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---
title: Philippus Niger
categories: NPC magus
---
# Canon Description
Age
: approximately 160 (Archmage)
Personality Traits
: Diligent +3, Touchy +2, Indolent +1
Age
: 125 (90) (Gauntlet at 21; Archmage)
Decrepitude
: 2 (2)
Warping Score
: 8 (5)
Confidence Score
: 3 (5)
Virtues
: The Gift; Archmage; Mythic Blood; Affinity with Penetration,
Affinity with Perdo, Great Intelligence (x2),
Minor Magical Focus (Dispelling, with Mythic Blood),
Puissant Perdo*;
Flaws
: Driven, Enemies; Ambitious (with Mythic Blood), Deficient Form (Imaginem)
Personality Traits
: Alarmist +3, Condescending +3, Obsessive +2, Cool-Tempered –1, Cheerful –3
Reputations
: Master of Perdo 5 (Hermetic), Archmage 4 (Hermetic), Don’t Mess with this Magus 4 (Hermetic)
# Twilight Scars
1. when angry he appears to grow in size,
1. his shadow occasionally moves without a corresponding movement
from Philippus,
1. he can always tell true gold from false,
1. only male children are born at a place he has lived
for more than a year,
1. his presence sours wine,
1. he winces at noises greater than a normal speaking voice,
1. he seems to attract black animals who gather whenever he is
outside,
1. flames dim and extinguish when he enters a room
# Appearance
Philippus is a smallish but well-built man with a cool and
reserved demeanor. His advanced age has left him a little deaf, bowed
of back, and creaky-limbed. His cognomen (“the Black”) might
equally well refer to the color of his hair or his clothing, his pessimistic
outlook, or to the fact that he is an undisputed master of Perdo magics.
He wears a hooded cloak of deep black, over robes (or clothes) of
darkest gray. His bone dagger is always on display, either unsheathed
at his belt, or in his hand. His familiar is usually close by, but rarely in
the same room.
# Description
Philippus Niger is an example of a
magus who has devoted his whole life to
one goal — the defense of the Order
against non-Hermetic wizards. In addition
to being an archmagus, he holds the position of Protector of Durenmar,
a role for which he was personally chosen by Murion,
to whom he is a political ally. Now that
the threat of Final Twilight looms large in
his life, he concentrates mostly on politics,
and is the leading figure in the Ash Gild,
dominated by Flambeau magi who wish to
see the Order strike aggressively against
the Norse wizards beyond the Baltic.
He is pressuring the magi of Oculus Septentrionalis to install a
Mercere Portal (see Chapter
3: Tribunal History and Customs, Tribunal
Gatherings) to Durenmar — this would
also be a blow to Fengheld — and to be
more proactive in their investigation. A
magus of his age, aggression, and political
nature cannot avoid having enemies; most
of Fengheld (and their allies) actively
oppose him at every turn due to many previous slights
(real or imagined), and several
hedge magicians want him dead — fortunately,
his Parma Magica keeps their malicious curses from affecting him.
His extreme age is fuelled by
longevity rituals created for him by
members of Durenmar, and in his long
career he has trained 4 apprentices. The
Wizard’s Bridle, his feared magical item,
has only been used once, to restrain a
particularly dangerous member of House
Tytalus who had been Marched.
Philippus is the eldest surviving member of the direct lineage
from Apromar filius Flambeau, the undisputed master of
destructive magics. As such, he has a Magical Focus for all
destructive spells used against supernatural beings, and can “sniff
out” the presence of magic. He is envied by
the lineage of Apromar throughout the
Order because of his familiar, Sordus. It
took him three years to track down a
female basilisk, and another year to convince it to give him one of its
eggs to become his familiar. Sordus usually remains
out of sight, because of his dreadful
destructive power, but will sometimes slowly enter a room,
casting his gaze left and
right, as if to punctuate Philippus’ threats.
It should be noted that, from 40
years after Gauntlet onwards, Philippus’
spells were learned as lab projects (see the
rule in ArM5, page 32). In the 66 seasons
he spent in his laboratory, he has created
all his magical items, enchanted his familiar, and gained 720 levels of spells.
# Position
**Oculus S*:
Philippus is deeply disappointed with the lack of information
fed from Oculus. He wants the covenant to refund the resources they
received, to pass them on to a new group to found a covenant further
North.
He does not care about the interference with mundanes, but he may use
recent events for leverage.
**Order of Odin**:
A threat to be eliminated.
**Waddenzee*:
If they can provide news about Norse wizards, I'll back them all the way.
**Helena of Flambeau**: ask Red
**The Wolverine Magus**: ask visibleman
