The Lord Sages of the Unknown Reaches

**Requirements:** Wyrd 2+, Occult 3+, at least two Occult specialties

**Origin tales:**

1. Once an Autumn Antiquarian made a deal with the Gentry for 3 questions truthfully answered. After the third question, they would give themselves to the Keeper. Their first question was “where can I find a being not of Arcadia that can, should I bargain with it, correctly answer the majority of my questions?” And the Keeper gave the location. “For my second, how might I bargain with it so it will agree to answer my questions?” The Keeper answered. The Antiquarian then sought out the Shadow and used the knowledge it had gained to make a deal with the Shadow and asked “How might I escape the bargain I have made with my Keeper?” And so the Shadow answered.
2. Once upon a time, there was a changeling Ogre who yearned for a family but never could find love. One day, he came across a battle outside of his town. Something had attacked a home of people whom the town feared and the family had been killed. The Ogre noted the scratch marks on the walls and assumed it was from the beast that slew them. Then he heard the cry of a child and found the boy. With no family left to bring the child to, he took the boy home and raised him as a son. 14 years later, the boy grew angry and turned into a monster as other monsters came for him. The Ogre set off to learn everything he could about what happened and went back to the long destroyed house. There he found the Shadow, a spirit that had served the Wolves for years and now would serve him.

**Legends:**

1. A skeletal figure mounted a skeletal steed, riding into the towns. Wherever she goes, Death is not far behind. The Dead turn to her and she does her best to help them. Her service to Death has earned its Regard and now it follows her, occasionally even talking to her. For she knows Death better than any other alive. And when it was finally her time to go, Death collected her himself.
2. Once was a Leechfinger who had recently moved to Byzantium. They had heard rumors of monsters in the deep and had worried about Hedge Beasts and began to search for clues. One night, several pale people invited her to a party and the leader of the party castigated her for not coming before him and his court. New Vampires were required to do so. She realized the situation and pleaded for clemency, for she was new to this undead life. She lasted 20 years without them realizing she was not one of them before she left the town.

**What We Do in the Shadows:**

The Lord Sages of the Unknown Reaches are a small and eccentric noble order dedicated to learning about the other supernatural beings that live in or occasionally visit the World of Darkness. Some Lord Sages specialize in a single field of endeavor -- ghosts, vampires, werewolves, or other Outsiders -- while a few attempt to become supernatural polymaths. Some are scholars and relic hunters, while others are diplomats and spies, but all Lord Sages are dedicated to protecting either their freehold or all changelings from other supernatural menaces. Along the way, though, they have a strong interest in acquiring, often by any means necessary, allies and objects that can help changelings in their battles against the fae.

Most other changelings regard the Lord Sages as somewhat eccentric. Many don't even fully believe in the order's purpose. Some changelings remain convinced that the True Fae are at the heart of all other supernatural creatures and manifestations; others feel that the Lord Sages are investigating things best left alone. To many changelings, this noble order is nothing more than a macabre and somewhat silly waste of time, and so members aren't accorded much respect by the rest of their Court or freehold just on the principle of their order. However, occasionally a Lord Sage will come up with a useful artifact, a binding treaty or a powerful ally that awes and impresses their critics. Of course, other Lord Sages simply vanish or are found messily dead, their corpses a brutal testament to forms of violence that are not easily attributed to mortal or fae hand.

If other changelings find themselves troubled by ghosts, spirits, or some other type of supernatural being, Lord Sages are often the only ones who both believe them and can offer useful advice or aid. And thus the Lord Sages of the Unknown Reaches continue their work as carefully as they can.

**Mask & Mein:**

When in the company of other changelings, Lord Sages are both well dressed and appear somewhat scholarly, as befits someone who is both a scholar and a diplomat. However, when attempting to observe or interact with the werewolves, vampires or other such beings, they usually try to dress like these beings. Lord Sages who study ghosts or spirits naturally don't bother, but Lord Sages who study werewolves tend to emulate the pack or tribe they have made contact with, just as Lord Sages who work with mages dress like the members of the cabal or Legacy they work with. Also, Lord Sages proudly and prominently wear any unusual gifts they have received from the supernatural beings they might have befriended. Such gifts range from a denim jacket on which a werewolf painted the stylized image of a wolf, to an antique necklace or set of cuff links given to the lord sage by a century old vampire.

