Paths

The meaning of the cards is clear — you will suffer a tragedy soon. There is, however, someone who can avert your fate. For a price, of course….

The mages of the Lunargent Thorn have a reputation as the most capricious of the Awakened. To their friends, that makes them “free spirits,” or “a breath of fresh air.” Their detractors are more likely to apply terms such as “unstable,” &“immature” or “childish.” Many mages see something fey or otherworldly about the Acanthus, and the Enchanters themselves are hardly in any position to deny it.

Maturity and stability are not the strengths of those on the Path of Thistle. They are visionaries with extraordinary insights into events both past and future, but they may not always make as much of their insights as they could — much to the chagrin of other mages. Their peers accuse them of being flaky or even irrational, but those allegations seem not to phase the Acanthus in the least. Many reasons have been put forth for their odd behavior. Some have suggested that those on the Enchanter’s Path are so inundated with the endless branches of the time stream that nothing seems impossible and no decision seems irreversible. In their defense, the Path of Thistle truly does promise much more than a mage can handle until she grows into her magic.

Because so much of her magic takes the form of uncanny good fortune, it's possible for a mage on the Path of Thistle to imagine herself merely extraordinarily lucky, and many show a tendency toward superstition even in their magic. For this reason, many believe that Acanthus epitomize the tarot trump of "The Fool," relying on dumb luck to guide their journeys. Their sense of wonder and endless possibility often inspires hope in others, for to an Acanthus, the odds are never unbeatable and there are always second chances.

Acanthus are drawn to crowds, but they seem destined to be stuck on the edges of any crowd they hang with, always “the new guy” no matter how long they’ve been with a group. Their charming ways often make great first impressions, but charm goes only so far, especially once the going gets rough and the Acanthus expects others to pick up his slack.

Orders:
Some orders are cautious about taking on Acanthus, feeling that they’re too mercurial and unfocused to be proper members. Given the tendency of Enchanters to feel they can get out of anything at any point they so choose, many orders are concerned with their level of commitment.

That said, when they do join orders, those on the Path of Thistle show a slight preference for the Free Council, where their nimble minds are free to innovate as they see fit, and for the Mysterium, where they are free to test their wits against ancient lore.

Enchanters have a love/hate relationship with the Silver Ladder. While they are lukewarm about the order’s goals, they are fascinated by the power and resolve it fosters.

The Adamantine Arrow recruits Acanthus for the sheer strategic value they bring to the order, but war is not a popular pursuit with Enchanters. The Guardians of the Veil also try to bring in more Acanthus, because their luck and insight is invaluable in the defense of the Mysteries, but many Acanthus find the work of the order to be dull.

Appearance:
Mages on the Acanthus Path often have attractive features, though their eyes often take on a crafty, vulpine quality over time that others may interpret as shifty or somehow dishonest. They often appear younger than they are, an impression reinforced by the nigh-omnipresent glimmer in their eyes.

Sanctums:
Whether or not they seek out their own kind, Acanthus are extraordinarily social creatures. They often “hide in plain sight,” setting up their sanctums in places that are near to community focal points of one sort or another: opera houses, theaters, bars, nightclubs or temples. More often than not, sheer dumb luck keeps others from finding such places, or at least realizing what they are.

Background:
The Acanthus Path most commonly opens up to those who are young and inexperienced or to those who cast off a former life in favor of a new beginning or strange horizons. It favors those who rely on illusion, glamour, luck or benign trickery to make their way, and to those who are completely lost in the world due to temperament or circumstance. Students, orphans, gamblers, stage magicians, artists, con artists, models, actors, musicians, schizophrenics, “escorts” and vagrants are all susceptible to Arcadia’s touch.

Character Creation:
Generally charming and quite astute, Acanthus often come from backgrounds in which they survived by their wits, good looks or mental agility. Consequently, they frequently emphasize Social and Mental Attributes, though not necessarily in that order. Physical Attributes are often tertiary, though the most developed of these is usually Dexterity. Social Skills are almost always emphasized, and many Acanthus seem to have a fair understanding of the techniques of Larceny.

Hope is the ideal Virtue of Enchanters, for even those who don’t aspire to it as their guiding principle tend to respect those who do. Sloth, on the other hand, is the Vice elders warn younger mages about, but many still seem to succumb to it. The Danger Sense Merit is especially appropriate for mages on the Thistle Path, and any of the Social Merits are also good picks.

