ErisianDialects
The Purple Sage
New Orleans. The Big Easy.
A place of life, love and hope. A city of magic, superstition and mystery. Since Katrina, it's been a beacon of hope and rebirth, a force of overcoming tragedy. A beacon of light in a World of Darkness.
Of course, that is just the surface. Thanks to memories, lives, deaths and history, stories have been reshaping the city since its very beginning. The fact that so many supernaturals seem to flock there, to live out their existence should come as a surprise. Of course, this is just a veneer.
Predators walk the streets by night, tasting of the life in their own ways. Bonfire ceremonies clash with modern day parties of drunken fratboys. What draws the light, also brings the darkness. The veil parts more easily, and it's almost as if the city is abuzz with places of power. Werewolves, Vampires, Fae, Wraiths and Mages all squabble for a slice of the pie. It's a powderkeg, just waiting for the one match that will end the uneasy peace that will spark a conflagration.
This is a test run of an idea of a tabletop Mage: the Ascension campaign, to test the dice system, to have a bit of fun, and to see whether the idea is plausible.
--
Rules and Regs
--
Experience points. Typically, you get between one and four XP a session. One automatic, One point for your character learning something new and opening new vistas, One point for roleplaying, and one point for heroism.
Since, in this format, it's hard to define session, I will give out XP for exceptional roleplaying, performing acts of heroism, and one if you send me a pm or post in the OOC thread something extremely new to your character that opens new vistas. Each time I give out XP for that, I'll give you two points, which should roughly equal it all out. Of course, the XP will be given out according to my levels of judgement.
Additional end of the story XP will be awarded based on survival, success of achieved goals, level of danger, and wisdom of the characters.
Trait Cost
New Ability 3
New Sphere 10
Willpower new rating
Ability new rating x2
Attribute new rating x4
Specialty Sphere old rating x7
Other Sphere old rating x8
Arete old rating x8
Background new rating x3
To get a new background, it will be 3xp, and the option will be available during rp.
--
Ok. I am not making you roll for anything unless there is a decent chance of failure to keep some kind of flow going on. That being said, sometimes I will make you roll dice. If you're in a high speed chase using Mardi Gras floats, for instance. Mostly because I am now going to get you in a high speed Mardi Gras float chase if it kills me.
Basically, outside of combat and magic, if you have the dice pool (Trait+Attribute) that I think can get away with it, I won't make you roll. Magic because it effects the strength and length of the effect, combat because some order is needed, and there is a health system. The dice used are ten sided dice (d10).
Combat
Adding Up Damage
When a mage suffers multiple types of damage, the most dangerous types go on the top of the health track, while the rest "moves down" and fills up the mage's Health chart. I will be keeping track of this, since it effects dice pools. I strongly suggest keeping a running tally somewhere.
Soak
Characters can resist a certain amount of physical trauma; doing so is called soaking damage. Your character's soak dice pool is equal to her Stamina. Mages and other physically normal humans can only attempt to soak bashing damage (reflecting the body's resilience to such attacks). Mages cannot normally soak slashes, punctures, bums and other forms of lethal or aggravated damage. Life Effects (or various armoring Effects using Matter) are required to allow a mage to attempt to soak lethal damage. Vampires, werewolves and other supernatural monsters may soak both bashing and lethal damage, which is one of the many reasons such creatures are considered highly dangerous.
After an attack has hit and inflicted damage, the defender's player may make a soak roll to resist. This action is considered reflexive; characters need not take a turn or take a multiple action to soak. Unless otherwise stated, all soak rolls are made versus difficulty 6.
Each success on the soak roll subtracts one level of damage from the attack. Like damage rolls, soak rolls may fail, but they cannot normally botch.
Example: Mioshi the Shinto Dreamspeaker has a Stamina of 4. A mugger wielding a club attacks her and scores three levels of bashing damage. Mioshi may soak this attack with four dice (one for each point of her Stamina). She rolls 1, 7, 9, 8. The 1 cancels out one success, leaving two successes. She avoids two of the three health levels inflicted by the club, taking only a single level of damage. If the mugger had used a knife instead, she would not have been able to soak this damage, and she would have taken the full three health levels of damage.
Armor
Armor absorbs damage, so it adds to your character's soak. The armor's rating adds to your charact er's base soak for purposes of reducing damage. Even better, armor also provides protection against all forms of lethal damage and most purely physical forms of aggravated damage. A character with a Stamina of 3 who is also wearing (two dots of) armor has five soak dice versus bashing damage and two dice versus lethal and (physical) aggravated damage.
Light armor offers a small (but often essential) degree of protection but does not hinder mobility. Heavy armor provides a lot of protection, but it slows your character down significantly. Unfortunately, armor is not indestructible. If the damage rolled from a single attack equals twice the armor's rating, the armor is destroyed.
Bruised 0 Character is bruised a bit, but he suffers no penalties from damage.
Hurt -1 Character is hurt superficially, and he suffers no movement hindrance.
Injured -1 Character suffers minor injuries, and his movement is inhibited mildly (halve maximum running speed).
Wounded -2 Character suffers significant damage, and he may not run (though she may still walk).
Mauled -2 Character is injured badly, and he may only hobble about (three yards/turn).
Crippled -5 Character is catastrophically injured, and he may only crawl (one yard/turn).
Incapacitated n/a Character loses consciousness from the pain and trauma. No actions are possible.
Dead Tag'im, bag'im, notify his next of kin.
Let me know weapons and armor in advance or on your character sheet, and I'll let you know their ratings.
Recovery
Minor wounds simply require time to heal. However, medical attention or magic is required to recover from bashing damage worse than Wounded or lethal damage greater than Hurt. The accompanying chart lists the time required to heal various levels of damage. In all cases, the times listed are cumulative. A character who has taken three levels of lethal damage requires 11 days to recover fully (one day + three days + one week). A character who has taken two levels of lethal damage and one level of bashing damage would require one hour of rest to recover the bashing level, and four days to recover the two levels of lethal damage.
The recovery times listed in the healing charts assume that the character receives only rest and basic first aid. These times can be reduced significantly if the character is treated with modern medicine. If the character is treated by a fully trained physician (two dots in Medicine) using the full range of normal modern drugs and treatments, the character heals each health level at one category faster on the Health chart. For long-term recovery of lethal damage, the character must see a physician at least once a week. Crippled and Incapacitated characters must instead see a physician once a day. If the character interrupts this treatment at any point, future healing occurs at the normal rate until treatment resumes. If a highly skilled physician (four or more dots in Medicine) treats the character with access to the best modern medicinal techniques he recovers each health level at two categories faster on the health chart. If this treatment is interrupted, normal healing rates apply. Also, without magical assistance, each level of bashing damage still takes at least one hour to heal, and each level of lethal damage takes at least one full day to heal. Of course, the proper use of Life Effects can speed healing time greatly.
--
Nothing defines a mage so readily as his ability to wield the reality - bending power of magic. It is this power to impose his own view of reality onto consensual reality that forever sets the mage apart from the ruck and run of Sleeper society. By concentrating his Awakened will, a mage can alter the nature of reality as easily as the average Sleeper might alter her home's temperature by adjusting the thermostat. Still, the modern mage is very unlikely to transform his enemies into swine, divide the sea or blot out the noonday sun. The time of such extravagant displays of wizardry is long past.
Today's mage depends on subtlety, even more so since recent supernatural events have made the blatant use of magic much harder to perform. The wise willworker cloaks his magical Effects in coincidence and happenstance. The timely arrival of a taxi to whisk the mage away from trouble, the sudden collapse of a street into a sinkhole just before a nondescript black sedan rounds the comer and other similar occurrences are in no way implausible to the Sleepers who may view them. By avoiding alerting Sleepers with vulgar displays of magic, the mage lowers the risk of incurring Paradox substantially. By blending quietly into the world around him, the mage avoids the attention of suspicious mortals, hunters, other supernatural creatures and even the conflicting forces of the Tellurian itself.
A modern mage is not any less effective than his predecessors, however. The power to alter reality is an awesome one, even limited as that power has always been by the need to avoid Paradox. The feats performed by contemporary mages are of no less legendary stature than those achieved by the magi of the Mythic Ages merely because they are done surreptitiously. The fact that modern magicians are successful at all, given their countless enemies and hostile reality, makes their feats even more impressive. In a world overrun with science and technology, the existence of a subtle magic is a potent feat in itself.
A place of life, love and hope. A city of magic, superstition and mystery. Since Katrina, it's been a beacon of hope and rebirth, a force of overcoming tragedy. A beacon of light in a World of Darkness.
Of course, that is just the surface. Thanks to memories, lives, deaths and history, stories have been reshaping the city since its very beginning. The fact that so many supernaturals seem to flock there, to live out their existence should come as a surprise. Of course, this is just a veneer.
Predators walk the streets by night, tasting of the life in their own ways. Bonfire ceremonies clash with modern day parties of drunken fratboys. What draws the light, also brings the darkness. The veil parts more easily, and it's almost as if the city is abuzz with places of power. Werewolves, Vampires, Fae, Wraiths and Mages all squabble for a slice of the pie. It's a powderkeg, just waiting for the one match that will end the uneasy peace that will spark a conflagration.
This is a test run of an idea of a tabletop Mage: the Ascension campaign, to test the dice system, to have a bit of fun, and to see whether the idea is plausible.
--
Rules and Regs
- All of RpN's Rules are in effect.
- I reserve the right to accept or deny characters without giving reason.
- Table talk and plotting as a group, suggesting other ideas when not with the group goes in the OOC thread, as does questions or clarifications.
- Do your best. I don't expect constant massive posts.
- Since I will be using standard character creation from Mage: the Ascension, I require all characters have at least one point of mentor.
- Do not make a native to New Orleans.
- I will not take reservations. If you can't make the effort to at least WIP a character sheet, I can't make the effort to have you in the rp.
--
Experience points. Typically, you get between one and four XP a session. One automatic, One point for your character learning something new and opening new vistas, One point for roleplaying, and one point for heroism.
Since, in this format, it's hard to define session, I will give out XP for exceptional roleplaying, performing acts of heroism, and one if you send me a pm or post in the OOC thread something extremely new to your character that opens new vistas. Each time I give out XP for that, I'll give you two points, which should roughly equal it all out. Of course, the XP will be given out according to my levels of judgement.
Additional end of the story XP will be awarded based on survival, success of achieved goals, level of danger, and wisdom of the characters.
Trait Cost
New Ability 3
New Sphere 10
Willpower new rating
Ability new rating x2
Attribute new rating x4
Specialty Sphere old rating x7
Other Sphere old rating x8
Arete old rating x8
Background new rating x3
To get a new background, it will be 3xp, and the option will be available during rp.
--
Ok. I am not making you roll for anything unless there is a decent chance of failure to keep some kind of flow going on. That being said, sometimes I will make you roll dice. If you're in a high speed chase using Mardi Gras floats, for instance. Mostly because I am now going to get you in a high speed Mardi Gras float chase if it kills me.
Basically, outside of combat and magic, if you have the dice pool (Trait+Attribute) that I think can get away with it, I won't make you roll. Magic because it effects the strength and length of the effect, combat because some order is needed, and there is a health system. The dice used are ten sided dice (d10).
Combat
This step determines what order characters are acting in, and it is the point at which you decide what your character is doing. First, every player rolls one die for her character, and the Storyteller rolls one die for each other characters. The result of this roll is then added to the character's initiative rating [Dexterity + Wits]. The character with the highest total acts first, and the remaining characters act in decreasing order. If two characters have the same initiative total, the one with the highest initiative rating goes first. If this number is also the same, the two characters act simultaneously.
Note that wound penalties do take away from a character's initiative rating.
Once initiative rolls have been made, each player (and the Storyteller) must declare what her character(s) are doing for the turn. At this time, it is also necessary to state if your character will perform multiple actions, cast magical Effects, use Willpower or Quintessence or perform any other strangeness. Players must declare their characters' actions in the reverse order of initiative, so the character with the lowest (last) initiative number declares first, and the character with the highest (first) initiative declares last. Faster characters are thus allowed the opportunity to anticipate and react to the actions of slower characters.
All characters' actions occur at their rank in the order of initiative. There are only three exceptions to this rule. Characters can delay their actions and act at any time after their normal initiative. This delay normally allows characters to prepare for aborted actions or other surprises.
Characters who delay their actions can go before a character with a slower initiative automatically. If two characters who have both delayed their actions wish to act simultaneously, the one with the higher initiative score for the turn always acts first.
Finally, all multiple actions (including extra actions gained through the use of magical Effects) occur at the end of the turn. If several characters all take multiple actions, these actions occur in order of the characters' initiative ratings. As always, defensive actions that are part of any multiple actions occur whenever they are needed to avert an attack. (It might be more realistic to "phase" multiple actions through the turn, but that would also be unnecessarily complex.)
For now, I'm thinking discuss combat actions in the OOC thread, and roll for them on there, so you can see your effect for your post. If you think of a better solution, or just want me to roll dice IRL, I can do that, and will do it fairly.
Adding Up Damage
When a mage suffers multiple types of damage, the most dangerous types go on the top of the health track, while the rest "moves down" and fills up the mage's Health chart. I will be keeping track of this, since it effects dice pools. I strongly suggest keeping a running tally somewhere.
Soak
Characters can resist a certain amount of physical trauma; doing so is called soaking damage. Your character's soak dice pool is equal to her Stamina. Mages and other physically normal humans can only attempt to soak bashing damage (reflecting the body's resilience to such attacks). Mages cannot normally soak slashes, punctures, bums and other forms of lethal or aggravated damage. Life Effects (or various armoring Effects using Matter) are required to allow a mage to attempt to soak lethal damage. Vampires, werewolves and other supernatural monsters may soak both bashing and lethal damage, which is one of the many reasons such creatures are considered highly dangerous.
After an attack has hit and inflicted damage, the defender's player may make a soak roll to resist. This action is considered reflexive; characters need not take a turn or take a multiple action to soak. Unless otherwise stated, all soak rolls are made versus difficulty 6.
Each success on the soak roll subtracts one level of damage from the attack. Like damage rolls, soak rolls may fail, but they cannot normally botch.
Example: Mioshi the Shinto Dreamspeaker has a Stamina of 4. A mugger wielding a club attacks her and scores three levels of bashing damage. Mioshi may soak this attack with four dice (one for each point of her Stamina). She rolls 1, 7, 9, 8. The 1 cancels out one success, leaving two successes. She avoids two of the three health levels inflicted by the club, taking only a single level of damage. If the mugger had used a knife instead, she would not have been able to soak this damage, and she would have taken the full three health levels of damage.
Armor
Armor absorbs damage, so it adds to your character's soak. The armor's rating adds to your charact er's base soak for purposes of reducing damage. Even better, armor also provides protection against all forms of lethal damage and most purely physical forms of aggravated damage. A character with a Stamina of 3 who is also wearing (two dots of) armor has five soak dice versus bashing damage and two dice versus lethal and (physical) aggravated damage.
Light armor offers a small (but often essential) degree of protection but does not hinder mobility. Heavy armor provides a lot of protection, but it slows your character down significantly. Unfortunately, armor is not indestructible. If the damage rolled from a single attack equals twice the armor's rating, the armor is destroyed.
Bruised 0 Character is bruised a bit, but he suffers no penalties from damage.
Hurt -1 Character is hurt superficially, and he suffers no movement hindrance.
Injured -1 Character suffers minor injuries, and his movement is inhibited mildly (halve maximum running speed).
Wounded -2 Character suffers significant damage, and he may not run (though she may still walk).
Mauled -2 Character is injured badly, and he may only hobble about (three yards/turn).
Crippled -5 Character is catastrophically injured, and he may only crawl (one yard/turn).
Incapacitated n/a Character loses consciousness from the pain and trauma. No actions are possible.
Dead Tag'im, bag'im, notify his next of kin.
Let me know weapons and armor in advance or on your character sheet, and I'll let you know their ratings.
Recovery
Minor wounds simply require time to heal. However, medical attention or magic is required to recover from bashing damage worse than Wounded or lethal damage greater than Hurt. The accompanying chart lists the time required to heal various levels of damage. In all cases, the times listed are cumulative. A character who has taken three levels of lethal damage requires 11 days to recover fully (one day + three days + one week). A character who has taken two levels of lethal damage and one level of bashing damage would require one hour of rest to recover the bashing level, and four days to recover the two levels of lethal damage.
The recovery times listed in the healing charts assume that the character receives only rest and basic first aid. These times can be reduced significantly if the character is treated with modern medicine. If the character is treated by a fully trained physician (two dots in Medicine) using the full range of normal modern drugs and treatments, the character heals each health level at one category faster on the Health chart. For long-term recovery of lethal damage, the character must see a physician at least once a week. Crippled and Incapacitated characters must instead see a physician once a day. If the character interrupts this treatment at any point, future healing occurs at the normal rate until treatment resumes. If a highly skilled physician (four or more dots in Medicine) treats the character with access to the best modern medicinal techniques he recovers each health level at two categories faster on the health chart. If this treatment is interrupted, normal healing rates apply. Also, without magical assistance, each level of bashing damage still takes at least one hour to heal, and each level of lethal damage takes at least one full day to heal. Of course, the proper use of Life Effects can speed healing time greatly.
Bruised to Wounded One hour
Mauled Three hours
Crippled Six hours
Incapacitated 12 hours
--
Nothing defines a mage so readily as his ability to wield the reality - bending power of magic. It is this power to impose his own view of reality onto consensual reality that forever sets the mage apart from the ruck and run of Sleeper society. By concentrating his Awakened will, a mage can alter the nature of reality as easily as the average Sleeper might alter her home's temperature by adjusting the thermostat. Still, the modern mage is very unlikely to transform his enemies into swine, divide the sea or blot out the noonday sun. The time of such extravagant displays of wizardry is long past.
Today's mage depends on subtlety, even more so since recent supernatural events have made the blatant use of magic much harder to perform. The wise willworker cloaks his magical Effects in coincidence and happenstance. The timely arrival of a taxi to whisk the mage away from trouble, the sudden collapse of a street into a sinkhole just before a nondescript black sedan rounds the comer and other similar occurrences are in no way implausible to the Sleepers who may view them. By avoiding alerting Sleepers with vulgar displays of magic, the mage lowers the risk of incurring Paradox substantially. By blending quietly into the world around him, the mage avoids the attention of suspicious mortals, hunters, other supernatural creatures and even the conflicting forces of the Tellurian itself.
A modern mage is not any less effective than his predecessors, however. The power to alter reality is an awesome one, even limited as that power has always been by the need to avoid Paradox. The feats performed by contemporary mages are of no less legendary stature than those achieved by the magi of the Mythic Ages merely because they are done surreptitiously. The fact that modern magicians are successful at all, given their countless enemies and hostile reality, makes their feats even more impressive. In a world overrun with science and technology, the existence of a subtle magic is a potent feat in itself.
Magic cannot exist without the mundane. As counterpart to that which is common, magic gains definition through its touch of the strange. Such mysterious powers and supernatural phenomena exist outside the everyday world of the common man, the perception of "normal," consensual reality. Using magic, the Awakened impose their desires onto reality, changing the world to match their whims. Yet were there not a rigidly defined static reality, there would be no subject on which to work the magician's will. There can be no Awakening unless someone first slumbers.
Most people accept the limitations of static reality. Feeling that they exert no control over their destiny, these folk take what is handed to them by the cosmos. These, then, are the Sleepers who make up the vast majority of humankind. Of these, a small number realize that reality's laws are not as binding as most believe. They find that it is possible for them to exert certain magical powers within reality's restrictions through elaborate ritual and perseverance. Through ancient practices and rites, they draw out natural power inherent to the Tellurian and shape it in small, stealthy forms. These people can stretch reality's dictates through their castings, but they have no control over that reality itself. They have mastered what is sometimes termed static magic.
It is a deeper understanding of the relationship between himself and the cosmos that distinguishes the Awakened mage from a skilled, but un-Awakened, sorcerer. Mages are those few people who realize that they are not defined by reality, but rather, they define reality. These people are the ones who have Awakened fully to magic's potential and may, through enlightened will and belief in their vision, work changes on reality itself.
Awakened Magic
Put simply, Awakened magic is the ability to reshape reality through force of will. There are theoretically no limits to what may be accomplished magically, beyond those limits that exist within the mage himself. Theoretically, a practitioner could make the seas boil, raise mountains and cause a barren desert to erupt with foliage, but in practice, the high cost in Paradox and the major investment in time and effort would almost certainly preclude any such thing. The power of the Awakened mage does not require that any specific rite or ritual be performed, though most mages still use and believe in the efficacy of such trappings. All that is truly required is a combination of sufficient knowledge and determination to forge reality into the mage's desire. With the proper understanding of reality's diverse elements (which are divided by mages into nine Spheres of knowledge) combined with a sufficient strength of will and belief in his own ability to do so, very little lies beyond the willworker's power.
Several schools of though exist concerning the origin of this ability to produce and wield Awakened magic. Some mages maintain that they are merely a conduit for a power greater than themselves. They maintain that, through their Avatars, they connect directly to Prime, the Pure Ones or some other higher power. Through their Avatars' connection, the mages channel the energies of Awakened magic and remake reality.
Others believe that the power of Awakened magic is inherent to all Awakened beings. They contend that each Avatar is composed of a shard of Prime given form by the Pure Ones and anchored to the flesh-and-blood mage. Proponents of this theory believe that all one needs to work Awakened magic is the faith to believe that it exists, the bravery to embrace the divine within oneself and the will necessary to force one's own paradigm onto static reality.
A number of other theories exist, but whichever of these beliefs is the correct one (assuming that there is one single answer) is of little practical consequence. What matters is that the mage may alter reality at will, forever setting him apart from his Sleeper brethren.
Static Magic
Unlike the blatant displays of Awakened magic, static magic or sorcery conforms to the consensual reality of the World of Darkness. This is not to say that static magic in any way corresponds to scientifically accepted dogma, of course. Still, the collective unconscious of humankind accepts at some level that certain unexplainable phenomena are possible. The proliferation of 1-900 psychic lines and strip-mall soothsayers shows that many Sleepers put their faith in abilities that are best defined as "magic." Even young children's make-believe relates to both the protective rituals and curses of static magic ("Hide under the covers and the monsters can't get you." "Step on a crack, break your mother's back."), instinctively recognizing its powers. History supports
the rituals handed down for thousands of years, and in the ancient legends told by grandparents to awed children, a simple magic survives.
The psychics, mediums and sorcerers (called "hedge wizards" in times past) who use static magic must follow very strict rules to achieve very specific results. What they can and cannot do with their abilities conform to clearly delineated paths. While nowhere near as powerful and versatile as the Awakened mages' command of the Spheres, the sorcerers' Paths work without recourse to actually twisting the Tellurian through an Awakened Avatar. Thus, sorcerers avoid the worst of Paradox. Some mages theorize that the powers exhibited by other supernatural beings (like werewolves and vampires) are merely further examples of static magic at work.
The type of ritual used to create the magical Effect doesn't matter as long as it's a ritual that has real power. A psychic's reading of the tarot and a vitki's casting of runes may both give insight on the future, but no sorcerer could simply throw together a random collection of occult mumbo-jumbo and hope to achieve a result. It is the user's belief in his ritual, his consistent use of it and the adherence to the still-viable forms that matters. Similarly, individual rituals must be used to perform each separate magical function. A houngan, for instance, will not use the same spell to bless one individual and to curse another.
There is an upper limit to what may be done using static magic. A hedge wizard may make minor alterations to reality, but he cannot approach the fundamental restructuring possible to the Awakened mage. Even the strongest-willed, most driven sorceress is unable to circumvent this limitation. Only by Awakening may she ever experience such power. Still, sorcery and psychic powers are nothing at which to scoff. Many sorcerers can achieve potent Effects as long as they're careful to conceal their workings from unbelieving eyes. Since they work with rituals that don't rely on recasting the universe in their own image, such sorcerers even avoid the dread bane of Paradox.
Interestingly enough, Awakened mages never use petty sorcery (despite the fact that some Traditions, most notably the Order of Hermes, groom prospective apprentices by schooling them in such magic). The Awakened mage reshapes reality on a fundamental level, while the static magician operates without actually tearing and twisting the Tapestry's threads. Once a mage Awakens, his power flows from his ability to reshape himself and his Avatar to bend the cosmos in turn. Although the Awakened mage can perform some quiet, static Effects that mimic sorcery, his power is far greater, and the consequences are concomitantly severe. Similarly, the hedge magician cannot begin to comprehend, much less wield, the reality-altering magic of the Awakened willworker.
It's interesting to note that the forms of magic handed down by sorcerers often mimic the rituals used by the Awakened. Indeed, Awakened mages still hold dear their own history and cultures, using the beliefs of their people to form their magic. The magician adheres to the proper forms and speaks the secret words, and magic results — who can tell the difference between Awakened and Sleeper mage? Although the Awakened mage refolds the universe in his image, the sorcerer's quietly inherent powers are just as magical.
The Limits of Awakened Magic
Since the close of die Mythic Ages, the restrictions Imposed by material reality have come to hamper the castings of the willworker greatly. It has been said wistfully that the first mages had no fear of Paradox, as no single consensual reality yet existed. Whether such a beatific age ever truly existed is unknown, though certainly such an open and free world of magic is a dream for many mages. In the ages since, the unchecked population growth of humankind conspired with the advent of mass communication to unite the planet, creating a truly global society and, thereby, a global reality too. Whereas humanity first existed in only isolated pockets whose mercurial belief systems allowed for great displays of magical power, today's worldwide sharing of beliefs in what is and is not possible serve to shackle modern workings of the Art.
Vulgar Magic
Vulgar magic, also known as dynamic magic, occurs as the result of a mage forcing reality to conform to his preconceived expectations. Using dynamic magic, a mage may let lightning fly from his fingertips or transform his enemies into glass. During the time of the Renaissance, such magic was referred to as "vain," an accurate description even today, as only a mage of monumental hubris would dare such Effects except under the greatest duress. Such reckless castings rend the Tapestry of reality and invite the not-so-tender consequences of such changes.
No logical explanation exists for vulgar magic. To Sleepers who may view it, its Effects are patently impossible. Truly amazing results are possible, but only at terrible risk to the mage employing dynamic magic. Static reality abhors vulgar magic and any mage who uses it. The mage who uses such magic will pay the price, in Resonance if not in Paradox.
The smart mage uses vulgar magic only when the stakes are life and death. Think of dynamic magic as the tactical nuke of Awakened society. It is dangerous and messy, and it has far-reaching consequences. Those mages who use such power frivolously don't remain a problem for long.
Coincidental Magic
Coincidental magic is the only choice for mages planning on sticking around for any length of time. By couching magical Effects in chance occurrences, the mage operates in plain sight with potential Sleeper witnesses none the wiser. Such castings are referred to as static magic, as they, like the powers of the sorcerer, work within the confines of static reality. If, for example, a mage experiences financial problems (a common problem for magicians who draw the attention of the Syndicate), it might be possible for her to conjure the money she needs from thin air. Of course, there is no way that static reality will accept such an occurrence as natural. However, a much less dangerous and equally expedient solution might be to return that Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes letter that's on the kitchen table... and guess who the Prize Patrol pays a visit to just before the IRS seizes her assets! Static reality, and the Sleepers responsible for it, would find such a turn of events extraordinarily lucky — but in no way magical.
Think of coincidental magic like water flowing downhill; it will flow around obstacles to reach bottom. In much the same way, magic follows the path of least resistance to reach an appropriate resolution if it is not forced to conform to specific shapes and results. The mage shapes a particular desire and empowers it, but he lets the cosmos determine the specific Effect. Confronted with an enemy, a mage might focus his will and hatred, manipulating the flow of Forces around him to await a convenient trigger event like the eruption of a faulty gas pipeline.
Less believable coincidences make magic more difficult, as reality can stretch only so much to accommodate a mage's whims. Also, the more "accidents" that occur, the more their overall probability is strained, which can lead to what's referred to as the "Domino Effect." When an inventive mage uses static magic sparingly, however, she can find a way to perform her Effects coincidentally, and she will find that static reality is much less
likely to rebel against these subtle alterations. By shrouding magic in incidents that Sleepers find believable, if lucky, the mage finds that her casting is accepted by humanity's collective unconscious.
Awakening
It is the act of Awakening that opens the doors of perception through which the new mage peers at the magical world. The mage looks at the world with new eyes — eyes no longer clouded by sleep- New truths about the nature of reality are revealed to her, while long-held preconceptions shatter. The newly Awakened mage struggles to make sense of this barrage of new sensations. Those without a strong sense of self and a powerful will sometimes remain overwhelmed by these impressions, unable to decipher or control them. In a world where reality is shaped by perception, who can determine whether an individual is insane or simply seeing a different cosmos?
Awakenings can happen at any time in life. There's no single moment of crisis where every individual goes through a question of magic; the eye-opening may strike in childhood, youth, adulthood or elder age. The majority of mages trace their first moments to the experiences of their early adult life. Awakenings seldom occur in childhood, though it does happen occasionally. Parents satisfy the needs of most children abundantly, leaving them so comfortable with the status quo that they don't have the impetus necessary to Awaken. Awakenings are similarly uncommon among the elderly. Older people, unlike some of the more youthful members of society, have usually discovered something in life on which to focus their attention. Whether it is building a career, raising a family or even drinking themselves numb, they have found some function in life that makes them feel complete and binds them forever to static reality's comforting familiarity in the process. Even those without such sense of purpose have already discovered a comfortable, familiar niche from which they have little reason to explore. Young adulthood, however, is the time in a person's life where he begins searching for the purpose and meaning to his life. In rare instances, this search leads the seeker to Awaken.
Awakenings are typically triggered by traumatic, life-altering events, although there are exceptions. The Awakening often coincides with a need on the mage’s part, often a drive to overcome some problem insurmountable through conventional means. When the chips are down and there is nowhere else to run, the mage rises to the challenge, stirring his fitfully slumbering Avatar to wakefulness and empowering himself. Even if the nascent mage denies this power, her new awareness shapes the universe to her will, sometimes with drastic and unpredictable effects.
Of course, many mages would dearly love to discover a means of reliably Awakening others, but no such method is known. Would-be mentors keep a close watch on people with strong wills and unusual lives, while erudite magicians try to teach their ways to hopeful novices. None are guaranteed this Awakening. Enlightenment strikes where it will.
Once a mage Awakens, there is no going back to sleep. The truth of reality's subjectivity is laid bare, and the neophyte mage has no choice but to struggle forward in an attempt to understand what's happened. Although he may want to return to his old way of life, events conspire to make that course of action impossible. Family and friends both will notice a change in the budding mage. These people may well slumber, but they are far from dead. The mage's newfound Avatar and awareness positively radiate "otherness" to those most familiar with the Sleeper he once was, as the two conspire subtly to alter reality at the mage's subconscious urging. Though he may be able to salvage some of these relationships, Awakening will invariably cost the mage most human contact, as even old friends find it disturbing and dangerous to be associated with him. Even complete strangers tend to give this "weirdo" a wide berth. The caress of magic, even when not readily visible, leaves its distinct mark on the magician.
Humans instinctively notice and fear this aura, so a mage must either be careful to hide his magic very well or turn to other mages for companionship.
While daunting, the problems of alienation and uncontrolled power are merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg. He soon comes to realize that there is much more to the world than he ever imagined. Spirits, werewolves, vampires, sorcerers and more become not only things whose existence he must acknowledge but, often, things with which he must talk, fight and, on occasion, ally with. His very existence leads to him being courted by a myriad of Tradition factions, all starved for allies. The Technocracy will want to either assimilate the mage or eliminate him. The responsibilities intrinsic to being one of those on the front lines, protecting an unknowing world from dangerous reality deviants, leaves room for no other options.
Everybody wants a piece of the magic, and the novice mage may not even know what it is. The only option is to change or die. If he's going to survive, a new mage must learn what he is and what he is capable of. Others, a mentor or cabal perhaps, may show the newly Awakened mage the path that he must take, but it's up to him to take the first step. Only by accepting his new state will the mage be able to progress toward enlightenment and Ascension.
Avatar
Within every Awakened mage dwell two distinct spirits or sides: her Avatar and her mortal self. The two parts interact with one another in many ways, developing a complex dynamic that may be akin to that occuring between teacher and student, boon companions or even adversaries. Whatever form this relationship takes, its eventual goal is to bring about the mage’s Ascension. It is the Avatar’s function to cajole, coerce or drag the mage kicking and screaming into enlightenment. Mages with more powerful Avatars will be prodded into action more often than their less mystically endowed compatriots. Though few of their fellows would envy the constant goading these mages must endure from their pushy Avatars, they do, in fact, enjoy an advantage over their colleagues. The constant hounding serves to push such mages to excel. They are more prepared to endure the trials and tests demanded of them during Seekings, and consequently, they often find enlightenment more easily than their more relaxed brethren, becoming wise beyond their years quickly.
Another property of the Avatar is the ability to grant its possessor insight into her past lives. The Avatar is the part of the willworker that is eternal. Within its depths lie the experiences of all of its former earthly incarnations. Some mages learn to access this wellspring of knowledge and apply its teachings to their advantage in the present.
In times past, a large number of Avatars appeared to their mages as distinct, tangible entit ies. Whether it appeared as an angel or djinn, god or hero, the mage was capable of conversing with the Avatar, coming to blows with it or treating it as material friend or foe. In more modern times, it's become much more rare for an Avatar to manifest itself physically to a mage. In fact, in the aftermath of the Reckoning, such an event has become downright unusual. Nowadays, the Avatar communicates through more subtle means, such as in dreams or flashes of intuition. The time of corporeal materialization is past.
As they do about most issues, mages disagree about whether it is the Avatar that allows one to wield magic or whether it is one's own innate magic that allows one to sense the presence of the Avatar. Whatever the truth of the matter, the Sleeper's higher self must Awaken before she becomes capable of exploiting the full potential of magic.
Arete
Arete is a measure of a mage's enlightened will. Some amount of Arete is required to perform any Awakened Magic. A mage's Avatar is a measure other understanding of the cosmos on an intuitive level. This intuitive awareness may come to a mage slowly or in a sudden burst of insight. Often, a great deal of Arete is acquired during a mages Awakening. Thereafter, progression becomes much more laborious, commonly involving Seekings. A mage with more Arete may plumb the mysteries of the cosmos (be they magical or mundane) with greater ease.
The Metaphysics of Magic
Quintessence
Literally translating as the "fifth essence," Quintessence is the fundamental unit of all magic. All energy, matter, spirit and life, literally all things in the universe, are formed from Quintessence at the most basic level. This Prime Energy is neither material nor ephemeral and can never actually be grasped or sundered.
While it is accepted by mages universally that reality is formed of Quintessence, not even they can say with any degree of certainty exactly what it is. Most see it as an ever-changing pool of raw potential from which all things in the universe arise and return. This basic "bio-energy" often gathers at incidents of strong emotion and becomes colored by them thereafter. Mages were quick to grasp that their own Avatars were natural conduits of Quintessence and were, as a result, the easiest means by which to access this Prime force.
As each new thing comes into existence, it draws Quintessence from the endless pool. Similarly, when an old thing fades away, its Quintessence reenters the pool, where it may find use again. It is an understanding of this Great Cycle that is central to the beliefs of the Euthanatos. Some of the death-mages (and a number of Nephandi) believe that if reality were ever to attain a state of pure entropy, the artificial frameworks
imposed on it by humanity would cease to exist, revealing the unadulterated glory of raw Quintessence. Such talk does little to win them friends outside their own Tradition.
Tass
Tass is the concrete, physical expression of Quintessence. These bits of pure Prime can often be used to fuel a mage's magical undertakings.
However, as it has already been mentioned, Quintessence is indivisible. This begs the question, "How then can raw Quintessence be captured in a base material form?" In the past, the Traditions' Masters might have spent hours haranguing their less experienced comrades with their own philosophical take on this conundrum. But, since recent events have placed the Masters' wisdom beyond the reach of younger mages, a simple illustration must suffice. If one is accustomed to thinking of the raw Quintessence as a pool, then think of Tass as Quintessence temporarily frozen like ice, floating on the surface of this larger sea. In time, this Tass will "melt," eventually flowing back into the infinite pool of Quintessence that first spawned it. Until it does however, Tass may be used by mages to lend power to their magic and to fuel their mystical Talismans.
Tass infuses the bodies of magical creatures — werewolves, faeries and the like — and it may be harvested from them. Needless to say, such creatures are less than happy to sacrifice themselves for a mage's convenience. More than a few mages have paid the ultimate price for such presumption.
It also collects in certain Nodes where energies gather in physical objects. Tass is sometimes affected by the form in which it manifests, unlike the pure Quintessence from which it springs. Quintessence stored in the waters of a holy spring may lend itself to healing, while that stored in the mushrooms of a faerie ring may cause the magic powered by them to have unpredictable side effects. A mage should be aware of this Resonance and use this resource accordingly.
For all intents and purposes, Tass is a finite resource. As a mage uses up the Tass that exists within a particular place or object, it disappears, returning to the pool of Quintessence from which it arose originally. Magical objects spent of the Tass that powered them are effectively useless until they are recharged at a Node or through another influx of Tass.
Belief...
Belief is central to all magic. Most mages realize theoretically that the limitations they ascribe to body, spirit and mind are untrue. They only exist because it is believed that they do. Mages impose their own boundaries on themselves. For years, static reality held that an unbreakable barrier prevented planes from flying faster than the speed of sound. Then, on October 14, 1947, pilot Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in a Bell X-1 rocket plane. Once Yeager had broken the sound barrier, other pilots soon succeeded in matching and then surpassing his mark. Captain Yeager himself set a second record on December 12, 1953 when he flew two and a half times the speed of sound. Now there are commercial airplanes that fly faster than sound routinely. Chuck Yeager's belief and talent overcame a principle of static reality, thereby changing the world.
Willworkers accept that people's personal beliefs serve to mold their actions in many ways. Cases of hysterical blindness and psychosomatic illness are both examples of this concept. The power of belief goes much deeper, however. Belief often becomes reality. If a person truly believes in a specific concept, he is not likely to question that belief.
The majority of Sleepers cling to deeply ingrained beliefs as a source of comfort in the face of the unknown. Many times, even beliefs that prove harmful will become precious in their familiarity. If enough people come to believe in something, it will become part of static reality's established paradigm.
Consensual reality suffuses all human beings, Awakened and Sleeper alike. Beliefs structure this static reality, but static reality structures beliefs, also. Every participant in this vicious cycle affects all the others and, in the end, themselves as well. Mages, though, are able to ignore, or even fracture, static reality's paradigm outright.
Despite long-standing arguments to the contrary, most mages agree that a person's belief forms not only her particular paradigm but that of the larger Tapestry of consensual reality.
...and Paradigm
More than a mere style, paradigm is the defined essence of the mage's beliefs, and it has been described by some as the language through which the mage communicates his Art. The only things any mage absolutely needs to practice magic are the will to enforce his desire on reality, the knowledge of the appropriate Spheres and the paradigm through which to focus that desire and make it real.
Before any magical Effect can happen, it must first jibe with the casting mage's paradigm. A Verbena witch cannot just want her enemy to be struck down with ill fortune. She must cause this to happen in a way that is appropriate to her paradigm. Perhaps she performs a blood sacrifice and invokes the goddess Hecate to curse her foe. Because it is both within her knowledge of Entropy and appropriate to her paradigm, chances are the
effects of the hex will come to pass. The same Verbena would be unable to transform a rampaging werewolf into a garden gnome because such an absurd belief is completely alien to her paradigm, regardless of Spheres.
One of the problems that has always frustrated attempts to foster cooperation between mages is that magical concepts are hard to translate between conflicting paradigms. In the past, Tradition mages have suggested that an artificial paradigm encompassing all the Traditions be established, but the idea has been met with a combination of angry words and howls of derisive laughter each time. Given that each mage's paradigm is tied so closely to his beliefs, it seems unlikely that such a "mystical Esperanto" would become any more popular than its linguistic counterpart.
Additional Rules
Detecting Magic
With a successful reflexive Perception + Awareness roll (difficulty 6), a character can feel magic in use within her immediate vicinity. Really powerful Effects (10 or more successes) might lower the difficulty as low as 4, while unusually subtle ones (where the mage spends successes to wipe out magical traces) could raise it as high as 10.
The Prime 1 Effect Sense Quintessence can detect the remaining resonance of magical acts after they occur. A feat is generally detectable for an amount of time equal to the duration table, for every two successes scored on the finished Effect. Thus, a simple one-success Effect leaves a whiff of magic for a turn, but a huge 10-success spell may leave traces of magic for months. The longer it's been since the spell casting, the harder it will be to detect the change.
Abilities and Magic
Since magic comes from a mage's formative beliefs and practices, the mage's learning affects the magic's outcome. A mage who's firmly convinced that a specific ritual like Tarot-reading or dancing is necessary for magic had better learn how to do those things well. Conversely, using magic can make otherwise mundane tasks much easier.
As with all modifiers to magic, Abilities should be used to help the story and flow of the casting, not as an excuse for another set of modifiers. Ability modifiers cannot change the difficulty by more than three points, as usual.
Abilities Enhancing Magic
If a mage uses an Ability appropriate to her Sphere — perhaps as a focus, or as a process of using a focus — she can cast her Effects more reliably. Having the right Ability might also help the mage to target the Effect better or to have a better idea of what to do to get good results, as well. Just about any Ability can have some impact on magic, though of course the exact combinations will vary with the mage's paradigm.
If a mage takes a full turn (sometimes more) to exercise the appropriate Ability just before casting her Effect, you can make an Ability roll (with the appropriate Attribute) at the same difficulty and threshold rating as the magic. Each success beyond the threshold then lowers the threshold and difficulty of the subsequent magic roll by one point, up to a modifier of three at best.
Sometimes, an Effect may require a specific Ability. It's nigh impossible to make a working computer without the right knowledge, and influencing someone's emotions may rely on the proper subterfuges first. It requires an Ability roll first, and makes the magic a little harder if failed. A mage might be able to fix a car with
Matter magic, without knowing too much Technology, although it would be difficult. However, trying to fix a nuclear reactor the same way would be a bad idea....
Magic Enhancing Abilities
Just as Abilities can make magic easier, a little judicious magic can certainly make the use of Abilities much simpler. Just the right amount of magic can let you jump a little bit higher, move a little bit faster, see a little bit more... you get the idea.
Using magic to enhance an Ability usually works on little coincidental nudges and insights, so it's easy to do. The magic roll proceeds as normal, but for each success garnered on the result, the subsequent Ability use gets a difficulty modifier of one, up to a limit of three. Adding some successes to area or duration could let the mage share this bonus, or maintain it for a short time.
Magic used to enhance an Ability must be done right before the use of the Ability, or else it needs to be running and maintained while the Ability's used. It's possible to take multiple actions and use one for magic before performing the feat, but doing so is inefficient unless the mage is really pressed for time. After all, if you are using magic to aid the Ability, you're probably not trying to take any other negative modifiers.
Multiple Effects
A mage can cast only one Effect per turn, even if she has used various powers to speed herself up (reality is already "preoccupied" when it's in a different time frame). If you want to do multiple things at once, you'll have to have your mage build an Effect that performs several simultaneous feats.
Simultaneous Effects
Although a mage can cost only one Effect at a time, he can keep various Effects running. The difficulty of doing so often varies with the Effect's type.
A simple Effect that just modifies the mage or surroundings for a time requires only a tiny flow of the mage's attention and magical effort.
Keeping the Effect moving is a constant push from the Avatar and the will, but it's a small one, since the Effect is generally somewhat selfsustaining or static. Such Effects include things like body-enhancement, sensory improvements or even small changes to Patterns that are designed to last for only a short time. Such simple Effects cost you a difficulty penalty of one for every two full Effects in use, whenever your mage tries to cast a new Effect.
More complex Effects like mind-reading, juggling huge Forces or manipulating Life Patterns all require the mage's concentration. These Effects require constant update and manipulation, so the mage must divert a substantial amount of Awakened will to them. Your mage may not be able to concentrate enough to perform other Effects while doing something this delicate. If the Storyteller lets you concentrate on multiple Effects (or if your character has specific Merits or magical Effects that let him maintain multiple areas of concentration),
you'll still take a difficulty penalty of one for every two Effects that your mage has running. That's for simple and complex Effects both.
Instant Effects rewrite Patterns or alter reality and then are done; they require no further maintenance. If you change a material into a different sort permanently, or you create something from nothing and give it Prime energy to make it fully real and permanent, then it's part of the Tapestry. Such manifestations no longer require concentration.
Rotes and Fast-Casting
Most of the Traditions teach sets of common Effects, called rotes. These rotes allow a mage to perform a technique that's tried-and-true over the course of several years or centuries. A rote has already been built with the Tradition's trappings and foci in mind, and it relies upon well understood principles of the Tradition's Sphere knowledge. In brief, it's a spell formula.
Just about any Effect could be cast by rote: anything that's been well-used, tinkered, thought about and used again can eventually pass into common mage use as a rote. Rotes are traded among mages of the same Tradition for favors or information; a good rote can give the mage a slightly easier time casting an Effect, or perhaps open the mage to some idea of Sphere use that he hadn't thought of before.
When a mage builds an Effect on the fly without using a rote, it's called fast-casting; it's a little bit rougher, and gets a +1 penalty to difficulty.
Thus, many mages spend a lot of time honing a few favored Effects, to turn them into well-known rotes. What qualifies as a rote is ultimately up to the Storyteller; however, it can be assumed that any of the base Effects listed for the Spheres (following) can be found in role form for any of the Traditions.
If you want to buy rotes using experience, let me know in pm and we'll discuss them.
The Nine Spheres
Centuries ago, the Tradition and Convention mages settled on the nine Spheres as a way of describing the elements of the universe. Each Sphere covers a wide area of understanding and control. Even though mages describe magic in terms of their own paradigms, the Spheres form a consistent basis from which to work. Together, the Spheres encompass all (or nearly all) of the facets of the Tellurian.
Many mages posit the existence of an additional Sphere or Spheres. Each Tradition has its pet theory as to a " 10th Sphere," and the Technocratic Union seeks a Grand Unification Theory. Still, despite years of study, no one group has been able to find an over-Sphere or a missing element to fill this mythical role. Like some posited Northwest Passage, the "10th Sphere" draws students but never reveals itself.
For now, I am only going to post up to level 3 of each sphere, since that is as high as you can go. When someone's, anyone's Arete reaches 4, I will put up the last two levels for each Sphere.
“PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER!… itty-bitty living space.”
– the Genie, from Disney’s Aladdin .
