Sigils

Magic leaves a mark called a sigil, which is specific to an individual. Alyates' sigil is a short burst of purple light in the targeted area and Carbonius' sigil is a chilling shiver along the spine. Buonacorsus also has a sigil — although his tradition doesn't call it that — the heavy scent of lavender. Alyates can use his Shroud Magic spell to change his sigil, but he can only do this on spells that are level 40 or lower. If he thinks his magic is being watched he changes the sigil. If Alyates sees one of the player character magi casting a spell and notices the sigil, he will change his sigil into that sigil when he uses spells on the cardinals. While he could change his sigil to resemble Buona-

corsus', he does not know it.

To recognize who a specific sigil belongs to requires an Intelligence + Order of Hermes + stress die roll. The Ease Factor depends on how wide spread this information is in your saga. If sigils are generally kept to a small group of people, witnesses and covenant members, then the Ease Factor should be quite high (12). If the Order of Hermes keeps careful notation and records of sigil and their owners, the Ease Factor should be lower (9). If your player character magi are from a House that is more likely to keep this information — Houses Mercere, Bonisagus, and Guernicus perhaps — the Ease Factor should be even lower (6).

for imperial soldiers, men who might serve as the emperor's spies. They generally know their enemy, and even though the imperial army is not homogenous, the Roman guards have encountered enough distinct groups serving the empire to recognize them. They can tell a Guelph from a Ghibelline on a Perception + Folk Ken + simple roll against an Ease Factor of 6. Use the stats for a Standard Soldier (ArM5, page 22) for the Orsini guards. If this roll succeeds the guards are able to tell that the character is not a Ghibelline.

The characters should have little problem with the guards. If they attempt to cast spells, they instantly notice the difficulty imposed by Rome's Divine aura of 3.

Once past the guards the characters will cross through the gatehouse and possible trigger the Augustan rite A Murderous Assault Will Befall You. Every magus considers himself "a member of the Order of Hermes", the rite's complicated trigger, as may others: Redcaps and possibly some custos and companions. If the rite penetrates any Magic Resistance the trigger's initiator might have, 500 crows rise from their roosts and mob the gatehouse's entrance into the city, diving and cawing and creating an incredibly loud clamor that can be heard throughout the city. The rite's enchantment only has a Duration: Diameter and the crows fly off at that point, uninterested. Buonacorsus cast this rite on each of Rome's twelve gates and five posterns.

If the rite doesn't penetrate a magus' Parma Magica then the magus will feel his Parma Magica stop the spell, indicating that it just resisted active magic. Clever players will ask questions and investigate the rite. A Murderous Assault Will Befall You is an 11th magnitude effect, fairly simple to find with an Intellego Vim spell (base effect 1). Correctly casting such a spell indicates that the rite is Magical, its magnitude, and the approximate Technique and Form (Rego Animal). Such a spell also shows that while Magical, the effect is not Hermetic.

While cacophonous, this scene isn't dangerous, and the player characters should handily deal with the crows. This rite signals to Buonacorsus that a magus has just entered the city. Buonacorsus fears that his mundane enemies have magical allies and cast the rite to warn him if any wizards enter the city.

If the characters use other means to enter the city, like Rego Corpus spells that instantly transport them, they will miss both the encounter with the soldiers and the crows at the gate. Most likely they proceed directly to the Septizodium. This encounter is not essential, but does introduce a different kind of magic and the presence of other interested parties. You should somehow warn player characters that a Virgilian wizard is plotting against the cardinals. One possibility is to find an excuse for one of the party to leave through a gate on some quick excursion; the magic works whether the character is coming or going. You could also use the enchanted statue in the Septizodium as an indicator of the Augustan Brotherhood's involvement (see later).