Arcadia (nWOD)

=Arcadia (WOD)[edit]=

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Contents
[hide]*1 Arcadia
 * 1.1 The Realm
 * 1.2 The Watchtower of the Lunargent Thorn
 * 1.3 Arcana of Arcadia
 * 1.3.1 Fate
 * 1.3.2 Time
 * 1.3.3 Forces- Interior
 * 2 Inhabtants
 * 2.1 The Fae
 * 2.2 The Oracle of the Lunargent Thorn
 * }

[edit] The Realm
Arcadia is a realm of constant change. The weather, the landmarks, even the geography is never the same per visit. Each Acanthus reports different features through which they must travel to the watchtower upon their Awakening. Mostly, the physical features of Arcadia are similar to those of the Fallen World, but taken to extremes. Great mountains, vast oceans, deep caves, fetid swamps, and plains and deserts that seem to stretch on forever are commonplace, but these features are transient. Rivers change their courses at will; mountain ranges rise up and erode over night. Only two features are known to be constant, and only one is ever in the same place for any length of time. The source of the Alphaeus River, though it’s always around somewhere, that place changes frequently. The second is the Watchtower of the Lunargent thorn, its always at the center of the realm however the that center has been known to shift around from time to time.

The weather in Arcadia is even more fickle than the land. Storms form up out of a clear blue sky; F-10 tornadoes spin up out of nowhere, accompanied by earthquakes at least 10.5 on the Richter scale. These conditions disappear as soon as they come; giving way to skies of blazing azure with light, cool breezes. Droughts and floods, rain and snow, gales and storms each occur in places on a regular and disorienting basis. Time is as temperamental and unpredictable as the weather; there is some Acanthus who believes that the rapidly changing weather can be attributed to the fluctuations of time that move across the realm like the very storms themselves. Stories of people going to sleep in an isolated part of the wilderness only to wake up decades later, (i.e. Rip Van Winkle) probably stem from contact with the realm of Arcadia.

There is one element in the entire realm that is absolutely permanent, that element is the power of the spoken word. Words uttered in Arcadia have a great and terrible power, and the realm can exert this power over those who put their foot in their mouth or intentionally break a promise. So in other words lying and breaking your word will guarantee a penance until you admit your lie, or keep your word.

[edit] The Watchtower of the Lunargent Thorn
The Watchtower of the Lunargent Thorn is the watchtower Arcadia. It sits at the center of Arcadia and is perhaps the only constant feature to be found there. Sitting in the place of eternal nighttime lit only an ever-crescent moon; the watchtower is made of brambles and is always lit, from the moonlight shining off the silver thorns and roses that surround it. The interior of the watchtower is a series of chambers, each circular, spiraling upwards and ordered by size, from the largest room at the base of the tower to the smallest at its summit. The features and fixtures of the room change according to whoever is viewing it, depicting scenes from the mage's past, present, and future. It’s the only known structure in Arcadia, though others are theorized to exist.

[edit] Fate
The subtle expression of Arcadia, action is a driving factor in Arcadia, to do nothing is to stagnate. Every action in the realm of the Fae implies risk, and this risk powers the realm. Everything one does in Arcadia is a risky endeavor, as even a perfectly executed plan can bring down a world of pain as the chaotic and uncaring environment foils foolproof plans. The power of chance is strong here, and to those who would draw their strength from here is granted the Arcanum of Fate; the power to increase their chances of survival, and to lay down blessing and curses, and to make oaths binding.

[edit] Time
The gross expression of Arcadia, time passes strangely in the realm of the Fae. What may seem like minutes in Arcadia may be the passing of years in this world, as myths tell, and the reverse may also be true. Journeys of miles may take days in the Fallen World's time yet they seem only minutes to the traveler. To those who follow the Path of the Thistle, the realm grants power of the Arcanum of Time; seeing into the future, looking into the past and even interacting with the past and the future.

[edit] Forces- Interior
The environment of Arcadia is constantly changing; storms, earthquakes, and volcanoes are common coin in that world. This general unpredictability in the realm makes control of Forces there difficult to grasp at things that are constantly in motion. The Acanthus thus find their control over the powers of the Arcanum of Forces limited; drawing their powers from Arcadia as they do they are subject to the realm's weaknesses as well as its strengths.

