Summoners

Do you see these circles? Do you know what they are? What they mean?
Oh, I’m sure you’ve seen their like, before,
and you’re thinking of several clever answers to my questions,
none of which is the answer.
These are the doorways through which I welcome wonders and terrors
into this Fallen World and bind them to my service.
And, so, these circles are wonder and terror. They are power.
— Heliodromus, Mystagogue and Summoner

This book includes:

• A thorough exploration of
numerous summonings,
from those with their origins
in the Fallen World, the
Realms Supernal, the Abyss,
and even stranger realities
• Advice and methods for the
Awakened summoner, as
well as descriptions for
dozens of unusual entities
• Detailed systems for pacts
with otherworldly beings, as
well as new spells, Artifacts,
Legacies, summoning Merits,
and more
For use with The World of Darkness and
Mage: The Awakening rulebooks.
53199

9 781588 463654 PRINTED IN CHINA www.worldofdarkness.com

ISBN 978-1-58846-365-4 WW40322 $31.99 US 40322
 SUMMONERS
™

By Chris Burns, Bethany Culp, Stephen Michael DiPesa,

Matthew McFarland, John Newman, Alex Scokel and Chuck Wendig
1
2
 The Wheel
He sleeps. In his dreams he sees the bloated shape of the prayer wheel spinning, ever
spinning, propelled by the wind. Bolted to a rocky precipice, overlooking the sea, its rust-
ing metal body tattooed with glyphs. A storm moves across the coast, all lashing rain and
howling wind. The wheel spins faster and faster, its clotted axle sending metallic screams
into the leaden skies like blasphemous paeans to the gods. Faster and faster it turns,
the glyphs glowing red from the friction and merging into a single word. The word is
wrong, somehow, written in a language never devised by men and it hurts his eyes. He
approaches the wheel, drawn to it involuntarily, the word burning in his mind. The wheel
spins faster still, growing hotter. Raindrops evaporate from the heat, sending up clouds
of hissing steam. He hears voices on the wind, wailing in harmony with the shrieking of
the wheel. They call to him, whispering his name, urging him to quench the heat with his
blood. The phone rings.

3
 Kale woke with a start, tangled in his sheets and “That fucking wheel,” he said aloud as he started
sweating through the cool of the AC. He fumbled for up the coffee machine.
the phone, dropped it and, swearing, snatched it off •••
the floor. Out of the picture window in his bedroom After breakfast he slipped on his running shoes and
he could see the rising sun reflecting off the stately headed outside. The wind blowing off the ocean was
progression of ocean waves. The morning sun illumi- cold in the morning air and he picked up his pace to
nated the room in a ruddy glow just bright enough to stay warm as he jogged along the cliff’s edge. As he
make him squint. ran, his thoughts returned to his father. The old man
“Hello?” had never understood Kale’s drive to become an artist.
“Hey buddy! Did I wake you?” Even the fact that the family fortune was founded on
“Yes. Don’t worry about it,” Kale said, cutting off the money generated by great-grandfather’s art hadn’t
the apology he knew was coming. “Was having a swayed his father’s mind. He had wanted Kale to fol-
nightmare anyways.” low his footsteps in the company. Kale only wanted
“The wheel again?” to paint. Their arguments eventually drove Kale from
“Yeah. That fucking wheel. I always hated that god- the house and only when his paintings began to gain
damned thing. Tell me again why I shouldn’t just melt it some recognition, when he proved his art wasn’t just
down,” said Kale, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. a rich kid’s hobby, had his father relented.
“Well, for starters, the Historical Society would have Other than holidays and the occasional family get-
a fit. That hunk of metal is a piece of genuine Ameri- together, he hadn’t spent much time around his father
cana, cobbled together by your great-grandfather. It for the last 20 years. The old wounds scabbed over
might be junk to you, but to them its art. Then there’s slowly. In a bit of irony, he was painting when he got
the whole legacy issue to contend with…” the phone call telling him his father was dead. The
maid hadn’t been able to find the old man when she
“Alright, alright. I know,” Kale interrupted. “What
got to work, the car was still in the garage and the
do you want, Jimmy?”
back door was open, banging back and forth against
“I have some papers here for you to sign. You coming
the house in the wind. She called the police and the
down to the office today?”
sheriff’s deputy that responded found the body. The
Kale swung his legs out of bed. “Yeah, later though. coroner’s report said the old man had died from a heart
Say around three?” attack. The police had asked him if he knew why his
“Swell,” said Jimmy, cheerfully. “See you at three.” father would’ve gotten up in the middle of the night
Kale hung up the phone, got out of bed and walked and wandered the grounds (the body had already begun
towards his closet. Kicking off the boxers he’d slept in, to display signs or rigor mortis when it was found) and
he threw on a pair of gray sweats and a ragged black Kale had said no. Sure he already knew the answer;
T-shirt that said “The Ramones” in fading letters. He he asked where exactly the body had been found. His
dug out a pair of white athletic socks and padded down father had died beside the wheel.
to the kitchen. Like every other room in the house, “That fucking wheel,” he said, absently.
the kitchen looked shiny and new. The stainless steel He was jolted out of his reverie when he realized he
counters were free of dents or scratches and the ap- was standing in front of the wheel, like he had conjured
pliances looked fresh out of the box. After his father it by speaking its name. Panting slightly from his run,
had died and Kale returned home for good, he’d had he walked around the wheel, eyeing it with distaste. Ac-
the entire place redecorated. It wasn’t just that his cording to family lore, his great-grandfather had begun
father’s taste had been bad (it had) or that the house construction of the wheel after visiting Tibet, inspired
was decades out of style (it was); living among the by the wind-driven prayer wheels of that country. The
detritus of his father’s life had been like living with a wheel itself looked like it had been constructed from
ghost. Before it was redecorated, every time he came an oil drum and was set horizontal to the ground with
home, Kale had half-expected to encounter his father’s an axle running through it. Wind was captured by a
slightly disapproving face around every corner. So he’d series of bent fins, which turned the wheel smoothly
cleaned out the place, even renovating the grounds. on its axle if it had been oiled recently or jerkily, ac-
Anything that reminded him of his father was removed, companied by screeching metal, if it hadn’t. The entire
replaced or refurbished. Except the wheel. thing was constructed from galvanized steel and was

4
supported by matching struts, bolted into the stone of Kale stepped back from the canvas to take a look at
the cliff. Taken as a whole it looked, to Kale at least, his work. In leaner times he’d painted dull landscapes
like a giant paper towel holder, set upright, that had for hotels and restaurants, always to the exact speci-
been attacked by a windmill. fications requested by the client. Once his work had
Great-grandfather had known next to nothing about grown more popular he’d sworn to never take another
the Tibetan language, so he had decorated the wheel commission and to only paint what he wanted to paint.
with glyphs of his own devising, searing them into the He’d always painted from instinct, rarely planning out
metal. No two glyphs were alike and (according to every exactly what his next project would be. Commission
expert who had examined the thing) were completely work was the antithesis of that kind of spontaneity
decorative in design, conforming to no known or and he was glad he’d never signed his real name to any
guessed-at language. In his will, great-grandfather had of the commercial paintings. The painting he’d just
declared the wheel a legacy of the estate and forbade spent the last several hours working on was nominally
its removal from the grounds. Every couple of weeks, a traditional sunset. In it, the sun sank slowly into the
the people from the Historical Society would come waves of the ocean, infusing the water with an orange
out to oil the thing and polish it clean of rust. It had glow. The twilight sky was still lit by the last rays of
remained in the same spot for nearly a century. the sun, the horizon a luminous pink.
Kale had a very clear memory of when simple distaste Disrupting all that mundane tranquility was a black
for the wheel had turned to outright hatred. At his keyhole, larger than the sun, floating near the right
11th birthday, buzzing on a sugar high of cake and ice border of the painting. The keyhole was pitch black for
cream, he and his friends had roamed the grounds now – though Kale thought he might end up lighting
of the estate until they ended up by the wheel. He the darkness with stars– and the edges of the keyhole
remembered his friends looking at the thing in awe, glowed with a strange gray, eldritch light. He had the
daring each other to touch it. The wind was calm that oddest sensation that there was something moving
day and the wheel was turning in lazy revolutions, behind the keyhole, something very large and very
glinting innocently in the noon day sun. Finally, old. He had an idea that, whatever the something
one of his friends from school, a boy named Niko, might be, he’d only capture a portion of it in the
reached out to touch it. Kale had wanted to shout at painting; only an eye. An eye peeking through the
him to stop, had wanted to smack his hand away like keyhole like a child might on Christmas Eve to spy
Niko was extending it toward a rabid dog. Only the out her presents.
fear of being labeled a “sissy” or “puss” kept him from The inspiration for this work was no great mystery.
acting on his growing sense of unease. Just as Niko He’d painted the view from his living room balcony,
placed his fingers on the wheel, a hard gust of wind though he’d worked indoors to avoid the erratic ocean
blew in off the ocean and, snicker-snack, the tips of winds. Kale wasn’t sure why he’d added the keyhole,
Niko’s index and middle fingers were lopped off by either. It just seemed to fit. The location of the keyhole
the sharp edges of the metal fins. He remembered in the painting nagged at his mind. It reminded him
with a crystal clarity Niko’s screams and the bright of something, but he couldn’t think what. Shrugging
red blood running in the grooves of the wheel, filling his shoulders, he attempted to banish the idea from
the incomprehensible glyphs. his mind and began to put away his tools. Brushes
He shook himself mentally and begun to jog back were carefully washed out, paint lids screwed firmly
to the house. Spending a lot of time today down memory in place and everything was packed away into his kit.
lane, he thought, which was immediately followed by, Even though he was sure he’d work on the painting
Maybe Jimmy is right. Maybe I should get out more often. again tomorrow, he always followed the same routine.
He’d get out this weekend, he promised, just as soon as In its own odd way, returning everything to its proper
the painting was finished; and hey, he was going down place was just as much a part of his creative process
to the office today. That was a social occasion not to as the actual painting was.
be missed. He snorted. Behind him, forgotten for the He’d nearly forgotten about his earlier fixation on the
moment, the wheel continued to turn, its revolutions keyhole’s location until he began to carefully cover the
not quite matching the steady beat of his heart. painting. Frowning, he secured the cover, wondering
•••

5
anew what bothered him about its placement. Vaguely the railing. Turning on his heel, he strode with quick
irritated by this disruption to his normal routine, Kale steps back into the house and grabbed the painting
moved the easel to the side of the room and marched from the easel. He ripped the covering off it and stared.
over to the double glass doors that led to the balcony. There could be no doubt. The keyhole and the wheel
Sliding them open, he stepped out into the evening. were in the same place. Angrier than he’d been in
The real sunset taking place was far more prosaic years, he walked back out to the balcony and hurled
than the one he’d just been working on, albeit still the painting over the edge.
quite lovely. The wind tugged gently at his hair as he “Fly motherfucker,” he said and watched as the paint-
surveyed the view, his hands resting on the railing. ing caught an updraft and sailed over the cliff edge.
Intentionally sweeping his view from left to right, Slamming the door behind him, Kale stomped over
he tried to guess at what seed had germinated in his to the bar and poured himself a glass of brandy. He
imagination into the keyhole of the painting. Moving downed it in two quick gulps and poured another. Still
his head only a fraction at a time, eyes straight ahead, fuming, trembling from the shock of adrenaline that
Kale tried to mimic the viewpoint of the painting. had surged through his body in his anger, he downed
Nothing, nothing, nothing; he continued to scan. Then that one as well and poured a third. Forcing himself
he stopped. This view, this vantage of the grounds to relax, he picked up his drink and shuffled over to
was exactly the same as the one he’d captured in the the sofa. The leather of the cushions creaked as he
painting. The wheel. That fucking wheel was in the sat down. He idly picked up the remote and turned
exact same position in his point of view as the keyhole on the flat-screen, plasma television that hung from
was in the painting. his wall. He flipped through channels at random,
“Son of a bitch,” he whispered. not really even seeing the pictures on the screen as
The goddamned thing had begun to invade his they flashed by; his mind filled with images of prayer
work! Furious, Kale slammed the side of his fist into wheels and keyholes.

He sleeps. The storm has come again and he stands beside the wheel, wet hair plastered
to his head. The glyphs on the wheel are gone and, in a flash of lightning, he sees key-
holes painted in their place. One by one, stars appear in the keyholes, shining dully, leaving
streamers of light as the wheel turns. The winds screams in his ears, the voices gibber
and laugh insanely. In slow motion he sees himself reach out to stop the wheel, just like
poor Niko reached out to touch it. His mind screams with the danger, visions of Niko’s fin-
gers spurting blood flickering through his sight like film on a faltering projector. The fins
slice through his hands, snicker-snack, and he feels nothing, only an icy-cold that seeps up
his arms. Impossibly, the mauled remains of his hands obey his commands and grasp the
wheel, sliding on its wet surface before catching it and holding it still. The wind dies, the
voices stop and the storm abates. All is quiet. The cold moon stares down at him and he
begins to shake, the chill from his arms spreading to his chest. He stares at the wheel
and sees a shadow pass over the stars twinkling out of the keyholes. The cold has spread
its icy fingers to his heart, the chill freezing the blood in his veins. His shakes become
more violent, his body spasms, dancing a lunatic jig. Eyes appear at the keyholes, starkly
white against the black, pupils a putrid yellow. The eyes stare at him and he screams.

6
 Still screaming he awoke. The room was freezing On the third ring he heard a click and a tired-
cold and, for a moment, he could see his breath fog- sounding voice said, “Hello?”
ging in the air. He could see frost lining the edges of “It’s me Jimmy. I need an answer. Does the Historical
the windows. His skin was painful with gooseflesh and Society have great-grandfather’s papers?”
he realized that he was naked. At some point in the “What?”
night he’d thrown his sheets to the floor and stripped “Wake up dammit! Listen. Does the Historical
free of his boxers. Reaching out with a trembling Society have great-grandfather’s papers? You know;
hand he pulled the sheets over his body and huddled original designs for his sculptures, journals, that sort
in their warmth. Slowly, the room lost its chill and, of shit?”
still wrapped in the sheets, Kale rose from his bed. He
“Christ, Kale. I don’t know. Why?”
staggered, body aching, to the bathroom and stepped
“Never mind why. Can you find out for me?”
into the shower, not bothering to remove his cocoon
of sheets before turning on the hot water. The pound- “Does this have something to do with the wheel?”
ing spray of the shower jet, combined with the heat “I told you never mind why! Can you find out?”
and steam finally drove the chill and stiffness from “You know you can’t get rid of that thing.”
him. When he felt almost human again, he turned off Kale almost screamed into the phone. “I don’t give
the shower and rang out the sheets as best he could two shits what you think, Jimmy! Can you find out
before hanging them in the stall. Toweling off, Kale or not?”
stared at his reflection in the fogged mirror and asked “Whoa, whoa! Calm down, man. Yeah, sure. I can
himself a question. find out. If they do have that stuff, what then?”
“What the hell is going on?” “I wanna see it,” said Kale.
The bedroom was back to a normal temperature “Ok, sure. Right. I’ll call on Monday and find
when he left the bathroom. Dressing quickly in jeans out.”
and a button-down, blue and white striped shirt, he “Today, Jimmy! You find out today. I don’t care if
hurried downstairs and set the coffee to brewing. He you have to hitchhike to the director’s house to ask.
plucked the phone from its wall mount and dialed Find. Out. Now.”
Jimmy’s cell. He wouldn’t be in the office on a weekend. An exasperated sigh. “Fine. I’ll call you back when
It rang five times before he got Jimmy’s voice mail. Kale I know.”
snarled, hung up and immediately called back.
“Good,” said Kale, hanging up.
“Answer the phone you asshole,” he muttered, dig-
•••
ging in the fridge for the cream.

7
 Kale sifted through the small mound of books, Setting the ledger aside, he picked up the drawings
drawings and journals laid out before him on a desk of the glyphs again and stared at them. A quick scan
in the back of the Historical Society building. It had of the room turned up a notebook, which he brought
taken Jimmy four hours to track down the director back to the desk. He began to copy the glyphs,
and convince her to allow Kale to look through his looking for a connection. He reversed their images,
great-grandfather’s memorabilia. The large cash transposed one over the other and tried to decon-
“donation” Jimmy had offered hadn’t hurt either. struct them to their most basic elements. Nothing
The documents smelled faintly musty, as though he tried made the glyphs any more intelligible and
they’d been kept in a basement with poor ventilation he eventually admitted defeat, his head pounding
for years, which was probably the case. At first, he from staring at the odd symbols. Frustrated, he went
had found great-grandfather’s spidery handwriting back to shuffling through the rest of the collection,
difficult to decipher, but after staring at it for over flipping through pages, looking for anything out of
an hour now he was able to make out what the man place. Every single book was filled from front to back
had written without too much difficulty. It hadn’t with great-grandfather’s writing, notes and sketches.
taken him long to find the original design for the Except that wasn’t true was it? He remembered leafing
wheel. Great-grandfather had made several pencil through one book with several blank pages in the
sketches of the general shape of the thing and across back. It hadn’t struck him as unusual at the time,
the bottom of one of the pages were drawings of all but now it definitely seemed strange.
29 of the glyphs that had been seared into the metal He dug through the stacks around him until he
body of the wheel. Viewed as a whole, the glyphs found it. The book, large and sturdily bound in rigid
were disconcerting to look at, the angles seemed leather, was one of great-grandfather’s personal diaries.
wrong and, not for the first time, Kale wondered Kale flipped to the back and found the blank pages.
exactly what they represented. He held one of the pages up to the lights, cracking
He continued to pour over the materials and after the spine as he did so. Nothing. Disappointed he
another hour had passed, he thought he’d found began to close the book when he caught a whiff of
something interesting in an old ledger. Before the something other than the musty smell he’d become
construction of the wheel, great-grandfather had accustomed to. Putting his nose to where paper met
been considered something of a local eccentric. His binding he took a sniff. The crevice held the ghostly
pieced-together metal sculptures were seen as curiosity faint smell of lemon. Excited now, he hurried over to
pieces rather than legitimate works of art. All that one of the bright lamps the staff used for restoration
changed following the wheel’s creation. Suddenly, projects and removed the hood. He turned the lamp
art critics who had previously sneered — often pub- on and held the page close to the heat of the bulb.
licly — at great-grandfather’s work had a change of Slowly, excruciatingly, brown words began to appear
heart. They proclaimed the works the product of a on the page. He subjected the remainder of the pages
visionary in the field and, consequently, demand for to the same treatment, then sat down to read what
the sculptures had skyrocketed. A year prior to his he had discovered.
construction of the wheel, great-grandfather had been The first few pages were written in a language he
nearly bankrupt. A year later he was flush with cash didn’t recognize. He skipped past these until he came
and nearly overwhelmed with orders for his work. to writing in plain English:
Somehow the wheel and great-grandfather’s sudden
success were tied together, but Kale was at a loss to
explain how.

8
March 9
I keep this secret accounting of my work and the
summoning ritual, as a testament. You, who have dis-
covered this secret, will bear witness to my triumph,
to the ascendance of the ancient. It calls to me in my
dreams, promising me immortality, riches and more.
I will be the first disciple and rule over the Earth as
a god. Those of my line will become prophets to my glory,
walking among the herds in forms of terrible splendor.
I begin.

March 12
The summoning was a success. I have spoken to the an-
cient and forged a pact. Upon the morrow I’ll beg
in construction. Glory to the name I dare not write!
He who is Lord of Nightmares, King of Fever Dreams,
Prince of Insanity!

April 16
The Wheel is done.

April 20
The thing is finished. I have inscribed the 29 names of
the ancient onto the Wheel and anointed them with my
blood, binding the turning of the wheel not only to me,
but to my family line. Tomorrow I will place the Wheel
on the highest point of the cliffs where it will catch the
ocean winds. In accordance with the pact I have made,
the Wheel will turn for 100 years and for every second
of every day of every year it turns, me and mine will
be rewarded with fortune and glory. Each time the
Wheel turns the names of the ancient will be shouted to
the heavens, defying the banishment that traps it out
of space and time. When I die my soul will be
drawn through the Wheel to the ancient’s side where
I’ll bask in its splendor and be rewarded with
a new body, not of flesh but of the Void: vast and
eternal. The souls of my descendants will enhance the
hideous strength of the Wheel as it turns, like a key in a
lock, sacrifices for my godhood. They will die for me, and
the ancient will return, I at his side.

9
 Kale stared in horror at what he’d just read. It was voices mixed with its howls, moaning and tittering
unbelievable, insane and yet he believed it all the same. madly. He leaned forward as he struggled along the
He remembered the unnatural chill of his bedroom, cliff, fighting against the gale. The skies had darkened
his nightmares, his instinctual loathing of the wheel to near black, lightning flashes and thunder cracks
all his life and the blood from Niko’s fingers. He ripped disorienting in the gloom. He was so intent on reach-
the formerly blank pages out of the back of the book. ing his goal he almost walked into the wheel before it
No one could be allowed to see them. He folded the registered in his consciousness. It was spinning so fast
pages up in the drawings of the wheel and stuffed the its shape was a blur of motion. St. Elmo’s fire danced
bulky papers in the waistband of his jeans, nestled in and skittered around the metal, lighting the wheel
the hollow of his back. He pulled his shirt down over with an eerie luminosity. The glyphs glowed with the
the bulge, disguising it from view. Hopefully no one light, seeming to combine into one monstrous Name.
would notice they were missing until he could burn Unnoticed by Kale in the rain, blood had begun to
them. He walked out of the room, down a hall and past stream from his nose. The Name reflected in his eyes
a volunteer who was manning the front desk, forcing and he felt his stomach churn, his mind reeling. The
himself not to run. He nodded at the man, mumbled voices whispered words of nameless dread in his ears;
a word of thanks for his patience and was out the they cajoled him to throw himself on the wheel, to
front door. Continuing his feigned calm, just in case feed its hunger with his blood and soul. With one
the volunteer was watching him out the window, he swift motion he slammed the tire iron into the wheel,
walked slowly to his car and got in. Once the Historical metal against metal, and, screeching with protest, the
Society was out of sight, Kale gunned the engine and wheel ceased to turn. The voices in his ears roared in
sped for home. Home and that fucking wheel. anger, then ceased.
A storm was brewing by the time he reached the Kale dropped to his knees and hefted the crow-
house. Fat raindrops splashed against the car’s wind- bar. Blood dripped from his nose onto the stone as
shield and streaks of lightning split the cloudy sky. he attacked the bolts that held the thing in place.
Thunder boomed and rattled the windows as he pulled The wheel was rocking back and forth in the wind,
into the garage. Wasting no time, he vaulted out of groaning against the tire iron that held it still. Grudg-
the car like it was on fire, great-grandfather’s papers ingly, the first bolt pulled free of the stone. His hands
clutched in his fist. He hurried into the house, nearly tingled from the static charge of the metal. Ignoring
running by the time he reached the kitchen. Slamming the increasing intensity of the storm, he worked the
a cupboard door open with a crack that was echoed by other bolts free, each one more stubborn than the
the thunder outside, he reached inside for a stainless last. He felt dizzy from the exertion, from the blood
steel pot. His mind had raced all the way back from loss he’d just noticed and from the power of the storm.
the Historical Society. How much time did he have? Summoning up the last of his strength, he stood up,
Did the world have? The entry had only been dated defying the wind and kicked the wheel over the cliff.
by month, not year. There wasn’t any official date for His last sight before he staggered back from the edge
the day the wheel was bolted into place. Grabbing up and passed out was of the wheel, bouncing down the
a book of matches from beside the stove, he sprinted stony cliff face into the churning waters.
back to the garage. He set the pot on the concrete He awoke. The sky was blue and the sun shone down
floor of the garage and tossed the papers in it. Kale on him, warm and comforting. Kale crawled to the cliff
picked up the gasoline can he kept for the lawnmower edge and peered over. Below him he saw the ocean
and doused the papers. He lit a match and dropped waves pounding against the cliff. The wheel was gone,
it in. The gasoline lit with a whoosh and the papers sucked into the belly of the sea. Muscles protesting,
began to burn. Soon the drawings, the notes and he got up and staggered toward the house.
great-grandfather’s insane ravings were nothing more The wheel tumbled along the ocean floor, mangled
than ash. He left the remains smoldering in the pot and broken, caught in the flow of a current. Its motion
and searched through the tools he kept in the garage. was arrested when one of its twisted struts snagged on
It didn’t take him long to find what he was looking a rocky outcropping on the ocean floor. The current
for and, crowbar and tire iron in hand, he stepped out pulled against it, wedging the strut more firmly in
into the storm. place. One fin, less damaged than the others, caught
The storm raged around him, rain lashing his body. the pull of the current. The wheel began to turn.
The wind screamed in his ears and he could hear

10
11
Credits Coming next for Mage: The Awakening:
Written by: Chris Burns, Bethany Culp, Stephen
Michael DiPesa, Matthew McFarland, John Newman,
Alex Scokel and Chuck Wendig
Developer: Stephen Michael DiPesa
Creative Director: Richard Thomas
Editor: Scribendi.com
Art Direction and Layout: Aileen E. Miles
Interior Art: John Bridges, Mark Geyer, Brian
LeBlanc, Justin Norman, Jami Waggoner
Cover Art: Art Babayan

Mage:The Awakening
Tarot Deck

© 2009 CCP hf. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for
the purposes of reviews, and for blank character sheets, which may be reproduced for personal use only. White Wolf, Vampire, World
of Darkness and Mage the Ascension are registered trademarks of CCP hf. All rights reserved. Vampire the Requiem, Werewolf the
Forsaken, Mage the Awakening, Promethean the Created, Changeling the Lost, Storytelling System, Seers of the Throne, Reign of
the Exarchs, Tome of the Watchtowers, Legacies the Sublime, Legacies the Ancient, Guardians of the Veil, Mysterium, Free Council,
Astral Realms, Innocents, Intruders Encounters with the Abyss, Grimoire of Grimoires and Summoners are trademarks of CCP hf.
All rights reserved. All characters, names, places and text herein are copyrighted by CCP hf.
Check out White Wolf online at http://www.white-wolf.com
PRINTED IN CHINA.

12
SUMMONERS
™

Table of Contents
Prologue: The Wheel 2
Introduction 14
Chapter One: From Distant Shores 18
Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 64
Chapter Three: From the Endless Dark 112
Chapter Four: From Stranger Spheres 142
Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 164

13
Introduction
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind
to correlate all of its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance
in the midst of the black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.
—H. P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu

Some of the oldest recorded forms of magic in hu- not (or will not) put down, to the detriment of many,
man history are invocations of otherworldly powers: and, yet, despite their many dangers and the horrors
gods, spirits, demons, ghosts, and the like. Since the they all too often unleash, these magical practices
dawn of time, people have been fascinated by the persist. This is because tremendous sorcerous might
beings of those other worlds, as evidenced by the awaits those who master this treacherous species of
most ancient religions, going back to the fanciful willwork. Few feats of Awakened magic so clearly
creatures — clearly of no earthly origin — painted assert the mage’s dominance over creation, itself, as
on cave walls and carved into stone. While the reality reaching through the weave of worlds and binding
that people see is the place where the human experi- what lay beyond to the fetters of one’s will.
ence unfolds, few things have captured humanity’s The entities with which summoners converse are
collective imagination quite like those worlds that more and less — and other — than human, and these
we cannot see. truths are poised like a sword of Damocles above the
Among the Awakened, these truths endure in a head of every summoner. In the end, one can forge
long tradition of summoning. From the transcendent pacts with these creatures, make allies of them, and
magnificence of the Realms Supernal to the endless even tame them, but one cannot genuinely understand
darkness of the Underworld, mages call out to beings them, any more than they understand those who call
foreign to the material realm, searching for power, lost them forth from the thousand realities from which
secrets, new knowledge, and other, far more bizarre they hail. In the end, a mage never knows what she’s
commodities. Sometimes, they find what they’re going to get when she engages in summoning; not
searching for and, sometimes, they find death (or even from a being that she’s called a dozen times
worse), but, always, with each new generation, new before. What if the spells don’t work correctly, this
seekers emerge, delving into the mysteries of this time? What if the spirit has just been setting her up
universe and every other, hungry for the lore that for some awful fate? The other realms of the Tapes-
they encompass. try (and those beyond) cannot be trusted, and only
foolish summoners — and those who do not survive
Theme and Mood long enough to claim the title of summoner — allow
themselves to forget that.
Profound perils and terrifying splendors await those
who inscribe the ancient circles and call out to names
that echo down through the endless ages of the worlds How to Use This Book
beyond. The way of the summoner skirts a razor-thin Summoners is intended to supplement the existing
edge of hubris; for what else can it be to command body of Awakened magic by codifying and expanding
powers beyond even the vast might given to the upon certain existing magical practices (like dealing
Awakened? Too often, mages call up what they can- with Acamoth or summoning spirits from the Under-

14
 world), while also presenting entirely new forms of entities and powerful secrets concealed within the
willwork pertaining to otherworldly entities and the higher world. Mages who long to know the hidden
ways in which mages interact with them. The vari- truths of the Watchtowers, however, are in for a rude
ous forms of summoning presented here all fall under shock, as these entities come not to speak of their
the common umbrella of Awakened willwork, but homeland, but instead to test those who presume to
most of them are very different from one another, in rouse them and to bestow the gifts of the Supernal
terms of execution; some don’t even use the Arcana. upon those who meet with their approval.
Certain of these summonings are relatively easy to In Chapter Three, From the Endless Dark, the
perform, while others require potent command of Abyss gets its due. The Acamoth — Void-born pris-
magic, strange correspondences and uncommon cir- oners of the earthly realm — are discussed, as well
cumstances, or other factors that contribute to their as their kin, the Gulmoth, and the means by which
difficulty and rarity. the latter sort of spirit may be called down from the
Summoners can be used whole-cloth or in as modu- Abyss and into the Fallen World. The investments
lar a fashion as you like; simply decide which sorts of offered by the Acamoth are explored and darker be-
summonings mages can perform in your chronicle, stowments, still, await those who dare to pursue the
which are just rumors or traps to lead the unwary quicker path of the Void, itself, by opening a door for
astray, and which simply don’t exist, even in myths the things that lurk within the Abyss.
and legends. The same applies to the other systems Chapter Four, From Stranger Spheres, lights the
and setting information written here, as you may have way into the unknown; proof that there is more in
a great deal of use for, say, the People of the Hour, Heaven and Earth than is dreamt of in Awakened
but little interest in allowing mages to call down philosophy. Discussed within this chapter are crea-
beings from Arcadia or the other Realms Supernal. tures from outside the known realms and the means
Use what works for you, modify what you like, and by which they intrude upon — or are invited into —
discard the rest. this one. Some of these beings bear gifts and others,
What Summoners is not is a guide to the other only death. Some, strangest of all, are little more than
worlds whence these strange creatures originate. The terribly dangerous curiosities; terrifying and compel-
great struggle of the Awakened unfolds here, in the ling, all at once.
Fallen World, rather than in alien realms outside of Lastly, Chapter Five, Otherworldly Compacts,
the comprehension of the human mind. Most mages, contains most of the systems appropriate to sum-
no matter how powerful, could no more survive in moners and summoning. Perhaps most important
those bizarre planes than a moray eel could thrive in is the system for pacting with otherworldly entities,
a pine forest, or a housecat on the surface of the sun. though many other rules are included, such as Merits,
The significance of the entities that summoners call Flaws, Derangements, spells, various sorts of objects
is to be found in the ways in which they enrich and of power, and Legacies that call upon the summoner’s
inform the Awakened experience in this realm (or in craft (sometimes in very unusual ways). These systems
which they fail to do so). add a great deal to the repertoire of the dedicated
summoner and many of them are useful to any mage;
Contents even those who are only interested in dabbling in this
hazardous school of mysticism.
In Chapter One, From Distant Shores, we discuss
the numerous unusual beings that may be summoned
from the various far corners of the Fallen World, itself;
Lexicon
Summoners have their own terminology, with which
creatures that dwell in the Shadow Realm, Twilight,
they describe their art and through which they keep
the astral reaches, and stranger places, still. Though
its secrets out of the hands of the unworthy. Many
native to the same world as the Awakened, many of
of these terms are familiar even to Sleepers, though
these creatures are most assuredly inhuman in their
most fail to grasp their significance in the tongue of
thoughts and perspectives, and in what they desire
the practiced summoner.
in exchange for their services.
Acamoth: An Abyssal spirit imprisoned in or oth-
Chapter Two, From the Five Towers, reveals the
erwise confined to the Fallen World on a long-term
secrets of Supernal summoning, illuminating the odd
basis. These spirits aspire to tear a rift in the Tapestry,

15
so that the Void might flood in through it and an- Exemplar: An Astral being embodying a virtue.
nihilate all of reality. Fae: Specifically as it applies to Awakened sum-
Aetherial: Of or pertaining to the Supernal Realm moners, a Fae is a being native to Arcadia. Fae come
of the Aether. in two different types: Anachronisms and Moirae.
Aletheian: An Astral being encompassing a con- Forfeiture: The consequences of reneging on the
cept or ideal. cost of a pact.
Alien: Specifically as it applies to an Awakened Gulmoth: An Abyssal spirit called down from
summoner, alien is a term occasionally used to describe the Void by a summoner, into the Fallen World (as
an entity — spirit or otherwise — stemming from opposed to an Acamoth; an Abyssal spirit trapped
outside of the known realms of existence. within the earthly realm).
Anachronism: A manifest Arcadian entity, em- Imp: A manifest Daimonic entity, embodying the
bodying the Time Arcanum. Space Arcanum.
Angel: Specifically as it applies to an Awakened Iniquity: An Astral entity embodying a vice.
summoner, an Angel is a creature from the Aether. Manifest: A term referring to a Supernal entity
Aetherial Angels are either Cherubim or Seraphim. tied to a Gross Arcanum (Forces, Life, Matter, Space,
Apeiron: A manifest Stygian entity, embodying or Time).
the Matter Arcanum. Moira: A recondite Arcadian entity, embodying
Arcadian: Of or pertaining to the Supernal Realm the Fate Arcanum (pl. Moirae).
of Arcadia. Morphean: An Astral entity originating within
Atavism: A manifest Primal entity, embodying the an Oneiros.
Life Arcanum. Pact: A mystically-fortified agreement between
Beast: Specifically as it applies to Awakened sum- a willworker and an otherworldly entity, typically a
moners, a Beast is an entity native to the Primal spirit of some sort, which entails an exchange of goods
Wild. Beasts come in one of two forms: Atavisms and/or services. Some pacts last a matter of days, while
and Totems. others may persist for a lifetime (or even longer).
Boon: One of the services standardly offered by Primal: Of or pertaining to the Supernal Realm of
a summoned Abyssal spirit; its particular specialty. the Primal Wild.
The boons of such beings are frequently catalogued by Recondite: A term referring to a Supernal entity
those that know of them and researched by would-be tied to a Subtle Arcanum (Death, Fate, Mind, Prime,
summoners. or Spirit).
Cherub: A recondite Aethial entity, embodying Request: The service (of whatever sort) acquired
the Prime Arcanum (pl. Cherubim). by a summoner through means of a pact.
Chthonian: An entity of the Underworld, dead but Royal Avatar: An ephemeral shell containing a
never born. Possibly somehow related to the Specters portion of the power and consciousness of a spirit of
of Stygia. Prince/Princess (Rank 6) standing or greater.
Cost: The commodity (goods, services, or whatever) Seraph: A manifest Aethial entity, embodying the
that a mage exchanges for the request of a pact. Forces Arcanum (pl. Seraphim).
Daimonic: Of or pertaining to the Supernal Realm Shade: Specifically as it applies to Awakened sum-
of Pandemonium. moners, a Shade is a being native to Stygia. Shades
Dementia: As the term applies to summoners, a may be either Apeirons or Specters. Also, frequently
dementia is an Astral being embodying a given de- used to refer to ghosts.
rangement. Specter: A recondite Stygian entity, embodying
Demon: Specifically as it applies to Awakened the Death Arcanum.
summoners, a Demon is a denizen of Pandemonium. Spirit: Any ephemeral entity native to the Shadow
Demons come in two varieties: Imps and Shades. Realm. Also, frequently used for any being comprised
Esoteric: An Astral entity embodying an aspect of of ephemera or similar substances (such as Supernal
the conscious self. entities, Acamoth or Gulmoth, and sometimes even
ghosts).

16
 Stygian: Of or pertaining to the Supernal Realm Trial: The ordeal demanded by a Supernal entity
of Stygia. of its summoner. In some cases, the trial is preemptive
Term: The period of time during which a mage — a task that must be performed before the spirit
benefits from the request of a pact. can be called or interacted with — while, in others,
Tithe: The price requested by a summoned Abyssal it outlines behaviors that must be observed during or
entity in exchange for its services. Distinct from a pact even after the summoning.
in that a binding agreement is not necessary. Void, the: The Abyss.
Totem: A recondite Primal entity, embodying the Wraith: A recondite Daimonic entity, embodying
Spirit Arcanum. the Mind Arcanum.

17
18
Chapter One:
From Distant
Shores
“Dad, you always have to complicate things. Why do you do that?”
Ikon’s tone was one of pure exasperation. The young willworker paced anxiously; he hadn’t seen his father in
nearly half a decade, but the old man still knew how to get his goat. For his part, Charon chuckled, his voice
sonorous and deep, “Fine. We’ll change the subject. Have you been practicing the summonings I taught you?”
The younger Moros quirked an eyebrow. “Seriously, Dad, what kind of a dumbshit question is that? This is
the first time we’ve seen each other in years and that’s the best thing you can think to ask?”
“Fredrick Thomas Alcott, you will mind your language in my presence.”
Inwardly, Ikon cringed, just a bit. Even after all this time, those three names — recited in precisely that
tone of voice — had the power to make him feel like a four-year-old who’d just knocked over an antique vase. He
looked away, unable to meet Charon’s steely gaze. The Necromancer focused, instead, upon a single, indelible
reality: this is not my father. My father is dead. That is just his reflection.
“Sorry, Dad,” Ikon muttered, turning once more to face the shadowy figure seated before him. “These past
few years have been hell. I’m not the man you remember, anymore.”
Charon smiled warmly. “You’re still my son, Freddie. That’s all that matters.”
The younger Alcott frowned. “You don’t understand. The Consilium’s falling apart; has been since you and
Ascalon were killed by those Banishers. After that, the Scarlet Mummers withdrew their support from the
Council and skipped town. About a year later, the Harbingers overthrew the Hierarch—”
“Giselle?” Charon interjected, incredulously.
Ikon nodded once. “Yeah. We’ve been without one, ever since.” Of course, he would’ve never dared to refer to
the former Hierarch — even now — by her first name, even if it was an alias, but she and his father were…
close, once.
“So,” the old man huffed, “you need my help, then?” His features set in that stubborn way he had, and which
Ikon remembered so well. “What do you need me to do, son?”
“Everything,” Ikon whispered hoarsely, “and nothing, at all.”
The seals under the Persian rug flared to life, surrounding Charon’s shade on all sides. The ghost cried out
in obvious pain and fear, but the young Moros kept his will sharp and focused. The elder Alcott called to his
son in a panic, “Freddie? What are you doing?”
Unshed tears burned in Ikon’s eyes as he replied, “You’re not my father. You’re a thing that I summoned
from the Underworld. Like a chair… a car… a weapon.”
Charon toppled from his seat, upending it with a crash. “You don’t understand, Freddie: what I taught you
was wrong. It’s me. It really is me.”
“No, it’s not.” Ikon’s voice grew stronger, steadier, “You still carry the echoes of my father’s magic, though,
and this Consilium needs a new Hierarch; a strong Hierarch. Alone, I can’t take the seat, but with your power
at my disposal…”
The ghost screamed again, as yet another ring of binding sigils began to glow.

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 19

 Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.
—Sir Arthur Eddington

The four known realms of the Fallen World and Shadow were parts of the ancient world, though
— Shadow, the Underworld, the Astral, and the they may not have always been referred to by those
material — are usually viewed by many willworkers names and likely occupied a far different position in
as symptoms of the sickness that is the Quiescence. the metaphysical framework of the world. Almost no
Spirits are known to wander from Shadow to the records survive from those days of encounters with
material, crossing where the Gauntlet is weak. beings from what modern willworkers call the Astral
The influence of these creatures, foreign to the Realm or the Underworld, leading many Awakened
material realm, eventually begins to color every- scholars to believe those realms did not exist, then,
thing — and everyone — with which they have or, if they did, it was in so radically different a form
contact. Ghosts, the restless shades of the dead, sad as to be unrecognizable to modern mages.
afterimages of souls that have moved on to some Many of the rules of Twilight and Shadow are
uncertain Fate, are trapped in the Fallen World, fairly well chronicled, their basic laws understood
lingering intangibly in Twilight, until they finally and ably navigated by those familiar with the appro-
descend to the Underworld, there to spend the priate mystic arts. The Astral and the Underworld,
remainder of eternity amongst their own… and however, are less well documented: the former on
amongst things that may never have lived, at all. account of its eternally protean nature and the latter
The Astral Realm — pure thought, emotion, ideal, because it remains one of the last true unknowns of
and desire — remains a remote world, cut off from the Fallen World. For long ages, willworkers have
all save the most transitory contact with the ma- aspired to understand and codify these two strange
terial and its native creatures. The material realm worlds, but they remain, fundamentally, mysteries to
itself is degraded and incomplete, separated from a even the sagest Awakened. Even the proliferation of
higher order of reality by the vast gulf of the Abyss. more readily available (and entirely mundane) com-
Before the Fall, there was a place for everything munication hasn’t helped to settle the arguments;
and everything was in its place. Now, the different if anything, it has only served to fan the flames of
realms rest in an uneasy heap, leaning against and intellectual debate.
atop and even within one another; the irreparable Theories abound as to the precise nature of the
ruins of the world that came before. Astral and why it functions as it does. Perhaps the
It is clear that before the Ladder fell, mages inter- most persistent, however, are those with their roots
acted with ghosts and spirits. The Mysterium boasted in Atlantean orthodoxy, and they serve for sum-
the Cenacle of Sighs, a repository of knowledge and moners to explain much about why these worlds
lore that would have died with those masters who remain the province of the strangest entities in the
had passed from the material plane if not for the skill Fallen World. While variations exist (and are hotly
and power of the Alae Draconis. The Thyrsus of the contested between the various would-be sages of
day communed with small gods and the beings that the unseen worlds), the most commonly accepted
resided within objects, places, and ideas, forging pacts explanation dates back to the Ladder to Heaven and
of mutual benefit — though usually far more beneficial the catastrophic damage done to the nascent Fallen
to the mages than the spirits, if the old texts are to be World in its collapse. Caught within the rungs of the
believed — with the ancestors of those creatures that Ladder, wisps of Supernal substance, too rarified to
now reside in the Shadow Realm. While many records long survive within the profane reality below, drifted
of Atlantis are lost, many willworkers believe Twilight

20
upward, eventually settling in a layer between the
Fallen World and the Abyss, and giving rise to the Summoning and
Astral Realm.
Of course, this argument has its detractors, often
the Fallen Realms
Just as the beings of the Fallen World’s realms are
derided as wishful thinking on the parts of mages who
many, so, too, are the purposes to which they are
yearn for the lost days of Atlantis and an easy route
called from their homes and made to manifest before
back to the higher worlds. If the Astral Realm was
the summoner. Perhaps the most common reason
truly of the Supernal, critics argue, then mages could
is knowledge; of a given realm and its denizens, of
bypass the Abyss entirely and access the Oracles and
something that the entity knows (or is purported
their Watchtowers directly. Indeed, these skeptics go
to know), or whatever else. Of course, many of
so far as to argue that souls, even without initiation
these beings can only see the world through their
into the Mysteries, would be able to ascend to the
own eyes, largely devoid of the human capacity for
Supernal without traversing the Abyss. Regardless of
perspective. Even the most recently-minted ghost
the truth of the matter, those who study the Astral
of the dead is a static thing, the sum total of the
Realm agree that the creatures that inhabit it are
qualities that define it. Thus, experienced Fallen
not properly life — even ephemeral life — in the
World summoners caution those newer to the art,
traditional sense. Rather, they are incarnations of
warning them against putting too much stock in
ideals, concepts, and even aspects of the self; forms
what such entities have to teach. Always, such
that embody the formless.
veteran summoners warn, those that call these be-
The Underworld, on the other hand, does not often ings must question the creature’s agenda (for they
stir up the fiery debate as the Astral. So many cultures all have one) and, just as importantly, the limits of
seem to agree upon the fundamental nature of the its experience and frame of reference. While these
domain of the dead that even the most uninitiated beings can change, most of them cannot truly grow,
are capable of hearing stories that agree with certain and that is a critical distinction.
Awakened perspectives on the matter. Those who
Naturally, while knowledge for its own sake is well
study the subject, however, often tie their speculations
and good, most summoners desire information for a
on the Underworld’s existence to the selfsame Ladder
reason and that reason, more often than not, boils
mythology ascribed to the Astral. These mages believe
down to power. The Influences of Shadow Realm
the largest pieces of the Ladder crashed — metaphori-
spirits or the strange Numina of Astral beings are
cally — through the Fallen World, descending into
a tempting prize for the aspiring Fallen World
a bottomless nothingness, below, and creating the
summoner; abilities that are not easily countered,
Underworld. Thus, that realm can be thought of as a
even by one’s fellow Awakened. Indeed, some
place of absence. The absence of God. The absence of
few tales — tucked away in the deepest vaults of
hope. The absence of self. This thread runs through
Mysterium Athenaeums and Guardian strongholds
the center of many cultures’ beliefs. For the mage,
— speak of whole armies of spirits or ghosts, bound
however, it is the absence of the Supernal, perhaps the
to the will of a summoner whose ambitions vastly
greatest possible metaphysical distance between the
outstripped her good sense. The Awakening, sadly,
individual and the higher world; even the Abyss, for
often brings with it a sense of entitlement and the
all of its myriad horrors, is far closer to the Watchtow-
sense that one’s connection to the higher world of
ers than the Underworld, potentially the most telling
the Realms Supernal conveys a fundamental right
symptom of the sickness that is the Fallen World. In
to mastery over “lesser” worlds and their creatures
the Underworld, death ceases to have meaning as part
is pervasive among many summoners, particularly
of the soul’s journey. It is, instead, a dumping ground
those who work within the realms of the Fallen
for all that remains of the individual consciousness
World. The fact of the matter, however, is that
after the end, while the soul itself continues on to an
these realms carry their own dangers and bring their
uncertain destiny.
own powers to bear against those that presume too
It is out of these worlds — the Shadow Realm, much of them.
the Astral Realm, the Underworld, and the material
Of course, many Fallen World summonings are,
realm (and its immaterial Twilight) — that Fallen
relatively speaking, quite easy, and therein lies much
World summoners call forth spirits, ghosts, and other
of their peril. Any willworker who achieves even a
entities to attend them.

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 21

middling proficiency with, say, the Death or Spirit Ar- was known by both its mundane manifestation and
cana can call the appropriate entities to her. Likewise, by the consciousness that inhabited it. When battles
the Mind Arcanum grants access to many (though were fought, people knew the cosmic consequences
perhaps not all) of the odd beings native to the As- of their actions by the spirits of violence and suffer-
tral Realm. While the Underworld remains remote, ing that were spawned in their wake. When famine
it, too, is certainly easier to contact than certain of struck, the crops withered under the blighted touch
the bizarre planes that exist beyond the reaches of of entities incarnating want and hunger. Conversely,
the Fallen World. And familiarity breeds contempt, when a child was born into a happy home, spirits of
among willworkers as surely as among Sleepers. Those love and family bestowed their blessings, while spirits
who practice these summonings frequently become of the smithy labored alongside the craftsmen who
inured to their wonders and horrors. They start to forged soldier’s sword and farmer’s scythe, alike. In
see it as “just another ghost summoning.” Thereby, those days, say the willworkers who believe in such
these mages become a danger to themselves and those tales, gods and human beings walked the Earth,
around them. side by side; not always as equals, but in a balanced
The simple fact is that each of the realms presents symbiosis.
its own unique trials and pitfalls to the summoner. Regardless of the truth of the story, the proportioned
While it is certainly possible for a mage to study universe of which such Awakened speak is surely no
and practice the art of summoning across all the more. Spirit and flesh are divided from one another
Fallen World’s realms (and many dedicated Fallen by a wall that conceals the truth of human greed,
World summoners do just that), rarely will he hatred, cruelty, and despair. So, too, does it hide the
ever master all of the myriad nuances of even one spirits that arise out of rare acts of selfless kindness,
such realm. Certainly, all of these places share the genuine heroism, or unswerving compassion. People
underlying connection of a central position within don’t see the truth of what they do, anymore, and so
the Tapestry — as mages see things, anyway — but many of them simply cease to care. Out of sight, out
they can be as different from one another as night of mind. Not so for the Awakened, however, who
and day. are given the sight with which to know this invisible
realm, concealed within the Fallen World. Those who

Through the Gauntlet —

practice the summonings of the Shadow Realm are,
perhaps, more aware of all, for they call these coalesced

Shadow Summonings
Resonances, to learn from them, bind them, or even
pact with them.

Denizens of the unseen Shadow Realm, existing on

the far side of the Gauntlet that severs the material Spirit Summoners
from the ephemeral, spirits are animistic entities, Mages of all sorts practice the venerable art of spirit
comprised wholly of the Resonance out of which they summoning. Regardless of affiliation, willworkers
arise. They adopt the qualities of the circumstances invariably find uses for the diverse powers, unusual
and substances that define them: a spirit that wakes perspectives, and inherent ruggedness of the native
within a properly-used steak knife cuts to a particular creatures of the Shadow Realm. Below are examples
end: it slices food into smaller pieces. It doesn’t cut of what reasons mages of the different Pentacle Orders
paper or wood, and it doesn’t stab people. One that is (and beyond) might have for summoning spirits:
used improperly, however, may give rise to a murderous The Adamantine Arrow: Spirits of protection, war,
spirit, having more in common with instruments of strength, honor, or other concepts that resonate with
pain and death than other utensil spirits. The spirit the Arrow’s mission may be called to lend their aid to
of the knife, just like any other, becomes that which the willworker’s cause. Some may be invited to offer
creates it. counsel, while others are paid in Essence as merce-
Before the sundering of the worlds, many Awakened naries, still others are sent out to study the enemy’s
believe, the material and the ephemeral coexisted per- position, and still others are forged into deadly fetishes.
petually, if not always harmoniously. While spirits and Depending upon the individual Arrow’s beliefs, the
humans were not of the same flesh, they were of the summoned spirit may be treated with respect or as
same world, and each tree, river, mountain, or season just another weapon in the armory.

22
 ligence. When magic alone fails to suffice, summoned
spirits may aid in interrogation, bypassing psychic
Summoning Spirits shields with powers that never touch the mind.
Many resources already exist for the Fetishes enable Guardians to smuggle much-needed
dedicated Shadow Realm spirit summoner. enchanted objects into places that might otherwise
The Spirit Arcanum spells, “Spirit Tongue,”
register Artifacts or the more common Enhanced
“Ephemeral Shield,” “Lesser Spirit Summons,”
or Imbued Items. And, when all other options have
“Peer Across the Gauntlet,” “Place of Power,”
“Control Spirit,” “Familiar Pact,” “Greater run out, a summoned spirit can be sent to deliver the
Spirit Summons,” “Numinous Shield,” “Spirit order’s final judgment upon one who offends against
Road,” “Bind Spirit,” “Create Fetish,” “Essence the Veil.
Gift,” “Grant Familiar,” “Sacramental Chain,” The Mysterium: Many spirits are ancient creatures,
“Spirit Guardian,” “Road Master,” “Control possessed of a wealth of strange knowledge. Some
Gauntlet,” “Materialize Spirit,” “Shape Spirit,” mystagogue spirit summoners simply enjoy converse
“Spirit Court,” and many others are all po- with such entities, often learning dire secrets from
tentially vital tools in the spirit summoner’s them that the spirits happily divulge, whether out of
arsenal. With these magics, the willworker lack of understanding of the lore’s power or, indeed,
can call out to the creatures of Shadow, cre-
a lack of concern. Occasionally, enterprising Censors
ate a hospitable (or hostile) environment for a
summoned entity, bind a spirit to service in a
use summoned spirits to sniff out dangerous relics for
variety of ways, and guard against the retali- containment, while other willworkers of the Dragon’s
ation of a spirit unwillingly called. Wing bind them as sanctum guards.
The Silver Ladder: Théarchs have a longstanding
Many of these magics can also be em-
relationship with the spirits of Shadow. Some of the
ployed upon a spirit presently existing in the
immaterial state of Twilight (indeed, some, oldest histories of the Voice of the Dragon tell of
such as the “Spirit Tongue” spell, are largely bargains that kept the island nation of Atlantis at
intended for interaction with spirits in such peace with the spirits that coexisted with its people.
a state). Regardless of the spirit’s current Traditions of diplomacy and even goodwill may
location, however, the wise mage prepares encourage a mage of the Silver Ladder to summon
extensively before such a summoning — or spirits and discourse with them. Some théarchs hand
any summoning, for that matter. Better, down the lore of ages-old pacts to their apprentices,
experienced summoners say, to be overly teaching the secret words by which allied spirits
prepared than insufficiently protected. Spirits of the Shadow might be called forth from their
are volatile creatures, at times, and must be resting-places.
handled with the same sort of caution as a
hungry feral animal or raging brushfire.
The Seers of the Throne: Seers deal warily with
spirits, aware that such creatures are, at best, tem-
peramental, selfish, and deeply inhuman. Spirits
can’t often easily be subjugated and discarded, so
The Free Council: In the search for freedom from many Seers of the Throne try to keep them at a
the old Atlantean hegemony, Libertines seek new ways distance, when possible. Of course, any completely
of defining the Awakened relationship with spirits, and disregarded resource becomes an asset to one’s
new attitudes on summoning go a long way to rising enemies, so certain Seers practice the arts of spirit
above the Diamond’s often-unpleasant past with the summoning, merely to deprive the Pentacle Orders
denizens of the Shadow Realm. When a mage of the of a dangerous edge in the long conflict between
Free Council can discern no way around or through the two factions.
her current problem, she may consult a spirit for its Banishers: Those that aspire to the end of magic
unique insight. Those whose techné focuses intently tend to view the spirits of the Shadow Realm as merely
on a given subject may summon spirits aligned with another sort of demon. As so many Banishers reckon
such forces, hoping to gain a bit of otherworldly themselves damned for the “sin” of magic, they turn
inspiration. the tools of the enemy against him, summoning and
The Guardians of the Veil: Behind the Masque binding spirits with what skill they can muster. Of
lurk many uses for the creatures of Shadow. Guardians course, lacking as they do in any formal training,
summon spirits to aid in infiltration and counterintel- many Banishers end up destroying themselves through

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 23

 the gross mishandling of spirits too powerful for such
uncivil treatment. Those that do survive long enough
to become skilled spirit summoners, however, are
Summoning in Shadow
invariably quite dangerous. Given Shadow’s properties with respect
to vulgar magic (Mage: The Awakening,

Spirits of Shadow p. 283), coupled with the vulgar Aspect of a

number of summoning spells, many sum-
moners — regardless of the worlds into which
After ghosts, the spirits of the Shadow Realm are
they delve — prefer to attempt their magics
the entities most commonly called upon by Awakened
from that realm. This approach has its own
summoners; only the somewhat greater danger inher-
benefits and hindrances, of course.
ent to the art of calling upon spirits (as compared to
the shades of the dead) keeps them from being the Working for the mage is the Shadow
most consistently summoned of any ephemeral en- Realm’s mitigating effect on Paradox. Mages
tity. Some sample spirits follow, to be summoned by casting within this unseen world can breathe
willworkers and perhaps tasked with the protection of just a little bit easier while they work, know-
a sanctum, sent as emissaries to others of their kind, ing that the teeth of the Abyss are somewhat
or even bound into fetishes. blunted by Shadow’s influence. Further, as
Sleepers within Shadow are rare to the point
Sample Spirit: Silver-Skin of being virtually unheard-of, such mages
have little concern for random passersby
Silver-Skin has only recently Awakened to sen- stumbling upon a delicate summoning and
tience. Once, its physical reflection was owned by a ruining the entire process (likely, catastrophi-
powerful man. In time, that man passed on its corporeal cally). Free from the distractions of the mun-
vessel to his younger brother and the combination dane world, the summoner can practice her
of the elder’s pride and the younger’s gratitude has arts, away from the scrutiny of those blinded
stirred the long-dormant consciousness within to by the Lie.
wakefulness. Silver-Skin knows that it must protect all
of the things that its keeper places inside its physical On the other hand, the willworker is de-
cidedly not free from the distractions of an
form: papers, pens, a calculator, his iPod and ear bud
extraordinary world. Spirits can be curious
headphones, and whatever else fits inside the sturdy creatures, particularly with respect to things
aluminum briefcase. that will or might disrupt their comfortable
The spirit known as Silver-Skin appears, to those routines. Some spirits are simply opposed to
that can peer through the Gauntlet, as a slightly more any interlopers upon the territory that they
heavily armored version of the physical object that claim, human or otherwise, and drive out a
is its mirror: a somewhat outmoded, but nevertheless summoner the same way that they would
serviceable lightweight aluminum briefcase. When any other being. Some spirits might wish to
it needs to move, the spirit extrudes dozens of limbs see a summoning go awry, according to their
made of thin strips of paper from its closed seam and natures. Still others may be hostile to the
specific entities that the mage wishes to call
scampers along with surprising alacrity. If it needs
(this is often the case with Abyssal spirits and
to attack something, it opens, revealing teeth made
beings originating in the alien planes outside
from broken pens, half-straightened paperclips, and of the known limits of the Tapestry).
the like, and bites down. Silver-Skin is literal-minded
and takes very seriously its duty as a protector of In the end, each summoner must, as they
important things. say, pick her poison. Either option comes with
its own dangers and its own perks. Neither is
Silver-Skin uses its Protection Influence to prevent perfectly safe or even close to it, and mages
anyone but the briefcase’s owner from opening it, on both sides of the Gauntlet have certainly
though it would probably let his older brother into it, lost their lives (or worse) in the course of
as well. Of course, Silver-Skin is not terribly bright and casting summoning magics.
could certainly be tricked (or compelled) to relinquish
something that it is protecting, or to guard something
else. While not a powerful spirit, it will doggedly

24
 defend anything placed in its charge by whomever it Rank: 2
considers to be the owner of the briefcase. Attributes: Power 7, Finesse 2, Resistance 5
Rank: 1 Willpower: 12
Attributes: Power 2, Finesse 1, Resistance 4 Essence: max 15
Willpower: 6 Initiative: 7
Essence: max 10 Defense: 7
Initiative: 5 Speed: 17 (species factor 10)
Defense: 2 Size: 6
Speed: 13 (species factor 10) Corpus: 11
Size: 2 Influence: Access 2
Corpus: 6 Numina: Blast, Gauntlet Breach
Influence: Protection 1 Ban: No Entry may not pass through any doorway
Numina: Material Vision without first receiving permission to do so. The
Ban: Silver-Skin can never allow an unauthor- individual giving permission need not possess any
ized individual to access the materials inside the legitimate authority to allow entry; the spirit just
briefcase that is its physical reflection. needs to be allowed through by someone.

Sample Spirit: No Entry Sample Spirit: Tanglespeak

Its existence began simply: one too many thuggish Tanglespeak has existed for so many centuries, now,
bouncers had beaten the living shit out of one too that it forgets its beginnings. Perhaps that is for the
many guys who were wondering about that room that best, though, as the spirit’s strange wisdom would
their girlfriends were invited into in the back of the only be needlessly clouded by the burden of long
club. The sign on the door simply said, “No Entry,” memory. As it stands, the riddle spirit would likely
and the bouncers saw to it that no one who wasn’t just confuse itself with meandering puzzles about
personally requested by the owner and his friends got impossible origins.
back there. The spirit lingered, in the club, until three Tanglespeak skitters along on seven spindly limbs,
consecutive rape convictions put the owner behind each about as long as a grown man is tall. These odd
bars and the club into the hands of someone else, who legs fold ever inward, upon themselves, into an ever-
tore the place down to build a small parking garage. tightening cluster that forms the center of the spirit’s
Unhappy, No Entry wandered off, eager to find more ephemeral mass. In the middle of the spirit, only barely
opportunities to indulge its purpose. visible through the thicket of its form, is a faint light;
No Entry looks like a squat, hulking man made of like a candle’s flame, only glowing a pale, ghostly
cinderblocks painted dark red (the walls of the club) green. For those that can hear it, Tanglespeak’s voice
and heavy riveted steel, with flaking black paint (the has a vaguely feline quality — all purrs and languid
door to the back room). For the most part, the spirit growls — and is almost hypnotic.
moves ponderously, but it can explode into motion Characters who need to solve a riddle, puzzle, or some
if the opportunity for violence presents itself. When other intellectual conundrum might summon and
the spirit speaks, it does so with the overly-loud and consult with Tanglespeak. In its customary manner,
boisterous voice of every macho asshole who ever got the spirit will attempt to offer any advice in the form
a gig as a bouncer in an attempt to impress chicks by of a riddle, but it can be forced to speak plainly by a
beating down scrawny drunk guys. powerful enough willworker. Conversely, a character
No Entry wants to be given a job; it wants to limit hoping to confound an investigation or other cerebral
access to a place on the far side of a door. It wants a predicament might send Tanglespeak to do so.
boss, someone to say who gets in and who doesn’t. An Rank: 3
enterprising summoner might make No Entry an offer Attributes: Power 5, Finesse 9, Resistance 7
to serve as a sanctum’s doorman, or to protect some Willpower: 12
valuable arcane relic in a vault. Alternately, something Essence: max 20
that the characters need might be on the far side of a
Initiative: 16
door over which No Entry stands guard.

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 25

 Defense: 9 (or a whole cabal of them) might call 6th and Lake
Speed: 24 (species factor 10) with the intent of binding it into a ruinous fetish.
Size: 5 Rank: 4
Corpus: 12 Attributes: Power 11, Finesse 8, Resistance 10
Influence: Riddles 3 Willpower: 21
Numina: Claim, Discorporation, Reaching Essence: max 25
Ban: Tanglespeak must attempt to solve any riddle Initiative: 18
presented to it, without resorting to the use of its Defense: 11
Influence. Speed: 28 (species factor 10)
Size: 5
Sample Spirit: 6th and Lake Corpus: 15
It’s been a bad intersection since day one. Over the Influence: Misfortune 4
years, 27 people have died in auto accidents at the Numina: Discorporation, Harrow, Psychic Tor-
intersection of 6th Avenue and Lake Street. No one ment, Soul Snatch
is quite sure why; the visibility is just fine, and there
are no more potholes or other safety hazards than at
any other corner for a mile in every direction, but
that’s just how it is. All of that dying and the
persistent local dread attached to the intersec-
tion have given rise to a potent spirit, whose
powers and interests now go well beyond
fatal car crashes.
Possessing a vaguely humanoid
shape, 6th and Lake is comprised of
twisted metal and broken windshield
glass, spattered, here and there, with
fresh blood. The spirit smells of leak-
ing gasoline, burning rubber, and
smoldering upholstery, as well as a
faint odor of fear. The metallic com-
ponents of its form shriek loudly on one
another when it moves, while the glass
continually crunches. No matter what
it says, 6th and Lake’s voice sounds like
a chorus of frantic pleas for help from
within the acrid smoke billowing
out of a car on fire.
A summoner who desires
insight into any sort of
misfortune (her own or
that of others) might call 6th
and Lake, though only the
most powerful do so lightly, as
the gruesome mythology which has sprung
up around the spirit’s intersection
has made it powerful, indeed. For
the right price, 6th and Lake would
certainly be willing to inflict its
Influence upon someone of the
summoner’s choosing. An incredibly powerful mage

26
 Ban: 6th and Lake cannot cross any barrier made number of mages, really — are largely inconsequential
from undamaged car parts; even so much as an to such inconceivably potent entities. Frequently, the
unbroken line of brand-new hubcaps bars the summoning mage’s spell simply fails, with no sense
spirit’s path. that the desired spirit has even so much as noticed
the call. At no point in known Awakened history has

Greater Mysteries — an entity of the greatest possible spirit Rank (10) ever
answered a summoning. It may be that such beings
Spirit Royalty lack the ability to interface with reality on such a
limited scale.
While spirits of Rank 6 and greater are still deni-
zens of the same Shadow Realm as the lesser beings
with which the Awakened more regularly interact,
Summon Royal Avatar (Spirit •••••)
Since the most ancient times, mages have aspired to
their power and the sheer vastness of their respective
commune with the gods. Indeed, in ancient Atlantis,
natures put them on a different plane, entirely. As
the Ladder to Heaven was constructed for the very
the Archmasters are to Awakened of lesser prowess,
purpose of converse with the powers that moved (and
so, too, is Shadow’s royalty to those that serve its
were, in turn moved by) the most expansive processes
myriad of Princes, Duchesses, and the like. These
of the cosmos. The Celestial Ladder is gone, but be-
gods — for, surely, such is what they are — cannot
ings still dwell within the Fallen World possessed of
be summoned, bound, compelled, or in any way
such immense power as to be considered divinities in
meaningfully opposed, save perhaps by the elusive
their own right. Masters of the Spirit Arcanum who
Archmasters. Still, these entities are not wholly be-
wish to have contact with such entities make use of
yond the ability of lesser Awakened to contact and
this spell to do so.
perhaps even bargain with.
Practice: Making
Of course, any mage less than an Archmaster cannot
Action: Extended (target number = 25 successes)
hope to encompass the totality of such a being with
the known lore of the Arcana, and so such willworkers Duration: Prolonged (one scene)
instead use Spirit Arcanum magics to build a shell Aspect: Vulgar
suitable for hosting a miniscule portion of the spirit’s Cost: 10 Mana
power, through which it might interact, by way of Successful casting of this spell summons a royal
extending an invitation to the royal. Such “royal avatar to the mage’s location. Because of the tran-
avatars,” as they are called, act in virtually every way scendent nature of spirits of Rank 6 or greater, no
like the gods out of which they are summoned, save for Space Arcanum component is necessary to contact
the far more limited (thought still immense) scope of the spirit; it simply knows that it is being contacted
their capabilities. For all intents and purposes, a royal and either chooses to extrude an avatar or not. If the
avatar is the spirit that gives rise to it, for all that the spirit is unwilling to speak with the summoner, then
avatar says, thinks, and does is directed by the greater the spell automatically fails, regardless of successes
entity in which it has its origin. Naturally, such spirits accrued and Mana spent. Successes equal to five times
expect to be treated with deference, unto the point the avatar’s effective spirit Rank (of 5) are necessary
of worship; by their reasoning, any willworker who to build the ephemeral shell to be inhabited by a
wishes an audience should pay the proper homage to fragment of the royal’s consciousness and power. The
one of the fundamental forces of the universe. Those caster has no control, whatsoever, over the final Traits
who fail to show such respect as these being feel they of the royal avatar; the royal assigns them, instead,
are owed often receive appropriate chastisement. according to its wishes.
Depending upon the deity in question, this may mean If, at any point, the royal wishes to terminate
a long lecture, a penance to which the willworker is contact with the summoner, the spell automatically
irresistibly bound, a swift but agonizing death, eternal ends, with no roll necessary. Should the royal wish to
imprisonment in an unknown realm, or just about communicate directly with the willworker, then it may
anything else. simply shift the totality of its presence to the mage’s
Spirits of the station of King or Queen (Rank 8) location, though such is surpassingly rare. Not only
or greater almost never answer such a summoning, as do most spirit royals have no inclination to deal so
the concerns of an individual mage — or almost any directly with mortals, but the unscheduled arrival of

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 27

 so potent a being can inflict disastrous incidental con- from his unearthly bellow and thunderbolts strike
sequences on the local Shadow and material realms. down from on high.
Further, entities of equal or greater standing to the Summoners who desire insight into the nature of
royal may view such a move as an infringement against storms — whether literally or conceptually — may
territorial boundaries and retaliate accordingly. appeal to the Thunderer for an audience with a royal
Casting this spell is an act of hubris, requiring any avatar. Likewise, those who need assistance in time of
mage with four or more dots of Wisdom to roll three conflict, who wish to strike fear into their enemies, or
dice against degeneration. who require illumination in the darkness might dare to
Silver Ladder Rote: Descent of Kings inscribe the ancient seals and call out to him. Those
Dice Pool: Presence + Expression + Spirit who presume to summon the Thunderer, however,
As they did in times of old, modern théarchs still must beware his legendary temper and many seek
dare to summon individual facets of the gods, them- to placate him with gifts appealing to his nature:
selves, when the need is dire. Throughout the ages, weapons of war, for example, or Essence harvested
this incredibly dangerous spell has passed out of the under stormy skies.
exclusive lore of the Silver Ladder and into the hands Rank: 5
of willworkers of all orders. Attributes: Power 15, Finesse 15, Resistance 15
Willpower: 30
Sample Royal Avatar: The Thunderer Essence: max 50
Thor. Perun. Susano’o. Indra. Shango. He has worn
all of these names and many more, besides. From
the first moment that humans looked up to behold
lightning splitting the sky, he was there, hurling
bright spears and smiting the vault of the heavens
with his cudgel. With a temperament as
dynamic (and, often, wrathful) as the
elemental fury that he embodies, the
Thunderer is a powerful, masculine
deity, venerated by countless societies
— from fearful clans of Neolithic hunter-
gatherers, to some of the strongest empires
in history — throughout the long ages of the
world. The Thunderer is a warrior and, just as
often, a troublemaker. Sometimes, he is steadfastly
loyal and, at other times, he is fickle, with all of
the tact and decorum of a spoiled child. He is
unimaginably intimidating, but possessed of the
demeanor of royalty; frequently, he is either the
son of a pantheon’s Sky Father or else he, himself,
fulfills that lofty role.
The Thunderer’s avatar towers over mere mortals.
His massive, muscular frame is wreathed in roiling
dark clouds and his wild hair and long beard are
woven of writhing strands of lightning. His eyes
reflect the raw power of every storm ever to shake
Heaven and Earth since the dawn of time. He is
always armed: with a spear, warhammer, club, or
other weapon indicative of thunder, lightning, or
both. When he speaks, those before him are whipped
by gale-force winds and lashed by driving rain.
When he raises his voice in anger, glass shatters

28
 Initiative: 30 to cast this spell. Summon Cryptid may not be cast
Defense: 15 at sympathetic range, even if the mage otherwise
Speed: 40 (species factor 10) possesses a sympathetic connection to the creature
Size: 20 that she is attempting to summon.
Corpus: 35 Success in casting this spell summons a cryptid out of
its hiding place and compels it to present itself before
Influence: Storms 5, Strife 4, War 4
the caster. The creature may or may not be peaceful;
Numina: Blast, Harrow, Materialize, Material Vi-
the spell offers no protections of its own against a hos-
sion, Psychic Torment, Reaching, Wilds Sense
tile cryptid. A cryptid may willingly forego its roll to
Ban: The Thunderer must not depart a place with- contest this spell if it actually desires to make contact
out leaving it in some way scarred by destructive (out of curiosity, loneliness, or even hunger).
elemental force.
Mysterium Rote: Fortean Bestiary
Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult + Spirit
Evolution’s Exiles — Cryptids Mystagogues often have occasion to encounter
aberrations of the natural world. Those that make a
At the edge of Shadow, lurking around the Verges
between worlds (or other similarly chimerical locales), habit of such unusual adventures sometimes wish to
dwell the creatures that once were, and still are, but be able to call up a particular specimen for study, rare
which cannot be: cryptids. Driven, perhaps, by some sacramental components, or even just a pleasant chat.
subtle and ill-understood sense to places as impossible This rote is ancient, indeed, and has long since passed
as themselves, cryptids stake out territories on the into the hands of mages outside of the Mysterium.
fringes of the known world. Some few are intelligent
enough to attempt to build and to thrive, but most Sample Cryptid: Chupacabra
are essentially extraordinary animals, desiring merely Many different sorts of entities get branded with
to eat, to mate, to hide from the sight of humanity, the moniker of the chupacabra (“goat-sucker”); a beast
and to live free. These bizarre entities, not quite flesh alternately described as resembling a bear, a reptile, a
and not quite spirit, can be called by mages who learn dog, or some combination of the three (often bipedal
the secrets of summoning them. or semi-bipedal). Tales of the creature originate in
1990s Puerto Rico, though they have since been
Summon Cryptid reported — with all of their varied appearances —
(Life ••• + Space •• + Spirit •••) all over Latin America, the United States, and even
further abroad. Some say that the creature is shy and,
Willworkers interested in seeing the Mothman,
the Jersey Devil, the Fiji mermaid, or the Mongolian others, that it is aggressive in the pursuit of livestock
death worm often find nothing but fanciful tales and upon which to feed. Some chupacabras have even
badly-crafted fake corpses for their efforts. Those who been seen in broad daylight, along roads or otherwise
learn this spell, on the other hand — and who dare well out in the open, and at least a few have allegedly
to wander into some of the loneliest and remotest been filmed or killed. Most of the videos and corpses
places on Earth — sometimes find a great deal more. have been written off as perfectly mundane animals,
This spell calls a cryptid out of the Verge or other such as mangy coyotes, but some aren’t so easily clas-
impossible space in which it dwells. sified by science.
Practice: Weaving This particular specimen looks like an awkwardly
proportioned hyena, with the scaly hide of a dark
Action: Instant and contested; target rolls Resis-
brown monitor lizard and only the odd tuft of beige
tance reflexively
fur poking out at its joints, from inside its ears, and
Duration: Prolonged (one scene) at the tip of its stubby tail. The creature has a loping,
Aspect: Vulgar uneven gait that, nevertheless, allows it to cover a
Cost: 1 Mana great deal of distance quickly. Its oversized head hangs
The willworker must be physically present at the site low to the ground and sways from side to side when
of the Verge or other “impossible space” that contains it walks, sniffing the ground for the scent of prey. Its
or encompasses the cryptid’s personal domain in order mouth bears only two teeth, which fold out like a co-

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 29

 spends a point of Essence when closing in on any
one creature defined as a median life form (Mage:
The Awakening, p. 180). The creature contests
the chupacabra with Resolve. If the chupacabra
accrues more successes than the animal, then
the animal remains placid and motionless until
the chupacabra pounces; effectively, the cryptid
gains the benefit of surprise on the first turn of its
attack.
Ban: The chupacabra must drain an animal of at
least Size 3 completely of blood at least once every
lunar cycle. If it fails to do so, the cryptid cannot
regain Essence by any means until such time as
it feeds again.

Sample Cryptid: Gray Alien

Hollywood sensationalism has made
them famous: the so-called
“gray aliens” of urban leg-
end. These beings are also
sometimes called “Zeta
Reticulans” (after
their alleged home
star system of Zeta
Reticuli) or “Roswell aliens”
(from the belief that several of them,
whether alive or dead, were recov-
ered in or around Roswell, New
Mexico, on July 7, 1947). Most
of the stories about them tell
of suppressed emotions, vast
bra’s fangs when it is about to feed. The chupacabra’s intelligence, and travel between the stars. Some
eyes are a faintly luminous red and, when hungry, believe that the grays are peaceful scientists, while
the cryptid smells faintly of sulfur. Sometimes — others maintain they are bent on conquest. Since
particularly at night — the chupacabra lets out a cry the Roswell incident, however, gray aliens have
that sounds like a woman’s panicked scream. When been spotted all over the world, with thousands of
closing on prey, it emits a soft, warbling trill, intended sightings on record, many of which have never been
to entrance its victim. successfully debunked.
Rank: 2 These particular cryptids stand about three feet
Attributes: Power 4, Finesse 5, Resistance 4 tall, with willowy bodies that seem almost incapable
Willpower: 8 of supporting their oversized heads. Huge almond-
Essence: max 15 shaped, steeply sloping black eyes dominate the
gray-white faces of the entities. Their mouths are
Initiative: 9
tiny and toothless, while their noses are nothing
Defense: 5 more than a small bump with nasal slits. They dress
Speed: 24 (species factor 15) in form-fitting black suits that cover them completely
Size: 4 to the neck. The grays have no discernable genders.
Corpus: 8 Their small, four-fingered hands are dexterous, though
Influence: Hunting 2 they tend to move slowly and deliberately. Some
Numina: Trill (dice pool 9). The chupacabra carry strange technologies, which they use for various

30
(typically uncertain) purposes. These cryptids often
travel from out of strange Verges that occur far above
Sample Cryptid: Sasquatch
The sasquatch, also known as the “skunk ape” (for
ground level. what some claim is a telltale unpleasant smell) or
Rank: 2 Bigfoot, is a cryptid believed native to the area around
Attributes: Power 3, Finesse 6, Resistance 3 the western border between Canada and the United
Willpower: 6 States. Perhaps related to the also-famous yeti or other
Essence: max 15 “hairy men” of myth and folklore, the sasquatch is a
Initiative: 9 shy, retiring cryptid. Only rarely are accounts given
Defense: 6 of violent behavior on the part of sasquatches, which
Speed: 12 (species factor 3) are usually more afraid of humans than humans are of
Size: 3 these looming creatures. Some stories, however, tell
of curious sasquatches who seek out lone humans or
Corpus: 6
small groups, perhaps drawn by the scent of cooking
Influence: Travel 4 food, or even to study the small, noisy beings that so
Numina: Impossible Technologies (dice pool 9). closely resemble them.
The gray spends a point of Essence to temporar- An adult sasquatch allegedly stands anywhere from
ily craft a piece of impossible machinery: devices six to 15 feet in height, though most accounts tend
for telepathic communication, the generation of toward the smaller end of that scale; eight to nine
anti-gravity fields, and the like. These devices feet or so, and about 500
last for a scene before breaking down into pounds in weight. The
components that register as inconclusive cryptid most closely
to modern scientific tests. By spending resembles a hulking
one point of Essence per item, a gray cross between a
can sustain its impossible technologies human being and
from scene to scene. a gorilla, walk-
Ban: When in the material realm, a gray ing with a long,
alien must always leave some evidence swift stride and
of its presence. swaying arms. The

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 31

sasquatch’s matted hair is often dark brown in color
(enabling it to blend in with the trunks of trees and
the shadows cast by their leafy boughs), though lighter Taming the Beast
shades have been reported. Only in the rarest of in- Some mages look at the cryptids of the
stances does this cryptid evince aggression, preferring Fallen World as a source of endless infor-
instead to flee into the depths of the wilderness, away mation, strange creatures that need to be
from most any creature of approximately its size or researched and catalogued. Others see them
larger. Sasquatches occasionally roar, but they are also as sources of strange poisons and miracle
capable of vocalizations that may, in fact, be primitive elixirs, or even just as prey to be hunted.
Some few, however, set eyes on a cryptid and
speech, used to communicate among the small family
start thinking about care and feeding.
groups in which they often travel.
Rank: 3 Perhaps the most significant difficulty in
Attributes: Power 6, Finesse 4, Resistance 5 doing so is the need to keep the creature in
Willpower: 11 proximity to the Verge or similar “impossible
space” to which it is drawn. While cryptids
Essence: max 20
don’t necessary start to die without these
Initiative: 9 places (though some do), most soon begin
Defense: 6 to show signs of anxiety when deprived
Speed: 25 (species factor 15) of them, eventually turning unpredictably
Size: 6 violent. Further complicating the matter is the
fact that unintelligent cryptids are, effectively,
Corpus: 11
supernatural wild animals and intelligent
Influence: Concealment 1, Wilderness 2 ones invariably object to being kept as pets.
Numina: Wilds Sense
Ultimately, these creatures really aren’t
Ban: The sasquatch may not initiate aggression meant for cages, no matter how well ap-
against any living thing, though it may act in self- pointed. They are magnificent oddities of
defense or the defense of its family group. the Fallen World, meant to exist in the wild,
where they serve to demonstrate that reason

Restless Shades —
has not yet triumphed over wonder.

Summoning Ghosts
Emotional echoes left behind when a soul departs pace the places where they died, and haunt the
the world — afterimages invisibly burned onto the steps of those important to them (for good or for
Tapestry of reality — ghosts are the commonest beings ill) in life.
native to the immaterial state of the material realm, On the subject of ghosts, the old lore of the Awak-
known as Twilight. Certainly, other entities exist ened is clear: ghosts aren’t people; they are not even
within that slightly different metaphysical “energy truly sentient (though many believers — as well as
state” of the material, but they are either surpass- many ghosts, themselves — certainly think they are).
ingly rare (such as the projected consciousnesses of Instead, they are nothing more than elaborate sets
corporeal beings) or else native to other realms (like of programmed responses, derived from the person-
Twilight familiars). Thus, ghosts are effectively the ality templates of the individuals of whom they are
uncontested inheritors of this insubstantial reflection nothing more than pale copies. Interestingly, this
of the physical world. And they are everywhere: exact necessarily implies that ghosts existed during the
numbers are hard to track (for obvious reasons), but time of Atlantis, despite the fact that many Awak-
the number of people, worldwide, who die each day ened point to their existence as one of the cruelest
is presently in the low hundred-thousands, and many symptoms of the Exarchs’ Lie. Those willworkers who
of those people leave behind ghosts when their souls uphold both orthodoxy and the theory that ghosts
depart the Fallen World in the attempt to migrate are a sign of the damage done to the Tapestry during
back to the Realms Supernal. They walk the halls the Fall believe that it is the inability of the human
of the homes that once sheltered them, aimlessly soul to readily ascend to the Supernal at the moment

32
 task for those with even a modicum of training. Ex-
ceptions exist, of course, but exceptionally potent
Spectral Summonings shades are rare, as all but a scant handful of ghosts
Any mage aspiring to practice the ways of slip away, into the Underworld, within a decade of
the summoner with respect to the shades of death, at most.
the departed has a ready repertoire of spells
at her disposal. The Death Arcanum spells,
“Speak with the Dead,” “Ghost Summons,”
“Touch of the Grave,” “Control Ghost,” “Ghost
Ghost Summoners
Mages of all sorts call ghosts to service, every
Gate,” “Restore Corpus,” “Haunting,” “Twi- day. While the ends to which these entities are put
light Shift,” “Quicken Ghost,” and still others remain many and varied, certain commonalities
are all potentially useful for dealing with emerge within the different Pentacle Orders, as well
ghosts still existing in the Twilight state.
as the other Awakened fellowships — organized or
Once a ghost has been called from the Un- otherwise — throughout the world. Some examples
derworld (see pp. 41) with the Death 5 spell, of the purposes to which various willworkers might
“Summon the Dead,” it can be targeted with summon the restless shades of the dead lingering
any or all of these spells, as well. A word of within Twilight:
caution, however: those unquiet spirits that
The Adamantine Arrow: The ghosts of Fallen
descend to the Underworld are occasionally
far more powerful than the ones lingering, warriors often have useful counsel to impart to the
unseen, in the material realm. Further, such living. Skilled tacticians, for instance, may be willing
ghosts are frequently deeply degenerate, hav- (or may be compelled) to share the knowledge of their
ing lost much of their Morality while dwelling strategies with those who call to them. Likewise, a
on the invisible fringes of the world. deceased master of a rare and exotic weapon can be
engaged as a tutor by an Arrow or a slain courier can
be given an opportunity to impart the vital message
that she died carrying. Some Arrows are also known
of death that somehow causes the disconnect that to use the ghosts of the dead as soldiers against en-
makes ghosts “wrong” in the present configuration of emies ill-prepared for such an unconventional vector
reality. Such theorists go on to say that death was, in of assault.
those days, accepted as a natural part of the cycle of The Free Council: Even after freedom fighters,
the soul’s journey, making ghosts more keepsakes of innovators, and revolutionaries of all sorts shuffle off
the dead than objects of fear. The argument doesn’t the mortal coil, they may well still have lessons to
really stand up under the weight of the innumerable teach. Libertines summon such ghosts to hear their
tales of ancient willworkers seeking the means to incendiary speeches and unorthodox methods. Other
cheat death, but the facts, scarce though they may mages of the Free Council approach ghostly summon-
be, do seem to imply that something changed in the ing as a science unto itself, performing all manner of
fundamental nature of the restless dead in the sever- experiments to discern the outermost parameters of
ing of the worlds. the practice and, potentially, to create entirely new
Ghosts are probably the most commonly summoned applications for an ancient mystic art.
entities from any part of the Tapestry, or beyond. In The Guardians of the Veil: While it is sometimes
fact, most mages don’t even really think of the spells said that “dead men tell no tales,” Guardians of the
used to call ghosts and command their services as Veil who practice ghostly summonings often beg to
truly being a form of summoning, so pervasive and ac- differ. Even the grave cannot hold a secret against a
cepted is the practice in Awakened society. Certainly, persistent Guardian’s inquiries. Furthermore, ghosts
the belief in the non-sentience of ghosts plays into make for phenomenal spies and, sometimes, even
this, but it also has a great deal to do with the virtual assassins. They can be also used as deterrents, scaring
inability of the overwhelming majority of ghosts to Sleepers away from something that they are not meant
defend themselves against various applications of the to see. Alternately, they can entice parapsychologists,
Death Arcanum; on average, ghosts are the weakest occultists, and other such nosy sorts toward some read-
of the ephemeral entities of the Fallen World, making ily debunked phenomenon, sabotaging the already
their subjugation through magic a relatively simple paper-thin credibility of paranormal study.

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 33

 The Mysterium: Mystagogues have a long-stand-
ing tradition of using the shades of the dead for all
sorts of purposes. Ghostly teachers lecture away in Ephemeral Slavery
the dark corners of Athenaeums, imparting knowl- The old ways still hold sway among many
edge upon young willworkers that might otherwise willworkers. Even now, the “laws and tradi-
be lost, while other ghosts are bound to dangerous tions of Atlantis” are looked to in awe by the
relics by the magics of paranoia Censors, standing an modern Awakened who quibble over what,
endless vigil. Still other shades are interrogated for precisely, those laws and traditions were. On
what they know of a given old ruin or lost grimoire, the subject of ephemeral entities, however,
many of the ancient tomes agree: ghosts,
or else sent into dangerous territory, to return and
spirits, and the like are not inherently deserv-
report on what they’ve seen, before living souls dare ing of freedom, in the manner of a human be-
to venture in. ing. Instead, they are commodities, to be used
The Silver Ladder: The théarchs of the Silver as required by any willworker with the power
Ladder occasionally look to the inspiring leadership to command their service. In fact, many of the
of those who have gone before, summoning ghosts oldest texts recount that humanity is owed
to learn the nuances of their patterns of speech, the the service of these beings, whether they
gestures that they make when addressing the con- wish to give it or not.
stituency, or other small details that help to turn a
Others, however, believe this attitude to be
competent leader into a great one. Likewise, in their
provincial and outmoded; self-aggrandizing
endless search for the Imperium Mysteriorom, mages bigotry in its truest form. Libertines of the Free
of the Ladder look to the examples of those Fallen Council are often the mages most respon-
who have spent their lives reaching for the Super- sible for spearheading this notion that ghosts,
nal destiny of humanity, to discover what secrets spirits, and such deserve to be treated with
they have to teach. Indeed, along with willworkers dignity and respect. Just as many modern
of the Mysterium, those of the Silver Ladder rank people recognize that humanity must not use
among the likeliest to summon and converse with the Earth and its creatures without any sense
ghost mages. of mercy or restraint, these willworkers pro-
The Seers of the Throne: Like everything else, a pound a more tolerant, charitable perspective
on the beings that Fallen World summoners
ghost is a commodity to a Seer of the Throne, to be
call up and bind to service. This perspective
acquired, used as desired, and thrown away when its
sits poorly with most mages hailing form the
production no longer exceeds its upkeep. Seers freely traditional Diamond Orders, though it finds
summon ghosts for information-gathering purposes, for some purchase among Arrows and a hand-
extended guard duty, or even just to have something ful of théarchs. Guardians of the Veil and
disposable to throw in the way of Pentacle mages in hot mystagogues, however, are, for the most
pursuit. More versatile ghosts are, of course, preferred, part, simply far too entrenched in a system
but these are also typically stronger and, thus, a bit that gives them license to use and dispose of
harder to summon and — more importantly — control. these entities, as needed, to embrace some
When possible, though, a ghost-summoning Seer is sort of “Libertine nonsense” that preaches
happy to get his hands on a ghost mage, particularly “ephemeral rights.”
one who, in life, studied Arcana other than those In a number of Consilii throughout the
possessed by the Seer, himself. world, though, this debate rages and the
The Banishers: The destruction of magic requires summoners who inhabit them pay close at-
many sorts of weapons and the Awakened can be sure tention to the theater of public opinion, aware
that at least some Banishers out there are willing to that the accepted practices of today can read-
employ any one of them. Ghosts are merely another ily become the reviled acts of tomorrow.
weapon in the arsenal of the dedicated Banisher,
and yet another unwelcome reminder of the invis-
ible struggles to which such misguided willworkers for information, turning them against her when the
wish that they could blind themselves. A Banisher time comes to strike, hoping that a moment’s hesita-
stalking a given mage may summon ghosts close to tion from seeing a familiar face will set her up for a
her (whether emotionally or by simple proximity) killing blow.

