The Technocracy Within: The Thirteenth Hour CrossoverHistory of the Technocracy

“One World, One Truth, One Reality.”- Sha’I Inabre

The Order of Reason was founded in 1210 to protect humanity from the depredations presented by Prodigals in a direct result to the treachery of the largest Hermetic House: Tremere, of the Order of Hermes. The dangers that spread onto the face of the Earth as a result horrified many of the awakened beings and guilds, who banded together to bring reason and logic to the peoples. The Order of Reason consisted of Awakened beings who believed that the world could be understood by universal rules and that each person should be able to fully comprehend these rules. The belief was that through universal law and common understanding of those universal laws that reality would become more solvent and less terrifying to mankind. In these darkened times, a response was needed to the betrayal of House Tremere for founding a ritæ that involved their ascension into a Clan of Vampires. The Order found resolve in protecting mankind from any possible prodigal in Nature; Vampires struggled in powerful battles over the cities that lined the Face of the Earth; Shape-shifters covered the lands between, running rampant and devouring the innocent; faery folk lured the unsuspecting into their heathen groves and grotto’s, bewitching man unto temptation. It was truly a dangerous and arcane time to be nothing more than mortal, and it was the will of the Order of Reason to protect Mankind.

For these reasons the Order of Reason initialized themselves in a small group and gathered together to destroy the Hermetic Covenant of Mistridge in 1210. To allow further magus to perform such volatile rituals such as the recently performed ritæ that House Tremere brought down upon the world would only endanger Mankind, and as Mistridge was the Chantry that allowed these crimes against Mankind to be performed, its destruction ensured the destruction of the tools, ritæ, and sources for recreating the ritual. Thus began the Ascension War, and suddenly philosophers found themselves at ends with magus that they once shared common ground and common likeness with. To extremists there was no middle ground – you could either join the Order of Reason, become enlightened and seek to understand the workings of the Universe, or you could join the Traditions and dwell in darkened time, grasping for control over Mankind and ultimately lead to its destruction. Many saw that the Lightkeepers – and the Order of Reason – truly held the best interests of the world at heart, and joined against their former friends to keep the forces of the Willworkers at bay.

One of the many reasons that the Order of Reason appealed so greatly to the awakened is because it shed light on the questions that Mankind had come to gather over the ages. It offered understanding of common problems and solutions for how to avoid these problems in the future. Through the devise of scientific study and research, the Order of Reason brought light to the source of natural elements that they formerly attributed to God’s prowess; breathing was more difficult when climbing a summit because the air was thinner the higher you ascend into the atmosphere; lighting striking the trees was not an arbitrary nature spirit, but rather a regular condensation of electrostatic potential and the resulting sudden equalization of said potential. At its inception, it did not consider that faith and spirituality were a violation of science, but sought to bring an understanding to the explainable world. Personal philosophies and spirituality was still highly regarded for the next one hundred or so years while the scientific method was being formed.

The roots of the Order of Reason took over one-hundred years to spread and stabilize in the medieval world, and has been through several evolutions. On March 1st, 1325 the Convention of the Ivory Tower

began, drawing those loyal to the Order of Reason together and forming the Precepts of Damian, the central philosophy that is the ideological backbone of the Modern-day Technocratic Union. During the 100 years between the destruction of Mistridge and the formal formation of the Order of Reason, there was much change occurring. Hubris was spreading through the machinations of the Order, and they deemed that they needed to control all “Reality Deviants” that threatened Mankind – including their former brethren. On March 25th, 1325, the Declaration of the Ivory Tower was complete and the Order of Reason was formalized. Craftmasons and High Guilds assembled their masses, and several ‘Conventions’ of Thought were assembled; some were created. At the Creation of the Ivory Tower, these consisted of: The Artificers, the Cabal of Pure Thought, the Celestial Masters, the Craftmasons, the High Guild, the Cosian Circle, the Solificati (who separated from the Order of Reason in 1335), and the Void Seekers. One year after the separation of the Solificati, the Ksirafai is founded to enforce the dictates of the Inner Circle (Ruling Council) of the Order of Reason, who meet every 15 years. The terminology from Inner Council was adjusted to “Invisible College” around 1851 when the Order of Reason was reorganized into the Technocracy. It wasn’t until 1897 when the became known as the shadowy bureaucratic force called “Control”.

