Post by Seth on Dec 6, 2011 12:42:52 GMT -5
In this setting, players take the roles of mages, who strive for mystical enlightenment in the form of Ascension. One of the major themes running through this game is a clash between the Traditions who represent the wonders of the occult and mystical world, and the Technocracy, who claim to represent advanced science and seek to guide humanity towards their own view of Ascension. Each of the mad Marauders have their own visions of inflicting chaos upon the mortal world... whether the mortals desire it or not. The infernal Nephandi represent a dark reflection of both the Traditions and the Technocracy, and seek to destroy all that is with the help of their masters from Beyond. These four factions represent the battle-lines in the four-fold Ascension War.
1. No one may have any spheres above 3 without my approval. (There will be only a few lucky players with this privilege and those are ones we can trust to not god mod. Additionally, its no fun if everyone's a powerful mage. There must be normal magi.)
2. All magi must have a material focus and if that focus is lost/broken/destroyed you lose one dot in each sphere until you make a new one which will take a good year of meditation at least.
3. If you convert to the Technocracy, you cannot just jump between the sides of the war. You may make one change from either side. Aka if you start as a Technocrat and then jump to the Tradition's side you cannot go back, this is to make things simple. (of course you can ask either me or Dantia for special permission)
4. No head magi, all the head magi are in their chantries trying to ascend and teach students. Only students are allowed or recently independent magi.
5. No summoning gods. No one can accomplish this and any claim to will result in your post being deleted.
6. If you wish to have a power at level 4, your character will need to be of the minimum aged of 45 as it takes a very very long time to get to this stage.
7. If you want to play a nephandus, marauder, or Technocrat that is fine but be aware that you will be opposed to most people on the site.
Now to run this down for all of you who are confused.
Magic - A Sphere is one of ten divisions of the Tellurian. The divisions are largely artificial, but are fairly accurate in dividing the known universe into several distinct facets. Although the distinction was originally artificial, it's notable that each Sphere has its own associated Realm within the Umbra, matching up to one of the nine planets within the physical universe. Each mage studies which ever spheres catch his or her interest but true enlightenment comes from the study of all facets of reality.
The spheres are:
1) Correspondence
2) Matter
3) Life
4) Prime
5) Forces
6) Entropy
7) Mind
8) Time
9) Spirit
The Traditions: This is a key word used to signify all loose mage traditions without specifying any one of them. These different traditions have different ways of explaining magic and differing specialties in each field. You as a mage belong to a certain one of these traditions and inherit their specialties. Those will be addressed in another thread. While the members have changed over time, the current nine are:
* Akashic Brotherhood
* Celestial Chorus
* Cult of Ecstasy
* Dreamspeakers
* Euthanatoi
* Order of Hermes
* Sons of Ether
* Verbena
* Virtual Adepts
The Technocracy: These are magi who are convinced that the whole of humanity needs access to magic but not true magic, magic that can be explained and rationalized. This helps "protect" humanity from things beyond this plane of existence, regardless of whether they want to be protected or not. These magi are the main villains trying to create complete stasis, where no magic can take place or magical creatures can exist. They use their hold of the collective unconscious of humans to persecute magi with Paradox. Paradox is an external force that forces all reality to align with the common consensus, and punishes those who are different from the paradigm. It is effectively controlled by the Technocracy because they define the current views on magic with the mass media and technology.
The technocracy consists of:
* Iteration X
* New World Order
* Progenitors
* Syndicate
* Void Engineers
The Marauders: These insane magi warp reality just by existing. They are not a cogent group but are rather a number of individuals with their own plans and potent magics to bring about total chaos. While any mage who favours Dynamism may experience a form of madness in their Quiet, Marauders embody Dynamism; the real world is translated into their fractured version by a constant, subconscious use of vulgar magic.
Within the bubble of alternate reality that surrounds them, their hallucinations and bizarre rules are real; objects and creatures that come into contact with the bubble are transformed to fit in with its rules. They return to normal once the Marauder moves on, without any evidence of what happened, though the effects of conscious magic remain. Awakened mages and supernatural creatures who enter a Marauder's bubble may recognise that something is wrong, as may anyone who possesses some kind of supernatural awareness. The size and power of the Marauder's reality is directly related to the strength of their resonance, which is also dominantly Dynamic, though it may also have touches of Static and Entropic resonance.
The external Quiet of a Marauder protects them from Paradox; their alternate reality supports their paradigm, so the vulgar magic they use doesn't violate the rules of that reality. That doesn't mean they don't attract Paradox, only that most of the backlash is deflected onto other Awakened beings outside the Marauder's bubble.
While the nature of a Marauder's power may make them seem invincible, they are still severely hampered by their madness. They cannot become Archmages, as they lack sufficient insight and are incapable of appreciating truths which do not suit their madness.
The Nephandi: These magi are magi who's Avatar's are turned inside out. They sell their souls to their infernal masters who are demons or umbra spirits who wish to corrupt the world we live in, bringing about final night or ultimate corruption of this world. It is a mistake to compare Nephandi to simple infernalists. Infernalists are those who sell their soul for their own callous purposes — typically power; whether magical, temporal or sexual. The Nephandi, conversely, willingly corrupt their soul in order to kill the world. In a world full of shades of grey they are the black, each without exception a monster. When a mage Descends, he enters a Caul (a sort of gateway to hell/shrine of unspeakable horror). What occurs within is not generally known as the Nephandi does not discuss it, although things are known to be within the Caul with the Nephandi and many mages do not come out again. If the initiate emerges relatively intact they will have been fundamentally and irreversibly changed; their Avatar will have been inverted focusing on Descent rather than Ascension; their very magic becomes Qlippothic.
The Nephandi come into existence in two possible ways: firstly, they can be created from regular mages through the 'process' of the caul, or they are simply born with inverted avatars from a previous life
Although united in their aims the Nephandi are divided in method and master. Although they all strive for the death of the universe how they go about it varies greatly. Their are also a large variety of dark gods/demons/horrible dead things for the Nephandi to gain 'sponsorship' from. This results in several factions within the group. Although at a casual glance they appear the same a more in-depth study will reveal a great deal of variation. On the bright side this leads to much internal squabbling and backstabbing as the various dark gods play their pawns off against each other and they in turn attempt to boost their masters position.
