Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults Chapter Four: House Merinita

When we admire nature, in fact we appreciate how her beauty resembles that of humanity. We admire a fine, healthy tree as we admire a stout yeoman of the forest; we see a face in the clouds and marvel at his moods. We see the nature of the world in human terms, and the Fair Folk are merely these fancies given form — the tree becomes the man, the cloud becomes the face — and to admire them is to admire the essential truth that is the foundation of their being. No, I have not abandoned nature: I simply visit her now through intermediaries.
— Quendalon, first Primus of House Merinita

Kill the traitor! Kill the imposter! Kill the changeling!
— Myanar, former Prima of House Merinita

Provocative, playful, secretive, sinister: like the beings with which they associate, House Merinita defies concise description. As no two faeries are exactly alike, no two members of the House are exactly the same. They learn magic to study and serve the fae, or placate and protect them, or perhaps command and coerce them. There is no unity in the association of these magi; they are a collection of individuals with a shared Hermetic history, little hierarchy or structure, and nothing but their wild assortment of Mysteries in common.

These magi essentially serve two masters: the Magic and Faerie realms. They have The Gift and they practice Hermetic magic; yet they are drawn to the faeries, and appreciate their unpredictable and inspirational nature. Merinita magi thus maintain a delicate balance between this raw power of the wild unleashed, and the subtle charms and jinxes of Arcadian wonder. These are the secrets of the many cults that make up their House: theirs are the Mysteries of magic and faerie combined.

The House is named for Merinita, the woman who swore the Hermetic Oath to Bonisagus and joined the Founders when they first assembled, but many consider her follower Quendalon to be the true force behind its identity, and some erroneously refer to him as one of the original Founders. Most “Merinitae” are not given to keeping meaningful records or histories, but they do famously appreciate stories, and some that concern the Founder and the history of the House are still told among magi who have an interest, by those who claim to have them from others who were there. One with great currency reports that Quendalon normally wore a heavy cloak with a hood that covered his eyes, and many Merinitae affect this garb on occasion.

Key Facts

• Population: 68
• Primus: Handri, a secretive man who shares his plans only with his most trusted advisers
• Domus Magna: Irencillia, in the Rhine Tribunal
• Favored Tribunals: The Rhine and Hibernia
• Motto: Natura veritas unica (“nature is the only truth”) — most Merinitae interpret this as concerning the essential natures of things, rather than nature as a place or state.
• Symbol: Merinita’s sigil, an oak tree within a circle

Famous Figures

• Merinita: Founder, introduced the enchantment that binds a familiar
• Quendalon: first Primus, discovered the faerie Mysteries
• Myanar: second Primus, disgraced, her line exiled
• Alsia: invented the ritual for temporary familiars
• Ambrosius: brought folk Mysteries to the House
• Pendule: helped his followers develop the illusion Mysteries
• Farrago: discovered three additional familiar cords
• Mendalus: argued for a return to Merinita’s ways
• Merinugalaudabila: renewed House interest in certamen

History

Before the Order of Hermes was formed, Merinita was already well known, at least by reputation. It was said among other wizards of the time that a white-haired woman dressed in green traveled alone through the wild lands of Europe, often vanishing into the great forests without a trace of her passing, a woman without equal in nature magic. She could see everything that happened in these places, she knew every bird and beast that lived in them, she could take any shape she chose, and she could command the spirits of the very trees themselves. Yet she was not savage, according to those who had met her, but wise; a woods-woman and healer at home in the forest and perfectly attuned to the wild. She was also intensely shy, and said to only speak when absolutely necessary.

Trianoma devoted an entire year to searching for Merinita, to invite her to come with her to meet Bonisagus and to join the Order of Hermes. Many times she approached one of the dark forests where Merinita was rumored to dwell and called out her proposal to the shadows of the trees, but never received an answer. Yet in 767, as the Founders gathered to discuss Trianoma’s vision, Merinita emerged from the forest and quietly joined their circle. Her reasons for joining were never clear; her followers say that she herself did not know why, but felt compelled by a will greater than her own, as if the forest itself required it of her.

Merinita’s oath to the fledgling Order was binding, and she timidly went to Bonisagus to teach him some of her powers in return for his Parma Magica. According to the few surviving accounts, this was a tedious process, for though Merinita obviously knew a great deal, especially about healing and nurturing plants and living creatures, there was little that she could find to teach Bonisagus, either because she was unable to communicate her mystic understanding, because he had already adapted the ancient healing rituals she practiced into Magic Theory, or because she was unwilling to share all of her secrets.

She eventually demonstrated the ability to join her mind, body, and spirit with an animal, and this was integrated into Hermetic teaching as the enchantment that binds a maga to her familiar. The first ever such creature was a great stag, summoned to Durenmar by Merinita. This beast, the maga tersely explained, was her kindred spirit, whose thoughts and feelings she shared. Magical cords bound him to her and her to him, and joined their hearts and minds as surely as if they were one person. She identified three cords that created this bond, though she indicated that there could be others.

After the Founding, Merinita did not immediately seek out followers as other Founders did. She became very close to Birna, the Founder of House Bjornaer, for the two of them shared similar philosophies. Where Birna had a deep, spiritual connection to the wild through her heartbeast, Merinita had a comparable relationship with nature through her familiar. Together they adapted rites from many ancient wilderness cults, creating the Initiation ceremonies that Birna and Merinita used to teach others their secrets.

As word of the new Order spread throughout Mythic Europe, many would-be wizards traveled to the Rhine from distant lands in search of the lady in green, to study her Mysteries and learn from her wisdom. She eventually accepted these disciples as her followers, and taught them what she could of Hermetic magic. She encouraged them to spread out and settle in many different parts of the world, and she often traveled among them, guiding and nurturing them as she had once done for the forests. In time, however, the duration and frequency of these visits dwindled.

Then, sometime before the ninth century, Merinita simply disappeared. Her followers had expected to see her at the Grand Tribunal in 799, but she never arrived and left no word, and it was only later that some of them recalled her having spoken about being on the verge of a discovery, what she called “the mystery of the eternal spirit of the wild.” She was last seen 14 years previously near Bohemia, and many guessed that she had gone south into Hungary or east into Poland, though others speculated that she had lost herself in one of the many great forests in the area.

In her absence, the House was to be guided by her eldest follower, a magus named Quendalon (Cuin-dallán, “little blind sovereign”), one of the first who had sought out the Founder to become her disciple. He was originally from the Ulster region of Ireland and had been raised among the fae, and believed that his Hermetic magic could be dramatically improved with their gifts. He had spoken with the Founder about this, and after the Grand Tribunal, he declared his intention to visit the faeries that lived in a certain forest in Bohemia. He announced that until he returned, Merinita’s next-eldest follower, Myanar, would be Prima.

