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Grimoire of Grimoires Preview
A short excerpt from the upcoming chronicle book for Mage: The Awakening
Posted: 2008-04-22

Grimoire of Grimoires offers a comprehensive look at repositories of Awakened knowledge and Supernal power. The 18 new grimoires explored within its pages offer a host of new spells, legacies and even stranger boons. It also expands the definition of its subject matter, presenting new grimoire forms from a popular fantasy series to a black metal album.

Check with your local retailer, or pre-order the book in our online store. You can find local retail stores near you through our Retail Store Finder, which is searchable by city, state or country. If you own a retail store, you should make sure that your store is listed so that fans can find you. If you don't have a local retail store, or you just prefer to shop online, then stop by the White Wolf Online Store to order the newest releases and browse for earlier titles you may have missed.

The Ancient Lands Pentalogy

Some grimoires are ancient, changing the history of the Awakened as mages bargain, cajole and outright steal them from one another. Such relics of the past grant a glimpse into the nature not simply of magic itself, but of the ways in which magic was practiced during the time of the grimoire’s creation.

If this is true, then many hesitate to think what mages of the future will make of The Ancient Lands Pentalogy.

To Sleepers, The Ancient Lands Pentalogy is a best-selling five-book fantasy series. It follows the young commoner, Soter, who discovers that he has inexplicably gained magical powers, while hard at work in his father’s workshop, with nearly disastrous results. In short order, he finds himself on the run from the agents of the Four Lords, the most powerful sorcerers in the Ancient Lands, who jealously keep magic the privilege of the upper classes, forcing commoners who demonstrate magical talents to swear fealty to them.

The struggles of Soter against the Four Lords span five books, each broadening the history of the Ancient Lands, and telling the story of the Great Emperor, the first sorcerer, whose return the Four Lords await. The novels, written by an American truck driver, are fantastically successful, spawning toy lines, comic books, roleplaying games and even two movies (with movie adaptations of the last three books already contracted).

Each of the novels has hit bestseller lists all over the world, and fans of the series have formed something of their own subculture within fan circles, producing stories, artwork and many other creative endeavors inspired by Soter’s journeys through the Ancient Lands. Gaming and science fiction/fantasy conventions run exhaustive roleplaying game scenarios using, and discussion panels about, the setting and characters, and the distinctive garb of the characters in the series makes them a favorite inspiration for fans wanting to dress in costume at such gatherings.

The Awakened, however, see something else in the Ancient Lands series.

Those who read the story within the book cannot help but draw connections. The past of the Ancient Lands is shrouded in the fog of history, though everyone knows it was a magical utopia of blissful prosperity and joy ruled by the powerful and wise Great Emperor. Because of the pride and foolishness of the nobility, however, the Great Emperor died to preserve magic, though not before prophesizing his own messianic return.

The Silver Ladder cannot help but find something of themselves in the grasping, jealous Regent in Silver, who sets the great chair directly in front of the Emperor’s throne. Though he reassures the people of the Ancient Lands that the works of the Great Emperor survive in him and his house, he greedily snatches up every magical trinket and talented young magician to serve the Four Lords.

The Master of Tomes is too much like the archetypal Mysterium magus, insisting that all tomes of magic and lore — indeed, all learning at all — become the property of his Great Library, the keys to which he guards jealously. His brother, the Lord of Assassins, governs the tyrannical secret police of the Ancient Lands, using terror and assassination to uphold the regime of the Four Lords, its agents going about in concealing veils and masks. What the Lord of Assassins cannot accomplish for the Four Lords, the Imperial Headsman and his terrible sorcerous armies can, wielding frightening battle-sorceries with impunity.

Into this place of tyranny comes the young hero Soter, who refuses to allow his talents to be manipulated and controlled by the Four Lords. He is a tinkerer and brilliant public speaker, and during his time in exile he aids the common folk, who teach him the little bits of lore they have created for themselves and hide him from the agents of the Four Lords, even though doing so costs many of them their lives. In the end, young Soter is revealed to be the reincarnation of the Great Emperor, though the Four Lords would rather kill him than admit the young charismatic rebel who publicly flouts their authority is the rightful ruler of the Ancient Lands.

As aggravating as the near-satire of the Atlantean Orders is, however, there is something else to these books. Certain copies — those that come from the original author — contain more than simply well-written scenes of dialogue and interesting descriptions of magic. Some copies of The Ancient Lands Pentalogy actually contain rotes. While the majority of the rotes in these books are distinctly Free Council rotes, some of the descriptions of spells are actually rotes of the other Orders. These books are easy to identify: they contain illustrations.

Disturbing Implications
There is one other aspect that has come to light among those who hunt for the grimoire-manuscripts that almost no one seems interested in talking about: the so-called Ancient Lands Awakenings. The grimoire-manuscripts have found their way into the hands of more than a few individuals on the cusp of Awakening, providing the push they needed to complete the Awakening. Each one of these individuals undergoes a Mystery Play style Awakening, imagining themselves undertaking some quest in the Ancient Lands. At the end of their Awakenings, these individuals seem to have a tremendously simple time grasping the nuances of the rotes in the book that acted as their catalyst, often coming back to their senses from the Mystery Play with multiple rotes firmly comprehended. Additionally, their books have always disappeared by the time they emerge from this Mystery Play.

Merit: Ancient Lands Awakening (••••)
Prerequisites: Charity or Hope Virtue. This Merit can be taken only at character creation.
Effect: Your character underwent an Awakening spurred on by one of the grimoire-manuscripts of The Ancient Lands Pentalogy. All your beginning rotes must be chosen from the grimoire-manuscript that triggered that Awakening. You do gain 3 additional dots of beginning rotes, however.

Additionally, the grimoire-manuscripts often find their way to those who have experienced Ancient Lands Awakenings. Generally speaking, the destiny of the books will arrange for them to come into the hands of those who were Awakened by one of them when they gain an additional dot of Gnosis. Once play begins, Storytellers are encouraged to arrange for other manuscripts to coincidentally come into the hands of characters with this Merit every time such characters increase their Gnosis by 1 dot. Characters with this Merit pay 1 less Experience point to learn rotes from The Ancient Lands Pentalogy grimoire-manuscripts.

Finally, because all who are Awakened by these books seem to possess the same generosity and desire to help others that characterize both Lenore and the protagonist Soter, any mage who underwent an Ancient Lands Awakening who fulfills his Virtue by helping Sleepers using his magic also gains a point of Mana in addition to recovering all his Willpower.