Mage/Theme/Orders/Mysterium

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The Mysterium, The Chroniclers of Unseen History, The Custodians of Unknowable Truths

 Knowledge must be preserved. Sadly, the Mysterium were late arrivals to the area, establishing the first Atheneum in Philadelphia in the late period of colonization near the end of the Unnamed War, what the Unnamed Nation refer to as Gaveston's Great Hubris. Had they arrived earlier, perhaps the world would not have lost so much knowledge and wisdom with the eradication of the Lenape Consilium. As it stands, the Order is left to forever pick truth from fiction, myth from reality, even as they dissect the fruits of the Martyr's tree in their ongoing search for understanding. Knowledge is power, and accordingly their focus for the centuries between then and now has been in unlocking the secret teachings of the Martyr's Tree, and of all the Diamond orders they share the greatest kinship with the Unnamed Nation as a result. Only the Free Council can claim a better relationship born of solidarity rather than a mutual respect for wisdom and fascination with the world's mysteries.

 But knowledge has a price. It remains to be seen what the cost of this knowledge will be.

Suggested Concepts: Acanthus Riddle Master, Mastigos Philologist, Moros Tomb Raider, Obrimos Theologian, and Thyrsus Herbologist.

Mysterium History

 Of the four Diamond Orders, it is the Mysterium alone that was the sole dissenting voice when Gaveston spoke against the Martyr of the Tree. They had been late to arrive to the area, were largely uninvolved in the events of the Unnamed War, and were so wrapped up in uncovering the mysteries of the new world and its many esoteric practices that they simply didn't have much time to participate actively in the genocide of the native peoples.

 But this does not mean they were without sin. They did not act against the local populace in any organized or deliberate way, but neither did they use their influence or authority to protect them, either. The war was considered a political matter, a temporal matter, a matter for politicians and soldiers not researchers and sages. Their high minded ideals and aloofness from the events taking place around them made them complicit in the murder, the relocation, the pestilence, and the predation.

 Only after they witnessed the end of an entire cultural practice right before their eyes did the truth finally break through the cloud of their cult-like devotion to the Mysteries. If you do not preserve indigenous mystical cultural practice, they will not be there to study later. And then, only because of colonial brutality.

 So now they are a political order, at least moreso than most caucuses. They may be political along a mostly singular axis, but when it comes to safeguarding the Mysteries and fostering cooperation and preservation of indigenous cultures and practices, their factota are inspired and relentless. Their close partnership with the Children of the Tree in pursuit of its Mysteries bears that out, as does the opening of their libraries to a dedicated wing for the preservation of texts important to the Children of the Tree. They rightly point out that having these texts in two store houses ensures a tragedy at one won't leave the world without that knowledge.

 Given the lesson of history, the Children could hardly argue. The curation of the collection is provided by the Mysterium as a service. They ask nothing in return, viewing it as an ongoing repayment for letting a living library fade from reality right before their eyes.

Mysterium Resources
  • Athaneum
    • Hallow of the Prostrate Bull
    • Censorium
    • Archives of the Council of the Wise (Closed to non-councilors)
    • Mysteriorum Archives (Grimoires)
    • Mysteriorum Library (Occult Topics)
    • Office of the Hierophant
    • Censor's Hermitage
    • Office of the Acquisitors
    • Office of the Curator
Mysterium Members
These are the current members of the Mysterium.
Add [[Category:Mysterium]] to your page to show up here.
Active Mysterium
Active Mysterium NPCs
Inactive Mysterium
Dead Mysterium

none

Mysterium Roles
These roles are adapted from Mage: the Awakening 1.0 and are subject to revision in play.

NPC Roles

  • Hierophant - The Hierophant's role will always be held by an NPC. Largely above worldly concerns, the Hierophant is the highest ranking member in the Mystagogue Caucus. Her wisdom is widely considered above reproach. While there are many who would wish for her to take a more active role in matters, she wouldn't be a Hierophant if she did. Focused primarily in uncovering the Mysteries of the Martyr's Tree and learning all that she might from the Children of the Tree, Cambyses leaves the day to day minutae of operating the Atheneum to her curator Epiphanius. She has an aloof temperament, avoids casual socializing like it's a highly infectious disease, and very rarely has anything at all to say to anyone in the way of small talk. Accordingly, even the faintest words of praise from her are highly coveted by the caucus. The only thing more rare are her words of censure and recrimination. If you merit a talking to from her, you managed to distract her from her mystical studies. A fact she is not likely to forgive easily or ever forget.
    Prerequisites: Mysterium Status 5.
    Current Hierophant: Cambyses

PC Roles

  • Curator - Every good collection requires administration, and that's the lot of the Curators. These individuals are gifted researchers, accomplished librarians and scholars, dutiful adherents to the precepts of the Mysterium, and highly invested in their peers. Their knowledge of others allows them to best guide the caucus in practical matters, ensuring ad hoc groupings of Mystagogues are fit to the task assigned to them. While the Hierophant is the highest mystical authority within the Mysterium caucus, the Curators effectively run the Atheneum and manage its personnel. When the Hierophant declines to involve itself in matters, the Curators lead in its stead.
    Prerequisites: Persuasion 2, Academics 4 or Occult 4, Mysterium Status 3.
    Current Curators: Epiphanius
  • Savant - Savants are experts in their field, prized for their expertise in a single mystical subject and a single mundane one. Savants exist who can quote you article and subsection of legal codes and the Lex Magica. Others know the vagaries of Mesopotamian civilization and all there is to know on the imbued items of the indigenous Unnamed Orders. In this particular caucus, many savants choose to focus their attention on the Martyr's Tree, or more to the point particular aspects of its function. They work very closely with the Emissariate of the Children of the Tree in this practice, learning and sharing side by side with their peer researchers.
    Prerequisites: Occult 3 with a relevant mystical specialty, Academics 3 with a relevant mundane specialty, Mysterium Status 2.
    Current Savants: Bones, Peri
  • Acquisitor - The quintessential Indiana Jones crypto archaeologists, Acquisitors acquire things as their name implies. When Atlantean ruins are uncovered, or ancient storehouses of eldritch knowledge, it is the Acquisitors that are tasked with infiltrating them and drawing out their secrets. Adventurers, explorers, infiltrators, and spies; acquisitors often run afoul of the laws of the Fallen World in pursuit of new understandings of the laws of the Supernal one. It is not unusual for particularly gifted individuals to make their entire career within the Mysterium one of acquisition, rising in status well beyond that required for the position through their exploits.
    Prerequisites: Mysterium Status 1.
    Current Acquisitors: Jinx
  • Censor - The least trusted and most reviled position in the caucus is that of censor. Often compared unfavorably to the Guardians of the Veil, censors have the responsibility of locking away unsafe objects and artifacts within the heavily warded censorium. Many mystagogues look down on this practice, though censors maintain they do not hide knowledge away forever, merely until the dangers can be understood and counteracted, allowing the knowledge to be shared freely and safely. That this rarely if ever happens does not in any way diminish their sincerity, of course. It's simply that abyssal relics and the grimoires of the Mad would cheerfully excoriate the souls of the unwary, and the Censor hopes to prevent that sort of thing without taking the Guardian route of destroying the attendant knowledge along with the danger it poses.
    Prerequisites: Mysterium Status 1.
    Current Censors: