Even more Legacies, updated to 2E

[21C Hermit]

A precious breather. I hope I'm not sabotaging myself in the long-run by taking a day off, but since I don't have a Future Me coming at me with a vengeance on my back, I think I'm safe for now.

For now, here's the full write-up of the Quiescent.

---

THE QUIESCENT

(insert example character)

Sotto Voce

The Quiescent started as a philosophical movement borne from the aftermath of the Second World War, where the Awakened saw just how much Sleeper technology has moved on. The Quiet philosophy asks its adherents to working of magic within the limits of the Fallen World, within what the Quiescence already draws the line for. Already prone to drawing suspicion from other Awakened, especially that they were Seer fronts, the Legacy lost what tenuous contact it maintained with the larger Awakened society when one of their founders turned Banisher and started hunting them down.

The Quiet philosophy was largely a product of the 1940s and the 1950s, and when the zeitgeist gave way so did the Legacy's main appeal. However, the Liars were always good with keeping their heads down from the authorities, especially with a murderous Banisher on their trails, and a few Quiet cabals have survived to the modern era. With the advent of communications and social media technology, there have even been mages who reinvented the Quiet philosophy in the modern age to better hide from prying Sleeper eyes, some of which have successfully inherited the Quiescents' old mantle.

Origins

Parentage: Moros, Guardians of the Veil or Namelss
Background: The original Liars drew from war veterans, or those who were affected by the World War in one way. They were often comfortable with illegal, if not criminal activities, for the Legacy's founders felt morality less important to their own behavioral code over magic, and morality is best taken in moderation after seeing what horrors a moral man can do. While modern Liars aren't so familiar with war, they are still adept at evading the law and working in grey zones, especially when it comes to avoiding scrutiny.
Appearances: Quiescent mages live on the fringe of society, where they can fade into the background easily. This is easier in the modern era, where big cities that allow such are plenty. Liars dress simply as expected, and get on by with whatever work they find. Many do find work as investigators, or any other occupation where their skills would be needed.

Doctrine

Prerequisites: Time 2, Science 2, two dots in one of the following Skills; Investigation, Stealth, Brawl, Intimidation, Streetwise
Initiation: The Legacy draws exclusively from practitioners of Quiet Magic, and even then it's usually the practitioner seeking them out than the Legacy approaching her. In the applicant's pursuit the elder Liars judge her ability and character, seeing if she can find them with minimal reliance on magic and on others' help.
Organization: The Quiescent are one of the most diffused Legacies, the Legacy offering no greater organization to fall back on to and leaving each Liar on their own. The mentor severs regular contact when his pupil learns the Attainment she was calling to him to help on, and the pupil likewise moves on until she deems herself progressed enough for the next Attainment.
Theory: The Quiescent do not think of the Quiescence as a Lie to be challenged, but just another principle of Supernal magic that can be worked through and around. They believe that it exists to protect Sleepers from the Awakened so that they may progress without intervention. Furthermore, they believe Quiescence also protect the Awakened from Sleepers so that they may work lesser but more stable wonders, free from Dissonance.

Magic

Ruling Arcanum: Time
Yantras: Streets and alleys filled with non-descript buildings (+1); quietly observing the subject (+2); investigatory tools such as magnifiers (+2); confronting but not appearing in front of the subject (+1, +2 if managing the confrontation without verbal interaction)
Oblations: Menial chores such as cleaning; solving a puzzle; mixing drinks; shadowing a Sleeper or a group of them

Attainments

First: No Mistake
Prerequisites: Initiation
The Liar wishes not to disturb the Quiet, so she learns to tread carefully. This Attainment divines whether the subject's next Supernal spell will provoke Quiescence with a "Yes" or "No" answer, essentially being a limited version of the "Divination" spell with Reach assigned to instant use.
Optional: Death 1
Provocation of Quiescence and the taint of Paradox tend to go hand in hand, and the Silencer learns to pick up signs telling whether his subject is willing to be Quiet. This effect resembles the "Soul Marks" spell, but is limited to finding out if the subject is Awakened and if she is suffering a Paradox Condition. Reach is assigned to instant use.
While Withstood by Resolve, the mage can bypass it if he uses this effect immediately after his subject casts a Supernal spell.

Second: No Past
Prerequisites: Time 2, Science 3
The Liar learns to mask themselves from temporal scrutiny into their pasts. This Attainment resembles the "Shield of Chronos" spell, with Reach assigned to Advanced Duration. While providing no protection over the future, the Attainment's protection over the past extends to mundane investigations as well. Mundane scrutiny automatically fails, and the Liar scores automatic successes equal to her Time dots on Clash of Wills provoked by magical scrutiny.
To use this Attainment, the Liar must spend a scene ritually destroying personal belongings that betray her past life, most often pictures and identification, and other items she has used extensively.
Optional: Death 2
The Silencer can now move subtly enough in the present that he doesn't leave a past trail that could follow him. He replicates the "Without a Trace" spell, with Reach assigned to Advanced Duration. The required preparation for this effect is identical to that of the Attainment's main effect, and can be taken in conjunction to enable both effects.

Third: No Present
Prerequisites: Time 3, two dots in a second Skill among the optional prerequisite Skills
Hiding one's past is only the first step towards hiding yourself from unwanted attention, and the Liar must learn to protect her present self from unexpected encounters as well. This Attainment duplicates the "Momentary Flux" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use, Advanced Duration, and gaining an Initiative bonus when acting on the gleaned information.
Optional: Death 3
The Quiescent is familiar with violence more than they appear to be, and a Silencer quickly learns how to break things when needed to save his own skin. He emulates the "Decay" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use and directly decreasing the object's Structure.

Fourth: No Future
Prerequisites: Time 4, Science 4
The Legacy was born in the uncertainty of the 1940s, with any prediction of humanity's future only a phantom. The modern era sympathizes still with that uncertainty of the future, and the Liar who internalizes it can choose to shift the future to her immediate benefit. This Attainment replicates the "Choose the Thread" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use and affecting supernatural powers including spellcasting.
While Withstood by Resolve, the Liar can bypass it for subjects who used obviously supernatural powers in front of Sleepers in the same scene. This includes not only Supernal magic and Attainments, but also the non-Supernal powers of other supernatural entities. When using this clause, the roll affected by the Attainment need not be another usage of supernatural power.
Optional: Death 4
A Silencer's pursuit of a Quiet life rarely leaves him with only inanimate objects in his way. He duplicates the "Enervation" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use.
While Withstood by Stamina, the Silencer can bypass it under the same conditions as the Attainment's main effect.

