Ars Magica 5e - The Fallen Fane

The Fallen Fane

2

Author: David Chart

Editor: Jeff Tidball

Proofreader and Publisher: John Nephew

Cover Art: Scott Reeves

Graphic Design: Scott Reeves

Original Illustrations: Scott Reeves

Special Thanks to:

Jerry Corrick and the gang at the Source.

Playtesters:

All the playtesters at GenConUKs and Baroquon!

Credits

Fans of Ars Magica discuss the game on an e-mail discussion list. To subscribe, send the command subscribe ars-magica (no quotes) in thebody of an e-mail message to [email protected]. To subscribe to a digest version of the list, send the command subscribe ars-magica-digest (no quotes) to the same address.

Project: Redcap archives and links to many of the fan-created Ars Magica pages on the World Wide Web. To get to Project: Redcap, pointyour browser at http://redcap.org .

Ars Magica, Mythic Europe, and Covenants are trademarks of Trident, Inc. Atlas Games and Charting New Realms of Imagination are trade-marks of John Nephew, used under license. The Atlas Games logo is a trademark of John Nephew and Trident, Inc. Order of Hermes andTremere are trademarks of White Wolf, Inc. and are used with permission.

2004 Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work by any means without written permission from thepublisher, except short excerpts for the purpose of reviews, is expressly prohibited.

Saint Paul, [email protected] www.atlas-games.com

Digital Edition Version 1.0

3The Fallen Fane

Table of

ContentsPart One: Introduction 4

Part Two: The Fallen Fane 9

Arviragus 15Bertoldus 17Coriolanus 18Doraldus 19Estella 20Flavius 21Gunhilda 22

Hostiensis 23Iacopo 24Junius 26

Kakondera 27Lalith 28

Maximus 30Necopinus 31

Orderic 32Ptolemaeus 34

Quirinus 35Richildis 36Saphronia 37Theudar 38Umaldi 40Viridia 42

Westamia 43Xavier 44

Cast of Characters

The Fallen Fane

4

Welcome to The Fallen Fane. This book is somethingof a new departure, as it presents a freeform live-action scenario for Ars Magica. There are twentyfour player characters and no NPCs, and the sto-ryguide actually has very little to do.

The Rhine Tribunal is meeting to rule on the recentactions of the covenant of Fanum, whose foolishinterference with mundanes led to the near-destruc-tion of the covenant of Schola. While this is themain business, the attending magi also have otherconcerns to see to. The players take the roles of allthe attending magi.

PracticalConsiderationsThe first consideration is finding twenty four play-ers. You do not need the full twenty four, but thescenario will not work with less than a dozen, andimproves as the number of players increases. Theinsert lists the characters in order of importance;start with number one (the Praeco) and work down.Note that Estella is obsessed with an utterly hope-less cause; if possible give her to a player who willbe able to have fun with such a character.

Note that each character name begins with a differ-ent letter of the alphabet, running from A to X.

This will allow you make abbreviated notes, if nec-essary.

There are two ways to gather the requisite numberof players. One is to run the game at a convention;this is by far the easier option. The other is toorganize it yourself, advertise for players, and can-cel if you dont get enough. Most of the notesapply to both methods, but will concentrate on theproblems of running the game at a convention.

First, you need to organize a place and time. Thescenario can be finished in four hours without toomuch trouble, but the pacing is largely out of yourhands so you should avoid a rigid finishing time ifat all possible. You will need a large area, as thecharacters need to be able to have private discus-sions in small groups. Ideally, you also need some-where that everyone can sit at the end, for the for-mal part of the tribunal meeting. The area shouldbe one that non-players are not constantly passingthrough, to help avoid confusion, and should notbe too noisy, as the players need to be able to talkwithout shouting. The best solution is obviously alarge room with chairs. As a rule of thumb, theroom should be able to seat about a hundred, but ifit actually contains a hundred chairs you need to beable to move them out of the way.

Second, prepare your materials. You will need twocopies of every character sheet and thirty copies ofthe background briefing. You should also preparesticky labels with the characters names on; themagi would all recognize each other. Other than

Part One

Introduction

5The Fallen Fane

that, no props are necessary, although you shouldfeel free to decorate the playing area. Encouragethe players to dress up, but it is not necessary torequire. (Costume admired but not required is agood way to put itthis was in the blurb for afreeform I played in at GenCon.)

Third, you need to sign up players in advance. Atconventions, you can expect about 20% of thosewho signed up to fail to appear for the game. Thus,you should sign up twenty four players and sixreserves; four or five of the players and one or twoof the reserves will fail to appear, so everyone whoshows up should get to play. Make it clear thatplayers who turn up late may not get to play at all.When a player signs up, give her the backgroundbriefing and the character sheet for the next unas-

signed character (you may copy these for personaluse only). Give the reserves the background brief-ings only; you will give them the relevant charactersheets at the game itself. Some of the characternames tend to indicate a sex for the player youcan match these up if you like, or change thenames. The sexes of the characters do not matterfor the plots.

If you have friends who want to play, give themroles that suit them. If at all possible, you shouldhave the Praeco and Quaesitor played by peopleyou can trust; these two characters have the abilityto wreck the game for everyone else.

Finally, you should show up at the game itself, andhand out stickers. Give people about ten minutesafter the official start time before assigning theirroles to reserves, but no longer the reservesneed time to read and think about their characterbefore they start playing.

Once everyone is assembled, you can hand the run-ning of the tribunal over to the Praeco. Make itclear that you are happy to answer questions at anypoint, especially the beginning, and then sit backto watch. Its a good idea to have something to readat this point, as you probably wont have enough todo do make sure that the players know that youare only reading to fill in spare time and that theyshould interrupt.

Keep an eye on the players. If anyone looks lostand left out, ask them if they are all right. Freeformgames attract people who have never played ArsMagica, and they might be a bit overwhelmed bythe background, and confused as to what thedetails on their character sheet mean. Similarly, ifanyone seems to be trying to dominate the wholegame, you should intervene. This probably wonthappen; its hard to dominate twenty four people.

The game finishes with the formal tribunal session,when motions are proposed and votes counted.Motions should be submitted to the Praeco in writ-ing and in advance. The players actually have to

Character Priority1. Quirinus, the Praeco.2. Richildis, the Presiding Quaesitor.3. Necopinus4. Bertoldus5. Gunhilda6. Orderic7. Westamia8. Viridia9. Xavier10. Saphronia11. Umaldi12. Ptolemaeus13. Coriolanus14. Hostiensis15. Doraldus16. Arviragus17. Lalith18. Theudar19. Iacopo20. Maximus21. Kakondera22. Junius23. Flavius24. Estella

The Fallen Fane

6

write them down, so it would be good if you hadwriting materials available. This usually takesbetween thirty minutes and an hour, so make surethat the Praeco calls for motions at least an hourbefore you finish, and calls the meeting to order atleast half an hour before. Its usually worth sittingin on the final session, just to see what happens toFanum. Dont worry if some plots dont appear atall; many things are sorted out informally beforethe end of the meeting.

If you have time, a debriefing period is often inter-esting. Go through the plots and ask what hap-pened to each one that didnt come up for a vote.

MechanicsThe Fallen Fane is written to be run without usingmechanics. That is one reason for setting it at a tri-bunal: throwing spells there is frowned upon. Itworks perfectly well without defining the abilitiesof the magi, but you can do so if you like.

If you are using mechanics, you will have to super-vise the relevant interactions. It is probably best totake the relevant players aside, resolve the actionsin the normal way, and then announce the resultsto the rest of the tribunal. Do not allow magi tokill or incapacitate one another, unless a player hasto leave early. If you have extrovert and trustingplayers who are familiar with the system, you couldhave them describe certmen actions while youmake all the necessary rolls. If you allow certmen,the loser should recover consciousness in five orten minutes, so that the player can rejoin the game.

7The Fallen Fane

SettingThe Fallen Fane takes place in Mythic Europe, butthis background information is tailored to a liveaction scenario, and does not form part of the offi-cial Atlas version of Mythic Europe. Thus, it maycontradict information found in other sourcebooks.Of course, if you want to use this information inyour saga, you should feel free.

Plot SummaryThere are a lot of things going on in this scenario.The following summary will help you keep track,but you should read all the characters sheets beforetrying to run the game.

The Fanum case is the most important issue, andshould have a significant impact on the tribunal.Everyone knows about that one.

CovenantsFanum: Six members, all present. Arviragus ofBjornaer, Doraldus of Verditius, Lalith of Bjornaer,Necopinus of Tremere, Ptolemaeus of Verditius,Saphronia of Flambeau.

