Augustan Brotherhood

Beyond the edges of Mythic Europe lie many threats to the Order of Hermes, challengers to the Order's security. Yet even within their own territory there is another threat, a secret and powerful fraternity of court wizards who hide in plain sight, protected by their powerful patrons in the nobility. The Order disdains most court wizards as charlatans, or ineffectual hedge magicians at best, and it is hard to act against them without interfering with the most powerful mundanes. Arrogantly, the Order has dismissed them as irrelevant, mere entertainers for hire performing duties that are below the dignity of any Hermetic magus. This is an arrogance that could be the downfall of the Order itself; for the truly powerful court wizards, linked by a secret society that knows no national boundaries, scheme and ready themselves for the day the new emperor of their choosing ascends to the throne of a domain the equal of the Roman Empire.

The Augustan Brotherhood is a group of potential rivals to the Order of Hermes, which exists within the courts of Mythic Europe in 1220. A secret society, they are dangerous not just for their great magical ability, but also for their political intrigues and invisibility to the Order. While the Order knows almost nothing of these powerful wizards, the Augustans are very much aware of the Order of Hermes, and regard the Order with grave distrust.

The magical fraternity does not, of course, include the vast majority of court wizards, even in places like the court of Frederick II where their influence is entrenched. The majority of such employees are merely charlatans, or academics pursuing experimental philosophy (see Art & Academe). How strong is the influence of the few true wizards, how powerful their political connections, how potent their reach? There may be as few as a dozen or as many as three hundred active brothers (and sisters, for though less common owing to a strong cultural prejudice against women, some exceptional educated ladies are admitted to the group).

Outsiders who witness a rite cast by these wizards may well suspect that they are pagans, or at the very least heretics. While it is certainly true that many of the wizards may privately embrace pantheist or polytheist views, classical pagan religion, or heretical beliefs such as reincarnation of souls, the group does not in fact hold any religious doctrine in common. They espouse tolerance on matters of faith and conscience, and as such cross religious divides. Their open acceptance of candidates regardless of ethnicity and upbringing allow them to function across the whole of Mythic Europe. In fact, their ambitions are educational in their dedication to the rebirth and support of classical literature; magical as heirs to the lost magical secrets of one of the greatest figures of pagan antiquity, the wizard-poet Virgil; and political in that they strive for nothing less than the recreation of the Roman Empire in the glory days of Augustus.

The Brotherhood is aware of the Order, though their information is fragmentary. They seek knowledge of the Order, which stands outside of feudal society and ultimately is likely to try to retain its autonomy rather than serve the Brotherhood's empire. While educated, many Hermetic magi appear to them as uncultured and immoral outlaws, standing outside of the feudal society that is home to the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood's members pride themselves on their learning and etiquette, and are completely at home in the courts of Mythic Europe. Even the Brotherhood's wizards, however,

That a small group of magician scholars might dream of a return to the Roman Empire is not surprising. Many in the Order of Hermes may feel sympathies for such tolerant and educated men of letters, but regard them as little more than dreamers. The discovery of a long lost repository of magical learning in the Kingdom of Sicily, where their unusual ideas could take hold has, however, raised them from utopian dreamers to a group who might actually make a play for power. While their magic is limited, if they were to turn the attentions of their mundane supporters against the Order of Hermes, then terrible bloodshed could ensue. While their magic may be relatively weak, the swords and siege weapons of their allies are not. The Order of Hermes exists by the Code, and the Code forbids war against mundanes. If the mundane nobles were to take arms against the Order, could the Order stand against them?

are outsiders by necessity, for they all suffer from The Gift's negative penalties to social interaction, and are extremely fractious and independent minded. While the Brotherhood tends to favor those with the Gentle Gift and extremely high Communication and Presence Characteristics, their internal struggles have for decades prevented any real united effort against the Order. Recently, however, the Brotherhood has learned of the Parma Magica, or rather have learned it is not a spell, and they are now actively conspiring to learn the secret. Only when they have managed to learn and disseminate the Parma Magica among their fellows can they hope to confront the Order. They are a tiny group in comparison to the Order of Hermes, but extremely potent in their own area of magical expertise.

In 1130, Roger II was declared King of Sicily. His ancestors were the Normans who had captured Southern Italy, and formed a new aristocracy ruling over the Lombard, Arab, and Hellenic populace. The area was also religiously diverse, containing Latin Christians, Orthodox Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Soon he was to extend his sovereignty throughout southern Italy. The city of Naples chose to open its gates and join Roger's kingdom. However, when a revolt later broke out, the city of Naples joined the rebels. Roger's Saracen cavalry ravaged the countryside surrounding it, and a fleet of sixty ships was dispatched to storm the harbor, yet Naples managed to hold out successfully. Finally the city chose to submit, and remarkably peaceful terms were negotiated that left the city unsacked and its ruling class in charge and unpunished.

In 1135 Naples rose again with the barons of the south, and owing to the legend of its impregnable walls it quickly filled with people fleeing the fighting. Roger's army laid siege, but in the summer heat disaster occurred. Attacked by clouds of flies and swarms of vermin, which were swiftly followed by a terrible plague, the army disintegrated and the siege was lifted. In September 1136 Roger tried again to take the city via the harbor with a huge fleet. Just as the city's defeat seemed inevitable, a tremendous tempest arose, scattering and sinking most of the fleet and destroying the invading forces.

In the summer of 1139 the Pope himself led an army to attack the Kingdom of Sicily, until he was captured in an ambush and was forced to cede Capua to Roger. Having seen off the Byzantine, imperial, and now papal troops, Roger turned his attention to revenge. Rebellious nobles were hanged, drowned, or thrown screaming from towers, as Roger took terrible vengeance on those who had betrayed their oaths to him. Finally in 1139, Naples once again submitted to Roger, again on very favorable grounds. But by now it was clear to King Roger that something strange, perhaps magical, was behind the city's incredible strength.

In August 1139, the citizens of Naples had reason to fear Roger's wrath. When a Norman scholar came to the gates and declared he had come to seek the tomb of the ancient Roman poet Virgil, no objection was raised. This Englishman, Ludowicus, would surely fail in such a foolish quest? Yet some were frightened — did not the legends say that while the bones of Virgil slept peacefully in the city, that it could never fall to an enemy, or be sacked? Throughout the hot summer days curious boys followed the scholar, as he poked around ancient Roman ruins, and climbed over crumbling piles of masonry. It was those boys' shouts that first roused the crowd — the Englishman had vanished! They had been following him, and suddenly he had disappeared right before their eyes, close by a rocky hill, just a mile outside the city.

Most of the crowd assumed the boys were lying, but a few curious folk and a handful of soldiers decided to wait and see whether the scholar returned as mysteriously as he had departed. Just after midnight, with the full moon high overhead, their patience was rewarded and they seized the unfortunate scholar. Ludowicus was clutching a great book and carrying a sack that rattled ominously. No one saw where he came from, and when questioned he could only say "the tomb," yet he was curiously unable to lead his captors there.

Tiring of questioning the frightened scholar, the crowd turned its attention to the book, written in Latin. But few were willing to look upon the words within, for was not Virgil the greatest of sorcerers? The sack drew most attention. Within the sack was a human skeleton — Ludowicus had succeeded in his quest, and found the very bones of Virgil, the greatest poet who ever lived.

The citizens of Naples had every reason to be nervous. Within the great castle by the harbor was a curious glass egg, and within it was a tiny model of the city. This was the palladium made by Virgil when he was chief minister to Marcellus, the Roman governor of the city. While it remained safe, Naples was immune to being taken by force. So seriously was this tradition taken, that vigilant soldiers guarded it day and night. It was widely known that the reason there were no flies in the city was down to another talisman created by the great magician — the statuette of a bronze fly that adorned one of the city's walls. Even Mount Etna had until recent times been rendered quiescent by the statue of an archer, which when eruption threatened, released an arrow of pure fire. On touching the volcano, the arrow rendered it dormant again, doubtless saving the city many times. The statue was now broken, its magic dispelled after a curious peasant struck it, yet some of Virgil's handiworks remained. Any meat cut on the great marble slab in the meat market would last for a full month, and all the produce of that market was immune to worms and creeping things. Or what of the curious face with an open mouth, which until recently had been used to test the fidelity of the citizens' wives? If an adulteress placed her fingers within the mouth, and faced the great eyes of the round stone swearing her innocence of the charges, the mouth clamped shut, biting the fingers off and leaving her to face humiliation and the scorn of her aggrieved husband and onlookers. All these marvels and many more were the legacy

of the magic of Virgil, magician and friend of the city of Naples.

Even as the curious mob gazed upon the bones in the sack, the sky was torn by lightning, and thunder roared as a mighty tempest blew in from the sea. Ludowicus was seized and taken to the Castello dell' Ovo, the Castle of the Egg, for interrogation, as the seas surged and the heavens wailed their rage at his sacrilege.

Within the shelter of the walls, the frightened leaders of Naples demanded an explanation. In smooth and practiced Latin, Ludowicus addressed them. He confirmed their worst fears: he was an agent of Roger II, he came on the King's business, and he had indeed found the tomb. He told them of the epitaph over the gateway — ''Mantua was my birthplace; I died in Calabria; and now I rest at Parthenope. I sang of pastures, farms, and leaders.'' — inscribed in the stone and shaded by a great bay tree. He explained how he had learned of an ancient legend that led him finally to the right spot.

In the early days of Christianity, St. Paul was taken as a prisoner to Rome, where he learned of the prophecy of Christ in Virgil's Fourth Eclogue while in jail. He was distraught that such a great man might have died before hearing the Gospel, so he made his way to Naples and found Virgil's tomb just outside the city. Paul entered, and was there confronted with two great silver hammer men, who silently strode towards him with mighty war hammers, yet God preserved him and he was able to pass. Within the tomb he found twelve bronze statues with flails, who beat at him furiously, but yet again God preserved him and he was able to pass through, to reach the mosaicked room in which lay the sarcophagus of Virgil. The room was lit by a lamp that still burned after many years (and still burns today, Ludowicus assured the listeners), and contained a book of magic and certain papers addressed to Paul. The letter revealed that Virgil had foreseen so clearly the coming of Christ that he had died devout and a follower of Christianity, albeit two decades before the birth of Christ.

The citizens were amazed, but did not doubt the truth of the story. Soldiers hurried in from the storm — they could not find the tomb. Even at dawn, when the storm ended as abruptly as it arose, Ludowicus was unable to retrace his steps to the place. The citizens now faced a dilemma — if they killed Ludowicus, King Roger would exact brutal revenge. Yet Virgil's bones could never be allowed to leave the city. In the end they compromised. They let the magus return to Sicily taking the book, but the bones were placed in a niche in the Castle della Ovo, behind a locked grill of the type one finds guarding relics, and two soldiers were set to watch them day and night.

That is the story as far as the Order of Hermes know it, and some scholars have wondered which pseudonymous magus was Ludowicus, and to which House he belonged. A few have set off to see if the regio of Virgil's tomb really exists, but if any found it they have not returned.

Ludowicus did not return to Naples, but spent the rest of his days at the Court of Roger II, mixing with Muslims, Greeks, and Latins, while silently reading the pagan rites from Virgil's magic book. He realized he had recovered one of the greatest magical tomes ever written, and as soon as he had committed its contents to memory, he threw it on the fire so that no one else would ever read it. Yet the secret did not perish, for just as Virgil wrote of the new empire of the divine Augustus, so Ludowicus, a lowly court wizard, dreamed of a new empire to reunite Europe and conquer the world. He founded a secret society of wizards to bring such an Emperor to his destiny, and to rule as a new magical aristocracy under the heroic tyrant they plain to raise up.

Such are the origins of the Augustan Brotherhood. Based upon the potent magic that Ludowicus recovered from the tomb, the secret society has developed a system of magic that is markedly different than the Hermetic system, yet still powerful in its own specialized scope.

So who was Virgil, whose magical legacy the Brotherhood embraces? Everyone in Mythic Europe, from the peasants to the lords have heard his name. They know that he was a great pagan magician who lived just before Christ, and predicted His nativity in one of his poems. Like Merlin, he was a great magician, and especially a great prophet, who could see events in far away lands and received visions of the future. One of the cleverest men who ever lived, he was fooled by a mere woman and humiliated by her wiles, becoming an object lesson to all men. He wrote the greatest epic poem of ancient history — The Aeneid, a tale of the Trojan War and founding of Rome — an understanding of which is necessary to understand many dynasties' claims to descent from its hero Aeneas and his followers. To the educated, The Aeneid

is also the book used to teach Latin and grammar. Anyone possessing a score in Latin or Artes Liberales has read many of its passages, and been forced to construe them in their vernacular, making them perhaps more familiar with this book than any other. Every educated person knows something of the life of Virgil, and the stories about him as told in inns, by troubadours at court, and in the marketplace. Indeed, the biography of Virgil appears in the front of almost every grammar text used by apprentices.

Publius Vergilius Maro, whom we know as Virgil, was a Mantuan born of humble parents. His father was a beekeeper employed by a summoner named Magus. He married the magician's daughter, and became rich by buying up woodlands.

Virgil was born not far from Mantua. His mother had an auspicious dream of a laurel tree springing up at her feet. The next day while walking to see a friend she went in to labor, and delivered the boy in a ditch. So mild mannered was the baby that he did not cry on being born. As was the custom, a poplar tree was planted where the birth took place, and it grew taller than any other in the region. It was prayed at by peasants invoking Virgil's spirit for centuries, until one night it vanished.

The boy was educated in literature, Greek as well as Latin, and he also gave himself to medicine and mathematics. Eventually he came to take a job as a stable hand in the emperor's stables, where he excelled in veterinary medicine and was paid in bread. On two occasions troublesome gifts were given to Emperor Augustus — one was a fine foal, and the other a pack of Spanish hounds. Virgil predicted the problems with both gifts, and on hearing this so impressed was the emperor that he ordered the boy's bread ration doubled.

Later, the emperor was troubled as to whether he was truly the legitimate son of his predecessor. Seeing Virgil's great skill at divining the truth of such matters, he called him to his palace to consult him on this delicate matter. Virgil told him his father was a baker, as he kept giving him bread! The emperor, amused by the joke, had great wealth bestowed on the boy.