Fifth: No History
Prerequisites: Time 5, two dots in a third Skill among the optional prerequisite Skills
No one is perfect, and even the most dedicated of the Quiescent find themselves violating their philosophy and the Fallen World. The Liar who reaches the pinnacle of her silent reservation in the status quo of the world gain the ability to amend mistakes of her own or others, changing history itself if needed. This Attainment resembles the "Rewrite History" spell, with Reach assigned to Advanced Duration and allowing the Temporal Sympathy Attainment.
With or without Temporal Sympathy, the Liar can only choose moments when the subject provoked Quiescence as the point of divergence. The rewrite only works so that the subject never took the course of action that provoked Quiescence, instead of merely removing the Quiescence from the action's consequences.
To use this Attainment, the Liar must spend a scene ritually creating a portfolio of the subject's life by using objects and symbols dear to them, and ritually destroying them in their presence.
Optional: Death 5
The Silencer outright destroys his own presence in the world, ensuring that he will not marr the Fallen World's natural progress. This effect resembles the "Empty Presence" spell, with Reach assigned to Advanced Duration. Instead of violence, however, it is the provocation of Quiescence that breaks the effect. The Silencer scores automatic successes equal to his Death dots in Clash of Wills provoked by Mage Sight.
To use this Attainment, the Silencer must spend a point of Mana, and follow the same preparation the Attainment's main effect requires.

---

New Merit: Quiet Magic (• to •••••)
Prerequisites: Awakened
Effect: Your character practices magic within what the Sleeping Curse allows the Fallen World. Determine if the results of the spell she is attempting to cast would provoke Quiescence or Dissonance if an average Sleeper saw it. If not, the practitioner can apply the Merit as a Persona Yantra worth its dot rating, and should circumstances change so that the spell becomes subject to Dissonance, the spell gains additional Withstand equal to the Merit's dot rating. If yes, however, attempting to press on and cast the spell anyway imposes a dice penalty equal to the Merit's dot rating, and the spell immediately suffers from Dissonance. If a Sleeper isn't present, use double the Merit's dot rating for the Dissonance roll.
Both the benefit and penalty of this Merit works without actual Sleeper presence, and presumes that a Sleeper is present. The players and the Storyteller should determine beforehand the perspectives of this hypothetical average Sleeper, on what would he perceive as supernatural or not, depending on what is expected of his background.

[21C Hermit]

Could you add the Devourers of Flesh to your queue?

My current queue: People of the Hour, Roses of Eden, Devourers of Flesh, the Legion, Cryptologos, and the Keepers of the Covenant




I can't remember if the last three were requests made by someone else a long time ago, or something that I've just decided to do (and thus of relatively lower priority). If you who read this are the one who made the request in the past and would like me to put more effort on it, then please indulge yourself. (Although, I think that by this point everyone who's been gracing this thread has noticed that I'm not exactly capable of delivering quick results...)

[21C Hermit]

Alright, so People of the Hour. No, this isn't an update. That's for two days later. But I'd like some input, if anyone seeing this wouldn't mind.

... Why are these guys "summoners," again? I've been reading their entry in Summoners, and, uh, aren't these guys just the typical 1E Acanthus? Somebody please enlighten me here. What makes them distinct from all the other whimsical-type Acanthus out there?

Maybe I'll have them literally summoning Anachronisms that represent the future or something. That'll certainly make them seem like summoners, and it also mirrors how the Legacy's founder first got the Legacy going.

[Teatime]

People of the Hour aren't summoners, but they're in the book to illustrate that Legacies may originate from summonings. The writeup itself doen't give much to go on, but DaveB's actual plays make me think the Legacy was intended to be 80's action movie protagonists thrown into the real world. Taking risks, defying the odds, being the spanner in the works, looking awesome while doing it - that sort of thing. The PotH character was modeled after Inigo Montoya from Princess Bride.

[21C Hermit]

People of the Hour aren't summoners, but they're in the book to illustrate that Legacies may originate from summonings. The writeup itself doen't give much to go on, but DaveB's actual plays make me think the Legacy was intended to be 80's action movie protagonists thrown into the real world. Taking risks, defying the odds, being the spanner in the works, looking awesome while doing it - that sort of thing. The PotH character was modeled after Inigo Montoya from Princess Bride.

Hmm, that's how I always imagined the "active" Acanthus would be acting like...

But "Legacies originating from summonings" is certainly interesting. Maybe I'll give the Spoilers an Attainment or two that replicates a lesser version of that original, fateful encounter. (I do need to fill up all their five Attainment slots after all!)

[Teatime]

Hmm, that's how I always imagined the "active" Acanthus would be acting like...

That's fair. I think the idea is that these Acanthoi wear their intentions on their sleeve and jump right into the events they want to influence, as opposed to other Acanthoi who, while still active, work in roundabout ways. I admit, I feel this Legacy has only as much substance as you give it at the table. The writeup itself is rather vague.

[Mrmdubois]

it makes sense to me that the People of the Hour aren’t interested in really evolving their Path through a nuanced worldview, but instead focus on their Path’s very core and develop attainments to make that concentrated focus easier.

I think one of the most poignant things about Rodriguez is that he knew how reckless he was being and that the only reason he was alive was because he used the Shifting Sands attainment all the time to reverse undesirable outcomes, which of course no one else ever remembered because time edits. It was the first time they realized that it wasn’t as easy as he made it look and they’d be at serious risk if they treated life in as cavalier a fashion as he appeared to.

[Teatime]

If anyone doesn't know what we're talking about - Rodriguez is the aforementioned Person of the Hour modeled after Inigo Montoya from Dave Brookshaw's actual play.

[21C Hermit]

The People of the Hour are here.

Next stop, Roses of Eden. Yay, I get to reread Keys to the Supernal Tarot.

