Name: Thomas Gardner
Titles: Magister Templi, Third Order of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Age: 63
Gender: Male
Master of: Berserker
Command Seal Location: Back of his right hand
Origin: Linking

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Personality: On the surface Thomas is a polite and charming individual, the very picture of an English gentleman. Having spent the better part of his life as part of what is essentially a secret society Thomas has developed a way of dealing with people that can best be described as diplomatic and restrained; he is friendly, approachable, and amiable and yet rarely if ever gives any sort of hint towards his true feelings or motivations.

A determined individual who is not easily swayed by others and someone with the fortitude to forge his own path and follow his own goals even if others seek to place obstacles in his path, yet savvy enough to toe the line and not make enemies unnecessarily. Such social acumen was needed to survive in the Golden Dawn, especially when he is seen as such a… controversial figure by many.

Biography: Thomas comes from a long line of Magus; not the most impressive line, not the oldest and their name hasn’t always been Gardner, but Thomas’ family have been practitioners of Witchcraft in Europe and Britain since the middle ages, engaging in both sides of the art as both black witches focused on curses and hexes and white witches focused on protection from the former.

Even with this age the Gardner Magic Crest is not as well developed as it could be. Being a witch in Britain has always been a hazardous occupation and the family has been forced into hiding a number of times over the years as the craze of witch-hunting rose and fell in popularity. In particular the writing of the Witchcraft Act of 1604 was nearly the death of the Gardner line and their Magic Crest was nearly lost during this period.

Thankfully they managed to outlast the witch hunters and the family survived, although diminished. Over time they began to recover and the complexity of their crest grew in leaps and bounds although it wasn’t until Thomas’s grandfather and great grandfather that the family truly began to flourish. They are the ones mostly responsible for making the family what it is, at least in terms of wealth and influence. However, it was also his grandfather than nearly ruined them.

Thomas’ grandfather joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn after being invited to be a member by another magus via their joint association with the Clocktower. Being a talented Magus in his own right his grandfather quickly rose through the ranks but was at the same time a controversial figure who upset a lot of people by publishing books on occultism. The books were complete nonsense which he saw as both a way to make money while also having some fun but others in both the Golden Dawn and the Clocktower saw it as potentially threatening to reduce the amount of mystery in the world by revealing secrets about Magecraft. In the end he was acquitted and no punishment was given, but the Gardner name was forever tarnished by the accusations.

This controversy has directly affected Thomas as well and means that a number of people within the order have taken a disliking to him on principle. It doesn’t help that his style of Magecraft is seen by some as out-dated, archaic or even barbaric in nature; it seems even Magi are not immune to developing certain stigmas around witchcraft. There have been numerous occasions where people have tried to question whether or not his family should even be allowed to keep their association with the order, citing his grandfather’s past discretions as reasons, and whether or not Thomas and his obsolete style of magecraft can possibly contribute anything of worth to the order.

This did not prevent him from climbing the ranks to become a member of the highest order of the Golden Dawn, as progress through the ranks is determined by skill and learning rather than politics, but he had to fight his way through opposition most of the way.

When Thomas was contacted to take part in the Holy Grail War by the Association there were many who sought to argue against his participation, that he should not be allowed to represent their order, even going so far as to suggest that the seals should be removed and given to someone else. Rather than argue in his own defence or try to convince the order to sanction his participation in the Holy Grail war Thomas opted to simply leave; he acquired a suitable catalyst from the Golden Dawn by what some would consider theft and left, lacking the resources of the order to which he may or may not still be a member but backed by the considerable wealth of his family.

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Magecraft Section:

School of Magecraft:

Elementalism (Fire and Earth) – Those in the First Order of the Golden Dawn must study the concepts of elementalism and prove their understanding before moving on to the next level. Every member of the Golden Dawn who has advanced past this stage not only knows how to use magecraft that matches their affinity, they also have knowledge of all the other affinities they cannot use. Thomas in particular has a particular affinity for fire and earth.

European Witchcraft – An old form of magecraft not much favoured within the Clocktower due to its close association with curses, European Witchcraft is as much to do with the protection and prevention of curses and afflictions as it is with creating them. Thomas is well versed in the common practices of European Witchcraft including scrying, divination (particularly that will allows for objects/people to be found), healing and protection from harmful magecraft. His particular focus in this area is in the creation and use of Poppets and other items.

Sympathetic magic - A style of magecraft dictated by the laws of Sympathy and Contagion based on the idea that one can influence something, even people, based on its relationship or resemblance to another object. Thomas gained a basic understanding of this craft through his studies of European Witchcraft which makes use of Sympathetic Magecraft in places, particularly in the creation and use of Poppets. Finding himself particularly interested in the subject Thomas continued his studies in this area over the course of decades in order to become a true master of the art, even beyond what is often associated with European Witchcraft.

