Prologue (3k)
Chapter One: Designing Beasts (61k)
Chapter Two: New Rules for Familiars (2k)
Chapter Three: Familiars and Saga Development (42k)
Chapter Four: Popular Familiars (103k)
Chapter Five: Quadrapeda (84k)
Chapter Six: Birds (84k)
Chapter Seven: Serpents (62k)
Chapter Eight: Worms (9k)
Chapter Nine: Fish (13k)
Appendix One: Humans as Familiars (12k)
Appendix Two: Familiars of the Realms (70k)
Appendix Three: Forms, Effects and Sizes (11k)
Bibliography (6k)
Each description contains statistics and, usually, a brief piece from Fredrica of Mercere, a 13th century researcher into Animal magic. This section often contains a significato. Significatones give the creature's role in the narrative of Creation, by giving it a symbolic characteristic or pattern of behaviour. Fredrica takes signifcatones literally in most cases. Although medieval authors may have been aware that eagles didn't really sunbathe to become young again, for game purposes eagles of virtue are more interesting if this isn't just a parable. If you are designing a mundane animal, check the text to see if their statistics reflect a literal signifcato.
This chapter describes those familiars animals most popular with the playtesting team and Ars Magica mailing list. Each includes tricks and tips for generating and playing an animal of that species or family. They include new virtues tailored to your type of familiar, notes on their behaviour, quirks they can trade to magi and descriptions of their sensory array. This section is designed to help you meet the challenge of playing animals as alien creatures, removed from human styles of though and methods of perception. They are also useful if you are designing a Bjornaer magus.
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There are three main types of cat. The most common is the domestic,
the house cat. The European Wildcat is a shy creature that avoids
humans and fights viscously when cornered. It is common in wild
areas of Europe and Western Asia. It's especially prevalent in
the Scottish Highlands, although why this should be so is a secret
that cats do not share. European Wildcats tend to be larger and
sturdier than domestics. The third type of cat is called the
African Wildcat, although they are common around both sides of
the Mediterranean. These are the ancestors of the domestic cat,
and magi can tame them quite successfully, since they are curious
and intelligent. My own Lucas is an African Wildcat.
Magi from both Egypt and Persia have kept cats since ancient times The ancient Egyptians so revered their cats that to kill one was a capital crime. The Persians did briefly use this to advantage, by having their soldiers carry cats into battle, which made he Egyptians unwilling to strike at the invaders. Exporting cats was also forbidden, but the Phoenicians developed markets for these valuable pieces of livestock and took them first to Greece, then to Rome. Here they became the pets of the noble classes and began their interaction both with the Hermetic Order and the Infernal powers. In the modern Order, cats are less popular than once they were. The Church has developed a taste for savagely butchering cats and for burning them alive on Saint John's Day. The Jerbiton magi, stalwart fellophiles of long standing, are now less proud of their glossy black cats than they once were. Stonehenge Tribunal is emerging as a stronghold for the cat, while magic recedes throughout it. The rapid land clearances of the Normans have led to grain surpluses, which in turn have led to rodent infestations, which have made the cat more acceptable as a pet than they are on the Continent. Even so, the venerable old Black, most magical of the cat breeds, is in retreat across Europe. The common cat, the mackerel tabby, is increasingly taking its place as the familiar of choice among magi. Many authorities warn of the diabolic nature of cats. Cats are furry snakes, tainted with evil, they state, yet at the same time they are known to be friends of man who kill the rodents that would otherwise plague farmers. Some authorities suggest that you keep a cat, but never show it affection, never touch it, beware its bite, and habit of eating human corpses and sucking the breath out of babies. Non-Romans have many traditions concerning magical felines. To scholars of a more Grecian bent, the cat is linked to the goddesses Hecate and Liberty. Galenthias, a woman turned into a cat, become a priestess of the shadowy goddess of magic, while the claustrophobic qualities of cats led them to be associated with the goddess of freedom. Galenthias is claimed by some Bjornaer as an ancestress. To the Egyptians, the cat was sacred to Set, their Devil and to the goddess of Joy, Urbastis. In Irish lore are found monstrous great cats, and tiny statuettes which were buried as grave goods. If the grave was disturbed the little cat became white hot and burned to ashes the robber. Some Celtic witches get their powers from a cat vertebra, and if you steal this, they are powerless. |
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Characteristics: Cun: +3, Per: +3, Pre: -1, Com: +1, Str: -3,
Stm: 0, Dex: +3, Qik: +3
Virtues and Flaws: All cats are Contortionists, and virtually all are both Light and Versatile Sleepers. Many, but not all, cats have "Compulsions" such as fighting with other toms. Virtues and flaws associated with diabolic cats, such as a taste for human flesh, are also described, but are rare amongst player characters. Size: -3 Personality Traits: Curious: +4 Weapon (Bite and claws): Init: +5, Atk: +5, Dfn: +7, Dam: -3 Soak: -2 Fatigue: 0 Fatigue Levels: OK, -3, Unconscious Body Levels: OK, -3, Incapacitated Abilities:
Many British Cats have an Organisation Lore to represent their knowledge of Cat Feudalism which consumes a spare point. Other cats often have Occult Lore. |
The Coat Colour Virtue
Coat coloursYou may only select a single coat colour, and the default is "Moggie" which is +0. Most of the breeds of domestic cat that we have today do not yet exist in 1220. The basic medieval cat is a mackerel tabby, which is like the modern "blotchy" tabby, save that the stripes on their coats are finer. Cats are extremely difficult to breed for characteristics, which is why modern attempts to breed giant and toy varieties of cats have failed and why cats with odd colours due to magical mistakes are so prized. Longhairs exist in colder regions.
