Visit a land of wonders... a place where glaciers stretch to the horizon, where fissures pour forth rivers of molten rock, where giants still tread and ancient spirits guard forgotten secrets. Iceland sits on the edge of the frozen sea, its people clinging to the coastal lowlands while the interior is still the realm of the giants, trolls, spirits and fantastic beasts. On the civilized mainland creatures of legend may rarely show themselves, but in Iceland they rarely hide. Within Europe the Order of Hermes holds absolute magical dominion, but Icelandic magicians go about their business unaware of the Order of Hermes, its magi and their pretensions. These Norse wizards concern themselves with the politics of spirits, warding against troll raids and wresting a good growing season from Iceland's capricious weather. 
Land of Fire and Ice will give your troupe the opportunity to explore this wondrous land ruled by the law, rather than by a king. Magicians live in harmony with their mundane neighbors, but feuds bubble under the veneer of civilization. 
Included in Land of Fire and Ice are: 
<li>A detailed description of Iceland's mundane and mystical landscape, culture and law 
</li>
<li>Two major saga outlines and many story seeds 
</li>
<li>Two magical traditions unique to Iceland, the galdramen and the trollsons 
</li>

Land of Fire and Ice (Ars Magica Fantasy Roleplaying)

Shirley, Mark

Woods, David

Atlas Games

There are those within the Order of Hermes who transmit secrets of magic incomprehensible to outsiders. Pre-eminent among them are the four Mystery Cult Houses, gatherings of magi Initiated into the same Mysteries. This book details the Mystery Cults, including full details of their Inner Mysteries.House Bjornaer venerates animal ancestors, and strives to perfect the form. Their Mysteries enhance the heartbeast, ultimately allowing the magus to unlock mythic forms.House Criamon follow ancient teachings and seek escape from time itself. The many paths that they walk to this end grant powers that can include immortality.House Merinita move among the faeries, ultimately joining them. Their spells can draw on faerie glamour, awaken the fay slumbering around them, or inflict curses on those who break their promises.House Verditius crafts the greatest items, putting a little of themselves into their finest creations. Pride in their creations is often their downfall, and these magi are terribly prone to the most deadly sin.

Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults (Ars Magica)

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Dahl, Erik

Ferguson, Timothy

RYAN, MATT

Gaming

An Ars Magica Player's SourcebookThe third and final volume in the Houses of Hermes series, Societates covers Houses Flambeau, Jerbiton, Tytalus, and Ex Miscellanea. These houses are formed of wizards who have come together out of shared interests and philosophies.House Flambeau includes the champions and knights of the Order, individual warriors who fight for glory and honor, both their own and that of the Order as a whole. The House admires bold adventurers who seek out and overcome fearsome opponents. Worthy opponents are chosen according to the magus's sense of honor, not external rules. As a result, many of the Order's Hoplites are from House Flambeau, as are many of the magi they hunt down.House Jerbiton live lives in pursuit of beauty, and in pursuit of living beautifully. This requires interaction with the world beyond the Order of Hermes, both for the sake of the beauty found there and to avoid the stunted lives that result from a life lived entirely within a covenant. Experts in the use of Mentem and Imaginem, followers of Jerbiton generally prefer to interact subtly with the world. The fall of Constantinople has, however, been a great shock to them, and has pushed the House onto a more active path.House Tytalus thrive on, and admire, conflict. The main conflict they see is between an individual's nature and the rules imposed by surrounding society, but this central conflict plays out in many, less abstract, contests. They are renowned for long-running rivalries with their Housemates, convoluted political schemes, and activities that skirt the edges of legality.House Ex Miscellanea gathers together magi who do not fit into any other House, normally because they are still tied to elements of a pre-Hermetic tradition. The House claims to embody unity in diversity, but the emphasis is definitely on the diversity. This book provides eight detailed examples of traditions within the House, complete with rules for their non-Hermetic abilities.

Houses of Hermes: Societates

Gronosky, Andrew

Post, John

Simmonds, Nick

Drop a stone into a pool...and watch the ripples spread. A prince saves a princess and they marry. But then they have a daughter, and perhaps the faeries are still interested. A saint raises the dead and stops a war, and years later the wealth of the pilgrimage site nurtures a hive of diabolists. A maga recoevrs a mighty enchantment, and her apprentice accidentally opens a gate to a regio. Actions have consequences. This Ars Magica book contains five sequences of three stories each - issues and situations that cannot be fully resolved in a single story, but which return to draw the characters back in years later. These thrice-told tales weave Divine, Infernal, Faerie, and Magic threads into the tapestry of your saga.