34
 The Left-Handed: Left-Handed willworkers
put ghosts to some of the most abhorrent uses to
which these entities can be bent. Tremere liches, Anchors
in particular, often being quite skilled in the arts In terms of the shades of the dead, an an-
of the Death Arcanum, are particularly egregious chor is any person, place, or thing that serves
offenders. Some such mages summon ghosts for use as a ghost’s tether within the material world:
as sex slaves or victims of pointless tortures, enacted effectively, the points upon which its safety
simply for the amusement of the summoner. On a net over the Underworld is secured. When
more pragmatic level, Left-Handed mages some- all of these things are gone, whether through
the simple processes of time or deliberate
times compel ghosts to terrify, harm, and even kill
destruction, the ghost has nothing further to
the living; sometimes in the body of the beloved hold onto, and it descends into the realm of
family dog or a trusted friend, and sometimes as the dead, from which very few ghosts ever
nothing more than a disembodied presence that return, however briefly.
batters flesh with unseen fists. Likewise, they are
as hungry for knowledge as any other willworkers For a willworker, however, a ghost’s an-
chor fulfills another highly useful purpose.
and occasionally call ghosts for the knowledge that
Such an item constitutes an Intimate sympa-
they possess. thetic tie to the shade (Mage: The Awaken-
ing, pp. 114–6). Through this connection, a
Ghosts mage with the Space Arcanum can easily
target the ghost with scrying (or other) spells
As described in the World of Darkness rulebook, at great distance. Granted, few willworkers
pp. 208–16, ghosts are immaterial entities, dwell- have much interest in what a random ghost
ing within the Twilight state of the material realm, does with its spare time, but one sent into the
on account of some manner of unfinished business. sanctum of an enemy, and then spied upon
Presented below are four sample ghosts: two that with magic is another matter entirely…
might be used as quick resources by a mage (whether
a player character, a friend, or even a foe) in need of
spectral assistance, one with which characters might
sympathize and attempt to aid, and one — a ghost
mage — that is definitely a power (and, potentially, was simply androgynous in life, but it’s just as likely
a threat) in her own right. that the frightful shade no longer remembers. Trails
of insubstantial mist follow the ghost as it moves,
Sample Ghost: Frightful Shade obscuring the already hazy lines of its form.
Sometimes, a mage needs to get rid of somebody. The frightful shade’s only remaining anchor is a
She’s not looking for a fatal solution, just something chipped and worn porcelain doll’s head, about the size
to make a person leave a place. Maybe she wants a of a softball. One of the blue glass eyes is missing, as
particular house for her sanctum, because of the Hallow are patches of its fraying golden-yellow hair. Its rosy
that sits on its roof. Or, perhaps she’s a Guardian of the pink lips are quirked in a subtle smile, dimpling its
Veil who needs to make sure that a Sleeper journal- cherubic cheeks. The head may have belonged to the
ist stops sniffing around a particular paranormal site. ghost in life, though it might also have been a gift
Then again, maybe she’s just interested in horrifying given to a beloved child, now long since gone.
a victim into madness. The frightful shade is useful Attributes: Power 4, Finesse 3, Resistance 2
for any or all of these pursuits. Willpower: 6
This ghost is pale and faded, even when viewed by Essence: max 10
those capable of looking into Twilight. Its eyes and Morality: 3 (Depression, Fugue)
mouth are black pits. Long years have worn down Virtue: Hope
its attachment to the material and the shade will
Vice: Sloth
almost certainly vanish into the Underworld within
Initiative: 5
the next few years, if not sooner. Even the ghost’s
gender has become difficult to discern; perhaps it Defense: 4

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 35

 Speed: 17 (species factor 10) Initiative: 6
Size: 5 Defense: 3
Corpus: 7 Speed: 16 (species factor 10)
Numina: Phantasm, Terrify (The World of Dark- Size: 5
ness, p. 212) Corpus: 8
Numina: Animal Control, Telekinesis (The World
Sample Ghost: Shock Troop of Darkness, p. 211)
When fear alone is insufficient to the task, more
direct methods are sometimes required. Certain ghosts, Sample Ghost: Hannibal Ford
overwhelmed by the horror of their Fates, turn vicious Hannibal Ford was a good man. He worked hard
and violent, resentful of the living, targets for their and took care of his twin toddlers; a son and a daugh-
oftentimes indiscriminate rage. When a willworker ter. His wife and
is simply looking for an attack dog to stick on her children loved
enemies, he could do a lot worse than to sum- him dearly. He
mon and bind such as a ghost to his service. was on his way
The shock troop died badly, and it’s apparent home from the
in his mangled form: he looks as though he was mini-mart when
mauled to death by a big dog. Ragged strips of he got mugged.
skin and even muscle hang limply from exposed It was unusual for
bone, in places, and his throat should his part of town,
be is a wet, gaping hole, from which since he lived in a nice
a bit of his severed windpipe dangles. neighborhood, the sort
The ghost’s face is half missing. He of place where stick-ups like
still wears the janitorial jumpsuit that didn’t happen. Maybe the guy
in which he died, as torn to thought Hannibal was going for a
shreds as the rest of him. gun. Maybe he was strung out and his
Two anchors still con- trigger finger twitched. Whatever the
nect the shock troop case, the gun went off, discharging into
to this world. The first Hannibal Ford’s stomach. Seeing what
is his father’s gold wrist- he’d done, the mugger panicked and fired
watch, recently restored three more shots into the badly wounded
and presently under the glass man before running off. Hannibal died
countertop in a secondhand en route to the hospital.
store. The other is the skull The ghost of Hannibal Ford appears (ei-
of the feral dog in whose jaws ther when manifested or to those who can
he perished: a hulking, black perceive the immaterial state of Twilight)
English mastiff. The dog died (of as a stocky, handsome African-American
natural causes, having never been found man in his mid 20s, with close-cut hair
after the janitor’s death) in an abandoned and a few days’ stubble on his cheeks and
junkyard outside of town. Its sun-bleached chin. His shade’s residual memories are of
skull still sits at the foot of the unstable the clothes that he was wearing when he
pile of rusty scrap metal where the mastiff died: a pair of beat-up jeans, sneakers, and
lay down and breathed its last. a hooded sweatshirt. Four holes in his stom-
Attributes: Power 3, Finesse 3, Resis- ach — the afterimage of the gunshot
tance 3 wounds that killed him — continu-
Willpower: 6 ally seep dark blood. Occasionally,
Essence: max 10 he clutches at his injuries, leaving
Morality: 5 (Irrationality) bloody handprints on anything that
Virtue: Justice he touches for awhile afterward.
Vice: Wrath

36
 Hannibal’s wife and children are his only anchors; Defense: 2
they mean the world to him, even in death. Some- Speed: 14 (species factor 10)
times, it’s hard to see how much the kids have grown Size: 5
over these past two years, because they did it without Corpus: 8
their father, but he stays out of a fierce devotion to his
Numina: Ghost Sign (The World of Darkness,
family. He desperately wants revenge on his murderer,
p. 211)
but never really got a good look at the guy. If Han-
nibal ever heard the killer’s voice again, though, he’d
remember the man in an instant. Sample Ghost Mage: Kuzunoha
Attributes: Power 2, Finesse 2, Resistance 3 She had been many things to many people over the
course of her long life, but Kuzunoha — named for
Willpower: 5
the foxwife who was mother to the famous sorcerer,
Essence: max 10 Abe no Seimei — was certainly not as immortal as
Morality: 7 her namesake. She passed quietly in her sleep at the
Virtue: Fortitude age of 103, having lived what was, by all accounts, a
Vice: Envy splendid life; full of all of the joys and pleasures that
Initiative: 5 anyone could hope to ask for. But it wasn’t enough
for Kuzunoha. She needed just a little bit longer,
wanted just a little bit more. In the end, her restless
spirit lingered, trying in vain to experience a few
more fleeting moments of the life that she
felt ended too soon.

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 37

 A tiny slip of a woman, Kuzunoha’s great-grand- the extra effort to be well worthwhile, as ghost familiars
motherly face is offset by the cascading silvery-white are often easier to work with than the capricious and
wave of her ankle-length hair. The ghost doesn’t walk, alien entities of the Shadow Realm.
so much as she glides, her feet seemingly lost (and, Of course, only ghosts of the lowest order can be
perhaps, invisible) in the billowing folds of her long, bound to a mage’s soul and will in this way, the same
traditional kimono. She speaks softly, for the most part, as with the spirits customarily adopted as fetches and
though her voice takes on a terrible aspect when she is embodied familiars, alike. For unknown reasons, more
angered. Kuzunoha’s eyes are entirely black, reflecting potent shades do not take to the process; perhaps
everything that she sees with eerie perfection. their remoteness from life makes them unsuitable for
The chambers in which the Council used to meet, use as ghostly familiars. Likewise, ghosts that have
before her death, are one of Kuzunoha’s anchors; she descended to the Underworld, no matter how weak
once spoke for the Acanthus of her Consilium. So, or recently deceased, cannot be bound in this way.
too, is one of her antique kimonos (the very one in The Underworld is a jealous realm and it invariably
which her ghost appears, in fact). More than anything, reclaims all that which belongs to it.
Kuzunoha’s spirit wants to be alive, again, even if only
for a few moments, so as to savor just one more taste Ghost Familiar Pact (Death ••••)
of all that life has to offer. With this spell, a willworker forges the familiar bond
Real Name: Yamada Chiharu between himself and a ghost of Twilight.
Rank: 3 Practice: Weaving
Attributes: Power 4, Finesse 7, Resistance 6 Action: Extended (target number = Merit dots)
Willpower: 10 Duration: Lasting
Essence: max 20 Aspect: Covert
Initiative: 13 Cost: 1 Mana
Defense: 7 See the Ghost Familiar Merit, below, for more
Speed: 16 (species factor 5) details. The target must purchase the Ghost Familiar
Size: 4 Merit to secure the bond, which cannot be dispelled.
Corpus: 10 As normal, only one familiar (ghostly or otherwise)
Influences: Fate 5, Life 2, Mind 3, Prime 3, Space may be pacted to one person at any given time.
2, Spirit 4, Time 4 The caster must be able to see and speak to the
Numina: Fate, Life, Mind, Prime, Space, Spirit, desired ghost (see the Death 1 spell, “Speak with
and Time Arcana (see Mage: The Awakening, the Dead” (Mage: The Awakening, p. 135), and
pp. 327–8, for more information on ghost mages he must be able to touch it with each extended roll
and their Influences/Numina) (see “Touch of the Grave”; Mage: The Awakening,
p. 138). If the ghost is physically manifested during
Ban: Kuzunoha cannot directly target her own
the casting, however, then the willworker need not be
anchors with any of her abilities, and any Para-
able to communicate with or touch entities in Twilight
dox that she would normally accrue for using her
to cement the familiar bond. As with conventional
Influences instead damages her anchors.
familiars, a ghost familiar must be willing to accept
the mage’s pact.
Ghost Familiars Mysterium Rote: Forlorn Pact
Dice Pool: Wits + Occult + Death
Many mages consider the practice of taking ghosts
as familiars to be one of the more unusual among sum- Sometimes by way of threats, bribes, or other forms of
moners specializing in the material realm, but those coercion, and sometimes on account of sincere offers of
who bind such entities to service in this manner hold aid and companionship through the long, lonely years
it to be an intuitive extension of the summoner’s craft. of restless death, mages of the Mysterium occasion-
While the process requires somewhat more skill in ally enter into the familiar bond with the shades of
the lore of the Death Arcanum than is necessary for the departed. At least a few willworkers of all orders,
a mage skilled in Spirit to bind a more conventional however, know of and employ this grim magic.
familiar, those who take on such beings often believe

38
Grant Ghost Familiar (Death •••••) Cost: 1 Mana
The willworker is capable of forging a familiar bond See “Ghost Familiar Pact,” above. The subject pays
between a ghost and another mage. By way of this the Merit cost. As above, the familiar bond may not
magic, mages unskilled in the secrets of the Death be forced onto an unwilling ghost. Also as above,
Arcanum might gain ghostly familiars of their own. this spell may not be cast upon a mage who already
possesses a familiar, ghostly or otherwise.
Practice: Patterning
Silver Ladder Rote: Aid of the Departed
Action: Extended (target number = familiar
dots) Dice Pool: Presence + Persuasion + Death
Duration: Lasting Through the use of this rote, willworkers occasion-
ally bestow ghostly familiars upon friends, allies, and
Aspect: Covert
students.

Merit: Ghost Familiar (•••)

Prerequisite: Awakened

Effect: The willworker has a magical bond with a ghost within the immaterial state of Twilight.
Unlike a normal familiar, ghost familiars may not be embodied, though they can attempt to manifest
(The World of Darkness, p. 210), as normal. Even while insubstantial, however, a ghost familiar may
touch, and be touched by, the mage to whom it is bound. Likewise, the bound shade may speak with
the willworker and hear her words, without the need for any other magics. Ghostly familiars exist on the
material side of the Gauntlet, but can travel with their masters into Shadow, or go there themselves, if
they possess the appropriate Numina.

The act of bonding with a ghost in this way frees the restless shade from reliance upon its anchors: it
may still travel to them, as normal (The World of Darkness, pp. 209–10), but it no longer needs them.
Even if all of its anchors are destroyed, the ghost remains within the material realm, rather than de-
scending to the Underworld. Further, the ghost may now range as far from its master as a normal famil-
iar might, and the familiar bond bestows a modicum of self-awareness upon even the dimmest residual
shade. Such ghosts regain a bit of personality (through proximity to the Supernally-fortified souls of the
mage to whom they are bound); enough to interact on the same level as a more conventional familiar.

A ghost familiar spends and receives Essence in the same manner as a fetch, though the ghost fa-
miliar can only gain Essence from its bonded willworker or through proximity to a place resonant with
death. The empathic connection conveyed by a normal familiar bond exists between a mage and her
ghost familiar. Likewise, the ghost familiar constitutes a Sensory sympathetic tie for its bound mage,
and the willworker can spend the shade’s Essence as points of Mana.

Ghost familiars are built as fetches, with the following exceptions:

• A ghost familiar retains its Virtue and Vice, and benefits from them, as normal. (Note, however, that
the ghost familiar’s Morality score, and any derangements associated with degeneration, are lost when
the familiar bond takes hold; the ghost no longer needs its Morality trait to function normally.)

• A ghost familiar has no Influence or Ban.

• A ghost familiar has two ghost Numina (The World of Darkness, pp. 210–2), rather than one spirit
Numen.
• As above, ghost familiars attempting to manifest do so according to the rules that govern ghosts,
rather than those for normal fetches.

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 39

 Lily’s still wearing the Sunday best that she had on
when she fell, though it, too, is faded. Despite being
a ghost, Lily has a cheerful demeanor and is prone to
giggling like the six-year-old she was when she died.
Sometimes, her voice and laughter echo distantly as
she skips along, heard but only rarely seen by those
who cannot look into Twilight.
Mommy (Rose) and Daddy (William) are Lily’s two
remaining anchors, but she never visits them, anymore.
They’re separated and waiting for the divorce to be
finalized. Mommy spends a lot of time crying, while
Daddy spends a lot of time drinking and then crying.
Both of their lives completely fell apart when their
little angel died in a freak accident. It breaks Lily’s
unbeating heart to see them this way, so she stays away
from both of them, as much as possible.
Attributes: Power 2, Finesse 3, Resistance 3
Willpower: 5
Essence: max 10
Virtue: Faith
Vice: Envy
Initiative: 6
Defense: 3
Speed: 15 (species factor 10)
Size: 3
Corpus: 6
Numina: Animal Control, Ghost Speech (The
World of Darkness, pp. 210–1)
Sample Ghost Familiar: Lily Kenzie
Lily Jennifer Kenzie was six years old when she fell Sample Ghost Familiar: Heroin Johnny
down that flight of stairs in her grandmother’s house When Johnny died, it was with the needle still
and broke her neck. She was dead the very moment sticking out of the crook of his inner elbow. It was no
she hit the hardwood floor. Despite that, Lily still surprise, really; no one stays on the horse for that long
remembers hearing her Grammy scream, and then without eventually paying the piper. It was a bad, bad
her parents, and then everything turned into a blur batch of heroin, to be sure, but all it did was hasten the
of strangers, and a funeral, and sadness that destroyed particularly ugly end that was inevitably coming for
her family. Mommy and Daddy stopped loving each him. For years, he semi-mindlessly stalked the second
other when she died. Grammy passed away of a broken floor of the crumbling derelict apartment building
heart, not long after, but Lily never found her among in which he died, driving off any interloper without
the shades of the dead. Maybe she just didn’t have the thought or compunction. Then, some concerned
will to hold on. When someone came along who could soul managed to get through to whatever dim part of
actually see the little ghost and was willing to be her Johnny’s mind still flickered inside the hollow shell of
friend, Lily was all too happy to accept his offer. his ghost, and he agreed to the familiar bond. Sadly,
Lily’s head is permanently skewed at an angle from that “concerned soul” was a Tremere lich, and being
her broken spine. The snapped vertebrae bulge gro- dead has gotten a whole lot worse, since then.
tesquely at the back of her neck. Despite this, she’d be “Heroin Johnny,” as his master calls him, certainly
a cute kid, if it weren’t for how eerie she now looks, looks the part of a strung-out junkie. He’d stand six
with a wan, wasted complexion that was clearly once feet tall if he didn’t slouch nearly six inches of it away,
healthy and rosy. Her blonde curls have faded to and his gauntness borders on the appearance of severe
ivory, while her lips are dark and her eyes, shadowed.

40
anorexia. The scores of holes in his arms, legs, and
elsewhere continually weep what looks to be a mixture
of blood and heroin. Johnny’s ghost is dirty and his
hair is a clumpy dark tangle that perpetually hangs
in his face. He smells of old sweat and the faintest
whiff of the piss and shit that soiled his threadbare
jeans when his insides let go, while his shirtless torso
is adorned by a small, faded tattoo of a four-leaf clover
on the right side of his chest.
The old apartment building’s second floor (where
Johnny was squatting when he died) is still an anchor
for him, though he’s never allowed the time to visit
it; not that he’d particularly want to. Johnny has no
other ties to the material world, though the building
and the lich are two too many. At this point, he’d
much prefer the sweet release of oblivion.
Attributes: Power 3, Finesse 3, Resistance 2
Willpower: 5
Essence: max 10
Virtue: Prudence
Vice: Gluttony
Initiative: 5
Defense: 3
Speed: 16 (species factor 10)
Size: 5
Corpus: 7
Numina: Magnetic Disruption, Phantasm (The
World of Darkness, pp. 211–2)

The Dead
Amongst the Dead —
The Underworld
Doors. Corridors. Archways. Shadowy chambers; kind, she is taken by an urge to wander downward,
ranging from caves, to vast mausoleums, to vaulted ever downward, into the parts of the realm of the
cathedrals, and more. These are the things that ghosts dead never chronicled by its unhappy shades, there to
speak of when they are summoned up from the Un- open one last door and step through, into a Fate that
derworld. So, too, do they tell of societies of the lost not even the wisest know. Some few, extraordinarily
and forgotten dead, most of whom have long since strong-willed, ghosts manage to stave off this calling,
given up hope of being claimed by the heavens — or but rare, indeed, are those who last more than a handful
even hells — of which they were taught. Then again, of centuries, let alone stand fast against the crushing
many of them believe they are in Hell, having been tide of a millennium… or longer. Those that do are
judged and found wanting, and cast into exile from rightly accounted among the most potent ghosts in
life, along with countless millions of others. the Fallen World and powers to be reckoned with,
And when, at last, a ghost in the Underworld has even when measured against the magics of a Master
dwelt for too many interminable centuries among her of the Death Arcanum.

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 41

 Of course, things other than ghosts dwell within
the benighted depths of the realm of the dead and
Grave Goods these beings, too, command the attention and
Summoning ghosts and other entities from even fascination of summoners. Necromancers of
the Underworld is a dangerous undertaking, all stripes — from freewheeling Libertines, to stoic
far more so than calling up the overwhelm- Guardians of the Veil, to the most cruelly selfish Seer
ing majority of the shades wandering the of the Throne — can find reasons to have dealings
material realm. Given that (for the most part) with these morbid powers, as do others who deeply
a ghost is a ghost, is a ghost, why would a pursue the lore of Death. Ultimately, many mages
summoner be willing to take the risk of deal-
summon from the Underworld because it is a place
ing with a potentially much more powerful
being, when she could easily get the job done
of mystery, barely understood by the living and only
with one more easily controlled? slightly better studied by the dead who inhabit it.
The Underworld is one of the last true frontiers of
Among the many reasons for calling ghosts the Fallen World and so willworkers both intrepid
up from the realm of the dead is the pres- and foolish draw their seals and speak the words of
ence of enchanted objects that exist within binding, in the hopes of being among the first to
the Underworld. Ghosts from that realm can unravel its secrets.
be consulted for information on such items
and, eventually, sent to procure them for the
summoner. A number of Stygian Artifacts, for
example, have at times turned up inexplica-
Underworld Ghosts
For all of the shades that dwell, unseen, within
bly within the Underworld, leaving mages to Twilight, far more reside in the dark realms of the
wonder if they’ve been there since the time of
Underworld. The inevitable Fate of any ghost not
the Fall. In other cases, ghost mages actually
utterly obliterated within the material realm or
create Enhanced and Imbued items within
the realm of the dead, both for their own use somehow deliberately bound to another purpose, the
and for the use of their friends, allies, and ghosts of the realm of the dead are a grim host, many
servants (or masters). In some cases, these of whom have long since surrendered to the crush-
objects can be smuggled out of the Under- ing despair of their unenviable circumstances. They
world by a cunning summoner. band together in mockeries of living societies and
Naturally, as with any pursuit of ensor-
try to keep one another company against the endless
celled items, attempting to traffic in the Un- night, but theirs is a sad lot and all save a handful are
derworld’s works of mystic artifice is an iffy eventually compelled to seek out a new destiny — or
proposition. But, for mages who need or want total obliteration — among the deepest corridors and
a particular Artifact, the truth of the matter is further doors of the Underworld.
that there may simply be no other way to ac-
quire it. The dead, however, covet what little Sample Ghost: Reginald Lawton
they have and are sometimes known to take Despite being relegated to the Underworld, Reginald
vengeance upon those who steal from them. didn’t die so very long ago. In fact, he’s only been
counted amongst the dead for about a year, now. He
doesn’t know how it happened, but something went
Underworld Summoners wrong with the boiler in his palatial estate and he woke
from a sound sleep to the entire place exploding into
For the most part, willworkers of various affiliations flames. Everything he had was in that house, and all
summon the shades of the Underworld for many of the of the few things that he loved. Everything that was
same reasons to which they call them in the material of value to him, gone in a matter of minutes, as fire
realm: knowledge, counsel, ready supplies of expend- scoured the place down to the very last old painting,
able soldiers, and the like. These ghosts tend to be stick of antique furniture, or gilded heirloom. In the
more powerful, but a sufficiently potent practitioner absence of any anchors to keep him in the material
of the Death Arcanum can often (if not always) cow world, Reginald immediately fell to the realm of
many of them into submission. the dead, realizing with shock and horror what had
become of him.

42
 is surrounded at all times by the sickly-sweet smell
of burning flesh. Reginald is an amazingly accom-
A Sense of Self modating ghost, all too happy to do anything that
When a ghost’s anchors are finally gone (or he possibly can to have even a moment out of the
when it otherwise loses its tenuous connec- Underworld. To one who promises a way to restore
tion to the material realm), it falls, inexorably, him to life (regardless of whether or not she lies),
into the Underworld. Upon arriving in the Reginald is a devoted slave.
realm of the dead, however, a strange thing Attributes: Power 2, Finesse 3, Resistance 1
happens: the ghost regains some measure
of its volition, becoming once more capable
Willpower: 3
of thoughts, emotions, and deeds that are no Essence: max 10
longer defined by set responses imprinted Morality: 5 (Phobia: Fire)
at the instant of physical death. Theories Virtue: Hope
abound as to why, exactly, this is, but some Vice: Greed
Awakened scholars believe the soul some-
how “glances off” of the Underworld after
Initiative: 4
the body dies, leaving a bit of its substance Defense: 3
there, a fragment of the self that merges with Speed: 15 (species factor 10)
the spiritually empty template of the psyche Size: 5
encapsulated within a ghost. This miniscule Corpus: 10
shard, say such willworkers, returns a mea-
sure of sentience to a restless shade when it Numina: Magnetic Disruption, Terrify
finally descends to the realm of the dead.
Among its other, potentially staggering,
implications, this means that ghosts in the
Underworld are capable of a certain degree
of growth and personal evolution. They can
study languages that didn’t exist when they
died or hold opinions about events occur-
ring centuries after their bodies
have gone to dust. The dead
talk amongst their own (in most
cases, they have little else to do)
and they learn. And that is — or
should be, anyway — a poten-
tially terrifying thought for those
mages who believe that the ghosts
of long-dead Atlantean Masters and
Archmasters still dwell among the in-
numerable shades of the Underworld.

Now, Reginald Lawson’s ghost looks like

a blackened skeleton, with rough hunks of
carbonized meat and shreds of burned clothing
clinging to the bones, and a few uneven tufts of
charred hair protruding from his incinerated scalp.
Reginald has no eyes or, indeed, any facial features,
at all, other than small bits of charcoal skin cling-
ing to his fire-blasted skull. When he speaks (in a
hoarse rasp), smoke pours from his skeletal jaws and

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 43

Sample Ghost: Martha Essence: max 15
She knows that the events leading up to her death Morality: 4 (Suspicion)
were traumatic, and that’s why — even after all these Virtue: Prudence
years in the Underworld — she barely remembers Vice: Envy
most of her life. She has flashes of memory, but can’t Initiative: 10
manage to put them together. She had children and Defense: 5
maybe grandchildren. Or perhaps those were someone Speed: 19 (species factor 10)
else’s grandchildren, given to her to raise. Martha no Size: 5
longer recalls. And she knows that Martha was the
Corpus: 10
name that was given to her when the master of the
plantation purchased her as a girl. That memory is Numina: Clairvoyance, Phantasm, Possession
still quite clear, for whatever reason. She remembers (The World of Darkness, p. 211–2)
a lot about the master; he was an ever-present figure
at the plantation, all of her life. And, oddly enough, Sample Ghost: Chloderic
other white men called him “master,” too. But he A sixth-century Frankish soldier, serving under the
wasn’t there when the men from town savagely beat Merovingian dynasty, Chlorderic barely remembers
her, hung the noose over one of the boughs of that what it was like to be alive, anymore. He’s been dead
old tree out in front of the house, and killed her. And for well over a millennium, now, and sometimes
she never knew why. wonders if he ever really lived, at all. But he’s seen
Martha looks to be a smallish woman of late middle too many shades wander down the deeper corridors
age, stooped by a lifetime of hard work. Her skin used when thinking those thoughts, only to open the
to be the color of coffee, but time in the Underworld doors furthest in the shadows, never to return; and
has left her with a gray-brown appearance. Her face so he puts those thoughts away when they trouble
is creased by innumerable wrinkles and what was, him and considers other matters, instead. When the
in life, light gray hair is now bone white. Martha dark thoughts plague him most, Chloderic thinks on
moves slowly, for the most part, on account of the the secret that his king told to him and which he was
severe joint pain that plagued her in her later years, commanded never to repeat. In the three years that
but which she no longer actually feels. On the rare he lived with that secret and the nearly 1,500 since,
occasion that she speaks, Martha’s voice is deep, and he never has.
her words are both carefully chosen and few. Out of a Chloderic was a tall man for his age, just shy of
lifetime of ingrained instinct, Martha treats any white six feet in height. Though he isn’t hugely tall in
face with deference, keeping her head bowed and her the Underworld, anymore, he looms with a pres-
eyes down. The ghost’s garments appear sturdy and ence conveyed by the raw power of long centuries.
well-made, though simple. What was, in life, a pale complexion now appears as
A willworker who looks into the history of the a deathly white tone to his ephemeral form. Once-
plantation might learn that Martha knows more than blond hair — worn long both on his head and in
she thinks she does. Those “grandchildren” that she his beard — is a washed-out ivory-gray. While his
raised weren’t hers; they were, instead, members of a pupils are unfathomably dark, Chloderic’s irises are
line of Proximi, cultivated by the théarch who owned white; whiter than the whites of his eyes, in fact. He
Martha. The Seers had already murdered him when still wears a ghostly reflection of the armor in which
their Sleepwalker thugs came for her, but she — like he died, but the ancient ghost now knows that it is
the master of the plantation — died having never told nothing more than a fabrication of his self-image.
her killers the names of the children, all of whom had The newest language he speaks is Medieval Latin;
been sent north weeks before. A summoner who calls after that, the ghost lost any desire to keep up with
Martha to the material realm might be able to restore the ever-changing tongues of the living.
her memories and, through the use of old genealogies, Naturally, none of Chloderic’s anchors remain in
gain access to the unwitting heirs to a once-powerful the material realm, but enterprising mages may learn
house of Proximi. something of the secret that he holds and attempt to
Attributes: Power 4, Finesse 5, Resistance 5 summon him from the Underworld in order to have
Willpower: 9 that lore. Conversely, if the secret is tied to an Arti-

44
fact, grimoire, or other enchanted item, a willworker readily available to those that could persuade them
might unwittingly call the ghost up from the realm to part with the knowledge.
of the dead, only to learn what a truly potent shade Centuries of ill-advised summonings and even
is capable of. more ill-advised journeys into the realm of the
Attributes: Power 9, Finesse 6, Resistance 10 dead ultimately proved the futility of that course.
Willpower: 19 Whatever these beings were — whether creatures
Essence: max 25 of the Underworld that predated the presence of
Morality: 2 (Depression, Fixation) the human dead there, or Specters of Stygia, forever
Virtue: Fortitude cut off from their distant homeland — they had no
memories of the time before the first human ghosts.
Vice: Pride
At first, they dwelt among those dead, feeding upon
Initiative: 16 those unhappy shades as they desired, but the sheers
Defense: 9 numbers of the dead eventually grew overwhelming
Speed: 25 (species factor 10) and the entities fled deeper into the endless corridors
Size: 5 of the Underworld, there to hide themselves from
Corpus: 15 the ghosts that they came to fear and whom they
Numina: Animal Control, Compulsion, Ghost envied, for having ever known life. Over the ages,
Speech, Telekinesis, Terrify (The World of Dark- the so-called chthonians delved so deeply into the
ness, pp. 210–2) realm of the dead that they became all but impos-
sible to locate for any Underworld explorer and

Dead, But Never Born — were forgotten by all save the most sagacious (and
powerful) of summoners.

Chthonians With the possible exception of some of the most

unusual beings of the Astral Realm, chthonians may
When willworkers first began to explore the Un- well be the strangest entities in the entirety of the
derworld, they discovered things that they did not
expect: inhuman things, dwelling amongst the dead.
These beings were powerful and jealous… and hungry.
Mages who dared to ask questions of them (and who
survived long enough to return to the living realm
with news of their answers) reported that these enti-
ties had no recollections of having ever been alive.
In fact, the Necromancers who managed to make
relatively peaceful contact with these beings soon
realized that they much more closely resembled the
Specters of Stygia (see Chapter Two) than the shades
of the human dead.
From that point, theories abounded among Un-
derworld seekers and summoners, regarding the
nature of these strange spirits. At last, a consensus
among mystagogues and théarch scholars decreed
that these beings were, in fact, casualties of the
destruction of the Ladder to Heaven; natives of
Stygia that had somehow “survived” (so to speak)
the Ladder’s collapse. Perhaps due to their identity
with death, these creatures, alone, were capable of
weathering the transition from Supernal World to
Underworld, transformed, though not destroyed. If
such were the case, then they would, truly, be things
dead, though never born. Further, such entities might
contain within them the secrets of Supernal lore,

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 45

Fallen World. They are utterly without anything even back toward the realm of the dead. At the precise
remotely approaching a human perspective. While moment of the next new moon, a bound chthonian
capable of feigning meaningful interaction with a is freed from its imprisonment, vanishing back into
willworker, those few mages who have managed to the Underworld, regardless of the magical precau-
scan the thoughts of a chthonian (and not come tions taken to hold it. Those attempting to read the
away mad from the process) have discovered that thoughts of a chthonian must — whether success-
these entities do not seem to actually process these ful or not — attempt to resist the overwhelming
communications within the core of what passes for alienness of the entity’s consciousness; a Resolve +
their minds. Instead, dealing with a summoner is, for Composure roll, penalized by the chthonian’s effec-
them, more akin to reflexively scratching an itch: tive spirit Rank. Failure results in the mind-reader
the action addresses a momentary inconvenience, immediately gaining a number of active derange-
but occurs without conscious thought or effort and ments (of the Storyteller’s choosing) equal to the
is soon after utterly forgotten. creature’s effective spirit Rank, persisting for at least
Physically, chthonians are loathsome. One may a number of months equal to that Rank.
take the form of a rotting blob of formless Corpus, for Chthonians do, both despite and on account of their
instance, or a soupy cloud of noxious gas. Another is a totally inhuman natures, have incredible insight to of-
bubbling, greasy heap, comprised of a seething soup of fer into the matters of death. They may be able to recall
decomposing organic matter, with the occasional jut- information from ghosts that they have consumed and
ting bone, half-putrefied organ, or leering skull jutting some of the most isolated and powerful — those of at
out of its otherwise undifferentiated mass. Yet another least an effective spirit Rank of 4 — allegedly know at
takes the shape of a festering, slimy, horse-sized hybrid least a little about the doorways to the Lower Depths
of a housefly, a death’s head moth, and a cockroach. situated in the deepest parts of the Underworld. Some
Chthonians invariably adopt forms that call to mind few are believed to possess knowledge of Artifacts
the most grotesque processes of death, often coupled or other precious commodities that have somehow
with the meanest sorts of life; particularly those as- ended up in the realm of the dead.
sociated with scavenging and mortality.
Mechanically, chthonians are created like spirits Summon Chthonian (Death ••••• +
(though they are not) and range from entities of Prime ••• + Spirit •••)
miniscule power (effective spirit Rank of 1 or 2) Mages who wish to learn the some of the strangest
to stillborn gods (spirit Rank 6 or perhaps even secrets of death sometimes discover this spell when
greater). Only those corresponding to the first five perusing ancient grimoires in some of the oldest
spirit Ranks can normally be summoned into the Awakened libraries in the world. Concealed within
material realm, though rumors exist of ancient rel- its arcane formulae is a summoning spell intended to
ics, the physical manifestations of dark and terrible call to the material realm one of the dread and alien
pacts that can call up the most potent chthonians. chthonians.
When called to the material, chthonians exist Practice: Making/Unmaking
within the Twilight state and lack the ability to
Action: Extended
physically manifest; they cannot do so under their
own power and cannot be made to do so by another. Duration: Prolonged (one scene)
All chthonians possess an Influence of Death, at Aspect: Vulgar
varying levels and may use this Influence, among Cost: 2 Mana per Rank (see below)
other things, to accomplish the same feats that a In order to summon a chthonian, a willworker
willworker might with an equal number of dots in must accrue five successes per desired effective
the Death Arcanum. spirit Rank of the entity: five successes for a Rank
While the Spirit Arcanum is used to summon 1 chthonian, for instance, or 20 for a creature of
chthonians, the Arcanum otherwise does not in- Rank 4. Further, two points of Mana must be spent
teract with them. Instead, they can be targeted by in the casting for each Rank of the chthonian. This
any of the Death Arcanum spells that affect ghosts. spell is not contested as chthonians appear to lack
Chthonians may be bound in the material world (with the wherewithal to resist a summons to the mate-
the Death 4 “Haunting” spell, for example; Mage: rial realm (though they are perfectly capable of
The Awakening, p. 143) but they are forever drawn contesting any other magics directed at them once

46
 they are present). As specified, above, a summoned a stringy yellow-green fluid from its spongy hide. Its
chthonian exists in the immaterial state of Twilight voice sounds like the buzzing of flies, just inside the
and cannot materialize, by any means. Further, ear, and is often accompanied by a crawling sensation,
no matter what steps are taken, the entity always all over the listener’s skin. Worm within the Marrow
returns to the Underworld at the next new moon, takes its time when it speaks, seemingly in no rush to
if not released (whether by the cast or under its answer whatever questions are put to it.
own power) before such a time. Rank: 2
Attributes: Power 4, Finesse 2, Resistance 6
Sample Chthonian: Worm within the Marrow Willpower: 10
Like the rest of its kind, it has no proper name, but Essence: max 15
willworkers have dubbed it Worm within the Mar- Initiative: 8
row and whatever outer reflex of its consciousness
Defense: 4
deals with their kind recognizes that title as its own.
Speed: 11 (species factor 5)
Once, long ago, this chthonian devoured the shade
of a powerful willworker and mages have periodically Size: 6
called it in the centuries since, hoping to glean some Corpus: 12
insight into her works; particularly certain spells that Influence: Death 3
she never shared with even her most favored students Numina: Harrow, Soul Snatch
and several Artifacts that she hid before her death. Ban: Once Worm within the Marrow attacks any
Worm within the Marrow appears in creature, even in self-defense, it must attempt to
the form of a hugely fat, writhing devour that creature.
maggot, about the size of a couch,
with grinding mandibles, sur- Sample Chthonian:
rounded by a ring of scores
of tiny, round black eyes.
That Which Is the Door
No one really knows who first sum-
It stinks of badly rot-
moned or named That Which Is the
ted meat and leaks

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 47

Door. Its title shows up in a few obscure libraries
throughout the Awakened world, but few have any Meanings Amidst
Madness —
explanations as to why such a creature would be
summoned, at all. The sole service that the chtho-

Astral Summonings
nian purports to offer is already within the grasp
of Masters of the Death Arcanum: That Which Is
the Door opens gateways to the Underworld for
those that request such a thing. Perhaps, though, While the Underworld may be the least understood
it is capable of creating portals to particularly use- of all the realms to which mages have access, the
ful or interesting locales within the realm of the Astral Realm is perhaps the most perplexing. Other
dead, enabling its summoner to access knowledge worlds are, in one way or another, at least somewhat
or items of power lost to the living world. quantifiable; they possess qualities that any mage
That Which Is the Door is a great, heaving so inclined can — at least in part — decipher and
mass of rotten flesh and bone, contained within a understand. But the Astral Realm is something dif-
slick, transparent membrane. Gobs of putrid mat- ferent, entirely. It reflects (or, perhaps, creates) the
ter continually churn audibly underneath its thin dreams, hopes, imaginings, and archetypes that move
“skin,” as the entire thing continually consumes through every mind, human or otherwise, throughout
and replenishes itself. When That Which Is the the Tapestry. No wonder, then, that its native entities
Door speaks, it extends slender tendrils of its are bizarre by even a summoner’s standards.
membrane toward whomever it addresses, allowing The largest obstacle confronting any would-be
the rudimentary limbs to hang, quivering, in the Astral summoner is the problem of interpretation. A
air before the subject of its statements and inqui- single mind is a complex enough thing, even for those
ries. Its voice sounds like thick, slithering liquid, who spend a lifetime studying its secrets. So much
stirred by some relentless hand. If the chthonian more so is the collective consciousness of the Astral
opens a gateway to the Underworld, it does so by Realm. The raw amount of informational input that
breaching its membrane and spilling its wretched, a willworker can receive is staggering and, potentially,
stinking mass out, onto a doorway or other portal, even harmful. Colors from the Astral, for instance, are
preferably a hatch or other passage down, through not simply more vivid; they are essentially more what
a floor. It then either coagulates once more or, they are than is possible within the material world.
itself, returns to the realm of the dead, as its sum- The same goes for a scent, or a philosophy, or a fear.
moner requires. Everything within the Astral Realm is simultaneously
Rank: 4 far less substantial and far truer to its own nature: an
ideal, unconstrained by the profane limitations of mass
Attributes: Power 10, Finesse 12, Resistance 11
and flawed substance. The geography of the Astral is
Willpower: 21 defined not by “where,” but instead by “what,” “how,”
Essence: max 25 “when,” or even “who.” Thus, those who traffic in
Initiative: 23 these powers, calling them down from their rarified
Defense: 12 realm, must exercise the greatest caution, lest they
Speed: 32 (species factor 10) become caught up in a reality too perfect, too true,
to be real.
Size: 9
In summoning an Astral entity, of whatever sort,
Corpus: 20
a mage might bear in mind that what he calls is not
Influence: Death 5 exactly a being as he knows it but, rather, the tiniest
Numina: Psychic Torment, Soul Snatch, Under- fragment of an ever-shifting mass of thought-stuff.
world Gate While the entity may, in fact, be the one that he seeks,
Ban: That Which Is the Door, despite its nature as its existence within the Fallen World must, necessar-
a portal to the Underworld, may not cross through ily, be influenced by the innumerable stray thoughts
any door, archway, or other portal, or even over that border the illimitable space in which it resides
a threshold. and which effect, and are in turn effected by, its only

48
vaguely individual qualities. Déjà vu and short-term the Fallen World (and, perhaps, those mirrored within
memory loss might plague a mage who summons more the Realms Supernal), the overarching godforms of the
powerful imagery, for example, making the truth of the Tapestry. By calling forth these, the deepest concepts
summoning experience difficult to decipher. Likewise, of reality, the summoner tempts the destruction of his
when attempting to summon manifest concepts, the identity, as it is swept away by an ideal whose subju-
experience can be nearly blinding to the mage as he gation of the individual is no more malicious than a
navigates stark, blatant symbolism, cast in fleeting tidal wave that sweeps away a sandcastle. By their very
shells of ephemera. These summoned aspects can nature, these pure icons of thought and idea interface
distort the willworker’s sense of time, place, or even with the consciousness of the summoner, who can
the self, and he sometimes finds that the summoning easily be drawn into fantasies of godhood and even
process lasts for many hours — or even days — longer omnipotence, should she fail to anchor her sense of
than he intends. Caught up in the surreal splendors self through more forceful means. In the wake of such
of the Astral Realm’s denizens, some Awakened have a summoning, many willworkers feel dull or listless,
sickened or even died of malnutrition or other forms as though everything around them is devoid of true
of bodily neglect before successfully disengaging from meaning and virtually unworthy of consideration. For
a summoning. the Awakened, it is a sobering experience; to connect
When the willworker attempts to call upon another with power as vast as it is impersonal, and then to
individual’s ego, or the archetypes that encapsulate be cast back into the smallness of a single conscious-
that individual, seeing things from her target’s perspec- ness, even one refined by a connection to the Realms
tive can grant potent knowledge of her target. The Supernal. For this reason, masters often forbid these
downside to this type of summoning is the obvious sorts of summonings to students who learn of them,
disassociation of self, for the mage risks believing lest their apprentices slip into an endless haze of
she is the subject of her Astral inquiry; much like a remorse over the disconnection of the self and the
practitioner of the Life Arcanum, without a proper All, the real and the true.
anchor of identity, she will become lost in the sensa- And that may well be the heart of the matter, with
tion of this “summoned self,” eventually staining her respect to Astral summonings. Just as with so many
own self-image with external thoughts, feelings, and summonings, those called down from the Astral are
dreams. In this manner, more than one such summoner used for the purposes of gleaning information; in this
has walked down the road of total self-annihilation case, a very particular sort of information, and one
through misuse of Astral summonings, erasing all that often exists in scarce supply within the material
traces of the person who was and psychologically realm: truth. Somewhere within the Astral Realm
becoming someone else, entirely… whether real or lies the bared totality of every consciousness residing,
imagined. whether in whole or merely in part, inside any portion
Of course, calling upon the inner self, through of the Fallen World. The insight that willworkers can
one’s Oneiros, is no less dangerous than summoning gain from such encounters is not only awesome in its
down the Astral reflections of others. In many ways, scope, but also vast in its application. The subconscious
in fact, this process is even more dangerous, as the realm of one’s own Oneiros, for example, contains a
willworker’s psyche possesses fewer buffers to defend wealth of answers and perspectives, realities of one’s
against the extremes of her own consciousness. Such identity and true nature that the mage may hide even
a summoner might be overwhelmed by the lingering from herself. In dreams, as it is said, all things are
shadow of her seven-year-old self’s sense of rejection possible, and mages who explore their Oneiroi learn
when her father walked out on the family, or by some to access and analyze those possibilities. Even when
stray fragment of a nightmare that she experienced they cannot be realized within the material realm,
last week. Because these elements comprise, and are they almost invariably offer valuable self-knowledge
native to, the mage’s own mind, her psyche accepts to the willworker who dares to call down the entities
them. From there, these minute facets of the self can that thrive within her dream-world.
expand to overtake larger portions of a summoner’s By accessing the deeper reaches of the Astral,
identity. however, a mage can summon more than merely the
The most dangerous of all Astral summonings, denizens of her own dreams; she can call forth the
however, are those of the fundamental archetypes of beings that reside within the dreams of others. While

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 49

 only the most skilled and experienced students of the incredibly forthright and, often, tactless; they exist
mind can makes heads or tails of many of the things only to advance the drives that they represent. Unless
that reside in their own dreams — let alone those confined, they will attempt (often futilely) to satisfy
of others — such summonings can illuminate the whatever motivations they embody. While this is not
secrets of enemies, rivals, and even allies. What often so dangerous when dealing with an esoteric derived
proves unrealistic, unfathomable, or impossible in the from an individual’s present desire for a peanut butter
Fallen World can be a matter of course in Oneiroi. and jelly sandwich, it can be decidedly more so with
Often, mages delve for days into the seemingly endless respect to one summoned out of his recent decision
pathways of the mind, searching for clues and solu- to kill the local Adamant Sage.
tions to the dilemmas they face. Sometimes, they are The strange Astral beings called down from concepts
rewarded for their efforts and, sometimes, they find and ideals (the number seven or freedom, for example)
chaos, confusion, and even madness. For all of the are known to most Fallen summoners as aletheians,
power and information they contain, the ever present after the ancient Greek word for “truth.” These are
dangers of diving too deeply into the Astral Realm perhaps the most alien of the Astral entities, as most
are a strong deterrent for most. The subtleties of the of them lack anything remotely approaching a human
many-layered Astral are terribly easy to misinterpret, frame of reference; even an aletheian embodying the
and just as easy to become lost within. ideal of humanity — whether as a species or as a state
of being — is decidedly inhuman. These creatures
The Entities are the ones likeliest to overwhelm the summoner
through direct contact with the consciousness, as the
While Astral summonings are among the hardest to enormity of what they are and what they represent
categorize, willworkers nevertheless make the effort, cannot be encapsulated within something as miniscule
in the hopes of simplifying their interactions with as a single sense of self.
this maddeningly diverse realm. Beings summoned
Of course, other Astral beings are just as capable
from Oneiroi, for instance, are known to most Fallen
of compromising a mage’s consciousness on as en-
World summoners as morpheans, after the Greek god
compassing, if not quite as lofty, a scale. Only the
of dreams. The terminology makes no distinction
bravest or most foolhardy of summoners call down
between those called from a mage’s own dream-realm
the dementias — beings, unsurprisingly, representa-
and those summoned from another’s; fundamentally,
tive of various insanities — from the Astral Realm.
they are the same sort of being, even if their points of
Just as every sublime thought holds its own Astral
origin are within the entirely distinct domains of self
reflection, so, too, does every elaborate madness and
and not-self. These entities are largely colored by the
passing hysteria. These crises of the mind are, to
personality and consciousness of the individual out
the Astral, no more or less valid than a boy’s dream
of whose Oneiros they are drawn, though they often
of being a famous baseball player or the ideal of
express marginalized — or deliberately concealed —
tyranny. Dementias often seem malicious, but they
facets of the subject’s psyche. The further from the
are also among the most consistently predictable of
core of the subject’s personality a given aspect of her
Astral entities, once a mage manages to work out a
consciousness is pushed (purposefully or otherwise),
given dementia’s patterns; one derived from a legal
the more forceful it tends to become within her per-
secretary’s obsessive-compulsive need to neatly ar-
sonal dream-realm.
range her desk is probably easier to work out than a
Other manifestations of an individual’s ego, as being drawn out of the schizophrenia engendered by
distinct from the dream-realm, are typically referred a willworker’s Bedlam.
to as esoterics; literally, “those that pertain to the
Lastly, exemplars and iniquities give form to virtues
inward.” These entities are ephemeral constructs
and vices; not merely the Cardinal Virtues and Deadly
created to house an aspect of conscious personality,
Sins, but any nobler aspiration or form of unworthy
as distinct from imagination or subconscious motiva-
thought or behavior. These creatures rank among the
tion. For example, while a summoned Astral being
more perilous to deal with, though — like the demen-
encompassing a mage’s inability to confront his father
tias — they can also be relatively easily controlled by
is a morphean, one embodying his deliberate, waking
those who manage to understand them. Important to
desire to obtain his old mentor’s grimoire of Prime
note is the fact that exemplars are no more inherently
Arcanum spells is an esoteric. These entities are

50
 “good” than iniquities are “evil”; they are merely rep- liberty, innovation, and the like appeal to the order’s
resentations of a particular type of ideal, distinct from democratic, progressive spirit. Dementias can grant
aletheians, in that they cannot exist independently profound insights into aberrant psychology, while both
from free will. In many cases, exemplars and iniquities exemplars and iniquities can educate the Libertine
exist for the same concept: suicide, for instance, was upon the nuances of the human condition.
seen in certain societies throughout time as noble The Guardians of the Veil: The morpheans and
and honorable under particular circumstances, while esoterics of others are of greater interest to many
it was (and is) repudiated as a sin by others. Guardians than their own. These Astral spirits,
Note that iniquities are entirely distinct from the properly studied, can illuminate exploitable weak-
goetic demons conjured by some mages. These enti- nesses in another’s psychology, as well as revealing
ties originate within the Astral Realm — within the core motivations and providing a working personal-
idea of a given type of sin — rather than within the ity template. Dementias can be of use in explaining
personal sins of an individual. Those who study the away inexplicable phenomena, while exemplars and
matter are divided on whether to call goetic demons iniquities can help a Guardian to hold on to or aban-
a form of Astral summoning, perhaps derived from don her sense of self, or to immerse herself within or
somewhere between the Oneiros and the conscious manifestly deny the lure of sin, depending upon her
mind, but no conclusive evidence exists to verify present needs.
claims, one way or the other. The Mysterium: While morpheans and esoterics —
Lastly, while Astral summonings may be, mechani- particularly one’s own — are of interest to mystagogues,
cally, identical to spirits, they are not affected by the as well as dementias, exemplars and iniquities, it is
Spirit Arcanum. Instead, a mage who wishes to control, the aletheians that most captivate the Mysterium as a
bind, or otherwise influence such an entity substitutes whole. Some mystagogues reason that universal truth
the Mind Arcanum at an equivalent dot level. hovers within the Astral, waiting to be seized by one
who unravels all of its secrets. Through the diligent
Astral Summoners study of aletheians, a mage of the Dragon’s Wing might
learn to grasp the true nature of the Tapestry.
For the most part, mages belonging to either the The Silver Ladder: All of the Astral summonings
Pentacle Orders or the Seers of the Throne are the are potentially of use and interest to théarchs. Whether
commonest sorts of Astral summoners. Banishers and one’s own or those of another, morpheans and esoter-
Apostates frequently lack the training with which to ics reveal the truth of the individual’s self. Dementias
call down such rarified entities; most of them don’t can be used to aid those whose pursuit of magic has
even know that such arts are possible, let alone led them astray from the path of Wisdom and into
how to perform them. Some examples of the typical madness, while aletheians embody the higher truths
reasons why mages of different affiliations summon toward which the Ladder reaches. Exemplars and
Astral entities: iniquities reveal moral truths and the ways in which
The Adamantine Arrow: To best serve those around they move from age to age, culture to culture.
her, a warrior must first know herself, inside and out. The Seers of the Throne: Seers crave power and
Calling upon her own morpheans and esoterics, an are conditioned to look to external authority in order
Arrow can analyze her strengths and weaknesses, to seek it out. Thus, they tend not to dwell overmuch
developing both as a member of the Dragon’s Talon on their own morpheans and esoterics, though they
and as a person. Likewise, aletheians identifying with sometimes try to find advantage in those of others.
honor, courage, strategy, or other concepts or ideals Dementias are weapons for most of the Seers who
revered by the Adamantine Arrow can light the way practice Astral summonings, and little more, while
to victory. Also, exemplars of virtues shared among most exemplars (save for those embodying, say, ambi-
warrior cultures can put an Arrow in touch with the tion or conquest) are typically just curiosities to them.
values of her ideological ancestors. Iniquities often appeal to the Seer mindset, while
The Free Council: Libertines might contact the As- aletheians serve to remind them of the true reality
tral reflections of their own conscious and unconscious they will inherit when they kneel, at long last, before
minds in the pursuit of self-knowledge or while seeking the Supernal thrones of the Exarchs.
to understand some external problem. Aletheians of

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 51

Guidance from Dreams — experience as a crucible; relentlessly analyzing
subconscious desires. The mage’s most pressing
Morpheans present subconscious desire is drawn out of her,
taking on ephemeral form. If the mage is dreaming
Morpheans are among the simplest of Astral or otherwise in direct contact with her subcon-
entities to call, provided that the mage wishes to scious, then she may choose the specific aspect of
access her own dream-realm and not that of an- her Oneiros that she calls forth.
other. These beings are almost formless, existing With Mind 4, a mage whose consciousness is pres-
only as insubstantial ephemera in Twilight; they ently in the Temenos or the Dreamtime (Mage: The
are incapable of manifesting, either under their Awakening, pp. 283–6) can spend a point of Mana
own power or that of another. Mechanically, they to attempt to summon a morphean out of another
function as spirits of the lowest order, being min- individual who is physically present at the location
ute fractions of the subconscious mind of a human of her body. With Space 2 and Mind 5, she may at-
(or near-human) being. As it is not truly a spirit, tempt to do so at sympathetic range (again, spending
however, a morphean simply vanishes back into the a point of Mana), though she must still be within
Oneiros of the individual who spawned it, when the Temenos or Dreamtime, and the morphean will
reduced to zero Corpus. appear in Twilight near the summoner’s body. Note
A Morphean that successfully manages to use its that this process does not enable a willworker to
Influence upon an individual specifically mani- actually enter the Oneiros of another; merely to call
fests exaggerated elements of the Oneiros out of morpheans out of Oneiroi.
which it was drawn. For example, a mage who Free Council Rote: Calling Through the Look-
summons a cabalmate’s unresolved enmity toward ing Glass
his deceased brother will, if successfully targeted
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Empathy + Mind
by the morphean’s Sibling Rivalry Influence, force-
fully demonstrate the particular qualities of that
cabalmate’s anger and jealousy toward anyone
she regards as a brother or sister, while under the
Influence’s effects. Even if she is normally given to The Dream Merit
subtle displays of vitriol, she might throw a punch Many mages are accustomed to using the
or swear vociferously, if that is the sort of reaction power of the subconscious to derive inspira-
that her cabalmate might evince. tion in the waking world. Those with such a
connection to the universal unconscious can
Summon Morphean (Mind •••) use that tie to their advantage in summon-
This spell enables a willworker to call forth a mor- ing morpheans out of Oneiroi. For each dot
phean from the depths of her own dream-realm or, a mage has in the Dream Merit (Mage: The
Awakening, p. 82), she receives a one-die
if she is powerful enough and her consciousness is
bonus on all attempts to summon mor-
somewhere within the deeper reaches of the Astral, pheans. Some speculate that a mage pos-
that of another. sessed of the Dream Merit encapsulates more
Practice: Weaving of the universal unconscious within herself
Action: Instant and contested; target rolls Resolve than one without it, Sleeper or otherwise.
+ Gnosis reflexively This bond also serves the willworker when
Duration: Prolonged (one scene) she wants to resist having her dreams called
Aspect: Covert forth from her subconscious: she adds her
Cost: None dots of the Dream Merit to her Resolve +
Gnosis roll to contest the use of the Summon
Successfully casting this spell upon oneself
Morphean spell when it is directed at her
summons one of the mage’s own morpheans as a against her will. If she wishes to assist the
presence in Twilight. The willworker may interact caster, however, she may spend a point of
with this dream-fragment as she sees fit. Some sim- Willpower to add her dots in the Merit to the
ply call up dreams of aspects of the subconscious casting roll.
to explore (or enjoy) them, while others use this

52
 Summoning dreams is a practice, some say, as old as Corpus: 7
Atlantis itself. While the Free Council is not nearly Influence: Oedipal Urge 1
that ancient, they are no less dedicated to their arts Numina: Usurp Vice
than mages who came before. This rote, in particular, Ban: The Positive Pole Oedipus Complex must
was crafted early in the Order’s existence and was used always give its undivided attention to the individual
extensively in the early days of the Free Council to out of whose dream-realm it was fashioned, if
help guide and direct the path of Libertines interested she is present.
in the burgeoning field of psychology, drawing upon
their common dreams. It remains a popular and well
used rote to this day and is often shared amongst the
Sample Morphean:
ranks of the Free Council and beyond. Jimmy Fisk’s Test Anxiety
Jimmy Fisk is the quiet young man who works in the
Sample Morphean: mail room. High school was hellish for him: he was
Positive Pole Oedipus Complex a scrawny kid with disfiguring acne, the faintest hint
of a lisp, and a neurotic need to pull down straight
The so-called Positive Pole Oedipus Complex is A’s. While he usually managed to wreck the curve in
a facet of human psychology, in which a child in his classes (earning a swirly or two in the process), he
formative years sexually desires the parent of the never quite got over that irrational drive to perform.
opposite sex and hopes for the death of the par- Every so often, he has a recurring nightmare about a
ent of the same sex. It remains a subject of some test for an uncertain class, the material for which he
contention as to whether the morphean embodying clearly never studied.
the Positive Pole Oedipus Complex is an inherent
Not quite properly a dementia — it’s much more
aspect of the personality, or merely a creation of
an occasional bad dream than a full-blown insan-
the pervasiveness of said complex as an idea in the
ity — Jimmy’s test anxiety appears in Twilight in
collective unconscious.
the form of a small whirlwind of shredded pieces of
When viewed by those able to see unmanifested blue-covered exam books, half-finished SATs, pencil
spirits in Twilight, the Positive Pole Oedipus Com- shavings, pinkish-grey bits of used pencil eraser, and
plex appears as an image of the subject’s opposite-sex jagged fragments of the old, round clocks that hang
parent, often clothed (or unclothed) and behaving in in outdated classrooms the world over. It occasionally
a manner that suggests a desire to couple. The mor- barks at those around it, with phrases like, “Pencils
phean carries some object indicative of the death of down!” or, “Pop quiz!” These statements are deliv-
the subject’s same-sex parent: a severed penis for the ered in a harsh tone of voice, by what sounds like an
phallus of the father, for example, or the mother’s sev- unfriendly man of middling years.
ered head. Regardless of the sexual orientation of the
Rank: 1
subject, the Positive Pole Oedipus Complex invariably
Attributes: Power 3, Finesse 3, Resistance 1
manifests with the opposite-sex parent as the object
of desire, bearing a dehumanizing representation of Willpower: 4
the same-sex parent as the object of loathing. The Essence: max 10
morphean’s interest is only for the child-lover who Initiative: 4
created it; upon that individual, it lavishes all of its Defense: 3
perverse attention. Speed: 10 (species factor 5)
Rank: 1 Size: 3
Attributes: Power 4, Finesse 1, Resistance 2 Corpus: 4
Willpower: 6 Influence: Anxiety 1
Essence: max 10 Numina: Psychic Torment
Initiative: 3 Ban: This morphean vanishes back into Jimmy
Defense: 4 Fisk’s dream-realm whenever a test, of whatever
Speed: 10 (species factor 5) sort, is successfully completed in its presence.
Size: 5

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 53

Ego Tripping — Esoterics Astral or Material?
The Astral reflections of the conscious self are
strongly related to morpheans, though these fragments Most summoners specializing in the realms
of the ego are distinct in that they are driven; they of the Fallen World consider the summoning
don’t settle merely for being what they are — they of esoterics to be Astral in nature — despite
need to accomplish whatever urge it is that they the fact that the entities are drawn out of
represent. Esoterics possess a greater degree of voli- the conscious mind of the subject — because
tion and self-awareness than morpheans, but only to esoterics are still the product of thought,
the degree to which they require to motivate their imagination, and volition, which is tradition-
intrinsically one-track minds. These entities may be ally considered to be the domain of the Astral
accommodating toward their summoner, but only if Realm. In many ways, they serve as the
pillar upon which the entire practice of Astral
his agenda mirrors their own. Those who are set to
summoning stands; the step closest to the
opposing ends — or even just ends that don’t directly often-linear understanding of the conscious
contribute to the esoteric’s goals — are viewed as human mind.
obstacles to be circumvented, at best, and enemies
to be removed, at worst. Some theorists, however, prefer to place the
summoning of esoterics in the same general
If prevented from working toward its objective category as ghosts: noncorporeal entities
(which, in its estimation, may require nothing more native to the material realm, normally visible
on the part of another than simply failing to facilitate only in the state of Twilight. Neither side is
those goals), an esoteric will attempt to manipulate definitively correct, of course. As with most
the individuals around it through the use of its Influ- matters pertaining to the complex practice
ence. Similar to a morphean’s Influence, this will cause of summoning, much of what is considered
the subject to manifest exaggerated qualities of the “absolute truth” remains in the eye of the
individual out of whom the esoteric is summoned. The beholder.
key difference lies in the drive that esoterics embody;
while either type of entity will only use its Influence
to affect a living being when its senses an opportunity
to advance or indulge its natures, an esoteric always Cost: None
feels the need to do so, unless others are already tak- Just as a Disciple of the Mind Arcanum can summon
ing steps to do so. Like morpheans, esoterics cannot morpheans from her own subconscious, she can also
manifest, and remain within the immaterial state of call esoterics from out of herself, learning about the
Twilight for the duration of their existence, fading nature of her motivations and her conscious desires.
back into the ego out of which they were summoned. With a successful casting, whatever desire is presently
Most esoterics, like morpheans, appear as lowest-order at the forefront of the mage’s consciousness takes on
spirits when drawn out of the conscious mind (though ephemeral form.
often a little more powerful than the average dream- With Mind 4, a mage can attempt to cast this spell
realm summoning). A rare few, however, are more to summon an esoteric out of another individual
potent; typically the manifestations of exceptionally within sensory range. With Space 2 and Mind 5, she
compelling conscious longings. may attempt to do so at sympathetic range, though
esoteric will appear in Twilight near the summoner,
Summon Esoteric (Mind •••) rather than the subject.
By means of this magic, a mage can call forth an Guardian of the Veil Rote: Arresting the Self
esoteric from the forefront of the human conscious- Dice Pool: Manipulation + Subterfuge + Mind
ness.
The oldest known use of this rote dates back to a
Practice: Weaving Consilium in 13th century Spain. A Mastigos Guardian
Action: Instant and contested; target rolls Resolve now known only by her Shadow Name, Lucia, was
+ Gnosis reflexively following the trail of a Tremere lich who had allegedly
Duration: Prolonged infiltrated the Consilium. Unable to piece together
Aspect: Covert the fragmentary clues left by the Left-Handed Nec-

54
 romancer, the Warlock turned to other options. In Corpus: 8
secret, she studied her fellow mages through scrying Influence: Hunger 2
portals, calling their foremost conscious desires out Numina: Harrow
of them, so they could be studied and the truth of the Ban: Christie Wu’s Hunger must consume anything
matter discerned. Lucia never found a lich, however, that is deliberately offered to it as food.
as none existed within the Consilium to find. Instead,
she discovered that the rumor had been seeded by
two Seers of the Throne who had quietly replaced
Sample Esoteric: Uther’s Bliss
Councilors, and that they were using the paranoia Facing down rogue Banishers and rampaging spirits
that the story engendered to gradually weaken any was never the hard part for Uther, Thyrsus and Ban-
hope of concerted resistance when the time came ner Warden of the Adamantine Arrow. No, that was
for their allies to strike. Armed with this knowledge, the years-long struggle to work up enough courage
Lucia petitioned for, and received, permission to to finally come out to Slingshot and confess that
eliminate the threat.

Sample Esoteric: Christie Wu’s Hunger

The only thing on Christie Wu’s mind at the moment
is the fact that she hasn’t eaten since six o’clock last
night and it’s three hours past her lunch break, with
no sign that the phones will stop ringing long enough
for her to so much as touch the granola bar stashed in
her purse. Her boss forced her to work straight through
lunch, with a promise that she could run out to grab
a bite to eat at one, but — surprise, surprise — that
never happened. Now, she’s stuck on the phone with
some jackass who’s too damned stupid to understand
what she’s trying to tell him and all Christie can think
of is that Mediterranean turkey focaccia sandwich at
the place that just opened around the corner about
a month ago.
When viewed by those capable of seeing into
Twilight, Christie’s Hunger appears as something
of a gruesome caricature of Christie, herself: a
pretty, trim, 20-something Chinese-American
woman, dressed in comfortable office casual cloth-
ing. The esoteric’s chin-length hair is unkempt and
ragged, unlike Christie’s own, and its ravenous maw
splits her head nearly in half when opened, reveal-
ing row upon row of shark-like teeth. The esoteric’s
hands are long-fingered, with curving talons, meant
to latch onto prey.
Rank: 1
Attributes: Power 4, Finesse 1, Resistance 3
Willpower: 7
Essence: max 10
Initiative: 4
Defense: 4
Speed: 10 (species factor 5)
Size: 5

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 55

 his feelings for the Enchanter went deeper than just painted on cave walls and carved into stone and bone.
friendship. The moments leading up to that revelation But the ideals that dwell within the Astral Realm
were the longest and most difficult of the Shaman’s are more versatile and numerous, by far: the concept
life. When Slingshot replied with a passionate kiss, of roads, for example, spawns its own aletheians for
though, Uther knew that this uphill battle against Astral summoners, as does sorrow, the color pink, or
his own fear was, at long last, over. the stock market crash. Very nearly anything that
Uther’s Bliss takes the form of an idealized image can be conceived is reflected on a grander and more
of Slingshot, a roguish Acanthus Libertine with a rarified scale in the Astral Realm.
charming smile and a gymnast’s body. The esoteric Aletheians are most commonly called into the
wears Slingshot’s stylish clothing, though devoid of any material realm to advise willworkers on the subjects
wrinkles or ordinary signs of wear. Its voice is angelic that they encompass. An Arrow mage who desires to
and its laughter, infectious. Uther’s Bliss moves with overcome his enemies in an upcoming battle might,
the sort of effortless grace that suffuses the limbs of for instance, summon an aletheian of the concept of
one whose heart is soaring. victory, in order to hear its counsel. Likewise, one
Rank: 1 who wishes to develop some new strategy in an on-
Attributes: Power 2, Finesse 4, Resistance 2 going conflict might call down one representative of
Willpower: 4 innovation. Important to note, however, is the fact
that aletheians are essentially incapable of thinking
Essence: max 10
outside of the narrow purview within which they
Initiative: 6
exist and which they support by the virtue of their
Defense: 4 existence. An aletheian of fear knows nothing of
Speed: 10 (species factor 5) wisdom, or mathematics, or magic, save in the ways
Size: 5 in which these concepts are directly pertinent to the
Corpus: 7 ideal of fear.
Influence: Bliss 2 As beings originating from deeper within the Astral
Numina: Essence Conversion Realm than either esoterics or morpheans, aletheians
Ban: Uther’s Bliss cannot abide the presence of are commensurately more difficult to summon into
genuine sorrow; it flees from anyone in the throes the material. They also tend to be more powerful enti-
of despair. ties, as extensions of the overarching concepts that
bind the thoughtforms of reality together and so give

Astral Archetypes — substance to the universal unconscious. Aletheians,

if destroyed, simply dissipate back into the infinite

Aletheians reaches of the Astral Realm.

The archetypes that exist within the Astral Realm Summon Astral Archetype (Mind ••••)
— shared by all humanity, within the Temenos and, With this spell, a mage can call down a small in-
deeper still, the Dreamtime — may well predate the carnation of a universal concept, giving shape to it
rise of conscious thought. Some Awakened believe within the immaterial state of Twilight.
they are the templates for the earliest gods, and they Practice: Patterning
might as well be deities, for all of the vast power
Action: Extended and contested; target rolls Re-
they wield. But, despite their incredible might, these
sistance reflexively
congealed concepts lack a sense of self; they simply
are and cannot be anything else. Mages who wish to Duration: Prolonged (one scene)
interact with them, then, must summon down a small Aspect: Vulgar
fragment of all that they are, something actually ca- Cost: 1 Mana
pable of interacting on a level as limited as the human An Adept of the Mind Arcanum wishing to sum-
capacity for expression and comprehension. mon a thoughtform (aletheian, dementia, exemplar,
The most ancient archetypes reveal themselves or iniquity) must accrue successes equal to five times
in such basic forms as the Fertility Goddess or the the desired Rank of the entity, to a maximum Rank
Trickster. These are the foundation stones of the equal to the mage’s dots in Mind. If the thoughtform,
human experience, the ideas that primitive peoples for whatever reason, does not desire to be drawn down

56
 to the material realm, then it may roll Resistance Initiative: 21
to contest the summoning, with a target number of Defense: 12
successes equal to five times the summoner’s Gnosis. Speed: 31 (species factor 10)
Note that the summoner has no real control over the Size: 4
specific potency or capabilities of the thoughtform
Corpus: 16
that answers the call, beyond the ability to specify a
given ideal and spirit Rank. Influence: Indivisibility 4
A mage whose consciousness is presently beyond Numina: Blast, Material Vision, Reaching, Ver-
the barrier of his Oneiros (either in the Temenos or satile Energies
the Dreamtime) need not spend a point of Mana to Ban: When deliberately confronted with its own
cast this spell, and its Aspect becomes covert. In such reflection, Indivisible loses a point of Essence per
a case, the entity manifests within the Astral, at the turn.
location of the mage’s consciousness.
Silver Ladder Rote: Anima Mundi Sample Aletheian: Eco-Friendly
Dice Pool: Presence + Persuasion + Mind Eco-Friendly exists in harmony with the forces of
nature. It exists to preserve the balance of the en-
This rote is an old account within the Dragon’s
vironment; it takes no more than it gives and gives
Voice, dating back (some say) to the time of the At-
no more than it takes. The aletheian acts to counter
lantean Diaspora. Seeking knowledge and guidance
deeds that despoil the natural world and can advise
from the overarching concepts that bind the cosmos
its summoner on how best to exist in equilibrium with
together, enterprising théarchs cried out directly to
her surroundings. It protects, but it is not charitable.
the Astral Realm and gave heed to its replies.
It saves, but it has no mercy. It preserves, but it has
Sample Aletheian: Indivisible no sense of compassion.
It is the One, devoid of the possibility of multiplic-
ity, or even duality. It knows nothing of the Other,
for it is One, and only One. Indivisble’s aletheian
may be consulted on matters of unity (whether
peacefully or by force; the entity cares nothing
for such semantics), or summoned to help
facilitate unification, one way or the other.
It must be addressed with a single perspective,
absolutely without even the faintest hint of
dissent, and is thus most frequently summoned
by a lone willworker.
Indivisible’s aletheian takes a form repre-
sentative of its nature: typically, a floating
gray obelisk of unimaginable hardness. Its
surface is not etched or marred in any way,
and neither is it reflective (as reflection implies
the possibility of otherness). Its voice is flat and
neutral, utterly genderless; a monotone without
accent or inflection. Observers are taken with
the distinct impression that the aletheian’s at-
tentions are focused perfectly inward, and that they
somehow do not register on its awareness or any of
its senses, even while interacting with it.
Rank: 4
Attributes: Power 12, Finesse 9, Resistance 12
Willpower: 24
Essence: max 25

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 57

 The aletheian appears in Twilight as a weird one of suspicion can only inspire the derangement of
mishmash of tree, mammal, bird, fish, and reptile. It the same name. In addition, many of the more potent
is forever damp with fresh water and smells of rich of these entities possess the Harrow Numen (Mage:
soil. Sometimes, its leaves are vibrant and green, The Awakening, p. 321) or the Psychic Torment
while, at other times, they are the red and orange Numen (see p. 222).
of autumn, or bare with winter. Recycled paper Dementias are summoned into the material world
and glass protrude from its frame at odd angles, and by way of the Summon Astral Archetype spell, above,
clumps of compost occasionally drop from its body. and many believe that they, along with exemplars
Its voice sounds like the rustle of wind and the flow and iniquities, constitute an offshoot or subspecies
of water, as well as the howling and squawking or of aletheian, attuned to concepts universal to con-
wild things. sciousness, itself.
Rank: 2
Attributes: Power 4, Finesse 3, Resistance 5 Sample Dementia: Vocalization
Willpower: 9 Vocalization is the inner voice that spills outside,
Essence: max 15 like liquid leaking out of a flawed container. It says
Initiative: 8 the first thing that comes to mind, and then the
Defense: 4 second, and then the third, and so on. Vocalization
keeps talking, and talking. Its innermost thoughts
Speed: 17 (species factor 10)
are on display for the world to hear. Maybe it doesn’t
Size: 7
think that anyone’s listening, or maybe it just doesn’t
Corpus: 12 care. So long as it thinks, it speaks. And it never
Influence: Eco-Friendliness 2 stops thinking.
Numina: Innocuous, Wilds Sense For those that can perceive the immaterial
Ban: Eco-Friendly may not take any action state of Twilight, this dementia reveals itself in
that will or might definitely disrupt a natural the form of a gray, roughly human-shaped figure.
environment. It has no discernable arms, but it walks on two
overly-thick legs, swaying back and forth as it
Insanity Disincarnate — paces, talking to itself and anyone who happens
to be within earshot. Its entire form is fuzzy and
Dementias indistinct, except for an oversized gash in its
“head” that serves as a mouth, the lines of which
Like every other permutation of thought, mad-
are perfectly clear. The quality of its voice changes
ness, too, has its proper place within the Astral
from instant to instant.
Realm. Indeed, some say the mad occasionally
Rank: 2
hold a deeper insight into the secrets of that
realm, perhaps through a closer connection to the Attributes: Power 6, Finesse 5, Resistance 2
embodiments of insanity — dementias — that in- Willpower: 8
habit it. Just as with all of the other summonable Essence: max 15
entities native to the deep Astral, dementias are Initiative: 7
temporary aggregations of certain ideas, coalescing Defense: 4
into thoughtforms that can be called down to the Speed: 18 (species factor 7)
material realm and interacted with as though they Size: 5
were independent beings. Corpus: 7
As with any Astral entity, a dementia exists to Influence: Vocalization 2
facilitate the spread of the concept that it embod-
Numina: Derange (Vocalization), Harrow
ies. All of these beings possess the Derange Numen
(see p. 221), keyed solely to the derangement that Ban: If Vocalization is forcibly silenced, it sustains
comprises its substance: a dementia of schizophrenia a point of Corpus damage per turn, until such time
can only engender that specific derangement, just as as it can freely speak, once more.

58
Sample Dementia: Paranoia moves when it speaks — in a frantic, high-pitched
tone — causing the thin skin over where its mouth
Paranoia knows that everyone is out to get it. It
checks the doors and the windows. It searches every should be to stretch like a paper-thin membrane on
nook and cranny for those that are conspiring against the verge of rupture.
it. The dementia is aware that its summoner is trying Rank: 2
to do something bad to it; if only it could figure out Attributes: Power 4, Finesse 6, Resistance 3
what. Every shadow conceals an enemy and every Willpower: 7
question or comment is a trap for the unwary. When Essence: max 15
whatever it is that’s going to happen finally happens, Initiative: 9
Paranoia will be ready. Defense: 6
This dementia is gangly, with a naked, androgy- Speed: 17 (species factor 7)
nous form that appears starved. Its entire body is a Size: 5
sickly mauve in color, and it is forever in motion, Corpus: 8
to the point of being jittery. Paranoia makes oth-
Influence: Paranoia 2
ers nervous by its mere presence, whether out of a
sense that some shadowy conspiracy really is about Numina: Derange (Paranoia), Psychic Torment
to kick down the door or because the dementia Ban: Paranoia must check every hidden space in
seems like it could erupt into irrational violence at the location into which it is summoned: behind
any moment. Its bald head is featureless, save for a doors and curtains, under couches, even inside
ring of nine unblinking, beady black eyes. Its jaw jewelry boxes or briefcases.

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 59

 scant handful of them believe that this phenomenon
occurs on account of the human bias, impacting an
Who Summons These Things? essential concept, devoid of inherent moral value,
It’s a fair question: what mage in her right and dividing it upon the basis of those minds that
mind would call down a dementia (or, for uphold it as good and those that revile it as evil.
that matter, an iniquity of hate crime or an Effectively, people transform the ethical barrenness
aletheian of violation)? First of all, many of an unfettered concept into virtue, vice, or both.
mages who summon dementias aren’t in While a number of scholars disagree, none have yet
their right minds and they are seeking insight put forth any more plausible theory.
into their respective psychological conditions
through contact with entities that encompass
Iniquities invariably possess the Usurp Vice Numen
the nature of those afflictions. By commun- (see p. 223) — often, such an entity’s only Numen —
ing with madness, such willworkers reason, while exemplars are more varied in their selection of
perhaps they can rise above it. The theory Numina. Like aletheians and dementias, both types
has borne fruit often enough that the practice of beings seek to actively (and forcefully) foster the
persists. virtues or vices that they embody, not content simply
Certainly, some — perhaps even many — of to be what they are.
those who summon the darker entities of the
Astral Realm, themselves, have dark inten- Sample Exemplar: Charity
tions, but even the wisest mages sometimes Charity gives, and gives. It is benevolence, bestow-
need to understand wickedness, horror, and ing what is needed upon those in need and what is
insanity. Perhaps a mage simply wants to wanted upon those that want. Charity gives all that
help a friend through her Bedlam, or compre- it has and keeps nothing for itself. It accounts itself
hend the motivations of a serial killer whom rich, indeed, to be stricken with poverty through its
she is stalking. Those who would tread these
selfless acts. The exemplar knows nothing of hoping
dangerous roads for altruistic ends, however,
for anything for itself, instead aggressively addressing
should always take care to mind their steps…
the privations of those that it encounters.
Charity appears, to those that can see into Twilight,
as a pleasant, matronly woman, holding a horn of
Virtue and Vice — plenty. She may be dressed in antiquated garb or mod-
ern, but her cornucopia is ever-present. The exemplar
Exemplars and Iniquities produces whatever is needed or desired from the horn,
handing it over to those that ask. Such objects fade
Some believe that morals and ethics are all-encom-
passing, that the universe is possessed of an inherent when Charity departs or is destroyed, but they can
mandate regarding right and wrong. Perhaps the As- be fully enjoyed for as long as the exemplar remains
tral entities known as exemplars and iniquities stem present in the material realm.
from those universal constants; or, maybe, they are Rank: 3
the result of long-held and pervasive human beliefs Attributes: Power 6, Finesse 7, Resistance 9
in the idea of moral absolutism. Whatever the case, Willpower: 15
these beings, when summoned down into the material Essence: max 20
realm, are extensions of the concepts of moral dual- Initiative: 16
isms: good and evil, proper and improper, righteous Defense: 7
and wicked. The Seven Cardinal Virtues and Seven Speed: 23 (species factor 10)
Deadly Sins, for example, exist among the myriad
Size: 5
of exemplars and iniquities, respectively, but these
beings also come in varieties far more diverse and, Corpus: 14
occasionally, mutually contradictory, as one culture’s Influence: Charity 3
virtue is another’s sin. Numina: Essence Conversion, Fortify Material,
Most of the summoners who focus upon the Astral Material Vision
Realm wonder how it is that, say, xenophobia can Ban: Anything that it given to Charity, it must im-
be reflected by both exemplars and iniquities, but a mediately give away to one in need.

60
Sample Iniquity: Vindictiveness Size: 5
Vindictiveness wants retribution. It’s going to get Corpus: 7
that bastard back for what he did. It longs to exult Influence: Vindictiveness 1
in the utter humiliation, ruin, or even destruction of Numina: Usurp Vice
those that wronged it. It is satisfied only by witness- Ban: Vindictiveness must answer any harm or
ing the glorious culmination of its vicious hatred. Its slight in kind, preferably with a disproportionate
desires go well beyond “an eye for an eye” and stray response.
far into the realm of excess. It knows no bounds in

Off the Edge of the Map

its quest to be avenged.
This iniquity is a hunched, feral-looking thing,
covered in bristling spines. Its gleaming yellow eyes
Stranger beasts, still, lurk within the hidden fringes
reveal its cunning, while its broad, fanged mouth
of the Tapestry. Some are definitely native to the Fallen
smiles easily when it thinks or speaks of vengeance.
World, such as those odd entities dwelling within the
Its mottled gray-brown hide blends into a number of
Gauntlet that divides spirit from flesh. Others are of
environments; all the better for watching and waiting
less certain provenance: horrors that allege origins
as its plans unfold. Its voice is a guttural snarl, rasp-
within the Lower Depths, for example.
ing on the eardrums of all those to whom it deigns
to speak. These sorts of beings are ill-understood by even the
most skilled Fallen World summoners. Only a handful
Rank: 1
of sages dwell upon these obscure realities, preferring
Attributes: Power 3, Finesse 3, Resistance 2
to work with the tried-and-true methods for summon-
Willpower: 5 ing beings out of better-catalogued realms.
Essence: max 10
Initiative: 5
Defense: 3 Dwellers Within the
Speed: 16 (species factor 10)
Gauntlet
Those who manage to divide
the layers of the Gauntlet to
look within discover a barren
non-realm, virtually devoid
of everything. Most describe
it as a misty gray nothing-
ness, broken up only by
slightly thicker pockets
of silvery fog. But some
few beings manage
to eke out a meager
existence within the
weave of that bar-
rier, like the simplest
forms of life, surviv-
ing against all odds in
a tremendously inhos-
pitable environment.
Invariably, these
beings are simple-
minded and, while
not properly spirits,
are close enough to

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 61

 them that the Spirit Arcanum proves effective when
used upon them. They cannot long remain within
Sample Gauntlet-Dweller: Vergeling
Where Shadow and the material meet, one realm
either the Shadow Realm or the material, however,
bleeds over into another in a phenomenon known as
dying within a matter of hours at the very most if
a Verge. At the very fringe of such a portal, so-called
removed from the Gauntlet. These beings appear
“vergelings” feed on the subtle spiritual energies hem-
to carry out the naturally-occurring functions of the
orrhaging from both realms. They cluster, like small
Gauntlet, raising and lowering its intensity, according
fish, delicately sampling the slow trickle of power
to their migrations and the normal processes of their
bleeding out into the Gauntlet, before departing for
ephemeral biology. They are invariably quite small,
unknown grounds to spawn.
with fragile, translucent or transparent forms that
Vergelings look much like transparent trilobites
pulse rhythmically with faint currents of Essence, like
floating in midair, about half the size of a balled-up
blood pumping visibly through veins.
first, with long, rippling streamers in place of limbs.
Try as they might, willworkers have been wholly
When they move, they alter the direction of those
unable to enter this plane of existence (or whatever
streamers, which move as though underwater. Faint
it might be). Theorists speculate that all aspects of
lines of silvery light pulse within their bodies at stag-
a human being — physical, mental, and spiritual —
gered intervals and their herds give off a luminescence
whether taken together or separately, are simply too
of a similar shade. Vergelings do not communicate
“thick” or “heavy” to exist within this diaphanous
with other sorts of creatures and seem to be incapable
near-reality.
of doing so.
Look Within the Gauntlet When summoned into either the Shadow Realm or
the material, a vergeling dies within seconds, dissipat-
(Space •••• + Spirit •••) ing into nothingness. For the number of hours equal
By picking apart the weave of the Gauntlet be- to the summoner’s Gnosis, however, the Gauntlet
tween the material and the ephemeral, a willworker strength in her immediate vicinity, no matter where
can look inside that barrier, to behold its astound- she goes, is raised by one, to a maximum of five. This
ing emptiness and, just maybe, to study some of its is the case regardless of whether she summons and
otherworldly life. kills one vergeling, a dozen, or a thousand.
Practice: Patterning Rank: 0
Action: Instant Attributes: Power 1, Finesse 2, Resistance 1
Duration: Transitory (one turn) Willpower: 0 (vergelings do not possess Will-
Aspect: Vulgar power)
Cost: 1 Mana Essence: 0
Successful casting of this spell enables a mage Initiative: 3
to look within the metaphysical fabric of the local Defense: 0 (a vergeling does not act to defend
Gauntlet. itself)
Free Council Rote: Worlds Between Worlds Speed: 18 (species factor 15)
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult or Science + Size: 0
Space Corpus: 1
With their at times eccentric approach to magic, Influence: None
Libertines were the first willworkers to discern the Numina: Verge Sense (no roll required). The
existence of something like a realm, tucked away vergeling automatically senses the direction of
within the Gauntlet between the Shadow Realm the nearest Verge.
and the material world. The scant few Free Council Ban: Vergelings, like all Gauntlet-dwellers, swiftly
mages who made this discovery shared their findings die when exposed to any realm other than their
with students of such bizarre lore among the other own.
Pentacle Orders, though the rote remains little more
than a curiosity.

62
Denizens of the Lower Depths bargain can’t possibly be as bad as bartering with
the Abyss, can it? Those who wake — screaming,
Some say demons — of the genuine “demons from drenched in cold sweat — even years after accepting
Hell” variety — dwell within the Lower Depths, the Decay’s offer, their minds and spirits plagued by
believed to exist beneath even the Underworld. By nightmares of horrid worlds that cannot possibly be,
extension, this would make that realm the true Hell, might beg to differ.
by any definition. While most willworkers dismiss the The Decay has no Traits. It is simply a devil’s bargain
notion as provincial, others find a measure of sense in within the self. It may be able to be summoned; certain
it: metaphysically speaking, the Lower Depths are the lost objects of power, created by no human hand, might
realm most directly “opposite” the Realms Supernal contain secrets of how to call this malevolent being.
in the great axis of the Tapestry. A mage who wants an Abyssal Investment, but who
Regardless of the truth of their nature (which even isn’t willing to deal with an Acamoth to get it, might
the entities of the Lower Depths, themselves, may not just be tempted to seek out an otherworldly relic that
adequately comprehend), these beings are inimical enables her to call the Decay into the material realm
to life. They despise all things with an intensity that for long enough to reach an arrangement.
rivals that of the creatures of the Abyss. Awakened
magic may or may not even be able to call these mon-
strosities into the material realm; some of the beings
of the Lower Depths claim to predate the Tapestry,
itself, pushed aside when the universe as it is now
known came to be.

