The River

As loud as a thousand galloping knights, the river surges, washes up over its banks, over the piers and into the town. Like an invading army the swirling waters crash down the streets. The ramshackle slums skirting the town instantly disintegrate as the flood engulfs them. The more substantial buildings in the established areas hold for a little longer before either bursting into jagged splinters, or being dragged whole into the waters and thrown against neighboring properties. Even a few of the tall brick towers of the wealthy teeter and fall under the watery siege.

Then the waters slowly retreat. The river's rapid, unexpected invasion leaves the town devastated and confused. Dozens of battered and drowned corpses drift down the river or lie tangled in the wreckage of buildings.

The river has slain the town.

This hook introduces Guardians of the Forests: The Rhine Tribunal into a saga that is not set in the Rhine Tribunal.

The Tytalus magus Trajan, from the Rhine Tribunal, claims to be the Guardian of the Danube river. This status, he asserts, allows him to defend the river, even in ways that violate the Hermetic Code. He bases this upon a Rhine Tribunal Peripheral Code ruling: The Guardians of the Forests. Recklessly, he has acted on this and destroyed several mundane towns (killing hundreds) on the banks of the Danube in the player character's Tribunal. Effectively, Trajan is trying to export the Rhine Tribunal's ruling into the Peripheral Code of another Tribunal.

The young Rhine Quaesitor Siegfried is vehemently opposed to this interpretation. In fact, Siegfried is opposed to the entire Guardians

of the Forests ruling and is trying to take advantage of Trajan's recklessness to engineer the ruling's suppression by the Grand Tribunal.

This political story is about the player characters' support for (or indifference to) either Trajan or Siegfried's position.

The Guardians of the Forests is a Rhine Peripheral Code ruling (see Guardians of the Forests: The Rhine Tribunal, page 18). It allows a character recognized as a guardian of a forest to take actions otherwise considered against the Code, as long as those actions can be justified as attempts to defend the forest. The ruling has been used to justify mundane interference, faerie molestation, and deprivation of magical power. Sometimes, the Rhine Tribunal has allowed forest guardians very wide latitude to "break" the Code, while in other cases it has allowed forest guardians no special dispensations. The forest guardians ruling is one of many political issues that divide the Rhine Tribunal.

Trajan's use of the Guardians of the Forest ruling is innovative in two ways. First, the ruling is normally only applied to forests. He is attempting to apply it to a river. Second, the ruling is not recognized outside the Rhine Tribunal.

Note that, even in the Rhine Tribunal, guardian status is not given, the magus just claims it. If the Tribunal agrees with a defense based on this assertion, this makes the status "official."

Nature Lore

Many forest guardians (although not all) have the Supernatural Ability Forest Lore (see Guardians of the Forests: The Rhine Tribunal, page 37). This allows the character to interact in special ways with the forest. Similar Nature Lore Supernatural Abilities exist for other sorts of natural features, including rivers (see Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults, page 103).

Trajan has the Nature Lore: Danube River Supernatural Ability. This allows him to find regiones and vis within the Danube, speak with supernatural river inhabitants, and commune with the river spirit, all without the use of Hermetic magic.

Gilds

Gilds are political factions within the Rhine Tribunal (see Guardians of the Forests: The Rhine Tribunal, page 27). Trajan is a member of the Hawthorn Gild. Its agenda is to protect the wild places and creatures from the mundanes. Siegfried is a member of the Oak Gild. Its agenda is to foster respect for authentic Hermetic traditions and rid the Order of hedge wizard influences.

Trajan genuinely sees himself as the Guardian of the Danube. He believes that the river's magical spirit is being slowly poisoned by the Dominion auras and other pollutants (sewage, effluent from tanneries and slaughter-yards) discharged from the river-bank towns. The river spirit believes this too.

Although the Tytalus Trajan enjoys this political conflict, he does not really care about the legal situation. Trajan just wants to defend the river. Creating a legal cover is a great outcome, but if he fails to do so, Trajan contentedly pays legal fines. Of course, legal fines do not prevent him from taking similar actions in the future to defend the river. If Marched, Trajan uses his Return to the Flow spell to retreat into the Danube (see later).