Associations:
“Amiable anarchy” is about as good a description of Acanthus organizational principles as you’re likely to get. They don’t view others in terms of powerful or weak, superior or inferior or even good or evil, but rather as charming or tedious. Those who “get” them (i.e., those who can tolerate their caprice and maybe even go along with it to an extent) they get along with famously. Those who can’t they would rather avoid if at all possible. Just as they dislike others telling them what to do, Acanthi would never presume to tell another mage what to do, and so most interactions between Acanthus are pleasant if somewhat shallow and transient. On occasions where such mages are obligated to work together, their interactions are often surprisingly awkward and uncomfortable.

Legacies: Walker in Mists, Skald, Tamer of Winds

Concepts: Charlatan, karmic enforcer, schizophrenic, contemporary bard, gypsy prophet, lucky ne’er-do-well

Your Oedipal complex is written all over your soul — such a petty neurosis. What happened to the grand megalomanias of yesteryear? The Caesars and Napoleons? If you’ve got to be screwed in the head, do try to be more challenging about it.

Those Awakening to the alluring nightmare of the Path of Scourging are fated to be among the least trusted mages in existence. Their connection to the Kingdom of Nightmares bestows upon them a creeping, seductive urge toward manipulation and subversion. Despite the constant temptation they experience, however, they remain in full control of how they express that urge. While many Mastigos grow into their bad reputation over time, many take pains to use their extraordinary talents in ways that ultimately serve the common good. Some see themselves as serving a Darwinian role. By honing in on others’ flaws, they prod people to be more self-aware of their weaknesses and so work to shore them up. Although this seems rather ignoble to some, many Awakened judge things more on their evolutionary results rather than on a merely ethical basis. When the end goal is ascension to the Supernal World, one’s weaknesses can prove to be fatal. It’s better to have a friend in the role of catechist than an enemy.

One of the problems Mastigos frequently encounter in the earliest stages of the Path is the impression that they are surrounded by people hiding secrets. Certainly, the Mind Arcanum does leave them with the sensation of being surrounded by other presences, all of whom have their own secrets. This sometimes makes Mastigos suspicious and leaves them with a proclivity for spying and manipulation that serves them in good stead — but for which their reputations suffer.

Mastigos acknowledge none but themselves as masters. They eschew any code of behavior that they did not establish for themselves. In some cases, this results in hyper-strict codes of conduct that one would expect more from an ascetic monk than from a Warlock, but others on the Path of Scourging use their particular brand of nihilism as an excuse to indulge in any behavior that feels good — regardless of the consequences to themselves or others. Many associate them with the tarot card of “The Devil,” a powerful will unfettered by moral concerns.

Magically, the hallmark of the Mastigos is subtlety. Their magic is rarely flashy or blatant, and many on this Path are acutely uncomfortable using any kind of obvious magic. Many other mages assume that all Mastigos are inherently corrupt, but this conflates Warlocks with the lowest applications of their philosophies. It is true that a mortal who is already inclined toward mayhem can make the most of that inclination once he Awakens as a Mastigos, but it is just as true that an inherently beneficent mage can exert his will for the common good with equal facility.

Orders: Due to both its attitude toward power and the Arcane Skills it teaches, the Silver Ladder is the favored order of mages on the Path of Scourging. Nearly as favored are the Guardians of the Veil, whose subtle ways and Arcane Skills resonate agreeably with the Mastigos Path. Coming in distant third and fourth, respectively, are the Mysterium and the Free Council. The Adamantine Arrow is always looking for more Mastigos due to their extraordinary reconnaissance abilities.

Appearance: More often than not, Mastigos are flawlessly groomed and fashionably dressed. They often make excellent first impressions, as they pay much attention to small rituals of self-discipline — proper etiquette, good grooming — which they feel help them master themselves in ways that will later help them master others. Sanctums: Like rats, roaches or termites, Mastigos can live nearly anywhere and never be detected. They tend to blend into their surroundings and prefer urban settings to isolated sanctums. A comfortable apartment in a large building where they can be anonymous from their neighbors is ideal for a Mastigos.

