A Brief History of Magi and Atlantis

The following is a semi-IC document (meaning that a version of it does exist, just that none of the other characters know about it) briefly covering 'accepted' mage history, as can be remembered without use of sourcebooks.

Introduction
At current, mage society is split into four distinct groups; the Pentangle, the Seers of the Throne, the Scelisi and Banishers. Arguably, the last of this groups is not one at all, although that will be discussed later on. The Pentangle is further split into the Free Council and the Diamond Wheel, whilst the Diamond Wheel is composed of a further four groups - the Silver Ladder, the Mysterium, the Adamantine Arrow and the Guardians of the Veil. The orders of the Diamond Wheel claim direct descent from the orders of Atlantis, whilst the Free Council joined them by matter of mutual enemies - further analysis of these five orders make up the majority of this discussion. The Seers of the Throne are servants of the Exarchs, and the most ‘natural’ of the Pentangle’s enemies, having existed from the Fall. The Scelisi are those who do the bidding of the Abyss, for one reason or another. Banishers, meanwhile, are simply magi for whom awakening sent them mad, causing them to see a need for the destruction of all magi - themselves included. All four of these groups are constantly locked within a four-way war with one another, which is at rather an impasse.

The History and Fall of Atlantis
To begin to understand the complexities of mage society, we must first understand the history it has give itself, from the beginning. And, as with all good legendary history, the tale begins with dragons. Long ago, it is said, dragons made their home on a mountain (in some areas, island). From here, they sent out messages in dreams to humanity - dreams that told them to come claim their power. Those humans who made the journey received the gifts of the arcarna; they became magi. At this time, it is understood, things were good. Eventually, the dragons disappeared. Still, however, people were called to the mountain, and gaining gifts and powers.

From there, the magi created the city state of Atlantis. Those believed to be the Ancestors of the Silver Ladder were the priests. The Ancestors of the Mysterium were the scholars in this place, just as those of the Adamantine Arrow were their warriors. Those of the Guardians of the Veil, meanwhile, were spies and assassins. There is some suggestion that the ancestors of the Free Council almost made up a fundamental part of this society, although these are only rumours in very small circles.

According to the official story, all was well until the Celestial Ladder was built. This ladder was a pathway to the realms supernal, allowing anyone to ascend and, effectively, become a god. There is some debate about the nature of it but it is agreed, by circles who believe in such things, that once some people had ascended on high, they broke the ladder. Those who broke the ladder were the Exarchs, magi who wished to become gods to remodel the world in their own fashion rather than sharing this power. Those who disagreed with them, and had also ascended, were the Oracles - those who built the watchtowers to guide yet more souls to awakening. A side effect of the destruction of the ladder was the creation of the Abyss. Until this point, the fallen and supernal realms had been together; in fact, the fallen had yet to fall. Considering the title of the Fallen Realms, it may be appropriate to consider that the shattering of the ladder caused the non-supernal to literally drop away, the space between filled by the Abyss. By extension, it may still be falling, meaning the Abyss widens regardless of paradox, although such things add an accelerating force. Not a common theory, but it may also explain the rapid decline in awakenings over the centuries; this shall be discussed more later. Regardless, no true mage can deny the existence of the Abyss or that of the realms Supernal.

The magic used by the Awakened, as opposed to that of the ‘stage magicians’ of sleeper society is split into 10 Arcana. It is said that, locked in the Supernal by the fall of the Ladder, the Oracles each made their way to their own realms. Depending on who you speak it, you may be told that the Oracles created the realms, that the Oracles built the Watchtowers or that the Orcales simply put these things to use. For tales of each of the Watchtowers and their respective Oracles, I would recommend speaking to a Mystagogue of the appropriate path. What is important is that the Oracles created a path through the Abyss to the lands supernal, creating a way for sleepers to still awaken - there is a realm for each path, and every mage is called to one, and only one, of these watchtowers. Over time, the likelihood of a sleeper awakening to the secrets of the supernal has decreased. Almost all theories on this come to the conclusion that paradox works to widen the Abyss, making it harder for the ‘light’ of the Watchtowers to shine on people. There may also, and probably are, other factors involved in this. The evidence for paradox widening the Abyss is mostly based around the fact some high severity paradoxes cause Abyssal entities to appear in the Fallen Realms.

The war between the Pentangle and the Seers is believed to mirror a similar war happening in the supernal - one stuck in a deadlock. Neither side has any advantage over the other, although each grows steadily more powerful with time.

