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__________________________________________________________________________________ | Bio Bio Name: Tsubasa Rohrbach, formerly Katsuragi Age: 22 Association: Clock Tower, Department of Eulyphis [Ranked Fes] Likes: Zero-to-Hero or Redemption stories Dislikes: Those who drive people to a 'dead end', believing there is no hope left in the pit of despair Natural Enemy: Kirei Kotomine Image Colour: Lavender Image Song: Orbit Day of Decisive Battle: ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ Background Background A miracle child. That was what her absent father’s family had called her. A culmination of the Rohrbach family’s prayers, cultivated through the ‘accumulation of good karma’. Though one would think karma as a concept originating from Eastern Religions, a similar concept, albeit with a different name, exists in the Judeo-Christian Worldview. For the ancient Israelites, the rich were the blessed ones, and the sins of the parents manifested in the child as defects such as lameness or blindness. The concept of ‘Virtuous men are beloved by God, and thus blessed,’ is something that persists even today for some sects of Christianity, for the concept existed in their ancient Judaism roots. Abraham was beloved by God, and thus he was blessed with fortune. Joseph was favoured by God over his siblings; thus, he achieved the most among the children of Jacob, who would become the progenitors of Israel’s tribes. The Rohrbach’s family magecraft is that of aligning; thus, if their way of life were aligned to those who received god’s favour, a child who could elevate their magecraft to greater heights would be born. It was ironic then, that the ‘Miracle Child’, one born with the alignment of ‘Angel’ that fit the foundation of the Rohrbach’s family, was born not within the family, but in the faraway Island nation of Japan, where the child’s father once lived. Growing up, Tsubasa knew nothing of her father or his family. Only that he was from England, and that he had left her mother a few months after she was born to fulfil his family’s obligation after the death of his older brother. Apparently, she heard that he has married another woman. The only time she even had some form of contact with him was when her mother wrote to her father about how she had seen a ‘vivid vision of the bully in her class dying to save lives as a firefighter’. After which, some people came to visit her who said that they were students of her father, who performed some odd examinations before eventually giving her glasses that stopped her from having visions when seeing other people. The natural conclusion would be to think of her father as scum of the earth. But it was hard to think that when every single person who knew her father had a very high opinion of her father’s moral character, if anything, they were bewildered how he could have abandoned his family, it was almost inconceivable to them. Even her mother’s family, the people who would normally be the most incensed after her mother, had insisted that her father was a ‘Good man and he was probably threatened by his family.’ Her mother was the only one who had even said that her father returned to England willingly—something that the rest of her family said to Tsubasa as a probably biased perspective, when her mother was out of earshot—but even her mother, had to still begrudgingly admit that she cannot understand why someone who was otherwise a good man to be willingly leaving his family. It was not as if she adored or idealised her father either, but she was fascinated with what exactly made him to do what he did. As such, when a man who introduced himself as her grandfather appeared on her doorstep four years ago, asking her to take the place of her father and half-brother, who had been killed by people from the Holy Church for being the worst sort of heretics, those who ‘Use Mystery derived from the Church and taking the Lord’s name in vain’, Tsubasa wondered… What is this world of magecraft that her father chose over their family? What is a magus that her father chose to be rather than a father? What is the duty to reach [ ] truly entails, that to her father, his duty to chase [ ] was more important than his duty to his wife and daughter? What exactly are these things that had made her father, described by everyone who knew him to be a virtuous man, take actions that would be considered immoral? She wanted to know the answer to these things. And so, she agreed to go to England, taking on the Rohrbach’s name as its heir. Magecraft Magecraft Origin: Charity Alignment: Angel Crest: ~450 years old (9th Generation) Attributes: Aligning, Projection Magic Circuit Quantity: D Magic Circuit Quality: A Foundation: Judeo-Christian Angelology The conception of the Abrahamic god is one that is the 'uncaused cause', the source of everything and to whom standards are measured. He is the maximally loving being, the maximally beneficent being, the maximally beautiful being, and more. Things are loving the more they are similar to God. Things are good the more they are similar to God. Things are beautiful the more they are similar to God. And so on and so forth. As St. Anselm puts it, 'God is the greatest conceivable being'. What is such a being if not [ ]? Thus, by bringing oneself closer to angels, who represent aspects of God and many whose names are derived from the Tetragrammaton of YHWH, a magus is bringing