Perhaps the single thing that any mage can be said to fear most is Paradox. The very idea, be it is called scourge, Backlash, distortion or any other name, is enough to frighten even some of the most insane Marauders. The force of Paradox itself will cause any mage to think twice before he tosses a fireball down the street. Paradox is perhaps most terrifying because it's unpredictable, it's dangerous, and lies waiting for a mage to make a single misstep.
For storytelling purposes, it's important to understand what Paradox is, as well as what it is not. Paradox is not a sentient force. It is not malicious, and it is not benevolent. It doesn't favor certain individuals, and it isn't out to get others. It simply exists. Paradox's results could be described as analogous to the human immune system: It fights off anything that seeks to disturb the equilibrium of the system it protects.
Paradox occurs in any case when a mage makes enough of an impact on reality to "disturb the waters," so to speak. The disturbance can be a badly failed attempt to alter reality coincidentally or the use of any vulgar magic. In fact, vulgar magic always incurs Paradox. However, it's important to note that Paradox only seems to afflict Awakened mages. The fact that the mage changes the universe through force of will, rather than through some inherent power, seems to draw down powers that lash at the mage in return.
Basically, a mage changes reality in ways that no other force can do. Awakened magic grabs hold of the Tapestry and shoves it into a completely different direction. Even when some supernatural creatures uses a power that looks the same as a magical Effect, the means is completely different. The mage undergoes a process of self-exploration and transformation in order to alter the universe in turn, and that process means that the mage is subject to the unleashed forces of change. The harder the mage pushes — the bigger the change — the more Paradox rebounds.
Paradox Accumulation
Mages can get Paradox energy in varying quantities, depending on how much magic they do. The attempted Effect determines the amount of Paradox that a mage gamers. In older days, the energy often accumulated, and tended to snap at unforeseen times and create disturbing problems that lasted for some time. Since the advent of the signs of the Reckoning, such is no longer the case. Now, Paradox rips through the mage almost immediately after it is accumulated. When Paradox energies do accumulate, the effects that release later tend to be more permanent than in previous times.
In game terms, the following are values for Paradox accumulation, with a successful Effect:
• A successful coincidental Effect doesn't normally garner Paradox.
• A vulgar Effect without witnesses generates one point of Paradox per level of the highest Sphere used.
• A vulgar Effect with witnesses generates one point of Paradox per level of the highest Sphere used, plus one.
The following are the amounts of paradox accumulated when botching. All botches cause a backfire, unless the Storyteller feels really mean and wants the mage to store up hideous amounts of Paradox for some evil purpose.
• A coincidental botch gives Paradox equal to the highest sphere level of the spell.
• A vulgar Effect without witnesses that is botched generates one point of Paradox per level of the highest Sphere, plus one.
• A vulgar Effect with witnesses that is botched gives two points of Paradox per level of the highest Sphere, plus two.
The effects of Paradox usually occur within a turn or two of the accumulation. The specific effect depends on the amount of Paradox involved.
Staving Off Disaster
A mage often finds it necessary to hold Paradox off for a few moments, to ensure that he completes some vital task. By expending a point of temporary Willpower, a mage can delay all Paradox effects (including any damage or Backlash) until the end of a given scene. Doing so makes the Paradox energy hang above the mage's head like the proverbial sword of Damocles. Any additional Paradox gained before the end of the scene is postponed as well, at no additional cost. The downside of this tactic is that all of the Paradox is added together at the end of the scene to make one large Backlash effect, rather than a few small ones.
Backlash Forms
Paradox Backlash usually strikes out in some sort of change or injury to the mage. For simplicity, it's easy just to let Paradox fall into certain roles, but remember that Paradox is just as unpredictable as the mages who garner it. Storytellers should always be willing to get creative in the tortures that they inflict.
Note that stored Paradox cannot be bled off or released in smaller amounts, even with Willpower expenditure. Once freed, the accumulated energy is always released in full. Be vulgar at your own risk. Only time and caution allow a mage to smooth out the distortions of Paradox.
Paradox Flaws
Usually, when a mage burns off a small amount of Paradox, he gets a splitting headache and some sort of nagging problem. The weirdness that strikes in response to twisted magic is a Paradox Flaw, a sort of taint that afflicts the mage and his surroundings in response to his magical tampering. It is, as the name suggests, the attempted Effect actually working on the mage itself due to the magical energies he misused so grossly.
Paradox Flaws show up for most releases of Paradox energy, often in proportion to the severity of the Paradox involved. However, there's no predicting Paradox, and the Storyteller should use Paradox Flaws to make life interesting for mages, especially those who seem overly prone to too much Paradox energy.
All Flaws listed here come at the Storyteller's discretion, and they depend on the Effect attempted. Since Paradox responds to the mage's bending of reality, it takes a form appropriate to the initial magic. Thus, Paradox does tend to cause strangeness, but it also does so depending on what the mage was doing (or trying to do), what sort of Resonance the mage has and what sort of mood the Storyteller's in. Purple flaming elementals, walking on ceilings for a week, or turning a 50-foot tall neon sign bright red for a night are extreme and unlikely examples. Instead, Paradox might be more likely to detonate a mage's car's gas tank, have him experience vertigo as if he were walking on a ceiling, or cause a short circuit in a large electronic device that causes it to stun or injure the mage in question.
Further, Paradox Flaws are not likely to cause collateral damage. The forces that turn against the mage are usually quite localized around the mage in question. The mage's friends are generally safe unless they are in the direct path of the effect in question.
Paradox can be the Storyteller's ultimate tool for teaching common sense. It also guides and directs the chronicle's flavor. Paradox Effects that are silly or random tend to make for a lighter chronicle, while more lingering or dangerous Effects will make mages more careful and paranoid.
If Paradox is the backlash of the universe twisting to change the mage as the mage changes reality, then Resonance is the constant subtle current that surrounds the mage as an agent of change. As has been stated many times, magic stems from desire — the mage's desire to reshape the world to his whims. Although magic allows the mage to bend the world in that fashion, it also means that his desires affect the world constantly, always changing things just a little bit and influencing the outcome of the mage's Effects.
All mages have some form of common Resonance. The most neophyte mages usually only manifest a little Resonance — a single point in a single type of Resonance — but as the mage becomes more powerful, does more magic and delves into deeper passions, Resonance becomes more pronounced. Eventually, Resonance not only overcomes all of the mage's workings, but it affects her normal life. As a mage becomes more potent, her mystical will affects the world around her more strongly. Eventually her Resonance cloaks her in an aura of power that is noticeable and almost tangible. Humans often notice something odd, unusual or potent about mages; for the mage with high Resonance, this feeling is much more pronounced.
When a mage works his Effects, his Resonance causes the Effect to reflect his intent and emotion. The personal, unique nature of each mage causes each form of Resonance to be special, though. Mages who are experienced in sensing Prime threads — or who just have good supernatural instincts — can often tell a mage's specific form of Resonance. They can even recognize who built an Effect or tell a little about the individual.
Conversely, mages may try to dampen their own Resonance to make their Effects more subtle.
Resonance tends to flavor Effects in proportion to the Effects' own intensity — a large, flashy vulgar Effect will have more Resonance than a subtle, coincidental Effect. This Resonance manifests in the Effect itself, causing it to look or feel strange according to the mage's Resonance Traits.
It may also cause the Effect to generate a subtly eerie feeling that causes mages to take note, animals to become uneasy and humans to get a creepy feeling.
Resonance Affecting Magic
When a mage creates an Effect, the mage's Resonance characteristics often show how the mage's emotions get involved in her magic. It's not as if the Resonance actually changes the Effect; rather, the Resonance is an indicator of how the mage's Effects always manifest. The Resonance is a natural way to describe the mage's particular style of magic. An angry, violent mage tends to create very fiery and dynamic Effects, while a particular and studious mage will do magic that's systematic and precise.
The simplest way to let Resonance affect magic is just to take the mage's highest Resonance Trait and find some way to influence the Effect accordingly. That sort of emotion comes through in all of the mage's Effects. The more powerful the Resonance, the more it impacts the Effects and causes them to take strange properties — weird lights or sounds, strange ways of manifesting, bizarre hallucinations, spectacular appearance or any other number of odd changes. A mage with a single dot of Dynamic Resonance, for instance, may have Effects that are a little whimsical or that sometimes do chaotic and unpredictable things, while five dots of Dynamic Resonance would add whirling, spinning alterations, bizarre manifestations and strange, completely unplanned changes to the magical results.
If you want to go all-out in your game, you can try to put a Resonant spin on an Effect for each of the mage's Traits. Thus a mage with some Dynamic Resonance and some Static Resonance will get some competing dynamics in his Effects. With competing Static and Dynamic Resonance, a mage might get an Effect that has strange lights and sounds, yet makes them in repeating patterns or systematic fashions.
Of course, Resonance needs not affect a mage's Effects all the time. It can be quite cumbersome to come up with an alteration for every magical Effect that every mage does! Instead, it may be easier to come up with a few "signature signs" for each mage. Look at the Resonance Traits that the mage has, and come up with a couple of key ways in which the mage might color her magic. For instance, if your mage has the Entropic Resonance Trait of Dissonant, you might decide that a harsh musical chord often accompanies the mage's vulgar Effects.
How Resonance Traits affect magic can be left in the hands of the Storyteller or the players, depending on the nature of the game. Some Storytellers may prefer to influence the magic in ways that the mage can't predict, while others may want to let the players express their mages' personalities through the use of Resonance.
Resonance and the Mage's Life
Of course, Resonance doesn't just affect the mage's magical powers. A potent mage has an almost tangible aura, a mystical something that sets him apart from mortals. His power radiates from his incredible enlightenment, his mastery of the Spheres and the changes that his will causes to the world around him.
Naturally, normal humans aren't exactly comfortable with this weirdness.
Most newly Awakened mages have a sense of the world being a little more strange and different than they ever believed. Their own alienation reflects in a disconnection from the world that mortals know and feel instinctively as the "normal" world.
Since a mage's Resonance manifests in his actions, voice, mannerisms and magic, people can sometimes tell that the mage is more than human.
In normal social situations, the mage may suffer a penalty in reactions with humans — one point of difficulty for each dot in the highest Resonance Trait. This penalty can be overcome with appropriate Mind magic, or if the mage's Resonance wouldn't necessarily discomfit the human in question. Acolytes and freethinkers often deal with "weird" people as a matter of course.
Detecting a mage's Resonance isn't really a subject for dice rolls, though you might use a Perception + Awareness roll to determine if someone has Resonance. In general, Resonance is a descriptive effect for mages. Including subtle hints at the mage's Resonance is a good way to add some description to the character and an indication of the mage's arrangeness or areas of magical study.
When reality itself bows to the subjective whims of a mage, it's all too possible to become lost in one's own vision of the world. In circumstances where severe Mind attacks or nasty Paradox Backlashes strike against a mage's psyche, the character may well find himself tumbling into a world of madness and harsh delusions.
Insanity in a mage is truly terrifying. With the power to bend reality to his whims, the mage can turn the world around him into a nightmare reflecting his own inner turmoil. It's no wonder the Marauders are so feared. They see a world far different than the one in which everyone else lives, and they impose that skewed perspective on static reality.
Quiet causes the mage to experience hallucinations, distortions of reality and even total internal mindscapes. Anything from sensory overload to badly botched Mind magic to Paradox overload to violent psychic attack to extreme age can lead to Quiet. It's an unpredictable, but always feared, fate for mages. Worse still, mages in Quiet can even spawn bizarre hallucinatory creations from their own twisted psyches, and these hobgoblins can sometimes manifest and take on lives of their own.
Quiet most often affects a mage in accordance to his Paradox and Resonance. The more Paradox a mage has, the stronger his Quiets become and the more profoundly they affect his senses. High Resonance determines the sorts of Quiets that impact the mage.
Running a Quiet can take a lot of work, since the Storyteller must have a good handle on the character's paradigm and psyche, and other characters may find themselves at a loss to deal with their mentally crippled companion. On the other hand, mages can come back from these socalled "twilights" with new inspiration or handicaps. Visions and revelations of many sorts are quite common as a result of Quiet. Such a story can present a wonderful complication for an ongoing chronicle, as the mages are forced to deal with questions of what's real and how to separate perception from reality.
Entering Quiet
A mage can enter Quiet when an overwhelming event rocks her psyche and causes her to retreat into one of her forms of Resonance. In some cases, a mage might slowly slip into a form of Quiet over time, but such cases are more rare. However, there's no easy dice roll for such a system.
Forms of Quiet
Quiet manifests in many shapes. The most common sort of Quiet is sheer madness, stemming from an excess of dynamism. As architects of change, mages can find themselves stricken with sheer, mind-bending randomness. However, other sorts of Quiet are possible, based on the sort of Resonance that the mage attracts. Each form has its own sorts of problems and complications. Neophyte mages may not know how to recognize or combat these various forms of Quiet, which can lead to adventures as the mages try to figure out what's affecting their companions and how to cure them.
Madness
Dynamic madness comes to mages who are too overwhelmed with raw, random change and chaos. This sort of Quiet leads to hallucinations, sensory deprivation and eventually, the formation of hobgoblins and mindscapes. The mage becomes trapped in a rapidly changing world created in his own mind, unable to determine the real from the imagined. Marauders are thought to exist within a permanent state of madness, unable to connect with any sort of objective world.
A mage who enters Quiet with an excess of Dynamic Resonance will probably suffer Madness. The effects of Madness are fairly random, but they can get quite drastic if the mage is overwhelmed with too much Paradox or just with a nasty strike. As always, the mage's particular form of Resonance may color the events inspired by Madness, which could serve as a possible way to separate fiction from reality.
Clarity
For mages who embody Stasis and move away from Dynamism, the threat of Clarity lurks. A mage under the influence of Clarity doesn't seem to suffer delusions or episodes like a mage afflicted with Madness. Instead, the mage blots out those parts of the world that don't fit with his vision.
He becomes transfixed on a particular goal or idea and pursues it to the unhealthy exclusion of other activities. He becomes convinced of a single way of doing things and becomes unable to deal with new situations or compromises. Eventually, a mage overcome with Clarity becomes a mindless drone, subservient to some higher pattern of Stasis perceived only in his crazed yet orderly mind.
Naturally, Clarity most often shows up in highly static mages with Pattern Avatars — like Technocrats. Some Traditionalists theorize that highranking members of the Technocracy are so afflicted with Clarity that they are literally unable to compromise on the fate of the world.
Jhor
The Underworld carries its own potent Resonance, the energy of death itself. Mages who dabble too much in such studies can be afflicted with Jhor, the Resonance of death energy. Normally, souls discharge that energy in the cycle of death, but such an accumulation is unhealthy and unbalancing in the living. Mages who work with Primordial energy, who dabble in necromancy and death, often accumulate Jhor.
A mage infested with Jhor tends to fall into a Quiet episode that builds on this accumulation of death energy. The mage assumes a pallid visage and an obsession with death. The mage's normal moral inhibitions fall away in favor of a desire to associate with and understand death energy. In actuality, the mage becomes fixated on the return to primordialism, but the living mind and body cannot handle this reunification. As a result, the mage slides into a study of necromancy and draws away from other living beings, becoming gaunt and sociopathic, eventually degenerating into little more than a magical killer.
Tradition mages who enter the Underworld, who spent too much time studying the deadlands or who associate too much with death tend to develop Jhor. The Euthanatos in particular have learned to recognize this particular malady due to their long association with the deadlands, and they can often help mages in the early stages to achieve a better level of balance.
Coping with Quiet
Since Quiet causes all manner of nasty, mind-warping effects, most mages will fight to keep some semblance of normalcy — if they're fortunate enough to realize that they're afflicted. A mage can try to determine what elements of Quiet are unreal or unnatural and attempt to resist them, but he may not always succeed. If your mage is afflicted with some form of Quiet, you can spend a point of Willpower and roll your mage's Perception + Awareness in a contested roll against the appropriate Resonance Trait (difficulty 7 for both rolls). Thus, you roll against your mage's Static Resonance if suffering from Clarity, against Dynamic Resonance for Madness and against Entropic Resonance for Jhor. Obviously, since Resonance Traits aren't usually too high, you'll often succeed on such a roll, but not always....
If you manage to succeed on a disbelief roll, your mage manages to exert his will through the Quiet episode. For the rest of the scene he pushes away hallucinations, overcomes his inability to make decisions or his attraction to death. The mage also manages to discharge a point of Paradox in the process, potentially lowering the severity of the Quiet episode. Eventually the mage might overcome the Quiet completely, or he might run out of spiritual fortitude and have to wait it out.
If you fail a disbelief roll, your mage expends his Willpower but is unable to overcome his episode of Quiet. Suffer.
If you botch a disbelief roll, you suffer from hobgoblins.
Hobgoblins
When a mage enters a particularly nasty episode of Quiet, his delusions may manifest on the world around him. Such manifested creatures and objects are known as hobgoblins, and they tend to follow the mage around and cause all sorts of Quiet -ridden problems until the episode passes.
A hobgoblin could manifest in any number of forms — as a small creature, an actual object, a sensory effect or the like. The difference is that a hobgoblin seems, for all intents and purposes, to be totally real, and it can affect and be perceived by other people, not just the mage! Such manifestations are adept at causing all manner of trouble, especially when they can interfere with the mage's friends, or just set the local scenery on fire. Worse still, the mage might well know that they're brought on by the Quiet, but he can't always tell what's a hobgoblin and what's a normal part of reality.
Hobgoblins usually stick around for one day per level of the mage's Arete, although they may last longer in particularly nasty Quiets. They can be destroyed or "killed," but the ramifications could be troublesome (to say the least) if the mage madly attacks hallucinations that aren't there or destroys something that's actually someone's pet or property. While the hobgoblins exist, they typically reveal the mage's dark secrets and desires, cause trouble and raise questions of conflicts within the mage's mind.
Hobgoblins most commonly appear for Madness episodes, but disembodied voices or machine emanations may occur for Clarity, or vicious demonic creatures may appear in cases of Jhor.
Mindscapes
In particularly severe episodes of Quiet, a mage can become caught up in a reality so heavily shifted that the real world can't be distinguished.
As some primal part of the mage's mind struggles to come to grips with reality, the mage enters a world completely enclosed in his own mind, fighting through a mindscape to search for an exit from the Quiet. Symbolism, psychological conflict and magical wisdom spin together in a surreal landscape that exists only in the mage's mind. By resolving these conflicts, the mage hopes to work through his inner difficulty to reach some sort of balance.
A mage who enters a mindscape is functionally catatonic. Totally engrossed within his own mind, he cannot interact with the real world without extreme effort. Instead, he traverses the symbolic landscape. In there, he grapples with the rules of the dream-world while his body remains in a near-coma. Such journeys may seem to take mere minutes or entire years mentally. In the physical world, the mage usually remains in slumber for a day for each point of Paradox held. By making a Wits + Enigmas roll (difficulty 4), you can speed the mage's ability to pass the trials of the mindscape, but it's often better to actually roleplay the travails of the mage and run a game where the mage must fight his way past his inner demons. While in the midst of the mental journey, the mage can try to communicate with the outside world through normal means, but you must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8) with a minimum of three successes. Otherwise, the mage manages nothing more than to mumble or squirm in her sleep. And, of course, the mage can only attempt to do so if he suspects that he's in a mindscape. A mage thrust into a surreal scenario involuntarily may not realize that he's trapped in his own mind.
An outside mage can enter a mindscape through the use of proper Mind 3 magic, generally with a trance, a psionic link, a special astral-travel spell or similar Effect. Inside the mindscape, the visitor experiences everything that the suffering mage sees, and he is fully (mentally) vulnerable to the effects of the delusions. Indeed, an entire cabal could enter a mindscape to try to rescue a friend, but doing so is risky.
An individual who is killed or incapacitated in a mindscape remains in a coma, perhaps for months or years. Mages can also suffer from psychological problems or trauma from mindscapes; to those inside the mindscape, the experience seems utterly real. Mages have been known to emerge from mindscapes with psychosomatic injuries or new mental problems. On the other hand, mages can also discover and overcome some of their internal conflicts and problems. Working through a mindscape is much like a Seeking in this respect.
A mage who manages to overcome a mindscape does, fortunately, discharge his Paradox in the process.
Paradigms, training, history, Resonance and mundane experience all shape the styles with which a magician does magic. Nothing is as simple as saying, "I use my Spheres to make an Effect." Rather, magic is a careful and refined process, one in which the mage empowers the foundations of her own beliefs. From that conviction — the belief not necessarily in magic itself, but in the way to do magic — stems the power that lets the mage change the world, but only in that particular way. Game mechanics are just a means to simulate a mage's ability to alter the Tapestry, not an automatic definition of how mages interact with the cosmos.
Since your mage can perform tasks only by using techniques and objects that she believes have power, you must choose and define your mages' foci and paradigms carefully. Your mage will have these elements for a long time. Most mages learn their particular mentor's views or unearth their own styles, then stick with those doctrines for the remainder of their lives. Only a few mages manage to learn the styles of their cohorts or rivals, and fewer still become strong enough to exert magic by their force of will alone. Thus, it's incumbent upon you to determine how your mage sees the world and shapes it with her own individual style.
Foci and styles may seem like a pain, but they're a necessity for mages. Can you cook a TV dinner without a microwave, stove or flame?
Probably not. Can you travel 500 miles on foot in a day? Again, almost certainly not. With the right tools, you can do such things. Similarly, your mage can't necessarily perform any of the spectacular feats attributed to magic without the right tools to make it all come together. The mere fact that the rules say that your character can do magic without foci doesn't mean that your character knows she can!
A mage's style determines everything from what she thinks she can do with magic, to how she does it, to whether its results can be coincidental. If a Verbena waves a hand and causes an injury to heal, it's a vulgar Effect, but that might be the only way that the Verbena knows how to do it; conversely, a Son of Ether might use a bizarre healing device that seems coincidental. Same Effect, different styles; same result, different focus and mechanic.
Style Influences
People hang on to individual convictions formed through the hard knocks of life — tenets that are so central to their beings that they're lived as principles and taken to the grave. Such ideas spring from the ways that we survive: the things that help to shelter us, improve our lot in life and make the world bearable or brilliant. For some people, these core ideals are so strong that they touch on spirituality, altered consciousness or pure, unadulterated inspiration. These devout passions (the rituals, emotions and faith) are the foundations of magical styles. The belief in these sacred forms gives them power and makes them magical.
Magic stems from the elements of the mundane that draw connection to the universal. If gods are simply cosmic elements given familiar masks, then foci and paradigms are just incomprehensible powers attributed to finite keys. Such items and rituals may have power of their own, but mages go beyond intrinsic properties. Instead, mages create their own forms of magic and give new powers to old forms through their personal understanding. Science and superstition have power, but mages have the capacity to create power.
At first, mages draw their inspiration from their own cultures. The habits and traditions with which a mage was raised determine how she sees the magical world, what she believes has power and how she works her Effects. With time and effort, the mage may overcome these blinders, realizing that there is no One Truth, but rather that everyone has his own truths. From there, the mage may well abandon the shackles other foci and her heritage... or she may not. Pride and the conviction that one's way is the only right way are powerful chains.
While you work up your mystic's background, you should also determine her personal style. Depending on where and how the character was raised, you'll find different magical inspirations. Even two mages of the same Tradition with the same mentor will have uniquely individual styles.
The conditioning of life itself is more powerful than any abbreviated few months of magical training. Determine your mage's individual version of the truth and why she has faith in the elements of magic that she uses.
Foci
In simple terms, a focus is a concentration aid. Foci are thus the items, rituals and practices that mages use to tap their magical power. A focus may be a totally mundane object or ritual, with no power of its own, but because the mage believes not only in the focus' power but in her ability to use it, the focus opens the door to magic. A novice mage can sense the power of magic just out other reach. Through a style and a set of foci, that mage learns a way to channel that power. With time and experience, these foci become second nature to the mage, their power so carefully carried and understood that the mage considers the foci extensions other own will. At length, the mage may come to understand that ultimately the foci were simply a way to express magic, but that the magic comes from within herself.
Each Tradition lists a series of different sorts of foci that are commonly used. A Tradition mage can use any of these foci for the appropriate tasks. It's all a matter of figuring out how the focus would stylistically fit with the magic. If one focus doesn't seem appropriate for your ritual, pick another one! Of course, some foci have better resonance, some mages are better with some foci, and some foci might also be Wonders with powers of their own. And, of course, there's power in uniqueness. If a focus is one of a kind, tied to the mage in some special way, it has more power.
Standard, Personal and Unique Foci
Since every mage has a unique style, every mage also has a unique set of foci. For some, it's enough just to bring together a few necessary tools. Others rely on personalized items or even specially crafted and totally individualized foci. A more specialized the focus gains more power, but it also limits the mage more.
A standard focus is just a normal ritual or object that the mage uses to do magic. If your mage uses magic circles, candles, martial arts or concentration, techno-toys, whatever, then any sample of such things will do. The mage simply needs a representative object or action to act as a focus. These sorts of foci are generally representative of the Tradition as a whole.
Personal foci are the specific tools with which a mage studies the keystones of her Spheres. When you build your mage character, decide on a specialty focus for each of her Spheres. That particular tool is one with which the mage is very skilled. In all castings where the mage uses the specialty focus, you get a one-point break on the difficulty, making the spell easier to cast. Your mage can still do the magic in other ways, she's just better in this one special form of casting. Therefore, your mage can rely on all the normal, standard foci for all other Spheres, but her training gives an edge when she uses the sorts of tools that she knows best.
Lastly, unique foci are literally unique items — handcrafted or personally invented devices or individualized, used-only-once-ever rituals. Such items have a great deal of power for the mage because they are tied to her so intimately. Obviously, a unique focus works best for the mage who made it. Only the mage who actually invented the focus can reap its benefits. Like a personal focus, the unique focus gives a difficulty modifier of one in addition to other modifiers. If your mage uses magical candles as a personal focus for Mind magic, and she handcrafts a candle specifically for the purpose, the use of that candle gets the bonuses for both its unique status and for being a specialty focus.
However, a unique focus is irreplaceable. If a mage's unique focus for a Sphere is lost, broken or destroyed, the mage may have difficulty coming up with a replacement. Often, a mage needs a specific unique focus to work certain types of magic. If you have chosen a unique focus for your mage and that focus is lost, destroyed or used up, then the mage must perform all magic in that Sphere as if attempting to surpass a focus. You can't have a benefit without a commensurate downside, after all. This penalty can only be overcome if your mage manages to make or acquire a new focus, or if your mage achieves sufficient enlightenment to abandon foci for that Sphere.
Surpassing Foci
Mages may sometimes be placed in dire straits where they may not have time or means to complete their rituals with all their foci. When the mage really needs to get the magic going but just doesn't have the tools, she relies on sheer guts, determination and force of will.
If your mage is caught without a focus, she can still attempt a magical Effect that would normally require a focus. She grits her teeth, summons up every ounce of magic that she knows and tries to make something happen. You need only spend a Willpower point in lieu of using the focus, and the mage can try to make it happen!
Of course, when a mage draws on magical energy by the seat of her pants and without the aid of her familiar tools, it's much harder to direct the power and much easier to screw things up. Attempting to surpass foci imposes a difficulty penalty of three to the magical feat roll. Eventually the mage may achieve enough enlightenment to overcome the foci totally, but her belief in her own need makes it more difficult for her to do magic unaided in the meantime.
Note that, because of their utter dependence on physical props and material tools, Technocrats and Technomancers can't do this trick at all! A Virtual Adept, Son of Ether or Technocratic mage must always use the tools of his trade, at least until he develops the enlightenment to overcome his need for foci completely.
Abandoning Foci
With great effort and enlightenment, mages can eventually escape the limits of their tools. A mage who's broadened her horizons to understand other forms of magic eventually realizes that the magic comes from her own will and dedication. From there, the mage may eventually find the wherewithal to put aside the tools and become the magic.
Although mages need foci during their early stages of training, they can overcome this need eventually. In game terms, you can abandon the foci necessary for two of the Spheres that your mage knows once your mage reaches Arete 6. For those two Spheres, the mage can cast spells without the use of foci at all. Every additional point of Arete opens up two more Spheres to use without foci, until at Arete 10, the mage doesn't need any foci at all. If your mage performs Effects using multiple Spheres, she must still use foci for any Spheres that require them, but in those chosen few where she's achieved a real breakthrough in understanding, the power comes solely from within.
Of course, using the same familiar tools is still helpful. You get a bonus difficulty modifier of one if your character uses unnecessary foci. This bonus applies only if you're creating an Effect that relies solely on Spheres that no longer require foci, but your character uses them anyway. If the Effect is a conjunctional Effect that still requires foci for any of the Spheres, you can't claim this bonus.
Even Orphans and Hollow Ones have their foci; they just tend to have a broader range of props and the ability to learn from and incorporate styles. Orphans and Hollow Ones thus get the opportunity to use the standard foci from just about any Tradition that they can study. Conversely, though, they pay for this broad range of skill by taking more effort to develop the Spheres. If you're trying to find multiple ways to do things, it'll take more study.
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It's much easier to be different when there are other people, different just like you, around. Mages are certainly no exception. Those mages grouping together to share common mystic principles developed their own council and unified system of magic. From the roots that they've handed down, they have established magical Traditions. The Traditions have their disagreements over theory and style, certainly, but they have found, especially lately, that it is often more productive to work together — at least on the surface — toward their common goal of defense against forces that would destroy magic and myth.
The Council of Nine, made up of one member from each established Tradition, serves as the official governing force of the Traditions. The Council's purpose is to guide the actions of the Traditions as a whole, to serve as a watchdog for mages' activities and look out for the well-being of mages and Sleepers alike. In truth, the Council has little effect on the dally life of the average Traditionalist. Its ideals tend to filter down to individuals; its active goals tend to be achieved by small groups of disciples taught by mages close to the Council.
On an individual level, the Traditions serve a variety of purposes in a mage's life. The Traditions help a mage to learn, give her moral and magical support and help her understand and define the structure of her beliefs. A Tradition mage can also expect to be part of a group of people who will back her up and shelter her in sticky situations. On the other hand, Traditions usually expect their members to be helpful in return.
In the modern age, the Traditions hold dear the various practices of magic handed down from many cultures and legacies. All believe, however, that it's important to keep magic alive and to give Sleepers the choice of a magical world. From the highest seats of Tradition thinking in the Horizon Realms, to the individual apprentices who dream of a better world, the Traditions defend a world where people can believe in wonder, mysticism and spirituality. The Technocratic Union has no room for such vagaries, and the Masses have chosen to live in a safe and static world.
Not all mages choose to become part of a Tradition, however. Some prefer to work and live by themselves, figuring out solutions to their problems and celebrating success alone. These Orphans don't get the benefits of being part of a discrete group, but they don't have to deal with the more difficult parts of being social, either.
Mind, body and spirit are all part of the larger whole of the person, just as the person is part of the larger whole of the universe. Identity, division and conflict are illusions. When the mind and body come into harmony, the soul follows. When the individual does not resist the universe but moves within, he embraces his nature. From these philosophical roots came the Akashic Brotherhood. By honing the body, the Brothers make, a temple for the mind; with the refined mind comes understanding of the spirit. The Brotherhood uses simple tools — exercise, meditation, practice and study — to refine the simple man into a brother of knowledge.
Background
The philosophical and historic roots of the Akashic Brotherhood lie in the beginning times when all people lived in harmony. The first Akashics learned their skill in Do from Dragon and Phoenix, and they disciplined their bodies and their minds through the balance of movement and stillness. As the earth turned and more people came to live near the All, the All fractured and became dissonant. The balance between mind and body, motion and stillness, was disturbed, and the ones who would become Akashic Brothers retreated into mountains, caves and forests to continue their study of balance through Do. Martial arts and exercises perfected the body while rigorous disciplines, chants and prayers cleansed the mind.
As the world fractured and people took up dissonant paths, conflict came in several forms to the Brotherhood. The earliest artificers brought the first vestiges of technology to humanity, thus turning people from their relationship with the immaterial world and strengthening the barrier between the physical and the spiritual realms. Tools encouraged people to focus on only the things they could touch and forget that there was ever anything else; material goods became a goal and replaced the natural fulfillment of personal accomplishment. Even within the Brotherhood, young students took up the study of Do but failed to understand the relationship between philosophy and physical prowess. These warriors saw the Brotherhood's physical skills as an end, and brought disharmony to the group and its relations with others.
Later, Akashic conflicts expanded to include another group of Awakened humans, a band of mages who saw reincarnation as their duty. The Brotherhood did not approve of mages who took into their own hands the power over life and death, and the Brotherhood warred against the death mages — who would later become the Euthanatos — for 300 years. The war left both Traditions scarred, although neither has entirely forgiven the other for the centuries of bloodshed, they have learned from each other. Neither Tradition (as a whole) jumps quickly into conflict.
As the spiritual philosophies of Buddhism, Taoism, Shinto and similar religions spread across Asia, the Brotherhood followed. The Shaolin monasteries of China housed their members, as did the mountain-dwelling hermits of Japan, the cloistered priests of Tibet and the mysterious mystics of India. Many Common people adopted Brotherhood beliefs in everyday life. This groundswell of common support became the Brotherhood's bane: organized nations, harsh rulers and secret societies resented the Brotherhood's liberating influence on the Masses. Eventually, the Brotherhood found itself embroiled in wars as armies and governments sought to destroy its influence. The Brotherhood's holdings were broken and its members scattered. Hierarchical societies and caste systems, combined with a focus on material living, turned people against the Brotherhood's self-empowering ways.
Still, as an organization devoted to the improvement of the individual, the Akashic Brotherhood survived. Wandering priests here and there kept the Brotherhood's ideas alive while the teachings of the Tradition remained a part of many cultures and families. Technocratic influence may have destroyed the Brotherhood's material strength, but that was never its focus — the Brotherhood's true power came from the soul of humanity.
Those who needed guidance, who felt the calling of Do, found the Brotherhood. Independent of the modern desires, structures and possessions of the technological age, the brothers and sisters could not be trapped or deprived of the light they kept within.
To the modern Traditions, the Brotherhood now embodies the balance between violence and peace, understanding and conflict, in which the Traditions themselves remain embroiled. The Brotherhood's roots are spiritual, so they cannot be slain with bullets, money or laws. The Warring Fists use their incredible prowess to battle the enemies of the Traditions, while their teachings preach the Ascension of each individual through righteous action. As the modern Renaissance of martial arts and Asian philosophy blends with 21st-century culture and technology, the Brotherhood seeds itself once more in the hearts of common people everywhere.
Organization
Structure in the Brotherhood is loose; enlightenment and destiny are recognized as steps along the path, but all living things have virtue and value. To the Brotherhood, the idea of placing one thing or philosophy over another is a false division. Therefore, while Masters are respected for their insight, they do not exercise any real weight of authority — they are simply credited for their insight. Akashic acolytes come from all walks of life, but all study the Akashic way of leading a pure and simple lifestyle, at least to some degree. As a Brother progresses to a simpler and more unhindered state of Do and a greater Arete, his accomplishments are recorded and his teachings distributed so that all may benefit from them.
Factions
The Akashic Brotherhood is not made up of Shaolin priests only; neither does it exclude Caucasians or any other group. True, the focus of the Tradition is mainly Asiatic, but the search for balance and understanding is universal. Buddhists, Confucianists and Taoists make up a good percentage of the Brotherhood's ranks. Atheists, pagans and even Christians are welcome — any enlightened soul seeking to find harmony and study the way of Do can become a Brother. (Incidentally, the term Brother is not a slight against the female members of the Tradition. Akashic Brother is simply a title for someone who studies the ways of Akasha, and it is intended to carry no gender bias.)
Although the Tradition seems peaceful on the outside, it is not so from the inside. Disagreement thrives within this Tradition as well as it does within the others. The greatest divisions in the Akashic ranks arise between the younger members who want to make war on their enemies, the Masters who seek only enlightenment and the newly initiated members of the Wu Lung Craft.
Heavily traditional elements make up the Shi-Ren, or "benevolent aristocracy." Legalists and political elements who desire greater Akashic influence in worldly affairs form the basis of this group. According to the Shi-Ren, Brotherhood ways can only continue to fade into obscurity if the cultures that spawned them are pushed into history. Although many modern Shi-Ren do not honestly believe that a return, to Imperial China is possible, they do feel that it's important for the Brotherhood to maintain a stake in modern politics and culture. They stress the teaching of history and the roots of the Brotherhood; many have Pattern Essences. These Brothers study Mind magic intensely, push for better organization and serve as a public face in diplomacy and political struggle.
In direct counterpoint to the traditional members of the Brotherhood are the Li-Hai, who subscribe to Mo Tzu's philosophy of utilitarian morality. These Brothers believe that ancient traditions force the mind into a false sense of morality, one that is not guided by pragmatism.
Groundless traditions then cause people to take harmful actions. The Li-Hai argue that all morality must stem from reasoned analysis of what is utilitarian and what is harmful, and they seek to abolish old traditions that no longer have relevance in the modern age. These Brothers feel that the Brotherhood needs to modernize, to accept new ideas to approach the changing world and to learn to work within the systems of tools promoted by scientific society. Although these Brothers continue the practice of Do, they discard elements of Akashic magic that stem from old tradition.
Instead, they seek to meld Do and the Akashic Record into a modern, rational approach to health, morality and personal advancement.
The Kannagara are ascetics who uphold many old practices within the Brotherhood. These monks' take on difficult ordeals to purify themselves and to strengthen themselves physically and spiritually. All members of the Brotherhood use such techniques to some degree, but the Kannagara believe that the right mind and right soul can only come through right action, and that such action stems from ritual, hardship and practice. Most Kannagara remain cloistered away in Akashic retreats, where they practice daily prayers and devotions. They sometimes journey to the outside world as well, in order to see that which they hope to surpass. As Brotherhood retreats fall to modern expansion or tourism, and asceticism loses popularity, the Kannagara slowly dwindle.
Mystically inclined Brothers form the Jnani, a group of yogis who follow various forms of Shinto and Tibetan rites in order to develop
spiritually. As monists, the Jnani hope to reconcile the consciousness of the self with the Avatar (which they term the "Buddha-Mind"). Through practices of yoga, tantra, prayer, chant and the ubiquitous Do and meditation, Jnani seek unification with the absolute principle of reality. Instead of seeing reality as malleable, they believe that it stems from one core principle, and that all other veils of illusion stem from the inability to reconcile the self with the absolute principle. These monks engage in spirit -questing, and they seek out internal wisdom to remove the boundaries between the self and the Avatar. Naturally, they command potent Spirit magic. However, they also retain many unusual libraries and practices unknown to much of the rest of the Brotherhood. Rumor says that they have long held several hidden monasteries and that they keep secret catacombs deep beneath the Earth, where one can find passage to Horizon Realms or discover ancient places of power that tap into the consciousness of the absolute.
Young and hot-blooded warriors in the Brotherhood join the Vajrapani, or "wielders of the Diamond Wand." To them, enlightenment is like a diamond: hard, unyielding, containing only reflections of the outward world. The Vajrapani give the Brotherhood its moniker as "Warring Fists," for their title stems from the term for both "diamond" and "thunderbolt," whilst the diamond wand of their namesake is the metaphor for supernatural power. These Akashics argue that the Technocracy can be defeated only through powerful action, and they use Do as their weapon.
Interestingly, the Vajrapani stem originally from a metaphysical feminine principle, but this fact does not limit membership in this political faction. Indeed, being a Vajrapani is often more a matter of a young and impulsive student getting labeled as such by a mentor (or recognized as a kindred sort by other young warriors). Vajrapani work to develop their martial prowess, and they often seek out conflict with the perceived enemies of the Brotherhood. Older members sometimes drift into other factions, but some do remain active as warriors — the Tradition must have its defenders, after all.
Lastly, the Wu Lung, the family of the Dragon, are a separate sect of mages who allied with the Brotherhood very recently. In the past, the Wu Lung and the Akashic Brotherhood fought for dominance over traditional China. Today, with their greatest leaders slain and their heritage diluted by modern China, the Wu Lung have been forced to set aside their grudges and ally with the only remaining inheritors of China's ancient culture.
The Dragon Wizards practice a rigorous and bureaucratic style of magic reminiscent of China's old imperial days, complete with ancestor worship and careful appeasement of the heavenly spirits. Both Brothers and Wizards still seek a means to reconcile their disparate beliefs, using their common roots for a basis. Still, there's a long way to go. The Wizards even practice their own martial art separate from Do. It seems that their faction in the Brotherhood will remain a rather disparate part, forced by circumstance to bow to the greater weight of the Brotherhood in the Traditions. The imperial bureaucrats study primarily Spirit magic so that they can commune with ancestors and answer the mandates of Heaven properly.
Philosophy
A return to simplicity lies at the heart of the Brotherhood's beliefs. Humans clutter up their lives with unnecessary and extraneous objects and desires. How can one understand the natural harmony of the universe by trying to grasp it, own it or control it? The natural place for every individual — the role of Drahma — is apparent when one is not blinded by the illusions of greed, desire and power. The exercises of living give a soul the chance to experience the universe in manifold forms, and so the individual should take this opportunity to gain insight by developing a harmony with the All. Each life is just a step on the greater wheel of Drahma until the individual releases himself from the chains that he forged with his own beliefs and desires.
Failings
Subtlety and Zen-like calm are among the Brotherhood's strengths, but they are also a great weakness. Because the order focuses so closely on personal growth and individual enlightenment, its Masters have no connection to the individual student's personal paths to understanding. Instead of being able to help an Initiate move toward wisdom with lessons or suggestions, most Akashic Brothers can offer only rote physical training, cryptic passages in old books or puzzling idioms that are supposed to lead the student to her own revelation. Some apprentices don't learn well without close guidance, and some mages are unable to move beyond a certain point in their development without help.
The masters can't tell their students what it is they're supposed to be learning, or where or even how they're supposed to find it. As a result, the Brotherhood loses a disproportionate number of young mages due to simple frustration. The ones who do stick with the Tradition are making some attempt to counteract this Zen disease, but they are struggling against the immense weight of time and long-honored tradition. The Brotherhood's very individualistic belief that all people must find their own path paradoxically makes it difficult for the Brotherhood to do more than give aspiring mages a few simple tools. The Masters cannot teach the way to enlightenment, they believe, since each person must find a unique path. Those who are enlightened cannot explain their sublime understanding; those who aren't don't know how to start. The Masters point the way — it's up to the students to follow it, but only if they can understand it.
Theories and Practices
The Akashic Brotherhood keeps its soul in the pages of the Akashic Record, a collection of all of the experience of all Akashic Brothers over all time. Its pages may be paper and ink, but the book is reflected in all levels of the world, spiritual and material alike. Legend has it that it was originally begun by the Ascended Avatar named Akasha, for whom the Order is also named. The Record serves as an inspiration and meditation for the Brotherhood, allowing the mages to access past experience and wisdom. The Record is not, however, a book to simply be read. It presents knowledge in such a manner that the seeker will not forget, in puzzles, riddles, loans or short passages that seem mundane. By diving into the Record, a Brother can relive the experiences of the past, sometimes even coming forth with elements of his own past lives.
The soul of the Brotherhood is in its Record, but for the body and mind there is Do (pronounced "doe"). Literally "the Way", Do is the art of training the body in order to achieve a peaceful mind. Do is the essence of martial art, the root of more mundane arts — its movements allow Akashic Brothers to perform feats that combine physical, mental and magical precision. However, Do is more than just a fantastically deadly fighting style and physical discipline. It is a style of living, a means to develop the fullest potential of the human body by moving harmoniously in natural cycles. Do stylists practice proper balance in nutrition, exercise, sleep, thought, creation and destruction, all guided as important parts of a greater whole. Ultimately, the Do practitioner brings his body and mind in harmony with the natural flow of life, unhindered by the artificial constructs of development in a world cluttered by extraneous material.
Do pervades every aspect of the Akashic attitude toward magic. As there must be right thinking, right speech, right understanding and right action, there must be right mind in order to achieve right body and right living. Thus, the Tradition studies Mind as its primary Sphere. Without that one block in place, nothing else can be aligned and the mage — or her opponent — is as hampered as she would be with no body. All Akashics thus study Do in some manner, be it through difficult martial arts, internal questing or quiet meditation. Although Do is the primary structure for Akashic magic, many Brothers add other practices to focus their energy. Like Do, these practices are often Asiatic in origin — feng shui, meditation and calligraphy are excellent ways to direct chi — but all are designed to unify and direct motion and thought toward a goal. The spiritual and magical worlds are not far removed from the physical world. The balanced and enlightened man can, in time, access all layers of the universe.
Still, many Akashic Brothers fail to understand the dichotomy that their Tradition teaches. Convinced of the tightness of their cause in harmony with Do and the universe, warriors of the Brotherhood try to fight or force others into their mold, never realizing that in doing so they turn human against human and create disharmony instead of healing it. The aptly named Warring Fists thus fight a constant war against the elements they hold repugnant. Yet in doing so, they promote the very violence that their teachings despise. For many, enlightenment comes only later, and these monks retreat from the world to find peace instead of conflict.
Specialty Sphere: Mind
Common Foci: Chimes, incense, meditation, prayer sashes or flags, purification rites, weapons
The Celestial Chorus is one of the most misunderstood Traditions of all the Nine. Although it is a religious Tradition without question, it does not focus on one religion over another. The One and Prime that the Chorus reveres transcends any single congregation's deity. All humanity is part of that cosmic song, the glorious radiance of Pure and Prime. When humanity is united again in this reverence, the Prime shall be whole again, the song manifest and the universe healed.
Background
Like the Akashic Brotherhood, the Celestial Chorus holds that it is one of the first Traditions, not necessarily in its current form but as the embodiment of a philosophy and an exaltation that has been part of the universe since its creation. The Chorus's roots stretch to hymns and exaltations that can be traced back thousands of years; its actual existence as a Tradition dates to approximately the time of Ikhnaton. Since then, though, the Chorus has had an incredible influence over humanity's history, not least because the Tradition fervently maintains that its duty is to protect Sleepers and guide them toward Ascension through the knowledge of the One.
From the earliest days, the Chorus has urged people to seek the song that unites them in contemplation of a better form, a celestial harmony. In some times and places, the Chorus led by example and founded tolerant, accepting and hopeful religions. In others, the Chorus went awry, bringing forward its vision of One through a single way that brooked no deviation. Alternately hierophants and heretics, the Choristers looked to the inspiration of something greater than mankind, a creative force that could unify all people under its influence.