Infernalists
The most 'normal' and 'human' of the factions. These Nephandi worship demonic entities (or potentially something pretending to be a demon). The Nephandi Infernalists are different to standard infernalists who sell their soul for their own gain-these guys sell their soul to kill the world (there's also the issue of the exact nature of their masters). They are the most internally organized and socially skilled of the factions, able to pass fairly well within human population. They are also the most human in behaviour and mindset. This makes them all the more dangerous as they are more subtle and insidious than their more insane counterparts as they have more success at infiltration and recruiting. They do not get along well with the Malfeans whose chaotic and primal mindset does not mesh with the formalized ritualistic traditional demon worship.
Malfeans
Not to be mistaken with the Neverborn of Oblivion (although connected in a manner of speaking) These Nephandi worship the Wyrm: the primal force of entropy and corruption. They are somewhat wild and primal in their evil. Often with close ties to the Black Spiral Dancers. The Malfean are often quite insane and zealous in their devotion to the Wyrm. The style of their methods tends to be strongly based on simplistic primal concepts. Their caul process is surprisingly similar as opposed to the other sects, usually that tend to walk the so-called Black Spiral during their inversion. The areas they practice their work in tend to be rotten shit holes of squalor, pollution and filth-it's as though they deliberately pick or corrupt these areas...
K'llasshaa
The archetype of the Nephandi. The K'llasshaa worship the Outer lords. Little is known or even possible to understand about their masters, however it is clear that they claim to have ruled this world in the long past, were banished through treachery or fate, and now wish to return. If this is true or not is not known or strictly speaking important, what is certain is that they lay claim to the world and all within it. Whatever the K'llasshaa serves is at least on a philosophical level the most disturbing of the Nephandi, being by far the most alien. Contact with what this sect serves is known to drive the subject completely mad. What is known however is that these beings feed on negative emotions; this in essence leaks into their servants, who are the most bizarre and fortunately, the easiest to track. The K'llasshaa are surprisingly straightforward in their method, usually with minimal dogma and greater emphasis on violence. Their rituals are more akin to a torture session or a snuff film than a mystic ritual (although there is overlap, further confusing the issue).
The Nephandic Hierarchy
Though all Nephandi serve Oblivion, they maintain a fairly rigid hierarchy based on power and closeness to Oblivion. This theocratic despotism is prone to constant violent infighting and backstabbing plots at the Lower (greater) levels. the hierarchy is loosely broken into the following categories:
Pawn - The scum, these are the lowest on the roster loosely divided into non-awakened servants of the sect such as hired thugs, cultists or pimps. Minor supernatural servants or non-Nephandic mages who are being manipulated by the Nephandi. The "weak link in the chain" so to speak, these poor bastards are usually unaware of what they serve. Of course, there is always a chance of promotion through the caul.....
Nephandus - A true Nephandi is first born by emerging from the Caul. This term also broadly refers to any member of the hierarchy upwards from here, and later ranks can be considered "titles." It is at this rank that most of the Nephandi's Shaytan (those Nephandi who are highly violent and act as soldiers and assassins) can be found. The fist of the Nephandi forces, these are the guys who are the most likely to be encountered in direct confrontation.
Adsinistrati - The sergeants. After building a network of supporters, a Nephandus begins to have the clout to command lesser Nephandi and act as a full-time tempter. The Adsinistrati are primarily responsible for luring Pawns into the Caul, as the lower ranks lack the subtlety and skill to do so. When necessary, the Adsinistrati are also the diplomats of the Nephandi, making contact with other beings of corruption such as Black Spiral Dancers.
Prelatus - The generals of the Nephandi are almost always powerful, inhuman, and inscrutable. Most Prelati are able to visit Earth for short periods but generally find long-term residence difficult. These Nephandi direct large-scale operations.
Gilledian - The highest ranking Nephandi are the rulers of the Labyrinths, Nephandic realms in the Umbra. Most are very old, very powerful, and very experienced. While unable to leave the Umbra, these beings exert tremendous political force from a distance. They are not even by the loose standards of their colleages usually anything even resembling a human. In fact, quite a few are technically dead.
Beyond the Gilledians there are no unifiers of the Nephandi. Though a handful of Aswadim (superhumanly powerful masters of Qlippothic magic) exist, they act (at most) as symbols to the Nephandi, or as avatars of Oblivion. They do not take an active role in leadership.
The Akashic Brotherhood: is a member of the Council of Nine Mystic Traditions in Mage: The Ascension. The Brotherhood is a loosely connected group of introspective martial artists who work to strengthen their body and mind. They also are famous for their hidden sanctuaries in the middle of populated places, easily able to hide their location from the masses with their powerful mind magic. They are also fortunate in that their powers are very easily dismissed as normal by the masses thus attracting less, if not zero, paradox. The reason for this lies in the propagation of the myth that kung-fu users can do miraculous things by the marital arts movies. A magic effect is nearly always considered coincidental if the user is obviously using some kind of martial art. They also practice a unique martial art called Do or "The Way" most Akashic brothers will attest to this extremely difficult martial art being the way to enlightenment or at least one way. Most intermediate students of the Akashic's are only novices in the art of Do. The Mind Sphere is their preferred Sphere and members of the Brotherhood tend to have great proficiency with it. A common foci for Akashic brothers are either sashes, weapons, or pendants of Buddha or Tao. The Akashic Brotherhood is composed of both men and women, being non-discriminatory.
