Something before the actual Secret Order of the Gate, most of which I've posted in other threads, but cross-posting them here as well for sake of compilation. I'll edit this post into the Secret Order's writeup proper once I finish it.
EDIT: Partial completion of Attainments.
EDIT: Yay, finished.
EDIT: Fixed mistakes Michael Brazier pointed out.
Mystery Cult & Nameless Order: Secret Order of the Gate (• to •••••)
SECRET ORDER OF THE GATE
How could a meek goth girl like that ever survive all this time in the Iron Pyramid? That's where you made the mistake. If only you had seen past the obfuscation, and seen that the contempt in her eyes was not borne of adolescent rebellion. Perhaps then you'd be safe back with your cutthroat, backstabbing pylon peers. Now, your are not.
The Serpent and the Tree
The Secret Order of the Gate proper is a Legacy dedicated to the worship and emulation of the Gate, the Lonely Exarch of the Abyss whom even the Seers dare not invoke. Despite the Pyramid forbidding the worship of the Gate, there are always Seers who seek power beyond taboos. Many fail in frustration, are punished by their superiors, or become Scelesti. Only a few initiate properly into the cult and survive long enough to join its upper echelons in true service to the Gate.
The current Order, about a century old, is only the latest incarnation of the Legacy. The metaphor of the Fallen World as a Tree threatening to choke the Supernal skies, and the Abyss as the Serpent who works to prune the Tree's roots, appears frequently in what records the Pyramid has amassed about the Abyss, enough to unnerve those who know about the Secret Order. Even the Gatekeepers themselves intuit and worry that they're not the Gate's only servants, for when putting down raving Scelesti who delude themselves the Gate's servants they occasionally find symbols pertaining to their mythos and the Place Between.
Origins
Parentage: Seers of the Throne
Background: The Seers of the Throne implicitly recognize treachery and disobedience as a means of climbing the Pyramid, so even when confronted with a true taboo they are far more likely to try exploiting rather than kneel. Not all of them succeed, however, and only the most duplicitous and dedicated of Seers find the Legacy without succumbing to the many dangers on the path.
Appearances: After seeing the Gate's full glory, many Gatekeepers stop caring for the mundane world utterly. Only the need for secrecy to deflect the suspicions of other Seers keep them maintaining social facades. Gatekeepers dress and act blandly as not to draw attention in the presence of other Seers, but quickly falls back to an abandon of normalcy in their unshakeable zeal.
Doctrine
Prerequisites: Space 2, Mystery Cult Initiation (Secret Order of the Gate) 5
Initiation: The Secret Order maintains much layers of secrecy, more than usual Legacies. Only those who climb to the top of the Nameless Order hidden in the Pyramid's ranks can apply for initiation to the Legacy proper. While Awakened cultists are given preferential treatment, until then they must abide by the cult's laws and even the existence of Sleepwalker superiors.
Organization: Aside from the natural strata of the mystery cult that is the Order, Gatekeepers loosely divide themselves to followers of the Way of Opening and the Way of Warding. Openers, at least when their actions are revealed, are indistinguishable from Scelesti to outsiders as they encourage Abyssal manifestations to teach the Fallen World its rightful place. Meanwhile Warders are often mistaken for dedicated enemies of the Abyss as they fend off Abyssal manifestations with uncanny expertise. An ideal branch contains both Openers and Warders, but the two Ways often schism with each other.
Theory: Unbeing seeks Being and devours it. Being fills Unbeing and suffocates it. The World Tree grows from filth to grasp and choke the Celestial, and so it must be gardened with the Serpent's venom. When the Serpent gnaws at the Tree's heartwood, it must be rebuked and sent back to the Void it came from.
Magic
Ruling Arcanum: Space
Yantras: Site of a recognizable Abyssal anomaly (+1); mantras spoken in the Parametric Language (+2); runes written in the Parametric Language (+2); debris brought back from the Place Between (+1, +2 if its corresponding counterpart in the Fallen World is destroyed)
Oblations: Exalting the Gate in the Parametric Language; meditating within the Place Between; drawing the Gate's Iron Seal upon the mage's body; exposing Sleepers and Sleepwalkers to the Abyss
Attainments
First: Calling the Uncalled
Prerequisites: Initiation
The Place Between calls to the Gatekeeper, and she calls back. Whenever she invites Paradox to any spells using the Space Arcanum, she may spend three Paradox Reach to open a Thura into the Place Between.