Background: The Warlock Awakening falls most commonly on those who are devout individualists. They make their own way regardless of what others may say about them. They are often rebels, innovators, egotists and some seem to be inherently prone to deception, seduction or manipulation to get what they want. Many on the Path of Scourging began as lawyers, seducers, inventors, porn stars, liars, iconoclasts, sociopaths, mental-health professionals, writers, televangelists and con men.

Character Creation: Mastigos are subtle and fond of reaching their goals through indirect means. Given their focus on Mental and Social Attributes, Physical Attributes are almost always tertiary. Those on the Path of Scourging need a great amount of Willpower.

Mastigos often live or die by their Social Skills, so those are frequently emphasized, although Mental Skills come in a close second. Larceny and Stealth are common Physical Skills.

Mastigos view Fortitude as an ideal Virtue, even if not all of them practice it. They warn one another of Lust, but that Vice still seems to be endemic to the Path.

Associations:
Mages on the Path of Scourging are extraordinarily circumspect about with whom they associate. They tend to be somewhat paranoid, particularly when dealing with others on their own Path (they know their kind too well to trust them fully). Their relatively mobile lifestyles — enabled by the Space Arcanum — also tend to undermine any sort of stable organization or affiliation. Consequently, alliances between Mastigos are frequently as brief as possible. What interactions they have during that time tend to be cold and rigorously formal even as they strive behind the scenes to get the other at a disadvantage.

The most enduring associations many Mastigos form are those with Acolytes (or other mages) whose minds they have conditioned into thralldom.

On occasion, Mastigos serving the same master (or sharing an Acolyte) are obligated to work together for extended periods of time. Under such circumstances their interactions depend entirely on the mages involved and don’t draw on any pre-existing organizational framework.

Legacies: Subtle One, Clavicularius, Sphinx

Concepts: Creepy infernalist, itinerant demon slayer, struggling antihero, unseen assassin, haunter-of-nightmares, realpolitik diplomat, carnival dream interpreter

So what if I can make diamonds from ash? All the riches of the earth will not buy a single additional breath. Even diamonds will decay one day.

Many on the Path of Doom Awaken after a near-death experience, with the violence of their close call and their brief trip to the lands of the dead opening their eyes to the existence of magic. These mages often describe their Awakening as hearing the noise of the world die away and being wrapped in a shroud of tranquility. It is this shroud that allows them to maintain their composure once they gain the capacity to hear the shrieks and pleas of the restless dead.

More than anything else, the Moros Path is concerned with transition and transformation. Its magics focus on the transformative edge where life becomes death, lead becomes gold and ignorance blossoms into understanding. Necromancers are fascinated by the edges of objects, places and states of being, where shore becomes sea, where coal becomes diamond and where the land of the living segues into the land of the dead. It is little wonder that they remind others of the tarot card of “Death,” a card of transitions.

Necromancers are often hypersensitive to the brevity of life and understand just how little time they have to gain the transformative secrets they crave. They often become obsessive about their studies, sleeping only a few hours each night to leave enough time for their research. Moros mages who have mastered the basic arts of alchemy are free from the quotidian financial worries that plague some other mages, as they can create fortunes in gold and gems with only a modicum of effort.

Orders:
Moros join orders primarily to facilitate their own understanding. The orders that offer them the most, in terms of Arcane Skills and like-minded companionship, are the Guardians of the Veil and the Mysterium. Their work with the latter in particular has led to the discovery of some remarkable items of power, thanks to knowledge they’ve garnered from the dead. Otherwise, they join the Adamantine Arrow or Silver Ladder for similar reasons as any mage — to hone fighting prowess or to rise to power.

Appearance:
Moros don’t actually age faster than their peers, but they sometimes seem older than they really are, a side effect of their entropic magic. Enhancing this image is the fact that they take most matters very seriously (although some are known for their gallows humor). As a general rule, Moros dress themselves in whatever colors their culture deems appropriate for mourning. In Asia, for example, they dress entirely in white, while in most Western countries they prefer vestments of somber black. That said, some on the Path of Doom take great delight in going against expectation and wearing perfectly normal street or business clothes as a form of going incognito.

Sanctums:
Moros often grow insanely protective of their privacy. They may establish their sanctums in remote locations to prevent intrusions or interruptions to their studies. If a mage has the money, she may surround herself with a buffer of empty land and a sturdy fence.

