The Other Five Paths (2e)

[WHW]

Harvesters?

[Dataweaver]

that would be a decent nickname for a so for a Sophros, though so would reaper, planter, and gardener.

someone suggested Elysium as a possible supernal realm for another path. I think it might work well for this path.

[CrackedMan]

I think of Mediums as the bridge between the living and the dead.

[Dataweaver]

Fair enough.

[glamourweaver]

that would be a decent nickname for a so for a Sophros, though so would reaper, planter, and gardener.

someone suggested Elysium as a possible supernal realm for another path. I think it might work well for this path.

Definitely, it evokes the Eleusinian Mysteries. (Ok, yes, I know the name actually comes from Eleusis, but it still fits and the words are related)

[ganonso]

Oxlahun the Maya equivalent of Olympus looks like a pyramid fused with a giant tree. It could work well for the Path imagery.

Ok I'm biaised because when I see a Life/Death Path I think of South America. (It's my headcanon the Sophroi Aeon are Xipe Totec and Santa Muerte though) Mesoamericans did an interesting symbolic link between bones and seed and the whole "spill blood to feed the universe" is great praxis for Life/Death

For the Supernal inhabitants Serpents would be the best fit. Ents have zero Death symbolism while Serpent is a pretty common symbol for the cycle of Life and Death. Also it's a mythic rule everywhere there are mystic trees there are serpentine guardians.

[Dataweaver]

Might Oxlahun work better as an Emanation, as with Yggdrasil?

OK; Serpents it is. For now, there are Serpents in Elysium.

And to the extent that there's any “canon” associated with a purely fandom product, consider your Sophroi Aeons canonized.

(I figure that when Signs of Sorcery comes out, I'll update this further, paralleling the expanded Supernal Realms from there.)

[Dataweaver]

Still need a replacement Realm for Mount Qaf, something that works better as an environment (what Maestros Mage Sight sees) than as a place.

[ganonso]

Egyptian called the desert around their home Deshret the place of desolation whence ennemies came from. It was the land of chaos so maybe nice for a Forces/Spirit. I think the lack of Prime would translate in Mage's imagery as a wasteland.

[glamourweaver]

Well Qaf as a concept is supposed to be a Mountain and somehow surround the world, so I actually do think it works as the Supernal Realm.

[ZealousChristian24]

Speaking more generally, maybe a focus on accession, high places, and the sky?

[Dataweaver]

“The Realm is one of raging elemental forces, but not in the sense of the raw power of the Aether — the Sixth Realm is made of flame, lightning, freezing cold, and crashing sound, but they move with purpose, filled with alien intelligence that can be contacted and — for those that learn the Path well — coerced into doing the new mage's bidding. The inhabitants are beings made out of the same purposeful energy, creatures of smokeless flame that the Pentacle orders, at least, are calling Djinn.”
— Mage Chronicler's Guide, p.100

[ganonso]

Actually you know what.Raging elements who can be bargained with. That totally in the range of Inuit myth and esthetic. One advantage would be to avoid the correlation with the Aether with two Fire Realms.

[Dataweaver]

“Though Middle Eastern symbolism is obviously the orders' starting point for experimentation, mages seek other elements of Sleeper culture and occult practice that might have power.”

OK; do the Inuit have something that could be used as a Realm name? Preferably something that wouldn't clash too horribly with calling the denizens “djinn”?

[Deionscribe]

I am definitely liking these alternative Paths. Maybe enough to incorporate them into my stuff so that I can feature a setup like the Ravnica Guilds for ten Paths.

On the other hand, though, framing these Paths in the settings of Dark Eras might be somewhat difficult. Or, at least, require a lot of work. This might especially be the case for the Sundered World and To The Strongest, though for the latter I can see these Paths being alternative iterations of the Fivefold Soul (Acanthus and Anakalos being Ren, Mastigos and Kleos for Ba, etc.).

Also, may I ask where you derived the names for these Paths? We know, for certain, that the present day names for the canon Paths originated from Greece, so I was curious which Greek words you used for this set.