Aspects - Throughout history, fundamental 'categories' of magecraft have shifted, referred to as the "Fundamental Aspects". Believed to be determined by the shared beliefs of contemporary humans, their "theme" guides a mage's journey through the Labyrinth and ultimately shapes what kinds of magecraft they develop, though this is not set in stone. The "deeper" on delves into the Labyrinth, the more they are influenced by their Aspect Crest. Earlier discoveries tend to be considered more "generic" or "shared" by other mages.

Apotheosis - It is believed that there are many "ends" to the Labyrinth, all of which represent a distinct pinnacle of magecraft. To reach this end is to achieve a kind of divinity within magic. Achieving this end is called "Apotheosis". None who reach this existence remain for long in Realspace -such a state of being is not conducive to the reality that humankind understands. Some believe that those obtaining Apotheosis become one with the Labyrinth itself. Others believe that it is the gate to a realm beyond the Labyrinth, the so-called "Freespace" beyond which magic is not limited. Only a tiny handful of individuals are known to have ever reached Apotheosis, and even amongst that list, it is unknown if they truly achieved it and did not simply vanish by other means.

Aspect Crest - The physical manifestation of one's Aspect upon their body. This symbol appears automatically as soon as one makes their first discovery within the Labyrinth. For those born to someone already possessing an Aspect Crest, this happens at birth, as fragments of magecraft are often passed along by blood.

Dark Sphere - A term for the collective existence, culture, and societies representing magic and the mages utilizing it. Hidden from the public, it is known of only to those who are born into it, or (rarely) stumble upon it by accident. Some are deliberately exposed to it, such as otherwise mundane servants of Houses.

Dark City - Believed to be an avatar of the Labyrinth, the Dark City is an arcane realm existing parallel to Realspace. It manifests most heavily in larger population centers (thus, Dark City) and consequentially believed to be empowered by a shared consciousness of the populace. It is accessible only by those who know to look, and by those who discover the appropriate low-level magecraft. The Dark City mirrors the Realspace location next to which it manifests, albeit as a facsimile. Structures within the Dark City are imitations of their habitable counterparts, but come with strange and often dreamlike quirks: Endless hallways, non-Euclidean spaces, meaningless rooms and placements of furniture and decoration. It is easy to get lost in the Dark City, but in turn is a useful means of escaping others. But beware, as non-human entities make the Dark City their home as well.

Demon - An evil manifestation within the Dark City. Demons are purely magical beings that can possess any amount of civility to them, from rabid monsters to scheming suits. As naturally magic beings, they possess an intrinsic connection to spaces within the Labyrinth on a level far deeper than a mage could achieve, and thus are also afforded the ability to both grant and divest mages of crafts close to their origin.

Dungeoneering - A method of discovering magecraft within the Labyrinth. Distinguished from Meditation, as Dungeoneering involves a ritual practice of generating a physical representation of the Labyrinth within which to explore. This manifestation is decidedly not the Dark City, and thus features far more eldritch and inhuman spaces.

House - One of any number of ancient lineages of mages that persist to this day. Houses contain the greatest amount of existing magical knowledge, as well as most of the latent power. Entrance is by marriage or blood only.

Labyrinth - A colloquial term for the ruleset that exists on top of magic. Normally limitlessly accessible and expressed, magic as it exists now requires careful study and exploration to develop. The term 'Labyrinth' refers to this nature, as one must navigate the esoteric rules and complications of magic to reach any particular end. In most cases, discoveries are happened upon by accident, rather than purposefully found. Though referred to in a kind of 'physical' sense, the Labyrinth is neither a physical entity nor a mental space, but rather a spiritual one, though it can be explored in seemingly physical or mental ways (see: Dungeoneering, Meditation).

Lich - A mage that has defeated death. They are functionally immortal, though not invincible or indestructible. Aging has left their bodies.

Magecraft - Refers to both the individual spells a mage can exert, but also the collective abilities of a particular mage. To explore the Labyrinth is to develop one's magecraft and add spells to their repertoire.

Manifestation - A term referring to any sort of non-human entity that appears or lives within the Dark City or the Labyrinth. Also called "Creatures", "Beasts", and "Entities".

Meditation - A term referring to the method of discovering magecraft within the Labyrinth wherein the mage explores a mental space representative of the Labyrinth. Though oftentimes a slower method, it is considerably safer than Dungeoneering. Many tools can be used to aid a mage in this practice, the most notable of which being a "Key" -a preexisting spell that tunes a mage to the necessary mental space required to enter the Labyrinth.

