The Privileged Few

## Description:

The Privileged Few, originally referred to as The Philosopher Kings, also known as The Learned Few, is officially advertised as a country club with several properties scattered across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. The organization maintains its disguise by actually managing and maintaining these country club properties while conducting their clandestine business in secret. The group operates under the motto of "Knowledge equals power, and power belongs in the hands of the few;" the group, a cabal of powerful (and sometimes ancient) mages, works to eliminate any other magic users or magical entities they can find, attempting to prevent the Unaware from ever becoming Aware, and fighting to retain their privileged positions as some of the few powerful mages in the world.

The public knows of The Privileged Few through their chain of country clubs and resorts across the world, although the public does not know of the group's involvement with magic, or their systematic killing of any and all magic users that do not follow their rules.

### Organization:

#### Capital: [REDACTED], Paris, France

The Privileged Few is led by the Favored Five, a small council of the oldest and strongest mages within the organization that manages its operations on a global scale. Each member within the Five is assigned a field of focus on which they are to dedicate a majority of their club resources, listed below. Below the Favored Five sit the other members of the Privileged Few, all of whom are incredibly wealthy, usually linked to a royal or aristocratic family, and practice one or more of the Wavelengths of Meta-Vibrational Science. All members within The Privileged Few are Aware. Below the proper members sit "The Affluent," the term used to refer to potential recruits into the organization, kept under heavy surveillance to decide whether or not they are truly worthy of the privilege of entrance into their organization; should an Affluent fail the group's many tests and trials, they are killed for practicing magic and threatening The Privileged Few's stranglehold on powerful magics. Below The Affluent sit the Unaware employees of the country clubs, all of whom go about their business with no idea of their boss's true natures. Magic is forbidden in all areas of a Privileged Country Club accessible to any Unaware individuals.

The Privileged Few recruit very rarely, taking many years to observe a potential recruit (The Affluent) before voting on a decision. The specific trials and tests discreetly placed in front of The Affluent are unknown, but several prerequisites are confirmed, including a wealth requirement, a magical requirement, Awareness, and a recommendation from a current member. It is believed that many people are chosen as Affluent individuals, invited to The Privileged Country Clubs, observed during their stay, and then killed when they fail the group's rigorous checks and tests.

The Privileged Few work to maintain their (or their families') control on high-level magical abilities through force, scouring the globe for magic-practicing Aware individuals whom they then stalk and assassinate. The group works to prevent anyone from seriously disturbing the Tide or causing a Dissonance Event (sometimes referred to as a Mass-Awareness Event) by covering up any potential events and killing their perpetrators from the shadows. The group prefers to use mundane weapons in their killings to avoid suspicion, but will use magic if forced to do so; additionally, The Revoked (a term used to denote those Privileged Few who defect from the organization) are killed using Obscene Spells to send a powerful message to others of their kind, although these circumstances are rare and never truly threaten the Tide, taking place at night or in secluded environments. The group works to target practitioners of Ritual Magic in particular, viewing them as cheaters within the magic community. The Privileged Few also dedicate a large amount of their resources to the hunting and hoarding of magical texts, scrolls, tomes, and knowledge to prevent other mages or the Unaware from gaining access to it.

The Privileged Few operate with a similar goal to TISA - prevent a Dissonance Event and fight the Illuminati to defend themselves and the rest of humanity. However, TISA considers The Privileged Few to be a threat to their work as a result of The Privileged Few's radical approach to the management of magic users and their elitist, borderline Illuminati, attitudes. TISA surveils The Privileged Few to ensure that The Privileged Few do not ally themselves with the Illuminati, although TISA intelligence suggests that The Privileged Few and the Illuminati have been at war for millennia.