Sample Lower Depths Entity: The Decay

None can say if it has been summoned or if it is
trapped in the material realm; perhaps it manifests
at certain times and places according to some insane
calends of the Lower Depths. It doesn’t have a form.
Rather, this presence makes itself felt through the
rapid dissolution of any space that contains it. Walls
begin to fall apart, while floorboard sag and crumble.
Glass pits and corrodes, as metal rusts and falls into
powdery dust. The entire process can reduce a well
appointed room to ashes in a matter of minutes, mak-
ing the results of 10 seconds to look like 100 years,
and 10 minutes to look like scores of millennia have
transpired. When it speaks, within the soul — not
the mind, but the soul — of the one who catches its
interest, the Decay offers boons. If it is refused, it is
gone, and hesitation counts as refusal.
If the Decay’s offer is accepted, however, it can grant
powers similar to Acamoth Investments (Mage: The
Awakening, p. 323, and Chapter Three of this book).
It wants the same thing as an Acamoth, of course:
the freedom to use the mage’s Awakened soul as
a conduit to… somewhere. The Decay certainly
doesn’t go to the Void, though, so accepting its

Chapter One: From Distant Shores 63

64
Chapter Two:
From the
Five Towers
“This is a bad idea.” Billy was looking at the walls, adorned with sigils. Time. Fate. Time. Fate.
And one other one — what’s that sigil?
“I don’t care.” Tears were still running down Faron’s face. “I need her back.”
Billy rolled his eyes, but he kept his face turned away from his friend. “Faron, even if you manage
to succeed at this, what you’re asking is impossible. If it were possible, everyone would do it.”
“Maybe everyone does.”
“Oh, man.” Billy rubbed his temples.
“Billy, I love her.”
“Then you should have stayed faithful.” Billy was sorry he’d said it, and he considered rolling
time back a few seconds to fix it, but Faron didn’t respond. He just crouched to the floor and sobbed.
Billy walked behind him and put a hand on his back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I’m not asking much,” whispered Faron. “I know I fucked up. I want thirty seconds of last Tuesday
back. That’s all I want. That’s fair, right?”
Billy sat on the floor in the middle of the circle, facing the younger man. “Faron, listen to me.
I know you’re hurting, but please, understand this. You are fucking with Time now, and that’s a
bigger issue than you and your girlfriend. If you screw this up, hell, even if you succeed, you might
be changing things in a way that we can’t understand.”
“I know.” He stood up and wiped his eyes. “That’s why I’m not using Time.”
“What?” Billy looked back at the walls. Faron was right — the sigils weren’t for a Time spell.
They looked more like an oath, or an invocation, or—
“Billy, don’t move.”
The walls were changing. The sigils were coming alive. Hands emerged from them, hands with
delicate, pale fingers. Hands too small to belong to adults, but far too beautiful to belong to
children.
“Faron, what have you done?”
“Billy, I’m so sorry.” Faron’s eyes were bright with fresh tears as he stepped out of the circle.
“But I have to have her back, and you’re right, I can’t risk changing Time that way. So I had to
use Fate.”
Billy tried to pull time backwards, to run, to escape, but his magic failed him. He saw faces in
the sigils now, looking at him, hungrily. He had seen those faces before, during his time in—
“Arcadia.”
Faron nodded sadly. “Thirty seconds last Tuesday,” he said to the faces. “In exchange for that,
you get my best friend.”
“Done,” whispered the faces in unison, and Billy came unstuck from time.

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 65

 And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind.
—William Shakespeare, The Tempest

The Realms Supernal, in which stand the Five that a mage can learn from such Supernal entities is
Watchtowers of the Oracles, are perhaps the greatest staggering, though certainly not absolute, and, given
mystery in all of the Tapestry. Even in the days of At- how remarkable it is to touch Heaven (or Hell, or
lantis, these realms captured the loftiest imaginings of whatever other Supernal Realm to which a given
humanity. It is from these far-off worlds that the very willworker Awakened) for the first time, it comes as
power of Awakened magic flows, descending through no surprise that some wish to do so again, even if only
the Abyss and into the human soul, to manifest in a limited way, in the hopes of growing further in
through will within the Fallen World. The eternal mystic understanding or power.
spirit of an Awakening mage rises up to these realms, But these entities are not lightly tampered with.
whether astrally or in a waking dream of metaphor and They reside in worlds far more pure — both for good
symbolism, so that she can etch her name upon the and for ill — than the Fallen World, and they under-
very fabric of the universe and proclaim her intention stand as little of this reality as human beings, even
to see through the all-encompassing Lie that has been Awakened ones, do of theirs. Most importantly, they
inflicted upon her since birth. The Supernal Realms are not human; they are precisely what they are, and
are wondrous and terrifying, absolute in the purity cannot be anything other. They may change through
of the concepts and ideals that they represent. No the turning of the ages with the shifting energies of the
wonder, then that many willworkers long to reflect Realms Supernal, but they do not will themselves to
upon certain portions of their respective experiences change. They may wax and wane in power, but only
during the journey to one of the Watchtowers. Many according to the ineffable designs of the mechanisms
seek in ancient texts and crumbling and forgotten that move the higher worlds. They may move mortal
ruins the long-lost paths to the Supernal; if such willworkers to heartbreaking awe and soul-numbing
things ever existed, at all, however, they are now fear, but they cannot truly appreciate the magnificence
so well-hidden as to be beyond the craft of any save of what they are, because their nature is simply to be
perhaps the Archmasters and those mysterious beings extensions of the truer reality in which they have their
who stand as far above them in mystic prowess as they genesis. In fact, some willworkers speculate that the
stand above the average mage. actual purpose of the creatures of the Supernal is to
On the other hand, some such Awakened (perhaps serve as guideposts along the journey of the human
a bit more pragmatic, a bit more foolhardy, or a bit soul, as it struggles toward all that which is revealed
more of both) turn to the ancient practice of Supernal in the Awakening. And that is a sobering thought.
summoning, hoping to glean some insight into the

Drawing Down the

higher worlds through proximity to – and inquiring
of – its denizens. The reasoning is simple, of course:

Supernal
to best discover the nuances of any foreign land,
one should first speak to a native. While nothing
immerses one in the truths of a place quite like being
there, converse with Supernal beings may well be the Awakening is by no means a universally pleasant
next best thing for those interested in understand- experience. While mages of every Path come through
ing (and, perhaps, eventually ascending to) those the Awakening more knowledgeable, more enlight-
realms. Indeed, the depth and breadth of knowledge ened and more powerful, many of them go to Hell

66
 Once in a Lifetime
While the heart of the matter has already been summarized in the Introduction to this book, it bears
repeating, here: the central struggle of the Awakened is to be found in the Fallen World, rather than in
far-flung realms peopled by strange beings and alight with unearthly magics. This is particularly impor-
tant to recapitulate with respect to the Realms Supernal, given the drive that many mages feel to attempt
a return to the Watchtowers and the worlds in which they stand. But the attempt to do so is a fool’s
errand. When, and if, a willworker is ready to return to the higher worlds, she will know; in the proper
time, nothing will need to be forced and the road to the Supernal will reveal itself. No loopholes exist
in the laws of the cosmos to make this process any easier. If they did, they would invalidate the entire
Awakened journey.
Many mages may be tempted to treat summoned Supernal entities as some kind of “quick way” back
to the realms from which they hail. This is a perfectly reasonable mindset for such characters to evince,
as people who believe in higher purposes and higher powers often make desperate leaps of logic in
order to see what they want to see in the world (particularly in the World of Darkness). From a rules-
design and (far more importantly) Storytelling perspective, however, it is vitally important that any such
efforts be doomed to failure. The Awakening is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a reason. The Ora-
cles, the Supernal Realms as a whole, or whatever it is that calls the human soul up through the Void to
the higher worlds, chooses those whom it chooses and then it sends them back. With all of their power
and incredible potential for knowledge, so many mages who see the Awakening as a challenge merely
to return to the Supernal fail to grasp that simple truth.
Supernal entities cannot open magical doors for mages that lead back to the Watchtowers, or even
to offer another glimpse, however fleeting, of them. They cannot exercise any otherworldly Influence or
rare Numen to get a willworker even one short step closer to going back to the Supernal Realm to which
she Awakened. They cannot thwart the laws that divide the Fallen from that which stands above, even
if those laws can occasionally be bent to permit them to descend to the material realm. They cannot do
any of these things and, just as significantly — if not more so — they should not. This chapter, like every
other in this book, exists to illustrate what mages can do in the Fallen World with powers that stem from
elsewhere; the ways in which they can affect their native realm, for better or for worse, proving that it is
not where willworkers go that defines them, but what they do with the power that they have been given.

to gain that knowledge. And so when mages speak

of returning to the Supernal Realm to which they Looking Across the Abyss —
Awakened, the motivation tends not to be to repeat
the experience, but to find answers to lingering ques-
Motivations
tions. These questions include: Why me? What was I Some of the denizens of the Supernal correspond
supposed to learn? Did I miss something important? What to creatures from Sleeper mythology. Mages know, of
were those strange beings around me? course, that the Supernal often has correspondences
in mundane lore — Sleeper notions of Angels recall
The last question is one that nags at the Awakened
the fantastic beings of the Aether, for instance. The
for years after a visit to the Supernal. All five of the
tales of the Forest Primeval remind Thyrsus mages of
Supernal Realms are inhabited, and the nature of
the Primal Wild, and legends of tricksters the world
those inhabitants is a mystery. To mages of course, a
over, beneficent or malevolent, remind the Acanthus
mystery is a siren’s song. And so some mages seek to
of their trip to Arcadia. To the Awakened, it’s not hard
open a gateway to the Supernal Realms, to call down
to see where humanity got these stories — they are
the inhabitants. This chapter explores the process of
remnants of memories from before the Fall.
doing so, the motivations that a mage might have for
attempting it, and the possible outcomes. Mages with a slightly broader experience of the
world, though, disagree. Yes, the “Fae” of Arcadia

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 67

resemble legends of faeries, but there are other beings
in the World of Darkness that claim the title, and they The Metaphysics of Summoning
don’t seem to have any Supernal understanding about In order to summon a Supernal being, the mage
them. Calling the denizens of the Aether “Angels” needs to create a bridge across the Abyss to the
or of Pandemonium “demons” is a dangerous game to realm of his Awakening. Fortunately, all Awakened
play, because these terms are loaded with connotative magic works on this principle — the mage imposes
religious meaning. the natural laws of one of the Supernal Realms on
One strong motivation for Supernal summoning, a section of the Fallen World. When summoning a
therefore, is nailing down the exact nature of the Supernal being, the mage tries to create a connection
beings from the realms. During the Awakening, the from the Fallen World to the Supernal Realms that is
mage is so focused on what is happening that he has simply “wider” than usual. In the process, he needs to
no time to analyze the beings around him (nor does entice such a being to use the channel thus created,
he have the magical acumen to do it, at that point). and doing so requires planning, research, and magical
But months or years later, a mage starts to wonder skill. But even with all of that, the mage has one very
what he really saw. Were the ghosts of Stygia truly serious obstacle in his path: the Abyss.
the souls of the dead, or were they simply constructs; The Abyss isn’t alive, and calling it “sentient” is
Supernal beings playing a role for the mage’s benefit? a stretch, but it does take notice of what happens in
Are the great beasts of the Primal Wild truly repre- the Fallen World and in the Supernal Realms. It gets
sentative of the extinct animals of the Fallen World? involved if a spell is “vulgar;” that is, if the disconnect
If so, imagine the knowledge that could be gained by between the laws of the Fallen World and the Supernal
summoning one! laws being imposed on it is particularly great. It also
But another possibility exists, and it nags at the pokes through and taints magic if Sleepers can see
Awakened. Not every mage experiences the same and recognize magic being performed, not because the
thing when Awakening to a given realm, and that Sleepers see magic as “impossible” (which it clearly
means that the experience is not wholly objective. isn’t) or “unbelievable” (reality is not governed by
Some mages never see their realm’s Watchtower (see subjective elements such as belief), but because Sleep-
Mystery Plays, p. 31 of Mage: The Awakening), ers resonate with the Abyss. If a Sleeper sees magic,
and experience the Awakening as a hallucination then, the Abyss is watching, and can upset spells that
superimposed over their normal lives. What does it normally wouldn’t notice.
that imply, then, about the Supernal denizens? Are When something as monumental as a gateway to
they hallucinations as well? While some mages feel one of the Supernal Realms occurs, then, the Abyss
that those who experience mystery plays as opposed always notices. The question then is not whether it
to “normal” Awakenings are too weak to cross the chooses to intervene, but whether the mage is able to
Abyss, others feel that mages who experience the cast the summoning spell despite the Abyss’ interfer-
Watchtowers are simply not possessed of a strong ence. One of the greatest risks of summoning Supernal
enough personality to fully incorporate the Awak- denizens, in fact, is that the mage will draw an Abyssal
ening into their lives. Naturally, neither of these entity into the Fallen World instead.
hypotheses has any hard data backing it, but knowing Summoning a Supernal denizen requires that the
the truth about the Supernal denizens might shed mage is capable of casting a Weaving spell in one of
some light on it. the ruling Arcana of his Path (meaning that only
And then, not every mage has knowledge in mind mages with three or more dots in one of their ruling
when she draws a summoning circle. Some won- Arcana can attempt the summons). Which Arcanum
der if calling down a denizen couldn’t spell quick the character uses determines what kind of Supernal
mastery of the Arcana, or allow the mage access being (if any) answers the summons. This is discussed
to secrets about rivals of the same Path. The desire further anon.
for power is a common one among the Awakened, A mage can only summon beings from the realm
and since magic stems from the Supernal Realms, corresponding to his Path. That is, an Acanthus
drawing them down would seem a logical way to mage can’t summon shades from Stygia, even if he
get more of it. becomes a Master of Death. That said, a character’s

68
 magical style and choices of Arcana can indeed af- Paths, and having a mage nearby who resonates with
fect the temperament of the beings that he summons. a different realm is (correctly) felt to hinder the effort.
The Fallen emulates the Supernal, and so it should In addition, a certain degree of competitive spirit is
come as no surprise that a mage’s proclivities affect common among mages; if someone manages to sum-
the sorts of beings he summons from the Supernal mon a Supernal being, and then a rival mage turns
Realms. This chapter discusses each of the Supernal around and presents the findings to the Consilium
Realms in turn and examines the effect of the various or to an order first, who’s to say who really codified
Arcana on summoning attempts. the process?
Another issue is that some mages take a dim view
The Summons of trying to bridge the Abyss in the first place, or at
The spell is an extended action, meaning that least, trying to do it casually. While the Silver Ladder
even a powerful mage requires some time to com- wants magic to be a more powerful force in the world,
plete the casting. The casting area is important. and the Free Council share that sentiment to a point,
Supernal creatures aren’t the Guardians of the Veil
so much compelled to and the Adamantine
the Fallen World as Arrow worry about what
enticed, and so the would happen if the
area to which they Supernal Realms and
are being summoned the Fallen World were
must be as compatible to meet. The Abyss
with the Supernal has separated them
Realm of choice as for so long — can the
possible. The best world handle a sud-
possible summoning den influx of magic?
location is a Demesne, Supernal beings don’t
but since they aren’t live long in the Fallen
easy to come by, most World, so would a
Awakened summon- mass “migration” of
ers try to incorporate them trigger some
as many symbolic cor- kind of cataclysm,
respondences to the or would it provide
realm in ques- enough of a shift in
tion — and to the world’s magic ecol-
the Arcana being ogy that they could
used — as possible. survive? There’s no
The sections on the way to know, and mages
realms later on in this that err on the side of cau-
chapter list sample cor- tion would rather that the
respondences, but obviously curious among the Awakened
different mages have different takes look elsewhere for answers.
on the Supernal Realms based on their own All of this in mind, the summons tends to be
Awakenings. Because no two Awakenings are alike, a a solitary affair. The character sets up the area and
summoner has an easier time contacting the Supernal casts a spell using the Arcanum of choice. The spell
if he can use symbols and objects that call to mind isn’t designed to do anything, merely to forge a con-
his own time in the realm. nection to the realm and keep it open long enough
Mages of different Paths have various approaches to for a Supernal being to make the journey. Of course,
the ritual, depending, again, on what they are trying that journey involves traversing the Abyss, and so
to summon and why. In general, summoning some- every minute that the connection remains open, the
thing from the Supernal Realms is usually done alone, chances grow that something will worm its way into
rather than with a cabal. Part of the reason for this is the gateway. For this reason, when the Supernal being
that cabals are often made up of mages on different returns home, the mage needs to be able to change

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 69

 the spell, to redirect it, otherwise it simply collapses. beings. Both traits are listed using the spirit rules, but
This, too, is dangerous. manifest beings often have physical, solid bodies.

Supernal Beings — Gross and Subtle The Dangers of Summoning

Each of the Supernal Realms has two ruling Arcana, Apart from disapproval and censure from other
one Gross and one Subtle. A mage attempting to mages, a summoner faces some peril when she opens
summon a Supernal being can choose between these a gateway to the Supernal. The most important and
Arcana, and therefore choose between two broad immediate danger has already been touched on — the
types of Supernal denizen. character might attract an Abyssal creature rather
The denizens corresponding to Gross magic are than a Supernal one. The mage, however, has no way
called manifest beings, while those affiliated with to know if this has happened until it becomes too
Subtle magic are called recondite beings. While all late, and therefore this danger is one that summoners
of the realms contain a myriad of different beings, acknowledge and try to plan for, but can ultimately
a summoner has little choice in what he summons, do little about.
apart from the manifest/recondite distinction. (Note Another potential problem is that the beings
that while the character has effectively no choice in themselves might not be cooperative, and may, in
the kind of entity he calls down from the Supernal, fact, be downright hostile. Every Supernal Realm
the Storyteller should consider what the player is has beings that are primal or even bestial, and allow-
attempting to accomplish in summoning a Super- ing one into the Fallen World is a little like taking
nal being. Optionally, if the character is aware of a hungry tiger and turning it loose in a shopping
a particular being, the Storyteller might allow her mall. Confused and terrified, the creature lashes
to add successes to the summoning spell — see p. out, and the only targets in the area, typically, are
73 — to call it.) the summoner and any witnesses. This isn’t nearly
Manifest beings, focused as they are on the Gross so big a problem as that of calling down an Abys-
Arcanum, have a better understanding of beings with sal creature, but it’s still something that the mage
physical bodies (like mages). Some scholars speculate needs to watch.
that the manifest beings are the ones that guide a Finally, a mage that summons Supernal beings too
mage from the Fallen World to the Supernal Realm often runs the risk of becoming Abyss-Marked. This
and back for the Awakening. Others feel that mani- condition can afflict mages that summon Abyssal
fest beings guard the gates to the Supernal Realms. beings, as well (see Chapter Three), but is actually
Whatever their role, it is true that manifest beings more commonly found among Supernal summoners.
respond to summons more frequently that recondite In short, because the mage creates frequent tunnels
beings, and can remain in the Fallen World longer. through the Abyss, he “stains” himself with it in the
However, they are also more difficult to control and process. The Abyss takes greater notice of his magic,
bind, and if they become hostile, they stand a better and that, of course, can be dangerous. Abyss-Marking
chance of harming the summoner. can take place after the first time a mage summons a
Recondite beings are born of the Subtle Arcanum of Supernal being, but it usually doesn’t happen until
a given realm, and understand the loftier matters of the the mage has opened a half-dozen or so portals across
soul, the mind and the spirit. Some mages make the the Abyss. See the sidebar for mechanical details on
mistake of thinking that these beings (and the Arcana Abyss-Marking.
that they represent) are more powerful or somehow
more “pure” than their Gross counterparts, but in The Benefits of Summoning
truth, neither can exist without the other. Recondite Some of the benefits of summoning Supernal beings
beings are harder to summon and they are much more have already been hinted at, and the benefits of sum-
delicate, but they are often more knowledgeable about moning specific denizens are discussed in the realms
arcane matters. They are not, however, necessarily sections later in this chapter. In general, however, the
more cooperative than manifest beings, though they benefits of calling down a Supernal denizen are:
are easier to bind and direct. • Knowledge: Supernal beings have an intuitive
The sections on the different realms later in this understanding of their home realm that not even a
chapter provide traits for both manifest and recondite Master mage could aspire to. While they don’t have

70
 permanently, or sever or alter sympathetic connections
in a manner not usually possible, even to a Master of
New Flaw: Abyss-Marked Space (see pp. 176). A Supernal denizen might be able
Your character has been stained with the to perform such feats, though only within the sum-
Abyss. Paradox is a greater threat to the moning circle (see Summoned Creatures, below).
mage than usual, and Abyssal creatures
always notice him (though not all of them are
hostile). Summoned Creatures
In game terms, the Storyteller adds one die While specific creatures are discussed in the sections
to the character’s Paradox pool. In addition, on their home realm, below, enough commonalities
the character receives a –2 modifier to hide exist to merit a brief look here.
from Abyssal creatures, magically or oth-
erwise. Abyssal creatures don’t necessarily What Denizens Know
wish to harm the character; less intelligent Much to the disappointment of the Awakened,
ones might even view him as a kindred spirit. Supernal denizens are not omniscient. They do not
Being Abyss-Marked also makes Supernal
know the secret history of Atlantis, the true names
summoning more dangerous (see p. 74).
of the Oracles (or the Exarchs), or how the Supernal
Realms were formed. They know, as indicated above,
specific details about mages who Awakened to their
realm, but the greater mysteries of the universe seem
the answers to all of the great philosophical questions to elude them.
to the universe, they can sometimes tell a mage why Mages draw several conclusions from these facts.
he Awakened, what the choices he made during his One is that the denizens of the Supernal are merely
Awakening meant, whether or not a given person is inhabitants of their realms, much like mages are in-
Awakened (and whether a given mage is still alive), habitants of the Fallen World. They know about what
and possibly even whether a given person is destined surrounds them, but they can only speculate about
for Awakening (or at least, is likely to Awaken). In greater truths, just as mages (and Sleepers, for that
addition, a mage might ask a Supernal entity how to matter) can only speculate about the purpose of life
access Atlantean temples, how to activate Artifacts, on Earth. They know fact, but not meaning — and
details about Atlantean history (so far as the being indeed, there may be no intrinsic meaning to it all.
knows; see below), how to perform certain kinds Some Supernal denizens claim to know the nature of
of magic, and whether any members of a particular Creation, but then, so do some Sleepers, and neither
Legacy are still live. are backed by any hard data.
• Arcane Experience: Certainly, the first time Another possibility is that the Supernal denizens
a mage successfully summons a Supernal being, he know the truth, but will not or cannot reveal it.
should receive at least one point of Arcane Experience. Since the Supernal Realms were created (or at least
Summoning a manifest and recondite being might codified) by the Oracles, it stands to reason that the
each be worth a point, and the knowledge that such inhabitants must owe some fealty to them. As such,
a being imparts might be worth even more. they might be limited in the information they can
• Artifacts: Supernal denizens can, in theory, bring reveal by outside edict. If that’s the case, a prolonged
Artifacts from their home realm with them to the period in the Fallen World might be enough to erode
Fallen World (see p. 173). This isn’t something that this control, allowing a Supernal being to speak freely
the summoner can necessarily plan for (especially about the Oracles and/or Exarchs and other lofty
since he has no control over what sort of being he topics, were that being so inclined. As mentioned,
will attract). If, however, the player wishes to spend though, Supernal beings don’t live long in the Fallen
experience points on an Artifact after character World, and no summoner has yet managed to extend
creation, the summoning ritual can make a good their lifespan here.
rationale for it. Finally, another possibility exists, and it’s one that
• Magical Intercession: A mage might wish to mages are reluctant to even acknowledge. The “Su-
perform a feat of magic that is, for whatever reason, pernal beings” summoned from the realms might be
impossible. The mage might wish to regrow a lost limb nothing more than magical constructs, forged through

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 71

 the summoner’s own magical expertise and given form creature’s Power, and then casts the spell again to
through imagination and will. “Summoning” them is raise its Resistance, the extra Power fades.
an act of magic, obviously, but they aren’t separate • The ruling Arcanum other than the one used
intelligences — they don’t know anything the mage to summon the being (Gross for recondite, Subtle
doesn’t subconsciously remember from his own time for manifest) can be used to command or scrutinize
in the Supernal Realms. This would explain why the the being.
Awakened find it so much more difficult to summon System: The mage casts a Weaving spell using the
the Supernal beings in the presence of other mages, appropriate Arcanum. The being can resist with a
and why the information they can grant is so specific contested Resistance roll, though it can also choose
to Awakened who have visited the realm, rather than to allow the mage to cast the spell. If the mage wins,
the realm itself. it can engage in magical scrutiny or can command
Supernal denizens are not able to teach rotes, as the being. Scrutiny and command of Supernal beings
rotes are specifically designed to allow magic to work are discussed in more detail under the realms sections
more smoothly in the Fallen World. They are able to later in this chapter.
teach Arcana, however, though not with any greater • The inferior Arcanum for the creature’s home
result or speed than another mage would. (Storytellers realm can be used to harm the creature.
may, however, wish to assign Arcane Experience – see System: The mage casts a Fraying spell using the
Mage: The Awakening, pp. 340–1 – to characters who appropriate Arcanum. The player subtracts the be-
seek tutelage in the Arcana from Supernal beings.) ing’s Resistance from his dice pool. Every success
Supernal entities have a wealth of knowledge about inflicts one point of damage to the being’s Corpus. If
topics related to their realms, which is discussed in the being falls to zero Corpus (regardless of the type
the sections following. of damage), it loses its grip on the Fallen World and
vanishes. The player immediately checks for degen-
Traits eration if the character’s Wisdom is greater than 2
Denizens of the Supernal Realms have the same traits (roll two dice).
as spirits (see pp. 317–322 of Mage: The Awakening), This isn’t to suggest that other spells can’t be used
but they are not spirits or ghosts for the purposes of to affect the creature, especially to do direct harm. An
magic use. Affecting Denizens with magic is discussed Adept of Forces can attack a Supernal being with a
below. Supernal beings can use Influences and Numina lightning bolt, regardless of her Path. That said, some
in the same way that spirits do, from the perspective entities have specific weaknesses or invulnerabilities,
of game mechanics. and these are noted in the examples below.

Affecting Denizens with Magic The Trial

All Supernal beings are, obviously, native to those All Supernal beings have a test, a condition or
realms, not the Fallen World. Although they use an action that they demand of mages that summon
spirit traits (see above), they are not vulnerable to them. This action is in some ways similar to a spirit’s
summons, commands, attacks, or any other spells using Ban; if the mage doesn’t take the appropriate action,
the Spirit Arcanum. A denizen of the Supernal Realm, the Supernal entity cannot help her. In some cases, it
when summoned to the Fallen World, is susceptible might even attack. Powerful supernal beings tend to
to magic using the following rules: have complex and esoteric Trials, while weaker be-
• The ruling Arcanum used to summon the being ings might simply demand that the mage be honest
(Gross for manifest, Subtle for recondite) can be used and respectful (or, conversely, command the being
to heal or enhance the being. Damage suffered due to forcefully to show his dominion over magic).
exposure to the Fallen World (see below) is considered Researching Supernal beings usually reveals in-
resistant damage, and cannot be healed this way. formation about the Trials in an indirect way. For
System: The mage casts a Perfecting spell using instance, a mage researching the denizens of the Primal
the Arcanum in question. Every success either heals Wild might learn that they respect summoners that
a point of Corpus damage or adds one point to the will do what it takes to survive. Whether the mage
creature’s Power, Finesse or Resistance. Multiple uses can extrapolate from that when he summons the
of this spell do not “stack,” so if a mage increases a Blood of the Prey (p. 103) is another matter, but the

72
 Storyteller should allow players to roll Intelligence event, if a mage directly contributed to this event, the
+ Occult to gain hints about what a given denizen player must roll to avoid degeneration if the character’s
might expect. Wisdom is 2 or above (roll two dice).

Life Span and Weakening Game Mechanics

in the Fallen World The spell below describes the process of summoning
Beings from the Supernal Realms are vulnerable in a Supernal being from a game mechanics perspective.
the Fallen World. In their own realms, they are na- This spell has never been made into a rote, nor can it
tives — the environment is uniquely suited to them, be — the “spell” requires a pure, raw work of magic.
and they are immune to the suffocating blackness of Codifying it is impossible, because opening a gateway
the Abyss. The realms are, in a way, pure. The Fallen to the Supernal Realms necessitates thinking back to
World, though, is a much more diverse environment, one’s Awakening. This experience is too personal to
containing elements of all of the realms, the Abyss, allow the kind of practice that a rote requires.
and other levels of existence (such as the Shadow).
The inhabitants of the Supernal, therefore, start to die
in the Fallen World. They don’t have the antibodies
Summon Supernal Being
to survive, as it were. (Any Arcanum •••)
When a Supernal denizen arrives in the Fallen Practice: Weaving
World, it enjoys the protection of the summoning Action: Extended
circle for a brief period of time (how long depends Duration: Special
on the mage; see below). After this period is over, Aspect: Covert
the denizen suffers one point of Corpus damage for Cost: 10 Mana
each hour it stays in the circle. If it leaves the circle, The mage must fashion a summoning circle, usually
it suffers this damage every half-hour. If it comes into using runes and High Speech glyphs appropriate not
contact with Sleepers or with an Abyss-Marked mage only to the Arcanum he is using, but to the intended
(see p. 71), it suffers this damage every 15 minutes. purpose of the summoning. The process and form of
Finally, if a mage causes a Paradox within 50’ of the the ritual is different for each realm, and is discussed
being, even if the mage contains the Paradox within in detail under the appropriate realm sections.
his own body, the being suffers one point of damage Before beginning the ritual, the player must decide
for every success on the Paradox roll. Every time the upon how many successes the mage will attempt to
being suffers damage, the Storyteller rolls the denizen’s accrue. The formula is as follows:
Power, Finesse and Resistance. For every roll that fails,
The mage needs 10 successes to open the gateway.
the relevant trait falls by one point. A mage can use
Every additional success has one of the following
magic to boost these traits as described above, but
effects:
Corpus damage is considered resistant and cannot by
• Extend the duration in which the being can re-
healed by magic. Likewise, using magic to increase
main in the Fallen World without suffering damage.
the being’s Resistance (see above) does not change its
Each success adds 30 minutes. If the mage allocates
effective Corpus for the purposes of determining the
no successes to this duration, the being begins taking
length of time it can stay in the Fallen World.
damage immediately.
Once the being runs out of Corpus, it vanishes. The
• Protect the gateway from Abyssal intrusion. Every
denizens can sense when their time is running out,
success thus allocated allows the player to make one
and usually attempt to get back into the summoning
additional roll without the Storyteller checking for
circle, so that they can go directly home. If, however,
the Abyss creeping into the gateway.
the creature “dies” outside of the summoning circle, or
is killed by a deliberate magical attack (see above), it In addition, the following factors add to the neces-
cannot use the path laid down by the mage to reach sary total:
its home again. Instead, it vanishes into the Abyss. • Add one success per Sleeper present. In addition,
This is obvious to anyone watching — black tendrils a Sleeper’s presence renders the spell improbable.
may extend from the walls and rip it to shreds, or an • Add one success per mage of a different Path
Abyssal spirit might manifest to collect it. In any present.

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 73

 • Add one success if the summoning is taking place is 3, so every roll requires one hour. She requires 14
in a Demesne oriented to a realm other than the one successes to start — 10 (base) + 3 (three of her cabal
in question. mates are present) + 1 (she caused a Paradox within
• Add one success if the mage has caused a Paradox the last week). Her player decides to add in three
(even if he contained it) within the last week. more successes. Two are allocated two duration (if
• Add one success if the mage is Abyss-Marked she is successful, the being will be able to survive in
(see p. 71). the Fallen World for an hour without taking damage)
• Subtract one success from the target if the sum- and one is allocated to stave off Abyssal intrusion.
moning is taking place in a Demesne oriented to the Her Resolve + Composure is 5, so with the success
realm in question. she has allocated, her player can make six rolls before
Abyssal intrusion becomes a problem.
• Subtract successes if the character incorporates
items and conditions into the summoning that cor- If she fails to accumulate 17 successes in six rolls
respond to the realm in question. The sections on the (which is a distinct possibility), the Storyteller rolls
different realms later in this chapter list sample cor- Whim’s Gnosis rating for every roll beginning with
respondences, but the character must still weave these the seventh. If the Storyteller accumulates eight
correspondences into the spell gracefully enough to successes (Whim’s Gnosis + Fate) before her player
ease the casting. The Storyteller can either adjudicate finishes accumulating the 17 needed for the spell, an
the number of successes shaved off the total based on Abyssal entity intrudes.
the player’s descriptions of his character’s actions, or Concluding the spell: Once the Supernal being
the player can roll Intelligence + Occult. Every two has returned “home,” the mage needs to channel the
successes on this roll removes one success from the magic he used to work the summoning into something
target number of the summoning spell. else. Leaving the spell “open” is dangerous, because
Once the player has determined the target number if he does so, sooner or later the Abyss will seep in.
of successes and how they will be allocated, he can The spell can be closed easily enough — the mage
start rolling. The amount of time required for each simply needs to choose what spell to cast. The player
roll is, of course, determined by the mage’s Gnosis makes the appropriate roll, the spell occurs, and the
rating (see p. 76 of Mage: The Awakening). The gateway closes.
player is not limited in the number of rolls he can If the spell rolls fails, though, or if the Supernal being
make, but fatigue will eventually begin to set in. A dies from exposure to the Fallen World or is deliberately
greater danger, though, is Abyssal intrusion. destroyed outside the summoning circle, the gateway
The player can make a number of rolls equal to the collapses. This creates a temporary portal to the Abyss.
character’s Resolve + Composure + any successes allo- Every mage within 50’ of this portal suffers a number
cated to avoid Abyssal intrusion. After that point, the of Health points of aggravated damage equal to the
Storyteller rolls the character’s unmodified Gnosis for summoner’s Gnosis. In addition, the portal remains
every roll that the character makes. If the Storyteller open for a number of days equal to the summoner’s
accrues a number of successes equal to the mage’s Gnosis. During that time, the mage needs to watch
Gnosis + [ruling Arcanum used to cast the spell], the the portal carefully, because Abyssal creatures can
Abyss breaks into the gateway, and the creature that and do escape into the Fallen World.
arrives is not a Supernal being but an Abyssal one.
The Storyteller should by no means reveal how many
successes she gets on the intrusion rolls. The Abyssal The Aether,
being that arrives might impersonate a Supernal one,
at least for a while. More information on Abyssal
summoning and the creatures resulting from them
Abode of Angels
The rain beat violently against the wide, glass windows
can be found in Chapter Three.
of the skyscraper. High above the city, lightning flashed,
Example: Whim, an Acanthus of the Mysterium, illuminating the Obrimos forum. In the center of the gath-
decides to call down a recondite being from Arcadia ered mages, an entity, pale and softly luminous, floated
as part of her ongoing quest to unravel the nature serenely a few feet off the floor. It had materialized from
of the Fallen World. She is a Master of Fate, so she the Aether in the form of a female, naked and hairless.
is more than qualified to cast the spell. Her Gnosis Its skin was a delicate white and slightly translucent,

74
 with a subtle webbing of thin, pale blue blood vessels just universe great and small, from the tremulous potential
beneath the surface. Most unsettling and alien of all, a energy in a coiled spring, to the awesome, explosive
thousand tiny, closed, lash-less eyes covered the surface of force of a star turning super nova. When a Theurgist
the entity’s entire body. For all the being’s silent serenity, returns to the Fallen World, he often feels as though
and in spite of the raging electrical storm outside, it might his eyes have been opened. He can look at the world
have been sleeping. Galileo knew better. through a new, divinely-inspired lens — his life has a
Kaon lay unconscious on the scorched tile before the purpose, and nothing can stand in the way of what is
entity, her skin steaming like rain evaporating off hot right and just (by his reckoning, anyway). Even those
asphalt. The acrid scent of burnt flesh and hair hung in with a clear sense direction will falter occasionally,
the heavily charged air. Several of the gathered rushed however, and this is when an Obrimos looks back to
forward to tend to Kaon’s wounds. the Aether for guidance and inspiration.
The ritual had been a lot to ask of such an inexperi- The Angels of the Supernal Realm of the Aether
enced mage, but these were desperate times, and the more are ancient and wizened sages, winged warriors of
practiced mages would be needed in the long, hard battle righteous fire and might, and vast elementals of pure,
ahead. Galileo stepped forward, facing the being. Willing crackling energy. They provide the summoner with
his voice not to waver, he spoke. the wisdom and strength of the eternal magic and
“We have great need of your help. Something is poison- forces of the universe. They offer devastating pow-
ing the ley lines, and the taint of the Abyss is infecting the ers of destruction, but only for the sake of rebirth
Awakened throughout the city. Many have died, sleepers and creation. Angels of the Aether are intense and
and Awakened alike, and many more will die if the origin charismatic creatures: ageless, awe-inspiring, and
of this poison is not discovered. Despite our best efforts, all-consuming. Angels themselves are neither good
the cause remains untraceable to even to the city’s most nor evil, and simply are what they are meant to be:
powerful mages.” beings devoid of moral choice. They may not be
The entity’s eyes remained closed, and Galileo stepped kind, but they are unwavering in their resolve and
back reverently. Another Obrimos of the forum took his righteousness (although, having no choice in the
place, giving testimony of dark, malignant energy that was matter, what Angels consider “righteous” can vary
spreading like a cancer throughout the city. Each declaration considerably). Angels hold lofty standards, and will
strengthened the first, and when the last mage had spoken, not answer the call of those they consider impure
the forum fell still and silent, waiting for the being’s response. or unworthy.
Even the storm outside had ceased, as though the night was While a Theurgist may summon an Angel from the
holding its breath in anticipation of the verdict. Aether for help and guidance in personal matters,
In a sudden blaze of light, the entity opened its thousand he may also do so to benefit the greater good. An
eyes. Briefly, a myriad of tiny, electric-blue pupils could Angel, in fact, may be much more willing to assist a
be seen, and then the light grew so bright that every mage mage who calls upon it for a selfless purpose. More
present was blinded for an instant. so than denizens of any other Supernal realm, An-
gels of the Aether are willing to help those in times
When Galileo’s vision returned, the entity had discorpo-
of need. A mage willing to die to save the lives of
rated and returned to the Aether. Still slightly disoriented,
others will find himself blessed in unexpected ways,
he felt his way to the window of the skyscraper. Far
while a mage who calls upon an Angel with wicked
below, the city shone with flowing rivers of blue-white
or selfish intent may find himself wholly regretting
light. The ley lines were now visible to every mage in the
ever having Awakened.
city. Galileo squinted, leaning closer to the cool glass. In
the distance, the pure, shining blue-white energy of the
ley lines dimmed — the flow of the river of Mana was Risks
stagnant and mottled with darkness. Angels are powerful beings with high, rigidly fixed,
ethical standards. While most are benevolent, many

Calling Down the Aether are simply incapable of seeing gray areas when it comes
to morality. As such, any mage who calls upon an
Angel must be extremely careful. Angels are able to
Mages who walked the Path of the Mighty often
recall Awakening in a realm of pure energy — spin- inherently understand the moral nature of the Obri-
ning with the stars of the heavens and surrounded mos whose call they answer, some with such clarity
by beings of pure light. They feel the forces of the that they are capable of seeing, in vivid detail, past

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 75

 transgressions of the mage. An Angel may herald the Once in a suitable place to perform the ritual, the
sins of the summoner for all to hear, utterly destroying mage must cleanse herself with heavenly fire (however
his reputation, or worse, it may demand immediate she chooses to interpret such), purifying her body to
penance for his sins. serve as a divine conduit to the Realm of the Aether.
The penance an Angel inflicts upon the summoner To recreate the heavenly fire of the Aether, a mage
can take many forms. It may brand the mage with holy must combine Forces and Prime, energy and magic
fire, or repeatedly strike the summoner with bolts of itself, finding a harmonious balance between the two.
crackling energy. To cleanse to mage of her sins, it may (Any Obrimos capable of a Supernal summoning must
hold her beneath the surface of a crystal lake until she have the proficiency needed in at least one of the two
is half-drowned, or engulf her body in divine fire until ruling Arcana in her Path; three or more dots. She
her impurities are utterly burned away (often with can supplement the more potent Arcanum with even
large amounts of flesh). In some cases, the penance an initiate’s understanding of the other.) She must
exacted upon a mage by an Angel is so extreme that physically immerse herself in the forces of the universe:
it leads to the death of the summoner. electricity, gravity, kinetic energy, heat, light, physics,
Lastly, the Fallen World simply does not shine like radiation, sound, or weather. Having done so, she
the Aether. Every day, an Obrimos faces the ugly must call upon Prime to temper the energy before she
truths of the mortal world: war, hunger, sickness, is consumed by its power. The process is dangerous,
death, pollution. Despite his sense of holy convic- and painful. Entities from the Realm of the Aether
tion, a mage awakened to the Aether has witnessed are called through the creation of the heavenly fire,
the divine light of Heaven, and he may grow to feel however, and the process purifies the body of the mage,
trapped and filthy in the smothering darkness of the making her worthy of divine attention.
very world he seeks to enlighten. He may long for Sample Correspondences: fire, electrical storms,
the brief clarity that he felt when Awakening in the nuclear energy, steel, divine purpose, vibration,
Abode of Angels. In his desire to be near beings that cleansing, gold, purity, aurora borealis, volcanoes,
remind him of that state of perfect and pristine lucid- light, earthquakes, gravity.
ity, a Theurgist may find himself calling upon those
selfsame Angels of the Aether again and again. Like
a moth to a flame, a mage who repeatedly calls down
The Entities
the Angels for such a lowly purpose will eventually Obrimos can summon entities from the Aether using
be utterly consumed by divine fire — driven mad by Prime (Subtle) or Forces (Gross). All such entities are
its unattainable beauty, or devoured, body and soul, collectively called Angels. Manifest Angels are called
by its all-powerful, purifying flame. Seraphim (singular, Seraph), while recondite Angels
are called Cherubim (singular, Cherub).
The Ritual Seraphim — Angels of Forces
Mages who follow the Path of the Mighty often
recall a feeling of divine purpose upon Awakening. The term “Seraphim” might call to mind the highest
They may recall being surrounded by and engulfed order of Angels as they were developed in Christian
with energy, hot and bright. Some recall shining be- theology: winged beings who sing in the heavenly choir
ings composed of pure light or energy. To a mortal surrounding the throne of God. The word “Seraphim”
from the Fallen World, the immaculate forces of the is, in fact, derived from the Hebrew word, Seraph,
Supernal Realm of the Aether can be overwhelming. which is used in all its forms to connote a burning,
To summon an entity from the Aether, an Obrimos fiery state. This is, perhaps, more semantically accu-
must recreate this feeling of power and purity. rate when describing Angels of the Forces Arcanum.
While Seraphim may not have any relationship to
The location of the summoning may or may not be
God or religion, they can be considered divine beings
a physical place. Anywhere or any time the powers of
in many other ways. St. Thomas Aquinas may have
the universe are active and strong will suffice. Some
best described the divine fire that is often associated
suitable locations or times for a summoning might
with Seraphim, “We consider in fire the quality of clar-
include close proximity to a roaring waterfall, during
ity, or brightness; which signifies that these angels have
an intense electrical storm, near an active volcano, in
in themselves an inextinguishable light, and that they also
a nuclear plant, or beside a fault line in the Earth.
perfectly enlighten others.”

76
 Seraphim are beings composed of pure energy de- the path of the just and, accordingly, they are also
rived from the Supernal Realm of the Aether, and are likelier to be somewhat more understanding, patient,
representative of the vast and limitless power from and forgiving.
which all of Creation was born. To some extent, all Most Cherubim glow with a soft, luminous blue-
Seraphim have been touched by divine fire. Many do white light, representative of Mana. They tend to
strongly resemble the Angels of belief systems through- have multiple eyes — sometimes, hundreds or even
out the world: beings composed of pure light or fire, thousands of them — representing divine, all-seeing
with multiple faces and/or wings. Others, however, wisdom. They have an understanding of the funda-
may choose less recognizable forms: a pulsing orb of mentals of magic that can make a Master of Prime
light, a shimmering wave of heat, a twisting pillar of look like a novice. Some can sculpt the raw essence
water, or a fiery bird blazing across the heavens. They of magic into material forms, creating objects and
commonly arrive loudly, in a rush of roaring wind or even beings of potentially immense power. Some
a surge of unbridled energy. believe that Mana itself springs directly from the will
Each Seraph stands steadfastly for what it believes of the Cherubim, and flows from the Aether to all
to be just and right, and is typically a skilled warrior other realms, Supernal or otherwise. In these ways,
for whatever its distinct cause may be. The forces that Cherubim are god-like, creating something where
Seraphim command are generally used for benevolent there was once nothing.
purposes, but that is not to say that they cannot be Cherubim are typically quieter, more secretive, and
destructive. Indeed, if an entire city must be demol- less demanding of the summoner than Seraphim (at
ished for the sake of what a Seraph understands to be least as far as ethical standards are concerned) — but
the greater good, he would not hesitate to (and, in that is certainly not to say Cherubim are less powerful.
some cases, could very easily) burn it to the ground. Indeed, Cherubim are representative of the power
Seraphim, like all Supernal Angels, are not creatures of magic itself, and it is through magic that all other
that are capable of recognizing grey areas of morality. energies are harnessed and shaped.
Good and evil (as they understand the concepts)
contrast very sharply in the eyes of the Seraphim,
and they hold those whose call they answer to rigid The Summoner
ethical standards. Despite this fact, Seraphim can Many Obrimos are passionate men and women,
prove to be valuable allies to any Obrimos who walks fortified by their unwavering belief in what is just.
a true and virtuous path. As such, a Theurgist’s Virtue can shape the form and
personality of the Angel that she summons from the
Cherubim — Angels of Prime Aether. A mage who is known for her giving and
In contrast to Seraphim, Cherubim gain their name generous nature, may find herself in the company of
from the Babylonian term, karabu, which means pro- an Angel who is also charitable. Similarly, an Obrimos
pitious, or blessed. While Seraphim are warriors for with the Virtue of Faith might be more likely to attract
divine cause, the Cherubim are sages and teachers. Angels that are representative of spiritual iconography,
They have existed in tandem with Seraphim since time while one possessed of a moderate nature might find
began, and use their power to temper the blazing fire that even the powerful, radiant Seraph she calls is
and passionate fervor of their counterparts. As such, capable of some modicum of personal restraint.
they are also excellent communicators, councilors, A Theurgist’s knowledge of magic also has an ef-
and intermediaries. fect on the entity he summons. Each of the Arcana
Cherubim, like Seraphim, typically follow a divine are present in the Supernal Realm of Aether to some
or righteous purpose, but there are exceptions to extent, and the mage’s proclivity toward one brand
every rule. Because of their innate ability to serve as of magic or another may interact with the ruling
intermediaries, Cherubim are, perhaps, more likely Arcanum of Prime and Forces in a variety of ways.
to walk the fine line between good and evil. While The following are suggested beings that a mage with
the Seraphim almost always see morality in black a great deal of knowledge in a non-ruling Arcanum
and white, Cherubim are more likely to at least ac- (Disciple or better) might summon.
knowledge the possibility of moral ambiguity. Of the • Fate: Angels summoned by a disciple of Fate are
two types of Supernal Angels, Cherubim are more representative of the chaotic aspects of Forces and
capable of understanding why mortals stray from Prime. Seraphim may manifest as forms in ceaseless

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 77

motion: from something as unassuming as a rubber as such; they are attracted to mages proficient in
ball ricocheting off the walls, to an awe-inspiring Spirit magic. Seraphim are likely to manifest in the
thunderstorm rolling swiftly across the sky. Cherubim form of an elemental entity: a pillar of fire, or water,
summoned by a mage versed in Fate are known to be a crackling globe of electrical energy, a blazing ball
fond of setting magic itself loose in the world. They of heat and light, or a howling wind. Cherubim may
may be able to temporarily strengthen or increase the appear as spirits composed of pure Mana — softy
magic of Artifacts… or weaken them. glowing with a blue-white light.
• Life: Seraphim called upon by a Theurgist • Time: Unbridled, the magic and energy of the
knowledgeable in life magic manifest in forms rep- universe can be difficult to control. Angels summoned
resentative of creation and growth. The summoner by a mage studying the Time Arcanum have mastered
may find himself on the summit of a mountain, face the power to speed up or slow down time as a means
warmed by the light of the sun, looking down upon to better control the forces at their disposal. Addi-
a lush, green valley below. Cherubim, however, tend tionally, some Angels who are summoned by those
to manifest as magic brought to life. They may ma- particularly skilled in the magics of Time are said to
terialize as luminous children, animals, or birds, and have existed from the moment that history began
they are known to be able to banish the presence of and the universe was propelled out from nothingness.
death and inspire creation. As such, they are known to be wise and infinitely
• Matter: Seraphim called upon by an Obrimos with patient teachers.
experience in the Arcanum of Matter may manifest • Death: A Theurgist studying the Arcanum of
in a form representative of matter transformed by Death is likely to summon Seraphim that resemble
energy: a creature of molten lava with blazing wings, the traditional conceptions of “Angels of death.”
or an amorphous being of blistering steam. Cherubim Consumed with vengeful justice and bristling with
of Matter are gifted artisans and embodiments of cre- dark energy, they may deal with the darker side of
ation; they have the ability to sculpt raw magic into Forces, and the ways in which the energy of the uni-
a variety of powerful magical Artifacts. The Artifacts verse can be used for destructive purposes (though,
that Cherubim create are only to be used by the pure, still divinely inspired, they often use their destructive
and for a just and noble purpose, lest the summoner powers to benefit the greater good). Such Cherubim,
bring divine wrath down upon himself. on the other hand, often manifest as faceless, indistinct
• Mind: Angels summoned by one practiced in the creatures of dark, non-reflective substances that are
Mind Arcanum are capable of bringing out hidden not quite material. They are said to be able to dispel
powers with the summoner and magic in the world magic entirely, to the point that the Cherub can
surrounding them. They may manifest as a burning drain the magic from anything with which it comes
tree or bush, ever aflame, yet never consumed by the in contact, including the summoner.
fire. Their knowledge is great, and their intent is to
enlighten. Any Obrimos who follows a righteous
path has much to learn from an Angel inspired by
Example Entities
the magic of the Mind Arcanum.
• Space: A Theurgist knowledgeable in Space may
Cherub: The Ophan
find herself transported to a safe haven of white marble Ophanim manifest in the form of a nude female
and glass, surrounded by the boundless star-strewn figure, floating serenely a few feet above the ground.
heavens. The halls of the sanctuary echo with the Hairless and white as alabaster, an Ophan’s pale skin
soft voices of invisible creatures of wind and music. appears to be covered with raised bumps or nodules
From this lofty height, a theurgist can look down at first glance. Upon closer inspection, it becomes
upon all that lies below, magically magnified through clear that the surface of its entire body is stippled
the wide windows of the palace. The summoner’s just with thousands of tiny, lash-less eyes — all of which
and righteous purpose will clear away any cloud that are closed.
blocks his view, shedding heavenly light upon the Ophanim have the ability to make all ley lines within
wicked below. a given location (usually an entire city) visible to all
• Spirit: Angels summoned by a disciple of Spirit who have Awakened for a period of time. Once the
carry their divine purpose to the realm of the spirits, ley lines are made visible, Obrimos particularly skilled

78
 Size: 5
Corpus: 10
Influence: Prime 3, Judgment 1
Numina: Binding Vow, Blast, Essence Conversion,
Telekinesis (as per the Ghost Numen; see The World
of Darkness, p. 212)
Trial: Before the ritual to call upon an Ophan is
performed, an Obrimos forum must be assembled
in the summoning location. One of the gathered
must then succeed in recreating the divine fire, and
the Ophan is called from the Realm of Aether. She
floats, graceful and alien, before the assembled, her
eyes closed. Each mage must, in turn, give testimony
on the purpose for summoning the entity from her
lofty place in the heavens, and why her assistance is
needed. If the forum makes a convincing argument,
the Ophan shows her approval by opening her eyes.
For a moment, her white skin is pin-pricked with
thousands of tiny, electric blue-eyes. Then, her
eyes shine so brightly that all Awakened within
sight are blinded by the light of the Aether for a
split second. When their vision returns, the flow
of Mana within the city is visible — softy glowing
with blue-white energy. The Ophan’s power af-
fects a number of square miles equal to the caster’s
Willpower + Gnosis.

Cherub: The Beast Keeper

in the Prime Arcanum can more easily map and even The Beast Keeper is most easily called upon by an
rearrange the flow of Mana as needed. Because the Obrimos with some experience in Life or Spirit magic.
ley lines are visible, all mages are able to locate the It manifests as a solidly-built, muscular man with four
magic streaming to and from hallows precisely, and arms. Its features are vaguely bestial and, slowly, almost
Mana can be drawn directly from a ley line without imperceptibly, ever-shifting. The Beast Keeper might
the need to go to a Hallow. (This will deplete nearby have wolf-like characteristics, feathers, fur, cloven
Hallows that are connected to the ley line in ques- hooves or horns at any given moment.
tion, however.) Additionally, to the benefit — and The Beast Keeper will gift the mage with a familiar
in some cases detriment — of mages in the area, all composed of pure Mana if she passes its trial (see
Hallows become visible to the Awakened. Obrimos below).
are sometimes known to call upon an Ophan when Attributes: Power 5, Finesse 4, Resistance 6
something unknown or difficult to trace is poisoning Willpower: 11
the Mana in an area. When the Mana is illuminated, Essence: max 25
tainted ley lines that have been tinged with darkness Initiative: 10
become readily apparent, and the cause or origin of Defense: 5
the problem is usually easier to pinpoint. Speed: 19 (species factor 10)
Attributes: Power 12, Finesse 8, Resistance 5 Size: 5
Willpower: 17 Corpus: 11
Essence: max 30 Influence: Prime 1, Beast 1
Initiative: 13 Numina: Binding Vow, Trial
Defense: 12 Trial: A mage who succeeds in summoning the
Speed: 30 (species factor 10) Beast Keeper finds herself in the midst of a surreal

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 79

 Seraph: Metatron
Only the purest and most just of Theurgists can
call the Angel Metatron from its lofty throne in the
Aether, and only in a time of desperate need. As with
all Angels, what, exactly, “just” means in a moral
sense can vary greatly. Commander of a mighty
celestial army, Metatron is a Seraph of immense
power. It is impossible to call upon the entity
for a selfish purpose, as the need of a single person
is too insignificant for it to notice or understand. A
single person can, however, speak on the behalf of
others, and the perceived need and righteousness of a
mage will draw the Metatron attention to the Fallen
World. In rare cases, it may bestow up to three power-
ful gifts upon the summoner: The Gifts of Metatron
(see below).
Metatron manifests as a towering being composed
of glorious celestial fire — bright as a blazing star.
Countless, shining, white wings fold and unfold from
its back, ever in motion. Brilliant sparks crackle in
the air surrounding its form, and when the Metatron
speaks, its voice resounds like a clap of thunder.
Metatron is a god-like being too powerful to be
represented with traits (See “The Spiritual Hierarchy”
on p. 317 of Mage: The Awakening).
Trial: A mage who summons Metatron must explain
the dire situation with which he is faced, and why the
Angel’s help is needed. The Obrimos must explain in
forest, luminous with blue-white energy. As she walks
great detail the evil that he intends to conquer with
through the woods, she may feel she is being followed
Metatron’s aid. The Theurgist must be entirely truth-
or watched. Eventually, the mage comes across an
ful in his disclosure, as Metatron cannot be deceived.
animal composed of the same blue-white energy as
It is not a being that sees morality in shades of gray,
the flora surrounding her. The animal may be hurt,
and if the mage tells even the smallest of white lies,
sick, violent, or scared. The mage must care for the
Metatron will lash out at the summoner with celestial
animal in some way: mending an owl’s broken wing,
fire (quite possibly maiming or even killing him) and
coaxing a frightened wolf pup from its hiding place,
return to the Aether.
or calming a violent boar from its rage. Any mistreat-
However, in the rare event that the mage’s purpose
ment of an animal in the Beast Keeper’s presence will
is deemed worthy of the Angel’s assistance, Metatron
bring about its wrath.
will bestow three gifts upon the summoner: the Shield
Once the summoner has shown her ability and
of Metatron, the Sword of Metatron, and the Wisdom
willingness to care for the Aetherial animal, only
of Metatron. The Sword and Shield of Metatron are
then does the Beast Keeper reveal itself, and ask
ineffective unless used against (or as protection from)
if the mage would like to keep the creature as her
the “wicked”: foes directly connected to the “evil”
own. If the willworker responds in the affirmative
described to Metatron during the summoning.
and vows to take good care of the animal, then the
The Shield of Metatron surrounds the theurgist
Beast Keeper allows the mage to do so. The scene
with an intense barrier of energy to protect him
dissolves around the mage and she finds herself once
from his foes. The barrier has an armor rating of 4/4
more at the location of the summoning, with a new
(because the barrier is composed of energy that sur-
familiar composed of pure Mana (see the Supernal
rounds the mage, there is no strength requirement).
Companion Merit, p. 186).
The Shield of Metatron can be combined with Forces

80
 the mage is no longer worthy of the gifts.
Any unjust action (in the utterly rigid
and unambiguous sense that comprises
Metatron’s understanding) will cause
these potent gifts to be swept back to the
Aether. Should the Theurgist’s actions
be in any way unjust by the Angel’s
reckoning, then it may choose to levy
punishment upon him, as well. The
mage may only use the Gifts of Meta-
tron for the purpose that was disclosed to
the Angel during the summoning; their
use for any other end is automatically
deemed “unworthy” by the Seraph.

Seraph: Elemental
A mage who summons an Elemental
finds himself confronted by a being
composed of pure energy. It may manifest
as a pillar of blazing fire, a shining ball of
white heat and light, a crumbling, hulking
beast of molten earth and stone, a shimmering
and shifting heat mirage, or a sloshing, amorphous
blob of water, undulating to an otherworldly tide.
Elementals are not particularly intellectual beings,
and they are known to become violent when taken
from their realm. Often, an Elemental will attack its
summoner immediately after materializing within
the summoning circle.
Within certain circles of Obrimos, an Elemental
may be deliberately called upon to battle a newly
armor (see “Unseen Shield” on p.169 of Mage: The awakened Theurgist as a divine rite of passage. The
Awakening), and does not count toward the mage’s rite is representative of the exertion of mortal will
Spell Tolerance. over the forces of the universe, and how through
The Sword of Metatron allows the mage to strike the mastery of magic, a mage may defeat whatever
down his enemies with the celestial fire of the Angels adversary he faces. A young mage can learn a great
— leaving the innocent unharmed. Mechanically, the deal about his own abilities though the process, and
sword is typical of its kind (The World of Darkness, gains arcane experience from the confrontation.
p. 170), but its fiery blade deals aggravated damage, Attributes: Power 5, Finesse 2, Resistance 5
rather than lethal, upon the wicked. Additionally, a Willpower: 10
mage who uses the sword of Metatron will find his Essence: max 10
hands guided by the divine skill of the Seraphim. When Initiative: 7
using the Sword of Metatron, the character gains two Defense: 5
bonus dice to all rolls related to swordsmanship. Speed: 17 (species factor 10)
Finally, the Wisdom of Metatron pours knowledge Size: 6
of the energies of the universe directly into the mind Corpus: 11
of the willworker, making him a master of Forces Influence: Forces 2
instantaneously.
Numina: Blast, Reaching
The Three Gifts of Metatron remain with the
Trial: Elementals are the forces of the universe
summoner until the threat he faces is resolved or
incarnate, and as such, they can be challenging ad-

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 81

 At the time, Lydia felt nothing at all. She stared numbly
through the grimy window of her shabby one-bedroom
apartment, void of all emotion. Technicolor sunlight
streamed through the filthy glass. Children outside
laughed and played on the vividly green lawn, but their
voices were muted, distant.
Lydia stumbled to the toilet and heaved, emptying the
contents of her stomach into the bowl. Wiping the sick from
her chin, she sank to the floor, feeling the smooth coolness
of the porcelain tile. Then the tears came, streaming hot
down her pale cheeks. She lost herself in wave after wave
of raw emotion, feeling nothing but agonizing sadness, and
anger, burning strong and hot as hatred. “If you wish so
badly that things could be different, why did you leave?
Why not stay with me?”
Lifting herself shakily, Lydia made her way to the bed-
room. Wracked with sobs, she collapsed upon the unmade
bed. She could still smell him in the sheets. Memories of
all the times they had fucked on that bed came flooding
back to her. She had stared intensely into his eyes as he
climaxed, silently willing him to love her — to stay with
her. Not to leave her alone.
Alone.
Consumed by rage, Lydia felt for the thread. She
knew it well, because she had traced this particular
course of Fate time and time again. It was the one
where the two of them ended up together, happy and
whole. She saw flashes of the life they might have shared.
He was holding her safe in his arms. He was kissing her
versaries. Many inexperienced Obrimos have been at the altar. They were laughing together. Their newborn
badly injured or even killed in the process of subduing daughter slept soundly against her breast — so tiny, so
an Elemental. When an Elemental attacks, it will fragile. Images played through her mind like film on a
make use of whatever force it commands: crackling reel. Lydia lost herself in the lifetime that could have been
bolts of lightning, rays of blasting heat or radiation, for as long as Fate allowed her, reliving its most precious
or rippling distortion waves of crushing gravity. The moments over and over again.
mage must counter the attack with his own magic, Hours passed, and the unfulfilled destiny started to fade
proving his mastery of the forces he commands. When away. His features began to dissolve into chaotic, endless
the battle is over, the Elemental typically returns to possibility. Lydia held onto the disappearing thread tightly,
the Aether. and it burned suddenly bright in her hands, scorching her
flesh. Somehow, it knew what she was about to do.

Arcadia, “Let go, Lydia. You need to let him go.”

Biting her lip through the white-hot pain, Lydia pulled

the Abode of Fae

resolutely upon the vanishing thread of Fate with all the
magic and strength she could call upon. She knew that
what she was doing was wrong, and that part of her was
“I’m sorry. I wish things could be different.” That was
being torn away by the act, but she did not care. With
the last thing he said to her on the phone that day. His voice
blind desperation and anguishing desire she pulled, and
was steady, resolute. Lydia clapped her cell shut before he
then, she felt something come loose.
could say goodbye, ending the call. She didn’t want to hear
the finality of the click as he hung up. She didn’t want to When Lydia opened her eyes, he was standing before
hear the empty silence on the line that followed. her. He was exactly as she remembered, down to the finest

82
 detail. Every curve of his face was perfect — his eyes were alter events, then why was she granted the ability to
just as kind as always. When his arms encircled her and do so in the first place?
held her tight, she felt just as safe as she always had. For the Acanthus, there will always be difficult
“Never leave me again?” She asked. decisions. Even with the ability to see the future,
“Never.” He said. there are questions left unanswered, and destinies left
But when he spoke, there was a hollowness to his voice unfulfilled. An Enchanter may summon a denizen of
that she had never heard there before. Arcadia because she is searching for answers, to as-
sist her in achieving a desired end, or simply to help

Calling Down Arcadia ease the crushing burden of the gift (or curse) that
she has been given.
A mage awakened to the Realm of Arcadia tends
to be known (if stereotypically) for her free spirit, Risks
enthusiasm, and passion for life. She may be seen as Known for their capricious manner, summoned Fae
fickle, irrational, or immature, but the wonderment can be dangerous, benign, or, more likely, a combina-
with which she perceives the world is infectious to tion of the two. Fae are believed to be creatures born
those around her. Likely, a mage drawn to the Path of from all that is, or might be, possible. They can be
the Thorn was capable of seeing “magic” in the world playful and mischievous, wildly temperamental and
even before Awakening — in the eternal dance of the easily offended, or haunting and mysterious. Nearly
seasons, in the laughter of a child, in a secret glance all are, to some degree, unsettling for their instability.
between lovers. For all of life’s beauty, Acanthus are Beings called from the Realm of Arcadia are as diverse
also capable of sensing and understanding the purpose as the chaos from which they originate; and while the
behind life’s ugliness. As many Acanthus Masters ask majority of Fae may not actively intend harm, their
of their apprentices, “If one good person had to die to unpredictable nature can be extremely dangerous.
save thousands of lives, what would you do?” Because of this, a mage who calls upon a denizen of
Luckily, most people are not afflicted with the Arcadia can only be absolutely sure that he cannot
foresight to ever truly face such a question. En- be absolutely sure of anything, at all.
chanters, however, forever trace the threads of Fate For all the benefits a mage might reap from summon-
and Time, untangling hundreds of possibilities and ing an Arcadian Fae, there are risks in doing so that
outcomes from an impossibly intricate knot. They go far beyond the hazards of the being’s mercurial tem-
can see events that might occur, and can influence perament. Creating a gateway to the Supernal Realm
seemingly extraneous factors to produce a desired of Arcadia is, after all, inviting chaos to the Fallen
conclusion. Altering destiny to ensure the untimely World — and chaos can be difficult or even impossible
demise of one person and the preservation of the lives to contain, once unleashed. If the Realm of Arcadia is
of thousands might, therefore, be a simple choice for set loose during a summoning, it can manifest in many
a mage capable of understanding the end result. But ways: all of the glass within the radius of a city block
what if that one person destined to die was someone may shatter, birds may fly backwards, day and night
genuinely important to the willworker? A mother? may suddenly occur simultaneously within the mage’s
A child? A lover? sanctum, or living dreams of strange futures and pasts
Such a problem can raise many difficult moral and that never were may wander the waking world. A mage
existential questions, and the fact that the mage’s who risks opening the door to the Realm of Arcadia
own destiny is entwined with the very person who is wide enough to call upon one of its creatures may even
destined to die further complicates matters. Can an find his own destiny altered beyond repair.
Enchanter allow things to run their natural course As stated, the chaos of Arcadia is not easily fettered.
despite the outcome, knowing that she has the That said, it follows naturally that the denizens of
power to change the future? Should she tamper with Arcadia, born of infinite possibility, may also be dif-
the interplay of history and inevitability in the first ficult to contain. Occasionally, a creature summoned
place, recognizing that it’s impossible to perceive or from Arcadia may not desire to return home, and
understand the final destiny of universe? (After all, may use whatever faculties that are available to it to
mages can only see so far before possible events split remain in the Fallen World as long as possible. Even
away into a chaotic tangle of infinite possibilities.) if the summoned Fae is unsuccessful in its attempt
And if an enchanter is not meant to utilize magic to to stay in the physical world (as it surely must be), it

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 83

 can easily create a link of destiny between itself and ately picking out a specific pathway and following
the enchanter before being cast back into Arcadia, its twists and turns. As the mage traces the thread,
fating the summoner to run into it again at some she perceives flashes of the destiny; many claim that
point in the future. it feels like watching a movie or flipping through a
Fae may wish to remain in the Fallen World for a book of photographs.
number of reasons: the summoned being may wish to The summoner must find a thread linked to a be-
help the mage, it may perceive the Fallen World as ing of the realm, and then physically pull the thread
entirely too organized and in desperate need of a touch of destiny attached to the Fae. Discovering a thread
of chaos, it may be bored with existence in Arcadia of Fate resulting in a successful summoning can take
or in danger in its own realm, or it may simply be hours, and the process of physically pulling Fae into the
intensely curious and wish to unravel the mysteries of Fallen World can be extremely painful. Fate knows that
the Fallen World. Whatever its purpose for wanting to the denizens of Arcadia are not meant to exist in the
stay, denizens of Arcadia do not belong in the Fallen Fallen World. Therefore, once a willworker discovers a
World. Even attempting to allow Fae to linger beyond thread that can summon Fae and begins the process of
their allotted span in the material realm is, inevitably, pulling the being in the world, the connecting thread
dangerous at best and disastrous at worst. immediately begins to burn white-hot. The Acanthus
must persist in pulling the thread, despite of the pain
The Ritual caused by continuing to hold onto the burning strand.
Finding a suitable location for the summoning ritual If the mage perseveres, the summoning is successful
is an important factor to consider when calling upon and the Fae is dragged into the Fallen World. Some
a denizen of Arcadia. To summon Fae, an Acanthus rare few willworkers report physical distress on account
must first find a place that represents the infinite pos- of this phenomenon (almost invariably manifesting
sibility of Fate and Time. This eases the difficulties as a level or bashing damage or, at most, two), while
in bridging the gap between the Fallen World and others find that they are instead exhausted in spirit
the Supernal Realm of Arcadia. The location can by the ordeal (and must spend a point of Willpower
be anywhere that a significant change in destiny has, to represent that inner struggle).
might have, or will take place. Sample Correspondences: shattered glass, threads,
For example, a stage where an assassination attempt dice, passion, bright colors, patchwork, chaos, clocks,
was (or will be) made upon an influential politician crystal, mischief, playing cards, mirrors, frivolity,
might make a suitable location for a ritual. In this hourglasses, change.
particular case, the mage might discover the area by
feeling for multiple threads of destiny. Each thread The Entities
represents a possible future that might have happened. The term “Fae” might bring to mind the modern
One thread of Fate might represent a future where the portrayal of faeries: tiny, magical beings known for
politician is killed. Another thread might represent their playful and mischievous nature. It is true that
a future in which he survives. Additionally, there are Fae can be both playful and mischievous, and they
hundreds of other possible futures that might diverge may even manifest as something resembling the
from the same event. Hundreds, thousands, or even faeries of contemporary folklore, but the qualities
millions of destinies might be significantly altered by of a creature summoned from the Realm of Arcadia
hearing (or not hearing) the speech that the politician cannot be so narrowly defined. Fae, in this context,
makes (or doesn’t make). is the collective name for beings from the Supernal
Once a location is found, the Acanthus must Realm of Arcadia, born from possibility. Acanthus
meditate in solitude on the infinite possibilities of can summon entities from Arcadia using either Fate
the universe. Once a meditative state is achieved, (Subtle) or Time (Gross). Manifest Fae are called
she can follow the threads of destiny and the flow Anachronisms, while recondite Fae are called Moirae
of time as she chooses. While the mage’s body never (singular, Moira).
physically leaves the site of the ritual, she is no longer
aware of her surroundings. While in the trance, the Moirae — Fae of Fate
enchanter perceives the flow of history and probability As volatile as possibility itself, Moirae are beings
as an intricate web of interconnected threads. She summoned from Arcadia using the Arcanum of Fate.
is able to navigate through the jumble by deliber-

84
 Moirae can manifest in any conceivable form, and or clearly see events that have passed or will come
some may choose to appear as something different to pass. They may be able to stop or speed up time,
with each blink of the eye: an eccentric old man, a or link objects together temporally. Some scholars
ball of chaotic energy, a beautiful woman in brightly- believe that Anachronisms may even be able to
colored robes, a small animal or imaginary creature, remove themselves from the stream of time entirely,
or a friend or acquaintance of the summoner. and emerge in a place where time is meaningless.
Every Moira knows something of Fate, instinctively From this vantage point, anachronisms can view the
at the very least. Most Moirae have developed unique passage of time as a whole, and step back into the
abilities pertaining to the manipulation of Fate, which current wherever (or whenever) they please.
can be utilized to advantage of the summoner. Among Whether or not Anachronisms are more rational
a score of possible benefits, a mage calling upon a beings than their related Fae, Moirae, is up for debate.
Moira can gain a greater understanding of the nature While Anachronisms as a whole tend to be more
of destiny. Mere proximity to a Moira can alter the solemn and reserved (though there are certainly some
destiny of the mage, ultimately leading her to new exceptions), they can be just as erratic as their more
discoveries and conclusions. lively counterparts. A mage summoning an Anach-
Moirae are notorious for turning things around on ronism is wise to remember that fact. She should stay
the summoner, which may end up being either to the on guard, show respect, and watch her tongue — or
benefit of the detriment of the Acanthus. Because risk being carried away, powerless, by the swift, end-
Moirae are born from limitless potentiality, their less current of time.
doing so may not be intentional (then again, being
entirely unpredictable, it may). As such, a mage who
calls upon a Moira must often be extremely careful
The Summoner
about what he says when dealing with the creature, While the mage’s ability in other Arcana (apart
lest his words be misinterpreted… or lest he be bound from ruling Arcana) is typically a fairly straightforward
to them with gossamer chains of destiny. indicator of what type of entity will be summoned
from a given Supernal Realm, such is not necessarily
Anachronisms — Fae of Time the case with Acanthus. It is true that an enchanter
who is a disciple of Death might be slightly more
The term “anachronism” refers to anything that is
likely to call upon a creature associated with death
incongruous with the time period in which it exists.
from the Realm of Arcadia, for example. However,
An Anachronism appears in a temporal context in
the Supernal Realm of Arcadia is a place of chaos,
which it seems out of place and impossible, or at the
chance, and infinite probability. Therefore, it is also
very least, peculiar. Similarly, a being summoned from
possible (though perhaps less likely) for an Acanthus
Arcadia using the Arcana of Time is taken from its
studying Death to summon an entity that is repre-
appropriate place-time and brought into a realm in
sentative of Life (or, indeed, any other Arcanum)
which it does not belong. As such, Fae of Time are
from Arcadia.
called Anachronisms.
It is important to remember that a summoning
Anachronisms appear in a variety of forms related
ritual calling upon a denizen of Arcadia can result
to the passage of time. They may appear very old,
in the manifestation of a being slanted toward any
very young, or both old and young simultaneously.
Arcanum, despite the magical background of the
Many Anachronisms manifest along with imagery
mage. While it is more likely that an enchanter will
related to chronology some way: clocks, calendars,
find herself confronting an entity somehow related to
mechanical objects, a beating heart, a metronome,
the Arcanum with which she is familiar, she is wise to
an hourglass. They may alter the summoner’s percep-
be prepared for whatever chance brings her. As luck
tion of the progress of history throughout the ritual,
would have it, Acanthus are probably the best suited
making the environment to seem as though years or
of all Awakened to deal with such a predicament.
months have passed when only been a few minutes
have transpired. • Death: An enchanter who studies the Arcanum
of Death is likely to call Moirae representative of
Anachronisms have an unparalleled understand-
ill-omen. They may resemble creatures from supersti-
ing of the mechanics of Time. They may be able to
tious folklore: the Banshee of Irish folklore, a black
journey backwards or forwards in the stream of time,
cat, a flock of ravens, or the barguest, a spectral dog

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 85

believed to be a harbinger of death. While Moirae personality; and they typically come equipped with
take the form of an omen of death, Anachronisms an equally diverse mode of transportation: car,
often choose to manifest in a form representative bus, plane, airship, motorcycle, sailboat, bicycle,
of the temporal nature of decay. They may manifest rickshaw, etc. Moirae can journey through Fate
as corpses, for example; decaying rapidly, turning to to any location within any possible destiny, and
dust, and reforming once more. Anachronisms can travel to any location at any
• Life: An Enchanter who is a Disciple of Life is point in time: past, present, or future. Persuading
likely to call upon Fae that manifest in animal form. these vagrant Fae to take the summoner along
Despite their appearance, such Fae are known for can be difficult, however. And once at the desired
their cleverness and are usually capable of speech. location/time/destiny, it may be equally difficult
They may feign ignorance in order to size up the to convince the traveler to return the mage to his
intentions of the summoner, or to gain an advantage. proper location/time/destiny.
Moirae tend to favor the form of beasts resembling • Spirit: A mage strong in the Spirit Arcanum
tricksters of folklore: rabbits, coyotes, crows, monkeys, is likely to attract Fae who resemble spirits of Luck
foxes or spiders. Anachronisms manifest as animals or Fate. These Fae may have a strong connection
long extinct (or, perhaps, not yet evolved): dinosaurs, with time and destiny as it occurs in Twilight and
quaggas, prehistoric fish or insects, mastodons, or the Shadow Realm. Moirae may be able to twist
saber toothed tigers. the course of Fate connected to a specific spirit, or
• Matter: Mages knowledgeable in the Arcanum of help the mage contact spirits that might have been
Matter easily reshape the physical world around them or might be. Anachronisms may assist the mage in
to suit their needs. As such, an Acanthus who sum- contacting a spirit that no longer exists or will exist
mons a denizen of Arcadia is likely to attract beings in the future.
adept at reshaping time or destiny. A Moira of this • Forces: If it were possible for an Arcanum to
kind might be able to easily forge a new destiny from be any closer to chaos than Fate, it would be Forces.
the pieces of several others. An Anachronism might Moirae summoned by a Disciple of Forces manifest
be able to take something from the past and combine as the energy of the universe, unbridled and unstop-
it with something the future to create something new pable. They may take the form of balls of explosive
in the present. fire, wild electrical storms, or roaring waterfalls.
• Mind: Fae attracted to a mage studying the Ar- Moirae representing such energy have much to teach
canum of Mind are typically exceptionally intelligent an Enchanter about harnessing the fluctuating powers
and have an unmatched understanding of Fate and of the universe. On the other hand, Anachronisms
Time. A mage who gains its approval can learn a representative of Forces tend to manifest as beings
great deal more than he could from most any being related to the effects of energy throughout time. One
native to the Fallen World. Moirae might manifest might take the shape of an eroded statue, a creature
as sphinx-like creatures, and are often fond of riddles that has been warped or mutated as though exposed
and puzzles. Anachronisms might materialize in the to radiation, or a being made of ice that slowly melts
forms of wizened old men or women in grey robes, away before the summoner’s eyes.
and are equally fond of challenging the intellect of
the summoner.
• Prime: Magic flows not only throughout all that
Example Entities
is in the present, but also throughout all that is in the
past and future, as well. Acanthus well-versed Prime
Moira: The Weaver
magic may summon Fae who are capable of drawing The Weaver manifests as a petite, wispy old woman
upon the limitless supply of magical energy that ever wearing dozens of brightly-colored, intricately woven
was and ever will (or might) be. The ability to harness shawls and scarves. Her eyes are two highly-polished,
enormous amounts of Mana in combination with the flat silver mirrors. Her fingers, delicate as spiders’ legs,
unpredictable nature of Fae can have greatly beneficial are disproportionately elongated and exceptionally
or disastrous results. adroit. Her husband is the Watchmaker (see below),
and she chatters about him incessantly to anyone,
• Space: Fae summoned by an enchanter studying
or anything, willing to listen: “Playing with those silly
Space magic are intrepid travelers. They manifest
watches of his all day long, you’d think the old fool would
as adventurers of any conceivable shape, size, or

86
be capable of coming home at a reasonable hour once in may also discover that he is weaker at others. After
a while.” all, if a mage spent a great deal of time and effort in
A mage who successfully calls upon the Weaver one stream of destiny to become a great musician,
can persuade her to weave a favor. Like her husband, less time would have been devoted to other skills in
the Weaver practices her craft for its own sake, and order to achieve greatness in one. A favor made by
is usually more than happy to oblige in exchange for the Weaver eventually unravels (or is prematurely
pleasant conversation and good company. destroyed), and the summoner’s original skill (or lack
The Weaver is able to perceive the potential for thereof) returns.
greatness in any person: any budding talent that was The Weaver’s favor temporarily rearranges the char-
never encouraged to grow, and any hidden ability that acter’s Skill dots, creating areas of great strength and
was never able to surface. She can sort through the great weakness. The favor remains in effect so long
course of destiny, find alternate threads of Fate con- as the player wears it. A favor made by the Weaver
nected to the mage in which latent untapped abilities unravels in a number of days equal to the mage’s
are a realized, and weave them into a physical form Gnosis + Composure.
for the summoner to wear (usually a wristband, belt Attributes: Power 6, Finesse 10, Resistance 4
or small talisman). A mage who has never played a Willpower: 10
musical instrument in his life may suddenly find himself Essence: max 30
an accomplished pianist when donning a favor crafted Initiative: 14
by the Weaver. While an Acanthus may find himself Defense: 10
stronger at a certain skill while wearing the favor, he

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 87

 Speed: 26 (species factor 10) Trial: An Acanthus summoning a Vardøger must
Size: 4 find a thread of Fate in which the circumstances
Corpus: 8 leading to the loss of that person have not occurred.
Influence: Destiny 2, Craft 1 She must meditate on that alternate destiny, and
Numina: Binding Vow, Versatile Energies resolutely pull upon the thread of Fate connected to
Trial: The Weaver is highly intolerant of poor it, calling the Vardøger into the Fallen World. The
manners, so any mage hoping to win her over is wise original destiny is taken as payment by the Vardøger,
to stay on his best behavior. The smallest indication who, in return, creates a new Fate based upon the
of poor etiquette (elbows on the table, an uncovered destiny desired by the summoner. A Vardøger physi-
sneeze, or simply not thanking her for attending the cally takes over the place of a lost person within the
summoning) will turn the Weaver’s typically warm newly forged destiny.
demeanor suddenly frigid, and she will obstinately Typically, a Vardøger wishes to remain in the Fallen
decline any further request made by the summoner. World for as long as possible. (Note that a Vardøger’s
strange trial temporarily overcomes the normally short
Moira: The Vardøger lifespan of Supernal entities within the Fallen World,
The loss of a loved one is a difficult burden to bear. through an ill-understood metaphysical loophole.)
While death is one cause of an individual leaving Fragments, however, still remain from the original
another’s life, there are other ways in which a person destiny that occurred before the Vardøger altered it:
can be lost. A person may be called away on some a photograph of another family the lost person could
important duty, he may lose his mind due to disease have had if Fate was allowed to pass as it should, or
or a traumatic event, time and circumstance may a lost and confused person who has no right to exist,
transform him into an unrecognizable person, or anymore. When confronted by a residual piece of Fate
it may be his own decision to leave. Whatever the that remains from the original destiny, a Vardøger
reason, the pain of the loss of another can be unbear- vanishes and the original destiny returns.
able. While Sleepers have no alternative other than
to muddle through somehow, a mage skilled in the Anachronism: The Watchmaker
ways of Fate knows that destiny is not set in stone. The Watchmaker manifests as a tiny, hunched old
An enchanter understands that the bringing a loved man donning a waistcoat and telescoping spectacles.
one back may have a disastrous impact on the future, His eyes are the flat faces of two clocks, ever ticking.
but the strength of emotion can be a powerful force, His fingers, delicate as spiders’ legs, are dispropor-
and can bring even the most rational of mages to tionately elongated and exceptionally nimble. His
their knees (not that Acanthus are typically known wife is the Weaver (see above), and he speaks of her
for being very level-headed in the first place). animatedly and often to anyone willing to lend an
Vardøgers manifest as detailed replicas of the per- ear, “Been together 3,000 years now, at least. Talk about
son lost to the summoner, with the same personality, the old ball and chain! The missus knotted our destinies
appearance, and memories. But something is always together so tight I couldn’t leave if I wanted to!”
subtly different: his eyes may not be quite the right A mage who successfully summons the Watchmaker
shade of blue, his voice may not sound exactly the can ask him to build a clockwork mechanism. Like
same as it did, he may have a slight nervous tick that his wife, the Watchmaker practices his craft for its
he never had before. own sake, and is usually more than happy to oblige
Attributes: Power 4, Finesse 5, Resistance 5 in exchange a bit of pleasant conversation and, if
Willpower: 9 available, a drop of bourbon.
Essence: max 25 The Watchmaker is a skilled artisan, and can build
Initiative: 10 magical clockwork devices to serve nearly any purpose:
Defense: 5 a stopwatch that can temporarily stop time, a silver
Speed: 19 (species factor 10) clockwork nightingale whose song causes the listener
Size: 5
to fall into a deep sleep, a clockwork hornet with a
paralyzing sting. Such powerful Artifacts come at a
Corpus: 10
high price to the summoner, however. Clockwork
Influence: Destiny 1, Memory 1
devices crafted by the Watchmaker run on time taken
Numina: Harrow

88
 from the life of the mage. The more powerful the Defense: 8
Artifact and the longer it must run, the more time Speed: 24 (species factor 10)
from the life of the mage required to fuel the device. Size: 3
An Enchanter who obtains a clockwork Artifact may Corpus: 9
find large chunks missing from her memory, or she Influence: Time 2
may find herself unable to perform certain tasks or Numina: None
spells previously learned. In game terms, the character Trial: Before a Perdurantist will restore a dam-
temporarily loses a number of Skill dots equal to the aged Artifact, the summoner must use the Time or
merit rating of the Artifact. If the Skill dots are reduced Fate Arcanum to show him the purpose the Artifact
to zero, the character also temporarily loses any rotes will serve in the future. The Perdurantist will not
associated with the Skill. The Skills that the character exhibit approval or disapproval of the mage’s intent;
loses are chosen by the Watchmaker. Eventually, the rather, he will ask the mage one more time if she is
mechanism runs down (or is prematurely destroyed), sure that she would like the object restored. If the
and the lost time is returned to the mage. Enchanter is resolute, the Perdurantist will agree to
Attributes: Power 4, Finesse 10, Resistance 6 fix the Artifact. Additionally, he will attach a bane
Willpower: 10 or a gift of fortune upon the object to help or hinder
Essence: max 30 the summoner when the object is used in the future.
Initiative: 16 What, exactly, wins the approval of the Perdurantist
Defense: 10 is uncertain. He is as unpredictable as any denizen
Speed: 24 (species factor 10)
Size: 4
Corpus: 10
Influence: Time 2, Mechanics 1
Numina: Accelerate
Trial: The Watchmaker guards the secrets of his
trade carefully. If a mage shows too much interest in
his work, asks him too many questions, or glances
in his direction as he works, the Watchmaker will
stubbornly refuse to assist the summoner.

