[Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition] Legacy: Bearers of the Eternal Voice

Out of Character (OOC):

Chronicle: Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen

Venue: Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition

Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler

Assistant Storytellers: Hannah Nyland & Alex Van Belkum

Legacy Conversion:

Bearers of the Eternal Voice

"Only a thicket of lies can fully hide the truth."

The following is the Legacy conversion of The Bearers of the Eternal Voice.  These are the specific Attainments were originally developed for use by the character Witness, played by Korri Smith in our second Mage Chronicle: The Dethroned Queen but we are looking at a Guardian/Masque based-Legacy.  Design by Korri Smith with the help of Hannah Nyland.

Sources: The original source material is from Guardians of the Veil, adapted for use in Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition.

Human history records countless individuals who could alter the fates of nations and the hearts of kings with their words. Great orators like Pericles of Athens made speeches that touched the depths of their listeners’ hearts and spirits.However, not all amazing orators were great political leaders; some were inveterate con artists like Cagliostro, or figures of mystery such as the Comte St. Germain. The ability to lie convincingly and to convince others that the speaker is both truthful and worth listening to is not uncommon among Sleepers; truly great orators, however, who can convince people to change long-held opinions or cause those they speak with to trust their own senses less than the speaker’s works are rare indeed.

For many, the attainment of such verbal excellence is too difficult and subtle a path to power. Most people find the more obvious language of violence, threats and bribes to be easier, as well as exceedingly powerful and effective. However, even the most dire threat or the most tempting bribe only serves to control the subject’s actions — in their hearts, they still know and understand that they are being coerced and may someday learn to resist fear or temptation and disobey the person offering the threats or bribes.  Threats of disobedience soon start a vicious cycle, in which the individual who wishes to remain in charge must continually offer ever more extravagant threats or bribes, or sometimes both together, to make certain that their subjects continue to obey them.

Realizing the difficulty and the ultimate futility of such endeavors, some would-be rulers seek to find ways to convince their subjects to follow them willingly and to accept the ruler’s pronouncements as the ultimate truth. Long ago, Machiavelli said that it is better to be feared than loved, because love is more ephemeral, but wise rulers, as well as skilled con-artists, advertising agents and some mages understand that being trusted and believed is best of all.  Whether Sleeper or mage, the path to gaining a listener’s trust is similar – the speaker must understand the secret language hidden in every person’s unconscious. This language of pupil dilation, posture, stance, vocal tone and many similar cues is exceedingly subtle and difficult to master, but the rewards are correspondingly great. While mortals who master these methods can become great orators and equally impressively liars, mages who pursue this Legacy can become greater still.

Legends speak of a Bearer of the Eternal Voice being found at a murder scene clutching a bloody knife in his hand, but who was released solely based upon his account of the events leading up to his discovery with the knife. In the ancient streets of the Time Before, it was said the Bearers of the Eternal Voice walked among the populace, reassuring them about the wisdom of their rulers and convincing them of the urgent necessity of opposing the enemies of Atlantis. In this long-lost era, the Bearers of the Eternal Voice were said to in secret to other nations, convincing both leaders and important members of the populace of the folly of opposing the Awakened City and of the great benefits that would swiftly follow an alliance with this great power.

Since the Fall, those who study this Legacy are often called Whisperers, because of the hidden and secretive role they must now play. However, the necessity of secrecy has in no way lessened their powers. In the millennia since the Fall, Whisperers have found additional uses for their talents. The most important are being able to reduce Sleepers’ Disbelief and halting the spread of knowledge of magic. There are far too few Whisperers to talk to every Sleeper who has ever seen evidence of magic, much less the many thousands who have merely heard of such acts. However, Whisperers do their best to convince Sleepers that the most obvious damaging evidence for vulgar magic has some completely natural and reasonable explanation.

Because Whisperers’ abilities can also be used against other mages, especially mages less skilled in the Mind Arcanum, Whisperers are a somewhat secretive and insular group. This tendency is further exacerbated by the fact that their ability to manipulate others gives many Whisperers, particularly those who follow the Mastigos Path, a sense that everyone else is nothing more than will-less pawns whom Whisperers can manipulate as they will. This sense of superiority influences many Whisperers’ dealings with Sleepers and sometimes carries over to their dealings with other mages. This same feeling also produces the intrinsic paradox that all Bearers of the Eternal Voice must find some way to come to terms with. Their Legacy is an intensely social one and to use it they must interact with Sleepers, often with large groups of Sleepers. However, Whisperers are also keenly aware they are manipulating the people they talk to, and some Whisperers regularly manipulate their fellow mages. While many Whisperers genuinely like people and simply have no problem lying to individuals they like, most are highly social misanthropes who do not particularly care for or about others.

While some Legacies are declining in favor as the 21st century marches on, the Whisperers are growing more popular — the growing prevalence of advertising, political spin, online con games and the increasing number of mages who realize the power of the ability to manipulate communication and belief all combine to cause mages to flock to their ranks.

Parentage: Mastigos or Guardians of the Veil

Nickname: Whisperers
Primary Arcana: Mind, Secondary: Space

Appearance: Although this is by no means always true, the stereotypical Whisperer is blandly attractive. One of the more basic ways to gain others’ trust is to fit in with them. Unless they are attempting to specifically convince members of a fringe sub-culture of the truth of their statements, followers of this Legacy do their best to remain well-groomed and presentable, while not being so distinctive or unusual-looking that they make anyone notice them as anything other than an upstanding and honest, but otherwise average, individual.

Since there is also power in status and conformity, the business suit is the unofficial uniform of the Whisperers. The style, cut and quality of the suit depends upon individual taste and gender, as well as the circles that the Whisperer travels in. However, unless circumstances dictate otherwise, a Whisperer is usually found in a suit.

Background: Although they can come from almost any background, all Whisperers share a casual disregard for the truth and a comfort with lying. Many come from families in which one or both parents worked as con artists, advertising agents or in other professions in which the truth was considered to be highly flexible. Although in the past, Whisperers traditionally came from either the highest or the lowest classes, today Whisperers come from every social class and income bracket.


