Editing Lineage:Rebellion Lineages

[[Image:Medstuds.jpg]]

=Introduction=

The following is a listing of major Orders of The Rebellion.  The list is not intended to be exhaustive, but does present the most powerful and influential Orders.  The format in which each individual Order is presented is exactly the same as the format used for the Houses.

=Order of Boudicca=

[[Image:Boudicca.jpg]]

Positive Stereotype:  Courageous freedom-fighter, master of earth magic.

Negative Stereotype:  Violent terrorist.

Symbol:  Helmet with a sword through it.

Signature Spell:  Rain of Stones.  “Rage of the Earth”

Magical Style:  Medieval English with Celtic influences.

The Order of Boudicca was founded in 18th century London by British mages from a variety of backgrounds, seeking to use traditional British paganism as a tool to oppose the power of Heaven and Hell.  They took their inspiration from the story of the Celtic queen Boudicca, who defied the might of Rome, successfully for a time.  While there are genuinely old elements in their magic, there has also been a great deal of modernization and invention to fill the gap in the folkloric record.  In recent years, many in the Order have turned to mystical reflections on the connection between their pagan practices and the true nature of the universe.  The Order of Boudicca have a great fear of being dominated by outsiders, divine or otherwise, and strive above all for independence.  They have a history of standing up for the common people, particularly in English speaking countries.  There is a long-standing feud between the Order of Boudicca and the Houses of Julii and Flavii, on the grounds that they have too much power over Britain.  Order apprentices are given a wide training in history in order to help them understand humanity.  Magical training focuses on attaining a mystical union with the land through study of the element of “earth”.  The union is interpreted as have political ramifications regarding home-rule and sometimes conservation.

Members of the Order were among the first British people to colonize the Americas.  They have always been involved in American politics, although not always on the same side.  Most of the Order approved of the replacement of indigenous populations with European ones, on the grounds that the natives weren’t doing anything with the land, which could be used for the good of the British people.  Most of the Order also opposed the American Revolution, on the grounds that it was a play for the American rich to defraud the poor of the empire.  Most of the order opposed the slave trade, finding in it a reflection of the enslavement of British people under Roman rule.  The Order generally took England’s side in 19th century wars with France and 20th century wars with Germany, and the United States’ side in conflict with Mexico and the nations of South America.  It goes without saying that they supported the Allies in the two world wars.  The order has been a strong supporter of unionism, social services, civil rights for African Americans and female suffrage.  Increasingly, since the Korean and Vietnam wars, they have shown a tendency to side against the U.S. and British governments, rather than in favor of them, seeing the governments as oppressors of the people and often identifying with foreigners fighting western influence.

Mortal Politics:  The US should get out of Iraq and Afghanistan.  Israel should get out of Palestine.  England should get out of Ireland.  Reparations should be paid to African Americans, Native Americans, Australian Aboriginals, and any other exploited peoples.  The United States should be helping less-fortunate nations to democratize and stabilize themselves, not looking to make a quick buck from their misery.  Tax on the poor needs to be reduced and the less fortunate members of society need the help of a good social safety net.


Cost: 20.	

Advantages:  Language (Any, Broken).  (2)

Skills:  Folklore (English), Geography (World), History (British, Modern), History (US, Modern), History (Other), Politics, Symbol Drawing (Celtic), Theology (Celtic).

Spells:
Air:  Clouds, Rain.
Earth:  Create Earth, Earth to Stone, Rain of Stones, Seek Earth, Shape Earth, Walk Through Earth.
Water:  Purify Air, Stench.


Relations

The Houses

House of Anjou:  For centuries, these French invaders held England captive.  Now they want to make new conquests here in the US.

House of Cain:  What kind of a man would kill his own brother?  What kind of person would follow such a man?

House of Capet:  Off with their heads, the royal bandits.  We will show them who really has the right to rule.

House of Carolus:  The good old days weren’t all that good for the pagans they conquered.  Now they pretend they were pagan all along.  That takes some nerve.

House of Flavii:  Effete leaches, with a massive sense of entitlement.  You will find them wherever people live off the sweat of others.

House of Hapsburg:  They mean to rebuild the Roman Empire from central Europe, enslaving the world yet again.

House of Julii:  Fascist conquerors before “fascism” was a word, they are everything that is worst in humanity.

House of Lancaster:  They rape the land and use people as commodities.  Fellow humans mean nothing to them.

Order of Lilith:  Too selfish to make true alliances, they will never amount to anything that matters.

House of Medici:  When money and religion mix, scum rises to the top.

House of Romanov:  Just because the communists were evil doesn’t make the aristocrats any better.  They were bloody then and they are bloody now.

House of Stuart:  Maybe if these Scottish invaders gave England back to the English, we could learn to take their words seriously.

House of Trastámara:  Living proof that brutality is a losing strategy in the longterm.  They have made many enemies and no friends.

House of Ummayad:  The alchemists serve no-one but themselves.  They want nothing to do with humanity but they are part of humanity whether they like it or not.

House of Warwick:  They sold out their own countrymen again and again and again.  That’s probably why the Stuart’s like them so much.

House of York:  Loyal to their own House only, they have never seen outsiders as fully human.

The Rebellion

Orders of Copernicus:  Clever enough to be very useful allies, though not always practical.

Order of Darwin:  They care nothing for human freedom, but what is life without freedom?

Order of Eve:  Passive resistance just gets you enslaved.  Hasn’t history taught them anything?

Order of Jesus:  Jesus was nothing but a tool of Heaven and these mages are merely tools of Jesus.

Order of Judas:  Anyone with the courage to assassinate a god is deserving of respect.  But they need to learn to work with others.

Order of Siddhartha:  Contemplation is all very well, but it is no substitute for action.  Mysticism is a fine tool, but it shouldn’t rule you.

Order of Solon:  They are long on political rhetoric, but their hearts are in the right place.  They hate tyranny, as we do.

Order of Spartacus:  The warriors may be a little crazy, but too much idealism and guts is better than not enough.

Order of Thales:  The philosophers are great planners, but do they ever actually do anything?  At least they sometimes collect useful information.

Order of Utnapishtim:  The wild mages aren’t quite sure what they are rebelling against, but at least they rebel.

=Order of Copernicus=

[[Image:Silverstar.jpg]]

Positive Stereotype:  Scientific visionary.

Negative Stereotype:  Deranged dreamer.

Symbol:  Silver star.

Signature Spell:  Flight.  “Freedom of a Bird”.

Magical Style:  The Order’s magical symbolism is medieval Italian, with some elements and symbols borrowed from modern science.

The Order of Copernicus is composed of scientific mages who dream of a new order to the universe, with humanity, not Heaven and Hell, at the center.  They seek to use education to liberate mankind and to use science to reorder society in a more rational manner.  They also hope, in time, to rewrite magical theory as a true science.  Apprentices are first trained in the sciences and only then in magical theory.  Magical training focuses on informational spells and on flight.  The official grounds for teaching flight are purely practical; the world is full of danger and the mage who can fly can get away.

