TEXT: Semita Errabunda
  26
  Characteristics: Int +1, Per +2, Pre –2, Com –2,
  Str +2, Sta +0, Dex +2, Qik 0
  Size: 0
  Age: 24
  Decrepitude: 0
  Warping Score: 0
  Confidence Score: 1 (3)
  Virtues and Flaws: Redcap; Ways of the
  Woods; Social Contacts (Nobles), Well-
  Traveled (Free Virtue), Wilderness Sense;
  Overconfident; Carefree, Compulsion
  (Hunting), Magic Susceptibility, Magical
  Animal Companion (horse), Poor Student,
  Weak Characteristics
  Personality Traits: Cheerful +3, Ambitious +2,
  Gregarious +1
  Combat: Long bow: Init –4, Attack +11, Defense
  +4, Damage +10
  Long sword: Init +0, Attack +11, Defense +5,
  Damage +8
  Long sword & round shield: Init +0, Attack +10,
  Defense +6, Damage +8
  Lance (as long spear): Init +1, Attack +7, Defense
  +3, Damage +9
  Dagger: Init –2, Attack +8, Defense +3,
  Damage +5
  Fist: Init -2, Attack +5, Defense +2, Damage +2
  Long sword (mounted): Init +0, Attack +14, Defense
  +8, Damage +8
  Long sword & round shield (mounted): Init +0, Attack
  +13, Defense +9, Damage +8
  Lance (mounted): Init +0, Attack +13, Defense +6,
  Damage +7
  Lance & round shield (mounted): Init +0, Attack +13,
  Defense +8, Damage +7
  Soak: +6 (partial chainmail); +2 (partial heavy
  leather, while hunting), +0 unarmored.
  Fatigue levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious
  Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5
  (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20)
  Abilities: Animal Handling 1 (hounds), Artes
  Liberales 2 (logic), Athletics 2 (run),
  Awareness 2 (alertness), Bargain 1 (strangers),
  Bows 3 (long bow), Brawl 2 (dagger), Carouse
  2 (wild tales), Chirurgy 2 (first aid), Code of
  Hermes 1 (tribunal procedures),
  Concentration 3 (memory), Covenant Lore 2
  (people), Etiquette 2 (hunting), Folk Ken 1
  (magi), Great Weapon 1 (long spear), Hunt 3
  (noble game), Latin 4 (hermetic use),
  Leadership 2 (huntsmen), Order of Hermes
  Lore 2 (covenants), Own Language 5 (fluen-
  cy), Philosophiae 1 (natural philosophy), Ride
  3 (in the hunt), Single Weapon 3 (long
  sword), Stealth 1 (stalking), Survival 2
  (woods), Tribunal Lore 3 (geography),
  Wilderness Sense 2 (resources)
  Victor of Mercere
  by Neil Taylor
  (Note: Ways of the Woods grants a further +3 to all
  rolls when fighting in Woods. Note also “The Invisible
  Shield” bracelet)
  
  27
  Semita Errabunda
  Equipment: partial chainmail, long sword,
  round shield, lance, dagger; carried on his
  horse Aeolus are a pack with travel clothes &
  camping gear, a fine harness, saddle and blan-
  kets.
  The Traveler’s Finest Cook-pot: an iron cook-pot
  which transforms food placed in it into the
  banquet of the user’s desire. It does not alter
  the quantity, nor the nutritive nature – but
  does make even unpalatable foods delicious.
  (It also saves on preparation time!).
  [MuAn(He) 11: GL 3, +3m for Touch/Sun,
  +1L for 2 uses daily]
  The Traveler’s Excellent Tent: a miniature leather
  tent, with guy ropes and pegs. On command
  it enlarges to the requested size – up to that
  of a tent capable of sleeping 4 spaciously (or
  cramming in 10 men) or of sheltering a man
  and his horse. On a second command it
  shrinks back to miniature form, ending the
  magical effect. [MuAn(He) 9: GL 3, the guy-
  ropes are cosmetic so no cost (they could be
  bone & sinew), +1m Conc, +5L maintains
  conc., 1 use per day.]
  The Invisible Shield: an arm bracelet, apparently
  of cheap metal and unassuming decoration.
  When you make the triggering gesture, it
  briefly Wards the wielder from metal – effec-
  tively blocking all metal weapons. [ReTe 10:
  GL 2, +2m metal, +1m Touch, +5L 24 uses
  daily]
  To trigger it, cross your fingers for luck and
  make a bold parrying gesture, bringing your
  arm up and across in front of your chest as if
  parrying with a shield.
