Sabotage

The player characters are likely to intervene in an attempt to reduce and remove the threat that the village poses to their resources. One obvious general form of intervention is sabotage. The player magi have time to invent new spells for this, and Hermetic magic is extremely flexible, so this intervention could happen in any form, and at any time. The storyguide should give the players their freedom here; the story is about the player characters' response, so their actions cannot derail it.

The Soterists and Wächter do respond to player character actions, and take the details of what the player magi have done into account. However, their general responses depend on the scale of the sabotage, rather than the method.

Minor and discreet sabotage can be carried by mundane means, but more likely by magic. Stealing, disenchanting or breaking the magical tools impedes the progress, as does removing or damaging the raw materials. Actions such as these should result in setbacks that can be seen and felt, but a single act of minor sabotage is nothing more than a de-

lay; the Soterists do not give up that easily. If the player characters continue to hinder the project, however, they may eventually succeed in stopping growth entirely or even force the village to disband. Faced with constant interference, the Soterists could give up in the end and be bitter about the whole situation. They are sure to investigate by themselves to look for any evidence to prosecute with; see Legal Repercussions in the Aftermath section. Failing this they become future antagonists for the player magi, lurking in the shadows; see Hidden Enemies in the Aftermath section.

Large scale sabotage could involve dispelling the various ongoing magical effects — Corpus spells granting the villagers health, Herbam and Animal spells boosting their farming, Auram spells granting mild weather — with appropriate Perdo Vim spells. Other Perdo magic can easily destroy things that have been created. This is more overt and serious than merely hampering progress by sabotaging tools. Such events have negative effects on the morale of the villagers that not easily remedied by Relisius' agents simply using more Mentem magic. The same goes for terrorizing the village with monsters, illusions, or direct use of mind-altering spells. While the village can recover from a single such attack, repeated destruction wears them down and the village disbands, ruining the Soterists' plans. A situation like this results in a Quaesitorial investigation because the involvement of magis is obvious, and Relisius wants someone punished. The bishop may find the whole situation highly suspect and investigate himself, bringing the Church into Hermetic affairs. See Legal Repercussions in the Aftermath section for some suggestions.

At the extreme, magic of almost any physical Form — especially the four elements — can easily wipe the entire village off the face of the earth. It could be made to look like a natural disaster, or it could remove all traces of the village. This does bring the