Injury and Death

Combat is sometimes an inevitable consequence of a story, and is the principle reason why magi employ grogs. However, injuries in Ars Magica Fifth Edition can be punishing; even minor wounds, while not immediately life-threatening, impose limits on activities, and there are no easily available magics for healing wounds. A minor encounter with a group of opponents can easily cripple the mission by wounding all of the grogs, and is particularly brutal on the vanguard.

If the characters are close to home, it might be possible to send the most wounded back, and have them refreshed with reinforcements. However, movement while injured can be painfully slow.

Wounds taken in combat can pose a major impediment to continuing an expedition. A character with more than a –2 Wound Penalty cannot make any swift or sudden motions, or travel at more than half the usual pace without risking his wounds worsening (ArM5, page 179). Even a –1 Wound Penalty prohibits strenuous activity without risking the wound. The Wound Recovery roll made to prevent a wound from worsening is fortunately modified by the Chirurgy Ability of any first-aider, which is why a cutter is a vital member of any grex.

A character with a –1 or –2 Wound Penalty can perform sentry duty, but cannot usually partake in most off-duty activities such as pitching camp. He cannot take double duties on watch without having to make a woundworsening roll. A character with a more severe Wound Penalty cannot even perform sentry duty without putting pressure on his ailing body.

First aid can prevent a wound from worsening for a short period of time, allowing the patient to get to a place of safety for the proper healing of his wounds. When tending a patient's wounds, a chirurgeon can make a First Aid roll against the Improvement Ease Factor of his patient's most serious wound on the Wound Recovery Table (ArM5, page 179). If this is success-

ful, the patient is treated as one category higher with respect to Activity While Injured (ArM5, page 178). The effects of a successful First Aid roll last just one day, and cannot be repeated. A botched First Aid roll provokes an immediate Wound Recovery roll, and the patient receives no First Aid bonus. First aid can also start the healing process (see Art & Academe, page 61)

FIRST AID ROLL: Dexterity + Chirurgy + Recovery Modifiers (see Art & Academe, page 54) + Magical Aid + stress die vs Improvement Ease Factor

The 10th level Creo Corpus spell Bind Wound (ArM5, page 129) prevents any wound from worsening while in effect, and can be a life saver in many situations. Even low-level Creo Corpus spells can grant a modest, longterm bonus to Wound Recovery rolls, which includes those to avoid wounds worsening. Covenants commonly create an enchantment with one of these spells as a constant effect, at least to get the vanguard back on his feet. Endurance of the Berserkers (ReCo 15) negates all Wound and Fatigue penalties for a short time, but the average human can only be affected by this spell twice before it ceases to have an effect (ArM5, page 134).

A more powerful enchantment consists of a long duration Chirurgeon's Healing Touch (CrCo 20), which removes a wound entirely for as long as the character is under its influence (ArM5, page 129). However, this spell would have to be boosted to Sun Duration, meaning that it would inflict a Warping point every time it is used for the strong mystical effect (ArM5, page 168). Furthermore, it could only negate a Light Wound; more powerful effects would be need-

ed for more serious wounds. Naturally, a magus with the ritual form of this spell and the vis spare can negate such a wound altogether.

It is an uncomfortable truth that soldiers die; even more, they are expected to die. Their purpose, after all, is to place themselves between danger and their masters. Particularly lucky or skilled soldiers sometimes last long enough to start families, or even retire. Even luckier grogs get to live at covenants where the magi are either so peaceful or so formidable that the risk of death or serious injury is minimal. Yet for most turbs, the passing of a grog is depressingly frequent.

Some troupes prefer to play grogs as an expendable resource, and barely mark their passing. It is unlikely that the turb itself is so blasé about death. In the heat of the battle, they may not note the passing of their comrade, and even if they do, they will not dare to let it affect them. When the heat of battle has passed, though, they gather up the dead and mourn their loss.

The medieval attitude to death is a mixture of reverence and superstition. In Christian thought, a "good death" is at the end of a long life. The deceased is reconciled with the community and with God through the sacrament of Extreme Unction (or Last Rites), which spiritually prepares him for the journey to the next life. Most importantly, he has done penance for all his sins in this life, and received forgiveness. But soldiers hardly ever die in this manner. Christians fear the quick death, the mors improvisia, because it robs them of the opportunity to render themselves penitentially into a state of grace.

It is considered important for a cadaver to be physically clean as a symbol of the desired spiritual cleanliness, and the body of a fallen comrade is washed clean of blood and, if possible, wrapped in a clean linen sheet. Grogs often turn to the magi in the absence of a priest for Extreme Unction. As Latin speakers, it is often assumed that magi can perform priestly duties. Indeed, in dire circumstances, this sacrament can be performed by any baptized member of the Church; ordination is not a requirement. However, when per-

formed by an ordained priest, Extreme Unction absolves the person from all mortal sins and protects the spirit of the deceased from supernatural effects for three days (Realms of Power: The Divine Revised Edition, page 75); this is usu-

ally sufficient time for the body to be buried in consecrated ground.

Grogs usually show a strong desire to carry their fallen comrade home. Tradition dictates that a body is buried in the same parish as his birth, but some covenants maintain their own graveyard for more far-flung members of their community. The inability to recover a body, or to return it home, is a painful thing, and grogs leave behind a fallen comrade with great reluctance. A magus suggesting that a body be abandoned is likely to provoke feelings of rebellion, and can result in the loss of Prevailing Loyalty (see Covenants, page 40). If the body must be left behind, it is important that it is buried whole, not burnt or dismembered, and the grave must be marked. The grogs may express a desire to return for the body at a later date, to ensure that it receives the correct burial rites. Curiously, the same reverence is usually shown for the dead even if an individual was disliked in life.

Grogs often institute some communal ritual to revere their deceased comrades. The liber gregis suggests that this is permitted, even encouraged by the magi. A roll of the fallen, displayed in a prominent place and ceremonially inscribed with the names of deceased grogs, is a good way to achieve this. Even if the grogs cannot actually read the honor roll, they know which names correspond to their particular friends, and know that they will not be themselves forgotten when death comes for them. The liber gregis also suggests that, once a year, on All Souls' Day (November 1), the magi lead a ceremony remembering the fallen, and pleads that covenants find the money to add the grog's name to the obituary of a local monastery, so that prayers will be said to speed his time in purgatory.

If a grog has left behind a wife or family, they will often be cared for by the troop. Any pension owed to the deceased individual devolves to them, and the other grogs often contribute what aid they can afford. It is not unusual for a close friend of the deceased grog to offer to marry the widow, so that she will be well-cared for and her children protected from poverty.

It is not necessary for every grog death to be played out in detail, but it is worth it on occasion, so that the grog can be remembered in death as much as he was in life.