-3 BlackYou are considered a perfect sacrifice for the fires on Saint John's Day. There are many priests who would dearly love to torture you to death. Even peasants are afraid of you, and many will resort to similar measures. You do, however, carry the mystical bloodline, and are more likely to have Exceptional Talents than a tabby (You've bought them with these flaw points, presumably.)
-2 White (blue eyes)There are very few white cats, with blue eyes, that can hear properly and you aren't one of them. Although you probably have an excellent sense of vibration and can therefore tell when some attackers are approaching you, you cannot hear the call of your kittens, if female, or of females in heat, if male. Simple Creo magic will not cure your deafness for more than a few days at a time, because you aren't actually ill. Some few magi have found that a CrAn(Mu) that permanently changes your coat or eyes in addition to your ears might act as a cure.
-1 White (mixed eyes)You are deaf on the side that has your blue eye. -3 on hearing rolls
-1 Black with white patchYou are a descendant of the great Black Cats of past times, but are not pure of coat, having a white mark, however small, such as a whisker. This places you outside the highest echelons of the cat mystical elite, but priests would prefer to burn your completely black brothers and peasants are sometimes more forgiving of your colour if your patch is noticeable.
0 MoggieYou are a cat of no extraordinary lineage. You are probably a mackerel tabby, which means you look like a modern, "blotchy" tabby except that your lines are finer. Priests still want you dead, as do many urban peasants, but on the edges of civilisation, or around families who keep cats, you probably aren't treated all that badly.
+1 Male TortoiseshellMale Tortoiseshells are extremely rare as, to a modern scientist, the colour genes for cats are sex-linked and carried on the X chromosome. Male tortoiseshells only occur when a cat has a third chromosome. XXY cats are sterile and although they know the mating rituals for both genders, they are generally disinterested in breeding. Since cats' status battles tend to be gender-related, male tortoiseshells engage in them very rarely. Male tortoiseshells, because they are so scarce, are treated better than other colours of cats in this dark time. In Celtic countries they are considered auspicious house pets, and in England it is thought that the touch of a male tortoiseshell tail, in the month of May, can remove warts. If you've purchased the "British" virtue, this is true.
+1 White, orange eyesYou are a white cat, but can hear perfectly. Hunting is a bit problematic in that your camouflage is useless, save in snow, but you have humans to do that sort of thing for you. If you are a male, some familiar females will refuse you, as they don't want white offspring, but white cats stick together if they can, and try to arrange alliances between their masters, so there is value in this coloration. The White Lineage claims descent from the familiar of Mercere himself.
+2 Magical MistakeEither you, or your ancestors, were summoned to the magus by Creo magic that went slightly wrong. You look unusual to a cat of the time, probably having the markings of a modern breed, like the Siamese for example. |
Cats may have most human virtues and flaws, but storyguides should not permit a player to take flaws easily cured by a magus. Cats who have lost an eye, for example, develop a fresh flaw if the eye is flippantly healed with CrAn spells. Common sense should be applied here. There are no cats who have the right to sell indulgences, for example.
You have a partiality for snacking on the human dead.
You have a "weakness" for catnip. Kittens may not have this flaw. They are "Catnip Immune", as described below, until they mature.
Most cats can have, to anthropomorphise, a ten-minute high by eating a type of mint that in English is colloquially called "catnip". You are one of those rare cats that is immune to catnip, and so cannot be bribed or drugged with it. About half of those cats who can trip on catnip just ignore it, while the other half go into a feeding frenzy in its presence, licking and chewing it, before rolling on the ground in ecstasy. This virtue only applies to truly immune cats, not those who merely abstain. Cats with this virtue are also immune to the similar effects of the Valerian plant.
Some cats can deliberately create respirtory diffiuclties. Although this doesn't kill adults, in the short term, it can immobilise them and drain fatigue levels. Sufficiently bad attacks prevent speech. Exposure to a vindictive breath-stealing cat, over several months, causes the lungs to rot.
Muses are able to grant Free Expression to their owners.
The cat-hatred that swept the rest of Europe was less pronounced in England and Scotland. If your saga is set there, you may take this virtue to represent the local tolerance of cats. Blacks are still, in some areas, though of as Satanic, but many people there feed them, reasoning that Satan has only so much ill-will to spread about, so he'll not waste it on someone feeding one of his minions. Bodley, a 13th century English bestiary, for example, makes no mention of the wickedness of cats, saying that they can see in the dark, are cunning, and are mousers. The Cats of England, Scotland and Ireland each have Kings. The Irish king is always black.
Cats were believed to have a poisonous bite, like snakes, in some places.
Irusan, King of the Cats, and all cat-kind were lampooned by the chief bard of Ireland. Irusan came to take his revenge. He was huge, and dragged the bard onto his back to take him to a meeting of cats, so that all of the tribe might take vengeance upon him. They passed a saint's forge and the saint saved the bard by striking the King of the Cats on the side of the head with a red-hot poker. Other huge cats turn up in stories, aiding their meeker brethren, and as a Huge Cat it is your duty to prowl out against the enemies of cattishdom. Giant rats, fell dogs, cruel humans, pecking birds, all these must fall before your mighty claws! You have the combat statistics of a panther, but visually it is obvious that you are an enormous black cat. You should take a trait like "Code of Honour", "Duty bound" or "Oath of Fealty" to reflect the service you need do to other cats, but you gain flaw points for any of these, they are not included in this virtue.
