GIANTS IN THE EARTH

OF THE HOUSES OF HERMES

House Bjornaer

"How can we trust such magi as these, who know a magic they will not share, who perform secret rites in their unhallowed halls, who bear the blood of beasts and shapeshifters in their veins? There shall come a day when we shall sunder the vaults of Crintera and expose their black mysteries to the light of day. Then shall the Order unite behind us as we cleanse the earth of their inhuman abominations with our purifying flame." - Phalarica Agrestis scholae Flambonis

House Bonisagus

"Young and old, they are graybeards all, locked away in their ivory towers whilst the commoners toil below. Perhaps they are unaware that there is a world beyond their laboratories, full of wonders that they, for all their wonder-working, shall never know." - Dara Hiberniensis ex Miscellanea

House Criamon

"... For all that doth rise must return unto earth; and all that doth grow and burgeon upon the earth must fall into decay, from which new life doth emerge in its season. Thus it is with this teeming earth, that all things ascend and descend in their turn, never to escape the bonds of matter and of circumstance which hold them in their courses. ... We deny matter. We deny circumstance. For upon the axis of the turning wheel, there is neither ascent nor descent. We would stand upon the very center of things, and there observe the turning of the earth, unmoving and unmoved..." - Protogonus scholae Criamones

House Díedne

"They are dead, dead and gone. No green things grow amidst the ashen wastes where once they had their sacred groves, and their lofty dolmens lie tumbled like a child's stones. Even their names have been stricken from our histories. Let them lie, let them go, let them be. Naught good can come of raising their shades in such discourse as this." - Chiron Raucus scholae Bonisagi

House Ex Miscellanea

"House Ex Miscellanea contains the future of the Order. Where the lineages of the Founders have grown stale from repeating the same old formulas and theories for five hundred years, this motley House bursts with strange and incompatible notions, any one of which might be the key to unlock the limits of Hermetic magic and open a thousand doors." - Enyo Corinthiensis doctrinae Tytali

House Flambeau

"In the days of the Founders, it is true that Moslem aggression demanded a spirited defense by Europe's magicians, and in this light, Flambeau played an important and morally proper role in the wars of the Pyrenees. But in this day and age, when the Iberian Moslems are content to remain in their citadels, the descendants of Flambeau perform the world no service by hunting Moslem wizards and lending support to the armies of the Reconquista. Which they do, I might add, in flagrant violation of the Code of Hermes. And furthermore, inasmuch as Moslem culture holds aloft a beacon by which the world's scholars chart their courses, how can any Magus of our Order support a faction that razes Iberia's jeweled towers, sets its libraries aflame, and slaughters its wise men and philosophers in the streets, so that the gutters run with their precious blood?" - Musa Sabaeus doctrinae Jerbitonis

House Guernicus

"Can anyone question the fact that the Schism War sprang, at least in part, from the urgent desire of the Quaesitors to reclaim their power within the Order? Much as with the trial of Tasgillia and her disciples, there is little evidence to suggest that those accused were in fact guilty of any crime. Rather, the lords of House Guernicus sought to conceal their own ambitions, for not long since had the damning matter of the Duresca Scrolls come to light. Furthermore, these ambitious wizards sought to claim a greater authority within the Order of Hermes, an authority with which they might further their long-range plans for dominion over the Order; and it was for this cause that the Guernici fostered the conflict between the Díedne and the Tremere, and engineered the deaths of a hundred noble magi and the eradication of their entire lineage for the sake of political gain..." - Anonymous

"To most magi of the Order, the terms 'Guernicus' and 'Quaesitor' are all but synonymous. This stems from a gross misunderstanding of the role played by House Guernicus among the Quaesitors. Not all of the Quaesitors of the Order hail from House Guernicus. Indeed, most are inducted among the Quaesitors from other Houses. Similarly, magi of House Guernicus hold only four seats in the Circle of Nine at Magvillus. ... Why are all magi of House Guernicus accepted as Quaesitors from the moment they pass the Gauntlet? Because every Guernicus apprentice is thoroughly trained in Hermetic law and tradition, and is prepared from the beginning of apprenticeship to fulfill a Quaesitor's duties. Why are all apprentices of Guernicus thus trained? For the sake of tradition; out of respect for Guernicus the Founder; and out of pride. For an apprentice of Guernicus to become a magus without becoming a Quaesitor would shame his master and his House." - Chiron Raucus scholae Bonisagi