Thrice-Told Tales (Ars Magica 5E)

MacGregor, David

Andersen, Christian Roesenkjaer

Romer, Christian Jensen

Fantasy

Guardians of the Forests details the birthplace of the Order of Hermes, Mythic Germany. From the sinister faerie heights of the Black Forest, home to Durenmar, through the prosperous and venerable cities of the Rhineland, to the fog-ridden Harz Mountains, to the lowland plain and Crintera's island retreat on the Baltic coast, the northern Holy Roman Empire is a diverse landscape of countless magical and faerie forests, interspersed with a patchwork of powerful realms, where prince-bishops vie with dukes and merchant gilds for temporal power. This is the land of the epic Nibelungenlied, the heroic conquests of Charlemagne and Frederick Barbarossa, the miracles of St. Boniface, the splendour of the Imperial Cathedrals, the gifts of minstrels and wood-wives, and the curses of witches and the Wild Hunt.Guardians of the Forests reveals the many unique traditions of the First Tribunal, its archaic politics and lost glories, its reverence for its founders and its woodlands, the workings of the Great Library of Durenmar, and the secrets of those who pursue obscure wilderness paths in search of the primal power of the Forest. The richness of the German landscape is fully explored, replete with numerous story and saga ideas. The region of the Rhine Gorge receives a special focus -- its lost covenants, vis sources, sites of legend, towns, castles, inhabitants, and a mysterious curse are all detailed -- providing a perfect location to jump-start an Ars Magica 5th Edition saga.

Guardians of the Forests

SMITH, ANDREW

An Ars Magica SourcebookOf the four realms of power in Mythic Europe, Magic is at once the most familiar and the most alien. It's the source of power wielded by Hermetic magi, but it cares nothing for human concerns. Elementals are the essence of the elements given form; what are emotions to them? Dragons are ancient beyond belief; why should they concern themselves with the affairs of men? Spirits are bound to the phenomena of the natural world, not to the creations of humanity. And even those humans transformed by Magic have their own strange ambitions, divorced from the petty desires of mortals.But despite this indifference, creatures and places of Magic are inexorably drawn into the lives of magi, as the members of the Order of Hermes hunt for vis, familiars, covenant sites, and the mysteries of the Magic Realm.This book shows how to create creatures of Magic of all kinds, as player characters or antagonists. Extensive examples are included, from the Beasts of Virtue that exemplify animals to the spirits of emotions, from great fire-breathing dragons to tiny fire-breathing mice, and from elementals born of matter untouched by human hands to the walking corpses of the unquiet dead. Delve into these pages to uncover the secrets of vis, magic auras, and even the Realm of Magic itself!

Realms of Power: Magic

Love, Richard

Thomas, Sheila

An Ars Magica SourcebookYou mustn't call them by name - they are the "good neighbors," the "fair folk," the "gentry." Don't draw their attention, for those they notice are drawn into their stories, which no mortal can survive unchanged. Stay away from the edges of the dark woods, respect your superiors, and do what society expects. Or the faeries will come for you!The faeries of Mythic Europe live according to roles and stories, drawing vitality from mortals who play by the rules. Some vampiric faeries steal vitality from blood, while others draw it from the garlic placed over doors to keep them out. Some fey dragons live by devouring knights and feast on the fear they create, while others exist to be defeated, drawing vitality from the knight's victory. But afterwards, the dead dragon and the defeated vampire always take on a new role, to continue the faerie story.What story will they make you tell?

Realms of Power: Faerie

Art & Academe

The magi of the Order of Hermes are not the only scholars and artists in Mythic Europe. In the Greek and Muslim lands, traditions of learning stretch back unbroken over centuries, while scholarship has emerged from long centuries of neglect in the Latin West with great vigor. From parish schools to the new universities, learning and creativity are everywhere.Nor is this learning entirely theoretical. Doctors can cure many illnesses, and preserve the health of their charges. Natural philosophers can manipulate substances in a way that appears magical to the ill-informed, and gain some hints as to the future from the positions of the stars. The natural laws of Mythic Europe are very different from those of our world, and many strange things can be achieved by those who understand their secrets. Artists create the great cathedrals, but also more humble paintings, songs, and sculptures. The greatest of them draw the attention of the supernatural, and become part of the legends of the land.Art & Academe provides background on the academic life of Mythic Europe, and rules for activities reaching from the astrology and alchemy of the natural philosopher to the regimens and treatments of the medic, from university disputations to the creation of masterpieces of art. Art & Academe takes your saga to the very limits of medieval scientific knowledge.

Between two empires is a land of high mountains and dark forests, of great rivers and fertile plains. The richest king in Mythic Europe rules Hungary, but his nobles are restless and the Teutonic Knights he invited to guard his borders want no overlord. Other small kingdoms play east and west against each other, tolerating heresy in their search for freedom. The mountains are the home of countless dragons, and vampires stalk the peasants in their villages. To the east, a greater storm gathers.This is the Transylvanian Tribunal.One force brings light to the darkness. Here, where a lord need not swear fealty for his land, the magi of the Order of Hermes may rule openly without violating the Code. Here, in the heartland of House Tremere, the gifts and talents of all magi may be brought together, to cooperate for the good of the world. Here can be seen the shape of the new order that the Tremere wish to bring.Let us work together as one and grow hale and strong.

Against the Dark: The Transylvanian Tribunal

Magi of the Order of Hermes often come to the attention of other inhabitants of Mythic Europe. Some see them as a threat, others as a target, still others as an opportunity. Some even want to help the magi to better integrate themselves into society. These might be mundane humans, supernatural creatures, or other magi, but they all have one thing in common.They're nothing but trouble.This book presents ten developed antagonists for use in your saga. Each antagonist can support an entire saga arc, and the struggle with any of them could become the defining feature of your covenant's history. Whether you like politics, investigation, or straightforward battles, there's an antagonist for you within this book.

Antagonists

McFarland, Ben

Lawford, Mark

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shirley, Mark. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Shirley, Mark