themselves closer to the [ ]. [Attribute: Aligning] Meaning to orient, to bring something closer to a reference point. Thus, by aligning oneself to angels, who represent facets of God, a magus brings themselves closer to God, to [ ]. In practice, by aligning themselves with the concept represented by the angelic names of their familiars, mysteries are actualised by the magus. [Attribute: Projection] A materialisation of an image, in accordance with the caster's imagination, through the use of magical energy. Specifically, the vivid images seen through the Mystic Eyes of Phantasia, that sees unlikely yet idealised future. [Alignment: Angel] Angels, by their own etymology, are messengers. In the Judeo-Christian worldview, messengers of God who are sent to humanity. It is why an angel appeared to Abraham bearing a message that his wife would be pregnant with Isaac, why Gabriel brought the news to Mary of her being the Mother of God, why angels proclaimed the birth of Christ to the shepherds, and so on. Those receiving the message would then comport themselves in a manner circumspect of the message they received, 'aligning' their lives to God's will. Thus, angels can be described as 'beings who aligns'. In this regard, similar to how the standard alignment possesses meaning beyond the element they refer to, more than just being compatible for magecraft involving angels, Angel alignment is one that is suited for Rohrbach's attribute of aligning. The Rohrbach was a mage family originating from Switzerland. Originally, the founder, Florus Rohrbach, was a student of Jacques Gohory, a Paracelsian who wrote Arbatel de magia veterum, a Latin grimoire of ceremonial magic published in Switzerland in 1575. It was a period when the adherents of Christianity and the Church had yet to fully divorce themselves from mysticism, and when numerous magi, such as the Paracelsian and Rosicrucian, still considered themselves to be Christian. Indeed, the Arbatel was written by Jacques Gohory in the Christian worldview, an attempt to create a system of summoning divorced from what was considered the demonic tradition of the Solomonic demon summoning and condemn what the book called Cacomagi—‘bad’ magi who used systems not aligned with God. The text proved to be influential, influencing other prominent magical texts that came after, such as the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses and the term ‘Theosophy’ was thought to have originated from the Arbatel. This was, however, a period of Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation, making both protestants and catholics intensify matters of inquisition and purity of doctrines to guard against the other, for the Protestant Reformed Church of Switzerland, it included any suspected practitioner of mystics, which they had accused the Catholics to be harbouring. Thus, the Arbatel was condemned by Simon Sultzer, the head of the Switzerland Reformed Church, and an official investigation was conducted into the Arbatel, its publishers, and its authors. Fleeing persecution from the Holy Church, Florus Rohrbach ended up as a servant and apprentice of a Clock Tower Mage from England, a lecturer in the Department of Spiritual Evocation. Since then, the Rohrbach worked to refine the theory found in the Arbatel within the framework of Clock Tower’s Spiritual Evocation and worked their way up. Today, the Rohrbach mage family is considered to be a somewhat prominent member of the Spiritual Evocation’s sub-department, the Department of Summoning. As of today, the Rohrbach Family is closer to the Clock Tower mages than the ‘Christian Magi’ of the Medieval and Early Modern period they originate from, in that they are not exactly pious Christians who consider themselves part of the Church but nevertheless used the concept of angels and the foundation of Christianity for their magecraft for its utility in stabilising the formula. That said, they do still attempt to live adhering to the virtues of Christianity, insofar as to accumulate karma as they hope for the birth of a ‘miracle’ that would advance their magecraft to the next stage. Furthermore, because their attribute is that of aligning, to align oneself to the Abrahamic angels and the summoned spirits to the concept of angel, it is most efficacious to cultivate virtues from the foundation their magecraft drew from, that of Judeo-Christian. A central precept of Arbatel, like draws likes, a virtuous magus will draw ‘good and cooperative spirits’ while an unvirtuous magus will draw ‘evil and uncooperative spirits’. Hence, ‘A Magus, therefore, should be conscientious, upright, consistent in word and deed, with a firm faith in God, prudent, and covetous of nothing but wisdom, which surrounds divine things.’ For this reason, the Rohrbach—among other things that cultivated Judeo-Christian virtues—used a large amount of their resources for philanthropic activities, adhering to the principle of ‘Loving one’s neighbour’. For instance, in the Clock Tower, similar to Norwich, they are known to be one of the older families who are generous with funding for prospective new age magi. [General Magecraft] Due to her non-standard alignment and that she had only been training as a magus for about four years, Tsubasa’s knowledge in the fundamentals is lacking, though she made up for it with her innate talent and aptitude for magecraft, barely scraping by for an ‘acceptable grade’. [Summoning: Angeloi Eudaimon] The summoning system used by the Rohrbach is one based on the Arbatel, where the universe is divided into 196 provinces, which are then divided among seven rulers that correlate with the seven classical celestial planets. These seven rulers, called the Olympic Spirits, are then invoked to send spirits under them to serve as the magus’s familiars. In Arbatel, the Olympic Spirits are distinguished from angels; however, in the older Judeo-Christian tradition that Arbatel itself drew from, the spirits of the seven planets—of which Arbatel described the Olympic Spirits as—are identified as the Seven Archangels. Furthermore, if the Olympic Spirits were supposed to be those that decide and arbitrate fate as per God’s will, who can be invoked by the magus to aid them with the power given to them by God, then it can be said that they are ‘messengers of God’s will, enacting his authority and delivering blessings’, thus angels. And so, in the current iteration of Rohrbach’s magecraft, to partake in the stability of Judeo-Christian as a foundation, the names of the Seven Archangels are used as a substitute for the Olympic Spirits. Thus, •Aratron, presiding over Saturn, ruler of 49 provinces, became Zaphkiel •Bethor, presiding over Jupiter, ruler of 42 provinces, became Zadkiel •Phaleg, presiding over Mars, ruler of 35 provinces, became Camael •Och, presiding over Sun, ruler of 28 provinces, became Raphael •Hagith, presiding over Venus, ruler of 21 provinces, became Haniel •Ophiel, presiding over Mercury, ruler of 14 provinces, became Michael •Phul, presiding over Moon, ruler of 7 provinces, became Gabriel The spirits summoned are invoked with the names the magus has imposed on them, "Chosen from the functions and virtues that God has distributed to each of them." Thus, summoned by the name of an archangel and bestowed with the name of angels taken from Shemhamphorash, the summoned spirits are aligned into the concept of angels, creating artificial angels as familiars. The Arbatel system rejected the necromantic and Solomonic tradition of binding spirits and forcing them to do the magus’ bidding. Rather, it takes the view of ‘the magus and the summoned spirits cooperating’; it is therefore closer to Shamanism, where the magus enters into dialogues with the spirits. The Rorhbach’s magecraft, thus, is ‘aligning both the magus and the spirit into a common ground agreement for the spirits to serve as familiars’. [Spiritual Medium: Angeloniac] It is said that the human soul is a producer of wonders, to the extent that it is joined with the chosen spirit. In terms of being a spiritual medium, it translates into how the magical energy running through the mage’s magic circuit actualises mystery through the ‘lens’ of the spirit possessing the magus. In the Rohrbarch magecraft, it means that the magus align themselves to be a vessel suitable for the artificial angel they have created, and then have the spirit align the magus's magical energy to a concept tied to the angel in order to cast a spell. Tsubasa’s non-standard element of Angel is one that is suited for Rohrbach’s attribute of aligning, making her an exceptional spirit medium. [Projection: Angelus Investiture] The magecraft to create a false image of an imagined object. In Tsubasa’s case, due to her alignment of Angel, she could use projection magecraft while being a spirit medium to project images associated with angels, more specifically, using the angel that she is currently a medium for as a ‘reference’. In this way, it is possible to use shell projection around items and mystic codes that have been aligned to the concept angel to create a pseudo-relic blessed by an angel. It is also possible to project wings or other imagery of an angel for various magecraft applications. Another application of this magecraft is that of a shell projection around the angel familiars themselves, projecting an image of a powerful angel over her artificial angel familiars. In the World of Magecraft, angels are 'Vessels of Power' that a great number of people believe in. Thus, as many things in magecraft such as Ghost Liners, they are beings that grow in power with faith. Tsubasa’s eyes, which see ‘Potential, if improbable, idealised reality’, are turned on the spirits; the vision she sees is used as the basis of the image to be projected as the shell, in this case, the improbable world where the spirits she had bestowed with the concept of angel have the faith of humanity. Thus, bringing her artificial angel closer to actual angels to whom many prayed, in a similar concept to how an image of woodland fairies is projected over nameless spirits. [High-Speed Incantation: Angelus Aria] In Abrahamic traditions, angels are beings associated with songs and music. The Seraphs are chanting the Trisagion of ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’, the seven angels accompanying God in Revelation blow the trumpets, and the angels celebrating Christ’s birth became associated with singing. The hierarchy of angels itself is named the Choirs of Angels. Thus, the ‘means of communication’ chosen by Rohrbach is that of music, specifically an operatic aria. Musical harmony provokes celestial influences and affects the listeners, changing customs and provoking certain qualities, it can be said that ‘musical harmony is a mean to align’. Of musical harmony, singing, produced by the mind and heart, is the most powerful. As Agrippa uses songs when invoking spirits