Dieter von Brandhöfen, Priest

Born to impoverished parents and raised under trying conditions on the lowest rungs of society in the local area, Dieter is used to fighting for everything. Around the age of 10, he was orphaned, and a kind old priest took him in and schooled him alongside the more privileged children he was tutoring. Already an unscrupulous child, Dieter missed no opportunity to use the old priest to his own benefit. In the end, Dieter clawed his way up out of the gutter and was allowed to serve in a somewhat special way. His demeanor was unsuited to the monastic life, and his aggressive approach to serving the Lord resulted in his less established position as a wandering religious man. He has been granted a leave of absence by the bishop, allowing him to reside in the village prior to the church being built. He is meant to take care of the flock but actually travels quite a bit to recruit more workers. Once the church is finished, he presides as priest, but continues occasional recruitment expeditions. His forceful and heartfelt sermons, as well as his habit of instilling loyalty in others, are useful to the Church as a whole. His superiors move him around a lot, or use him for specific and unconventional missions, to avoid trouble in established communities. If the story is set in the Theban Tribunal, he is called Alexios Kouvanos, or Maurice Arrante if in Normandy.

Axel is a good-humored and pragmatic engineer from the mountainous southern part of Germany. Originally trained as a mason, he has studied the

Guild Affiliation: Elder Guild

Hermetic Status: Master

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

Size: 0 Age: 99 (67)

Decrepitude: 1 (1) Warping: 7 (15)

Virtues and Flaws: The Gift; Hermetic Magus; Strong Sidhe Blood (Physical quirk: hair includes blades of grass); Deft Imaginem, Faerie Magic, Free Study, Minor Magical Focus (Wards against Supernatural beings), Puissant Charm, Second Sight (Faerie), Social Contacts (German High Faerie Knights), Student of Faerie; Plagued by Supernatural Entity (Faerie), Weak Spontaneous Magic; Difficult Spontaneous Magic, Faerie Upbringing, Higher Purpose (Wächter cause), Weird Magic.

Personality Traits: Uncomfortable in crowds +3, Impulsive +2, Reliable –2

Reputations: None

Combat:

Dodge: Init –1, Attack n/a, Defense –1, Damage n/a

Soak: –2

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6– 10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20)

Abilities: Area Lore: Local 3 (faerie areas), Artes Liberales 1 (rhetoric), Bargain 9 (faeries), Charm 9+2 (gaining trust), Craft: Weaving 5 (tapestries), Faerie Lore 9+2 (high faeries), Folk Ken 10 (what people will believe), German 5 (northern), Guile 8 (sustained lies), Latin 4 (Hermetic terms), Leadership 9 (faeries), Magic Theory 9 (Imaginem), Merinita Lore 5 (Initiations), Order of Hermes Lore 6 (Wächter), Parma Magica 4 (Mentem), Penetration 2 (Mentem), Second Sight 7 (faerie glamour), Stealth 4 (move silently), Survival 6 (forest)

Arts: Cr 7, In 9, Mu 6, Pe 16, Re 25, An 7, Aq 8, Au 12, Co 10, He 8, Ig 5, Im 15, Me 10, Te 8, Vi 15

Twilight Scars: Voice accompanied by natural sounds, like the rustling of leaves or bubbling of a brook. Right arm is dyed dark green. Fingernails are like the bark of a birch tree.

Appearance: Clad in what appears at first glance to be rough-spun peasant's clothing, but which up close has a faerie quality, in greens and browns.

Equipment: Apart from his mysterious clothing, he may be assumed to have any reasonable amount of vis of any Art.

Encumbrance: 0 Spells Known:

Circle of Beast Warding (ReAn5/+32) Ward against the Beasts of Legend (ReAn25/+39 F)

Ward against Faeries of the Waters (ReAq25/+41 F)

Ward against Faeries of the Air (ReAu25/+49 F)

The Leap of Homecoming (ReCo35/ +35)

Ward against Faeries of the Wood (ReHe25/+41 F)

Ward against Heat and Flames (ReIg25/+30)

Haunt of the Living Ghost (Cr(Mu) Im35/+23) Mastery 2 (Stalwart casting, Ceremonial Casting)

Image Phantom (MuIm20/+21)

Veil of Invisibility (PeIm20/+31)

Wizard's Sidestep (ReIm10/+41) Panic of the Trembling Heart

(CrMe15/+17)

The Call to Slumber (ReMe10/+35)

Coerce the Spirits of the Night (ReMe20/+35)

Circle of Warding against Spirits of the Night (ReMe25/+44 F)

Ward against Faeries of the Mountain (ReTe30/+41 F)

Demon's Eternal Oblivion (PeVi15/+31) Circular Ward against Demons (ReVi30/+57 F)

F) includes Focus

Timian is Iselin's senior in years only; in the Wächter cause he defers to her. Even though they have a lot in common regarding dealing with the faeries, they do things in different ways. Iselin has a way with words and plans, and in general has a lot of clout in the faerie courts. Timian prefers to be out in the field, play it by ear, and accompany the faeries as they take action. He works with faeries as tools of the cause as well as liaising with potential sympathizers.