The Poisoning of the River

The river near the human towns really is being poisoned. The water is bad, which can be detected with Intellego Aquam, and Intellego Animal (or Herbam) can detect the unhealthy imbalance of humors in the river-borne wildlife. Sites of great natural beauty (with weak Magic auras) along the river have been either destroyed or swamped by town growth and Divine auras.

Trajan has used his Wizard's Flood ritual (see insert) to destroy half a dozen towns along the Danube in the player's Tribunal (or another river: see Moving the River). This has killed hundreds of mundanes. Many magi find the sheer scale of

Characteristics: Int +2, Per +1, Pre +1 (1), Com –1, Str +3 (1), Sta +3, Dex 0, Qik 0

Size: +2

Age: 64 (50; +5 Longevity ritual, +2 Bronze Cord)

Decrepitude: 0 (2) Warping Score: 3 (11) Confidence Score: 2 (5)

Virtues and Flaws: The Gift; Master Magus; Giant Blood; Gild Trained (Hawthorn Gild), Improved Characteristics, Inoffensive to Animals, Lesser Immunity: Exposure, Minor Magical Focus: Rivers, Self-Confident, Tough, True Friend (Cattus); Oath of Fealty (Danube river), Waster of Vis; Incomprehensible, Obsessed (Danube), Reckless

Personality Traits: Loyal (Cattus) +3, Reckless +3, Obsessed +1

Reputations: Guardian of the Danube 2 (Hermetic), River Spirit 1 (local)

Combat:

Trident + Heater Shield: Init +3, Attack +10, Defense +13, Damage +8 Fist: Init +3, Attack +3, Defense +3, Damage +3

Soak: +8 (+3 Tough, + 3 Sta, +2 Bronze Cord)

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–7), –3 (8– 14), –5 (15–21), Incapacitated (22–28), Dead (29+)

Abilities: Animal Handling 3 (fish), Area Lore: Greater Alps 2 (rivers), Area Lore: Rhine Tribunal 4 (rivers), Artes Liberales 1 (rhetoric), Athletics 3 (jumping), Awareness 3 (searching), Bargain 3 (spirits), Brawl 2 (fist), Code of Hermes 2 (forest guardians), Concentration 3 (spells), Dead Language: Latin 4 (Hermetic usage), Faerie Lore 1 (river creatures), Finesse 3 (Aquam), Hunt 3 (fishing), Intrigue 4 (Hermetic), Leadership 2 (river creatures), Living Language: High German 5 (Bavarian), Magic Lore 1 (river creatures), Magic Theory 5 (inventing spells), Nature Lore: Danube 6 (finding places of power), Organization Lore: Durenmar 1 (library), Organization Lore: Order of Hermes 2 (politics), Parma Magica 5 (Vim), Penetration 4 (Aquam), Single Weapon 6 (trident), Stealth 3 (rivers), Survival 4 (river), Swim 5 (diving)

Arts: Cr 10**, In** 8**, Mu** 7**, Pe** 7**, Re** 11**; An** 7**, Aq** 14**, Au** 6**, Co** 17**, He** 6**, Ig** 5**, Im** 5**, Me** 5**, Te** 6**, Vi** 8

Twilight Scars: Trajan's voice is like swirling water, which makes him difficult to understand (other characters need to make a Perception + Concentration roll against an Ease Factor of 6 to comprehend him), but does not affect spell casting or Voice Range.

Equipment: Copper neck-torque, bracelet of topaz beads, robes of rushing water.

Encumbrance: 0 (0)

Spells Known:

Tongue of the Fishes (InAn 20/+18) Mighty Torrent of Water (CrAq 20/+27) Wizard's Flood (CrAq 35/+37*) Eyes of Danibus (InAq(Im) 20/+21*) Lungs of the Fish (MuAq 20/+24)

Comfort of the Drenched Traveler (PeAq 5/+24)

Chaos of the Angry Waves (ReAq 30/+28)

Danibus' Favour (ReAq 35/+39*)

Whispers Through the Black Gate (InCo(Me) 15/+16)

Return to the Flow (ReCo 40/+31)

Wizard's Sidestep (ReIm 10/+19)

Arms of Neptune (CrTe 25/+19)

Fist of Shattering (PeTe 10/+16)

Sense the Nature of Vis (InVi 5/+19)

Piercing the Magic Shroud (Magic equivalent of Piercing the Faerie Veil) (InVi 20/+19)

Demon's Eternal Oblivion (PeVi 5/+18) Bane of the Fae (Faerie equivalent of Demon's Eternal Oblivion) (PeVi 5/+18)

* Includes Minor Magical Focus: Rivers Vis: 12 pawns of Aquam vis in topaz bracelet.