Anachronism: The Perdurantist

A Perdurantist manifests as a two-dimensional image
of a man, composed of light and flickering like frames
of a movie through a projector. He appears to change
rapidly in form and shape as he cycles through life
over and over again, from crawling baby to hunched
old man. The Perdurantist is representative of change
throughout time, and has the ability to make objects
younger or older than they are in the Fallen World.
A mage who summons a Perdurantist can ask him
to “fix” a broken Artifact. An Artifact that could
not ordinarily be repaired by magical means can be
restored by a Perdurantist. Rather than mending what
is already broken, the Perdurantist finds a discrete
moment in time when the object is not broken and
restores the object anew.
Attributes: Power 6, Finesse 8, Resistance 6
Willpower: 12
Essence: max 25
Initiative: 14

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 89

of Arcadia, and there is a small chance that even a lodged in the flesh of his side, and Harden yanked it free.
mage with the noblest intentions might find herself Blood spurted from Asmodeus’ naked flesh, staining the
object of the Perdurantist’s bane. floor of the summoning circle.
“Stronger than the lash, my spirit, my mind.”
The circle opened, but only slightly. Asmodeus peered
Gender Identity into it, and saw the ghastly light. He remembered this. He
remembered the rolling hills of the Abode of Demons, and
Several of the entities chronicled in this the sounds — God, the sounds! — of the tortured souls,
chapter are referred to by gender-specific pro-
always coming from the next rise, forever out of sight.
nouns, while others receive the neutral “it.”
Neither approach is precisely accurate, as
Why in the name of God was he called down something
these beings may or may not possess distinct from there?
divisions of that sort. Some entities that show “Stronger than…”
certain gender-based characteristics — like the He trailed off, ready to stop, ready to close the gateway,
feminine form of the Ophan — are, neverthe- to let the Demons stay in their abode. And then the pain
less, decidedly neuter. Others — such as the again, as Harden struck, the brass blade laying his right
Weaver and the Watchmaker — exhibit decid- leg open. Asmodeus cried out, and finished the mantra
edly gender-archetypal or even -stereotypical one final time.
traits. Still others display no specific signs of Two immense hooves emerged from the gateway, and
gender, at all. then the haunches of a great bull. The Demon pulled itself
Mages, being human, are apt to assign from the Supernal Road in a perverse parody of a breech
genders to Supernal beings, based upon birth, fire and sulfur following it like afterbirth. It turned
outward appearance and mannerisms, but and swung its massive head from side to side, surveying
they are wise to remember that these crea- the room, and then leaned down and stuck its snout in
tures may, in fact, simply be the reflections Asmodeus’ face.
of concepts as they are meant to be, filtered “You called me down, little boy?”
through a lens of imperfect mortal com-
The mage stood, blood flowing freely over his hips
prehension and then cast in a skin that can
and legs. He shut off the pain, now that the spell had
temporarily endure the intolerable climate of
the Fallen World. succeeded. His heart was pounding, but his voice was
clear and strong. “I am Asmodeus. My name adorns the
Watchtower of the Iron Gauntlet. My mind and spirit are
strong, stronger than the lash, stronger than the Abode

Pandemonium, of Demons, and stronger than you. I called you because

I require services of you.”

the Abode of Demons

He stared the Demon down, and the Demon dropped
its gaze.
“Stronger than the lash, my spirit, my mind.”
The whip licked out again, leaving another bloody gash
in his back. He ground his teeth together and repeated the
Calling Down Pandemonium
Mages on the Path of Scourging are often enamored
mantra. “Stronger than the lash, my—” (or fixated) on the notion of ordeal. Everything worth
The whip struck him, and he gasped, but finished the having must be earned, and one earns through suffer-
statement. “My spirit, my mind!” He cursed Harden ing. Through adversity, one gains strength. Mastigos
for striking him in the middle of the mantra, even though mages are capable of turning off pain, but they usually
he’d told him to do so before the ritual had started. Can’t choose to experience it, because in agony they prove
succumb to patterns. Can’t let the mind become weak. (to themselves, if no one else) that they do not need
Harden struck again, and again, but Asmodeus didn’t to rewire their minds in order to endure.
notice anymore. He repeated the mantra, over and over, Summoning a denizen of Pandemonium, then, is
and he found himself alone. The cracks of the whip faded. one more test. Calling up a Demon, be it a manifest
The room around him faded. Was he going back? Did Imp or a recondite Wraith, is physically and mentally
Pandemonium await? trying. The Warlock must expend a great deal of en-
And then the pain returned. Harden had switched to ergy in the ritual itself, and then when the Demon
the brass-tipped lash. The metal at the end of the whip

90
 arrives, he needs to have the remaining fortitude to
conquer it. Denizens of Pandemonium are not neces-
sarily hostile to humanity, but they do take their roles Demons and Other Demons
as adversaries very seriously. They are not meant to The word “demon” is a loaded term, be-
be at the beck and call of mankind, even the Awak- cause it calls to mind fallen Angels and other
ened. Weaklings, therefore, need not even attempt a figures from religious mythology. Mages often
summoning. Of course, a weakling probably doesn’t debate whether Pandemonium is truly “the
have what’s necessary to Awaken as a Mastigos in Abode of Demons.” Is it Hell? Are the horrific
the first place. creatures there the souls of sinners, made
monstrous by their surroundings? If so, what
Calling down a Demon isn’t without its rewards, does that make the Shades of Stygia? And,
however. Some Mastigos call down Demons in order when mortal occultists summon what they
to glimpse Hell again, to remind themselves that what believe to be Demons, what are they truly
they went through for their Awakening was a greater calling up?
ordeal than their Acanthus and Obrimos comrades
Awakened scholars generally accept that
(whether that’s true or not is a matter of debate).
the inhabitants of Pandemonium are not
Other Warlocks look for information on “true” De- “demons” in the classical sense, though their
mons, the inhabitants of Lower Depths that, unlike appearance may have influenced (or been
the Demons of the Kingdom of Nightmares, feed on influenced by) spirits and other entities that
human vice and depravity. Some Mastigos look for actually do feed on vice and sin. As for where
assurance that others of their Path are alive — given these beings hail from, some are conceptual
the Path’s propensity for teleportation and clearing spirits found in the Shadow. Others are be-
away sympathetic connections, this might be the only ings that are not precisely spirits, but occupy
way to find this information. a place (or at least, a plane of existence)
Finally, some Mastigos attempt to call down their outside the direct experience of Sleepers and
mages alike. This place could legitimately
tormentors, the Demons that tortured them, turned
be called “Hell,” and the inhabitants thereof,
their souls inside out and exposed every mistake and Demons. Whether that lends credence to any
sin they’d ever experienced, just so they can return particular religion, though, is impossible to
the favor. say — it’s just as likely that early humans saw
Hell, somehow, and made up their legends
Risks from there.
Demons are not helpful creatures. They are meant to Likewise, it’s important to draw the distinc-
be tormentors, testers and abusers, and that’s precisely tion between the Demons of Pandemonium
what they do. Some Mastigos expect to be met with and the beings “summoned” by goetic magic.
a handshake and a congratulatory smile — after all, Goetists call up manifestations of their own
the mage survived Hell, returned to the Fallen World, vices and frailties, giving them will and from.
and has become a powerful enough mage to call a In a sense, they aren’t really summoning
Demon out of its natural habitat into and command anything, merely giving voice to what already
it. Shouldn’t that be worth a little respect? exists. Practice of goetia doesn’t help or hin-
der a Mastigos in calling up a Demon.
Not the way Demons see it. A mortal that calls a
Demon out of Pandemonium apparently didn’t get
the message the first time, and needs a bit more abuse
before he learns the lesson of his Path. Time in Pande- A Mastigos performing a Supernal summoning,
monium is meant to turn a mage inside out and force then, always has a struggle on his hands when the
him to confront himself — if a mage needs more help entity arrives. The nature of that struggle varies.
in doing that, the Demon can certainly oblige. Note, Some Demons can be intimidated. Some have to
though, that most Demons are intelligent enough to be fought to a standstill. Others can be outwitted or
realize that they shouldn’t kill the summoner. Imps commanded. The specifics of the situation depend
are happy to thrash the mage a bit, while Wraiths on the nature of the summoned being, but also on
invade his mind and look for sins and transgressions the mage’s Awakening. Remember that a Supernal
to pervert and shove back in his face. summoning is recalling his own time in the realm in

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 91

 order to make the spell possible. As such, the situa- magically blinded them, arranged them in various
tion often feels horrible familiar to Mastigos, as they torture devices around his sanctum, and called down
remember what it was like to be powerless. a Wraith from Pandemonium. The Sentinels of his
The good news is, of course, that if the Mastigos Consilium discovered the ritual and freed the Sleepers,
is in a position to cast a summoning spell, he isn’t took the Warlock into custody, and found no evidence
powerless. He escaped Pandemonium to become a that the spell had even been attempted. The mage,
mage, and a skilled one at that. But the Demon doesn’t however, repeatedly asserted that the spelled “worked
always (or even usually) attack in the same way that better than he’d imagined.” While the Consilium of-
the mage remembers. If the Mastigos’ trip to Pande- ficially asserts that he went mad and never tried the
monium was an exercise in body horror, in which he spell, it also passed two laws that same month — one
was ripped to pieces and then stitched back together banning Supernal summoning, and one declaring the
again, the Demon he summons up might turn off his mage’s sanctum off-limits to anyone without at least
senses and leave him in silent blackness. If the Abode a Disciple’s rank in the Mind Arcanum.
of Nightmares was a grand ballroom for him, a party Sample Correspondences: Pain, madness, sensory
in which he was forced to serve the wanton needs of deprivation, silence, darkness, screams, bondage,
the assembled Demons, the Imp he calls down might sensation, whips, chains, vertigo, very high or deep
dominate him mercilessly, shoving him to the ground locales, caves, brass, iron.
by his face whenever he attempts to rise. The details,
again, vary from Demon to Demon, but the Warlock
should prepare for adversity. The Entities
Mastigos can summon entities from Pandemonium
The Ritual using Mind (Subtle) or Space (Gross). All such enti-
ties are collectively called Demons. Manifest Demons
The Mastigos needs to replicate the conditions
of his Awakening as much as possible. Since the are called Imps, while recondite Demons are called
extreme, mind-bending surrealism of Pandemonium Wraiths.
isn’t immediately replicable in the Fallen World,
though, many Warlocks turned to self-flagellation Imps — Demons of Space
or other means of inflicting pain in order to call The word “imps” calls to mind creatures short in
to mind the trials they suffered. Some mages even stature, but full of wickedness and mischief. And
use their command of the Mind Arcanum to inflict sometimes, that’s not far off the mark — Mastigos
random hallucinations on themselves, reduce their can certainly summon creatures that resemble the
capacity for logic and quick thought, switch off their traditional interpretation of an Imp. But the term
senses and amplify their responses to physical pain. as Supernal summoners understand it is simply “a
Although it can make the summoning process more Demon summoned with the Space Arcanum,” and
difficult (see p. 73), some Mastigos ask members of that allows for a great deal of variety.
their cabals to be present for the summoning, either An Imp differs from a Wraith in that it always has
to help facilitate the simulation, or to provide medical a physical body. That body’s form, though, is not
attention if things get out of hand. static, because it is a product of Pandemonium. In
Because of Pandemonium’s relationship with Space, the Kingdom of Nightmares, a mage’s self, his soul,
the physical surroundings for the ritual are largely is inverted. His thoughts and fears are removed and
unimportant. They might be significant to the mage, plastered across the landscape, while the details of
but the “place” in the Fallen World that resonates the physical reality become part of his understanding.
strongest with Pandemonium is the human mind. Sum- The Imps are manifestations of Space — the physical
moning a Demon inside a person’s Oneiros is unsafe world and its properties — filtered through the lens
at best, and not necessarily possible, and so Warlocks of fear, horror and adversity. Small wonder, then, that
more often try to keep their summoning circles either whatever form they take, Imps are terrifying.
nondescript (keeping the sympathetic associations Some Imps take the forms of literal monsters, hulk-
experiential or internal) or mock them up to resemble ing, slavering demons that the mage must summon
what the mage remembers of Pandemonium. all his courage even to approach. Some are small
This latter option can get out of hand very quickly, and unassuming things, using the forms of terrestrial
of course. One Mastigos abducted seven Sleepers, animals. Some even appear human. It’s difficult to say

92
 whether all Imps are intelligent. Some act as though remind the mage (graphically, if necessary) of any sin
they only have an animal’s level of cognition, but in a he has ever committed, every trauma he has ever face.
realm in which Mind is one of the Ruling principles, If the mage hasn’t truly come to terms with himself,
cognition is not in short supply. then he shouldn’t be calling down Supernal entities,
An Imp’s challenge might be martial in nature, but and certainly not from the Abode of Demons.
it’s just as often a moral quandary or a riddle. After all, A mage that successfully summons and bests a
if all a Mastigos wants to do is best his own vices he Wraith might be granted self-knowledge of a nature
should take up goetia. Calling down manifest Demons deeper and more profound than any a Sleeper guru
of Pandemonium might ask him to enter a literal could teach. Any action he has ever taken, any
fight with a monster, where damage is measured in choice he has ever made, he can learn exactly why
blood and flesh (Health), not in fortitude and courage he made it. He can learn how external stimuli affect
(Willpower). It might also present him with an Imp him (which, coupled with the Mind Arcanum, can
in the body of a child, begging not to be returned to allow him to change how they affect him), and he
the Supernal Realms. Who could send a child back can learn how to beat his own Vice. Summoning up
to Hell? The mage must, by remembering who he is a Wraith sometimes acts as the impetus for a mage to
(a Warlock on the Path of Scourging) and therefore learn goetia. And some goetists call down a Wraith,
who the child is (a Demon). and realize that they just don’t need to bother with
Imps, when bested, can help mages overcome men- their Vices anymore.
tal blocks relating to the practice of Space (in game
terms, granting Arcane Experience that can be used
to increase the Arcanum instead of Gnosis). Because
The Summoner
of their origins, however, they also often command All summoners unconsciously influence the specific
unparalleled skilled at scrying. A mage requires a being they call down simply be dint of their magical
sympathetic connection to his target in order to open styles. For Mastigos, however, intent plays perhaps a
a scrying window, but a Demon is the scrying window. larger role in the summons than for other Paths —
Because Space is ultimately a state of mind, no sym- not surprising, given that Mind is one of the Ruling
pathy is required for a Demon to scry. An Imp might Arcana. A mage that wants to be punished for a past
be able to find a target that the mage cannot, though transgression summons a Demon capable of meting
it might simply grant the mage a tenuous sympathetic out punishment. A mage that wants to be rewarded
connection, just enough to enable a weak attempt to might get his wish, but it’s far more likely that the
open a window. The mage, then, needs to build the Demon will make him look at his motives objectively
connection from there. (and then reward him, if that’s appropriate). This
reflection of intent is, of course, more prevalent for
Wraiths — Demons of Mind mages summoning Wraiths than Imps, but all Demons
know the summoner’s thoughts better than other
Wraiths, the inhabitants of Pandemonium sum-
Supernal beings.
moned through the use of the Mind Arcanum, are
arguably the most dangerous to summon of any of the A Warlock’s choice of magical study also influences
Supernal beings. They do not normally have physical the being he summons. While all of the Arcana are
bodies, but they might as well — the connection cre- present in Pandemonium to one degree or another,
ated when a mage summons a Wraith allows the being they interact with the dominant forces (Mind and
immediate and unfettered access to the mage’s mind. Space) in different ways. Below are some suggestions
As such, the Wraith can force the mage to feel, see, as to the beings a mage with a great deal of knowledge
hear and otherwise experience anything it wishes. If in a non-ruling Arcanum (Disciple or better) might
the Wraith wants to harm the mage, it simply wills summon.
the mage to feel pain. • Death: A Mastigos who studies Death is likely to
Fortunately, Wraiths are not usually malevolent summon an Imp that takes the form of a dead person,
just for the sake of it. In true Pandemonium fashion, and probably proceeds to impersonate her, throwing
they act in an adversarial manner in order to test the in the Mastigos’ face every wrong that the mage ever
mage, to force him to rise to meet the adversity. If the did the deceased. If the mage summons a Wraith, the
Wraith has access to the mage’s mind, the mage must Demon might take the form of ghost and do much the
either fight to reclaim it or shut it off. The Wraith can same thing, or it might focus more on the capacity

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 93

for Death to represent the negative. More specifically, he can look across the Gauntlet (or the Wraith can
such Wraiths specialize in sensory deprivation and force him to), and see the creatures there, made clever
mental negation, leaching away thought until the but not kind by the Wraith’s influence. An Imp sum-
mage has to fight to remain conscious. moned by the same mage might take inspiration for
• Fate: An Imp summoned by a Warlock with its form from spirits, or it might create portals to open
some proficiency in Fate might resemble a classical gates into the Shadow, just long enough for the mage
Demon, complete with blandishments to enter into to look into the most hellish part of the spirit world.
a pact of some kind. The Mastigos needs to be careful After all, the mage has already seen Pandemonium
here, for two reasons. First, of course, the Imp needs — what other Hells can the Demons show him?
to be bested, and agreeing to a pact probably isn’t • Time: Combining the temperament of the De-
the way to do it. But second, the mage doesn’t have mons with the Arcanum of Time makes for torture
any way to be certain that the being he summoned that few beings on Earth can fathom. The demon
isn’t a Demon, or an Abyssal creature (which is close might stretch out the mage’s senses, making one
enough). That pact might be a symbol to winnow out pinprick last forever, or show the mage the past (or
the mage’s weakness, or it might be a real offer. the future) in breathtaking clarity. These Demons
• Forces: These Demons are showy, loud and ter- might take the form of childhood friends now long
rifying. Imps are covered in flames and accompanied dead, or assume the shape of people the mage knows
by the howls of the damned, while Wraiths drop the as young, strong individuals, made old and decrepit
temperature as they emerge, change the colors of the by the ravages of years.
area to a surrealist nightmare, and emit haunting songs • Matter: Matter is the inferior Arcanum of Pan-
meant to distract and disturb the summoner. demonium. In Pandemonium, there is no weight, no
• Life: A Demon called down by a Mastigos studying true substance, and no concept of inertia or solidity. A
Life is often unabashedly sexual. Sex is a hot button Mastigos who overcomes this limitation and becomes
for many people, mages included, and Mastigos have a Disciple of Matter, then, is a force to be reckoned
to cope with being able to magically alter a desirable with, and Demons respect and fear such a mage. A
person’s mood in their favor. These Demons might try Warlock who studies Matter and summons a Demon
to seduce the Mastigos, or might take on the forms of is afforded slightly deference that he might otherwise
people he has seduced in the past. Wraiths summoned see, but he can expect some pointed questions about
by such Mastigos are often the rare recondite Demons his choices of magic.
that choose to take on physical bodies, but they often
get the textures of flesh and hair wrong. A woman’s
skin might look normal, but feel scaly or too warm.
Example Entities
A man’s breath might have no scent at all. Below are two sample Imps and two sample Wraiths.
Each of them includes some suggestions about what
• Prime: A Mastigos who is also skilled in the
kinds of Mastigos might summon it, but with a little
Prime Arcanum is likely to summon Demons who are
tweaking, any of them could be a suitable answer to
extremely well-versed in Supernal magic, Awaken-
a Warlock’s summons.
ing, and Paradox. This means that an Imp is likely
to impersonate an Abyssal creature (especially if the
mage has caused or seen a Manifestation Paradox Imp: The Demon Bull
before), while a Wraith is more likely to alter the This Demon resembles the Greek minotaur. It
mage’s perceptions to make him think he’s caused a stands more than nine feet tall, and has the haunches
Paradox. Simulating Bedlam isn’t hard for Wraiths, of a bull, massive shoulders, human-like hands and
and an insidious one can make a mage think he’s a bovine face and horns. It emerges from the sum-
experienced a Branding or even Havoc. moner’s portal tail-first, with a gush of blood and fluid
• Spirit: A Warlock with Spirit expertise is in for that resembles an obscene birth. This Imp is a good
some bizarre happenings if he summons a Wraith. respondent to the summons of a Mastigos with some
These Demons of Mind often search for sentience near proficiency at Life magic, or one whose experience
the mage, and then amplify it. Of course, given that of Pandemonium was of small, subtle creatures. The
the Shadow surrounds the Fallen World, sentience is Demon Bull is anything but subtle. Within moments
always abundant; it’s just that most people lack the of being “born,” it demands to know who summoned
capacity to see it. But if the mage is a Disciple of Spirit, it. If the mage takes credit in a clear, strong voice, the

94
 again asks who summoned it. The mage’s player must
continue attempting to stand up to the Bull, but
wound penalties apply to the Resolve + Composure
roll. If the mage falls unconscious or gives up, the Bull
departs for Pandemonium.

Imp: Eshu Latieye

This Imp takes its name from one of the orishas.
When it appears in response to a summons, it chal-
lenges the mage to a game — cards, dice, coins, it
doesn’t matter. It invariably wins, and then challenges
the mage to a “best of three,” and then best of five and
so on. If the mage doesn’t end this series of contests,
the Imp runs out of time and departs. Not surprisingly,
Eshu Latieye appears in response to the summons of
Mastigos with a background in Fate magic.
If a mage can win the games, fairly or not, the Imp
is willing to grant him luck in a future endeavor. The
Imp spits into a small vial and hands it to the mage.
When the mage wants the luck, he simply crushes
(or drinks) the vial, and then may enjoy an 8-again
bonus on any three rolls in the next scene.

Bull submits and will answer questions or perform tasks

of lifting, carrying or crushing (though not combat).
If the mage falters, the Bull punches him, and then
asks again who summoned it. This continues until the
mage succeeds or falls unconscious (at which point
the Bull departs).
Attributes: Power 8, Finesse 3, Resistance 6
Willpower: 14
Essence: max 20
Initiative: 9
Defense: 8
Speed: 21 (species factor 10)
Size: 7
Corpus: 13
Influence: Fear 2, Pain 1
Numina: Harrow, Reaching
Trial: The summoner’s player must succeed on a
contested Resolve + Composure roll (vs. the Bull’s
Power + Finesse) in order to stand up to the Demon
Bull. If the mage fails, the Bull punches the mage
(attack dice pool 11, inflicts bashing damage), and

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 95

 Eshu Latieye appears as a small, dark-skinned
humanoid, with long fingers and a snide smirk on
his face. He never wears clothes and displays his
nakedness proudly, which some mages interpret as
psychological warfare.
Attributes: Power 3, Finesse 6, Resistance 2
Willpower: 8
Essence: max 10
Initiative: 9
Defense: 6
Speed: 19 (species factor 10)
Size: 4
Corpus: 6
Influence: Luck 1
Numina: Innocuous
Trial: Once a mage has beaten Eshu Latieye in a
game of chance, the Imp is bound to give up its ser-
vices. The problem is, it happily cheats. Nothing, it
explains, is really a game of chance — everything can
affect the outcome, so there’s no reason not to do it
overtly. Playing fair requires contested rolls with the
Imp, with the dice pool depending on the game —
but the Imp gets an 8-again bonus, and isn’t above
using the equivalent of the “Evil Eye” spell on the
mage. The mage, however, can cheat as well, using
Fate magic to alter the games’ outcomes. This isn’t
considered dishonorable; Eshu Latieye thinks any
mage who doesn’t do it is foolish.

Wraith: The Thousandth Cut

This horrible Demon does not take physical form, Initiative: 10
and indeed does not manifest visibly. Mages who Defense: 7
summon it don’t even know that the spell has suc- Speed: 19 (species factor 10)
ceeded… until they start to bleed. The Demon cuts Size: 2
them open, making tiny slices in their flesh. None of Corpus: 5
these cuts causes serious damage by itself, but by the Influence: Blood 2
time the Thousandth Cut earns its name, the mage Numina: Harrow, Trial
has is half-mad from pain and blood loss. Of course, Trial: The Demon makes one cut per turn as soon
true to form for a creature of Pandemonium, the as it emerges from the summoning gateway. The mage
Wraith will stop whenever the mage asks. But if the suffers one level of lethal damage per minute, and the
mage does tell it to stop, it departs for its home realm. player must accumulate 10 successes on a Stamina +
If the mage succeeds in holding out for a thousand Resolve roll (roll once per minute). If the mage falls
cuts, the blood on the floor ripples and shimmers, unconscious or demands that the Demon stop, the
and the rivulets form into a mouth. The Demon can Demon leaves.
then speak to the mage, helping him to puzzle out
The mage has another option, though. If he can
enemies’ motives, cause and effect relationships and
pinpoint the Demon’s location using the Mind Arca-
giving advice both political and practical.
num, he can force the Demon to stop using a Space
Attributes: Power 2, Finesse 7, Resistance 3 spell (see Affecting Denizens with Magic, p. 72).
Willpower: 5
Essence: max 15

96
Wraith: The Memory of Hell
One of the most insidious recondite Demons of The Primal Wild,
Pandemonium, the Memory of Hell attacks in a
rush of sensation and images. It brings the mage
back to Pandemonium, and forces him to relive
Abode of Beasts
“Aren’t you worried about… you know… the natural
his Awakening. This time, however, it changes world and all?”
key details, makes challenges just a bit harder and I love young Shamans. “What do you mean?” We were
tries to force the Mastigos to give up. Moreover, it standing on the side of the mountain, a split-rail fence
tries to make the Mastigos believe that everything separating us from hundreds of feet of nothing. Well,
that has happened to him since his Awakening has probably not nothing. If we fell here, we’d bounce against
been a dream, just part of a grand mystery play. If the mountainside enough times that we’d be hamburger
the Mastigos succumbs to despair, or tries to repeat by the time we hit bottom.
that which has already happened, he fails to best “Well, I just…” He gestured around us. Scrub, cactus,
the Demon and it returns to Pandemonium. If he flies, sand. “We’re bringing jeeps and stuff out here—”
refuses to play along and asserts that he is and has “Nothing that hasn’t been done before.”
been walking the Path of Scourging, the Memory “I know, but—”
of Hell ceases the assault, and converses with the “Hang on.” I took a drink from my water bottle. It
mage. The Memory of Hell can help point the mage was still cool, but sweating something awful. “You think
toward a practitioner of any Legacy that teaches the maybe this is a bad idea, because we drove here? If we
Mind Arcanum, or any Legacy open to Mastigos. hadn’t, we’d be dead already.”
For some of the more obscure Legacies, this Demon “I know. But now that we’re here, we still have all this
might be the only way to find a mentor. stuff.” He gestured to the pile of gear. I rolled my eyes.
The Memory of Hell is invisible and incorporeal. It “Craig — sorry, Cernunnos — you’ve got to lighten
never manifests visibly, but its voice is low, sonorous up.” I swatted a fly on my arm, and the poor kid actually
and frank. winced. “Look, I’m not saying that the natural world isn’t
Attributes: Power 7, Finesse 8, Resistance 4
a concern. I’m not saying that environmentalism isn’t a
concern. But you’ve got to look at it all on the right scale.”
Willpower: 11
I smacked another fly, crushing it against my shoulder.
Essence: max 25
“Now, take that fly, for instance. If it and all its buddies
Initiative: 12
could build machines that would let them feed without
Defense: 8
getting smacked, they would. Human beings do what we
Speed: 25 (species factor 10)
do because we can. It’s our place in the natural world
Size: 2
you love so much.” Craig’s face was getting sunburned,
Corpus: 6 too. I debated letting him burn just to show him that he
Influence: Memory 4 needs to be prepared more than dogmatic, but screw it.
Numina: Derange, Psychic Torment, Trial, Usurp I’m too old for that kind of sensei bullshit. I tossed him a
Vice tube of sunblock.
Trial: This Demon’s challenge is best run as its “But all the damage we’re causing—”
own scene, with the mage reliving his Awakening “Has its reflection in the Shadow, too.” I started scratch-
and trying to remember that he already succeeded. ing the circle in the ground. We needed to get this going
This requires that the player give the Storyteller de- before dark. “Look, I’m not saying it’s okay for people
tails about the Awakening (hopefully earlier in the to be dumping their garbage everywhere, because doing
chronicle), and the Storyteller presents these details that shows a lot of disrespect for the place we have to live.
with slight variations. Likewise, the Storyteller should But if you watch the world, animals — and people — are
revisit key points in the chronicle, with the intention changing to cope with the way the world’s changing, or
of making it all seem surreal and dreamlike. If, at else they die out. That’s how this works.”
any point, the mage states that he is a Warlock and “But if we’re the ones causing the changes, isn’t that…
that this challenge has already been completed, the I don’t know… wrong?”
Demon ceases it.

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 97

 I connected the points on the circle. “Me, I don’t see it
as any more wrong than an asteroid hitting us.” I looked
Risks
Summoning a denizen from any of the Supernal
up at the sky. I’ve always had this weird feeling that if Realms has its risks, as has been stated elsewhere. But
any asteroid hits, it’s going to hit me, but that’s probably summoning the Beasts of the Primal Wild entails a
just egocentrism. “But I could be wrong. That’s what I different sort of risk, because those Beasts do not have
want to ask.” I pointed at the cooler. “Grab the stuff out a vested interest in keeping mages alive or teaching
of there. We’re going to start.” them. The wisdom they have to impart is inciden-
Realization hit Craig full in the face. “We’re contacting tal — a mage might learn much about shapeshifting
the Primal Wild to ask about—” or body transformation from watching a Beast, but
“Yep.” Four hours to twilight. I figured that would be not by conversing with it. A mage might be able to
enough. “Best to go to the source, I figure.” glean information about the spirit wilds by observ-
ing the ephemeral natives thereof, but those spirits
Calling Down the Primal Wild aren’t usually interested in explaining themselves to
a Shaman. Indeed, most of them aren’t able to explain
Mages looking for lofty advice, sage wisdom and
benevolent mentors had best look elsewhere. The themselves.
Primal Wild is the Abode of Beasts, and the Shamans A mage summoning a Beast, then, is calling up a
that connect to this realm know that they take their creature with no particular regard for the mage as a
lives into their hands when they open the gateway. human being. It doesn’t see humanity as noble or
Thyrsus mages summoning Beasts using Spirit magic special, and it regards the summoning gateway the
have a slightly better chance of getting an intelligent same way an animal might regard an intriguing hole
creature, but the denizens of the Primal Wild, even or path — something that might contain food or
the Subtle ones, aren’t known for cognition. They are shelter. The main risk a Shaman calling down the
known for their primal instincts, their animalistic, Primal Wild runs, then, is being killed and eaten.
simplistic needs and how they express them. There Of course, Beasts called down using the Spirit Ar-
is wisdom to be gained in drawing down the Primal canum aren’t always so animalistic. The Primal Wild
Wild, but that wisdom is, like a fossil, buried under a mirrors the Shadow in some ways, and the Shadow
million years of the natural processes of the world. is home to conceptual spirits, ephemeral beings that
Every Thyrsus faces the same problem: the Shadow embody emotional, psychological and even moral
is all around, and everything has a spirit. A mage’s concepts. A mage that summons a spirit of love isn’t
natural human compassion dictates that nothing likely to be devoured, of course, but what if the mage
with a consciousness should be made to feel pain, but summons a murder-spirit, or a spirit of spite? The
spirits — even intelligent ones — prey on each other possibilities are so vast and the window of control so
regularly. Reconciling where she fits in the circle of narrow that a mage who summons a recondite Beast
life is a difficult task for a mage who can see the pain has no idea what kind of thing she might see, and
of the land ravage by pollution, or can witness the that’s before considering the possibility of getting an
cancers forming in a child living under power lines. Abyssal creature instead.
And so Shamans think back to their time in the Primal Obviously, Shamans should summon with care.
Wild, trying to find the Supernal lessons there. Fortunately, by the time a Shaman is powerful enough
The mage can find wisdom here, certainly, but she to attempt this summons, a mentor has usually beaten
must be careful that she does not, in the process, lose that lesson into her head.
that which makes her Wise. Mages are just as prone to
anthropomorphism as any Sleeper, and the Shaman The Ritual
calling down the Primal Wild must remember: the sky Summoning a creature from the Primal Wild can
does not weep, it rains. The ground does not tremble be likened to going into the wilderness for an ex-
in anger, it quakes from seismic tremors. The cat does tended period of time. The mage needs to make sure
not play with its prey, it kills it carefully, making sure she has all of the possibilities covered. That means
not to be bitten in the process. The Primal Wild is the summoning space needs an escape route, and
not a human realm, and human beings are unimport- help needs to be close enough that the mage won’t
ant here. A Shaman calling a being out of this realm bleed out before it reaches her. Shamans usually keep
should remember that. weapons close at hand, summon guardian spirits to

98
 step in if called, and, for those mages skilled in Time
as well as Life, hang healing spells in case of injury
(see p. 260 of Mage: The Awakening for more on Totems and Spirits
prepared spells). Are Totems, in fact, spirits? They work by
As for the ritual space, Shamans normally prefer to the same game mechanics, they conform to
summon manifest Beasts (called Atavisms) in a natural the same ecology, and they originate from
setting. Forest, desert, mountains, lakes, even oceans the Supernal Realm in which Spirit is a ruling
— any place away from a major population center Arcanum.
is often the first choice. Urban Shamans, however, For the purposes of Mage, the only dif-
point out that cities can hold a surprising amount of ference is that Totems are subject to magic
biodiversity, and report great success in summoning as described on p. 72 of this book, rather
such creatures into the “concrete jungle.” Of course, than being subject to the Spirit Arcanum as
summoning this sort of creature here presents another described in Mage: The Awakening. But to
an observer in a chronicle, yes, Totems are
problem — the large number of Sleepers nearby can
indistinguishable from spirits.
provide a source of Disbelief, or, worse, food, if the
Beast gets loose. That has some implications for the Primal
Recondite Beasts — or Totems — can be summoned Wild as it relates to the Fallen World, and
anywhere. A Thyrsus doing so, though, needs to pay more importantly, the Shadow. Was the Pri-
mal Wild part of the Shadow at one point, be-
attention to the correspondences not only to the
fore an Atlantean king carved part of it away
Primal Wild, but to the Totem in question. That is, and moved it across the Abyss? It’s possible,
the mage can’t predict what kind of being will come but that isn’t the sort of question that needs
through the gateway, but she can (and should) pay a definitive answer in a game book, because
attention to what is nearby. A Thyrsus who summons it’s not the sort of thing that a cabal is going
a Totem in a room full of weapons is likely to attract to realistically be able to answer anyway.
a violent Beast. Summoning a Totem to a murder
Another, related matter, for Storytellers and
site might call down a spirit of grief, death, murder or players who have access to Werewolf: The
even justice. A Shaman should look around her ritual Forsaken, is this: do Totems respond to Gifts
space and ask herself: “What kind of spirit would be and rites? The answer is: no. Totems, what-
attracted to this area?” She then must prepare for any ever their origins, are Supernal creatures,
answer she can come up with. and are not subject to the bargains and oaths
Sample Correspondences: Blood, sex, animals, that compel spirits to respond to a were-
stone, mountains, silver, moon rocks, fur, werewolves, wolf’s powers. Likewise, while it might be
water, fire, predation, plants, fossils. possible for a Beast to consume a spirit from
the Shadow if it is in the Beast’s nature to do

The Entities
so (the Ravenous Beast, for instance), this
doesn’t change or empower the Beast in any
The denizens of the Primal Wild are collectively way. It might be a good bribe, though.
called Beasts. Manifest Beasts are known as Atavisms,
while recondite Beasts are called Totems.
years — or never did. The Life Arcanum is capable of
Atavisms — Beasts of Life created fantastic creatures, dragons, unicorns, griffins
An “atavism” is a genetic throwback, something and beasts unrecognizable to any human mythology.
out of place in modern life. The Atavisms of the Any of them might answer a summons.
Primal Wild are exactly that. They emerge from the Does this mean that such creatures ever lived in
Supernal gateways, some hungry, some timid and the Fallen World? It’s hard to say. The Primal Wild
some indifferent, but almost all operate according to is a realm of spirit and flesh, and the line between
animal instinct. the two blurs considerably in the Abode of Beasts.
The Storyteller has a great deal of leeway in pre- A given Atavism might have no fossil record, but
senting these creatures, because they can represent that doesn’t mean it was never a spirit — and if it’s
animals that have not walked the Earth in millions of a spirit, in the Primal Wild, it has a body. Likewise,

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 99

 many creatures in the realm can change their forms, does not need to be subservient, but respectful. The
and what steps out of the gateway might merely be Shaman does exert power over spirits, certainly, but
what that Atavism chose to wear that day. must do so wisely.
Some Atavisms are intelligent and capable of hu- Totems can appear in nearly any form; as stated
man conversation. Many are not, but can be made above, they can manifest as natural, conceptual or
so with a Life spell (see Affecting Denizens with even artificial spirits based on what correspondences
Magic, p. 72). the mage has in the summoning area. Some Totems
An Atavism can teach a mage much about extinct emerge from the gateway ready to converse the mage,
animal and plant life. A Shaman on the cusp of and some behave like squires or pages (see p. 317 of
learning to shapeshift or create Fantasia (see p. 192 Mage: The Awakening) until the mage finds a way
of Mage: The Awakening) can take notes from the to unlock their potential.
manifest Beasts of the Primal Wild. Also, a mage might If a Shaman treats a Totem well, it might be able
summon plant life just as easily as animal life, and to give her knowledge of the local Shadow. She can
cuttings from these Supernal flora, while they might learn powerful spirit’s ban, the location of a Verge,
not grow into something quite so fantastic as their how to deal with werewolves (even the right phrase
“parent,” can make for amazing herbal treatments, in the tongue of spirits can be enough), and other
remedies and even poisons. pieces of Shadow lore.

Totems — Beasts of Spirit The Summoner

Shamans who call down recondite Supernal beings
from the Primal Wild often expect them to behave The summoner has an effect on the type of Beast
like spirits. The methodology is much the same, and summoned from the Primal Wild, but this effect is
the magic is similar, so surely the end product should far less pronounced for Shamans than for Mastigos,
be as well? Sometimes, these mages are correct — the for instance. This is because the Primal Wild is built
Totem they summon looks and acts much like a spirit on the assumption that a mage’s ability to survive and
called out of the Shadow. Sometimes, though, a Totem Awaken determine her eligibility to do so. Put another
gives them more than they are prepared for. way, a Shaman becomes a Shaman if she deserves
it, because the Primal Wild is a brutal, uncaring
Spirits in the Shadow, after all, have a limited degree
wilderness.
of autonomy. They are able to act only within their
purview. A hate-spirit cannot do other than hate. A The Shaman that summons up a Beast, then, could
fox-spirit must be a fox, which means it cannot show consider her ability in the other Arcana as bait. What
mercy to its prey if it is hungry, and so on. As spirits kind of Beast might a Shaman who studies Forces
grow more powerful (which they do by consuming entice? What sort of Atavism would be drawn by
other spirits), they also gain a greater degree of will Fate? Many summoners don’t consider this question,
and intelligence. Totems from the Primal Wild are all figuring that since the Primal Wild is a realm of Life
powerful spirits, even the ones that appear weak. They and Spirit, those are the only two Arcana that matter.
don’t suffer from the same kind of purity of focus as When a creature wholly other than their expectations
that suffered by their Shadow-born cousins. As such, emerges, they must scramble to deal with it.
a mage might summon something that resembles a • Death: A Shaman who is a Disciple of Death is
hate-spirit from the Primal Wild, but it is capable of likely to call Totems that represent death or carrion.
understanding the mage’s perspective. A fox-spirit They might take the forms of Grim Reapers, crows,
understands that something has to die so that it can owls and other animals associated with death. Ata-
live, and is able to make choices based on what is visms, though, are scavengers — hideous vultures,
being killed for its sustenance. rooting boar-creatures or other monsters that feed
In order for Totems to display this kind of cognition, on the dead. Such creatures might look and smell
though, the mage needs to treat them like something revolting, but they have much to teach a Thyrsus
other than spirits. She needs to indicate understand- about reusing discarded matter — or even ideas — in
ing that the Totem she has summoned is more than new forms.
a “normal” spirit. This kind of deference to the spirit • Fate: Atavisms tempted by Fate are almost always
world is a hallmark of the Thyrsus Path. The Shaman fantastical creatures, animals that never truly walked
the Fallen World, but have a place in it all the same.

100
Such Beasts are often intelligent even before a Sha- spirits of distance, travel, knowledge are possible,
man uses magic to make them so. More importantly, as are spirits of suspicion, jealousy, and violation (a
they usually understand the notion of bargaining, Disciple of Space has amazing potential to see what
which is a much safer starting point than normally she shouldn’t be able to see). Such Totems might take
possible. Totems summoned by such Shamans are often the forms of insects, frogs, geckos and other clinging
embodiments of concepts (honesty, oaths, betrayal, or creepy animals.
destiny), and take the forms of ravens, cats and other • Time: The study of Time breeds an appreciation
animals often used as familiars. for inevitability and the ravages of years, and the
• Forces: If a Shaman knowledgeable in the Arca- Primal Wild is an excellent object lesson in these
num of Forces summons an Atavism, it’s just as likely to precepts. A jungle will eventually reclaim a city, if it
be a plant as an animal. Flora, of course, flourish with isn’t trimmed back. A stream will cut through rock.
sunlight, and so a mage that can control light, heat Years of erosion can destroy any structure. Not all
and (to some extent) weather makes is of interest to Shamans who learn the Time Arcanum learn this
such beings. Likewise, reptiles and other cold-blooded sort of patience, however — they might use Time to
organisms might emerge from the gateway (this also skip over the difficult parts of their lives, to speed up
gives the Shaman a good way to get on the Beast’s what they don’t wish to experience. A more patient
good side). Totems, in this case, might be elemental mage is likely to attract Totems and Atavisms that
spirits, taking on the forms of phoenixes, lightning live slowly. Spirits of weather, glaciers, mountains
beetles, salamanders, leeches and other animals that and stone, or animals such as tortoises and alligators
are either tied to the elements or the weather in (or, if the terrain permits, sharks, which were swim-
popular myth. ming the Earth’s oceans long before the dinosaurs
• Matter: When an animal or a plant dies, its appeared) are all good possibilities. Impatient mages
magical purview changes from Life to Matter (after might summon mayflies, salmon and other creatures
a brief stint with Death). As such, Beasts summoned that live quickly and urgently.
by Shamans with knowledge of the Matter Arcanum • Mind: The Primal Wild is a realm of instinct
might be scavengers, or they might be animals that and intuition, not cognition. That isn’t to say that
shape their surroundings. Woodpeckers, dung beetles the inhabitants are stupid, but they do tend to ani-
and many other species use their physical environ- malistic (in the case of Atavisms) or so focused on
ments, and they might appreciate a mage that can do their own purview that they seem simplistic (Totems).
much the same thing on a grander scale. Likewise, in The ability to awaken true thought in these creatures,
the Primal Wilds, water, stone and air all have spirits, then, is a powerful one, and Shamans who learn at
and Totems representing these materials might seek least a Disciple’s rank in Mind are likely to attract
out a Thyrsus skilled in Matter. Atavisms and Totems that already have some affin-
• Prime: Every object, being or substance has within ity for human-like reason. These beings might take
it Mana, and so Prime is a kind of siren call in the any form, but they are often deceptively small and
Primal Wild, a resonating signal that any Beast might weak-looking.
feel compelled to follow. As such, a Shaman with
knowledge of Prime who summons down a Supernal
being is putting a kind of evolution into play — only
Example Entities
the creature that can enter the gateway quickly follows
the gateway to the reward at the end. Of course, this Atavism: The Carnivorous Plant
means that only fast, savage or intelligent Beasts make It’s not something that people think about often,
the cut, which can have either good or extremely bad but every living thing in the world, plants included,
ramifications for the mage at the other end. need sustenance. Most plants take it from the sun,
• Space: Shamans with expertise in Space tend but some eat meat. This Atavism appears when a
to call Beasts with amazing powers of perception. A Shaman summons a being from the Primal Wild into
spider feels everything on its web. An eagle can see a forest or jungle area, or in a place in which prey is
so far as to border on clairvoyance. Likewise, crea- plentiful (a pet store, perhaps). The plant takes root,
tures that can cross long distances in the blink of an and can stave off dying from exposure to the Fallen
eye might be lured by a mage with a similar ability. World as long as it eats at least five pounds of meat
Totems, likewise, tend to follow the same lines — every day.

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 101

 Corpus: 11
Influence: Hunger 2
Numina: Versatile Energies
Trial: As mentioned, the Carnivorous Plant can’t
communicate using human language, and won’t com-
municate at all unless made more intelligent.

Atavism: The Ravenous Beast

Summoning up this sort of Atavism is only slightly
less problematic than calling down an Abyssal
creature. The Ravenous Beast wants only meat, and
it doesn’t care about the source. It doesn’t want to
eat the mage specifically, but if no other options are
available, it leaps at her, fangs glistening with saliva.
If she can get it to forget its hunger for a short time,
it is a cunning and helpful ally.
The Ravenous Beast can take the form of any
predator. In a jungle, it might resemble a great cat
or a lithe, bipedal dinosaur. In the city, it could
appear to be a huge dog or wolf, or even a swarm of
rats or locusts. In a desert, it might be a jackal
or coyote. No matter what it resembles, the
Ravenous Beast is still an Atavism, and so it is
a huge example of that animals, born of nightmares
too primal to recount.
If a mage gains its cooperation, the Ravenous Beast
can teach the mage a great deal about hunting. The
The plant varies in shape. Some resemble huge Ravenous Beast’s advice can also grant a +3 modifier
Venus fly-traps, others the pitcher plants that trap on rolls to avoid losing one’s human mind while shape-
insects in basins of toxic digestive juices. Some have shifting (see p. 190 of Mage: The Awakening).
vines that drag prey toward and open maw, and some Attributes: Power 7, Finesse 7, Resistance 4
emit a scent so cloying that the prey can’t help but Willpower: 11
lie down for a while. Essence: max 20
These Atavisms aren’t intelligent, but with a Life Initiative: 14
spell they can be made so. Conversing with them Defense: 7
usually requires the Shaman to alter her body to allow Speed: 24 (species factor 10)
communication via scent, but once that happens, the Size: 5
mage can learn new ways to use the plant life around
Corpus: 9
her in magic. A cutting from this plant produces a
Influence: Hunting 2, Hunger 1
smaller version that, if well fed, produces bulbs that
Numina: Wilds Sense
can be consumed for one point of Mana each (assume
it produces two bulbs a week). Trial: The Shaman can use a Spirit spell to com-
mand the Ravenous Beast to put aside its hunger
Attributes: Power 4, Finesse 3, Resistance 5
(see Affecting Denizens with Magic, p. 72), or she
Willpower: 9 can provide food for it. She must be aware, however,
Essence: max 15 that the Ravenous Beast is always hungry, and so
Initiative: 8 providing food only works for as long as it takes the
Defense: 4 creature to wolf down its repast. After that, the beast
Speed: 0 (this Atavism is sessile) is ravenous again.
Size: 6

102
Totem: The Blood of the Prey
Something must die so that the predators can feast.
Atavisms that take the forms of prey animals don’t
realize this; they simply want to avoid being eaten.
Totems that reflect prey animals, however, do under-
stand their place in the circle of life. One such Totem
is the Blood of the Prey. It is a spirit of satiation, of the
end of the hunt when blood spatters the leaves and
the carcass is torn to shreds. As such, when it appears,
it takes the form of a prey animal. The Shaman must
kill it and tear it to pieces. The Totem then speaks to
the Shaman from the blood-soaked ground.
The Blood of the Prey is a patient, if somewhat
morbid, Totem. It fulfills its purpose with its own death
(whether it rises phoenixlike to die again is a matter
of debate, and the Blood of the Prey, when asked,
doesn’t seem to understand the question). It might be
able to cure disease or stave off death in other ways,
or it might be able to mark a mage’s enemy with the
Blood of the Prey, making him a target for any natural
or supernatural predators he meets.
Attributes: Power 3, Finesse 8, Resistance 3
Willpower: 5
Essence: max 15
Initiative: 11
Defense: 8
Speed: 21 (species factor 10)
Size: 2
Corpus: 5
Influence: Death 2, Inevitability 1 but fair (in its own judgment). It is a spirit of renewal, of
Numina: Gauntlet Control, Trial destruction followed by creation. And unfortunately,
Trial: The Shaman must kill the Blood of the Prey once it is summoned, it has to be endured before the
before she can converse with it. The Totem takes the Shaman can speak with it.
form of a small prey animal — a rabbit, a mouse, a The Cleansing Storm might take the form of a
chicken, etc. The Shaman must catch and slaughter monsoon, a tornado or even a fire (the surroundings
it, using any method she wishes. The blood of the and the correspondences help influence this). It will
creature, though, must splash to the ground. If the assuredly leave the summoning area a complete ruin,
Shaman wishes, she can have an animal do the dirty and might very well cause injury or death to Sleepers
work for her (releasing a dog to kill the rabbit, for around. This is the Shaman’s responsibility to cope
instance), but the Blood of the Prey looks at this as a with after the Storm passes — she called down the
lack of commitment to the summoning. If the Blood Cleansing Storm, and so she must help with the
of the Prey does not die from predation before it dies painful renewal.
of exposure to the Fallen World, of course, the mage If the character can endure the Storm, it takes on
can gain nothing from the summoning. A mage who humanoid form (usually a silhouette through smoke
consumes the flesh of this Beast can refill her Mana or mist), and answers whatever questions the mage
pool to its maximum capacity. might have. The Cleansing Storm has a flawless
memory, and can tell the mage about anything in
Totem: The Cleansing Storm the Primal Wild that it has seen or heard, including
A Shaman learned in the Arcanum of Forces might other Thyrsus, summoning attempts, or Awakenings.
call down the Cleansing Storm. This Totem is harsh, It also sometimes brings Artifacts from the Primal

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 103

 Wild, objects caught up in its winds that it leaves for well, and for an instant she thought she saw it: the pale,
the resilient Shaman to recover. filthy face of a small child shining wet in the moonlight,
Attributes: Power 9, Finesse 8, Resistance 6 bloated and tinged with decay. The creature was only
Willpower: 15 visible for a moment before quickly retreating into the
Essence: max 25 shadows, but Lisa could not help but think of her sister’s
Initiative: 17 poor, broken, body — discarded in the river like some
Defense: 9
worthless piece of trash.
Speed: 27 (species factor 10) Even though the old well had not been in use for years,
Size: 4 a moldering wooden bucket was still attached to the chain.
Corpus: 10
Lisa placed the parcel in the bucket and turned the windlass,
lowering the package into the murky depths of the well.
Influence: Destruction 2, Renewal 2
When the last link of the chain had been extended, the
Numina: Blast, Spirit Crown, Versatile Energies
sobbing ceased, and she heard movement and splashing
Trial: The Storm causes four points of lethal damage echoing up from the darkness. Then, she heard nothing.
per turn to anyone caught nearby, and it continues its
The following evening, Lisa returned to the well. The
destruction for five turns or until stopped. The Sha-
coolness of the night air was refreshing, but the ritual
man can either try to endure the onslaught, healing
she had performed the night before had taken a lot out
the damage with Life magic so as to stave off death,
of her. Despite her exhaustion, she turned the crank and
or she can attempt to command the storm to cease
raised the bucket once more from the depths of the well.
early (see Affecting Denizens with Magic, p. 72).
It was heavier than before, and her muscles ached with
Either way, if innocent people are harmed by the
every movement. When Lisa looked inside the bucket,
Cleansing Storm, the mage bears responsibility and
she discovered the parcel had been taken and new objects
may lose Wisdom.
left in its place. There was a silver key to a locker, an
old, sweat-stained gym shirt, and a warped and water-

Stygia, damaged yearbook.

Lisa opened the yearbook, and discovered a slip of paper.

the Abode of Shades

Lisa leaned with her back against a roughly hewn grave
It was a poorly drawn portrait of Amanda, crumpled as
though it had been thrown out and then subsequently res-
cued from the trash. As Lisa’s eyes followed the unsteady
marker, near death and thinking about Amanda. lines and eraser smudges across the paper, she remembered
Years had passed since the dogs found her sister’s naked, something she hadn’t before.
mutilated body prone on the bank of the river. Still, the There was a boy in Amanda’s grade who used to fol-
gut-wrenching pain Lisa experienced when she recalled low her around, tall and lanky, with greasy hair and pale
Amanda’s friendly, open smile stung like a wound reopened. eyes. Amanda had mentioned once that he had given her
The injustice of it infuriated her. Amanda was only 16 a portrait he had drawn of her. When Lisa had asked to
when her life was brought to an untimely end. She had see it, Amanda had laughed, saying that it was terrible
her whole life ahead of her. Lisa had considered joining her and that she’d already thrown it out. Amanda had never
sister in death many times, but the thought of vengeance mentioned anything else about him, and Lisa assumed
sustained her. Recently, however, she had hit a dead end the kid had moved on. She could recall his face, but
in her search for her sister’s killer. Lisa was no closer to not his name. Struck by sudden inspiration, Lisa leafed
uncovering who was responsible for Amanda’s death than through the yearbook to Amanda’s grade. There he was:
she was three years ago, despite having Awaked; and she Alexander Huntley.
was running out of options.
A small, soft cry from the old stone well across the path
from the cemetery interrupted her thoughts. Shakily, Lisa
Calling Down Stygia
Mages who follow the Path of Doom often de-
recovered the parcel that was laid out before her, and
scribe their Awakening as a harrowing experience.
found the strength to stand and make her way down the
They recall being wrapped in a shroud, surrounded
dirt path. As she approached the ancient, crumbling well,
by dark, shadowy forms. Other mages who Awaken
the sobbing grew louder and more insistent.
may not recall a shroud, but in many cases, some
Lisa peered uncertainly over the moss-covered rim of the obstacle obscures their surroundings: shadow, fog, or

104
 a blinding white light. Many who return from Stygia push himself near enough to death, the summoning
feel compelled to gain a better understanding of what will fail. If the mage pushes himself too far, he may
they witnessed when Awakening. What was beyond find himself unable to step back from the precipice
the shroud? What lurks in the shadows? What was before plunging over.
the source of that blazing light? Were the beings that If the mage succeeds in calling a Stygian being to
surrounded the mage really the dead, or were they the fallen world, there are additional risks. Not every
something else entirely? being residing in the Supernal Realm of Stygia is
Additionally, mages drawn to the Watchtower of benevolent. Some are downright dangerous, wishing
the Lead coin often contemplate processes of trans- to cause death in the Fallen World, and they utilize
formation and change in magic and nature. Through whatever powers they possess in order to do so. A
alchemy, lead becomes gold. Through nature, life Necromancer may find himself used as an instru-
becomes death. Through study and practice, a Nec- ment of death by the very being he invited into the
romancer can transform himself, gaining a better Fallen World.
understanding of these processes. To many Moros, Because of the transformative nature of the Realm
the knowledge to be gained by observing a denizen of Stygia, even the most seemingly benign creatures
of Stygia is a tempting enough reason in and of itself from the realm can be dangerous. The summoner may
to attempt a summoning. If the beings who reside in find himself inadvertently modified by a creature he
the Supernal Realm of Stygia are truly the dead, a has summoned: changed from solid to liquid, from
Moros knows it is possible that she, too, may someday flesh to gold, or from living to dead. Such creatures
be transformed by death into one of very beings she may not intend to hurt the mage, but they also may
summons to the Fallen World in life. Some Necro- not understand that change can be a bad thing,
mancers become preoccupied with this notion, and leading to the death of the mage (which, to them, is
seek to uncover as much information as they can just another transition and nothing at all a cause for
about the natives of Stygia. concern). Similarly, a mage who calls upon a shade
Whatever burning question a Moros chases, she may find herself, or the world around her, altered in
knows, better than most, that her time to discover some way — not always for the better.
the answer as a mortal is limited. She also knows that Finally, ever questing for understanding, some Nec-
the answers to many of her questions lie just beyond romancers gain too much insight from summoning
death’s door, and she will knock upon that door until a shade. Some Moros gain so much understanding
someone, or something, answers. from the denizens of Stygia that they wish to return
to the realm and experience it firsthand. Such mages
Risks become fervent in their belief that true understanding
To many Moros, the drive to understand the trans- lies just beyond death’s door, and they willingly step
formative processes of Death and Matter can become across the threshold, never to return.
an obsession. Additionally, most Necromancers know
that their time on this Earth is brief in the grand The Ritual
scheme of things. As such, Necromancers are may A mage who walks the Path of Doom is already
be compelled to perform summoning rituals more intimately familiar with death and decay. Even so,
often than mages following any other path, some- facing one’s own death often remains an unsettlingly
times losing their own lives in the pursuit of greater notion at the very least — even for those who have
understanding. previously done so. As noted above, a Moros who
The ritual to call upon a denizen of Stygia is a risky wishes to summon an entity from the Supernal Realm
process in and of itself, requiring the willworker to of Stygia must bring his mortal body close to death
bring himself to a state very near death. In doing once more, knock upon the gates of death, and call
so, the mage is able to thin the wall between the out into the darkness of the unknown.
Fallen World and the Supernal Realm of Stygia and The ritual typically occurs in a location upon which
attract beings from the other side. Even for a Master the shadow of death has fallen. Most commonly, the
of Death, it is possible to botch the ritual, leading to summoner will seek out a graveyard, but there are
fatal consequences. There is a very thin line between other locations that serve equally well. Any place
life and what comes after, and the mage must find a where the remains of the dead are present, or a large
perfect balance. If the mage is timid and does not

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 105

 number of deaths have occurred will suffice: an execu- and they can be exceptionally patient teachers. They
tion chamber, a battlefield of ages past, the catacombs know that the learning process is simply one more
of an old church, a morgue, a hospital, or a mine or transformation, and that the transition may take time,
factory in which many workers perished. but knowledge will eventually blossom from ignorance.
Once a suitable location has been found, the sum- Apeirons may also be highly skilled in shaping and
moner must bring himself near death. This can be altering matter. They may be called upon to shape
accomplished in a number of ways: magic, drugs, a new Artifact from existing matter, or create new
asphyxiation, or simply sitting silently, without food matter with properties yet to be discovered.
or water, until death approaches. Typically, the longer
it takes for the mage to achieve a state close to death, Specters — Shades of Death
the more successful the summoning, as he has more While Apeirons deal mainly with the transforma-
time to meditate upon his own mortality and the tion of physical materials, Specters, in contrast, are
purpose of the summoning. When the mage is near- associated with the intangible changes in being that
death, he can call out to the denizens of Stygia, and occur through Death. The transitional process of
likely, they will answer. death is one of the great existential mysteries of the
Sample Correspondences: lead, decay, burial sites, universe — a puzzle that many Moros spend a lifetime
bone, carrion birds, crossroads, gateways, loss, precious trying to solve. While the Specters of Stygia may not
gems, earth and stone, night, shadows, dark and muted have all of the answers, the study of them is, at the
colors, acceptance. very least, a good place to begin.
Specters can take many forms. They may manifest as
The Entities pale, indistinct, ghostly figures or ever-shifting, shad-
owy creatures of darkness. A Specter may reveal itself
Moros can summon entities from Stygia using as a being resembling various cultural personification
Death (Subtle) or Matter (Gross). All such entities of death, a Grim Reaper figure or an “Angel of death.”
are collectively called Shades. Manifest Shades are Others prefer the forms of creatures associated with
called Apeirons, while recondite Shades are called death and decay in folklore and the natural world:
Specters. carrion birds, flies or maggots, crows, or black dogs.
Some take the shape of the dead in various stages
Apeirons — Shades of Matter of decay. They may appear gruesome or repulsive,
Shades of Matter draw their name from the term bodies hanging with grizzled ropes of rotting flesh,
“Apeiron”, a theoretical substance from which all or obscenely swollen with methane gas to the point
matter is derived. Some Moros scholars shun the of rupture. They might even appear almost alive, if
notion that the denizens of Stygia are the dead, and it weren’t for the subtle chill of their too-pale flesh,
speculate that all Shades sprang from this singular, or the slight tinge of decay.
original substance, transforming over time into diversi- Many Moros call upon Specters for assistance with
fied material forms representative of change. problems in the Fallen World. While a Necromancer
Apeirons are usually associated with the metamor- may or may not believe that Specters are the dead, they
phosis of matter in some way. They may have great seem, most certainly, to be capable of communication
knowledge of the processes that change and shape with those who have passed on and are unreachable
the physical world, or they may be transition itself. by the usual magical means. As such, they are able
An Apeiron may choose to manifest as a specific to provide the mage with valuable information that
alchemical substance: a shining being composed of she may not have been able to otherwise acquire.
liquid mercury, or a luminous cloud of gas. It may Specters also have their own host of diverse and
appear as a decomposing corpse, reminding the sum- potent magical abilities, which can be of great use
moner that he, too, is composed of matter that will to the summoner.
someday dissolve to dust. An Apeiron may prefer to
take the human form and manner of a skilled alche-
mist or craftsperson. The Summoner
Necromancers may call upon an Apeiron for a vari- Many Moros quest for understanding; but in spite
ety of purposes. Sentient Apeirons have much to teach of a fierce desire for answers, there is usually some
the summoner about the magic and art of alchemy, question that even the most inquisitive Necromancer

106
is afraid to ask. While she may dread the answer to magic, or imbue materials with magic altering their
whatever question haunts her soul, a niggling yearn- chemical properties. Specters may be able to transfer
ing to know the truth sculpts the form of the shade magic from one vessel to another — leaching Mana
she summons — forcing the summoner to confront from one object or creature and feeding another.
her fear face-on. Every Necromancer has an uncon- • Space: A mage proficient in Space magic may
scious effect on the nature of the shade summoned, summon a Specter capable of scrying upon the dead.
and the experience can be life-altering. Whether the It may manifest as a deep, endless pit, from echoing
encounter is eye-opening or traumatic, it is sure to with the low moans of the dead, or a vast, boiling
change the mage in some way. shadow from which ghostly images of the dead arise.
A Necromancer’s preference of magical study also has Apeirons are capable of turning any material into a
an influence on the being she summons. Each of the surface suitable for scrying, and may offer the mage
Arcana are present in the Supernal Realm of Stygia to any number of material Artifacts to assist in traveling
some extent, some more so than others, and they may through space.
interact with the ruling forces of Death and Matter in • Spirit: A Necromancer who studies the Spirit
different ways. The following are suggested beings that Arcana is likely to attract Specters that represent
a mage with a great deal of knowledge in a non-ruling death or carrion. They might take the forms of ravens,
Arcanum (Disciple or better) might summon. vultures, black dogs and other animals associated with
• Fate: A Necromancer who is a disciple of Fate is death. Likewise, Apeirons often take the form of spirits
likely to call Specters representing harbingers of death concerned with changes as they occur within matter:
in folklore: banshees, owls, barguests, crows or Grim spirits of erosion, decay, or other transformation.
Reapers. Specters called by a willworker studying Fate • Time: Shades summoned by a Disciple of Time
often have great insight into destiny relating to the dead, typically manifest in forms that call to mind chrono-
and may be able to mark those fated to die in the near logical change. A Specter might choose to manifest in
future, cause one person to die in the place of another, a form of a rotting corpse — rapidly cycling through
or allow the mage to see his own end. Apeirons, on the various stages of decay before the eyes of the sum-
other hand, tend to be more interested in the effects moner. Apeirons tend to appear in forms representative
different materials have on destiny. They may alter of transitions that occur in matter over time. They
the course of a substance through Fate to see the long- may reveal themselves as a beings composed of a
term effect of doing so upon the future. For example, substance that shifts erratically between solid, liquid
an Apeiron might keep radioactive substances from and gaseous states.
someone who would use the materials to cause harm • Life: Although Life and Death may seem
at some uncertain future date, or cause a rich man to diametrically opposed, both Arcana have similar
become destitute through alchemy. transformative aspects. Specters called upon by a
• Forces: Specters summoned by Necromancers mage with knowledge in the Life Arcanum therefore
studying Forces can be horrific to behold. Often, they represent metamorphosis in life and how it relates to
manifest as grotesque representations of transitional death: a compost heap blossoming with new growth,
effects of energy on the mortal body: a tumor-ridden a dying mother giving birth, or a spider that kills its
body exposed to radiation; a bloated corpse dredged mate after breeding. Apeirons often take forms resem-
up from the aftermath of a hurricane, or a charred bling the hulking, clay golems of Judaic mythology
figure burned beyond recognition. Though terrifying — matter given life.
to behold, these Specters have much to teach a mage • Mind: A Necromancer proficient in the Arcanum
on harnessing the transformative aspects of Forces. of Mind should take particular care when summoning
Apeirons manifest in diverse forms related to the ef- a shade from Stygia. He may find himself faced by
fects of such energies on matter: a vast glacier melting an entity that is afflicted with some kind of mental
in the heat, a statue slowly eroding in howling wind disturbance, representative of changes within the
or rushing water. brain. Paranoia and madness are common in Specters,
• Prime: Shades drawn to a Disciple of Prime especially. Apeirons, on the other hand, may be able
are known to excel at the magical metamorphosis. to produce any number of mind-altering compounds
Apeirons may be able to transform Mana from its to the benefit (or detriment) of the summoner.
original state into objects or creatures composed of pure

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 107

 Attributes: Power 4, Finesse 6, Resistance 3
Willpower: 7
Essence: max 15
Initiative: 9
Defense: 6
Speed: 17 (species factor 10)
Size: 4
Corpus: 7
Influence: Memory 2
Numina: Ghostly Presence, Trial
Trial: When the Necromancer performs the ritual
to summon a Salvager, he must bring a container (a
box, a basket, folded cloth, etc.) filled to the brim
with items that represent the joy of life, creation, and
the new. For example, fine food and wine to remind
the Salvager of what it was like to taste and smell,
a painting or recording of a symphony to remind it
what is was like to feel, or a photograph of a family
to remind it of companionship. The mage sets the
basket before her when she arrives at the summoning
location. As the Moros approaches death’s door, she
meditates intently on the problem at hand, attracting
a Salvager. If the Salvager accepts the gift, the entity
will take it back to Stygia.
A day later the mage returns to the location of
the summoning to find the container returned with
the gifts taken. Within the container, she will now

Example Entities find items helping her with the problem at hand: old
photographs, antique keys to unknown doors, faded
newspaper clippings, perhaps even a hand-written
Specter: The Salvager note from one of the lost dead. While none of the
A Salvager is the incarnation of all that is lost and items should present an immediate answer to the
forgotten in death. It might manifest as an orphaned character’s problem, they may provide subtle clues
child, pale and emaciated from neglect, or as a frail, or present alternatives that the character may not
elderly man, abandoned and lonely in his twilight have yet considered, or that the mage may have
years. Its features may be slightly decayed, but the forgotten.
effect is more heart-wrenching than monstrous. A
Salvager’s clothing is faded and worn to threads, as Specter: The Harbinger
though it should have been discarded long ago, and Not every Necromancer summons a denizen of
it carries upon its back a frayed sack that has been Stygia with pure or decent intentions. While it is true
patched together time and time again. The sack con- the most Moros call upon shades to aid the living, it
tains the detritus of the past, discarded and broken is also true that the darkest of mages can call upon a
objects, or items that have been lost and forgotten shade for assistance with any number of malignant
by the owner. acts — including murder.
Salvagers are typically called upon when a mage has A Harbinger manifests as a tall, beautiful woman
hit a dead end with a problem at hand, and has run with smooth, pale skin. Her eyes are black, shining
out of options. Salvagers can utilize their connection darkly like polished hematite, and a pair of large,
to the lost and forgotten to provide the mage with feathered, ebony wings unfold gracefully from her
valuable hints related to the problem at hand (see ivory back. She is bare-chested, but wears a sarong of
“Trial” below). scarlet silk about her waist. The sickly-sweet scent of

108
crushed nightshade amount of resistance
berries clings to the to paranormal attack. A
Harbinger, invoking a mage possessing the Touch
strange combination of the Harbinger must be
of attraction and re- able to remain in unbro-
vulsion. ken physical contact with
Harbingers are al- an Awakened victim for
ways delighted to have a number of minutes equal
dealings with Nec- to the victim’s Resolve +
romancers. When a Gnosis. The intended target
Harbinger is called upon, is alerted of the danger by
the summoner finds herself the intense pain caused by
in a darkly opulent chamber the touch of the mage. Ad-
surrounded by draped silk. In ditionally, when viewed with
the center of the chamber, softly Mage Sight (see Mage: The
lit by candlelight, is a table set for Awakening, p. 110), a Nec-
two. The Harbinger is a gracious romancer who possesses the
host and will offer the Necromancer Touch of the Harbinger appears
the finest food and wine but if the Nec- as though her hands are dripping with vibrant,
romancer decides to partake of the meal, she will red blood. If anything breaks or interrupts the initial
taste nothing but death and decay the moment it contact, the Touch of the Harbinger is lost and the
passes her lips. victim is unharmed and unaffected. If the Touch of
The Harbinger will ask the Necromancer whom she the Harbinger is successful upon a mage, the victim
intends to murder. Then, ever agreeable, she will laud will die within 24 hours.
the mage’s intent to end the life of another and offer Attributes: Power 8, Finesse 6, Resistance 6
assistance. The Moros can then choose to make a deal Willpower: 14
with the Harbinger. In exchange for a small piece of Essence: max 25
the mage’s “soul,” she will kiss the willworker, and Initiative: 12
bestow upon her the Touch of the Harbinger. Defense: 7
If the mage accepts, the character’s Wisdom im- Speed: 24 (species factor 10)
mediately drops by one, and she is gifted with the Size: 5
Touch of the Harbinger. When the summoner’s trial Corpus: 11
ends, the next living creature that she touches, even Influence: Death 2, Seduction 1
accidentally, will die within 24 hours under circum- Numina: Harrow, Trial, Underworld Gate
stances unrelated to the mage (making the murder Trial: The Harbinger is a vain creature, and will
very difficult to trace at worst, and perceived as an become very offended if the summoner suggests in any
accident by the authorities at best). way that she is not the epitome of sensual beauty. If
The Touch of the Harbinger is less effective and the mage does not show full appreciation of her kiss,
much easier to track when used upon a mage, how- she may attempt to kill him on the spot.
ever, as the Awakened inherently possess a certain

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 109

 ghostly bird within an ethereal, mossy nest. If the
mage attempts to use magic
to climb the tree, she finds
herself once more on the
ground, all progress lost.
For one who works dili-
gently to reach the nest despite
the perilous conditions, the
Bird of Fortune shifts aside
to reveal a nest full of small,
softly luminous, golden eggs.
The mage may take a
single egg as a reward for
her hard work, but if she is
greedy and takes more than
one egg, all of the eggs will
crumble to worthless clay
before her eyes.
Once the mage obtains the
egg, her surroundings fade away and
she finds herself back in the location
of the summoning. The golden egg may
be cracked open in the fallen world, and
from it will gush a large quantity of a precious
Apeiron: The Bird of Fortune alchemical material: diamonds, gold, sil-
ver, oil — any element or compound that
Many inexperienced mages studying
can be created through the manipulation
alchemy have called upon the Bird of Fortune.
of Matter that the Moros desires.
Not yet being skilled enough in the Arcanum of
Matter to transmute the elements, even a mage with The material obtained from the egg re-
limited experience in Matter can call upon the Bird mains in existence so long as it is of use. Once the
of Fortune to acquire rare or valuable materials. substance is no longer useful or valuable, it crumbles
into clay.
Attributes: Power 4, Finesse 6, Resistance 4
Willpower: 8
Essence: max 10
Apeiron: The Metal Smith
Only a mage with extensive experience in both
Initiative: 10
the Matter and Prime Arcana can forge thaumium, a
Defense: 10
substance that is, when charged with Mana, capable
Speed: 20 (species factor 10) of serving as a shield against mystic will (see Mage:
Size: 1 The Awakening, pp. 203–204). Less experienced
Corpus: 5 Necromancers can still acquire Artifacts forged from
Influence: Matter 1, Perseverance 1 thaumium, however, if they call upon the Metal
Numina: Trial Smith.
Trial: A mage who succeeds in summoning the Bird A mage who summons the Metal Smith will find
of Fortune will find herself in a boundless gray, bar- herself in his workshop, a hot, dark chamber with a
ren field with a monstrous, gnarled, black tree rooted glowing forge and large heaps of scrap metal. The
before her. The mage must climb to the uppermost Metal Smith materializes as a broad, hulking man
branches of the tree, overcoming any number of with a hardened expression. He has been working
obstacles that hinder her progress: shifting branches, for thousands of years, and the heat of the forge has
rotting and slippery bark, and piercing thorns. In the hardened his skin to stone. The Metal Smith keeps
highest boughs of the tree, the Necromancer finds a his ears stashed away in a box so that he need not hear

110
 Essence: max 20
Initiative: 12
Defense: 8
Speed: 24 (species factor 10)
Size: 7
Corpus: 13
Influence: Matter 1, Craft 2
Numina: Fortify Material, Trial
Trial: The Metal Smith is nearly always
intensely focused upon his work. Unable
to hear a voice calling out to him, or feel
a tap on the shoulder through his dense,
petrified skin, it can be difficult to gain
his attention. The summoner must find
some way to communicate with the
Metal Smith. If the mage is skilled in
the Mind Arcanum, she may be able to
communicate telepathically. The surest
way to get the Metal Smith’s attention,
however, is to find the box containing
his ears. When the box is opened, the
Metal Smith can hear once more, and
he will be willing to do business with
the mage.
The Metal Smith’s magical forge can only
be fueled with the blood of the living, which is in
short supply in the Supernal Realm of Stygia. The
Metal Smith is more than willing to craft a small
Artifact made of thaumium in return for a quantity of
the constant, deafening clang of hammer on metal. the summoner’s blood. If the mage agrees to the deal,
Attributes: Power 8, Finesse 6, Resistance 6 she must slice open her flesh and pour blood from the
Willpower: 14 wound into the forge, feeding the fire.

Chapter Two: From the Five Towers 111

112
Chapter Three:
From the
Endless Dark
All of the correspondences were set out, just as the old grimoire specified.
At Naimah’s feet, the preserved remains of a forsaken newborn lay curled up, and salt-encrusted
bronze nails were driven into the tiny corpse’s shriveled eyes. At her right hand, a bowl of rough-
hewn black basalt, filled with the water from a drowned man’s lungs. At her left, a small dagger,
cut from the femur of one unjustly slain for an act of infidelity that he did not commit. Just above
her head rested the freshly-harvested spleen of a willworker killed by Paradox. Every component
and soul-withering sigil was in its proper place, and Cadence had spoken the words and performed
the blasphemous mudras.
And, still, nothing.
Desperately, Cadence returned to the text, flipping from one page to another, wondering what
minute detail she had neglected. Her heart strained unto bursting to see Naimah’s lifeless body
whenever she glanced away from the page. Pale and still before the Moros, her cabalmate and best
friend lay, dried blood still encrusted around the two small holes in her shirt, through which the
fatal bullets had entered her left side. For months, Cadence had preserved her, just as she was when
she breathed her last. It was not within her skill to keep Naimah from dying, but her studies since
that night had taught her what she needed to know to save her friend from death.
If only the fucking spells would work.
With the cold reason of a Necromancer, she had diligently assembled all that was necessary. She
had seen a great deal of death since returning from Stygia’s Watchtower, seven years ago. Now,
however, her discipline was, at long last, breaking down. She shoved the grimoire away, causing the
fragile book’s spine to crack audibly when it fell from off of the desk and onto the concrete floor
of her basement. Two or three pages came away from the binding.
“Why?” She asked aloud, “Why won’t you work?” Her legs trembled through each of the half-dozen
steps that brought her to Naimah’s side and she did not kneel there, so much as fall to her knees. “I
just want her back.” She took Naimah’s hand, terribly cold, in her own. “I’d do anything — anything
— just to have her back.” She looked to the damaged tome with a scowl. “You promised. You lied.”
“No, Cadence, it didn’t.”
The sound of Naimah’s voice was thin, somehow… flat. Hollow. But it was her voice. Naimah’s
eyes were open and she was smiling at Cadence, again, just like she remembered. This was wrong.
She knew it was wrong. That ice-cold hand began to grow warmer.
“I want to go home, Cadence. Say that you want to come home with me.”
A tear rolled from the corner of her eye. “I’ve missed you so much, Naimah.”
“I know.” The smile remained, though it never touched those empty, glassy eyes. “Say it.”
The Moros drew a breath; the longest moment of her life. “I want… to come home with you,
Naimah.”
Naimah sat up slowly, moving as if to embrace her friend, just like she used to. “And so you
shall, Cadence…”
Chapter Three: From the Endless Dark 113
 There was something awesome in the thought of the solitary mortal standing by the open
window and summoning in from the gloom outside the spirits of the nether world.
– Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Dreaming Madness

The face of the Abyss most familiar to mages in the A mage must overcome the inertia of sleep, passing
Fallen World, the Acamoth are those Void-born spirits through layers and layers of alien nightmares, just to
that somehow became trapped within the material get the entity to notice that someone is attempting
realm between the sundering of the Ladder to Heaven to communicate with it; less forceful methods of
and modern times. Some of these entities have lingered contact are almost always simple dismissed by the
in fitful slumber for millennia, while others found a spirit as one of an infinite number of odd details of
way down from the Abyss (or were called from it) an endless horrific dream and forgotten nearly the
and got stranded. The most ancient of these beings instant that the attempt ceases. Even repeated mes-
might never have truly dwelt within the Void, at all, sages are often ignored as patterns that temporarily
having become cut off from their “native” realm in spring up within an individual Acamoth’s nightmares.
the instant of its creation in the Fall. Like a sleeping human who occasionally incorporates
The Acamoth constitute the overwhelming major- elements of half-sensed stimuli into her dreams, so,
ity of the Abyss spirits with which mages interact, too, do the Acamoth sometimes dimly perceive that
due to their relative nearness, if nothing else. Even which transpires around them and experience the
while the Acamoth slumber, they influence the world reflections of such in their slumber.
around them, projecting their nightmares into minds Thus, the first task for any would-be summoner of
and spirits, their very presence exuding a corruptive Acamoth is to learn the specific protocols for waking
taint. Skilled investigators among the Awakened can one just enough to hold a meaningful conversation with
often spot the clues that point to these earthbound it. A mage might be fortunate enough (or unfortunate,
monstrosities, following their trail as readily as a as the case may be) to find a wakeful Acamoth, but
hound tracks an elusive scent. Certainly, some seek he can’t count on that. It is likelier, by far, that his
the Acamoth to destroy them, but the majority of months — or even years — of painstaking research
seekers have much different goals in mind. Among will point him at a quiescent monstrosity, trapped
all of the ephemeral entities found in the Fallen within its own ceaseless dreams, halfway between
World, none are so amenable to pacts and other blasphemous life and endless death. These spirits are
binding agreements as the Acamoth, and few have almost always located in largely inaccessible places,
such interesting gifts to offer. like salt caverns nearly a mile underground, under
a dozen layers of mud and decaying matter at the
Summoning the Acamoth bottom of a swamp, or in an Atlantean Diaspora-era
ruin resting upon the floor of a scalding, sulfurous
Severed from the realm that gives them their lake. Such entities simply aren’t found where life
identity, the Acamoth spend most of their time in thrives, though the reasons are unclear. Some mages
the Fallen World held fast in the slumber of spirits. believe that the Acamoth create barrenness by their
Perhaps they have, over their long imprisonment, nature, while others think that these ghastly spirits,
become so much like the denizens of the Shadow in their terrible wisdom, chose resting places where
Realm that they are now bound by many of the same they would be only infrequently troubled, and then
laws. Regardless of the reasons, however, deliberately only by the very individuals with whom they would
making contact with an Acamoth is no simple feat. most wish to have dealings.

