Maculus the Monitor

Total Encumbrance = 5. Fatigue = 12 (17 – 5). No armor. Cloak protects body and arms, and can be drawn over to protect head. Figures in parentheses are with Damage Resistance Intensity 13 active.

Intellect Spirit #1, INT 04: Demoralize (2), Disrupt (1), Light (1). Intellect Spirit #2, INT 03: Speedart (1), Heal 1, Countermagic 1, Dispel Magic 1, Farsee 1.

Glue 1, Mindspeech 1, Protection 1, Slow 1, Spirit Screen 1.

All in Matrices: Damage Resistance 112%, Damage Boosting 96%, Binding Enchantment 89%, Dominate Hellion 53%, Dominate Spirit 67%, Glow 118%, Mystic Vision 103%, Homing Circle 85%, Teleport 90%, Protective Circle 121%, Skin of Life 100%, Smother 91%, Spell Resistance 105%, Spirit Resistance 111%.

Translate x1, Analyse Magic x1.

Agility −6: Climb 51%, Dodge 23%, Jump 31%, Ride Horse 65%, Ride Wyvern 41%.

Communication +9: Bargain 37%, Fast Talk 108%*, Orate 50%.

Knowledge +8: Animal Lore 66%, Evaluate 78%, Human Lore 79%, Mineral Lore 76%, Plant Lore 49%, World Lore 142%.

Manipulation +8: Conceal 33%, Devise 130%.

Perception +8: Listen 43%, Scan 49%, Search 58%.

Stealth −7: Hide 39%, Sneak 26%.

Magic +15: Ceremony 119%, Enchant 107%, Summon 103%, Intensity 121%, Duration 112%, Range 93%, Multispell 97%, Amplify 100%, Combine 69%, Distance 81%, Prolong 55%.

* Fast Talk is a hold-over from his days in the Church of Immortality. Maculus no longer Fast Talks people, but he uses his skill to resist other Fast Talkers and identify their tricks.

Tarshite 56/54, New Pelorian 46/46, Sartarite 25/—, Pavic 18/18.

Maculus rarely carries any money at all. 12,000L ransom from the Lunar government.

Special Items: Maculus's enchanted cloak has 5 armor points.

POW 3 spell reinforcing crystal augments attacks spells cast by Maculus, increasing his chances of overcoming the defender's MP. If he had 16 MP when casting a spell, the crystal boosts this to 19. Part of a gold ring shaped like a coiled serpent.

Intensity 6, Duration 4 Protective Circle matrix inscribed on a large buckle, which Maculus wears on a belt under his robe. This item belongs to the Lunar College of Magic and has the condition that only those who know the Duration skill may use it.

Damage Resistance Intensity 4, Duration 2 matrix inscribed on a lead ring. Conditions limited by secret password (known by all Coders).

Matrices for Spell Resistance, Spirit Resistance, and Smother are tattooed on Maculus's right wrist, and matrices for Mystic Vision, Skin of Life, and Damage Boosting Intensity 3 are tattooed on his left wrist.

Matrices for Binding Enchantment, Armoring Enchantment, Dominate Hellion, Dominate Power Spirit, Glow, and Smother on a heavy bronze bracelet. Usable by Maculus or those he designates.

Spirit Bindings for 2 Intellect spirits and five Power spirits (POW 11, POW 03, POW 14, POW 02, POW 06) are bound into enchantment tattoos on the backs of his knees.

A small statue of Irrippi Ontor, carved out of moonrock, houses two special cult spell spirits. The first is called Eyes of the Brown Man and has POW 17. It knows the Irrippi Ontor divine spell Mind Read x1. The second spirit is called Lips of the Brown Man. It has POW 18 and knows the Irrippi Ontor spells Reconstruction x1 and Knowledge x1. Maculus has this item on loan from the Lunar College of Magic. It has an annoying user condition. Before the spirits will use their magic, its use must be sanctioned by a full priest of Irrippi Ontor.

Maculus's background is the most unusual of the Coders. He was born in Tarsh over 130 years ago, when the region first fell under Lunar sway. Although many in Tarsh resisted Lunar influence, Maculus found the preachings of the Lunar missionaries curiously attractive. But before he could take the plunge and join the Seven Mothers, he fell prey to another cult which had slunk into Tarsh riding on the tide of the Imperial missionary program. This cult was the Church of Immortality, an insidious false religion that claims to sell the secret of eternal life. The Church of Immortality is essentially a pyramid selling operation, where hapless converts transfer their youth and money to higher members, in exchange for greater standing in the cult. Maculus became an enthusiastic zealot, recruiting a huge number of converts to the banned cult. When Maculus finally reached the top of the pyramid, he discovered that the religion he had spent the last 85 years toiling for was an empty, hollow sham, and this prompted a complete nervous collapse.

