GSUK update
I wrote this update for Facebook fans of my little ghost research group, GSUK. I thought I may as well share it on my blog as well!
We maintain a quiet but social forum, and are always delighted to welcome new members. You can sign up here –
http://ghostlystayuk.myfreeforum.org/index.php
and it is the first place we announce new research or forthcoming events. Once you have signed up Becky or I have to approve you, so please do include an email – this is simply because we used to be besieged by SPAMbots who put some, er, interesting, links all over the forum!
If you have forgotten your password, just drop me a line at chrisjensenromer@hotmail.com and I’ll sort you out 
card design by Ed Woods - more on this another time!
or visit their website at http://www.spr.ac.uk/main/
Becky completed the MSc course in Parapsychology at Coventry University – http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=MSc+Parapsychology&init=quick#!/pages/Coventry/Coventry-University-MSc-Parapsychology/109629113877?ref=search&sid=642030568.4198790475..1 – highly recommded if you have the time and money.
She is now working on a PhD in anomalous experiences based on looking at peoples strange happenning and so forth. Last summer she and I conducted a trial piece of research, which we are currently coding, with one very interesting result straight off — http://jerome23.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/charting-the-unknown-ghosts-memory-the-progress-of-time/
I have been busy writing reviews for The SPR (one is in the current issue of the Paranormal Review actually: Tricia Robertson on psychic surgery, a most fascinating talk) and i’m keeping up to date on the latest in parapsychology.
Becky and i are now officially an item – we still have not moved in together, so we are commuting between Derby and Cheltenham at weekends, so things are a bit hectic.
The Next Event
No dates yet, as i’m still trying to sort out the best location, and what exctly we want to try. Our ghost nights are always a bit “different”, but I’ll keep you updated!
cheers
cj x
Indie RPG Review: Polaris — Chivalric Tragedy at the Utmost North
In the prevailing icy conditions, it seems only to apt to add to my blog this review, written last year when the weather was rather more clement! This review is “Adventures in running indie games with hard core war gamers and power gamers with a strong gamist tendency.” If that premise amuses you, read on.
Polaris: Chivalric Tragedy at the Utmost North
In this review I will discuss Ben Lehman’s Polaris: Chivalric Tragedy at the Utmost North. The cover suggests 3-5 players aged 14 and up, and the game is really designed with four players in mind, though rules for three and five player variants are included. As one of my players said, “in some ways this resembles a board game”, and the requirement to have 3-5 and ideally four players immediately shows you some of the similarities. Nonetheless, Polaris is very much an rpg, and a beautiful example of how far the medium can be taken away from the D&D inspired conventions we think of when we here the words “roleplaying game.”
This is a very unusual game – but don’t let that put you off. You might well read a few paragraphs and think – hey, this is a Forge inspired indie game, it’s not for me – but stick with the review and see how I fared. Lets start with the stuff I found intimidating, and why it’s taken 3 years for me to run the game…
Polaris has no GM. Of all the heresies you can commit, this must be one of the most blatant. I’m a simulationist. I like to play against a written plot, and solve puzzles. My player group likewise. So collaborative storytelling? It reeks of campfires, folk music and real ale – three things I like, but I mean this in a bad way. The story is driven entirely by the players, responding to a beautifully written background, and the conventions of romantic tragedy and heroic knightly adventure. I half expected the players who turned up to walk out the door, as a previous group (who were Heroquest players – I was trying the Ars Magica/AD&D types this time) I had tried to get interested had, but after a minute of stunned silence they said, “sure, let’s try it…”
Secondly, Polaris is beautifully written. – which can be a bad thing! I have a few friends who were willing to try Nobilis, but were put off by the beautiful writing, especially the little epigrams, declared the game “pretentious” and never bothered to learn. I thought this could happen with my player group for Polaris. John is a hard core wargamer who loves tactical problems and avoiding conflict by careful planning, Tom I have only ever played once with, and Ed loves character generation and careful design, as in Ars Magica. I decided to read them a few pages of the background, then summarise more of it to give them the feel for the setting. About ten minutes of reading, answering questions about the background, and we were off. On seeing the character sheet they were intrigued enough to want to play.
So what is the background? It reminds me a bit of some of HP Lovecraft’s fantasy pieces, like The White Ship, Polaris, etc. In fact it reminds me even more of Robert Chambers, Oscar Wilde, and a few of the other Decadent/Celtic Twilight/Romantic authors, if that means anything to you. It’s a haunting fairy story about a land in the ultimate north, with a beautiful people who were destroyed in Arthurian style tragedy, and the players play the knights who have survived the death of the King and Queen, and the destruction of the capital in “The Mistake”. Whether the people are made of ice, human, fairy or something other I do not know – the nature of the tragedy is ambiguous, but deals with the rising of the sun, the dawn, and the coming of day to destroy the endless blissful night. It could be an allegory for many things, but even read literally all kinds of possible meanings and explanations arise from the beautifully written (if you like late 19th century/Edwardian prose, as I do) opening account. There are 28 pages of this, which despite the superb use of ambiguity which gives the players great scope to tell the story in many ways, is actually quite detailed in others.
