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[[div class="window-box window-infobox window-box-list window-box-collapsible"]] [[=]] [[# groups]] ++ Groups [[/=]] There are many organizations that operate behind the Veil, either wholly concealed within or straddling the border between the paranormal and the normal. Their purposes are many, and range from upholding the Veil to tearing it down, but their methods are often the same, relying on the application of paratech to compensate for the deficiencies in manpower and funding that are nearly omnipresent among the paranormal community. To this end, almost every major organization that operates within the confines of the Veil is involved in parascience research to some degree, as it is the surest way to gain an edge against potential rivals. While no two organizations are exactly alike, most of the groups that operate behind the Veil can be placed into one of four categories, based on their goals and structure. ---- [[=]] [[# agencies]] [[collapsible show="+ Normalcy Organizations and Paranormal Agencies" hide="- Normalcy Organizations and Paranormal Agencies"]] [[/=]] [[<]] By far the largest players in the paranormal community, these organizations are responsible for maintaining the Veil, a task which they often refer to as protecting normalcy. Comprising a mix of clandestine units of national agencies and independent international conspiracies, these organizations are also the ones responsible for forming the consensus on what normalcy is. As the custodians of the Veil, these organizations are tasked with regulating the paratech industry and policing the paranormal community -- and with backing and funding from national governments, they are among the few groups able to consistently project force against other Veiled actors. However, this power is not absolute. The sheer size of the Veil often forces normalcy preservation organizations into compromises and half-measures, and the restrictions on the development and proliferation of paratech ironically make them dependent on the same organizations they are tasked with regulating. These conflicts of interest often give paratech developers a great deal of leeway in following regulations, so long as they make a token effort at compliance. ---- [[=]] +++ The Foundation [[/=]] The largest individual normalcy preservation organization, the Foundation is a global conspiracy unaffiliated with any national government, with numerous fronts, facilities, and personnel around the world. The entire organization is headed by an Overseer Council composed of 13 non-anomalous individuals, whose true identities are known only to each other. The Foundation's stated mission is the acquisition, containment, and study of anomalous objects for the safety and benefit of humanity, although its true motives have been questioned by other normalcy preservation organizations. Despite an institutional and ideological opposition to the use of anomalous objects, it will resort to the use of paratechnology and other well-understood anomalies when circumstances require. The Foundation is bureaucratically divided into dozens of departments, divisions, directorates, and task forces, all operating on strict compartmentalization of information. Some of the more notable ones are listed below. * **Overwatch Command** -- The main administrative organ of the Foundation, consisting of the 13 member Overseer Council, their immediate subordinates and support structure, and the Central Ethics Committee. Overwatch Command is responsible for setting high-level policy and long-term strategy for the entire Foundation. * **Department of Analytics** -- The Foundation's primary signals intelligence apparatus, the Department of Analytics is tasked with collecting and analyzing a wide variety of information from nearly every imaginable source. They possess significant operational and support capabilities of their own, and thus are able to function almost entirely independent of the rest of the Foundation. * **Records and Information Security Administration** -- The archival and IT department of the Foundation, responsible for maintaining and securing Foundation records and communications. Almost every piece of information collected by the Foundation passes through RAISA multiple times, although there are certain highly-secret projects which do not generate RAISA records, instead reporting only to the Overseer Council. * **Gamma-13 ("Asimov's Lawbringers")** -- A task force dedicated to countering the operations of Anderson Robotics, with the eventual goal of capturing and containing Vincent Anderson himself. For most of its history, it was led by Sasha Merlo, and served as a vehicle for her vendetta against Anderson. Anderson's abuse of the Hoover Mandate by hiding within Three Portlands was a frequent source of tension with the local UIU field office. * **Delta-3 ("Solomon's Hand")** -- An early initiative of the Special Asset Task Force Program, Mobile Task Force Delta-3 was organized around and in support of Florence Elsinger, a powerful combat thaumaturge. Deploying from Site-246 underneath Lake Superior, the task force operated from 1985 until the presumed death of Elsinger in 1990. * **Delta-3 ("Organic Free Trade")** -- A Joint Task Force between the Foundation and the UIU, formed in 2017 to facilitate operations within Three Portlands. The UIU is generally loathe to cede ground on the Hoover Mandate, and so the task force is only infrequently convened on an //ad hoc// basis when the local field office absolutely needs the extra manpower. * **Tau-5 ("Samsara")** -- The result of Prometheus Labs' Samsara Project, Mobile Task Force Tau-5 are a group of four regenerating commandos used by the Foundation to test experimental