Myanar took up governance of the House from her own covenant, also in Bohemia, at the site of Merinita’s first home. Several other magi joined her there, including three hunter-priestesses of Artemis who had traveled from Asia Minor to join the House, and a Roman master of shape-changing. Myanar herself came from Bulgaria, and was descended from a mythic lineage known as the Line of Muj; one of her ancestors had made a pact with a magical guardian spirit of the Balkans, which blessed him and his children with supernaturally great strength and power over storms.

The House Divided

What happened then is very difficult to piece together, as the next few years included some of the strangest events in Hermetic history, filled with terrifying violence and upheaval uncharacteristic of the House. What few details survive from firsthand accounts are contradictory and garbled, and even the dates are confusing and do not always make sense. Yet as far as can be determined by those who have carefully studied the House Divided (as Merinitae have come to call it), the sequence of events proceeded as follows.

Two years after Myanar became Prima, a stranger arrived at her covenant, announcing that he was Quendalon and had returned to resume control of the House. He did resemble the former magus, but he was obviously not human, having two bright rubies instead of eyes. Myanar questioned him about his supposed transformation; he claimed that he had become a faerie in Arcadia, trading his useless human eyes for faerie sight. He also said he had uncovered deep mysteries on his long journey that would revolutionize the Order of Hermes. This knowledge required him, he said, to guide House Merinita in an exciting new direction.

To Myanar, it seemed that this faerie being was an imposter, a changeling who had replaced Quendalon and sought to take over the House, and she refused to comply. This angered him, and he warned that she would suffer dire consequences if she did not obey him. Their conflict escalated into a magical battle, but Myanar was unable to prevent him from escaping. According to letters that Quendalon wrote afterward, Myanar opposed him on ideological grounds, recognizing him full well and swearing that “she would not allow him to deform the House with his distorted visions of the future.” Yet Myanar told her followers that the false Quendalon had bragged about having found and killed Merinita, and had threatened to kill all of them if they did not accept him as hierophant of their cult.

War broke out between the two factions. The faerie Quendalon traveled throughout the region, gathering support from Merinitae and others against Myanar and her followers. Most of them were curious about his new powers and anxious to learn what he had to teach, and so pledged to accept his leadership. He established a covenant called Irencillia near the faerie forest he had entered, and Myanar led a hasty strike against them. Her force was routed, and it appears that she was slain during the battle. Supposedly, those of her force that remained surrendered to Quendalon in 802. He cast them out of the House, but they were later accepted into House Bjornaer. All this was reported at the Grand Tribunal of 817; Quendalon came with two of his followers who supported his story, and while many questioned him, no one contested his description of events.

Other accounts suggest that the war was not so easily won. Some of Myanar’s followers later claimed that Myanar did not die, but rather was transformed into a snake during the first assault, and that in that form she led other attacks on Irencillia in 804 and 806. Some say that faeries participated in the defense of the covenant. It is also said that Myanar was distantly related to Tytalus the Founder, who came to Bohemia in 807 with the public intention of challenging the Queen of the Faeries, and who disappeared into the Maddenhofen Woods that same year. Some speculate that Myanar sought him out and asked for his aid against Quendalon — they reason that his presence in the turbulent region could hardly be a coincidence — and that she went with him into the forest to confront the false Primus and the faeries behind his bid for power.

Quendalon caused great ill-will between Houses Merinita and Tytalus at the 817 Tribunal by laughing loudly during their account of their Founder’s disappearance. He later explained that he was not mocking Tytalus’s ambitious attempt to defeat “the Queen,” but found it amusing that his followers would perceive his end as tragic. He gave them the impression that he knew more than he was saying, but would not speak of it further. Since then, House Merinita and House Tytalus have often been at odds, their poor relationship aggravated by the possibility that Quendalon might have known what happened to their Founder, or even been somehow responsible for their loss.

The Line of Muj

Before Quendalon introduced Faerie Magic to the House, Myanar and her followers focused entirely on Merinita’s Mysteries of nature and life, and many of these secrets came easily to Myanar, for she had a special affinity for nature through her family’s ancient tradition. Other magi descended from this ancestral Line of Muj still live in the Transylvanian Tribunal, and belong to House Tremere. To represent their hereditary magical powers and background, such characters should choose Close Family Ties, Affinity with Auram, Great Strength, and Mountain Lore (see Nature Mysteries, below) during character creation.

A rivalry has developed between a group of these Tremere and a nomadic family of Merinitae, led by a Novgorod maga named Merinugalaudabila. She takes great delight in certamen as a sport, and especially enjoys variations on “the game,” as she calls it. Because of her efforts, interest in magical competition is growing within the House, and a few of her followers have developed the magical focus in certamen that is typically only found in Tremere’s lineage. Together they have invented two unusual dueling styles (see House Tremere, Houses of Hermes: True Lineages, for details). These were designed mostly to embarrass the staid Muj, many of whom know the events of the House Divided and bear a familial grudge against faerie Merinitae on Myanar’s behalf. The two groups often fight for no obvious reason, spuriously challenging each other on what seem very flimsy pretenses whenever they happen to cross paths.

A Faerie Fraud?

Suspicions that the faerie Quendalon was not who he claimed to be seem more likely when considering the evidence of other instances when faeries have taken human shapes and tried to pass themselves off as magi. In the 1100s, for example, an unremarkable magus named Zurenzialle disappeared from his covenant in the Greater Alps suddenly and without warning, and when his sodales decided that he was dead and entered his laboratory, they discovered evidence that he was never human at all, but a Faerie being who had been pretending to be a magus.

To this day, the magi of House Merinita still speculate about whether it really was Quendalon who returned to govern the House. It is a moot point now, whether he was the former Primus or a faerie in disguise, as his legacy remains an integral part of their magic, for good or ill. In fact, it could be detrimental if it were to come to light that he really was an impostor; such a revelation might tarnish all they have done since, and undermine everything his followers have used his Mysteries.

200 Years After

Quendalon returned his attention to adopting faerie ways within his House, to accomplish. teaching his followers and others who came to learn from him the secrets of Faerie Magic. For years he acted as lead Mystagogue, performing hundreds of Initiations and teaching many promising apprentices throughout the ninth and tenth centuries. Sightings of him became much less frequent in the mid-900s, and he sent delegates to the Grand Tribunals of 931 and 964, though none of them could say what had become of him. There were many rumors that he had gone mad, and most suspected he had returned to Arcadia forever.

At the Grand Tribunal of 997, the assembled Merinitae finally decided they would have to choose one of their number to take his place, though they did not all agree that Quendalon was dead. By surprising consensus the leaders of the various groups named a timid young maga named Rhiannon as Prima; she was four generations descended from Quendalon, and they believed she would best represent the House’s interests. She hesitantly accepted the position, moved to Irencillia, and for the most part avoided other magi.

