See the Silver Ladder Order book for all fluff.
Doctrine
Parent Path: Acanthus, Silver Ladder
Prerequisites: Fate 2, Subterfuge 2, and 2 dotes from Socialize, Empathy and Expression
Initiation: Prove your worth to the Sisterhood, both monetarily, socially, and through your interest in achieving your goals working behind the scenes
Magic
Ruling: Fate
Yantras: Succeed on a socially graceful roll relevant to the test (+2), casting while in a position of privilege (+1), gather information about the subject utilizing your mundane resources (+2), gain the confidence of your subject (+2).
Oblations: Extended and careful grooming, selecting and putting on fancy dress, planning social events, networking.
Attainments:
First Attainment Good Fortune
Pre-Requisite: Initiation
The members of the Sisterhood are blessed with perpetual luck. Throughout the course of their lives, they are continually granted a small host of minor blessings which serve to make their lives that much easier to live. The Sister herself at this level has almost no control over these blessings, but appreciates the assistance they provide in living a life of comfort. The prevalence of these blessings is such that they general occur at least once an hour, however their potency is limited to perhaps at most finding a lost $20 note.
This emulates the Reading the Outermost Eddies spell, however due to the worthlessness of its otherwise, I am stating that in exchange for gaining two free Reach for changing Duration to Primary, as well as Advanced Duration and one-hour Twists, it can only affect the user, and they have little control over its nature. Furthermore it doesn’t end after the minor boon. Really this is mostly fluff, with some really minor benefits, it shouldn’t be hampered that much.
Optional Arcanum: Mind 1
Sisters have busy lives, and scarcely enough time for one train of thought, let alone the multitude which are
required of them. During initiation, most Sisters are also taught how to manage the stresses of their busy
lives, allowing them to hold two distinct trains of thought at the same time, so long as neither are physically
demanding.
Emulates One Mind, Two Thoughts. Helpful for a Sister having to calculate Cabal expenditure while talking with an incredibly long-winded Councillor.
Second Attainment: A Humble Request
Pre-Requisite: Fate 2
The sister has progressed sufficiently to be able to impose some control over the Blessings with which they
are endowed. Though a scene’s worth of concentration and wishing, the sister may ensure that a specific
kind of person, place or thing crosses their path within the next day. This Attainment does require some
cooperation on the part of the Sister in most cases, if she does not allow Fate to guide her steps towards the
object of her desire, the Attainment will fail. Sisters are made aware of this flaw however, and most
acknowledge this as a small price to pay for some control over their fortune.
In addition to finding comparatively rare individuals or groups, the Attainment can also grant the Sister access to various Social Merits with a rating no greater than 2 (rising to 3 at Fate 4). These resources are external, and dependent on the good graces of other contacted groups, and may be depended upon 2 times (rising to 3 at Fate 4) before the mystically granted good grace leaves. The Sister may however may spend Experiences to permanently purchase these resources, perhaps having come to rely upon them. Unless the Sister uses up these resources, they last for a period equal to her dots in Fate on the Advanced Duration Table.
This is Shifting the Odds, with Reach in Advanced Duration. At base, you have just enough time in the spell to find whatever it is you need, however as the Sister progresses in Fate, they may be able to accumulate entire webs of favors, due to the increasing duration of this Attainment. With just a scene’s worth of wishing, they can for example get a couple of uses out of a 2 dot Mentor, which may last for days, weeks or even months before they lose interest.
Optional Arcanum: Mind 2
More than merely requesting a specific blessing, the Sister may also seem to be perfectly ordinary and fit
entirely within other’s expectations of her, blending in, in places where she would otherwise seem extremely
out of place. Arriving in a new scene, the sister may spend a point of Mana to render herself Incognito for
the remainder of the scene, ensuring that she cannot be actively perceived by any individual present, and all
magical attempts to detect her presence must contest this Attainment with a Clash of Wills.
Incognito Presence, in exchange for only affecting her, requiring the activation at the start of the scene, and only lasting for a single scene, it gets essentially Instant Casting, along with Advanced Duration.
Third Attainment: Exclusive Benediction
Pre-Requisite: Fate 3
Jealousy is unbecoming, and in others potentially dangerous. Sisters make significant and almost continuous
use of the Fate Arcanum, and such blessings can render the unlucky jealous of their good fortune. With this
Attainment, the Sister ensures that others do not see the blessings they receive as the good fortune that
they are, instead believing that in the absence of luck, these blessings are all entirely deserved by the mage.
