Mage/Theme/Legacies/House of Ariadne

HOUSE OF ARIADNE

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Wisdom is in the Journey

The Metropolitans believe the myth of Ariadne, Theseus, and the Minotaur in the labyrinth is a metaphor for finding Supernal enlightenment in the heart of the urban jungle. With so many threads of Time and Fate tangling together, the city is a whole that far exceeds any one of its myriad parts. They traverse every nook and cranny of the city’s streets and secret corners to divine its past and future, investigate its omens to solve its Mysteries, and follow the threads that connect every piece of it to a higher Truth.

Origins

Parentage: Acanthus, Seers of the Throne, Guardians of the Veil

Background:

Appearances:

Doctrine

Prerequisites:

Initiation:

Organization:

Theory:

Magic

Ruling Arcanum: Time

Yantras: Casting in a crowded place (+1); successfully using Contacts, Allies, or Streetwise to gain information related to the spell (+1, or +2 if rolled); a famous landmark associated with the city (+1); walking Ariadne’s thread (+1 per hour walked, maximum +3).

Oblations: Discovering or exploring something in the city you’ve never seen before; watching a sunrise / sunset from a place that overlooks the city; visiting a tourist attraction; attending a private or elite event.

Attainments

First: Attune
Prerequisites: Initiation; Time 2, Fate 1, Streetwise 2
The mage spends the ritual preparation of this Attainment walking through a city at random, tracing the maze of its streets for at least a few hours. Metropolitans call this process “walking Ariadne’s thread.”

Once complete, this Attainment emulates the Time 1 spell “Postcognition” (Mage, p. 187) regarding the history of the city, something or someone within it, or the mage himself, with regard to a valid subject he chooses. The mage may seek a particular kind of moment to view, such as “the last time someone died in this alley” or “the day this building first opened its doors,” but the Storyteller decides the precise moment he sees, as the city’s Fate calls his attention to the most relevant one for his (and its) needs. This Attainment is Withstood by temporal sympathy, and assigns its fixed Reach to sensory range.

Once per scene, as long as the mage has previously Attuned to the city he’s currently in, the Storyteller may offer the player an Arcane Beat for the character to receive this Attainment’s benefits without walking the thread or deliberately activating it, as the city reaches out to make a request or express a need through vague omens and symbols. If the player accepts, he must follow up on the vision within that scene to gain the Arcane Beat.

Subsequent Attainments require the mage to have previously Attuned at least once to the city where he uses them; he may Attune to any city. This Legacy’s Attainments only function in urban environs, though a small city is just as urban as a sprawling metropolis for these purposes; the legal definition of a place as a “city” or “town” is less important than the way the inhabitants think of the place. The mage enjoys a +1 equipment bonus to Social rolls in a city to which he’s previously Attuned (+0 in the suburbs), but suffers a −1 to the same in rural environments or wilderness.
Optional: Space 1
When the Metropolitan views the past with this Attainment, he also learns one of the subject’s sympathetic connections per level of the Attainment’s Potency, as the Space 1 spell “Correspondence” (Mage, p. 172), as long as that connection was within the city at the viewed time or is now.

Second: Peer into the Mists
Prerequisites: Space 2, Survival 3
The Mists manifest in nature, which the Druid may channel to look through and beyond. As an instant action, she may target a plant life within sensory range and project her perceptions to it, seeing the plant's surroundings as if she were standing there. This counts as remote viewing for purposes of spellcasting.
Any being with supernatural spatial senses may notice that they are being watched, and respond with a Clash of Wills where the Druid rolls Gnosis + Space. If the watched being wins, a scrying window showing the Druid briefly appears over the plant she is using, allowing the being to act accordingly.
Optional: Time 2
Nature remembers what has gone by, and so does the Mists. The Walker may target a plant life and relive its past, replicating the "Postcognition" spell. Reach is assigned to instant use and sensory range. Should the Walker use Temporal Sympathy in conjunction, he does not need a sympathy Yantra and counts as knowing the plant's sympathetic name.

Third: Mist Haven
Prerequisites: Space 3, two dots in a second Skill among the optional prerequisite Skills
A traveller needs a place to rest undisturbed, and in the wild a Druid can conjure havens out of the Mists. After a scene of examining green plant life in a location of her choosing, the Druid replicates the "Ward" spell. Reach is assigned to Advanced Duration and Advanced Scale.
By spending a point of Mana upon conjuring the Haven, the Druid may charge the area with one of the Space, Time, or Life Arcana, provided she has at least three dots in it. For its Duration and within its Scale, the Haven will behave like a Node charged with the invoked Arcanum. The Druid is considered to have already magically examined the area for Space and Time, instantly granting her the benefits.
Optional: Time 3
The Mists contain in it the undecided future, and a Walker may borrow that transcendence to replicate the "Divination" spell. Reach is assigned to instant use, sensory range, and asking more specific questions to receive more detailed answers.

Fourth: Paths Through the Mists
Prerequisites: Space 4, Survival 4
The Druid is no longer bound to physical roads, for she knows Nature's hidden paths. After a scene of walking towards a destination in mind and spending a point of Mana, she can arrive in her chosen destination as per the "Co-Location" spell. Reach is assigned to sensory range and restricting the co-location as a two-dimensional portal. This Attainment is automatically used with Sympathetic Range. If the Druid either lacks a sympathetic connection to her destination or lacks a sympathy Yantra connecting her to it, she instead arrives at the last location she used the Mist Haven Attainment to conjure a Haven.
Optional: Time 4 Time is but another road, and a Walker is free to sidestep obstacles by simply walking around them. This emulates the "Temporal Stutter" spell, where the Walker appears to walk into thin air and disappear, only to reappear moments later. Reach is assigned to instant use.
This requires the Walker to move at least a step, but he is free to reappear in any location he could have walked to for the Duration. While the Walker can take others with him, he must grab or be grabbed by them if they are not Walkers themselves. Withstand still applies for the unwilling.

Fifth: Inviting the Mists
Prerequisites: Space 5, two dots in a third Skill among the optional prerequisite Skills
After walking within both Nature of the Fallen World and Supernature of the Mists, the Druid's soul resonates with the Mists, allowing her to invite it into the Fallen World. When she incorporates her soul stone into a Demesne, it becomes an Arcadian Verge with a Thura into the Mists at its center, inhabited by the same half-substantial beings of the Mists. The Druid may freely assign a Key to the Thura at the moment of its creation or any time she wishes. Destroying the Thura collapses the Demesne as well.
Optional: Time 5
The Walker's very eyes swell with the Mists, and his gaze coalesces that fog of destiny into a coherent future. This emulates the "Prophecy" spell with Reach assigned to instant use and expanding for use in Social Maneuvering.