A World of Darkness

The world of Apocalypse, Ascencion, and Masquerade is, in many ways, just like our world.
Children are born, grow up, go to school, follow careers, grow old and die. The sun rises and sets
day after day. In the World of Darkness, however, everything is just a little grittier, a little more
corrupt and a little more tainted. Gang warfare is rampant. Poor areas are more impoverished.
Even the nice places are tainted with a hint of something dark and corrupt. This darkness is
expressed in the ambiance of Gothic Art, demonstrated by the feelings expressed in the
architecture of high cathedral ceilings, gargoyles and towering grotesque structures that pierce
the night sky. It is also expressed in raw rage, random violence and rebellion basic elements of
the Punk Movement. That is why we call the World of Darkness our Gothic-Punk setting,
because it combines these two styles. Gothic-Punk is a synthesis of both styles, and its
represented in a very different way.

Vampires walk the streets. Werewolves roam the wild. Wizards preserve the spark of magic.

All these are at odds with some aspect of the modern-day society.
GAROU

I went to the place where Luna shone

on her sisters creations
and I saw apes who were like wolves
and wolves who were like apes
and knew that nothing would ever be the same again.
The Silver Record

Werewolves are not the same creatures who walked across the black-and-white movie screens in
the heyday of Lugosi and Chaney. No, these are creatures of farreaching mythic status. They are
both heroes and monsters, a combination of wolves and men. Unlike the werewolves of the
movie screen, a Garou is born either as a wolf or a human, and the Garou only learns to take on
other forms after she matures. A crucial fact of the Garous birth whether her mother was a
wolf or a human is important to her basic nature. This determines her breed. Being a Garou
is not the result of some lycanthropic disease thats passed from person to person. The Garou
are an ancient species with a lineage that reaches back before history, and they can trace their
bloodlines back to the days when humans first stood erect on two legs and used fire to drive back
the darkness.
In the modern world, they have adapted to modern ways while retaining their old mythic roots. In
this respect, they are both modern and primitive, and their mystical nature (especially in the world
of spirits and totems) is also very important to them. The Garou, as they call themselves, are
honorable, noble, savage, canny, proud, angry, heroic, monstrous, inhuman, egotistical,
shortsighted, adaptable, wise, mysterious and tenacious. As a species, they are perhaps the
most hardy and the most foolhardy of all the earths creatures. They believe themselves to be the
defenders of Gaia, an all-powerful godlike being. If you ask a Garou who, or what, Gaia is, youll
get several different answers, and all of them are considered correct. The Garou defend Gaia
from the Wyrm, also a being of debutable reality, an evil creature bent on consuming, tainting
and destroying all of Gaia. Not only is the Wyrm real, say many Garou, but its evil spirits are
powerful and prevalent everywhere, especially in the dark cities. Perhaps this is why we call this
The World of Darkness. Indeed, the Darkness has allies. The Darkness is everywhere. Without
the vigilance of heroes, the Darkness will win.

