[New Legacy] The Universal Harmony

[GibberingEloquence]

Author's Note: The format for this Legacy is borrowed from proindrakenzol.

Inspirational Material:

Zaffai The Thunder Conductor from Magic: The Gathering's Strixhaven Set.

“Music is an agreeable harmony for the honor of God."

-Johann Sebastian Bach

The inner workings of the cosmos are comparable to a divine symphony, which was composed and performed by a higher principle to create everything. This association between music and power is not merely coincidental: the Awakened know that the history of humanity tends toward chaos, but even then the underlying problems display understandable patterns. Sleepers are essentially notes in a musical score, which can produce a symphony akin to the one from a higher principle.

The Universal Harmony is a Legacy whose members have internalized the glorious power of music. Their mission is to bring order into the world by harnessing the inherent divine potential of every person. They use their mystical gifts to observe and influence portentous events in history, and then perform experiments upon the recorded essence of the divine symphony hidden within the manifest will of humanity. Such records are collected by the Legacy with the ultimate goal of assembling them into a final performance so perfect that the Lie will be silenced and give way to the Truth for every inner song.

Origins

Parentage: Obrimos, Silver Ladder or Free Council

Nicknames: Maestros

Background: Activists, professors, entertainers and other influencers who wish to guide, uplift and enlighten via music.

Nimbus: Echoes of a heavenly chorus, though this varies according to the Mage's Path, Order and so forth.

Doctrine

Prerequisites: Time 2, Expression 2, Academics 2, a Specialty for a type of Musical Performance

Initiation: One must find a community of Sleepers who are being controlled in a significant manner by operations of the Seers Of The Throne and give a musical performance that inspires the community to take decisive action against such control. The Initiation is completed when the Sleepers openly recognize the Mage as an important member of their community.

Organization: The Maestros trace their origin to the Ministry of the Prophet, which they used to serve by hijacking and subverting the works of musicians who could pose a threat to the influence of said Exarch. They deserted and found a new type of enlightenment in struggling against their former accomplices and masters. The Maestros generally organize in a loose manner, since they believe that repeating the same patterns results in stagnation and complacency. However, they tend to favor sociopolitical structures akin to orchestras or equivalent performative groups. Despite such variation, it is common for groups of Maestros to have internal dynamics based on resonant musical genres of their respective cultures, or some eclectic hybridization thereof.

Each Maestro focuses on a type of musical performance and also a category of community problem. By uniting their talents and switching approaches to systemic issues, they aim to cover all their bases so as to not repeat history and inadvertently help the Seers Of The Throne. The effective leader of a gathering of Maestros is called a Composer, though such a position is closer to a first-among-equals rather than a unilateral authority. Composers lead by example and often serve as intermediaries between the Sleepers and the Pentacle in a Consilium. Few Legacies are as focused on the liberation and guidance of Sleepers, therefore most Consilia give special attention to Maestros when they bring information about the operations of local Pylons.

Magic

Ruling Arcanum: Time

Optional Arcanum: Prime

Yantras: Musical instruments (+1, or +2 if they incorporate memorabilia of historical significance), records of musical performances or similarly portentous events (+1, or +2 if such events have a notably anti-Exarchal Resonance), succeeding on an Expression or Academics roll relevant to the spell (+2), symbols of positive renown gifted by struggling communities, such as letters from fans and trophies from philanthropic organizations (+2)

Oblations: Composing and performing various styles of music to help struggling people, hearing and recording sounds of important sociopolitical events, modifying and upgrading audio equipment

Attainments

First: Feel The Rhythm
Prerequisite: Initiation
The Mage perceives the events of the past and catches glimpses of important moments. Conversations between key members of the local communities about strategic decisions are highlighted among the ambient sounds, as if the dialogue takes place in a room with perfect acoustics. This works like Postcognition, with Reach being assigned to Instant Casting.

Optional: Prime 1
The Mage reveals the underpinnings of Ley Lines that contribute to the local ecosystem of Resonances. Such Ley Lines manifest as pieces of fitting melodies as opposed to glowing strands of energy. This works like Sacred Geometry, with Reach assigned to Instant Casting.

Second: Patterns In The Melody
Prerequisite: Time 2, either Expression 3 or Academics 3
The Mage gives a musical performance that makes people keenly aware of the history that inspired it. The Mage sings a sad country song about the auto-factory shutting down, or the rift between the two neighboring towns coming about. Listeners are left with that nagging awareness in the back of their head about the relationship between the past and present. This is a Time Unveiling, with Ritual Interval and Potency as the Primary Factor. Reach is assigned to Advanced Duration and Advanced Scale [Subjects]. Those affected by this Attainment are given a clear perspective of their role in history: if they are already suffering from Conditions which imply dissatisfaction, stagnation or indignation (e.g. Guilty, Spooked, Inspired), they will find an opportunity to Resolve them during the scene, but are not forced to do so. The Mage can give such Conditions to his followers via mundane Social rolls, usually based on Expression or Academics.

Optional: Prime 2
The Mage makes the aforementioned realizations crash to the forefront via a complementary encore. People can feel the possibilities of the future, which turns a mere song into a grandiose inspiration. Any lies from the past clearly don't fit in the history, and the truth becomes easier to identify. This can be used to show them that what is happening in the present is a repeat of the past. For example, the factory owner and the new mayor being in cahoots and selling them down the river, or the impetuous chase for a suspected killer being likely to end in disaster. This works like Pierce Deception, with Ritual Interval. Reach is assigned to giving a symbolic notion of the truth and Advanced Scale [Subjects].

