History NightmareFuel / MageTheAwakening

*** And worse? The wrongness happens ''in spite'' of him. As shown in ''Left-Hand Path'', the Other won't harm anyone, nor will he allow others to come to harm. He won't tempt people into following the Abyss, and he mocks the Scelesti who try to worship him in person. And he apparently genuinely ''regrets'' the nightmares he causes in others. There is something even more disturbing about that.

** Making things worse is the underlying philosophies that ''Mage'' is built on; in essence, humanity ''should'' be a WitchSpecies, but the vast bulk of the species has been artificially blinded to the higher world around them. There's a subtle feeling of FantasticRacism when mages contemplate Sleepers, but looking at the difference between what both are capable of... there's a sinking feeling in the depths of your subconsciousness that mages are ''justified'' in it. Really, when one takes into account the abilities of even a moderately trained mage in contrast a Sleeper, one could quite believably justify mages believing that Sleepers ''aren't human'', they're just ''animals that look human'', and acting accordingly.

** And one of those occultists? A Russian [[TheMafiya mob boss]] who used to ''play it for laughs'', and supposedly ''cut off the limbs of three young men who tried to sell him a fake copy after he lost it''. And then fed them to them. Oh, and he wants it back, and will do anything to get it.

** You know who I find scarier? The guys in the Supernal Realms. I don't remember their names, but the Seers of the Throne worship them. Yeah, they're immortal, and obscenely powerful by ARCHMAGE standards. Worse, they're selfish enough to cut off the rest of humanity from magic, and they're ancient. That might not sound all that bad, but people in the past had a much different sense of morality. Witch hunts (which the Seers probably caused), slavery, and of course, classism. And sexism. Just a few hundred years ago, if a man slept with a married woman, he could be fined for "damaging the husband's property". And that was a marked improvement from what came before. So yeah, people in the past, not good. People in the past so horrible other mages decided they needed to knock it off, much, much worse. Also, these mages created everything in the Abyss (or at least allowed it to touch the world and found results acceptable). It's ALL their fault. Are these the people you would trust with Phenomenal Cosmic Power?
*** You're thinking of the Exarchs. And it's not that they caused those things so much as ''[[AbstractApotheosis became]]'' them - the General of Forces ''is'' the notion that MightMakesRight and the notion that violence solves everything, while the Chancellor of Matter ''is'' {{Greed}} and the devaluation of everything and every''one'' into replaceable resources and commodities. They aren't even really ''people'' any more so much as impulses shared by all the beings who live in their Supernal palaces... but they're still human ''enough'' to focus what remains of their personalities into [[GodInHumanForm ochemata]] and the Lie. The Lie, it should be noted, is not "magic doesn't exist." It's the constant, Supernal refrain of [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech the words]] the Exarchs use to clamp down on any rival to their power: "Magic exists, but you will never see it. ''You'' don't deserve to see wonder, and ''[[HumansAreTheRealMonsters never]]'' did. ''You'' are nothing before the world, it's better to hide behind our [[LesCollaborateurs chosen elect]], where it's [[EvilVersusOblivion safe]]. [[BlackAndGreyMorality From everything but the elect, but better us than the world]], which is [[CrapsackWorld rotten, and cruel, and frightening]], and [[ALighterShadeOfBlack we're the only things that can and are willing to protect you]], and it is ''our'' [[TheRightOfASuperiorSpecies right]] to do whatever we want to you because of it. It's okay to live in ignorance. [[IgnoranceIsBliss Ignorance dulls the pain, and all knowledge does is rob you of happiness before the end]]. You will obey, or you will die-''that'' is the nature of things." That message is so ''deeply encoded into reality'' that no member of the Pentacle has ''begun'' to figure out a way to remove it from the back of the mind of ''everybody in the world''. Small wonder the mood of the TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness is so somber.

* The entire concept behind the Abyss; ever since the Exarchs made Atlantis fall, reality has been literally shattered, separating the Fallen World from the Supernal Realms. The Abyss is the fracture separating the two: a gigantic, bottomless void inhabited by everything not touched by the Supernal and everything unreal - including ''very'' dangerous {{Eldritch Abomination}}s of all sort known as Abyssal Intruders, who feed on destruction, chaos, corruption and the damages caused by Paradoxes. This void is the basis for the Lie, what is separating mortals from the Supernal and preventing them from using or even understanding Magic. And it grows wider each time Mages cause too much Paradox, slowly making it harder for magic to exist in the Fallen World and potentially destroying reality entirely.

