Seiđr (Norse/Germanic Tradition) (Magic Vegas)

This describes a Tradition of Magic Vegas
v60e Chapter 3 continued
==Views==
In the Norse tradition, healing stops short of regeneration. Fate can be foretold but not altered, and Allied Spirits can’t supersede these limits either (although the Path of “Allies” affects non-allied spirits as well). Certain rituals have a feminine or masculine aspect which leads to some uninformed commentaries on Seiđr saying that magic is feminine, that male practitioners must accept the social stigma of being unmanly, but that’s only because they don’t recognize the full repertoire. Divination, desire, and healing are “feminine” but strength, professional competence, and inanimate matter and energy (including weather) are masculine. The magician need not be male or female but must do something which conforms to the corresponding gender role, such a cross-dressing – that’s the “unmanly” part (though homosexuality only counts if he’s on the receiving end). Generally, the opposite of a trait has the same gender, not the opposite gender, so causing disease or fear is feminine just like healing or desire.
Norse cosmology knows of nine realms, and there’s some confusion among the uninitiated as to which are the realms and which are just places within them. For example, Asgard is an entire realm, but Valhalla is just one of many places in that realm, as Helheim, the abode of the goddess Hel, is a hall in Niflheim. The first realm is Midgard, what most people call earth, and it’s the source of Countermagic. The ninth realm is known to the tradition but not technically part of it, the Horror Ginnungagap. Of the remaining Otherworlds, an impressive proportion are habitable, even hospitable, and home to rival factions, although they all share the same social norms so the rivalry is more for the sake of glory than philosophy. The dead who don’t reincarnate mostly haunt Niflheim, but those who die gloriously go to Asgard, to the halls of Odin or Freya, so the Æsir live among them. 
==Symbols== * Futhark runes, bread, cord/thread, chicken bones, dance, distaff, keening, poetry, phallus, sex, sacrifice, trees. Language: Old Norse or contemporary Baltic, Germanic, or Scandinavian. Countermagic: Hammer. Weapons: Bow, broadsword/falchion, hammer, knife, long axe, round shield, spear/staff, throwing axe. Garb: Individual but handmade with signs of skilled craft, such as rich die and intricate designs, typically incorporating fur and jewelry. Magic Vegas Embassy: Valhalla (replaces real-world Cromwell). Mark: When a practitioner knows of a true prediction (such as a successful Vision of Luck ritual), nothing he does can avert that outcome; if he tries or if others try to help, he will at least subconsciously sabotage the effort (this is a Divine Curse, Divination-Locked, worth -10 points as a Compulsive Behavior with base control roll 12). 
==Allies== 
* Æsir, Alfar (elves), Dvergr (dwarves), Jotun (giants), and Vanir are tribes of humans permanently residing in hospitable Otherworlds, exhibiting their characteristic virtues like alfar beauty and jotun strength because of the worldlaw under which the live (although alfar, dvergr, and jotun run to characteristic body types, ecto-, endo-, and mesomorphic respectively.) They’re not summonable spirits unless they’ve died and become ghosts, but the eldest among them apotheosized into patrons of Seiđr or into lesser spirits like Nymphs, Wights, Monsters such as dragons, and shapeshifting Djinn such as nixies. Non-unique Monsters are giants with power over fire or ice. Divination: Sortilege or Symbol-casting with runestones. Patrons: Many, but the main ones are Odin and Freya, Loki and Thor. Totems: Bear, boar, goat, hart, horse, lynx, raven, swan, whale, wolf; cats typical familiars. 