The Silver Record: A History of the Garou

In one of their most sacred writings, the Silver Record, the Garou describe how their race
emerged from the raw earth and were given gifts by Luna, the crazy sister of their mother, Gaia.
The Record is a collection of Garou glyphs and symbols, each of which mark an important stanza
in a long poem about the Garou. The Record speaks of when the Garou were appointed to be the
defenders of Mother Gaia, who can be seen as the entire Earth, all of existence, or both. The
Record tells of when the Garou were given the power of shapechanging, the strength of Rage,
the insight of Gnosis, and the freedom of spirit-walking. These were the birth-gifts given by the
Four Winds.
A Garou can control the shape he wears. He chooses to be in a specific form, a form that is part
of a spectrum ranging from human to wolf. The most powerful (and frightening) form of the Garou
is the Crinos form, the half-wolf, half-man shape. In this shape, they are towering monsters, but
they are also deadly warriors.
Garou are creatures of Rage and Gnosis. Their Rage enables them to be deadly warriors and
can cause them to move and act faster than the eye can see. Their Gnosis allows them to tap
into the spiritual wealth of Gaia and use spiritual magic in her service. The Garou are beings of
two worlds: the Earth and the spirit world, called the Umbra. They can step sideways into this
spirit world, where the spiritual is real and our reality is only a shadowed reflection.
The Record also speaks of the Gifts that their mothers sister, Luna, gave to the Garou. Luna is
revered for her mystical knowledge, but is also reviled for the consuming madness that she
brings. Luna waxes and wanes, growing full and slipping away to nothingness. The Moon
symbolizes the Garous own mystical side, and their changing nature as well. It is said that great
Luna took the first Garou to her lodge in the sky and taught them secret knowledge. She looked
into each Garous heart and saw what phase the Moon was in at the Garous birth; she provided
the Garou with Gifts to fit the personalities and strengths of the different phases.
This fact defines a Garous role among her people, called the auspice. A Garous auspice
determines not only the Garous role in society, but also some of the secret lore with which they
are familiar. The auspice is determined by the phase that the Moon was in on the day of the
Garous birth.
Over the centuries, spirits have given wisdom and knowledge of special powers to the Garou.
These powers and secrets are shared among the other members of a Garous breed and
auspice, and also serve to further define a Garous purpose and role within a tribe.

The Tribes
The Record speaks of the tribes, fifteen groupings of Garou that originally formed out of pack
differences and changes in pack hierarchy. Among the first of these were the Silver Fangs
(rulers and warrior-heroes), the Shadow Lords (beta-wolves, the schemers and politicians) and
the Black Furies (the alpha females, who followed their own path). Several of the more mystical,
philosophical Garou, those who watched the skies for portents and omens, formed their own
tribe, one they called the Stargazers.
In the Garous far travels, the Record tells of the Garou splitting into more tribes: the Fianna of
Ireland, the White Howlers of Scotland, the Get of Fenris of the Saxon, Norse and Germanic
areas, the Silent Striders, who vanished for a time into the dark continent of Africa, only to
reemerge later, and the Bunyip, who travelled to and dwelled on the continent of Australia. The
Record also speaks of the far-travellers: the Uktena, the Wendigo and the Croatan, who
journeyed far across what would become Russia and traversed the same Bering Land Bridge that
the original Native Americans (some of them related to the Garou by blood) crossed. During pre-
history, the Silver Fangs ordained that the Garou would watch over the humans in much the
same way a shepherd watches over his flock, except that they encouraged the Garou to cull the
weakest and oldest from the human herds by ravaging their villages and encampments. As a
result of this practice, which the Garou called The Impergium, two tribes formed: the Red
Talons, who were all bred by wolves and favored the policy (they had grown to hate the hunter
humans), and the Children of Gaia, who sought peace among the Garou and an end to the
Impergium, knowing that somehow the Impergium would haunt them until the end of their days.
When cities rose up, two more tribes of Garou emerged: the Glass Walkers, who learned to use
the tools of humanity, and the Bone Gnawers, who had grown tired of eating the leavings from
their Silver Fang betters and sought refuge and a new life in the cities. For a time, all Garou
prospered, and the Wyrm was held at bay. But the Wyrm was merely gathering its coils, like a
cobra waiting to strike. When it did, it took several tribes down with it. The Garous own inner rage
caused the death of the Bunyip tribe in Australia as the rest of the Garou waged an unholy war
against them and killed them all, believing them to be tainted. The Croatan were also completely
and totally lost in a supreme self-sacrifice to defeat a powerful minion of the Wyrm.
The most heinous betrayal, however, was that of the White Howlers. They joined with the Wyrm,
although to this day, no one knows why. They danced an insane labyrinth know as the the Black
Spiral and went over completely to the Wyrm, whom they now serve. These creatures are called
the Black Spiral Dancers, and they are the incarnation of all that is evil in Garou. Their name
has been removed from the Silver Record, and they will be reviled forever.
Now only thirteen tribes remain, and the number of Garou is shrinking yearly. A tribe can mean a
great deal to a Garou, especially if his heart and mind can accede to tribal policies. The tribe is
part heritage and part community. When a Garou is among the members of his tribe, he is not
only participating in Garou society, he is connecting himself to the wisdom of the Garou in the
same tribe. The tribe shapes a Garous political outlook, his viewpoints on human society and the
way other Garou relate to him.
Those without a tribe are mockingly called the Ronin, for they have no tutor or master. These
people are usually renunciates, and they do not seek to help or hinder the Garou. Many of them
are lost wolves, having lost some vital element that makes them Garou. Many are also of the
Wyrm. The Ronin are mysterious, shadowy and distrusted, but some of them are among the
greatest of Gaias heroes.