The closer to the grave a sanctum is and the more saturated it is with the energies of death and entropy, the more comfortable its Moros owner is. Proximity to cemeteries or sites of mass death is almost obligatory for a Moros sanctum. Others prefer more material palaces, such as lavish penthouses or manors.

Moros prefer dim lighting, cool temperatures and absolute quiet in their sanctums, thereby minimizing the difference between their homes and the tomb. Moros sanctums also tend to be beautiful and richly decorated as a way of counteracting the sense of isolation some Necromancers feel. With their talent for alchemy, those on the Path of Doom can easily use precious metals and gems as common household objects. Just as Pluto’s kingdom was the realm of the dead and the realm of riches, so do many Moros make their abodes into beautiful, if macabre, treasure troves.

Background:
In one way or another, mages Awakening to the Path of Doom have an uncommon connection to death or the dead. It is not unusual for soldiers, doctors, morticians and serial killers to Awaken on the Path of Doom. Alternatively, this Path also calls out to the greedy, including bankers, industrialists and well-connected plutocrats.

Character Creation:
Mental Attributes are almost always primary for Moros. As scholars of death and the dead, the mind is more crucial to their work than anything else. Like anyone fascinated with mortality, Moros often find themselves socially ostracized, so it’s not uncommon for Social Attributes to be tertiary. With regard to Physical Attributes, Stamina tends to be high.

Mental Skills are heavily favored by those on the Path of Doom, especially Academics, Medicine, Occult and Science. Other popular Skills are Stealth and Intimidation. Good judgment is highly prized by Moros, so they often strive to master the Virtue of Prudence. The vice with which they are most concerned is Pride, which can lead a Necromancer to a terrible end.

Associations:
Necromancers aren’t necessarily organized, but they are surprisingly social with one another (in part because they are often ostracized by other mages). Behind this social urge is a driving curiosity about what others on the Path of Doom discover in their research, though some of this intrigue stems from their knowledge that connection with others becomes much harder once one has passed across the shroud.

Legacies: Uncrowned King, Bokor, Tamer of Earth

Concepts: Thanatologist, speaker for the dead, modern alchemist, parapsychologist, elite assassin, leader of a ghostly spy ring, dangerous death cultist, euthanasia activist, inquisitive vivisectionist

You resist me? I, who have walked through fire without being burned? I see through your wards and unravel them with a word. Do not dare defy me.

Mages who Awaken with a connection to the Kingdom of the Celestial Spheres often recall their Awakening as being struck by divine lightning and becoming the thunder. With no warning and no clear understanding of why, they are overcome with the absolute certainty that they are the champions of the Divine — though how they define “the Divine” seems to vary drastically. Some feel the Divine to be a patriarchal god of judgment. Others sense the Divine as a manifestation of immanent Nature, while still others feel it to be an ongoing sentient process of self-aware coincidence. Whatever they feel the Divine to be — and many take years trying to discern just what force it is they serve — the Mighty all agree that they were Awakened to serve as Its warriors.

Ultimately, no particular faith unites mages on the Path of the Mighty. It is their shared conviction in doing the right thing, fighting the good fight and making the will of the Divine manifest on Earth (and elsewhere). Obrimos are committed to doing what they see as just and right for the greater good. As they see it, the world has lost its way, and they have been charged with putting it back on track — by any means necessary. Others associate them with the tarot card of “Strength,” wielding an indomitable will with unwavering purpose.

This sense of divine right gives the Obrimos a confidence that is hard to shake. They suffer from self-doubt less than most others and frequently suffer from a rather ironic case of hubris. An Obrimos mage is aware that the world is made of energy and magic, and he’s been given the right to wield it. Lacking any direct communiqué from a divine being, many come to the conclusion that their own wills are the divine will. What they say goes, even if it conflicts with what another mage says — even another Obrimos.

Orders:
The Adamantine Arrow is ideal for Obrimos. It is the most warlike of the orders and Theurges’ talents (not to mention temperaments) are ideally suited to waging war. Many Obrimos (those who appreciate the security of a well-defined hierarchy) also find themselves drawn to the Silver Ladder.

