From: lwl@graphics.cis.upenn.edu (Lydia Leong)
Date: Mon, 6 Mar 95 12:51:14 -0500
I've finally gotten the chance to sit down and read through Order of Hermes (which I'm going to be using a fair amount in the PBEM I'm running, looks like; given the anti-social tendencies of the magi in that particular game, it looks like I'm going to be typing up a lot of this information for their perusal, so I'll put a pointer to a URL up eventually, for those folks who want to read it.)
A couple things of interest, grabbed from the section on the Peripheral Code:
1. "Henceforth, no magus shall serve a mundane as a servant or a
hireling."
The reasons given are that no matter what happens, somebody will look
ill upon the Order, if a Court Wizard interferes in the battles fought
by his mundane superior. Therefore, it's a danger to the Order. Also,
it's beneath the dignity of a Hermetic magus.)
2. "Certamen is to be respected as a means of settling disputes decisively In certamen, the challenger must first choose and state the technique to be used, and the defender must then choose the form. Any magus refusing to engage in certamen or refusing to abide by the results of the certamen is betraying the spirit of the Code and is to be punished. Those who refuse to accept certamen challenges, therefore, or refuse to abide by the decision of a certamen may suffer more violent coercion by the offended magus and shall be punished by their Tribunal."
3. "The sanctum of each magus shall be marked with a circle inscribed
within a square, with straight lines connecting the square's opposite
corners. This marking shall be in plain view so that those entering
the sanctum know that it is indeed a sanctum. A symbol representing the
identity of the sanctum's owner shall accompany the sign."
(OoH goes on to say that this normally includes both the laboratory
and the sleeping quarters. "Anyone entering this sanctum without
permission can be killed by the owner. Entering a sanctum without
permission is tantamount to attacking the owner, so the owner is
presumed innocent of wrong-doing in defending themselves from the
intruder. This is why most magi feel uncomfortable in other magi's
sancta, for they may be killed or injured by that magi with impunity
and will have no grounds for retaliation. Only magi on the most
friendly terms will visit each other in their sancta, and this
act of faith and friendship is seldom overlooked by other magi in
the covenant.")
I presume that, given the number of times that Concilium magi have visited each other in their rooms, that it's only our laboratories that are marked off as sancta. :) Or, possibly, we have anterooms or something for use by visitors, though at least with Cain, that meeting was in his sleeping quarters...)
* * * * *
Normally, breaking the Code itself is a High Crime, and results in a Wizard's March. Everything else is considered a Low Crime, and is dealt with by the Peripheral Code (more or less). Retaliation or reparation are the normal ways to deal with things. (The most valuable to least valuable things for a magus are, by the Peripheral Code: the Gift, life, one's familiar, one's apprentice, one's laboratory and other magical property, one's privacy, one's time.) Local covenants or Tribunals are expected to deal with Low Crimes on their own.
* * * * *
Order of Hermes also goes on to state that there are a mere 770 magi in the year 1199.
Questions for Mike: What's left of the Order now? Are there still the remnants of Houses left? Is certamen still used as a way of settling disputes? Has anyone even attempted to convene a Tribunal since the Massacre, or are magi generally now somewhat scared of each other, now that there's no enforced Code preventing them from torching each other? i.e., how quickly have the traditions of the Code disintegrated?
(Since it's my character's butt that's going to be toasted, Hermetic Law is of sudden importance to me. ;) )
We'll assume (for assumption's sake) that by the time of the Massacre in 1307 there were around an even thousand magi in the Order.
What's left of the Order now?
Impossible to say. The Grand Tribunal would have attracted the most powerful, the most dedicated to the Order, and the most politically savvy magi -- in other words, the ones whose removal would have the most shattering effect on the cohesiveness of the Order. How many died? Many. How many survived? Some.
Are there still the remnants of Houses left?
Undoubtedly. Tho' what they're up to is anyone's guess. All sorts of intriguing possibilities exist -- rival groups of covenants all declaring themselves to be the One True Order; young covenants suddenly thrust into positions of prominance; powerful, old covenants, perhaps abandoned, their membership decimated by the Massacre, buried treasures rotting away the eons, forgotten, etc. and so on.
Is certamen still used as a way of settling disputes?
Technically, it should be ... anyone who swore the oath, if he's loyal to it, will resolve disputes in this manner. Of course, without effective enforcement, there's no reasons not to cheat except personal honour ...
Has anyone even attempted to convene a Tribunal since the Massacre,
Not successfully.
or are magi generally now somewhat scared of each other, now that there's no enforced Code preventing them from torching each other?
Say 'cautious' rather than 'scared.' Also, keep in mind that you're in a Hermetic backwater, far from the thriving covenants of France, Germany, etc. And remember that since your covenant was formed after the Massacre, there's no record of it anywhere in accumulated Hermetic lore, thus no way (outside of magical detection) for anyone from the Order to come and find you.
How quickly have the traditions of the Code disintegrated?
Depends on who's asking, who's telling, and who's watching. ;)
-m.