Tamer of Rivers

The Tamers of Rivers - also known under the monicker Travelers - are a Legacy among the mages of the Thyrsus path that deals with the element of water in all its various forms. For this reason, they study Matter.

Mindset
The waters are the very origin of creation. They're the living fount from which all other things take their being. The symbolic river runs to the primordial ocean, which contains all life forces. The waters bring fertility. The rain that waters the parched land brings life from what once was barren and dead. The waters purify. Catholics flock in their thousands to the holy shrine of Lourdes to experience the healing powers of its waters. Hindus visit the sacred city of Varanasi, to cleanse themselves in the restorative waters of the Ganges. The waters excite sensation. The gentle flow of water across human skin. The rise and fall of the fluids in the body dictates the physical response to desire, the transfer of life borne in water its culmination, its purpose. The water flows, constantly, in constant flux, constant change. The waters renew themselves constantly, and gradually change the nature of their landscape. The waters have many voices for change. The waters erode. The waters constantly alter their surroundings. The gradual erosion of the rocks happens over millennia. And yet, the gentle, persistent movement of the waters hides frightening powers. Water can just as easily bring destruction and death, in the devastating power of a tsunami, the wild, unpredictable anger of a flash flood. The river, without warning, becomes the mysterious depths that kill and annihilate.

The Tamers of the Rivers embrace all of these aspects and act on their behalf as they become the River. The Tamers of Rivers, for as long as they have practiced their magical arts, have claimed to have held the keys to life and death and everything that lies beyond. They're all change, all transformation, and, like the path of the conceptual River that represents all rivers, it's a constant journey. Their role in society has always to be agents of change in all things. Sometimes they join with artists and radicals. Sometimes they're activists. Sometimes they're healers and teachers. Many Tamers of Rivers experience periods, which can be anything from a few days to months or years at a time, when they feel devoid of creative energy. They ebb and flow, going through phases of low and high water. Most come out of the other side of times like this, springing from the dry ground with renewed vigor and freshness. Some may fall into cynicism and stagnate, no longer having the will to continue developing the attainments of the River.

Tamers of Rivers, like the River itself, don't settle in one place for very long. Historically, they were always travelers. Part of a tradition that began among some of the earliest matrilineal societies, they moved from tribe to tribe, city to city, promoting the arts of healing and childcare and teaching the benefits of culture, literacy, and the arts. These days, many of the "Travelers" have permanent homes, but the need to keep on the move still lingers. Many move their home at least once a year, and avoid putting down firm roots for fear of getting stuck in one place. The principle of their soulcrafting depends on them becoming water, becoming constant change, becoming embodiments of frequent movement. The idea of spending a lifetime living and working in a single city or town is all but anathema: Still waters soon become stagnant waters. If they take jobs at all, they usually avoid office jobs, preferring the freedom of jobs that let them move around. Lovers of Tamers of Rivers often accuse them, not always unfairly, of a fear of commitment.