The Legacy

I. The abbess asks the characters for help in combating the demands of a local baron concerning land and a village that were donated to the convent. He maintains the land is his, and has taken it away from the convent by force. They are fighting the situation politically, lobbying for support within the Church, but in the meantime the baron is vindictively abusing the folk who live there and overworking the fields. If the characters intervene on the convent's behalf, teaching the baron and his hirelings a lesson, Sister Hedwig will give them the letter. This option is a good choice if your troupe prefers combat as part of every story.

II. If the characters have failed to convince the abbess to help them, perhaps Sister Larine has not died, but is only in hiding. She cannot bear the thought of facing wizards again, for in her senility she fears they would punish her for leaving the covenant. However, her devotion to her former masters finally gets the better of her, and a strange old nun approaches the characters as they leave. She feebly whispers "Larine," and though the abbess voices strong disapproval, she summons the strength to tell the characters what she knows of the Bell. If you don't mind being melodramatic, she dies as she finishes. Because of this, the nuns will come to blame the characters for her death after they leave, and they will receive a bad reputation in the region.

III. Before the characters leave the convent, Sister Malores meets them and silently begs them with gestures and body motions to take her with them. She desperately wants to return to a place of faerie, or even magic, and is very uncomfortable in the Dominion. To leave with her, the characters will have to negotiate with the abbess, convince Malores to leave on her own, or kidnap her, but once drawn up as a character she might make an interesting addition to their covenant, or become a source of new adventures if they are willing to help her return to Faerie.

In the story of the broken covenant, the animal maga Ierimyra rescued a group of magical ferret-like creatures and brought them to Calebais. These animals of virtue were larger and more intelligent than their mundane counterparts, and by experimenting in her lab she created and fostered a human intelligence in them. The changes she made are clearly inheritable by their offspring, though variations can still occur — for example, only the ermines have magical powers — and while they closely resemble mundane ferrets, all of them have developed specialized advantages that compensate for their weaknesses.

These Hrools are designed to act as interesting, unusual denizens of Calebais that take the place of goblins, kobolds, and other small humanoid creatures that typically inhabit a fantasy dungeon setting. However, unlike their counterparts, the Hrools are not simply creatures to be fought and killed, but rather unique adversaries and potential allies that you may be interested in studying, adopting, or even playing once the adventure has ended.

To duplicate Ierimyra's work, you must first understand the Hermetic breakthrough that made her experiments possible. This will take at least a season of study, and require you to either uncover and comprehend Ierimyra's lab notes, bring a living Hrool back to your lab for magical investigation (the effect is level 15, or level 30 for an ermine Hrool, and you must study an ermine to learn how to invest magical powers), or seek out the original source of the breakthrough by tracking down the wizard or wizards who first taught it to Ierimyra (perhaps it was learned through initiation into deeper levels of the Bjornaer mystery cult). In any case, to create intelligent animals, you must investigate beyond the concept and theory to learn the specifics of the magical method that follows.

You must then find a living subject, a naturally fine animal representative of its species, with some amount of Magic Might. Similar standards to those for finding and befriending a familiar apply, though not quite as strictly since these results are more akin to a parent-child relationship than a bond between true friends or lifelong companions. The animal simply should be open to being tamed or domesticated, and not hostile as you will be spending a lot of time with it in the lab.

Next is the ritual in which you give the animal human intelligence, known as "awakening." Your laboratory total is Creo + Mentem + Intelligence + Magic Theory, and bonuses from aptitudes, attunements and the like may apply (though not the special bonus given to initiates of Verditius). The level of the ritual is level 25, plus the animal's Magic Might, plus or minus five times its Size. This is similar to the formula for enchanting a familiar; and so a creature with Might 5 and size -3 would require a lab total of 15, while a creature with Might 20 and size -3 would be level 30.

As when you are binding a familiar, your lab total must equal or exceed this level for you to complete the ritual, which takes one season, and you must spend a pawn of either Creo or Mentem vis for each five levels or fraction thereof. You can also awaken multiple creatures of the same species in one season if your lab total is high enough, by multiplying the base level by the number of animals awakened.

