Gnosis

Gnosis is the measure of the power of the Flame of Divinity within a mage. Also known as Atman, Ka, or Mana, Gnosis determines a mage's magical potency, the amount of raw magical power they have at their disposal, as well as the potential mastery that they can achieve in the Arcane Purviews. A mage's Gnosis can alter over time, becoming more potent than it was initially, though such increases are difficult to achieve. Additionally, there is an incredible amount of variation in the amount of Gnosis mages possess upon Awakening. Typically speaking, those with a more innately potent Flame, enough to result in an Innate Awakening, begin with more potent Gnosis than those whose Awakenings are cultivated.

## Power Classes

Depending on a mage's Gnosis, they can be placed in differing levels of power, which denote the abilities that Gnosis gives them.

### Transcendent

Mages who become Transcendent are virtual gods. The Flame of Divinity grows so potent within them that their mortal flesh can no longer contain it, and they ascend into the Ether in spiritual form. As they are originally beings of the Earth, and are also phenomenally powerful, they can easily exert power over the mortal world. However, such magical might comes at a price, as they become almost utterly incapable of focusing their astounding power into anything less than extremely powerful magical feats when within the physical world.

### Enlightened

Enlightened Mages are tremendously powerful magic wielders, with the vast majority of them being centuries old and having attained extraordinary mastery over their chosen fields of magical study. They can perform any familiar feat without the need for a focus of any kind, and the majority of unfamiliar feats can be done simply after having witnessed its effect so long as they have sufficient mastery of the Arcane Purviews required. Such potent mages do carry some drawbacks, however: They are find it extremely difficult to perform weaker magical effects, as their power is so tremendous that it requires a great deal of focuses to employ weak abilities.

### Resonant

Mages who have reached the Resonant stage tend to occupy leadership roles within whatever mage orders they align themselves with, being possessed of tremendous magical power and finding the usage of said power to come to them easily. The majority of familiar magical feats can be performed by them without the need to focuses, and they find that focuses are only necessary for potent feats or those they have not performed before.

### Attuned

Attuned Mages tend to be experienced and skilled in magical matters, forming the core membership and low level officials of whatever magical orders they belong to. The magic they are able to perform is relatively potent, making the average mage more than a match for most common supernatural beings. Their reliance on spells has decreased to the point where they can employ familiar magic without focuses, though doing so is usually so difficult for all but the most minor of feats that they still employ focuses anyway.

### Awoken

Mages who are in the Awoken stage of power tend to be quite young and inexperienced, often functioning as novices or apprentices within their prospective factions. Those at this stage can only use relatively weak magics, which, admittedly, is more than enough to contend with most mundane beings. Furthermore, those at the Awoken stage rely heavily upon focuses to direct their fledgling power, requiring all manner of tools, incantations, rituals, and ingredients to successfully employ any magical feats.

### Dormant

Those with inactive amounts of Gnosis are considered Dormant, and are unable to wield the Flame of Divinity to use magic to shape the world around them.