The King and Queen are gone, lost with the destruction of the capital (though I can’t help wondering about the enemy knight Solaris and the Frost Maiden, but hey!) and the players play members of the Order of the Stars, a knightly order armed with Starlight Blades who guard the four remaining outposts of the people from the demons who pour from the Mistake where the capital was, and against corruption from within.
Here we have potential problem number 3. Your character is doomed. The world is ending, and the story is a tragedy. Tragedy however is not always depressing – and the game is written in a way that gives you considerable leeway in how that tragedy plays out. Ultimately you will be corrupted or killed – but is not the same true of Call of Cthulhu? The important thing is that you choose how the game will end for your character, and you are architect at least partially of your own downfall. In fact, despite the sombre tragic tone of the game, my group had a blast with it – there was more laughter and smiles than I have seen in a long time. We found Polaris great fun, and i wish to stress this. While we played seriously, the way the game works led to much clever negotiation to screw over each others characters, yet there was no recrimination or hostility, as I have even seen creep in to Paranoia (a game I have never managed to run successfully) – instead there was a strong competitive element I have not seen work well before in any rpg.
So potential problem 4 play was essentially competitive. Your character sheet has your Heart (your character, called the protagonist): the player who sits opposite you is your Mistaken, and plays your adversary and in play tries to complicate and make difficult your characters life; the player to the left is your New Moon, and plays characters with whom you have a formal relationship, such as other knights, the Judge, an Archivist, the Head of your City Council, or whatever – and to your right the Full Moon, you plays all the characters who you have an emotional and important relationship with. You also have four sets of Themes – Blessings, Offices, etc – which are effectively Virtues, Abilities, Backgrounds, call them what you like.
Before I describe how play works, if you are interested you can download the pdf character sheet here here Have a quick look, and you will quickly grasp how it works. You sit around a table, and the positions dictate the role of the other players with regards to your character. I was Tom’s Mistaken – he was mine. Ed was John’s and vice versa. Ed was my New Moon – he got to play a Royal Clerk who I worked for, and John as my Full Moon played the Goat Twins, two sisters I was torn between. You choose at least one character for each section of your sheet, the NPC’s important to you. the other players can play them, and from time to time one is removed from the story and crossed out, or a new one added. It works very well indeed.
We took it in turns to launch a scent each. You don’t have to, but for a first game it works pretty well, and I recommend it. A scene can involve your character, or the person sitting opposite you, and you have to be far more assertive than in many games. Instead of “I chop at the demon with my sword” you can say “The demonic legion falls upon me: for an afternoon I know no rest, but as my blade flashes in the night I slay relentless, till the ground for yards around is piled high with the melting corpses and rancid ashes of the demons. At last the army falls back, and I cut a path to the city, having slain three score demons…” Yes – very heroic – but you can bet it will go wrong. My Mistaken (Tom) is not going to let me get away with that! There is a formalized set of phrases which dictate how conflicts are resolved. Tom might respond “but only if… your beloved believing you lost to the army rides out alone to try and save you, or dies along side you, and is captured by the demonic horde…” I now have to either accept that, or use a phrase to undo it, or continue the story with an appropriate keyword phrase “but only if…. I here her pitiful screams, and spur my faithful horse as I ride after them…”
You have to be sensible here. It would be easy to push real world buttons, or be an arse. Don’t. Polaris demands maturity and trust. Do do not describe squicky, morally repugnant or deeply emotive scenes unless the other players can handle that I guess. The game demands maturity, and a certain ability to detach from the horrors and tragedy.
Right, so how do these key phrases which run the conflict mechanism work? Polaris is not freeform. There are very definite rules and game mechanisms, and you need to learn them, though from my experience this is best done in play. Polaris feels like a GAME, not a storytelling contest, though it is both. OK, again the best way to get the idea is to download the following useful files – Key Phrases Reference and Conflict Flowchart. We printed these off and kept them close to hand throughout play. They are invaluable.
I never thought my players would get the hang of this, and I thought I wouldn’t. You grasp it quicker with experience, and within a fairly short time we were all entering in to it fully, and resolving long and complex scenes. You certainly aren’t going to forget the game mechanics and go for full immersion – the mechanics are MORE blatant than dice, and negotiating scenes to an resolution requires quick thinking, wit, sensitivity and is very creative – but the game mechanics are extremely important. If you forgot them and just described what happened, it would cease to be a game, and Polaris is a skillful game. A single d6 is used, fairly infrequently, but the structure of the narrative through key phrases makes this game quite rules heavy compared to some I have played – and is better for it. The mechanic is pretty much unique to Polaris as far as I know, and unlike say Inspectres I would not want to borrow it for another game – but for this one it works beautifully.
So in essence, Polaris is a beautifully written, highly original and very unusual rpg, but it is a game, with solid well thought out mechanics that reflect the characters corruption and loss of faith, and well reflect the theme of the tragedy. My players loved it, because they are gamist – they could tell stories, but just as importantly they could use the mechanics to make each others character lives difficult, and while sometimes scenes involved our own characters, often we started scenes about our “Mistakens” character just to watch them squirm as we put them in horrible or emotionally charged situations. Most importantly, we laughed, swore, and had a great time!