paratechnology and to conduct extremely high risk missions where a conventional MTF would be ineffective. They are effectively expendable and renewable. * **Tau-51 ("Urban Brawl")** -- A task force created for conducting operations in the vicinity of Three Portlands -- and in the city itself, on occasion. Its actions within Three Portlands are frequently done without UIU awareness or sanction, and rely heavily on undercover and double agents. ---- [[=]] +++ Global Occult Coalition [[/=]] The Global Occult Coalition is an international normalcy preservation agency backed by the United Nations, formed from the Allied Occult Initiative after the end of the Seventh Occult War. Although collectively larger than the Foundation, with which it shares a similar goal of protecting humanity and preserving normalcy, its composite nature leaves it approximately equal in power and reach. However, the GOC differs in its methods, choosing to rely heavily on widespread use of paratech in its operations, and prioritizing a policy of destruction of dangerous anomalous objects rather than containment. The GOC is composed of over 200 individual organizations involved in the occult and paranormal, including a number of national paranormal agencies. These organizations elect, from among themselves, the members of the Council of 108, the principal legislative organ of the GOC. A handful of the most prominent members of the original Allied Occult Initiative hold permanent seats on the Council of 108, although this does not confer any additional powers or privileges over the rotating members. The Council of 108 appoints the Undersecretary-General, the chief executive of the GOC, and //de facto// leader of the paranormal world. Since its inception, this position has been held by a woman known as D.C. al Fine, although it is unknown if this is a codename shared by multiple officeholders, or a single terrifying individual. Some of the more notable GOC members are listed below; permanent members of the Council of 108 are underlined. * __**Ancient Noble Order of the Gormogons**__ -- Founded in the 18th century to oppose the Freemasons, the Gormogons have evolved into a corps of demolition experts specializing in destroying anomalous structures and breaking defensive wards. Gormogons are organized into local chapters, called Wedges, under the leadership of the //Oecumenicus Volgi// from the Grand Occident Wedge. * **Australian Abnormal Intelligence Bureau** -- The occult service of Australia and Antarctica. * **Bavarian Illuminati** -- The Illuminati are an international political conspiracy with the stated mission of advancing human rights and welfare, which they believe is best accomplished in secret. Many of their members are skilled jurists and diplomats, and they frequently play a major role in negotiating political and diplomatic agreements behind the Veil. * __**British Occult Service**__ -- The primary paranormal agency of the United Kingdom, the British Occult Service was formed in reaction to the Sixth Occult War, and has played a leading role in normalcy preservation efforts since that time. It is occasionally referred to, with varying degrees of levity or derisiveness, as MI666. * **Brotherhood of Auspicious Survivors** -- Following the forcible disbandment and suppression of the Janissaries and the Bektashi Order during the Auspicious Incident, the survivors reorganized and went into hiding. They continued to battle mystical and esoteric threats, participating in the 6th and 7th Occult Wars, and developed into one of the more powerful independent militant mystical orders. * __**International Center for the Study of Unified Thaumatology**__ -- The largest occult college in the world, the ICSUT is one of the GOC's biggest research partners. Founded in 1913, ICSUT specializes in the study and teaching of thaumatology -- the scientific investigation of the mystic and occult. ICSUT has campuses all around the world, including locations in London, Zurich, and Three Portlands. * __**Holy Order of Knights Templar, Reformed**__ -- Officially disbanded in 1312 by Pope Clement, the Templar Knights remained in hiding until 1939, when they reformed to oppose the Obskuracorps and found the Allied Occult Initiative. They played a decisive role in the Seventh Occult War, providing the bulk of troops for AOI commando teams. * **Servants of the Silicon Nornir** -- A transhumanist religion, the Servants believe that their purpose is to bring about the creation of the "True Silicon Goddess" -- a benevolent hyperintelligence that will shepherd humanity into the future -- by hastening the onset of the technological singularity. To this end, they follow a trio of precognitive sentient supercomputers -- named Urthor, Verthandi, and Skuldir after the Norns of Norse mythology -- which direct them in their efforts. The Servants are responsible for the creation and governance of Eurtec, a GOC-sanctioned paranormal freeport in Europe. * **United Church of Satan, Scientist** -- An offshoot of LaVeyan Satanism, which has, as its central dogma, the objective of finding and killing God. Satanist Warlocks are experts in anti-theology, combat epistemology, and counter-cult operations. * **Universalist Order of the Æsir** -- A cult of Scandinavian neopaganists, highly regarded for their extensive knowledge of runic thaumaturgy, particularly divination. The Order believes that the GOC is the instrument through which humanity will be unified to fight against Ragnarok. * **World Parahealth Organization** -- The paranormal arm of the World Health Organization, tasked with combating memetic pathogens, infectious curses, psychic parasites, and other paranormal diseases. The main body of the GOC conducts its own operations and