Skills/Spells List:

Elementalism –
Fireball – 8 casts
Greater Fireball – 3 casts
Fire Whip – 4 casts
Earth Wall – 5 casts
Spike Field – 3 casts
Softening/Hardening – 6 casts

European Witchcraft –
Lesser Healing – 4 casts
Divination: Locate Person (Requires an item with a link to the target) – 3 casts
Scrying – 2 casts
Item Creation (Requires material components) – N/A
Poppet Creation (Requires items with a link to the target and the creation of a doll) – N/A

Sympathetic Magic –
Inflict Pain (Requires a Poppet with a link to a target) – 7 casts
Inflict Harm (Requires a Poppet with a strong link to a target) – 3 casts
Inflict Death (Requires a Poppet with a very powerful link to a target) – 1 cast

Mystic Codes:
Grand Poppet – The ultimate expression of Thomas’ art, the Grand Poppet is an item created by Thomas over the course of decades using the principles of European Witchcraft and Sympathetic Magecraft. It is a humanoid figure; a doll woven out of Thomas’ own hair and stained with his blood, creating a Poppet so steeped in Contagion as to be considered unwise or even obscene by other practitioners of his craft, were they to learn of it.

The aim of Sympathetic Magecraft if often to create an object that in some way resembles the object or person that the Magus is attempting to manipulate, but in many ways the Grand Poppet is more real than Thomas is and as such it attracts much of the harm that is intended for him whether that be magical in nature or physical.

Ring of Vampirism – A Mystic Code in the form of a ring which allows for the extraction of blood from a person over short distances, which is then stored inside a small internal reservoir. This object has an extremely short range, between five and ten feet at the most, and works best when in direct contact with the target with greater distances slowing the process of extraction. The target feels no pain and the quantities of blood being extracted are so small as to cause no negative effects to the target.

Image Capturing Glasses – A simple pair of glasses capable of capturing and storing an image of whatever the wearer is observing at any given time and recalling that image when requested.

Amplifier Staff – A simple amplification style Mystic Code resembling an ornate cane or walking stick. Intended to be used to strengthen Thomas’ elemental magecraft in particular should he ever need to get his hands dirty.

Amount of Magecraft Mana: A-

Other: Thomas is proficient at administering first aid and is skilled at sewing and carving sculptures.

Name: Murasaki Hifumi「紫火風水」
Nicknames: N/A
Age: 19 years
Gender: Female
Master of:
Command Seal Location:
Origin: Circular Flow「The Wheel of Samsara」

Personality: Hifumi's has a complicated personality as is expected of any human being. However, her regular self is a bit of diva. Because she's truly gifted and from a respectable bloodline, she tends to have a very big ego. Even though she's really self-centered, she's able to back up her words more often than not. That said, confusing Hifumi's ego with cruelty isn't appropriate. She's more likely to ignore than to torment others if they don't interest her. However, she does have a soft-spot for those she considers "interesting individuals", regardless of what that means.

Biography: A descendant of the one and only Murasaki Shikibu who's an extraordinarily talented writer and mage on her own merits. She was born out of an arranged marriage, to the Second Owner of Japan's most powerful spiritual grounds—the city of Kyoto. From her earliest childhood, Hifumi never disappointed her parents, always showing what the combination of a privileged bloodline and proper upbringing can do. Not only did she excel at magecraft, but also in her mundane tasks as well. In fact, by the time she concluded high school and moved to England to continue her magecraft education at the Clock Tower, Hifumi had 4 published novels all of which are on track to become modern classics of the Japanese literature.
It's expected that after learning about the Holy Grail War—a ritual that she was well acquainted with since it originated from her homeland—Hifumi jumped at the chance of taking part of it. After all, it's nothing short of her obligation to recover this "wish granting device" and bring it back to where it belongs.

School of Magecraft: While Western Magecraft isn't her forte, the basics of the General Magecraft taught at the Clock Tower are like a children's play for Hifumi. Along with knowledge of what may as well be considered a mage's best friend—the nordic Curse Gandr.
However, the Foundation of her magecraft lies in the exploration of art. Most specifically, in the written form. It's a subtle type of magecraft excelling at Bounded Fields—especially when combined with Hifumi's talent wit Imaginary Numbers—and Mental/Sensory Manipulation. In a way, it can be considered the perfect magus' art, a product of boundless at beauty and refinement. Or at least this is what Hifumi thinks of it.