Appearance: Trajan is a giant, strong man with a ragged, steelblue beard, clothed in robes of cresting waves. With his voice like swirling water, Trajan appears as the very incarnation of Danibus, the Roman god of the Danube river. Many fishermen have seen a wild river spirit stalking the shallows of the Danube, and Trajan is well known in the Rhine as the guardian of the Danube. Trajan's body is covered in abstract tattoos, which are a coded astrological map of the places of power along the Danube. The tattoos are fixed Arcane Connections to four different locations along the Danube, which all have strong Magic auras (6+).

Trajan's sigil is the sound of rushing water, with volume proportional to the magnitude of the spell.

Trajan is a member of the Hawthorn Gild (a political faction in the Rhine Tribunal) and a member of the covenant of Durenmar. Trajan has a laboratory and sanctum at Durenmar, but he has not used it for over a decade.

Trajan's Giant Blood means many Corpus spells are ineffective on him without including size modifiers.

Tongue of the Fishes

InAn 20

R: Eye, D: Concentration,

T: Individual

This spell allows Trajan to speak with any animal whose natural habitat is the river. Despite the spell name this includes animals other than fishes.

(Base 10, +1 Eye, +1 Concentration)

Robes of the Cataract

Cr(Re)Aq 24

Pen 0, constant effect

R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Individual

Trajan wears this enchanted copper torque, stained bluegreen with age, around his neck. The item constantly creates a swirling torrent of water around Trajan in the shape of robes. Any mundanes who see this are impressed and terrified. Most magi consider it to be showing off.

(Base 5, +1 Touch, +2 Sun; +4 Constant Effect)

Wizard's Flood

CrAq 35

R: Touch, D: Momentary, T: Individual, ritual

This ritual, when cast in a river, causes it to rapidly rise and burst its banks. This floods the terrain about half a mile from either bank, for a length of about 20 miles, to a depth of two paces. The area inundated depends on the local geography (cliffs, gorges and dams may direct the flow, for example). The flood waters are natural, cannot be resisted by Magic Resistance, and may take days to recede, evaporate, and drain. The flood drowns people and animals, ruins crops, and washes away most wooden structures (and ruins the lower level of stone ones). This ritual is Trajan's master work. He is well known for it in the Rhine.

(Base 3, +1 Touch, +7 size)

Eyes of Danibus

InAq(Im) 20

R: Arcane, D: Concentration, T: Individual

Trajan can see from any vantage point along a river that he holds an Arcane Connection to. He can see the river itself, anything on or in the river, and anything within a pace of the river banks (subject to the normal limitations of sight).

(Base 3, +4 Arcane, +1 Concentration, +1 Requisite)

Danibus' Favor

ReAq 35

R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Structure

Wards a building against flooding. Trajan can use this spell to save a building from the worst of the Wizard's Flood damage.

(Base 5, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +3 Structure)

Return to the Flow

ReCo 40

R: Personal, D: Momentary, T: Individual

This spell instantly transports Trajan to a point that he has an Arcane Connection to. He often uses his tattoos as the Arcane Connections for this spell; his tattoos are fixed Arcane Connections to the river (see character insert).

(Base 35, +1 size modifier)

Arms of Neptune

CrTe 25

R: Touch, D: Diameter, T: Group

This spell creates, in Trajan's outstretched hands, an intricately wrought trident and a metal shield engraved with the image of a raging river. The weapons have standard game statistics. When the spell is cast make an Intelligence + Finesse roll against an Ease Factor of 6. If the roll succeeds the weapons are beautiful, if it fails the weapons are serviceable but ugly. If the Finesse roll botches the weapons are flawed and break when used. Record the Penetration of this spell, as the weapons must Penetrate the Magic Resistance of opponents.

