Space

Space

Space is one of the ten arcanum of Mage the Awakning

Purview: conjuration, scrying, sympathy, teleportation, wards

Space is the art of connection, of the ties between things, the illusion of distance and the means by which one traverses all of reality with a single step. It is an Arcanum for travelers, trailblazers, heralds and all those who seek to dispel ignorance and replace it with knowledge, even if only for their own sakes. Space illustrates the ties between people and things, an Arcanum of sympathy, contagion, emotional bonds, roads and doorways.

To the mage versed in Space, spatial extension is an illusion—all points are one. The mage is capable of traveling without moving by navigating the illusion of distance with an acumen unknown to mundane human beings. Likewise, the mage can extend his senses far beyond the range of the natural, listening to what is going on in a home two towns over, watching what is unfolding in a particular restaurant in Tokyo while he is in Cleveland. With the right combination of other Arcana, he could even hold a conversation with a person 10,000 miles away as though he were sitting across a table from her.

Space is a difficult Arcanum to understand and learn. While most people can conceive of magic that allows one to conjure flames from nothingness, peer into another’s mind or place a blessing upon a favored child, few have any sense of the power it takes to alter the dimensions of a building to be larger inside than outside or to weave a small universe of one’s own out of newly spun threads of space. These things are the province of a reality more akin to that envisioned by M. C. Escher or H. P. Lovecraft than the magic commonly attributed to snowy-bearded wizards of yore.

Mages who devote themselves to learning the Arcanum of Space are often curious individuals, not content with what is already known or what has already been done. They set out to learn Truth and are not dissuaded by the obstacles set in their path. Mages who specialize in Space are often adaptable people, capable of going around, over or even through the roadblocks set in the way of their objectives.

Portal (Space •••) This spell creates a spatial warp through which the caster (and anyone else who uses it) can move from one point in Creation to another without traversing the intervening space. Instead, the mage steps forward and just "vanishes" from one place and steps forth in another, "appearing" instantaneously. For those who hold to such tales, it is believed that many Awakened survived the fall of Atlantis through the use of this spell, opening portals in space to flee to distant sanctums.

Naturally, the wise mage takes some time to scry the layout of the place he is teleporting to (even if it is familiar to him), just to be certain that there are no unwelcome surprises on the far side of his journey.

Practice: Weaving