The world is Fallen, but wondrous. Pure truth from the Supernal drifts downward, fragmenting from exposure to the Abyss. The driven and elect must track down this knowledge to glean true wisdom, separating Supernal wheat from Fallen chaff. Contemporary mages piece together the past, and in doing so forge a future. This pursuit of Gnosis holds together the Mysterium — if mystic lore is the currency of the Awakened, none are richer than Mystagogues. They scour crypts, decipher forgotten languages, and scrutinize myth cycles for signs of sorcery, retrieving and hoarding knowledge that sundered and fragmented from crossing the Abyss.

Mystagogues battle against Pancryptia, the tendency of sorcery to actively hide itself amidst the cultural detritus of the Fallen World. They work to foster academia, instilling the intellectual discipline and rigor needed for the Awakened to sift through the Fallen World for pearls of Supernal wisdom. The World is Fallen and damaged, but Mystagogues scrutinize with singular focus. Two open secrets propel their questioning natures: One, that magic itself is alive and active in the world; and two, that anything living can be healed.

Core Beliefs: Corpus Mysteriorum

More than just knowledge-collecting librarians or tomb-raiding adventurers, the Mysterium is a mystery religion devoted to magic itself, described by the Order as a living, sentient force diffused throughout the Fallen World. This core creed dates to the 13th century when an anonymous archmaster wrote a Grimoire setting it out. Copies of the text (if not the rotes it contained) are still given to every new Mystagogue, and the book’s title — the Corpus Mysteriorum — gives the Order its name. Of the Corpus Author, not much is known — he or she took great lengths to erase traces of his or her footprints from history.

• Knowledge is Power
• Knowledge Must Be Preserved
• Knowledge Has a Price

Mysteries

The Mysterium quests for Mysteries in danger of vanishing, rescuing them from Pancryptia’s touch — Atlantean ruins at risk of discovery (and destruction) by Sleepers, Legacies with few remaining members, lost Grimoires, verges, rare magical effects, and signs of Ascension. Sometimes the quest involves great personal danger, or requires the Mystagogue to cross fellow mages or other supernatural beings.

Magical Symbolism: Knowledge

Mystagogues worship Gnosis, the knowledge of magic through experience; many believe that lying about a magical topic directly increases Pancryptia, as a deliberate degradation of information. Especially faithful Mystagogues refuse to lie at all on any topic, while most either refuse to answer magical queries if they cannot share secrets with the asker, or only reveal part-truths. Knowledge is the raison d’être of the Mysterium — its procurement, preservation, and propagation. In Diamond symbolism, they are the Alae Draconis: the Wings of the Dragon, uplifting the Awakened City’s body politic with winds of insight. The symbolism and layered initiations of the Mystagogues allows them gradual entry into a communal mind called the egregore, finding expression in avataric mages called Egregori. This communion allows Mystagogues an essential unity beyond that of their allied Orders. Beyond tomes and scribing tools, the Mysterium dedicates objets d’art containing symbolic messages and imagery deliberately crafted by the artist, such as Masonic paintings or cave paintings.