#### Ranks within the Favored Five:

1. Supervisor: The rank equivalent to a Spymaster of old, charged with surveilling those within and outside The Privileged Few, scouting for potential recruits and conducting their tests, and policing their own members to prevent breaches of the Pact of Privilege.
2. Revoker: The rank equivalent to a head assassin, charged with slaying members of The Privileged Few that go against the Pact of Privilege and organizing the group's global efforts to eliminate magic users.
3. Liege: The rank equivalent to an advisor or assistant, charged with managing the group's Unaware employees and mundane businesses around the world, ensuring that the organization maintains full coffers and has the resources necessary to conduct their business.
4. Dean: The rank equivalent to a court wizard or scholar, charged with the accumulation, storage, study, and application of as much magical knowledge as the group can obtain.
5. High Censor: The rank equivalent to a head of propaganda or public relations executive, charged with covering up the group's real activities and suppressing Ripples or other consequences of the group's actions and the actions of their targets.

The Favored Five all have custom pinkie rings that they wear on their right hands in addition to their standard membership ring; all Privileged Few are expected to kiss the ring when introductions or greetings are made.

#### Ranks within The Privileged Few:

1. Favored Five: Ruling council of The Privileged Few charged with managing and leading the organization; comprised of the group's oldest and most powerful members.
2. Privileged Few: Other members of the group, not denoted with any specific title system besides the rank they hold in Unaware society (often a noble title).
3. The Affluent: The potential recruits for the group, chosen from the wealthy and aristocratic individuals of the world; may be sent to kill one of the group's targets as a test of loyalty.
4. The Unworthy: The Unaware employees of the group's mundane businesses that have no understanding or knowledge of their company's true motives.
5. The Revoked: Individuals who previously occupied status within The Privileged Few who broke the Pact and were subsequently exiled from the organization, now hunted as major threats to the group

All members are given custom cabal rings to be worn on the pointer finger as a symbol of their status as managers, bosses, leaders, and directors responsible for "pointing" the Unaware in the right direction. All lower members are expected to kiss these rings when introductions and greetings are made; younger/weaker members are expected to conduct this short tradition as a sign of respect to their elders/superiors, but is not explicitly required and is often seen as a gesture of respect and formality.

### Equipment:

The Privileged Few mark themselves as members through custom signet rings worn on the pointer finger, received at initiation into the organization and created by the new member's sponsor/referring member. Additionally, all members are very wealthy and influential, making them easily stand out as well-dressed, formal people who flaunt their wealth. The group has no official uniform, but general aesthetics and patterns that denote membership are those associated with Hecate, the Greek goddess of magic; this general style in their clothes, buildings, etc. comes from the group's Greek origins, and has remained a through-line for the group to maintain a connection with the members who came before them.

The Privileged Few, whose members are all wealthy, educated, politically connected, influential, people, have access to the cutting edge of modern technology. Their homes, vehicles, and assets are all at the forefront of technological development. The group's mundane weapons are not as advanced, as a means of further concealing their identities, but are all anonymously purchased/stolen/produced and are untraceable.

The Privileged Few include the oldest and strongest mages in the world, beaten only by the Illuminati or magic-practicing groups beyond the Material Spectrum of K3. These mages are incredibly overwhelming in their Meta-Vibrational capabilities, and while they work to maintain the Tide and operate in secret, are also not afraid to turn their significant magic potential on anyone that attempts to get in the way of their work; when encountering mages besides their intended target, members of The Privileged Few are known to apply their magic as a means of self-defense.

## History:

Originally founded in the 6th Century BCE in Ancient Greece, The Privileged Few started out as a mystery cult worshipping Hecate. While not deriving their magical powers from Hecate (or any entity), the group used their worship of Hecate to fuel their studies into alchemy (referred to as Alternate Chemistry by the Illuminati and TISA), Sorcery (Faucet Magic), and stronger Waterfall Magic. The group focused their efforts on the development of this magic, and quickly began using their spells and "gifts" to gain favor within local political and economic spheres.