The War for Gaia

The Garou are at war with the Wyrm in the defense of Gaia. Many also believe that these are the
last days of that war, that the prophecies of the Apocalypse are coming true and that the end of
all things, even the end of Gaia, is near. This threat of Armageddon influences all of the Garous
actions. Patience is in short supply, and understanding even more so. The Children of Gaia,
peacemakers among the Garou, have quite a job on their hands. Garou at this time tend to
fluctuate between two extremes: frenzy, in which they are totally consumed with the hatred of the
Wyrm and of all corruption, and Harano, in which they are totally overwhelmed by the imbalance
of the fight they wage and become utterly depressed. Somewhere between frenzy and Harano is
the balance that the Garou strive to attain, caught as they are between them. Many Garou seek
to strike this balance by learning from their elders and from ancient lore.

Others Who Dwell in Darkness

The Garou claim the whole Earth as their territory and can turn up almost anywhere. They arent
restricted to the cities or banned from them. However, the Garou are not alone in the World of
Darkness. They must contend with many other supernatural peoples and entities.
One of the traditional enemies of the Garou are the Kindred of Caine, the vampires, also known
as the Leeches. Because vampires feed on blood, employ dark powers, and dwell in the rotten
Wyrminfested cities, the Garou believe them to be of the Wyrm. In many ways, however,
the Leeches and the Garou are alike: they are both predators, expertly adapted to their home
environment. They are both concerned with their human protectorate. They both hide from the
presence of humanity and work to maintain the illusion that they are not real. Both are prone to
frenzied rages. Both employ magical powers. And yet, perhaps because of their similarities, the
Garou and the Kindred are constantly at war.
Clearly the mostly-civilized Kindred are not the wild primitive warriors that the Garou are, but the
vampires have powers of the mind and powers of blood magic that the Garou do not have. In the
end, the Garou and the Kindred could easily assure each others destruction. Thus, the Garou
tend to watch the vampires of an area and often seek to limit their influence without openly
assaulting them, although occasional flare-ups are expected. Usually, members of the Gangrel
clan of vampires interact most successfully with the Garou, as they are closest to them in
temperament.
The Garou also share the World of Darkness with mages, who sometimes seek to drain the
power of their sacred lands. Cloaked in mystery, the mages are widely distrusted and disliked by
the Garou, although there are a few mages who speak for Gaia. These mystics have found some
acceptance among the Garou.
KINDRED

Vampires pretending to be humans predending to be vampires.

How avant-garde.
Louis and Claudia

Vampires have long been feared as rapacious monsters of the night - terrible black forms
sweeping out of the darkness to steal infants from their cribs and ravish the blood of innocents.

Vampires are also creatures of deadly beauty, immense passion and predatory sensuality.

Vampires are monsters. How does it feel to leave a dead, bloodless child in a dumpster? To
manipulate mortals like pawns on a chessboard? To suspect that the elders wield you as an
unwitting weapon against their ancient foes? To eke out an unlife of secrecy and bloodshed? To
succumb to the wiles of the Beast and tear innocent victims to shreds?

