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I will close voting tomorrow.
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Oct 15, 2021 17:56
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| # ? May 19, 2024 07:32 |
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There's a tie between D and F, as well as between G and J. Voting remains open until these ties have been resolved.
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Oct 16, 2021 18:58
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guess I'll tie-break in favour of gem-cutting: DJ
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Oct 16, 2021 19:09
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Thank you. Voting is closed.
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Oct 16, 2021 19:09
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Of course we now have affinity with Imaginem but only one vote for it
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Oct 16, 2021 19:16
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Rumda posted:Of course we now have affinity with Imaginem but only one vote for it True, but there's also 120 xp going towards arts in general. the way you've voted, one vote is more than most arts get.
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Oct 16, 2021 19:43
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You trained and studied for long years under Anoush filia Evaristus ex Verditius. It was a difficult time, but not an unpleasant one. Most days, you would spend your morning reading and studying language, and then later, when you mastered latin, books of magical theory and practice. At noon, you would eat a hearty lunch with the magi and companions, and then the afternoon, you would spend working with Anoush, serving as her laboratory assistant. You’d man the bellows of her vulcanic forge, clean the forge and the lab, refill containers, fetch notes and books, and so on. Often, she would have you fetch strange things - claws of beasts, crystaline eyes, soft-glowing moss or water glittering like gold - from her own personal storage. This, you learned, was Vis, magical power concentrated and focused in a physical form. During this time, she would sometimes instruct you - on the proper use of the forge, on the magical properties of spring water or basalt, on how to keep notes, and so on - but for the most part, you were simply her assistant. When not carrying stuff for her or aiding her, you would sit at your designated desk in the lab and study. After dinner, she would ask you questions and give you direct instruction for an hour or two, then leave you to read, take notes, or otherwise do what you want. The only exception to this schedule was friday. While there was no mosque in the covenant, and no way to attend prayer in the closest towns, Anoush always kept the day for rest. She would not be in the lab after her noon prayer, and she would not give you instruction or guidance after that time, though she did not prevent you from using the lab, once you had enough experience to do so. Likewise, during the month of Ramadan, the schedule would change slightly, to accommodate your master’s fast. While she never required it of you, nor judged you if you refused, she did offer you to join her and was willing to provide the necessary religious instruction for muslim practice. As you grew, both literally and in magical skill, your schedule changed. You began taking on more magical tasks as an assistant, and you began researching and inventing your own spells - or rather, reinventing them. No maga can use another magus’ spell without first reinventing it, though inventing a spell from another magus’ or magas Lab Text is significantly easier than making one from scratch. Even when your teacher patiently taught you her favorite spells, your personal version was your own, invented by you, and bearing your Sigil. A sigil is a peculiarity about a maga’s spellcasting, and present in all her spells. What is yours? This question does has too many posibilities to be reasonably listed. A sigil is a minor cosmetic effect, such as a particular color, shape, or visual motif that reoccurs in all your spells. Examples include “all her spells involve the color green,” “all his spells involve symbolic flames,” “All her spells become slightly eerie or frightening,” making the wizard seem dignified, being particularly ordered and systematic, unusual smells, so on, and so forth. Which spells did you learn? You know 120 levels worth of spells. I will go through and choose the actual spells, because there’s too many and too much possible variation to structure a vote around. Instead, i’m going to give you a set of categories. Vote for one with 3 points, for another with 2 points, and for two more with 1 point. A: Attack spells, spells of damage and violence. This includes Creo Ignem spells like Pilum of Fire, which strikes an opponent with fire, Perdo Corpus spells like The Wound that Weeps, which directly causes a wound, spells to toss rocks or cause trees to attack an opponent, and so on. B: Defensive spells, to protect yourself from mundane danger. This includes Repel the wooden shafts which forces arrows away, or doublet of impenetrable silk, which hardens cloth to armor, and similar spells. C: Spells to deal with spirits. These include Perdo Vim spells to fight them, Rego spells to ward them away or control them, Intellego spells to figure them out, and so on. D: Spells of healing and restoration. While you don’t have the skills to be a great healer, you can learn spells such as Bind Wound, which heals light wounds, Physician’s Eye, which reveals particular diseases, and so on. These are all various Corpus spells. E: Spells of investigation and divination, to reveal things to you. These are all Intellego spells of various kinds. Examples include Whispers through the Black Gate, an intellego corpus spell that lets you speak to a corpse, Prying eyes, an Intellego Imaginem spell which lets you see the inside of a room, and similar spells. F: Wards. These are Rego spells that ward away a particular kind of creature, such as demons, angels, faeries or magic spirits, animals, ghosts, and so on. G: Illusion and other spells of deception or stealth. These include various Imaginem spells, such as Disguise of the transformed image, which disguises your appearance, Invisibility