Aquila: Eight members, two present. Richildis ofGuernicus, the Quaesitor; Westamia of Tremere.

Aster: Twelve members, four present. Hostiensis ofFlambeau, Maximus of Tremere, Umaldi of Tytalus,Xavier of Bonisagus.

Aurora: Five members, two present. Coriolanus ofFlambeau, Junius of Tremere.

Crintera: Six members, one present. Gunhilda ofBjornaer.

Durenmar: Ten members, three present. Iacopo ofJerbiton; Quirinus, Primus of Bonisagus; Viridia ofBonisagus.

Irencillia: Eleven members, three present. Estella ofMerinita, Flavius of Tremere, Kakondera ofMerinita.

Sagitta: Five members, one present. Orderic ofJerbiton.

Schola: Four members, two present. Bertoldus ofVerditius, Theudar of Bjornaer.

Open IssuesThere are a number of matters which will bebrought up for open debate at the tribunal.

Fay: Irencillia and Viridia of Durenmar want toopen formal relations with the fay, Iacopo ofDurenmar, Crintera, and Sagitta are all opposed.

Forests: Irencillia, Crintera, and Sagitta are infavour of taking some concerted action to preventmundane encroachment on the forests of the area.

Regio: Estella of Merinita wants to move the wholeOrder into a faerie regio.

Vis sources: Three vis sources are in dispute,between Aurora and Schola, Aurora and Sagitta,and Aquila and Schola.

Toll bridge: Aster and Aquila are disputing over anew bridge built by Aquila.

Apprentices: Durenmar and Aquila are disputingover access rights to a village which produces ahigh number of Gifted children.

The Fallen Fane

8

Aster: Aster is a highly divided covenant. Xavier iscomplaining that Hostiensis destroyed his laborato-ry, Maximus is complaining that one of Umaldiscompanions killed one of his, and Hostiensis accus-es Maximus of stealing some books from thecovenant library (although, in fact, Junius of Aurorawas responsible).

Secret IssuesThere are also several plots which may or may notcome out into the open.

Bjornaer Letter: The Bjornaer (Arviragus,Gunhilda, Lalith, and Theudar) have received a let-ter from the Bjornaer of Novgorod, appealing forhelp against the Germans.

Bonisagus: Viridia of Bonisagus has discovered away to bypass all magic resistance. She wants totalk to Quirinus and Xavier to get their support forwhatever she does next.

Dragon: Estella, Lalith, Theudar, and Viridia havediscovered a dragon sleeping within the RhineTribunal. They have to decide what, if anything, todo.

Exploration: Arviragus, Coriolanus, and Saphroniahave been exploring Scandinavia. While none ofthem believes in the Order of Odin, Arviragus andSaphronia both have reasons to invent it.

Manipulees: Coriolanus, Hostiensis, Ptolemaeus,and Westamia are all members of a secret society,the Ancient Order of the Silver Spear, which they

think is centuries old. Actually, Umaldi made it up,in part to get Hostiensis into trouble, and in part toincrease her power more generally.

Non-Hermetics: Estella, Hostiensis, and Kakonderaknow of a group of non-Hermetic wizards in thetribunal. They have very different ideas as to whatshould be done.

Scholarship: Doraldus, Iacopo, Maximus, Orderic,and Xavier have been encouraging mundane schol-arship, but now find themselves disagreeing aboutaims and means.

Seekers: Flavius, Kakondera, Richildis, Umaldi, andSaphronia are all Seekers. They always meet at tri-bunal to discuss their findings. This time,Kakondera has found Tytalus the Founder.

Trade: Bertoldus, Iacopo, Junius, and Umaldi are allheavily involved in mundane trade, and have comeinto conflict. They want to resolve their differencesinformally, because a tribunal might forbid theiractivities altogether.

Tremere: The Tremere (Flavius, Junius, Necopinus,Westamia, and Maximus) have to deal with the factthat House Tremere approved Necopinuss plans forFanum. No other House knows about this, yet.

Verditius: Ptolemaeus of Fanum used an impressiveitem to help Schola when it was under attack.Bertoldus of Schola is interested in learning moreabout it, and Doraldus of Fanum helped make itand wants some of the credit.

9The Fallen Fane

This game is a systemless Ars Magica freeform. Thatis, while it takes place within the background of thetable-top RPG, magical power will not directly influ-ence the outcome. The setting is the 1221 meeting ofthe Tribunal of the Rhine. The briefings on thesepages are common to all players: this is what everyoneknows. The briefings starting under the next centeredheader are more restricted.

Ars MagicaThis section contains some general background on thesetting. People familiar with the table-top game neednot read it.

Ars Magica is the role-playing game of medievalmagic. The game is focused on magi, wizards of greatpower, in a medieval Europe where the legends aretrue, and dragons lair in the Pyrenees. All magi aremembers of the Order of Hermes, an Order whichspans Europe, but which is not without internal divi-sions. Magi live in small groups, in organizationscalled covenants. Player magi are all members of thesame covenant, which provides a focus for the Saga.

The Order ofHermesThe Order of Hermes is governed by the Code ofHermes (see below), and is split in two ways. First,there are the Houses, groups of magi who can traceteacher-pupil relations back to one of the Founders ofthe Order. Each House is found all over Europe.Second, there are the Tribunals. These are regionaldivisions, covering parts of Europe. For example, theRhine Tribunal covers modern Germany and Denmark.The Tribunals meet every seven years, at meetingswhich are also called Tribunals. At these meetingsevery magus living in that area has one vote, issues ofimportance to them are discussed and voted upon, andviolations of the Code are investigated and punished.The decisions of the Tribunals form the PeripheralCode: expansions on the very brief Code which guideTribunals in their decisions.

The twelve Houses have a great deal of influence onthe magi of the Order, and each has a distinctive phi-losophy.

House Bonisagus contains those descended from theinventor and Hermetic magic, Bonisagus, andTrianoma, the politician who founded the Order. As aresult, it has a great deal of prestige, and tends to splitinto theoreticians who study magic, and politicianswho work to keep the Order together.

Part Two

The Fallen Fane

The Fallen Fane

10

House Bjornaer have a particular affinity with animals,as each member has the ability to take the shape ofone at will, and to change back to human form similar-ly. They tend to be concerned to preserve the wilder-ness from the advance of civilization.

House Criamon are mystics and philosophers,renowned for being almost totally incomprehensibleand tattooing themselves with strange markings.

House Flambeau prefer direct solutions to problems,usually involving burning them. They do not, howev-er, fight for its own sake, merely seeing it as a goodsolution to most problems.

House Jerbiton are closely associated with the mun-dane world, maintaining contacts with the nobilityand patronizing art and mundane learning.

House Mercere are an oddity. Most members have nomagical ability, and devote themselves to deliveringmessages to covenants. They are regarded as magi bythe Code, however, and are accorded a strong degreeof protection.

House Merinita are concerned with the faeries, andare generally regarded as little less strange than theCriamon.

House Quaesitor are the judges of the Order. Theyinvestigate alleged breaches of the Code and take theevidence to Tribunals. If they find overwhelming evi-dence, however, they may impose summary justice,and rely on the Tribunal backing them up. It usuallydoes.

House Tremere are a very organized House, and theyseek political power. They excel in the use of cert-men, a form of non-lethal magical duel, and base theirhierarchy on it. They are in disgrace at the moment,as a substantial portion of the House were found to bevampires. All the vampiric magi were killed, but thestigma remains.

House Tytalus believe that the best way to learn isthrough conflict. Accordingly, they seek conflict in allthings.

House Verditius spend their time creating magicalitems, a task at which they are supremely skilled.

House Ex Miscellanea contains everyone else: wizardsadopted into the Order from outside, and the follow-ers of traditions which joined after the founding.

The Code of HermesI, N, hereby swear my lifelong loyalty to the Order ofHermes and its members.

I will not deprive nor attempt to deprive any memberof the Order of his or her magical power. I will notslay nor attempt to slay any member of the Order,except in a justly executed Wizard War. I understandthat a Wizard War is an open conflict between twomagi, who may slay each other without breaking thisOath, and that should I be slain in a Wizard War, noretribution shall fall on the magus who slays me.

I will abide by the decisions made by fair vote atTribunal. I will have one vote at Tribunal, and I willuse it prudently. I will respect as equal the votes of allothers at Tribunal.

I will not endanger the Order through my actions. I willnot interfere with the affairs of mundanes and therebybring ruin upon my sodales. I will not deal with devils,lest I imperil my soul and the souls of my sodales aswell. I will not molest the faeries, lest their vengeancecatch my sodales also.

