| This is a Left Hand Legacy
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If existence is the sum of our thoughts and ideas, why would you not cherish the power that makes of you a god?
Accomplished artisans and scholars often cling to the hope that their works will grant vicarious immortality in the canon of human civilization. Unfortunately, the whims of canon are fickle, and even the greatest geniuses might fall prey to censorship or obsolescence as newer discoveries supplant their work. While Awakened power affords more options, even willworkers can fall prey to desperation. Only then does the dream of the Unforgotten find them.
Rising from the murky depths of the Dreamtime to touch a mage’s subconscious during sleep or deep meditation, the Unforgotten manifests as a vast, undefined shape moving beneath a cold, black sea or glimpsed in silhouette behind thick ice. Cloaked in such perceptual metaphors, the Unforgotten murmurs in the polyphonic cacophony of every genius whose works have perished. In this borrowed chorus, the Unforgotten communicates its respect for the mage’s greatness and echoes his outrage that such greatness should ever fade from the world. The entity never bothers to surface unless a mage is already susceptible to such advances, but if rebuffed, it silently descends back into the Dreamtime until the clarion of desperation summons it again. Unless rejected, however, the presence remains, pressing gently at the back of the mage’s mind with the intimacy of a lover’s caress. Just as a perfect imaginary friend, the entity discusses its latest companion’s interests, patiently waiting when the mage must attend to conscious matters.
As the dialogue progresses, the Unforgotten begins offering useful advice. The entity does not command or plead, but carefully suggests better ways of preserving the mage’s ideas that culminate in the secrets of the first Attainment. From that epiphany onward, the new Dreamer joins the luminaries who have embraced the Unforgotten, bound inexorably and eternally to an idea greater than themselves.
New Unforgotten Scions feel increasingly justified to promote and preserve their works as a “greater good” that must not be contained by such artificial strictures as their order’s rules or even morality itself. Over time, these mages grow increasingly erratic and frustrated that those around them do not share their fervor, or worse, try to block their creative efforts. Such frustration usually gives way to paranoia and social isolation. In the absence of external companionship, Dreamers place increasing trust in the Unforgotten as the only being in the world that really understands and appreciates them. Its counsel becomes a constant companion, mixing practical advice with Socratic questions and the occasional enigmatic clue, encouraging scions to think for themselves and refine their own ideas.
Whatever the Dreamers’ interests and fields of study, the Unforgotten Scions are universally devoted to the genesis and propagation of their ideas. Any moral qualms that might limit such actions soon fall by the wayside as the madness of the desperate creator consumes them like divine fire. The Legacy’s Attainments only accelerate this decay, providing tools whereby others can be set ablaze with similar madness. All the while, the gentle voice of the Unforgotten encour- ages and advises from deep within, equal parts muse and succubus, steadfastly faithful to the dreams of the Dreamers rather than those who dream them.
Membership in the Mysterium is not a prerequisite for becoming an Unforgotten Scion, but it is a high risk factor. The order’s dedication to knowledge for the sake of knowledge opens the door for members to take that precept too far, losing their Wisdom to the incarnate hubris of the Unforgotten. Thankfully, long centuries of rooting out infections of the Legacy have given the Mysterium the practice and tools needed to do so. Mages who are too vocal in the promotion of their works past the point of reason can expect to be watched closely for the telltale Attainments and summarily dealt with if such evidence appears. While not as commonly afflicted, the Guardians of the Veil also lose their share of members to this Left-Handed Legacy when they allow the Mysteries they defend to become more important than the defenders themselves. Paradoxically, other orders suffer more when rare Unforgotten Scions emerge from their ranks, as the orders seldom have any idea what to look for and don’t know how to deal with the problem until it is too late. Opposition to the Legacy is further complicated by the fact that knowledge of the Un- forgotten increases the likelihood of contact, so the orders prudently restrict and censor such research. Unfortunately, this results in many mages who don’t have the slightest clue what they are dealing with if it does find them.
Attainments
- Indelible Intimidation
- Truths Best Known
- Eternal Dreams
