Amazons

Legends tell of a tribe of warrior women, great in war, which has forsaken men except for breeding. They fight, rule, and live together, refusing to join male-dominated society. They're said to cut off one of their breasts, both to emulate the strength of men and to distinguish themselves from other women. These "Amazons" are described by historians and epic poets, but none present a detailed account of the legendary women. Their stories are repeated hearsay and gross fabrications, intended to show how weird and wrong Amazons are compared to Greek society. Several stories hint at the nature of Amazons, but many are wrong.

Most fantasy roleplaying gamers will have heard of Amazons, as they are a common inclusion in fantasy literature and games. Mythic Amazons are just as well known to the imaginations of Mythic Europeans. While the Amazonian exploits described by Homer and Herodotus are unknown, Virgil and Justin mention them, as do the vernacular tales of Justin of Exeter and Benoit de Sainte-Maure. The tale of Penthesilea, the Amazon queen during the Trojan War, is most famous in the west, and Queen Thalestris is the most famous Amazon in the east.

Penthesilea went to aid Priam because of his famous son, Hector, but arrived after Hector's death. Loyally joining the Trojans, she killed many Greeks, but was eventually killed by Achilles' son, Pyrrhus.

Thalestris was drawn by Alexander the Great's illustrious reputation, and came to him offering to bear his child. Alexander agreed, and welcomed her into his war tent for thirteen nights, but no tales are told of any children of the royal pair.

The Amazons are first described here as a whole: their history, location, and society. Following this, Amazonian magic is detailed — their sorceresses and the incantations and rites they perform. Lastly, their most powerful sorceress Viea is presented. This is the same woman whom Bonisagus captured, Trianoma's twin. She is still alive, in a fashion, and plots a terrible revenge on the Order of Hermes, combining her original magic, magic stolen from Bonisagus, and the magical tradition and martial prowess of the Amazons.

The Amazons are a society of women, all trained in the art of war. The majority of Amazons live on the island Amazonia, and are lead by their queen. Smaller groups are scattered around the Black and Caspian Seas, living in secret enclaves with each group led by a general. Some of these raiding parties are large, giving the false impression that more than one tribe of Amazons exists. Though removed, they are tied to Amazonia and their queen.

Amazonian society is entirely militaristic and extremely competitive. There are no Amazon craftsmen, traders, or farmers. Every Amazon is a warrior, and every nonmilitary role is delegated to a male slave. Their society has existed longer than any other, including those of the Romans, Carolingians, and Egyptians, and has been little changed by the passing of time. It is a completely oral society, meaning that nothing is written down or recorded. They eschew male systems of government and organization; everything other cultures do to control themselves is ignored or altered by the Amazons. They hold firmly to their legends, and have customs rather than laws to govern themselves. They put more emphasis on their collective retelling of myths than in any type of formal codification of social rules.

The basic social unit is the raiding party. Led by a general, it consists of a number of warriors banded together under her leadership to raid and plunder. Several raiding parties include a sorceress, whose arcane power aids the group. While she is mistrusted by all except her closest companions, the general recognizes her usefulness and utilizes it, despite the personal misgivings she might have about such a dishonest, disreputable character.

Without written histories, Amazon elders rely on tradition and accepted mythology to explain their origin. The common story, retold in a number of ways, is that many centuries ago, a king and all his male warriors were defeated by a neighboring kingdom. Rather than admit defeat, the queen ordered the female population to arms and they rode into battle. Aided by a priestess, the queen's army routed the enemy, offering no mercy and taking no prisoners. Different legends place this event in different countries, including Greece, Scythia, and Colopherus.

Relocation myths recount how the Amazons spread, and are as popular as the various origin myths. Suffering a defeat, usually at the hands of the Greeks, three ships full of Amazon captives were crossing a body of water, when the captives seized the ship and slew all the men. Having no skill with ships, the Amazons let the winds take them

to a foreign shore. There they quickly raided the neighboring kingdoms, stole horses and men, and retreated to a distant location. Different myths move the Amazons to and from different locations, including Egypt, Cappadocia, Libya, Ephesus, Delos, and other Aegean islands.

The elements in common are that the Amazons resulted from a rebellious queen, who broke the social norms and avenged her husband. This queen then spread her followers, either through victory or defeat, making it difficult to trace their exact origin. In typical conqueror fashion, the Amazons took aspects of the defeated culture for their own, incorporating the combative style of the Scythian horsemen, the religious trappings of Egyptian culture, and the ethnocentric jingoism of the Greeks.

Any educated character can tell a questioner where the Amazons live: "At the edge of the map." This is both accurate and purposeful. Since their defeat at Troy, Amazons have intentionally relocated to be as far away from male-dominated society as possible. When scholars say that the Amazons live at the southern, northern, or eastern edge of the map, they are correct.

In 1220, the Amazons have relocated once again, and currently live on a large island near the western shores of the Caspian Sea. The island is called "Amazonia" by its inhabitants. It is called Femyny, the Maiden Land, or the Land of Women by others. The island is surrounded by mist and difficult to find, so much so that the Amazons' neighbors don't even know of its existence. To cross to the mainland, a sorceress summons an earth elemental to build a connecting land bridge, allowing the Amazonian cavalry easy access. The island's interior is a rough, craggy land scattered with caves and rocky defiles, and several active mud volcanoes. Most of the inhabitants live on the island's shores, where the only arable land exists. A walled city rests in the north, named Poliochni after one of the original Amazon cities. It houses the queen's palace, an open-air forum used for games, military training, and community meetings, and the Amazonopolis, a large temple dedicated to Hestria and the other gods and goddess the Amazons worship. Almost 1,000 adult Amazons call Poliochni home. The next-largest community is to the east, near where the land bridge is raised, holding perhaps 500 Amazon warriors. A smaller community of around 250 sits on the southern shore of the island. To the west lies the community of men who were abducted in raids. They live in near-confinement, supplying the Amazons with husbands and menial labor.

The Amazons of Amazonia have no formal interactions with their neighbors. They make raiding forays to collect men, but other than that have little interest in foreigners. The greater area of the Caspian Sea keeps them away from westerners. Their neighbors are the Cumans to the north, and the Sultanate of Khwarezm to the south. The Cumans are steppe horsemen, much like the Mongols, while the people of Khwarezm are Sunni Muslim Turks, former mumluk slaves of the Seljuq Empire. For 200 years the Cumans and Khwarezms have lived in a state of war, defending the intervening march lands and making occasional sorties against each other. This war zone provides ample opportunities for Amazon raiders, who attack both groups without discrimination. Cumans are essentially Mongols, minus shamans as described in Ancient Magic, pages 16-18. The Sultanate of Khwarezm is a fully functioning Islamic empire, and players wishing to detail Khwarezm characters can use the rules found in Realms of Power: The Divine, pages 114-120

This local balance of power is about to change, thanks to Genghis Khan and his ambitions. As a canonical saga begins, Genghis Khan recently sent a group of ambassadors to Khwarezm to offer an alliance. The sultan, Ala ad-Din Muhammad II, responded by beheading the entire group. The sultan's bravado has yet to be answered, but it will be. If your saga follows medieval history, Genghis Khan will invade Khwarezm in February 1220. Within the year he will rout the sultan's army and slay the ruler and his family. Following the conquest of Khwarezm, Genghis Khan and his descendants will move to attack the Cuman tribes, defeating them

by the middle of thirteenth century.

The Mongol invasions are a turning point in Amazon history. Long isolated and separate, they will decide to re-enter the political arena, and voice their intentions with blood and steel.

The Amazons exist in an egalitarian society that would scare visitors, if any were allowed. There are no classes or social distinctions. Every member is an Amazon, pure and simple — a woman trained in the art of war. Social ranking and advancement focus on the warrior's prowess and record of successes. Any Amazon can rise to the rank of queen, providing she has the skill to claim and hold the position.

The Amazons are essentially a collection of raiding parties, each led by a general and often assisted by a sorceress. Raiding parties do not live on Amazonia, but are scattered throughout the surrounding countryside. Once a year or thereabouts, representatives of the raiding party return to Amazonia with the spoils of their efforts: material goods, livestock, and slaves. Gifted girls are especially sought, to continue the tradition of Amazon sorcery. These goods are given to the queen, who distributes them the island's population. Amazons take note of the amount and splendor of the goods, and remember which raiding general supplied them. The general herself is forbidden from entering Amazonia, as custom dictates. There are only two conditions that warrant a general returning. Either she is retiring from raiding, having given her group's leadership position to another Amazon, or she is staging a coup against the current queen. In the second instance, she is accompanied by her raiding party, and the streets of Poliochni will soon run with blood as the queen and her bodyguards resist the invading general.

Coming to power, the new queen brings her raiding party with her, including her captains and sorceress. She may face resistance by Amazons still loyal to the deposed queen, and the first years of her rule could continue to be violent. The queen makes every important decision facing Amazonia. She oversees the community, adjudicates squabbles, judges judicial trials of combat, and maintains the male slave community. She can stage raids, but a queen's raid is a short affair, and her troop is only gone from the island for a few days. These are usually large forces that ride to a selected target, attack it, and return as soon as possible. She rules until she is unfit, meaning that a better warrior has risen to power and replaced her.

When not raiding, Amazons are training. At least half of the entire population is raiding at any given time, leaving the other half to improve their martial skills and teach their daughters military skills. A small percentage is old or infirm, but since most Amazons prefer to die in battle, this is an insignificant group. They assist as best they can, repairing armor, tending the wounded, or guarding the slaves.

Amazon women take husbands, and are monogamous only if it pleases them. Some Amazons keep their husbands with them, and househusbands are allowed, although a woman having a househusband living with her does suffer some social embarrassment. Most husbands, once their reproductive duty is complete, are moved to the eastern village. This is intentionally never a large community. They are responsible for the menial tasks assigned them, usually agriculture and domestic services. Men plow the fields, watch the herds, clean the public buildings, and remove excrement and other garbage. They are also responsible for raising any male children the Amazons put with them.

To take a husband, an Amazon must first slay a man in battle, an ancient custom that is still predominately practiced. It does occasionally happen that an Amazon takes a man out of wedlock, a situation more common with young Amazons than their elders. In such a case, the man is generally removed from the woman by her family members. If the unwed woman produces a child, there is no social stigma for the youth, and it is treated just like every other child born in Amazonian society. If it is a female, the child is reared by the mother. If it is a male child, the mother has options. She can raise the child, keeping him until he is seven years old before sending him to the men's village. Or she can immediately send him to the men's village, although his chances of survival are small. Lastly, she can kill the child. Being the mother, the choice is hers, and none of the choices carry any social consequences.

The tale that every Amazon cuts off one of her breasts is false. It is a myth invented by Greek writers to explain the derivation of their name and is simply not true. A sorceress will sometimes disfigure herself by removing a breast (see Scepters later), but it is not a common practice of the Amazons.

Amazons still worship pagan gods —

Amazonomachy is a Greek word that means "Amazon battle," a battle in which the entire tribe of Amazons takes part. Nearly any Greek writer who mentions the Amazons includes an Amazonomachy. Apollodorus' Library recounts the siege of Attica, which resulted from Theseus' and Heracles' raid on the Amazons. Heracles stole the magical war-belt of the queen, Hippolyte, and Theseus kidnapped the queen's sister, Antiope. Hippolyte and her army stormed Attica and laid siege to Athens. Despite their best efforts, they failed to rescue Antiope, who refused to return to her sisters.

The Aethiopis tells the story of the

Amazonomachy during the Trojan War. Allied with King Priam, Queen Penthesilia assailed the Greek army late in the war. Too late to save Hector, Penthesilia ravaged the Greek lines. Though her efforts offered Priam's forces a brief reprieve, she was killed by Pyrrhus and her army was decimated.

While certainly entertaining, Amazonomachies are myths invented by writers ignorant of the truth, usually to show how strong and valiant their heroes are. Because of the animosity The Gift engenders, no group of sorceresses would be willing to work together for such an extended campaign.

primarily a blending of Greek, Scythian, and Egyptian gods — but Amazons don't expect much from their deities. Sorceresses know that demons and faeries can take the guise of their gods, and are suspicious of any being claiming to be a god. They also know, thanks to their foremost sorceress Viea, that their magic is not channeled from the gods but is a result of their Gift. Even though she uses the gods' names in her invocations and rites, every sorceress knows that her magic is distinct and separate from the Amazonian gods.

Amazonian society has little patience with those who rail against accepted norms or refuse to participate. Malcontents are tolerated for only so long. Once a woman has become too difficult for her companions to handle, she is removed from Amazon society. Typically she is forced to leave the island or the raiding group, taking whatever food and equipment she can carry, and is told never to return. Henceforth she is considered an enemy and will be slain on sight.

When Amazons disagree, they fight. Such duels are the legal courts of the Amazons. The two combatants face off, often in the forum but anywhere is acceptable, and battle until one concedes to the other's wishes. Amazons fight over living space, spoils of war, husbands, livestock, children; the list is inexhaustible. The winner gets her way, and since Amazons rarely admit defeat, the loser is usually buried. Amazons do not have a feud-based society, and the loser's sisters and comrades-in-arms do not pursue the victor with vengeance in mind. Though their sister is dead, she died as an Amazon, sword in hand, and will join the ranks of Amazon spirits who watch over Amazonia.

Sorceresses have a difficult time fitting into Amazon society. Because of their Gift, Amazons regard them as untrustworthy, dishonorable, and suspicious. Few have spent enough time with a sorceress to realize that this is a consequence of her Gift and is not her personality. But no one doubts their efficiency and prowess with magic. Most Amazon generals want a sorceress in her army, just not necessarily living in her tent.

Most sorceresses became raiders, assisting generals or leading smaller bands of their own. Out on the plains or threading through mountainous passes she rarely encounters another sorceress. Her name is known in Amazonia by the spoils she sends, bolstering her reputation even while she lives an isolated life. Even though her people prefer not to meet her, her name can live on in the repeated stories of her exploits. Over time, sorceresses have become the heart of Amazon raiding parties. The troop needs a general to govern it, though, which a Gifted sorceress cannot be if the group is larger than about twice her Leadership score. Consequently, most raiding parties are lead by a general who is either a friend or a puppet of the sorceress. The most successful raiding parties have both a strong general to lead them, and a powerful sorceress to advise and assist her.

Other sorceresses live in isolated caves or hidden valleys not far from Amazonia, and a very few live in the island's central area, despite the hostile terrain. They are occasionally visited by Amazons; women seeking cures, magical assistance for child birth, or portents of their future. Such sorceresses often have a small gathering of kin living with them; biological sisters who have grown used to the Gifted individual over time. Such a life is hazardous, and many fall easy prey to more powerful sorceresses plundering their homes. Raised in the competitive environment of Amazon society, their first response is often violent. Nothing prevents a sorceress from killing another one; in fact, there is much to gain from another's defeat. Raw vis, enchanted items, captive magical animals, a Gifted apprentice, and a temple in a higher Magic aura are tempting spoils of battle.

Since The Gift is rare, granted only to a few, Amazon society faces a challenge when an Amazon gives birth to a Gifted male child. Because of their huge gender bias, Amazons cannot accept a man as a sorceress. Realizing how rare The Gift is, and how few sorceresses the Amazons have, sometimes a conditional exception is made. If the boy child can be made a woman, he can be accepted as an apprentice and trained in Amazonian magic. This process is usually shrouded in secrecy, with only the child's mother, siblings, and the accepting sorceress aware of the deception. The ruse must be maintained; however readily the sorceresses admit that they need more members, seeing a man practicing Amazonian magic drives them into a blind fury.

Such a deception can only be handled through mundane means; no Amazon spells exist to change a subject's gender. Because a sorceress does not interact regularly with society, merely dressing in women's clothes may achieve the desired end. Riding in raids and living with Amazons in encampments would prove more difficult, but not impossible. The character must take great pains to continuously appear to be a woman. Becoming wounded and seeking medical aid causes a problem, for example, as do other types of social interactions. A male Amazonian sorcerer should take the Flaw: Transvestite, which is changed from a Minor Personality Flaw to a Major Story Flaw because of the consequences if the charade slips.

Amazon characters are created like regular Ars Magica characters, with certain exceptions. Certain Virtues and Flaws are not appropriate for Amazon characters, reflecting their closed society and strict adherence to tradition. A sidebar lists the prohibited Virtues and Flaws. Being pagans, Amazons are not allowed any Divine Supernatural Abilities or powers. An Amazon is just as susceptible to infernal and faerie agents as any person in Mythic Europe, so Virtues that grant Infernal or Faerie Abilities are allowed. Several

new Virtues and Flaws exist, as do a few new Abilities. Other than the particular Amazonian Virtues, Flaws, and Abilities, a character must adhere to the normal considerations for character generation, as specified in the Virtues and Flaws Rules and Guidelines table (ArM5, page 37).