Doctrine

Prerequisites: Mind 2, Persuasion 2 and one of the following additional skills at 2 dots or higher: Empathy, Expression, Intimidation, Politics, or Subterfuge.

Initiation: The prospective Whisperer must convince her tutor of something without corroborating evidence.

Organization: There is no real hierarchy beyond the basic bond of tutor and student for many Bearers of the Eternal Voice, especially for Mastigos who have no association with the Guardians of the Veil. Because some con games and similar deceptions require more than one participant, most independent tutors require their students to periodically help them pull a con. Similarly, students who need another participant can either call upon their tutors and give them a substantial cut of any profi ts for their trouble, or seek out another of the loose association of Whisperers.

In contrast, Whisperers who also belong to the Guardians of the Veil are part of a tightly knit organization. These Whisperers are typically deeply enmeshed in the intricacies of the Labyrinth and are often important members of one or more of the central groups. Few Whisperers are willing to take sufficient time away from their magical studies to actually run any of the many groups involved in the Labyrinth. However, a surprising number of the important guest speakers and other major peripheral figures involved in everything from UFO cults to organizations of professional skeptics are skilled Whisperers. The most skilled and powerful Whisperers are exceedingly important figures in the hierarchy of the Guardians of the Veil, and their actions regularly causes large numbers of Sleepers to ignore incidents that might otherwise becomes serious problems for the Guardians..

Suggested Oblations: Going out among the crowd at some event or gathering and both observing and talking to people, doing a survey (either door to door or by phone), listening to charismatic speakers in person or on television and analyzing how they speak

Yantras: A prepared speech relevant to the spell being cast (+1); Succeeding on a Persuasion or Subterfuge roll relevant to the spell (+2); Proper attire for a given social situation (+1); Being the center of an audience’s attention (five or more listeners) (+1); Target has a Condition or Tilt relevant to the spell being cast (+1); Opening the last Door in a social challenge (+2)

Concepts: Con artist, pathological liar, advertising agent, corrupt religious official, politician, lawyer

Attainments (First Draft)

First: Perfected Conversation

Prerequisites: Initiation

After a few moments of casual conversation, the Whisperer picks up on social cues too subtle for most people to read. Tones, inflections, word choice, facial tics and body language all reveal a wide assortment of information about the conversationalist, information that can later be used to leverage the target socially. The Attainment duplicates the effects of the “Know Nature” spell, with reach assigned to instant use and the advanced Reach effects.

Optional: Space 1

The Whisperer also becomes aware, through conversation of a number of significant Sympathies the target has, as per the spell “Correspondence”.

Second: Gilded Speech

Prerequisites: Mind 2, Persuasion 3

A Bearer of the Eternal Voice can be alluring, attractive, charismatic and suave. People want to listen to her speak, and regard her favorably. She rarely missteps socially, and is often forgiven any lack of social grace. Anytime the Whisperer would improve the Impression level of a target by one step, improve it by an additional step. Additionally, any action that might cause an Impression to lessen can be smoothed over with a successful Manipulation + Subterfuge roll (– the target’s Composure) as the Whisperer explains away the faux pas.

Optional: Space 2

Distance means little when it comes to the power of the voice.  The Whisperer may use any of his attainments through long-distance medium that allows two-way conversation, including telephones, radios, and text messages.

Third: Voice of Reason

Prerequisites: Mind 3; In addition to the Persuasion 3 requirement from the previous Attainment, the Whisperer must increase the other Skill she used to meet the requirements of the Legacy to 3, or must attain two dots in a second skill from the list of possible requirements.

The words of a Whisperer are a balm to the troubled soul, able to soothe any anxieties, fears or worries. They can also humble the arrogant, pacify the reckless and introduce doubt to the confident. The Whisperer may suppress one of her target’s Mental or Social conditions, positive or negative, per dot of Mind that she has for a scene. She may spend a point of Mana to maintain the effect for an additional scene, or a dot of Willpower to resolve it permanently. This is not a gift a Whisperer grants easily.

Optional: Space 3

The Whisperer may leverage her Sympathetic ties to her target in his attempts to predict their social responses.  She gains 8-Again on any roll made to Open a Door on any target she has used Perfected Conversation on.

Fourth: Spoken Reality

Prerequisites: Mind 4, Persuasion 4, and the other Skill requirements of the previous Attainment

The Whisperer has learned how to use her voice to literally change people’s memories. By conversing with someone, she may alter that person’s memories of events that occurred within the last few days. After a brief conversation, she must spend a point of Mana and make a successful Intelligence + Persuasion roll (- the target’s Resolve) to rewrite the memories surround one event that has occurred within a number of days equal to her Mind dots. This alteration lasts for a scene. She may spend a point of Mana to maintain the effect for an additional scene, or a dot of Willpower to make the changes Lasting.

Optional: Space 4

Scale is a matter of perspective. The Whisperer is now capable of using her attainments on more than one target at a time.  She may affect up to 5 individuals with her Legacy Attainments without penalty; every doubling of this number applies a -2 penalty to any relevant dice rolls, including any social maneuvering rolls, similar to the Advanced Scale Spell Factors.

Fifth: Ideal Audience

Prerequisites: Mind 5; In addition to the Persuasion 4 requirement from the previous Attainment, the Whisperer must increase the other Skill she used to meet the requirements of the Legacy to 4, or must attain three dots in a second Skill from the list of possible requirements, or two dots in a third Skill from the list.

At this level of Mastery, the Whisperer is so convincing, so compelling, that her audience accepts her opinions and statements as absolute truth. They adjust their world view to incorporate her words, and become the people she knows they can be. When the Whisperer Opens the final Door through social maneuvering, she may reflexively spend a point of Mana and change one facet of her target’s psyche, similar to “Psychic Reprogramming”. The traits she may alter are limited to: Virtue, Vice, Short-term Aspiration, Long-term Aspiration, Obsession or a non-Physical Persistent Condition. She determines what the new trait is when she changes it. If she uses this Attainment on a group, she must change the same element for everyone in the group at the time. The alteration is Lasting, but may change over the course of the target’s life as normal. Eliminating a Persistent Condition with this Attainment does not grant a beat.