When Greece fell to the Romans in the 2nd Century BCE, the group moved from their disconnected havens and sanctuaries across Greece to Rome and surrounding countryside, where they offered their mystical services as oracles or miracle workers to local authorities and politicians for steep prices, accumulating lots of land, wealth, and property over the ages. The group prospered under Roman rule as they had under Greece, but was forced to become more political to avoid the wrathful intentions of the Senate (and later the Emperors); additionally, the group took on the worship of Hekate, the similar Roman equivalent to their original Greek goddess, to maintain positive relations with the Roman authorities. Under Rome, the group referred to themselves as the "Order of Oracles." It was also under Roman authority that the organization came under threat from the Illuminati, who learned of these witches and sorcerers that practiced real magic or claimed to receive visions from the gods and sought to remove them; several safehouses and sanctuaries of the Order of Oracles were raided and destroyed by Illuminati-led Roman troops over the period, and many assassinations within Ancient Rome are believed to have been retaliations by the Order against the individuals they knew to belong to the Illuminati. The Burning of the Library of Alexandria is also believed to have been a ploy by the Illuminati to target ancient Order manuscripts contained within the ancient library, although the library itself was owned and tended to by independent thinkers and mages from the Middle East; this would spark the Illuminati's secret war with Middle Eastern magic-practicing groups like [REDACTED].

#### Medieval and Renaissance:

When Rome collapsed under the weight of barbarian invasions, the group splintered off into dozens of enclaves, all of which spread out across Europe and the Mediterranean, in a manner similar to their Greek counterparts. Each splinter group took their own name, hence why no singular group title is provided in this section, and the group was forced to become more secretive and clandestine in their operations. No longer under the protection of Roman authorities, and under the threat of spreading religious movements like Christianity, these gangs of mages were forced into hiding, both from the barbarians but also from the Illuminati, who had supposedly arranged Rome's fall as another attempt at global population control. It was during these "Dark Ages" that mages became increasingly rare, although their stories became famous across the land, as these divided sects of mages were easier to pick off and more susceptible to more mundane means of liquidation than the larger, centralized organization during Rome's rule. The use of court mages by rising European nobility caused friction between sects, as mages were pitted against one another as weapons and tools for their lieges; these mages guarded their secrets fiercely, and many refrained from making spellbooks or tomes to pass on their knowledge, preferring to memorize all of their spells to preserve the group's reputation. The Dark Ages/Medieval Age saw the lowest decline of the group, with the Illuminati playing a relatively unimportant role in the group's diminishment; conflict between court mages created more death and destruction to the small covens of mages than the Illuminati ever did. The Fall of Rome is believed to have meant the deaths of many of the groups oldest and founding members, and set the group back centuries in their magical knowledge.

The Renaissance, which occurred across Europe at various points in time, saw the revitalization of magic use in Europe. The development of more stable geopolitics, the advancement of technology by mages like Leonardo Da Vinci, and the natural progression of time allowed the disparate mages of Europe to once again come together into something better resembling a unified force. The Privileged Few, now known as the Society of Alternate Thinkers, officially reformed and began the operations it would continue into the modern age. With recentralization came the ire of the Illuminati, who had previously believed the organization destroyed by the entropy of time. Open warfare between the two secret orders ceased, as economics, politics, and discreet assassinations became the most common forms of combat; the Illuminati infiltrated the rising Catholic Church and established themselves at the faith's highest positions, leading the Spanish Inquisition on a war to erase as many "witches" and heretics from the face of the Earth as they could, usually weaponizing the Church's significant assets and resources to battle the Alternate Thinkers.

#### The New World:

The discovery and subsequent colonization of the New World proved instrumental in the survival of the group, many of whom fled to the New World in search of freedom from the ever-present threat of Illuminati interference. Information regarding the group's activities during this early period of colonization is unknown, besides the fact that the Illuminati's influence within the Catholic Church allowed the Illuminati to follow the Alternate Thinkers to the New World, where the obvious, open warfare restarted deep in the forests and jungles of America; clandestine fighting continued in Europe during this time as well. The work of Puritans and similar religious extremists that fled to America prior to its independence fought against the Native American shamans as much as they fought to slay the Alternate Thinkers wherever they appeared.

The Freemasons, a splinter organization of the Alternate Thinkers, led the American Revolution in 1776 and founded the United States of America. Despite their connection to the Alternate Thinkers - now known as The Privileged Few - the Freemasons were infiltrated by the Illuminati and eventually fully assimilated into the Illuminati, resulting in the United States's sudden conversion, seemingly overnight, from a safe-haven for mages to a veritable death trap for them; raids and arrests of suspected Privileged individuals were very common, and continued into the 1800's.

