Can you disobey their dictates? Of course, you can. You are, after all, Awakened, and possess free will of a most unusual kind. I must digress for a moment to address the greatest question of our aye: Are we creatures with Free Will, prisoners of Dame Fortuna or slaves chained to a predestined Fate?
The greatest philosophers, artists and clergymen debate this query night and day: Some point to the grand achievements of humanity, claiming that such things could not he possible without a free and open mind. Proponents of Fortune's whims simply shrug and indicate the randomness of human existence.
What role does mankind play in a thunderbolt or a tumble of dice? To rhe cause of predestination, one merely reads the Revelations or discerns the prophecies that mark each age. Surely, all is foreordained! What does this mean to the magus? Consider: It you are an agent of Fortune, the dice compel a certain destiny that is out of your hands.
If predestined, your Awaken ing is a toy for higher or lower powers the pawn to your Daemon's knight. Ah, hut it Free Will reigns, you are your own man or woman. The Arts are expressions of your individuality, and each design you weave with them is a new creation. I like the last option best of all but then I am not God, merely a magus.
I suppose you'll have to make your own decisions which is, of course, part of Awakening's charm: to shape Free Will, Fate and Fortune into a design of your liking. In Utopia Sir Thomas More, Utopia Thar design is not as free as it appears. All too easily, the threads of Creation snag upon brambles: Power.
As brambles will, those tangles unravel the designs of even the greatest magicians. No sorcerer escapes their sting; he who believes his weaveries are immune is often the next to see them fall to pieces. To open your eyes is to embark upon a Path of Thorns, a winding road that leads through Mists and Forests and ascends the Mountain of Enlightenment.
At the top, a Zenith awaits the wise and nimble magus. Off to one side, shrouded by legends and rising into clouds beyond the Zenith, the fabled Path of Gold transcends all power, want and mortality, and leads to the highest peak of all: Ascension. Over the course of his lifetime, each magus makes a four-part journey up this Mountain: Awareness, in which the Mists part and the magus sees his new Path unveiled before him.
These are the Hours of Enlightenment, marked by both the Awakening and the sorcerer's subsequent trips through the Forest of Seeking. Instruction, in which both the Daemon and human teachers take the initiate along the roads they have already traveled, teaching h i m the skills he'll need to follow their course. These are the Hours of Apprenticeship a magus surrenders himself to the will of a tutor and learns his Arts and manners. Conflict, when beasts both external and internal chase the magus up and down the Path.
These are the Hours of Reckoning enemies and pride take their toll and madness swoops 'round a wizard's head. Most magi Fall during such times. Resolution, when the magus either Falls, reaches the Zenith, or scales the Path of Gold.
The is the Hour of Sovereignty, when the magus can go no further; Destruction, when the Pit of Hell opens and the Adversary comes to embrace his prize; or Ascension, when the Heavens draw the rnagus into the company of God. Unlike the other stages, Resolution is once and final. Faith is essential to navigating this road; vision and experience are nearly as viral. Too often, a sorcerer will run toward the Zenith, cutting her soul to tatters on the thorns before falling headlong into the Pit.
The dangers of such a course which I'll discuss momentarily beggar more than the magus herself; a careless magus is a danger to all Creation. For that reason alone, many of her compatriots will strike her down if she cannot or will not check her course. If nothing else, they will move to educate her of the road she travels, preparing her for its twists and p i t f a l l s. Each magus blazes her own Path; other sorcerers may advise or hinder her, hut ultimately she Ascends or Falls by her own choices.
Every sect, he it Christian, Pagan, Mohammadan, Jewish or any stranger faith, has tenets and philosophies by which a traveler might find her way. Some sects even propound roads of damnation and madness known collectively as the Path of Screams which lead straight into the Pits; these roads willfully debase the magus, drawing power from the misery she breeds.
In the end, regardless of the advice she receives or the trials she encounters, each magus stands before the Divinity and accounts for her deeds in the Book of Life.
Even the Pagans and their ilk attest to this; they might deny the existence of Our Fattier, bur they have their own names for damnation. Ours is a Christian world; nevertheless, there are those among us who keep other gods.