of the standing Wizard, which makes you invisible while standing still, but also spells of other techniques, such as Trackless step, a rego terram spell that hides your step H: Metamagic spells, which affect yours or others’ magic. This includes Supressing the wizard’s handiwork, which temporarily supresses a spell you’ve cast, Sorcerer’s fork, which splits a spell in two to affect multiple targets, or Wizard’s reach, which improves the range of another spell you are casting. I: some other reasonable category of spell, or a specific spell. Write in. Besides spells you also learned to create magical items with the secret magics of the verditius. You would spend weeks shaping the objects and opening them for enchantment, filling them with power from Vis provided by your mentor. As this came from the common stock of the covenant, each item you made returned to that common stock. Nevertheless, it was important training, since enchanting objects is the main occupation of the verditius. Your mentor praised you as you made rings and gems of magical quality. Your time with your mentor lasted 15 long years. In addition to your skill and magical knowledge, you and your circumstances have also changed greatly in that time. How has that time changed you or your circumstances? This vote is approval voting. This question rounds out your flaws so they are equal to your virtues in points. Note, though that “flaw” often means “creates an interesting story” or “defines your personality” and as such not all flaws are, in-character, bad for you. Many of these are personality flaws. I will never use those to restrict what you can do, but they will shape which options I make available and which you’ll have to think of and write in yourself. J: Proud of my skill and magic, I got into a feud with another Verditius apprentice when my master brought me to a house meeting, and since then I've planned how to one-up him next time we meet. He will be finishing his apprenticeship by the time I am. This gives you the major story flaw Vendetta, and the minor flaw Proud K: I have been found by my mother’s enemies, Jinn of a different tribe, and they harass me constantly, bringing out the ‘Afrit rage in my blood. This gives you the major story flaw Plagued by supernatural entity and the minor flaw Wrath L: I have grown close to my mentor, and she has taught me much of her culture and religion. I now say the daily prayers every day, and even after my apprenticeship, my teacher has promised to guide me. This gives you the major flaw Pious and the minor flaw Mentor. M: My compassion has given me a close friend. Once, while outside the covenant to gather Vis, i saw a snake, bleeding from a heavy wound. I brought it back and saved it, and it turned out to be a magical snake, like those in the covenant, and introduced itself as al hakim. Since then, it has followed me and been my friend. This gives you the major flaw Compassionate and the minor flaw Magical animal companion. N: I have made an enemy of my parens. When working the forge one day, I used fire magic recklessly, scarring her deeply and burning off part of her hair and destroying many of her magical notes and projects. She is difficult to anger, but she has tormented me ever since. This gives you the major flaw Tormenting Master and the minor flaw Reckless O: I and my circumstances have changed in some other way that includes a minor and major flaw, at least one of which is a story flaw. Okay! That’s the last mechanics-heavy character creation vote. Next vote will be hermetic name, covenant, and overall goals, and then we’ll move on to the part after character creation.
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Oct 17, 2021 04:00
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All her spells have a stage where the effect is summoned out of/wreathed in/disappears into blue smokeless flame. B 3 G 2 A&F 1 K L M Rumda fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Oct 17, 2021 |
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Oct 17, 2021 04:37
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Our spells arrive with a warm breeze and the smell of the desert sand. G B EA (in order) KM Wallet fucked around with this message at 23:08 on Oct 17, 2021 |
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Oct 17, 2021 14:20
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3: C 2: A 1: E & B LM Ripley fucked around with this message at 20:58 on Oct 17, 2021 |
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Oct 17, 2021 16:22
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quote:Vote for one with 3 points, for another with 2 points, and for two more with 1 point. 3: A 2: G 1: B&H M Edit: Also I like this: Wallet posted:Our spells arrive with a warm breeze and the smell of the desert sand. sheep-dodger fucked around with this message at 23:36 on Oct 17, 2021 |
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Oct 17, 2021 20:24
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Our spells are heralded by a desert wind, even indoors E3 B2 G, A M vorebane fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Oct 20, 2021 |
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Oct 20, 2021 20:43
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3a 2B 1G&H M Our spells are accompanied by a warm desert breeze carrying the scent of the sands and night jasmine
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Oct 21, 2021 00:21
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3A 2E 1BG KM
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Oct 21, 2021 02:10
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C 3 B 2 E&G 1 JL Wallet posted:Our spells arrive with a warm breeze and the smell of the desert sand. but I too think cold/night breeze is a good twist on it.
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Oct 21, 2021 03:36
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E3 C2 A&H1 JKLMN Hexenritter posted:Our spells are accompanied by a warm desert breeze carrying the scent of the sands[/b] I like this too. Not sure about the jasmine though. Chatrapati fucked around with this message at 20:40 on Oct 28, 2021 |
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Oct 28, 2021 09:51
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Chatrapati posted:E3 Yeah I'm ok with nixing the jasmine tbh.
