Héritages

They have been with us since before the beginning. Before Atlantis called. Before apes learned to walk upright and pile stones atop one another to make their caves. Before man chose to set himself apart from beasts and trees and rocks, they knew the truth: that the circle of life is broad enough to include all things “organic” and “inorganic,” that this great wheel turns easily from one form to another, that man and beast and tree and rock are one.

It was they who first took to the grazing-fields, to follow the comings and goings of the herds. And when they had learned the steps of the herd-dance and could sing the words of the herd-song, they put on themselves the skins of the herd-dress and slept in the cold and rain until they became part of the herd itself. It was they who first ran with the wolves and learned the worth of honesty when the wolves pointed toward unseen prey in hopes of sharing the kill. And it was they who stalked against the great cats and learned the value of deception, letting other hunters pass by in hopes of keeping the “lion’s share” of the kill for themselves. They it was who flew with the birds, crept with the vines and slept with the stones.

They went where others could not go and did what others could not do. They learned the lessons that life taught from every angle and brought their knowledge back to their tribes to teach the business of living. They sought wisdom to lead their tribes out of darkness and cold and hunger, and set mankind on a path that would eventually lead to civilization. But mankind mistook its new powers of stewardship over the land as mastery, and regarded the animals, plants and rocks only as resources to be plundered rather than as partners in the circle of life. In their hubris, they forgot the wisdom that they had taught and dismissed their utterances as backward superstition.

They who had sacrificed the semblance of their humanity for the greater good were now cast out. Ostracized and despised, they were relegated to the status of monsters and bogeymen used to frighten unruly children. The mighty warriors who had once donned hide and claw and fang in the service of their people were now cast in the role of blood-thirsty murderer. Those who lived by the old lore of leaf and stone were hunted down and torn to pieces or burned in public spectacle. The horns and hooves of the most sacred were denounced as emblems of evil.

All the oldest languages of the world once had a name for them, most now forgotten. In modern English, they are known as the Orphans of Proteus, for their metamorphosis ability. Some say they, not the Atlanteans, were the very first humans to Awaken, and some even go so far as to suggest that all other types of magic are derived from theirs. Whether that is true or not, many now consider them to be a dying breed. Marginalized by the encroachment of civilization, they are usually found only at the fringes of mage society. They engage in few formalities, and the kinship of spirit they share is something that is felt, unspoken, deep within their souls.

Inheritors of the Proteus Legacy can be unnerving, not only to other mages, but to those who know nothing of magic. Social customs and mores — at least, those of the modern civilized world — mean little to them, and they may at times break laws, cross boundaries or ignore table manners and dress codes without compunction. This is not to say that they are dumb brutes. Members may exhibit as much intelligence and compassion as any other sorcerer. They tend to be plainspoken, even rudely blunt, and act impulsively upon primal urges known only to them. For those who have experienced the non-human world directly, such phrases as “nature red in tooth and claw” or “the force that through the green fuse drives the flower” are no mere poetic conceits, but the very bedrock of reality.

Appearance:
The more time an Orphan spends using her attainments — whether they provide animal, vegetable or mineral features — the more likely she is to physically resemble that form in some way. Common features include excessive hairiness, a forward-slumping posture, enlarged teeth and nails, overdeveloped ears or nose, iridescent eyes, dermatological conditions that cause the skin to resemble the bark of a tree, or an angular craggy profile like the face of a cliff. In general, all scratches, scars, rashes, infections and other outwardly visible ailments that might mark the mage while in animal form remain visible in an analogous place on his human form, (although these features tend to fade over time if the Orphan avoids frequent use of his attainments).

Background:
It is generally assumed that Orphans come almost exclusively from beyond the fringes of civilization — rural areas, remote wildernesses or underdeveloped nations — and this is often the case. As such places dwindle and disappear, however, more inheritors of the Proteus Legacy can be found in cities and suburbs, taking on the forms of domesticated animals, cultivated plants and manufactured objects. Of these, some may be descendants of tribal cultures that knew and respected the power of the Orphans, while others have rejected modern culture and attempt to reconstruct and/or reclaim earlier values that they consider to be safer, healthier and (so to speak) more humane.

Organization:
All Orphans are Thyrsus, Awakened to the Watchtower of the Primal Wild. While they are often initiated into one order or another (although some are apostates), they tend to spurn the traditional politics and schemes of Awakened society, retreating to the wilderness as soon as they adopt this Legacy.

Most Orphans tend to be either solitary hermits or isolated, clannish groups, so they have little in the way of overall social organization. Affinity groups may spontaneously form along the lines of preferred habitats, species, phylum or kingdom. Regional groups tend to form around places like virgin wilderness, wildlife refuges or well-conceived parks as protection, or as a response against urban expansion, dumping sites and other ecological crime scenes. Communication is generally conducted through non-human media, with speech expressed in the languages of animals, and with “written” messages formed by anomalous plant growth or geological formations.

Orphans tend to claim certain territories, which brings them into conflict with other supernatural beings that might want such territories for their own purposes. Some Orphans are nomadic, following the migratory patterns of birds or herd animals, or the hunting habits of certain predators.

Suggested Oblations:
A sacred hunt; the ritual acting out of an animal’s behavior; the ceremonial offering of food to animals; the ritual arrangement of rocks and stones in a certain area; sacred gardening

Concepts:
Ecologists and conservationists, animal wranglers, rural hermits, tribal or “primitive” folk