Niklaus Copernicus was a Polish mage of House Medici who went rebel and became perhaps the greatest revolutionary in history.  When Copernicus proved that the Earth orbits the sun, he shook the faith of Christian mages everywhere, which was already on shaky foundations due to Heaven’s incomprehensibility.  It was his discovery that sparked the revolution bringing the Rebellion out of hiding after thousands of years and forcing The Houses to make a truce with the rebels.  Copernicus founded the Order in his own name in the hopes that they would use science to enlighten humanity and free them of the tyranny of the supernatural world.  Copernicus’ followers soon became convinced that helping humanity required reorganizing it along “scientific” lines, with scientists holding ultimate political power.  The Order has had little success on that front, with their ambitions mostly manifesting as resistance to whatever political forces happen to be in power.  They have historically been anti-imperial, anti-monarchical, anti-clerical, and in the modern day, anti-corporation.  They worked to protract the Wars of the Roses, eagerly watching the Houses of York and Lancaster grind themselves down against one another, and earning the resentment of both Houses in the long run.  They sided with the Roundheads in the English Civil War, earning them the hatred of the House of Stuart, with the revolutionaries in the French Revolution, earning them the hatred of the Houses of Capet and Hapsburg, with the revolutionaries in the Americas, earning them yet more hatred from the House of Stuart, and with the communists in Russia and East Asia, earning them the hatred of the House of Romanov and the Houses of the east.  They supported the Union in the American Civil War, judging slavery to be morally abhorrent.  While some had Nazi sympathies, most felt the Nazis were too cruel and dogmatic and supported the Allies in the World War II.

Mortal Politics:  The power of the corporations must be checked as must US imperialist activities in the middle east.  Public education must be properly funded as must the universities and other educational institutions.  The dictatorships of the world must be overthrown and replaced with democratic states, with the power of the people carefully constrained by a strong constitution and an independent supreme court.  Ultimate power must lie in the hands of those with the greatest scientific understanding, otherwise government is blind.


Cost:  17.

Skills: Atronomy, Mathematics, Occultism, Physics, Symbol Drawing (Western Hermetic), Thaumatology, Theology (Christian).

Spells:
Air:  Purify Air, Seek Air.
Knowledge:  Divination (Astrology), Know Location, Measurement, Tell Position.
Movement:  Flight, Great Haste, Haste, Levitation.

Relations

The Houses

House of Anjou:  Does it really need to be pointed out that someone with a need to eat human flesh has psychological problems?

House of Cain:  Animals.

House of Capet:  A visit to the guillotine would do them the world of good.  They serve no purpose other than to engorge themselves.

House of Carolus:  You lost your little European empire.  Deal with it.  Why don’t you find something useful to do?

House of Flavii:  Corrupt, officious bureaucrats.  What a waste of intellect to use it to count coins.

House of Hapsburg:  The cancer at the heart of the European economic machine.  They don’t care about poverty and waste as long as they get the most money and power.

House of Julii:  The only thing these dogs of war understand is force.  Magic is nothing more to them that a weapon.

House of Lancaster:  They think that people are just machines, there to make money for them.

Order of Lilith:  By their own admission, they are assholes.

House of Medici:  They have opposed the advancement of human knowledge at every turn, but they always lose in the end.

House of Romanov:  Shooting them was the best idea the Russians ever had.  They hate everything new.

House of Stuart:  The great family mega-corporation of the western world, more powerful than a nation-state and twice as ruthless.

House of Trastámara:  Universally hated yet too feared to be exterminated.  They should be opposed or avoided.

House of Ummayad:  They are knowledgeable, but they are too mired in the past to learn more.

House of Warwick:  The media is a corporate tool, but we knew that, right?  All the truth they could spread if they had just a fiber of honesty!

House of York:  Bloated pigs, living off the fruits of other people’s labor.  And what will happen to those people when there is nothing left to take from the ground?

The Rebellion

Order of Boudicca:  They’ve never worked out what they really believe it, except that they see themselves as heroes.

Order of Darwin:  Being brilliant scientists does not make them experts on what is good for humanity.

Order of Eve:  Uh, the Earth is four point six billion years old.  Time for a reality check.  How can they help humanity when they won’t face the truth?

Order of Jesus:  Are they rebels at all?  How can they serve Heaven and also mankind?

Order of Judas:  Natural born killers, for good or for ill.  They can be dangerous and unpredictable, but they understand force.

Order of Siddhartha:  They look inward when they should look outward and so see only themselves.

Order of Solon:  They put too much faith in the wisdom of ordinary people.  People have to be educated before they can make judgments.

Order of Spartacus:  Every war needs its soldiers.  Ours may be impulsive and preachy, but they understand violent resistance.

Order of Thales:  A fount of untested theories.  Useless.  What is the point of learning that never takes you anywhere new?

Order of Utnapishtim:  Mythology is only going to mislead.  They are trapped in an illusion Heaven built for us all so long ago.

=Order of Darwin=

--Green Leaf image removed due to copyright violation--

Positive Stereotype:  Dedicated researcher, master of animal magic.

Negative Stereotype:  Mad scientist.

Symbol:  Green leaf.

Signature Spell:  Animal Control.  “Dominance”.

Magical Style:  Western Hermeticism, with some elements borrowed from modern science.

Disciples of science and masters of life magic, the Order of Darwin strives to help human society evolve into something with the understanding and power required to overcome the forces of Heaven and Hell.  The Order was not founded by Charles Darwin, who was not, as far as anyone knows, a mage.  Rather it was founded by mage scientists who came after and who were inspired by the theory of evolution, seeing in it a sign that humanity could reinvent itself, raising itself from the status of nature’s victims and becoming something different, greater and more powerful.  Mages of the order have very different conceptions of what humanity should be and internal ideological feuds are common and bitter.  Apprentices are given a thorough training in the sciences, with special emphasis on the sciences of life.  Magical training focuses on spells aiding research on animals and plants.

The order was founded in London in 1905, by scientifically minded mages from all over the world, so that the members could work together to further scientific knowledge.  Apart from supporting education, the order originally took a non-interventionist stance towards mortal society on the grounds that nature must be allowed to take its course.  The order refused to intervene in the First World War, giving rise to the rumor that they approve of war for promoting survival of the fittest.  While a few members of the Order supported the rise of fascism in Germany and Italy, the Order itself finally intervened on the Allied side, breaking a long tradition of neutrality for fear of the chilling effect fascist government has on scientific research.  Today, most members of the Order are on the authoritarian left politically, fighting for public education and healthcare, but rarely allowing concerns for personal freedom to get in the way of schemes for the common good.  There are still diehards who protest that interfering in mortal affairs hampers natural selection, but most mages believe that humans have evolved to live in evolving societies, and that it is no more interference for a mage to guide a mortal than it is for a queen bee to guide a worker bee.

Mortal Politics:  The government needs to spend a lot more to fund public education and the universities.  Religion must be kept out of schools – there must be no lessons in creationism, no pledging allegiance “under God” and no prayer.  Government needs to be purged of corruption, and then given much greater power because the common good requires common organization.


Cost:  21

Skills:  Biology, Botony, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physiology, Symbol Drawing (Western Hermetic), Thaumatology, Theology (Christian), Zoology.

Spells:
Animal:  Animal Control (Any 2), Hybrid Control, Repel Hybrids.
Communication and Empathy:  Sense Emotion, Sense Foes, Persuasion.
Healing:  Lend Energy, Lend Vitality, Minor Healing
Plant:  Identify Plant, Seek Plant.