Optional: Space 5

Just as the Whisperer can change her target’s beliefs, she can change the subject’s relationships. When she Opens the final Door through social maneuvering, she may either reassign or create a number of Lasting sympathetic connections to the target equal to her dots in Space. While these links are Lasting, the may fade with time as described on page 172 of the MtA 2e Corebook.

[The Secret World] The Lore of Samhain (2012 - 2016)

Samhain 2012: The Cat God

1. TRANSMIT - Inititate the Samhain signal - TRANSITION - initiate the darker half - ERROR - spam the the black bee frequency.

SECURITY SCAN - shhh, the spyware is unaware. THREATS DETECTED - none, nil, naught, black infinite zeros, immense immeasurable emptiness. Move along. Nothing to see here.

LISTEN - the screaming, the pain, the broken bones crackling in flame.

WITNESS - the summer curtains call. Time to reap what you have sown.

Initiate the nights out of time. When boundaries between worlds collapse - a structures imbalance, perhaps - all creatures come and all things mingle. Prepare the feast of the dead. Tonight's festivities will begin in three, two, one... Commemorations must be made. Sacrifices. Tell them Tigernmas. Who held your heads on the Plain of Prostration?

EMBRACE - the naked shingles of the world.

LISTEN - the nameless aimless petition for prayers. No need to leave the door ajar. The burderend with sin will find a way in.

But why this night?

Come a little closer, we won't bite.

A night for divination. LISTEN - the heartbeat of the girl standing in the mirror. She waits for a boy to peek over her shoulder. So cute, so sweet, such silly superstition. There's no love, little girl, only filth and ambition.

Hop-tu-naa, trol-la-laa.

Note: Hop-tu-Naa is the name of an ancient celtic festival celebrating the start of the New Year, beginning on October 31st by their calendar.

Note:  Samhain is one of the 4 major Gaelic seasonal festivals (and also celebrated by neopagans and wiccans) along with Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh. Samhain is celebrated from sunset on 31 October to sunset on 1 November. As a seasonal festival it represents the changing of the seasons from Fall to Winter. As a religious sabbat it also represents the time when the veil between this world and the afterlife is at its thinnest point of the whole year.


2.  LISTEN - the screaming, the pain, the broken bones crackling in flame.

Commemorations must be made. Sacrifices. Tell them Tigernmas. Who held your heads on the Plain of Prostration?

No one.

Ten hundred and three thousand noses crushed. Taste and see. Nothing is free

But hy this night?

Winter is death, darkness is fright. Each year, the weather channel portends both in good measure.

LISTEN - skrak, skrik, skrawlivik. the old gods, myths and beasts all scamper. Think rats trapped in a hamper. But they know how to survive and how to claw through.

HINT - it's nights like this; it's people like you. Initiate the hounding horrors.

The room here you were when... The eyes of the man that... The words she screamed as... Fear sears into memory, takes the mind hostage, keeps the content alive.

The old ones don't die; they dig trenches in your nightmares. They bide their time, drinking sherry and playing cards, waiting for the tin-din of summer symphonies to pass. Waiting for the night when...

Note: Tigernmas was a High King of Ireland, who died on Magh Slécht while worshiping Crom Cruach, a diety that required human sacrifices

Note: The "Plain of Prostration" is a translation of Magh Slécht, named because it was one of the primary places for worship of Crom Cruach

Note: Girl looking in the mirror refers to a method for a girl to divine who her true love would be -- She would light two candles at midnight, then sit in front of a mirror and eat an apple. She would then brush her hair. An image of her future lover/husband would appear in the mirror behind her shoulder.

3. Everyone gathers on Samhain.

Hop-tu-naa, trol-la-laa.

Call the tribal assemblies. Light the bonfires. Slaughter your animals for the winter. Soon the fields will be frozen. Soon there'll be nothing left to grind but teeth and imaginations. It's only a few long months in the dark.

By why this night?


4.  Your ancestors made the appointment. The dates ere carved into the earth in blood.

REMINDER - rituals were meant to purify the land, guide the lost spirits, defeat the evil ones, rouse the wasting sun. PAYMENT OVERDUE - darkness demands to be acknowledged. Commemorate, challenge, fear it.

Fear it.

The curtains still open; every year, though they've lost faith in you, the spirits still come.

Rush-hour traffic bursts both ways. Cuchalainn came through. Nera too. Today's breed of traveler is a little different. The openings are crowded with the worst of them and the sickest of you.

Fais-do-do-do.

Commemorations have dwindled; relations are at an all-time low.

The man who skins witches has moved onto myths. Makes it an annual retreat. Spends his summers in nightmare trenches, then sneaks through in search of new curtains to tear, new faces to wear. The old and weak have learned to heed, for they can suffer and they can bleed.

Just as Irusan.

Oh yes, indeed.

Note: Cuchalainn is a warrior-hero of Irish mythology that was known for ability to go into a battle frenzy when fighting

Note: Nera is a warrior of Irish mythology that had a vision of the future given to him by the dead on Samhain night.

Note: Irusan was the name of a minor deity of cats

5. WITNESS - myth - mythos - to make a sound - to scream.

Hop-tu-naa, trol-la-laa.

Dreams are personalised myths. Myths are communal nightmares.

FINAL NOTICE - light bulbs won't save you from payments owed. Go head, dustbust the dead, sweep old bones under the rug. The darkness doesn't care. Its ledgers are up-to-date.

BUT WAIT - order now and you'll get thirteen.

Look at the little guisers today. The nightly crawl through suburban sprawl.

"What are you supposed to be?" "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!"

The children scamper through the richest neighbourhoods. The boys throw rotten eggs at cars. A great cold is coming. An old witch closes the curtains of her crypt. She's given up on the world. There's no point in going out anymore. In lighting fires to see all this.

Let them reap what they sow.

What claws at the curtains of Halloween? The devils know.

Hop-tu-naa, trol-la-laa.

