direct contravention to the oath, the other participants are immediately aware of this. Humans who attempt to break their oaths are given a warning in the form of seeing Arganthonios in every reflective surface they chance upon. If the character disregards this warning, he is struck blind (as per the Flaw). The blindness can be removed by powers that destroy mystical effects. The character may also end the Flaw by fulfilling the conditions of the oath, swearing a new oath with the wronged faerie, or destroying all of the oath's other participants. Faeries cannot break their oaths, although some roles allow them to seek loopholes and alternative interpretations. Special, No Hermetic equivalent (R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Group, Ritual)

Equipment: Silver crown of laurel leaves, too large for a mortal head. The crown is the manifestation of his External Vis virtue and bestows both the Puissant Leadership virtue and the Reclusive flaw upon its wearer. A great spear with a silver shaft, an ivory head, and binding strung with peacock feathers.

Vis: 7 pawns (Mentem) in the crown he wears.

Appearance: A huge muscular man over eight feet tall whose body and beard seem to made of shining fluid silver. His brow is heavy and furrowed beneath the silver crown he wears.

Arganthonios is alone with the exception of his loyal queen. But it is his nature to endure loss and so he willingly frees her from any obligation to stay. Note that Arganthonios is Incognizant in that despite his understanding of and connection with the Faerie Realm, he cannot seek to change or improve his role.

The Faerie Conciatta

Faerie Might: 5

Characteristics: Int +4, Per 0, Pre –1, Com +1, Str –1, Sta –1, Dex 0, Qik 0

Size: 0

Age: Appears in her late thirties

Confidence: 1 (3)

Virtues and Flaws: Humanoid Faerie; Ritual Power (x2); Sovereign Ward (cannot leave Tartessos); Incognizant

Qualities and Inferiorities: Focus Power (x3), Greater Power

Personality Traits: Protective of Arganthonios +3, Regretful +2, Sorrowful +2

Reputations: Bonisagus House Acclaim (Magi Bonisagi) 3

Soak: –1

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)

Pretenses: Animal Handling 2 (owls), Arabic 4 (poetry), Area Lore: Qadis 2 (ghostly personalities), Area Lore: Zaragoza 3 (lacunae), Area Lore: Narixa 2 (regiones), Area Lore: Toledo 2 (the convent), Artes Liberales 3 (ceremonial magic), Awareness 2 (spell effects), Aragonese 4 (poetry), Charm 2 (first impressions), Code of Hermes 1 (Bonisagus obligations), Concentration 3 (lab work), Dominion Lore 5 (divine places), Etiquette 2 (faeries), Faerie Lore 5 (ancient faeries), Finesse 2 (precision), Folk Ken 2 (magi), Infernal Lore 5+2 (regiones), Intrigue 1 (House Bonisagus), Latin 5 (Hermetic usage), Leadership 1 (laboratory work), La Torre no Vista Lore 3 (history), Magic Lore 5 (regiones), Magic Theory 15+2 (Vim), Order of Hermes Lore 2 (history), Parma Magica 2 (Vim), Penetration 2 (Vim), Philosophiae 3 (ceremonial magic), Teaching 3 (Magic Theory)

Powers:

Grant (Insight of the Realms): 5 points, Init –10, Vim: This power temporarily blesses the target with the Insight of the Realms Virtue. Conciatta only recovers Might Points spent on this power when its effects are withdrawn, which she may do at any time simply by choosing to. Until the Might Points are returned to Conciatta, she effectively does not exist and is only able to interact with the world through withdrawing her gift from its bearer. Special, No Hermetic equivalent (R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Ind, Ritual)

Appearance: Regally dressed in a tunic and a cloak that drapes down from her left shoulder.

This faerie believes herself to be Conciatta and believes that she has deep knowledge of Hermetic Theory, hence the Abilities that Conciatta's other spirits have are instead Pretenses for this faerie. But she also believes that she has sworn away her magic and she cannot now be made to use her former powers. She cannot accept the truth of her condition as she does not possess the cognizance to break this part of her role.