#### Early Modern Involvement:

The American Civil War was, unsurprisingly, the manifestation of these rising tensions between The Privileged Few - who maintained significant economic ties to the South starting in the 1400's - and the Illuminati/Freemasons, who operated in the North. The Civil War ended with the Privileged Few losing, and ultimately their total removal from the political structures of the United States; many Privileged Individuals fled back to Europe, returning to their ancestral homes and sinking ever-deeper into secrecy. Continued Privileged operations in the United States was limited for a time, as mages fled to the remaining frontiers of the New World to hide from the reorganized Union.

The America frontiers closed, however, which forced even the openly-practicing mages of the United States into secrecy and shadow like their European counterparts. With the outbreak of World War I - another Illuminati plot to curb the growing global population - mages once again fell into obscurity. As the Tide increasingly tightened its grip on the use of magic, mages were reduced to using weaker and weaker spells or risk inducing Ripples. European mages were forced from their homes as the lines of battle approached, displacing them and destroying untold numbers of artifacts and pieces of important mystical knowledge. American mages were less actively disturbed, but also continued to face uninterrupted persecution from American/Illuminati authorities.

#### The War of Noise

The outbreak of World War II, referred to as the "War of Noise" by mages and the Illuminati, saw a drastic change in the Tide and in the use of mages. The Nazi interest in magic as a weapon of war sparked global interest in the same topics, altering the Tide and giving mages across Europe and America an easier time in their spellcasting. The Illuminati favored the Allies and sought to stop the Nazi's interest in magic while the Privileged Few favored the Nazis, using the Ahnenerbe and Thule Society as nicknames for their clandestine organization. Open magical conflict erupted across Europe for the entire duration of the war, doing permanent damage to the Tide in certain parts of the region that cause anomalies and changes in the application of magic at random or open holes between Spectrums. With the Nazi loss at the end of the war, the Nazi experiments on magic and their collected knowledge were stolen by The Privileged Few and smuggled into America by Nazi sympathizers within the government under the Illuminati's nose; The Privileged Few's involvement in Nazi war crimes remains speculation, although the general interpretation seems to be that the Few did not stop the Holocaust, and used the Nazi concentration camps as sites of their less humane magical experiments. The oldest surviving members of The Few, many of whom have little empathy for the Unaware, advocated the Nazi experiments and took an active part in many of them, while the younger members saw the atrocities as unnecessary.

The aftermath of World War II had little effect on The Privileged Few besides the relocation of a majority of their assets. The Cold War had a similarly small effect as the Tide reconstituted itself with the development of new technologies. Instead of taking an active part in the manipulation of global affairs, The Privileged Few used the Cold War to solidify their own positions and establish themselves as a legal operation to better hide their true intentions. Conflict between the Few and the Illuminati became relatively rare as The Few adapted to total secrecy, reorganized itself, and took on a mundane façade that prevented overt attack by the Illuminati.

The modern history of The Privileged Few is relatively similar, as they go about conducting their operations in secret to avoid the Illuminati and Unaware authorities. The two groups continue to conduct proxy warfare against one another until 2030, at which point Senilis Verminosa and TISA are brought into the mix of global forces.

#### 2nd American Civil War and the Collapse of Civilization:

The 2nd American Civil War sees The Privileged Few take the side of the Federal States of America as an attempt to retain their immense hoards of ancient wealth and political power in the wake of the secession of the People's Republic of the Pacific States of America. Despite this, many Privileged assets and properties remained with PRPSA territories, as several Privileged individuals managed to obtain high ranks within PRPSA's government despite the Communist workings of the seceding state's politics. The Civil War does not involve the Illuminati directly, although the Illuminati did start the war to cull the population and help the spread of Senilis Verminosa in North America, which means the war also has no place for The Privileged Few, either, who have opted to continue their work in America as normal and ignore the ongoing conflict as much as possible, not wanting to risk exposing Unaware individuals to magic just because a Privileged individual feels like fighting for one side or the other.

The Privileged Few do survive the apocalypse in 2038, and are reduced to nomadic oracles, sages, and sorcerers in a manner reflective of their existence during the Medieval Era. Even after the apocalypse, the group's connection to Hecate and the derivation of their aesthetic from her domains continues and is even emphasized.