This is especially true among magi; some recall the gods of Greece or Babylon, or dance the Horned One's revels; many follow Brigit Brightflame or cavort with Bacchus and his kind; I have met wanderers who pray to the Wakin-tanka or bow their heads to golden idols, or lift their voices to spirit-beasts, ghosts or even Satan's armies. Be assured, however, that no magus believes in nothing. Even scientists can sense Divinity. There are those among us who say our powers come from Above or Below.
Many have pledged their souls to some Divine or demonic patron and enact his will on Earth. Personally, I would say that we are beneficiaries of God's grace and often pawns of Satan, too , but hold the reins to our own Arts and actions. Still, no one can doubt that the hand of the Otherworlds lies heavily upon us.
As any magus knows, the Otherworlds house a thousand kingdoms. Each is home to magical beasts and spirit-servants; there are elemental kingdoms, Hell-chambers and elysiums of all possible descriptions. Often, their denizens come play upon the Earth, sometimes at our request, other times of their own volition.
The legends of monsters, demons and angels are true, my friend and we are privy to their games. Shall I name the gods? Do you have a day to spare? For brevity's sake, I simply say this: Divinity dwells in each magus' hand. The gods he follows are of less importance than the holy power crackling through his deeds and misdeeds.
While mortals speak Latin they can scarce comprehend, our Awakened tongues speak in words of fire. But even we believe. To a magus who follows his creed with deep conviction, those fiery words become a single Wordan ethic that guides his every thought, and often manifests in his weaveries the "Resonance," which I'll discuss anon. A devoted Christian views everything in Scripture's light, and he glows with holy radiance. A faithful Pagan sees Old Gods among the trees, and calls beasts to her side.
A philosopher-scientist regards the world in charts and formulae, and crafts great machines to do his bidding. None can be convinced to see things any other way and each would defend his Word to the death. In some cases, a Word might limit a magician's powers; the scientist could no more fly a broomstick than the Pagan could employ his cannon. A wizard's Word might be strong enough to affect the world around her; manifestations of True Faith can drive rivals away, while Echoes of the Word may weaken the magus who violates its tenets.
Fanatical creeds breed fanatical magicians, and a fanatic's Word burns him like a brand. Magick is like a mirror. It reflects what you are and what you honor.
We are creatures of our convictions, and belief is the foundation of the Arts. The inquiry of truth, which is the love-making or wooing of it; the knowledge of truth, which is the presence of it; and the belief in truth, which is the enjoying of it is the sovereign good of human nature.
Francis Bacon Magick is a flame burning within all magi. It illuminates the night and excites the soul. Channeled wisely, it grants great enlightenment; but fueled by ambition instead, it creates a bonfire. Either choice confers great power upon the magus.
The Arts come as naturally to us as flying does to birds. Even so, we must learn to use them properly, and there are many Arts to master.
Few magicians could presume to know them all each Art is a different field of study with its own rules but most magi of some experience understand at least a smattering of their principles. Each sorcerer views the Arts through different eyes and works them with a slightly different hand. The principles, though, remain the same, whether worked by an Ethiope healer, a one-eyed rune-warrior or a priest of the Holy Catholic Church. Among all the varieties of magi, almost anything can be done, so long as the principles are understood,.
Thar understanding often begins with the Awakening. When the needle pierces a Sleeper's finger, she cries out. The circumstance that caused the Awakening often shapes that cry, and the first Art the affinity listens. Affinity often follows temperament a melancholic magus is more likely to follow the somber Arts of Turning than the dynamic Arts of Force.
As the magus grows, that temperament often deepens: Our melancholy friend becomes ever more somber as time goes by. Even so, the Awakening has a way of stirring a person's humours, perhaps even changing them completely: If our dour friend were to Awaken during a great romance, his lusty humour might embrace the Arts of Life rather than Turning, and his temperament become brighter than it once had been.