(Base 5, +1 Touch, +1 Diameter, +2 Group)

Characteristics: Int 0, Per –2, Pre –5 (1), Com –6, Str –5, Sta +2, Dex +2, Qik +3

Size: –3

Age: 20 (14; ages with Trajan)

Decrepitude: 0 (1) Warping Score: 0 (3) Confidence Score: 2 (5)

Virtues and Flaws: Dowsing, Self-Confident, True Friend (Tra-

jan); Nocturnal

Qualities: Aquatic (breathes water), Camouflage (+3 hide when stationary), Pursuit Predator (extra Fatigue Level), Slippery (+6 Defense against Grapple), Thick Scales (+1 Soak)

Personality Traits: Loyal (Trajan) +3, Confident +2, Nocturnal +1 Reputations: Trajan's Familiar 1

(Hermetic)

Combat:

Dodge: Init +3, Attack n/a, Defense +6, Damage n/a

Teeth: Init +3, Attack +9, Defense

+8, Damage –4

Soak: +5 (+1 Thick Scales, +2 Sta,

+2 Bronze Cord)

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, 0, –1, –3,

–5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–2), –3 (3–4), –5 (5–6), Incapacitated

(7–8), Dead (9+)

Abilities: Awareness 2 (food), Brawl 3 (teeth), Dead Language: Latin 4 (Hermetic usage), Dowsing 5 (vis), Hunt 4 (smaller fish), Living Language: High German 5 (Bavarian), Magic Theory 3 (lab assistant), Stealth 2 (shallows), Survival 3 (rivers), Swim 5 (upstream)

Encumbrance: 0 (0)

Vis: None.

Appearance: Cattus (Cat) has been Trajan's familiar for 14 years. She is a playful, speckled brown trout, and very difficult to spot as she swims along the Danube. When Tajan is away from the river Cattus patrols for perils to the river's spirit (unless set some other task).

Cattus is not a magic creature, but she was born with the Supernatural Ability to find things in the river bed (Dowsing) and she found Trajan when he was ready for a familiar. Trajan later paid another Rhine magus to cast rituals to increase Cattus' Intelligence to 0. As she has no Magic Resistance of her own, Cattus uses Trajan's Form Art Scores as her Magic Resistance.

Trajan created the Familiar Bond with an InAq Lab Total of 25 (Gold Cord +1, Silver Cord +1, Bronze Cord +2). The bond has been enchanted with Mental Communication which allows Trajan to speak telepathically with Cattus (and vice versa, thus, two powers; see ArM5, page 105).

these casualties to be abhorrent. However, murder of mundanes is not actually a Hermetic crime (although it is, of course, a mundane crime). For Trajan to face Hermetic justice he must be convicted by the

Tribunal of a Hermetic crime, such as "interference with the mundane."

Siegfried is a young, smuglooking Quaesitor of House Guernicus. He represents Rhine magi who are strongly opposed to the Guardians of the Forests ruling. Depending on your saga Siegfried may be either the lead prosecutor of Trajan or helping other characters to prosecute Trajan.

Siegfried personally finds the Guardians of the Forests ruling an embarrassment and a hideous testament to the bestial Mystery Cults and pagan nature-worshipers whom he believes to dominate the Rhine Tribunal. He wants Trajan to be prosecuted and Marched by the foreign Tribunal for interference in the mundane and he wants the Quaesitors (or other officials of the foreign Tribunal) to appeal the Rhine Tribunal's rulings to the Grand Tribunal. Siegfried's ultimate goal is for the Grand Tribunal to overrule the Rhine Tribunal, eliminating the legal abomination of the guardians of the forests.

Siegfried thinks he is the best magus to prosecute Trajan. However, he cedes control of the case to others if it becomes apparent, to him, that those others have a better chance of success. Also, the saga Tribunal might not allow Siegfried (a nonresident) to mount a prosecution.

Trajan has destroyed mundane towns on the banks of a river, in the player characters' Tribunal, and claims he is permitted to do this as he is the guardian of the river. The scenario is written as if that river is the Danube, but this can be changed depending on the player character Tribunal.

Greater Alps Tribunal

The Danube river is suitable. The upper reaches are the southern border between the Rhine Tribunal and the Greater Alps Tribunal.

