Verditius was a magus of Byzantine descent residing in Italy, and the last priest of the Cult of Hephaestus, which had long been centered on Sicily. Firmly linked to a time-intensive theurgical tradition, he was utterly incapable of casting spells, but as a creator of magical items, he has never been matched. He was eager to join the Order because it gave him certain protection from other Magi – he feared that he was unable to hold his own in magical battles and wanted to be part of an Order which would allow him to practice his craft in peace and safety. He worked long and hard with Bonisagus, sharing what he knew about crafting magical devices, but every time he became philosophical about the intangible, inexpressible part of magical creation, Bonisagus said that such talk was pointless. Though Bonisagus managed to capture the simplest and most direct instructions for making magical devices, he could never quantify the personal element that Verditius thought was so important, and makes members of this House so skilled.
The glory of House Verditius is, first and foremost, the strength of their enchantments. There is a
fairly large body of more or less secret Verditius lore; this is what Verditius magi learn as the basis of their Verditius skill. Anyone with the Gift can learn it, if they start early enough, just as anyone with the Gift can use Verditius runes.
The great secret of House Verditius is not found in any secret lore, however. The essence of this House is that good enchanters shape part of their personality to suit the enchantment they wish to perform, and bind it in with the enchantment. At heart, this realization can not be taught to someone who has already learned another path of magic.
Bonisagus' discipline of enchantment is, in Verditius' words, like the craft of an apprentice potter or carpenter. The enchantments of ordinary Hermetic magi are functional enough, heavy and solid and reliable as a thick earthenware bowl or a plank bench. A master potter could make a goblet as thin as vellum and light as a bubble; a master carpenter could make a throne worthy of a great lord. Are they better for drinking or sitting than an apprentice's lumpy efforts? No, or barely -- but who would trade the other for the one? And so it is with enchanters. While the Verditius’s practical techniques are rooted in the practical skills of the jeweler, glassmaker and such like, his theoretical understanding reaches into the highest understanding of physis.
The heart of Verditius lore is the use of form and effect bonuses. Bonisagus took Verditius’s knowledge and used the simplest skills, developing the simple forms and effects that most magi know of, that of the material itself. House Verditius takes this one step further, utilizing deep layers of symbolism in their enchantments.
At heart this is a magic utilizing in exhaustive detail the sympathies, antipathies and other occult properties of birds, fishes, plants and stones. In Antiquity it was represented by such compilations as the Cyranides.
This method of enhancement includes the use of:
PLANTS AND ANIMALS: You may use an appropriate plant or animal during the preparation of the enchantment, gaining a +1 or +2. Hanging your protective ring on a rosemary bush at night might give a +1. A fire device may be thrust into a brazier full of burning peppercorns for a +2 bonus. Note that the right substance may be expensive, or unavailable, or worse: those peppercorns might have been faked by an unscrupulous merchant, and might damage your item. You are usually, but not always, limited to one plant and one animal effect per enchantment.
IMAGES: Sometimes there are a lot of suitable Form and Effects, and it's hard to use them all. For example, a skull is an excellent part of any tool for killing people, and so is a sword, but it's kind of hard to make a sword with a real human skull in it. A mountain is an excellent symbol of strength and defense, but even Verditius couldn't enchant a whole mountain. It is possible to use pictures or models to get extra Form and Effect bonuses, but of course they don't work well. If an object gives a bonus of +2 to +4, then a well-crafted miniature of it blended smoothly into the enchantment gives +1; if the object's bonus is +5 or higher, then the miniature gives +2. A sword might have a metal sculpture of a human skull as its pommel. If an object gives a +3 or higher bonus, then a picture of it will give +1. A belt might have a metal knobs with mountains engraved on them. These aren't cumulative at all: only the strongest image will contribute to your lab total.
ASTROLOGY: Starting or ending your enchantment at propitious times, and using this in the enchantment, gives a +1 or +2 bonus. A Muto Mentem started with Mercury at its brightest will have +1 on the lab total. If you're lucky enough to end that Muto Mentem on a full moon, you'll get another +1. Rushing or slowing labwork by a couple days either way is possible without penalty. The simplest astrological effects are within the astronomical abilities of most magi; but more elaborate ones may require specialized knowledge: the maximum bonus you can possibly achieve is (2+Astronomy [based on Liber Artes]). Those with the Astrology exceptional skill may achieve a 4+Astrology bonus.
These virtues and flaws are primarily for Verditius magi. Other magi may take them with the Storyguide's permission. (Design: a 1-point virtue devoted to improving lab totals for enchantments, with a moderate accompanying penalty, should give something like +6 on all enchantment totals.)
(variable) Magic Item: Verditius magi frequently have magic items that they made during apprenticeship, when their masters let them keep them. The cost of a magic item for a Verditius mage is, +1 of virtue buys roughly four pawns of vis and one season of your time; you may trade a pawn of vis for a season in calculations, and you may beg the storyguide for a little extra if it's appropriate. This is a bit cheaper than the generally available virtue, which amounts to two pawns of vis for +1 virtue. However, you are limited to your own beginning skills for performing the enchantment -- including, of course, virtues and such.