Virgil became a large man of swarthy complexion, and given to ill health himself no matter how good his medical treatments to others. He was reserved and demure, and maiden-like in his demeanor, though in youth a passionate man. When still young he fell violently in love with one of the emperor's daughters. The girl spurned him, preferring more handsome admirers, until one day, annoyed by his persistence, she seemed to give in. She bade him come to her tower at midnight, where she would lower a basket from the window and have her servants pull him up for a night of lovemaking. Virgil went to the tower found the basket, and climbed in. He was pulled up until he dangled high above the square, and then the girl had the rope fastened, and taunted him out of the window.

In the morning, the crowd gathered and mocked him, and Virgil was forced to flee the emperor's wrath. Extremely angry, he swore revenge for his humiliation. He cast a great rite on the city of Rome, and every single flame in the city was extinguished. By night everyone had to go in darkness. He let it be known that only the girl could give flame, and she was forced to disrobe in the Forum, where a flame was found in her most private parts. She was made to stand all day while the crowd applyed torches to her person to rekindle every fire. Virgil humiliated her as she had humiliated him, but from that day he scorned the inconstancy of women, and took only young men as lovers. "Like Virgil in the basket" remains a proverbial way of expressing a man betrayed by the wiles of women.

Virgil was restored to favor after the emperor's death, and studied more in the arts of magic. His father and two brothers died, and he unsuccessfully tried his hand as a lawyer, for although cleverer than all men he spoke very slowly and lost the case. His great works of poetry — the Eclogues and Bucolics that every educated person reads when learning Latin — he wrote when still a youth himself.

His father's lands had been confiscated and distributed to veterans of the war. But after the completion of the Bucolics, which were read in the theaters to great applause, so impressed was the emperor that he restored Virgil's family estates, and gave him a further great fortune and title of first minister to the governor of Naples, Marcellus. Virgil traveled throughout the south of Italy and Sicily, creating many marvelous works of both literature and of magic, and even helping in the construction of roads. But his magic was always designed to help the citizens and the state, rather than enrich himself. He did create a wonderful herb garden in his villa, however, and magically warded it so the rain never fell upon it — even the winds answered his call.

Virgil then spent eleven years on his masterpiece, The Aeneid. He found time to make a set of statues armed with spears that stood on a palace roof in Rome, each bearing the emblem of a Roman province. Whenever war or rebellion broke out, there the statue struck a bell with its spear and troops were immediately sent out. Virgil also made a magical scrying mirror with which the emperor could watch over distant provinces and ascertain the cause of the problem. Virgil said these magical devices would last until a virgin gave birth, and the people praised him thinking he meant forever, but within two decades after his death they exploded with a mighty roar, as Christ was born in Bethlehem.

In his fifty-second year, Virgil decided to retire to Greece to complete The Aeneid. En route to Athens he met Emperor Augustus, who was returning to Rome from the east. Augustus asked him to join him and return to Rome, but as they walked the road to Megara, Virgil was struck with sunstroke. Virgil's incredible prophetic ability never worked on himself. Earlier he had made a marvelous talking head of silver, which answered all the questions he put to it. The head had assured him that he would live long and well, so long as he protected his head. He thought the device meant itself, and neglected to wear a hat that fateful day. Augustus took him aboard the imperial galley, where the best doctors treated him, and finally he was taken ashore at Brindisi. Nothing worked, and he died of the sunstroke.

As he lay dying, he dictated his will, and then demanded that the now almost

entirely finished The Aeneid be burned. His friends wept but agreed, but as soon as he was dead Augustus countermanded the order and finished the last few lines that Virgil was revising. It is thanks to this interference that we have The Aeneid today.

Ludowicus worked within one of the most fascinating courts in Mythic Europe. The court of King Roger II brought together three religious groups — Orthodox Christianity, Latin Christianity, and Islam — and the many diverse peoples of southern Italy. The civil service that developed created a complex state, with power centralized in the court at Palermo, and with law, finance, and administration all under the eye of the king and his bureaucrats. Within the many tiers of civil government, the Brotherhood founded by Ludowicus quietly plotted, their magical prowess developing with generous patronage from their royal sponsors.

When Henry von Hohenstaufen became Holy Roman Emperor in 1191, he marched south, besieging forces loyal to King Tancred of Sicily in Naples. Once again a pestilence broke out in the besieging army, and once again the city walls held as the army threatening it was destroyed.

Within the Augustan Brotherhood itself, a short and sharp magical conflict broke out. Tancred was suspicious of the power of the wizards in the royal court, and began investigations. A series of assassinations and bitter in-fighting developed in the Brotherhood, and the victorious party supported Henry. How much easier to re-found the glory that was Rome when beginning with the Holy Roman Emperor as candidate? As Henry continued his attacks, the Brotherhood switched sides. How important this was to the political outcome is impossible to tell, but with Tancred's death in 1194 it seems likely that one of the Brotherhood was responsible for the unthinkable; Naples finally fell to Henry's forces. Once of Henry's generals, Conrad de Querfurt, was assigned the task of surveying the walls. During his inspection, he finally saw the magical glass egg that had defended the city, the palladium.

Vergilius was his name; Virgil is the modern English and French form. Others use the more accurate Vergil, while in the Middle Ages he was often called Virgilius. Virgil as depicted in this biography — based on the Life by Aelius Donatus, with the later legendary stories woven in — does not bear any resemblance to the historical poet. This representation is accurate of Virgil as he was depicted in the 13th century, however; by the 15th century his legend changed to include diabolism, necromancy, control of spirits, and all kinds of fantastic additions from the Romances. These wild tales, in which Virgil is almost unrecognizable, probably begin to emerge in the early 1200s, and by 1300 stories of Virgil tricking the devil, dealing with faeries, and flying through the skies on a magic ship to a mountain of iron to steal a magical gem containing a demon are becoming popular among storytellers. Having some of these stories circulating in your saga's setting will obscure the real magic of Virgil, and it may be that some myths were deliberately spread by the Augustan Brotherhood to hide their secrets. In Mythic Europe, Virgil really was a great magician, unless your troupe decides otherwise.

Conrad realized immediately the cause of the city's fall — a hairline crack marred the egg. Its magic, forged by Virgil twelve centuries before, had finally been dispelled.

Tancred died of a "sickness" that was perhaps murder. His young son, aged only three, was taken as a captive to Swabia where he was blinded, castrated, and allowed to die. The Emperor Henry now became King of Sicily, and conducted a violent campaign of repression, slaughtering all who opposed him. On Christmas Day 1194, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI was crowned King Henry I of Sicily in Palermo, and celebrated by having everyone who had attended Tancred's coronation burned alive. Nonetheless, at last the Augustan Brotherhood had their Emperor, and they were more than willing to overlook his brutality as he prepared to attack the Byzantines. At last a monarch might reunite the Roman Empire.

Henry died suddenly of malaria in 1197. His three-year-old son, Frederick, took the crown of Sicily. The Brotherhood moved to take over his education, and defend his regency — this child, showing exceptional intelligence and aptitude for learning, seems to be the one they've awaited. They plot his path to glory, and swear that he will be the new Augustus, the ruler of the new empire. Now 26 years old and both Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily in 1220, in time he will become known as "Stupor Mundi" — the wonder of this world.

In 1220, a Saracen revolt has led to many disaffected Muslims conducting guerrilla warfare from the mountains of central Sicily (if your saga follows history, Frederick successfully suppresses it this year). Despite this, the court of King Frederick II of Sicily retains the ethnically and religiously diverse character of earlier monarchs. He is also a great enthusiast for learning of any kind, and a dedicated patron of the arts, including the magical arts. With the Brotherhood he has done much to encourage magicians from all over Europe to join his court, and, unsurprisingly given their role in his upbringing, to encourage a major revival of interest in poetry. Alongside Latin verse, some poetry is being written in the Sicilian vernacular, fueling intense conflict between rival factions in the Brotherhood as to the desirability of this innovation. Within four years his plans to found a university will see fruit in the University of Naples. With a strong tendency towards empiricism, he is known to personally conduct occasional research in experimental philosophy, though his love of his menagerie and his particular passion for falconry often distract him. Perhaps a less desirable outcome of his upbringing is his intense religious skepticism; it is said he delights in blasphemies and mocking religions, and some have whispered that he has denounced Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad as all being frauds and deceivers of

mankind. As yet, however, he does not appear to have any Infernal taint, despite the claims of the Papacy. In 1220 that conflict with the Papacy appears to be at an end, as he is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The Brotherhood is triumphant, for it seems the glory that was Rome will now rise again. They have no doubt that Frederick is the new Augustus they've awaited, and believe Virgil to have prophesied.

As we have seen, the magic of Virgil reflects an unusual Roman magical tradition, but a very famous one. Virgil trained no apprentices, and founded no school, but from the legacy in his tomb the Brotherhood reconstructed some fragments of this lost lore. Bonisagus was certainly aware of Virgil's work, as were later theorists like Notatus, who was a particularly avid grammatician, so it is unsurprising that the Order of Hermes' magical system derives a few elements from Virgil. While one of the precursor traditions of Hermetic Magic, and similar in some respects, the magical systems are now very distinct in how they are taught and their scope, and Virgilian magic is far more limited than its Hermetic equivalent. Those who practice Virgilian magic are frequently referred to as "wizards," owing to the Augustan Brotherhood's practice of serving as court wizards.

Unlike Hermetic Magic, Wizards do not learn Techniques and Forms, but rather three Practices. The Practices are: Sortes Virgilianae, a precursor of the Hermetic Divination mystery (see The Mysteries Revised Edition, page 58); Vigilo, which deals with guarding magic; and Animo, which entails the animation of objects and the awakening of their magical spirits to create a new type of magical creature.

The Practice of Vigilo is divided into six Schools: Boreas, Naiads, Prometheus, Stones, Sylvan Nymphs, and Vigilant Bees. A Vigilo School is roughly equivalent in flexibility to a specific Technique/ Form combination, as described later.

Virgilian Magic is associated with the Magic realm.

Schools represent potent areas of magical expertise. The Schools of the Vigilo Practice allow for the casting of rites, and the Animo Practice allows these and Sortes Virgilianae effects to be placed into animations. Each point of score in a School is roughly equivalent to a Hermetic magnitude — so, for example, an Ability School of Prometheus 8 is approximately equivalent to a level 40 Hermetic score (appropriate Technique + Form, in this case perhaps Rego Ignem) for calculating Lab Totals.

A School is a Difficult Art; that is, it progresses in Experience points as an Ability, and follows the usual rules for such.

Virgilian magic does not employ Magic Theory but instead an Ability called Virgilian Theory, which while similar in scope is directly associated with Virgilian magic.

Virgilian Magic is divided into three Practices: Sortes Virgilianae, Vigilo, and Animo. Sortes Virgilianae and Animo are Supernatural Abilities, whereas the Schools of Vigilo advance as Difficult Arts (See Chapter One: Introduction, Difficult Arts). The six Schools of the Vigilo Practice each reflect a certain area of Virgilian magic, equivalent roughly to the Auram, Aquam, Ignem, Terram, Animal, and Herbam Forms of Hermetic magic.

Opening the Gift to Virgilian Magic gives a score of 1 in Sortes Virgilianae, Animo, and one Vigilo School. Subse-

Virgilian magic faces the same limits as Hermetic magic, although the rite Sortes Virgilianae does seem to infringe the Limit of Arcane Connections, as it relies upon the ancient prophetic wisdom of Virgil to be found in The Aeneid. In addition, the following limits apply:

• All Virgilian Magic must be cast in an elaborate and time-consuming manner, or ritually cast (requiring vis) for rites that have an Ease Factor of 33 or higher.

• Wizards may not create enchanted devices, including Longevity Rituals and Talismans, nor may they bind Familiars. These weaknesses are partially compensated for by their use of animations (see later).

• They may not cast rites at Personal range, or Circle duration. Virgilian magic may never be cast upon the self.

• Virgilian Magic may not create effects that harm an individual human directly, though indirect damage is

• quite normal. This may be a flaw in Virgilian magic theory, but is believed to reflect the founder's personality.

• of at least 1 is required in a School for an associated rite to be attempted, as is a score of at least 1 in that rite.

• Rites are usually more specific than Hermetic equivalents — one can create a Pentagram of Wolf Warding, but not a Pentagram of Beast Warding.

• A new rite must be created for each individual target of City or Boundary target. A rite to repel flies from Naples will not work in Rome.

• Virgilian magic does not add Artes Liberals and Philosophiae to Ritual Casting Totals, unlike Hermetic magic.

• Virgilian magic cannot employ sympathetic magic — it is outside of Virgilian Theory.

quently, the Schools can be learned in any order, and new Vigilo Schools learned normally, even by practice.

Sortes Virgilianae magic deals with divination-type effects, using a copy of The Aeneid to access the prophetic wisdom of Virgil and applying it to one's current situation. Vigilo magic can be used to create long-lasting wards, and to then do things to create magical effects which take effect when the ward is triggered. Finally, the Practice of Animo allows the creation of animated objects and magical items, but ones very different from the enchanted devices of Hermetic magic.

One of the best known aspects of Virgil's magic, this involves opening a copy of The Aeneid at random, placing one's finger on the page, and reading the line indicated and the subsequent line. While the practice is widespread in Mythic Europe, and all educated folk know of the method, to gain meaningful results from it requires the secret understanding of Virgil's magic the Brotherhood alone possesses. For other people, and those whose Gift has not been opened to Virgilian Magic, the process simply fails.

The Practice of Sortes Virgilianae is a precursor of the mystery of Hermetic Divination. It is represented by a Supernatural Ability. All Virgilian wizards begin with a score of Sortes Virgilianae 1, which can be subsequently improved.

Sortes Virgilianae done correctly requires a lengthy ceremony. Time to perform the Practice is at least 3 minutes multiplied by the Ease Factor. A level of Long Term Fatigue is also expended, requiring restful sleep to regain.

This Practice is similar in scope to Hermetic Intellego, and a set of Ease Factors is given below for divinations. This magic apparently breaks the Hermetic Limit of Arcane Connection, and is capable of divining facts about targets outside of sensory range, but it does so by using The Aeneid to access the ancient prophetic wisdom of Virgil. It does not break the Limit of Time; while capable of sensing what is occurring at a distance, it cannot predict future events or directly answer questions about the past. Importantly, if a specific divination fails, that particular question may not be asked again that day.