==Path of Alfheim== 
* Borrow Skill (Agricultural), Bright Vision, Calm the Winds, Channeling (Ynge), Clean, Continual Light, Create Gate (Alfheim), Dream Visitor, Dreamwalk, Gentle Beast (Dog), Grace, Halt Aging (adds no years but reduces the ravages), Lure, Perfect Appearance, Perfection of the Soul (no effect on Marks of Power), Planar Visit (Alfheim), Purify Air, Purify Earth, Purify Water, Remove Contagion, Seek Beast (Domestic), Slumber (voluntary), Soothe, Speak with Beast (Dog), Summon Beast (Domestic/Pest), Virility, Weatherworking (Fair). Symbol: Amber. Portfolio: Grace, harvest, light, purity, virility. World: Clean and bright, idyllic except that the sun never sets and fire won’t work. Mark: Lust for life (could manifest any number of ways such as Gluttony, Lecherousness, Compulsive Carousing or Thrillseeking, or a Love of any particular thing from fine wine to bloody combat). 
==Path of Asgard== 
* Air Vision, Apportation, Armor, Borrow Skill (Civic/Military), Channeling (Odin), Command Beast of War, Create Animal (corpse), Create Gate (Asgard), Dream Shackles (week maximum), Gentle Beast (Songbird), Ghost Shirt, Hasten Mount, Heal Plant, Lust, Mist, Oath, Planar Visit (Asgard), Rejuvenate Plant, Speak with Beast (Raven), Succor, Tirelessness, Unlimited Ammo, Vigil, Vigor, Vitality, Walk on Air. Symbol: Spear. Portfolio: Nature, sky, warfare. World: Cities float in the sky, people tread rainbows, slaughtered livestock comes back to life from the bones, day and night last a week with corresponding sleep cycles (Vigil plus Dream Shackles), enough time for a warrior on the brink of death to heal before dawn. Mark: Code of Honor as Vikings defined it, including some or all of courage, loyalty, good cheer and hospitality, promises kept, insults avenged, kin protected, and most importantly a glorious death (-10 points for the lot). 
==Path of Ginnungagap (Horror)== 
* Age, Blackout, Channeling (Gap Horror), Cloud Memory, Command Beast (Gap Horror), Contract Object, Create Gate (Ginnungagap), Dark Vision, Decay, Distant Blow, Enlarge, Essential Acid, Exchange Bodies, Gentle Beast (Gap Horror), Hallucination, Impotence, Irradiate, Obscurity, Planar Visit (Ginnungagap), Rotting Death, Ruin, Seek Beast (Gap Horror), Spasm, Speak with Beast (Gap Horror), Stench, Stop Healing, Summon Beast (Gap Horror), Teleport (not in Midgard), Transform (Gap Horror), Wizard Mouth. Portfolio: Annihilation, creative emptiness. Symbol: Empty jar. World: The void where ice from Niflheim and fire from Muspelheim meet and annihilate. Mark: Spiritual Distortion. 
==Path of Jotunheim== 
* Channeling (Thrym), Command Beast (Bear), Create Gate (Jotunheim), Dose, Endure Elements (also DR1 vs. Heat/Cold per level), Gentle Beast (Predator), Gloom, Hawk Vision, Hide Path, Hold Breath, Hunter’s Blessing, Liar's Charm, Mage-Stealth, Night Vision, Planar Visit (Jotunheim), Read the Manual, Resist Pressure (Pressure Support 2), Seek Beast (Game), Seek Pass, Seek Plant, Seek Water, Snow Shoes, Speak with Beast (Lynx), Summon Beast (Lynx), Swim, Walk through Plants, Warrior’s Blessing, Water Vision. Symbol: Arrow. Portfolio: Land, superhuman excellence. World: Perpetually overcast but pristine copy of Midgard, not exactly heaven, but it’s easy to survive off the land (or under water). Mark: Confidence (as a disadvantage, that would be Over-confidence). 
==Path of Muspelheim== 
* Channeling (Surtr), Command Beast (Reptile), Conjure Flame, Create Gate (Muspelheim), Earth to Stone, Flash, Fuel, Heat, Lightning, Malaise, Panic, Phantom, Planar Visit (Muspelheim), Read Memories, Read Thoughts, Reshape, Retch, Rockfall, Ruin, Shake the Earth, Skinchange (Totemic), Smoke, Speak with Beast (Reptile), Summon Beast (Reptile), Unbearable Pleasure, Weatherworking (Geyser/Volcano and Rain/Storm). Symbol: Torch. Portfolio: Destruction, fire, volcano. World: A fiery hell; anyone who goes there will burn to death before disease kills them, but they’ll feel bliss in their final moments. Mark: Fiery or vicious personality (Bad Temper, Berserk, Bloodlust, Callous, Sadism, or Trickster). 
