Elephants of Alexander

The ghosts of ancient war elephants can be summoned at the battle sites of antiquity throughout Arabia, Persia, and Transoxiana, using their bones to call them back to unearthly service. Such sites are of particular interest to House Tremere, who seek to expand the versatility and power of their ghostly forces.

Faerie war elephants from the land of Hind, as used in the armies of Alexander the Great, appear even larger and more fearsome than their mundane kin. Such creatures sport multiple large curved tusks and have been trained to wield spiked balls on chains with their trunks. They prompt panic in lesser creatures and are capable of deafening opponents with their trumpeting. The remains of these giant creatures are found primarily in the far mountains of the eastern provinces and the southern deserts of Persia.

The valley at the headwaters of the Jaxartes has been known for its excellent horses since antiquity. According to legend, the horses of Farghana are offspring of mundane horses and either mountain river dragons or other seemingly divine steeds that visited the wild steppe herds in the past. Such "Heavenly Horses" appear similar to the Arabian-descended horses of the European nobility but are slightly larger. These Faerie animals are particularly sought after by magi and Gifted sahirs due to their suitability as mounts for Gifted magicians, and local tales tell of representatives from Serica traveling vast distances to procure even one of these amazing mounts.

Heavenly Horse

Faerie Might: 5 (Animal)

Characteristics: Cun –2, Per 0, Pre +2, Com –4, Str +5, Sta +4, Dex +1,

Qik +3 Size: +2

Confidence Score: 0

Virtues and Flaws: External Vis (minor, bloody sweat), Faerie Beast, Ferocity (when ridden in battle), Long Winded, Improved Characteristic x3, Positive Reputation, Unaffected by The Gift; Incognizant, Proud (minor), Susceptible to Deprivation.

**Qualities:**Amphibious, Domesticated, Fast Runner, Good Jumper, Herd Animal, Imposing Appearance x3, Tireless.

Personality Traits: Spirited +3, Loyal +2 Reputations: Dragon-steed 2 (local) Combat:

Hooves: Init +4, Attack +2, Defense +6, Damage +6

Soak: +4

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

Pretenses: Athletics 4 (long-distance running), Awareness 3 (noises), Brawl 2 (hooves), Swim 4 (rivers).

Powers:

Heavenly Hooves, 2 points, Constant, Animal: This power allows the animal to move at its maximum speed, unimpeded by poor terrain, achieving up to 30 miles per day. It may even do this across open water or chasms without needing to slow its pace. ReAn 25 (Base 10, Sun +2, +1 Constant): Personal Power, 25 levels.

Appearance: These horses appear similar to other mid-sized breeds of charger, although even an experienced horse trainer will find it difficult to ascertain its origin. Usual specimens stand just under 16 hands (62 inches) high but appear more refined than even the finest mundane horse.

These Faerie mounts are believed to be descended from river dragons east of the valley of Farghana. Unlike mundane horses, they are not affected by the negative effects of The Gift or Magical Air of their riders. Even a Blatant Gift does not especially bother the animal.

These Faerie horses are also renowned for their unusual trait of sweating blood. The crimson sweat is produced by any significant physical exertion, but does no harm to the creature. If properly collected over the course of a year, such sweat acts as a Vis Source and provides 1 pawn of faerietainted Animal vis per year. As a faerie, it does not suffer from fatigue or age, although it does suffer the usual consequences if it lacks air, food, and water in its role as a magical steed.

Like all horses, a Heavenly Horse gets a +3 to all rolls involving running or jumping. These creatures are not balanced to be used as player characters.

furs from the lands of the Bulghars to the north. Khwarazm is particularly known for its Turkish slaves, however, and is the center of the slave trade in Transoxiana. Young nomads are bought or stolen from the steppes, given an Islamic education, and then dispatched to the far corners of the Islamic Empire.

Gurganj

A leading town along the trade routes, the town of Gurganj or Al-Jurjaniyah has shifted its site on the western bank of the river over the years to accommodate the vagaries of the floodwaters of the Oxus and the vengeance of the native river spirits.

If your saga follows history, the Mon-

gols besiege Gurganj in 1220, breaking the massive dyke in frustration after five months and unleashing the pent-up waters of the Oxus. Once again, the city falls to the onrushing waters and the great river resumes its flow into the Caspian Sea, releasing the enslaved magical spirits upon their former Khwarazmian captors (see the sidebar on Spirits of the Oxus Delta, earlier). All that will remain after the Mongols march away from the town are sundry corpses and the ruined walls that sketch the outline of the oncegreat city.

