Since time immemorial, the Magi have organized themselves in different factions and schools they call clans. Each of them with their own history, beliefs, code of honor, plans and agenda.
Not all Magi belong to a clan, but the majority of them do, as a clan is the closest thing they can get to a family after being awakened. And as a family, there are members with a strong bond of companionship and others with rivalries and sometimes even enmity. Being a Loner, a Magi without a clan can spare one from these complicated relationships, but will also deny them a strong base of allies and contacts.
In this chapter we detail a few of the major clans the character can either be a part of or can encounter in their adventures. In the next chapter The Shades are also described, as they are enemies with all clans, even though they can be infiltrated in all of them.
The Hermatis
The oldest clan of the Magi, created long before civilization flourished into cities and empires. The Hermatis are a clan of warrior Magis, defenders of this world against the supernatural forces that would take it over. They banded together thousands of years ago when he forces of the Abyss threatened to take over the world and enslave humanity. They never disbanded since then, and were instrumental in the first war against The Shadow One.
Today the Hermatis keep cells in most major cities and places of arcane significance. They are responsible for keeping a vigil over the world and its reality. If demons come back, they will be there, ready to act. If the Shades are really returning, they will fight them. If vampires, werewolves and other supernatural beings threaten the world, they will intervene.
Dogma
The Magi have a responsibility to protect the world and the life in it. They have been given the ability to see reality more clearly and the gift of altering it so they can protect it from those that would destroy it.
Members of the Hermatis clan should never use their powers to control others and disrupt reality to impose their whims onto other people, and they should do whatever they can to make sure no one else does, including other Magi and creatures of supernatural descent. They must keep vigilant against all threats, mundane and supernatural, and unite with the other clans to keep our reality safe.
Goals
The main goal of the Hermatis is to keep the order of things as they are. They know there are many gates to the Abyss around the world from where demons come into our reality and they want to close them all. Rumors of the return of the Shadow One are spreading again and the clan is divided between those that want to do something about it and the majority that believe this to be impossible, as the evil sorcerer was supposedly slain during the war.
What are They Doing?
The Hermatis are always in motion, performing their duties and battling the many threats that emperil our world. The Referee can roll a d6 on the table below to determine what a local group or the majority of the clan is dedicating their efforts in any situation in the campaign.
| d6 | What are They Doing? |
| 1 | The clan discovered the location of a gate to the lower layers of the Abyss and is mobilizing their members to venture in that hellish dimension and close the gate once and for all. |
| 2 | A Magi has been possessed by a powerful demon and the Hermatis are trying to hunt them down but can’t yet identify who is possessed. |
| 3 | The Hermatis have located a powerful weapon created by the Shade during the war and need to enter their ruined fortress to retrieve and destroy it. |
| 4 | The Hermatis are organizing their grand championship of arcane duels which happens only once every century. The greatest warrior Magi are competing and the winner will have their name engraved in the giant starmetal sword of war kept in the clan’s hall. |
| 5 | The Hermatis have a great local meeting, as the signs of the Shade are appearing more often. Many of them believe this to be a prank or the delusions of a few shadow Magi, but a few of them are very concerned this could mean the return of their former enemies. |
| 6 | The Hermatis are training a number of new members of the clan, teaching them new Words of Power and how to use their own words for their roles as warriors and watchers of our reality. |
What’s Happening?
In the same vain, things could happen to the Hermatis that are outside of their control. These are situations that can prompt them to action and can inspire adventures centered around them.
| d6 | What’s Happening? |
| 1 | A breach in reality leading to a dimension overtaken by Void entities has just opened and it is distorting everything near it, including turning humans into terrible Void mutants with the will to spread chaos. |
| 2 | A powerful artifact crafted during the last war was stolen from one of the clan’s vaults. No one has seen anyone enter it or anyone leaving. Suspicion grows stronger as the hypothesis of this being an inside job is vented. |
| 3 | Guardians of the Hermatis clan are disappearing without any sign. The places where they went missing now seem to dampen any light source brought inside them and have a lingering smell of dead fish. |
| 4 | Call from help coming from other Magi are coming more often but they all seem to come from Magi that don’t really exist or existed only in the past. The Hermatis don’t know what to do and are afraid they might be being tricked by some malevolent trickster spirit or fey. |
| 5 | A creature from a dark era of the world escaped its prison and is now on the loose. It has attacked a small town killing dozens of people. No one knows how it escaped and some suspect it got released by someone in the clan. |
| 6 | A family of vampire sorcerers have arrived and they plan on taking over the city, expelling any who stand in their way, including the Magi. The vampires have alliances with other supernatural beings and maybe even spies in the clan. |
War of the Magi is a upcoming supplement for Dark Streets & Darker Secrets RPG!