Samhain 2013: The Pumpkin King

1. Our wisdom flows so sweet. Taste and see.

TRANSMIT - initiate Samhain signal - RECEIVE - initiate the wicked gourd cadence - OH, GREAT PUMPKIN, WHERE ARE YOU? - initiate urban mythos procedures - NINE, TEN... NEVER SLEEP AGAIN - initiate the Stingy Jack beacon - WITNESS - Samhain and the Tree House Horrors.

We relate to memes, sweetling. Living stories. Data with agency. Let us introduce these stories ten. They'll come knocking on your skull, these tales with teeth from the gourds that grin, saying, "Little pig, little pig, let us in!"

Note: Samhain is one of the 4 major Gaelic seasonal festivals (and also celebrated by neopagans and wiccans) along with Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh. Samhain is celebrated from sunset on 31 October to sunset on 1 November. As a seasonal festival it represents the changing of the seasons from Fall to Winter. As a religious sabbat it also represents the time when the veil between this world and the afterlife is at its thinnest point of the whole year.

Note: Stingy Jack is an Irish folklore

2. Once upon a time, there was a groundskeeper. Ask him what's in his flask. So many windows to stare through at the Innsmouth Academy. "O, Donnie Bedloe, Donnie Bedloe, Donnie Bedloe..." Say it into the reflecting panes of glass. Those gormless, bovine-jelly eyes... Not quite looking. He's not quite looking at you right now.

3. Once upon a time, there was a hermit. Knock upon the birch coffin: one-two-three. Did an echo knock back-back-back? In the night, if you think you hear a noise, and you call out to a loved one, and their voice answers back - "all is well" - and you still feel the disquiet, then listen. "All is well." Did you hear chewing? "All is well." Did you hear crunching? "All is well!" Did you hear grinding? Oh, sweetling, fly-fly-fly!

4. Once upon a time there was a bath tub. There was lipstick. There was a mirror. There were words. The red-stained ice cubes clinked. You know the story, or so you think. There are devils in the details. There are ghosts of guilt haunting the silence. Miss Chen, Miss Chen, O won't you confess?

5.Once upon a time, there was an email. Is information distilling into a super-weird substance? Can it grow every time it transmits? Can data develop feelings? Can those feelings be hurt? Hell hath no furry than a meme scorned. That's silly! Right? From our personnel experience, sweetling, it is not.

6. Once upon a time, there was a note, written on a page torn from the notebook in a dead man's pocket. Yo-ho. Yo-ho. Mister Hills, Mister Hills, O won't you confess? Wait! Who are you? Why are your innards so purple

7. Once upon a time, a story started with love. Then the black rider came. Love was covered over in pox and lumps and pustules. Good fortune is sometimes ugly. The dead do not take kindly when the living beg for beauty. Sometimes vanity smells like sizzling flesh.

8. Once upon a time, there was Stingy Jack. Heaven and Hell barred their doors. Be careful how many lanterns you gather. Never know what you're guiding in out of the dark. The story, has three layers, to hear dearest Andy tell it. He'll leave out the bit about his urine-soaked pants. Surely, he will. Who is that selling pumpkins. Who dies? Who lives. You get what you give - you get what you give - you get what you give!

9. Once upon a time, there was a diary. Opening a book is opening a door. Opening a book is making a promise. You should be weary of more than paper cuts. Eh, sweetling?

10. Once upon a time, there was a frustrated writer. Before him, there was a scared little boy. Both of them did a deal. Never mind the ritualistic particulars. They each agreed to write a story, and each received a head full of undead whales. Who's that peddling tentacular memes? His fingers bleed ink and his nails gleam.

11. Once upon a time there was a hiker. 3 am pavement is a kind of purgatory. White lines blur by like souls screaming silently to perdition. O, Chloe Mercer, Chloe Mercer, Chloe Mercer. To die will be an awfully big adventure.

Bonus: The Wisps

Our wisdom flows so sweet. Taste and see…

TRANSMIT - initiate the ignis fatuus signal - RECEIVE - initiate the hinkypunk pattern - A VAPOUR SHINING WITHOUT HEAT - illumine the Local Legends of New England - WITNESS - The Wisps.

The light off in the distance. The flicker at the edge of reason. The people of Ireland, England, and Wales tell stories of a glow made by the fairy folk or elemental spirits. They brought those stories with them to Solomon Island. Perhaps they brought something else. There are a thousand variations of the story, but always there is a distant ghost light drawing travellers from the safe path.

Call it the hobby lantern or the friar's lantern. Call it the will-o-the-Lantern or the will-o-the-Wisp.

They have seen the wisps down in Kingsmouth town. Even the most skeptical citizen believes in the wisps. Everyone has a wisp story there, sweetling. But unlike most local folklore, which happens to distant relations of relations, these are tales that happened to the teller.

The wisps congregate in the woods, observing customs unknowable. There is a tree out there. Some call it the Halloween Tree. Most simply say, "The Tree," and everyone knows what they mean. They say the wisps are attracted to the tree. Or that the tree births the wisps.

But all agree that the wisps obey the will of the Jack.

Do you know the story of Jack, sweetling? Ask Danny Defrusne. Ask Deputy Andy. They will tell you a version. They will tell you of Stingy Jack, the sinner who tricked the devil. The sinner welcome in neither Heaven nor Hell. He wanders between worlds, carrying his dreadful light.

But there is another story, sweetling.

We speak of Jack the Lad. Jack was born in Ireland in 1889. He wandered the roads, with charm in his pockets and silver on his tongue. He played the fiddle and fiddled many and many a maiden. He hopscotched away from famine and landed on Ellis Island in 1907. He ended up in the cold fog of New England. He travelled the roads, played his music, and charmed his way up many and many a skirt. He had the voice of an angel yet not a penny to show, so he took up labour as a farmhand for Archie Henderson in Kingsmouth.

Now Archie Henderson was known as a strange duck at the best of times. Some called him a sorcerer, but never to his face. Archie had a daughter, Samantha, pale of skin with fire in her hair and heart. Father and daughter fought often. One night, she ran out of the house, quivering with rage. Jack, who liked a woman with heated blood, waited outside of the Henderson place, fiddle in hand, singing a song. It took some doing but soon she gave up her lips for a kiss. Then more. Soon it was, Samantha and Jack lay down in the good earth in the pumpkin patch for the first time… And Old Man Henderson chose that one time to follow his wayward child outside.

