Mage's Association

The is an international, self-preservative and self-defense organization formed by magi for the purpose of controlling, concealing, and developing magecraft. It is said to transcend nationality and genre of magecraft, but that is in name only. 
After having existed for many years, it was decided around the by those who foresaw the decline of magecraft that in order to preserve their power, magecraft should drift apart from society and become a secret known only by a necessary minimum number of people.
The Mage's Association has many laboratories and research bodies that seek to advance the progress of magecraft, as well as institutions that transmit their secrets to the next generation. 
Although the emphasis lies on the pursuit of knowledge, the Mage's Association also seeks to increase its own military strength and reserves the use of force to protect itself from entities that threaten its existence, such as the Holy Church, other magi organizations, supernatural forces seeking to punish mankind for meddling with areas that should not be touched, and individuals who hunt that which they consider taboo.
The Mage's Association has set up research institutions and established and enforces laws that forbid the criminal use of magecraft in order to promote the development, or perhaps regression, of magecraft. The Association is mainly concerned with the preservation and concealment of magecraft in criminal aspects. 
They do not care about hideous crimes committed by magi so long as they are not a threat that might reveal the existence of magecraft to the common public, though it generally does not allow research that would harm society or involve innocents.Fate/stay night - Unlimited Blade Works route - Day 5: Bonnie And Clyde - Everyday (II) If a magus pulls a civilian into a magical phenomenon, the Association dispatch assassins to kill that magus.Kara no Kyoukai Volume 5: Paradox Spiral (Enjoh Tomoe) - /6
==History==
The Mage's Association was formed around 0 AD by a group of remaining magi from the Age of Gods, among which were Brishisan and Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg,Lord El-Melloi II Case Files material in order to preserve its knowledge. As True Ether was replaced by Ether in 20 AD, the magi who chose to go forward with modern magecraft and Mystery chose to continue with the main Association, but those who refused the new magecraft decided to close themselves off in Atlas and the Wandering Sea. All three organizations still remaining together as the Association, the Director, Brishisan, and his associates spent the next eighty years spreading magecraft, causing the energy and morale of the Age of Gods to resurface.
==Internal Workings==
The Mage's Association is divided into three main branches: the Clock Tower, the Atlas Academy, and the Wandering Sea. Ever since Clock Tower became the official headquarters, the Three Great Branches as they are called started to drift apart from each other.
As long as he/she does not possess a Sealing Designation, a magus may leave the Association at any time without facing any restrictions. However, this is rarely done, since the Association provides its members with a great amount of resources, stored knowledge and other benefits. And so, many magi from all over the world gather and devote themselves day and night to the study of magecraft, while at the same time are busily tripping over and being tripped over by other factions and competing for power and budget. The organization is anything but harmonious and has a complicated, bizarre structure, but the magical research there is without doubt the leading edge. Despite its academia facet, the magi of the Association rarely share the result of their own researches between each other.
Whenever there are issues concerning Magic, Zelretch appears before the Association and delivers fair and just judgment.
Those magi of the Association who depart the World of Magecraft entirely are considered traitors and enemies of magi, and hunted down by the organization.Fate/Apocrypha Epilogue: Side of Survivor
Other smaller factions include:
* or – An organization that researches on Alchemy, its members follow the traditional precepts of Alchemists. Called "Magi of Finance".Mahoutsukai no Yoru - Chapter 8 Extra Story: "Whiteboard" Consequentially, they are on bad terms with Atlas.Melty Blood - Hologram Summer route - Block C: 2/The Alchemist of Atlas - Extra Alchemist
* – An institution that works closely with the Clock Tower and Cornelius Alba was supposed to be its next director. Bazdilot Cordelion had a confrontation with Sponheim Abbey, but the situation was defused due to Sponheim Abbey being busy due to the abbott, Cornelius, going missing.Fate/strange Fake Volume 3 - Prologue VIII: "The Star Performers' Feast (Part 1)"
* – A group of magi that studies Rune magecraft and has kept the original runic scripts secret with no concern for the decline of Rune Magecraft.Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Volume 2: case. Twin Towers of Iselma (Upper) - Chapter 4 Part 2
==External Relationships==
The Mage's Association and the Holy Church have a non-aggression agreement between each other for quite a while now, but armed conflict still tends to happen often in an off-the-records fashion. Atlas however, is a case in and of itself.
The Association has deemed the Thaumaturgical Foundation of the Middle East and the philosophies of magecraft from the Far East incompatible with its teachings, and both schools conversely reject the Association. It has been working towards at least building a stance of neutrality between them. The magi organizations of Japan also did not join the Association. The magi organization of China is known as the Spiral Manor.
