Types of Grogs

The inhabitants of a covenant — excluding magi and companions — can be split into three broad categories. First are the servants, who contribute to the day-to-day operation of the covenant; next are the specialists, who are concerned with the personal demands of the magi; and finally the soldiers, who assist in its defense.

A covenant's servants are those essential personnel who keep the covenant running. Much of the time, they go about their labors unremarked by the magi, but without them, meals would not be cooked, chambers would not be cleaned, and crops would go unharvested in the fields. The in-house servants are the cooks, bakers, maids, stablehands, errand boys, and so forth. Craftsmen also belong to the servant class: stonemasons and carpenters maintain the physical structure of the covenant; blacksmiths, weavers, leatherworkers, and chandlers contribute to the consumables; armorers, weapon smiths and bowyers create and maintain the equipment of the soldiers; and glassblowers, potters, parchment-makers, and binders support the laboratories and scriptoria of the magi.

In addition to the indoor servants, there are the outdoor servants: the farmhands, fishermen, hunters, and herders who provide food for the covenant; and the teamsters who procure and transport provisions and supplies.

In the Covenants supplement for Ars Magica Fifth Edition, the number of servants and teamsters required by a covenant is determined by the total number of inhabitants of the covenant (Covenants, page 64). Broadly speaking, in a Spring covenant, two servants and one teamster are needed to support two magi, three companions, or ten soldiers. Laborers and craftsmen are not essential, but without them, the covenant has to buy all its food and supplies. Laborers can reduce expenditure on Provisions, and craftsmen can reduce expenditure on a wide range of covenant costs (Covenants, page 66).

The serving folk have grown sick of the airs and graces put on by the personal servant of one of the magi, and feel she needs to be brought down a peg or two. They plot to cause her to look incompetent and foolish in front of her master by sabotaging her efforts. This might begin as simple teasing, but could easily progress into something dangerous without meaning to. For example, the serving folk might switch the contents of two containers, not realizing what effect this will have on the magus's lab work. This might force a roll on the Experimentation Table, and if the season of work is wasted or ruined, the magus will want to know why.

The player characters could be the targeted servant and her friends, the saboteurs, or the characters trying to resolve the situation, such as the chamberlain and the turb captain.

Many covenants assign a personal servant to every magus. Each magus may have preferences for the type of food he is served, when and how his sanctum is cleaned, how his clothes

are tailored, and so forth. Furthermore, this servant eventually grows used to her master's Gift (see Chapter 4). Some personal servants become specialists of some kind, or even laboratory assistants if they have sufficient intelligence. Other magi prefer their personal servants to be their agents outside of the covenant. Of course, the extreme example of such a servant is a companion character, although most magi have a personal servant as well as a companion. On the other hand, there are some magi who barely register the presence of a personal servant.

Despite having many similarities to specialists or even soldiers (see later), a personal servant is still very much responsible for day-to-day tasks around the magus's sanctum. He ensures that his meals are provided on time, and are to his liking, perhaps even preparing them himself. He lays out his clothes for each day, sees to mending any rips and tears, and assists in his bathing routine. He may assist in shaving, cutting hair, and trimming nails, and understands the importance of destroying any remnants in sight of his master. He has a daily routine of tidying the living quarters and possibly the laboratory, and is certainly apprised of what he may and may not touch, although if the magus has an apprentice, the cleaning of the laboratory may be part of the apprentice's duties rather than the manservant's. Performing all these services for a magus is the mark of the personal servant; if he is exempted from these in lieu of other duties, then he is probably a specialist rather than a servant.

Being the personal servant of a magus holds a certain cachet in the "understairs" hierarchy of the covenant, and personal servants form a privileged elite among the covenfolk. This might qualify them for the Custos Virtue, or the improved status might be more subtle than this. The personal servant might hint at — or possess in reality the ear of his master, and use this to secure better food or quarters for himself. He typically aggrandizes his master among the covenfolk (even if secretly he terrifies him), and the fortunes of a personal servant track the status of the magus within the covenant.