The Celestial Chorus: The Celestial Chorus is a Tradition of mages united by their efforts to touch the Divine as well as their belief in the One and Prime from which all things originate. Closely tied to the God of Abrahamic faiths, the One represents the source of all Creation and all Creation is believed to be a part of the One. Humans in particular carry shards of the divine within them, though it is known by many names: the divine flame, the soul, the avatar. It is this connection which the Celestial Chorus believes enables them to clearly hear the One's song and to shape Creation. While their faith is essentially monotheistic, it is accepted that the Divine has many facets and can be expressed through any number of names, religions, and creeds. Members of many faiths and denominations (including a variety of soft polytheists) come together in worship and service of the One, accepting that each person has their own path to the One. Of course, this ideal remains a work in progress and the Singers' history has been one of divisions and compromises, holy wars and martyrs, sacrifice and rejuvenation. Choristers perform acts of magic either by beseeching the One for aid or drawing on the One's authority to command Creation directly. As their name suggests, singing has long been an integral part of Chorister practice. It is viewed as one of the oldest forms of channeling the One, but it is only one of many methods. Blessings and curses carry with them Divine energy. Divinations are often performed by interpreting dreams, casting of lots, or bibliomancy. Anything that draws people together including simple touches, communal ceremonies, and even sex are seen as ways to bring people closer to the One. On the other hand fasting, self-denial, vows, and other sacrifices are seen as ways to free oneself from dependence on base needs in order to refocus and better hear the One's call. Likewise, religious rituals and symbols of faith are manifestations of the One that can be touched and experienced.
Cult of Ecstasy:Cultists employ their methods in pursuit of Passion(emotion), often the Nine Sacred Passions, knowing that only passion can take them high enough to surpass human boundaries and perceptions to reach the eternal moment. Some are more enlightened than others as to the true purpose and source of emotion, but the pursuit is the same.There are guidelines that have been passed down from the founder known as the Code of Ananda. Their purpose is the topic of some debate, but they act to protect Cultists and others from their passions. Central to the Code are rules forbidding the forcing of your passion or experiences on another (such as spiking your friend's pasta with peyote), as the Cult believes each person must want to find their own paths to enlightenment or Kammamarga. Many see the Cultists as little more than wanton hedonists, but the truth is more sophisticated. While it is true that many of them employ sex, drugs, music and dance in their magic, their true goal is indicatd in their name: Ecstasy comes from the latin ex stasis which actually means 'out of stasis'. The Ecstatics seek to transcend the illusions of reality and see the world without boundaries where their conciousness spans all space and time. This is known as the Eternal Moment. Sometimes also referred to as touching Lakashim, the heartbeat of the world.
Dreamspeakers:The Dreamspeakers are a recent Tradition, being formed as a dumping ground for tribal magi by the Europeans. However, they are heirs the primal magic of ancient shaman. Their ancestors were the Apache, Cherokee, Iroquois, Zuni, Ojibwa, Hopi, Navajo, Inuit, Athapaska and Salish of the Americas, and the Fulani, Egyptians, Shona, Dogon, Ashanti, Masaii, Ibo, Zulu, Himba and San-!Kung peoples of Africa. They saw the rise of the Aztecs, Toltecs, Olmecs, Zapotecs and Mayans, of the Inca, Cagaba, Chibcha, Caribs, Musica, Quechua and Aymara. They were the primordial shamans of Siberia, China and Lappland, and the Mongols, Koreans, Hmong and Mien hill tribes of Thailand, the Ainu of Japan, followers of Wektu Telu in Indonesia and tribal Filipinos. They are the heirs to many a diverse spiritual ways from around the world.
Euthanatos: Many Euthanatoi place a great deal of trust in probability and fate. A life may depend on the flip of a coin – if it doesn’t come up the way you want, then fate doesn’t want it to happen anyway. Other Euthanatoi may use magic, devices, and logic to determine whether a soul can be redeemed, or if it is best to end it now and allow it a chance at a more fulfilling existence through reincarnation. Euthanatoi believe in the Wheel of Fate – that beings pass through many forms and lifetimes on their way to fulfill their final purpose. A person who gets stuck on one point of the Wheel, who refuses to advance toward their purpose, slows down the Wheel for everyone.
Not all Euthanatos magic involves killing, either – in fact, if a situation can be healed without shedding blood, all the better. Remember that their purpose is not that of killing, but of healing – separating the diseased material from the healthy, so the healthy can thrive. Better to cut off an infected limb than to let the whole organism die.
Their focus is not only on the individual, either. The world is constantly changing, but it too can be held back by social diseases. The Euthanatoi make an effort to identify these areas and end their problems, thus allowing society to heal and grow. As the world descends further into darkness and degeneration, however, this is a losing battle.
The driving force of a Euthanatos is duty. They are fully aware of the consequences of what they do, and each time these death-Mages take a life, they 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 – not an easy thing to deal with. Understanding the consequences and the benefits of the Good Death – the death that heals, the end that brings new beginnings – is vital.
There’s a reason the Euthanatos pay so much attention to emotion, calculation and certainty in their actions: Jhor. All Mages gather Resonance from their actions, but the Euthanatos in particular gather Jhor as they deal with death. Jhor is the death-taint, a feeling of death and morbidity, an obsession with death which can suck the life out of a Euthanatos and leave them as an emotionless killing machine. Thus lies the critical paradox of existence as a Euthanatos: to enforce the need for death, to be proud of the job done, but not to enjoy the killing itself. The Euthanatoi cannot savor justice, cannot enjoy a well-done death, lest they lose themselves to the lure of death, the lure of Jhor. Most Euthanatoi are acutely aware of the irony – by killing monsters, they become monsters themselves.
Order of Hermes: These mages use the power of naming things, trapping their essence and using them as their foci for power. They use ancient languages, arcane hand signs, old cryptography and books to weave their deadly spells against anyone who would dare disturb their scholarly pursuit of power. These magi who are among some of the oldest, or claim to be the oldest, traditions of magic use their powers primarily for their own agendas. They are a shifty lot to say the least.
Sons of Ether: The Sons of Ether is a tradition of mages, one of two who are former conventions of the technocracy, a position they share with the Virtual Adepts. They are known for their highly personalized inventions, which can vary from the fanciful, to the strange, even to the horrifying (such is the case for many Mad Scientists). Their belief is that the universe is too vast for any one single equation to hold sway, thus no scientific theory is actually wrong. This adventurous spirit, and willingness to leap out into the unknown, is largely responsible for their departure from the Technocracy, not to mention the proclamation that ether was merely fiction. Key to the Sons' paradigm is Science (the word is always capitalised to distinguish it from the science of sleepers). Exotic theories of orgone fields, hypercombustion chambers and etheric transmission matrices enable the Etherites to create even more weird and wonderful devices. Their Science often has a baroque feel, as if leapt from the pages of pulp fiction or Victorian sci-fi - death rays, robotic servants built of brass and powered by clockwork and fantastic space or aquatic vehicles spring to mind when others discuss the Sons of Ether.
