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View Full Version : [M:tAw] Inspiration for our cabal needed!



Kiero
2013-01-05, 10:29 AM
We're about to start a historical Mage: the Awakening game, set in the Province of New York (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_New_York) in 1750.

The PCs are thus:
Jacob - a mixed-race Iroquois tracker and warrior who is knowledgeable about spirits. Served as a scout in the last war where he got his first glimpse of Europeans up close and personal. A Proximus from an Adamantine Dynasty with a Thrysus heritage.
Andrea (Coruscant) - a French noblewoman and natural philosopher, who is a skilled duellist. She carries a parasol which conceals a sword. An Obrimos of the Silver Ladder.
Sophie (Caprice) - another French aristocrat (and childhood friend of Andrea), she's had a somewhat tortorous past involving two ex-husbands, the last of which she killed in self-defense. She met Jacob after fleeing the scene and was adopted into his family. She is suspected to be a spy. A Mastigos Guardian of the Veil.
Pastor John (Mason) - an American Quaker minister with utopian dreams of building the perfect society. A Moros member of the Silver Ladder.
Courtenay (Loquitor) - a former officer in the British army, he lost a lot of men in an ambush. Resigning his commission shortly after Awakening, he still has good relations with the British authorities. An Acanthus Adamantine Arrow.

We seem to have hit a bit of a block in establishing them. We're probably outside Albany, maybe on a farm owned by one of the PCs. Some vague ideas were things like a joint venture between the Arrows and Ladder, but nothing really certain. We're an outgrowth of the New York consilium, but we're also close to the Iroquois consilium. Other consilia mentioned are Philadelphia (the largest) and Boston (the oldest, in decline).

Jacob is something of a linking factor between a number of characters. He was involved in the former soldier's Awakening, and was there shortly after Sophie's (his mentor, Sooleawa, was Sophie's first tutor, before she was murdered). In his role as a liason for the Iroquois consilium, he's visited pastor John's community before. Andrea is a childhood friend of Sophie's. That's the mundane personal connections, it's moving it up to the cabal level that we seem to be blanking on.

Any ideas? A name, possible symbol, appropriate rites, purpose? Anything, really would be helpful.

1of3
2013-01-06, 03:24 PM
Cabals usually come together for a purpose.

Maybe there is a community that needs protecting; maybe there's a spot with bad juju in the vicinity: Arrows, Ladder and Guardians would all have a stake in that.

Kiero
2013-01-06, 04:00 PM
Cabals usually come together for a purpose.

Maybe there is a community that needs protecting; maybe there's a spot with bad juju in the vicinity: Arrows, Ladder and Guardians would all have a stake in that.

Funnily enough, this is what our GM said a few hours ago:


The newly-formed cabal is probably going to be dispatched to a specific location to a) set up a Sanctum there (and thus spread/strengthen Consilium influence there) and b) deal with some initial problems that have arisen. I'm currently considering you being dispatched to where a Nefandi mage originally held territory and, after his death, there's been some Bad Stuff (TM) occurring that the Consilium wants sorted. This may actually be somewhere that there's already another Consilium cabal in the area, but their area of influence was seperate or sufifciently far away that they can't/don't want to deal with the issue.

Kiero
2013-01-11, 08:11 AM
We started last night and had some fun with flashbacks and other stuff. The PCs started in New York City at a meeting with the Hierarch and various other senior mages, where we were briefed on our mission as a cabal. We were to move into the Albany area and take over the stomping grounds of a recently murdered Nefandi, Hascalla. While there's another cabal (The Manticore's Seal) roving around the area, they don't want to leave a vaccuum in this place (plus they want us to secure his stuff and sort out his creations rampaging about). Every PC also had a meeting with a mentor-type who gave them their own individual goals. Here (http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/18thCenturyMage/Mage_Politics)'s a rundown of local politics.

So up the Hudson river on a small ship to the hamlet where this dude was murdered to investigate his death and start trying to solve this mystery. We get attacked by spirits along the way (combat test!) which we survive and learn something about the opposition (two mages, one with Spirit, the other with Space and Forces). We don't know who they are. In said hamlet we don't find much by mundane means and have to bargain with a spirit of suspicion that's taken up residence, who shows us the murder. Killer is wearing a mask linked to a Guardian faction, their sanctioned killers. Conspiracy!

Anyway, we haven't arrived at our nominal seat yet and will likely be doing that next session. We are yet to formally enact our cabal, choose our sigils and so on. The PCs are all fully-realised on the wiki (http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/18thCenturyMage)now (including portraits!).

Kiero
2013-01-14, 08:11 PM
First session available to listen to (http://insanitywetrust.wordpress.com/2013/01/14/mage-the-awakening-the-unforgiving-episode-1/). We haven't reached our seat yet (nor established ourselves there) so still lots to work out.