Arcanum Noctus

What has been written here is as much as I can safely note about Arcanum Noctus. There is more but I worry that shuld this not work, our enemies will gather this information and use it against us.
— Warden O. B. Davies

Arcanum Noctus is a multi-national organisation that traces its origins back to the historical orders of the Empire of Oldfront. In the current day, its position is more hidden that it was in the history books, stemming from a change in sway surrounding Weird and Magik phenomena and their role within the world. While some in the realm wish to keep such phenomena secret from the populus, particularly in the county of Farrow, the goal of Arcanum Noctus is to learn what is casing the events and halt or harness them if that is possible. It is only from the writings of ancient orders that we even have the names Weird and Magik. Hopefully, we shall figure out what each of these mean and how to harness these powers for positive events.

History

In the first few days after The Great War, the continent of Stanos started to experience strange and unusual events. At first their appearance was inconsistent and infrequent. Often claims of the supernatural seemed inconceivable by many in larger cities, particularly as they occured closer to the centre of the continent, in smaller villages on the fringes of high society.

An Image depicting the creature from The Night of Silver Claw. This is the only published picture of the supernatural within Farrow.

That was until, 13^th Lowinter 32 PI. Within the city of Highfront, a powerful lycanthrope attacked three partygoers at a formal event, that to this day I cannot find the name of. This night, now known as The Night of the Silver Claw, has gone down in history as the inception of the urban paranormal and the groups that have been founded to resolve such events. While I cannot produce information about all the founders of Arcanum Noctus for their own safety, it was within a few years that they gathered together to form the intial foundations of the order. However, all was not well between these originators. By 48 PI, both Caralyn Black and Horace Tellver left the basis of Arcanum and founded their own organization with similar aims but different means. This was the foundation of the secrecy and esoteric nature of Aracnum, which would lead to the dissemination of information to occur down based on the trust held between Arcanum and a member themselves. There are no known connections between Arcanum Noctus and the governments on Stanos. It is believed that at some point in the history of Arcanum, there was an attempt at collaboration that went wrong, with members on all sides losing their lives. While believed to be the case, I cannot find any information which can prove it for certain, though personally I believe that... actually, that doesn't matter at this time.

As of the current year, 1908 CY, Arcanum Noctus is highly active within Stanos, still remaining underground from the groups that operate in the light. I can't write our exact number of members but Arcanum is growing with new Collectives appearing throughout the months. Though at the same time, this is concerning because that means the phenomena are becoming more common as time passes.

At this time, most members struggle to operate in Farrow and Marine as both independently have government-led organizations who have their own aims and objectives. Particularly, they wish to keep the true nature of the phenomena from their people. This can lead to indirect confrontations between members of Arcanum and those who work in those organisations. This, however, doesn't stop members being active and operating within both location, just halts some of the operations and leads to members being incarcerated due to their allegiances.

For example: Some of my friends have been incarcerated by The Custodians

Arcanum Noctus Symbol by Armoria

Motto

L'ū marōn vysilt, osarū tōranā mainūs

As below understood, we the people thrive

Year of Founding
56 PI (1746 CY) Headquarters
Highfront, Farrow (assumed)

Structure

There are several primary orders that work under the banner of Arcanum Noctus. Each order contains a number of Wardens, with each of them handling a number of Collectives, groups of people who act as field agents, handling assignments on the behalf of Arcanum. It should be stated that the status of an individual is always in flux, with promotion and demotion happening from time to time. I myself started as a member of a Collective, working my way up to the title of Warden within the Order, Condictor Mundi. We as Wardens do have people from which we recieve our orders. Particularly when it comes to assignments, though that is not my place to tell.

The Major Orders of Arcanum Noctus

There are many orders that exist within our organisation. This is just a list of some of the notable ones, particularly with strong ties to the ancient origins of our organization. However, the list is not exhaustive, with newer orders added from time to time, I shall try and update the list with some of the newer orders and any notable Wardens that I can discuss.

Condictor Mundi

Organization | Jul 2, 2023

The Eldest and Highest order of Arcanum Noctus. Condictor Mundi act as the central collective which the major orders report to.

