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PAX HERMETICA (MTA/CWOD)

787.12.21

Ars Magica Mythic Europe

World Map 700 CE European Map 700 CE World Map 800 CE

The Order of Hermes was formally founded in 767 in the german city of Durenmar, thanks to the efforts of the wizard Bonisagus, developer of the Parma Magica, which allowed mages to meet each other without fearing an attack, and lady Trianoma, who united the disparate remnants of the old Cult of Mercury. In the Pax Hermetica, the joined Houses united their magical knowledge to form the Ars Hermetica, which would later have significant influence on the Sphere model of the Traditions.


697: Invading Muslims burn down the Library of Alexandria. During the final hours of the fire, four courageous Hermetics brave the blaze and the battle to save several thousand scrolls.

700: Christian Church continues to ascend throughout Europe. Vatican eventually assumes firm power base. Cabal of Pure Thought, Messianic Voices and other groups unite under its banner and work within the church to spread the Word of one God.

700: Islamic Artisan sect, Mokteshaf Al-Nour, founded.

700: Rivalry, disease, Quiet, and other attritions make magery a dangerous practise. Some magicians turn to brigandry and looting in order to survive.

701: Dracon Embraces Gesu against the orders of Tzimisce. Gesu immediately falls into a deep torpor.

701: Mithras embraces the Duke and Duchess of Amber.

724: Sout-Al-Haraam. Various magi invited to found Web of Faith by Batini emissary. Impressed, various sects pool their energy into a network of Crays and mystick sanctuaries. Together, sects battle insane and Infernal sorcerers.

730: Guernicus, later founder of House Quaesitor and discoverer of Gilgul, is born.

731: A Westphalian named Trianoma foresees the collapse of Hermeticism, and beings wandering Europe to seek out other mages, eventually encountering Bonisagus. The two seek out other Hermetic masters and share the secret of the parma magica developed by Bonisagus, in the hopes of enlisting their aid in saving the collected Hermetic wisdom.

740: Around this time, the Batini guide to the Nephandi, Sebil-el-Mafouh Whash, is translated and expanded as the Malleus Nefandorum

740: Tytalus, later founder of House Tytalus, is born.

750-1200: Web of Faith prospers, but is eventually broken by Crusades and internal fighting.

752: Merinita, later founder of House Merinita, is born.

754:The Cainite Heresy was uncovered and declared anathema, due to errors made by a group in Ostia. But by now, the Cainite worship was to extensive to destroy.

756: End of the Devil-king Age. Alliance between Batini, Dervishes and Taftâni defeat the Oasis of Eternal Bliss and Al-Malik Al-Majun ibn Iblis.

762: Caliph Mansur founds the city of Baghdad

760: Flambeau, later founder of House Flambeau, is born.

771: Charlemagne begins to form his empire.

771: The Arabic mathematician Algorithmi devises the first algorithms.

772: Responding to various murder and assassination attempts among the 12 Houses, Tremere and Bonisagus invent the magical duelling ritual of certámen.

781: Doissetep, founded by sorcerer-king Kwa Hu in prehistoric times, falls to an unknown Nephandus, who transports it whole from Lan Na Thai in northern Thailand to Nemrut Dagi, an extinct volcano in eastern Anatolia.

785: The Messianic Voices begin construction of the Octagon.

786: Beginning of the reign of Caliph Harun al-Rashid. The new caliph agreed to assemble a council of wizards to advise him. A Solomonic council is created called the Suhhar.

787: Bonisagus propounds the Code of Hermes.

793: The first recorded Viking raid on England takes place off the Northumbrian coast.

796: The Fourth Council of Constantinople convenes. Michael and the Dracon met with Septima Dominica and Caius to adress the Iconoclast Movement. Seeing no other option, they sanction the destruction of Antonius to reestablish peace.

798: Merinita vanishes.

800: The Ahl-i-Batin reveal their Plan of Unity to the other Traditions. They form the first Council of Nine. Iteration X moves their HQ to Arabia. Algoritmi invents our modern 10 decimal math system.

800: The Messianic Voices write the Aachen Manifesto (or "Aix-la-Chapelle Manifesto").

800: Charlemagne is crowned emperor of all Europe by Pope Leo III.

800: November 11: A Christian sect of warrior-mysticks, the Palatine Knights, swears fealty to Charlemagne. Related to both the Cabal of Pure Thought and Messianic Voices, this group provides a foundation for Templars, Hospitaliers and some factions of the Celestial Chorus.

800: The Freedom Razor cabal is founded as a Chakravanti assassins' cult.