Verbena:[/b] The Verbena are crazy. No I mean it, they are insane....or at least they seem so to the rest of the mage community. They love their "old" customs of dancing in the moonlight naked, their sex magic, their orgies, their drug use, their idols, their chants, their trances, their shamans, their cauldrons, their incense, their daggers, and their robes. These magi go all out when it comes to being a witch or wizard. They go for the shock and awe of the old style religions with blood sacrifice. They govern the sphere of Life, dealing with healing and altering it as they see fit. They also get a kick from death, it being part of life and all. They love them some paganism and they love it hard and long. Members of this sect are often not too shy about having rough no holds barred sex with no commitment involved...granted they may also draw sigils all over your body and chant during it too. No matter how strange their methods may seem, no one can argue with the results. Verbena have long life spans, and often die looking as though they were still 23. They tap into the most primal magic of life itself, and, like the cult of ecstasy, aim to live it to the max.
Virtual Adepts:The hackers, crackers and universal reprogrammers of reality, most of the Virtual Adepts work their magic through their own brand of Hypertech. Through the Internet, the Virtual Adepts connect to all places; through their super-powerful computers and surveillance devices, they see many things; through bionic implants, they plan on making a better human.
Many seek to create a 'Reality 2.0', altering and improving on this world, and many see the Digital Web - the ultimate Real Virtual Reality - to be this utopian world.
Others simply seek to bring the established order crashing down, using their computing ability to turn the Technocracy's machines on their creators. This chaotic streak, present in most hackers, has lead to many focusing on chaos maths in an attempt to understand the quantum world.
The alliance has, at times, been strained; like the Sons of Ether, the Virtual Adepts are suspected due to their Technocratic background. Unlike the Sons of Ether, who went to occasional extremes to prove their loyalty, the Adepts could care less if a bunch of tree-huggers and Merlins want to shake their canes at them from the shadows of the past.
The Virtual Adepts believe in the future, and that future belongs to the Virtual Adepts.
The Technocracy
The growing disbelief of the modern age, where logic has replaced the superstitions of old, has given rise to an unusual variety of magic that some have dubbed 'Technomagic'.
Spawned by aptly named Technomages, this new variety of magic seeks to take the unexplainable and give it some pretense in reality in a way not dissimilar from how superstitions affected the collective unconscious in the past. As such, Technomages are usually heavily set in belief in the laws of the natural world, so much so that even their Awakening does not wholly dispel these believes and instead only alters them
Technomages are Mages that, for one reason or another, justify and channel their magical abilities differently than their older peers, perhaps explaining away their manipulations of the ages old Arcanums through use of impossible technology and theorems. This aspect, while an oddity in the relatively new variety of Awakened, is credited as making pseudo science possible to those so inclined as to practice it.
Magic: Technomages, whether they admit it or not, are awakened by their Avatar, gain their power from the Supernal Realms and bend the laws of reality. The only difference between Magic and Technomagic is the way in which it is produced.
Awakening: Much like the other aspects of Technomagic, the Awakening of a Technomage takes place just as it would with a Mage. The difference lies in how the Technomage perceives their Avatar's awakening, perhaps viewing it as a moment of grandiose insight or understanding that allows them to reinterpret the natural laws of the Fallen World.
Focuses & Rituals: Where Technomages differ most from their conventionalist peers is the Rituals & Focuses they use to manifest their greater abilities. Focuses are as varied for Technomages as for other Awakened but they are usually a lot more unorthodox and can include such things as a computer or remote control. Similarly, a Technomage may call out a complex formula or make an impossible calculation in place of a true name or flourish.
Training: Due to being mavericks in the world of the Awakened, Technomages are often self taught, guided by the insight of their awakening and trial and error. The next most common method of learning is indoctrination into societies that specifically practice Technomagic, most common among which (and still a rather large rarity) is the Technocracy, that uses the guise of Technological Magics to hide any hypocrisy on their part. Technomages tend to be less well trained than other Awakened, but they tend to make up for it in their inventive implementations of magic and mastery of coincidental magic.
The Technocratic Union, or the Technocracy were initially portrayed as the typical black-hatted moustached antagonist of the earlier editions of Mage: The Ascension, but grew into a distinct type of Mage in their own right with the introduction of the Guide to the Technocracy sourcebook.
They were initially founded as the Order of Reason in 1325, a group dedicated to the protection of humanity from the depredations of the supernatural — specifically Mages, and more specifically the Order of Hermes.
Like the other major Mage factions, the Technocracy represent one of the Avatar Essences, in their case Stasis. Among shapechangers they are associated with the Weaver.
Iteration X
The Iterators are dedicated to the idea of "Stronger, Faster, Better". Specializing mainly in Forces, Iteration X are perhaps best known for their skill in cybernetics, computing and robotics. However, the Conventions overarching goal is the creation of better tools to aid humanity. The Clockwork Convention claim that they strive to emulate the men who first discovered fire and the wheel, elevating man to new heights.
Void Engineers
Of the entire Technocracy, the Void Engineers are one of the few groups not depicted as being entirely villainous. This in part stems from their relatively tolerant views. For example, they view the digital conflicts with the Sons of Ether in a very sporting manner, much to the annoyance of their colleagues in the Technocracy. Most depictions of the Engineers paint them as being free spirited and as the only Technocrats who place more faith in the Technocracy's initial noble goals than in the opressive policies of some of their colleagues.
The Syndicate
Money makes the world go round - this is the Syndicate's primary ethos. Perhaps their greatest coup is the modern economy, and with their speciality Sphere of Prime they can make the ones and zeros that govern our lives dance to their tune. They are heavily involved in the media and, along with the New World Order, influence what the Masses buy, and more importantly what they should desire.
Progenitors
The Progenitors dominate the field of modern medicine. Masters of the Sphere of Life, they employ the tools of genetic manipulation, hyper-advanced surgical techniques and sophisticated drugs to constantly push the envelope of medicine. They sometimes work closely with Iteration X, especially in the fields of cybertechnology and artificial body parts. Along with the Iterators they also provide the Union with a great many foot soldiers - genetically engineered clones designed to replace civilians are a stalwart, as are bioengineered horrors that guarded the most secret Technocratic labs.
