White Wolf Wiki
White Wolf Wiki
White Wolf Wiki
28,405
pages
in: Order of Hermes, Mage: The Ascension character, Signature characters (WOD),
and 7 more

Mark Hallward Gillan

Sign in to edit

Mark Hallward Gillan is a mage and the signature character of the Order of Hermes.

Biography[]

Mark Hallward Gillan’s story begins on a US Army base in Alaska. The son of Colonel John Gillan and his wife, Martha, he would not spend more than two years out of the next 18 in the same place. All of this moving around under the direction of his strict, straight-laced and successful father taught him two crucial lessons: one, that an ordered mind can overcome all manner of hardship, and two (after his father’s fatal heart attack), that no amount of order can negate the possibility of chaos. More than any other experience or revelation, those two lessons shaped who Mark became.

Before his Awakening, Mark’s affinity for well-ordered systems led him to follow his father’s path and enlist at the age of 18, while his embrace of chaos drew him to Crowley’s Golden Dawn and its variant of Hermeticism shortly thereafter. His serious individualistic and iconoclastic streak was something the army didn’t appreciate, however. To him, the reasoning was simple: any system that can’t handle the reality of chaos isn’t well ordered at all. His superiors didn’t see it that way, and Mark parted ways with the military at the age of 20. He drew the attention of House Flambeau with a prank he pulled on his way out, a prank that involved the clever use of some “borrowed” plastic explosives. The Order covered the incident up and drew Mark in quickly as a good prospect. Unfortunately, that relationship soured not long after his “graduation” into the Order, and Mark went his own way once more, popping up in the most unexpected places in the years that followed. He returned to the Order at the invitation of Porthos Fitz-Empress, but quickly got fed up with the politics that were devouring Horizon. He disappeared again not long before the fall of that Realm.

While he has ostensibly forsaken his Order, Mark clearly still has allies within it who often provide him with aid or information. He also has a strong network with various individuals in other Traditions. Many within the Order see him as a valuable mage and, rather than alienate him further with threats of punishments or ostracism, keep an open invitation for him to return. He has yet to take them up on that offer, but hints that he “might just yet.” Some whisper that his outsider status is fake, that it’s really a ruse devised to gain him the trust of other Traditions.

Mark knows a lot about Tradition politics, even though he tries to skirt it. He often seems to be involved in political affairs with which he claims to want no connection. Recently his magical interests have taken him in the direction of chaos magic and systems theory — studies that attempt to reconcile order and ego — but as always, Mark tries to solve situations through mundane means before resorting to magic.

Character Sheets[]


† Mage: The Ascension Second Edition
Image: 5' 1O," 150 lbs., age 39, apparent age early 3Os. Blond hair (black eyebrows), black eyes, handsome features, sturdy build. Cool, sardonic manner. Usually wears wool sweater, leather jacket, black pants. (Due to a minor Paradox Flaw, Gillan feels chilly in all weather.)

‡ Tradition Book: Order of Hermes
Image: Mark is in his early 30s, though many say he looks older, with disheveled, dyed-blond hair (naturally black) and squinty eyes. He generally dresses in a sweater with a battered charcoal-gray leather trenchcoat or jacket and jeans. He avoids the obvious trappings of a Hermetic mage, but does tend to carry a number of charms and Talismans.
Roleplaying Notes: You believe in getting things done, and if that pisses off the establishment, screw ’em. While it’s not always as simple as that (as your “reluctant willingness” to get involved in Traditions politics illustrates), you do have a strong tendency to “lone wolf” it whenever you suspect that red tape is just going to get in the way of results. Still, if you can make something work within the system, whether that means doing it yourself, acting through intermediaries, or just whispering in the right ears, so much the better.

Trivia[]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ↑ MTAs: Euthanatos Tradition Book, p. 2
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
More Fandoms