I will not use magic to spy on members of the Orderof Hermes.

I will train apprentices who will swear to this Code, andshould any of them turn against the Order and mysodales, I will be the first to strike them. No apprentice

11

The Fallen Fane

of mine shall be called magus until he or she first swearsto uphold this Oath.

I shall further the knowledge of the Order and sharewith my sodales all that I find in my search for wis-dom and power.

I request that should I break this Oath, I be cast out ofthe Order. If I am cast out, I ask my sodales to find meand slay me that my life may not continue in degrada-tion and infamy.

The enemies of the Order are my enemies. Thefriends of the Order are my friends. The allies of theOrder are my allies. Let us work as one and growstrong.

This I hereby swear on ___. Woe to them who try totempt me to break this Oath, and woe to me if I fall tothe temptation.

TribunalsTribunals are legislature, law court, and social gather-ing, all in one. Things are decided on the basis of sim-ple majority voting by all magi present in person or byproxy. Each magus has one vote of his own, but maybe carrying proxy votes for other magi. Most of themagi at this tribunal also have other peoples votes.

There are two exceptions to the rule that all magivote. The first is the Presiding Quaesitor. She isresponsible for interpreting Hermetic law, if necessary,and confirming that the tribunal was legal, and that itsdecisions are binding. Her only real power is the abili-ty to declare the whole tribunal invalid, but her inter-pretations of Hermetic law have a great deal of influ-ence.

The second exception is the Praeco. He chairs the tri-bunal, and while he cannot vote, he has a great deal ofpower. He decides whether an issue is raised for a voteat all, and in what order issues are raised. Since the deci-

The Fallen Fane

12

sion on one question might strip a magus of his statusand vote, the order can be important. He can also stopdebate and force an immediate vote, or exclude a magusfrom the tribunal. Exclusion is only used in extreme cir-cumstances (and, in this freeform, will only be used ifthe player is spoiling the game for other people).

Tribunals are pure politics. Appeals to the details of lawmight help you to win votes, but if they do not, thenyou will still lose. Unless the issue is major, you areunlikely to get the Presiding Quaesitor to invalidate theentire tribunal. Haggling for votes is expected andencouraged, and you may offer access to yourcovenants resources, or offer to exchange voting sup-port. The opinions that your character sheet gives youare the ones that your magus starts with, but they maychange under the impact of new information or bribes.(It is very unlikely that any member of Fanum will votefor their own death, but beyond that virtually anyonecould decide to vote against a position they support atthe outset.)

The tribunal can choose to impose any penalty orrequirement it wishes. These are always backed up bythe threat of Wizards March, which casts you out ofthe Order and requires all magi in good standing toattempt to kill you. People do not tend to survive this,no matter how powerful they are. The magi carryingout a March are allowed to keep the victims posses-sions, as compensation for their trouble. Using magicat a tribunal to try to influence another magus vote iscause for a March. (Also, there will be no certmenduring the freeform, to avoid breaking the flow. If thatmeant nothing to you, dont worry its a note forpeople who know the game.)

Voting is by open ballot. A magus may vote for oragainst a motion, or abstain, and may vote a differentway with each vote that he holds. Thus, a magus hold-ing three votes could cast one in favour, one against,and abstain with one. If he really wanted to. Votes arecalled for and counted by the Praeco, and his arith-metic is authoritative. If it is particualrly off, however,the Presiding Quaesitor may intervene, in the firstplace suggesting that there was an error, and if neces-sary invalidating the tribunal.

13

The Fallen Fane

To assist you in your plotting, there are seventy votesheld by the attending magi, so that thirty six arerequired to pass a motion if no one abstains.

The Fall ofFanumThe big issue at this Tribunal is the punishment of thecovenant of Fanum. These magi were trying to weanan eastern area of the Tribunal off Christianity, withthe aim of increasing their own power, influence, andaccess to vis. Unfortunately, they managed to attractthe attention of the church, and a local crusade wascalled to eliminate the relapsed pagans. The areaaround Fanum managed to resist quite effectively, anda truce was negotiated. However, Schola, anothercovenant of the tribunal, was also attacked, and suf-fered much more severely, losing at least two vissources and suffering severe damage to the covenantitself. Things have now settled down, but the tribunalmust decide on the penalty for the magi of the guiltycovenant.

The CovenantsFanumFanum does have supplies of vis and a reasonablelibrary. Its recent actions are described above.Doraldus of Verditius, a member of Fanum, sent a let-ter to the other covenants of the Tribunal several sea-sons before the recent troubles started. In this letter heexpressed concern about the activities of the othermembers, and asked any covenant that would consideroffering him membership to respond. Your covenantdid not, having other things to think about.

Ptolemaeus of Verditius came to Scholas aid when itwas attacked. The covenant is led by ArchmageNecopinus of Tremere, and its other members areArviragus and Lalith of Bjornaer and Saphronia ofFlambeau. All its members are attending the tribunal,as failure to do so would almost certainly have resultedin a Wizards March being declared in absence, sothey have one vote each.

DurenmarDurenmar is the domus magna (headquarters) ofHouse Bonisagus, and the host of the Tribunal. It hasthe best library in the whole Order, and ample sup-plies of vis. It is represented at the meeting by Iacopoof Jerbiton, who controls six votes, and Viridia ofBonisagus, who controls eight. Archmage Quirinus ofBonisagus, also of Durenmar, is the Praeco, and thushas no vote.

CrinteraCrintera is the domus magna of House Bjornaer. Ittends towards isolation, and so little is known about itsresources. It is represented at the tribunal byArchmage Gunhilda of Bjornaer, who controls sixvotes.

IrencilliaIrencillia is the domus magna of House Merinita, andhas the best material on the faeries in the Order.Much of their vis is obtained through deals with thefair folk, so their sources are good but unreliable. It isrepresented at tribunal by Kakondera of Merinita, whocontrols six votes, Flavius of Tremere, who controlsfour, and Estella of Merinita, who has only her ownvote.

The Fallen Fane

14

AquilaAquila is a fairly young covenant, but it is growingrapidly and building a strong base. It has a decentlibrary, although nothing special, and is rapidly out-growing its vis sources. The magi are notably coopera-tive, and have sent only one representative to the tri-bunal: Westamia of Tremere, who controls sevenvotes. Archmage Richildis of Guernicus, the PresidingQuaesitor, is also a member of Aquila, but she has novote, and is above petty favouritism.

AsterAster is an old covenant, and has been riven by inter-nal rivalries for decades. At every tribunal, members ofthe covenant raise issues against other members, tryingto bring the whole weight of the tribunal to bear ontheir petty internal disputes. The only reason that thecovenant has not fallen apart completely is that it hasa superb library and ample supplies of vis. The mem-bers thus want to force the other magi out, but do notwant to leave themselves. Four factions have represen-tatives at the tribunal, and those magi are Hostiensisof Flambeau, with three votes, Maximus of Tremere,with four, Umaldi of Tytalus, with two, and Xavier ofBonisagus, with three.

AuroraAurora is a very new covenant, having been officiallyrecognised at the last tribunal. They are very poor inresources of all kinds, and are still struggling to ensuretheir survival. They have sent two representatives tothe tribunal, Coriolanus of Flambeau, with two votes,and Junius of Tremere, with three.

SagittaSagitta is an old covenant, and known for being veryconservative, and having a rigid internal hierarchy.The library is fairly average for its age (and thus goodby the standards of many younger covenants), and ithas never complained about a lack of vis. It has, unsur-prisingly, sent a single representative to the tribunal,Archmage Orderic of Jerbiton, who controls fivevotes.

ScholaSchola was a powerful covenant, until the recentevents surrounding Fanum. It is now much weaker, andpresumably trying to rebuild its power. It has sent tworepresentatives to the tribunal, Bertoldus of Verditiusand Theudar of Bjornaer, each of whom controls twovotes.

Permission granted to photocopy for personal use. 2004 Atlas Games.

ArviragusYou are a member of House Bjornaer, and of Fanum.You only control one vote. Your main aim is to not getsentenced to death and, after that, to get off as lightlyas you can.

The covenants plan was not as selfish as many of theother magi believe. The ultimate aim was to driveChristianity from the Rhine Tribunal, and thus re-establish magical auras. Of course, you had to startwhere you were. The plan started out very subtly, butwith increasing success you risked more obviousmoves. That was when Doraldus started to get coldfeet, and asked around other covenants to see if hecould leave. Shortly afterwards, things went wrong,and the crusade was called. Your long work in thelocal area paid off, and a negotiated settlement wasquickly reached, with little loss to either side. Therewas no way that you could have predicted that otherlords, including the one near Schola, would also takeup the banner.

