Mage History

From Gothpoodle

Revision as of 00:42, 14 February 2006

San Francisco is home to a number of mage cabals all drawing from different legacies. None are dominant, though some have more influence than others due to age or ability. North Bay is dominated by the Coven of the Moon, a Dionysian cabal located in Sonoma Valley. East Bay mage population has been decimated by the Repentant Ones, a well-funded Banisher cabal, and is now watched over by the Seers of the Throne. Only a couple of cabals in Berkeley have withstood their assault. South Bay is ruled with an iron fist by the Rosicrucian Society in San Jose and their influence has been spreading up the peninsula.

History

Native Period (pre-1776)

No formal cabals existed, but individual shamans among the Yeluma practiced magic.

Spanish Period (1776-1822)

Several of the Yeluma shaman formed a cabal to fight the oppression of their people as two groups of foreign mages arrived in the area. The first was a small loosely allied group of Seers of the Throne lurking within the Catholic Missions and the second was a cabal of Banishers whom they would quietly support in their fight against the native shamans. Between these two groups, the Yeluma were routed and then hunted down and killed.

Mexican Period (1822-1847)

A small group of Dionysian cultists established a cabal called the Coven of the Moon around a powerful hallow in Sonoma, forming an alliance with the local werewolf pack which protected the locus on the same location. The Banishers learned of the cult and tried to stamp it out but were killed to the last man. Meanwhile, the dismantling of the Mission system undermined the power base of the Seers of the Throne and they were forced to concentrate their efforts on reorganization.

Barbary Coast (1847-1906)

With the flood of immigrants came mages and three cabals formed during this time. The first was the Chosen of Ti-Tsang, Chinese alchemists who set up shop in Chinatown, tending to the needs of their countrymen and drawn by the proximity of death and material greed. The second was founded by Mary Pleasant, a voodoo practitioner from New Orleans who founded the Children of Olorun to tend to the needs of the small black population. The last was the reformed Seers cabal, now called the Watchers, who established themselves in a position to monitor local occult activity while they made inroads into the infrastructure of the growing city. With the first two being community-centered and the latter concerned only with observation, magical matters were mostly peaceful save for the frequently belligerant visiting mages.

Reconstruction (1906-1950)

The three cabals weathered the earthquake and fire and continued to operate much as they had. More mages arrived as the city grew, but generally formed small cabals which didn't last more than a decade or two. The most excessive of these were helped in their dissolution through the subtle interference of the Watchers, who had established many new avenues of influence throughout the city during its recovery. They kept an eye on the established cabals but opted not to waste resources working against them because their focus was so insular and they posed little threat. The only permanent organization to form in the area was the Rosicrucian Society in San Jose in 1915, which kept to itself, collecting artifacts, exploring mysteries, and sharing mystical knowledge among its members. When other mages entered the city, though, they were given the choice of joining the cabal or being driven out.

Counterculture (1950-1980)

The influx of new agers, mystics, and weirdos during this period included numerous mages, several with dubious ethics and practices. The existing cabals began to take more of an interest in the activites of the newcomers. The Watchers, in particular, decided that observation wasn't sufficient and formed the Sandmen to take a more hands-on approach. The original group retreated further into the shadows, concentrating their efforts on manipulation of media, business, and politics. The Sandmen acted as a task force, suppressing evidence of the supernatural and neutralizing threats directly. Their activities drew the attention of the other cabals, who shored up their defenses against the new threat. Despite the efforts of the Seers, two new cabals formed during this period: the Temple of Ama-no-Uzume and the Pink Elephant Commune. Both shared a more outward focus than the previous inhabitants, with interests in shaping the world and changing its perspectives, and so made contact with the two Pentacle cabals and heralded the formation of an actual magical community. In South Bay, the Rosicrucian Society managed to keep a lock on the local occult scene throughout the city's rapid growth during the lead up to the tech boom.

Decline (1980-1990)

Tensions mount as the Sandmen expand their influence and begin to intrude more into the affairs of the established cabals. Paranoia mounts. Meanwhile, three Benandanti arrived in the city and established a cabal dedicated to protecting Sleepers from spirits and dark magic which they called the Knights of St. Francis. They quickly establish a relationship with the Seers and end up acting as liaisons, not just between the Seers and Pentacle mages, but also between mages and the other supernatural entites in the city. A detante was reached and a degree of peace was restored. Quietly, a dying mage formed a small cabal called the Skoptsi after a Russian castration cult, and uses it to lure young mages to their destruction in order to extend his life. His activities are not noticed by the Knights, but the Sandmen notice and leave him to his task, monitoring his activities from a distance. To the north, a young hispanic vineyard hieress inherited control of the old Coven of the Moon and quickly becoming a power in the North Bay.

Dot-Com Boom (1990-2000)

The efforts of the Knights of St. Francis not only regulate the mage community but also help to encourage the process started in the 60s of bringing them together. Ties with the new Coven of the Moon, in particular, became very strong. Meanwhile, their connection with the Sandmen gave the latter a source of information on the other cabals and allowed them to monitor quietly and at a distance. The only new group of mages to form started at Stanford but soon took up residence under Mount Sutro, calling themselves the Spiritual Switchboard Collective, when the Rosicrucians (who had been expanding their influence throughout Silicon Valley) gave them their standard ultimatum. Across the Bay in Oakland, though, a Banisher cabal called the Repentant Ones began to systematically kill the local mages. The Sandmen noticed his activities and encouraged them through proxies.

Present (post-2000)