Ars Magica - South of the Sun.pdf - Third Edition - sororita

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Credits

Design : Thomas M. Kane

Project Coordination and Graphic Design : John Nephew

Editing : Darin “Woody” Eblom

Editorial Assistance : Zara Lasater, John Nephew

Cover Art : Janet Aulisio

Interior Art : Brian Chesney, Eric Hotz

Cartography : Chris McDonough

Layout : Nicole Lindroos, John Nephew

DIGITAL EDITION v.1.0 PRODUCT NUMBER AG3040PDF • JUNE 2003

CHARTING NEW REALMS OF IMAGINATION and Atlas Games are trademarks of John A. Nephew. ARS MAGICA and MYTHIC EUROPE are trademarks

of Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games; they and related trademarks and copyrighted material, are used under license. This is a work of fiction; any resemblance to

actual persons or events is purely coincidental.

excerpts for the purpose of reviews, is expressly prohibited.

Table of Contents

T IME AND L OCATION ...................................................... 5

T HE R ING OF F IRE ...................................................... 12

D IS ......................................................................................... 17

N IOBIA ................................................................................ 22

K ERAIT................................................................................ 30

M O -M O K EU -K EU L AND ......................................... 38

T HE C HRONICLES ......................................................... 47

B ESTIARY ........................................................................... 53

Buffalo (Water) ...........................................................53

Crocodile .....................................................................53

Elephant ......................................................................53

Fire Elemental ...........................................................53

Jackal ...........................................................................54

Kor-Ny-Kor, Dragon of the Physon........................54

Loshandar ...................................................................54

Loshandar’s Spawn ...................................................58

Rhinoceros ..................................................................60

Salamander .................................................................60

Serpent.........................................................................60

Sphinxes ......................................................................60

Totem Beasts ...............................................................61

Verdant Dreamer .......................................................61

M AGICAL T RADITIONS ................................................ 63

Colossi Magic ..............................................................66

The Order of Juno .....................................................74

Niobian Spellcasting.................................................75

S TORIES S OUTH OF THE S UN ................................. 79

A KEEM ’ S C RUSADE ....................................................... 81

Conclusion ..................................................................94

Chapter

One

Introduction

I am the Emperor Prester John and I

exceed in riches, virtue and power all

creatures who dwell under heaven. Sev-

enty-two kings pay tribute to me. I am a

devout Christian and everywhere protect

the Christians of the empire, nourishing

them with alms… If you can count the

stars of the sky and the sands of the sea,

you will be able to judge thereby the vast-

ness of our realm and our power.

emerging from Paradise, winds and wanders

through the entire province; and in it are found

emeralds, sapphires, carbuncles, topazes, chryso-

lites, onyxes, sardonyxes and many other precious

stones.”

Popes sent missionaries and kings sent

ambassadors to the lands of this John. The ex-

plorer John of Plano Carpini, a Franciscan monk,

traveled into the lands of the Mongols, and re-

ported the existence of John’s empire. Friar

Odoric of Pordenone actually visited the mysteri-

ous empire, although he reported that John had

exaggerated the tales of his wealth. Roughly 150

years later, Marco Polo wrote that the empire of

Prester John had fallen to Ghengis Khan.

The legend of Prester John is real. The

Empire of Prester John was not. Nevertheless,

John played a significant role in the tales and even

the military strategy of the Middle Ages. In the

game Ars Magica™ , which is based on the

premise that medieval mythology was actually

correct, the empire of Good Prester John certainly

existed. And it has much to offer for magi.

— Letter from the Good Prester John to

the Emperor of Byzantium, late Twelfth

Century A.D.

Early in the twelfth century, Europe received

reports of a vast, Christian empire beyond the

known world. In 1145, Bishop Hugh of Jabala

(Syria) officially confirmed the stories in his report

to the Pope. Bishop Hugh identified the ruler of

this empire as one Prester John, a figure of such

magnificence that he could afford a scepter of solid

emerald. Following that, dozens of explorers and

diplomats produced reports from the lands of

Prester John.

This sourcebook describes the Golden Empire

South of the Sun for whatever sort of Saga you

prefer. Storyguides could base an entire Saga in

these lands. A Storyguide could also use these

lands once, as an exotic setting for a single quest.

Between those extremes, European magi could

find many things to interest them in the lands

South of the Sun. This book presents three cul-

tures, each with its own political significance and

traditions of magic. These new traditions may

have lore to offer the followers of Hermes. Fur-

thermore, according to precedent, the Order of

Hermes must either absorb foreign magi or destroy

them.

Then the Emperor of Byzantium received an

actual letter from the hand of Prester John. John

expressed his interest in joining a Crusade. He

also described his land in terms which soon be-

came known throughout Europe. “My lands reach

toward the rising place of the sun. Honey flows in

my land and milk everywhere abounds. In one of

our territories no poison can do harm and no noisy

frog croaks, no scorpions are there and no serpents

creep through the grass… In one of the heathen

provinces flows a river called the Physon, which,

Time and

Location

Europeans from Prester John

and other geographical relation-

ships remain the same. John’s

empire could also appear on an island across the

Atlantic, in the distant north, or on the Antipodes,

the “upside-down” half of the world. Medieval

maps located mythological lands in all of these

places.

This sourcebook takes place in the early

thirteenth century, a period commonly used in Ars

Magica ™ sagas. If your saga involves another

period, you should have little difficulty adapting it.

The most up-to-date medieval maps placed Prester

John’s empire in a continent of its own south of

Ethiopia. However, the geographical position of

John’s empire provoked considerable debate.

A note on terms: “The Golden Empire” refers

to all lands south of the Ring of Fire. This is

different from “Prester John’s Empire” which

encompasses only the coastal nation of Kerait.

Although the Niobians and Colossi of Dis pledge

loyalty to John, they manage their own affairs.

Furthermore, no ruler truly governs the Mo-Mo

wilderness.

Bishop Hugh placed John “in the extreme

Orient, beyond Persia and Armenia.” The Bishop’s

statement may have had more to do with politics

than geography. At the time, Bishop Hugh was

promoting a new crusade. He hoped that news of

an undiscovered Christian empire would encour-

age Europe’s reluctant kings to drive east. There-

fore, he placed John’s empire in the position where

it could offer the greatest advantage to Crusaders

against the Saracen.

Explorers who visited the East had great

difficulty finding Prester John. The scholars of

Europe, who had begun to rediscover skepticism,

soon doubted the Bishop’s statements. In 1459,

the Venetian monk Fra Mauro produced a modern

map incorporating the latest discoveries of Marco

Polo and others. It put Prester John in his proper

place — Africa.

Game Atmosphere

The legends of the Golden Empire spring from

traveller’s tales and a longing for the innocent

grandeur of antiquity. Stories of Prester John take

inspiration from the Pashas and the Khans, the

beasts of Africa and the golden temples of the

Hindus. The ambience of these myths recalls that

of Rome, or perhaps cities far older, built in Egypt

and Mesopotamia when kings erected the first

monuments to their newborn empires. To evoke

this atmosphere in Ars Magica™ , the Storyguide

must give players a lavish dose of wonder. The

Empire of Prester John offers a world more flam-

boyant than the baronies of feudal Europe.

The new location for Prester John explained

many things. It revealed why, despite John’s

ambition, he had never sent troops to a Crusade.

It added credibility to John’s claim that his empire

abutted Paradise. It also showed why few explor-

ers had actually visited John’s land. Fra Mauro’s

map placed Prester John well south of the Equa-

tor, and therefore beyond the fiery band where the

sea boils in the heat of the sun. Only the most

intrepid traveller could pass this scalding zone.

John’s Empire contains a wealth of magic and

superstition. Unlike the Order of Hermes, the

wizardly societies of the Golden Empire have not

all gone underground. Furthermore, the preva-

lence of pagan religions makes common people far

more tolerant about the Unknown. These facts, of

course, inspire European magi to investigate the

lands South of the Sun.

This sourcebook accepts Fra Mauro’s place-

ment of the Empire but alters the circumstances.

Prester John’s Empire exists on a continent of its

own, where the legends and folk-warnings about

his land are all true. The “real-world” Africa may

also exist.

As Storyguide, you must give special care to

the handling of magic in a Golden Empire tale.

Exotic superstitions and the flagrant practice of

sorcery help define the exotic flavor of stories

South of the Sun. This need not compromise the

realism of the Ars Magica™ game. Medieval

folklore takes it for granted that bizarre things

lurk beyond the known world and it seems inevi-

table that the Order of Hermes should encounter

them.

If your troupe prefers to place Prester John in

the Orient, there is no reason why you cannot.

You may need to rotate the maps of John’s land,

putting North to the West, South to the East and

so on. That way, the Ring of Fire still separates

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