Personal servants make good grogs to play. Unlike companion characters, a personal servant can easily be run by the player of the magus he serves, but it is often more fun if a different player is involved to assist with the dialogue between the two. The Abilities of a personal servant should complement those of his magus; some concepts are given here:

Aquam specialist sailor Herbam specialist gardener Holy magus cantor, acolyte House Flambeau squire Monster hunter tracker Necromancer grave robber Theurgist worshiper/cultist

TYPE OF MAGUS PERSONAL SERVANTS Astrologer instrument-maker Healer nurse, apothecary House Guernicus scribe, advocate House Jerbiton artist, model, muse House Verditius forge companion*

* See Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults, page 113.

The chamberlain coordinates the activities of all the servants in a covenant. Every covenant has a chamberlain of sorts (although the position is not always officially recognized); without one, the day-to-day running of all but the smallest covenant would grind to a halt. In small covenants, a character can take on the role of chamberlain while performing other tasks for the covenant, but most medium-sized covenants require a dedicated person in this role. Large covenants may grant the chamberlain a personal staff of officials: one in charge of the food, another in control of the clothing, another overseeing the craftsmen, and so forth (see "A Noble Household," later). Governing the servants of a covenant is covered by the Profession: Chamberlain Ability, and chamberlains are usually treated as specialists.

Although it is not absolutely necessary, most chamberlains can read and write and know basic arithmetic (all covered by the Artes Liberales Ability); this permits them to keep the covenant accounts, and a schedule for planning the harvests and other seasonal events, and to learn from the covenant rolls (see insert).

A conscientious chamberlain can improve the overall attitude of the servants in the face of The Gift, by acting as an intermediary between the magi and the servants. The chamberlain mediates the effects of The Gift

The covenant rolls are the records of the accounts from previous years, and are an invaluable aid to the chamberlain. He can consult the rolls of previous years to plan ahead for the coming season, and if they are of sufficient age, the rolls allow him to make predictions for the harvest.

The rolls serve as a summa for the Profession: Chamberlain Ability, typically with a Quality of 6. The Level starts at 2, but increases by 1 for every two decades of the covenant's existence. A character could, in theory, learn the whole job of a chamberlain from reading the rolls of an old covenant. The rolls are also usually a tractatus of Area Lore: Covenant, of Quality 6. However, if chamberlains have made a habit of using the rolls as a diary, these tractatus build into an encyclopedia of Area Lore: Covenant. Every decade, a new volume is added to the encyclopedia, and every five volumes comprise a new tractatus of Quality 6 (for more on encyclopedias, see Art & Academe, page 27). A chamberlain cannot learn from the material he has personally contributed to the covenant rolls, so gets no benefit from any level increases during his tenure.

If removed from the covenant, the rolls constitute an Arcane Connection to the covenant lasting weeks (ArM5, page 84), and even when the connection has expired, they are a sympathetic connection to the covenant with a bonus to the Penetration Multiplier of +1. Like other encyclopedias, the rolls can be used to look up specific facts about the covenant: make an Intelligence + Area Lore: Covenant roll with an Ease Factor related to the obscurity of the information sought. The character need not have the Area Lore: Covenant Ability to make a research attempt, and receives a +1 bonus per tractatus in the rolls.

Of course, not all covenants have an unbroken series of rolls, and not all past chamberlains may have contributed material of equal value. There may be a gap where a chamberlain was not able to read or write, or scribed her records in a different language or in a cipher. Furthermore, some of the rolls of parchment may have become lost, damaged, or stolen. The storyguide should determine the effects that this has on the Level and Quality of the rolls; in general, rolls missing volumes have a lower Level, whereas damaged rolls have a lower Quality.

The rolls may also contain longlost secrets about the covenant, as chamberlains occasionally use the rolls as a personal diary as well as an accounts book. They are of potential interest to an enemy, since the rolls might have all sorts of details about the covenant that could be exploited, such as a record of the building of secret passages, locations of vis sources, and special requirements of the magi. It is quite possible that the magi are totally unaware of the existence of the covenant rolls, and may be horrified at the level of detail innocently added by chamberlains over the years.

The covenant rolls go missing, and the chamberlain places the player characters in charge of finding them again. This must be done without the magi discovering what they are doing, since the rolls contain all sorts of embarrassing observations about the magi made by the former (or current) chamberlain, and perhaps even secrets about the covenant itself. The location of the missing rolls could be innocent (the parchment-maker has scraped them clean, not realizing their importance) or potentially damaging (an enemy agent has taken them).

and boosts the Prevailing Loyalty of the covenfolk (Covenants, page 38, and Chapter 4 of this book). However, the chamberlain could just as easily poison the minds of his staff against the magi, and can reduce the Prevailing Loyalty instead of increasing it. Magi are usually careful to choose a trustworthy individual as their chamberlain, and to keep him happy.

