[Mage: The Awakening v1.9] Yantras & Thaumaturgy Part 4/5

 ((Out of Character (OOC):

Chronicle: Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen
Venue: Mage: The Awakening
Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler))

-          Path Tools (+1 Each) - Each Supernal Realm has its reflections in the Fallen World, and a mage knows the tools of magic that align closely to her Path. While mages with a background in Sleeper occultism recognize that the Path tools show up in several traditions, their direct elemental or Tarot symbolism is the Lie’s corruption of the Supernal Realms’ truth.  Each path has five tools, each of which has a specific magical function:

1.       Coins/Pentacles/Disks (The World, Cycles of Power) – Coins or other symbols of material wealth, which represent construction, repair, and inanimate or intangible things that last beyond mere human lifespans. It is the tool closest to the Fallen World, and so is often used to manipulate it directly, for money or other resources.  Pentacles represent all forces of the cosmos in alignment, they can be changed geometrically with different magic circle.  Coins are the most common disks and represent time and the sun, jewelry can also be used.

a.       Acanthus: Defaced US silver dollars, arcade tokens, glass beads, CDs

b.       Mastigos: Old Soviet coinage, pennies pressed with images of Alcatraz or other famous prisons

c.        Moros: Coins buried with the dead, small gemstones, spent bullets (especially those that killed someone)

d.       Obrimos: Computer processors, gold currency from various nations, pentacle-shaped circuit boards

e.        Thrysus: Bottle caps, commemorative coins, dog tags

2.       Cups/Chalices (Life, Female Power) - Cups or other drinking vessels can involve healing, intuition, perceptual magic, and gathering together. Drinking from a shared cup is a common way to spread a spell between a group. It’s often seen as a symbol of female sexuality, though what that means depends on the mage.    Eggs, distaff (forked stick), spheres, ovals and orbs also represent the cup.

a.       Acanthus: Plastic novelty cups, whiskey glasses, pewter mugs

b.       Mastigos: Tin cups like those used in prisons, iron cauldrons, any simple, unadorned cup of iron, brass, or leather

c.        Moros: The cup from which a person took his last drink, china coffee mugs, crystal wine glasses

d.       Obrimos: Fonts, chalices used in religious ceremonies, souvenir mugs from the Petrified Forest

e.        Thrysus: Survival canteens, homemade cups, copper sinks

3.       Mirrors (Reflections) - may be actual mirrors, polished plates, crystal balls, polished metal or stone, or reflecting pools held in containers of the appropriate material. They represent sight (the senses, scrying), soul, and the self (looking inwards), and are the magical tool most commonly used when the mage would work a spell upon herself. 

a.       Acanthus: Make-up compacts, silver hand mirrors

b.       Mastigos: Polished brass, two-way mirrors

c.        Moros: Reflective surgical light fixtures, polished grave marker plaques

d.       Obrimos: Steel shaving mirrors, electrical transformers

e.        Thrysus: Reflective glass, polished copper plates

4.       Rods/Staves/Wands (Aiming, Male Power, Towers, Rulership) – Rods staves are symbols of control — the ability to point and have a thing happen. Pointing a rod is a way of singling out a specific victim, while holding one is a symbol of rulership and command. It’s also used as a symbol of male sexuality. These tools can easily be built into more practical tools or into the flesh itself.  Sometimes they represent monuments like obelisks, spires, towers,

a.       Acanthus: The minute-hand of a clock, an aluminum baseball bat, a lava lamp, a halogen flashlight

b.       Mastigos: A bar from a jail cell, a brass trumpet, a set of scales, a flag pole

c.        Moros: A shovel used to bury the dead, an ivory-headed cane, a diamond stickpin

d.       Obrimos: A radio antenna, a steel trumpet, depleted uranium

e.        Thrysus: A wooden bat, a length of copper piping, a wooden staff decorated with bottle caps, slivers of glass and other urban detritus

5.       Swords/Weapons (Command, Control) - most normally knives, are symbols of thought made action — any spell that takes direct, decisive action on the world (or a person) can benefit from a weapon. While often used to harm, weapons also represent the mastery of intellect and will over the world.  They protect life and deal out death, Weapons usually cannot be too modern unless a member of the Adamantine Arrow or Free Council since they are the only ones who have devised ways to Dedicate weapons of the modern age.  Modern weapons are in Red.

a.       Acanthus Weapons (Precision) – Especially rely on hand-eye coordination. They tend to be light impaling tools. Western Acanthus prefer rapiers, small swords and bows. Members of the Path have been known to favor darts, atlatls, light spears, crossbows and Chinese straight swords. Examples: Rapier, bow, rifles, pistols, Switchblades, blackjacks

b.       Mastigos Weapons (Agony) – Weapons that leave ragged, open wounds or packs a sting that bruises deeper than it seems. Mastigos blades are either curved, as a saber, or wavy, as an Indonesian kris. Thorns and spikes often enhance the mage’s chosen weapon. The Path adopts various forms of the lash as well: the thorny branch, the chain and the whip. Examples: Curved sword, whip, daggers, cruel weapons such as scourges or a Cat of Nine Tails, hooks, torture tools, tasers. Brass knuckles, machetes

c.        Moros Weapons (Breaking & Uniting) – Weapons that are usually blunt. They symbolize the twin crafts of creation and destruction. A warrior-alchemist uses a smith’s maul or mortar. Hammers are also associated with the lands of the dead. Other maces and clubs also find favor, but there is no small number of Moros who find the symbolism of Breaking and Uniting in simple stones, and sharp adzes and axes. Examples: Hammer, mace, crushing weapons, short swords, blowtorch or welder, scalpels, weapons of opportunity (claw hammers, screwdrivers, lead pipes, etc.)

