Ahl-i-Batin

Wizards & Witches -M20- Mage Information

All things are connected, for all things are One. Though this world appears to be a rich pageant of people, places, creatures, and thoughts, those myriad elements are but mirrors and reflections of a greater Unity. When one realizes this fundamental truth, the Tapestry unfolds, responding to one’s will. That Will and the Tapestry become One. This truth the Ahl-i-Batin have known since their beginnings on the legendary Night of Fana, when, in the midst of a terrible war, a faction of Akashayana came upon a group of Darwushim – dervishes – who were dancing and whirling in the moonlit night. On that night, the Brothers and the Darwushim danced together, forming a great mandala... and in the midst of that dance, an ancient consciousness Awakened.

Called the Entelechy by certain scholars, this consciousness was said to be comprised of the Ascended souls of mages who lived in an age before this one, mages who hoped to bring humanity into harmonious unity with the cosmos. As the Entelechy manifested into our chaotic world, it fragmented and dissolved. In so doing, it caused the Akashayana and the Darwushim dancing in the center to become a single entity that was neither one man nor the other. This was the Kwajah- al-Akbar, and as it spoke its mighty prophecy, those who danced around it were enlightened. Time ceased to be. Everyone upon that field became one with their partners in the dance – united in mind, body, and spirit.

When the Fana ended, all those who had been joined became individuals once again, forever transformed by their experience. Of what use were names? Of what importance country or kingdom when one understood the Unity of all things? The story of that night ends with these newborn souls forming a circle and dancing a spiral into its center, where, one by one, they disappeared. When these Ahl-i-Batin (“Subtle” or “Interior” Ones) re-emerged, their sole purpose was to continue the legacy of the great consciousness that now spoke in the voices of their Avatars. From the humblest hut to the grandest palaces, these mages used their Awakened magicks to bring about Unity for all mankind.

These are the myths surrounding the Batini. Such tales recall that once, not long ago, the Ahl-i-Batin sat upon the Council of Nine Traditions, occupying the Seat of Connection, as Correspondence was then called. People have said that the rise of the Technocratic Union spelled the end of the Subtle Ones, forcing them all into exile – hiding in the mysterious Realm of Mount Qaf, lost to time and obscurity. Everyone knows that.

And what everyone knows is false.

The Ahl-i-Batin never went anywhere. Rather, they went everywhere, leaving the turmoil of the Technocratic pogroms in the Middle East to emerge in Europe, Asia, the Americas, Central and South Africa... always gently and softly bringing the world into Oneness – one whisper, one sigh, one leaf-fall at a time.

But although Batini ideals focus on Oneness and light, their methods, in practice, often take on the darker, bloodier cast of war – particularly with regards to their ancient fight against the Nephandi. It has been said that no one knows the ways of the Dark Mirrors, or battles them as assiduously, as the Batini do. It was Batini scholars, after all, who compiled the dreaded Sebil-el-Mafouh Whash that first detailed the Nephandi, and it was Batini Masters who drove the Devil Kings from the Middle East. Unfortunately, their deep connection to the Fallen also leaves the Subtle Ones far more susceptible to Nephandic corruption than they might be otherwise. Both groups could indeed be seen as opposite reflections of the same principle: all things are Unified, and thus all things remain bound... even light to darkness and oblivion to hope.

Organization: Unity emerges from structure; therefore, the Batini value order in their organization. There are five khanates in different parts of the world, each one presided over by a Master Murshid called a Qtub, or “pole.” Each khanate is made up of about a dozen or so cabals composed of a few Murshids, several Murids, and 10 to 20 initiates. Each cabal knows that the others exist, but they rarely have contact with other Ahl-i-Batin outside their own immediate circle.

Initiation: Joining this sect requires equal amounts of secrecy and patience. Often, a candidate for initiation is observed for years before she’s ever approached by a Murid. If the candidate expresses an interest in the Ahl-i-Batin, she undergoes a slow and steady process of removing herself from the world (and from the possessions and luxuries inherent therein) and adopting stringent levels of asceticism. This successive removal of distractions and temptations separates the initiate from ego and attachments, preparing her to embrace the greater freedom of Unity.

Affinity Sphere: Correspondence or Mind – but never Entropy.

Focus: As their name declares, the Batini remain subtle. The phrase “leave no trace” holds a particularly significance in everything they do. A Batini mage often spends weeks, months, even years observing, considering, and contemplating a situation before she finally uses her Arts to nudge things in the desired direction.

Faith is an essential element of Batini practices, with a core belief in Divine Order and Earthly Chaos. Certain Batini assert that It’s All Good, and others hold the bleak conviction that Everything’s an Illusion. Crazy wisdom, alchemy, and High Ritual Magick maintain their traditional places in Batini Arts, with yoga, gutter magick, reality hacking, and even chaos magick appearing in the practices of certain devotees.

Despite their mystic acumen, Batini cannot learn the Entropy Arts at all. This mystic blind spot presents an interesting conundrum: if all things are Unified, then surely even decay has a place in that sacred order? That’s a question the sect has not yet answered.

Stereotypes

The Traditions: They refuse to see the connections between all things that make us One, and yet they believe themselves to be authorities on all things mystical!

The Technocracy: Riddled through with Nephandic corruption. Now, more than ever, we must crack their shell and purge their poisons.

The Disparates: Perhaps Unity will speak more clearly in disparate voices than it has in traditional ones!

Ahl-i-Batin Websites

http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Ahl-i-Batin