Optional: Spirit 1
Be he an Opener or Warder, a Gatekeeper finds it prudent to be able to fight back Gulmoth. He can use the Counterspell Attainment against the Numina and Influences of Gulmoth. He uses Spirit in his dice pool, and must be using Spirit Mage Sight. The countered entity rolls Rank + Power or Finesse when using Numina, and Rank + Influence when using Influences.
Second: Shroud of the Borderland
Prerequisites: Space 2
The Gatekeeper enters the Place Between only partly, the liminal nature of the Emanation allowing such a feat. When using this Attainment she takes on an uncanny mien; she may seem translucent, bleed from her eyes, or grow scales and tendrils that match no earthly creature. This is a mere illusion, but disquieting enough to warrant appropriate Social dice modifiers. In this state, the Gatekeeper can spend a Willpower point to "tag along" any time someone or something enters the Place Between within her sensory range.
Should the Gatekeeper raise her Space Armor while this Attainment is in effect, she adds her Space dots to her Withstand rating to any incoming Supernal spells.
Optional: Spirit 2
The Gatekeeper shrouds himself with the stuff of the Place Between, allowing him to touch the intangible. His Spirit Eyes Attainment extends to Gulmoth in Twilight. He can spend Mana to interact with Gulmoth as he can do with spirits. Such interactions are unnatural to observation, even moreso than interaction with spirits, for the Gatekeeper phases through intervening objects and creatures to touch solely the Gulmoth.
Third: Walk the Place Between
Prerequisites: Space 3
From her experiences in the Place Between, the Gatekeeper understands that distance and direction is meaningless. She can impart this revelation to others, replicating the "Lying Maps" spell. Reach is assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration. The Gatekeeper counts as having rolled an exceptional success on spellcasting when using this Attainment on subjects carrying debris from the Place Between.
Optional: Spirit 3
The Gatekeeper becomes recognized as an experienced walker of the Place Between, and he knows the secret steps of its denizens. He may command them as per the "Command Spirit" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration. When issuing a command that goes against the entity's nature, the Gatekeeper scores automatic successes equal to his Spirits dots in the resulting Clash of Wills. This is still ineffective on Abyssal entities above Rank 5.
Fourth: Dwell in the Place Between
Prerequisites: Space 4
The Gatekeeper's long dwelling in the Place Between now marks her past steps. After a scene of retracing her own steps, reminiscing past experiences in the Place Between, the Gatekeeper warps space in replication of the "Co-Location" spell. Reach is assigned to sensory range and Advanced Duration.
The Gatekeeper may employ Sympathetic Range to connect to the Place Between, bypassing the gulf between the Fallen and the Supernal. This however leaves a mark upon the world, leaving an Abyssal Environmental Tilt upon the area co-located with the Place Between, and other possible afflictions. She still needs a sympathy Yantra and a point of Mana to employ Sympathetic Range.
Optional: Spirit 4
The Gatekeeper is now recognized as a dweller in the Place Between, and deceives lesser Gulmoth into thinking he is one of them. His Honorary Rank from the namesake Attainment expands to Gulmoth.
Fifth: The Fearful Reconciler
Prerequisites: Space 5
As a true prelate of the Fearful Reconciler, the Gatekeeper becomes able to summon any being from the Place Between, and likewise banish any being to it with ease. This Attainment costs a point of Mana and replicates the "Teleportation" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use and sensory range. Sympathetic Range is automatically employed, but to a fixed location that transcends the Fallen World; the Place Between.
Optional: Spirit 5
In his devotion to the Lonely Exarch, the Gatekeeper reaches the pinnacle of the Way of Opening, or the Way of Warding. Choose beforehand how this Attainment initially manifests. For an Opener, this Attainment emulates a combination of the "Shape Spirit" and "Bind Spirit" spells, which only works on Gulmoth or Abyss-tainted spirits. Reach is assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration. For a Warder, this Attainment emulates a combination of the "Shadow Scream" and "Banishment" spells. Reach is assigned to instant use and dividing Potency to Essence damage.