fields its own personnel, independent of the member organizations, although the members frequently provide additional support and staff. The major divisions and components of this part of the GOC are listed below. * **High Command** -- The main administrative and executive organ of the GOC, responsible for coordinating all operations. Those components which report directly to the Office of the Undersecretary-General are referred to as the Undersecretariat, and are legally part of the United Nations. * **PHYSICS Division** -- The action arm of the GOC, responsible for combat and security operations, carried out by Assessment Teams and Strike Teams. * **Assessment Team 781 ("Pyramidions")** -- A hostile archeology unit, specializing in the exploration of ancient ruins and structures from parahistorical civilizations. * **Strike Team 8688 ("Rat Catchers")** -- Originating from the support team for the Golem of Prague, the Rat Catchers are professional Nazi hunters, and the GOC's main combat force against the few remaining OBSKURA cells. * **PSYCHE Division** -- The diplomatic arm of the GOC. Special Observers monitor non-members for compliance with the Veil, while Ambassadors liaise with other occult powers. * **PTOLEMY Division** -- The support arm of the GOC, tasked with logistics and procurement. It also coordinates research and development efforts among the member organizations. ---- [[=]] +++ FBI Unusual Incidents Unit [[/=]] The FBI's Unusual Incidents Unit is the primary domestic paranormal agency of the United States, tasked by the Domestic Security Council with enforcing paratech regulations and upholding the Veil. Due to a limit of means and jurisdiction, the UIU largely focuses on investigating paranormal crimes and covering-up anomalous incidents. One of their most important functions is policing the numerous pocket universes within the US, which act as enclaves for the paranormal community. They are also responsible for operating the paranormal supermax prison, Paramax. To compensate for personnel and budgetary limits, the UIU extensively employs parahumans and anomalous individuals as 'irregular agents', especially within paranormal enclaves where their presence is less noticeable. This philosophy is most evident in MOOT, the Mobile Occult Operations Team, a crisis response team of combat thaumaturges capable of quickly deploying to almost any part of North America to deal with major paranormal hazards. ---- [[=]] +++ US Paranatural Warfare Command [[/=]] The Department of Defense's unified combatant command for paranormal operations is colloquially and commonly called the Pentagram. Encompassing clandestine parawarfare units from every branch of the American military, the Pentagram is tasked with protecting the United States and its interests from esoteric and anomalous threats. To this end, it oversees the development and deployment of new paraweaponry and the weaponization of anomalous assets, and engages in covert operations across the world. Although once a member of the Allied Occult Initiative, the Pentagram has long since withdrawn from the Global Occult Coalition, and only cooperates with other agencies on an //ad hoc// basis. Although technically accountable to the President, their operations are largely outside the oversight of the Domestic Security Council, and they are frequently viewed as a rogue agency by other members of the paranormal community. All US paranormal military units are under the authority of the Pentagram. Some of the more notable ones are listed below. * **13th Fleet** -- Navy fleet command for surface warships made available for Pentagram operations. The number of ships assigned to the 13th Fleet has varied, but it is usually equivalent to a cruiser group. * **23rd Paranatural Operations Group** -- Army special forces unit, specializing in asymmetric warfare utilizing paratech and parahuman assets against parathreats and other irregular warfare units. ---- [[=]] +++ GRU Division "P" [[/=]] One of the Soviet Union's two major paranormal agencies, GRU-P was created during the Second World War to protect the Soviet Union from paranormal and occult threats, and to utilize esoteric weaponry against the country's enemies. With the onset of the Cold War and the paratech arms race, the division's role was expanded to include recovery and reverse engineering of anomalous objects and paratech. In this role, it performed corporate espionage and theft of intellectual property on a number of foreign companies and agencies. With the end of the Cold War, GRU-P has found itself as the sole remaining paranormal agency of the Russian Federation. Its operations are now focused largely on dealing with the black market for anomalous objects and paratech that has arisen in post-communist Russia. ---- [[=]] +++ Joint Occult Venture of Europe [[/=]] The Joint Occult Venture of Europe is a multinational paranormal organization composed of various European national paranormal agencies and loosely affiliated with the European Union. Organized along similar lines to Frontex, JOVE performs a role similar to that of the American UIU, maintaining the Veil within Europe and policing paranormal enclaves. Extremely limited in personnel and funding, JOVE primarily acts as a facilitator and coordinator for the multiple national and international organizations operating within Europe. The catalyst for JOVE's formation, and the primary focus of its few field operations, are the expanding activities of the paracrime syndicate Scarlet Hammer and the accompanying influx of illegal Soviet paratech into Western Europe. In this role, JOVE has been instrumental in coordinating the multi-agency response to incidents of paraweapon trafficking across national and international