The idea of magic, the idea that the laws that governed the world could be bent in one's favor by way of supernatural means, has persisted throughout the ages: the kahunas of Hawaii, with the power to walk across blazing lava without harm or fear; the Oracle of Delphi, divinely inspired by the Greek god Apollo with visions of the future; the witches of the early Middle Ages, guilty of curses and consorting with demons in exchange for unnatural power. The idea of magic has faded in this more modern society, but there are some that still believe. These believers can range from the teenage Satanist, who dabbles in the occult as a futile act of rebellion, to the wannabe New Age mystic, who peddles "healing crystals" to desperate wives that seek to calm their gullible, neurotic minds. Fools, the whole lot of these so-called believers though there are nuggets of truth in their foolishness.
Walking across lava is a simple task with the appropriate skill. Prophecy is a skill theoretically available to all mages with the proper training and power. Curses can be rather nasty things to tangle with. Certain materials, crystals included, do have occult significance in rituals. Demons exist, deep within our souls and far divorced from reality, stalking its outer edges. Mark these words: magic, true magic, exists. True magic draws down the laws and truth of the upper echelons of reality and enforces them onto the mutilated shell of a universe we perceive, but, just as a rebellious youth will reject the authority of his elders simply because he hates higher authority itself, sometimes the lower reality we inhabit deems it well and good to fight back against this higher truth in favor of the Lie of the unenlightened masses. True magic is a dangerous and fragile gamble at times, so easily frayed by the Lie perpetuated by the uninitiated, but it's a gamble well worth the risk.
Or, so I thought. Awakening, as we called it, came with its own share of problems. I believe it is best if I began from the beginning. My chosen Shadow Name is Dust, and I'm an Alchemist on the Path of Doom.