Homunculi Wizards

Just as there are magi in Mythic Europe who are interested in faeries and who have adapted their magic to the Faerie realm, there are also hedge wizards aligned to Faerie who are interested in the Magic realm and have learned to adapt their faerie powers to seem magical. One sort does not have The Gift, but instead gets their power from their bond with a strange kind of faerie known as a homunculus.

Homunculi might be described as faeries that live on the boundary between Magic and Faerie. They are said to be born from the dreams of magi, and typically look like tiny humans with exaggerated features. They come into the world as infants, and in this state they are highly impressionable, forming a powerful and lasting bond with the first person they see. If nurtured and cared for, they do not grow any larger, but their other extraordinary powers begin to emerge: by drawing vitality from their keeper, they can transform their glamour into the semblance of Magic.

The person to whom a homunculus is bound effectively has a faerie version of The Gift. He can learn Supernatural Abilities, and even become opened to the Hermetic Arts, though he cannot have a talisman or a bind a familiar. All of his powers are associated with the Faerie realm, and he does not suffer Warping from living in Faerie auras, though he is vulnerable to Magic auras and Magical Warping. He does not go into Twilight, but instead experiences Faerie Calling (see later). People and animals are not disturbed by his presence, for he has a faerie equivalent of the Gentle Gift.

The homunculus wizard's power is external rather than internal, and entirely dependent upon his faerie charge. Once a day he must secretly feed the homunculus some of his own blood, and the rest of the time he must keep it safe from harm and shielded from prying eyes. If the homunculus is ever harmed, or if any other human being ever sees it, it will shrivel up and die instantly. Until he can find and bind another homunculus to him, he will be unable to use or improve any of his powers that are not associated with Faerie or that require The Gift.

There are said to be a few homunculus magi in the Order, though no one knows for sure since most of them are careful to keep their true natures hidden. What little that other magi know about them comes from the few hedge wizards living in Mythic Europe who have revealed their secrets to magi when questioned. Like other hedge wizards who live among magi, their power is generally considered too weak to threaten the dominance of the Order, and too minor to require them to "join or die."

To play a Homunculus Wizard as a character, take The Gift and the Homunculus Wizard Flaw during character creation. If the character is a magus from House Ex Miscellanea, this may be taken as the character's inherent Flaw. Homunculi Wizards also benefit from House Merinita's outer mystery of Faerie Magic, as it attunes them with the Magic realm as well as Faerie.

Ars Magica Fifth Edition does not distinguish between warping caused by faerie sources, and warping deriving from magical, divine, or infernal sources. For some characters, however, the principle source of warping can be identified to come from faerie sources. Such a character might live in a powerful aura, consort regularly with faeries, or else be a practitioner of faerie magic. These characters demonstrate a distinctive pattern of warping associated with their connection to the fae.

Characters with supernatural powers aligned to the Faerie realm suffer Virtues or Flaws through Warping unless they belong to a magical tradition that provides another means of responding to Warping, such as the Order of Hermes. Characters with Sympathy Traits and Faerie Rank experience Faerie Calling instead, as described later. If a character experiences Warping through one of these other means, he cannot acquire a glamour as described here unless he possesses the Faerie Metamorphosis Flaw (see New and Modified Flaws, earlier).

Warping Score of 1: In the place of the usual Flaw gained when the character's Warping Score reaches 1, a character may instead begin to develop a glamour of her own. The troupe should decide on a new Reputation for the character based on her actions in a prominent story. The Reputation, which begins at a score of 1, represents the stories told about her, and increases whenever the character's Warping Score increases. This Reputation is a Flaw, and so should be a hindrance to the character. For example, it might make her famous when she'd rather stay anonymous, or represent an unpleasant side of her character. Note that the Reputation need not be accurate, but it must be appropriate; a grog seen in the company of the walking dead could gain a Reputation as an Evil Necromancer, and a scholar who carries a sword could become known as a Soldier. This glamour has other effects that manifest as the character's Warping Score increases; see later for more details.

Warping Score of 3: At this level of warping, the character suffers some supernatural penalty, which manifests as either Faerie Antipathy (Minor) or Lesser Malediction. If the character took on a glamour at a Warping Score of 1, he also develops the desire to derive vitality from his glamour. Since the character is still human ,this desire manifests as a need, and he suffers if he deprives himself of this need. The character must act in a manner concordant with his Reputation at least once a season, or else he suffers the effects of Deprivation (see ArM5, page 180). Thus, a character with the Soldier Reputation can stave off Deprivation by being involved in combat, and a character with a Reputation as an Evil Necromancer can prevent Deprivation by scaring some villagers with ghosts. When the character's Warping Score rises to 4, the interval between Deprivation rolls becomes a month; when it becomes 5 the interval is a week; and at a Warping Score of 6 or greater the interval is a day.

Warping Score of 5: The character nearly always develops a Virtue that represents some minor faerie power at this level of warping, such as Faerie Sympathy (Minor), Lesser Benediction, Lesser Immunity, or Second Sight. A character who adopted a glamour is now so in touch with his personal story that he gains a Sympathy Trait of +1 in an area associated with his warping-derived Reputation (see Sympathy, above, for more details). Thus, a character with the Soldier Reputation might develop Fighting for a Cause +1, whereas the Evil Necromancer might acquire Dead Bodies +1.

Warping Score of 6+: Supernatural Flaws usually manifest at each level of warping of 6 or greater, such as Greater Malediction or Magical Air. At a warping Score of 6, a character with a glamour also gains a new negative Sympathy Trait of –1. Once again, the affected Trait must be appropriate to the mantle of glamour that warping has given him. Thus, the Soldier might receive Cowardice –1, and the Evil Necromancer might suffer Compassion –1. When his Warping Score increases to 7 he gains another point of positive Sympathy, at 8 he gains another negative point, and so forth.