Necopinus, the Archmage, was the leader of thecovenant, and shaped most of the plans. The youngermagi were mostly restricted to following his instruc-tions.

Acting against the corruption of the church is anexcellent idea, even if it occasionally has bad conse-quences. You have no intention of backing down fromthis position, because to do so would be to deny theworth of other faiths, older faiths, faiths more conge-nial to magic. You are, however, happy to assist Scholawith rebuilding, as they did not deserve the damagethat was inflicted upon them.

The letter on page 16 was recently received by theBjornaer of the Rhine Tribunal. It has been verified asgenuine, and, at the moment, only the Bjornaer knowof its contents. You have agreed to meet to decide ona course of action during the Tribunal.

You are in favour of supporting the NovgorodBjornaer, and, if possible, of convincing the Tribunalto license it. This would, of course, be similar to theactions that you are currently accused of, so if you canget the other Bjornaer to support this course of action,you can almost certainly get them to vote to let youand Lalith off with a minor punishment. However, youthink that acting against the Christians is a good ideaon general principles.

Immediately to the north of the Rhine Tribunal is aregion that is completely uncolonized by the Order ofHermes: Scandinavia, the realm of the Order of Odin.A small group of magi Arviragus and Saphronia ofFanum, and Coriolanus of Aurora has been investi-gating the area, trying to assess the threat to theOrder, and the potential for aid and alliances. Youhave decided to meet at this tribunal, and see whateach of you has found.

Your forays into the frozen north have met with con-siderable success. You dont think that there is anOrder of Odin, just groups of magicians allying andfighting on an informal basis. You do, however, have anumber of allies up there, and you are seriously con-sidering fleeing there if the judgement goes againstyou at tribunal. Thus, you really dont want the Orderto interfere there, which probably means pretendingthat there is a powerful Order of Odin, which is cer-tainly too strong to fight at the moment.

15

The Fallen Fane

The Fallen Fane

16


From the Bjornaer of the Tribunal of Novgorod,

To our brothers and sisters of House Bjornaer in the Tribunalof the Rhine, greetings.

For many years now our lands have been under attack bythe forces of the Germans, and their knights are destroyingthe magic of the land and building churches. What is worse,they are forcing the people to turn away from the old reli-gion, in which the skin-changers are properly respected, andto Christianity, which threatens to destroy us. While westand against them in battle, we do not think that we canwin the fight alone.

You are in the homelands of these warriors, and are capableof creating and encouraging situations which would drawthem home, or reduce their numbers and support. TheTribunal of Novgorod may be the last refuge for magic: donot let it fall also.

17

The Fallen Fane

BertoldusYou are a member of House Verditius, and of Schola.You control two votes.

Your covenant had spent years building a good relation-ship with the local church and nobility. They knewenough about you to make it hard for casual evidence tounmask you as more than you claimed, but little enoughto not see you as a threat. You helped out, in waysallowed by the Code, and thus had some reserve offriendship, but maintained a sensible distance, so thatyou didnt get drawn into things.

Then Fanum pulled their stupid stunt, and the covenantwas almost completely destroyed. The local overlorddecided that you were part of the same conspiracy asFanum, and sent his troops against you. The library wasalmost completely destroyed, and Christian shrines havebeen built on two of your vis sources, destroying them.The covenant only survived at all because of Ptolemaeusof Fanums intervention at the final battle, so you feelsome gratitude towards him.

Punishing Fanum is your first priority. Getting access tobooks and vis with which to rebuild your covenant is thesecond, and a punishment which involved handingFanums resources over to you would be a very goodoption.

When the baron attacked the covenant, you receivedunexpected assistance from Ptolemaeus of Verditius, amember of Fanum. He brought his latest creation, awand which confused the men fighting on the otherside. Charges were delayed at crucial moments, groupsof soldiers set off to attack odd targets (like the covenantlatrines), and leaders ordered the retreat when their menwere on the verge of breaking through. He may nothave actually saved the covenant, but it certainly isntobvious that you could have won without him.

You are very interested in the item Ptolemaeus used toassist your covenant. You have given the matter some

thought, and concluded that the construction would bevery complex. You would have thought that it wasbeyond Ptolemaeuss powers, and you would be veryinterested in examining it further. Although his covenantwas responsible for the attack in the first place, the factthat he did come to your assistance speaks in his favour.

Your resources were severely depleted by the attack onyour covenant, and you were, for a while, unable to har-vest all your vis sources. Aurora and and Aquila tookadvantage of your weakened state to take over sourcesthat belong to your covenant, as everyone in the tri-bunal knows. You want to get your ownership of thesources confirmed, and, ideally, force Aquila and Aurorato pay you all the vis that they gathered from thesources while they were illegally occupying them.

Four of the magi of the Rhine Tribunal Bertoldus ofSchola, Iacopo of Durenmar, Junius of Aurora, andUmaldi of Aster are heavily involved in mundanetrade. You have recently come in conflict with oneanother, and the risk of a trade war, with associated mag-ical trouble, has become quite significant. You haveagreed to meet at the Tribunal, and to try to resolvematters between yourselves. If the rest of the Tribunalgets involved, there is a distinct possibility that you willbe forbidden from pursuing trade altogether.

Your mundane trade is mainly a cover for a very lucrativetrade in magical potions. As a Verditius, you are verygood at making such things, and you have found thatmundanes are willing to pay very well for very simpleeffects. However, it is important that this trade be keptsecret, because it is definitely frowned upon by theCode especially as you are taking payment in favoursas well as money and goods. Thus, you have worked tobuild up a substantial network of trade in mundanegoods, covering everything from grain to spices. Youreckon that you need to be able to trade in luxuries andspices to cover up your magical dealings, but that youcan afford to give up many other goods. You cant affordto exclude yourself from particular areas, however. Yourmost serious competition has been from Junius.


The Fallen Fane

18

CoriolanusYou are a member of House Flambeau, and of Aurora.You control two votes.

After the crusade against them, Schola were unable toharvest all their vis sources. Your covenant had beenwatching the known vis sources near to you, and whenthis one was abandoned, you quickly moved in to har-vest it. Schola never had it formally registered at tri-bunal as being their source, and they are no longer inpossession. Further, they are politically weak after thecrusade, so you expect to be able to hold on to it, andhave it formally confirmed as your source.

Magical resources are not so abundant in the tribunalthat the Order can afford to waste useful sources ofvis. That is exactly what is happening with one of thesources belonging to Sagitta. True, it is a small source,but that doesnt make the waste any less. It is quiteclose to your covenant, and you could make good useof it. Sagitta have too much power, both magical andpolitical, for you to simply take it, but you might beable to get the tribunal on your side. They will proba-bly see that the waste is a bad thing, and can probablybe persuaded that it is better to give the power to aweak covenant than to a stronger one.

Immediately to the north of the Rhine Tribunal is aregion that is completely uncolonized by the Order ofHermes: Scandinavia, the realm of the Order of Odin.A small group of magi Arviragus and Saphronia ofFanum, and Coriolanus of Aurora has been investi-gating the area, trying to assess the threat to theOrder, and the potential for aid and alliances. Youhave decided to meet at this tribunal, and see whateach of you has found.

There are magicians in Scandinavia. They dont havean Order, and they arent terribly powerful. A wellorganised covenant, backed up with a number ofFlambeau, would be able to establish itself in theregion, and extend the reach of the Order to thenorth. A covenant with the backing of the whole tri-bunal would be best, since considerable resourceswould be needed, but the region seems to be ripe forthe taking.

The Ancient Order of the Silver Spear has thousandsof years of history behind it, but has been secret forthe last millennium. It was a secret grouping withinthe Cult of Mercury (called simply the Order of theSilver Spear), concerned with enforcing cult policyagainst activities that threatened the amount of magicin the world. It even had techniques for increasing themagical aura in certain locations, although those have,alas, been lost. The current members are engaged intwo activities: holding back the encroachingDominion, and trying to recover the lost secrets of thegroup. In the Rhine Tribunal, the members areCoriolanus of Aurora, Hostiensis of Aster, Ptolemaeusof Fanum, and Westamia of Aquila. You have agreed tomeet at the Tribunal, where gathering together willdraw little suspicion.

