[UA] Conjoined Archetypes

[Tim Toner]

Oh.  This is neat.

Okay, I had this idea a little while ago, for something totally unrelated.
Putting it in UA terms, it goes something like this:

A group of ur-occultists notice this whole 'archetype' thingee, and it
pisses them off big time, because it seems that none of them favor what
they're good at (in reality, their obsession with Magick keeps them from
seeing the forest from the trees).  They watch as unseen forces move to give
a shepherd an heir by means of his handmaiden.  One of them has a brilliant
idea.  Perhaps it's possible to overlap two archetypes.  Diametrically
opposed archetypes won't work, but if properly done, two bands of a spectrum
can be merged to make a third.  They do a little bit of research, and are
ready to go.  They appear to the father, and announce that his wife, long
past the time of fertility, would bear him a son, a true heir.  They merge
Crone and Mother into one, and the wife gives birth to a son.

This fucks everything up.  The other son is sent into exile with his mother,
beginning a feud that would span millennia, because the same promise made to
the father would apply to both his legitimate and illegitimate offspring.
Meanwhile, the forces that set the first birth in motion aren't content to
let the meddling of the upstarts succeed.  They call the father to the
mountaintop, and order him to sacrifice his son, to set things aright.  It
takes the direct intervention of the IC to spare this miraculous offspring.

Time passes.  The damage done to the triple goddess archetypes seems
minimal, but the cracks are present nevertheless.  The entire concept
wobbles a little, and the wobbling only increases with the passing of the
centuries.  Then, not far from the scene where the first miracle took place,
another Crone becomes a Mother.  It is, like all the other synchonous events
that preceed an ascension, an ominous sign.  The result of that miracle is a
man, a Herald, a voice crying out in the wilderness.  The celestial pot
turns, wobbles, and breaks.  A Maiden becomes a Mother.  It is witnessed by
three men, who had learned from their predecessors how to interpret the
signs.

The power of the Triple Goddess quickly fades, as the Patriarchy, foretold
lo those many years on a mountaintop, blooms.  Occultists point the finger
at each other.  Who could have wounded the Statosphere so horribly?  The
agents of the IC attempt to purge this blight, but all attempts backfire
horribly.  After several failed attempts and many years of observation, the
agents are convinced that the child is, like the first miracle child, wholly
unremarkable.

Then he turns 33, and develops an awesome gift.  He can channel ANY
archetype.  Healer.  Magus.  Demagogue.  The only possible solution is to
kill him outright, and not even that works.  He finally ascends.

It takes very little effort for the agents to infiltrate his disciples.  His
teachings are deemed too dangerous, and are tweaked here and there to
supress their full power, but even then, the truth gets out.  One by one,
those who directly witnessed his deeds are put to death, and their voices
replaced with moderate ones.  Still, there are setbacks.  An agent is
blasted on the road to Damascus, and becomes one of the most rabid
proponents this new faith could hope for.

But they're in it for the long haul.  They know they need to destabilize the
Triple Goddess as much as possible, and embark on an intriguiong plan--a
legion of Maiden Crones, women who would never know the touch of a man.  So
far, it's worked admirably, but there are concerns...

1978 -- test-tube babies make the Maiden Mother an everyday event.

1995 -- a 65-year-old woman gives birth long past menopause, channelling the
Crone Mother.

And there's that genetic disorder that causes children to age rapidly,
becoming wrinkled and shrivelled by age 12.

All signs that something is going to happen, or has happened, and we don't
see it for what it is.


---

So I'm thinking Conjoined Archetypes are so exceedingly rare, they're the
stuff of legend in the OU.  Still, examples pop up here and there-- the King
of Fools at Mardi Gras, stolen from Saturnalia, stolen from something else.
Any more?



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