In the World of Fate/strange Fake, the Mage's Association has an antagonistic relationship with America and the country's Magi. Fate/Grand Order also adds that the Mage's Association influence isn't strong in Russia.Fate/Grand Order - Second Prologue - Section 2: 26th December 2017
In the World of Fate/Grand Order, the Mage's Association seems to work together with the United Nations to form the Chaldea Security Organization.
Gransurg Blackmore, one of the Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors (Remake), cooperates with the Mage's Association in the Tsukihime World (Remake).
==Sealing Designation==
 are edicts handed down by the Mage's Association to maintain and protect special thaumaturgical abilities which cannot be acquired through study. Said to be a title of the "greatest honor", those marked are deemed "precious", causing the Association to mobilize the greatest effort to secure their flesh and blood, their body's potential. 
Among magi, few know how Sealing Designated magi are preserved: the brain, eyeballs, nerves, and Magic Circuits are extracted and pickled in preservation fluid. Depending on if there are any remaining appendages, the jar function as the body, or the exoskeleton.Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files Volume 10: case. Grand Roll (Lower) - Chapter 3 Part 1
Those Designated are to be incarcerated, becoming samples preserved in their present conditions and levels of ability. It is an outrage to those who are designated not because of it being the equivalent of a death sentence, but rather because it is an affront to their status as prominent magi. They who have spent their lives devoted to their research will automatically reject a situation in which they will be unable to continue.Fate/hollow ataraxia - Heaven's Feel - / Forest 
However, every now and then, a Sealing Designee is able to have their seal lifted in exchange for agreeing to contribute to the Mage's Association.Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Atlantis: Ancient Ocean of the Dreadnought Gods - Section 11: Glimmers Like a Meteor
Genuine Sealing Designations are extremely rare, and those who pursue them, Enforcers, will be lucky to pursue even one in an entire decade. Normally limited to those of greater magical pedigree, Norikata Emiya, the fourth head of the Emiya family, is noted to be a genius who rose to the rank of receiving a Designation despite being of a shallow generation.
, located in the oldest classroom of the Clock Tower, decides on the Sealing Designation and also the procedure of revocations. A giant bell hanging in the Observatory rings whenever a Sealing Designation is dealt. At the end of the 20th century, they delivered an incredible shock to the entire Clock Tower as multiple Sealing Designations were revoked.Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Volume 2: case. Twin Towers of Iselma (Upper) - Chapter 2 Part 2
The actions of those who are Designated can be divided into two paths: and . Hermits become degraded magi after secluding themselves from the world, transmitting their knowledge only to their successor. Unless they have a truly extraordinary work, they are normally left alone by the Association because they are not an immediate threat, instead only kept under surveillance while keeping an interest in their research. Philosophers are those great magi striving to reach new heights, becoming menaces that abandon all codes of conduct to continue their research without being bothered. Acting without restraint unlike normal magi, they are able to obtain greater results in a shorter period of time. They may victimize a number of innocent people in their pursuit, possibly making magecraft known to the world should they be too careless.
Those with Sealing Designations include:
*Norikata Emiya
*Satsuki Kurogiri
*Touko Aozaki (Revoked, then reinstated)
*Nigel Saward (A candidate)
==Enforcer==
, also known as , are magi specialized in hunting down magi marked with Sealing Designations. Though there are said to be around thirty official Enforcers, Freelancers like Natalia Kaminski and Kiritsugu Emiya also hunt such people for a bounty placed by the Mage's Association, making a living stealing the prey of the Enforcers and selling the Magic Crests back to the Association for an inflated price. Due to the rarity of an actual Sealing Designation, even the genuine Enforcers would be lucky to pursue such "big game" once in a decade, most making their living off of non-Designated heretical Magi who have deviated from the norms of the Association. 
Although in a similar line of work as the Church's Executors who may share the same targets, they rarely work together due to Executors wishing to destroy all heresy, while Enforcers wish to retrieve the work of the magus. They are looked down upon by the upper ranks of the Association, and although they are supposed to suppress anything that might reveal the existence of magecraft to the general public, great events and rituals such as the Holy Grail War are outside their scope of work. Bazett Fraga McRemitz's participation during the Fifth Holy Grail War as a representative of the Association is due to Kirei Kotomine's recommendation.Fate/hollow ataraxia - Heaven's Feel - 7/ Cradle Hollow
*Bazett Fraga McRemitz
*Cornelius Alba
*Forte
==Related Terms==
:The title given to those who possess all the Five Great Elements as their Elemental Affinities. Very valued by the Mage's Association. Includes Rin Tohsaka.Fate/stay night - Heaven's Feel route - Day 8: De:light - Truth
:When the Association entrusts a family of Magi with a Spiritual Land, the current head of said family receives this title and becomes in charge of administrating all supernatural activity within its territory. Once a Magus fixes residence in a Spiritual Land of the Association, he is expected to seek the permission of the Second Owner before setting his workshop. However, just like Kiritsugu Emiya did in Fuyuki, it is possible to remain hidden from the Second Owner depending on how well he performs his job.Fate/stay night - Fate route - Day 2: One day II - Morning in the Emiya household
:Mystical grounds where strong leylines of mana can be found, places that increase the power of magecraft, where spiritual power is distorted and gathers easily, and, in the case of those of top class, where Magic can be activated. This type of land is valuable and vital to the experimentation and practice of Magecraft, one of the three pillars of what makes a successful magus. 
