Untitled - The Secrets of the Mind & Body Shaping

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After the maga has become a faerie, she may strengthen her connection to the Faerie realm by performing lesser transformation rituals, further empowering the enchantment. In this way, the maga can give herself faerie powers or better imitate aspects of humanity that she has given up in the Becoming ritual. Here are three examples of lesser transformation rituals, though other rituals that impart faerie powers may exist, and could be discovered through experimentation or original research. Altering the Enchantment: The maga can make herself appear older or younger, and can choose a different Technique and Form to determine her physical appearance; or she can alter the Arts that determine her faerie personality; or she can increase her Might Score and change the associated Form. The level of this enchantment is the same level as the transformation ritual she is altering. Inspired Knowledge: The maga can give herself a score of 1 in a new Ability, so long as she could learn it if she were human and has set aside 5 experience points for it. She can also master spells in this way, assuming she knows the spell she wishes to master. The level of this enchantment is the sum of her scores in all Abilities that belong to different categories. For example, when learning a Martial Ability she would add up her scores in non-Martial Abilities, including spell mastery Abilities, to determine the effect level. The Empowered Faerie: The maga can learn a new spell, essentially a faerie power that she can activate with her Might. The level of the enchantment is equal to the level of the spell she will gain, which costs her a number of Might Points equal to its magnitude to cast. Exceeding the level by fi ve reduces this Might cost by one, so that doubling it makes the spell cost nothing. She can also reduce the cost of spells she already knows with this same ritual. Likewise, she can increase the number of Might Points a power costs to activate in the same way, if she wishes to increase her Penetration Total. Houses of Hermes tHe line of quendalon After the House Divided, Quendalon took many new apprentices, desiring to share the knowledge he had gained from Faerie with his loyal followers. He also taught other magi his secrets, without requiring anything from them in return, in order to spread his magic throughout the Order. These magi came to be known as the Line of Quendalon. In return for his fantastic powers, Quendalon asked only that they join his House, and pledge their loyalty to him as Primus. Since then, the leaders of the House have all descended from this line, including Rhiannon, Vinaria, and Handri. Quendalon Initiated his followers in all three Arcadian Mysteries, and characters descended from his lineage may Initiate Arcadian Travel or Animae Magic through one of many well-known Initiation Scripts. Having himself been raised by faeries, Quendalon was said to have encouraged all of his followers to place Gifted children in their care, and so many of his line have Faerie-Raised Magic. Others commonly have a Major Magical Focus with Faerie. When they believe they are ready, having mastered the other Inner Mysteries, the elders of the line Initiate their fi lii into Becoming, and assist them in the transformation from human to faerie. Quendalon never took a familiar, and so these Merinitae are less critical of those who choose to forgo the Founder’s ritual, though they often have faerie friends and maintain complex relationships with the fae. The most popular Arts in this lineage are Vim, Muto, and Creo, and most Merinitae study a Form that represents the type of faeries in which they are most interested. Quendalon is said to have particularly favored Terram. These magi are sometimes associated with the name “The Last Commission,” in reference to a legend that Bonisagus himself smiled upon Quendalon’s efforts, charging him with the task of making the power of the Faerie realm more accessible to all magi. For this reason, Quendalon’s followers occasionally Initiate magi from other Houses, particularly Bonisagus. Many of them are Seekers, and more than any other Merinitae they devote 96 themselves to experimental research and exploring the frontiers of Hermetic magic. saMPle line of quendalon initiation: aniMae Magic Ease Factor: 21 (Major Virtue known to the Mystagogue) Script Bonus: +16 Script Details: The Initiate must spend a season visiting a Faerie aura, studying its inhabitants, and taking detailed notes on their behavior and relationships (+3). Then she must fi nd and befriend the faerie that is most appropriate to her highest Technique and Form (+1), taking the Faerie Friend Flaw (+3). To secure its lasting friendship, she must make a bargain with it, giving up