House Thig

House Thig
Pronounce	howss' Thig
Nicknames	Ruby Children, The Crucible of Thig, Hitler Youth (derogatory)
Tradition	Order of Hermes
Primus	Sharad Osei (former)

House Thig was, at a time, one of the Great Houses of the Order of Hermes. Originating in a small cabal of British Orphans, it focused on utilizing technomantic means to supplement hermetic traditions.

Paradigm

Prior to being subsumed by House Verditius, House Thig was the Order's resident Technomancy specialist. Its members were often radical and innovative, fusing their knowledges of Hermetic magic and modern technology. Older Houses saw this as foolish dabbling at best and a mockery of their Art at worst. Members of House Thig did not traffick with the spirits of Technology, like some Dreamspeakers do, nor did they focus on engineering and inventing like the Sons of Ether. Instead, technology was merely another tool to express the Will of the Hermetic, focusing on the symbolism behind everyday gadgets.

With the fusing of House Verditius came an inherited pedigree that 'legitimised' their style of magic. This did not sit well with all House members, and a selected few broke off to form House Xaos.

History

The origin of House Thig lies in the cabal of Joseph Ryelander, a former Orphan. Founded in 1762, the cabal was based around Manchester and had a focus on traditional hermetic arts as they are known to Sleeper. After 42 years, the cabal had grown with several other Orphans pledging themselves to them. Ryelander, who had learned about the Traditions, went to the Order of Hermes and applied for membership with his cabal, named "the Ruby Children". They were admitted as a part of House Ex Miscellanea, but had no greater political leverage.

The Ruby Children expanded, founding sister cabals in Providence, Rhode Island (named the Emerald Children) and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (named the Diamond Children). Thanks to allying themselves with House Janissary, House Thig was successful in damaging or discovering operations of the Artisans, for which Caeron Mustai bani Janissary eventually spoke in their favour at the Grand Tribunal of 1846. The cabals were promoted to full House status, receiving the name "Thig", an enochian term which could be translated as "Children" or "Vengeance". Several Houses amidst Ex Miscellanea, who had much longer heritages than the group of Orphans, who had apparently merely received their promotion through political nepotism, protested against this decision.

After their admission, House Thig suffered several setbacks to the Technocracy within the United States, losing their two main cabals. Ryelander eventually split from his own House in 1877, retreating to Doissetep with his original cabal to act as henchmen for the Janissaries. The members of House Thig were among those who opened discussion channels to the early Sons of Ether and Virtual Adepts, and thanks to their lobby work, eventually House Janissary and House Fortunae came to back their admission into the Council of Nine.

After the Conflagration, the death of their former Primus Altimeas Cowling and the disastrous end of the Second Massasa War, Sharad Osei (the new Primus and former head of the Emerald Children) approached House Verditius with an offer - they will join Verditius, supplying it with new members and technological knowledge in exchange for their name and pedigree. Most members of House Thig joined and Verditius once again became a Major House. Remnants of House Thig that had refused the joining reunited in 2001 to form their own House within Ex Miscellanea, House Xaos

Organization

Even in its heydays, House Thig experienced constant pushes from their various patrons amidst their favourers in House Janissary, the Etherites and the Virtual Adepts. As a result, House Thig was often divided into cliques, headed by those who thought "coolest" by their members.

Culture

House Thig was, despite all of its technological trappings, a hermetic House. Sleeper Occultism as well as the utilizing of new ways to use old rituals (like invoking new Elemental Spirits formed by the rapid growth of technology) were their marks, much to the suspicion of older Hermetic masters. Likewise, true Technomancers saw them as dabblers, who were unwilling to dedicate themselves to the laws that governed the forces they utilized and instead played with symbols.

House Thig had the stigma of youth on it for its whole existence. On the one hand, the Traditions welcomed that House Thig proved that the old reality-disconnected hermetic was not all to be found within the Order, on the other hand, its inexperience in politics made in willful lackeys to House Janissary, and the youth and immaturity of some of its members alienated many of its potential beneficiaries. Osei's gambit to join with House Verditius sought to topple this image.

References

• MTAs: Order of Hermes Tradition Book , p.46-47
• MTAs: Blood Treachery , p.21
• MTAs: Guide to the Traditions , p.77-79
• MTAs: Tradition Book: Order of Hermes , p.60