Her Sovereign Ward against leaving Tartessos is imposed by Arganthonios. It is lifted when his bargain is accepted and fulfilled.

Leaving Faerie

With agreements in place, the faerie Conciatta is ready to leave for the mundane world. After an emotional yet dignified farewell to her King, she begins the long walk back to the Threshold. The group meets Bruja again and she gives the magi a book with a warning not to open it until on the other side.

Bruja summons the Threshold and in an instant the Faerie Realm becomes a memory. And Conciatta has vanished. In fact, her essence is now within the book, a quality 7 tractatus on Faerie Lore written in somewhat archaic Hermetic Latin.

The Descent

The last of the four fractured spirits can be found deep within a cave system surrounding the Mediterranean town of Narixa on the Al Andalus coast. Narixa is surrounded by a low mountain range, parts of which house an Infernal hive of corrupted beasts, jinn, and demons. The caves stretch out beneath the mountains and up into many interconnected Infernal regiones making it a certainty that the unprepared will become lost forever.

Narixa

The small town of Narixa sits on the Mediterranean coast, with white sands on its shores and low mountains at its back that sweep down into impressive cliffs. It is a quiet place, with neither the scale of Zaragoza nor the grandeur of Toledo, but it is famous across the Muslim world for the fine silks that it produces.

Like Qadis, Narixa is an Islamic city. But unlike Qadis, it benefits from a Dominion aura of 3 over most of its lands. Though small, the town is wealthy with a devout and generous population. Perhaps thanks to that Dominion, Narixa has little knowledge of the evil dwelling within the nearby mountains.

The Sights and Sounds

A small fleet of fishing boats launch daily from the white beaches, while teams of fishermen cast their nets from the shores. Moving inland, the markets are full with fresh fish, livestock grazed on the hillsides, and fruits, grains, and other foodstuffs brought in from neighboring towns. In the mercantile quarter, all manner of merchants can be found trading Narixa silks, oriental spices, and goods from across Europe. The sounds of commerce mingle with street players and the periodic chants of the mu'adhdhins calling the faithful to prayer.

This far into Al Andalus, there are few dhimmis (non-Muslims living under Muslim rule) but peoples from across the Islamic world are represented here. And the skyline is filled with the minarets of the many mosques that serve the town.

Attitudes to Foreigners

The poorer areas of the city are more suspicious of foreigners, but the wealthier quarters are occupied by merchants used to dealing with strangers from all corners of the world. Still, men who look as though they are expecting trouble invariably find it.

The Al Narixa Mosque

Conciatta and Currito visited Narixa several times and made studies not only of the caves themselves but of local lore concerning the caves. Many of their notes were left in the care of the Al Narixa Mosque after their last visit well over two hundred years ago. But even that far back, the mosque had a well-tended library so Conciatta's work can still be found there today.

The imams of the mosque are unlikely to have any particular interest in helping foreigners look for old scrolls, but if persuaded they refer the characters to Hamid ibn Harun.

Hamid has been an imam at the mosque for all his adult life, but his duties have usually been restricted to the library. He also suffers from visions; warnings sent by Allah, he assumes. The visions invariably concern tunnels, caves, and hungry yellow eyes peering from the dark. If the caves are discussed with or around himin Arabic, he sees another vision of a seductive queen clothed in smoke and fire.