Sortes Virgilianae may not be performed without a full copy of The Aeneid. One peculiarity of Sortes Virgilianae, as reflected in the fate of Virgil, is that it may never answer any question about the wizard herself.

Sortes Virgilianae Divination Total: Perception + Sortes Virgilianae + Aura Modifier + Bonuses + stress die vs. Ease Factor

If the divination needs to penetrate Magic Resistance, then Penetration is calculated as:

Penetration:

Sortes Virgilianae Divination Total + Penetration Ability – Ease Factor

The following bonuses may apply, based on the mundane contents of Virgil's text.

Question Concerning B	onus
Personages*	+3
Ships	+2
Sieges	+3
Cities	+3
Kingdoms	+3
Carthage	+5
Rome	+5
Troy	+5

* A person with any Reputation 5 or above.

Multiple bonuses may stack. For example,a question about Rome or Troy automatically gains a +8 bonus to the roll: +3 for city, +5 for Rome or Troy.

Ease Factor: 9

Effect: Get a mental image of an animal. Gain an intuitive knowledge of a plant (know whether a given action would harm a plant). Sense one property of a fire. Locate a fire. Detect magic of

level 50 or higher. Detect the presence of a mystical aura. Detect the presence of raw vis.

Ease Factor: 12

Effect: Get an image of water within range. Learn a natural property of a liquid. Sense one property of the air, such as if it is safe to breath. Sense the state of consciousness of a beast. Locate a person to whom you have an Arcane Connection. Locate a plant. Learn general information, or a single specific fact about a plant or an item made from plant product. Learn one visible property of a stone, earth, or metal object (a property that someone with appropriate skills could determine just by looking). Detect magic of level 30 or higher. Detect the entrance to a regio, allowing access. Determine the power and nature of a mystical aura.

Ease Factor: 15

Effect: Sense the dominant drive of a beast. Learn the age, origin, and history of something made out of animal products. Learn a specific fact about an animal's body. Learn all the magical properties of a liquid. Sense very general information about a human body, like "is she sick?" Learn the magical properties of a fire. Divine the current state of consciousness of one intelligent being, like "is the guard sleeping?" Divine a single emotion in a being. Detect magic of level 15 or higher. Judge the amount of vis present. Discern the Art of vis.

Ease Factor: 18

Effect: Learn all the magical and mundane properties of a mixture of liquids. Sense all useful information about a body. Sense all of the emotions in a being, including conflicting emotions and their relative strengths. Learn a fact that could be ascertained by an observer present in the target location by simple observation, like "is the city under siege?" or "is there water in the jar?" or even "is Theodoric in his sanctum?" Learn all the natural properties of a stone, earth, or metal object. Detect any active magic and any trace of positive magnitude left by earlier magic.

Detect the sigil of any magic you have detected. Detect the Blatant Gift. Detect whether a creature or person has a mystic Might score, and which realm it is allied with (but note that demons are not discernible by this method).

Ease Factor: 21

Effect: Divine a single answer from the mind of a target. Detect The Gift in an individual. Detect whether a statement made in your presence by another is a lie.

Ease Factor: 24

Effect: Discern the magical properties of a magical item, though not how to activate them. Detect the Gentle Gift in an individual.

Sortes Virgilianae may be improved by practice, or by books written by another practitioner, or by being taught. But it is usually learned by in-depth study of The Aeneid, which is a Level 10, Quality 8 summa for this purpose.

Vigilo is the second Practice of Virgilian Magic. It consists of six Schools that advance as Difficult Arts (See Chapter One: Introduction, Difficult Arts). Vigilo magic deals with warding areas, and far surpasses Hermetic magic in this area.

The wizard's score in a School combines with a score in a specific rite, to generate the Casting Total. Any wizard with a score of at least 1 in a School has sufficient knowledge to attempt to create any rite within that School, but without spontaneous magic he must have learned the appropriate rite to be able to cast it.

Vigilo Casting Score: Communication + School + rite + Aura Modifier versus Ease Factor of rite

Vigilo Casting Total: Casting Score + Stress die

Vigilo Penetration Total: Casting Total + Penetration Score – Ease Factor

Note that Target: Pentagram Wards receive a Penetration Multiplier Bonus of +5 (see later).

To calculate the casting time for a Vigilo rite, take the final Ease Factor and divide by six, rounding up. This is the number of 15-minute periods needed to complete the rite. For example, an Ease Factor 39 rite takes 7 x 15 minutes, so one hour forty five minutes to cast.

Vigilo Rite Casting Time: (Ease Factor/6) x 15 minutes

Rituals do not take any longer than any other Vigilo rite, but do require vis expenditure equal to the Ease Factor divided by six, rounded up. For example, an Ease Factor 39 rite would require 7 pawns of appropriate vis to be expended.

Vigilo Rite Vis Expenditure Required: (Ease Factor/6) pawns of appropriate vis

Casting a Vigilo rite always requires the expenditure of a Long Term Fatigue Level, which is only recovered by a good night's sleep. Vigilo magic is extremely tiring. If a rite fails, the wizard may be completely exhausted. Subtract the Casting Total + Stamina of the wizard from the Ease Factor of the attempted rite, and for every 3 points (round down) it is less than the Ease Factor attempted the wizard takes one level of ordinary Fatigue.

Vigilo Rite Fatigue Loss: One Long Term Fatigue Level + if failed (Ease Factor – Casting Total + Stamina)/3 in additional normal Long Term Fatigue Level

If the Ease Factor is not met, the rite fails, unlike Hermetic spells that can fail by up to 10 and still be cast.

Virgil was a master of elemental magic, and of the magic of fauna and flora, so the Schools are equivalent to magic that would be based on the Hermetic Forms of Auram, Aquam, Ignem, Terram, Herbam, and Animal.

School of Boreas: Deals with magic related to the Auram form.

School of the Naiads: Deals with magic related to the Aquam form.

School of Prometheus: Deals with magic related to the Ignem form.

School of the Stones: Deals with magic related to the Terram form.

School of the Sylvan Nymphs: Deals with magic related to the Herbam form.

School of the Vigilant Bees: Deals with magic related to the Animal form.

On first having his Gift opened to Virgilian Magic, the wizard chooses one School that begins at a score of 1. Subsequently, he may learn the other Schools. All Schools advance as Abilities, being Difficult Arts (see Chapter One: Introduction, Difficult Arts).

Even Ritual Virgilian magic does not benefit from the Artes Liberales and Philosophiae bonuses that Hermetic magi gain, and Virgilian magic is incompatible with sympathetic magic bonuses. These flaws represent the weak nature of the Virgilian magic theory, which is not an integrated system of magical understanding like Bonisagus' Hermetic magic theory. Rather, it's a piecemeal system based upon following ancient traditions that work, but which lack understanding of how. Virgilian magic is a poetic art, not a science.

Wizards learn rites, and each rite is learned as if it was an Art, and advances as an Art. So Virgilian magic requires an individual score for each rite, but unlike Hermetic spells the score may be improved at any time by the usual methods (practice, being taught, or even reading a tractatus on this specific rite) without having to reinvent a new version of the rite each time.

Vigilo rites have three main parts. They create a warded area and remain until the trigger condition is met, at which point the magical effect occurs.

A Vigilo rite always protects some-

thing, known as the warded area. The warded area may not move, but must be a static area. Unlike most Hermetic magic, Vigilo rites do not take immediate effect, but are designed to invoke a specified magical effect when a defined trigger action is performed or the warded area is entered by a specific target, only then casting the second part of the rite on that initiator.

For example, a School of Prometheus rite can be cast on a volcano to prevent it erupting as the mountain starts to stir, or a School of the Vigilant Bees rite can be designed that brings forth rats and vermin on an army besieging a specific city.

This type of magic was incorporated in Hermetic magic as the ritual Watching Ward, but Vigilo Virgilian rites are not automatically rituals. The "watching" spell and the spell that holds it are combined in a single rite, something impossible for Hermetic magic.

Vigilo magic is a central part of the Virgilian tradition, and often draws upon the wizard's theoretical knowledge of divination to create elaborate triggers. Vigilo rites are used to design magical effects that use the same Range/Duration/Target format as Hermetic magic.

The applicable School for a rite is determined by the nature of the effect triggered, not the warded area's nature. So a rite that summons rats if an army attacks a city is designed with School of the Vigilant Bees, for example, not School of the Stones for the city.

The Range is the range between the warded area and the initiator of the magical effect (that is, the person or thing who triggers it, at the time of triggering), not between the casting wizard (who may be on the other side of Mythic Europe or even dead) and either area. Normally this will be Touch, as the initiator must attempt to breach the ward, or be within it, to trigger it. The wizard must, however, be at Touch range to cast the Vigilo rite in the first place.

The Duration is the length of time the triggered magical effect lasts, not the rite. Vigilo rites always persist until the trigger is activated or they are dispelled (see later).

The Target for the rite must always be one of Pentagram, Room, Structure, Boundary, or City. However, when calculating the rite's Ease Factor, the modifier for Target size is the area of warded area, or that of the magical effect triggered, whichever is larger. A Pentagram which if breached fills a room with foul smoke (designed with Rite of Boreas) would be +3 for Room, not the Base Ease Factor for Pentagram, as the area affected is larger than the area protected.

All Vigilo rites must have an unambiguous trigger action clearly specified at the time of casting. The trigger must involve the initiator (triggering person) of the rite performing a very specific action within range of the warded area.

A rite with a final Ease Factor of 33 or higher is automatically a ritual, as is one that utilizes Boundary or City Target, or Year Duration.

A Vigilo rite includes its magical effect, which must be to:

• Prevent something happening to the warded area (in Hermetic terms, a Rego and Form effect).
• Bring something to afflict the initiator (a Rego and Form effect).
• Destroy something in the warded area (a Perdo and Form effect).
• Preserve something in the warded area (a Creo and Form effect).

Vigilo rites must penetrate Magic Resistance as normal. If the initiator has Magic Resistance higher than the Penetration of the rite, the Vigilo rite is not triggered. Target: Pentagram rites do, however, have a +5 Penetration Multiplier Bonus, and this multiplier can lead to very high-Penetration wards.

Range, Duration, and Target for Vigilo rites are calculated similarly to Hermetic spell guidelines, with two new Targets, three unused Targets, and one unused Range. Each step of increase in Range, Duration, or Target adds +3 to the Ease Factor required.

The base Ease Factor of a rite in the guidelines is given for Touch/ Momentary/Pentagram.

Virgilian magic cannot be cast at Personal Range, nor Voice Range, as the

Frederick intends to stay at the castle of a baron who is known for his avaricious nature. His retinue has a chest full of silver, and he wishes it to be guarded. His court wizard Tomas therefore prepares a rite to make the silver rush out of the box if the pentagram is entered or erased by anyone but Frederick, and the silver coins swirl around in the air unnaturally as in a whirlwind, making a considerable noise. The appropriate Form is Terram, and the rite is therefore based upon the School of the Stones, and uses the School guidelines (Base Ease Factor 6 for highly unnatural movement; +6 for silver, a metal). He intends to draw a carefully constructed Pentagram on the flagstones, with Latin verses about thieves being dismayed chalked thereon. The area warded is the chest, and the target is the Pentagram, larger than any Individual trying to open the box. The range from the thief to the box at the time of triggering is Touch, and the desired duration Diameter (+3). So the Pentagram of the Swirling Silver is Ease Factor 15. He spends a season working on it, and gains a total of 14 experience points in the rite, which converts to the new rite Pentagram of the Swirling Silver 4, with 4 experience points over.

Tomas has Communication +3, and School of the Stones 5, as well as rite Pentagram of the Swirling Silver 4. Unfortunately the aura of the Castle is Dominion 1, so we subtract 3 from his Casting Score, for a total of 9. Tomas' player must therefore roll 6 or higher on a stress die to succeed. He gets lucky with a roll of 1, then 8 on the stress die, and the trap works as expected.

After he returns, he has time to spend three more seasons practicing his rite, gaining 15 more experience points in that rite. As rites are learned as Arts, he gains a score of Pentagram of the Swirling Silver 6 (with 4 experience points remaining). He still needs 1 or higher to succeed in a neutral aura, and 4 or higher in the castle's aura.

wards do not have voices.

Virgilian magic does not use Circle, Individual, or Part Targets.

Virgilian magic can utilize the new Targets of Pentagram, equivalent to Part, and City, equivalent to Boundary.

All Virgilian magic requires the loud declaration of a poetic series of stanzas to invoke the magic effect. Casting a rite is simply impossible if the Wizard cannot speak, and speaking in a normal voice gives a –6 penalty to the Casting Total, speaking in a soft voice –12. Freedom of movement and gestures is less important — if seriously impeded a –3 penalty is suffered, but no bonus can be gained for extravagant gestures.

Vigilo rites can only be used to create magical effects that either prevent something happening to the warded area, bring something to afflict the triggering force, destroy something in the warded area, or preserve something in the warded area. Each Base Guideline is the Ease Factor for a Touch/Momentary/Pentagram rite. Even though Vigilo cannot use Individual Targets, the base Individual for each School is given to enable the calculation of the size of larger Targets.

Base Ease Factors are modified as follows:

Pentagram (Target): A Pentagram is a magical figure drawn upon the floor, similar in many ways to the Circle spells of Hermetic magic. The figure is not always a pentagram — hexagrams and other symbols are also used, and an Intelligence + Magic Theory roll against an Ease Factor of 12 will allow the School of the associated rite to be identified, with higher rolls providing more specific information. In addition, they always feature Latin verses alluding to their purpose as a necessary part of their design, so an Intelligence + Latin roll against an Ease Factor of 9 may be substituted for the Magic Theory roll. If the Ability Virgilian Theory is known, it may be employed against an Ease Factor of 3.

Virgilian magic with this Target receives a +5 Penetration Multiplier Bonus. This is a special feature of Virgilian Magic.

Drawing a Pentagram requires 15 minutes and a Dexterity + Artes Liberales roll against an Ease Factor of 9, owing to its great complexity. If the Pentagram is erased, broken, or not clearly visible, it fails — though this normally triggers any Vigilo rite of which it is a part. As Virgilian wizards cannot use Target Circle, pentagrams are used extensively. Pentagram is equivalent to Part, and is the base Ease Factor given in the guidelines.

