Merewen

Merewen is a senior NPC maga from the covenant of Stranggore. She was over one hundred years old at the start of the Saga.

Description

Merewen appears to be in her early sixties, though in fact she is a good deal older. She has long gray hair and wears simple homespun clothes. She tries to look unassuming and resemble any old peasant woman, but she cannot fully hide her strong will and her long-accustomed air of authority. She is accompanied by a tortoiseshell cat, Maggie.

Though it is difficult to see, Merewen bears the brand of her magical tradition on the left side of her neck.

Magic

Merwen belongs to a tradition of folk magicians similar to the Pharmacoepians from Houses of Hermes: True Lineages. She has the gift of Mythic Herbalism and spends a lot of time making herbal cures and potions. She is very strong in the Arts of Creo, Corpus, and Mentem but deficient in the Technique of Muto.

Merewen's Talisman is an elder wand. She also possesses an enchanted broom on which she can fly.

She has been known to cast the following spells:

• Bind Wound
• Purification of the Festering Wounds
• Whispers Through the Black Gate
• Grip of the Choking Hand
• Posing the Silent Question
• Veil of Invisibility
• Aura of Rightful Authority

Key Abilities

• Magic Theory
• Mythic Herbalism
• Somerset Lore

Personality

Over her life, Merewen has embodied the pagan archetypes of maiden, mother, and crone. She is wise but tough-minded. She prefers the role of advisor to that of leader.

Merewen has a bit of a temper and she does know a handful of harmful spells, which she will use against those who stand in her way.

• Crafty +2
• Loyal to Familiar +3
• Protective of Family +3
• Strict +1

Relationships

• Parens to Agnes
• Unofficial leader of Stranggore covenant
• Master to Maggie (cat familiar)
• Chief of Stranggore's network of mundane informants
• Ancestor of the majority of the covenfolk and half the villagers of Barstow. They call her "grandmother" but she is great-grandmother or great-great-grandmother to most of them.

Merewen had three "vulgar" children (children by blood, rather than Hermetic apprenticeship): two daughters and a son. All of these went on to have large and thriving families of their own, so now four generations later her blood descendants number in the hundreds.

Character Sheet

Players in the Saga of Stranggore should probably not look at Merewen's character sheet to avoid spoilers, but visitors are more than welcome to use it in their own Sagas if they would like.

• File:Merewen.pdf