** You know who I find scarier? The guys who rule the Supernal Realms. I don't remember their names, but the Seers of the Throne worship them. Yeah, they're immortal, and obscenely powerful by ARCHMAGE standards. Worse, they're selfish enough to cut off the rest of humanity from magic, and they're ancient. That might not sound all that bad, but people in the past had a much different sense of morality. Witch hunts (which the Seers probably caused), slavery, and of course, classism. And sexism. Just a few hundred years ago, if a man slept with a married woman, he could be fined for "damaging the husband's property". And that was a marked improvement from what came before. So yeah, people in the past, not good. People in the past so horrible other mages decided they needed to knock it off, much, much worse. Also, these mages created everything in the Abyss (or at least allowed it to touch the world and found results acceptable). It's ALL their fault. Are these the people you would trust with Phenomenal Cosmic Power?

** You know who I find scarier? The guys in the Supernal Realms. I don't remember their names, but the Seers of the Throne worship them. Yeah, they're immortal, and obscenely powerful by ARCHMAGE standards. Worse, they're selfish enough to cut off the rest of humanity from magic, and they're ancient. That might not sound all that bad, but people in the past had a much different sense of morality. Witch hunts (which the Seers probably caused), slavery, and of course, classism. And sexism. Just a few hundred years ago, if a man slept with a married woman, he could be fined for "damaging the husband's property". And that was a marked improvement from what came before. So yeah, people in the past, not good. People in the past so horrible other mages decided they needed to knock it off, much, much worse. Also, these mages created everything in the Abyss (or at least allowed it to touch the world and found results acceptable). It's ALL their fault. Are these the people you would trust with Phenomenal Cosmic Power?

* The entire concept behind the Abyss; ever since the Exarchs made Atlantis fall, reality has been literally shattered, separating the Fallen World from the Supernal Realms. The Abyss is the fracture separating the two: a gigantic, bottomless void inhabited by everything not touched by the Supernal and everything unreal - including ''very'' dangerous {{Eldritch Abomination}}s of all sort known as Abyssal Intruders, who feed on destruction, chaos, corruption and the damages caused by Paradoxes. This void is the basis for the Lie, what is separating mortals from the Supernal and preventing them from using or even understanding Magic. And it grows wider each time Mages cause too many Paradox, slowly making it harder for magic to exist in the Fallen World and potentially destroying reality entirely.

** Even worse: a mage can choose to contain Paradox into his own being, minimizing risks for magic or world.

* The new rules for Paradoxes in 2E include the "Abyssal Nimbus" Condition, which represents a Mage's [[BattleAura Nimbus]] being tainted by the Abyss as a result of an exceptional success on a Paradox roll. This has the unfortunate effect of making your character's Nimbus "Resonant" with the Abyss, meaning it now produces Essence for its inhabitants and opens the way for them to Materialize or initiate a DemonicPossession. In other words, you become both a living power source ''and'' a door to the Material World for all the horrors in the Abyss. Even worse, your Nimbus sticks on everything you affect with your magic... [[FridgeHorror meaning everything and everyone you have ever casted a spell on will suffer the same issue.]].

* The entire concept behind the Abyss; ever since the Exarchs made Atlantis fall, reality has been literally shattered, separating the Fallen World from the Supernal Realms. The Abyss is the fracture separating the two: a gigantic, bottomless void inhabited by everything not touched by the Supernal and everything unreal- including ''very'' dangerous {{Eldritch Abomination}}s of all sort known as Abyssal Intruders, who feed on destruction, chaos, corruption and the damages caused by Paradoxes. This void is the basis for the Lie, what is separating mortals from the Supernal and preventing them from using or even understanding Magic. And it grows wider each time Mages cause too many Paradox, slowly making it harder for magic to exist in the Fallen World and potentially destroying reality entirely.

* Really, mages themselves are scary beyond reason. They ''start'' as "mere" [[RealityWarper Reality Warpers]], even at Gnosis 1, and they grow increasingly more powerful as they ascend. Archmages, although still constrained by some meaningful limitations, have gone beyond that title to the rank of PhysicalGod; for these mages, reality is so much putty they can play with as they like, even if it goes awry sometimes -- there's a passage in passing in ''Imperial Mysteries'', the Archmage splatbook, where one Archmage makes a comment implying that they made Christianity the dominant religion in Western civilization ''by accident''. They can't even enter the mortal world without risking causing ripples that could potentially unravel the world. Really, mages make a huge lie of the idea that HumansAreSpecial if you take ''Imperial Mysteries'' as canon; everything that generations of {{Muggles}} have accomplished can be undone by the whim of just ''one'' Archmage. Just try to wrap your head around that kind of power...

* The Jnanamukti philosophy is a terrifying combination of TheFundamentalist and OmnicidalManiac wielded by a full-fledged RealityWarper. They're an order of fanatics dedicated to a philosophy built on FantasticRacism, [[TheMagocracy magocrats]] who blame the Fallen state of the world entirely on Sleepers and who want to restore the Supernal world. Which they figure can be achieved if they ''wipe out civilization as we know it'', drastically cull humanity's numbers, and annihilate all non-Mage supernaturals. They want their paradise so badly they're willing to completely destroy the world as we know it in hopes that this ''might'' give it back to them. And they ''could'' do it...

