Orphans
Servants of the Clock Tower
Although officially founded in Hong Kong in the 19th century, the Servants of the Clock Tower trace their conspiracy back to an informal alliance of Mages who gathered together in the Middle East a decade before the first crusade. Five mages came together from Europe, the Holy Lands, China, India, and Africa. Although all had reason to distrust each other, they shared a common fear: not of the great Empires and war, but of dark cults operating in the dark, moving through the world like worms through the mud and insinuating themselves in the halls of power.
On a winter day in the city of Jerusalem, the Mages swore a pledge to support each other as they sought to uncover the unknown dangers which threatened the world. Philosophical, cultural, and national differences initially prevented the conspiracy from coalescing into a formal Tradition, but as the years passed the Mages continued to cooperate, as did their apprentices, and all of the apprentices that followed.
As time went on, it wasn’t just information on Indian Death Cults or the Assassins, but slowly came to include culture, art, philosophy, literature, etc. Masters would send apprentices across the world as part of their studies, to spend time with another teacher and to learn what truth he/she had to share.
In the 19th century the conspiracy came together in Hong Kong to stop a Thuggee Cult from invoking the power of Kali, the Goddess of Annihilation, to wipe out the city. In the aftermath of that unknown battle, at Kowloon Station the surviving members came together to formally unite as the Servants of the Clock Tower.
The Conspiracy’s focus has always been the investigation of occult activity, finding and identifying secret societies which operate in the shadows of humanity and bargain with dark gods, exchanging blood and souls for forbidden knowledge and amassing power, both temporal and magical. The group moves through the world like serpents in a garden, collecting not just knowledge but information on whoever (or whatever) else is out there in the world, cataloging it within their libraries and data bases, and on occasion acting to eradicate a group deemed too dangerous to allowed to exist.
Given its small numbers and lack of influence, the Servants of the Clock Tower are considered an Orphan group by Mage Society, and the Disparates have claimed them as members despite the silence of the Clock Tower on the matter. When Servants do encounter other groups, they often take advantage of any assumptions without making promises or commitments, depending on the situation.
Organization: The Servants of the Clock Tower is small, fitting its categorization as a conspiracy. Members communicate mostly through encrypted correspondences. The most important relationship any Servant will have is with his or her mentor, who becomes the first link in a global network of allies all with the mission of identifying and categorizing threats. Although members need to be a jack-of-all-trades in their roles, most end up specializing in one of three roles.
Investigators enter into the field, investigating crimes, strange occurrences, and urban legends to hunt down and identify who or what is involved. Any information collected might be sent along to Analysts who are tasked with reviewing intelligence and identifying connections and relevance which individual Investigators might not be able to recognize. Finally, Archivists maintain the Servants storehouse of lore and forbidden objects. They are also responsible for creating sanctuaries and overseeing and securing transportation and communication networks.
Initiation: Whenever possible, the Servants enjoy poaching potential recruits from the New World Order. Both the Convention and the Conspiracy employ similar spycraft when moving through the mundane world. Potential recruits are drawn from universities all over the world, identified by Archivists on the lookout for individuals who might make a good Servant. An apprentice spends the next four or five years with a mentor, who teaches him or her the way of the Conspiracy, spycraft, and magic. When the five years are over, the recruit will be sent to a second mentor who will oversee entrance in the field. This assignment is always meant not only to introduce a new Servant to the life as a member of the Conspiracy, but to expand their experiences culturally and open their mind.
Affinity Spheres: Mind, Correspondence, or Time
Focus: A World of Gods and Monsters, Everything is Data, or A Mechanistic Cosmos are common. In many ways, the Conspiracy is a mystic version of the New World Order in its methodology. Instead of Social Domination, the Servants prefer Social Persuasion to influence hearts and minds and convert enemies into allies. The Art of Desire is one of the most common and favored focus styles though in general magic that is flexible and can blend into the background is popular. This would include Gutter Magic, Reality Hacking, and Witchcraft.