The game would shine in campaign play – I would have thought 5 sessions would work well, though Ed’s cynical betrayal of the Knights and the People led to him falling pretty fast towards weariness and ultimate doom in our game – he reached a Zeal of 1 from 4 in a single session, but that was with unlucky dice rolls and repeatedly cynical self-serving choices. We have all agreed we will play again, though getting the same player group together owing to work and distance issues will be difficult. For three years I had owned this game and thought it an interesting piece of indie game design – having played it I can now say it’s an interesting and highly playable game which will appeal to gamers of a wide variety of interests.
The game is available from indiegamesrevolution in the US, or Leisuregames in the UK, and I expect other stockists. A well bound but small paperback book, £13.99 is a little pricey for the indie production values – I’d have though £10 would be fair – but the quality of the writing, the game and the art taken from Boris Artzybasheff’s work is so high I can rate it no less than 5 for style. For substance I gave 4 – I can see me playing this many times, but the setting is ultimately limited to what it does, and does very well.
If you are a mature traditional roleplayer looking for an interesting and revolutionary piece of rpg design ,and playing with exactly four players is to a problem to you, I really recommend this game. Get your friends to sit down and start playing, and be willing as we did to sacrifice tragic poetry to competitive gamesmanship and clever storytelling, and be willing to have fun with it – and the game will work just as well as if you are a group seeking catharsis and epic emotional drama.
Superb.
cj x
Boardgame Review: Ticket to Ride Europe
OK, so this year for Christmas I took a huge risk and bought Becky a boardgame Ticket To Ride Europe. I am happy to say this proved to be an excellent choice! If you enjoy games, whether a hard-core gamer, or are just someone who likes to play something with friends other than Chess or Bridge or Strip Poker from time to time, I’d seriously consider buying this game. Even if you normally don’t like games, give it a go! And do read the review – because I include details on how you can try it out from the comfort of your own pc for free…
Ticket to Ride Europe: the components
How do you explain TTR? It’s a family boardgame, which anyone aged over twelve should be able to understand the rules of an play, and intelligent kids from ten up should handle it – hell I was playing Avalon Hill’s Diplomacy at that age! It is certainly not Snakes and Ladders, but actually I think it is much less complicated than say Monopoly, and to me many many times more absorbing. I’m not a fan of long drawn out boardgames, and I quite like the mission cards in Risk which let the game end earlier if you meet your objectives — and yes, this game is easier to learn and more enjoyable to my mind than Risk. In fact I think it may be my favourite boardgame ever — and an avid Diplomacy fan like me has to admit that I may even prefer it to that great game. I’ll come back to that at the end of the review. Well this game can be played with 2 to 5 players, with the 2 player game being as good as the 3, 4, or 5 – just faster – and all of thm can be played in under an hour once everyone knows the rules, and maybe less.
So how does it work?
Ticket to Ride Europe is an amazingly simple but elegant design. You start with a game board (fairly large, will fit on a coffee table though- normal boardgame size I guess) depicting a map of Europe in 1901 (Spring 1901 perhaps?). Place names are generally rendered in the local language – Vienna is Wien, and so on. The map is fairly geographically accurate, with a few places positions nudged a few miles to fit better on the board, but t will certainly teach you geography, and may actually be useful in that respect. The map is attractive, and covered in pretty coloured railway lines – well potential railway lines, waiting to be built.
Ticket to Ride Europe: the game board
These routes are then built on by the players taking it in turns to lay their little plastic train carriages, to connect cities. It sounds deadly dull, but it isn’t. It’s utterly fascinating! To build a line you have to play cards, and you on each turn can either take two cards, from a face up selection, or from the deck for a random choice, to add to your hand. Alternatively you can play cards from your hand in sets to build lines (there is a third and fourth option mentioned below). So from London to Edinburgh can be built by playing a set of four orange cards, you have collected, or four blacks. Once someone has built a line that’s it : the route is claimed, and other players can’t build there, with the exception of double tracks, which you can build anyway – like London to Edinburgh – if you have the other colour. In the two player game only one set of double tracks can be built on. Lines do not have to be contigous: you can build anywhere on the baord you have the cards to play. Grey routes are wild, any coloured set of the relevant size can be played to complete them, but having the longest track does give you extra points and aid greatly in winning.
As well as the pink, white, green, yellow, orange, red and black cards their are also locomotive cards which are wild and can be played anywhere. They can also prove useful for building tunnels: I won’t explain tunnels and ferries here, but the rules are simple and elegant. The full rules can be downloaded here if you are interested, but it’s much easier to understand them if you have the map and pieces in front of you: neither Becky nor I were very excited when we first read the rules before we tried to play. (In fact she said it looked like “a game for trainspotters”). Now we are both addicted to this game! New features over the original Ticket to Ride (itself avery fun game, set in the USA 1901) are Tunnels, Ferries and Stations which add a little complexity but are enjoyable.