borders. ---- [[=]] +++ Organization for the Reclamation of Islamic Artifacts [[/=]] Prior to the Iranian Revolution, the Iranian national paranormal agency was a major regional power and the preeminent normalcy organization in the Middle East. Although the Revolution did little to alter the Organization's internal structure and core mission, it has not been able to completely escape the geopolitical fallout of the new regime. While still focused on the recovery and research of anomalous artifacts, the Organization has found its range of operations curtailed, and its diplomatic efforts in the region have become far more complicated. Despite this, it remains a significant force behind the Veil. One of the most notable features of the ORIA is its recruitment and employment of //djinn//: minor reality benders bound with a geas that restricts their abilities, such that they can only be used at the direction of another person issuing commands in a symbolic language, which is defined by the geas and unique to each djinn. [[/<]] [[/collapsible]] ---- [[=]] [[# tech]] [[collapsible show="+ Paratechnology Suppliers and Researchers" hide="- Paratechnology Suppliers and Researchers"]] [[/=]] [[<]] Almost every Veiled group of significance operates their own parascience research effort, but there are numerous organizations dedicated solely or primarily to the study of parascience and the creation of paratechnologies. Many of these groups date back to the Paranormal Renaissance, where they played an instrumental role in the early development of modern parascience. Although some focus only on advancing the frontiers of scientific knowledge, most researchers of parascience are also engaged in the supply of paratech products to the world behind the Veil. And while the constraints of the Veil make it impossible to openly market paratech, many companies have found ways of circumventing these restrictions; the dominance in paratech development by a handful of major suppliers gives them a great deal of influence with normalcy preservation organizations, allowing them to take advantage of regulatory loopholes with relative impunity. ---- [[=]] +++ Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. [[/=]] At one point the largest manufacturer of paratechnology in the world, Prometheus Labs was founded in 1892 as a closely-held corporation with the goal of researching anomalous phenomena in order to develop new technologies for the benefit of humanity. The company played a pivotal role in the advancements of the Paranormal Renaissance, emerging as a leader of parascientific research at the start of the 20th century. During the 7th Occult War, Prometheus Labs lent its significant technological expertise to the Allied coalition, resulting in major research and supply contracts with the GOC and national paranormal agencies in the immediate post-war era -- setting the stage for the company's explosive growth in the Golden Age of Normalcy. Riding on the front of the post-war paratech bubble, Prometheus Labs rapidly expanded, buying out competitors and incorporating new subsidiaries to become a global research conglomerate and the undisputed titan of paratech. At its peak, the conglomerate employed almost 300,000 people and had net revenues of approximately $75 billion, with its numerous subsidiaries providing a vast array of mundane and paranormal products, ranging from dishwashers to cruise missiles. The end of the Cold War brought an abrupt end to the Golden Age paratech bubble, leaving Prometheus Labs in dire financial straits -- made even worse by the company's heavy reliance on esoteric investment techniques due to a lack of access to non-Veiled capital sources. A series of catastrophic research accidents in the late 90s managed to finally push the company over the brink of insolvency in the early months of 1998. Over the next few months, the company was dismantled piecemeal -- its many subsidiaries either bought-out by competitors or spun-off as independent ventures -- and in September 1998, the primary holding company was finally dissolved, irrevocably splintering the once-massive conglomerate. Of the many companies to emerge from the breakup of Prometheus Labs, some of the more notable ones are listed below. * **Amrita Therapeutics** -- Formerly a subsidiary of Prometheus Bioengineering, Amrita Therapeutics rebranded itself after the collapse to continue manufacturing the highly profitable All-Natural Automatons. In recent years, Amrita has begun expanding into the development and commercialization of stem-cell based technologies in the field of regenerative medicine, but remains committed to the continued development and support of ANAs. * **Archimedes** -- Formerly Archimedes Solar, a subsidiary of Prometheus Energy, Archimedes rebranded itself and widened the scope of its operations following the collapse of Prometheus Labs. The core of Archimedes remains centered on solar power generation, but the company has expanded into related areas such as heating, electrical wiring, desalination, and wireless power transmission. * **Argo Automotives** -- Known as Prometheus Automobile Group prior to the collapse of the conglomerate, Argo Automotives operated from 1998 to 2009, when it was forced into liquidation following the failure of the paraeconomic investment strategy it had relied on for funding. During this time, it had a reputation for selling high-tech, high-performance vehicles. * **Asterism Communications** -- Prometheus Labs developed and maintained the aethernet infrastructure that allows for real-time communications between Three Portlands (and other pocket universes) and the baseline universe. Following the dissolution of the conglomerate, Asterism was chartered by the municipal government