Outer Knights - A loose society of mages who, in search of Apotheosis, instead became deeply entwined within the Labyrinth both physically and mentally. Most Outer Knights struggle to manifest within Realspace, and are consigned to life within the Dark City. It is believed that their existence serves the perpetuation of the Labyrinth as law, and in turn suggests to some that there are esoteric means by which one can "ignore" or "skip" the Labyrinth, inevitably drawing the attention and ire of the Outer Knights. Such methods remain mere rumor.

Pact - A magical contract formed between a mage and a Manifestation. The pact can have any number of clauses and requirements, but is sometimes achieved solely through mutual understanding. The Pact affords a mage some crafts they otherwise did not have access to, but can come at a cost depending on the sensibilities of the Manifestation on the other side of the deal.

Realspace - The real world. The place where mundane humans live.

Werewolf - A mage that has achieved any number of crafts that transform their bodies physically. This is to be distinguished from mages that can temporarily enhance their bodies by magical means, as a werewolf is strictly one who has physically changed in a permanent fashion.

You can’t know what you don’t learn.

The Baskervilles, a great Family seeped in Obscurity, knew this. And their heir, Casimir Baskerville, was just arrogant enough, just callous enough, just Machiavellian enough, to abuse this. After all, all Houses end up having the problem of an incestuous relationship with their magecraft. Spread their ties too wide, and their Family Secrets became public knowledge. Confine themselves for too long, and they stagnate, becoming inbred buffoons with no practical capabilities. They needed fresh blood and fresh perspectives, strangers who were nevertheless willing to divulge their own understandings of the arcane craft properly.

Strangers, who knew not that such knowledge was meant to be safeguarded with their life.

So Casimir looked for those who wanted purpose, who wanted to be special. Those has-beens, those drifters, those deluded of their own capability, who just wanted an opportunity to become who they once were. He took his time, of course. Scattered a few spells as miracles, promised those mundanes that he would reveal the truth of the world. Built up House Baskerville as the only justice in a cruel world. Armed them with a faith born from deception, roused their spirits, offered them that singular chance to truly be a part of something special!

And then plunged them headlong into the Dungeon.

Those that survive were drowning still, and the only lifeline they could grasp upon was House Baskerville. They gained the Craft and the Crest, the qualifications to walk the reverse side of the world, but with neither knowledge nor the ability to learn, all they could do was become subservient to the Baskervilles, to Casimir. To continue to plunge into Dungeons, continue to face great terrors, continue to mine for magecraft, in exchange for the shelter of Obscurity, for they knew not how to survive alone in a realm that defied one’s understanding of reality.

It was a successful program! After some delegation, after some showing of favors, it became a self-propagating program!

…

People disappeared, never to be seen or heard of again, but society forgot them.

Amaya, however, couldn't.

Before 15, her life had been fairly normal. Her parents weren’t excessively loving, but they weren’t abusive either. She went through public school, excelling in some subjects but never to the point of becoming extraordinary. She had her friends, her extracurriculars, and she was her class’s student representative. Perhaps she had a dream job, but she was realistic enough not to toss away safe options. Perhaps she had a crush or two, but it was easy enough to make excuses to never ask them out. It was a small town, a small school. Peacefully in the middle of nowhere in particular.

She thought it was a bit weird when the school brought in a guest speaker who looked like a bit of a loony, but his magic tricks were cool. It was some Oriental traditional practice thing, and after the speech and demonstration, they handed out pamphlets to another meeting they were having later on that week. Her friend, Renee, wanted to go, but didn’t want to go alone, so Amaya tagged along as her plus one. Renee liked that kinda stuff, after all. Magic and superstitions and such. Apparently one of her ancestors was a witch.

The meeting wasn’t anything that really stuck out to Amaya either. The group’s members were all cheerful sorts, though it gave off the impression of a bunch introverts and nerds with bad hygiene. Renee called it ‘aura’ though. Amaya didn’t think she’d have a BO fetish like that, but her friend seemed to be getting along with the others, so she hung around for a while longer and then excused herself.
It was a gradual thing.

If she didn’t know about the meeting, she’d have thought her friend had gotten a boyfriend.

Hard to imagine a boyfriend would be enough to get you to drop school altogether though.

