Editing The Gift:Characters (section)

===House Atom Turning===

House Atom Turning was founded in 1921 by scientists working at Princeton University.  Having discovered the existence of magic, they set about researching it using the model most easily accessible to them – Western Hermeticism.  They encountered the Council that same year and were offered membership but resisted joining until 1979, upon which time they gave their house its name.  The house maintains that scientific study is the best approach to magic, just as it is to any other subject.  Atom Turning’s magical style is an odd mix of scientific and Hermetic elements.  Some members of the house think that Hermeticism provides unique and important insights into the nature of the universe, but most just see it as a useful magical tool.  The house remains part of the Council for the sake of safety, but has little loyalty to the organization, seeing the Council's obsession with traditional magic as an irrational devotion to a failed paradigm.

Atom Turning apprentices receive a rigorous general training in the sciences, with much emphasis on the connections between them.  Magical training is likewise as broad as possible, emphasizing insight into the fundamental workings of magic over practical applications.

Cost: 25 points

Skills:  Astronomy, Biology, Botany, Chemistry, Computer Operation, Mathematics, Occultism, Physics, Research, Ritual Magic (Western Hermetic), Symbol Drawing (Western Hermetic), Thaumatology.

Spells:

Air:  Purify Air.

Animal:  Beast-Soother.

Body Control:  Itch.

Communication and Empathy:  Sense Life.

Earth:  Seek Earth.

Enchantment:  Enchant.

Fire:  Seek Fire.

Healing:  Body Reading.

Knowledge:  Find Direction.

Light and Darkness:  Light.

Making and Breaking:  Find Weakness.

Plant:  Seek Plant.

Technological:  Seek Machine.


House Stances

Magic:  Magic is just technology that we don’t understand yet.

Themselves: We exist because somebody should be subjecting magic to serious scientific study.

The Council:  They fundamentally support us, but they need to loosen the reigns.

The Old Houses:  Absolutely fascinating!  If only they weren’t so obsessed with secrecy.

The Young Houses:  The closest thing to an academia that mage society is going to get.

The Circle:  Unique and invaluable subjects of study.  What a shame they are too lost in mythology to properly educate themselves.

The Cooperative:  There is a difference between conducting scientific research and worshipping technology.  These houses are often knowledgeable, but they have left rationality behind.

Independents:  The Bridewell Reading Group are scientists like us.  We must have closer contact with them.  The Silver Mirror School revere science, but they do not understand it and lose themselves in mysticism.