114
 Finding the Acamoth is more a matter of skill and though these stories are as likely as not rumors spread
knowledge than luck. Many phenomena within the by Scelesti and similarly corrupted mages, hoping to
Fallen World create dark and unpleasant resonance, ensnare others with the promise of easy gain.
but the Abyssal taint of the Acamoth has its own As to the Accursed, some believe certain of their
unique character, readily understood as such by those number are empowered to act as proxies for the
mages with experience in seeking out the spirits of the Acamoth they serve, either setting up “appointments”
Void. Intelligence or Wits + Academics, Investiga- (corporeal or telepathic) with their masters or facili-
tion, or Occult rolls are likely called for, with dots tating the entire process of bargaining, from start to
of the Library Merit (Mage: The Awakening, pp. finish. While the latter tales are especially suspect,
85–6) focused upon the Abyss, Acamoth, or similar enough evidence exists of the former to make for a
subjects granting their customary benefits. Of course, relatively reliable fact. Through Scelesti intermediar-
knowing where an Acamoth sleeps and actually getting ies, mages can effectively “summon” an Acamoth for
to it are two different tasks, entirely. More powerful a meeting. For those interested in going this route, it
willworkers might simply scry the resting place of an has the added benefit of requiring no particular degree
Abyssal spirit and teleport to it or otherwise use magic of mystic prowess; the willworker need only make
to ease the journey, but not all mages have access contact with one of the Accursed who happens to
to such powers. Thus, some peril is often involved be bound to the service of a given Acamoth and he
merely to reach the creature. Given the sometimes can contact that Acamoth, so long as the Scelestus
thousands of years during which the horrific madness is willing and able to do so.
of an Acamoth has had to leach into the very land Lastly, certain of the Acamoth realized long ago that
around it, nature itself is sometimes turned against a their distance from the Awakened typically made for
seeker, as vicious beasts haunt her steps, paths twist considerable difficulty in bargaining with them, and
in upon themselves, and the air becomes a poisonous so they created (or got Awakened servants to create)
vapor. If the spirit senses an Awakened visitor from
within the weave of its eternal dreams, though, it
often clears the way, welcoming the willworker into
its resting-place for negotiations. Calling the Earthbound
Many mages just aren’t cut out for these dangerous Technically speaking, can it truly be called
ventures, however. Though every willworker is poten- “summoning” when all a mage is doing is
tial a scholar of the unknown, not all are adventurers attempting to get the attention of something
and explorers; the sort of people often necessary to already dwelling in the Fallen World? Seman-
reach the subterranean tomb of an Acamoth. Other tics aside, most Awakened who care to think
methods for contacting the Fallen World’s Void- on the prospect concede that magics intended
to gain the notice of the Acamoth are, in fact,
spawned prisoners exist, though, allowing even the
acts of summoning, as the spirit must either
most retiring academe to barter with such beings for be drawn to the mage’s location or — as is
powers not meant for the earthly realm. rather more likely — some portion of its con-
A less direct — though perhaps less complex — route sciousness must be invited to dwell within the
than physical proximity involves tapping directly into willworker for a time.
the dreams of the Acamoth. Mages who wish to at-
Veteran summoners cite various criteria for
tempt this may use either Mind 3 or Spirit 3 (almost their claims: the standardized use of circles of
certainly paired with Space 2, given the likelihood protection, for example, and other defensive
that the Acamoth is nowhere nearby) to reach out to measures, as well as the possibility of forging
the nightmares of the entity, once it has been located a pact with such an entity at the conclusion
through the study of ley lines, the perusal of old texts, of a bargaining process. Ultimately, however,
or whatever other method. Instantly sensing the magi- the distinctions are inconsequential, as the
cal intrusion upon its thoughts, the Acamoth focuses spirits of the Void are just as dangerous when
its attention upon the interloper, opening a channel called from deep beneath within the heart
of communication. Certain willworkers claim to have of a mountain or the bottom of the sea as
made incredibly favorable deals with Acamoth deep when summoned out of the dead heart of the
Abyss, itself.
in slumber, as their thoughts are simply too sluggish
and hazy to bring their full alien brilliance to bear,

Chapter Three: From the Endless Dark 115

 means through which they might be contacted. Some gold, silver, and precious gems to those who submit
inscribed strange tomes, penned in languages not to the will of the Acamoth. Indeed, whole cabals of
meant for the human tongue or mind, while others Scelesti have financed their works throughout the ages
crafted seals that need only be cracked to earn an audi- solely upon the riches held in trust by a half-sleeping
ence, or archways that opened into the very chambers spirit of the Void.
in which they were sealed away. Part and parcel with Naturally, many of the Accursed worship or oth-
these means of communication were protocols to erwise revere the Acamoth, making such entities a
connect to some part of the Acamoth’s consciousness, ready source of disreputable labor. Some Scelesti are
that the spirit might present its many wares. so irresistibly conditioned by the monsters to which
they kneel as to be virtually incapable of disobedience.
Bargains with the Acamoth A Scelestus’ soul is, of its very nature, a less desir-
able prize than that of a willworker not yet seduced
So, what, exactly, can a willworker get from dealing into the service of the Abyss; thus, an Acamoth will
with the Acamoth? venture its human resources in a calculated gambit to
First of all, Acamoth, no matter their power, are ca- win the fealty of one not yet swayed to the thrall of
pable of offering Investments (Mage: The Awakening, the Void. For mages looking to have enemies wiped
p. 323) to those willing to bargain with them. Even out, commodities stolen, or other shady activities
the feeblest such spirit is able to offer any mage one undertaken for their benefit, an Acamoth can offer
year’s respite from the ravages of time, for instance, in much, sending its Awakened soldiers forth to attend
exchange for the freedom to use that mage’s Oneiros as the will of the summoner.
a temporary gateway to the Abyss. It is only through No matter what a mage requests, however, the
long familiarity with the Fallen World that Abyssal Acamoth almost always asks for its customary price:
beings gain the knowledge and understanding neces- the freedom to use the mage’s soul for an Astral
sary to make this journey, making Investments unique journey, through the Oneiros and the Temenos, and,
to the Acamoth; though the Gulmoth are, quite often, from there, into past the furthest reaches of the Astral
stronger in terms of raw power, they lack the requisite Realm and into the Abyss, itself, there to drag just a
conversance with the nature of the terrestrial realm tiny measure of the Void back to the Fallen World.
to perform these particular manipulations of the hu- Unless a mage can offer something vastly preferable
man form and spirit. to this all-consuming drive, no Acamoth will settle
Some Acamoth — those that were stranded in the for anything less, and most are decidedly less than
Fallen World during the collapse of the Celestial Lad- pleased to be roused by a willworker who doesn’t even
der — possess lore that dates back to the time of the understand how the process works. Certainly, mages
Atlantean Diaspora and most are certainly willing to have been died for less.
part with the information, provided that the price is
right. One shred of occult knowledge is essentially as
meaningless to the Acamoth as another, though most
Investments
In addition to the Acamoth Investments listed in
are aware that the Awakened highly prize particularly Mage: The Awakening, the Acamoth are capable
ancient secrets, so they bargain particularly dearly of granting certain other gifts to those who dare to
in such a case. Despite this, however, the occasional carve the glyphs of old and speak the words of power.
willworker even walks away feeling that what he These Investments are, in some cases, rarer than
gained was worth the steep cost of an Acamoth’s those more commonly known to mages (inasmuch as
teachings. anything can be said to be “commonly known” about
Other Acamoth have accrued small stockpiles of the Acamoth, anyway). All of these powers go outside
treasure over the millennia: Artifacts and Enhanced of the known boundaries of Awakened magic, even
and Imbued Items, as well as grimoires, spirit fetishes, if only in subtle ways, but therein lies a good deal of
and other enchanted relics. On top of this, some hold their attraction.
entirely more mundane objects of great value, such as Abyssal Invisibility: At any time during the next
the journals of Archmasters or tablets inscribed with week, for a full 24 hours, the mage is invisible to the
lost dialects of the High Speech. Some, according to sight of any Abyssal entity (Acamoth or Gulmoth)
their natures, hoard wealth with which they might with Rank less than his Gnosis. The mage may even
tempt the Awakened to service and gladly dole out attack such creatures and remain unseen by them

116
(causing them to suffer the customary penalties for
fighting blind when attempting to attack him; see
The World of Darkness, pp. 166–7). This Invest-
ment is rare and typically only granted by Acamoth
of Rank 3 or greater.
Backlash Mitigation: For the next week, the mage
may spend points of Willpower, on a one-for-one
basis, to eliminate Health points of damage inflicted
by Paradox Backlash, to a minimum of zero. Note
that the willworker may spend more than one point
of Willpower in a turn, if necessary, to do so, and that
these points may be spent in addition to any spent to
enhance a die roll or for any other normal purpose
(such as augmenting Defense). This Investment is
rare and typically only granted by Acamoth of Rank
3 or greater.
Cure a Derangement: The mage is permanently
cured of one derangement of her choosing from
which she presently suffers. This derangement may,
however, return through later emotional or spiritual
trauma. Note that derangements gained as a result of
Wisdom degeneration may not be cured through the
use of this Investment, though they can be completely
suppressed for one full year.
Enhanced Mana Capacity: For the next month, are inverted; when functioning on her last three
the mage’s maximum Mana is increased by an amount points of Health she gains one to three bonus dice,
equal to his Gnosis. Any other means of carrying ad- as appropriate, for all activities for which she would
ditional Mana (such as storing it in the form of Tass) normally be penalized. During this time, the mage
continue to function normally for the willworker. experiences pain as pleasure, growing more intense
Feed on Pain: For the next month, whenever as her body sustains more damage.
another living thing sustains harm — one or more Manifestation Immunity: The next time within
points of lethal or aggravated damage — within the the next 12 months that the willworker incurs a
willworker’s presence (including himself), he may Manifestation Paradox, the Abyssal entity that arrives
spend a point of Willpower to recuperate a point of does him no harm. The spirit will stay for as long as
Mana, up to the maximum normally allowed by his it is permitted to (within the limits of the Manifes-
Gnosis. The effects of this Investment may be used tation’s duration) and may attempt to bargain with
in conjunction with Legacy oblations that involve the mage, should he permit such, but it must return
physically harming others or oneself. This Invest- instantly to the Abyss if commanded by him to do
ment is rare and typically only granted by Acamoth so. If the willworker does not incur a Manifestation
of Rank 3 or greater. Paradox within a year of gaining this Investment, its
Fortitude: For the next month, the willworker re- effects are lost without benefit. This Investment is
ceives a +2 bonus to all Resistance Attributes for the rare and typically only granted by Acamoth of Rank
purposes of all resisted or contested effects (magical 3 or greater.
or otherwise) directed at her. Characters that have Paradox Sense: For the next week, the willworker
enhanced any or all of their Resistance Attributes can discern the presence, type (Backlash or Bedlam,
through other means may still benefit from the Invest- for instance), and general strength (weak, moderate,
ment’s effects. This Investment is rare and typically or overwhelming, for example) of Paradox within
only granted by Acamoth of Rank 3 or greater. sensory range by succeeding on a reflexive Wits +
Inverted Agony: For the next week, the mage’s Composure roll. The mage must consciously attempt
dice pool penalties for her last three dots of Health to use this sense. The Paradox may be up to one day

Chapter Three: From the Endless Dark 117

 old per point of Gnosis possessed by the mage using the Adamantine Arrow could not choose Athletics,
this Investment, and can be detected in people, places, Intimidation, or Medicine in conjunction with this
and things, as appropriate. Investment). This Investment may be taken multiple
Redouble Resolve: Once during the course of the times, though a different rote specialty Skill must be
next month, the mage may recuperate all points of selected for it, each time. This Investment is rare
temporary Willpower as a reflexive action. This re- and typically only granted by Acamoth of Rank 3
covery in no way precludes the mage from refreshing or greater.
Willpower through upholding his Virtue (or by any Void Demesne: The mage may designate a space
other means). no larger than a single average-sized room which is
Rote Specialty: For the next year, the mage gains largely immune to the ravages of Paradox. For the
a single rote specialty (as per the order benefit) for all next week, the mage treats any spells that he (and
rotes known to her using any one Skill of her choos- only he) casts within this space as being cast within
ing. This benefit may not be “stacked” on top of an a Demesne appropriate to his Path (see Mage: The
existing rote specialty (in other words, a member of Awakening, p. 280). The customary “side effects”
of a normal Demesne (such as static electricity in
an Aetherial Demesne or the deepening of shadows
Legendary Investments within a Stygian Demesne) are invariably subtly
mad, twisted, or otherwise wrong within such a space.
Stories circulate among the Awakened —
typically, through the least reputable circles of This Investment is rare and typically only granted by
mage society — regarding particularly pow- Acamoth of Rank 3 or greater.
erful Investments offered by the rarest and
most potent of Acamoth. Those who tell such Soul Disintegration
tales speak of bargains to have a particular After the first two or three times that a mage grants
Sleeper’s soul carried on an Astral journey in an Acamoth the power to use her soul as a bridge to
the hopes of inspiring an Awakening, grant- the Void, why doesn’t she do it all the time? After
ing immunity from Paradox (whether for a all, repetition of almost any heinous act eventually
set period of time or for a lifetime), and even
anesthetizes a person to the moral consequences and
restoring life to the dead. As fanciful as they
repugnance of such deeds. The answer to this ques-
are, these stories persist from generation to
generation and some willworkers are com- tion is known to many of those who fancy themselves
pelled to wonder whether any shred of truth scholars of the Abyss and its ways a “soul disintegra-
exists, at all, among these sorts of accounts. tion”; literally, a process by which the Awakened
spirit becomes metaphysically riddled with small tears
Those who dig a little deeper, however, in-
that render it increasingly unusable by an Acamoth
variably discover darker, uglier details to the
for the purposes of a journey through the Astral Realm
myths. A Sleeper Awakens… perhaps… but
returns from her sojourn with a strange, un- and back to the Abyss.
natural fire in her eyes and wielding terribly Each year, a willworker can allow an Acamoth to
destructive magics that stink of the Abyss. The “ride” her soul up through the Astral Realms a num-
lash of Paradox avoids the bargaining will- ber of times equal to her Gnosis dots without other
worker, but seems to rain down its fury upon deleterious consequences (other than the simple
all those closest to her, Awakened or not. A act of bargaining with an Abyssal entity, anyway).
lost loved one sits back up, all of his wounds This represents the overall wear and tear on the
mended, but speaking in hollow tones and Awakened spirit inherent to the Acamoth’s misuse
the spark of his human spirit replaced by of the mage’s soul. For each time thereafter within a
something else.
single 12 month period that the willworker permits
Those mages who barter with the Void an Acamoth to use her soul as a conduit back to the
for even small services invariably end up Void, she incurs a cumulative –1 penalty to all die
cheated in the deal. So much worse off are rolls pertaining to magic, whether rote or improvised.
those who negotiate for terms that chal- By spending a permanent dot of Willpower, the mage
lenge the rules of the cosmos in far more
can stave off this penalty for a single journey (or
ambitious ways.
prevent the penalty from worsening, if she is already
suffering from one); this dot may be repurchased at

118
the cost of eight experience points. When the mage’s her current Gnosis finds that her spirit is no more
spellcasting penalty is equal to the lesser of her Gnosis sustaining than that of a Sleeper.
or Willpower, an Acamoth can no longer use her as
a conduit to the Abyss (and will, therefore, almost
certainly refuse her its services, unless she has some- Abyssal Summonings by Path
thing better to offer). Different Paths suggest different methods for calling
Each year (counting as every 12 months, to the day, out to the Acamoth. The methods that make sense
from the time of her first bargain with an Acamoth), for, say, an Acanthus don’t necessarily resonate with
provided the willworker has not exceeded her Invest- the philosophies of a Thyrsus. The symbols of cer-
ment tolerance (whether by engaging in a number tain Watchtowers identify more closely than others
of such bargains equal to or less than her Gnosis, or with the Abyss and its native creatures, making the
by spending enough dots of Willpower to completely path of temptation that much more appealing to the
prevent the accrual of spellcasting penalties), this total willworkers embodying those realms. Some mages
resets. If the mage has accrued spellcasting penalties speculate that the allure of the Void’s madness and
within a given 12-month period, one point of penalty nihilism are somehow vital to the ordeals of these
fades for each full year (again, each full 12 month Paths, testing those souls bound to them through
anniversary of her first Abyssal Investment) during the opportunity to refuse the seductive power of the
which she refrains from gaining Investments. During Abyss… or to accept it.
this time, her annual Investment tolerance drops by Acanthus: The cruel caprices of Arcadia have
a number equal to her current spellcasting penalty, their reflection within the roiling lunacy of the Void.
to a minimum of zero. The Lunargent Thorn is a precious thing, after all,
For example, a mage with three dots of Gnosis but also one that wounds. Specific moments in time
who gains her first five Investments within a single are sometimes infected by the taint of the Abyss and
12 month period – without spending permanent dots Enchanters are uniquely well-suited to discovering
of Willpower to extend her tolerance – gains a –1 those inauspicious instants. Likewise, times and places
penalty to all spellcasting rolls (rote or improvised) of crossing appeal to the Fae nature of the Acanthus,
as of the fourth Investment and a –2 penalty as enabling such willworkers to use those locations
of the fifth. Upon the one-year anniversary of the (particularly those that lead to bleak and ruinous
willworker’s first Investment, the total number of destinations) as focal points for Abyssal summonings.
Investments that she can “safely” gain during the next People, places, or things befouled by broken promises
12 months drops to one (her Gnosis of three, minus that led to calamity can be employed by Enchanters
two for her current spellcasting penalty). Should the to invoke the Void, as can those contaminated by
mage manage to restrain herself from bargaining with broken destinies.
the Acamoth more than one Investment during the Mastigos: The Warlocks of Pandemonium may
course of those 12 months, then her penalty drops well be the willworkers most continually assailed by
to –1 during the subsequent 12-month period. If the the siren song of the Abyss. Their magics open the
mage’s Gnosis increases at all during this time, then mind and render meaningless the distinctions of place;
her subsequent tolerance increases accordingly, but sorcery easily subverted to the purposes of calling
not retroactively. out to the things of the Void. As with the Acanthus,
Other Awakened who glimpse a mage currently strange and unwholesome intersections can serve
suffering from spellcasting penalties as a result of too- the Mastigos as ritual sites for summoning Acamoth.
frequent Investment bargains with Acamoth with the Likewise, any place heavily corrupted by foul psychic
Death 1 “Soul Marks” spell (Mage: The Awakening, residue (the site of a brutal mass slaying, for example,
p. 135) note a feeling of raw, ragged wounds of un- or a children’s hospital in which a doctor slowly and
certain origin upon her spirit. Those who look upon deliberately betrayed and murdered a number of her
her with the Prime 1 “Supernal Vision” spell (Mage: patients over the years). Ordeals turned from tran-
The Awakening, p. 211) see fraying at the edges of scendent experiences to become merely expressions of
her aura; the greater spellcasting penalty, the greater pain without the possibility for growth are also potent
the apparent damage. A Tremere lich attempting symbols of Daimonic Abyssal summonings.
to sustain himself on the soul of a mage whose soul Moros: For the Moros, death without meaning
disintegration spellcasting penalties meet or exceed constitutes their Path’s most powerful connection

Chapter Three: From the Endless Dark 119

 to the Abyss. Fortunately for those Necromancers their enemies) use different symbols and methods for
determined to walk this loathsome road, such death is getting the attention of the Acamoth. The secrets
relatively commonplace within the Fallen World, and handed down for millennia can be and have been
they need only locate sites (or items, or individual) perverted to the cause of calling out to the exiles of
saturated by the presence of particularly heinous sorts the Abyss.
of pointless death. Given Stygia’s tie to lifeless mat- The Adamantine Arrow: Combat and conflict
ter, Moros can also use material goods that deny the drive the soul of the Arrow; opposition to impurity
preeminence or even existence of the soul — or those in the name of the innocent and helpless. When
that, of their nature, debase it — as lenses through the drive to protect is sublimated into the desire
which to focus Abyssal summonings. Places in which to cause harm, the mission of the Dragon’s Talon
silence and stillness are perverted to unclean ends becomes twisted and perverse. Martial skill turned
can also be used by Necromancers for the purpose of to hubristic ends can be used to torture and conquer,
contacting the Acamoth. while an understanding of the body’s tolerances can
Obrimos: Ironically, after the Mastigos, the Theur- become pointless masochism or profane acts of self-
gists of the Golden Key may be the mages most mortification. The threat of violence, as well as its
tempted by the lure of the Void; for, while they are judicious application, can be turned to the creation
commonly just and honorable, they are by no means of fear. These pursuits are all easily used to gain the
always good. The powers of the Aether are readily notice of the Acamoth.
turned to savagely destructive ends and so those The Free Council: Above all else, the hope of
places in which the subtle energies of the world lies freedom from the Lie of the Exarchs motivates the
poisoned or in which raw, elemental power has bred mages of the Free Council, but people are willing to
catastrophic amounts of suffering may be configured do all sorts of terrible things in the name of liberty.
by the Obrimos for use in Abyssal conjurations. The The science of the Sleepers that so many Libertines
Thuergist’s drive to judge and to purify easily turns embrace is utterly without morality of its own; in-
bitter and vicious in the absence of Wisdom and deed, the abstract notion of “progress” has been used
compassion, making anything resonant with righ- to justify countless atrocities throughout the ages.
teousness perverted a correspondence for Aetheric Places in which revolutions have turned corrupt and
supplications to the Void. betrayed the promise of the human spirit, as well as
Thyrsus: The chosen of the Primal Wild understand those in which technology has been turned — delib-
well the predatory nature of the Abyss and the “kill or erately or otherwise — to relentlessly ruinous ends
be killed” mentality of the creatures that dwell within can serve a Libertine as the focal point of an Abyssal
it. Certain aberrant forms of life are abominations that summoning.
are, in their essence, destructive, and these deviants The Guardians of the Veil: Lies, misdirection,
strains of evolution constitute a tie to the Void that secrecy, and a veritable tyranny of treachery and fear
the Thyrsus can use. Conversely, the Shadow Realm are the hallmarks of the Guardians of the Veil. Fur-
and all of the creatures and states of being connected ther, those who dwell behind the Masque are deeply
to it are, fundamentally, neither good nor bad — they acquainted with the terrible sacrifices that one must
just are — though each such phenomenon may be make in the name of order and security. Therefore,
turned to dark purposes by a Shaman looking to contact it should come as no surprise that Guardians some-
one of the Acamoth. Objects, locations, and people times turn to the hard choice of calling upon the
resonant with violations against the laws of nature, Acamoth in the name of their heavy obligations;
whether subtle or overt, can also be turned to such an few are as familiar with Paradox and its instruments
end: the child of an incestuous union, for instance, or as the Guardians of the Veil, leading some of their
the isolated environment in which human tampering number to believe, erroneously, that they can tame
enabled a weaker species to overwhelm and drive to these forces. For those Guardians who wish to walk
extinction a stronger one. this dark road, the symbols and practices of their order
are easily subverted to magics of the Void.
Abyssal Summonings by Order The Mysterium: Knowledge for its own sake may
Just as each of the five Supernal Paths holds its own be one of the most dangerous pursuits in the Fallen
unique connections to the Void and its creatures, so, World. Certainly, the denizens of the Abyss know
too, does each of the five Pentacle Orders (as well as many nightmarish secrets they are willing to share

120
with ambitious mystagogues, provided those mages tools against him.” Only too late do such Banishers
have the courage to ask the right questions. The lock learn that the Abyss can never be turned to its own
blazoned on the Atlantean glyph of the Dragon’s Wing unmaking, for it was utterly unmade at the very in-
indicates both the portals that must be passed to earn stant of its genesis.
knowledge and the locking away of lore too powerful
to be left in the hands of the ignorant. Both of these Left-Handed Legacies and the Acamoth
images resonate with the Acamoth and can be used It is certainly worth mentioning that many mem-
by a mystatogue to form a connection to such a being. bers of Left-Handed Legacies want as little to do
Contrary to what many willworkers of the Mysterium with the Abyss and its creatures — earthbound or
believe, some information truly is evil, irrespective of otherwise — as any other relatively sane willworker.
the intentions of the one who uses it. In fact, the only such mages to deal with the Acamoth
The Silver Ladder: The Ladder to Heaven is a on a consistent basis are the various groups collec-
powerful symbol, still, to the théarchs of the Silver tively known as the Scelesti. Left-Handed mages
Ladder. Perhaps, the ruins of that structure — as much such as the Tremere liches don’t necessarily object
metaphor as physical construct, if not more so — ex- to dealings with the Void on any moral level (though
ist, still, within the Abyss. As the théarch reaches some of them do, as the beliefs that willworkers hold
upward toward something so sublimely shattered and in such concepts as right and wrong aren’t always,
annihilated, she reaches also toward the Abyss. The or even often, so black and white), but almost all
devastation of the Ladder may well have been the of them recognize the dangers inherent to such
birth of the Void; for all many denizens of the Abyss practices. Given the day-to-day perils of living as
know, it was. Pride, also, resonates with the burden a Left-Handed mage most anywhere in the Fallen
of those who would lead their fellow willworkers, like World, it’s easy to understand why so many of them
the hubris that sundered the worlds and created the shun this sort of magic.
madness between them. Symbols and actions indica- The Accursed, however, certainly make up for
tive of leadership gone awry, turned to dark purpose, the reservations of their Left-Handed peers with a
call to the Acamoth in the name of the Ladder. vengeance, with no few of them summoning and
The Seers of the Throne: The goals of the Seers otherwise calling upon the Acamoth as freely and as
of the Throne are so easily corrupted to the seductive frequently as they dare. Numerous Scelesti exercise
call of the Acamoth. The Throne is built upon the far more caution and discernment in their Abyssal
acquisition and indulgence of power as both means and summonings, of course, but their actions are balanced
end, as a thing sacred by its very nature. The Abyss against those of the many Accursed who long only to
offers power, devoid of any sort of ethical mandate. do their part in burning down the world until they,
It is a short step beyond the need to subjugate and too, are consumed by the insatiable, otherworldly, and
control out of selfishness, to the longing to do so out of all-devouring flame that they seek to unleash. Some
hatred. Once others have been reduced to the level of Scelesti remain in more or less constant communi-
commodities, they can be treated like animals and less cation with one or more such patron spirits, while
than animals without the slightest pang of conscience. others only infrequently experience the presence of
Lies and greed feed the Abyss, and those Seers who the Acamoth. A few Accursed never directly deal
would ascend to the right hand of the Exarchs must with Acamoth, though this is quite rare.
first cross the long dark of the Void.
Banishers: Those who long for the destruction
of magic, itself, have much to learn from the Abyss
and from the Acamoth who are its substance made
Calling to the Void
As powerful and versatile as the abilities of the
manifest in the Fallen World. The Banishers’ creed
Acamoth may be, most of these creatures are still cut
of insane hatred of all that they fear and misunder-
off from the majority of their unnatural might and can
stand is very nearly a symphony to the spirits of the
offer only certain gifts to those willing to deal with
Void. Merely by being what they are, Banishers make
them; thus, a few Awakened turn to the practice of
themselves attractive to the Acamoth, who happily
summoning down those spirits still dwelling within
hasten to their call. As many such willworkers believe
the Void. Known as the Gulmoth, these dread beings
themselves cursed or even damned by the Awakening,
slither in through tears in the seams of the Tapestry, a
it can prove to be a short step to “turning the Devil’s

Chapter Three: From the Endless Dark 121

 form of free passage offered to them by mages whose The problem with this process is that the Awakened
desires outstrip their good sense. soul is meant to be a vessel for the Supernal, not the
Summoning down the Abyss is, easily, one of the Abyss, and that it is uniquely unsuited to the task;
most profoundly dangerous things that a willworker effectively, the every instinct of the mage’s spirit
can do and, yet, time and again, the Awakened prove recoils from the possibility of direct contact with
willing to do just that. Certainly, many Scelesti are the Void and she must devote much of her energy to
willing to taint their already-degraded souls with overcoming her soul’s natural aversion to the attempt.
the stench of the Void, but what might surprise the Her knowledge of the Arcana avails her nothing in
Awakened are the numbers of seemingly upstanding such a casting, for what she seeks has nothing to do
willworkers who meddle with these powers. Whether with the Watchtowers. Her rotes cannot benefit her,
to learn forgotten lore or to destroy an otherwise un- as no earthly knowledge resonates with the powers
assailable enemy, some few mages of the Pentacle (as with which she seeks audience. Thus, a mage who
well as Apostates, Seers of the Throne, and others) wishes to perform a ritualized Abyssal summoning
turn to the unspeakable, carving forgotten names rolls only her Gnosis, her raw mystic will.
into the flesh of the innocent and burning the salt This is an extended action, requiring an hour
harvested from the tears of starving children to earn per roll and five successes per Rank of the spirit
audiences with things that should not be. to be summoned, through Rank 5 spirits. Beyond
that constraint, a mage is not limited to calling an
The Ritual Abyssal entity of any particular Rank; such spirits
Summoning from the Abyss is actually quite easy, will gladly come for any Awakened soul that calls
provided the mage in question has no desire for out to them. The Gulmoth long for the pains and
subtlety or control: accrue enough Paradox from pleasures of the Fallen World and, upon following
casting vulgar magics and a Manifestation will even- the bridge offered by a mage’s soul (through this
tually appear. This approach leaves a great deal to process and this process alone), enter into this
be desired, however, as such entities are inherently realm physically incarnate, without the need for an
unruly and commonly show up with no agenda more appropriate Numen. Effectively, the mage’s desire to
elaborate than spiteful mayhem. Certainly, some of interact with the entity is an invitation that grants
them are interested in making deals, but a willworker it license to take on corporeal form for the duration
can’t count on getting an Abyssal tempter, rather of its interactions with the willworker in question.
than a ravening engine of destruction. Furthermore, Some believe that the process is similar to that used
mages cannot simply banish these beings when their by Acamoth who “ride” a mage’s Awakened soul
presence is no longer desired; the Manifestation through an Astral journey to the Abyss; that the
subsides only in its own good time, or when the mage tacitly allows the entity to make use of her
spirit is forcefully banished. power in a specific manner through the very act of
In order to deliberately call out to a spirit of the Void summoning a Gulmoth.
in a safer (though by no means particularly safe) and Naturally, though, more than just the will to call
more controlled manner, a mage much unlearn much of down the Void is necessary. Mages must align the sum-
what she knows about magic. Awakened spells employ moning space with Abyssal correspondences, items
the power of the Realms Supernal, through a tenuous that resonate with the mad, stillborn cosmos that roils
connection that wends its way through the Abyss. The between the Fallen and the Supernal. Perhaps the
trick to calling down the Gulmoth and their ilk lies creatures of the Abyss desire a “comfortable” space
in “disconnecting” the Supernal link of Awakened in which to arrive in the Fallen World or, maybe,
magic partway through its journey, metaphysically they simply cannot enter this realm in the absence of
creating a temporarily ladder down which such an certain procedures to create an inauspicious environ-
entity might scale, into the Fallen World. Lusting, as ment through a polluted flow of subtle energies. Those
they do, for contact with this realm, Abyssal beings will Awakened capable of discerning such things typically
almost certainly accept the tacit invitation, though report that ley lines are soured in the wake of Abyssal
a mage must be extremely careful in doing so, should summonings, though it is — in most cases — difficult
she wish to exert any degree of influence whatsoever to say whether the process of defilement began before
over the type (and overall power) of the spirit that or during the ritual. (The symbols, ideas, and objects
answers the summons. aligned with Paths and orders, above, are just as useful

122
in this respect for summoning the Gulmoth into the Wisdom to fall from his high perch and the Gulmoth
Fallen World as they are for calling out, across it, to invariably do all that they can to encourage in such a
the Acamoth.) willworker the belief that they aren’t so bad; that they
Physical relics of Paradox are often suitable for the are victims of the Fall, as much as any other creature
purpose of “consecrating” a ritual space for use in an from among the many realms. In a way, unfortunately,
Abyssal summoning: material taken from the area the Gulmoth speak the truth in this respect, which
of an Anomaly, the remains of someone killed by makes their words all the more dangerous for the
Havoc, even a few shreds of unnaturally preserved pure of heart to hear, for to be moved by them is to
carcass from a slain Manifestation. Not all mages can embrace the end of Wisdom.
get ready access to these sorts of things (not without As to what must be done to call down beings of
deliberately incurring Paradox and chancing a Mani- Rank 6 or greater, none can say for certain, as it is
festation, anyway, which largely ruins the point of doubtful that more than a bare handful of such still-
the exercise), so other methods are often called for. born gods have tread the Earth in the ages between
Objects, places, and acts that carry the taint of mad- the Fall and the present day. A scant few texts speak
ness, sickness, betrayal, horror, destruction, death, of the ritual sacrifice of scores of lives, Awakened
and the like call to the Abyss and its denizens are souls obliterated by unspeakable acts of sorcery, the
readily drawn to the savor of such pleasant fare. In creation of Paradoxes so vast and elaborate that they
certain cases, areas carry a sympathetic connection sustain themselves for a thousand years, and similarly
to the Void; perhaps an Abyssal intruder incarnated heinous perversions of magic. Furthermore, these
there or a powerful Scelestus resided there for many are among the tamest of the unholy rites alluded-to
years. Would-be Abyssal summoners cannot typically by those that dare to speak, at all, of the prospect of
count on the “good fortune” of finding such a locale, inviting into this reality such Gulmoth, anathema to
unattended and ready for use. all that which is and will ever be.
Mages are capable of augmenting somewhat their
ability to call out to the things of the Void in a (rela- The Risks
tively) safe manner. Willworkers of particular low Bargaining with the Void is, at best, a tremendously
Wisdom (1 or 2) gain a bonus die on the extended iffy proposition. Mages have met horrific ends for
Gnosis roll to summon Abyssal spirits. Mages may having truck with such powers, and not always at
also sacrifice to the Abyss to gain bonus dice for a the hands of the creatures they call down from the
single roll in the extended action. By sacrificing a Abyss. Almost every mage of the Pentacle Orders
living creature (as per the rules given on p. 78 of
Mage: The Awakening), the willworker may gain
bonus dice in place of points of Mana. He must
either take bonus dice or Mana from the sacrifice;
the process only allows for one or the other. Note,
however, that this is the deliberate act of ending lives
in the name of the Void. Regardless of a character’s
intentions in doing so, this is Left-Handed willwork
in its truest form. Objects and locations associated
with such a sacrifice inevitably take on a hideous
resonance and even those otherwise faithful to the
path of Wisdom often find their auras stained by so
heinous a deed.
Conversely, a mage of exceptionally high Wisdom
— 9 or 10 (though what such a willworker would
be doing calling down creatures from the Abyss is
questionable, at best) — suffers a one-die penalty to
his extended Gnosis roll; the Void recoils from the
purity of his spirit and his very soul rebels against
such unholy magics. Of course, practicing Abyssal
summonings is a sure way for a mage of such profound

Chapter Three: From the Endless Dark 123

 (and many Apostates, Seers of the Throne, and even
Banishers) are violently opposed to trafficking with
the creatures of the Abyss and a significant number On A Rampage
of them will simply “shoot to kill” when confronted So, why don’t Acamoth and Gulmoth go
by a mage who practices those sorts of summonings. on nightmarish killing sprees when called?
The Adamantine Arrow, Guardians of the Veil, and Many of them are certainly powerful enough
the Silver Ladder are particularly harsh and unyield- to break through the wards and bindings that
ing in their persecution of those who converse with the average mage can erect, leaving one to
the denizens of the Void. wonder what holds them back? The most ob-
vious answer is, sometimes, “Nothing at all.”
Of course, the foremost peril of Abyssal summonings On occasion, a willworker has the singular
is to be found in the otherworldly powers, themselves. misfortune of calling down some horrid ava-
The Gulmoth are not to be trifled with; even when tar of fury, desirous only of the opportunity to
summoned according to all of the proper rites and murder the world. Such malevolent entities
arcane formulae, such beings definitively intend typically leave a swath of destruction in their
harm toward those who call them. It is simply their wake, until such a time as mages, Fallen
nature. They hate and desire to violate and destroy. World spirits, or other powers can somehow
Willworkers who offer them passage into the Fallen manage to destroy, imprison, or otherwise
World make for convenient targets and it is only incapacitate the fiend.
through a profound measure of restraint — engendered In other cases, though, Acamoth and Gul-
by an understanding that sparing one soul today may moth are better behaved; not because they
enable a given Gulmoth to devour two, tomorrow — wish to be, but instead because they have
that such entities manage to hold their instinctual an understanding of the consequences of
urges in check. not doing so. Self-preservation does not rank
That said, the Gulmoth typically try their best — highly on the list of priorities for most Abyssal
beings, but the chance to spread misery, suf-
within their intrinsically hostile frame of reference,
fering, horror, and the like on a greater scale
anyway — to put on a relatively friendly face when than mere slaughter is a powerful motivating
called to the Fallen World through the use of the proper factor for many such creatures. Perhaps, in
rites and incantations. A spirit that pounces on the first earlier ages of the Fallen World, the threat of
human it sees might get called back again, but mages death and the spectacles of its aftermath was
are quite good at gathering information and it’s only enough to incite the passions cherished by the
a matter of time until some enterprising summoner Void, but humanity is simply far too jaded,
realizes that calling that particular Gulmoth down is a now, by the atrocities that it inflicts upon
sure way to die. So, in the interests of preserving what itself, every day.
credentials they have with the Awakened, most such Thus, the majority of these creatures act
entities curb their savage hungers and their hateful their proper part in the Faustian dramas for
lusts, and allow those who call to them to be destroyed which mages call out to them, for they per-
of their own accord; preferably with the very things ceive in these summons the possibility of far
that they wish for. While not as viscerally satisfying, greater and more telling damage to the Fallen
many of the creatures of the Void (those with inter- World. An old proverb admonishes: give a
ested in being regularly called into the Fallen World man a fish and he’ll eat for a day; teach him
to barter with willworkers, at any rate) are capable to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime. The subtler
of cultivating at least enough of a façade of patience approach — more patient and nuanced — is
the Void’s answer to teaching the human race
to rein in their “natural” behaviors.
to fish. Killing a few people and tearing down
a small fragment of the material realm is
The Reasons viscerally satisfying for Abyssal spirits, to be
sure, but so much more satisfying, is it, to en-
Given the terrible costs and risks of dealing with the courage willworkers in the very pursuits that
powers of the Abyss, what could motivate a willworker most extensively and fundamentally damage
to actually do so? the Tapestry in its entirety.
Some willworkers seek knowledge purely because it
is knowledge. A thirst for understanding overrides all

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sense of right and wrong and, indeed, all comprehen- Lastly — and perhaps most significantly — the
sion of safe and unsafe. Many of these become the Gulmoth offer the benefits of pacts without all of
archetypal cackling lunatics of the Awakened world, the hassle of negotiation. Provided one can locate
driven far beyond the edge of reason by contemplation the correct entity, it will perform whatever service is
of truths (and lies that are, nevertheless, simultane- required of it, irrespective of how vile, in exchange
ously truths) too terrible for the mind to absorb, let for a predictable fee. A summoner need not wonder
alone articulate. But the fact is that all the myriad at the cost or (in most cases) perform any lengthy
things that wander the endless insanity of the Void service. Instead, the Gulmoth requires a severed digit,
know something. These secrets blast the soul, but some a priceless treasure destroyed, or a dear friend’s throat
mages believe the wounds they will surely carry are slit with a dagger forged from a piece of steel extracted
worth the enlightenment they stand to gain. What from the wreckage of a fatal car crash.
sorts of lore does the Abyss conceal?
Perhaps the most significant of the information
willworkers can dredge out of the Abyss are the Su-
An Abyssal Bestiary
pernal secrets that filter down from the Watchtowers, Scratched into the floor with a chisel used to cut the
only to become lost in the Void. For every Supernal planks for the coffins of seven murderers, the circle was
truth that migrates into the Fallen World, many a faint whitish line against the pale old hardwood. Sigils
more lose their way in the long dark of the Abyss in the High Speech adorned the meticulously carven ring,
and some of these are discovered by the denizens of at each of the cardinal directions, but these marks were
that loathsome realm. Perhaps, overly curious mages obviously wrong, somehow. Any scholar of the old tongue
sometimes speculate, some vital secret of the Oracles would know them as such, merely to glance at them, though
has gone astray in the Void; some shred of knowledge few, indeed, might understand the true significance of a
so important it must surely be worth the cost to one’s misplaced line, here, or a too-sudden curve, there. What
soul necessary to obtain it. crouched within the circle knew, however, and it stared
across that boundary at she who had called out to it.
More banal, perhaps, but certainly no less compel-
ling, is the promise of Supernal Artifacts that “wash “You have summoned me, Awakened One. What do
up” on the shores of the Void, rather than descending you ask?”
properly to the Fallen World. Mages sometimes barter Shakti licked her lips nervously, casting the briefest
with the Gulmoth for these items; presumably, given of glances around the barren dining room of the aging
the near-impermeability of the Abyss as a barrier house; as though its walls still dripped with the blood of
between the worlds, the majority of Artifacts end up those butchered here so many long years ago by he who
in the Void, instead of the material realm. Thus, a was husband and father to them. Though she accounted
willworker who knows what she’s looking for may be herself well-schooled in the ways of Path and order, this
able to very nearly “custom order” an Artifact from was something entirely different. Still, she had not come
a willing and resourceful Gulmoth, so long as she’s this far, only to falter at so critical a juncture. Shakti
able to meet the creature’s price. steadied her voice and answered, “I have need of your
Some say the Watchtowers, themselves, are mir- services, Prince in Tatters.”
rored in the roiling madness of the Abyss. Certain The mystagogue could have sworn that the thing smiled
Awakened are so desperate for the lore of the Five at that, the cloud of inky darkness atop its neck twisting
Towers that they will stoop to bartering with the Void into something roughly approximating a grin. “As you
for knowledge of them. A reflection, after all, may say, Awakened One. What service, specifically, may I
not be the thing itself, but one can discern much by render unto you?”
exhaustively studying even an image. A handful of “I have been tasked with an oath, sworn without com-
willworkers believe some formula exists within the pulsion but against my wishes.” Shakti paused, trying to
dark inversion of the Watchtowers that will enable one think of how best to phrase her request. The Gulmoth
who deciphers it to return to the Realm Supernal. Of did not prompt her or in any other way display even the
course, no one who has actually attempted the journey slightest impatience. Instead, it remained rooted to the
has returned, but the Gulmoth are all too willing to very spot to which it had been called, staring intently at
keep providing such knowledge as they possess upon her. Finally, she continued, “I must have the freedom to
the subject to any mage who knows enough to ask circumvent that oath without breaking it.”
the right questions.

Chapter Three: From the Endless Dark 125

 Crazy,
No Matter How You Slice It
Sitting back in one’s living room, paging through a book, it’s easy enough to see that trafficking with
the powers of the Void — Acamoth, Gulmoth, or whatever else — is a bad idea. Nothing the spirits of
the Abyss offer can even potentially be worth more than what a mage barters away to have it. In a very
real way, in fact, the denizens of the Void have nothing to offer, because that is the essence of what they
are and the totality of where they dwell. Their “gifts” are poison, afflicting the recipient with the un-
bridled horrors of all that she foolishly requests of them. Why, then, does anyone actually summon such
creatures and bargain with them? Certainly, one can discuss the boons at stake, but that, alone, isn’t
enough. Something has to push a person over the edge of doing what can’t in any way truly benefit him,
in the vain, mad hope that, this time, it somehow will.
All save the most unschooled, wantonly ignorant, or improperly educated mage is well aware that
having truck with the Abyss is a sure path to suffering, but people — even supposedly enlightened people
— sometimes do things they know to be wrong, or even stupid, because they have allowed circumstanc-
es to make them irrational. A man dying of thirst in the desert will likely drink any cup offered to him,
even if he’s aware that the water within is foul and unsafe to drink. Maybe a willworker desperately
needs or wants something and no other way to obtain it exists or, perhaps, he has to undertake a dif-
ficult task and has an incredibly pressing reason to take a shortcut, just this once. Alternately, he might
approach the situation with the best of intentions: is it truly evil, after all, to sacrifice a mass-murderer’s
soul to the Void in an effort to save the life of an innocent child with a terminal disease?
The answer to that question (and any other question like it), of course, is an emphatic, “Yes.” Anything
that the Abyss requires as the price of its services is wrong to give, and anything that it offers is wrong to
accept. That is the Void’s very nature. It is incontrovertibly wicked and monstrous to deal with the Abyss
and its natives, to be sure, but good people are sometimes hurt, confused, despondent, or simply pos-
sessed of bad judgment. Through these cracks in the foundations of a human spirit, the Abyss insinuates
itself into the Fallen World.

When the thing replied, Shakti sensed, more than covering the walls, floor, and ceiling of a chamber
heard, the note of sadistic glee in its tone, “You must be without windows or doors, mutely testify as to the
more exact in your words, Awakened One: of what oath, generosity of a terrifying Abyssal spirit… and warn
precisely, do you speak?” of the soul-shivering toll exacted by its inhumanly
Shakti’s head fell and her voice dropped to scarcely more beautiful counterpart, when so much as a single ritual
than a whisper. “The injunction against dealing with the component is a hair’s breadth out of line or a word of
Seers of the Throne placed upon me by my Hierarch.” power is even slightly misspoken. The alien entities
The Prince in Tatters bowed low, at that. “As you desire, are unknown and unknowable, but they permit and
Awakened One.” The willworker’s breath caught in her throat, even encourage the convenient deception that they
as the Gulmoth reached one spindly, long-fingered hand toward can be categorized and understood, for the human
her, its talons just barely within the line of the circle. “And mind is so much more willing to accept that which
whom do you offer as the fulfillment of my price?” it believes itself to comprehend.
Certain spirits of the Abyss have, over the course The titles by which these entities are known are
of centuries and even millennia, become known to not their real names, of course. Such creatures have
earthly willworkers. In the depths of a ruined Myste- no “real names”; they don’t truly possess existence and
rium Athenaeum, on ragged sheets of tanned human so they cannot have names. Rather, these titles are
flesh, a thousand names, fit to scour sight and sanity, convenient forms of address by which human minds
are tattooed, detailing the attributes of a particular might classify them and so attempt to confine them.
Gulmoth; the tithes it demands and the favors it grants. Each such spirit might be known by a hundred different
Elsewhere, etched into 55 sheets of unearthly metal, names; over the ages since the Fall, some of them have

126
 been. So long as the rites are observed and the proper Invariably unwholesome and frequently repellent
tribute made, most of them will answer, regardless of in nature, these boons are, nevertheless, the primary
the noises that humans use to address them. reason for calling down and consorting with the
Eleven Gulmoth, in total, are presented here for use Gulmoth. Many of these boons enable mages to
in your chronicles or simply as inspiration for unique take shortcuts in their willwork, acquiring instantly
Abyssal horrors of your own. Two of each correspond something that might take years of study and hard
to the five spirit Ranks for which mechanics are ap- work, or even something simply beyond the purview
plicable, while the last is an example of a far more of Awakened magic. Others are simply too difficult for
potent sort of entity, a creature that cannot be fought the summoner to acquire on her own; while destroy-
with raw power, irrespective of scale. In addition to ing a hated enemy may, technically, be possible for
the general sorts of environments into which Abys- the willworker, the disparity between their levels of
sal entities prefer to be summoned, each has its own mystic skill and mundane resources could make such an
individual tastes, the particular atrocities that call undertaking a virtual impossibility… without Abyssal
out to it and for which it will heed the summoner’s aid, anyway. Likewise, an Atlantean ruin could contain
call. Each has its own appearance and mannerisms, all sorts of traps and riddles the would-be pillager must
for the horrors of the Void are infinite, as are the alien overcome, some of which require particular degrees
spirits that bask in them. Each of the Gulmoth has of mystic acumen, athletic prowess, or intellectual
its strengths and its weaknesses; the gifts that it offers capability. Certain Gulmoth, however, are more than
and the price that it exacts. Also, each such being capable of cheating the laws of reality to bypass these
suffers under a personal Ban, through which a clever safeguards, calling upon powers that have no place in
willworker might mitigate, somewhat, the toll that the Fallen World to accomplish ends inconceivable
she must pay for the spirit’s services, or perhaps even to even the ancients, themselves.
thwart the cost, outright.
Remember, however, that the sum total of what Tithes
may truly be known and comprehended with respect Naturally, nothing in this world or any other is
to the Void is but a drop of water next to the ocean free, so the Gulmoth require an exchange for their
of what no mortal mind will ever grasp of its essence. services. These bargains, taken in their entirety, are
The Gulmoth chronicled below are but the smallest never to the advantage of the summoner, though they
sampling of what awaits those who meddle with the may certainly seem so, depending upon the perspec-
vast nothingness between the Fallen and the Supernal. tive of the individual. Whether or not a given mage
Each is a nightmare, distinct and utterly unique. Each believes a century of extra life is worth the murder of
despises and hungers. Each offers only the seeming of 10 Sleepers is irrelevant; from an objective, metaphysi-
aid, in exchange for a price that gnaws at the soul cal perspective — that of the path of Wisdom — the
and rots the foundations of this realm, like drops of willworker has been cheated in the deal, for nothing can
water falling onto stone over the course of hundreds possibly be worth what he has sacrificed. This is the
of millennia. One who deals in such powers should way of the tithes the Gulmoth demand. They aspire
expect to pay the dearest cost, when — not if — her to make the price seem as fair as possible, or even to
reach, at long last, truly exceeds her grasp. favor the summoner. In the case of especially far-fallen
and self-absorbed mages, the cost can absolutely seem
Boons trivial compared to the prize.
Abyssal spirits want to be summoned, so they, unlike Some tithes are actually quite small, for they are
many other such entities, arrive in the Fallen World the demands of relatively weak Gulmoth. If such a
brandishing ready goods and services. Nearly every being can get more out of a mage, it will, but these
deliberately summoned Void-born being has within creatures are the small fish in the unimaginably vast,
its purview a certain range of gifts that it can offer to predatory sea of the Void and pride is not a concern
its summoner. Only those Abyssal creatures utterly for their kind. For the most part, they acquire what
new to earthly incarnation or so intrinsically inimical they can, when they can, and content themselves
to terrestrial existence as to be incapable of reasoned with doing small harms to the fabric of the Tapestry.
bartering with a summoner lack such a suite of wares More powerful entities command commensurately
with which to tempt. higher prices for their assistance, most of which

Chapter Three: From the Endless Dark 127

 cannot be reckoning in any sum of money or other be found in the degradation of Wisdom in a single
measure of material wealth. For the greater beasts of soul, the gradual fraying of one of the threads that
the Void, as with their lesser kin, more rarified com- helps to hold the Tapestry together. When enough
modities call to them: violation and vengeance, love of these strands break, then more of the Abyss seeps
turned sour and the slow disintegration of Wisdom into the Fallen World. Knowingly accepting the aid
and ethics. What they take, an amoral mage might of a spirit of the Abyss — let alone deliberately sum-
not even miss, until it’s far too late to repent of one’s moning one into the material realm — is, of itself,
ill-advised bargains. an act of direst hubris and those who indulge in such
an undertaking degrade their own spirits, as well as
Pacts the world around them. For the Gulmoth, that alone
Of course, the system of boons and tithes presented would be very nearly worth the cost of any favor, but
here serves as something of a shorthand version of certain rules must be upheld while within this realm
the economy of favors with Abyssal entities. Because and the creatures of the Void are no exception: the
they want to make deals, they make the process easier scales of any pact must, in the end, be level.
and less time-consuming than other spirits might.
Those willworkers who do their homework come Arublex
to realize that one can acquire a given commodity Summoned so frequently over the ages that it has
from a particular Gulmoth by performing a specific been assigned something like a proper name in the
act; it’s as simple as that — like walking into a shop- obscure legendry of the Awakened, Arublex revels
ping mall and reading price tags. But it need not be in its status as a Gulmoth that spends far more time
so cut-and-dried for those who truly desire to throw in the Fallen World than the Void. This, however,
the dice and gamble with their sanity, their lives, and is unsurprising, considering the little creature’s
their very souls. Those who wish to wander into the function: Arublex acts as an Abyssal familiar to
marketplace and barter with the Void may certainly willworkers. It prefers those cleaving to the Left-
do so, though the vendors are especially renowned for Handed path, though it will certainly accept very
their deceptive natures and dangerous wares. nearly anyone willing to have it. Those that wish
Gulmoth will readily make more elaborately binding to call down the gruesome Imp must destroy a
pacts with the mages who summon them down from grimoire inscribed with a spell meant to summon
the Abyss (see the systems for pacts on pp. 171–182). a more conventional familiar (either the Spirit 3
Such spirits demand all of the sorts of costs that one spell “Familiar Pact” or the Spirit 4 spell “Grant
would expect of creatures of the Void. They offer no Familiar”), using an implement created from the
more and no less that any other otherworldly entity, ruins of a fallen tower; the type of tower is immate-
but Abyssal spirits tend to have powers that lend rial, and a sharpened piece of metal from a collapsed
themselves to certain especially gruesome, under- cellular phone tower works just as well as a stone
handed, or otherwise morally unacceptable pursuits. spearhead hewn from the crumbling remains of an
They take no exception to being used as hatchet-men ancient turret.
(some few don’t even particularly object to obvious Fortunately, this horrid Gulmoth is typically con-
suicide missions). They won’t ever refuse to perform a fined to Twilight while in the Fallen World, as its
repugnant task based upon a purely ethical objection. appearance is surely a cause for alarm. Arublex is
They aren’t offended by any low, disgusting thing that approximately the size of a capuchin monkey, with
a willworker secretly and shamefully desires. Gulmoth overlong arms and squat, bandy legs. Its hands and
will, to the best of their ability, fulfill a mage’s darkest feet all end in vicious, needle-like talons. Its pear-
longings, and they will do so without compunction shaped torso is flabby and pot-bellied, and its head is
or judgment. nothing more than a writhing wormlike mass, which
Perhaps most importantly, Gulmoth don’t try to occasionally parts to reveal a single, unblinking round
gouge the summoner like many other spirits will; black eye at the center. Arublex’s hide is pus yellow,
the mage is already paying a cost steeper than any slick and shiny. Its voice manifests in the ear of its
creature of Shadow or some alien realm might re- summoner (or master, in the event that a familiar
quire, even if she isn’t truly aware of it. The bulk of bargain is struck); the Gulmoth will speak to no
what the Gulmoth gets out of the transaction is to other, unless forced.

128
Rank: 1 Naturally, Arublex takes pains to use its Essence as
Attributes: Power 3, Finesse 3, Resistance 2 often as it can get away with, preferably to assist its
Willpower: 5 master in an obvious a manner as possible, so as to
Essence: max 10 earn Mana that it might offer to its lords in the dark
Initiative: 5 heart of the Abyss. While the two commodities are
Defense: 3 functionally identical, the Gulmoth delights in the
Speed: 13 (species factor 7) irony of sending the celestial fire into the depths of
Size: 2 the Void.
Corpus: 4 Ban: Periodically, Arublex must indulge its perverse
Influence: Perversity 2 nature through an act of abject contrariness. The
Numina: Discorporation, Innocuous Gulmoth almost always does as its master requires of
Boons: Arublex’s services are both very simple and it, but — every once in a while, when something is
extremely complex. The Gulmoth will only perform extremely important to its master — Arublex must
a single duty, though that one obligation is profound. oppose the willworker’s intention. Further, it must
As mentioned above, Arublex will act as a Twilight do so in such a way as does not directly violate any
familiar to a willworker who summons it for that command that it has been given, but nevertheless
purpose. Thus, the spirit is willing to do anything manages to corrupt its master’s intentions.
that the average familiar would, but only for one who
binds it to service. For those unwilling to accept the The Maw of Long Sorrows
bond of master and slave (though which is which in The self is precious and to be treated with pro-
Arublex’s case may occasionally be somewhat unclear, found respect and dignity. When and where this
given the Gulmoth’s abilities), this nightmarish little fundamental axiom is defied, the Maw of Long Sor-
demon spares no words. rows may be summoned into this realm. A glutton
Tithe: The tithe of Arublex is twofold. First, any who has treated her body as a gutter, rather than a
mage who wishes to engage the entity’s service must temple; a teenaged boy who spells the litany of his
agree to a familiar bond. This contract — though angst across his skin in a razor-thin diatribe; a heroin
forged through unorthodox means — is as binding as addict whose flesh is a constellation of track marks,
any other (requiring the same experience expenditure and whose veins have collapsed under the strain of
as any other Twilight familiar), tying the two together a hundred needles too many: these are the canvas
in a symbiotic relationship. This very connection upon which the circles to summon the Maw might
forms the basis of the second half of Arublex’s tithe: be inscribed. When the Gulmoth is drawn down, the
the Gulmoth must spend a point of Essence every day, immediate surroundings seem to grow unnaturally
same as any other familiar. In Arublex’s case, however, still and quiet, as though the world itself has caught
the spirit funnels this Essence into the Abyss, doing its its breath in shock and horror.
own small part to feed the Fallen World to the Void.

Chapter Three: From the Endless Dark 129

 Corpus: 3
Influence: Defilement 2
Numina: Harrow, Psychic Torment
Boons: The Maw of Long Sorrows will ruin some-
thing that the summoner cannot reach: an enemy’s
favored weapon, a rival’s relationship, or whatever
other thing — material or conceptual — that is
beyond the willworker’s power to effect. The spirit
cares nothing for the reason for the mage’s inability
to target the commodity in question; its desire is
solely to corrode and to despoil. The Gulmoth cannot
guarantee a specific manner in which the defilement
will occur, merely that it shall. Upon reaching an
agreement with its summoner, the Maw uses its host
as a vehicle to convey it to the object of its atten-
tion, whereupon it works its powers in the attempt
to befoul its target. Often, it makes some attempt to
hide its presence (compelling its host to wear a scarf
or turtleneck shirt, for example), but it sometimes
neglects such civilized niceties.
Tithe: After completing its assignment, the Maw
of Long Sorrows claims the individual into which it
was summoned as its prize. This person vanishes into
the Abyss at the conclusion of the Gulmoth’s mani-
festation. Naturally, even the most savagely callous
The Maw of Long Sorrows opens on the back of the willworker must test to resist Wisdom degeneration
neck of the unfortunate chosen to serve as the focus (at two dice, irrespective of the mage’s current Wis-
for the summoning. The flesh splits and tears, reveal- dom score) for this heinous act. If the Maw cannot
ing a hideous, many-toothed mouth that manifests complete its assignment, however, it may not claim its
with no concern for the constrains of anatomy, as the host as recompense, though the summoner must still
Gulmoth’s host can still move, speak, and otherwise bear the moral consequences of her evil act, merely
function normally for the duration — as normally as a result of the willingness to consign another to
as a person might with an Abyssal entity incarnated such a Fate.
on the back of her neck, anyway — at least, until Ban: The Maw of Long Sorrows cannot abide the
a bargain is reached (see below). The spirit speaks presence of any object restored from a ruined state.
in a grating, impatient tone; its voice sounds like New or otherwise unspoiled items are inconsequen-
the gradual splintering of heavy timbers or the slow tial to the spirit, though anything once broken or
cracking of thick ice over deep water. Occasionally, somehow degraded and returned to a state of optimal
a long, narrow black tongue will flick forth, to lick function inflicts aggravated wounds upon the Maw
at the Maw’s sharp fangs or the ragged tear in the — causing no harm to its host — when wielded as a
skin around it. weapon against it.
Rank: 1
Attributes: Power 1, Finesse 4, Resistance 3 The Courtesan
Willpower: 4 Every natural urge has its negation. Perversity, by and
Essence: max 10 large, is defined by social mores, rather than universal
Initiative: 7 law, though certain desires are anathema in their es-
Defense: As host + 4 (the Maw of Long Sorrows is sence. Most people, no matter how they try, cannot
quite small and difficult to target) find any willing partner to indulge these atrocities.
Speed: As host Certainly, mages have it within their power to compel
Size: 0 obedience in even their most deviant longings, but

130
that lacks a certain… something. A violation joyfully Rank: 2
endured is, to many, somehow more arousing. The Attributes: Power 4, Finesse 6, Resistance 4
Gulmoth known as the Courtesan, however, can be Willpower: 8
summoned up into any location in which crimes of Essence: max 15
lust have transpired. The air grows heavy with the Initiative: 10
smell of sex; those who lick their suddenly-dry lips Defense: 6
taste a lover’s sweat upon them. A pool of black liquid Speed: 15 (species factor 5)
bubbles up from the floor, coalescing seamlessly into Size: 5
the sparse silken garb of the Courtesan as it crawls Corpus: 9
up from the depths, only to fall on its knees at the Influence: Victimization 2
feet of its summoner and ask, “What is your desire, Numina: Shapechange (1 Essence, roll Power + Finesse;
master?” the Courtesan affects any purely cosmetic change neces-
The Courtesan is androgynous, but beautiful; indeed, sary to become the most physically desirable possible
not merely attractive, but instead possessed of the sort mate for its summoner), Usurp Vice
of alien beauty that strikes awe into the hearts of all Boons: The Courtesan will do anything that is
who behold it. Every line of its body is sensual in a way commanded of it, provided that such satisfies a sexual
that mortal frames cannot contain, while the contours longing of its summoner. The Gulmoth will even al-
of its face enflame the most unspeakable of lusts. Its low its physical shell to be destroyed (banishing the
every word conceals an invitation for the listener to spirit back to the Void), if the prospect of murder
satisfy her most inhumane yearnings upon the Cour- gets its summoner off. That said, the Courtesan isn’t
tesan, without the need for either restraint or shame. particularly interested in healthy expressions of lust.
The Gulmoth isn’t properly hermaphroditic; unless It will perform, of course, but attempts to “up the
that’s what its summoner most wants in a mate that ante,” as it were, whispering suggestions for more
will gladly consent to any act of lust, irrespective of adventurous (in other words, more vile and sadistic)
how vile, violent, or otherwise socially unacceptable. activities into the ear of he who called it, even as it
The spirit’s touch electrifies every pleasure receptor services its master’s pleasure. The Courtesan, after all,
in its summoner’s body, enfolding the willworker in doesn’t want to be treated as an object of desire; rather,
a profane embrace of absolute bliss. its nature calls it to suffer as the victim of a series of
increasingly shocking and brutal sex crimes.
Tithe: In addition to whatever Wisdom the Courte-
san’s summoner might stake in the process of slaking
his urges at the Gulmoth’s expense, the spirit desires
a prize of its own. The Courtesan claims the fertility
of its summoner, “borrowing” it (via a combination of
its Victimization Influence and Shapechange Numen)
for a short while to spawn a new Abyssal entity; a
Rank 1 Gulmoth with a nature and personality shaped
largely by the mage who is its earthly “parent.” For
approximately 17 days after a liaison with the Cour-
tesan, the summoner (regardless of gender) is wholly
infertile, as the new Gulmoth incubates within the
Courtesan’s Essence. After giving “birth” (in a grue-
some process unimaginable to even the majority of
the most jaded scholars of the Void), the Courtesan
leaves its progeny to fare for itself.
Ban: The Courtesan must accept any gift offered
to it; not merely by its summoner, but by anyone who
wishes to bestow such a thing upon the Gulmoth.
No matter how harmful the gift might be, so long as
it is presented as such, the spirit must willingly and
graciously receive it.

Chapter Three: From the Endless Dark 131

The Third of Two Defense: 3
Speed: 16 (species factor 10)
Duality is as fascinating to some Gulmoth as the
Size: 2
concept of existence, itself. After all, in the Void,
things are no truer than they are false, no brighter Corpus: 7
than they are dark, no more alive than they are dead. Influence: Multiplicity 2
But it is the way of the Abyss to taint and ruin all that Numina: Discorporation, Versatile Energies
with which it comes into contact, and so it is with the Boons: The Third of Two offers only one boon
entity known as the Third of Two. Duality is predicated to its summoner, though it is well-known for this
upon certainty and polarity, a rigidity of absolutes. To singular service and frequently called upon by those
call the Third of Two, the prospective summoner must that desire it. The Gulmoth can bestow the secrets of
destroy (not alter, not degrade, but destroy) a stable training in the way of the Scelestus, allowing a mage
binary system through the introduction of a corrup- to set her feet upon that dark path without the need
tive additional element. Only in the pollution and for an Awakened teacher, thus obviating the risks of
disintegration of such concepts as right and wrong or seeking instruction from more conventional sources.
up and down can the Gulmoth be called. This knowledge, the Third of Two imparts with great
The Third of Two is a nightmarish little creature: rapidity, allowing a devoted seeker to learn all of
equal parts arachnid, reptile, and worm. Its body is a the secrets allowed by her Gnosis within a matter of
dark, mottled gray-green, covered in long, thin growths days, at most.
that could be hairs, quills, or even feathers no thicker Tithe: The spirit asks for little by way of recom-
than a blade of grass. The creature is no larger than a pense for its services, for it is a small and relatively
basketball and continually fidgets, unless commanded weak Gulmoth and it furthers its agenda through
to stillness by one powerful enough to compel its the ready distribution of its wares. Still, the Third of
obedience (whether magically or otherwise). Its voice Two will accept some small restitution, in the form
sounds like whispering steam, somehow manipulated of a point of Mana harvested from the sacrifice of an
to form intelligible words; thin and reedy, with a certain animal. One who offers such compensation is given
persistently hissing quality about it. The specific lines the Shadow Name of another Scelestus, seemingly at
and angles of the Third of Two are difficult, at best, random, inducted into the Accursed by the Third of
for the eye to latch onto, though this may simply be Two; knowledge that he may do with as he will.
because of its tendency to remain forever in motion, Ban: Two-sided objects engender fear in the Third
even when standing still. of Two: playing cards, coins, even sheets of paper. The
Rank: 2 spirit cannot cross an unbroken line of flat, two-sided
Attributes: Power 3, Finesse 3, Resistance 5 objects (anything as thin as a quarter or thinner) and
Willpower: 8 may not take any actions, direct or indirect, to break
Essence: max 15 such a line, and neither may it use any of its powers
Initiative: 8 on any being on the opposite side of such a line.

132
The Gears of Chaos
The Gulmoth known as the Gears of Chaos can as it tends to stray far off the topic, its oddly buzzing
only be called into a place where lifeless devices hold high-pitched voice meandering from one subject to
primacy over people. From the factory where children the next, very nearly at random. Periodically, images
were worked to death, to the automated assembly line appear in one or more of the fragments of television
used to put employees out of their jobs, to a base- or computer screens protruding from one part of the
ment office in which banks of computers continually creature or another; sometimes, it conveys informa-
churn out spam e-mails to a frustrated populace; all tion through these media, as well.
of these places call out to the Gears of Chaos. The Rank: 3
spirit manifests to the smell of smoldering oil or axle Attributes: Power 6, Finesse 7, Resistance 9
grease, with a metallic shrieking, as though of dozens Willpower: 15
or even hundreds of gears grinding to a halt, as heavy Essence: max 25
machinery fails catastrophically. The entity erupts
Initiative: 16
out of the nearest mechanical or electronic device of
Defense: 7
sufficient dimensions to surround the thickest part of
Speed: 16 (species factor 3)
its form (about as wide as the average grown man’s
Size: 4
thigh), destroying the object in the process. While
Corpus: 13
it is present, all those in the Gulmoth’s vicinity taste
Influence: Ordered Systems 3
the bitterness of copper in their mouths, with a slight
tingling upon the lips and tongue, as though from an Numina: Create Anomaly (Stygia), Essence Conversa-
tion, Fetter
extremely slight electrical charge.
The Gears of Chaos looks like wreckage left in the Boons: Provided she can get Gears of Chaos to stay
aftermath of a bombing at a museum of technology: on-topic for long enough, a summoner can request a
wires and circuit boards are fused into and protrude number of different services from the Gulmoth. First
from twisted masses of hydraulics and clockworks. and perhaps foremost, Gears of Chaos can offer mean-
Everything hisses and sparks, as metal grates on metal ingful insight into very nearly any ordered system: a
and steam vents from odd angles of the spirit’s form. machine, a pylon of Seers of the Throne, a pack of
The Gulmoth has no discernable anatomy; certainly, cryptids, a Consilium, a mathematical equation, the
no part of the entity’s ramshackle body passes for a weather, or the combination to an electronic lock,
head. It moves with uneven motions, jerking along for instance. Further, the spirit may disassemble any
spasmodically, as though on the verge of collapse. The device into its individual components, on whatever
Gulmoth’s summoner must continually put Gears of level; a complex mechanical item can be stripped
Chaos back on track in the course of any conversation, down to each separate part, or even into the elements

Chapter Three: From the Endless Dark 133

 that comprise it. Conversely, the spirit can flawlessly Influence. If time is against the spirit, however, it will
reassemble any device that has been partially or fully readily destroy the object with a swift application of
disassembled; ranging from a rifle, to a puzzle, to an raw power (unless, of course, the device is mystically
Atlantean perpetual motion machine. Lastly, the fortified against such tampering, causing Gears of
Gulmoth can introduce a breaking point into any Chaos to waste precious moments overcoming its
ordered system. While it cannot guarantee destruc- resistance).
tion, it can assure severe trauma.
Tithe: At some point after summoning and employ- N’thraka, the Ninth Calamity
ing the services of Gears of Chaos, the mage who Destruction, as a concept, holds powerful sympathy
called it will fail to contain the Paradox that ensues with the Void. The very idea of it resonates with all
from one of her castings gone awry. She may attempt the many lifeless, undying things with origins in that
to mitigate her Paradox with Mana, only to find that endless madness. N’thraka, also known as the Ninth
it is wasted. She may decide to accept the brunt of Calamity, is drawn to very literal forms of destruction.
her hubris as Backlash, only to discover that, instead, In fact, this Gulmoth can only be called up within
a Manifestation occurs. No matter how she attempts the confines of a Havoc Paradox created by a spell
to thwart this price, it will eventually be called due. intended to cause direct harm to a person, place, or
Further, the willworker may rest assured that this thing. Naturally, because Havoc Paradoxes can tend
reckoning will assert itself at the most disastrous pos- to be short-lived (or, at least, exceedingly dangerous
sible moment; not merely a Havoc Paradox that kills to be around for any length of time), those that would
several Sleepers, but which also does so in front of a call the Ninth Calamity must usually do so in haste,
dozen other Sleepers, as well as two local Guardians of making extensive preparation for the act a virtual
the Veil. Some mages claim to have evaded this steep necessity. When N’thraka is successfully called, the
price by willingly seeding a number of lesser Paradoxes Havoc ends instantly, collapsing inward on itself to
after summoning the Gears of Chaos, though none form the substance of the spirit.
have ever successfully confirmed such rumors. When it takes form, N’thraka looks like a roiling
Ban: Any mechanical or electronic device delib- surge of chaotic, exploding matter, forever trapped in
erately presented to Gears of Chaos (specifically held a cycle of falling in on itself and erupting outward;
forth before it, as opposed to, say, a cellular phone backlit, as if by a blindingly bright, poisonous green
or handgun that happens to be on the person of its star. The spirit offers greetings either by its name or its
summoner) offends against the Gulmoth’s sensibilities. title, or a combination of both, with no explanation
The spirit must take the time to ruin such a device. of how it came by either. Those who hear it speak
Often, to conserve Essence, the entity lashes out at cannot later recount the quality of its voice. Some say
the item physically, rather than deconstructing it with it shouts and screams, while others remember the crisp

134
sibilance of a badly sparking wire. All, however, agree nent; while false teeth may be put in their place, the
the Gulmoth manifests to the smell of burning; not holes made by the extraction will never heal properly,
burning stone, or metal, or flesh, or wood — instead, though they are sanitary and painless.
they say the Ninth Calamity smells somehow of the Ban: If N’thraka is surrounded on all sides by ra-
burning of everything, from the tallest mountain, to dioactive material (which need be no more elaborate
the deepest ocean, to every speck of dust afloat in than a chunk of an appropriate substance at each
the Universe. of the three points of an equilateral triangle), it is
Rank: 3 held fast and cannot move — not even through the
Attributes: Power 9, Finesse 4, Resistance 8 Gauntlet. For each hour that it is thus confined, the
Willpower: 17 Ninth Calamity will lose a point of Essence. When
Essence: max 20 it reaches zero, it vanishes back into the Void. The
Initiative: 12 Gulmoth may hurl its powers at anyone outside of
Defense: 9
the barrier, but it cannot take any action that will or
might disrupt the materials that confine it.
Speed: 28 (species factor 15)
Size: 5
Corpus: 13
The Echoing One
Influence: Annihilation 3 Some places have heard whispers that never
Numina: Blast, Create Anomaly (Aether), Gauntlet
reached any living ear. Perhaps someone died after
Breach murmuring his final words, a bitter curse, declaration
of love, or plea for forgiveness that shall forever go
Boons: N’thraka will happily serve as a savage thug
unanswered. Maybe a woman only recently struck
for anyone who summons it. The willworker need only
deaf in an accident spoke aloud to herself, purely by
name the party to be destroyed and the Gulmoth will
instinct, and then remembered her handicap with
seek her out and kill her in the most brutal possible
disappointment, her sudden thought dying slowly in
manner. Likewise, the Ninth Calamity will lay waste
silence. The Echoing one is drawn to the places where
to a structure or object, to the best of its formidable
the spoken word goes to die, its purpose unfulfilled.
capability. Perhaps the least-used and little-known
Where such words perish, the Echoing One may be
service that the spirit is willing to offer is the inflic-
called, appearing from behind some object or up from
tion of severe, long-term damage to the Gauntlet in
a dark space within sight.
a given area. N’thraka will, if asked, pair its Gauntlet
Breach Numen and Annihilation Influence together to In terms of its appearance, the Echoing One is a
rend the Gauntlet in a given area, creating a Shadow slithering mass of darkness. It seems, at times, to be
Verge (really, more of an open wound between the a blob of shadowy tendrils and, at other times, to be
worlds). Most have no need for such a thing, but a few a singular, serpentine form. The Gulmoth hisses its
old texts still refer to this odd boon and the Gulmoth words softly, in a calm, rational tone of voice. While
will readily comply with the request. its motions may becomes agitated, its speech is always
measured and polite. Even if the spirit becomes hostile,
Tithe: To kill a person, the Ninth Calamity requires
it never raises its voice or makes threats; it just keeps
the willing sacrifice of one of the summoner’s fingers.
talking as though holding a pleasant conversation,
The digit, once claimed, can never be healed, by any
even when explaining the fine details of peeling
means. The wound never closes and remains raw
the flesh from its enemy’s bones. In truth, however,
(through strangely painless, clean, and dry) for the
the Echoing One much prefers civil discourse to
remainder of the mage’s life. To destroy an object,
violence, for its purpose is corruption, rather than
edifice, or other such piece of lifeless matter, the
“mere” destruction.
Gulmoth demands a little over a pint of fresh human
Rank: 4
blood, harvested by force from an unwilling subject.
Attributes: Power 11, Finesse 10, Resistance 10
N’thraka cares nothing for the specific origin of the
Willpower: 21
blood, so long as it meets the spirit’s sole criterion. At
Essence: max 25
least one drop of this blood must touch the material
to be obliterated. To rend the Gauntlet, the Ninth Initiative: 20
Calamity’s tithe is three of the summoner’s teeth. As Defense: 11
with the sacrifice of a finger, these wounds are perma- Speed: 31 (species factor 10)
Size: 5

Chapter Three: From the Endless Dark 135

 question, the Echoing One claims a dot of its sum-
moner’s Wisdom, permanently. In other words, the
mage loses a dot of Wisdom, automatically (and must
immediately check for a Derangement, as per the
normal rules for degeneration) and her maximum
potential Wisdom score is lowered by one. The spirit
will answer as many questions as the summoner asks
(within its ability to answer, of course), but it requires
a permanent dot of Wisdom for each, and it will only
answer questions posed by its summoner.
Ban: The Ban of the Echoing One hides within its
customary greeting; the Gulmoth can attempt to seek
the answer to any question, but it cannot answer any
question the answer to which has been consciously
concealed. Were a mage to discover this fact and
somehow compel the Echoing One to speak the
answer, anyway, the entity would be instantaneously
destroyed by the revelation. Of course, certain knowl-
edge (such as factual information about Atlantis and
its contemporaries) is still well beyond the capabilities
of even so potent a spirit.

The Prince in Tatters

Corpus: 15 This Gulmoth is drawn to betrayal. Objects, places,
Influence: Knowledge 4 and acts that resonate with such are necessary to gain
Numina: Derange, Harrow, Psychic Torment, Soul its attention. When the Prince in Tatters manifests, it
Snatch does so from the center of a burning seal, the characters
Boons: The Echoing One is called up to a spe- of which cannot be read or in any way understood,
cific purpose: it comes to provide information for though one or two willworkers over the years have
its summoner. Specifically, the Gulmoth delivers gone mad in the attempt. Faint wisps of smoke, as if
the knowledge of any fact that is known, but not from incense, curl upward from the edges of the seal,
deliberately hidden. Knowledge that has been lost, smelling of things that remind all present of the most
it may freely recover, as it may with any fact that is unpleasant moments of their lives. One mage detects
obfuscated by circumstance, rather than conscious the odor of stale sweat and human waste from her
intent. The spirit need only be asked the question and father’s last, lingering months of life in the terminal
it will provide the answer. In fact, the Echoing One ward, while another catches the scent of cheap beer
is so closely connected to its singular calling within and greasy food — the ever-present stench of the
the Fallen World that it traditionally manifests with foster home where he was repeatedly physically and
the statement, “Ask your question, Awakened one, sexually abused.
and, should its answer be unhidden by artifice, you When revealing itself to human eyes, the Prince in
shall have your answer.” Interestingly, for whatever Tatters is anthropomorphic; looming in height and
reason, the Gulmoth cannot offer any knowledge unnaturally gaunt. Its flesh appears to be purple-black
to do with Atlantis or any other thing predating or chitin and its shape is genderless. Where its head
concurrent with the Fall. should be, the Prince wears an ever-shifting corona
Tithe: While the prize that the Echoing One of dark mist that continually seems almost to part, re-
bestows is great, indeed, so, too is the price that vealing what lies beneath. Its voice, smooth, reptilian,
it requires for its assistance. This spirit craves the and — by the reckoning of some — ever so slightly
ending of knowledge, and no knowledge is higher seductive, emanates from within the roiling smoke
than truth; in this case, Wisdom: the universal perched atop its stick-thin neck. Each of the three
moral truth of the Supernal, as reflected within taloned fingers on its hands (jointed so that any one
every Awakened soul. In exchange for answering a finger can oppose and other two) is nearly as long as

136
 Boons: The Prince in Tatters will happily facilitate
any act of treason, particularly one that sows suffering
without the possibility of redemption or restitution.
The Gulmoth accomplishes most of its works through
negation; it cannot make the woman of its summoner’s
dreams fall in love with him, for example, but it can
attempt to make her betray her husband with him in
a single night’s infidelity. Also, the Prince can break
Supernal-sanctified oaths through its power. At the
summoner’s request, the oath in question may be made
to seem to be intact, lawfully fulfilled, or whatever
else. Lastly, the Gulmoth will work its powers to
enable a mage to advance at the expense of a friend
or trusted ally without requesting a tithe in return,
though it will force the willworker to confront every
unpleasant consequence of that treachery.
Tithe: As betrayal draws the Prince in Tatters, so,
too, does it sustain the Gulmoth. For smaller services
(say, getting usurping a friend’s position as Consilium
Sentinel), the Prince’s needs are relatively humble:
a finger cut from the hand of a treasured sibling, for
example, or the life of a loyal pet. The Prince’s favor-
ite tithe, however) and the one that it demands for
more sizable bestowments, such as enabling a mage
to slip free of a binding oath) is a Sleeper dear to the
summoner — someone who loves and trusts her —
offered up freely, so that the spirit might harvest the
Sleeper’s soul and drag it back to the Void.
Ban: Should the Prince fail to deliver the service
to which it agrees, then it must return its tithe. While
sustained and empowered by treachery, the Gulmoth
cannot directly indulge in it.

The Darkness That Thirsts

its spindly forearms, and the Prince gestures continu- Humanity’s first fear was likely a fear of the dark. As
ally, though languidly, while it converses. the most obvious possible expression of the unknown,
Rank: 4 the darkness enabled all of the other things that
Attributes: Power 9, Finesse 12, Resistance 10 people feared to hide within it, lurking and awaiting
Willpower: 19 the proper moment to strike. This particular Gulmoth
Essence: max 25 comes when called to the siren song of a place where
Initiative: 22 darkness has been used to cloak terrible acts of fear and
Defense: 12
the suffering engendered by the fulfillment of those
Speed: 0 (immobile; note that the Prince’s Defense is
terrors. A dank and ill-lit basement in which awful
not negatively impacted by its inability to move from crimes were committed would appeal to the Darkness
the spot upon which it is summoned) That Thirsts, as would a boarded-up old warehouse
Size: 6 where the enemies of a notorious crime boss were
Corpus: 16 tortured to death, or the crude operating theater in
Influence: Betrayal 4 the attic of a crumbling manor house where a cannibal
Numina: Binding Vow, Blast, Harrow, Usurp Vice
serial killer dissected his victims alive. Shadows gather
when the Darkness That Thirsts manifests, so thick

Chapter Three: From the Endless Dark 137

 Essence: max 50
Initiative: 28
Defense: 14
Speed: 37 (species factor 10)
Size: 6
Corpus: 21
Influence: Consumption 5
Numina: Derange, Harrow, Innocuous, Psychic
Torment, Underworld Gate
Boons: The Darkness That Thirsts will con-
sume any and all traces of a thing for its summoner.
Perhaps she has betrayed her cabal, Consilium,
or order and wishes to get away with her act of
treason. Then again, maybe the spirit’s summoner
has come into the possession of an extraordinarily
dangerous relic he simply cannot destroy, no
matter what spells he tries. Physical objects and
concepts, alike, are subject to the Gulmoth’s
devouring nature, for the Darkness That Thirsts
seems unable to discern ideas from inert matter.
The only act of consumption to which the spirit
will not agree is that of a still-living being; the
walking dead, however, are fair game. (One ac-
count alleges that the Darkness That Thirsts does
not technically consider Tremere liches beyond a
as to be impenetrable. A terrible chill emanates from certain age to still count as living, or perhaps it simply
the spot upon which the Gulmoth appears, cutting cannot make that distinction.) If a mage can kill an
through flesh and bone, and directly into the soul. enemy and wants all traces of the crime concealed,
The Darkness That Thirsts appears to be nothing the Darkness That Thirsts is all too willing to help,
more than a shadowed space. Its core is absolute black- but it does not traffic in assassination.
ness, radiating outward and gradually fading back into Tithe: After it consumes what the summoner wishes,
more mundane darkness. Since the Gulmoth cannot the Darkness That Thirsts devours something that
be summoned into an area benefiting from any form it desires. The Gulmoth studies the totality of the
of illumination brighter than dim starlight, however, willworker’s existence through the lens of its endless
this may simply be a mask to conceal its true features longing and then chooses a commodity to claim. This
— if, indeed, it possess any. The intense cold that sur- is never something as simple as the mage’s most prized
rounds the Darkness That Thirsts persists throughout possession. The spirit lacks the generosity necessary
the duration of its manifestation. The frozen aura to take anything as mundane as an item, even an
radiated by the spirit is sufficient, even in the midst extraordinary one. Instead, the Darkness That Thirsts
of a heat wave, to cause breath to fog in the air and usually consumes the summoner’s most important
moisture to condense as fine ice crystals. The entity relationship, the trust or affection that others feel
does not speak, so much as its voice is heard within toward him, or even a measure of his hard-won mystic
the mind and spirit of the listener. This experience prowess (in the form of a dot of Gnosis). Whatever
is deeply uncomfortable for all save the Gulmoth’s it is the Gulmoth takes, the mage might be able to
summoner, who feels only an eerie numbness within earn back, but metaphysical scars invariably remain.
his consciousness whenever the Darkness That Thirsts In truth, the Darkness That Thirsts cannot tell the
communicates with him. difference between an Artifact and the love of a will-
Rank: 5 worker’s children; it is merely the spiritual weight the
Attributes: Power 14, Finesse 13, Resistance 15 summoner himself assigns to the thing that makes it
Willpower: 29 appealing to the Gulmoth’s palate.

138
 Ban: Light is painful to the Darkness That Hungers. is appropriate to the immediate environment). The
A candlelight inflicts a point of bashing damage per duplication effect is perfect, down to clothing, distin-
turn to the Gulmoth, while torchlight or the average guishing marks, and even fingerprints. It is, however,
flashlight inflicts two; an average light bulb inflicts merely a façade. Any damage to the exterior of the
three; a brightly-lit space, four; and floodlights or full Thief of Names (whether flesh, clothing, or whatever)
noonday sunlight, five. Naturally, the entity will use reveals that it is a hollow shell, the inside of which is
its Consumption Influence to destroy any source of completely covered with blasphemous glyphs, written
illumination that it can (and it is capable of doing so in no known tongue and utterly unreadable, even
to almost any light source short of natural daylight), with the most potent magics. Each time the Thief
but it will attempt to flee back into the shadows speaks, it does so in the voices of those important
while doing so. to its summoner, alternating from one voice, to the
next, to the next.
The Thief of Names Rank: 5
Why it is that the Thief of Names is summoned in Attributes: Power 15, Finesse 15, Resistance 15
the manner that it is, no one now knows, but all of Willpower: 30
the few sources that speak of this Gulmoth indicate Essence: max 50
that a mage must obliterate the last of something of Initiative: 30
significance to gain an audience: the final relic of Defense: 15
an ancient civilization, the last living specimen of a Speed: 40 (species factor 10)
dying species, or the only remaining practitioner of Size: As per its summoner (typically, 5)
an obscure Legacy, for example. The spirit is drawn Corpus: Size + 15 (typically, 20)
to extinction and some have speculated that such is Influence: Names 5
because it rarely gets to indulge its desire for destruction
Numina: Binding Vow, Create Anomaly (Pandemo-
while within the Fallen World; rather, it must content nium), Harrow, Soul Snatch, Versatile Energies
itself with subtler fare. The Thief manifests within
Boons: The Thief of Names comes to only one
the real name of its summoner; while it is within the
purpose and will serve no other calling unless force-
Fallen World, its summoner is defined only by her
fully bound to do so (no mean feat for even the most
Shadow Name and any aliases she might use.
puissant of willworkers). This Gulmoth enters the
The Gulmoth appears as a cosmetically exact physi-
Fallen World solely to indulge the cause of its given
cal replica of its summoner, entering from the north
title: it steals a name for its summoner. Specifically, the
(out of a field, through a door, or via whatever means
Thief takes the real name of a person designated by the
willworker who calls it — and whose
real name must be known to him —
and permanently exchanges it with
the summoner’s real name. Though
mages have at least a few reasons to
request such a strange boon, the most
common cause for calling down the
Thief of Names is that a willworker’s
real name has been discovered by an
enemy and is being used as a vector
of attack against her.
Tithe: The Thief requires the sacri-
fice of a name as the cost of its service;
the name of someone especially dear
to the summoner. One mage utterly
obliterates all trace of this person’s
name to have the Gulmoth’s boon,
while another offers up all memory of
it (only to later discover he no longer

Chapter Three: From the Endless Dark 139

 knows or is known by the individual in question, save as defined by a reflection of everything inward of it, as
a haunting shadow on the outermost edge of memory). all that which is beyond it is, by definition, nothing-
Yet another brings the individual before the Thief of ness in its truest state. Perhaps the entity known as
Names, along with every trace of her identity within the Mirror at the End of All Things lurks just on the
the Fallen World, to be dragged back to the Void by far side of that eternally onrushing tide, staring back
the creature when its task is complete. One particularly at the reality that sees only itself when it attempts
enterprising (and amoral) willworker offered her own to look outside. The Mirror at the End of All Things
name, but only after it had been exchanged with that has never before been successfully summoned into
of the Seer of the Throne whose actions compelled the Fallen World, though a number of madmen and
her to summon the Thief in the first place. would-be savants of the Void have certainly attempted
Another cost of the Gulmoth’s aid — though not such a feat over the ages.
specifically a tithe — is the complications that inevi- Because of its nature, this entity cannot adopt a
tably arise for the summoner in the wake of engaging particular form within this realm; for to do so is to
the Thief’s services. A name is a powerful thing, not suffer, even if only slightly, the constraints of material
to be tampered with; those who do so often find that existence. The Gulmoth is nonbeing disincarnate and
they get far more than they bargained for. Attached it cannot be other than what it is. Thus, rather than
to a name is the metaphysical weight of the life that adapting its nature to suit the Fallen World, it adapts
it defines and by which it is defined. Fragments of a piece of the Fallen World to encompass its nature.
that life are dragged along with it. The willworker From the site of the summoning, the Mirror at the End
may suddenly find he’s being pursued by a woman of All Things sends out a wave of Abyssal unreality,
who’s not his wife, but that of the man whose name to an unknown distance and in an uncertain number
he stole, and that she wants to get close to him for of directions. All within that zone at the time of the
reasons she can’t understand. An old man might see Gulmoth’s arrival becomes like unto, and, therefore,
him in the street and break down crying, and the of the Void. It may spare its summoner, though such
mage might be overwhelmed with a sense of remorse is surely not guaranteed, as the Mirror at the End of
he can’t define. An enemy might follow the scent of All Things may or may not even be cognizant of the
a name, hungry for revenge against someone who did existence of life within this reality. Lunatic sages of
him no wrong, but whose identity carries the burden Abyssal lore who know anything at all of the creature
of a crime unavenged. When a mage takes a name contemplate its motivations, but the truth is that such
wrongfully, he finds it is more than merely letters a monstrosity cannot ever be understood by any being
and a sound. that has ever known what it is to exist, at all.
Ban: The Thief of Names recoils from characters Traits: The Mirror at the End of All Things is a
in the High Speech, being the fragmentary remains Gulmoth of at least Rank 6 in power, meaning that
of the words that encapsulate the reality of Supernal attributes, Numina, and the like are patently unneces-
concepts; the “true names” of all that which was, sary for it. Should this horror actually be drawn into
is, and shall be, as it were. So long as an individual the Fallen World, then only a miracle (or an epic
openly wears or brandishes a glyph in the High Speech combination of cunning willwork, agonizing sacrifice,
(as a piece of jewelry, written on a slip of paper, or and Herculean effort) can bring its manifestation
even tattooed somewhere visible upon the body), the to an end. It may be, in fact, that the spirit has no
Thief cannot initiate violence of any sort against her, desire or even ability to interact with this realm, save
provided that she understands the symbol’s actual to spread ever outward, like the wave that bounds it
meaning. To the Gulmoth, the comprehension of a and which drives it back, in an attempt to turn the
name is requisite to that name’s power. Those who Universe in upon itself.
launch an unprovoked attack upon the Thief of Names, Boons: Only a madman would deliberately call the
however, find that even the speech of lost Atlantis is Mirror at the End of All Things into this reality, as the
no proof against its power. Gulmoth might not offer any boons, at all. Typically,
the only sorts of mages who tamper with an Abyssal
The Mirror at the End of All Things power on this scale are the Awakened equivalent of
Some say the edge of the known cosmos is a wave, suicide bombers, eager to get their hands on one of the
forever spreading outward. Further, certain believers most potent weapons between here and the Realms
in this theory hold that the curve of that wave is Supernal, merely for the pleasure of dying horrifically

140
in the wake of its unveiling, along with the rest of Ban: Should the Mirror at the End of All Things
some fraction of the world. enter into your chronicle, its Ban is best crafted ac-
Tithe: This nightmarish juggernaut of Void-born cording to the needs of your story, so as to make for
malice exacts what tribute it requires, both from its the grandest and most powerful possible conflict.
summoner and from everything unfortunate enough Needless to say, however, the Ban of such a thing — a
to exist in its path. It is an unreasoning hate — life- veritable god of the Void — should be elaborate in
less and deathless — yearning only to make all that its execution and far-reaching in its consequences;
which is cease to be, so that it need no longer feel physical, mental, and spiritual, alike.
jealousy toward all that which is, for all that which
it is not.

Aberrations
Some of the manifestations, behaviors, gifts, sacrifices, and motivations bestowed, demanded, and
held by many of the Gulmoth described in this chapter are, to put it mildly, strange. Some of them don’t
even seem particularly malevolent — not inherently more malevolent than many perfectly mundane
human beings in the Fallen World, anyway — but all of these bizarre thoughts and behaviors have
their origin in an unyielding hatred of all that which exists and the artificial strictures enforced upon the
Gulmoth by corporeal existence within the material realm. The shapes in which willworkers see these
entities aren’t their real shapes; they have no “real shapes.” They are fragments of the Void wrenched
away from the whole and compelled to take on hateful (and self-loathing) substance within a reality
that reminds them of nothing so much as all they, themselves, do not and cannot possess.
Abyssal spirits engage in weird and inexplicable activities, and are subject to occasionally unfathom-
able Bans, to go with their often disturbing and chaotic appearance. This is because they are, essen-
tially, glitches in the system of the Fallen World: mad bits of nonsensical code inserted into a less-than-
perfect operating system. As such, they reveal themselves in ways that sometimes appear internally
contradictory and/or exacerbate the flaws in the system they infect through their very presence. Mages
forget to their own peril the fact that the Acamoth and Gulmoth are nothing more than incarnations of an
incomprehensibly vast universe of hatred, jealousy, horror, and self-destructive lunacy, given material
form and some semblance of conscious motivation.

