User talk:Vorpal

 Note: The Celestial Masters originally feature on page 39 of Keys to the Supernal Tarot. This is an adaptation of the Legacy for 2.0. Further information on the Legacy can be found in the original source material.

Overview

When first man gazed up into the Heavens and saw the stars, what did he think? Those twinkling dots of light represented something far away, unattainable, something that became the object of longing and symbolic of the most fervent wishes. As knowledge of astronomy progressed, the stargazer learned that the light he saw was from celestial bodies long dead, reaching Earth long after the start that generated it burned out. Does this, then, mean that wishes, too, are only realized by sacrificing the zeal and wonder that spurred them? The modern world is not without hope, but today’s discovery kills yesterday’s myth, and some find this depressing. But Progress, fortunately, provides new wonder. Matter and energy are never destroyed, and that means everything that now exists was once in a different form. Put another way, the dead stars break down and become other elements — even, eventually, living matter. We are all made of stars. This is hope for the future, the knowledge that each and every human being may one day rejoin the cosmos as something luminous and beautiful. Will the matter/energy that was once “us” serve to inspire some future species on some distant world? Is that, then, reason enough to keep wishing on stars? The Celestial Masters began in the Age of Explora-tion as a Legacy devoted to mapping the Heavens. As the years progressed, however, they realized that the adage “as above, so below” was true in many ways. All of the energy of the stars could be found here on Earth, and gradually, the Legacy’s focus changed to an understanding of how this transition happens.

Introduction

The Celestial Masters Legacy is one of the more accessible, given that two orders and a Path teach it. Joining requires finding a Celestial Master and making an entreaty. A background in physics isn’t strictly necessary, but applicants are required to have reached the rank of Apprentice in both Matter and Forces, and to demonstrate skill in conversion in both Arcanum.The applicant is then required to study with his mentor, typically learning at least two of Alter Conductivity, Influence Light, Invisible Object, and Transmute Water. The mage also studies physics, alchemy and philosophy during this training period. The mentor may terminate training at any time if he feels the pupil isn’t cut out for the Legacy.

At the end of the training time, the mentor makes a decision as to whether the pupil is a good match. If he feels the mage will be a good addition to the Legacy, the two of them go on a trip to Sagres, visit the grave of Prince Henry, and discuss the philosophy of reaching for the stars. That evening, the mage reshapes his soul and formally becomes a Celestial Master.

Origins

Parent Path: Moros/Silver Ladder or Free Council

Nickname: Stargazers

Orders: The Free Council and the Silver Ladder, of course, both welcome members of the Legacy. In areas in which these two orders are adversarial to each other, though, Stargazers are either unknown or belong to only one of the orders. Of the other three orders, the Mysterium is the most likely to train Celestial Masters. A bit of the explorer lies in the hearts of all Stargazers, and the Mysterium, of course, provides a welcome home for such people. The Adamantine Arrow and the Guardians of the Veil don’t have anything against the Celestial Masters, per se, but the Legacy has never found a niche within these orders. Occasionally, a Moros Arrow or Guardian joins the Stargazers, but this tends to be out of interests that exist independently of the mage’s loyalties to his order.

Appearance: Many Celestial Masters have some background in the physical sciences, and so are at home in academic settings. As such, they might choose professional garb, or dress for work in a lab, or prefer casual and comfortable clothes.

Background: Celestial Masters tend to come from scientific fields such as physics, chemistry, quantum theory and astronomy. Others might approach the Legacy’s goals from a purely magical standpoint, or as alchemists or theosophists. A rare few are pure philosophers and poets, viewing transformation of matter and energy as a metaphor for transformation of soul and mind.

Doctrine

Prerequisites: Forces 2, Matter 2, Space 1, Science 2

Initiation: ???

Organization: The Legacy hosts a meeting in Portugal every three years, and it’s not uncommon for mentors to stretch their pupil’s training periods out to make their pilgrimage to Prince Henry’s grave coincide with this meeting. During this time, the Stargazers share rotes and magical discoveries, discuss the progress of Sleeper science and how they might best use or guide it, and network with each other. Between meetings, a Stargazer is expected to keep regular contact with his mentor, but there are no consequences (other than perhaps not advancing in the Legacy) if he does not.

Theory: All matter is energy, and all energy is matter. Everything in our world is intrinsically, inextricably, starstuff, and these understandings open a world of opportunity when it comes to the conversion of energy to matter or vice versa.

Suggested Oblations: Complicated mathematical equations, cartography, stargazing, sea travel, scientific research, energy conversion (setting up a machine that converts kinetic energy to electrical energy, for insance).

