Akashic Brotherhood
The Akashic Brotherhood has changed somewhat, but remains committed to the pursuit
of balance and personal perfection. They try seek to reach the pinnacles of
body and mind, through which they will achieve spiritual perfection. It is the
Brotherhood’s goal to share this ambition with everyone who will listen,
so that all of humanity will unlock their own seeds of greatness.
The Akashics are still rooted in Asian culture and Zen Buddhism and Taoist philosophy.
Despite this, they have spread across the world, with a rapid influx of members
of all ethnicities and cultures.
Martial arts is an important part of the Akashic paradigm, not merely as a means
of fighting but as a means to master one’s physical and mental energies.
Some Akashics are also using more scientific means of enlightenment, including
genetic therapies and alpha-wave meditations.
Concepts: martial artists, philosophers, ones who seek balance in mind and body.
Order Abilities: Awareness, Dodge, Endurance, Enigmas, Martial Arts, Melee,
Psyche, Rapport.
Order Sphere: Mind.
Celestial Chorus
The Chorus have learned to include all religions in their worship of the One,
although this was hard going at times. Choristers are both inspired and hampered
by the example of the most famous members of their Order, Dennis and Caiterina
Vryce and Jayne Richards. It is said even the Pontifex Mai Tsin tried to follow
their example.
The Chorus worships heroes almost as much as they worship the One. They have
recast themselves into the role of shepherds of the future, pushing for the
fruition of the Lattice vision. They do this by emulating the most successful
of their kind, but have trouble recognizing the human failings of these idols.
As ever, the Chorus looks so hopefully at the light that they have trouble seeing
the shadows.
That said, the Moebius Circle certainly would not have lasted this long without
the core of idealism and faith brought by the Chorus.
Concepts: priests, knights, those who have faith and wish to bring hope to the
world.
Order Abilities: Academics, Lore, Medicine, Melee, Mystic Defenses, Presence,
Rituals, Weaving Quintessence.
Order Sphere: Prime.
Children of Ether
Often seen as the translators between the technomancers and the mystics, the
Children of Ether have a hard role to fill. They value individualism and personal
inspiration but at the same time feel a duty to serve the needs of the Circle.
The strain sometimes wears on the best of them.
The Etherites do understand mystics better than most technomancers, but not
so well as the others may think. What they do grasp is the principle of bringing
together different disciplines and insights into developing a better innovation.
The Order tries to send its members into unusual situations with strange partners
to expand their perspectives. This sometimes leads to conflict inside the Order,
as some members wish to follow only their own desires and not be exposed to
the sometimes-incomprehensible mesh of concepts found in the Circle.
Concepts: inventors, explorers, visionaries who meld science with art.
Order Abilities: Athletics, Crafts, Engineering, Investigation, Science, Transformations,
Resistance, Underlying Structures.
Order Sphere: Matter.
Cult of Ecstasy
While it might seem as if the Cult of Ecstasy are static and unchanging, the
Order is actually roiling with chaos hidden under the surface. There are at
least twelve different views on the future of the Circle, and even more ideas
about its past. Adherents to each view take their own approach to dealing with
the world, and several who cannot choose a path instead retreat into the safety
of hedonistic detachment.
Marianne has not stepped in to settle this debate, and in fact may be encouraging
it. The CoX is in the middle of something that its own members thought would
never come to pass; it’s having to decide just what it is and what it will
become. There is no one clear vision of the future, and so the members of the
Cult can no longer breeze along secure in the knowledge of fate. They are faced
with true uncertainty, and the sensation is both exhilarating and frightening.
Concept: oracles, artists, those who revel in sensation, life and time.
Order Abilities: Arts, Consequences, Crafts, Nature of Time, Rapport, Resistance,
Socialize, Streetwise.
Order Sphere: Time.
Dreamspeakers
Surprisingly, the Dreamspeakers are solidly behind the Moebius Circle and its
dream. They have to be; those who disagreed with the Circle have already left.
The ones who remain are the true believers who have wholly accepted the ideals
of inclusion and cooperation.
