What Am I?!?! The Pitch...
You are what is called a Willworker, Spellweaver, a Maicican, a Mage, there countless names, you will find one that fits, si?
A Willworker is what is called an “Awakened”. Pretty general term, meaning for us Willworkers that our “Avatar” has stirred and become intelligent. An Avatar is a part of yourself that you use as a tool to work your magick. All our “awakened” compadres’ have the ability to manipulate the forces of nature to their will, using their Avatars. Never judge a person by the way their Avatar looks, si? It can appear as anything, and it cannot be chosen, si? Some may be fantastic monsters, knights, a cockroach, or a beer bottle. Some of them may look like you and me. But they all serve the same purpose, they are tools we use to work our magicks, though they are living and intelligent tools, si?
The
Chorus teaches us that the Avatar allows us to reach God, or the One to work our
magicks, but not all believe that, you will form your own opinion as you go.
Now we will talk of magick. Magick in short word is the bending of reality as everyone else sees it. Look at reality as a one of those pretty oriental carpets. There are many types of colored threads in the carpet, each in themselves are just a color, but together they form a pretty design, si? You may consider yourself the weaver, the Avatar your needle, and the carpet you weave your reality you are tailoring. You may tear the carpet, you may mend the tears in the carpet, or you may change the carpet all together, making it bigger or smaller, or different colors. Everything around you is a carpet. A chair, your body, your clothes, the air. Everything is a tapestry that you may manipulate, if you have the right threads to work with, si?
The
different colors of threads represent different elemental forces that make up
reality… these stinking bastards are called “SPHERES”.
We will go into the different kinds of Spheres later, but first, we will
start with Prime. Prime is the
beginning, and it is the end of all creation, si? Everything is Prime, the other “spheres” are merely in
depth pieces of Prime. Consider
Prime as the wool just spun into white thread, before it is dyed to other
colors. Prime is existence, and it
is our primary power, si? The
building block of all reality.
Manipulation
of Prime brings us to what is called “Quintessence”.
Quintessence are shards of charged Prime, the energy of magick, si?
All things are created of this Quintessence, for it is the representation
for Prime. Quintessence is used
within our Magicks, to power effects, and to feed our amigo Avatars.
There are pools of Quintessence located throughout the world, these are
called “nodes”. We build our
Chantries, or bases, atop of these Nodes, so that we may work our magick more
easily. Consider a Node to be like
a Lake of Quintessence, with small streams flowing from it going everywhere, si?
Now we will speak of the other spheres, or elemental forces of magick, so that you may understand their uses. Your main study with me will be of Prime, si? I have studied it for over twenty three years, and am close to gaining mastery.
Correspondance is distance... relative distance, how far apart things are away from one another... or how they're not. Correspondance Masters swear by their names that all points in space are one... but I know not, I am merely beginning to study that sphere.
Entropy
is the driving force of fortune and destruction... luck, whether or not its good
or bad. Decay, renewal also play their parts... or so Im told, I have not
studied this sphere at all.
Forces
deals wit tha laws of nature... kinetic energy, magnetism, that sort of thing.
Storms, fire, ice, any kind of weather. It pretty much takes circle of
all the different forces and laws of the universe.
I may teach you this, I have very good knowledge of this sphere, si?
Life encompasses anything that possesses a metabolism. From the largest elephant, to the smallest microorganism. With use of this element, or SPHERE, you can manipulate the very essence of your own body, or another’s. Healing or tearing patterns, etc. Another one of my specialties that I may teach.
The
Matter sphere deals wit everything else that does NOT alive, or is dead. This
chair I’m sitting in for example. Essences within matter are different from
life, because they are static, meaning they do not move around, and do not
contain the spark for life, si?
Spirit
is the SPHERE that deals with everything incorporeal... anything from ghosts to
entire other worlds is part of it. I
have no idea how this sphere works, si?
Mind
is next, and it has nothing to do with your brain, si?
Thoughts, dreams, emotions, conscious and unconscious, and control
thereof, of your own, or others. Masters
of this sphere believe the body itself is nothing but a shell for our true
essence, which is the Mind. I
cannot disagree… this is another one I may teach you.
An
finally we got Time... you know how to tell time... this sphere lets you
manipulate it to your uses. Ye can look back or forward, slow or make it go
faster... it ties in closely with the ENTROPY sphere, cause Time is the road
that creation an renewal follow. I
am just beginning this sphere as well, I may teach the rudiments and no more, si?
Now
we will speak of Foci and Paradigm. A
foci, or focus, is what you use to, as the name suggests, focus your will to
work magick. This can be anything,
from meditation, sacrifice, to a prayer, to a tube of lipstick if you truly
believe that magick will come about by waving it.
All one needs do is to concentrate, and believe, and your focus will
work. Your paradigm is your center
of beliefs, and how you work your magick. It
determines your limits, or lack of limits.
For example, if you were to sit me in front of a computer, and say that I
could travel through it to another computer, I could not do it, for I was not
trained as such, si? Now if I were
to pray and perform a fasting, I could very well make myself appear in another
place. The same beginning, the same
destination, just different roads, paradigm is determined by you and you alone,
a product of your training, si?
