Here is a sample character background that quickly covers salient points. Numbers are excluded, but you can probably guess! -K.K.
Archimedes has just passed his Gauntlet, having answered thousands of questions about Hermetic Law, hurled at him like Pila of Fire from all sides. It didn't help that his master Kerberos has an uncanny habit of walking around with two extra images of himself, all of whom asked rapid fire questions, along with Kerberos' familiar too. Life as an apprentice wasn't easy. Well, no. Life as an apprentice was a living hell, sometimes even worse than life before Kerberos rescued him from the streets of Thessaly, where he lived by stealing after his parents threw him bodily out of the small house where they lived and worked. Kerberos seemed like an avenging angel then, when he and his hound sent the street urchins running in terror. But not for long. Kerberos insisted on perfection, insisted that House Guernicus embodied the priniciple of perfect and unwavering interpretation of the Code of Hermes, insisted that his apprentice be perfect. Nothing could be hidden from Kerberos' unblinking vigilance. Sometimes he used his formidable array of Mentem magics, but he rarely needed to. Both he and his familiar could literally smell fear. Not only smell fear, but smell shades of fear, the way a normal person might discern pink from red or purple.
But now freedom is near. Relative freedom, since every Quaesitor has duties that cannot be denied and must answer to his House. Archimedes intends to leave his master and make his own way in the Order. He has also begun to consider that there is something inherently wrong with his master's way of doing things. He intends to oppose Kerberos and his ideas, subtly, until he gains enough power and reputation to stand openly against Kerberos and the twisted values he represents.
As for Thessaly, nothing remains there for Archimedes. While travelling on an errand for Kerberos, Archimedes made a short detour through Thessaly (for which he was punished). No one recognized him, yet people glowered at him from doorways, spat at him behind his back when they thought he would not notice, and tried to cheat him at every turn. But this time Archimedes was not afraid. He silently used his magic to cheat those who would cheat him, and with a glance sent those who would harm him running in fear. His father did not recognize him when he almost bought a stone table from him, but tried to overcharge him and misrepresent the quality of his offerings. The mundane world has few consolations to offer a magus save when magic is used to make it more accomodating, usually through Mentem spells, cast most often on women.
Only the company and respect of peers in the Order and perhaps the love of God for the world despite itself matter.
Updated on 4 August 1999
Webmasseur: Chris Womack.