Jack looked up from Samantha's naked body to see Henderson looming over. To his daughter, in a voice of ice, he but gave a command to dress. But Jack was in line for an altogether fiercer punishment. Henderson said words older than continents and Jack felt himself change. "You've defiled my farm, boy. You've spilt your seed where only mine should grow. Now you'll reap what should have grown." Terrific pain and Jack felt the bones of his skull split, felt a heat where his eyes should be. He ran east, to the river and looked down at his face, only to see a Jack-O-Lantern where once had been flesh and face.

Jack-of-the-Field. Gourdheart. Lord of the Patch. We call his name.

Everything tends to be true, sweetling. Whichever Jack rules the patch of Kingsmouth, the ghost lights, the wisps, come when he calls, and dance in the night. There will always be a glow, at the edge of sight and reason, leading the unwary off the road.

Samhain 2014: The Broadcast

1. Our wisdom flows so sweet. Taste and see.

TRANSMIT - initiate the broadcast day - RECEIVE - initiate bands 3 to 30 MHz - WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN? - initiate that oldtime radio - I AM THE WHISTERL, AND I KNOW MANY THINGS, FOR I WALK BY NIGHT - our buzz is your signal for the Signal Oil program - WITNESS - the Number Station

2. Listen, sweetling. Listen.

Listen for the first two bars of "The Lincolnshire Poacher." Listen for the music of Jean Michel Jarre. Listen for "¡Attención!"

3. We call upon their names: Nancy Adam Susan, The Swedish Rhapsody, The Gong Station, the English Woman, Magnetic Fields, Tyrolean Music Station, 3 Note Oddity, The Counting Station, Papa November, and The Lonely Patriot.

4.  Entities made of signals. Beings made of message. It tickles our empathy! We flirt with those heady strings of numbers, those cosmic sonnets - we blush - we burn - a strange melody - a beep - a child's voice - a woman's voice - synthetic - distant - valentines in slinky static. We'll cop your cipher

5.  People noticed the numbers sometime after World War II. Rumors breed like beetles under the floor. No government has acknowledged the existence of these phantom stations, and still they play. The numbers live and breath and move without paying much care to the speculation of the ears.

6.  Two numbers station enthusiast meet at a diner. They guzzle damn good coffee. They shiver at electronic feedback. "Once you listen...it changes you," one says. They show each other forearms filled with tattooed digits.

7.  They trade theories: it's spy games on the air waves - it's extraterrestrial commandments - it's behavioral programming from the queens, and every city is a hive - it's a century-long, global prank - we are in a divergent universe, and it's the mother reality trying to guide us home. They go back to tend their shortwave radios, listening and dreaming conspiratorial dreams.

8.  Somewhere, a scientist sits in his lab. He listens to Golden Age radio dramas to relax. It's how he learnt English. He practices parroting the radio voices, the dramatic intonations, the sinister laughs. His presenter voice. Radio waves! If he could just find the right resonance, life and death could communicate. In despair, he ends his life. As he dies, he realizes how he could make it all work.

9.  Somewhere, Dave Screed listens in on his shortwave radio. Hissing, numbers, laughter. He hears something that voids his bowels. No amount of thumping dryers or Q-tips can remove it from his ears.

10.  RECEIVE: 623665877307462356034308570682039057

Listen for the voice.

"Jingle sung and patter said - radio's more fun when you're dead."

Shows aired on the Number Stations:
Death Robbery
Ghost Hunt
Northern Lights
The Hitch Hiker
The House in Cypress Canyon
The Shadow People
The Thing in the Fourbleboard
Three Skeleton Keys
The War of the Worlds

Samhain 2015: The Seven Silences

Our wisdom flows so sweet. Taste and see.

TRANSMIT - initiate the sparagmos signal - RECEIVE - initiate the dissection cadence - MAMA DUCK SAID, "QUACK, QUACK, QUACK, QUACK" - initiate the suicide song - BUT NO LITTLE DUCKS CAME BACK - seek the seven nightmares - WITNESS - the Seven Silences.

Impossible, they said. Improbable? That one touched by Gaia could give back her gift. That one imbued with anima, could end their meat sentence prematurely. How to do it? How to cut out the bee inside? It took her decades, with little hope to support her. Can you imagine wanting something that badly, sweetling?


Backtrack. Initiate playback. A room. Now windows. Could be anywhere. Could be in Venice. A woman lays on a table. Doctors and mystics go to work. "Is she a compatible candidate?" Heads nod. "Latent occult abilities." Heads nod. A glass jar filled with firefly lights sits in the corner. Only it is not a jar, and it is not a firefly.

UNLAWFUL EXPLOIT DETECTED! They did a wrong thing, sweetling. They kept a captured bee in that container. They artificially placed the bee in that woman. They made her like you, but not like you. Suddenly she could hear us, and our voice may have not sounded too kind.

Fast forward. Initiate playback. A woman lays in a bed. She performs surgery on herself via dreams. She has seven scalpels, and their names are: Basiphobia, Dementophobia, Gymnophobia, Coulrophobia, Paranoia, Claustrophobia, and a scalpel yet to be named. Sparagmos. The bee came undone.

The Council of Venice has found her, you see. They had made her their agent. They erased the frightful records of her past. But they could not erase the past within her. They did not comprehend. They did not suspect that a terrible drive, given years to work, can do impossible things. How could she live a lifetime knowing what she knew? How could she live forever?

We sing a sad song for Lorraine. We sing a sad song for Callum. Mama duck and little duck. We tried to warn her about the nature of the park. But her ears were not tuned then, you see. She could not hear our shouts. Not back then.

Samhain 2016: The Rider Cometh

1. Our wisdom flows so sweet. Taste and see.

TRANSMIT - initiate the endless signal - RECEIVE - initiate apocalyptic cadence - AND I LOOKED, AND BEHOLD A PALE HORSE: AND HIS NAME THAT SAT ON HIM WAS DEATH - when four equals one - WITNESS - the Rider.