To mundane rationale, it is impossible to conceive of any aspect of the Sister’s resources or nature as being
related to luck or fate in any way, and to detect such effects with magic provokes a Clash of Wills.
This is the Practice of Veiling in Fate, in an application that isn’t truly referenced in the book. This spell has two aspects. First and foremost, it renders people incapable of perceiving anything that occurs with regards to the Sister as having been in any way influenced by Fate. In physical terms, they are not considered by others to be “lucky” or “blessed”, and thus do not attract the jealousy that might otherwise foster, furthermore unless they display any supreme skill it cannot be attributed to such aspects as well, to a witness that’s just how the event occurred, there’s nothing more to it at all. In addition, this also renders all Fate based spells or abilities on them (including Destiny and all these Attainments) as being invisible, unless a detection spell succeeds on a Clash of Wills.
Optional Arcanum: Mind 3
While the Sister may seem to not be lucky to all those who perceive her, she can also ensure that other
acknowledge her importance, seeing her current status as not the work of luck but as the reward for her
important status. As an Instant Action, the Sister may impart herself with special importance in the eyes of
all those who perceive her, gaining the Fate Merit with dots equal to her dots in Mind. The nature of this
fame is indistinct, and lasts for at most a day, however many Sisters will disable this Attainment as soon as it
has fulfilled its function. The nature of this fame is indistinct, and depending on her current location those
present will make assumptions accordingly
Creative Thaumaturgy, granting a Merit equal to the Mage’s dots in Mind. Should be otherwise 2-dots, so Instant Casting, and Advanced Duration.
Fourth Attainment: Accidental Auspices
Pre-Requisite: Fate 4
The Sister’s control over fate has reached superlative levels. With an Instant Action and the expenditure of a
point of Mana, they may endow themselves with a supreme blessing, granting themselves the Rote quality
on 3 mundane dice rolls, permitting them to succeed at virtually any task they set out to accomplish. These
blessings may be used at any point within the next month (or year at Fate 5).
This is Superlative Luck, with Reach into Instant Casting, and Advanced Duration.
Optional Arcanum: Mind 4
Her control over others has become exceptional at this degree of proficiency. With an Aimed Attack, the
Sister can afflict an individual (whose Composure is lower than her dots in Mind) with a sensory illusion. Due
to the nature of their magical practice, these hallucinations are almost universally mild in nature, and usually
used to spread malicious gossip, or distract individuals with glimpses or sights which should draw their
attention. These illusions only last for a short time, 3 rounds at most. But a cunning Sister, using the full
benefit of her other attainments, can make significant use out of even the smallest lie.
Hallucination, with Reach into Instant Casting. Potency is Mind dots, Duration is secondary, for 3 rounds. Best used for short snippets of information. At this level (Gnosis 6), the Sister should really have no trouble succeeding on an aimed attack during social situations. Especially as targets are unlikely to be able to perceive her Attainments (without Mind sight) and thus cannot attempt to avoid it.
Fifth Attainment: A Charmed Life
Pre-Requisite: Fate 5
Through a scene’s worth of wishing, the Sister may redefine their the path that their life will take. Specifying
an event which she wishes to happen, her luck begins to unfold in such a way that it points towards ways in
which she might achieve her desired goal. These opportunities prevent themselves to her at least once per
day, and can help her achieve any possible goal, no matter how remote. It is never publicly admitted, but a
Sister is at this point also capable of endowing this blessing upon another, a secret gift granted to scarce few,
and almost always to ensure that they follow the sister’s plans for them. This Attainment lasts for but a
year, however Sisters of this proficiency frequently change their own goals so frequently that the Attainment
rarely lasts its full duration.
Strings of Fate, reach into advanced duration and once-per-day occurrences.
Optional Arcanum: Mind 5
As the Sister redefines her future, she can also change her present, weaving large-scale networks of
individuals into cooperation where previously there was none. Through a scene’s worth of planning, the Sister may endow herself with dots in Allies, Contacts, or Status equal to her dots in Mine. These benefits
last for only a week, so unless the Sister merely wants to create a short-lived network for use and disposal,
she should either devote some time each week to mystically maintaining this network, or spend Experiences
in order to formulate sufficient cooperation to work without mystical guidance.
Social Networking. With reach into Advanced Duration. In many ways inferior to the 2nd attainment, however the important factors are that you can get 5 dots in status in an organization you create, and you can create these things from nothing. Literally nothing. You could make a network formed of nothing but Police Chiefs and Hobos if you wanted.