Mage Lore

The Mage Lore is Considered IC for **Technocrats Only**.

Tradition Mages have been exorcised from the region ever since the Salem Witch Trials, and the history of the magi is lost to them. They've only recently arrived in 2010, and there's no notable history for them yet.

## 1600's to the 1800's

### The Craftmasons and Void Seekers

The technocrats had arrived in America before the first colonists had. While some of the native tribes had what today would be considered shamanism, a Traditional Affiliated Magic-Using Reality Deviant, they had no formal culture or strength of the land. The natives were content keeping away from what would be the first of many forward bases.

Before the Technocratic Union was known as the Technoratic Union it was known as the Order of Reason. While they had existed in Europe, the Void Seekers had already managed their first expedition into the North American lands, finding spots that would be suitable for exploration and starting an area for the forward base. When word returned home to their Guilds in Europe, the very next boat brought the Craftmasons, and assorted members of the order of reason.

The Void Seekers were convinced this was the place for the Fountain of Knowledge, but they were proved wrong -- this, as you know, is actually in South America as Designation T-N3-OA. The Craftmasons saw potential in this land, and begun process of creating a base. They couldn't build on the land, or people would've seen. The ocean was uninviting and unwelcoming, so the only place the Craftmasons could build was down.

### The Labyrinth

The Craftmasons worked diligently, digging into the soft dirt until it became hard, unyielding stone. Hard stone was when the Masons worked best, and they broke deeper into the earth until they were deep underground, further than where the light of the sun would reach. They crafted a massive stone staircase that spiraled down, consisting of 1,000 steps. There, they began to dig out and far, carving out a perfect square to start their foundation.

They expected this entire process to take at least 50 years.

Well, until they broke into a cavern. Normally such a thing would only shave a singular year off, but the cavern went on infinitely; both deeper into the earth and forward. No matter how many steps they took into the cavern, when they turned around, they were back at the entrance. The stone staircase that they created down to the pit was always behind them. Experiments showed that they could 'map' the area, and as long as they moved forward alongside proper branches, they could enter new areas. There was certain rules, but it consisted mostly of never creating 3 right turns or 3 left in a row. They could carve out a room and enter the hallway again, and with proper procedures, the infinite expanse of the Labyrinth became their home.

The Labyrinth was completed in 5 years.

### The First Colonists

With the Labyrinth created, the Order of Reason was free to begin their experiment. They started their charter and brought, at first, enlightened personnel alongside some civilians to the New World. Away from old superstition, they were able to thrive under a true, righteous Path -- Remember, at this time, the Ivory Tower and Holy Order was still part of the Order of Reason.

This plan immediately failed, as the Tradition Affiliated Magic-Using Deviants of the Natives brought in their heretical ways. We should be upfront. The Order of Reason had always hunted witches, but Salem wasn't our thing.

The Cabal of Pure Thought blames that entire event on Hysteria, as with all of the Puritans killed, they only accidentally killed one witch.

Of course, that meant Boston was still growing according to plan.

### Betrayal and Rebirth

Around this time, the Craftmasons were exiled, and the Order of Reason was reshaped into the precursor of the Technocratic Union it was made to be. Of course, they didn't leave peacefully, flooding the old labyrinth with water and breaking out traps. The entire base was destroyed, before they were executed. Such an action broke away what members had created in the Labyrinth, and fearing the amount of progress, the newly created Union slowly began to work on fixing their hold. Solifacti was removed, and the only Order left was the Union.

And then the Labyrinth revealed its own. Anything that was kept there with even a slight amount of Primal Energy, or basic Reality Deviant Objects, could not be destroyed or Manifested within its halls. They seem dampened, and even the Hemeophagic or Terrianthrope Entities were muted and weakened in its halls.

This made the Labyrinth an excellent place for research and containment, and the area was sectioned into two sides. The management, or the "Bureau" and the "Vaults". Soon enough, a saying arose -- being sent to the vaults. This usually meant death, and for good reason.

## 1800's to the 1900's

### The War of 1812

And then something strange happened. The city the labyrinth above was focused on was completely and utterly destroyed in a war that shouldn't have even affected them. It came from left field, and many, many enlightened personnel were killed. This completely broke most of the operations in Boston, as only those who were assigned Vault Duty or basic operations were in the Labyrinth.

Yet, the Labyrinth was too important to abandon, as it became a holding cell for many of the deviant entities and their devices. Within a few years, Hamilton was created atop of it; and this time, created with a limited amount of people to keep up operational expectedness.

Of course, we did not forget.

### The Garou War

It took 40 years before finding out what happened. Terrianthropic Entities had killed and razed the city, and they would have to be put down. The union moved swiftly into the area where they were found and executed a good clean up protocol. There was a major disturbance within the area as well, a massive Oak that radiated Primal Flow.

Everything was burned, and while official policy is that there were no trophies of the war, anyone walking into the Director's office can't help but note the size of the mounted wolves head.

## Modernity

### The Great Wars

The Great Wars were proclaimed by the members of the Union in Europe -- It's really, really useful to keep in touch with your friends globally, isn't it? Control sent information, and told them that the United States need a Navy. Hamilton, with its powerful Technocrat base, was selected as the spot. Millions of dollars were sent, not all American, to make the area capable of handling the situation. This also meant the Void Engineers were capable of creating their own undersea Navy Base -- Jules Verne was delighted.

Within two years, Hamilton became massive, but the hatred and wars from before still lingered on. The New World Order stepped up, taking over and buying the Militia organization known as Agatha in 1940.

It was time to control.

### Sentinel

Sentinel is the name of the AI, monitoring and face mapping everyone and everything in Hamilton. If you're wondering, it's down in the Labyrinth, and its well taken care off -- Asimov had proven, time and time again, that enslaving your AI would cause a revolution where we would lose. Besides, giving it a fair work week, with pay and time off (not that we know what an AI actually does what such things, recent reports states it is in love with Blackjack and Poker) worked wonders. Syndicate was firm on the fact that the Labour Union applied to all Personnel that could pass a Turing test.

Sentinel is in charge of security, and being a 'person' made it clear that it could handle the stress of the city. In fact, many members of the New World Order are surprised to find their boss is an AI. Many more are surprised to find that their gambling debt is solely because of it.

There is a notable glitch in the Sentinel Programming though, one that cant seem to be worked out. While Sentinel is alert and aware of any type of Magic-Using Deviant, it seems to either not care, nor notice Hemeophagic, Terriantrophe or TinkerBelle Entities. The only time it alerts them is when sleepers are threatened in anyway.

### Now

With the advent of 2020, the Union victory is almost assured. However, the mysteries of the Labyrinth abound, and the world still needs more order.

Can you maintain it?