** You know who I find scarier? The guys in the Supernal Realms. I don't remember their names, but the Seers of the Throne worship them. Yeah, they're immortal, and obscenely powerful by ARCHMAGE standards. Worse, they're selfish enough to cut off the rest of humanity from magic, and they're ancient. That might not sound all that bad, but people in the past had a much different sense of morality. Witch hunts (which the Seers probably caused), slavery, and of course, classism. And sexism. Just a few hundred years ago, if a man slept with a married woman, he could be fined for "damaging the husband's property". And that was a marked improvement from what came before. So yeah, people in the past, not good. People in the past so horrible other mages decided they needed to knock it off, much, much worse. Also, these mages created everything in the Abyss (or at least allowed it to touch the world and found it acceptable). It's ALL their fault. Are these the people you would trust with Phenomenal Cosmic Power?
*** You're thinking of the Exarchs. And it's not that they caused those things so much as ''[[AbstractApotheosis became]]'' them-the General of Forces ''is'' the notion that MightMakesRight and the notion that violence solves everything, while the Chancellor of Matter ''is'' {{Greed}} and the devaluation of everything and every''one'' into replaceable resources and commodities. They aren't even really ''people'' any more so much as impulses shared by all the beings who live in their Supernal palaces... but they're still human ''enough'' to focus what remains of their personalities into [[GodInHumanForm ochemata]] and the Lie. The Lie, it should be noted, is not "magic doesn't exist." It's the constant, Supernal refrain of [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech the words]] the Exarchs use to clamp down on any rival to their power: "Magic exists, but you will never see it. ''You'' don't deserve to see wonder, and ''[[HumansAreTheRealMonsters never]]'' did. ''You'' are nothing before the world, it's better to hide behind our [[LesCollaborateurs chosen elect]], where it's [[EvilVersusOblivion safe]]. [[BlackAndGreyMorality From everything but the elect, but better us than the world]], which is [[CrapsackWorld rotten, and cruel, and frightening]], and [[ALighterShadeOfBlack we're the only things that can and are willing to protect you]], and it is ''our'' [[TheRightOfASuperiorSpecies right]] to do whatever we want to you because of it. It's okay to live in ignorance. [[IgnoranceIsBliss Ignorance dulls the pain, and all knowledge does is rob you of happiness before the end]]. You will obey, or you will die-''that'' is the nature of things." That message is so ''deeply encoded into reality'' that no member of the Pentacle has ''begun'' to figure out a way to remove it from the back of the mind of ''everybody in the world''. Small wonder the mood of the TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness is so somber.

* The new rules for Paradoxe in 2E include the "Abyssal Nimbus" Condition, which represents a Mage's [[BattleAura Nimbus]] being tainted by the Abyss as a result of an exceptional success on a Paradox roll. This has the unfortunate effect of making your character's Nimbus "Resonant" with the Abyss, meaning it now produces Essence for its inhabitants and opens the way for them to Materialize or initiate a DemonicPossession. In other words, you become both a living power source ''and'' a door to the Material World for all the horrors in the Abyss. Even worse, your Nimbus sticks on everything you affect with your magic... [[FridgeHorror meaning everything and everyone you have ever casted a spell on will suffer the same issue.]].

** The most horrifying thing that you absolutely cannot predict a reason intruders can come. It can be done (and has been done) by Sleepers, without any connection to Abyss, ''by accident''.

** You know who I find scarier? The guys in the Supernal Realms. I don't remember their names, but the Seers of the Throne worship them. Yeah, they're immortal, and obscenely powerful by ARCHMAGE standards. Worse, they're selfish enough to cut off the rest of humanity from magic, and they're ancient. That might not sound all that bad, but people in the past had a much different sense of morality. Witch hunts (which the Seers probably caused), slavery, and of course, classism. And sexism. Just a few hundred years ago, if a man slept with a married woman, he could be fined for "damaging the husband's property". And that was a marked improvement from what came before. So yeah, people in the past, not good. People in the past so horrible other mages decided they needed to knock it off, much, much worse. Also, these mages created everything in the Abyss (Or at least allowed it to touch the world and found it acceptable). It's ALL their fault. Are these the people you would trust with Phenomenal Cosmic Power?

** Arguably the worst aspect of the Abyss is that it's not hostile. It does not seek to enter or destroy our world. Its creatures do not actively pursue agendas aimed against our world. It is simply, fundamentally incompatible with our reality. The only way it can touch our world is when a mage consciously chooses to risk Paradox. That's right: if the Abyss manifests because of your spell casting, it's ''all your fault.''

** [[TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem Strix]] are stated to befrom here, and [[TabletopGame/MummyTheCurse Judges]] are from there too.