Spirits of order and static reality, Pattern Spiders embody the forces of technology in the spirit world. The least-powerful of them appear as steel-and-crystal spiders an inch or two across; the largest approach, or even surpass, the size and mass of a small car. Most Pattern Spiders tend to incorporate pieces of various technological devices in their bodies and limbs: steam vents, vacuum tubes, pneumatic cylinders, integrated circuits, and so on. Most of these beings dwell in the Penumbra, always close to centers of advanced technology, indoctrination, and other centers of material and spiritual stasis.

Although they reflect the growing influence of technology in the material world, these cybernetic spiders cannot materialize in the mortal realm. Instead, they work to make certain that reality remains as static as possible in the regions where the spiders are most common. Media centers, classrooms, factories, construction sites, military installations, and Technocracy Constructs host hundreds, often thousands, of these entities per site. Yet despite their apparently symbiotic relationship, very few Technocrats realize that these things even exist… much less regard them as allies. To the handful of Technocrats who’ve seen Pattern Spiders first-hand, the spiders look like one more weird-ass alien life-form to be attacked and purged whenever possible.

As for the spiders themselves, they seem oblivious to the concept of individuality or independent thought. When they bother to communicate at all, these near-mindless beings refer to “us,” not “I,” address humans in collective terms, and regard

their own existence as a simple task, not a complicated journey. The idea that one might exist apart from the whole, much less pursue an individual existence, remains beyond their grasp.

Even so, certain mages have managed to strike deals with Pattern Spiders – usually by giving them a project, leading them to an Umbral location in need of repair, or otherwise giving these industrious spirits something to do. Virtual Adepts sometimes bond with the data creepers that swarm around their workstations, and Etherite Scientists study the fascinating manifestations of insectoid energy-pattern loci in the counterdimensional pockets within their labs. Shamans who deal with werewolves refer to these creatures as “servants of the Weaver,” regarding them as symptoms of a stagnant world. Yet for those mages who understand the greater benefits of technology, Pattern Spiders can be potent allies.

Weaving webs of solidified reality, Pattern Spiders spin pattern webs around flaws, ruins, or disruptive parties who threaten the integrity of localized reality. In game terms, they use the Calcify Charm to capture intruders, and the Solidify Reality Charm to stabilize the surroundings on a metaphysical level. Certain Pattern Spiders have other Charms as well, reflecting a control over electrical, mechanical, and data-storage systems. In story terms, these beings spin their webs with tireless precision, tiny data creepers ferrying information through electric networks or weaving it into knots of stored data. Although they don’t appear in material reality, their work reinforces things like the Gauntlet or the feel and stability of a given place. A handful of the older entities can vibrate their webs in such a way as to cause pain to folks in materialized reality… an effect that goes a long way toward explaining the headaches and bodily discomfort people get when they spend too much time around certain types of technology…

Willpower 6, Rage 4-7, Gnosis 6, Essence 25-50

Charms: Calcify, Solidify Reality. Some large spiders also have Control Electrical Systems, Short Out, Lightning Bolt.

All mages fear these entities, which show up only in response to Paradox backlashes. Some mages refer to them as “reality’s immune system” or “Technocratic shock troops,” but in truth, these beings operate by their own rules and serve no obvious masters beyond the incontrovertible principles of cosmic reality itself. Most of these entities seem aligned with a particular Sphere; if so, that Sphere has been listed next to the Paradox Spirit’s name.

When careless mages endanger the Masses with obviously vulgar magick, Judgment might appear. Inspired by the collective faith and fear that Sleepers attribute to their laws, this spirit manifests as a high-ranking member of the local law enforcement, like a police detective, SWAT team member, or Military Police officer. In especially lawless areas – like war zones, urban wastelands, criminal subcultures, or night-culture undergrounds – Judgment shows up like some paranormal

vigilante, straight out of an action flick or comic-book movie… with all the violence that implies.

In whichever form he wears, Judgment first tries to arrest the offending mage, barking a terse warning along the lines of “Dead or alive, you’re coming with me.” If the mage surrenders, Judgment snaps handcuffs on the mage and hustles her off to a waiting car (also a manifestation of this spirit). If she resists – which she probably will – Judgment proceeds to clean her clock and then haul her into the waiting car.

That nearby car resembles an ominous vehicle of punishment: a cop car, paddy wagon, black limousine, superhero transport, armored military vehicle, horse-drawn hearse, or whatever else seems appropriate. A few seconds after the mage enters Judgment’s vehicle, Judgment and the offender appear in the spirit’s Paradox Realm. To anyone else who observes these proceedings, the vehicle starts to drive off… and then vanishes in a cloud of mist or drives off into the enveloping darkness of night. Examining the location where the vehicle vanished, a mage with at least three dots in Spirit can both determine where the vehicle has gone and possibly (with Spirit 4) travel to that Realm… if he dares.