Amazons are split along gender lines, an essential characteristic of the society, and cross-gender roles are not tolerated. For most characters, warriors and sorceresses must be women, and men can only be slaves.

If you are creating an Amazon sorceress, use the regular rules up until she is taken as an apprentice, which is usually around the age of 9 or 10. She will likely have gained martial skills as a child. She then undergoes 15 years of apprenticeship, gaining 240 experience points from which she has to buy Abilities, Arts, and spells. If you want to create an older, more powerful sorceress, use the rules for creating magi after their apprenticeship (ArM5, page 52). For each year past apprenticeship she receives 30 experience points, minus 10 from her yearly total for each season that she spends undertaking another activity.

A starting Amazon sorceress must spend at least 60 experience points on spells, either incantations or rites. She may start with more, depending on how the player wants to spend the character's starting experience points. The highestlevel spell that she can learn is equal to her Temple Total in the Vowel and Consonant combination of the spell (Temple Totals are explained later). Assume that her mistress taught her in a temple with a Magic aura of 1 when calculating her Temple Totals during this stage of character generation.

Amazon Chant 3 Amazonian Spellcraft 1 Amazon Cult Lore 1

Total Cost: 40 Experience Points

General Abilities: No General Abilities that pertain to other societies are allowed, especially Order of Hermes Lore and other (Organization) Lores that lie outside Amazonia.

Academic Abilities: Dead Language: all except Amazonian Chant.

Arcane Abilities: Code of Hermes, Magic Theory, Parma Magica

These abilities were created for Amazon Ars Magica characters.

General Ability

The language of the Amazons is simply called "Amazon." It is a mix of Greek and Scythian with several Egyptian loan words. It is similar enough to Greek to allow limited communication. Modify the Language score by –3 if a Greek and an Amazon try to speak with each other.

General Ability

Amazonia Lore covers the current social and geographical facts of the Amazons and Amazonia, as well as their history. It includes knowledge of the roles and privileges of the leaders, responsibilities of the community members, and traditional enemies and adversaries.

Amazonia Lore is available to every Amazon character.

Arcane Ability

Amazonian Cult Lore covers the mystic rituals and practices of the religious and magical culture of the Amazons. It includes knowledge of the ancient gods and their appropriate worship, an understanding of current magical practices, and the secret signals and arcane procedures necessary for participating in rites. While it involves spellcraft, it is not part of creating or casting Amazonian spells. Specialties: any one Vowel.

Amazonian Cult Lore is only available to Amazon sorceress characters.

Academic Ability

Amazonian Chant is the dead language of the Amazon's founders, the language used by the ancients in invoking the gods and producing spells. Incantations and rites are always cast in Amazonian Chant, and the better a sorceress speaks Amazonian Chant, the longer her spells lasts. Since it is a language, those that know it can also communicate with it, speaking a type of secret language to their allies. Sorceresses typically use Amazonian Chant to speak with their peers. It is an unwritten language, meaning that symbolic characters and letters do not exist. Specialties: any one Vowel.

Amazonian Chant is available to Amazon sorceress characters without the need for a further Virtue.

Arcane Ability

Amazonian Spellcraft details the uses and procedures of creating Amazon incantations and rites. A sorceress must have Amazon Spellcraft to learn or invent new spells, but not to cast spells. This is different from Amazonian Cult Lore, which regulates participation in a rite. Specialties: learning spells, enchanted items, a single Art.

Major Hermetic Virtues: All except for Gentle Gift and Mythic Blood

Major Hermetic Flaws: All except for Blatant Gift, Deficient Technique (which affects a Vowel), Magic Addiction, Necessary Condition, Painful Magic, and Restriction

Minor Hermetic Flaws: All except for Careless Sorcerer, Cyclic Magic, Deficient Form (Consonant), Deleterious Circumstances, Disorientation Magic, Infamous Parens (Mistress), Susceptibility to (Realm) Power, Warped Magic, and Weird Magic

This list of Hermetic Virtues and Flaws is not exhaustive, and does not take into account the many new Hermetic Virtues and Flaws presented in other Ars Magica supplements. Troupes will have to decide if those Virtues and Flaws are appropriate for Amazon characters, keeping in mind the inflexible, unwritten, non-spontaneous nature of Amazon magic.

Minor and Major Social Status Virtues & Flaws: All are prohibited for Amazon characters. Players should select one of the modified or new Social Status Virtues or Flaws for Amazons.

There are a handful of Hermetic Virtues and Flaws that Amazon characters can select, modified to reflect Amazon magic instead of Hermetic magic. Besides the listed changes, the Virtues and Flaws operate as normal.

This is a Major Flaw for Amazons, since every incantation needs to be aimed.

This is a Major Virtue for Amazons, since Durations can be much longer for sorceresses than magi, and having the ability to end a lengthy duration is more of an advantage.

Since Amazons use magical animals to make rites permanent, the character must decide how this animal fits into play. Is it an animal waiting to be sacrificed? Or is it a real friend, who will draw the attention of every sorceress who knows about it?

This adaptation of Poor Formulaic Magic is a Major Flaw for a sorceress.

This is a Major Flaw for Amazons, not a Minor Flaw. To determine how much shorter a spell is, roll a simple die. 1–3 subtract one from the sorceress' Amazonian Chant score when calculating the spell's duration, 4-–6 subtract 2, 7–9 subtract 3, and on a 10 decrease the Duration by one step. Spells will always last at least Momentary duration.

The Amazon variant of Skilled Parens, this Virtue adds 60 extra experience points at character generation. It does not add more levels of spells at character generation.

The player must always roll a stress die both for casting an incantation and aiming it, making this a Major Flaw for a sorceress.

These virtues have been specially designed for Amazon characters.

Free, Social Status

The character is an Amazon — a woman warrior of good standing within the community. The character may purchase Martial Abilities at character generation.

Major, Supernatural

The sorceress has a strong mental connection between her magic and her combat prowess. Every time she gains at least 2 experience points in a Martial Ability, through study or adventure, she also gains 1 experience point in Finesse. She cannot, through this Virtue, gain more than 1 experience point in Finesse per season, no matter how many experience points she puts into Martial Abilities, nor how many Martial Abilities she raises. She may, however, put adventure experience into both Martial Abilities and Finesse, and claim the bonus point. The reverse is also true, and improving Finesse by at least 2 experience points awards 1 experience point in any Martial Ability.

Major, Supernatural

The sorceress' magic is stronger than her sisters and is more difficult to resist. Resistance Roll Ease Factors start at 9 instead of 6.

Minor, General

The character has gone on several raids and has shown she is extremely capable. She has an additional 50 experience points to spend on Martial Abilities during character generation.

Free, Social Status

The character is an Amazon sorceress. She begins play with a constructed temple for her magical activities, situated somewhere outside of Amazonia. The site has a Magic aura of 1. She may learn any Ability available to Amazons, including Martial and Arcane Abilities, and must have The Gift.

Major, Supernatural

The sorceress has a more symbolic understanding of Amazon Vowels, viewing them as the beginning, middle, and end of the day, a woman's life, or a journey. Each time she raises one Vowel score through study, she receives 1 experience point in the other two Vowels.

The following new flaws are appropriate for Amazon characters.

Major, Social Status

The character is a male slave of the

Amazons, having been either born in Amazonia or captured during a raid. If the character has an Amazon mother, he has spent his entire life in Amazonia and cannot take any Virtues that give access to Martial Abilities. If he was captured in a raid, he may have pre-existing weapon skills.

Minor, Story

The character is male with an Amazon mother who loves him enough to help him in his life as a slave. He may be one of the rare few who don't live in the slave quarters, instead of being assigned as a personal attendant to another Amazon or even still living with his mother. While there are limits to her aid, his mother will do her best to make life easier for the character.

Major, Story

The sorceress' mistress loathes her former apprentice so much that she will do everything in her power to humiliate, debase, and obstruct the character. Since there are no customs to prevent violent interactions between Amazon sorceresses, this Flaw is worse than the Hermetic equivalent: Tormenting Master.

Major, Supernatural

The sorceress' magic is weaker than her sisters and is easier to resist. Resistance Roll Ease Factors start at 3 instead of 6.

Minor, Story

The sorceress character starts play with her temple located in a +3 Magic aura. Others will try to take this from her, either through political, social, or violent means.

Minor, Story

The sorceress' mistress went to great efforts to be friendly to her apprentice, and the two had genuine affection for each other. To maintain this friendship, the character must continue to interact with her mistress, spending one season assisting in the mistress' temple every other year. The elder sorceress is an ally and offers aid or resources if the relationship is maintained. Regardless of how often she sees the character, the mistress occasionally requests help.

Major, Story

The sorceress character is still consid-

ered an apprentice by her mistress, even though she has spent 15 years under her mistress' care and received all the required training in the Amazon Arts. The mistress has not pronounced the character a sorceress, so she is still viewed by her contemporaries as an apprentice. No one will respect her, her temple, or her work until she removes herself from her mistress' control.

Amazons have a very distinctive style of armor and a preference for specific weapons. Two weapons in particular — a single-edged battle axe called a sagaris and a double-edged battle axe called a labrys are traditional for the Amazon army. The labrys is used by the cavalry, along with the Scythian bow as the preferred missile weapon, while the infantry uses both labrys and sagaris. Both infantry and cavalry wear a cotton hauberk laced with metal rings for armor, and carry a crescent-shaped shield called a pelta on their left arm.

Besides these classical trappings, Amazons also use spoils of war, meaning that any available medieval weapon can be found in the Amazon army. Raid leaders may wear better armor (chain mail) and wield more effective weapons. Much depends on the predilections of the individual Amazon. Wearing captured chain mail at the Amazonopolis would be a social faux pas, but wearing it on the field might inspire bravery in a leader's troops. The only weapon an Amazon won't use

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

Size: 0

Age: 27 (Appearance: 27)

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

Virtues and Flaws: Amazon; Improved Characteristics, Self-Confident, Tough; Ability Block (other languages), Ambitious, Oversensitive

Personality Traits: Ambitious +2, Brave +2, Insensitive +1

Combat:

Dodge: Init –1, Attack n/a, Defense +3, Damage n/a

Fist: Init –1, Attack +7, Defense +4, Damage +2

Labrys and pelta: Init 0, Attack +13, Defense +8, Damage +8

Labrys and pelta, mounted: Init 0, Attack +16, Defense +11, Damage +8

Scythian bow: Init –2, Attack +11, Defense +5, Damage +8

Soak: +8

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

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Athletics 3 (running), Amazon 5 (concise statements), Amazonian Lore 2 (Poliochni), Bow 4 (Scythian bow), Brawl 3 (fist), Caucasus Mountains Lore 3 (routes into Georgia), Chirurgy 2 (field dressings), Hunt 2 (tracking), Leadership 4 (in combat), Ride 3 (surprise attacks), Single Weapon 5 (labrys and pelta), Survival 3 (mountains), Swim 1 (at sea)

Equipment: Amazonian armor, Scythian bow and quiver, labrys and pelta, horse

Encumbrance: 1 (3)

Appearance: Polemusa is stocky and square-shouldered, and looks very rugged when dressed for war. Paradoxically, her facial features are extremely fine, with narrow lips and a slender nose.

Polemusa is an Amazon warrior, the general of a small raiding party. Raised in Amazonia, she has spent the last several years of her life away from home, raiding the mountain passes that interlace the Caucasus Mountains. Riding with a dozen other Amazons, she has raided as far west as Armenia and is just beginning to encroach upon Trebizond. Polemusa has not had great luck as the group's general and has only returned to Amazonia twice, once with plunder and a second time to recruit new warriors after a defeat. She is quite sensitive about her lack of success and has challenged those who criticize her.

Her raiding party has recently accepted an Amazon sorceress, and Polemusa has high hopes that the sorceress will increase their number of successful raids. However, she does not trust the woman and never leaves her unguarded or unwatched. Until the sorceress proves herself in battle, Polemusa remains aloof.

In combat, Polemusa can lead a group of warriors a trained group, serving as both the leader and the vanguard (see ArM5, page 173). She can lead a group of four warriors for an Attack or Defense bonus of +15 (counting her Leadership specialty). Her preferred method of attack is to split the raiding party into four groups, each with a leader, and attack at dawn just as a caravan is preparing for its day's journey.

Statistically, a labrys has the same combat stats as an axe, a sagaris as a pole axe, a Scythian bow as a short bow, a pelta as a round shield, and Amazonian armor is just like full metal reinforced leather armor.

Amazonian magic focuses on the individual warrior rather than the four elements, demons, spirits, or other focuses common to other types of magic. Traditionally each spell was sung by a sorceress, who praised the mystical properties of the gods in hopes of enticing their attention and achieving predetermined results. Ancient Amazonian magic was practical, meaning that much of it covered the mundane nuisances of life, including healing, general health, leadership, and combat. Since few of the sorceresses' incantations produced flamboyant effects, witnesses believed that spells were mere prayers, and sorceresses simply priestesses. Nothing could be further from the truth.

While Amazonian magic is not visually spectacular, it is potent. Developed by warrior women with military persuasions, many incantations are meant to be cast in combat at either an ally or an enemy. Like a striking spear, Amazonian incantations are fast and accurate. They are not subtle, and do not concern themselves with understanding nature or the magical universe. An Amazonian sorceress serves her family best by swiftly destroying its enemies.

Originally, Amazonian magic was praise songs sung to their gods — hybrids of Hellenic deities influenced by the Egyptians and Scythians. The Amazon sorceress Viea, working with notes stolen from Bonisagus, was able to codify these prayers into a system that resembles

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

Size: –1

Age: 25 (Appearance: 25)

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

Virtues and Flaws: The Gift; Amazon Sorceress; Strong Magic, Symbolic Understanding; Affinity with Zoi, Improved Characteristics, Great Communication; Short-Lived Magic, Dark Secret; Animal Companion, Driven, Small Frame

Personality Traits: Determined +3, Cautious +2

Combat:

Dagger: Init +1, Attack +4, Defense +4, Damage +2

Dodge: Init +1, Attack n/ax, Defense +3, Damage n/a

Scythian Bow: Init 0, Attack +6, Defense +3, Damage +5

Scythian Bow (mounted): Init 0, Attack +8, Defense +5, Damage +5

Soak: +4

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

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–4), –3 (5–8), –5 (9–12), Incapacitated (13–16), Dead (17+)

Abilities: Amazon 5 (songs), Amazon Chant 3 (Zoi), Amazon Spellcraft 3 (learning spells), Amazonian Cult Lore 3 (Zoi), Animal Handling 1 (boars), Athletics 2 (running), Awareness 2 (ambushes), Bow 3 (Scythian bow), Brawl 2 (dagger), Finesse 2 (Api), Penetration 1 (Zoi), Ride 1 (shooting), Swim 1 (underwater)

Arts: Al 3**, Ma** 6, Pa 1**, Ap** 4**, Ka** 1**; Nu** 1**, So** 6**, Zo** 6

Twilight Scars: None

Equipment: Scythian bow and Ama-

zon armor Encumbrance: 3 (3)

Spells Known:

Bearding the Bull (AlAp 10/+11) This spell gives an animal with a melancholy humor a Light Wound. (Base 5, +1 Seen Stranger)

Contact the Fallen Amazon Helene (AlZo 15/ +13) This spell summons the spirit Helene, as well as any other Might 5 Amazon spirit Klymene may know.

Hippolyta's Strike (AlSo 5/+13) This spell causes a Light Wound to a human target at Range: Seen Stranger.

Order the Slain Servant (MaZo 5/+16)

Prick the Distressing Spirit (PaZo 5/+11) This spell destroys 4 points of Might of a magic spirit. (Base 4, +1 Seen Stranger)

Surveying the Distant Realm (MaAp 5/+14) The Distant Eye (MaSo 15/+16) This spell is at Range: Cousin.

Appearance: Klymene is small, standing only slightly taller than a child. Her weapons and armor have been made to fit her smaller proportions, so while small she does not look comical.

Born in Amazonia, Klymene is just beginning her career, having recently been released from apprenticeship. She lives along the southern shores of the Black Sea with a small band of raiders, none of whom she has a sister relationship with. In her apprenticeship she somehow befriended a wild boar, which she has trained to serve a mount. For some reason, this animal does not react negatively to her Gift, and even seems to like it.

Back in Amazonia, Klymene has a brother. She has secretly swum to the island to assist him in small matters and check up on him. Such a sibling relationship is highly frowned upon, and if discovered it could be used against her by other sorceresses.