---

THE PEOPLE OF THE HOUR

He never was the type to stay put, always riding off to somewhere with that damn motorcycle of his. Once he came back with that ridiculous fashion, but apparently the punks on the street thought that's exactly what they wanted. He's a good-for-nothing troublemaker for sure, but you can't help but wonder what he'll introduce the next time he comes rolling in town.

Reach Out to the Moment

Grow up, get a job, get married, have kids, retire, and die. Such was the certainty of life in the 1950s, but the 60s saw people jump off that well-paved road and plunge into the thorns, and in the 70s they were screaming iron words and carving out bloody trails in them. The People of the Hour were born in that same chaotic blur, founded by a young Enchanter tearing apart at the banality of daily life. Skirting at the edges of what her Awakened peers would tolerate, the Enchanter eventually summoned down Arcadia itself, struck a bargain, and went off to better the present.

The 80s and the 90s saw much of that chaos and fervor of the past decade or two die out, but the need to break away from the pattern and seize the moment still calls out to the hearts of many, and that need is what keeps the People of the Hour relevant to the Awakened of today. The Awakened know that their will can shape the world, and so the Spoilers continue to this day to reach out to tomorrow so that today becomes a wonder.

Origins

Parentage: Acanthus, Free Council, Nameless
Background: All Spoilers desired to not just survive but live in the moment, and make today better than yesterday. Aside from this commonality, two Spoilers in the same room could come from vastly different walks of life with no shared trait whatsoever. Most tend to come from the middle class, as they are often who feel disenfranchised by the present and can afford to do something about it.
Appearances: Flair and gusto define a typical Spoiler's wardrobes. Some might look like they came straight out of some vintage thrift shop, while another might walk around with the avant-garde stuff people expect only on a fashion runway. Either way, a Daredevil can be expected to generally not care about how expensive their choice is, but only that they like it.

Doctrine

Prerequisites: Time 2, Streetwise 2, two dots in one of the following Skills; Socialize, Drive, Persuasion, Athletics, Survival
Initiation: Spoilers are active in various charities, activist groups and social clubs, and a mage frequenting such organizations might come across a Daredevil willing to initiate them. The tutelage often consists of the mentor plunging his would-be pupil straight into his current project, stirring her up and seeing if she can seize what she sees in the future to change the present.
Organization: The teacher-student bond is the only organizational structure the People of the Hour practice, and even then the mentor is only there to see how her pupil applies her lessons. Sometimes the teacher lets his student loose right after initiation, to see how he grows without rules. Regardless, the Legacy's ideals allow even two Spoilers directly opposed in their vision to recognize each other as kindred spirits.
Theory: Time may be of the essence, but that is no reason to rush through life. The People of the Hour command the secrets of the future to better the present, pursuing tomorrow with a passion but never forgetting that they're doing it to make today a better moment.

Magic
Ruling Arcanum: Time
Yantras: A crowd being entertained by the mage (+1); Tarot reading (+2); latest fashion article (+2); taking a non-calculated risk (+1, +2 if done purely for the thrill of it)
Oblations: Repeatedly performing an act of random chance; sponsoring substance abuse recovery; performing derring-do while entertaining a crowd; helping someone who has lost something

Attainments

First: Fifty-Fifty
Prerequisites: Initiation
Too many people are paralyzed by the worry whether their action is the optimal one or not. The Spoiler is certainly not one of them, for she is confident that she can ask herself to know just that. This Attainment mimicks the "Momentary Flux" spell, cast on the Spoiler herself. Reach is assigned to instant use.
Because the People of the Hour focus on the present, this Attainment does not help the mage on anything that would constitute an extended action.
Optional: Fate 1
A Daredevil would say an action can only either succeed or fail, so he might as well just do it. He backs up such statements by replicating the "Quantum Flux" spell, cast on himself. Reach is assigned to instant use.

Second: Smooth Cruise
Prerequisites: Time 2, Streetwise 3
The Spoiler has a tomorrow to grasp and a today to improve, and the little obstructions in her life seem so insignificant compared to that. This Attainment emulates the "Green Light / Red Light" spell, cast positively on the Spoiler herself. Reach is assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration.
Optional: Fate 2
A daredevil he may be, but the mage need not always shoot in the dark. He can at the least find the general direction to shoot at by mimicking the "Serendipity" spell. Reach is assigned to instant use, and allowing the Daredevil to substitute a Skill of the same category for rolling to achieve his task.
This effect only works on objectives that the mage at least intends to finish the day he uses it. It also does not work on objectives lingering from yesterday and further.

Third: Avant-Garde
Prerequisites: Time 3, two dots in a second Skill among the optional prerequisite Skills
Lady Peacock, founder of the People of the Hour, directly summoned a Fae of Arcadia for counsel. While few of the Legacy can match her tremendous fortune, a fearless Spoiler can push at the boundaries of safety to reach out towards Arcadia and part its thorns with bare hands, revealing her own Vision of the future she sees and the present she wishes.
This Attainment augments Supernal summoning. The Spoiler needs to prepare a summoning circle, but does not need to do so in a Demesne or a Supernal Verge. Targeted Summoning cannot be used in conjunction; the summoned Vision is always an Anachronism with Fate as its secondary Arcanum.
Summoning the Vision is still an extended action, using Gnosis + Time as its dice pool. As an Attainment, the summoning is warded against Abyssal intrusion. The Spoiler still suffers aggravated damage in a dramatic failure, but does not invite the Abyss.
The Vision's Trial is that the Spoiler must have genuinely exhausted what she can or thinks she can do at the moment. If there is even one "last-ditch method" that the mage knows she can take but is reluctant to do so because of the risk, the Vision will simply not answer her. However, the mercurial whims of the Fae mean that it is difficult to pinpoint just exactly what they deem an impossibility or not. Suicidal risks and inviting the Abyss as an option are usually an exception, but not always.
The entity is still vulnerable to Fallen corrosion, taking Corpus damage from exposure to the Fallen World. However, the Vision always returns safely to Arcadia even if it perishes outside the summoning circle after its time runs out. Unless she personally caused it, the Spoiler does not suffer Wisdom degeneration from the Vision's death.
The Vision normally appears as a series of hallucinatory images of potential futures and possible presents around the Spoiler's vicinity. Should it take a more concrete form, it appears as an exact double of the Spoiler. In this form its Attributes equal the lowest of the Spoiler's own in their respective categories. All other traits follow the usual Rank-derived limits for Supernal entities.
The Virtue and Vice of the Vision mirror that of its summoner. The Vision will only act to reveal itself to the Spoiler, and she must use magic to command the Vision to act otherwise. Should anyone else attempt to hijack the Vision or otherwise control it, it responds with a Clash of Wills on which it scores automatic successes equal to its Rank.
Lastly, while the Vision does not force itself on the Fallen World, it rewards those who pursue the future it represents. The Spoiler can choose to take "Realize the Vision I have seen" as an Obsession. This ignores the usual Gnosis-derived limit for the number of Obsessions. Unlike normal Obsessions, this Obsession grants Mana each time it gives an Arcane Beat for partial progress, not just for its resolution.
Optional: Fate 3
The Daredevil lives up to his nickname, apparently fearless in diving into the uncertain and the unknown. He replicates the "Fools Rush In" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration.