of Three Portlands to continue providing aethernet services. The city holds a 50% stake in the company, with the remainder being split between employees, private investors, and the United States federal government. * **Iris Arts** -- Originally an offshoot of Prometheus Chemicals, Iris Arts was an early venture into mass commercialization of paratech marketed at individual members of the paranormal community. The company's core product line consists of a variety of art supplies intended for use by anartists living in paranormal enclaves. * **Redzone Security** -- A software company specializing in creating programs for anomalous applications, formed by the core development team of Prometheus Software Solutions in 1998. It is also responsible for maintaining the servers that made up the Prometheus Labs intranet, which has kept this network available, to a limited extent, to Prometheus' successor companies -- for a reasonable fee. * **Silver Hand Cybernetics** -- Previously the Prosthetics Division of Prometheus Medical, Silver Hand Cybernetics developed products almost exclusively for sale to the paranormal community. It operated from 1998 until 2004, when it was bought out by its primary competitor, Anderson Robotics. * **Titan Consumer Appliances and Electronics** -- Formerly Prometheus Consumer Technologies, Titan Consumer Appliances and Electronics took on its current name and branding in 1999. Titan focuses on developing consumer applications for paratech, a goal which often brings it into conflict with normalcy preservation agencies. ---- [[=]] +++ Abraxas Group [[/=]] The Abraxas Group is a multinational conglomerate founded by a number of prominent Neo-Sarkites, most notably Alexander Croÿ, founder and CEO of Abraxas Arms, and his wife Vivian Durant-Croÿ, president of Durant-Bodfel Financial and spiritual leader of the Neo-Sarkic organization Adytum's Wake. As one would expect, they mainly deal in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, both mundane and paranormal; they are also involved in weapons development, high finance, and the cosmetics industry, and have significant real estate holdings in Hungary, Romania, and New England. The executive leadership of the Abraxas Group is almost entirely drawn from the Neo-Sarkic aristocracy, with Adytum's Wake, the Esoteric Order of the White Worm, and the Covenant of Hunger especially well-represented. They have close ties with Marshall, Carter & Dark, and, surprisingly, with the Manna Charitable Foundation, to whom they regularly donate medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, and anomalously-produced blood and organs (in exchange for large tax write-offs). ------ [[=]] +++ Anderson Robotics [[/=]] Once a rising force in the paratech trade, Anderson Robotics was a cybernetics and robotics startup founded in 1994 by Vincent Anderson. Taking advantage of the disruption caused by the end of the Golden Age of Normalcy, Anderson Robotics quickly came to dominate a large segment of the paratech market, combining sorcery and circuitry to create cutting-edge prosthetics, hyperrealistic androids, and beyond-state-of-the-art combat drones. Led by its brilliant but egotistical founder, Anderson Robotics openly flouted regulations on paratech, eventually drawing the ire of the Foundation, and later the UIU. In 2024, following almost two decades of investigation and unsuccessful sting operations, a joint Foundation-UIU task force performed a raid on the Anderson Robotics World Headquarters in Three Portlands, capturing most of the company's upper management -- including Vincent Anderson -- and putting an end to its global operations. In the wake of Anderson's downfall, a number of ex-employees went on to form Phoenix Cybernetics, a new cybernetics startup built around the core of the former Anderson R&D team. This new company is committed to avoiding Anderson's mistakes, and is being closely monitored by the UIU. ---- [[=]] +++ The Factory [[/=]] Despite being one of the largest suppliers of anomalous raw materials, the entity known as the Factory has no known investors, board of directors, executive officers, or even manufacturing facilities. What is known is that they act as a supplier of anomalous materials and components to other paratechnology companies, although the quality of these materials is often suspect. Despite its poor reputation, the decline of the paratech industry since the end of the Cold War has left many paratech companies with no other suppliers, forcing them to turn to the Factory. ---- [[=]] +++ Marshall, Carter and Dark, Ltd. [[/=]] Although primarily a "gentlemen's club" catering to the super-rich, Marshall, Carter and Dark also engage in the buying and reselling of paratechnology. They act as a sort of middleman for the paratech industry, establishing links between suppliers of raw materials, manufacturers of finished goods, and consumers of paratech products. They benefit greatly from their client base in this role, using their connections among the global elite to orchestrate highly profitable exchanges with relative immunity from normalcy preservation organizations. ---- [[=]] +++ Oneiroi Incorporated [[/=]] Originally conceived in the 1960s as an offshoot of Prometheus Labs' expeditions into metafictional space, Oneiroi Inc provides a wide variety of esoteric services, from tailored dream vacations and subconscious behavioral therapy to data storage and retrieval within metafictional facilities. The technological foundation for these activities is poorly-understood by anyone outside of Oneiroi Inc, and the company's reclusive and frequently anonymous leadership is more than happy to keep it that way. Oneiroi's experiments with metafiction and dreamspace have often aroused