Kath

Former capital of Khwarazm and original home of the native Khwarazmshah dynasty, this once-magnificent city on the eastern bank of the Oxus has suffered repeated flooding throughout its history, washing it into secondary rank.

Overlooking a great necropolis to the north stands the mausoleum of Il-Arslan.

To the northeast of Sogdiana lie the open plains of the vast valley of Farghana, the most eastern point reached by the initial wave of expansion sparked by Islam. Famous for its horses, metal goods, and particularly its weapons, it also has fine oil and bitumen. Arab armies are using clay pipes filled with oil as incendiaries in sieges, a tactic later adopted by their Mongol conquerors.

Framed at the mouth of the Farghana valley, this small trade town is built near the ruins of Alexandria Eschate: the furthest settlement established by Alexander the Great in his campaign of conquests. Another Altar of Alexander lies hidden beneath the city or within the adjacent ruins (see Ruins at Ai Khanoum earlier for details).

Osh

Located just downstream from the source of the Jaxartes in the Pamir mountains, Osh is the easternmost settlement in the Farghana valley and the northernmost town of the Islamic Caliphate, making it the end of certainty and the starting point for stories of exploration past the map's edge.

Osh is the last caravan stop on the Great Khurasan Road from Baghdad. Merchants follow tales and legends rather than tracks as they climb into the eastern mountains on their way to the fabled Faerie city of Khashgar and thence by the dreaded desert route to legendary Serica.

The tallest brick minaret of the Mythic Middle East, this structure rises to over 180 feet, providing a dominating view of the surrounding irrigated province. Despite the religious style, it is surrounded by a Magic aura of 7 and forms the focus of the magical network of fetters and wards that binds the various Oxus river spirits to the dykes noted earlier. The protective magics of the minaret are maintained by the local community of sahirs, who use the structure as their meeting place and ensure the canals continue to support the province's famed fertility. The sahir community lies directly in the path of the onrushing Mongol horde — the few survivors may be some of the first Solomonic magi to bear news to their brethren in the west.

Fabled for its rubies, sapphires, and other jewels, this mountainous region rises upwards into the Caucasus Indicus south of a great northern loop of the Oxus, transected by its main tributary, the Nahr Dirgham (Badakhshan or Kokchka River). Known in antiquity as Balascia, classical geographers place it on the north face of the southeastern slopes of legendary Mount Imeon. Now free from the demonic yoke of the Shansabani of Maiyan to the south, it is one of the borderlands of the ancient world known to the traders who traverse it from northwest to southeast.

Wakhan

This narrow territory follows the Oxus River from lower Badakhshan back to its mythical source. It is inhabited by reclusive pastoralists known as the Vakhi who speak an almost unintelligible dialect of Parsi (–3 penalty to Ability score). Since

The Faerie Road to Serica

Unlike the lower reaches, the whole upper valley of the Oxus past its junction with the Badakhshan River is covered by a extremely lengthy but narrow Faerie aura bounded by the sharp mountain crest lines to the north and south. Beginning with a weak aura of only 2 at the outskirts of Ai Khanoum, the aura increases gradually as a traveler climbs further east. At the level of the Wakhan Valley proper, the aura has reached a strength of 6 and the Warping it induces is partly responsible for the taciturn nature of the nomads (Reclusive Minor Flaw). Multiple Faerie regiones can be accessed from the path, depending on the traveler's mood, goals, and particular Faerie Sympathies (see Realms of Power: Faerie for further details). Some of these regiones lead only to blind canyons and certain death, while others contain whole lost kingdoms and cities built on the shores of a great encroaching desert. The most sought-after paths provide portals into the various worlds of Faerie. Those leading to Arcadia are commonest although a solitary traveler is more likely to be drawn into Eudokia to resolve the crisis that has led them to flee beyond the bounds of Hermetic knowledge.

Itineris Serica

Cartophilius of Mercere has always been regarded as eccentric, even among Mercere magi. His father, Geographicus, was one of the founders of a similar traveling covenant, so it is perhaps unsurprising he has proposed forming another mobile gathering of magi at the recent Normandy Tribunal meeting. The covenant's mundane cover as a merchant caravan is nothing new, but his intent to seek funding as a dedicated research covenant surprised even the archmagi who knew his parens.

Cartophilius intends nothing less than to find the true source of silk by traveling eastward to mythical Serica.