In response to their environment, the Kindred have evolved a complex society that exists just out
of sight of the mortals who surround them. Age, clan, sect, sire, power, influence and many other
aspects of unlife make the Kindred who they are. Part of any Kindred's being is membership in a
number of social castes that grace vampire society. By creating and enforcing divisions and roles
for themselves, no matter how artificial, the Kindred seek to escape the Beast that roils within
them.

The Masquerade is, in fact, a double entendre. Not only do vampires hide from mortals, they hide
from themselves as well, pretending they are not the horrors they have truly become.

One way the Damned distinguish themselves is through a combination of age and generation, or
how far removed a Kindred is from the progenitor vampire, Caine. Young vampires must prove
themselves to their elders to be afforded any bit of status, and Kindred society is often as
stagnant and stultifying as the immortal Damned themselves. There is a small degree
of mobility, however, as elder Kindred are always looking for assets and allies who may aid them
against their rivals in the Jyhad.

The greatest status is accorded to the Antediluvians, vampires of the Third Generation. Most
vampires consider these Kindred to be legendary - certainly, none has been verifiably seen in the
modern nights. The lowest rung of status is held by rank neonates and the clanless Caitiff, those
claimed by no clan or with blood too weak to trace a proper lineage.

The Embrace
Not every victim of the vampire's Kiss rises to become Kindred herself - making a new vampire
requires a conscious effort, and often permission. The Embrace is the term for the act of turning
a mortal into a vampire. When a vampire wishes to sire progeny, her hunts take on a new
characteristic. No longer does the Kindred simply search for sustenance; instead, she becomes
more aware and cunning, looking for the perfect combination of personal behaviors that warrant
immortality.

The reasons for Embracing new Kindred vary from vampire to vampire. Some sires feel great
remorse over their undying curse of vampirism, and select mortals who might "give something
back" to the depraved race of Kindred. A few vampires look for great artists, thinkers, creators or
just compassionate souls whose talents should be preserved forever. Other Kindred are vindictive
and spiteful with the Embrace, choosing mortals whom they wish to see suffer.
Most Kindred, however, Embrace out of loneliness or desire. These vampires are invariably the
worst off as, after the culmination of their lust or anguish, they are left not with soulmates, but with
monsters every bit as callous and predatory as they are.
Kindred Society
Vampires are first and foremost solitary predators. A Kindred might go years or even decades
without seeing another vampire, preferring to hunt in solitude or walk among a select group of
mortals. Nonetheless, most Kindred choose or are forced to interact with their fellows at some
point in their unlives; the movements of the Jyhad rarely leave even the most detached Kindred
entirely untouched.

The society of the Damned is as structured as any mortal institution, if not more so. Numerous
offices, titles and responsibilities circulate among the upper echelons of a city's Kindred, and
these positions confer great power - albeit with an accompanying peril, as those who would shake
the foundations of a Kindred power structure often come looking for obvious title-holders.

The prince is, to put it simply, the vampire who has enough power to hold domain over a city,
codify the laws for that city and keep the peace. Such a position is typically held by an elder, for
who but an elder has the necessary personal charisma and power to take and hold domain in a
metropolis? Most princes are "advised" by a group of elders called the primogen. Collectively,
the primogen can be considered among the most powerful vampires in a city, and can rival the
prince for influence of the city's Kindred. Individually, however, they are either not as powerful as
the prince himself or do not care to devote themselves to the duties of maintaining a city. The
primogen usually serve as check and balance against the power of the prince, while seeking to
advance their own or their clan's agendas.

There are several other stations below the rulers, each with names varying by region or sect.

Sects
Sects are groups of vampires and clans that supposedly share a common ideology. They are a
modern contrivance, but an important one. Sects as they are known in these nights first surfaced
after the Great Anarch Revolt, a continent-wide upheaval which took place in Europe during the
15th century.

The Camarilla: the largest sect of vampires in existence concerns itself with the Masquerade,
thereby hoping to maintain a place for Kindred in the modern nights. The Camarilla is an open
society; it claims all vampires as members (whether they want to belong or not), and any vampire
may claim membership, regardless of lineage. Though the Camarilla is the largest sect, just over
half of the 13 known vampire clans actively participate in its affairs.