No significant changes, except that he has no guild affiliation or rank.

Timian needs to have spent enough time to gain Social Contacts, but less time than Iselin has needed to gain power over the Faerie leaders. His concept as a native of north-western Europe can be retained or he can be changed to a faerie magus from Greek culture. Replace Speak German with Speak Greek and change the speciality of Faerie Lore from High Faeries to Olympian gods. He does not, however, need to have achieved citizenship, and has consequently not served as an arche.

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

Qik 0 Size: 0

Age: 33 (33) Decrepitude: 0 Warping: 0

Virtues and Flaws: Priest; License of Absence, Well-traveled; Driven (Spread the Dominion), Supernatural Nuisance (Faeries),Vow of Celibacy

Personality Traits: Pious -1, Loyal to Relisius +2, Selfish +2

Reputations: None

Combat:

Dodge: Init 0, Attack n/a, Defense +2,

Damage n/a Soak: +0 (Stamina) Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6– 10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Area Lore: Local 5 (churches), Artes Liberales 2 (rhetoric), Brawl 1 (dodge), Charm 5 (parishioners), Civil and Canon Law 1 (regulations for the clergy), Dominion Lore 3 (angels), Etiquette 3 (Church), Folk Ken 6 (people he has recruited), German 5 (preaching), Intrigue 1 (parishes) Latin 4 (the Bible), Organization Lore: The Church 3 (local diocese), Theology: Christian 2 (debate)

Equipment: Travel clothes fit for a clergyman, priest's vestments

Encumbrance: 0

theory of his profession. As a result, he is highly qualified in the fields of construction, road works, damming, and draining, as well as basic mechanics. He surrounds himself with ablebodied and bright youths trained as masons, carpenters, wheelwrights, well-diggers, and the like, and tries to form them in his image by raising their knowledge from the levels of crafting to engineering.

He was involved in the founding and expansion of Willehad-im-Wald from early in the planning process, although only peripherally. He helped to survey and choose the site, helped Augustijn plan the project, and paid the occasional visit when large or special buildings were to be erected. He doesn't move to the village until the fourth year, when the major projects in his field start. Until that time, he might be found in Bremen, working on other, more mundane, projects.

He is a personal friend of Augustijn, the two of them having worked together on several occasions and learned much from each other. Axel isn't aware of the bigger picture, including the true motives for the plot or even the identity of Relisius. But he has been promised other similar projects in the future, only bigger. To him, the job is simply that — a job, but a really good one. He is not paid a fortune or in any way promised power, although he is well rewarded when it comes to salary as well as future references, but he is the boss, and the sponsors seemingly supply anything he wants and don't interfere, giving him the opportunity of a lifetime to achieve real innovation in his field. Should the player magi end the story on good terms with Axel, he could be a real boon for the covenant.

If game statistics are important, refer to the Craftsman in Covenants, page 45, modified as follows: Age: Increased to 32. Characteristics: Switch the +2 in Stamina to a +2 in Intelligence. Virtues and Flaws: Add Educated, add another Puissant Craft in masonry and engineering, drop Ability Block (logic), and add Favors. Abilities: Add Artes Liberales, Craft: masonry, carpentry and mechanic, and Philosophiae, drop Charm, Covenant Lore, Guile, and Village Lore.

If the story is set in the Theban Tribunal, he is called Jorgo Stephanopoulos; if in Normandy, call him Claude de Fer instead.

The bishop of the diocese in which the story takes place is not intended to play an important part. He is used primarily to avoid involving too many mundane officials in order to focus on the antagonistic magi, and to limit the number of times the player magi risk breaking the Code by meddling with important people. Relisius has managed to get all the needed permissions from both the civil and religious authorities for his settlement. The bishop is an important and busy man, surrounded by his own aides and one of Relisius' agents. This makes him difficult to approach, but if he is contacted by letter his aides reply. The only time he appears in person is at the consecration of the church. Here he makes the minimal appearance required, escorted by professional bodyguards and accompanied by a few aides. He is by no means difficult to reach by mundane or magical means, and he is not sufficiently pious nor high ranking to have any Magic Resistance.

For game statistics, use those for Dieter with the following modifications:

Virtues and Flaws: Senior Clergy, Sense Holiness & Unholiness, Social Contacts (minor clergy), Student of the Divine, Strong Willed; Ambitious (Major), Dark Secret; Clumsy. Delete Driven.