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Oct 28, 2021 10:30
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I am closing voting. It's a busy week for me right now, but I'll update as soon as I can.
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Oct 28, 2021 15:15
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You trained for 15 long years, under the kind, watchful eyes of your master. You focused on learning spells of attack and defense, tossing fire, forcing enemies to sleep, turning your tunic as hard as steel, and confusing your enemies with illusions to defend yourself. You have also learned spells of Illusion, of investigation, a spell for warding away spirits, and one for defending yourself against demons. Each came with the wind of the desert and the smell of warm sands. It has been a long and difficult road, but you’ve learned much. You know the system of Bonisagus, the 5 techniques, and the 10 forms, how each aligns with the stars, with great powers, with principles of natural philosophy and metaphysics. You can shape spells in Latin on a moment’s notice, though you must always use your casting tools. Each is shaped according to the form or technique it represents. You have 5 rings, one for each technique, with a different valuable gem in its center. For the forms, you have a variety of wands, amulets, and other accouterments, such as a mirror for imaginem. The years have been good to you, you think. Your master has been kindly, friendly, and good to you. The other magi of the covenant have been more distant to you, but never cruel. It’s often been their lab texts or books you have been studying, acquired for you by your master. However, besides your master - who you have known from very little, and who is, by hermetic law, your parentes, your ‘parent’ - you have made but one friend. 8 years ago, when you were 17, your parentes sent you out to gather Vis, magical energy in physical form, from one of the covenant’s vis-sources. This was in the form of sharp, vulcanic stone protruding from the ground near a geyser. On your way back, however, you found a pitiful creature on the ground, a wounded snake. You saved it and brought it back to the covenant; there, you discovered that it was, like the snakes of the covenant, a magical snake, quite intelligent and magically skilled. Young, and used to living among the rocks of the earth, it did not have a name. What did you name your magical snake friend? A: Something in latin, the language of wizards (write in) B: Something in arabic, my mother tongue C: Something in french, the language of my father. Since you saved it, the young snake has followed you and aided you when it can. It does not care about your horns or your skin and does not mistrust you. It loves you for saving it, and it coils happily in a little basket by your bed at night. When you study, it coils around you, or, if sunlight hits your black leather-bound book of notes, falls asleep on that. When in a feisty mood, it will spend hours debating anyone who will listen on the finer points of biblical history and theology. Its magical abilities are modest but valuable. It can hypnotize others by its magical gaze, heal wounds, disease and suck out poison from a wound. Like all snakes, it becomes young again by shedding its skin. It has dug a little hole in the garden; before drinking, it goes there to spit out its venom, like all snakes do. It has been 15 years, but you are now a maga. You know the secrets of the order. You know the ritual of the parma magica, which protects you from the magic of others (and from the effects of The Gift, which both allows you to work magic and makes all magi distrustful of each other), you know the secrets of house Verditus, how to shape runes of power into your enchanted items, how to research new spells, how to bind a familiar, gather vis, and so much more. A few weeks ago, you proved yourself, finally, a true maga of the order. After a season alone in the laboratory, unaided, save for the vis granted by your master, you crafted a masterpiece: a ring of gold and emerald able to protect its wearer by displacing their image, several times a day. After looking it over with other magi of her - of your - house, she gave it her assent. A few days later, with other magi as witnesses, you were made a maga, given a new name and swore the oath of hermes: “I, [Name] , hereby swear my everlasting loyalty to the Order of Hermes and its members. “I will not deprive nor attempt to deprive any member of the Order of his magical power. I will not slay nor attempt to slay any member of the Order, except in justly executed and formally declared Wizards’ War. I hereby understand that Wizards’ War is an open conflict between two magi who may slay each other without breaking this oath, and that should I be slain in a Wizards’ War, no retribution shall fall on he who slays me. “I will abide by the decisions made by fair vote at Tribunal. I will have one vote at Tribunal, and I will use it prudently. I will respect as equal the votes of all others at Tribunal. “I will not endanger the Order through my actions. Nor will I interfere with the affairs of mundanes and thereby bring ruin on my sodales. I will not deal with devils, lest I imperil my soul and the souls of my sodales as well. I will not molest the faeries, lest their vengeance catch my sodales also. “I will not use magic to scry upon members of the Order of Hermes, nor shall I use it to peer into their affairs. “I will train apprentices who will swear to this Code, and should any of them turn against the Order and my sodales, I shall be the first to strike them down and bring them to justice. No apprentice of mine shall be called a magus until he first swears to uphold this Code.