Mage the Ascension
|
|
Mages have a language all their own, adopted or invented to describe their world and concepts. The next four sections list the most frequently used terms (Common Parlance), common ranks and names (Titles), the vocabulary of ancient mages (Old Form) and the ever-evolving slang of the younger generations (Vulgar Argot).
Acolyte: A non-Awakened servitor of a mage.
Arete: The measure of a mage’s magical enlightenment and will.
Ascension: The enlightened state of being to which all mages aspire.
Ascension War, The: An ongoing conflict between mage factions, with the future of reality as the prize. Actually a series of conflicts, ranging from subtle maneuvering to appalling violence.
Arcane: A mystickal veil erected by mages to guard their identities.
Avatar: A soul, said by some to be a fragment of the Pure Ones who originally inhabited the Tellurian. An Awakened Avatar enables a mage to perform magic.
Awakened, The: Mages; also applied to other supernatural creatures – werecreatures, ghosts, changelings, mummies and vampires.
Awakening, The: The moment in which one realizes, mind, body, heart and soul, the reality of magic and one’s own destiny.
Branding: A punishment in which a mage has her Avatar marked.
Cabal: A group of mages bound to each other by loyalty and a common purpose.
Caern: A Node controlled by werewolves.
Chantry: The stronghold of a mage or cabal. On Earth, this may be a normal building or a magically fortified and enhanced structure. These mundane places are often located on Nodes and connected to stronghold in the Umbra. Technomancer Chantries are called Constructs, while Nephandi refer to their strongholds as Labyrinths.
Coincidental magic: magic performed in such a fashion that it is effectively indistinguishable from a mundane event.
Convention: One of five groups of mages that form the Technocracy and enforce its policies. The Conventions are:** Iteration X, the Syndicate, the Progenitors, the New World Order, and the Void Engineers.
Council; Council of Nine: The collective name for the Nine Mystick Traditions and the federation they have formed. The Technocratic equivalent is the Union.
Craft: When used as a title, this denotes mystick societies who play no part in the Ascension War. They rarely refer to themselves as such.
Custos: A non-mage who works for or with a cabal as a servant or warrior. A modern custos may be anything from a rent-a-cop to a gang member to a mythical creature.
Deep Umbra: The aspects of the Umbra found beyond the Horizon, far from Earth. The Shared Realms are scattered throughout the Deep Umbra. Call the Deep Universe by the Technocracy.
Demon: Enigmatic beings of evil intent and disputed origin.
Dream Realms: Worlds created out of old dreams kept alive by the Oneira, the Dream Lords. Also called Maya.
Dynamic Reality: Reality in flux. It may be changed quickly through vulgar magic, slowly through coincidental magic, or gradually through the normal flow of worldly events.
Epiphany: A magical revelation spoken of by the Traditions; thought to derive from a term for faerie enchantment.
Familiar: A spirit that has taken on flesh through a compact with a mage.
Focus: An object, action or gesture required to perform magic. Foci vary with belief, from mage to mage and paradigm to paradigm. A Technomancer focus is often called an apparatus.
Gaia: A common name for the Earth Mother; also used by some nature-conscious mysticks to personify the Earth and its Near Umbra.
Gate: A temporary magical “bridge” between two places. Frequently created at Nodes. See Portal.
Gauntlet, The: A mystickal barrier between the Earth and the Near Umbra.
Gilgul: The destruction of a mage’s ability to work magic, by removing or destroying his Avatar. This is the most horrible crime or punishment possible, as it essentially takes away the mage’s soul.
Hedge Magician, Hedge Wizard: An un-Awakened mortal who uses a static craft to affect minor changes in reality. See Magic.
Hollow Ones: An Orphan group that embraces post-modern decay and Gothic romanticism in response to the apparent failure of both. Though they often work with Tradition mages, they are not, as of yet, taken very seriously.
Horizon, The: The magical barrier separating the Near Umbra from the Deep Umbra.
Horizon Realms: Small pockets of custom-made reality; artificial Realms on the border between the Near Umbra and Deep Umbra. Umbral Chantries are built within them, and earthly Chantries connect to them by way of Portals and Gates.
Hubris: The overwhelming (and often fatal) pride which leads mages into overconfidence or excess. Monumental hubris guides the Technocracy and lies at the heart of the Ascension War.
Incarna: Greater spirits; the servants of the Celestines. For all intents and purposes, demigods.
Initiation: A combined test and ceremony that marks a person’s transition from apprentice to mage among the Traditions.
Mage, True Mage: An Awakened person whose actions and beliefs dramatically alter the reality around her. Used commonly to refer to followers of the Mystick Traditions, this term properly applies to all users of True magic. Also called willworkers, for their command of reality through will; magi, after the old form; and mysticks, for their command of magic.
Magic: Stage tricks, illusions, etc. Also refers to static magic, which works with the momentum of reality, rather than reworking reality by force of will.
magic, True magic: The act of dynamically altering reality through force of will, knowledge and Awakened Avatar.
Marauder: An utterly unpredictable mage so given over to eternal change that he is essentially a magical psychotic.
