And now, the final member of my Christmas cabal! Despite everything, I am beyond happy for 2020, because it saw the start of my RPG career, and my patrons Keeper, Jaina Bee, Ferny, Casey, Dave, and Darius have been such a large part of that. They have done some strange alchemy to transform this wreck of a year into something which will live forever glorious in my memory. If you would like to learn this powerful transmutation, become my patron and you will have this magick, too!
The flotsam and the jetsam of culture, discarded and disjoint scraps of knowledge, wash ashore in the pitiful libraries of homeless shelters. In this Technocracy-shaped world, that means occult grimoires with half the pages torn out for toilet paper and classical texts that provided joint wraps for generations of the poor. It also meant Noelle Nicholas's family.
Ze grew up reading these scattered bits of half-knowledge to pass the time in food-bank lines and the Social Services building. There's a lot of free time spent waiting when you're poor, so ze read and re-read and read it again and thought about what it said and developed at least six theories for each little bit ze read, over and over and over again.
Natalee Joshua was a social worker, and a Hermetic wizard of House Shaea. She was Noelle's case worker, in fact. To this day, neither she nor Noelle know how much House Fortunae's spells had to do with that coincidence. It was during an office visit that Noelle noticed a book or two strategically placed among the ones on Natalee's desk and began to ask questions. The social worker mage was quite gobsmacked as the questions, each in turn, revealed an understanding of all the tests traditional for the judgment of a prospective neophyte.
It took a mite bit of effort for Natalee to arrange for enough one-on-one visits with the homeless child to begin zir training, but the Hermetic was more than up to the task. Noelle definitely noticed the extra attention ~ it doesn't take much to qualify as "extra" in an overworked services bureaucracy ~ and ze obviously suspected that it was due to the questions ze'd asked that day. But despite the vast increase in time spent, Natalee studiously avoided saying anything about the subject, letting Noelle stew in zir own curiosity. When zir attempts to broach the subject simply refused to stop bubbling forth from zir simmering mind, Natalee knew the child was a prime recruit for the order.
Upon Noelle's twelfth birthday, Natalee approached zir about joining what she claimed was a new educational program being run by social services. Noelle accepted, of course. That year was hell, as Natalee retreated into a harshness Noelle's young brain had never predicted possible. It was only the emotional support of zir mother and the sheer fascinating nature of the things the social worker was teaching zir ~ multiple strange languages, complex mathematics, the semiotics of the stars ~ that allowed Noelle to endure that last year before teenagerhood overtook zir.
Well, it's not really true that ze was overtaken by the intoxicating rush of the teenage years. The cocky awkwardness came to zit as it comes to us all, but for Noelle its force was abated some by the shift in Natalee's demands. Alongside the strange scholastic subjects she taught the young genderqueer, she began to assign zir missions. Noelle was tasked with carrying things from one place to another, or stealing seemingly innocuous objects, or completing even stranger tasks. Whenever Noelle would challenge Natalee, throwing the similarity of her assignments to those given by street gangs to some of zir rapidly retreating friends, Natalee simply curled a smile into one corner of her mouth and pulled zir into a debate of details.
Adults began to approach Noelle, always claiming to be one of Natalee's friends; that certainly didn't make her seem any less gangboss-like. They spoke to zir as something of a peer, a hopelessly uneducated peer but a peer nonetheless. Only one had anything interesting to say, really. Hodge-Podge's teasing pop-culture wisdom and nonsensical Lewis Carroll-like logic spurred new ideas in Noelle's mind, and ze relished their time together.
When Natalee said it was time for Noelle to take zir third degree and become a Practicus in the Order, Noelle told her that ze wouldn't be joining House Shaea. House Xaos was to be zir home, and Hodge-Podge zir new pater.
The Practicus initiation saw Noelle take a Word, as it sees every Hermetic mage do. Noelle's was "Anywhere". The Divine that ze was to become was to be one that could be found, and could go, anywhere. Hodge-Podge was a lot more supportive of Noelle's burglary than Natalee'd ever been, and in fact used it as a pedagogical tool, constructing eir lessons in magia and Hermetic culture with kleptic metaphors and couching them in criminal situations. Pixee Gost (Noelle's Craft Name) moved with blinding speed through the Practicus, Initiate, and Initiate Exemptus degrees.
A year ago, Pixee Gost appeared at Rodolfo and Placida's door, announcing that ze was there to pick the good Doctor's brain about the ars materiae. After quite some time, the Afro-Caribbean realized the genderqueer meant ze wanted to learn about noetic and chemical engineering from him. By then, Placida already had zir seated before a sizeable meal and was busying herself with whipping up a dessert, so with a sigh, Rodolfo agreed. Pieter did not expect to approve of Pixee Gost's presence, but a conversation into the wee hours of the morning convinced him that the 17-year-old could bring new utility to the triad's Venture.