Third: Heard Around The World
Prerequisite: Time 3, both Expression 3 and Academics 3
The Mage can play an echoing leitmotif which resonates with the heavenly spheres. This is an Integrity Breaking Point for Sleepers, who can harmonize with the divine beat if they just stop and listen. In other words, listeners are subtly guided by a phantasmagorical soundtrack toward making decisions according to a rhythm decided by the Mage. This works like Perfect Timing, with Reach being assigned to Instant Casting, Advanced Duration and Advanced Scale [Subjects].

Optional: Prime 3
The Mage blesses a location so that it is in tune with the heart-beat of the world itself. Those who follow the music find their efforts being nudged toward harmony, while those who challenge the music find that the outcomes of their choices matter less and less. In other words, the Mage composes a musical score based on the Resonances of local Ley Lines, which he rearranges with every note placed down on paper or equivalent medium. This works like Geomancy, with Ritual Interval. Reach is assigned to Advanced Duration and Advanced Scale [Area].

Fourth: Sublime Crescendo
Prerequisite: Time 4, Expression 4 and Academics 3, or Expression 3 and Academics 4
The Mage closes his eyes and the cosmos whispers into his ears about the approaching climax of his masterpiece. The individual notes composed of the souls of Sleepers unify into an orderly and beautiful structure, like a mathematical equation that allows the prediction of dissonant variables. This works like Prophecy, with Reach assigned to Instant Casting.

Optional: Prime 4
The Mage rallies his followers into decisive action with a dramatic speech that encapsulates the messages of the previous musical performances. Hearts and minds are swayed and inspired toward harmony, or shamed and humbled toward repentance. This works like Words Of Truth, with Ritual Interval. Reach is assigned to Advanced Duration, Advanced Scale [Subjects] and giving the Guilty/Inspired Condition.

Fifth: The Spheres Align
Prerequisite: Time 5, both Expression 4 and Academics 4
The Mage orders the temporal flow to obey the rhythm dictated by his capstone performance. He fills his lungs with divine breath, sings thunderously to the heavens, and the Angels rearrange the celestial firmament. His followers are anointed by the Supernal and guided toward ultimate harmony, casting aside the tyranny of the Prophet and moving as if they were one. In the end, one heavenly ordained mission is accomplished in the span of a moment, with each follower of the Mage being a crucial note in the symphonic climax. This works like Blink Of An Eye, with Ritual Interval. Reach is assigned to Advanced Scale [Subjects].

Optional: Prime 5
The Mage brings down the panoplies of Heaven itself to provide the stage for the final spectacle. He makes a single imperious gesture with his hand, and all of his followers gain fitting Equipment for the purposes of completing their heavenly ordained mission. These pieces of Equipment are clad in golden glory and resound with the voice of God. This works like Platonic Form, with Reach assigned to Instant Casting, Advanced Scale [Subjects] and giving 8 Again. Since the followers compress their Extended Action into an Instant Action via the Fifth Time Attainment, the Mage does not need to spend Reach on Advanced Duration. He simply bestows the Equipment to his followers right before the grand finale.

[GibberingEloquence]

Big thanks to Teatime for helping me out with this one!

[proindrakenzol]

The Arcana chosen for this Legacy surprised me, but you really tied it together in a very interesting package. The image you chose is a good one, though I do find it amusing that the only attainment that actually correlates with an ability on the card is Sublime Crescendo (Prophecy being like Scry).

Heard Around the World seems to be missing part of its description, the Integrity Breaking Point has nothing to do with Perfect Timing and the effect described does not match Perfect Timing.

Overall, I really like it, but I'd work more of the actual spell description in to the text rather than just referencing the spell.

[Teatime]

Here is a writeup of the Legacy's origin within the Ministry of the Prophet, from its inceptor's point of view. Written and posted with GibberingEloquence's encouragement:

It was a very niche field of study, worth no effort by those who would serve the Prophet. Nevertheless, the Seer known as Maestro studied how causality and flow of time had a hidden music of their own. Every human action was laden with meaning, stemming from past experiences and altering future possibilities. Multiple people acting together, or against each other, would create complex pattern within fabric of Time. If those patterns were translated into sound and applied in reverse, one could shape the future, and the actions of Sleepers would follow. Maestro saw himself as following Prophet's will. He would be the great virtuoso and conductor, directing the actions of his lessers, both as a Seer and in his identity as a musician. To refine his work, he modified symphonies played by orchestras under his lead. He built up and tore down many a aspiring musicians, molding them to be players he needed. They got off easy. The many workers unions and other social groups he infiltrated tore apart in infighting, or changed utterly through his experiments, usually for the worse.

Eventually, he noticed that when disparate individuals chose to cooperate out of their own free will, the hidden music was most potent, and most useful for his other projects. Out of cold pragmatism, he adjusted accordingly. This is when the orders came. He was to immediately suspend his research and transfer his assets over to the local Prelate. When forced to relinquish his power, facing censure and unable to oppose his superiors, he did what any self respecting Seer would do. He went rogue. It started with fleeing the Tetrarchy and going off the grid. His pride and spite ensured he would manage his social groups in a manner he saw most efficient. The fact that empowering Sleepers to act as equals would be like spitting in Prophet's eye, was as sweet as power itself.

After years passed, he was visited by Free Councillors eager to meet the Solitaire who did such a good work fighting the Lie. The first contact did not go even close to what they expected, but once the time anomalies were dispelled and Paradox dealt with, Maestro joined the Pentacle and never looked back. His relationship with the rest of the Orders was strange. Although a great asset to both Free Council and Silver Ladder, he always scoffed at the idea of respecting the Sleepers, claiming they were but means to an end. When shown appreciation by his Sleeper guinea pigs, or told by the other Mages that under that cynical exterior he's actually a big softie, he remembered all the hurt he caused and dismisses their claims as nonsense. However, as a Master of Prime he could easily test the truth of those assertions, but he never did. He's scared to, and he doesn't know why.