Untitled - The Secrets of the Mind & Body Shaping

This power requires a preparatory
labyrinth meditation, before combat,
and the magus must have an Enigmatic
Wisdom score at least one-fi fth of the
victim’s Magic Resistance. The magus
must touch the victim with bare hands
and maintain uninterrupted contact for
three minutes. This requires at least part
of the victim to remain immobile, which
may be accomplished with physical traps,
magic, or grappling.
Characters must meditate on their
victim’s weaknesses before battle. They
must have suffi cient information about the
enemy for their meditation to be accurate.
They cannot meditate repeatedly to allow
multiple attempts in the same battle, and
cannot store generic meditations for later
use.
This power can destroy many supernatural
talents. The Gift itself is tied, in
some fashion, to the soul, which links it to
harmony. A magus of strife cannot sever
The Gift, except with the active, knowing
assistance of the Gifted individual. If The
Gift is severed, the magical air that causes
people to distrust most magi fades.
rePose
Followers of the Path of Strife cannot
ascend into Final Twilight. They are
so impure that if they attempt to do so,
they die and create terrible adulterations.
Many choose, near the end of their lives
(or as a Twilight experience begins), to
use the Golden Cider upon themselves.
They relinquish The Gift and choose to
die, beginning a new cycle of redemptive
reincarnations. Many believe this selfl ess
act makes good much of the fault of their
lives.
The Path of Walking
Backwards
The Path of Walking Backwards is
one of the newer paths: it entered the
House after Abdkypris spent time among
the Sufi . It is not a form of Islam because
it does not embrace Mohammed as the
Prophet. It is, however, a form of complete
surrender to the harmonic force,
Houses of Hermes
which draws the magus into spiritual unity
with the universe. At that time of complete
harmony, a doorway opens through
which the magus can fl ee back to the
Spahrios. Many such magi often choose
not to walk through the doorway for
a time, however, so that they may aid
others.
The labyrinth meditation of members
of the Path of Walking Backwards
is often a dancing or spinning technique
learned from Sufi Muslims, although the
European labyrinth form also persists.
Spinners and dancers use Dexterity rather
than Intelligence when making Enigmatic
Wisdom rolls during Labyrinth meditations
— their meditation empties the
mind of thought so that the body can
act in the correct way, unfettered by
distraction. Characters commencing this
path choose which method suits them,
either the reasoned labyrinth walk or the
instinctual, ecstatic dance. They may only
change their method after story events
that lead to a profound transformation of
their philosophy.
One school of Sufi , Abdkypris was
surprised to discover, reveres Empedocles
as a hierophant. Their interpretation of
his teaching, which is different from yet
refl ects the House’s understanding, fascinates
many Criamon magi. This has
led the House into a more active, conciliatory
political role in those Tribunals
where Islam and Christianity clash. An
increasing number of Criamon magi are
Muslims, or come from the Muslim lands,
which the House has explored with the
assistance of its “cousins.”
Members of this path are the Criamon
magi most likely to be religious. Some
have become monotheists; they accept a
creator who embodies harmony. There are
many interpretations among them for the
existence of the universe, although Islam,
Origenism (the belief that the universe
exists to allow all things to reconcile to
God), and Manichaeanism (the belief that
God has been shattered into pieces and
every living thing holds a portion of the
Divine) are popular. Empedocles believed
that the immortals worshiped a goddess
called Cypris — a variant of Aphrodite —
who incarnates love, and some Criamon
claim to have met with her.
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tHe avenue of surrender
and tHe station of
service to HarMony
Magi begin this path by forswearing
their destructive past. They purge
their aggressive and greedy natures from
their souls with meditation, fasting, ritualized
fl agellation, or other techniques. The
magus then goes on pilgrimage to a site
that he considers spiritually meaningful,
and participates in rites of purifi cation
with the aid of a Mystagogue. The younger
magus, by accepting the Mystagogue,
accepts subordination to her greater wisdom.
This path is strongly hierarchical,
compared to the others that the House
follows.
After purifi cation, the Mystagogue
trains the supplicant for a season in lore to
aid him in following the path further. In the
Islamic variant of the path, this is Muslim
theology. Once the magus’s desire to harm
and covet has faded entirely, the odor of
The Gift leaves his soul.
The Gift of most characters on this
path becomes Gentle. Those with the
Blatant Gift lose that Flaw, and take on the
standard penalties for The Gift instead. If
the character suffers a Warping experience
that would restore the odor of The
Gift, or restore the Blatant Gift, select an
alternative Warping effect.
tHe avenue of Healing
and tHe station of
rice and Honey
A magus who has walked this far
along the backward path may restore
damaged things to wholeness without
the use of vis. This requires a labyrinth
meditation while carrying, or circling, the
object. For example, a magus holding a
cracked emerald can dance it to wholeness.
Items made imperfect by human
artifi ce cannot be made whole, so while
a gemstone bored into a bead could be
restored into an unscratched and unfractured
bead, it could not be restored to
the state of a whole stone. This power
heals animals and plants, except when
they have been injured by human tools,
but cannot return life to dead things. The
object usually cannot be more than ten