==Path of Nidavellir== 
* Borrow Skill (Art/Craft/Engineering), Cadence, Channeling (Kvasir), Command Beast (Bees), Create Gate (Nidavellir), Create Object, Earth Vision, Fix Glitch, Great Gas Mileage, Great Haste, Infravision, Know Fault, Locate Spares, Measurement, Perfect Control, Planar Visit (Nidavellir), Repair, Seek Beast (Bees), Seek Earth, Smooth Ride, Summon Beast (Bees), Supercharge, Transmutation of Metals, Water to Wine (honey), Weapon Blessing, Wisdom (doesn’t raise base IQ but mitigates penalty of Afflictions). Symbol: Drinking vessel such as a horn or stein (preferably filled with mead). Portfolio: Art/craft, inspiration. World: Making things is easy, and so is mining, so most of the dwellings are underground. Mark: Materialism or Self-Importance (Greed, Jealousy, Miserliness, or Compulsive Spending). 
==Path of Niflheim== 
* Alter Terrain (only to change a river’s course or cause flood), Blight, Channeling (Hel), Cold, Command Beast (Wolf), Command the Bodies of the Dead, Create Gate (Niflheim), Create Spring, Death Vision, Evil Eye, Firecalm, Frostbite, Guise, Hail, Hallucination, Ice Slick, Night Terrors, Planar Visit (Niflheim), Seek Beast (Seal), Speak with Beast (Wolf), Steal Energy, Sterility, Stone to Earth, Suggestion, Summon Beast (Wolf), Weatherworking (Snow/Blizzard), Will Lock. Symbol: Skull (one from an animal will do). Portfolio: Winter, darkness, death. World: A dark and cold hell, literally the domain of Hel, filled with fearful hallucinations and freezing rivers that emit noxious vapors; any who go there in flesh will die (and then reanimate). Mark: Nihilism – fate has your number and there’s nothing you can do about it except make the most of the present (might be represented by On the Edge or any self-destructive habit). 
==Path of Vanaheim== 
* Borrow Skill (Expert/Maritime), Channeling (Njord), Command Beast of Burden, Command the Waves, Create Gate (Vanaheim), Current, Divination (Augury/Oneiromancy), Fertility, Gentle Beast (Dolphin), Gift of Letters, Gift of Tongues, History, Inexorable Breeze, Locate, Locate Spares, Planar Visit (Vanaheim), Predict Earth Movement, Predict Weather, Preserve Food, Read the Manual, Scry, See Secrets, Seek Beast (Fish), Seek Coastline, Speak with Beast (Dolphin), Vision of Luck. Symbol: Ship (a model in a bottle will do). Portflio: Fertility, foretelling, sailing, wisdom. World: Pretty much like Midgard, except that wind and wave respond to will, and minds fill with knowledge unbidden, dangerous to a divination-locked magician, but choosing another career is no help, for if magic is your destiny, you can’t avoid it. Mark: A personal quest (typically represented as an Obsession with learning or discovering or conquering something). 
==Absent Rituals==
*Body of Shadow, Cloud-Vaulting, Create Earth, Create Plant, Create Warrior, Doom, Entombment, Evisceration, Gambler's Token, Garble, Gremlins, Hand of Glory, Invisibility, Journeyman's Blessing, Lesser Wish, Love Charm, Loyal Item, Machines Hate You, Madness, Magelock, Mirror, Plant Growth, Regeneration, Shape Earth, Silence, Stroke of Luck, Summon Shade, Sunbolt, Telepathy, Thunderbolt, Time Out, Timeslip, Walk on Water, Walk Through Earth, Weaken Blood, and Windfall.
Category:Magic Vegas Tradition
Category:Books and Paths