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*Twisters of Fate (''[[Entropy]]'', Primordial Avatars): Mystical and circumspect, with a tendency to be reserved and contemplative. They have great facility with curses, Geasa, Haruspecy, and other things dealing with the weave of destiny. Many also talk to ghosts, including what some claim are the mythical Wyck, the founders of the Tradition itself.  
*Twisters of Fate (''[[Entropy]]'', Primordial Avatars): Mystical and circumspect, with a tendency to be reserved and contemplative. They have great facility with curses, Geasa, Haruspecy, and other things dealing with the weave of destiny. Many also talk to ghosts, including what some claim are the mythical Wyck, the founders of the Tradition itself.  
*Moonseekers (middleground, Questing Avatars).  The free-spirited, open minded faction, the Moonseekers tend to be the face of the Verbena that most other Mages see. They welcome more than just European magical styles into the fold, including prominently Aztec and Voodoo methods. They're also by far the least luddite faction, using modern biological research and the internet alongside ancient rites. As such, the Moonseekers are the largest faction.
*Moonseekers (middleground, Questing Avatars).  The free-spirited, open minded faction, the Moonseekers tend to be the face of the Verbena that most other Mages see. They welcome more than just European magical styles into the fold, including prominently Aztec and Voodoo methods. They're also by far the least luddite faction, using modern biological research and the internet alongside ancient rites. As such, the Moonseekers are the largest faction.
Their bitter enemies amongst the Technocracy are the [[Progenitors]], and they also have a rather large hatedom amongst Ascension players for the same reason that the Progenitors hate them in-universe - namely, their strong association with "alternative medicine" like chakra alignment, crystal healing, herbalism, homeopathy, accupuncture, etc. You may ask why this is; after all, these methods ''work'' for the Verbena, and the only reason they don't work like modern medicine is because the Technocracy wrote them out of the Consensus... which, when you think about it, means that the [[Sons of Ether]] technically have the right to a Life-wielding faction who represent debunked medical theories and methods. The problem is, whilst "alternative medicine" '''can''' work in the fictitious universe of Ascension, in the real world, it... well, it tends to be a load of bullshit. Which gives people a bias against the faction promoting its legitimacy.


{{WoD-Traditions}}
{{WoD-Traditions}}

Revision as of 04:38, 26 December 2021

In Mage: The Ascension, these guys are some of the closest you'll get to stereotypical Druids... With some bloodier attachments. The Verbena (like the herb they named themselves after) are the best at healing, divination, and other lovely Druidic stuff. They also frequently use Blood Sacrifce, carve shit into their skin, perform depraved acts of self sacrifice, and generally oppose the modern world with all the vehemity of a White Wolf game in the 90's. Their mastery over Life Magic allows them to do all sorts of OP things, like causing all the implants in a Technocrat's body to explode out of them. Verbena mages are not quite as tuned to the spiritual (being mired with Life) as the Dreamspeakers but are still strong advocates for the Fae and the return of "natural magic." Despite their herb-witch schtick, they care more for results and intent than ancient techniques, unlike some of the more hidebound traditions.

For each of the portions of the Metaphysic Trinity there is a faction within the Verbena:

  • Lifeweavers (Dynamicism, Dynamic Avatars): Focused primarily on shapeshifting, elemental manipulation, and other things you can practice alone in the woods, the Lifeweavers are a solitary lot, pursuing personal enlightenment among the natural forces themselves. They're probably the faction whose members are most likely to be good in an all-out brawl, so they sometimes run espionage or assassinations for the rest of the Tradition and the Council as a whole. The Verbena as a whole value finding and restoring remnants of magic (known as Mythic Threads) from a younger time, but none more so than the Lifeweavers. Where Lifeweavers are moderates of Dynamicism, their extremist analogues are the Marauders.
  • Gardeners of the Tree (Stasis, Pattern Avatars): Preoccupied with ritual, bloodline, and pedigree, the Gardeners have rightly earned a reputation as stodgy and narrow minded. That said, they boast peerless skill with rituals and rune magic. For more modern minded magi, they are almost always a real pain in the ass to deal with, but have preserved millennia old lore through generations.
  • Twisters of Fate (Entropy, Primordial Avatars): Mystical and circumspect, with a tendency to be reserved and contemplative. They have great facility with curses, Geasa, Haruspecy, and other things dealing with the weave of destiny. Many also talk to ghosts, including what some claim are the mythical Wyck, the founders of the Tradition itself.
  • Moonseekers (middleground, Questing Avatars). The free-spirited, open minded faction, the Moonseekers tend to be the face of the Verbena that most other Mages see. They welcome more than just European magical styles into the fold, including prominently Aztec and Voodoo methods. They're also by far the least luddite faction, using modern biological research and the internet alongside ancient rites. As such, the Moonseekers are the largest faction.

Their bitter enemies amongst the Technocracy are the Progenitors, and they also have a rather large hatedom amongst Ascension players for the same reason that the Progenitors hate them in-universe - namely, their strong association with "alternative medicine" like chakra alignment, crystal healing, herbalism, homeopathy, accupuncture, etc. You may ask why this is; after all, these methods work for the Verbena, and the only reason they don't work like modern medicine is because the Technocracy wrote them out of the Consensus... which, when you think about it, means that the Sons of Ether technically have the right to a Life-wielding faction who represent debunked medical theories and methods. The problem is, whilst "alternative medicine" can work in the fictitious universe of Ascension, in the real world, it... well, it tends to be a load of bullshit. Which gives people a bias against the faction promoting its legitimacy.

Members of the Council of Nine Mystic Traditions

Akashic Brotherhood

Celestial Chorus

Cult of Ecstasy

Dreamspeakers

Euthanatos

Order of Hermes

Sons of Ether

Verbena

Virtual Adepts