You are happy to leave research to other members ofthe AOSS, and you have been concentrating on dri-ving back the Dominion. Although Fanums attemptfailed dismally, you do admire the attempt. You havebeen working on more subtle approaches: damagingchurches so that they are expensive to maintain, andencouraging communities to leave them derelict. Itseems to be working, but it is a slow process. Youhope to be able to encourage the other members ofthe AOSS to help you in this.


19

The Fallen Fane

DoraldusYou are a member of House Verditius, and, reluctantly,of Fanum. You only control one vote. Your main aim isto get acquitted of Fanums actions, with which youhad nothing to do, or at least to not get killed becauseof others idiocy.



You were always opposed to Fanums actions. If youdknown what lunatic plans Necopinus had, youd neverhave joined the covenant in the first place. You weretrying to find another covenant to move to more thana year before the recent trouble blew up, and youhope that you can successfully disown all the conse-quences of the actions of the other magi. After all, itwasnt your fault.

You helped Ptolemaeus to make the Wand of Pyrrhus,a device that turns great generals into buffoons, andgenerally ensures that warriors choose bad tactics.During the disaster that followed the inevitable col-lapse of Fanums plans, he used it to help defendSchola. If at all possible, you want to claim some ofthe credit for that, as otherwise you did little otherthan try to defend yourself when the crusaders came.Disowning the actions of the covenant in advance maynot be enough to get you acquitted.

The wand contains a remarkably complex effect,incorporating Muto, Intllego, Mentem, Corpus, andTerram magic, so that it can understand the battlefield,pick a bad option, and change the mind of the leadersso that they choose that option. What is more, it isvery subtle the losses it causes will be put down tobad tactics on the part of one side. Ptolemaeus wouldnot have been able to make it without your help.

Five of you (Doraldus of Fanum, Iacopo of Durenmar,Maximus of Aster, Orderic of Sagitta, and Xavier ofAster) have been encouraging mundane scholarship inthe Rhine Tribunal. Until recently, you were able toact in easy co-operation, but recently differences havedeveloped. You have agreed to meet together at theTribunal to resolve those differences.

You have been trying to encourage higher education,and study of the pagan classics. This requires an edu-cation in Greek as well as Latin, and access to thetexts. You arent that concerned with basic education,because you cannot bring enlightenment to everyone,but if the ruling classes have an appreciation of thepagan past, they will be less inclined to persecute theOrder. This sort of hearts-and-minds campaign is whatyou thought Fanum would engage in, and so you wererather shocked to discover how direct they were. Asyou expected, there was a considerable backlash.


The Fallen Fane

20

EstellaYou are a member of House Merinita, and of Irencillia.You only control one vote.

You have been arguing for years that the Order ofHermes should leave the mundane world and moveinto a faerie regio. This most recent disaster simplyshows how important such a move is. You tried to per-suade your covenant of the wisdom and urgency ofsuch action, but they are, clearly, too scared of whatother magi will think to embrace the decision, as youknow they really want to. Accordingly, you have cometo the tribunal of the Rhine, to convince the othermagi, so that Irencillia will be able to vote in favour ofyour scheme. Who knows, maybe this will be the lasttribunal held in the mundane world.

The fay are an important element of the Rhine tri-bunal, and the Order has spent too long dealing withthem in an ad hoc fashion. While the mundane popu-lation was small and irrelevant, this was excusable, butnow the Order needs to be able to concentrate onhandling the mundanes. While an alliance with the faywould be nice, at the very least there needs to be someagreement to avoid the fay interfering with magi, justas magi do not interfere with the fay.

In order to conclude such an agreement, the tribunalneeds to send an authorised representative to the faycourt. That means getting strong support at tribunalfor such a move. While all of Irencillia is, unsurprising-ly, interested in such contact, and Viridia of Durenmarbrings her votes in support, Iacopo of Durenmar repre-

sents a bloc opposed to the move, and Crintera andSagitta have both expressed opposition.

There is a dragon in the Rhine tribunal. Everyonethought that they had all left years ago, but you havestumbled across the resting place of, probably, the lastone. It is asleep at the moment, you think, but youmust decide what to do when and if it awakens, andwhat to do before that. Theudar, the first magus todiscover it, left a message for any other magi whostumbled across it. Estella, Lalith and Viridia did, andthe four of you have agreed to discuss the matter atthe tribunal, and preferably decide on a course ofaction so that you can present a united front.

The dragon is simply one more proof of the danger ofthe mundane world. A faerie regio would be complete-ly safe from such a beast, and the Order should movethere as soon as possible. The Order couldnt destroyit, and the attempt would be foolish in the extreme.

There is a group of fairly powerful non-Hermetic magiwithin the Rhine tribunal. They have close ties to thefay, and members of House Merinita had some previ-ous contact with them. Recently, Hostiensis ofFlambeau came across them, and was quickly contact-ed by members of House Merinita, who convincedhim to agree to talk to them at the tribunal before tak-ing any action. Estella and Kakondera will meet withhim, and a decision will be reached.

You believe that the fay wizards should be admittedinto the Order as soon as possible. Their experiencewill be vital in moving the Order into a faerie regio.


21

The Fallen Fane

FlaviusYou are a member of House Tremere, and of Irencillia.You control four votes.


In order to conclude such an agreement, the tribunalneeds to send an authorised representative to the faycourt. That means getting strong support at tribunalfor such a move. While all of Irencillia is, unsurprising-ly, interested in such contact, and Viridia of Durenmarbrings her votes in support, Iacopo of Durenmar repre-sents a bloc opposed to the move, and Crintera andSagitta have both expressed opposition.

You are a Seeker: a magus who is particularly interest-ed in discovering the ancient magical roots of theOrder of Hermes. While different Seekers have differ-ent interests, they have much in common, particularly

in their interest in matters that may have no immedi-ate use. It is quite common for Seekers to meet togeth-er and discuss their latest discoveries, although somedont comment until theyve completed an investiga-tion, and a few try to keep everything secret.

The Seekers of the Rhine Tribunal who will be at themeeting are Flavius and Kakondera of Irencillia,Richildis of Aquila, the presiding Quaesitor, Saphroniaof Fanum, and Umaldi of Aster.

You have little to report: you have been investigatingthe Old Ones, but you havent found anything con-crete since the last time you talked to people.

Archmage Necopinus got the approval of HouseTremere before starting his activities at Fanum. Youopposed the scheme at the time, but you were over-ruled. Now, however, he has failed. You can thereforeargue that he must have over-stepped his authority.After all, the leaders of House Tremere do not makemajor mistakes, so if Necopinus had stayed withinwhat he was allowed to do, he would have succeeded.Not that you believe that, of course, but it should givepeople the excuse they need to defy the Houses hier-archy and will let the hierarchy cover their collec-tive asses.


The Fallen Fane

22

GunhildaYou are an Archmage, a member of House Bjornaer, andthe representative of Crintera. You control six votes.

The fay are an important element of the Rhine tribunal,and the dangers they pose are well known. Some magi,particularly those at Irencillia, but also a group represent-ed by Viridia of Durenmar, think that these dangerswould be effectively lessened by concluding a formalagreement between the fay and the whole tribunal. This isclearly foolish.

First, it isnt clear that the fay have any recognised leaderwith whom such an agreement could be made. Second,the fay are well known for twisting any formal agree-ments. If the Order tried to bind them, it would inevitablyfind itself in even more trouble than it was already. This isa foolish idea, and needs to be squashed. Iacopo repre-sents the group from Durenmar who are opposed to theagreement, and Crintera and Sagitta have also promisedto throw their votes against the proposal.

One of the most immediate problems facing the magi ofthe Rhine Tribunal is the encroachment of mundane lifeon the great forests. This reduces the isolation of thecovenants, and slowly destroys the source of vis and othermagical resources on which they rely. The motives behindFanums recent actions are easy to understand, even if theactions themselves were foolish and inexcusable.

A number of magi have been in contact before the tri-bunal, and now Kakondera and Flavius of Irencillia,

Gunhilda of Crintera, and Orderic of Sagitta have agreedto work together at the tribunal to at least get an agree-ment in principle to act against the mundanes. In general,you are agreed that some way of stopping them advanc-ing is desirable: actually pushing them back is likely to betoo dangerous.

It is customary for all the Archmages to meet together atthe Tribunal, and decide how the various issues should bedecided, for the good of the Order as a whole. Thesemeetings normally take place a little time into theTribunal, to give the Archmages a chance to learn aboutall the issues that will be raised. The decisions of thismeeting are not binding, but the Archmages can use theirvotes (or other powers) and influence to ensure that thewhole Tribunal agrees.