Unfortunately, the Chorus is not always pure and right, not even in its desire to help. The many experiments of the Chorus in fostering a "true way" opened the door to dogmatic schisms with the intolerant medieval churches of Dark Ages Catholicism and Islam. From roots with Grecian and Roman temples, the Chorus slowly evolved into a form closer to the Catholic Church. All Choristers learn about the group's involvement in the Inquisition and in both sides of the Crusades. Although the ideal — keeping the world safe from dangerous influences — may have been there for the Inquisitors, their fervent belief got in the way of their sight and their better judgment. New Choristers are cautioned to keep their minds open, to remain focused on unity and to remember that all paths are trod by the One and Prime. Initiates also learn about the Tradition's ties to the Cabal of Pure Thought, a small group within the New World Order. Although the two groups started out as one, the Cabal of Pure Thought refused the idea that all people, regardless of faith, could be part of its One World.
It was the split of the Cabal of Pure Thought from the Chorus that many believe led to the downfall of the Tradition. Although their power was prominent in the Middle Ages, many Choristers came to be regarded as heretics for their schismatic acceptance of other beliefs as equally valid paths to the One, while some clutched so tightly to their views that they fought even their brethren. The uncompromising drive of the Church, combined with its corruption by material greed, drove people to embrace the Cabal of Pure Thought's ideas of empowering the masses of humanity instead of laboring in hopes of a better afterlife. Eventually, the power of faith waned as the Order of Reason rose. Members of the Chorus fled the crumbling pillars of the Church, as often hounded by churchmen swayed through the Order's material gifts as by the Order's own soldiers.
As the clouds of Reason and Technocracy gathered, the Chorus sought shelter in sub-groups, lay communities, mystery cults and minor offices.The broken back of religious belief could no longer support the Chorus, and members had to hide their miracles amongst the Masses as leaders or supporters of tiny groups. The Chorus' vision remained focused on a holy communion, a Sacred City wherein all humanity could unite its voice in harmony with the Song of Creation, but the goal slipped slowly from their grasp. Ironically, only this common defeat could truly unite the Chorus' disparate factions, and even today they retain a suspicious and guarded relationship within the Tradition. People still want to believe. There is a need for something greater, a desire that the Chorus answers in people, and the Chorus fans the flames of faith from that tiny spark of questing.
Organization
The Chorus adheres to a structure more strict than that of any other Tradition except the Order of Hermes. The hierarchy is modeled closely after the early Catholic church, with a system of rank based on seniority within the Chorus, responsibility and magical ability. Communication is easy for the Chorus, because every junior Singer knows who her superiors and inferiors are, and he can pass information along. However, many of the Tradition's opponents point out that the system of rank encourages the Singers to forget their real purpose and focus on their upward mobility.
The point is valid — some Choristers are more interested in recognition than in helping others — but the Chorus defends its system. It's designed to teach new members and allow the more experienced ones to guide the Tradition wisely, they say.
The Chorus is filled with voices from all walks of life and all corners of the world. Anyone with faith in the One and a desire to help can become a Singer. Choristers don't even have to be religious to begin with; they can just have faith that there's something out there that's bigger than they are. It's more important that an Initiate have the desire to achieve harmony than that she believe a certain bit of dogma. However, some people are more drawn to this Tradition than others: Nurses, social workers, people with handicaps, clergy and teachers are likely to become Choristers.
Factions
Any number of factions make their home in the Chorus. Although the Tradition divides along lines of religion, it also sub-divides by different ways of approaching religion or seeking divinity. These manifold factions are, like the rest of the Tradition, often a loose collection of people who can agree on only some basic tenets. Indeed, more and more Choristers reject factionalism today in favor of a true unity among all members of the Tradition.
Living alone in the far places of the Earth, the Anchorites seek individual wisdom and salvation. The Anchorites do not so much make up a faction as they do a group of individuals who reject the traditional structures. Each one seeks a personal commitment to the divine. Rarely, they interact with the "real world," but most find that the material world is a corrupting influence and they are quick to return to their hermitages. In their communion with wild places and unknown entities, many Anchorites develop a strong connection to Spirit magic.
Conservative Choristers tend to work along Septarian lines. These members decry the Chorus' work with the other Traditions, claiming that the influences of other mages dilute the sacred song with discordant technology and heretical magic. Only the Chorus, they claim, has a true vision of unity. Although their influence is not strong within the Tradition — the Chorus already has too many enemies to go about making more — many Choristers share at least a little bit of their reservations about the works of other mages. Septarians study Prime magic as they purify their souls to come closer to their own vision of unity with One.
The opposite group to the Septarians is the Latitudinarians, who argue for a total restructuring of the Tradition along less Catholic lines. The Latitudinarians believe that the Chorus' medieval structure is too confining and too exclusionary, and that the Tradition must change to accommodate not only other religions but the belief structures of other Traditions as well. Each Latitudinarian has a personal belief of what is and isn't acceptable, of course, but they all agree that the Tradition should assume a more open structure, a greater degree of debating freedom and a higher tolerance of other Traditional magic.
The most open of the Choristers are usually Monists, who seek a single unified church. How can the Chorus bring about a unity of mankind if it can't achieve unity within its own ranks? The Monists try to reconcile the differences between other factions and religions, making allowances and compromises to build a unified church. Their goal is not to follow any one dogmatic stricture of a "right and true" way to approach divinity, but rather to open the doors to all understanding of the One as equally valid. Although they meet with considerable opposition, the Monists are persuasive and very tolerant for their Tradition, and they excel at finding allies among disparate groups. They work with the Prime element as a means to exemplify the common roots of all Creation.
The Alexandrian Society seeks a reconciliation of religion with science, by bringing scientific thought into the fold of religion. To them, the process of discovery and inquiry is a sacred search itself, and the scientific disciplines are part and parcel of the search for divinity. Although sometimes accused of harboring elements sympathetic to the Technocracy, the Alexandrians believe in each individual's right to find a balance between science and faith. Furthermore, they denounce the Technocracy as a sterile and soulless creation. In studying science, the Alexandrians develop their understanding of Matter, to learn how it reflects qualities inherent to divinity.
The Sons of Mithras make up a small but militant faction, that embraces the early Roman cult of Mithraism. These' soldiers still hold some grudges against the Chorus for the persecution of Mithraism by Christianity, but they serve as stalwart defenders of the Chorus, believing that all have a claim to security in the quest for the divine. Sons of Mithras are still a bit of an underground cult, but they are at least recognized by the modern Chorus. Most Sons study Forces as a manifestation of Mithras, their god of military might.
Children of Albi are essentially the remnants of the Albigensian movement from the days of the Crusades, who cling to the notion that the material and the divine are separate worlds and that only a rejection of the material can allow transcendence to the spiritual. As with other groups that were persecuted during the Crusades, the Children hold a hesitant membership with the Chorus. They hold a prominent-division between Church and State, believing the State to be of the material (and thus corrupt) world, and they adhere to sacred scriptures that later Christianity discarded. Children of Albi also study Prime magic to master the secrets of the hidden and holy world in contrast to the corrupt material world.
The Nashimites are a Gnostic cult with views similar to the Children of Aibi but stretching back even farther. To them, the One holds the capacity for all the elements of creation, and the course of living souls determines its will. Thus, the Nashimites believe in the possibility of a truly maltheistic divinity, for as mankind's soul becomes corrupt, so too does the One fall from purity. Naturally, Nashimites work to spread the ideals of light and compassion to as many people as possible, hoping to raise the souls of all mankind to a higher standard so that the One follows and brings the universe to a better state. Like the Children of Aibi, the Nashimites study Prime magic to discern the state of the One.
As perhaps the most mysterious and schismatic group, the Knights Templar rejoined the Chorus only recently. Although they protect fiercely their old ways of Christianity, they also hold to unusual rites passed down through the ages and have a conspiratorial structure. The existence of such a structure is not surprising considering the historical "end" of the Templars at the hands of a church and ruler that denounced the Knights simply to seize their money. Modern Templars are warriors of faith who bear arms to defend their Christian teachings, battling the enemies of Orthodoxy and the Chorus. Some Templars still refuse to associate with the Chorus due to the Tradition's acceptance of other religions, but most see the Technocracy as the greatest betrayal of humanity's divinely granted capacity for thought and free will. While other Choristers seek a unification of humanity in pursuit of the divine, the Templars battle for righteousness with unparalleled zeal, supported by their magical swords, hereditary armor, submachine guns and military training! Not surprisingly, Templars master the Sphere of Forces, manifested as the veritable Wrath of God.
Philosophy
Nothing so defines humanity as its capacity to strive for the divine. On some level, every individual is aware of this spark, this higher ideal, this greater power. Even the most evil and depraved monstrosity recognizes this divinity, if only through its deliberate rejection, but unity wails for all.
Just as the splintered shards of the One are scattered throughout the world, so too do humans seek a unity of purpose that will rejoin them. The purity of song joins many voices together as one, in a greater harmony that unites them all and creates something new and beautiful that no single voice could make. From such a chorus, here comes a song of a glorious whole. Even strife and discord are washed away by the greater song. So, too, can all humanity be united when the greater unity brings peace, understanding and divine grace to everyone.
Failings
The failings of the Chorus are as obvious as its strengths. On the surface it might look like the Chorus is made up of a horde of humming people who all agree that there is one deity and that the deity is the One and Prime. However, the divisions between the various religions within the Chorus remain. Catholics and Anglicans still argue, Jews and Muslims still don't quite trust one another and every group has a problem with at least one of the others. They may all ultimately decide that they worship the One, but they can't quite shake their individual religious ideas. Of course, this weakness lies directly in the way of the Tradition's goal of unifying humanity. If they can't agree on their own philosophy, how can they possibly lead all people everywhere into harmony with each other? It is an ironic twist that a Tradition devoted to unity should have a history so scarred with conflict and oppression in the dogged conflict over the form that unity should take.
Theories and Practices
The base creed of this Tradition is that of the universal Aum, the song that was sung before time was time. The One began a song, and that Song split into the infinite harmony that is all of the children of the One. Sleepers and Singers — as the Chorus calls its members — alike are children of the One, and all are part of the Song. Although the Tradition appears to be made up of only Christians, it has many other faiths within its ranks as well. Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Pagans also join the Chorus. They continue to practice their religions while understanding that the names they use for their gods are part and parcel of the One force that is the source of all divinity and light.
The strength of this Tradition is its devotion to its highest ideals. The ideal Chorister is everything that a good Christian, a good Muslim, a good Jew or a good Pagan should be: kind, compassionate, strong, faithful and altruistic. Choristers are dedicated to helping their fellow humans, both Sleeper and Awakened, and they stand up against oppression and hate. This Tradition might be peaceful, but it is definitely not-nonviolent. Holy war is still war, and holy warriors are terrifying on the battlefield.
Magic is the will of the One, and the singers simply open themselves to it. They become channels for the Song and allow the flow of harmony to fill their spirits and their voices. No human can do more than guide the direction of magic. Mages are simply the hands and the fingers of the One and Prime. Song is the great symphony of creation and a Chorister can release that symphony, if only for a moment, through the mortal vessel as it becomes one with the divine. Because Choristers focus so strongly on a meta-magical and meta-religious idea, their area of expertise is Prime, the Sphere that deals with the very fabric of the universe. Prime is the direct magical manifestation of the One.
On a more physical note, Chorus efforts often take the shape of common church functions, like soup kitchens, free medical clinics or caring for the ill and lonely. If people have their material needs fulfilled, the mages reason, they are more inclined to be generous to their neighbors. Also, it's easier to spread a message to people when the messenger is actually among the people. Standing in a pulpit is fine, but it isn't going to reach the people who really need to hear the song. The fact that they're leading by example is also central to the Choristers' approach to encouraging Ascension.
Specialty Sphere: Prime
Common Foci: Song, candles, prayer, bells, incense, holy symbols
Many Initiates come to the Cult because of its reputation as a continual party. Popular opinion has it that sex, drugs and rock-'n'-roll are what the Cult is about. When the mages get to the party, though, they find out that there's a very specific point to all the revelry. The Cult of Ecstasy does use things like drugs and music and even sex, but they're just means to an end. The point is to achieve a mental state that transcends the physical world, a trance that allows the mage to see beyond his normal experience and go outside all the lines that keep most people and mages penned in.
Cultists take the word ecstasy in its original meaning: a sudden, intense rush of feeling that catapults the subject into an altered state. It doesn't have to be a pleasant feeling, but given a choice, most Cultists definitely prefer it that way. The Cult of Ecstasy breaks down barriers and self-imposed limitations to give people a rush of eye-opening experience.
Background
Ecstatic quests for transcendence — and the Cult of Ecstasy itself — have a long history, from the Bacchantes' dances and the Sufi Muslims' whirling to aboriginal vision quests. Drugs, pain, hunger, intense sexual stimulation, dance and music are the traditional tools for achieving a trance state, and the Cult hasn't really seen the need to change any of them. Members of the Cult have always been visionaries and rebels, even more so than other mages. Prophetic and insightful, they expanded their minds through exhausting ritual and dangerous substances, all in the pursuit of ultimate awareness.
The Cult's early incarnations spread from mystery visionaries in the Near East and India. There, seers learned the power of altered mind states through dance, music and simple drugs. Entire communities took up the whirling, fatiguing practices of seers, while in other areas hermit-like proto-Ecstatics lived as mystery men who uttered cryptic pronouncements and lived apart from the press of mundane humanity. In both cases, the roots of the Tradition came together with people who broke down their own boundaries of perception and comfort in the pursuit of wisdom.
By the Renaissance, the Ecstatics had become recognized by the other Traditions, who labeled them Seers. Ecstatic practices in mad, frenzied passion distinguished them from the conservatism of the times, yet their uncanny knack for foresight let them arrive in the right places at the right times. These Seers embraced the whole of human experience, equating passion with divinity and discarding the stifling mores of the Church. The Seers would accept no limits — not from themselves, from society or from any gods. This liberation both fascinated and terrified the more conservative Traditions, who alternately reviled and wondered at the Ecstatics' practices and powers.
Although the Cult has undergone many changes of name — from Sahajiya to Cult of Bacchus to Cult of Ecstasy — its original focus remains. Cultists seek to surpass their notions of comfortable boundaries, to explode into awareness beyond human limits, to reach an ecstatic transcendence where their consciousness spans all time and space. Today, the tools are different, but the result the same. Music, dance, sex, exercise, drugs — anything that can be pursued to exhaustive, passionate explosions of feeling is fair game. The Cult thrives in the eternal second at the height of an elegant dance, the shuddering sensitivity of total exhaustion and the lateral thoughts of the opened mind. Its message comes to people through this music, urging people to cast aside their banal notions in favor of ecstasy, experience and their own mad visions.
Organization
Flexibility is the Tradition's greatest asset. Because the Ecstatics understand that no boundary is permanent, they are able to see that there are always new ways to achieve goals and new ways to live their lives. As a whole, the Cult eschews structure in favor of encouraging creative, often chaotic rebellion. New experience is good experience — even if it hurts, the mage has learned something about how not to do things! The closest the Cult comes to a formal structure lies in its Code of Ananda, the proverbs of bliss that teach joy, compassion, sacred emotion and respect for others' passions in a sort of ethical guide that encourages each Cultist to embrace the differences of others.
Unsurprisingly, the Tradition has little real structure. Individual mages don't have a problem working together — they prefer company, usually — but they don't see the need for a hierarchy or for too much organization. When something needs to happen, it will happen. If more than a few Cultists need to meet in order to solve a problem or come to a consensus, they do so in during a rare Tradition convergence. Chantry houses tend to resemble community hangouts, jam-session rooms or fraternity houses more than magical workplaces, and they're often inhabited by several Cultists and a handful of Sleepers.
Factions
The Cult draws more new mages than any other Tradition, at first, because of its reputation as a gang of hippies. The ones who stay, though, are visionaries, one and all. There's no real list of the types of people who become Ecstatic mages, because anyone can realize that they're not seeing all that there is to see. The only unifying trait Ecstatics share is the fact that they realize, even if they haven't yet Awakened, that limitations and boundaries can be surpassed. There exist a few small sects within the Cult, primarily of extremists or those who feel the usefulness of some organization.
The Aghoris are a centuries-old faction near Bengali in India, who practice mutilation, pain and destruction as tools to surpass the mortal body. By destroying the shell, they reason, they can encourage the growth of the soul. This rather extreme philosophy denies the Ecstatic Code of Ananda, and most other Ecstatics stay the hell away from these dangerous types.
In Europe and the Americas, some Cultists continue the decadent practices of the late Hellfire Clubs, moving in secret circles of "gentlemen's societies" complete with mutilating initiation rites, intoxicants and damaging drugs and painful mind-games and emotionally manipulative "pleasures". These Acharne move among all of the stylish -yet-pained subcultures, especially the modern Gothic movement, spreading their particular joy of damnation with an amorality that sets them apart from Cultists or Hollowers. They, too, see the Code of Ananda as weakness. They practice the Mind Sphere in their pursuit of emotional mastery.
The Hagalaz are a violent group of Nordic berserkers, rune mages and tricksters, sometimes with ties to other sorcerous societies that share their passions. Engaging in bloody rune-carving and dangerous traps reminiscent of the Norse deity Loki, they personify the madness that runs through the chaotic side of Scandinavian myth. These dangerous types see the modern world and its religions as weak, and they push to overthrow them with a more militant Valhallan society.
Consorting with the mercurial fae, the Fellowship of Pan indulges in rites of sex, drinking, and Muse-inspired poetry and debate. These Cultists maintain ties with the modern descendants of the fae and initiate their members through the wild parties of the satyrs.
Politically active Cultists often wind up in the Dissonance Society, a small group that teaches personal responsibility and ethics as a cornerstone for anarchic society. Members of the Society indulge in a wide range of criminal (sometimes almost terrorist) activities and argue for the overthrow of the stifling chains of society. Members of this group tend to have an intellectual streak, using debate and discussion as tools just as much as action.
The K'an Lu Taoists contrast with the Akashic Brotherhood as a sect that practices extreme passion and physical pleasure as opposed to the asceticism of the monks. However, the enlightened K'an Lu see the need for a balance between discipline and excess, so they too practice martial arts, meditation, trances and discipline. The contrast between discipline and chaos lets them cut loose from the limits of experience to open their doors of perception in controlled ways.
Modern Klubwerks (or "clubkids," or just "clubbers," depending upon who you ask) are Cultists who indulge in the mass consciousness of nightclubs and concerts. In the pressing throng of humanity sharing a common beat, these muses reach out for the primal pulse of the mob. To them, the heartbeat of many people moves beyond the mind of the one; the actions taken in the heat of frenzied dance reflect basic human impulse unfettered by reasoning or prudish mores. These dancers indulge in all of the club scenes, creating magic in the waves of humanity that throng such venues.
Philosophy
Ecstatic philosophy holds that all limitations are self-imposed. Humans build their own comfortable domiciles in both the physical and mental worlds. To surpass one's limits, one must move beyond the barriers of comfort and tranquility. Although sanity and safety are left behind, the true experience lies beyond — learning comes from new experience, not repetitions of old, tired things. Everyone must strive to push outward and discover their own new ways of learning about the world. The ecstatic state is just a mind open to new experiences because it's released from the confines of self-imposed limits. Once human limits are breached, the person sees beyond the horizon of human insight, to reach a truly cosmic consciousness. Tools like sex and drugs — the Kamamarga, or paths to ecstasy — just open the door. It's up to the individual to step through, to see what's on the other side and to keep on going past where even those crutches take her, to the heart of the Lakashim, the pulse that drives the world.
Failings
All of the Cult's understanding comes with a serious glitch, unfortunately. The Ecstatics' tools generally end up as crutches. If the mage doesn't pay attention to what she's really doing — looking beyond her mind and her life for answers — she runs the very real risk of becoming dependent on her focus to do magic in any way, or even just to live. And that dependency isn't just psychological. A lot of Cultists become addicted to drugs or absorbed by their chosen foci to the point that nothing else can get beyond it into their lives. Cult mages also fall prey to their own chaos. They rebel so hard, or they try to go in so many directions at once, that nothing ever gets accomplished. Chaos and rebellion must be directed somehow, or the energy just swirls around in a sort of tornado and does no one any good.
Theories and Practices
Each Ecstatic has her favorite tools. Some things just work better for some people than others. That said, though, many Ecstatics lean toward some combination of drugs and music. Music is the most powerful tool for changing perception, according to many Ecstatic mages, and it's the easiest way to really get in touch with the primal and spiritual energies within and without.
Even though the Cult of Ecstasy encourages the use of tools in achieving altered states, no Cultist would ever force drugs, sex or any other experience on another person. The point of such states is to increase understanding and empathy, not to kill it. No mage who has felt the pain of the Earth or of the child down the street could bring herself to hurt an innocent. Cultists aren't drug dealers and they aren't pimps. On the other hand, if someone comes to an Ecstatic looking for a new way to see his life, the mage will be more than happy to help him extend his senses in whatever way he's comfortable with.
Once the Cultist is enlightened enough, she can achieve her transcendent state without outside help. She begins to understand that the only tool that's really necessary to move beyond customary boundaries is her own mind. Few Ecstatics truly abandon their foci, but those few that do become sages — they know what the future might hold and they have a better understanding of the entirety of the universe than many mages of other Traditions. The trick is to wean the mage away from the thought that the drug, music or other tool is the experience.
The core of the Cult's approach to magic lies in the belief that the senses can be extended to include just about everything. Once the mage has experienced and understood a thing or a situation, she can reach out and adjust it to fit her will. Other peoples' perceptions can also be altered. Of course that door was always there; you just never noticed it before, right? Changing the way a person sees life or a particular instance is one of the Cult's best approaches to magic. Perception, after all, is reality.
Just as the Ecstatics surpass the boundaries of mundane thought and understanding, they also jump the boundaries of time itself. They understand that time is a human-constructed idea, just like ethics and language. Time remains the Tradition's particular area of expertise, and Cultists seem to have an innate understanding of and control over how they and others perceive the passage of seconds, even years. As a result of their constant gazing into five minutes ago and three days hence, they've developed a distracted look. People usually write this look off as a stoned expression, but the Ecstatic is more likely looking at who his lunch date will be tomorrow.
Specialty Sphere: Time
Common Foci: Music, dance, drugs, meditation, fasting, exercise
Spirit-talkers, animal friends, brothers to wind and sisters to Earth — these mages walk the boundaries between our physical world and the realm of dreams, gathering wisdom and skill from the spirits that are native to the earth, the sky and the water. Dreamspeakers are often pigeonholed as shamans, and the name fits. They are the intermediaries between humanity and Spirit, communicating between the two worlds, maintaining balance and keeping the relationships between the inhabitants of both realms in their proper state of stasis or flux. Of all the Traditions, the Dreamspeakers have the most difficult role and the strongest centering, grounding influence.
Background
In the beginning, there were people in all lands who knew the way to cross to the spirit lands and communicate with the totems of the land, tribal protectors and ancestor spirits. These people shared their wisdom with their tribes or their families, and they were magicians and medicine men among their own groups. They did not speak of the many other dream-walkers they encountered in the spirit realms, though, and they did not gather in groups often. When the Convocation came together to form the Traditions, the mages recognized that these people needed to be a part of the forming alliance, despite how primitive they seemed. The shamans who answered the call became the first Dreamspeakers.
Those Dreamspeakers who joined the Traditions found reason to regret it, though. From the first, the Eurocentric Traditions, led by the prejudices of the Order of Hermes, pressed all of the various spiritual groups into one cachet. The Europeans would not bother to understand the "primitive and inferior" ways of the many visitors and labeled diem all as Dreamspeakers. For their part, the Dreamspeakers saw the Traditionalists as selfish, greedy and power-hungry, unconcerned with the sublime aspects of spiritualism and nearly as bad as the Order of Reason. Only the strong vision of the scientific annihilation of their cultures kept the Dreamspeakers involved with the Council — and even that was not enough. By the 1700s, the Dreamspeakers had so splintered in their relations with the racist Traditionalists that fully half the delegation left to return to their native peoples. This schism resulted in the demise of many Dreamspeakers and a rift between Tradition and Council that has not yet healed. By the modern age, the Dreamspeakers have realized that they can survive only with the help of the Council, yet the Council has long turned a deaf ear to them. Prophecy tells that the Council will learn from its errors and finally come to accept the Dreamspeakers — but it may not be in time to save all that the dreamers hold dear.
Of all the Traditions, the Dreamspeakers have arguably undergone the least change. Most members of the group still revere the ancient spirits, old rites and sacred places. They remember the names of gods and the faces of legends. The powerful oral history and vivid dream-craft of the Dreamspeakers lets them retain a great hereditary knowledge of their ways, and some factions see themselves as reincarnations of great shamans or even personifications of spirits in flesh. With drum and fire, chants and fetishes, the Dreamspeakers tap always into the same ancient Dream that has guided them for eternity.
The Dreamspeakers' role has gotten much more difficult recently. The Gauntlet, the curtain dividing the physical world from the spiritual, has become much harder to cross. In cities and places where disbelief is strong, it's almost impossible to pass into the spirit worlds. Even in sacred groves and deserts, stepping into the dream requires more effort than it ever has before. The eldest Dreamspeakers are concerned about this change, and the younger mages see their spirit-council fires as they meet to discuss how best to deal with this new trouble.
Organization
Shamanism isn't limited to Native Americans and African aborigines. Every culture on Earth has a few people who can communicate with the spirits of the land, and they all do so in very different ways. Even. so, Dreamspeakers all have a deep love for their home, whether they call the entire Earth home or just a corner of it. Many mages of this Tradition are active conservationists, seeking to preserve what's left of the wilderness or even to reclaim some of the land that has been developed already. Their connection to the spirits generally shows itself when the mages are young, sometimes in the form of imaginary animal friends, or it begins to manifest when the mage hits puberty. Most young Dreamspeakers go out on a quest to find someone who can teach them how to understand their visions and make sense of their new lives.
Since the first Dreamspeakers came to the Council, the leadership hasn 't gotten much more formal. The Tradition has always been organized loosely at best, deferring leadership to its most respected members almost by unspoken accord. Meetings of the entire Tradition are rare. Before the Gauntlet was strengthened, these meetings would take place in the spirit world, with totems and ancestor spirits sitting in and lending their wisdom as well. Now, however, the Dreamspeakers gather in the physical plane, letting each other know of the time and place of the meeting through dreams and visions.
Factions
Dreamspeakers profess as many different factions as there are forms of spiritualism or shamanism. Among them are: Keepers of the Sacred Fire , in many ways the Dreamspeakers that most personify the Tradition, remain among their native cultures to keep their roots alive. They accept that the world has moved on, but continue to support the original practices and heritages of their homes.
The Solitaries are isolationists who remove themselves to the desolate places of the Earth, there to survive in pure communion with the land. They exercise a strident drive to separate the Dream from the modern world that would destroy it. Many take young Initiates into the wastes to teach through vision-quests, then return to guide their native societies back to the Dreaming way.
The radical Ghost Wheel Society argues that the modern world is simply the natural progress of the world, and that the Dreamspeakers must embrace the medicine of the machine. These rugged few look to technology and its underlyin g symbols for spirits. The techno-shamans of the Ghost Wheel embrace technology and its benefits, but they marry it to their own vision of spirituality. Naturally, they are treated with suspicion (at least) by much of the rest of the Tradition.
Outspoken activists and warriors join the Red Spear Society, which includes those Dreamspeakers who left the Tradition council but feel a desire to remain in contact with the rest of their allies. These extremists take the war directly to their perceived oppressors, and they lash out against anyone who would destroy their way of life. They direct their energy against the Technocracy primarily, but they attack Traditionalists or even Sleepers of selfish and unfeeling demeanor as need dictates.
Lastly, the wandering storytellers of the Baruti keep old myths and legends alive. Before science explained the world, stories told of creation, tricksters, discovery, love and mischance. The Baruti retain these stories, and they memorize the new lore of the modern Dreamspeakers as well. In keeping lore and ancient wisdom alive, the Baruti hold many secrets, and they also retain a distinct vision of the unformed world before the coming of science. Indeed, as they say, even though the story cannot be true, it is the way that things happened.
Philosophy
There is infinitely more to this world than the things anyone can touch. Beyond the edges of vision are beings that have been with us for aeons, and they are bound up in the workings and the health of the world. The Dreamspeakers recognize this fact, and they honor the spirits. They are the gatekeepers between the two planes, serving as communicators and go-betweens. If either side of the Gauntlet is neglected, both will suffer, so the Dreamspeakers balance the two. The balance sometim es requires the mage to perform actions that seem irrational or trivial; other times the mage must make a sacrifice to keep the worlds in harmony. Too many people have forgotten the existence of the spirits of the land, and the Dreamspeakers must always remember for themselves and for everyone else.
Failings
Shamanism is a solitary profession almost by definition. There are no group tours into the spirit world. The Dreamspeakers suffer from this lack of cohesion. Because there isn't really a group identity, there aren't any group goals or unified movement toward a specific point. The potential power of the Tradition is diffused into many small vessels instead of poured into a larger, more effective channel. On the other hand, all Dreamspeakers are working on some level to counteract the strengthening of the Gauntlet, the other weakness that plagues this Tradition. With access to the spirit world so limited, the shaman-mages have lost access to much of their magical strength. The Dreamspeakers' inability to even understand one another despite their unification as a single Tradition compounds this loss.
They all revere and work for the greater balance of the world, yet their approaches are so varied and intuitive that they cannot work together effectively.
Theories and Practices
In their hearts, the Dreamspeakers all hear the voice of the world — its invisible pulse, the surge of spirits, the rhythm of nature and the slumbering power of the great Earth. Some answer to totems, others to capricious spirits of natural places. A few commune with the modern spirit of man, the symbols and lines that technology calls forth. In every case, though, magic comes from the Dream, whatever its given name. The Dreamspeakers draw out the images and archetypes known unconsciously by all humanity.
Primitive is not now and never has been a word that accurately or wholly describes these mages. They may use methods that pre-technological societies used to communicate with things other people can't see, but their grasp of reality and the modern world is startlingly strong. In order to understand what is happening to the dream realms and to interpret the messages of the spirits, the Dreamspeakers have to be intimately familiar with the workings of the physical world. Besides, it doesn't do anyone any good if a shaman in Alaska has a message for a Sleeper in Venezuela and can't pick up a phone or send an email to get the message across.
Standing with one foot in this world and one foot across the Gauntlet, the Dreamspeakers have a unique understanding of the consequences of their actions. Not only do they see what happens among people and societies, they see the ripples caused in the spirit world, which almost always last much longer. This dual vision gives the Tradition a deep sense of duty — duty to Sleepers, Awakened and the spirits they deal with. With the fate of two worlds directly on their shoulders, the Dreamspeakers know that they must choose carefully and wisely when making decisions.
Specialty Sphere: Spirit
Common Foci: Drumming, chanting, fire, mandalas, sand paintings, bones, amulets, herbs
It's hard to accept the fact that, one day, consciousness as every human knows it will end. Death, to most people, is a terrifying unknown that must be avoided at all costs. It's little wonder, then, that people look into the eyes of a Euthanatos and suddenly grow cold. The Euthanatos know death, and they know that it must and will come. Sometimes, these mages bring death with them. More often, though, they bring the potential for rebirth, for the seeds of creation in the remnants of the past.
Background
Proto-Euthanatoic roots heralded from the earliest cities in and near what would later be called India. The philosopher-priests of the ancient years tracked the cycles of reincarnation and led people through their many lives in the turning of the eternal Wheel. These early mages sensed the greater cycle of life and death, and they guided entire civilizations through their rise, fall and rebirth in new forms. Eventually, their philosophies settled in the Hindu religion and similar god-forms of the area. Dispersed throughout many cities, the roots of the Euthanatos maintained similar methods and beliefs, but in small, isolated groups of healers, priests and sages.
The Euthanatos Tradition has been accused throughout history of killing in cold blood, killing for the joy of killing and killing to serve its own ends and increase its own power base. One of the greatest conflicts in Euthanatos history is the 300-year battle against the Akashic Brotherhood.
Both groups, in the end, were fighting for the same thing — the preservation of life and reincarnation — but the Akashics could not accept the Euthanatos' methods. The Wheel must turn, and the Euthanatos believe that it is sometimes wiser to end an unproductive or suffering cycle and send a soul back to be reincarnated than it is to allow a stagnant energy to linger and hold back the turning of the ages. From this pragmatism came the need to judge and shepherd the living in times of starvation or plague, but the Akashic Brotherhood did not agree with such methods. The Himalayan Wars between the two groups brought forth a terrible series of killings, not just of individual mages, but of whole reincarnated lineages.
Eventually, the surviving sects united as the front of Akashic opposition forced them in contact, and the small groups finally came under a single banner of Chakravnnti.
The establishment of Buddhism changed the Chakravanti, bringing to them a new awareness of compassion and a new understanding of suffering. Where the various groups had worked before as fearful mages with the power to heal or destroy, they now learned to understand that very fear in their charges. From these roots the Chakravanti drew up the beginnings of their own moral code. Later, during the formation of the Traditions, that code served as a basis for the Euthanatos as a whole. Greeks, Celts, Indians and others who served the Great Cycle and believed in the need for strong souls to ease the suffering of others all came together as a whole. The Euthanatos Tradition was born in an incarnation that the other Traditions might label "killers with consciences."
The truth is that the Euthanatos must kill, but they do not kill for joy or power. The Tradition is based in thanatoic — death-focused — sects of Indian, Greek and Arabic culture. In India, with its frequent plagues and poor living conditions even before the modern era, death was often the best and kindest answer for ill, suffering people. In Greece and the Middle East, death allowed scholars and surgeons to expand their knowledge and help the people who still lived. Even today, Euthanatos plunge into ancient memories and reincarnated souls to find enlightenment. They cross to the Underworld to experience death, and they uphold a stern code. To the Euthanatos, theirs is a sacred duty, one that must be carried out, but is so strenuous and terrible that only the most strong-willed can perform it. It's not so much that they take on a right, as they take on a burden: responsibility for pain, for release and for renewal.
Organization
This Tradition is fairly well organized, if somewhat loosely so, with a set system of apprenticeship, mastery and leadership. There are established Marabouts (Chantry houses) all over the world, and the center of the Tradition on Earth lies in Calcutta. The Paramaguru (leaders) often serve as Acarya (mentors) to new arrivals in the Tradition, spotting them through the auspices of Fate while the Initiates hover on the cusp of awareness. From there, training can proceed in many forms. Some Euthanatos groups are notoriously strict in their discipline, while others have a very relaxed and egalitarian attitude. In any case, the Acarya is formally responsible for the Initiate once the agama sojourn is complete, up until the Initiate is recognized as a full mage. Once inside the Tradition, there are really only three ranks: apprentice, member and leader. Recognition comes with wisdom and magical skill, and leaders stand only as long as their followers support them.
In order to truly understand the power of death, the Euthanatos believe that a mage must have touched it. All Euthanatos must undergo the agama, or little death, when they are initiated into the Tradition. This sojourn is a brief trip into the Underworld itself, overseen by a mentor and used as a guide. Often, the Initiate is drawn to the Tradition because her Awakening involved some sort of near-death experience or the death of someone close to her. Therefore, Initiates tend to be people familiar with endings and sacrifice in some form or another.
Factions
Euthanatos sects are about as fluid as those of the Dreamspeakers or Cult of Ecstasy (both of whom the Euthanatos carry strong ties to). That is to say, Euthanatos have a great variety of sects and beliefs, and they have a largely open attitude toward philosophical differences within their own society.
Tantrism and Indian culture form the basis of the militant Natatapas, who confine themselves to the heart of India and keep the oldest rites of the Euthanatos. All Initiates of the Natatapas come formally through the agama sojourn to join this conservative sect, and they learn historical Hinduism and Buddhism. Naturally, their withdrawn world-view makes them suspicious of other Traditions, but the Natatapas make up a reasonable, if conservative, group.
From the complex rites of Africa come the Madzimbabwe. These Euthanatos study their own cultural ties to spirituality and healing. Theirs is a heritage of ghost -calling, soothing and compassion from the old cities of Africa, when it had a civilization before European invasion. Although they differ from other Euthanatos in religion, the Madzimbabwe remain members of the Tradition due to their shared compassion and duty to help others.
Greek heritage manifests in the Pomegranate Deme, who study the mysteries of Persephone and the Greek Underworld. Literal worshippers of the Greek mythos, these mages are now few and far between, and their religion falters. Within a few generations they will probably be a memory as new Initiates join less theological sects.
The last ancient faction is the Aided, which stems from death-mages of Celtic heritage. Their order nearly collapsed under the persecutions from Christianity during the Dark and Middle Ages, but allegiance with other Euthanatos allowed them to shelter some of their members and ideals. Today, they uphold the bloody Celtic rites and sacrifices necessary for the proper culling of the herd (be it human or animal). Like the other cultural factions, the Aided do accept members without a direct tie to their base, as long as those Initiates have some sort of stylistic or inculcated elements that tie with the faction's methods.
Modern chance and probability occupy the Lhaksmists. These luck-followers rely on total randomness in just about everything — magic, living, important decisions, whatever. However, they gladly throw themselves into the trappings of modern electronics, feeling a kinship with probability theory and quantum uncertainty. These Euthanatos, who are the ones closest to the Digital Web, watch over the growing webs of chaos spread by the Internet's haphazard expansion.
The exclusive Golden Chalice serves as a political assassination group, specifically one that stalks and destroys dangerous individuals in positions of leadership and influence. Their roots stretch back to the Byzantine empire, and they include elements of various cultures from that era. In the modern age, though, they are more than willing to use high -tech tools as a means to defeat high -tech enemies, and so they mix various poisons and gadgets along with their more traditional magic. Membership comes by invitation only. Recently, the sect has come under scrutiny — if membership is by invitation only, what are they hiding? More to the point, how could they allow the atrocities of leaders like Pol Pot, yet feel justified in moving against lesser statesmen?
One of the more popular sects in the Euthanatos is the Knights of Radamanthys. These warriors hire out as mercenaries to the other Traditions, leveraging their command of entropy and their fearsome fighting skills, but only for causes that they feel are just. In this fashion, they advance the Council as a whole, work on Euthanatos cases and still earn the Tradition its keep. Sensible and farsighted, this faction trains in modern combat, ethics and a multitude of espionage skills. Internally, though, most Euthanatos consider it a simple training ground from which veterans can graduate to the true philosophical levels of inquiry, instead of just being "hired gunfighters."
The Albireo may be the most important intra-Tradition group, as far as the Euthanatos are concerned. Although any Euthanatos may join, full membership comes only with probationary work. These diplomats carry the face of the Euthanatos to the rest of the Traditions, explain the Thanatoic code, work to uphold the Tradition ideals and police the Euthanatos for internal corruption. Of course, with their privileged stance as ambassadors within the other Traditions, they may well sniff out corruption in those ranks, too.
Philosophy
Death is not the end; death is an end. There isn't much good in an existence that will serve no purpose, and there is less good in an existence that brings pain or trouble to everything it touches. It's better to end that thread and let a new one take its place than allow it to take up space. Like flowers that grow from a burned forest bed, these threads will be rewoven into the Tapestry. The Tapestry weaves into a great picture, but suffering and sorrow mar that picture. Every man must take up his burden, surpass it and accept the responsibility to deal with this inevitability. That responsibility becomes a keystone for the support of the world, for the willingness to support and shelter others — and to perform the duties necessary to release those who only bring or know suffering.
Failings
There's another reason behind the careful attention these mages pay to emotion: Jhor. All mages gather Resonance from their activities, but this Tradition gathers more of this type of Resonance because its mages deal with the energies of Entropy. Jhor is the physical reflection of decayrelated magic. It is common for Euthanatos mages to have sunken eyes, hollow cheeks or pasty skin. As they channel Entropy, even to divine what the fall of a die will be, it comes to rest in their bodies. The accumulation of Jhor isn't always related to the mage's intent when she uses her magic, but a Euthanatos who seems too corpselike bears watching. Entropy is not a force to be used lightly or too often. This Jhor can accumulate and cause Quiet, too, leading the Euthanatos to morbidity and an obsession with death. While any mage can suffer this sort of affliction, Euthanatos are notoriously prone to it. Euthanatos mages watch one another for signs of too much Jhor. A mage who's fallen into a Jhor-Quiet becomes an emotionless killing machine, and he must be put down. Most Euthanatos are acutely aware of the irony that they're about two steps from being killed by their own fellows.
Theories and Practices
Euthanatos mages have a variety of approaches to the actual execution of their magic. Most use some kind of device to analyze the balance of a life or a situation, divining the probable outcome of a course of action. This device can take the form of a coin flip — if it's heads, the person can be changed; if it's tails, it's curtains — or a pair of glasses that the mage looks through to see what a soul holds. So many things depend on what Sleepers would call random chance, and the Euthanatos uses that perception to her advantage. However, just shrugging an Effect off by wondering what the odds were of that happening is clumsy and unsubtle. A clever Euthanatos begins a series of perfectly believable events that trigger her desired result (a man in a bar takes one drink too many, decides not to drive home and calls a cab — the Euthanatos has effectively gotten herself a ride to wherever she wishes to go). Not all Euthanatos magic involves killing, either — a situation can be changed for the better without anyone losing any blood.
The Euthanatos must look at the gains achieved by giving someone the Good Death, but they cannot ignore their sorrow, either. Healing is accomplished through excising the diseased material from the healthy, allowing the subject to feel the pain of the knife and then to produce new, clean tissue to replace what was removed. Only through experiencing every phase of the healing cycle — pain included — can the Euthanatos make a positive difference.
The Euthanatos dedication to furthering the progress of the Wheel doesn't only apply to individual souls. The world itself is constantly changing and moving, and it too becomes diseased. Euthanatos mages find these diseased areas of society and, by addressing individual components of the problem, attempt to end them. Doing so becomes harder and harder, however, as the world degenerates further. There are too many people involved in too many problems, and the Good Death cannot be given to every one of them. More and more often, Euthanatos find themselves performing delicate adjustments to people and situations instead of simply ending the cycle and letting the Wheel spin itself out.
Like the Dreamspeakers, Euthanatos have an acute sense of duty. Instead of feeling the consequences of actions in the spirit world, however, Euthanatos are intimately familiar with the human ramification of any thing they do. Each time a death-mage takes a life, she must be certain that it is the right thing to do. The choice is final, and the people left behind must live the rest of their lives with the loss of the victim — that's not an easy thing for a mage to deal with. Therefore, the Euthanatos must be able to understand the consequences
in order to weigh them against the benefits of the Good Death and make the right choice.
However the mage finds the Tradition, she must understand that the Wheel turns. She must understand that although she can affect some cycles for a short time, she will no longer be in control in the end. Games of chance are common illustrations for new Euthanatos — the mages practice predicting how the dice will fall or where the ball will land, and they inevitably make a wrong choice. Euthanatos must accept the inevitability of their own deaths — they must understand the fear in their victims — before giving the Good Death to anything.
Specialty Sphere: Entropy
Common Foci: Weapons, dice, scales, ashes, mantras, mathematics
Grandfather to the Traditions, mystics without peer, holders of Heaven's keys — the Order of Hermes claims many titles. Whether these claims are truth or hubris, the Order has donated more to the Traditions, tutored more Archmages and created more codified magical theories than any other group within the Council. These formalized willworkers stand proudly upon their achievements as high wizards, masters of ritual and spell, sages of great renown and learned builders of artifacts and Chantries. Yet their unity hides powerful political intrigue. Their heyday is gone, washed away in the myths of yesteryear. Their most powerful Chantries are shattered. Their newest Initiates abandon the ancient codes in favor of new ways. The Order has survived for centuries through its intensity and dedication, but the new millennium may be its death-knell — or its rebirth.
Background
Hermetic historians write entire tomes and dissertations regarding the formation of the Order. Most agree that Hermetic roots sprang from ancient Egypt, where native magic and Hebrew Kabbalah melded in a powerfully mystical and mathematical precision. The exclusive wizardpriests of the era in Sumer, Babylon and Egypt built the seeds of mysticism with writing and language. The magic of symbols and their meanings carried into the human consciousness a new way to look at the universe, a way to join and transform separate ideas. Order historians point to a pair of Archmages as the inspiration behind Thoth, Egyptian god of wisdom, later called "Hermes Trismegistus" or Thrice-Great Hermes by the Greeks, for whom the Order took its name.
From Egyptian roots, the idea of mystery cults spread across Greece and the Mediterranean. Writings of thinkers like Solomon and Pythagoras infused a combination of mysticism and precision into the magical workings of various groups. Hermes, as a symbol of communication, knowledge and travel and good fortune, served as a popular patron for such circles. The Thothian and Hermetic ideals remained scattered as underground societies for several centuries, occasionally popping up in the consciousness of great philosophers such as Plato. The great turn came in 332 B.C. with Alexander's unification of much of Persia, Greece and Egypt. From this empire, travel and communication allowed the juxtaposition of various sorts of Kabbalah, Gnosticism and Persian religion, creating the first mesh recognized as a true part of the Hermetic Tradition. Even through the decline of Hellenistic civilization, the fall of Rome and similar catastrophes of civilization, the Hermetic Order thrived.
Powerful texts codified alchemy, numerology, theology and sympathetic magic. The Cult of Mercury (Rome's version of Hermes) worked powerful magic in concert and spread Hermetic ideals through the cream of intellectual society.
Eventually, the Order of Hermes came together under the direction of Trianoma and Bonisagus. These founders, a legendary politician and researcher, joined to travel Europe and bring practitioners of the Mercuric and Hermetic ideals together. Trianoma's diplomatic skill wooed many to the group, while Bonisagus' revolutionary parma magica (shield against magic) allowed the suspiciously independent workers of the age to meet in relative safety. These leaders later became the Primi, founders of the Order's great Houses, passing on their magical styles and traditions through their apprentices. From these lineages, the Order crystallized as a single political unit, with each House contributing and contesting in a magical society under Bonisagus' revolutionary codification of their Great Art.
Over the succeeding centuries, the Order experienced great triumphs and setbacks. The Dark Ages saw their height as advisors and mystics sheltered from society and subtly influencing it. Their Great Experiment fell, though, to internal squabbling, elitism and consistent dabbling in Infernalism. Still, the Order restructured, expanding and adding new magical groups constantly. Old Houses fell or were cast aside. The Druidic Diedne were wiped out on charges that the entire House had been corrupted by demons. Their accusers, the Tremere, later embraced vampirism.