Imam Hamid ibn Harun

Characteristics: Int +2, Per –1, Pre 0, Com +2, Str –1, Sta 0, Dex 0, Qik 0

Size: 0

Age: 55 (55)

Confidence: 1 (3)

Virtues and Flaws: 'Alim*; Intuition, Sharp Ears; Palsied Hands, Visions, Weak Characteristics

Personality Traits: Good-natured +2, Knowing +2

Reputations: Librarian (imams) 3

Combat:

Fist: Init –2, Attack +0, Defense +0, Damage –1

Soak: 0

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Arabic 5 (religious use), Artes Liberales 5 (logic), Awareness 2 (searching), Brawl 1 (Fist), Charm 5 (invoking baraka), Concentration 4 (reading), Dominion Lore 2 (holy forebearers), Folk Ken 5 (nobles), Guile 2 (lying to authority), Infernal Lore 2 (auras), Intrigue 3 (alliances), Islamic Law 4 (Narixa customs)*, Leadership 2 (within the mosque), Profession: Librarian 5 (forgotten scrolls), Music 3 (calling to prayer), Narixa Lore 4 (legends), Philosophiae 4 (metaphysics), Teaching 4 (theology, Islamic), Theology: Islam 6 (prophets)*

Equipment: imam robes

Appearance: Hamid is a small, aging man with a gray beard, eyes narrowed through squinting, and a toothless smile. His turban and robes seem to attract the dust, something his library has plenty of.

\* Realms of Power: The Divine

Conciatta's Scrolls

Once collated, this collection of scrolls forms a map of a cave system two miles east of the small town of Narixa, including how to find and enter the caves. The journal provides a bonus of +1 to any rolls used to navigate both the caves and the regiones that overlay them. The work makes it clear that the Narixa caves are a confusing array of tunnels and chambers and that the unwary can actually slip between regio levels without noticing. The scrolls urge caution and preparation before attempting the caves.

The Insightful Stylus

Amid the dusty scrolls is a small sealed leather scroll case bearing the inscription "Conciatta ex Bonisagus." On opening the lid, a slender silver stylus slides out onto the table. It is traced through with Hermetic and occult symbols (concerning the Infernal).

The case also contains a small scrap of parchment describing the following effects. The first detects the presence and rough shape of an infernal regio boundary while the second animates the stylus against a wax tablet to trace out the line of that boundary in miniature. When in use, the stylus moves at the same relative pace as a magus drawing a casting circle in the ground.

The stylus has been opened with 12 pawns of vis.

Sense the Line

InVi 14
Pen +0, Constant Effect
R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Individual
This enchantment detects the line of the Infernal regio boundary. The information it collects is available to the Inscribe the Line effect described below.

(Base 3, +1 Touch, +2 Sun; +1 for 2/day, +3 triggered by sunrise/set)

Inscribe the Line

ReTe 14
Pen +0, Constant Effect
R: Personal, D: Sun, T: Individual
While the stylus is touched to a wax tablet, the stylus is held perpendicular to its surface. When this effect receives information about a regio boundary, the stylus moves and inscribes the line of the regio boundary into the wax tablet.

(Base 2, +2 Sun, +2 affect metal; +1 for 2/day, +3 triggered by sunrise/set)

Note These Landmarks

ReTe 14
Pen +0, Unlimited Use
R: Personal, D: Momentary, T: Individual
At the wielder's verbal command, the stylus scribes markings onto the wax tablet that describe distances and landmarks sufficient to make the map of the regio boundary navigable. The stylus understands a set of Latin words, primarily numbers and distances, such as "twenty paces" or "thirteen feet", and landscape features, such as "tree" or "door" and is able to form symbols to match. This effect can be used while the stylus is inscribing a regio boundary without damaging the map.

(Base 2, +2 affect metal; +10 for unlimited use)

The stylus must be successfully investigated in the laboratory, which then provides a source of insight. Recreating the stylus grants 5 points towards integrating Insight of the Realms.

The Caves

The caves are ancient and contain deep fissures and domed chambers all interconnected by mundane tunnels and a network of regiones. Most regiones are linear in that they emanate from a single point and tend to localize on that point while growing in strength. The Narixa regiones, however, bleed into each other just as cave tunnels do.

The caves are home to swarms of mice, scorpions, and snakes, as well as packs of hyena whose laughter can be heard echoing off the walls from somewhere deep inside. Here and there, human bones jut painfully from the walls, victims caught between a regio and the mundane world. The caves are covered by a level 3 Malevolent Infernal aura and filled with Tartaran regiones (Realms of Power: The Infernal, pages 15 and 16).