Fourth: Catch as Catch can
Prerequisites: Time 4, Streetwise 4
The more infamous talents of a Spoiler allows her to simply do over her action, based on the principle that what she does now is more important than what she will do or has done. This Attainment emulates the "Shifting Sands" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use and going back a full scene.
Optional: Fate 4
The Daredevil doesn't just ride the vagaries of fortune; he surfs through it, jumping from one moment to another with a series of good luck that others interpret as him being "in the flow." By spending a point of Mana, he replicates the "Superlative Luck" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration.
This effect does not benefit rolls of extended actions.

Fifth: Stacking the Deck
Prerequisites: Time 5, two dots in a third Skill among the optional prerequisite Skills
The most wildest of Spoilers seemingly make the world gravitate around herself, the future apparently going out of its way to serve her agenda. With a point of Mana, this Attainment emulates the "Present as Past" spell. Reach is assigned to instant use and Advanced Scale. Should the Spoiler face a Clash of Wills triggered by the Time Arcanum, she scores automatic successes equal to her Time dots.
Optional: Fate 5
The Daredevil stacks the decks of fate in his favor, receiving ace cards when no one else does so that he may continue whatever antics he performs while living the moment. He replicates the "Miracle" spell as an instant action.

[21C Hermit]

The Roses of Eden are here! As it has been with the other Legacies in Keys to the Supernal Tarot, I don't intend to convert their Left-Handed versions as separate Legacies, unless someone convinces me otherwise.

Next up, the Devourers of the Flesh. Looks like I'll end up doing Left-Handed stuff anyway!

---

THE ROSES OF EDEN

She smiled faintly as she finished bandaging your wounds, the blond girl with blue eyes. You could smell roses as you got up, despite her not seemingly wearing perfumes. She told you that while she agreed with you on how the Consilium needed to be brought down, firebombing their meeting place wasn't a good idea. Perhaps you should listen to her next time, after you get the hell out of here first.

Let the Roses Bloom

Many mages use the story of the Awakened City as the underlying structure for their societies, building laws and customs from fiction that transcends reality. The Roses of Eden deny that fiction, saying that even if an ideal society existed in the Time Before, mages of the present need not be beholden to it. They say that the so-called Atlantean paradigm is binding the Awakened with petty politics and status-mongering, and blinding them to magic outside the Supernal. That the Noddists went a step further and decided to build a new society outside the centuries of Alexandrian tradition did not sit well at all for the established, and so the Legacy remains minor.

The Legacy remains strong, however, for there were always mages who were disillusioned with their peers, thos who pursued an ideal outside tradition, or those who followed heresies outside the orthodoxy. Cities with a strong Libertine presence sometimes house the Roses, and in such cities the Noddists work to demolish traditional offices so that the Awakened can build a fresh one. While such activities bring them into conflict with the Diamond, the Roses do not fear confrontation, and most conflict remain cold.

Origins

Parentage: Acanthus, Nameless, Free Council
Background: The Legacy used to only accept Acanthus mages who renounced their order membership as a rule. While the Path restriction is now laxed, mages wishing to keep their status in the Diamond are turned away immediately. As such, most Roses are former Diamond mages who exiled themselves from their orders, or Libertines who sympathize with the Noddists' ideals.
Appearances: While a slight majority of the Roses are female, this is more the result of many Consilia favoring men and thus leaving more women dissatisfied, rather than policies on the Legacy's part. As an ideological movement, Noddists share little in appearance save for athletic builds stemming from practicing the Life Arcanum.

Doctrine

Prerequisites: Life 2, Crafts 2, two dots in one of the following Skills; Athletics, Persuasion, Survival, Socialize, Occult
Initiation: The Roses of Eden have done away with formal rituals and extensive requirements, preferring to directly examine prospects with magic. Once an applicant finds a tutor, she must present her case to her, and show what ideals she holds and what she has done in her life. The questioning is lengthy, but it is in this introspective process that the Gnosis shapes itself as a Rose of Eden.
Organization: While the Legacy maintains a chain of command, pushing around one's status is viewed as the exact thing the Roses should oppose. Mentors and pupils maintain chains of correspondence to keep each other appraised of current events. Noddists in a given region sometimes gather to discuss policies and warn each other of possible enemy action or defectors.
Theory: The Roses of Eden do not completely reject the story of the Awakened City, which they call Eden. However, Noddists tell that the Fall was not caused by eating from the Tree of Knowledge, which they say is the Awakening, but by the arrogance and divisiveness practiced after gaining Knowledge. The Roses thus claim that mages should heal themselves of the divide before returning to Eden, not practice the same mistakes that exiled them in the first place.

