Buonacorsus of the Augustan Brotherhood

Buonacorsus is a senior member of the Augustan Brotherhood, a group of non-Hermetic wizards who want to increase the emperor's political importance (see Rival Magic, Chapter 3). After years of thought, Buonacorsus devised a plan to make the Church subservient to the emperor. Knowing that the Italian popolo (the common people) would never accept a world without a religious leader, Buonacorsus planned to replace the current pope with a man loyal to the emperor. Because Virgilian magic, the magic of the Augustan Brotherhood, targets areas and not people, devising a method to magically kill the pope was difficult. After studying the pope's personal habits and spending many years in Rome to invent city-specific rites, Buonacorsus finally devised a plan. He enchanted a stone statue to make a building unbearably hot, hoping that long-term heat exposure would kill those inside. While not every pope likes to stay in Rome, especially during the humid summer, the current pope did. Buonacorsus hoped that the man's reluctance to leave the city would be his downfall. He paid workmen to move the statue inside the pope's residence. Days later, the pope died.

Buonacorsus wants Goffredo da Castiglione, a Ghibelline, elected pope. Buonacorsus knew that the traditional location for papal elections in Rome was the Septizodium, and he ordered his team of workers to move his awakened statue to the building. He also cast A Murder is Planned and Suffer the Judgment of Jericho rites on the Septizodium. The first rite indicates that things are going as planned, that his rites are still in effect as long as the crows use the roof as their roost. The second brings the building down if the wrong cardinal is selected. He then cast the rite A Murderous Assault Will Befall You. Though the rite will have a poor Penetration total and may fail, Buonacorsus still hopes it succeeds, and that the ensuing racket of cawing crows will alert him if Hermetic wizards have entered Rome.

Thus prepared, Buonacorsus sits in his secret hiding place in the Colosseum, using his powers of divination to follow the events in the Septizodium. He can accurately divine the daily happenings of any character with a Reputation of 4 or higher. Either Castiglione will be selected pope, or the cardinals will all die.

School of the Vigilant Bees, Ease Factor 21

R: Touch, D: Moon, T: Structure

Cast upon a building, this Rite attracts 500 crows that make the building

their home over the course of Moon duration. The birds are free to come and go, but they always return to the building as they would any other natural roost. The suggestion lasts for Duration: Moon and affects all birds equally. Once the Duration expires, most of the crows are likely to leave for less crowded roosts.

The rite is triggered upon casting, and then starts to draw crows to the warded building.

(Base 3, +9 Moon, +6 Structure, +3 for a group of crows)

School of the Vigilant Bees, Ease Factor 33

R: Touch, D: Diam, T: City

This rite causes 500 of Rome's crows to flock and attack a group of people entering Rome through any of the city's gates. The trigger is a person who considers himself a member of the Order of Hermes. When such a person enters through a city gate, he and everyone at the gate are assaulted by 500 murderous crows. The crows do not discriminate, and will attack anyone in the immediate area. While the crows are roused to action by magic, they are not themselves magical and are not resisted by Magic Resistance. The assault lasts no less than a Diameter, or two minutes, enough time for twenty standard combat rounds, during which time any and all targets in the area are subject to attack.

Like other Virgilian rites, the magic must Penetrate the Magic Resistance of both the trigger's initiator and the affected target. The initiator is the person who thinks of themselves as "a member of the Order of Hermes," and the affected target is the nearby crows.

(Base 15, +3 Diameter, + 9 City, +3 for a group of crows. Ease Factor raised by 1 magnitude (+3) to reflect the intricacies of using Virgilian divination in the trigger.)

School of Prometheus, Ease Factor 15 R: Touch, D: Diam, T: Structure

Similar to He enters among them, veiled in shadows (see Rival Magic, page 60), this rite dims all light within a room and adds +3 to Stealth rolls. The triggering action is when anyone in the warded area yells "Omnis sonus excitat!"

