This page is part of the Semita Errabunda Open Content

Moratamis

Follower of Cuernicus

by Erik Dahl

Characteristics: Int +2, Per +3, Pre +2, Com +1, Str -2, Sta +1, Dex -2, Qik -1
Size: 0
Age: 44 (30)
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 2 (15)
Confidence Score: 2 (5)
Virtues and Flaws: The Gift; Hermetic Magus; Skilled Parens, Hermetic Prestige (free Virtue), Mastered Spells, Quiet Magic (x2), Subtle Magic; Educated, Famous, Piercing Gaze, Self-Confident; Driven (justice); Warped Magic, Creative Block, Deleterious Circumstances (target unaware); Visions; Weakness (women)
Personality Traits: Careful +3, Just +3, Indulgent +1
Reputations: Fair 4 (Hermetic), Knowledgeable Quaesitor 3 (Hermetic)
Soak: +1
Fatigue levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20)
Abilities: Artes Liberales 4 (logic), Awareness 6 (searching), Charm 2 (pleasantries), Civil and Canon Law 3 (French), Code of Hermes 6 (relations), Concentration 3 (spell concentration), Etiquette 4 (the Order), Faerie Lore 1 (customs), Finesse 2 (Mentem), Folk Ken 3 (women), Guile 1, Intrigue 3 (alliances), Magic Theory 4 (inventing spells), Norman Lore 2 (personalities), Order of Hermes Lore 3 (personalities), Parma Magica 5 (Corpus), Penetration 3 (Mentem), Profession: Scribe 2 (legal documents), Speak Latin 5 (academic usage), Speak Langue d'Oc 5 (written), Speak Langue d'Oil 2 (official documents)
Arts: Cr 1, In 12, Mu 1, Pe 7, Re 8; An 5, Aq 0, Au 0, Co 5, He 0, Ig 0, Im 10, Me 13, Te 0, Vi 5
Spells Known:
- Opening the Tome of the Animal's Mind (InAn25/+18)
- Prying Eyes (InIm5/+23)
- The Ear for Distant Voices (InIm20/+23)
- Summoning the Distant Image (InIm25/+23)
- Invisibility of the Standing Wizard (PeIm15/+20), Mastery 2 (Fast Casting, Multiple Casting)
- Veil of Invisibility (PeIm20/+18)
- Frosty Breath of the Spoken Lie (InMe20/+28), Mastery 2 (Penetration, Magic Resistance)
- Posing the Silent Question (InMe20/+29), Mastery 3 (Fast Casting, Magic Resistance, Penetration)
- Loss of But a Moment's Memory (PeMe15/+24), Mastery 2 (Magic Resistance, Multiple Casting)
- The Call to Slumber (ReMe10/+24), Mastery 2 (Penetration, Multiple Casting)
- Aura of Rightful Authority (ReMe20/+23), Mastery 1 (Penetration)
- Piercing the Faerie Veil (InVi20/+18)

Appearance: Moratamis is a tall, handsome woman apparently in her early thirties. She has dark hair that hangs below her waist and is typically plaited with ribbons or held back in a long veil parted over her shoulders, worn under a copper circlet inscribed with the symbol of House Guernicus. She favors blue gowns and skirts with flared voluminous lower sleeves of finely pleated fabric, tied with a double belt and a sash in the French style. While she rarely needs to keep her hands free, instead letting them hang comfortably and decorously at her sides, she ensures that her face is always uncovered. Her eyes are quick and piercing, and while her look may be friendly and welcoming, there is clearly steel beneath her gaze, and she misses little.

Moratamis is a Quaesitor, a follower of House Guernicus, and as such she represents the Order of Hermes in everything she does. Because of this, she is mindful of her actions at all times, and careful to do nothing that would bring embarrassment upon her, her covenant, or her House. She is a great student of lore and etiquette, and believes that by observing the graces that make others comfortable, she better understands the motivations of those around her. While driven to bring about justice for all, as part of this she is interested in bringing about equality between mundane men and women, in as much as rights and status are concerned. However, she recognizes the inherent good in the traditional system, and does not generally rebel against it as an institution.

Moratamis never knew her parents, for she was born out of wedlock and left to the abbey of Fontrevault in 1125. She was later apprenticed to a wandering maga named Empistula, who had close ties to the nunnery, and completed most of her magical training under her tutelage. Before they finished, her mistress died under suspicious circumstances, and Moratamis was left to make her way across France alone. At some point on her journey she became lost, and found shelter in a faerie palace. She spent forty days there, during which time she copied strange legal documents for the faerie lord to pay her keep. Armed with his directions, she left the regio and eventually reached the largest covenant in the tribunal, where she learned her journey had somehow taken her forty years, though to her it seemed less than a year. The presiding quaesitor recognized her, and a wizard of House Bonisagus agreed to help her complete the few years of apprenticeship still remaining to her. She was allowed to swear the Oath as a follower of House Guernicus and Empistula's filia.

Now, twenty years later, she maintains correspondence with many friends and associates throughout the Order of Hermes, and often gives advice to those who write to her with legal questions or questions of custom and tradition. When interpreting the Code, Moratamis is a Traditionalist, meaning that she tends to rule by precedent rather than by circumstances. Her special interest is in the Order's relations with others; she believes magi should strive to observe but not interfere with mundanes, faeries and other groups.

In her opinion, the best way to achieve this is through the mind; by studying or removing memories she makes sure that only those with need know the truth about the Order.

Her Wizard's Sigil is a sense of propriety, which manifests in her target or those who interact with her target. For example, if she were to cause a man to forget his conversation with her, he might retain the satisfaction of a job well done, though he might not recall what it was that caused him this feeling. Because of her Binding Sigil, that man would remain an arcane connection to Moratamis for a period of time, perhaps as long as he could recall the feeling of her spell.

She usually performs her magic by looking people in the eye, and in fact has grown dependent on this method since she does not use her voice or gestures unless she is casting spells of great range. Her magic is weaker when her targets are not aware of her, and so while she may cast spells to hide herself from danger, she doesn't use her Arts to spy on others without very good reason. She has learned to follow her hunches, though, as she often has a strange sense for trouble (Visions).

Moratamis is a stern judge, but she does have a soft spot for luxurious living. She enjoys good food and good wine, and does her best to ensure that the covenant has access to such amenities. She also sympathizes with women, especially young women in trouble, and may go out of her way to offer them her assistance. Otherwise, everyone who knows her is aware that she does not think highly of trickery and deceit, and will not hesitate to see those who bend the rules brought to justice.

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