So this is an extension of an idea I've had for a while. Magic flows through bloodlines, and it seems practical (for many reasons, such as longevity) that wizards prefer to marry other wizards. It seems that there should be, if not common, a tradition of intermarriage between wizard families.
Taking the intermarriage between wizard families to an extreme, a family might try to improve their position by "marrying well".
House Haydon
House Haydon is a well connected, well monied house with a huge propensity for magical talent. So much so in fact that those without the talent for magic are (discreetly) looked down upon. Family obligation is first in foremost in the thoughts of most members. Nepotism runs rampant in family businesses, and scions of the house are expected to make advantageous marriages, bringing in more talented blood.
Greatest Mother
High Concept: Ghostly Matron of House Haydon
Trouble: Long Dead, But Not Forgotten
Other Aspects: Bound to the Family Estate; Mother to Them All; Centuries of Magical Experience; Managing The Bloodline; Family Matchmaker
Skills
Lore (Fantastic, +6)
Conviction (Superb, +5)
Discipline (Superb, +5)
Alertness (Great, +4)
Athletics (Great, +4)
Empathy (Great, +4)
Presence (Good, +3)
Intimidation (Good, +3)
Deceit (Good, +3)
Rapport (Fair, +3)
Most other skills default to average or mediocre.
Stunts & Powers
The Greatest Mother can be considered plot-device-powerful. She is a ghost and so has Spirit Form, and the Poltergeist upgrade, along with being a powerful sorceress or wizard with over a millennia of experience. Despite her power, she is fairly limited in her activities, only waking to provide protection and guidance to her family, and only able to directly intervene in special circumstances.
Stress: M OOOO (Extra Mild Consequence), P OOOO, S OOOO
The Greatest Mother is the eldest "surviving" member of what became House Haydon. Sometime in the early second century she enacted a ritual which would allow her to protect her family as a ghost, and has continued to do that throughout the centuries. She is present, in spirit if not manifest, during any family celebration, ceremony or ritual held on the family estate.
Refresh: Probably in the 30s.
Binding The Blood
A voluntary ritual which binds a person to a particular bloodline, usually highly ritualized as part of a wedding or adoption. This ritual requires at least two other family members, who will act as surrogate parents for the target and assist in the ritual, and possibly a fourth family member to act as the potential spouse. The ritual has specific requirements to succeed, each of the main participants must feel genuine affection and love for eachother, without that bond to build on the ritual will invariably fail resulting in the death of the target.
Type: Thaumaturgy
Complexity: 36
Opposed By: Target’s Endurance
Effect: All family ties are cut from the target, and he or she is then bound by those same frayed ends to his or her surrogate parents, and possible spouse. Each participant is flooded with a true sense of the others, similar to the effect of a soulgaze. Any bonds of affection are strengthened, surrogate parents will feel the joy of a new child, the target will feel the love of his new family, and spouses will feel the love they feel for each other. This ritual creates an enduring bond between each participant, represented by a change in aspect which may be compelled to alert members to danger, or invoked to aid each other. If the family has a Bloodline Magic sponsor then the new family member can (with practice) gain access to that source of power.
Bloodline Magic [-4]
Your magical pedigree is beyond reproach, and has been carefully cultivated for generations, which wizardly speaking, is a long time. As part of this cultivation, a well of magical energy has been created to empower scions of your family in times of deepest need.
Musts: You must have an aspect that signifies your familial connection to the Sponsor.
Benefits: Standard sponsored magic benefits (page 288), with an agenda to further family status, power, wealth and safety.
In addition by drawing on the generations of power and experience within your family you can use Bloodline Magic to supercharge any element that you've already specialized in, though it can't be used as an element in it's own right.
For use in thaumaturgy Bloodline Magic provides a +1 bonus to the ritual leader for each other practitioner who is a family member who is participating, up to a maximum of +3, to be divided as desired between control and complexity.
