Those who forget history are doomed.
The modern world is not kind to magic. The Arcana taunt the descendents of Atlantis with miracles they dare not invoke for fear of Paradox or the mob rule of Sleepers. The Abyss yawns wider with every passing year toward grim apocalypse or the final severance of the Supernal. It is no wonder that many mages look back wistfully on bygone ages when they did not merely nudge the vagaries of chance by tremulous degrees, but invoked the cosmos with brilliance and courage.
Even as magic withers, the works of man give more cause for despair. For every wizard who marvels at the technological triumphs of the 21 century, there are those who lament such ubiquitous power, bitterly wondering what value their hard-earned rotes hold when anyone might fly or speak to another across the expanse of continents or lay waste to nations with forces wrested from radiant ores. What was once won- drous has become commonplace, no longer a reward of singular genius and invincible will. Worst of all, these advances threaten magic itself by offering mages quick-and-dirty alternatives to their Arcana.
While such pessimistic elitism is not uncommon among mages, most eventually reconcile themselves with some facet of modernity, or else ennui consumes them utterly. Far fewer have the emotional fortitude to fully embrace the power and burden of the past, challenging perceived inconsequence by crafting their souls in the likeness of history’s echoes. As much antiques as antiquarians, history as historians, the Wraiths of Epochs have never found broad acceptance as a Legacy, though they are older than most traditions they preserve. From the Fall of Atlantis, they lingered among its ruins as living ghosts, anchoring themselves to the ideals of reminisced greatness. As history unfolded, they watched and remembered while the Abyss gnawed at the threads of human accomplishment and potential. The Wraiths of Epochs have become the self-appointed stewards of all things forgotten, waging an endless war to uncover what time erodes faster than time can destroy it. They do not accept that all good things pass, despite the grim preponderance of evidence to the contrary.
Despite their reputation, the Wraiths of Epochs do not reject technology out of ignorance or geriatric rigidity, and they aren’t inherently antagonistic to every invention on principle. Rather, their philosophy lays blame at the convenience of technology to distract mages from exploring their own power, thereby atrophying what magic remains in the world. Raised in an age of cell phones and rockets, most Wraiths fully comprehend the seductive lure of the modern. The Legacy draws new members from those willing to surrender conveniences for deeper truths. In the eyes of Wraith luminaries, mages unable or unwilling to make such ascetic sacrifices lack the devotion to advance in the Legacy’s mysteries.
Because of their myopic focus, the Wraiths of Epochs find few recruits. It is not enough that a potential Wraith be enamored of history, as so many mages are. A disciple must also reject the modern world so fiercely that he is willing to cut himself off from its advances. Such rejection can stem from disgust or horror or even an irresistible longing for a better and purer time. Whatever the motivation, candidates must endure extensive trials to test their commit- ment before a Wraith will help them craft their souls. These tests begin simply enough, initially intended to inconvenience and annoy. If the candidate persists, successive trials gradually sever him from the aspects of modernity he most values. Only when a mage fully divests himself of distractions and embraces a lifestyle of contemplative isolation can he make the final sacrifice, forsaking future for past as he gives up happiness, prosperity and the comforting illusion that he matters in the grand design of the universe.
Within the mage community, Wraiths of Epochs generally go unnoticed unless someone wants to consult them on some aspect of the past or lure them out of passive research with the promise of new archeological finds. Although Wraiths seldom eschew politics entirely, having immersed themselves in enough cycles of civilization to recognize the dangers of total isolation, most find such endeavors distasteful as a matter of principle and prefer to hide behind heavy occultation and a reputation of disinterested neutrality whenever possible. The most politically active Wraiths work within the Mysterium to guide the order’s research toward the secrets of the past rather than contemporary lore. From an adver- sarial standpoint, Wraiths violently oppose the Cult of the Doomsday Clock, whose calculated disruptions threaten the past as much as the future. The Ticktock men reciprocate this enmity, as Wraith Attainments can pierce the truth of destroyed time in ways most magic cannot.
Among Sleepers, Wraiths of Echoes who maintain visible mortal lives typically find work as teachers, librarians, museum curators and other specialized jobs at the fringes of academia, allowing Wraiths to disguise their anachronisms as perfectly “normal” behavior for their profession. Those who break ties with the human society live almost entirely beyond its needs and notice.
Attainments
- All Things Lost
- Never Forward
- Shadows of the Past
