Cave Systems

The principle sources of information about Fertility Magic are ancient fetish figurines that are normally found in multi-chambered caves sys-

tems, once dwelt in by fertility cult members. The caves are often in isolated areas of Mythic Europe, as it is the isolation of the cave systems that has preserved the relics of the ancient Fertility Magic practitioners — more accessible caves had their treasures looted or despoiled over the millennia. To determine whether a character can find the site of a cave in a particular area, make a Perception + Area Lore roll against an Ease Factor of 18. Of course, the character can only find such a site if the storyguide determines that one is in fact in the local area. As the cult was very pervasive most regions of Mythic Europe contain some examples, although obviously not every single cave in Mythic Europe was used by the fertility cult.

To Find a Suitable Cave System: Per + Area Lore vs. Ease Factor 18

Although there are variations, dictated by the physical structure of the caves, each cave system used by the ancient fertility cult has a similar layout consisting of a series of rooms connected by passageways. Typical rooms include a cooking chamber, sleeping chambers, a birthing chamber, galleries, a refuse pit, and sometimes a burial chamber. The birthing chamber, where fetish figurines are found, is normally at the back of the cave system. Sometimes, there is an aura in the cave system, which is strongest in the galleries, birthing, and burial chambers. The refuse pit is not normally part of the main cave system but is a nearby ravine or pit into which animal bones and other food scraps were dumped. These scraps have decomposed over the millennia prompting the growth of very lush and fertile dells, which are now the telltale sign of a nearby

ancient habitation. The super-fertility and the rich diversity of the wildlife in these dells also attracts various nature spirits, and these are frequently found living near the caves once inhabited by the fertility cult.

The ancient fertility magic practitioners were apparently well aware that the fetish figurines they created formed potentially dangerous Arcane Connections to mother and child, and so most figurines were destroyed once the mother passed childbearing age. Other fetish figurines have been destroyed in ignorance to extract the vis that they contain. A few, however, do remain — perhaps forgotten when the cave was hastily abandoned due to some threat, or left untouched when a mother died young and without children — and a typical cave system might contain two or three figurines.

Some caves have chambers whose walls are adorned in paintings, drawn in ochre and charcoal, or in some cases scratched directly onto the rock surface. Common representations in these galleries include animals such as deer, ibex, horses, bison, and aurochs; tracings of hands; and abstract diagrams that describe hunting and fertility rituals. These representations were used to teach initiates hunting or fertility skills, and a modern magus can study and learn from these images, too.

A gallery that depicts Fertility Rituals may be investigated by a magus, as a source of the Insight required to integrate fertility magic and Hermetic theory. In addition, a laboratory may be constructed in the gallery, which (in addition to the normal bonuses and penalties for the laboratory) provides a +3 bonus to Creo Corpus Lab Totals (including during the development of a Fertility Ritual). Alternatively, the paintings may be removed from the cave and taken to a remote laboratory (including to a laboratory in another gallery cave), which reduces the Lab Total bonus to +1. Cave paintings that depict hunting rituals provide a +1 bonus to Animal Lab Totals, regardless of where they are installed. A magus may benefit from no more than three different cave paintings, and replications of cave paintings (whether produced via magical or mundane means) cannot be used either as sources of Insight or to provide bonuses to a Lab Total. This is because the cracks, texture, and nature of the cave surface add resonant meaning to the painting, which is not preserved by a mere image. The cave paintings are more than images: they are cultic artifacts.

A mundane mason can successfully remove a cave painting on a Dexterity + Craft Masonry stress roll against an Ease Factor of 15: a botch means that the mason destroys the painting. Once removed, the painting weighs about 400 pounds. Alternatively, a Rego Terram spell similar to Hand of the Antiquarian can be used.

Hand of the Antiquarian

ReTe 15

R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Ind

The magus traces around a section of stone up to one pace in diameter. That section, to a depth of up to an inch thick, floats out of the wall. While the magus touches the stone, it is effectively weightless.