City (Target): Virgilian magic is designed to be used in cities and urban areas. This Target represents the whole area of a city, within the walls; the base size is the whole city. If the city has no walls, the traditional bounds mark the edge of the area affected. This target cannot affect something that is not a city, not even a smaller settlement. The key feature is whether people living there, and in the surrounding area, think of a settlement as a city. Hence a rite can affect Rome, Naples, or Paris, each of which has the area of several Boundary Target spells, without needing any increase in size. City rites are designed for a specific city, specified at the time of the rite's design. City is equivalent to Boundary (it adds 12 to the Ease Factor of a rite), but City Target rites may be bound into animations despite being rituals.

Range: Sight +6, Arcane Connection +9 Duration: Diameter +3, Sun/Ring +6, Moon +9. Year adds +12 and must be a ritual.

Target: Group/Room +3, Structure +6. Boundary or City adds +9 and must be a ritual.

Targets and Sizes work as for Hermetic Magic (see ArM5, page 113) with each increase adding +3 to the Ease Factor.

Here follow example Vigilo rites, tailored towards the kinds of magic that the character's patron might request, rather than magic the wizard might design for her own benefit.

"So he speaks, and swifter than his words, he calms the swollen sea"

School of Boreas, Ease Factor 24, ritual R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Boundary

Designed by Tomas of Sicily, this rite wards a bay against the wind, and activates when invaders threaten. So for

These rites usually affect air phenomena, like winds or odors rather than gases, which is a modern concept. Individual is a single phenomenon, such as one wind, one cloud, one bolt of lightning. Group is several related phenomenon, such as the clouds, winds, and rain in a storm. A base Individual for this rite is a weather phenomenon that affects the area within a standard Boundary — an area 100 paces across. The steps are very severe, severe, normal, minor.

General: Ward against creatures of the air from one realm (Divine, Magic, Faerie, or Infernal) whose Might is less than or equal the Ease Factor of the rite (Touch, Ring, Pentagram).

Ease Factor 3: Bring forth a minor weather phenomenon: a breeze, a mist, a light drizzle. Control a minor weather phenomenon.

Ease Factor 6: Bring forth a normal weather phenomenon: a cloud, wind, fog, rain from a cloud that already exists. Control a normal weather phenomenon. Ward something against a type of minor weather phenomenon.

Ease Factor 9: Bring forth a severe weather phenomenon: deafening thunder, monsoon rain, impenetrable fog, gale force wind. Make the air stuffy and poor for breathing in the warded area. Control a severe weather phenomenon. Ward something against a type of normal weather phenomenon.

Ease Factor 12: Destroy a minor weather phenomenon: a breeze, a mist, a light drizzle in the warded area. Reduce the intensity of a weather phenomenon by one step in the warded area. Control a very severe weather phenomenon. Ward something against a type of severe weather phenomenon.

Ease Factor 15: Bring forth a very severe weather phenomenon: hurricane force wind, lightning strike, tornado. Destroy a normal weather phenomenon in the warded area: a cloud, wind, fog, rain from a cloud that already exists. Ward something against a type of very severe weather phenomenon.

Ease Factor 18: Destroy a severe weather phenomenon in the warded area: deafening thunder, monsoon rain, impenetrable fog, gale force wind.

Ease Factor 21: Destroy a very severe weather phenomenon in the warded area: hurricane force wind, lightning strike, tornado.

This School's rites affect water and all other liquids. They cannot affect liquids in a body, such as blood. Individual is a stretch of water with the same composition and current, such as a small pond, part of a stream, or a spring. Part is a part of an Individual. This category applies easily. Group is a number of Individuals that can include a large river where there are several different currents, a number of rivers flowing together, or a lake. Room, Structure, and Boundary are as normal; the rite affects all the liquids within the targeted area.

A base Individual for the School is a pool of water about 5 paces (15 feet) across, and 2 paces deep at the center. Naturally-occurring liquids, such as fruit juice or olive oil, have a base Individual 1/10 the size, about 2 paces across and about 1 pace deep. Processed liquids, such as wine or beer, have a base Individual 1/100 the size, a pool 1 pace across and half a pace deep. Corrosive and other dangerous liquids have a base Individual ten times smaller again, a puddle about 1 foot across and about 6 inches deep. Poisons have a base Individual of a single dose.

General: Ward against creatures of water belonging to one realm (Divine, Magic, Faerie, or Infernal) whose Might is less than or equal the Ease Factor of the rite (Touch, Ring, Pentagram).

Ease Factor 9: Control a liquid in a forceful but calm way, such as with a fast but constant current.

Ease Factor 12: Ward against mundane water. Control a liquid in a violent way. Completely dry something in the warded area, up to the size of a small house, that is wet.

Ease Factor 15: Control a liquid in an extremely violent way. Greatly reduce the amount of a liquid in the warded area without destroying it completely.

Ease Factor 18: Destroy a liquid in the warded area; requisites may be required.

Ease Factor 21: Destroy one property of a liquid in the warded area (alcohol's ability to intoxicate, or sea water's saltiness).

Ease Factor 24: Destroy a small spring or well in the warded area.

School of Boreas, Ease Factor 24, ritual

R: Touch, D: Sun, T: City

Another of Tomas' rites, this was designed to deal with urban unrest in Palermo. When triggered by rioting in the city, it causes an impenetrable fog to spring up within the walls, ending the violence in the ensuing confusion. Like all city rites it must be designed for a specific city.

(Base 9 , Sun +6, City +9)

School of Boreas, Ease Factor 30

R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Structure

Wards a ship against gale-force winds, triggered when the ship first encounters them. If the storm lasts beyond sunrise or sunset the ship may still be lost, and the rite does not prevent loss of the ship to wave action, but this rite is still very potent and is cast upon important vessels before they leave harbor. The ship must use a sea anchor, be grounded, or be otherwise immobile for the duration of the rite — if the ship moves significantly from its position, the rite ends. It is often employed with a casting of the rite Break the Stormy Sea.

(Base 18, Sun +6, Structure +6)

example it might be cast to trigger when "Genoan warships enter the bay," leaving them becalmed and allowing defenses to be prepared.

(Base 9, Sun +6, Boundary +9)

School of Boreas, Ease Factor 24, ritual R: Touch, D: Sun, T: City

When a fire breaks out and consumes a house, extremely heavy rain begins to fall, extinguishing the blaze before catastrophe engulfs the city. Fire is a very real danger in medieval cities, so this rite is extremely useful to any ruler. Like all city rites, it must be designed for a specific city.

(Base 9, Sun +6, City +9)

The base Individual is a large campfire or a fire in the hearth of a great hall.

General: Ward against creatures of fire belonging to one realm (Divine, Magic, Faerie, or Infernal) whose Might is less than or equal to the Ease Factor of the rite (Touch, Ring, Pentagram).

Ease Factor 6: Control fire in a natural fashion (control its direction of spread). Move a fire quickly through space while leaving it burning naturally. Greatly reduce the amount of light in the warded area.

Ease Factor 9: Control fire in a slightly unnatural fashion (stop it from burning a person). Completely extinguish all light in the warded area. Reduce the size of all fires in the warded area without extinguishing them.

Ease Factor 12: Extinguish a fire in the warded area, cooling the ashes to merely warm. Chill an object in the warded area.

Ease Factor 15: Control fire in a very unnatural fashion (fashion into a dancing humanoid shape). Strongly chill an object (freeze water) in the warded area.

Ease Factor 18: Destroy one aspect of a fire (heat or light) in the warded area.

School of the Naiads, Ease Factor 18 R: Touch, D: Ring, T: Pentagram Wards all within the pentagram against mundane water.

(Base 12 , Ring +6)

School of the Naiads, Ease Factor 24 R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Structure

Wards a ship against wave action, triggered when the ship first encounters a severe storm. If the storm lasts beyond sunrise or sunset the ship may still be lost, and the rite does not prevent loss of the ship to gales, but this rite is still very potent and is cast upon important vessels before they leave harbor. Importantly, the ship remains stationary unless driven by the wind, and if the ship moves the rite ends. It is often employed with a casting of the rite "We've confidence in the waves, and the winds grant us calm seas" for this reason.

(Base 12, Sun +6, Structure +6)

The base Individual for this School depends on the material involved. For sand, dirt, mud, clay, or similar substances, it is about ten cubic paces of stuff. For stone, it is a single cubic pace. For base metals, it is a cubic foot, while for precious metals it is a tenth of that. For gemstones, the base individual is one cubic inch in size. The guidelines are for controlling or destroying dirt, sand, mud, or clay; add +3 to effect stone or glass, add +6 for metal or gemstones. Manipulating objects with great precision may also require a higher Ease Factor.

General: Ward against creatures of earth belonging to one realm (Divine, Magic, Faerie, or Infernal) whose Might is less than or equal the Ease Factor of the rite (Touch, Ring, Pentagram).

Ease Factor 3: Control or move dirt in a slightly unnatural fashion.

Ease Factor 6: Control or move dirt in a very unnatural fashion. Weaken dirt in the warded area.

Ease Factor 9: Destroy dirt in the warded area.

Ease Factor 12: Keep all dirt away from your body, or ward a target against dirt. Hurl a stone projectile with enough force to do +5 damage (range increment of 20 paces).

Ease Factor 15: Hurl a stone projectile with enough force to do +10 damage (range increment of 20 paces). Destroy one aspect of dirt in the warded area, such as its weight or its cohesiveness.

Ease Factor 18: Hurl a stone projectile with enough force to do +15 damage (range increment of 20 paces).

School of the Naiads, Ease Factor 24, ritual

R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Boundary

When an enemy fleet enters the harbor, a fast-running current springs up expelling the ships from the bay.

(Base 9 , Sun +6, Boundary +9)

School of the Naiads, Ease Factor 27, ritual

R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Boundary

This rite is cast upon river banks where they pass through a city, and activates as the river rises to a certain point, when it wards against water and prevents the river from overflowing its banks.

(Base Ease Factor 15, Sun+6, Boundary +9)

A base Individual for rites of this School is a plant roughly one pace in each direction.

General: Ward against creatures associated with wood from one realm with a Might less than or equal to Ease Factor of the rite (Touch, Ring, Pentagram).

Ease Factor 3: Prevent a plant from becoming sick in the warded area.

Ease Factor 6: Cause the leaves to fall off a plant in the warded area. Preserve a dead plant from decay in the warded area.

Ease Factor 9: Deflect a single attack by a wooden weapon. Control an entire plant, moving it around as you direct, although it remains rooted if it is a rooted plant. Spoil an amount of food in the warded area.

Ease Factor 12: Control an entire plant, moving it around as you direct, and it need not remain rooted. Summon a mobile plant. Destroy an amount of dead wood in the warded area.

Ease Factor 15: Make a plant or thing made of plant products move with purpose and intelligence, without requiring your constant control. Destroy a plant within the warded area.

Ease Factor 18: Ward something against mundane plant products.

School of Prometheus, Ease Factor 12 R: Touch, D: Diam, T: Room

This protective rite requires a large hearth fire, and is placed upon a room. If someone enters without giving the correct password, the fire immediately rushes across the room at him, hopefully igniting his clothes and doing normal damage.

(Base 6, Diameter +3, Room +3)

A base Individual for this School is an animal of about the same size as a pony, Size +1 or smaller.

General: Warding against supernatural animals from one realm with Might less than or equal to the level of the rite (Touch, Ring, Pentagram).

Ease Factor 3: Ward against a specific type of animal. (Touch, Ring, Pentagram) Plant a single suggestion in the mind of an animal. Protect the target from a specific type of animal attacks (only affects animals without Might). Protect a specific type of animal from a specific disease or injury.

Ease Factor 6: Preserve an animal corpse from decay. Damage something made out of animal products in the warded area.

Ease Factor 9: Calm an animal. Do superficial damage to a beast in the warded area (for example, remove its fur).

Ease Factor 12: Manipulate an animal's emotions. Paralyse an animal. Destroy something made of animal

School of Prometheus, Ease Factor 15 R: Touch, D: Diam, T: Structure Taking an idea from The Aeneid where Aeneas, wrapped in shadows, moves through Carthage to his first fateful meeting with Dido, this rite greatly but subtly dims all light within a building, adding +3 to Stealth rolls. The triggering action is usually when the intruder wraps his cloak around himself. (Base 6, Diameter +3, Structure +6)

He enters among them, veiled in shadows"

products in the warded area. Cause a beast in the warded area pain, but do no real damage. Make a beast in the warded area lose one Fatigue level.

Ease Factor 15: Make an animal completely passive. Injure an animal in the warded area so that it is hampered, but not damaged. (For example, make a horse lame, a bird lose its voice, or weaken the scales of a serpent. This roughly halves the effectiveness of the targeted thing. Recovery as from a Light Wound.) Destroy an animal's corpse in the warded area. Inflict a Light Wound on an animal in the warded area.

Ease Factor 18: Completely control an animal. Inflict a Medium Wound on an animal in the warded area.

Ease Factor 21: Destroy a beast's minor senses. Inflict a Heavy Wound on an animal in the warded area. Cripple a beast's limb, so that it is unusable but could heal. Age a beast in the warded area by one twelfth of its natural lifespan, but only if the beast has already reached maturity.

School of the Stones, Ease Factor 24 R: Touch, D: Ring, T: Pentagram

Wards everyone in the Pentagram against swords. This rite is triggered when someone attempts to strike someone in the Pentagram with a sword.

(Base 12, Ring +6, metal +6)

School of Prometheus, Ease Factor 36, ritual R: Touch, D: Sun: T: City

Mimicking one of Virgil's best known magical feats, this rite extinguishes all fires in a city when triggered, until sunset or sunrise. It can be used to fight the fires that endanger medieval cities, or to plunge an entire city into darkness. Like all City rites it must be designed for a specific city.

(Base 21, Sun +6, City +9)

sword from the sheath"

School of the Stones, Ease Factor 27 R: Touch, D: Diam, T: Structure

Wards everyone in the structure against daggers. This rite is triggered when someone attempts to strike someone else in the building with a knife or dagger.

(Base 12, Diameter +3, Structure +6, metal +6)

School of the Stones, Ease Factor 30, ritual

R: Touch, D: Sun, T: City

Causes besieger's rock projectiles to drop short of the city walls by warding the city against mundane stone. Activates when a stone missile strikes the warded area, the city. One shot is rarely enough to do serious damage.

(Base 12, Sun+6, City+9, stone +3)

School of the Sylvan Dryads, Ease Factor 15

R: Touch, D: Ring, T: Pentagram

The Pentagram prevents any action against those inside from faeries of Might 15 or less.

(Base 15)

School of the Sylvan Dryads, Ease Factor 27

R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Structure

If a certain phrase is shouted, the building's doors and shutters all slam shut, with a Strength equal to the caster's score in School of the Sylvan Dryads. They open only for those who know the correct password, for the duration of the rite.

(Base 15, Sun +6, Structure +6)

School of the Vigilant Bees, General R: Touch, D: Ring, T: Pentagram

The pentagram wards against all animals with an Infernal Might that is less than the rite's Ease Factor. It activates when such an animal tries to cross the boundary of the pentagram, and it prevents any ac-

tion by the beast affecting those within, including spell effects and ranged attacks. (Base General)

School of the Vigilant Bees, Ease Factor 3

R: Touch, D: Ring, T: Pentagram

Wards all within against mundane wolves. Note this is far more specific than the Hermetic equivalent, Circle of Beast Warding, but it is a trivially easy rite for anyone with School of the Vigilant Bees. Of course you have to have learned the correct rite for the animal currently troubling you!

(Base 3)

School of the Vigilant Bees, Ease Factor 15

R: Touch, D: Diam, T: Pentagram

The pentagram has no effect until crossed by a horse, at which point the horse is overcome with utter terror and bolts, unless a Ride roll against an Ease Factor of 12 is made each round, possibly throwing the rider. This rite illustrates the ability to activate a magical effect by breaking a ward, and to use pentagrams with Durations other than Ring.

(Base 12,: Diameter+3)

School of the Vigilant Bees, Ease Factor 24

R: Arc, D: Sun, T: Structure

Tomas invented this rite after Frederick's favorite falcon flew off during hawking. The triggering condition is "if the hawk is not in the head falconer's house at midnight." The hawk then develops a strong desire to return home (bringing something to the warded area), a mental suggestion that remains until sunrise.

(Base 3, Arcane Connection+9, Sun+6, Structure +6)

Vigilo rites are not, unlike Hermetic formulaic spells, a carefully learned formula that may be employed with confidence, but represent study of a specific effect, with reference to individual aspects that the more general Hermetic formulaic spells neglect. Unfortunately, being subject to astrological influences and varying magical fields, they are also in no sense as reliable as Hermetic spells.

A specific rite may be learned in any School known to the wizard with a score of at least 1, and is treated as an Art. Thus, each individual rite has its own score that is employed in the Casting Score formula. Rites can be learned in the same ways as any Ability, including practice and teaching. When practicing rites, the wizard does not actually have to cast the final rite to achieve this — there is no need to expend the vis to practice a rite, or risk the botch dice. It is equally possible to practice Schools, and the Sortes Virgilianae Practice if a copy of The Aeneid is available.

It is possible to improve a rite more quickly by experimenting in a laboratory if available for a season. It is not necessary to spend vis or cast the rite, instead the focus is on understanding the principles underlying this specific rite. The experience gained depends on the following formula:

Experience Gained: Intelligence + Virgilian Theory + similar rite bonus +Aura Modifier

Remember, rites advance as Arts not as Abilities, using the Art experience progression. A completely new rite may be learned this way in any School in which the wizard has a score of at least 1. It is common for wizards to start to learn a rite they have no hope of casting, and slowly refine their understanding, improving their score in that rite until they can actually cast it.

A similar rite is one that meets the similar spell conditions (ArM5, page 95), and gives a bonus to the new rite equal to the existing rite's score divided by 5, rounding up.

Schools may not be improved by laboratory research.

The Practice of Animo is learned as a Supernatural Ability, called simply Animo. One of the most impressive powers practiced by Virgilian wizards is the creation of animations, that is objects (usually but not always statues) that, empowered by the awakening of their spirit, have taken on the semblance of life. Such animations are not automata as understood by the Order of Hermes. They are the result of powerful rites that awaken the Magic spirit of a masterpiece. The animation can be shaped by other Virgilian rites in much the way other magicians instill magic effects in enchanted devices. Animations are affected by auras as any creature of the Magic realm, and animations possess Magic Might, giving them some Magic Resistance.

Not all animations are capable of movement. Some, like the statue holding a horn that repelled the eruption of Mount Etna, are completely static, and unresponsive to all stimuli but the phenomena they were created to ward against. Others, like the hammer-men who guard Virgil's tomb and the stone horseman who rode the streets of Rome striking down all who broke curfew in ancient times, are highly mobile.

A human or animal form is not necessary — the Palladium (see later) that protected Naples from invasion was in the form of a glass egg with a model of the city within. (A scratch in the glass allowed the final fall of the city, as noted in the discussion of that device and the Castello dell' Ovo.)

Animations, as created magical creatures, are permanent magical effects. But each is flawed in that physical damage to one part of the being, known as the animating principle, can end the effect and render it inert. Once this weakness is learned and ex-

ploited, even if accidentally, the animating spirit is released back to the Magic realm, ending the effect. The animating principle is always an aspect of the animation related to the Shape and Materials modifier appropriate for one of the effects instilled. For example, an iron statue of a miner with a pick that can tunnel through rock at the wizard's command, would be rendered mundane if the pick (+4 destroy stone) were destroyed or damaged. But attacks on its head or body would have no effect unless the statue was completely destroyed or trapped. This inherent vulnerability can never be subject to a protective ward; if the vulnerability ceases to exist for some reason, so does the magic of the animation. The nature of the vulnerability, and Shape and Material modifiers, are key to the form of the animation, and an important clue as to the animating principle. Anyone making a Perception + Magic Lore test against an Ease Factor of 12 can discern the vulnerability of the animation and attempt its destruction, if the character knows to look for it.

Perceive Vulnerability in ^a Specific Animation: Perception + Magic Lore vs. Ease Factor 12, or Ease Factor 6 if Animo Ability known

Once the animating spirit has left, the animation may not be repaired by any means available to a Virgilian wizard. However most non-Virgilians, including Hermetic magi, do not know of the existence of vulnerabilities, and are unlikely to look for them.

The first stage is to prepare the item. The item in question must be an Excellent piece of craftsmanship, which means it will cost at least five times the normal cost, and must be made by a highly skilled craftsman. (See City & Guild page 67 for a full discussion of how such items can be constructed.) Ev-

It is first necessary to calculate the animation's base Magic Might.

Animation Base Magic Might: (10 + Size + Material Base Points)/2

So for example a Size 0 hard stone statue of a Gladiator is (10 + 0 + 4)/2, for a base Magic Might of 7. Note that while the Material Base Points (see ArM5, page 97) are used, the Size modifiers from that table are not. If a bronze sword were added to the statue and a sapphire in its brow, this would add to the Magic Might — and also the time and vis required for preparation. The number of materials used is limited by the wizard's score in Animo.

Next the object to be animated must be enchanted with vis of any type the troupe feels appropriate to the planned design of the animation. This always requires at least one season, and the total vis needed is calculated as base material modified by Size multiplier, as with an enchanted device (see ArM5, page 97). The base for the statue in our example is 4, multiplied by 5 for human-sized for a total of 20, so 20 pawns of vis must be used in preparing the statue. If the bronze sword and a tiny sapphire (precious gem) were included, the total would be 55 pawns plus an additional 15 for the base metal sword and 20 for the tiny priceless gem. The base Magic Might is an impressive 20 ((10 + 0 + 4 + 5 +20)/2). As the Magic Might is also the Ease Factor to awaken the item, it may be wise to be conservative here.

The maximum vis that can be used in preparation per season is

Maximum Vis Use per Season: (Animo + Virgilian Theory) x2

It is likely that several seasons' work will be required to ready the item for animation, but they do not need to be consecutive for this purpose. The wizard must decide whether the animation is static, like a statue, or mobile as appropriate to its shape. A statue of a man may walk or run, and a horse may be ridden or gallop, for instance. The wizard may also decide whether any sense organs represented,

like eyes or ears, should be functional. An animation that does not move and is not aware of its environment is significantly easier to make.

A season must now be dedicated to a series of magical workings to awaken the spirit of the item. If the statue is to be mobile, add 6 to the Ease Factor required. If the item is to be able to use its sense organs as if alive, they must be represented on the item, and this adds 6 to the Ease Factor (Multiple senses can be awakened for the single +6 cost). Mobile items almost by definition require eyes at least, to be able to see where they are going. Awakening the spirit requires a test against an Ease Factor as follows:

Awakening the Animation's Spirit: Presence + Animo + Virgilian Theory + Aura Modifier + Stress Die vs. Ease Factor of animation's Magic Might + Complexity Penalties (+6 if mobile, +6 if aware of environs)

For example, if the stone gladiator (without bronze and sapphire additions) is to be awakened, the Ease Factor is 7. If it is to be taught how to fight, senses and mobility are required, raising the Ease Factor to 19. With the bronze sword and sapphire, the Ease Factor would be a formidable 32.

If the roll fails, the wizard may try again, devoting another season to the attempt and gaining a cumulative +1 bonus per failed attempt. If the roll botches, the item may be destroyed, be animated but not under the control of the wizard, or animate but unfortunately be inhabited by a demon rather than a magical spirit. Such creatures tend to wreak havoc and bring the wrath of the mundane populace and powerful enemies upon the wizard who created them.

If the roll succeeds and the item is awakened, the wizard automatically knows the animation's True Name, which is necessary for placing Vigilo rites in it, and may also now teach the animation Abilities. Animations may never learn to speak; this may be a flaw in Virgilian magical theory, as the legend of Virgil creating a magical talking head strongly implies.

The animation should be designed with 7 points divided among the Characteristics, especially if mobile or with awakened senses. The base is zero — if a Characteristic is not relevant it is ignored, but may not be reduced. So an immobile statue may not be given Dexterity –3 to make more points available for Perception, for example. Soak is based upon the substance used to create the animation.

On awakening, the animation can immediately be granted a single General or Martial Ability at a score of 3, appropriate to its shape and purpose. The animation is now complete. It may operate completely independently of the wizard, but will attempt to fulfill any request made by its creator.

Mobile and aware animations may be taught Abilities. This follows the normal rules for advancement, but the animation must subtract its Might from the Advancement Total every season. If this reduces the total to zero or lower, it learns nothing that season. The penalty may be reduced by 2 points for every pawn of vis sacrificed during the teaching, so that an animation with a Might of 7 can be taught without penalty at a cost of 4 pawns of vis per season.

The total of an animation's scores in all Abilities may not exceed the animation's Magic Might + Intelligence.

Limit on Animation Abilities: Magic Might + Intelligence

Anyone may teach an animation, and it is common for a wizard to ask an acquaintance to teach the animation an Ability he does not personally possess, such as asking the captain of the guard to teach the animation Single Weapon (sword).

Animations cannot speak, as noted above, and so cannot be taught to do so, nor taught any Abilities that rely on speech. They can be taught to understand languages, however. In addition, animations do not have The Gift, and thus cannot be taught any Supernatural Abilities or Virgilian magic — or, indeed, any other form of magic.

It is often the case that a wizard wishes to place a magical effect within an animation he has created — indeed, this is the primary purpose of most animations. Magic may be inscribed on the spirit in an animation in a manner similar to how Hermetic magi may instill effects in enchanted devices.

One of the great theorists of Virgilian magic was Argometto, slain in the Brotherhood's internal disputes of the late twelfth century. He noted that the Magic Might of Virgilian animations differs from the way Might works in other magical creatures, in that most beings possess Might roughly proportionate to their magical power. Animations may possess high Might, but have no intrinsic magical powers. Argometto theorized that the Might of animations may be Pseudo-Might, and that it reflects power "borrowed" from an entity elsewhere, whose nature remains unknown. In other words, the wizards may not be creating magical life by animation, but instead they create a body that a pre-ex-

isting magical entity then animates in the way a Daimonic entity can be in several places at once, by apportioning some of its power. If so, then the Virgilian belief they are creating "life" in the manner of God may be a dangerous hubris, and animations may have their own agendas. Virgilian "magic theory" is too weak to determine the truth, but Hermetic research may well be able to uncover the reality. In Argometto's last days he was paranoid. He voiced concerns that the animation servants of the wizards might really be the pawns of other masters, manipulating the Brotherhood for dark ends. His death in the struggle between those loyal to the throne of Naples and to the Emperor ended the debate.

The process is a seasonal Laboratory Activity, and uses the following Lab Total:

Inscribing Vigilo Effect in an Animation: Intelligence + Virgilian Theory + School + Animo + Shape & Material bonuses + Aura Modifier

Inscribing Sortes Virgilianae Divination Effect in an Animation: Intelligence + Virgilian Theory

+ Sortes Virgilianae + Animo + Shape & Material bonuses + Aura Modifier

Limit on Effects Inscribed: Ease Factor may not exceed twice Magic Might.

Unlike an Hermetic Lab Total, where the total must exceed the Effect Level, a wizard instilling a Vigilo effect gains a number of points towards the goal equal to the Lab Total per season, which accumulate until the Ease Factor is reached and the enchantment completed.

Enchantment Takes Effect When: cumulative Lab Total = Ease Factor

If the rite desired is not known by the wizard it may still be taught, providing he knows the appropriate School(s).

The number of uses a day adds to the Ease Factor required as follows:

Ease Factor U	ses
+3	Twice a day
+6	Up to 6 times a day
+9	Up to 24 times a day
+12	Unlimited uses.

For example, Tomas wants to inscribe a version of "He enters among them, veiled in shadows" on a mobile animation to shroud it in shadows. The base Ease Factor is 6, +6 for Sun Duration, and +3 for Room Target. He wants the effect to be usable twice per day, for a further +3 and a final Ease Factor of 18. He has a score of 4 in School of Prometheus, Virgilian Theory 1, an Intelligence of +1, and is working in Magic Aura of 2, so his final Lab Total is 4 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 8. After three seasons in the laboratory, the inscription is complete.

Vis Cost of "Instilling" Effect: Ease Factor divided by 6 (round up)

Appropriate vis must be used as in Hermetic magic, and the animation must be in the wizard's laboratory for the duration of the work, although the rites inscribed on a static animation do not take effect until it is installed in the intended location.