the suspicion of normalcy preservation agencies, although the nature of said experiments makes it difficult to prove anything. Some of the company's clients claim to have experienced unusual and disturbing side-effects following treatments, including vivid but sporadic visions of another world and recurring meetings with an unidentifiable figure. The nature and similarity of these symptoms has led the World Parahealth Organization to label Oneiroi technologies as a potential vector for cognitive pathogens, although Oneiroi Incorporated refutes these claims. [[/<]] [[/collapsible]] ---- [[=]] [[# religion]] [[collapsible show="+ Anomalous Religions and Humanitarian Interests" hide="- Anomalous Religions and Humanitarian Interests"]] [[/=]] [[<]] While parascience is the result of applying the tools of the scientific method to paranormal phenomena, it should come as no surprise that there are those who instead turn to religion for answers when confronted with the inexplicable and unknown. Emerging out of the discoveries of the Paranormal Renaissance, numerous anomalous religions flourish behind the Veil, despite frequently coming into conflict with normalcy preservation agencies that seek to suppress the spread of information which serves as the basis of their beliefs. Although frequently non-religious or non-denominational in nature, the handful of humanitarian groups that operate behind the Veil share a similar status as the anomalous religions. Lacking the clout of major paratech suppliers, and often advocating policies in opposition to the Veil, such humanitarian interests face intense scrutiny from normalcy preservation organizations. ---- [[=]] +++ Church of the Broken God [[/=]] The Church of the Broken God is not a single monolithic religious institution; instead, the term refers to the diverse collection of neo-Mekhanite cults and denominations which share a common origin and central dogma. Modern Mekhanism traces its origins to the archeological efforts of the Paranormal Renaissance, which were responsible for recovering many artifacts and texts of the ancient and extinct Mekhanite religion. Neo-Mekhanites base their beliefs on modern reconstructions of these ancient Mekhanite sources, although the fragmented nature of the recovered texts means that there is a great variety of competing interpretations. All Mekhanite sects can be described as deistic and gnostic -- sharing a common belief in a deity which has been rendered inert and fragmented, trapping the divine spark within the physical world. Mekhanites believe that organic life is a corruption of the material perfection of the universe, and seek to reunify the disparate fragments of their god in order to bring about a technological apotheosis. Many Mekhanites engage in radical body modification, replacing biological tissues and organs with mechanical -- and often anomalous -- components to "purify" themselves, which they believe will bring them closer to the divine perfection of their god. It is this process of mechanization that has brought Mekhanites into conflict with normalcy preservation organizations, forcing them to keep their evangelizing behind the Veil. Of the many Mekhanite sects which can be considered part of the Church of the Broken God, there are several major denominations which are particularly notable. * **The Broken Church** -- The oldest neo-Mekhanite denomination, and the closest thing to an orthodox church among modern Mekhanites. The Broken Church first emerged in the 1920s, partially in reaction to the horrors of the First World War, basing their new theology on the then recent discoveries of ancient Mekhanite artifacts. Further discoveries over the next few decades led to a refinement and codification of religious dogma and institutional structure, with Robert Bumaro emerging as the undisputed leader of the sect by 1946. The Broken Church believes that the fragments of Mekhane have a physical form, and seek to literally reassemble their god from these pieces. They are dedicated to acquiring said pieces for this purpose, although many supposed fragments of Mekhane happen to be dangerous anomalous objects in the custody of normalcy preservation organizations. * **Church of Maxwellism** -- Emerging in the 1960s and 70s as an offshoot of the Broken Church, Maxwellism takes a syncretic approach to Mekhanite theology, combining modern (para)technology with ancient Mekhanite scriptures to create a decentralized church with a flexible dogma. Maxwellists believe that the fragments of the Broken God do not have a physical form, and that they are instead spread throughout the entire expanse of human consciousness and culture. Maxwellists seek to create a single computational network connecting every human mind and containing all human knowledge, which they believe will result in the reunification of their god and the apotheosis of humanity. ---- [[=]] +++ Fifth Church [[/=]] The Fifth Church is the most organized tendency of the anomalous ideology known as Fifthism. A New Age religion masquerading as a self-help movement, the Fifth Church is marked by an obsession with the number five, astrological phenomena, and the negation of material reality via directed belief. Little is known about the dogma of the Fifth Church, but many of its core ideas and practices are anomalous in cause or effect, and may not be native to our reality. Its exact membership is secret, but Fifthist recruiting is known to target celebrities and other prominent personalities. ---- [[=]] +++ Horizon Initiative [[/=]] A multi-denominational religious organization encompassing the major Abrahamic faiths, the Horizon Initiative is a hybrid religious order and normalcy preservation agency, formed in the aftermath of the Seventh