(Base 3, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +1 Stone)

Of course, any magus who starts investigating isolated caves searching for ancient fetishes and cave paintings may encounter the current inhabitants — who may not welcome the intrusion. Anyone or anything may be living in a cave: a faerie, an animal, a magical beast, a demon, or nothing at all. Most are totally unaware of any connection between their cave and the practices of an ancient fertility cult. Exactly what is in any particular cave is entirely at the discretion of the storyguide, but below are some examples of what might be found in different, individual caves.

The Duergar's Cave

This cave has a Faerie aura of 3 and is the home of a bad-tempered faerie named Orpee. Orpee is a Duergar, a race of dwarf faeries who are notoriously malicious towards men, and he works in the smithy of

Faerie Might: 15 (Terram)

Characteristics: Int 0, Per 0, Pre –2, Com –3, Str +4, Sta +3, Dex 0, Qik –1

Size: –1

Age: n/a (40)

Confidence Score: 1 (3) Virtues and Flaws: None

Personality Traits: Angry +3, Reclusive +3, Intolerant +2

Reputations: Angry faerie 4 (local)

Combat:

Bludgeon: Init –1, Attack +6, Defense

+4, Damage +6

Soak: +5

Fatigue Levels: n/a

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–4), –3 (5–8),

–5 (9–12), Incapacitated (13–16)

Abilities: Area Lore 2 (iron deposits), Awareness 3 (underground), Brawl 4 (bludgeon), Carouse 1 (with craftsmen), Craft Ironwork 3 (horseshoes), Faerie Lore 2 (Duergar), Living Language 5 (blacksmithing terms), Stealth 4 (underground), Survival 5 (underground)

Powers:

Iron Glare, 3 points, Init +10, Terram: Orpee can inflict a Medium Wound on anyone with whom he makes eye contact (for a description of targeting effects with Range Eye see ArM5, page 111).

Sense of Iron, 0 points, constant, Terram: Orpee can sense and is aware of precisely where any item made of iron is, within the room where he is.

Equipment: leather apron, metal working tools

Encumbrance: 0

Vis: 1 pawn of Terram in each eye.

Appearance: Orpee is a stocky man with muscular arms wearing simple leather clothes and a sooty leather apron that is hung with a number of metal-working tools. In low light his eyes have a warm orange glow, like dying embers.

Faerie Might: 10 (Herbam)

Characteristics: Int +1, Per +1, Pre +3, Com +2, Str –2, Sta –2, Dex

+3, Qik +1

Size: –1

Age: n/a (30)

Confidence Score: 1 (3) Virtues and Flaws: None

Personality Traits: Jealous +3, Canny

+2

Reputations: Forest faerie 4 (local)

Combat:

Dodge: Init +1, Attack n/a, Defense

+1, Damage n/a

Soak: –1

Fatigue Levels: n/a

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–4), –3 (5–8),

–5 (9–12), Incapacitated (13–16)

Abilities: Area Lore 3 (plants), Awareness 4 (forests), Charm 3 (men), Folk Ken 2 (travelers), Guile 3 (Orpee), Faerie Lore 2 (forests), Living Language 5 (plants), Profession Herbalist 4 (growing plants), Stealth 7 (forest), Survival 3 (forest)

Powers:

Into the Trees, 2 points, Init +10, Herbam: Senna can move inside any living plant that is bigger than she is. She is aware of everything about her, as normal, and cannot be harmed when she is inside a plant, but if the plant is destroyed Senna is too. A plant can be destroyed by being either uprooted, or totally consumed by fire. She can leave the plant again at will.

Tender to Plants, 1 point, Init +2, Herbam: Senna may duplicate any Hermetic Creo Herbam spell of magnitude 2 or less.

Speaker to the Trees, 0 points, constant, Herbam: Senna can speak with any living plant.