Chapter Three: From the Endless Dark 141

142
Chapter Four:
From Stranger
Spheres
Nine hours, now, and the scrabbling inside the walls still hadn’t stopped.
Nothing was back there, of course; Munin had already confirmed that with his sights.
Near as they could tell, what was going on in there was the idea of a sound, specifically
aimed at the suggestion of something trying to make its way in… which was, essentially,
the case. The alien relic was in the middle of the sanctum’s dining room floor, right where
it had been when Clotho led the cabal in the summoning ritual. She left four hours back,
when she received a text message that shorted out her phone. She didn’t discuss what it
said, but departed in a hurry. Ten minutes later, Zephyr took off after her. Now, Danu
and Munin were the only ones left in the house and the scratching continued.
When something hammered on the hatch leading up to (or, perhaps, down from) the attic,
Munin sighed, “I think it’s just about puzzled out the idea of ninety-degree angles.”
“What comes next?”
He shrugged. “Next, I suppose it’ll move out from infinitely small points and infinitely
thin lines, figuring out how to build dimensions by connecting points with lines.”
“Remind me why we did this, again?”
Munin scratched at the stubble on his chin. “To get whatever the hell it is that the Hier-
arch’s been hiding from us, behind that massive two-hundred-year-old ward.”
“And will it be worth the price?”
At that, Munin looked off toward the front door of the sanctum, through which Clotho had
left and Zephyr just after her, and then back to Danu. Just then, the timbers throughout
the old house groaned, as though a great weight had slowly pressed down upon them.
“Probably not.”
Danu shuddered a bit. “Why did we let Clotho and Zephyr go?”
Munin placed one hand on the nearest wall, feeling for the vibrations within it. “Let them
leave? I sent her the text,” he wiggled his fingers in the air, “knowing that she’d leave and
Zeph would follow.
“Why?” Danu asked, incredulously, a note of anger creeping into her tone.
“Because, six hours ago, the me from ten hours from now told me to, by transmitting
a message back through the flesh of the thing that’s going to arrive in twenty minutes.
We get the object, but we basically burn down the Consilium to do it. We just have this one
chance to stop it, but only if there’s exactly two of us here.”
“And if ‘future you’ was lying?”
Munin sighed again, more heavily this time. “Then we’re likely no more fucked that we’d
have been in the first place.”
Chapter Four: From Stranger Spheres 143
 I abandoned the extraterrestrial hypothesis in 1967 when my own field investigations
disclosed an astonishing overlap between psychic phenomena and UFOs ...
The objects and apparitions do not necessarily originate on another planet
and may not even exist as permanent constructions of matter.
It is more likely that we see what we want to see and interpret such visions according to our
contemporary beliefs.
—John Keel

If a mage were to sit down with some magic markers flying machines. No, those kind of creatures are mani-
and a blank canvas of paper, she could draw a map of festations of biology, of a cosmic design rooted firmly
her cosmology. It may not be precisely objective. It may in the physical. The entities found in this chapter are
not be something “true” like you’d find in the pages not so easily defined, nor are they comprehensible by
of Mage: The Awakening, but to her it’d be accurate a sane human mind.
enough, and more importantly, it’d be understandable. The price of dealing with such beings is high: one’s
She could point to our world, the Fallen World. She mind and soul can easily be lost beneath the crushing
could draw lines pointing to the Supernal, and it would intelligences and overwhelming emotions that leak
be easy enough to depict the great dark gulf that waits into this plane of existence. But the reward of deal-
between those two realms: the Abyss, a yawning gap ing with such entities is similarly high: those mages
that all magical minds must cross to make a grab at swollen with proud wisdom know that the cost of true
the brass ring of enlightenment. She could even lay enlightenment is as immeasurable as the very idea of
a sheet of transparency over the whole affair, and true enlightenment.
faintly trace another realm over all this mess, calling
it the Shadow. Were this mage particularly eager, she
might even draw little pictures of the Watchtowers Summonings From Beyond
way out there in the Realms Supernal. Unless otherwise specified (the Cargo Cult “Atakai,”
And that’s it, right? That’s all there is? Some think for instance), summoning the entities in this chapter
so. Mages, don’t forget, are hubristic creatures. Even can be done using the following spell. It’s never as
when proven otherwise night in, night out, the sorcer- easy as just casting a spell, however; each entity must
ous individuals often expect that they’ve got all the have certain conditions filled before it dares to enter
information, thanks, no need to look any deeper. this world.
But, to paraphrase the Bard, there exist more
things in Heaven and Earth than exist in a mage’s Outer Channel
philosophy. So it is with realms far stranger than (Space •••• + Spirit ••••)
what’s expected. Similar to Spirit Road, the mage opens a channel
between this world and the outer realms, piercing
Here There Be Dragons the Gauntlet and the mage’s own Wisdom to do so.
Truth is, cosmology is not so nicely detailed. Just as It is not a sane act, not by any means, opening a road
we here on the physical planet represent just a tiny that would allow a quincunx entity (or any other mad
molecular mote in the great cosmos, so it is with all the being) through.
realms and places that mages think they understand. Practice: Weaving
Way out there, beyond the known, beyond the beyond, Action: Extended (target number equal to the
mages may find that far stranger spheres and weirder Gauntlet Strength + the mage’s own Wisdom
shores exist. These places are home to entities that are score)
so far beyond human intelligence and understanding, Duration: Lasting
they can only be described as “alien.” Aspect: Vulgar
That, in a nutshell, is what this chapter is about, Cost: None
really. Aliens. Not extra-terrestrials in saucer-shaped

144
 This does not work like summoning a spirit normally
does (p. 249, Mage: The Awakening) in that the spirit
is literally summoned directly to the mage’s immediate
Cargo Cults
Imagine it. You’re a native on one of Micronesia’s
vicinity, and the mere summoning of the entity does countless islands. You’ve known nothing but the
not come replete with control over the entity. The boundaries of your own island — its cliffs, its beaches,
duration is lasting because the spirit doesn’t leave at its distant and surrounding horizon. This is your entire
the end of the scene, nor is it in any way bound to world. Ignorant of what waits beyond.
the vicinity in which it was summoned. These enti- Then, one day, you hear it: sounds like thunder,
ties are not “normal” spirits (if they are spirits at all), a rumble that echoes out over the crashing waves,
and refuse to abide by what a mage expects — once but this thunder doesn’t stop. And it’s not followed
more, hubris can blind a willworker who believes by lightning, not at all. It appears, then, over the
she has cemented all knowledge around any kind of clouds: a plane, double-props whirring, a trail of
ephemeral or bizarre being. white smoke emerging from its end. But to you, it’s so
Mysterium Rote: The Other Door much more than that: a god, a demon, a thunderbird,
Dice Pool: Presence + Persuasion + Spirit vs. Re- an iron dragon. The plane flies overhead. It drops
sistance (or the entity’s Resolve + Composure if it’s cargo: food, technology, items to help build shelter,
not strictly a “spirit”) what-have-you. The god has gifted you. It is a divine
The Mysterium knows it is sometimes necessary to intercession. Your family, your friends, they wonder
plumb the deepest, strangest depths of the cosmos to if the god will come back. They build shrines in its
increase awareness, understanding and knowledge. honor. They cut out swaths of jungle — really, an
This rote does just that, calling forth a truly bizarre airstrip — so that the great bird may land. And just
being into audience. Its willworkers do not use this when they’ve prayed enough… the great flying god
rote lightly, recognizing that once such a creature returns anew to drop another parcel of splendorous
is summoned, it is not always so keen to leave. The goods upon its worshipful children. Maybe the god
effects of bringing an eldritch or insane entity into will even land, and maybe it’ll emerge — white-faced,
this plane of existence always comes with powerful white as the sun and sand — and speak in its divine
consequences — sometimes, a being’s very presence tongue and accept thanks in the form of a feast or
will corrupt this world, for they cannot be so easily other supplications.
contained in the material plane. Of course, we know what’s really happening. These
are “cargo cults,” born out of foreign intervention
starting in the late 19th century. A boat comes, or a
Bound? plane. It unloads its cargo — perhaps an act of char-
So — the entities in this chapter, can they ity, or a movement to establish a new colony — and
be bound with known or theorized magic? the natives are astounded. The white men bring
The Storyteller is encouraged to allow play- unexpected treasures. The natives do not think of
ers to get creative with this.
these individuals as interlopers, not really — they are
Can an Adept of Spirit (“I can imprison ghosts or gods or spirits. It represents a major paradigm
any spirit, binding it into steel, stone or flesh shift: where once the gods remained largely distant,
according to my desires”) bind one of these seen only in glimpses or certain potentially natural
bizarre entities? Maybe. Though even for an phenomena, suddenly they have emerged. They step
Adept, some form of ceremony and ritual
onto the islands, made manifest. It changes everything.
should be tied to the being in question.
Worship grows out of this. Strange venerations. It’s a
Alternately, different Arcana may be used powerful moment. (And actually, it works as a nice
in the same way that Spirit would for most metaphor for the Awakening: the ignorant human is
ephemeral entities: Prime may be the way given a glimpse of a magical reality and fails to truly
to fetter a potent ultra-terrestrial, or Space understand it, unable to grasp its depths.)
may create a whole new prison for such a
strange spirit.
Cargo cults were particularly prevalent during World
War II, when the Allies in the Pacific Theater thought
That’s the cool thing about magic, isn’t it? to make allies out of the many inhabited islands of
So many options. Micronesia and Melanesia. They showed up. They

Chapter Four: From Stranger Spheres 145

 dropped goods, sometimes landed. It seemed divine,
but it was purely mundane. Right?
Except… maybe we don’t really know what’s hap- The Chicken and the Egg
pening. Maybe something else is at work. And maybe So it is with many bizarre entities that we
it’s still happening, today. must ask, where did they come from? Did
we create them from our behavior, or did our

Sinister Shipments behavior just summon them? Even stranger,

are we simply playing into what they desire
most? The real world “cargo cult” phenom-
Yes, many — most, really — of the cargo cults were
enon began, and soon after, strange unidenti-
just as described. And yet, not long after the phenom-
fied entities began mimicking the task: but, is
enon began, something else occurred.
it truly mimicking, or were they called by the
Sometimes, what flew over the islands were not powerful veneration offered up by the island
planes. Not exactly. They looked like planes, for the aboriginals? Which came first, the human, or
most part, but they were… “off.” Asymmetrical. A the phenomenon? Can we ever know?
propeller engine on one wing, and something that
looked like a black cube on the other. Or only one
wing, not two. Or strange paint that looked like black
or reflective scales overlaid atop the olive drab. It bizarre items (seemingly normal objects that are eerily
was as if these were strange, ill-made imitations of perfect — as if they are the Platonic ideals of the items
planes, or of the idea of planes. They’d appear sound- they represent). When do they do so?
lessly out of nowhere, manifesting in a shimmer of They do so when the islanders summon them, that’s
the air (like heat rising off a hot road), and then the when. The islanders learned that they could call the
engines would roar and the dark shape would travel Atakai to them, summoning the entities into the
over the island. skies so that they might be gifted with sacred objects.
Cargo would drop from the planes, indeed. But it They appease them through sacrifice, and the batkon
was not human cargo, not cargo from this world. The aire appear.
goods that dangled from trees (the parachutes caught
in the eaves) or that thudded against the beach sand Summoning the Atakai
were packaged in wooden crates, but were inscribed This is the truth, and it is not well-known: calling
with symbols that matched nothing on human record. the Atakai necessitates certain rituals, and for the
Sometimes the boxes shuddered. Other times they most part, only the hidden and still-extant cargo cults
made odd noises — as if sucking in a great breath, or of certain islands actually know these rituals. The
urging caution with a guttural growl. mistaken part comes on behalf of these cults, who
What the boxes contained, though, were objects. believe themselves isolated from other such cults (and
At a glance, normal objects. A chair, an ice box, a don’t even acknowledge the existence or veracity of
transistor radio, a wedding dress. These items, though, competing “sects”). These indigenous cults believe
pulsed with power. Those natives with any magical the Atakai only come to them, and will only appear
sense could feel the primal energies radiating outward: above their islands. This is false. The Atakai will appear
these were holy items, truly sacred. Most natives simply wherever the rituals to summon them are performed,
called these “givers” the batkon aire (“Airplane”), or whether that’s on a mountain on the cinder plains of
the Atakai (“The Generous”). the Yasur volcano or in the middle of a Kansas corn
field. (However, it likely necessitates traveling to the
It’s Still Happening islands to discover the ritual.)
The cargo cult phenomenon ended for the most First and foremost, a mage is necessary to perform
part about 50 years ago. Even the tiniest Micronesian the summoning. In this case, the mage must possess
islands have since been touched by Western influences, three dots in Spirit to cast both Spirit Road (Mage:
if only in small ways — the world is home to very The Awakening, p 251) and Greater Spirit Sum-
few indigenous peoples that haven’t been contacted mons (Mage: The Awakening, p. 249), cast in that
by Western civilization. And yet, from time to time, order. However, before the spells are cast, quite a bit
the so-called “Atakai” still appear in the skies over of preparation is in order.
some islands, and these strange not-quite-planes drop

146
 If one is not present, the summoners must carve out this plane of existence unless the Storyteller feels it’s
a landing strip for the Atakai, with minimum dimen- appropriate — however, that spell short-cuts a great
sions of being 250 yards long and 10 yards wide. (If deal of the difficulty necessary to learn about the Atakai
you need a roll for this, it should require an extended in the first place, and is thus not recommended.)
Strength + Athletics roll, with 25 successes neces-
sary, and each roll being equal to 10 minutes worth Atakai Cults
of work. Penalties can go up to –5 if the territory The chief-most threat blocking characters from
is truly unforgiving. Multiple characters can work learning or performing the Atakai summoning rites are
toward this goal, and it’s recommended to keep this the Atakai cargo cults themselves. The following cults
not as a teamwork roll; successes gained on multiple are all at least 50 years old and continue to venerate
extended rolls simply go toward the 25 needed.) The and summon the strange batkon aire spirits:
Atakai are not expected to land, but this is where it The Cult of Karaperamun (Vanuatu): The head
(“they?”) will drop the precious cargo. of this cult is actually a white European male: John
When the airstrip is complete, the characters must Fromm. Fromm has told his adherents that, quite
also put together a full-size facsimile — a “sympathetic simply, they can rule the world. How? Well, by reject-
model” — of a plane. Doesn’t matter if it’s done with ing European traditions (and money), by once more
rebar and tarp, or bamboo and hemp cord; as long as embracing the “old ways” (guzzling kava, performing
it looks roughly the shape of a plane and can “seat” sacrifices, committing to polygyny), and oh, by kill-
at least one person. (To complete, the character must ing Europeans. Yes, John Fromm is himself European
succeed on an extended Wits + Crafts roll, with 10 (British, actually), but he escapes this pogrom by
successes necessary and each roll equaling 10 minutes. suggesting that he has been possessed by the ancient
Teamwork can apply.) spirit of Karaperamun, who was once the patron
Finally, the character must put a living human inside supreme deity of Vanuatu. He offers proof of this by
the plane’s “cockpit.” The plane, with the human being the only one who actually knows how to sum-
inside, must then be set on fire. As the plane burns, mon the Atakai, and by this demonstration proves
so does the sacrifice within. This calls the Atakai. his purported divinity.
(Note that sacrificing a human in this way is most The Naked Cult of Solomon (Solomon Islands):
certainly a sin against Wisdom 3 — “Planned crime Sarmeiento de Castro heads this cult, and he believes
without using magic,” a.k.a. murder.) himself (falsely or not) to be descended from famous
The Atakai does not come on a predictable Peruvian sea navigators such as Álvaro de Mendaña
timetable. The strange entity will appear at that de Neira. He claims his navigator “blood” has indebted
spot within the next seven days. The Atakai will him to the Atakai, and that he and his people must
drop one item of considerable power (Artifact, serve them with sacrifices, but are rewarded (in the
Enhanced Item, or Imbued Item at five dots mini- form of the strange objects that drop from the sky).
mum). However, glimpsing the Atakai is not easy One more thing: to be indebted to the Atakai means
on the witness: the mind is quite clear that what it remaining utterly pure; which is to say, both utterly
is seeing is not something of this world. The char- chaste and completely naked at all hours of the day
acter suffers hot or cold flashes, and may tremble, and night.
salivate heavily, even suffer momentary seizures. The Prophet’s Cult (Papua New Guinea): A
The player should roll the character’s Resolve + nameless prophet leads this cult, and claims the fol-
Composure, with a penalty equal to how many times lowing: Jehovah is inferior and servile to Satan, and
the character has witnessed the Atakai previously. this great imbalance has led the dead back to Earth,
Failure on this roll causes the character to take on and the Atakai are arming this cargo cult against the
a mild derangement of the player’s choosing. Suc- eventual incursions of the dead returning. Even better,
cess indicates no derangement is taken (though they believe the Atakai are actually the servitors of
the other physical effects as noted still occur until some outside god who is older than both Satan and
the batkon aire sighting has passed). Jehovah, and this god (the Baigona Snake) is actu-
(Note that the spell at the fore of this chapter, Outer ally the snake who brought “wisdom” to Eve in the
Channel, is not necessary to summon the Atakai. In Garden of Eden.
fact, that spell will not work to bring the Atakai into

Chapter Four: From Stranger Spheres 147

Strange Sphere: The Atakai
From whence do the Atakai come? What strange No Stats for Atakai?
realm do these plane-like entities call home? For
the most part, mages will never actually enter this The Atakai are seemingly mindless enti-
ties from well-beyond our world. Assume
plane of existence, and instead only experience it
that they have stats that range from painfully
in glimpses and momentary visitations. Those who simple to profoundly terrible, depending on
have experienced it claim it is, for lack of any better the needs of your game (and you can use
description, the true “material world.” Everything in normal spirit-based stats, even though the
the land of the Atakai is fundamentally material — Atakai is not a spirit from the Shadow). We
nothing is alive; all is inorganic. It’s a land of objects: chose instead to stat out John Fromm be-
a flat plane of items, some standing alone, others cause, well, characters are far more likely to
piled atop others. deal with this cultic “prophet” than one of the
Mages who enter or even glimpse this “true material Atakai themselves.
world” have a number of turns equal to their Gnosis
scores to act unaffected. Once those turns are up,
their bodies begin to calcify: a limb may start to grow There, he mostly fucked off: drank kava, sat around
hard with a plastic skin; organs may begin to turn to on the beach, toyed with his nicked machete.
wooden blocks; hair becomes turgid wire fibers. Every His Awakening came at the base of a tall standing
turn affected, the character takes one point of damage stone, a great obelisk carved with deep whorls — face-
that builds: bashing first, into lethal, and eventually like symbols painted in bright oranges and blues. He
into aggravated. fell asleep at the base of this stone one night, only
Ideas on how to glimpse or enter the “true material to awaken during a powerful storm. The face talked
world” include: to him. He doesn’t remember what it said, only that
• A plane crash. Suffering apparent death in a plane it gave him directions to find the Watchtower — he
wreck may cause a mage to “awaken” into this plane of did, and it changed him.
existence. (Of course, she’d better find an exit quick, He doesn’t really believe that he’s the incarnation
lest her body grow into a mannequin-like object.) of or host to the ancient god of Karaperamun, but he
• “Catching a ride” with one of the Atakai. The does think that he’s got a spark of the divine within him
Atakai appear briefly in this world, loose cargo onto (hell, not just a spark but a whole bloody conflagra-
the world, and then return. Finding a way to hijack tion). The islands are home to something primal, as
one of those batkon aire is a good way to be physically proven by the appearances of the Atakai. He learned
transported to their home realm. Alternately, simply of these entities from an old Thyrsus Shaman, a man
glancing at one’s reflection in the faux windows or he reluctantly had to beat to death with a rock.
metal of a close-up Atakai allows the mage to stare Now, Fromm leads his cult in increasingly brutal
into the realm. activities and attacks. They often make runs against
• Destroying a very powerful (five-dot or higher) groups of Peace Corps activists, kidnapping one or
Artifact causes a terrible, gut-wrenching flash — a two for “use” as pleasure or in the rituals to summon
momentary (one turn) look into this “true material the batkon aire.
realm.” Description: John Fromm is a thin, almost ema-
ciated white man — ribs and collarbone showing,
John Fromm, “Child of Karaperamun” elbows and knees knobby and pronounced. He’s tall
Quote: “The old ways are new again. Civilization and ropy, and keeps his hair closely-cropped and his
is at its end. So begins our reign.” face shorn. Fromm’s got a manic gleam in his eye,
Background: Fromm was, curiously enough, a and is often posed in such a way that it seems like
Christian missionary with little interest in Christ he might leap at any moment and start clawing with
or morality or being saved — none of that garbage. his untrimmed nails. Fromm wears only traditional
No, he just wanted to get away. Get away from his Vanuatu garb — really traditional, meaning he wears
debts. His family. His countrymen. In his early 20s, a braided bark-cloth belt and a nambas, which is a
he experienced a profound disconnection with the curved penis sheath formed of the bark or leaves of
world around him, and so he headed for the islands. the pendanus.

148
 Storytelling Hints: Fromm’s often a bit drunk — Mental Skills: Academics 2, Crafts 2, Investigation 3,
drunk on power, and drunk on kava. Kava, a potent Medicine 3, Occult 3
fermented liquid (from the roots of the kava shrub), Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Stealth 2, Survival
does wonders for Fromm, and he believes this tradi- 4, Weaponry (Machete) 3
tional juice is mighty sacred, connecting him with Social Skills: Animal Ken 1, Expression 1, Intimidation
the primal forces that whirl about the island. Fromm’s 3, Persuasion (Delusions of Grandeur) 3, Subterfuge
funny and quirky, always fast with a joke or a story — (Under Duress) 3
but when it gets down to business, he affects a deep Merits: Allies (Cargo Cult) 5, Artifact 4 (“Count Amaury’s
voice (the voice of Kamaperamun, he claims) and Spectacles,” p. 335, Mage: The Awakening), Destiny
(Bane: Another Thyrsus) 5, Fast Reflexes 2, Holistic
becomes terribly cruel.
Awareness, Inspiring, Status (Cargo Cult) 5
Path: Thyrsus Willpower: 5
Order: None Wisdom: 3 (Megalomania)
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 4, Resolve 3 Virtue: Faith
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 4, Stamina 2 Vice: Pride
Social Attributes: Presence 4, Manipulation 3, Initiative: 8 (with Fast Reflexes)
Composure 2

Chapter Four: From Stranger Spheres 149

 Story Hooks
This “cargo cult” phenomenon is a good way to force mage characters into a small or large adventure
when they’re seeking an object of true power (or frankly, any kind of MacGuffin you want them to hunt
down). Any enchanted, imbued or otherwise Supernal Artifacts can be included via this manner. Some
specific story hooks include:
• The grimoire is quite clear: there exists a crown with diadems of bone and a base of copper, and
this crown can confer quite a bit of magical authority to the sorcerer who owns it. The grimoire is also
quite clear that the only way to get a hold of it is to summon the “Flying Shadows” that “Give the Gifts of
the Supernal,” which necessitates taking a long trip to Vanuatu in the Pacific. If one performs the proper
summoning, the Atakai will drop the mighty crown from the sky.
• The Cult of Karaperamun (p. 147) has branched out. Members have been found in North and South
America, kidnapping notable civilians of European descent and dragging them back to their islands for
sacrifice. They get drunk on kava juice and sacrifice the abductees bound to great thrones that burn
as funeral pyres. They claim that in the last boxes received from the Atakai was a list — and on the list
were the names of those who must be sacrificed. One of the character’s names is on that list (or it per-
haps features the name of a loved one or confidant).
• “I’ve caught one.” The voice comes across over an MP3 recording sent to one of the characters — it’s
an ally or a confidant telling them he’s “captured” one of the Atakai, and he plans on “flying” the entity
back to the realm from whence it came. There, he believes he can learn so much — will the characters
help him? Accompany him? Or stop him?

or simply appear at one’s door. Other times, they drive

Defense: 4 a matte-black sedan — something large and boxy, an
Speed: 11 older Cadillac or Oldsmobile. They may show up at
Health: 7 the time of a “supernatural event,” but most likely
Gnosis: 4 reveal themselves hours, even days after the event has
Arcana: Life 3, Prime 3, Spirit 3 come and passed. They never show up alone: always
Mana/per Turn: 13/4 two, usually three, rarely more than four.
Armor: 3 (“Magic Shield”) The figures seem… peaceable enough, at first. They
Weapons/Attacks: like to ask a lot of questions, initially circumventing
Type Damage Range Dice Pool Special the topic of the supernatural event, talking around
Machete 2(L) na 8 na it in a notably clumsy attempt to “get to the point.”
Soon, they start to hone in on questions related to

The Men in Black

They are not from a movie. They are not government
the topic, trying to find out more about what the in-
dividual saw or that person’s responsibility related to
the event. Their questions may have few if any segues
agents. They are not men at all, despite the name. to connect them: a series of non sequitur questions
is common. At some point, they offer their names,
They appear in regards to overt supernatural displays.
but never any identification — and their names are
Yes, they appear during and after supposed “UFO sight-
usually strange, taken from colors or objects or other
ings,” but they also appear when Paradox affects this
simple factors (“Mister Door,” or “Agent Clock,” or
world, whether it be from Havoc or from a Paradox
merely, “I’m Gray”).
Anomaly or, most likely, a Manifestation born as a
result of magic gone awry. In fact, any other dramatic All the while, they act like the inhuman attempt-
summoning (especially a summoning where a Sleeper ing to masquerade as human. One might ask for food
witness is present) runs the risk of eventually drawing or a drink, and then stare at what’s handed to them
the Men in Black. like it’s the most wondrous or most grotesque thing
they have ever seen. They eat and drink, but seem
These enigmatic characters show up, seemingly out
confused as how to properly do so — even after finish-
of nowhere. Sometimes, they walk up out of the woods,

150
 It becomes clear soon enough: these figures are
ill-made mockeries of man. They are not human,
Dark Tools not at all. And when the subject of their “interview”
So, the cars, the strange stabbing picks, recognizes this, well, that’s usually when things get
and even their suits — what to think about the really interesting.
physical objects that accompany the Men in
Black? Silence, One Way or Another
They are actually extensions of the Men The Men in Black seem overly concerned with
in Black themselves. Destroying the stranger silencing their victims. The level of their intense
destroys all that comes with them: the matte zealousness toward this goal appears driven by just how
black cars, their weird weapons, their cloth- connected the victim was to the supernatural event.
ing and sunglasses and fake lips and plastic If the victim was merely a witness, the Men in Black
fingernails. All of it. only seek to convince the individual to “admit” aloud
Unless… once more, magic is a way to get that what they witnessed was a hoax, hallucination or
creative, isn’t it? A mage might be able to otherwise falsified and imagined. If the target vocally
use a combined Spirit/Time spell to “keep” agrees and repeats their assertions, they leave. It’s that
one of their weapons or black cars in this easy. It’s not so easy, however, if the target refuses to
world. These items work flawlessly, to the acknowledge that the strangers are correct. That’s
tune of a +3 bonus. However, those who use
when the Men in Black get violent.
them begin to go slowly mad, gaining one
mild derangement per week of use. The good They resort to torture. They attempt to grab the
news is: the character is able to recognize the victim and hold her down. They begin to hurt her.
source of his nascent insanity, and after the Little pain, at first, with an always odd, off-kilter brand
second derangement is almost certain to get of torture: the figure might begin with small but hard
rid of the accursed weird objects. Bad news pinches. He might advance to bending back fingers
is, the derangements are only conquered until they break or tugging on an ear until it starts
through therapy (magical or otherwise) — to come off. The stranger might bite her, or try to fill
they do not fade on their own. her ears and eyes with things he finds underneath
the sink (dishwashing fluid, Windex, drain cleaner).
If at any point the victim will admit to the Men in
Black being right, the torture stops. The strangers
ing a glass of water, the Man in Black might lick the wipe themselves off, maybe get a drink from the re-
glass or gently rub his fingers along the rim, seemingly frigerator, then leave, either getting into their matte
mystified by the sensation. black cars or simply wandering off down the street,
Another might ask for a pen, and then let the ink in search of their next victim. If the individual later
bleed into his white shirt. Sometimes, they perform speaks of the supernatural event, the Men in Black
a seemingly normal action that is inconsistent with return (see “Brain Death,” below).
their supposed positions as “agents of the government” It’s a whole different bag of tricks if the Men in
(which they often claim to be): the Man in Black will Black encounter someone who had any kind of re-
get up in the middle of questioning and wash his face sponsibility for a supernatural event (say, for instance,
in the sink, or he’ll begin folding or shredding paper a mage). To those with any kind of responsibility, they
napkins with trembling fingers. are not so kind.
It’s not long before their real inhumanity starts to
show itself. One might start to shake — not violently, Brain Death
but like a drunk with the DTs. Another wipes his They attempt to abduct those who have responsibil-
mouth with the back of his hand and his lips pop like ity in a supernatural event. They’ll swarm a character,
ticks, leaving a bright red smear of blood across his grapple the individual, and throw him in the trunk
cheek (and the enigmatic stranger will seem utterly of their car or drag him bodily to a remote location
unfazed by this). A third tugs at his ear, and it comes (which may be five minutes or five hours away).
off, plopping onto the linoleum floor.

Chapter Four: From Stranger Spheres 151

 or sears the poor thing
with sunlight through a
magnifying glass). If for
some reason the person
is resisting enough that
the Men in Black can-
not get the sharp picks
into the victim’s skull,
they’ll resort to brutal
violence: punching and
kicking the target until
he is dead.

Abilities
The Men in Black have
the following abilities:
Never Die: A Man in
Black suffers from dam-
age as does any physical
object or organic life-
form: the stranger’s body
breaks down and once
it has taken a Health
track full of lethal or
aggravated damage, it
perishes immediately,
literally falling apart
into a gaseous, bloody
disruption (often leav-
ing behind something
else that looks like runny
makeup or melted plas-
tic). However, the Man
Once there, the Men in Black attempt to incur some in Black is reconstituted only one hour later. He
manner of brain death in the victim. This may not doesn’t arise from the strange and grisly remains, but
be a total brain death, and may instead be something instead appears much like they all do in the begin-
akin to a lobotomy. It isn’t a perfect science: the Men ning — driving up in a car, walking out of the woods,
in Black have long metal picks with black handles coming in through a closet door.
that they use to do the “operation,” which more or Spatial Certainty: The Men in Black have some
less consists of holding down the victim and pushing provenance with the Space Arcanum. A Man in Black
the needles into various parts of the victim’s face and has a sympathetic connection with his quarry: he can
head — corners of the eyes, temples, up the nose, and roughly track it anywhere. He may not know of a
so forth. This may kill the victim. It may turn the target’s location, but he always knows (without a roll)
victim into a drooling vegetable. It may simply ruin the direction in which the target awaits. In addition, a
just enough of the brain to stop the mage from, say, Man in Black also has the Spatial Awareness spell as an
performing magic. Again, it’s not a perfect science: the innate ability (p. 233, Mage: The Awakening). This
Men in Black are imprecise, and when they perform must be activated with rolls, as per the rote, “Trailing
this task it’s always like they’re doing it for the first the Long Stride” (Intelligence + Occult; the Man in
time (it may call to mind a child who has a bug trapped Black has no actual Space Arcanum).
under a glass — growing fascinated as it plucks off legs

152
Weaknesses
The Men in Black are still frail creatures in some Storytelling the Men in Black
fashion, though, and are beholden to the following
weaknesses: First and foremost, the Men in Black are not
to be played for comical effect, but certainly
Ill-Made Masquerade: The Men in Black aren’t their behavior can seem comical and, ini-
human, and they don’t do a very good job at pretend- tially, harmless. One of the strangers washes
ing to be human. Even at a distance, any Perception his hands in the fish tank, while another
rolls made regarding a Man in Black’s falseness gain bites his thumbnail down to the bloody quick
+2. Up close, such a roll gains +4, instead. while asking questions. Strange. Anything
Temporal Limits: The Men in Black are curiously weird that they do should be given eventual
limited by, and vulnerable to the march of time. First, contrast, though, when it comes time to solicit
each Man in Black has a “time limit” in this world information or “silence” the target — they be-
equal to 43 hours, 17 minutes and 21 seconds. Once come an unstoppable, nightmarish force.
that limit has been reached, the shadowy stranger is And that’s the key to Storytelling the Men
simply no longer. A character blinks, and nothing in Black: nightmare. Like in a nightmare, they
remains of the Man in Black that was pursuing her. represent an enemy that keeps on coming.
There exists a wrinkle to this, however: any time a Yes, you can destroy them physically but they
Man in Black’s body is killed (see Never Die, above) always return (and in fact, destroying them
physically only lengthens the duration of the
and returns, it restarts the clock, setting it back to
nightmare, really). The story one gets out of
the odd deadline. The second temporal limit suffered
the Men in Black is, effectively, a chase story:
by a Man in Black is magic from the Time Arcanum. look to movies like Duel or The Terminator
Any time a spell from Time is cast in the presence of for this idea. It’s about running. About getting
a Man in Black, it seems to make him dizzy: he suf- away. About escape at any cost. All too often,
fers a –1 penalty to all rolls for every Time spell cast game players have the idea that (often accu-
(cumulative). This penalty remains for one hour. rately) they just need to find a way to kill the
Weapon Confusion: The Men in Black are capable bad guy, need to find the “mini-boss’ weak-
with Brawl rolls and with Weaponry rolls made to ness,” except here, that won’t work. The good
utilize their long needled picks in combat. Other news is, the Men in Black seem programmed
weapons, however, utterly confound them. A Man on a time limit, so they cannot come cease-
lessly until their victim is dead. Because of
in Black can pick up a pistol or a baseball bat to use
this, the characters merely need to hide and
against a target, but attacks are clumsy and slow — the survive. It should humble the characters a bit:
stranger suffers a –5 to use any such weapon. not everything they witness or conjure can be
so easily put back down.
Summoning the Strangers
One may summon a Man in Black a couple different
ways. First, a mage may utilize the Outer Channel spell
(p. 144), with a few notable tweaks to the process. moned during a Manifestation Paradox. An Abyssal
First, the target number is different. The Men in creature still enters this world (be it a snarling Imp
Black seem to have no resistance to or concern over or some dark Angel), and when it does, the character
the Gauntlet, and so the target number is now twice can expend a Willpower point and that character’s
the mage’s Wisdom (for the mage must overcome player can attempt a Composure + Subterfuge roll.
her own sanity and moral scale to invite such inhu- Success on this roll brings the Men in Black into this
man anomalies into this world, even temporarily). world, though they do not appear immediately, usually
Second, the mage who summons the Men in Black showing up within 24 hours of the Manifestation.
is subject to a mild derangement during the time that The bigger question is, why summon the Men in
the Men remain in this world. This derangement is Black at all? Some mages have done so in an attempt
usually Fixation or Vocalization (pp. 97–98, World to bring the Men in Black to bear against their
of Darkness Rulebook). magical enemies. Upon summoning the strangers
If a mage or other character is not using the Outer close to a supernatural event, the Men in Black
Channel spell, then the Men in Black can be sum- enter this world and hone in on the witnesses to

Chapter Four: From Stranger Spheres 153

 and those responsible for that supernatural event. ably distorted) lens. The Men in Black, say some
(If several such events occurred recently and in theories, are these gods or are instead agents of these
the vicinity, they will endeavor to “deal with” all gods come to Earth to… make adjustments as the
parties related to all events.) If the summoner was divine powers feel necessary.
not strictly responsible for any such event, the
hope is that the enigmatic strangers will now dog
their enemies. This can certainly work, but it’s a Story Hooks
bit like setting loose a rabid dog in the direction • An ally of the cabal comes to them,
of your foe — yes, the dog may leap for your ad- panicked: he’s being followed. They come
versary’s throat, but when he’s done he may come in a dark sedan that glides quietly along the
back and bite off the hand that feeds him. Many city streets. Men in dark suits and crooked
mages have summoned the Men in Black only to sunglasses come for him, and he always
must flee, but he knows they’re here for him.
have the strangers assault them for some spell gone
Can the cabal help him? They poke around,
awry weeks before. and someone high above them tells them, the
It should be noted: a character never summons just way to be rid of them is to destroy them utter-
one Man in Black. They always appear, as mentioned ly. Except, that’s a lie. It only resets the clock
earlier, in twos, threes or fours. and keeps the strangers in this world. Was
the lie intentional? Are they being messed
Theories with? What happens to the characters when
Just what are the Men in Black, anyway? And from they try to help the target of the Men in Black
— do they become targets, too?
what strange realm do they hail?
One theory is that the Men in Black are the • One of the cabal misuses magic, be it
heralds of “true” Paradox, perhaps even hailing intentionally or by accident. Paradox is the
from a realm of pure Paradox or a place where result, however small or large — Sleeper
witnesses are present. Within 24 hours, the
sanity holds the laws so dearly in its grip that it’s
Men in Black have arrived, but preceding
actually, well, insane. The theories suggest that
them is a letter slipped under the charac-
Paradox exists to prevent the molestation of the ter’s door. Penned in elegant script on an
Tapestry, keeping its threads mostly unharmed embossed card is this message: “You made
and connected. Except, Paradox now seems to a terrible error, and I have capitalized upon
hail from — or at least get filtered through — it. They are coming for you.” Has someone
the Abyss. Paradox doesn’t really right anything: summoned the Men in Black to hound the
in fact, it might create a derangement, cause an cabal? The Sleeper witnesses have now
electrical grid to go haywire, or force the sum- gone missing. The Men in Black are cease-
moning of some many-mouthed Abyssal larvae. less. But the real question is — who’s the one
Magical indiscretions are not punished. Rips in with the axe to grind?
the fabric aren’t really fixed. Paradox only seems • An ally or even one of the cabal’s own
to exacerbate the scenario, doing little to prevent mages has gone missing — they find blood on
a mage from causing such trouble again. the floor at his home and a pair of black sun-
The Men in Black, however, show up for a time, pun- glasses with one lens shattered. Neighbors
ish witnesses and transgressors, and potentially even describe the Men in Black who visited him.
damage a sorcerer’s brain so much that the mage can That’s horrible enough, right? It gets worse.
Months later, the cabal does something
no more call on magic (or possibly go to the bathroom
wrong, and the Men in Black come to “correct
by herself) anymore. Doesn’t this imply that they are the error.” Except now, their friend seems to
perhaps true “Paradox elementals,” hailing not from be among them. He’s different. Off-kilter, but
the Abyss but from the distant reaches? it’s him. Can they save him? Is it really him,
It’s these distant reaches that mages believe or just a mockery? He seems to know quite a
could be the home of the enigmatic figures. If a bit about them…
place exists far off the normal cosmological maps,
it might be home to plainly inhuman gods who
judge mankind’s deeds through a far-off (and prob-

154
Man in Black
Quote: Might I have a cup of water? I feel… parched.
Tell me about the events of two nights ago. Did you know
Numbers Stations
It’s long been assumed that they’re coded com-
that water vapor can sometimes simulate a paranormal munications provided for spies. Some believe that
experience, the manifestation of such may appear to be they’re used by criminal organizations, be they drug
a ghostly entity? Thank you for the water. Ah. I will runners or masters of slave markets.
enjoy it. Certainly, numbers stations are trying to commu-
Background: As above. The Men in Black are nicate something. These radio frequencies, found on
inhumans masquerading as humans. They seek to shortwave and around since World War I, transmit
“convince” witnesses they did not see the supernatu- a series of numbers or codes as read by what sounds
ral event they believe they saw, and they also seek to be a synthesized human voice. The transmissions
to “correct errors” when it comes to those who may often have simple, tonal music in the background
have been responsible for such a supernatural event. (anything from “Hot Cross Buns” to the “Lincolnshire
Correcting an error means, of course, a cruel lobotomy Poacher”). Sometimes, a series of letters is read first,
or death outright. read in the military style (“Charlie Oscar Tango”) then
Description: At a distance, they might seem human. followed by numbers of a single language (which may
Up close, that impression fades swiftly. Their skin may be foreign — “zwei eins neun sechs”). A few eschew
appear plasticene, or painted on. They wear dark suits, spoken codes and go for codes based on sound (such
always, and sometimes wear dark glasses (whether in as Morse code). Whatever the recording, it’s played
lens or in frame), dark shoes, and dark gloves. over and over again, obviously trying to communicate
some kind of message.
Storytelling Hints: Basically? Act weird. The Men
in Black do not react normally given certain stimuli. These messages are transmitted over a high-
When transmitting bad news or making a threat, frequency signal given low power, receivable only
the stranger may wear a broad smile. When giving by a properly-tuned large antenna and receiver. The
a compliment, the figure may frown or be watching low power makes them difficult — impossible, in this
the ceiling fan revolve or be looking at his own hand case — to triangulate.
as if it’s a marvel of nature. They ask odd questions. So, what are they? Nobody knows, or if they do,
They interrupt others and themselves. They speak they don’t seem willing to share. No government
sometimes in non sequiturs, as if trying to mimic will admit to using them, even though the United
human conversational patterns (and failing). States government persecuted a group of supposed
Cuban nationals (the “Cuban Five”) using a numbers
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 4, Resolve 4
station as evidence in the trial (the so-called “Wasp
Physical Attributes: Strength 6, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3
Network”).
Social Attributes: Presence 2, Manipulation 1, Com-
posure 4 Attempts to jam the stations have met with futility.
Mental Skills: Investigation 5, Occult 5, Science 1
Either the numbers station itself moves frequencies
or, as is normally the case, the jamming attempt fails
Physical Skills: Athletics 3, Brawl 3, Drive 1, Stealth
5, Weaponry 3 for some reason (equipment breaks down, jammer
Social Skills: Intimidation 3
personnel goes missing).
Merits: Direction Sense, Fleet of Foot 3
Willpower: 8 Oh, they’re real alright
Wisdom: n/a
Go to Google, right now. Search for “Conet
Virtue: Justice Project.”
Vice: Wrath
Initiative: 6 You’ll pull up some sites where you can
go and actually listen to Numbers Stations
Defense: 2
— even better, some allow you to download
Speed: 16 (with Fleet of Foot) them as MP3s, so you can play them for your
Health: 8 troupe as examples.
Weapons/Attacks:
Trust us. It’s creepy.
Type Damage Dice Pool Special
Steel Pick 1(L) 10 Armor Piercing 1

Chapter Four: From Stranger Spheres 155

Decode Me summoning, and can in fact themselves be summoned
into this world.
The numbers are codes. People have long suspected
that, and those people are right. The codes are actually
part of what’s known as a “one-time pad” in crypto- Dead Air
graphic terms. Without getting overly technical, a The numbers stations are operated by the dead.
one-time pad is a nearly perfect encryption method, Spectral ghosts, as a matter of fact, transmitting
because it assumes you’re giving a code to someone messages not using shortwave radios at all, but by a
who is in possession of unique decryption materials. unique Numen (see Frequency, p. 160) possessed by
In this case, that person has the “key,” which is often certain ghosts.
one (or more likely, a series) of sheets that has a ran- What is the purpose, then, of the numbers sta-
domized set of letters bound to numbers, and these tions? The cosmology is not precise, but it seems
numbers represent a shift — so, if B = 1, it represents that some ghosts do not go to their just reward (be
a shift one letter over (a “rotation”) to the letter C. it Heaven or Hell), nor do they linger longer on
If B were to instead equal 10, the shift of 10 now this mortal coil, not even in a state of Twilight.
equals L, instead. No, some ghosts go to a very specific Underworld,
In the case of numbers stations, often enough both a realm that exists beneath all else, a bleak and
sides possess a list of randomized letters, but only the blasted land whose topography is bored through
transmitters possesses the numerical shifts, and so the with bottomless holes and endless tunnels. It is here
numbers station is actually transmitting the shifts so that the Specters learn to serve a race of ancient
that the person with the other key can translate. beings (known in some grimoires as the “Helminth,”
An example: the first six letters on the random- or “Hellmenth”). These massive worms are said to
ized key sheet are BBAREC. Now, the numbers exist in varying numbers: some occult tomes have
that come across the station are: 3, 17, 2, 9, 11, 2. them at 144, while others suggest their numbers
These represent the shift — a rotation always mov- are far greater at 144,000. (Then again, this latter
ing right. The translation is then ESCAPE (i.e. the number is numerologically said to be a metaphor
third shift from B is E, the 17th shift from B is S, for “limitless” and “eternal,” so one could infer that
and so forth). either the number remains unknown, or that there
exist an endless array of Hellmenth.)
The translation is made all the more complex by
having the receiver possess more than one randomized The good news is that the Hellmenth cannot en-
sheet of letters — possibly as many as a hundred. (In ter this world unbidden. They are far too large, too
this case, the numbers station must somehow identify potent, to wriggle through from their ruined land
which sheet to use, as well — this might be done by into the material plane. That really is a good thing,
reading letters such as “Foxtrot Tango Charlie,” or because were they to enter this world, it would
through the usage of a certain song, any of which become a place of cosmic, god-like parasites. The
could provide a determination to the receiver as to Hellmenth would bore holes in the material world,
what page to use. Page 33, for instance, might have slowly chewing it apart and turning it to much the
the three-letter code of FTC atop it.) same bleak and blasted land from whence they came
in the first place. The world would become a gray
All of this is an arguably simplistic discussion of
Hell, a desolate sheol.
what is ultimately a very complex cryptography, but
it gets the message across that only the intended re- The bad news is that the ghosts that transmit the
ceiver is really able to decipher the message. Without numbers stations — ghosts known as “the Opera-
the key sheet, the code is meaningless. The numbers tors” — seek to find a way to summon their larval
mean nothing without the sheet, and the sheet means masters to this place so as to become the consumptive
nothing without the numbers. kings of a ruined world. That is the function of the
numbers stations.

The Truth Is Cracking the Code

Numbers stations are not spy tools. They are not The Operators transmit the numbers stations with
the clandestine communiqués between drug- or the goal that someone will decipher them. More
slave-runners. No, these frequencies are a type of specifically, the goal is that mages will decipher them,

156
because magic is a powerful key that might unlock mages gain a +3 to this roll, however, intimating
the doors that will allow the Hellmenth to enter the that somehow the Hellmenth have a sympathetic
Fallen World. connection with the Watchtower of Lead (some
Mages have a couple ways of deciphering the tomes suggest their awful under-realm actually exists
“one-time pad” codes. The first is the standard way, beneath that tower). This is further intimated by the
which is by possessing a key. Without magic, a mage presence of the Operators, who are of course dead
must be given the key, however — but who would entities (ghosts). Success destroys the red obelisk.
ever deliver such a thing? Nobody really knows, The stone spire becomes shot through with endless
but sometimes a key will show up uninvited. It’ll micro-fractures, and then it collapses into hunks
be slipped under a door or left in a mailbox, or of stone that immediately collapse into dust. Oth-
even sent via e-mail. Who’s sending them? While erwise, the obelisk cannot be destroyed. Attacks
certainly it’s possible that the Operators have found fail to damage them. Even a nuclear blast would
a way (an alternate use of the Frequency Numen) destroy everything around it, but would leave the
to relay the information, it’s all the more likely that spire exposed (or, more likely, buried again so that
the keys are delivered by hand via humans who it must be found and uncovered — some degree of
serve the Operators or the Hellmenth. (How might work always seems explicit).
humans come in contact with the Operators? More The world is home to dozens, maybe even hun-
on that can be found below, under “The Operator’s dreds, of such obelisks, though usually they’re hidden
Gift,” p. 158.) in such a way that they cannot be found without
The second way is, of course, using magic. Using effort. However, it only takes six of these obelisks
a conjunctional effect with Fate 2 (for randomly as- to be destroyed to pave the way for the Hellmenth
suring that a key sheet can be found or replicated, to come through. Once six of the obelisks have
similar to “Shifting the Odds” on p. 153 of Mage: been destroyed, the process begins. Somewhere,
The Awakening) and Mind 1 (allowing one’s mind way out where mankind does not go (anywhere
to work on the code from multiple angles, similar to from the Gobi Desert to Lake Vostok), they begin
what’s gained using “One Mind, Two Thoughts” on to crawl into the world — immediately boring
p. 206, Mage The Awakening) can help a mage solve into the Earth’s mantle. Slowly, they’ll begin to
the one-time pad. eat. They hunger for everything, both organic and
The code itself, as transmitted by the numbers sta- inorganic matter. They’ll rise up in the oceans first
tion, is almost always an address. If it’s not an address, (given that the oceans cover most of the planet),
then it’s close to it: a latitudinal and longitudinal point consuming vast quantities of water and fish. They
somewhere on the planet. A single numbers station might disturb the mantle in such a way to trigger
does not give away an entire address. It usually only earthquakes, which in turn trigger tidal waves.
provides five to seven letters or numbers of an address Soon, they’ll come for the towns and cities. They
at a given time. The rest will either be transmitted eat. They digest. They excrete a spectral landscape
by the same numbers station (the transmission may in their wake: human ghosts, animal Specters, the
change after seven days) or will need to be pulled and shades and shadows of buildings and mountains
solved from a separate numbers station on a nearby and forests; all gray and grim, as if covered in a
frequency. veneer of pale dust.
At each point, one will find a red spire. The spires, They do this until the world is destroyed, just as
formed of blood-colored marble and about 10 feet high, much a wreck as the underworld from whence they
are featureless but for a single face-shaped imprint in came. At least, that’s the theory — that’s what’s writ-
the center, about five feet up from the ground. These ten in some of the old books and parchments. (Even
obelisks might be buried, with only a certain portion some early Atlantean texts seemed to tell fearfully of
of the marble showing, or they might actually be inside the coming of the Hellmenth.) It’s never happened
a building (think embedded in a house’s foundation before, thankfully. But it has certainly come close:
or behind crumbling drywall). six obelisks must be destroyed in seven days. If those
Placing one’s face upon the obelisk, a mage may individual obelisks are not unlocked in this time
“unlock” it by succeeding on a Gnosis roll. Moros period, then the gates will not open.

Chapter Four: From Stranger Spheres 157

 ally commit to such a dramatic course of action. So,
how does it happen?
Deciphering Deception, that’s how. Imagine this: you’re a mage,
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult (or Intel- and you’ve been shown the way to bring the Dragons
ligence + Academics) back! Or to allow Atlantis to rise once more, or to
Action: Extended (difficulty of cipher de- bring all the worlds back in harmony, or to summon
termines successes needed, between five and a cabal of true Angels who will help elevate mankind
20 successes, each roll equates to 10 minutes to the next evolutionary level! And all one has to do
of code-cracking) is find the numbers stations, translate the codes, go
Deciphering any kind of cipher or code may to the locations, and unlock the obelisks. So simple
necessitate a roll, even if all the keys and it hurts, right?
necessary information are in the character’s Mages are creatures of secrets and mysteries: they
possession already. Assume that cracking dig up what’s been buried, and many are compelled
the numbers station code while in possession to uncover new information. Some are so compelled
of the keys necessitates 10 total successes. by this act that they fail to truly vet the information
Without the key, some codes cannot be deci- that comes into their hands. So hubristic are they
phered; numbers stations provide one such that they don’t believe that they could be lied to, and
example. so they commit to unlocking these obelisks because
Roll Results they have bought the lies. They open a grimoire
Dramatic Failure: The character fails to that lays it all out in stark detail, or they uncover a
decipher the code, and is so frustrated she prehistoric cave in the south of France that shows a
may not attempt again. In addition, it gives crudely-drawn set of radio frequencies. Usually, it’s
her a headache: all Mental rolls for the re- not something so easy that it seems obvious: again,
mainder of the scene suffer a –1 penalty. mages are creatures of mystery, and it’s only of value
Failure: The code is not cracked.
if they have to pick at the layers to find some kind of
truth. It’s a cruel trick, of course, a vast setup meant
Success: The code is cracked. to fool unwitting mages (ideally, Moros mages) into
Exceptional Success: As with success, instigating the end of the world.
but the character gains a Willpower point as Truly, nothing is to be gained by summoning the
she grows flush with the feeling of triumphant Hellmenth. The Operators, however, are not without
intelligence. their merits…
Suggested Modifiers: In possession of
keys or other necessary information (+3), The Operators’ Gift
no ancillary information to help decipher The Operators have a unique ability other ghosts do
code (–3) not seem to possess: they know of damn near everything
death-related. They can answer any question that in-
volves death. How many people died at the Nanking
The Purpose? Massacre? How did one’s father die? How long ago
The biggest question is, why summon them? They’re did the mysterious corpse in the river perish, and of
going to destroy everything. The entire physical world what causes? They can also answer questions related
will be consumed slowly, probably over the course of to Necromancy: a Moros dealing with an Operator
a decade or two, and then it’s lights out on the living. may gain one or two Arcane Experience points.
Who wants that? A mage has two ways of contacting an Opera-
Some do, certainly. True nihilists, the Scelesti, or tor. The first way is by tracking down an extent
Moros mages who want all the world to be a living Operator broadcasting a numbers station. They’re
graveyard might seek such a fate for this world. But out there, but not necessarily nearby; it’s not as
for the most part, even those types may say they if every city is home to a transmitting numbers
espouse such a grim ending, but they’re usually too station. Moreover, actually finding the location
self-interested (meaning, happy to be alive) to actu- of the signal is difficult. Certainly some hobby-

158
ists (humans) have found ways to triangulate the in on the numbers station frequency, triangulating
rough locations of the stations by using personal it by sensing the spectral energies that form the
and portable radio direction-finding equipment radio frequency.
(jury-rigged, of course). Doing so necessitates an Alternately, a mage may summon an Operator
extended Wits + Crafts roll, with a target number using Outer Channel (p. 144) — Outer Channel
of 20 successes, and each roll equates to an hour’s works despite the fact that an Operator is technically
worth of driving around. The roll suffers a –5 pen- a ghost, because these Specters do not come from any
alty due to the difficulty of triangulation, however. traditional or known realms. Rather, the Hellmenth
Those mundane humans who find an Operator often “underworld” is so far removed from those planes of
end up in thrall to them (and may be the ones who existence that have been mapped and charted that
leave the code keys for unwitting mages). it is necessary to create a channel that connects this
It is likely far better (and perhaps easier) for a place with that one. (Note, however, that one thank-
mage to triangulate a numbers station using magic. fully cannot summon the Hellmenth themselves in
Spells like “Receiver” or “Tune In” (p. 164, Mage this way: they are altogether too powerful and alien
The Awakening) don’t allow the mage to track the to bring here in such a manner.)
frequency, but do allow her to tune into it and com- Using Outer Channel to summon an Operator
municate with an Operator sans radio. Combining necessitates a few tweaks, though. The target number
both Death 1 and Forces 1 allows the mage to hone is now the Operator’s Resistance + the mage’s own

Chapter Four: From Stranger Spheres 159

 Health score, and each turn spent casting the spell grow weak, metal pipes rust, food spoils in minutes.
incurs two points of bashing damage as the mage’s The air shimmers. It also smells of rot, mold, and
body reacts poorly with the death energies that start moisture. They have no physical description, and
to drift across the widening channel. cannot be seen.
Summoning an Operator is not without conse- Storytelling Hints: The Operators can only com-
quences, of course. The Operator exists, anchored municate in codes and numbers. No message is every
to the spot it is summoned, and from there it begins conveyed directly — it is universally heard over the
to broadcast its codes to frequency in the form of a
unlock the Hellmenth. numbers station (usually a
As ghosts, they’re quite slightly mechanical female-
powerful, and are not sounding voice reading off
so easily removed from numbers and letters). Any
this world. In a round- message conveyed can be
about sense, one could translated either by having a
accidentally contribute key sheet or by being on-site
to the summoning of with the Operator itself. The
the Hellmenth. (In fact, Operator’s own “key sheet”
many mages summon an (the series of letters used to
Operator without even decode its transmission) is
realizing what they’re painted on the wall in blood,
really conjuring. They’re often in a seven-by-seven
told that the Operators grid of alpha-code.
know a great deal about Attributes: Power 6, Finesse
death, and so they bring 6, Resistance 6
them into this world Willpower: 12
without having a grasp Morality: 2
of the bigger — and Virtue: Faith
stranger — picture.) Vice: Envy
Essence: 15 (max 15)
Operator Initiative: 12
Background: As Defense: 6
above. The Operators Speed: 0 (Operator cannot
enter this world as im- move from where it is sum-
material entities existing moned)
in Twilight, and they Size: 5
broadcast their numbers Corpus: 11
stations to “unlock” the Numina: Ghost Sign, Fre-
obelisks that apparently quency (see below), Magnetic
hold the Hellmenth at bay. Disruption, Telekinesis
Description: The Operators are not materialized New Numen:
ghosts, and exist solely in Twilight. They do have Frequency: Similar to Ghost Sign, the ghost can
ancillary effects upon their environment, however. broadcast its voice over a radio or television band.
Usually, an Operator anchors itself to a room, and Spend one Essence and roll Power + Finesse. If the
that room features certain physical characteristics roll fails, nothing happens. If the roll succeeds, the
born as a result of the ghost’s presence. Flies, mag- ghost can repeat a message (no longer than five min-
gots, cockroaches and other vermin associated with utes in length) over that frequency for up to a single
death and decay (rarely anything larger than a rat, day (24 hours). The message is never perfect, and is
though) appear. The room itself decays in minor usually hampered by bouts of static and other radio
ways: wallpaper peels, wooden floors buckle or interruptions.

160
 uncial, or twelfths — five-twelfths being the value of
the quincunx coin).
Story Hooks The symbol has strong religious, spiritual and
Below are a number of story hooks using occult inferences, as well, with the quincunx often
numbers station as their focus: being thought of as an arrangement that invokes
• The cabal receives a letter or a piece of stability and order. The Olmec arranged items in
parchment (perhaps scanned and sent over a quincunx pattern to delineate a sacred space.
e-mail), and it features the key sheet neces- Vodoun practitioners often use the symbol to “seal
sary to decipher the codes transmitted by a in a trick,” i.e. to create a space where a spell can
numbers station. The key sheet itself is dotted be locked in and performed properly. Some pagan
with blood, and someone has used that blood rituals arrange candles in the quincunx pattern
to write a radio frequency in the upper right on an altar, and early alchemists believed the
corner of the document. arrangement was key to the prima essentia of the
• A fellow cabal, be they competitors or Philosopher’s Stone.
allies, have taken to deciphering the num- So, if this symbol is meant to invoke a sense of spiri-
bers stations and tracking down the spires tual and magical stability, why is it then that moments
on a swift, globe-trotting adventure. Problem of madness — riots, atrocity, outbreaks of disease,
is, the characters learn the truth, and must break-outs at insane asylums and prisons — the quin-
intercept that cabal before the unwittingly
cunx symbol appears as a physical manifestation, an
unleash the Hellmenth into this world. That
means translating the numbers stations and
entity composed of five strobing lights? The presence
potentially dealing with the Operators. of these apparent entities does not seem to soothe the
situation; stability is by no means the result of their
• The Operators are ghosts. That means appearance. In fact, the more that appear, the worse
they were once alive. A young girl comes
the situation seems to become — those individuals
to the characters and tells them her father
present seem to succumb to madness with hair-trigger
died five years ago, but he’s been “talking”
to her again on her radio late at night. It’s a ease. What are these things?
numbers station, and it’s his voice doing the
reading of the numbers. Two things become Description and Manifestation
apparent: first, this girl is this close to Awak- Each entity appears as a series of five flashing lights
ening. Second, this Operator obviously retains arranged in the quincunx pattern. They are approxi-
some level of personality from his life, and mately the dimensions of a bath towel (unfurled into
is connected to this girl. Does that mean the a rectangle). The symbols are not consistent between
Operators can be redeemed? Can they be entities — one quincunx might offer flashing lights
turned from worshiping the Hellmenth para-
that are little more than dots, whereas another has
sites and be turned toward some manner of
strobe pulses that look more like intricate mandalas,
just reward?
swastikas, star patterns, and the like.
It’s uncertain whether the quincunx appear at mo-

The Quincunx
Pick up a six-sided die and look at the fifth side, or
ments of madness or, as some suspect, they appear
earlier and actually help to stir events into the chaos
that they become.
instead grab a playing card and look at the symbols When one or several quincunx is present, the fol-
present. Or, more specifically, look at the arrangement lowing effects are in play:
of the symbols: one symbol in each corner, and a • Those nearby (within a radius of 100 yards of the
single symbol in the center. This is a quincunx ar- entity) gain a mild derangement. They all gain the
rangement, and it is found in architecture, money, art, same mild derangement. However, those who already
astrology, and religious ritual. It forms the foundation possess one (or several) derangements do not gain
for a number of sacred mosques. It is the pattern one any new lunacies.
uses to plant trees in an orchard. It forms the basis of • For every quincunx nearby (100 yards), any Re-
early Roman coinage (the coins being 12 oz, and the solve + Composure rolls made to resist giving into a
word “quincunx” coming from quinque, or five, and derangement suffer a –2 penalty, cumulative. Moods

Chapter Four: From Stranger Spheres 161

 get set on edge. Anxiety tears at one’s mental walls.
Negative feelings are amplified, and positive feelings
Summoning
Before discussing the means to summon the quin-
are quashed. cunx, the better question to be asked is: why summon
• A character’s memory is no longer his own while a them at all? What does a mage have to gain from
quincunx is nearby (100 yards). Any who are affected one of these entities? Obviously, the presence of one
by the quincunx at that moment find themselves or many such entities is dangerous to the sanity and
besieged by flashes of intense memories — but these stability of an area: a high cost for what appears to
memories are not the character’s own. He experi- be little reward.
ences remembered events from those who are near But for some, the reward is strong enough. Two
him — seemingly random, and always events that rewards, actually, await those who are willing to risk
were highly charged with perilous, negative emotions inviting a quincunx into the world.
(car crash, death of a father, loss of one’s worldly
The first reward is, as noted above, memories. The
possessions). These flashes incur a –3 penalty to all
quincunx grab memories from everyone nearby and
other Mental rolls (not including the one made to
dice them up, disseminating them amongst all who
resist derangement effects). Physical and Social rolls
are affected. One character suffered a near-death ex-
remain unaffected.
perience 10 years ago and still suffers nightmares from
A quincunx is technically visible to mundane it — and, now the memories of that traumatic event
mortals, but they simply don’t seem to notice the are potentially fresh in the minds of everybody nearby.
pulsing entities unless their presence is pointed They all know it. If the circumstances around that
out. However, the manifestation of these chaotic event were secret, they’re now all aware of the once-
entities does “ping the radar” of anybody with any concealed facts and elements, meaning that when the
manner of Unseen Sense, as well as any mage with quincunx are present, secrets become ill-kept.
the Sibyl’s Sight (p. 149, Mage: The Awakening).
Mages with the Mind Arcanum can, with a little
To a mage with either of these, they can perceive
finesse, actually use this to their advantage. Any
the tangled skein of Fate starting to unravel, and
spells or rotes cast to read the minds of those nearby
not in a good way. (The mage Sight spell might
or work telepathy (using, say, Voice from Afar, Te-
offer a strange smell to the air, like ozone before
lepathy, Read the Depths) gain +3 to the attempt.
a lightning strike, and the character’s heart-rate
(Although, attempts to cloud one’s own mind from
might start to increase unnaturally.)
such incursions — with Memory Hole or Mental
Quincunx feed off of madness and chaos. The more Shield, for instance — suffer –3 to the roll.)
individuals present who have given into derangements
In addition, the second benefit experienced by those
(i.e. failed the Resolve + Composure roll to resist)
who might summon the quincunx is how easily it opens
only serves to bring more quincunx: for every three
the conduits of the soul to accept Mind magic more
lost to madness at present, another of the mad entities
easily. While in the presence of a quincunx, a mage
is certain to appear. And, of course, that means the
may find it easy to increase his awareness of the Mind
presence of these beings feeds on one another, because
Arcanum. Exposure to a quincunx can grant Arcane
the more of them found at a scene, the harder it is for
Experience, applicable only to purchasing new dots
characters to resist derangements.
in the Mind Arcanum (rather than Gnosis).
The quincunx serve to foment chaotic events to
Now comes the question: how does one summon
a boiling point — when the madness reaches its
such an entity? It becomes necessary to open a channel
pinnacle and some kind of “tipping point” occurs
between wherever the quincunx come from and this
(the inmates burn down the asylum, the rioters kill
plane of existence. This summoning spell at the fore
a prominent politician, the crowd holds hands and
of the chapter (Outer Channel) works to summon
leaps off the Golden Gate Bridge to their demise),
the Quincunx, but the act of conjuring these strange
then all the quincunx disappear once more. When
beings requires a few tweaks to that spell:
they disappear, any temporary derangements gained
as a result of their presence fade, though permanent • The act of summoning a quincunx has power-
ones remain. Penalties, as noted above, also disap- ful — and not pleasant — effects on a mage’s mind.
pear at the moment the entities leave this plane She feels deep enervation occurring, and suffers odd
of existence. hallucinations and moments of powerful anxiety. Each

162
 roll in the extended action to summon the quincunx The following, however, is a ritual, non-magical so-
leeches a point of Willpower away. If she has yet to lution to gain protection against the madness-causing
succeed on the action but has no Willpower, she effects of the quincunx. This ritual is based on the
cannot complete the summoning. Vodoun practice of “sealing a trick,” or providing some
• Sleeper witnesses make for more trouble than stability to a spell in a given ritual space.
usual — they cannot comprehend the manifestation The characters must place five bottles in a rectan-
of a quincunx. The Paradox modifier doubles when gular room. Each bottle must be filled with a mixture
one or more Sleeper witnesses are present, from +2 of graveyard dirt and salt, and then the bottles must
to +4 (p. 123, Mage: The Awakening). be sealed (capped or with wax) and hidden at the
• A mage who holds a physical representation of quincunx positions of the room (i.e. one bottle at
a quincunx symbol in her hand (a six-sided die, a each of the four corners, with the fifth in the center).
domino, a playing card) gains +1 to the roll to sum- “Hidden” is key — the bottles must be concealed by
mon. some manner, either under furniture, beneath a rug,
or literally below the floorboards. This creates a non-
Dealing with the Quincunx literal, invisible set of “crossroads” that the strange
The madness of invading quincunx is infectious and beings may not cross.
often deadly. It spreads like brushfire, or like a disease This space is now protected from the quincunx
vector: mages cannot afford to go mad, not when the entities. No such entity may enter this space, and
magic they wield can do such irrevocable harm. the effects of being in the presence of such a creature
are utterly nullified. It is, quite literally, a ritualized

Chapter Four: From Stranger Spheres 163

 space of some sanity. Corpus: 13
(Some say this space works on a number of other Influence: Madness 5
levels. Rumors suggest that rolls to resist madness made Numina: Blast, Harrow, Innocuous, Materialize
in such a space gain +5, and that any kind of spirit Ban: The spirit may not attack anyone holding a
may not manifest or negatively effect the practitioners physical representation of a quincunx pattern (six-
while within these “sacred crossroads.”) sided die, playing card, domino).
One can attack the quincunx as one might attack
any spirit, but an attack on a single entity draws the
attention of all of them. Story Hooks
The Quincunx Below you’ll find three separate story hooks
that might draw players toward encounters
Background: As above. The quincunx are puz- with the quincunx.
zling spirits of madness, and multiple theories exist
to explain them, with little proof backing up each • Someone hands the cabal a book — a
journal, actually, written by someone who
hypothesis. Some mages believe they’re creatures
self-identifies as the “Mad Magician of the
of chaos, hell-bent on breaking down our plane of Blackwater Bayou.” This journal purports
existence — perhaps, they say, chaos in this world to detail in-depth the nature of the quin-
strengthens the order in theirs. Others posit a more cunx, and how they are actually the ghosts
radical theory: they come to bring order through of some remnant race that lived here long
chaos. As entropy breaks systems down, new systems before Atlantis rose and fell, and that they
arise and often in a more ordered way (it’s as simple were banished from this plane of existence.
as noting when an old building is demolished, a They return to try to destroy our world and
new — and often better, more stable — structure is make it once again habitable for them. Is
built in its place). The spirits therefore arrive and the Mad Mage right? Can the characters
incur entropy that leads, ideally, to greater order read between the lines and come to realize
(or even extropy — a transhuman strengthening that the Mad Mage was himself a sum-
moner of the quincunx? Driven mad by
of our species).
their existence?
Description: Five pulses of light in a quincunx
pattern. The pulsing lights may just be that, or may • They have him bound to a chair: John
reveal uniform symbols (such as mandalas). Carver County, serial murderer, addict to
the occult. He has kidnapped children —
Storytelling Hints: The quincunx are inscrutable. thirteen of them, by his story, one of whom
They hover. They seem to watch, passive, as the world is a family member to the cabal. They need
gathers. When more than one is present, all of them to plumb the depths of his mind to find out
hover together, urging closer to the chaos, as if hungry where the kids are, but either the mages
for it. One cannot communicate normally with the aren’t capable enough or he’s thrown up
quincunx. They cannot be compelled to communi- some kind of mental wall (he’s no mage,
cate — doing so is dangerous for the mage, and may but still a capable occultist). Someone sug-
cause misery or madness. The quincunx surely think, gests summoning a quincunx to facilitate.
though their thoughts are plainly not comprehensible Do the characters know what that entails?
even by the most powerful Awakened mind… but that Do they realize the consequences?
doesn’t stop some from trying, does it? • They’ve been spotted everywhere. Locally.
Rank: 4 Across town. Two cities over. Quincunx, more
Attributes: Power 10, Finesse 10, Resistance 10 every hour. Nothing’s happened, not yet, but
surely madness bubbles beneath the surface,
Willpower:
fomented by the presence of these flashing,
Essence: 25 (25 max) five-symbol entities. What can be done? Why
Initiative: 20 are they here? Who called them?
Defense: 10
Speed: 25
Size: 3

164
Vouivre
This is why they summon her: for her venom. She
besotted mages surely would take great satisfaction
in having defeated a creature with such a potent and
magical bloodline.
is not a woman, though most times she looks to be Of course, some claim she is an arrogant serpent
one. She is a serpent, a wyvern that sometimes wears deserving to be butchered. She is a Cerynean Hind,
the guise of female human flesh. Mages do not know a Nemean Lion: just another beast to be hunted.
precisely what she is or from whence she comes, only
that her presence exists way out in the stars, deep in The Venom
the potent black of the night-time cosmos. Her venom — milked from the sacs that feed her
vicious curved fangs — is both poison and drug. She
Theories must be killed to claim it; she will not give it freely,
Some say she is not one creature, but many — that and curiously once her teeth are removed (a necessity
when you summon La Vouivre, you summon a single to get at the sacs), she starts to die anyway, her flesh
creature that belongs to an entire race. Others say she blackening and withering.
is truly singular, a being that is summoned, killed, and The poison itself is a turbid, cloudy fluid (think
reborn again in the stars. liquid egg whites both in color and consistency). If
Other, more troubling theories exist: she is a dragon, it’s ingested, it’s poisonous. Deadly so, working on the
some claim, an eldritch viper whose heritage belongs body swiftly with a Toxicity rating of 10 and doing
with those Dragons that bestowed magic upon the aggravated damage to the body as it runs through the
willworkers of Atlantis. Is this true? Most don’t want flesh. It scours the internals, turning most of one’s
to believe it, for that seems to elevate their hunting insides to a bloody churn.
of her to a truly cosmic crime, though some pride-

Chapter Four: From Stranger Spheres 165

 +1 to cast, but some Arcana (Life, Mind, Spirit) gain
+3 to cast.
Unquantifiable Morality • Use of the venom as drug is addictive. One’s
Some creatures here — such as the generally hooked after the first “hit.” To determine
wyvern, or the Men in Black — do not have whether a character is addicted, that player should
quantifiable Morality scores. It just doesn’t roll Resolve + Composure with a penalty equal to
matter. Surely they follow some code, but it’s the hours spent under the drug’s effects (cumula-
not something the mages are really capable
tive — all hours ever spent). Once hooked, assume
of discovering or understanding; that way
the character has the Addicted Flaw (p. 218, World
leads madness.
of Darkness Rulebook). This is how entire cults of
And yet, these beings do possess a Virtue wyvern-summoners come to be: like-minded addicts
and Vice score. While they may not them- looking to take down La Vouivre just to get another
selves comprehend what it means, it’s a “taste.”
good way for the Storyteller to thematically
approach how to use these entities, and
moreover how they might act and regain
La Vouivre (“The Wyvern”)
their power. Quote: You should not have called me. This is not my
world anymore.
Background: As above. She is folkloric, La Vouivre
— a woman who is not a woman at all, but a serpent,
However, if the venom is “cooked” (think heroin
a viper, a dragon.
on a spoon) to over 150 degrees Fahrenheit, the fluid
loses its cloudy consistency and becomes clarified. Description: In her human guise, she is unnaturally
Once clarified, a character can inject it into the beautiful and never clothed. Her skin seems to shim-
bloodstream. mer and gleam, as if covered with a sheen of sweat,
but closer inspection reveals no such moisture. Her
It’s still not safe, not exactly. The character must
hair is always black, as are her eyes. As a serpent, she
roll Resolve + Composure and subtract the successes
does not change Size but instead walks on all fours —
from 10 — the resultant number is how many hours
lithe disjointed limbs that jut from her snake’s belly.
the “experience” lasts. Every hour, the character gains
Her skin is iridescent, the scales shining in black and
or suffers from the following effects:
violet. It is her great maw that mages seek: an alliga-
• The character takes a single point of lethal tor’s nest of teeth with curved snake fangs contained
damage. This damage is Resistant Damage (p. 124, within. Fat, grub-like poison sacs sit attached to the
Mage: The Awakening). This causes no pain, but it roof of her mouth with tough tissue, and it is the
is representative of the body’s systems starting to shut venom in these sacs that operates as a powerful drug
down. Usually, liver and pancreatic functions take a to the willworkers that consume it.
hit early, which is how those dosing on wyvern venom
Storytelling Hints: It’s easy to make the wyvern a
are identified with ease: their skin takes a notably
sympathetic creature — in some ways, it truly is a sad
jaundiced look after the first hour.
thing. It’s pulled into this world only to be hunted.
• The character suffers hallucinations that are Few seek to actually learn from her (not that she’d
generally pleasing. The hallucinations often seem be all that helpful), and most just want to kill it and
to confirm the character’s desires and dreams, and milk her poison sacs to enhance their own magics
may actually urge her toward committing actions (and to experience the raw sensation). That being
that would appease her Vice. No roll is necessary, said, La Vouivre is a haughty creature who believes
the character may resist without much effort, but the that mages are, for the most part, a nest of idiots. She
urge is present nevertheless. Hallucinations, however, is given over to profound fits of hubris (not always
do cause some penalties: –3 to all Mental rolls, –1 to unjustified), and represents tremendous power. She’ll
Physical rolls. Social rolls assume no penalty, and in give most cabals a major run for their money, even
fact the venom causes a certain gleeful exuberance as a lone creature. Remember, as much as she’s the
that adds +2 to Socialize rolls. hunted, she’s also a hunter: not at all human, and
• Magic is easier for the mage. It seems to flow despite her human body, she is of alien intelligence.
more profoundly from her, almost as if it wants to If she gets a victim in her grip, she might bite him to
pour free from her body and mind. All magic gains

166
make it quick… or she might slice him open, nuts to Hence, she’s only sure to actually inject the venom via
neck, and toy with his bones and innards. bite when she is truly threatened, or wants to deliver
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 4, Wits 5, Resolve 4 a potential death blow to a victim.
Physical Attributes: Strength 7, Dexterity 5, Stamina 7 Wildness Within (Life): La Vouivre has access to
Social Attributes: Presence 5, Manipulation 5, Com- the following Life-based spells: Purify Bodies (Life 2),
posure 3 Control Median Life (Life 3), Enfeeblement (Life 4).
Mental Skills: Investigation 4, Medicine 1, Occult 5 Each costs her one Willpower, not Mana, and each is
Physical Skills: Athletics 5, Brawl 7, Stealth 3, Sur- activated via an Intelligence + Presence roll.
vival 4
Social Skills: Empathy 3, Intimidation 5, Persuasion
3, Subterfuge 3 Story Hooks
Merits: Brawling Dodge, Fast Reflexes 2, Toxin Re-
Check out the following story hooks using
sistance
La Vouivre:
Willpower: 7
Wisdom: n/a • One of the characters needs some extra
Virtue: Justice juice to get a spell going, and someone offers
her a taste of a milky fluid — just heat it up,
Vice: Wrath
inject it in, and the magic will flow all the
Initiative: 8
easier. Why not, right? Except, oops. It’s ad-
Defense: 5 dictive. And worse, now the character needs
Size: 5 more, and the only way to get it is to help
Speed: 22 (species factor of 10) summon and hunt down another wyvern.
Health: 12
• Someone begs and pleads with the char-
Armor: 5/3 acters: save her, they’re killing her. La Vouivre
Weapons/Attacks: is a majestic being, they say, a clear scion to
Type Damage Dice Pool Special the magic-giving Dragons of long ago. And
Claw 2(L) 16 Can perform in either yet, the hunting party is happy to have the
form characters join them instead. Who do they
Bite 1(L) 15 Can perform in either help? If they help to save the wyvern, does
form; success = Toxicity she care? Does she turn on them? Or is there
5 poison, agg. damage a greater gift she can give them, something
far better than the venom that sits in the sacs
Special:
in her mouth?
Acute Defense: She does not lose Defense due to
multiple attackers. • The characters summon her, but this
time… something’s gone terribly wrong.
Great Leap: She has no wings and may not fly,
There’s supposed to be just one, isn’t there?
but she can leap unusual distances. Triple any of the
But now, she comes in an army of lithe
jumping distances available to humans (see “Jumping,” lizard-limbed women and human-faced
World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 66) legged serpents. One of them is hard enough
Venomous Bite: If she succeeds on a bite attack, she to kill — what about 10? Or 20? Or 50? The
may spend a Willpower point to inject the victim with old saying, “Never let more snakes out of the
a dose of poison. This venom is as described above: bag than you’re able to kill” has become truly
Toxicity 5, and caused aggravated damage. Truth is, apt, here, teaching the cabal how dangerous
she only has enough “doses” in her equal to her Size the act of summoning can really be.
(5), and a dose regenerates at a rate of one per month.

Chapter Four: From Stranger Spheres 167

168
Chapter Five:
Otherworldly
Compacts
She screamed, her breath frosting in the chill winter air.
Outside, the driving snow piled against the sides of the decrepit tenement, long since aban-
doned by anyone with the option of being anywhere else. Despite this, however, Malice’s simple,
threadbare garments lay piled nearby, atop a rusty old boiler, still and silent; as cold as
the icy concrete upon which she writhed, every nerve in her body was alight with agony.
The Gulmoth’s hunger was seemingly insatiable, gnawing away at bone and nerve tissue
with savage abandon. She chanted a mantra, over and over again, in her mind: This is what
I want. This is what I want. This is what I want…
Every so often, a nearly unbearable spasm would make Malice’s body reflexively contort
in some way that enabled her to glimpse the small of her back with the gruesome, poisonous
yellow orb in her left eyesocket, and she could see the Abyssal spirit slowly devouring and
replacing her spinal column. When the first few rows of slender bone quills began to extend
down the center line of her back, the willworker shrieked again. Overwhelmed by pain, she
instinctively attempted to hide, her chameleonic skin shifting to same mottled gray coloration
as the floor. But the Gulmoth was already within her, and there was no escaping this pain
that she was now certain would kill her.
And, then — just like that — it was over.
Malice lay, unmoving, for several long moments, drawing slow, deep, shuddering breaths,
before rolling out of the fetal position and collecting her limbs beneath her. As she stood,
hot trails of blood ran from the scores of ivory-white spines protruding from her back and,
from there, down her legs, to pool at the soles of her feet. The willworker left crimson
tracks in the dust as she stepped around a tall pile of old junk, to regard the one relatively
new addition leaning against its far side. As she willed her flesh back to its normal shade,
Malice gazed into the full-length mirror, curious as to the results of her final chrysalis.
That baleful yellow left eye stared back at her, along with the blue right one. Her
skin, while marred by livid scarlet stains, was still corpse-white, with a fine network of
translucent black veins just beneath the surface. She turned a bit, to see the bristling bone
quills jutting from the line of her spinal column; short at the small of her back and where
they protruded from base of her skull, and gradually lengthening to be longest between her
shoulder blades.
She reached out to the mirror, delicately touching its chill surface. Fog quickly condensed
on the glass in a hazy corona around each fingertip. With her free hand, Malice caressed
her own cheek. A tear rolled from the corner of her right eye — the left was incapable of
crying. Ever so slowly, a smile curved her ashen lips.
“Beautiful.”
Malice heaved a blissful sigh.
Finally beautiful. Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 169
 Saith Osiris Ani: “Hail, thou mighty one, come unto Tattu.
Make thou my paths and let me pass round [to visit] my thrones.
Make me to renew myself and make me to wax strong.
Grant that I may be feared, and make me to be a terror.
May the gods of the underworld fear me, and may they fight for me in their habitations.
Let not him that would do harm to me draw nigh to me.
Let me walk through the house of darkness…”
—The Egyptian Book of the Dead

Summoning is a dangerous business, a school of intended to appeal to the nihilistic and all-consuming
magic created and sustained by its own highly complex hatred of the Gulmoth.
systems of rules and arcane formulae. For each entity The systems presented here are more than just die
that can be called to attend the summoner, a ritual or rolls and dots on sheets to the characters who make
incantation exists. Mages have developed spells and use of them; they are fascinating and terrifying, like
even Legacies to capitalize upon the myriad nuances the predatory gaze of a Bengal tiger or the explosive
of summoning, and certain trained or ingrained quali- eruption of a volcano. Mages should approach this
ties contribute to this perilous craft. magic with reverence and respect, not merely because
In this chapter, you will find these sorts of systems it is dangerous, but also because it touches upon so
and more. Of especial interest are the mechanics for many worlds, making manifest their wonders and
pacts — mystically binding agreements forged between horrors within the Fallen World.
mages and the things that they call from disparate
worlds. These elaborate give-and-take arrangements
are perhaps the cornerstone of summoning, allowing Incorporating Summoning
willworkers to ask boons of the creatures of the various Some of the rules in this chapter are quite easy to in-
realms of creation and compelling service, in kind; troduce into your chronicle, while others require a more
one of the most ancient and primal forms of magic patient approach, but any or even all can be worked
known to humanity. into most any Awakening game, given a bit of time and
thought. A Scelestus of the Legion can be dropped into

The Summoner’s Art your chronicle as a behind-the-scenes antagonist with

players none the wiser… until her hideous and disfiguring
For all of the various rules to be found in this chapter, Attainments come into play, anyway. On the other hand,
it is important to keep in mind that summoning is an pacts need to be carefully considered and their benefits
art form, just as much as it is a science. There is a sort weighed against their drawbacks; not merely for the char-
of poetry and a tremendous beauty and grace to this acter, but also for the sort of story you want to tell.
singularly dangerous pursuit. Invocations tend to use
powerful, moving language, as willworkers command, Ancient and New
coerce, invite, or even seduce the subjects of their Perhaps the most important question in introducing
summonings. Some of the oldest surviving human these (or any) new systems into a chronicle intended
writings are spells directed at various supernatural to encompass old knowledge is how to do so without
powers and these are almost always written in grand, making such practices appear, effectively, out of thin
ceremonial language. air. Fortunately, the practice of summoning is a rela-
Likewise, many of the wards and circles employed in tively secretive one; mages who work these magics
summoning are, themselves, like works of art. Goetic don’t typically advertise such information, out of fear
seals, for example, or the veves used to call down the that they will be — rightly or wrongly — branded as
loa, are often quite intricate, requiring a skilled hand threats to local Awakened society, or even accused of
and a sense of proportion and aesthetics. Summoning consorting with malevolent powers. Willworkers, just
chambers are usually crafted to establish a particular like Sleepers, often become frightened by that which
emotional resonance; a room built to honor the Angels they do not know or understand and, just like Sleepers,
of the Aether should look entirely different from one can have some very irrational reactions to fear.

170
 The myths and enigmas of summoning resonate
with the sense of ancient mystery inherent to Mage:
The Awakening, as powers potentially older than the Summoning for Dummies
world itself dispense strange wisdom to those with At the Storyteller’s permission, these
the courage (or foolhardiness) to ask. Like almost rules can provide guidelines for non-mages
any movement within the Awakened world smaller capable of summoning otherworldly entities.
than a Pentacle Order, summoners are a secretive and Mystically-inclined vampires, Prometheans
sometimes insular lot. They don’t often, or easily, part of the Ulgan lineage, or even mortals utiliz-
with the secrets of their trade and just finding a mage ing the rules provided in Second Sight
willing to teach the magics of summoning to a student might be able to strike such deals. Where
these rules contradict other similar rules
— let alone convincing her to actually do so — can
(such as those for pledges in Changeling:
be a major chronicle goal, in and of itself. The Lost, those for rites and gifts in Were-
Alternatively, you may choose to debut the wonder wolf: The Forsaken and those for creating
and terror of summoning on a grander and more obvi- Changeling Contracts in Equinox Road),
ous stage, as powers go awry and the seals of binding those rules take precedence.
fail, initiating the cabal into the perils of summon-
ing as a trial by fire. Many of the spells, enchanted
objects, Legacies, Merits and Flaws, and other such
systems presented here (and elsewhere in this book) however, an individual convinces a summoner to call
can be used to illustrate the threats inherent to sum- forth an entity on her behalf so that she can strike a pact
moning magic. However you choose to introduce without necessarily being able to summon or control
the systems in this book will color the perspectives the spirit herself. Mucking about in powers one doesn’t
of the player characters. A long chase through the understand, however, can be disastrous. Additionally,
occult underbelly of the Consilium and surrounding sometimes the entities take the initiative, seeking out
communities to discover the lore of, say, Supernal a mage to corrupt without being summoned. This is
summoning from a reclusive Master will leave them most often the case with Acamoth.)
with an entirely different sense of the practice than These rules do not serve as an alternative to role-
the gruesome consequences that ensue when a trusted playing the deal with the devil. While players should
and honored Curator of the Mysterium accidentally work with the Storyteller to determine what benefits
releases a ravening Gulmoth when his bindings fail. and costs their characters are agreeing to while us-
ing this method, the characters don’t have access to

Pacts
Summoners refer to the agreements forged between
these rules. Storytellers are encouraged to portray the
otherworldly entities the characters traffic with as
unknowable and frightening, even if the player knows
summoned entities and themselves as pacts. A pact what’s going on from a mechanical standpoint.
serves as a mechanical benefit granted to the character Which is not to say, however, that Storytellers
in exchange for a disadvantage he willingly under- and players should work out the pact as a foregone
takes. Pacts balance against themselves; they cost no conclusion before the character actually deals with
experience. While a pact may grant temporary traits, the entity. Doing so may take some of the unknown
experience is never paid to create a pact or to gain out of the interaction, reducing it to the narrative
the benefits the pact grant. import of checking out with the cashier at a super-
market. Instead, perhaps the Storyteller and player

Forging Pacts work to establish the finer points of the pact after the
character has summoned the entity and earned its
What follows provides for the mechanical consider- respect (or compelled its control). Conversely, the
ations of striking a bargain with an otherworldly entity. Storyteller and player can work out what the player
Before such a pact can be agreed to, an individual wants before the summoning occurs, but the cost
must possess the knowledge and capacity necessary may rise or fall depending on how well the character
to summon such an entity, communicate with it, comports herself. The guidelines for pacts are only
and possibly even bind it. A character without those guidelines; no occult truism exists within them, and
abilities cannot enter into a pact. (On rare occasions, antagonistic entities may charge a higher price for a

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 171

 bonus than what is listed here while a particularly time. Furthermore, no powers granted to the charac-
powerful mage may compel a greater request. These ter through the pact (see contracts, below) count as
guidelines do provide balance, however, so bend them spells. No aspect or benefit of a pact garners Paradox
only for compelling reasons. or Disbelief, even if they bring a character’s traits to
inhuman levels of adroitness. (These facets alone lead
The Basics many mages down this path.) Finally, no boon granted
Four distinct aspects make up every pact. The by a pact nor the pact itself can be affected through
request connotes what the character gains from the counter-magic. Note that the summoning itself does
pact. The cost establishes what the character agrees not count as part of the pact, and is likely subject to
to provide to the summoned entity in exchange for all of the above frailties of Awakened magic.
its service. The term determines the period of time The presence of a pact can be discerned through the
that the character has to pay the cost (and that the use of resonance scrutiny or the Prime spell Supernal
entity has to provide the service, if it isn’t an increase Sight (as well as through other aura-reading powers
in the mage’s abilities). Finally, the forfeiture governs that grant information on the nature of a being). Un-
what the character sacrifices if she fails to uphold her der such senses, the pact manifests as bands coursing
end of the bargain. through the beneficiary’s aura. The bands typically
The rules define each aspect by its level: minor, seem dark, but the color may vary depending on
medial, or major. Each level correlates to a numerical the nature of the entity that holds the forfeiture of
value, one for minor, two for medial, and three for major. the pact. Unfortunately for other mages, no specific
The type of aspect determines whether this value is information about the pact can be gleaned through
positive or negative. The rules measure request and scrutiny, only the fact that it exists.
term as positive values and cost and forfeiture as
negative values. Generally, the values for the request Combining Pact Aspects
and cost must cancel one another out while the values Aspects of a pact come in three basic levels: minor,
for the term and forfeiture must similarly sum to zero. medial, and major. While these values have to combine
Storytellers may shift this slightly in situations where to cancel one another out, they do not always do so
the summoned wrings a greater cost from the sum- in the most direct way (a summoner does not always
moner than she gets in return from her request (or make a major request for a major cost). The aspects
vice versa), but the overall value of the pact (the sum have numerical values, as listed above, but they do not
of all four aspects taken together) must equal zero. combine directly. Instead, two minor aspects combine
Players determine the number of pacts from which a to equal a single medial aspect, while two medial aspects
given character can benefit at any given time based on combine to form a major aspect (one plus one equals
her Gnosis. A character may benefit only from three two, in other words, but two plus two equals three).
pacts plus one for each third dot of Gnosis possessed This means that four minor aspects count as a single
(thus a character with Gnosis 2 can strike 3 pacts, but major aspect. In the case of an uneven remainder, the
can add another when she attains Gnosis 3, another cost rounds up to the next highest level. (A character
at Gnosis 6, and yet another at Gnosis 9). No mage who makes a request consisting of a single minor and
can ever benefit from more than six pacts at a given a single medial boon combines the two aspects into
time (and few mages consider it wise to stretch one’s a single major aspect). Epic or apocalyptic (see Epic
obligations to otherworldly powers so thin anyway). Pacts, p. 178) terms or costs can be used to offset the
The precise rationale for this truth is unknown, but value of opposing aspects (an apocalyptic aspect equals
most mages suspect that an individual’s pattern can two epic aspects, and an epic aspect equals two major
only withstand the metaphysical weight of so many aspects), but a character may not combine major or
agreements. Many mages attuned to numerology lesser aspects to garner a request or term of epic or
suspect that the maximum number of pacts is actually apocalyptic magnitude.
seven, but that the seventh (or the first, depending The way these combine can lead to several varia-
on how one looks at it) is made between every mage tions in the way pacts work without breaking the
with her Watchtower upon Awakening. rules. For example, a character making a request for
Pacts do not count as spells for any reason, includ- adroitness (see below) may choose to add three dots
ing spell tolerance or the maximum number of active to a single Skill for the period of the term as a single
spells that can be cast on an individual at any given major aspect, or he could add four dots to four different

172
 Skills as four minor aspects (which combine into a When establishing the value of a character’s request,
single major aspect). Similarly, an antagonistic spirit it is often helpful to determine what the character
may try to get the better of a summoner by building will ask of the summoned entity before checking the
the term of the pact from smaller blocks. Typically, a associated values. Once the choice has been made,
term of the major aspect is at least a month. A canny determine the value based on the guidelines below,
spirit may attempt to decrease this period of servitude and determine an appropriate cost based on that value.
by doling it out as two weeks (two medial aspects), or That cost is what the spirit requires before being will-
worse, four days (four minor aspects)! Suffice it to say, ing to provide what has been requested.
those who treat with spirits from other realms must Artifacts
be careful not to be hoodwinked. A character who makes the Artifact request garners
an Artifact, as described in Mage: The Awakening.
Such Artifacts are always on loan from the Supernal
Forging a Pact Realms from which they are issued, and they vanish
The step-by-step process for creating pacts
at the culmination of the pact’s term, no matter how
follows: well-hidden they may be at that time. Artifacts seem
to enter the Fallen World with a specific destiny, and
Step One: Determine the request. What no Artifact ever appears to the same summoner twice.
does the summoner want from the entity? No summoner may benefit from more than one pact
Establish a positive value for it.
including the Artifact request at any given time,
Step Two: Determine the cost. Choose a and few Awakened find that they are ever offered a
cost appropriate to the entity that counterbal- second Artifact. In short, a mage who gains such a
ances the value of the request. When the boon should put it to good use.
sum of the two values equals zero, they are
An Artifact gained through this request is usually
balanced. Both parties must agree to both the
pact’s request and its cost.
designed by the Storyteller with minimal input from
the player, who may only gradually discover the Arti-
Step Three: Determine the term and fact’s powers. Such Artifacts are created as any other
forfeiture. This is the time the pact lasts with the rules on p. 80 of Mage: The Awakening.
and what the summoner risks if he doesn’t Such Artifacts are new to the Fallen World (and usu-
pay the cost. Because the length of the pact
ally leave it soon after) and lack the Legendry quality.
is directly related to the forfeiture, these
should be chosen at the same time. Their
Additionally, Artifacts garnered through these pacts
value should sum to zero. may only contain powers based on spells from the two
Arcana associated with the realm from which it hails.
Step Four: Determine the necessary Will- Only mages can benefit from this request.
power and Essence that must be expended
to seal the pact. Unless the pact is extraordi-
Minor Artifact: The character gains the temporary
nary, the cost is one point of Willpower from possession of an Artifact rated at four dots.
the summoner and one point of Essence per Medial Artifact: The character gains the temporary
request granted by the entity. possession of an Artifact rated at six dots.
Step Five: The terms of the pact are Major Artifact: The character gains the temporary
agreed to by both parties. Once the necessary possession of an Artifact rated at eight dots.
Willpower and Essence is spent the pact has Blessings
been forged and sealed. A magus might summon an entity to ask for as-
sistance in the mortal world. These beings can grant
blessings, rewards of one or more Merits, to the will-
Request worker in question. Sometimes the summoned being
creates the requested Merits out of thin air. A being
The request of a pact outlines what the summoner
summoned from Stygia might provide Resources in
wishes to gain from the pact. These benefits range from
chests of gold ingots before vanishing, while a spirit
small bonuses to specific Skills to magical powers free
of canines may call forth a dog to act as a Retainer.
of Paradox and even immortal life. These bonuses stem
More often, the spirit uses its own subtle influences
from the entity with which the summoner establishes
or arranges with other spirits to assure that the Merits
the pact, and the entity must be able to grant it.