800: First appearance in correspondence of organization called "Cabal of Pure Thought." Cabal is a faction of the Sacred Congregation, dedicated to enforcing the idea of a single religion as a means to Ascension.

800: The Sisters of Hippolyta find a semi-permanent home in southern France. They expand from a concentration on healing arts to a general focus on the connections between mind, body, and the Earth.

803: Tarjei Hardrule, a mighty Philodox and Jarl of the Get of Fenris, falls in battle as his Sept of the Valiant Hammer of Vengeance is taken by a rival group of Fenrir. His harsh punishments and judgments of those in his Sept had left them weakened and could not defend against them, but Tarjei himself refused to submit and died fighting. For all his sins, he is remembered as a great warrior, and in fact his skull was crafted into a fetish, the Head of Hardrule.

806: The sword of Nul returns. It winds up in Bayt Al-Himah "the house of wisdom" where it sits on a shelf.

807: Tytalus challenges the Queen of the Fairies in Germany's Maddenhofen Woods, and vanishes.

809: End of the reign of Caliph Harun al-Rashid. One of the courtesans in Harun al-Rashid's court eventually becomes Empress Alaria, Maeljin of Karnala, Urge-Wyrm of Desire.

810: The Great Tribunal officially adopts the use of certámen to resolve conflicts.

812: Ventrue control of Christianity reaches its height with Charlemagne.

816: Pralix of House Tytalus gathers together many English independent wizards to help defeat the necromancer Dav'nalleous. In the wake of their success, he proclaims them the "Order of Miscellany." They initially plan on confronting the Order of Hermes, but Master Trianoma convinces them to become a House instead.

817: Lady Pralix' "Order of Miscellany" is accepted into the Order of Hermes as House Ex Miscellanea — an umbrella House for all the smaller Houses and those Hermetic magi who are not members of any House.

828: The remains of St. Mark have to be evacuated from Alexandria after the Muslims attempt to desecrate the church that house them. Venice, as well as a hidden cabal of Messianic Voices, takes responsibility to save them by letting them appear as the carcass of a pig.

843: Kenneth McAlpin, Kinfolk of the Silver Fangs, assumes power over the Scottish and Pictish kingdoms, establishing the Kingdom of Alba. A combined pack of Silver Fangs and Fianna watch over him, but a combination of tainted blood (by the mingling of White Howler / Black Spiral Kinfolk with their own centuries before) and a spiritual connection to the tainted tribe (their totem, Lion) causes them to fall to the Wyrm, joining the Black Spiral Dancers.[1]

843: Flambeau, founder of House Flambeau, dies.

843: A copy of the Malleus Nefandorum is burned in Constantinople.

848: House Tremere attempts to establish itself as supreme over the other Houses in the Order of Hermes, but is thwarted by a group of unknown independent magi. A warning to the other Houses goes unheeded.

875: Fenicil, Primus of House Quaesitor, uses retrocognitive spells to uncover lost information regarding Djhowtey and Sesheta.

876: Mages (belonging to the Bonisagus, Flambeau, Quaesitor and Tytalus Houses) seize the Covenant of a powerful Nephandus, at Nemrut Dagi in Anatolia. The Covenant, called Doissetep, is later moved to the Pyrenees.

879: The Cainite Heresy becomes formalized and continues in more or less this form for several centuries.

Major Cities

  • Baghdad 700K Levantine
  • Constantinople 225K Greek
  • Alexandria 94K Egyptian
  • Aleppo 72K Levantine
  • Ray 68K Persian

The founders of the Order of Hermes

The Order oversees 13 Tribunals:

  • Greater Alps (mountainous regions of Central Europe)
  • Hibernia (Ireland)
  • Iberia (Spain and Portugal)
  • Levant (the Holy Land)
  • Loch Leglean (Scotland)
  • Normandy (Northern France and the County of Flanders)
  • Novgorod (Russia and parts of Eastern Europe)
  • Provence (approximately Occitania, or le Midi of France)
  • Rhine (Northern parts of the Holy Roman Empire)
  • Rome (Italy)
  • Stonehenge (England and Wales)
  • Thebes (Balkans)
  • Transylvania (Parts of Eastern Europe)

Other Magical Orders

The Chakravanti (Euthanatosi) comprise the:

  • Lahksmists (followers of the divine principle of fortune)
  • Sapindya Sadananda (the Fellowship's warriors and assassins -- also known as the Consanguinity of Eternal Joy. Cyrrently ruled by the necromancer Helekar).
  • Natatapas (your "average" Tantrist Chakravanti, somewhat matriarchal in outlook).

The Daedalans (proto-Order of Reason):

See also the Ars Magica Wiki

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