I've recently been wondering: How do the Seer ministries and the paths actually fit together? Are all members of Panopticon basically just Mastigos? I can understand that from the mystical point of view - the Eye would focus on people with an affinity to Space magic. However, the human side of the ministry might have use for people with other specialties as well, and they might not want to reject people who awoke to another supernal realm, e.g. someone with strong ties to Prime to craft artifacts, ...
Furthermore, here's a scenario:
John is a stock trader, and right in the middle of some major deal he awakens in Acardia to its Watchtower, making him a freshly reborn Acanthus. Unfortunately for him, among his trading partners are Seers of the Throne, more specifically members of the ministry of Mammon. It all happened so fast, that they could not prevent his Awakening or steer it their way.
Now, what happens? It's highly unlikely they will just let him walk away to be found by some pentacle mage and join their ranks. They will try to recruit him to their winning side. But since he's an Acanthus and that doesn't fit to their Exarch (the Chancellor, whose purview is Matter), would they hand him over to the ministries of the Prophet or the Ruin? Or would the Seers actually like to have John in their ranks to become a specialist in Fate and Time magick? Or could John become a faithfulll follower of the Chancellor despite having no clue of the Matter arcanum?
For pentacle mages, their path does not restrict their choice of order or even point to a specific order. But for the Seers, this is vastly different with the ministries being tied to a certain Exarch, who is tied to a certain Arcanum. This isn't a big deal if the Seers actually awaken in the Earchs realm and swear allegiance, because then the path just fits - but it matters a lot when considering recruiting freshly awakened Mages or taking in Pentacle traitors. For example, would an Obrimos pentacle mage be able to apply for the ministries of the Father and the General, but not for the Eye or Unity?
Furthermore, here's a scenario:
John is a stock trader, and right in the middle of some major deal he awakens in Acardia to its Watchtower, making him a freshly reborn Acanthus. Unfortunately for him, among his trading partners are Seers of the Throne, more specifically members of the ministry of Mammon. It all happened so fast, that they could not prevent his Awakening or steer it their way.
Now, what happens? It's highly unlikely they will just let him walk away to be found by some pentacle mage and join their ranks. They will try to recruit him to their winning side. But since he's an Acanthus and that doesn't fit to their Exarch (the Chancellor, whose purview is Matter), would they hand him over to the ministries of the Prophet or the Ruin? Or would the Seers actually like to have John in their ranks to become a specialist in Fate and Time magick? Or could John become a faithfulll follower of the Chancellor despite having no clue of the Matter arcanum?
For pentacle mages, their path does not restrict their choice of order or even point to a specific order. But for the Seers, this is vastly different with the ministries being tied to a certain Exarch, who is tied to a certain Arcanum. This isn't a big deal if the Seers actually awaken in the Earchs realm and swear allegiance, because then the path just fits - but it matters a lot when considering recruiting freshly awakened Mages or taking in Pentacle traitors. For example, would an Obrimos pentacle mage be able to apply for the ministries of the Father and the General, but not for the Eye or Unity?
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