There are several ways a character can receive Warping from a faerie source.

The Faerie Realm

Characters who adventure in the Faerie Realm may suffer Warping for the time spent there. This Warping partially or wholly offsets the effects of time dilation of the Faerie Realm. See Chapter 2: The Faerie Realm for more details.

Faerie Auras

Powerful Faerie auras and regiones grant Warping Points (ArM5, page 167) unless the character possesses a Faerie Might or Supernatural Abilities aligned to the Faerie realm.

Faerie Powers

The powers of faeries cause Warping to their target as powerful mystical effects (ArM5, page 168) if the faerie spends six or more Might points in activating the power. The powers of a faerie magician cause Warping if they create an effect of Level 30 or greater.

Botches

One Warping Point is gained for every botch die that comes up a zero when using faerie powers or supernatural effects aligned to the Faerie realm. The Warping caused by Divine, Infernal, or Magical botches that occur in a Faerie aura can also be assumed to induce Warping Points from a faerie source.

When a character who is strongly aligned to the Faerie realm gains 2 or more Warping Points at once, he experiences the phenomenon known as Faerie Calling. This is when the attention of the Faerie realm is drawn to the character, and faerie spirits from outside the mortal world enter his being and attempt to coerce or force some of his vitality from him — the faeries come calling, so to speak, and do not leave until they are properly appeased. This experience is confusing and potentially frightening for the subject, like a daydream or a waking nightmare.

Before proceeding, it is important to first resolve the scene in which the character suffered Warping. Until the Faerie Calling has been addressed, the character becomes dazed and delusional, and has great difficulty responding to his environment or communicating with others. It might be best to simply treat the character as if he were Incapacitated, though if the character is in mortal peril, the storyguide can allow him to stumble to safety or strike desperately at his opponent. More complicated actions should require a Perception + Awareness roll against an Ease Factor of (3 x (Warping Score + number of Warping Point gained)) to comprehend what is going on around him. For the most part, the character should be out of the action.

Act During Faerie Calling: stress die + Perception + Awareness vs. ((Warping Score + Warping Points gained) x 3)

Once the immediate scene has finished, the storyguide should ask the player to leave while she determines the circumstances of the Calling, and assigns parts to the other players, assuming they wish to play out the event. They will act as the faeries in the character's mind who drive the dream scenario forward, picking at his hopes and fears from inside. The targeted player should leave the room briefly while they discuss it. With the help of the other players, the storyguide must decide on the scene's setting and its conflict. The setting describes where the character believes himself to be, and the conflict describes what the character must do to leave the dream.

The setting is usually a place of transition, literally or figuratively, and it can either be drawn from the subject's memories or located somewhere the character has never been. It might be an important event of his past, or what seems to be an ominous vision of the future. It could even be the same moment in the present. The character's Sympathy Traits typically figure prominently in the dream, and the mood of the setting depends upon the character's Faerie Rank — if negative, the setting is antagonistic and his Traits are against him; if positive, the dream is pleasant and his Traits will help him. The players will take on roles that are appropriate to this setting and mood.

The conflict should describe what the character can do to leave the Calling and return to consciousness. This could center on a specific act, such as a child who needs to be rescued, a monster who must be defeated, or a carriage ripe for robbing. Often the conflict centers on resolving the transition depicted by the setting, perhaps by moving from one place to another, or by changing himself or someone else. Some example conflicts might include: leaving a forest, growing old, or marrying a prince. Different players might try to convince the character to do one thing or another in the dream.

When the players have worked out how they want the scene to go, invite the player back and describe the setting. Through the course of the story, the character will still have all of his powers and possessions, and can do whatever he could do outside of the dream, though it might seem like he should not be able to do so. His appearance might change to be appropriate to the setting, so that he seems to be a child or an animal or perhaps a cloud of dust, but this does not alter his abilities or his faculties.

Allow everyone to experience the scene and contribute something to the setting, but if the players have not resolved the conflict after a certain amount of time, say about fifteen minutes of play, have the player of the affected character make a stress roll + Perception + Concentration. If this total exceeds the character's ((Warping Score – Faerie Rank) x 3), the character has a positive experience. Otherwise, he has a negative experience.

Resolve the Faerie Calling: stress die + Perception + Concentration vs. (Warping Score – Faerie Rank) x 3

After a positive Faerie Calling, the character gains a new Sympathy Trait with a value of +1, or increases one of his Sympathy Traits that is particularly appropriate to the scene by 1. A negative experience gives the character a negative Sympathy Trait at –1, or reduces one of his appropriate Sympathy Traits by 1.

When a character with Faerie Rank of 10 or more has a positive experience, or when a character with Faerie Rank of –10 or more has a negative experience, he does not return from the Faerie Calling once the scene is resolved. Masters of Faerie Lore imagine that this is because the person is so filled with the power of the Faerie realm that he is transformed into a faerie being, and so makes his way into Faerieland to remain forever. His body and his most treasured possessions slowly fade from the mortal realm, perhaps leaving behind a few material remains appropriate to his Sympathy Traits, such as a pile of leaves, a mound of ashes, or a puddle of water.

Only characters with Faerie Rank are affected by the Calling, and only if they do not also belong to a magical tradition associated with another realm. The Divine, Infernal, and Magic realms all take precedence over the Faerie realm in this respect; upon gaining Warping Points, a magus experiences Wizard's Twilight, a holy character experiences Divine Ascent (see Realms of Power: The Divine, page 63), and an infernalist must undergo Vituperation (see Realms of Power: The Infernal, page 95).