Mage
Mages are formed during a process referred to as the Awakening. Each Awakening is unique, and what triggers it is yet unexplored. Mages are usually drawn into the Supernal through their own obsessions with Mysteries that reveal to them a way through the Lie. On their way, they establish a symbolic connection to the realm they awakened to, in most cases by carving their name into a gigantic Watchtower.
Awakening
Mages ‘awaken’ to the ways of magic. It is unclear whether this is mostly accidental or as a result of a person's nature or understanding. The process of awakening can be slow or fast, but there are two major ways in which the event may manifest: the Mystery Play and the Astral Journey. In both sorts of ‘awakenings’, the mage-to-be goes on a journey that culminates with them arriving at or in their respective Tower and inscribing their name upon it. The Mystery Play is a waking dream, where the magical symbolism of their awakening is overlaid on top of the ‘real’ world. Other people, places and real world events mesh together until the Mage arrives at a skyscraper, a phone booth, a grove or some other place that represents their Tower and somehow write their name in both the physical and astral setting, such as a hotel ledger or a statue's plaque. Astral Journeys, which occur when the potential mage dreams, are common to those who deny or resist the ‘awakening’. Astral Journeys feature strange settings, objects and people, in a full sensory experience.Paths
When a mage Awakens, his soul travels out of his body across the yawning chasm of the Abyss to the Realms Supernal. He is guided through the void by the light of a Watchtower with which his soul most closely resonates. The Watchtower and its surrounding Supernal Realm dictate a mage's path, and that path determines what sort of mage he becomesOrders
While a person's Awakening and his Path determine what sort of mage he is, that doesn't necessarily give him an idea about what it is he's supposed to do. To provide that direction and a sense of society, mages have formed expansive magical orders, some of which have traditions that stretch all the way back to mythic Atlantis. A mage that rejects a place among the magical orders is known as an Apostate.- Adamantine Arrow
- Free Council
- Guardians of the Veil
- Mysterium
- Silver Ladder
Arcana
The ten purviews of mystic influence, the Arcana encompass the entirety of reality. The five Subtle Arcana, those which influence things with roots in the Supernal World, are each paired with one of the Gross Arcana - the "material expressions", related to the Fallen World (mages' name for the mortal realm). Each pair forms the ruling Arcana of one of the five Supernal Realms, from which all Mana and magic are drawn. Since each Path's watchtower resides in a particular Supernal Realm, mages of each Path have a natural affinity for the associated ruling Arcana. Each Realm also has an inferior Arcanum, one with less power in that Realm, and which associated Path mages find harder to learn. The Realms (and corresponding Paths) have the following ruling Arcana- Arcadia (Acanthus): Time/Fate
- Pandemonium (Mastigos): Space/Mind
- Stygia (Moros): Matter/Death
- The Aether (Obrimos): Forces/Prime
- The Primal Wild (Thyrsus): Life/Spirit
Notable Members
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Related Organizations
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