This is an idea I've had on the back burner for ages. What can I say? Writing adept schools is almost comforting to me at this point. I'm sure this says great things about my psyche.
Disclaimer/content warning: the following
is full of detailed references to sex, kink, and queerness. Don’t
read if you are thin-skinned about any of these. Or at least, don’t
bother me about it if you do and upset yourself.
Marismancy/Grindrgy
AKA DLs
Marismancy is the awkward offpsring of Eastern cryptomancy’s (see Postmodern Magick) struggle to survive and the evolution of gay cruiser culture into the 21st century.
Eastern cryptomancers were modernist descendants of one of two rival ancient Greek mystery cults. They could never tell those outside the fold the truth, and like their Western counterparts, they were mostly gay men whose need to be closeted throughout so much of history shaped their magick.
The new, information-age cryptomancy school (see Book 5: Mine) has shed its ties to queer culture. Marismancy can be thought of as a splinter group to whom gayness remained as central as the secrecy itself. It is the magickal legacy of a subculture of hanky codes and glory holes.
Being a (cis) gay man is less stigmatized in today’s America, but the shadows of secrecy, insecurity, and embracing of outsider status remain fundamental. Infused with this is the brusque, almost masochistic machismo of the era of “male loneliness epidemics”, femboys, and incels.
Central tension: the paradox of marismancy, like that of pornomancy, has to do with subverting the inherent intimacy of sex. Since the rise of HIV and the like of Grindr, Sniffies, and Chatroulette, “postmodern” cruiser culture is full of avoidance and loathing of one’s partner’s and one’s own feelings, which could complicate the basic physical act. To put it crudely, it’s about treating your bottom like a disembodied hole (or top like a disembodied cock) so you can get your nut off.
Notes on gender and sexuality: Marismancy is a school practiced by cisgender gay men, cisgender bisexual/pansexual men who only fuck other men, and cis men who consider themselves straight but have sex with men.
As far as what counts as “sex with men”, what matters is the perception of the Grindrge. If they get a blowjob from a trans guy who passes, and thus read him as cis, it counts for a charge. After all, adept magick is powered by whatever cracked perspective lies in the head of the wizard himself.
It is possible for people who identify with different gender and/or sexuality labels to practice the school, with the following caveats: first, they charge half as well (eg. they must perform the criteria for generating a charge twice to get a single one), and second, they cannot cast formula spells or random magick that rely on anatomy they lack.
(Obviously, there are also cis men without dicks and/or balls, due to intersexism, amputation, magickal anomalies, etc. Technically the same restriction on spellcasting applies to them.)
Generate a minor charge: Have sex with a man (see above note on sexuality) that you have not previously (to your knowledge) had sex with. For marismancy, sex is defined as any act involving genital and/or anal penetration, as well as docking, frotting, and mutual masturbation.
Generate a significant charge: Have sex with a man you have had sex with at least once before. There is a limit of one charge per man per month.
You can also get a sig from engaging with a new (i.e. never previously engaged with yourself), socially unacceptable kink with a prior sexual partner.
“Socially unacceptable” is admittedly nebulous; examples include public sex, incest roleplay, scat, diapers, pup play, and consensual non-consent. If it would freak out your average conservative, Christian man, it probably counts.
Having sex with a man whose identity is entirely unknown to you (due to the presence of a glory hole or pup hood, being blackout drunk, etc.) counts only for a minor charge, even if it’s a previous partner.
Generate a major charge: Owing to its ancient-world roots, however indirect, marismantic practice still has a certain caché that can only be built up over many centuries. Reflecting this, a DL gets a major charge upon teaching ten men the school. It is required to break taboo at least once with each disciple as part of their training, during an initiation involving ritual sex.
Taboo: Sex for DLs must remain anonymous, in the sense that you cannot learn anything meaningful or specific about a sexual partner, including their name, line of work, place of employment, hobbies and interests, or family history. To do so, even accidentally, is to break taboo.
It’s worth noting that deeply private things such as which socially unacceptable fetishes a hookup has, or that they have weirdly misshapen balls, do not break taboo to learn, given the school’s paradox.
Random magick domain: Secrecy, desire, internal conflict, self-delusion and sex, especially when tied to (social) taboos and kinks or fetishes related to the above
Ω: 0
Minor Formula Spells
Do Not Disturb
Cost: 2 minor charges
Effect: The marismancer enters a short (30 seconds to a minute) trance, during which he sees a mental image of the closest location suitable for anonymous sex, as well as the fastest route to get there. What qualifies as a suitable location? Anywhere large enough for two people to fit at once, where they will not be disturbed for at least an hour. In fact, part of this spell involves synchronicity ensuring that no one will stumble on the marismancer and anyone joining him. The location itself can be anything from a public park’s bathroom stall to the bedroom of a vacationing retiree who forgot to lock up when she left to catch her plane.
