Moros

• Their theme (and their Tarot card) is Death, their mood Respect and Contemplation.
• Ruling Arcana: Death and Matter
• Inferior Arcana: Spirit

The Moros

Many on the Path of Doom Awaken after a near-death experience, with the violence of their close call and their brief trip to the lands of the dead opening their eyes to the existence of magic. These mages often describe their Awakening as hearing the noise of the world die away and being wrapped in a shroud of tranquility. It is this shroud that allows them to maintain their composure once they gain the capacity to hear the shrieks and pleas of the restless dead. More than anything else, the Moros Path is concerned with transition and transformation. Its magics focus on the transformative edge where life becomes death, lead becomes gold and ignorance blossoms into understanding. Necromancers are fascinated by the edges of objects, places and states of being, where shore becomes sea, where coal becomes diamond and where the land of the living segues into the land of the dead. It is little wonder that they remind others of the tarot card of “Death,” a card of transitions. Necromancers are often hypersensitive to the brevity of life and understand just how little time they have to gain the transformative secrets they crave. They often become obsessive about their studies, sleeping only a few hours each night to leave enough time for their research. Moros mages who have mastered the basic arts of alchemy are free from the quotidian financial worries that plague some other mages, as they can create fortunes in gold and gems with only a modicum of effort.

Orders

Moros join Orders primarily to facilitate their own understanding. The orders that offer them the most, in terms of Arcane Skills and likeminded companionship, are the Guardians of the Veil and the Mysterium. Their work with the latter in particular has led to the discovery of some remarkable items of power, thanks to knowledge they’ve garnered from the dead. Otherwise, they join the Adamantine Arrow or Silver Ladder for similar reasons as any mage — to hone fighting prowess or to rise to power.

Stereotypes

Acanthus If they could actually focus on a problem long enough to get something done they would be dangerous.

Mastigos Undisciplined libertines and underhanded manipulators, they often seem to hold the entire world in contempt.

Obrimos Fascists, zealots and martinets without peer. They also happen to have a regrettable talent for calling down the wrath of God.

Thyrsus They fidget too much and seem to have traded in their social graces for preternatural physicality.

Vampires Cursed with power that outstrips their wisdom, and with hunger that outstrips their self-control, the undead should be pitied and feared in equal measure. Above all, they should be studied.

Werewolves Savages who do not truly understand the mysteries of Death as well as we do, but who inflict it with little thought and less effort.

Sleepers If they could stop fearing Death just long enough to understand and welcome it, Awakening would be just a breath away.