* “I concede to Bonisagus the right to take my apprentice if he should find my apprentice valuable to him in his studies. “I request that should I break this oath, I be cast out of the Order. If I am cast out of the Order, I ask my sodales to find me and slay me, that my life not continue in degradation and infamy. “The enemies of the Order are my enemies. The friends of the Order are my friends. The allies of the Order are my allies. Let us work together as one and grow hale and strong. “This oath I hereby swear on the third day of January, in the year of our lord 1220. Woe to they who try to tempt me to break this oath, and woe to me if I succumb to the temptation. Your master gave you your new name, but she had conferred with you first, and the two of you had planned your name together. What name did she give you? D: Something in Latin. Write in E: Something in Arabic. Write in F: something else. Write in. Since then you have been a full Maga of the order. You are free, now, to go your own way. There are several ways you could go, several plans you could make, and many covenants willing to take on a young, skilled verditius mage. Which covenant did you join? (This question is approval voting) G: I stayed at my master’s covenant in Syria. Here I have people I know, friends and acquaintances, as well as a caring master. The covenant is rich in Vis, magical energy, but isolated, and far from centers of both magical and mundane power. Living with your master will also be something stifling; you will both need large amounts of vis for your enchantments, and the lion’s share will go to your master. Further, while you’re a free maga and may do what you want, if you remain with your master you will be expected to show deference, though not necessarily obedience, to her wishes. H: i went to Aedes Veritatis, a covenant near Damascus, focused on working against crusading magi and defending the local Muslim population. While direct interference is forbidden, the covenant works against crusading magi, and sometimes beds the code somewhat in aiding the Muslim rulers. As a member of this covenant, you would be expected to support their goals, likely by selling magical items to the Muslim population or Muslim rulers. The covenant has more Muslim mages than any others. I: I went to Al Arama, a powerful covenant in lesser Armenia. Old and well-connected, the covenant is the main center of trade with the theban and roman tribunals, though the Domus Pacis, with its more central location, is taking over that role slowly. Al Arama has two verditius members already, but the location is vis-rich, and another craftsperson would help them regain their trade dominance. J: I went to the covenant of the True Cross, a very young covenant in Damietta, in egypt. This covenant is the only covenant in the area, and was only established last year, in 1219, when the city was conquered. It has two other inhabitants, young magi like you, and it seeks to secure relics and books from the city and investigate the magics of the so-called “order of Solomon,” which is comprised of native Muslim wizards. A young craftsperson who speaks - and reads - the local language would be very welcome by them. K: I went to Domus Pacis, the house of peace, close to Jerusalem. An old covenant, it was established to foster peace between hermetic magi and the muslim wizards, and all practitioners of magic are welcome there to visit or to study with the magi - within the limits of the code, of course, which forbids the teaching of the Parma Magica, the order’s most valuable secret. It already has a Verditius maga, but as long as you aided her project of ensuring trade dominance, you would be welcome. As an old covenant with old magi, you would be the lowest on the ladder, but also have access to more resources than in the other covenants. Once you arrive at your new covenant, what are your plans? what are your goals, long or short term? note, these goals can be subject to change, i just want a view of what you are interested in right now. What are your goals? Please distribute 4 points as you wish. If four things are equally important, give them 1 each. If you really want one thing, give it all four, etc. L: I want to learn more magic; i want to improve my arts, learn new spells, read books on magical theory, and generally train and become more powerful and more skilled. You can do this forever, but it can also just be a step on another more important goal M: I want to investigate the magic of the Muslim wizards, the Order of Solomon. I want to learn about their spells, figure out how they do magic, and try to integrate their methods into the system of Bonisagus, used by the order. This is a Very tall order, but there are probably other mages working on it whom I could work with… if their ego does not get in the way N: I want to investigate rumors of Ancient Magic. There are many such rumors in the order, but none have ever gotten to the bottom of any of them. If I do - and the rumors are true - I will be guaranteed fame forever! It might very well be a very long life’s work, however. There are many rumors in the order. It is said that if you could recreate Adamic, you could pierce all magical protection by naming your targets. It is said that ancient Muslim angels gave secret gifts to mankind; and that ancient Egyptian and greek curses did not need arcane connections, as modern magic does. And, of course, the witch of en-dor, in the bible, did necromancy that the order cannot copy. I wish to track these rumors down and explore these ancient mysteries. O: I want to aid the Muslim population, which is under attack by Christian invaders. This is probably in breach of the code, but there are some things more important than the rules of the order. P: I wanna be rich, to live in luxury, and to enjoy the fruits of my labor and my long years of training. I want to make and sell magic items - though I will need a middle-man out of concern for the code - and bask in the money and revenue I'll get. At least for now. Q: I want to make great things! I want to hone my skills as a craftswoman and enchanter, and make great works of startling beauty, power, or wonder. I want people to admire the jewelry, rings, necklaces, and other treasures I make, and I want to be renowned as an artist and smith. R: I want to explore the depths of the verditius secrets. Though secular compared to other cults, it is still a mystery cult, and its deeper initiation can unlock more secrets of craftsmanship and enchantment - secrets of runes, of enchanted crafting tools, and of living clockwork servants, the automatons. S: i have some other goal. Write in?