However, if the Gatekeeper has retained a sense of balance, he may remember that he must be both Opener and Warder to truly embody the Gate. Those who do so can brand himself with a Paradox Condition caused by his own magic, wait for it to settle in his Pattern, Scour it out, and spend the resulting Mana to change which effect this Attainment grants access to.
Between Being and Unbeing
From Mage 2E core:
The symbolism of the Place Between is that of liminality, the silence of non-existence between every note of existence. The following is a non-exhaustive list of the unique laws and aspects the Place Between display.
EDIT: Partial completion of Attainments.
EDIT: Yay, finished.
EDIT: Fixed mistakes Michael Brazier pointed out.
Mystery Cult & Nameless Order: Secret Order of the Gate (• to •••••)
SECRET ORDER OF THE GATE
How could a meek goth girl like that ever survive all this time in the Iron Pyramid? That's where you made the mistake. If only you had seen past the obfuscation, and seen that the contempt in her eyes was not borne of adolescent rebellion. Perhaps then you'd be safe back with your cutthroat, backstabbing pylon peers. Now, your are not.
The Serpent and the Tree
The Secret Order of the Gate proper is a Legacy dedicated to the worship and emulation of the Gate, the Lonely Exarch of the Abyss whom even the Seers dare not invoke. Despite the Pyramid forbidding the worship of the Gate, there are always Seers who seek power beyond taboos. Many fail in frustration, are punished by their superiors, or become Scelesti. Only a few initiate properly into the cult and survive long enough to join its upper echelons in true service to the Gate.
The current Order, about a century old, is only the latest incarnation of the Legacy. The metaphor of the Fallen World as a Tree threatening to choke the Supernal skies, and the Abyss as the Serpent who works to prune the Tree's roots, appears frequently in what records the Pyramid has amassed about the Abyss, enough to unnerve those who know about the Secret Order. Even the Gatekeepers themselves intuit and worry that they're not the Gate's only servants, for when putting down raving Scelesti who delude themselves the Gate's servants they occasionally find symbols pertaining to their mythos and the Place Between.
Origins
Parentage: Seers of the Throne
Background: The Seers of the Throne implicitly recognize treachery and disobedience as a means of climbing the Pyramid, so even when confronted with a true taboo they are far more likely to try exploiting rather than kneel. Not all of them succeed, however, and only the most duplicitous and dedicated of Seers find the Legacy without succumbing to the many dangers on the path.
Appearances: After seeing the Gate's full glory, many Gatekeepers stop caring for the mundane world utterly. Only the need for secrecy to deflect the suspicions of other Seers keep them maintaining social facades. Gatekeepers dress and act blandly as not to draw attention in the presence of other Seers, but quickly falls back to an abandon of normalcy in their unshakeable zeal.
Doctrine
Prerequisites: Space 2, Mystery Cult Initiation (Secret Order of the Gate) 5
Initiation: The Secret Order maintains much layers of secrecy, more than usual Legacies. Only those who climb to the top of the Nameless Order hidden in the Pyramid's ranks can apply for initiation to the Legacy proper. While Awakened cultists are given preferential treatment, until then they must abide by the cult's laws and even the existence of Sleepwalker superiors.
Organization: Aside from the natural strata of the mystery cult that is the Order, Gatekeepers loosely divide themselves to followers of the Way of Opening and the Way of Warding. Openers, at least when their actions are revealed, are indistinguishable from Scelesti to outsiders as they encourage Abyssal manifestations to teach the Fallen World its rightful place. Meanwhile Warders are often mistaken for dedicated enemies of the Abyss as they fend off Abyssal manifestations with uncanny expertise. An ideal branch contains both Openers and Warders, but the two Ways often schism with each other.
Theory: Unbeing seeks Being and devours it. Being fills Unbeing and suffocates it. The World Tree grows from filth to grasp and choke the Celestial, and so it must be gardened with the Serpent's venom. When the Serpent gnaws at the Tree's heartwood, it must be rebuked and sent back to the Void it came from.
