http://www.atlas-games.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=39996#39996
Characteristics:
Int +2, Per +2, Str +1, Sta +1, Com -1, Prs +1(+2), Dex +1, Qik +1.
Size: 0
Age: 38 (Apparent Age 24)
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 3 (3)
Confidence Score: 1 (3)
Wizard's Sigil:
Octavian’s sigil manifests as a set of sinister glowing green pupils, a few shades darker than his own eyes, which briefly hypnotizes viewers into seeing a murder of crows.
Virtues and Flaws:
- The Gift (Special), Hermetic Magus (Free Social Status), Minor Magical Focus [Certamen] (Free Hermetic), Entrancement (Major Supernatural), Fast Caster (Minor Hermetic), Improved Characteristics (Minor General), Keen Vision (Minor General), Piercing Gaze (Minor General), Strong Faerie Blood [Sidhe] (Major Supernatural) - Second Sight (Free Supernatural)
- Continence (Minor Personality), Favors [Terrace of Jerbiton] (Major Story), Judged Unfairly (Minor Personality), Study Requirement (Major Hermetic), Susceptibility to Divine Power (Minor Hermetic), Visions (Minor Supernatural).
- Obtained post-gauntlet: Hermetic Prestige [Quaesitor in Good Standing] (Minor Hermetic), Mentor [Tacitus of Guernicus] (Minor Story), Great Talisman (Minor Hermetic).
Personality Traits:
Distant +3, Pragmatic +3, Polite +3.
Reputations:
Quaesitor in Good Standing +3 (Hermetic Magi)
Combat:
- Gauntlet: Init +1, Attack +4, Defense +5, Damage +3, Load 0.
- Kick: Init +0, Attack +4, Defense +3, Damage +4, Load 0.
- Dagger: Init +1, Attack +6, Defense +4, Damage +4, Load 0.
- Soak: +3
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious.
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20).
Abilities:
Artes Liberales 1 (Ritual Magic), Athletics 2 (Running), Awareness 2 (Alertness), Brawl 3 (Grapples), Code of Hermes 3 (Tribunal Procedures), Concentration 1 (Spells), Entrancement 3 (Magi), Etiquette 4 (Court), Finesse 1 (Precision), Folk Ken 3 (Magi), Guile 1 (Concealing Emotions), Hunt 1 (Tracking), Iberia Lore 2 (Geography), Intrigue 3 (Information Gathering), Latin 4 (Hermetic Usage), Leadership 2 (Intimidation), Magic Theory 4 / 2 (Inventing Spells), Occitain 5 (Provencal), Order of Hermes Lore 1 (Personalities), Parma Magica 3 (Mentem), Penetration 3 (Rego), Philosophiae 1 / 5 (Ritual Magic), Second Sight 3 (Illusory Disguises), Spanish 3 / 10 (Castillian Dialect), Stealth 2 (Sneak), Sundered Council Lore 1, Survival 1 (Pyrenees).
Hermetic Arts:
Cr 11 / 5, In 9 / 2, Mu 7, Pe 4, Re 7, An 0, Aq 0, Au 0,
Co 0, He 0, Ig 0, Im 10 / 3, Me 7, Te 0, Vi 5.
Twilight Scars: None
Equipment:
Partial Metal Reinforced Leather Armor, gauntlets, dagger x2, grimoire, Quaesitor cum auctoritate documentation, traveling clothing, ceremonial Tremere robes, Talisman ring, 5 pawns of Vim Vis, 6 pawns of Corpus Vis.
Talisman:
Octavian’s Talisman was crafted by Tremere artificers inspired by their observations of a gypsy astrologer. They had observed the gems used held some astrological relevance seeing as the configuration was different for each individual. In some cases they had to substitute gems due to cost or unavailability. The Tremeres’ limited understanding of Hindu astrology not withstanding.
The brass ring contains nine gems encased in an electrum setting. Eight gems are aligned in a circle surrounding an opal (replacing the blue sapphire) and are in no particular order: Topaz (replacing the yellow sapphire), Ruby, Pearl, Jade (cheaper than Emerald), Coral, Cat’s Eye and Diamond and Amber (replacing hessonite that can only be found in Sri Lanka).