Tradition states that the Irish King o' Cats (of whom there were several) was killed by his owner accidentally, and his head pitched into flames. It spoke, telling the man who it was and saying it would be avenged. A year later, as the man played with a kitten, it suddenly attacked him and cut his throat. This might simply be hexing, or it could be transmigration of the spirit. A cat with this virtue has, quite literally, nine lives. The re-incarnation process snaps the cord of the body and it takes a season for it to be recreated.
House Jerbiton is the traditional House for cats to join, especially blacks. Toms are popular amongst Tyaltii. Pralix's familiar is said by some (mostly cats) to have been a cat and they are popular among the magi Ex Miscellanea, almost regardless of their specific tradition. This makes cats very common in Stonehenge, especially tortoiseshells who are favoured by the witches. House Mercere has many cats within it, especially the White Lineage, who claim, privately, descent from a magus, possibly Mercere. Many redcaps have cats, especially those who have retired due to age. Flambeau of the Fire school rarely have cats as familiars. Tremere are generally dog-people.
Bjornaer magi are almost always European Wildcats in heartbeast form. The modern domestic cat is descended from the braver, lither, friendlier African wildcat. The vast majority of Bjornaer are sterile, and most female Bjornaer take human form during their cat oestrus.
Domestic cats are solitary hunters. Although they are territorial, they allow overlap at the edges of each territory, to permit some socialising. Where several territories intersect, especially among female cats, neutral areas form where any cat may go in comparative safety. Cats in the wild have large territories, and populations are so sparse that fighting is rare. Males and females rarely feud for status, and some fighting is prevented by toms choosing to patrol contested areas at different times of day. In areas with regular supplies of food, such as farms, cats form prides, in which females co-operate to raise kittens.
Cats who have been domesticated remain kittens their entire lives, in some respects. They think of the humans as great cats, and consider their owner to be, for want of a better term, a substitute mother. Humans can keep many cats together because each cat recognises the human as their superior. They know the human owns the territory, and that food is going to be provided them in any case, and so only fight to establish seniority, or, rarely, because they want something to do. Kittens, naturally, do not fight. They have no reason to. They do play at fighting, but don't actually sink their teeth in. Many domestic cats follow these rules.
Hunting and eating are not connected in the cat mind. Fully-fed cats still need, desperately, to hunt. Their natural prey are rodents, which they attack from ambush. Cats usually hunt alone, although some mothers will hone their children's skills by taking them prowling. Some elderly cats, rarely, take on younger hunting partners. Most cats kill cleanly and efficiently, although those with few opportunities to hunt may release prey so that they can chase it again immediately. Female cats will sometimes bring prey to their kittens, to let them see what it's like. They do this to humans too, because they know humans are poor hunters and don't know why we wouldn't want a fresh rodent.
Intelligent cats spend most of their intelligence not on changing their behaviour, but on explaining how rational their impulses are. Most of all, they want to be dominant, not kittenish, and hate being reminded that they haven't really left home. Many do this through bossiness, because social equity is not a cattish concept. Cats in the wild bury their fesces as a sign of submission, so that only the dominant cat advertises its presence through the scent of its dung. Intelligent cats will bury their dung, but claim it to be fastidiousness about being clean. Intelligent queens still choose toms, and may have sex with packs of them for days on end, despite the fact that it's terribly painful, and will come up with arguments that seem quite convincing as to why this was a sound strategy. An intelligent cat will still, if bored, chew lanolin-scented wool, but will deny vociferously that this is because this simulates the presence of its mother. Familiar cats, like many adult humans, spend a lot of time convincing themselves that the childish things they like to do aren't childish at all.
The following quirks are described to allow players to choose attributes which are traded to the human along the familiar cords.
| Bonisagian researchers in Egypt have discovered huge mausoleums, filled with the mummified remains of dead cats, prepared by the priests of the popular goddess "She-of-Bast.", or Bastet. That the researchers ground up these corpses, tainted as they were with Creo vis, and shipped them home has done little to endear Egyptological magi to the familiar cat population of Europe. The aged hexes of the priests of the cat-goddess do claim the occasional magus however, which is often cause for feline celebration. Still, the dangers do not daunt all magi and many European apprentices dream of going to Aegyptus and finding such hidden riches. It must be said that those magi who do succeed in this rapine of our past live exceedingly long, due to their mastery of the Creo Art and the huge amounts of vis which they can channel into longevity potions. |
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Dogs are the most intelligent of beasts. They know their name
and answer it. They are capable of deduction based on their keen
sense of smell and, when hunting for example, carefully weigh
the evidence of the game's path before giving chase.