Most often, a magus favors his affinity throughout his life. It is usually the first Art he learns, the one he works most easily, and the one that guides his temperament. There are no firm "rules" for such affinities, save this: A magus is what he does, and what he does often flows from what he is.
A somber man casts somber spells; a lusty one weaves lustily. Needles dance across the fabric of Creation, Magick's loom weaves new cloth from old fibers. The hand of the magus is at work, guiding her Arts; from the designs she crafts, we take the term weavery a metaphor for magickal spells.
Any artist needs tools; ours are as diverse as the stars. Some magi employ herbs, barks and other fruits of nature; devout miracle-workers bow their heads and beseech Di-vinity to guide their hands, and High Artisans aim their machines and chart their formulae. The designs we make and the tools we prefer come from our beliefs, but it is the instruments of our Arts that connect our fingers to the weave. While it is said that some weavers can shift the patterns with only a word or thought, such craftsmen are rare and deeply skilled.
When a magus weaves a spell, she employs her tools and Enlightened will to reshape the Tapestry. Some designs are simple, so quick and subtle that they appear to be casual tricks of the light. Others are bold, so vain and vivid that the viewer must either attribute them to Gal's band or to some overproud witch.
While we live in a proud time, my friend, it never pays to appear too proud. Vanity tempts Fate and God to strike you down. An action as small as the lighting of a candle may return in some unforeseen way.
Huge weaveries have huge repercussions; like thunder from a distant storm, they may lake time to reach us, but they will be heard! The greatest lesson a magus must learn is to gauge her magicks so that the consequences will not be more than she can hear.
Have you have heard the phrase "As Above, so Below"? What it means is this: All things are related, the smaller to the larger. To move one is to shift the other. This illustrates the principle behind most magickal tools, but more urgently it also illustrates Resonance the idea that our Arts are shaped by our intentions, and that the results come back to us anonoften magnified, And if i l l fortune results from our activities, we are not blameless.
Magick's consequences are twofold: Resonance and the Scourge The first principle shapes the world around you in small, subtle ways. Actions and emotions become like drops of wine in water; the stronger the actions, the stronger the wine.
Just as wine alters the water's taste, your activities and temperament alter the "taste" of your magicks. Creation, "tasting" that "water," will respond to you in kind: A gentle magus inspires love in those she meets, and small strokes of Fortune a ray of sunlight, an especially good meal follow her.
Now regard our sullen friend: His melancholy affects everyone around him; his spells evoke darkness and lively things begin to sulk. Resonance colors places and items, too. The site of a great battle, the blood of a tyrant, the fingerbone of a saint all these things carry Resonance from the person or event that birthed them. They may not be magickal in and of themselves, hut any sorcerer can taste their "wine. This can be very helpful when the flavors are compatible like a saint's joint and a healing spell but disastrous if they are not like that same bone and a plague-casting.
Creation spits such mixtures from its mouth, often invoking deeper consequences Magicks are like honey or poison. When the magician is virtuous, his Arts are sweet and good things come.
When a proud wizard stirs poison into God's cup, God's Scourge cracks down like a whip from Heaven. With a turn of His hand, our Lord rewards the just and skins the guilty. This whip leaves marks. Where Resonance flavors the water, the Scourge spills it. A magus who earns a Scourging as all of us do at some time feels it for some time afterward. Depending on the wizard's virtueor lack of it these marks might be bountiful or baneful.
Kind deeds invoke the angels or cause Fortune to fall the sorcerer's way; dark intentions yield dark results and oftimes a scorch from Hell's flames. But this is Divine favor of a mad sort; sometimes it skins the just and rewards the guilty!
In a world run by the Divine Plan, such things would not be, but we live in the shadow of imperfection. Just as men are flawed, the Scourge is occasionally unjust. So beware the lash of God! A wise magus knows when to shed his sins. Like a serpent, he occasionally doffs his pride, retires from view and purifies himself.
Thus cleansed, he may return to the world with less fear of Scourging or Resonance. Every magickal practice recommends purification of mind, body and soul. Whether it comes from the priest's confessions, the shaman's ordeals or the artisan's labors, each magus worth the name takes time to clear his vision. Without such relaxation, his sins pile upon him like stones. Sooner or later, the Scourge will strike and crush him beneath its weight-.