The outbreak of the Schism War came only a few years later. Rhiannon was not a strong orator, but spoke many times in defense of House Diedne, and openly voted against their Renunciation. Many think that she invited a number of Diedne to join her House to escape destruction, and during the war some Merinitae actually fought with the Diedne in battle. They did not ever join with Diedne officially, however, and the Order was anxious for peace during the aftermath, so House Merinita never suffered official retribution for these acts.

Rhiannon reputedly died of old age, and her bones were returned to her Hibernian homeland to be buried. The Primacy eventually passed to Vinaria of Irencillia, said to bear a striking physical resemblance to the Founder. She was much more politically active than her predecessor, and was most famously concerned about the Magic realm fading with the spread of the Dominion. She believed that wild places of power were becoming increasingly smaller and weaker as civilization encroached upon them, and often argued that House Merinita is as much magical as it is fay, that its members would surely feel the negative effects of the loss of the wilderness as keenly as other magi.

She made many overtures of friendship to House Bjornaer, as the relationship between the two Houses had been sour since Myanar’s exile, but she could give them no support for their actions during the invasion of Rügen in 1168, and much of the progress she had made toward reconciliation was undone. The next Bjornaer Primus, Urgen, declared that she was senile and useless, and refused to grant her an audience. Vinaria disappeared in 1202, much the same way as Merinita and Quendalon had done, giving control of the House to Handri, senior magus at Irencillia. Mystifyingly, she later returned in 1209, but has since made no attempt to resume the primacy.

More information about these magi and their domus magna, Irencillia, can be found in Guardians of the Forests: The Rhine Tribunal.

The Future of the House

By 1220, Merinitae have become a contrary crowd of disparate groups, rarely agreeing on anything and hardly interacting with one another at all. Outsiders suspect that this lack of unity is a front for other, secret goals and machinations. For example, they may be establishing good relations with faeries so that they may one day slip away to Arcadia, leaving the Order and Europe forever. Or perhaps they intend to side with the fae when they inevitably war against humanity, and so buy a place in the new faerie hierarchy.

Many Merinitae think that Faerie is permanently slipping away, that the golden age of the faeries is past, and that the Dominion’s slow encroachment over all human civilization is unstoppable. Others stridently protest, and rebuke those who say this, for if believing makes it so, those who proclaim Faerie’s ruin are themselves destroying it with their predictions. It is no wonder there is little agreement among them on these matters, since they are very quick to turn on themselves, and like the faeries do, often fight with each other more than outsiders.

If there is anything that the members of the chaotic House can agree upon, it is that in order for the faeries to survive, the Merinitae must preserve and protect the few remaining places given over to Faerie, or help those who dwell there to adapt to the landscape of the rapidly changing world, or else quit its boundaries entirely and accompany them to the lands beyond living.

House Society

House Merinita is a single Mystery Cult made up of many different groups, each of which has its own ideas about magic and how it relates to the Faerie realm. Besides their Mysteries, they have little in common; about the only thing they agree upon is their interest in faeries, though even then that is not always the case, for Merinita herself had nothing to do with them, and others similarly eschew their alien ways and focus on other types of magical study. Yet every member of the House usually undergoes some sort of test involving the fae as part of her Initiation, so all Merinitae have some experience with them.

Four different aspects of Faerie are described below, to help players define their characters’ attitudes toward the realm. These include the land of Faerie, belief in faeries, what faeries want from humanity, and the relationship between the Faerie and Magic realms. This section is intended to give an idea of the sort of things Merinitae do, and so provides minimal information about faeries in general, instead describing them from the perspective of Hermetic magi and the House. (Faerie society from the faeries’ viewpoint will be addressed in future Ars Magica supplements.)

Each section also describes a dedicated group of Merinitae who pursue common goals and Initiate followers into certain of the House Mysteries (see Mechanics of Initiation for details on this process, and Merinita Mysteries for descriptions of the new Virtues, Flaws, and Abilities they may Initiate). All those who join one of these groups must first Initiate Faerie Magic to join the House, and must have at least House Merinita Lore 1 to proceed into the Inner Mysteries.

The Search for Arcadia

Arcadia is the highest manifestation of the Faerie realm, and for many magi it is the focus of their faerie magic. It is why they belong to the House, and the purpose that occupies their spare time. Merinitae know more about Arcadia than any other magi, and some guard this knowledge jealously while others share it with anyone who takes an interest. For many, it is a rite of passage: they cannot truly appreciate the fae until they have visited their home.

There are many confl icting beliefs in the House about what Arcadia actually is. That is, magi know it exists, they know it is associated with Faerie in the same way that Heaven is associated with the Divine and Hell is associated with the Infernal, and many of them know how to get there. But where did it come from, and why does it exist, and what is its relationship to the mundane world and the other realms?

Some say that Arcadia is a reflection of Mythic Europe, and that the faeries who live there are merely distorted versions of reality. Yet it is also part of Mythic Europe, they say, in that the things one does in Arcadia have an effect on reality, and are reflected back upon the inhabitants of either realm. Arcadia is said to be a nexus of possibilities, a temple with a thousand doors, where it is impossible to return to the exact same place you left. For this reason, Merinitae caution visitors to “travel lightly:” to take nothing and leave nothing, lest their journey have repercussions and consequences for which they are not prepared.

Others emphasize that Arcadia is only what travelers believe it to be. It is a land of wishes and dreams, they say, that responds to their direction and changes to accommodate their hopes and fears. A person can only navigate Arcadia by moving from one desire to another, they say, and the nature of the place absorbs these desires and makes them its own, stealing them from the traveler and changing in response. For an expedition to succeed, visitors must discover what it is they truly want. Yet, having attained it, they must also have a powerful reason to return, or they will have no desire to leave.

Another theory is that like Heaven and Hell, Arcadia is an afterlife, a place where faeries go after they leave their physical bodies. Instead of a place of eternal punishment or eternal reward, it is where beings that do not have souls must remain forever. Thus, it is populated by the spirits of living things in exile. Some suggest this includes forgotten beasts of legend, lost children who died unbaptized, and even gods who are no longer worshiped. Those mortals who die in Faerie, it is said, join this group; their souls go elsewhere, but their spirits remain in Arcadia.

There are many ways to reach Arcadia, usually by traveling through faerie regiones. There are also gateways scattered throughout Mythic Europe, usually at places where reality and fantasy have blurred together. These points are almost always watched by guardians who patrol the borders of Faerieland, perhaps ensuring that outsiders are turned away, or perhaps preying upon them before others do. Initiates into the Mystery of Arcadian Travel can make temporary gateways to Arcadia, and these places are not necessarily guarded, although they are not necessarily safe, either.