a uniquely human quality that cannot be replaced, such as the color of her eyes, all memory of her parents, or her fi rstborn child (+6). She also receives a Prohibition never to break her word, or she will suffer a faerie wasting sickness (+3). Folk Mysteries The common people have collected a great deal of wisdom about faeries over the years, and Merinitae have adapted that folklore into a unique set of Mysteries. These explore faerie magic associated with charms (see above), including charms that focus spells on particular targets, charms that invoke archetypal events, and charms that harness the power of symbols and sympathetic magic in the lab. cHarM Magic (Minor folk Mystery) This Inner Mystery allows a Merinita to incorporate charms into her spells, making them more potent through sympathetic magic. This requires that she fi rst invent a spell that incorporates a specifi c charm; this can be done with spontaneous, formulaic, or ritual spells. She must decide how the charm applies to the target and include this in the spell description. For example, if the name “Darius” were integrated into a spell, she
could use a “Darius” charm when casting it on a target named Darius. Likewise, a spell might involve “winter,” “an axe,” or something “red.” A single charm imparts a +2 bonus to the Casting Total of the spell. The maga may incorporate the charm specifi ed by the spell into her actions whenever she casts it; she must either create the temporary charm at the time of casting or have the object associated with a permanent charm at hand. When casting spells with the charms described above, she might tell a story about a person called Darius, or draw a picture that depicts winter, or whittle a stick into the shape of an axe, or play a song that suggests the color red. Example: Mari Amwithig of Merinita has Initiated Charm Magic, and modifi ed her spell Slay the Innocent (PeCo[An]30) to include an “enemy” charm. She spends three hours composing a poem about an enemy, inscribing it on a fi ne piece of tanned vellum, and succeeds at her Communication + Language roll against Ease Factor 9. Whenever she reads this poem from the scroll while casting her spell on one of her enemies, she receives a +2 bonus to her Casting Total. A spell can also incorporate several charms at once: when she invents the spell, the maga specifi es all the charms it involves, up to as many as her score in Faerie Magic. There are also several categories that can be used to describe charms. These help to explain in what way a charm applies to the target, and are noted next to the charm like so: “Darius” (character), “winter” (event), “axe” (item), “red” (aspect). The maga receives a +1 bonus to her Casting Total for each charm incorporated into the casting, and an additional +1 bonus for each category represented by these charms. For example, a spell designed to affect a “magus” (character) named “Darius” (character) in “winter” (event) would give the maga a +5 Casting Total bonus; +3 for three charms, and +2 for two different categories. casting total Bonus: +1 for each charm, +1 for each category represented The maga can also use charms to improve the effectiveness of her Penetration using an Arcane Connection to the target. This increases her Penetration Multiplier Mystery Cults by one for each category beyond the fi rst represented by the spell, in addition to the normal +2 for a symbolic representation (see Sympathetic Connections, ArM5 page 86). A spell designed to affect “Darius” (character) in “winter” (event) would give the maga +3 to her Penetration Multiplier when cast with an Arcane Connection. syMPatHetic connection Bonus: +2, +1 for each category beyond the fi rst When casting a spell associated with several charms, the maga can design a single charm that incorporates all of the different concepts at once. For example, instead of writing three different songs, one about a “magus,” another about “Darius,” and a third about “winter,” she can write a single song about “Darius the magus in winter.” However, each additional concept adds 3 to the Ease Factor for making a charm, so that the song “Darius the magus in winter” would require a Communication + Music roll against an Ease Factor of 12 to compose. 97 Spells may be designed so that the target is itself the charm, if the effect produces an artistic or poetically satisfying result. This requires about ten minutes of preparation and an Intelligence + Finesse roll against an Ease Factor of 6 to succeed. For example, a spell intended to turn a person into a lion could play upon the fact that both the warrior and a lion are brave, and so the spell could be designed to incorporate a “brave” (aspect) charm. However, the charm would have no effect if the target were not particularly Brave. At the storyguide’s discretion, charms that are absurdly broad — such as “a person” (character) or “Mythic Europe” (place) — give no bonus. Charms that the storyguide thinks inappropriate to the situation at hand may also fail. Anyone might be an “enemy,” for example, and so it may be necessary for the player to adequately explain how the charm distinguishes the spell’s target from other possible targets in order to receive the bonus. A spell incorporating charms may be cast without the charms being at hand, or