Pauli's thoughts on the Magic and the Abyss
The magic used by the Awakened, as opposed to that of the ‘stage magicians’ of sleeper society is split into 10 Arcana. It is said that, locked in the Supernal by the fall of the Ladder, the Oracles each made their way to their own realms. Depending on who you speak it, you may be told that the Oracles created the realms, that the Oracles built the Watchtowers or that the Orcales simply put these things to use. For tales of each of the Watchtowers and their respective Oracles, I would recommend speaking to a Mystagogue of the appropriate path. What is important is that the Oracles created a path through the Abyss to the lands supernal, creating a way for sleepers to still awaken - there is a realm for each path, and every mage is called to one, and only one, of these watchtowers. Over time, the likelihood of a sleeper awakening to the secrets of the supernal has decreased. Almost all theories on this come to the conclusion that paradox works to widen the Abyss, making it harder for the ‘light’ of the Watchtowers to shine on people. There may also, and probably are, other factors involved in this. The evidence for paradox widening the Abyss is mostly based around the fact some high severity paradoxes cause Abyssal entities to appear in the Fallen Realms.

Mage Society as it Stands
At current, mage society is split into four distinct groups; the Pentangle, the Seers of the Throne, the Scelisi and Banishers. Arguably, the last of this groups is not one at all, although that will be discussed later on. The Pentangle is further split into the Free Council and the Diamond Wheel, whilst the Diamond Wheel is composed of a further four groups - the Silver Ladder, the Mysterium, the Adamantine Arrow and the Guardians of the Veil. The orders of the Diamond Wheel claim direct descent from the orders of Atlantis, whilst the Free Council joined them by matter of mutual enemies - further analysis of these five orders make up the majority of this discussion. The Seers of the Throne are servants of the Exarchs, and the most ‘natural’ of the Pentangle’s enemies, having existed from the Fall. The Scelisi are those who do the bidding of the Abyss, for one reason or another. Banishers, meanwhile, are simply magi for whom awakening sent them mad, causing them to see a need for the destruction of all magi - themselves included. All four of these groups are constantly locked within a four-way war with one another, which is at rather an impasse.

Pauli's thoughts on the section
For most laws, this is fine - they deal with things such as not murdering other magi. However, the complete basis of mage society being based on a mostly fictional Atlantis is setting te Pentangle up for disaster in the long run; it is my understanding that the ‘true’ Atlantis was fundamentally corrupt from the offset. As such, by basis ‘modern’ mage society on this, we have simply created a new, corrupt and broken society. The most obvious proof of the inherant corruption of Atlantis is the Guardians themselves; a ‘perfect’ society, which is what so many seem to consider Atlantis to have been, would not be reliant upon spies and assassins to exist for a prolonged period of time. Many magi are not aware of the full extent of the Guardians’ duties, but ‘dealing with problems before they become such’ can mean one of only a few things. An extension to this argument is that the Exarchs were not the cause of the corruption of Atlantis, nor were they a terrible singluar mistake, but rather an inevitability. Atlantis was a place that values its own survival above all else, with clear and thick distinctions between groups. Maybe those groups worked together, but people were still strongly split. The value placed on the survival of Atlantis, again represented by the Guardians, and also of personal gain, represented by the (at least apparent) mechanics of the Silver Ladder, caused citizens of the city to also think like this. Maybe the Exarchs meant well, probably they didn’t, but in such a society over-throw of the rulers is inevitable. Even the good in Atlantis were consumed with their own hubris when they built the Ladder, making the fall all the harder. It is not impossible that, with the shattering of the Ladder to the supernal realms, Atlantis itself became the Abyss, and those magi who could not get out became the creatures that inhabit that realm. This is of course, pure speculation. There are many theories as to what happened to Atlantis - the most commonly told that it fell beneath the waves[1] - if it even existed at all. My point is, it should not be the absolute authority for all interactions within mage society; the city of the awakened fell, and it fell for a reason.

[1] The falling beneath waves, however, is also worrying. In Biblical scripture, Earth before being formed is described as ‘the Deep’, a reference also to the deepest parts of the ocean. It is, therefore, possible that Atlantis falling beneath the waves could refer to it falling out of the created world; ie the Abyss. The other immediate thought on waves is the tale of Noah’s Ark, a tale for which there is a similar version in many if not most cultures. In this, a sinful place was destroyed by water, so that a better, cleaner world could be rebuilt. If that is so, then we have failed in this duty but creating not only an equally corrupt society, but also one is fractured inside itself.