Robert Angeloni is a pipe fitter by profession who has been a fan of Ars Magica from his first introduction to the system in the very early 90's. He has co-written several articles for Mythic Perspectives and has had the privilege to playtest several Ars Magica products.
Erik Inge Bolsø does open source and Linux for a living, dabbles in epée fencing and various arts, and enjoys gaming and roleplay when the opportunity presents itself. He has never seen a draug near his abode in the ancestral land of the trolls, and anyway he prefers looking at the fairer under- and above-ground beings that he sees around.
Niall Christie is a professional mediaeval Islamic historian, a (very) semi-professional writer and an amateur musician and storyteller. His wife, Steph, is a professional mathematician, so they don't argue about their work much. Niall was first introduced to Ars Magica in 1992, and has been playing and writing material for the game ever since. He is the webmaster for this site.
Canadian artist Autumn Domoslai grew up in the mountains and interior regions of British Columbia. It is here, where a few of the great primal forests still stand, that she became aware of the path she would walk. Since then, her life has been a magickal journey full of trials and adventure. Most of all, it has been a journey of the sacred and of learning that all is not as it seems nor do magick and nature work as humans would have it. Destiny works in strange ways. With an Irish father and a Romany (Gypsy) Mother, Autumn was never a stranger to the mysteries of the Otherworld. The path of the Witch seemed but to reaffirm both the strength of what she had always believed in, as well as adding an intensity to her work as an artist. A gallery of Autumn's work can be found at here.
Richard Evans first heard of Ars Magica with the second edition, but didn't start playing it until the third. He was a copy editor for the now defunct Mythic Perspectives fanzine and the original Sanctum Hermeticum website. He holds a much coveted Philosophy degree from a state college, but promises not to let any of that creep into his writing.
Timothy Ferguson is 30 and works as a librarian on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. He has just enrolled in his second Master's degree, studying the motivation of maintainers of internet fanfiction libraries. His work for the Ars Magica line includes Sanctuary of Ice, the Greater Alpine tribunal book, and sections of Living Lore. He is a persistent, if not particularly popular, writer for Hermes Portal. His recent work includes a lengthy treatise on Chinese magic and rules for medieval chewing gum.
Simon Foston is 28 years old and has the curious distinction of living and teaching English next to a live volcano in southern Japan. He's been playing and running a variety of roleplaying games for... oh, quite a while, and his fascination with Ars Magica began when he discovered a neglected copy of the 2nd Ed. rules under his friend's brother's bed. That was about ten years ago, and he still acts as a storyguide whenever he gets the chance. It isn't as often as he'd like.
Lachie Hayes first fell into gaming through the conventional route of being given a copy of The Hobbit to read when he was 12. Further reading followed, then gaming, then more reading, and the cycle continues to this day, having deepened into a fascination with Central Asian medieval history, medieval religion and tracing the development of European magic. Along the way, he has developed the resilient quirk of interacting on RPG forums as "Jarkman", a pretension that he seems unable to divest himself of despite being old enough to know better. A medical degree, a marriage and still further study later, he still finds time to champion the somewhat hopeless cause of non- Hermetic magicians in that formidable arena of heated discourse quaintly referred to as the Berklist.
Stephanie Pui-Mun Law is a freelance artist, whose work consists of fantasy, the otherworld, and the surreal. She has been illustrating since 1996. Most of her inspiration comes from mythology and legend. In addition to painting into the wee hours of the night, Stephanie dances Flamenco at any spare moment, plays piano, and burrows through her books like a true bookworm. Influences from her music and dance are also scattered through her art, for she finds inspiration for art and images in everything around her. A gallery of Stephanie's work may be found at www.shadowscapes.com.
Angus MacDonald has had a fascination with the Middle Ages since he first heard about King Arthur, but the October 1966 issue of National Geographic confirmed his passion, with its full-colour rendition of the Bayeaux Tapestry. He divides his time between work and real life, with gaming falling into the latter category. He now has far too many Arthurian books, far too many rpgs, and, as Niall reminds him, looks rather like Hagrid. Angus is the English language submissions editor for this site.
Nací en Madrid en 1976 pero con pocos años me mudé a Ceuta, donde me crié y, lo más importante, descubrí los juegos de Rol. Al principio era un jugador empedernido de Dungeons and Dragons en todas sus versiones, pero luego descubrí Ars Magica gracias a la portada de la tercera edición española: un mago invocando su arte ante el cuerpo de su grog. Enseguida me enamoré del concepto de la magia, aunque no pude jugar mi primera campaña hasta muchos años después, con la quinta edición. Actualmente dirijo una partida por Internet llamada «As Fauces da Serpe» («The Maws of the Serpent») ambientada en el Reino de León de 1200.
I was born in Madrid in 1976 but moved to Ceuta, a small Spanish town on the north coast of Africa, where I discovered roleplaying games. Initially I played Dungeons and Dragons exclusively, in all its incarnations, until I discovered Ars Magica through the cover of the third edition in Spanish: a wizard summoning the Art behind the corpse of his grog. I almost immediately liked the new concept of magic but was not able to play until some years later, with the fifth edition. Currently I lead a saga run over the Internet. Its name is "As Fauces da Serpe" ("The Maws of the Serpent") and it is located in the Kingdom of Leon in 1200.