  Metal tipped wooden weapons like spears and
  arrows are affected, but wooden weapons
  with small amounts of metal (such as a spiked
  club) are less affected – you get a +5 Defense
  bonus but the weapon may still strike. Plain
  wooden weapons are unaffected.
  Aeolus’ Amulet: a leather charm woven into the
  mane of Aeolus. When one speaks the com-
  mand word, the charm grants the horse it
  touches the power to ride across water, mud
  or any other surface. [ReAn 15, based on
  ReCo 4, +2m Touch/Conc, +1m Size. 1 use
  daily]. Aeolus wanted a charm that would let
  him gallop through the skies, but Victor’s
  budget would not stretch that far. This may
  be the first item Victor requests when he
  finds enough Vis to pay a magus…] Note that
  Aeolus is a talking horse, and is generally the
  one to decide whether the charm is used or
  not.
  The Eye of the Cat: an enchanted Cat’s Eye
  stone, which grants the wielder the ability to
  see in the dark like a cat. [MuCo(An) 5 –
  same as Eyes of the Cat. 1 use daily.]
  Encumbrance: 2 (Burden 4)
  Vis: none yet, but he’s looking for any he can
  find…
  Appearance: a tall blond man, with long hair
  (usually held back by a cord), strong but very
  agile. His appearance varies as he travels,
  from an unassuming cloaked traveler on a
  nag, to a warrior in shining mail on a hand-
  some charger.
  If Victor were asked to pose, he would chose
  to portray himself as a great hunter (on a fine
  charger, with lance couched in pursuit of a
  deer); or perhaps a bare-headed warrior in
  chain mail shirt, fighting off several bandits
  simultaneously (ostentatiously deflecting their
  every blow with a small gesture, as he cuts
  them down with his broad-sword.)
  Victor is the sort of Redcap who gets on well
  with Flambeau magi. He loves to ride and
  hunt (to the point of distraction), and often
  passes himself off as a visiting noble to join
  the hunts of mundane lords. He has a range
  of contacts among nobles he has hunted with,
  and will introduce himself to other nobles as
  “a friend of …” in order to join a chanced-
  upon hunt. It seems likely that this passion
  may get him in trouble with the Quaesitors.
  
  Semita Errabunda
  28
  He is irrepressibly cheerful, and ever confi-
  dent of his own abilities – largely borne out
  (it must be admitted) by his successes so
  far… It must be admitted, however, that if he
  is to attain the extended lifetime that he
  plans, then he may need to rein in his self-
  confidence and good cheer, lest either he
  dive into some trouble he cannot handle, or
  find himself pushed into the same by some
  exasperated companion. In the meantime, he
  continues to seek out good food and good
  companions, to listen to his wild tales over
  foaming ale.
  His closest companion is his horse, Aeolus, a
  free-willed, talking, magical being which
  shares his mad passion for the chase and the
  hunt, but is vain and proud of his superior
  nature. He has a Might of 8 (Size +2) and has
  a minor ability to vary his appearance from
  “unassuming nag” to “fine charger”. Aeolus
  will generally go along with Victor’s needs in
  this, as he understands the role the two play
  as a Redcap team, but he is also vain, and
  may choose to show off his fine looks at
  inopportune moments. (He is also an intact
  stallion, and there is no way Aeolus will con-
  sider being gelded!)
  Victor takes as his sigil a hunting horn carried
  in the claws of a great eagle. 
  Although he is a non-magus he is said to bear
  many enchanted devices. As well as those
  provided by House Mercere to aid its mem-
  bers, he hopes to gain many personal devices.
  He plans to actively seek out Vis sources on
  his travels, trying to keep them secret. He
  then plans to make future messenger trips to
  pass by his sources and claim their Vis. This
  Vis he will then trades with other, Gifted,
  magi: mostly for enchanted devices, but also
  for other favours. For example, Aeolus has
  plans for his own set of magical devices; and
  both would like a device for silent communi-
  cation. 
  Even without his magics, he is a powerful per-
  son and great hunter: he is physically strong,
  with keen senses, and as he devotes much of
  his spare time to physical pursuits, is highly
  skilled, most especially in the woods and
  forests of Mythic Europe, where he has an
  almost mystical attunement to the environ-
  ment. As he grows, with the extended life-
  time granted by a longevity potion, he will
  become an heroic hunter, or even an heroic
  warrior (were he to come into battle). With
  his out-going nature and taste for dangerous
  activities, he is likely to extend the repertoire
  of the bards and troubadours with his
  exploits, and enter the annals of Mythic
  Europe!
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Ars Magica [multi]/5th edition/Semita Errabunda/Companion - Victor.pdf