Acanthus
From World Of Darkness Wiki
|
Acanthus is one of the five Paths for mages in Mage: The Awakening. They walk the Path of Thistle, and draw their power from the Supernal Realm of Arcadia.
Their theme is Luck, their mood is Mercurial Flux, and their Tarot card The Fool.
Contents |
The Acanthus
The Acanthus, often referred to as the Enchanters, are those mages who have Awakened to the Supernal Realm of Arcadia, the abode of fae and realm of illusion, enchantment, and constant change. They are characterised, at least by their fellow Awakened, as flighty, reckless, and irresponsible. This is, to a large extent, true. The precognitive abilities of the Acanthus allow them to sidestep the setbacks and hardships that other mages and especially Sleepers must endure or overcome. They tend to rely very much on themselves and their uncanny luck and timing. Since theirs is the mastery of the two Arcana of foresight and fortune, this happy-go-lucky attitude serves them in better stead than it does most, but they are marked by impatience and a lack of proper planning ability, and as such are often led into strife by their refusal to plan ahead.
The Enchanters, upon Awakening, have their minds opened to the endless possibilities of destiny and the myriad pathways of the time stream. This may go far to explain why the Acanthus seem so hesitant to commit themselves to anything or to focus on one thing for any length of time; the innumerable opportunities they catch a glimpse of make it seem as though nothing is impossible and as though no mistake cannot be reversed. This is what the other Awakened suggest, at any rate, and it may shed light on the behaviour of the typical Acanthus. The Enchanters are renowned amongst the other Paths as diviners and oracles of incredible skill, but this has done little to alleviate the popular stereotype of Acanthus as flighty, irresponsible, and generally unconcerned with the world around them. This is, to an extent, true.
Acanthus mages are often rather mercurial, governed more by their own emotions than by any logic or sense of duty. This stems from their fey, otherworldly nature, picked up in Arcadia. Combined with their natural curiosity and the fact that they tend to bore easily, this passion makes it difficult for them to commit to a task they find dull or meaningless. But this flightiness brings a lighter side, one rather less common amongst the grim Mastigos, the sombre Moros, the uptight Obrimos and the intense Thyrsus; the Acanthus know how to have fun. In a world beset by monsters and demons, the jocular manner and amusing antics of the Enchanters provide a much-needed source of levity for the Awakened. The sense that anything is possible surrounds the Enchanters, and serves as a powerful source of hope to other mages.
The Acanthus specialise in the Arcana of Fate and Time, and suffer penalties when trying to learn the Arcanum of Forces.
Acanthus Legacies
- Awakening Gambit – The Awakening Gambit are a Legacy who seek to shunt people into situations where they are forced to Awaken in an attempt to create more mages. Their methods are not always successful, and can be quite dangerous (although the Gambit mages do their best to ensure that no lasting harm can befall their target), but the number of successes they do get indicate that their idea is a sound one.
- Blank Badge – Dedicated idealists and revolutionaries against the whole of the Awakened establishment (including the Free Council), the Blank Badges are direct heirs to the Nameless traditions of the pre-Council era. They’re magical anarchists and rebels, striking the Seers for preference but also any traitor who tries to stay their hand or parlay with the Throne.
- Daoine – The Daoine are Acanthus who attempt to emulate Fae justice. They punish those who have violated their obscure codes and reward those who have acted virtuously. These mages are masters of the hex and curse, using their powers to perform their duties against violators of their own codes or the scruples of whoever hires them.
- House of Ariadne – The House of Ariadne is a Legacy devoted to urbanity. They are attracted to everything about city life, good and bad, for it is from the city that they gain the power to see into past and future. They walk the paths of the ley lines and the lesser lines they call Ariadne's threads crisscrossing the city, and use the symbols they see along the way to interpret the future.
- Pygmalian – The Pygmalian Society believes that art – true Art, that is – is a link to the Supernal, given its quality to provoke and inspire people, and it is a link that even Sleepers can use. The Society thus seeks to inspire artistic emotions in the Sleepers it interacts with, in the hopes of Awakening them from Sleep via a great induced moment of creative epiphany.
- Singer in Silence – These mages have an almost instinctive understanding of death and its hold on those around them. Theirs is the power to summon and create ghosts, and to read the strands of fate and death to see those who are marked and fated to die soon. This knowledge cannot be suppressed or easily ignored, and as a result of their connection to death the Singers are warped in mind, body and soul.
- Sister of the Blessed – This Legacy is an up-until-recently exclusive to high-class women group whose networking and attainments are focused on helping members avoid the social prejudice levied against them. They are skilled in subtle Fate and Mind magics to assist their endeavours and keep themselves from accruing too much unwanted attention stemming from their power.
- Skald – The Skalds are the heirs to a truly ancient practice known across the world; that of the singing storyteller and songwriter. They are superlative musicians and writers, and use these skills to move audiences of Sleeper and mage to joy, sorrow, anger, or any other emotion the bard cares to conjure.
- Storm Keeper – The Storm Keepers have guarded humanity against the forces of nature unchecked for many centuries. They have an almost intuitive ability to comprehend the weather systems of the world. Their powers give them control over storms and any collateral effects of storms, as well as the ability to predict the effects their abilities will have once employed, the better to be fully warned of the consequences of their meteorological meddling.
- Tamer of Winds – This Elemental Legacy specialises in the element of Air. The Tamers of Winds seek and dispense truth and good judgement, serving as judges and counsellors to Sleepers and the Awakened. They can read truths on the wind and delve into the minds of others.
- Walker in Mist – The Walkers in Mists are an order of mages who draw their wisdom and power from the natural world around them, rather than the tomes and scrolls so beloved of their fellow Awakened. They’re masters of manipulating the continuum of nature they call the Mists to gaze upon and travel to places far removed from their own selves in the blink of an eye.
- Carnival Melancholy (left-handed) – Awakened charlatans and conmen, the mages of the Carnival Melancholy harvest the souls of the Sleepers they dupe and use them to bolster their own chances of success. Their philosophy stems from the Depression and sees the Awakened as a nation of fugitives, doing what they can to survive and attain the Imperium Mysteriorum on the backs of the Sleepers.
The Acanthus Outlook
Below are presented common views, stereotypes, and prejudices held by the Acanthus. An individual Enchanter may disagree with some or even all of these descriptions; as Paths are hardly united fronts, the individual outlooks of those who walk them vary greatly. As a whole, however, the following descriptions sum up what the perceived majority of Acanthus believe about the world, and what the world believes about them.
Orders
Adamantine Arrow
Free Council
Guardians of the Veil
Mysterium
Silver Ladder
Other Paths
Mastigos
Moros
Obrimos
Thyrsus
Other Creatures
Sleepers
Vampires
Werewolves
References
- MTAw: Legacies: The Ancient
- MTAw: Legacies: The Sublime
- MTAw: Mage: The Awakening Rulebook
- MTAw: The Adamantine Arrow (book)
- MTAw: The Free Council (book)
- MTAw: The Mysterium (book)
- MTAw: The Silver Ladder (book)
- MTAw: Tome of the Watchtowers