Dogs love their owners, and will die to defend them. History is full of splendid examples of the fidelity of dogs. Murderers have been caught due to the hostility of the victim's dog. The dog will pine for the master if the master dies, often dying itself. The dog cannot live without humans. The tongue of a dog will cure a wound it licks, and the tongues of puppies are a curative for the suffering of intestinal pain. Dogs have two other curiosities in their nature. They will return to their vomit and consume it a second time. If swimming a river while holding meat in their mouths, they often snatch at the meat's reflection in the water, thereby losing their prize. Wolf-dogs are born when these two creatures mate. They are huge and fierce, yet as loving as their smaller kin toward their masters and have none of a wolf's wickedness in them. The people of distant India tether bitches where tigers mate with them, producing a hound of tremendous swiftness which can chase and drag down the lion. |
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Characteristics: Int: +1, Per: +4, Pre: 0, Com: 0, Str: 0, Stm:
+1, Dex: 0, Qik: 0
Size: -2 Personality Traits: Loyal: +6 Weapon (Bite and claws): Init: +3, Atk: +4, Dfn: +3, Dam: +3 Soak: -1 Fatigue: +1 Fatigue Levels: OK, -1, -5, Unconscious Body Levels: OK, -1, -5, Incapacitated Abilities:
*Greyhounds should gain one in the species bonus for Athletics, but lose one from the Species bonus for Awareness. |
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Characteristics: Int: +1, Per: +3, Pre: +1, Com: 0, Str: +3,
Stm: +3, Dex: 0, Qik: 0
Size: 0 Personality Traits: Loyalty +6 Weapon (Bite and claws): Init: +3, Atk: +5, Dfn: +5, Dam: +9 Soak: +5 Fatigue: +3 Fatigue Levels: OK, OK, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious Body Levels: OK, OK, -1, -3, -5, Incapacitated Abilities As per dogs, above. |
| The fox is a wily creature, like a dog. His tricks tend toward the procurement of food. He fishes for crabs with his bushy tail and, lacking other sustenance, rolls is clay to daub himself, as if with blood. He then lies where carrion birds will see him, holding his breath, and, as they descend to peck his corpse, he catches them in his teeth. |
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Characteristics: Cun: +4, Per: +3, Pre: +2, Com: +2, Str: -2,
Stm: 0, Dex: +1, Qik: +3
Size: -3 Weapon (Bite): Init: +5, Atk: +3, Dfn: +7, Dam: -2 Soak: -2 Fatigue: 0 Fatigue Levels: OK, -1, Unconscious Body Levels: OK, -1, Incapacitated Abilities:
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The wolf is a bloodthirsty creature which tries to destroy all
creatures that cross its path, should it be hungry. It is said
that whatever it tramples cannot survive, but I have seen wolves
and cannot say that it was something the wolves attempted, preferring,
as other authorities say, to kill with its teeth. It is strongest
in its chest and mouth, and its neck is rigid. The wolf eats
flesh, but can survive on earth, or even on air. Other authorities
claim that this is not so, merely that the wolf fasts long, then
dines on a huge meal in compensation. Its eyes shine like lanterns
in the darkness.
The wolf mates only for twelve days each year, and the she-wolf bears cubs only in May, during storms. The female hunts well away from her lair, so that she does not lead hunters to her cubs. If, when hunting, she snaps a twig, she nips her foot painfully to remind herself to be more cautious. If, when out hunting, a wolf sees a man first, then the man is struck dumb. If the man sees the wolf first, it loses its wildness. A man who is struck dumb may save himself by tearing off his clothes and banging rocks together, for this terrifies the wolf, although other authorities state that once the wolf has had a victory over the man, by the theft of his voice, it will ignore him. There is a patch of hair at the base of the wolf's tail that, if removed from a living wolf, is a powerful aphrodisiac. The wolf, if being hunted, often tears off this tuft with its teeth. The right eye of a wolf acts as a charm against hexes and other charms. Their flesh, pounded with celery, honey and white pepper, mixed with the liquid extracted from the flesh of the ears of mice reduces fever. In Ethiopia there are wolves called "theas" which have manes. These vary in colour so widely that none is excluded. In summer they are bald, but in winter they are hairy. Theas jump so high that they sprint in a series of leaps. Theas never attack humans. Tremere was the youngest and weakest of the Founders and he lived continually in fear of his seniors, especially his older sibling Tytalus and the unpredictable Flambeau. Tremere was encouraged by his familiar, Albanus, to adopt the mentality of a wolf in seeing to his own defence. Tremere founded his own Pack, the House, and retained wolf-like discipline. He developed a type of den leadership, based on possession of sigils, that simulated the method whereby the most powerful wolves channelled resources to their pups, using secondary wolves as providers and attendants. Finally he convinced the Order to adopt a duelling technique, certamen, that reflected dominance combat among wolves. Its main advantage was that weaklings, such as himself, were not killed in disputes with magi such as Flambeau. The descendants of Albanus still rule the hills surrounding Coeris, and many of them are familiar to modern Tremere. |
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Characteristics: Cun: +2, Per: +4, Pre: +2, Com: 0, Str: +1,
Stm: +4, Dex: +1, Qik: 0
Size: -1 Free Virtues and Flaws:
Personality Traits: Cunning +3 Weapon (Bite and claws): Init: +3, Atk: +5, Dfn: +5, Dam: +6 Soak: +5 Fatigue: +4 Fatigue Levels: OK, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious Body Levels: OK, -1, -3, -5, Incapacitated Abilities:
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Dearest Camille...
...The Werewolf's Birthday is Christmas, it's said, and a new-born child, with the Gift, was left at the Covenant of Arthur's Throne on the day after Christmas. The magi are gravely divided. Some wish to raise it, knowing that when he grows to manhood, he might also become a bloodthirsty beast. Some suspect he is a priest's bastard. One postulates that, as it is known that werewolves do not age normally, a part of their disease that makes them retain a youthful complexion might be separated from the curse, and harnessed for longevity potions... F. |
There are several species of canid which regularly act as familiars in Mythical Europe, the three most common being the grey wolf, the domestic dog and the red fox. Others that have, at times, found prominence are the arctic fox and the golden jackal, although this last has been less popular during the post-Mercurial period of history.
The domestic dog had not yet differentiated into many of the modern breeds by the thirteenth century and so these are not available as wizards' familiars. Some few modern breeds, such as the afghan and greyhound, are of ancient Egyptian vintage. The Irish Wolfhound was know to the Romans in the fourth century A.D. Other breeds developed in the early thirteenth century, and may be an effect of magicians tinkering with the accidents of the canid form. Toy breeds are rare, as the are considered uselessly deformed. Players desiring a toy should take the "Dwarf" flaw.