Harder to imagine that a boyfriend would be enough to get you to disappear from your own house in the middle of the night, without even leaving behind a note, without even bringing her wallet.

The school worried about it for a bit, but ultimately, the administration were tight-lipped. The police worked on it for a bit, but they soon delegated the case to some other department, and no one seemed to know who really worked at that department. The parents grieved, worried, and yet there wasn’t any sense of urgency or desperation. People disappeared. It simply happened. What was there to worry about?

Amaya wondered if there was something in the water.

Then, with the arrogance of teenager who thought herself as a young adult, she decided to take matters to her own hands, because that cult had to be responsible.

…

It took two years of digging around the internet. It took a part-time job to buy a decent road bike and tickets for buses and trains. It took effort and relationships, and at times, Amaya herself wasn’t certain what she was doing, spending her high school life like this.
Did she even care about Renee, about other students, that much? Or was it simply a curiosity, an obsession, triggered by the behavior of others, who thought that none of it really mattered?

Before she reached that point, she got her breakthrough. Left on a bike, with a flashlight, a camera, a stun gun, and a sandwich all stuffed in a fanny pack. Didn’t know what to expect, but she was used to groping in the dark. Whatever it was, she’d know by the end of the week.

Darkness was replaced by nightmares.

A shadow-beast great enough to swallow the moon, a horde of ghouls rising from the walls, an abyssal quagmire, swallowing whole bursts of light and flame, the feeble resistance of those same members of that cult she had been tracking. Cries of the betrayed sounded, but mercy wasn’t a possibility, and in three minutes, all that remained was a vacant lot.

A vacant lot, and a man dressed like he hadn’t left the 19th century.

He was young in an ageless way. His eyes were as black as the night sky. Purple veins wriggled beneath his translucent skin. His hands were gloved. His shadow stretched out in a way that defied the streetlamps around him.

He smiled at her, and in that moment, Amaya could not remember what had been in that vacant lot before.

“Best to forget this, young lady.”

He passed by her, and Amaya forgot whether she had even brought anything with her on that night.

The clouds obscured the moon. The forecast spoke of rain tomorrow.

…

But while she had forgotten what was there, she knew that something had been there. Something that she wanted to see, something that she wanted to know. Something had dug into her mind itself, snipping away the bits that seemed to matter so much for her.

And when she returned home, that something had erased all traces of those who had disappeared. There was no notice in the school. There was no case in the department. There was no son or daughter who had disappeared. She couldn’t recall any faces, couldn’t find any photos, couldn’t do anything but scratch at that itch in the back of her head!

As blood collected beneath her nails, she had to wonder.

If her memories were so suspect, how could she be so sure that Renee was just some friend? Just another face in the classroom?
How could she be certain, when she was only on one side of the coin?

What was missing?

Three years passed. Six years passed. Ten years passed.

Amaya earned her Crest. She stepped deep into the Dark City. She delved into the Labyrinth. She formed connections as a courier. She learned of the Houses, of the Manifestations, of the innumerable ways with which the movements of the shadow could affect the status of the corporeal. She had become unrecognizable to her teenage self, stray beast with a gleaming fang, having so neatly cleaved herself from her realspace relationships.

But she held no regrets.

You can't know what you don't learn, and she was never smart enough to earn a scholarship.

The first thing mages note about Amaya is her sword, a spiritual construct imbued with a simple tenet: “What can be perceived is material.” With that understanding of the world, that blade of white light becomes capable of slicing through curses and maladies, of parting barriers and seals, of rendering the incomprehensible simple. It cleaves the unknown, parting darkness to reveal the true nature of the night: that there is nothing in darkness that isn’t there in day.

It has earned her the reputation of ‘Demonsbane’.

But that’s the thing about a sword. It draws attention away from the gleam in Amaya’s eyes. Eyes that see through deception, a sovereign capable of passing down divine judgment. Eyes that transfix her prey, a tyrant that allows for nothing less that absolute stillness. Eyes that, at times, offers solace amidst chaos as well, soothing the howling of the mind, pulling away the psychological afflictions that far too many spells and curses. One sees heaven in her gaze, and heaven can be blinding or beautiful, depending on the sins they bear.

A litany of other crafts assists Amaya in her work as a freelancer in the magical world, of course. Ways of folding and traversing space. Ways of finding a safehouse night. Ways of generating warmth without flame. Ways of cleaning clothing without needing to remove them.