Relations

The Houses

House of Anjou:  A rabid dog that needs to be put down.  Something gruesome is wrong with their DNA making them creatures of violence.

House of Cain:  They are too obsessed with killing.  One tool is not enough.  They reduce themselves to so much less than they could be.

House of Capet:  The past is gone and will not return.  Now Capet needs to adapt or die.  Europe is gone.  Find a new resource.

House of Carolus:  We need less superstition, not different superstition.  The House of Carolus is cynically deluding people with false religion.

House of Flavii:  What a waste.  So learned yet so very superficial.  If only they had cared, they could have lifted humanity up out of the mire centuries ago.

House of Hapsburg:  They have thrived extremely well in Europe.  I wonder if they can adapt to the American environment just as effectively?

House of Julii:  Skillful predators, but their love of glory is a fatal weakness.  Sooner or later, they destroy themselves with hubris.

House of Lancaster:  I am not quite convinced that they are entirely human.  They are very…weird.

Order of Lilith:  They want to separate themselves from the life around them, but nothing can flourish on its own.

House of Medici:  They serve a useful function, but they need their power checked so that they are not parasitic.

House of Romanov:  You still here, Romanov?  Isn’t it time your kind was extinct?  Horse magic doesn’t cut it anymore.

House of Stuart:  The shepherd who cares nothing for his sheep is thinking in the short term.

House of Trastámara:  Something in their makeup is defective.  They need to be taken out of the gene pool.

House of Ummayad:  How mysterious!  They require further study.

House of Warwick:  Consumate survivors, but how long can they keep it up?  Everyone seems to have a score to settle with them.

House of York:  They only know how to destroy.  That makes them very weak.  It is only the support of the other English Houses that keeps them in existance.

The Rebellion

Order of Boudicca:  Disorganized rabble.  Still, change requires a little chaos.  They tend to be first to the barricades.

Order of Copernicus:  The glimpse the big picture, but have no idea what to do about it.  Never mind.  As sources of information, they are unmatched.

Order of Eve:  Life evolved, so they clearly aren’t who they think they are.  They are the deranged relics of an age of superstition.

Order of Jesus:  Who let the soldiers of Heaven into the Rebellion?  They mean well, but they are living in a fantasy world..

Order of Judas:  Necessary and useful.  While other mages are talking, the Order of Judas mage is taking action.

Order of Siddhartha:  Too weak to face reality.  They have access to many useful secrets, but they have no idea how to analyze them.

Order of Solon:  They should be able to see that not everyone is equal and not everyone is suited to rule.

Order of Spartacus:  Yes, yes, they want to be free.  But what will they do with freedom?  They don’t care.  Never mind.  They are the only ones in the Rebellion who can coordinate a martial operation, so we’d better be friends

Order of Thales:  They are more useful than they look.  Dreamers are annoying, but without speculation, there is no advancement.

Order of Utnapishtim:  The vestigial relics of a once healthy order.  Time and the changing environment have passed them by.

=Order of Eve=

Positive Stereotype:  Kind idealist.

Negative Stereotype:  Pompous hypocrite.

Symbol:  Broken bread.

Signature Spell: Relieve Sickness.  “Touch of Eve”.

Magical Style:  Mesopotamian, an amalgam of Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian elements.


The Order of Eve traces itself back, in theory, to the Eve of the Bible, although many in the order doubt that Eve even existed, let alone that she started an order of magi.  Even if they are not really the oldest Order, they are certainly very ancient and priesthoods in Mesopotamia and Egypt had both been infiltrated by them by the time writing was invented.  The Order of Eve spread with monotheism and is found today throughout the Christian and Muslim world.  The order has rarely occupied positions of great power, however, at least partly because of their institutional hatred of hierarchies, rules and dishonesty.  Apprentice training focuses on understanding nature and healing.  Magical training emphasizes the relieving of sickness.

In the Order’s folklore, Eve was the first mage, a rebel to be admired and a human being willing to stand up for human rights.  Her defiance of God is presented not as the downfall of humanity, but as the dawn of its liberation.  Eating the apple gave humanity wisdom and Eve’s sharing of the apple with Adam is presented as humanity’s primordial choice of love over hate, good over evil.

Members of the Order are expected to work to humanity’s benefit, although there is no oversight to make sure that they do and very little in the way of Order organization.  Mages of the Order rarely hold office but rather help others on a more personal level, such as by conducting charity work, curing disease, resolving disputes, or changing minds.  The order is very attractive to compassionate idealists, along with self-righteous egotists, knee-jerk rebels and people who hate rules because they hate responsibility.

In ancient and medieval Europe, the Order was often on bad terms with the Houses, an inevitable result of the Order’s independence and political commitment.  They were a favorite target for witch-trials and some members accidentally whipped up public fervor against witches by idealistically making honest public confessions.  The Order of Eve’s distaste for warfare is legendary.  They opposed the American Revolution, the Civil War, and American entry into the two world wars, not to mention the wars in Korea and Vietnam and the modern wars in the middle east.

The order draws its cardinal Seven Virtues from its version of the story of Adam and Eve:  Attentiveness, Suspicion, Courage, Love, Wisdom, Fear, Godliness:

Genesis.3

[1] Now man was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And the man said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?  [2] And the woman said unto the man, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:  [3] But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.  [4] Eve was listening.  [5] And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof.  [6]  Eve was suspicious.  [7]  Eve did eat the fruit.  [8]  Eve was courageous.  [9]  Eve gave the fruit also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.  [10]  Eve was loving.  [11] And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were mortal; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves circles.  [12]  Eve was wise.  [13] And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.  [14]  Eve was fearful.  [15] And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?  [16] And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was mortal; and I hid myself.  [17] And he said, Who told thee that thou wast mortal? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?  [18] And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.  [19] And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, I saw that it was good and I did eat.  [20]  Eve was honest.  [21] And the LORD God said unto the worm, Because man hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; beneath thy belly shalt thou go, and flesh shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:  [13] And I will put enmity between the beasts and man, and between their seed, and claw will slay man and spear will slay beast.  [14] Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.  [15] And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;  [16] Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;  [17] In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.  [18] And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.  [19] Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.  [20] And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.  [21] Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.  [22] So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.  [23] And the woman said unto the man, Ye shall not surely die.  [24] For God doth know that in the day ye ate thereof, your eyes were opened, and we are as gods, knowing good and evil.  [25] Eve was as a god, knowing good and evil.

Mortal Politics:  The world has an urgent need for famine relief, disease control and the abolition of torture and all capital and corporal punishment.  All societies must become democracies where the worst off are taken care of and where all competent adults have equal rights.  Either we humans learn to love one another or we will shortly be extinct.

Cost:  20

Advantages:  Language:  (Any, Broken)

Skills:  Botany, First Aid, Naturalist, Occultism, Physician, Symbol Drawing (Mesopotamian), Thaumatology, Theology (Christian).

Spells:
Healing:  Lend Energy, Lend Vitality, Minor Healing, Relieve Sickness.
Knowledge:  History, Seeker, Trace.
Plant:  Identify Plant, Seek Plant.
Water:  Seek Water.


Relations

The Houses

House of Anjou:  A human controlled by their own temper is a mere beast.  A mage should never be less than fully human.

