From Ars Magica

Anything that you post here will cause a yellow alert message to appear on my screen the next time I log in, or refresh/visit a wiki page. It's a good way to contact me if you would like me to be aware of something the next time I sit down to edit the wiki. Cheers, James.

Contents 1 Unread 1.1 Starting Locations 1.2 Background Information 2 Read 2.1 Read and Answered 2.1.1 Languages 2.1.2 Who really knows anything? 2.1.3 Birds of Prey 2.1.4 Social reaction to Mages 2.1.5 Magical Animal Companion

Unread

Starting Locations

Could you give us some general locations if possible - A Ruined Castle on the Long Mynd, A Stone Circle, A Spring in the Nearby Forest, etc... I imagine depending on how many of these locations you have, you may want us to just stumble across some - but having at least three gives us a strat point to walk in that general direction. Ta. --Perikles 05:24, 19 March 2006 (PST)

Background Information

Is the Quendalon/Myanar rift in House Merinita something I can play with? I've been working on a journal entry where Eirlys is talking about an argument with her parens; I'd like to develop a backstory that involves Drystan being a blood descendant of Myanar. His first parens would have been a Bjornaer, of the line of Myanar-faithful Merinitae who left the house after Quendalon's return. Drystan would have eventually ended up back in House Merinita because he couldn't manifest a heartbeast (haha, what a loser!) Would that be okay? --Eirlys 13:52, 21 March 2006 (PST)

Read

Read and Answered

Languages

Eirlys is from a faerie regio, close to the heart of Arcadia. Her grandmother was Welsh. Given that, I'm not even sure her native language would be Welsh. What language would be spoken in Faerie?

I don't really know, but languages are a dynamic. If you learnt Olde Welsh from a woman who retreated from the world a long time ago, and raised you in seclusion, then you will be speaking a quirky, out-of-date form of Olde Welsh at best. If she was your sole source of Welsh, then your vocabulary will be limited by her manner of speech, rather than being broadened by exposure to a wide-range of people. I can't say I know much about faerie, the realm, so I wouldn't like to guess as to their manner of speech. It is something you can research... :P

She's had more contact with the Gaelic-influenced fey than the Welsh, as her patron deity is an old Scottish legend. --Eirlys 11:18, 19 March 2006 (PST)

The Gaelic languages are different, though how different in the 13th Century, I don't know.

Who really knows anything?

Regarding the [Story_:_Supper_in_the_West_Room] scene; can you let any relevant players know anything they might want to add to contribute to the information. Marcus has been around for a few days and been social. Longinus was advised on this area by his parens. Eirlys and Bedo were originally from Wales, so may have some knowledge of the area. Ambrosius is from Shropshire, so may also have some local knowledge. Phaedrus I'm not sure about. Mnemosyne has no local knowledge, though I suppose something may have attracted her to the location other than its distance from Northumland, which she hates. Not sure what relevent abilities the various characters have, but that's your bag and your dice Mr Storyteller. Do your stuff :P --Perikles 04:07, 19 March 2006 (PST)

Well, the resident Mercere magus knows far more than he can let on, and I'll be flinging some information to him at some point.

Basically, between Tim, Sam, and I, we have created a number of sites that the players might find and explore. These sites can be mapped onto equivalent geography, in many cases, so the players can look at pretty much anywhere, and potentially find a site.

Local rumours are fairly vague about locations - for instance, being told that stuff occurs on the Long Mynd is a massive area encompassing a lot of diverse geography, ruins, and the like. There are other hills on the far side of the valley... lots of varied places to choose from.

I'll try and create a mix of vague and specific rumours, so that the players have little difficulty finding a site that appeals, geologically speaking. Of course, the other features of the site make make it utterly undesirable, but that's life. --James\\^Talk 04:36, 19 March 2006 (PST)

Birds of Prey

Would it be reasonable to have Kuari spot and capture some rodent during the evening?
In case I want to cast spells, the dominion aura is not above 3, right? --Samuel 14:12, 17 March 2006 (PST)

In the evening, in 'The Three Lions', the aura in the inn is at 2, but earlier in the day, before sunset, the aura is 3.

That's because there are a lot of people concentrated in the in during the day, the village of Church Stretton generaly has an aura of 2, right?

The reasons you would be aware of are:

1. The importance of this hamlet/village far outstrips its size.
2. It has an important church whose congregation incorporates the residents of several local settlements, including Little Stretton and All Stretton, which has been the site of continuous worship for as long as anyone cares to remember.
3. The building is an inn, rather than a tavern, and frequented by locals from a small community. It is most definitely not somewhere where significant vices are entertained. News travels fast in such a community, and being in the inn is like being in public.

Hawks hunt during the day, I think, so your animal companion has already eaten. Assuming that coooked meat is fine for birds of prey, you could always give her a bit of his supper if you want. Right, she's out, and I'm away... --James\\^Talk 20:20, 17 March 2006 (PST)

I was more thinking about adding some pieces to the storry than worrying about it's food. Ohh.. I should have added "inside the west room" to that question.

Social reaction to Mages

By the way, is my view of the apperance of magic (from 'Basic assumptions') correct? To expand on it a little, my expectation of how magicians and the Fae are met/treated would be something like how the Jews was treated, and as differing between places and people. I guess that simile would work for frequency also. Is that correct? --Samuel 15:00, 16 March 2006 (PST)

The way people respond to fae characters is wholly different from the way that they respond to magi. I suggest you peruse the section on 'The Gift' in the main book again, as the effect on mundanes is actually really bad, rather than slightly bad. As for fae, you will see that in-game.

Yea, I have read about The Gift. But how would people react if they saw Marcus doing some obvious magic? Or someone else w.o. The Gift making them biased, or the results of magic w.o. interacting with the mage, thus not getting affected by The Gift.

Fae: Phaedrus has lived in Mythic Europe for a long time, and talked to a lot of people while trading with his parrents, I think he should have _some_ idea how people react to the Fae. Or are you telling me that meeting the Fae is so unusual that he has not met anyone who met them?

Magical Animal Companion

I just realized that I know to little about my companion, the Kestrel, the only thing I _know_ is that it has human inteligence and probably has a Magic Might of 14. Does "Magical animal companions" usually speak? In that case I should be introducing Kuari when greeting people. --Samuel 14:12, 17 March 2006 (PST)

Your animal companion has 10 - size Magic Might, which is around 14/15, and an Intelligence characteristic, rather than Cunning. However, it is unlikely that it can produce human sounds. You could give it a special power with 0 cost that aided communication though, or higher if it worked at range. I'll generate the creature for you before it is taken out on adventure. --James\\^Talk 13:49, 18 March 2006 (PST)