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 173

 come to the character through the mundane world. two dots in Dream, Enhanced Item, Hallow, Imbued
A character may find himself the winner of a contest Item, Library, Occultation, Sanctum, or Sleepwalker
when he gets his Resources, and he may find a remark- Retainer. Blessings do have their limits, and a mage
ably well-behaved dog on his way home. cannot gain the Destiny, Familiar, High Speech,
The summoned entity never grants itself as a Re- Status or Thrall Merits from a summoned creature.
tainer or Ally, but may act as a dot of Contacts or a Additionally, the Artifact background is handled
Mentor (an especially popular choice for Awakened above. As above, these dots can improve a Merit in
who have called down a Supernal entity in order to which the character currently has no dots.
learn from them). The major advantage to requesting Major Blessings: A major blessing grants the character
the entity act as a Mentor (a blessing) rather than a single Merit rated at three dots (such as Stunt Driver)
simply for a direct increase in a trait (an investment) or adds three dots to a Merit measured in individual
is the permanence of the knowledge thus garnered. dots. The same limitations as above apply.
While any traits gained while learning from a Mentor Contracts
cost experience, they don’t vanish at the end of the Summoners sometimes call spirits to them to learn
pact’s term (when the Mentor does). eldritch sorceries. These contracts grant a mage a single,
Blessings generally become available shortly after the specific power free of threat from Paradox or Disbelief.
forging of the pact and remain until the term of the This power is often outside of the character’s personal
pact comes to an end. Note that some Merits provide abilities, but this request does not necessitate this (an
skills or bonuses (such as the Fighting Styles or Striking Obrimos may request a contract in order to utilize a bla-
Looks): these Merits become available to the summoner tantly vulgar spell without fear of Paradox). Summoned
immediately upon the sealing of the pact. entities sublet their own personal powers (usually called
Minor Blessings: A minor blessing provides a single Numina) to the mage, granting them powers that function
one-dot Merit or adds a single dot to a Merit measured as part of the Fallen World rather than the Supernal.
in individual dots (such as most Social Merits). For Each contract functions as a single rote. He knows
example, a character might garner Barfly as a minor and can use the rote immediately upon sealing the
blessing, or she might choose to gain a dot of Allies, pact, and it vanishes from his mind at the conclu-
Contacts, Fame, Mentor, Resources, or Status (or any sion of the pact’s term. In the meantime, he can use
other Merit not specific to Mage: The Awakening that it with impunity. Use of a contract costs one point
is measured in dots, such as a Fighting Style or Fleet of Mana, regardless of Arcana involved, in addition
of Foot). Note that an increase in Status may come to any costs listed in the actual spell. Contracts are
with an increase in obligation to the group involved. always based on specific spells (or combinations of
Characters can gain the first dot in a Merit in which spells), and the dice pool for using the contract is
they have no dots with the exception of Status. No based on that listed for the rote for any spell (but
blessing of any level can grant a character Status in does not garner the advantage of the Arcanum dice,
a supernatural society (such as a mage Order). even if the mage possesses the requisite Arcanum).
A minor blessing cannot provide Merits that ex- Thus a contract mimicking the Spirit ••• spell Harm
ist outside the specific scope of the core World of Spirit would be rolled with the following dice pool:
Darkness game. In other words, a minor blessing Strength + Athletics – Resistance.
cannot provide Merits from Mage: The Awakening, Contracts can mimic specific spirit or ghost Numina,
Vampire: The Masquerade, Changeling: The Lost or but they are always defined in terms of the Arcana.
any other setting (including supplements that provide Guidelines for designing contracts are given below.
supernatural options to mortals, such as Second Sight A contract that mimics a conjunctional spell bases
and Skinchangers). In other words, minor blessings its request value on the level of the most powerful
cannot provide supernatural boons. Arcanum utilized and adds one to that value (mean-
Medial Blessings: A medial blessing grants a single ing that a spell that combined a three dot spell effect
Merit rated at two dots or adds two dots to a Merit with a two dot spell effect and a one dot spell effect
measured in individual dots. For example, a character would be considered a major contract).
might garner Danger Sense or add two dots to any of Minor Contract: A minor contract provides a power
the Merits listed above. Alternatively, she may pur- that mimics a spell of the first or second dot of an
chase Merits appropriate to her specific game setting; Arcanum.
an Awakened mage, for example, might purchase

174
 Medial Contract: A medial contract provides a power
that mimics a spell of the third dot of an Arcanum.
Major Contract: A major contract provides a Investments?
power that mimics a spell of the fourth dot of an Yes, they go by the same name as those
Arcanum. powers that Acamoth grant. Why? Because
Fortification summoners recognize that these investitures of
power are, essentially, the same sort of thing:
Some summoners take advantage of the otherworldly an otherworldly entity temporarily installs
nature of the summoned entities to bolster their own a fraction of its metaphysical strength into a
physical forms in ways that cannot be represented by the mortal willworker, in exchange for a service.
blessing or investment requests. Fortification requests In the case of the Acamoth, that service has
last only as long as the term of the pact, but their effects been standardized, but the nature of the bar-
do not reverse at the end of the pact. If a summoner asks gain remains fundamentally similar to that to
to stop aging for a year, not only will she do so, she will which pacting mages submit themselves.
not revert to her previous age at the end of the year (she Some willworkers look askance at the use
will instead simply continue to age at her usual rate). of the term “investment” to describe both the
All fortification requests are considered major requests, abilities granted by Acamoth and those given
and include the following effects (as well as any others by, say, a Supernal entity, but experienced
the Storyteller deems appropriate): summoners are aware that all such other-
Break an Addiction: The character automati- worldly agreements are inherently perilous,
cally and permanently breaks a previous addiction, regardless of how one defines their terms.
whether physical or psychological. It can even break In the end, summoners have bigger worries
than earning the disapproval of others on ac-
a supernatural addiction (such as that to the blood of
count of mere words.
vampires). She remains immune to addiction to the
substance for the term of the pact.
Cure a Derangement: The character automati-
cally and permanently recovers from a Derangement, above the usual limits on such traits as determined
whether it was gained from morality loss or not. by her Gnosis (save in the case of Arcana).
Similarly, minor flaws can be removed through the Because of an investment’s temporary nature, experi-
use of this request, but the character ceases to gain ence costs to raise the supernaturally enhanced trait
bonus experience points for the flaw. further assume that the additional dots do not exist.
Permanently Regenerate a Limb: Some spirits can Example: The théarch Warlock Nox makes a pact with
perform miracles outside the abilities of even a Mas- a demon to increase her Academics (normally 3) to 5 as
ter of the Life Arcanum. Regenerating a single limb a medial investment. Before the term of that pact ends,
counts as a fortification request. Nox’s player decides to increase the trait with experience
Regeneration: The character gains the ability to points. He pays 12 points to raise her Academics from 3
quickly regenerate wounds inflicted upon her. For to 4. The pact remains, however, granting two additional
the duration of the pact, she can heal bashing and dots of Academics. The Skill now counts as 6, having gone
lethal damage at the rate of one per turn as an Instant from merely superlative to literally superhuman. When
action. By spending one point of Mana, she can do the term of the pact ends, Nox’s Academics returns to
so reflexively for one turn. 4, its natural value.
Respite from Aging: The character ceases to age for However, despite the supernatural nature of the
the duration of the pact. enhanced traits, the traits act in all other ways as
Investments normal, natural traits. They are added to or subtracted
A summoner may call forth an entity to grant her from dice pools (including those for rotes) as normal.
a facet of the entity’s own power. An investment is a Additionally, for the term of the pact, all Advantages
phantom dot of a Skill, Attribute or even Arcanum derived from the trait (such as Health, Willpower,
granted by a supernatural entity. It becomes imme- Defense and Speed) are adjusted appropriately.
diately available upon the sealing of the pact and is In the case of improved Arcana, a character can
immediately lost upon the completion of the pact’s learn rotes that utilize the increased Arcanum. He
term. These increases in power can take a character maintains them, even after the Arcanum decreases at

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 175

 the culmination of the pact’s term, but can no longer mediate benefit that lasts until the term has come to
use them without the requisite skill in the Arcanum. an end. Instead, the summoned entity has until the
When the character raises the Arcanum again (either end of the term to perform the task, just as the sum-
through another use of this request or through experi- moner has until the end of the term to pay the cost.
ence), he regains access to the rotes. The entity forfeits the cost if it fails to live up to its
Minor Investment: The entity grants the character end of the bargain, but any further punishment is up
a single additional dot to any single Skill. to the summoner to dole out personally. Furthermore,
Medial Investment: The entity grants the character while the other requests listed here provide concrete
two additional dots to any single Skill. levels of benefits, the value of the task request is based
Major Investment: The entity grants the character largely on the abilities of the summoner.
a large portion of its own power, granting her three Unlike other requests, the results of the completed
additional dots to any single Skill or one additional task benefit from permanence. Enemies killed by the
dot to a single Attribute or Arcanum. Only Supernal summoned entity remain deceased, and knowledge
entities can grant an investment to an Arcanum, and dredged up by a spirit doesn’t vanish from the sum-
only in one of the two Arcana appropriate to the moner’s head. In a way, this is a way around the loss
Supernal Realm from which it hails. Furthermore, of traits guaranteed by the other requests. Players
a mage can only benefit from a single pact that in- must purchase any raised traits garnered through such
volves the increase of an Arcanum at any time, and a pact with experience points, however.
no entity can unlock the secrets of Archmastery for Example: Nox summons a demon and binds it to her
a mage, even temporarily (limiting dots available will before striking a pact with it that includes the task
through a pact to 5). request. She commands the spirit to spy on the banking
Mana allies of one of her rivals, turning them against their cur-
Sometimes a summoner knows that she is in need rent ally and towards her. The demon dutifully does so.
of greater sheer mystical power than she can gather Nox’s player may now purchase the Allies Merit with
on her own. She may seek out a supernatural entity experience. Were he to refuse, the Allies would be lost
to grant her that power through the Mana request. (though the rival would no longer possess them either).
This Mana generates within the character naturally Nox simply didn’t put forward the effort necessary to
at a time chosen during the pact, but it must be a time maintain their friendship.
that occurs only once per day (such as at the rise of The assignments available to this request are lim-
the sun or 3:15 pm). This surfeit of Mana does not ited solely by the abilities of the summoned entity
imply that the character is a Hallow, however, and and the cost that the summoner is willing to pay. A
gains none of the other benefits of that Merit. The character can request that a specific item be found
character cannot contain more points of Mana than and brought to her, that the site of an Atlantean tomb
usual, and any extra Mana dissipates harmlessly and or Artifact be located or that a foe be hounded with
uselessly into the atmosphere. horrible nightmares. She can ask the summoned to
A mage can only support a single request of Mana stand with her in a single battle. She can send it to
at any given time. Only mages can benefit from this dredge up information to which no others have access.
request. However, the task request always covers only a single
task. One piece of information is found, one enemy
Minor Mana: The mage produces within herself
is destroyed, or one dot of a rival’s Merit is subverted.
one Mana per day.
Further work requires further pacts.
Medial Mana: The mage produces within herself
Minor Task: A minor task includes anything that the
two Mana per day.
character can easily do herself but would rather not,
Major Mana: The mage produces within herself
whether it is because it is unpleasant, she doesn’t want
four Mana per day.
to get into trouble, or any other minor reason. The task
Task would not pose significant danger to the summoner.
Tales commonly speak of the summoner who calls The summoner’s supernatural capabilities are taken
forth an entity to perform a specific undertaking for into account when determining the value of the task.
her. These summoners request a task. Tasks vary Powerful entities may feel insulted to be asked to provide
from the other forms of request listed here in a fairly a task of this insignificance and may attempt to trick
significant way. They typically do not provide an im- the summoner into a less-than-equitable deal.

176
 Medial Task: A medial task includes anything that the her soul. The request grants the mage the ability to
character could do herself, but would require significant see her chosen patron (and only her chosen patron)
effort or could pose a significant danger to her. even when it is in Twilight. A character possesses an
Major Task: A major task includes anything that falls Intimate sympathy rating to her patron solely for the
outside of the character’s capabilities. It may include purpose of communicating with it over a distance
the use of a power that the mage cannot duplicate or (other mages cannot sense this connection). A
the discovery of some piece of knowledge that could character under vassalage to an entity can establish
not be uncovered otherwise. Additionally, any task further pacts with said entity with greater ease than
that poses a significant threat to the summoned entity usual (a spirit is less inclined to haggle or throw its
is automatically a major task. weight around when it knows that the summoner is
Major tasks can be an exceedingly powerful tool, already in its pocket), and may do so without actually
but cannot include a task that affects an area greater calling the entity to it (if she possesses the Arcana
than a single region (such as a city) at this
level. Nor can such a task replicate an act
typically considered outside the scope of
Awakened magic (such as create a soul or
bring a human back to true life). For such
terrible feats, see the Epic Pacts sidebar on
page 178.
Vassalage
Major Vassalage: Mages rarely summon
another being only to bind themselves to
its will. It does, however, happen, and mages
who supplicate themselves before alien gods
can expect at best a cold reception from their
fellows. The vassalage request is a single
major request that is always paired with the
fealty cost and almost always tied to the en-
lightened soul forfeiture and lifelong term.
In short, to gain the patronage of her chosen
god, a mage is expected to serve; failure to
do so costs the mage her soul.
The vassalage request assumes an under-
standing entered into between mage and
otherworldly force; the mage will serve the
entity in the Fallen World for assistance from
the entity. Despite being a major request, it
offers only a few dubious benefits: a mage
under vassalage to an entity can call that
entity to it as an Instant action that causes
neither Paradox nor Disbelief. It requires
but a whispered prayer, meaning that it can
often be performed without alerting anyone
nearby, and results in the presence of the
entity. The entity arrives at its convenience
(but may choose to travel to the mage as an
Instant action, no matter its current loca-
tion), usually in Twilight. Appropriate wards
and bans can cut a mage off from her patron,
though the mage herself can never cast such
spells without suffering the forfeiture of

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 177

 necessary to communicate over a distance and pos- ber of reasons for desiring access, some of which may
sibly across the Gauntlet). confound the summoner (especially before the fact). If
Mages cannot make pacts that include the vassalage the access granted to the being results in occurrences
request with Supernal entities (though they can make that would force the character to roll Wisdom were she
them with similar beings, such as angels, demons and to perform them herself, she must do so. She directly
spirits that don’t hail from the Supernal Realms). A facilitates whatever evils the entity commits.
mage should expect extreme prejudice and suspicion Minor Access: The character grants the entity a
from her fellow mages should her vassalage to any conduit into the world. It might take over a charac-
such entity come to light. ter’s embodied familiar (which likely infuriates it) or
experience the world through the character’s senses
(though it is unable to force the character to act in
Epic Pacts any way). Conversely, the character may allow the
entity access to her dreams, allowing it to sculpt those
What about the nation-shattering or dreams in whatever foul manner it desires.
earth-rending powers that summoners so
often attempt to enact, spurring heroes to Medial Access: The character grants the entity ac-
save the day before its too late? Summoners cess to the physical world. The entity gains limited
are perfectly capable of striking such pacts control over the character’s actions for a short time
with entities, but the mechanics of doing so (no longer than 14 total hours over the course of
are best left to the Storyteller. Assume that each week of the term). The character completely
two aspect values exist beyond those given loses control over her body during those periods,
here: epic and apocalyptic. Obviously an epic but is aware of everything that the entity does. The
request requires a similarly epic cost (often entity does not, however, have access to any of the
measured in dozens of lives, souls or inno- character’s supernatural abilities.
cents), and an apocalyptic request neces-
Major Access: The character grants the entity access
sitates a commensurate cost (hundreds of
lives or souls).
to her soul. The entity can utilize the character’s body
and Awakened magic without interference from the
Fortunately, such pacts are difficult to enact character during a single period of one hour during
in practice. Summoners quickly discover that the pact. Unfortunately, the timing of that hour is at
few otherworldly entities have any interest the whim of the entity. Furthermore, the character
in disrupting their own ecologies to so great
does not automatically regain control of her being at
an extent. Furthermore, such powerful magic
often reverberates throughout the region,
the end of the hour. She must succeed at a Resolve
drawing other mages to it like flies. Those + Composure roll to wrest control from the entity
mages rarely approve of what they uncover (though the entity can willingly give it up). She may
when they investigate such a pact and usu- make this roll once per hour after the passage of at
ally move to disrupt it. Those mages are often least one hour of unfettered access.
the players’ characters. Endeavor
The character agrees to perform some task for the
entity. Such tasks can be arduous or simple, but their
Cost effects may reverberate for long after. The value of the
Nothing can be gained without loss. Spirits and other endeavor cost is based on the difficulty for the mage
entities do not engage in charity, instead requiring a rather than the utility for the summoned entity. By
price for any pact enacted. The cost of the pact must requiring the mage to perform a task she finds simple,
be agreed upon by the summoner for the pact to be the entity may be completing the final piece of a plot
successfully forged (though the results of fulfilling the it has been hatching over the course of centuries.
cost may come as a complete surprise to the charac- Minor Endeavor: The character performs a simple
ter). The cost need not be paid upfront, so long as it undertaking for the entity. Either it requires a repeated
is paid in full prior to the end of the term. performance of a nigh-effortless task or a single per-
Access formance of something of only slight difficulty.
The summoner grants the entity access to some aspect Medial Endeavor: The character performs a moder-
of her being. A summoned being may have any num- ately difficult undertaking for the entity. Either the

178
character performs a repeated task that requires the the sacrifice must take place (and what time of day),
sacrifice of some time and resources or a single task but the character must make the sacrifice within the
of moderate difficulty (and possibly danger). term of the pact.
Major Endeavor: The character performs a difficult Minor Life: A sacrifice of blood (necessitating the
undertaking for the entity. Such endeavors require an infliction of 3 lethal damage on either the summoner or
activity that can only be accomplished through dedi- a chosen sacrifice) or harvest (a Resources 2 purchase
cation and concerted effort. It may pose a significant of fruits, vegetables and grains).
danger to the summoner. Medial Life: A sacrifice of an animal, necessitating
Fealty its death. The character cannot garner Mana from
Major Fealty: The character pledges himself to the the sacrifice.
efforts of his chosen patron. This major cost essentially Major Life: The sacrifice of a human, necessitating
acts as a never-ending series of endeavors (see above) its death. The character cannot garner Mana from
on behalf of the entity, and may range from the simple the sacrifice.
to the dangerous. This cost rarely accompanies any Merit
pact that does not include the vassalage request. The entity can also require the summoner to sac-
Flaw rifice wealth, personal knowledge or even personal
Medial Flaw: The character agrees to undertake connections. In the case of Allies, Contacts, Mentors
some difficulty on the behalf of the summoned entity. or Retainers, the sacrifice does not require the actual
She gains a Flaw (p. 217 of the World of Darkness death of the individual, only the permanent break
Rulebook) for the duration of the pact but garners no of those bonds (and loss of the Merit). The murder
experience when it troubles her. Instead the experience of a trusted Mentor or beloved Retainer can actually
points transfer to the entity, making it stronger. count both as a Merit cost and Major life cost. The
Forbiddance dots are removed from the sheet for the term of the
The character agrees to refrain from some course pact, but afterwards the mage can work towards re-
of action. This act usually empowers the entity in gaining them (which necessitates repurchasing them
some way, but the value of the cost is determined with experience).
by the difficulty imposed on the character. Failure Minor Merit: The character must sacrifice a one
to uphold the forbiddance results in the forfeiture point Merit or one point of a Merit.
of the pact. Medial Merit: The character must sacrifice a two
Minor Forbiddance: The forbidden action is easily point Merit or two points of a Merit.
avoided, but might cause some small inconveniences. Major Merit: The character must sacrifice a three
Examples include avoiding specific buildings, specific point Merit or three points of a Merit.
modes of transportation or even specific words.
Medial Forbiddance: The forbidden action is some- Term
what more difficult to avoid, possibly because chances The term of the pact, agreed upon by both parties,
to engage in the action are more common, and causes sets the length of time the pact remains active. It
some moderate inconvenience. Examples include never ends early, even if both parties have fulfilled
avoiding interacting with a specific type of person or their obligations. The term always connotes the pe-
utilizing a specific class of technology. riod of time the summoner has to pay the cost of the
Major Forbiddance: The forbidden action causes pact and sometimes connotes the time in which the
major difficulty and may change the way the character summoned must perform its own task. The greater
lives her life. Examples include a forbiddance against the period of time granted to pay the cost (and ben-
entering or leaving a region, indulging in Virtue or efit from the request), the more dire the forfeiture
Vice, or sleeping under the same roof two nights in a wagered as collateral.
row or vows of vegetarianism, silence or chastity. Minor Term: Between a day and a week.
Life Medial Term: Between one week and one month.
The character offers up some sacrifice to the en- Major Term: Between one month and one year
tity, usually one of blood. With the exception of the and one day.
minor cost, the sacrifice likely necessitates a roll to Epic Term: A character willing to stake his enlight-
avoid losing morality. The entity can specify where ened soul as a forfeiture may establish a term that

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 179

 ranges from a decade in length to lifelong. Rumors Flaw
persist within mage society of the possibility of truly Minor Flaw: The character agrees to suffer a perma-
apocalyptic terms, such as those that affect a family nent Flaw if she fails to compensate the summoned.
line for generations. Some magi believe that such The character gains a Flaw, but never gains experi-
pacts established some of the major Proximi lines ence for it. The experience is instead reaped by the
that flourish to this day. entity. The Flaw is permanent, but can be removed
by a pact including the fortification request from the
Forfeiture same entity that inflicted it.
The forfeiture aspect of the pact is some entity or Life
resource that the summoner agrees to sacrifice if she The character agrees to provide a metaphysical
fails to uphold the cost of the pact. The entity im- pound of flesh to the entity if she fails to pay what she
mediately knows if the summoner has failed to uphold owes. This loss occurs immediately upon the failure
the bargain and immediately claims the forfeiture. to pay the cost.
The forfeiture is maintained by the magic of the pact Minor Life: The character immediately loses one
itself, and attempts to stop the entity from claiming quarter of her Health and one quarter of her remain-
its due are doomed to failure. A character might be ing lifespan (as if it were taken by a mage using the
able to forge a new pact to regain what was lost, but Death 5 spell “Steal Lifespan,” save that the character
given that the forfeiture is always something greater cannot defend against it in any way).
than what was agreed upon in the first place, this can Medial Life: The character immediately loses one
quickly become tragic. half of her Health and one half of her remaining
Boon Companion lifespan.
The character who agrees to this forfeiture puts a Major Life: The character immediately dies as if
loved one on the block. If she fails to fulfill the cost she had lost all of her Health to Lethal damage. She
of the pact, the entity claims a loved one (who either can be resuscitated if she gains immediate medical
dies or vanishes from the Fallen World). While a attention (calling 911 isn’t quick enough, but having
character could certainly wager a cabal member (or a crash cart and a doctor present at the moment of
other player characters), Storytellers are encouraged death may be), but if she is, her remaining lifespan is
to be careful not to allow a single character to thus reduced by three quarters. If the character dies, her
ruin a game. If the other character agrees to it, on soul continues to exist as a ghost (and thus she can
the other hand… be the subject of a Death 4 “Revenant” spell).
A character who suffers this forfeiture immediately Health lost to this forfeiture is not permanent,
loses a dot of Wisdom and suffers a –2 penalty to avoid though years of life are. The Health lost is an immediate
gaining a Derangement from the degeneration. result of the brutal siphoning of the mage’s life.
Minor Boon Companion: The character risks a casual Merit
acquaintance or beloved pet. The character risks a Merit, either by naming a
Medial Boon Companion: The character risks a person or group of people (typically risking her con-
good friend, an extended family member or very nection to them rather than the actual individuals)
young child. or an aspect of herself. If the mage fails to pay the
Major Boon Companion: The character risks an cost of the pact, the entity immediately shatters the
older child, a romantic partner or extremely close metaphysical bonds between the summoner and her
friend. Additionally, any mage set as forfeiture counts, former associates, destroys her sanctum or library, or
though the mage must be a friend or close ally to the consumes some bit of Essence or knowledge from the
summoner. She cannot forfeit her enemies. character, permanently reducing her Merits. In the
Enlightened Soul case of Mentors or Retainers, a character can combine
Epic Enlightened Soul: This epic forfeiture risks the this forfeiture with the boon companion forfeiture
character’s enlightened soul. If the character fails to (minor only), but those individuals are guaranteed to
pay the cost of the pact, the entity reaps the character’s die or vanish forever from the world.
soul. The character becomes soulless (see Soul Loss, While the character can eventually regain the Merit
p 276 of Mage: The Awakening). Only a mage may (unless it is destroyed, of course), repurchasing it with
forfeit his enlightened soul. experience points, the magic of the pact resists any

180
attempts by the character to do so until a length of Paradox
time equal to the term of the pact has passed (starting Abyssal entities often ask for this specific forfeiture.
at the moment of forfeiture). A character who fails to fulfill his agreement with one
Minor Merit: The character loses a four dot Merit of them finds that it haunts him whenever he attempts
or four dots of a single Merit. to perform magic. This abyssal taint plagues the char-
Medial Merit: The character loses a five dot Merit acter for a period of time equal to twice the term of
or five dots of a single Merit. the pact, beginning at the moment of forfeiture.
Minor Paradox: The character draws the attention
of the Abyss. Paradox rolls always assume that there
is at least a single Sleeper present,
adding at least 2 dice to the roll. If
one or more Sleepers are actually
present, then the use of rotes and
order tools grant no penalty to the
Paradox roll.
Medial Paradox: In addition to
the effects of the minor Paradox
forfeiture, the character’s Para-
dox is always considered one grade
worse than it would otherwise be.
For example, if a character’s spell
causes what would normally be a
Havoc Paradox, it instead causes
Bedlam.
Major Paradox: The character
must roll for Paradox every time
he casts a spell, whether vulgar or
covert. Such a character quickly
garners the attentions of the
Guardians of the Veil.
Vulnerability
The character agrees to suffer
some form of personal vulner-
ability if he fails to satisfy the
pact’s cost. A vulnerability is
permanent and cannot be re-
moved with Awakened magic of
less than Archmastery potency or
a pact with an epic fortification
request.
The character and entity agree
upon a particular material (such as
silver or iron), substance (such as
milk or blood) or other phenom-
enon (such as fire) that becomes
the character’s bane. The charac-
ter gains a phobia Derangement
in relation to the bane. Attacks
with the bane ignore any and all
defenses the character brings to

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 181

 bear, including Defense, Armor, and magical armor. Medial Vulnerability: As above, save that the sub-
The bane inflicts damage of a magnitude higher than stance can normally be utilized to do harm (such as
it would otherwise (bashing for contact with liquids iron, wood, silver or fire).
like milk or blood, lethal for blunt weapons made of
the material, and aggravated for bladed weapons of Sealing the Pact
the material or naturally lethal phenomena such as Once the aspects of the pact have been determined,
fire). the pact is sealed. This costs one Willpower point from
Minor Vulnerability: The character becomes vul- the summoner and one point of Essence per request
nerable to a rare substance that would normally be granted by the entity. If the pact includes an aspect of
harmful (such as a specific poison or specific and epic or apocalyptic value, the cost rises to one permanent
unusual type of wood) or to a common substance Willpower dot and five points of Essence per request
that would normally be relatively harmless (such as granted by the entity. Inability to pay the cost to seal
sunlight, the ringing of bells, or crosses). the pact results in its failure to take hold.

Building a Pact
Minor Medial Greater
Request Artifact (+1) Artifact (+3) Artifact (+3)
Blessing (+1) Blessing (+2) Blessing (+3)
Contract (+1) Contract (+2) Contract (+3)
— — Fortification (+3)
Investment (+1) Investment (+2) Investment (+3)
Mana (+1) Mana (+2) Mana (+3)
Task (+1) Task (+2) Task (+3)
— — Vassalage (+3)
Cost Access (–1) Access (–2) Access (–3)
Endeavor (–1) Endeavor (–2) Endeavor (–3)
— Flaw (–2) Fealty (–3)
Forbiddance (–1) Forbiddance (–2) Forbiddance (–3)
Life (–1) Life (–2) Life (–3)
Merit (–1) Merit (–2) Merit (–3)
Term Day (+1) Month (+2) Year (+3)
Week (+1) Season (+2) Year and a Day (+3)
Lifelong (Epic, +4)
Forfeiture Boon Companion (–1) Boon Companion (–2) Boon Companion (–3)
— — Enlightened Soul (Epic, –4)
Flaw (–1) — —
Life (–1) Life (–2) Life (–3)
Merit (–1) Merit (–2) —
Paradox (–1) Paradox (–2) Paradox (–3)
Vulnerability (–1) Vulnerability (–2) —
Total request and cost equal one another; total term and forfeiture equal one another.

182
Flaws and Derangements
The way of the summoner is fraught with all sorts of
Derangements
Insanity is but one of the perils that hounds the steps
of the summoner, as the human mind — Awakened
pitfalls. Those who deal too extensively in the powers or otherwise — can only encompass so much while
of other realms often find that their lives change, and confined within the Fallen World. Because of the
usually for the worse. Novice summoners, as well — fundamentally magical nature of the summoner’s
particularly those who come to the calling of their own craft, those who succumb to madness while treading
accord and without anyone to show them the ropes — that road frequently suffer from the Bedlam versions
occasionally misstep badly and find the consequences of mundane derangements (Mage: The Awakening,
of that error following them for years to come. Even pp. 269–71), regardless of whether or not Paradox is
those who cry out beyond the barriers of the worlds just involved in their onset. Those who gaze into other
once sometimes get far more than they expected. realms frequently see things that their psyches cannot
accept and the mind recoils, wounded.
Flaws Common derangements for summoners include:
Flaws particularly appropriate for summoners Phobia and/or Hysteria (typically pertaining either
include: Addiction (to something only obtainable to summoning or to phenomena that remind the
from a summoned entity); Amnesia (from beholding willworker of a particular summoning gone wrong),
something terrible enough to scour one’s memory); Fixation and/or Obsessive Compulsion (the character
Crippled, Deformity, Lame, One Arm or One Eye may, for instance, inscribe “circles of protection” or
(possibly from sacrificing a part of one’s body or on ac- similar sigils everywhere she goes or even draw them
count of a botched summoning), Embarrassing Secret on her skin), Suspicion and/or Paranoia (often relating
or Notoriety. Additionally, summoners — regardless to the sense that hostile creatures from other realms
of type — can acquire the following Flaws: are nearby or that others are somehow working for
Bad Bargain: The character made a pact with a spirit, them), Vocalization and/or Schizophrenia, Irratio-
but didn’t think through all of the consequences of nality and/or Multiple Personality, and Avoidance
that agreement. Now, she’s already gained whatever and/or Fugue.
benefit she can from this exchange, but still has to In addition to the Derangements listed above, cer-
fulfill her end of the deal. Depending upon how she tain other psychological conditions occur with some
bartered, this may be a single difficult task, a lifetime frequency amongst summoners:
of serious inconvenience, or anything between. In Abyssal Compulsion (severe): Contact with the
game terms, the character has a medial obligation, Void tends to fracture even the strongest mind. Those
as though from a pact (see pp. 172), though she re- who suffer from the Abyssal Compulsion derange-
ceives no benefit from doing so. Award the player an ment, however, have sustained especially deep psychic
additional experience point whenever the character’s wounds from their unfortunate experiences. The Abyss
obligation makes her life (and only hers) considerably creates a terrible wound in the soul — unique to the
more difficult or perilous. Awakened state — that causes a mage to obsess upon
Soul-Scarred: The mage has made contact with the Void and its creatures, and to seek out the lore
something that has blasted and marked his soul. of such. Alternately, the willworker desires to do so
This lingering injury is particularly appealing to to protect himself, to lock the knowledge away, or to
otherworldly entities of the most inimical sorts: pursue it further, with no rhyme or reason from one
Acamoth; spirits of pain, violence, hatred, and the moment to the next.
like; malevolent ghosts; and other such ephemeral When Abyssal Compulsion is active, a mage must
creatures. Given a choice (and when presented with succeed in a Resolve + Composure roll at a –3 penalty
no other obviously more appropriate target), these not to look into any Abyssal phenomenon of which
entities will tend to focus their negative attentions he becomes aware. Willpower may not be spent to
upon the soul-scarred willworker. Award the player augment this roll, though the willworker may use
an additional experience point whenever the damage indirect means of researching such knowledge (like
to his character’s spirit results in serious danger and/ scrying or sending ghosts or spirits, for instance),
or harm at the hands of spiritual beings drawn to the should he have such at his disposal. When acting as a
unhealed gash in his soul. Bedlam derangement, Abyssal Compulsion also adds

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 183

 one die to all Paradox rolls that the mage is required born, but most can be learned with enough trial and
to make, as his attraction to the Void calls out to it error. A few of the items in the summoner’s repertoire
and its creatures. are quite dangerous, but that goes hand-in-hand with
Abyssal Compulsion can follow any mild derange- the art of calling out to other worlds and demanding
ment, provided that a mage has had traumatic contact an answer.
with the creatures of the Void.
Depersonalization (mild): When this derangement Guise of Death (•••••)
is activated by stress or emotional trauma, the mage Prerequisites: Gnosis 5, Stamina 4
feels as though she is an automaton in her own body. Effect: An unfortunate number of summoning
She can think, speak, and act freely, but has no real rituals call for human sacrifice. The magical power
sense of connection to herself; effectively, she is an generated by sacrificing a human, combined with
observer to a life not quite her own. Almost invariably, the ritual itself, acts like a beacon to a summoner’s
the willworker gives no sense to others that anything call. Thankfully, most mages find the idea of human
is amiss, as she is perfectly capable of even elaborate sacrifice repellant and work to discover alterna-
interpersonal interaction. Her withdrawal is not from tives. Mages that are strong of Art and willing to
society, but instead from her own consciousness. mutilate themselves rather than commit murder,
While suffering from a bout of Depersonalization, have found that by coating a soul stone with a
the mage may not spend Willpower and suffers a two- liberal quantity of their own blood can generate
dice penalty to all Resolve + Composure rolls, as she the same sort of power that results from sacrificing
cannot summon up the strength of spirit necessary a human. In practice, this requires the character to
to fight for a person with whom she no longer truly inflict five points of lethal damage on himself to
identifies. When acting as a Bedlam derangement, produce the quantity of blood required to negate
Depersonalization also makes a willworker especially the cost of human sacrifice. The blood is drizzled all
susceptible to Life Arcanum spells that target her around the ritual area, including soaking the soul
body, causing her to suffer a –1 to any contested rolls stone. A soul stone withers and decays each time it
against such, as her sense of disconnection weakens is used to negate the cost of human sacrifice. Each
the bond between spirit and flesh. use decreases the Structure of the soul stone by
Dissociation (severe; follows Depersonalization): one and the damage caused may not be repaired in
A more pronounced form of the Depersonalization any manner (magical or mundane). Use of another
derangement, Dissociation actually puts the mage’s mage’s soul stone to replace ritual human sacrifice
body on a sort of “conscious autopilot”; the most is an act of hubris for mages of Wisdom four or
important parts of his mind are locked away, while higher (roll three dice).
the rest of him carries on. The world feels unreal and
utterly devoid of emotional depth to a mage in the Otherworldly Lore (••••)
throes of Dissociation. Prerequisite: Gnosis 3
In addition to the effects of Depersonalization, a Effect: Through a combination of extended
mage suffering from an active Dissociation derange- study and practical experience, some mages learn
ment cannot recuperate Willpower by upholding certain tricks for dealing with particular types of
his Virtue or indulging his Vice; such acts hold no otherworldly entities. When purchasing this Merit,
genuine emotional or spiritual significance to him. Otherworldly Lore must be assigned to a certain
As a Bedlam derangement, Dissociation causes the type of ephemeral being (ghosts, Shadow Realm
willworker to suffer a –2 penalty to any contested spirits, goetic demons, entities from a given Super-
roll against Life Arcanum magic, as well as –2 to nal Realm, Gulmoth, Underworld creatures, etc.).
his appropriate Resistance Attribute when passively When dealing with creatures of the specific type
resisting such a spell. encompassed by her Otherworldly Lore Merit, a
mage benefits from the 9-again rule with respect to

Merits
all rolls — whether magical or mundane; combat-
related, social, investigative, or whatever — made
upon or against a being of that type. A character may
The summoner’s craft has its own “tricks of the
only have one instance of this Merit, representing a
trade,” the same as any other. Some of these are in-

184
 is a frequent occurrence,
the Consilium may take to
training slayers specifically
to deal with the threat. A
slayer receives intensive
training on how to combat
otherworldly menaces and
their negligent masters if nec-
essary. Every slayer is already
an accomplished combatant
in his own right before the
training begins; a mage that
has learned how to effectively
combine magic and brute
physical force. Training a
slayer takes upwards of a year,
during which time the char-
acter learns a large amount
of summoning lore, allowing
him to identify weaknesses
in the things he will fight.
When confronted with an
alien threat, if the character
spends one turn observing
the entity he can attempt to
determine where the thing
came from and how best to
fight it by rolling Intelligence
+ Occult. Each success re-
duces the entity’s Defense
by one for any attacks made
or directed by the character.
With an exceptional success,
the character remembers ex-
resolute dedication to dealing with a given “species” actly what kinds of weapons
of entity, until she attains her sixth dot of Gnosis, are best used to combat the entity, as well.
whereupon she may purchase the Merit a second
time. At 10 dots of Gnosis, she may purchase a Summoning Circle (• to •••)
third instance of Otherworldly Lore. Prerequisites: Sanctum (Size) • or more
Effect: Throughout the ages, willworkers have used
Slayer (•••) bounded spaces to set their summonings apart from
Prerequisites: Awakened, Occult 4, Brawl 4 or the outside world. In part, they do this for safety’s sake,
Weaponry 4 but also to cultivate within themselves a sense of the
Effect: Mages know the risks involved when they gravity of the act, to separate this powerful form of
decide to conjure up entities from other planes of magic from distractions, whether internal or external.
existence, yet they continue to do so. Each time a Over time, many of these ritual spaces have become
summoner botches a casting or allows an entity into enhanced with their own uncanny character, sliding
the material realm as part of a pact, someone has to partway out of this world and partway into others.
clean up the mess. Usually, nearby cabals are up to A summoning circle must be attuned to a given
the task and if not, the Consilium is. In cities where realm (a particular Supernal Realm, the Abyss,
the problem of summoned creatures gone amuck Shadow, the Underworld, etc.); once set, this choice

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 185

 cannot be changed, though a mage may have more
than one summoning circle (up to two at Gnosis 3,
Supernal Anchor (•••••)
Prerequisite: Gnosis 5
three at Gnosis 6, and four at Gnosis 9), with each
Effect: The primary reason for which mages craft
corresponding to its own distinct world. For each
soul stones is the creation of a Demesne, a space
dot of a single instance of this Merit, a willworker
attuned to a willworker’s Path Realm and which func-
adds one die to all rolls to summon entities from the
tions, effectively, as a Fallen World extension of that
realm to which the summoning circle is attuned.
world for the purposes of turning vulgar spells into
In other words, a mage with a one-dot summoning
covert ones. Some mages, however, aren’t content to
circle (Arcadia) adds one die to a summoning spell
divide their spirits in this manner, regardless of how
intended to call down an Arcadian spirit, while one
useful it might be to have a Paradox-free chamber
with a three-dot summoning circle (the Abyss) adds
or two in which to cast some of their most powerful
three dice to any roll to call an Acamoth or Gulmoth.
magics. One answer to this conundrum is to be found
Note that the bonus dice only apply to attempts to
in the process of creating a Supernal Anchor.
summon the appropriate otherworldly beings, not to
any dice rolls necessary to control them, forge pacts, A mage with this Merit can use a Supernal spirit
or the like. appropriate to his Path to create what is, effectively,
a soul stone attuned to his Watchtower. The mage
Because of the sometimes delicate work necessary to
need not be the one to summon the spirit, but it must
properly maintain a summoning circle, one may only
correspond to his Path for him to use this Merit to
be constructed within a mage’s sanctum. A summoning
coalesce the entity into a soul stone. In order to do so,
circle can be part of a shared sanctum, but this Merit
the mage must defeat the entity in combat (reducing
(and the structure that it represents) is personal in
it to zero Corpus or otherwise beating it to the point
nature and may not be shared within a cabal.
of helplessness), whereupon he can reflexively reshape
Summoner’s Soul (•••) the being into a corporeal fragment of the world in
which his Watchtower stands. The spirit becomes
Prerequisite: Awakened imprisoned in this new form (and within the Fallen
Effect: A minority of mages Awaken with a quies- World), acting as a soul stone belonging to the mage
cent connection to other realms, which, if developed, for all intents and purposes, save that he cannot be
shows itself as an inherent talent for summoning held in thrall by losing the stone, as it is not actually
magics. On a level far below conscious thought, the a piece of his own soul.
mage has an instinct for the rules that govern other Crafting a Supernal Anchor is a dire act of hubris,
realities. Awakened scholars refer to this gift (or curse, requiring a mage with Wisdom 1 or greater to roll
if you like) as a Summoner’s Soul. Every mage with a against degeneration (two dice).
Summoner’s Soul is mystically inclined towards one
realm over the others, while still being more naturally
adept with summoning magic in general than most
Supernal Companion (•••••)
Prerequisite: Awakened
mages. A player should choose the realm to which her
character is linked when selecting this Merit. A mage Effect: Smart mages that decide to pursue Supernal
tied to a Supernal Realm in this manner must select summoning magic start by calling up something small
his Path Realm; this inborn connection is probably that can easily be dealt with, in case something goes
what drew such a willworker to his particular Watch- wrong. More often than not, the mage sends these
tower in the first place. When spending Willpower minor entities home after a cursory examination,
on a summoning spell attuned to entities from his impatient to move on to bigger and better things
character’s favored realm, the player of a mage with when she is sure her magic works properly. Other
a Summoner’s Soul receives five bonus dice, or four mages find themselves enamored of the creatures
bonus dice with respect to summoning spells that call that they summon and decide to use such entities as
upon other realms. When dealing with entities from familiars. In addition to the experience points cost
his favored realm, all of the willworker’s Social Skill of this Merit, which indicates time spent in study
rolls receive two bonus dice as a result of this special learning exactly how to bind a Supernal creature to
bond. But this may only be selected at character creation her, the mage must complete the Supernal summon-
or with Storyteller approval. ing ritual to call her new familiar (see p. 68). Binding
a Supernal entity requires the mage to spend one

186
 dot of Willpower and to reveal her real name to the Void-Scourged willworkers receive a two-dice bo-
creature. Supernal Companions are created using nus to all rolls to summon or socially interact with
the guidelines shown in Mage: The Awakening on Acamoth and Gulmoth (whether to negotiate a deal
p. 83 for Twilight familiars. A Supernal Companion or to intimidate such a being into complying with
spends most of its time in Twilight but can manifest the mage’s wishes). Furthermore, whenever a Void-
at its master’s side by spending a point of Essence (this Scourged mage comes within 10 yards per dot of Gnosis
ability is separate from the single Numen allowed to of an Abyssal entity, the Storyteller reflexively rolls
familiars at creation). In addition to the other benefits Wits + Composure for her, with bonus dice equal to
gained by a mage for owning a familiar, she can drain the spirit’s Rank. On a success, the character is aware
up to two Essence from the Supernal Companion for of the presence of an Abyssal being, though she can-
an equal amount of Mana once each day. not pinpoint its location, or determine its nature or
Note that the process of binding a Supernal entity to power without the use of other abilities.
oneself in such a manner permits the being to survive This Merit costs two dots at character creation and
indefinitely away from its realm of origin. Forcibly four if purchased later.
subjecting an unwilling Supernal spirit to the familiar

Legacies
bond (and many of them are, indeed, unwilling to be
confined to the material realm), however, is an act
of hubris, requiring any mage with a Wisdom of 3 or
Throughout the ages, willworkers have aspired to
greater to roll two dice to resist degeneration.
incorporate the practice of summoning into their
Void-Scourged (•• or ••••) very souls, in the form of Legacies. Some of these
attempts have failed disastrously, while others have
Prerequisite: Awakened proven quite successful. Still others have led down
Effect: The Abyss insinuates itself into the lives of dark roads the success — or failure — of which is
the Awakened in many different ways, but seldom as purely in the eye of the beholder. The six Legacies
obvious as with those with the Void-Scourged Merit. that follow illustrate just a few of the ways in which
Perhaps her initial journey to a Supernal Watchtower the Awakened make summoning more than merely
was beset by terrible spirits, or maybe she had one too a form of magic, elevating it into an inseparable
many close calls with Acamoth and their servants in extension of the self. Some make use of summoning
the years since, but some mages learn to harness the magics, whether overt or subtle, while others are the
power of the marks that the Void leaves seared into result of eldritch bargains.
their souls.

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 187

 Choir of Hashmallim
The Abyss stands naked and raw before us, pulsing unholy in the darkness,
an obscene absence of light and goodness and hope.
Only the ineffable power of the Supernal can wash it away,
cleansing it from existence.
Throughout history, one finds many recorded come to him in his hour of need, offering assistance
instances of mortal humans receiving visions from and support. Over the course of the last week of the
on high. These visions not only impart knowledge monk’s seclusion, Grimaldi and the Supernal being
and wisdom, but they give humanity a glimpse into spoke. The angelic form taught him much of the power
a world not their own. To Sleepers, the phenomenon of the Aether and how to combat the Abyss directly.
can be reconciled as messengers from a god. To the It helped the Jesuit to shape his soul to enable it, and
Awakened, particularly the Obrimos, these messengers other instruments of the Oracles like it, to descend to
are seen for what they are: agents of the Supernal. The the Fallen World and heed the call to battle.
fact that celestial beings could traverse the Abyss and In the years the followed, Grimaldi accepted many
enter the Fallen World has long been a sign of hope students; reports of the conflict in Naples spread far
to many. To a few it is a call to battle. and wide, and numerous individuals wished to com-
In the late 17th century, an Awakened Jesuit priest mand the power of Supernal forces. Not all who came
known as Alessandro Grimaldi (records are unclear as to study his ways were altruistic in their intent. The
to whether this was his Shadow Name or his name by priest quickly determined who was there to oppose
birth) saw the influence of the Abyss rise in his native the powers of the Abyss and who was there solely
Naples. A member of the Adamantine Arrow, the for personal gain. Once those interested in power for
clergyman fought alongside his order to stem the tide power’s sake were weeded out, Father Alessandro built
of the growing power. All but the most concentrated his Legacy, which he named the Choir of Hashmallim
strikes did nothing, and many Arrows were lost. As after the order of angels of the same name, into the
much a scholar as a warrior, Grimaldi turned to books foundations of the organization that it is today. The
and prayer to find a way to overcome the menace. Choir of Hashmallim is focused on disrupting and
As his fellow Arrows fought and lost skirmish after ending the threat of the Void. Its members hope to
skirmish with the creatures of the Void, the Theurgist inspire others through the use of their Attainments
locked himself in his study, refusing food or water or and the glory of the Aether they are able to call upon
rest until he could devise a means of victory. in battle.
Forty days and nights past before Grimaldi exited his The war is never-ending, but the Choir persists in
chambers. When he next appeared on the battlefield, the belief that it can be won.
the Jesuit Obrimos called forth a mighty avatar of the Parent Path: Obrimos
Supernal to aid the local Pentacle in their last ditch Nickname: Dominions
effort to eradicate now overwhelming Abyssal force. Appearance: Members of the Choir typically dress
Inspired by the sight of the angelic figure wading in non-descript, serviceable clothing. While a few
through the hostile creatures, the mages redoubled may purchase higher quality garments than others,
their efforts to drive back the invaders. Grimaldi led the overall tone set by the Legacy is one of privation;
the Pentacle mages to victory, his celestial companion the focus of the Legacy is the overthrow of the Void
powerful enough to combat the brunt of the Void’s and its creatures, not fashion.
assembled might.
Dominions are usually physically fit and often pos-
After the battle, Father Alessandro told the as- sess at least some degree of combat expertise. Many
sembled that the answer was not found in his books, experienced mages of the Choir — those that survive
but in his prayers. Exhausted, and nearly delirious their harsh obligation — are more scarred and callused
from his quest, he received a vision. The Aetherial than the average willworker, having weathered the
being that accompanied him on the field of battle had assaults of Acamoth and Gulmoth. It is certainly not

188
 unheard-of to encounter a Dominion who has lost an
eye or a limb in the course of her personal war.
Background: Mages that join the Choir of
Hashmallim usually have a strong faith and a solid
understanding of Abrahamic theology and the Legacy’s
connection to the Christian faith. The one quality
that all Choir Masters possess is an absolute belief
in the righteousness and power of the Aether.
Those wishing to join this Legacy can only
demonstrate this belief through their actions.
Less patient mages, only concerned with un-
locking the power of the Abode of Angels
for personal gain, have attempted to join
this Legacy, though the laborious tasks set
before them to prove their belief in the
righteousness of the Aether frequently
discourages such mages.
These ordeals are not foolproof,
however: occasionally truly strong
willed and patient Obrimos, inter-
ested solely in obtaining access to the
power of the Aether, are able to gain
admittance to the Legacy and learn
its secrets, no matter how stringent the
Choir is in its screening process.
Organization: The Choir of Hash-
mallim is loosely organized. Individual
Dominions travel where they are need-
ed, often taking up residence in locations
where Abyssal activity is strong. They
make it their mission to drive back
the Void and weaken its influence
in their home territory. Still others
join cabals in areas where the Abyss
is not a threat, with the intention of
ensuring their fellows do not fall prey
to the Void’s seductions.
Though no true hierarchy exists, the
Legacy keeps in near constant contact.
The Abyss is a danger of such epic
proportions that no sane mage could
hope to stand alone against its fury.
The Choir’s fight is one that some-
times seems hopeless, but by banding
together as a community, built of
resolute individuals, the Dominions
hope to ease that burden and lessen the
Void’s power in the Fallen World.
Suggested Oblations: Assisting local
charitable organizations, cleansing Abyssal
taint, meditation upon the nature of the Supernal

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 189

 Realms, leading a prayer group, teaching others the nels it, outward, into the Fallen World, in the form of
hazards of the Abyss an avenging angel. This Aetherial avatar is formed of
Concepts: Crusader, pious adventurer, religious Supernal Mana and adorned with fire; beautiful and
activist, traveling two-fisted theologian, right wing terrifying, all at once. Reflections of the Dominion’s
advocate, zealous Obrimos defender, Jesuit priest Virtue and Vice can be seen by those who closely
study the avatar: a mage with a Virtue of Justice and

Attainments a Vice of Wrath, for example, may channel a being

holding aloft a balanced set of scales in its right hand
The Choir of Hashmallim calls down the power of or somehow visibly blinded, with a sharp sword in its
the Aether on those — human or otherwise — who left hand and blood-soaked wings.
would permit, or even encourage, the Abyss to grow To call down his Aetherial avatar, the mage spends
in strength and influence. The zealotry of those on a point of Mana and rolls Resolve + Occult + Prime
the Path of the Mighty can be overwhelming for the as an instant action. Success indicates that the Do-
other Paths; the Choir focuses this zeal and directs minion summons the avatar, which remains within
it solely at the power of the Abyss. While many are the Fallen World for a number of turns equal to the
likeable and outgoing individuals, Dominions using mage’s Gnosis.
their Attainments are so focused in their intent that The avatar’s Traits are based on the summoning
they often seem otherworldly, even to close friends. mage’s Attributes, as follows:
Attributes: Power (lowest of the mage’s Intelligence,
1st: Aetherial Cleansing Strength, or Presence), Finesse (lowest of the mage’s
Prerequisites: Gnosis 3, Prime 2 (primary), Oc- Wits, Dexterity, or Manipulation), Resistance (lowest
cult 2 of the mage’s Resolve, Stamina, or Composure)
The taint of the Abyss is powerful and pervasive; Willpower: Power + Resistance
whatever it touches is inevitably stained by the con- Initiative: Finesse + Resistance
tact. Thus, Dominions turn the tremendous power of
Defense: Greater of Power or Finesse
the Abode of Angels — the power over raw magic,
itself — against these dark forces, in the hopes of Speed: Power + Finesse + species factor of 10
protecting the Fallen World and all its creatures from Size: 5
the Void’s infectious presence. Health: Size + Resistance (the avatar vanishes back
Whenever within sensory range of the use of any into the Aether when reduced to zero Health, though
Numen or Influence by an Acamoth or Gulmoth, the it may be summoned back later, as normal)
Dominion may spend a point of Mana and attempt The avatar is affected by spells just like a being
to counter the power as a reflexive action, requiring a normally summoned from the Aether (see pp. 72).
Resolve + Occult + Prime roll. The mage’s successes While the entity acts in the mage’s best interests —
are subtracted from those accrued by the Abyssal according to the unyielding standards of the Golden
entity, to a minimum of zero. While manifesting this Key — to oppose the Void, it is not under his direct
Attainment, the Dominion is wreathed in soft white control, unless he uses other magic to compel its
light and may display traditionally “angelic” or “holy” obedience. Others attempting to control the avatar
characteristics: a radiant halo or luminous wings, for with magic suffer a dice-pool penalty equal to the
example. These displays may or may not be in any Dominion’s successes in summoning it.
way associated with the willworker’s Nimbus. By spending a point of the Dominion’s Mana as
Note that this Attainment has no effect when an instant action (irrespective of the per turn Mana
used against Scelesti, other sorts of Left-Handed spends allowed by the mage’s Gnosis), the Aethe-
willworkers, or any other being other than a spirit rial avatar may create effects identical to the spells
of the Void. “Celestial Fire” (see Mage: The Awakening, p.
224) or “Controlled Dispellation” (see Mage: The
2nd: Aetherial Avatar Awakening, p. 224), rolling Power + Finesse. If the
Dominion is an Adept of Prime, the damage dealt
Prerequisites: Gnosis 5, Forces 3, Prime 3
by the avatar’s fire may be lethal. If the Dominion
Calling down the very fire of magic from the Aether,
is a Master of Prime, the avatar may spend an ad-
the Dominion gives it shape within his soul and chan-
ditional point of his Mana to upgrade the damage to

190
 aggravated. While the Aetherial avatar is present, of the following effects to her avatar (these abilities
the willworker may instead shunt any damage dealt may only be selected once for a given summoning,
to him by an Acamoth, Gulmoth or other Abyssal unless otherwise noted):
spirit to the avatar. • One of the avatar’s Attributes may now be based
The Dominion’s Aetherial avatar may only be called on the highest of the mage’s appropriate Attributes
down once per scene. (Intelligence, Strength, and Presence for Power, for
example), rather than the lowest. This effect may
3rd: Aetherial Exaltation be selected three times, once for each of the avatar’s
Prerequisites: Gnosis 7, Prime 4, Forces 4 Attributes.
With this, the final Attainment of the Choir of • The avatar gains bonus points of Health equal to
Hashmallim, a Dominion can further empower her the lesser of the Dominion’s dots in Forces or Prime.
Aetherial avatar. Enhanced by still greater boons of • The avatar may remain within the Fallen World
the Watchtower of the Golden Key, the entity becomes for a number of additional turns equal to the lesser of
a genuine terror to the creatures of the Void. the Dominion’s dots in Forces or Prime.
After summoning her Aetherial avatar, the Domin- • When attacked by an Abyssal spirit, the avatar is
ion spends another point of Mana as an instant action, considered to have an armor rating equal to the lesser
requiring a Resolve + Occult + Prime roll. For each of the Dominion’s dots in Forces or Prime.
success that she scores, the Theurgist may add one • The avatar gains the Harrow Numen.

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 191

 The Concord of Serpents
Embrace your suffering and shed your weakness.
The purpose of Pandemonium is to serve as a merely a means to an end. For, in the Fallen World,
crucible, enabling the Warlock to cleanse herself of the downhill path is one of cruelty, pettiness, greed,
frailty through the endless ordeal of her brutal and and satiation; it is easily walked and erodes the inner
unforgiving Path. By definition, this process requires potential of the one who treads it. To deny the animal
opposition. In the absence of a tormentor, the will- self — the basest longings of the human spirit — is
worker can fall victim to complacency and so fail to to swim against the current of spiritual indolence,
perfect herself through the ordeal of sublime agonies. and that is an accomplishment grand and glorious
It is not enough, however, merely to suffer through unto itself. While the Obrimos preach righteousness
one’s own demons; one must also share these hardships for its own sake, Adversaries celebrate its pursuit as
with others, lest they be denied the opportunities for the greatest of all possible trials and its culmination
self-mastery that only a Mastigos truly understands. a blissfully temporary state that inevitably turns,
So goes the philosophy of the Concord of Serpents, full-circle, back into further opportunities to again
anyway. suffer and persevere.
Making manifest within the Fallen World the cas- Parent Path: Mastigos
tigating way of Pandemonium, the self-proclaimed Nickname: Adversaries
“Adversaries” encourage others to perfect their nobler Appearance: Rare is the Adversary who doesn’t
selves through the acceptance of tribulation. Like attempt to look her best, though these willworkers
devils of old, they afflict those around them with the sometimes adopt very bizarre notions of what “best”
chance to be better, stronger people; to the Adversar- really means. Rituals may leave a mage extensively
ies’ thinking, the highest form of philanthropy. Of what scarred, tattooed, or pierced; physical evidence of
value, they ask, is virtue untested? It is a simple thing transcendent ordeals that she may wish to reveal to
to be good and to do right when no incentive exists to others through her mode of dress. She may, on the
take the easy, wicked, or otherwise morally expedient other hand, express her purpose through a menac-
road. More difficult, by far, is the path of righteousness ing appearance (dark and foreboding tones in her
opposed. The Serpent whispers temptations and strikes wardrobe, for example, or garish ones that specifically
at the heels of those who would reach toward grace. evoke the bright colors of poisonous animals). Her
The worthy deny these seductive promises and steel jewelry or hair may bristle with spikes, or her nails
themselves against the searing kiss of the Serpent’s may be honed to a claw-like edge. She may adorn
venom, while the unworthy are destroyed, whether herself with chains and bladed weapons, or even file
literally or metaphorically. her teeth down to sharp points. In one way or another,
Believed by certain Awakened scholars to rank however, the Adversary outwardly demonstrates her
among the most ancient of Mastigos Legacies, the calling as a force of opposition.
Concord of Serpents propounds the notion of life as a Background: Those who come to the Concord
never-ending contest between one’s better and worse of Serpents tend to arrive by one of two ways. The
natures. The quality of the soul is, to them, defined first are those for whom life is a perpetual struggle,
within the mind; within the thoughts and emotions mages who view every hardship as a chance for self-
that inform action and so become the basis of one’s improvement. These Warlocks never shy away from
innermost truth. Certain Awakened sages believe the the uphill battle and, indeed, seek out such challenges
Legacy’s ties to the Realm of Nightmares were forged as the very mandate of Pandemonium. The other
when the realms were closer to one another, though sort of willworker drawn to the Adversaries comes
no proof now exists to verify claims, either way. out of a life of ease, having never had to truly work
Some Adversaries cleave to the way of the contrary, for anything. Perhaps he is jolted out of this state by
demonstrating the value of goodness through a cari- a particularly harsh Awakening or some trauma after
cature of sin, while others are more akin to merciless inscribing his name upon the Watchtower of the
drill sergeants of morality and ethics. All, however, Iron Gauntlet. Then again, maybe he just tires of his
understand that virtue is not an end, but instead effortless lifestyle and seeks adversity and privation

192
 through which to lend significance to an otherwise slings and arrows of the Fallen World. It is hard to
shallow existence. be a Warlock, the Concord reasons, but harder still
Organization: Pandemonium’s nature is conflict; so, to be a Warlock who stands for virtue in a world
too, is the way of the Concord of Serpents. Hierarchy that rewards wickedness. This difficulty, however, is
requires polarity: high and low, strong and weak, ruler the very pillar upon which the Concord of Serpents
and governed. Each Adversary has an obligation to stands, for the challenge is not to be upright for the
her peers, as well as to those outside of her Legacy, and sake of uprightness; but, rather, to empower and exalt
the soul of the Warlock cries out for dominion. the self, as is the way of the Iron Gauntlet.
Thus, each Adversary strives to carve out
a place for herself within the Legacy, 1st: Virtue’s Pact
asserting authority over fellow walk- Prerequisites: Gnosis 3, Mind 2 (primary),
ers of the Serpent’s road. Tests of Space 1, Empathy 2
will and conviction are common, Whenever the Adversary undertakes an
though they almost always remain action that reaffirms his Virtue under duress
civil (if not always friendly), (in other words, any situation that would enable
with each Adversary attempting him to recover all points of spent Willpower
to cow, tempt, or otherwise erode for doing so), he may opt to instead spend a
the resolve of the other, until such time point of Mana to temporarily incarnate a
as one emerges as superior to the other. singular aspect of a lesser Wraith of Pande-
No relationship within the Concord is monium, corresponding to his Virtue. For
sacrosanct; even mentors are subjected the remainder of the scene, whenever the
to this treatment by their students. In- Adversary takes any action that directly
deed, any mage who inducts another into and forcefully upholds or is benefited by
the Legacy would be deeply insulted not to his Virtue, he receives two bonus dice
be treated in such a manner, as such would to his roll, as the Wraith employs its
imply that her student had learned nothing Influence on his behalf through an unas-
that she tried to teach. sailable Supernal thread. This Attainment
Suggested Oblations: Acting as a moral cannot be used in any chapter in which
tormentor for a Sleeper or another mage, de- the willworker has already refreshed his
liberately exposing oneself to and successfully Willpower by way of his Virtue and its use
resisting intense temptation, elaborately counts as having fully refreshed Willpower
binding or otherwise fettering oneself, points in such a manner.
interacting with or studying Supernal Also, with a successful Wits + Empathy
Demons, meditating upon the nature of + Mind roll (reflexively contested by Com-
Pandemonium, practicing exercises that posure + Gnosis for an unwilling subject)
require stillness or greatly restricted and an instant action, the Adversary can
movement, undertaking a brutal determine the Virtue of another within
physical and/or spiritual ordeal sensory range.
Concepts: Chess Grandmaster,
guerilla interventionist, guru of 2nd: Inharmonious Rhapsody
spiritual agonies, modern primitive, Prerequisites: Gnosis 5, Mind 3
peaceful warrior, sacred whore, un- Balance within the soul is a lie; or,
conventional psychologist rather, it is only through strife that har-
mony can be discovered. Inner peace is a
Attainments series of arduous instants and the spiritual
gratification that results from overcoming
The Attainments of the Concord
them. Whenever the Adversary is reduced
of Serpents reward struggle in the
to her last three dots of Health, she
face of tribulation, chiseling a
recovers one point of Willpower
better, more resolute self out of
(up to her normal maximum)
stark refusal to bow before the

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 193

 for each subsequent dot of Health filled with lethal willworker may instead spend a point of Willpower
or aggravated damage. Note that this damage must as a reflexive action and roll Resolve + Composure +
actually stem from a life-or-death situation, though Mind, with each success granting her a point of Mana,
self-inflicted wounds can certainly qualify, provided up to her normal maximum (excess points are lost).
that the mage takes the steps necessary to make the This Mana is, in reality, a metaphysical reflection
process genuinely dangerous to her. Also, whenever shining outward from just beyond the outmost edge
the Adversary successfully resists Wisdom degenera- of the Supernal, being something closer to the idea
tion or any circumstance that would cause her to gain of Mana than the actual Fallen World substance. As
a Derangement, she recovers a point of Willpower. a result, this Mana cannot be stolen from the Adver-
Again, this process must involve a sincere threat to the sary, though she can, if she knows the proper magics,
willworker’s wellbeing — whether physical, mental, transform it into Tass or bestow it upon others in its
or spiritual — for this Attainment to work. raw form; whereupon the Daimonic “Mana” ceases
Optional Arcanum: Space 3 to be a conceptual ideal and becomes the ephemeral
By spending a point of Mana and succeeding on a material familiar to most Awakened.
Resolve + Empathy + Mind roll as a reflexive action, The Concord mage may only benefit from one use
the Adversary can extend the benefit of her first At- of this Attainment per chapter. She may, however,
tainment to a willing individual within sensory range recover spent dots of Willpower through the fulfill-
who satisfies the conditions for refreshing Willpower ment of her Virtue, either before or after using this
by embodying his Virtue under duress. During this Attainment, though never during the same scene.
time, the Adversary, herself, acts as the channel for Optional Arcanum: Space 4
the Supernal Demon reflective of the target’s Virtue. By spending a point of Mana and succeeding on a
While extending the benefits of her first Attainment Resolve + Empathy + Mind roll as a reflexive action,
to another, she cannot simultaneously incarnate her an Adversary may extend the benefits of his second
own Virtue (even if both characters possess the same Attainment to a willing individual within sensory
Virtue), nor can she refresh her Willpower during the range. Note that each individual use of the mage’s
scene by upholding her Virtue against hardship. After second Attainment upon another requires its own
the current scene ends, the willworker may again use expenditure of Mana, while multiple points of Will-
her first Attainment upon herself — provided that power may be bestowed through a single use of the
she meets the conditions for doing so — as normal. Attainment (if the subject were to receive two dots
No sympathetic tie, whether temporary or permanent, of lethal damage to her last three dots of Health, for
is created through the use of this Attainment, and example, she would receive two points of Willpower
existing ties are unaffected by it. at the a cost to the Adversary of one point of Mana).
The peril to the beneficiary of this Attainment must
3rd: Manumission’s Fetter be real enough that the subject genuinely believes in
Prerequisites: Gnosis 7, Mind 4 its capacity to cause her serious harm. Some Adver-
Through arduous and perpetual self-restraint, the saries are known to arrange for such circumstances,
Adversary sets herself free. She no longer struggles whether subtly or overtly, simply to demonstrate to
against the moral hardships of her existence and in- their quarry the wages of perseverance. As with the
stead truly welcomes their endless turmoil into her soul. previous optional Attainment, no sympathetic tie,
She will never run out of challenges to face and she whether temporary or permanent, is created through
discovers sublime ecstasy therein. Whenever satisfying the use of this Attainment, and existing ties are unaf-
the conditions for refreshing her Willpower through fected by it.
the fulfillment of her Virtue in time of adversity, the

194
 Katsinam Suukya
What is it that they say about those who forget the past?
The Katsinam Suukya grew out of the traditions of Regardless, the Katsinam Suukya exists now to
the Hopi people of the American Southwest. During bridge a gap between old ways and the pressures of
the United States’ expansion into their territories, the modern world, admonishing its adherents to
more and more traditions and practices disappeared, return to ancient forms of spirituality for answers to
first through the violence of aggressive expansion difficult questions. Ahota’s vision, recounted to his
and, later, under a tide of cultural assimilation. While first students, told of a time when their ways would
some continued to cling to the old ways, keeping be needed to avert some terrible calamity, or to guide
them sacred and alive, most were gradually battered many to a better future. A number of those drawn
down by colonizing frontiersmen and those who fol- to the Katsinam Suukya feel that its teachings ad-
lowed in their wake. In the late 19th century, a Hopi dress an emptiness within their lives, so perhaps its
théarch by the name of Ahota (“Restless One”) set practices truly can illuminate a safe road through
out with the intention of reviving the traditions of dark times to come. Today, the Legacy is still a small
his people among Sleepers and Awakened, alike. The one, but with a diverse membership that calls upon
first few years of his work, however, proved deeply the influences of the many cultures from which its
disheartening, as Ahota ran into one stumbling block adherents hail, including several threatened by the
after the next. march of “progress.”
To gain a new perspective on his mission, the Sha- Parent Path: Thyrsus
man embarked on a long journey into Shadow, seeking Nickname: Caretakers
the advice of the spirits. What he discovered was more Appearance: Older mages of the Katsinam Suukya
and far different than he had hoped, transforming both often dress in traditional garb, with many of them fa-
his mission and his soul. When Ahota returned, he voring Southwestern materials and styles, particularly
soon gathered five apprentices to himself, only two of for ceremonial occasions. Naturally, these Caretakers
whom were of Hopi descent, to pass on what he had tend to stand out in a lot of urban areas, but most
learned of the katsinam, the life-bringers; spirit guides elders of the Legacy tend to confine their wander-
who educate the young in the important truths of life. ings to more rural and isolated locales. Some stay on
Out of respect for his people’s tradition of obfuscat- reservation land, while others belong to communes,
ing the deepest nuances of their language from the and still others live as hermits. Younger Caretakers,
uninitiated, he simply called his Legacy the Katsinam on the other hand, often adopt a more pragmatic
Suukya, after the title of the life-bringers (already aesthetic, though most of them incorporate more
well known outside of the tribe) and the Hopi word traditional elements into their daily dress.
for “one,” leaving it to the listener to decide whether Jewelry is often worn, and each piece tells a story.
Ahota intended them to be “one with the katsinam,” It may be a traditional take that usually accompanies
“one of the katsinam,” “one chosen by the katsinam,” a particular sort of item, or it can be a very specific
or something else, entirely. story about how the object in question was acquired.
Ahota eventually passed on (though some say he These tales help to keep alive the great oral traditions
simply vanished into the Shadow once more), leav- that many cultures share.
ing a council of elders — several of whom were not Background: The Katsinam Suukya is a small
Native Americans, let alone Hopi — to govern the Legacy. Its members are not particularly flashy and
Legacy after his death. He claimed that this approach many modern mages don’t enjoy living a life spent
represented a “broader vision” that would “bring peace dwelling on old traditions — from a number of dif-
to the people of the world, through the embrace of ferent cultures — that they believe no longer serve
traditional ways.” To this day, three of the elders of any useful purpose. Those whose only interest in the
the council claim to have been apprentices to the past relates to the power that it can offer in the here
first so-called “Caretaker,” but the veracity of such and now are of little interest to the Caretakers.
statements is uncertain, at best.

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 195

 Occasionally, elders of the Legacy journey far, seek- measure of doubt, that she deserves a place on the elder
ing those souls who are in need of something that they council. The Caretaker must have performed some
cannot quite grasp. The elder Caretaker then adopts heroic or otherwise grand service to the Legacy, and
the role of a mentor, if possible, talking of endangered are invited to join the elders by popular acclaim.
wisdom and old power, and of stewardship over things Individual Caretakers are usually left to their own
of genuine importance. Those who seem receptive to devices. If a senior member of the Legacy requires
these advances are often offered membership. Through assistance in a specific task, however, custom dictates
this process, the Caretakers maintain and very slowly that the younger Caretaker comply with the request,
expand their numbers. unless he has a pressing reason not to. Some elders
Organization: The Legacy is led by a council of el- use the tradition of seniority for their own gain or to
ders. The longer one has served the Katsinam Suukya, purposely inconvenience the young (whether as a
the more esteem she holds among its membership. lesson or for some other, less benevolent end). This
Achievements and personal renown often factor into sort of behavior, on the whole, is tolerated within the
the pecking order amongst the leading elders of the Katsinam Suukya; if the young mage cannot fulfill his
Legacy, but length of service (and the experience obligation without hardship, then he clearly needed
that accompanies it) serves as the Katsinam Suukya’s to endure it. As the elders of the Legacy see things,
measuring stick when it comes to leadership. While the world is not the nicest of places and to survive, a
rare, an individual may prove, beyond any reasonable Caretaker must be as crafty as possible.
Suggested Oblations: Praying to ancestors or other
spirits, protecting a valuable archeological dig site,
Culture Clash telling an inspiring or insightful story of a past hero,
recovering a lost cultural relic and returning it to
Ahota’s bold declaration of having con-
its rightful owners, guiding a spirit back to Shadow,
tacted the katsinam in a way more “real”
than that practiced by the Sleepers of his performing traditional crafts, thoughtfully consider-
people sparked outrage among a number of ing an intricate puzzle or problem and arriving at a
willworkers of Hopi descent in modern times. creative solution
This is not surprising, given the strong drive Concepts: Activist, animistic druid, archeologist,
that many Hopi feel toward the preservation historian, new age crackpot, professional storyteller,
of their culture, particularly the sacred tradi- white would-be “Native medicine man”
tions of that culture. Certainly, the Legacy’s
intended mission of initiating outsiders into a
“higher” spiritual experience of his people’s
religion — arrogance, in and of itself — leaves
Attainments
The Attainments of the Katsinam Suukya enable a
a bitter taste in the mouths of many of those, Caretaker to consult with her spirit guide. In and of
Hopi or otherwise, who hear of it. itself, this is not particularly unusual for Shamans, as
To be clear, Ahota’s claim is no more many enjoy a solid working relationship with certain
“factual” than that of an Obrimos who claims denizens of the Shadow Realm, but a Caretaker aspires
to have spoken with YHVH in his journey to become one with the entity with whom she most
to the Watchtower of the Golden Key, or an closely identifies.
Acanthus who believes that she summons
down the Tuatha Dé Danaan from Arcadia.
Faith is a complex thing and those confined
1st: Understanding the Katsina
to the Fallen World simply don’t have all Prerequisites: Gnosis 3, Spirit 2 (primary), Oc-
of the answers, no matter how much some cult 2
individuals might believe that they do. Ahota The Caretaker’s first and most important revelation
surely meant no malice by his assertion, but is the nature of her spirit guide; an incarnation of the
he also did not consider the insult that he Primal Wild whose nature most powerfully resonates
gave to the traditions of his tribe in doing so. with the mage’s own. This “spirit” (which is an ar-
Those who follow in his footsteps, regardless chetypal ideal, rather than an individual entity) is an
of their origins, are heirs to that insult… and, animal, elemental manifestation, plant, or something
occasionally, its consequences.
of the sort: coyotes, bears, ravens, mountains, streams,
storms, cacti, or cedar trees, for example. When seen

196
 in Shadow, the mage possesses features reminiscent Optional Arcanum: Life 3
of the spirit guide. The player and Storyteller should At times the mage needs other types of assistance.
work together to determine an appropriate spirit guide By calling upon the Primal connection that resonates
for the Caretaker. within all living things, the mage gains a unique in-
The mage is able to see, hear, and speak with spirits sight into animalistic minds and is able to turn them
as per the spell, “Spirit Tongue” (see Mage: The Awak- to her cause.
ening, p. 246). Additionally, the mage may look into This ability functions like the “Control Median Life”
Shadow if in the material realm, or vice versa, as per spell (Mage: The Awakening, pp. 185–6), requiring
the spell, “Peer Across the Gauntlet” (see Mage: The a roll of Presence + Animal Ken + Life as an instant
Awakening, p. 247). These abilities are continually action, though the mage can control a number of
active. Most Caretakers tend to converse casually with animals simultaneously equal to her dots in Life.
the Shadow Realm spirits around them and the spirits,
in turn, are often curious about or amused by their 3rd: Becoming the Katsina
company. Occasionally, a spirit may offer its insight Prerequisites: Gnosis 7, Spirit 4, Life 4
into a problem presently confronting the willworker, With this Attainment, the Caretaker acquires the
simply because it enjoys having someone to talk to. ability to temporarily physically incarnate certain
of the qualities of his spirit guide, calling its ideal
2nd: Calling the Katsina down from the Primal Wild and into himself, and
Prerequisites: Gnosis 5, Spirit 3 becoming something halfway between spirit and flesh.
The Caretaker grows closer to This transformation requires that a point of Mana be
oneness with her spirit guide, spent as an instant action, with a Stamina + Occult
embracing its metaphysical + Spirit roll. For each success that the mage accrues,
qualities. The mage’s Primal he may adopt one of the following benefits for the
connection grants her an remainder of the scene:
Influence (as per spirit • Acquire one feature from a base or median life
Influences, on pp. 318–9 form (as per the “Transform Life” spell; Mage: The
of Mage: The Awaken- Awakening, p. 187) appropriate to the Caretaker’s
ing) with a descriptor spirit guide. (This effect functions even for those
identical to the nature who identify with natural forces, rather than liv-
of her guide, at a rating ing things: a Caretaker whose spirit guide is stone
equal to half her Gno- sprouts claws of sharpened flint, for instance, while
sis, rounding down. (In one aligned with the river can breathe underwater
other words, a Gnosis 3 without difficulty.)
willworker who identifies • Gain a Numen appropriate to the spirit guide.
with the wolf gains an Influ- Any such Numina cost Mana to activate, rather than
ence of Wolves at one dot, Essence, and require a Presence
while one with a Gnosis 8 + Spirit roll.
whose spirit guide embod-
Also, the Caretaker may cross
ies rain gains an Influence
the Gauntlet, in either direction,
of Rain at four dots.) The
with an instant action, requiring no die
mage rolls Gnosis + Spirit
roll. While in this form, any Life Arcanum
to use this Influence and
spell intended to in any way cause harm
spends points of Mana in
to the willworker also requires an equal
place of Essence, on a one-for-
number of dots in the Spirit Arcanum
one basis. The mage may regain
to have any effect.
one point of Mana per day, simply
by remaining in proximity to the
object of her Influence.

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 197

 The People of the Hour
Time may be of the essence,
but that is no reason to rush through life,
ignoring the needs of others.
The People of the Hour are a product of the fear of purpose to it. Lady Peacock took Ildanach’s advice
the 1950s and the social change of 1960s London. In to heart in a way that he did not foresee: absconding
a world that was yearning for liberty from the timeless with a stack of old tomes from the local Lorehouse, the
certainty of the endless cycle of growing up, getting a young mage decided to ask Arcadia directly.
job, getting married, having kids, retiring, and dying, a Perhaps it was her magical skill that guided a first-
young Acanthus helped inspire others to break free. time summoner through the perilous incantations that
It was 1958. She called herself Lady Peacock, and brought down one of the mercurial Fae of the Lunargent
she was trying desperately to change the status quo of Thorn to commune with Lady Peacock; likelier, though,
London’s Awakened community. Rigid traditionalists it was simply her tremendous good fortune. Ultimately,
amongst the Silver Ladder and the Mysterium dominat- she got her answer, and a bargain of one sort or another
ed the Consilium. Members of the Adamantine Arrow was struck. Lady Peacock became the first of the People
and the Guardians of the Veil were too preoccupied of the Hour, those who command the secrets of the
with their duties to care about a new social agenda in future in order to better the present. She began to take
Awakened society. Even Lady Peacock’s fellow Liber- on students of all orders — and none — spreading the
tines were simply trying to hold onto what little they lore of her new Legacy as widely as possible. Eventually,
had, rather than reaching for something better. Lady Peacock left London, altogether, sowing seeds
Rather than growing discouraged, however, Lady into the cultural whirlwind of the 60s, and reaping
Peacock determined to evolve through a revolution their fruits on the return trip.
of thought. She studied the patterns of her native The 1970s were a blur of sex, drugs, and experimenta-
London, following strands of the unfolding future, tion, for Lady Peacock as much as for so many others,
looking specifically for those near to the Awaken- and she adopted a wide range of willworkers into the
ing. It was by no means an exact science, but destiny People of the Hour, many of whom had clashing visions
must have had a special place set aside for the young of the best of all possible futures. This, as she saw it,
Enchanter, who used her powerful Fate magic to ably was for the best, as each would challenge the others
perform feats only barely within the limits of the to truly question the rightness of what they did. For
mundane, within plain sight of only those few who the first time, she began to run into the students of
were struggling to cast off the Lie. While hidebound her own students, eclectic spirits utterly unknown to
elements within the Consilium disapproved of Lady her, and Lady Peacock was overjoyed by the ecstatic
Peacock’s antics, it was actually a théarch — also an chaos of it all. The 80s and much of the 90s were, in
Acanthus — who came to her defense, arguing elo- contrast, a disappointment to the aging Godmother
quently to all that nothing she did in any way truly of the People of the Hour, so she did the only thing
threatened the Veil or otherwise compromised the she could: she fled the known and went seeking the
security of local willworkers as a whole. Reluctantly, “next big things,” emerging in all sorts of unexpected
the Consilium allowed these antics to continue and, places and inducting still those who met with her ap-
as the young mage had hoped, several of these souls proval into her Legacy. One week, she was undercover
Awakened to the Lunargent Thorn. in the turbulent Middle East, initiating a well-hidden
What she didn’t expect is that all but one of these new Libertine Enchanter into the People of the Hour and,
Acanthus eventually went to orders other than the Free the next, she was grudgingly offering tutelage to an
Council. The théarch, Ildanach, took the despondent Acanthus Guardian who challenged her perceptions
Libertine under his wing, thereafter, counseling her to of the place of free will in the Fallen World.
seek the will of her Path’s native realm in all that she Now in her mid 70s, Lady Peacock (who remains a
had done and all that followed; for, surely, there was whimsical, if rarely-seen, friend and mentor to many

198
People of the Hour throughout the world), has yet to Their typical wardrobe consists of bright, cheery
slow down and her Legacy follows suit. Forceful and colors and vivid, eye-jarring patterns. Many seem
dynamic, the People of the Hour pursue tomorrow to have raided the local vintage thrift shop for mod,
with the fervor of those who believe that, if they try glam, or hippie fashions, or other styles reminiscent of
hard enough, they can reach out and grab it, and make the 60s and 70s (or what those decades imagined the
it into something wondrous. As to the answer to her future might look like). The cost of the clothing is of
long-ago question and the bargain that she made to no concern; what good is such a thing as money if you
forge her Legacy, however, Lady Peacock says nothing, don’t spend it? Likewise, Spoilers tend to extravagant
save to offer a youthful smirk and a playful wink. hairstyles and jewelry. If it strikes their mood and looks
Parent Path: Acanthus fun, it normally gets acquired and worn.
Nickname: Spoilers Background: The common thread that links all
Appearance: Spoilers dress with flair and gusto. People of the Hour is the desire to live in — and im-
They understand that while they call upon the future prove — the moment, though many of them disagree
to aid their present, they may not live to see it; though on the definition of “improve.” Aside from this one
they relive the past to gain the edge of experience, thread of commonality, Spoilers come from all walks
they do not wish to wallow in it. of life and all strata of society.
Many Spoilers come from the mid-
dle class. Most are disenfranchised
with their lot in life in particular and
the shape of the world as it stands.
A good deal of the Legacy work in
various charities, activist groups, and
social clubs, recruiting strongly out
of these of organizations.
Organization: The only organi-
zational tie between People of the
Hour is that of teacher to student.
The student normally accompa-
nies the teacher until he is well on
his way to obtaining the Legacy’s
second Attainment. This serves to
reinforce the Legacy’s ideals from
teacher to student, but also allows
the teacher the chance to see how
the student applies the lessons
that he has learned. Occasionally,
though, a Spoiler will only initiate
her student into the Legacy, and
then allow him to go out into the
world, so as to observe how he grows
in the absence of rules. Beyond this
loose system of authority, People
of the Hour recognize one another
as kindred spirits, even when they
stand diametrically opposed.
Suggested Oblations: Performing
acts of derring-do while entertaining
a crowd, expounding on the virtues
of self help, meditation on the nature
of chance and fate, helping someone
who has lost something, acting as a

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 199

 sponsor for recovering substance abusers, performing ment before her next turn in the initiative roster
tarot readings, repeatedly performing an act of random comes up. The use of this Attainment is automatic;
chance (flipping a coin, rolling dice, etc) it requires no dice roll, though the Spoiler can only
Concepts: Adrenaline junkie, hippie, racecar driver, use this ability once in a given scene.
human rights activist, solipsist, vagabond, bodhisat- Optional Arcanum: Fate 3
tva, touring musician By definition, a “spoiler” comes out of nowhere, to
throw a monkey wrench into a sure thing. Through
Attainments the creation of uncanny good fortune, People of the
Hour can do just that. The mage may spend a point
The People of the Hour share a Legacy born out of of Mana as an instant action to gain the 8-again
frustration with the trends of stagnation and compla- quality on any one future die roll — as per the Fate 3
cency Lady Peacock saw at the end of the 1950s. The spell “Superlative Luck” (Mage: The Awakening, p.
Attainments she bargained for drive Spoilers towards 156) — during the current scene. This good fortune
a path of activity, change, and enlightenment. manifests as a highly improbable turn of events: the
Living in the moment is the whole purpose of the mage sneezes while aiming a gun at a Seer of the
Spoilers. While their Attainments are versatile and Throne holding her cabalmate hostage and acciden-
almost universally applicable to any situation, they tally shoots down a chandelier, instead, dropping it
do not function if the mage is focusing on the future onto the Seer’s head. This Attainment can only be
or past. What this means in practical terms is that used once per chapter.
activities such as research, long-term planning, or the
like (anything requiring an extended action) do not
gain the benefit of a Spoiler’s abilities.
3rd: Stacking the Deck
Prerequisites: Gnosis 7, Time 4
This, the final Attainment of the People of the
1st: Fifty-Fifty Hour, allows a Spoiler to take a more active hand
in her own future. By spending a point of Mana as a
Prerequisites: Gnosis 3, Time 2 (primary), Fate 1
The Spoiler always succeeds (or fails), whenever reflexive action, the willworker may make use of an
she wishes, at any simple, uncontested act with only effect identical to the Time 4 spell, “Create Potential-
two potential outcomes, and easily focuses in on the ity” (see pp. 212). The Spoiler rolls Wits + Science +
present moment, tuning out all potential distractions. Time to determine the number of bonus dice created
She automatically and permanently benefits from an through the use of this ability.
effect identical to the Time 2 spell, “Flip of the Coin” This Attainment may not be used during the same
(Mage: The Awakening, p. 259) and can spend up turn during which the mage casts the Create Potential-
to three turns “aiming” an action to reduce dice pool ity spell (and vice-versa), and it is otherwise subject
penalties, just as with the Fate 1 spell, “Quantum Flux” to all of the same restrictions that govern the use of
(Mage: The Awakening, pp. 148–9). that spell. During the course of a chapter, a Spoiler
may use this Attainment a number of times equal to
2nd: Catch As Catch Can half her Gnosis, rounding down.
Optional Arcanum: Fate 4
Prerequisites: Gnosis 5, Time 3
Living in the moment and living through the mo- The Spoiler has the ability to bring destiny, itself, to
ment are two different, but equally important, facets bear in the course of her work, and may spend a point
of the People of the Hour. While a Spoiler with this of Mana as a reflexive action to make use of an effect
Attainment has yet to learn the secrets of summoning similar to the Fate 4 spell, “Probable Cause” (Mage:
futures out of Arcadia, she can call upon immediate The Awakening, p. 157). The mage immediately
experience to extricate herself from the consequences re-rolls all dice that turned up as failures.
of a bad choice. This ability may not be “stacked” with another
With an instant action and a point of Mana, the use of the Probable Cause spell. For all intents and
Spoiler can “rewind” time and re-take her last action, purposes, each use of this ability counts against the
as though casting the Time 3 spell, “Shifting Sands” number of times that a Spoiler can use the Time 4
(Mage: The Awakening, p. 263). Just as with that component of Stacking the Deck over the course of
spell, the mage must declare the use of this Attain- a single chapter, and vice-versa.