So far Octavian has attuned the following shape and material bonuses:
- Electrum – Deception +3 – HoH: MC p137
- Opal – Images +2 – HoH: TL p139
Encumbrance: 0
Spells Known:
Endurance of the Berserkers (ReCo 15/+8 )
Spellbinding Gaze of the Sorceror (ReCo 15/+8 )
Wizard's Sidestep (ReIm 10/+19) Mastery 1 / 5 (Fast Casting)
Pains of the Perpetual Worry (CrMe 20/+20) Mastery 1 (Still Casting)
Scent of Peaceful Slumber (ReMe 20/+15)
The Unseen Porter (ReTe 10/+8 )
Wizard's Communion (MuVi 15/+13)
Wizard’s Leap (ReCo 15/+9) Mastery 1 (Fast Casting)
Demon’s Eternal Oblivion (PeVi 10/+10)
Prying Eyes (InIm 5/+20)*
Sight of the True Form (InCo 15/+10)
Veil of Invisibility (PeIm 20/+15)
Posing the Silent Question (InMe 20/+17)
Trackless Step (ReTe 10/+Cool
Wizard’s Communion (MuVi 20/+13)
By His Works (CrMe 5/+19)
The Good Witness (CrMe 25/+19)
Trust Me (ReMe 20/+15)
Apprearance
The raven haired magus appears to be in his early to mid twenties; much younger than his real age of 38 would suggest. For most of the year his skin is a pale color, contrasting with dark wisps of hair that frame his delicate features. In the summer, he tans easily to a dark coppery tone that emphasizes his sinister ancestry. He carries himself with a serene albeit distant manner that is easy to overlook were it not for his terrible eyes. Eerie pupil less green orbs that hungrily flicker in the darkness or when he invokes spells leave all but the most stalwart of magi or pious of crusaders with a feeling of unease.
Octavian’s soft-spoken speech and non-confrontational tone are uncharacteristic with his vocation as a quaesitor and his involvement in the recent troubles in the Iberian Tribunal. He is unfailingly polite regardless of the circumstance but there is always a nagging distrust; a facetious undertone that cannot be trusted regardless of the sincerity of his words.
He commonly wears a customized version of the Tremere ceremonial robes as a knee-long jacket over trousers tucked into knee high boots, and a black leather tunic. When he expects trouble, he wears a metal reinforced jerkin beneath his jacket with gauntlets hidden by long billowing sleeves.
Background:
The magus that would become known as Octavian of Tremere was born in the year 1181 of our Lord in the city of Marseilles, France. His father died before his birth fighting in the Reconquista. Unable to support both a child and herself, the mother hid her pregnancy at first. When she grew too big, she sought out a local wise woman that might aid her in aborting the child. The hermit was in fact a faerie hag embroiled in a feud with an unseelie court sidhe. Instead of aborting the child, the fae offered sanctuary for the mother and eventually served as midwife. While the mother was recuperating from childbirth, the hag switched the human offspring with the newly born child of her nemesis. When the human mother awoke, she found herself alone in a cave with an infant with unnaturally malevolent green eyes in her arms. Any sign of the wise woman’s existence had disappeared. Fearful of demonic influence but unable to put the babe to death, she abandoned the child at the doorstep of a local orphanage where orphans of war were kept. The caretakers reluctantly took the boy in after a particularly thorough and effective baptism and exorcism whose effects still linger on the soul. They named the child Marcel, a common name for orphans in the Marseilles region.
At the orphanage the young Marcel endured a difficult childhood. He did not age as quickly as the other boys and the nature of his eyes encouraged the others to ostracize or pick on him. The orphanage caretakers weren’t much better, often siding with the bullies. As he grew up, he experienced visions of things unseen and distant. The caretakers disciplined him harshly for his fibbing when he asked about the scenes he witnessed. Marcel withdrew within himself under the weight of constant loathing and distrust.
By the time of his 9th birthday, the war to the South had flared and times were difficult at the orphanage. The caretakers were seriously considering kicking the boy out. Fortunately for him, a mysterious man appeared at their doorstep inquiring about the children. To their shock and relief, the man chose to adopt Marcel. They made little fuss and quickly sent the boy off. For the very first time in his life, he felt a feeling of joy for being wanted. This was short-lived.
His master was an up and coming magus named Tiberius of Tremere. Tiberius laid out the rules of the parens-filius relationship: the child was not to expect any succor or fatherly love, but was expected to obey. He began by renaming his apprentice Garçon, or boy in French, declaring he had to prove himself worthy of a name.
The first ten years of his apprenticeship, Garçon traveled southern France with his master pursuing research, vis or the occasional adventure. Tiberius soon discovered the boy’s supernatural talents and encouraged their. For a time, the boy felt appreciated for his pater’s interest in his talents. However, his master was distant and gave him increasingly difficult and arduous tasks forcing the boy to rely only on himself to toughen his apprentice up. Many of the errands purposefully forced him to interact with non-magi as Tiberius felt dealing with mundanes to be beneath him. The boy coped by erecting emotional barriers to shield himself from others.
As Tiberius’ stock rose in the Tremere ranks, the pair traveled back to Ceoris in the Transylvanian Tribunal to complete Garçon’s apprenticeship. Despite the more welcoming atmosphere at the Domus Magna, Garçon never truly settled in. Years of rejection and trauma still lingered.
Finally, on the Winter Solstice of 1205, Marcel met his master in ritual certamen. While he predictably lost, he was fully accepted as a newly gauntleted member of House Tremere. After years of denigration, he took the most impressive name he could think of, that of the Emperor Octavian. Octavian’s first assignment as a member of House Tremere was to accompany his parens from Ceoris to Jaferiya.
HoH: TL p139
