Space is one of the ten Arcana of Mage: The Awakening, the Gross ruling Arcanum of Pandemonium. It commands both physical and metaphysical space, useful not only for travel and viewing distant events, but for erecting wards and determining the connections between things. Common applications of the Space Arcanum include teleportation, scrying, improving spatial awareness and manipulating the sympathetic connections between objects and/or people. Space governs the manipulation of distance, dimension, and scale. The powers granted by the Arcanum allow a mage skilled in its use to perform a wide range of abilities. Such a mage can instantaneously travel from one place to another with the use of portals and teleportation. One may view far-off locales by means of scrying, or create barriers to block scrying and any other remote senses or prevent teleportation into their demesne, or perform any number of other effects. This Arcanum is usually employed by Mastigos, as its powers of mobility and remote viewing are most useful in their perpetual intrigues.
Its associated summoning is the Imp and the Exarch that supervises it is the Eye. Within Astral Space, Space is incorporated through the Aeon Dahhak.
Influences[]
Conjuration, dimension shifting, direction finding, spatial location, scrying, sympathy, teleportation, wards, Keys and Irises.
Nature and Power[]
The Arcanum of Space is the Gross Arcanum of the Supernal Realm of Pandemonium, a realm from which the energies of the Arcanum of Mind also flow. Pandemonium is a place of strange dimensions. The realm, like all its fellows, is a place of far greater size than those completing their Awakenings see. Since, Pandemonium is essentially a prison, and the inmates are some of the craftiest creatures in existence. Upon crossing the Abyss, a soul could easily flee into one of the other tunnels and escape their soul scourging. To counter this, Pandemonium uses a strange scale of space whereby all paths curve back upon themselves without ever appearing to turn. Try as they might a soul attempting to flee will always end up in the place the realm’s denizens wish them to be. Distance and dimension are more rigid in the Fallen World, and so the power of the Arcanum is weaker here, but it remains a valuable and powerful tool.
The Fallen World is colossal; most of the universe is made up of scattered objects flung across incomprehensible distances. Even the gulf between the Earth and the moon, the closest celestial body to our world, is so vast that it took three men traveling at speeds up to 24,544 mph four days to cross. Light moves at 186,000 mile/sec, it’s the fastest thing in the universe but even it needs time to travel, the Sun is 93 million miles from Earth but it still takes the Sun’s light 8 minutes and 33 seconds to reach Earth. Earthly distances are nothing to sneeze at either; the Equator is 24,902 miles around. It takes a plane traveling at 655 miles per hour 38 hours to complete a round trip, and at these distances even radio transmissions suffer delays. Small wonder such a discipline allowing these penalties to be negated is so popular amongst the Awakened. The first thing that springs to mind when looking at practical uses of this Arcanum is the annihilation of space. A willworker sufficiently versed in its use can cross even the vast tracts of space in an instant, as long as they have a sympathetic connection to the location. Another useful tool granted by the Arcanum of Space is the ability to observe actions or events from afar by means of a technique called scrying, with this power, a mage can spy on his rivals from well beyond striking distance, a mage versed in this Arcanum can also raise barriers called wards that prevent supernatural spying or teleportation into a given area. The mage can appear and even do multiple tasks in multiple places at the same time. Its recommended to also learn the Arcanum of Time, since space and time are parts of the same concept.
One can warp space in odd ways, allowing one’s close combat blows to strike targets at a distance, twist corridors so that they seem to stretch on forever, or even create pockets of space outside the universe to store objects for use or shelter from enemies. Last but not least, this Arcanum allows a mage to exploit Sympathy, allowing one’s spells cast at targets beyond sensory range a chance at success. Space is considered one of the more difficult arcana to learn, but most mages make the effort to become at least Apprentices of it in order to cast sympathetic spells. The principle of sympathy is simply that, magically speaking, "like affects like"; by establishing a connection with the target, a spell may be cast at any range, beyond the normal limit of the mage's senses. The strength of the connection greatly effects the efficacy of the spell: having only a description of the target is a weak link, making the spell possible but difficult; having a piece of the target (a chip of glass, a lock of hair) provides a very strong link. This is the reason mages use a shadow name: not knowing the real name of a target makes it much harder to establish a strong sympathetic connection. Though it may seem counterintuitive, targets that are famous are more difficult to affect using sympathetic magic by dint of their "metaphysical weight": the sheer number of (albeit weak) connections such a target has to others makes establishing a strong one difficult.[1]
Levels of Mastery[]
Initiate (●)[]
An Initiate of Space can use the Mage Sight to detect warping and alterations to the fabric of local space (usually those caused by higher-level Space Mages, but also by natural phenomena like stars and black holes). One can gain the higher understanding of positioning, affording one greater accuracy or detection through means other than sight (in case one is blinded or otherwise vision-impaired). One can perceive in a 360 degree arc of vision or track the movements of an item one wishes to keep an eye on. Finally, they may detect the sympathetic connections between objects and creatures.