Navigating the Caves

All terrain in the cave system is treated as hazardous and adds an extra botch die to any physical actions taken. Space is confined and large weapons suffer a –2 penalty to attack and defense. All the while, the floors and walls crawl with scurrying or skittering things.

The storyguide should introduce three key events to tell the story of the characters finding their way through the caves to the throne room; these should test the physical and magical skills of the characters. Storyguides may want to use the following examples:

• A sheer face that needs to be climbed, either up or down. Magic can overcome this obstacle or a lead player character can take the physical option. If he can make three progressively more difficult climb rolls (6, 9, 12, for instance), he makes it down the face and can secure ropes allowing others to follow. Failing a roll means the character starts to fall with an initiative of 6, which magi may attempt to fast cast against in order to save him. A botch in these caves may be lethal. He either falls to his death, is spectacularly rescued by player actions, or is sucked into a regio. If the latter, the characters may be able to find him by making an Area Lore: Narixa Caves stress roll against Ease Factor 12.
• The second is a rock fall within the caves. As the rock fall starts, have the players roll for initiative. Those beating 6 may react before the collapse. This is also the target for fast-cast spells. Characters caught in the collapse count as being inside a collapsing stone building, as per ArM5, page 181.
• The third involves a combat against a group of hyena. They attempt an ambush (Perception + Awareness simple roll against the Hyena stealth roll) and pull one of the party into a nearby regio. If they manage to grapple a character they start to drag him away. The group splits with two hyena grappling and dragging and three defending the group, preventing the party from reaching their comrade. If after four combat rounds the party have not regained their comrade he is taken into the regio and from there deeper into the network. If the character is a grog, he is dead. Any other character must have a chance to survive. If he can fight off the two hyenas, he can flee the regio and rejoin his party.

Hyena

Infernal Might: 10

Characteristics: Int +3, Per 0, Pre –2, Com 0, Str –1, Sta +3, Dex +2, Qik +2

Size: –1

Virtues and Flaws: Ferocity (against livestock), Improved Characteristics (×2), Long-Winded, Sharp Ears; Compulsion (killing), Infamous

Natural Qualities: Pack Animal, Thick Fur

Qualities and Inferiorities: Improved Powers (x2), Lesser Power

Personality Traits: Brave When in a Pack +3, Cowardly When Alone +3, Hyena +5

Reputations: Bloodthirsty (Local) 4

Combat:

Bite: Init +2, Attack +11, Defense +9, Damage +0

Soak: +4

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–4), –3 (5–8), –5 (9–12), Incapacitated (13–16), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Arabic 5 (taunts), Athletics 5 (distance running), Awareness 3 (smell), Brawl 5 (Bite), Hunt 4 (track by smell), Narixa Caves Lore 3 (regiones), Survival 3 (Narixa caves)

Powers:

Piercing the Infernal Veil, 0 points, Init +1, Vim: Allows the Hyena to see through the boundaries between regio levels. The Improved Powers quality has been used to reduce the points cost to zero and to increase the initiative.

Appearance: Powerful shoulders with a sloping back and shorter rear legs give the hyena a cowardly appearance. But on the hunt, the Narixa hyenas are far from cowardly. They relish the fear of their prey, as can be seen from their smile. Their eyes gleam yellow in the darkness.

The Narixa hyenas roam the cave system and are able to see through the regio levels. They leave the caves to hunt, being more like wolves in this respect than natural hyena. Their pack animal nature allows them to fight as a trained group; treat their Hyena personality trait as a score in Leadership.