The Sabbat is rumored to have its origins in a medieval death cult, and is greatly feared by
Kindred who do not belong to it. This sect is monstrous and violent, and no longer clings to any
trappings of human philosophy or morality. Members instead revel in their vampiric unlives.
Sometimes referred to as the Black Hand, the Sabbat actively seeks the overthrow of the
Traditions, the destruction of the Camarilla, and the subjugation of humankind.

The Inconnu are not a sect so much as they are a disparate group of like-minded vampires. No
longer wishing to be the puppets of those older than they, and tired of the incessant maneuvering
of those younger than they, the Inconnu seem to have dropped out of the Jyhad altogether. This
is what distinguishes an Inconnu vampire from those of other sects - the Inconnu distance
themselves from other vampires and their contemptible machinations.
Clans
There are 13 known clans, each supposedly spawned by one of the Antediluvians, the ancient
grandchilder of the first vampire. It is widely accepted that of the thirteen "great" clans, seven
claim membership in the Camarilla, two belong to the Sabbat, and the remaining four abstain
from sects entirely.

As the Brujah tell the tale, they were once philosopher-kings of Mesopotamia, Persia and
Babylon. Since then, the Brujah have suffered inescapable decline. Now they are perceived as
little more than spoiled childer who have no sense of pride or history. Though nominally in the
Camarilla, the Brujah are the sect's firebrands and agitators, testing the Traditions and rebelling in
the name of whatever causes they hold dear.

The night-prowling Gangrel are feral vampires and possess disturbing animalistic tendencies and
features. Rarely staying in one place, Gangrel are nomadic wanderers, satisfied only when
running alone under the night sky. Distant, aloof and savage, Gangrel are often tragic individuals;
although many hate the cities' crowds and constrictions, the presence of hostile werewolves
prevents most Gangrel from living outside their confines. Gangrel vampires seem to support the
Camarilla solely because it intrudes upon their unlives less than the Sabbat.

Clan Malkavian has suffered throughout history, and continues to do so to this very night. Every
member of this clan is afflicted with madness, and all are slaves to their debilitating lunacy.
Throughout Cainite history, Malkavians have been alternately reared for their bizarre behavior
and sought out for their even more bizarre insight. Kindred who have regular dealings with the
Malkavians report that the clan is now more morbidly unstable than ever, spreading madness in
its wake like a contagious disease.

The members of Clan Nosferatu suffer the most visible curse of all. The Embrace hideously
deforms them, twisting them into literal monsters. Nosferatu have reputations as information
brokers and harvesters of secrets, as their horrid appearances have forced them to perfect their
mystical ability to hide, sometimes in plain sight.

Prodigals of the Kindred, Clan Toreador indulges in excess and degeneracy, all while claiming to
maintain patronage of the arts. To a great degree, this patronage is true, as the clan claims many
talented artists, musicians, writers, poets and other gifted creators. On the other hand, the clan
possesses just as many "poseurs," those who fancy themselves great aesthetes but lack the
ability to create at all.

The inventors and practitioners of terrible blood magics, the secretive Tremere have a tightly knit
political structure based on the acquisition of power, as well as a fanatical clan loyalty
practically unknown to any other Kindred. Because of the veil of secrecy that surrounds the clan,
disturbing stories have surfaced as to the nature of their vampirism. Some Kindred claim that the
Tremere are not truly vampires at all, but rather mortal wizards who cursed themselves for
eternity while studying the secret of immortality.

The nominal leaders of the Camarilla, the Ventrue claim to have created and supported the
organization of the sect since its inception. Ventrue actively involve themselves in the Jyhad, in
which they exercise their formidable influence over the doings of the kine. Much curiosity exists
among the Kindred as to the innerworkings of this well-organized clan, as rumors of dark
mysteries and slumbering Ancients sometimes slip out from under the Venrrue's austere facade.

