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Work in Progress

The Week of Nightmares in the 90's hit mages harder than they realized at the time. With connection to the horizons lost, and thus the masters with them, those that remained on earth were forced to rebuild. To reforge what was lost.

The technocracy is on its death bed after a vicious attack on DataDyne Industries, the local construct. With too few mages to cover all the bases they have resorted to wage slaves of the 'enlightened citizenry'. Humanity has been left to flounder, in their eyes. Watching the masses ever so slowly turn away from the rigidity of their guidance, and embrace more esoteric views. On rare occassions they have grudgingly asked for the help both Traditions and Desperates. But to what end? They are gasping for air, but it might just be an act.

The Traditions are on their victory lap, but they are far from innocent. While they have helped the technocrats in desperate times, it has been with trepidation. Any Verbena will tell you there is no more dangerous animal than one that is cornered and injured. The few mages that managed to escape the sudden explosion of Cor Leonis in 2007, are still convinced the culprit was a Technocrat spy.

While humanity might be leaning more towards the Traditions these days, the Traditions have become aware that their greatest threat might be some coming inside the house. They have lost a good amount of the flexiblity and freedom they were founded on. Instead many traditions has become not 'followers of The One' but 'Christian', not the 'fate seers' but 'the stoners', not 'the holders of knowledge' but a collection of rigid ceremonialist. Every tradition would have shift to make it to the finish line but changing centuries of prejudices and assumptions isn't easy.

Metaplot Info

• The Ascension Warrior inspired the Disparate Alliance: Though the Warrior might not have recruited every convert to their cause, their arguments about the Council made sense to a lot of folks who chose not to storm Horizon. Those who did join the assault either returned with horror stories about the Traditions, or else did not return at all and instead became martyrs in the eyes of those who didn’t go. In the quarter-century since the Concordia War, Heylel’s example inspired unaligned mages to band together and resist the Traditions’ power. The Concordia War provided the proof other mages needed before they’d took a drastic step like forming the Disparate Alliance.
• The Lightning Purge: They missed most of us: The Technocracy’s campaign (to hunt down the Crafts), brutal as it was, missed the majority of Craft mages. It still killed a lot of people, though, and the surviving Disparates harbor a blood-hate against the ruthlessly evil technocracy.
• Hollow Treachery: Oh, that asshole? He’s not one of us: It happened (The Condordia War, the destruction of Horizon, etc). The Hollowers, however, turned Case (Jeremy Case, Hollow instigator) over to the Traditions personally. Thus, there’s no ill will between the Council and their former colleagues… well, not much bad blood, anyway.
• Disparates assimilation into the Traditions: Some did: With or without the Technocratic purge, some dissidents from within the Crafts decided they were better off within larger organizations. Why? Maybe those folks fell out with other members of their respective Crafts. Perhaps they felt the Council offered more protection or greater resources. Their “defection” might have been a plan to misdirect the Traditions, the Technocracy, or both. The specifics depend on the defectors themselves, and on the plans of your group’s Storyteller. There may well be ill will between the defectors and their original groups, too. Such schisms, after are, are common among real-life metaphysical groups, where bitter factionalism is more the rule than the exception.
• The Fallen Technocracy? Oh, hell yes: The Technocracy is guilty of everything the Crafts accuse them of doing. Lighting Purge? Check. Global genocide? That much is obvious. Crushing the spirit of humanity underneath the steel boots of mechanized command? Have you looked at the world through the eyes of people Forgotten and Forbidden Orders beneath those boots. The Crafts have, and they see the truth. Technocratic ideals cloak malign, perhaps Nephandic, realities, and a bloody showdown between the Union and Alliance is inevitable.
• The Fallen Traditions? Unintentionally malign: As with the Technocracy, the Traditions have a messy history. Craft members see through the rainbows-and-unicorns propaganda, viewing the Traditions as the metaphysical imperialists they, in many respects, are. Okay, so the part about Nephandic archwizards at the top of the Council might be exaggeration. Given the behavior of many Traditionalists, though, can you blame the Crafts for believing it?
• The Crafts, Revealed? As of 2014, when the Mage 20 rulebook appeared, the Disparate Alliance was a well-guarded secret. Has that situation changed in the intervening years? It’s an open secret: Although no one’s running around making Disparate Alliance T-shirts, most Ascension War bigwigs are aware that the Crafts merged into a larger and more formidable entity. Depending on who you ask, the reaction has ranged from “Oh, shit — another one!” to “Good — more power to ‘em!” The shift has certainly altered strategies among the other factions, with the Technocracy taking special care to avoid underestimating Craft affiliated Magick-Using Reality Deviants in the future. The relationship between the Traditions and the Alliance is still undecided. Will this be another war front or a new ally. Nephandi, of course, view this Alliance as a new spoiler and potential tool for misdirection and corruption; that said, smart Fallen recognize the perils posed by a combined force of Templars, Batini, and their equally formidable companions. The overall reaction to this Alliance, then, is wary acceptance tinged with apprehension.
• Traditions: Mood: Are We the Baddies? Awakened Heroes" Council mages retain their heroic allure, challenging the problems within their own ranks as readily as they challenge Technocrats and Fallen corrupters. Such mages — usually, but not always, young — pursue ethical ambitions and compassionate ideals. They face hard questions about status and bigotry, identity and consequences that their elders seldom thought about at all. Through their efforts, the medieval framework of the Council shifts to accommodate a larger and more complicated world. That Council moves forward, embracing the Dynamism at True Magick’s core. Viewed from an outside perspective, Tradition mages aren’t “good guys” after all. They’re really kind of monstrous, and the fact that they seldom see that potential monster in the mirror lends their side of the Ascension War a nightmarish quality if you happen to be in their way.
• Traditions: A Vibrant Future? The Sphinx abides: It’s still out there, still sending transmissions, and still unknown. Your players might receive transmissions from the entity called the Sphinx, but its ultimate nature – though obviously helpful – remains mysterious.