The Gate of Gods

"Your training with us is at an end. You have sufficient understanding of the Mysteries to see you on your way; you have the basis from which true enlightenment and communion with the Supernal Realms can grow. It is time that you founded a cabal of your own - formed your own unique bond with one another, outside of the auspices of this cabal which has trained you - and discover what Fate has in store for you."

"To that end, we'd like to give you a little gift. In the town of Babylon, to the east of New York, there is an old hotel. It was built in the 1930s, as near as we can tell, according to certain occult principles. We don't know who built it, or why. We do, however, know that the rooftop garden is the site of a potent Hallow, the most powerful one in the area, and it deserves to be protected by those who can defend it, and explore its connections to the Supernal Realms."

"Time is of the essence. You must pack your things and leave immediately. Some strange things have been going on here in New York, and we fear the worst. We're not sure what is coming, but there are whispers of...certain things. The Hierarch of course has someone working on the issue, but there is danger on the horizon - danger against which even potent mages cannot be assured of their survival."

"For your protection, we are laying a geas on each of you to not return to New York City - for any reason - until 2008. We've set up living arrangements for you in Babylon, and we have people working on getting you solid ownership of the Hotel Regina there. It may take a little while. The place is protected by potent wards, which can only really be bypassed by mages who own the place - who literally walk through its doors with the deed in hand. It's going to take a while, but you should go there anyway, and set yourselves up in town."

"We hope we're just being superstitious old men and women, jumping at shadows and hearing whispered threats where there are none. With all of you safely in Babylon, we can focus our concentration on things here. We hope that it's nothing. But we'll know by Midsummer."

Premise

With that, your mentors - the mages who made up the cabal called the Helots of Persephone - sent you away to the small town of Babylon, New York.

The process of gaining ownership of the Hotel Regina, a long-abandoned luxury hotel of the Thirties, has been far more arduous than expected. Ophelia Rosetti, a lawyer once in the employ of the Helots and a Sleepwalker capable of perceiving the workings of magic without risking Paradox.

As your mentors feared, though, something happened in New York on Midsummer, 2005. You simply lost all contact with your mentors, both mundane and magical. It is simply as though they disappeared without a trace - not even divinations reveal whether they are yet alive or dead.

But you have other things to worry about, now. Something is happening in the town of Babylon - something magical. The prescient among you have seen something strange on the horizon: the black places between the stars seem to stare down at Babylon, and only you stand between that gaze and whatever it intends.

Will you be strong enough?

Chronicle

The Gate of Gods is a Mage: the Awakening chronicle intended for up to five players. Characters will be beginning Mage characters.