The Lasombra are masters of darkness and shadow, and possess a knack for leadership as
keen as that of Clan Ventrue. Once, the Lasombra were nobles, but the chaos of Kindred history
and the formation of the Sabbat have caused most of them to turn their backs upon their origins.
Now, the Lasombra give themselves wholly over to the damnation of being vampires.
Formerly the tyrants of Eastern Europe, the Tzimisce (zhi-mee-see) have been uprooted from
their Old Country manses and relocated into the clutches of the Sabbat. Possessed of a peculiar
nobility, coupled with an evil that transcends mortal perception, Clan Tzimisce leads the Sabbat
in its rejection of all things human. More so than any other vampires, the Tzimisce revel in their
monstrousness. They practice a "fleshcrafting" Discipline that they use to disfigure their foes and
sculpt themselves into beings of terrible beauty.

The Assamites are feared assassins from lands far to the east. No other clan has earned such a
deserved reputation for diablerie, though they also sell their murderous services to other Kindred,
acting as contract killers. According to the Assamites' own teachings, they drink the blood of other
Kindred on the command of their founder, in an attempt to purify their own taint.

Originally hailing from Egypt, the serpentine Followers of Set are said to worship the undead
vampire-deity Set, serving him in all their efforts. The Setites seem intent on "corrupting" others,
enslaving victims in snares of their own weakness, but for what inscrutable purpose, none can
guess. Other Kindred despise the Followers of Set, and the clan claims no allies. Nonetheless,
many vampires seek out the Setites, as the clan is whispered to possess arcane gifts and secrets
from elder nights.

Reviled almost as much as the Setites, the Giovanni is a clan of financiers and necromancers.
Other Kindred are loath to trust the mercenary Giovanni, who seem to be using their influence
toward some unknown end. Part of Clan Giovanni's unhealthy reputation stems from the fact that
it is a very insular clan, drawing almost all its members from its incestuous mortal family.

Descendents of the Gypsy Rom and their forebears in India, the Ravnos vampires lead nomadic
unlives. Like the Gypsies of history, the Ravnos are spurned due to their reputations as thieves
and vagrants. They are also known for their ability to create amazing illusions, the better with
which to trick their marks.

Others Who Dwell in Darkness

The Kindred are not the only monsters to stalk the streets of the World of Darkness. Behind many
a looming shadow lurks a pair of eyes belonging to something... else. The Kindred share the night
with many other odd presences.

Outside the protective streets of the city, the land belongs to the Lupines, monsters who have
been the dire enemies of the Kindred since time immemorial. Also known as werewolves, the
Lupines seem to travel in packs, much as normal wolves do. Werewolves are universally feared
by vampires as ruthless, efficient killers, and more than one vampire claims to have witnessed a
single angered Lupine bring down an entire coterie of Kindred. Insular and xenophobic, the
werewolves despise the Kindred; the precise reason behind this loathing is unknown, but a
vampire caught by a werewolf is assuredly in dire peril. Wise Kindred know to keep to the cities,
and that to leave their protection is to invite disaster in the form of a cloud of
fur and fangs. On nights when the full moon is high and white, Kindred can hear the howls of the
Lupines and smell their ferocity on the wind.

Practicioners of arcane arts, the mages resemble humanity even more than Kindred do. In fact,
the Tremere maintain that mages are humans themselves, though ones who know the secrets of
ancient magic. Though not overtly hostile to vampires, mages seem to prefer solitude and will not
hesitate to eliminate a bothersome Kindred. Few vampires know much about this group's powers,
but strange events tend to happen in the presence of mages. It is rumored that mages may evoke
truly fantastic effects, but they evidently maintain a practice similar to the Masquerade, one which
likewise protects them from a fearful populace.