Building lines earns you points: byut the game is far more than this, and there is a nother vital deck of cards I have not yet touched upon – the Tickets. Tickets are destinations, and come in to two types – long routes and other routes. There are only six long routes in the original game, and this is perhaps the only weakness of the game as sold – you soon (after the maybe forty odd games I have now played – I told you it was addictive) -get to know all the long routes off by heart. There is an expansion pack which gives morte destination cards including 9 more long routes, but we have not bought it yet, as the game is very playable without it. These Ticket cards are at the heart of the game: you start with one long route and three short routes, randomly drawn, and get points for connecting these cities. You cn reject a couple if you want, and take a risk and draw more in the game (drawing three of which you must keep one is the third play option on a turn.
The final option is building a station – these allow you to run a service along a short stretch of a rival’s line, say Essen to Kobenhavn (Copenhagen for the Danish impaired among you, and I mean the language not my friends!). This costs you four points at the end of the game, but can be well worth it. There is an excellent tutorial and guide here on the publisher’s website, with loads of photos, a fun video which will show you the basics, , and all kinds of other great stuff.
We played all Christmas...
Winning the Game
The player with the most points at the end wins, and you gain points by laying “track” – for example 1 point for a one stretch, 7 points for a four piece track and 21 points for the 8 piece tunnel between Stockholm and Petrograd (presumably actually a mix of tunnels and ferries, doubt anyone would try and bridge or tunnel under the Baltic there in reality, probably a line through Finalmnd off the top of the map?). Completing tickets earns you more points, and your long route is worth 21 or 20 alone – but if you manage a route from Kobenhavn to Erzurzum in Turkey, Palermo to Moscow, Athens to Edinburgh or Brest to Petrograd to give just three possibilities then you deserve it! Actually these long routes nearly always get completed – if you don’t complete a route, you LOSE the points instead of adding them, so you will lose 40 or 42 points from what you would have had if you made it.
The final source of points if for the longest continual stretch of of track built: ten points. Final scores range from about 150 (by me) to the lowest score I have ever seen, 30, achieved by Ed, though I think Becky managed that on an USA 1901 online game last night!
We have played this game a lot now... Ed and Becky during a New Year game at mine
Gameplay
Fast and absorbing, especially in the 2 player game. Even in the 5 player you are usually busy planning your next move till your turn comes round again, though if another player is absorbed in an interminable text message conversation with a girlfriend on their turn or are a bit slow of understanding owing to being absorbed in something else like say cooking, it can be annoying to have to prompt them – but it’s the same with anything, and such people should be banished from civilisation (to Buxton, I know Ed never reads my blog so he won’t notice this!) anyway.
There is a lot of room for tactics and a large degree of skill, but also with the drawing of cards plenty of room for dumb luck and of the best laid plan to fall through. Careful play can usually mitigate this: Becky still wins most games, but we have all won a few, and DC won his very first game, which may have been through skill. The game is however quite low on interaction: you don’t trade cards, and the only real interaction comes in blocking each other routes by building where someone else needs to go. Experienced players see opportunities to do this more: they know the routes and important bits of track — (hint: the two piece green routes from Frankfurt to Essen and Rostov to Kharkhov are usually worth grabbing fast) — but even if you realise that Bob is building from Athens to Edinburgh, it is not really worth trying to block him, except possibly in 2 player game. You only have 45 pieces of track — and you will need all of them. In online play deliberately blocking someone is considered unsporting by many players anyway: wasting track messing about with your opponents planned routes is rarely worth it anyway, as you are more likely to win by going for your own destinations. I tend to like highly interactive games like Diplomacy: I still love TTR.
How Can I Try It Out for Free?
Go to the publishers website, Days of Wonder. Make sure you have read the rules – I put the link above. If you register on the Days of Wonder site you can play online free, I think four free games, which usually take about twenty to thirty minutes each to complete – online play seems much faster. You should be able to work it out quite quickly, and so long as you understand tunnels and ferries and stations (to play a station online drag and drop a card over the city you want to build on, and hit ok when it asks you: to play track drag and drop card on the route, and to take tickets double click on the Ticket cards.) Look for a game called For Beginners – and remeber that Ticket to Ride USA is the easiest to learn and play (no tunnels stations or ferries to worry about) so start with that. If you like it you can buy the online versions – owning a Days of Wonder boardgame gives you a ten per cent discount, and buying from the US store in dollars it was less than a tenner to buy Ticket to Ride and Ticket to Ride Europe online versions. It might take you a little while to work out how to join a game etc, but the tutorials are excellent and you are made to play a solo game against robot players (bots) first to make sure you get the hang of it when you register. So why not try it? I’m registered as CJ23 on the site, so do add me to your buddies when you join and I’ll play you if we are online at the same time.
a game in progress
Fast, addictive, plenty of strategy and a lot of fun – go play trains!
