Necopinatus Saga Introductory Notes
Necopinatus Saga
This is a copy of the initial handout to the players of Ars
Magica Iberia, later known as the Necopinatus Saga. This Saga
was played out in Chicago, IL.
"Magic is not accepted as a part of philosophy, but stands with a
false claim outside it: the mistress of every form of iniquity and
malice, lying about the truth and truly infecting men's minds, it
seduces them from divine religion, prompts them from the cult
of demons, fosters corruption of morals, and impels the minds of
devotees to every wicked and criminal indulgence.
"Sorcerers are those who, with demonic incantations or amulets
or any toher execrable types of remedies, by the cooperation of
devils and by evil instinct, perform wicked things. Performers of
illusions are those who with their demonic art make sport of
human senses through imaginative illusions about on thing's
being turned into another.
---Hugh of St. Victor (1141)
Ars Magica Iberia
Word is out amoung the magi that an exceptional young
mage out of Mistridge is starting a covenant in the mountains
south of Teruel in Aragon. He has found a ravine with the what
seem to be ruins of an old roman fort. However, its is a poor
place for any mortal fortress. The regions smells of magic.
Three springs keep the stream full and rushing by the small
island on which the fortress stands. Below the fort is a dam in
disrepair which creates a small lake. The stream feed into a
larger one which runs through the land of the lord of the region
past the villages of Camarena de la Sierra, Valacloche, and
Cascante del Rio. The stream conflutes with the River Turia at
the prosperous village of Villel which lies upon the road to
Cuenca and Toledo. The Turia flows from beyond Teruel past
Villel south and tumbles out of the mountains into the verdant
plains of Moorish Valencia where groves of red oranges and
olives of every type abound.
The Sierra Javalambre in which this potential site sits are
high and rough much less so than the Pyrrenies or the Alps and
dotted with caves. Much of the area is dry but the higher
mountains get rain and sometimes snow during the winter.
Winters are cold by Spanish standards, summers are mildly
warm. The area is wooded with pine but not lush. The peasants
can scrape a living from the soil but the farming is extremely
poor. Goat herders wander the mountains with their herds. The
lower valley near Villel is cultivated and poplars and willows
grow upon the steep valley walls. The Cid had a castle built
here a century ago to protect this important pass. Teruel is a
town and has been Christian and with a charter for almost forty
years. Don Domingo Celada is the judge. The town is successful
as a trade center between Valencia and Zaragoza, and the
moslem population is high. The town looks more Moslem then
Christian in architectural style.
The State of the Order of Hermes:
The history of the Order is similar to that that is printed by
Lion Rampant but is in reality far from the truth of things.
Bonisagus, Bjornear, Criamon, D’edne, Flambeau, Jerbiton,
Mercere, Merinitia, Tremere, Tytalus, Verdititius, and others
comprised the first members of the present Order of Hermes.
However, organized houses did not form around them, and their
actual abilities have likely been exagerated over time. Indeed,
they set the rules for the current studies of magic, but by doing
so had little oportunity to fully exploit them. The "Houses" are
not cohesive, but certain traditions of teaching and philosophy
of the early magi continue to be passed from master to
aprentice. When the first of the order unified the theory of
magic each maintained a certain prejudice which survives in
their intellectual descendants down to the present day.
Red Caps are proud and faithful servants and are
often used by the members of the Order to spy upon mortal ken.
A Red Cap must be subtle. Mundanes know nothing of Red Caps
or the Order. They must die before revealing any secrets. Magi
with big mouths are also in violation of the Order. It is OK to tell
someone you are a Mage (if you really want) and it is even OK to
tell them you live with others (if the other Magi in the covenant
don't throw you out), but you are in trouble if you let on that the
Magi have contact with other groups and that they are all
unified under a code of conduct, and especially that they have
centralized meetings, you will find yourself rapidly out of the
Order and dead.
The Quaesitori are a strange sort. There are 13 in the
entire Order: one for each astrological sun sign and one at Axis
Mundi. The twelve quaesitori rotate every thirteen years
around twelve tribunals. The high tribunal is held at Axis Mundi
every 33 years.
Iberian Covenants:
There are many magi in Spain however, the cosmopolitan
climate has allowed magi to be more independant, to live in
towns and in some cases to be respectable citizens. However,
in these cases their sense of Hermetic magic occasionally
becomes corrupted by Arab and Jewish magic. The oldest
covenant in Iberia is Occident in Galicia. Some of its magi are
sailing the Atlantic looking for less crowded territory. A secret
society of magi who are professors at Palencia may move to
Salamanca. Barcelona has a small covenant. Las Miasmas
covenent is in the salt marshes west of Seville. Most European
magi know little about any Arabic associations of magi even
though they are entirely likely.
What is going on in the world:
The story will begin in the Spring of 1214. The last few
years have been tumultuous throughout most of Western
Europe. Pope Innocent III has been artfully manipulating the
monarchs of Europe. Currently there are two Holy Roman
Emperors, Otto IV, who had Papal support against Phillip of
Swabia who was murdered in 1208, and the teenage Frederick,
King of Sicily, who currently has the Pope's support. King John
of England just swore fealty to the Pope in 1213, bringing
England out from under five years of being excommunicant.
King Phillip Augustus of France who has been warring
successfully to take Angevin lands in France, may still decide to
invade England. In Occitania, the Albigensian Crusade headed by
Simon de Montfort, has meant regular slaughter for over three
years. On 12 September 1213, Pedro II of Aragon, who came to
the aid of the Occitan nobility, was killed by Alain de Roucy and
Flourent de Ville, while in battle against Simon de Montfort at
Muret. The previous summer Pedro II combined forces with
Alphonso VIII of Castille and Sancho VII of Navarre against a
large Almohad force at Las Navas de Tolosa. The current King of
Aragon is five year old Jaime who is betrothed to de Montfort's
daughter and is therefore in his keeping. The Aragonese nobility
have already organized a plea to Pope Innocent III for de
Montfort to release the young king. Will Alphonso VIII take
this opportunity to sieze disputed Aragonese territory ? (In
fact, Castille has made a claim for the entire territory that was
once the Kingdom of Zaragoza, which one-hundred ten years
ago was under the rule of El Cid, who was a vassal of the King of
Castille.) Will the Almohads regroup and take revenge upon this
kingless Kingdom?