New World Order
The Illuminati or conspiracy of your choice. These mages aim to control all people no matter of creed, ethnicity or class. They are the leaders of the Technocracy and by far the most sinister.
THE RULES
1. No one may have any spheres above 3 without my approval. (There will be only a few lucky players with this privilege and those are ones we can trust to not god mod. Additionally, its no fun if everyone's a powerful mage. There must be normal magi.)
2. All magi must have a material focus and if that focus is lost/broken/destroyed you lose one dot in each sphere until you make a new one which will take a good year of meditation at least.
3. If you convert to the Technocracy, you cannot just jump between the sides of the war. You may make one change from either side. Aka if you start as a Technocrat and then jump to the Tradition's side you cannot go back, this is to make things simple. (of course you can ask either me or Dantia for special permission)
4. No head magi, all the head magi are in their chantries trying to ascend and teach students. Only students are allowed or recently independent magi.
5. No summoning gods. No one can accomplish this and any claim to will result in your post being deleted.
6. If you wish to have a power at level 4, your character will need to be of the minimum aged of 45 as it takes a very very long time to get to this stage.
7. If you want to play a nephandus, marauder, or Technocrat that is fine but be aware that you will be opposed to most people on the site.
Now to run this down for all of you who are confused.
Magic - A Sphere is one of ten divisions of the Tellurian. The divisions are largely artificial, but are fairly accurate in dividing the known universe into several distinct facets. Although the distinction was originally artificial, it's notable that each Sphere has its own associated Realm within the Umbra, matching up to one of the nine planets within the physical universe. Each mage studies which ever spheres catch his or her interest but true enlightenment comes from the study of all facets of reality.
The spheres are:
1) Correspondence
2) Matter
3) Life
4) Prime
5) Forces
6) Entropy
7) Mind
8) Time
9) Spirit
The Traditions: This is a key word used to signify all loose mage traditions without specifying any one of them. These different traditions have different ways of explaining magic and differing specialties in each field. You as a mage belong to a certain one of these traditions and inherit their specialties. Those will be addressed in another thread. While the members have changed over time, the current nine are:
* Akashic Brotherhood
* Celestial Chorus
* Cult of Ecstasy
* Dreamspeakers
* Euthanatoi
* Order of Hermes
* Sons of Ether
* Verbena
* Virtual Adepts
The Technocracy: These are magi who are convinced that the whole of humanity needs access to magic but not true magic, magic that can be explained and rationalized. This helps "protect" humanity from things beyond this plane of existence, regardless of whether they want to be protected or not. These magi are the main villains trying to create complete stasis, where no magic can take place or magical creatures can exist. They use their hold of the collective unconscious of humans to persecute magi with Paradox. Paradox is an external force that forces all reality to align with the common consensus, and punishes those who are different from the paradigm. It is effectively controlled by the Technocracy because they define the current views on magic with the mass media and technology.
The technocracy consists of:
* Iteration X
* New World Order
* Progenitors
* Syndicate
* Void Engineers
The Marauders: These insane magi warp reality just by existing. They are not a cogent group but are rather a number of individuals with their own plans and potent magics to bring about total chaos. While any mage who favours Dynamism may experience a form of madness in their Quiet, Marauders embody Dynamism; the real world is translated into their fractured version by a constant, subconscious use of vulgar magic.
Within the bubble of alternate reality that surrounds them, their hallucinations and bizarre rules are real; objects and creatures that come into contact with the bubble are transformed to fit in with its rules. They return to normal once the Marauder moves on, without any evidence of what happened, though the effects of conscious magic remain. Awakened mages and supernatural creatures who enter a Marauder's bubble may recognise that something is wrong, as may anyone who possesses some kind of supernatural awareness. The size and power of the Marauder's reality is directly related to the strength of their resonance, which is also dominantly Dynamic, though it may also have touches of Static and Entropic resonance.
The external Quiet of a Marauder protects them from Paradox; their alternate reality supports their paradigm, so the vulgar magic they use doesn't violate the rules of that reality. That doesn't mean they don't attract Paradox, only that most of the backlash is deflected onto other Awakened beings outside the Marauder's bubble.
While the nature of a Marauder's power may make them seem invincible, they are still severely hampered by their madness. They cannot become Archmages, as they lack sufficient insight and are incapable of appreciating truths which do not suit their madness.
The Nephandi: These magi are magi who's Avatar's are turned inside out. They sell their souls to their infernal masters who are demons or umbra spirits who wish to corrupt the world we live in, bringing about final night or ultimate corruption of this world. It is a mistake to compare Nephandi to simple infernalists. Infernalists are those who sell their soul for their own callous purposes — typically power; whether magical, temporal or sexual. The Nephandi, conversely, willingly corrupt their soul in order to kill the world. In a world full of shades of grey they are the black, each without exception a monster. When a mage Descends, he enters a Caul (a sort of gateway to hell/shrine of unspeakable horror). What occurs within is not generally known as the Nephandi does not discuss it, although things are known to be within the Caul with the Nephandi and many mages do not come out again. If the initiate emerges relatively intact they will have been fundamentally and irreversibly changed; their Avatar will have been inverted focusing on Descent rather than Ascension; their very magic becomes Qlippothic.
The Nephandi come into existence in two possible ways: firstly, they can be created from regular mages through the 'process' of the caul, or they are simply born with inverted avatars from a previous life
Although united in their aims the Nephandi are divided in method and master. Although they all strive for the death of the universe how they go about it varies greatly. Their are also a large variety of dark gods/demons/horrible dead things for the Nephandi to gain 'sponsorship' from. This results in several factions within the group. Although at a casual glance they appear the same a more in-depth study will reveal a great deal of variation. On the bright side this leads to much internal squabbling and backstabbing as the various dark gods play their pawns off against each other and they in turn attempt to boost their masters position.