Concepts: Scientist, sailor, environmentalist, arrogant alchemist, historian, metallurgist, cartogra-pher, international financier, philanthropist, former astronaut.

Legacy Attainments

It's worth note that initially, the Legacy’s attainments used Space as the primary Arcanum. It was only after the shift in phi-losophy (see above) that Forces became the focus and Space became something of an afterthought. Today, the Celestial Masters are some of the most magically accomplished Willworkers, simply because learning their Attainments takes a great deal of skill. Note: Either the Forces or the Matter Arcanum can be primary for this Legacy, depending on the mage’s Path. If the mage is a Moros, Forces is the primary Arcanum. If not, the player can choose when the character joins the Legacy.

First Attainment: Gnosis 2, Forces 2, Matter 2, Science 2 - This Attainment, largely unchanged since the days of the Celestial Navigators, allows the mage to see great distances and to look through solid objects. He simply wills light to interact with the world a bit differently, facilitating long-range perception or making objects transparent (to him). This spell has two main effects. The first is an increase in the character’s visual range, allowing him to see a number of miles equal to (Gnosis x 3). Activating this Attainment requires the player to roll Wits + Compo-sure + Science. The character can terminate the spell at any time, but while the spell is activated, the player suffers a –4 modifier to any sight-based Perception rolls to notice something in the character’s immediate area (hearing and scent are unaffected, of course, and the mage might use a Space spell to warn her if anyone approaches). While the Attainment doesn’t mitigate darkness by itself, the Stargazer can cast the Forces spell “Nightsight” and see for miles in the dark.

The second effect is similar to the Matter 2 spell “Steel Windows.” The character can look through any solid object he wishes. This requires the player to roll Wits + Science + Matter. Unlike the Steel Windows spell, the mage is the only one who can see through the object.

Second Attainment: Gnosis 2, Matter OOO, Forces OOO - Grasping another truth of the connections between substances and essences, the Stargazer learns to realign the starstuff in Fallen materials to imbue their Patterns with Perfection. It's a pale imitation of what true Perfected materials can be- this change lasts only so long as the spell, after all- but even such changes can be made to last for quite some time.

This attainment works much as Hone the Perfected Form, and affects a single continuous piece of substance that fits within the spell’s Scale factor. The effect converts one of the following metals to its Perfected form while the spell persists: gold into Orichalcum, silver into Lunargent, mercury into Hermium, copper into Brontium, tin into Kassiterum, lead into Apeiron, and iron or steel into Siderite. As well, perfected models exist for acids, flame, gemstones, glass (called Adamant once perfected), leather, mirrors, stone, water (called Alhkahest after undergoing this procedure), and wood. Further details on these substances are available on pages 60-63 in Signs of sorcery.

Optional: Space OOO Not all Stargazers are satisfied with the simple, temporary effects of Cosmic Kiln. Provided a location of sufficient resonance with the appropriate Supernal realm, the Stargazer can use this Attainment to create an area that is, in fact, something of a kiln- an isolated area suffused with the essence of the Realm of the Node or Verge it occupies in the Fallen world.

This effect is, in essence, identical to the Space spell Co-Location, though the second location is simply empty space drenched in the Supernal energy of the place of power. Items passed into and out of this shared space may count each trip as one of those required to permanently transmute the item into its Perfected state. All other requirements and restrictions on this conversion are the same, however.

Third Attainment: Gnosis 4, Matter OOO, Forces OOO - The Stargazer gains insight into the nature of matter a nd energ y, a nd it s f u nd a ment a l for m a s t he st u f f of t he universe, no matter what state it is currently in. The mage can touch a wall and make it disappear in a flash of light, or mute the report from a gun by making the sound dissipate into a splash of water. He cannot, however, transmute energy into energy or matter into matter, change energy into air (or vice versa), or transmute kinetic energy or radiation. The only types of energy he can use with this Attainment are light, heat, sound, electricity and fire, and the only types of matter he can involve are solids and liquids. All transmutations are permanent, and the mage cannot shape matter using this Attainment. For instance, he might change light into stone, causing the room to darken momentarily and small chunks of stone to fall to the ground, but he couldn’t take the light in the room and turn it into a statue (not with this Attainment alone, at least, though spells might make this possible). The conversion from energy to matter is problematic, because gauging how “much” light or sound might transform into a gallon of water or a pound of stone is difficult. Likewise, how loud is a sound made from a normal-sized door? The table below can be used as a rule of thumb.This Attainment cannot be used to affect an object with a Size rating greater than 5, but the character can break apart a larger object over time. The mage should be wary, of course, of destroying objects that support others (load-bearing walls and the like), or of trying to transmute a chemical fire into sand in an enclosed space.When transmuting, the player states the type of matter/energy he wishes the energy/matter to become. If the object’s Durability is less than the corresponding intensity of the energy on the chart above, the energy becomes an amount of matter equal to the intensity in Size. If the Durability is equal to or greater than the intensity listed for the energy, the object is Size 1 (equal) or Size 0 (greater). Using this Attainment requires the player to spend a point of Mana and roll Intelligence + Science + Matter (to change energy into matter) or Forces (to change matter into energy). The mage must touch the matter or be able to perceive the energy to affect it (which of course means that as long as the mage can see at all, he can theoretically change the light into some kind of matter).