Magic
Ruling Arcanum: Life
Yantras: Garden tended by the mage themselves (+1); expressing rejection of the subject's status or authority (+2); gardening implements (+2); bouquet of live flowers (+1, +2 if harvested from a garden of the mage's own making)
Oblations: Writing or reading philosophy; volunteering or doing charity work; studying non-Supernal magic; educating Sleepers (not necessarily about magic)

Attainments

First: In the Land of Nod
Prerequisites: Initiation
The Noddist grows an understanding of life, stemming from her compassion towards the creatures of the Fallen World. This Attainment replicates the "Analyze Life" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use.
Optional: Prime 1
The Rose understands that the Supernal is everywhere, and that he only needs to look closely. He emulates the "Supernal Vision" spell, cast on himself and with Reach assigned to instant use.

Second: Blossom's Whispers
Prerequisites: Life 2, Crafts 3
Early Noddists' lives were constantly threatened, and this Attainment still serves the contemporary Noddist well in protecting her. She mimicks the "Web of Life" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration.
This Attainment only works when the mage is near plant life, regardless of size.
Optional: Prime 2
The plant kingdom reacts to magic in ways that most animals can't fathom, so the Rose borrows their insight. He mimicks the "Sacred Geometry" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration.
This Attainment only works when the mage is near plant life, regardless of size.

Third: Tree of Life
Prerequisites: Life 3, two dots in a second Skill among the optional prerequisite Skills
The Noddist envisions herself as a tree of life, and like the mythical tree she is beautiful and vibrant. This Attainment augments the Improved Pattern Restoration and Life Mage Armor Attainments.
When using Pattern Restoration, the Noddist can either reflexively heal bashing damage as per Improved Pattern Restoration, or take an instant action to heal all bashing damage. She can also now heal lethal damage at a rate of one level per point of Mana.
Also, if the mage suffers a full Health track of lethal damage while her Life Armor is raised, she can reflexively spend a point of Mana to stabilize herself so that she no longer bleeds out into aggravated damage.
This Attainment only works when the Noddist is in direct sunlight or touching a patch of bare earth that can sustain plant life.
Optional: Prime 3
The Rose can infuse a mundane, fruit-bearing tree with Mana to create a more literal Tree of Life that bears healing fruit. He must first plant and grow the tree himself, starting from either seed or sapling. Each day he must feed the tree a point of Mana, likely through the "Channel Mana" spell or tass. The tree must be grown mundanely; magical means such as Life or Time spells and planting the tree in a Hallow will prevent the tree from becoming a Tree of Life. Any day spent without Mana will also halt the Tree's growth
The Tree of Life is ready once it bears its first fruit. The Tree can go for three days at the most without daily Mana. The Tree becomes inert after starving for three days, bearing no healing fruit, but it can be restored by infusing it with a full month's worth of Mana within a day.
The fruit from a Tree of Life is effectively an Imbued Item, granting the effects of the "Knit" spell to anyone who takes a bite of it. The fruits can provide multiple instances of healing, as long as it is kept fresh and edible. The process of growing the tree obviates any need for actual dice rolls, despite using the mage's dice pool as the standard for the imbued spell's effects. As the mage himself did not directly imbue the fruit, spell control is considered safely relinquished.
Lastly, the fruit counts as edible tass. The Mana within it is Resonant with qualities appropriate to the Tree's location and the Nimbus of its caretaker.

Fourth: Tree of Knowledge
Prerequisites: Life 4, Crafts 4
Knowledge should provide unity, not division. While this Attainment reflects and manifests that belief, its witnesses and non-Awakened participants are often left unnerved.
This Attainment resembles the "Transform Life" spell, with Reach assigned to Advanced Duration and Advanced Scale. To use it, the Noddist must have all her subjects touch skin to skin and meditate for a scene, feeling each others' lives and presence.
The Attainment grants properties of plant life to the participants, and not just individual plants but an interconnected colony of them. Instead of the usual adaptations, the Attainment grants one of the following effects to all subjects per effective Potency:
Synesthesia: Participants feel light and sound rather than seeing and hearing it, gaining Perception bonuses and other benefits when appropriate.
Empathy: Participants perceive but do not attach meaning to each others' differences, gaining bonuses on Social rolls to empathize and communicate with each other.
Lifesense: Participants can discern the physical state of each other, as if they were casting the "Analyze Life" spell.
Reactions: Rolls to react against surprise and ambushes are made collectively, so that
Shared Presence: Any spell that targets one participant must account for Scale as if it was targetting all the participants.
Photosynthesis: Participants do not require food, instead requiring light for nutrition. Water and air are still required, but less so.
Chemical Communication: Participants can release chemicals from their bodies to communicate with each other even as they stand perfectly still. However, this usually does not allow for communicating complex concepts.
Other: In addition to the above adaptations, those from normal uses of "Transform Life" may be applied depending on context. Immunities to toxin, venomous leaves, vines that function as tentacles, and bark-skin functioning as thick hide are such examples.
The adaptations do not require the participants to keep touching each other once the Attainment is used. Non-Awakened subjects who were ill-prepared, unwilling, or exposed too long to the Attainment may suffer breaking points when the effects end.
Optional: Prime 4
The Rose's knowledge of Prime enables him to better protect his friends and colleagues when they join together. If the Rose raises his Prime Armor while the Attanment's main effect is being used, the Armor protects all participants. The protection does not go away even if the Rose changes his Armor, only dispersing when he lowers Mage Armor entirely. This effect does not cost additional Mana.

Fifth: Eden's Embrace
Prerequisites: Life 5, two dots in a third Skill among the optional prerequisite Skills
The Noddist feels Eden call out to her, a culmination of her efforts in pursuing her ideals, and she feels the Fruit of Knowledge inside her blooming towards Eden. When using the Tree of Knowledge Attainment, participants gain the ability to share injury and energy between them. Each level of aggravated damage can be split into two levels of lethal damage, and distributed freely among the participants. Likewise, each level of lethal damage can be split into two levels of bashing damage. This includes lethal damage from split aggravated damage. If the gruop consisted of five or more people, they can completely negate bashing damage that was not split from lethal damage.
Furthermore, participants can share each other's Willpower points, borrowing some for a critical action or lending some to support. While this does allow multiple Willpower points to be spent to boost a single roll or resistance, this does not work on supernatural abilities and Clash of Wills, including spellcasting.
Optional: Prime 5
The Rose shares his vision with his colleagues in a more tangible way, enabling them to see what he as always seen. While the Tree of Knowledge Attainment is in effect, the Rose may emulate the "Apocalypse" spell on a participant, with Reach assigned to instant use and Advanced Duration. Participants are always considered willing, thus obviating Withstand ratings.
The Attainment's main effect allows the Willpower cost from extended Active Mage Sight to be paid by other participants. However, if the subject still runs out of Willpower, they will suffer the Blind or similar Condition as usual. Lastly, non-Awakened subjects gain a bonus equal to the Rose's Prime dots on any breaking rolls they face.

