ANDERS MAGE PAGE 2.0

Buildings often shape how we see things. Some buildings give a feeling of age, stability and staid conservatism. Some give a feeling of dynamics, progress and a ruthless will to succeed. Some are warm, soft, a bit worn but still comfortable, places where inhabitants feel at home despite the inconveniences. Most buildings are very human places. But the buildings of Antonio Ricci are not built for humans. They are built for the beings he serves.

Antonio Ricci is a somewhat well-known architect in certain circles. He was a pupil of the Norwegian architect Niels Torp, but started his own firm, Ricci Architecture, in the early 1980's. His first major project was the new headquarters for Leon Transports Inc. in Atlanta. The original design and the ingenious use of zig-zag corridors to make the most out of the limited space made him famous in design circles. After that he designed several buildings, mainly office buildings. His style is rather unique, based very much on obtuse angles, clean and straight lines and a fascination with glass, mirrors and metal. Most of his buildings are very irregular structures with large halls, zig-zag corridors, no right angles anywhere and large windows letting in light everywhere. His works have won him several prizes, including the coveted Henderson Award in 1989 for his bold design of the regional headquarters of Shahashiro Corporation in San Francisco.

What no one knows is that Antonio's designs have another purpose beside being innovative uses of space and material. They are also parts of his Labyrinth. Antonio Ricci is in fact a full Nephandus and his architecture is an ingenious plan to help his masters reach Earth. By aligning the odd angles and lines of his buildings, he has created weird Correspondence effects. The obtuse angles of his buildings can be used as portals for beings from the Deep Umbra to reach Earth, and the odd structure of the buildings causes the Gauntlet and Horizon to shift and bend, opening up gates to other places. By walking down the corridors in the right manner, people can walk from one building to another without realizing it. Or they can walk into the Umbra. This has caused a few disappearances in buildings designed by Ricci over the last few years, but no one has made any connection between them. In fact, all his buildings are really jig-saw pieces fitting together into one great Labyrinth extending into the Deep Umbra. This is, however, rather hard to notice. People with Awareness tend to get uncomfortable in his buildings, but most think it's because they are so cold and technocratic. People who actually study them with Correspondence will start to notice weird alignments and that the angles are all slightly wrong.

His buildings serve several functions. Partly, they are the physical manifestations of his Labyrinth. Partly, they serve as sources for victims who occasionally wander into it and are consumed by its inhabitants. Parts of the buildings function as his Sanctum. This can be as small as a certain corner or as large as a courtyard. These places all form a secret pattern only Antonio understands, and inside he can work his magick freely. Finally, some of the buildings function as Nodes fuelling the Labyrinth. Antonio soon realized that the Technocracy often used avenues and highways as ley lines, and by exploiting some of the stranger effects of his buildings he was able to tap into them without anyone noticing. In fact, his style is quite popular among some technomancers, which has helped him even more. His buildings also weaken the Gauntlet, albeit not perceptibly. If they were shifted a tiny bit, their aligned angles would support each other and a massive breach would result, but so far Antonio has decided to play it safe instead, designing more buildings to make his Labyrinth stronger.

His Labyrinth is a place of twisted angles, immense halls, zig-zag corridors, irregular rooms, windows and mirrors reflecting and breaking up everything into angular images. Everything is clean and deserted, like a major office at night. The only sound is of the ventilation system. There is no outside or inside, just more rooms. In the nights Antonio used to dance laughing and chanting through the halls, darting in and out of the buildings in the real world, cavorting with the beings he finds in his Labyrinth and singing praises to his lords and to the angles.

Antonio became a Nephandus when he one day made a wrong turn in one of Niels Torp's buildings. Instead of winding up in an office, he found himself in a weird labyrinth of odd angles and frightening structures. Exactly what he did and who he met is unknown, but he returned a few days later as a changed man. He began to pursue his own ideas and amazed his colleagues with his amazing grasp of space and how to use it. A few months later he quit working for Torp and founded Ricci Architecture.

Antonio is a rather young and good-looking man, with dark hair and brown eyes. He always dresses according to fashion and surrounds himself with tasteful, slightly expensive things. His friends and associates like his quirky humor and many eccentricities. Only his closest friends or assistants see the darker side of him, his obsession with corners and labyrinths and his sudden attacks of euphoria.

Antonio doesn't think of himself as a mage. He sees himself as an architect, designing the universe. In his dreams and visions he sees reality as it could be, filled with wonderful angles and buildings. He knows that no one else would understand it, so he carefully translates his visions into architecture or art (he has a large collection of drawings, plans and sketches of truly unearthly structures). At the same time he is also deeply happy when he knows he is furthering his vision in any way. That disturbs him a bit, since he likes to be in control of his emotions.