Infernalists
The most 'normal' and 'human' of the factions. These Nephandi worship demonic entities (or potentially something pretending to be a demon). The Nephandi Infernalists are different to standard infernalists who sell their soul for their own gain-these guys sell their soul to kill the world (there's also the issue of the exact nature of their masters). They are the most internally organized and socially skilled of the factions, able to pass fairly well within human population. They are also the most human in behaviour and mindset. This makes them all the more dangerous as they are more subtle and insidious than their more insane counterparts as they have more success at infiltration and recruiting. They do not get along well with the Malfeans whose chaotic and primal mindset does not mesh with the formalized ritualistic traditional demon worship.
Malfeans
Not to be mistaken with the Neverborn of Oblivion (although connected in a manner of speaking) These Nephandi worship the Wyrm: the primal force of entropy and corruption. They are somewhat wild and primal in their evil. Often with close ties to the Black Spiral Dancers. The Malfean are often quite insane and zealous in their devotion to the Wyrm. The style of their methods tends to be strongly based on simplistic primal concepts. Their caul process is surprisingly similar as opposed to the other sects, usually that tend to walk the so-called Black Spiral during their inversion. The areas they practice their work in tend to be rotten shit holes of squalor, pollution and filth-it's as though they deliberately pick or corrupt these areas...
K'llasshaa
The archetype of the Nephandi. The K'llasshaa worship the Outer lords. Little is known or even possible to understand about their masters, however it is clear that they claim to have ruled this world in the long past, were banished through treachery or fate, and now wish to return. If this is true or not is not known or strictly speaking important, what is certain is that they lay claim to the world and all within it. Whatever the K'llasshaa serves is at least on a philosophical level the most disturbing of the Nephandi, being by far the most alien. Contact with what this sect serves is known to drive the subject completely mad. What is known however is that these beings feed on negative emotions; this in essence leaks into their servants, who are the most bizarre and fortunately, the easiest to track. The K'llasshaa are surprisingly straightforward in their method, usually with minimal dogma and greater emphasis on violence. Their rituals are more akin to a torture session or a snuff film than a mystic ritual (although there is overlap, further confusing the issue).
The Nephandic Hierarchy
Though all Nephandi serve Oblivion, they maintain a fairly rigid hierarchy based on power and closeness to Oblivion. This theocratic despotism is prone to constant violent infighting and backstabbing plots at the Lower (greater) levels. the hierarchy is loosely broken into the following categories:
Pawn - The scum, these are the lowest on the roster loosely divided into non-awakened servants of the sect such as hired thugs, cultists or pimps. Minor supernatural servants or non-Nephandic mages who are being manipulated by the Nephandi. The "weak link in the chain" so to speak, these poor bastards are usually unaware of what they serve. Of course, there is always a chance of promotion through the caul.....
Nephandus - A true Nephandi is first born by emerging from the Caul. This term also broadly refers to any member of the hierarchy upwards from here, and later ranks can be considered "titles." It is at this rank that most of the Nephandi's Shaytan (those Nephandi who are highly violent and act as soldiers and assassins) can be found. The fist of the Nephandi forces, these are the guys who are the most likely to be encountered in direct confrontation.
Adsinistrati - The sergeants. After building a network of supporters, a Nephandus begins to have the clout to command lesser Nephandi and act as a full-time tempter. The Adsinistrati are primarily responsible for luring Pawns into the Caul, as the lower ranks lack the subtlety and skill to do so. When necessary, the Adsinistrati are also the diplomats of the Nephandi, making contact with other beings of corruption such as Black Spiral Dancers.
Prelatus - The generals of the Nephandi are almost always powerful, inhuman, and inscrutable. Most Prelati are able to visit Earth for short periods but generally find long-term residence difficult. These Nephandi direct large-scale operations.
Gilledian - The highest ranking Nephandi are the rulers of the Labyrinths, Nephandic realms in the Umbra. Most are very old, very powerful, and very experienced. While unable to leave the Umbra, these beings exert tremendous political force from a distance. They are not even by the loose standards of their colleages usually anything even resembling a human. In fact, quite a few are technically dead.
Beyond the Gilledians there are no unifiers of the Nephandi. Though a handful of Aswadim (superhumanly powerful masters of Qlippothic magic) exist, they act (at most) as symbols to the Nephandi, or as avatars of Oblivion. They do not take an active role in leadership.
The Akashic Brotherhood: is a member of the Council of Nine Mystic Traditions in Mage: The Ascension. The Brotherhood is a loosely connected group of introspective martial artists who work to strengthen their body and mind. They also are famous for their hidden sanctuaries in the middle of populated places, easily able to hide their location from the masses with their powerful mind magic. They are also fortunate in that their powers are very easily dismissed as normal by the masses thus attracting less, if not zero, paradox. The reason for this lies in the propagation of the myth that kung-fu users can do miraculous things by the marital arts movies. A magic effect is nearly always considered coincidental if the user is obviously using some kind of martial art. They also practice a unique martial art called Do or "The Way" most Akashic brothers will attest to this extremely difficult martial art being the way to enlightenment or at least one way. Most intermediate students of the Akashic's are only novices in the art of Do. The Mind Sphere is their preferred Sphere and members of the Brotherhood tend to have great proficiency with it. A common foci for Akashic brothers are either sashes, weapons, or pendants of Buddha or Tao. The Akashic Brotherhood is composed of both men and women, being non-discriminatory.
The Celestial Chorus: The Celestial Chorus is a Tradition of mages united by their efforts to touch the Divine as well as their belief in the One and Prime from which all things originate. Closely tied to the God of Abrahamic faiths, the One represents the source of all Creation and all Creation is believed to be a part of the One. Humans in particular carry shards of the divine within them, though it is known by many names: the divine flame, the soul, the avatar. It is this connection which the Celestial Chorus believes enables them to clearly hear the One's song and to shape Creation. While their faith is essentially monotheistic, it is accepted that the Divine has many facets and can be expressed through any number of names, religions, and creeds. Members of many faiths and denominations (including a variety of soft polytheists) come together in worship and service of the One, accepting that each person has their own path to the One. Of course, this ideal remains a work in progress and the Singers' history has been one of divisions and compromises, holy wars and martyrs, sacrifice and rejuvenation. Choristers perform acts of magic either by beseeching the One for aid or drawing on the One's authority to command Creation directly. As their name suggests, singing has long been an integral part of Chorister practice. It is viewed as one of the oldest forms of channeling the One, but it is only one of many methods. Blessings and curses carry with them Divine energy. Divinations are often performed by interpreting dreams, casting of lots, or bibliomancy. Anything that draws people together including simple touches, communal ceremonies, and even sex are seen as ways to bring people closer to the One. On the other hand fasting, self-denial, vows, and other sacrifices are seen as ways to free oneself from dependence on base needs in order to refocus and better hear the One's call. Likewise, religious rituals and symbols of faith are manifestations of the One that can be touched and experienced.