So employ your Arts with caution; let virtue and wisdom guide your designs! Our needles work great wonders, hut their points are sharp and their threads uncertain. Be careful not to break your hands in magick's loom! Why, you might wonder, should we toil under these ill tidings? Why not simply pur. For Enlightenment's sake. And power's. And wisdom's. And even Creation's. I tell you this: Without those such as we, mankind is doomed to wander in the shadow of Eden, hungering for fruit it has eaten but cannot taste.
Without our visions, our Arts, even our wickedness, Creation is a dull stage, peopled with sorry actors and draped in sackcloth. We do not lack for power, either. With proper skill and discretion, we may cause crops to grow, bones to knit, spirits to appear and machines to rise into the skies. A magus stands one step between man and God, like unto the angels, yet mortal.
There are creatures the night-folk who may be stronger or more vicious, but we are pinnacles of mankind, mixing power with enlightened sense. Nor is wisdom to be scorned; without it, man would be a brute. As much as the wizard, priest and scientist might squabble, they are all necessary; without their vision, discipline and innovations, we should till be poorer. And without wisdom, no man or woman can truly be called "Awakened. This is the fiber of Creation's threads, the grape of our mystick wines.
Our world is magickal in and of itself; this Essence, also called Quintessence, is the lifeblood of all magick and Creation. Quintessence gathers along the seams of our world, in the places where great events or tragedies have caused the Tapestry to thin. It gathers in items, locations or people that are deeply attuned to magick.
When you Awaken, Quintessence fills you; the greater your connection to it, the brighter it blazes inside. In dire need, you may pull this fire from within yourself and add it to your weaveries, making the threads stronger and allowing the needles to dance more smoothly. Just as water freezes to ice, Quintessence freezes into solid a form called Tass. A skilled magus can thaw that ice and absorb the Quintessence into herself or employ it in some great weavery.
Tass takes many wondrous forms faerie mushrooms, demon hones, sun-crystals Although its mystick glow remains hidden from mortal eyes, Tass has a sheen that any perceptive man or woman might notice.
Magi with mystick sight can, of course, see this marvel in all its glory, shimmering like frost on a winter's morn. Sadly, that glow fades in time; if you take some Tass with you on a journey, use it quickly. When removed from its wellspring, Tass fades, eventually crumbling to dust. Quintessence and Tass both carry Resonance, a "taste" flavored by the event or place that supplied it.
Like spice in a stew, this flavor suits certain magicks and spoils others: Ivy plucked in a Bacchus grove would benefit a lust charm bur probably undo a devotional prayer! Should you choose to employ Quintessence in a spell, be careful what you use. The Quince Essence is spirit incarnate, and no Spirit is truly neutral-.
As I said, our world is magickal, even after the Fall from Eden. Despite the separation of Mutter and Spirit our legacy from the Fall , Divine attention keeps some places Crays caught between both.
To some magicians, Matter and Spirit were never torn apart. The Pagans and their ilk maintain that each stone, blade of grass, bird or creature is alive and aware we have simply forgotten how to see them thus. Some places are so alive and aware, however, that even the dullest mortal can sense their power. Skin prickles and hair stands on end as you enter such a site. This is a Cray the "Heart" of the magickal landscape.
Each Cray is a wellspring of Quintessence, a garden of Tass, a place of resting and a haven for magical beasts. Long ago, some mighty event shook the land a battle, a romance, a great feat of magick and weakened the wall between Matter and Spirit. If the Lord smiles upon that place, it becomes a sacred site; if Satan or the Old Gods favor it instead, the Cray takes on a more sinister aspect, becoming a grove of terrors or a haunted moor. Like Quintessence, a Cray carries Resonance from the events that spawned it.
The Well of St. Michael radiates tranquillity; its waters are pure and cool, and no man or beast may harm another there. Blood Lake, in contrast, is a sea of horrors; its waters have been reddened with unholy sacrifices, and its stench rouses the worst passions imaginable by man.