Research and Development

From all of this talk of the orders and their capabilities, I should be wary to mention that Arcanum has its own specific group who works on Research and Development. These members are known as Architects and have provided a mass of gadgets to detect and contain Weird and Magik energies. However, they have also helped to discover new ways of using current technology to fashion simple weapons and other materials that may be needed by our membership in their times. Some examples of their creations include:

Wrist Gun

A small mechanical device that attatches to the wearer's wrist and allows for a small projectile to be launched at a target. Can be excellent in a pinch but do invoke a small burn on the wrist that can be terribly painful.

Vantis Blade

Named for its creator, Architect Korala Vantis, this blade uses a strange element of Magik that makes the blade both invisible and eternally sharp. Some have attempted to create another variant of the blade, but each have failed and resulted in a strange and unusual death for the Architect.

Weird Detector

Also known by some as a Weird-o-meter, a Weird Detector is a common item used by many collectives to allow for individual members to search for anomolies of what is known as Weird. They somewhat resemble a wrist mounted timepiece that has no hands or face. when opened a small crystal glows a bright blue color if it detects Weird, or is completely inert if there isn't any there. It is up to the reader to recognise the strange gradient between the glowing states to indicate just how much Weird has been detected.

Arcanum Containment Unit

Commonly known as the A.C Unit, its purpose is the containment of Weird items, objects, and energy. Small enough to fit into a briefcase, the A.C Unit is a portable solution to pluck any sentient goo, strange crystals, or latent energies into containers that can then allow Architects and other Arcanum resarchers to learn more about the Weird and its potential sources. These containers are only to be handled by Wardens after their initial collection, they A.C Units are however prone to being broken and as such have a vast quantity to give such a number to a single Collective should it be required.

Notable Collectives

I write here a number of Collectives that I have seen or written about over my years in Arcanum. They were each important in their own way as to the future of Arcanum and its many goals and pathways. It should also be noted that I will not divulge names or titles unless I truly have to, my own safety is at risk, I wouldn't want to incur that on many other members.

The Veiled Oblivion

Formed of three members out of Farrow, the Veiled Oblivion have been researching many aspects of a specifcic type of phenomena relating to Curoid, particularly its possible origins as a poison from the centre of Ryedath. Some of the samples we have managed to gather indicate it can be tainted. Though the articles I have gathered should shed some more light on that situation.

The Circlet

A now retired Collective, the members of the Circlet were known for their possession and subsequent assignments surrounding a Circlet that allowed a strange and demonic entity to enter the bodies of those who wore it. I was fortunate enough to know these people and saw their operations run somewhat successfully.

Black Hands

This Collective was derived from five members that met in strange circumstances. Three of the members had been in several retired collectives, while the two newest members witnessed an incident and showed their capabilities within the assignment. It is strange that they were a success but they continue to complete assignments to this day. Where there journey heads next, only they can decide.

Entry for Worldbuilding Summer Camp 2023

Answering: "a powerful organization in your world"

Visit oaster2000's Competition Page Check all other answers to this prompt Competition Homepage

Comments

Please Login in order to comment!

Grandmaster Keon Croucher

Jul 2, 2023 18:38 by Keon Croucher

Very noir, very cool, love the style, love the idea, this more modernesque take on things (or so it sounds) with the paranormal and magick and supernatural elements. Keeping the creepy, not feeling campy, and really in that sweet spot. I would love to read more about it, and I shall, the world sounds really interesting, kinda dark, spooky, esoteric, yet still relatable in a fashion. I have no good comparison or cultural reference for the vibe this throws at me, but I love love love it.

Keon Croucher, Chronicler of the Age of Revitalization

Sage Catoblepon

Jul 3, 2023 10:12 by Catoblepon

You got my attention! Also the CSS is hella cool! And I love how you can see the translation of the motto when you hover it!

Visit Iphars & Shattered
Cool reads: Reaching the Meeraz | University of Delavar | Meeraz Morrow | Catoblepon's rambles