[Tambov]

Where exactly on your queue are the Transhuman Engineers?

[21C Hermit]

Where exactly on your queue are the Transhuman Engineers?

The current queue is; Devourers of the Flesh, the Legion, Cryptologos, and Keepers of the Covenant. Afterwards I had no plans.

Shall I add the Transhuman Engineers after the Keepers? Or, if no one objects, I can do them right after the Devourers. My queue isn’t absolute; half of this whole thing runs on what people want to see, anyway (since I eventually plan to get to every single 1E Legacy published, provided there aren’t official 2E conversions published in future supplements)

[21C Hermit]

The Devourers of the Flesh are here. Damn, these guys were creepy. But they had a strong focus, so I had an easy time working on them. (Aside from, you know, having to think like a cannibal for a brief moment)

Next up, the Legion. Not (Legion) the Reapers, but the Scelesti Legacy. I hope the mechanics don't give me too much of a headache.

---

DEVOURERS OF THE FLESH

You could tell that the beast was still out there, likely gnawing at the strip of flesh it bit out of from your forearm. Contempt, rage, and fear prevented you from honoring it by calling it a man. Perhaps because of it, you failed to realize that you were walking into a trap, where the beast was hanging from the ceiling and ready to drop on you.

The Feast of Power

The Devourers of the Flesh too claim symbolic descent from the Time Before, but not the idyllic, lofty civilization that many mages envision it as. The Devourers instead claim themselves the scouts and shock troops of a mighty civilization, who stole life and power from its enemies in reflection of the pure ethic of nature, unsullied by petty things such as morality. While the Orders have tried to stamp out such appalling practices, the Cannibals persisted in conviction they are the true defenders of Awakened society, unafraid of getting their hands and teeth bloodied.

The Legacy remains branded Left-Handed to the modern nights. There is clearly some Supernal resonance in their practices, whispers few scholars, reflected in the cannibalistic warrior cultures of the Fallen World. Others point to the Prince of 100,000 Leaves, and demand that the Devourers be not recognized as Nefandus but Scelesti. Such unflattering reputation leave the Legacy hiding themselves from kin and kine alike, all the while continuing their feast.

Origins

Parentage: Thyrsus, Adamantine Arrow, Silver Ladder
Background: Being shunned as taboo by nigh everyone, the Devourers aren't particularly picky about who inherits their mantle, as long as they are willing. Common characteristics include predatory urges and an abject sense of superiority, which imply things that further confirm the Legacy's image as a cult of murderers.
Appearances: Many Cannibals grow neglectful of outward appearances, seeing it as petty social mores. Others deliberately adopt a primitive seeming, skin ritually scarred and donned with bone-woven fur. The more disturbing are those who can adopt a perfectly normal appearance, a true wolf in sheep's clothing.

Doctrine

Prerequisites: Death 2, Survival 2, two dots in one of the following Skills; Intimidation, Brawl, Stealth, Crafts, Medicine
Initiation: The applicant who wishes to be a predator must first prove herself not a prey. This means surviving a full night of being hunted by her to-be mentor, preferably fighting back at one point. The final moment of soul-shaping occurs when, after being hunted, the aspirant hunts down a human herself and eats of his dead or still-living flesh.
Organization: The Devourers resemble a primitive warrior cult, bonded by a shared sin. Older Cannibals are respected for their persistence, and younger ones for their vitality. While most Cannibals are solitary hunters, they occasionally form packs that leave terror and death in their wake. Rumors speak of Cannibal cabals in the dangerous, isolated parts of the world, where people often go missing and never turn up again.
Theory: The Devourers of the Flesh hold that the divine essence of humanity lies in its flesh, and that humanity must not forsake the most primal and natural of instincts; feed. The Cannibals seek to exalt themselves by forging their temple-bodies into a symbol of the predator, red in tooth and claw.

Magic
Ruling Arcanum: Death
Yantras: Wilderness isolated from human settlements (+1); emulating the exploits of other Cannibals (+2); hunting tools that harmed a human (+2); fetishes crafted from previous prey (+1, +2 if created from human parts)
Oblations: Preparing human flesh for consumption; crafting fetishes (of the non-magical kind); ritually fasting; studying the masses in pursuit of a worthy mark

Attainments

First: Rising Hunger
Prerequisites: Initiation
The Cannibals awakens to her hunger, and her status as a predator. She can make bite attacks without grappling first. Her bites deal lethal damage as weapons with a modifier equal to half her Death dots, rounded up.
Optional: Life 1
The Devourer first assesses his potential prey, seeing if they are fit for consumption. He replicates the "Analyze Life" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use.

Second: Mask the Hunger
Prerequisites: Death 2, skill 3
Splendid she may be, the Cannibal must still conceal her practices from others to continue them. This Attainment emulate the "Corpse Mask" spell, with Reach assigned to Advanced Duration.
Using this Attainment requires the mage to massage and nibble at the corpse for a scene.
Optional: Life 2
The Devourer's grisly appetites leave him vulnerable to unsavory afflictions, which as a true predator he will not accept. He replicates the "Purge Illness" spell, cast on himself with Reach assigned to instant use.