Klymene specializes in magic that summons Amazon spirits. She hopes to initially increase her archer skills with Loukia's help. Her preferred method of attack is to shoot at enemy targets from afar while her warriors engage in handto-hand combat. Currently, she is scouting the edges of the Tribunal of Thebes looking for Magic auras, hoping to be the first sorceress to find a covenant of the Order of Hermes.

Hermetic magic. Her system is not as elegant or flexible, but it did convert the static prayers into a more comprehensive system. While she was able to divert the prayers from interacting with the actual gods, wholly converting them to energies from the Magic realm, she was not able to alter the cultural conservatism of invoking these goddesses when casting spells. Consequently, several of the Amazon Arts still bear the names of Amazonian goddesses.

Amazon magic combines eight Arts, called Vowels and Consonants, in an assortment of ways to produce magical effects. Vowels and Consonants are more than a simple monosyllabic sound or symbol, and are instead ancient words for goddesses who encapsulate a specific area or magical sphere of effect.

The three Vowels are: Alala ("to open"), Ma'at ("to measure"), and Papaios ("to close"). The five Consonants are: Api (the earth/day), Kardia (the heart), Nux (the sky/night), Soma (the body), and Zoi (the spirits).

The Amazonian vowels are Alala (Al), Ma'at (Ma), and Papaios (Pa).

Ares was the god of war — the only male god for whom the Amazons built statues and alters. Alala is the female personification of Ares, and became popular with the Amazons after their many defeats at the hands of men. The Art of Alala starts things, begins things, makes things yield as they are opened. Alala summons spirits by creating an opening between their realm and the caster's, creates pits by opening the earth, makes wounds by opening the body, and creates rain by opening the sky. It does not have a direct correlation to a Hermetic Art. Alala heals and harms, depending on the Consonant it is combined with.

Hermes was the god of weights and measures, the god of boundaries. The Egyptians called him Thoth in male form, and Ma'at in female form. Old Amazon prayers used all three forms, and the Amazon sorceress Viea chose "Ma'at" when converting their magic. Ma'at is the informative Art. "Measuring" for a sorceress is knowing, and taking the measure of a thing provides the sorceress with information about its nature. Ma'at allows a sorceress to control and command a spirit by knowing it. Sorceresses can only measure using their eyes, meaning that the other senses cannot be used when casting Ma'at spells. While a magus might be able to cast a spell to listen for silver, a sorceress is limited to visually assessing things.

Papaios is the Scythian form of Zeus, the creator and the destroyer, and was invoked to end things. The Art of Papaios closes things, bringing them to an end. The setting sun closes the day, and Papaios is seen as a more natural end to things than those used by other sorts of malevolent magic. The opposite of Alala, Papaios can also be both beneficial and destructive. Papaios closes wounds, yet also closes the heart, causing exhaustion. Perhaps its most powerful property is to close a sorceress from the effects of aging, granting her an extended lifespan. Papaios closes the mundane world to spirits, effectively banishing them. Like Alala, it has no direct Hermetic equivalent, and can sometimes mirror Creo effects while at other times seeming more like Perdo.

The Amazonian consonants are Api (Ap), Kardia (Ka), Nux (Nu), Soma (So), and Zoi (Zo).

Gaia was one of the first Greek goddesses, springing from the nothingness of Chaos and creating the rest of the gods. In the Scythian language Gaia was called "Api," the name the Amazons use to worship this powerful goddess. Api concerns the earth and the day, mirroring the elemental form of Terram and the illuminating aspect of Ignem. Hermetic magic treats the elemental forms independently, following the division of academic sciences and Mythic reality. Amazon magic only deals with two of the four forms, and makes a distinction between them based on their mythical associations. Api also covers earth elementals, which the Amazons use for various purposes, and animals whose predominating humor is melancholic, because this humor is closely associated with the earth. (See the Api section under Spells for a list of melancholic animals.)

Amazon magic incorporated many concepts from Egyptian magic, including classifying the body in different ways. The heart was thought to be the seat of the soul and the center of good and evil thoughts. Kardia magic targets the "wholeness" of the individual, the intangible properties that make a body sound. Kardia works on the body's insides. Not its stomach, liver, or viscera, but on the subtle fumes or energies that make a body healthy and a mind capable. Kardia magic affects the body's humors — an ancient Greek concept understood by Amazons.

Kardia magic can mimic and combat disease. Rather than affect the disease itself, Kardia influences the symptoms of the disease. Kardia can also create, destroy, and change a person's personality, as another aspect of the humors. Exhaustion and Fatigue are seen as a lack in a person's heart, rather than the depletion of their physical energies, and Kardia magic covers Fatigue loss and recuperation as well.

The first god who Gaia created was Ouranos, the sky, her consort. In ancient Libya, Ouranos was worshipped as Nux, a goddess of the night sky, and over the centuries Nux replaced Ouranos in the Amazons' ceremonies. The Art of Nux affects the sky, particularly weather phenomenon and the darkness of the night. Nux is the second elemental division of Amazon magic. Like Api, Nux magic affects air elementals and animals whose predominating humor is sanguine, primarily birds. (See Nux under Spells for a list of sanguine animals.)

The Art of Soma affects the human body, as the physical aspect of the human form. Incantations that deal with healing and harming a human being are all Soma incantations. Soma is closely associated with Corpus affects, the main difference being that Amazons have greater control over permanent effects than their Hermetic counterparts.

While pagans, Amazons understand that each human has a unique, everlasting spirit attached to her body. While the target is living, it is impossible for Amazon magic to address its spirit. After the target has died, however, its spirit can be summoned — opened to a new earthly existence — and communicated with. Zoi covers the aspect of Mentem that deals with spirits and ghosts.

Zoi can also target a person's Gift. Zoi is the sphere of magic that opens her Gift and allows her to use her magical potential to prolong her natural life.

Amazonian magic differs from Hermetic Magic in that Ranges are not marked by physical distance but by emotional connection. Physical distance is not an issue, and a spell designed to aid a warrior works regardless of whether the warrior is right next to a sorceress or a continent away. Amazonian incantations have five Ranges: Personal, Sister, Cousin, Seen Stranger, and Unseen Stranger.

Range: Personal is the sorceress herself. Range: Sister is a companion that the caster is very familiar with, usually a warrior she has campaigned with in the past. Familiarity is achieved through multiple seasons of regular, steady interaction, including eating together, praying together, and similar close associations.

Range: Cousin covers almost every Amazon. The caster merely has to know the name of the Amazon target and be able to draw a mental picture of her. Telling the sorceress a target's name is insufficient information; the sorceress must have met the target at some time in the past.

Range: Seen Stranger is a foreigner or enemy whom the caster can see and clearly identify from his surroundings. This is most useful on the battlefield, when a sorceress can see her enemy approaching.

Range: Unseen Stranger is a foreigner or enemy whom the sorceress can't see, but for whom she has a detailed account and description. The more information the sorceress has, the more accurate the incantation will be. Less information means the incantation fails to target anyone. During casting, the sorceress must be able to recite at least five personal identifiers of the target. For example, "the man with the red beard, who attacked our sisters two weeks ago on the shores of the Thermodon River, rode a beige horse with a red bridle, carried a shield emblazoned with a white stag, and was wounded in the shoulder by Thelma" qualifies for the Range: Unseen Stranger. Spells with this Range require some speed; if any of the identifiers change, the spell will miss its target.

Once the emotional connection of a range is established, it does not worsen. A friend who later becomes an enemy can still be targeted with Range: Sister.

There are five Durations for Amazonian magic: Momentary, Exchange, Hour, Day, and Month. Most of these are selfexplanatory. Exchange is a series of blows traded between combatants, and is equal to a combat round. The exact Duration of a specific incantation is augmented by the sorceress' score in Amazonian Chant, which acts as a multiplier for the incanta-

In order from lowest to highest, this list gives the Ranges and Durations for Amazonian magic.*

Ranges Durations Personal Momentary Sister Exchange Cousin Hour Seen Stranger Day Unseen Stranger Month

* Each step up or down adds +1 to the final magnitude of the incantation.

tion's Duration. Thus, an incantation with Duration: Exchange, cast by a sorceress with Amazonian Chant 5, lasts for 5 Exchanges (combat rounds).

Actual Duration: Incantation Duration x Amazonian Chant

The Target of a spell is always one specific person or thing — Target: Individual — and cannot be augmented to include more than one individual like Hermetic magic can. The Target must, however, be adjusted for size, meaning that larger targets can be affected as long as they are still a specific, single thing. An incantation can affect a giant, for example, but not a group. (See Changing Range, Duration, and Target, later.)

Inventing a spell using the base Range and Duration of its Consonant does not add to the spell's level, regardless of how far up the scale any particular Range or Duration is. The base Range and Duration for all five Consonants are listed here.

Consonant B	ase Range B	ase Duration B	ase Target Size*
Api	Cousin	Hour	-1 to +1
Kardia	Sister	Day	-1 to +1
Nux	Seen Stranger	Hour	-1 to +1
Soma	Seen Stranger	Momentary	-1 to +1
Zoi	Cousin	Hour	-1 to +1

* Amazons can only use Target: Individual.

The two primary non-living targets that sorceresses cast magic at are the earth and the sky, using Api and Nux spells. Amazonian magic uses metaphysical relationships to affect these targets. The earth is regarded as a cousin; always underfoot, it is not known as intimately as a sister, but lies closer to a sorceress than a stranger. The sky, resting far above the Amazons' heads, is a stranger. Its unpredictable weather patterns can be watched but not understood, much like an often-regarded foreigner. To target the earth, a sorceress can use Range: Cousin, but to target the sky she must use Range: Seen Stranger. Spells that target the day or night count as targeting the sky.

While distance is not a factor, a sorceress cannot target any piece of earth or sky in the world; she must have some knowledge of the targeted area. She must either be able to see it, or have seen it in the past. If a sorceress wishes to target a non-living target that she has never seen, she must use a spell with Range: Unseen Stranger and have five identifiers for the target.

Amazons can affect non-human targets, which include some animals, spirits, and elementals. Incantations that target animals must have a Range of Seen Stranger, regardless of any familiarity the sorceress may have with an individual animal. Earth and air elementals — the only two types of elementals that can be affected with Amazonian magic — must be targeted with incantations that have the Range: Seen Stranger. Even thought the earth is considered a cousin of the Amazons, earth elementals are more foreign than the normal mundane material of the earth and sky, and must be targeted with an increased Range.

Spirits can be affected by any of the Ranges, depending on the relationship the sorceress has with the spirit. Most spirits must first be targeted with Range: Unseen Stranger. Once a connection is made, meaning that the sorceress has already correctly summoned the spirit, future incantations can have a variety of Ranges depending on the spirit's relationship to the sorceress. Former comrades, for example, can be targeted with Range: Sister, ancient Amazons with Range: Cousin, and other incorporeal entities — foreign ghosts, demons, and daemons — can be targeted with Seen Stranger. The sorceress probably won't be able to actually see the incorporeal entity when she casts the spell; the Range: Seen Stranger indicates the type of relationship she has formed with the entity, not her ability to actually view it at the time of the casting.

Animals can be targeted with incantations depending on their overriding humor, allowing sorceresses to affect perhaps half the animal kingdom. Melancholic animals — those that have a predominating melancholic humor — are associated with the element of earth and can be affected with Api magic. Nux magic affects animals with a sanguine nature. (Lists for appropriate animals appear in the Api and Nux sections under Spells.)

Amazonian Ranges and Durations are ranked as listed in the insert. Each step up the ladder adds 1 to the final magnitude of the incantation, just as in Hermetic magic. Unlike Hermetic magic, each step down the ladder also adds 1 to the incantation's magnitude. With Hermetic magic, all Arts have the same base Range, Duration, and Target — Personal, Momentary, and Individual. Amazonian magic differs in that an incantation's base Range and Duration depend on the Incantation's Consonant, and its Target is always Individual.

Every incantation has a base Range and Duration depending on its Consonant. Inventing an incantation that retains the base Amazonian Range and Duration for that Consonant does not increase the incantation's level, regardless of how high up the scale that base Range and Duration might be. Changing the Range or Duration up or down the scale does add to the level of the spell.

The Target is always Individual, and can only be adjusted upwards to affect a larger

individual. A spell's Target must match exactly, meaning that a spell with the base Target: Individual will only affect a character with Size –1 to +1. The spell must be increased a magnitude to affect a Size +2 target. Decreasing the base Individual, for an individual of Size –2 for example, also increases the spell a magnitude.

Amazonian Ranges, Durations, and Targets are not inclusive, meaning that an incantation designed at the Range: Seen Stranger will not work on a sorceress' companion. The Range and Target must match the target exactly.

There are two types of Amazonian spells: incantations and rites. Sorceresses don't have the vast catalog of spells that magi have.

Incantations are short spells sung on the battlefield, usually, that produce instant effects. Higher magnitude incantations have more complex verbal soundings than lower magnitude incantations. They are not necessarily longer, but harder to properly vocalize in song. All incantations, regardless of magnitude, can be sung in a single round. Volume is not a necessary component of an incantation, however, and the incantation works based on proper intonation and verbal clarity. A sorceress does not get a spellcasting bonus or penalty based on the volume of her voice when casting an incantation. Since she is meant to be holding a weapon and shield, incantations do not need gestures to work. They do need to be aimed, however. As the sorceress finishes her incantation, she points at its target, using either her finger or a held weapon or object to indicate the direction of the incantation. Incantations must be learned prior to casting, exactly like Hermetic formulaic spells.

An incantation's level is determined much like a formulaic spell. The incantation's final level is the base level plus the adjusted Range, Duration, and Target (which is adjusted for Size). The incantation's level does not have to be adjusted if it retains the Consonant's specific base Range and Duration. To create spells that do not use the base Range and Duration, an additional magnitude is required for each step away from the base Range and Duration that you make. For example, Soma spells have a base Range of Seen Stranger. Creating a Soma incantation for Range: Unseen Stranger adds a magnitude, as does a Soma incantation for Range: Cousin.

Incantations cannot have other requisite Arts involved, a distinct difference from Hermetic magic. Any spell that involves a requisite Art must be a rite.

To determine if an incantation is properly cast, compare the sorceress' Communication + Vowel score + Consonant score + aura + a stress die against the level of the incantation. If the casting total equals or is higher than the level, the incantation works. If the casting total is less than the level of the incantation, the incantation fails and the sorceress loses a short term Fatigue Level.

Casting Total: Communication + Vowel + Consonant + aura + stress die

If the stress die rolls a 0, the player must check for a botch, using the regular guidelines for a Hermetic magus botching a spellcasting roll. If a botch occurs, the sorceress gains 1 Warping Point for each actual botch rolled. If the sorceress gains 2 or more Warping Points, she is seized by the Sacred Sickness (see later). A botched spell can affect the caster instead of the target, affect the target in an opposite way than intended, or produce greater or lesser magical effects.

Rites are longer, more complicated songs that produce permanent magical effects, similar to Hermetic ritual spells. Compared to incantations, few rites exist. Rites are designed like incantations, using a Vowel and Consonant base level of effect and modifying it for Range, Duration, and Target Size. A rite must have at least one requisite Art, and its Duration must be modified to Month. The requisite Art does not add to the magnitude of the spell, but like Hermetic magic, the sorceress must adjust her casting total based on her score in the requisite Art. Just like an incantation, a rite must be known — either learned or taught — before it can be cast.

To make the rite permanent, the casting sorceress must sacrifice one or more magical animals during its casting. The total of the inherent vis in these animals must at least equal the magnitude of the rite, but it may be of any Art, in Hermetic terms. Any sort of animal or creature with a Might score, regardless of which Realm it is affiliated with, works. Sacrificed demons, for example, can power rites. If creatures other than magical creatures are used, the rite is tainted, just as if a magus used tainted vis as described in the various Realms of Power supplements.

Also, the sorceress' Amazonian Cult Lore score must equal or exceed the magnitude of the rite. If it does not, one or more other sorceresses must join her. The combined Amazonian Cult Lore scores of the sorceress and her assistants must equal or exceed the magnitude of the rite. An assistant sorceress does not need to know the rite to assist the casting sorceress, but must participate in the ceremony and suffers the same consequences as the casting sorceress if the rite fails. This is one of the primary motivators for a sorceress to take an apprentice, since few of them will work together past apprenticeship.

Once these conditions are met, compare the sorceress' casting total to the level of the rite. Use the same casting total formula for casting incantations. If the casting total equals or is higher than the level of the rite, the rite is properly cast. The magical animal dies and its inherent vis is drained to power the rite and make the effect permanent. If the casting total is not higher than the rite's level, the spell fails. The animal is sacrificed but the rite does not work. If the rite botches, the player must roll one botch die per magnitude of the rite plus the aura, adjudicating botch results as normal, including the possibility of experiencing the Sacred Sickness.