The chamberlain often has to contend with the personal servants of the magi, who seek to reserve particular resources or services for their masters that are needed elsewhere. These personal servants often treat the chamberlain as an equal rather than a superior, and in some covenants this is explicitly permitted. This is a very good way to alienate the chamberlain.

The specialists are those covenfolk who do not contribute to the day-today running of the covenant, or to its defense. It is a catch-all category that covers a wide range of skills, from mundane professions such as scout, huntsman, and merchant; through skilled professions such as scribe, trainer, and translator; to exotic professions such as animal trainer, alchemist, and bard. Specialists are generally quite focused on a few key Abilities, and are retained by the covenant because they are good at their jobs. Individuals who are good all-rounders, or skilled in multiple areas of expertise, are usually companion characters. Because of the enhanced capacities they offer a covenant above and beyond its normal business, specialists are bought with covenant build points (ArM5, page 72).

Craftsmen often straddle the line between servants and specialists with respect to how they fit into the covenant's hierarchy. A smith who works for the covenant is considered a servant if his daily labor is to make tools for the covenant, sharpen agricultural tools,

Arae Flaviae combined the position of chamberlain and steward into a single role, called the autocrat. Many covenants since have followed their example. The role of autocrat is an important one; he is in command of all the non-military covenfolk, and is therefore perhaps the most influential member of the covenant who is not a magus. Autocrats are occasionally permitted to attend meetings of the covenant's council, and asked to provide reports. Some autocrats are even allowed to comment on matters brought before the council, although if the matter is inconsequential to the covenant's structure or inhabitants, their opinions might be ignored.

The liber gregis has a lot to say about the role of the autocrat, all of it positive. Rather than being Beorhtric's words, these sections are generally believed to derive from interpolations by the scribe, who reported directly to the autocrat.

and repair broken metal items. However, if he makes unique items for the magi, or crafts fine goods for sale, then he is classed as a specialist. Both are "craftsmen" according to Covenants, and may reduce the outgoings of the covenant, but the master craftsman claims the privileges of a specialist, whereas the more menial workers are paid and fed as servants. For example, a specialist craftsmen is an artisan, a master of his craft, and is in charge of a workshop in which his journeymen and apprentices are the covenant's servants.

Many of the personal servants of the magi (see earlier) would also fall into the specialist role, if they did not apply their talents specifically in the service of a single magus. Nevertheless, a personal servant might command the same salary, food, and accommodation privileges as a specialist, and cost the same in terms of covenant finances (Covenants, page 63).

Agents are specialists who, rather than working within the covenant itself or in its immediate vicinity, are to be found further afield. An agent could be as simple as a merchant or craftsman maintaining a business in a nearby city. However, most agents have been carefully placed to maximize their use to the covenant, as sources of information or remote assistance. A cautious covenant might have agents in the local bishop's palace, among the staff of an important nobleman, or even in a rival covenant. The steward (see later) is usually responsible for coordinating the agency of a covenant, although covenants with large agencies often employ a factor to manage their agents. The factor is usually placed under the direct command of the steward.

Agents still need to be bought with covenant build points like any other specialist, but they need not be included in the covenfolk roster when it comes to determining finances. Their salary is subsumed into the general budget of the covenant, unless the covenant maintains an unusual number of agents. Rules for recruiting and using agents are to be found in Houses of Hermes: Societates, pages 140–144.

The steward is an appointed officer of the covenant charged with seeing to the needs of the specialists. This role differs from that of the chamberlain in that the steward is not normally in charge of the specialists, but he is ultimately responsible for ensuring that

they perform the job for which they are employed. The steward therefore makes sure that an artisan has the raw materials that he needs, that the animal trainer has sufficient cages, and that the forester has arrows made for him by the covenant's fletcher. He also arranges purchasers for the goods made by specialist craftsmen. In most covenants, the role of steward is not subordinate to the specialists (although he himself may be treated as one); he must marshal the resources of the specialists so that they provide the services demanded by the magi, and he is responsible for discipline. The role of steward is governed by the Profession: Steward Ability, and they often have the Leadership Ability in addition.

