Councilor Jeremiah Pembroke
Type: Ghost-Mage
Born: 1836
Died: 1914
Background: Some are born to greatness. Others come into it from humble beginnings. And others still, like the former Councilor Jeremiah Pembroke, are given the world, but that power only leaves them with a taste for more. Born into a wealthy family, he wanted for nothing and due to that found within himself a desire to posess everything he possibly could.
This curiosity, and desire for the power he felt entitled to lead him to esoteric avenues of research, with the works of John Dee occupying his early twenties. He would speak the language of angels, and remake the world if he saw fit. And this was despite at the time, not posessing a bit of supernal power.
He bounced from occult group to occult group, caught up in the endless dabbling, running through a good bit of his inheritance (both his parents passing away at a relatively young age, but leaving enough in investments that his lifestyle wouldn't be impacted in an unfortunate manner). It was while on a trip of "self discovery" in India that that changed, his awakening occurring on the banks of the Ganges in Benares. Confronted not by Ganesh, but by an Angel bearing torn wings and a broken sword, he was given a glimpse of the fallen world, and the Pandemonium above it.
With power now at his command, Jeremiah Pembroke (Shadow name Sandalaphon) quickly entrenched himself in the magical politics of London. Due to his desire to bring the Supernal closer to the Fallen, and his background of privileged, the Silver Ladder appealed to him, though he developed close political ties with the Mysterium. It was these ties which allowed him to accomplish what he did in his relatively short active time as a mage. (1858 to 1914)
Pembroke was a believer that mankind was fallen much like the world they inhabited, and there was a need to return to a "purer" state. With this belief in mind, he developed several mystery cults based around a spiritual revelation that in private, he claimed to have received during his awakening. This "Revelation of the Fall" claimed that the fallen host was not in fact, the demons and devils of hell, but mankind itself. Humanity was thus inherently divine. And though he did not let this on to his lay followers, some members more divine than others.
In meetings, he engaged in summonings, bringing forth angels and commanding them with their own language, the supposed lost tongue of mankind he called the Alter Tongue. While mostly spiritual summonings, he engaged in several activities that were considered suspect even by Thearchs of the time, such as "purchasing" two infants from a destitute woman, and raising them without contact with human language. It was his belief that they would come to develop a purer form of the angel's tongue, and there were rumors amongst magi who had met with the two (A boy and a girl, fraternal twins) that their babbling resonated much like the high speech, but such talk was only rumors. The children were not seen after 1880, at that time in their early teens. Of them, Pembroke would not speak.
It was in 1870 that the former councilor of the Silver Ladder (Thomas Miles, Shadow Name Selvans) passed away in his sleep. Although there was talk of foul play, political ties with the Mysterium and the current Hierarch Redcrosse kept suspicion away from Pembroke, and by leveraging favors he claimed the position of Silver Ladder Councilor.
With his new position providing him a degree of political leverage, Pembroke began to delve even further into his attempts to return mankind to the height of angels. He corresponded with Crowley and other mortal occultists of the day, occasionally letting slip bits of supernal truths, in an attempt to inspire them to greater acts of discovery. (He himself stated that he found the results often sadly disappointing.)
Although he was obviously at this point, spiraling perilously close to acts of profound hubris, his angelic associates and those magi and mortal occultists he had won over with knowledge and temporal power made deposing him difficult, as did his friendship with the Hierarch of the time. He began to speak extensively of attempting to contact "The Qabalistic Ain Soph Aur, the holy fire itself." The ritual he utilized didn't match any known supernal magic, but it did receive results, summoning an entity that proceeded to cause a localized disruption, costing the lives of five of Pembroke's mortal devotees, and two young magi (Eleanor Hall, Shadow Name Verity and Michael Brook, Shadow Name Jacob) who had come to investigate the disturbance, and injuring three more (Ricardo Minelli, Shadow Name Oculus; Albert Higgins, Shadow Name Aleph; Francis Strickland; Shadow Name Milton).
At this point, the council was presented with the issue of what to do on the matter. After all, his summoning had gotten results, and the result was declared to be "not of the abyss". Of course, that declaration was made by Hierarch Redcrosse. It was this that presented the last straw for the Guardians of the Veil and more conservative members of the Silver Ladder, who began the uprising that would put Civitas in power. Pembroke was declared to be a practicioner of a forbidden left hand path by a unanimous vote 3 days after Civitas was formally recognized as Hierarch, with his "revelation" burned, and his execution carried out formally by Kore, the newly appointed Councilor of the Silver Ladder.
And after that, besides cautionary tales, nothing more would be said of Jeremiah Pembroke, or his angels.
Type: Ghost-Mage
Born: 1836
Died: 1914
Background: Some are born to greatness. Others come into it from humble beginnings. And others still, like the former Councilor Jeremiah Pembroke, are given the world, but that power only leaves them with a taste for more. Born into a wealthy family, he wanted for nothing and due to that found within himself a desire to posess everything he possibly could.