Some Obrimos join the Free Council because they seek to bring their Forces magic into the present with the power of science. Others join the Guardians of the Veil to act as the high-powered defenders of the Mysteries. Those who join the Mysterium usually do so in order to seek out lore that will make them better artificers or to find material components for some manner of imbued weapon they intend to build.

Appearance:
Obrimos tend to maintain well-groomed appearances. Their preferred clothing is usually just loose enough to grant freedom of motion without getting in the way. Those working with other mages may wear some form of signifier of office or rank to show where hey stand, though such adornment is often so subtle that it can easily go unnoticed by those not looking for it.

Sanctums:
Those on the Path of the Mighty have two sorts of sanctums: citadels and cloisters.

Citadels are sanctums in conflict zones and are chosen with defensibility in mind. They are often enhanced with entire arrays of magical defenses and may contain armories of specially prepared weapons. While the word “citadel” suggests a large looming structure, that’s rarely the case in the modern world. In theory, a properly prepared and warded mobile home or apartment could be a citadel, as could a cave, a sacred grove, a skyscraper or a private jet.

Cloisters are sanctums in relatively peaceful areas where a mage goes to study, meditate or pray. Unlike citadels, cloisters usually are large, looming structures — hangers, monasteries, hermitages. A cloister usually contains either a library or other experienced mages from whom the Obrimos can learn.

Background:
The only common denominator that joins mages on the Obrimos Path is a deep familiarity with conflict. Those who become Obrimos are fighters and survivors, well acquainted with struggle. The presence or depth of their religious beliefs prior to Awakening appears to have no bearing on their Awakening at all. An atheist is just as likely to Awaken on this Path as is a rabbi or other devout individual. This can be especially confusing to those with a dogmatic (or nonexistent) concept of the Divine, and some Obrimos spend many years trying to come to terms with their new roles in the world.

Character Creation:
Mages on the Obrimos Path frequently specialize in one area or another, and are equally likely to have any Attribute category as their primary. Those who fancy themselves natural-born leaders may cultivate Social Attributes. Those who envision themselves divine warriors likely have Physical Attributes as their primary. Those who see themselves as generals in the war on the enemy may focus on Mental Attributes and approach the struggle from a strategic or scholarly perspective.

Obrimos often begin with or accrue very high Willpower scores, a reflection of the robust self-confidence possessed by these agents of the Divine.

The mages of the Golden Key hold up Justice as their ideal Virtue. The most disavowed (yet insidiously common) Vice is Pride.

Associations:
Obrimos have a thing for hierarchy. If there are two in a room, they need to determine who outranks whom. If several Obrimos work together, they all want an organizational chart to show who falls where in the chain of command and who is responsible for what. A single Obrimos may wear many hats, depending on how many groups with which he works.

Legacies: Perfected Adept, Thrice-Great, Tamer of Fire

Concepts: Soldier of God, terrorist, martial artist, hyper-disciplined scholar of philology, Awakened cop, defender of the weak, contemporary inquisitor, enforcer, neighborhood hero, uncompromising zealot, monster hunter

Remember those old jungle movies where the explorers would hear ominous drums in the distance? Someone was hunting them. Listen now. Hear the drums? What hunts you?

Mages who Awaken with a link to the Realm of the Primal Wild tap directly into the primordial forces of vitality that drive creation. Their hearts beat with the pulse of the world, and they are moved by a passion and vigor that sets them apart from their Awakened peers.

Many Thyrsus are already in unusually good health when they Awaken, while others are sick or injured and Awaken in the course of their fevered dreams. Once they gain sufficient mastery of the Life Arcanum, many reach a level of physical fitness and sheer hardiness that few besides Olympic-level athletes could ever hope to attain. Many of the most physically powerful of the Awakened travel the Thyrsus Path.