The Infernal Conciatta

Infernal Might: 30

Characteristics: Int +4, Per 0, Pre –1, Com +1, Str –1, Sta –1, Dex 0, Qik 0

Size: 0

Age: Appears in her late thirties

Confidence: 1 (3)

Virtues and Flaws: Magic Spirit; Hermetic Magus; Major Magical Focus (Auras), True Understanding of the Realms; Affinity with Magic Theory, Confluence of the Realms, Famous, Great Intelligence, Insight of the Realms, Inventive Genius, Puissant Magic Theory, Student of Infernal, Well-Traveled; Blatant Gift, The Constant Expression, Driven (Extend Hermetic Theory); Deleterious Circumstances (when not within a supernatural aura), Judged Unfairly, Study Requirement

Qualities and Inferiorities: Focus Power, Greater Power

Personality Traits: Corrupted +2, Hateful +2, Scholar +3

Reputations: Bonisagus House Acclaim (Magi Bonisagi) 3

Soak: –1

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Animal Handling 2 (owls), Arabic 4 (poetry), Area Lore: Qadis 2 (ghostly personalities), Area Lore: Zaragoza 3 (lacunae), Area Lore: Narixa 2 (regiones), Area Lore: Toledo 2 (the convent), Artes Liberales 3 (ceremonial magic), Awareness 2 (spell effects), Aragonese 4 (poetry), Charm 2 (first impressions), Code of Hermes 1 (Bonisagus obligations), Concentration 3 (lab work), Dominion Lore 5 (divine places), Etiquette 2 (faeries), Faerie Lore 5 (ancient faeries), Finesse 2 (precision), Folk Ken 2 (magi), Infernal Lore 5+2 (regiones), Intrigue 1 (House Bonisagus), Latin 5 (Hermetic usage), Leadership 1 (laboratory work), La Torre no Vista Lore 3 (history), Magic Lore 5 (regiones), Magic Theory 15+2 (Vim), Order of Hermes Lore 2 (history), Parma Magica 2 (Vim), Penetration 2 (Vim), Philosophiae 3 (ceremonial magic), Teaching 3 (Magic Theory)

Powers:

Crafter of Vim, variable points, Init 0 minus Might points spent, Vim: Conciatta can spontaneously produce the effect of a Creo or Rego Vim spell of level 25 or less at a cost of 1 Might point per magnitude. (Focus Power)

Eidolon, 0 points, Init 0, Imaginem: Creates an illusionary form that can be both seen and heard. The body can be created and destroyed at will, though Conciatta always maintains this form. As the power in Realms of Power: Magic, page 102. (Focus Power)

Ghost Touch, variable points, Init 0 – Might points spent, Terram: Moves objects that are neither held by another or fastened down. For 1 Might point, up to 5 pounds can be moved, and every additional Might point doubles the weight. This power is in constant use and is largely outside Conciatta's control. Use of it often leaves her Might Pool drained. As the power in Realms of Power: Magic, page 102. (Greater Power)

Master of Vim, variable points, Init 0 minus might points spent, Vim: Conciatta can change or destroy weak sources of magic that she is able to perceive, spontaneously producing the effect of a Muto or Perdo Vim spell of level 25 or less at a cost of 1 Might point per magnitude. (Focus Power)

Additional Powers:

Hell's Onslaught, 0 points, Init +1, Ignem: As the Hermetic Spell Pilum of Fire, this power does +15 damage to the target. Excess levels have been used to reduce the Might cost, increase the initiative, and master the power allowing Conciatta to loose two bolts of fire together. (Greater Power)

Master of Stone, variable points, Init 0 minus might points spent, Terram: Conciatta can spontaneously produce the effect of a Muto or Perdo Terram spell of level 25 or less at a cost of 1 Might point per magnitude. (Focus Power)

Appearance: Her skin is luminescent, as though a raging fire boils just inside, and her hair is smoke that strays this way and that. Yet, for all that, she is alluring and beautiful, accentuated by her near-nakedness.

Conciatta's Army

Once through the labyrinth the characters find the throne room. This huge domed chamber sits within a level 5 Tartaran regio. The uneven floor is streaked with cracks and chasms and swarms of scorpions and packs of hyena move to surround the characters. The walls run with flame and the heat is unbearable. At the far end of the chamber, atop a set of craggy stone steps that sweep up and out over a wide fiery chasm, sits Conciatta on a throne of writhing serpents.

