WANDERERS

By Frank T Sronce (fts5792@cs.tamu.edu)

Description

The Wanderers are one of the smallest and most loosely knit of all the Traditions. They have no "special" or dramatic name for themselves, as most other groups of Mages do. "Wanderer" is enough.

Wanderers believe that travel broadens the mind -- almost literally. They believe that the proper path to Ascension lies in experiencing every culture, seeing every wonder, and learning from people from around the world. They are also deeply interested in exploring the Realms. They believe that everything in existence has a lesson to teach, and that the only path to enlightenment is to learn those lessons.

As such, they are forever traveling, seeking out a scrap of knowledge here, meditating there, and trying to learn everything that they can. Experience is the best teacher; a study session between a Wanderer and his Mentor usually consists of the student following the master and watching how he works his magic. More importantly, the master can answer the question, "Why?" when the student does not understand why one method is used instead of another. As such, Wanderers can actually acquire Study Points by watching another Mage in action, although this is rare.

Game Mechanics

The Study Point penalty for a Wanderer being taught by a member of another Tradition is only -1, not -3, because they are used to learning from teachers with wildly different styles. The foci listed are the most common ones, but many Wanderers have learned to use different ones with little difficulty.

Appropriate backgrounds are Arcane, Dream, Avatar, and Library. Influence is unlikely. Appropriate abilities are Culture, Cosmology, Stealth, Survival, Linguistics, Investigation, and Athletics.

Wanderers often have the Archetypes of Loner or Explorer. Their Essense is never Pattern. Questing is the most common. [Explorers can restore Willpower by seeing an exceptional place that they have not seen before, or by witnessing a once-in-a- lifetime spectacle. Their weakness is their Wanderlust.]

Philosophy

Everything has a lesson to teach. Your senses, both magickal and natural, are all that you need. Observe objectively; do not let your emotions interpret events for you. You will be able to sense where it is that you need to go. Follow your heart, and your mind will follow as well. Never let a chance to learn escape you. Remember your magick; if you cannot observe safely from nearby, observe from afar.

The inhabitants of other worlds and other realms are difficult to understand, but they can teach you things that you never suspected. Be cautious and prudent; you will have as long as you need, whether in this life or the next. The wise man often negotiates rather than attacking, and avoids rather than negotiating.

Philosophy and reality are not so separate as they may seem. Know thyself, so that you may understand others. You don't know all the answers, but neither does anyone else.

Organization

Wanderers have little formal structure. A given Wanderer may be known for expertise in a given area, but his "students" are expected to interpret things for themselves, not accept his answers blindly. Wanderers support each other when necessary, which it rarely is.

Meetings

They often encounter each other in strange and interesting places, but organized meetings are rare, and are generally only called when a great (and temporary) opportunity for learning has been discovered.

Initiation

Wanderers seem to appear spontaneously. Once a self-awakened Wanderer realizes that his learning is insufficient, he will usually go searching for an instructor. Rare as Wanderers are, they usually have little difficulty finding others of their own kind, probably because their Avatars have communicated in previous lives. There is no formal Initiation procedure; the new Wanderer's existence will eventually be known to all of his fellows.

Because every Wanderer knows that he can learn from his students as well as teaching them, usually the only real restriction to receiving instruction from a given Wanderer is being able to find him.

Chantry

The Wanderers, naturally, have no set meeting place. Their meetings usually occur while the group moves at a slow walk through a scenic or otherwise interesting area. At times they will seem to be paying more attention to their surroundings than to each other, but don't be fooled. Wanderers are quite skilled at catching every piece of information around them.

Acolytes

explorers, hikers, mountain climbers, hobos, anyone with wanderlust or on a walkabout.

Sphere

Correspondence

Foci

• Correspondence: A Walking Stick (personal focus), a road, or a door
.
• Time: A watch or clock of some sort.
• Spirit: A doorway, an area of darkness (star/moonlight allowed), or a forest.
• Forces & Matter: A Walking Stick
• Life, Mind & Prime: An open field
• Entropy: A desert, a barren waste, or area of dead grass

Stereotypes

Akashic Brotherhood: They know much, but their methods of teaching are usually much too slow. Treat them with respect and honor their traditions, and they will be good hosts.

Celestial Chorus: Their temples are truly beautiful. So long as you are humble and respectful of their beliefs before them, they will gladly teach you the sum of their philosophy, in an attempt to convert you.

Cult of Ecstasy: Their parties are a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Great parties, but if you've been once, you've seen them all. At least they don't take themselves too seriously.

Dreamspeakers: Similar to us, but their purpose is to serve another, not themselves. Admirable, after a fashion, but they are too quick to condemn the works of man.

Euthanatos: Nihilistic perfectionists. They cannot see the beauty in a cracked vase; they would rather destroy it and start again. They need to realize that your failures can let you grow and expand. Certainly, there is a lot to be learned from the spirit world, but by going there in person you can learn much more without the inconvenience of being dead.

Hollow Ones: The Cult of Ecstasy gone morbid. Good people to learn about your feelings from, but they don't see the inherent value in knowledge and learning for its own sake.

Order of Hermes: They have learned a great deal, but they guard their knowledge jealously. Use great prudence when trying to learn their "secrets." It is better to peruse their records by invitation; they are rarely open-minded about people doing so without permission. They need to realize that knowledge is different from other forms of wealth; if someone takes knowledge from you, you are not impoverished, and may grow richer from the experience. Teaching your knowledge to others is an easy way to expand it.

Sons of Ether: If you want to learn from them, then you need to speak with as many of them as possible, to see the common links in their thought. Beware of returning the favor, however; their methods of studying things usually destroy the thing being studied.

Verbena: Too obsessed with their own bodies and flaws to see that it is possible to overcome them. They rely upon emotion and ritual. It is astounding that a tradition so old should have so little real understanding of what it is that they do.

Virtual Adepts: They have learned that reality is what you make of it. They do not yet understand that the outside world works in the same fashion as their simulated realities. To understand the nature of technology, or of modern acts of creativity, they are the people to talk too. They love to talk about themselves, but you may have to learn some of their jargon before they will open up to you.

Wanderers and the Technocracy

Since the Wanderers have such an informal structure, most members of the Technocracy classify individual Wanderers as Orphans to be recruited, rather than Tradition Mages to be destroyed. The Wanderers themselves usually believe in making as few waves as possible. They hate the limelight, and see no reason to antagonize the Technocracy if they can help it. Wanderers rarely use Vulgar magick, being experts in using Correspondence and Spirit magick coincidentally. "I thought I saw someone go through that door, but I guess I was mistaken. There's certainly no one here now." or "I guess he must've been standing in the back, all along."

Iteration X usually passes any information about a recently discovered Wanderer to another Convention, unless that Wanderer was caught in an Interation X security zone, whereupon they throw all of their resources into killing the intruder.

The Syndicate and the Progenitors have no real concern for the Wanderers, usually classifying them as harmless Orphans unless they make a nuisance of themselves. They sometimes try to recruit Wanderers into their own organizations, based upon this.

New World Order, though, hates the Wanderers with a passion, partly for their love of freedom and exploration, but mostly because they are so difficult to keep track of. Wanderers often have a high Arcane rating, and leave an annoyingly slim paper trail. Whenever New World Order has a chance to eliminate one of these pesky people who won't stay where they're told to, they take it.

The Void Engineers, on the other hand, are rumored to have secret contacts with some of the more powerful Wanderers, helping to protect them from the other Conventions in return for their aid in exploring the Deep Umbra.