If you enjoyed this review you may wish to read my review of Agricola here
cj x
From Ricall to York: Our New Ars Magica Saga Starts
A few days ago Tom and I were chatting about how much fun it would be to start a new Ars Magica roleplaying game saga. So there being a CJ involved, this happened, and quickly. Tom, Ed and I discussed the setting and decided on the Stonehenge Tribunal (roughly speaking England & Wales) and as I have long wanted to do a game which covers the Angevin/Plantagenets from Henry II through Richard, John and Henry III we decided on a start date of 1160, and a fast saga with a few years between stories. The changing of the seasons and usurpation seemed appropriate themes, and we therefore decided to go for the players as new magi arriving at a Winter covenant that had declined in to a crumbling wreck. Tom wanted to set the saga in York, and so the stage was set.
The first real issue was whether to use the setting published already in David Chart’s excellent 4th edition Tribunal book, Heirs to Merlin. We decided not to, but instead created our own covenants, simply because the players were all so familair with Blackthorn, Voluntas, etc, etc and therefore we thought it would be fun to do something different. We created a number of covennats – the actual method used I shall not discuss just yet, in case the players (or their characters) work it out in the course of the saga.
The players covenant was named Domus Alba Rosa, hopefully close to the Latin for the House of the White Rose, and attached to St. Peter’s school in York, a real urban school founded back in the Dark Ages and still going strong today. The physical setting was two townhouses over a set of Roman catacombs in Micklegate, with a near by hostelry the Blue Boar as a hang-out for grogs and consortes and the schoolroom across the river near th Minster. As Tom and I will both be running adventures, we spent a lot of time discussing the details – a statue of Mithras was found near here, so we decided there must be a Mithraeum, and then the Legion of Mithras I had detailed in The Mysteries Revised Edition seemed a sensible theme for the covenant (though we had other themes we wanted to include as well form our covenant design ideas).
I created the covenant using 600 build points and Covenants: medium power as long in decline. Tom did a splendid job on sorting out what the vis sources are, so I concentrated on books, and the mechanics, before creating the personalities. Here are my notes –
Magi Domus Rosa Alba
The Magi of the House of the White Rose, York
The once great covenant has now fallen in to ruin and dilapidation. While the townhouses remain structurally sound, warm and comfortable and the catacombs habitable, age has wreathed the corridors in cobwebs, and smoke has long since darkened the diamond pains of glass. Across the river the School hall is maintained better, but even there the dust of centuries has gathered on the wooden benches of the schoolroom high above the shops, and the wooden steps up creak ominously under the weight of the masters.
The Library high in a well tarred and isolated attic of Crosskeys House has the books piled on tables, but they are few compared with days past. Every year visitors borrow books to aid them in some heroic quest, and every year they take vis and disappear off to fight terrible foes of the Order surely it would be churlish to ask them to replace it? Most of the resources appear to have vanished to other Covenants, even other Tribunals. Meanwhile the magi have forgotten about glory: their grogs no longer have weaponry, or armour, and are little more than the best brawlers in the Blue Boar Tavern, and the school is utterly neglected, save by Thomas, who dreams of a day when the Covenant will again be a force to be reckoned with.
There are currently (1160) three magi at the Covenant – Henri the Quaesitor, the long term visitor Leona of Bjornaer, and the Jerbiton Archmagus Helena Mavrocatalon, a Byzantine nobleman/woman who has lived in the Tribunal for over 80 years, and speaks fluent English when the mood takes him/her.
Her Eminence Helena Mavrocatalon Constantinopolis, Imperatrix Rosa Alba, Archmaga Jerbiton, Poetess, Warrior, Hoplite, Heroine, and Defender of the Order.
Helena as we shall call her for short (but NEVER make this error) is a 138 year old Byzantine nobleman, of an illustrious family, closely related to the current Emperor of the Romans, Manuel I Kommenos – these are the Byzantine Greeks in Constantinople in case anyone is confused! As such she adopts imperial affectations, and is incredibly vain, effete, and always heavily made up with a ridiculous wig and vast amounts of jewellery. Despite all these things, she is still quite clearly male, and following a Twilight episode decades ago can never change her gender, or have it changed, by magic.
Eight decades ago she arrived in York, and made quite a splash at her first Tribunal, soon becoming deeply involved in Tribunal politics. Her exquisite manners, fawning catamites and eunuchs and incredible arrogance soon made an impact: everyone in the Tribunal knows he is a super-bitch beyond compare, but a bitch who throws the most incredible orgies, and whose decadence is far beyond anything the Catholic Church could ever stomach. Several Archbishops of York condemned her from the Minster pulpit: she laughed at them, and her fabulous wealth and insatiable desire for trinkets and luxuries soon swung the citizens behind this astonishing creature. Even today the Masters of every Guild would come to her immediately if she called upon them – but as he has not been twenty years dead as far as they know, they are unlikely to do so.
Her “death” was nothing to do with hiding her longevity from the mundanes, or mortals as she disparagingly calls them, of York. Whatever her reason, her seclusion has been long, but not uneventful. A skilled political player, a terrible foe, and a sworn defender of the Order of Hermes, her anger is terrible, her vengeance burns, and those she classes as enemies rarely live to the next Tribunal. Many regard her as a vain arrogant transvestite maniac, but any brave enough to say so will die in a Wizard’s War pursued with incredible energy. She has slain eight magi in justly declared Wizard Wars: the furthest was in the Rhine Tribunal, and mocked her in a drunken after dinner conversation in his home covenant.