Conciatta, cruel and hate-filled, mockingly congratulates the strangers for finding her. But she warns them that she is beyond the petty rules and laws of the Order now. If the host carrying the divine aspect of Conciatta is present, the witch offers a simple bargain: one life to be given to her, and the others allowed to leave. She will not keep her word; she is merely offering temptation.

Soon enough she tires of the intrusion and motions her army to attack.

Scorpion Swarm

Characteristics: Cun –1, Per –2, Pre –5, Com –6, Str +2, Sta 0, Dex +2, Qik +4

Size: +1

Virtues and Flaws: Lightning Reflexes; Infamous

Natural Qualities: Venomous

Personality Traits: Scorpion +5

Reputations: Deadly (Local) 4

Combat:

Sting: Init +8, Attack +9, Defense +3, Damage +3

Soak: +0

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–6), –3 (7–12), –5 (13–18), Incapacitated (19–24), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Area Lore: Narixa Caves 4 (regiones), Athletics (running) 5, Awareness 2 (prey), Brawl 4 (sting), Hunt 4 (rodents), Stealth 4 (stalking prey), Survival 3 (caves)

Appearance: This great shifting sand of black chitinous noise swarms across the ground covering everything in its path.

The scorpion's venomous quality (House of Hermes: Mystery Cults, page 43) is treated as the same level as an Asp's bite (ArM5, page 180).

Optional Rule: Swarms

A swarm is a mass of creatures of Size –3 or smaller with a combined Size of +1 or more. Given the fluid makeup of a swarm, it is almost impossible to stop one in its tracks. Shield grogs are used to holding off single or even group enemies, but a swarm of creatures has the power to overwhelm defenders. Apply the following rules:

• Swarms ignore defenders and can always reach their intended target.
• Swarms may attack a number of targets equal to the swarm's size each round.
• At the storyguide's discretion, Swarms may have an immunity or resistance to regular weapons; a blade passes harmlessly through a swarm of locusts, for instance.
• Being made up of many smaller individuals, a swarm is hard to destroy. Unless a swarm is destroyed outright, it can disengage and return at full strength after a number of rounds equal to its single highest wound penalty.

Fighting the Infernal

The fight here should be both challenging and deadly, so storyguides should use their discretion in terms of the number and organization of the infernal beasts. But they have a single aim: to kill the intruders.

The hyena packs attempt to tackle the intruders to the ground and drag them into one of the chasms. If a hyena pack maintains a positive grapple strength against an enemy in two successive rounds, they succeed in dragging their enemy to the chasm.

If this happens, the character may attempt a Dexterity + (Athletics or Climb) stress roll against Ease Factor 9. If he succeeds, he clings to the edge of the chasm. If he fails, another character who has yet to act this turn may either attempt a fast-cast spell to save him or leap to grab him. This is a Quickness + Athletics stress roll against Ease Factor 9. If this character succeeds he is prone but he has caught hold of his comrade. Both characters are considered prone until their next turn to act and both will need to regain their weapons as a standard action. Characters over the edge of the chasm may attempt a Dexterity + Climb stress roll against Ease Factor 9.

If the character is unable to stop himself, his colleagues cannot reach him, or he botches a climb roll, he falls hundreds of feet into the seething lava below.

Agitated by the scent of magic on the air, the scorpion swarms will attempt to overcome the magi, surging past any defenders to get to their targets.

Conciatta herself knows the power of warding magic and watches for any circles hastily drawn and empowered. She uses her Master of Stone power to break any such circles and destroy the wards. She is not confident in her penetration against the Parma Magica.