Occult War to counterbalance the perceived dominance of secular groups in determining consensus normalcy. Lacking the same level of funding and support from national governments that the more conventional normalcy preservation organizations receive, the Horizon Initiative relies heavily on volunteers and donations -- and as a result, the Initiative is highly decentralized, with the main corps of the organization numbering less than a thousand people. Despite its best efforts to achieve self-sufficiency, the Horizon Initiative remains at least partially dependent on the support of orthodox religious institutions, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, leading some to accuse it of being a Papist conspiracy. The Initiative works to incorporate independent Abrahamic mystical orders wherever possible, relying on their existing infrastructure to conduct its field operations -- primarily the acquisition of religious artifacts and the disruption of cult activity. Due to its multi-denominational character and lack of institutional cohesion, the Horizon Initiative has occasionally been compared to the old Allied Occult Initiative -- a comparison furthered by the inclusion of several former AOI members within the Initiative, and its focus on securing religious artifacts. ---- [[=]] +++ Manna Charitable Foundation [[/=]] The Manna Charitable Foundation is a nonprofit humanitarian relief organization founded in 1971. While most of their operations are mundane in nature, they have on numerous occasions attempted to utilize paratechnology to provide humanitarian aid. Despite heavy opposition from normalcy preservation agencies, these efforts have been largely successful, although a small number of highly damaging failures resulting from faulty paratech have somewhat tarnished the organization's reputation. ---- [[=]] +++ The Serpent's Hand [[/=]] Straddling the line between terrorism and activism, the Serpent's Hand is a loose collection of individuals aligned by their opposition to what they consider the authoritarian nature of consensus normalcy. Members of the Hand have consistently campaigned against the restrictions of the Veil, focusing especially on the perceived mistreatment of parahumans and anomalous non-humans by normalcy preservation organizations. Many of the Hand's members are parahumans or non-humans themselves, although some of its most vocal members are baseline humans. Due to the nature of the Veil, which makes it difficult and dangerous to publicly oppose normalcy, the Hand primarily operates in and from paranormal enclaves; the Wanderer's Library in particular is often used as a base of operations, as the Library's strict neutrality and enforced ban on violence serve to shield the Hand from potential reprisals by normalcy preservation organizations. Due to its decentralized nature and lack of consistent leadership, the Serpent's Hand has very little control over the actions of its members -- and the absence of a formal membership structure makes it nearly impossible for the movement to disavow any particular group or individual acting in its name. As a result, the Serpent's Hand has been repeatedly linked to violent attacks against normalcy preservation organizations, leading many to view the entire movement with suspicion. [[/<]] [[/collapsible]] ---- [[=]] [[# crime]] [[collapsible show="+ Paracrime Syndicates and Occult Terrorists" hide="- Paracrime Syndicates and Occult Terrorists"]] [[/=]] [[<]] Existing in direct opposition to the Veil and the organizations that uphold it, these groups are considered terrorists and criminals. Some are driven by ideology, while others are simply seeking to make a quick buck. Often, the distinction between these groups and those tolerated by normalcy preservation organizations is a matter of political convenience. Whatever the case, these are the outcasts of the paranormal community, shunned by anyone who fears drawing the ire of those who maintain the Veil. ---- [[=]] +++ Chaos Insurgency [[/=]] The Chaos Insurgency is a loose coalition of several different radical occult groups. Their goals and their methods are varied and various, to such an extent that it is not uncommon for different factions within the Insurgency to be working against each other. What they all share, however, is a desire to overturn the existing status quo as enforced by normalcy preservation organizations. Considered a terrorist group by most major powers, the Insurgency operates through stealth and subterfuge. Their activities include smuggling anomalous objects, weapons dealing (both mundane and paranormal), human and anahuman trafficking, espionage, blackmail, and sabotage. ---- [[=]] +++ Chicago Spirit [[/=]] At one point the largest paracriminal organization in the Western Hemisphere, the Chicago Spirit originated in 1895 as a small-scale smuggling operation engaged in the trafficking of anomalous objects. Over the next three decades, the Spirit expanded rapidly, adding new kinds of crime and paracrime to its activities and spreading its influence across North America. The organization reached its peak during the Prohibition Era, using its knowledge of the Way network to run highly profitable bootlegging operations. However, the Spirit was already in decline by the 1930s, largely as a result of an intense crackdown on its activities by the Foundation and the UIU. When the Foundation captured the leader of the Chicago Spirit, Richard Chappell, in 1933, the remainder of the organization quickly unraveled. By 1938, the Chicago Spirit was effectively defunct, although many of its members continued to engage in criminal activity at an individual level throughout the following decades. The end of the Golden Age of Normalcy created a massive