Glossary (Magic Vegas)

v60e continued 
Acolyte: Aspiring magician who does not yet have skill in Ritual Magic, but as a Believer he can assist with a ritual (less ably than an initiate) if his contribution be coordinated with Religious Ritual. 
Alchemy: Skill used to postpone the manifestation of a ritual by means of an elixir or pastille. 
Angel: Allied Spirit. 
Assistant: Anyone who participates in a Ritual in some other role than an acolyte or initiate, perhaps by helping with elements of sympathy or contagion. 
Allied Spirit: Spirit inclined to cooperate with magicians of a certain tradition (grants bonus to Bind). 
Believer: Someone who suppresses Skepticism with regard to a specific magical tradition. 
Bestiary: Grimoire for some tradition’s Path of Allies. 
Black Magic: Any magic of which the speaker disapproves: All magic for a Rationalist, Channeling for a Monotheist, Horror for most other Believers. 
Cacodemon: Spirit that can possess and strengthen a living host, the stress of which soon kills him. 
Channeling: Magic which superimposes foreign world-law of a path-god over the laws of nature. 
Charm: Physical vessel for pending/on-going magical effect, necessary or useful to certain rituals. 
Circle: A group of magicians and possibly acolytes performing a working.
Conditional Ritual: Ritual with effect specified to activate, deactivate, or otherwise vary according to pre-defined conditions, such as phrase or gesture, the position of dials on a mixer, or specification of a target. 
Consecration: Preparing a space in which to conduct a ritual with little penalty; continuing use for that purpose over decades yields a bonus. 
Countermagic: Ritual that reinforces world-law of the world in which it is performed; every channeling path is capable of Countermagic in its associated Otherworld, as is the Path of Countermagic on Midgard. 
Coven: Group of initiates of the same tradition who assist one another with magic, typically by coming together as a circle. 
Craft Spirit: Eidolon found in any hand-crafted object of Very Fine quality. 
Djinn: Spirit capable of physical manifestation as well as conjuration and/or illusion and/or shapeshifing; even as an allied spirit expect a Djinn drive a hard bargain for services (double cost). 
Dream: Ephemeral Otherworld defined by a human spirit, the source of natural magic. 
Dryad: Spirit with a wide range of powers but bound to a specific place. 
Ectoplasm: The homogeneous substance of a physically manifest spirit. 
Eidolon: Powerless spirit of an object, amenable to to having that object made a Fetish. 
Elixir: Perishable liquid charm made with Alchemy that triggers a ritual’s effect when consumed. 
Familiar: Spirit capable of telepathy with a tradition’s Believers, magicians, and allied spirits, also capable of telekinesis, possessing animals, and enhancing Magery. 
Fast-Cast: Conduct a ritual in a matter of seconds, with minimal tools, penalized for difficulty and typically for lack of consecration. 
Fetish: Charm containing a spirit, potentially making its powers available to the bearer thereof, including the power to sustain a ritual indefinitely. 
Flesh: The human body, vessel for a human spirit, necessary to use any path skill. 
Formulary: Collection of elixir recipes.
Full-Service Magician: Magician proficient in all (or most of) the path skills of his tradition. 
Gate: Portal to an Otherworld; as an adjective it refers to magic related to such a portal. 
Ghost: Spirit of a deceased human. 
God: Extremely potent spirit, generically any patron or path god, specifically (and especially for a Monotheist) that of Countermagic. 
Grimoire: Collection of ritual procedures. 
Horror: Specifically the path god of an extreme Otherworld incompatible with sanity, generically a denizen of such world. Channeling Horror worldlaw accesses especially potent magical effects at risk of Spiritual Distortion. 
Initiate: Anyone with Ritual Magic skill for a given tradition, typically lacking Skepticism. 
Ley Line: Corridor whose consecration derives from geographic relation to more potent sites. 
Magic Vegas: The magic community of Las Vegas, specifically the diplomatic function it serves. 
Magician: Initiate with a path skill. 
Mark of Power: Characteristic mental trait induced by learning Ritual Magic or a channeling path. 
Midgard: Norse name for the “real” world. 
Mixer: Charm used to control incrementally variable magical effects, such as windspeed from the Inexorable Breeze ritual, with moving parts such as dials, or else a computer-generated graphical interface. 
Monotheist: As a game term applies to a magician of a tradition that excludes channeling. 
Monster: Spirit capable of physical manifestation in non-human form with powers suited to physical combat (attack, defense, or mobility). 
Natural Magic: Any magic performed with the Path of Heroes, requiring no ritual. 
Nymph: Skilled spirit capable of physical manifestation, typically in human form. 
Otherworld: Parallel world ranging from idyllic to bizarre to hellish; source of a channeling path. 
Parasite: Spirit of disease. 
Pastille: Perishable and flammable powdered charm made with Alchemy that triggers the manifestation of a ritual’s effect when burned and the smoke inhaled. 
Path God: Spirit that defines the world or an Otherworld; technically thinking (or dreaming) and evolving but so slowly as to be imperceptible to humans. 
Path Symbol: Besides flesh, the minimum necessary material component for Countermagic or channeling. 
Patron: Extremely powerful (ST 100+) Allied Spirit, always unique, with a wide range of powers. 
Poltergeist: Immaterial spirit capable of exerting physical force. 
Rationalist: Believer who opposes Magicians. 
Religion: Many things including a path to inner peace and transmission of cultural values, but for magicians in particular it is a means of cultivating and marshaling Believers in a corresponding tradition. 
Ritual: Necessary process to generate a magical effect, except natural magic. 
Service: Favor of limited scope due a magician (or his designee) from a spirit (imposed by the ritual Bind); known as a “wish” when conferred upon the party who releases a spirit from a Spirit Trap. 
Skepticism: Instinctive and subconscious but active defense against magic. 
Spell: In setting, a magic ritual, but as a game term applies to an element of a foreign magic system which may be used as the basis for such a ritual. 
Sphinx: Spirit with a natural ward against other supernatural beings, subject to the ritual Embody. 
Spirit: Immaterial being, the source of sapience, not only self-aware but self-defining and hence a potential source of world-law; may have flesh (humans) or powers such as physical manifestation in order to interact with the material world. 
Spirit Warrior: One who enters battle augmented by a Cacodemon or Totem, usually a magician. 
Spiritual Distortion: The Mark of Power for any Horror; it exacerbates other psychological disadvantages and interferes with rituals that don’t channel a Horror. 
Sustained Ritual: Ritual with an indefinite duration (or delay) thanks to a dedicated Fetish, relieving the magician of penalties for the difficulty of extending an effect through time. 
Symbol: Material component used in a ritual, effective use of which is the province of Symbol-Drawing skill, with certain exceptions (path symbol, sacrifices, contagious and sympathetic connections to the target). 
Syncretism: Incorporating elements of one religion (and its associated magical tradition) into another. 
Technomagic: Magic abetted by digital tools such as virtual mixers and computer-aided design. 
Totem: Animal spirit capable conferring adaptation upon a human host via benign possession, meaning that the host is aware and able to act but likely to be influenced by the animal’s personality. 
Tradition: Way of doing magic, comprising its symbolism, paths, and allied spirits. 
True Name: Awarded by means of Religious Ritual skill; knowing it grants a hefty bonus to affect the one so named with a ritual. 
Unique Spirit: Spirit with a personal symbol, immune to rituals conducted without it, unlike others which can be affected by the Path of Allies using only a generic portable kit (or workshop). 
Working: Group of consecutive procedures with a common purpose, like Summoning and then Binding a Djinn, with the easiest first because it takes on the complexity penalty for conditional activation in order to coincide with the completion of the final ritual.