d.       Obrimos Weapons (Legion) – Weapons are military arms, including long and straight swords, spears, tridents, bladed shields, crossbows and longbows. All of these weapons are expressions of military power, implying that the mage is one small part of a great crusade or secret order of warriors. Examples: Double-edged sword, spear, noble weapons such as a Katana, explosives, tasers

e.        Thyrsus Weapons (Hunt & Hearth) – Always practical. Killing human beings is not their primary use. The Thyrsus bow is a hunting tool, and his ax splits wood. The Path’s weapons are designed as if the Thyrsus lived in the Primal Wild. They are tools that a hunter might use to survive in the wild. Implements include the sling, atlatl, hunting spear and club. Examples: Axe, sling, hunting weapons, staff, survival knives, poison,

6.       Other Path Tools Tools made from these items also serve well as Path Tools

a.       Acanthus Materials – Glass, crystal, silver, reflective materials, Lunargent (Perfected Silver), Emeralds, Cedar, Wool, Fruit, Bramble, Birds,

b.       Mastigos Materials – Iron, Wrought Iron, brass, leather, worked materials, Siderite (Perfected Iron), Volcanic Rock, snakes, nightshade, sulfur, brimstone, silk, meat,

c.        Moros Materials – Lead, bone, gems, buried materials, Gold, Stygium (Perfected Lead), diamonds, yew, moths, cinnamon, linen, vegetables,  

d.       Obrimos Materials – Steel, petrified wood, gold, diamonds, Orihelculm (Perfected Gold), copper, conductors, electronics, rubies, oak, dogs, saffron, fleece, bread

e.        Thyrsus Materials - Wood, copper, stone, natural materials, mercury, Hermium (Perfected Quicksilver), sapphires, vines, cats, musk, fur, wine

-          Order Tools (+1 Each) - An Order’s magical tools draw upon that Order’s symbols rather than those of the Supernal world directly, focusing a willworker’s magic in a way that matches her teachings. The formal magical style of the Diamond Orders and the Seers of the Throne all resonate through the same tools.

1.       The Adamantine Arrow (Attack & Defend) – The Arrow use martial tools as symbols of conflict and martial weapons, as well as declaring the self a weapon with body modifications, scarring, or tattoos. They are very pragmatic in their use of modern technology.

a.       Weapons

b.       The Adamant Hand – see Fighting Style Merit

2.       The Guardians of the Veil (Disguise & Conceal) - The Guardians use cloaks, masks, and veils as symbols of things hidden and revealed.  Some use make-up kits, camouflage clothing and unassuming uniforms or generic outfits can also be dedicated.  Prefer modern technology in its ability to conceal, encryption, etc.

a.       Masques – See Order Merit

3.       The Mysterium (Knowledge) - Books, scrolls, codes, writing, media and language as tools of knowledge and communication of that knowledge. These tools are all about preservation and transfer of information.  Monuments, mysterious occulted puzzles, Illuminated ruins or art.

4.       The Silver Ladder (Authority) - uses signs of authority to as tools of status and persuasion. Crowns, mantles, cards, signets, scepters and seals make excellent marks of power.

5.       The Seers of the Throne (The Word) – Called Patron Tools each choose a sigil or word that they must display to use it as a tool.  The Seers of the Throne do not work their magic alone. Ascending through the priesthood of the lie drives a Seer to serve her patron Exarch. Once she gains its notice, it tests her. If she succeeds, she becomes a Prelate, and she can use her patron Exarch’s symbols to draw on its power. Each Exarch has its own symbols — its own strings that it uses to puppet the Fallen World like a broken marionette. A prelate can use his Exarch’s strings as Yantras for his own magic, but each individual Exarch has her own symbolic resonance that limit what its prelates can do with its blessing as a tool.

a.       The Panopticon – Sigils and Words of Sight, Eyes, and Observation.  Space Magic.

b.       The Paternoster – Sigils and Words of faith, organized religion, Prime Magic.

c.        The Hegemony – Sigils and Words of unity, oneness, singularity of purpose, socialism, nationalism.  Mind Magic.

d.       The Praetorian – Sigils and Words of war, weapons, combat, the military might. Forces Magic.

e.        Mammon – Sigils and words of greed, corporatization, capitalism, wealth, banking, secular power.  Matter Magic.

f.        There are 5 other minor Exarchs for the other Arcana.

6.       The Free Council (Techne) - are an oddity among all the other Orders. Each Libertine learns a style of magic that draws from Sleeper occult beliefs, and their magical tools demonstrate that eclectic learning. A Libertine raised in Wiccan beliefs may use the trappings of that religion, while one who studies sacred architecture may use geometric tools.

a.       Techne – See Merit

b.       Modern technology – computers, phones, sciences/math/physics used displayed or tools.

c.        Ancient technology – ancient clocks, fantastical devices, platonic tools, ancient batteries.