The Mysteries: Revised Edition Chapter Ten: The Great Tralisman

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The Great Talisman

Many cults teach magi how to improve their talismans. This lore is not tied to any specific Mystery School. A talisman is an intensely personal item, and the Knights of the Holy Stone (see Chapter 14) often choose a heraldically charged shield as their personal talismans. Other traditions may also have a uniform style of talisman.

13th-century magic is filled with enchanted devices, amulets and, in possibly the most famous case of all, the Brass Head, which was built by the learned divine Albertus Magnus, and later rumored to be smashed by his pupil Thomas Aquinas, who went on to become the greatest theologian of the medieval Church.

The term “talisman” is often used to refer to a small image or amulet that is carried and believed to invoke magical powers, but the Order uses the term in the sense of the Arabic magicians who craft items that are expressions of a magical power or force. Such a personal talisman is a direct expression of the magus’s individual Gift; an intimate reflection of the magical core of his being.

The attunement bonuses illustrate another important theme in medieval magic. Such bonuses rely upon intrinsic properties of the materials used to craft the talisman, which are hidden or occult.

An occult property of an item is one that cannot be explained by the complexio, or elemental composition, of an item, but is nonetheless a very real property — such as the ability of lead to create effective wards, or the ability of crystals to influence water.

Great Talisman — Minor Hermetic Mystery Virtue

A magus with a great talisman attunes the Shape and Material Bonuses of his talisman more easily than others, and may add additional components to an existing talisman.

A magus with a great talisman is much closer to his talisman than other magi; so close that merely by using his talisman in regular magical life he may open an attunement bonus over the course of a season, as if working on his talisman — even when he does no work on the talisman in the laboratory, or works on other tasks. He can still only open one attunement per season, even if he reopens or invests an effect in his talisman.

When a magus reopens his great talisman to increase enchantment spaces, he may also craft in one or more new components, although the total number of components is still limited by his Magic Theory score. The method of working new components into a great talisman is part of the enchantment process (similar to that of Verditius magi forging items from raw materials), and no Craft roll is required. The season’s opened attunement may be chosen from the Shape and Material Bonuses of the existing talisman, or from the new components.

Standard Talisman When a maga first creates her talisman, she must take an item prepared for enchantment (ArM5, page 97) by herself, and then attune it as her talisman. Once attuned she can increase the enchantment spaces, and each time she reopens it for enchantment or instills an effect she can also open the talisman to one magical attunement based on the Shape and Material Bonuses available in the item (ArM5, page 98). Although a maga may attune an item with instilled effects (instilled by herself), she cannot add components to an existing device, even a talisman. To allow the most talisman attunements, she should create and open a compound item with as many components as her Magic Theory score permits. A compound item can be prepared either with the sum of the pawns of vis for each component, or with the vis required by the highest single component. Magi have a seasonal laboratory limit of handling pawns of vis equal to twice their Magic Theory score, so most will open their talisman with the “single highest component” option. Example: Dolorosa wishes to make a talisman in the form of a staff. She has a Magic Theory of 6, so she can use 12 pawns of vis and open a staff with five additional components. She chooses a wooden staff shod in iron, with a quartz crystal bound on top, set with an amethyst and an agate, and with a golden coin depicting a crown. The stones each require 12 pawns of vis, the coin 10, staff 8, and the iron shoe 5; the highest single component cost is the cost of one of the semi-precious stones, or 12 pawns, which Dolorosa can just manage. Her talisman has 11 Material Bonuses and 10 Shape Bonuses that she can attune in later seasons.

Consummate Talisman — Major Hermetic Mystery Virtue

The magus may enchant Muto Vim effects, with Personal Range, into his talisman, and may use them on himself when he casts Formulaic spells.

In addition, he may enchant Names of Power (see Chapter 9) into his talisman, and have the device invoke these for him as he casts spells, even Spontaneous spells. When he invokes Names of Power, he is still limited to a maximum bonus of his Magic Theory, but need not spend extra time to invoke the names. He does still need to speak the Names aloud, firmly, as a required trigger for the Name of Power effect, but this can be incorporated into spellcasting, although it does not permit silent or quiet casting. The magic of the device carries the spoken word to the attention of the powers.

This is one of very few ways to bypass the limitation that Muto Vim effects in a device may only affect other effects in the same device: the consummate talisman may affect the magus’s spellcasting.

The side-effect of this is that the magus must put so much of himself into his talisman that he gains the Flaw Deleterious Circumstances (when not touching talisman) (magic totals halved). This counts as an Minor Ordeal for Initiating the Consummate Talisman. If he already has similar Deleterious Circumstances, he may subject himself further and instead suffer the Major Ordeal Flaw Necessary Condition: must wield talisman (or else magic fails). Gaining this new Flaw counts as a prior Ordeal for subsequent Initiations.

If he already has his talisman as a Necessary Condition or Restriction, then he may still count that as an Ordeal for this Initiation, and need no further Flaw. If he already has these Flaws, he gains the Initiation Script bonus for an Ordeal, but it will not become a prior Ordeal for subsequent Initiations.

Inscription on the Soul and Talisman Virtues A magus with Inscription on the Soul (see Chapter 8: Spirit Magic, Inscription on the Soul) and Great Talisman can open magical attunements in his body or spirit while performing other activities. However, to incorporate components into his body he must use the methods of Blending With Substance even with Great Talisman. A magus may use Inscription on the Soul (instead of Great Talisman) as a prerequisite to Initiate the Virtue Consummate Talisman.

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