Mage/Theme/Legacies/Agathodaimon

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Draft Legacy, Not Yet Approved

NOTE: The text of this Legacy regularly refers to speaking to a subject to invoke certain effects, but the Agathodaímōn do not limit themselves to verbal communication and the attainments do not require that the subject understands the Mage, because the Exorcist interacts directly with the subject’s Goetia via magic, rather than her patient’s conscious mind or their body. Sign language, speaking in tongues, written communications, or even a musical playlist equally suffices, as long as the Exorcist conveys some message. Neither must the subject remain conscious. All other restrictions such as touch or sensory range still apply.

Agathodaímōn

“Be careful when you cast out your demons that you don’t throw away the best of yourself.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

Fight Them, Cast Them Out, But Never Surrender

Originally developed within the Children of the Tree at some uncertain point within their history, when the Exorcists returned to prominence at the beginning of modern psychiatry, the generational and population shift which came with colonization meant that a Greek name supplanted the original Lenape name. Curiously, the Talekeepers memories contain faded, blank places which cover the origins and original name of the Agathodaímōn. Whether this comes from the imperfect nature of even magically-enhanced memories or some more active, devious intervention remains a mystery.

These days, the numbers of Agathodaímōn dwindle slowly, and those who remain eagerly seek new initiates. This does not mean they’ve lowered their standards: the tools which the Legacy places in their hands require discipline and the right mindset to begin with. Agathodaímōn choose their initiates carefully, but constantly quest far and wide for new recruits.

Origins

Parentage: Mastigos, Children of the Tree

Background: Most Exorcists--but not all--made their way in the world as members of healing professions: doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, even administrative roles, as long as they interface with patients, or those within communities of faith: rabbis, shamans, imams, priests, monks, nuns, curates, lamas, friars and elders alike. Some enter the Agathodaímōn from a patient's point of view, bringing with them their knowledge of the means via which these professions sadly often abuse their patients. These members often move into activism, attempting to change medical practice so it truly meets the maxim 'First, do no harm.' The activist arm of the Agathodaímōn also often seeks grants and donations for underfunded public clinics where their siblings work.

Appearances: When out of the scrubs, lab coats, robes, vestments or other clothing which their profession requires, the Exorcists tend to plain, sturdy clothing of relatively high quality, the sort of thing they (or their Legacy mentors) purchase once and wear for decades. Hardy boots, hard-wearing winter coats, sturdy twill trousers, inherited jewelry: the things the Agathodaímōn wear, they mean to last.

Doctrine

Prerequisites: Life 2, Mind 2, Medicine 2, two dots in one of the following Skills; Science, Empathy, Persuasion, Occult

Initiation: Prospective Agathodaímōn must perform an act of healing under the supervision of a senior Agathodaímōn. Patient comfort comes first, and the prospective initiate must inform the patient that this third party has come to observe and ask the patient's consent. The Agathodaímōn observes not only medical or psychiatric knowledge and prowess but also bedside manner. Cruel, dismissive, or abusive doctors fail on those merits alone, even if they exhibit exceptional medical prowess. House would fail.

Organization: Most Agathodaímōn live in the Philadelphia area, but that balance began to tip when a few very motivated Exorcists started traveling across the world in search of new initiates to expand their numbers. Some of the Elders in Philadelphia’s Children of the Tree find this mildly upsetting, as they’d prefer to keep their community close-knit, but others maintain that bringing in members of other communities can only strengthen the Unnamed Order. The Agathodaímōn maintain their own communications, and no one goes long without hearing from another member of the Legacy. Those who don’t answer these communications? The Exorcists send someone to check in: it’s easy to get overwhelmed by trying to heal someone else’s demons, especially if you live in a remote or isolated area.

Theory: Agathodaímōn believe that a doctor must seek partnership with their patients, working not against them but with them toward a greater harmony between body, mind and soul. They suggest treatments, they do not bully, cow, or attempt to mow over patients; the free will of the patient stands paramount to their desire to heal, save in those emergency situations where life or mind stand at risk of shattering. An old Agathodaímōn saying, "Fish which swim together on the same stream come to the same pond," sums up their philosophy. The magical theory which underpins this posits that a complete life -- human or animal -- finds balance between all of its parts. A human must balance mind, body and soul to find total lucidity. The damage done by society (whether through oppressive religious beliefs, poverty, capitalism, homophobia/transphobia, and so much more) ruins this balance, creating nexuses of trauma within the body and soul. Agathodaímōn truly believe that people carry their trauma in the stiffness of their jaw and the wrenching of their back, and that by working with Goetia to release that trauma, they heal body and mind, creating space for the soul to heal itself.

Magic

Ruling Arcanum: Life

Yantras: Succeeding on a Medicine or Empathy roll which uncovers someone’s mental or physical maladies (+2); Talking with a trusted associate about psychological or medical theory (+1); wearing clothing or tools which clearly visibly denote them as a medical professional (+1); using stimulants to stay focused (+1, or +2 if this creates an adverse Condition).

Oblations: reading a psychiatric text or book about relevant religion; listening to someone talk about their physical or mental health; studying old case notes; running a group therapy session; typing out transcripts from sessions or writing them out longhand.