Inscribed rites work as normal Vigilo rites, with three exceptions:

• Animations may employ Touch Range effects to affect themselves.
• Mobile animations may use Vigilo effects while in motion, if the animation is the warded area and the rite only affects the animation itself. So a statue can be enchanted with a School of the Stonesbased effect to prevent swords striking it, for example. It could not be enchanted with a School of Boreas-based effect to strike an attacker's (the initiator's) sword with lightning, as this affects something other than the animation itself. A static animation could, in accordance with standard Vigilo guidelines.
• Static animations may be inscribed with Target: City or Target: Boundary effects without automatically requiring a ritual, so a large area may be warded by a non-mobile animation. If a ritual would be required by other aspects of the design, it requires a ritual still, and the animation must have access to vis to activate the rite.

The effects of rites are triggered as normal for the rite in question; so by something metal touching the animation, for example. The rites must also be cast so that they can be effective more than once. These casting triggers may take one of four forms. First, any of the standard environmental triggers may be used; sunrise or sunset is a common trigger for rites with a Sun Duration. Second, they may trigger based on something that the animation senses; this requires that the Animaation's senses be awakened. Third, they may be triggered by a linked divination effect. Finally, they may be cast whenever that effect is activated; this is most useful for rites with a Momentary Duration, as it automatically resets the ward to deal with any future challenges.

Virgilian wizards do not have general Magic Resistance, but they do have some limited magical defenses. This manifests as Confounding Magics. Add the wizard's Magical Defense Bonus to the Ease Factor of Concentration rolls made by the casters of effects with Concentration Duration that target the wizard, and are covered by one of the wizard's abilities. Note that if the wizard is part of a Group or within another large Target effect, only a single Concentration roll is made by the caster. If several wizards with Confounding Magics defenses are in the Group, then only the best Magic Defense Bonus is used to modify the Ease Factor of the Concentration roll. This is an instance where the effect of the wizard's Magic Defenses can indirectly benefit other characters.

A Virgilian wizard's Magical Defense Bonus is equal to his score in a School or Sortes Virgilianae divided by 5, rounded up. The bonus from each ability applies to a different kind of magic. Although most of the descriptions are given in terms of Hermetic Forms, the defense also applies to magic from other traditions, or magical creatures, if it too would fall under that Form.

Practice/School E	quiv. Vis
Animo Practice	Vim
School of Boreas	Auram
School of the Naiads	Aquam
School of Prometheus	Ignem
School of the Stones	Terram
School of the
Sylvan Nymphs	Herbam
School of the
Vigilant Bees	Animal
Sortes Virgilianae	Any Intellego
Practice	or divination

Virgilian wizards are exposed to several hazards through the use of their magic. Magic is a dangerous art, and at

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times things go wrong. Quite apart from the normal risks of magic gone awry, Virgilian wizards are prone to drawing the attention of powerful supernatural creatures, which do not have their best interests at heart.

Botches by magicians cause similar problems as for Hermetic magi, and the general guidelines one would use for Hermetic spells are applicable here. Botches involving divination give misleading information, often dangerously so. Botched Vigilo rites may have the wrong trigger action that leads to catastrophe, or affect the caster rather than the initiating force, or even cause unforeseen side effects in the warded area. Animo botches are even more dangerous — items may become inhabited by demons or run amok, as described in that section.

Wizards can gain Warping Points from all of the normal sources of Warping (see ArM5, page 167). Like Hermetic magi, wizards also gain 1 Warping Point for every zero that comes up on the botch dice when using a rite, Animo, or Sortes Virgilianae. If a wizard receives 2 or more Warping Points from a single event, he may suffer the attention of powerful entities.

The first time a wizard gains 2 or more Warping Points from a single event, he attracts the attention of a powerful entity in much the same way that Aeneas and his followers were troubled by the attentions of Juno, whose wrath they never managed to placate. The entity is usually one of the magical or faerie spirits invoked in Virgilian magic, but may even be an angel or demon. The prevailing aura at the time of the botch, the nature of the rite attempted, its motivation, and the character's personality should be taken into account when selecting a spirit. The wizard has an opportunity to deal well with this — if the character is able to control the forces of his magic, the entity leaves him untroubled. If this attempt fails, the entity becomes deeply involved henceforth in that character's life and fate, attempting to shape and influence it to further its own goals. If the character succeeds in avoiding the attention of the entity, nothing negative occurs except the accumulation of Warping Points.

Attention Avoidance: Intelligence + (Realm Lore) + stress die vs. Warping Score + Number of Warping Points Gained + aura + stress die

If the player fails to avoid the entity's attention, the character's relationship with the entity now becomes important. If the character is successful at an Entreating the Fates roll, the entity might grant the character a small boon (see Favored by Fortune), but if the character fails, the entity's enmity is earned (see Cursed by the Fates).

Entreating the Fates: Communication + stress die vs. Warping Score + stress die

Once a wizard has attracted a particular entity's attention, all further occurrences of Fated Destiny draw the attention of the same entity, at least unless the wizard resolves the issues in stories. The gods are capricious, and the same entity often blesses or curses the character, in line with its plans and whims.

Usually positive effects of successful Entreating the Fates rolls are represented by gaining an appropriate Minor Virtue, or by an award of 5 to 10 XP in a relevant (Realm) Lore, rite, or Supernatural Ability. Occasionally entities may grant knowledge of rites directly. The first Virtue gained is often the Supernatural Ability Premonitions. Major Virtues such as Ghostly Warder (a spirit linked to the entity rather than a ghost), Death Prophecy, Greater Immunity, and Greater Purifying Touch can sometimes be appropriate, if the event was triggered by gaining a particularly large number of Warping Points.

Negative effects of failed Entreating the Fates rolls are represented by Flaws. The Minor Flaw Visions is always the first gained, while the first Major Flaw gained is Plagued by Supernatural Entity, which reflects the entity's interest in the character. The entity often places the character in situations where his own personality traits come into play, relying on his flaws to shape the character's path or make him pursue a course of action that ultimately ends in tragedy. Such subtle meddling in mortal affairs never directly controls the character, but instead allows his own traits to lead him to conflict and adventure, and forces hard choices upon him. Note that, once this Flaw has been gained, the entity interferes even when the wizard does not botch his magic or gain Warping in any other way.

For later incidents, the following Flaws are appropriate: Susceptibility to (Realm) Power, Ambitious, Curse of Venus, Enemies, Higher Purpose, Lesser Malediction, No Sense of Direction, Overconfident, Prohibition, Supernatural Nuisance, Warped Magic, Weird Magic, Deleterious Circumstances, and Vow.

Once the wizard's Warping Score reaches 7, the character becomes subject to long visionary trances, in which he sees what appear to be the magical ghosts of those he knew on Earth who have died. His body lies as in a coma, requiring no nourishment, and his spirit passes into a place that resembles Virgil's depiction of the underworld. Here he witnesses the punishment of the sins people committed in life, and those he has personally slain or wronged berate him for his crimes. During this vision, which may last for many days, the character converses with the shades of the dead. The wizard usually gains at least one and occasionally several new Flaws relating to his past misdeeds against the dead. These Flaws may be removed by a story in which the character seeks atonement by carrying out some action. It is also rumored to be possible to remove the Flaws by renouncing magic, truly repent-

ing, and embracing the Church.

When the character's Warping Score reaches 10, the character faces a story in which his death is inevitable, although he may influence the manner in which he faces it. Virgilian wizards fear that their souls pass on to the place they see through the Gates of Avernus, but there is no evidence either way; they may well face the same judgment as everyone else.

All users of Virgilian magic must possess The Gift, which is taken as a free Virtue as normal. They may not choose Hermetic Virtues or Flaws, with the exceptions of Gentle Gift, Inoffensive to Animals, Personal Vis Source, Side Effect, Twilight Prone (which makes the wizard susceptible to Gates of Avernus; wizards do not experience Twilight), Blatant Gift, Susceptible to the Divine, Susceptible to Faerie, and Susceptible to Infernal.

Wizards receive experience points using the normal character generation rules before apprenticeship. Virgilian wizards often come to learn magic late in life, usually after they have completed extensive studies and are already noted scholars, though some are selected for apprenticeship as early as twelve if exceptionally brilliant. They are usually located by the manifestation of The Gift in some uncontrolled manner, and are then adopted as assistants and trained by an existing wizard. They may well have studied Experimental Philosophy — see Art & Academe, pages 68 to 78 for details if you wish to pursue this option. A few individuals are drawn by their studies of Virgil to locate his tomb themselves, or are clearly attempting to do through intensive research, and are then approached by the Brotherhood. Those who refuse or show conflicting allegiances are assassinated.

After being approached by the Brotherhood, prospective wizards are placed in the care of a mentor. They are then prepared for the Opening of their Gift, receiving tuition worth 24 experience points per year, which are applied to Latin until it reaches a minimum of 5 and Artes Liberales until it reaches a minimum of 4. This represents an in-depth study of classical literature, particularly the works of Virgil, and a very thorough education in grammar as well as the general curriculum of the trivium and quadrivium. They are then taught Virgilian Magic Theory until they reach an Ability score of 3. No other abilities may be learned during this period of intensive study, which many find extremely arduous. Finally, they are taught the secrets of the Brotherhood — Organization Lore: Augustan Brotherhood 1.

On reaching the required minimum levels in the Abilities taught during apprenticeship, the prospective wizard is prepared for the Opening of his Gift, and is taken to the tomb of Virgil in Naples. A gathering of several wizards then conducts the rites to bring him formally into the Brotherhood.

The Opening ceremony is conducted either by the Grandmaster of the Brotherhood, or the apprentice's master. The character journeys with his master to the city of Naples, and is led to the tomb of Virgil and into the regio. The magical defenses are seen (see The Tomb of Virgil, later), but do not attack if the character is carrying a ceremonial wand and has the Ability Organization Lore: Augustan Brotherhood 1, which includes knowledge of the correct passwords and rites to proceed to the heart of the tomb. On entering a chamber with an empty coffin and everburning lamp, the initiate is greeted by the masked and robed assembly of wizards participating in the ceremony, and swears to uphold the rites of the Brotherhood. He makes a sacrifice of incense sprinkled into a fire to the genius of the true emperor. This pagan rite is clearly idolatrous, as are the invocations to Juno, Mercury, and the tutelary spirits that follow. As laurel leaves are heaped on the fire the initiate breathes in the fumes, and falls in to a deep dream-

like trance. When he awakens he is in new robes and lying in the coffin, while the hierophant (the person conducting the initiation) reads randomly selected passages of the ancient pagan Sibylline Oracles over him. For a full year after this experience, the character has Visions (as the Flaw in ArM5, page 60).

The character, now part of the brotherhood, is helped out of the coffin, and finds a whole night has almost passed. He is led out to greet the dawn outside the tomb, and there recites an ancient prayer to Apollo. Presenting him with a new copy of The Aeneid, the company withdraws to Virgil's villa to feast and welcome the new frater or soror into the Augustan Brotherhood. Inside the initiate's copy of The Aeneid is a complex magical symbol, and therein is written his new magical name. The book is forever after an Arcane Connection to the wizard, and an implicit threat should he be tempted to betray the secrets. The character now has the Abilities Sortes Virgilianae 1 and Animo 1, and opens all Schools at 0. He may now advance in any of the Practices and Schools freely.

This process is similar to the concept of Opening the Arts in Hermetic Magic. The hierophant's Opening Total is equal to his Sortes Virgilianae Lab Total as calculated for Animo effects.

Opening the Gift: Intelligence + Virgilian Theory + Sortes Virgilianae + Animo + Aura Modifier

Opening Ease Factor: Twice apprentice's Supernatural Ability + (Art scores if applicable) + (+ 12 if Gift already Open)

It is standard for the hierophant to divine first to ensure the candidate's loyalty to the Brotherhood before the candidate is brought anywhere near the tomb of Virgil, so it is extremely unlikely that any person whose Gift was already opened would be brought for initiation.

After initiation, the character gains 24 experience points per year during apprenticeship, which may be spent on Virgilian magic as well as on any other Abilities he has.

Assign 7 pyramid points to Characteristics.

Assign up to 10 points on Virtues, and 10 points on Flaws to balance. You may not choose Hermetic Virtues or Flaws, with the exceptions of Gentle Gift, Inoffensive to Animals, Personal Vis Source, Side Effect, Twilight Prone (which makes the wizard susceptible to Gates of Avernus; wizards do not experience Twilight), Blatant Gift, Susceptible to the Divine, Susceptible to Faerie, and Susceptible to Infernal. The New Virtue Generous Master is the Virgilian equivalent of Skilled Parens. Add the free Social Status Court Wizard. It is possible to take another Social Status representing the character's background if you wish.

Assign a childhood to the character (see ArM5, page 31)

Add a number of years experience pre-apprenticeship at 15 XP per year.

Age the character by 12 years, and ensure he has Latin 5, Artes Liberales 4, Virgilian Theory 3, and Organization Lore: Augustan Brotherhood 1. This represents his apprenticeship and a season being initiated. He has 288 experience points to spend to represent his training. He may take Academic and Arcane abilities, but may not learn Parma Magica. If the Generous Master Virtue has been taken, this adds another 72 points.

He starts with a score of 1 in Sortes Virgilianae, 1 in Animo, and all Schools of Vigilo are opened with a score of 0 at no cost. Remember that rites advance as Arts, and Schools are Difficult Arts; Sortes Virgilianae and Animo are Supernatural Abilities.

This represents a newly initiated Virgilian wizard. If you wish to represent an experienced wizard, assign 30 additional experience points per year post-apprenticeship, or ten per free season. Setting up a laboratory takes two seasons. If vis resources allow, it is likely that the wizard will have created animations as well, and have a number of important political connections and servants.

Wizards acquire knowledge of their magic in much the same way Hermetic magi do. Training by a master is usually the source of initial knowledge, followed by the initiations. But once the fundamentals of the tradition are known, the student studies from texts. The texts of wizards are written using the normal rules from ArM5, page 165. Only three seasons per year are available for personal advancement — the remaining season must be dedicated to direct magical support of the wizard's patron, be it developing new Vigilo rites to meet specific needs, creating an animation to serve in some way, or simply dedicating the season to divinations for his benefit. These tasks should be in keeping with the wizard's abilities and interests to some extent, and so not punitive — troupes should allow considerable freedom, but it must always be remembered that the wizard is a paid employee, and not as free as an Hermetic magi.

