View source for Stonehenge Representatives at Grand Tribunal 1228

{{Infobox ars magica}}

At the [[Extraordinary Stonehenge Tribunal of 1227]], these candidates will be seeking the sigils of Stonehenge members to represent the Tribunal at Grand Tribunal. This will be the first Grand Tribunal that Stonehenge has been represented in nearly a century.

= Goliard of Tremere, Blackthorn =

Goliard filia Flumen is, apparently, the leading light of Blackthorn. If she is not the leader of the covenant, the members are engaged in an elaborate charade to make sure that people think she is. She looks to be in her early forties. Her black hair has streaks of gray, and her brown eyes are slightly bloodshot. She normally wears simple clothes, often simply bleached white rather than being dyed. However, she also possesses formidably elaborate robes of purple and crimson, decorated with gold embroidery and studded with gems. She normally wears these for the formal ceremonies at Tribunal — the opening, the admission of apprentices and the fake closing and opening, and the real closing — but otherwise dresses in her simple outfits.

Her parens was also a member of Blackthorn, and it is generally believed that she was actually born in the covenant. Flumen was the apparent leader of the covenant before her, and she took over when he passed into Final Twilight in 1187. It is generally believed that she is trying to regain the position of influence that the covenant lost twenty years ago, although she has not done anything overt or shocking.

A couple of incidents from her past are generally known, however. Early in her career she investigated a series of rockslides in the Black Mountains, as the involvement of enemy covenants was suspected. Instead, she found that an elemental spirit was taking revenge on humanity after breaking free from an ancient binding. She managed to restore the binding, and take control of the spirit. As far as anyone knows, it is still under her control.

Several decades later, she led an expedition into the Atlantic Ocean. She was missing for four years, and was found, unconscious and badly battered, washed up on the sand in Chester, by one of the Redcaps.

Any magus who wants to deal with Blackthorn normally finds himself talking to Goliard. She is an effective negotiator, and always does, or at least attempts to fulfill, anything she agrees to. She is quite keen to forge relationships with other covenants, but most of the established covenants are wary of getting entangled with Blackthorn.

= Gwrhyr Ex Miscellanea, Cad Gadu =

Gwrhyr Ex Miscellanea is a blustering incompetent. He is an old magus, and looks about fifty, with pepper-and-salt hair and a full beard, and always wears ornate robes embroidered with mystic symbols. He is not particularly bright, nor magically powerful, but he constantly demands the “proper respect” for his abilities. His greatest abilities, such as they are, are with Rego.

= Aduro of Flambeau, Conventus Muri =

Meeting Aduro, it is easy to see why he has a reputation of being a fair, staltwart warrior of the order. Even as an elder magus, he stands tall (giant-blooded) with an imposing presence and seems at ease with authority. He holds himself to high standards and expects his filii, if not the covenant, to maintain them. Honour and loyalty to the Order are paramount to him. This does not make him insensitive, though, and indeed is quite at ease with mundanes and mundane life. He is known to disappear and wander for some time before returning, personally experiencing life instead of receiving it through reports. He tries to pass on these values to his apprentices. He is the sole remaining founder of Convenus Muri, the other magi having passed into Final Twilight or died. His first apprentice, Perditia, occasionally pressures him to achieve archmagus status. While a worthy challenge, it is not something he considers more important than his duties to covenant, House and Order.

Aduro has an apprentice, Sarah, who began apprenticeship in 1215. His first apprentice was Perditia, listed below. His second apprentice was Magni, Gauntleted in 1219 and who has since joined Nova Semitae. Both he and Sarah were being trained concurrently for several years.

= Maximianus of Bonisagus, Nigrasaxa =

Maximianus of Bonisagus, the founder of the covenant, is a widely respected master of Corpus magic. He has written numerous important texts, most of which are in the library at Nigrasaxa, and was a typical theoretical Bonisagus. Over the last couple of decades, however, he has shown much more interest in the politics of the Order. He came to Stonehenge and founded a covenant specifically to break the cycle of invalid tribunals, and has recruited young magi to strengthen it. He is ancient, and thought to be on the verge of Final Twilight, but widely respected.

He caused a break between House Bonisagus and House Mercere when he claimed a Mercere apprentice, as was his right. But with so few Gifted magi in the House, this was seen as an insult by House Mercere. This apprentice was Gauntleted as Julissa, but was later made Orbus due to a disagreement with the Praeco, ending up in House Ex Miscellanea, and later as a guest in House Criamon. She is a founding member of Nova Semitae and currently missing.  

The break he caused between House Bonisagus and House Mercere was recently healed with the marriage of Aulus of Bonisagus and Jasmine of Mercere, a Redcap.

= Edward of Jerbiton, Schola Pythagoranis =

Edward of Milton, follower of Jerbiton, is the oldest magus at Schola Pythagoranis, and its warden. He is a great teacher, and loves to do it, spending much of his time lecturing or disputing. He is a student of mundane as well as magical knowledge, and as a result he is quite weak for a magus of his age. He looks quite old, maybe in his late fifties, but he is still vigorous, particular when teaching an eager student. He has trained five apprentices in his time, an unprecedented number. He dresses as a cleric, and is in minor orders as an exorcist. His magical interests lie mainly in Mentem, so he is, in fact, extremely good at exorcising spirits.

= Julia of Jerbiton, Voluntas =

Julia is the nearest thing to a leader that Voluntas has. While internal matters are generally decided by negotiation and compromise, the covenant seems happy to let her determine its relationships with the outside world. She is tall for a woman, with long black hair, pale skin, and a fine, low speaking voice. She normally dresses in deep blue robes, often decorated with silver embroidery. She is a mature maga, and specializes in Corpus and Mentem.

Julia’s parens was fascinated by politics, both Hermetic and mundane, and Julia has inherited that fascination. She came to Stonehenge during the civil war, and at first was wrapped up in her study of the shifting alliances during that conflict. She gradually came to appreciate Blackthorn’s stranglehold on the tribunal, and slowly her interest shifted. As Henry II brought peace to England, her attentions shifted entirely to the politics of the Order, and she determined to break Blackthorn’s hold.

She worked on this for many years, traveling round the tribunal and trying to convince other magi to act with her. For years it seemed that nothing would happen, and she avoided a number of tribunals, just to make sure that Blackthorn could not force issues through a quorate meeting. In the end, this led to the fiasco of 1194, when the tribunal failed to meet in advance of the Grand Tribunal, and thus sent no representatives. Julia sent letters to people she knew outside the tribunal, including Maximianus of Bonisagus, asking them to come and help. Maximianus answered.

The tribunal of 1201 was her masterstroke. All at once, Blackthorn was off balance, the tribunals were quorate, and no one covenant had the ability to completely dominate proceedings. She tried to press her advantage, gathering support for moving the tribunal meeting place out of Blackthorn and onto neutral territory, but there she was out-maneuvered. She remains one of the best politicians in the tribunal, and is still all but obsessed with weakening Blackthorn.



[[Category: Ars Magica]]
[[Category: Nova Semitae Saga]]
[[Category: NPCs]]