House of Cain:  Some crimes can never be forgiven.

House of Capet:  Their strength is failing them.  Perhaps this will make them more amendable to changing their ways.

House of Carolus:  They understand that peace has its uses, so maybe there is some hope for them.

House of Flavii:  Haunted by their own crimes, they will destroy themselves in time.  How the dead hate them!

House of Hapsburg:  Power, power, power.  But for what?  They have alienated themselves from other people.

House of Julii:  Time after time, their own violence returns to them, but they never learn.  They put on a stunning show but it always ends in tragedy.

House of Lancaster:  Work is a curse we inflict on ourselves.  They want to turn people into machine-parts.

Order of Lilith:  The loneliest people in all the world.  Even Cain took a wife.

House of Medici: They cannot love, so why do they live?  For money.  What a strange existence it must be.

House of Romanov:  Remembering the past is good.  Being frozen in it isn’t.  Less self-obsession would do them good.

House of Stuart:  These are the bastards that ultimately rule the world and they don’t even know that people matter more than money.

House of Trastámara:  Viscious, like mad animals.  What good cause could possibly justify such cruelty?

House of Ummayad:  They seem afraid.  What are they hiding from?  If they need help, they had better have the sense to ask before it is too late.

House of Warwick:  Do they ever open their mouths without lying?  Do they even remember the difference between truth and a lie?

House of York:  Always marching to war, always killing.  They are willing to be chattel of the Stuarts, as long as they are allowed to kill.

The Rebellion

Order of Boudicca:  They need to stop thinking like an army.  They are supposed to be mages.

Order of Copernicus:  They don’t believe everything they are told.  I like that.  But they often focus on such a big picture that they lose sight of people.

Order of Darwin:  Evolution is a myth as it happens, but let’s not fight about it. Ok?  We have more important things to worry about.

Order of Jesus:  They are very frightening, but they do a lot of good in the world.  They don’t betray others either.

Order of Judas:  Hasn’t there been enough killing?  The Rebellion has to mean something more than fresh violence.

Order of Siddhartha:  Kind, peaceful people.  Their lack of political posturing has too often been interpreted as lack of dedication.

Order of Solon:  Democracy is good.  Don’t forget equal rights, though.  We need laws, but we need the right laws.

Order of Spartacus:  Spartacus lost because he was too warlike.  His mages make conflict because it is the only thing they understand.

Order of Thales:  As harmless as they are useless.  Theorizing is nice, but you also have to take part in life.

Order of Utnapishtim:  A rock that will endure as long as life on earth.  Without their protection, life would have perished.


=Order of Jesus=

[[Image:WhiteLamb.jpg]]

Positive Stereotype:  Kind eccentric and gifted healer.

Negative Stereotype:  Heaven’s pawn.

Symbol: White lamb.

Signature Spell: Cure Disease.  “Casting Out the Sickness”.

Magical Style:  Ancient Hebrew, with elements borrowed from Greek and Aramaic traditions.

The Order of Jesus claims to have been founded by Luke, disciple of Jesus of Nazareth.  However, in their account Jesus was not the son of God, but was a human mage who had served Heaven but rebelled after being ordered to commit suicide to further divine plans.  Jesus taught that humans should love one another and should strive together for the common good.  He preached total pacifism, although his followers have generally found this too impractical.  Jesus was eventually betrayed to the great magical Houses of Rome by his student Judas, for 30 books of magical secrets.  Unsurprisingly, relations with the Order of Judas and the Houses of Julii and Flavii remain chilly to this day.  Apprentices are trained to help others, ministering to the body, mind and spirit.  Magical training focuses on healing spells.

The Medici church of the Middle Ages and Renaissance feared that the Order of Jesus was allied with Heaven and relentlessly sought their extermination as heretics.  Other Houses did little to protect them as the Order of Jesus’ emphasis on non-violence made them of dubious value as allies and a potential impediment in wartime.  In England, the House of Lancaster gave them refuge in the late 16th century, a tradition continued by the House of Stuart when they seized the thrown shortly thereafter.  Both Houses had hoped to use the Order of Jesus as pawns to further their own ends, and then resented the Order’s ingratitude when they followed their own consciences instead.  The House of Stuart, in particular, has never forgiven the Order of Jesus for failing to support them in the English Civil War.

Mortal Politics:  Humanity is in need of salvation and salvation only come through our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Jesus teaches that we must love God, love our neighbor, and treat other people as we would want to be treated.  When we become too engrossed in the politics of this world, we forget that this life is nothing in importance compared to the life beyond.


Cost:  21

Skills:  Exorcism, First Aid, Occultism, Physician, Psychology, Streetwise, Survival (Urban), Symbol Drawing (Hebrew), Thaumatology, Theology (Christian).

Communication and Empathy:  Persuasion, Sense Emotion, Sense Foes, Truthsayer.
Healing:  Cure Disease, Lend Energy, Lend Vitality, Major Healing, Minor Healing, Relieve Sickness.
Knowledge:  Divination (Gastromancy).


Relations

Order of Boudicca:  Give unto the Julii what is the Julii’s.  Mages have more important business.

Order of Copernicus:  They see the big picture in their own strange way, but they never stop to wonder what it means.

Order of Darwin:  They have the potential to be greater healers than we could ever be, but they do not have the love in their hearts to do it.

Order of Eve:  Jesus died for Eve’s sins as it happens.  Anyway, it has all been forgiven.

Order of Judas:  It has been two-thousand years.  It is time for everyone to forgive them already.

Order of Siddhartha:  There is something greater than yourself and it loves you.

Order of Solon:  They worship freedom but forget love.  Your freedom is worth no more than what you do with it.

Order of Spartacus:  He who lives by the sword will die by the sword.  Violence just breeds violence.

Order of Thales:  There is greater wisdom than the wisdom of man.  They call themselves scholars, but they have blinders on.

Order of Utnapishtim:  The work hard to protect humanity and the world, as they have done from time immemorial.

The Houses

House of Anjou:  So much blood spilt in the name of the prince of peace!  Does their hypocrisy never nag at their conscience.

House of Cain:  The murder of Abel was not God’s fault.  Anyone can be forgiven, but first you must acknowledge your sins.

House of Capet:  God never appointed you to a damned thing.  You insult Him by pretending otherwise.

House of Carolus:  First, they used Christianity as a mask to hide their greed, now they use paganism for the same purpose.

House of Flavii:  You can either love money or God.  The Flavii witnessed the coming of the Messiah and they still love money.

House of Hapsburg:  Did you really think your earthly kingdom would last?  Have you still not learned the emptiness of your ambition?

House of Julii:  They need to change their ways quickly.  Many that are first shall be last and they have been first for a long time.

House of Lancaster:  They think that people are machines that need only food and water to sustain them.

Order of Lilith:  Time to come in from the cold.  Thousands of years of sulking have not made them any happier.

House of Medici:  The money-changers are back in the temple.  Naturally.  It is time they were removed.

House of Romanov:  They want to use us as tools but they will find that more difficult than they think.

House of Stuart:  It would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for these greedy misers to enter the kingdom of heaven.

House of Trastámara:  I wonder if they are possessed.  Their cruelty seems truly inspired.

