All-Grog Sagas

Troupes may be hesitant at running sagas that only involve grogs, since the main focus of Ars Magica Fifth Edition is the Order of Hermes and the magic it practices. However, Mythic Europe is interesting enough on its own without having to involve the Order. The interplay between supernatural powers and mundane history is a compelling one, and some troupes are overwhelmed by the complexities of Hermetic magic or politics, or are simply more interested in history than fantasy. This section has ideas to suit such palates. You will note that the Order of Hermes is not entirely absent from many of these saga ideas. This is only to be expected; the Order is as much a part of Mythic Europe as the Church, the nobility, and the freemen and peasants. However, it is not intended in these saga ideas that the players have magus characters; instead, the magi are storyguide characters with whom the player characters interact.

The ideas presented here need not be exclusive of more traditional game play. Two sagas could easily be run simultaneously, perhaps using alternative storyguides as described earlier. One saga deals with the actions of the magi, the other the consequences that those actions have on the turb, the nearby town, village, or monastery, or so forth. Likewise, the reactions of the grog part of the saga may have repercussions on the magi, and so on, back and forth between the two story lines.

Towns and cities need not simply be places that the characters pass through on the way to somewhere

In the Languedoc region of France, Toulouse is famous (or perhaps infamous) for its liberal attitudes and its love of art, both in its performing and productive forms. The Languedoc region is known to be the home to the heretical Albigensian (or Cathar) sect, and it is rumored that Toulouse is steeped in their beliefs and its residents have abandoned the Church in droves. The pope has responded by creating the Friars Preacher — the Order of St. Dominic — who are specifically trained to debate theology and counter heresy. Should the Dominicans discover that Catharism is prominent at all levels

of society in Languedoc, it is likely that the pope will order a crusade against the region.

Quite apart from the religious pressure, there are also political issues in the region. The eastern region of the Languedoc, around Narbonne and Perpignan, is claimed by the King of Aragon and Catalonia. The area directly to the northwest of Languedoc is owned by the King of England. Both royal houses have designs on the region, and with the Count of Toulouse showing signs of dissatisfaction with the King of France, it promises to be an interesting few decades for the region.

interesting. They can be hotbeds of political intrigue, bastions of civilization in a sea of wilderness, places to see exotic visitors from distant lands, and even the battlegrounds for the hearts of men. Just because a town is a bastion of humanity and the native environment of the Dominion aura, this does not mean that there is no place for the supernatural. Household faeries are rarely bothered by the Dominion, and magical creatures can lurk in isolated pockets aligned to the Magic realm. At night, when the Dominion aura declines and the Infernal aura rises, demons can come out to tempt the souls of mankind.

Characters who are permanently resident in towns are likely to have been trained in a particular profession, even if they do not currently follow that trade. In bigger cities, craftsmen are likely to be members of a guild, and the politicking among guilds for greater prominence in the city's affairs could be a source of many stories. Characters could also be members of the clergy, part of the town's administration staff, prominent figures in the watch, or employees of the local lord.

City & Guild is an excellent resource for a saga based in a town. It has several featured towns, details of regular fairs, concepts for craftsmen and merchant characters, and many story ideas based around cities.

The 13th century is the age of the university: there are currently ten universities in Italy, Spain, France and England, and this number is set to greatly expand over the coming years. Some universities are hotbeds of heresy, others enjoy freedom from temporal authority, and at least one harbors a secret tradition of hedge wizards (see Hedge Magic Revised Edition, page 96).

Characters might be students, masters of the school, or members of its associated staff. A student character might be a simple student still studying for his first degree; a baccalaureus who has passed his exams; a masterstudent studying for his magisterial degree; or a specialist student who is working toward his doctorate. The masters must have achieved at least the magister in artibus degree, and are probably doctors of their faculty. In addition to these two obvious roles, universities also have places for nonacademically inclined characters, employed either by the faculties or the student nations; such roles include the lupus, who imposes discipline on the students; the messengers, employed to run messages to the students' families; and the beadles, who arrange the ceremonial duties of the university. Furthermore, universities require many of the same gamut of servants and specialists as any other institution — cooks, scullions, bookbinders, ink-grinders, parchment-makers, and so forth.

Art & Academe has plenty of advice for running sagas which concentrate on life at a university or school, from earning a place at university to sitting exams, and the daily life of both students and masters.

The player characters are grogs who hold influential positions at a university, probably one of the larger institutions like those at Paris or Bologna. While contending with the usual challenges of academic life — heresy, rowdy students, antagonism of the locals, and so forth — they also become gradually aware of an insidious secret society among the masters and students of the school. It becomes clear that this cabal is attempting to discover some dark mystery hidden in the bowels of the university, and that

the player characters must race to discover it first.

