The Congery

In secret, they govern the hidden world of magic and spiritual phenomena. An assemblage of the most powerful and influential magicians, sorcerers, supernatural beings on Earth, the Congery works to keep their world from spilling over too far into mundane, self-assuredly 'rational' civilisation. The majority of the world's benevolently inclined and impartial mages belong to the Congery, and it does its best to act as an semi-formal watch against corrupt and evil weavers of the Celestial Tapestry.

Magicians are, by nature, a fractious lot; their traffic is in secrets, after all, and every secret shared is one diminished in power. In centuries past, battles over territory, ley line confluences, mystical stone circles, places of great mana and strong feng shui could grow to devastating levels, consuming thousands of ignorant bystanders in their conflagrations. Likewise, entire mystical wars were fought over select tomes and prized libraries of lore. To foster cooperation between the proud – not to say arrogant – members of the sorcerous community, the Congery allows members to progress through its hierarchy only by sharing their spellbooks, their magical laboratories and their knowledge. Those that have reached the council, the inner circle that advises the group's head must have spent considerable time mentoring less experienced magicians and furthering the Congery's goals in the world. The head herself must swear an unbreakable wizardly oath to devote her entire efforts and attentions to supporting her fellows and safeguarding the world from rogue magic – a rite which dissuades the power-hungry and self-aggrandising from seeking the position.

Threat Ratings

GTR: Critical; Life & Limb / Property: N/A; the Congery is a generally benevolent organisation. Disputes between powerful magicians always run the risk of collateral damage, of course.

Group Membership

An unknown number of wizards and mystics, ranging from world-class mages to mere dabblers and their familiars. The Congery also retains the services of a multitude of servants and assistants, often from families that have lived halfway across the threshold of the arcane for generations, or bound supernatural beasts.

Bases/Centres of Operation

Not unlike the Primacy, the Congery maintains a central headquarters in a well-hidden place; in their case, in a magical library called the Cynosure Arcane, accessible from a number of secret tunnels around the world. There are entrances in the Pyrenees, the mountains of Tibet, and in a cave on the slopes of Kilimanjaro, along with more surprising places, such as in the VIP room of the underground magic club The Black Hat in Kingdom City, and in the basement of a role playing games shop in New Delhi.

Leaders/Notable Members

Alkati, the Shaman

Since 1915, the Congery has been headed by Alkati, a Mongolian shaman of tremendous power and proficiency. Calm, almost unfazeable, he has carefully steered the magical world through troubling times and kept the Tapestry itself safe; not to mention the number of potential sorcerous cataclysms and demonic incursions he has helped to avert. The Shaman is, in general, opposed to interfering with the mundane world, aside from shielding it from the obscure and occult dangers around it. No one is exactly sure how old the Shaman is, but he seems ancient, and certainly has the cynicism to indicate it.

Simon Magus

Simon is not alone in taking the name of a historical or mythical mage; there are quite a few Merlins, John Dees, Saints-Germain, Crowleys, Circes and Morgana le Feys in the Congery. He is, however, the appointed representative of the Magi, the Persian priest-kings which have existed as an underground brotherhood for millennia. He is one of the wisest voices in the Congery's council, and a natural peacemaker and conciliator.

Aiko the Exorcist

Few suspect that this pretty, gothic-dressing Japanese girl is by night a berserk ghost hunter, roaming the shadows of the world dispatching vampires, wraiths and other undead monstrosities with an array of blessed weapons and specialist items for hunting and banishing. She heads up the Congery's semi-official monster slaying arm, which puts her on the front lines of a war that few ever notice.

Sam Athens

A New York based private eye, Athens was a student of some of the lesser magical arts, and found himself drawn into more and more cases with a supernatural twist. He dealt with the murder of a wealthy heiress' doppleganger, and an errant husband he trailed turned out to be running naked and hirsute through Central Park every full moon, not having an affair as his wife feared. Eventually, his intuition and skill brought him to the Congery's attention, and he was hired as a gofer and mundane-world contact. Athens does a lot of the mages' footwork, investigation and message carrying, which sometimes brings him into contact with the world of superhumans as well.
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