Equipment: Dress made of leaves Encumbrance: 0

Vis: 2 pawns of Herbam in her hair. This vis can be harvested without harming Senna, although she might not give permission, and it grows back in spring.

Appearance: Senna is a small, lithe woman with a green tinge to her skin, and long, olive-green hair, which is twisted together into several thick strands that have the appearance of the roots of a young tree. She wears a dress made of: in spring, tiny leaves interspersed with small white flowers; in summer, of lush green leaves; and in autumn, of rustling yellow and orange leaves. In winter her dress disappears entirely which forces her, slightly embarrassed, to spend the season sleeping inside a tree.

a local faerie lord. Orpee's cave contains two fine galleries; one illustrates a hunting ritual, and the other details a fertility ritual. Orpee is very fond of his galleries and, when he is not at the smithy, spends his time contemplating and carefully protecting the images, which he fears visitors will damage or destroy.

Orpee's wife, a forest sprite named Senna, lives in a fertile dell near the cave, which has a Faerie aura of 2. According to villagers who live in the region near the cave, Seena tends to the plants in the forest and is responsible for planting new trees where old ones have fallen. Seena is jealous of the time that Orpee devotes to his galleries and tries to convince travelers that pass to destroy the galleries while Orpee is at work so he will visit her instead. She is too frightened of Orpee's reaction to attempt this for herself.

The cave contains two ancient fertility fetishes.

The Cave of Lights

The ceiling of this cave system is filled with tiny lights that are in fact tiny magical insects, which glow in the dark like stars. The configuration of the insects on the cave roof actually matches the star field outside the cave, but the star field inside the cave includes extra stars that are invisible to the naked eye. A character can use the cave roof as an astronomical aid and gains a +3 bonus to all Artes Liberales (astronomy) Ability rolls made while within the cave. In addition, twice a year, the insects that represent the positions of Jupiter and Mars may each be harvested for vis and contain one pawn of Rego vis and Perdo vis, respectively. The exact time that this occurs varies from year to year and is different for each planet, but can be determined with a successful Intelligence + Artes Liberales (astronomy) roll against an Ease Factor of 9. The cave contains two fertility fetishes and a gallery that depicts the fertility ritual.

The Worm's Cave

A large and ancient worm, almost 100 feet long, inhabits this cave. The local people greatly fear the worm, especially its frequent forays during inclement weather, when it eats stranded stock and even the occasional shepherd. Once, the worm was a sea creature: it swam into the cave during the flood, and became stranded when the waters receded. Since then, the worm has adapted to living far from the sea; in fact, it has thrived by preying on the livestock of local farmers. The worm no longer desires to return to the sea, but when it rains it does remember the enveloping caress of the sea and ventures from the cave so that it can again feel water flowing over its body. The worm has no knowledge of the Order of Hermes or indeed any other human institutions; its only real concern is for itself and its continued survival. The worm's cave contains three ancient fertility fetishes.

The Flooded Cave

In the millennia since this cave was abandoned by the fertility cult several earthquakes have struck, disrupting the geography of the region. One of the earthquakes caused the diversion of a river, which flooded the cave. Today, the river runs into the cave and drains through a whirlpool in the rear chamber of the cave. The whirlpool, through a network of tunnels, feeds a nearby lake.

A character exploring the flooded cave notices that the water flows, with a rapidly increasing velocity, towards the rear chamber, If he enters the rear chamber he must, each round, make a Strength + Swim roll versus an Ease Factor of 12 to avoid being sucked into the whirlpool. After about ten minutes of bumping and buffeting through the tunnel network, a character that is sucked into (or voluntarily enters) the whirlpool is expelled into the lake. Every minute a Stamina + Swim roll is made for the character versus an Ease Factor of 12; if the roll is failed the violent buffeting inflicts a +15 injury (see ArM5, page 181). In addition, the character may take damage and drown due to lack of air (see ArM5, page 180). The cave system contains two fertility fetishes that can be retrieved from inside the flooded tunnel network.