Cult of Ecstasy:Cultists employ their methods in pursuit of Passion(emotion), often the Nine Sacred Passions, knowing that only passion can take them high enough to surpass human boundaries and perceptions to reach the eternal moment. Some are more enlightened than others as to the true purpose and source of emotion, but the pursuit is the same.There are guidelines that have been passed down from the founder known as the Code of Ananda. Their purpose is the topic of some debate, but they act to protect Cultists and others from their passions. Central to the Code are rules forbidding the forcing of your passion or experiences on another (such as spiking your friend's pasta with peyote), as the Cult believes each person must want to find their own paths to enlightenment or Kammamarga. Many see the Cultists as little more than wanton hedonists, but the truth is more sophisticated. While it is true that many of them employ sex, drugs, music and dance in their magic, their true goal is indicatd in their name: Ecstasy comes from the latin ex stasis which actually means 'out of stasis'. The Ecstatics seek to transcend the illusions of reality and see the world without boundaries where their conciousness spans all space and time. This is known as the Eternal Moment. Sometimes also referred to as touching Lakashim, the heartbeat of the world.
Dreamspeakers:The Dreamspeakers are a recent Tradition, being formed as a dumping ground for tribal magi by the Europeans. However, they are heirs the primal magic of ancient shaman. Their ancestors were the Apache, Cherokee, Iroquois, Zuni, Ojibwa, Hopi, Navajo, Inuit, Athapaska and Salish of the Americas, and the Fulani, Egyptians, Shona, Dogon, Ashanti, Masaii, Ibo, Zulu, Himba and San-!Kung peoples of Africa. They saw the rise of the Aztecs, Toltecs, Olmecs, Zapotecs and Mayans, of the Inca, Cagaba, Chibcha, Caribs, Musica, Quechua and Aymara. They were the primordial shamans of Siberia, China and Lappland, and the Mongols, Koreans, Hmong and Mien hill tribes of Thailand, the Ainu of Japan, followers of Wektu Telu in Indonesia and tribal Filipinos. They are the heirs to many a diverse spiritual ways from around the world.
Euthanatos: Many Euthanatoi place a great deal of trust in probability and fate. A life may depend on the flip of a coin – if it doesn’t come up the way you want, then fate doesn’t want it to happen anyway. Other Euthanatoi may use magic, devices, and logic to determine whether a soul can be redeemed, or if it is best to end it now and allow it a chance at a more fulfilling existence through reincarnation. Euthanatoi believe in the Wheel of Fate – that beings pass through many forms and lifetimes on their way to fulfill their final purpose. A person who gets stuck on one point of the Wheel, who refuses to advance toward their purpose, slows down the Wheel for everyone.
Not all Euthanatos magic involves killing, either – in fact, if a situation can be healed without shedding blood, all the better. Remember that their purpose is not that of killing, but of healing – separating the diseased material from the healthy, so the healthy can thrive. Better to cut off an infected limb than to let the whole organism die.
Their focus is not only on the individual, either. The world is constantly changing, but it too can be held back by social diseases. The Euthanatoi make an effort to identify these areas and end their problems, thus allowing society to heal and grow. As the world descends further into darkness and degeneration, however, this is a losing battle.
The driving force of a Euthanatos is duty. They are fully aware of the consequences of what they do, and each time these death-Mages take a life, they 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 – not an easy thing to deal with. Understanding the consequences and the benefits of the Good Death – the death that heals, the end that brings new beginnings – is vital.
There’s a reason the Euthanatos pay so much attention to emotion, calculation and certainty in their actions: Jhor. All Mages gather Resonance from their actions, but the Euthanatos in particular gather Jhor as they deal with death. Jhor is the death-taint, a feeling of death and morbidity, an obsession with death which can suck the life out of a Euthanatos and leave them as an emotionless killing machine. Thus lies the critical paradox of existence as a Euthanatos: to enforce the need for death, to be proud of the job done, but not to enjoy the killing itself. The Euthanatoi cannot savor justice, cannot enjoy a well-done death, lest they lose themselves to the lure of death, the lure of Jhor. Most Euthanatoi are acutely aware of the irony – by killing monsters, they become monsters themselves.
Order of Hermes: These mages use the power of naming things, trapping their essence and using them as their foci for power. They use ancient languages, arcane hand signs, old cryptography and books to weave their deadly spells against anyone who would dare disturb their scholarly pursuit of power. These magi who are among some of the oldest, or claim to be the oldest, traditions of magic use their powers primarily for their own agendas. They are a shifty lot to say the least.
Sons of Ether: The Sons of Ether is a tradition of mages, one of two who are former conventions of the technocracy, a position they share with the Virtual Adepts. They are known for their highly personalized inventions, which can vary from the fanciful, to the strange, even to the horrifying (such is the case for many Mad Scientists). Their belief is that the universe is too vast for any one single equation to hold sway, thus no scientific theory is actually wrong. This adventurous spirit, and willingness to leap out into the unknown, is largely responsible for their departure from the Technocracy, not to mention the proclamation that ether was merely fiction. Key to the Sons' paradigm is Science (the word is always capitalised to distinguish it from the science of sleepers). Exotic theories of orgone fields, hypercombustion chambers and etheric transmission matrices enable the Etherites to create even more weird and wonderful devices. Their Science often has a baroque feel, as if leapt from the pages of pulp fiction or Victorian sci-fi - death rays, robotic servants built of brass and powered by clockwork and fantastic space or aquatic vehicles spring to mind when others discuss the Sons of Ether.