Wolves are popular familiars among Tremere magi, and have a long history of membership in House Bjornaer, as do foxes. Although they are prevalent in most of the Houses of the Order, dogs tend to shy away from Criamon magi, whom they consider dangerously strange. Merinitans prefer wolves or foxes over dogs, and their creatures often have a touch of the fae about them.
Europe has many traditions concerning magical dogs, some of which get tangled and jumbled together as they travel from area to area. These virtues and flaws are suggested to help you recreate these magical animals.
Like some British spirit hounds you literally lack a head. Although this does not impair your senses, it does make you unable to fight using your teeth. You must not trade away all of your magic might if you wish to take this flaw. You are able to howl and bark normally. Many headless hounds have a magical power that kills.
Your eyes literally shine at night. This makes stalking more difficult, as it doesn't permit you to hide properly, while retaining a view of your target. It also mean that darkness, usually a defence against "Eye" ranged spells, does not aid you as it would others.
Wolves are said to be unable to turn their heads. If you suffer this flaw it can prove inconvenient in combat, where it reduces your Brawling skill by two points.
Wolves, mythically, have enormous appetites, both for flesh and for sex. If you have developed both of these cravings, purchase this flaw twice.
Your ancestry contains a demonic beast able to take wolf form. You are Tainted with Evil, and Cursed (Light causes you pain) but are also Large and can breathe sulphurous fumes and flame. Your bite does +5 damage.
You can sense the feelings of those around you. It is by sensing culpability that dogs are able to expose the killers of their owners.
The lick of a dog can cure, it is said, wounds such as sores. Although this healing requires no vis, you may not apply yourself to it during combat, nor may you heal wounds more severe than "Hurt".
Wolves are said to have a patch of aphrodisiacal hair at the base of their tail, but it only works if removed from a living wolf. If a hunter catches you, they may stay their blow in an attempt to grab your aphrodisiacal tuft. It also makes you popular with the bitches.
Bodley notes that at times wolves fee on flesh, but at others they survive on earth or air. Essentially wolves are able to go for long periods without food, gorging when they finally kill, thereby restoring their tissues, but in Mythical Europe, some wolves can extend their fasts beyond those mundanely possible.
The Bodley Bestiary states that the dog is the most intelligent of animals. This virtue makes your canid two points more intelligent than it otherwise be. This may make you more intelligent than your magus.
If a wolf sees a man before that man sees the wolf, the wolf may make him mute. If the man sees the wolf first, the wolf becomes tame. Certain redoubtable wolves claim that this is simply not true, and is a myth created by scavenging dogs which seek new masters. The Bestiaries often state that dumbstruck men may escape by stripping and hammering together two rocks. Wolves are said to be deterred by the fear of stones. Many wolves claim that this is a silly practice, but concede that some demons are scared by loud noises, and a man-killing wolf may be under the influence of such a creature.
At the cost of 5 might points, or a fatigue level, you may emit a howl to freeze the blood, literally. This ability is resisted as a PeIg spell of 30th level, although a magus attempting to duplicate the Howl would require a spell of far higher level. The howl affects an individual or group within Far range, sucking the warmth from their bodies. It does the equivalent of +20 damage. The howl can be heard by those not targeted, and this may require Brave checks to prevent a person seeking shelter and human company.
Your dog is utterly silent when moving, should it wish to be. This is basically a more flexible, personalised version of the PeIm 10 spell Silence of the Smothered Sound.
You contain the blood of the terrifying Black Dogs, most commonly seen in Britain. You avoid sunlight, although it does not cause you pain or injury, and are intolerant of iron, church bells and other things inamicable to faeries. Your eyes seem like glowing coals, and you can use them to instil terror in others. This is similar to "Panic of the Elephant's Mouse" or "Panic of the Trembling Heart", but lasts only so long as you concentrate on the target. It costs 1 magical point to terrify a person, two if you want to extend the duration to Sun. If you lack magic points, or want to save them and retain a slightly higher magic resistance, you may spend fatigue levels instead. You are also very large. (Size +1).
Magi find "Barguests" confusing creatures, as some of them are hellhounds, some are padfoots, some are black faerie dogs and others are magical, often ghosts of travellers that passed away on the road they haunt. Decide which realm your Barguest is aligned to and choose virtues to reflect your choice. A Bjornaer magus with a black hound heartbeast is likely to be mistaken for each of these varieties of supernatural canine.
You have the blood of the faerie hounds within you. It's likely that you have pale fur and red ears. Iron and the Dominion make you very uncomfortable. You have an Obligation to return to your master on Nights of the Hunt, which occur regularly in most places. In exchange, you have a powerful Faerie Friend, your Hunter or his Groom, upon whom you may call in dire need. You may fly. This costs you three magic points, or a fatigue level, and lasts until sunrise. You far prefer to fly with your pack, as the Elementals of the Air can be dangerous.
The most important thing to a dog is status. Dogs are creatures fixated by their place in the hierarchy of their society. This is not to say that dogs are all megalomaniacs, as all find membership of a pack more important than rulership of that pack, but that to dogs, belonging is everything. Long-standing packs rarely fight, as every animal is fully aware of what their place is, so fighting is not necessary. Wolves have a similar system of dominance and submission which regulates their society, as do jackals. Foxes, however, are more similar to cats than dogs in terms of their society, save that foxes always pair-bond.
