orphan

    There can be little doubt that the average Tradition mage has nothing but contempt for the Orphans. Most mages don't want the self-Awakened anywhere near them, fearing that the lack of proper training is inherently dangerous. Some Orphans would agree with this idea, but these are normally the same ones that beg their way into a Tradition proper.
     For most Orphans, the decision to join with a recognized Tradition is simply a matter of survival. The Technocracy would love nothing more than to locate Orphans and either convert them or wipe them our of existence. There is both strength and security in numbers. A sizable number of the Orphans simply join with the Hollow Ones, accepting their less strenuous philosophies and gaining most of the benefits that could be gathered by joining with one of the nine "True" Traditions. For some, however, that is simply not a viable option. Those that remain behind are the true Orphans, the self-Awakened.
     Orphans pay a high price for their independent actions. Many cannot locate a Chantry or even a cabal that will accept them, and even when they are accepted as members, they are hardly treated as equals. More often than not, an Orphan must barter favors for admittance into a Chantry. Some even work as mercenaries for the Traditions, taking high-risk assignments or adding to a cabal's power base in exchange for nothing more than Tass. The more experienced Orphans sometimes work in exchange for information, including access to a Chantry's libraries, but even knowledge does not come without a cost.
     Those who choose to stay Orphans feel that the Traditions are too limited in their ways of thinking. While many Orphans prefer to call themselves self-Awakened, a substantial number of them started with one Tradition or another. In some cases, Orphans have literally gone from Tradition to Tradition, seeking a philosophy that makes sense. They seldom find that they are looking for, and often "come home" to the Non-Traditions. Most of the self-Awakened would eagerly point out that before the Traditions could be formed, mages had to exist. Some Tradition mages seem to have forgotten that point. To the ones that remain Orphans, even the Hollow Ones are too limited in the way they think. It should be pointed out, however, that many of the self-Awakened work in Cliques of their own, forming what may well become Traditions in their own right in the future.
     One example of the Orphan groups that has done very well is the Hollow Ones. Other Cliques, or Crafts, including the Children of Proteus, Bata'a, Sisters of Hippolyta, Sculptors of Fate, Children of Knowledge, and Fringe Walkers, grow in number. Most of these groups are very new. Most started in this century. The Fringe Walkers , who stand at the border between Tradition balance and Marauder madness, have been around for centuries, changing many times over the years, while the alchemical Children of Knowledge claim to be the oldest Tradition of them all.