Normandy Tribunal

The Scheldt river (along the northwestern border of the Rhine Tribunal) originates in northern France in the Normandy Tribunal, where it is called the Escaut river. The river enters the North sea near Antwerp.

Novgorod Tribunal

The Oder River has its headwaters near the border of the Rhine and Novogorod Tribunals in the Giant Mountains, and flows north through the Novgorod Tribunal, entering the Rhine Tribunal in Pomerania before flowing out into the Baltic sea.

The Danube river flows from the Rhine across the Transylvania Tribunal, ultimately emptying into the Black Sea.

The Rhine Tribunal

If your saga is set in the Rhine Tribunal, then this story can still be used. Can a magus claim to be a river guardian modeled on the forest guardian ruling? Alternatively, Trajan could still assert the right to be the guardian of the Danube in a foreign Tribunal, with the player characters asked to either help prosecute or defend Trajan.

Other Tribunals

There are no rivers that flow over natural geography between the Rhine Tribunal and the Tribunals of Hibernia, Iberia, Levant, Loch Leglean, Provence, Rome, Stonehenge, and Thebes.

If your saga is set in one of these tribunals then Trajan has discovered a regio with an entrance in the Danube and an exit at the headwaters of a river in the player characters' Tribunal. Water flows from the Danube through the regio and feeds the remote river. This, Trajan claims, makes the other river a part of the Danube. Thus, he claims, as the guardian of the Danube he is also the guardian of the river in the player characters' Tribunal.

Trajan knows the way through the regio and can easily travel between the two rivers.

Siegfried is young, blond-haired magus. He is an arrogant and expert Guernicus lawyer, but he has recently lost a high profile case in the Rhine Tribunal when he attempted to prosecute the leader of the Hawthorn Gild (the Bjornaer archmagus Urgen) for dangerously interfering in the mundane by murdering a band of woodcutters. Although Siegfried's prosecution was unsuccessful, the attempt has earned him the enmity of the Hawthorn Gild. Siegfried is determined to redeem himself by prosecuting Trajan and undermining the forest guardians.

Siegfried is a member of the Oak Gild in the Rhine Tribunal. Note that Siegfried has the Curse of Venus, which may create inconvenient distractions for him.

Use the Guernicus magus tem-

plate in ArM5 (page 26) for Siegfried's characteristics, but make the following changes:

• Change his Personalty Traits to: Arrogant +3, Smug +3, Careful +1.
• Increase his Age to 29.
• Add the Reputation: Rhine Tribunal Quaesitor 3 (Hermetic).
• Add the Minor Hermetic Virtue Gild Trained (this adds 90 experience points; see Guardians of the Forests: The Rhine Tribunal, page 20). Add the Minor Hermetic Flaw Gild Enmity (Hawthorn Gild).
• Increase his Code of Hermes Ability Score to 5. Increase his Dead Language: Latin Ability Score to 5. Increase his Magic Theory Ability Score to 4. Increase his Organization Lore:

Order of Hermes Ability Score to 3. Increase his Artes Liberales Ability Score to 2. Increase his Parma Magica Ability Score to 2.

• Increase his Vim Art Score to 5.
• Add the Ability Intrigue 3 (Hermetic). Add the Ability Penetration 1 (Mentem).
• Add the spell Stench of Magic (InVi 25/+20)

Stench of Magic

InVi 25

R: Personal, D: Concentration, T: Smell

The caster can smell the presence of spell traces down to magnitude zero. See Detecting Spell Traces insert.

(Base 10, +1 Concentration, +2 Smell)

This story depends on the political attitudes of the player characters, the characters' involvement in Tribunal politics, and the characters' willingness to settle political matters outside Tribunal meetings.

The troupe can involve the player characters in these ways:

• Allies of the covenant have been killed in the terrible floods, or the player charac

ters have mundane or magical resources (perhaps vis sources) destroyed. The player characters might thus investigate the floods and encounter Siegfried likewise investigating the sodden ruins.

• The player characters may investigate the floods because of the terrible damage caused to the mundanes.
• If the player characters are Quaesitors they should be informed about Siegfried's investigation and prosecution, and may want to monitor, assist, or take over Siegfried's case.
• The player magi might be approached by either Siegfried or Trajan (or both) for support.

