Bestiary

They do it for love, that’s why. Certain consors will fol­ low their mages to the ends of known Creation out of sheer devotion to that mage. The love in question might be familial, as with a relative, or platonic, as in a friendship. Perhaps the strongest sort of bond, however, aside from that between and mother and child, is the bond between lovers. And so, such beloved consors stand beside their mages not for fear, faith, or profit but for love.

The love in question might not be reciprocated; mages are infamous for their remote and occasionally disdainful view of “the Sleeping Masses.” A besotted person, though, might decide to win over her would-be lover through duti­ ful service or mortal risk, conceal her true feelings for that mage, or perhaps hide her true feelings even from herself. The mage might reciprocate those feelings, too… or, in a nasty but not unusual variation, charm his paramour with magick and let her believe their “love” is genuine. That last trick is literally rape (as discussed in the entry “Questions of Consent” in How Do You DO That? pp. 119-120), but it’s a common practice in most magical cultures. Especially among mages who view unAwakened people as lesser beings,

maybe even pawns, falsified love remains a ruthless tactic for those who crave loyal companionship. (For a disturbing example of how that sort of thing plays out for the person on the other side of it, watch season one of the TV show Jessica Jones.)

Regardless of her reasons, or the sincerity of that mage’s affections, a lover consor tends to put aside every consideration that doesn’t support her devotion to that mage. Families may be abandoned, jobs quit, homes abandoned in favor of the wild adventures such love might bring. Passionate love might blind her to deadly risks and hurl the lover into the line of fire even if the mage himself wants to keep his beloved out of harm’s way. A calmer sort of love, like that often seen between a certain Doctor and his companions, can still take a consor from familiar surroundings into every sort of danger imaginable. And while a long-running relationship might lack the spontaneous fire of new love, the bond between the mage and his companion may last past death and span many incarnations.

A mage’s loving companion could be anyone: an everyday person caught up in a shadow war, a faithful consor who fell in love with some strange wizard, a field agent or office functionary whose job grew way beyond her expectations, a paranormal creature who’s crossing ancient lines in order to love a mage, a childhood flame whose life crosses paths with her old lover again, a psychic vampire drawn to Enlightened folk, or the ghost of a long-lost paramour — the possibilities are as infinite as love itself. An Awakened person might even find herself falling in love with her Avatar if that “compan­ ion” is a Manifest Avatar character like Aria in the original Cult of Ecstasy Tradition Book. (See the Avatar entries for “Crush” and “Manic Pixie” in this book’s Chapter Four, pp. XX and XX) The course of true love can run down some seriously bizarre channels in the Awakened world, and although a mage’s sweetheart is probably human, such love is a many-splendored thing.

No matter who the lover might be, or what the nature of that attachment really is, romantic connections are marvelously dramatic, especially when complicated by jealous rivals, forbid­ den passions, committed relationships with other people, or any number of other explosive surprises from Cupid’s quiver. Sure, the love bond between a companion and her mage could be simple, mutual, and effortless… but really, where’s the fun in that? Love so literally magickal should burn bright enough to make the gods weep.

Suggested Traits: Love-based companionship is especially well-suited for Merits like True Love, Family Support, Loyalty, Twin Souls, or an Avatar or Supernatural Companion. For entertaining complications, throw in a few Flaws like Rivalry, Ward, Family Issues, Old Flame, Psychic Vampire, Extreme Kink, and, of course, Sleeping with the Enemy.

Suggested Templates: As mentioned above, a lover com­ panion could be anyone. For guidance when dealing with such

relationships in your chronicle, check out the “Romance” entry in the “Genre, Storytelling, and Mage” section of The Book of Secrets (p. 285), and the essay “Gender, Sex and Magick” in the same book (pp. 291-292).

The Sanctum

Jason Hightower and Jennifer Cheng met while they were serving in the Army. They loved one another deeply, created a loving home and, in time, had a daughter they named Crystal. As Crystal transitioned from an infant to a young child, Jason and Jennifer decided to expand their family beyond the traditional nuclear-family mode. After several trials (and several errors), they began to construct what’s often called an intentional family: a collection of polyamorous relationships that reach beyond the two-partner dynamic, ideally providing a loving home for everyone involved.

When Jason met Alice Bergstrom at a gaming event, he felt smitten by her energetic personality. Alice’s husband Arnold was pretty cute, too, and before long the two couples had formed a “quad” of essentially equal partnerships. After several years of deepening connections, the group formed a communal household they call “the Sanctum”: a family based upon the love between its four primary partners, their children, and the people who are, as they say, “tall enough to ride this ride” without pulling it off its tracks.

But love, like life in general, is not without its compli­ cations. Jason works for a hospital that provides support for a Progenitor facility, while Alice is a consor for the Order of Hermes. Alice and Arnold are pretty open about their polyamorous connections; Jason and Jennifer are… not. Despite some tense wrangling with the higher-ups, the quad continues to share a household, children, and a small but eager constellation of secondary relationships. The fact that those relationships occasionally include Awakened mages and Enlightened operatives keeps things around the house interesting but currently non-fatal. Love, as they say, is lim­ itless and can transcend the rivalries of the Ascension War.

Communication, respect, and honesty: These are the com­ mandments of the Sanctum. No one is allowed in without the unanimous consent of the four partners, and anyone who causes excess drama is kicked out immediately. The primary partners have devised a seemingly complex language of agreements and cues, but that code has endured almost 10 years of shifting relationships, with no apparent end in sight. Crystal — now a teenager — finds the poly-mode to be “too much damn work” for her own relationships, but she adores her four parents and three siblings with more affection than teens generally display. The younger kids — Jeremy, Emily, and Grace — have never known any other mode of family, and while they know enough to keep things quiet with most outsiders (“Lots of people just don’t understand”), they have four parents who spoil them rotten yet hold them respon­ sible for their behavior with a level of respect few children ever get from two parents, let alone from four. Sure, things

sometimes get complicated. Honest and open communication within the family, though, helps keep major problems to a minimum… so far.

Every adult within the Sanctum’s core is tall — no less than six feet in height, with teenage Crystal rising fast to join them. Jason, Jennifer, and Crystal share a collective Euro-Asian heritage, while Alice, Arnold, and their children show an ob­ vious Nordic ancestry. Jason lifts weights and strength-trains to deal with of his anxiety about getting older. Alice is thin, daring, and prone to stating her intent and then leaving others to deal with the fallout. Jennifer’s the quiet one in public, but she’s also the organizer, the planner, and the director of the family, the calm center pillar that the other partners spin around. Arnold is the witty one, with a good-natured laugh and a smile for everyone; that said, he can shrewd and calculating when need be. A child of the YouTube generation, Crystal comes across as a budding social-media celebrity… a vocation her parents support so long as it doesn’t blow the lid off their unconventional family structure. The family is progressive in many regards but conservative in others. That dichotomy keeps the household hopping (especially in recent years), but love remains the law of that home. All four partners love one another, love learning, and love that they have, by being a unit, found a peace and strength they did not have otherwise. No one in the family wants to fight, but damned if they won’t finish — together — a fight if someone else begins one.