by John Scott
Harold d'Main is a renowned sculptor whose mundane works sell for hundreds of pounds of silver in some cases. His statues of the Saints grace churches throughout Christendom, and several of his pieces can be found in St. Peters Basilica, in the Vatican.
His fame has spread throughout Europe, and the demand for his work is high. However, he is somewhat of a recluse, and rarely produces more than one sculpture a year. This, of course, raises demand even higher.
What most people don't realise is that Harold is one of the Arch Magi of House Verditus of the Order of Hermes, and that for most of the year he is working on magical creations, which he is forbidden to sell to non-magi. He is, of course, perfectly at liberty to sell them to magi. Given that he is such a consummate craftsman, his magical automata take forms that are pleasing to the eye, much like his mundane statues.
The players covenant have, after a long while, managed to obtain a d'Main automata for their covenant. To them, primarily, it is a magical creation, but to an obsessive art collector nearby, it is a d'Main sculpture owned by some order of monks who obviously don't appreciate the creativity and skill that went into its creation.
He puts in motion plans to steal it.
(As I see it, one of the fun things will be that the magi will likely blame other magi, for stealing their magic. Will they see beyond their prejudices to realise that sometimes, the mundanes can rip you off?)