Arcadian Experiences

Arcadia is a fantastic place that can have a powerful influence over magic and faerie powers alike, but the mechanics of it are beyond the scope of this book. However, Merinitae will almost certainly seek it out, and for those of them who find their way there the storyguide should prepare an adventure, describing the experience in any way that seems appropriate to the journey. It might be an otherworldly vision, a dream, or even a nightmare; perhaps it resembles Wizard’s Twilight; perhaps it seems the complete opposite of the real world, or it might only differ from the real world in very subtle but important ways.

The Wayfarers

Some Merinitae reason this way: Arcadia is a physical place, they say, therefore it must exist on earth. Perhaps it is a regio that overlaps Mythic Europe, stretching above and below it, only accessible at certain places or certain times; or perhaps it is a continent on the other side of the globe, with portals connecting corresponding points between the two lands; or perhaps it is a microcosm, a world within a world that is completely contained in every individual thing. Wherever it is, by plotting the connections between the two worlds, Merinitae believe they can achieve greater insights into Faerie and Earth.

The Wayfarers are a group of Merinitae who style themselves as Arcadian experts. They record the locations and destinations of earthly gateways, act as guides for travelers to the realms of Faerie, and sometimes lead expeditions into uncharted regions of the world in search of alternative routes. They might be ambassadors, diplomats, or guardians. Some of them might write guides to Faerie customs, travel, and inhabitants, while others might seek to destroy these gateways to ensure that no one stumbles into them accidentally.

These Merinitae typically teach Hermetic Initiates Arcadian Travel. They have no specific progression of Mysteries after that, instead favoring secrets that will help their followers on their adventures. These might include Independent Study, Ways of the (Land), Spell Timing (spells that endure while the target is traveling), or Symbolic Magic (with an emphasis on names and places). They tend to seek out characters who are already Well-Traveled, and often integrate a fantastic expedition of some kind into their Initiation ceremonies.

The Wayfarers have been known to associate closely with House Mercere, as Redcaps also engage in exploration and travel, but more commonly the two groups work against each other. There is a kind of unspoken rivalry between them as they race to be the fi rst to discover new parts of the world, unusual new species, or even simply new sources of vis. Those who discover them typically name these finds, a source of great honor and occasional jealousy among the participants. Wayfarers may also compete in this way with magi from other Houses, other Merinitae, or even fellow Wayfarers.

This practice has led to a strange phenomenon in the world of Faerie. Names have great importance to the fae, as they are essentially a part of the individual (and a common source of sympathetic magic). In places that have been named after something, occasionally a faerie version of that thing will appear. For example, if a faerie dell were to become widely known as Victor Valley (after Victor of Mercere from Semita Errabunda), a faerie named Victor who shared many of Victor’s reputed qualities might come to inhabit it. For this reason, some Wayfarers have adopted the practice of naming their discoveries after famous magi or legendary places of old. Who knows what they might subsequently discover in Merinita Grove or the Arcadian Sea?

Sample Wayfarers Initiation: Arcadian Travel

Ease Factor: 18 (Minor Virtue unknown to the Mystagogue) Script Bonus: +14 Script Details: Working on her own, the Initiate must discover all the entrances at every level to a faerie regio with an uppermost level of at least 5 (+3). Then, on the eve of the last full moon of the season (+1), she must travel to the center of the regio, beginning at a landmark outside that will mark her route. She must travel alone, without aid or comfort, and may not cast any Hermetic spells or use any magical devices to fi nd her way, relying only on her Faerie Lore and other mundane skills to guide her. She may not eat or drink on her journey, or interact with any of the inhabitants (+3). She gains the Minor Personality Flaw Fear (+3), as she begins to dread something that she encounters on her path, and arriving at the center, she must retrace her steps and exit at the same place she entered, completing her journey before dawn (+1). Because of its mystical association with her Ordeal, the landmark becomes a permanent Arcane Connection to her (+3).

Belief & Mythic Europe

Many followers of Merinita seek to encourage appreciation of the fae, not just in the Order of Hermes, but among the people of Mythic Europe at large. It is an accepted fact among many in the House that faeries come about from widespread belief in them; that within the Faerie realm, things are what people believe them to be. This is not demonstrably true, of course, since it is difficult to measure when someone truly believes in something and whether there is a corresponding effect in Faerie, but the theory is that when someone invents a story, that story will come to pass, either in Arcadia or somewhere in the real world.

Extending the idea of a direct relationship between Faerie and storytelling, many believe that faeries can never die, so long as their stories are still remembered. Each time the tale is told, the characters perform their parts as described, perhaps altering slightly from the framework as the narrator embellishes, but always acting as they are defined by their characters, and returning each time the story is begun again.

Other Merinitae hold that the stories are created by the fae, that the events of famous “fairy tales” are simply chronicles of history, having actually happened at some point in the past. These themes have seeped into the collective subconscious of the people, and thus have a ring of truth about them that makes them compelling. Or perhaps they are visions of the future, since time has no little meaning in Faerie; these stories may be glimpses of events that will someday come to pass, resonating through the years to influence medieval thought.

In any case, stories are very important to those with an interest in the fae, and House Merinita has a strong oral tradition. Recording stories is almost as important as participating in them. It is not seen as bragging or putting oneself forward to tell one’s sodales about an experience with the faeries, and many magi in the House employ minstrels to create popular songs or poems about their adventures. Not only for Merinitae, in fact, but for the faeries themselves, as such accounts have great value in their courts.

Faerie Tales

Most fairy tales with which players are most familiar became widespread in relatively modern times. However, they often concern medieval characters, and in fact contain many themes that can be found in folk tales going back to ancient times. Recognizable versions of such stories as “Cinderella,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and even “Little Red Riding Hood” can be found in early Roman histories, and other related concepts have their roots in antiquity, such as the Roman host newly come to wealth who described himself with the phrase qui fuit rana nunc est rex (“the man who was once a frog is now king”).

Thus, “modern” fairy tales can be a good source of inspiration for medieval faerie stories. Do not feel that you cannot incorporate these elements into your game because they are somehow out of period. Most faerie stories are based on folk tales, and everyone in the game should be at least dimly aware of the most common characters and situations associated with these tales, since their characters would probably have heard them as children. As most players are more likely to be familiar with the Grimms’ versions than, say, the tragedy of Cupid and Psyche or the fabulous lais of Marie of France, you should feel free to rely on their knowledge of the modern stories for faerie elements that make for a better gaming experience.