The Children of Caine have spread throughout the world, but they find themselves thwarted in the
Far East by the mysterious Cathayans, non-Kindred vampires native to the Orient. The
Cathayans, or "Kindred" of the East, seem to have very little in common with their Western
brethren. Rumors of demonic powers surround these Asian visitors, and their enigmatic behavior
and foreign mindset leave many Western Kindred ill at ease. Making matters worse are the
increasingly frequent reports of the "Hooded Mandarin," a formidable Cathayan vampire, and his
presence at disastrous Kindred events.
MAGI

"Magi are those few people who realize that they are not defined by reality, but rather they define
reality. These people are the ones who have awakened fully to magic's potential and may,
through enlightened will and belief in their vision, work changes on reality itself."

Archmage Jorge De Mayo of the Order of Hermes

Magic defines the existence of mages. But what is it? To some, magic is power; it's the ability to
make things happen. To others, it's wisdom, the enlightenment that comes with internal
fulfillment. Some practice magic as an external force shaped by procedure and ritual, while others
consider it the energy that flows from inside the magician.
Magic is all of these things and more. It's a dynamic force of change, whether that change tears
down the old, strengthens the new, or creates the wonderful. Through strength of will, belief in
practiced forms and an enlightened consciousness that speaks to the Pattern, mages re-weave
the Tapestry itself.
Nothing defines a mage so readily as his ability to wield the reality bending power of magic. It is
this power to impose his own view of reality onto consensual reality that forever sets the mage
apart from the ruck and run of Sleeper society. By concentrating his Awakened will, a mage can
alter the nature of reality as easily as the average Sleeper might alter her home's temperature by
adjusting the thermostat. Still, the modern mage is very unlikely to transform his enemies into
swine, divide the sea or blot out the noonday sun. The time of such extravagant displays of
wizardry is long past.
Today's mage depends on subtlety, even more so since recent supernatural events have made
the blatant use of magic much harder to perform. The wise willworker cloaks his magical effects
in coincidence and happenstance. The timely arrival of a taxi to whisk the mage away from
trouble, the unfortunate explosion of a gas pump just before a nondescript black sedan rounds
the comer and other similar occurrences are in no way implausible to the Sleepers who may view
them. By avoiding alerting Sleepers with vulgar displays of magic, the mage lowers the risk of
incurring Paradox substantially. By blending quietly into the world around him, the mage avoids
the attention of suspicious mortals, hunters, other supernatural creatures and even the conflicting
forces of the Tapestry itself.
A modern mage is not any less effective than his predecessors, however. The power to alter
reality is an awesome one, even limited as that power has always been by the need to avoid
Paradox. The feats performed by contemporary mages are of no less legendary stature than
those achieved by the magi of the Mythic Ages merely because they are done surreptitiously. The
fact that modern magicians are successful at all, given their countless enemies and hostile reality,
makes their feats even more impressive. In a world overrun with science and technology, the
existence of a subtle magic is a potent feat in itself.

Awake or Asleep
Magic cannot exist without the mundane. As counterpart to that which is common, magic gains
definition through its touch of the strange. Such mysterious powers and supernatural phenomena
exist outside the everyday world of the common man, the perception of "normal," consensual
reality. Using magic, the Awakened impose their desires onto reality, changing the world to match
their whims. Yet were there not a rigidly defined static reality, there would be no subject on which
to work the magician's will. There can be no Awakening unless someone first slumbers.

Most people accept the limitations of static reality. Feeling that they exert no control over their
destiny, these folk take what is handed to them by the cosmos. These, then, are the Sleepers
who make up the vast majority of humankind. Of these, a small number realize that reality's laws
are not as binding as most believe. They Awake.

Several schools of though exist concerning the origin of the ability to produce and wield
Awakened magic. Some mages maintain that they are merely a conduit for a power greater than
themselves. They maintain that, through their talent and training, they connect directly to
Tapestry, the Weave, the Pure Ones, or some other aspect of the higher power. Others believe
that the power of Awakened magic is inherent to all Awakened beings. They contend that all one
needs to work magic is the faith to believe that it exists, the bravery to embrace the power within
oneself and the will necessary to force one's own paradigm onto the static reality. A number of
other theories exist, but whichever of these beliefs is the correct one (assuming that there is one
single answer) is of little practical consequence.What matters is that the mage may alter reality at
will, forever setting him apart from his Sleeper brethren.