These Dreamspeakers are somewhat bemused by their popularity in the world, as
well as being careful that the sacred ways are not turned into mass-market pap
as happened to the Verbena, the Hermetics and themselves in the 20th century.
They also see the great opportunity to make sure scientific progress will no
longer stamp out the spirit world. So far, they have had some success in this
ambition.
The Dreamspeakers are also pleased that they are one of the pillars of the Moebius
Circle, and do not want to jeopardize this with doubts about their involvement
with the Ghost Dance.
Concept: shamans, warriors, the ones who understand the hidden world.
Order Abilities: Animal Ken, Brawl, Cosmology, Crafts, Enigmas, Occult, Rituals,
Survival.
Order Sphere: Spirit.
Euthanatos
Quiet and watchful, the Euthanatos keep their own council. The Circle relies
on their protection a great deal; and the Order has responded by removing dozens
of threats to its existence. Some of the Euthanatos are growing concerned, however,
that no one is watching the watchmen. There is talk of forming another agency
to police the Euthanatos themselves.
One things the Euthanatos do not discuss with outsiders is a recent rift in
their Order. This rift has came about because some of the Euthanatos believe
humanity’s time had come in 2018 and that by saving themselves, humans
had broken the cycle of the Great Wheel. This debate has already led some to
leave the Circle.
Concepts: investigators, guardians, aware of the wheel of life and the dangers
of corruption.
Order Abilities: Awareness, Firearms, Investigation, Larceny, Lore, Probabilities,
Streetwise, Stealth.
Order Sphere: Entropy.
Iteration X
The Iteration X has changed its direction after facing simple logic. If they
could not win the trust of the world, and therefore the Moebius Circle, then
they would not be allowed to continue to exist. Several X’ers had ceased
operation during the Hammer War, and they could not afford the chance that the
Circle would turn on them next.
So they remade themselves into supporters of the Circle and a pillar of the
new world. They helped spread some of their inventions, and many of their engineering
techniques, to those mundane humans who would put them to the most good. They
provided assistance to the USA military and through them, the UN’s forces.
They also made certain to train all new recruits in the ideals of the Circle
and the certain understanding that mystics and other nonlogical beings were
required for the future of humanity.
This change in direction took place almost instantly. It swept the entire Order,
from leadership to raw recruit. The Iteration X did this calmly, rationally,
without passion or debate. And that is what worries people.
Concepts: engineers, soldiers, those who aspire to perfection of machine and
man.
Order Abilities: Computer, Endurance, Engineering, Firearms, Melee, Offensive
Techniques, Transformations, Underlying Structures.
Order Sphere: Matter.
New World Union
The dirty secret of the New World Order was that it had the highest rate of
burn-out, depression and defections from the Technocracy than any of the Conventions.
People who specialized in the human mind, who treated each individual personality
as worthy of interest and study, were asked to treat these minds as pieces of
a machine to be redesigned to suit progress. Some could handle the dichotomy,
most could not. When Mr. Blanc was forming his conspiracy to change the Technocracy,
he had a wealth of individuals to choose from. When the Lattice became public
knowledge among paranormals, most of the NWO fervently hoped they would succeed.
The Moebius Circle was a dream come true for them. While there has been some
need to monitor and occasionally give guidance to minds, no longer was the Order
being asked to brainwash people wholesale for a nebulous end. They were allowed
to fit the roles they wished for themselves, helping people work together in
a cause worth fighting for.
It’s ironic that so many others think the NWU’s total conversion is
another false front designed to manipulate others. It’s double painful
that most of the individuals of the New World Union even know what they’ve
done to cause so much doubt.
Concepts: psychologists, detectives, students of the human mind and its mysteries.
Order Abilities: Academics, Awareness, Consequences, Dodge, Investigation, Presence,
Psyche, Socialize.
Order Sphere: Mind.
Order of Hermes
The essential problem of the Order of Hermes: most of the willworkers who have
joined since the first Lattice visions love the Moebius Circle. The majority
of the leadership hates it.