:In order to maintain control over the strongest leylines, the lands controlled by magi often avoid dense urban areas, and lands with dense greenery are rather common.Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Volume 3: case. Twin Towers of Iselma (Lower) - Chapter 4 Part 1 Since the land is so important for magecraft, it was common sense, in the past, for magi, kings, and other kinds of nobility to attempt to acquire land for themselves, to the point some magi had been kings themselves.Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Volume 1: case. Adra Castle Separation - Chapter 4 Part 3
:Currently, the Mage's Association has the ownership of most of the high quality Spiritual Lands around the world, but, for practical purposes, actual administration of the land is left to a local lineage of magi that is related to the Association.Fate/stay night - Fate route - Day 3: long day, long night - Tohsaka Rin (II)Mahoutsukai no Yoru - Chapter 6: "Like a Dog" Oversight of a classroom in the Clock Tower is linked to the overseeing of lands;Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Volume 2: case. Twin Towers of Iselma (Upper) - Prologue for example, the Valualeta family hold classrooms which are among the best Spiritual Lands in the entire Clock Tower.Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Volume 2: case. Twin Towers of Iselma (Upper) - Chapter 2 Part 2 Rogue and landless magi have no choice but to borrow land from the Association in exchange for a monthly donation, essentially being worker bees slaving away for the top of the Association.
:Lands administered by magi are surrounded by two types of Bounded Fields: one to detect intruders, and one to siphon magical energy from the land.Mahoutsukai no Yoru - Chapter 8: "ARE YOU FOR REAL !?"Mahoutsukai no Yoru - Chapter 11: "Witch on the Holy Night I" The latter consists of carved into the earth to gather and properly cycle the magical energy of the land and its people.Mahoutsukai no Yoru - Chapter 10: "Howling" After some manipulation of the mana flow, this power within is directed to accumulate at the magus' Magical Workshop. 
:When someone attacks an owned land, the natural strategy is to neutralize the landowner's advantage by stripping them of the protection offered by the land by wounding the land itself, which disrupts the natural flow of magical energy.Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Volume 3: case. Twin Towers of Iselma (Lower) - Chapter 1 Part 1 Without the power of the land to back them up, they are forced to fight back against their invaders on equal ground, with only their own innate abilities to protect them. If all Pivots are forcibly removed, the landowners effectively lose ownership of the land, and the land rights can be transferred to the new owner. For this reason, usually, the enemy threatens to break the Pivots to lure the landowner out, then things are settled there and then with a duel between Magi. It's much faster to take out the landowner and, as long as they can decipher the formula, seize the Bounded Fiels and land afterward.
:Among the Spiritual Lands of Japan, the one under the care of the Aozaki family is the only location where Magic can be activated. The Fuyuki Holy Grail Wars, however, were created as an excuse to concentrate the necessary amount of magical energy needed to enable activation of Magic on the Spiritual Land of Fuyuki. In the Heaven's Feel route of Fate/stay night, it is successful and the Third Magic is activated. Although the Second Magic is also activated in the Heaven's Feel route, it is irrelevant to the Spiritual Land of Fuyuki, due to use of the Jewel Sword Zelretch.
:A title given by those who possess a certain degree of military authority within the Association, so far the only known Wizard Marshals are Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg and Barthomeloi Lorelei. Note that while Lorelei is the Wizard Marshal in charge of a group of 50 elite magi, she is also the assistant director of Clock Tower.
:The magical laboratory of a Magus where he performs his researches and experiments. During its construction, the most important procedure is to prevent the magical energy inside of the Workshop from leaking out so its presence can be concealed.Fate/Zero Volume 3: The Scattered Ones - Act 9 Part 4 - 91:23:15 Magi usually set up Bounded Fields around their Workshops to protect them. Stepping into the Workshop of a Magus without his permission is seen as an act of open hostility. Referred to in the Aniplex of America translation as an Atelier (French for workshop).
==References==
it:Associazione dei Maghi
vi:Hiệp Hội Pháp Sư
Category:Organizations
*
Category:Terminology in Fate/stay night
Category:Magecraft organizations
Category:Terminology in Kara no Kyoukai
Category:Terminology in Lord El-Melloi II
Category:Terminology in Fate
Category:Terminology in Mahoutsukai no Yoru