All dogs, save the domestic, want a lair. Those of different species are called "lairs" or "dens" or "earths". The earth of a wolf or dog is a lengthy tunnel with a nest at its far end, in which the dominant female delivers her pups. This right, to take shelter, is one of the main reasons that the dominant female's pups survive. The other is that lesser wolves are required to aid in the feeding of these pups. This is reflected in the Tremere lifestyle.
The following behaviours and physiological anomalies can be transferred along the familiar bond to magi, and may appear in the human forms of experienced followers of Bjornaer.
Males kill other males only when the second male is obviously not conducive to the life of the Pack. For example, if there is a male who continually enters dominance battles with its betters, it's continued existence is sapping resources away from wolves whose lives aid the pack. Such a wolf may well be torn to pieces. Wolves, and dogs, who undertake execution do not do it for emotive reasons, but because they believe they are serving a greater good. Several Tremere archmagi have developed the habit of declaring wizard's war on those who leave the House voluntarily, or are made Orbi. This reflect the habits of their wolf companions.
Puppies chew on things to ease teething pain and to encourage their adult teeth to emerge. Many dogs continue chewing in their adult life, as something to do while nothing more important is going on. Magi who develop the trait of chewing will find a solid food that they chew much like a modern person would gum or tobacco. Roasted pork rind, for example, might be their chew toy of choice.
Dogs eat very rapidly, in case a larger rival appears to shoo them away from their kill. Magi who eat like dogs wolf their food, literally.
Your feet shorten and splay, while your nails harden into claws. This makes it impossible to wear normal shoes. Your deformed footprints look like those of a truly gigantic, bipedal, wolf. Many predators will not follow such tracks. In snow the prints will enlarge due to melt, becoming the size of a bread and butter plate.
Your magus develops a pelt of wolf's fur. This makes you smell like a wolf, which frightens many animals, but also wards off many woodland predators, who do not consider wolves game.
Your probably grow your hair long during winter, and your body hair becomes denser, but it moults in The spring.
Your magus has the light frame and powerful muscles of a greyhound or fox. You can run at tremendous speed, and are nimbler than most humans. You develop a psychological need to exercise daily.
Characters who develop canine sight will also develop reflective eyes. They become particularly aware of small, moving objects. They sometimes feel the need to chase things that seem to be fleeing their presence.
The primary sense for dogs is smell. They can use it to precisely determine where their associates have been, what they have been doing, and how long ago they were there. Magi who develop a sense such as this feel a deep need to use it. In the same way that it would never occur to most humans to deliberately keep their eyes closed for the rest of their lives, magi who have a dog's sense of smell will consider it foolish not to sniff the things around them. This urge is controllable, but magi chose to boost this sense even further, so they can enjoy its sensations and gather information by breathing normally through the nose.
Although the magus will not hear so well as a cat, dogs have exception hearing and are able to judge the distance and speed of approaching objects without looking at them. Magi will find particularly loud noises uncomfortable.
The tail of a wolf has few of the virtues of the tail of a cat, although it permits a sprinting magi to brake, or turn, more quickly than would otherwise be possible. The tail wags uncontrollably when the magus is happy, and becomes completely limp if they feel defeated. You might, like a fox, be able to catch crabs by waggling your tail in water.
Your magus develops a digitigrade walk. That is, when walking, it is usual for them not to place their heel upon the ground, instead prowling on the balls of their feet.
This clan of animals is made up of scent-producing carnivores. The mustelids vary greatly in their shapes and personalities, but for the sake of them game, they'll be treated as a group. Players shouldn't be concerned if their ferret has some traits that are more appropriate to a badger, because individual animals have individual quirks. Some ferrets, for example, have cat-like personalities, despite the vast differences in their physiology.
The creature that Americans call the wolverine is refered to in period texts as the "glutton" and these terms are used interchangeably below. Similarly the terms polecat and ferret are largely interchangeable, the first being the wild form of the second. Medieval writers considered the lithe mustelids to be rodents. Animal magi know better, because they have representatives of both classes, which hate each other, as familiars.
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The Mustelids are a large family of animals which produce a musky
scent. They can be divided into two groups, the lithe and the
stout. Lithe mustelids. like the stoat, also called the ermine,
the polecat and ferret have similar lifestyles and diets to one
another. The stout Mustelids each live in a particular way, different
from that of the lithes, and each other. The stout mustelids
are the badger and the glutton. The fur of all mustelids is prized...
...Mustelids have been used for familiars since ancient times. The housepets of the ancient Greeks, Aesop says, were domesticated polecats, and their magi often had them as familiars before the arrival of the cats from Persia. Many, seeing the statues of Guernicus in Magvillius with the proud eagle upon his shoulder image that his familiar was this imperial bird, but this view is false. It should be remembered that Guernicus was an Earth Magician, guardian of the ritual of the Hermetic Portal and that he was inquisitive and playful. His ferret was named Peter, or Rock. Transitionalists within the House Guernicus have ferret familiars more often than any other group of magi. House Guernicus aside, the mustelids are most popular among Flambeau, Tytalus, Ex Miscellanea and Bjornaer magi. In this last house the otter form is preferred, although the wolverine is also seen occasionally. Ferrets are suprisingly popular among Magi of Bonisagus, possibly due to their inquisitive nature. Some few Criamon have ratels (which they call "honey badgers") as familiars. These are similar to badgers, although they have different magical correspondences... The weasel is an elongated rodent which, it is said, conceives by the ear and gives birth by the mouth. I cannot say that this appears correct to me, for I have spoken to several familiar ferrets and they have replied to these questions with pointed comments derogatory of humans in general and Animal magi in particular. They are skilled in thievery, as mentioned in the Book of Levictus, and herbalism. They can restore their kits to life, should some creature attack them. The weasel is the enemy of the rat, the mouse and the serpent. It can even slay the dreaded basilisk. For this weasels are prized. There are two types. The domestic, kept as a hunter by humans, and the ictidas, which is wild, and with which domestics are bred to increase their size and aggressiveness. The salted flesh of the weasel is sovereign over snake venom. |
If forced to make up information on the fly about Mustelids in your campaign, a sound rule of thumb in many cases is to split the difference between bears and cats. This is especially apt for wolverines, who have a vaguely ursine appearance.