(+1) Enchanter's Spark: On some regular occasion -- generally the summer solstice -- you may perform a small enchantment. The enchantment is swift and cheap. It takes only a day, constant labor from dawn to dawn. It requires only a single pawn of (art-specific) vis to perform, no matter what level it is. Your lab total for this enchantment is Intelligence + 2x(Verditius skill) + Aura + Affinity + (Form and Material bonus) + (Verditius runes if used) + Stress die
This represents a primal form of magic, before Bonisagus, and as such your Art scores do not apply.
(+1) Idiosyncratic Enchantments: Any enchantment that you perform is accompanied by side effects, related to your personality, or other things the Storyguide deems relevant. Each season you work on an item, counting opening the item for enchantment, roll a stress die, and add it into the item's Idiosyncratic Power; the level of the side effect is the Idiosyncratic Power. The Storyguide decides what the Idiosyncratic Powers do: the player may make suggestions. Idiosyncratic Power may be divided into several powers when appropriate. The Idiosyncratic Powers never count towards the number of spells in the item. They tend to appear sporadically; they are often beneficial or at least amusing.
(+1) Powerful Symbols: When enchanting objects, symbols are subtracted from the effective level rather than added to the lab total. (Typical symbols are form and materials bonuses and Verditius runes). For example, suppose that one is trying to do a level-25 enchantment with a lab total of 40 including 7 points of Form and Effect, and 3 from Verditius runes: 10 points coming from symbols, 30 non-symbolic. Ordinarily, it would take two seasons and three pawns of vis. With this Virtue, the effective level would be 25-10=15 and the lab total would be 30; the enchantment would take only one season and two pawns of vis. This does apply to one-season minor enchantments, but not to opening items for enchantment.
(+1) Private Symbols: You have found a set of runes which behave just like Verditius runes, for you at least. They are independent of the standard Hermetic runes, and you can use both sets in the same enchantment. Most magi will not recognize your runes as magical writing at all, much less for what they are; though suitable laboratory investigation will tell them.
(+2) Enchantment from Within: You have learned the art of pouring some of yourself into an enchantment. When you choose this virtue, choose a Characteristic -- Strength is traditional -- that it applies to. If you wish, you may use this Characteristic when enchanting objects, up to half your Verditius skill (rounded up) points. Roll a stress die and multiply this by the number of points you used; add this to your Lab Total for that season.
You roll at the beginning of the season. If you are just starting an enchantment, you may tune the details of the enchantment based on the roll; e.g., if your lab total is exactly twice the level of the effect, and you roll a 4, you may choose to let the enchantment be usable thrice a day (adding two points to the level of the effect) so that you can complete it in that season. You need not perform any enchantment that season, if you don't like the roll; but you have still spent the characteristic points.
You recover one point in that attribute per season; so, if you spend two points in Fall, your strength will be reduced by 2 in Winter, 1 in Spring, and back to normal on the first day of Summer.
The stress roll gets one botch die per point of Characteristic used, plus one per point of aura. If you botch, you lose one point of that characteristic permanently into the item. This makes the enchantment considerably stronger -- 10-15 levels at least -- but warped in some way that probably is related to the enchanter's personality or quirks. Multiple botches lose multiple points, multiplying that effect. If you manage to reduce your characteristic by four points, or below -7, you have invested all of yourself into the item. You are found dead, slumped over it; the remaining effects are up to the storyguide.
In all cases, if you have used this skill on an item, the item contains some of your essence. It has an Arcane Connection to you, and you to it. You may narrow the connection (which takes +2 on lab total) so that the connection only carries the techniques involved in the enchantment.
(+3) Priest of Hephaestus: You are of part of the lineage of priests to Hephaestus (or some other craft-related god) that has returned some of their theurgical practices. You know certain invocations that may be performed at the beginning of an enchantment for beneficial results, doubling your Verditius score for the entire enchantment, even if it lasts more than one season. If the enchantment involves actual smithing, this adds double your Smithcraft score to your lab total as well. This invocation requires proper sacrifices, may of which can be expensive and are geared toward the device you are creating. In addition, you will receive respect amongst your House, starting with a favorable reputation of 2.
(+4) Controlled Enchantment from Within: This is a superior version of Enchantment from Within. You have control over your use of your characteristic in enchantment: you roll one simple die per point of characteristic used, rather than one stress die times the number used. You may use up to your Verditius skill points of the characteristic.
There is no chance of botching the rolls. However, you may, if you wish, invest permanent points of your Characteristic into the item -- much like the botch effect of Enchantment from Within, but under your control, adding about 15 levels to the enchantment -- and, more importantly, allowing you to skirt some of the lesser restrictions on Hermetic magic, with the Storyguide's consent, e.g. building a device which sometimes heals permanently without added vis. You may choose to invest two points, giving some 35 to 40 levels. You may also choose to invest three points, giving truly amazing effects; this will kill you.
(+6) All Things Open: You need not open items for enchantments; you may simply start enchanting them. This saves a season for each magic item, plus a large amount of vis. With this skill, there is no point to performing lesser enchantments at all.
This flaw is common among Verditius magi:
(-1) Necessary Circumstances: Verditius Runes. You are utterly incapable of using an Art without the Verditius rune for that art, either somewhere on your body, or close by.