Editing The Gift:Characters

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Bridewell Reading Group began as a small conspiracy of scientists from across the United States in the 1960s who became convinced of the reality of magic and wanted to subject it to study.  They encountered the Council early but refused to join on the grounds that Hermeticism is a religion and science should proceed without religious interference.  Nevertheless, they have maintained close contact with the Hermetic house Atom Turning, much to the Council’s chagrin.  The group maintains a vague commitment to benefitting humanity but each mage is left to themselves to determine what that means.  In most cases, mages simply pursue their studies, sure that they are helping just by increasing the store of knowledge.  Other mages take a more proactive role, laying schemes in accordance to their own personal view of what people need.  Some Bridewell mages think that it is high time that mundanes learned the truth about magic and Osiris Risen has had to go to considerable lengths to stop them.

The Children of Sol are modern animists who believe that there are spirits inhabiting every object.  The more complex the object, the more sophisticated the spirit, with the spirits of machines being the most important and capable of all.  Unlike most magicians, Children of Sol are less likely to treat spirits as slaves to be mastered than equals to be negotiated with.  The close connection between the Children of Sol and the spirit world can make them unpredictable and difficult to deal with - the spirits have strange priorities and desires, and can be very insistent.  Indeed, some Children of Sol can put the interests of spirits ''above'' human interests, resulting in actions that may look wantonly evil from a normal human perspective.  While the Children have much in common with other animist traditions, they find themselves more at home in the Cooperative, where their love of technology meets with an enthusiastic reception.  The group is named after Sol, one name of the spirit of the sun.

Originally a splinter-group from the Children of Sol, the Human society seeks self-transformation through the union of magic and technology.  Different members have different opinions about what they, and the rest of humanity, should become, but Society members are expected not to interfere with each other’s projects.  Some seek a new existence in cyberspace, some a complete redesign of the human body, while others are chasing goals they can only express in metaphor.  The empasis on personal change leads often leads to significant excentricity if not outright madness.  The mage is always seeking to alter themselves so as to reach a higher state, and they "higher" they go, the stranger they are likely to get.  Members of the Society often act as patrons to mortals or mortal organizations, particularly in an effort to foster personal change, acting in what they take to be the mortals' best interests.

Ex Nihilo exists in order to create new life out of computers by making them self-aware.  Members differ in their views about why this ought to be done.  Many think it is the next step in evolution, some say that computers are better than humans, some just want to be gods.  While only a small minority of Ex Nihilo mages actually want to see humanity replaced by computers, some do.  This genocidal agenda is unsurprisingly disturbing to many even in the open-minded Cooperative and there has been significant debate about the degree to which such “intolerance” should be “tolerated”.  Ex Nihilo has been been forced to put down its own members on numerous occasions for fear of the Cooperative stepping in, or worse yet, the Council.  The group has many artificially intelligent contacts and allies, a number of which only exist in cyberspace.  Some of these entities were created by mages of Ex Nihilo, while others appear to have evolved naturally.

The Unchained are dedicated to the proposition that people need to "free" their minds.  Members seem to have different conceptions of what “freeing the mind” is and pursue it in many different ways.  Some study science, some meditate, some create art, some alter their consciousness with drugs; any path to the goal is acceptable.  The Unchained makes use of both Hermetic and Wiccan rituals, as well as many from other traditions and some they made up themselves.  While some Unchained are ascetics, The Unchained as a whole are famous for partying hard.  The stranger and more extreme the party, the more likely it is to help the guests to free themselves.  Emotional release is seen as a transformative tool to achieve new perspectives and different states of mind.  More extreme members of the order have been known to deliberately drive themselves or others insane, in the hope of gaining magical insight through loosening the bonds of reason.

Despite the love of freedom and pleasure, apprenticeship is a lot of hard work and study only the academically successful ever become mages.  It is emphasized to the student that freeing the mind is an arduous process and the very opposite of going with the flow.  Academic training is designed to allow the student to bring out their full potential as a human being.  Spells taught focus on illusion and mind control, as an aid to breaking down the barriers between the mind and the world.

The Church of St. Christopher on the Mountain is a multi-denominational Christian religious society, originally from North Carolina.  The church holds that salvation comes from works alone and swear their commitment to doing good in the world in an effort to gain entrance into heaven.  They actively try to convert people to Christianity, especially other mages, but they also believe that non-Christians can go to heaven.  Like any human group, they are imperfect, and it is not unknown for mages of this group to be judgmental and simplistic.  While the church's theory emphasizes love, the recognition that there are dark forces in the world that must be fought can also lead to militancy, while the recognition that violence can be necessary to defend people from a violent world can lead to a reliance on force.  Magical ritual and symbolism is derived from Christianity and Christian tradition. The church makes no claim that their magical power derives from God in some way that other mages' power does not, though they ask God to guide them to use their magical power wisely.

Mages of the Circle Road seek to understand humanity by living among different kinds of humans as one of them.  They are adamant that mortals are of equal value to mages and many members fight hard to make sure that the morals are not abused by the Gifted, an attitude that frequently leads them into conflict with other orders.  On the other hand, close contact with a variety of sub-cultures means that mages of the Circle Road often know secrets that can be very valuable to other mages.  The Circle Road was founded in 1919 by veterans of the first world war, who swore that such a terrible thing must never be allowed to happen again and who were convinced that it is sheer lack of understanding that leads humans to treat each other so terribly.  Many mages of this school have sworn never to take a human life, although it is not a requirement.  Magical ritual and symbolism is drawn from the superstitions and ritual practices of ordinary mortals from all over New Spain.

Mages of the Golden Path study how to use magic to produce pleasure.  Mages follow the path in many different ways.  Some concern themselves primarily with their own pleasure, some concern themselves primarily with the pleasure of others, some merely use pleasure as a tool.  Some pursue pleasures of the intellect, some of the body, some of art, some that are simply inexplicable.  Golden Path mages are taught not to have any loyalty to the school per se, although it is unsurprising that they often enjoy each other’s company.  Some Golden Path mages have grown to treat normal human beings as toys only, using them for fun and then discarding them with little thought for the consequences.  Golden Path ritual and symbolism is highly personalized and each mage will have developed their own style.