bestowed with the name of archangels, the Rohrbach mages use operatic arias in place of incantations when commanding their angelic familiars. As incantations are means of self-hypnosis, for the Rohrbach mages who specialises in aligning, words sung in operatic aria convey more meanings than spoken normally, hence ‘better aligning’ the magus to the spell cast, becoming a form of high-speed incantation. A one-count incantation becomes a single note. A three-count incantation becomes the first sentence of the psalm verse used to invoke the angel. A five-count incantation becomes both sentences of the psalm verse used to invoke the angel. [Mystic Eyes of Phantasia] Mystic Eyes that allow the user to see a vision of an imagined ideal future extrapolated from what they see. It is a ‘plausible’ future but not necessarily a likely one. Any kids who do track and field, for instance, technically have the potential to be the next Usain Bolt. Any medical student has the potential to cure cancer. Any politician can make their nation prosperous, in theory. The chances of them accomplishing such a thing might be millions to one, or even worse, but nevertheless, it is ‘possible’. The vision gives the user intimate knowledge of the individual perceived within their current state of ‘idealised future’. However, as it gives no detail on how such a thing may be accomplished and an idealised vision of someone is too far removed from the actual individual to be used as a basis in information gathering. And so, while as Mystic Eyes they are ranked as a Noble Colour, they are normally considered very limited in utility, only useful for a visceral and vivid imagining of an unlikely scenario. The eyes are normally sealed with Mystic Eyes Killer Glasses until needed. [Deck of Choirs] A deck of cards holding summoned angelic familiars. As the names of the summoned spirits were "Chosen from the functions and virtues that God has distributed to each of them,” each card contained the angelic name of the angel contained within and is assigned to seven legions. Each legion represents the Seven Archangels, correlated to the seven plantes. The assignment of the angels is based on which of the Archangels’ domains they fall into, as each of the 72 angels of the Shemhamphorash are correlated to a quinance of the zodiac. Seven Angelic Legion belonging to Seven Archangels, each corresponding to Seven planets, thus creating harmony using the ‘Number Seven’, an important number in the Judeo-Christian foundation. For better efficacy of evocation, Rohrbach’s mages utilise an Azoth Sword, something that also represents the family’s Paracelsian roots, to call upon the angels within, either to be used as familiars or for spiritual medium magecraft. [Lithic Archistrategos] A statue familiar made of stones, of which stones from St. Michael Grotto on Mount Gargano, Italy, are embedded within. The St. Michael Grotto is the oldest shrine dedicated to the Archangel Michael in Western Europe, said to be a place where the archangel appeared and asked for the site to be made a place of pilgrimage. Stones from the grotto have been considered holy relics, sent to kings and popes for protection and healing. By using the stones as a catalyst, and following the Jewish Golem tradition of placing the secret name of god in its mouth. A spirit is then summoned into the statue in the Day and Hour of Mercury, correlated to the Archangel Michael, ‘He who is Like God’. Thus, the statue is meant to be a golem mystic code aligned to the Archangel Michael. With Tsubasa’s Angel alignment and projection magecraft, it is possible to apply her Angelus Investiture to Lithic Archistrategos, projecting a shell of the Archangel Michael over the statue. Michael the Archangel is thought by many theologians to belong to the highest choir of angels, that of Seraphim, indicated by his name meaning ‘He who is like God’. Thus, when used by Tsubasa, it is possible to project a false image of a seraph. Personality Personality As humans are creatures whose main sensory perception is that of sight, it is said that those with Mystic Eyes are bound to them. As someone who, with a glance, is afforded a glimpse of the 'ideal future' where those she beheld in her sight had achieved greatness, it is hard not to think 'Ah…but if stars are aligned just right, this person could have…' whenever she sees someone. It was hard to dismiss anyone as 'scum', because even if the vision she beheld was unlikely to come true, to Tsubasa, no person is without inherent worth. Even the worst war criminal—perhaps especially those with the capacity to do things on that scale—can be the greatest of saints. Indeed, isn't it more satisfying to watch the extraordinary coming from the ordinary? For seemingly unlikely people to rise above their stations and accomplish exceptional things? An underdog or redemption story is wonderful to see for this very reason, after all.  Name "Tsubasa Rohrbach. Well my birthname was Tsubasa Katsuragi as my father left my mother...but since I'm the heir to the Rohrbach Family, it's a given I would take up the Rohrbach name, I guess." Home "Japan. I lived for 18 years there, after all. Britain is not bad, but it's not really home-y yet. If miso is more commonplace, then maybe I'll feel more at home quicker." Birthday "24th January! Pretty early on the year, right? Shemhamphorash-wise the angels would be Vmabel, Iahhael, Anavel, Mehiel, Damabiah, and Mavakel." |