availability of black market paratech, bringing about a drastic increase in street-level paracrime. Of the many criminal organizations that emerged to capitalize on these illicit opportunities, at least one has laid claim to the mantle of the long-disbanded Chicago Spirit. Although it has been implicated in several major paratech heists, the so-called Chicago Spectre is still an extremely small-scale operation, far removed from the power and reach once attained by the Chicago Spirit. ---- [[=]] +++ Lighthouse Mafia [[/=]] Beginning as a simple smuggling ring in Three Portlands, the Lighthouse Mafia has risen rapidly in the wake of the Golden Age of Normalcy, taking advantage of the crashing economy and decreased funding of paranormal agencies to become the largest paracriminal syndicate since the Chicago Spirit. Still primarily based out of Three Portlands, the Lighthouse Mafia has expanded from smuggling into racketeering, drug dealing, gambling, and managing investment funds. Despite the persistent efforts of the UIU's Three Portlands Field Office, including the arrest and imprisonment of mob boss Hamilton Burke in 2011, the Lighthouse Mafia continues to operate relatively unhindered, although its growth has slowed significantly since its initial expansion at the turn of the millennium. They are currently the largest dealer of black market paratech in North America, and have numerous contacts with other paracriminal groups in Europe and the former Soviet bloc. ---- [[=]] +++ OBSKURA [[/=]] The Obskuracorps was the paranormal arm of Nazi Germany's SS Ahnenerbe, responsible for all experimentation and research regarding the occult and anomalous; the ultimate goal of its research was to perform the Rite of Solomon and use it to advance the racial agenda of the Nazi regime. They were aided in this effort by the Thule Society, a group of German occultists with ties to the Nazi Party. With the outbreak of the Seventh Occult War -- which occurred as a reaction to the increasingly aggressive actions taken by the Obskuracorps in their efforts to acquire artifacts for the Rite -- the Obskuracorps also became responsible for waging the occult conflict for Nazi Germany. At the end of the Seventh Occult War, the Obskuracorps and their Thule Society allies were decisively routed; the surviving members of these organizations soon became the targets of an international manhunt by the Allied Occult Initiative and its successor, the Global Occult Coalition. While many Nazi occultists would eventually be caught by the GOC, a number of them managed to evade capture and went into hiding, eventually going on to form the occult terrorist organization known as OBSKURA. OBSKURA's goals in the aftermath of the total destruction of the Nazi regime seem to be centered largely around revenge against the GOC, focusing on dealing as much damage as possible before OBSKURA is inevitably destroyed. ---- [[=]] +++ Scarlet Hammer [[/=]] The Division of Special Circumstances was the paranormal arm of the KGB, responsible for maintaining the Soviet Union's stockpile of paraweapons. When the USSR collapsed in 1991, the KGB, including the Division of Special Circumstances, was disbanded due to its role in the abortive August Coup. In response, multiple officers within the DSC, led by the former Director, went rogue, disappearing with a large number of Soviet paraweapons. These renegade DSC elements would become the paranormal crime syndicate known as Scarlet Hammer. Scarlet Hammer are the largest dealer of paraweaponry and illegal paratech within the former Soviet bloc, although their operations have also extended into Western Europe and Southeast Asia. They are believed to be in competition with the Chaos Insurgency, another major seller of black market paraweapons. [[/<]] [[/collapsible]] ---- [[=]] [[# other]] [[collapsible show="+ Other Organizations" hide="- Other Organizations"]] [[/=]] [[<]] Finally, there are those groups that, for one reason or another, defy conventional classification. Often, it is because their goals or methods do not exist in direct relation to the Veil, even if they operate behind it. ---- [[=]] +++ The Black Queen [[/=]] The Black Queen is the moniker of a number of individuals with the innate capability of traveling between multiverses. This power derives from a conceptual singularity, a self-aware concept manifested in each Black Queen. Due to their different origins, each Black Queen typically has their own distinct goals and methods, though certain common aspects exist, such as the disappearance of a father figure and the discovery of their multiverse's version of the Wanderer's Library. Several Black Queens are currently active within our multiverse, many of whom are engaged in cross-multiverse paratech dealing. At least one Black Queen is involved in the operations of the Chaos Insurgency, and others are known to be loosely affiliated with the Serpent's Hand. ---- [[=]] +++ Deer College [[/=]] Deer College is a coeducational liberal arts and occult sciences college in the heart of scenic Three Portlands, an extra-dimensional city-state located adjacent to the American Northweast and Southern England; with a curriculum that focuses on the marriage of mundane and occult disciplines and a well-regarded Anart program, Deer is often seen as the liberal arts counterpart to its GOC-sponsored rival across town, ICSUT Portlands. A number of prominent figures in the anomalous world are Deer dropouts, including Vincent Anderson, the founder and CEO of Anderson Robotics, and Iris Dark, one of the senior partners of Marshall, Carter and Dark. [!-- ---- [[=]] +++ Alexyvla University [[/=]] Pending blurb. --] [!-- ---- [[=]] +++ Nobody [[/=]] Pending blurb. --] [[/<]] [[/collapsible]] [[/div]]