The Outsiders is a catchall name for various Cliques of the Hollow Ones: a "Tradition" of the Council of Nine Mystic Traditions.
Overview[]
Mostly Revolutionaries, Outsiders prefer to socialize with the other denizens of the World of Darkness over other non-Hollow One mages. This lifestyle tends to be hazardous to any Awakened being's health, as the problems of these groups tend to catch up to the Hollower, and some of the other creatures of the night have little problem in sucking the "tragic goth kid" dry, physically, emotionally, or magically.
Cliques[]
Depending on the group the Hollow One hangs out with, there is a name (mostly derogatory) for him or her.
Gaunts[]
Romanticism, with its focus on death, has always had a strong influence on Goth culture and Hollow Magic. Because of this, Necromancy is a fairly common skill for Hollowers. Unlike most necromancers, though, these Gaunts make friends and allies of the Restless Dead instead of slaves and indebted servitors. A Gaunt's home is often haunted because they want it to be so. Since the dead spend a lot of time watching the living, they are excellent sources of information for any Hollower who helps them, which makes Gaunts an important part of the Hollow One information network.
Mangers[]
The shapeshifters of the world are notoriously untrustworthy of outsiders, especially mages who tend to despoil their holy sites, and so a mage who is not kin to them is unlikely to gain their trust. Though they may not understand the nature of Awakened magic, they are protective of their blood relations, and as they have their own ties to the magical and spiritual worlds, they at least have some frame of reference for dealing with their magic-using kin. Because of this, these kinfolk mages, or Mangers, often have mentors or allies with knowledge of cosmology and the occult, and all of them have some competency with the sphere of Spirit. Furthermore, many of their foci are close or indistinguishable from the rites of the Garou and other Changing Breeds.
Blood Bags[]
As with the Restless Dead, the Undead are fascinating to Hollow Ones, and the Blood Bags who seek out the vampires have to be a mix of insane, suicidal, and adrenaline junky and also have nerves of steel. Rarely ghouls, they tend to be part of the vampire's herd. A surprisingly large number of inexperienced Hollowers learn a few abilities of use to the Kindred, such as sunlight wards or fire control, and then disappear into the night to find a friend. Few return but some actually survive...at least for a little while, becoming the precious pet of some ancient, undead creature.
Glamour Whores[]
How does one define the relationship between the Fae and the Hollow Ones? The two groups are very much aware of each other, but their relations are mixed. Dream magic is part of many Hollowers' bag of tricks and so the Changelings love them. The difficulty is that most Hollowers are, in fact, escapists. Their trappings are an escape from both sides of the Ascension War. When confronted with the Dreaming, it is everything the Glamour Whore dreams of: heroes, villains, enchantment, darkest darks and brightest lights, nothing dull or mundane...in short everything they want the "real world" to be. Once they have tasted it, they can easily get addicted and not want to return. It slices through their dark masks and calls to their hopes. While disenchanted sleepers forget what they experienced, the Hollow Ones have whole paradigms built on dreams and visions, so the memories last for them. Because of this the return to "normal life" can be painful. Of course, an enchanted clique-mate is of little use to the group, and if they spend too much time away their friends may do whatever is necessary to pull them out of it.
References[]
- MTA. Tradition Book: Hollow Ones, pp 53-54.