Trajan's floods have destroyed half a dozen towns in the Tribunal over the last few months. They have since been abandoned; this was, of course, his goal. Siegfried intends to prosecute Trajan for dangerous interference in the mundane.

Trajan has made no attempt to hide his involvement from Hermetic investigation. His sigil can be detected in the spell traces (see insert). Once detected Trajan's sigil can be identified as specifically his by any character familiar with the magi of the Rhine Tribunal; make an Intelligence + Organization Lore: Order of Hermes roll

When a spell's Duration expires it leaves behind spell traces equal to half the magnitude of the original spell. The trace then decreases by one magnitude for every Duration of the original spell that passes. When the trace reaches magnitude zero it continues to decay at a rate of one magnitude per month, if the original spell was a non-ritual Momentary, Concentration or Diameter Duration effect, or one magnitude per year for other original Durations.

Traces down to magnitude zero can be detected by a base InVi 10 effect. Traces down to magnitude –10 can be detected by adding an additional magnitude to the detection effect per negative magnitude of trace.

Traces from Trajan's Wizard's Flood can be detected with a base InVi 10 effect if the detection spell is cast within a year of the ritual. If longer than a year has passed an additional magnitude is required for each year, after 10 years the traces are no longer detectable. An additional two magnitudes reveals the Form and Technique and another magnitude reveals Trajan's sigil.

against an Ease Factor of 9 (or 15 if the investigator is unfamiliar with Rhine magi).

A handful of stubborn survivors remain in the ruins, but most inhabitants are now refugees in other nearby towns. The mundane survivors believe the floods were Divine punishment for the sins of the townsfolk; survivors, of course, being spared because of their good and worthy nature. However, there are rumors of a river god who appeared prior to the floods.

Trajan's familiar, Cattus, keeps watch (from the river) on the wrecked towns to see whether the sites are truly abandoned or not. Depending on what occurs she may notice the player characters; she can recognize Hermetic spell casting. If she notices any magi she reports this to Trajan and tries to avoid the magi.

Magi might encounter Siegfried investigating the flood sites.

At all times — unless he is traveling to speak to his Hermetic allies — Trajan can be found somewhere upon the river.

Mundanes do not blame the Order of Hermes for the floods, so Siegfried's case against Trajan may be considered weak (depending upon the Peripheral Code in the Tribunal). If so, Siegfried (or his supporters) may think to strengthen the case by either informing mundane authorities of Trajan's involvement or allowing this information to be discovered.

Once mundane anger is aroused, Redcaps are detained, and nearby known covenants are approached and held accountable for the floods and massive casualties by the bishop (or nobles). This clearly makes the case that ruin has been brought upon magi by Trajan's actions.

Informing mundanes might itself be considered a Hermetic crime, but if Siegfried (or his allies) are careful they might not be caught. Mundane anger could be secretly aroused by sending agents to spread rumors, or using magic to implant suggestions in the minds of the influential.

If the characters want to help prosecute Trajan, they need to gather allies for the Tribunal vote. In general, Wilderist magi of House Bjornaer support Trajan, largely to set precedent for themselves in the future. Traditionalist magi of Bonisagus or Guernicus are likely to oppose Trajan. However, the position of an single magus depends on his temperament or circumstances.

Undecided magi (possibly including the player characters) may be persuaded to support either Trajan or Siegfried in return for support for their own Tribunal agenda. Trajan or Siegfried can also offer resources from their respective Rhine Gilds as persuasion, including: vis, hospitality, access to books and lab texts, and so on. Collecting on such offers may lead into further stories.

Trajan can commune with the river spirit, using his Nature Lore, whenever he is standing within

This story involves Tribunal politics, so some issues should be considered prior to using this story. Your troupe may have already considered the Tribunal's politics. If not, this story is a good opportunity to do so. The main decisions are:

• Which river is Trajan claiming to be the guardian of?

• Which towns have been destroyed by Trajan and has this directly affected any magi (or their allies)?

• When is the next opportunity for Siegfried to bring his prosecution against Trajan? This is normally the next Tribunal meeting.

