What is this?

 Hi there! My username is SoloST, but you can call me Harry. I'm a long-time tabletop player and history nerd--I even got a degree in it!--who, within the last few months, has become increasingly obsessed with the tabletop Ars Magica. I am also a father of one, soon two, and a husband, but that won't matter too much for what we're here to talk about.

You see, I want to talk about that obsession I mentioned. 

For those of you who might not know, Ars Magica is a game about wizards in medieval Europe. That's fairly reductive, but it gets the point across. The setting is known as Mythic Europe: a version of the 1200s in which the myths and beliefs of medieval people are generally true. The faeries in their courts steal children and leave changelings in their place. Demons corrupt men to sin and are turned from their evil goals by the true faith of monotheists. And most importantly--there are wizards in the woods who practice secret arts.

While there are a few magical traditions in Mythic Europe, the dominant and most important for our purposes is known as Hermetic magic, practiced by the Order of Hermes. We're not going to delve deep into the history of the Order here: but it is important to know that there are twelve houses by which mages are trained and serve as members, that the order is divided into several regional tribunals that govern their actions in different parts of Europe (the Grand Tribunal governing all of them), and that the primary thing that prevents Hermetic mages from just conquering the world is other mages, as well as the Code they swear to upon joining the Order. 

Ars Magica is a troupe system, meaning the intended style of play is one in which players play several characters (magi, companions, and grogs) and switch the Storyguide role--effectively the GM for those who play D&D or Pathfinder--between themselves as different stories are explored. My issue is that, while I have friends who would certainly play this with me, I don't actually have time for another game on the computer. But I do have a phone, and thus, I have undertaken a solo covenant, using the Ilex rules, of five magi and five companions. I'm probably biting off too much by doing this for my first game, but hey, live and learn. 

This blog will be the primary record of the things that happen in this saga, and will help me keep records and potentially entertain anyone who cares to read it, I hope! The saga is set in the Witch Mountain Covenant in Hibernia (Ireland), at the real-life passage tomb complex known as the Mountain of the Witch, or Loughcrew, in Meath. By the time I actually begin rolling for adventures and playing, the Covenant has already been established for a year--this is partially to avoid dealing with the bureaucratic play of setting up a covenant when I'm on my own. Nevertheless, the next post will deal with how precisely the covenant came to be, and who the magi and their companions are. I hope you enjoy.