Matter

"Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair. Core example of hubris, innit? Cause Ozy's monuments withered too. It's a key lesson to learn, 'specially for us. We ain't gods, and nothin's permenant. End of the day, we're all just little building blocks of the world."

-- Olly Knight, Hollow One

Matter, much like Life, is a rather appropriately named Sphere and shares many other relations with that Sphere. Whereas Life deals with the living, the animate, Matter deals with the inanimate. Elements, base materials, objects both simple and intricate, it is the Sphere of all the mass that makes up the world. Matter Mages bear heavy similarity to various well-known cultural figures, such as the alchemy on display in Full Metal Alchemist, as the experienced among them can shift and transmute all manner of matter without so much as a second thought, but as always such grand gestures come with even grander danger.

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Planetary Alignment

Each of the Nine Spheres are associated with a Planet (technically). The realm of Matter within the Penumbra is connected to the planet Jupiter, fitting for a Sphere that encompasses inanimate objects, which is a nearly infinite sandbox of materials to work with. A few different groups of Mages operate and work through Jupiter and the associated realm, but that's a matter for well-trained and experienced mages.

Effect

Matter is the realm of inanimate objects, especially those that hold Quintessence within them. They can do this to many elements of the physical world in either their solid, liquid, or gaseous state, rending it one of the most widespread in terms of options. As such, the five level system really provides the biggest umbrella baseline for what Matter Mages can do at their average experience level, but what they do with it is a different beast entirely.

• Entry Level: At the beginning level, Matter Mages can scan and get information about a Matter Pattern such as composition, durability, age, etc
• Training Level: At this level, the Matter Mage can begin to transmute one material to another so long as it doesn't change shape, temperature, or state
• Intermediate Level: At this level, the Matter Mage can change key elements of an items makeup, such as turning a solid into a gas or affecting size
• Advanced Level: At this level, the Matter Mage can transform solid elements into complex devices or forge together alloys
• Expert Level: At this level, the Matter Mage is able to bestow different elemental traits onto other objects and even create materials that do not exist in the real world

Side/Secondary Effects

Every level above Entry carries a decent risk of Vulgar Magick and Paradox by the sheer scope of the process. As such, especially at the highest levels when Matter Mages can turn a rock into a gun or create unreal metals, one should be very careful, precise, and prepared to not invoke any more Paradox than you can handle. Matter Mages who get the backlash from their magic run the risk of being transmuted themselves, having the chemical compounds turn volatile, or be shunted to the infinite soil and hollow caves of the umbral plane of Matter.
Matter Mages also tend to take very solid and blunt attitudes, as their lifes work becomes focused on the material, the exact, and the concrete.

Manifestation

Matter Magick tends to be brown or gray in color when its aura is visible, and the effects tend to be twisting or cubed in shape as they transfer from one state to another.

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Related Organizations

• Iteration X
• Society of Ether

Material Components

Until one gets to the Expert level of Matter Magick, a Mage will require some kind of material to work with first. For less experienced Mages they'll need one similar or the same in composition to their goal, while more experienced ones will be able to bridge the gap.

Other Notable Matter Organizations:

Aside from The Society of Ether who is the modern representative of Matter within the Council of Nine Mystic Traditions, a few other branch groups and factions specialize in Matter:

• Iteration X one of the Technocracy's five Conventions who primarily works in Forces, but also focuses on Matter as well. They take it to a level of inorganic science, such as engineering or cybernetics.
•  The Alexandrian Society: A branch of The Celestial Chorus that works to bridge the gap between modern technology and old world religion and hard-lined faith.
• Gardeners of the Tree: A faction of The Verbena that are more strict traditionalists among the order, preserving not only the orders past but their own cultural history.