The following new Virtues are suitable for Virgilian wizards.

The character is a court wizard, and has a Reputation (Court Wizard) in Mundane & Hermetic circles, starting at level 1. He has an employer, usually a prominent noble or even churchman, and can build a laboratory to research his magic. The reputation can act as a positive or negative, depending on the individual dealt with — Hermetic magi generally look with contempt on court wizards as petty hirelings, and they may not join the Order of Hermes. The wizard must spend at least one season a year working for the benefit of his employer, in exchange for which he is kept in some luxury, with a +1 Living Conditions modifier, and sev-

eral servants or guards. If the employer can feasibly obtain vis or other resources, he will do so to assist the wizard if asked. If desired, a second Social Status reflecting the character's former profession, such as Priest or Magister in Artibus, may be taken.

The wizard's master spent time teaching more of the magic of the Brotherhood than is normal. The character gains 72 additional experience points to spend on rites, the Brotherhood's Supernatural Abilities and Arts, and Organization Lore: Augustan Brotherhood. This is roughly equivalent to the Hermetic Virtue Skilled Parens.

Virigilian wizards serve a very specific role in Mythic Europe, as court functionaries, in line with the aims of the Brotherhood. The practitioners of this magic are also superbly educated by the standards of Mythic Europe. Depending on the Social Status selected by the player, the character is likely to have some knowledge of the following Abilities from before apprenticeship: Civil and Canon Law, Intrigue, Etiquette, Languages, Medicine, Philosophiae, Profession (Scribe), Theology, and Lore Abilities related to the nobility of their area, as these are typical of those who are considered desirable for recruitment into the Brotherhood. After their Gift is opened they often study Concentration, Penetration, and (Realm) Lores, in addition to the powers of Virgilian magic.

All magicians must possess minimum scores of Latin 5, Artes Liberales 4, Virgilian Magic Theory 3, and Organization Lore: Augustan Brotherhood 1.

All wizards must dedicate at least one season a year to working for their patron (see earlier).

Setting a saga in a mundane court, instead of a Hermetic covenant, is an option. Companions might be important political figures in the area, or influential members of the court itself. The focus on mundane politics and the interaction with society will lead to a very different kind of saga than those involving Hermetic magi. While the lord of the court probably remains a storyguide character, stories may focus on the great political and ecclesiastical issues of the day, immersing the troupe in an aspect of Mythic Europe that Hermetic magi attempt to distance themselves from.

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

Age: 26 (Apparent: 26) Decrepitude: 0

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

Virtues and Flaws: The Gift; Gentle Gift; Generous Master, Educated, Great Communication x 2, Improved Characteristics x2, Personal Vis Source; Crippled, Oath of Fealty; Ability Block (martial), Blackmail, Busybody, Mentor.

Personality Traits: Busybody +3, Curious +1.

Reputations: Court Wizard 1 (local area) Soak: 0

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: Animo (inscribing) 3, Artes Liberales 4 (rituals), Charm 2 (persuade), Civil & Canon Law 2 (loopholes), Concentration 2 (rituals), Dominion Lore 1 (angels), Etiquette 2 (nobles), Faerie Lore 1 (weaknesses), Folk Ken 2 (rumors), Guile 2 (lying to authority), Infernal Lore 2 (weaknesses), Intrigue 2 (rumors), Latin 5 (rituals), Living Language : Italian 5 (insults), Magic Lore 2 (beasts), Medicine 2 (long term healing), Noble Lore 2 (local nobility), Organization Lore : Augustan Brotherhood 1 (personalities), Penetration 4 (School of Prometheus), Profession : Scribe 1 (copying), Sortes Virgilianae 1 (personages), Virgilian Theory 3 (Animo)

Schools: School of Prometheus 3, School of the Sylvan Dryads 2; School of the Stones 1, School of the Naiads 1

Equipment: The Aeneid Rites Known:

"Then in truth all Ilium seemed to collapse in flames" 3. (School of Prometheus, Ease Factor 12) Casting Total +11

"He enters among them, veiled in shadows" 6. (School of Prometheus, Ease Factor 15) Casting Total +13

"So the raging fires their fury cease, lurking in the beams, with seeming peace" 6 (1) (School of Prometheus, Ease Factor 15) Casting Total +14

Trigger: Activates when a fire spreads beyond the hearth. Effect: Prevents fire from burning anyone in the affected area, allowing people time to extinguish the fire.

Base 9 R: Touch D: Diameter +3 T: Room +3

"The orchard-tree had fruited; hanging there, by mellowing autumn perfected" 7. (School of the Sylvan Nymphs, Ease Factor 15) Casting Total +14

Effect: Wards a group of ten small fruit trees from all sickness for Moon duration.

Base 3 R: Touch D: Moon +9 T: Group +3

Bici's Secured Dwelling 14 (2). (School of the Sylvan Dryads, Ease Factor 27) Casting Total +19

Appearance: Bici lost the use of his legs in a childhood accident, and is pushed around in a wheeled cart by a servant when he travels around the gardens of his patron. He favors bright clothing and always wears elaborate and eccentric headgear. He owns a bewildering number of ridiculous hats.

While this book cannot detail courts in full, the rules for designing covenants could be used to determine the resources that are available.

Noble courts do not revolve around magicians, and the wizards are at best highly influential functionaries, relying on their employer for magical and mundane resources, and beholden to him in return. Not all court wizards need to be from the Virgilian tradition — they may represent hedge magic traditions, and a mixed troupe of Gifted and unGifted wizards is very likely.

As the court will be the center of the saga, the troupe should design their employer as a character, and draw up the genealogy of his dynasty pay particular attention to succession and to political and ecclesiastical relationships. The patron may well be completely unsympathetic to the Brotherhood's aims, and it is quite possible that most of the characters are unaware of what those aims are, or of the Virgilian wizard's allegiance. After all, the Brotherhood often seeks to place its members in courts hostile to the Holy Roman Emperor, to further their plans and win them over to support of Frederick. Such characters do not usually conduct assassinations or directly sabotage the court, but rather work subtly to direct affairs in a manner that furthers the Brotherhood's ambitions. The support of the patron is the goal, not his destruction, and even in cases where there is direct conflict, espionage is stressed over cold-blooded murder. At least most of the time.

It is entirely possible that the secrets of Virgil's magic may be sought quite independently of the Augustan Brotherhood by Hermetic magi or other highly educated magicians; the myths are, after all, very well known. In this section we deal with the remaining artifacts created by Virgil, with his tomb, and with other secrets known to the

Animation, non-mobile. Magic Might 9 (size +2, base metal +5; senses (touch) aware +5)

"The gates of War, grim metal, narrowed by bars, will be closed"

School of the Stones 18. Trigger: Activates if someone attempts to open the gates without the correct password. Effect: Locks the gate.

Base 9 R: Touch D: Sun +6 T: Group +3

"Four times it stops at the threshold of the gates"

School of the Stones 18. Trigger: Activates if someone attempts to open the gates without the correct password. Effect: Wards the gates against stone or metal hammers.

Base 9 R: Touch D: Sun +6 T: Group +3

"With burning eyes suffused with blood and fire, lick at their hissing jaws with flickering tongues"

School of the Vigilant Bees 18. Trigger: Activates if someone attempts to open the gates without the correct password. Effect: Brings all snakes in the regio out to the gates.

Base 3 R: Touch D: Sun +6 T: Boundary +9

Brotherhood that might be discovered and investigated by Hermetic agents.

The tomb of Virgil is mentioned in almost every biography of Virgil, and is therefore one of the best-known magical sites in Mythic Europe. The Brotherhood pays considerable attention to scholars who seek it, and usually have agents loitering in the vicinity, as well as locals well paid to report scholars asking unusual questions in the area.

Aelius Donatus, in his fourth-century biography of the poet, records Virgil's burial: "His bones were transported to Naples, and buried under a mound, which is on the road to Pozzuoli, less than two miles out from the city." The site is therefore one of several rocky outcrops in the vicinity. A Magic aura of 1 present only at night makes the precise site, which is close to a stone quarry and overlooking the road, quite easy to find. Physical investigation reveals that a paved road once ran to the cliff face, perhaps passing into a tunnel, but now it halts abruptly some thirty feet from the cliff. From this road the regio that holds the tomb may be entered, if appropriate magics are used. The aura of the first level of the regio is 5, making it hard for those using Second Sight to find the entrance.

The first level of the regio contains the same rocky hillside, but even if entered at night it is lit by bright sunshine and far more vivid than the mundane world — the sky is intense blue, the plants are lush green, and a great bay tree leans over an archway with a intricately carved bronze gate. The gate shows twelve scenes, one from each book of The Aeneid. A plaque above the gate bears the following inscription:

"Mantua gave birth to me, the Calabrians snatched me away, now it holds me fast — The city where Parthenope is buried; I sang of pastures, fields, and princes."

Straying over the hill, or wandering off, suddenly deposits the characters back in the normal world. The only way to enter the tomb is to advance straight forward, and open the gates. Magical investigation, however, reveals something of interest — the great bay tree is in some sense conscious, with a powerful magical spirit invested in it. It is possible that Intellego Herbam magic might allow the trespassers to communicate with the tree's spirit. It is has a great respect for Virgil and his work; the tree's spirit is loyal to Virgil, not to the Brotherhood.

The tomb's bronze gates are an animation, and are engraved with a stylized mask of Virgil.

It takes five rounds for the first serpents to slither here in an unnaturally fast manner,

Animations, mobile.

Magic Might: 13 (Terram)

Characteristics: Int 0, Per 0, Pre 0, Com

0, Str +3, Sta 0, Dex +1, Qik 0

Size: 0 Combat:

Great Hammer: Init 0, Attack +16, Defense

+9, Damage +21

Soak: +10 (soft metal)

Fatigue Levels: Not applicable.

Wound Penalties: OK, –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated

(16–20), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Great Weapon 8 (hammer) Equipment: Each statue is armed with a wooden warhammer with a stone

head.

Encumbrance: Not applicable

Vis: Each animation required 30 pawns to produce, and if destroyed contains 2 pawns of Terram vis.

Appearance: The muscular statues are carved in ancient Roman clothes appropriate to blacksmiths, with Latin verses as "embroidered" trim.

Animations, mobile.

Magic Might: 13 (Terram)

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

Size: 0

Combat:

Flail: Init +2, Attack +10, Defense +9,

Damage +11

Soak: +12 (Bronze)

Fatigue Levels: Not applicable.

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

Abilities: Awareness 2 (intruders), Great

Weapon 6 (flail)

Equipment: Each statue is armed with a

bronze flail.

Encumbrance: Not applicable

Vis: Each animation required 25 pawns to create, but if destroyed yields two

pawns of Terram vis.

Appearance: The martial statues are carved in ancient Trojan clothing

and armed with flails.

but on their arrival they crawl from hollows in the tree to fall upon those below, and from cracks and crevices in the rock face. Faced with maybe a thousand snakes, which arrive over the next fifteen minutes, most mundane trespassers are forced to retreat.

If the gate is opened, by means mundane or magical, a hallway with a beautiful mosaic floor that seems to glow with vibrant colors leads in. Just a short distance down the hall stand two silver statues of men armed with great hammers. As the door opens, they begin to pound furiously on the shattered flagstone between them, blocking further entrance.

If the hammer men are evaded or destroyed, the hallway leads into an underground courtyard, yet one which opens to a beautiful starry Mediterranean night. A full moon hangs overhead, and from somewhere outside the buzz of sleepy bees can be heard. There is a colonnaded walkway around the courtyard, with each of the twelve columns a caryatid of a figure from The Aeneid. The columns recite verses from each book. Less obvious in the shadows of the walkway are twelve bronze statues of ancient Trojan warriors carrying flails, set in the alcoves in the stone walls. If the proper passwords are not given, the statues animate and furiously assail the trespassers until destroyed.

Beyond the courtyard is another short passage with gorgeous frescoes that move, replaying scenes from Virgil's life. Finally a leaden gate, which opens on being approached, swings back to reveal the tomb of Virgil itself — a great marble sarcophagus of elegant simplicity that stands open and vacant. It is housed in a room with murals depicting the pastoral idylls of nymphs and shepherds frolicking in an Arcadian paradise, yet beyond the tomb itself is an image of a shadowy cave — even here in this celebration of life, the shadow of death may be found.

Above the tomb, suspended from a chain, is a burning glass oil lamp of great brilliance, and just inside the door stands the bronze statue of an archer. If the tomb is entered without the correct password being spoken, the archer lets loose an arrow (Initiative +3) that shatters the lamp, and the intruders are instantly deposited outside the regio. This effect is not within the scope of current Virgilian magic, and may yield possible breakthroughs if studied.

In the event the tomb's many defenses are circumvented, the tomb chamber may be explored. The room is elaborately carved, and careful cross referencing of the paintings, mosaics, and carvings with Virgil's poetry allow the room to be studied as a quality 10 tractatus on any Virgilian rite, a quality 12 tractatus on Magic Lore, or a quality 8, level 12 summa on Virgilian Theory if the requisite seasons are spent

studying here. The tomb has a Magic aura of 7, and so inflicts Warping on mundanes who spend a long time here. The Brotherhood does not know that the tomb can be studied in this way; they have treated it purely as a sacred site for initiations, and avoid disturbing it as much as possible. Were they to learn of its potential, this policy would be sorely tested.

As well as the tomb of Virgil, Naples has a number of other magical devices created by Virgil that are well known to the general populace and show to visiting scholars. They're therefore a source of concern to the Augustan Brotherhood, as interested magicians often seek to understand their mysteries. An Intelligence + Magic Lore roll of 9 reveals that similar items, when taken from their cities and investigated in Hermetic laboratories, have shown only traces of former non-Hermetic magic, and are therefore considered to be only objects of popular superstition. In fact, removing a non-mobile animation from its location automatically dispels its enchantment; a roll of 15 suggests this possibility. The only way to examine many of these items properly would be to construct a lab around them, a difficult proposition given their locations, and something that would be sure to attract the attention of the local populace and the Augustan Brotherhood. Such items are not restricted to Naples, though — Rome, Byzantium, Paris, and other ancient cities also contain similar talismantia created using similar magics.

Each of the animations described here was created by Virgil himself, and possesses an animating spirit. An Hermetic Intellego spell that allows communication with the substance from which the animation is made would be a potentially useful source of research toward integrating Virgilian magic into Hermetic Magic Theory. But the mundane populace and the Augustan Brotherhood would deeply resent attempts to interfere with their magical guardians.