The Order of Reason, in counterpart to the mysticism of Hermes, struck down many Hermetic cabals and Chantries, but the Order responded by bringing its incredible resources and support to bear in the formation of the Tradition Council. The Order led the recognition of the Spheres as the inter-Tradition magical system of study, but it also found itself pushed away from its desired prominence within the fledgling Council. The Renaissance brought new ideas to the Order but ultimately signaled its collapse as an open force among humanity. The destruction of too many Order bastions forced the Hermetics to withdraw from everyday sight, eventually to be expunged from the pages of history by the Technocracy.
Through subtle influence, the Order works today to introduce minor mysticism and secrets of the Art into mass society. Although far from a complete success, this project still produces a surprising amount of leeway, especially as mass printings of Hermetic works become available. It may be too late for this project to do any good, though. With the fall of Doissetep, the destruction of Concordia and the death or involuntary exile of most of the great Masters, the Order fin ds its traditional teachers and structures threatened. Novitiates who would barely be counted as Disciples must now train Apprentices with their rudimentary, partial knowledge. Old, carefully hoarded secrets are gone forever in many cases, while mystical items and powerful patrons are destroyed or locked away beyond the hostile Gauntlet. The survivors on Earth can only hope to remember their teachings and learn all that they can. The Order will survive, but it may not be the same Order that it once was.
Organization
The Order of Hermes is, without a doubt, the most hierarchical of the Traditions. Initiates and Apprentices must serve under a mentor, who teaches the basics of magical theory and practice. After a grueling apprenticeship (traditionally, up to seven years, but often cut short in the heyday of the modern world), the supplicant challenges for recognition as a full magus — a challenge that can end with a return to apprenticeship, or even with death. Once accepted, each mage has his own sigil, a symbol of the individual's achievements. Although all mages theoretically have the authority to vote in Hermetic meetings, politics run at the pace set by the Masters and the ambitious. More than once, political leverage has shoved aside the potential for moral or material growth. Each step up the ladder of the Order reveals greater mysteries but also makes the student more beholden to the Tradition as a whole. Those who achieve Mastery are lauded for their high place and given the respect due their powers, but they can also expect to garner political opponents. Each Master is, in turn, expected to recruit and train a new apprentice or set of students. The cycle continues, with members indoctrinated into the Order's secrets but becoming steadily more embroiled in its internal struggles.
The Order of Hermes has a detailed code of conduct that lays out the basis of internal magical dealings. Among other things, Hermetic mages consider sanctums to be inviolate, they are forbidden from magical scrying upon other Hermetics, they are expected to train at least one apprentice, and they are forbidden from dealing with Infernal entities. Of course, these rules all bow to one simple axiom: don't get caught. Corruption of many sorts is rife within the Order. Breaking the rules isn't as punishable as breaking the rules in a politically unacceptable way.
Matters may change soon in the Order, though. With the death of experienced teachers and Masters on Earth, new mages must learn from the often-fragmentary knowledge of the remaining Disciples. Cut off from traditional support, political factions in the Order find no choice but to put aside their differences or go out in a blaze of glory. The Order finds that it has no choice but to pull together, and its many members are creating for themselves a new vision of the Tradition.
Factions
The Order categorizes its many different magical styles by Houses, groups that follow in the footsteps of a particular founder. There have been many Houses in the past, and although quite a few have fallen, there will be more to replace them.
The mages of House Bunisagus keep alive the base erudition and scholarship of the Order's founder. These mages delve deep into magical theory. Many of the great discoveries of the Order come from the tomes of Bo nisagus mages. With their exhaustive research into magical sources and causes, such mages often study the Prime Sphere heavily.
House Ex Miscellanea — literally, "House out of hash" — grew from the increasing need to welcome mages whose studies didn't mesh with any other Hermetic House, but who desired to learn and share the Hermetic style. The House formed in the Dark Ages, and it continues to be strong. Today, it takes in necromancers, spiritualists, students of the fae, naturalists, mystics, artisans, craftsmen and others who find that their talents might lie in the direction of a different Tradition but who desire the Hermetic structure and insight. Old Houses, lost to the ages, are also included in this formation.
The Order's tactical weapons are found in House Flambeau. Students of Forces nonpareil, the Flambeau come from a blend of Moorish and Spanish influence. They wield cleansing fire in their crusade for vengeance against the enemies of the Order.
The magic of chance and probability tie easily into the metamathematics of the Order through House Fortunae . This rather modern House concerns itself with high numerology, randomness and the spoils of chance's games — money. Unlike Technocrats, though, they recognize money as a magical concept and draw out an intuitive understanding of chance events that leads to manipulation of happenstance. Naturally, these mages tend to eschew the Order's focus on Forces in favor of their own line of Entropy.
Powerful internal policing falls at the feet of House Janissary. Although the Janissaries don't make the rules of the Order, they do enforce them. These mages watch constantly for signs of internal corruption, for mages who've made the wrong sorts of deals or broken with the ideals of the Order. Then, the Janissaries take care of the problem. But who watches the watchers?
House Quaesitor, one of the original Houses, oversees Hermetic law. While the Janissaries function much as roving enforcers, the Quaesitori hold Tribunals to decide cases of law and punishment, to make new precedents or cast aside old ones and to determine the fates of mages charged with criminal actions. The Quaesitori rarely enforce these dictates directly, but they serve to interpret divine, Hermetic, personal and human laws. Rather terrifyingly, the Quaesitori have the dubious distinction of being the wizards who first discovered the Gilgul rite.
On the outskirts of the Order's practices is House Shaea, a group that embraces the early Egyptian trappings of the Order and promotes base linguistics as a key to understanding thought, perception and thus the universe. From these elements the Sheshati indulge in education, learning and eventually wisdom. Although other Hermetics sometimes scoff at them as simple scribes, the predominantly feminine group maintains records with diligence and doubtless holds many secrets that the other Houses would dearly love to know... or see destroyed.
House Solificati marks the newest group on the Hermetic scene. Several members of the Solificati joined the Order after their Tradition's dissolution in the Middle Ages. Now, the remaining Children of Knowledge, combined with students from Ex Miscellanea, have reunited their former Tradition's strengths and achieved recognition as a full House. The Solificati are alchemists who practice material transformation as a metaphor for the evolution of human to divine. They also experiment with chemical enlightenment, searching for a metaphysical substance to open the doors to higher perceptions. Unsurprisingly, the Solificati have a great wealth of knowledge in Matter, and they study that Sphere more than others.
Perhaps the oddest of the Hermetics is House Thig, also known as the Ruby Children or Crucible of Thig. These modern techno-magicians blend technological devices with the symbolism of the Order. Instead of simply building a better computer, a Thig adept will make a magical one. Where a technocrat might rely on technological innovation, the Thig mage binds spirits and mystical powers into scientific forms. Although somewhat outcast among the other Houses, the young up-and-comers of Thig show great promise in combining old Hermetic ways with new world thought. Perhaps because they did not rely so heavily on Masters and old mentors, the Thig have prospered while other Houses have been hit hard in the wake of the Reckoning.
Lastly, House Tytalus emphasizes growth through conflict. All motion in the universe comes from the interaction of opposite, polarized forces. House Tytalus takes this imperative to every level of existence, and its members constantly seek questions, challenges and trials worthy of their skills. No Tytalus mage is ever content to sit upon his laurels, or to have "enough" — there's always a higher mystery, one that demands a greater level of perfection and erudition. The Tytali certainly strive to improve the Order, but their methods are often dangerous. Some wonder if their presence doesn't bring more strife than it's worth.
Philosophy
Hermetic philosophy is complex and many-layered. At the heart, the Hermetics profess the drive to perfection. This drive manifests through trials, tests, self-discovery, and the rejoining of fragmented patterns like disparate languages or mathematical conundrums. Ideally, each individual has a Word, a divine imperative that drives the figure's revelations. By exploring the boundaries of that Word and all of its meanings, the individual rises to his inner nature, then beyond. Each step in the process is a challenge that requires a leap of perception but also opens the way to the next path. Eventually, the human passes far enough to become something cosmically divine.
Failings
Although the Order has a great unity and body of knowledge, its political fractiousness and its pride both serve as wedges against enlightenment. Hermetic history is full of decisions made for reasons of ego, for political gain or for the Hermetic belief that their studies elevate them beyond the concerns of other Traditions. Each Hermetic mage passes through the fires of inquiry to achieve knowledge, and this hard-fought wisdom is guarded jealously and treated as a gem of truth. When these ideologies conflict, there's no room to give.
In the past, the Order fought bitterly for greater recognition in the Tradition Council, citing its many contributions and its own mystical prowess. Internally, Houses fought one another for resources, students, even over points of magical theory. Despite the invention of certamen to settle grudges nonfatally, wizards contested and killed one another when their energies could be spent in pursuit of Ascension or in battle against
Tradition enemies. The Order has also covered up atrocities and problems solely to hold them as secret leverage in political machinations, and tried to force other Traditions to conform to its own viewpoints. None of these actions endear the Order to other mages.
Internally, the Order often limits its own members due to their political acumen. If a Master wants a particular course of action taken or denied, a Talisman to change hands or a Chantry raised or lowered the fortunes of other mages can depend on whether they side with him or not. A wellmeaning Disciple can find himself censured with little more than a few helpful ideas, and training can be very difficult to garner without promises of later payment in sa (essentially, favors). Many Hermetics become so consumed with their own political agendas and personal quests that they lose sight of the progress to Ascension and self-perfection, instead fighting a political war that grinds them down and spits them out. With the destruction of much of the upper echelon of Hermetic structure, this trend may change — or the new blood may simply turn into another old guard.
Theories and Practices
The Order trains its members stylistically according to House, but modern training tends to be somewhat eclectic and based on survival issues. Hermetic theory states that every individual has the spark of divinity and the potential for self-perfection, but few realize it or are ready for it. Thus, it's important to weed out the shining stars from the chaff. Let the un-Awakened go on about their banal lives, and focus the true attention and learning on those who can use it.
Highly concerned with symbology, Hermetic magic calls upon angelic names to open the gates of Creation, oft en through the secret language of Enochian. With this language of the angels, the Hermetic can unleash sounds and vibrations that resonate with the key elements of the Tellurian, and enforce his will on it. Other Hermetic tools include swords, wands and st aves, the traditional instruments to represent violence and power, as well as circles, triangles and other geometric symbols, which can represent direction, measurement or confinement with their simple purity and mathematical precision. Some spirit magic also relies on ancient pacts made in early days. Just as Hermetic mages are fond of trading favors among one another, they often make deals with spirits for tutelage or aid, calling on those spirits later with special symbols or objects. A few symbols like the Seal of Solomon are even considered invested with perpetual power or divine discoveries of universal keys, so they can be used to perform incantations time and again.
Hermetic mages gather and study in Chantries, like other mages, but they are noteworthy in that they're the ones who pioneered the idea among the Traditions. Most Hermetics have a double life: a Hermetic Word and craft name, and a mundane identity. After all, despite the need to master multiple languages, esoteric mathematics and tomes of symbology, Hermetic mages must also be adept at surviving mortal society, especially with the spirit world dangerous to enter. For this reason, Hermetic mages keep their affiliation a secretive sort of allegiance much like the more mainstream societies of Masons and Rosicrucians.
Specialty Sphere: Forces
Common Foci: chanting in Enochian and other obscure languages, pentagrams and circles, Seals of Solomon, specific numbers, staves and wands, swords
Not all science needs to be banal and regimented process trumpeted by the Technocracy. So say the Sons of Ether, and they practice what they preach. From the mad, inspirational science of Victorian wonder-workers' to the fringes of cutting-edge alternative scientific theory, the Sons of Ether use it all. While other Technomancers pioneer new worlds, the Sons of Ether take the discarded cast-offs of technology and turn them into creations of the imagination. No invention is too strange, no theory is too obscure, for them to tweak it and find a way to use it. Contradictions? Impossibilities? Nonsense — there are only doors that have not yet been opened by Science!
Background
With roots dating as far back as the Middle Ages and a series of changes through the modern day, the Sons of Ether have quite a convoluted background. The most basic foundations lay in the document known as the Kitab al Alacir, the Book of Ether, from which early philosophers propounded a science based not on observation, but on belief. Presumably based on the works of early philosophers and translated through several secret forms, the document eventually surfaced in 12th-century Spain, where a pair of enterprising mystics (one a Hermetic craftsman, the other a Templar) took its teachings to heart. They formed a Natural Philosopher's Guild, one dedicated to the study of met aphysics and mysticism. Side by side with the more reasoned workers of the Renaissance, these guildsmen went on to pioneer new creations and inventions. Where the Order of Reason propounded a rational and dissemble state to the universe, though, the guild held that creation functioned due to the spark of genius in the individual, that the universe had no limits as long as one did not recognize any.
The Natural Philosopher's Guild survived in muted form among various groups of imaginative pioneers, never really united after its founders' time. However, the end of the Renaissance ushered in a technological age with possibilities heretofore undreamed of by mankind. Those who opened their eyes to these possibilities, who strove to make something meaningful instead of denying opportunities, still carried the flag of the guild until its formation as a recognized part of the Order of Reason. The spark literally came with the development of electricity, as these scientists formed the Electrodyne Engineers.
For the better part of a century, the Engineers advocated the wonders of electricity, the value of perception in experimentation and the power of the questing spirit. Their methods flew in the face of the new Technocracy's more reasoned pursuits. Willing to stride off into the unknown on the backs of wild theories and discredited sciences, the Engineers imperiled the Technocracy's idea of a safe, stable, methodical scientific world. Decrying the Engineers' methods, the Technocracy levied sanctions against them, up to and including publicly denouncing their favored theories.
The Technocracy proclamation of the ether as fiction was the final stone. The Convention took upon itself the new moniker "Sons of Ether," and turned to the Traditions for succor.
Over the next several decades, the Etherites alternately advanced cutting-edge theoretical sciences and renewed old ones. From jet-packs to quantum mechanics, chaos math to etherships, they proved their commitment to truly inspired science in numerous ingenious devices. Their adventurers strode the globe as heroes whose exploits, too unbelievable to digest as fact, instead entered popular fiction. And they continued to dream, and to build.
Today, the Sons of Ether occupy a prominent place in the Tradition Council. Although many consider them deranged or just plain unstable, their devices and inventions sometimes work when other magic would fail, and their familiarity with technology gives them an edge in conflict with the Technocracy. As science travels into infinitely more detailed realms, the Sons of Ether find more cracks to exploit. Quantum theory accepts a subjective view of the universe. Dark matter theory posits the existence of an unseen yet massive matter all around — the ether. The Sons of Ether have always renewed the old, and their Tradition's vitality seems to show more of the same.
Organization
Given the fractious and chaotic nature of most Etherites, it's not surprising that their Tradition follows suit. Initiates are brought in from science classes and philosophical discussions, often after propounding on the nature of the Kitab al Alacir (once a true Scientist has circumspectly dropped a copy in the student's care). A student who manages to break through the barriers of conventional logic and realize his own theories on the contradictions inherent in the universe can be guided into a mentorship as a true Son of Ether.
Once inducted, a student's advancement proceeds along academic lines. Etherites correspond and publish journals or papers to propound their theories. Publication in Paradigma, the Etherite journal of universal science, is the most prestigious of these works, but other papers and theses can carry weight as well. Those who build useful and interesting theories consistently — especially those who build functioning devices based on them — earn acclaim. The more advanced the student and his theories, the greater his accolades. Sons of Ether eventually acquire titles like Doctor and Master Scientist.
Where once the Great Hall that leads the Tradition was a Horizon Chantry based just outside Paris, the Scientists now meet in more mundane buildings to discuss their Tradition's advancement. Typically, Master Scientists and Doctors staff the Great Hall, which acts as part parliament and part academic circle. However, although a student may serve in the capacity of "gruntwork," every true Scientist remembers that inspiration is an intensely personal path and gives merit to the ideas of any Etherite. In theory.
Factions
Despite their wildly divergent theories, Etherites do tend to clump together. Often, several scientific specialists will share their knowledge of their respective fields to work in concert on a large project requiring all of their knowledge. Etherite factions generally form from such gatherings.
Some sub-societies are stable enough to bring in new blood and remain homogenous. Pioneers of space, the Ethernauts explore the reaches of the cosmos, and of other dimensions, in search of new wonders to bring back to Earth They visit other worlds in their powerful etherships, sabotage the Void Engineers and bring back samples of the strange. With their incredible mastery of Matter, a few of these pioneers have made some theories about shielding their ships from the storm winds lashing the wall between dimensions, and their once-ridiculed craft may become a potent tool in exploration of the Umbra.
The well organized Utopians wish to build a better tomorrow on Earth through Science. These Scientists spread not only potent devices to improve the quality of life, but also potent ideas — expressions of wonder, hope and unity. Their social conscience leads them to help others and to make their unusual theories open to everyone.
The few remaining Cybenauts cruise the Digital Web and turn it to their whims. These Etherites fervently believe that the Web itself is the next battleground of the enlightened, that the minds of' Sleepers will be decided there. Of course, most mages — er, Scientists — have more important business on Earth these days, so the Cybenaut faction wanes in popularity. Still, the Web is a perfect place to try out theories in virtual space, where they're less likely to wreck any real-world surroundings.
Politically, the Progressivists want to modernize the Tradition, starting with internal politics and structure and working up to theory and practice. The largely female faction argues that the Tradition as a whole does a poor job of keeping up with the social developments of the years, and that Etheric tendencies to rely on outmoded social constructs as well as outmoded technologies is too limiting to the Tradition as a whole. Most Progressivists want to start by renaming the Tradition and instituting a more democratic leadership.
The term Mad Scientist refers to those Etherites with a decided tendency toward the creation of dangerous devices with questionable goals. It's been a sad but true state that the Etherites' genius often comes hand-in-hand with some instability, or with a drive to see the "big picture" in a fashion that misses the point of the exercise. From these Etherites hail such legends as Doctor Frankenstein, whose laudable advances were twisted to unfortunate ends. They are not so much part of a united faction as examples of a recognized phenomenon within the Tradition.
Lastly, the Adventurers are Scientists who rely not only on their command of Science, but their physical acumen, wits and daring to explore new parts of the world, fight "villains" and perform heroic deeds. While many would scoff at them as simplistic, the four-color inheritors of Doc Savage and John Carter do have a certain nostalgic appeal. Modern Adventurers take on a more pragmatic approach, using their fabulous Science to build fantastic (but often concealed) armor and weaponry with which to pursue their crusades against criminals, hypocrites and madmen. Again, they don't make up a real force within the Tradition (there's no "Legion of Super-Heroes") so much as a new breed of scientist.
Philosophy
While Technocrats codify the universe into a static mold explainable by convoluted science, the Sons of Ether reject such a notion as foolish. The universe is far too vast, and its permutations too varied, for any single equation to hold sway over it. Indeed, the very act of observation changes the outcome, as the Technocracy has discovered in its own acceptance of quantum science. Thus, discovery and invention are personal processes, driven by the wonder and inspiration of the individual. Nothing is "impossible" or a "dead end" — it's merely an average that someone else decided not to explore. From the "disproven" theories of yesterday, the Sons of Ether create the wonders of tomorrow.
Failings
Given their incredible diversity of theories, it's a wonder that Sons of Ether manage to communicate at all. By definition, their concept of science is highly individualized, more so even than the magic of other Traditions. Every single Etherite has his own spin on — well, just about everything. As a result, it can be very difficult for Etherites to find any common ground to discuss their practices, especially when two Etherites practice mutually contradictory theories (and both are right, of course, as demonstrated by the fact that both of their inventions work). Given that the Etherites can barely reach a consensus internally, it's nearly impossible to imagine them as comprehensible to other Traditions. Any three Etherites discussing a topic of magic will come up with five or six different theories on the fly, all equally implausible. This individuality makes it very hard for the Etherites to spread around their more complex notions and impressive theories, and even more difficult for them to adapt to the other Traditions.
Theories and Practices
With the Sons of Ether, magic all comes down to Science! Perception defines the universe and so each scientist builds his own model of reality.
From there, the individual can posit theories about the functioning of reality as he sees it, and those theories lend themselves to creations. With intuitive insight, the scientist builds inventions, gives them a spark of power and understands them on a level that no other person can comprehend.
Etheric inventions are, of course, highly personalized. Some are extremely fanciful, while others are more practical or based on "real" science, like a phased-energy point defense system. Each scientist's particular bent on creation influences his style. Thus, some Etherites use large, bulky creations made from 1950s or earlier technology, while others invent new spins on modern technology and make wonderfully compact and convenient devices. A few Etherites also experiment with mental powers, psychic phenomena, and pseudo-mysticism, especially the Adventurer types.
When an Etherite derives a new theory and builds an invention for it, it's common practice to publicize the event through one of the papers or periodicals of the society. That way, every Etherite can examine it, determine its personal validity, and use or change it as desired. For this reason, a great many simple inventions are common among the Etherites. Where other Traditions might rely on rotes to generate repeatable Effects, the Etherites have common gizmos and formulas that have been shared, refined and tested with time.
The use of specialized materials varies with the individual scientist. Some base their works heavily on the use of a unique material — ether being the most common example — while others are more pragmatic. Scientists have been known to use everything - from carefully custom-crafted filaments and parts made of plutonium, silver, biomatter or stranger stuff, to devices that simply rely on outdated technology rewired to perform some new function (say, a robot built from common kitchen appliances).
Specialty Sphere: Matter
Common Foci: Computers, ether goggles, engineering schematics, hand tools, mathematical constructs, mental disciplines, scientific meters, specialized alloys, timepieces
We come into the world bloody and squalling; we prey on flesh and fruit for survival; we grow, learn and adapt; we wane and die, only to feed new life. This never-ending cycle occupies the Verbena, and its constant pulse is the heart of the Tradition. Primordial sorcerers, potent healers, skilled shapeshifters — the Verbena dive into sex, blood and flesh without inhibition. Their passionate understanding of all life fuels an equally primeval magic.
Background
Like the Tree of Life that they use as a symbol, the Verbena have deep roots. By their own lore, the first union of the fragmented Pure Ones — Avatars — with the new world of flesh created the earliest shamans of humanity. Newly formed, the flesh still kept its ties to its primordial state.
The combination of soulful endowment with feeling, growing life created the first primal sorcerers. These living shamans, so the Verbena tell, understood their position in the cycle of living. Their connection allowed them to shape their bodies as they willed, to make their own place in life's processes, and to understand the pulsing threads of the Tapestry.
Later, the rise of civilization caused these individuals to spread among many cultures and groups. They carried with them sacred knowledge of the living world, and they spread it where they could. However, people were always uncomfortable with notions like death and sickness, which were as much a part of the natural cycle as health and prosperity. So, even as healers and mystics, the Aeduna — predecessors to the Verbena — had to conceal themselves among secret orders. In doing so, they hid elements of their wisdom in bits of lore, small traditions and common folkwisdom. In Greece, Rome, England and even farther afield, the Aeduna spread their mystic ways. Greek legends honored mother-figures and spoke of the thin borderlands between life and death; English Paganism paid homage to varied gods and goddesses of earth and sky with sacrifice and ritual; Romans invested the Earth itself with an identity as a life-giver. The dancing circles expanded and rites of fertility crept into common use.
The rise of Church power in Europe's Dark and Middle Ages shattered Aeduna organization. Fearful peasants were taught to shun their base needs and desires, and an undereducated populace looked to the Church for salvation after the fall of Rome. Church inquisitors persecuted the "witches" and denounced their practices. The already cautious mages fled, hid, turned and died in droves. Their power broken, the few remaining magicians retreated to Horizon realms, underwater labyrinths and secret glades, or practiced muted forms of their magic as wise healers or herbalists without bringing their beliefs into public view. Indeed, the very term "Verbena" came into use as the moniker of a healing herb, applied to the Tradition for its noted herbal poultices, concoctions, salves and remedies and also for its affinity for living, growing plants. Pagans, naturalists and seasonal celebrations sheltered the Verbena through the Renaissance and a rebirth of interest in occultism only continued to spur their growth in the 1800s. However, many Verbena customs had been lost or diluted, and the additions of neo-Paganism and modern Wicca only came into the group haltingly and under some dissent. By the modern day, the remaining Verbena had adjusted enough to include such members, although teaching in the Tradition continues to go far beyond the notions espoused by such revival groups. Fortunately for the Verbena, they've always had a strong core. Their small covens are very personal, and Verbena are often more sociable (at least amongst one another) than other mages, so they have been able to hold on to many elements of heritage that would otherwise be lost. Interest in crystal magic, herbalism, aromatherapy and similar holistic practices only continues to feed the Verbena Tradition, and those who feel the heartbeat of all life continue to join.
Organization
On the local level, Verbena tend to center around covens — small groups of practitioners and faithful, often in a mystically significant number like three or 13. Verbena covens often include entire families, where possible, and they can splinter or re-form as needed to make groups in different areas or to accommodate new members.
Large gatherings occur on seasonal holidays when many covens will join for special rites. At such gatherings, any properly initiated Verbena may speak, but weight is often given to those with the wisdom of age, insight and strong memories of past lives.
Like everything else about the Tradition, membership is not for the faint of heart. Initiates experience a ritualized (and symbolic) death and rebirth, then undergo a series of ordeals to properly test their mettle and welcome them to the Tradition. Those who don't have the strength to go all the way must remain supplicants or quit. Thankfully, however, the Verbena generally don't kill those who fail their tests. There's often some strife between factions as more progressive Verbena skip over the rituals that the traditionalists consider important, but everyone proves their dedication before admittance.
Factions
Believing that the Avatar embodies a reflection of prim al energies, the Verbena tend to divide along lines of Essence. This distinction does not come so much a matter of cataloging the Avatar and its individual foibles, as suiting the natural drives of the mage's soul. Some Verbena even trace bloodlines in the belief that Avatars tend to reincarnate through familial groups, and there is some evidence that they may be right. However, Verbena are by no means forced into a group as a result of their Avatar's predilections. A mage can always choose an allegiance based on his personal preferences.
Forming the base of the Verbena Tradition are the Gardeners of the Tree, Pattern mages who try to keep the old ways alive and pure. These mages keep records, track family lines and trace the heritage of Verbena rituals. Their scholarship is often noteworthy, as they pursue such goals rather doggedly. Conservative Gardeners count as "true Verbena" only those with a blood relation to some ancestral family at the root of the Tradition. More flexible Gardeners content themselves with remembering old rites and propagating the spread of the most fundamental elements of Verbena heritage.
Even more primal than the Gardeners are the Twisters of Fate. The mages of the Primordial Essence follow old songs that are heard no longer by other Verbena. Often considered a bit odd even by Verbena standards, they could be seen as a splinter group except that they have little unification. Still, they possess a keen wisdom and many have powerful memories of past lives. They often feel tugged to restore lost ways and to reduce complex Verbena rituals to their base parts.
Moon-Seekers fall under the Questing archetype. Such Verbena are travelers, explorers, those who welcome new ways into the fold. A Moon-Seeker is as likely to use a New Age crystal-waving ceremony as a traditional athame and rune-carving ritual. These Verbena wander far afield, bringing new bits and pieces into the Tradition's repertoire and looking for the acknowledgement of life and divinity in the simple rituals that people create for themselves in the new millennium These Verbena often have strong ties to the community, and they enjoy learning as much as teaching.
Lastly, the Lifeweavers tend to have Dynamic Avatars. These Verbena move far afield, ignore old rites and make things up as they go along. More conservative Verbena often look askance at them, but the Lifeweavers still practice a reverence for life and know the value of sacrifice. These mages enjoy exploring the limits of their practice. They change shapes, work with many different Patterns and generally get their hands dirty mucking around with as much Creation as they can handle. Theirs is the joy of discovery.
Individual Verbena covens and cabals can sometimes be considered factions, although they are usually too small to compare to the broader groups.
Philosophy
Life is the greatest mystery of the universe. Base matter and energy do not grow, think, react and multiply. All life is a cycle that forms the heartbeat of the Tellurian. In the tiny fragments of that web are infinite individuals, all woven together by their shared trials and breaths. To recognize the constancy of life’s cycles is to realize its pattern to grow beyond any expectation or boundary, to take any form and to achieve any goal. The process is never easy. Often, it is fraught with pain, predation and death. Life perseveres.
Failings
Bloody -handed sacrifices and disturbing rites are not for the squeamish. Prospective Verbena must have strong stomachs indeed to fit in with the Tradition, and the Verbena can be blunt and uncomfortably open about practices that many would consider revolting or taboo. As a result, the rest of the Traditions tend to keep them at arm's length. The more sterilized Traditions, like the Sons of Ether and the Order of Hermes, consider the Verbena uncomfortably primal. Intuitive groups like the Dreamspeakers and Euthanatos see a greater kinship, but they still look askance at the sheer viciousness with which Verbena can emulate the living cycle.
Since their magic is so very tied to their primal living natures, Verbena have a tendency to get lumped into the category of "Satanist witches" even today. While modern people may not understand, say, Virtual Adept technology or Dreamspeaker cultural songs, they're fairly accommodating. The brutal familiarity with which the Verbena strike home life's truths causes enough discomfort that Sleepers who see their works tend to get frightened — and many lash out as a result.
Theories and Practices
In many ways, Verbena see themselves as guardians of mythic threads — elements of magic that remain intertwined with the more mundane aspects of life. The earliest magicians naturally felt the interplay of life and spirit through their strong connection to Creation and the Pure Ones. Although such ties are weakened and dying, the Verbena still feel a similar pull, and they work to promote such ties wherever they can — in simple actions, beliefs and customs that reaffirm the power of life.
With fertility rites, dances, and simple joy in living, the Verbena open their perceptions to the pulse of all life. To this Tradition, the acts that reaffirm living nature are sacred. Verbena acknowledge and embrace the changing seasons, health, sex and sensuality, raw emotion and instinct dutifully.
In conjunction with their ties to life, though, the Verbena know that life isn't always sanitized, pretty or happy. Blood has raw power due to its symbolic and literal key as a fundament of life, and Verbena tap that power with scarification and sacrifice. Predators hunt and kill their prey, and Verbena believe in the correctness of the natural cycle in such actions. Pain is a teaching tool, not something to be shunned. Therefore, the Verbena are far more comfortable with their feral, instinctual drives than most people, an animalistic nature that can be disconcerting. Most other religions and groups have some line that they won't cross or some belief that they won't violate: a belief that blood is sacred and not to be shed, or that sex is empowered through denial. Not so the Verbena, who embrace all of these passionate techniques.
For their magic, Verbena use anything from bloodletting, to rune-carving, to animal sacrifice, herbal mixtures, transformative rites and even some New Age techniques that have blended into the Traditio n. The key is to find a natural element that connects with the Verbena's will. As the Verbena see it, the natural resonance of life never left the world, even if mankind has upset its balance with reckless growth and extinction of many species. Hearing that rhythm, the Verbena does what needs to be done — mores or conventions be damned.
Specialty Sphere: Life
Common Foci: Altars, athame, blood, cauldrons, chants, cups, dance, herbs, incense, ordeals, pentacles, runes, sacrifices
No Tradition mirrors the modern world so much as the Virtual Adepts. These former Technocrats embrace technology and its ability to empower people, and they strive to make that technology available to everyone. While most Traditionalists concern themselves with antiquated ways and renewal of ancient practices, the Virtual Adepts are on the horizon searching for the cutting edge. The Virtual Adepts ride the wave of the computer revolution, and they use these machines to expand their minds, enable worldwide communication and model novel visions for reality. By spreading computer and communication technology to the Masses, the Virtual Adepts help people enrich their own minds. The spread of information and knowledge makes everyone richer and leads to better versions of the world, leaving behind antiquarian notions, physical suffering and social inequity.
Background
Not surprisingly, the Virtual Adepts sprang from the same roots as the Sons of Ether, beginning as a Technocratic Convention when the Electrodyne Engineers and Artificers of the Technocracy gave birth to an entire discipline devoted to computation, logical thought and the process of storing and interpreting information. These scientist s developed machines to process information for humans, to store images or words that humanity described and to expand human senses, memory and computation beyond the normal limits of the mind. Fired up by innovations like the telephone and the difference engine, these visionaries became the Difference Engineers. They worked with complex models of Babbage's difference engine, Lady Ada Lovelace's computational theory and Bell's long-distance communication devices. At the same time, they included the electrical theories of the Electrodyne Engineers and assimilated revolutionary notions from such luminaries as Nikola Tesla. The result, naturally, was a group of scientific dreamers who brought out ideas at a furious rate, fed their own discoveries with their new computational and communication power and reveled in the wild side of cutting-edge theories.
Naturally, the developing Technocracy needed the computers and communications pioneered by the early Difference Engineers, but it deplored their anarchic notions, haphazard development and barely traceable information network. Matters came to a head during the second World War.
The idealistic Adepts pushed for Technocratic involvement with the Allies against Hitler early in the war, but the Technocracy hesitated to bring its weight to bear. The Virtual Adepts brought their resources into play for the Allied forces covertly, sowing the seeds of dissension. Having flouted Technocracy-wide policy once, the Adepts rallied to their own secret projects after World War II. Adept research culminated in virtual reality as
Alan Turing explained his theories on virtual space, machine intelligence and self-replicating devices. However, the Technocracy shut him down permanently for his overzealous research.
The loss of Alan Turing signaled to the Virtual Adepts the Technocracy's unwillingness to embrace their new technologies. The Technocracy needed Virtual Adept techniques, but it wanted to implement them in its typical slow and monolithic fashion. The Virtual Adepts wanted to explode peoples' awareness with their new developments and make their cutting-edge technology available to everyone. Virtual Adepts around the world recognized Turing's demise as a message from the Technocracy to do as they were told and invent what they were ordered to invent, lest they become expendable. In typical anarchic hacker fashion, the Adepts refused to recognize Technocratic authority. Collectively, the majority of the Adepts fled, and the Convention applied as a whole for membership with the Traditions. The sorely pressed Traditions needed inside information about the Technocracy and a holder for the Seat of Correspondence; the Virtual Adepts needed a sheltering organization combined with the freedom to continue their boundary-pushing work. The two groups had found a match.
Although the Virtual Adepts are still distrusted by many within the Traditions due to their reliance on technology, the Tradition remains a keystone in the arsenal against the Technocracy. Their understanding of Technocratic tools and their ability to turn devices against their technological enemies makes them invaluable in the inevitable conflicts. Ideologically, the Virtual Adepts push constantly for new visions of reality, and they put such visions into practice through virtual space. On the Digital Web, they are masters of all they survey, and they bring out every possible idea for the future world. These elements make them the truly vibrant technological blood of the Traditions, and in many ways, they are the ones who fit best in the modern world. As more and more Sleepers get online, the Adepts' community grows. Newer, faster, better, now is graven in the Adepts' hearts, and they'll bring inspiration from the virtual worlds or go out in a blaze of glory trying.
Organization
Naturally, Virtual Adepts are a fractiously chaotic lot. Their only real "organization" comes in the form of their various member spaces in the Digital Web and in the few who actually bother to run in groups; most bow to no authority. Indeed, Adepts recognize others only by "eliteness." On the Web, where one's gender, race and physical state are all irrelevant, the only thing that matters is the quality of one's deeds. Adepts develop reputations based on their achievements, and younger Virtual Adepts may flo ck to aid a truly elite member when she puts out the call. Odds are good, though, that a few will do their level best to sabotage the assemblage simply to gain some notoriety.
As a result of their near-total disorganization, Virtual Adepts generally don't bother with long-winded titles or recognition for formal occasions. Indeed, they thumb their noses at other Traditionalists — like the Order of Hermes — who rely on such politics. One would think that training and developing a resource base in such circumstances would be difficult, but it's just a matter of computer contacts, rule by the cool and a little bit of bluster.
Factions
Adept factions change as rapidly as technology, so it can be tough to keep abreast of them. Making matters more complicated is the fact that many Adept groups include both Sleepers and Awakened crackers, so one can't always distinguish the mages from the unenlightened.
The dying Cyberpunk movement embraces the nihilistic end-of-days attitude that the future will be darker, dirtier and meaner than the present, if possible. These crackers use heavy weapons, hardcore programming, infiltration and sometimes various drugs to amp themselves to the top before going' ballistic on their various targets — corporations, politicians, each other... anyone that they don't like. Not surprisingly, they often rely on Forces to get the job done. As the Virtual Adepts continue to refine a vision of a better world, the defeatist attitude of the Cyberpunks thrashes out its death-throes in the gutter. The Cyberpunk movement as a whole seems to be maturing, heading toward a more educated and intellectual elite that embraces high material technology and cybernetic experimentation in a fashion reminiscent of the Technocracy's Iteration X. The more intellectual Cypherpunks act with the reckless abandon that one would expect of a stereotypical cracker, but instead of relying on guns and a bad attitude, they crank up their computer programs and data-analysis skills. Cypherpunks enjoy collecting random trivia, esoteric data and hidden secrets, then spreading it around to all and sundry. Often, they are quite contrary, and they force people with whom they associate to examine all sides of a problem. From there, the Cypherpunks hope to gain new insight in several directions. Cypherpunks spend a great deal of time in the Digital Web, as one might expect. Naturally, many Cypherpunks study Mind sciences in addition to Correspondence.
The Chaoticians use Entropy to study extremely complex and chaotic systems. These Adepts believe that the information process is an inherently unstable one, and they look for understanding in the cracks and flaws of data. Their studies, of course, draw them into fractals, chaos mathematics, unstable systems and so-called hard problems. From these sorts of premises, they figure out the flaws in how things work, or in the world itself. They also delve into how tiny changes can effect large-scale results, and many indulge in a little bit of experimental social engineering.
The growing Reality Hacker faction believes that the universe itself has an underlying order, information storage system and language, and they tap into that language to tell the universe how to order itself. Instead of contenting themselves with virtual realities and the Digital Web, these hackers decode the structure of the cosmos. Bending space and gravity are the early expressions of their work, but serious reality hackers get into Matter manipulation, alteration of universal forces and all the things that naughty little hackers shouldn't touch. If the universe is built with the ultimate "computer language", then staying up a whole lifetime to hack it is the ultimate rush.
Expressing the purest Correspondence theories, the Nexplorers make up a large chunk of modern Virtual Adepts. The Digital Web is prime turf to Adepts, but the Nexplorers hope to forge new visions for a brighter, better world. While all Adepts want to create a "Reality 2.0" into which the Masses can Ascend, the Nexplorers are most concerned with making it an improvement on the current world, not just a system that they control. To that end, they advocate careful construction of Digital Realms and exploration of other sorts. They press for space travel and dimensional travel, among other things, although the Tradition has limited resources in that regard.
Philosophy
Information is the ultimate power and the ultimate tool. Devices, magic, tricks and Traditions can all do great things, but only when guided with the proper information. Therefore, the Virtual Adepts want to learn as much as possible, to explore and develop as many ideas as possible and to open the world to new knowledge by discovering loopholes, tricks, shortcuts, innovations and dreams. Eventually, people will recognize that information (and their understanding or processing of it) is their key to sensing the universe. Once that happens, it's a simple matter to make a better universe — a Reality 2.0 that can be modeled, shaped, simulated in a virtually real fashion, then embraced and made into a new world for everyone. The best and brightest (and most elite) lead the way, so that humanity can benefit.
Failings
Antiauthoritarianism combined with a respect for only the new means that the Virtual Adepts not only reject society, they spurn the very people they want to help. They treat Sleepers who "just don't get it" with condescension at best, and derision at worst. Strife erupts constantly between competing Adepts as they fight to establish who's on top and who's yesterday's news, and the Tradition recognizes no consistent leadership.
Eventually, the Adepts will either implode, or they'll fall into step behind a system of super-echelon “elite” and lower-class “end users.” The Tradition needs to grow up and recognize that along with discovery comes a responsibility to implement said discovery safely.
With the recent crash and whiteout of the Digital Web, the Adepts lost a lot of ground in their most promising area of control. Although the Web is back up, it’s now flooded with sleepers who’re getting closer and closer to matching the Adepts in computer techniques. Adepts who once saw themselves as masters of the realm are in for a rude awakening as they realize that once the Sleepers are in, they’re in for good. Now that the Adepts have thrown open the doors to let everyone into their playground, they have to accept that people are going to do things they don’t like. Many Adepts are unwilling to do so, and they go so far as to spitefully crash or flame various Sleepers who get into the Web. Instead of stagnating in the Web and claiming it as their exclusive turf, these Adepts must focus on the Tradition’s purpose as heralds of the new. Otherwise, they’ll become nothing more than petty dictators in a world that slips slowly from their control.
Theories and Practices
Naturally, as masters of the computer, Virtual Adepts excel in all sorts of tele-techniques, information processes and Digital Web exploration.
According to the Adepts, information has a flow all its own. Some Adepts even accord information with purpose or motive. In the end, virtual realities are just data; long-distance communication is just pushing information around; even physical existence is predicated on information storage. If one manipulates the facts, the reality follows suit. And, there are always new facts to find....
Stemming from their mastery of information and transference, Virtual Adepts develop strong computer processes to manipulate their surroundings. Although strongest in the realms of ephemeral data, many Adepts can develop hardware and programs to do anything from projecting force fields to shifting their appearance. Such procedures work best in the Digital Web, of course, but that constraint doesn't stop the Adepts from engaging in some judicious reality hacking with the right techno-toys as backup. The Adepts love new gadgets, high-tech devices and anything that gives them a leg up on their brethren.
As one might expect, Virtual Adept "meetings" are more along the lines of teleconferences and projections, often in safe havens of the Digital Web. Initiation? Once a prospective young Adept has pulled off a few impressive moves or crunched some good code, he's one of the group — as long as he's not a total social retard among the techno-geeks. Training? What training? Individual Adepts pull together their skills out of experience and sheer balls, combined with their own beliefs in what's important. It's not uncommon for a Virtual Adept to have a certain lucky charm, a day of remembrance for a particularly worshipped hacker (Alan Turing's birthday is common) or even to talk to a computer like it's a friend, pet or Devil in a box.
Specialty Sphere: Correspondence
Common Foci: Computers (of course), cybernetic implants, hacking rituals, mathematics, programs, sensory gear, surveillance equipment
People are dying, ideals are dying, magic is dying, the world is dying. The Hollow Ones have known as much for some time, and they've accepted it. Now, they know that the world is going downhill, but they plan to enjoy the ride. Reveling in nihilism and a rejection of social mores, the Hollow Ones luxuriate in Gothic elegance and a decadent, romantic languor.
Background
Since they are not functionally a Tradition, the Hollow Ones do not occupy a seat on the Council of Nine, they have no recognition among the Traditions and other mages generally consider them a pain. They don't have the luxury of an extensive library of history, either. Instead, they point to Romantic poets, Victorian spiritualists, 1920s flapper counterculture and modern Goth culture as their architects. Hollow Ones themselves can't agree on their foundations; instead, they're more concerned with what they get out of it. As a hodge-podge subculture, they take what they like and discard the rest; this applies equally t o people, philosophies, magic and belief.
Still, Hollowers are a product of the modern age, or rather, a rejection of it. The Hollow Ones despise the frenetic pace of modern life, the too bright yet tacky technology of mass marketing and the banal stratification of society. Instead, they cling to notions of a more elegant age. Hollowers sip at absinthe, play at poetry, indulge in fetishistic fashion and follow the trends that lead them to death's door. The Reckoning that's at hand only lends credence to their beliefs. If the world's spiraling into destruction, they'll be the ones who are ready for its untimely demise.
Organization
Cliques rule the day among the Hollowers. Instead of forming philosophical factions or Avatar-driven groups, these mages just hang out in small clubs or social groups. Cliques tend to be fiercely competitive and jealous, but they can put aside their differences to work together sometimes. Since Hollow Ones often come from broken homes or dysfunctional families (whether wealthy or poverty-stricken), they indulge in whatever sorts of passive rebellion they can find — and that means hanging out with other people who've survived similar experiences and taken up the same candlestick. There's no hierarchy. There are young Goths and dead Goths, but old Goths are just pretenders. The social cliques that Hollowers form are the only real families they know, and they're fiercely protective of them, but without any political vision, they shrug off any attempts at real "organization." About the closest that Hollowers come to any sort of recognition in their ranks is when they choose someone to speak for a clique, or when they compete for pieces of unusual arcane lore or trivia in an attempt to seem spooky or knowledgeable in occult esoterica.
Factions
As the Hollowers lack organization or much in the way of politics, they aren't terribly factionalized. For the most part, they can be simply divided by their relation to the other Traditions and to magical society. Everything else is a matter of personal preference. The term Councilor is sometimes used to refer to a Hollower who expresses a desire to see the Hollow Ones join the Traditions, but most often such individuals are labeled "sell-out" or "fascist jerk." Some Hollowers think that there's much to be learned from the Traditions, or they desire a sense of belonging; others have friends in the Traditions or are hungry for some political clout. These mages tend to burn out quickly. The Council doesn't take them seriously, and the other Hollowers often ridicule their ambitions.
Those most violently opposed to the Council are the Revolutionaries, who may agree that the Technocracy sucks, but think that the Tradition Council is just another oppressive system. These Hollowers want to evade the fighting groups altogether and just die in peace.
The majority of Hollow Ones don't have any recognizable faction. They hang out, enjoy the club scene, spend time with their cliques and shoot the shit on topics ranging from the modern economy to the spirits supposedly haunting the local cemetery.
Philosophy
Although the Hollow Ones don't believe that the world is necessarily doomed, they do feel that it's a pretty crappy place. As a result, they eke out what satisfaction they can get, and they encourage others in t heir own morbidity. Still, they have an abiding curiosity, a desire to scratch beneath the surface and see how things really work — the squirming guts inside the underbelly of society. Where other mages are driven by one view of magical theory or a certain Awakened goal, Hollowers are as likely to be motivated by a tres Gothic evening of sybaritic relaxation as by the opportunity to dig up some piece of esoteric trivia.
Failings
Some days, Hollowers can’t even be bothered to get out of bed. It’s an attitude that leads to defeat. Though Hollowers are accepting and flexible, it’s hard to motivate them to give a damn about anything. As a result, they accomplish little. They’re poster children of wasted potential, yet they won’t fit into “normal” society or change to accomodate it. A very few achieve some level of real ability and find a focus to drive toward Ascension or some other goal, but many just spend their nights sitting on their collective asses and doing nothing productive.
Theories and Practices
The Hollow Ones' greatest strength may stem from their lack of convictions. Since they refuse in accept anything at face value, they dig up all sorts of wisdom and incorporate it into their own styles. While Hollow Ones tend to center around any tiling from late 1800s spiritual is in up to modern neo-Pagan nihilistic fetishism, they are willing to try just about anything once — especially if it'll give them a unique angle or a way to impress their clique.