Benjamin McFarland (Leonis Bjornaer) is a computer engineer who lives in upstate New York with his wife, son, two imperious cats and a black Labrador that insists on accompanying him to his weekly Ars Magica game. The Labrador. Not the cats. Or the son. He enjoys brewing his own beer, fencing, cooking chinese food and reading far too much.
Tom McKinnell is a long time gamer, and occasional surgeon, working in the South of England, and theoretically living in central Scotland. Don't ask why. Tom become involved in gaming at the age of ten, working on a variety of systems both bought and devised since that time. He was introduced to Ars Magica at University, but didn't get involved in it until after his graduation when he noted, "Now I'm just working, I have more time to play than when I was studying." His previous publications are limited (for now) to work with Niall Christie for the Mythic Perspectives magazine, and a paper on tongue studs and why they're not the best idea in the world. Trust him when he assures you that the Ars Magica papers are both better written and more entertaining. He gives his age as "thirty-ish" and is married, with three beautiful cats.
Albert Norman was born on 12-31-1980, in Westchester, Pennsylvania. His original introduction to roleplaying was at age ten, when he played "Dragonstrike." Shortly after, he started playing AD&D. Albert moved out to Richmond a few years ago, where he tried a variety of other game systems. Of them all, he fell in love with Ars Magica, mainly due to the combination of simplicity and atmosphere. However, he still regards the system as imperfect, which he expresses through a compulsion to tinker with the rules. Currently, Albert is in college, working on a couple of associate degrees, although given the choice, he would prefer to be a professional SF&F author.
John Padavic lives in the Chicago suburbs and is a long time gamer. He was introduced to Ars Magica in 1992 while studying English Secondary Education at the University of Illinois. He has played in two games, has run two games, and is about to start his third campaign. Currently John works for a major ISP as a technical specialist.
Eric Pommer is a freelance illustrator whose artwork can be seen in a number of Ars Magica products. Eric's artwork has been heavily influenced by RPGs and medieval history. When not teaching (the job that lets him eat), he is tinkering with d20 systems, watching esoteric documentaries or working on commissioned RPG character portraits. A gallery of Eric's work can be found at www.mindplaces.com.
Gabriel Pallarés Ramón nació en Barcelona el 1972; es ingeniero en informatica y vive en L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (al lado de Barcelona). Le gusta la historia, el cine, la literatura y los juegos de rol con un fuerte componente de interpretación (Ars Magica, Vampire...). Conocio Ars Magica en primero de carrera cuando uno de sus jugadores consiguio la segunda edición. Desde entonces ese juego siempre ha tenido algo de especial.
Gabriel Pallarés Ramón was born in Barcelona in 1972; he is a computer engineer and lives in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (a city near Barcelona). He likes history, cinema, literature and role-playing games with a strong interpretative element (Ars Magica, Vampire...). He discovered Ars Magica in his first year at university when a roleplaying friend got the second edition, and since then he has always seen the game as having something special that distinguishes it from the norm.
Richard Read is a computer engineer who lives in the south of England, from whence he spends many a happy hour rampaging across the galaxy on the games table!
Jason Tondro is a Ph.D. student in the English Department of the University of California, Riverside. His fields of specialization include Medieval literature, the Renaissance, and comics. You can find more information on his Ars Magica campaign at Tondropolis: http://webpages.charter.net/jtondro/Gaming/gaming.html
Daniel Núñez Vílchez nació en España en enero de 1980; es licenciado en Historia. Ama los juegos de rol y la Historia, por lo cual es lógico que le gustase el Ars Magica, con el que entró en contacto con la Tercera Edición, y desde entonces no ha parado de dirigir Sagas como Narrador. Ahora trabajo en una empresa arqueológica (otra de sus pasiones), dedicando el tiempo libre al Ars Magica y a la lectura.
Daniel Núñez Vílchez was born in Spain in January of 1980; he has a degree in history. He loves both RPGs and history, so it is logical that he also likes Ars Magica, of which he first encountered the Third Edition. Since then he has not hesitated to direct sagas as a storyguide. Now he works in an archaeological company (another of his passions), dedicating his free time to both Ars Magica and reading.
Andreas Volker teaches English as a Foreign Language and Geography in southern Germany and has been playing Ars Magica since the second edition.
Rainer Wagner is a software developer living in the south of Germany (currently in Karlsruhe). He has been playing RPGs since he was 10, starting with the German RPG "DSA" (The Black Eye). Later he tried some other RPGs (Earthdawn, Vampire, Midgard, Call of Cthulhu...), but unfortunately has never found a group to play Ars Magica with, which he considers a great pity because he has been in love with it ever since reading the 4th edition. (Are there any Ars troupes in or around Karlsruhe looking for a new player? Let us know, and we'll put you in touch with Rainer. - Ed.)
Copyright for the biographies remains with those they concern. Autumn's Realm banner copyright © Autumn Domoslai 2009.
Shadowscapes banner copyright © Stephanie Pui-Mun Law 2009. Mindplaces banner copyright © Eric Pommer 2009.