Shamans’ connection to the Realm of the Primal Wild is not entirely beneficial. It often gives them an intensity that others find disturbing. Upon Awakening, Thyrsus gain insights into the mysteries of life and the spirit world that almost invariably shift the focus of their lives to a drastic degree. They may come across as somewhat distracted or impatient with those who possess less vitality and drive than they. Some may seem antisocial or vaguely feral. Emphasizing this is the fact that mages on the Thyrsus Path commonly have more energy than their peers, and they invest vast wellsprings of passion into everything they do. Those they love, they love with an incandescent passion. Those they hate, they despise with a terrifying intensity. They pursue their goals with a fervor that would lay low lesser mortals (or mages, for that matter), and others sometimes see them as obsessed because of it. In the grip of their passions, Thyrsus may seem positively amoral, like forces of nature in their own right, more akin to animals or spirits in human guise than mortal men and women. They may seem callous or crude at times, discussing matters of life and death almost flippantly, but then that’s hard to avoid given their perspective. Life and death follow each other in an eternal cycle. Calling one “good” and the other “bad” is ludicrous to these amoral mages.

To others, they seem like the embodiment of the tarot card “The Moon,” with their animal passions and keen instincts.

Orders:
Despite Thyrsus’ pronounced eccentricities, all orders covet them as members. The world of the Awakened is dangerous, and the presence of mages who can heal the body as well as the soul can mean the difference between success and annihilation for a cabal. That said, mages on the Thyrsus Path tend to join the Adamantine Arrow and the Mysterium with notable frequency — the former because they are most needed by the Arrow’s combative mages (and because they’re relatively combat-hardy themselves) and the latter due to its emphasis on survival and lore. Of course, Thyrsus are found among the Guardians of the Veil and the Silver Ladder as well. The former order tends to attract the more introverted while the latter lures the extroverted among primordial mages.

Appearance:
Thyrsus are frequently physically attractive due to applications of their own magic, but there is a stereotype of Shamans as unkempt if not downright dirty. As with many stereotypes, there is a kernel of truth to this. Living in the wild and focusing on the events and denizens of the Shadow as they often do leaves these sorcerers with precious little time or energy to spend on vanity, fashion or, frequently, hygiene.

Sanctums:
Thyrsus prefer to establish their sanctums far from maddening crowds, in places where they can live close to nature. They do so not just because they revel in the natural world, but because they see quite clearly the toll city life takes on the human body and soul. With a natural affinity for the healing arts, they are less dependent on civilization than most others. They may set themselves up in a cabin beside an oak grove, a cave in the side of a mountain, or in an adobe hut on the edge of a desert. Thyrsus mages are happiest when they’re far from civilization. On those occasions when they’re obligated to live in a city, they usually seek out a house (or apartment if necessary) near a park, forest preserve or similar green space. Some Thyrsus may be most concerned with being near the ocean or a large lake or other natural waterway.

Background:
Few mages Awaken to the Thyrsus Path who do not already possess a strong connection to life and/or the spiritual world. They are often those who are intimately familiar with the pulse of nature’s cycles. Doctors, hunters, midwives, farmers and sailors may Awaken when their professions grant them insights into the world of spirits or the flow of life force.

Children who Awaken become Thyrsus in disproportionate numbers, but even adults on this Path often possess a degree of childlike enthusiasm and innocence that seems out of place in those capable of bending reality to their wishes.

Character Creation:
Those traveling the Thyrsus Path are unusually physical for mages. They frequently possess a remarkable hardiness, strength or quickness that lets them survive away from civilization for long periods of time. Physical Attributes are often primary, although the Path possesses its fair share of scholars. Social Attributes are often tertiary, although those mages who deal often with spirits may carefully cultivate the Social traits and protocols necessary to interact with otherworldly beings.

While Thyrsus vary a great deal in Skills, there are three that they favor most: Crafts, Survival and Animal Ken, all of which make it easier to deal with their lives of self-imposed exile.

Many (but by no means all) Thyrsus mages uphold Charity as their ideal Virtue, because life itself is generous, always giving. Their Vice is most commonly Gluttony, for they find it hard to let go of what they so passionately embrace.

Where Merits are concerned, Thyrsus are far more likely to have the Familiar Merit than mages of any other Path.

Associations:
Thyrsus can be the most solitary of mages, establishing themselves far from the civilized world. Consequently, they are the least organized of the Paths. When Thyrsus do work together, they are strong believers in a strict meritocracy. Those who can and do perform strong magic receive more responsibility and respect. Beyond that, the less hierarchical the relationships between people, the better.

Legacies: Shapeshifter, Dreamspeaker, Tamer of Rivers

Concepts: Native American healer, visionary lunatic, berserker, enlightened veterinarian, herbalist, witch, eco-saboteur