Verbena:[/b] The Verbena are crazy. No I mean it, they are insane....or at least they seem so to the rest of the mage community. They love their "old" customs of dancing in the moonlight naked, their sex magic, their orgies, their drug use, their idols, their chants, their trances, their shamans, their cauldrons, their incense, their daggers, and their robes. These magi go all out when it comes to being a witch or wizard. They go for the shock and awe of the old style religions with blood sacrifice. They govern the sphere of Life, dealing with healing and altering it as they see fit. They also get a kick from death, it being part of life and all. They love them some paganism and they love it hard and long. Members of this sect are often not too shy about having rough no holds barred sex with no commitment involved...granted they may also draw sigils all over your body and chant during it too. No matter how strange their methods may seem, no one can argue with the results. Verbena have long life spans, and often die looking as though they were still 23. They tap into the most primal magic of life itself, and, like the cult of ecstasy, aim to live it to the max.
Virtual Adepts:The hackers, crackers and universal reprogrammers of reality, most of the Virtual Adepts work their magic through their own brand of Hypertech. Through the Internet, the Virtual Adepts connect to all places; through their super-powerful computers and surveillance devices, they see many things; through bionic implants, they plan on making a better human.
Many seek to create a 'Reality 2.0', altering and improving on this world, and many see the Digital Web - the ultimate Real Virtual Reality - to be this utopian world.
Others simply seek to bring the established order crashing down, using their computing ability to turn the Technocracy's machines on their creators. This chaotic streak, present in most hackers, has lead to many focusing on chaos maths in an attempt to understand the quantum world.
The alliance has, at times, been strained; like the Sons of Ether, the Virtual Adepts are suspected due to their Technocratic background. Unlike the Sons of Ether, who went to occasional extremes to prove their loyalty, the Adepts could care less if a bunch of tree-huggers and Merlins want to shake their canes at them from the shadows of the past.
The Virtual Adepts believe in the future, and that future belongs to the Virtual Adepts.
The Technocracy
The growing disbelief of the modern age, where logic has replaced the superstitions of old, has given rise to an unusual variety of magic that some have dubbed 'Technomagic'.
Spawned by aptly named Technomages, this new variety of magic seeks to take the unexplainable and give it some pretense in reality in a way not dissimilar from how superstitions affected the collective unconscious in the past. As such, Technomages are usually heavily set in belief in the laws of the natural world, so much so that even their Awakening does not wholly dispel these believes and instead only alters them
Technomages are Mages that, for one reason or another, justify and channel their magical abilities differently than their older peers, perhaps explaining away their manipulations of the ages old Arcanums through use of impossible technology and theorems. This aspect, while an oddity in the relatively new variety of Awakened, is credited as making pseudo science possible to those so inclined as to practice it.
Magic: Technomages, whether they admit it or not, are awakened by their Avatar, gain their power from the Supernal Realms and bend the laws of reality. The only difference between Magic and Technomagic is the way in which it is produced.
Awakening: Much like the other aspects of Technomagic, the Awakening of a Technomage takes place just as it would with a Mage. The difference lies in how the Technomage perceives their Avatar's awakening, perhaps viewing it as a moment of grandiose insight or understanding that allows them to reinterpret the natural laws of the Fallen World.
Focuses & Rituals: Where Technomages differ most from their conventionalist peers is the Rituals & Focuses they use to manifest their greater abilities. Focuses are as varied for Technomages as for other Awakened but they are usually a lot more unorthodox and can include such things as a computer or remote control. Similarly, a Technomage may call out a complex formula or make an impossible calculation in place of a true name or flourish.
Training: Due to being mavericks in the world of the Awakened, Technomages are often self taught, guided by the insight of their awakening and trial and error. The next most common method of learning is indoctrination into societies that specifically practice Technomagic, most common among which (and still a rather large rarity) is the Technocracy, that uses the guise of Technological Magics to hide any hypocrisy on their part. Technomages tend to be less well trained than other Awakened, but they tend to make up for it in their inventive implementations of magic and mastery of coincidental magic.
The Technocratic Union, or the Technocracy were initially portrayed as the typical black-hatted moustached antagonist of the earlier editions of Mage: The Ascension, but grew into a distinct type of Mage in their own right with the introduction of the Guide to the Technocracy sourcebook.
They were initially founded as the Order of Reason in 1325, a group dedicated to the protection of humanity from the depredations of the supernatural — specifically Mages, and more specifically the Order of Hermes.
Like the other major Mage factions, the Technocracy represent one of the Avatar Essences, in their case Stasis. Among shapechangers they are associated with the Weaver.
Iteration X
The Iterators are dedicated to the idea of "Stronger, Faster, Better". Specializing mainly in Forces, Iteration X are perhaps best known for their skill in cybernetics, computing and robotics. However, the Conventions overarching goal is the creation of better tools to aid humanity. The Clockwork Convention claim that they strive to emulate the men who first discovered fire and the wheel, elevating man to new heights.
Void Engineers
Of the entire Technocracy, the Void Engineers are one of the few groups not depicted as being entirely villainous. This in part stems from their relatively tolerant views. For example, they view the digital conflicts with the Sons of Ether in a very sporting manner, much to the annoyance of their colleagues in the Technocracy. Most depictions of the Engineers paint them as being free spirited and as the only Technocrats who place more faith in the Technocracy's initial noble goals than in the opressive policies of some of their colleagues.
The Syndicate
Money makes the world go round - this is the Syndicate's primary ethos. Perhaps their greatest coup is the modern economy, and with their speciality Sphere of Prime they can make the ones and zeros that govern our lives dance to their tune. They are heavily involved in the media and, along with the New World Order, influence what the Masses buy, and more importantly what they should desire.
Progenitors
The Progenitors dominate the field of modern medicine. Masters of the Sphere of Life, they employ the tools of genetic manipulation, hyper-advanced surgical techniques and sophisticated drugs to constantly push the envelope of medicine. They sometimes work closely with Iteration X, especially in the fields of cybertechnology and artificial body parts. Along with the Iterators they also provide the Union with a great many foot soldiers - genetically engineered clones designed to replace civilians are a stalwart, as are bioengineered horrors that guarded the most secret Technocratic labs.
New World Order
The Illuminati or conspiracy of your choice. These mages aim to control all people no matter of creed, ethnicity or class. They are the leaders of the Technocracy and by far the most sinister.