Binding Conciatta

Conciatta will not willingly surrender and is prepared to fight to the death. Her high Might Score means that binding her through wards is a difficult prospect. There is no easy answer to capturing and binding Conciatta and troupes are encouraged to be creative. But there are some options:

• Holy relics affect Conciatta as she is a demon.
• Reducing her Might through Perdo Vim magic will allow her to be bound more easily.
• As a being of fire and heat, intense cold will cause her harm and may force her to submit.

The Return

Assuming none of the four spirits have been destroyed in the journey (in which case all perish at the same moment), the final chapter in Conciatta's story is the reuniting of the four aspects.

On returning to the tower, the player characters should have the scholarly Conciatta waiting for them, her Divine spirit subsumed within a host, her Infernal aspect bound or captive in some form, and her Faerie self in the form of a book.

The Infernal Conciatta is resentful and hateful towards the magi and her other selves. She curses them with every other word and struggles to be free. This shocks the Magical spirit, unaware she had such feelings within her.

The Ritual

There is no defined ritual or method for recombining Conciatta's spirits. It is left to the troupe to decide on a fitting process. But when the moment of reunion comes, the Faerie Conciatta walks from the pages of the book and the Divine Conciatta appears as an angelic presence rising from her host. They both combine with their opposites: Divine with Infernal and Faerie with Magic, and then these two last spirits combine into one burning white shard.

The shard of light races upwards and downwards, piercing floors and ceilings. And then it flashes outwards rushing through any onlookers. And in that moment, the way to the Magic Realm is open and scenes from Conciatta's life are scattered across the walls. And then, in a beat of darkness, the Magic Realm closes and Conciatta is gone.

The ritual leaves 12 pawns of Vim vis in the form of crystal shards broken from Conciatta's final form.

Effects on the Aura

The magic unleashed in reuniting the four aspects of Conciatta creates a new preternatural tether of Strength 1. It also aligns the aura to the art of Vim. But with the dissolution of Conciatta into Final Twilight, the regio has lost the powerful magical entity that helped tether the aura. Unless the tower returns to active magical use the aura will now weaken over time.

In addition, on each anniversary of Conciatta's recombination, 4 pawns of Vim vis manifest within the tower.

Rewards

Storyguides who wish to add linking stories into the larger quest should set the rewards as appropriate. But it is suggested that 5 experience points are awarded for the events surrounding each of the four spirits of Conciatta, for a total of 20 across the story.

Sections set within the Magic and Faerie Realms also carry their own rewards. Experience earned in the Magic Realm manifests as vis (see Realms of Power: Magic, pages 20 and 26), which can be used to transform the character, allowing them to gain or exchange Virtues. Similarly, characters leaving the Faerie Realm may also acquire new Virtues. In this case, the character given the book gains one of Conciatta's breakthroughs as a charm (see Realms of Power: Faerie, pages 39 and 104). The Virtue can be used while the character carries the book, so long as he keeps the charm secret.

Aftermath

Despite years of study, Conciatta failed to take her research to its logical conclusion. While a magus may invent spells to affect the four realms, he still needs separate effects for each realm. But Hermetic magic theory may support a further breakthrough.

Conciatta's aim was to remove the distinction between the realms. Her later studies went some way to achieving this, culminating with the True Understanding of the Realms. But the next stage is to allow Vim spells to affect each realm without re-invention.

As it fundamentally changes the nature of Hermetic magic, this is an Hermetic Breakthrough. But possession of Conciatta's Virtues lays the groundwork and, with troupe approval, reduces this level of integration to a Major Breakthrough.

In addition, with a further Major Breakthrough, each of Conciatta's breakthroughs can be fully integrated with Hermetic Magic Theory, allowing all magi studying from the appropriate sources to leverage their Realm Lore to empower their magic.

The magus who brings Conciatta's secrets back to the Order will see his name forever linked with Conciatta's, but a magus who can take those breakthroughs further will be famous on his own account.

Bonisagus House Acclaim

As per Houses of Hermes: True Lineages, page 21, rediscovering Conciatta's Minor Virtues awards 15 acclaim points each, while the True Understanding of the Realms Virtue is worth 30.

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