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Nov 9, 2021 03:52
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1C: Frere Couleuvre - Brother Snake, because it is the family we choose. 2E: Leilah 3J 4: This one was tough... hrm, LLRR
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Nov 9, 2021 04:58
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A: Crispico HIK LLPQ
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Nov 9, 2021 14:12
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B, not sure on our name, any covenant is acceptable, QQNN
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Nov 9, 2021 21:16
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B D Julia GIK NNPQ
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Nov 10, 2021 00:52
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J LMMN
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Nov 10, 2021 11:14
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Wallet posted:A: Crispico J RRRR
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Nov 21, 2021 00:04
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Hexenritter posted:2E: Leilah HIK MNOR
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Nov 21, 2021 09:28
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A E Nimah H J K LQNR
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Nov 21, 2021 14:26
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J and K are tied, and also near opposites. Will update once tie breaks.
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Dec 9, 2021 21:03
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J
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Dec 9, 2021 21:07
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You arrive in Damietta on a cool January morning. You are not used to the cold, having lived all your life in deserts, but it is a mild cold, and you only shudder occasionally. Crispico, your friend, hides in your sleeve and enjoys the heat from your body. You leave the boat with a bag over your shoulder. The sailors, though well paid to see you here safely, are happy to see you go, feeling the gift of magic in you, poisoning their minds. They do not think of your red skin or your horns, which you have wisely kept hidden by illusions. For a moment, you stand on the pier, dumbfounded. Damietta is a large city, and you have lived for 15 years with 40 people, all of whom you know by sight. You see more people here, in the hustle and bustle on the harbor, than you have for a decade. Franks, Arabs, dark-skinned Ethiopians, people from throughout the world, loading and unloading, cursing in every language when a box is dropped, singing sailor's songs while they work, complaining about bosses and foremen, and generally acting like the sort of rough men you have not seen for more than a decade. Letters were exchanged prior to your coming here, and you are supposed to be met by a member of the Covenant of the True Cross here, to guide you to their covenant. You do not see any obvious magi or their servants approaching you, and for a moment you consider casting a spell to dissolve the illusion you are under. You do not know the spell to do so, but your illusion is a simple spell and will not be difficult to unravel. Then again, you can feel the presence of the divine, like a prickle on your skin, and summoning up any magic here, in the dominion aura which covers the city, might be more difficult than you think. Before you can decide either way, however, a young woman walks up to you. She is ifranji, European, but a tan one. A Greek or Italian, perhaps. She bows politely, then speaks to you in correct, but halting and heavily accented, Arabic. "Excuse me, are you maga" - here, she uses the Latin term - " Leilah filia Anoush?" You are, you tell the woman, a pretty, smiling waif your own age. And who might she be and how did she know you? "I am maga Julia, of house Bonisagus. As for how I knew you, I simply looked for a young woman looking lost stepping off a boat alone today. No one else quite fit the bill," she says with a small chuckle. "Please, come along. I will take you to our covenant." You follow her through the city, and you quickly get the sense that it is a shadow of itself. You walk past ancient buildings with beautiful facades half ripped off to plunder gold leafing, past many, many empty houses, and your second sight shows you ghosts staring out from the windows. You walk past the mosque, beautiful and imposing, and you see crosses erected before it and men with chisels at work to peel gold leafed Arabic writing of and painting on Latin inscriptions instead. Past that, there are more empty houses, many of them. You see more eyes, more ghosts, more children slain during the conquest of the city, not even 2 months ago. It is perhaps an hour's walk through the city, and although the corpses have been removed, at least from the parts you walked through, you see many more dead than living on your way. The two of you leave the city on foot, and walk for Another hour or two, until she brings you to a large sandstone house, standing alone on the shores of one of the many streams that form the Nile delta. This is the covenant. You come in, and she brings you to a little common room. The grogs, servants, bring you both cool water, and the various inhabitants come to introduce themselves to you. The only other magus, except for Julia, is a well dressed and nervous man, at a guess slightly younger, who introduces himself as Iolaus filius Pelopidas, of house Jerbiton. Beyond the magi, however, a number of interesting people have attached themselves to the covenant. One of these is Rabia, a kindly Arabic poetess, who speaks softly and composes a commemorative poem on the spot to celebrate your arrival. She is apparently a member of a minor Islamic sect, the mystic sufis, of whom you know little. Another is Bjørn, - you pronounce it with a sort of mumbly, sour o - a Danish werewolf far from home. A former member of the varangian guard, he curses the heat several times in some strange guttural half language that his interpreter, who interprets his fluent Greek, assures you is certainly not