The Precepts of Damian have remained the same throughout the centuries since the formation of the Order of Reasn. Though the interpretation of the Precepts varies considerably, and some Technocrats privately (or secretly) dismiss specific subsections, they nevertheless offer the ideological foundation that leadership refer to, to determine policy:

1. Bring stasis and order to the universe. Predictability brings safety. Once all is discovered and all is known, Unity will be won.

2. Convince the Masses of the benevolence of science, commerce and politics, and of the power of rationality. Conflict and suffering will be eliminated in our Utopia.

3. Preserve the Gauntlet and the Horizon. Chaotic individuals who open gateways with impunity threaten the stability of our world. Uncontrolled portals also allow outside forces, such as Nephandi, access to our world. This must never happen.

4. Define the nature of the universe. Knowledge must be absolute or chaos will envelop all. The elemental forces of the universe must not be left to the caprices of the unknown.

5. Destroy Reality Deviants. Their recklessness threatens our security and our progress toward Unity.

6. Shepherd the Masses; protect them from themselves and others.

The Renaissance saw further changes for the Order of Reason. In 1670, the Ksirafai, who were founded to enforce the dictates of the Inner Council, followed a direct edict from the council to destroy the Craftmasons; ironic considering that the Craftmasons were the founders of the Order of Reason. All records and artifacts from the era of the early Ascension Conflict were “lost”; information on the Art was destroyed, suppressed or revised so thoroughly from its original form that it was no longer detectable. Ksirafai erased all records of the Craftmasons, and eventually the young and the new forgot about the heritage of the Order of Reason. In 1745 the White Tower of Languedoc was destroyed in a magical battle; due to the nature of the attack and the ongoing Ascension Conflict, Tradition mages were blamed for it’s destruction; some claim that it was 535 years in the planning (since the destruction of Mistridge). Many Tradition Mages lay claim to the destruction of the first inception of the White Tower, but in reality there is little supporting evidence that it was an intentional strike in the Ascension Conflict.

Some members of the Technocracy are uncertain of the loyalty of the Ksirafi, or the machinations of the Convocation. This we know: in 1716, the Ksirafai claimed to have ‘defeated’ their own selves and sought admittance into the Order of Hermes; they were accepted into House Ex Miscellanea as House Janissary. Shortly after the foundation, the Founder Dincer Albayrak selected a replacement; a young Bedouin by the name of Caeron Moustai. Unfortunately for the Ksirafai, Moustai had already been trained by the Ahl-i-Batin and in the combination of knowledge of the Batini and the Ioxi, Mustai realized that Armageddon and Ascension were one in the same. If preventing Armageddon meant turning away from Ascension, so be it. Intentionally, he guided House Janissary away from its original purpose, and encouraged both inter-House (blinding the Order of Hermes to the corruption of the Consanguinity of Eternal Joy) and inter-Tradition (preventing the Golden Chalice from realizing anything was amiss) conflict. In 1764, still under the lead of Caeron Moustai, House Janissary left House Ex Miscellanea, and was promoted to its own standing within the Traditions.