Several members argued against his plan, stating that no precedent for such a Seeker covenant exists, but, surprisingly, the Exarch of House Tremere guaranteed full support for such an expedition and volunteered two experienced Tremere magi to accompany the Mercere's venture. Whether the Exarch's motives were out of true support or just a pragmatic solution to finding an outlet for the more enthusiastic members of the Burning Acorn Vexillation remains in doubt.

This covenant may provide an interesting high fantasy or high Faerie diversion from the usual "castle on the hill by the Faerie wood" trope that is the default of many Ars Magica sagas. Possible covenant magi might include a Nestorian Trianoma spy, a Turkish Criamon Sufi master, and a Levantine Merinita jinn specialist.

antiquity, a trade route has wound its way up this valley and on to the mythical land of Serica, although no merchant yet claims to have traveled the whole journey there and back again. On occasion, exotic travelers and pilgrims have appeared in the Mythic Middle East, claiming to have traversed the corridor westwards, reciting tales of their adventures in the mountains and stories about the fabled cities of their homelands in the desolate Taklimakan desert beyond.

Commonly mistaken for sapphire in period, lapis lazuli's name derives from the Latin lapis ("stone") and a corruption of the Persian name of its town of origin, Lahzvard (Latin lazulum, "from Lahzvard"). Its use in amulets, scarabs, and even seals is documented in various Egyptian and Babylonian magical texts. It is also an essential ingredient in the pigment ultramarine. Such pure pigment is greatly valued for the illumination of Hermetic texts as a highly resonant material, although a lesser pigment made from locally available mineral referred to as kuanos, or cerulean (azurite), is often substituted.

Pliny's description of sapphiros flecked with gold is believed by many Hermetic lapidary specialists to refer to lapis rather than sapphire (blue corundum). Lapis lazuli has the following shape and material bonuses: +3 aphrodisiac (when ground as a powder), +5 keep limbs healthy, +5 cure boils and ulcers, +6 versus the Obsession power of demons. A Lapis Lazuli of Virtue contains 2 pawns of Corpus vis. When Enriched by carving it in the shape of an eye, set in gold, and placed as an offering on the last day of the month on an altar dedicated to the Egyptian deity Ra, it confers the Minor Supernatural Virtue Lesser Immunity (obsession power of demons) (ArM5, page 45). Alternatively, it can be smelted in a crucible with lead to remove its gold flecks. When the result is ground to fine powder and applied to the eyelids, it acts as a potent aphrodisiac equivalent to the wearer having the Venus' Blessing Minor General Virtue (ArM5, page 50).

At the Troupe's discretion, only blue gems from beyond the bounds of Mythic Europe may provide the proper "sapphire" bonuses — a potential story idea is that such blue stones may have to be discovered in dreams, Faerie, the Magic realm or as the result of looting dragon hoards. Details of Sapphires of Virtue are given in Realms of Power: Magic, page 127.

Story Seed: Untouched Stone

A senior magus seeks the characters' help with a delicate problem. His attempts to stabilize his new longevity potion require a blue stone the same size as the magus himself as a component, but the cerulean he is using is inadequate for the task. Citing Pliny as an authority, he has determined that he requires the classical sapphiros. The stone must be freshly born, at least human-sized, and remain untouched by human hands. Magical manipulation is out, as the resonance will be destroyed if the rock is affected by magic prior to the ritual.

Mining a correctly-shaped hunk of lapis lazuli using indirect magic or mundane means may not represent a great problem, but delivering such a rock to the magus all the way from the mines of Lahzvard in Badakhshan presents a problem. The only guaranteed option is traveling by mundane means through the eastern Caliphate. Given the tumult of the area in the aftermath of the Mongol incursion, such an expedition is bound to present several challenges, not least the risk from bandits or nomads seeking to haul off what is a rather difficult-to-conceal small fortune.

Magic Might: 14 (Animal) Season: Autumn

Characteristics: Cun 0, Per +3, Pre +2, Com 0, Str +13, Sta +3, Dex +1, Qik –4

Size: +6

Confidence Score: 1 (3)

Virtues and Flaws: Magical Animal; Ferocity, Keen Vision, (Cloud) Regio Network, Unaffected by the Gift; Magical Monster; Offensive to Animals.

Magical Qualities and Inferiorities: Gigantic x5; Improved Initiative x5, Lesser Power x2; Major Flaw (Age Quickly); Reduced Might x3, Susceptible to Deprivation.

