[ArM5] Memorable Companions

[Andrew Gronosky]

It can be hard to come up with ideas for companions, especially for new 
players.  The options are wide open and it can be hard to face a blank 
slate like that.  Here are a couple of companion concepts from Sagas of 
mine - feel free to steal or adapt them for your Saga.

Santiago de Leon was a mercenary turned grog captain who had a secret.  
He wasn't from Leon, but actually Castille, and his name wasn't Santiago 
(it was Esteban).  During a campaign, his company had stumbled across a 
weak covenant and pillaged the place.  When the wizards cast overt 
spells trying to defend themselves, Esteban had ordered a massacre of 
both the men and the women (the children were spared).  He had 
personally killed an unarmed magus who was trying to surrender to him.  
It was a hard fight, but the covenant was obliterated.  The memory of 
driving his sword through an unarmed man tortured Esteban, and month 
later he confessed his sin to a monk.  The monk told him that killing 
wizards was a worthy deed and Esteban was to be congratulated for doing 
God's will.  This disgusted Esteban, whose personal sense of honor could 
not be persuaded that slaughtering unarmed people could possibly be a 
holy act.  He turned his back on the Church, quit the mercenary 
business, and became a drunkard for a long time.  Later, he met a magus 
in a tavern and forced himself to have a civil conversation with the 
man.  The magus convinced him that magical power did not come from the 
Devil and that not all wizards were evil.  Esteban thought this magus 
was arrogant and impious, but not evil, and at that moment decided on 
his own penance for the sin of murder.  He would enlist with this magus 
and go to live at his covenant, where he would help to guide the magi 
toward piety and righteous ways.  "Santiago's" leadership and fighting 
skills were a huge asset to the covenant, and he did a lot to bring the 
magi around to the Church.  After a while, he got his own story thread 
about his romance with an imperiled Spanish princess, and went on to 
become a hero of legend in our Troupe.  No one ever found out about his 
shady past.

There was another great companion whose name I forget, I'll call him 
David.  David's mother had spurned the advances of a faerie prince, and 
in his wrath the faerie had cursed her so her first-born would be a 
twisted dwarf.  A good faerie took pity on little David and granted him 
two gifts: the power of Enchanting Music, and a faerie companion.  The 
faerie companion was a house basilisc named Twiddle.  A house basilisc 
looks kind of like a cockatrice but can't kill or turn things to stone.  
It did have the power to turn invisible or to transform itself into a 
flying ball of fire for short periods.  What really made for great 
stories is that Twiddle had a larcenous streak (a mile wide).  Whenever 
the story got dull or was stuck, Twiddle would swipe something from a 
bad guy and much excitement and/or merriment would ensue.  David himself 
was actually a rather serious and somewhat tragic character - I think he 
had the Curse of Venus as well as being a dwarf - so Twiddle offset him 
nicely.

Old-timers (or newbies), please post some of your own memorable 
companions in this thread.

-Andrew Gronosky