Difference between revisions of "Saga of Stranggore"

Revision as of 07:19, 19 May 2013

Centuries ago, in the days before King Arthur, a wise king assembled a council of wizards to advise his court. For generations, their spells and their mystical allies -- the ravens, the ghosts of pagan knights, the spirits of wood and stream -- have watched over the land. Now, the line of kings is long since broken. The castle still stands, but its walls are crumbling, its banners hang faded and moth-eaten in a nearly empty hall. Yet the Wizards' Council of Stranggore still keeps its lonely vigil.

It is now the Year of Our Lord 1200. Good King Richard has died in battle, leaving his scheming brother John to seize the throne of England. Across the land, the people suffer under his harsh taxes and corrupt officers. If ever the realm needed the wizards' wisdom, it needs it now. The time has come for the Wizards' Council of Stranggore to rebuild its strength and reclaim its destiny. One of the aging wizards sent forth a flight of ravens from his crumbling tower, and a handful of young wizards has answered his call. Can they bring the Wizard's Council of Stranggore out of its long Winter and into a new Spring?

The Saga of Stranggore is a campaign for Ars Magica Fifth Edition. Set in late twelfth century England, it tells the story of the ancient covenant called the Wizards' Council of Stranggore, whose rich heritage pre-dates the Order of Hermes itself. At the start of the Saga, the covenant was deep in Winter, with only two magi remaining. Will four new magi and an apprentice be able to reverse the Council's decline and thereby claim an honored place in its history?

Dramatis Personae

See Stranggore Characters for a list of all the characters, major and minor.

Magi

The magi of Stranggore are:

Argus and Merewen, senior magi (NPCs)
Sandre Paen
Caballus
Godwyn
Agnes, apprentice of Merewen

Companions

Paul the librarian lives at the covenant.
William Robert the minstrel

There are also the non-player characters Cedric the raven (Argus's familiar) and Maggie the cat (Merewen's familiar).

Grogs and Covenant Residents

Living at the covenant:

George the Bastard, turb captain, and his wife Valera
Bloody Bill, Sandre's bodyguard, and his lover Joan
John the Pedlar
Bertha the cook and Catherine the chamber maid
The Ghosts of Stranggore

In the nearby village of Barstow:

Angus the Dragonslayer, Caballus's squire, with his wife Isabel
Eustace
Harold the Barber

The above is a partial list. See Category:Stranggore Grogs and Category:Stranggore Covenfolk.

Non-Player Characters

Administration

The bookkeeping page collects most of what you need to know for seasonal activities.

Seasonal activities are usually recorded and resolved on the forum.

House Rules

Stories and Events

The Stranggore Events timeline places all the Saga's major events in chronological order. The Stranggore History page mentions some significant events in the covenant's history from before the young magi arrived.

The Google Map of our Saga shows some of the interesting locations around the covenant and the sites of several stories.

Some of our stories are played out in-character on the forum.

The major story arcs we've identified so far are:

Covenant

Main article: Stranggore

The covenant of Stranggore is a once-great covenant with a proud and regal heritage, now fallen into the senility and decrepitude of Winter. It is located in Somerset, England on the historical site of Maesbury Castle, along the ancient Roman road known as the Fosse Way. Some notes on Travelling from Place to Place.

Stonehenge Tribunal

Main Article: Stonehenge Tribunal

The Stonehenge Tribunal in this Saga is large and very loosely governed. There are a large number of covenants (about 20 in all), but they tend to be small, with most have five members or fewer. There are also a large number of magi living as eremites, outside any recognized covenant. We have a Google map showing important sites.

Style of Play

We want to emphasize the mystical, rather than the political, aspects of the Order of Hermes. The magi in our version of the Order want to perfect their arts and achieve great things with their magic, not backstab one another over resources.

We are using a full troupe style of play with multiple storyguides. Andrew G. is the alpha storyguide and is responsible for overall continuity and for one of the major plot arcs. We utilize all three character types in Ars Magica: companions, magi, and grogs. Most stories involve one or two magi with the other players playing companions or grogs. This both makes it easier for the storyguide to provide challenges (too many magi together are simply too powerful) and makes our Saga more three-dimensional by giving companions and grogs important roles in the stories. There is an informal rotation with the players taking turns in the "starring" magus role for a given story.

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 There are also the non-player characters [[Cedric]] the raven (Argus's familiar) and [[Maggie]] the cat (Merewen's familiar).
-=== Servants and Men-at-Arms ===
+=== Grogs and Covenant Residents ===
 Living at the covenant:
 * [[George the Bastard]], turb captain, and his wife [[Valera]]
 * [[Bloody Bill]], Sandre's bodyguard, and his lover [[Joan]]
 * [[John the Pedlar]]
+* [[Bertha]] the cook and [[Catherine]] the chamber maid
+* The [[Ghosts of Stranggore]]
 In the nearby village of [[Barstow]]:
 * [[Angus the Dragonslayer]], [[Caballus]]'s squire, with his wife [[Isabel]]
 * [[Eustace]]
+* [[Harold the Barber]]
 The above is a partial list. See [[:Category:Stranggore Grogs]] and [[:Category:Stranggore Covenfolk]].