ANDERS MAGE PAGE 2.0

The year was 1993, the season was fall and Dee Shields was thoroughly depressed. He was a sophomore at the University of Chicago, majoring in psychology. He believed that he'd learn everything there was to know about the subject and then cure himself. He knew it probably wouldn't work, but it gave him a bit of focus in his life.

Then the nightmares started and with them, the dreams which became his only joy. He dreamed he was in the foulest reaches of some bizarre hell, struggling to escape from its pits and cities. He dreamed the wind lifted him and carried him to new heights. He met people in these dreams. Some tried to help him and some tried to hurt him, but they all seemed so real and they all kept returning.

Dee reflected on these dreams, and found them much more appealing then anything in reality. In his dreams he could control reality, shaping things to fit his needs and he found a true love. Dee began to wish he could spend forever just dreaming, exploring the bizarre vistas that exist both within and without his mind. It was as his love was trying to help him open a door that would permanently sever his link to the waking world that tragedy struck.

One night, while walking in dreams, Dee tried to shatter the link to his Earthly body. This should have killed the Earthly body and set him free within the realm of dreams but it failed. Instead, the dreamscape collapsed, killing his love. Dee blamed himself and began a nervous breakdown. Immediately, three figures appeared within the dream, trying to control the distraught mage, whose Orphan Avatar had just Awakened. Dee's first act upon Awakening was to sense the Avatars within the other mages and absorb them into his own. He immediately awoke.

The next weeks were spent in futile attempts to recreate the love he had destroyed and coming to grips with his newfound abilities. He found his power growing with every dream he had until suddenly he stopped dreaming altogether. In the waking world he could hear the spirits of the night and the wind speak to him when he was alone and on the verge of suicide. But even their caring words would not sway him.

The pills had been taken a few hours before, followed by a last meal which he ate in seclusion. Dee didn't know if he could find his love in the afterlife but if he could dream again, that would make it worthwhile. As he slipped away he found himself flying into a dense cloud of gray, faster and faster, until he could hear his heart beating and heavy breathing from his slumbering body. Then he could hear a roar of winds around him. He opened his eyes to see a swirling maelstrom of shapes and colors which were beyond his ability to describe. Then he felt it, the changing of his body. He screamed in ecstasy and anguish as the sensations running through his flesh became too much to bear. He sought release and as he saw a patch of gray ahead he dove for it without thinking. He struggled against the thing he would later call the Flux, and found himself in the gray clouds once again.

He now knew that he was a living dream, the soul of a once-living mage. He opened a gateway to Earth just by thinking about it. He was startled when the first thing he saw was a group of men wearing leather and wielding spears. His gateway hadn't opened on Chicago but another world. Dee eventually realized he had landed in a primitive Europe thousands of years before his time.

Creating a body was no problem but it always reverted to a humanoid mass of tendon and muscle. So Dee took to wearing a black robe and concentrated on only altering those parts of his body that would be visible to others. He spent centuries developing his magick, focusing on how to manipulate the energies within all things. He also studied how to manipulate time. Even though he abandoned his dreams, he still held onto the memories of his love.

He encountered early Garou and learned of their Caerns, sites of power. The Garou welcomed him as a brother, until he revealed his true form, when they labeled him a monster. Dee was hurt and fled east, using his magick to defend himself. As society grew, Dee watched and wanted to establish himself as a benevolent God. It was at this time that Dee encountered the first of the Kindred.

Dee could sense the seemingly endless amount of power the undead possessed and knew of their appetites. Fortunately, they seemed to prefer living in their cities to venturing to the collection of small tribes which the Dark One, as Dee came to be known, protected. Until one day when tragedy struck.

One vampire found the Dark One and his collection of tribes. Sensing the power inherent in the Dark One, the vampire desired to honor him with the Embrace (which would make the Dee a vampire). The vampire decided to stalk the mage before Embracing him. The Dark One saw the attack as its preparation began.

The Dark One took the offensive, surrounded by dozens of his followers, and struck the stalker. The battle raged on, as the undead stalker summoned animals to its aid. In the end, only the Dark One and a score of his strongest warriors were standing against the vampire, pumped up with the vitae in its veins. The Dark One, seeing vampire's tactics, drained his followers of their souls. His strength renewed, the Dark One caused his opponent to flee into the night.