To the Hollowers, Ascension is a far off goal, one that may never be reached. Sure, they can feel the pull of the Avatar, but if you're going to die tomorrow without achieving anything, why bother? This lassitude gives them the leisure or explore many different avenues, though, and ironically, it leads some to find enlightenment in the oddest corners and crafts. As a general rule, Hollowers don't believe in any sort of global Ascension. People in general are assholes who can't be bothered to get any better, so it's a waste of time to try to change them. Since they develop eclectic techniques borrowed from many different styles, Hollow Ones have no real magical specialty or typical focus. Many start out with a little light occultism and then veer off into a personal style, studying whatever magic suits their fancy. As a result, Hollowers can use just about anything as a focus, as long as they have some idea of what they think they're doing. A Hollower using a computer had better have some understanding of the machine, while one using Santeria should've at least read a couple of books on the subject. Ultimately, they bring a scattered approach to magic that gives them a flexibility the Traditions can't match.
Specialty Sphere: None
Common Foci: Arcanology, blood, crystals, grimoires, poetry, runes, seances, spirit uality, Victorian ritual... just about anything, actually.
Most people accept the limitations of static reality. Feeling that they exert no control over their destiny, these folk take what is handed to them by the cosmos. These, then, are the Sleepers who make up the vast majority of humankind. Of these, a small number realize that reality's laws are not as binding as most believe. They find that it is possible for them to exert certain magical powers within reality's restrictions through elaborate ritual and perseverance. Through ancient practices and rites, they draw out natural power inherent to the Tellurian and shape it in small, stealthy forms. These people can stretch reality's dictates through their castings, but they have no control over that reality itself. They have mastered what is sometimes termed static magic.
It is a deeper understanding of the relationship between himself and the cosmos that distinguishes the Awakened mage from a skilled, but un-Awakened, sorcerer. Mages are those few people who realize that they are not defined by reality, but rather, they define reality. These people are the ones who have Awakened fully to magic's potential and may, through enlightened will and belief in their vision, work changes on reality itself.
Awakened Magic
Put simply, Awakened magic is the ability to reshape reality through force of will. There are theoretically no limits to what may be accomplished magically, beyond those limits that exist within the mage himself. Theoretically, a practitioner could make the seas boil, raise mountains and cause a barren desert to erupt with foliage, but in practice, the high cost in Paradox and the major investment in time and effort would almost certainly preclude any such thing. The power of the Awakened mage does not require that any specific rite or ritual be performed, though most mages still use and believe in the efficacy of such trappings. All that is truly required is a combination of sufficient knowledge and determination to forge reality into the mage's desire. With the proper understanding of reality's diverse elements (which are divided by mages into nine Spheres of knowledge) combined with a sufficient strength of will and belief in his own ability to do so, very little lies beyond the willworker's power.
Several schools of though exist concerning the origin of this ability to produce and wield Awakened magic. Some mages maintain that they are merely a conduit for a power greater than themselves. They maintain that, through their Avatars, they connect directly to Prime, the Pure Ones or some other higher power. Through their Avatars' connection, the mages channel the energies of Awakened magic and remake reality.
Others believe that the power of Awakened magic is inherent to all Awakened beings. They contend that each Avatar is composed of a shard of Prime given form by the Pure Ones and anchored to the flesh-and-blood mage. Proponents of this theory believe that all one needs to work Awakened magic is the faith to believe that it exists, the bravery to embrace the divine within oneself and the will necessary to force one's own paradigm onto static reality.
A number of other theories exist, but whichever of these beliefs is the correct one (assuming that there is one single answer) is of little practical consequence. What matters is that the mage may alter reality at will, forever setting him apart from his Sleeper brethren.
Static Magic
Unlike the blatant displays of Awakened magic, static magic or sorcery conforms to the consensual reality of the World of Darkness. This is not to say that static magic in any way corresponds to scientifically accepted dogma, of course. Still, the collective unconscious of humankind accepts at some level that certain unexplainable phenomena are possible. The proliferation of 1-900 psychic lines and strip-mall soothsayers shows that many Sleepers put their faith in abilities that are best defined as "magic." Even young children's make-believe relates to both the protective rituals and curses of static magic ("Hide under the covers and the monsters can't get you." "Step on a crack, break your mother's back."), instinctively recognizing its powers. History supports
the rituals handed down for thousands of years, and in the ancient legends told by grandparents to awed children, a simple magic survives.
The psychics, mediums and sorcerers (called "hedge wizards" in times past) who use static magic must follow very strict rules to achieve very specific results. What they can and cannot do with their abilities conform to clearly delineated paths. While nowhere near as powerful and versatile as the Awakened mages' command of the Spheres, the sorcerers' Paths work without recourse to actually twisting the Tellurian through an Awakened Avatar. Thus, sorcerers avoid the worst of Paradox. Some mages theorize that the powers exhibited by other supernatural beings (like werewolves and vampires) are merely further examples of static magic at work.
The type of ritual used to create the magical Effect doesn't matter as long as it's a ritual that has real power. A psychic's reading of the tarot and a vitki's casting of runes may both give insight on the future, but no sorcerer could simply throw together a random collection of occult mumbo-jumbo and hope to achieve a result. It is the user's belief in his ritual, his consistent use of it and the adherence to the still-viable forms that matters. Similarly, individual rituals must be used to perform each separate magical function. A houngan, for instance, will not use the same spell to bless one individual and to curse another.
There is an upper limit to what may be done using static magic. A hedge wizard may make minor alterations to reality, but he cannot approach the fundamental restructuring possible to the Awakened mage. Even the strongest-willed, most driven sorceress is unable to circumvent this limitation. Only by Awakening may she ever experience such power. Still, sorcery and psychic powers are nothing at which to scoff. Many sorcerers can achieve potent Effects as long as they're careful to conceal their workings from unbelieving eyes. Since they work with rituals that don't rely on recasting the universe in their own image, such sorcerers even avoid the dread bane of Paradox.
Interestingly enough, Awakened mages never use petty sorcery (despite the fact that some Traditions, most notably the Order of Hermes, groom prospective apprentices by schooling them in such magic). The Awakened mage reshapes reality on a fundamental level, while the static magician operates without actually tearing and twisting the Tapestry's threads. Once a mage Awakens, his power flows from his ability to reshape himself and his Avatar to bend the cosmos in turn. Although the Awakened mage can perform some quiet, static Effects that mimic sorcery, his power is far greater, and the consequences are concomitantly severe. Similarly, the hedge magician cannot begin to comprehend, much less wield, the reality-altering magic of the Awakened willworker.
It's interesting to note that the forms of magic handed down by sorcerers often mimic the rituals used by the Awakened. Indeed, Awakened mages still hold dear their own history and cultures, using the beliefs of their people to form their magic. The magician adheres to the proper forms and speaks the secret words, and magic results — who can tell the difference between Awakened and Sleeper mage? Although the Awakened mage refolds the universe in his image, the sorcerer's quietly inherent powers are just as magical.
The Limits of Awakened Magic
Since the close of die Mythic Ages, the restrictions Imposed by material reality have come to hamper the castings of the willworker greatly. It has been said wistfully that the first mages had no fear of Paradox, as no single consensual reality yet existed. Whether such a beatific age ever truly existed is unknown, though certainly such an open and free world of magic is a dream for many mages. In the ages since, the unchecked population growth of humankind conspired with the advent of mass communication to unite the planet, creating a truly global society and, thereby, a global reality too. Whereas humanity first existed in only isolated pockets whose mercurial belief systems allowed for great displays of magical power, today's worldwide sharing of beliefs in what is and is not possible serve to shackle modern workings of the Art.
Vulgar Magic
Vulgar magic, also known as dynamic magic, occurs as the result of a mage forcing reality to conform to his preconceived expectations. Using dynamic magic, a mage may let lightning fly from his fingertips or transform his enemies into glass. During the time of the Renaissance, such magic was referred to as "vain," an accurate description even today, as only a mage of monumental hubris would dare such Effects except under the greatest duress. Such reckless castings rend the Tapestry of reality and invite the not-so-tender consequences of such changes.
No logical explanation exists for vulgar magic. To Sleepers who may view it, its Effects are patently impossible. Truly amazing results are possible, but only at terrible risk to the mage employing dynamic magic. Static reality abhors vulgar magic and any mage who uses it. The mage who uses such magic will pay the price, in Resonance if not in Paradox.
The smart mage uses vulgar magic only when the stakes are life and death. Think of dynamic magic as the tactical nuke of Awakened society. It is dangerous and messy, and it has far-reaching consequences. Those mages who use such power frivolously don't remain a problem for long.
Coincidental Magic
Coincidental magic is the only choice for mages planning on sticking around for any length of time. By couching magical Effects in chance occurrences, the mage operates in plain sight with potential Sleeper witnesses none the wiser. Such castings are referred to as static magic, as they, like the powers of the sorcerer, work within the confines of static reality. If, for example, a mage experiences financial problems (a common problem for magicians who draw the attention of the Syndicate), it might be possible for her to conjure the money she needs from thin air. Of course, there is no way that static reality will accept such an occurrence as natural. However, a much less dangerous and equally expedient solution might be to return that Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes letter that's on the kitchen table... and guess who the Prize Patrol pays a visit to just before the IRS seizes her assets! Static reality, and the Sleepers responsible for it, would find such a turn of events extraordinarily lucky — but in no way magical.
Think of coincidental magic like water flowing downhill; it will flow around obstacles to reach bottom. In much the same way, magic follows the path of least resistance to reach an appropriate resolution if it is not forced to conform to specific shapes and results. The mage shapes a particular desire and empowers it, but he lets the cosmos determine the specific Effect. Confronted with an enemy, a mage might focus his will and hatred, manipulating the flow of Forces around him to await a convenient trigger event like the eruption of a faulty gas pipeline.
Less believable coincidences make magic more difficult, as reality can stretch only so much to accommodate a mage's whims. Also, the more "accidents" that occur, the more their overall probability is strained, which can lead to what's referred to as the "Domino Effect." When an inventive mage uses static magic sparingly, however, she can find a way to perform her Effects coincidentally, and she will find that static reality is much less
likely to rebel against these subtle alterations. By shrouding magic in incidents that Sleepers find believable, if lucky, the mage finds that her casting is accepted by humanity's collective unconscious.
Awakening
It is the act of Awakening that opens the doors of perception through which the new mage peers at the magical world. The mage looks at the world with new eyes — eyes no longer clouded by sleep- New truths about the nature of reality are revealed to her, while long-held preconceptions shatter. The newly Awakened mage struggles to make sense of this barrage of new sensations. Those without a strong sense of self and a powerful will sometimes remain overwhelmed by these impressions, unable to decipher or control them. In a world where reality is shaped by perception, who can determine whether an individual is insane or simply seeing a different cosmos?
Awakenings can happen at any time in life. There's no single moment of crisis where every individual goes through a question of magic; the eye-opening may strike in childhood, youth, adulthood or elder age. The majority of mages trace their first moments to the experiences of their early adult life. Awakenings seldom occur in childhood, though it does happen occasionally. Parents satisfy the needs of most children abundantly, leaving them so comfortable with the status quo that they don't have the impetus necessary to Awaken. Awakenings are similarly uncommon among the elderly. Older people, unlike some of the more youthful members of society, have usually discovered something in life on which to focus their attention. Whether it is building a career, raising a family or even drinking themselves numb, they have found some function in life that makes them feel complete and binds them forever to static reality's comforting familiarity in the process. Even those without such sense of purpose have already discovered a comfortable, familiar niche from which they have little reason to explore. Young adulthood, however, is the time in a person's life where he begins searching for the purpose and meaning to his life. In rare instances, this search leads the seeker to Awaken.
Awakenings are typically triggered by traumatic, life-altering events, although there are exceptions. The Awakening often coincides with a need on the mage’s part, often a drive to overcome some problem insurmountable through conventional means. When the chips are down and there is nowhere else to run, the mage rises to the challenge, stirring his fitfully slumbering Avatar to wakefulness and empowering himself. Even if the nascent mage denies this power, her new awareness shapes the universe to her will, sometimes with drastic and unpredictable effects.
Of course, many mages would dearly love to discover a means of reliably Awakening others, but no such method is known. Would-be mentors keep a close watch on people with strong wills and unusual lives, while erudite magicians try to teach their ways to hopeful novices. None are guaranteed this Awakening. Enlightenment strikes where it will.
Once a mage Awakens, there is no going back to sleep. The truth of reality's subjectivity is laid bare, and the neophyte mage has no choice but to struggle forward in an attempt to understand what's happened. Although he may want to return to his old way of life, events conspire to make that course of action impossible. Family and friends both will notice a change in the budding mage. These people may well slumber, but they are far from dead. The mage's newfound Avatar and awareness positively radiate "otherness" to those most familiar with the Sleeper he once was, as the two conspire subtly to alter reality at the mage's subconscious urging. Though he may be able to salvage some of these relationships, Awakening will invariably cost the mage most human contact, as even old friends find it disturbing and dangerous to be associated with him. Even complete strangers tend to give this "weirdo" a wide berth. The caress of magic, even when not readily visible, leaves its distinct mark on the magician.
Humans instinctively notice and fear this aura, so a mage must either be careful to hide his magic very well or turn to other mages for companionship.
While daunting, the problems of alienation and uncontrolled power are merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg. He soon comes to realize that there is much more to the world than he ever imagined. Spirits, werewolves, vampires, sorcerers and more become not only things whose existence he must acknowledge but, often, things with which he must talk, fight and, on occasion, ally with. His very existence leads to him being courted by a myriad of Tradition factions, all starved for allies. The Technocracy will want to either assimilate the mage or eliminate him. The responsibilities intrinsic to being one of those on the front lines, protecting an unknowing world from dangerous reality deviants, leaves room for no other options.
Everybody wants a piece of the magic, and the novice mage may not even know what it is. The only option is to change or die. If he's going to survive, a new mage must learn what he is and what he is capable of. Others, a mentor or cabal perhaps, may show the newly Awakened mage the path that he must take, but it's up to him to take the first step. Only by accepting his new state will the mage be able to progress toward enlightenment and Ascension.
Avatar
Within every Awakened mage dwell two distinct spirits or sides: her Avatar and her mortal self. The two parts interact with one another in many ways, developing a complex dynamic that may be akin to that occuring between teacher and student, boon companions or even adversaries. Whatever form this relationship takes, its eventual goal is to bring about the mage’s Ascension. It is the Avatar’s function to cajole, coerce or drag the mage kicking and screaming into enlightenment. Mages with more powerful Avatars will be prodded into action more often than their less mystically endowed compatriots. Though few of their fellows would envy the constant goading these mages must endure from their pushy Avatars, they do, in fact, enjoy an advantage over their colleagues. The constant hounding serves to push such mages to excel. They are more prepared to endure the trials and tests demanded of them during Seekings, and consequently, they often find enlightenment more easily than their more relaxed brethren, becoming wise beyond their years quickly.
Another property of the Avatar is the ability to grant its possessor insight into her past lives. The Avatar is the part of the willworker that is eternal. Within its depths lie the experiences of all of its former earthly incarnations. Some mages learn to access this wellspring of knowledge and apply its teachings to their advantage in the present.
In times past, a large number of Avatars appeared to their mages as distinct, tangible entit ies. Whether it appeared as an angel or djinn, god or hero, the mage was capable of conversing with the Avatar, coming to blows with it or treating it as material friend or foe. In more modern times, it's become much more rare for an Avatar to manifest itself physically to a mage. In fact, in the aftermath of the Reckoning, such an event has become downright unusual. Nowadays, the Avatar communicates through more subtle means, such as in dreams or flashes of intuition. The time of corporeal materialization is past.
As they do about most issues, mages disagree about whether it is the Avatar that allows one to wield magic or whether it is one's own innate magic that allows one to sense the presence of the Avatar. Whatever the truth of the matter, the Sleeper's higher self must Awaken before she becomes capable of exploiting the full potential of magic.
Arete
Arete is a measure of a mage's enlightened will. Some amount of Arete is required to perform any Awakened Magic. A mage's Avatar is a measure other understanding of the cosmos on an intuitive level. This intuitive awareness may come to a mage slowly or in a sudden burst of insight. Often, a great deal of Arete is acquired during a mages Awakening. Thereafter, progression becomes much more laborious, commonly involving Seekings. A mage with more Arete may plumb the mysteries of the cosmos (be they magical or mundane) with greater ease.
The Metaphysics of Magic
All around the world, children are indoctrinated in a passive, scientific view of reality. They are taught to use the laws of nature to understand the world around them. They are told that, despite being a part of reality, they may in no way affect the world's natural laws. Often, such children balk at such talk, much like mages do. In their worlds, reality's "truths" change from moment to moment, as quickly as their ideas. They command armies of verdant plastic, build impregnable fortresses of bright Lego's and gain unparalleled speed with the acquisition of new shoes.
Children know something instinctively that their parents and teachers forgot long ago — they are capable of working their will on reality actively, even if it's a reality that consists mostly of action figures and comic books. Sadly, this innocent notion will soon be reasoned and rationalized out of existence, consigned to the occasional wistful daydream. Mages, on the other hand, return to these childhood concepts. To the Awakened, reality is subjective. Rather than building awareness and belief through the passive understanding of the world around them, mages know that belief and conscious desire create the world around them. This premise implies that humanity plays a more active part in the universe than Sleeper doctrine would lead one to believe. People, as intelligent individuals, are the cause, and reality is our effect.
Sleepers can only comprehend a small fraction of reality's whole. If one attempts to take in the entire thing at once, it proves too much for the human mind to grasp. Mages, with the aid of their Awakened psyches, are able to understand a portion of reality correspondingly larger than that of Sleepers, but even they are forced to arrange and classify it for ease of study. The three fundamental elements of this categorization are Dynamism, Stasis, and Entropy. These three forces form a mystical model known in more esoteric circles as the Metaphysic Trinity of magic.
Quintessence
Literally translating as the "fifth essence," Quintessence is the fundamental unit of all magic. All energy, matter, spirit and life, literally all things in the universe, are formed from Quintessence at the most basic level. This Prime Energy is neither material nor ephemeral and can never actually be grasped or sundered.
While it is accepted by mages universally that reality is formed of Quintessence, not even they can say with any degree of certainty exactly what it is. Most see it as an ever-changing pool of raw potential from which all things in the universe arise and return. This basic "bio-energy" often gathers at incidents of strong emotion and becomes colored by them thereafter. Mages were quick to grasp that their own Avatars were natural conduits of Quintessence and were, as a result, the easiest means by which to access this Prime force.
As each new thing comes into existence, it draws Quintessence from the endless pool. Similarly, when an old thing fades away, its Quintessence reenters the pool, where it may find use again. It is an understanding of this Great Cycle that is central to the beliefs of the Euthanatos. Some of the death-mages (and a number of Nephandi) believe that if reality were ever to attain a state of pure entropy, the artificial frameworks
imposed on it by humanity would cease to exist, revealing the unadulterated glory of raw Quintessence. Such talk does little to win them friends outside their own Tradition.
Tass
Tass is the concrete, physical expression of Quintessence. These bits of pure Prime can often be used to fuel a mage's magical undertakings.
However, as it has already been mentioned, Quintessence is indivisible. This begs the question, "How then can raw Quintessence be captured in a base material form?" In the past, the Traditions' Masters might have spent hours haranguing their less experienced comrades with their own philosophical take on this conundrum. But, since recent events have placed the Masters' wisdom beyond the reach of younger mages, a simple illustration must suffice. If one is accustomed to thinking of the raw Quintessence as a pool, then think of Tass as Quintessence temporarily frozen like ice, floating on the surface of this larger sea. In time, this Tass will "melt," eventually flowing back into the infinite pool of Quintessence that first spawned it. Until it does however, Tass may be used by mages to lend power to their magic and to fuel their mystical Talismans.
Tass infuses the bodies of magical creatures — werewolves, faeries and the like — and it may be harvested from them. Needless to say, such creatures are less than happy to sacrifice themselves for a mage's convenience. More than a few mages have paid the ultimate price for such presumption.
It also collects in certain Nodes where energies gather in physical objects. Tass is sometimes affected by the form in which it manifests, unlike the pure Quintessence from which it springs. Quintessence stored in the waters of a holy spring may lend itself to healing, while that stored in the mushrooms of a faerie ring may cause the magic powered by them to have unpredictable side effects. A mage should be aware of this Resonance and use this resource accordingly.
For all intents and purposes, Tass is a finite resource. As a mage uses up the Tass that exists within a particular place or object, it disappears, returning to the pool of Quintessence from which it arose originally. Magical objects spent of the Tass that powered them are effectively useless until they are recharged at a Node or through another influx of Tass.
The Tapestry is a metaphorical model used by mages to illustrate the workings of reality. Its fabric may be seen as a complex weave of physical, spiritual and intellectual elements. All things that exist have their own unique pattern, formed from threads of Quintessence into energy, matter and life. These individual patterns are all just parts of the greater whole of the Tapestry. They interact with each other, together forming the things we perceive to be real.
Although very few mages can perceive individual patterns, everyone can view their interaction. For instance, each raindrop that falls is an example of the interaction of the patterns of water and gravity. The foundation of reality is magic, its forms a result of interwoven threads of Quintessence. Despite scientists' talk of molecular bonds and holy men's talk of the divine, it is Quintessence that furnishes the life energy that
suffuses the Tapestry. Lacking that bio-energy, the threads would unravel. Most mages agree that the Tapestry embodies three distinct types of pattern-energy. These energy types are body, spirit and mind.
Belief...
Belief is central to all magic. Most mages realize theoretically that the limitations they ascribe to body, spirit and mind are untrue. They only exist because it is believed that they do. Mages impose their own boundaries on themselves. For years, static reality held that an unbreakable barrier prevented planes from flying faster than the speed of sound. Then, on October 14, 1947, pilot Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in a Bell X-1 rocket plane. Once Yeager had broken the sound barrier, other pilots soon succeeded in matching and then surpassing his mark. Captain Yeager himself set a second record on December 12, 1953 when he flew two and a half times the speed of sound. Now there are commercial airplanes that fly faster than sound routinely. Chuck Yeager's belief and talent overcame a principle of static reality, thereby changing the world.
Willworkers accept that people's personal beliefs serve to mold their actions in many ways. Cases of hysterical blindness and psychosomatic illness are both examples of this concept. The power of belief goes much deeper, however. Belief often becomes reality. If a person truly believes in a specific concept, he is not likely to question that belief.
The majority of Sleepers cling to deeply ingrained beliefs as a source of comfort in the face of the unknown. Many times, even beliefs that prove harmful will become precious in their familiarity. If enough people come to believe in something, it will become part of static reality's established paradigm.
Consensual reality suffuses all human beings, Awakened and Sleeper alike. Beliefs structure this static reality, but static reality structures beliefs, also. Every participant in this vicious cycle affects all the others and, in the end, themselves as well. Mages, though, are able to ignore, or even fracture, static reality's paradigm outright.
Despite long-standing arguments to the contrary, most mages agree that a person's belief forms not only her particular paradigm but that of the larger Tapestry of consensual reality.
...and Paradigm
More than a mere style, paradigm is the defined essence of the mage's beliefs, and it has been described by some as the language through which the mage communicates his Art. The only things any mage absolutely needs to practice magic are the will to enforce his desire on reality, the knowledge of the appropriate Spheres and the paradigm through which to focus that desire and make it real.
Before any magical Effect can happen, it must first jibe with the casting mage's paradigm. A Verbena witch cannot just want her enemy to be struck down with ill fortune. She must cause this to happen in a way that is appropriate to her paradigm. Perhaps she performs a blood sacrifice and invokes the goddess Hecate to curse her foe. Because it is both within her knowledge of Entropy and appropriate to her paradigm, chances are the
effects of the hex will come to pass. The same Verbena would be unable to transform a rampaging werewolf into a garden gnome because such an absurd belief is completely alien to her paradigm, regardless of Spheres.
One of the problems that has always frustrated attempts to foster cooperation between mages is that magical concepts are hard to translate between conflicting paradigms. In the past, Tradition mages have suggested that an artificial paradigm encompassing all the Traditions be established, but the idea has been met with a combination of angry words and howls of derisive laughter each time. Given that each mage's paradigm is tied so closely to his beliefs, it seems unlikely that such a "mystical Esperanto" would become any more popular than its linguistic counterpart.
- Creating Magical Effects
- Step One:What Do You Want to Do and How?
- Step Two: Do You Know How to Do It?
- Step Three:Do You Succeed?
- Step Four: What Happened?
Within the bounds of the Spheres, there's an infinite variety in magical practice. Of course, the mage is limited to her practical knowledge of the Spheres and the constraints of reality around her. Still, any limit can be surpassed with enough time and knowledge. As a result, each Effect is unique. Although a given rote or procedure may be handed down as a tried-and-true technique, the mage's paradigm. Resonance and knowledge of the Spheres all shape how even the simplest Effects take form.
When you craft a magical Effect, you just follow a few simple steps. You can build the Effect to do just what you want, as broadly or as narrowly as you desire. You're not limited by any static list of powers. Instead, your mage uses her learning to make up her own magical feats on the spot. Your imagination and the constraints of what your mage knows how to do are the only limits here.
A mage literally alters reality to her whims when she creates a magical Effect. Doing so could create something new, destroy something, change the environment or perform any number of strange results. However, reality itself doesn't take lightly to being hauled around and slapped into shape. Large-scale, vulgar or long-lasting changes are much harder to do than simple, brief Effects, especially Effects that blend in. A mage can therefore change nearly any fundamental aspect of the world around her, but it may take too much time, effort or magical knowledge. Worse still, the consequences of hubris (of trying to make a change that's too large or too quick) can be deadly. More than one mage has been engulfed in her own spells gone awry.
Here, we'll describe exactly what you go through in each step. Of course, you won't necessarily use every modifier and every foible. The Storyteller (Erisian) chooses which modifiers to apply, or even whether to "wing it" and let the story determine the Effect without recourse to the rules. Once you've built a few Effects, you'll find the system easy to use.
Additional Rules
Detecting Magic
With a successful reflexive Perception + Awareness roll (difficulty 6), a character can feel magic in use within her immediate vicinity. Really powerful Effects (10 or more successes) might lower the difficulty as low as 4, while unusually subtle ones (where the mage spends successes to wipe out magical traces) could raise it as high as 10.
The Prime 1 Effect Sense Quintessence can detect the remaining resonance of magical acts after they occur. A feat is generally detectable for an amount of time equal to the duration table, for every two successes scored on the finished Effect. Thus, a simple one-success Effect leaves a whiff of magic for a turn, but a huge 10-success spell may leave traces of magic for months. The longer it's been since the spell casting, the harder it will be to detect the change.
Abilities and Magic
Since magic comes from a mage's formative beliefs and practices, the mage's learning affects the magic's outcome. A mage who's firmly convinced that a specific ritual like Tarot-reading or dancing is necessary for magic had better learn how to do those things well. Conversely, using magic can make otherwise mundane tasks much easier.
As with all modifiers to magic, Abilities should be used to help the story and flow of the casting, not as an excuse for another set of modifiers. Ability modifiers cannot change the difficulty by more than three points, as usual.
Abilities Enhancing Magic
If a mage uses an Ability appropriate to her Sphere — perhaps as a focus, or as a process of using a focus — she can cast her Effects more reliably. Having the right Ability might also help the mage to target the Effect better or to have a better idea of what to do to get good results, as well. Just about any Ability can have some impact on magic, though of course the exact combinations will vary with the mage's paradigm.
If a mage takes a full turn (sometimes more) to exercise the appropriate Ability just before casting her Effect, you can make an Ability roll (with the appropriate Attribute) at the same difficulty and threshold rating as the magic. Each success beyond the threshold then lowers the threshold and difficulty of the subsequent magic roll by one point, up to a modifier of three at best.
Sometimes, an Effect may require a specific Ability. It's nigh impossible to make a working computer without the right knowledge, and influencing someone's emotions may rely on the proper subterfuges first. It requires an Ability roll first, and makes the magic a little harder if failed. A mage might be able to fix a car with
Matter magic, without knowing too much Technology, although it would be difficult. However, trying to fix a nuclear reactor the same way would be a bad idea....
Magic Enhancing Abilities
Just as Abilities can make magic easier, a little judicious magic can certainly make the use of Abilities much simpler. Just the right amount of magic can let you jump a little bit higher, move a little bit faster, see a little bit more... you get the idea.
Using magic to enhance an Ability usually works on little coincidental nudges and insights, so it's easy to do. The magic roll proceeds as normal, but for each success garnered on the result, the subsequent Ability use gets a difficulty modifier of one, up to a limit of three. Adding some successes to area or duration could let the mage share this bonus, or maintain it for a short time.
Magic used to enhance an Ability must be done right before the use of the Ability, or else it needs to be running and maintained while the Ability's used. It's possible to take multiple actions and use one for magic before performing the feat, but doing so is inefficient unless the mage is really pressed for time. After all, if you are using magic to aid the Ability, you're probably not trying to take any other negative modifiers.
Multiple Effects
A mage can cast only one Effect per turn, even if she has used various powers to speed herself up (reality is already "preoccupied" when it's in a different time frame). If you want to do multiple things at once, you'll have to have your mage build an Effect that performs several simultaneous feats.
Simultaneous Effects
Although a mage can cost only one Effect at a time, he can keep various Effects running. The difficulty of doing so often varies with the Effect's type.
A simple Effect that just modifies the mage or surroundings for a time requires only a tiny flow of the mage's attention and magical effort.
Keeping the Effect moving is a constant push from the Avatar and the will, but it's a small one, since the Effect is generally somewhat selfsustaining or static. Such Effects include things like body-enhancement, sensory improvements or even small changes to Patterns that are designed to last for only a short time. Such simple Effects cost you a difficulty penalty of one for every two full Effects in use, whenever your mage tries to cast a new Effect.
More complex Effects like mind-reading, juggling huge Forces or manipulating Life Patterns all require the mage's concentration. These Effects require constant update and manipulation, so the mage must divert a substantial amount of Awakened will to them. Your mage may not be able to concentrate enough to perform other Effects while doing something this delicate. If the Storyteller lets you concentrate on multiple Effects (or if your character has specific Merits or magical Effects that let him maintain multiple areas of concentration),
you'll still take a difficulty penalty of one for every two Effects that your mage has running. That's for simple and complex Effects both.
Instant Effects rewrite Patterns or alter reality and then are done; they require no further maintenance. If you change a material into a different sort permanently, or you create something from nothing and give it Prime energy to make it fully real and permanent, then it's part of the Tapestry. Such manifestations no longer require concentration.
Rotes and Fast-Casting
Most of the Traditions teach sets of common Effects, called rotes. These rotes allow a mage to perform a technique that's tried-and-true over the course of several years or centuries. A rote has already been built with the Tradition's trappings and foci in mind, and it relies upon well understood principles of the Tradition's Sphere knowledge. In brief, it's a spell formula.
Just about any Effect could be cast by rote: anything that's been well-used, tinkered, thought about and used again can eventually pass into common mage use as a rote. Rotes are traded among mages of the same Tradition for favors or information; a good rote can give the mage a slightly easier time casting an Effect, or perhaps open the mage to some idea of Sphere use that he hadn't thought of before.
When a mage builds an Effect on the fly without using a rote, it's called fast-casting; it's a little bit rougher, and gets a +1 penalty to difficulty.
Thus, many mages spend a lot of time honing a few favored Effects, to turn them into well-known rotes. What qualifies as a rote is ultimately up to the Storyteller; however, it can be assumed that any of the base Effects listed for the Spheres (following) can be found in role form for any of the Traditions.
If you want to buy rotes using experience, let me know in pm and we'll discuss them.
The Nine Spheres
Centuries ago, the Tradition and Convention mages settled on the nine Spheres as a way of describing the elements of the universe. Each Sphere covers a wide area of understanding and control. Even though mages describe magic in terms of their own paradigms, the Spheres form a consistent basis from which to work. Together, the Spheres encompass all (or nearly all) of the facets of the Tellurian.
Many mages posit the existence of an additional Sphere or Spheres. Each Tradition has its pet theory as to a " 10th Sphere," and the Technocratic Union seeks a Grand Unification Theory. Still, despite years of study, no one group has been able to find an over-Sphere or a missing element to fill this mythical role. Like some posited Northwest Passage, the "10th Sphere" draws students but never reveals itself.
For now, I am only going to post up to level 3 of each sphere, since that is as high as you can go. When someone's, anyone's Arete reaches 4, I will put up the last two levels for each Sphere.
Specialties: Conjuration, Distortion, Scrying, Teleportation, Warding
Space, interrelationships and sympathetic links all become clear through the study of Correspondence. By bending Space or bypassing it entirely, a mage can travel rapidly, fly or teleport from place to place. Divining, locations allows the mage to see far-away places or direct magic over distances. With a link between a person and an object, Effects may be targeted through connecting rituals.
Distance forms no barrier to a master of Correspondence. Indeed, distance and even space do not exist to the student of this Sphere. Through the unifying Correspondence Point, mages realize that all things occupy the same space — or no space at all. Virtual Adepts, the most dedicated modern students of Correspondence, theorize that all things coexist in a single All-Space or Correspondence Point, and that bypassing space is simply a matter of realizing this unity. Mathematically, space is just an illusion, a convenient construct of the mind. Objects, people and places don't really take up space, according to such theories. Instead, everything is just a Pattern, and space simply describes the relations of different Patterns to one another.
Mystically inclined mages see Correspondence through the theories of contagion and sympathy. Any two things that have touched share a little trace of that connection, which can be called on through Correspondence. Objects or places that are similar in Pattern can be manipulated through that similitude. Any sort of connection opens the door to the manipulation of Patterns. It's always easier to work with the familiar than the strange, after all.
In and of itself, Correspondence understanding is highly abstract. A mage skilled in Correspondence can measure space, find connections between objects and move Patterns around. Combined with the other Spheres, Corresponding becomes a formidable tool indeed. Proper use of Correspondence lets a mage bypass the limits of his own senses, extending his magic and actions to distant places or objects as long as he can form some connection. Correspondence visualization lets a mage see far-away places, people or things, and perhaps even touch them, go to them or drag them to himself. This door swings both ways, though. Just as a mage forges a connection, that connection can be traced back to the mage.
The more disparate a set of objects, or the greater the perceived distance crossed, the more difficult the Correspondence Effect. Such distances can be combined in conjunction with other Effects. Doing so makes the Effect more difficult to cast but capable of extending to great ranges, possibly even beyond the mage's senses and to places of which he is not aware. Normally, a mage can extend his magic only to areas of his immediate senses, but Correspondence ranges bypass this limitation. The Correspondence Sphere lets the mage perform Effects beyond his line of sight, outside his hearing and otherwise in places beyond his normal reach.
Despite its capacity to bend space and distance, Correspondence functions only on whole Patterns unless combined with the various Pattern Spheres. That is, it's impossible to just teleport away someone's heart with Correspondence alone. In essence, Correspondence does not affect Patterns directly; such manipulations must be done with other magic. Correspondence simply lets those Patterns be affected, whole and complete, in changes of space or distance. If the mage wants to use Pattern Spheres to affect something with Correspondence, she's limited by the Correspondence level (if it's lower than the Pattern Sphere). Thus, a mage can teleport something with just Correspondence, but if she wants to change its Pattern at a distance, her skill with Correspondence is as important as her skill with the other Sphere.
Advanced students of Correspondence seem befuddled or distracted, as if they're not paying attention to their surroundings. In truth, they are constantly aware of their immediate areas to a degree that others can hardly comprehend. In spite of their apparent distraction, these mages exercise absolute precision of motion, a result of their intimate understanding of distances.
• Immediate Spatial Perceptions
Basic understanding of Correspondence allows a mage to develop precise and intuitive judgments of distance or area. A simple Effect enhances the mage's awareness of space to determine exact directions and distances. The mage can cast spells to "feel out" the contours of space around her, using mystical senses to determine the placement of other Patterns even beyond the normal senses. With the proper Effects, a mage can also detect warps in space or the presence of gates, sinks, wormholes and other instabilities or tears in the very fabric of perceived distance.
Combined with various Pattern Spheres, the mage can determine exact sizes and distances to creatures, objects or forces. With more ephemeral Spheres, the mage could develop a rough idea of the locations of nearby thinking beings, the area of power in a Node or the direction and distance to a peculiarity or strange coincidence.
•• Sense Space
Touch Space
With scrying magic and projection, the mage can cast out her senses to various places beyond her physical form. The mage could touch and feel something physically at a distance or use magic to see a vista at a far-away location. The mage chooses one target and performs an appropriate Effect to scry there. Sensing a distant area forges a sort of connection between the mage and the location — a warp of Correspondence as the mage brings her Pattern in contact with the place — that can be detected with simple Correspondence awareness. This connection also extends the mage's perceptions to allow him to use his magic at such places. Conversely, the mage can make wards that bar scrying, or defend the Patterns that she perceives from conjuration or transportation, by strengthening the hold of space and hedging out such distant perceptions.
Combining Correspondence sensing and touching with Pattern Spheres lets the mage affect small Patterns at a distance. The mage could reach out and touch a stone from a far distance, then use Matter with Correspondence to pull it into his hand, conjuring it from across a field. Similarly, the mage could deposit an animal some distance away with a touch and a conjunctional use of Correspondence and Life. As with all uses of Pattern
Spheres with Correspondence, the mage is limited to his lesser understanding in the possible Effects. In conjunction with other Spheres, long-range Correspondence allows the mage to seek someone out in order to establish mental contact or read thoughts, project probability manipulation at a far distance, search for powerful sources of Quintessence to manipulate or even look into distant spirit worlds.
••• Pierce Space
Seal Gate
Co-locality Perception
Tearing the very fabric of space itself, the mage can open a brief gateway to other places and step through. While the mage could only cast her senses out to distant locations previously, she can now actually travel via teleportation. The mage needs only sense the destination — or even haphazardly cast out to a random place, although doing so is extremely dangerous, then perform an appropriate Effect to change her Pattern's location. Drawing together connections in various Patterns— or severing them — is also possible, and it causes the Patterns affected to build a stronger or weaker bond that can be exploited later through Correspondence.
By strengthening the bonds of space instead of warping them, a mage can seal gateways and block the passage of Correspondence Effects. The mage can actually bar an area from passage, be it mundane or through Correspondence. Such an Effect prevents transportation in an area, and it can be cast over Patterns other than the mage herself.
Finally, moderate comprehension of Correspondence allows a mage to split his perceptions over several locations at once. Although the mage can open a door to only a single place, or manipulate individual Patterns without major effort, she can use her scrying to view multiple places simultaneously. The mage could experience the show in any form appropriate to her paradigm. She might see a set of ghostly superimposed images around her as she spies on multiple locations, or perhaps she has a series of small simultaneous images for different places.
With Pattern Spheres, the mage can use Correspondence to teleport Patterns or move objects from a distance. The mage reaches out and bypasses space to touch the object from range. Searching through multiple locations at once lets the mage perform very acute investigations, especially when using other Spheres to look for specific results.
Correspondence Effects
• Sense Connection — Powerful uses of Correspondence pull places together or wrap space around like taffy. The proper rituals allow the mage to sense such distortions. This Effect is handy in determining if there's a gate nearby, whether someone is scrying or whether an object is being manipulated remotely. The mage can also determine if a Pattern has a specific connection to another Pattern. Obviously, this knowledge is extremely useful in sympathetic magic, or in determining what would be a good item to use or place to work a specific Effect. Note that a mage can't necessarily tell what something is connected to. The Effect merely indicates the presence or absence of an unusual Correspondence.
• Landscape of the Mind — One of the most basic Correspondence exercises, this Effect opens the mage's awareness to her surroundings without recourse to normal senses. With concentration and ritual, the mage can "feel" or perceive a great area of space, although extreme areas are both difficult to encompass magically (requiring many successes) and difficult to process mentally (generally requiring the aid of Mind magic for anything beyond a city block in area).
• Whereami? — Absolute sense of space gives the mage a perfect determination of her relative location. Combined with Spirit, the mage can even intuit location within spirit worlds, and thus find her place almost anywhere in the Tellurian. Mind magic lets the mage determine the validity of her senses and establish whether she's hallucinating or dreaming. Naturally, wards can alter or block such perceptions, and Paradox or Quiet
might confuse the issue. In most cases, this Effect simply lets the mage get a rough idea of where she is relative to some axis other normal, familiar world, so that she can get home or find her way. This Effect gets its name from the Virtual Adepts, who tend to use computer-aided maps and positioning to determine location.
•• Apportation — Although the rudiments of Correspondence are insufficient to actually teleport safely over long distances, a mage can affect some small Patterns. A quick Effect causes an object or creature to transport to or from the mage. The mage must also use the appropriate Pattern Sphere, typically Life or Matter. Apportation can't affect any Pattern more complex than the mage's Correspondence knowledge. That is, even a Master of Life or Matter can transport only very simple Patterns with this limited understanding of Correspondence (plants and very simple animals for Life, basic homogenous substances for Matter).
•• Correspondence Sensing — The ancient arts of scrying take many forms. The mage might use a tiny camera, a reflecting bowl, a magic mirror or any number of means. The end results are the same: the mage draws a connection between her senses and the desired location. The mage can use her normal senses there, and thus she can watch events unfold, listen in on a conversation or perform similar feats. With Time or Spirit magic, the mage can even look into other worlds or ages, although such Effects are substantially more difficult and prone to interference or unusual results.
Correspondence Sensing can follow the traces picked up with a more basic Sense Connection, allowing the mage not only to determine if something's a gate or if someone's scrying on an area, but to trace back to the location at the other end. This Effect lets the mage determine where a gate goes before passing through, or find out where a spy is lurking and look back. Spirit magic is also required if such a connection crosses the Gauntlet or into certain protected Realms.
Once the mage knows how to sense an area, she can defend against such senses, performing countermagic against other spies by using her Correspondence knowledge — her own knowledge of scrying techniques — to block the perceptions of the spy.
•• Ward — Just as a mage can sense distant locations, the mage can also defend against such perceptions. A ward prevents sensory intrusion from most varieties of supernatural perception. The mage simply creates a bar against the connections of space that would form with Correspondence Sensing. Such an Effect pits its successes against the successes of any scrying attempt, so a well-built ward can keep out even determined spies while a hasty one just makes scrying a little blurry. The ward's successes subtract from any scrying attempt's successes, but the
spy's work of battering down the ward is noticeable unless the spy is also careful enough to rebuild the ward while worming through it.
With the proper conjunctional Spheres, a ward can be set with specific conditions or blockades. A ward with the right Mind magic might let through certain viewers or certain people in a particular state of mind, or who know the right password. Time magic can key a ward so that it's penetrable to viewers in a specific range of time. Matter or Life magic allows wards to be woven directly over such Patterns, and it makes scrying on the objects themselves difficult.
Once the mage can actually pierce or strengthen space (Correspondence 3), a ward can be built as a ban, an actual barrier to passage. The ban might appear as a force field or a set of glowing runes, or it might have no visible manifestation. The Spheres used in the creation of the ban determine what it keeps out. A Matter ban could be keyed to resist intrusion by bullets, iron or radioactive material; a Forces ban might block certain energies; a Life ban can keep out specific creatures or types of creatures; a Spirit ban naturally protects against demons and spirit entities.
The ban strengthens space against the creature, combined with the power of the appropriate Pattern Sphere, to hedge it out, though anything not keyed to the ban passes through normally. Thus, a ban against spirits would still let a spirit's spells and thrown weapons through, so be careful!
Bans must usually be cast over an area, and unless the mage spends a lot of time adding to the duration and conjunctional Effects, they aren't likely to last for too long.
••• Chain — "As above, so below." Like objects often bear similar Resonance, and changing one can change the other. With Correspondence magic, a mage can strengthen or weaken the ties between objects or places. Such a chain makes for a powerful tool in building magical links, or a good way to defend against Correspondence senses and attacks. A simple Chain Effect lets the mage change the attachment between two Patterns.
••• The Seven-League Stride — Legend has it that the Order of Hermes made magical boots that would take the wearer exactly seven leagues with each stride. Though such boots are an artifact of the past, this Effect mirrors their capabilities. A competent mage can step from place to place nearly instantaneously. Depending on the exact sort of magic used, the mage might seem to blur past in an instant, or just vanish and reappear somewhere else. Regardless, the mage effectively teleports to any place he desires, although near and better known locations are easier to reach, of course.
Just as a mage can teleport himself through judicious use of Correspondence, objects or creatures can be moved with the right Effect. Simple Apportation can affect only simple Patterns, but as the mage's Correspondence knowledge improves, she can affect similarly more complex Patterns. Simple living things or composite objects can be moved with variations on the Seven-League Stride. Adepts and Masters of Correspondence can even use their greater rituals to bring along other people or to transport large or unusual substances.
Combined with Correspondence Sensing, the mage can travel to just about any place that can be scried — which is a good thing if the mage doesn't want to land in a hostile environment by accident. With Sense Connection, the mage could detect a scrying adversary, trace that connection and then teleport to the spy.
••• Filter All-Space — Spreading senses across the Tellurian, a mage can search for specific objects or creatures as she extends her senses.
The early Correspondence power of Correspondence Sensing may allow for scrying of specific areas or Patterns, but this more advanced technique lets the mage look in many places at once! The mage senses everything going on in all the places scried, which may call for the judicious use of Mind magic.
A mage who isn't looking for anything in particular could simply split perception across multiple locations and draw in a welter of sensory input. Conversely, a proper filter, especially with the right Pattern knowledge, lets a mage sift through many places to find an exact and particular target. The mage can then eliminate scenes from the multiplied vista until homed in on the right spot.
“PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER!… itty-bitty living space.”
– the Genie, from Disney’s Aladdin .
Perhaps the single thing that any mage can be said to fear most is Paradox. The very idea, be it is called scourge, Backlash, distortion or any other name, is enough to frighten even some of the most insane Marauders. The force of Paradox itself will cause any mage to think twice before he tosses a fireball down the street. Paradox is perhaps most terrifying because it's unpredictable, it's dangerous, and lies waiting for a mage to make a single misstep.
For storytelling purposes, it's important to understand what Paradox is, as well as what it is not. Paradox is not a sentient force. It is not malicious, and it is not benevolent. It doesn't favor certain individuals, and it isn't out to get others. It simply exists. Paradox's results could be described as analogous to the human immune system: It fights off anything that seeks to disturb the equilibrium of the system it protects.
Paradox occurs in any case when a mage makes enough of an impact on reality to "disturb the waters," so to speak. The disturbance can be a badly failed attempt to alter reality coincidentally or the use of any vulgar magic. In fact, vulgar magic always incurs Paradox. However, it's important to note that Paradox only seems to afflict Awakened mages. The fact that the mage changes the universe through force of will, rather than through some inherent power, seems to draw down powers that lash at the mage in return.