The mien of a Lord Sage changes in a number of ways. The most obvious is that their eyes seem to enlarge slightly and take on a permanent glow. In addition, their clothing, and occasionally their skin becomes decorated with various occult and esoteric symbols. These symbols come from all cultures and mythologies, but most are associated with the supernatural beings the Lord Sage studies and talks to. These symbols change every time the changeling wakes up. As a Lord Sage's Wyrd rises, the number of symbols increase somewhat or the symbols grow larger. A typical Lord Sage has between half a dozen and several dozen such symbols on his clothing. Lord Sages with Wyrd scores above four also typically appear to have one or more of these occult symbols tattooed on their skin.

**Bequeathal:**

The order invites any changeling who has had experience with other supernatural beings to join. Changelings who possess the requisite Wyrd and Occult scores and who have had experiences that significantly add to the Lord Sages' knowledge of some other type of supernatural being are invited to become members. Changelings who are fascinated by other supernatural beings and phenomena but lack any direct experience with such may apply to join, but must convince the members of this noble order that they have something to offer the order. Those who succeed are given a mentor who teaches them the path of the Lord Sage.

The formal end of the apprenticeship occurs when the mentor allows the apprentice to demonstrate her mastery of knowledge before at least one other member of the order apart from himself (three is an ideal number, but difficult to achieve, given that this order is usually rare in any location). In addition to her studies, an apprentice also acts as a general assistant to her mentor, and can be asked to do everything from search large stacks of aging tomes for specific pieces of information to accompanying the mentor into the lairs and dens of other supernatural beings. Having an apprentice who does well gains her mentor significant praise and status, but some mentors enjoy having an unpaid assistant and can be reluctant to release their apprentice.

Once it is time to be brought into the Lord Sages, the apprentice is given a silver chain and told to stand in a prepared place. Once they have left, they are forever marked as a Lord Sage and the chain will forever be tarnished.

**Token: Shadow Knowledge [1-5]**

You have found a place of hidden knowledge. Here you may ask questions and something answers back. To ask the question, you must present your Token and ask your question clearly. For each level invested in this token, you get one occult speciality that the shadow creature has. For all questions, it pulls at its rating to see if it knows the answer. In its fields of speciality it is guaranteed to get 1 success.
**Catch:** You are asking a question you or the previous owners of the token have asked before.
**Drawback:** Calling upon the Shadow focuses its attention on you slightly. You gain one point of Shadow Debt. Shadow Debt works like Goblin Debt but has its own tracker. If you ever reach 10 Shadow Debt, your character becomes unplayable. (Conditional)
**Blessings**

* [1] This blessing lets the changeling regain 1 Glamour whenever she regains Willpower through her Needle in direct pursuit of her role. She may spend the Glamour immediately on anything she likes or store it in her heraldry token for later use. The token can store up to her Wyrd in Glamour. If she can neither spend nor store it, it’s lost. All stored Glamour empties at the end of the story.
* [1] Choose one of the following specialties: Occult (“Vampires”, “Werewolves”, “Ghosts”, “Mystery Cults”, “Fetches”) The chosen speciality also gains exceptional on three successes instead of five.
* [1] Additional Thread.
* [1] Outsider’s Ways: You have adapted to the social norms of Outsiders, which is defined as any non-fae supernatural. This knowledge gives you Wyrd/2 (round down) to all Persuasion and Socialize rolls against Outsiders.
* [1] Gain an Artifact. This item belongs to a supernatural group other than your own. It is limited to a value of 3 or less dots and will be crafted by the ST staff with input from the player.

**Touchstone:** An occultist who is haunted by what little they know

**Clarity Curse:** Clarity attacks suffered while pursuing mundane knowledge add damage dice equal to ranks invested in this Merit.

**WP:** Once per scene, gain a willpower when you uncover a secret about something supernatural not touched by Arcadia.