Editing The Gift:Characters (section)

==The Circle==

[[Image:Howlingwolf.jpg]]

The Circle is a very loose and decentralized association of mages who feel a connection to the natural world.  It was never officially founded, has no official rules and no official power.  However, it has provided a formidable web of allies in times of trouble over the past 50 years or so.  Of the five “families” that make it up, some are more deeply involved than others.  Crescent Moon, the Line of Mary Wood, and Sacred Chalice are most committed to the organization and do most of the work that is required to keep it together.  Gray Wolf and White Hart are more peripherally involved, remaining on good terms, but trying to keep out of politics.


===Crescent Moon===

Crescent Moon was founded in 1991 by Wiccans of various small covens that had been wiped out in the wars of the 1980s.  They dedicate themselves to the protection of followers of Wicca, and, to a lesser extent, pagans in general.  They are openly militant, blaming the losses of the 1980s on an idealistic but fatal unwillingness to fight.  They only admit Wiccans, but are careful not to proselytize, emphasizing that all religions are equally valid.  They are staunch supporters of the Circle, on the grounds that members of alternative religions in general, and nature religions in particular, need to cooperate for mutual defense.  At the same time, they often find the Circle frustrating reluctant to organize and take practical action.  Many in the house would like to see Crescent Moon take over from Sacred Chalice as leaders, but concerns about their militancy keep them from getting needed support from the Line of Mary Wood.  Crescent Moon has no qualms about breaking mundane law, seeing the police as the Council's footsoldiers.  They stockpile weapons, steal government property and otherwise flout any rule they find inconvenient.

Apprentice study focuses on an understanding of nature and the Wiccan religion.  Spell training emphasizes self-defense on the grounds that survival is always the first priority.

Cost: 24 points.

Perks:  Style Familiarity (Military HTH, Sambo)

Skills:  Exorcism, Guns (Handgun), Herb Lore, History (Ancient European), Judo (Military HTH, Sambo), Karate (Military HTH, Sambo), Naturalist, Occultism, Religious Rituals (Wiccan), Survival (any wilderness), Symbol Drawing (Wicccan), Theology (Wiccan).

Spells:  

Animal:  Shapeshift (large black dog).

Body Control:  Clumsiness, Death Touch, Fumble, Itch, Wither Limb, Paralyze Limb, Spasm.

Mind Control:  Drunkenness, Foolishness, Sickness.


House Stances

Magic:  Magic is neutral.  Whether it helps or hurts is all in the user.

Themselves: Sooner or later, the next war will come.  This time, we will be ready.

The Council:  I don’t recognize their authority.  They never did anything for me.

The Circle:  The Circle needs to get itself organized.  Sometimes you have to stand and fight.

The Cooperative:  It wouldn’t be right for me.

Independents:  The Sladensville Church respect the earth and are our natural friends and allies.

===Gray Wolf===

Gray Wolf is comprised of mages who seek to become one with nature, for spiritual reasons that are often individual to the mage or considered inexpressible.  Most members are highly political about ecological and animal rights issues.  The order regards itself as having a duty to protect nature and the unnecessary failure of a member to do say may result in ostracism or worse.  That being said, they have very little in the way of organization and often prefer being alone in nature to seeking each other's company, though a temporary "pack" may form to deal with specific problems.  Their disregard for authority and rules, mortal and mage alike, makes it easy for them to get into trouble.  Most Gray Wolf mages see violence as a part of nature like any other and are comfortable, in principle, with the use of force to achieve important goals.  This attitude, along with their acceptance of hunting, has alienated them from many more idealistic mages and mortals.  Gray Wolf ritual and symbolism is an amalgam of Christian, Native American and Pagan European motifs, with many nature-elements of their own invention.

Apprentices are trained to study and live alongside nature.  Their bodies as well as their minds are honed, on the grounds that to ignore the body is to deny your own nature.  Magical training is focused on the study of animals.  Particular attention is paid to dogs, on the grounds that the animal’s pack-tactics are a model for nature’s defenders.

Cost: 23 points.

Skills:  Botany, Climbing, First-Aid, Herb Lore, Naturalist, Navigation (Land), Running, Stealth, Survival (Any), Swimming, Symbol Drawing (Gray Wolf), Zoology.

Spells:

Animal:  Animal Control (Dog), Beast-Rouser, Beast Link, Beast-Soother, Beast Summoning, Master, Shapeshifting (Dog).

Movement:  Apportation, Lockmaster.

Technology:  Reveal Function, Seek Machine.


House Stances

Magic:  Magic is the planet’s blood.

Themselves:   We must become one with nature in order to protect it.

The Council:  The more unnatural something is, the more they love it.  They seek to control forces they should learn to respect.

The Circle:  The Circle couldn’t organize a piss-up in a brewery.  But they are nature’s only friend.

The Cooperative:  The logical, horrific culmination of humanity’s rejection of everything natural.

===The Line of Mary Wood===

The Line of Mary Wood traces itself back to the 19th century mage of that name from California, who started the magical school by instructing her children in magic.  Today, the “family” is still under the control of Mary’s blood relations, although talented outsiders comprise most of the membership.  Although Christian theology plays a role in the line’s study of magic, they have not required members to be Christian since 1946.  The Line of Mary Wood’s rituals and symbolism are derived from a mix of Christianity and European folkmagic, especially English folkmagic.  Theoretically, the Line's Christian streak means that it has no place among the nature worshippers of the Circle, but the nature worshipping orders are too badly in need of allies to get too picky about religion.  Mages of the Line are known as healers, layers of curses and habitual plotters, always laying plans for reasons that range from the purely practical to the incomprehensibly esoteric.