Greek. The third is an alchemist by the name of Shahin al-Isfahani, a grumpy little man who gives you a curt greeting and leaves as soon as he can. Lastly, you are introduced to a giant of a woman by the name of Samia. She stands 8 feet tall, and is dressed in a long beautiful silk robe and a modest head scarf. She calls herself a healer, an unusual profession for a woman, but openly wears a gleaming scimitar at her hip. Her arms are the size of logs, and stand out clearly defined beneath her silk dress. Once the introductions are over, you sign the covenant charter. It is rather straightforward - don’t attack or fight your covenant mates, don’t interfere in each other’s research, and share Vis fairly. The only part you notice is a single odd provision: a failure to ‘further covenant goals,’ for 5 years or more can lead to loss of Vis rights, at the judgement of the other magi of the covenant. The goals are defined as investigating and, if safe, reaching out to the supposed Order of Solomon, researching local magical traditions, and securing relics and books from the local area. With the charter signed, you are a member of the covenant. Julia gives you a tour of the place. There's a few bedrooms and reading rooms for magi, a small library with a variety of texts in Arabic and Latin, with only a few hermetic texts. You bring one, the first flame of knowledge, gift from your mentor's covenant. There are also a variety of other rooms. The covenant has a bookbinder, a scribe, and a merchant who handles trade with the outside world, and each of these has their own room or workshop. Then, of course, there is an armory for the shield-grogs, rooms for the grogs, storerooms, kitchens, and so on. Behind the covenant, there is a small fishery, which is how the covenant supports itself, and a little garden on a tiny island, where, you are told, Samia grows herbs for her medicines. More important than all of these mundane areas, however, is the area she takes you to beneath the surface. You had expected a basement, but instead, you followed her downstairs into an ancient ruin. Lit by candles and oil lamps, you see ancient sandstone walls, upon which are painted various strange pictograms, which Julia tells you are called "hieroglyphs," or Sacred Carvings. "We're not sure, but we think this is an ancient temple. To Isis, perhaps, or Hermes. No one can decipher the meaning of the inscriptions, but we found some Coptic writing that suggested some magic being done here. In any case, the place has a strong magic aura. This is where we make our laboratories.” She takes you through the ruin. Much of it is buried by sand or destroyed by the march of years, but you seem to be in some sort of sandstone complex, with pillar-lined walls and large rooms for purposes you cannot fathom. One room, half-buried, has what seems to be a little pond; several others have small sandstone desks built into the wall. the biggest room, and, as far as you can guess, the central one, has an altar and a statue in the middle. The statue, however, is weatherbitten, and most of its face is missing. “We’ve agreed not to set up our labs in here” says Julia as you look around. “It seems to be the source of the magic aura, and we don’t want to disrupt that. Take one of the side rooms, and set up your laboratory there. The Steward” - a title you know to mean ‘the person overseeing the grogs’ - “can make sure you have the appropriate resources and so on.” With that, your tour is more or less over. You get settled in your quartets and spend the rest of the day relaxing. The covenant serves dinner later in the evening. While there’s no requirement, or expectation to eat together on normal days, you decide to go and have dinner with the other magi this one day. Rabia gently and politely inquires about your journey, the magi ask you about your teacher and your last covenant - both of them are from European covenants, and much interested in the way things were done in Armenia . The rude Persian, Shahin, is nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, while you talk to Rabia and the magi, Bjørn eats a chicken and a half, to be outdone only by Samia eating no less than three whole chickens herself, as well as six pounds of hummus. Once you get settled in, you spend the next three months setting up your laboratory, as well as arranging for a forge to be set up there. It’s a big room in the ruins below the covenant, and you get tables, chairs, paper, ink, various powders, stones necessary for your enchantment, clean water from the Nile, metals for your forge, jewels to enchant, and so on. You spend several days calculating the proper astrological factors so that you may place each thing in its optimal position. You have learnt to separate your lab out into separate areas. One is for writing, reading, taking and keeling notes. Here you have a desk, ink, fresh papers and quills, notebooks and other writing implements. Another part is set aside for you to tinker and experiment and has various tools, such as your astrolabe, water in case of fires, astrological records, various powders, and tools for etching runes into things. In a third part is your forge. Lastly, the west corner serves as a small storage place for your rarer ingredients, like gems and vis. You spend three months doing this, with much time spent on the tearing down of walls, astrological readings, building your forge, acquiring resources from far away. And still it is not done. There are many personal touches to be set up for it to be as you like it. It needs access poles for Crispico to get where he pleases, the equipment needs personal engravings and to be in rapport with your casting tools, and so on and so forth. When your master taught you lab work, she also taught you to pace yourself, and you take a day of rest every week. Likewise, so does the rest of the covenant. Most of grogs, Rabia, and Shahin are Muslim, and take half the day off on Fridays to visit the mosque, a private residence transformed to a house of worship in Damietta, while the rest are Christians. Some go to the mosque turned church, the crusader church, but the rest are locals, and go to the local Coptic, or Egyptian, church. How