After all, the occasional inexplicable surprise present only fueled greater ecstasy in the tearing of wrapping paper.
For most of the year since, Pixee Gost has spent zir time studying and translating Rodolfo's insights into zir own understanding of magick while performing the odd task here and there where the cabal needed. Ze has been teaching zir Etherite mentor back, as well, introducing him to Discordian philosophies. And planning, because when Yule rules around, the Workshop of the Manger Beneath the Tree of Knowledge, LLC, will need an expert in the ars conligationis to get its toys to as many people as it can.
Until then, in and around these plans, Pixee Gost has brought something to the cabal it greatly needed: a broad and diverse set of goals. Ze was fascinated, for example, to learn that Placida's mother bore the last name "Golo", and shocked that the name meant nothing to her Etherite husband. A quick explanation opened up the idea that, with some effort and possibly a sharpening of the Will, Placida might be able to draw on that lineage to talk with the ghost of the Hermetic who had stood at the veriest beginnings of the Society of Ether. Everyone has questions, from Pixee Gost's membership in a House so connected to the House which caught Golo's followers when he defected, to Pieter's intrigue at the idea of the third section of the Kitab al-Alacir, the lost section on politics.
It was also Pixee who raised the possibility of reaching out to the Kithain for a possible alliance, expanding the core of Pieter's Venture by drawing upon the workmanship of boggan or sidhe artisans. Rodolfo is starting to get jazzed by the idea, the union of engineering and the noetic sciences, the possible epitome of all his theories.
Pixee Gost bani Xaos, homeless burglar
Adeptus of Correspondence & Forces
True Name: Pixee Noelle Nicholas Gost bani Xaos, the Thief of Chains, Unseen of the Unblinking Eye, and Tattered-Page Prodigy, In Caligne Abditus, Subra Garivla Jlizz Tiggi Aio / Word: Anywhere / Avatar: A homeless Tinkerbell
Mater/Pater: Natalee Joshua bani Shaea, Hodge-Podge bani Xaos, and now Dr. Rodolfo René / Tradition: Order of Hermes / Faction: House Xaos
Essence: Dynamic / Arete ❇❇❇▢▢▢▢▢▢▢ / Nature/Demeanor: Hacker/Loner
Essence: Dynamic / Arete ❇❇❇▢▢▢▢▢▢▢ / Nature/Demeanor: Hacker/Loner
Paradigm: Turning the keys to reality
Who cares how they got here? The world is full of wondrous little keys, tricks that once performed can unlock its treasures. Rocks, plants, designs, calculations – such things become tools for the Awakened who know the universal cheat code. Savvy initiates into these sacred Mysteries may employ these shortcuts to steal what they need (or just want), laughing in easy freedom. A mage is someone with a ring of keys that can unlock wonders the Masses will never comprehend. Paradox arises from trying to force the locks and breaking off that particular key in your hand, and Ascension is a matter of comprehending on a soul-deep level that you are the ultimate key, and that all other keys are shadows of the power within yourself. Conversations with zir cabalmates have begun to build the idea that Desire and Wonder are one and the same force, the Hidden Divine Variable that is leveraged by these keys, an obedient and impersonal God with whom the mage communes.
Practices: Gutter magick, high ritual magick
Rich wizards will tell you that the keys to reality are gold-plated, rare treasures to force the world to kneel before you. They're elitist assholes, and also wrong. The keys are subtler than that, patterns of color and symbolism and the cracks between times and places. A Burger King paper crown is as powerful as the begemmed crown of England if you just know the trick. Everything has significance but the price tag attached to the tools: the alignment of planets, the tone of words, the calculations necessary to discover the correct number of times to repeat certain phrases, the formalities of address, and the measure or angle of materials aligned just so for maximum effect. This precision has a dual purpose: in one regard, the relationship of those many elements is crucial for success. In the other regard, the precision tests and challenges the magician, forcing zir to overcome zir flaws and become the true instrument of Will whom such intricacies demand. With this precision, odds and ends with symbolic connotations are all you need: coins, cards, toys, scraps, bottles, cans, nails, junk, graffiti, and things crafted out of the cast-offs of consumer society. Dead TVs, old magazines, cardboard boxes, gnawed chicken bones, sacrificed rats and alley cats, old clothes repurposed and restyled with feral urban flair… such instruments direct the Will of the truly destitute just as easily as the 1%'s expensive tools. What you do need to achieve excellence, however, is perfection. To work one’s Will, one must have the discipline to discover and master the keys, and to turn them with utmost confidence. The truth is plain: you must be strong, courageous, disciplined, and wise to unlock Creation’s power, and living on the street only hones those qualities to the sharpest edge. You cannot be weak or sloppy or stupid, if you wish to live or work your Will upon Creation. Magick demands only knowledge, preparation, and discipline. In practical terms, High Ritual Magick is slow and precise. The wizard might call upon the results of his prior work in the heat of the moment, but those results – enchanted wands, crafted staves, precious amulets, mystic scrolls, imprisoned demons, angelic favors, priceless statues, carved jade pendants, Otherworldly gates, fine robes, imposing tomes – must be prepared well in advance. Despite all those trappings, an accomplished Ritual Magus understands that it is his Will that commands those elements.