Optional: Space 3 - The Celestial Navigators used specially-trained birds to aid in mapmaking. The mage forged a strong sympa-thetic connection to the bird, and then released it and used that connection for scrying. The Celestial Masters m a k e u s e o f a s i m i l a r t a c t i c , b u t e m p l o y t h ei r i m p r e s s ive matter/energy conversion skills to create astounding three-dimensional models of their surroundings. This Attainment requires a flat space and a good source of energy (light, sound, energy or fire will all suffice, but the simplest method is probably to use this Attainment during the day and use sunlight). The mage must have a sympathetic connection to a nearby object. He enters a trance, meditating upon the object and all of the energy and matter in between himself and it. As he mediates, the energy source becomes a solid, 3-D model of the terrain between the mage and the targeted object. The model only records stationary objects, so people and moving cars aren’t recorded, but the level of detail is otherwise superb (street signs are visible, swimming pools are actually full of water, and so on). The scale of the model is roughly 60:1, so a five-foot object is about an inch high on the model. This Attainment requires a point of Mana and an extended action. The roll is Resolve + Science + Space. Each roll requires 30 minutes of concentration, and the target number of successes is one for every 100 yards between the mage and the object.

Fourth Attainment: Gnosis 6, Matter OOOO, Forces OOOO - This Attainment is much the same as Everything is Stardust, except that many of the restrictions are removed. The character can affect kinetic energy and gases, and transform energy into energy and matter into matter. This means that the character can cause bullets to drop harmlessly to the ground by changing their kinetic energy into light, or cause enemies to sink into the floor by changing wooden planks into mud. The range on this Attainment is sensory (which, combined with the Celestial Telescope Attainment, makes the few Celestial Masters of this rank fearsome indeed), and the amount of gas that can be shaped is determined by the chart below:Object’s Size/Durability Defined Volume1 5 cubic yards 2 10 cu. yards 3 20 cu. yards 4 40 cu. yards 5 80 cu. yards The system for this Attainment is the same as for the previous one. Optional Arcanum: Space 4The Celestial Masters still wish to map the stars, and with this Attainment, it might someday be possible. The character can instantly teleport himself within line of sight as an instant action, or, if the player spends a point of Mana, a reflexive action. Since the mage can see for miles and walls are no obstacle to his vi-sion, “line of sight” allows for a great deal of flexibility. This Attainment cannot be used through a scrying window, however (though nothing prevents the mage from simply casting the “Teleportation” spell).

Optional: Space 4 - The Celestial Masters still wish to map the stars, and with this Attainment, it might someday be possible. The character can instantly teleport himself within line of sight as an instant action, or, if the player spends a point of Mana, a reflexive action. Since the mage can see for miles and walls are no obstacle to his vi-sion, “line of sight” allows for a great deal of flexibility. This Attainment cannot be used through a scrying window, however (though nothing prevents the mage from simply casting the “Teleportation” spell).

Fifth Attainment: Gnosis 8, Matter OOOOO, Forces OOOOO - The final attainment of the Stargazers is simple- having mastered the tenets and studies of matter and forces, they learn the secrets of not just creating Perfected materials based on Fallen ones, but on smelting alloys from those Perfected materials.

This functions as the Matter 4 spells Forge Sophis/Thaumium/Dumanium, with a single improvement- once Starforge is applied, the base materials need no longer be kept Perfected. The new alloy is itself Perfected- any spells used to Perfect its components end with the completion of the Attainment's application. This effect is Lasting.

Optional: Space OOOOO Originally used to give master Stargazers time to work undisturbed, Masters of Space may use this attainment to isolate themselves and their surroundings from the outside world- completely. This functions as the Space 5 spell Quarantine, with two adjustments- the Stargazer must occupy the excised space themselves, and those within the exised space may view the outside world without issue, presuming there are any openings through which to do so.