Basically, a mage changes reality in ways that no other force can do. Awakened magic grabs hold of the Tapestry and shoves it into a completely different direction. Even when some supernatural creatures uses a power that looks the same as a magical Effect, the means is completely different. The mage undergoes a process of self-exploration and transformation in order to alter the universe in turn, and that process means that the mage is subject to the unleashed forces of change. The harder the mage pushes — the bigger the change — the more Paradox rebounds.
Paradox Accumulation
Mages can get Paradox energy in varying quantities, depending on how much magic they do. The attempted Effect determines the amount of Paradox that a mage gamers. In older days, the energy often accumulated, and tended to snap at unforeseen times and create disturbing problems that lasted for some time. Since the advent of the signs of the Reckoning, such is no longer the case. Now, Paradox rips through the mage almost immediately after it is accumulated. When Paradox energies do accumulate, the effects that release later tend to be more permanent than in previous times.
In game terms, the following are values for Paradox accumulation, with a successful Effect:
• A successful coincidental Effect doesn't normally garner Paradox.
• A vulgar Effect without witnesses generates one point of Paradox per level of the highest Sphere used.
• A vulgar Effect with witnesses generates one point of Paradox per level of the highest Sphere used, plus one.
The following are the amounts of paradox accumulated when botching. All botches cause a backfire, unless the Storyteller feels really mean and wants the mage to store up hideous amounts of Paradox for some evil purpose.
• A coincidental botch gives Paradox equal to the highest sphere level of the spell.
• A vulgar Effect without witnesses that is botched generates one point of Paradox per level of the highest Sphere, plus one.
• A vulgar Effect with witnesses that is botched gives two points of Paradox per level of the highest Sphere, plus two.
The effects of Paradox usually occur within a turn or two of the accumulation. The specific effect depends on the amount of Paradox involved.
Staving Off Disaster
A mage often finds it necessary to hold Paradox off for a few moments, to ensure that he completes some vital task. By expending a point of temporary Willpower, a mage can delay all Paradox effects (including any damage or Backlash) until the end of a given scene. Doing so makes the Paradox energy hang above the mage's head like the proverbial sword of Damocles. Any additional Paradox gained before the end of the scene is postponed as well, at no additional cost. The downside of this tactic is that all of the Paradox is added together at the end of the scene to make one large Backlash effect, rather than a few small ones.
Backlash Forms
Paradox Backlash usually strikes out in some sort of change or injury to the mage. For simplicity, it's easy just to let Paradox fall into certain roles, but remember that Paradox is just as unpredictable as the mages who garner it. Storytellers should always be willing to get creative in the tortures that they inflict.
Note that stored Paradox cannot be bled off or released in smaller amounts, even with Willpower expenditure. Once freed, the accumulated energy is always released in full. Be vulgar at your own risk. Only time and caution allow a mage to smooth out the distortions of Paradox.
Paradox Flaws
Usually, when a mage burns off a small amount of Paradox, he gets a splitting headache and some sort of nagging problem. The weirdness that strikes in response to twisted magic is a Paradox Flaw, a sort of taint that afflicts the mage and his surroundings in response to his magical tampering. It is, as the name suggests, the attempted Effect actually working on the mage itself due to the magical energies he misused so grossly.
Paradox Flaws show up for most releases of Paradox energy, often in proportion to the severity of the Paradox involved. However, there's no predicting Paradox, and the Storyteller should use Paradox Flaws to make life interesting for mages, especially those who seem overly prone to too much Paradox energy.
All Flaws listed here come at the Storyteller's discretion, and they depend on the Effect attempted. Since Paradox responds to the mage's bending of reality, it takes a form appropriate to the initial magic. Thus, Paradox does tend to cause strangeness, but it also does so depending on what the mage was doing (or trying to do), what sort of Resonance the mage has and what sort of mood the Storyteller's in. Purple flaming elementals, walking on ceilings for a week, or turning a 50-foot tall neon sign bright red for a night are extreme and unlikely examples. Instead, Paradox might be more likely to detonate a mage's car's gas tank, have him experience vertigo as if he were walking on a ceiling, or cause a short circuit in a large electronic device that causes it to stun or injure the mage in question.
Further, Paradox Flaws are not likely to cause collateral damage. The forces that turn against the mage are usually quite localized around the mage in question. The mage's friends are generally safe unless they are in the direct path of the effect in question.
Paradox can be the Storyteller's ultimate tool for teaching common sense. It also guides and directs the chronicle's flavor. Paradox Effects that are silly or random tend to make for a lighter chronicle, while more lingering or dangerous Effects will make mages more careful and paranoid.
If Paradox is the backlash of the universe twisting to change the mage as the mage changes reality, then Resonance is the constant subtle current that surrounds the mage as an agent of change. As has been stated many times, magic stems from desire — the mage's desire to reshape the world to his whims. Although magic allows the mage to bend the world in that fashion, it also means that his desires affect the world constantly, always changing things just a little bit and influencing the outcome of the mage's Effects.
All mages have some form of common Resonance. The most neophyte mages usually only manifest a little Resonance — a single point in a single type of Resonance — but as the mage becomes more powerful, does more magic and delves into deeper passions, Resonance becomes more pronounced. Eventually, Resonance not only overcomes all of the mage's workings, but it affects her normal life. As a mage becomes more potent, her mystical will affects the world around her more strongly. Eventually her Resonance cloaks her in an aura of power that is noticeable and almost tangible. Humans often notice something odd, unusual or potent about mages; for the mage with high Resonance, this feeling is much more pronounced.
When a mage works his Effects, his Resonance causes the Effect to reflect his intent and emotion. The personal, unique nature of each mage causes each form of Resonance to be special, though. Mages who are experienced in sensing Prime threads — or who just have good supernatural instincts — can often tell a mage's specific form of Resonance. They can even recognize who built an Effect or tell a little about the individual.
Conversely, mages may try to dampen their own Resonance to make their Effects more subtle.
Resonance tends to flavor Effects in proportion to the Effects' own intensity — a large, flashy vulgar Effect will have more Resonance than a subtle, coincidental Effect. This Resonance manifests in the Effect itself, causing it to look or feel strange according to the mage's Resonance Traits.
It may also cause the Effect to generate a subtly eerie feeling that causes mages to take note, animals to become uneasy and humans to get a creepy feeling.
Resonance Affecting Magic
When a mage creates an Effect, the mage's Resonance characteristics often show how the mage's emotions get involved in her magic. It's not as if the Resonance actually changes the Effect; rather, the Resonance is an indicator of how the mage's Effects always manifest. The Resonance is a natural way to describe the mage's particular style of magic. An angry, violent mage tends to create very fiery and dynamic Effects, while a particular and studious mage will do magic that's systematic and precise.
The simplest way to let Resonance affect magic is just to take the mage's highest Resonance Trait and find some way to influence the Effect accordingly. That sort of emotion comes through in all of the mage's Effects. The more powerful the Resonance, the more it impacts the Effects and causes them to take strange properties — weird lights or sounds, strange ways of manifesting, bizarre hallucinations, spectacular appearance or any other number of odd changes. A mage with a single dot of Dynamic Resonance, for instance, may have Effects that are a little whimsical or that sometimes do chaotic and unpredictable things, while five dots of Dynamic Resonance would add whirling, spinning alterations, bizarre manifestations and strange, completely unplanned changes to the magical results.
If you want to go all-out in your game, you can try to put a Resonant spin on an Effect for each of the mage's Traits. Thus a mage with some Dynamic Resonance and some Static Resonance will get some competing dynamics in his Effects. With competing Static and Dynamic Resonance, a mage might get an Effect that has strange lights and sounds, yet makes them in repeating patterns or systematic fashions.
Of course, Resonance needs not affect a mage's Effects all the time. It can be quite cumbersome to come up with an alteration for every magical Effect that every mage does! Instead, it may be easier to come up with a few "signature signs" for each mage. Look at the Resonance Traits that the mage has, and come up with a couple of key ways in which the mage might color her magic. For instance, if your mage has the Entropic Resonance Trait of Dissonant, you might decide that a harsh musical chord often accompanies the mage's vulgar Effects.
How Resonance Traits affect magic can be left in the hands of the Storyteller or the players, depending on the nature of the game. Some Storytellers may prefer to influence the magic in ways that the mage can't predict, while others may want to let the players express their mages' personalities through the use of Resonance.
Resonance and the Mage's Life
Of course, Resonance doesn't just affect the mage's magical powers. A potent mage has an almost tangible aura, a mystical something that sets him apart from mortals. His power radiates from his incredible enlightenment, his mastery of the Spheres and the changes that his will causes to the world around him.
Naturally, normal humans aren't exactly comfortable with this weirdness.
Most newly Awakened mages have a sense of the world being a little more strange and different than they ever believed. Their own alienation reflects in a disconnection from the world that mortals know and feel instinctively as the "normal" world.
Since a mage's Resonance manifests in his actions, voice, mannerisms and magic, people can sometimes tell that the mage is more than human.
In normal social situations, the mage may suffer a penalty in reactions with humans — one point of difficulty for each dot in the highest Resonance Trait. This penalty can be overcome with appropriate Mind magic, or if the mage's Resonance wouldn't necessarily discomfit the human in question. Acolytes and freethinkers often deal with "weird" people as a matter of course.
Detecting a mage's Resonance isn't really a subject for dice rolls, though you might use a Perception + Awareness roll to determine if someone has Resonance. In general, Resonance is a descriptive effect for mages. Including subtle hints at the mage's Resonance is a good way to add some description to the character and an indication of the mage's arrangeness or areas of magical study.
When reality itself bows to the subjective whims of a mage, it's all too possible to become lost in one's own vision of the world. In circumstances where severe Mind attacks or nasty Paradox Backlashes strike against a mage's psyche, the character may well find himself tumbling into a world of madness and harsh delusions.
Insanity in a mage is truly terrifying. With the power to bend reality to his whims, the mage can turn the world around him into a nightmare reflecting his own inner turmoil. It's no wonder the Marauders are so feared. They see a world far different than the one in which everyone else lives, and they impose that skewed perspective on static reality.
Quiet causes the mage to experience hallucinations, distortions of reality and even total internal mindscapes. Anything from sensory overload to badly botched Mind magic to Paradox overload to violent psychic attack to extreme age can lead to Quiet. It's an unpredictable, but always feared, fate for mages. Worse still, mages in Quiet can even spawn bizarre hallucinatory creations from their own twisted psyches, and these hobgoblins can sometimes manifest and take on lives of their own.
Quiet most often affects a mage in accordance to his Paradox and Resonance. The more Paradox a mage has, the stronger his Quiets become and the more profoundly they affect his senses. High Resonance determines the sorts of Quiets that impact the mage.
Running a Quiet can take a lot of work, since the Storyteller must have a good handle on the character's paradigm and psyche, and other characters may find themselves at a loss to deal with their mentally crippled companion. On the other hand, mages can come back from these socalled "twilights" with new inspiration or handicaps. Visions and revelations of many sorts are quite common as a result of Quiet. Such a story can present a wonderful complication for an ongoing chronicle, as the mages are forced to deal with questions of what's real and how to separate perception from reality.
Entering Quiet
A mage can enter Quiet when an overwhelming event rocks her psyche and causes her to retreat into one of her forms of Resonance. In some cases, a mage might slowly slip into a form of Quiet over time, but such cases are more rare. However, there's no easy dice roll for such a system.
Forms of Quiet
Quiet manifests in many shapes. The most common sort of Quiet is sheer madness, stemming from an excess of dynamism. As architects of change, mages can find themselves stricken with sheer, mind-bending randomness. However, other sorts of Quiet are possible, based on the sort of Resonance that the mage attracts. Each form has its own sorts of problems and complications. Neophyte mages may not know how to recognize or combat these various forms of Quiet, which can lead to adventures as the mages try to figure out what's affecting their companions and how to cure them.
Madness
Dynamic madness comes to mages who are too overwhelmed with raw, random change and chaos. This sort of Quiet leads to hallucinations, sensory deprivation and eventually, the formation of hobgoblins and mindscapes. The mage becomes trapped in a rapidly changing world created in his own mind, unable to determine the real from the imagined. Marauders are thought to exist within a permanent state of madness, unable to connect with any sort of objective world.
A mage who enters Quiet with an excess of Dynamic Resonance will probably suffer Madness. The effects of Madness are fairly random, but they can get quite drastic if the mage is overwhelmed with too much Paradox or just with a nasty strike. As always, the mage's particular form of Resonance may color the events inspired by Madness, which could serve as a possible way to separate fiction from reality.
Clarity
For mages who embody Stasis and move away from Dynamism, the threat of Clarity lurks. A mage under the influence of Clarity doesn't seem to suffer delusions or episodes like a mage afflicted with Madness. Instead, the mage blots out those parts of the world that don't fit with his vision.
He becomes transfixed on a particular goal or idea and pursues it to the unhealthy exclusion of other activities. He becomes convinced of a single way of doing things and becomes unable to deal with new situations or compromises. Eventually, a mage overcome with Clarity becomes a mindless drone, subservient to some higher pattern of Stasis perceived only in his crazed yet orderly mind.
Naturally, Clarity most often shows up in highly static mages with Pattern Avatars — like Technocrats. Some Traditionalists theorize that highranking members of the Technocracy are so afflicted with Clarity that they are literally unable to compromise on the fate of the world.
Jhor
The Underworld carries its own potent Resonance, the energy of death itself. Mages who dabble too much in such studies can be afflicted with Jhor, the Resonance of death energy. Normally, souls discharge that energy in the cycle of death, but such an accumulation is unhealthy and unbalancing in the living. Mages who work with Primordial energy, who dabble in necromancy and death, often accumulate Jhor.
A mage infested with Jhor tends to fall into a Quiet episode that builds on this accumulation of death energy. The mage assumes a pallid visage and an obsession with death. The mage's normal moral inhibitions fall away in favor of a desire to associate with and understand death energy. In actuality, the mage becomes fixated on the return to primordialism, but the living mind and body cannot handle this reunification. As a result, the mage slides into a study of necromancy and draws away from other living beings, becoming gaunt and sociopathic, eventually degenerating into little more than a magical killer.
Tradition mages who enter the Underworld, who spent too much time studying the deadlands or who associate too much with death tend to develop Jhor. The Euthanatos in particular have learned to recognize this particular malady due to their long association with the deadlands, and they can often help mages in the early stages to achieve a better level of balance.
Coping with Quiet
Since Quiet causes all manner of nasty, mind-warping effects, most mages will fight to keep some semblance of normalcy — if they're fortunate enough to realize that they're afflicted. A mage can try to determine what elements of Quiet are unreal or unnatural and attempt to resist them, but he may not always succeed. If your mage is afflicted with some form of Quiet, you can spend a point of Willpower and roll your mage's Perception + Awareness in a contested roll against the appropriate Resonance Trait (difficulty 7 for both rolls). Thus, you roll against your mage's Static Resonance if suffering from Clarity, against Dynamic Resonance for Madness and against Entropic Resonance for Jhor. Obviously, since Resonance Traits aren't usually too high, you'll often succeed on such a roll, but not always....
If you manage to succeed on a disbelief roll, your mage manages to exert his will through the Quiet episode. For the rest of the scene he pushes away hallucinations, overcomes his inability to make decisions or his attraction to death. The mage also manages to discharge a point of Paradox in the process, potentially lowering the severity of the Quiet episode. Eventually the mage might overcome the Quiet completely, or he might run out of spiritual fortitude and have to wait it out.
If you fail a disbelief roll, your mage expends his Willpower but is unable to overcome his episode of Quiet. Suffer.
If you botch a disbelief roll, you suffer from hobgoblins.
Hobgoblins
When a mage enters a particularly nasty episode of Quiet, his delusions may manifest on the world around him. Such manifested creatures and objects are known as hobgoblins, and they tend to follow the mage around and cause all sorts of Quiet -ridden problems until the episode passes.
A hobgoblin could manifest in any number of forms — as a small creature, an actual object, a sensory effect or the like. The difference is that a hobgoblin seems, for all intents and purposes, to be totally real, and it can affect and be perceived by other people, not just the mage! Such manifestations are adept at causing all manner of trouble, especially when they can interfere with the mage's friends, or just set the local scenery on fire. Worse still, the mage might well know that they're brought on by the Quiet, but he can't always tell what's a hobgoblin and what's a normal part of reality.
Hobgoblins usually stick around for one day per level of the mage's Arete, although they may last longer in particularly nasty Quiets. They can be destroyed or "killed," but the ramifications could be troublesome (to say the least) if the mage madly attacks hallucinations that aren't there or destroys something that's actually someone's pet or property. While the hobgoblins exist, they typically reveal the mage's dark secrets and desires, cause trouble and raise questions of conflicts within the mage's mind.
Hobgoblins most commonly appear for Madness episodes, but disembodied voices or machine emanations may occur for Clarity, or vicious demonic creatures may appear in cases of Jhor.
Mindscapes
In particularly severe episodes of Quiet, a mage can become caught up in a reality so heavily shifted that the real world can't be distinguished.
As some primal part of the mage's mind struggles to come to grips with reality, the mage enters a world completely enclosed in his own mind, fighting through a mindscape to search for an exit from the Quiet. Symbolism, psychological conflict and magical wisdom spin together in a surreal landscape that exists only in the mage's mind. By resolving these conflicts, the mage hopes to work through his inner difficulty to reach some sort of balance.
A mage who enters a mindscape is functionally catatonic. Totally engrossed within his own mind, he cannot interact with the real world without extreme effort. Instead, he traverses the symbolic landscape. In there, he grapples with the rules of the dream-world while his body remains in a near-coma. Such journeys may seem to take mere minutes or entire years mentally. In the physical world, the mage usually remains in slumber for a day for each point of Paradox held. By making a Wits + Enigmas roll (difficulty 4), you can speed the mage's ability to pass the trials of the mindscape, but it's often better to actually roleplay the travails of the mage and run a game where the mage must fight his way past his inner demons. While in the midst of the mental journey, the mage can try to communicate with the outside world through normal means, but you must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8) with a minimum of three successes. Otherwise, the mage manages nothing more than to mumble or squirm in her sleep. And, of course, the mage can only attempt to do so if he suspects that he's in a mindscape. A mage thrust into a surreal scenario involuntarily may not realize that he's trapped in his own mind.
An outside mage can enter a mindscape through the use of proper Mind 3 magic, generally with a trance, a psionic link, a special astral-travel spell or similar Effect. Inside the mindscape, the visitor experiences everything that the suffering mage sees, and he is fully (mentally) vulnerable to the effects of the delusions. Indeed, an entire cabal could enter a mindscape to try to rescue a friend, but doing so is risky.
An individual who is killed or incapacitated in a mindscape remains in a coma, perhaps for months or years. Mages can also suffer from psychological problems or trauma from mindscapes; to those inside the mindscape, the experience seems utterly real. Mages have been known to emerge from mindscapes with psychosomatic injuries or new mental problems. On the other hand, mages can also discover and overcome some of their internal conflicts and problems. Working through a mindscape is much like a Seeking in this respect.
A mage who manages to overcome a mindscape does, fortunately, discharge his Paradox in the process.
Paradigms, training, history, Resonance and mundane experience all shape the styles with which a magician does magic. Nothing is as simple as saying, "I use my Spheres to make an Effect." Rather, magic is a careful and refined process, one in which the mage empowers the foundations of her own beliefs. From that conviction — the belief not necessarily in magic itself, but in the way to do magic — stems the power that lets the mage change the world, but only in that particular way. Game mechanics are just a means to simulate a mage's ability to alter the Tapestry, not an automatic definition of how mages interact with the cosmos.
Since your mage can perform tasks only by using techniques and objects that she believes have power, you must choose and define your mages' foci and paradigms carefully. Your mage will have these elements for a long time. Most mages learn their particular mentor's views or unearth their own styles, then stick with those doctrines for the remainder of their lives. Only a few mages manage to learn the styles of their cohorts or rivals, and fewer still become strong enough to exert magic by their force of will alone. Thus, it's incumbent upon you to determine how your mage sees the world and shapes it with her own individual style.
Foci and styles may seem like a pain, but they're a necessity for mages. Can you cook a TV dinner without a microwave, stove or flame?
Probably not. Can you travel 500 miles on foot in a day? Again, almost certainly not. With the right tools, you can do such things. Similarly, your mage can't necessarily perform any of the spectacular feats attributed to magic without the right tools to make it all come together. The mere fact that the rules say that your character can do magic without foci doesn't mean that your character knows she can!
A mage's style determines everything from what she thinks she can do with magic, to how she does it, to whether its results can be coincidental. If a Verbena waves a hand and causes an injury to heal, it's a vulgar Effect, but that might be the only way that the Verbena knows how to do it; conversely, a Son of Ether might use a bizarre healing device that seems coincidental. Same Effect, different styles; same result, different focus and mechanic.
Style Influences
People hang on to individual convictions formed through the hard knocks of life — tenets that are so central to their beings that they're lived as principles and taken to the grave. Such ideas spring from the ways that we survive: the things that help to shelter us, improve our lot in life and make the world bearable or brilliant. For some people, these core ideals are so strong that they touch on spirituality, altered consciousness or pure, unadulterated inspiration. These devout passions (the rituals, emotions and faith) are the foundations of magical styles. The belief in these sacred forms gives them power and makes them magical.
Magic stems from the elements of the mundane that draw connection to the universal. If gods are simply cosmic elements given familiar masks, then foci and paradigms are just incomprehensible powers attributed to finite keys. Such items and rituals may have power of their own, but mages go beyond intrinsic properties. Instead, mages create their own forms of magic and give new powers to old forms through their personal understanding. Science and superstition have power, but mages have the capacity to create power.
At first, mages draw their inspiration from their own cultures. The habits and traditions with which a mage was raised determine how she sees the magical world, what she believes has power and how she works her Effects. With time and effort, the mage may overcome these blinders, realizing that there is no One Truth, but rather that everyone has his own truths. From there, the mage may well abandon the shackles other foci and her heritage... or she may not. Pride and the conviction that one's way is the only right way are powerful chains.
While you work up your mystic's background, you should also determine her personal style. Depending on where and how the character was raised, you'll find different magical inspirations. Even two mages of the same Tradition with the same mentor will have uniquely individual styles.
The conditioning of life itself is more powerful than any abbreviated few months of magical training. Determine your mage's individual version of the truth and why she has faith in the elements of magic that she uses.
Foci
In simple terms, a focus is a concentration aid. Foci are thus the items, rituals and practices that mages use to tap their magical power. A focus may be a totally mundane object or ritual, with no power of its own, but because the mage believes not only in the focus' power but in her ability to use it, the focus opens the door to magic. A novice mage can sense the power of magic just out other reach. Through a style and a set of foci, that mage learns a way to channel that power. With time and experience, these foci become second nature to the mage, their power so carefully carried and understood that the mage considers the foci extensions other own will. At length, the mage may come to understand that ultimately the foci were simply a way to express magic, but that the magic comes from within herself.
Each Tradition lists a series of different sorts of foci that are commonly used. A Tradition mage can use any of these foci for the appropriate tasks. It's all a matter of figuring out how the focus would stylistically fit with the magic. If one focus doesn't seem appropriate for your ritual, pick another one! Of course, some foci have better resonance, some mages are better with some foci, and some foci might also be Wonders with powers of their own. And, of course, there's power in uniqueness. If a focus is one of a kind, tied to the mage in some special way, it has more power.
Standard, Personal and Unique Foci
Since every mage has a unique style, every mage also has a unique set of foci. For some, it's enough just to bring together a few necessary tools. Others rely on personalized items or even specially crafted and totally individualized foci. A more specialized the focus gains more power, but it also limits the mage more.
A standard focus is just a normal ritual or object that the mage uses to do magic. If your mage uses magic circles, candles, martial arts or concentration, techno-toys, whatever, then any sample of such things will do. The mage simply needs a representative object or action to act as a focus. These sorts of foci are generally representative of the Tradition as a whole.
Personal foci are the specific tools with which a mage studies the keystones of her Spheres. When you build your mage character, decide on a specialty focus for each of her Spheres. That particular tool is one with which the mage is very skilled. In all castings where the mage uses the specialty focus, you get a one-point break on the difficulty, making the spell easier to cast. Your mage can still do the magic in other ways, she's just better in this one special form of casting. Therefore, your mage can rely on all the normal, standard foci for all other Spheres, but her training gives an edge when she uses the sorts of tools that she knows best.
Lastly, unique foci are literally unique items — handcrafted or personally invented devices or individualized, used-only-once-ever rituals. Such items have a great deal of power for the mage because they are tied to her so intimately. Obviously, a unique focus works best for the mage who made it. Only the mage who actually invented the focus can reap its benefits. Like a personal focus, the unique focus gives a difficulty modifier of one in addition to other modifiers. If your mage uses magical candles as a personal focus for Mind magic, and she handcrafts a candle specifically for the purpose, the use of that candle gets the bonuses for both its unique status and for being a specialty focus.
However, a unique focus is irreplaceable. If a mage's unique focus for a Sphere is lost, broken or destroyed, the mage may have difficulty coming up with a replacement. Often, a mage needs a specific unique focus to work certain types of magic. If you have chosen a unique focus for your mage and that focus is lost, destroyed or used up, then the mage must perform all magic in that Sphere as if attempting to surpass a focus. You can't have a benefit without a commensurate downside, after all. This penalty can only be overcome if your mage manages to make or acquire a new focus, or if your mage achieves sufficient enlightenment to abandon foci for that Sphere.
Surpassing Foci
Mages may sometimes be placed in dire straits where they may not have time or means to complete their rituals with all their foci. When the mage really needs to get the magic going but just doesn't have the tools, she relies on sheer guts, determination and force of will.
If your mage is caught without a focus, she can still attempt a magical Effect that would normally require a focus. She grits her teeth, summons up every ounce of magic that she knows and tries to make something happen. You need only spend a Willpower point in lieu of using the focus, and the mage can try to make it happen!
Of course, when a mage draws on magical energy by the seat of her pants and without the aid of her familiar tools, it's much harder to direct the power and much easier to screw things up. Attempting to surpass foci imposes a difficulty penalty of three to the magical feat roll. Eventually the mage may achieve enough enlightenment to overcome the foci totally, but her belief in her own need makes it more difficult for her to do magic unaided in the meantime.
Note that, because of their utter dependence on physical props and material tools, Technocrats and Technomancers can't do this trick at all! A Virtual Adept, Son of Ether or Technocratic mage must always use the tools of his trade, at least until he develops the enlightenment to overcome his need for foci completely.
Abandoning Foci
With great effort and enlightenment, mages can eventually escape the limits of their tools. A mage who's broadened her horizons to understand other forms of magic eventually realizes that the magic comes from her own will and dedication. From there, the mage may eventually find the wherewithal to put aside the tools and become the magic.
Although mages need foci during their early stages of training, they can overcome this need eventually. In game terms, you can abandon the foci necessary for two of the Spheres that your mage knows once your mage reaches Arete 6. For those two Spheres, the mage can cast spells without the use of foci at all. Every additional point of Arete opens up two more Spheres to use without foci, until at Arete 10, the mage doesn't need any foci at all. If your mage performs Effects using multiple Spheres, she must still use foci for any Spheres that require them, but in those chosen few where she's achieved a real breakthrough in understanding, the power comes solely from within.
Of course, using the same familiar tools is still helpful. You get a bonus difficulty modifier of one if your character uses unnecessary foci. This bonus applies only if you're creating an Effect that relies solely on Spheres that no longer require foci, but your character uses them anyway. If the Effect is a conjunctional Effect that still requires foci for any of the Spheres, you can't claim this bonus.
Even Orphans and Hollow Ones have their foci; they just tend to have a broader range of props and the ability to learn from and incorporate styles. Orphans and Hollow Ones thus get the opportunity to use the standard foci from just about any Tradition that they can study. Conversely, though, they pay for this broad range of skill by taking more effort to develop the Spheres. If you're trying to find multiple ways to do things, it'll take more study.
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It's much easier to be different when there are other people, different just like you, around. Mages are certainly no exception. Those mages grouping together to share common mystic principles developed their own council and unified system of magic. From the roots that they've handed down, they have established magical Traditions. The Traditions have their disagreements over theory and style, certainly, but they have found, especially lately, that it is often more productive to work together — at least on the surface — toward their common goal of defense against forces that would destroy magic and myth.
The Council of Nine, made up of one member from each established Tradition, serves as the official governing force of the Traditions. The Council's purpose is to guide the actions of the Traditions as a whole, to serve as a watchdog for mages' activities and look out for the well-being of mages and Sleepers alike. In truth, the Council has little effect on the dally life of the average Traditionalist. Its ideals tend to filter down to individuals; its active goals tend to be achieved by small groups of disciples taught by mages close to the Council.
On an individual level, the Traditions serve a variety of purposes in a mage's life. The Traditions help a mage to learn, give her moral and magical support and help her understand and define the structure of her beliefs. A Tradition mage can also expect to be part of a group of people who will back her up and shelter her in sticky situations. On the other hand, Traditions usually expect their members to be helpful in return.
In the modern age, the Traditions hold dear the various practices of magic handed down from many cultures and legacies. All believe, however, that it's important to keep magic alive and to give Sleepers the choice of a magical world. From the highest seats of Tradition thinking in the Horizon Realms, to the individual apprentices who dream of a better world, the Traditions defend a world where people can believe in wonder, mysticism and spirituality. The Technocratic Union has no room for such vagaries, and the Masses have chosen to live in a safe and static world.
Not all mages choose to become part of a Tradition, however. Some prefer to work and live by themselves, figuring out solutions to their problems and celebrating success alone. These Orphans don't get the benefits of being part of a discrete group, but they don't have to deal with the more difficult parts of being social, either.
Mind, body and spirit are all part of the larger whole of the person, just as the person is part of the larger whole of the universe. Identity, division and conflict are illusions. When the mind and body come into harmony, the soul follows. When the individual does not resist the universe but moves within, he embraces his nature. From these philosophical roots came the Akashic Brotherhood. By honing the body, the Brothers make, a temple for the mind; with the refined mind comes understanding of the spirit. The Brotherhood uses simple tools — exercise, meditation, practice and study — to refine the simple man into a brother of knowledge.
Background
The philosophical and historic roots of the Akashic Brotherhood lie in the beginning times when all people lived in harmony. The first Akashics learned their skill in Do from Dragon and Phoenix, and they disciplined their bodies and their minds through the balance of movement and stillness. As the earth turned and more people came to live near the All, the All fractured and became dissonant. The balance between mind and body, motion and stillness, was disturbed, and the ones who would become Akashic Brothers retreated into mountains, caves and forests to continue their study of balance through Do. Martial arts and exercises perfected the body while rigorous disciplines, chants and prayers cleansed the mind.
As the world fractured and people took up dissonant paths, conflict came in several forms to the Brotherhood. The earliest artificers brought the first vestiges of technology to humanity, thus turning people from their relationship with the immaterial world and strengthening the barrier between the physical and the spiritual realms. Tools encouraged people to focus on only the things they could touch and forget that there was ever anything else; material goods became a goal and replaced the natural fulfillment of personal accomplishment. Even within the Brotherhood, young students took up the study of Do but failed to understand the relationship between philosophy and physical prowess. These warriors saw the Brotherhood's physical skills as an end, and brought disharmony to the group and its relations with others.
Later, Akashic conflicts expanded to include another group of Awakened humans, a band of mages who saw reincarnation as their duty. The Brotherhood did not approve of mages who took into their own hands the power over life and death, and the Brotherhood warred against the death mages — who would later become the Euthanatos — for 300 years. The war left both Traditions scarred, although neither has entirely forgiven the other for the centuries of bloodshed, they have learned from each other. Neither Tradition (as a whole) jumps quickly into conflict.
As the spiritual philosophies of Buddhism, Taoism, Shinto and similar religions spread across Asia, the Brotherhood followed. The Shaolin monasteries of China housed their members, as did the mountain-dwelling hermits of Japan, the cloistered priests of Tibet and the mysterious mystics of India. Many Common people adopted Brotherhood beliefs in everyday life. This groundswell of common support became the Brotherhood's bane: organized nations, harsh rulers and secret societies resented the Brotherhood's liberating influence on the Masses. Eventually, the Brotherhood found itself embroiled in wars as armies and governments sought to destroy its influence. The Brotherhood's holdings were broken and its members scattered. Hierarchical societies and caste systems, combined with a focus on material living, turned people against the Brotherhood's self-empowering ways.
Still, as an organization devoted to the improvement of the individual, the Akashic Brotherhood survived. Wandering priests here and there kept the Brotherhood's ideas alive while the teachings of the Tradition remained a part of many cultures and families. Technocratic influence may have destroyed the Brotherhood's material strength, but that was never its focus — the Brotherhood's true power came from the soul of humanity.
Those who needed guidance, who felt the calling of Do, found the Brotherhood. Independent of the modern desires, structures and possessions of the technological age, the brothers and sisters could not be trapped or deprived of the light they kept within.
To the modern Traditions, the Brotherhood now embodies the balance between violence and peace, understanding and conflict, in which the Traditions themselves remain embroiled. The Brotherhood's roots are spiritual, so they cannot be slain with bullets, money or laws. The Warring Fists use their incredible prowess to battle the enemies of the Traditions, while their teachings preach the Ascension of each individual through righteous action. As the modern Renaissance of martial arts and Asian philosophy blends with 21st-century culture and technology, the Brotherhood seeds itself once more in the hearts of common people everywhere.
Organization
Structure in the Brotherhood is loose; enlightenment and destiny are recognized as steps along the path, but all living things have virtue and value. To the Brotherhood, the idea of placing one thing or philosophy over another is a false division. Therefore, while Masters are respected for their insight, they do not exercise any real weight of authority — they are simply credited for their insight. Akashic acolytes come from all walks of life, but all study the Akashic way of leading a pure and simple lifestyle, at least to some degree. As a Brother progresses to a simpler and more unhindered state of Do and a greater Arete, his accomplishments are recorded and his teachings distributed so that all may benefit from them.
Factions
The Akashic Brotherhood is not made up of Shaolin priests only; neither does it exclude Caucasians or any other group. True, the focus of the Tradition is mainly Asiatic, but the search for balance and understanding is universal. Buddhists, Confucianists and Taoists make up a good percentage of the Brotherhood's ranks. Atheists, pagans and even Christians are welcome — any enlightened soul seeking to find harmony and study the way of Do can become a Brother. (Incidentally, the term Brother is not a slight against the female members of the Tradition. Akashic Brother is simply a title for someone who studies the ways of Akasha, and it is intended to carry no gender bias.)
Although the Tradition seems peaceful on the outside, it is not so from the inside. Disagreement thrives within this Tradition as well as it does within the others. The greatest divisions in the Akashic ranks arise between the younger members who want to make war on their enemies, the Masters who seek only enlightenment and the newly initiated members of the Wu Lung Craft.
Heavily traditional elements make up the Shi-Ren, or "benevolent aristocracy." Legalists and political elements who desire greater Akashic influence in worldly affairs form the basis of this group. According to the Shi-Ren, Brotherhood ways can only continue to fade into obscurity if the cultures that spawned them are pushed into history. Although many modern Shi-Ren do not honestly believe that a return, to Imperial China is possible, they do feel that it's important for the Brotherhood to maintain a stake in modern politics and culture. They stress the teaching of history and the roots of the Brotherhood; many have Pattern Essences. These Brothers study Mind magic intensely, push for better organization and serve as a public face in diplomacy and political struggle.
In direct counterpoint to the traditional members of the Brotherhood are the Li-Hai, who subscribe to Mo Tzu's philosophy of utilitarian morality. These Brothers believe that ancient traditions force the mind into a false sense of morality, one that is not guided by pragmatism.
Groundless traditions then cause people to take harmful actions. The Li-Hai argue that all morality must stem from reasoned analysis of what is utilitarian and what is harmful, and they seek to abolish old traditions that no longer have relevance in the modern age. These Brothers feel that the Brotherhood needs to modernize, to accept new ideas to approach the changing world and to learn to work within the systems of tools promoted by scientific society. Although these Brothers continue the practice of Do, they discard elements of Akashic magic that stem from old tradition.
Instead, they seek to meld Do and the Akashic Record into a modern, rational approach to health, morality and personal advancement.
The Kannagara are ascetics who uphold many old practices within the Brotherhood. These monks' take on difficult ordeals to purify themselves and to strengthen themselves physically and spiritually. All members of the Brotherhood use such techniques to some degree, but the Kannagara believe that the right mind and right soul can only come through right action, and that such action stems from ritual, hardship and practice. Most Kannagara remain cloistered away in Akashic retreats, where they practice daily prayers and devotions. They sometimes journey to the outside world as well, in order to see that which they hope to surpass. As Brotherhood retreats fall to modern expansion or tourism, and asceticism loses popularity, the Kannagara slowly dwindle.
Mystically inclined Brothers form the Jnani, a group of yogis who follow various forms of Shinto and Tibetan rites in order to develop
spiritually. As monists, the Jnani hope to reconcile the consciousness of the self with the Avatar (which they term the "Buddha-Mind"). Through practices of yoga, tantra, prayer, chant and the ubiquitous Do and meditation, Jnani seek unification with the absolute principle of reality. Instead of seeing reality as malleable, they believe that it stems from one core principle, and that all other veils of illusion stem from the inability to reconcile the self with the absolute principle. These monks engage in spirit -questing, and they seek out internal wisdom to remove the boundaries between the self and the Avatar. Naturally, they command potent Spirit magic. However, they also retain many unusual libraries and practices unknown to much of the rest of the Brotherhood. Rumor says that they have long held several hidden monasteries and that they keep secret catacombs deep beneath the Earth, where one can find passage to Horizon Realms or discover ancient places of power that tap into the consciousness of the absolute.
Young and hot-blooded warriors in the Brotherhood join the Vajrapani, or "wielders of the Diamond Wand." To them, enlightenment is like a diamond: hard, unyielding, containing only reflections of the outward world. The Vajrapani give the Brotherhood its moniker as "Warring Fists," for their title stems from the term for both "diamond" and "thunderbolt," whilst the diamond wand of their namesake is the metaphor for supernatural power. These Akashics argue that the Technocracy can be defeated only through powerful action, and they use Do as their weapon.
Interestingly, the Vajrapani stem originally from a metaphysical feminine principle, but this fact does not limit membership in this political faction. Indeed, being a Vajrapani is often more a matter of a young and impulsive student getting labeled as such by a mentor (or recognized as a kindred sort by other young warriors). Vajrapani work to develop their martial prowess, and they often seek out conflict with the perceived enemies of the Brotherhood. Older members sometimes drift into other factions, but some do remain active as warriors — the Tradition must have its defenders, after all.
Lastly, the Wu Lung, the family of the Dragon, are a separate sect of mages who allied with the Brotherhood very recently. In the past, the Wu Lung and the Akashic Brotherhood fought for dominance over traditional China. Today, with their greatest leaders slain and their heritage diluted by modern China, the Wu Lung have been forced to set aside their grudges and ally with the only remaining inheritors of China's ancient culture.
The Dragon Wizards practice a rigorous and bureaucratic style of magic reminiscent of China's old imperial days, complete with ancestor worship and careful appeasement of the heavenly spirits. Both Brothers and Wizards still seek a means to reconcile their disparate beliefs, using their common roots for a basis. Still, there's a long way to go. The Wizards even practice their own martial art separate from Do. It seems that their faction in the Brotherhood will remain a rather disparate part, forced by circumstance to bow to the greater weight of the Brotherhood in the Traditions. The imperial bureaucrats study primarily Spirit magic so that they can commune with ancestors and answer the mandates of Heaven properly.
Philosophy
A return to simplicity lies at the heart of the Brotherhood's beliefs. Humans clutter up their lives with unnecessary and extraneous objects and desires. How can one understand the natural harmony of the universe by trying to grasp it, own it or control it? The natural place for every individual — the role of Drahma — is apparent when one is not blinded by the illusions of greed, desire and power. The exercises of living give a soul the chance to experience the universe in manifold forms, and so the individual should take this opportunity to gain insight by developing a harmony with the All. Each life is just a step on the greater wheel of Drahma until the individual releases himself from the chains that he forged with his own beliefs and desires.
Failings
Subtlety and Zen-like calm are among the Brotherhood's strengths, but they are also a great weakness. Because the order focuses so closely on personal growth and individual enlightenment, its Masters have no connection to the individual student's personal paths to understanding. Instead of being able to help an Initiate move toward wisdom with lessons or suggestions, most Akashic Brothers can offer only rote physical training, cryptic passages in old books or puzzling idioms that are supposed to lead the student to her own revelation. Some apprentices don't learn well without close guidance, and some mages are unable to move beyond a certain point in their development without help.
The masters can't tell their students what it is they're supposed to be learning, or where or even how they're supposed to find it. As a result, the Brotherhood loses a disproportionate number of young mages due to simple frustration. The ones who do stick with the Tradition are making some attempt to counteract this Zen disease, but they are struggling against the immense weight of time and long-honored tradition. The Brotherhood's very individualistic belief that all people must find their own path paradoxically makes it difficult for the Brotherhood to do more than give aspiring mages a few simple tools. The Masters cannot teach the way to enlightenment, they believe, since each person must find a unique path. Those who are enlightened cannot explain their sublime understanding; those who aren't don't know how to start. The Masters point the way — it's up to the students to follow it, but only if they can understand it.
Theories and Practices
The Akashic Brotherhood keeps its soul in the pages of the Akashic Record, a collection of all of the experience of all Akashic Brothers over all time. Its pages may be paper and ink, but the book is reflected in all levels of the world, spiritual and material alike. Legend has it that it was originally begun by the Ascended Avatar named Akasha, for whom the Order is also named. The Record serves as an inspiration and meditation for the Brotherhood, allowing the mages to access past experience and wisdom. The Record is not, however, a book to simply be read. It presents knowledge in such a manner that the seeker will not forget, in puzzles, riddles, loans or short passages that seem mundane. By diving into the Record, a Brother can relive the experiences of the past, sometimes even coming forth with elements of his own past lives.
The soul of the Brotherhood is in its Record, but for the body and mind there is Do (pronounced "doe"). Literally "the Way", Do is the art of training the body in order to achieve a peaceful mind. Do is the essence of martial art, the root of more mundane arts — its movements allow Akashic Brothers to perform feats that combine physical, mental and magical precision. However, Do is more than just a fantastically deadly fighting style and physical discipline. It is a style of living, a means to develop the fullest potential of the human body by moving harmoniously in natural cycles. Do stylists practice proper balance in nutrition, exercise, sleep, thought, creation and destruction, all guided as important parts of a greater whole. Ultimately, the Do practitioner brings his body and mind in harmony with the natural flow of life, unhindered by the artificial constructs of development in a world cluttered by extraneous material.
Do pervades every aspect of the Akashic attitude toward magic. As there must be right thinking, right speech, right understanding and right action, there must be right mind in order to achieve right body and right living. Thus, the Tradition studies Mind as its primary Sphere. Without that one block in place, nothing else can be aligned and the mage — or her opponent — is as hampered as she would be with no body. All Akashics thus study Do in some manner, be it through difficult martial arts, internal questing or quiet meditation. Although Do is the primary structure for Akashic magic, many Brothers add other practices to focus their energy. Like Do, these practices are often Asiatic in origin — feng shui, meditation and calligraphy are excellent ways to direct chi — but all are designed to unify and direct motion and thought toward a goal. The spiritual and magical worlds are not far removed from the physical world. The balanced and enlightened man can, in time, access all layers of the universe.
Still, many Akashic Brothers fail to understand the dichotomy that their Tradition teaches. Convinced of the tightness of their cause in harmony with Do and the universe, warriors of the Brotherhood try to fight or force others into their mold, never realizing that in doing so they turn human against human and create disharmony instead of healing it. The aptly named Warring Fists thus fight a constant war against the elements they hold repugnant. Yet in doing so, they promote the very violence that their teachings despise. For many, enlightenment comes only later, and these monks retreat from the world to find peace instead of conflict.
Specialty Sphere: Mind
Common Foci: Chimes, incense, meditation, prayer sashes or flags, purification rites, weapons
The Celestial Chorus is one of the most misunderstood Traditions of all the Nine. Although it is a religious Tradition without question, it does not focus on one religion over another. The One and Prime that the Chorus reveres transcends any single congregation's deity. All humanity is part of that cosmic song, the glorious radiance of Pure and Prime. When humanity is united again in this reverence, the Prime shall be whole again, the song manifest and the universe healed.
Background
Like the Akashic Brotherhood, the Celestial Chorus holds that it is one of the first Traditions, not necessarily in its current form but as the embodiment of a philosophy and an exaltation that has been part of the universe since its creation. The Chorus's roots stretch to hymns and exaltations that can be traced back thousands of years; its actual existence as a Tradition dates to approximately the time of Ikhnaton. Since then, though, the Chorus has had an incredible influence over humanity's history, not least because the Tradition fervently maintains that its duty is to protect Sleepers and guide them toward Ascension through the knowledge of the One.
From the earliest days, the Chorus has urged people to seek the song that unites them in contemplation of a better form, a celestial harmony. In some times and places, the Chorus led by example and founded tolerant, accepting and hopeful religions. In others, the Chorus went awry, bringing forward its vision of One through a single way that brooked no deviation. Alternately hierophants and heretics, the Choristers looked to the inspiration of something greater than mankind, a creative force that could unify all people under its influence.
Unfortunately, the Chorus is not always pure and right, not even in its desire to help. The many experiments of the Chorus in fostering a "true way" opened the door to dogmatic schisms with the intolerant medieval churches of Dark Ages Catholicism and Islam. From roots with Grecian and Roman temples, the Chorus slowly evolved into a form closer to the Catholic Church. All Choristers learn about the group's involvement in the Inquisition and in both sides of the Crusades. Although the ideal — keeping the world safe from dangerous influences — may have been there for the Inquisitors, their fervent belief got in the way of their sight and their better judgment. New Choristers are cautioned to keep their minds open, to remain focused on unity and to remember that all paths are trod by the One and Prime. Initiates also learn about the Tradition's ties to the Cabal of Pure Thought, a small group within the New World Order. Although the two groups started out as one, the Cabal of Pure Thought refused the idea that all people, regardless of faith, could be part of its One World.