do you spend your days off? (this question users approval voting) A: I go to church on Sundays, like a proper Christia. The religion of my father, of the crusaders. B: I go to the mosque on Fridays, like a proper Muslim. The religion of my parens, and the man who raised me. C: I don't care much for religion, and I spend Wednesdays relaxing. As the cool winter turns to a warm spring, you finally free yourself from your work at the laboratory. On the first of April, you receive a letter, sent via the redcaps, the order's internal messengers, from Aleksandros of Smyrna, a Greek member of your house. You have met Aleksandros before, at a meeting of your house. He is a near friend of your parens, her amicus in hermetic terms. The letter is long and polite. It is an introduction, inquiring how you have been doing in egypt, expressing polite interest in your plans, mentioning inconsequential events in his covenant, and getting generally pleasant. At the end of the letter, almost of handedly, comes the real point of the letter. Aleksandros is interested in Egyptian artifacts. If you happen to come across any that still work, or texts describing their manufacture, use, or history, he happily come to Egypt to pick them up. And, he comments, if he ends up in Egypt anyway, he might as well spend some time teaching his friend's filia the lore of the Verditus inner cult. In short, he is offering to come teach you Verditius cult lore in exchange for working artifacts or useful books. Whether or not your end up taking Aleksandros up on his offer, you do long to get out of your lab, and several options have presented themselves of late. Which Adventure do you go on? (this question is approval voting) A: The crusaders at Damietta are still going through people’s houses. During a visit to the church there, a grog heard a crusader talk about an abandoned house full of books there. I went immediately when I heard, hoping to find magical or mystical works there, and get them out before the crusaders looted, burnt, or sold them all. B: The wind recently blew a great dune of sand away from a sunken ruin, perhaps 20 miles upriver from here. Of course, looters and treasure-seekers have already swarmed to the place, but there are often hidden magical places in ancient ruins of this land. I hurry to the site, and look fire magical artifacts to study, or to pass on to Aleksandros. C: Crispico, your snake, tells you he has been taking to the other snakes around. Apparently, there is a king of snakes in these lands, wearing a crown he claims to be an ancient divine artifact. I go meet this king of snakes and try to examine or acquire the artifact. D: A doctor lives in Damietta known by the locals to be a miraculously skilled doctor. Julia suspects he is a member of the Order of Solomon, and wants me, the only Arabian native speaker, to go and figure out if that is true, and, if it is, what magic the man can accomplish. E: A strange desert wind has been making travel difficult for overland merchants to Damietta. The locals fear Jinn, and the crusades blame evil magic and sorcery. I will try to figure out what is happening with the wind, and possibly meet some Jinn, my blood family.
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Dec 20, 2021 01:11
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1AB 2AE
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Dec 20, 2021 11:03
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1. B C 2. B E
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Dec 20, 2021 14:12
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BC Though I feel like Leilah isn’t particularly religious given her upbringing. Even if she doesn’t end up going to the church or mosque regularly, I imagine she does the bare minimum- celebrates Eid and Christmas etc. All of the adventures look fun to me, but I’d rather do one which is only available immediately like A or B.
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Dec 20, 2021 14:38
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BC ABD
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Dec 20, 2021 22:47
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1AB A religion is a handy thing to have 2AB These seem to suit our skills and be opportunities that are going to close quickly
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Dec 22, 2021 16:43
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1. B 2. DB
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Dec 23, 2021 06:14
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1B 2CB
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Dec 26, 2021 02:59
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Voting is Closed
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Dec 26, 2021 21:29
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You return from Damietta a Friday after the Friday prayer, and the covenant is abuzz with gossip and rumors about the newly revealed ruins. There are rumors of magic and traps in the ruins, and of great treasures. Treasure hunters already swarm the area, but from what you have heard some sort of barrier has prevented them from moving into the tomb itself. Deciding quickly, you summon the steward and organize a party to ride out in the morning. Quickly, shield-grogs are selected for the mission, rations are prepared, camels are selected and prepared, and so on and so forth. You prepare your casting tools, eat a hearty meal, and sleep uneasily, waiting for your first real adventure. You set off the next day. You, Bjørn, Samia, and 7 grogs - 5 shield grogs, a master of the camels and a translator for Bjørn. The ruin you go to visit isn't far away, about a day's journey south, but food and water for 9 people - disregarding Samia, who has an entire additional camel just for her food, almost 50 pounds of chickpeas and several chickens, and then her water - for 4 days (estimating 2 days to explore the ruin) is still a significant amount of baggage, with two camels just for food and water. The journey is pleasant enough. A little cooler than similar journeys in Syria, but for most of the journey, the area is much more fertile. You follow the