Instruments: Circles and designs, crossroads and crossing-days, movement, numbers & numerology, offerings & sacrifices, symbols, writings & inscriptions
Pixee Gost has graffitied any number of doors on any number of walls, all festooned with geometric shapes containing scrawled Enochian invoking the archangel Raziel and the various sephiroth. These are the genes of the mystical tricks that allow zir to gain access Anywhere. Sometimes, however, the barriers to entry are more energetic in form, requiring pentacles of Mars invoking Gabriel or Michael, within which alleyway animal blood or soup-kitchen food is spilled; thus is electrical current and light disrupted and modified. Enclosing sigils, ritual areas, and other regions in circles, Pixee Gost secures that space within spheres of their intentions. Other geometric shapes – triangles, squares, hexagrams, pentacles, and so forth – seal different sorts of keys to reality. Those who live on the streets understand better than those who live in houses that intersections are powerful. Areas and times in which one element or energy crosses over another one, or even several ~ midnight, dawn, New Year's Eve, the solstices and equinoxes ~ herald passages and transitions; they are weak spots in the world through which Pixee Gost can slip to get Anywhere. Clearly, such transitions are magickal – liminal spaces where options and choices multiply. Movement unites the body, mind, and life force into a flowing whole that breaks physical stasis and opens channels of vital energies. The postures and moves of parkour program muscle memory into efficient action while challenging the mind to pursue focus or meditation. Gestures – arm waves, hand signs, mudras, genuflections, and so forth – direct manual dexterity into symbolic displays. Numbers hold power; many of the tricks of the world rely on them. Often, all you need is a single number ~ nine, for example ~ to seal your mystical intentions. On a related note, the occult practice of numerology draws connections between specific numbers and the deeper levels of Creation, acting as a tool for understanding the ties between one place and another. And so, beyond the baroque patterns of number theory, simple numbers or numerical correspondences (Bible verses, racing horses, sports-team player numbers, etc.) can be remarkably potent tools when they get assigned to something you’re trying to accomplish. Often, the most powerful tricks involve giving up something else in order to obtain your goal. The wrenching when a person offers up something precious ~ property, behavior, living things, even her own life ~ can push through the fragile resistance of the world to work their Will.
Strength ❇❇❇ / Charisma ❇ / Intelligence ❇❇
Dexterity ❇❇❇❇ / Manipulation ❇❇❇ / Perception ❇❇❇
Stamina ❇❇❇ / Appearance ❇❇ / Wits ❇❇❇
Willpower ❇❇❇❇❇▢▢▢▢▢
Alertness ❇ / Crafts / Academics
Alertness ❇ / Crafts / Academics
Art / Drive / Computer
Athletics ❇ Parkour / Etiquette / Cosmology
Awareness / Firearms ❇ Handguns / Enigmas ❇❇
Brawl ❇ / Martial Arts / Esoterica ❇❇ Ceremonial Magic
Empathy / Meditation / Investigation ❇
Expression / Melee / Law
Intimidation / Research / Medicine
Leadership / Stealth ❇❇❇❇ / Occult
Streetwise ❇❇ / Urban Survival ❇ / Politics
Subterfuge / Technology ❇ / Science
Blatancy ❇ / High Ritual ❇ / Intuition ❇
Scrounging ❇ / Climbing ❇❇ / Elusion ❇❇
Escapology ❇❇ / Fast-Talk ❇❇ / Misdirection ❇
Security ❇❇❇❇
Quintessence ❇▢▢▢▢▢▢▢▢▢ / ▢▢▢▢▢▢▢▢▢▢ Paradox
Ars Conligationis (Correspondence) ❇❇❇
The ars conligationis is the power to pierce space, key to the Divinity of Pixee Gost's Word. Contagion and sympathy are ruled by the ars conligationis, which is itself ruled by sheer outright daring. It is a the art of overcoming obstacles and transcending difficulty through enlightened understanding.
Ars Virium (Forces) ❇❇❇
The ars virium illuminates the darkness, driving out ignorance and fear. This is the weapon by which the hoarders are punished, the sword against the many barriers that seal away needed or wanted things, the rod which rules the everwatching cameras.
Arcane ❇❇
Avatar ❇
Contacts ❇❇❇ street punks
Mentor ❇
Blacklisted: Misdemeanor Criminal Record (2 pt. Flaw)
Curiosity (2 pt. Flaw)
Impatient (1 pt. Flaw)
Overconfident (1 pt. Flaw)
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