Yet there is not a Hoplite in the Tribunal who would not spring instantly to her defence, or unquestioningly follow her orders. Only Flavius, the Exarch of Tremere at Mons Castrum may have more influence over the loyal Hoplites. She is the Persian of Mithras, Commander of the Legion in the Tribunal, and a legend among them. She always affects silver robes or dresses prominently displaying the sign of Taurus, and her influence stretches even beyond the Tribunal borders – wherever there are Hoplites, she has friends. It is rumoured her own House, Jerbiton, are far less enamoured of her though, and the dislike extends to her loathing for the covenant of Aedis Rex, even redcaps from that covenant being received with scorn and treated with the very barest of courtesies required by the Order.
She knows many secrets though, and uses them well, her network of spies and agents rival those of any Tytalus.
Leona of Bjornaer, Aged 59.
If anyone rivals Helena (but don’t call her that) in regal arrogance, pride and deadly contempt for fools, it is Leona of Bjornaer. She is a Captain of Mithras, and does not care who knows it – and she has been here four years on her Mystery Cult’s business, guarding the Mithraeum, and seeking mysteries of Constantine. She originates from the Levant, and is half-Arab, half crusader but unlike Helena does not respond well to questions about her parentage – it is popularly rumoured she is the daughter of a King though. No one can upstage her, talk down to her, or try to control her – except Helena. Everyone thought the two maga would hate each other – instead they have become incredible friends.
Her religion remains a mystery, and yet she is known to have a sympathy for the Jews of York, leading some to wonder if she may be a secret Heathen. No one has ever seen her in church, but no one has ever been foolish enough to comment (Helena does not go either, being of the Orthodox Christian rite).
Whatever Leona’s business in the Tribunal, she is very discreet, but has on several occasions been spotted padding silently around the alleys in the moonlight. The Archbishop of York has heard stories of a lion in the city, and they have been so persistent he has offered a reward t anyone who can capture the beast for his planned menagerie – something which Leona derives much amusement from.
A silent, merciless killer who speaks no English, she has little time for the covenfolk and less for the farmers whose sheep she preys upon… Don’t mess with her, or you might perish.
Henri the Quaesitor, aged 63
Henri has been at the covenant since his childhood, and was the apprentice of Green Stephen, a Bonisagus with a research interest in faerie matters who died mysteriously on a Christmas night some fifty winters ago. Henri himself was adopted by Petros the Just, a Guernicus Quaesitor, and served his final two seasons of apprenticeship with Petros before Gauntleting in that House. He has a bad reputation as poorly trained throughout House Guernicus, and is widely believed to be incompetent. Selected as an emissary to the Loch Leglean Tribunal he was effectively banished there for three terms of seven years, and on his return he became something of a recluse, fearing being sent abroad once again as an embarrassment to his House. No one asks him to defend their case, and no one seeks his counsel on legal matters. His sole duty is approving Hoplites adventures, and dealing with te administration and paperwork for the Legion on behalf of Helena who treats him like an unpaid skivvy. He is well known as an incompetent yes-man, and even within the Legion of Mithras has never advanced beyond the second rank – a Bride, he wears the Green cloak and silver lantern broach to display his status as an investigator of the Legion.
Those who know him well know that the Covevant’s school and Scriptorium would never run without his careful attention, and that really he is the effective working member of the covenant, though he would never dare says so It was he who invited the magi to come to Domus Rosa Alba, presumably on behalf of Helena and Leona, as he would never presume to do anything without their command.
Next up we needed the other covenants, so I wrote them up based on Ed and Tom’s notes.
Covenants of the Stonehenge Tribunal
Stonehenge has a fairly isolationist tradition, and some of the Covenants are not overly sociable, Many do not welcome visitors, and even trade in magical resources is relatively uncommon. The more civilised (read Southern English and Yorkshire) covenants often look to the Normandy Tribunal for support and visitors. This insular aspect to life in the Tribunal is reflected in the Tradition that only two magi from each Covenant are invited to attend each Tribunal, but they of course carry the sigils of the others. Any magi may attend f they so wish, against this tradition, but it is considered rude and unnecessary. Politics revolve around maintaining the status quo, and are positively sleepy by other Tribunal’s standards, with “minding your own business” being considered a high virtue here.
Aedis Rex: Bury St Edmunds – in the shadow of the Great Abbey, visitors should enquire at the Prior’s House, and make the sign of Intellego. Home to three Jerbiton Magi, a Quaesitor and two Redcaps.. Non-Gentle Gifted magi should take lodgings outside the town and send a messenger instead. Said to have the greatest library in the Tribunal of books on Abilities, and known to be a centre for the Pythagorean mysteries, which welcomes students who can pass the examinations. Rufus of Nantwich leads the magi here, and is a master of Disputatio, that is public debates. He engages in lengthy correspondence with magi all over the Tribunal, and is always willing to assist young magi working on research projects.