This curiosity, and desire for the power he felt entitled to lead him to esoteric avenues of research, with the works of John Dee occupying his early twenties. He would speak the language of angels, and remake the world if he saw fit. And this was despite at the time, not posessing a bit of supernal power.
He bounced from occult group to occult group, caught up in the endless dabbling, running through a good bit of his inheritance (both his parents passing away at a relatively young age, but leaving enough in investments that his lifestyle wouldn't be impacted in an unfortunate manner). It was while on a trip of "self discovery" in India that that changed, his awakening occurring on the banks of the Ganges in Benares. Confronted not by Ganesh, but by an Angel bearing torn wings and a broken sword, he was given a glimpse of the fallen world, and the Pandemonium above it.
With power now at his command, Jeremiah Pembroke (Shadow name Sandalaphon) quickly entrenched himself in the magical politics of London. Due to his desire to bring the Supernal closer to the Fallen, and his background of privileged, the Silver Ladder appealed to him, though he developed close political ties with the Mysterium. It was these ties which allowed him to accomplish what he did in his relatively short active time as a mage. (1858 to 1914)
Pembroke was a believer that mankind was fallen much like the world they inhabited, and there was a need to return to a "purer" state. With this belief in mind, he developed several mystery cults based around a spiritual revelation that in private, he claimed to have received during his awakening. This "Revelation of the Fall" claimed that the fallen host was not in fact, the demons and devils of hell, but mankind itself. Humanity was thus inherently divine. And though he did not let this on to his lay followers, some members more divine than others.
In meetings, he engaged in summonings, bringing forth angels and commanding them with their own language, the supposed lost tongue of mankind he called the Alter Tongue. While mostly spiritual summonings, he engaged in several activities that were considered suspect even by Thearchs of the time, such as "purchasing" two infants from a destitute woman, and raising them without contact with human language. It was his belief that they would come to develop a purer form of the angel's tongue, and there were rumors amongst magi who had met with the two (A boy and a girl, fraternal twins) that their babbling resonated much like the high speech, but such talk was only rumors. The children were not seen after 1880, at that time in their early teens. Of them, Pembroke would not speak.
It was in 1870 that the former councilor of the Silver Ladder (Thomas Miles, Shadow Name Selvans) passed away in his sleep. Although there was talk of foul play, political ties with the Mysterium and the current Hierarch Redcrosse kept suspicion away from Pembroke, and by leveraging favors he claimed the position of Silver Ladder Councilor.
With his new position providing him a degree of political leverage, Pembroke began to delve even further into his attempts to return mankind to the height of angels. He corresponded with Crowley and other mortal occultists of the day, occasionally letting slip bits of supernal truths, in an attempt to inspire them to greater acts of discovery. (He himself stated that he found the results often sadly disappointing.)
Although he was obviously at this point, spiraling perilously close to acts of profound hubris, his angelic associates and those magi and mortal occultists he had won over with knowledge and temporal power made deposing him difficult, as did his friendship with the Hierarch of the time. He began to speak extensively of attempting to contact "The Qabalistic Ain Soph Aur, the holy fire itself." The ritual he utilized didn't match any known supernal magic, but it did receive results, summoning an entity that proceeded to cause a localized disruption, costing the lives of five of Pembroke's mortal devotees, and two young magi (Eleanor Hall, Shadow Name Verity and Michael Brook, Shadow Name Jacob) who had come to investigate the disturbance, and injuring three more (Ricardo Minelli, Shadow Name Oculus; Albert Higgins, Shadow Name Aleph; Francis Strickland; Shadow Name Milton).
At this point, the council was presented with the issue of what to do on the matter. After all, his summoning had gotten results, and the result was declared to be "not of the abyss". Of course, that declaration was made by Hierarch Redcrosse. It was this that presented the last straw for the Guardians of the Veil and more conservative members of the Silver Ladder, who began the uprising that would put Civitas in power. Pembroke was declared to be a practicioner of a forbidden left hand path by a unanimous vote 3 days after Civitas was formally recognized as Hierarch, with his "revelation" burned, and his execution carried out formally by Kore, the newly appointed Councilor of the Silver Ladder.
And after that, besides cautionary tales, nothing more would be said of Jeremiah Pembroke, or his angels.
Type Ghost
Attributes: Power 9, Finesse 7, Resistance 8
Willpower: 16
Morality: 1
Initiative: 15
Defense: 2
Armor: 7
Speed: 26
Corpus: 13
Essence: 20/20
Numina: Blast, Phantasm, Dement, Possession, Terrify
Mysteries: Foretelling ●●●, Fortune ●, Mind ●●●, Passion ●●●●●, Shadow ●●●●, Twilight ●●●●
Attacks...........................Damage.....Dice Pool.....Special
Blast.....................................0L.............16.............+2 per Essence spent