House of Ummayad:  They have sense enough to be fearful, but not sense enough to look for help.

House of Warwick:  In the long run, it is themselves they are deceiving.  Being able to blind other people does not give them vision.

House of York:  They love to make war, and war is murder.  Do they not see how their magic and their souls have been tained by the killing?

=Order of Judas=

[[Image:Chainbroken.jpg]]

Positive Stereotype:  Relentless harrower.

Negative Stereotype:  Betrayal artist.

Symbol:  Broken shackles.

Signature Spell:  Invisibility.  “Dust and the Wind”.

Magical Style:  Ancient Hebrew, with elements borrowed from the western Hermetic tradition.

The Order traces itself back to the Biblical Judas, although they tell the story rather differently.  According to the Order of Judas account, Jesus was a powerful human agent of Heaven whose reign Judas thwarted by betraying him to the great magical Houses of Rome, including the Julii and Flavii.  The Order of Judas believes that it has a special duty to oppose the servants of Heaven, believing them to be more powerful, and therefore more dangerous, than the servants of Hell.  Apprentices are trained in both theoretical skills intended to help them understand the true nature of reality and practical skills intended to help them survive out on the streets.  Magical training focuses on the art of not being noticed, culminating in the ability to turn invisible.

The Medici church of the Middle Ages and Renaissance feared that the Order of Judas was allied with Hell and relentlessly sought their extermination as heretics.  Throughout history, they have made natural scapegoats and many who have felt themselves betrayed thought that they saw the shadowy hand of the Order of Judas at work, despite little or no evidence.  The Houses of Capet, Stuart and Hapsburg are particularly committed to the view that they were wronged by the Order of Judas in the past, blaming them for their falls from power.

Mortal Politics:  The Order of Judas generally tries to steer clear of mortal politics, on the grounds that it distracts mages from the war on Heaven and Hell.  The Order has no official political stances, although individual members have strong political views.  An unusual number are Libertarians and many are strong supporters of gun rights.

Cost:  22

Skills:  Acting, Exorcism, Fast-Talk, Guns (Pistol), Occultism, Running, Stealth, Streetwise, Symbol Drawing (Hebrew), Thaumatology, Theology (Christian).

Spells:
Light and Darkness:  Blur, Continual Light, Darkness, Gloom, Invisibility, Light.
Meta:  Counterspell, Suspend Spell.
Necromancy:  Death Vision, Sense Spirit, Summon Spirit.

Relations

The Houses

House of Anjou:  Under the veneer of chivalry, you will find a bandit.  Worse, a bandit who wants to be revered.

House of Cain:  They have no more sense of morality than a dog.  They will prey on anyone without a second’s hesitation.

House of Capet:  They love to kill their enemies, but always seem surprised when it happens to them.

House of Carolus:  They went mad with grief and denial a thousand years ago when they lost their grip on power.  Just die, you fools.

House of Flavii:  The finest politicians on Earth.  When they sell you out, you may not even see it happen.

House of Hapsburg:  The dream about universal power, but that requires universal cooperation and people just don’t work together well enough.

House of Julii:  Their arrogance makes them overconfident and that is a great weakness.  They are too proud to see how much people despise them.

House of Lancaster:  They don’t feel any moral obligations to me and so I feel none to them.

Order of Lilith:  It is better to be an outcast in a good cause than out of sheer bile.  The truth is, they hate themselves too much to let others get a close look at them.

House of Medici:  They never let their feelings interfere with their judgment.  Excellent assassins, but not trustworthy.

House of Romanov:  Whoever allowed them to survive the Russian purges did sloppy work.

House of Stuart:  They always mistake us for assassins for hire.  That says a lot about their minds.

House of Trastámara:  They are just asking for it.  They are callous to make themselves appear strong but it isolates them and makes them weak.

House of Ummayad:  Why are you hiding?  Everyone knows where you are.

House of Warwick:  Liars!  Leeches!  These bastards should go to the wall.  Fortunately, their friends are bound to get sick of them sooner or later and do them in.

House of York:  Strength without conscience is worthless.  They would rather be slaves to the Stuart tyrant than think for themselves.

The Rebellion

Order of Boudicca:  They understand that it is possible to be a traitor and a hero too.  They need to learn to let their heads rule their hearts though.

Order of Copernicus:  Teaching people to question the heavens is an excellent idea.  But remember to teach them to question you too.

Order of Darwin:  The more they unravel Heaven’s secrets, the stronger we become.

Order of Eve:  They have felt abused since the dawn of time, but they’ve never found the guts to do anything about it.

Order of Jesus:  How many times must mages be betrayed by this order before they see the hand of Heaven at work?  Can’t they see the bait has a hook in it?

Order of Siddhartha:  If they are too weak to face reality, they need to get the hell out of the way.

Order of Solon:  They are politicians, but they are the best of a bad lot.  At least there is more to their political theory than everyone for themselves.

Order of Spartacus:  They righteously kick ass.  Hoo-Ha!  Alright, so they can be impulsive, but who else can be relied upon to take action, particularly if there is danger involved?

Order of Thales:  They love the sound of their own voice, but I don’t see them doing much.

Order of Utnapishtim:  They are always prepared and always endure.  However, they don’t understand that you can never win a war without taking the initiative.

=Order of Siddhartha=

[[Image:Kreiswuji.jpg]]

Positive Stereotype:  Disciplined sage, master of illusions.

Negative Stereotype:  Religious dupe.

Symbol:  Empty circle.

Signature Spell:  Perfect Illusion.  “Refractions of the Mind’s Eye”

Magical Style:  A mishmash of various Indian traditions.

The Order of Siddhartha is dedicated to liberating humanity from this world, the cage of Heaven and Hell, by a process of enlightenment.  They take their inspiration from the Buddha, who they say escaped this reality.  Mages of the Order strive, through meditation, good works and study, to do likewise.  In the meantime, they work to help humanity by passing on their faith and by direct action against the forces of Heaven and Hell, violent action if necessary.  They are found where there are people searching for truth or in desperate need of help, as likely to show up in a temple, a center for the homeless, a university classroom, or urban ganglands.  Apprentice training is designed to help the student to achieve a mystical understanding of the nature of reality.  Magical training focuses on illusions, to help the student understand the illusionary nature of the world.

The Order of Siddhartha was founded in Venice in the 14th century by Italian mages that had turned to Theravada Buddhism.  They have long been persecuted by the great Houses of Italy, including the Flavii, Julii and Medici, and many fled to the new world when it was opened up to the west.  In the United States, the order quickly attracted local Buddhists from the immigrant population and by the late nineteenth century, most order members were of Chinese ancestry.  Today, there is a mix of people of all races and cultures.  Some Order members pursue personal enlightenment, while others work to help mortals to become enlightened.

Mortal Politics:  The order refuses to take stands on political matters, though individual members have many and varied personal opinions.


Cost:  20

Advantages:  Language (Hindi, Broken)

Skills:  Acrobatics, Folklore (India), Judo, Meditation, Occultism, Symbol Drawing (Indian), Thaumatology, Theology (Buddhist).

Spells:
Illusion and Creation:  Complex Illusion, Control Illusion, Dispel Illusion, Know Illusion, Perfect Illusion, Simple Illusion.
Light and Darkness:  Continual Light, Light.
Sound:  Silence, Sound.