It should be noted that the attitude of early chroniclers was one of condescension and disapproval for such aniles fabulae (“old women’s tales”), and they often changed the stories to downplay their fantastic elements. By the Middle Ages, many of these fanciful stories have instead become accounts of holy saints and evil demons, rather than innocent maidens and monstrous beasts. Perhaps players can infer from this that the Faerie realm as a whole suffered with the expansion of the Dominion, losing many of its inhabitants to the Divine or the Infernal, and that it has only just begun to recover its former status.

Keepers of the Thousand Tales

The Keepers of the Thousand Tales are a group of Merinita magi and their companions who originally formed in the Holy Land with the goal of collecting, cataloging, and distributing the greatest stories of their time. This began with the beginnings of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights sometime in the ninth century, and as the society grew, their scribes added to the collection. They also translated many Greek texts into Arabic, and then from Arabic into Latin, and spread these books throughout the Order while their Hermetic leaders sought out more stories to tell.

Essential to their philosophy is the idea of faerie immortality through legend. By ensuring that the tales are easily available, they believe that they keep these stories alive in Faerie. In this regard, they maintain that what a significant number of people believe directly affects the inhabitants of the Faerie realm. Therefore, all those who belong to their society must do their part to see that the tales spread. Some of them are scribes, copying books of lore for other covenants and magi, and some of them are wandering storytellers, performing re-enactments of adventures for those who are interested in hearing.

Some of the magi have begun to carry their philosophy a step further. By acting out famous stories using their magic, themselves taking the part of a character in the story, they believe they take on that character’s identity and so ensure their own immortality. Over time, they actually become the character in the story, and so become faeries themselves. These magi believe that several characters in the Thousand Tales are magi who have passed into Arcadia.

While originally there were only a few magi devoted to the group, since their founding they have spread throughout Mythic Europe, and have dedicated covenants in both the Levant and the Iberian Tribunals. Many of them have the Outsider Flaw. Elder members often trade Initiation into the House Mysteries in exchange for seasons spent serving the society. These Mysteries might include Enchanting (Storytelling), Charm Magic, Story Magic, and Becoming.

Sample Keepers Initiation: Story Magic

Ease Factor: 21 (Major Virtue known to the Mystagogue) Script Bonus: +14 Script Details: The Initiate must learn a new poem or story from a culture that she isn’t familiar with. It must be over 5,000 lines in length and memorized in the original language (+3). She must then seek out a similar work from a different culture and memorize it (+3). Combining the overlapping elements of both, the Initiate must create an original piece, one that both cultures would recognize, but that changes the ending or overall meaning (+3). (These tasks could be tested with two Intelligence + Language rolls and a Communication + Language roll against Ease Factors of 12, though the storyguide might prefer to roleplay the process instead.) With this new tale, the Initiate must visit a powerful faerie in a Faerie regio on the longest day of summer, and perform her work. This must please the faerie enough that it rewards the Initiate with a treasure (+3). The Initiate must take this prize to her Mystagogue, and at an auspicious time based on their horoscopes (+1), they must sit upon a hilltop with a Faerie aura, taking some sort of intoxicating substance with them. The Initiate and the Mystagogue partake of this while telling each other stories until they fall unconscious. When they awake, the treasure will have vanished (+1).

Do Faeries Dream of Counting Sheep?

Faeries are defi ned by their interest in humanity: they want to interact with things of the mundane world, and they enjoy the company of people. But if faeries are the realization of human imagination given life, what do they actually want from them? What can followers of Merinita give the Fair Folk, while appreciating, studying, or interacting with them for their own reasons?

Creatures of Faerie can take any imaginable form, but have great difficulty reproducing. They cannot invent anything new. Some Merinitae believe the faeries admire (or envy) humanity for their ability to create, and seek them out to experience the miracle of this for themselves. Many of the fae cannot resist a good story, or a treasure of their very own, or even a new name, since these are all things that contain the spark of originality. Thus, the House often encourages such artistic endeavors on the faeries’ behalf.

Other faeries fear that they will be forgotten. If they recognize that they owe their existence to human belief, they can ensure their continuation by encouraging the people to honor them, perhaps even worshiping them like the gods of old. Libations poured over Faerie stones, prayers intoned in sacred groves, men and women dancing around ceremonial fires, young children abandoned in dark places — many faeries recognize these as ancient rites of respect, and reward those who perform them.

Some faeries perceive Mythic Europe as a place of forced exile from Arcadia, and want nothing more than to return to their fabled homeland. The means of accomplishing this are not clear; some Merinitae think it requires an invitation from a sovereign of Faerieland, others imagine that it requires a fundamental change to the faerie’s nature. One school of thought suggests that death allows the faerie to escape the confi nes of reality and return to Arcadia, but it seems impossible to prove this for certain.

Faerie and Dreams

Many Merinitae believe that there is a connection to Arcadia in every person’s mind. This is because they think dreams somehow influence and are influenced by the Faerie realm, which they consider to be the collective dreams of all humanity. Thus, faeries may occasionally be found to inhabit a person’s imagination, accessible with Mentem magic and the specialized Dream Virtues.

Characters with the Merinita Mystery Arcadian Travel can open trods into Arcadia through their dreams, if they wish. The maga produces a charm designed to lull the travelers to sleep, and they then journey to a dream-based Arcadia in spirit instead of flesh. While away, sleeping characters do not age or suffer ill effects of going without food or water, though they can die through other means — and if they do, their spirits remain in Faerie.

The Shadow-Masters

The philosopher Plato once described a cave where a group of prisoners sit chained in front of a wall. Behind them, shapes of people and animals pass in front of a great light, casting their shadows where the prisoners can see them. As far as the prisoners know, these shapes are real. They know nothing of the figures that cast the shadows; they only know them by how they appear upon the wall. Plato used this idea to describe humanity’s imperfect understanding of the realm of forms: like the prisoners, they cannot see the things that cast the shadows; they only see the shadows themselves.

The Shadow-Masters are a troupe of Merinita magi who teach that the elements of this allegory correspond to the four supernatural realms. The light comes from the Divine, and the darkness is the Infernal; the light creates the images, while the darkness tries to envelop and destroy them. Men and animals step into the light, and this is magic: imperfect copies of their forms are projected against the wall that represents the mundane world. Yet it is also possible, these Merinita say, to fashion false figures and move them into the light, casting gray shadows that convince the prisoners that they see something that isn’t real at all, and this is Faerie’s role in the allegory: shadow-puppets with substance.

Members of the society learn to play with these philosophical illusions, in a sense constructing shapes from dross and scraps and leading them to a new existence before the light of creation. The whole world is their theater: they conjure heroes and villains and set them against each other in great set pieces, enacting and re-enacting famous stories and legends, or inventing completely new tales of wonder and fear. By observing how humanity responds to these stories, the Shadow-Masters gain insight into the nature of the world, while simultaneously reinforcing belief in the strange and imaginary.