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

Size: 0

Age: 104 (39)

Decrepitude: 3 (15) Warping Score: 7 (4) Confidence Score: 1 (7)

Virtues and Flaws: The Gift; Court Wizard; Affinity with Virgilian Theory, Educated, Generous Master, Great Communication, Unaging; Enemies (the Guelphs); Clumsy, Susceptibility to Infernal Power

Personality Traits: Persistent +3, Cowardly +2, Patient +2

Combat:

Dodge: Init –2, Attack n/a, Defense +2, Damage n/a

Fist: Init –2, Attack +4, Defense +1, Damage 0

Soak: –3

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

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Inc (16–20), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Animo 9 (stone statues), Artes Liberales 4 (rhetoric), Brawl 3 (dodge), Charm 2 (royal superiors), Civil and Canon Law 2 (papal conclaves), Etiquette 1 (court dinners), Finesse 4 (controlling rites), Folk Ken 2 (imperial retainers), Guile 1 (lying to women), Italian 5 (enunciation), Intrigue 2 (Neapolitan nobility), Latin 5 (Virgilian nuances), Organization Lore: Augustan Brotherhood 3 (personalities), Organization Lore: Order of Hermes 1 (current practices), Penetration 6 (School of the Stones rites), Philosophiae 2 (ethics), Profession: Scribe 3 (preparing materials), Sortes Virgilianae 6 (questions about Rome), Stealth 5 (fleeing), Virgilian Theory 7 (School of Stones)

Schools: School of Boreas 0, School of the Naiads 1, School of Prometheus 9, School of the Stones 14, School of the Sylvan Dryads 0, School of Vigilant Bees 10

Equipment: Scholarly robes, a copy of Virgil's Aeneid

Encumbrance: 0 (0)

Rites Known:

A Murder Is Planned 15 (School of the Vigilant Bees, Ease Factor 21) Casting Score +29

A Murderous Assault Will Befall You 15 (School of the Vigilant Bees, Ease Factor 33) Casting Score +29

Escape the Gloomy Places 6 (School of Prometheus, Ease Factor 18) Casting Score +19

Stony Protection of the Hearth 12 (School of the Stones, Ease Factor 18) Casting Score +30

Suffer the Judgment of Jericho 20 (School of the Stones, Ease Factor 21) Casting Score +38

Summer's Sweltering Heat 17 (School of Prometheus, Ease Factor 30) Casting Score +30

The Hounds' Bay of Recognition 8 (School of Vigilant Bees, Ease Factor 15) Casting Score +22

The Soldiers' Secret Ambush 14 (School of the Stones, Ease Factor 21) Casting Score +32

Appearance: Hirsute and swarthy, Buonacorsus looks at first glance like a seedy Mediterranean farmer, slightly overweight with a dishonest gleam in his eye. He wears a simple white linen tunic and straw hat.

("Every sound alarms!") (Base 6, +3 Diameter, +6 Structure)

School of the Stones, Ease Factor 18 R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Room

This rite launches a stone boulder at anyone who enters the room without first saying the opening line of Virgil's Aeneid. Buonacorsus uses this to protect the entrance to his home.

While most of Buonacorsus' rites happen off-stage, as storyguide you need to know how they work. Virgilian Magic is fully explained in Rival Magic, pages 52–64, but this small insert should suffice if you do not have access to that supplement. Before beginning play, make sure you have rolled all of Buonacorsus' casting totals for his active rites and have record-

Virgilian magic is a magic power, affiliated with the Magic Realm just like Hermetic magic. It is divided into three practices: Sortes Virgilianae (divination), Vigilo, (casting rites), and Animo (constructing magical animations). The first and the third practices have an associated Supernatural Ability. The second practice is subdivided into six Schools, called the Schools of Boreas, Naiads, Prometheus, Stones, Sylvan Dryads, and Vigilant Bees. A School is similar to a Hermetic Form. A rite is very specific and must be individually invented and studied, and has an ac-

(Base 15, +3 Room)

ed the Penetration of each rite.

School of the Stones, Ease Factor 21 R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Structure

Cast upon a building and triggered if a Guelph pope leaves that building, this rite weakens the building's stone walls to the point that they collapse under their own weight. Those trapped inside the building, as well as those in close proximity, take +21 damage.

Penetration is a concern. Once elected, the pope will have a Divine Resistance of 25. The rite must have a higher Penetration, or it will not recognize the triggering pope as he leaves the building.

(Base 9, +6 Structure, +3 Stone. Ease Factor raised by one magnitude to reflect the intricacies of using Virgilian divination in the trigger.)

School of Prometheus, Ease Factor 27 R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Structure

This Rite makes the warded area hot, humid, and uncomfortable. Anyone trapped inside the area for a day must