Once the Order of Hermes thought of themselves as the noble and learned leaders
of a rabble of talented amateurs. They would teach, the other Traditions would
learn, and over time their wisdom would overcome them all.
Instead, their worldview was proven hopelessly outdated even as their paradigm
received a new influx of believers. They opened their doors to more students
than ever before and were overwhelmed by a variety of ideas and perspectives
that had little to do with a hierarchy of mages with the Order of Hermes at
the top. The young Hermetics hijacked the Order, making it into one of the strongest
forces of the Moebius Circle.
Ironically, the old guard of the Hermetics boast a majority of the most powerful
willworkers in the world. But they are unable to change the course of destiny,
and can only watch helplessly as their own students conspire with vampires and
technocrats to remake the world.
Concepts: scholars, wizards, the ones who look for the language of reality’s
laws.
Order Abilities: Academics, Enigmas, Linguistics, Lore, Mystic Assaults, Mystic
Defenses, Rituals, Shaping Power.
Order Sphere: Forces.
Orphans
Not all who wander are lost; but some are. These are the ones who do not know
exactly what to believe or how they fit in to the universe. They search for
answers that speaks to their souls and minds, and most just want an end to their
endless questions. Even the paradigms they cobble together rarely stand the
test of time, because nothing seems just right.
Many newly-Awakened willworkers start off as Orphans. They most often find a
place where they can belong in time. If not, they come to terms with their own
beliefs and become Solitaires. Sometimes, more than anyone wants to admit, they
become prey to any one of the horrors that hunt for unwary nomads at the edges
of the real.
Concepts: child, lost one, anyone who Awakens without someone who can help provide
direction.
Order Abilities: Any 6 of the player’s choosing. If the Orphan joins an
Order, he gains two more within the choices of that Order.
Order Sphere: Any of the player’s choosing.
Progenitors
The Progenitors still struggle with their own evidence of mortality. They were
the ones who were conquering death itself and mastering life in all its variations.
But the Hammer of the Stars nearly destroyed them all. Officially, a few hundred
Progenitors survived the war.
In truth, there were barely fifty left in 2020. They used every trick in the
book to be as many places at once as they could, and the strain nearly did what
the Hammer had not. The Progenitors had to rely on the goodwill of the Moebius
Circle to find new recruits, to spread their teachings, and to keep old enemies
at bay.
The new wave of Progenitors, and the next generation now coming to the Order,
know little of these lean times but are forced to endure hundreds of lectures
about not taking life for granted. They also do not have the benefit of history
to teach them the hazards of treating living things like fascinating toys to
be understood and remade.
Concepts: doctors, researchers, fascinated by the intricacies of living things.
Order Abilities: Animal Ken, Athletics, Endurance, Medicine, Might, Resistance,
Science, Underlying Structures.
Order Sphere: Life.
Solitaires
These are those rare willworkers who know exactly how they see the universe
from their Awakening, yet who do not share enough common beliefs with an established
Order to be comfortable among them.
Solitaires choose their own destinies and directions, and do so with complete
confidence. This confidence is what sets them apart from Orphans or rogues;
they already know what they’re looking for and how they want to find it.
Their paradigms are already formed. They simply do not follow the same path
as others.
Solitaries are either the most insular or most inclusionist of all willworkers.
Their paradigms tend to be extremely particular and unaccommodating of other
views, or they take bits and pieces from every other philosophy they can find.
Damian Vryce is believed to be the most famous Solitaire in the world.
Concepts: hermits, visionaries, the ones who see what others don’t.
Order Abilities: Any 6 of the player’s choosing. These cannot change once
selected.
Order Sphere: Any one of the player’s choosing.
Syndicate
The Syndicate have carefully crafted their public image as unchanging, unfeeling
money-loving bastards who can barely be bothered to acknowledge the Moebius
Circle. They do this because they want people not to look at them too closely.
The Syndicate excels in chances and possibilities, and they know that a risky
investment such as the Circle and the world they want to create must be protected.