Apprenticeship emphasizes healing and practical application of natural substances.  Spell training sets the mage up to remain eternally young, on purely pragmatic grounds.

Cost: 24 points.

Skills:  Chemistry, Cooking, First Aid, Herb Lore, Naturalist, Pharmacy, Physician, Poisons, Sleight of Hand, Symbol Drawing (European Folk), Theology (Christianity).

Spells:

Healing:  Body-Reading, Final Rest, Halt Aging, Lend Energy, Lend Vitality, Minor Healing, Major Healing, Stop Paralysis, Youth.

Necromantic:  Age, Steal Energy, Steal Vitality, Steal Youth.


House Stances

Magic:  Magic is good or evil, white magic or black magic.

Themselves: We are the beneficiaries of a valuable inheritance.

The Council:  They would rule us if they could.  Beware!

The Circle:  They are family and you protect your family.

The Cooperative:  I have no idea what they are doing but it is certainly interesting.  The Unchained know a great deal but have no sense.

Independents:  The Church of St. Christopher on the Mountain is one step away from becoming witch-hunters.  They are laying plans.  The Sladensville Church have great esoteric wisdom but little practical sense.

===Sacred Chalice===

Insofar as the Circle has leaders, the Sacred Chalice leads.  They are the “family” with the most political power due either to their reputation for even-headedness, patience and reliability, or to the fact that no other family is willing and able to do the job.  Although they are officially Wiccan and require the study of Wiccan principles as part of their magic, they welcome mages of all belief-systems.  Politically, they play a difficult balancing act to keep the Circle together, with mages who see the Circle as being too pacifistic and slow to act on the one hand and mages who see the Circle as being too organized and rules-bound on the other.  Also controvercial is the Sacred Chalice tendency to use mage resources to defend the interests of mundanes.  Internally, there is friction between revolutionaries who wish to abandon affiliation with any one religion and traditionalist mages who see their church being taken away.  Sacred Chalice political fights can get very nasty, being driven at least as much by ideology as personal ambition.

Apprentices study healing, nature and religion and are taught to use their powers to bring benefit rather than harm.  Their magical training focuses on growing closer to nature and aiding the sick.

Cost: 21 points.

Skills:  First Aid, Herb Lore, History (Medieval European), History (Modern USA), Naturalist, Physician, Religious Rituals (Wiccan), Ritual Magic (Wiccan), Symbol Drawing (Wiccan), Survival (Any), Theology (Wiccan).

Spells:

Animal: Beast Link, Beast-Soother, Beast Summoning.

Healing: Lend Energy, Lend Vitality, Relieve Sickness, Stop Bleeding.

Meta:  Counterspell.

Plant: Identify Plant, Seek Plant.


House Stances

Magic:  Magic is just nature from another perspective.

Themselves: We carry on an ancient tradition, harming no-one.

The Council:  They too want peace, but they also want power.  They worship history, yet they invent their history.

The Circle:  It is good to get together with friends, whether it is to socialize, to worship, or to share information.  We have so much in common.

The Cooperative:  They are so uptight, they are frightening.  They need to chill out a little bit.

===White Hart===

White Hart is dedicated to the philosophy that wisdom may be gained by taking the perspective of animals.  The mage seeks to become animal, so as to see the world through the eyes of nature itself.  White Hart claims to be an ancient Celtic tradition but while this has never been disproved, neither does there seem to be any evidence for it.  Some White Harts are neo-Luddites, seeking a return to nature.  Others are perfectly happy to embrace the modern world, feeling that it is the ideal place to apply the lessons they have learned from nature.  Though traditionally mages of the wilderness, White Hart fascination with urban wildlife has lead them increasingly to the cities.  The unique perspectives gained by White Hart mages can lead to them becoming very eccentric individuals, or even mentally ill by normal standards.  They are particularly likely to take on personality traits of animals with which they have a close association.  White Hart ritual and symbolism is derived from Celtic and Pagan European practices.

White Hart apprentices are taught to survive in the wild and learn to cope with different environments.  Magical training focuses on survival skills and the ability to shift into different animal forms.

Cost: 22 points.

Skills:  Camouflage, Climbing, First-Aid, Navigation (Land), Running, Stealth, Swimming, Survival (Any), Survival (Any), Survival (Any), Symbol Drawing (White Hart).

Spells:

Air:  No-Smell, Purify Air.

Animal:  Shapeshifting (Cat), Shapeshifting (Crow), Shapeshifting (Salmon).

Light and Darkness:  Continual Light, Gloom, Light.

Water:  Create Water, Purify Water, Seek Water.


House Stances

Magic:  Anyone who knows what magic is is wiser than I am.

Themselves: Just people trying to work the universe out, or at least to get new perspectives on it.

The Council:  They seem more interested in acquiring power than working out what they want to do with it.

The Circle:  I’m not really interested in their politics, but a lot of individuals are wise.

The Cooperative:  But why?