It was the split of the Cabal of Pure Thought from the Chorus that many believe led to the downfall of the Tradition. Although their power was prominent in the Middle Ages, many Choristers came to be regarded as heretics for their schismatic acceptance of other beliefs as equally valid paths to the One, while some clutched so tightly to their views that they fought even their brethren. The uncompromising drive of the Church, combined with its corruption by material greed, drove people to embrace the Cabal of Pure Thought's ideas of empowering the masses of humanity instead of laboring in hopes of a better afterlife. Eventually, the power of faith waned as the Order of Reason rose. Members of the Chorus fled the crumbling pillars of the Church, as often hounded by churchmen swayed through the Order's material gifts as by the Order's own soldiers.
As the clouds of Reason and Technocracy gathered, the Chorus sought shelter in sub-groups, lay communities, mystery cults and minor offices.The broken back of religious belief could no longer support the Chorus, and members had to hide their miracles amongst the Masses as leaders or supporters of tiny groups. The Chorus' vision remained focused on a holy communion, a Sacred City wherein all humanity could unite its voice in harmony with the Song of Creation, but the goal slipped slowly from their grasp. Ironically, only this common defeat could truly unite the Chorus' disparate factions, and even today they retain a suspicious and guarded relationship within the Tradition. People still want to believe. There is a need for something greater, a desire that the Chorus answers in people, and the Chorus fans the flames of faith from that tiny spark of questing.
Organization
The Chorus adheres to a structure more strict than that of any other Tradition except the Order of Hermes. The hierarchy is modeled closely after the early Catholic church, with a system of rank based on seniority within the Chorus, responsibility and magical ability. Communication is easy for the Chorus, because every junior Singer knows who her superiors and inferiors are, and he can pass information along. However, many of the Tradition's opponents point out that the system of rank encourages the Singers to forget their real purpose and focus on their upward mobility.
The point is valid — some Choristers are more interested in recognition than in helping others — but the Chorus defends its system. It's designed to teach new members and allow the more experienced ones to guide the Tradition wisely, they say.
The Chorus is filled with voices from all walks of life and all corners of the world. Anyone with faith in the One and a desire to help can become a Singer. Choristers don't even have to be religious to begin with; they can just have faith that there's something out there that's bigger than they are. It's more important that an Initiate have the desire to achieve harmony than that she believe a certain bit of dogma. However, some people are more drawn to this Tradition than others: Nurses, social workers, people with handicaps, clergy and teachers are likely to become Choristers.
Factions
Any number of factions make their home in the Chorus. Although the Tradition divides along lines of religion, it also sub-divides by different ways of approaching religion or seeking divinity. These manifold factions are, like the rest of the Tradition, often a loose collection of people who can agree on only some basic tenets. Indeed, more and more Choristers reject factionalism today in favor of a true unity among all members of the Tradition.
Living alone in the far places of the Earth, the Anchorites seek individual wisdom and salvation. The Anchorites do not so much make up a faction as they do a group of individuals who reject the traditional structures. Each one seeks a personal commitment to the divine. Rarely, they interact with the "real world," but most find that the material world is a corrupting influence and they are quick to return to their hermitages. In their communion with wild places and unknown entities, many Anchorites develop a strong connection to Spirit magic.
Conservative Choristers tend to work along Septarian lines. These members decry the Chorus' work with the other Traditions, claiming that the influences of other mages dilute the sacred song with discordant technology and heretical magic. Only the Chorus, they claim, has a true vision of unity. Although their influence is not strong within the Tradition — the Chorus already has too many enemies to go about making more — many Choristers share at least a little bit of their reservations about the works of other mages. Septarians study Prime magic as they purify their souls to come closer to their own vision of unity with One.
The opposite group to the Septarians is the Latitudinarians, who argue for a total restructuring of the Tradition along less Catholic lines. The Latitudinarians believe that the Chorus' medieval structure is too confining and too exclusionary, and that the Tradition must change to accommodate not only other religions but the belief structures of other Traditions as well. Each Latitudinarian has a personal belief of what is and isn't acceptable, of course, but they all agree that the Tradition should assume a more open structure, a greater degree of debating freedom and a higher tolerance of other Traditional magic.
The most open of the Choristers are usually Monists, who seek a single unified church. How can the Chorus bring about a unity of mankind if it can't achieve unity within its own ranks? The Monists try to reconcile the differences between other factions and religions, making allowances and compromises to build a unified church. Their goal is not to follow any one dogmatic stricture of a "right and true" way to approach divinity, but rather to open the doors to all understanding of the One as equally valid. Although they meet with considerable opposition, the Monists are persuasive and very tolerant for their Tradition, and they excel at finding allies among disparate groups. They work with the Prime element as a means to exemplify the common roots of all Creation.
The Alexandrian Society seeks a reconciliation of religion with science, by bringing scientific thought into the fold of religion. To them, the process of discovery and inquiry is a sacred search itself, and the scientific disciplines are part and parcel of the search for divinity. Although sometimes accused of harboring elements sympathetic to the Technocracy, the Alexandrians believe in each individual's right to find a balance between science and faith. Furthermore, they denounce the Technocracy as a sterile and soulless creation. In studying science, the Alexandrians develop their understanding of Matter, to learn how it reflects qualities inherent to divinity.
The Sons of Mithras make up a small but militant faction, that embraces the early Roman cult of Mithraism. These' soldiers still hold some grudges against the Chorus for the persecution of Mithraism by Christianity, but they serve as stalwart defenders of the Chorus, believing that all have a claim to security in the quest for the divine. Sons of Mithras are still a bit of an underground cult, but they are at least recognized by the modern Chorus. Most Sons study Forces as a manifestation of Mithras, their god of military might.
Children of Albi are essentially the remnants of the Albigensian movement from the days of the Crusades, who cling to the notion that the material and the divine are separate worlds and that only a rejection of the material can allow transcendence to the spiritual. As with other groups that were persecuted during the Crusades, the Children hold a hesitant membership with the Chorus. They hold a prominent-division between Church and State, believing the State to be of the material (and thus corrupt) world, and they adhere to sacred scriptures that later Christianity discarded. Children of Albi also study Prime magic to master the secrets of the hidden and holy world in contrast to the corrupt material world.
The Nashimites are a Gnostic cult with views similar to the Children of Aibi but stretching back even farther. To them, the One holds the capacity for all the elements of creation, and the course of living souls determines its will. Thus, the Nashimites believe in the possibility of a truly maltheistic divinity, for as mankind's soul becomes corrupt, so too does the One fall from purity. Naturally, Nashimites work to spread the ideals of light and compassion to as many people as possible, hoping to raise the souls of all mankind to a higher standard so that the One follows and brings the universe to a better state. Like the Children of Aibi, the Nashimites study Prime magic to discern the state of the One.
As perhaps the most mysterious and schismatic group, the Knights Templar rejoined the Chorus only recently. Although they protect fiercely their old ways of Christianity, they also hold to unusual rites passed down through the ages and have a conspiratorial structure. The existence of such a structure is not surprising considering the historical "end" of the Templars at the hands of a church and ruler that denounced the Knights simply to seize their money. Modern Templars are warriors of faith who bear arms to defend their Christian teachings, battling the enemies of Orthodoxy and the Chorus. Some Templars still refuse to associate with the Chorus due to the Tradition's acceptance of other religions, but most see the Technocracy as the greatest betrayal of humanity's divinely granted capacity for thought and free will. While other Choristers seek a unification of humanity in pursuit of the divine, the Templars battle for righteousness with unparalleled zeal, supported by their magical swords, hereditary armor, submachine guns and military training! Not surprisingly, Templars master the Sphere of Forces, manifested as the veritable Wrath of God.
Philosophy
Nothing so defines humanity as its capacity to strive for the divine. On some level, every individual is aware of this spark, this higher ideal, this greater power. Even the most evil and depraved monstrosity recognizes this divinity, if only through its deliberate rejection, but unity wails for all.
Just as the splintered shards of the One are scattered throughout the world, so too do humans seek a unity of purpose that will rejoin them. The purity of song joins many voices together as one, in a greater harmony that unites them all and creates something new and beautiful that no single voice could make. From such a chorus, here comes a song of a glorious whole. Even strife and discord are washed away by the greater song. So, too, can all humanity be united when the greater unity brings peace, understanding and divine grace to everyone.
Failings
The failings of the Chorus are as obvious as its strengths. On the surface it might look like the Chorus is made up of a horde of humming people who all agree that there is one deity and that the deity is the One and Prime. However, the divisions between the various religions within the Chorus remain. Catholics and Anglicans still argue, Jews and Muslims still don't quite trust one another and every group has a problem with at least one of the others. They may all ultimately decide that they worship the One, but they can't quite shake their individual religious ideas. Of course, this weakness lies directly in the way of the Tradition's goal of unifying humanity. If they can't agree on their own philosophy, how can they possibly lead all people everywhere into harmony with each other? It is an ironic twist that a Tradition devoted to unity should have a history so scarred with conflict and oppression in the dogged conflict over the form that unity should take.
Theories and Practices
The base creed of this Tradition is that of the universal Aum, the song that was sung before time was time. The One began a song, and that Song split into the infinite harmony that is all of the children of the One. Sleepers and Singers — as the Chorus calls its members — alike are children of the One, and all are part of the Song. Although the Tradition appears to be made up of only Christians, it has many other faiths within its ranks as well. Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Pagans also join the Chorus. They continue to practice their religions while understanding that the names they use for their gods are part and parcel of the One force that is the source of all divinity and light.
The strength of this Tradition is its devotion to its highest ideals. The ideal Chorister is everything that a good Christian, a good Muslim, a good Jew or a good Pagan should be: kind, compassionate, strong, faithful and altruistic. Choristers are dedicated to helping their fellow humans, both Sleeper and Awakened, and they stand up against oppression and hate. This Tradition might be peaceful, but it is definitely not-nonviolent. Holy war is still war, and holy warriors are terrifying on the battlefield.
Magic is the will of the One, and the singers simply open themselves to it. They become channels for the Song and allow the flow of harmony to fill their spirits and their voices. No human can do more than guide the direction of magic. Mages are simply the hands and the fingers of the One and Prime. Song is the great symphony of creation and a Chorister can release that symphony, if only for a moment, through the mortal vessel as it becomes one with the divine. Because Choristers focus so strongly on a meta-magical and meta-religious idea, their area of expertise is Prime, the Sphere that deals with the very fabric of the universe. Prime is the direct magical manifestation of the One.
On a more physical note, Chorus efforts often take the shape of common church functions, like soup kitchens, free medical clinics or caring for the ill and lonely. If people have their material needs fulfilled, the mages reason, they are more inclined to be generous to their neighbors. Also, it's easier to spread a message to people when the messenger is actually among the people. Standing in a pulpit is fine, but it isn't going to reach the people who really need to hear the song. The fact that they're leading by example is also central to the Choristers' approach to encouraging Ascension.
Specialty Sphere: Prime
Common Foci: Song, candles, prayer, bells, incense, holy symbols
Many Initiates come to the Cult because of its reputation as a continual party. Popular opinion has it that sex, drugs and rock-'n'-roll are what the Cult is about. When the mages get to the party, though, they find out that there's a very specific point to all the revelry. The Cult of Ecstasy does use things like drugs and music and even sex, but they're just means to an end. The point is to achieve a mental state that transcends the physical world, a trance that allows the mage to see beyond his normal experience and go outside all the lines that keep most people and mages penned in.
Cultists take the word ecstasy in its original meaning: a sudden, intense rush of feeling that catapults the subject into an altered state. It doesn't have to be a pleasant feeling, but given a choice, most Cultists definitely prefer it that way. The Cult of Ecstasy breaks down barriers and self-imposed limitations to give people a rush of eye-opening experience.
Background
Ecstatic quests for transcendence — and the Cult of Ecstasy itself — have a long history, from the Bacchantes' dances and the Sufi Muslims' whirling to aboriginal vision quests. Drugs, pain, hunger, intense sexual stimulation, dance and music are the traditional tools for achieving a trance state, and the Cult hasn't really seen the need to change any of them. Members of the Cult have always been visionaries and rebels, even more so than other mages. Prophetic and insightful, they expanded their minds through exhausting ritual and dangerous substances, all in the pursuit of ultimate awareness.
The Cult's early incarnations spread from mystery visionaries in the Near East and India. There, seers learned the power of altered mind states through dance, music and simple drugs. Entire communities took up the whirling, fatiguing practices of seers, while in other areas hermit-like proto-Ecstatics lived as mystery men who uttered cryptic pronouncements and lived apart from the press of mundane humanity. In both cases, the roots of the Tradition came together with people who broke down their own boundaries of perception and comfort in the pursuit of wisdom.
By the Renaissance, the Ecstatics had become recognized by the other Traditions, who labeled them Seers. Ecstatic practices in mad, frenzied passion distinguished them from the conservatism of the times, yet their uncanny knack for foresight let them arrive in the right places at the right times. These Seers embraced the whole of human experience, equating passion with divinity and discarding the stifling mores of the Church. The Seers would accept no limits — not from themselves, from society or from any gods. This liberation both fascinated and terrified the more conservative Traditions, who alternately reviled and wondered at the Ecstatics' practices and powers.
Although the Cult has undergone many changes of name — from Sahajiya to Cult of Bacchus to Cult of Ecstasy — its original focus remains. Cultists seek to surpass their notions of comfortable boundaries, to explode into awareness beyond human limits, to reach an ecstatic transcendence where their consciousness spans all time and space. Today, the tools are different, but the result the same. Music, dance, sex, exercise, drugs — anything that can be pursued to exhaustive, passionate explosions of feeling is fair game. The Cult thrives in the eternal second at the height of an elegant dance, the shuddering sensitivity of total exhaustion and the lateral thoughts of the opened mind. Its message comes to people through this music, urging people to cast aside their banal notions in favor of ecstasy, experience and their own mad visions.
Organization
Flexibility is the Tradition's greatest asset. Because the Ecstatics understand that no boundary is permanent, they are able to see that there are always new ways to achieve goals and new ways to live their lives. As a whole, the Cult eschews structure in favor of encouraging creative, often chaotic rebellion. New experience is good experience — even if it hurts, the mage has learned something about how not to do things! The closest the Cult comes to a formal structure lies in its Code of Ananda, the proverbs of bliss that teach joy, compassion, sacred emotion and respect for others' passions in a sort of ethical guide that encourages each Cultist to embrace the differences of others.
Unsurprisingly, the Tradition has little real structure. Individual mages don't have a problem working together — they prefer company, usually — but they don't see the need for a hierarchy or for too much organization. When something needs to happen, it will happen. If more than a few Cultists need to meet in order to solve a problem or come to a consensus, they do so in during a rare Tradition convergence. Chantry houses tend to resemble community hangouts, jam-session rooms or fraternity houses more than magical workplaces, and they're often inhabited by several Cultists and a handful of Sleepers.
Factions
The Cult draws more new mages than any other Tradition, at first, because of its reputation as a gang of hippies. The ones who stay, though, are visionaries, one and all. There's no real list of the types of people who become Ecstatic mages, because anyone can realize that they're not seeing all that there is to see. The only unifying trait Ecstatics share is the fact that they realize, even if they haven't yet Awakened, that limitations and boundaries can be surpassed. There exist a few small sects within the Cult, primarily of extremists or those who feel the usefulness of some organization.
The Aghoris are a centuries-old faction near Bengali in India, who practice mutilation, pain and destruction as tools to surpass the mortal body. By destroying the shell, they reason, they can encourage the growth of the soul. This rather extreme philosophy denies the Ecstatic Code of Ananda, and most other Ecstatics stay the hell away from these dangerous types.
In Europe and the Americas, some Cultists continue the decadent practices of the late Hellfire Clubs, moving in secret circles of "gentlemen's societies" complete with mutilating initiation rites, intoxicants and damaging drugs and painful mind-games and emotionally manipulative "pleasures". These Acharne move among all of the stylish -yet-pained subcultures, especially the modern Gothic movement, spreading their particular joy of damnation with an amorality that sets them apart from Cultists or Hollowers. They, too, see the Code of Ananda as weakness. They practice the Mind Sphere in their pursuit of emotional mastery.
The Hagalaz are a violent group of Nordic berserkers, rune mages and tricksters, sometimes with ties to other sorcerous societies that share their passions. Engaging in bloody rune-carving and dangerous traps reminiscent of the Norse deity Loki, they personify the madness that runs through the chaotic side of Scandinavian myth. These dangerous types see the modern world and its religions as weak, and they push to overthrow them with a more militant Valhallan society.
Consorting with the mercurial fae, the Fellowship of Pan indulges in rites of sex, drinking, and Muse-inspired poetry and debate. These Cultists maintain ties with the modern descendants of the fae and initiate their members through the wild parties of the satyrs.
Politically active Cultists often wind up in the Dissonance Society, a small group that teaches personal responsibility and ethics as a cornerstone for anarchic society. Members of the Society indulge in a wide range of criminal (sometimes almost terrorist) activities and argue for the overthrow of the stifling chains of society. Members of this group tend to have an intellectual streak, using debate and discussion as tools just as much as action.
The K'an Lu Taoists contrast with the Akashic Brotherhood as a sect that practices extreme passion and physical pleasure as opposed to the asceticism of the monks. However, the enlightened K'an Lu see the need for a balance between discipline and excess, so they too practice martial arts, meditation, trances and discipline. The contrast between discipline and chaos lets them cut loose from the limits of experience to open their doors of perception in controlled ways.
Modern Klubwerks (or "clubkids," or just "clubbers," depending upon who you ask) are Cultists who indulge in the mass consciousness of nightclubs and concerts. In the pressing throng of humanity sharing a common beat, these muses reach out for the primal pulse of the mob. To them, the heartbeat of many people moves beyond the mind of the one; the actions taken in the heat of frenzied dance reflect basic human impulse unfettered by reasoning or prudish mores. These dancers indulge in all of the club scenes, creating magic in the waves of humanity that throng such venues.
Philosophy
Ecstatic philosophy holds that all limitations are self-imposed. Humans build their own comfortable domiciles in both the physical and mental worlds. To surpass one's limits, one must move beyond the barriers of comfort and tranquility. Although sanity and safety are left behind, the true experience lies beyond — learning comes from new experience, not repetitions of old, tired things. Everyone must strive to push outward and discover their own new ways of learning about the world. The ecstatic state is just a mind open to new experiences because it's released from the confines of self-imposed limits. Once human limits are breached, the person sees beyond the horizon of human insight, to reach a truly cosmic consciousness. Tools like sex and drugs — the Kamamarga, or paths to ecstasy — just open the door. It's up to the individual to step through, to see what's on the other side and to keep on going past where even those crutches take her, to the heart of the Lakashim, the pulse that drives the world.
Failings
All of the Cult's understanding comes with a serious glitch, unfortunately. The Ecstatics' tools generally end up as crutches. If the mage doesn't pay attention to what she's really doing — looking beyond her mind and her life for answers — she runs the very real risk of becoming dependent on her focus to do magic in any way, or even just to live. And that dependency isn't just psychological. A lot of Cultists become addicted to drugs or absorbed by their chosen foci to the point that nothing else can get beyond it into their lives. Cult mages also fall prey to their own chaos. They rebel so hard, or they try to go in so many directions at once, that nothing ever gets accomplished. Chaos and rebellion must be directed somehow, or the energy just swirls around in a sort of tornado and does no one any good.
Theories and Practices
Each Ecstatic has her favorite tools. Some things just work better for some people than others. That said, though, many Ecstatics lean toward some combination of drugs and music. Music is the most powerful tool for changing perception, according to many Ecstatic mages, and it's the easiest way to really get in touch with the primal and spiritual energies within and without.
Even though the Cult of Ecstasy encourages the use of tools in achieving altered states, no Cultist would ever force drugs, sex or any other experience on another person. The point of such states is to increase understanding and empathy, not to kill it. No mage who has felt the pain of the Earth or of the child down the street could bring herself to hurt an innocent. Cultists aren't drug dealers and they aren't pimps. On the other hand, if someone comes to an Ecstatic looking for a new way to see his life, the mage will be more than happy to help him extend his senses in whatever way he's comfortable with.
Once the Cultist is enlightened enough, she can achieve her transcendent state without outside help. She begins to understand that the only tool that's really necessary to move beyond customary boundaries is her own mind. Few Ecstatics truly abandon their foci, but those few that do become sages — they know what the future might hold and they have a better understanding of the entirety of the universe than many mages of other Traditions. The trick is to wean the mage away from the thought that the drug, music or other tool is the experience.
The core of the Cult's approach to magic lies in the belief that the senses can be extended to include just about everything. Once the mage has experienced and understood a thing or a situation, she can reach out and adjust it to fit her will. Other peoples' perceptions can also be altered. Of course that door was always there; you just never noticed it before, right? Changing the way a person sees life or a particular instance is one of the Cult's best approaches to magic. Perception, after all, is reality.
Just as the Ecstatics surpass the boundaries of mundane thought and understanding, they also jump the boundaries of time itself. They understand that time is a human-constructed idea, just like ethics and language. Time remains the Tradition's particular area of expertise, and Cultists seem to have an innate understanding of and control over how they and others perceive the passage of seconds, even years. As a result of their constant gazing into five minutes ago and three days hence, they've developed a distracted look. People usually write this look off as a stoned expression, but the Ecstatic is more likely looking at who his lunch date will be tomorrow.
Specialty Sphere: Time
Common Foci: Music, dance, drugs, meditation, fasting, exercise
Spirit-talkers, animal friends, brothers to wind and sisters to Earth — these mages walk the boundaries between our physical world and the realm of dreams, gathering wisdom and skill from the spirits that are native to the earth, the sky and the water. Dreamspeakers are often pigeonholed as shamans, and the name fits. They are the intermediaries between humanity and Spirit, communicating between the two worlds, maintaining balance and keeping the relationships between the inhabitants of both realms in their proper state of stasis or flux. Of all the Traditions, the Dreamspeakers have the most difficult role and the strongest centering, grounding influence.
Background
In the beginning, there were people in all lands who knew the way to cross to the spirit lands and communicate with the totems of the land, tribal protectors and ancestor spirits. These people shared their wisdom with their tribes or their families, and they were magicians and medicine men among their own groups. They did not speak of the many other dream-walkers they encountered in the spirit realms, though, and they did not gather in groups often. When the Convocation came together to form the Traditions, the mages recognized that these people needed to be a part of the forming alliance, despite how primitive they seemed. The shamans who answered the call became the first Dreamspeakers.
Those Dreamspeakers who joined the Traditions found reason to regret it, though. From the first, the Eurocentric Traditions, led by the prejudices of the Order of Hermes, pressed all of the various spiritual groups into one cachet. The Europeans would not bother to understand the "primitive and inferior" ways of the many visitors and labeled diem all as Dreamspeakers. For their part, the Dreamspeakers saw the Traditionalists as selfish, greedy and power-hungry, unconcerned with the sublime aspects of spiritualism and nearly as bad as the Order of Reason. Only the strong vision of the scientific annihilation of their cultures kept the Dreamspeakers involved with the Council — and even that was not enough. By the 1700s, the Dreamspeakers had so splintered in their relations with the racist Traditionalists that fully half the delegation left to return to their native peoples. This schism resulted in the demise of many Dreamspeakers and a rift between Tradition and Council that has not yet healed. By the modern age, the Dreamspeakers have realized that they can survive only with the help of the Council, yet the Council has long turned a deaf ear to them. Prophecy tells that the Council will learn from its errors and finally come to accept the Dreamspeakers — but it may not be in time to save all that the dreamers hold dear.
Of all the Traditions, the Dreamspeakers have arguably undergone the least change. Most members of the group still revere the ancient spirits, old rites and sacred places. They remember the names of gods and the faces of legends. The powerful oral history and vivid dream-craft of the Dreamspeakers lets them retain a great hereditary knowledge of their ways, and some factions see themselves as reincarnations of great shamans or even personifications of spirits in flesh. With drum and fire, chants and fetishes, the Dreamspeakers tap always into the same ancient Dream that has guided them for eternity.
The Dreamspeakers' role has gotten much more difficult recently. The Gauntlet, the curtain dividing the physical world from the spiritual, has become much harder to cross. In cities and places where disbelief is strong, it's almost impossible to pass into the spirit worlds. Even in sacred groves and deserts, stepping into the dream requires more effort than it ever has before. The eldest Dreamspeakers are concerned about this change, and the younger mages see their spirit-council fires as they meet to discuss how best to deal with this new trouble.
Organization
Shamanism isn't limited to Native Americans and African aborigines. Every culture on Earth has a few people who can communicate with the spirits of the land, and they all do so in very different ways. Even. so, Dreamspeakers all have a deep love for their home, whether they call the entire Earth home or just a corner of it. Many mages of this Tradition are active conservationists, seeking to preserve what's left of the wilderness or even to reclaim some of the land that has been developed already. Their connection to the spirits generally shows itself when the mages are young, sometimes in the form of imaginary animal friends, or it begins to manifest when the mage hits puberty. Most young Dreamspeakers go out on a quest to find someone who can teach them how to understand their visions and make sense of their new lives.
Since the first Dreamspeakers came to the Council, the leadership hasn 't gotten much more formal. The Tradition has always been organized loosely at best, deferring leadership to its most respected members almost by unspoken accord. Meetings of the entire Tradition are rare. Before the Gauntlet was strengthened, these meetings would take place in the spirit world, with totems and ancestor spirits sitting in and lending their wisdom as well. Now, however, the Dreamspeakers gather in the physical plane, letting each other know of the time and place of the meeting through dreams and visions.
Factions
Dreamspeakers profess as many different factions as there are forms of spiritualism or shamanism. Among them are: Keepers of the Sacred Fire , in many ways the Dreamspeakers that most personify the Tradition, remain among their native cultures to keep their roots alive. They accept that the world has moved on, but continue to support the original practices and heritages of their homes.
The Solitaries are isolationists who remove themselves to the desolate places of the Earth, there to survive in pure communion with the land. They exercise a strident drive to separate the Dream from the modern world that would destroy it. Many take young Initiates into the wastes to teach through vision-quests, then return to guide their native societies back to the Dreaming way.
The radical Ghost Wheel Society argues that the modern world is simply the natural progress of the world, and that the Dreamspeakers must embrace the medicine of the machine. These rugged few look to technology and its underlyin g symbols for spirits. The techno-shamans of the Ghost Wheel embrace technology and its benefits, but they marry it to their own vision of spirituality. Naturally, they are treated with suspicion (at least) by much of the rest of the Tradition.
Outspoken activists and warriors join the Red Spear Society, which includes those Dreamspeakers who left the Tradition council but feel a desire to remain in contact with the rest of their allies. These extremists take the war directly to their perceived oppressors, and they lash out against anyone who would destroy their way of life. They direct their energy against the Technocracy primarily, but they attack Traditionalists or even Sleepers of selfish and unfeeling demeanor as need dictates.
Lastly, the wandering storytellers of the Baruti keep old myths and legends alive. Before science explained the world, stories told of creation, tricksters, discovery, love and mischance. The Baruti retain these stories, and they memorize the new lore of the modern Dreamspeakers as well. In keeping lore and ancient wisdom alive, the Baruti hold many secrets, and they also retain a distinct vision of the unformed world before the coming of science. Indeed, as they say, even though the story cannot be true, it is the way that things happened.
Philosophy
There is infinitely more to this world than the things anyone can touch. Beyond the edges of vision are beings that have been with us for aeons, and they are bound up in the workings and the health of the world. The Dreamspeakers recognize this fact, and they honor the spirits. They are the gatekeepers between the two planes, serving as communicators and go-betweens. If either side of the Gauntlet is neglected, both will suffer, so the Dreamspeakers balance the two. The balance sometim es requires the mage to perform actions that seem irrational or trivial; other times the mage must make a sacrifice to keep the worlds in harmony. Too many people have forgotten the existence of the spirits of the land, and the Dreamspeakers must always remember for themselves and for everyone else.
Failings
Shamanism is a solitary profession almost by definition. There are no group tours into the spirit world. The Dreamspeakers suffer from this lack of cohesion. Because there isn't really a group identity, there aren't any group goals or unified movement toward a specific point. The potential power of the Tradition is diffused into many small vessels instead of poured into a larger, more effective channel. On the other hand, all Dreamspeakers are working on some level to counteract the strengthening of the Gauntlet, the other weakness that plagues this Tradition. With access to the spirit world so limited, the shaman-mages have lost access to much of their magical strength. The Dreamspeakers' inability to even understand one another despite their unification as a single Tradition compounds this loss.
They all revere and work for the greater balance of the world, yet their approaches are so varied and intuitive that they cannot work together effectively.
Theories and Practices
In their hearts, the Dreamspeakers all hear the voice of the world — its invisible pulse, the surge of spirits, the rhythm of nature and the slumbering power of the great Earth. Some answer to totems, others to capricious spirits of natural places. A few commune with the modern spirit of man, the symbols and lines that technology calls forth. In every case, though, magic comes from the Dream, whatever its given name. The Dreamspeakers draw out the images and archetypes known unconsciously by all humanity.
Primitive is not now and never has been a word that accurately or wholly describes these mages. They may use methods that pre-technological societies used to communicate with things other people can't see, but their grasp of reality and the modern world is startlingly strong. In order to understand what is happening to the dream realms and to interpret the messages of the spirits, the Dreamspeakers have to be intimately familiar with the workings of the physical world. Besides, it doesn't do anyone any good if a shaman in Alaska has a message for a Sleeper in Venezuela and can't pick up a phone or send an email to get the message across.
Standing with one foot in this world and one foot across the Gauntlet, the Dreamspeakers have a unique understanding of the consequences of their actions. Not only do they see what happens among people and societies, they see the ripples caused in the spirit world, which almost always last much longer. This dual vision gives the Tradition a deep sense of duty — duty to Sleepers, Awakened and the spirits they deal with. With the fate of two worlds directly on their shoulders, the Dreamspeakers know that they must choose carefully and wisely when making decisions.
Specialty Sphere: Spirit
Common Foci: Drumming, chanting, fire, mandalas, sand paintings, bones, amulets, herbs
It's hard to accept the fact that, one day, consciousness as every human knows it will end. Death, to most people, is a terrifying unknown that must be avoided at all costs. It's little wonder, then, that people look into the eyes of a Euthanatos and suddenly grow cold. The Euthanatos know death, and they know that it must and will come. Sometimes, these mages bring death with them. More often, though, they bring the potential for rebirth, for the seeds of creation in the remnants of the past.
Background
Proto-Euthanatoic roots heralded from the earliest cities in and near what would later be called India. The philosopher-priests of the ancient years tracked the cycles of reincarnation and led people through their many lives in the turning of the eternal Wheel. These early mages sensed the greater cycle of life and death, and they guided entire civilizations through their rise, fall and rebirth in new forms. Eventually, their philosophies settled in the Hindu religion and similar god-forms of the area. Dispersed throughout many cities, the roots of the Euthanatos maintained similar methods and beliefs, but in small, isolated groups of healers, priests and sages.
The Euthanatos Tradition has been accused throughout history of killing in cold blood, killing for the joy of killing and killing to serve its own ends and increase its own power base. One of the greatest conflicts in Euthanatos history is the 300-year battle against the Akashic Brotherhood.
Both groups, in the end, were fighting for the same thing — the preservation of life and reincarnation — but the Akashics could not accept the Euthanatos' methods. The Wheel must turn, and the Euthanatos believe that it is sometimes wiser to end an unproductive or suffering cycle and send a soul back to be reincarnated than it is to allow a stagnant energy to linger and hold back the turning of the ages. From this pragmatism came the need to judge and shepherd the living in times of starvation or plague, but the Akashic Brotherhood did not agree with such methods. The Himalayan Wars between the two groups brought forth a terrible series of killings, not just of individual mages, but of whole reincarnated lineages.
Eventually, the surviving sects united as the front of Akashic opposition forced them in contact, and the small groups finally came under a single banner of Chakravnnti.
The establishment of Buddhism changed the Chakravanti, bringing to them a new awareness of compassion and a new understanding of suffering. Where the various groups had worked before as fearful mages with the power to heal or destroy, they now learned to understand that very fear in their charges. From these roots the Chakravanti drew up the beginnings of their own moral code. Later, during the formation of the Traditions, that code served as a basis for the Euthanatos as a whole. Greeks, Celts, Indians and others who served the Great Cycle and believed in the need for strong souls to ease the suffering of others all came together as a whole. The Euthanatos Tradition was born in an incarnation that the other Traditions might label "killers with consciences."
The truth is that the Euthanatos must kill, but they do not kill for joy or power. The Tradition is based in thanatoic — death-focused — sects of Indian, Greek and Arabic culture. In India, with its frequent plagues and poor living conditions even before the modern era, death was often the best and kindest answer for ill, suffering people. In Greece and the Middle East, death allowed scholars and surgeons to expand their knowledge and help the people who still lived. Even today, Euthanatos plunge into ancient memories and reincarnated souls to find enlightenment. They cross to the Underworld to experience death, and they uphold a stern code. To the Euthanatos, theirs is a sacred duty, one that must be carried out, but is so strenuous and terrible that only the most strong-willed can perform it. It's not so much that they take on a right, as they take on a burden: responsibility for pain, for release and for renewal.
Organization
This Tradition is fairly well organized, if somewhat loosely so, with a set system of apprenticeship, mastery and leadership. There are established Marabouts (Chantry houses) all over the world, and the center of the Tradition on Earth lies in Calcutta. The Paramaguru (leaders) often serve as Acarya (mentors) to new arrivals in the Tradition, spotting them through the auspices of Fate while the Initiates hover on the cusp of awareness. From there, training can proceed in many forms. Some Euthanatos groups are notoriously strict in their discipline, while others have a very relaxed and egalitarian attitude. In any case, the Acarya is formally responsible for the Initiate once the agama sojourn is complete, up until the Initiate is recognized as a full mage. Once inside the Tradition, there are really only three ranks: apprentice, member and leader. Recognition comes with wisdom and magical skill, and leaders stand only as long as their followers support them.
In order to truly understand the power of death, the Euthanatos believe that a mage must have touched it. All Euthanatos must undergo the agama, or little death, when they are initiated into the Tradition. This sojourn is a brief trip into the Underworld itself, overseen by a mentor and used as a guide. Often, the Initiate is drawn to the Tradition because her Awakening involved some sort of near-death experience or the death of someone close to her. Therefore, Initiates tend to be people familiar with endings and sacrifice in some form or another.
Factions
Euthanatos sects are about as fluid as those of the Dreamspeakers or Cult of Ecstasy (both of whom the Euthanatos carry strong ties to). That is to say, Euthanatos have a great variety of sects and beliefs, and they have a largely open attitude toward philosophical differences within their own society.
Tantrism and Indian culture form the basis of the militant Natatapas, who confine themselves to the heart of India and keep the oldest rites of the Euthanatos. All Initiates of the Natatapas come formally through the agama sojourn to join this conservative sect, and they learn historical Hinduism and Buddhism. Naturally, their withdrawn world-view makes them suspicious of other Traditions, but the Natatapas make up a reasonable, if conservative, group.
From the complex rites of Africa come the Madzimbabwe. These Euthanatos study their own cultural ties to spirituality and healing. Theirs is a heritage of ghost -calling, soothing and compassion from the old cities of Africa, when it had a civilization before European invasion. Although they differ from other Euthanatos in religion, the Madzimbabwe remain members of the Tradition due to their shared compassion and duty to help others.
Greek heritage manifests in the Pomegranate Deme, who study the mysteries of Persephone and the Greek Underworld. Literal worshippers of the Greek mythos, these mages are now few and far between, and their religion falters. Within a few generations they will probably be a memory as new Initiates join less theological sects.
The last ancient faction is the Aided, which stems from death-mages of Celtic heritage. Their order nearly collapsed under the persecutions from Christianity during the Dark and Middle Ages, but allegiance with other Euthanatos allowed them to shelter some of their members and ideals. Today, they uphold the bloody Celtic rites and sacrifices necessary for the proper culling of the herd (be it human or animal). Like the other cultural factions, the Aided do accept members without a direct tie to their base, as long as those Initiates have some sort of stylistic or inculcated elements that tie with the faction's methods.
Modern chance and probability occupy the Lhaksmists. These luck-followers rely on total randomness in just about everything — magic, living, important decisions, whatever. However, they gladly throw themselves into the trappings of modern electronics, feeling a kinship with probability theory and quantum uncertainty. These Euthanatos, who are the ones closest to the Digital Web, watch over the growing webs of chaos spread by the Internet's haphazard expansion.
The exclusive Golden Chalice serves as a political assassination group, specifically one that stalks and destroys dangerous individuals in positions of leadership and influence. Their roots stretch back to the Byzantine empire, and they include elements of various cultures from that era. In the modern age, though, they are more than willing to use high -tech tools as a means to defeat high -tech enemies, and so they mix various poisons and gadgets along with their more traditional magic. Membership comes by invitation only. Recently, the sect has come under scrutiny — if membership is by invitation only, what are they hiding? More to the point, how could they allow the atrocities of leaders like Pol Pot, yet feel justified in moving against lesser statesmen?
One of the more popular sects in the Euthanatos is the Knights of Radamanthys. These warriors hire out as mercenaries to the other Traditions, leveraging their command of entropy and their fearsome fighting skills, but only for causes that they feel are just. In this fashion, they advance the Council as a whole, work on Euthanatos cases and still earn the Tradition its keep. Sensible and farsighted, this faction trains in modern combat, ethics and a multitude of espionage skills. Internally, though, most Euthanatos consider it a simple training ground from which veterans can graduate to the true philosophical levels of inquiry, instead of just being "hired gunfighters."
The Albireo may be the most important intra-Tradition group, as far as the Euthanatos are concerned. Although any Euthanatos may join, full membership comes only with probationary work. These diplomats carry the face of the Euthanatos to the rest of the Traditions, explain the Thanatoic code, work to uphold the Tradition ideals and police the Euthanatos for internal corruption. Of course, with their privileged stance as ambassadors within the other Traditions, they may well sniff out corruption in those ranks, too.
Philosophy
Death is not the end; death is an end. There isn't much good in an existence that will serve no purpose, and there is less good in an existence that brings pain or trouble to everything it touches. It's better to end that thread and let a new one take its place than allow it to take up space. Like flowers that grow from a burned forest bed, these threads will be rewoven into the Tapestry. The Tapestry weaves into a great picture, but suffering and sorrow mar that picture. Every man must take up his burden, surpass it and accept the responsibility to deal with this inevitability. That responsibility becomes a keystone for the support of the world, for the willingness to support and shelter others — and to perform the duties necessary to release those who only bring or know suffering.
Failings
There's another reason behind the careful attention these mages pay to emotion: Jhor. All mages gather Resonance from their activities, but this Tradition gathers more of this type of Resonance because its mages deal with the energies of Entropy. Jhor is the physical reflection of decayrelated magic. It is common for Euthanatos mages to have sunken eyes, hollow cheeks or pasty skin. As they channel Entropy, even to divine what the fall of a die will be, it comes to rest in their bodies. The accumulation of Jhor isn't always related to the mage's intent when she uses her magic, but a Euthanatos who seems too corpselike bears watching. Entropy is not a force to be used lightly or too often. This Jhor can accumulate and cause Quiet, too, leading the Euthanatos to morbidity and an obsession with death. While any mage can suffer this sort of affliction, Euthanatos are notoriously prone to it. Euthanatos mages watch one another for signs of too much Jhor. A mage who's fallen into a Jhor-Quiet becomes an emotionless killing machine, and he must be put down. Most Euthanatos are acutely aware of the irony that they're about two steps from being killed by their own fellows.
Theories and Practices
Euthanatos mages have a variety of approaches to the actual execution of their magic. Most use some kind of device to analyze the balance of a life or a situation, divining the probable outcome of a course of action. This device can take the form of a coin flip — if it's heads, the person can be changed; if it's tails, it's curtains — or a pair of glasses that the mage looks through to see what a soul holds. So many things depend on what Sleepers would call random chance, and the Euthanatos uses that perception to her advantage. However, just shrugging an Effect off by wondering what the odds were of that happening is clumsy and unsubtle. A clever Euthanatos begins a series of perfectly believable events that trigger her desired result (a man in a bar takes one drink too many, decides not to drive home and calls a cab — the Euthanatos has effectively gotten herself a ride to wherever she wishes to go). Not all Euthanatos magic involves killing, either — a situation can be changed for the better without anyone losing any blood.
The Euthanatos must look at the gains achieved by giving someone the Good Death, but they cannot ignore their sorrow, either. Healing is accomplished through excising the diseased material from the healthy, allowing the subject to feel the pain of the knife and then to produce new, clean tissue to replace what was removed. Only through experiencing every phase of the healing cycle — pain included — can the Euthanatos make a positive difference.
The Euthanatos dedication to furthering the progress of the Wheel doesn't only apply to individual souls. The world itself is constantly changing and moving, and it too becomes diseased. Euthanatos mages find these diseased areas of society and, by addressing individual components of the problem, attempt to end them. Doing so becomes harder and harder, however, as the world degenerates further. There are too many people involved in too many problems, and the Good Death cannot be given to every one of them. More and more often, Euthanatos find themselves performing delicate adjustments to people and situations instead of simply ending the cycle and letting the Wheel spin itself out.
Like the Dreamspeakers, Euthanatos have an acute sense of duty. Instead of feeling the consequences of actions in the spirit world, however, Euthanatos are intimately familiar with the human ramification of any thing they do. Each time a death-mage takes a life, she must be certain that it is the right thing to do. The choice is final, and the people left behind must live the rest of their lives with the loss of the victim — that's not an easy thing for a mage to deal with. Therefore, the Euthanatos must be able to understand the consequences
in order to weigh them against the benefits of the Good Death and make the right choice.
However the mage finds the Tradition, she must understand that the Wheel turns. She must understand that although she can affect some cycles for a short time, she will no longer be in control in the end. Games of chance are common illustrations for new Euthanatos — the mages practice predicting how the dice will fall or where the ball will land, and they inevitably make a wrong choice. Euthanatos must accept the inevitability of their own deaths — they must understand the fear in their victims — before giving the Good Death to anything.
Specialty Sphere: Entropy
Common Foci: Weapons, dice, scales, ashes, mantras, mathematics
Grandfather to the Traditions, mystics without peer, holders of Heaven's keys — the Order of Hermes claims many titles. Whether these claims are truth or hubris, the Order has donated more to the Traditions, tutored more Archmages and created more codified magical theories than any other group within the Council. These formalized willworkers stand proudly upon their achievements as high wizards, masters of ritual and spell, sages of great renown and learned builders of artifacts and Chantries. Yet their unity hides powerful political intrigue. Their heyday is gone, washed away in the myths of yesteryear. Their most powerful Chantries are shattered. Their newest Initiates abandon the ancient codes in favor of new ways. The Order has survived for centuries through its intensity and dedication, but the new millennium may be its death-knell — or its rebirth.
Background
Hermetic historians write entire tomes and dissertations regarding the formation of the Order. Most agree that Hermetic roots sprang from ancient Egypt, where native magic and Hebrew Kabbalah melded in a powerfully mystical and mathematical precision. The exclusive wizardpriests of the era in Sumer, Babylon and Egypt built the seeds of mysticism with writing and language. The magic of symbols and their meanings carried into the human consciousness a new way to look at the universe, a way to join and transform separate ideas. Order historians point to a pair of Archmages as the inspiration behind Thoth, Egyptian god of wisdom, later called "Hermes Trismegistus" or Thrice-Great Hermes by the Greeks, for whom the Order took its name.
From Egyptian roots, the idea of mystery cults spread across Greece and the Mediterranean. Writings of thinkers like Solomon and Pythagoras infused a combination of mysticism and precision into the magical workings of various groups. Hermes, as a symbol of communication, knowledge and travel and good fortune, served as a popular patron for such circles. The Thothian and Hermetic ideals remained scattered as underground societies for several centuries, occasionally popping up in the consciousness of great philosophers such as Plato. The great turn came in 332 B.C. with Alexander's unification of much of Persia, Greece and Egypt. From this empire, travel and communication allowed the juxtaposition of various sorts of Kabbalah, Gnosticism and Persian religion, creating the first mesh recognized as a true part of the Hermetic Tradition. Even through the decline of Hellenistic civilization, the fall of Rome and similar catastrophes of civilization, the Hermetic Order thrived.
Powerful texts codified alchemy, numerology, theology and sympathetic magic. The Cult of Mercury (Rome's version of Hermes) worked powerful magic in concert and spread Hermetic ideals through the cream of intellectual society.
Eventually, the Order of Hermes came together under the direction of Trianoma and Bonisagus. These founders, a legendary politician and researcher, joined to travel Europe and bring practitioners of the Mercuric and Hermetic ideals together. Trianoma's diplomatic skill wooed many to the group, while Bonisagus' revolutionary parma magica (shield against magic) allowed the suspiciously independent workers of the age to meet in relative safety. These leaders later became the Primi, founders of the Order's great Houses, passing on their magical styles and traditions through their apprentices. From these lineages, the Order crystallized as a single political unit, with each House contributing and contesting in a magical society under Bonisagus' revolutionary codification of their Great Art.
Over the succeeding centuries, the Order experienced great triumphs and setbacks. The Dark Ages saw their height as advisors and mystics sheltered from society and subtly influencing it. Their Great Experiment fell, though, to internal squabbling, elitism and consistent dabbling in Infernalism. Still, the Order restructured, expanding and adding new magical groups constantly. Old Houses fell or were cast aside. The Druidic Diedne were wiped out on charges that the entire House had been corrupted by demons. Their accusers, the Tremere, later embraced vampirism.
The Order of Reason, in counterpart to the mysticism of Hermes, struck down many Hermetic cabals and Chantries, but the Order responded by bringing its incredible resources and support to bear in the formation of the Tradition Council. The Order led the recognition of the Spheres as the inter-Tradition magical system of study, but it also found itself pushed away from its desired prominence within the fledgling Council. The Renaissance brought new ideas to the Order but ultimately signaled its collapse as an open force among humanity. The destruction of too many Order bastions forced the Hermetics to withdraw from everyday sight, eventually to be expunged from the pages of history by the Technocracy.
Through subtle influence, the Order works today to introduce minor mysticism and secrets of the Art into mass society. Although far from a complete success, this project still produces a surprising amount of leeway, especially as mass printings of Hermetic works become available. It may be too late for this project to do any good, though. With the fall of Doissetep, the destruction of Concordia and the death or involuntary exile of most of the great Masters, the Order fin ds its traditional teachers and structures threatened. Novitiates who would barely be counted as Disciples must now train Apprentices with their rudimentary, partial knowledge. Old, carefully hoarded secrets are gone forever in many cases, while mystical items and powerful patrons are destroyed or locked away beyond the hostile Gauntlet. The survivors on Earth can only hope to remember their teachings and learn all that they can. The Order will survive, but it may not be the same Order that it once was.