The nature of the secret society is up to the storyguide. It could be a cult of diabolists trying to uncover some rite to raise a demon, or a group of churchmen trying to keep the very same hidden. The society might consist of faeries, or even a hidden covenant of magi. When the players discover the secret, they may have to re-evaluate their preconceptions about their antagonists, and may even find themselves working with them.

While monks are supposed to be cloistered away from the rest of humanity and spend their lives in contemplation of God, many monasteries are either inside or near to towns, and cannot help but be involved in local politics. Monasteries are seen as a place of learning and rationality, and are often asked to mediate disputes, offer advice on spiritual and secular matters, and provide protection against the unknown and supernatural. Because of the dedication of their lives to God, monks may find themselves the specific target of demons, and the corruption of a monastic order is a joy for the Infernal powers to behold; if the populace can see that not even monks can stay pure, what hope does the common man have?

Mythic Europe has a number of different types of regular clergy (that is, those who live according to a rule).

Monks are contemplative, living separated from the mundanities of the world to attain purity of thought and action.

Friars are active; their principle role is to go out among the community and do good works. They distribute food to the poor, tend to the sick, and bring the Word of God to the common man.

The third basic type of regular clergy are the canons, who are supplicative. Canons staff cathedrals, making the sacred space a fit place to worship God, and providing the choir as well as altar attendants.

In addition to these three basic types, there are two other important sectors of regular clergy: nuns (who are in effect female monks or, much more rarely, friars), and the militant orders (of which the Hospitallers, Templars, Teutonic Knights, and Order of Santiago are the principle ones).

Once you have decided the type of clergy that your saga is going to feature, you should create grog characters to fit. Unlike the other saga concepts mentioned in this chapter, most of the grog characters in a mo-

Nerius is often considered to be the patron saint of the Order of Hermes although he has not yet been canonized. His story can be found in Realms of Power: The Divine, page 91, and the Holy Societas of magi that follow him are described on page 94 of the same source. The Neriusians have a decidedly unorthodox approach to the liturgy that might cause friction with the clergy, should they be discovered. Naturally, they teach that magic and morality need not be incompatible, but there is a need to contemplate the nature and purpose of the spells one casts. Neriusians promote tolerance for magical

beasts and faeries, which they maintain have a rational soul, and teach that the Faerie Realm is the Garden of Eden where humanity was born.

So far, the followers of St. Nerius have been guided by a modified Benedictine rule, but they are beginning to switch to a Franciscan model, allowing them to travel and dwell among other magi. Combined with this shift in praxis, the Neriusians might also accept non-magi into their ranks. The message of St. Nerius is too important to be confined to just magi, and if unGifted brothers can bring his word to mundane communities, there is a greater chance of the acceptance of the Order as a whole. The player characters are grogs who are missionaries for the Priory of St. Nerius, trying to convince people that magi are not evil, and convince magi that the Dominion need not be antithetical to magic. Naturally, it requires brave and intrepid souls to walk into a covenant and start preaching! In a Neriusian saga, the grog characters may be a little unusual; they are likely to have Supernatural Abilities or powers tied to the Divine Realm, and may be accompanied or mentored by a magus or companion character who is also a Neriusian.

The following describes some typical military units and mercenary companies in Mythic Europe. Mercenary units are often referred to by their nationality, as if they were a single organized force. Occasionally this is true, and a count or duke hires out his countrymen to nations; more usually there are a number of individual bands, each with their own company leader.

Aragonese and Navarrese: Two groups of mercenaries deriving from the Iberian peninsula, the Aragonese and Navarrese are light cavalry.

Biscayans: The Biscayans (also called Basques) hail from the Pyrenees between France and Spain, and are skirmish units specialized in the use of slings.

Brabançons: A notoriously brutal band of mercenaries from Flanders, the Brabançons are mostly heavy infantry. They are known for looting and brigandage, and have even massacred entire towns in an attempt to get ransom money. See The Lion and the Lily, page 77, for more details.

Capuchonnés: Originally a civil defense force raised in direct response to the pillaging of the Brabançons, the Capuchonnés of Aquitaine, Gascony, Languedoc, and Provence have become a mercenary force in their own right, in distinctive white capes with pointed hoods. See The Lion and the Lily, page 77, for more details.

Coterells: French infantry units named after the broad-bladed knives that they carry; principally Poitevins and Gascons.

Flemish Geldon: A famed mercenary force that employs long spears in densely-packed formation to foil the charges of heavy cavalry, and provide cover for javeliners.