Note that this spell cannot stop someone already following/spying on the marismancer from continuing to do so, nor anyone actively searching for him from happening to deduce his location and thus intrude in the location.
Also, the marismancer is not obliged to have sex in, or even go to, the envisioned location. He merely finds out what and where it is and is guaranteed of its privacy in the short term, as described above.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Cost: 1 minor charge
Effect: The Grindrge divines one piece of specific, non-secret information about a prior sexual partner. The information can be any of the examples listed under the taboo section (which, obviously, means this spell breaks taboo), or anything else along the same lines. The info does not to be publicly known, as long as the target would willingly share it with someone with whom they are on good terms.
No Strings Attached
Cost: 1 minor charge
Effect: The next person the Grindrge physically touches, speaks to, or communicates with via the internet fails to retain identifiable information they learn about him, such as his name, username, tattoos/body modifications, build, hair color, voice, etc.
This spell lasts for a number of minutes equal to the casting roll, after which the above kinds of information regain the capacity to “stick” for the target.
Show Hole
Cost: 1 minor charge
Effect: The DL creates a glory hole on a wall, door, or other flat, hard surface no deeper than 5.5 inches. The hole has a smooth, circular perimeter regardless of the material it’s created from, and a diameter of 3 inches.
Turn You On
Cost: 1 minor charge
Effect: The marismancer targets one man with whom he is making eye contact. For a number of minutes equal to the sum of the casting roll, that man experiences the physical effects of sexual arousal (i.e. an erection, if he has a penis). This spell has no effects on the target’s mental or emotional state, so it’s unlikely to cause a stress check unless they are intensely homophobic or otherwise afraid of intimacy with men.
What You Into?
Cost: 1 minor charge
Effect: The DL divines one of several possible pieces of information while thinking about someone they have had sex with in the past week: what socially unacceptable fetishes and/or kinks that person finds appealing (even if only privately), or how many hardened or failed notches they have in their Self gauge.
Significant Formula Spells
Better Safe Than Sorry
Cost: 1 significant charge
Effect: the marismancer is immune to contracting any sexually transmitted infections until the next time he reaches orgasm, or 24 hours have passed, whichever comes (heh) first. This spell does not affect his capacity to transmit STIs.
Chaser
Cost: 1 significant charge
Effect: The caster makes himself – specifically sexual desire of himself - the obsession of someone he has had sex with in the past 3 days. If they had another obsession, it is suppressed for the duration of the spell. It’s quite likely this shift of priorities causes a Self (2-3) check in the target, especially if they had a selfless or chaste obsession before.
This spell lasts a number of hours equal to the ones place of the casting roll.
Clean Your Privates
Cost: 1 significant charge
Effect: The DL must target a room he is currently alone in, and which he’s had sex in (with one or more other people) within the past 24 hours. The room automatically tidies itself over the course of a number of minutes equal to the ones place of the casting roll, regardless of its size and level of messiness. By the end, it looks exactly how it did just before the marismancer last entered it for sex. Any bodily filth/waste, used condoms, sex toys, etc. that are present spontaneously disappear from existence during this time. However, if while cleaning itself the room comes under observation (including a security camera) or occupancy by anyone besides the DL, the spell immediately ceases its progress partway and does not resume even if the DL gets rid of the observer.
Ghosted
Cost: 2 significant charges
Effect: The Grindrge becomes nearly impossible to track down for any and all of his past sexual partners. If he was in line of sight to any of them, it looks to them as if he disappears into thin air (which prompts Unnatural (4-5) check).
Additionally, for the duration of the spell, he gains +30% to Secrecy and Pursuit rolls to avoid them, and they cannot find any information about his present location using digital technology.
This spell lasts a number of hours equal to the ones place of the casting roll.
I Know How You Feel Inside
Cost: 1 significant charge
Effect: As with “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, the marismancer breaks taboo to learn something about a past sexual partner. This more powerful version gives you access only to secrets, though. The marismancer can learn the answer to any question which the target would only willingly confide to a loved one or one of their Relationships, or under extreme duress.
Post Nut Crisis
Cost: 1 significant charge
Effect: This spell must be cast immediately after the Grindrge’s sexual partner reaches orgasm. It forces an Isolation check of rank equal to the sum of the casting dice by inducing a deep, existential feeling of loneliness and lack of love, even a sense that they are unlovable. If the target fails the check, they must flee rather than fight or freeze.
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