ANDERS MAGE PAGE 2.0

Having a family and loved ones gives purpose and joy to the lives of most people — but mages are cursed and blessed with their own high purposes and duties. Their perspective alienates them from mortals and mortal feelings (although not even the most powerful masters can escape them), rips them away from their old friends and relatives and compels them to seek mysteries far outside the world of the Sleepers.

It is a sad fact that love between mages and Sleepers seldom works out, the gulf is too wide despite the best intentions from both sides. As Masters sometime advise their students: "Love lifts the mortals towards Ascension, but pushes the mages into the Abyss." The combination of uncontrollable passion, the dynamic urge towards Ascension and reality-warping power is a volatile mix.

Some mages fall in love with normal Sleepers and soon realize that they see the world completely differently. They cannot reveal the truths they see to their partners, at least not fully, and thus they are forced to lie or withhold — unless they try show the truth, which could have profound consequences. Some people can accept the huge, dark world they have so far been protected from. Others flee in panic or go mad. The worst thing is that by just being near a mage, the lover will risk being drawn into the supernatural conflicts which are usually deadly for a mortal.

When two mages fall in love the results are even more unpredictable. Each person is a dynamic, powerful individual used to manipulating reality itself. This means that the least conflict or dissonance can have disastrous effects. This is especially problematic for mages of different traditions, where the perspectives and realities collide. Sometimes they mesh, and in these rare cases the bond between the mages can become stronger than anything in the world. Sadly, in most cases the mages find that the pull of Ascension draws them apart.

Some mages try to follow the middle road, and live with Acolytes or students. This avoids the problems of having to hide your true nature from your partner and incompatibility of paradigm, but it will be a very unequal relationship. More than one Acolyte has felt suffocated or inferior to the mage. A few mages have even had relationships with other beings like spirits, Garou, faeries and even vampires, but this is exceedingly rare.

Several Traditions encourage (or require) celibacy among their members, most notably the Celestial Chorus, Akashic Brotherhood and Order of Hermes. Among many mystical groups it has been known for millennia that sexual (and sometimes emotional) abstinence concentrates the magical forces and sharpens the will of the mage. There is also a practical reason: by avoiding the ties of love and family, the mage is free to participate in the Great Work.

According to widespread myth the Sons of Ether and Virtual Adepts are romantically and socially incompetent, but this isn't true in general. However, it is no secret that many Virtual Adepts disdain their physical bodies and either sublimate their urges or prefer sex (and romance) on the Net to the real thing. Sons (and Daughters) of Ether are often too individualistic to get along with other people well, but sometimes their obsessions fit in with their partner, and the resulting romances make even the Cult of Ecstasy blush. Neither Tradition has much interest in forming families, since it would distract them from their work.

The Euthanatos are usually loners even among themselves, and having a family simply isn't an option for them. Their calling is incompatible with family life and their forswear it to work as gardeners among the mortals.

The Dreamspeakers are also somewhat loners, although usually less shunned than the Euthanatos. They often live slightly outside society, although they retain their ties to it. Few get married.

The Cultists of Ecstasy often regard themselves as the experts on love and passion. This is partially true, but their adventurousness and rebelliousness usually leads to an endless succession of partners; settling down into a family is anathema to most Cultists.

The Verbena, on the other hand, regard love and family as crucial, and are among the most likely Tradition mages to form families (that even work!), often with Acolytes or even Sleepers.

Many Technocrats (with the exception of Iteration X and the Void Engineers) also have families, usually Sleepers. Due to their static magick their calling as shapers of reality is easier to combine with family life. It is very common for the family members to believe that the mage is merely working at some mundane agency, like a security firm, a large corporation, a biotechnological lab or in the government. Technomancer families in general have a very good material standard and usually function harmoniously (although they are usually somewhat conformist). While the Technocracy encourages such ties to the Masses, it does not encourage its members becoming overly emotional about it.

The Children of Power

"Leon, I think we have to do something. I caught Niklas playing with himself."

"That is only natural, although he is a little bit young."

"No, he was playing with himself. They threw toys at each other."

While many mages (not to mention Sleepers) find love complicated and distracting, having children is much harder. It is rather rare for mages to have children, both because they seldom form families and because many realize the potential dangers.

Just having children is a magickal act to many traditions. The temptation to reach in and influence the development of the child is often too much, and mages "help" their children slightly with their magick. Technomancer children are usually free from hereditary disease and bad traits, making them bright, well-adjusted if somewhat bland people. Some mages go even further, as some Nephandi who warp the embryo from the beginning into a vessel for their masters.

The main problem for mages having children is to decide to let the child go asleep in contact with static reality, or allow them to Awaken fully into a child mage. Neither possibility is an easy one. Having an unAwakened child is painful to mages, who must hide their true nature from it lest it bring down Paradox, and child mages are dangerous both to themselves and their surroundings. Some mages try to balance things by giving their children a very careful upbringing, but it seldom works.

Child mages often lack a concept of Paradox, especially if they are brought up in a Horizon Realm. When they meet static reality the shock is mutual, and more than one child mage has become a Marauder. Sadly (or fortunately), these child Marauders seldom survive long before their inexperience destroys them. Some child mages learn to sneak around Paradox and use coincidental magick, just as normal children soon learn how to sneak around their parents. Since they see the hidden sides of the world, they are also much more likely to get into trouble. Some child mages get involved with the Faeries and vanish into their pleasant Dreaming instead of remaining in the harsh world of their parents. Others fall prey to the dark forces in the world, and there are persistent rumors of widderslainte and adsinistrati who seduce children into the ranks of the Nephandi. Of course, the Technocracy will do its utmost to crush any reality deviance among children.

Beside the immediate problems, most mages find that having a child will lead to other surprises. Many child mages quickly develop their own abilities that sometimes surpass their parents. Having a daughter who likes to sneak around using Correspondence or plays tricks with Entropy can be very tiresome, to say the least. Also, children often question the teachings their parents try to give them.

The Technocracy avoids this by placing their children in education programs, designed to shape their minds and Avatars into an acceptable form. The Order of Hermes, Celestial Chorus and Akashic Brotherhood also believe in educating their children, although in very different ways. While the latter two often place them in monastic schools to strengthen their minds and souls, hermetic mages often take their own children as apprentices and teach them about the mysteries and arts. The more nature-oriented Traditions often let their children learn together with the other children of the tribe or village. It is just as important to be part of the community as to learn about the world. Especially the Dreamspeakers often function as teachers. While they seldom have children of their own, they sometimes adopt or take care of the children of others.

There are always exceptions. Some technomancer youngsters rebel at their parents and become Hollow Ones. There are loving Virtual Adept mothers married to Cultists of Ecstasy. There are even Marauders who take an interest in their children. Only one thing is certain: the family life of the Awakened is seldom predictable, and sometimes it can be downright dangerous.