Inarus Shaw
Avatar
Inarus’ Avatar manifests in indeterminable, ephemeral ways. It often comes in his dreams, which are rarely disturbing but nevertheless quite strange. In his dreams, he sees the great deserts of ancient Egypt, cut through only by the Nile. Vast winds often sweep across the plains, whisking away all trace of the civilization and secrets that were once there. It is a metaphor, he knows, for the progression of the entire world. And it makes him curious and hungry for knowledge. It makes him want to dig up the past. Sometimes, his dreams look up from the desert to peer into the night sky. And in the starry sky, he sees the distant but vast, watching eyes of Ptah, the Opener of Ways. The eyes rarely give him any clues, but he ponders their presence and purpose deeply, and every successful Seeking has been a result of thinking himself into enlightenment. The enigmas will grow harder, however, and so Inarus pays even more keen attention to the nature of his dreams and his Avatar’s manifestations.
Paradigm & Style
Death and science were hallmarks of ancient Egyptian thought. Over the millennia, a number of mystic cults grew up around the combination of those elements. One of the most notable is the House of Shae, which later joined the Order of Hermes. House Shaea nevertheless retained much of its mystic ways (and influenced the other Houses). In Inarus’ magick, one can see the staples of Hermetic magick. Enochian, numerology, and simple but powerful symbolic materials are all part of his methodology.
For Inarus, magick is an extension of metaphysical, occultish, and scientific theories and principles. Modern science is a way for the inadequate to name the things they truly do not understand, and they renounced the old “superstitionist” ways that proved true. Sure they were hard to understand, and so only a select few sages could apply them, but that’s the nature of magick. It wasn’t meant to be wielded by fools and imbeciles, but the wise and knowledgeable. In fact, it is solely the machinations and influences by the Technocracy and modern science’s inadequate paradigm that causes magick to be vulgar. The glory days of the Mythic Age are gone simply because the Masses are stupid, swallow all the crap the Technocracy feeds them, and refuse to learn the truth for themselves.
So Paradox is a metaphysical backlash for disturbing the sheer, momentous weight of Sleeper blindness. But working against that energy, trying to force Sleepers’ eyes open, are in Inarus’ opinion a waste of time. The world is sinking as Armageddon approaches. He has seen the signs in the Deadlands, heard the valedictions of the oracles, and now wants to escape a sinking ship. The Masses’ eyes will be opened when the Apocalypse arrives. As fatalistic as the ghosts with which he sometimes communes, he believes the next age cannot be prevented, only weathered. (And he would prefer to do so in a Horizon Realm!)
The simplest metaphysical mechanics make up the basis for his magick. Life gives way to death, to be reborn back into life. The energies of stasis break down into chaos, only to reform again. Wrong is inflicted to be righted by justice, only to have the crimes inflicted and punished again. This is balance, or ma’at. By retaining this balance in his heart and soul, he is able to tap his inner energies and channel them through the proper mediums: the secret ways and rituals of his House traditions.
Correspondence and Time are in essence the same Sphere to Inarus. Through the boundaries of life and death, there is a “here” and “now”. “Here” and “now” are the only truths of spatial-temporal existence. Where one stood yesterday is irrelevant -- it is and always has been the same place and time. Eternity defines these Spheres for Inarus. The eternity is represented in the sands and waters of Khem. Indeed, Inarus requires sand taken from the Egyptian desert, and occasionally has a new supply of the crystalline earth shipped to wherever he may be. He also demands water taken from the rivers or oases of Egypt. The sand is for Time and the water for Correspondence. Inarus will scatter the fine sand upon the subject of his study, although sometimes he will use a glass sand-clock depending on the nature of the spell. The water is normally poured into a bronze basin, and he studies and scries through the reflective surface. Both Spheres, Time especially, are staple Arts of House Shaea in its place as the lore-keepers and librarians of the Hermetic Order. Inarus does not require the sand but still requires the water.
The hallmark of the Order of Hermes, Inarus studied the metaphysics of Forces in the classical elements of yore. The simple yet diverse compounds of the world’s energies cannot be quantified by modern physics, which overcomplicates the trivial and completely ignores the monumental. The simple truths of the world’s metaphysical dynamics are so ego-shattering that they cannot, or perhaps should not, be expressed in modern tongues. But in defiance of that false scientific paradigm, Inarus states the dynamic realities aloud when summoning the powers of the elements. He just cloaks theme and empowers them thereby in the ancient, forgotten tongue of Enochian. His statements come out as chants, heart-felt and passionate. He has grown enough in the Art that the Enochian “chants” are not necessary. But he wields Forces openly so rarely that he will usually utter the words anyway.
To all students of Mind in House Shaea are given a personalized scepter made of solid 56 karat gold and encrusted with a sacred jewel in the crook of the three foot-long, cane-like rod. In Inarus’ scepter, there is large, multi-faceted amethyst stone. This scepter represents the wizard’s command of presence, extending his kingly air of knowledge and wisdom. In the ancient days of Egypt, court magicians always served as the pharoah’s most important advisers. They pulled much weight and held great influence over the nation’s affairs -- and were often the true rulers behind the throne. Mind magick to Inarus, as most Shaea wizards, is simply a matter of broadcast or internalizing that kingly persona. Still an initiate in this Art, the scepter is necessary as well as unique.
If ma’at is the heart of the land, then sekhem is its blood. Flowing, pumping, and coursing throughout the world, this primal energy, commonly known as Quintessence, is the very essence of the wizard’s intent and will. All other Spheres spring from the flow of Quintessence, and Prime is the study of that flow. In time before reckoning, the first wizards of the first cities learned secret words that by their very nature could perceive, manipulate, and directly alter the flow of those mystical power lines. These “power words”, uttered in that First Tongue, Enochian, still work! Inarus is not required to speak these ancient words to enact any spells involving Prime.
Last but not least, Inarus has spent a great deal of time studying the dead. Thanatology makes up a great part of Egyptian magic. As a scholar of the living, he cannot afford to ignore this knowledge. The afterlife, he is well aware, is a gray world of decay, where the spirits of the deceased search for peace and heaven. As a living mortal, he knows it is his duty to assist and guide these spirits, so long as they can provide aid of their own. Such a transaction is simple etiquette between the dead and living. Holding the same great respect and fear of death and the dead that his ancient forebears once did, Inarus deals reluctantly with the Restless Dead. His knowledge of Spirit is currently limited to the Underworld, in fact, though he’s aware that an “upper” Umbra exists. Du’at, Inarus knows, is simply a reflection of earth, and it is part of ma’at. To attract (or repel) the spirits of the dead, he must offer humble chiminage in the form of human ashes, preferably the ashes of a person born of the same culture of the spirits with which he wishes to deal. This focus is necessary.
Resonance
Dynamic (Learned)
Inarus is a modern sage: a linguist, historian, occultist, and all-around bookworm. It reflects in his knowledgeable persona. One can also sit in his eyes that twinkle less with insatiable curiosity and more with an ancient, unknowable wisdom. It is the starry-eyed look of the gods. In social situations, this adds to his sense of intelligence, providing a -3 difficulty to any Social rolls where he must prove his education and wisdom. However, in situations where action is demanded, not thinking, he suffers a +3 difficulty to Social rolls, as he is expected to be quite useless (and he pretty much is).
Mystically, spells that involve garnering and understanding knowledge, legendry, and lore are cast at -1 difficulty. Spells that involve direct, mindless destruction (such as a Forces-based fireball or Life-based Pattern rip) are cast at +1 difficulty.
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