unknown armies

Calligramancy

"In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay. And unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it." - Ernst Fischer

 
One of the many sub-schools of Technomancy, adepts of Calligramancy realize the power inherent in the written word. The ability to capture a thought onto paper (or rock, or animal skin) has always fascinated and frightened us. This tradition is ancient, reaching as far back in time as the cave painters of Lasceaux and continuing forward -- the scribes of ancient Egypt and China, the monks of medieval Europe, even the graffitti artists of today's inner cities. Calligramancers pour their souls into their glyphs, wards and sigils; often leaving nothing left except the all-too transient written record of their existance. Although almost always written or painted, glyphs may also be carved or burned into materials (an uncommon practice in the modern age).

Each Calligramancer has his or her own magickal signature called a glyph (modern mages call them tags). These glyphs are unique to the mage and contain magickal power. They are exceedingly complicated designs, requiring time and concentration to create (a small, minor-level glyph can take up to an hour...large glyphs may require days to finish) and each glyph is unique to the mage that uses it. Older, classically-trained Calligramancers often use ornate brushes, symbols and archaic languages while the young turks of this school use spray-paint and colorful graffitti. Glyphs are referred to as minor, significant or major, depending on the charge that they produce.

Calligramancy Blast Style: Calligramancers, as is often the case with technomages, have no blast spell.

Generate a Minor Charge: Write, paint or otherwise craft your glyph. Mainly used as a focusing tool to instill discipline in novice scribes, this is nonetheless a relatively easy way to gain a minor charge.

Generate a Significant Charge: Write your glyph and have it be read by a thousand people (no, photocopies won't work). Glyphs of this magnitude are usually incorporated into huge murals or art installations. Significant glyphs usually take several days to create (at least) and can only generate one charge. Significant and major glyphs must be viewed in-person...broadcasting a glyph on television won't grant any charges.

Significant charges may also be gained through the historical power of famous writing implements, similar to the way a Dipsomancer gets charges from famous drinking vessels. The pen used to sign the Declaration of Independance or the chisel used to enscribe the Ten Commandments could be used to create significant glyphs.

Generate a Major Charge: Write your glyph and have it be seen by a hundred million people (if John Hancock were alive today...).

 
Taboo: The tagger's name is his source of power and his greatest weakness. Calligramancers lose their stored charges if they ever write down their legal name (handles do not apply to the taboo). In effect, they can not sign documents, checks or even birthday cards. Using an assumed name, alias or even the name of another person in place of their own is similarly forbidden. Mages who ever sign their true name cannot regain charges until the signature is destroyed ("destroy" can be anything from incinerating a document to painting over a wall tagged with their true name...if they were ever dumb enough to tag a wall in this manner).

Random Magick Domain: The scribes and taggers of this school use the power of names, words and identity. They can alter perception, stir emotion and even reshape themselves with the stroke of a pen. To the Calligramancer, the pen is truly mightier than the sword.

Starting Charges: Scribes begin with 4 Minor charges.

 
Calligramancy Minor Formula Spells
 
The Breath of Iris (aka: Roy G. Biv)
cost: 1 minor charge
effect: Named after the Greek goddess of the rainbow, this spell can be used to change the color of an object, from the contents of a spray can to the stripes on an American flag. This spell can be used to alter documents but is widely regarded as a silly parlor trick beneath most scribes' talent. Other old-school names for this spell replace "Breath" with "Kiss" or "Pen." Roy G. Biv is common tagger parlance.
 
Forgery
cost: 1 minor charge
effect: The mage can forge an exact duplicate of any signature or document that he has memorized (a succesful forgery skill roll and about ten minutes of practice to memorize a signature). From then on, the scribe can reproduce an *exact* replica of that item, from the signature of a US Senator to a fifty-dollar bill, just by spending a minor charge. The more complex the forgery, the more time it takes to memorize and create. The copy is accurate in every visible detail and will pass all but the most advanced scrutiny (ie: electronic).
 
Handwriting Analysis
cost: 2 minor charges
effect: By studying the slant, curves and lines of a person's handwriting, the scribe can glean information about that person's life. Emotional state (at the time of writing), sex and sexual orientation, basic personality, mental and physical state and whether or not the subject is a mage or has some other connection to the unnatural.
 
The Message
cost: 3 minor charges
effect: The Message is used to instill a glyph, work of art or piece of writing with an emotional message. Although The Message need not be literal, the way it's portrayed must reflect the mood it's trying to evoke (if The Message is "rage against racial injustice," the piece of art should be angry and contrasting, possibly using symbols of oppression such as clubs, chains or fists). Anyone reading The Message will begin to feel an emotional reaction, a reaction that will get stronger and stronger the more that The Message is seen.
 
For instance, DD Slam spray-paints The Message onto a billboard overlooking a freeway. She's protesting the release of a vicious rapist back into her community and she writes INJUSTICE (along with images of knives and black-masked men, scales and a caricature of the acquitting judge) in bleeding red letters. Anyone driving by and noticing The Message will be affected (depending on their personal reaction to the acquittal...fence-sitters will probably feel a sense of outrage and a loss of faith in the court system). After driving past The Message several times, commuters might be driven to action, from letters to the editor of the city paper to protests demanding the removal of the aforementioned judge.
 
Calligramancy Significant Formula Spells
 
Encrypt/DeEncrypt
cost: 1 Significant Charge
effect: This spell enables the tagger to magickally encode any writing he creates with a hidden message. This message will be seen by any person named at the time of the spell's casting...anyone else will just see a picture, graffiti or cryptic scrawl (depending on the message's disguise). The reverse of this spell, DeEncrypt, can be used by another mage to break the message's code, allowing her to read message's actual contents (though the message is only seen by the mage who cracked the code).
 
Wallpaper
cost: 1 Significant Charge
effect: Wallpaper is used in the Occult Underground to rapidly disseminate information through an urban environment. First, the scribe creates a written message After the flyer has been affixed to a wall, telephone pole or bulletin board, the same message will begin to appear throughout the city for the next week. The spread of the flyer will start slowly and begin to increase exponentially in number. Additional charges may be spent to increase the duration of the spell, up to one month (that's a lot of paper...).
 
Assumed Identity
cost: 2 Significant Charges
effect: After learning about someone through Handwriting Analysis, the scribe may actually "step into their head" using Assumed Identity. The calligramancer will adopt the subject's accent, tone of voice, mannerisms and (if the character is of similar sex, build and coloring) even appearance. The mage also gains the ability to intuitively "know" how the subject would react in a given situation (essentially a highly advanced form of "profiling"). Assumed Identity does not give the scribe actual information that only subject would know (for instance, you wouldn't know his PIN number but you would know that he'd use his ex-wife's birthday for a password). This spell is excellent not only for impersonating people but also for tracking them down or second-guessing their actions.
 
Calligramancy Major Formula Spells
 
Major glyphs can be used to permanently alter identities and perceptions.
 
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