Order of Reason

The Order of Reason, founded in 1325 CE, was a group dedicated to the protection of humanity from the depredations of the supernatural – specifically mages, and more specifically the Order of Hermes.

History

Dark Ages

• 1210 CE
  • Mistridge destroyed

• 1325
  • March 1: Convention of the Ivory Tower begins.
  • March 25: Declaration of the Ivory Tower, Order of Reason formalized. Craftmasons and High Guild largely responsible. Several Conventions are assembled, some created.
    • Artificers
    • Cabal of Pure Thought
    • Celestial Masters
    • Craftmasons
    • High Guild
    • Cosian Circle
    • Solificati
    • Void Seekers

• 1335
  • Solificati split from Order.

• 1336
  • Realizing the need for covert agents, the Ksirafai is founded to enforce the dictates of the Inner Circle.

Renaissance

• 17th century
  • The Order begins to distance itself from its more flamboyant foundations. Records and artifacts from the era of the early Ascension Conflict are "lost". Information on the Art is destroyed, suppressed, or revised.

• 1670
  • The Craftmasons are betrayed and exterminated by the Cabal of Pure Thought, the High Guild, and the Ksirafai.
  • Ksirafai erases all records of the Craftmasons.

• 1745
  • The White Tower of Languedoc is destroyed in a magical battle. The Traditions get the blame, although it's uncertain if they were actually responsible.

Victorian Age

• 19th century
  • The Order falls further into decadence towards the middle of the century.

• 1806
  • The Voltarian Order is founded on the precepts of Alessandro Volta. Many members are the philosophical remnants of the Natural Philosopher's Guild.

• 1823
  • The Difference Engineers are founded shortly after the creation of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine, and later the analytical engine.

• Late 1830s
  • Cabal of Pure Thought largely purged due to Christian beliefs. Some, instead of believing they channel the power of God, choose to believe that logic and reason are God's gifts, and remain within the Order of Reason.

• 1851
  • The Order of Reason undergoes a reorganization at the Great Exposition in London. Attending the Exposition were:
    • The Artificers, who believe the universe and everything in it is a machine.
    • The Celestial Masters, scholars of the heavens.
    • The Difference Engineers, experts with statistics and the flow of information.
    • The Hippocratic Circle, dedicated to the improvement of human life through medical science.
    • The High Guild, who know that money is what drives not only progress and invention but all of society.
    • The Void Seekers, who seek to map the unknown corners of the world.
    • The Voltarian Order, focused on the transmission of energy in all its forms.

After the Exposition, they first became the group known as the Technocratic Union.

The Ksirafai, being nearly completely unknown at this point, purge several of their own members and all remaining records of their existence, and lay the foundations for the future New World Order (see House Janissary).

References

• MTAs: Technocracy: N.W.O., p. 16-18, 71
• MTAs: Technocracy: Syndicate, p. 19-21
• MTAs: Guide to the Technocracy, p. 33, 38, 53, 58, 61, 67, 70, 139
• MTSC: The Order of Reason