Hollow Ones

‘I plan to dance on the ashes of this burning world. Why are you wasting your time with anything that’ll be gone tomorrow?’

Specialty Sphere: None. Each Hollow One chooses his own Specialty Sphere at character creation.

Associated Abilities: Streetwise, Stealth, and Larceny.

People are dying, ideals are dying, magic is dying, the world is dying. The Hollow Ones have known as much for some time, and they’ve accepted it. Now, they know that the world is going downhill, but they plan to enjoy the ride. Reveling in nihilism and a rejection of social mores, the Hollow Ones luxuriate in Gothic elegance and a decadent, romantic languor.

Since they are not functionally a Tradition, the Hollow Ones do not occupy a seat on the Council of Nine, and get no recognition among the Traditions. The technical name for a group such as this is a Craft. Other Mages generally consider them a pain. They don’t have the long history of the other Traditions, either. They trace themselves back vaguely to Romantic poets and Victorian writers, but generally agree they weren’t a unified group until around the 1920s.

Tradition Paradigm: Style is as important as substance.

Philosophy: Although the Hollow Ones don’t believe that the world is necessarily doomed, they do feel that it’s a pretty crappy place. As a result, they eke out what existence they can, and encourage others to revel in their own morbidity. Still, they have a unique curiosity, a desire to scratch the surface and see the squirming underbelly of the modern city. While other Mages are driven by Traditions or Ascension, the Hollow Ones follow their whims and their desires for knowledge.

Their greatest strength is their lack of convictions – they refuse to accept anything at face value. Everyone lies, everyone’s corrupt. But they are willing to try just about anything once, especially if it will give them a way to impress their clique.

Most Hollowers start off with a little occultism, then pick their personal style from there. Hollow One magic freely borrows (or steals) foci from other Traditions, taking the opinion ‘if it works, use it’. They’re able to do anything that suits their fancy – but getting them to care enough to fancy anything is the tough part.

Failings: Of course, the great failing of the Hollow Ones is their own negativity. Although Hollow Ones are accepting and flexible, none of that matters if they can’t even be bothered to get out of bed. They’re the poster children of wasted potential, yet they won’t fit into normal society or try to change. A very few do develop some real goals, but most just sit on their ass and do nothing productive.

Dislikes

Akashic Brotherhood: They need to get their heads out of their Akashas and see that the world for the dark place it is. Your feel-good zen isn’t going to put food on my plate.

Celestial Chorus: I got enough trouble at home with my parents telling me I’m going to hell. I’m no bawling orphan now - I don’t feel a need to put up with their crap.

Cult of Ecstasy: They think just because we both party, we have so much in common. But parties aren’t about Tantric sex or weird eastern occultism or whatever. It’s about letting go of the world - something the Cult just can’t do.

Dreamspeakers: We’ve got to respect them – their world’s been dying since 1492. They’re still stuck way in the ‘denial’ phase, though, and when it comes to a dying world, we’re already at ‘acceptance.’

Euthanatos: Just because the world is dying doesn’t mean we need your help to kill it! And hey, give us our black trenchcoats back!

Order of Hermes: What a bunch of stuck-up assholes! I don’t need Freud to know that their magic wands are compensating for something.

Sons of Ether: Mad science is kind of cool, sure, but there’s no reason to get that worked up about it. He who dies with the most toys still dies.

Verbena: Yeah, I did the Wiccan thing, it was fun, but these guys treat it like it’s the be-all and end-all of life. Just don’t let them sacrifice you to anything bigger than your head.

Virtual Adepts: What the hell makes them so important? We’ve been trying to get the Council of Nine to give us the time of day for 50 years, and these nerds just waltz up and wave, and all of the sudden they’re old friends! It just proves that people will only listen to you if they think you’re useful.

Factions

Among the Hollow One Factions, only the Councilors are likely to want to interact with the politics of the Council of Nine. However, that’s not to say that other Factions couldn’t show up – perhaps to sabotage the work of the Councilors, or under the employ of a master of another Tradition, or forced to come because the Traditions think they can ‘show him the light’.

Councilors

These are the Hollow Ones who still care, as far as they care about anything. They see the Council of Nine as the lesser of two evils (the other being the Technocracy) and seek to gain a place on the Council of Nine. They believe that if they are allowed to combine the ways of the ancient Traditions with their own, modern Gothic style, a new age of magic will result.

Faction Paradigm: Some organization is necessary, if we plan to survive.

Revolutionaries

These morbid youth think the Technocracy sucks…and the Traditions suck too. And the Nephandi, Marauders and everyone else. They’re perfectly happy with the Hollow Ones doing their own thing, and they don’t want to listen to anything any Traditionalists have to say. Everyone’s ruining the world, and our decay is their fault.

Faction Paradigm: We don’t need any guidance other than our own.

Apathetics

The most hollow of the Hollow Ones just don’t care what happens. They prefer to do their own thing, but they’ll cooperate or follow orders if they’re paid well for it. Their most common response to the Council of Nine is “who cares, and shut up already!” Still, they’re less antagonistic than the Revolutionaries, so they can sometimes be useful.

Faction Paradigm: Whatever sounds good, I don’t really care.

Elite Cabal: The Pantheons

The Hollow Ones don’t care much for organization, but a few of them like the idea of playing epic roles, and using their magic to be larger than life. This group tends to be fairly exclusive, only ‘officially’ accepting Hollow Ones who carry themselves with purpose and style. There are many sub-groups – cabals who take ‘father, son, and holy spirit’ roles, elements like wind, water, earth, and fire, or Greek gods. If there’s such thing as an elite Hollow One, a member of a Pantheon is it – or at least, that’s what they’ll tell you.

Cabal Paradigm: If I don’t matter, I might as well play the role of something that does.

Requirements: Streetwise at 5, Larceny and Performance at 4, two other abilities at 4. Two Spheres at 3.

“The dance of death is a celebration of life to those who know the steps.”