Magic
Ruling Arcanum: Space
Yantras: Site of a recognizable Abyssal anomaly (+1); mantras spoken in the Parametric Language (+2); runes written in the Parametric Language (+2); debris brought back from the Place Between (+1, +2 if its corresponding counterpart in the Fallen World is destroyed)
Oblations: Exalting the Gate in the Parametric Language; meditating within the Place Between; drawing the Gate's Iron Seal upon the mage's body; exposing Sleepers and Sleepwalkers to the Abyss
Attainments
First: Calling the Uncalled
Prerequisites: Initiation
The Place Between calls to the Gatekeeper, and she calls back. Whenever she invites Paradox to any spells using the Space Arcanum, she may spend three Paradox Reach to open a Thura into the Place Between.
Optional: Spirit 1
Be he an Opener or Warder, a Gatekeeper finds it prudent to be able to fight back Gulmoth. He can use the Counterspell Attainment against the Numina and Influences of Gulmoth. He uses Spirit in his dice pool, and must be using Spirit Mage Sight. The countered entity rolls Rank + Power or Finesse when using Numina, and Rank + Influence when using Influences.
Second: Shroud of the Borderland
Prerequisites: Space 2
The Gatekeeper enters the Place Between only partly, the liminal nature of the Emanation allowing such a feat. When using this Attainment she takes on an uncanny mien; she may seem translucent, bleed from her eyes, or grow scales and tendrils that match no earthly creature. This is a mere illusion, but disquieting enough to warrant appropriate Social dice modifiers. In this state, the Gatekeeper can spend a Willpower point to "tag along" any time someone or something enters the Place Between within her sensory range.
Should the Gatekeeper raise her Space Armor while this Attainment is in effect, she adds her Space dots to her Withstand rating to any incoming Supernal spells.
Optional: Spirit 2
The Gatekeeper shrouds himself with the stuff of the Place Between, allowing him to touch the intangible. His Spirit Eyes Attainment extends to Gulmoth in Twilight. He can spend Mana to interact with Gulmoth as he can do with spirits. Such interactions are unnatural to observation, even moreso than interaction with spirits, for the Gatekeeper phases through intervening objects and creatures to touch solely the Gulmoth.
Third: Walk the Place Between
Prerequisites: Space 3
From her experiences in the Place Between, the Gatekeeper understands that distance and direction is meaningless. She can impart this revelation to others, replicating the "Lying Maps" spell. Reach is assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration. The Gatekeeper counts as having rolled an exceptional success on spellcasting when using this Attainment on subjects carrying debris from the Place Between.
Optional: Spirit 3
The Gatekeeper becomes recognized as an experienced walker of the Place Between, and he knows the secret steps of its denizens. He may command them as per the "Command Spirit" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration. When issuing a command that goes against the entity's nature, the Gatekeeper scores automatic successes equal to his Spirits dots in the resulting Clash of Wills. This is still ineffective on Abyssal entities above Rank 5.
Fourth: Dwell in the Place Between
Prerequisites: Space 4
The Gatekeeper's long dwelling in the Place Between now marks her past steps. After a scene of retracing her own steps, reminiscing past experiences in the Place Between, the Gatekeeper warps space in replication of the "Co-Location" spell. Reach is assigned to sensory range and Advanced Duration.
The Gatekeeper may employ Sympathetic Range to connect to the Place Between, bypassing the gulf between the Fallen and the Supernal. This however leaves a mark upon the world, leaving an Abyssal Environmental Tilt upon the area co-located with the Place Between, and other possible afflictions. She still needs a sympathy Yantra and a point of Mana to employ Sympathetic Range.
Optional: Spirit 4
The Gatekeeper is now recognized as a dweller in the Place Between, and deceives lesser Gulmoth into thinking he is one of them. His Honorary Rank from the namesake Attainment expands to Gulmoth.
Fifth: The Fearful Reconciler
Prerequisites: Space 5
As a true prelate of the Fearful Reconciler, the Gatekeeper becomes able to summon any being from the Place Between, and likewise banish any being to it with ease. This Attainment costs a point of Mana and replicates the "Teleportation" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use and sensory range. Sympathetic Range is automatically employed, but to a fixed location that transcends the Fallen World; the Place Between.