Maculus's salvation came through the ministrations of the Deezola cult, who nursed him back to health and reacquainted him with the religious ideals of his youth. His spiritual renewal was further elevated when he achieved Illumination through Nysalor, and he has since felt spiritually content. Philosophical questions resolved, Maculus saw little point to living until his thirst for practical, mundane knowledge was awakened and filled the void in his life. He has since spent the last 30 years researching sorcery. Fifteen years ago he was arrested and charged in connection with his activities in the Church of Immortality, but the pragmatic Lunar authorities gave him a suspended sentence on the condition he serve the Coders for seven years. After his sentence expired, Maculus stayed on, even if he bemoans the lack of time he gets for study and research.

Appearance: Maculus is very tall, but round-shouldered. His skin has a pearly luster to it, and only a tiny filigree of wrinkles around his eyes and across the back of his neck give hints of his advanced age. Nevertheless he does not look young at all, merely "not old." Maculus shaves his head as a devotion to the Red Goddess. However, he maintains a small tuft of beard just below his lower lip, for he feels that this marks him as a scholar to fellow brothers of learning. Long ago Maculus lost all his teeth, but had them replaced with a false pair made from fine white ivory. Maculus rarely removes this wondrous example of technology, except to awe and frighten the unsophisticated. Under his Coder cloak he wears a rough woolen habit, always black. On formal occasions he changes into a similar black habit, made of fine cotton. When at leisure, Maculus likes to go about barefooted (when it will be noticed, he paints his toenails purple).

Personality: Of all the Coders, Maculus is the least sympathetic. Convinced of his own salvation, Maculus sees himself as morally-neutral, although in practice his values are similar to the others in his party. More interested in soulless science and sorcerous high-tech than respecting the values and traditions of the conquered peoples of the provinces, Maculus leaves dealing with such folk to Julan and Anderida. Maculus becomes nervous, self-conscious and excessively polite around women he finds attractive. This includes Anderida, when she speaks to him directly or they are alone together. Maculus spends all of his free time studying, experimenting and testing his techniques. Because he needs less sleep than most people (often no more than two or three hours per night), he often stays up to all hours, reading or experimenting by the light of his Glow spell.

Residence: Maculus rents rooms above Hanafel's Magic Goods (R-57), the Riverside dealer in magical items. Although rather squalid, Maculus carries on his studies here undisturbed, and it is conveniently close to both the Lhankor Mhy temple and Homar's Fish Tavern where Maculus likes to buy his dinner. Hanafel is an old and garrulous retired sage, and he gets on with Maculus better than probably anyone else in the world. Maculus' rooms are on the first floor; Hanafel lives in the attic. Maculus has sealed all the windows to one of his rooms. This is to preserve his manuscripts from dust and damp, but some people whisper that he must be practicing some sort of dark and nefarious art in there! Hanafel's Warding x4 spell protects the building. In addition, Maculus often leaves Sidus, his hellion, on guard when he is out.

Relationships with Other Coders: Maculus worships Anderida, although he is far too self-conscious to approach her about it. Julan he holds in high regard, although he is hopelessly ignorant when it comes to matters of high Magic. Maculus finds that he and Eslas have absolutely nothing in common to talk about, so their relationship is strictly professional. Curiously though, he and Nose Ring are great pals, though one would think they two would have little to talk about. Nose Ring often helps him out as a tester of his spells.

Seris and Canus, Maculus' Familiars: Maculus has two familiars. The first, Seris, is a miniature wyvern, specially bred with such a diminutive SIZ by the breeders at Graclodont in the Karasai Satrapy, where tiny animals and plants are fashionable. Unlike the larger species, these miniature wyverns are unintelligent (fixed INT) creatures. This, and their extremely long life span, make them ideal for conversion into familiars. Maculus created Seris when he first attained the status of Adept, over twenty years ago. Despite being raised to normal intelligence, Seris isn't too bright, and sometimes exasperates its master. It is, however, extremely keen-eyed and useful for scouting. Maculus' created his second familiar, Canus, only a few years ago. He created it by placing a magic spirit into a binding enchantment within the metal body, then activating the body using various Create Familiar spells. Creating Canus drained Maculus physically, and his weakened personal characteristics reflect the sacrifices made to create artificial life. Canus resembles a hound dog built of brass. Its outer shell has been sculpted to look like it has hair, and it barks, wags its tail, and, as a truly living being, even has to eat and excrete! Despite these life-like characteristics, it still looks like a mechanical dog and would fool no one. Canus is quite ungainly on its feet, and must roll its DEX x 5 or fall over if it tries to run any faster than movement rate 1.

Maculus' Sorcery Regimen: Every season, Maculus casts a Damage Resistance Intensity 13, Duration 13 spell on each of the other Coders except Julan, who has his own magical defenses. Each casting costs 23 magic points, so he spreads out the castings over a number of days. Sometimes Maculus forgets to renew the spells, and has to be reminded. He usually also casts the Damage Resistance on himself, too, if he is not too preoccupied with his studies. Once a year he also casts a series of Damage Boosting Intensity 5 spells on arrows for Eslas, crossbow bolts for Julan and javelins for Nose Ring. He finds this kind of work mechanical and demeaning, and usually only does it until his patience wears thin.