Relations

The Houses

House of Anjou:  Is it any wonder that they consume human flesh when humanity is nothing but prey to them?

House of Cain:  They glorify in their role of predator, not seeing how much more they could be.

House of Capet:  Empty, fossilized and withering to nothing.  They need to wake up before there is nothing left of them but a dream.

House of Carolus:  They are lost wandering in the past, but the past is an illusion.

House of Flavii:  Calling the Flavii corrupt is like calling water wet.  They didn’t invent dishonesty, but they perfected it.

House of Hapsburg:  American mages underestimate their power.  They have all of Europe in their grasp.

House of Julii:  They hunger for power and for glory and only the whole world will satisfy them.

House of Lancaster:  They don’t love people, they love machines.  So they turn their back on what is real for what isn’t real.

Order of Lilith:  They worship their own desires, calling their prison a palace.  They are unquiet wraiths, crying in the wilderness.

House of Medici:  Money is just the vehicle.  What they really want is respect.  That is a desire that can never be satiated.

House of Romanov:  They can either stay stuck in the past or they can let go of their old self-image.

House of Stuart:  Do they really think that their petty empire will last forever?  Great kings come and great kings go and the world marches on just the same.

House of Trastámara:  So alienated from enlightenment, they would rather be demons than human beings.

House of Ummayad:  Who knows?

House of Warwick:  They hide in darkness because they are so ugly when exposed.

House of York:  They grow more aggressive every day and will either seize power for themselves or be destroyed.

The Rebellion

Order of Boudicca:  Rebel, yes, but recognize that the state is the least of your problems.  Human tyranny is awful, but the tyranny of false reality is worse.

Order of Copernicus:  They see everything but themselves.  The world of our perception tells us more about ourselves than the universe as it is.

Order of Darwin:  They understand where we come from.  Now they must understand where we are heading.

Order of Eve:  They want to bring humanity to paradise in the external world and that can never happen.  Paradise is inside us.

Order of Jesus:  Haven’t you learned yet that we must help ourselves?  Your love is inspiring, but you need wisdom too.

Order of Judas:  They are too focused on external enemies to see the enemy within.  How will they transform themselves when they are always shadowing other people?

Order of Solon:  They fight for freedom, but to be free you must stop fighting.  They do not want to enslave others, but they do not know how to free them either.

Order of Spartacus:  When your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

Order of Thales:  They are hunting for truth, but have already bound themselves in rules.  What if there is more to truth then their preconceptions allow?

Order of Utnapishtim:  They never change and so they will never improve themselves.  They do not meditate.  They simply wait for nothing in particular.

=Order of Solon=

[[Image:Greek Tablet.jpg]]

Positive Stereotype:  Democratic crusader.

Negative Stereotype:  Corrupt politician.

Symbol:  Stone tablet.

Signature Spell:  Emotion Control.  “Speaking to the Spirit of Man”.

Magical Style:  Ancient Greek.

Solon was an ancient Athenian mage who became convinced that the ills of the world are due to the corrupting nature of power.  Even the gods started off as creatures of goodness, but the very power they possessed transformed them into things of evil.  The only solution is to make sure that power is so evenly divided that nobody’s interests can be ignored.  Solon worked to make Athens more democratic, making compromises as required by the political realities of his day.  Members of the order continue that fight to this day, striving to bring democracy and equality to the world.  They champion human rights and fight government corruption wherever they can.  Apprentices are trained in politics and in the ways in which humans can be lead and persuaded.  Magical training is similarly aimed at helping the mage to influence others.

In ancient times, students of this order were responsible for the overthrow of kings in favor of republics in Greece, Asia Minor and Italy.  Wherever republics or democracies have sprung up since, the hand of the order has usually been at work.  It was they who advised the Roman Houses of Claudii, Flavii and Julii to rise up against the House of Romulus and become masters of a Roman Republic and they have never forgiven the Flavii and Julii for replacing the republic with an empire.

The Order of Solon sided with the roundheads in the English Civil War, earning them the hatred of the House of Stuart, with the revolutionaries in France, earning them the hatred of the House of Capet, and with the revolutionaries in the American Revolution, earning them the hatred of the House of Stuart.  In the American Civil War, they sided with the north out of a desire for abolition.  Neutral in World War I, which they saw as a matter of the proletariat dying to further the ambitions of the upper class, they sided with the Allies in World War II, scared that democracy may disappear from the Earth.

Mortal Politics:  Democracy must be spread over the entire face of the Earth.  Money gathered by the state must be used for the common good, not for the enrichment of the few.

Cost:  26

Skills:  Diplomacy, History (Modern US), Law, Occultism, Politics, Psychology, Public Speaking, Sociology, Symbol Drawing (Western Hermetic), Thaumatology.

Communication and Empathy:  Persuasion, Presence, Sense Emotion, Sense Foes.
Illusion and Creation:  Independence, Initiative, Simple Illusion.
Mind Control:  Bravery, Command, Emotion Control, Fear, Foolishness, Forgetfulness, Loyalty, Lure, Wisdom.


Relations

The Houses

House of Anjou:  When they rule, they rule oppressively, squeezing their pawns for wealth and making wars of conquest.

House of Cain:  They know nothing of justice, unable to tell a righteous execution from brute murder.

House of Capet:  Egomaniacal authoritarians that the world would be better off without.  They think the universe owes them the wealth that they stole from other people.

House of Carolus:  Their fabled age of glory was an age of oppression for everyone else.  Now they offer us more glory and fewer rights.  No thank you.

House of Flavii:  They killed the Roman Republic and have been stomping on Democracy every since.

House of Hapsburg:  The tyrants of Europe never die, they just go into business.  Is it any wonder that EEC officials are appointed, not elected?

House of Julii:  They love to act in the name of the common citizen, but all they bring is war and slavery.

House of Lancaster:  They want to be the new feudal lords, only with factories instead of manors.

Order of Lilith:  Humans function as parts of societies by their very nature.  To turn your back on humanity is to become something less than human.

House of Medici:  So generous when it comes to doing you favors.  So eager to put you into debt.

House of Romanov:  So perish all tyrants.  They lost their Russian crown and soon, with luck, they will lose their heads.

House of Stuart:  Whatever happened to the find old English tradition of cutting off a Stuart tyrant’s head and sticking it on a pike?

House of Trastámara:  They desire to rule through fear alone and so, of course, nobody consents to be ruled by them.

House of Ummayad:  They want to build their own private society but they can’t do it.  Like it or not, they are a part of the wider world.

House of Warwick:  If it weren’t for the damn kingmakers, we wouldn’t have to put up with the damned kings.

House of York:  They do the commanding and ordinary people do the dying.  It is their job to make sure that all armies are amies of The Houses, not of the people.

The Rebellion

Order of Boudicca:  A revolution without a plan for afterwards is useless.  At least they don’t lack for courage.

Order of Copernicus:  Good.  Education frees the mind.  Let us not forget, though, that a human trained only in the sciences is only half-educated.

Order of Darwin:  Their insight into biology is amazing, but they have forgotten that evolution can be social as well as physical.

Order of Eve:  Ultimately, they are the font of all human liberation.  Alas, they understand nothing of politics and refuse to learn on principle.