Attainments

First: Medicus Videt

Prerequisites: Initiation
Agathodaímōn initiation brings the initiate in tune with the physical states of living things and the signs of things being wrong. She gains the ability to diagnose a living creature’s physical state with a glance. With physical contact and a round spent studying any living being, she determines a great deal about her patient: species, overall health, and specific illnesses from which the subject suffers. This works exactly like the spell Analyze Life (MtA 148), with reach assigned to Instant Casting.
Optional: Mind 1
To determine the demons which haunt a patient, an Agathodaímōn must first gain an understanding of his mind. While talking with a subject, the Agathodaímōn gains an understanding of his mental state from what the patient says and what he omits. This functions as Mental Scan (MtA 159), with reach assigned to Instant Casting.


Second: Medicus Ablatives

Prerequisites: Life 2, Medicine 3
Not all of a person’s demons clamor within their mind. Sometimes they influence a person such that he brings about physical manifestations of their presence. These manifestations most commonly occur as addiction and self-harm via substances. The Agathodaímōn at this stage learns to address many symptoms of that influence, even if addressing the disease itself takes more intense work.
By speaking directly to a patient along with a moment’s contact, the Exorcist purges the ill effects of many outside influences on the body. The patient clears alcohol, drugs, and any other toxins from his body through her influence and support. He immediately makes a roll to fight off the toxin’s effects with a bonus equal to the Exorcist’s dots in Life. This functions exactly as Cleanse the Body (MtA 148), with Reach assigned to Instant Casting and making the next resistance roll happen immediately.
Optional: Mind 2
Demonic forces cannot escape the Exorcist’s gaze: she becomes sensitive to any openness to possession. Her Periphery detects the presence of any Influence and Manifestation Conditions, and her Active Mage Sight will let her see a connection between the subject of the condition and the ephemeral entity that it’s tied to if both are in sensory range. This ability works for any ephemeral beings that her other attainments can detect via her Periphery; with Mind 2 this works for Goetia, with Spirit 2 for spirits, and with Death 2 for ghosts. Should those forces attempt to hide from her, this attainment invokes a Clash of Wills.

Third: Medicus Expurgat

Prerequisites: Life 3, two dots in a prerequisite Skill other than Medicine
Much like the Agathodaímōn’s approach to dealing with the influence of foreign substances in a living body, she now mends the effects of invaders or the body’s betrayal of itself simply by speaking to them for a short time. This works like the spell Purge Illness (MtA 149), with Reach assigned to Instant Casting and Sensory Range.
Optional: Mind 3
With only a slight effort of will, the Exorcist protects a subject, including herself, from attack by Goetia, or any other assault on her mind or that of her patients. This functions as Mental Shield (MtA 160), with Reach assigned to Instant Casting and Sensory range.

Fourth: Medicus Loquitur

Prerequisites: Life 4, Medicine 4
A person’s figurative demons most commonly inflict damage upon his life, but, properly motivated, become sources of inspiration and even restoration. By speaking to someone’s demons for an hour, either directly or through conversation with the patient himself, the Exorcist encourages his Goetia to take some of the body’s burdens onto itself or to focus its energy on mending damage. All but the most grievous injuries heal four times faster: each level of bashing damage heals in 4 minutes, while each level of lethal damage heals in 6 hours. The subject’s Goetia assumes many of his bodily functions as well, and thus he requires only a quarter of his usual intake of food or oxygen and he must only sleep once every four days before beginning to suffer from fatigue. The Agathodaímōn confers the other benefits of Body Control (pp. MtA 148): the attainment functions precisely as this effect with Reach assigned to Advanced Duration and decreasing Lethal healing times.
Optional: Mind 4
By speaking with her patient for an hour the Agathodaímōn helps him battle his demons far more effectively than any Sleeper therapist could hope to achieve. While in certain cultural contexts this practice of the Legacy comes in the form of an exorcism, in Philadelphia it usually follows the form of a conversation with a concerned friend, a psychiatric session, or an intervention.

Via conversation and a momentary touch, the Exorcist lifts from her patient up to two Mental Conditions or Tilts. On the more sinister side, she can suppress positive effects as well as erase negative ones, dampening someone’s Inspiration or making him less Steadfast. This works like the spell Clear Thoughts (MtA 161) with Reach assigned to make the effect Lasting.

Fifth: Medicus Sanat

Prerequisites: Life 5, two dots in a third Skill among the optional prerequisite Skills
With mastery of this Legacy, the Agathodaímōn’s ability to heal others becomes legendary. She must still speak to the subject since she works through the mind’s influence on the body as well as the body directly. Her words heal any combination of up to 10 bashing or 5 lethal damage instantly: one lethal is equivalent to 2 bashing, so she can potentially heal, for example, 2 lethal and 6 bashing at one time. This functions as the spell Knit, with Reach assigned to Instant Casting, allowing Lethal damage to be healed. This attainment also heals Personal Tilts such as Arm Wrack.
Optional: Mind 5
Rather than just manipulating a subject’s Goetia in unique and subtle ways without manifestation, the Agathodaímōn now draws those Goetia into the world, allowing them to be interacted with, and she can also call Goetia that are loose in the world to her. She can even call Goetia from her own, or her patient’s, Oneiros, and can give that entity a single command which it must follow providing that completion will take less than a week. This works on Goetia of up to Rank 4, and if used to pull Goetia from the target’s Oneiros, costs 1 potentia. If the Mage knows Spirit or Death 2, she may force the Goetia summoned with this attainment to be Manifested for the Duration of the spell.

This spell works like Goetic Summons (MtA 162), swapping the Primary factor to Potency from Duration. Reach is assigned to Instant Casting and Advanced Duration, allowing for one command, and permitting the Goetia to be summoned from the target’s Oneiros.