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Characteristics: Cun: +1, Per: +3, Pre: 0, Com: 0, Str: -3,
Stm: +1, Dex: +2, Qik: +2
Size: -3 (-4 if female, in some cases, purchased as a flaw.) Free Virtues and Flaws:
Personality Traits: Active +5 Weapon (Bite and claws): Init: +5, Atk: +4, Dfn: +7, Dam: -3 Soak: -2 Fatigue: +1 Fatigue Levels: OK, -3, Unconscious Body Levels: OK, -3, Incapacitated Abilities:
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Weasels have a tremendous desire to play and spend their points on things they consider fun. This usually includes hunting and brawling. Each of the different species vary slightly in their statistics. For example, few martens are nearsighted and they have a specific climbing bonus, replacing that for athletics. Otters, similarly, are excellent swimmers and have their athletics bonus relocated into that skill. They have a second racial bonus "Craft (building dams)" and a Etiquette (other otters) skill, both of which are paid for from their spare point pool.
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The badger is a dirty animal which digs holes in the ground.
Badgers are born in two classes, and the servant class is known
by the way it assists in the construction of burrows. The servant
lies upon its back and allows the masters to pile dirt upon its
stomach. When the pile is sufficiently large that it cannot hold
any more, it wraps its feet about the soil and clutches a stick
between its teeth. The masters then seize the stick and draw
the servant out of the burrow.
A badger's tail gains an added hole for each year of life. |
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Characteristics: Cun: +1, Per: 0, Pre: +2, Com: +1, Str: +2,
Stm: +6, Dex: +2, Qik: -1
Magic Might: 10 Size: -2 (-3 if female, in some cases) Free Virtues and Flaws:
Magical Power: In the earlier edition of the Medieval Bestiary the following power was given Curse of the Milky Eyes (PeCo30, 10 points) As the spell of the same name on p. 127 of the main rules. This does not appear in any of the texts used in the research of the second edition, but has been included for the sake of reverse compatibility. Personality Traits: Cautious: +3, Vicious +5 Weapon (Bite and claws): Init: +3, Atk: +6, Dfn: +5, Dam: +3 Soak: +5 Fatigue: +4 Fatigue Levels: OK, -1 , -3, -5, Unconscious Body Levels: OK, -1, -3, -5, Incapacitated Abilities:
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Vis: If using the power from the first edition, then 2 pawns of Corporem (eyes), otherwise none.
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Dear Jehan,
In your new territory [the Rhineland] there is an enormous badger set, whose creatures all talk, and who permit magi to use their teeth as a vis source. The badgers tend to lose their last molar on either side of the upper jaw. It's entirely possible that similar communities exist elsewhere in Europe and I would be gratified were you to question these creatures about similar settlements. |
| Wolverines are like badgers, but bigger, nastier and far more mystical. Even without mythologising their capabilities, wolverines have extraordinary stamina and combat abilities. Adding the mythical beliefs concerning this creature make it a terrifying foe for the average peasant. If you are creating a mundane wolverine, trim these statistics fiercely. |
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Characteristics: Cun: +3, Per: +2, Pre: +2, Com: -1, Str:
+3, Stm: +8, Dex: -1, Qik: -2
Magic/Faerie/Infernal Might: 20 Size: -1 (-2 if female, in some cases, purchased as a flaw.) Free Virtues and Flaws:
Personality Traits: Perseverance: +3, Vicious +6 Weapon (Bite and claws): Init: +5, Atk: +12, Dfn: +6, Dam: +15 Soak: +10 Fatigue: -1 Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious Body Levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Incapacitated Abilities:
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Vis: 4 pawns of Perdo, teeth.
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The beaver is a tame animal whose testicles contain a valuable
medicine. When hunters chase it, it castrates itself with a bite,
hence its name "castor" and flings them to its pursuers.
They then cease chasing it, having what they require. Should
another hunter come after it, the beaver rears up upon its hind
legs, displaying its mangled genitalia, so that the second hunter
also leaves it in peace.
The beaver has a great desire to feel secure, and to foster this safety it creates atificial lakes, constructs fortresses and escape tunnels, then posts guards and watches. Lilac, who founded Black Fell Covenant, had a faerie beaver as a familiar. Even in the present day her covenant is surrounded by irrigation channels, mill races and moatworks. |
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Dearest boy, your course is foolish. The body of the badger has the following remarkable characteristics, all of which can be passed on to a magus along the familiar bond. The magus may develop huge buck teeth, that they can use to gnaw through trees. The beaver has anal scent glands...Rumours of a magus tearing off his testicles and throwing them at the Great Drake of the Pyrennes are probably untrue...Beaver fur is reddish-brown above and lighter or greyish below. Magi may find the colour of their hair reflecting their pets' coloration. Their body hair may also develop the dual tone of a beaver pelt, so that the hairs on the underside of the arms and the fronts of the legs are grey, while those on the tops of the arms, backs of the legs, and shoulder are reddish-brown...From a human perspective, a beaver's head is disproportionately large and lacks a neck.. Some magi mimic this, the bones of their skull increasing in size. This is extremely uncomfortable in most cases...Leathery folds of skin form between the fingers of the magus, adding to their skill as a swimmer, but affecting their ability to write with a quill...Beavers have a single breeding season per year, something which many female magicians find quite convenient....Beavers have plump little bodies, insulated with fat. Magi with familiar beavers often look a little like their pets in this regard....The magus develops a huge, broad, flat tail. If swimming this propels them forcefully through the water. Do you wish, nephew, to become so deformed? To be a bloated, furry eunuch? Can you not find a cat more to your liking? Yours in trust, F |
You recoup lost fatigue levels in half the time it takes a human to do so.