Rites are extremely taxing. The sorceress and any assistants lose 1 Long-Term Fatigue Level per 2 magnitudes of the rite, regardless of whether the rite

succeeds or fails. Consequently, any rite above the 8th magnitude will push the sorceress into unconsciousness. Knowing this, a sorceress will take great pains to ensure that a companion is available to look after her unconscious body once the rite is completed. An unconscious sorceress is vulnerable to other Amazon sorceresses, who would likely murder and rob any unconscious sorceress they came across. An apprentice could assume the task of protector, providing she isn't involved in casting the rite and merely waits alongside her mistress to take care of her once she falls unconscious.

A rite focuses a great amount of magical power at its target. An individual targeted by a rite gains Warping Points equal to the magnitude of the rite. If the targeted individual is a sorceress, she may subtract her Amazonian Cult Lore score from the Warping Points received from the rite. Regardless of her score, however, a targeted sorceress will always receive at least 1 Warping Point from being the target of an Amazon rite.

Because Amazonian magic was created by warriors, every incantation and rite cast by a sorceress must be aimed at its target, just like a spear or an arrow. Successfully casting an incantation is only the first step; the incantation must then "hit" its intended target to be effective.

To successfully hit an intended target, the player must make an aiming roll, using the character's Casting Total + Finesse against a variable Ease Factor.

Aiming ^a Spell: Casting Total – Spell Level + Finesse

In combat situations, compare the sorceress' aiming roll against the target's Defense total. If the aiming roll is higher, the incantation affects the target. If the incantation "misses" the target, the magic is effectively wasted. If the aiming roll botches, the incantation could hit someone else, including the caster, depending on the situation and the storyguide's judgment.

In non-combat situations, the Ease

Factor is determined by the Range of the incantation or rite. Use the following table to find the base Ease Factor for each Amazonian Range.

Range	Ease Factor
Personal	0 (Automatic)
Sister	3
Cousin	6
Seen Stranger	9
Unseen Stranger	15

These two situations are not mutually exclusive. If, in combat, a target does not opt to make a Defense roll to avoid an incantation, use the non-combat Ease Factors to determine if the spell hits.

The great liability of Amazon magic is that every spell, whether an incantation or rite, can be resisted by the target. Even mundane human and animal targets have a chance to resist Amazon magic, based on their physical fortitude or will-power measured against the strength of the sorceress' spell. Earth and sky have a chance to resist based on their density or severity. A rock, for example, is more likely to resist an incantation than dirt. If a target is hit by an incantation or rite, it may attempt to resist the magic. It does not have to, and a sorceress' allies would hardly resist her beneficial incantations. Targets incapable of choosing always attempt to resist.

An individual targeted by an Amazon spell gets a Resistance Roll. The player makes a Stamina + stress die roll against an Ease Factor of 6 + the magnitude of the spell + the sorceress' Amazonian Chant score. If this roll is successful, the spell is completely resisted. If this roll fails, the target is affected by the magic. If this roll botches, the target suffers more severe consequences of the spell than normal.

Resistance Roll: Stamina + stress die vs. 6 + magnitude of spell + caster's Amazonian Chant score

A magus character adds his Form bonus to this Resistance Roll, using the most appropriate Form depending on the type of effect. Against an Alala Soma incantation, for example, a magus adds his Corpus Form bonus.

Earth and sky get resistance rolls based on the type of earth or weather phenomenon they are. Magical earth and sky add the absolute value of their aura to the Resistance Roll. If the earth or sky was Hermetically created or controlled, add the magnitude of the spell influencing it to the Resistance Roll. The following table shows the value you should use as the Stamina value in the Resistance Roll.

Material or Weather Type S	ta
Clay, Minor Weather Phenomenon	+2
Dirt, Normal Weather Phenomenon	+3
Glass, Stone, Severe Weather
Phenomenon	+4
Metal, Gems, Very Severe
Weather Phenomenon	+5

Targets with Magic Resistance get a first line of defense before they have to make a Resistance Roll, since Amazon magic, like any magic, must penetrate the target's magic resistance to be effective. Penetration is calculated in the normal way by subtracting the level of the spell from the sorceress' casting total, then adding her Penetration Ability score.

Penetration Total: Casting Total – Spell Level + Penetration Ability

If the spell penetrates the target's Magic Resistance, the target still gets to make a Resistance Roll.

Hermetic magic makes a clear distinction between aimed spells and spells that need to penetrate Magic Resistance to be effective. Essentially, if a spell is aimed, it does not need to penetrate. This distinction does not exist for Amazon magic, making it harder to adjudicate if the target's Magic Resistance applies. Spells targeted directly at a magic resistant target must penetrate, but those that affect nearby targets, like the ground under the target's feet, do not.

An Amazonian sorceress spends much of her time in her temple, creating incantations and rites, as well as working on a handful of other magical projects. Her temple is her workspace. Despite its name, a temple has no religious connections; the term "temple" is more a nod to the old ways than any sort of reference to the ancient gods. Amazonian magic is not academic, in that it does not require the various and sundry components, equipment, and brica-brac that Hermetic magi need in their labs. A sorceress' temple appears more like a small shrine than a proper laboratory. Her workspace costs less, is smaller, and is more easily constructed than a magus'.

It takes ten days to assemble the components for an adequate temple, once the physical requirements are meet. A temple must have at least 100 square feet of room, four walls, and a roof to protect it from the elements. The sorceress must have an Amazonian Spellcraft of 3 to construct a working temple. Since most sorceresses are on the move, participating in raiding parties, it is common practice to create a temple, use it for a season or two, and then relocate and create a new one. As long as the sorceress can transport the various temple components, she does not need to purchase these ingredients again when she makes a new temple. The only time she must expend resources is when her temple is destroyed or abandoned and she must build a new one from scratch.

Amazonian sorceresses must calculate their "Temple Total" for the various types of magic craftwork they undertake. This total is very similar to a magus' Lab Total.

Temple Total: Intelligence + Vowel + Consonant + Amazonian Spellcraft + Aura Modifier

Amazonian magic is unwritten. Incantations and rites must either be individually learned or taught by another sorceress. Learning an Amazon spell is exactly like inventing a Hermetic spell (ArM5, page 95). A sorceress must first describe the spell using a Vowel and Consonant combination, augmenting by any changes in Range, Duration, or Target Size she wishes to make. Once detailed and the spell's level is calculated, she spends a season or more learning it. Compare the character's Temple Total to the level of the spell. For each point above the level, the sorceress gains 1 point towards learning the spell. Once she has gained enough excess points to equal the spell's level, she has learned it. If her Temple Total is double the level of the spell, she learns it in a single season.

A sorceress may teach other sorceresses spells. Since few sorceresses completely trust their sisters, this usually happens only during a sorceress' apprenticeship. Mechanically, this works exactly like Hermetic magic (ArM5, page 95). The teaching sorceress may teach a number of incantations equal to her highest-applicable Temple Total. The student sorceress may learn any of her teacher's incantations, but is limited by her Temple Total for any specific spell in each Vowel and Consonant combination.

A second way to be taught spells is to summon a dead Amazonian spirit that knows the desired spell and force the spirit to teach it. This requires knowing the name of spirit, which is not that difficult, summoning it with Alala Zoi magic, and commanding it with a different Alala Zoi incantation. A spirit can teach a number of incantations equal to its Magic Might, and a student's Temple Total must be higher than the level of each individual incantation she desires to learn. A player does not have to subtract 3 from the Teaching Source Quality due to the character's Gift if the spirit is friendly to sorceresses (see Sacred Sickness later). Other powers of the spirit may not be learned, only incantations that the spirit can still cast as powers.

Because Amazonian magic is exclusively oral, sorceress cannot read books to increase their Arts and Arcane Abilities, like their Hermetic counterparts do. Since they do not recognize vis as anything more than food for magical animals, they cannot study vis to increase their Arts scores either. A sorceress character can increase her Arts and Arcane Ability scores by being taught from another sorceress or Amazon spirit. Another way to increase her Art scores is by contemplating the Amazonian mysteries.

Teaching another sorceress an Art or Arcane Ability follows the regular rules for teaching (ArM5, page 165). The number of experience gained, repeated for easy reference, is:

Teaching Source Quality: Teacher's Communication + Teaching + 3 + bonus

Teaching is problematic because of the Gifts of the teacher and student. ArM5 page 75 states that a Gifted individual "suffers the –3 penalty to all rolls and totals based on social interaction, including training, whether the maga is the trainer or the trainee." Teaching Source Quality is a total, and if both teacher and student are Gifted, the double –3 penalty is necessary. This penalty cancels out the +6 bonus derived from one-to-one teaching that a student studying from a single teacher normally receives. A spirit's Teaching Source Quality can also be penalized by the –3 modifier. The only spirits whose total is not penalized are those that overcame the majority of their Sacred Sickness episodes (see later).

Contemplating the Arts is much like practice experience. The sorceress spends an uninterrupted season casting incantations in the Art she wishes to increase, and studying the effect of the incantations through a series of trance-like states. She gains experience points equal to her Contemplation Source Quality.

Contemplation Source Quality: 4 + Magic Aura

Both teaching and contemplation require a temple. Since temples are easy to construct, it is common for a sorceress to

have more than one. Sorceresses seek out areas with a high Magic aura expressly for the purposes of constructing a temple to contemplate their Arts.

Amazonian sorceresses may enchant magic items simply by casting an incantation on the item, which then holds the enchantment, serving as a receptacle for the magic. The first step is to make the item, which each sorceress has to do individually. The item, whatever it is, must be of superior quality (see City & Guild page 67). The character's Primary Characteristic + Craft Ability must equal 12. Since this is a steep requirement, the sorceress may continue working on the item past the normal time that it would take to make it. Each season, she gains points equal to her Primary Characteristic + Craft Ability. Her Primary Characteristic is the Characteristic she would use in manufacturing the item, often Dexterity but sometimes Strength. Once these accumulated points equal 12, the item is ready for enchantment. The seasons do not have to be continuous, and a sorceress may interrupt this process. She may, for example, spend one season making an item, spend two seasons adventuring, return and spend another season on the item, spend a season learning a spell, and finish the item a season later.

Once finished, the item can hold a number of magnitudes of incantations equal to its Material and Size base points times multiplier (ArM5, page 97). Rites cannot be instilled in Amazon magic items. A bone skull, for example, can hold 9 magnitudes of incantations. Each instilled incantation must be completed in a single season, like Hermetic lesser enchanted items, meaning that the sorceress' Temple Total must be double the final level of effect of the instilled power. Once empowered, the magic works for as long as the device remains whole. A sorceress may modify the effect using the same rules that govern Hermetic instilled effects (ArM5, page 99).

Since aiming is so important, a sorceress may also modify an instilled incantation by improving its aiming. Normal enchanted items add 0 to a sorceress' aiming roll. Increasing the level of the final incantation effect by 1 adds +1 to the aiming roll.

The most powerful item that a sorceress can manufacture is her scepter. A symbol of sovereignty and power, a sorceress' scepter increases her potential when casting or aiming incantations, as well as providing overall benefits in a chosen Consonant. A scepter is longer than a wand and shorter than a staff. It can be made of any material — wood, bone, and metal being the most common — and is covered in runes and mystical symbols.

It takes a sorceress one season to construct her scepter, during which she makes the item herself. During the process, to bind a bit of her spirit into the scepter, she inflicts a mental or physical wound upon herself. This sacrificial cleaving of her body or mind unites her spirit with the device, making it part of her. She must select a Consonant that she and her scepter are most aligned with. Once selected, the Consonant may not be changed, and the scepter only aids the sorceress when she is casting or learning incantations of the specified Consonant.

The player must select a Minor Flaw that describes the type of self-inflicted wound the sorceress receives. According to legend, the first Amazonian sorceress cut off her right breast to empower her scepter (Minor Flaw: Disfigured), giving rise to the myth that all Amazons are missing a breast. Most Minor General Flaws and many Minor Personality Flaws are acceptable choices, although the troupe must agree that the Flaw suits the self-sacrifice. Flaws that pertain to a character's background — Sheltered Upbringing for example — are not appropriate. If a character already has one or more Personality Flaws, the troupe should consider carefully whether to allow a further such flaw as the sacrifice.

Once the scepter is made, the character can begin "teaching" it the selected Consonant. Each such session takes one season, during which the scepter learns experience points in the Consonant equal to the sorceress' Communication + Amazonian Cult Lore. Virtues and Flaws that affect teaching, like Good Teacher, apply. These points build like an Art, giving the scepter a score in the Consonant. The scepter's score in the Consonant is limited to the sorceress' score in the same Consonant.

A sorceress may destroy her scepter and create another. This takes one season, and is done to change the Consonant to which her scepter is attuned. As long as there is an older scepter to destroy when the new one is created, the sorceress does not have to inflict a second wound upon herself to bind the new scepter to her spirit.

If a scepter is destroyed by other means, either in battle or some other egregious situation, the sorceress takes damage from the item's destruction equal to a stress die plus the Consonant score of the scepter. If she wishes to make a new scepter, she must again undergo a season of self-mutilation to bind her spirit to the new scepter.

A scepter's Consonant score adds to the sorceress' in three ways. First, it adds directly to the casting total of any incantation that uses that Consonant. Second, it adds to any Temple Total that concerns the Consonant to which it is attuned. Finally, a scepter adds to any aiming rolls for incantations in the Consonant to which it is attuned.

Amazonian sorceresses have an incomplete understanding of vis. As far as they are concerned, vis is exclusively fodder used to strengthen magical animals. While not every magical creature eats vis, many do. By feeding a captive creature vis, a sorceress intends to increase the creature's Might score, so that it can be used in more powerful rites.

Amazonian magic can only indicate two sorts of vis, depending upon what the vis is collected from — Api vis from the earth and Nux vis from the sky. Hermetic magic is more accurate in determining the exact nature of vis. Api vis, to a magus, is either Terram, Herbam, or Vim vis. Nux vis is Aquam, Auram,

or Vim vis. Since any sort of vis fed to a magical animal will potentially increase its Might, a sorceress is little concerned about the vis' Form.

Hermetic magic also distinguishes vis by which Realm it is associated with, but Amazonian magic does not. Consequently, Infernally tainted vis could unintentionally be fed to a magical animal, as could Faerie or Divine vis. Mechanically, the result is the same for a magus using tainted vis in a ritual spell as for a sorceress sacrificing an animal fed tainted vis.

Like Hermetic magi and other hedge magic traditions, Amazon sorceresses can gain Warping points and they suffer when gaining too many too quickly. The most common way to gain Warping points is botching while casting a spell, in which case the character receives 1 Warping point for each 0 rolled on the botch dice. When a sorceress receives 2 or more Warping Points, she collapses to the ground in an epileptic fit called "The Sacred Sickness."

During these magical seizures, power surges through the sorceress. Her spirit wrestles with itself, and as magical power courses through her, her spirit contemplates its future fate when it will inevitably depart the body. Will it be amenable or antagonistic to other sorceresses after its departure? These inner battles will answer that question. This is an important decision because other sorceresses will be able to summon it once it has fled the physical world.

The Sacred Sickness cannot be avoided like Temporary Twilights can be. Once a seizure begins, it last for a number of exchanges (rounds) equal to the sorceress' Warping Score +1. During that time she thrashes and writhes on the ground. She is completely vulnerable to attacks and other life-threatening situations, and does not gain the physical immunity that magi have while in Temporary Twilight. While in the seizure, the sorceress can attempt to overcome it. This does not lessen the length of the episode, though; it is more akin to wrestling with her inner fears and despairs.

Overcoming the Sacred Sickness: Intelligence + stress die vs. Warping Score + stress die

Roll a simple die to see how many additional Warping Points the sorceress gains while suffering from the Sacred Sickness. Subtract the sorceress' Amazonian Cult Lore score from the die roll. Add these to the Warping Points that manifested the Sacred Sickness to calculate the total number of gained Warping Points. If the sorceress overcomes the Sickness, she gains benefits very similar to the benefits of a magus comprehending a Temporary Twilight. These are an increase in the Arts used (double the Warping Points worth of experience points), a new Minor Virtue (gaining between 7 and 10 Warping Points), or a new Major Virtue (gaining more than 10 points). If the sorceress succumbs to the Sickness, these results are reversed: Arts experience point loss equal to twice the gained Warping Points, a Minor Flaw, or a Major Flaw.