Atrium Mercatus – Londinium – With a Gifted Mercere, four Redcaps, a Quaesitor, two Jerbiton, two Bonisagus, two Ex Miscellanea and three Verditius, this is the site of the Mercer House for the area. Said to offer excellent hospitality, good opportunities for visiting the fleshpots of London and yet a strangely warm and familial welcome to members of the Order. Vis and potent magic items can be purchased or be exchanged here at better rates than the rest of the Tribunal offers. Tribunal Meetings are held here, deep within the Dominion aura of the city, rather than as in other Tribunal’s at the Praeco’s home.The actual Mercer House is a rambling house in the centre of the city, filled with young apprentices: it is said that Atrium Mercatus takes more apprentices than anywhere else, perhaps because of the Orphanage they run which proves a useful source of Gifted kids.
Cad Gadu, Domus Magna of House Ex Miscellanea, on Lake Bala, North Wales. Home to many Ex Miscellanea magi, and two redcaps. No one not invited can find the magical glass island upon which the covenant stands, which must be situated in a regio? Non Ex Miscellanea are not welcomed here, though Redcaps may visit freely, and many Merinita and Bjornaer have been invited to attend specific meetings. By tradition any visitor who has genuine business with the Primus Ex Miscellanea (currently Immanola) may travel to Pont Mwnwgl-y- llyn and blow the horn suspended from the hazel tree there to summon Immanola to a meeting in London at Atrium Mercatus that same day! The secrecy of the covenant breeds suspicion, as does the many deaths reported among its members.
Sagittarii: West Wales – Criamon clutch set in Egryn, West Wales. If you are not a Criamon you don’t know any more about this place. If you are you might. The clutch has five members, and is one of the largest Criamon centres in Northern Europe. No one messes with them, as they have a reputation for extremely lethal defence of their vis sources and privacy, and a House Criamon Quaesitor (who may be unique in the whole Order in that capacity) is one of the five inhabitants: he is known to be extremely good at Hermetic Law. Three decades ago Mons Castrum believing they may have Diedne links declared Wizards War against the inhabitants, and lost three magi without coming close to the valley where they dwell. The surviving attackers were invited in, shown around, and left their wounds tended and their fears of Diedne influence dispelled, but word spread their were worse horrors defending this place. Many believe they have tamed a dragon, but the magi of Mons Castrum never broke their oath of silence about what they saw there that they swore to be allowed to concede the Wizard’s War and depart in peace..
The Wild Woods – Forest of Dean – home to an exiled Rhine Ex Miscellanea and several natives of that tradition, as well as two Merinita, Joanna Silvae a young maga is the person visitors usually deal with. Uninterested in politics, they welcome vis trade and are said to have some curious spells and magic items they will trade lab texts for; but the focus on Herbam magic leaves many magi not willing to make the effort. They are said to have shaped the very woods to serve their needs, and live lives of idle pleasure, but they politely resist any attempt to make them participate in the Tribunal, and les politely throw out any who attempt to reduce their hard won independence. Recently it was rumoured they approached the Tribunal of Novgorod asking to be accepted as a covenant of that Tribunal, but the truth of the rumour is unknown.
Heremus: Cumbria – somewhere in the wasteland, a mixed covenant. Home to several Ex Miscellanea, a Flambeau and four Bjornaer magi, but governed by a Tytalus, Hugh, who is said to be utterly mad. The Loch Leglean Tribunal occasionally accuses them of raiding across the borders, but they have plenty of vis so it is hard to see why they would bother. They are on excellent terms with the Chapel of the Green Knight (see next entry). The actual position of the covenant seems to be elusive, and finding them is a problem to all but the most experienced redcaps. They have some long term plan which is little known to outsiders but involves heroic effort.
Basilicola Equites Viridis: Wirral – Covenant of the Chapel of the Green Knight – a legendary location, home to many members of House Tytalus, Jerbiton, Merinita and Flambeau. The Knights loathe the Tremere of Mons Castrum with a passion, but are rumoured to have upset Sagittarii recently by adopting a Criamon exiled from there in to their fellowship. Many have wondered what the Criamon maga did to get herself expelled: to get chucked out of House Criamon you must be REALLY weird.
Eruditio Palus – Somerset Marshes, near Glastonbury – a few level-headed mages try to gather vis and cut through the mysticism surrounding Glastonbury. Home to the legendary monk and cartographer Egbert, known for his lewd dancing which led to his expulsion form his monastery. Several Bjornaer and Bonisagi make their home here, and they are said to have many excellent books on the Arts and welcome visitors who are willing to risk catching swamp ague. There are always a Quaesitor based here, though why no one can say, as it is little involved in politics, mundane or Hermetic.
Mons Castrum Shropshire, Bridgnorth – in the caves underneath Bridgnorth’s table mountain, a warren of wizards keep their fortress ready. Home to the Tremere Exarch Flavius and five followers (this is a highly defensible position) plus a couple of martial-minded Flambeau associates. Flavius is Praeco by virtue of being the oldest magi in the Tribunal – he is 136 years of age in 1160, and still capable of riding his magical steed which is said to be able to run upon the winds, and a fearsome warrior and an even more fearsome master of Rego magics.
