The Wächter

Wächter is the popular term for all magi who support the philosophy of watching over and preserving wild and natural areas, particularly in the Rhine Tribunal. If the story is set in the Theban Tribunal, the term Prostátes (Greek for "protector") can be used instead. The Wächter started among the Bjornaer clans supporting the Wilderist cause. In recent years, their numbers have been growing — at least as far as the Latin Houses (primarily the Soterists) know — to include many other nature-oriented Houses and individual magi. House Merinita is strongly represented here, and though many Wächter Bjornaer would also like to rid their ancestral places of faeries, they cooperate in order to avoid the spread of the influence of the Church, since this would be a loss for them both. Many Ex Miscellanea magi also support this cause, but they do not provide a united front. In addition, various individual magi from different Houses form a minority in the group. As far as numbers go, more magi support the Wächter cause than the Soterist, but the Wächter are a less cohesive group and fail to work together as well as their rivals. The movement consists mainly of splinter groups defending their own locale. Serious conflict with the Soterists might drive recruitment or unity, or split them even further.

Iselin, Maga ex Merinita (Elder Guild)

Age: 82 (51) (Journeywoman) Personality Traits: Patient +3, Whimsical +2, Impulsive –2

Iselin is a slight and delicately featured mature woman. In Wächter circles, she serves as the spokesperson for the cause. Her unimposing size and soft, melodious, and almost chirping voice gives her some trouble making herself heard in large crowds of magi with opposing opinions. Still, she is patient, quietly taking in all her opponents' arguments and letting them get all worked up. Her green eyes are

in a state of constant flux. Few people dare meet her gaze for more than a moment; the swirling greens have confused many a magus during debate. Little is known about her magical skills, but she is famous for her great network of faerie allies and contacts, as well as her bargaining skills with them. Rumor has it that she has all but united all the cohesive faerie courts in the Rhine Tribunal, a rumor she spends no energy on. Her friend and ally for at least a decade is Timian, who carries out the practical parts of the Wächter's plans. Iselin has two Twilight Scars as follows: Myrtle leaves grow spontaneously among her dark curls, and her cape and hair flow mysteriously in unfelt air currents, with the edge and tips scattering glittering sparkles.

Her present plan — the concept she seeks to spread to all groups of Wächter — is to stop the petty sabotage and start thinking big. She knows the Soterists are up to no good, helping the mundanes spread their settlements and influence. So why not just help them along? At first, the idea is to work within the lines of what the Soterists are doing, because they are bound to tread lightly at first. In time, they might make mistakes and overdo things. If not, the Wächter just step up their help to an extreme, making it quite obviously supernatural, hoping something blows up. Either the Soterists are framed and convicted of interfering with the mundanes, or undecided magi see the folly of the Soterist goal and give their support to the Wächter. The Wächter are willing to sacrifice much, even to strike the first blow if things come to war. Many Wächter have no qualms about breaking the Code; after all, the better organized and politically inclined Soterists might use the Code against them. If they must become renegades or even die, it is a sacrifice many are willing to make. They might disappear into the wild or a faerie regio for a long time, and perhaps take on new identities. Iselin's use of faeries in her plans is brilliant, because not only will faeries killed reform in time and return to take their part yet again, but molesting the fay is also a breach of the Code. She has planned carefully which faeries to use and how, since her plans must mesh perfectly with the cognizance of the faeries used, the story they embody, and which part they play.

This faction, like the Soterists, also includes in its ranks a handful of co-conspirators for Iselin. These magi should be prepared as for the Soterists. Houses most likely to be represented are the nature-oriented ones and those of Germanic origin: Merinita, Bjornaer, and Ex Miscellanea. Nevertheless, the ranks might also include Verditii wanting to preserve as much vis as possible, only to harvest it at the first opportunity. It is vital to her that her comrades in arms master magic related to nature, namely that involving animals, plants, weather, earth and water. They might focus on the physical objects themselves, Airy Spirits (Realms of Power: Magic, page 103), or Elementals (Realms of Power: Magic, page 132). Here is a single example magus for inspiration.

Age: 52 (Master)

Personality Traits: Wilderist +3, Cooperate with Merinita +2, Ensure coherence among Bjornaer +3

Heike is a short, heavy-set woman with salt-and-pepper hair, who bears more than a passing resemblance to her boar Heartbeast. A Wächter at heart, she is also very determined not to let House Bjornaer tear itself apart over these differences. Apart from this, she also seeks to maintain positive diplomatic ties between her House and House Merinita, by not allowing the wilderness-versus-faerie question to muddle things. Her intellectual lineage can be traced back to that of the Founder of House Merinita herself, to a group that disliked the direction their House was taking at the time of Quendalon. These magi gained acceptance into House Bjornaer and integrated their nature-oriented magic with the Mysteries of the Heartbeast. Heike's main motive for actively supporting Iselin is her desire to have House Merinita split into two different Houses, one comprising the minority represented by the nature magi and one following the teachings of Quendalon and his faerie magic. This is a goal she has not divulged to many, and especially not yet to Iselin, but she has covert supporters in House Merinita. The ace up her sleeve in this regard is that while the nature magi who broke with Merinita's disciples might be a minority now, they could quickly grow in numbers should they join forces with her comrades from House Bjornaer, descendants of those who changed House back in the day. She also seeks to recruit and unite the multitude of like-minded Ex Miscellanea magi, who remain a widespread and incoherent group. She believes the success of Iselin's plan allows her to pursue these ends. Her magical mastery of various natural forces and elements — weather, earth, plants, and natural bodies of water — gives her ample opportunity to assist with the building and expansion of the village as well as sabotage the same work or even raze it from the surface of the earth.