Mountebank

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Mountebanks are a combination of confidence trickster and streetwise wizard found in the League.

Give me a dagger, a coinpurse and a smile, and nothing is impossible

Cicero Telerio di Sarvos, Mountebank

Give me a dagger, a coinpurse, a pair of trousers, a Varushkan fur lined hat, a length of rope, a jar of wine, a map of the sewers, a monkey, another jar of wine and a smile, and nothing is impossible for Cicero Telerio

Antoni Telerio di Sarvos, Mountebank

Part con-artist, part street entertainer, Mountebanks are street-mages with a (sometimes ill-deserved) reputation as thieves and scoundrels. In a nation where the Carta are an all important part of life, deliberately setting yourself outside an established Troupe is a dangerous game - cast adrift, Mountebanks must rely on their wits alone, with no patron to support them or companions to watch their backs or bail them out of gaol when the Watch invariably hauls them in on a minor misdemeanour.

"Where a Mountebank goes, trouble follows."

Holberger saying

A street-mage like this may be working alone for a variety of reasons, some of which she will be unlikely to share. She may just prefer the freedom of working as and when she pleases, or she may be avoiding the telling of a dark secret or escaping a dark past. For whatever reason, these mages work hand-to-mouth and alone, or very occasionally with another, though the nature of these partnerships is transient - more often a Mountebank will team up with somebody with skill at arms, or another skill that they do not share.

Mountebanks will take work where they can get it - with no Troupe, there is no Carta to restrict what work they can or cannot take, but also they have no patrons to fund their projects.

The most famous Mountebank in League history is one Cicero Telerio di Sarvos, who operated out of Tassato in Year 469. Stories about Cicero are mixed - some say he was responsible for the theft of a great diamond, the size of a child's head, from the Imperial Mint. Some say he was responsible for saving the city from an overwhelming but unspecified danger. Either way, he has not been seen since, but "A scheme worthy of Cicero" is byword amongst certain company for a grand plan.