• What is the procedure for bringing a prosecution against Trajan? Who needs to be notified (when and how), can cases be settled outside a formal Tri-

• bunal, what sort of evidence and testimony is usually permitted, and how is the truthfulness of evidence and testimony determined (if at all)?

• What is the attitude of most magi in the Tribunal to trials for Hermetic crimes? Do magi cast votes according to political favor (like a noble court), according to the character of the accused (like a canon court), or according to the facts of the case presented (like a secular court). This preference might depend on the particular case or the particular voting magi.

• What is the attitude of most magi to Trajan's case (overwhelmingly in favor of either Trajan or Siegfried, or split, or apathetic); obviously this may change based on player character actions.

the waters of the Danube. Trajan refers to the river spirit as Danibus, who was the Roman god of the Danube. This does not necessarily mean that the river spirit actually is the Roman god. Choose another suitable name if your story involves a different river.

Trajan has sworn an Oath of Fealty to Danibus. This may be illegal in the Tribunal, depending on the their position on Oaths of Fealty to supernatural overlords. In any case, neither Trajan nor Danibus (nor Cattus) has any reason to reveal this oath. Trajan serves Danibus, but Danibus generally allows Trajan to decide how. In return, Trajan receives some of his power and resources (vis, for example) from the river. Although he approves of Trajan's recent actions, Danibus has no desire (or capability) to interfere in the legal case or Hermetic politics.

Danibus is located in a wellhidden river regio with no reason to leave it during this story. If you need game statistics for Danibus for subsequent stories, you may like to use the rules in Realms of Power: Magic, page 100. Danibus has an Aquam Magic Might of at least 40.

Neither Siegfried nor Trajan plan to declare Wizard War. Sieg-

84

fried will not do so because he is not powerful enough to defeat Trajan, and also because his goal is to set a favorable legal precedent rather than exact revenge upon Trajan. Trajan will not because he is confident that he is in the legal right, and he is looking forward to the legal conflict.

However, the player characters, or others, may decide to resolve the situation by killing either Siegfried or Trajan in Wizard War. This is entirely legal, assuming the Wizard War is conducted properly.

If Trajan is killed, the killer acquires the enmity of the Hawthorn Gild (Trajan's Rhine Tribunal allies). The killer also acquires the enmity of Siegfried, because this actually undermines his goal of creating a legal precedent against the Guardians of the Forests.

If Siegfried is killed, Trajan expresses gratitude for this unexpected help, and the killer earns the enmity of the Oak Gild (Siegfried's Rhine Tribunal allies). Whether the case still proceeds depends on the enthusiasm of the local Quaesitors for Siegfried's case. If the Quaesitors consider Trajan has a substantial case to answer, prosecution is likely to continue. However, the local Quaesitors may either abandon the case, or resolve it informally with the imposition of vis fines outside of a full Tribunal hearing.

The player characters (or other magi) may attempt to track Trajan down and execute him outside of Wizard War. For some magi, Trajan's murder of hundreds of mundanes is so abhorrent that it is justification for murder in kind. However, murdering Trajan (outside of Wizard War) is itself definitely a Hermetic crime, as Trajan is a magus.

Magi who murder Trajan thus (if discovered) find themselves prosecuted at Tribunal by Trajan's allies. Apart from denial, the only real defense is to convince the Tribunal to retrospectively March Trajan.

Unless resolved earlier, the prosecution of Trajan occurs at the next Tribunal under the usual rules for that Tribunal. This may be several years away. Unless magi offering support lie, the principals should have a good idea whether the Tribunal votes in their favor prior to the meeting. Trajan and Siegfried both attend the Tribunal to argue their respective cases, and if the Tribunal appears to be split both are confident of swinging enough support through testimony and argument. Obviously, Trajan's familiar Cattus does not attend; she is confined to the river.

If Siegfried cannot prosecute the case then a local second (perhaps a player character) will present his case for him.

What Hermetic Crimes has Trajan committed?

Siegfried (or his proxies) accuse Trajan of dangerously interfering in the mundane by destroying towns and drowning hundreds of mundanes. At face value this is a High Crime. However, as the mundanes do not associate this devastation with Hermetic magi (unless this has changed during play), it may be questionable whether Trajan's interference has really resulted in "ruin to his sodales."