The limits of Awakened magic are many. Since the close of the mythic ages, the restrictions
imposed by material reality have come to hamper the castings of the willworker greatly. It has
been said wistfully that the first mages had no fear of Paradox, as no single consensual reality yet
existed. Whether such a beatific age ever truly existed is unknown, though certainly such an open
and free world of magic is a dream for many mages. In the ages since, the unchecked population
growth of humankind conspired with the advent of mass communication to unite the planet,
creating a truly global society and, thereby, a global reality too. Whereas humanity first existed in
only isolated pockets whose mercurial belief systems allowed for great displays of magical power,
today's worldwide sharing of beliefs in what is and is not possible serve to shackle modern
workings of the Art.

The Seven Traditions

Seven orders of spellcasters, the last remnants of the Ancient Age, are the organizations that
provide schooling, resources, and protections to fledgling mages. They cooperate loosely, despite
their differences, since all share a common enemy. Not every mage belongs to a tradition - there
are always "orphans" who are never found by a member and therefore not initiated, and there are
several "free-lancers" although these do not stand against the Technocracy for very long. These
are the Traditions:

Philosophical martial-arists, the Akashic Brotherhood espouse a union of mind, body and spirit
through personal discipline.

The schismatic Singers of the Celestial Chorus desire renewal of the original One, restoring the
world to a whole and perfect form with their dogmatic faith.

The Dreamspeakers embody the harmonious - although sometimes dangerous or terrifying -

ways of primal existence in concert with nature and the spirits. They follow the paths of shamans
and medicine men.

Drawing inspiration from Hindu beliefs and responding to the suffering of an overcrowded
uncaring world, the Deathmen (and women) of Euthanatos bring release to the pained and death
to evil.

Rational and studious, the Wizards of the high Order of Hermes practice carefully refined
formulaic magic handed down over centuries. Their magic derives from a set of forms built
through rigorous application of mystical principles. Probably the strongest tradition left standing.

Laboratories of weird science and fringe technology embody the lunatic inspirations of the Sons
of Ether, who pursue the cast-off remnants of discredited science and cutting-edge alternative
systems.
Primal and deadly, the misnamed Pagan of the Verbena delve into the primal nature of life, birth,
blood and sacrifice in their communion with potent forces.

The Force of Unbelief

The Technocracy, also referred to as the System, the Syndicate, or Babylon, is the bane of all
magicians. It started in the Dark Ages as the unspoken force behind the Inquisition, and
continues today through various secret and not-so-secret organizations that persecute all
spellcasters to either eliminate them as a potential threat, or exploit their abilities through
experimentation to further some misterious goal or another. The Technocracy is not a single
organization, nor does it have a "central leadership" - it just represents the worldy force of logic
and uniformity that seeks to elimintate deviants - meaning those who oppose the logic, meaning
those who bend reality, meaning those who reek of Paradox. Some believe this is a mystification
of the "normal" mundane forces of the Sleepers, but the few experienced mages who know their
stuff, they know the Technocracy is very real. In some parts of the world, it is embodied as a
group of people in black suits with shades, in some as a local police force, and in some as a witch
hunt, but it is always there. When a mage bends the laws of reality in an obvious manner, it is
there to set things straight, usually eliminating the deviant.

Some members of the Technocracy are semi-aware of the supernatural and approximately what
it represents, but most non-operatives are deep asleep, just following orders and doing their jobs.
Usualy not "evil" in the common sense of the word, the Technocracy is a great threat, as it
stumbles about in partial ignorance, trying to do the right thing, destroying that which it does not
understand. It had been fighting this "holy war" for a very long time, and most importantly - it has
won. Almost noone really believes in magic these days, the mystic world is in ruins, the magical
creatures rarely visit Earth any more, and the magi are undercover. Hiding like beasts, alongside
vampires and werewolves, they struggle to preserve their arts and their lives.

That is the arcana of the modern world, the World of Darkness.