Silver Ladder/temp

Philosophy
Mages once ruled. Never forget that. Do not believe that hubris felled Atlantis, that humanity deserved to be cast into the darkness. That is a subtle part of the Lie. The conquest of reality &mdash; the war for the Imperium Mysteriorum &mdash; proceeds as it should. Expand your perspective and see that the fall of the Awakened City was just a skirmish. A setback? Yes, but there are other battles to be fought &mdash; thrones to topple from the enemy's Supernal strongholds. Cast your lot with humanity and with Awakened destiny, and you will embrace the Silver Ladder.

It's a potent promise that has lasted through the ages, articulated even as the Fall forced the théarchs to gaze back at the ruins of Atlantis. They say it is fitting that such devastation should follow a struggle for the ultimate prize, but hardly discouraging, for the Silver Ladder has a potent weapon its enemies can never possess: the Sleepers.



Character concepts
The Silver Ladder claims that it supports unenlightened humanity and spreads the flame of Awakening as much as possible. The Quiescence makes doing so dangerous, so it is necessary to release a trickle of the truth, gradually, so that dedicated men and women follow it to the flood of full Awakening. Mages must be prepared to accept these new apprentices. They must cooperate to expand Awakened influence and train themselves for the battle to come. The Silver Ladder wants nothing less than an army swelled by Sleepers and forged by conspiracy before it builds a tower to the gods once more.

The Silver Ladder is used to ruling mages. While they were not the official lords of Atlantis, its members were advisors who held the balance of power, the Vox Draconis, the Voice of the Dragon. As priests, viziers, and judges of old, the théarchs upheld the principles of law. To hold together an entire nation of mages is a feat that has never been matched since, and the order is rightly proud. When the Silver Ladder's judges ruled fairly, they maintained a balance of power between mages and an unenlightened humanity. As priests, they advocated a wise balance between material needs and spiritual desires. Of course, the théarchs had human weaknesses even then, and more than any other order, were swayed by the promises of the Celestial Ladder: To put gods and demons under the reign of humankind—what greater promise than that?

Today
Other orders were humbled by the Fall, but not the Silver Ladder. Although some luminaries still speak of balance between the material and spiritual, others use these as words to justify their desire to wrest the Imperium Mysteriorum for all humanity. But their enemies are no longer the inhuman powers of the world. By trapping humanity in the Lie of Quiescence, they've shown the resurgent théarchs that they fear mortal men and women. If humanity is bound together to challenge them, they will lose. And so the order has bided its time, promoting the office of the sage advisor throughout the world, whispering their instructions to princes, generals, and ministers.