If the Renaissance saw drastic change to the Order of Reason, the Victorian era refined the Union. The 19th century saw decadence begin, with sciences being studied by the majority of Mankind; little known principles of the previous era were now accepted by the masses (“The Earth is Round”, Gravity, Medicine and anatomy, astronomy…and many more) as fact – not fiction. Theories of relativity abounded and science-fiction was adapted to explain the unexplainable – all the while, trying to find a rational way of thinking. The Voltarian Order was founded in 1806, under the precepts of Alessandro Volta and the theories of Physics; many of their members were the remnants of the Natural Philosopher’s Guild. They were restructured along with the rest of the Technocratic Conventions in 1851 to become the “Electrodyne Engineers”; but when the Consensus eliminated “Ether” from the sciences in 1904, the Engineers defected from the Technocracy and joined the Council of Nine, renaming themselves the “Sons of Ether”. 1823 saw the inception of the Difference Engineers shortly after the creation of Charles Babbage’s difference engine, and later the Analytical Engine. As with many of the changes that the formation of the Technocracy saw in 1851, they too were reorganized into the Analytical Reckoners. The 1830’s saw the Cabal of Pure Thought’s retraction from the Order of Reason. Many left due to their Christian beliefs; others, instead of believing that they channel the power of God, chose to believe that logic and reason are God’s Gifts, remain within the Order of Reason. Those that are segmented from the Order are deemed to be a violation of the Highest Order and became a top priority to be purged from Reality as they could not be purified to the ways of logic. For those not mentioned above, all Guilds in the Order of Reason were reorganized in 1851 to Convocations of Thought at the Great Exposition in London. After the Exposition, they became the group known as the Technocratic Union. The following were in attendance:

1. The Artificers, who believe the universe and everything in it is a machine. 2. The Celestial Masters (Cabal of Pure Thought), scholars of the heavens. 3. The Difference Engineers, experts with statistics and the flow of information. 4. The Hippocratic Circle, dedicated to the improvement of human life through medical science. 5. The High Guild, who know that money is what drives not only progress and invention but all of

society. 6. The Void Seekers, who seek to map the unknown corners of the world. 7. The Voltarian Order, focused on the transmission of energy in all its forms.

From the Ashes of the old Conventions were created the Following:1. The Æsculpian Order, dedicated to the improvement of human life through medical science.

Formerly the Hippocratic Circle. When the final overturn of the Order happens, they evolve into the Progenitors.

2. The Analytical Reckoners, devote themselves to the collection, analysis and communication of information, formerly the Difference Engineers. They will in the final evolution become the Virtual Adepts and will recede from the Technocracy and join the Traditions.

3. The Electrodyne Engineers, focused on the transmission of energy in all its forms. They evolved from their inception as Voltarian Order. In the final evolution, they become the Sons of Ether, and as mentioned recede from the Technocracy when Ether was eliminated from the consensus in 1904.

4. The Explorators, who seek to map the unknown corners of the world. This one Convocation consumes both the Celestial Masters Guild and the Void Seekers Guilds into its Convocation and principles. They will give way to the evolution of the Void Engineers.

5. The International Brotherhood of Mechanicians, who believe the universe and everything in it is a machine. The Convocation was born from the Ashes of the Artificers. This lasts until the closing years of the 19th century when the Technocracy hosts its final organization and the Mechanicians become Iteration X, named after the self-aware computer they created, which achieved sentience at an unspecified iteration (hence ‘X’).

6. The Invisible Exchequer, who know that money is what drives not only progress and invention but all of society. They were reformed from the High Guild and will evolve into the Syndicate.

7. The Lightkeepers, who are the beacon of light in a world of ignorance. While the Majority of the Cabal of Pure Thought was purged from the Order of Reason in the 1830’s, most Gabrielites couldn’t correlate their beliefe that they were channeling the power of God with the increasing secularist attitude of the rest of the Order. The Remnants of the Cabal of Pure Thought became the Lightkeepers. Though the details are largely unknown, they will evolve into the New World Order; see below for more details on the Ksirifai.