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WRITING AND DESIGN: Erik Dahl (Meri
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The process of Initiation into a My
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Potent Spell Example A wand provide
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Famous Figures Birna: Gothic witch
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new “Harmonists.” Both factions
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The Clan Mysteries Bjornaer magi ma
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Political stance Harmonist. Clan Si
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a time to honor one’s predecessor
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Bjornaer Magi and Religion While Ho
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also tend to be lazy and greedy. Th
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Ringing the Changes There are three
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Magical Items and Changing Form Bjo
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Ardea, the Swan Elder who conducts
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• • • • deaf people are imm
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Great Beasts as Mystagogues Great B
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Sample Elemental Forms Stone: The b
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They have a dramatic and ambitious
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Bjornaer; these spells are detailed
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penalty of The Gift, due to the str
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When designing your own species, si
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Aging If an animal is to be an impo
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You are already immortal. Time form
Page 46 and 47: Glossary Adulteration: A creature o
Page 48 and 49: Hypostasis using magic. Some theori
Page 50 and 51: Houses of Hermes Examples of Criamo
Page 52 and 53: Houses of Hermes Repose: House Cria
Page 54 and 55: Designing Adulterations Adulteratio
Page 56 and 57: Houses of Hermes Story Seeds for Th
Page 58 and 59: Pacing A maga typically follows a g
Page 60 and 61: insight is the more important; the
Page 62 and 63: Path Symbolism Magi on this path of
Page 64 and 65: The Path of Seeming The Path of See
Page 66 and 67: Houses of Hermes Passing Through Ru
Page 68 and 69: Houses of Hermes may use his Enigma
Page 70 and 71: This power requires a preparatory l
Page 72 and 73: Path Symbolism Magi on this path sp
Page 74 and 75: On the path, sing praise Sing, in t
Page 76 and 77: Famous Figures Merinita, Founder, i
Page 78 and 79: History Story Seeds • • If Meri
Page 80 and 81: Arcadian Experiences Arcadia is a f
Page 82 and 83: Faerie and Dreams Many Merinitae be
Page 84 and 85: Society Story Seeds • • On a pa
Page 86 and 87: Merinita Mysteries Overview allurin
Page 88 and 89: Charms Charms are casting aids that
Page 90 and 91: Temporary Familiars One of Merinita
Page 92 and 93: • beings who have Infernal Might
Page 94 and 95: Animae spells are Creo or Muto. A M
Page 98 and 99: Charm Categories Adage: “There is
Page 100 and 101: Recurring Spells Use the frequency
Page 102 and 103: can be destroyed by Perdo Imaginem.
Page 104 and 105: a Flaw (the “sacrifi ce”), perf
Page 106 and 107: Mystery Story Seeds • • • A f
Page 108 and 109: Famous Figures Verditius, Founder o
Page 110 and 111: Story Seed: The Rings of Verditius
Page 112 and 113: stops these prolonged squabbles, an
Page 114 and 115: not a forge-companion, since he is
Page 116 and 117: Feuding magi seek to undo the good
Page 118 and 119: Magic Items of Hephaestus Hephaestu
Page 120 and 121: Increasing Hubris able. Those wishi
Page 122 and 123: ers spend as much time casting fi r
Page 124 and 125: Enchanting Casting Tools Example He
Page 126 and 127: Reforging Example Maga Mari Amwithi
Page 128 and 129: Elder Runes Example Ten years out o
Page 130 and 131: This is a fi xed limit, unchangeabl
Page 132 and 133: vis, one pawn of Art-specifi c vis
Page 134 and 135: item (+3). When it is understood, t
Page 136 and 137: support, but she is not protected b
Page 138: erik daHl lives and works in Davis,
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