Awakening Lab Total: Creo + Mentem + Intelligence + Magic Theory + Aura Modifier

Awakening Level: Animal's Magic Might + 25 + (5 x Size)

Awakening Cost: 1 pawn of Creo or Mentem vis per five levels or fraction

Once the initial awakening ritual is complete, you can spend additional seasons to imbue the intelligent animal with special powers, which it can activate with its Might. This is very similar

to crafting an invested device, for the animal has been prepared for enchantment as part of the awakening ritual. Note the amount of vis you spent to awaken the creature, because it limits how many powers you can give the animal.

Determine each effect with which you want to instill the animal, just as if you were designing an effect for an invested device (see ArM5). If it matters, the creature is considered both the wielder and the device for these powers. Then, invest the effect as normal, calculating your lab total based on the level of the invested effect. Verditius bonuses for crafting items do not apply to this process, either. The total level of all effects cannot be greater than ten times the number of pawns of vis invested in the awakening ritual. That is, if awakening a creature cost three pawns of vis, it cannot possess more than 30 levels of magical effects.

This process still takes an amount of time based on your lab total and the level of the invested effect, a minimum of one season per power, and while you cannot instill multiple powers with different Arts during the same season, you can give the same power to multiple animals, using the rules for multiple laboratory activities (see ArM5).

You do not have to spend vis on these powers. Instead, each power will cost the creature 1 point of its temporary Might for every 10 levels of the effect. However, you can spend vis to reduce the cost: five pawns associated with any of the Arts in the power reduces the activation cost by 1 Might point. For example, the ermine Hrools have a ReTe10 power, which costs them 1 point of temporary Might to activate. To reduce the cost to nothing would cost five pawns of either Rego or Terram vis. Their ReMe30 effect costs 3 points, and lowering it to 1 point would cost 10 pawns of Rego or Mentem vis. This can only be done at the time the power is instilled; you cannot make the power cheaper later.

Power Lab Total: Technique + Form + Intelligence + Magic Theory + Aura Modifier

Power Level: as an effect instilled in a device

Power Cost: 1 temporary Might per ten levels or fraction of the effect, minus 1 for every 5 pawns of vis of the effect's Technique or Form

Once an animal has been awakened, it is no longer suitable for binding as a familiar. The awakening ritual causes such dramatic changes to an animal that the magical cords can no longer bind it. In a sense, an awakened animal is bound only to itself.

Most unfortunately, the ritual doesn't always "take." You may find after breeding awakened animals that their offspring are all simply mundane versions of their parents. It is a sad and bitter truth

that magic is not always predictable, and some magi have devoted years of study into awakening only to discover that their magnum opus is a temporary thing, an illusion of achievement with no lasting effect. This may happen because of some weakness of the animal, or perhaps because the wizard's own spirit is flawed.

An intelligent animal, which Hermetic scholars might call an animula (ah-nee-MOO-lah, "little soul"), requires a incredible amount of effort to raise, very similar to sacrifice involved in taking an apprentice or having a baby. Once an animal has been awakened, it will go through stages similar to those of a newborn child; at first it may be in shock, and slowly become more aware of itself and its new environment, eventually interacting with and learning from its parent. As part of the awakening process, the animal gains the power of speech, though it may take some time for it to learn how to use it.

Mechanically, the following changes occur: the animal's Cunning becomes Intelligence, and it gains Presence and Communication scores. It can also learn Abilities, have Virtues and Flaws, and age as humans do. Thus far, no animula has been found to possess The Gift, but perhaps that is only because there are so few of them. Or, it may be that Gifted animals have been discovered, but were secretly incorporated into House Bjornaer and taught to change into a human shape to protect them from the ignorant.

The animal's new characteristics are considered from a human perspective: Presence is how attractive the creature is to humans and other awakened animals, and Communication describes its ability to speak and comprehend human sounds. For example, a beautiful white horse might have a high Presence, as people would find it very attractive, while a scruffy rat would not receive as positive a reaction. A creature with sharp teeth and pointed snout like a dog would probably not speak very well, but a songbird with a musical voice and captivating song could have an excellent Communication score.