The Bone Cave

This cave system has a single entrance formed by a fissure in the side of a mountain, and is currently used as a burial site by a group of villages that are clustered together in the shadow of the mountain. The villagers have been using the cave for this purpose for centuries, and now the cave is filled with the skeletal corpses of their ancestors. Roman missionaries who adapted their own rituals, to ease the villagers' doubts about conversion, preserved this eccentric burial ritual when they converted the region to Christianity.

The villagers would be very displeased to find a magus interfering with the remains of their ancestors. In addition, the priest, who preaches from a church in the largest village, fears that the presence of the characters will annoy the local saint whose bones are also interred in the cave, and so tries to rally the villagers against the intruders. The saint's bones are housed in a shrine at the back of the cave, in what was once the fertility chamber. The villagers' veneration of the saint has generated a Divine aura of 4 in the cave, and it contains three ancient fertility fetishes.

Magic Might: 35 (Aquam)

Characteristics: Int –1, Per +1, Pre –2, Com –2, Str +5, Sta +7, Dex

+3, Qik +3

Size: +7 Age: n/a (30)

Confidence Score: 2 (10) Virtues and Flaws: None

Personality Traits: Secretive +3,

Selfish +2

Reputations: Evil worm that lives in a cave and causes storms 6

(local)

Combat:

Grapple in Coils: Init +3, Attack +10, Defense +5, Damage +10

The worm attacks by attempting to envelope and disable prey by grappling them in its coils. This is resolved using the non-lethal combat rules (ArM5, page 174). Once its prey is unconscious the worm swallows it. This action, when complete, kills the prey. It takes half an hour to swallow a Size –1 character, an hour to swallow a Size 0 character, two hours to swallow a Size +1 character, and six hours to swallow a Size +2 character. The worm cannot swallow larger characters and smaller characters are swallowed almost instantly.

Soak: +15

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0/0/0, –1, –3,

–5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–12), –3 (13– 24), –5 (25–36), Incapacitated (37–48)

Abilities: Area Lore 5 (ambush sites), Awareness 5 (movement), Brawl 5 (grapple), Hunt 7 (prey lost in a storm), Magic Lore 3 (worms), Living Language 5 (shepherd terminology), Stealth 6 (hiding), Survival 10 (local area), Swim 10 (great depths)

Powers:

Wound the Sky, 10 points, Init, Aquam: The worm can call up an immense deluge that causes rain to fall from the sky for a duration of Sun, over an area about ten miles in diameter. It is virtually impossible for a normal individual to move about during the deluge, and for each character out in the open, a Stamina roll against an Ease Factor of 12 is made every ten minutes. If the roll is failed the character loses a Fatigue level, and any character that becomes Unconscious likely drowns. The deluge also causes rivers in the area to flood, which can cause damage that lasts for years.

Wisdom of Water, 2 point, Init +2, Aquam: The worm may duplicate any Hermetic Intellego Aquam spell of level 25 or less.

Reform Body, 1 point, Init +5, Animal: The worm can reduce a wound it has sustained by one level each time this power is used: a Medium Wound becomes a Light Wound and so forth. The only way to prevent the worm from repairing a wound is to completely slice through its flesh, by inflicting an Incapacitating Wound and then physically separating the segments before the worm can start to reconnect them — which it does by reducing the Incapacitating Wound to a Heavy Wound.

Vis: 10 pawns of Aquam.

Appearance: The worm is 100 feet long, 5 feet in diameter, and covered in bony, segmented armor that originally protected the worm from the pressure of the ocean depths. The worm has no visible sense organs, but a gaping, toothless maw. In fact, the worm senses through delicate tendrils along the length of its body, which detect changes in pressure. Although these work well, the worm has a –3 penalty when making rolls to sense stationary targets. The worm attacks by enveloping its prey in its coils, constricting the prey until dead, and then slowly swallowing the body.