The New era saw many other subtle changes. The Ksirifai, being nearly completely unknown, purged several of their own members and all remaining records of their existence; largely because they were

acting on both sides of the Ascension War…both as the ‘Secret Police’ for the Order of Hermes in general (as their own House Janissary), and also for the Hands of the Inner Council of the Order of Reason. They laid the foundations for their Future as the New World Order (House Janissary). The end times also saw that the Ksirifai contributed to the political warfare-turned-deadly which destroyed the Magus stronghold “Doissetep” in 1997 and many of the great masters of the Order of Hermes. Mustai himself was responsible for the death of Porthose Fitz-Empress, but perished in the process. In 2001 the Golden Chalice uncovered the truth about House Janissary’s history, its secret dealings, and purged the House from the Order. In reality, the rouse of House Janissary served its purpose – Doisstep was now purged, Armageddon was thwarted and the Ksirifai blended into their newest form – the New World Order.

The first stirrings of the final changes came in 1885, when Exchequer Reginald Proctor convinced Queen Victoria to set up a body called the Grand Council of World Government, with the goal of forming a single world government. Undoubtedly this body had an influence on the Technocratic Union, but was not directly involved with its structure. The Inner Council expressed an interest in the ideals, but their enthusiasm was destroyed by the death of Wolfgang con Reismann, an ancient and old Artisan, in the same year.

It wasn’t until 1897 when Basil Rathbone’s Skeleton Keys came to the Queen’s attention. The Keys were a secret society of law-enforcement officers who investigated the supernatural and eliminated probable threats when possible. By the Order of the Queen, the Skeleton Keys and the Lightkeepers were combined into one single tradition: The Ivory Tower. It is still unknown if the change in membership resulted in a coup of the oppressive faction within the union, or if the Queen continued influencing the Union personally. Regardless, a dramatic shift Union-wide toward the oppressive faction was seen, and the majority of the Conventions once again took appropriate new names:

1. Iteration X, the former Mechanicians, named after their Artificially Intelligent Computer, which had achieved sentience at the Xth iteration of a sentience-expanding algorithim.

2. The Ivory Tower, the former Lightkeepers.3. The Progenitors, former Æsculpians4. The Syndicate, former Exchecuers5. The Virtual Adepts, former Analytical Reckoners6. The Void Engineers, former Explorers,7. The Sons of Ether, former Electrodyne Engineers

Seven short years later, in 1904, the Sons of Ether abandoned the Technocracy in the wake that abolished Ether from the Consensus. Their rebellion took a great many of the Utopians with them, along with a great many Technocratic secrets, to the Traditions.

By the end of the first World War, the Lightkeeps and the Operatives reformed themselves into the New World Order. The Traditions, in support of the Allies, used this as a battle ground as the Technocrats allied secularly with the Axis powers (with whom the idea of a regimented society appealed to) until Nephanidc influence in the Axis became clear. This junction brought the Ascension Conflict to an abrupt halt, as both the Traditions and the Technocrats banded together to fight a common foe. At the end of the war, the Adepts deserted the Technocracy, and went onto creating their Virtual Reality (1956) and after a few years in hiding, joined the Traditions (1961).

This was the final straw that turned the Ascension Conflict into a War among each other. It was something of a Pyrrhic victory for the Technocrats, however: The Technocracy is finding it harder to practice their Applied Science these days; the core of it still draws from the same sources that Tradition Magick does, and that is running scarce. Reality is a User Defined Parameter; and the perceived is the reality… in the modern day, the Masses have abandoned their faith in “Super” sciences; the fiction we live is by far more concerning to modern Mankind than returning to the fiction of walking on the moon, or navigating the globe. Sciences Fiction – the media which new ideals and foundations were laid – found itself hard pressed to have a global presence. Mankind is more concerned with self perseverance, and climbing the social ladder to ensure that there is food on the table, a roof over his family’s head and money in the bank to blow two weeks out of the year on a respite from the daily drones. The banality of reality was an unfortunate outcome of the status quo; not an intentional pressure that the masses were driven to.

Today, the Technocracy still holds its grasp on the world, her economics, her resources, and her peoples. The Technocracy is changing with the shapes of their time; evolving with the public ideal.