The letter on page 16 was recently received by theBjornaer of the Rhine Tribunal. It has been verified as gen-uine, and, at the moment, only the Bjornaer know of itscontents. You have agreed to meet to decide on a courseof action during the Tribunal.

As an Archmage and the representative of the DomusMagna, your voice will carry a lot of weight with theother Bjornaer. You are undecided. On the one hand, youare inclined to support the other members of the House,and you like the destruction of magical places no morethan any other magus. On the other, Fanums recentattempt to do something similar backfired badly, so youare cautious.


23

The Fallen Fane

HostiensisYou are a member of House Flambeau, and of Aster.You control three votes.

For years, one of the covenants sources of income hasbeen a toll bridge over a river. Recently, in a subtlemove against the covenant, Aquila built a new bridgeover the same river, and lured merchants away fromyours. You dont have any direct evidence that magicis involved, but you are sure that it must be: otherwise,how could they have taken all your business so quick-ly? It is against the Code for magi to take your mun-dane resources, or to interfere magically in mundaneaffairs, and you will make sure that Aquila is punished.

A few years ago you managed to destroy Xaviers labo-ratory. You are actually quite impressed as to how wellit turned out, given that it was, in fact, partially a labaccident. The original plan had been to simply distracthim from his studies, but the vis you used turned outto be unstable, and the resulting blast completelydestroyed his lab, and did significant damage to yourown. He is now trying to have you punished at tri-bunal, so you will have to stand on the defence that itwas an accident. The damage to your own laboratoryis your best evidence for this. Of course, if you canjust convince the tribunal not to bother with his fool-ish petition, you will also win.

A little over a year ago, a number of books from thecovenant library, which you were studying in yoursanctum, were stolen. They have now disappearedfrom the covenant library, weakening the covenant asa whole as well as you personally. The evidence pointsat Maximus of Tremere: he had mentioned earlier thathe planned to study the subjects raised in those texts,and he refuses to allow you to search his sanctum torecover the texts. You want the tribunal to punish him,as the internal mechanisms of the covenant are inca-pable of doing so.

The Ancient Order of the Silver Spear has thousandsof years of history behind it, but has been secret for

the last millennium. It was a secret grouping withinthe Cult of Mercury (called sinply the Order of theSilver Spear), concerned with enforcing cult policyagainst activities that threatened the amount of magicin the world. It even had techniques for increasing themagical aura in certain locations, although those have,alas, been lost. The current members are engaged intwo activities: holding back the encroachingDominion, and trying to recover the lost secrets of thegroup. In the Rhine Tribunal, the members areCoriolanus of Aurora, Hostiensis of Aster, Ptolemaeusof Fanum, and Westamia of Aquila. You have agreed tomeet at the Tribunal, where gathering together willdraw little suspicion.

You discovered the documents and items that revealedthe existence of the AOSS, and you suspect that theywere planted by other members to draw you into thegroup without risking exposure. They have droppedhints and assistance since, you think, although theyhave been very careful. You are trying to fulfill its aimsas well as possible, in the hope of drawing attentionfrom the higher members of the group. You have alsorecruited some more members. Your research into therituals of the group has not progressed well, but youhave managed some subtle actions aimed at reducingthe spread of the Dominion.

There is a group of fairly powerful non-Hermetic magiwithin the Rhine tribunal. They have close ties to thefay, and members of House Merinita had some previ-ous contact with them. Recently, Hostiensis ofFlambeau came across them, and was quickly contact-ed by members of House Merinita, who convincedhim to agree to talk to them at the tribunal before tak-ing any action. Estella and Kakondera will meet withhim, and a decision will be reached.

They are non-Hermetic magi. According to the Code,they must join the Order or die. You agreed to waitbefore acting, because there are grave political risks inacting without official approval if you have opponentsin the tribunal, but you can see no reason to avoid try-ing to destroy them, and you will bring the matterbefore the tribunal after talking to the Merinita, withor without their support.


The Fallen Fane

24

IacopoYou are a member of House Jerbiton, and ofDurenmar. You control six votes.

The fay are an important element of the Rhine tri-bunal, and the dangers they pose are well known.Some magi, particularly those at Irencillia, but also agroup represented by Viridia of Durenmar, think thatthese dangers would be effectively lessened by con-cluding a formal agreement between the fay and thewhole tribunal. This is clearly foolish.

First, it isnt clear that the fay have any recognisedleader with whom such an agreement could be made.Second, the fay are well known for twisting any formalagreements. If the Order tried to bind them, it wouldinevitably find itself in even more trouble than it wasalready. This is a foolish idea, and needs to besquashed. Iacopo represents the group from Durenmarwho are opposed to the agreement, and Crintera andSagitta have also promised to throw their votes againstthe proposal.

One of the most immediate problems facing the magiof the Rhine Tribunal is the encroachment of mundanelife on the great forests. This reduces the isolation ofthe covenants, and slowly destroys the source of visand other magical resources on which they rely. Themotives behind Fanums recent actions are easy tounderstand, even if the actions themselves were fool-ish and inexcusable.

A number of magi have been in contact before the tri-bunal, and now Kakondera and Flavius of Irencillia,Gunhilda of Crintera, and Orderic of Sagitta haveagreed to work together at the tribunal to at least getan agreement in principle to act against the mundanes.In general, you are agreed that some way of stoppingthem advancing is desirable: actually pushing themback is likely to be too dangerous.

Aquila, a young upstart covenant, has recently beenpestering Durenmar to give up one of the rights guar-


25

The Fallen Fane

anteed to House Bonisagus by the Code of Hermes,and to allow other covenants access to a village whichproduces a large number of Gifted individuals, aboutone every five years. They have threatened to raise itat tribunal, but you dont think that there is reallymuch of a threat. The right of House Bonisagus toclaim apprentices is clear from the Code, after all.


Your main aim is to spread learning throughout theTribunal, because educated mundanes will be able toappreciate higher culture, and will be less suspicious ofmagic than ignorant peasants. You use your tradingnetwork to spread books around, and you employscribes to copy them. You are also trying to encourageuniversities to form in cities like Cologne, and gram-mar schools in smaller towns. Some of the other magi,particularly Orderic, want to keep learning restrictedto a small group, a position you find completelyincomprehensible.

Four of the magi of the Rhine Tribunal Bertoldus ofSchola, Iacopo of Durenmar, Junius of Aurora, andUmaldi of Aster are heavily involved in mundanetrade. You have recently come in conflict with oneanother, and the risk of a trade war, with associatedmagical trouble, has become quite significant. Youhave agreed to meet at the Tribunal, and to try toresolve matters between yourselves. If the rest of theTribunal gets involved, there is a distinct possibilitythat you will be forbidden from pursuing trade alto-gether.

Your interest in trade has nothing to do with themoney. You want to spread techniques of art, crafts-manship, and scholarship around the Tribunal, alongwith the items produced by those techniques.Accordingly, most of your trade is in works of art,books, and skilled craftsmen. You would be loath togive up any of these, but if you must, scholarship isnearest to your heart. Similarly, while you would liketo continue trading with the whole area, you are will-ing to stay out of the Danish peninsular if necessary.Bertoldus and Junius are both making inroads into theluxury trade, without your concern for quality of mer-chandise. Thus, a lot of bad art is being spread aroundthe area. You would like to take control of the luxurytrade away from them, or at least convince them tosell better goods.


The Fallen Fane

26

JuniusYou are a member of House Tremere, and of Aurora.You control three votes.

After the crusade against them, Schola were unable toharvest all their vis sources. Your covenant had beenwatching the known vis sources near to you, and whenthis one was abandoned, you quickly moved in to har-vest it. Schola never had it formally registered at tri-bunal as being their source, and they are no longer inpossession. Further, they are politically weak after thecrusade, so you expect to be able to hold on to it, andhave it formally confirmed as your source.

Magical resources are not so abundant in the tribunalthat the Order can afford to waste useful sources ofvis. That is exactly what is happening with one of thesources belonging to Sagitta. True, it is a small source,but that doesnt make the waste any less. It is quiteclose to your covenant, and you could make good useof it. Sagitta have too much power, both magical andpolitical, for you to simply take it, but you might beable to get the tribunal on your side. They will proba-bly see that the waste is a bad thing, and can probablybe persuaded that it is better to give the power to aweak covenant than to a stronger one.

A year ago you stole some books from Aster.Normally, this would be very risky, but in Asters caseyou were able to frame another member of thecovenant, Maximus of Tremere, for the theft. They areso wrapped up in their own concerns that they wontlook for outside interference. The problem is that youcant put the books into the library at Aurora. Youneed to set up some arrangement at this tribunal that

could explain your possession of the books. Maybeyou could claim to have copied them at some othercovenant, or purchased them with favours or vis. Thedetails dont matter, but you need to set up an arrange-ment with another covenant with a good library.

