Government, Secret, and Supernatural Organizations

Although the Supernatural is mostly hidden from mortals there are those that are in the know, and over the centuries many Organizations have been established that interact with the shadow world of the supernatural. Some of the more prominent groups (both Good and Evil) follow:

• Watchers Council: The Watchers Council, based in Great Britain, are colloquially known simply as The Council. They are a governing institution of individuals who maintain operatives, known as Watchers and Slayers, throughout the world in their fight against Vampires, Demons and other forces of evil.
• White Council: The White Council, comprised of wizards from all mortal nations, is a signatory of the Unseelie Accords and serves as the “supernatural nation” for all mortal wizardkind.
• Mafia: A mafia is a type of organized crime syndicate whose primary activities are protection racketeering, arbitrating disputes between criminals, and brokering and enforcing illegal agreements and transactions. Mafias often engage in secondary activities such as gambling, loan sharking, drug-trafficking, prostitution, and fraud. There are several Mafia Organizations operating around the world.
• S.A.V.E.: S.A.V.E. (Societas Argenti Viae Eternitata, or, The Eternal Society of the Silver Way) is a secret society that is dedicated to protecting innocents from the creatures of the Unknown. Agents of SAVE are called envoys. SAVE is thought to have been destroyed in 1990 and now functions in total secrecy as an underground organization.
• Bureau 13: Bureau 13 is another offshoot of SAVE and is now a top-secret U.S.A government agency which investigates and combats supernatural events. The Bureau's motto is "Protecting America from Everything"
• S.P.R.I.G.: The Silverthorne Paranormal Research and Investigations Group (SPRIG), based in Windsor Ontario, is an offshoot of SAVE and is sponsored in part by the White Council.
• S.E.E.: The Society for the Exploration of the Unexplained (SEE) is an informal academic group based at the Miskatonic University in Arkham Mass.
• Lazlo Society: The Society is named after one Victor Lazlo, a parapsychologist who disappeared in 1984. While Dr. Lazlo was an eccentric, although brilliant mind, and well respected among his colleagues, those who use his name are rarely so benign.
• Lazlo Agency: The Lazlo Agency is a somewhat secretive organization where membership is acquired by invitation only. It was started three months after the disappearance of Victor Lazlo by Robert Mach. The name is homage to Mr. Mach's friend and mentor. The Agency itself is engaged in paranormal research and assisting those who deal with the supernatural. While it's exact membership is unknown, it is a world wide network of people working together to further Victor Lazlo's dream.
• The Shadow League: The Shadow League, is an organization of human practitioners with low-level magical talent or individuals sharing information (or disinformation), seeking advice, and working, often individually, to build up magical power. Initially founded under the name Paranet, to provide an infrastructure, help, and protection for such practitioners, due to not being eligible for the White Council, it has expanded to become a web of interconnected individuals, who share interests and exchange information. For convenience sake, anyone who is involved with the Shadowboard or paranet can be considered a "member" of the League, although they may have no loyalty to the Shadowleague itself and are very likely to be committed members of more formal organizations. The Shadowboard or Paranet is a computer "bulletin board" which exists in parallel with the Internet. Consequently, there are no restrictions on involvement with the Shadowleague. No entry requirements or duties owed to "superiors." Anyone can get involved with the league. And that means anyone: pretentious "occultists," infiltrators from other magical societies and brotherhoods. Anyone with a computer, modem, and Shadowboard Access software can then access this information, reading notices, picking up messages left for them, and leaving messages for other users.
• The Seekers: The Seekers are a group committed to discovering and studying all aspects of the supernatural, and as such, are not simply mages. They are, rather, a broad selection of experts on all realms of the arcane and paranormal. The membership of the group certainly includes Mystics, Sorcerers, Fleshsculptors, and other practitioners of magic, but it also includes parapsychologists and exorcists, interested professionals (military intelligence experts, for example), academics (e.g. archaeologists), explorers with a taste for the supernatural, and others. The organization's membership, worldwide, is about 3,000, mainly in Europe, Australia and the US. Of these, no more than one third have any magical powers. The seekers are not sanctioned or part of the White Council and in many instances mages involved with the seekers are often hunted by the White Council as Warlocks.
• The Black Council/The Circle: Although their existence has not been officially confirmed, this rumored group is seemingly behind a lot of the dark goings on over the past several years. It’s suspected that they have an agent in the White Council...possibly even on the Senior Council itself. Those who have seen this cabal’s shadowy hand in action call it by different names, most commonly either the Black Council or the Circle. They are known to react badly to incompetence and murderously to deception. While it is unknown what their ultimate goal is, getting there obviously involves stirring up heaping helpings of trouble.
• The Brotherhood of True Illumination: Of the Sorecerous organizations, one of the nastiest is the Brotherhood of True Illumination. These collected Mages and Warlocks are sponsored directly by forces of evil and possibly the Black Council. These black-hearted mages not only draw upon demonic entities for power and insight, but they are manipulated by these demons as willing pawns. Most branches of the True Illumination's (and they have many) bear no resemblance to one another, and never contact each other and the majority of the members remain unaware that their leaders are following orders from the infernal realms. Members of this vile brotherhood are hunted by the White Council and put to death.
• Order of the Cobra: The Order of the Cobra has operated for centuries from Japan through China and India to Egypt. They are thieves, assassins and conmen, using stealth and pseudo-mystical powers to make their dishonest livings throughout the years.
• Venatori Umbrorum: The Venatori Umbrorum are literally “hunters of the shadows.” Often characterized as “Masons with machine guns” or “Masons with flame-throwers,” this ancient secret brotherhood has extensive knowledge of academic (especially history and folklore), commercial, intelligence and counter-intelligence, financial, legal, and military issues. They possess an understanding of basic occult countermeasures
• The Knights of the Cross: The Knights of the Cross were founded to counter the Fallen angels who make up the Order of the Blackened Denarius. They protect the freedom of the mortal soul. To that end, they aid any mortals under the oppression of dark forces and try to help those people win freedom from the darkness.
• The Order of the Blackened Denarius: The Order of the Blackened Denarius is composed of Fallen angels bound to thirty silver coins whose long term plans involve bringing about the Apocalypse.
• The Eye of Thoth: Catholic clergymen sworn to be always watchful against the forces of darkness and to help others battle evil when needed. These secretive priests all have an Eye of Thoth tattoos on the inside of their right arms, and keep their participation secret from the more worldly members of the clergy.
• The Fellowship of St. Giles: Members of the Fellowship of St. Giles look much like normal humans, but are actually individuals who have been cursed into a half-vampire existence. They work against vampires, attempting to expose, hinder, and destroy them whenever possible.