Besides keeping track of her Warping Score, an Amazon sorceress' player must keep track of the total number of Warping points gained from overcoming and succumbing to the Sacred Sickness. Make a tally of these points on the character sheet.

When a sorceress' Warping Score reaches 10, her spirit departs from her body, and she dies. Often this occurs during a final seizure, in which the sorceress thrashes and contorts herself to death. Compare the number of Warping Points gained from overcoming Sacred Sickness episodes to those gained from succumbing to it. If she overcame the majority of her Sacred Sicknesses, meaning that the points gained from overcome Sicknesses are greater than those gained from succumbed Sicknesses, her spirit is friendly towards her Amazon sisters. If she succumbed to the Sickness more than she overcame it, her spirit is hostile to the Amazons. Summoning such an evil spirit is usually dangerous.

At some point in a sorceress' career, she will likely take an apprentice. Her motivations are selfish; once her apprentice has learned Amazonian Cult Lore, the youngster can help the sorceress cast higher magnitude rites. Sorceresses rarely share resources, and one of the few avenues of assistance is an apprentice. Most sorceresses spend half the year orally teaching the apprentice, while the other half is spent using the apprentice however the mistress sees fit. These are not gentle years. Because of The Gift, both women often despise each other. It is not unusual for the girl to live in chains while under her mistress' care, to prevent the girl from escaping or murdering her mistress.

A sorceress can automatically open a Gifted person to the Amazon Arts. She must spend a season doing so, at the end of which the girl will have a score of 0 in the eight Amazon Vowels and Consonants. If the apprentice has Supernatural Abilities, the sorceress must account for them during the process. Calculate an Opening Ease Factor for the apprentice as explained in the introduction. The Supernatural Abilities could continue, could be lost, or could be too strong to allow the mistress to Open her Arts.

Opening Ease Factor: twice apprentice's Supernatural Ability + Art scores (+ 12 if Gift already Opened by another magic tradition)

The sorceress must have an Alala Zoi Temple Total of twice the Opening Ease Factor to Open the apprentice to the Amazon Arts. If the Temple Total is just twice the Opening Ease Factor, the Supernatural Abilities are lost in the Opening. If the Temple Total is four times the Opening Ease Factor or more, the apprentice retains the Supernatural Abilities. An apprentice Opened to another set of Arts, either Hermetic or Hedge, can be Opened to the Amazon Arts, but the Arts of these other traditions are lost.

Opening the Arts does not allow an apprentice to immediately learn spells or increase her Art scores. Since Amazon magic is cast in Amazonian Chant, the sorceress teaches her apprentice this language before other subjects. A character cannot increase any Arcane Ability or Art associated with magic until she has at least a score of at least 1 in Amazonian Chant.

A sorceress keeps an apprentice for fifteen years, another convention stolen from Bonisagus and instituted by the Amazon's lead sorceress, Viea. Since the apprentice will be remembered as being trained by a particular sorceress, most mistresses ensure that the apprentice receives some instruction in the Arts. At the end of fifteen years, the apprentice is dismissed as a fullfledged sorceress. No ceremony or other observation marks this transition, nor are there tests to take or oaths to swear. The sorceress has fulfilled her customary duty and shoos the new sorceress out the door.

The Gift haunts the mistress and apprentice throughout the apprenticeship course, interfering with teaching and other social intercourse. Eventually, providing they make some effort to establish a good teaching relationship, the pair get used to each others' Gift (see Chapter 1: Introduction, Growing Used to The Gift), and the penalty for social interactions will slowly diminish. The –3 penalty reduces to –2 after five years, and to –1 after ten years. By the end of apprenticeship, the sorceress can teach her apprentice without penalty, should she wish to. Forever after, the two can be considered to be used to each other's Gift. Not all sorceresses take this trouble, but those don't can often find that their apprentices become enemies, so tradition indicates that it is wise to do so.

Opening an apprentice to the Amazon Arts is a type of initiation. A learned practitioner guides a novice through the necessary procedures to allow a specific transformation. Creating a scepter for the first time is another type of initiation, in which the sorceress intentionally wounds herself, giving herself a Flaw, to craft the item. Amazon magic used to have many such initiations, most of which Viea dismantled in her codification of Amazon Arts. Two remain, however, which she didn't alter either through lack of ingenu-

These initiations take a season to perform. The initiate must have a temple to work in and must serve as her own mystogogue (see The Mechanics of Initiation in The Mysteries Revised Edition, pages 13-18). Initiation scripts are not readily available, but some exist, and are memorized by a few sorceresses. Gaining this information usually requires paying favors and a term of service to the sorceress. Rather than subject themselves to such treatment, most sorceresses invent their own Initiation Scripts.

Both The Mysteries Revised Edition and Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults list bonuses for Initiation Scripts. Once a sorceress invents a proposed script — and the player lists the ingredients (quests, ordeals, and sacrifices) — the player must check to see if the script will work.

Script Viability: Simple die + Risk Modifier + Intelligence + Amazon Cult Lore vs. Ease Factor of (9 + Proposed bonus)

The player must also roll on the Experimental Result Chart (ArM5, page 109) using a stress die + Risk Modifier (chosen by the player: 0 to +3) to check for any impurities in the script.

If both these rolls are successful, the sorceress receives an Amazon Script Bonus equal to her proposed bonus made when initially generating the Initiation Script. She then generates an Initiation Total:

Initiation Total: Presence + Amazon Cult Lore + Amazon Script Bonus + Risk Modifier

There is no die roll involved. If the Initiation Total is equal to or higher than the initiation's Target Level, then the initiation is successful.

Target Level 18

Raiders are most effective on horseback, and the sorceress without a steed will soon be left behind. Regular Amazon

magic cannot affect horses, which possess a choleric or fiery humor. This initiation allows horses, and horses alone, to be immune to the social consequences of the sorceress' Gift, effectively granting a boon equivalent to a limited version of the Minor Virtue: Inoffensive to Animals. This is a common Initiation Script and many sorceresses don't regard it as a closely kept secret, meaning they are more apt to share it with other sorceresses.

Target Level 30

The pinnacle of Amazonian mysteries, this initiation changes a living initiate into a magic human, mirroring the final effects of the Sacred Sickness while keeping the spirit in a living body. She becomes a being of the Magic Realm, no longer ages, and ceases to advance as a regular human character. She loses the ability to cast Amazon spells, and any current spells become magical powers of the creature. The initiate's Magic Might equals her highest Art score. This initiation confers the Major Supernatural Virtue: Transformed (Being) on the initiate (see Realms of Power: The Magic Realm, page 47). This Script is such a great secret that it is possible that no living sorceress knows it, and many do not believe it is even possible. However, the Amazon sorceress Viea used it, and determined sorceresses can track it down through legends.

Amazons, like every other tradition of magic besides the Order of Hermes, do not have a general resistance to magic. Knowledge in the five Consonants, however, provides some protection against spells that affect those aspects of a sorceress (as explained in Chapter 1: Introduction, Magical Defenses). A sorceress' Magical Defense bonus equals her specific Art divided by 5.

Amazon Magical Defense Bonus: Art divided by 5 (round up)

Api and Nux allow a sorceress to break free from earth and air-type spells that control or restrain her, granting her the Immovable Object Defense against such spells.

Soma aids a sorceress in resisting spells and spell-like effects that do physical damage to her body. She gains a Soak bonus equal to her Magical Defense Bonus (Magical Fortitude defense).

Zoi aids in resisting spells that target a sorceress' magical potential, and Kardia helps resist spells that alter her Personality Traits and other forms of mental control. Both Arts grant her the Accelerated Expiry defense.

A magus could integrate aspects of Amazonian magic into Hermetic magic using the Hermetic Integration rules (see Chapter 1: Introduction, Hermetic Integration of Rival Magic). He will first need some inkling into the nature of Amazonian magic — either an artifact or a collaborator that provides an Insight. As Amazons are raised to be xenophobic, convincing one to collaborate would require a number of stories. An artifact would be easier to gain, perhaps a scepter recovered from a slain sorceress. Bonisagus' notebooks could also be considered such an artifact.

The most obvious addition to Hermetic magic is the ability to restore Fatigue, a minor feat for an Amazon but a Hermetic Breakthrough for a magus. The Range Unseen Stranger could provide Insight for a Hermetic Breakthrough to allow magi to affect things they cannot sense without needing an Arcane Connection. The Ranges Sister and Cousin can provide Insight for a type of Arcane Connection that relies on association rather than a physical object, which would be a Major Breakthrough. Instilling aiming bonuses in an enchanted item would relatively easy, requiring only a Minor Breakthrough.

Amazonian Magic has much more to gain from Hermetic magic than the reverse. New Ranges would be Minor Breakthroughs, and New Vowels that mirror certain Forms (Ignem, for example) would be Major Breakthroughs. The biggest problem is that most sorceresses are too conceited to believe that their magic is inferior to any others', and have a great reluctance to bother with such lesser magic. The Amazon sorcerss Viea would be most adept at this, having already done something similar, but that was before her transformation. Now she desires the Order's demise, not its secrets.

If a sorceress is interested in integrating Hermetic magic into her own magic, she uses the same rules that her Hermetic counterpart would. Enchanted devices would allow Insights, but books and notes would have to be read, meaning that she must first learn how to read. For any such notes to be meaningful, she needs Latin 4. If she can't read, she can't take notes during her Original Research, meaning she can't share Breakthrough Points with other sorceress pursuing the same Original Research. Owing to most sorceresses' nature, she wouldn't share anyways. If a sorceress player character undertakes such research, the storyguide and troupe should figure out which aspects of Hermetic magic are Minor, Major, or Amazonian Breakthroughs, using the same guidelines for Hermetic magic listed in the rules in Ancient Magic or Hedge Magic Revised Edition.

Amazon spells in their current form are as follows.

In their convoluted Egyptian-Greco mythology, Api is the Amazons' goddess of both the earth and sunlight. Api magic affects the earth, soil, and stone, opening and closing it under the direction of the sorceress. She can also manipulate sunlight using Api spells, lighting a dark space or obfuscating a lit area.

Api spells are typically Range: Cousin, which metaphysically describes the relationship between the sorceress and the sun and the ground. This does not mean, however, that she can target any stone or piece

Alala Api spells open the earth and earthworks, including buildings and structural defenses. They create gaping pits that reduce stone to rubble. Incantations that destroy earth cause permanent destruction, despite the actual Duration, since the earth cannot naturally repair itself.

Alala Api spells can also summon earth elementals, the embodiment of the earth's spirit. The incantation that first summons an earth elemental must be cast at Range: Unseen Stranger. If that spell is successful, future incantations can be invented at Range: Seen Stranger for that specific elemental. Incantations must hit and penetrate the elemental for it to be effective. Although this mirrors Zoi magic, elementals do not have spirits per se, and are really rarefied conglomerates of the atoms in question.

Like Alala Soma incantations, Alala Api spells can open an earthy animal to wounds. Use the Alala Soma guidelines to create incantations that damage melancholy animals. The Range of such incantations must be Seen Stranger.

Counterpoised against this destructive potential, Alala Api spells also open the dark places to Goitosyros' (Apollo's) rays, and can create and enhance illumination.

Like other Api spells, Size is of paramount importance.

General: Summon an earth elemental with Might equal to the base level of the spell.

Level 2: Greatly increase the amount of sunlight in an area.

Level 3: Create sunlight in an area with none.

Level 4: Subtly open an amount of earth enough to cause a tremor or natural change that would occur over time.

Level 5: Violently open an amount of earth.

The land also has a spirit, in a sense, and Api incantations can locate magic auras, which the Amazons see as the supernatural breath of the land. Api incantations can also affect animals of the earth. Only animals with an earthy nature, having a predominating melancholy humor, can be affected. Common melancholy animals are: antelopes, badgers, bears, boars, bulls, hares, hedgehogs, ibex, moles, moose, goats, rats, wild asses, and wild sheep.

The base Range and Duration for Api spells are Cousin and Hour.

Level 4

R: Seen Stranger, D: Hour, T: Ind

This incantation brightens the illumination of sunlight in an volume of 1000 cubic paces (base Individual plus one). Anyone standing in the designated volume finds it difficult to see, as if he was staring into the rising sun. Perception rolls suffer a –3 penalty. Sunlight has to be present for this incantation to work. Goitosyros is a Scythian name for Apollo.

(Base 2, +1 Seen Stranger, +1 Size)

some knowledge of the target, either having seen it before and inspected it closely, or be able to see it when she casts her spell.

of metal she can imagine. She must have

The base Individual size of an Api spell is ten cubic paces of raw earth or 100 cubic paces of air. Increasing an incantation one magnitude for Size multiplies this base Individual by ten, again, just like Hermetic magic. Incantations that effect stone need to be increased one magnitude, and incantations for metals need to be increased two.

Closed or opened earth remains in the changed state after the magic ends, if it could stay that way by mundane means alone. A pit, opened by Alala magic, remains a pit, and a pit filled in by a Papaios Api spell stays filled in. It is useful to imagine the effects of Alala and Papaios magic as similar to a child playing in a sandbox. Opening the earth shifts dirt to the sides to make the pit, while closing a hole means pushing the outlying dirt around and in it. These changes are evident and scar the land, which the Amazons, being warriors, don't mind a bit.

Ma'at Api magic lets a sorceress measure or know the land. Rudimentary incantations can indicate precise lengths, distances, and areas. More complex incantations allow knowledge of specific types of earth, stone, and metals. A sorceress can use the earth as a medium to tell how distant her enemies are, and the size of their army. Knowledge is power, and knowing a specific elemental allows a sorceress to control and command it. Such incantations must have Range: Seen Stranger.

While Amazon magic can discern raw vis, it describes them as one of two types: earth vis and sky vis. Earth (Api) vis includes Herbam, Terram, and Vim vis. Ma'at Api spells do not recognize any type of vis besides those three. It can measure the amount of raw vis an item might hold, weighed in pawns for convenience's sake. It cannot detect any sort of supernatural taint to the measured vis.

General: Control an earth elemental with Might equal to the base level of the incantation.

Level 3: Discern vague mundane properties of an area of earth.

Level 4: Discern detailed mundane properties of an area of earth.

Level 5: Discern vague magical properties of an area of earth or an earth product (presence of an aura or indication of raw vis).

Level 10: Discern detailed magical properties of an area of earth or an earth product (presence of a regio, strength of an aura, amount of raw vis in an object).

Level 5

R: Cousin, D: Hour, T: Ind

This incantation rips open the earth under a targeted person's feet, plunging him into a ten-cubic-pace hole.

(Base 5)

Level 25

R: Unseen Stranger, D: Hour, T: Ind

This incantation summons a particular Might 15 elemental, one that has lived in Amazonia for centuries. One of its powers is to force an area of land underneath water to rise to the surface, effectively creating a bridge. Since Amazons are not sailors, a sorceress traditionally casts this spell whenever a raiding party leaves or enters Amazonia.

(Base 15, + 2 Unseen Stranger)

Level 30

R: Cousin, D: Hour, T: Ind (1 Plethron)

The earth is rent asunder, causing a single tower or stone manor house to crumble to the ground. The rubble continues to shake until the incantation ends.

(Base 5, +4 size, +1 stone)

Level 5

R: Cousin, D: Hour, T: Ind

This incantation lets a sorceress know where her enemies are. She casts the incantation at a target with an area of 1,000 feet square (Size +2), then looks at the ground at her feet, which acts as a medium for her view. The ground before her vibrates according to the number of people walking on the area of targeted ground, indicating the general number of people, with no other details. Since this spell targets a section of earth, it does not need to penetrate the Magic Resistance of any creature walking on the targeted area.

(Base 3, + 2 Size)

Level 5

R: Cousin, D: Hour, T: Ind

This incantation indicates if an item contains raw vis.

(Base 5)

Level 5

R: Cousin, D: Hour, T: Ind

This spell indicates the presence of a supernatural aura: Divine, Magic, Faerie, or Infernal. The aura must touch the ground, which most do. The incantation does not indicate what type of supernatural aura exists or its strength.

(Base 5)

Level 20

R: Seen Stranger, D: Hour, T: Ind

This incantation commands the elemental summoned by the incantation Summon the Guardian of the Land Bridge, to build a bridge between Amazonia and the shore. The elemental's power does not create a permanent bridge. It takes the elemental two to three hours to make the bridge.

(Base 15, Seen Stranger +1)

Level 5

R: Seen Stranger, D: Hour, T: Ind

This incantation targets an area 10 paces wide, 10 paces deep, and 10 paces high and plunges it into darkness. It is extremely useful for daylight battles, hindering the enemy when they are suddenly overwhelmed by darkness.

