House Fortunae

**House Fortunae** is one of the twelve Great Houses of Hermes. Originally a small sect of qabbalists and mathematicians within House Ex Miscellanea, it was promoted rapidly to one of the Great Houses.

## Paradigm

Masters of fortune and chance, House Fortunae members specialize in the magick of probability, luck, and money. They employ a profound understanding of quantum theory, mathematics, gematria, numismancy, arithmosophy, and numerology. House Fortunae sees mathematics as the way to decipher Creation and the smallest common denominator of everything inside the Tellurian. By manipulating these pieces of information, the numismancer can gain knowledge into God's designs and pave the way for Ascension. In addition to the Order mastery of Forces, they also study the Entropy Sphere, as it is very important in the understanding of probability and chaos.

House Fortunae and the Syndicate both utilize money as their greatest resource, but Fortunae focuses more on the metaphysical aspect of money, on its transcendent nature and ability to evaluate otherwise useless materials. This is the base of a bitter enmity between the House of Luck and the technocratic Convention. A similar rivalry is between House Fortunae and the Euthanatoi, whom they see as the wrong kind of representative of the Seat of Entropy.

## History

House Fortunae has a comparably short history. Founded in 1910 as a qabbalistic exercise within House Ex Miscellanea, the group managed to publish several neo-pythagorean theories in various journals, attracting the notice of several scientists of renown. The fact that the small group had managed to situate themselves into the high academic and socialite circles of society, coupled with a growing interest among the Order in arithmosophy and probability magick, raised enough interest that they were accepted in 1933 and the Grand Tribunal of 1936 formally acknowledged them as one of the Great Houses, after the remnants of the ancient House Mercere joined with them.

House Fortunae was one of the most vocal voices inside the Order of Hermes for supporting an alliance with the Virtual Adepts, citing common theories and ideologies. Through their numerous connections with Sleeper society, House Fortunae became the Order's main agent among them, searching for new Awakened and managing the mundane wealth of the Order.

Since their main focus was always the material world and Sleeper society, House Fortunae survived the Reckoning with minimal casualties. The Second Massassa War, however, strained their resources through the great demand of new mage recruits. All that considered, however, the House of Luck has fared extremely well.

## Organization

House Fortunae is a meritocracy, with a respect for seniority (although few such seniors remain in active politics during these times). Theorems, conundrums and proofs are a valued currency among the House and members of the House that have high status enjoy often considerable wealth.

House Fortunae also manages the *Personnel Division* of the Order, to the point that the terms have become interchangeable for the most part. At least the half of all hermetic students has spent considerable time near a numismancer, and most of these connections persist even after the mage has graduated and joined a different House, making House Fortunae one of the most connected Houses inside the Order.