Willworkers
are divided into several groups, called “Traditions”.
These Traditions carry common beliefs, and band together to share ideas.
My Tradition is called the “Celestial Chorus”.
We believe that our magick stems from the One, the many faces of God. Buddha, the Christian Lord, Pagan Gods… all are the same to
us. You will meet these other
Traditions within the Chantry in Necropolis, and may gain your own insight into
them.
Now
we will speak of will, and the extent of your will in working threads.
When you begin your training, your mystical understanding and enlightment
will be short. A willworker
measures his mystical understanding in what is called “Arete”.
As you grow older, and become more experienced, this will increase.
The more enlightened one is to the bendings of reality, the easier the
manipulations, the less time it takes.
And
finally we come to the price of all of this power, the offset of the hubris that
would take such beings as us. It is
called “paradox”. Magick is
centered solely around belief, and the belief of one may fight the belief of
billions for only a sort amount of time, si?
Every person in the world who is not Awakened holds a static view of the
way things are. Magick just does
not exist, outside of movies and books. This
hurts us, for every time we force our will to change patterns in ways that are
vulgar and obvious, then that belief generates this “paradox”. It is not intelligent… it is just a force, as if you were
to hit a punching bag, it would swing, and come back and hit you.
The
strength of this paradox is determined solely by your hubris.
If you keep your magicks quiet, and make small changes that do not draw
attention, or can be explained away, you will not be troubled. If you feel the need to pick up the statue of liberty with
your will and throw it at someone… well… you will die. The harder you hit the bag, the harder it will come back and
hit you, si?
Now
let us talk of the other Supernaturals, yes?
There are many among us… Vampires, Shifters, Ghosts, Fairies… there
are more, but they have no names to me, si?
I do not know all. In
addition to these threats, you will see mortals, or “unawakened”, who also
perceive us as threats and enemies. The
city we are now in is full of supernaturals, moreso than anywhere else in the
world. You may meet anything
walking these streets, so you must be prepared.
As newly awakened, your best bet is to keep a low profile, and draw no
attention to yourself, si? If you
are attacked, shoot for the knee and run, you will be getting training in
firearms. Stay near crowds, and
there will always be a knight in shining armor to save you, when this knight
engages your enemy, you take the time to run, si?
The
most common you will meet are Vampires and Shifters.
Vampires will attempt to either befriend you, or suck your blood. Trust only those that will enter the Church, and no others…
and be wary of those. They may look
human, but beneath the skin they are animals, who are driven to survive by
feeding on mortals, which we are aside from our powers.
The Quintessence in our blood makes us very tasty treats, si?
Shifters
will most likely leave you be, if you do not venture near their own Nodes. They are powerful in Spirit magicks, and become great
monsters that can kill with one pass. Do
not anger them. Most will not harm
you, if you do not reveal your nature, with the exception of the mottled ones.
These mottled ones will seem strange, even in their human forms, often
dirty, with crazed eyes. They are incarnations of evil, and serve dark masters.
They will attempt to kill you for sport, or worse, capture you.
Run if you see one.
As
for other Mages, we have our own enemies outside of the Traditions.
The Technocracy, the Nephandi, the Maradurs, are the three most common,
si? The Technocracy are a
collection of “Scientific Willworkers”.
They do not believe that what they do is mystical, but scientific.
They seek to control all of mankind with the use of their technologies,
and to destroy anything that does not fit their explanation… Vampires,
Werewolves, True Faith, us… anything and everything.
You see one, run.
The
Nephandi are corrupted Mages, who have sold their souls to dark powers in
exchange for power. Their paradigm
revolves around not just death, which in itself is not evil, but suffering,
misery, debauchery, rape… anything that is a slap in the face of morality. They seek the destruction of the World, and are enemies of
everyone.. once, years ago, the Technocracy and the Traditions actually banded
together to fight them for a brief time, si?
A Maradur is a general name for a Mage gone mad, si? Utterly, and completely mad. His reality is so warped, Paradox does not effect him, for his own belief in his reality thwarts the entire worlds. A Maradur can be crueler than any Nephandi, or he may be more kind than any Chorister… they are dangerous and unpredictable, and thankfully few in number. If you meet one, get away.
There
is more. So much more that you do not know, so much more that even I do
not know, si? That is what we are here for, to teach and learn from each
other. We will explore this together, and find the answers to our
questions. We have no one else to turn to in these final days.
Father Enrico Cortes
Turn To "What Enrico Will Teach You"
Turn To "Introduction to Prime"
Turn To "Introduction To Forces"
Turn To "Introduction To Mind"
Turn To "Introduction To Life"
Turn To "Combining Spheres For Effects"
Turn To "Firearms Training"
Turn To "Martial Arts Training"
Turn to "Offensive Driving Techniques"
Turn to "Modern Elemental Influence - Combing Technology and Magic"
Turn to "Elemental Influence vs. Elemental Influence"