Order of Jesus:  The king of kings is just another damned king.  These mages are useful to have around and are often kind, but they are also entirely mad.

Order of Judas:  Every society needs executioners.  In a perfect world, we could be rid of them, but in the real world we must tolerate them.

Order of Siddhartha:  Their own mysticism paralyses them.  It keeps them locked in private worlds but humans are public animals.

Order of Spartacus:  There’s no revolution without a people’s army.  No other Order is as essential, not even us.

Order of Thales:  They have great intelligence, but they apply it to issues at random rather than working towards the common good.

Order of Utnapishtim:  They think they can keep apart from politics, but that only means that they are ruled by others.

=Order of Spartacus=

[[Image:Gladius.jpg]]

Positive Stereotype:  Heroic champion.

Negative Stereotype:  Blood-thirsty rabble.

Symbol:  Gladius.

Signature Spell:  Fireball.  “I Create Fire”

Magical Style:  Ancient Roman.

The Order of Spartacus was founded in the 4th century by freeman mages inspired by the story of the slave-turned-rebel.  The real Spartacus was rebelling against the mundane power of Rome, but the order rebels against anything it considers slavery, including not only ownership of one human by another, but serfdom, the prison system, and, of course, Heaven and Hell.  The order has been militant and frequently violent since the beginning, seeing direct action as the only option of the oppressed.  They have been active historically in the abolition of the slave trade, women’s suffrage, and children’s rights.  Today, much of their attention is focused on the second and third world, but their presence can be felt wherever there is a militant left.  Apprentices are trained to survive first and foremost and a given a thorough grounding in combat skills.  Magical training focuses on fiery offence and on healing.

The Order of Spartacus reserves a particular hatred for the Houses of Flavii and Julii, who they blame not only for slavery in the Roman Empire, but for serfdom in Europe and the spread of the African slave trade.  However they also have longstanding feuds with most of the Houses and certainly with any who have held national thrones.  They took no interest in the American Revolution, finding it a distraction from the more important issue of slavery, but they supported the north wholeheartedly in the American Civil War.

Mortal Politics:  Slavery must be wiped from the face of the Earth and everyone must have equal political rights.  Poverty must be abolished and torture, capital punishment and corporal punishment universally outlawed.  The corporations must be the tools of the people and not vice versa.

Cost:  21

Skills:  First Aid, Guns (Pistol), Judo, Karate, Knife, Occultism, Running, Stealth, Symbol Drawing (Greek), Tactics.

Body Control:  Boost Health, Frailty, Vigor.
Fire:  Create Fire, Fireball, Ignite Fire, Shape Fire.
Healing:  Lend Energy, Lend Vitality, Minor Healing, Recover Energy.


Relations

The Houses

House of Anjou:  Robin Hood had the right idea about them; stick an arrow in them and take their money.

House of Cain:  Skill in the service of no cause is nothing.  So, these murderers are nothing.

House of Capet:  They think they have the right to bleed us white because they are aristocracy. Off with their heads!

House of Carolus:  There are no good kings.  These pigs will spin you a tale of the glory of Charlemagne, but its taxes and labor they want in the end.

House of Flavii: Slavers so relentless that not even the dead slip between their fingers.  Their naked lust for power is never satisfied.

House of Hapsburg:  They want nothing more than to reduce citizens to serfs.  There is going to be trouble in Europe.

House of Julii:  They built an empire out of slavery and yearn to do it again.  The Julii always has a weapon in their hand.

House of Lancaster:  They call themselves “capitalists” but who decided that the capital was theirs?

Order of Lilith:  Selfishness is good, is it?  My self-interest is in not having you around.  Fuck off, then.

House of Medici:  Bandits like any other, only they use the law instead of brute force.  They have no honor, but they do have a long memory for broken contracts.

House of Romanov:  What a shame the mages of Russia didn’t manage to wipe them all out.

House of Stuart:  The great tyrants of the modern world.  Death to all tyrants.

House of Trastámara:  Evil, sadistic, egomaniacal little fucks.  Death is too good for them.

House of Ummayad:  I hope they stay in their holes forever.  If they don’t give a damn about anyone else, then why should I give a damn about them?

House of Warwick:  Their lies keep the world in chains.

House of York:  The power to oppress comes from the barrel of a gun and they know it.  The only thing that stops them from taking over is that the House of Stuart has them trained to be lapdogs.

The Rebellion

Order of Boudicca:  They stood up against the slave trade when other mages were busy making money.

Order of Copernicus:  Like it or not, it is these guys who gave the Rebellion the standing to come out into the open.

Order of Darwin:  They proved once and for all that humanity can change.  As long as they survive, the Rebellion has a chance.

Order of Eve:  The original rebels.  They may be a little wimpy, but you’ve got to give them that.

Order of Jesus:  They are weird, but they don’t try to take power, so they are harmless enough.  If that is how they want to rebel, that’s their business.

Order of Judas:  They bow to no-one and aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty.

Order of Siddhartha:  Rebelling in your own head is not rebelling at all.  Do something!

Order of Solon:  The Rebellion is still in its early stages.  It is a little early to be setting up a government.

Order of Thales:  Twice as immobile as the Siddharthas.  When are they going to take action?

Order of Utnapishtim:  They have much to teach about hiding and surviving but everything to learn about fighting back.

=Order of Thales=

[[Image:WaveNo72.jpg]]

Positive Stereotype:  Wise philosopher.

Negative Stereotype:  Anal buffoon.

Symbol:  Wave.

Signature Spell:  Mage Sight.  “Piercing the Shadow”

Magical Style:  Ancient Greek, with Egyptian, Phoenician and Persian influences.

The Order of Thales was founded in classical Greece, reputedly by the philosopher Thales.  The Order was devoted to the application of reason to the question of the true nature of the universe, with the intention of using this information to protect mankind against the whim of the gods.  Some have accused the Order of preferring thought to action, to the point of being rebels in theory only.  Their usefulness as a source of information is much respected, however.  Apprentices are given a thorough training in science and philosophy.  Magical training emphasizes information spells, especially those dealing with magic itself.

The Order spread with the Greek and Latin languages, throughout Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.  The Order spread again with European languages and Arabic, through Africa and the Americas.  They have rarely held positions of power, however, finding them a distraction from their work.

Historically, the House of Flavii has shown a tolerance of the Order of Thales and have even taken them into their employ.  The relationship has been a difficult one as the independence of order members does not easily accommodate Flavii emphasis on discipline and hierarchy.  The House of Julii has traditionally regarded the Order of Thales as a dangerous subversive organization, although there was temporary cooperation during the Renaissance when the Julii became enamored of the Order’s scholarship.

Mortal Politics:  Our number one funding priority must be the universities.  A nations power to do good is never any greater than its understanding, yet universities receive only a tiny fraction of government budgets.

Magical Style:  Ancient Greek.

Cost:  17

Skills:  Chemistry, Mathematics, Occultism, Philosophy (Western Analytic), Physics, Symbol Drawing (Greek), Thaumatology.

Knowledge:  Analyze Magic, Detect Magic, Identify Spell, Mage Sight, Measurement, Tell Time.
Meta:  Counterspell, Suspend Spell.
Water:  Purify Water, Seek Water.