Qualities: Accomplished Flier, Aggressive, Extra Natural Weapons, Fast Flyer, Grapple, Imposing Appearance x3, Keen Eyesight, Pursuit Predator, Tough Feathers

Personality Traits: Fierce +3, Raptor* +3 Reputations: Stealer of livestock 3 (Transoxiana)

Combat:

Beak: Init +5, Attack +7, Defense +6, Damage +14

Talons: Init –1, Attack +11, Defense +3, Damage +13

Grapple: Init –1, Attack +6, Defense +1, Damage n/a

Soak: +5

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

Wound Penalties: –1 (1**–14), –3 (15–28), –5 (29–**42), Incapacitated (43–56), Dead (57+)

Abilities: Area Lore: Persia 6 (mountains), Area Lore: Transoxiana 6 (mountains), Athletics 5 (flight), Awareness 4 (prey), Brawl 5 (grapple), Hunt 4 (find prey), Survival 3 (mountains)

Powers:

Clasp, 2 points, Init –8, Corpus: This power weakens the upper limbs of a target clasped by the talons of the

The limestone deposits along the Badakhshan River at Lahzvard are the only source of lapis lazuli known in Mythic Europe. The greedy jinn of Zubaydah, a fort named after the favored wife of Caliph Haroun al-Rashid, oversee the main mine works. From here, strongly guarded shipments of lapis lazuli travel west to supply European artists and magi or are sent east into the fabled lands of Hind, Serica, and perhaps even the adjoining mountainous regions of Faerie.

The Bam-i-Dunya, or "Roof of the World," refers to the high plateaus of the Pamir knot, the northwestern Caucasus Indicus, and the ranges that extend southward and eastward into lands outside the Dar al-Islam ("House of Islam"). The civilizations spawned in the valleys cradled below the peaks have traditionally been the middlemen in interactions between the Roman and Persian Empires to the west and the mysterious land of Serica in the east.

Islamic mythology claims this chain of stone as part of the Mountains of Qaf and thus one of the homelands of the jinn. Valleys strewn with fist-sized diamonds are the roost of the great ruq,

massive eagles that can lift a man in one of their claws and carry him away like a small mouse.

In classical texts, the crests of this region are the lesser flanks of Mount Imeon, the mountain at the center of the world, considered by some Criamon magi as the possible original location of the Axis Magica prior to Criamon's ascendance into Twilight.

The whole area is covered by a unspoiled Magic aura of at least 4, although areas with higher auras and regiones of other Realms punctuate its icy expanses.

ruq after a successful Grapple attempt. He cannot attempt to free himself from the ruq's talons by opposing the Grapple. ReCo (base 3, +1 Eye, +2 Sun), Lesser Power (10 levels, –2 Initiative, 1 spare intricacy point from 5 unused spell levels).

Paralyzing Stare, 1 points, Init –9, Corpus: This power transfixes any humansized target that makes eye contact with the great bird's fearsome stare. ReCo (base 5, +1 Eye, +1 Conc), Lesser Power (15 levels, -2 Might, –1 Initiative from intricacy points)

Vis: 3 pawns of Animal, in wingtip feathers

Appearance: The ruq appears as a gigantic eagle, with steel-bright eyes and cruelly curved talons. These statistics represent one of the smaller specimens, standing just over 25 feet tall with a wingspan just over 40 feet.

Although a magnificent creature, a ruq (or roc) is not a Beast of Virtue and is not designed to be a player character. This ruq is based on a large falcon or eagle (Size –2) with a base Might of 15 advanced to gigantic proportions. This specimen is large enough to carry off livestock, horses and humans. Larger specimens (Size +8) have been seen to carry off elephants and even giants.

Golden Eagles: Used by the eastern Turks and Mongols, the large burkit (Size –2) of the steppe are used to hunt foxes and can even be trained to attack wolves. Although similar in appearance to ruq, such eagles use the base characteristics of a falcon given in the Book of Mundane Beasts but have the additional Qualities: Grapple and Imposing Appearance x2. Oversized eagles (up to Size 0) are sometimes used by the Ghuzz magic-kin and have their characteristics modified accordingly for their size (see Chapter 8: Mythic Persia).

The Ruq's Nest

Faerie ruq also exist, typically acting as Threshold Guardians involving the Path of Chance and stories within Arcadia. Characters attempting to flee the bird's approach may suffer grievous wounds, while those snatched up by the great raptors find themselves cast into strange stories in distant lands, much like the legendary Sinbad the Sailor. Stories tell of whole valleys within regiones beneath their nests lined with diamonds as large as a man's fist, populated by giant-sized Faerie sheep and goats. Successful adventurers who escape to mundane lands may claim such gemstones as the prize for their courage — different gems contain differently-flavored vis according to their nature, although such vis is always Faerie tainted.