Once the mage reaches Judgment’s Realm, the spirit places her in a jail cell within an otherwise empty police station, then leaves her to contemplate her actions. In this cell, no magick functions and mundane escape attempts all fail. After an agonizing wait (24 hours or so in the outside world, an apparent eternity for the mage), the prisoner faces arraignment for her crimes, and she must defend her actions to a heartless, merciless, judge — who is, of course, Judgment. If the mage lacks an excellent defense (self-defense, protecting the lives of Sleepers, or some similarly good reason), Judgment then locks the mage up in another cell for several years… or at least until someone manages to free her. A series of successful Social Trait-based rolls, backed up by evidence, might sway the judge; a bad attitude, on the other hand, merely assures a long and lonely sentence…

Given the implacable power of Judgment and his Realm, this spirit might be an aspect of the totem Incarna called The Man. Although Judgment has been known to appear in a female guise (usually to punish sexist offenders), this entity almost always manifests as a large, imposing, and humorless man.

One of the most infamous and powerful Paradox spirits, Wrinkle is also, in some ways, one of the least hostile. Appearing as an exceedingly old man or woman in a perfectly tailored, but extremely wrinkled,

white tuxedo, Wrinkle walks up to the offending mage and politely tells the mage that she’s caused a disturbance… and that he’ll help the mage repair it. “Old Man Wrinkle” then asks the mage if she’s willing to fix the problem. If the mage agrees, then she instantly finds herself, with her companions, back a few moments in the past, one turn before she cast the spell that caused the Paradox backlash that caught Wrinkle’s attention – and if she then chooses to avoid using magick that time around, all is forgiven.

Should the mage elect to use magick again anyway – and if doing so brings about two or more points of Paradox – she’ll find herself talking to Wrinkle again. With diminishing levels of politeness, he asks her to try another approach. If treated respectfully, Wrinkle can be exceedingly patient, willing to allow the mage up to three tries; that mage, however, cannot spend Willpower to stave off Paradox effects. Mages can’t cheat Wrinkle in this fashion.

If the mage mouths off to Wrinkle, or if she cannot find a way out of her situation that doesn’t involve creating more than one point of Paradox, she disappears from consensual reality and finds herself frozen in time – conscious and aware, but removed from existence. Trapped in a hellish no-time space, she periodically receives new visits from Wrinkle. If she agrees to behave herself, she finds herself back at that moment of choice. And if not, she may be gone for a very, very long time…

Like the old-school spirit that he is, Wrinkle places great value on good manners and heartfelt apologies. By that same token, he has no patience with rudeness or pride. Obnoxious mages disappear from reality, their pasts edited so that everyone believes they died in some earlier tragedy. From time to time (so to speak…), a long-lost mage reappears, shaken, aged, and nearly mad with isolation. More often, though, a rude offender disappears for good…

Certain spirits are simply messages – disembodied communications with images and voices and apparent consciousness but no form to speak of, even in an ephemeral sense. In older times, these Sendings were considered omens, visions, or divine messages; in the wake of the Avatar Storm, they were viewed – rightly or otherwise – as communication from Masters trapped beyond the Gauntlet. Cosmic theories suggested that these Sendings had forged together rampant disembodied consciousness, bits of myth, shards of broken Avatars, fragmented ghosts, legendary heroes, and perhaps even aspects of lost and shattered gods. And although these entities do appear to have minds and identities of their own, their ultimate nature remains unknown.

In game terms, a Sending is a walking story element, an enigma whose motivations and origins are whatever the Storyteller wants them to be. Although these spirits might take the name and form of familiar archetypes or legends – Loki, Br’er Rabbit, Mother Mary and so on – they don’t inhabit a relatable form for long. These are flashes in the sky that look like faces; wandering strangers who speak a few words and then disappear; the crying child or pathetic old man who reaches for a touch of kindness before fading away. A Sending can be the wizened twin of a player character, glimpsed in a bustling crowd but gone when they try to find him; or the strange, overheard words that come from nowhere when a mage’s back is turned. One might resemble a panhandler on the side of the road whose face flickers into a skull, or the image of a distant parent when the mage drives past. Another might be a heap of broken roadkill that gets up, shakes itself vigorously, and walks off into the woods. In short, a Sending is a dash of weirdness added to your Mage chronicle. Though a Perception + Enigmas roll might suggest its identity, the truth behind such a vision should remain one of those odd moments that define a magickal life.