You can see, I trust, where the waters of the Well might have a different "taste" than those of Blood Lake! A magus who would use either fluid in an enchantment had best know what she is doing! Like any man, a magus needs a place to live and work. Since he presses strange wines, his needs demand a Sanctum or Covenant a mystics shelter where he may be free from.
Surrounded by his tools and books, the wizard becomes a lord; perhaps he has servants to attend him, too, and vassals of the magical kind. The distinction between shelters is simple: A Sanctum is a small, private dwelling a rower, a grove, a forge lorded over by a single magus. A Covenant is a community a castle, a village, a shipyard where Awakened folk work toward a common purpose.
Although the name "Covenant" comes from the Hermetic strongholds established during bygone ages, all sects have their meeting places. Not every magus is fortunate enough to own a Sanctum. Such shelters are often built on Crays, or neat them; truly powerful wizards go one step further and open gateways into Otherworldly Realms, joining an earthly keep to a distant domain.
As the fabled towers of Horizon or the refuge of ruined Doissetep display, a master of the Arts truly stands outside the ken of man! In Otherworldly splendor, fortunate sorcerers practice their weaveries in fair security. No mortal man could breach the walls of such a palace. Ah, hut I did say "mortal man," did I not?
Otherworldly Realms have other hazards angry spirits, mystick creatures, rival magicians and internal quarrels. Locked away from Earth, these places are likewise isolated from aid. When a dragon or unearthly storm threatens the Otherworldly Covenant, the magi there must survive with their own resources or perish. No help will be forthcoming. Regardless of the form it takes, a magickal stronghold is a boon.
Within its walls or gardens, a magus is free to be herself. In mortal places, the jealous Sleepers make each day a test; in mystick shelters, the greatest hazards come from within. Magick is a candle, drawing all manner of strange and wonderful moths. While many of these "visitors" are rivals and trespassers, a good handful or so prove to be boon companions mortal servants, skilled associates, familiar spirits, even magical beasts.
If you would pursue the Arts, prepare a place for your companions. Every magus needs assistance on occasion. Sadly, some wizards despise their companions, or treat them like serfs in a prince's war.
While they may not rival you for raw power or awareness, these, so-called "consors" and "brethren" make skillful stewards. Even more importantly, they guide us away from the mirror every so often and force us to walk in the sun; without such interruptions, we would surely lose ourselves in our own reflections!
Cousins, soldiers, lovers, familiesun-Awakened or not, they are worth every bit ot trouble they might cause. Some spirits take material form and present themselves at a wizard's feet. While such "familiars" might seem lowly, I caution any magus against treating one so! A spirit-beast has insights no man can match; for respect and small considerations, she'll pass them on to you.
Her demands may seem strange most are but heed them. A disappointed familiar w i l l leave her master, often at the worst of times,. Material wealth is no substitute tor companionship, bur a magician who craves it can easily slake his thirst.
Gold flows from the alchemist's table; crops rise at the witch's command; offerings fill the coffers of the priest while the scholar councils merchant princes. Even the landless gypsy finds comfort in her skills; a purse is easier to lift when your fingers know the Arts.
Better still are the magickal treasures enchanted swords, elixirs, grand Devices and spirit-haunted fetishes spoken of in legend. Like tools of the Art, they gild our rites; unlike chose cools, they possess powers of their own. Such items are far more common in folklore than in reality, of course, but they do exist. A truly powerful magus may create such things himself; indeed, the High Artisans do so as a trade!
Such are the rewards of Awakening, the marvels of the Art. In the Path of a greedy magus, they might become brambles; a wise magician, on the other hand, can regard such boons as profit from the trade. Magick is no easy profession; there is no sin in occasional recompense.
What remains to be done must be done by you God will not do everything himself. Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince" Our Church has caused us to fear awareness, to drown it in a pool of terror. The frightened ones see Hell in each flickering candle, and they snuff those candles candles like ourselves with the cold breath of exorcism. We Awakened folk know better; magick is a birthright, not a curse. All the same, it can burn with the intensity of alchemical flame, and its heat can blacken all our souls.
