The Technocratic Union

The Technocracy is here to maintain order, by any means necessary. To outsiders, Technocrats seem like faceless, soulless automatons, dedicated to bringing the human race under control – their control. A perfectly ordered society, with no rebellion, no freedom, no imagination. Of course, the truth is never that simple.

The Technocracy was originally called the Order of Reason, and arose from thinkers in the Dark Ages as a way to fight back against the powerful Mages who warped their worlds around them. If they could define the ground rules of reality – make it so that everyone shared the same vision of the world – then they could sap the power of the Mages and give it to the common man, and mankind would shape its own destiny.

Of course, with such lofty ideals, it’s almost inevitable they would fall short. Their defense of humanity quickly become an authoritarian conspiracy, and their conflicts with Mages erupted into an all-out war still being fought in the corners of the Earth and the spirit world. There are many things which can harm Mages, but only the Technocracy actively hunts them.

There are currently five Conventions to the Technocracy.

Iteration X

Iteration X represents the cutting edge of artifice, material science and man-machine technology. The Clockwork Conventioneers may be considered killer cyborgs or emotionless drones by their peers, but in truth they’re pioneers as well as warriors. The Iterators’ tools and computers empower humans, overcome defects and enable people to do things that would be impossible without the aid of machines.

New World Order

There really are things that man was not meant to know, to paraphrase H.P. Lovecraft. The job of the New World Order is to keep people from knowing about the things that could wreck humanity. They perpetrate this fiction not because they’re cruel or enemies of the truth, but because those things could hurt all society. Far better that the Masses believe their ‘Truth’ instead. It’s safer, it’s simpler, and best of all, if enough people accept it, it might as well be real. They hunt down things that shouldn’t be, erase violations of the ‘Truth’, and educate those too stubborn or foolish to accept it. Above all, remember, they’re doing it for our own good.

Progenitors

The Progenitors, life-shapers of the Technocracy, wage a war against the limits of the` human body to shape life for the common good. To this end, they modify foods, create clones, spawn new forms of life, and warp both themselves and others, inside and out.

Mistrusted by the Traditions, used and abused by the Technocracy, and fighting the superstitions surrounding their work, the Progenitors strive to pull humanity out of the fears of the past to embrace the bright future they can help bring. You don’t need to be limited by the body. You don’t need to be limited by life itself.

Syndicate

Perhaps you think it crass that an organization of Enlightened ladies and gentlemen would dedicate themselves to money? Can’t they think of anything better to do with Enlightenment than become billionaires and mobsters? Consider, however, the true power of money. The pyramids of Giza, the Mona Lisa, the Voyager spacecraft, cities, architecture, science – all were made possible by money. Money, as a transparent vehicle of commerce and measure of wealth, undergrids all human achievement. It is the most powerful and successful idea of all time. The Syndicate exists, not to collect Yen or Dollars or Deutsche Marks, but to safeguard the idea of money.

Void Engineers

The place for humanity is the stars. Not only is the Earth too small by far, but it’s dying. Just look around, and you can see that. Pollution, crime, war: Society is tearing itself apart, and it’s taking our world with it. No matter, for we have seen the glory of the universe. Humanity can settle where we have explored. When humans have settled on a dozen worlds, the problems of Earth will no longer seem so important. As for us, what will we do then? We have always been explorers. Even before our work settling the near worlds is done, we will be gone again, pushing the frontiers of knowledge. We hope some of the Masses will come with us: for Unity lies in seeking.

Marauders

The mad ones are whirling dervishes of chaos, disorder and dynamic potential. A Marauder’s very presence disrupts the world around him with seeming impunity. These ‘chaos Mages’ are the exact opposite of the Technocracy’s order: each of these magical psychopaths is unique in her own special, insane way.

It’s believed that Marauders were once normal Mages who somehow fell into endless Quiet (magical insanity), or whose psyches were shattered irreparably by Awakening. The origins of Marauders will likely remain a history, since no living Marauder can coherently and reliably explain how he came to be who he is. Many are capable of intelligent conversation, but all are insane, and no known therapy can bring them back.

Marauders seem to have no coherent identity (indeed, Marauder is simply a Tradition name for them, and their bloody handprint symbol a Tradition invention), and each one is absolutely unique and unlike the last in some bizarre, unpredictable fashion.

The danger of Marauders comes from their endless, uncontrollable magic, and the fact that Paradox does not affect them as harshly as other Mages (and nobody is quite sure why). They’ve been known to turn buildings into writhing creatures, transform entire parks into Roman arenas, conjure up demons, ghosts, and spirits – all just by being there, without any conscious or specifically malicious intent on the Marauder’s part. Marauders are so far gone, so insane, that reality is warped around them to fit their twisted worldview, and it is often up to the Traditions and Technocracy to pick up the pieces and put the world right again.

Obviously, Marauders don’t have factions, or any coherent organization. Then again, who knows what conspiracy may be acting through their madness?

Nephandi

‘Nephandi’ describes a disparate group of Mages who generally have only one thing in common: they have chosen to surrender themselves and turn their Avatars inside-out to serve powerful spirits that can be described only as ‘corruption incarnate’. Nephandi pursue the corruption of all beings in the universe, in the mad hopes of driving all beings away from their morals and all that is light, good, and creative. Ultimately, speculators believe, the Nephandi seek nothing less than the destruction of the universe.

Although the Traditions have killed many powerful Nephandi, many more remain, and newly turned Mages are constantly leaving the Traditions and Technocracy to join their cause, despite all efforts to prevent their corruption. These are called barrabi. Few Awakened can study the Fallen without risking the Fall themselves.

The Fallen are not simply evil; they embody corruption and destruction. A choice to become a Nephandi must be deliberate, as the Mage becomes a living Avatar of their Nephandic lord. The Nephandi have two agendas. First is to actively corrupt and claim human souls (or Avatars) for their masters, and an Awakened Avatar is a prize the Nephandi value above all else. The second is a quest to return their Dark Lords to Earth. Many believe they will reap unthinkable rewards for such a victory. Undoubtedly, that victory would destroy the Earth and all life on it. While Mages advance the world towards Ascension, the Nephandi pull it down toward Descent.

Take the worst criminal you know – rapists, pedophiles, serial murderers, cult leaders, genocidal dictators. Multiply that evil a hundred times over. Devote them not only to their own form of evil, but the corruption and decay of all society, all the world. Now you have a weak, minor Nephandi.

You’d do well to fear them.