Legacy: House of Ariadne

# House of Ariadne

*“You frolic in the woods and forget the power coalescing in the cities.*
The city tells me you will fail in your ventures..”

Description

## Origins

**Parentage:** Acanthus, Nameless/Free Council

## Doctrine

**Prerequisites:** Time 2

## Magic

**Ruling Arcanum:** Time

Description of attainment philosophy

*Green Light/Red Light (Reach: Advanced Duration):*

Members of the House are intimately attuned to the ebb and flow of the cities they inhabit. They learn to hear the pulse of the city almost instinctively, and their motions are always in tune to the beat. Provided they take the time to walk the city periodically, a Metropolitan finds that they never face undue delays or need wait for any convenience. They benefit from the positive effect of Green Light/Red Light for a duration based on their Time dots using the advanced chart.

*Optional Arcanum: Fate 1*

*Interconnections (Reach: Casting Time):*

Metropolitans must always be on the lookout for the portents the city sends them, seeking out significant events and discerning portents in the chaos that is urban life. This training manifests in a preternatural awareness that members of the House can bring to bear with a moment's effort, honing in on Fate-touched phenomena around them instantly and reading connections from the subtle cues of the city.

### Second: Discovery Meditation

Prerequisites: Time 2

*Postcognition (Reach: Casting Time, Temporal Scrub):*

By walking about an area and studying it intently for even the smallest shred of significance, a Metropolitan may immerse themselves in the memory of the city. Provided the Withstand rating of their Temporal Sympathy with the time they are attempting to see is no greater than their Time dots, the member of the House may cast themselves back along the timeline to view events as though they were there. The Metropolitan may fast-forward, rewind, or pause the events they witness while looking back freely, but are blinded to the present while so immersed.

*Optional Arcanum: Fate 2*

*Shifting the Odds (Reach: Advanced Duration):*

Fixing their desired goal in mind, a member of the House may cast about themselves for an omen from the city regarding how they might achieve that objective. By studying this portent and following wherever it might lead them, they trace a 'thread' of Fate throughout their domain, eventually finding themselves in the presence of exactly what they wished to see. These thread-walking exercises can become quite arduous if the Metropolitan is seeking something distant from themselves or occluded in some way, but such is the price for knowledge.

### Third: Urban Geomancy

Prerequisites: Time 3

*Divination (Reach: Advanced Scale, Specifics):*

When in need of guidance, a member of the House may turn to the city and let its wisdom speak to them. Much like the thread-walking exercise they used to lead them to specific things, the Metropolitan begins by finding a single omen and following where it leads, but over the course of the exercise they string together fragments of each such portent to build greater truths. This functions similarly to the Divination spell allowing the members of the House to ask about potential outcomes for themselves or even groups or factions within the city; however, they may also simply ask the city what they 'should' know, and thus find hints about questions they did not know to ask.

*Optional Arcanum: Fate 3*

*Fool's Rush In (Reach: Casting Time, Potency Primary):*

In the course of their thread-walking, members of the House occasionally stumble upon dangerous or tense situations as they move from one omen to another, but thankfully the city rarely sends them into such scenarios completely unawares. With a moment's concentration the Metropolitan seizes upon a portent in their vicinity and reads from it what their immediate course of action should be. They gain a dice bonus equal to their Fate dots on an equal number of mundane dice rolls in that scene. This burst of insight is fleeting however, and lasts for only 2 turns.

### Fourth: Roving Meditation

Prerequisites: Time 4...

*Constant Presence (Reach: Advanced Duration, Advanced Potency):*

By intertwining their personal timeline with the greater story of the city, members of the House can become an anchor in the shifting currents of causality. By attuning themselves to the city's rhythm through a thread-walking exercise devoted to that purpose, the Metropolitan becomes inured to supernatural changes to the course of history. In times of need a member of the house may bring up to four others with them in their thread-walking, guiding the others through the same attunement in order to extend their shield to all participants.

*Optional Arcanum: Fate 4*

*Strings of Fate (Reach: Advanced Duration):*

The Metropolitans are blessed by their association with the city and it shows in the webs of coincidence that seem to unfurl about them. While conducting a thread-walking exercise, members of the house may envision a particular goal they wish to achieve. Once completed this rite enshrines that outcome within their awareness and bends probability toward fulfilling it. They will be presented with opportunities to advance or fulfill that goal at least once per week after activation of this attainment, with each such event forewarned by an omen from the city.

### Fifth: Sublime Revelation

Prerequisites: Time 5

*Prophecy (Reach: Casting Time, Social Preparation):*

At the pinnacle of their art, a member of the House has come to understand the portents given to them by the city intimately. Upon completing a divinatory thread-walking, the Metropolitan may choose to delve deeper into the answers they were given, introducing variables and asking hypotheticals about what 'might' occur to fine tune their understanding. If they so choose they may also ask how best to convince others of what they have seen, automatically reducing the doors of the first subject they attempt to convey the prophecy to by their Time dots.

*Optional Arcanum: Fate 5*

*Chaos Mastery (Reach: Advanced Scale, Casting Time):*

While the majority of the Metropolitans arts are devoted to interpreting the wisdom of the city, a master of their philosophy can also make suggestions. Members of the House who have reached this level may direct the flow of causality in a large area around themselves (up to the size of a supermarket), dictating the outcome of any random event within their zone of influence.