So treasure your reflection. The mirror marks you as a magus. Be proud, but riot too proud; be imaginative in your Arts, but recall their consequences.
Your eyes are open now. The Mists draw aside. Beware the Thorns and stay true to the Path. A knight's hunting manor, rooms of her own, decent clothes, hot bread, mulled wine all these, von Vim had promised and provided. Agnesa snuggled in her warm robe, woven of the finest linen, and listened to her mentor's words as embers glowed in the great room's hearth.
Yes, it's a game. No, it 's not Satanic. Don't kill anyone, G e t a l i f e. Thank you. All rights reserved. Reproduction wi tho ut the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for the purposes of reviews, and blank character sheets, which may be reproduced for personal use only. The men tion of or reference ro any compan y or produc t in these pages is not a challenge to the tradem ark or copyright concerned.
All mystical and supernatural elements are fiction and intended for entertainment purposes only. Today, her sapphire eyes strayed beyond the bickering and bustle of the town square to fix upon six condemned women receivinglast rites before nooses tightened about their necks.
For God's Word had been not to s u f f e r witches to live. Satan's doomed ones twitched as they strangled slowly and painfully. She watched until the last one, a girl not much older than Agnesa's own 15 years, finally stopped moving. The bodies hung in the autumn morning sunshine, still and warm.
Agnesa crossed herself and turned to leave; her father's finely dyed yarn must fetch a good price today, or she would hear of it. Newest Titles in This Section. Need help? Customer Questions FAQ. Storytellers Vault Creator Questions? Submit Suggestion. Contact us. My Library. Affiliate System. Create Content for your Favorite Games.
About Us. Privacy Policy. Our Latest Newsletter. Product Reviews. Newsletter RSS Feed. Start Over Advanced Search. Products found in this section Enlightened Grimoire Twenty-Five Years of Magick Over the last twenty-five years of Mage: The Ascension, spells have been scattered like treasure through the pages of multiple books and supplements, adding depth and texture to the World of Darkness.
The Nine Spheres A set of handouts for use as reference for each of the nine Spheres. Each Sphere has two sheets and can be printed back-to-back , one with the general information about the Sphere and the other with effects and charts drawn from the Sphere descriptions and the Common Magickal Effects table.
Mystic Armory The Tools of Magick When Mages need some extra power, to equip their allies or to show off their craft, they create Wonders, items either defined by or containing a bit of Awakened magick. They come in all shapes and sizes, the physical embodiment of the Paradigms that dictate so much of Awakened life.
Sources of Magick The Pillars of Creation Where mages get the Quintessence that powers their magicks is as important as what they do with that magick. It shapes the mage as they shape Reality. Fantastic Creations This book details Daedalean Events, cultures and customs change as fast as the wind blows in this exciting era of invention and adventure.
New ideas ride these winds, and only mages and the well-informed can hope to keep pace in this ever-changing world. Infernalism: The Path of Screams The Path of Screams is the ultimate descent -- a rebellion against all that is holy and right.
Those who choose to Fall perform blasphemous rites, master horrifying magicks, and sell their very souls to demonic tempters. This is their story: A dark collection of cults, characters, motivations and night-black Arts. An enlightenment of the damned. Infernalism: The Path of Screams includes: The Some meet in deep forests, others within circles of standing stones.
Some whisper the names of their gods while others shout defiantly. They are the hidden children of the Old Ones, those who walk the left-hand path, and their magick is ancient. These outcasts stand at the edge of Order of Reason Slay the Dragons of Ignorance and Fear Born in a dark age, the Order of Reason stretches from the palaces of Cathay to ships bound for new and wondrous worlds. Like beacons in a storm, the Eight Conventions of Daedalus guide mankind to a higher state. But there are many enemies in the night, and the worst of them may hide within the Order of Reason itself!
Build Castles of Strength and Wisdom While To the Devil with the Dark Ages! This is an age of flash and flamboyance, where a swift blade and a quick wit can work wonders.
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