House Mercere

One of the twelve Houses of the Order of Hermes, most of the members of House Mercere are unGifted Redcaps, serving as messengers of the Order. The House also contains a smaller number of Gifted Mercere magi, descendants by blood or lineage from Founder Mercere. Its domus magna is Harco, in the Roman Tribunal.

House Mercere provides vital services to the Order, serving as its communication network, banking institution, and traders.

Particular magical characteristics

• The modern Cult of Mercury within the Order, though open to members of any house, was organized by Mercere's first apprentice.
• The Mutantes tradition is exclusive to this house, and only blood descendant's of Mercere are able to fully develope this tradition's capabilities.
• The creation of Mercere Portals, of great use to the Order as a whole, is a secret kept by the house.

Members

Members of House Mercere mentioned in canon include:

Living Members

• Horst (see Fengheld): GotF 84
• Marco, a multi-epithet redcap that tells many tales about covenants in Covenants
• Loentius, the chief-redcap of the Thebes Tribunal, and its redcap Proximius (see Sundered Eagle). SE also briefly describes Lysandros, Diantha, Niko and Aristides.

Famous Members (deceased)

• Mercere the Founder
• Aldico, Primus of House Mercere during the Schism War (HoHTL page 78)
• Belin

Internet Resources

Atlas Games Forum Discussions

• Redcaps as Messengers
• Longevity Rituals for Redcaps
• Is a Magus Mercere a Redcap?
• Origin and Diversity of Redcap Magic Items

Fiction About Redcaps

• The Stories of Marco the Liar: An Ars Magica Fiction by Timothy Ferguson

References

• A core description is given on ArM5 12, and in the Redcap virtue (ArM5 48).
• The House is described in detail on HoHTL 78-109. This description was written by Erik Dahl.

Legacy Page

The history of this page before August 6, 2010 is archived at Legacy:house_mercere