Organization
The Order of Hermes is, without a doubt, the most hierarchical of the Traditions. Initiates and Apprentices must serve under a mentor, who teaches the basics of magical theory and practice. After a grueling apprenticeship (traditionally, up to seven years, but often cut short in the heyday of the modern world), the supplicant challenges for recognition as a full magus — a challenge that can end with a return to apprenticeship, or even with death. Once accepted, each mage has his own sigil, a symbol of the individual's achievements. Although all mages theoretically have the authority to vote in Hermetic meetings, politics run at the pace set by the Masters and the ambitious. More than once, political leverage has shoved aside the potential for moral or material growth. Each step up the ladder of the Order reveals greater mysteries but also makes the student more beholden to the Tradition as a whole. Those who achieve Mastery are lauded for their high place and given the respect due their powers, but they can also expect to garner political opponents. Each Master is, in turn, expected to recruit and train a new apprentice or set of students. The cycle continues, with members indoctrinated into the Order's secrets but becoming steadily more embroiled in its internal struggles.
The Order of Hermes has a detailed code of conduct that lays out the basis of internal magical dealings. Among other things, Hermetic mages consider sanctums to be inviolate, they are forbidden from magical scrying upon other Hermetics, they are expected to train at least one apprentice, and they are forbidden from dealing with Infernal entities. Of course, these rules all bow to one simple axiom: don't get caught. Corruption of many sorts is rife within the Order. Breaking the rules isn't as punishable as breaking the rules in a politically unacceptable way.
Matters may change soon in the Order, though. With the death of experienced teachers and Masters on Earth, new mages must learn from the often-fragmentary knowledge of the remaining Disciples. Cut off from traditional support, political factions in the Order find no choice but to put aside their differences or go out in a blaze of glory. The Order finds that it has no choice but to pull together, and its many members are creating for themselves a new vision of the Tradition.
Factions
The Order categorizes its many different magical styles by Houses, groups that follow in the footsteps of a particular founder. There have been many Houses in the past, and although quite a few have fallen, there will be more to replace them.
The mages of House Bunisagus keep alive the base erudition and scholarship of the Order's founder. These mages delve deep into magical theory. Many of the great discoveries of the Order come from the tomes of Bo nisagus mages. With their exhaustive research into magical sources and causes, such mages often study the Prime Sphere heavily.
House Ex Miscellanea — literally, "House out of hash" — grew from the increasing need to welcome mages whose studies didn't mesh with any other Hermetic House, but who desired to learn and share the Hermetic style. The House formed in the Dark Ages, and it continues to be strong. Today, it takes in necromancers, spiritualists, students of the fae, naturalists, mystics, artisans, craftsmen and others who find that their talents might lie in the direction of a different Tradition but who desire the Hermetic structure and insight. Old Houses, lost to the ages, are also included in this formation.
The Order's tactical weapons are found in House Flambeau. Students of Forces nonpareil, the Flambeau come from a blend of Moorish and Spanish influence. They wield cleansing fire in their crusade for vengeance against the enemies of the Order.
The magic of chance and probability tie easily into the metamathematics of the Order through House Fortunae . This rather modern House concerns itself with high numerology, randomness and the spoils of chance's games — money. Unlike Technocrats, though, they recognize money as a magical concept and draw out an intuitive understanding of chance events that leads to manipulation of happenstance. Naturally, these mages tend to eschew the Order's focus on Forces in favor of their own line of Entropy.
Powerful internal policing falls at the feet of House Janissary. Although the Janissaries don't make the rules of the Order, they do enforce them. These mages watch constantly for signs of internal corruption, for mages who've made the wrong sorts of deals or broken with the ideals of the Order. Then, the Janissaries take care of the problem. But who watches the watchers?
House Quaesitor, one of the original Houses, oversees Hermetic law. While the Janissaries function much as roving enforcers, the Quaesitori hold Tribunals to decide cases of law and punishment, to make new precedents or cast aside old ones and to determine the fates of mages charged with criminal actions. The Quaesitori rarely enforce these dictates directly, but they serve to interpret divine, Hermetic, personal and human laws. Rather terrifyingly, the Quaesitori have the dubious distinction of being the wizards who first discovered the Gilgul rite.
On the outskirts of the Order's practices is House Shaea, a group that embraces the early Egyptian trappings of the Order and promotes base linguistics as a key to understanding thought, perception and thus the universe. From these elements the Sheshati indulge in education, learning and eventually wisdom. Although other Hermetics sometimes scoff at them as simple scribes, the predominantly feminine group maintains records with diligence and doubtless holds many secrets that the other Houses would dearly love to know... or see destroyed.
House Solificati marks the newest group on the Hermetic scene. Several members of the Solificati joined the Order after their Tradition's dissolution in the Middle Ages. Now, the remaining Children of Knowledge, combined with students from Ex Miscellanea, have reunited their former Tradition's strengths and achieved recognition as a full House. The Solificati are alchemists who practice material transformation as a metaphor for the evolution of human to divine. They also experiment with chemical enlightenment, searching for a metaphysical substance to open the doors to higher perceptions. Unsurprisingly, the Solificati have a great wealth of knowledge in Matter, and they study that Sphere more than others.
Perhaps the oddest of the Hermetics is House Thig, also known as the Ruby Children or Crucible of Thig. These modern techno-magicians blend technological devices with the symbolism of the Order. Instead of simply building a better computer, a Thig adept will make a magical one. Where a technocrat might rely on technological innovation, the Thig mage binds spirits and mystical powers into scientific forms. Although somewhat outcast among the other Houses, the young up-and-comers of Thig show great promise in combining old Hermetic ways with new world thought. Perhaps because they did not rely so heavily on Masters and old mentors, the Thig have prospered while other Houses have been hit hard in the wake of the Reckoning.
Lastly, House Tytalus emphasizes growth through conflict. All motion in the universe comes from the interaction of opposite, polarized forces. House Tytalus takes this imperative to every level of existence, and its members constantly seek questions, challenges and trials worthy of their skills. No Tytalus mage is ever content to sit upon his laurels, or to have "enough" — there's always a higher mystery, one that demands a greater level of perfection and erudition. The Tytali certainly strive to improve the Order, but their methods are often dangerous. Some wonder if their presence doesn't bring more strife than it's worth.
Philosophy
Hermetic philosophy is complex and many-layered. At the heart, the Hermetics profess the drive to perfection. This drive manifests through trials, tests, self-discovery, and the rejoining of fragmented patterns like disparate languages or mathematical conundrums. Ideally, each individual has a Word, a divine imperative that drives the figure's revelations. By exploring the boundaries of that Word and all of its meanings, the individual rises to his inner nature, then beyond. Each step in the process is a challenge that requires a leap of perception but also opens the way to the next path. Eventually, the human passes far enough to become something cosmically divine.
Failings
Although the Order has a great unity and body of knowledge, its political fractiousness and its pride both serve as wedges against enlightenment. Hermetic history is full of decisions made for reasons of ego, for political gain or for the Hermetic belief that their studies elevate them beyond the concerns of other Traditions. Each Hermetic mage passes through the fires of inquiry to achieve knowledge, and this hard-fought wisdom is guarded jealously and treated as a gem of truth. When these ideologies conflict, there's no room to give.
In the past, the Order fought bitterly for greater recognition in the Tradition Council, citing its many contributions and its own mystical prowess. Internally, Houses fought one another for resources, students, even over points of magical theory. Despite the invention of certamen to settle grudges nonfatally, wizards contested and killed one another when their energies could be spent in pursuit of Ascension or in battle against
Tradition enemies. The Order has also covered up atrocities and problems solely to hold them as secret leverage in political machinations, and tried to force other Traditions to conform to its own viewpoints. None of these actions endear the Order to other mages.
Internally, the Order often limits its own members due to their political acumen. If a Master wants a particular course of action taken or denied, a Talisman to change hands or a Chantry raised or lowered the fortunes of other mages can depend on whether they side with him or not. A wellmeaning Disciple can find himself censured with little more than a few helpful ideas, and training can be very difficult to garner without promises of later payment in sa (essentially, favors). Many Hermetics become so consumed with their own political agendas and personal quests that they lose sight of the progress to Ascension and self-perfection, instead fighting a political war that grinds them down and spits them out. With the destruction of much of the upper echelon of Hermetic structure, this trend may change — or the new blood may simply turn into another old guard.
Theories and Practices
The Order trains its members stylistically according to House, but modern training tends to be somewhat eclectic and based on survival issues. Hermetic theory states that every individual has the spark of divinity and the potential for self-perfection, but few realize it or are ready for it. Thus, it's important to weed out the shining stars from the chaff. Let the un-Awakened go on about their banal lives, and focus the true attention and learning on those who can use it.
Highly concerned with symbology, Hermetic magic calls upon angelic names to open the gates of Creation, oft en through the secret language of Enochian. With this language of the angels, the Hermetic can unleash sounds and vibrations that resonate with the key elements of the Tellurian, and enforce his will on it. Other Hermetic tools include swords, wands and st aves, the traditional instruments to represent violence and power, as well as circles, triangles and other geometric symbols, which can represent direction, measurement or confinement with their simple purity and mathematical precision. Some spirit magic also relies on ancient pacts made in early days. Just as Hermetic mages are fond of trading favors among one another, they often make deals with spirits for tutelage or aid, calling on those spirits later with special symbols or objects. A few symbols like the Seal of Solomon are even considered invested with perpetual power or divine discoveries of universal keys, so they can be used to perform incantations time and again.
Hermetic mages gather and study in Chantries, like other mages, but they are noteworthy in that they're the ones who pioneered the idea among the Traditions. Most Hermetics have a double life: a Hermetic Word and craft name, and a mundane identity. After all, despite the need to master multiple languages, esoteric mathematics and tomes of symbology, Hermetic mages must also be adept at surviving mortal society, especially with the spirit world dangerous to enter. For this reason, Hermetic mages keep their affiliation a secretive sort of allegiance much like the more mainstream societies of Masons and Rosicrucians.
Specialty Sphere: Forces
Common Foci: chanting in Enochian and other obscure languages, pentagrams and circles, Seals of Solomon, specific numbers, staves and wands, swords
Not all science needs to be banal and regimented process trumpeted by the Technocracy. So say the Sons of Ether, and they practice what they preach. From the mad, inspirational science of Victorian wonder-workers' to the fringes of cutting-edge alternative scientific theory, the Sons of Ether use it all. While other Technomancers pioneer new worlds, the Sons of Ether take the discarded cast-offs of technology and turn them into creations of the imagination. No invention is too strange, no theory is too obscure, for them to tweak it and find a way to use it. Contradictions? Impossibilities? Nonsense — there are only doors that have not yet been opened by Science!
Background
With roots dating as far back as the Middle Ages and a series of changes through the modern day, the Sons of Ether have quite a convoluted background. The most basic foundations lay in the document known as the Kitab al Alacir, the Book of Ether, from which early philosophers propounded a science based not on observation, but on belief. Presumably based on the works of early philosophers and translated through several secret forms, the document eventually surfaced in 12th-century Spain, where a pair of enterprising mystics (one a Hermetic craftsman, the other a Templar) took its teachings to heart. They formed a Natural Philosopher's Guild, one dedicated to the study of met aphysics and mysticism. Side by side with the more reasoned workers of the Renaissance, these guildsmen went on to pioneer new creations and inventions. Where the Order of Reason propounded a rational and dissemble state to the universe, though, the guild held that creation functioned due to the spark of genius in the individual, that the universe had no limits as long as one did not recognize any.
The Natural Philosopher's Guild survived in muted form among various groups of imaginative pioneers, never really united after its founders' time. However, the end of the Renaissance ushered in a technological age with possibilities heretofore undreamed of by mankind. Those who opened their eyes to these possibilities, who strove to make something meaningful instead of denying opportunities, still carried the flag of the guild until its formation as a recognized part of the Order of Reason. The spark literally came with the development of electricity, as these scientists formed the Electrodyne Engineers.
For the better part of a century, the Engineers advocated the wonders of electricity, the value of perception in experimentation and the power of the questing spirit. Their methods flew in the face of the new Technocracy's more reasoned pursuits. Willing to stride off into the unknown on the backs of wild theories and discredited sciences, the Engineers imperiled the Technocracy's idea of a safe, stable, methodical scientific world. Decrying the Engineers' methods, the Technocracy levied sanctions against them, up to and including publicly denouncing their favored theories.
The Technocracy proclamation of the ether as fiction was the final stone. The Convention took upon itself the new moniker "Sons of Ether," and turned to the Traditions for succor.
Over the next several decades, the Etherites alternately advanced cutting-edge theoretical sciences and renewed old ones. From jet-packs to quantum mechanics, chaos math to etherships, they proved their commitment to truly inspired science in numerous ingenious devices. Their adventurers strode the globe as heroes whose exploits, too unbelievable to digest as fact, instead entered popular fiction. And they continued to dream, and to build.
Today, the Sons of Ether occupy a prominent place in the Tradition Council. Although many consider them deranged or just plain unstable, their devices and inventions sometimes work when other magic would fail, and their familiarity with technology gives them an edge in conflict with the Technocracy. As science travels into infinitely more detailed realms, the Sons of Ether find more cracks to exploit. Quantum theory accepts a subjective view of the universe. Dark matter theory posits the existence of an unseen yet massive matter all around — the ether. The Sons of Ether have always renewed the old, and their Tradition's vitality seems to show more of the same.
Organization
Given the fractious and chaotic nature of most Etherites, it's not surprising that their Tradition follows suit. Initiates are brought in from science classes and philosophical discussions, often after propounding on the nature of the Kitab al Alacir (once a true Scientist has circumspectly dropped a copy in the student's care). A student who manages to break through the barriers of conventional logic and realize his own theories on the contradictions inherent in the universe can be guided into a mentorship as a true Son of Ether.
Once inducted, a student's advancement proceeds along academic lines. Etherites correspond and publish journals or papers to propound their theories. Publication in Paradigma, the Etherite journal of universal science, is the most prestigious of these works, but other papers and theses can carry weight as well. Those who build useful and interesting theories consistently — especially those who build functioning devices based on them — earn acclaim. The more advanced the student and his theories, the greater his accolades. Sons of Ether eventually acquire titles like Doctor and Master Scientist.
Where once the Great Hall that leads the Tradition was a Horizon Chantry based just outside Paris, the Scientists now meet in more mundane buildings to discuss their Tradition's advancement. Typically, Master Scientists and Doctors staff the Great Hall, which acts as part parliament and part academic circle. However, although a student may serve in the capacity of "gruntwork," every true Scientist remembers that inspiration is an intensely personal path and gives merit to the ideas of any Etherite. In theory.
Factions
Despite their wildly divergent theories, Etherites do tend to clump together. Often, several scientific specialists will share their knowledge of their respective fields to work in concert on a large project requiring all of their knowledge. Etherite factions generally form from such gatherings.
Some sub-societies are stable enough to bring in new blood and remain homogenous. Pioneers of space, the Ethernauts explore the reaches of the cosmos, and of other dimensions, in search of new wonders to bring back to Earth They visit other worlds in their powerful etherships, sabotage the Void Engineers and bring back samples of the strange. With their incredible mastery of Matter, a few of these pioneers have made some theories about shielding their ships from the storm winds lashing the wall between dimensions, and their once-ridiculed craft may become a potent tool in exploration of the Umbra.
The well organized Utopians wish to build a better tomorrow on Earth through Science. These Scientists spread not only potent devices to improve the quality of life, but also potent ideas — expressions of wonder, hope and unity. Their social conscience leads them to help others and to make their unusual theories open to everyone.
The few remaining Cybenauts cruise the Digital Web and turn it to their whims. These Etherites fervently believe that the Web itself is the next battleground of the enlightened, that the minds of' Sleepers will be decided there. Of course, most mages — er, Scientists — have more important business on Earth these days, so the Cybenaut faction wanes in popularity. Still, the Web is a perfect place to try out theories in virtual space, where they're less likely to wreck any real-world surroundings.
Politically, the Progressivists want to modernize the Tradition, starting with internal politics and structure and working up to theory and practice. The largely female faction argues that the Tradition as a whole does a poor job of keeping up with the social developments of the years, and that Etheric tendencies to rely on outmoded social constructs as well as outmoded technologies is too limiting to the Tradition as a whole. Most Progressivists want to start by renaming the Tradition and instituting a more democratic leadership.
The term Mad Scientist refers to those Etherites with a decided tendency toward the creation of dangerous devices with questionable goals. It's been a sad but true state that the Etherites' genius often comes hand-in-hand with some instability, or with a drive to see the "big picture" in a fashion that misses the point of the exercise. From these Etherites hail such legends as Doctor Frankenstein, whose laudable advances were twisted to unfortunate ends. They are not so much part of a united faction as examples of a recognized phenomenon within the Tradition.
Lastly, the Adventurers are Scientists who rely not only on their command of Science, but their physical acumen, wits and daring to explore new parts of the world, fight "villains" and perform heroic deeds. While many would scoff at them as simplistic, the four-color inheritors of Doc Savage and John Carter do have a certain nostalgic appeal. Modern Adventurers take on a more pragmatic approach, using their fabulous Science to build fantastic (but often concealed) armor and weaponry with which to pursue their crusades against criminals, hypocrites and madmen. Again, they don't make up a real force within the Tradition (there's no "Legion of Super-Heroes") so much as a new breed of scientist.
Philosophy
While Technocrats codify the universe into a static mold explainable by convoluted science, the Sons of Ether reject such a notion as foolish. The universe is far too vast, and its permutations too varied, for any single equation to hold sway over it. Indeed, the very act of observation changes the outcome, as the Technocracy has discovered in its own acceptance of quantum science. Thus, discovery and invention are personal processes, driven by the wonder and inspiration of the individual. Nothing is "impossible" or a "dead end" — it's merely an average that someone else decided not to explore. From the "disproven" theories of yesterday, the Sons of Ether create the wonders of tomorrow.
Failings
Given their incredible diversity of theories, it's a wonder that Sons of Ether manage to communicate at all. By definition, their concept of science is highly individualized, more so even than the magic of other Traditions. Every single Etherite has his own spin on — well, just about everything. As a result, it can be very difficult for Etherites to find any common ground to discuss their practices, especially when two Etherites practice mutually contradictory theories (and both are right, of course, as demonstrated by the fact that both of their inventions work). Given that the Etherites can barely reach a consensus internally, it's nearly impossible to imagine them as comprehensible to other Traditions. Any three Etherites discussing a topic of magic will come up with five or six different theories on the fly, all equally implausible. This individuality makes it very hard for the Etherites to spread around their more complex notions and impressive theories, and even more difficult for them to adapt to the other Traditions.
Theories and Practices
With the Sons of Ether, magic all comes down to Science! Perception defines the universe and so each scientist builds his own model of reality.
From there, the individual can posit theories about the functioning of reality as he sees it, and those theories lend themselves to creations. With intuitive insight, the scientist builds inventions, gives them a spark of power and understands them on a level that no other person can comprehend.
Etheric inventions are, of course, highly personalized. Some are extremely fanciful, while others are more practical or based on "real" science, like a phased-energy point defense system. Each scientist's particular bent on creation influences his style. Thus, some Etherites use large, bulky creations made from 1950s or earlier technology, while others invent new spins on modern technology and make wonderfully compact and convenient devices. A few Etherites also experiment with mental powers, psychic phenomena, and pseudo-mysticism, especially the Adventurer types.
When an Etherite derives a new theory and builds an invention for it, it's common practice to publicize the event through one of the papers or periodicals of the society. That way, every Etherite can examine it, determine its personal validity, and use or change it as desired. For this reason, a great many simple inventions are common among the Etherites. Where other Traditions might rely on rotes to generate repeatable Effects, the Etherites have common gizmos and formulas that have been shared, refined and tested with time.
The use of specialized materials varies with the individual scientist. Some base their works heavily on the use of a unique material — ether being the most common example — while others are more pragmatic. Scientists have been known to use everything - from carefully custom-crafted filaments and parts made of plutonium, silver, biomatter or stranger stuff, to devices that simply rely on outdated technology rewired to perform some new function (say, a robot built from common kitchen appliances).
Specialty Sphere: Matter
Common Foci: Computers, ether goggles, engineering schematics, hand tools, mathematical constructs, mental disciplines, scientific meters, specialized alloys, timepieces
We come into the world bloody and squalling; we prey on flesh and fruit for survival; we grow, learn and adapt; we wane and die, only to feed new life. This never-ending cycle occupies the Verbena, and its constant pulse is the heart of the Tradition. Primordial sorcerers, potent healers, skilled shapeshifters — the Verbena dive into sex, blood and flesh without inhibition. Their passionate understanding of all life fuels an equally primeval magic.
Background
Like the Tree of Life that they use as a symbol, the Verbena have deep roots. By their own lore, the first union of the fragmented Pure Ones — Avatars — with the new world of flesh created the earliest shamans of humanity. Newly formed, the flesh still kept its ties to its primordial state.
The combination of soulful endowment with feeling, growing life created the first primal sorcerers. These living shamans, so the Verbena tell, understood their position in the cycle of living. Their connection allowed them to shape their bodies as they willed, to make their own place in life's processes, and to understand the pulsing threads of the Tapestry.
Later, the rise of civilization caused these individuals to spread among many cultures and groups. They carried with them sacred knowledge of the living world, and they spread it where they could. However, people were always uncomfortable with notions like death and sickness, which were as much a part of the natural cycle as health and prosperity. So, even as healers and mystics, the Aeduna — predecessors to the Verbena — had to conceal themselves among secret orders. In doing so, they hid elements of their wisdom in bits of lore, small traditions and common folkwisdom. In Greece, Rome, England and even farther afield, the Aeduna spread their mystic ways. Greek legends honored mother-figures and spoke of the thin borderlands between life and death; English Paganism paid homage to varied gods and goddesses of earth and sky with sacrifice and ritual; Romans invested the Earth itself with an identity as a life-giver. The dancing circles expanded and rites of fertility crept into common use.
The rise of Church power in Europe's Dark and Middle Ages shattered Aeduna organization. Fearful peasants were taught to shun their base needs and desires, and an undereducated populace looked to the Church for salvation after the fall of Rome. Church inquisitors persecuted the "witches" and denounced their practices. The already cautious mages fled, hid, turned and died in droves. Their power broken, the few remaining magicians retreated to Horizon realms, underwater labyrinths and secret glades, or practiced muted forms of their magic as wise healers or herbalists without bringing their beliefs into public view. Indeed, the very term "Verbena" came into use as the moniker of a healing herb, applied to the Tradition for its noted herbal poultices, concoctions, salves and remedies and also for its affinity for living, growing plants. Pagans, naturalists and seasonal celebrations sheltered the Verbena through the Renaissance and a rebirth of interest in occultism only continued to spur their growth in the 1800s. However, many Verbena customs had been lost or diluted, and the additions of neo-Paganism and modern Wicca only came into the group haltingly and under some dissent. By the modern day, the remaining Verbena had adjusted enough to include such members, although teaching in the Tradition continues to go far beyond the notions espoused by such revival groups. Fortunately for the Verbena, they've always had a strong core. Their small covens are very personal, and Verbena are often more sociable (at least amongst one another) than other mages, so they have been able to hold on to many elements of heritage that would otherwise be lost. Interest in crystal magic, herbalism, aromatherapy and similar holistic practices only continues to feed the Verbena Tradition, and those who feel the heartbeat of all life continue to join.
Organization
On the local level, Verbena tend to center around covens — small groups of practitioners and faithful, often in a mystically significant number like three or 13. Verbena covens often include entire families, where possible, and they can splinter or re-form as needed to make groups in different areas or to accommodate new members.
Large gatherings occur on seasonal holidays when many covens will join for special rites. At such gatherings, any properly initiated Verbena may speak, but weight is often given to those with the wisdom of age, insight and strong memories of past lives.
Like everything else about the Tradition, membership is not for the faint of heart. Initiates experience a ritualized (and symbolic) death and rebirth, then undergo a series of ordeals to properly test their mettle and welcome them to the Tradition. Those who don't have the strength to go all the way must remain supplicants or quit. Thankfully, however, the Verbena generally don't kill those who fail their tests. There's often some strife between factions as more progressive Verbena skip over the rituals that the traditionalists consider important, but everyone proves their dedication before admittance.
Factions
Believing that the Avatar embodies a reflection of prim al energies, the Verbena tend to divide along lines of Essence. This distinction does not come so much a matter of cataloging the Avatar and its individual foibles, as suiting the natural drives of the mage's soul. Some Verbena even trace bloodlines in the belief that Avatars tend to reincarnate through familial groups, and there is some evidence that they may be right. However, Verbena are by no means forced into a group as a result of their Avatar's predilections. A mage can always choose an allegiance based on his personal preferences.
Forming the base of the Verbena Tradition are the Gardeners of the Tree, Pattern mages who try to keep the old ways alive and pure. These mages keep records, track family lines and trace the heritage of Verbena rituals. Their scholarship is often noteworthy, as they pursue such goals rather doggedly. Conservative Gardeners count as "true Verbena" only those with a blood relation to some ancestral family at the root of the Tradition. More flexible Gardeners content themselves with remembering old rites and propagating the spread of the most fundamental elements of Verbena heritage.
Even more primal than the Gardeners are the Twisters of Fate. The mages of the Primordial Essence follow old songs that are heard no longer by other Verbena. Often considered a bit odd even by Verbena standards, they could be seen as a splinter group except that they have little unification. Still, they possess a keen wisdom and many have powerful memories of past lives. They often feel tugged to restore lost ways and to reduce complex Verbena rituals to their base parts.
Moon-Seekers fall under the Questing archetype. Such Verbena are travelers, explorers, those who welcome new ways into the fold. A Moon-Seeker is as likely to use a New Age crystal-waving ceremony as a traditional athame and rune-carving ritual. These Verbena wander far afield, bringing new bits and pieces into the Tradition's repertoire and looking for the acknowledgement of life and divinity in the simple rituals that people create for themselves in the new millennium These Verbena often have strong ties to the community, and they enjoy learning as much as teaching.
Lastly, the Lifeweavers tend to have Dynamic Avatars. These Verbena move far afield, ignore old rites and make things up as they go along. More conservative Verbena often look askance at them, but the Lifeweavers still practice a reverence for life and know the value of sacrifice. These mages enjoy exploring the limits of their practice. They change shapes, work with many different Patterns and generally get their hands dirty mucking around with as much Creation as they can handle. Theirs is the joy of discovery.
Individual Verbena covens and cabals can sometimes be considered factions, although they are usually too small to compare to the broader groups.
Philosophy
Life is the greatest mystery of the universe. Base matter and energy do not grow, think, react and multiply. All life is a cycle that forms the heartbeat of the Tellurian. In the tiny fragments of that web are infinite individuals, all woven together by their shared trials and breaths. To recognize the constancy of life’s cycles is to realize its pattern to grow beyond any expectation or boundary, to take any form and to achieve any goal. The process is never easy. Often, it is fraught with pain, predation and death. Life perseveres.
Failings
Bloody -handed sacrifices and disturbing rites are not for the squeamish. Prospective Verbena must have strong stomachs indeed to fit in with the Tradition, and the Verbena can be blunt and uncomfortably open about practices that many would consider revolting or taboo. As a result, the rest of the Traditions tend to keep them at arm's length. The more sterilized Traditions, like the Sons of Ether and the Order of Hermes, consider the Verbena uncomfortably primal. Intuitive groups like the Dreamspeakers and Euthanatos see a greater kinship, but they still look askance at the sheer viciousness with which Verbena can emulate the living cycle.
Since their magic is so very tied to their primal living natures, Verbena have a tendency to get lumped into the category of "Satanist witches" even today. While modern people may not understand, say, Virtual Adept technology or Dreamspeaker cultural songs, they're fairly accommodating. The brutal familiarity with which the Verbena strike home life's truths causes enough discomfort that Sleepers who see their works tend to get frightened — and many lash out as a result.
Theories and Practices
In many ways, Verbena see themselves as guardians of mythic threads — elements of magic that remain intertwined with the more mundane aspects of life. The earliest magicians naturally felt the interplay of life and spirit through their strong connection to Creation and the Pure Ones. Although such ties are weakened and dying, the Verbena still feel a similar pull, and they work to promote such ties wherever they can — in simple actions, beliefs and customs that reaffirm the power of life.
With fertility rites, dances, and simple joy in living, the Verbena open their perceptions to the pulse of all life. To this Tradition, the acts that reaffirm living nature are sacred. Verbena acknowledge and embrace the changing seasons, health, sex and sensuality, raw emotion and instinct dutifully.
In conjunction with their ties to life, though, the Verbena know that life isn't always sanitized, pretty or happy. Blood has raw power due to its symbolic and literal key as a fundament of life, and Verbena tap that power with scarification and sacrifice. Predators hunt and kill their prey, and Verbena believe in the correctness of the natural cycle in such actions. Pain is a teaching tool, not something to be shunned. Therefore, the Verbena are far more comfortable with their feral, instinctual drives than most people, an animalistic nature that can be disconcerting. Most other religions and groups have some line that they won't cross or some belief that they won't violate: a belief that blood is sacred and not to be shed, or that sex is empowered through denial. Not so the Verbena, who embrace all of these passionate techniques.
For their magic, Verbena use anything from bloodletting, to rune-carving, to animal sacrifice, herbal mixtures, transformative rites and even some New Age techniques that have blended into the Traditio n. The key is to find a natural element that connects with the Verbena's will. As the Verbena see it, the natural resonance of life never left the world, even if mankind has upset its balance with reckless growth and extinction of many species. Hearing that rhythm, the Verbena does what needs to be done — mores or conventions be damned.
Specialty Sphere: Life
Common Foci: Altars, athame, blood, cauldrons, chants, cups, dance, herbs, incense, ordeals, pentacles, runes, sacrifices
No Tradition mirrors the modern world so much as the Virtual Adepts. These former Technocrats embrace technology and its ability to empower people, and they strive to make that technology available to everyone. While most Traditionalists concern themselves with antiquated ways and renewal of ancient practices, the Virtual Adepts are on the horizon searching for the cutting edge. The Virtual Adepts ride the wave of the computer revolution, and they use these machines to expand their minds, enable worldwide communication and model novel visions for reality. By spreading computer and communication technology to the Masses, the Virtual Adepts help people enrich their own minds. The spread of information and knowledge makes everyone richer and leads to better versions of the world, leaving behind antiquarian notions, physical suffering and social inequity.
Background
Not surprisingly, the Virtual Adepts sprang from the same roots as the Sons of Ether, beginning as a Technocratic Convention when the Electrodyne Engineers and Artificers of the Technocracy gave birth to an entire discipline devoted to computation, logical thought and the process of storing and interpreting information. These scientist s developed machines to process information for humans, to store images or words that humanity described and to expand human senses, memory and computation beyond the normal limits of the mind. Fired up by innovations like the telephone and the difference engine, these visionaries became the Difference Engineers. They worked with complex models of Babbage's difference engine, Lady Ada Lovelace's computational theory and Bell's long-distance communication devices. At the same time, they included the electrical theories of the Electrodyne Engineers and assimilated revolutionary notions from such luminaries as Nikola Tesla. The result, naturally, was a group of scientific dreamers who brought out ideas at a furious rate, fed their own discoveries with their new computational and communication power and reveled in the wild side of cutting-edge theories.
Naturally, the developing Technocracy needed the computers and communications pioneered by the early Difference Engineers, but it deplored their anarchic notions, haphazard development and barely traceable information network. Matters came to a head during the second World War.
The idealistic Adepts pushed for Technocratic involvement with the Allies against Hitler early in the war, but the Technocracy hesitated to bring its weight to bear. The Virtual Adepts brought their resources into play for the Allied forces covertly, sowing the seeds of dissension. Having flouted Technocracy-wide policy once, the Adepts rallied to their own secret projects after World War II. Adept research culminated in virtual reality as
Alan Turing explained his theories on virtual space, machine intelligence and self-replicating devices. However, the Technocracy shut him down permanently for his overzealous research.
The loss of Alan Turing signaled to the Virtual Adepts the Technocracy's unwillingness to embrace their new technologies. The Technocracy needed Virtual Adept techniques, but it wanted to implement them in its typical slow and monolithic fashion. The Virtual Adepts wanted to explode peoples' awareness with their new developments and make their cutting-edge technology available to everyone. Virtual Adepts around the world recognized Turing's demise as a message from the Technocracy to do as they were told and invent what they were ordered to invent, lest they become expendable. In typical anarchic hacker fashion, the Adepts refused to recognize Technocratic authority. Collectively, the majority of the Adepts fled, and the Convention applied as a whole for membership with the Traditions. The sorely pressed Traditions needed inside information about the Technocracy and a holder for the Seat of Correspondence; the Virtual Adepts needed a sheltering organization combined with the freedom to continue their boundary-pushing work. The two groups had found a match.
Although the Virtual Adepts are still distrusted by many within the Traditions due to their reliance on technology, the Tradition remains a keystone in the arsenal against the Technocracy. Their understanding of Technocratic tools and their ability to turn devices against their technological enemies makes them invaluable in the inevitable conflicts. Ideologically, the Virtual Adepts push constantly for new visions of reality, and they put such visions into practice through virtual space. On the Digital Web, they are masters of all they survey, and they bring out every possible idea for the future world. These elements make them the truly vibrant technological blood of the Traditions, and in many ways, they are the ones who fit best in the modern world. As more and more Sleepers get online, the Adepts' community grows. Newer, faster, better, now is graven in the Adepts' hearts, and they'll bring inspiration from the virtual worlds or go out in a blaze of glory trying.
Organization
Naturally, Virtual Adepts are a fractiously chaotic lot. Their only real "organization" comes in the form of their various member spaces in the Digital Web and in the few who actually bother to run in groups; most bow to no authority. Indeed, Adepts recognize others only by "eliteness." On the Web, where one's gender, race and physical state are all irrelevant, the only thing that matters is the quality of one's deeds. Adepts develop reputations based on their achievements, and younger Virtual Adepts may flo ck to aid a truly elite member when she puts out the call. Odds are good, though, that a few will do their level best to sabotage the assemblage simply to gain some notoriety.
As a result of their near-total disorganization, Virtual Adepts generally don't bother with long-winded titles or recognition for formal occasions. Indeed, they thumb their noses at other Traditionalists — like the Order of Hermes — who rely on such politics. One would think that training and developing a resource base in such circumstances would be difficult, but it's just a matter of computer contacts, rule by the cool and a little bit of bluster.
Factions
Adept factions change as rapidly as technology, so it can be tough to keep abreast of them. Making matters more complicated is the fact that many Adept groups include both Sleepers and Awakened crackers, so one can't always distinguish the mages from the unenlightened.
The dying Cyberpunk movement embraces the nihilistic end-of-days attitude that the future will be darker, dirtier and meaner than the present, if possible. These crackers use heavy weapons, hardcore programming, infiltration and sometimes various drugs to amp themselves to the top before going' ballistic on their various targets — corporations, politicians, each other... anyone that they don't like. Not surprisingly, they often rely on Forces to get the job done. As the Virtual Adepts continue to refine a vision of a better world, the defeatist attitude of the Cyberpunks thrashes out its death-throes in the gutter. The Cyberpunk movement as a whole seems to be maturing, heading toward a more educated and intellectual elite that embraces high material technology and cybernetic experimentation in a fashion reminiscent of the Technocracy's Iteration X. The more intellectual Cypherpunks act with the reckless abandon that one would expect of a stereotypical cracker, but instead of relying on guns and a bad attitude, they crank up their computer programs and data-analysis skills. Cypherpunks enjoy collecting random trivia, esoteric data and hidden secrets, then spreading it around to all and sundry. Often, they are quite contrary, and they force people with whom they associate to examine all sides of a problem. From there, the Cypherpunks hope to gain new insight in several directions. Cypherpunks spend a great deal of time in the Digital Web, as one might expect. Naturally, many Cypherpunks study Mind sciences in addition to Correspondence.
The Chaoticians use Entropy to study extremely complex and chaotic systems. These Adepts believe that the information process is an inherently unstable one, and they look for understanding in the cracks and flaws of data. Their studies, of course, draw them into fractals, chaos mathematics, unstable systems and so-called hard problems. From these sorts of premises, they figure out the flaws in how things work, or in the world itself. They also delve into how tiny changes can effect large-scale results, and many indulge in a little bit of experimental social engineering.
The growing Reality Hacker faction believes that the universe itself has an underlying order, information storage system and language, and they tap into that language to tell the universe how to order itself. Instead of contenting themselves with virtual realities and the Digital Web, these hackers decode the structure of the cosmos. Bending space and gravity are the early expressions of their work, but serious reality hackers get into Matter manipulation, alteration of universal forces and all the things that naughty little hackers shouldn't touch. If the universe is built with the ultimate "computer language", then staying up a whole lifetime to hack it is the ultimate rush.
Expressing the purest Correspondence theories, the Nexplorers make up a large chunk of modern Virtual Adepts. The Digital Web is prime turf to Adepts, but the Nexplorers hope to forge new visions for a brighter, better world. While all Adepts want to create a "Reality 2.0" into which the Masses can Ascend, the Nexplorers are most concerned with making it an improvement on the current world, not just a system that they control. To that end, they advocate careful construction of Digital Realms and exploration of other sorts. They press for space travel and dimensional travel, among other things, although the Tradition has limited resources in that regard.
Philosophy
Information is the ultimate power and the ultimate tool. Devices, magic, tricks and Traditions can all do great things, but only when guided with the proper information. Therefore, the Virtual Adepts want to learn as much as possible, to explore and develop as many ideas as possible and to open the world to new knowledge by discovering loopholes, tricks, shortcuts, innovations and dreams. Eventually, people will recognize that information (and their understanding or processing of it) is their key to sensing the universe. Once that happens, it's a simple matter to make a better universe — a Reality 2.0 that can be modeled, shaped, simulated in a virtually real fashion, then embraced and made into a new world for everyone. The best and brightest (and most elite) lead the way, so that humanity can benefit.
Failings
Antiauthoritarianism combined with a respect for only the new means that the Virtual Adepts not only reject society, they spurn the very people they want to help. They treat Sleepers who "just don't get it" with condescension at best, and derision at worst. Strife erupts constantly between competing Adepts as they fight to establish who's on top and who's yesterday's news, and the Tradition recognizes no consistent leadership.
Eventually, the Adepts will either implode, or they'll fall into step behind a system of super-echelon “elite” and lower-class “end users.” The Tradition needs to grow up and recognize that along with discovery comes a responsibility to implement said discovery safely.
With the recent crash and whiteout of the Digital Web, the Adepts lost a lot of ground in their most promising area of control. Although the Web is back up, it’s now flooded with sleepers who’re getting closer and closer to matching the Adepts in computer techniques. Adepts who once saw themselves as masters of the realm are in for a rude awakening as they realize that once the Sleepers are in, they’re in for good. Now that the Adepts have thrown open the doors to let everyone into their playground, they have to accept that people are going to do things they don’t like. Many Adepts are unwilling to do so, and they go so far as to spitefully crash or flame various Sleepers who get into the Web. Instead of stagnating in the Web and claiming it as their exclusive turf, these Adepts must focus on the Tradition’s purpose as heralds of the new. Otherwise, they’ll become nothing more than petty dictators in a world that slips slowly from their control.
Theories and Practices
Naturally, as masters of the computer, Virtual Adepts excel in all sorts of tele-techniques, information processes and Digital Web exploration.
According to the Adepts, information has a flow all its own. Some Adepts even accord information with purpose or motive. In the end, virtual realities are just data; long-distance communication is just pushing information around; even physical existence is predicated on information storage. If one manipulates the facts, the reality follows suit. And, there are always new facts to find....
Stemming from their mastery of information and transference, Virtual Adepts develop strong computer processes to manipulate their surroundings. Although strongest in the realms of ephemeral data, many Adepts can develop hardware and programs to do anything from projecting force fields to shifting their appearance. Such procedures work best in the Digital Web, of course, but that constraint doesn't stop the Adepts from engaging in some judicious reality hacking with the right techno-toys as backup. The Adepts love new gadgets, high-tech devices and anything that gives them a leg up on their brethren.
As one might expect, Virtual Adept "meetings" are more along the lines of teleconferences and projections, often in safe havens of the Digital Web. Initiation? Once a prospective young Adept has pulled off a few impressive moves or crunched some good code, he's one of the group — as long as he's not a total social retard among the techno-geeks. Training? What training? Individual Adepts pull together their skills out of experience and sheer balls, combined with their own beliefs in what's important. It's not uncommon for a Virtual Adept to have a certain lucky charm, a day of remembrance for a particularly worshipped hacker (Alan Turing's birthday is common) or even to talk to a computer like it's a friend, pet or Devil in a box.
Specialty Sphere: Correspondence
Common Foci: Computers (of course), cybernetic implants, hacking rituals, mathematics, programs, sensory gear, surveillance equipment
People are dying, ideals are dying, magic is dying, the world is dying. The Hollow Ones have known as much for some time, and they've accepted it. Now, they know that the world is going downhill, but they plan to enjoy the ride. Reveling in nihilism and a rejection of social mores, the Hollow Ones luxuriate in Gothic elegance and a decadent, romantic languor.
Background
Since they are not functionally a Tradition, the Hollow Ones do not occupy a seat on the Council of Nine, they have no recognition among the Traditions and other mages generally consider them a pain. They don't have the luxury of an extensive library of history, either. Instead, they point to Romantic poets, Victorian spiritualists, 1920s flapper counterculture and modern Goth culture as their architects. Hollow Ones themselves can't agree on their foundations; instead, they're more concerned with what they get out of it. As a hodge-podge subculture, they take what they like and discard the rest; this applies equally t o people, philosophies, magic and belief.
Still, Hollowers are a product of the modern age, or rather, a rejection of it. The Hollow Ones despise the frenetic pace of modern life, the too bright yet tacky technology of mass marketing and the banal stratification of society. Instead, they cling to notions of a more elegant age. Hollowers sip at absinthe, play at poetry, indulge in fetishistic fashion and follow the trends that lead them to death's door. The Reckoning that's at hand only lends credence to their beliefs. If the world's spiraling into destruction, they'll be the ones who are ready for its untimely demise.
Organization
Cliques rule the day among the Hollowers. Instead of forming philosophical factions or Avatar-driven groups, these mages just hang out in small clubs or social groups. Cliques tend to be fiercely competitive and jealous, but they can put aside their differences to work together sometimes. Since Hollow Ones often come from broken homes or dysfunctional families (whether wealthy or poverty-stricken), they indulge in whatever sorts of passive rebellion they can find — and that means hanging out with other people who've survived similar experiences and taken up the same candlestick. There's no hierarchy. There are young Goths and dead Goths, but old Goths are just pretenders. The social cliques that Hollowers form are the only real families they know, and they're fiercely protective of them, but without any political vision, they shrug off any attempts at real "organization." About the closest that Hollowers come to any sort of recognition in their ranks is when they choose someone to speak for a clique, or when they compete for pieces of unusual arcane lore or trivia in an attempt to seem spooky or knowledgeable in occult esoterica.
Factions
As the Hollowers lack organization or much in the way of politics, they aren't terribly factionalized. For the most part, they can be simply divided by their relation to the other Traditions and to magical society. Everything else is a matter of personal preference. The term Councilor is sometimes used to refer to a Hollower who expresses a desire to see the Hollow Ones join the Traditions, but most often such individuals are labeled "sell-out" or "fascist jerk." Some Hollowers think that there's much to be learned from the Traditions, or they desire a sense of belonging; others have friends in the Traditions or are hungry for some political clout. These mages tend to burn out quickly. The Council doesn't take them seriously, and the other Hollowers often ridicule their ambitions.
Those most violently opposed to the Council are the Revolutionaries, who may agree that the Technocracy sucks, but think that the Tradition Council is just another oppressive system. These Hollowers want to evade the fighting groups altogether and just die in peace.
The majority of Hollow Ones don't have any recognizable faction. They hang out, enjoy the club scene, spend time with their cliques and shoot the shit on topics ranging from the modern economy to the spirits supposedly haunting the local cemetery.
Philosophy
Although the Hollow Ones don't believe that the world is necessarily doomed, they do feel that it's a pretty crappy place. As a result, they eke out what satisfaction they can get, and they encourage others in t heir own morbidity. Still, they have an abiding curiosity, a desire to scratch beneath the surface and see how things really work — the squirming guts inside the underbelly of society. Where other mages are driven by one view of magical theory or a certain Awakened goal, Hollowers are as likely to be motivated by a tres Gothic evening of sybaritic relaxation as by the opportunity to dig up some piece of esoteric trivia.
Failings
Some days, Hollowers can’t even be bothered to get out of bed. It’s an attitude that leads to defeat. Though Hollowers are accepting and flexible, it’s hard to motivate them to give a damn about anything. As a result, they accomplish little. They’re poster children of wasted potential, yet they won’t fit into “normal” society or change to accomodate it. A very few achieve some level of real ability and find a focus to drive toward Ascension or some other goal, but many just spend their nights sitting on their collective asses and doing nothing productive.
Theories and Practices
The Hollow Ones' greatest strength may stem from their lack of convictions. Since they refuse in accept anything at face value, they dig up all sorts of wisdom and incorporate it into their own styles. While Hollow Ones tend to center around any tiling from late 1800s spiritual is in up to modern neo-Pagan nihilistic fetishism, they are willing to try just about anything once — especially if it'll give them a unique angle or a way to impress their clique.
To the Hollowers, Ascension is a far off goal, one that may never be reached. Sure, they can feel the pull of the Avatar, but if you're going to die tomorrow without achieving anything, why bother? This lassitude gives them the leisure or explore many different avenues, though, and ironically, it leads some to find enlightenment in the oddest corners and crafts. As a general rule, Hollowers don't believe in any sort of global Ascension. People in general are assholes who can't be bothered to get any better, so it's a waste of time to try to change them. Since they develop eclectic techniques borrowed from many different styles, Hollow Ones have no real magical specialty or typical focus. Many start out with a little light occultism and then veer off into a personal style, studying whatever magic suits their fancy. As a result, Hollowers can use just about anything as a focus, as long as they have some idea of what they think they're doing. A Hollower using a computer had better have some understanding of the machine, while one using Santeria should've at least read a couple of books on the subject. Ultimately, they bring a scattered approach to magic that gives them a flexibility the Traditions can't match.
Specialty Sphere: None
Common Foci: Arcanology, blood, crystals, grimoires, poetry, runes, seances, spirit uality, Victorian ritual... just about anything, actually.
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