Apprentice (●●)[]
An Apprentice of Space gains the ability to remotely observe a location with all their senses without being detected themselves, using a process called scrying and may combine another spell with this to interact with objects on the other side of the viewing window. One can bestow one’s perception of alterations in the fabric of space upon others. One can conceal one’s sympathetic connections from magical sight, and can step through spatial doorways created by others, but cannot alter their destination. One may warp space in small localized portions to direct attacks away from oneself and create barriers, called wards, against Space magic, hindering or outright stopping attempts made by others to scry, teleport, or send messages into a warded area.
Disciple (●●●)[]
Disciples of Space are now allowed to bestow their defensive spatial warping upon another. One may create portals, spatial doorways that allow the mage to travel anywhere one can think of in the Material Realm. One may now bar certain types of object selected, with criteria as broad or specific as it pleases one to give, from entering one’s wards. One may use scrying on multiple places at once. One may create sympathetic connections between objects, or destroy them. Finally, one gains the power to warp space around themself in ways specific enough to allow them to perform close quarters attacks at range.
Adept (●●●●)[]
Adepts of Space are granted the ability to instantaneously disappear from one place and appear in another, without the use of a portal. One can create keys for their portals; certain objects, traits, phrases or gestures that allow access to the doorways one makes barring anyone without the key from passing through. One can appear in many locations at once, though only one such body at a time may interact with anything. One may wrap one’s opponents in spatial threads that prevent them from moving. One’s powers allow one to create small featureless extra dimensional spaces which one can use as refuge, resting place, or with another spell at this level, storage compartment.
Master (●●●●●)[]
Masters of Space gain the power to warp dimensional axes to create areas of impossible dimensions; a hallway can be made to stretch out for miles, though its in a building only thirty or forty meters across, or every exit in the building is made to lead back to its foyer. One can create a pocket of sub-space which technically exists within the real universe but can only be reached by taking specific and very strict routes and paths. One may warp space to allow two locales to exist within the same area of space without interacting with each other, or one can force them to interact, usually in a violent manner as their Patterns interfere with each other and push themselves apart.
Archmaster and Above (●●●●●●+)[]
Archmages are rare but not unheard of. They don’t follow the same rules as the other ranks. Archmages become Avatars of the Arcanum they studied, living embodiments of the Watchtower their power comes from. They become conduits for power and are no longer barred from their power by the Abyss and so aren’t subject to Paradox. They take on the physical characteristics of their Arcanum. Archmages can cast all the spells from Initiate to Master, without using any Mana, and in any preferred duration. They effectively gain the powers of a God, including limited immortality (e.g. they stop getting older, and become immune to all diseases), but they’re still human beings and as such can be killed just like anybody else should they become careless. They still suffer penalties of their Inferior Arcanum.
Archmages of Space are the hardest to find. This is in part because if they are ever located, it’s because they wish to be. An Archmage knows where everything in the universe is located, even if they’ve never been there; from the furthest stars to the closest electrons, the most massive black hole to the most microscopic germ. It’s all in the back of their minds; all they need to do to is reach into their imagination and pull it out. If they combine Space with Prime they can create Chantries, demesnes outside the known universe where an Archmages can meditate without distraction. They can ignore the rules of sympathy, because they can go anywhere in the Tellurian, can scry, ward, or strike at anyone as spatial defenses fail to hinder them. With effort, they can create a True Name for themselves, rendering them immune to magical targeting via identity. An Archmage of sufficient skill and power can stand at the Oroborus and teleport back and forth across the gulf of the Abyss, all the way to the Supernal Realms.
References[]
- ^ MTAw: Mage: The Awakening Rulebook, p. 115
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Subtle Arcana: Prime · Fate · Mind · Spirit · Death |