Talk:Aaron Cohen

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Philadelphia Supernatural Jews: A MINYAN!

  • Aaron Cohen
  • Anneliese Kiel
  • Mearcstapa
  • Kayla Sockum
  • Little Fox
  • Mei Lee
  • Shiri
  • Esther
  • Ari
  • Ziv
  • Polly
  • Torah

The Perfected Adepts

Remove All That Is Not A Thing To Perfect A Thing

The Perfected Adepts are a Legacy that strives for mastery over their own bodies. The Perfected Adepts consider martial training to be the most effective type of physical exercise for their purposes. In addition to building strength and flexibility, the student is taught to focus mind and body to function as a unified whole. Besides enhancing the capability of the body, martial arts have a calming effect upon the mind by instilling knowledge and confidence to deal with direct physical threats.

Origins

Parentage: Obrimos, Adamantine Arrow

Background: Soldiers, Martial-Artists, Spiritualists, Seekers of Truth.

Appearances: Eventually most Paragons adopt very plain and humble appearances. Glitz and glamour are set aside for practicality, simplicity, and humility. This can take many differing forms depending upon the cultural practices of the Paragon in question.

Doctrine

Prerequisites: Life 2, Prime 1, Athletics 2.

Initiation: Locally, initiation is typically overseen by Yoshitsune. It involves rigorous physical training, mental exercises, sensory deprivation, large amounts of book learning, and an abundance of sparring. Every muscle is tested, every bone bruised. Only once the fleshy meat prison has been subjected to the rigors of such training can the supplicant begin to understand what it is to transcend the body's limitations and begin to perfect them away.

Organization: Perfected Adepts, being an Arrow dominant legacy, often have occasion to rub elbows with one another. This communion has benefits, as each can share insights gleaned from training and experience with the others. Here in Philadelphia, the most notable Perfected Adept is Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the leader of the Arrow Caucus. He welcomes all who would train beneath him to come and do so, whether or not they are interested in joining the legacy. Perhaps especially those who do not. He has managed to winnow his life down to meditation, warfare, art, and tea. And on very special occasions: Sake.

Theory: Having penetrated the veil of lies and illusion, many newly awakened mages stand upon the threshold of a whole new world so dazzling that they tend to forget their previous mode of existence. Now able to transcend the gross limitations of matter and energy, some even neglect their own corporeal bodies, regarding them as a mere hindrances, husks to be discarded once their usefulness has ended. While there is some truth to this way of thinking, it is not a whole truth. It is a road that leads to dissolution and disembodiment. The Perfected Adepts stand as a warning sign upon that road, reminding all mages where they came from and what their ultimate goal is, or should be. Their presence signifies a return to the source, a remembrance that all mages are still human beings -- they are born, live their lives, and die. If magic cannot be made to enrich and fulfill that process, then it is not magic but delusion. The Adepts teach that before one can truly transcend the limitations of being human, one must learn what the true limitations of humanity are.

Furthermore, they teach that the wisdom gained through transcendence must be brought back to humanity, so as to enable others to follow the same road. A human being is a work in progress, they hold. Awakening is not the completion of that work, but the opportunity for completion, for perfection. As the mind works at perfecting the body, it also learns to operate upon itself, gaining mastery over thought and emotion rather than being ruled by them. Just as the distractions of the outer world can be dispelled, just as the wants and urgings of the body can be quelled, so can the chatter and babble of the lower mind be silenced, leaving the soul free hear what it most needs to tell itself. Only when everything has fallen away can the innermost self be free to seek perfection by uniting the highest reality with the lowest.

To some this union might seem to be the ultimate goal, the reason for a mage's existence. But for the Perfected Adepts, this is not the end of their work, but the beginning. Perfection is meaningless if it is static and removed from the world, so the Adept is obligated to return to the world and help others to find the way to inner peace. Though the Adepts do not disdain or reject the affairs the material world, they do require a substantial removal in order to pursue their goals. Renunciation of worldly attachments or wealth is the first necessary step for disentangling oneself from the world. They simplify their lives, shunning extraneous noise and clutter so that they can hear the murmurs of their innermost selves.