200
 Most cultures revere those extraordinary people the idea, pointing to the fact that the founder died
that rise above the masses to lead and inspire those of natural causes: an unlikely event for a Tremere.
around them in times of crisis. The names of heroes, Another group of mages posit that the first of the
past and present, are venerated in song, story and Heralds was a descendant of the Orphean tradition,
even with worship in some societies. The Stygian citing the mythological character as one of the few
Heralds go beyond simple adoration to remind others mages to ever descend to the Underworld and return
of the capacity heroes have to inspire. They call up intact. The Heralds openly scoff at this theory, rightly
the souls of dead heroes, borrowing their strength to pointing out that no one is sure exactly from whence
serve the living. the practices of the Legacy call the dead souls. It’s just
The Stygian Heralds were founded by a Moros who as likely the shades are drawn from the Supernal, or
was studying several unusual Artifacts recovered from even the Astral Realms, as from the Underworld.
mystically sealed vault beneath Uchisar, Turkey. The Questions of founder aside, the Stygian Heralds slowly
vault itself was an obvious product of magic, the weap- spread their wisdom throughout Awakened society and
ons and armor found within had unusual properties not everyone approved of their methods. It was a member
that didn’t seem to be the result of enchantment. After of the Adamantine Arrow who dubbed them “Resur-
months of study, the Moros came to the conclusion rectionists,” likening their practices to those of grave
that the Artifacts were somehow still bound to their robbers. Rather than being insulted by the nickname,
dead owners. The Artifacts seemed to draw energy the Heralds embraced it, noting that the actions of the
from a different realm; in them he found the mystical resurrectionists helped further the science of medicine
signature of the leaden oppressiveness of Stygia and with their grim deeds. The side-effects resultant from
the echoing eternity of the Underworld. Alongside the Stygian Herald’s blessings didn’t go unnoticed either.
his continuing studies, the Moros began to experiment Individuals that repeatedly served as host to the souls of
with methods of imbuing mundane objects with the heroes had a tendency to go insane. Still, in times of great
same energy and, through trial and error, eventually need, no one could deny the effectiveness of the Stygian
created the first Attainment of a new Legacy. Heralds’ rituals and so they were allowed to continue
Feeling that he was close to a real breakthrough, the their practices. Possibly because of the dubious nature
willworkers enlisted the help of several other Moros of their studies, the Heralds have never grown to the
to assist him in the continuation of his work. He same prominence as other Legacies. Still, their numbers
taught them the methods behind his first discovery grow rather than shrink with each passing year and an
and the cabal began to call itself the Stygian Heralds: interested mage can often find one if she is serious about
Stygian in honor of their path and Heralds in hom- learning what the dead have to offer.
age to those humble souls who walked before heroes Parent Path: Moros
of lore announcing their coming. Many years passed Nickname: Resurrectionists
and when the original founder of the Legacy died, in Appearance: Resurrectionists tend to dress practi-
accordance with his wishes, his name was struck from cally. As Moros, they recognize the transitory nature
every record of the Legacy, ensuring that he would be of earthly opulence and most prefer comfortable, un-
forgotten and allowing him to abide in peace. Stories derstated fashions. Some Stygian Heralds wear subtle
persist, though, inside the Legacy and without, about accents that invoke cultures famous for their heroes:
whom the founder really was. a tie with a Classical Greek motif, for example, or a
A few mages, prompted by jealousy (or so the Heralds Nordic runestone necklace.
believe), declared that the founder must have been Background: Mages that are invited to join the
a Tremere. They suggest that only someone with Stygian Heralds generally have a sound foundation
in-depth knowledge of how to trap and manipulate in history, myth and legend. Potential candidates
a soul could have developed magical means of com- must find merit in the idea of using the dead to aid
pelling the shades of the dead, of ripping them from the living.
wherever it is they rest. The Stygian Heralds refuted

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 201

 Organization: Most Stygian Heralds only maintain To activate this Attainment, the mage must touch the
contact with other members of the Legacy under equipment he intends to imbue. Only objects capable of
whom they have studied. The bond between teacher being used as weapons or armor can be imbued, though
and student is strong, the former having shaped they can be somewhat makeshift in nature. A lead pipe
the beliefs and practices of the latter. The Stygian and leather jacket are perfectly acceptable representa-
Heralds prefer their members be evenly distributed tions of a weapon and armor for the purposes of this
around the world, rather than clumping into cabals, Attainment. With the appropriate objects at hand, the
to ensure the strength and memory of the fallen is mage rolls Resolve + Occult + Death. For each success
spread among the living. rolled the mage can add one of the following properties
Suggested Oblations: Leading a sincere group to the object for the remainder of the scene. Successes
prayer for the souls of departed heroes, reciting from can be evenly divided to imbue both a weapon type
memory every known name of a hero from antiquity, object and an armor type object (no more than one
leaving an offering at a memorial for fallen heroes, weapon and one piece of armor per scene).
obtaining a piece of memorabilia owned by a hero, • +1 equipment bonus (weapon only; maximum of
writing a poem, story or paper about a hero the Herald’s dots in Matter)
Concepts: Ancestral worshippers, grave rob- • +1 armor rating (armor only; maximum of
bers, historians, military advisors, spiritualists, the Herald’s dots in Matter)
storytellers • Increased lethality (weapon only); the
weapon gains the 9-again quality.
Attainments Example: Julian intends to imbue a
baseball bat and a chest protector with
The Stygian Heralds call up the
the qualities of heroic armaments. He
glory and power of fallen heroes
gains four successes on his Resolve +
to aid them in their own battles.
Occult + Death roll. He increases the
Although they insist their rituals
Armor rating of the chest protector by
pay all possible respect to the dead, the
2/2, gives a +1 equipment bonus to the
subjects of their magic say otherwise.
baseball bat and increases the lethality
The Resurrectionists persevere even
of the weapon.
in the face of such reports but their
Additionally, anyone wielding a
necromantic practices do leave a
weapon altered by this Attainment
mark on them that the restless dead
gains a temporary Specialty in that
find distasteful. Ghosts tend to be wary
weapon type and never suffers the
of — or even hostile toward — mages whose
untrained penalty.
souls are marked by this Legacy.
Once a weapon or armor has been
1st: Heroic Armament imbued, anyone can use the equip-
ment to full benefit… at a price. Any
Prerequisites: Gnosis 3, Death 2 (primary),
character (other than the caster) who
Matter 1
takes up the heroic armaments feels
For centuries, mourners around the world have uneasy handling the equipment,
buried the weapons and armor of fallen heroes with almost like she’s robbed a grave.
them to ensure they are armed in death. The first
Attainment teaches the mage to summon manifes-
tations, physical reflections, of heroic armaments
2nd: Heroic Presence
Prerequisites: Gnosis 5, Death 3
found in the tombs and treasure hordes in Stygia.
This Attainment functions like an enhanced The one characteristic shared
version of the Matter 2 spell, “Alter by nearly every individual named
Accuracy” (see Mage: the Awakening hero is an ability to inspire com-
p. 196), employing the Death Arcanum rades or followers to acts of valor,
to call forth the power of weapons and regardless of circumstance. A hero
armor from ghostly ephemera. leads with supreme self-confidence

202
 and ability that encourages those around him to excel. merlands or other spiritual paradises could be true or
Related to the Mind 3 spell, “Augment the Mind,” (see they could all refer to some aspect of the Underworld.
Mage: The Awakening, p. 210) the Attainment calls The Resurrectionist is able to reach out to those
on the power of long-dead heroes to boost how the souls and pluck them from their rest, depositing
target is perceived rather than providing a mechanical them in living bodies. A more powerful successor
increase in Attributes. This Attainment may only target to the Death 4 spell, “Revenant,” (see Mage: The
other characters, never the caster. The mage summons Awakening, p. 143), can use this Attainment to
a splinter of a heroic soul and embeds it in his target. summon up the souls that have passed beyond the
This requires an extended Resolve + Occult + Death roll Fallen World, instead of shackling the souls of the
(target number of five successes), contested by Resolve newly dead to flesh. This Attainment may only
+ Gnosis in the case of an unwilling target. The soul- target other characters, never the caster. The mage
splinter remains in its new host for a number of hours summons the soul of a fallen hero with an extended
equal to the Gnosis of the caster. While the character Resolve + Occult + Death roll (target number of 15
plays host to the splinter, he becomes inspirational in successes), contested by Resolve + Gnosis in the case
both word and deed to those around him. of an unwilling host. The soul remains trapped in
Word: Once each scene, the host character can make the host body until the following sunrise. The host
a rousing speech by rolling Presence + Expression. Al- character remains in charge of his actions for the
lies within the sound of his voice gain one temporary duration of the possession. While merged with the
Willpower (this can exceed normal maximums) for heroic soul, the host character gains all the benefits
each success. Unspent temporary Willpower vanishes of the Resurrectionsts’ second Attainment and the
at the end of the scene. following bonuses:
Deed: Each time the host character succeeds at • By spending a point of Willpower, the subject may
an action, allies within line of sight of the character grant a Physical Skill Roll the rote action quality (see
gain a +3 bonus to perform similar actions. As an the World of Darkness Rulebook, pp. 134–5).
example, if the host character managed to leap across • Defense is increased by one (rather than decreased)
a yawning chasm, anyone favorably inclined towards for every opponent past the first that attacks.
the character who witnessed the feat would gain a +3 • Points of Willpower spent to increase dice rolls
bonus to clear a similar obstacle. made for Resistance Attributes add four bonus dice,
Even willing targets are troubled by the sensation of rather than two.
hosting a sliver of soul yanked from the Underworld. The • Wound penalties are treated as inversely propor-
sliver feels restless inside them, twisting and squirming to tional bonuses (a –2 penalty becomes a +2 bonus, for
be freed. The character is subjected to a nearly constant example).
feeling of loss and separation, alien to the actual emo- The soul whispers in the ear of its host for the dura-
tions of the character, until the soul-splinter is released. tion of the possession, haranguing him for keeping the
When the effect ends, hosts possessed of even the slightest soul from its rest. It accuses the host of vile betrayal;
sense of decency (Wisdom 5 or greater) typically suffer at the Storyteller’s discretion, the relentless invec-
intense spasms of remorse and shame. tive might result in a one-die penalty to particularly
Targeting an unwilling character with this At- complex actions.
tainment is considered an act of hubris and requires Forcing an unwilling character to play host is con-
a degeneration roll for mages of Wisdom 6 or higher sidered an act of hubris and requires a degeneration
(roll three dice). roll for mages of Wisdom 3 or higher (roll two dice).
Overuse of this Attainment may also be considered
3rd: Heroic Soul an act of hubris at Storyteller discretion.
Prerequisites: Gnosis 7, Death 4
No one knows for certain the final resting place
of heroic souls. Legends about Valhalla, the Sum-

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 203

 The Legion
(Left-Handed Legacy)
For we are many.

The urge to serve the Abyss is perverse and mon- if, indeed, they care to. A replaced eye looks hideous
strous; how much more so, then, those that summon and bizarre, while the flesh around it becomes red and
up its denizens and incorporate such alien creatures, irritated, with a fine network of black veins just under
antithetical to life itself, into their bodies and souls? the skin radiating outward from the eye socket for an
Mages of the Legion — so named because each of inch or so in all directions. An Abyss-grafted hand is
them, as a host to lesser Gulmoth, effectively becomes gaunt and wasted: cold and corpse-gray, with a waxy
many — are the answer to that question, cast in sheen and cracked black nails, while the wrist to which
tortured and deliberately despoiled flesh. it is attached appears to be perpetually badly infected.
An ancient Legacy among the Accursed, the Legion These mages look as inhuman as they are and tend to
goes one long step beyond possession on the part of either conceal themselves (whether out of practicality
malevolent entities, making its adherents become both or shame) or else openly revel in their grotesquerie.
more and much less than human through their horrific Background: Legion mages are almost invariably
practices. These mages summon up the least among damaged goods when they first embrace the service of
the Abyss’ innumerable natives and give themselves the Abyss. They may feel that they are ugly, no mat-
over to such beings, in exchange for baneful powers. ter what they do, and finally embrace that ugliness,
By accepting the Void into themselves, however, their allowing it to be mirrored within. Some are simply
appearance becomes alien and terrifying, demonstrat- degenerate and desire to offend against society, a di-
ing outwardly their willing road of inexorable descent vinity, or some other force for conformity. Still others
along the path of Wisdom. While other Accursed are approach the Legacy from a perspective so mercenary
often only disgusting within, those claiming member- as to verge on insanity, carving away bits and pieces
ship in the Legion wear the brands of their loathsome of their humanity to gain the blasphemous gifts of
choice for all to behold. the Void. The fact of the matter is that only a deeply,
As with other Scelesti, those of the Legion are sworn in fundamentally sick person (or, perhaps, one made so
servitude, but they find a sort of comfort in their slavery, through the intervention of another) would incorpo-
reasoning that their incorporation of the entities of the rate the spirits of the Abyss into body and spirit.
Abyss makes them something like an earthly aristocracy Organization: The Legion spreads like the disease
of the Void; sorcerer-nobles building and nurturing small that it is, infecting one demented soul after another.
colonies for the Abyss in the Fallen World. Hounded Only the most twisted and despicable of mages freely
and despised for what they have become, they see their permit the denizens of the Abyss to take up residence
disfigurements and the hatred of others as merely another within them — indeed, to become lasting exten-
sacrifice to their nameless lords. In time, they reason, sions of one’s living essence — so the Legion tends
others will see as they do and the long, hard journey of to favor the model of a secretive cult, with mentors
the Legion will be proven, once and for all, to have truly inducting promising students in ones and twos, and
been worth its cost. then either moving on or else exiling their protégés.
Parent Path: Any Inevitably, any gathering of Legion mages larger than
Nickname: The Accursed; mages of the Legion a small cabal (three or perhaps four members) even-
are considered to be another form of Scelestus (as tually attracts the wrong sort of attention, so these
per Mage: The Awakening, pp. 361–3); some also abominable willworkers maintain a loose network
call them Patchworks or Grafters of connections to one another, rather than forming
Appearance: The physical transformations under- more cohesive bonds. Still, as a society of hideously
taken by willworkers of the Legion become difficult to disfigured wretches, the Legion constitutes something
conceal after awhile, meaning that such mages must of a support structure for its members, whose dubi-
resort to exceptional means to blend into society… ous “blessings” eventually make them outcasts from
humanity as a whole.

204
 Suggested Oblations: Deliberately revealing one’s ing and permanently replacing a relatively small part
deformities, inflicting unnecessary and unsafe bodily of her body and granting her a minor supernatural
modifications — amputations, human or animal grafts, ability. The “replacement part” looks obviously un-
etc. — upon an unwilling subject, making peace- natural to even the casual observer — staining the
ful contact with an Abyssal spirit summoned by a flesh to match the spirit.
Paradox Manifestation, meticulously and maliciously Some example replacements (of which the mage
disfiguring another, performing a service for a Gul- may choose one) and their effects:
moth without requesting compensation, performing Eye: One of the mage’s eyes is replaced by a sum-
scarification upon oneself, ritually sacrificing human moned Abyssal entity. The eye is of alien appearance
organs or other body parts to the Abyss (not merely a red iris, for instance, but instead
Concepts: Abyssal transhumanist, nihilistic degen- perhaps a sickly yellow-green throughout, with a
erate, pathological cutter, perpetual victim seeking vaguely barbell-shaped pupil, and perpetually cracked
escape in monstrousness, scholar of the Abyss who and scabbing skin on the eyelid). While the eye is
went too far, upstanding mage tortured onto the Left- uncovered, the mage can always see Abyssal powers
Hand path, whore to the Gulmoth

Attainments
The Legion’s process of self-transforma-
tion is agonizing beyond reason, as the
mage permits summoned Gulmoth
of the lowest order to feast upon her
flesh, consuming the metaphysical
template of the body part and adopt-
ing a nightmarish mockery of it; one
capable of serving in such a capacity
and, further, granting extraordinary
abilities to the willworker. These
grafts become permanent pieces of
the mage — gradually regenerat-
ing even if removed (or more
swiftly, with healing magic) —
as she willingly pollutes both
her physical and spiritual self
with the taint of the Abyss.
Note that the Attainments of the
Legion, unlike those of other Legacies,
do not stem from a direct incorporation
of Supernal power into the self, but are,
instead, the result of the irrevocable
Abyssal grafts to which the willworker
subjects herself.

1st: Pound of Flesh

Prerequisites: Gnosis 3, Life 2
(primary), Medicine or Occult 2
The initial transformation is easy
enough: just a small sacrifice, in
exchange for wondrous new powers. This At-
tainment enables the mage to summon up a tiny
spirit of the Abyss, which burrows into her, devour-

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 205

 and phenomena and know them for what they are with extensive rashes and infections, or even trans-
(including any Paradox effect, even Backlash damage) lucent and gelatinous) with a membrane possessed of
within visual range. chameleonic qualities. When nude or mostly nude
Hand: Traditionally, the right hand is replaced by and attempting to blend into her environment, the
members of the Legion, leaving the left intact. The Legion willworker receives a bonus to her Stealth roll
hand may appear unnaturally bloated or gangrenous, equal to her Gnosis.
or otherwise grotesque. With a successful touch (an Stomach: By replacing his stomach (which may
instant action requiring skin-to-skin contact and a cause the abdomen to swell abnormally or the skin
normal Strength + Brawl roll against an unwilling over it to slough away, revealing a layer of greasy fat
subject), the mage may spend a point of Mana to afflict over raw muscle), the willworker gains the ability to
a target with a poison the toxicity of which is equal forcibly vomit a potent acid. This requires a point of
to one-half the Legion willworker’s Gnosis, rounding Mana and a Dexterity + Athletics + Life roll (penalized
down (see The World of Darkness, pp. 180–1 for by the target’s Defense and ignoring any non-magical
rules on toxins). Note that the poison inflicts lethal armor). Each success inflicts a point of resistant lethal
damage and may be freely applied to a grappled or damage. The range of this acidic regurgitation is five
incapacitated individual, or one who otherwise allows feet, plus one foot per point of Gnosis over five.
the mage to touch her with the replacement hand.
Tongue: The mage’s replacement tongue (which 3rd: Body and Soul
may look, for example, like an oversized slug or be Prerequisites: Gnosis 7, Life 4
split like a reptile’s) enables her to incite madness The final transformation of the Legion mage grants
through speech. With an instant action and a suc- him one last unnatural ability and ties his destiny,
cessful Manipulation + Gnosis roll, contested by the forevermore, to that of the Abyss. Some examples of
subject’s Composure + Gnosis, the Legion mage may the replacements that such a willworker might choose
inflict a derangement of her choosing on an individual, to make and the powers that they bestow:
which lasts until the subject next regains one or more Brain: The willworker gives his mind over to the
points of Willpower. Abyss, reaching a state of tranquility in his utter
damnation. He is permanently cured of any and
2nd: Abyssal Metamorphosis all derangements (including those gained through
Prerequisites: Gnosis 5, Life 3 Wisdom degeneration) and can never again gain a
The mage cuts away more of himself, sacrificing it to derangement, through whatever means, even tem-
the Abyssal monstrosities that he calls up and invites porarily. To be clear, the mage is not sane; rather, he
to reside within his flesh. Some example replacements is wholly at peace with the otherworldly madness
(of which the willworker may, again, choose one) and within him. Further, his thoughts, emotions, and
the powers that they grant: perceptions are those of the Gulmoth that thinks
Lungs: By adopting this transformation, the Legion for him, and he may, once per turn, spend a point of
mage allows her lungs to be consumed and replaced, Mana reflexively to re-roll after failing to overcome a
enabling her to spend a point of Mana to “exhale” Mind Arcanum spell (or other mind-affecting power)
a Paradox Anomaly (Mage: The Awakening, pp. targeted at him. As a result of this change, the skin
271–2), corresponding to her Path, as an instant ac- on the willworker’s head may, for example, rot away
tion. This anomaly has a radius of 10 yards per dot in places, revealing muscle and bone or his cranium
of Gnosis and lasts for one hour per point of Gnosis. might swell grotesquely, splitting the skin or his scalp
Also, the Legion mage need no longer breathe (and with stress and pressure.
so cannot be asphyxiated or choked unconscious, for Heart: The seat of the mage’s very life is replaced by
instance). The willworker’s chest may appear rotted an Abyssal entity, allowing him to consume Paradox
or unnaturally shriveled, or her lips and throat may and transform it into Mana. Whenever any Paradox
manifest bleeding, infected sores. (Note that this roll within sensory range of the Legion willworker
counts as a zero-success Paradox effect for the purposes accrues one or more successes, he may reflexively
of the heart transformation, below.) roll Stamina + Gnosis to attempt to devour those
Skin: The mage’s entire skin is peeled away and Paradox successes on a one-for-one basis, which the
replaced (potentially appearing corpselike, riddled Acamoth within him converts into Mana (up to the

206
maximum allowed by his Gnosis; excess Mana bleeds Spine: In a mockery of the ladder that once reached
off without effect) that cannot be taken from him, the heavens, the Legion mage permits an Abyssal spirit
given by him to another, converted into Tass, or in to consume and replace her spinal column. Irregular
any way separated from him, save through usage. Any spurs of bone may jut from her vertebrae, like quills
Paradox successes in excess of the mage’s, however, through the skin, or her posture become hunched in
inflict points of resistant lethal damage upon him, on a feral, animalistic pose, while weeping sores follow
a one-for-one basis, and have no further effect. The the trail of her spine, from the base of the skull to the
mage’s blood may turn to a thin, watery pus (making small of her back. Whenever another mage generates
him look hideously jaundiced), become a viscous Paradox in the Legion willworker’s sensory range,
purple-black tar (afflicting him with what appear to she may compel a Manifestation, which is under her
be huge bruises and internal hemorrhages all over his direct control. The duration of the Manifestation is
body), or otherwise take on unnatural characteristics still determined as normal.
reflected in his outward appearance.

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 207

Spells
The Awakened have long practiced magics intended
Destroy Spirit
(Forces ••••, Prime ••••)
Caging a creature is all well and good, but sometimes
to supplement the practice of summoning. Some seek
you just need to annihilate it. Designed to simultaneously
spells intended to track down otherworldly entities,
attack all aspects of spirits, ghosts, and other ephemeral
while others desire the means to combat them, and
beings, this spell is a weapon against anything that comes
still others hope to understand these strange beings.
from anywhere other than the flesh-and-blood world of
The wise summoner, of course, cultivates all of these
mundane Sleepers. The raw might of the Aether is brought
approaches in her willwork, aware that it is far better
to bear against the target, potentially destroying all traces
to possess certain knowledge and never need it, than to
of the unfortunate entity.
need it and not have it.
Practice: Unraveling
Friendly Face (Fate •) Action: Instant and aimed
Duration: Lasting
Practitioners of Fate can discern a great deal of knowl-
edge, if they know where to look or whom to ask. Using Aspect: Vulgar
this spell, Initiates of Fate can determine to what realm Cost: One point of Mana (optional for aggravated
they should look when seeking to summon assistance for damage)
the matter at hand. The mage channels a nearly solid beam of blinding white
Practice: Knowing light at the target. This brightly glowing ray almost seems
Action: Instant to have a certain weight to it, moving with about the same
velocity as a thrown projectile. Each success inflicts one
Duration: Transitory (one turn)
point of lethal damage and removes one point of Essence
Aspect: Covert from any creature that has a Corpus score. Lost points of
Cost: None Essence are simply destroyed. With Forces 5, the mage
The mage rolls Wits + Investigation + Fate. Success may spend a point of Mana to inflict aggravated damage
grants the mage knowledge of which realm (Shadow, the with this spell.
Astral Realm, the Abyss, etc.) will provide an entity most Adamantine Arrow Rote: Obliteration
useful in addressing the willworker’s current dilemma. The Dice Pool: Strength + Athletics + Forces
mage must still be able to otherwise summon, control, and
Many of the most destructive spells created were designed
communicate with the creature; this spell only shows her
in response to a looming threat. This rote was crafted as
where to look.
a preemptive measure by a particularly paranoid Banner
Guardians of the Veil Rote: Locate the Unwilling Warden of the Arrow named Phosphorous. Scarred by the
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Investigation + Fate death of her brother at the many hands of a hideous spirit
At the height of the Spanish Inquisition, a group of of gluttony, Phosphorous devised a means to safeguard
Scelesti used the chaos and distrust to their advantage, those that could not save themselves.
directing mortal hunters towards the Consilium of In the early summer of 1920, while tourists flocked to
Logroño. Over the course of months, the Consilium the shores of the eastern United States, the bitter Obrimos
lost half a dozen members to the inquisitors. As the waged war against the blossoming spirits of corruption and
local mages did their best to escape the pawns of the vice that were springing up throughout the area. A number
Accursed, a Guardian of the Veil known by the Shadow of the mages of Phosphorous’ Consilium were against these
Name of Acallar sought allies to not only protect the unprovoked attacks, and more than one chastised the Ar-
mages of Logroño, but also to seek out those responsible row for creating such a one-dimensional spell; what good
for the attacks. would come of such destructive power? They soon found
In a matter of nights, the seemingly tireless Acallar out when one local mystagogue got in over his head.
devised this spell, using it to seek out agents within “Dapper” Dave hadn’t intended any harm by it, but
Twilight, Shadow, and the Underworld. Having located whatever it was that he dredged up from the Underworld
those able — if not necessarily willing — to assist him, longed only to destroy. Phosphorous answered its aggres-
the Guardian quickly set about summoning the various sion with the fury of her magic, unleashing this brutal
otherworldly beings to his cause. With new and unexpected spell upon the creature, until it troubled the Consilium
resources at his beck and call, Acallar made short work no more. After that, folks stopped criticizing the Arrow’s
of both the inquisitors and the Scelesti, and this spell “one-dimensional” approach.
eventually found its way into the repertoires of many
mages throughout his order.

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 Supernal Demon. These
incomprehensible imagin-
ings stain the Tapestry by
their passing, leaving a trail
that can be followed by one
who knows how to look. By
casting this spell, the mage
gains a sense for the unusual
thought patterns that seep
out of these beings, to leach
into the Fallen World. De-
pending upon the particular
qualities (and power) of
the creature in question, its
thoughts can leave meta-
physical marks that linger for
hours, or even days. By way of
this spell, a willworker might
learn, roughly, what such a
being was feeling when it
passed through an area (if,
indeed, it is capable of any
emotions analogous to those
experienced by humans),
what it was doing at that
time, in which direction it
was moving, and whether it
is close by.
Guardians of the Veil
Rote: Seeking the Hidden
Dice Pool: Wits + Inves-
tigation + Mind
Infestations are always
nasty things. Back around
the turn of the 20th cen-
tury, Chicago played host
to one. Someone — word
Detect Alien Mind (Mind • + Prime •) was, a Tremere lich — got
her hands on a weird polyhedral box that some said could
Occasionally, beings from other planes of existence only be opened from the inside by one who was outside of
manage to masquerade as human beings, animals, or even it. Whatever the case, she figured out how to unlock the
inanimate objects. In many cases, various Mage Sights thing and a small horde of skittering things poured out of
can be of help in detecting these strange Resonances, but, it from Elsewhere.
sometimes, a little something more is called for. Robert Baron, local leader of the Guardians of the Veil,
Practice: Unveiling however, happened to be a quick thinker, with a bit of
Action: Instant and contested; target rolls Resistance experience summoning unpleasant things from worlds
or Resolve reflexively without names, and he recognized the telltale signs of
Duration: Prolonged (one scene) alien entities. No one is rightly sure if he already knew
Aspect: Covert this spell when he went on the hunt; if he didn’t, though,
Cost: None he certainly came up with it with suspicious alacrity.
Bizarre entities from outside of the weave of the realms Reluctantly, Baron taught his rote to as many mages as
(such as those discussed in Chapter Four) don’t usually think he needed to curb the infestation, and then he vanished
like those from any of the known worlds; their thoughts inexplicably at its conclusion.
are alien even to the monstrous Gulmoth or the strangest

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 209

Don Spirit Mask creature of the appropriate type. With Death 1, the will-
worker can analyze the Essence inside a ghost, while Life
(Mind •• + Death •• and/or Spirit ••) 1 grants insight into points of Essence contained within
A number of cultures historically maintained longstand- a living creature (for whatever reason), and Spirit 1, any
ing traditions of wearing masks as a means of approaching Essence within a spirit of the Shadow Realm. This spell
the invisible world with proper reverence and respect. also gives the caster a rough sense of how much Essence a
While some mages uphold that ancient practice, this spell creature contains. For example, a ghost down to its last two
is intended for a decidedly different purpose. The caster points of Essence reads as nearly depleted, while a powerful
seeks to deceive nearby ephemeral entities into believing denizen of Shadow holding 20 or more points of Essence
that she is one of them. registers as having a potent stockpile of Essence.
Practice: Veiling This spell also gives a mage a sense for the descriptive
Action: Instant and contested; target rolls Resistance qualities of the Essence he sees; knowledge that may, in
reflexively turn, grant further insight. A perfectly peaceful-looking
Duration: Prolonged (one scene) suburban residence producing Essence flavored by atrocity
Aspect: Covert hides something terrible in its past… or its present. Likewise,
Cost: None a seemingly helpful spirit whose Essence resonates with
trickery might not be as accommodating as it seems.
Upon successfully casting this spell, the mage projects
the subtle qualities of a ghost (with Death), a Shadow Any creature that wishes to resist having its Essence
Realm spirit (Spirit), or both (with a combination of the scanned resists using its Resistance or Resolve (whichever
two Arcana). Her outward appearance in no ways changes, is applicable). This counts only toward sources of Essence
unless altered by other means, but entities of the appropriate presently contained within the being. External sources
type who fail to contest the spell’s effects simply regard her may be concealed through other powers, however; in such
as being of a similar nature, while she is under the effects a case, the entity’s successes are compared against those
of this spell; she doesn’t register as anyone or anything out of the caster.
of the ordinary. In this manner, a willworker might travel Silver Ladder Rote: Know Thy Enemy
effectively unnoticed by the unseen things of the world. Dice Pool: Wits + Empathy + Prime
Guardians of the Veil Rote: Wearing the False Face This spell is of old account among summoners, many of
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Subterfuge + Mind whom regard it as simple good business. Certain théarchs
In the course of fulfilling his order’s obligations, a Guard- claim the spell actually predates the Fall, and it certainly
ian of the Veil must often walk in secrecy and silence, would make sense were such the case. Some of the oldest
unobserved by all. The Fallen World, however, teems with texts from the Atlantean Diaspora speak of similar magics,
entities that populate the invisible layers of the Tapestry. causing certain summoners within the Ladder to point with
In concealing himself from these beings — walking among pride to the venerable pedigree of their craft.
them as though he were one of them — the Guardian
hides in plain sight. Ephemeral Postcognition
(Prime • + Time ••)
Gauge Essence For some mages, it is not enough merely to know what
(Prime • + Death •, Life •, and/or Spirit •) a summoned entity is; they must also understand where it
came from. This spell enables such willworkers to catch
Ghosts and spirits of all sorts use Essence, an ephemeral
substance often imprinted with certain emotional qualities, fleeting glimpses of the native realities of the ephemeral
signifying its origin. Just like scientists can discern the dif- beings that they call into the Fallen World by studying the
ference between a diamond mined in southern Africa, for immediate history of the Resonance that such creatures
instance, and one acquired from elsewhere in the world, carry with them.
an astute willworker can analyze the individual qualities Practice: Ruling
of a particular source of Essence. Action: Instant and contested; target rolls Resistance
Practice: Knowing reflexively
Action: Instant and contested; target rolls Resistance Duration: Concentration
or Resolve reflexively Aspect: Covert
Duration: Prolonged (one scene) Cost: None
Aspect: Covert Success in the casting of this spell grants a willworker
Cost: None insight into the immediate past of an ephemeral entity
With a successful casting of this spell, the mage determines presently manifested before her or whom she can otherwise
the Resonance of a source of Essence, contained within a perceive. Effectively, the mage begins to “rewind” the recent

210
 history of the entity, following it back, one minute per turn alien entities from outside of the Tapestry, or denizens of a
of concentration and studying the sensory input of its sur- particular Supernal Realm, for example. Beings native to
roundings during that time. The mage may “pause” on any any layer of the Fallen World — no matter how far-flung
given minute and analyze it for content of interest. In the — cannot be affected by this spell, as its efficacy depends
case of a being recently summoned from its home realm, largely upon exacerbating a being’s natural aversion to the
this actually allows the caster to look upon that realm in particular qualities of this stratum of Creation.
the time leading up to the summoning. While within this zone, any being that does not success-
An entity whose existence is only recently established fully resist the distraction of this “static” must spend a point
(such as one temporarily created with the Spirit Arcanum), of Essence (or Willpower, for entities without Essence) to
however, may not have much history to study. Likewise, a take an action in a given turn, above and beyond the costs
being summoned from a place in which time has no meaning inherent to any of its supernatural abilities. The entity may
may reveal nothing, or it may reveal wildly inconclusive not spend Willpower to modify any dice roll made on the
information. (or a) Resistance Attribute.
Following the history of an entity summoned from the Mysterium Rote: Enmity of the Land
Abyss back through the moment of summoning to its place Dice Pool: Wits + Occult + Space
of origin instantly terminates the spell and the mage’s This rote has come in and out of favor with summoners
player must successfully roll Resolve + Composure, with for centuries, and perhaps even millennia. Certain Mys-
a dice-pool penalty equal to the Gulmoth’s Rank, with terium Athenaeums, however, have quietly maintained
failure resulting in a mild derangement (or, if the mage texts containing its formulae, dating back to the Middle
already suffers from a mild derangement, a severe one). Ages or before. Unfortunately for the Dragon’s Wing, the
At the Storyteller’s discretion, a similar effect may befall a rote — long out of vogue and maintained as a secret of
willworker using this spell to see back beyond the moment the Mysterium — went back into circulation after the
at which an alien entity first arrived in the Fallen World ransack of the Athenaeum in Berlin, Germany, in 1945,
from outside of the Tapestry. Using this spell in an attempt by parties unknown.
to look past the moment of summoning for a denizen of
the Supernal Realms grants a painful and confusing — and
utterly unhelpful — glimpse of the higher world before
Ephemeral Co-Location
abruptly ending the spell. Attempting to look into the (Space •••• + Spirit •••)
Realms Supernal in this way is an act of hubris for any Warlocks of advanced skill in their Path’s Arcana can be
mage with a Wisdom higher than 3, requiring a degenera- in many places at once. Those who learn this spell, however,
tion roll on two dice. can also be in different realms, simultaneously.
Mysterium Rote: Whence It Came Practice: Patterning
Dice Pool: Wits + Occult + Time Action: Instant
Information moves not just forward, but also backward, Duration: Transitory (one turn)
in time for those with the skill necessary to obtain it. Some Aspect: Vulgar
mystagogues summon strange spirits form the other worlds, Cost: None
simply to analyze their places of origin by way of this magic, Success enables a willworker to create an identical
thus advancing the state of Awakened knowledge. duplicate of herself on the opposite side of the Gauntlet
from her present location. Both copies of the mage must
Hostile Space (Space ••• + Mind ••) perform exactly the same actions at all times (as per the
Summoned beings often have their genesis in alien “Co-Location” spell; Mage: The Awakening, p. 239),
landscapes and they are not necessarily comfortable in though adding Mind 3 to the casting removes this restric-
this world. This spell actually increases the discomfort tion. With a reflexive action, the mage may switch places
that many such entities feel within the confines of the with her duplicate from turn to turn. As with Co-Location,
material realm. only the willworker’s real self may be targeted by attacks,
Practice: Weaving as the duplicates possess no substance.
Action: Instant and contested; subject rolls Resistance With Space 5, this spell may be cast with prolonged
or Resolve reflexively Duration.
Duration: Prolonged (one scene) Adamantine Arrow Rote: Warrior of Many Worlds
Aspect: Covert Dice Pool: Wits + Investigation + Space
Cost: None In late June of 1967, a Mastigos Arrow by the name of
Upon successfully casting this spell, the mage creates an Anaïs happened upon the scene of a Shadow Realm sum-
area of metaphysical “static” expressly uncomfortable for moning gone horribly awry. The three Guardians of the
one particular type of otherworldly being: Abyssal spirits, Veil responsible for the act were already unconscious by the

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 211

 time the Warlock arrived and she knew that time was of the
essence. The spirit’s trail moved back and forth through the
Gauntlet and Anaïs, also a Disciple of the Spirit Arcanum,
Artifacts
The things called up by the summoner’s arts are unusual
formulated this spell on the spot as a means of keeping track even by Awakened standards and possess knowledge and
of it, no matter how it attempted to flee its pursuer. sources of information unknown or unavailable to most
Later, when the entity was contained, the mess cleaned mages. Some entities that come from beyond the material
up, and the three Guardians properly chastised for their realm also have access to powerful Artifacts and it is for
ill-conceived plan, Anaïs codified the spell into a rote at these trinkets of power or information about the location
the request of the Hierarch, who offered it as a good-faith of such an item that many mages call up what they may
gesture to a number of Consilii elsewhere in the world. not be able to put down. Of course, bartered goods don’t
always remain in the hands of the mage that traded for
Create Potentiality (Time ••••) them and some Artifacts, though otherworldly in nature,
Possibility is an amazing thing; nearly anything — no have been here all along.
matter how unlikely — can, potentially, happen. Mages
with considerable skill in the nuances of the Time Arcanum
can latch onto those improbable future events, guiding the
Abyssal Blood (Artifact ••••••)
Mana Capacity: None
present moment toward them.
By extending their studies outside the normal realms
Practice: Patterning of magic, many summoners hope to find an edge that will
Action: Reflexive help them overcome more powerful enemies. Only the truly
Duration: Transitory (one turn) desperate, bitter or insane turn to Abyssal entities for help.
Aspect: Vulgar No friend to mages or magic, a summoned Abyssal creature
Cost: One point of Mana will always ask for more in return for its assistance than a
Immediately after failing to perform a non-magical sane mage would be willing to pay. The “favors” granted
action, the willworker may reflexively cast this spell. Suc- by the Abyss are numerous and varied, but Abyssal Blood
cesses accrued in the casting effectively add to the failed could be said to be one of the most common. After pay-
action’s dice pool, retroactively. These dice are rolled, as ing whatever price was set by the Abyssal being, it imbues
normal, during the mage’s current place in the initiative the very blood of the mage with the taint of the Abyss.
roster, and any successes scored on them count as normal. As a by-product, this process attacks the life-force of the
Qualities such as 8-again apply to the bonus dice created mage, permanently reducing his Health by one dot (future
by this spell, though not for actions initially rolled on a increases in Stamina may offset this reduction, but the lost
chance die. Health is never restored). Sickened by the transmutation,
This spell’s Duration may not be increased. Further, its the mage vomits the tainted blood (suffering four points
effects may not be coupled with the Fate 4 spell, “Probable of bashing damage in the process) into a ready container.
Cause” (Mage: The Awakening, p. 157); the willworker The reeking, partially congealed mass that results can then
must choose one spell or the other to take precedence. This be put to use by the mage. This process must be repeated
spell may only be cast once in a given turn. every two weeks to purge the build-up of Abyssal Blood in
the mage’s system. If the mage is unable to vomit up the
Free Council Rote: Short-Term Gain
poison, he suffers one point of resistant aggravated damage
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Science + Time each day until he does so.
Around the time of the Great Refusal, Libertines were Each “dose” of Abyssal Blood generated by the mage
beset on all sides by the depredations of the Seers of the provides enough material for four uses. Simply put, Abys-
Throne whose offer they had spurned. The forces of the sal Blood is a poison to mages that haven’t been tainted
Exarchs were seemingly everywhere and many members of by the Abyss. The poison must be either consumed or
the newly convened Free Council were run to ground in injected into the body of a mage for it to work. Upon
those desperate days, unable to stand against the consider- the introduction of the Abyssal Blood into the body of a
able might of the Exarchs’ slaves. victim, the mage feels slightly ill, but no more than that.
A charming Libertine Enchanter known simply as “the The poison races through his system and then waits to
Gentleman” concocted this spell in the darkest hours of that be triggered. Each time a poisoned mage spends a point
conflict, granting outmanned and outgunned willworkers of Mana (from any source) he suffers two points of lethal
that last, desperate chance that often spelled the difference damage and if the Mana was used to cast a spell, that spell
between life and death. While the Gentleman was murdered automatically causes Paradox. Abyssal Blood is immune
in a Parisian back alley on the five-year anniversary of the to any magical method of removing toxins and spending
Great Refusal by vindictive Seers of the Throne, his spell Mana only excites the poison more. The only cure for
became part of the Free Council’s repertoire, and eventually Abyssal Blood is to spend 48 hours without spending Mana.
spread to the other Pentacle Orders and beyond.

212
 Though attempts have been made to spread the disease chill settles on the room. The black of the writing contin-
of Abyssal Blood by forcibly draining carriers or through ues to spread until it completely fills the box, which then
other efforts, none has yet been successful. Lack of success resembles what it truly is: a doorway to the Other.
hasn’t kept mages that would rather not deal directly with The blood sacrifice of the user is enough to summon a
Abyssal entities to gain their questionable blessings from minor extradimensional entity, called a p’tak by fell texts
continuing experimentation. that speak of such things, into the Fallen World. Each
time the doorway is opened it remains that way just long
Chthonian Quill (Artifact •••••••) enough for a single entity to pass through. The p’tak fol-
Durability 3, Size 1, Structure 4 lows the commands of the mage that summoned it for one
hour per point of bashing damage sustained by the mage
Mana Capacity: 12
as he scribed his call. A summoned p’tak isn’t immediately
This Artifact resembles a writing quill made from the returned to its home dimension when the duration for
feather of an unknown species. Eight or so inches in length, control is up; it is instead freed from service and can pur-
the feathers of the Quill are an almost black dark blue and sue whatever goals it chooses, unless some other method
have an oddly metallic quality about them. The edges is found to control it. It should go without saying that the
of the feathers are sharp enough to draw blood from the goals of the p’tak and those of the mage aren’t necessarily
unwary and rustle with a sibilant whispering noise when the same. Cautious mages look for ways to dispose of the
used to write that is distracting and unnerving. The Quill p’tak before the duration expires, since the only command
can be used to write with normally, given an ink pot and it won’t follow while “controlled” is a command to return
some patience, but it’s when the Artifact is used dry that it whence it came.
shows its real power. The ritual use of the Chthonian Quill
begins by writing entreaties to those that stand outside the
realms of time and space on a flat, vertical surface. As the Seal of Solomon (Artifact •••••••••••)
user scribes her missive to those beyond, she feels sharp Durability 5, Size 1, Structure 6
pains twinge through her body. A quick examination of Mana Capacity: 15
the writing on the wall, as it were, reveals the source of One of the greatest Hebrew monarchs to ever sit the
this discomfort fairly rapidly. throne of a united Israel was Solomon the Wise, son of
Used with its intended purpose in mind, the Quill draws David. King Solomon built the First Temple in Jerusalem
blood directly from its user to write. Every symbol, letter and placed the Ark of the Covenant in its walls. Legend
and dot is etched in the crimson lifeblood of the user. As he says that God was so pleased with the temple and with the
writes, the mage may choose the exact amount of bashing reign of Solomon that He offered Solomon any one wish.
damage taken from this sacrifice. The ritual is completed In humility, Solomon asked only for wisdom and God,
by drawing a box around the written lines and expending pleased by this, gave him not only wisdom but a ring that
a point of Mana. The scribbled blood turns black and the bore the true name of God within a six-pointed star. The
edges of the drawn box sink into the wall as an unearthly ring gave Solomon power over demons, which he used to
force the demons to build new constructions throughout
the nation of Israel. The ring became
known as the Seal of Solomon and
the six-pointed star the Star of David.
When Solomon died after a trium-
phant 40 year reign, a demon tricked
one of Solomon’s widows into giving
it the ring. To ensure the Seal could
never be used by humans to enslave its
kind again, the demon hurled the ring
into the sea, where it was devoured by
a fish and was lost.
The use of the word “demon” in the
stories of Solomon is subjective. In the
times of the writings that speak of the
Seal, nearly any intelligent, other-
worldly creature that didn’t revere God
was dubbed a demon. Some accounts
of the uses of the Seal of Solomon say
it allowed him not only to control
demons, but also animals and jinn.

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 213

 P’tak
Description: Vaguely dog-like in appearance, the p’tak stands three feet tall at the shoulder and
walks on all fours. Its hide is a bald, mottled grey-green color, with strange squirming bumps that move
just under the skin. Each of the p’taks legs ends in a stubby, four-fingered hand, complete with oppos-
able thumbs and steely-gray claws. The head of the p’tak is aquiline with a blunted beak filled with tiny
rows of teeth. The dirty-yellow eyes of the p’tak are set in two rows of three.
Storytelling Hints: P’tak are possessed of limited intelligence and are mainly creatures of instinct.
Just smart enough to follow the orders of its summoner, when a p’tak becomes uncontrolled it falls
back into its instinctual hunt-kill-eat pattern of existence. Fearless, p’tak will never retreat in the face of
overwhelming odds, instead attempting to call more of its kind to aid it (see below). A p’tak sounds a
terrifying dissonant roar when it attacks; a noise that seems to go straight to the brain. If killed, the body
of the p’tak melts away to nothingness.
Unlike most beasts from the Fallen World, a p’tak makes no effort to kill its prey before it begins to
feed. The creatures attack to debilitate rather than to kill and then proceed to slowly devour their victim,
feasting in such a way as to keep their prey alive as long as possible. Though unverifiable, mages
speculate that p’tak enjoy the sounds and sensations of pain and terror fully as much as they enjoy eat-
ing the flesh of their victims.
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 1, Wits 4, Resolve 4
Physical Attributes: Strength 6, Dexterity 4, Stamina 6
Social Attributes: Presence 2, Manipulation 0, Composure 4
Mental Skills: None
Physical Skills: Athletics (Deceptive Stride) 4, Brawl (Tooth and Claw) 5, Survival 4
Social Skills: Intimidation (Bellowing Roar) 5
Willpower: 2 (maximum 10)
Essence: 15
Initiative: 8
Defense: 4
Speed: 23 (species factor 10)
Size: 3
Health: 9
Armor: 2 (unnatural hide)
Weapons/Attacks:
Type Damage Dice Pool Special
Claw 2(L) 14 Ignores Armor
Bite 3(L) 15 Ignores Armor
Numina:
• The Color of Futility: The mottled hide of a p’tak shines a dull, yellowish color that saps the will
of anyone who stares too long at the entity. Any character who watches a p’tak for more than one turn
must roll Resolve + Composure minus the total number of turns spent watching the creature. If the
roll succeeds, the character suffers no ill-effects. If the roll fails, the character begins to believe she is
doomed and loses a point of Willpower. Any character reduced to zero Willpower as a result of this
effect falls into a catatonic state until removed from the p’tak’s vicinity. Each point of Willpower lost by

214
 a character is absorbed by the p’tak and it may absorb any number of Willpower each turn up to its
maximum.
• Fetid Humors: A p’tak isn’t made of flesh and bone in the way humans understand. The body of
a p’tak seems organic, but alien humors run beneath what passes for its skin. Exposed to the material
realm by wounds, these humors react with the reality of the Fallen World in unexpected ways. Each
wound suffered by a p’tak increases its Armor Rating by one. P’taks never suffer from wound penal-
ties and may spend one Essence each turn to heal a point of damage (always healing the most serious
damage first).
• The Spaces In-Between: An uncontrolled p’tak quickly reverts to its instinctual behavior, hunting
and attacking any nearby prey. Inside the mouth of the creature are sponge-like sacks that absorb the
blood of their unfortunate victims and stores it. Each time a p’tak bites a sentient creature (only sentient
blood is stored), half the damage inflicted by the bite is converted into stored blood, to a maximum of six
stored points. If an uncontrolled p’tak is outnumbered by its prey or stalks a creature obviously stronger
than it, the p’tak uses the stored blood and the Willpower stolen from its victims to summon more of its
kind. Once per day, a p’tak may summon others of its kind as an instant action that requires the p’tak to
spend five points of Willpower and three points of blood. P’tak summoned by other p’tak are considered
uncontrolled and it should be easy to see how a serious infestation could happen. Some rumors say that
if enough p’tak use their summoning power at the same time, they can open the way for much more
dangerous entities to enter the Fallen World.
Because of a p’tak’s innate summoning ability, mages must be cautious in their battles with p’tak not
to present an initial threat strong enough for the creature to immediately begin summoning backup.
Smart cabals will hide their numbers from the creature, sniping at it from the shadows until they are
sure they can kill the thing before it can call for help.

Modern Awakened scholars that have studied the legends Wisdom rating versus the current Willpower of his target in
believe that ring might have had influence over any entity an extended contested action with a target number of 10. If
non-native to the Fallen World. A handful of mages believe the user wins the contest, his target is banished. If the target
the entire Solomon myth might be a reference to the power wins the contest it is immune to the banishment powers
of humanity over the Supernal being lost in the sinking of of the Seal of Solomon for a year and a day. The Artifact
Atlantis and the severing of the realms. They point out that can also be used to break pacts made between beings of
the ring was lost to the sea in the same way Atlantis was, the material realm and alien outsiders. To break a pact the
both events ending humanity’s magical supremacy. More owner touches the Seal of Solomon to the forehead of the
recently, the journal of a missing Moros, recovered from supplicant and both spend a dot of Willpower. It is worth
her sanctum in Greece at the beginning of the 20th century, noting that most entities won’t appreciate being cheated
described the discovery of a ring with properties and design out of their due and are likely to seek alternative means
similar to the Seal of Solomon. According to the Moros, to punish those involved in breaking the pact.
her cabal found the ring in the body of an enormous fish Mages that own the Seal of Solomon are expected to
that had been causing problems for local fishermen. The last behave wisely and honorably, and the ring punishes them
journal entry before her disappearance states that she and if they do not. Any roll made to resist degeneration while
her cabal were intent on traveling to Israel to determine in possession of the Artifact suffers a one die penalty.
the truth about their discovery.
The Seal of Solomon is a golden ring with a filigree of a
six-pointed star. Through some oddity of mystical design,
Symbol of Negation (Artifact •••••••)
Durability 4, Size 1, Structure 5
the ring will only fit on the ring-finger of the owner’s right
Mana Capacity: None
hand. The Seal holds a persistent power that makes the
wearer immune to possession and shields his mind from The Symbol of Negation is a small, flat disc (about the
the influences of any sentient being alien to the material size of the top of a soda can) made from bronze, etched with
realm. Wearing the ring allows the user to speak and read a single Abyssal rune on both sides. For mages, the metal
any language, including extradimensional languages. By of the Artifact is painful to touch, searing bare skin with
spending a point of Mana and a point of Willpower, the an icy chill. Obviously Abyssal in nature, even carrying
owner of the Seal of Solomon can attempt to banish any the Symbol of Negation has a negative effect on mages,
creature not native to the material realm. The owner rolls his reducing their maximum amount of Mana by one. The

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 215

 Artifact has zero Mana Capacity and cannot be recharged; Along with the usual requirement for making an Imbued
any Mana directed at it is simply absorbed and devoured. Item (see Mage: the Awakening, p. 225), creation of a
Typically, the Symbol of Negation is placed in a necklace Writ requires an extended Dexterity + Crafts roll with a
setting that allows it to be worn and utilized without hav- target number of 10, with each roll equal to 20 minutes.
ing to touch it directly. Using a Writ allows a Sleeper to summon, banish or
The Symbol remains quiescent until brought into the bind creatures from other realms (usually to their peril),
presence of Awakened magic. Each time a mage casts a excepting the Supernal. Even through use of a Writ, the
spell within 50 yards of the Artifact, the runes on it glow connection a Sleeper has to the Supernal is too tentative
with a soft, amber light. The very nature of the thing op- to achieve direct contact. Used by a mage, the process used
poses magic and, even unbidden, the Artifact attempts to manufacture a Writ empowers his spell and gives the
to counter any spell cast within its reach. All spells cast casting roll the rote action quality. If two or more Writs
within sensory range of the owner suffer a –2 penalty. The are used in concert to produce the same effect, the casting
owner maintains enough control over the Symbol of Nega- can be performed as a teamwork action (see the World of
tion to keep it from interfering with his own spells and, by Darkness Rulebook, p. 134), provided every Writ was
concentrating, can direct its power toward specific targets. created by the same mage. A group casting does not benefit
Each time an opponent within sensory range casts a spell, from the rote action bonus.
the user may spend one Willpower as a reflexive action to
attempt to focus the Artifact’s hatred of magic to counter
the magical effect. The owner rolls the Artifact rating of Supernal Echoes
Even if not all mages can agree on whether Atlantis
the Symbol (seven dice) and if she gains more successes
than the Potency of her opponent’s spell, the casting is and its Celestial Ladder were a myth, most mages do agree
disrupted and negated. that the Supernal Realms used to be much closer to — or
The secrets of making a Symbol of Negation are unknown even co-existent with — the Fallen World. Similarly, most
to mages and they can only be obtained by bartering with mages are willing to admit that whatever event served
an Abyssal being. Along with any other agreements made, as the catalyst for the separation was likely cataclysmic.
the cost of purchasing the Artifact is always a dot of Gnosis, There can be little doubt that this cataclysm was sudden
plucked from the soul of the prospective owner. As is the and violent. Pieces of both realms were likely sundered
case with the creation of a soul stone, carving out Gnosis and cast adrift in an alien landscape. Standing as they
limits the mage’s future magical potential and should be did on the border of the Supernal and material realms,
considered an act of hubris for mages of Wisdom four or the Watchtowers could very likely be an example of the
higher (roll three dice). The Gnosis is used to forge a Sym- material realm lost to the Supernal. The Artifacts dubbed
bol of Negation and to bind the Artifact to the owner. A Supernal Echoes by Pentacle scholars are remnants of the
Symbol can be taken by force and used by another mage, Supernal stuck in the material.
only as long as the original owner remains alive. If the Most Supernal energies or creatures stranded in the ma-
mystic link between the mage and the Artifact is broken, terial realm quickly dissipated after the sundering. Those
the Symbol of Negation fades away, its Abyssal power that survived were bound to physical manifestations and
released to poison the Fallen World. became the Artifacts or other magical tools chased by mages
to this day. Rather than being bound, Supernal Echoes were
Writs (Imbued Item ••••••) transformed; their Supernal energies calcifying into physical
forms. Without the pure energy of the Supernal to power
Durability 1, Size 1, Structure 2
them, Supernal Echoes fell into dormancy, waiting, as it
Mana Capacity: None
were, for an infusion of mystical force to revive them. It
A Writ is a specially prepared Imbued Item intended takes a canny eye, a fair amount of occult knowledge and
to assist mages or Sleepers with summoning, banishing a certain mystical sympathy for a mage to discriminate be-
and binding spells. Each Writ is prepared with a specific tween one of these calcified remains and a standard Artifact.
summoning in mind and the nature of that summoning Viewed with mage sight, Supernal Echoes only reveal their
determines the method of creation. A Writ that is cre- magical nature to Arcanum similar to the Supernal Realm
ated to assist in the summoning of an entity from Stygia from which they originated. Only mages using mage sight
would be created using items mystically sympathetic with of Death and Matter Arcana would glimpse the magical
that Supernal Realm, such as lead, embalming fluid and potential of a Supernal Echo from the tomb land of Stygia,
paper (paper can easily be construed to represent Death for example. Viewed with other Arcanum, the object would
and Matter). The mage might use the lead to fashion his appear just like any other mundane item.
writing implement, mix the embalming fluid with his ink
Supernal Echoes take the shape of physical objects rel-
and use the lead pen and ink/embalming fluid mixture to
evant to their resonance or that have been touched by the
scribe his spell of summoning on the paper for later use.

216
Supernal in some way. A single raindrop that originated in from a Hallow is pure enough to be absorbed for the pur-
the Aether might have seeped into the ground and taken poses of recharging an Echo. Mana from other sources is
on the shape of a diamond. These forms aren’t fixed. Echoes stored in the Echo in the same way as Artifacts without
are somewhat psychoactive in nature, taking on forms that contributing to the overall recharging. Echoes require a
fit in with their surroundings, even if those surroundings total of 35 Mana before they revive. If an Echo is removed
change. A Supernal Echo from the Primal Wild — buried from the Hallow at any point before reaching the 35 Mana
in the foundations of a building — that originally calcified threshold, the Echo immediately returns to dormancy and
in the shape of an extinct animal might change shape to the process must begin anew.
that of a rat or pigeon. Regardless of the form they take, A revived Supernal Echo begins to alter the nature of a
Supernal Echoes share the enhanced durability of normal Hallow, injecting its surrounding with hints of its Supernal
Artifacts. home. An Echo from the Realm of Celestial Spheres might
Even after their mystical nature has been revealed, most generate a constant static charge in the Hallow or cause
mages are likely to believe they’ve stumbled across an Ar- the walls (or surroundings) to weep phantasmal rivulets of
tifact of some sort. Certainly Supernal Echoes can be used water, spiked with Prime. An Echo from the Realm of the
as simple Artifacts. They store Mana and provide a minor Lunargent Thorn might create a localized field of slowed
boost to spell casting, but this is the least beneficial manner time or mystically bar entry to the Hallow to anyone who
to employ the power of a Supernal Echo. Mages that cor- has recently broken a promise. Even though these atmo-
rectly identify the Supernal Echo for what it is realize the spheric effects are magical in nature, and even if they come
rare treasure they hold. Though it isn’t possible to return in solid form, they can’t be used as Tass. Supernal Echoes
the Echoes to the Supernal to recharge them, the magical continue to absorb all potential Mana from a Hallow after
wellsprings called Hallows can revive the powers of the they revive. If a revived Echo is removed from a Hallow,
Echoes. Placed in a Hallow, Supernal Echoes absorb the the Echo returns to dormancy and must be revived anew.
free Mana that flows from such places and work changes The Hallow will revert to its usual nature after 24 hours.
on the Hallow that resonate with the Supernal Realm to For mages with a magical nature resonant with a revived
which the Echo belongs. A fully energized Supernal Echo is Supernal Echo, stepping into the Hallow is like stepping
a powerful magical tool and resource. The cost of reviving into a reflection of that Supernal Realm. Some mages find
and using the Echoes can be steep, but most mages find the experience exciting and intoxicating, others are moved
the price is right. to tears by the renewed knowledge of what was lost.
Used as a simple Artifact, Supernal Echoes have a single Being what they are, Mages that take time to study a
persistent power that grants a +1 bonus to all spells cast revived Supernal Echo eventually attempt to devise ways
with an Arcanum resonant to the Echo (see chart below of using the Echo to provide more than interesting special
for Supernal resonances). Supernal Echoes start out with effects. These studies can either be acted out in-game or
zero Mana, but can be recharged in the same way as other the Storyteller can call for an extended research action.
Artifacts. Unlike “true” Artifacts, Supernal Echoes do not Regardless of method, characters should eventually discover
regenerate Mana on a daily basis. Supernal Echoes can hold they can manipulate the Supernal Echo to produce specific
a total of 11 points of Mana. (For more information on effects. Manipulating a Supernal Echo to produce an effect
Artifacts, see Mage: the Awakening, p. 80.) Mages that requires more from a mage than simple concentration.
study a Supernal Echo can uncover its true potential with The mage must provoke reaction by exciting the Echo
research and experimentation. Experimentation is left as with physical stimuli or activities, similar to performing
a roleplaying exercise, while research is performed as a an oblation. A Supernal Echo from the Primal Wild might
standard extended action. respond to a mage that cuts his hand then repairs the dam-
Supernal Resonances age with a spell. An Echo resonant with Pandemonium
Realm Arcana might respond to an illusion that frightens onlookers. If
Aether Forces and Prime the stimuli are deemed acceptable by the Storyteller, the
character then rolls Arcanum + the favored Resistance At-
Arcadia Fate and Time
tribute of the mage’s Path (Arcanum is determined by the
Pandemonium Mind and Space Supernal resonance of the Echo). Mages that follow a Path
Primal Wild Life and Spirit that favors different Arcana than the Supernal resonance
Stygia Death and Matter of the Echo suffer a –3 penalty to the roll.
Once a mage figures out the manifest potential of a Su- Roll Results
pernal Echo, the next step is to secure a Hallow in which Dramatic Failure: Both the Supernal Echo and the mage
to “plant” the Echo. Supernal Echoes absorb all ambient suffer a paradox backlash. The Echo loses two points of
Mana from a Hallow, meaning no mage can gather Mana Structure and the mage is subjected to an Anomaly (see
while an Echo is present. Only Mana that flows directly Mage: the Awakening, p. 271).

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 217

 Failure: No effect is generated. One of the rare living Supernal Echoes, Arcadian Ivy looks,
Success: The intended effect is generated. smells (and presumably tastes) just like the common ivy
Exceptional Success: As above and the mage gains Mana that can be found creeping up walls or waylaying fences.
equal to successes rolled. Viewed with the magic of Fate or Time, Arcadian Ivy takes
With success, the character can generate one of the on a different hue: that of gleaming silver. Glistening coils
following effects: of Arcadian Ivy wrap themselves in the double helix of
infinity and sport tiny glittering thorns. Shining here and
• Commune: By drawing additional Mana from the
there among the ivy can be found golden-red roses that
Hallow, the Supernal Echo can summon the image of a
tinkle gently when touched by the wind. Transplanting
Supernal entity to speak with the mage. The mage can ask
Arcadian Ivy from where a mage has found it growing can
the entity a number of questions equal to his highest ranking
be difficult and time consuming. With mundane plants,
Arcanum resonant with the Supernal Realm contacted.
simply taking a snipping of the ivy would be sufficient to
Summoned entities will answer questions to the best of
birth new growth. In order to move Arcadian Ivy, the mage
their ability and within their areas of understanding (see
must find the center of its power, the place where the feel
pp. 71 for more about Supernal entities). Generating this
of the Supernal is strongest and prune away the rest of the
effect drains the Hallow of 10 potential points of Mana
plant. The heart of the magic can then be transported to
(i.e. the next 10 points of Mana that would have been
a Hallow and replanted in fresh soil.
produced by the Hallow).
As Arcadian Ivy absorbs the Mana from a Hallow it begins
• Harvest: By drawing additional Mana from the Hal-
to grow, extending tendrils throughout the Hallow. When
low, the Supernal Echo can produce manifestations, called
the Ivy has absorbed enough Mana to revive, it sprouts fresh
shards, of its Supernal home for use by the mage outside
flowers and the air around the Hallow becomes thick with
the Hallow. The exact form these manifestations take is
an exotic fragrance that smells differently to each person.
dependant on the Supernal resonance of the Echo. A Su-
Time slows for those inside the Hallow, so that an hour
pernal Echo resonant with Stygia might produce shards in
spent near the Ivy is mere minutes to the outside world. A
the form of shattered pieces of tombstones. An Echo from
promise spoken in the presence of Arcadian Ivy is just as
the Aether might create shards in the form of tissue-thin
binding as a formal oath, backed by magic as per the Fate
images of angels. Shards can be drained of their energy
spell, “Swearing an Oath” (see Mage: the Awakening, p.
as a reflexive action during a spell casting to increase the
153). Indeed, promises made are one way of exciting the
Potency of a spell at one-to-one ratio. Using a shard — or
Ivy to generate an effect.
sometimes even carrying one — can have side effects (see
the sample Supernal Echoes below for examples). Up to Used to Commune, stray leaves and fallen petals are
five shards can be harvested at one time and generating swept into the air by a sudden breeze and form themselves
a single shard drains the Hallow of three potential points in the shape of the Arcadian the mage intends to question.
of Mana (i.e. the next three Mana that would have been Harvesting the Ivy requires the mage pluck the roses from
produced by the Hallow). among the thorns and carry the flowers with him. The roses
will not wilt even after they’ve been Harvested and their
• Summon: Not without reason, a Supernal Echo is
fragrance scents the mage who carries them, making him
rarely put to this use. An Echo can be forced to summon a
more likely to be trusted even when he shouldn’t be (+1
Supernal entity, ripping it from the Supernal Realms (see
to all Manipulation rolls). Any promises made while car-
p. 71 for more about Supernal entities). The summoned
rying a shard from Arcadian Ivy must be kept to the letter
entity is bound to the mage that called it up and must obey
(not necessarily the spirit) of the agreement. The mage is
his commands. Forcing a Supernal Echo to generate this
simply unable to intentionally break their word. Drawing
effect permanently drains a Hallow of all Mana (the Hallow
the magic from one of these lovely shards causes the rose
simply ceases to be) and destroys the Echo.
to shrivel to dust. If Arcadian Ivy is used to Summon, the
Below are five sample Supernal Echoes. Note that
shining silver of the plant fades to a dull gray and the plant
Supernal Echoes have no dot rating: this is intentional.
dies, slowly rotting away from rust-colored blight.
These items are intended to be discovered during play and,
honestly, the standard Artifact scale doesn’t really apply.
For reasons explained above, Supernal Echoes do not have Celestial Lightning Rod
a Mana Capacity listing. Durability 5, Size 4, Structure 9
Lightning that escaped the Aether before the sundering
Arcadian Ivy of worlds raced across the skies of the material realm until
it was drawn down to the Earth, attracted by the pull of
Durability 3, Size 5, Structure 8
iron. In time, Sleepers dug the iron ore from the ground
It’s possible that a single seed, tossed on the winds of and hammered it into new shapes, never diluting it with
Fate, was separated from Arcadia, coming to rest in the other metals. Eventually, the iron was reshaped into the
fertile soil of the material realm, to spawn Arcadian Ivy. form of a lightning rod and affixed to a roof. Even in its

218
 slumber, the Celestial power within called to the mundane whatever most terrifies the mage with its skewed geometry.
lightning of the Fallen World, delighting in the showers Depending on location, seizing the Statue from its resting
of sparks. Viewed with the magics of Prime or Forces, the place may be as simple as claiming the Supernal Echo or
Lightning Rod glows a vivid, electric blue. Spotting the as complex as overcoming high-tech security.
Lightning Rod is the most difficult part of obtaining it. As the Nightmarish Statue absorbs the Mana of a Hallow,
Even mages don’t look up all that often to consider the its dimensions seem to grow and shrink, though it always
ornaments people have tacked onto their roofs. Lightning occupies the same amount of space. Upon its revival, the
Rod in hand, a mage can easily transport the Supernal Echo sensation of being watched by the Statue fills the minds of
and affix it to the highest point of a Hallow. those who visit the Hallow. Half-remembered nightmares
Storm clouds tend to gather over the Lightning Rod as flicker in the places between shadows, along with visions
it absorbs the Mana of a Hallow. When the Lightning Rod of atrocities committed halfway around the globe. Fear
has gathered enough Mana to revive, it begins to emit a is an unspoken language and movement is an illusion of
low humming noise, fills the air with the smell of ozone and the mind. Anyone within the Hallow can communicate
shocks anyone that touches it. Artifacts left in the Hallow telepathically (willing or no) and mages needn’t lift a foot
overnight are drawn toward the Lightning Rod, like iron to physically travel from place to place inside the Hallow.
filings to a magnet and regenerate an additional point of The easiest method of manipulating the Statue is by giving
Mana. The Hallow crackles with enough ambient electric- in to the terror it creates. Mages that sleep in the Hallow
ity to overload delicate electronic equipment, burning out have awful nightmares, which excite the Supernal Echo
their computer cores. The intentional “sacrifice” of such to generate the desired effect.
electronic items can be used to excite the Echo. Resonant Used to Commune, the Nightmarish Statue assumes the
mages (at least three dots in Forces) that perform such a likeness of an inhabitant of Pandemonium. The shifting
sacrifice can tap into the ambient power to cast their daily faces of these entities answer questions in faint voices that
spells without expending Mana. resonate in the mind. Harvesting the power of the Statue
Used to Commune, the Lightning Rod reverses its charge is a trial of the mind. Shards in the form of nightmares are
and splits the air with a bolt of liquid lightning that splashes injected, one after another, into the consciousness of the
down into a puddle. By peering in the sparking water, the mage. Until the mage drains the nightmare shards to boost
mage can see and hear the Celestial he wishes to question. his spells he is subject to the Nightmares Flaw (see sidebar).
Excited for Harvesting, the Lightning Rod oozes floating, By choosing to endure horrors for the sake of power, the
golf ball sized spheres of the same liquid lightning. These mage gains a steely determination while haunted by a shard
shards are cool and pliant to the touch, feeling vaguely (+1 to all Resolve rolls). Used to Summon, the Nightmarish
like water balloons. Any mage carrying one of these shards Statue shrieks and wails before crumbling to ash.
feels the calm remoteness of a gathering storm and gains
a +1 bonus to all Composure rolls. When drained of their
magic, the shards explode in tiny bursts that deal one point
of resistant bashing damage to the user. If the Lightning Rod Mental Flaw: Nightmares
is used to Summon, it draws all the energy of the Hallow Some people are naturally predisposed
to it before imploding and vanishing forever. towards nightmares, perhaps as a result of
events they have witnessed or just as the
Nightmarish Statue result of a weak psyche. People with this
Flaw dread the hours they must give over
Durability 4, Size 3, Structure 7
to sleep and do so as little as possible.
The terrors that reverberate through the endless vaults
Each time the character beds down for the
of the mind take on tangible and illusory substance in the
night she must roll Resolve + Composure.
Realm of Nightmares. This energy, trapped in the Fallen
With success the character manages not to
World, coalesced in the shape of a grotesque onyx statue,
dream at all and regains the normal point
its featureless profile hinting at angles that oughtn’t to ex-
of Willpower. If the roll fails, the charac-
ist. Worshipped as an aspect of the gods by the primitive
ter is plagued by nightmares and doesn’t
humans that found it, the Nightmarish Statue passed down
gain the benefits of a peaceful night’s rest.
through the eons from tribe to tribe until it was collected
Storytellers should feel free to modify the
as an archaeological curiosity or fell into darkness. A mage
roll based on elements such as the Moral-
might find the Statue as part of a museum exhibit or while
ity rating of the character, derangements,
delving among the ruins of a lost city. Viewed with the
recent events or use of sleeping aids.
magics of Mind or Space, the Nightmarish Statue becomes
even more disturbing, combining the worst features of

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 219

Primal Totem cats by feeding and grooming them is one method of
exciting the energies of the Primal Totem.
Durability 4, Size 2, Structure 6
They say that curiosity killed the cat. In the case Used to Commune, the Primal Totem casts the
of the Primal Totem (distinct from the entities of the reflection of the creature called upon in the cats’
Primal Wild), curiosity trapped the idea of the cat in eyes, the entity’s voice a disembodied specter issuing
the Fallen World. Drawn by the nature of the animal from the cats’ open mouths. Spirit cats follow a mage
it emulated, this Supernal Echo was prowling along that Harvests the Echo, silently pacing in Twilight,
the borders of the material realm when the cosmos each spirit invested with a shard. The mage must take
divided. Rather than be swept away forever, the care not to offend the spirits by breaking their Ban
“cat” focused its energy into a wooden or the spirits will desert him. If, for example, the Ban
figurine. The figurine, the Primal forbids the cats from getting wet, the mage
Totem, endured, its wooden form must avoid water at all costs. In return for
becoming petrified over the passing of honoring their Ban, the spirits lend the mage
time. The cat slumbers, dormant, in its some of their agility, granting him a +1 bonus
rocky form, appearing to be nothing more to all Dexterity checks. The spirit cats stretch
than an oddly shaped hunk of petrified and yawn when a shard is drained, before re-
wood to those without the Sight to treating back to the Shadow Realm. Used to
see. Viewed with the magics of Life or Summon, the Primal Totem becomes briefly
Spirit, the outline of the cat becomes animate, turning smaller and smaller circles
more distinct and the figurine warms in place as it slowly dwindles from sight. The
to the touch. The Primal Totem has door to the Shadow Realm is slammed shut
spent years in tourist shops, dusty and and the cats abandon the Hallow.
ignored by Sleeper shoppers, decades
in rock collections and centuries in Stygian Coffer
the burial mounds of chiefs. Found, Durability 5, Size 2, Structure 7
the Primal Totem can usually be It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what es-
acquired easily enough; an ex- caped from Stygia before the Supernal
change of cash is usually all that’s Realms were closed that calcified in
required to part the Echo from a the form of the Stygian Coffer. To
Sleeper owner. Sleeper eyes, the Coffer is an old,
Spirits of all kinds, but espe- unremarkable hinged box covered in
cially cat spirits, tend to congregate fading gilt. Viewed with the magics
around a Hallow while the Primal of Death or Matter, the Stygian Cof-
Totem absorbs Mana. When the fer is made of solid gold with intricate
Echo revives, it opens a doorway to the carvings depicting death as a grinning
Shadow Realm, in the Hallow. Called a locus skeletal reaper. Though it appears empty, each
by shapeshifters, the doorway isn’t quite as porous time the Coffer is opened, the mage remembers some
as a Verge, it is a place where spirits gather and may possession he has lost or some loved one that has
more easily pass into the material realm. The cat died. The very nature of the Stygian Coffer seems to
spirits act as guardians to the doorway, keeping more confound Sleeper ownership. It is left behind during
unwholesome spirits at bay. Living cats are drawn to a move, misplaced after renovations or absently set
the material side of the doorway, clustering in great out at the curb as trash. A mage is just as likely to find
furry heaps around the Primal Totem. In an odd way, the Coffer in a trash bin as in a thrift store.
the presence of the cats, both seen and unseen is com- As it absorbs Mana, the Stygian Coffer brings
forting. Any wounded character who is brought into a feeling of sepulchral melancholy to the Hallow.
the Hallow heals naturally at three times the usual Mundane items left unattended have a tendency to
rate and the effects of magical healing are doubled. go missing and visitors to the Hallow have a keen
Mages with the ability to speak the Spirit Tongue find sense of their own mortality. Upon revival, the Cof-
the cat spirits are unusually easy to communicate with fer causes the air inside the Hallow to go still and
and are agreeable to simple requests. Caring for the material objects that enter the Hallow feel strangely
malleable. Influenced by the nearness of the revived

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Supernal Echo, resonant mages can see clearly into unusual spirits possess this Numen, as well. The
Twilight without resorting to magic, and transmuting spirit spends a point of Essence and rolls Power +
spells require no Mana expenditure. Mages can excite Finesse, with success enabling the entity to ascend
the energies of the Coffer by engraving the names of into the Astral Realm. In the event that its way is
recently dead family members into stone, without barred (by a spell, for example), the spirit’s successes
the use of magic. are compared to those of the effect confining it. By
Used to Commune, the Stygian Coffer opens and spending an additional point of Essence per passenger,
a shadowy image of the entity called crawls out to the spirit can take along with it the consciousnesses
stand before the mage and speak its answers. When of willing individuals, who are then subject to all of
the Coffer is Harvested, heavy, lead coins with the the customary rules of the Astral reaches.
faces of long dead monarchs appear in the Coffer as Binding Vow: This Numen is shared by certain
shards. While a mage carries a shard, he is forced to see Supernal entities descending from both the Aether
the ghosts of the restless dead that wander the Earth. and Arcadia, though it is also known to a variety
An unwary mage quickly learns the ghosts can touch of other spirits from various realms (Acamoth and
him and many do just that, their longing for physi- Gulmoth, included), and some which are native to
cal contact overwhelming after years of ephemeral the Fallen World. To create a Binding Vow, the spirit
existence. Forced to constant alertness to avoid the spends a point of Essence and rolls Power + Finesse as
unwanted caresses of the dead breeds a certain wari- a reflexive action while acting as witness to a promise
ness and mages in possession of a shard gain a +1 to willingly sworn. Some entities may be willing to ac-
all Wits rolls. Used to Summon, the Stygian Coffer cept words freely spoken while under duress, while
opens and draws the power of the Hallow into its others may not. A person unwilling to accept the use
empty shell before collapsing in a heap of common of this Numen upon him may reflexively contest it,
stone pebbles. using Composure + Gnosis. The use of this Numen
is in every other way identical to the Fate 4 spell,

Numina
“Sanctify Oaths” (Mage: The Awakening, pp. 157–8);
identical enough, in fact, that any Awakened magic
used to alter a Fate-based oath can similarly effect
The myriad entities that mages summon wield many
the Binding Vow. Rumors exist of spirits capable of
of the same abilities as commoner sorts of spirits (see
inflicting even more potent bindings upon others,
Mage: The Awakening, pp. 321), but some possess
using a Numen version of the Fate 5 spell, “Geas”
more rarified supernatural powers. These Numina
(Mage: The Awakening, p. 160).
are typically only found in the summoned entities
specified under their respective descriptions; in the Create Anomaly: This Numen is unique to Abyssal
majority of cases, the abilities are proprietary to the spirits — either Acamoth or Gulmoth — and enables
types of spirits listed for them. Gulmoth, for example, such an entity to create an Anomaly Paradox, at-
don’t invoke Trials, while the chthonic beings of the tuned to a single Supernal Realm, appropriate to the
Underworld have no understanding of an Anomaly spirit’s nature. The spirit spends a point of Essence
Paradox, let alone how to create one. and rolls Power + Finesse as an instant action. The
effective Arcanum dot level to determine the size of
Accelerate: This Numen is proprietary to a hand-
the Anomaly is equal to the creature’s Rank, with
ful of potent Arcadian Supernal spirits, though rare
no upper limit. Subtract the entity’s Rank from 10 to
accounts exist of beings from unknown realms —
determine an effective Wisdom score for the purposes
perhaps those in which time, itself, has no meaning
of the effect’s duration. Acamoth and Gulmoth with
— possessing this ability, as well. On its initiative in
this Numen are rare, as a certain degree of connec-
a given turn, the spirit spends five points of Essence
tion to a given Supernal Realm is necessary to create
as a reflexive action and may act twice that turn,
such a Paradox.
though only one of its two actions may involve the
use of an Influence or another Numen. Derange: This Numen is common to Acamoth
and Gulmoth, as well as certain Supernal spirits of
Astral Sojourn: This Numen is often possessed by
Pandemonium, some alien beings from outside of the
spirits from the various layers of the Astral Realm and,
known Realms, and a few terrestrial spirits (particularly
sometimes, by those descending from Pandemonium
those aligned with madness and similar concepts).
or even from the Abyss. Certain other particularly
The spirit spends a point of Essence and rolls Power

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 221

 + Finesse as an instant action, reflexively contested to the maximum amount allowed by the power used
by the target’s Resolve + Gnosis. On a success, the by the winner.
entity inflicts a Derangement of its choosing on the Ghostly Presence: Many Supernal entities from
target, which lasts for a number of weeks equal to the Stygia possess this Numen, as do many from the
spirit’s Rank. A given subject may only be targeted Underworld and some Fallen World spirits associated
by one use of this Numen at a time; until her mind with death and other such concepts. The spirit spends
heals, a person’s psyche cannot be shocked into further a point of Essence and rolls Power + Finesse (penalized
insanity by way of this particular power. by the local Gauntlet strength) as an instant action
Essence Conversion: Typically, only Supernal to gain the ability to interact with (and be interacted
spirits of the Aether and Abyssal entities possess by) ghosts in Twilight for the remainder of the scene.
this Numen. The spirit may, at will, spend points As an instant action, the spirit may activate or de-
of its Essence as an instant action to add, on a one- activate this ability, however many times it wishes,
for-one basis, to the Mana pool of a willworker, out during the course of a scene.
to the maximum allowed by his Gnosis. Aetherial Some spirits of the Primal Wild possess a variant of
spirits sometimes use this Numen as a gift or to aid a this Numen that can be used to interact with Twilight
Theurgist in time of hardship, while Acamoth and familiars in a similar manner.
Gulmoth almost invariably use it as a bargaining chip Psychic Torment: This Numen is possessed by a
in their negotiations. It is possible that other types of number of Daimonic Supernal spirits, as well as some
spirits know versions of this Numen that enable them Acamoth and Gulmoth, certain alien beings from
to create the different sorts of mysterious energies unknown realms, and a few Fallen World spirits of
required by other supernatural beings. suffering, despair, and similar concepts. The spirit
Fortify Material: This Numen is known to some rolls Power + Finesse, subtracting the target’s Resolve.
Stygian Supernal entities, as well as to a handful of For each success, the target loses a temporary point
Fallen World spirits associated with craftsmanship, of Willpower, to a minimum of zero. An individual
alchemy, industry, and the like. The spirit rolls Power may only be targeted by this Numen once in a given
+ Finesse as an instant action. For each success, it scene.
may spend a point of Essence to improve one of the Spirit Crown: This powerful Numen is possessed
following: an item’s equipment bonus, its Durability, only by a rare few spirits native to the Primal Wild.
its armor value, its armor piercing quality (also, an By spending a point of Essence and successfully rolling
item without the armor piercing quality can be given Power + Finesse as an instant action against another
one through the use of this Numen). Each one of spirit (which reflexively contests with Resistance), the
these traits may be improved by a maximum number Primal entity may exert control over that spirit for
of points equal to the spirit’s Rank. These alterations the remainder of the scene, dictating its actions as the
last for the remainder of the scene. controlling spirit wishes. Other Supernal spirits not
Gauntlet Control: This Numen is unique to cer- native to the Primal Wild are immune to the use of
tain Supernal spirits hailing from the Primal Wild, this Numen, as are certain alien entities from outside
though rumors exist of its possession by a handful of of the Tapestry, but even Acamoth and Gulmoth can
alien spirits from the unknown realms outside of the be bound through its use.
Tapestry. The spirit spends a point of Essence and Trial: This Numen is unique to Supernal summon-
rolls Power + Finesse as an instant action, with each ings and is only possessed by such entities for the
success enabling the spirit to raise or lower the local purposes of testing the worthiness of the summoner by
Gauntlet strength by one, to a maximum of five or a the standards of her Path’s Realm. The spirit spends
minimum of zero. Note that a Gauntlet reduced to a point of Essence and rolls Power + Finesse as a re-
zero automatically creates a Verge (see Mage: The flexive action to create the willworker’s Trial (which
Awakening, p. 282). In the event that a spirit’s use is typically a standardized, rather and personalized,
of this Numen is contested (by another spirit with scenario of some sort); this may take the form of an
the same power, for example, or by a mage capable otherworldly vignette with which the mage must
of influencing the Gauntlet), the party scoring fewer interact, a puzzle to solve, an ordeal to overcome, or
successes subtracts them from those of the party with any other form appropriate to the realm from which
more successes, and the Gauntlet strength adjusts by the entity descends. Often, mages subjected to Trials
that many points in the winner’s desired direction, feel as though they are brought to the very border of a

222
 not all Supernal beings possess Trial, as not
all require tests of the specific sorts created
by this Numen.
Underworld Gate: This Numen is used
only by some Supernal spirits of Stygia
and those native to the Underworld, and
potentially by a scant few Abyssal entities.
The spirit spends a point of Essence and
rolls Power + Finesse as an instant action,
with success opening a doorway into the
Underworld for the remainder of the scene.
By spending an additional five points of Es-
sence a day, however, the spirit may keep
the Underworld Gate open for considerably
longer. The Underworld Gate must be opened
at the location of a doorway or other portal
(the mouth of a cave, the shaft of a well, or
a free-standing arch, for example) and may
be freely used by any being on either side of
the gate for as long as it remains open.
Usurp Vice: Certain Daimonic Supernal
spirits possess this Numen, as well as a hand-
ful from the Aether, and a number of spirits
native to the Abyss. A handful of especially
potent goetic demons also know this Numen,
as do some Fallen World spirits aligned to
disparate vices (or the concept of vice as a
whole). Whenever a character within sensory
range of the spirit would regain Willpower
through the indulgence of her Vice, the
spirit may reflexively roll Power + Finesse,
reflexively contested by the target’s Resolve
+ Gnosis. If the spirit succeeds, the character
does not recover a point of Willpower (though
she is treated as though she did, meaning that
Path Realm, though the Trial exists within the soul of subsequent actions that resonate with her Vice will
the individual, rather than manifesting externally. not yield a point of Willpower); instead, the spirit
A mage is capable of refusing a Trial, though this gains a point of Essence.
almost always ends the Supernal summoning pre- Versatile Energies: Certain rare spirits from vari-
maturely, as the spirit judges her unworthy of aid or ous alien realms possess this bizarre Numen, which
guidance. Even if the willworker accepts and embarks enables them to spend points of Corpus, Essence,
upon the Trial, it can be quite easy to fail in many and Willpower interchangeably. It is possible that a
cases, though the Supernal spirit might determine a handful of spirits from elsewhere (perhaps associated
supplicant to be worthy if she strongly embodied the with adaptability, evolution, or other such concepts)
virtues of her Path, even in failure. might possess this Numen, as well, or a slightly more
See the Supernal entities of Chapter Two for numer- limited form of it (only enabling direct conversion
ous examples of the Trial Numen in use. Note that between two of the three traits, for instance).

Chapter Five: Otherworldly Compacts 223

224
 Summoners
Do you see these circles? Do you know what they are? What they mean?
Oh, I’m sure you’ve seen their like, before,
and you’re thinking of several clever answers to my questions,
none of which is the answer.
These are the doorways through which I welcome wonders and terrors
into this Fallen World and bind them to my service.
And, so, these circles are wonder and terror. They are power.
— Heliodromus, Mystagogue and Summoner

This book includes:

• A thorough exploration of
numerous summonings,
from those with their origins
in the Fallen World, the
Realms Supernal, the Abyss,
and even stranger realities
• Advice and methods for the
Awakened summoner, as
well as descriptions for
dozens of unusual entities
• Detailed systems for pacts
with otherworldly beings, as
well as new spells, Artifacts,
Legacies, summoning Merits,
and more
For use with The World of Darkness and
Mage: The Awakening rulebooks.
53199

9 781588 463654 PRINTED IN CHINA www.worldofdarkness.com

ISBN 978-1-58846-365-4 WW40322 $31.99 US 40322