House Jerbiton

"Their constant meddling in mundane affairs imperils the Order! Our power is great, but even our fullest might cannot stand against the united armies of the mundanes. The nobility and the Church are content to overlook our activities for so long as we stand in the shadows, but if we force our way beneath their eye, they shall turn upon us and crush us beneath their endless gray hordes. I can think of no more inglorious destiny than to be extinguished by the common folk, as a mighty stag may be brought down by the basest huntsman's curs." - Sigruna ex Miscellanea

"Jerbitons like to hear the sounds of their own voices." - Taurus Hispidus, Quaesitoris ex Bjornaere

House Mercere

"Which House of the Order is the most numerous? Ex Miscellanea? Correct, if one only counts those who have the Gift. But if one counts the ungifted Redcaps, then House Mercere is the most numerous by far, exceeding even Ex Miscellanea by a considerable margin. These devoted servants of the Order move ever along their chosen routes, bearing the news of the day, the results of Tribunal, and the correspondence of fellow magi on matters both trivial and critical. They are the blood of the Order, flowing endlessly through its veins, sustaining it through loyal and unswerving dedication to its purpose." - Molitor scholae Tremendi

House Merinita

"I cannot claim to understand them; and not understanding, I cannot judge them fairly. Do they endanger the Order by their dealings with faeries? By most accounts, they act rather in the Order's service, building good relations with those faerie lords whose lands border on our own, and protecting certain of their more truculent fellow magi from the fruits of their own folly. And yet I have my misgivings. For while the Code does not bar commerce with faeries, can we say with any certainty that interference with their society is less hazardous than interference with the mundanes? For as few as the faerie lords may be in number, their power is great, and they cannot be more predictable than those lords of mundane society whose retribution we ever take steps to avoid." - Tanaquil Justifica scholae Guernici

House Tremere

"House Tremere has ever served the interest of the Order of Hermes. We stand for stability, for order, for tradition. With our acts we forge a bulwark against the Chaos that might otherwise overtake our kind. We serve the Order. We serve the Law." - Fulgora Celsa scholae Tremendi

"Isn't it strange how everyone who stands in the way of Tremere ambition gets conveniently dead? We all know how the Tremere engineered the Schism War to lay claim to Díedne secrets. There's also reason to believe that the diabolism scandal of Tasgillia was the work of Ossa and other Tremere elders, who needed to deal with the one House that could put paid to their ambitions. Now it is the Flambeau and Jerbiton that are at each other's throats. Can there be any doubt that the Tremere stand behind them, playing them as pawns against one another in order to sweep two more major Houses from the board?" - Serpentigena Umbratica scholae Tytali

House Tytalus

"Trust not the witches of Tytalus. Two hundred years past, their House turned to infernal diablerie to achieve its aims; and where once the black hand of Satan has passed, ne'er shall the stain be removed. Rest assured that He moves among them still, driving them on to greater acts of cruelty and of pride. Neither shall all the sanctions and the writs of the Quaesitors prove it otherwise, for is not the magic of Hermes impotent to reveal the Devil's work?" - Robertus Collium Nigrorum ex Miscellanea

House Verditius

"No better source may be found for laboratory equipment and tools of enchantment than the covenant of Verdi. In that secluded valley once claimed by the Founder Verditius for his studies, there stand a hundred workshops of stone and brick and wood in which his disciples practice their craft, and in the warm months of spring and summer, their doors gape wide to release a thousand wonders. Their prices may be high, in both silver and raw vis, but never have I had cause to fault their craftsmanship, nor have I been cheated by them even once." - Insilia Serena scholae Bonisagi


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