Four of the magi of the Rhine Tribunal Bertoldus ofSchola, Iacopo of Durenmar, Junius of Aurora, andUmaldi of Aster are heavily involved in mundanetrade. You have recently come in conflict with oneanother, and the risk of a trade war, with associatedmagical trouble, has become quite significant. Youhave agreed to meet at the Tribunal, and to try toresolve matters between yourselves. If the rest of theTribunal gets involved, there is a distinct possibilitythat you will be forbidden from pursuing trade alto-gether.

You have produced a very diverse trade, because yourmain aim is to supply the money and goods thatAurora needs to survive. Thus, you trade in everythingfrom grain to luxuries. You have been aggressivelyexpanding your markets, and this has brought in sig-nificant wealth to the covenant, making its futurerather more secure. Your most important competitorsare Bertoldus, particularly in the luxury market, andUmaldi, particularly in foreign trade. While you dontwant to give up anything, basic goods (like grain) andthe area around your covenant are most important toyou.

Necopinuss actions at Fanum were ill-advised, danger-ous, and very nearly catastrophic for the Tribunal.However, he did have prior approval from HouseTremere. You are in a quandary. You really want to dis-courage such actions in the future, but you cant affordto alienate your House. You need to talk to someother Tremere, and work out what you can do.


27

The Fallen Fane

KakonderaYou are a member of House Merinita, and of Irencillia.You control six votes.


In order to conclude such an agreement, the tribunalneeds to send an authorized representative to the faycourt. That means getting strong support at tribunalfor such a move. While all of Irencillia is, unsurprising-ly, interested in such contact, and Viridia of Durenmarbrings her votes in support, Iacopo of Durenmar repre-sents a bloc opposed to the move, and Crintera andSagitta have both expressed opposition.


A number of magi have been in contact before the tri-bunal, and now Kakondera and Flavius of Irencillia,Gunhilda of Crintera, and Orderic of Sagitta haveagreed to work together at the tribunal to at least getan agreement in principle to act against the mundanes.In general, you are agreed that some way of stoppingthem advancing is desirable: actually pushing themback is likely to be too dangerous.

There is a group of fairly powerful non-Hermetic magiwithin the Rhine tribunal. They have close ties to the

fay, and members of House Merinita had some previ-ous contact with them. Recently, Hostiensis ofFlambeau came across them, and was quickly contact-ed by members of House Merinita, who convincedhim to agree to talk to them at the tribunal before tak-ing any action. Estella and Kakondera will meet withhim, and a decision will be reached.

The fay wizards are interesting, but limited. You dontthink that they have the power necessary to be admit-ted into the Order, but, similarly, you dont think thatthey pose a real threat. They do have things to teachHouse Merinita about interacting with the fay, butthey have little to offer the rest of the Order. Further,their faerie allies might well be very offended if actionwere taken against them. Accordingly, you think thatthey should be left alone, and monitored by HouseMerinita.

You are a Seeker: a magus who is particularly interest-ed in discovering the ancient magical roots of theOrder of Hermes. While different Seekers have differ-ent interests, they have much in common, particularlyin their interest in matters that may have no immedi-ate use. It is quite common for Seekers to meet togeth-er and discuss their latest discoveries, although somedont comment until theyve completed an investiga-tion, and a few try to keep everything secret.

The Seekers of the Rhine Tribunal who will be at themeeting are Flavius and Kakondera of Irencillia,Richildis of Aquila, the presiding Quaesitor, Saphroniaof Fanum, and Umaldi of Aster.

You really need to talk to all the Seekers, together if atall possible. Your discovery is dynamite. Your maininterest is in the relationship between faeries andHermetic magic, and this led you to research the cir-cumstances surrounding Tytaluss disappearance in theMaddenhofen Woods. Your research was a great suc-cess. You found Tytalus. You think you can release himfrom the faerie game that holds him captive. Thequestion is, should you? What effect would it have ifone of the Founders turned up in the councils of theOrder right now? Politics was never your main inter-est, and you want advice.


The Fallen Fane

28

LalithYou are a member of House Bjornaer, and of Fanum.You only control one vote. Your main aim is to not getexecuted, and after that to minimise your punishment.




29

The Fallen Fane

It was a dreadful mistake. The church cannot be beat-en by covenants acting alone. Maybe some actionneeds to be taken, but not like that. You have certainlylearned your lesson: the safety of the Order is moreimportant than the grand schemes of individual magior covenants. Or, at least, that is the impression thatyou need to give at the tribunal.

The letter on page 16 was recently received by theBjornaer of the Rhine Tribunal. It has been verified asgenuine, and, at the moment, only the Bjornaer knowof its contents. You have agreed to meet to decide ona course of action during the Tribunal.

You know Arviragus thinks that supporting theNovgorodians is a great idea, but you are no longer sosure that direct action is wise. The consequences ofFanums attempt were no good for anyone, and youarent keen to go through that again. You will listen tothe other Bjornaer, and if they agree to support it, youmight well go along with them. If they cant agree, ordecide against it, you might find it useful to be able toclaim that you had learned your lesson and alwaysopposed this scheme. Indeed, under those circum-stances it might be in your best interests to expose thewhole thing to the Tribunal.

There is a dragon in the Rhine tribunal. Everyonethought that they had all left years ago, but you havestumbled across the resting place of, probably, the lastone. It is asleep at the moment, you think, but youmust decide what to do when and if it awakens, andwhat to do before that. Theudar, the first magus todiscover it, left a message for any other magi whostumbled across it. Estella, Lalith and Viridia did, andthe four of you have agreed to discuss the matter atthe tribunal, and preferably decide on a course ofaction so that you can present a united front.

Before the disaster, you had vague plans to awaken thedragon and turn it against the church, thus reinforcingFanums project. Now, however, you think that it isprobably a threat to the Order, and want it destroyed.If you can present yourself as thoroughly convinced ofthe need to defend the Order, you might get off witha lighter punishment.


The Fallen Fane

30

MaximusYou are a member of House Tremere, and of Aster.You control four votes.

For years, one of the covenants sources of income hasbeen a toll bridge over a river. Recently, in a subtlemove against the covenant, Aquila built a new bridgeover the same river, and lured merchants away fromyours. You dont have any direct evidence that magicis involved, but you are sure that it must be: otherwise,how could they have taken all your business so quick-ly? It is against the Code for magi to take your mun-dane resources, or to interfere magically in mundaneaffairs, and you will make sure that Aquila is punished.

One of your most valued lieutenants, Otto, was mur-dered by one of Umaldis servants, Franz. The murder-er was only punished with a light whipping, and youare sure that Umaldi incited him to commit the crime,anyway. She may even have used magic to do so.Either way, she is clearly responsible for the loss of avaluable aide to your magical development, and forthat she deserves to be punished by the tribunal.

Hostiensis intends to accuse you of stealing some ofthe covenants books a year or so ago. His evidence iscompletely flimsy: you had an interest in the subjectsthey cover. He has demanded that you allow him tosearch your sanctum, but you have refused to grantany special privileges, and he is too scared to come inwhile you can attack him. You dont have the books,so you suspect that Hostiensis has fabricated thecharge as a way of weakening you. He will probablyraise it at tribunal.

Five of you (Doraldus of Fanum, Iacopo of Durenmar,Maximus of Aster, Orderic of Sagitta, and Xavier ofAster) have been encouraging mundane scholarship inthe Rhine Tribunal. Until recently, you were able toact in easy cooperation, but recently differences havedeveloped. You have agreed to meet together at theTribunal to resolve those differences.

You have been trying to organize a network of schol-ars who feed information to you. This requires a hier-archy, in which each stage filters the discoveries of thelevel below, and adds their own comments. It hasbegun to work, and is quite effective in many ways,but you really need a broader spread before it willgreatly influence your magical studies. Already, how-ever, it has given you a number of important hints inspell research. The problem is that some people aretrying to broaden the number of scholars, thus break-ing them out of your hierarchy. Scholarship needs toremain esoteric if they are to keep passing the infor-mation to you. Of course, youll have to come up witha cover story as to why you want to keep things undercontrol.

Fanums actions proved to be very dangerous for theOrder, but there was no way to predict that inadvance, and Necopinus did get the approval ofHouse Tremere before he put his schemes intomotion. The House must stand by its decisions, andstand behind members carrying out those decisions.The strength of the House is its unity, and compro-mising that in any way is very dangerous.