Magic

Ruling Arcanum: Life

Yantras: Casting in a place of physical training, such as a gym, dojo, or running track (+1); swearing an oath of service or performing another genuine act of humility (+1); fasting for at least a day (+2); discarding something of value or a vanity (+1-3 depending on significance).

Oblations: Oblations: drilling or training in combat techniques, including katas, sword forms, sparring, punching bag work, etc.; feats of endurance, such as running a marathon or long exposure to the elements; successfully meditating (Mage, p. 208) for an least an hour.

Attainments

First: Vital Force

Prerequisites: Initiation
The mage gains a heightened awareness of the life force and energy within all living things. This Attainment emulates the Life 1 spell “Analyze Life” (Mage, p. 148) combined with the Prime 1 spell “Supernal Vision” (Mage, p. 166). The Paragon may only use this Attainment to study living beings. If she successfully meditates for at least 30 minutes immediately before using this Attainment, her player gains +3 to a number of Focused Mage Sight rolls using Life equal to the Attainment’s Potency, before the end of the scene.

Second: Fire on Water

Prerequisites: Life 2, Prime 2
The mage gains further heightened awareness of the environment around the Paragon. This attainment emulates the Life 1 spell "Heightened Senses" (Mage, p. 148) combined with the Prime 1 spell "Pierce Deception" (Mage, p. 165). One reach is dedicated to making the effects use Advanced Duration, and the other permits the Paragon to track targets by scent and to allowing the Paragon to receive revelations of the truth being concealed by the one attempting to deceive them. Only the Paragon may be targeted with this attainment. While under the attainment's effects, the Paragon enjoys +2 to perception checks, including checks for surprise. They tend to sense these things coming.

Third: Water on Stone

Prerequisites: Life 3, Forces 3; Brawl 2
The mage hones their life force akin to the Life 2 spell "Body Control" (Mage, p. 148) combined with the Forces 2 spell "Kinetic Blow" (Mage, p. 143). One reach makes this an instant effect while the other is dedicated to granting 1/0 armor and granting the Paragon's blows the Knock Down tilt. Among its various miscellaneous effects, this grants a bonus to initiative equal to the mage's Life Arcana, and grants Lethal damage to their unarmed attacks equal to their Forces arcana. This attainment may only target the Paragon, with the side-effect of granting a +1 to physical resistance rolls the Paragon may undertake.

Fourth: Stone on Air

Prerequisites: Life 4, Forces 4; Athletics 3
At this level, the Paragon is capable of truly drastic feats of physicality well outside the scope of human norms. Their mastery of their life energies empowers then with an effect akin to the Life 3 spell "Honing the Form" (Mage, p. 150) combined with the Forces 3 spell "Turn Momentum" (Mage, p. 145). One reach is dedicated to advanced duration with the second dedicated to allowing the attribute raised to exceed that usually granted by Gnosis at the cost of 1 mana and to permit projectiles the mage can dodge to be directed at the Paragon to be hurled back at their targets as though they were targeting themselves. This effect may only be used on the Paragon and may not target others.

Fifth: Air on Fire

Prerequisites: Life 5, Prime 5; Brawl 3
Masters of this Legacy are true Paragons of being. Invoking this attainment emulates the Life 4 spell "Mend Life" (Mage, p. 152) combined with the Prime 3 spell "Ephemeral Enchantment" (Mage, p. 169). With reach dedicated to making this an instant effect and to mending a number of wounds-- even aggravated wounds --equal to the Paragon's life dots. The Ephemeral Enchantment has its extra reach dedicated to allowing the effect to act as a bane on a specific entity. While this effect is limited to the Adept alone, it does allow the bane to be the Paragon's own unarmed attacks.