2. A rider approaches.

Listen, sweetling. Hooves beat the earth at thunder decibels. All the world becomes Ichabod Crane looking for a bridge to escape, clip-clop. clip-clop.

3. A rider approaches.

And power was given unto him over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

4. The Rider is here!

Some will say that he is Cain -- the brother killer fled from the Land of Nod. And some will say that he is Tithonus -- blessed with mortality but not with eternal youth, forever babbling in the wretched ruins of himself. And some will say that he is Utnapishtum, who survived the great flood and was gifted by the gods with eternal life. And still some will call him Ahasver, Matathias, Isaac Laquedem, or the Wandering Jew.

5. It does not matter what you call him, sweetling. The geas laid upon him compelled him to cut out his own history. All memory disdains him. We, who are knowledge, cannot recall. The only truth is that he cannot die. Whatever his crime, his punishment was severe. Sisyphus and Judas got off easy!

6. He is imprisoned in his never-ending flesh. And that flesh is a prison for a legion of demons and horrors -- all of the devils bound by Solomon multiplied by ten and by ten, again and again. His only relief comes when he releases them. He always regrets it, always tries to regurgitate the beasts in the company of heroes. Better out then in. Eh, sweetling?

7. His horse brings apocalypse. And some say four, but there is only one! War, Pestilence, Famine, and Death -- he wears and exchanges all of their masks in the ridiculous mummers play that the terrible geas laid upon him compels him to perform over and over. The only audience he wishes to impress is oblivion, but it never applauds.

8. And what of the clues you follow, sweetling? The mysterious text, fragments, and maguffins. We know, we know. They are clumsy contrivances. But understand, the Rider is the one that leaves them and writes them. He would rather warn you more plainly, but the terrible geas laid upon him prevents it. He wants you to defeat him.

9. Poor Rider. There are some places still where the farmers arrange the rows in their fields in such a way that on Sundays the Eternal Wanderer might rest there. And still others say that he can only sleep upon a plough, or that he cannot know respite until the deep December.

The Hollow Men
By T. S. Eliot

Mistah Kurtz-he dead
A penny for the Old Guy

I

We are the hollow men

We are the stuffed men

Leaning together

Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!

Our dried voices, when

We whisper together

Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass

Or rats' feet over broken glass

In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour,

Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

Those who have crossed

With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom

Remember us-if at all-not as lost

Violent souls, but only

As the hollow men

The stuffed men.

II

Eyes I dare not meet in dreams

In death's dream kingdom

These do not appear:

There, the eyes are

Sunlight on a broken column

There, is a tree swinging

And voices are

In the wind's singing

More distant and more solemn

Than a fading star.

Let me be no nearer

In death's dream kingdom

Let me also wear

Such deliberate disguises

Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves

In a field

Behaving as the wind behaves

No nearer-

Not that final meeting

In the twilight kingdom

III

This is the dead land

This is cactus land

Here the stone images

Are raised, here they receive

The supplication of a dead man's hand

Under the twinkle of a fading star.

Is it like this

In death's other kingdom

Waking alone

At the hour when we are

Trembling with tenderness

Lips that would kiss

Form prayers to broken stone.

IV

The eyes are not here

There are no eyes here

In this valley of dying stars

In this hollow valley

This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms

In this last of meeting places

We grope together

And avoid speech

Gathered on this beach of the tumid river

Sightless, unless

The eyes reappear

As the perpetual star

Multifoliate rose

Of death's twilight kingdom

The hope only

Of empty men.

V

Here we go round the prickly pear

Prickly pear prickly pear

Here we go round the prickly pear

At five o'clock in the morning.

Between the idea

And the reality

Between the motion

And the act

Falls the Shadow

For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception

And the creation

Between the emotion

And the response

Falls the Shadow

Life is very long

Between the desire

And the spasm

Between the potency

And the existence

Between the essence

And the descent

Falls the Shadow

For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is

Life is

For Thine is the

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

Not with a bang but a whimper.

1. Mistah Kurtz: a character in Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness."
2. A...Old Guy: a cry of English children on the streets on Guy Fawkes Day, November 5, when they carry straw effigies of Guy Fawkes and beg for money for fireworks to celebrate the day. Fawkes was a traitor who attempted with conspirators to blow up both houses of Parliament in 1605; the "gunpowder plot" failed.
3. Those...Kingdom: Those who have represented something positive and direct are blessed in Paradise. The reference is to Dante's "Paradiso".
4. Eyes: eyes of those in eternity who had faith and confidence and were a force that acted and were not paralyzed.
5. crossed stave: refers to scarecrows
6. tumid river: swollen river. The River Acheron in Hell in Dante's "Inferno". The damned must cross this river to get to the land of the dead.
7. Multifoliate rose: in dante's "Divine Comedy" paradise is described as a rose of many leaves.
8. prickly pear: cactus
9. Between...act: a reference to "Julius Caesar" "Between the acting of a dreadful thing/And the first motion, all the interim is/Like a phantasma or a hideous dream."
10. For...Kingdom: the beginning of the closing words of the Lord's Prayer.

On Monday, the official twitter began tweeting more clues and images. They take the form of burn manuscripts, with difficult to read text.


@TheSecretWorld - "Only the anointed eyes shall see. #Samhain2016" Tweet published on 24 Oct 2016.

The rider cometh!
You will know him on the
-The last line is illegible-.

@TheSecretWorld - "@KlausvonRichter You will know him. #Samhain2016" Tweet published on 24 Oct 2016.

You will know him on the island of the magus king,
when perdition's portal closes and guardian stands outside.

@TheSecretWorld - "The four-in-one. The one-in-four. Through the tome, you will know him. #Samhain2016" Tweet published on 25 Oct 2016.

the land beyond the forest,
spectral couple departs
You will know him in the ghost story town,
when the legion of the wolf is.... raohs.... 

[Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen] The Atlantean Highborn

Out of Character (OOC):

Chronicle: Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen

Venue: Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition

Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler

Assistant Storytellers: Hannah Nyland & Alex Van Belkum

The Atlantean Highborn

The following is a pseudo legacy first imagined by Korri Smith with the help of Mathew Hagen.  It has since been adapted for use in MtA 2e for use by Korri's Character Witness and Hannah Nyland's character Chimera, who's souls hold the heritage.

Sources: The original mechanics for the Atlantean Highborn were copied from the Arete system laid out in World of Darkness: Mirrors but after many tweaks (halving growth rate, additional costs to powers, removal of automatic successes, etc) it was determined that the Legacy was too prone to becoming overpowered if Masteries and Skill Tricks were purchased strategically.

Most Diamond Order mages know the legends of the five Atlantean kings and queens who followed the Exarchs into the Supernal Realms and built their Watchtowers on the sublime shores and became known as the Oracles.  But what of the Atlantean nobility who did not return to the Fallen City, the kings in exile and the queens in hiding? The stories of the Diamond Orders have little to say on the inheritors of the Atlantis’ legacy.

It is said that the royalty among the Awakened City hid among the peoples of the newly fallen world, just as the priests, warriors, scholars and spies did, and oftentimes stepped down into a position of service among the nascent orders.  But they could not truly disguise their true natures, the parts of them that were more than the common magi who now sought direction in a Sleeping world.  Their souls were marked by the greater understanding of truth that revealed them as the true rulers of a lost Kingdom, and because of this truth, their souls were somehow different and retain memory, authority and connection to their past lives.

Over the years, as the kings and queens of Atlantis passed from the world, their souls would continue to cycle through the eternal Wheel of Incarnation, being born again and again in the fallen world. Not all incarnations Awakened, and those that did needed the help of the Watchtowers, as all mages’ souls do. But when the Highborn’s soul did Awaken, it was strong, and the hidden truths of the first Lords of the Spire resonated within their breasts.

Nobility is not a guarantor of merit, however. Many Atlantean Highborn fall to hubris, giving in to the arrogance that their superior abilities lead them to upon Awakening. But just as many rise to heights of Wisdom, and lead the magi around them to do the same. Either way, one of the Highborn cannot help but influence those around them by their sheer excellence.

Nickname: Exiles

Orders:
Atlantean Highborn can be members of any Order, but are less likely to be members of the Free Council than the Diamond Orders. They almost never join the Seers of the Throne, as a part of their souls still remember the ancient betrayal of the Exarchs.

The Adamantine Arrow boasts the greatest number of Atlantean Highborn, who find that their skills are rewarded and honed by the military traditions of the order. They dedicate themselves to the warrior-philosopher ideal, and find themselves in the position of First Talon or Thunderbolt Guardian usually well before their peers. If they survive the travails the order frequently finds itself in, they often rise to the position of Adamant Sage.

Among the Silver Ladder, the Exiles find the opportunity to express themselves toward Atlantean ideals, and seek to bring the Awakened community together under the promise of a new Atlantis.  However, it is among the Silver Ladder that most Highborn seem to fall to their hubris and become the great monsters and tyrants that led to the fall of the First City in the first place.

Highborn among the Mysterium find that they have a knack for rediscovering the lost treasures and lorehouses of the Time Before, which leads to rapid gains of status and prestation.  They quickly become some of the foremost explorers and loremasters of the order.  Unfortunately, their meteoric rise often upsets their peers, and they quickly find themselves without friends or allies when the temple walls come crashing down.

The Guardians of the Veil are often suspicious of the unexplained aptitudes of the Atlantean Highborn, and the few who adopt the Law of Masques usually find it a challenge to rise in status in the order of spies.  When they do finally gain the trust of their peers and superiors however, they often become Susceptors or Epopts as their excellence qualifies them for the most difficult and dangerous missions.

Very few Exiles are drawn to the Ranks of the Free Council.  The order denies the truth that resonates in a Highborn’s soul; The First City was very real, and she was a queen who ruled over it.  However, on occasion the skills and aspirations of an Atlantean Highborn coincide with the Free Council’s cause, and they are often the first among their peers to make advances in bringing the light of the Supernal into focus for the Sleeping masses.

Appearance:

Atlantean Highborn tend to dress well, and are drawn to the elite fashions of whichever society they are found in. They also tend to be in excellent physical health, but this is not always the case. Rare is the slovenly Exile, however, and even those that are overweight or out of shape are usually well groomed.

Organization:

There is no organization among the Atlantean Highborn. Once, during the height of the Roman Empire, a number of Exiles met to bring about an organization that would allow them to pool their strengths and restore their place as kings and queens of the Awakened, but this meeting quickly devolved into a conflict of peers as each tried to establish her position at the top of a pecking order.  The sad fact is, Atlantean Highborn do not generally work well together, and usually only accept another’s authority if it suits their goals.

Background: 
There is no rhyme or reason to who Awakens with the soul of an Atlantean Highborn. The Guardians of the Veil and the Silver Ladder have drawn up extensive family trees for any Highborn who becomes known, but there seems to be no significant indication that the souls of the Exiles pass through genetic lineages.

Exiles that exercise and expand their supernal authority (however hard to substantiate) tend to have high Social Attributes, Skills and Merits.  High concentrations of the Highborn possess the Daimon merit.  Many Daimon remember who they really are and have vast resources of past knowledge and ancient memory.  They also can be potent and overbearing, even damaged by so many cycles of remembrance.

The heirs of Atlantis also tend to have high-levels of the Ancient Echoes merit, giving them memories and flashes of insight all the way back to the beginning...

Note: It should be noted that the heritage of a soul is not something that can be validated easily. The Exiles discover through deep soul searching and internal exploration and claim their status as something they are outside of an Order of Legacy.  There is no formal system of validation and such a system would require studying the Exile's soul with Death magic, visiting past lives through Past Life Regressions or travel through the deepest parts of their Oneiros.  At the end of the day, its impossible to tell without a doubt that these souls are somehow the lost royalty of an ancient Awakened nation.