The Faerie versions differ only in that they possess the Spirit Away Power and replace the (Cloud) Regio Network with the Faerie Speech Virtue, which allows them to fulfill their role as catalysts of high adventure.

Janaindar, the City Above the Clouds

Local nomad legends speak of a lost city built at the edge of the Magic Realm, seen rising above the clouds atop a great mountain peak on a clear day and all but inaccessible except by magic, or being carried to its aerie by one of the great ruq. The stories say its alien inhabitants claim descent from an ancient magical race that once ruled over the earth, although they appear human in guise.

Is this a lost Nephilim settlement? The true location of Hyperborea in Turkistan? An ancient and reclusive covenant of elder magi? The descendents of a rival magical tradition founded by Trianoma's sister, Viea? The last refuge of the Zoroastrian mobeds? A potential site for a high-fantasy Hermetic covenant above the clouds? The last sanctum of the Diedne?

Turris Lapidae, the Stone Tower

Ptolemy's Geography mentions the small mountain kingdom of Sarikol as the stopping point for caravans heading eastwards towards the fabled Sera Metropolis, the capital of the Seres. Some say the overlooking fort marks the halfway point between Europe and the lands of the East, others claim it is a town half in the mundane world, half in the Faerie Realm that provides a gateway into Arcadia. Descriptions stem from the merchant traveler, Maes Titanos, although his report is considered suspect by Ptolemy's source, the pre-Hermetic wizard Marinus of Tyre who regards the figure of Titanos as a fabrication, Faerie, or an infernalist.

In the Mythic world, this sizable town marks the extent of classical travel to the east and is thus one of the mundane geographical limits of the Order's knowledge of the world. No Redcap or Mercere magus claims to have yet visited this mythical site or entered the fabled tower, leading some Merinita magi to speculate that while it still lies within the mundane world, it can only be reached by passing along the Arcadian paths known to House Merinita.

Travelers' tales tell of fantastical creatures found just beyond the eastern peaks. After the mountains comes the desert, studded by prosperous oasis towns and ruins of lost civilizations. Searing heat, cruel winds, and malicious demons populate these stories, and all contribute to luring travelers from their caravans into lingering deaths from starvation and hunger.

Khashgar

Of all the legendary cities associated with the eastern journey, Khashgar is perhaps the most widely known in the 13th century. Routes from north and south converge on this mythical oasis city before branching around the dreaded Taklimakan desert on their way eastward to the Land of Silk. Scholars debate its origin and exact location but all agree its streets teem with humans, jinn*,* and other Eastern faeries mixing shoulder to shoulder with angels, demons, and non-Hermetic sorcerers.

Nominally Muslim since the late ninth century, Khashgar suffered repression and intolerance under the Eastern faeries of the Qara Khitai dynasty, but has recently fallen under the Mongol yoke without resistance. The inhabitants, both mundane and magical, appear to have taken the change in overlords without much concern.

Famous for the Yekshenbar bazaar ("Sunday market"), the city is a place where all manner of exotic goods can be bought or sold. Desert brigands mix with worn merchants; exotic silks, knives, and jewelry are displayed alongside more magical

The dunes off the main track are feared as the abode of the qara buran ("black hurricanes"), bloodthirsty wind spirits that assail caravans as mighty sandstorms, separating travelers from their camels and companions. These untamable buran closely resemble elemental jinn in nature, but some creatures appear more akin to

Infernal Aerial Powers than to Magical spirits (see Chapter 4: The Jinn). The storm spirits divide their loyalty between the great Gök Buran — a frighteningly powerful Daimon that dwells within an even stronger Magic regio deep within the center of the sands — and its rival, a Duke of Hell known as Great Lop.

wares. Slaves, both mundane and magical, can be found here, for a price.

Some Merinita claim to have visited the Khashgar market in traveling through Arcadia, and suggest several versions of the city may exist at once, or that the whole town may lie in a regio accessed from several different mundane sites in Mythic Europe.

Ignoring the scholars and their musings, life and commerce goes on in Khashgar.

The Taklimakan

This magical desert is a place of death — its name translates as "those who go in, never come out." A pair of geographically shifting auras of constant strength 7 (one Infernal, one Magical) swirl and intertwine across the sands as opposing storms. The two spiral-shaped auras constantly envelope and then reveal ancient Faerie regios, which either contain the ruins of long-deserted cities or thriving oases populated by jinn from before the coming of Islam.