Genoese Crossbowmen (balestrieri genovesi): Trained and organized in Genoa and armed by one of its professional guilds, the balestrieri not only defend Liguria, but are also hired out to armies across Mythic Europe for both land and naval battles. Each crossbowman is accompanied by a groom who holds up a large shield while the crossbow is being reloaded.

German Falchonners: From the Holy Roman Empire, heavy cavalry and mounted heavy infantry. The Holy Roman Emperor employs a 3,000 strong force of Germans as his personal troops. They are noted for their heavy slashing swords and plate breastplates.

nastic saga will have the same Social Status, and be relatively unspecialized in their skill sets. This means that the players have to work harder to distinguish their characters from one another, using interesting backgrounds before the character took the tonsure, and through Personality Flaws or Traits to represent particular strengths or weaknesses in the character's virtue.

It is quite possible that among the various orders there are several members of Holy Traditions, such as Ascetics or Cantores (Realms of Power: The Divine, pages 47 and 93, respectively), and True Faith might be more prevalent; the assumption of these powers represents a possible means for the characters to become transformed into companion characters (see Chapter 5).

More information on monasteries and convents can be found in The Church, Chapter 4, including details on the monastic routine, the various rules, and the internal organization and politics of a monastery.

"Satan's minions, ministers of the devil… murderers, blooded with human slaughter, night-prowlers, arsonists, the sons of Belial."

— Matthew Paris, describing the mercenaries of King John of England

The 13th century is the time that mercenaries really come into their own, although they will gain prominence — some would say dominance — over the next couple of centuries. Commonly known as routiers, mercenary soldiers are of humble origin and yet form a warrior-elite; as they cross the social divide preserved by the nobility, mercenaries are pariahs and cast in the worst possible light.

The supply of mercenaries can be an income stream for a covenant that does not mind skirting the Code of Hermes, and a company supported by covert Hermetic magic can quickly become a force to be reckoned with, and, what's more, highly sought after. Mercenaries in medieval Europe often traveled great distances to make war in the service of their employers, and a mercenary saga is a good opportunity for characters to visit exotic locales far from their homeland. They may find themselves taking part in the reconquista of al-Andalus, fighting pagans around the Baltic coast, or becoming embroiled in the Crusades.

In sagas focused around a mercenary theme, the most common sort of character is naturally a soldier. There are characteristic forces for many re-

gions of Mythic Europe, but a successful mercenary band is one that can offer something different to its employer, either in the form of specialist troops or as a mixed bag with different skills. Not every grog needs to be a soldier however; mercenary bands still need cooks, chirurgeons, camp-followers, and characters who can repair and manufacture weapons and armor. They may have a permanent base, or be constantly wandering from place to place, looking for hire. If the company is of the latter sort, some thought should be put into the logistics of their operation: they probably have a baggage train for the more slow-moving parts of their company, consisting of pack animals and perhaps wagons. They may have a set route, or else track down rumors of conflict and offer themselves to either side.

A noble household is perhaps the closest model of a "typical" covenant, and a saga based around a nobleman and his entourage is essentially Ars Magica with the magi removed. Apart from those stories which relate direct-

Until 70 years ago, the Monjoie Company was just a normal mercenary band, with moderate local fame and a relatively steady employment. Then, in 1153, they were hired by a magus of House Guernicus, whose grogs had all been slain and who needed warriors quickly before his quarry escaped him. The Monjoie Company was successful in catching the renegade magus, and the satisfied quaesitor hired them again. Their fame soon spread throughout the Order of Hermes, and the Monjoie Company now works exclusively for Hermetic clients, and has grown to number more than 150 men.

The Monjoie Company has several contact houses covering most of the western tribunals. They do not ever learn the true names of their employers, but instead refer to their clients by the names of one of Charlemagne's Twelve Paladins — the founder of the company, now dead, had a bit of a thing for the Song of Roland — so a magus might be known as Roland, Ogier, Ganelon, Turpin, and so forth. The conditions of hire imposed by the Company are that they are always accompanied by a magus, and that there is full disclosure on the nature of the mission. The local captains retain the right to refuse a commission, but the work is sufficiently lucrative to make this rare. They accept payment in coin and vis; the latter is traded with the venditores of House Verditius in exchange for enchanted items.

The player characters constitute a regional band of the company, under the control of a captain. These bands usually number around 20 men, and each player takes on one or more of the grogs. The player characters might find themselves fighting hordes of revenants with a Donator Requietis Aeternae (Houses of Hermes: Societates, page 115), and then next season cornering a dragon with a member of House Tremere, followed a year later by tracking down diabolist magi with a Flambeau. It is certainly likely to be an action-packed saga!