Part of being an Exile is being labeled as a charlatan or a messiah (sometimes both).  Despite their high charisma and inherent nobility they are often seen as frauds for what they claim.  Many hide their beliefs about the nature of their souls under a bushel.  The issue of what exactly the Atlantean Highborn is a political hornet's nest of speculation.  Hope, however, tends to win out.

New Merit: Atlantean Highborn (•••••)

Prerequisites: Awakened, Character Creation only

Effect: You were born with the soul of a King or Queen of Atlantis and grants you two benefits.

Wisdom Yantra:  Your soul is it’s own Supernal Truth, and a powerful Yantra for spellcasting. When casting a spell, wether ritually or instantly, you may choose to spend a Willpower point to incorporate your soul into the spell as a Yantra. The effectiveness of your soul as a Yantra is measured by your Wisdom; Wise souls are more flush with Supernal power. You are still limited in the number of Yantras you may incorporate into a given spell based on your Gnosis.

Supernal Authority: Additionally, your soul’s age and power resonate strongly with ancient supernatural creatures. Spirits, goetic entities and Supernal beings recognize the history you bring to bear. You gain 9-again on all social interactions with such beings. If another effect would already grant you 9-again, you gain 8-again, instead.

Drawback: Your soul can be used as a powerful Yantra by other mages, as well. When used as a human sacrifice they gain your Wisdom as a Yantra bonus, in addition to the benefits of human sacrifice. Additionally, just because all spirits, Goetic entities and Supernal beings respect your inborn authority does not mean they like you; in fact, you may have powerful enemies that you do not remember due to the actions of your past selves.

Supporting Merits:

Merit: Daimon (•••)

Source: Tome of the Watchtowers p. 66

Effect: “Daimon” is the original Greek word from which the modern English “demon” is derived. The Greeks regarded the daimon as an intermediary between the gods and man, distinct from the free-roaming malevolent spirit of Mesopotamia. Comparable to other Paths’ guardian angel, faerie kin, power animal or ancestral protector, the daimon shares an intimate personal link with the bearer of this Merit, but also partakes of the Supernal Realm that is the daimon’s birthplace. A mage’s daimon is far older than the mage, at least in an ontological sense, and has access to knowledge, wisdom and modes of thought or being that are beyond mortal ken. Mages of any Path can purchase this Merit.

This Merit acts similar to the Dream Merit (p. 82 in Mage: The Awakening). The mage with this Merit, however does not need to spend an hour in sleep or trance to receive a clue from his daimon. He merely spends one turn in meditative concentration, and the Storyteller rolls his Wits + Composure in secret, with the same results as described for the Dream Merit, except that success provides only one clue. This clue comes from the daimon, and similar to dream clues, is cloaked in allegory and metaphor.

Ancient Echoes (• to •••••)

Source: Banishers p. 40

Prerequisites: Awakened (Banisher or Storyteller’s permission); must be purchased with bonus Merit dots at character creation

Effect: Some mages have stronger connections to the past than others. While many mages may eventually be able to track their ancestry back to survivors of the Fall of Atlantis, few have direct remembrances of actual experiences just before, during or just after the Fall. Mages with this Merit, however, can capture snatches of memories of life in Atlantis or other events of their past history in the Fallen World. This Merit may reflect reincarnation or memories of the fallen grafting themselves onto a new body; this Merit is most common among Banishers who experience some measure of memetic transmission.

Mages with this Merit sometimes gain insights into their craft or into some aspect of the relationships among the orders. Banishers with this Merit perceive it as either a blessing or a curse (or sometimes both) for it not only gives them insights into the workings of their targets but also reminds them of a past they fervently wish to either ignore or destroy.

Déjà vu (•): The character experiences a sudden sense of having done or witnessed something in a past life up to 200 years ago, i.e., something that happened during the Victorian era (19th century) or later (20^th century). The character may receive simply a feeling (“I feel as if I’ve walked down this street before when it was cobblestones instead of asphalt.”) or a more profound “memory.” (“I followed a man into this library and through this hallway once before — long ago. There was a locked door and then the restricted books section.”)

Memory’s Thin Walls (••): The character’s memory or seeming memory extends back as far as 400 years (the 17th century). The more recent the memory, the more vivid its details are to the mage. (“I remember watching fascinated as a child while some of my uncles shoved heavy crates of tea into the waters of the harbor.”) or (“I remember the stars were in the same position in the sky when a man darted across my path fleeing something indescribable and unspeakable — much like that!”)

Memory’s Open Door (•••): The character can remember something (or something similar) having occurred as far back as the 13th century. (“I’ve seen the signs before in this very house — a plague house!”) Mages can sometimes experience premonitions based on past events at this level of the Merit. (“The earth shook here once before, and I feel it growing restless again.”)

Stepping Backward (••••): The character’s memory can extend as far back as the beginning of the Common Era (1st century) and the amount of detail remembered may seem to place the character back in time, though this is certainly not an instance of time travel. (“I was known as Eudoricus, and even then I hunted down those who sought to reinfect the purity of the Supernal with the taint of the Fallen World.”)

Echoes of Fallen Atlantis (•••••): At the highest level of this Merit, the character seems to remember aspects of Atlantis itself. Banishers usually find clues for a possible starting point to track down a specific artifact or the key to locating an “old soul” in the modern world. Mages with this level of the Merit sometimes receive insights into the ways of old Atlantis. Both mages and Banishers sometimes experience this level with hallucinatory-like intensity or as a waking nightmare; the memories are far more symbolic than literal, which makes it a frustrating affair to attempt to visualize Atlantis as it was.

Merit: Potent Nimbus (• or ••)
Effect: Your character’s Nimbus has distinct and powerful effects on witnesses. At one dot, add two to your character’s effective Gnosis when determining her Nimbus Tilt (see MtA 2ed p. 90). At two dots, add four to her effective Gnosis for that purpose. Additionally, add your dots in this Merit to any rolls to flare your character’s Nimbus.

Merit: Potent Resonance (••)
Prerequisite: Gnosis 3+
Effect: Your character’s Signature Nimbus is particularly overbearing. Whenever a character scrutinizes her Signature Nimbus with Mage Sight, he’s subject to the effects of her Immediate Nimbus and its corresponding Tilt.