Alba Rosa – Your covenant. The name means White Rose.
Woodpecker covenant, on the North Yorkshire Moors so-called as they started off “guests” of Walter l’Espec aka “Walter the Woodpecker”, founder of Helmsley castle in 1120, Rievaulx abbey (2 miles away, a major Cistercian place with a fine wool produce and a forge) and Kirkham Priory (Augustinian). This wealthy and ambitious builder and generous philanthropist is clearly too good for mages to pass up. He was raised up by Henry I, controlled Northern England for a few years with Eustace FitzJohn At this point the castle is made of wood (and the town is called “Hamlake”) and owned by Walter’s sister, Adelina and her husband Peter de Roos..
Medicata Insula: Lindisfarne – Holy Island covenant, a mixed group of mages who live in a high Dominion aura, yet somehow cope. Physically isolated by both tide and distance, they rarely turn up to Tribunal meetings. A Bonisagus maga called Isabella who lives here is known to be an expert on Hedge Magic traditions of the Order, and little liked by the rest of the covenant. Why she stays no one knows.
Well we only had four days from deciding to play the game, to actually starting the first session, so we have been working very fast, but I think we have a fair start here which should give us a few months play potential at least.So far Luke has designed his Mythic Companion, a Faerie Doctor called Sam, Kev played Colt the Smith his Verditius magi and Lloyd’s 22 year old Magister in Artibus has turned his back on Oxford University to become a school master at St. Peter’s York. Lloyd has said he will write the first session up, so I will doubtless put that on my blog as well, but so far it’s been a lot of fun and they have only just arrived at the covenant! I’ll update from time to time with notes on how the game is going – gaming si an important part of my life, and I rarely talk about my rpg games here, but I guess a few of my fellow gamers might be amused or find something useful.
Oh I did a player handout – as the game opened on Christmas Day 1160 with the character’s trudging through the snow, I gave them a quick historical introduction to major events of that year…
The Year 1160
The Royal Family
The year just ending has been a peaceful one in Stonehenge. King Henry II is married to the former wife of his greatest enemy, Louis of France. The beautiful Eleanor of Aquitaine is now 38 years old, but eight years ago to everyone’s amazement following the annulment to of her former marriage she ran away with King Henry. Their first child William died a few years ago, aged three, but they have three healthy sons – Henry aged seven, Richard aged three and Geoffrey aged two, as well as a four year old daughter, Matilda.
This year King Louis of France’s second wife (the one who replaced Eleanor) Constance of Castille died in October, giving birth to a daughter, Alys. She already had a child with Louis, the three year old Margaret of France, and that child is in the care of King Henry and Queen Eleanor, who promptly declare her engagement to their eldest living son, Henry. King Louis is furious, and marries Adele of Champagne almost as soon as his former wife is buried, still desperately hoping for a male heir. At the moment Young Henry of England (the four year old) may inherit France if King Louis dies!
War with France
In November the three year old Margaret f France was married to Young Henry (aged seven), with the Papal Legates Cardinal Willaim of Pavia and Cardinal Henry of Pisa speaking their vows for them, at a castle in Germany. Immediately the Templar held castle of Gisors which was due to be a wedding present had to be surrendered by France to the English King, and Count Theobald of Champagne (Louis’ new father in law) and King Louis of France started to strengthen their castles and prepare for war at Castle Chaumont. King Henry then arrived with his army and the French nobles fled, so that castle too falls to the English. Further war between the Angevin Empire and France is now inevitable, despite, indeed because, of the royal marriage of the infants which may one day unite the two thrones.
Two Popes?
The death of Pope Adrian (an Englishman) leads to a strange situation: the English and French cardinals elect Alexander as Pope, but the German Cardinals claim their candidate Octavian won. There are now two Popes, both of whom claim to rule the Church. In England and Wales Alexander is considered the legitimate Pope, buit in Rome cardinals ort ricval factions still fight on the streets.
Another School Founded
Derby, England sees a new school founded, yet another rival to St Peters, York by Walkelin of Derby. There are just too many schools these days, where will all the school children be found to fill them?
Raynald of Chatillion captured by Saracens
The Crusader Lord, Prince of Antioch by marriage to Constance of Antioch has been captured by the Saracens. Few mourn: four years ago he raided Cyprus, and when the Patriarch of Antioch (a leader of the Orthodox Church and great holy man) condem3ned this attack on the Christian island, Raynald had him seized, stripped naked, covered in honey, and left in the burning sun on top of the citadel. When the Patriarch was released, he collapsed in exhaustion and agreed to finance Raynald’s expedition against Cyprus. It was during a raid against the Saracens that Raynald was caught – they are said to be holding him prisoner in a dungeon,
War in Italy
Holy Roman Emperor (& King of the Germans) Frederick Barbarossa takes Crema ,Italy, following a cruel siege, as part of his campaign against the independent Italian city-states.
I might write one of these for the 1220′s sometime as well, as that could be handy for a lot of Ars Magica sagas. Sadly Tom who was the creator of a good half of this could not make the first session, owing to snow, but he will be at next week’s game, when the character’s really get to know their new home
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