They are diversifying their agents throughout the Circle and as many of their
enemies as they can find. Syndicate agents are preparing to guard against anything
that threatens the Circle, be the threat internal or external.
Not even the Euthanatos know about this secret army of protectors, and that’s
just the way the Syndicate wants it. They’ve made their bets and they’re
sticking with this company for the long haul. But there’s no way they’re
going to leave it up to chance, not if they can help it.
Concepts: mathematicians, statisticians, those who understand risk and reward.
Order Abilities: Arts, Awareness, Business, Chaos Mathematics, Predictive Analysis,
Rapport, Socialize, Streetwise.
Order Sphere: Entropy.
Verbena
The Verbena are doing just what they said they’re doing, they’re saving
the wild places. They truly do not care about the politics of the Circle or
the world, except to know that they will not face interference from the other
Orders.
Interference is actually the biggest concern of the Verbena. They believe the
damage to Gaia was greater than anyone else knows, but at the same time, they
do not trust anyone else to fix it. The weakening of ley lines and Nodes worries
them greatly, and they wonder if the wastelands can ever be repaired. Yet no
one else seems to have noticed these injuries to Mother Earth, and instead yammer
about renewing the cities and exploring space.
The Verbena are considering telling the Bete of their concerns, in hopes of
finding allies who will focus on what’s important. But they’re concerned
that the more parts of the Circle learn about the problem, the more people will
jump into the middle of the situation without knowing what they’re doing
and make things worse.
Concepts: naturalists, priests, keepers of ancient ways who know the power of
life and death.
Order Abilities: Animal Ken, Crafts, Endurance, Form of Life, Medicine, Resistance,
Rituals, Survival.
Order Sphere: Life.
Virtual Adepts
The Virtual Adepts have some trouble knowing what data to trust. Their own leader
is a 19-year old girl with barely more grasp of willworking than a freshly-Awakened
newbie, but with more raw talent with computers than Elite three times her age.
She’s being supported by some of the greatest VA’s in the Web, including
MiT Vixi, Redemption, the Silicon Angel, and Sal 2K. The more people who find
out about this, the more who are questioning the stability of the Order.
On the other hand, rumors run rampant about the hidden agendas of the other
Orders, and that some of the best and brightest VA’s are plotting to take
apart the Circle and replace it with version 2.0. Even worse is the knowledge
that the Digital Web is not ruled by anyone, and like any frontier it’s
really started to get exciting, dangerous, and strange. Some people are claiming
that the Web is even sentient and starting to decide it doesn’t much like
humans romping around inside it.
Interestingly, the leaders of the Virtual Adepts themselves just smile in the
face of all the rumors and say they’re happy some things never change.
Concepts: hackers, travelers, ones who walk digital paths of discovery.
Order Abilities: Awareness, Computer, Energy Manipulation, Engineering, Hypertopography,
Investigation, Larceny, Lore.
Order Sphere: Correspondence.
Void Engineers
The Void Engineers really only have one problem: they’ve become too important.
They form the backbone of the UNASA Fleet, they provide the Marines to help
protect humanity on Earth and Away, and they are called on to explore new worlds
either in space or the Umbra.
There just aren’t enough of them to do everything that’s asked of
them. Even the most gung-ho can-do members of the Order can be stretched beyond
their limits. What makes it worse is that they joined the VE’s in search
of adventure but instead are confronted by a thousand exhausting details which
are no more exciting than trip to a supermarket. They have to maintain distant
colonies after they’ve been built, maintain transportation between worlds,
instruct other members of the Fleet in the ins and out of space, and guard the
borders of human space. None of this is very thrilling in the eyes of a young
hotshot pilot.
Fortunately, the universe is still a dangerous enough place to keep things interesting
at times.
Concepts: astronauts, soldiers, those who venture into unknown places.
Order Abilities: Athletics, Endurance, Firearms, Hypertopography, Multidimensional
Theory, Pilot, Science, Survival.
Order Sphere: Spirit.