Rubedo/Albedo
Albedo Discipline
All life begins in the same place. Whether they come into this world from womb or egg or some method more unnatural, there lays a commonality at the core of all beings. Deep within, past the blinding light of the Outer Flame which distracts from self-awareness, through the darkness of ones self, and beyond the hypnotic attraction of the Inner Flame there is a singular core of liquid existence – the Fountain of Life. The source from which the first breath emerges to animate the hollow shell of flesh before a soul can take root. It is pure and physical and beyond corruption.
The Albedo Discipline is mastered as the Homunculus begins to refine it’s physical self into something purified of mortal finger prints and Gisonen Alchemist begins the grueling process of washing away the flaws of his inner and outer selves. It is a measurement of purity in it’s most basic and powerful form. The alchemist must learn clean himself of the corruption of the Outer Flame and to instead ignite the Inner Flame with the fuel of the Fountain. For the Homunculus, the Fountain is neither metaphysical nor spiritual, but purely alchemical. The Hollow-God refines itself inch by inch, casting out abjurations in skin and muscle and sweating imperfect chemical concoctions out through it’s flesh.
As other mortals are penetrated ever more by the Outer Flame and lesser Homuncli doomed to slowly succumb to their flaws until they are little more than a chemical slurry, those who seek Albedo reject their flaws and seek to wash them away with the same violent intensity of an assassins knife. It is the art of External Alchemy. The Alchemy of the Body. It is self-improvement drawn out to a ghastly degree.
A mortal or Exalt cannot obtain a higher ranking in the Albedo Discipline than they possess in the Nigredo Discipline. Homunculi may achieve any level of Albedo regardless of their rank in Nigredo.
x – You are helpless against the corruption of the Outer Flame and your Inner Flame a scarlet fire of absolute impurity. Your body will decay, your mind rot, and your very soul stagnate into a puddle of worthless gray ooze. You are dust.
1 - You have penetrated so deeply with your self-reflection that you have seen beyond the Inner Flame. Your finger tips touch the edge of the Fountain and sprinkled it’s droplets into your self. Through sweat and self-punishment, you begin to strip away the outer layers of corruption. You cannot escape the influences that seep into your flesh, but you can slow their progress towards your center. You are a ruin.
2 - You have dipped your hand into the liquid of the Fountain and it burns at your skin. You push yourself further, nearing the limits of endurance before you falter. You feel as each bead of sweat and droplet of blood carries away with it another mote of corruption, but still feel their lingering touch staining you even as you wash them away. The Outer Flame is hot upon your flesh and ever present in it’s attempts to violate your sanctity, but you have learned to mask many avenues of entry from it. You are a stone.
3 - You have drank from the Fountain and felt as the Inner Flame flares within your belly. You shave yourself of hair and scrub with pumice to scrap away the corruption your skin. Any moment that you do not bleed or sweat becomes another chance for stain and stagnation to set in. Pain has become a friend and a companion, the only one you can trust to carry you onwards. The Outer Flame and the world that cause it are frightened of you, your growing self-reliance rejecting them. Your self-ravaging is agonizing, yet it is a bright and beautiful agony. You are a wall.
4 - You have carved channels into yourself, spilling the liquid of life into the flames and feel them burning hot and white within you. You take no food, no drink, no comfort or physical distraction. Your purity is that of the lash and the burning of your muscles as they strain to meet your demands. Impurity remains upon you, but only that so deeply ingrained that it cannot be bled or sweated out and must be cut from you with the edge of a blade. You are reviled, but only by those who dwell so deeply in their own darkness that the light of your inner light blinds them. You have no need of them anyway. You are a tower.
5 - You are reborn with every moment, rather than consumed. Your flame burns upon the very surface of the Fountain and your body can barely hold the raging inferno within. Others call you mad when they see the bright glow within your eye and cannot comprehend that what you have removed from yourself are only needless things. You are beyond sweat and blood. You are beyond pain. White as the purest driven snow, no stain is upon you and no foulness can steal through your skin. You are a bastion.