It has become a tradition within the group to host a tournament every few years, called the Great Play. A Shadow-Master builds a labyrinth, castle, or other intriguing setting for the event, which she fills with illusory obstacles, traps, puzzles, or people. It is usually built around a theme, such as Homer’s Odyssey, the Crusades, or “Beyond the Lunar Sphere.” When it opens, other Shadow-Masters, hopeful Initiates, faeries, and even a few unwitting passersby descend upon the field and do their best to answer the challenge. The only formal prize for succeeding is the responsibility to host the next event, though the leaders of the Great Play often reward the participants in other ways, and those who attend but do not belong to the group are almost always invited to join.

Society elders typically Initiate new members into the Mysteries of Glamour, Animae Magic, and Perpetuity. Many of them have a Major Magical Focus in illusions, and they most commonly live in the Transylvanian and Theban Tribunals, though they come from all over Mythic Europe. Anyone can join by proving herself in the Great Play, and in fact it is said that even a few members of House Tytalus have set aside their grudge and joined House Merinita through this society.

Shadow-Masters enjoy the simulation of reality even more than reality itself, and hold that over time, the fiction becomes truth. Many swear that the creatures they have created have begun to reproduce, or have been found in places where Shadow-Masters have never been. For them, this is the pinnacle of achievement; it shows that their creations have taken on lives of their own, which they believe is ultimately what all faeries truly desire.

Sample Shadow-Masters Initiation: Glamour

Ease Factor: 21 (Major Virtue known to the Mystagogue) Script Bonus: +15 Script Details: The Initiate must pursue a faerie that is skilled in powers of illusion, staying in close pursuit with it until she receives a Warping Point (+3) through magical mischance. From this point on, until the completion of the Initiation, the Initiate feels slightly odd, as if drunk, and suffers a –3 on all of her Perception and Intelligence rolls (+1). Then, on the date of the manifestation of her Gift, which she must discover if not known (+1), she and her Mystagogue must fight a Creo or Muto Imaginem certamen, reciting ritual insults at each attack, until one of them falls unconscious from loss of Fatigue (+1). She also acquires the Major Flaw Vulnerable Magic (+9), which is often associated with the circumstances that caused her Gift to manifest. Participation in the Great Play may be substituted for the duel, though she still gains the Flaw.

The Sundered Realms

Many Merinitae ponder the relationship between the Magic and Faerie realms, since through their House Mysteries they must often straddle the divide, with one foot on either side. Some seek ways to unite the two, others to further separate them, and a few explore their mystic origins in search of new insights into both.

One popular theory within House Merinita is that the four supernatural realms were once only one realm — Faerie — and that Arcadia is the Garden of Eden. Then the serpent tempted Adam and Eve to taste the fruit of knowledge, and their eyes were opened; they received The Gift, but at the cost of their immortality. The one realm became two — Magic and Faerie — and they were all of them sent from the fabulous Garden, exiled to the mortal world where they became subject to Twilight and death.

When the angels rebelled against Heaven and fell, they divided the realms into two others: the Divine and Infernal. However, at the same time, some of the angels chose to remove themselves from the conflict, choosing neither God nor Lucifer, and these beings remained separate from Heaven and Hell. Not being entirely human, they traveled freely between earth and Garden; these are the pagan gods and monsters of the ancient world. Thus, it is said, magic is associated with those who possess the knowledge of the Tree of Life — the children of Adam and Eve, the descendents of the serpent, and the named beasts of Eden — while faeries are the others who guard the edges of terrestrial paradise, who because of their otherworldly nature remain outsiders in human society.

Other Merinitae suppose that the division between Magic and Faerie is a more recent phenomenon, having occurred at or soon after the birth of Christ. The physical incarnation of God in the human world was too much for most of the pagan gods and ancient heroes to withstand, they say, and caused the Spirit realm from which they originated to divide into two parts: those who returned to earth in natural forms joined the realm of Magic, and those that passed away forever became Faerie. The Merinitae who favor this idea maintain that the ancient gods and goddess remain in Arcadia as ghostly shadows of their former greatness, capable of only limited interaction with the physical world. They also suggest that they could be returned to power via concentrated worship or other human devices.

Pagan Glory

Gods and goddesses of the ancient world can be associated with either the Faerie or Magical realms, though those that have a magical aspect tend to be focused on themselves more than on their worshipers, and many of them are thought to have taken physical forms or retreated far from human society. Those who still seek followers and have an interest in mortal affairs are considered powerful faeries, and it may be difficult to distinguish them from other great lords and ladies of the faerie courts. Still, dedicated ceremonies designed to gain their attention and favor could plausibly have an effect, and many pagan Merinitae have claimed to have the blessings of their ancient deities at one time or another.

The Cult of Vesta

In the later years of the Roman Empire, many of the pagan cults began to band together, combining the characteristics of many gods into cults nominally associated with only one of them. The original Cult of Mercury was one of these, uniting most of the original pantheon under one god’s name. The rites of Vesta, a relatively minor goddess of hearth and home, were eventually integrated into the practices of Diana, and her cult outlived the Fall of Rome by retreating into the barbaric wilderness outside of the empire, surviving beside the pagan practices of the German invaders. Some believe that Merinita was a high priestess of this struggling Diana cult.

After Quendalon transformed the House, a pair of young magae from Brittany began to experiment with combining what they knew of Merinita’s nature magic with the new secrets that Quendalon had taught them. They discovered that the childlike innocence of Faerie could mimic wild and unspoiled nature, even in domesticated areas, so long as there were some among the community who remained chaste.

Since faeries can generally adapt to any realm, these magae made it their task to encourage the fae to settle within their lands, and dedicated their cult to that objective. They adopted Vesta as their patron, reasoning that since she, a domestic goddess, had survived in the wilderness as part of the Cult of Diana, perhaps so too could Diana, the goddess of nature, survive in the home as part of the new Cult of Vesta.

They resurrected many old Roman rites of the Vestal priestesses, venerating faeries as household gods and encouraging the practice of leaving gifts for them in exchange for their services. They also took vows of chastity, for they believed that their unusual focus would fail if their sexuality were ever “tamed.” Through their Initiation rites, members of the cult gained special powers from the faeries in exchange for this sacrifice, but swore that if they ever broke their vows they would be punished — buried alive, to give back to the earth the bounty that they had taken from it.

The Vestals do not involve themselves much with the politics of the Order of Hermes at large, though they are known to the Hermetic Cult of Mercury, and might be considered their kindred spirits. While they do not typically Initiate outsiders into their secrets, they might share insights into Magic or Faerie Lore with them in the hopes of further narrowing the distance between the two realms.