You die if your coat becomes soiled. The ermine is taken as a symbol of chastity by the Church.
Many mustelids are infuriated by those who wear bits of dead mustelid as ornamentation. This has made them far less popular as familiars among Jerbiton magi than dogs or cats.
As with the infuriated mustelids, you are shocked by and resentful of human who wear bits of flayed mustelid upon themselves. You do not, however, necessarily become violent toward them.
You hate serpents with a passion, and wish to do them grievous harm. You are not suicidal, and so will not attack drakes and such, but if you can find a way to ensure their downfall, then you will set a plan in action. This makes you unusually serious for a mustelid.
It's uncommon, but not unusual, to see a male ferret that is three times the size of the female. Because of this, males and females will not fight over territory, as each prefers a different size of game. Tame mustelids, especially ferrets, see other mustelids as playmates, rather than rivals, so tend not to fight anyway, except during the breeding season. They do wrestle, but that's play.
The myths are true, some magical ferrets have a poisonous bite. You are one of them. On a successful attack, your foe must make a Stamina roll of 6+ or lose an additional body level. Some ferrets have far more toxic poisons, but these should be negotiated with the storyguide. Generally they will either be a higher level virtue or a natural magical power, which restricts their number of uses per day.
Snake venom hurts you not at all.
Lithe mustelids, especially the smaller varieties, are, from a human perspective, hyperactive. They are continually prowling about, seeking stimulation. Although they are territorial, they defend their ranges only poorly, since they maintain areas that are extremely large. Mustelids are aggressive and fearless, perfectly willing to bear their teeth at a man or other, from their perspective, gigantic creature. They have no illusions of victory, but believe that if they smell terrible and look dangerous, they are unlikely to be selected as prey. The smaller mustelids are impulsive, while the larger are meditative.
Domestic ferrets have been living with humans so long that it's very rare for them to be aggressive toward people. In a single word, they are -enthusiastic-. They combine the hyperactivity and inquisitiveness of their wild cousins with the knowledge that it's unlikely their owners would allow a dangerous predator to be nearby.
Domestic ferrets are designed, physically, as carnivores, and, like cats, need thaumine in their diet to avoid blindness, which they get by eating birds. That aside, most of them will go wild over anything edible, gladly consuming milk, cream, fruit, oatmeal and anything else they can get their teeth around. As both lactose and fibre act as diuretics for ferrets, this sometimes makes them ill.
The following personality traits and physical features might be traded to a magus along the cords by their familiar.
Magi under the influence of weasels will use the fact that they appear not to care if they are about to die to great advantage. Many archmagi avoid violent quarrels with mustelid magi, because they know that although the mustelid magus might be defeated, the process will be expensive and will leave them vulnerable to other, larger, threats. Nor is this reputation unwarranted. Mustelid magi are masters of preparation when it comes to wearing down opponents, and are quite fond of Waiting Spells triggered by death. It is said, accurately, that the inventor of the spell to destroy the physical form securing vis in a useful state had a stoat as a familiar. Magi with weasels as familiars have occasionally pulled off tremendous bluffs. The most remarkable was the magus Bernice of Merinita's confrontation with a dragon, that left her unscathed on the general principle that no magus is sufficiently stupid to challenge a dragon if they could not do it serious harm.
Storyguides are encouraged not to force this trait upon a player character unless they desire it, and even then make it intermittent. It makes the magus a bundle of immediate responses, which removes some of the fun from the game. That being said, some Flambeau magi are perfect companions for Impulsive mustelids, roaming around Europe looking for clues that lead to things to fight or capture, having no long term plan and reacting to most problems with spontaneous displays of power.
The sound of running water triggers in beavers the desire to create a dam. Magi may suffer from a similar fixation, but sometimes turn it into a desire to do woodwork. Abiton of Bonisagus used to whittle during dinner, a compulsion apparently triggered by the sound of wine being poured into glasses.
Those lacking the vis and assistants required to produce magical escape routes are very fond of tunnels. A magus demanding both an escape tunnel and a moat is likely to be a Beaver magus.
Magi with this psychological trait feel compelled to signal others when they sense danger. This reflex is usually satisfied with a minor spontaneous spell, although the exhausted might shout, stamp their feet, or develop some other nervous action, like clapping loudly, once.
Magi who develop this trait love tinkering with bits of wood, whittling and doing bits of carpentry. They find this craft meditative, and can be doing it while, for example, instructing their apprentice, so their laboratories are often filled with sawdust.
The sable is a variety of marten prized for its fur, but it is rare in western Europe.
In the same way that domestic cats remain somewhat kittenish their whole lives, the domestic ferret acts rather like an immature polecat. They are Solitary hunters who defend large territories from other polecats of their gender. Magi with polecat familiars will demarcate quite strict borders within the covenant, and will use deadly force to defend them, if necessary.