A good steward ameliorates the effects that The Gift has on the covenant's specialists by ensuring that the magi are aware of the contributions of their skilled covenfolk, and suggesting

Those who perform military service, either as conscripts or as volunteers, are usually trained so that they can serve in certain military units, rather than given an overall education in many different weapons and Martial Abilities. The most common troop types in Mythic Europe are described in this insert.

Archers: The English longbowman is a comparatively new troop type and still used principally in a defensive configuration. Archer units armed with short bows are occasionally used in warfare, but the short bow is considered principally a hunting weapon. The Saracens have employed archer units since the first Crusades, and Western armies are beginning to copy them.

Crossbowmen: Lacking the accuracy and shooting rate of the longbow, but more powerful and requiring less training, crossbowmen are deployed with javeliners and archers, and also used to protect the command staff. The Genoese crossbowmen are famous as mercenaries throughout Mythic Europe. Rules for crossbows can be found in Covenants and Lords of Men.

Heavy Infantry: The basic foot-soldier, clad in the heaviest armor that can be afforded — usually metal scale — and armed with long swords or maces, and round shields. The heavy infantry usually composes the greater part of an army; cavalry units can only be overcome with weight of numbers or with missile fire.

Javeliners: Where longbows are not employed, the javelin is the principle missile unit. Javeliners are occasionally skirmish units, but are usually combined with standard infantry.

Mounted Infantry: These are units that ride to battle and then dismount to fight; this tactic does not risk valuable horses, and lends superior mobility to the otherwise slow-maneuvering heavy infantry.

Pikemen: These troops employ the long spear in a "hedgehog" formation of densely-packed men. These troops are commonly urban militia or peasant levies, but the Scots, the Flemish, the Swabians, and the Bavarians specialize in this unit type. The length of the weapon prevents men-at-arms from engaging, and can effectively break up a cavalry charge.

Skirmishers: Light infantry armed with javelins, slings, short swords, or spears, and sometimes light shields. Skirmisher units are lightly armored to provide battlefield mobility, and are usually used to harry the enemy from the flanks or defend the heavy infantry.

Heavy Cavalry: The preeminent military force in the 13th century, knights are employed as shock troops at the beginning of combat. Lances are used for the initial charge, and the knights then switch to long swords, maces, or mace-and-chain. Chain mail is almost ubiquitous. Further from the heartland of Mythic Europe, conscripted heavy cavalry troops are employed in the Byzantine armies (the famed kataphractoi), and by the Bulgarians, Lithuanians, and Russians.

Light Cavalry: Deployed principally in scouting, communication, and reconnaissance roles, and to join battle with enemy reconnaissance units. Light cavalry use swift horses and light armor, and usually carry spears or long swords. Occasionally, they carry missile weapons.

Lancers: More lightly armored than the heavy cavalry, yet armed with long spears and used to support infantry in the absence of other cavalry units.

Mounted Archers: Employed in Roman times but since then have lost favor; however, mounted archers are common in the east of Mythic Europe.

occasional rewards or singling out particular individuals for praise (Covenants, page 38). Much like the chamberlain, a poorly-treated or overworked steward may have the reverse effect, causing the covenfolk's reaction to The Gift be heightened, and encourage disloyalty and rebellion.

Rivalry between the steward and the chamberlain is quite common. Some covenants explicitly place the chamberlain as a specialist under the command of the steward, whereas others make them equals. Both branches of the covenant's covenfolk perform important functions, but each branch chief elevates the importance of his staff over that of the other branch. This rivalry can seethe beneath the surface for many generations of covenfolk, while the magi remain blissfully ignorant of it, since it rarely impinges on their sphere of interest. The "Organization" section later in this chapter presents some ideas as to how such rivalries can generate stories. Many covenants avoid this potential rivalry through an autocrat who plays both roles (see insert).

The soldiers are those grogs whose duty is to defend the covenant and its members from physical threats. Combat-capable companions are rarely considered to be soldiers; they are more likely to act as heroes and champions than as common footsoldiers. Furthermore, soldiers need to train together and have roughly equal Combat Totals to fight effectively as a trained group; companion characters are either too busy to attend drill practice or too skilled (or both) to take part. It is unusual for a covenant to have no soldiers — Mythic Europe is a sufficiently dangerous place that even the most pacifistic magi need protection.