Followers of Vesta are traditionally women, though there have been men represented. They usually take Gifted children between the ages of six and ten as apprentices, indoctrinating them with the ideals of the society and Initiating them into Faerie Magic. There are two formal levels of Initiation after the Gauntlet, however, and any Merinita can join if they are willing to dedicate themselves to the cult.

The first level is the Vestal virgin. A Vestal serves for thirty years, and there are no more than nine Vestals at any given time. When one of them leaves, she or one of her sisters chooses a worthy replacement. The new Vestal Initiates the Nature Lore Mystery with the unique focus of lares (“household spirits,” also called penates); these are essentially a type of domestic faerie associated with the home and community. With Lares Lore, Vestals interact with the faeries of a settlement in the same way that nature magi interact with the denizens of the wilderness.

The second level of Initiation comes after thirty years, when the maga leaves the priesthood. She generally settles down in a small village or covenant and gives herself over entirely to its care. She learns either Becoming or Guardian of Nature (she may join her spirit with a Faerie aura so long as she remains a virgin), and uses her powers to transform herself into a sort of civic deity. Within her community she may endure for as long as her faeries flourish, guiding the common folk of the area to ensure that the old ways survive.

Sample Vestals Initiation: Nature Lore

Ease Factor: 15 (Minor Virtue known to the Mystagogue) Script Bonus: +10 Script Details: The Initiate must prepare a cake using ritual ingredients. The grain must be from ears of wheat gathered on the three days of Lemuralia, which are the 7th, 9th, and 11th of May (+1). She must pound and heat brine in a jar within the hearth until it forms a salt rock that she cuts with a saw; she carries water from a sacred spring in specially crafted jugs whose bottoms taper to a point and whose water must not touch the ground (+1). She bakes the cake on Vestalia, June 9th, and places it on her hearth to attract the faeries (+1). On the Ides of June (June 15th), the Initiate must then thoroughly clean her dwelling, burning the refuse in the fire and scattering the ashes into the nearest river (+1). She must then meet the Mystagogue in her clean home. There, she swears to honor the faeries and takes a Vow of chastity (+3), which the faeries covertly witness (+3).

Merinita Mysteries

This section describes the secrets that define the House, which Merinitae may Initiate in exchange for appropriate sacrifice and study. They are broken into schools, groups of Mysteries primarily associated with the magi who introduced them to the House. Merinitae recognize three schools associated with Faerie Magic, and there is also said to be a peripheral school about which little is generally known. Characters raised in the House usually belong to a lineage associated with one of these schools, Initiating the Mysteries from their parentes. Those who join the House after apprenticeship usually enter the Mysteries through Initiation into a group of like-minded Merinitae instead.

Initiating a person into a Mystery is much like taking an apprentice, and formally joining House Merinita is considered a necessary part of the process. They maintain that if you have Initiated the Outer Mystery, you belong to their House. This implied threat doesn’t carry much weight, since on the whole Merinitae are not very aggressive or even politically active. Still, all of them know that they should formally introduce potential Initiates to the House before teaching them their secrets, and that there should be consequences for those who indiscriminately share their Mysteries with outsiders.

Below are some of the more common kinds of magic within the House; many of these are Virtues available to all characters during character creation, which Merinitae often Initiate later through their Mystery rites. Most are referenced by the lineages that are found throughout this section. A few are even appropriate for companions without The Gift who share the House’s interest in the fae and faerie things.

Merinita Mysteries Overview

Outer Mysteries	Inner Mysteries
Faerie Magic	Binding the Gift	Arcadian Mysteries Arcadian Travel Animae Magic Becoming	Folk Mysteries Charm Magic Story Magic Symbolic Magic	Illusion Mysteries Spell Timing Glamour Perpetuity
Nature Lore		Nature Mysteries Awakening Wilding Guardian of Nature

New Virtues

These Virtues explore the supernatural and Hermetic differences that make followers of Merinita unusual, especially where the Faerie or Magic realms overlap, or where characters are extraordinarily inspired by otherworldly ideas and places.

Alluring to (Beings)

Minor, General

This Virtue is associated with one of three classes of beings: mundane animals, faeries, or magical beings. These last two include characters associated with Faerie or the Magic realms, respectively, through Supernatural Virtues or Flaws, as well as beings with Faerie or Magic Might.

These beings are strangely drawn to the character, and generally trust or obey her without thinking. She gets +3 on Communication and Presence rolls to affect them. Characters who are Offensive to beings of this sort cannot take this Virtue, including those who have The Gift or Magical Air, though characters who are Inoffensive to them or have the Gentle Gift may.

Note that while Alluring to Magical Beings can affect Hermetic magi, the Parma Magica protects against this effect as part of resisting the social penalties of The Gift. Might and other forms of general Magic Resistance do not hinder this effect.

Enchanting (Ability)

Minor, Supernatural

Like Enchanting Music (ArM5, page 65), this Supernatural Ability applies to a particular type of artistic expression: dance, drawing, storytelling, even craftwork. Those with this Virtue may find that in Faerie auras this Ability allows them to change or control events based on how well they depict them with their art.

Faerie-Raised Magic

Major, Hermetic

The character’s experience with faeries and the Faerie realm has conditioned him to invent spells very quickly; to him, formulaic spells seem like inherent powers that you can learn through observation and experimentation. Because of this, he can teach himself spells outside of the laboratory. You may spend experience points from Exposure, Adventure, and Practice on spells that mimic faerie powers or other supernatural effects your character has observed that season.

To invent a spell in this way, the magus’s Technique + Form + Intelligence + Magic Theory must at least equal (the spell’s level – 10), and you must spend a number of experience points equal to (the spell magnitude + 4). Spells of level 5 or less cost their level in experience points (but always at least 1). For example, a level 2 spell costs 2 experience points, and a Level 15 spell costs 7 experience points. The magus cannot invent Ritual spells in this way.

If the magus already knows a spell that is similar to one he wishes to invent (see Similar Spells), any experience points you spend towards learning that spell are increased by one half. This means that a level 25 spell would cost 6 experience points instead of 9, for example.

This Virtue also includes Spell Improvisation. That is, you may add the magnitude of a known formulaic spell as a bonus to your character’s Casting Total when spontaneously casting a spell that is similar to it.

If you take this Virtue during character creation, you should also take the Faerie Upbringing Flaw. Because the magus’s master also had to teach him about human society, he probably had less time to teach him Hermetic magic. It is possible that the apprentice invented formulaic spells quickly enough on his own to compensate for this, but you might take the Weak Parens Flaw to suggest this limitation of his apprenticeship.

Independent Study

Minor, General

The character develops new skills extremely quickly on his own. When he is studying through Practice, add two to the Source Quality, and add three to the Source Quality of his Adventure experience.

