Sanctuary of Ice (Ars Magica Fantasy Roleplaying) [Hardcover]

Timothy Ferguson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2003

For hundreds of years the magi of the Greater Alpine Tribunal have maintained Hermetic peace. Not for them the squabbles of the border tribunals, the petty incursions, the little animosities. In the valleys of the Alps, Hermetic culture and Hermetic magi have flourished. Covenants which knew the voices of the Founders nurture ancient magi here, magi whose powers caress the edges of the possible. Only those things sanctified by time survive the harshness of the mountains. Everything here is armored with the strength of centuries.

This supplement takes familiar elements of Hermetic culture and rebuilds them, without the scrimping and compromises of life at the edge of the Hermetic lands. Redcaps and Order-endorsed hedge traditions blossom under the aegis of Hermetic justice, justice enforced by the cunning and the ruthless. Hermetic trade and intrigue weave strands of interdependence between bitter rivals, so that Wizard’s War seems a refreshingly rustic way of settling disputes. Sanctuary of Ice describes the Hermetic quest for longevity, and the magi who cheat death as ghosts. It considers the plans of the Primi of House Jerbiton and House Criamon, and the schemes of magi more faerie than human. It describes Hermetic culture at the apex - the tribunal where moonlight is woven into every stone.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 127 pages
• Publisher: Atlas Games (September 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1589780019
• ISBN-13: 978-1589780019
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,623,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars peace, prosperity, and plotting, November 21, 2003

By 

S. Schonberger (near Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sanctuary of Ice (Ars Magica Fantasy Roleplaying) (Hardcover)

Unlike some Ars Magica tribunal books, Sanctuary of Ice is a setting where the Order of Hermes largely enjoys peace and prosperity, the Greater Alpine Tribunal. That is not to say there is no conflict, just that the conflict is more often in the form of plots and intrigue, rather than warfare barely restrained by the Code of Hermes, or by the threat of diabolism and a hostile Church. The Tribunal has numerous traditions of its own to maintain its stability, such as limiting its Hermetic population by exporting new magi to other tribunals, allowing only enough magi to stay as can be supported by known raw vis supplies. The Tribunal also limits the number of covenants to seven, although it allows for "chapter houses", which are additional sites of the seven covenants that have some independence from the "mother house".

This book is light on rules, and heavy on setting detail. It notes that it is not meant to be strict rules canon. Instead it says (page 7), "Take the bits that suit your style and make your stories richer. Ignore the rest." I like what I saw in reading it, and plan to take a lot of the bits.

The organization is nine chapters, plus two pages each of bibliography and index. The first chapter is an introduction, and includes some new or adjusted character Virtues, comments on including the book's material in one's own game, and an overview map.

The second chapter, "Hermetic Culture in the Greater Alps", describes Hermetic law specific to the Tribunal, including the law of vis sources and voting rights, the chapter house rules, the custom of family law (a magus is likely to be presumed justified in killing a filius, and filii are expected to gang up and kill a parens who becomes addled by age to the point of being a liability to the Order), the law of ostracism, the customs of hoplites (magi who act as military force on behalf of the Order, particularly the Quaesitores), an addictive flower called amaranth, the principle that disagreements must be settled with a minimum of violence, and Church relations. It also describes the Tribunal's means of exporting trouble, by sending newly gauntleted magi away to frontier tribunals (reasonably well-supplied), where vis is less scarce and young hotheads don't disrupt the Tribunal, and how some magi are eventually invited to return after proving themselves desirable. There is a short section on relations with neighboring tribunals, a set of rules for exceptional non-Gifted Redcaps, and a calendar of customary annual events in the Tribunal. Sidebars throughout the book illustrate specific points, often from the point of view of a specific character.

Chapters three through eight detail six specific covenants, each with a description in terms of game statistics for all but one, and sections about specific details of interest to individual covenants, including descriptions of notable individual characters, at least one in each chapter detailed in terms of game statistics. Chapter three covers the Cave of Twisting Shadows, the Criamon Domus Magna, with sections on its physical appearance, customs, notable magi, covenfolk (many ghosts), and the Criamon reverence for twilight. Chapter four covers the Covenant of the Icy North, one of the first attempt at a multi-house covenant, with sections on its mother house, three chapter houses, Rorschach, Juno's Spire, and Tower of Ashes. Chapter five covers "The Covenant where Journeys End", a mostly-Merinita house, with sections on physical appearance, customs and covenfolk, and its magi. Chapter six covers the Covenant of the Sinews of Knowledge, the peak of Hermetic knowledge of longevity potions, with sections on physical appearance, customs, magi, and covenfolk. Chapter seven covers the Covenant of Tarragon Vale, whose magi have mysteriously disappeared, with sections on physical appearance, past customs, missing magi, missing covenfolk, but no description in game statistics. Chapter eight covers Valnastium, the Domus Magna of Jerbiton, with sections on appearance, customs, magi, "Larta Magi" (magi who lack the Gift, but have such outstanding mundane talents that they are admitted as members of the Order), and the "Charm Offensive", Primus Andru's campaign to make peace between the Church and the Order.

The ninth and final chapter, "Geography and History of the Greater Alps Tribunal", covers geography with capsule descriptions of 42 places in the western Alps, five in Bavaria, and 13 in the "Eastern Marches", with a map of each of those three regions. It describes history in three sections, covering the western Alps, Bavaria, and the Eastern Marches. A brief section on nobility states that most nobles with holding in the Alps don't actually live there, typically leaving direct management to a local count or a Church official.

The final sections are the bibliography and index. The bibliography is partitioned into "Basic Geographic and Information Local Legends" (eight books), "European Culture, Technology, and Chronology" (three books), "Roman Cultural Information" (seven books), "Faeries and Monster" (three books and six Internet references), and "Miscellany" (three books). It notes that, "As a general rule when local myth has been reworked, the fake bit starts as soon as I mention the Order of Hermes or elephants." I find that useful; it's nice to know where real life ends and game fiction begins. The index has five columns of general index and a 21-entry "Index of New Spells" on two pages. Because I have not tried looking up details through the index, I can't judge how well it covers things one might want to look up with it.

I have not read all of the Ars Magica tribunal books, but this is the best one I have read, better by a hair than The Dragon and the Bear. I think it is a useful resource even for a saga set in another tribunal.