(Base 3, +1 Seen Stranger, +1 Size)

Level 10

R: Cousin, D: Hour, T: Ind

This incantation pushes closed a moat,

Papaios Api spells close the earth and cancel sunlight. They can dismiss or damage earth elementals, as a direct counterpart to Alala Api spells that summon them. They can damage the Might of a magical animal, if that creature is associated with the melancholy humor. Their biggest benefit is closing off a section of land from supernatural creatures, preventing entities with Might scores from entering.

Papaios Api spells can heal melancholy animals, closing their wounds. Like rites that instantly heal a person, such a rite requires a Kardia requisite. Use the Papaios Soma guidelines to create Papaios Api spells that heal animals.

General: Destroy a number of Might points equal to the base level of the incantation; this is effective against elementals and magical animals with an overriding melancholic humor. Prevent creatures with Might from entering an area, with the base level of effect equaling the prevented creatures' Might score.

Level 2: Greatly decrease the amount of sunlight in an area.

Level 3: Cancels sunlight in an area.

Level 4: Subtly close an amount of earth.

Level 5: Violently close an amount of earth.

allowing passage for besieging armies. The water previously in the moat is forced out by the moving earth or stone, and goes wherever it would naturally considering the new terrain. If the moat is fed by another body of water, the area surrounding the castle becomes a mire. Water is not a necessity for the spell to work, as the incantation targets the moat, not its contents.

(Base 5, +1 Size increase)

Level 30

R: Unseen Stranger, D: Day, T: Ind

This incantation protects an area of 100 square feet from supernatural creatures of Might 10 or less, who cannot enter the area or affect it with their powers. Like wards from other magical traditions, this incantation has to penetrate to be effective.

(Base 10, +2 Unseen Stranger, +1 Day, + 1 Size)

Kardia deals with the humors and personality of the human body, targeting the part of the individual erroneously labeled "the heart" by Amazon sorceresses. Most people's personality is mutable, meaning that Kardia magic can make permanent changes. Personality Traits that are part of a character's Essential Nature, usually resulting from a Virtue or a Flaw, cannot be affected. Amazon magic is limited even when working on mutable Personality Traits. Only rites can produce permanent effects, and each rite needs a requisite Art. Amazon magic has only two appropriate Arts to make permanent personality changes: Api for melancholy personalities and Nux for sanguine personalities. Personalities governed by the other two humors, choleric and phlegmatic, cannot be made permanent. A list of appropriate Personality Traits for melancholy and sanguine humors is provided.

The base Range and Duration for Kardia incantations is Sister and Day.

Level 10

R: Sister, D: Day, T: Ind

This incantation "heals" a lost shortterm Fatigue Level. This low-level incan-

Alala Kardia spells open a target to a new personality, and increase a current Personality Trait. It opens her spirit to fresh breaths of life, granting her rejuvenation and erasing Fatigue. Alala Kardia can also open one aspect of the heart over the others, effectively balancing the humors of a sick individual so that she does not incur penalties from a disease. Curing a sick person with Alala Kardia is a temporary measure at best; it does not deal with the root cause of the sickness.

Level 5: Increase a Personality Trait by 1. Decrease wound penalties by 1 for a sick individual. Additional magnitudes yield additional +1 bonuses.

Level 10: Create a Personality Trait with a score of 1 or increase a Personality Trait by 2, to a maximum score of +2. Regain a lost short-term Fatigue Level.

Level 15: Create a Personality Trait with a score of 2 or increase a Personality Trait by 3, to a maximum score of +3. Regain a lost long-term Fatigue Level.

Level 20: Create a Personality Trait with a score of +3.

tation allows the sorceress' shield-sisters to exert in every round of combat. If a target receives five or more of this incantation, she will fall unconscious once the magic eventually ends. Fatigue is recovered normally once the target awakens.

(Base 10)

Level 15

R: Sister, D: Day, T: Ind

This incantation cancels the penalties incurred from suffering a disease that acts as a Medium Wound. It does not combat the disease itself, providing the target temporary relief only.

(Base 5, + 2 for additional bonuses)

Level 15

R: Sister, D: Day, T: Ind

This incantation gives the recipient an Angry Personality Trait of +2. It is commonly cast on shield-sisters before a battle, especially one in which prisoners are not desired.

(Base 15)

Level 25

R: Unseen Stranger, D: Day, T: Ind

This incantation will tell a sorceress if a person is possessed by a disease spirit up to Might 10 and the nature of that spirit. Since the disease spirit is unknown to the caster, the Range must be increased to Unseen Stranger. The incantation must penetrate the

Ma'at Kardia spells measure the health of a target. By deciphering a target's symptoms, Ma'at Kardia spells can indicate if she is suffering from a disease. They can also measure a person's state of exhaustion, and indicate any Personality Traits she might have.

**General:**Indicate the type of disease spirit that has possession of an individual. The base level of the spell must equal or exceed the spirit's Might.

Level 2: Indicate a strong Personality Trait (+3 or more; -3 or less)

Level 3: Indicate a moderate Personality Trait (-2 or +2). Indicate the state of exhaustion of a human target.

Level 4: Indicate a weak Personality Trait (-1 or +1)

The following list presents Personality Traits for the four humors, and is reprinted from Art & Academe, page 40.

Sanguine: Hopeful, Friendly, Amorous, Compassionate, Temperate, Restless, Weak-Willed, Obnoxious, Insecure, Self-Obsessed, Lustful, Gluttonous

Choleric: Self-Reliant, Optimistic, Courageous, Brave, Decisive, Determined, Domineering, Proud, Hot-

Tempered, Angry, Prejudiced, Cruel Melancholic: Caring, Loyal, Sensitive, Altruistic, Creative, Idealistic, Generous, Just, Pessimistic, Pompous, Vengeful, Touchy, Unsociable, Envious

Phlegmatic: Calm, Dependable, Contemplative, Easy Going, Peaceful, Loyal, Prudent, Lazy, Cowardly, Fearful, Stubborn, Paranoid, Selfish, Avaricious

disease spirit's Magic Resistance to work. (Base 10, + 3 Unseen Stranger)

Level 15

R: Seen Stranger, D: Day, T: Ind This incantation makes the target lose

one short-term Fatigue level.

(Base 5, +2 Seen Stranger)

Level 20

R: Seen Stranger, D: Day, T: Ind This incantation lowers a target's Brave Personality Trait by 2 points.

(Base 10, +2 Seen Stranger)

Known by several other names, Nux was the goddess of the Milky Way, the stars, and the night sky. She was also a fertility goddess in some aspects, a protector of rulers, and the goddess of cows. During Viea's revamping of ancient Amazonian magic, many original Nux spells were transposed to other Arts, leaving Nux itself with a fairly limited sphere of effect. Nux spells currently affect the night and the sky, as well as animals that have a sanguine (air) humor.

Nux magic can affect air elementals, using the same rules that Api magic uses for earth elementals. It can also affect

Papaios Kardia spells close the heart, shutting down Personality Traits and expending Fatigue.

Level 5: Decrease a Personality Trait by 1. Cause the loss of a short-term Fatigue Level in the target.

Level 10: Decrease a Personality Trait by 2. Cause the loss of two shortterm Fatigue Levels in the target.

Level 15: Decrease a Personality Trait by 3 (maximum). Cause the loss of a long-term Fatigue Level in a target.

animals with an overwhelming sanguine (air) nature, primarily birds. The category "birds" safely covers the majority of sanguine animals: bats, crows, cuckoos, doves, eagles, falcons, geese, herons, magpies, osprey, owls, partridges, storks, and swans, to name the most common.

Nux rites can detect Auram, Aquam, and Vim vis, depending on where the Vim vis comes from. It if is earthier, or derived from an earthy source, it will appear as Api vis rather than Nux vis. Like Api, Nux can detect auras and regiones, but only those associated with Aquam or Auram.

The base Individual size of a Nux spell is 100 cubic paces of sky. The base Range and Duration for Nux effects are Seen Stranger and Hour.

Level 4

R: Seen Stranger, D: Hours, T: Ind

This incantation creates a severe rainstorm that gathers quickly and rains for the duration of the incantation. After a few minutes, the rain turns the ground to mud.

(Base 4)

Alala Nux opens the sky, generating weather phenomena. It can also open current weather phenomena further, rushing them to their eventual completion. Thus, Alala Nux can both create a rain cloud, and force an existing rain cloud to become a storm cloud.

Alala Nux darkens an area, opening it to night's darkness. While it can't extinguish existing flames or other sources of light, it can overcome their brilliance and cancel their illumination.

Like Alala Soma and Alala Api magic, Alala Nux can open wounds in animals with an overwhelming sanguine nature (birds). Incantations that harm birds must have the Range: Seen Stranger.

Some weather phenomena can cause damage to targets, including high winds and lightning bolts. The ensuing damage is no where near as lethal as Hermetic versions of similar spells. Damage done to a target equals the base level of the effect. Increasing an incantation's magnitude will add +5 to the damage caused by the spell. Since the weather effect is controlled by magic, creatures with Magic Resistance are protected.

General: Summon an air elemental whose Might equals or is less than the base level of effect.

Level 2: Increase the amount of darkness in an area.

Level 3: Create complete darkness in a lit area; create a mild weather phenomenon that behaves normally.

Level 4: Create a severe weather phenomenon; change a mild weather phenomenon to a severe one; create a mild weather phenomenon that behaves unnaturally.

Level 5: Create a very severe weather phenomenon; change a severe weather phenomenon to a very severe one; create a severe weather phenomenon that behaves unnaturally.

Level 10: Create a very severe weather phenomenon that behaves unnaturally.

Level 5

R: Cousin, D: Hours, T: Ind

This incantation forces a fog to generate around a single individual. The fog covers her and follows her wherever she goes, closely adhering to her. Others can see the fog but not the person hidden within. Argimpasa, the Amazon name for Aphrodite, often masked her son the Trojan hero Aeneas with such a spell.

(Base 4, +1 Cousin)

Level 10

R: Seen Stranger, D: Hours, T: Ind

This incantation breaks a bird's wing, preventing it from flying away and escaping.

(Base 10)

Ma'at Nux magic lets a sorceress measure the sky and night, and was originally used to forecast weather. Since Viea's introduction of early Hermetic methods, Ma'at Nux can read the sky for magical influences, much like Ma'at Api magic reads the earth. The only types of vis that Ma'at Nux rites can discern are Auram, some Aquam, and Vim. The Aquam vis must be a result of a weather phenomenon. Such rites require a Zoi requisite.

General: Command an air elemental whose Might equals or is less than the base level of effect.

Level 3: Discern vague mundane properties of an area of sky.

Level 4: Discern detailed mundane properties of an area of sky.

Level 5: Discern vague magical properties of an area of sky (presence of an aura or indication of raw vis).

Level 10: Discern detailed magical properties of an area of sky (presence of a regio, strength of an aura, amount of raw vis in an object).

Level 20

R: Seen Stranger, D: Hours, T: Ind

This incantation creates a thunderstorm. Every other round a lightning bolt may be called to strike a target, for the duration of the storm. To change targets, the sorceress must make a new casting roll, which acts as her aiming roll. Additional casting rolls have no effect on the spell except for aiming the bolts of lightning.

(Base 20)

Level 3

R: Seen Stranger, D: Hour, T: Ind

This incantation allows the sorceress to know if a storm is developing. More accurate information is revealed towards the end of the incantation.

(Base 3)

Level 5

R: Seen Stranger, D: Hour, T: Ind

This incantation allows the sorceress to know whether a targeted bird has a Might score, although it will not indicate how high its Might score is.

(Base 5)

Level 10

R: Seen Stranger, D: Hour, T: Ind

This incantation gives the sorceress knowledge of the Might score of a targeted magical bird.

(Base 10)

Level 20

R: Cousin, D: Day, T: Ind

This incantation clears 10,000 cubic paces of sky of any weather conditions. For the duration of the spell, weather phenomenon cannot form in the targeted area, which is generally large enough to grant a large building clear weather.

(Base 5, +1 Day, +2 Size)

Soma affects the physical part of the body — the muscles and bones, sinews and skins, and the overtly visual aspects of the human form. Soma incantations cause wounds and cripple limbs, but also cure wounds and heal allies. Since most Soma incantations were developed to slay enemies, Amazon magic is cumbersome when curing wounds.

Soma magic only works on human beings. Other entities can be affected if they have a human-shaped form, but they must be made up of bone and muscle. Merely resembling a human isn't enough. A giant or faerie prince could be affected, for example, but a human-shaped elemental or an animated stone statue cannot be. Halfhuman targets, like centaurs, are immune to Soma incantations. The walking dead, zombies, and skeletons are affected.

The base Individual for Soma magic is a Size –1 to +1 human. Spells that target larger or smaller individuals must add

Papaios Nux magic closes the sky, reducing the severity of weather phenomenon or canceling them completely. It dismisses or damages air elementals and damages or reduces the Might of sanguine animals.

General: Dismiss or damage an air elemental whose Might equals or is less than the base level of effect.

Level 3: Destroy a mild weather phenomenon that behaves normally.

Level 4: Destroy a severe weather phe-

nomenon; change a severe phenomenon to a mild one; destroy a mild weather phenomenon that behaves unnaturally.

Level 5: Destroy a very severe weather phenomenon; change a very severe weather phenomenon to a severe one; destroy a severe weather phenomenon that behaves unnaturally.

Level 10: Destroy a very severe weather phenomenon that behaves unnaturally.

magnitudes to affect them.

The base Range and Duration for Soma spells is Seen Stranger and Momentary.

Alala Soma

Level 5

R: Cousin, D: Hour, T: Ind

This incantation grants a +3 recovery roll bonus to a woman in childbirth. Depending on the sorceress' Amazon Chant score, this incantation's Duration may be long enough to cover the whole of the lengthy birth process. Hestria is the goddess of the hearth, and one of the Amazons' most important deities.

(Base 2, +1 Cousin, +2 Hour)

Level 10

R: Seen Stranger, D: Mom, T: Ind

This incantation delivers a Medium wound to the target. Menhit was an ancient Egyptian goddess of war.

(Base 10)

Level 25

R: Seen Stranger, D: Mom, T: Ind Size +2–+4

This incantation blinds a giant of Size +3. Similar incantations exist for giants of different sizes.

(Base 20, +1 Size modifier)

Alala Soma spells open the body, much like a sword stroke, doing damage to the target. Alala Soma incantations are personal favorites of many Amazon sorceresses. Incantations are swift and often decisive on the battlefield, designed for use against opponents. Like all Soma magic, Alala Soma incantations are only effective against human and human-shaped targets. Alala Soma spells also assist in childbirth, gently opening the body to allow the newborn an easier exit. Childbirth is similar to Wound Recovery, and is described in detail in Art & Academe, page 62–63.

Level 1: Force a body to open a natural orifice.

Level 2: Provide a +3 bonus to recovery rolls for a birthing woman, with additional magnitudes yielding additional +3 bonuses.

Level 3: Cause a target pain.

Level 5: Cause a Light wound.

Level 10: Cause a Medium wound

Level 15: Cause a Heavy wound. Destroy a minor sense of a person.

Level 20: Instantly kill a person. Destroy a major sense of a person.

Ma'at Soma spells allow a sorceress to gain information about the target. The most common use of such spells is to keep an eye on distant raiders, especially those close to the sorceress' heart. Though it is easier to gain information about the enemy, this is less advantageous than one might imagine. If the enemy is a man, then sorceresses need to know little else. Determining if a target is Gifted is possible, but since it requires a Zoi requisite, it is a rite rather than an incantation, and combat situations rarely provide the time for a sorceress to cast a rite.

Level 3: Determine the health and well-being of a target.

Level 5: View a human target.

Level 10: Discern all information about a human target.

Level 5

R: Sister, D: Momentary, T: Ind

This spell grants immediate knowledge of the target's physical health, instantly informing the caster of the severity of the target's wounds.

(Base 3, + 2 Sister)

Papaios Soma spells close the body for healing purposes, much like suturing a wound. Because of the nuisances of Soma magic, it is easier to heal an enemy than a companion, although few sorceresses design such rites. Instantaneous healing requires a Kardia requisite, as the target's heart must be included in the magical procedure.

Level 1: Force a target to close a natural orifice of its body.

Level 2: Provide a +3 bonus to recovery rolls for a wounded person, with additional magnitudes yielding additional +3 bonuses.

Level 10: Heal a Light wound (Kardia requisite).

Level 15: Heal a Medium wound (Kardia requisite).

Level 20: Heal a Heavy wound (Kardia requisite).