Metaphysic Trinity: A Council view of the three forces of change – Stasis, Dynamism and Entropy. Also known by some as the Triat – Weaver, Wyld, and Wyrm.
Methodology: A sub-group of a Technocratic Convention, which specializes in a certain function.
Mystick: Those things which involve the forces of True magic.
Near Umbra: The part of the spirit world that exists around each Realm. Most often used to describe the area of the Umbra that surrounds the Earth.
Nephandus, Nephandi: A mage who follows the Path of Descent, choosing darkness over light. Many Nephandi work closely with demons.
Node: A highly mystickal place. Nodes collect and store Quintessence, and the Gauntlet in their vicinity is thinner. Many Chantries, Gates and Portals are built on these sites.
Oracle: One of the legendary mages who has attained mystick perfection.
Orphans: Sleepers who have Awakened spontaneously without the assistance or guidance of other mages. They have taught themselves magic, and are often considered dangerous wild cards.
Ostracism: A punishment that completely divorces a mage from Tradition society.
Otherworlds: Collective term for the realms outside the Gauntlet.
Paradox: An anomalous state of reality caused when a mage disrupts the momentum of reality with her own magical acts.
Paradox Realm: A small Realm created by Paradox spirits to entrap a mage and thus prevent any further disruptions of reality.
Paradox Spirit: A spirit formed from the collective beliefs of humanity. Mages who are careless or unlucky with their magic in front of Sleepers will find themselves hunted by these spirits.
Path: A general term for a mage’s chosen destiny.
Pattern: The mystical composition of an object, entity, place or idea.
Procedures: What Technocracy mages call their magical Effects.
Pure Ones: The legendary primordial beings of the Tellurian. Many mages believe that all souls are fragments of these shattered entities.
Pogrom, The: The systematic purge of all opposition (“random elements”) by the Technocracy.
Portal: A permanent Gate. Portals are usually guarded by powerful spirits that require a task to be performed or a puzzle to be solved before they will allow safe passage.
Prime: The original unified force that composes the universe. All things flow from this primordial energy.
Protocols, The: A code of honor established by the Traditions to prevent abuses of power. Violation of this code is punishable by censure, branding, ostracism, death or Gilgul.
Quiet: A state of insanity caused by the excessive use of magic.
Quintessence: The stuff of magic; the raw substance of the universe in condensed form. See Tass.
Realms: The worlds of “solid” reality that exist within the Tellurian.
Resonance: The mystick traces that actions leave behind.
Rote: A tried and true magical Effect, passed down as a tool or weapon.
Seeking: A mage’s Avatar-guided quest for enlightenment.
Shade Realm: The Umbral “shadow” of a Shard Realm.
Shard Realm: One of nine Realms said to have been part of Gaia in ages past. They roughly correspond to the other planets (including Luna) and the nine Spheres of magic. Each is ruled by a Celestine.
Sleeper: A person potentially capable of magic, but not yet aware of its existence.
Sphere: A particular element of reality manipulated by mages.
Static Reality: The foreword momentum of reality, often guided by the deeds and beliefs of humanity. magic, by its dynamic nature, disrupts static reality to some degree. The parameters of static reality have, in recent centuries, become more restrictive due to a single global paradigm (belief system) espoused by the Technocracy.
Symposium: A monthly meeting of the Technocracy. At these meetings members of the Conventions gather to make policy.
Tass: Quintessence stored in physical form. It tends to collect in Nodes and takes various forms based on its surroundings – i.e., mushrooms at a wooded caern, water from a specific spring or magical garbage mold at an urban Node.
Talisman: An object that stores Quintessence and uses it to create a specific magical effect – i.e., magic carpets, wishing wells or etheric ray guns. Technocratic Talismans are called Devices.
Tapestry, The: A metaphor for reality.
Technocracy, The: A ruthless and powerful group of mages that seeks to eliminate the harmful elements of reality, thus making it safe for humanity. Their magic, based on scientific principle, conforms and shapes modern reality – to a point. This group will not be satisfied until all possibilities lie within its control (See Pogrom). Also called the Technocratic Union.
Tellurian: The whole of reality.
Tradition: One of the Nine Mystick Traditions, a Council formed in the 1400s to oppose the Technocracy, resist the radical changes of the Marauders and fight the evil of the Nephandi. These are the Akashic Brotherhood, Celestial Chorus, Cult of Ecstasy, Dreamspeakers, Euthanatos, Order of Hermes, Sons of Ether, Verbena and Virtual Adepts.
Tribunal: A gathering of Council mages to discuss matters important to the Traditions; usually held in times of strife.
Umbra: The spirit world (actually a series of worlds) outside of the material one.
Umbrood: Any non-human not born or created on Earth. This includes both the spirits that roam the Umbra and the inhabitants of other Realms.
Vulgar magic: This is the fireball-and-lightning kind of magic, visible as such to normal observers. Vulgar magic takes static reality and tears it out by the roots.
Wyck: A common name for the original magic, supposedly descended from the Pure Ones.