meandering Nile, or rather, the branch of it leading to Damietta, and the fertile waters keep the area around you green - greener than any area you have ever lived in. Palm trees wave gently in the warm winds as you ride south, and all around you are shrubs, grasses, and other greenery; at times, you need to ride around small lakes and swampy, flooded areas. While you ride, Bjørn curses the heat, the dampness, the mosquitos, the smell, more or less anything at all around him, but the rest of the group seems to find it… endearing. When his translator, Baha, sighs at one point and translates a particularly vivid description of satan’s hairy anus, the grogs even cheer him on. At other times, he just makes vauge guttural sounds you think may be words in whatever barbarian language they speak in the strange, cold lands he comes from. Samia, while occasionally sending Bjørn dirty looks for particularly theologically dubious profanity, otherwise spends much of the time involved in deep theological debate with Crispico on the question of Jesus's birth something about Jesus (who you know, of course, as Isa, (peace be upon him) the Messiah and an important prophet). You don’t understand christian theology very well, but you do know that they consider Isa (peace be upon him) to be the ‘son of god’ and they seem to be arguing about… how? when? that happened? Crispico argues that he was adopted by God at some point, made the Messiah, while Samia disagrees fiercely. That’s about as much as you can gather; the rest of the conversation is them quoting scripture and church fathers at each other for several hours at an end. You, for your part, ride mostly on your own, though Samia makes an effort to check in on you now and again, to make sure you are okay while you travel. You stop at a small lake around noon for your lunch; after this, you pray both your midday and afternoon prayer, praying the short version of each, as is permitted when travelling. After lunch, the Nile veers west, and your group moves south-southeast. Slowly, the ground becomes drier and stonier, though still far from the sand dunes of the deep desert. The fertile greenery gives way to rocky, sandy soil spotted with shrubs and grasses, the occasional palm tree marking a particularly fertile spot. As the hours wear on, the talk gets less and less enthusiastic as people tire from the long ride, but spirits remain mostly high. You lose 1 long-term fatigue level. This results in a -0 penalty. It will be restored with rest. As the sun begins to sink on the horizon, you see a shape in the distance. Riding closer as the shadows lengthen, it resolves itself into some sort of building, half-sticking from the ground; around it are pitched a few scattered tents; donkeys and camels wander, eating the scraggly grass sticking from the sandy ground. As you approach, figures emerge from the tents. Before they get close enough to see you in the dark, you stop for a moment and cast Disguise Of The Transformed Image. Your gift will ensure these people are suspicious of you already, and there is no need to frighten them with your appearance. Formulaic Casting (stress die+technique+form+stamina+aura): 1d10+4+3+2+2 14 This is 1 lower than the target number 15 (the level of the spell). Therefore the spell succeeds, but you take an additional long-term fatigue level. You now have a -1 penalty to most actions. Will be restored with a good night’s sleep. The spell succeeds, and your face blurs into the face of a young muslim woman - what you would look like, you think, without the horns and the red skin of your mother. As you come close, a man, perhaps 30 or so, comes up to your party. Seemingly confused at the presence of two women, he greets the master of camels - the highest status man who is not a foreigner - with "peace be upon you," a customary greeting, and asks questions about your party, your goals here, and so on. The master of camels, however, simply directs him to you end Samia. At that, the man cautiously approaches you and Samia. He greets you with a smile and the traditional "peace be upon you." "I am Riwad ibn Labid, a leader of the men here,” he continues “May I ask you your business? You do not look like adventurers, such as us common treasure-seekers. If you are here to see the ruins, you are welcome, but I will remind you that the removal and resale of artifacts is permitted only with a License from the Guild of Seekers; the clerk present here will want to see your papers.” Samia opens her mouth for a moment to respond, but closes it and turns to you. How do you respond? (This question is subject to approval voting) A: I don’t. I give Samia a nod, she seems to know what she’s about. B: I tell him that we have, of course, a license, and will show it to the clerk tomorrow. When he brings me there, I will bribe the clerk. C: B, but instead of bribing the clerk, I will use an “anamorphic” illusion, making the paper look like some sort of document, with the clerk’s mind filling in the gap. I don’t have a spell for this, and will have to rely on spontaneous magic, but I should be able to pull it off. D: Tell him that we don’t have a license, but that we are scholars, simply here to study the place. We won’t take anything or cut into their profits. E: Tell him that we are here to hire some people with licenses, since we want things from the ruins. We won’t take anything, but there can’t be anything wrong with hiring some of the treasure hunters to help us get some stuff, can there? F: I tell him that I am a half-jinn in disguise and that I don’t particularly care about licenses, but that I have nothing against him or his people. If he doubts me, i prove it G: Something else? Write in! For now, i’ve been assuming that you use your disguise spell when convenient. If you prefer that Leilah does not, that’s fine, speak up and i’ll adjust going forward.
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Jan 2, 2022 01:59
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| # ? May 19, 2024 07:32 |
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A
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Jan 2, 2022 04:05
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