A baron with an excess of children places his third son in charge of one of his vills. The son gains a small manor house and a nearby village from this, and is expected to oversee the labors of the peasants attached to the vill, and ensure that the various sources of income from the vill are gathered on time. What the baron didn't tell his son is that the vill has a history of trouble: two reeves placed over the vill have disappeared without a trace, and the most recent one is now under the care of the local monastery, his

mind shattered.

The player characters can run the baron's son, his friends (and perhaps wife), as well as certain notables in the village, although these themselves are probably new to the manor as well. The villagers are harboring a terrible secret, one which most of the time they can keep under control with appropriate proprietary sacrifices, but it occasionally runs free and does all sorts of damage. The form of this secret varies — it could be an imprisoned demon, a courtly faerie, or a lycanthrope. In addition to this secret, a village is rife with petty rivalries, superstition, and day-to-day problems associated with the production of food. The characters might get much more involved in peasant life: chasing off faeries who steal the milk; settling arguments over a girl; finding lost cows; and uncovering a witch. Over time, the baron's son might expect to transform into a Companion character (see Chapter 5), and his entourage might develop with him.

ly to the internal politics of the Order of Hermes, most of the stories that apply to standard sagas can apply to a saga based around a noble household, but without having recourse to Hermetic magic.

The same soldiers, servants, and specialists found at a covenant have a place in a noble household, with the exception of those grogs who specifically support the magical activities of the covenant. In a typical baron's household, the baron himself — and perhaps his wife and a few select staff — are companion characters, and everyone else comprises grog characters. Even the baron's sons who have reached their majority could be considered grog characters, since they are not yet powerful enough to attract Story Flaws. As a result, they would be suitable player characters in a grogonly saga, particularly second and subsequent sons.

Lords of Men has plenty of good information and ideas for sagas based around a noble's household. Rules for leisure time and for war are given, along with details of the lands owned by a nobleman, both those in his immediate vicinity (the castle and associated lands) and in the rest of his demesne (including village life). Advancement of one's reputation among one's vassals and superiors is also developed in detail.

Redcaps are the support structure of the Order of Hermes, and are a presence that is often neglected in a traditional saga, as simply the means by which news is brought to the magi. However, redcaps provide so much more than a messenger service for the Order. They are heralds, who store information about magi and covenants in a tribunal. They are bankers and merchants, exchanging and lending vis, pawning magical items, and speculating on potentially risky expeditions and ventures. They can provide a bodyguard service for traveling magi, and occasionally keep trade routes clear of supernatural menaces. Redcaps are wanderers and trailblazers, extend-

Taking its lead from the genres of spy and detective fiction, the player characters are agents of the Order of Hermes. They may be attached to one of the Tribunal's Mercer Houses, have a dedicated headquarters, or work from a covenant. Rather than completing the usual tasks of redcaps, they are charged with a host of tasks involved with the interface between the Order of Hermes and mundane society. Their role could be to gather evidence that a magus has been meddling in mundane politics, to cover up such involvement while the Tribunal sees that the Code-breaker is duly punished, or else to subtly manipulate matters in a manner dictated by

their superiors, so that the Order of Hermes cannot be held responsible for their actions.

The characters might work for an individual covenant or for the Tribunal as a whole, but they probably have a single contact who gives them their orders (this may or may not be a magus). A common trope in this sort of story is for the characters to gradually discover that they do not work for whom they thought they did. This saga does not require that any of the characters are necessarily redcaps — it works equally well with standard grogs — but making the characters redcaps gives them a certain amount of authority in the pursuit of their investigations.

ing the knowledge and boundaries of the Order by pressing into unknown regions. Finally, in some tribunals at least, the redcaps are bureaucrats and administrators, ensuring that tribunal proceedings run smoothly and assisting the quaesitores.

Redcap characters are companion characters, because the Redcap Virtue (ArM5, page 48) is a Major Social Status Virtue and is therefore normally unavailable to grog characters. There are two ways to deal with this; either allow the Redcap Virtue as a free Virtue (much like Hermetic Magus is a free Virtue), so that all characters may take it and benefit from the additional experience points and magical items. This tends to lead to a slightly higher-powered campaign than most grog-only sagas, but since everyone will be equal, this should not interfere. Alternatively, the player characters work for the redcaps rather than being redcaps themselves; they might still be apprenticed to a senior redcap, or else serve as skilled specialists in another capacity.

Chapter Three of Houses of Hermes: True Lineages describes House Mercere and its non-magical members, including various societates to which they may belong.