Due to the restrictions of the Code

of Hermes, magi are not permitted to provide feudal service to local lords in terms of manpower; and yet it cannot have escaped the attention of the local nobility that the "scholars" on the hill have a standing army. They might interpret this as a threat or an opportunity to fulfill their own feudal obligations to their liege without risking their own men in a war. Indeed, some covenants may even hire out their soldiers to the nobility as a source of income. Every saga needs to consider the attitude of the mundane powers toward magi employing soldiers; some ideas for this interaction can be found in Lords of Men.

The turb captain is the leader of all the soldiers at a covenant. Only covenants with very unusual organization structures do not have a single leader for all their warriors, since an army cannot be effectively lead by a committee. Of the three executive officers of a covenant (chamberlain, steward, and captain), the turb captain is the most likely to be a companion character. Even though the captain may be too skilled with his weapon to fight in a trained group with his men, his leadership and tactical knowledge are invaluable. A turb captain is provisioned as a specialist at least, and may be treated as a companion character even if he is designed as a grog, in recognition of his importance to the covenant.

The captain often selects sergeants to command smaller units of the turb. This is particularly important if the soldiers consist of specialized troops, such as cavalry, archers, or infantry. In these cases, one sergeant is placed

Any group can learn to fight together by spending a season practicing together. A good leader can shorten this training time, either in an emergency (to prepare for an upcoming adventure or battle), or in order to train more than one group in a single season. These rules were first printed in Lords of Men, Chapter 9.

SHORTEN TRAINING TIME: Stress die + Communication + Leadership

The Ease Factor depends on the amount of training time available. If the roll fails, then the group cannot become a trained group until the end of the season. If it botches, then the season's training is wasted. Some Virtues, such as Inspirational, may provide a bonus if the storyguide sees fit; the Difficult Underlings Flaw most likely provides a penalty.

TRAINING TIME	EASE FACTOR
Two Months	6
Six Weeks	9
One Month	12
Fortnight	15
One Week	18

The characters being trained gain experience only at the end of the season; there is no experience point bonus for participating in this accelerated training. When the training period is complete, they can function as a trained group (see ArM5, page 173).

in charge of each unit of troops. Sergeants are usually selected based on their demonstrated loyalty and dedication to the covenant, in addition to having the Leadership Ability. Sergeants are rewarded by being treated as specialists with respect to wages, food, and accommodation.

In addition to unit sergeants, most covenants also have a drill sergeant, whose principal role is to train the grogs to fight as a trained group. This involves providing a season of teaching in a Martial Ability (usually Single Weapon) over the course of each year. The drill sergeant is also responsible for maintaining order in the turb, and administering punishments as warranted. He may be responsible for inflicting punishment on other covenfolk, such as servants, specialists, or even apprentices. Drill sergeants follow a more regular duty pattern than most other soldiers (see "Duty," later); their duty watches are through the day when they can train the off-duty soldiers. A drill sergeant is only asked to be on duty during the night to fill in a gap in the schedule.

Most drill sergeants are older grogs, those who have substantial experience in battle. Their prime Abilities other than Martial Abilities are Leadership and, particularly, Teaching. Leadership is useful to accelerate the group's training (see insert) and to maintain discipline. Drill sergeants benefit from good Communication, and their Martial Abilities need to be higher than those of the soldiers they are teaching. Like other sergeants, the drill sergeant is accounted as a specialist, although he remains under the command of the turb captain.

Medium-sized turbs do not usually need any other ranks beyond the captain and his sergeants, at least with respect to organization. However, covenants often reward their particularly loyal or heroic soldiers with an intermediate rank between the common soldiers and the sergeants, roughly equivalent to corporal. The name used varies from covenant to covenant; the liber gregis suggests "decurio" or "decurion," the leader of 10 men in the Roman army. This rank is represented by the Custos Social Status Virtue. The Custos is usually offered a double ration of wine or ale each day, and an improved pension when he retires from the covenant's service; in addition, custodes are often promoted to sergeant before their military career ends. Large turbs usually require a rigid hierarchy to maintain discipline; see "Military Hierarchy," later.

Depending on their organization, soldiers may retain the temporary ranks and roles granted on missions (see Chapter 4), although it is more usual that these roles are kept fluid, and are for expeditions only. Nevertheless, a decurio often fulfills the Optio role, and a sergeant is often chosen for the Dux role, making these ranks semi-permanent.