Verbenae

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Tradition Concept/ Theme notes

The Verbenae of Unity are far less concerned with 'hereditary family' than those on Earth were. There are no Verbenae of "old bloodlines" in Unity, not enough time has passed for them to develop. Verbenae of all the sects migrated to the realm. However, Roxanne Murray, the Verbena founder of the realm, is of the MoonSeekers. This has colored the tradition within the realm, making them more open to possibilities, and change. There has been much change to embrace since migrating to the realm.

The Verbenae played an important part in founding the original council, before Horizon fell. The Verbena of Unity have taken their time to grieve, after all, Death to a Verbenae is but a doorway to a new birth. Then they got to work building Unity. Being known for their work with Life, and the tendency for certain merits to pool in this tradition, it was natural that they set up the first farms and ranches in the realm. The people needed to eat. With Quintessence and Tass being in short supply, some Verbena found a comfortable life for their family with the seasonal slaughter.

Sects

Gardeners of the Tree

Philosopy: "The blood will tell." They hold onto the belief that power and prestige are passed down along family lines. For the Gardeners, the transition to Unity, and the fact that their centuries of magickal lineage doesn't exist, has left them stumbling to find...or rebuild...their roots.
Style: They follow a very rigourous traditional style of magick based on their cultural lineage. Their magick is often the most primal and visceral, as performed for centuries before them. They tend to rely on tried and true formulas, ie, that old dusty Book of Shadows passed down the family.
Affinity Spheres: Life or Matter.
Organization: Gardeners maintain the cohesiveness of the Verbena by organizing covens and circles, and the grand covens where groups of Verbena gather to discuss matters and work magic together. Gardeners recognize few ranks. Elders are respected, honored and deferred to in most cases, but all members are considered equals and treated as such. Their small covens often react to changes more quickly than the larger gatherings and chantries of other Traditions do.
Initiation: Once a supplicant joined the ranks of the Gardeners of the Tree only by proving a lineage that was worthy. However, lineage alone is no longer enough. Acceptance into the Gardeners requires dedication and hard work. There are tests and trials of the supplicant’s knowledge, scholarship, persistence, patience, will and spirit. The druids of the faction, for example, emphasize that the training of one of their number traditionally takes 21 years. Would-be Gardeners are expected to learn vast bodies of lore and to be well versed in the history and ways of their Tradition.
Cultures: The Gardeners make up the most Eurocentric faction of the Verbena. They recognize that the other cultures have similiar roots, but they weren't there at the beginning of the Verbena, and are thus the "newcomers" no matter how long that culture has existed. The most conservative of Gardeners are of Celtic or Germanic roots, maintaining the traditions of the druids and the rune-magicians of old. They have worked hard to overcome the taint Nazism while keeping their pride. Ironically, the Gardeners also attract many new cultures into the Verbena simply because they wish to protect and maintain their own distinct identity rather than being subsumed into a “generic” Verbena Tradition. Thus Gardeners from African, Hispanic and Native American cultures have helped add to the diversity of the Verbena as a whole.
Associations: The element of earth, the north direction, the season of winter, the colors green and brown and the pentacle.

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Twisters of Fate

Philosophy: The Twisters of Fate are interested in the bare essentials of both life and magic. “Live simply, so others may simply live,” is a part of their credo, but more than that, they desire to recapture some of the power and wonder that the first Wise Ones, the legendary Wyck, wielded in their time. They delve into the past, seeking to learn how all the diverse cultures and paths of the Verbena (and all mages) came into being, a kind of grand-unified theory of magic and creation. The Twisters feel it is their duty to use their power and insight for the good of all. Of course, what is considered "good" is debatable. As their name implies, the Twisters of Fate are not above tugging on the strands of destiny to help things to come out differently. They are profoundly dedicated to the idea that people can and should make a difference, even if (especially if) it involves a measure of personal risk. Twisters feel that too many people, even mages, give away their power, surrendering to the demands of tradition, the expectations of society and those looking to take their power from them.
Style: “Primal” best describes the magical style of the Twisters of Fate. Their foci are either those things found easily in nature — fresh herbs, sticks, game animals, scattered stones — or their own bodies. Twisters of Fate use every part of themselves as their magical instruments. They dance and sing. They spit and bleed. They weave the threads of fate from their own hair, and they have sex beneath the open sky to raise power. Their primal nature even makes other Verbena uncomfortable, and other traditions consider them "savage" and "unschooled". The Twisters share mutal respect with the Dreamspeakers.
Affinity Sphere: Life or Entropy
Organization: No titles, ranks or leaders. They are united solely through their vision of what they once were and can be again. They honor their elders, and recognize that all avatars are equally old. The vision of a young mage is no less valuable or insightful than the memories of an elder.
Initiation: The Twisters of Fate rarely choose their initiates. Instead, their initiates choose them. A Verbena with strong past-life memories or a primordial Avatar could be drawn to the guidance and the philosophy of the faction over time. Joining the Twisters is as easy as declaring it, but other Verbena are skeptical of their primal siblings. The true initiation comes in the form of the visions and Seekings the initiate undergoes. They can be harrowing indeed, particularly for the more rational mind caught up in the modern viewpoint and ways of doing things. A particular concern for the Verbena is the number of Twisters of Fate who fall prey to their powerful visions, either entering Quiet or slipping into madness and becoming Marauders. Many wonder if some past-life memories and experiences are better left buried, and if seeking the Mythic Age is a dangerous and wasted effort in the modern world. The Twisters of Fate say only that such defeatist attitudes are unworthy of true willworkers.
Cultures:The sole determining factors seem to be the nature of the Avatar and the disposition of its human incarnation, much to the dismay of the Gardeners. Although they come from diverse backgrounds and cultures, Twisters of Fate often seem to belong to a single culture: the first, primal culture of humanity. They are often called Modern Primitives (or Neo-Primitives) for their practices and attitudes, though to consider them unsophisticated or ignorant is to misunderstand them entirely.
Associations: The element of water, the west direction, the season of autumn, the colors deep blue and orange and the chalice or cauldron.

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Moon-Seekers

Twisters of Fate

Affinity Spheres

Life, Entropy (Twisters of Fate), Forces*, Matter (Gardners of The Tree), Mind (Moonseekers)

Note: M20 lists Forces as an Affinity Sphere for Verbenae. Forces is not listed for any sect of the Verbena in revised. If you can make a good case for it, we'll allow it.

Characters

None

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NPCS

• Roxanne Murray