[edit] The Fae
Arcadia's inhabitants are as changing and as eternal as the realm itself; 'Fae' is collective term for the creature that live in the realm of Arcadia. The Fae seem to spontaneously emerge from the realm of Arcadia, certainly have an intimate connection with the land. Being of air, light and mystery, they are the very reflection of their home realm, in that they are flighty, enigmatic, and powerful. The Fae are a diverse group ranging form the jinn (genies) of Middle East to the powerful sidhe of the Celts. Supernatural creatures from mythology all around the Fallen World can be found here: satyr, the unseen people, and many more creatures of lore and legend, but in truth these are pale reflections of the Fae, as they exist on Arcadia. The Fae have interacted with the Fallen World a great deal in time past, as evidenced by their cropping up in stories and folklore of every culture on Earth. However, on the Fallen World have they shone out in all their glory and primal splendor: radiant beauty and deeply menacing. A number of humans with strange powers have arrived in the Fallen World every so often, claiming to have escaped the courts of the faeries. They are called 'changelings', but call themselves The Lost, if they are to be believed, they've been abducted in the past by the faeries they refer to, and the mythological background supports their claims, to an extent. Its unknown whether or not the realm from which they claim to have escaped is the same as Arcadia, or if the 'faeries' are the same as the Fae, true or not it casts a dark and sinister light across the Fae of Arcadia.

The craft of Supernal summoning identifies two types of being that can be called from a Supernal Realm; manifest beings of the Gross Arcanum of that realm, and recondite being embodying the Subtle Arcanum. This is one of the few patterns the Fae of Arcadia follow, but as ever with matters Arcadian, there may be exceptions; see below.

Anachronisms (or Cronies) are the manifest Fae of Arcadia, embodying the Arcanum of Time. The word anachronism means 'something out of the temporal position in which it is intended to exist'; this true of these Fae, who are by nature of their summoning plucked from their rightful place in time and brought into the alien time of the Fallen World. Cronies manifest in forms suggestive of time's passing. They may appear at the extremes of youth or age, and constantly shift between them, or manifest with imagery suggesting the passage of time; clocks, machinery, calendars, or even something biological like a heartbeat. Anachronisms have unparalleled understanding of time, and are said to be able to journey anywhere in it flow or change the rate at which it flows. Though they are often more rational than the Moirae, they are still Fae, and capricious by nature.

Moirae, are the recondite Fae of Arcadia, embodying the Arcanum of Fate. The term Moirae comes from the Greek name for one of the three Fates of that mythology. The Moirae can take any form when they're summoned, and no living mortal Mage has ever seen their true form. They are all blessed with some knowledge of fate, and most have developed some special connection to destiny that can be used to benefit a summoner- for a price. Even if they have no such connection, their very nature can create and change destinies in anyone around them, and they can grant great knowledge of fate. However, they are notoriously volatile and unpredictable, and many cannot help subvert their summoner's intentions; worse, many do so on purpose. Remember, the power of spoken words in Arcadia, be very careful with what you say, every word spoken will be held against you. Also, anything the Moirae tells you is the truth, lies are punishable by death in Arcadia, but then truth is not always without harm. Thus a mage dealing with the Moirae must be cautious, lest the Fae take offence or even bind him/her to their words.

These rules hold for Fae summoned by mages, but the Fae encountered by the changelings do not appear to fall into either category. It may be that these 'True Fae', as they call themselves, are an altogether different class of being from the Fae that mages can call upon (which might render the latter as being advanced hobgoblins rather than True Fae): more simply it may be that changeling Arcadia and Supernal Arcadia are not the same realm. This is one of the many enigmas that mages contend with in the Fallen World, and the answer may never be known.

(Note: It has recently been suggested that changeling Fae may be descendents of Fae trapped here after the Fall. Those abductions may be the result of a centuries old hatred for being cut off from their home world.)

[edit] The Oracle of the Lunargent Thorn
There is even less known about the Oracle of Arcadia than there is about the others. What is known is clouded in mystery they don't even know if it was man or woman. Just a few bits and peices that seem way to far-faetched to be true. So, they won't be included in this narrative, since it runs on fact not hearsay. Retrieved from "http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Arcadia_(WOD)"