Third: Life Feeds on Life
Prerequisites: Death 3, two dots in a second Skill among the optional prerequisite Skills
The Cannibal proves that power indeed lies in the flesh, and can be taken by devouring it. This Attainment resembles the "Devouring the Slain" spell, with Reach assigned to affecting non-damaged subjects.
Using this Attainment requires the mage to eat human flesh, which stands in for the ritual scene-long preparation. Because of this requirement, the Attainment cannot be Aimed, and is not Withstood by the subject. Even if the mage takes Willpower instead of Mana, she still inflicts lethal damage as if Scouring the body for Mana.
A dead body cannot provide Willpower, and is assumed to have Health levels equal to its Size for purposes of the Cannibal's Attainments. A body that was partly or wholly eaten will have proportionately reduced Size, thus a Cannibal cannot eat a live victim to death and expect to continue feeding.
Optional: Life 3
The Devourer perfects his feeding, translating ephemeral power into visceral life. When eating flesh as above, he can now opt to recover Health instead of Willpower or Mana. One level of lethal damage dealt heals two levels of bashing damage, or a level of lethal damage, or a physical Tilt.

Fourth: The Sweetest Savor
Prerequisites: Death 4, skill 4
Power takes many forms, and the Cannibal learns that there is not only life but wisdom to be taken in her prey's flesh. When eating human flesh, for each level of lethal damage dealt or point of Size reduced, she may gain one of the following benefits.

• Basic knowledge of the victim: name, age, and sex, if he is or was poisoned or drugged, the broadest strokes of his life.

• A single secret or piece of knowledge that the victim deems or deemed important.

• One dot in the highest Skill possessed by the victim. This benefit lasts only for one scene.

• One dot in the highest Arcana possessed by the victim. This benefit lasts only for one scene.

This Attainment cannot be used in conjunction with Life Feeds on Life. For example, a Cannibal cannot take one bite and gain both one point of Mana and one temporary Skill dot at once. She will have to take separate bites for separate effects.
Optional: Life 4
The Devourer becomes more confident in his ways as his body becomes fortified by his feast. He emulates the "Honing the Form" spell, cast on himself with Reach assigned to Advanced Duration and affecting two Attributes at once.
Using this Attainment requires the mage to eat human flesh, which stands in for the ritual scene-long preparation. The increase is capped by the victim's Physical Attributes at the time the flesh was taken, instead of the mage's own Gnosis-derived maximum.

Fifth: Maw of the Devourer
Prerequisites: Death 5, two dots in a third Skill among the optional prerequisite Skills
As the Cannibal becomes the apex predator, she finds lesser beasts and even her kin cow in fear. This Attainment emulates the "Enervation" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use and inflicting the Immobilized Tilt.
As this effect represents the primal fear that animals have towards predators, subjects Withstand this effect with Composure instead of Stamina.
Optional: Life 5
The Devourer finds his vigorous hunger extend beyond his physical frame. He replicates the "Life-Force Assault" spell, with Reach assigned to instant use and inflicting a -2 wound penalty. The damage manifests as bite marks instead of internal wounds.
When used on humans, this effect can substitute for the "eat human flesh" requirements of the previous Attainments, allowing the Devourer to feed from afar.

[21C Hermit]

I'd have "Procrastinating" as my Vice if I were a CoD character, because I did nothing what I needed to do for next week and instead did the Legion. Tomorrow Me will probably scold Today Me. Ah well, at least I did something constructive.

Next up, the Cryptologos.

EDIT: Oops, left out one of the Yantras blank.

---

THE LEGION

You still don't know who she was, or what she was. When you demanded her come to justice, she just chuckled, the quills on her back shivering. She said now is not the time and smiled, but the left side of her face, seemingly reptilian, was frozen solid. The mystagogues are studying the glyphs she painted with the severed fingers of their Curator, and you both anticipate and dread the results they will tell.

For We Are Many

The Legion are a Legacy of Scelesti who summon lesser Abyssal entities and offer themselves over to them, incorporating the Void into their bodies in reflection of their twisted souls. Each Grafter summons an Abyssal entity inside their bodies, the entity eating up and replacing a part, bestowing baneful powers in return for despoilment of the flesh. While the other Accursed are only abominable within, the Legion wear their distortions outside for all to behold.

Fortunately for the rest of the Awakened, the Legion mages' disfigurements and behavioral patterns leave them relatively easy to find, ensuring that a purge eventually happens sooner or later. However, the concept of bartering for direct power, and shedding the human form for something greater has a dangerous appeal to many of the Awakened, and so the Legion is able to persist in its assault against the Fallen World.

Origins

Parentage: Any Nasnasi (second-rank Scelesti, whose Path symbolism has been inverted)
Background: As with most Scelesti Legacies, those who join the Legion are broken in one way or another. Some may feel themselves repulsive, and have finally decided to embrace it. Some may be degenerates who wish to blaspheme against the world. Still others might be mad but cold mercenaries, each mutilation a bargain for more power.
Appearances: Budding Grafters' Attainments are relatively low-key, and are able to be concealed with mundane clothing or passed off as some extreme medical condition. Eventually the physical transformations become impossible to dismiss, and a Patchwork will have to withdraw further from notice. Even those who feel not shame but revel in their condition will conceal themselves out of practical reasons.

Doctrine

Prerequisites: Life 2, Occult 2, Scelestus (Nasnas)
Initiation: Technically, any Scelestus who summons a Gulmoth into their bodies and bargain with it to graft it into their flesh is of the Legion. Practically speaking, however, such visceral application of Abyssal power is hard to conceive of even for the Accursed, and thus a promising Scelestus is usually guided or tricked into initiation by an elder Grafter.
Organization: The Legion generally work as mystery cults, mentors luring students deeper into depravity while keeping themselves hidden from society. Because even a small cabal of Legion mages tend to draw attention, the Legion maintain only loose networks. However, as outcasts of humanity, the Legion still forms something of a support structure for its members.
Theory: Slaves they might be to the Void, but the Legion see themselves as an earthly aristocracy of the Abyss, as nobles who build footholds and nurture outposts for their nameless lords. They take even the despise against them as sacraments to their cause, perversely confident in their long journey and the victory at its end.

Magic
Ruling Arcanum: Life
Yantras: Within an Abyssal Environmental Tilt (+1); deliberately revealing one's deformities (+2); surgical tools still fresh with blood (+2); ritually sacrificing human body parts to the Abyss (+1 to +3, depending on extent)
Oblations: Self-scarification; meticulously and maliciously disfiguring another; performing a service for a Gulmoth without compensation; engaging in cults espousing bodily mutilation as spirituality

Attainments

First: Pound of Flesh
Prerequisites: Initiation
The initial sacrifice of a Grafter is small, summoning a tiny being of the Abyss that burrows into their flesh. Upon gaining the Attainment, the Grafter takes one of the following body parts for transformation, each granting a corresponding supernatural ability.