Level 20

R: Sister, D: Exchange, T: Ind

This incantation allows the caster to view a target with whom she has a personal relationship, no matter how distant the target is physically from the caster. The caster must use some medium for the image to appear: a bowl of water, a plate of sand, or a pile of ashes, for example. The image shifts according to what the target does, allowing a sorceress to watch a companion while she is in battle.

(Base 5, + 2 Sister, +1 Exchange)

Level 3

R: Cousin, D: Exchange, T: Ind

This incantation forces a target's mouth closed, which can be a great hindrance to antagonistic sorceresses (–10 on her casting rolls). A version of this spell designed for foreign spellcasters is only level 2, using the Soma base Range: Seen Stranger.

(Base 1, +1 Cousin, +1 Exchange)

Level 20

R: Cousin, D: Month, T: Ind

This incantation grants a +3 recovery bonus to a wounded target. The incantation must last as long as the necessary length of the healing process. Legend has it that Antiope originally designed this spell for her husband, Theseus of Athens.

(Base 2, + 1 Cousin, +4 Month)

Level 45

R: Sister, D: Month, T: Ind, Rite Req: Kardia

This rite instantly heals a Medium wound.

(Base 15, + 2 Sister, +4 Month)

Zoi incantations deal with spirits, both the incorporeal residents of the four Realms as well as the intangible individual spirit of a human target. Used against the

Alala Zoi incantations summon spirits, opening the path for them to be drawn to the sorceress. Usually only dead Amazons are summoned, often to teach the sorceress but also to seek their counsel. Spirits have a spotty memory of their personal past, and tend to focus on one or two traumatic events from their living lives. Ghosts, demons, and other incorporeal spirits can also be summoned with Alala Zoi magic. The required Range of any such incantation depends on the relationship between the departed and the sorceress.

General: Summon a spirit with Might equal to the base level of the spell.

Since Amazonian sorceresses can summon the spirits of their slain companions, it is important to know the Might of the targeted spirit. When an Amazon dies, her ghost travels to an obscure part of the Magic Realm, where it rides, hunts, and fights in perpetuity. Her ghost has a Might equal to the Amazon's highest Martial Ability divided by two (round up). Most regular Amazon ghosts thus have a Might between 2 and 4. The ghosts of Amazonian sorceresses have a Might equal to their highest Art at the time of their death. Both warrior and sorceress Amazon ghosts are creatures of magic, and both have a Magic Might score. As magic entities, they are entitled to Qualities and Inferiorities, as explained in Realms of Power: Magic.

Warrior Amazon spirits generally do not have any magical powers, although they might if they had a supernatural Ability during life. Sorceress spirits do have magical powers. Typically, the storyguide should convert a sorceress' spells into powers. If you are using the character creation rules from Realms of Power: Magic, you must buy Qualities that grant magical powers, then use the Amazon magic system to define those powers. Powers common to all spirits are also allowed (Realms of Magic: the Magic Realm, pages 101–103). Spirits follow the regular rules for magical creatures, meaning that an Amazon sorceress spirit will not have to aim her powers for them to work, nor are her powers possibly resisted, although Magic Resistance still applies. Powers should be designed using Amazonian magic guidelines, and use Amazonian Ranges, Durations, and Targets. Magic spirits do not use Amazonian Arts, however, so you must select the most appropriate Hermetic Art for the described power.

The most common purpose for which a ghost is summoned is to teach a sorceress an Art or Ability. The ghosts of warriors are more easily commanded than those of sorceresses. Warrior ghosts often have a fairly low Might, making low-level Zoi incantations very effective against them. The ghosts of sorceresses are more problematic because they have higher Might and may not be disposed to helping, in contrast to warrior ghosts who generally are more accommodating. A sorceress' ghost's relationship to a summoning sorceress depends on how she handled the Sacred Sickness during her life. Those who successfully overcame the majority of their Sacred Sicknesses more readily assist a sorceress. They are not bothered by the sorceress' Gift and do not suffer a –3 penalty on Teaching Source Quality totals. Those who succumbed to the Sacred Sickness are evilly disposed toward living summoners, and suffer a double penalty (–6) on Teaching Source Quality totals that they are forced into.

vast plethora of incorporeal spirits, Zoi magic summons, controls, and banishes ghosts, daemons, and demons. Any spirit agent, as long as it has Might, may be affected by Zoi incantations, providing the incantation hits and penetrates the target. Physical creatures with Might, magical creatures, faeries, angels, corporeal demons, and others are not affected by Zoi magic. A faerie ghost would be affected, while an invisible faerie would not.

Zoi magic has less control over a human spirit that is still bound to a living target. Attached to the living, such a spirit cannot be summoned, controlled, or banished. The spirit can be hazily inves-

Ma'at Zoi incantations measure the spirits, and can be used to gain useful information about ghosts and other incorporeal spirits. Seeing a spirit is relatively easy, although it becomes harder if the sorceress does not know the spirit. To see an unknown spirit, meaning one that is not an Amazon, the sorceress must cast the incantation at Range Unseen Stranger. If such a spirit exists within the scope of the sorceress' vision, it will appear to her.

The Gift can be detected with Ma'at Zoi incantations, as can other supernatural powers that a human target may possess. Ma'at Zoi spells can also detect the personal traces inherent in each sorceress' spells. Magi call these unique identifiers "sigils," while sorceresses refer to them as "reflections of the spirit."

Ma'aat Zoi incantations also control a spirit, measuring its nature and compelling it to follow orders. Such spells must penetrate the spirit's Magic Resistance. To summon a spirit, a sorceress needs one Alala Zoi spell to call it and another Ma'at Zoi spell (often of the same level) to command it.

General: Control a spirit with Might equal to the base level of the incantation.

Level 2: Detect an active Amazonian spell on a target

Level 3: See an invisible spirit.

Level 4: Detect the unique identifier of an active Amazonian spell.

Level 5: Determine if an individual is Gifted or a person possesses magical (supernatural) abilities.

Level 10: Determine the expected, natural lifespan of a person (Kardia requisite).

ed individuals and those with Supernatural Virtues and Flaws.

The base Range and Duration for Zoi incantations is Cousin and Hour.

Alala Zoi

Level 5

R: Cousin, D: Hour, T: Ind

This incantation summons an Amazon spirit of Might 5 or less. The spirit must have had a Cousin relationship with the caster prior to its demise, and must have previously been summoned by the caster. The spirit remains for the duration of the incantation.

(Base 5)

Level 15

R: Unseen Stranger, D: Hour, T: Ind

This incantation summons an Amazon spirit of Might 5 or less for the first time. Later spells do not need to have this

tigated and subtlety manipulated, however. These types of incantations awaken a Gifted warrior to her magical potential, and extend life in those so awakened. Zoi magic can also identify targets whose spirit is tainted by magic, including Gift-

Magic Might: 20 (Corpus)

Season: Autumn

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

Virtues and Flaws: Magic Spirit; Magical Master; Baneful Circumstances (being outside), Offensive to People, Slow Power (Donning the Corporeal Veil)

Magical Qualities and Inferiorities: Greater Power (x4); Increased Might (x3), Improved Recovery (x2)

Personality Traits: Wicked +3, Brave +2 Abilities: Amazon 5 (military terms), Amazonian Chant 4 (rites), Amazonian Spellcraft 4 (inventing incantations), Amazonian Cult Lore 5 (Soma rites), Finesse 4 (Soma incantations), Penetration 3 (Soma)

Arts: Al 12, Ma 4, Pa 10, Ap 3 , Ka 6, Nu 1, So 17, Zo 11

(Note that as a spirit Styliane cannot

use these Arts to cast spells, but can teach these Arts to the sorceress who summoned her.)

Powers:

Cripple the Pestering Cousin, 1 point, Init +3, Corpus. Gives an Amazon a Heavy Wound. R: Cousin, D: Mom, T: Ind AlSo 20 (base 15, +1 Cousin): Greater Power (20 levels, –1 Might Cost, +5 Init).

Cripple the Pestering Stranger, 1 point, Init +3, Corpus. This power gives a human target a Heavy Wound. It will not work on Amazons. R: Seen Stranger, D: Mom, T: Ind

AlSo 15 (base 15): Greater Power (15 levels, –1 Might Cost, +5 Init)

Donning the Corporeal Veil, 0 points, Init –1, Corpus. Styliane can create a body for herself, made out of flesh (common spirit greater power).

Presence, 0 points, constant, Imaginem.

The common spirit power described in Realms of Magic: Magic, page 103. Styliane is aware of everything that happens in her cave complex.

Vis: 4 pawn of Corpus vis in the eyes of her fleshy form.

Appearance: When in corporeal form, Styliane appears as a tall, ravenhaired woman of advanced age, dressed in Amazon armor and carrying an ivory scepter.

Styliane is recently dead, having succumbed to the Sacred Sickness in the late twelfth century. She haunts her former temple — a small system of caves in the eastern end of the Pontic Mountains. Styliane is ill-disposed towards summoners. But if properly cajoled, she will teach Arts and Abilities. She could also serve as a bodyguard to the sorceress for the duration of the spell that summoned her.

(Base 5, +2 Unseen Stranger)

Level 2

R: Cousin, D: Hour, T: Ind

This spell tells the caster if a targeted Amazon is under the effects of an Amazonian spell.

(Base 2)

Level 3

R: Cousin, D: Hour, T: Ind

The sorceress can see an incorporeal Amazon spirit standing in proximity to her. (Base 3)

Level 5

R: Cousin, D: Hour, T: Ind

This incantation controls a summoned Amazon spirit of Might 5 or less. While the incantation lasts, the spirit will perform tasks assigned to it by the caster, to the best of its ability.

(Base 5)

Level 10

R: Cousin, D: Hour, T: Ind, Rite Req: Kardia

This rite measures the expected, natural life of a woman. Traditionally, it was cast on an important person's daughter to foresee how long her life would last. The rite still does that, but does not take into account any accidental happenings that may transpire along the way. It is a less than useful rite, and is usually cast at the command of the queen on a selected daughter.

(Base 10)

Level 10

R: Seen Stranger, D: Hour, T: Ind

Magic Might: 5 (Terram)

Season: Summer

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

Virtues and Flaws: Magic Spirit; Magical Champion, Famous, Good Teacher; Proud

Magical Qualities and Inferiorities: Improved Abilities (x3), Improved Recovery, Lesser Power

Personality Traits: Haughty +3, Loyal +2

Reputations: Fierce Warrior 4 (Amazons) Abilities: Amazon 5 (military terms), Amazonia Lore 3 (generals), Bow 6 (Scythian bow), Ride 3 (mounted combat), Hunt 2 (tracking), Single Weapon 9 (sagaris), Teaching 3 (single student)

Powers:

Donning the Corporeal Veil, 5 points, Init - 2, Terram. Helene can create a body made out of dirt to interact with others, pulling the dirt from the ground to form her body.

Vis: 1 pawn of Terram vis in the dirt used to make her material form

Appearance: Helene is invisible in her spirit form. In her coporeal form, she appears as an Amazon warrior carrying a sagaris.

Helene was a famous raider who fought Achilles and died by his sword. She is most often summoned to teach martial abilities, but can also serve as an invisible scout to spy on an enemy.

Papaios Zoi incantations close spirits, either removing them from the mundane world or destroying their essence. Incantations that banish spirits only do so for as long as the incantation lasts. Incantations that destroy spirits do so in a moment, even if the incantation itself lasts for the base Duration of Zoi spells (Hour).

Papaios Zoi rites can close a sorceress' spirit from the ravages of time, extending her expected life span. These are the most common Amazon rites, and must include a Soma requisite to protect the body as well as the spirit.

Developed by the Amazon sorceress Viea, this rite allows a sorceress to determine if a target is Gifted. It is not precise enough **General:**Banish an incorporeal entity, whose Might equals the base level of the incantation, back to its home realm. Reduce a ghost's Might by points equal to the base level of the incantation.

Level 5: Add a +1 bonus to Aging rolls. Additional magnitudes add additional bonuses: +1 per added magnitude. Requires a Soma requisite.

Level 15: Suppress a targeted wizard's Gift for the duration of the spell.

Level 30: Destroy a targeted wizard's Gift.

to distinguish between the Gift and Supernatural Virtues the target may possess.

(Base 5, +1 Seen Stranger)

Level 30

R: Cousin, D: Month, T: Ind

This incantation controls a summoned sorceress spirit of Might 20 or less and forces it to teach the caster. The Duration has been extended to cover the seasonal requirement of teaching, and the required summoning spell must also have its Duration increased.

(Base 20, + 2 Month)

Level 10

R: Seen Stranger, D: Hour, T: Ind This incantation destroys 5 points of

For all intents and purposes, Viea is a monster. Her mind, once human, is now consumed with vengeance. Since her nemesis Bonisagus is destroyed, this hatred is focused on the Order of Hermes, his "children." She is a ghastly figure, a creature of dark crawl spaces and shadowy tombs, horrible of visage and temperament. While the Amazons as a whole might be converted from their animosity towards men, Viea will never be swayed from her murderous intentions.

Magic Might: 40 (Corpus)

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

Size: 0

Season: Winter

Confidence Score: 4 (9)

Virtues and Flaws: Magic Human; Magical Monster; Arcane Lore, Famous, Great Communication, Great Quickness, Increased Characteristics (x2), Keen Vision, Piercing Gaze, Self-Confident, Warrior; Enemies (Order of Hermes), Wrathful; Driven (Destroy the Order)

Qualities and Inferiorities: Fatigue Mastery, Gifted, Greater Power (x3); Improved Confidence (x2), Improved Might (x5), Improved Fatigue (x5), Improved Soak (x4), Lesser Power (x4); Monstrous Appearance

Personality Traits: Wrathful +3, Jealous +3, Blood-thirsty +2

Reputations: Living Goddess 4 (Amazons), Trianoma's Sister 1 (Order of Hermes)

Combat:

Dodge: Init +4, Attack n/a, Defense –3, Damage n/a

Labrys: Init +5, Attack +8, Defense +8, Damage +7

Sagaris: Init ++6, Attack +10, Defense +9, Damage +12

Scythian bow: Init +3, Attack +10, Defense +11, Damage +7

Soak: +10

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

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Amazon 5 (military phrases), Amazon Cult Lore 7 (Zoi rites), Amazonian Chant 5 (Kardia), Amazonian Spellcraft 6 (inventing incantations), Artes Liberales 2 (logic), Athletics 2 (running), Awareness 2 (spying), Bows 6 (Scythian bow), Brawl 3 (dodge), Concentration 3 (ignoring pain), Finesse 4 (aiming), Greek 5 (poetry), Guile 2 (secret motivations), Great Weapon 4 (Sagaris), Hermetic Magic Theory 1 (original research), Infernal Lore 3 (demons), Latin 5 (Hermetic usage), Leadership 3 (raiding party), Magic Lore 3 (magic animals), Order of Hermes Lore 1 (House Bonisagus), Penetration 5 (Corpus), Ride 2 (charging), Scythia Lore 3 (geography), Scythian 3 (local dialect), Single Weapon 3 (labrys), Stealth 5 (sneak), Survival 3 (steppes), Teaching 3 (apprentices), Thessaly Lore 2 (The Witches of Thessaly)

Powers:

Call the Night, 2 points, Init +6, Vim. This power plunges a target 100 paces wide, 100 paces deep, and 100 paces high into complete darkness. R: Seen Stranger, D: Hour, T: Ind

AlAp 10 (base 3, +1 Seen Stranger, +3 Size) Lesser Power (10 levels, +3 Init)

Destroy the Son of Bonisagus, 2 points, Init +6, Vim. This power destroys a wizard's Gift, permanently. R: Seen Stranger, D: Hour, T: Ind

AlSo 35 (base 30, +1 Seen Stranger)

a targeted spirit's Might. The sorceress must be able to see the ghost to target it. This incantation is designed as a catch-all for foreign spirits who the sorceress has not summoned.

(Base 5, +1 Seen Stranger)

Level 20

R: Seen Stranger, D: Hour, T: Ind

Originally invented by the Amazon sorceress Viea, this incantation robs a Gifted target of his Gift, essentially depriving him of the ability to cast spells for the duration of the incantation. It also prevents a target with Supernatural Abilities from using them.

(Base 15, + 1 Seen Stranger)

Level 35

R: Personal, D: Month, T: Ind, Rite Req: Soma

This rite allows the target to add a +3 bonus to her Aging rolls. This rite remains in effect until the recipient suffers an Aging Crisis, at which point the spell fails.

(Base 5, +2 additional magnitudes for additional bonuses, +2 Personal, +2 Month)

Viea was born in 705, one of a pair of Gifted twins. She was always close to her sister, the Trianoma of Hermetic fame, and both were indoctrinated into the magic of the witches of Thessaly at an early age. Viea had a natural inclination for the various rituals for summoning and commanding spirits of the witches, while her sister was more prone to practicing the various hexes that the witches knew. They were nearly inseparable growing up, and this closeness continued into their young adulthood.

