Sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll – nothing more than tools to liberate the perceptions. His perpetual blood-red haze of righteous fury is a god-given task to act on. History reveals the exploits of the past and the inevitable return of such heroism, brutal and monstrous and antiheroic as it sometimes may be. The ancient pagan rites of the Hagalaz, and particularly the fearsome dark prayers of berserker rage and invulnerability, are executed to honor the primordial creation force that came before even Odin.
And it is to that power that Magnus bows and gives thanks for the gifts of the past and present that enable him to carry out his sacred duties. Festivals held in honor of the Norse gods treat them as avatar-like representatives of that greater spiritual force, known as Lodur. Magick is both a joy in which to revel, as one casts aside the forced assumptions of society, as well as a responsibility to improve the world. And with Magnus’ particular style, improving the world is more about removing cancers.
Still, nobody is perfect. Paradox descends on a mage who failed to learn from the past and should have known better. Life’s a constant lesson, and a crazy mage like Magnus can only hope to survive and learn a lesson from any mistakes he may make. His continued defiance against death has drawn permanent Paradox in the form of occasional rigor mortis-like pains in his limbs. And he knows that no matter how potent the divine energy flowing from Valhalla and filling the world (Quintessence), it cannot make up for a man’s misjudgments, and he must be simply try harder and try smarter.
One of his main specialties, Magnus first developed the Sphere of Entropy alongside Life and Time during his initiation with the Sons of Wotan. Like those other disciplines, he took the base knowledge and expanded upon it as instructed: with experience and experimentation. Poetic curses and blessings derived from the Völuspá epic poems constitute the nature of this Art, for they carry the power of the ages to even bring people back from the dead (or keep them from death), even though for Magnus they are not necessary.
With the Art of Life, Magnus extends his own and learns how to adapt and change all forms of life. Unsurprisingly, it is through the ritual shedding of blood – particularly his own – that enacts the wrought changes. As widely known, blood carries the essence of life, and he embraces this vibrancy, especially in the acute sense of pain. The bloodletting is an unnecessary foci for this Hagalaz.
Mind is a powerful discipline for Magnus to develop, and he’s approached it as perceptions expanded beyond normal, mortal means. To do that, of course, he needs some sort of stimulus. Natural hallucinogens work. LSD and other forms of acid don’t cut it, but mushrooms will do. These drugs are an unnecessary foci for Mind.
Dancing is a major facet to the Hagalaz, even the wild and warlike Sons of Wotan. One needn’t even be particularly good at it, just passionate. Such is the case for the Sphere of Prime for Magnus: passionate and fearless. For he cannot enact this Art without the ancient pagan joy of fire dancing: leaping and springing across a roaring fire, proving his mettle and courage in order to welcome the divine flow of Quintessential energies. Fire dancing is not a necessary foci for Prime.
A far more modest Sphere for Magnus, Spirit is one not undertaken lightly. Only with prayers to Lodur and his avatars, such as Odin and Thor, will the other spirits, lesser and greater, heed his calls and grant him visions into the worlds beyond this one. As an initiate still with this Sphere, his prayers are still necessary.
Like Prime, dancing is the style of choice to evoke the Sphere of Time. The Cultist of Ecstasy is quite talented with this Sphere, of course. His dancing isn’t necessarily so talented, but it needn’t be. Whereas Prime called for the impassioned and emboldened fire dance, Time demands power dancing, a modern adaptation of a more ancient ruckus that eliminates the boundaries between the past, present, and future. Of course, to do it properly, he needs people willing to dance with him. Enough rock’n’roll and enough booze, he can get enough without a problem. Luckily, his talent with this Art is so well practiced that the violent, aggressive rhythm of this Art is unnecessary anyway, especially to connect the rest of his magick and hook it all on moments of time he knows will come.
Avatar
The Avatar within Magnus pre-dates even the oldest of Norse gods in its primordial power. This divine “creation” spiritual essence guides his warpath, bent on liberating all the hoarded energy in the world (especially energy hoarded in the unnaturally immortal vampires). This Avatar manifests to Magnus almost only during moments of sheer violence, for that is the true nature of the universe. So Magnus believes his Path is to eliminate as many stasis-based hoarders as possible. In truth, his Destiny may only be to strike down a specific but vital target, the nature and identity of which has yet to be revealed to this Son of Wotan warmage.
Resonance
Dynamic (Psychotic)
Magnus is beyond the edge. By all Sleeper accounts and reason, he’s a psychotic maniac. Naturally, this makes it harder to earn friends (+3 difficulty to all Social rolls when attempting to be affable), but easier to scare the bejeezus out of people (-3 difficulty to Intimidation rolls).
This Resonance also affects his magick in simple fashion: directly harmful spells are easier (-1 difficulty to the Arete rolls) while Effects aimed to heal or soothe are tougher (+1 difficulty).
Entropic (Undying)
Due to his talents with necromancy, Magnus almost comes off as the walking dead. In fact, he’s able to masquerade as a vampire or the like with ease (-3 difficulty to such checks), but that also makes it harder to pass as the living. In fact, he’s very easily mistaken for the undead, and finds it harder to convince others (such as vampire hunters) that he’s one of the good guys (+3 difficulty when appropriate).
Meanwhile, Magnus’ magick that involves preventing his demise in the typical style of the Sons of Wotan is easier (-1 difficulty to such Effects’ Arete rolls). But spells aimed at directly affecting true undead, for good or ill, are harder (+1 difficulty).
Entropic (Draining)
Magnus has become almost like an energy vampire. Socially, this enables him to wear down others’ will through coercion and cajoling (-3 difficulty to such Social rolls). However, this makes it harder to tolerate the man in long doses (+3 difficulty to all Social rolls after the first consecutive scene).
With this Resonance, obviously it makes Effects that drain (life, Quintessence, et cetera) easier (-1 difficulty to the Arete rolls). Spells aimed at transferring or restoring (life, Quintessence, etc.) are harder (+1 difficulty).