The excessive mundane deaths may be a factor in the Tribunal's decision. If Trajan's actions have damaged covenant property, vis sources, or other magical resources, then Siegfried also (or instead) accuses Trajan of deprivation of magical power.

Trajan claims he is the river guardian, and that this excuses both his intended actions and any collateral damage.

If Trajan is Found Guilty

If Trajan is found guilty he could be fined, Marched, or the Tribunal might decide to impose some other penalty, such as labor, or the execution of his beloved familiar, Cattus.

Trajan pays any reasonable vis fine (although he needs to return to the Rhine Tribunal or the Danube to collect it). Usually, he would be granted time until the next Tribunal to pay the fine.

Trajan likewise completes any reasonable labor fine.

If Trajan is Marched, or if he is asked to give up Cattus, then he immediately attempts to use his Return to the Flow spell to return to the Danube. Once at the Danube he — with Cattus — hides along

the river until he can escape back to the Rhine Tribunal.

This escape strategy is not infallible. For example, very quick characters may be able to disrupt Trajan's Return to the Flow spell, or forward thinking characters may have acquired Arcane Connections to Trajan, which might allow Trajan to be followed (or killed from Arcane Connection Range). The player characters may also search for Trajan's hiding place and confront him there.

Siegfried, flush with success, tries to gather support for the Tribunal to appeal and thus over-rule the Rhine Tribunal's Guardians of the Forests ruling at the Grand Tribunal. If Trajan has been Marched, and especially if he has then escaped, there could be considerable support for this idea. However, if Trajan has only been fined, then the Tribunal is probably reluctant to challenge the Rhine Tribunal in this way.

If Trajan is Found Innocent

If Trajan is found innocent, this Tribunal has effectively imported the Rhine Forest Guardians ruling by creating a similar ruling (pertaining to rivers) in this Tribunal's Peripheral Code. Whether this precedent can be effectively used by other characters may be the basis of future stories.

If the player characters helped Trajan they earn the enmity of Siegfried, and Trajan is grateful to them afterward.

Disgruntled by proceedings, Siegfried still tries to gather some supporters to help him appeal the Tribunal's — and the original Rhine rulings — to the Grand Tribunal. If the player characters Siegfried's allies, they might try to help him.

If Siegfried, or his allies, have been discovered to have informed the mundane authorities about Trajan's role in the devastating floods, then Siegfried might be found guilty of interfering with the mundanes, rather than Trajan.

Further stories involving the Rhine Tribunal include:

• If Trajan has testified to a regio linking the Danube and another river in the Tribunal as part of his legal defense, then the existence of this regio becomes common knowledge in the Tribunal. If the player characters can locate it (which should not be difficult if Trajan's testimony is accurate), they can use the regio to easily travel to the Rhine Tribunal. Closer links between the two Tribunals may lead to conflict between the respective political structures.

• If he survives, Siegfried tries to make a case for the Grand Tribunal to suppress the Rhine's Guardians of the Forests ruling, supported by either his failure or success in prosecuting Trajan. The player characters might try to assist or hinder Siegfried and his Rhine allies.

• If Trajan is Marched, but escapes immediate death, then Siegfried assembles a team of hoplites to hunt Trajan down, and the player characters may be recruited. The assassination team may need to travel to the Rhine Tribunal to find Trajan's trail.

• The magi may have accepted the offer of resources from either Siegfried's or Trajan's Rhine allies as payment for their help. They need to travel to the Rhine to collect these debts.

• If the player characters have become close to Trajan (and he survives) he might try to recruit them as fellow minions of the river spirit. They can gain power from this, but need to perform quests for the river.

• If Trajan is killed, Danibus may have the power (and inclination) to raise him as a ghost. Trajan might thus continue to serve the river after death, and his ghost may need to be destroyed by the player characters.

• The player characters may acquire enemies or allies in the Rhine as a result of the case.

• If Trajan is found innocent, the player characters (or others) may try to use the new precedent to declare themselves guardians of natural features within the Tribunal.

• If Trajan is found innocent (or only fined vis or labor) he continues in the coming years to clear the banks of the Danube of human habitation. This may led to conflict with the player characters and more Tribunal cases.