Antonio is a solitary mage, but has succeeded well despite (or because of) this. No other Nephandi know about his existence. He doesn't have any true Acolytes, but his assistants help him in designing his buildings. Several architects have also been influenced by him, and imitate his style. While their buildings don't automatically connect to the Labyrinth, Antonio can connect it to them with some work. He is constantly on the lookout of more pieces to the great jig-saw puzzle.

At his home (designed by himself and connected to the Labyrinth), he has a great studio and library, filled with strange books and pictures filled with labyrinths, buildings and geometrical objects. He spends much time here designing new ideas and drawing pictures of them. This is also the main center of his sanctum. By simply walking into a corner or doorway he may emerge anywhere in his distributed Sanctum.

Essence: Pattern
Nature: Architect
Demeanor: Bon Vivant
STR 3, DEX 3, STA 2
CHA 4, MAN 4, APP 3
PER 3, INT 3, WIT 3
Talents: Awareness 2, Expression 4, Subterfuge 3
Skills: Drive 2, Etiquette 2, Research 3, Technology 2
Knowledges: Computer 2, Enigmas 4, Law 2, Linguistics 2, Occult 4 (Labyrinths)
Backgrounds: Avatar 3, Destiny 4, Influence 1, Library 2, Allies 3 (assistants and the Corner Hunters), Dream 3 (visions and euphoria), Sanctum (see above)
Willpower 6, Arete 5
Spheres: Corr. 5 (angles and corners), Mind 3 (mirrors), Prime 3 (buildings), Spirit 4 (buildings)

Antonio uses somewhat unusual foci. To manipulate people he uses mirrors and reflections, often hypnotizing his victims. For Correspondence he uses angles and corners. To be able to manipulate space he needs angles, either drawn or (preferably) built. He prefers obtuse angles and tends to avoid right angles, but he can use them too. Rooms or places with no angles and smooth curves are repugnant to him, and he becomes nervous and irritated. He uses buildings to manipulate Prime and Spirit. To use them he needs a building designed by himself or sufficiently close to his style.

Rotes

Open Corner (Corr. 3, Spirit 3)

By simply walking into a corner Antonio can emerge in any other corner inside his buildings or his Labyrinth.

Exit, Right (Corr. 3)

Antonio is very good at finding his way through the buildings he has created, and the coincidental explanation is that he is able to simply turn a corner and vanish.

Mirror, Mirror (Corr. 2, Mind 2)

Antonio looks into a broken or angled mirror and can look out through any similar mirror or reflecting surface (usually in his buildings). Besides watching distant places, he can also influence the feelings of anyone looking at the surface by making faces. If he smiles, the victim will feel happy. If he frowns, they will turn nervous and so on. Antonio has used this to manipulate officials and executives to get his proposals approved or hinder competitors.

The Angles Are All Wrong (Corr. 2, Mind 3)

Sometimes Antonio wants to catch someone or immobilize them. He then uses angular mirrors to shine light on the victim (perhaps through a reflective surface or window if the victim is far away), and create a disorienting effect. The victim will start to feel confused as his sense of spatial relationships starts to act up. He can't tell how far something is, how to get there or if something is behind or in front of something else. Angles and surfaces seems to twist and dance around him, and with enough successes Antonio can make the victim completely incapable of any action.

Each success increases the difficulty of all actions requiring rational thought or understanding of spatial relationships by one.

Shatter the Mirror (Mind 3, Spirit 4)

Sometimes Antonio has to eliminate someone. He mainly uses this rote (or the Corner Hunters). The victim has to be present in one of his buildings, in a room with mirrors, windows or reflecting surfaces. The magick shatters them into a myriad of shards, reflecting and refracting the Deep Umbra. Behind them the corners and angles open to reveal his true masters. The rote links the mind of the victim to them, which almost inevitably causes total insanity in all people. What happens then depends upon both the victim, the masters and the intentions of Antonio. Some victims just vanish into the Deep Umbra. Others are simply left incurably insane.

The Corner Hunters

The hunters inhabit the Labyrinth and the buildings connected to it. They are never seen, just felt as unseen presences right around a corner, behind a closed door or inside another room. Perhaps they are invisible, or maybe they look terrible. No one knows, except maybe Antonio who isn't telling. Normally the hunters are content to lurk in the Labyrinth and just watch what is going on. Sometimes they get hungry. Using their grasp of Correspondence, they lure victims into the Labyrinth and devour them without a trace.

Willpower 5, Arete 4

Powers

Correspondence 3: The hunters can silently and discreetly move from place to place without being seen. They just appear somewhere else. However, smooth curves hinder them.

Correspondence 2: The hunters always know what is happening around them or in nearby parts of the Labyrinth.

Mind 3: The hunters can manipulate the perceptions of space and localization of people, to trick them into their lairs or lead them deeper into the Labyrinth.