Relations

The Houses

House of Anjou:  Their cannibalistic state is caused by their overwhelming feelings of rage and hostility.

House of Cain:  A strong monster is still just a monster.  They have disfigured their souls and cannot live like human beings.

House of Capet:  There is nothing left of them but pride and greed.  The right to rule comes from wisdom in the skill of ruling.  It cannot be gained through inheritance.

House of Carolus:  They appear to have gone mad with grief at the loss of their Frankish Empire.  In their hysteria, they are willing to believe anything.

House of Flavii:  If one of the great Houses must rule, it should probably be them.  At least they cultivate their resources instead of bleeding them to death.

House of Hapsburg:  They are too authoritarian to truly allow thought to flourish.  However, they are necessary as a check to the Stuarts.

House of Julii:  So in love with victory that they will invent wars if they have to.  They lack temperance, justice and compassion.

House of Lancaster:  They consort very closely with things that aren’t human, things from the ancient mounds of Britain.

Order of Lilith:  A wretched exile, forever alienated from other human beings.

House of Medici:  Merchants are useful, but they need to be kept out of the church business.

House of Romanov:  Their little empire failed, yet now they want to replace it with something absolutely the same.  Have they no sense?

House of Stuart:  They reign but change nothing, rendering themselves irrelevant to human history.

House of Trastámara:  Living proof that the world has monsters in it.  The fact that they act only on “reason” rather than sadism makes them only more terifying.

House of Ummayad:  Fascinating to talk to, if you can find one.

House of Warwick:  How can you tell when a Warrick is lying?  His lips are moving.

House of York:  They could be good soldiers if they cared about doing the right thing.  Dedication to your given duty is not enough if your given duty conflicts with your actual duty.

The Rebellion

Order of Boudicca:  Don’t let celebrating what you are get in the way of understanding what you could be.

Order of Copernicus:  Wow!  They have so much to teach us.  Who knew that the universe is so vast?

Order of Darwin:  Politically simplistic, but scientifically profound.  They have given humanity incredible gifts.

Order of Eve:  Myths are useful, but not if you forget they are myths.

Order of Jesus:  Some people are just determined to believe what they want, even in the face of the strongest possible evidence.

Order of Judas:  They are cunning, although it is foolish of them to cultivate a reputation for ferocity.

Order of Siddhartha:  They are hiding in their own imaginations and need to wake the hell up.

Order of Solon:  History does not warrant their faith in the wisdom of the common person.

Order of Spartacus:  They have great ideals but no sense, driven more by hysteria than strategy.

Order of Utnapishtim:  Mere survival is a poor life even for an animal.  It is no sort of life for a human being.

=Order of Utnapishtim=

[[Image:Twodoves.gif]]

Positive Stereotype:  Brave protector.

Negative Stereotype:  Useless relic.

Symbol:  Two doves.

Signature Spell:  Beast Speech.  “Hear the Animals”

Magical Style:  Mesopotamian, an amalgam of Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian elements.

Utnapishtim, known to Christianity as “Noah”, is viewed by this Order as the primordial survivor of the wrath of God, who shows that humanity is not simply the helpless victim of divine whim.  As the Order tells the story, Utnapishtim was a loyal servant of God who was told by Him that He had decided to destroy the world by flood.  Utnapishtim then forsook God, building a boat that would survive the storm, saving humanity and the animals.  After saving the world, Utnapishtim went on to steal the secret of immortality from God and is said to still be alive.  This Order regard themselves to be the protectors of the people and animals of the world.  Their focus is very much on survival rather than human happiness, and most of their humanitarian efforts are focused outside of the United States, where human life is most at risk.  Apprentice training, mundane and magical alike, focuses on wilderness survival and an understanding of the natural world.

The Order of Utnapishtim has often come into conflict with the Houses due to their self-appointed role as protectors of humanity.  It supported the barbarian tribes that overran the western Roman Empire, reasoning that the barbarians needed the land to survive, thus earning the order the eternal resentment of the House of Julii.  Similar support for desperate populations has lead to long-running feuds with the Capets, Hapsburgs, Romanovs and Stuarts.

Mortal Politics:  The United States must do more to alleviate world poverty.  We also need to protect the environment, improve public health and get rid of nuclear weapons.  Perhaps if we spent less on the military and the war on drugs, we would have more money for actually helping people.


Cost:  20

Skills:  Animal Handling, Botony, Climbing, Naturalist, Occultism, Stealth, Symbol Drawing (Mesopotamian), Suvival (Any), Survival (Any), Zoology.

Animal:  Beast Soother, Beast Speech, Beast Summoning.
Body Control:  Frailty, Lend Energy, Vigor.
Communication and Empathy:  Sense Foes.
Protection and Warning:  Detect Poison, Sense Danger, Nightingale.


Relations

The Houses

House of Anjou:  The more vengeance they take, the more enraged they become.  Their curse has driven them mad.

House of Cain:  Their powers of endurance are legendary.  We may not like them, but we have a lot to learn from them.

House of Capet:  They are dying.  It can be seen in their flesh.

House of Carolus:  Whatever they get, they are never satisfied.  Like all kings, they feast on what they should cultivate.

House of Flavii:  So degenerate, they disgust even the dead.  Their legendary cunning helps them less than their willingness to sink to any depths.

House of Hapsburg:  They have ancient pacts with forest spirits of an unclean nature.  If they could truly see nature again, they could heal.

House of Julii:  Empires come and empires go.  Mages should be concerned about more important things.

House of Lancaster:  Their technology is destroying the world and they do not care.

Order of Lilith:  They care nothing for others and nobody cares for them.  Still, they are the oldest cabal of mages in the world and must know many mysteries.

House of Medici:  Money isn’t real and one day they may just learn that they can’t eat it.

House of Romanov:  Temporal power doesn’t last.  Deal with it.  You have been given an incredible gift.  Must you throw your life away on the petty glories of the past?

House of Stuart:  Oh, how high and mighty.  They think their reign will last forever, in violation of all the president of human history and longer.

House of Trastámara:  The only reason the other mages have not destroyed them is that they secretly admire their ruthlessness.

House of Ummayad:  The world is outside and they are missing it.

House of Warwick:  They are toying with magical forces that are much more dangerous than they think.

House of York:  They are losing touch with their humanity.  Whatever it is they become, it isn’t likely to survive.

The Rebellion

Order of Boudicca:  They have always been survivors and now they are growing a moral conscience.

Order of Copernicus:  They are very observant and everyone needs observant friends.

Order of Darwin:  They cracked the biggest secret in the universe.  Impressive.  I do not know whether this young Order will last for long, but they justified their place in history.

Order of Eve:  They have always been humanity’s friends.  Though they are naïve and proud, they are kind.

Order of Jesus:  Surprisingly, they do a lot of good in the world.  As long as they continue to fight for our side, we must make them welcome.

Order of Judas:  They understand that sometimes, it is necessary to kill in order to survive.

Order of Siddhartha:  Their tremendous reserves of strength allow them to endure.  We must not be so proud that we close our eyes to new ways.

Order of Solon:  They understand the dignity and importance of the common human being.

Order of Spartacus:  They fight so that we all may remain free.  Whatever happens, the Order of Spartacus must not perish.

Order of Thales:  What on earth are they doing?  What on earth are they talking about?