The Dark One traveled throughout Asia and watched as the Chinese empire grew, and with it the Asian vampires. He returned to Europe and settled in Rome during the age of Augustus Caesar. While in Rome, he began accumulating magickal treasures, trading with the Kindred rulers for magickal tomes and talismans. He knew that Rome was heading towards a fall and took advantage of the situation. That, like many other decisions, would return to haunt him.

As he accumulated magickal knowledge he learned that sorcerors could create their own worlds. Perhaps in such a place he could find a way to recreate his lost love. He started by finding Garou Caerns and, with Kindred support, claiming them as Nodes. Once the Dark One had enough Nodes he began building his Horizon Realm, the Palace of the Phoenix. Here his love would be reborn. But as the Roman Empire fell, his Kindred allies turned on him. The Garou also sought him for raping their sacred lands. Fellow mages likewise gave him no peace as they schemed for his arcane collection.

With such enemies, the Dark One had to hide himself. Hastily, he completed his personal realm and retreated into it. Pacts he'd made with dark beings he feared to learn more about were called on and they hid the doorways to the Palace of the Phoenix. There he went to try and recreate his love. Over the centuries he dealt with intruders such as strange creatures from the spirit worlds and the occasional mage. In response to these attacks he filled the sea around his island with bizarre, twisted creatures of his own, while strengthening the shell around the realm. This proved strong for centuries, until the Dark Monk (as he thought of himself) saw a flaw in his magick. There were stretches of time and places in the realms of humans and the spirits that were closed to him. His researches into the cause were fruitless until a minor spirit he caught confessed under torture, "The Lords Beyond, who hid your doors, hold the keys to your domain, not you. As long as you lair here, you are encircled." His investment of power into his personal realm and the time spent there formed a bond he could not forsake. His palace was, he saw now, a prison.

The twisted lord of the Phoenix Palace expended great efforts to contact the reclusive and frightening beings with whom he once made pacts. He tempted creatures of angelic beauty to his realm and performed on them unspeakable acts in accord with a scroll from his collection. Soon after, a shadowy man who identified himself as Jonathan Harker arrived at the gate of the Palace. He spoke for the Lords Beyond and offered two answers and one ordeal. The lord of the Palace knew it was unwise to refuse. The ordeal is not something to be mentioned here. The answers made two things clear: they would not take the Monk's realm in return for his freedom and to negotiate for anything further proper gifts must be offered. The gifts were named. The souls and bodies of five people of Earth who carried folly in their hearts and magick in their hands. Until then, the Monk's realm would drift further and further from his grasp.

As the months passed, the Dark Monk saw his creatures become more violent and felt the sky he once held so dear became filled with darker things. He set his energies to the task of finding appropriate mages. He found Hans Goeffels.

The Dark Monk (Dreamspeaker/Orphan)

Essence: Dynamic
Nature: Architect
Demeanor: Loner
STR 7, DEX 6, STA 8
CHA 3, MAN 5, APP 0/3
PER 5, INT 6, WIT 5
Talents: (assume all at 5, except where noted) Awareness 6, Intuition 6
Skills: (assume all at 5, except where noted) Firearms 2, Meditation 7
Knowledges: (assume all at 5, except where noted) Cosmology 3, Enigmas 6
Backgrounds: Arcane 5, Avatar 8, Dream 6
Willpower 10, Arete 9
Spheres: Corr. 4 (incantations), Entropy 5, Forces 5, Life 5, Matter 5, Mind 5, Spirit 5, Prime 5, Time 5

Image: The Dark Monk no longer tries to look normal. Imagine a humanoid form made of muscle and tendons without any evidence of sensory organs, that seems to be able to bend in weird places (three knees on each leg), standing about eight feet tall and always wearing a black robe.

Roleplaying Notes: You remember much that you don't wish to discuss with lesser men. You'll be doing the world a favor by keeping your eye on these Nephandi. When the signs are right, offer the fools to the ones who hold your leash. Even creatures from distant realms can be bargained with once negotiations begin. You loathe Harold the most but try to hide it. Soon, you will hold your love again.