Each is described in terms of the mechanics of the animation, so to act as models for storyguides' or players' own designs.

Upon the great gate of Naples is a small bronze statuette of a fly, little larger than a hand span in size. This item is an animation with a magical effect that repels all flies from the city. It is mentioned in John of Salisbury's Policratus (1159), in the anonymous Apocaylpsis Goliae (c.1180), in Conrad of Querfurt's Epistolata (1196), and Gervasius of Tilsbury's Otia Imperialia (1211). Hermetic magi may well hear rumors of it and seek it out. Byzantium has a gnat and a fly of similar design said to have been created by Apollonius of Tyana, and Paris is said to have had a magical statue of a rat in the sewers that kept them out, until it was destroyed.

Animation, non-mobile. Magic Might 4 (size -8, base metal +5)

"But when the swarms fly aimlessly abroad, disport themselves in the heavens and spurn their homes"

Rite of the Vigilant Bees 21. Trigger: Activates at sunrise and sunset. Effect: Repel all flies from the City of Naples.

Base 3 R:Touch D:Sun +6 T: City +9, +3 for 2 uses per day.

The meat market in Naples is an ancient building open to the skies. Food is prepared here every day. At one end is a plain marble block used as a table for preparing meat, which radiates magic. It has the effect of preserving all meat in the market from decay, and is well known to all market traders, who viciously assault strangers interfering with it. It is recorded in the book De Naturis Rerum by Alexander of Neckam, written in the 1190s.

Animation, non-mobile. Magic Might 8 (size +1, hard stone +4)

"And with his lolling tongue tested the taste, thus fed with holy food"

Rite of the Vigilant Bees 21. Trigger: Activates at sunrise and sunset. Effect: Preserve all meat in market building that day from decay.

Base 6 R: Touch D: Sun +6 T: Structure +6, +3 for 2 uses per day.

The best-known of Virgil's animations, this small glass egg can still be seen by request in the Castella dell' Ovo (Castle of the Egg), the great fortress of Naples. It contains a beautifully worked model of the city in pure gold, the sea in lapis lazuli, all contained within a glass egg, marred only by a hairline fracture. Magical investigation reveals no trace of magic, for this is a forged copy of the original, which was long ago removed from the city by the agents of the Brotherhood for investigation. Agents of the Brotherhood do, however, report those who show interest in the artifact. It is recorded in Conrad of Querfurt's Epistolata (1196) and is a frequent topic of local stories and minstrels' songs throughout Mythic Europe.

Animation, non-mobile. Magic Might 13 (size -8, gold +10, glass +1, semi-precious gem +12)

"Lead me to the Greeks again: let me revisit the battle anew"

Sortes Virgilianae 12. Trigger: Activates at sunrise each day. Effect: Detects if the city is currently under siege by an army. If so, activates the following effect.

Base 15 R: Touch D: Mom, +3 for 2 uses per day (-3 for city, -3 for siege)

"Their feet all tangled together, in a sudden swarm"

School of the Vigilant Bees 21. Trigger: Activated by the above rite. Effect: Make all rats in the city swarm out to the besieging encampment, which shortly thereafter will fall victim to disease.

Base 3 R: Touch D: Sun +6 T: City, +9, +3 for two uses per day.

"He sees Aeneas's fleet scattered all over the ocean"

Sortes Virgilianae 18. Trigger: Activates at sunrise and sunset each day. Effect: Detects if the city harbour is under attack by a hostile fleet. If so, activates the following effects.

Base 18 R: Touch D: Sun, +3 two uses a day, -3 concerns a city

"Hurling these words out, a howling blast from the north, strikes square on the sail, and lifts the seas to heaven"

School of Boreas 30. Trigger: Activated by the above rite. Effect: Bring forth a hurricane-force gale in the bay, destroying all shipping (the hostile fleet, as the initiating action).

Base 15 R: Touch D: Sun +6 T: Boundary +9

"So he speaks, and swifter than his speech, he calms the swollen sea, scatters the gathered cloud, and brings back the sun"

School of the Naiads 27. Trigger: Activated by the above rite. Effect: Wards mundane water (waves and rain) from the sea enclosed by the quays and harbour, protecting all vessels in the docks of the city itself from the waves caused by the tempest in the bay.

Base 12 R: Touch D: Sun +6 T: Boundary +9

In a square in Naples stands the statue of a bronze horse enchanted by Virgil. While it remains on its dais, it is said no horse in the city can break its back. It is recorded in Conrad of Querfurt's Epistolata (1196).

Animation, non-mobile. Magic Might 9 (size +2, base metal +5)

"Free from their harness, graze the flowery ground; the love of horses which they had"

School of the Vigilant Bees 21. Trigger: Activates at sunrise and sunset.

Effect: Prevents any horse in the city from breaking its back.

Base 3 R: Touch D: Sun +6 T: City+9. +3 for 2 uses per day.

Virgil conjured all the serpents in the city and magically trapped them under the Ferrean Gate, beneath an enchanted stone. No snake can live within the city. Conrad of Querfurt's writes about this in the Epistolata (1196), and it is also recorded by Gervasius of Tilsbury in his Otia Imperialia (1211).

Animation, non-mobile. Magic Might 7 (size 0, hard stone +4)

"A hundred serpents hiss about the edge"

School of the Vigilant Bees 24. Trigger: Activates at sunrise and sunset. Effect: Any snake within the city receives a mental suggestion to slither through the sewers to the snake pit hidden under the Ferrean Gate.

Base 3 R: Touch D: Mom T: City +9, +12 for unlimited uses per day.

Outside the city stands Virgil's villa, now largely ruined though still inhabited. The herb garden here is enchanted with a wall of air, and can only be entered by those who know the right method to pass the invisible barrier. No rain ever falls in the garden, yet despite this many rare healing plants and flowers grow here with no trace of disease, their season unnaturally long. The site is carefully watched by the Brotherhood, and one of their most potent wizards makes his home here. It is noted in the book De Naturis Rerum by Alexander of Neckam (written in the 1190s), in the Otia Imperialia of Gervasius of Tilsbury (1211), and in Guiraut de Calanso's Fadet Joglar (1200).

A stone fountain in the center of the garden is the animation responsible for these effects.

Animation, non-mobile. Magic Might 10

(size +5, base metal +4) inscribed with the following effects.

"Smiled upon her with that very look with which he cleared the sky of rain"

School of Boreas 27. Trigger: Activates at sunrise and sunset. Effect: Wards against even severe rain within the garden of the villa.

Base 9 R: Touch D: Sun +6 T: Boundary +9, +3 for 2 uses a da

"So that the weeds don't harm the rich crops, in the other, so what little moisture there is doesn't leave the barren sand"

School of the Sylvan Dryads 21. Trigger: Activates at sunrise and sunset. Effect: Wards all plants against disease within the garden of the villa.

Base 3 R: Touch D: Sun +6 T: Boundary +9, +3 for 2 uses a day

"Now Phoenix, and tragic Ulysses, the chosen sentries, watch over"

Sortes Virgilianae 27. Trigger: Detects an attempt to enter the warded area by any human except through the doorway of the villa. Effect: Activates the Walls of Wind represented by the next two effects described.

Base 18 R: Touch D: Sun +6, +3 for 2 uses a day

"You made me lord of the storms and the tempests"

School of Boreas 24. Trigger: Activates when the detection rite above triggers. Effect: Brings forth a gale force wind, which is then controlled by the next effect.

Base 9, R: Touch D: Diameter +3 T: Individual, +12 unlimited uses a day

"Let Aeolus officiate in his palace, and be king in the closed sanctuary of the winds"

School of Boreas 30. Trigger: Activates when the rite above triggers. Effect:

Controls the gale force wind, causing it to circle the garden acting as an invisible wall.

Base 9, R: Touch D: Diameter +3 T: Individual, +6 for unnatural effect, +12 unlimited uses a day

When Naples is threatened by an eruption of Mount Etna, this marble statue blows its brass horn, and diverts lava flows and falling rocks from the city. Magi may learn of this from Conrad of Querfurt's Epistolata (1196), and it is also recorded by Gervasius of Tilsbury in his Otia Imperialia (1211).

Animation, non-mobile. Magic Might 7 (size 0, hard stone +4)

"Raised high on smoking rocks; and, deep below, in hollow caves the fires of Etna glow"

Rite of the Stones 21. Trigger: Activates when the animation sees an eruption. Effect: Wards against any stone from entering the city when Mount Etna is erupting, preventing lava flows or falling rocks from the volcano entering the city. Note it is designed specifically to effect only material from Etna; other stone items may enter the city normally.

Base 6 R: Touch D: Sun +6 T: City +9, +3 for two uses per day.

The Roman baths at Naples are always of the right temperature owing to the magics of Virgil, and the water is always pure and free from disease. They are said to possess magical curative properties owing to the exceptional quality of the everpure water. A stone in the bath floor is the source of the magic.

Animation, non-mobile. Magic Might 5 (size -5, hard stone +4)

"Tempering the mixture with her heavenly hands, she pours it in a bowl, already crowned, With juice of medicinal herbs, prepared to bathe the wound"

Rite of the Stones 24. Trigger: Activates at sunrise and sunset. Effect: Destroys all dirt in the Baths, purifying the water.

Base 9 R: Touch D: Sun +6 T: Structure +6, +3 two uses a day.

The bones of Virgil reside in a niche in a high tower of the Castle dell' Ovo, where they are protected by an iron grille like that one finds protecting reliquaries, and guarded day and night by Neapolitan soldiers (and extensive wards put in place by the Brotherhood.) If they are disturbed the sea in the harbor rises and a terrible tempest strikes, sufficient to destroy a fleet approaching the city. Once again the story is known through Conrad of Querfurt's Epistolata (1196), and Gervasius of Tilsbury in his Otia Imperialia (1211).

Of all the authors mentioned in this section, only Gervasius of Tilsbury and John of Salisbury recount the story of Ludowicus' discovery of the bones. They are not an animation, but some suspect they are actually an Arcane Connection to the Daimonic Virgil.

Almost none of Virgil's magics in the city of Rome are known to survive. They reputedly included a magic scrying mirror, the Salvatio Romae, a group of statues of Roman soldiers that warned of rebellion in the provinces (and that exploded the day a virgin gave birth), and a stone horseman who rode the streets and struck dead with a sword any who broke curfew.

One of the strangest items left in Rome by Virgil is the great round stone face known as La Bocca Della Verita. It was used in antiquity as a test of the fidelity of wives. If a woman was suspected of adultery by her husband, she was made to swear to have never embraced any other man, and place her fingers within the mouth. If she lied, the face bit them off. It is said that Virgil made it in spite after the affair of the basket.

One noblewoman who had a lover was being escorted here one day in chains, to face the trial, when her lover dressed as a mad man ran from the crowd and embraced her. Her husband was amused by this humiliation, and the soldier drove the madman away with little more than laughter and insults. The woman placed her fingers in the mouth, and swore a solemn oath that only her husband and "that madman you just saw" had ever embraced her. The face was fooled, and her husband satisfied, but Virgil knew he had been defeated once again by a woman. The face remains to this day in the Church of Santa Maria, but has bitten off no fingers in living memory. (The Dominion aura possibly prevents the magic from working, or possibly Roman matrons are all faithful.)

Animation, mobile. Magic Might 7 (size 0, hard stone +4)

"Yet, if the heavens will hear my pious vow, the faithless waves, not half so false as thou!"

Sortes Virgilianae 21. Trigger: An accused woman places her fingers in the statue's mouth. Effect: Detects the truth of one statement from her. If she is lying, then the mouth animates and bites her fingers off for +10 damage.

Base 15 R: Touch D: Mom

There remains one other artifact of Virgil's on display in Rome — Caesar's sepulcher. This is a great obelisk that stands in front of St. Peter's Basilica, and is surmounted by a great bronze ball that contains the ashes of Julius Caesar, still protected by Virgil's warding magics. The exact nature of the magical defenses is not known, but the Mirablia Urbis Romae reports the tale.

Virgilian magic is the source of potential breakthroughs for the magus who integrates it with Hermetic magic theory.

Virgilian Magic apparently breaks the Limit of Arcane Connections, but in fact does so utilizing the prophetic genius of Virgil, who in some unknown manner managed to break the Limit of Time, possibly directly by a blessing from the Divine. As such, Sortes Virgilianae is a major possibility for investigation, but the research in this field will result in a flawed and limited version of the Virgilian equivalent.

Once integrated into Hermetic magic, the link between The Aeneid and the prophecies of Virgil is permanently broken for the integrated version of Sortes Virgilianae, so that the apparent breakthrough in the Limit of Arcane Connections proves illusory. However, the magus will come to understand why this has happened, and will learn the Mystery Virtue Hermetic Divination, as described in The Mysteries Revised Edition, page 58. (Note that the version of Sortes Virgilianae used by the Augustans remains sound, as does the Mystery Virtue Hermetic Divination.)

This Mystery Virtue is already well known to some Mystery Cult magi, and they may be unhappy if it becomes more widely available. The researcher may face those groups' responses, or recruitment offers if his research interests become known to the Order at large.

Suggested Breakthrough Points: 45

Hermetic magic currently lacks a way of binding a Watching effect and a spell together without a separate ritual, Watching Ward, which requires vis.

The magus is able to create Watching Ward spells that do not need to be cast as rituals. A prerequisite of the Form Vim is added to the spell, and vis is not required unless the spell would be a ritual anyway.

The principal consequence of integrating this effect is to greatly increase the number of magical wards available to magi. This makes magical defenses far more prevalent, and slowly changes Hermetic culture as sanctums become more secure and magical "traps" more common.

A number of 12th- and early 13th-century manuscripts that make excellent sources of inspiration are referenced in this chapter. Here are some useful modern works.

Barbera, Henry. Medieval Sicily: The First Absolute State. Brooklyn, New York: Legas, 2000.

Camparetti, Domenico. Vergil in the Middle Ages. London: Swann Sonnenschein & Co., 1895.

Kieckhefer, Richard. Magic in the Middle Ages. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Spargo, John Webster. Virgil the Necromancer: Studies in the Virgillian Legends. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1934.

Virgil. Trans. C Day Lewis. The Aeneid. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1952.