Optional: Spirit 5
In his devotion to the Lonely Exarch, the Gatekeeper reaches the pinnacle of the Way of Opening, or the Way of Warding. Choose beforehand how this Attainment initially manifests. For an Opener, this Attainment emulates a combination of the "Shape Spirit" and "Bind Spirit" spells, which only works on Gulmoth or Abyss-tainted spirits. Reach is assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration. For a Warder, this Attainment emulates a combination of the "Shadow Scream" and "Banishment" spells. Reach is assigned to instant use and dividing Potency to Essence damage.
However, if the Gatekeeper has retained a sense of balance, he may remember that he must be both Opener and Warder to truly embody the Gate. Those who do so can brand himself with a Paradox Condition caused by his own magic, wait for it to settle in his Pattern, Scour it out, and spend the resulting Mana to change which effect this Attainment grants access to.
Between Being and Unbeing
From Mage 2E core:
The symbolism of the Place Between is that of liminality, the silence of non-existence between every note of existence. The following is a non-exhaustive list of the unique laws and aspects the Place Between display.
- The Place Between is simultaneously both a Supernal and Abyssal Verge. While it still grants a +2 Yantra bonus for its signature Arcana, spells still risk Paradox and Dissonance. Summonings of both Pandemonic and Abyssal entities gain a +2 bonus. The -2 to Skills rolls are limited to those that depend on knowledge of directions, dimensions, distance, travel and the like.
- Space folds into fractals and contorts itself within the Place Between. Travelers may roll Dexterity + Occult to take paths that are short and mostly linear in the Place Between, but corresponding to locations in the Fallen World much further than the distance walked in the Emanation. The distance covered is equal to Speed to the power of successes rolled. An exceptional success allows the traveler to immediately exit the Place Between. A dramatic failure invites attention from the native entities.
- The Place Between is haunted by both Imps of Pandemonium and Gulmoth of the Abyss, strangely coexisting despite their very essences contradicting each other. Even their behavioral patterns resemble each other; Imps will be more scathing in their ordeals, and Gulmoth will tempt rather than destroy. Summonings of these entities are warped as well. Storyteller rolls for Abyssal incursion during Supernal summoning gain the rote quality. However the reverse also happens, as summoning Gulmoth within the Emanation carries the risk of summoning a Supernal entity instead. Use the same mechanics for Abyssal incursion, including the rote quality granted by the Emanation.
- Exits are not readily visible in the Place Between, nor do they look like one. Travelers may roll Wits + Occult to intuit a small ritual that will lead them out. Even on success, the results often look counterintuitive or nonsensical, such as chaining oneself to a wall or maiming one's own feet with a loose piece of pavement. On exceptional success, the traveler gains the Informed (The Place Between) Condition. On dramatic failure, the ritual works, but the traveler gains the Resonant Condition keyed to a Gulmoth that rode them as they walked out.
- Visitors to the Place Between may pick up debris in it, and with effort carry it back to the Fallen World. Carrying such a piece saps one Willpower point each scene, until the visitor abandons it or exits the Emanation. Once back in the Fallen World, the object counts as a Sleeper with an Integrity of 10 for the purpose of Dissonance. All debris picked carried back this way count as symapthy Yantras to the Place Between, and have at least a Weak sympathetic connection to the Emanation itself. The sympathy is stronger the more warped a piece is compared to its Fallen counterpart.
- When rolling Wits + Occult to figure out an exit out of the Place Between, a Gatekeeper can spend a point of Mana to automatically succeed at it. When rolling Dexterity + Occult to take spatial shortcuts, he may substitute Gnosis for Dexterity, and Space for Occult.
- Along with Space, the Spirit Arcanum counts as the Emanation's signature Arcanum as well.
- The Gatekeeper can attempt to summon Gulmoth instead of Supernal entities, without being a Scelestus.
- When a Gatekeeper enters the Place Between for the first time, she gains the persistent Mystery Commands Condition representing the Gate's will.
- Sometimes, for reasons even the Secret Order is yet unaware of, when exiting the Place Between a Gatekeeper may find himself in the shores of the Ocean Oroboros, usually near the hut of the Old Man. Such mages are in the flesh, not their dream form. Thus he uses Health in place of Dream Health, which leaves him vulnerable to true death. Fortunately, at least the Ecstatic Winds inflict damage to Willpower points instead of Health, and if the Gatekeeper hasn't found a way out, being reduced to zero Willpower points will eject him out of the Astral the same way characters killed in dream form are.
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