31

The Fallen Fane

NecopinusYou are an Archmage, a member of House Tremere,and the leader of Fanum. You only control your ownvote. Your main aim is to not get executed, but youwould also like to see the tribunal recognize that yourcovenant was acting for the best.



Your actions were in the best interests of the Order.The threat from the Dominion is great, and growing,and magi must take action against it. This obviouslyinvolves some risk, but even Fanums attempt was not acomplete failure. The area around the covenant is nowmuch less firmly in the churchs grip, and even afterthe recent compromise there remain secret groups ofpagans. Condemning your actions would showtremendous short-sightedness on the part of the othermagi.

It is customary for all the Archmages to meet togetherat the Tribunal, and decide how the various issuesshould be decided, for the good of the Order as awhole. These meetings normally take place a littletime into the Tribunal, to give the Archmages achance to learn about all the issues that will be raised.The decisions of this meeting are not binding, but theArchmages can use their votes (or other powers) andinfluence to ensure that the whole Tribunal agrees.

House Tremere gave its approval for your actions atFanum, and the Tremere will therefore support you atTribunal. You need to talk to the other Tremere, eitherindividually or in a group, to decide exactly what theywill do.


The Fallen Fane

32

OrdericYou are an Archmage, a member of House Jerbiton,and the leader and representative of Sagitta. You con-trol five votes.

Fanums actions created a great danger for the Orderas a whole, and it is important that such rash plans arestrongly discouraged. You would like to see the wholecovenant Marched, but you will settle for having someof its members Marched as an example. Necopinus, asthe leader, bears particular responsibility.

The fay are an important element of the Rhine tri-bunal, and the dangers they pose are well known.Some magi, particularly those at Irencillia, but also agroup represented by Viridia of Durenmar, think thatthese dangers would be effectively lessened by con-cluding a formal agreement between the fay and thewhole tribunal. This is clearly foolish.

First, it isnt clear that the fay have any recognizedleader with whom such an agreement could be made.Second, the fay are well known for twisting any formalagreements. If the Order tried to bind them, it wouldinevitably find itself in even more trouble than it wasalready. This is a foolish idea, and needs to besquashed. Iacopo represents the group from Durenmarwho are opposed to the agreement, and Crintera andSagitta have also promised to throw their votes againstthe proposal.


A number of magi have been in contact before the tri-bunal, and now Kakondera and Flavius of Irencillia,Gunhilda of Crintera, and Orderic of Sagitta have


33

The Fallen Fane

agreed to work together at the tribunal to at least getan agreement in principle to act against the mundanes.In general, you are agreed that some way of stoppingthem advancing is desirable: actually pushing themback is likely to be too dangerous.

You gather that Aurora plans to challenge your owner-ship of one of your vis sources, on the feeble groundsthat you havent gathered from it in ten years. Clearly,this is absurd: the source is still yours, and thecovenant will gather from it when it needs the vis.The legal arguments are entirely on your side, so youforesee no problems.



Learning can be a dangerous thing, and should be leftunder the firm control of the higher ecclesiastics, whohave shown great wisdom in directing it over the lastfew centuries. Cathedral schools are the best way tocarry on the academic tradition: these new-fangleduniversities are completely uncontrolled, and spawnheresies and other dangerous things. Just think of thedangerous collaboration between the Order and mun-danes that is happening in the upstart university atCambridge. Iacopos actions in spreading learned textsaround are particularly dangerous: they will sparkheresy and revolt when they get into the wronghands. Similarly, Doraldus is introducing dangerousnovelties when he tries to encourage the teaching ofGreek.


The Fallen Fane

34

PtolemaeusYou are a member of House Verditius, and of Fanum.You only control one vote. Your main aim is to not getexecuted.



It must be admitted that Fanums actions went badlywrong. You stand by the motives behind them, howev-er, and you were only ever acting in the best interestsof the Order. You hope that your assistance at theassault on Schola will help to prove that you had theOrders interests at heart, and thus should not be pun-ished too severely.

When the church cracked down on the covenantsactivities, your immediate concern was to defend theOrder. Fanum itself handled the problems well, butSchola was in much greater danger. Accordingly, youwent there, taking your latest creation, the Wand ofPyrrhus. This item makes warriors pick a bad tacticaloption when in combat, although not the worst. The

original intent was to use it on forces attacking theestablished pagan area, as the involvement of magic isnot obvious.

At Schola, it proved to be very effective. Chargeswere delayed at crucial moments, groups of soldiersset off to attack odd targets (like the covenantlatrines), and leaders ordered the retreat when theirmen were on the verge of breaking through. You dontthink that Schola would have been able to defendthemselves without you. You hope to be able to parleythis into a partial pardon, or at least a much reducedsentence.

You are proud of the item itself. Doraldus helped youto make it, but you are not sure you want to make abig issue of that at the moment.

The Ancient Order of the Silver Spear has thousandsof years of history behind it, but has been secret forthe last millennium. It was a secret grouping withinthe Cult of Mercury (called simply the Order of theSilver Spear), concerned with enforcing cult policyagainst activities that threatened the amount of magicin the world. It even had techniques for increasing themagical aura in certain locations, although those have,alas, been lost. The current members are engaged intwo activities: holding back the encroachingDominion, and trying to recover the lost secrets of thegroup. In the Rhine Tribunal, the members areCoriolanus of Aurora, Hostiensis of Aster, Ptolemaeusof Fanum, and Westamia of Aquila. You have agreed tomeet at the Tribunal, where gathering together willdraw little suspicion.

You hope that you can rely on the support of theother members of the AOSS, because your actionswith Fanum were entirely guided by the principles ofthe society. If you had succeeded, you would have dri-ven the Dominion back from a large area of the tri-bunal, which is exactly what the AOSS is after.


35

The Fallen Fane

QuirinusYou are an Archmage, a member of House Bonisagus,a member of Durenmar, and the Praeco. Read theparagraph about the Praecos duties carefully, and ful-fill them as honestly as you can. You have quite a bitof leeway without actually cheating.

Aquila, a young upstart covenant, has recently beenpestering Durenmar to give up one of the rights guar-anteed to House Bonisagus by the Code of Hermes,and to allow other covenants access to a village whichproduces a large number of Gifted individuals, aboutone every five years. They have threatened to raise itat tribunal, but you dont think that there is reallymuch of a threat. The right of House Bonisagus toclaim apprentices is clear from the Code, after all.


Viridia, the maga carrying most of Durenmars sigils,has told you that she wishes to speak to you, and theother Bonisagi attending the Tribunal, about a matterof great importance to the House and Order. She hasemphasised that it is to be kept secret, and also thatshe does not wish to discuss it only with other mem-bers of Durenmar. You are curious, and have agreed tospeak to her during the meeting.


The Fallen Fane

36

RichildisYou are an Archmage, a Quaesitor in good standing ofHouse Guernicus, and the Presiding Quaesitor of thistribunal. It would be helpful if you had access to acopy of the Wizards Grimoire, Revised Edition, to check onHermetic Law. You are also a member of Aquila, butthat should not be important.

A number of the magi of your covenant want to trainapprentices, but finding children with the Gift is noteasy. At the same time, Durenmar claims exclusiverights to take apprentices from a village in the tribunalthat produces one Gifted child every three years or so.They do not need that many apprentices, so someGifted people are going untrained, a grave loss to theOrder. Although Durenmar bases its claim on theclause of the Code giving Bonisagus magi the right toclaim apprentices, there is no reason to suppose thatthis clause gives any rights at all to the domus magnaof the House. Private negotiations with Durenmarhave failed to produce results, so you are bringing it totribunal. All you want is equal access for all covenantsof the tribunal: you couldnt use an apprentice everythree years, either.

The rapid growth of your covenant has led to agreater demand for magical resources. Recently, youfound a new source of vis, some distance from yourcovenant. A check of the records revealed that nocovenant had laid formal claim to it, and you moni-tored it for a few months, by posting a grog there, andin that time no one came to gather it. You thusassumed that it was unclaimed, and harvested it foryour covenant. Schola are now claiming that it is theirsource, and always has been. You have seen no evi-dence of this, and intend to defend your claim at tri-bunal.

Your covenant is also outgrowing its mundaneresources, and has been looking for new ways toobtain money. One recent scheme involved creating abridge over a river, and charging a toll to merchantscrossing it. This has caused no problem with the mun-

danes

Ars Magica 5e - The Fallen Fane

Documents

Transcript of Ars Magica 5e - The Fallen Fane