Mage/Theme/Legacies/The Ninth Sefira

The 9th Sefira

Nicknames: Cherubim

Repair the World

The 9th Sefira, Yesod, is the foundation upon which God has built the world, and serves as a point of transmission between the sefirot above it, from heaven to the reality of the Fallen World below it. By tying themselves to that sefira, members of this Legacy make of themselves conduits for the Supernal, serving to bring a measure of that perfection to the broken realm they occupy. They recognize that the world is fundamentally damaged, but believe that through good deeds they can, piece by piece, inch by inch, mend some of that damage. This is particularly true for damage caused by the Abyss and its incursions, and they will work tirelessly to find and mend the damage wrought by its forces.

The Legacy is an offshoot of the Choir of Hashmallim, inspired by that legacy's angelic connections but dedicated to a more Jewish foundation than a Christian one. They take the view that rather than calling on Heaven to aid them with their mission, they must perform the work themselves. Membership in the Legacy is not inherently predicted on being Jewish; an agreement with the Legacy's philosophies is enough to be granted access.

Origins

Parentage: Obrimos, Children of the Tree

Background: Although there is only one member of this Legacy at present, certain things can be said about those who would be most likely to join, and to be accepted, based on the Legacy's philosophy. Mages that join the 9th Sefira would of necessity have a strong desire to repair the world and most likely a solid understanding of Jewish theology; though membership in this Legacy is not solely restricted to members of that faith, it is tied heavily to Jewish philosophy, and to date nobody has joined it who wasn't Jewish. Most members would have a strongly held belief that they have an obligation, whether divine or otherwise, to strive to benefit the world and to make it better, more whole, and closer to the supernal or the divine through their actions. Some are warriors, some are healers, and many members of the Legacy are both.

Appearances: At present, there is only one cherub, so all members of this Legacy dress like Mei Lee.

Doctrine

Prerequisites: Life 2, Prime 2, Occult 2, two dots in one of the following Skills; Medicine, Empathy, Investigation

Initiation: A formal Initiation process for the Legacy hasn't really been developed yet, since the founder is the only current member. That tradition will have to develop out of what comes from the Initiation of any other members that are accepted into the Legacy later.

Organization: Much like the Choir of Hashmallim from which this Legacy is an offshoot, the 9th Sefira's members are organized only as tightly as they wish to be. There's no formal structure to them, and they all operate on their own devices, though they should all be willing to both question the actions of other members, and to be questioned in turn about their deeds by both the Legacy's members and others, as long as the intent behind that questioning is the truth. They don't answer to one another, but understanding and truth are of paramount importance.

Theory: The core belief behind the 9th Sefira is that the performance of good deeds without the expectation of reward serves to repair the fundamental fabric of the world, one tiny piece at a time. Members of the Legacy maintain that while none of them will individually complete the Legacy's work, they're under a moral obligation to pursue it to the greatest degree possible.

Magic

Ruling Arcanum: Life

Yantras: Helping another person (+1, +2 if they don't know you did it), performing a mitzvah (+1), engaging in a debate (+1), casting within a ley line or node (+2)

Oblations: Performing good deeds for others without expecting payment; tending to a place of power; cleansing the taint of the Abyss; meditating upon the Supernal

Attainments

First:

Prerequisites: Initiation
The cherub becomes more attuned to the world around her, leaving her better able to detect the damage it's suffering or the flaws in its design. From the subtle grinding of a machine's worn gearing or the more obvious cries of a person in peril, the mage is empowered to more easily find places where something has gone wrong and needed to be righted. This Attainment provides the benefit of the Heightened Senses spell (pg 148), with Reach assigned to the effect's Duration.
Optional: Prime 1
The world's hidden patterns are clearer to those whose eyes always seek the truth. Energy flows through the world at all times, and members of this Legacy are able to sense where that flow is strongest, becoming able to detect ley lines and nodes within the ley line network of the world, in whatever form is most appropriate to the mage in question. Learning this second attainment provides the benefit of the Sacred Geometry spell (pg 166), with reach assigned to Duration.

Second:

Prerequisites: Life 2, Occult 3
As the cherub develops in power they become able to more directly cleanse some of the damage done to the living creatures of the world. By finding the flaws that have developed in a person's pattern and correcting them, they can restore health and vigor to the infirm. As the strength of the Mage's understanding grows, so too does their ability to rejuvenate the ill; eventually, nearly any disease can be banished with a touch. This behaves like the Purge Illness spell, with Reach assigned to Instant Casting
Optional: Prime 2
The result is an effect that mimics the spell Pierce Deception (pg 165) with Reach assigned to Instant Casting and to getting a symbolic sense of what the actual truth is.

Third:

Prerequisites: Life 3, two dots in a second Skill among the optional prerequisite Skills
As the cherub continues to shape her soul in accordance with the 9th Sefira, she grows closer to divinity herself. The results include her own physical form requiring less breath, food, and water, healing more quickly, and becoming less vulnerable to toxins, among other things. The result mimics the spell Body Control (pg 149) with Reach assigned to Duration and halving the healing time for Lethal damage. Importantly, the cherub can only use this effect upon herself, and not on others.
Optional: Prime 3
When the Supernal speaks through the cherub, her words are believed. Heaven, of course, speaks only the truth. By channeling a fraction of that truth through herself, the mage can ensure that her words are unquestioningly believed, though she's only able to speak the truth as she knows it while under this effect. This acts as the spell Words of Truth (pg 168) with Reach assigned to Instant Casting and Duration.

Fourth:

Prerequisites: Life 4, Occult 4
By unlocking the secrets of this attainment, the Mage is able to draw some of the power of the Abode of Angels into her, bestowing angelic features upon herself. The result of this is an effect that mimics Transform Life (pg 150) with Reach assigned to Instant Casting and Duration. The resulting transformations always come in a way that makes sense for angels: improved vision might come from growing a dozen eyes of burning fire, or armor might come from skin like beryl, and leaping might come from the use of myriad wings that aren't sufficient to provide flight.
Optional: Prime 4
By combining the use of Prime with the primary component of this attainment, the Mage is able to not only take on some physical characteristics of an angelic being but to become one. This acts as the spell Shapechanging, but the cherub can only take on a single form: that of an angel, whose appearance is defined when the mage learns this attainment and cannot be changed later, except through effects resulting from the first attainment. This ability can only be used on the mage herself and has Reach assigned to Instant Casting and Duration. The Mage does not risk losing herself in this form. (Note: this is basically the same as an Orphan of Proteus's Shapechange, with an angelic form instead of an animal one).

Fifth:

Prerequisites: Life 5, two dots in a third Skill among the optional prerequisite Skills
Mastering the attainments of this Legacy brings with it the ability to heal with a touch, restoring a living being to an uninjured state with little more than a thought. This healing is so complete that it will even repair scars left by old damage, not only new injuries. This results in an effect like the Mend spell (pg 152), with Reach assigned to Instant Casting and to erasing scars.
Optional: Prime 5
With this attainment, the mage becomes tuned well enough to the underlying nature of the world that she can slip into the flow of energy within it and come out in another location somewhere along those flows. By stepping into a ley line and spending a point of potentia, she can arrive at a chosen destination on any other ley line in a manner like the "Co-Location" spell. Reach is assigned to Sensory Range, Instant Casting, and restricting the co-location as a two-dimensional portal. This Attainment is automatically used with Sympathetic Range. If the cherub either lacks a sympathetic connection to her destination or lacks a sympathy Yantra connecting her to it, she instead arrives at the nearest Node to where she entered, which may or may not be a more dangerous place than the location she left from.