Inoffensive to (Beings)

Minor, General

This Virtue is associated with one of three classes of beings: mundane animals, faeries, or magical beings. These last two include characters associated with Faerie or the Magic realms, respectively, through Supernatural Virtues or Flaws, as well as beings with Faerie or Magic Might.

The character’s Gift does not bother beings of this sort, although it still has the normal effects on others. For example, Inoffensive to Animals makes it easier for her to get along with mundane beasts. Animals who react positively to The Gift still react positively to her, since she does have The Gift, but those that do not are not disturbed by her presence.

You may not take this Virtue more than once; characters who are Inoffensive to more than one type of being should take Gentle Gift instead. UnGifted characters may take this Virtue only if they have the Flaw Magical Air.

Some Merinitae refer to these Virtues with special terms that suggest the three cords of the enchantment that binds a magus to his familiar. Inoffensive to Animals is called “The Bronze Gift,” Inoffensive to Faerie Beings is “The Silver Gift,” and Inoffensive to Magical Beings is known as “The Golden Gift.”

New Flaws

These Flaws are designed primarily as Ordeals for Initiatory rites. However, players of characters who belong to House Merinita or who have similar interests might also consider taking these Flaws during character creation.

Harmless Magic

Minor, Hermetic

The character’s Perdo spells cannot permanently destroy anything; they temporarily disrupt the target, like Perdo Imaginem magic, but as soon as the duration has passed the target returns to its natural state as if nothing had happened, like a Muto effect. This means that a version of The Wound that Weeps (PeCo15), for example, briefly causes a painful, bleeding wound that immediately closes again. Likewise, Fist of Shattering (PeTe10) causes an object of stone or weaker material to briefly break apart, but then fuse itself together again. The character’s Ritual Perdo spells function normally, however.

This weakness can be a boon to a crafty character. A maga might invent a spell to destroy a heavy rock at Concentration Duration; she could then cast it and lie in wait. When her enemy walks into the vacant space, she could release her concentration and crush her victim beneath it when it reforms. However, in most cases this limitation is a minor hindrance, as useful Perdo magic requires longer Durations.

Inconstant Magic

Minor, Hermetic

The character’s magic is easily distracted, it stutters and starts. Spells that require his guidance (e.g. concentration, or aimed spells) after being cast are not immediately responsive, as if the character must focus the spell’s attention, and spells that are triggered by a condition (such as Waiting Spells or enchanted devices) take about two minutes to activate, as if the magic had wandered off when the caster was not watching it carefully. Any magic items he creates with constant effects are interrupted at sunrise and sunset; the magic is not seamless. The character suffers a –3 penalty to all Finesse rolls.

Offensive to (Beings)

Minor, General

This Flaw is associated with one of three classes of beings: mundane humans, demons, or divine beings. These last two include characters associated with the Divine or the Infernal realm, respectively, through Supernatural Virtues or Flaws, as well as beings with Divine or Infernal Might.

Beings of the chosen category react badly to the character, as if he had The Gift, which makes them very uncomfortable around him and gives him a –3 to all social interaction rolls with them.

You may not take this Flaw more than once; characters who are Offensive to more than one kind of being should take Magical Air instead. Characters with The Gift may take this Flaw only if they have the Gentle Gift, which makes this type of being react to them negatively while others are unaffected.

Unbearable to (Beings)

Minor, General

This Flaw is associated with one of three classes of beings: mundane humans, demons, or divine beings. These last two include characters associated with the Divine or the Infernal realms, respectively, through Supernatural Virtues or Flaws, as well as beings with Divine or Infernal Might.

These beings are extremely disturbed, frightened, and possibly enraged by the character’s presence. She suffers an additional –3 penalty on all social interactions with them, which adds to the –3 penalty normally associated with The Gift. Only characters with The Gift or Magical Air may take this Flaw, and it cannot be combined with the Blatant Gift.

The Flaw is sometimes known by different names among Merinitae, depending on the type of being it affects. Offensive to Humans is called “The Tin Gift”; Offensive to Infernal Beings is called “The Iron Gift”; and Offensive to Divine Beings is called “The Leaden Gift.” These Flaws are thought to balance the similar Inoffensive Virtues; it is very common for characters with one of the positive versions of The Gift to have one of these negative versions as well.

You may not take this Flaw more than once; characters who are Unbearable to more than one kind of being should take the Blatant Gift instead.

Unnatural Magic

Major, Hermetic

Because of the unreal and illusory nature of your magic, none of the character’s Creo rituals have a permanent effect. Wounds magically closed with The Chirurgeon’s Healing Touch (CrCo20), for example, reopen again as soon as he finishes casting the spell, as the magic truly lasts only a moment. He also cannot extract vis from an aura using Creo, since his version of that Art is too unstable for it to remain in a lasting physical form.

Vulnerable Magic

Major, Hermetic

The character’s magic is automatically dispelled in certain uncommon circumstances. Examples include: when touching iron, when under the influence of the Divine, when crossing over running water, when his name is spoken three times, or when he is not touching the ground. This condition immediately ends the duration of a spell when it is applied to the target, or all of your active spells when applied to you.

This Flaw may be taken multiple times, so long as a different condition is specified for each.

Story Seeds

History Seeds

• If Merinita is still alive, perhaps her familiar also lives. A group of hunters tells a story of a magnificent stag they could not fell in a nearby forest, and this might lead to an investigation, perhaps to track down the Founder by following the cords that bind her to the great beast.
• Some say Quendalon went mad and tore out his eyes before disappearing, but that these precious stones were lost. They were invested with great magic, but also cursed to slowly transform the possessor into a faerie over time. Perhaps a companion purchases one of these gems from a jeweler who is anxious to be rid of it.
• The grogs find a serpent hiding in one of the covenant buildings, but they cannot kill it. Hermetic investigation reveals that it has great power, but does not have any Might. Its thoughts make no sense but it burns with vengeance. Those who know the history of House Merinita might wonder: could this be Myanar?

Society Story Seeds

• On a particular day of the year, the entrance to a faerie regio becomes a trod leading directly to Arcadia, as the characters happen to discover, though they do not recognize the difference at first. They soon discover that in this part of Faerie, all of their custos can work magic, but that the magi have temporarily lost their powers.
• The characters discover a young woman in an underground cavern, undisturbed for centuries, who appears to be asleep. Her finger has been pricked with a pin, which is lying nearby and marked with the symbol of the goddess Juno. Players might recognize this variation on the “Sleeping Beauty” myth, and thus figure out how to wake the girl.
• A Merinita archmagus resents the attention given to Roman deities by the Order, and seeks instead to revive the Norse gods of war and destruction worshiped by his ancestors. Is this something with which the characters should interfere? How can they stop one pantheon from regaining strength, while encouraging another?