• Eye: The Patchwork sees Abyssal powers and phenomena for what they are at all times. This includes Paradox effects.
• Ear: The Grafter numbs themselves against persuasion, adding Doors equal to half of Gnosis, rounded up, against Social Maneuvering attempts.
• Nose: The Patchwork sniffs out beings with Mana in their patterns. This functions as the "Hunter's Senses" Dread Power.
• Tongue: The Grafter can speak words of madness, which function as the "Madness and Terror" Dread Power. They roll Manipulation + Expression + Gnosis, contested by the subject's Composure + Gnosis.

Each transformation is alien in appearance, and not just like a chimera of various earthly organisms, but blatantly wrong and nightmarish, being mockeries of Life. Sleepers who witness them will suffer breaking points as if having been exposed to Abyssal phenomena.
All transformations are a permanent part of the mage's mutilated spiritual template. When wounded, or even completely amputated, the body will grow back the parts with their distortions intact.
For transformations that grant Dread Powers, the mage spends Willpower points as normal for powers that require it, and substitute Mana for resources other than Willpower.
The mage may gain additional transformations by summoning new Gulmoth to graft, and spending Willpower dots equal to the Experience cost for purchasing the Attainment. The Willpower dots can be re-purchased as normal.
The above properties also hold true for all following Legion Attainments.

Second: An Arm and a Leg
Prerequisites: Life 2, Occult 2
The next sacrifice is larger and more blatant, but the rewards are also more potent. Upon gaining the Attainment, the Grafter takes one of the following transformations.

• Hand: The Patchwork can secrete poison from their hand. This functions as the "Toxic" Dread Power at 2 dots, with the mage rolling Strength + Brawl + Gnosis, contested by the subject's Stamina + Gnosis.
• Foot: The Grafter's feet become adhesive or otherwise able to latch onto surfaces. This functions as the "Wall Climb" Dread Power when the mage is barefoot.
• Arm: The Patchwork's arm is bolstered and hardened. Swinging this arm at an object replicates the "Juggernaut" Dread Power.
• Leg: The Grafter's leg becomes tight and elastic, improving jumping abilities. This functions as the "Leap" Dread Power.

Third: Sour Stomach
Prerequisites: Life 3 Occult 3
The colony of Abyssal entities eat away at the Grafter's insides, making way for deeper and far more insidious infections. Upon gaining the Attainment, the Grafter takes one of the following transformations.

• Genitals: When suffering from fatal damage, the Patchwork may 'birth' a wave of misshapen critters from their groins, their whole body erupting into a swarm. This functions as the "Discorporate" Dread Power.
• Lungs: The Grafter gains the ability spend a Mana point to exhale a rolling cloud, which soon creates an Abyssal Environmental Tilt. This Anomaly covers yards and lasts for hours equal to the mage's Gnosis.
• Stomach: The Patchwork can vomit acid as a projectile attack. This fucntions as the "Breath Attack" Pandoran Dread Power, at a rating equal to the mage's Life dots, with them rolling Strength + Athletics + Gnosis.
• Liver: The Grafter's liver can handle toxins that a living creature cannot possibly survive from. The mage becomes immune to all mundane poisons and diseases, and responds to supernatural ones with a Clash of Wills rolling Stamina + Gnosis.

Fourth: Body and Soul
Prerequisites: Life 4, Occult 4
The Grafter has finally become a walking hive of Gulmoth, a baron of the Abyss that is their own barony. Upon gaining the Attainment, the Grafter takes one of the following transformations.

• Heart: The Patchwork's heart devours Paradox itself and pumps empowered blood. Whenever another mage triggers a Paradox within the Patchwork's sensory range, they gain Mana equal to the Paradox roll's successes.
• Skin: The Grafter's skin gains chameleonic qualities, granting them the "Camouflage" Pandoran Dread Power at a rating equal to their Life dots.
• Brain: The Patchwork delegates even their mind to the Abyss. All their previous mental Conditions are resolved without Beats, and they are immune to further mental Conditions. When targeted by a mind-affecting supernatural power, the mage may reflexively spend a Mana point to gain the advanced quality on rolls to resist them.
• Spine: The Grafter turns their spinal column into a mockery of Ascension. Whenever another mage triggers a Paradox within the Grafter's sensory range, they may reflexively summon a Rank 1 Gulmoth under their direct control, or a Rank 2 Gulmoth uncontrolled. The summoned Gulmoth will dissipate unless otherwise bound.

Fifth: Abyssal Metamorphosis
Prerequisites: Life 5, Occult 5
At the pinnacle of ritual defilement of the temple that is the body, the Grafter gains the ability to truly transcend the Fallen shell and become a piece of their Abyssal masters. By spending a point of Mana, the Grafter transforms wholly into a Gulmoth with Rank equal to half their Gnosis, rounded up.
As a Gulmoth, the mage wields Numina that replicate their Praxes, but all of them are cast as Befouled even if they were not. The mage holds Influence over one of their highest rated Arcana, which can be used to emulate spells, but can only cast them Befouled. The mage only has the "Twilight Form" and "Materialize" Manifestations.
The mage's ban often reflects their Vice or Virtue. Any power or object designed to counter the Abyss, or any direct damage spell that does not even roll any Paradox dice, count as the Grafter's bane.
The metamorphosis lasts only for the scene, unless the mage is killed or bound during it, upon which the mage dies or is captured like any other Abyssal entity. Any Health damage, spend Willpower and Mana, and Conditions inflicted carry over to the Grafter when the transformation is over.

[Adrasalieth]

Hey ! I really admire your translations.

I can't manage to find the post where Dave says which Legacies he intends to put in the supplements, so I'll just go blind and list those that interested me.

Unforgotten Scions
Cult of the Doomsday Clock
Path of the Book
Scions of God
Morphean Continuity
Dreamers of the Black Sun

I have the 1E books for these, so if you want precisions about their Attainments or more lore about them, I'd be more than happy to oblige !