Skills/Spells List:
【Gandr】The only actual directly offensive known by Hifumi. It's essentially a simple sickness curse that has been crank up enough to the point it becomes capable of hitting targets with a power similar to a handgun's bullet. It's a really simple and economic spell—with plenty of interesting variations—for a mage of Hifumi's talent, which allows her to use it more or less at-will (in a manner similar to Rin).
【Bounded Field Creation】The primary use of her magecraft, however it's not a combative one but rather the ability to generate advanced bounded fields with a wide range of effects. Given the fact that this falls under the category of a ritual, the concept of daily usage really doesn't apply here but for simplicity's sake 12/day is probably more than she'll ever do.
【Imaginary Numbers Magecraft】Imaginary Number Space manipulation, this isn't a magecraft that can normally be used on its own but rather as a mean of augmenting Hifumi's Bounded Fields, as such it falls under the same limitations as them.
【Japanese Witchcraft (Poetry/Lyrics)】A specialized form of magecraft derived from onmyōdō and other forms of Far Eastern withcraft styles. As expected, it's forte are curses and spiritual manipulation, applied to writing. A sympathetic type of magic that relies on producing the likeness of others—and thus, influence their—through words rather than a physical or spiritual connection.

Based on the axiom that "a writer creates a world whenever they put their hands to work", a universal through that—even to this day—is recognized by anyone who has ever read a book in their life. With the same ease, that they create a world, they do change and shape our perception of reality itself.

Words are powerful weapons. "The pen is mightier than the sword" and, for this reason, shaping reality with them is easy.

While the bounded field creation aspect is what Hifumi focuses on the most, using her words to create barriers, and zones that are almost completely cut from reality—shaped by nothing but the power of her imagination—thanks to her ability to tamper with Imaginary Numbers Space.

In fact, her strongest bounded field is simply the ability to create a "line" that separates space by producing a small "gap" leading to Imaginary Numbers Space. While it's not wide enough to use for travel or to dump others into, it's a barrier of near total isolation that displaces space around itself. She can also create bounded fields that camouflage the space around themselves, curse others and a number of any other advanced effects.

Naturally, this also allows her to store her magic in specially prepared mystic codes in the format of scrolls, in a manner similar to that of those who practice Gem Magecraft.

Specific uses other than bounded field creation and alteration are:
【Curses】The ability to change other's fate. It can go from giving them a headache, causing them to stub their toes on a staircase, all the way to tripping down stairs, losing the lottery, to even deadly sickness and outright death by accident or illness. On the other hand, these can also heal, help you find a lost item, find your way out of a maze, among any number of benign ways to alters one's fate. Sadly, a curse to win the lottery is a bit too high level for Hifumi. Effects that rely on affecting the bodies and minds of others who also possess large magical energy reserves are notoriously hard to accomplish, but alteration of external fate is far more possible. 12/day
【Rewriting】Altering existing magecraft to fit one's needs. As long as Hifumi is able to comprehend the workings of someone else's foundation, she can rewrite their magic to fit her will. This is not very useful in a combative manner (like the rest of her magic) but can work like a dispelling effect. It really shines when dispelling and altering the effects of lingering magic (especially those that relies on glyphs), making it very suitable for destroying others' bounded fields, and counter cursing. 12/day.
【Imaginary Song/Phantom Poetry】The ability to create a world through words and reflected shadows. This is not an illusionary trait but rather the shaping of Imaginary Numbers Space into something that can affect reality through the careful application of words. In essence, it creates "that which does not exist". Hifumi uses this to produce Imaginary Familiars able to influence the world around herself. However, since they aren't real and "do not belong" in reality, their appearing is vague and foreboding to anyone who hasn't read, or heard, the story Hifumi created for them. In essence, they look like blobs of shadow given physicality, but since they aren't real their shape is limited by the observer's imagination until it's "fixed" by an external source. A concept similar to that of the Schrödinger's Cat, in which the reflected shadows both exist and not until being confirmed or denied by an onlooker. This can also be used to generate "phantom attacks". However, as expected of Imaginary Numbers based effects, they are almost worthless against "things that exist" but very powerful against things that "don't exist" including others spells and all manner of spiritual bodies. Though, it's unlikely that Hifumi is powerful enough to seriously harm any existence greater than a familiar or non-incarnated demon. 12/day

Mystic Codes:
"Ink blacker than shadows
Paper whiter than snow
A fox's tail brush dances in the poet's hand"

A conceptual set of implements used for Hifumi's art. They are amplifier type mystic codes helping her focus and control the flow of her magical energy much better than if she were to do use undignified tools to work her craft.

"A robe of the finest silk
Twelve layers within
A maiden wears it"

A magnificent twelve-layered ceremonial kimono, used solely by those who belong in the Imperial Court as princesses and ladies-in-waiting. A set of formal wear that Hifumi usually doesn't make too much use of because it's cumbersome to wear and seriously limits her mobility for daily life purposes. However, if she wears it while practicing her writing, inside of her workshop, it further amplifies her magecraft skills to a nearly unbelievable level. It's a tool that stores an enormous supply of magical energy, soaked into every of its fibers.

For all intents and purposes, whenever Hifumi is wearing her ceremonial robes, she can use twice as much magic as she would normally be able to. Even though the output of every individual spell doesn't change, just their quantity that increases.

Amount of Magecraft Mana: A

Other: She has a pair of servants to help her with the complex process involved in the preparation of her magecraft, as well as work as maids serving her in all needed purposes.