Trianoma's dream and the sisters' journey to slay Bonisagus are recounted in Houses of Hermes: True Lineages, page 6. In brief, Trianoma had a vision that she and Viea were fighting, while Bonisagus looked on, and Trianoma killed her sister. Viea's interpretation of this dream was that the multitude of isolated wizards in the eighth century would force the sisters to raise arms against each other. To counter this, Viea suggested the pair seek out and kill this wizard. They tried and failed, and were captured by Bonisagus outside his

Greater Power (30 levels, –2 point cost, +2 Init)

Find our Enemies, 1 point, Init +7, Terram. Viea can sense the vibrations of moving creatures through the ground, as per the incantation. R: Cousin, D: Hour, T: Ind

MalAp 5 (base 5, +2 Size) Lesser Power (5 levels, +4 Init)

Gag the Son of Bonisagus, 1 point, Init +9, Vim. This power mutes a targeted wizard's Gift for five hours, robbing him of the ability to cast spells. R: Seen Stranger, D: Hour, T: Ind AlSo 20 (base 15, +1 Seen Stranger)

Greater Power (20 levels, –1 point cost, +5 Init)

Terrorize the Shield Grog, 3 points, Init +2, Mentem. This power reduces a target's Brave Personality Trait by –3, lasting for 5 hours. R: Seen Stranger, D: Hour, T: Ind

PaKa 20 (base 15, +1 Seen Stranger) Lesser Power (20 levels, –1 point cost)

The Mouth of Hades, 1 point, Init +7, Terram. A pit opens in the ground, as per the incantation. R: Cousin, D: Hour, T: Ind

AlAp 5 (base 5) Lesser Power (5 levels, +4 Init)

The Stare of Death, 1 point, Init +9, Corpus: Viea's stare can kill. This power instantly kills the target. R: Seen Stranger, D: Mom, T: Ind

AlSo 20 (base 20) Greater Power (20 levels, –1 point cost, +5 Init)

Equipment: Besides her clothing, Viea often carries a bow and a quiver full of arrows.

Vis: 8 pawns of Corpus vis in her skull Appearance: Viea appears as a bent old crone, her spine nearly bent double making her ragged nails nearly scrape the ground. She wears tattered, filthy robes, made all the more obvious by the gold tiara she places on her head. Her skin is pock-marked and blistered.

Viea started her magical career as a Witch of Thessaly — a practitioner of the Goetic Arts. She lost her powers to command and summon spirits through those Arts when she was opened to Amazon magic, and then lost more Amazonian magic capabilities when she was transformed into a magic human. On the plus side, she is immortal and, finally, has Magic Resistance.

Many things changed when Viea

the sorceress transformed into Viea the Magic Human. She no longer has Amazon Arts and her main incantations have changed into powers.

Viea is able to expend Fatigue levels instead of Might points to cast her powers, and her Improved Fatigue Qualities give her more Fatigue Levels to do this. Each spent Fatigue level equals 8 Might Points. However, since Might Points cannot be carried over to the next round, and since Viea may only use one power per round, most of these points are wasted because her powers do not cost very many Might points. Still, this combination of Qualities allows her to use her Fatigue levels instead of her Might, giving her maximum Penetration against her enemies.

Still lying in her secret tomb are the notebooks of Bonisagus. Troupes should decide for themselves how to handle these items. The notebooks would be helpful in allowing Corpus magic to restore Fatigue Levels, and in integrating aspects of Amazon magic into Hermetic magic. Retrieving these items would certainly make any magus famous throughout the Order.

Alpine cave.

Their confinement was excruciating for Viea. At first, the pair planned to learn some of the old wizard's magic, since he seemed so keen to teach somebody his marvelous system, but this changed as Trianoma grew more attached to her captor. While Trianoma saw Bonisagus' Hermetic magic system for the peace it could bring to all, Viea saw it as merely another weapon. Viea planned a second assassination, but Trianoma abandoned the scheme, saying that she would actually aid Bonisagus if Viea attempted his murder.

Arguing escalated to violent verbal quarrels. Unwilling to take her sister's life, Viea fled in the night. Her revenge was to steal several of Bonisagus' notebooks, hoping to forestall or even derail his theoretical progress. Always slightly arrogant, Bonisagus refused to admit that Viea's theft caused any dire effect at all. He continued working and ultimately finished the Hermetic magic system. Trianoma knew the truth: Viea had taken the notes on restoring lost Fatigue, and rather than rework that aspect of Hermetic magic, Bonisagus moved to other facets of magic.

Viea returned home, angry at her sister and fearful that Bonisagus would track her down to retrieve his property. Summoning an ancient spirit, Viea asked it where she would be safe, both from physical reprisals and to plot her revenge. The spirit voiced a single answer: Amazonia. Every Greek had heard of the Amazons, including Viea's tribe of witches, but none knew where they lived. So began a tenyear search through the Greek islands, the coast of Libya, and finally the distant land of Scythia. Past Scythia's eastern border Viea discovered Amazon raiding parties. Requesting their aid after proving that she was a capable warrior in her own right, the raiders led her to Amazonia and their queen.

Forty years later, Viea had become one of Amazonia's most powerful sorceresses. Her tinkering with Amazon magic, based on Bonisagus' theories, allowed her to change it and make it a more flexible system. Her greatest achievement was to incorporate Bonisagus' ideas on erasing Fatigue into the Art of Kardia. Still burning with hatred, she rode in many raids and volunteered to stay at several of the secret encampments the Amazons kept watch on their many enemies. In 783, while spying on her hometown in Thessaly, Viea observed her sister with a strange man, searching for powerful witches who might wish to join their Order. Assuming the man to be Bonisagus in disguise, Viea attacked.

A short battle ensued, culminating with Viea facing her sister surrounded by a ring of burning huts. Several Amazons lay dead and the watching magus stood clutching his wounded stomach. Driven into a blind fury and disregarding her sister's pleas to withdraw, Viea struck using her most potent Amazon incantations. As they rebounded harmlessly off Trianoma's Parma Magica, Trianoma' Pilum of Fire struck and severely wounded Viea. Trianoma's vision had come true, under Mercere's watchful eye, and Viea's companions carried away the bleeding sorceress.

Viea recovered physically, but her hopes to defeat the Order were dashed. Besides the protective shield of Parma Magica, Viea realized that she was growing quite old, while the magi with their longevity rituals were staying spry despite their advanced years. Amazon magic includes spells to prolong life, but even under these enchantments she would eventually wither and die. She turned to an ancient mystery initiation, one of the few that she couldn't adapt to Bonisagus' codification of magic. Retreating to the island's interior, she spent years experimenting with various initiation scripts in hopes of performing the initiation of the Living Goddess. Just as she succeeded, the queen's sorceress attacked her, envious of the power that Viea commanded. Weakened from the transformation, Viea retreated into her temple. The queen's sorceress sealed the temple, turning it into Viea's tomb.

Nearly four hundred years later, under the orders of a new queen, her tomb was reopened. With the Order boldly making territorial advances in the Levant and Novgorod tribunals, the Franks taking Constantinople, and the Mongol clans combining for war, the queen sought the advice of the living goddess. Hoping that Viea's lunacy hadn't consumed her, the

queen unearthed the grotesque figure and asked her advice. How was Amazonia to continue with enemies at every border and the Order more powerful and prevalent than ever?

And Viea, twisted and evil-minded, had a plan.

In 1220, Queen Derimusa leads the Amazons — the same queen who ordered Viea brought from her tomb ten years ago. Her primary concern is the recent intrusion of the Mongols into the lands of the Cumans and the Khwarizms. Several of her warriors are demanding an invasion of Khwarizm, stating that a nearby general, Alcibrote, is already preparing her raiding party for such an incursion. Alcibrote's sorceress counselor, Bellolyte, thinks an invasion would succeed if the Amazons enlisted the aid of the centaurs, as they did thousands of years ago. Derimusa counters by saying that no Amazon has seen a centaur in years, let alone a tribe of the creatures. Derimusa's advisor, the sorceress Antiera, suggests moving the island, relocating from place to place within the Caspian Sea so that their enemies can not find them. Unfortunately, she has not completed the powerful rites required to do so, and needs time and resources to finish. Derimusa wonders how much time the Amazons have left.

Viea has the boldest claim, stating that mankind has risen to power because of the Order of Hermes — puppet masters who hide in the shadows and control men's fate. Instead of worrying about these magi's soldiers, the Amazons should strike directly at them, flush them from their rat holes and leave their corpses to rot. Although this is utterly wrong, the Amazons don't know it. Viea's plan is easy to initiate, which the Amazons like. Raiding parties have entered the Thebes, Levant, and Novgorod Tribunals before, and while they haven't searched for magi, they could. Viea knows that magi like magical auras. She claims

Records kept in the Thebes Tribunal recount that Bonisagus gathered a small adventuring party to search for Viea in 836. These manuscripts are silent concerning his success, and as far as history shows, he and his group never returned. Bonisagus' final adventure has been left purposefully blank. If his mission was successful and he found Viea, you will have to decide what happened. Viea will certainly remember meeting her nemesis, although gaining this information from her should be difficult. Perhaps Viea still has the founder's skeleton, maliciously preserved in her tomb. On the other hand, if Bonisagus failed to find Viea, his travels could have taken him near Amazonia, and a group intent on following the founder's final itinerary might accidentally run into an Amazon raiding party. Regardless of Bonisagus' success or failure, investigation of the founder's demise could be a subtle approach to introducing Amazons into your saga.

that if a raiding party searches for auras, they will eventually find a covenant of the Order of Hermes.

Viea proposes a large campaign aimed at the heart of the Order. Viea knows where a few of the older covenants lie, including Durenmar and many of the domus magnae of the Houses. Elite strike forces of raiders could penetrate into western Mythic Europe, using numerous safe encampments to journey deep into enemy territory. So as not to incite the Order against the Amazons, the queen suggests that the raiders dress like Mongols. Little enough is known about them, so even captured Amazons might not expose the ruse.

Still, Queen Derimusa is undecided. Amazons continue to raid the border lands of the Cumans and the Khwarizm Empire. The Mongol invasion of Khwarizm, however, will demand an Amazon response, and by the end of the year Derimusa will have to decide on some action. Viea's plan will win out, unless some other councilor — perhaps a PC sorceress — suggests a viable alternative. Unfortunately, Viea's plan will not affect the Mongol invasion, regardless of its success or failure.

If the Amazons follow through on their war against the Order of Hermes, there are several things to consider in your saga. Having heard of Amazons only in legends, magi will have no idea of their actual presence in Mythic Europe. Following Viea's plan, raiders appear out of the night, bent on destruction. The location of your covenant determines how soon a group of raiders might appear. Covenants in Novgorod, Thebes, and the Levant Tribunals are most at risk, based on proximity, but other covenants eventually become targets. The players should first hear rumors that some force has destroyed a distant covenant, and, if Viea's plan is successful, the rumors will indicate that it was the covenant's neighbors that destroyed them. Such news is sad, but not unduly troubling. When more covenants fall, however, or after a raid staged on Durenmar or one of the older covenants, the Order becomes alarmed.

Even with this overall agenda, player character covenants could be raided no matter where they are. The storyguide could place an Amazon secret encampment near the troupe's covenant, perhaps hidden in the ground through Alala Api spells. For whatever reason — whether it's personal vendetta, misleading information, or blind mistake — the covenant is targeted before other, more well-known covenants. The raiders appear suddenly, led by a sorceress or two, and attack. The Aegis of the Hearth spell will not stop such a group, although it will certainly diminish a sorceress' magic.

Magi have many ways of discerning the truth behind these raids, especially if an Amazon is captured, and Viea's plan will not prove as easy as she'd hoped. Taking the fight to Amazonia is difficult but not impossible. Nearly every scholar knows that the Amazons live to the east, and Cu-

man and Khwarizms might know that the Amazons live on an island in the Caspian Sea. A storyguide could create a series of sorties and battles as Flambeau and Tremere champions lead excursions into Amazonia, where they will face fierce resistance.

Other types of stories are possible including Amazons in your saga does not have to mean combat, battles, or total war. While predisposed to violence against male enemies, Amazons are more receptive to magae, and female player characters may hope to interact peacefully with the Amazons. Perhaps some Ex Miscellanea followers of Pralix can bring the Amazon sorceresses into the Hermetic fold. This is a tall order, and while a sorceress might listen to a woman wizard, she will have a hard time accepting male wizards as her equal. The queen would never submit to such an alliance, even if a majority of sorceresses thought it was a good idea. This could lead to civil war, or an exodus of the Amazon sorceresses.

The Parma Magica is a mystery to Viea. She knows that some ritual is involved and assumes it to be linked to Hermetic magic, which it is. In reality, Parma Magica is merely an Arcane Ability, and any Gifted practitioner of any tradition could perform the ritual, if they knew how to do so. Magi know this and jealously protect this information. Many magi, however, in their attempt to quickly gain knowledge and power, have written and trade books about Parma Magica. If such a book fell into an Amazon's hands, the Order could be in real trouble.

Although they have no interest in reading, Amazon raiders often take books as spoils of war. Many are decorated with precious gems and gold leaf, which can be removed for personal adornment. Viea knows that the Order is an academic one and that books are priceless to magi. Unlike her fellow sorceresses, she can read both Latin and Greek. Since her transformation, having lost the Gift and its negative reactions, she has asked sorceresses to forward any acquired books to her. Gaining a book in Parma Magica will unlock the key to this Ability, and Viea will suddenly realize how easy it is to teach a Gifted student Parma Magica.

Being a magic creature, the first difficulty will be in her learning it herself. Realms of Power: Magic includes rules for magical beings to learn new Abilities. Essentially, she will need to consume vast quantities of vis to offset the learning liability imposed by her magical nature. Once this is accomplished, she can teach Parma Magica orally to any sorceress, who can then improve the Ability through practice. Another tactic would be to kidnap scholars who could teach the sorceresses to read. As soon as the sorceresses learn Parma Magica, they discover that they no longer automatically hate each other, and try to form a unified front in attacking the Order of Hermes.

If the Order is lucky, it discovers the theft of books and the abduction of scholars before the Amazons attack. A team of player characters could be confronted with this mystery, and successfully uncovering Viea's plot would warn the Order of the Amazons' plans. If the group is very successful, they might be able to prevent the Amazons' invasion, although it should be equally satisfying for players to uncover the plot and then rush back to their Hermetic allies to warn them of the impending attack.

Their first attack is critical. Protected by Parma Magica, several raiding groups and their sorceresses combine for the assault. The mythical Amazonomachy will become a reality. As soon as this attack is made, the Order should react violently. Reports that magic spells bounce off the Amazon attackers as if they were magi should lead magi to conclude that the Amazons have Magic Resistance. As soon as magi discover that the Amazons have the Parma Magica, war will be declared. Petty feuds and personal agendas will dissipate as the Order unites to destroy the Amazons.

Running a war saga should be extremely dangerous. The Amazons are fast, ruthless, and persistent. Their passion for battle continually invigorates them, and many fight to the finish rather than surrender. The Amazon War should be as enthralling as the Schism War, and should help define the Order in the years to come. How the various Houses respond — the individual heroes and villains, the battles and sieges — will be entirely up to you and your troupe.

On the other hand, you could decide to play Amazon characters. A raiding party consisting of a sorceress, a general (companion character), and several warriors (grogs) is ideal for a group of players. Each player should create a sorceress character. Unlike Hermetic magi, these characters will not be able to work together, so all members of the troupe should make Amazon warriors to fill out each one's raiding group. Initial stories could be simple raids, which would change into more complex military matters once the Mongols invade Khwarizm. Riders seek slaves, plunder, livestock, magical animals, and Gifted children. Since raids are far-ranging expeditions, such stories could take your players anywhere. The Novgorod and Levant Tribunals are the likely places to start. Stories can revolve from raiding party to raiding party, offering the players a chance to play all their characters.

Once Viea's plan is accepted, and the Order of Hermes is your enemy, your raiding party will inevitably target covenants. Viea only knows of the older covenants, many of which have ceased to exist. Exploring a fallen covenant would still be entertaining, as raiders are always interested in spoils and booty. Both Guardians of the Forest and The Lion and the Lily list canonical covenants that make excellent targets: Fudarus and Confluensis (which will actually be Dragon's Rest) in the Normandy Tribunal, and Durenmar, Crintera, and Irencillia in the Rhine Tribunal. The targets in other tribunals are left up to the storyguide.