In all ways, animulae are natural, living creatures, and they usually pass on their awakened traits to their offspring. They are still animals in most respects, as their physical bodies are affected by Animal rather than Corpus spells. Magi who are aware of these creatures argue that since they are animals, they are meant to be commanded by humans, for though magic may give them an animating spirit, it cannot give them a soul, and so they can never equal or exceed their human masters. Others argue that the ritual which opens animals' eyes also gives them the knowledge of right and wrong, and that these animulae must receive souls when they first become awakened, just as newborn chil-

dren do. Intelligent animals have free will, they say, and like people, they should be taught to avoid sin, not forced to do man's bidding.

This is an important philosophical argument, for each position outlines a very different method for treating awakened creatures. Those who believe that animulae are simply animals are likely to treat them as servants in the best case and slaves in the worst. They might even breed and slaughter them for vis. On the other hand, those open to the idea that intelligent animals are essentially humans in unusual bodies are likely to feel terrible pain on their behalf when the animals are rejected by others and prevented from seeking salvation, and outrage at the many forms of abuse they might endure. Those of either opinion will encounter dangerous opposition from those who think differently, as there is no middle ground or definite answers to an issue like this, but the Order of Hermes is traditionally disdainful of the idea that intelligent animals are equal to humans, as it is a common punishment to execute a wizard's familiar, but not his custodes.

Regardless of their opinion on these philosophical matters, many of the magi who know the secret of awakening view it as a powerful experience, much like having a child of their own. For older magi, or those who have performed a longevity ritual, an animula is the closest they can come to creating new life, and more than training an apprentice or crafting an item, it allows them to leave a piece of themselves to become a part of a smaller, magical person who follows them.

Note that familiars have many similarities to animula, as they are also intelligent, though they cannot pass on their intelligence to their offspring and cannot be given invested powers in the same way as awakened animals. However, these same ideas may be just as useful for developing stories about wizards' animal companions.

Since animulae can have human characteristics, Abilities, Virtues and Flaws, and other attributes, it is possible to play one as a character, as long as your troupe approves. They are probably best suited to companions, as this emphasizes their uniqueness, though like Ierimyra an Animal-oriented magus might choose to awaken a turba of animal grogs, despite the difficulties they would have interacting with others. If you intend to play such characters, design them as normal, and assume any natural advantages you gain due to size or rarity are compensated by the increased difficulties you will face avoiding and interacting with others, and with finding other magical animals like yourself. Here follows several Virtues and Flaws appropriate for an awakened animal character, including the Animula Status Flaw.

MAJOR STATUS FLAW (REQUIRED)

Animula: You are an animal that has been granted magical intelligence by a benevolent magus. Few people at your covenant treat you with respect, and you are usually considered a lesser person, in many ways a natural slave or servant. Outside the covenant, you frighten people so terribly that they probably attack you on sight. This flaw essentially encompasses three minor flaws: Judged Unfairly, Feral Upbringing, and Social Handicap, all of which you possess, though their penalties vary depending and are magnified when you are among humans or normal animals of your species. You age as an animal, not a human, so you may begin making aging rolls much earlier in life. Finally, you have Magic Might equal to 10 – your Size (add your Size if it is negative), and if killed your corpse could contain a number of pawns of vis equal to your Magic Might divided by 5, of an Art appropriate to your form.

MAJOR GENERAL VIRTUES

Greater Powers: You were imbued with great powers by the wizard who awakened you. Take up to 60 spell levels in magical effects, or spend 10 of these levels to reduce the cost of one of your powers by 1 point, though not below 0. You may take this Virtue more than once.

Ferocity: Like companion and magus characters, you have Confidence points, even though you are only a grog. However, your Confidence points may be used only in situations where your natural animal ferocity is triggered, such as when defending your den or fighting a natural enemy. Describe a situation that activates your Confidence, and take three points for you to use when those circumstances are met.

Improved Might: You have twice as much Magic Might as is normal for animals of your species; add (10 - your Size) to the amount of Magic Might with which you begin the game.

Lesser Powers: Your master imbued you with supernatural powers during your awakening ritual. Take up to 10 spell levels in magical effects, or reduce the cost of one of your powers by 1 point (though not below 0). You may take this Virtue as many times as you wish.