Out of Character (OOC):
San Diego: Shadow Cults
Written and designed by Lucas Powell
Antares Institute
A Mythic History
The roots of the Antares Institute start in the waning days of Byzantium. A group of monks in an Orthodox monastery outside of Byzantine were visited by late in the night by a vision of an angel, Raphael, who told the brother that they would be engaged in a war against the Adversary whether they wished it or not. Raphael told them not to fear because God had not forgotten their faithfulness and as Mary had a lamp to guide her to the manger so too the brothers will be granted a lamp to set fire to the darkness.
The monks prepared themselves for an inevitable battle. That darkness came and lurked over the monastery, and the Abbot lit the lamp and the entire abbey was bathed in holy light. It burned until dawn and whatever evil had come for them was but dust. The brothers shortly regained their vision, except for the Abbot who was forever blinded and wept tears of Chrisom the rest of his days. The
monks knew that they could not stay in the monastery as surely more monsters would come for revenge. They wore the clothes of poor Greeks and left the monastery empty and traveled, becoming a roaming army of the Lord. With the rise of the Templars in the Holy Land, the monks found a home in their ranks, and the two organizations, secretly melded.
Modern Roots
The roots of the Antares Institute start in the waning days of Byzantium. A group of monks in an Orthodox monastery outside of Byzantine were visited by late in the night by a vision of an angel, Raphael, who told the brother that they would be engaged in a war against the Adversary whether they wished it or not. Raphael told them not to fear because God had not forgotten their faithfulness and as Mary had a lamp to guide her to the manger so too the brothers will be granted a lamp to set fire to the darkness.
The monks prepared themselves for an inevitable battle. That darkness came and lurked over the monastery, and the Abbot lit the lamp and the entire abbey was bathed in holy light. It burned until dawn and whatever evil had come for them was but dust. The brothers shortly regained their vision, except for the Abbot who was forever blinded and wept tears of Chrisom the rest of his days. The monks knew that they could not stay in the monastery as surely more monsters would come for revenge. They wore the clothes of poor Greeks and left the monastery empty and traveled, becoming a roaming army of the Lord. With the rise of the Templars in the Holy Land, the monks found a home in their ranks, and the two organizations, secretly melded.
Modern Roots
Since the dawn of man there have always been those who existed on the fringes of society and pointed into the darkness and said, “There are monsters.” Until the breaking of the Age of Enlightenment such dire warnings were accepted, although generally in the clout of propaganda of the secular and religious variety. Now, such warnings are considered laughable, and those exceptional individuals took to their own course, some of them founding the Antares Institute.
The records of the founding of the Antares Institute have been lost, and in fact most of the accumulated lore and knowledge were lost. Popular rumors have stated that it was mundane fire; others claimed that the organization was infiltrated by the very monsters it studied in it more secretive experiments, and brought to its knees. Whatever the cause it is known that the founding members of the Antares Institute at San Diego came from the east and never related their histories to anyone else. Dr. Marcus Baum, Father Gregory Diakartes, and Ms. Constance Childress will take the secret of their origins to the grave, hoping, perhaps, to avoid and avert the fate that befell the Antares Institute at a different time and place.
The Antares Institute arrived in San Diego during the late months of 1989. The institute quickly earned itself a name as an enemy of the occult and superstition. It didn't take long for enemies to appear for the weak Institute. But its reliance on science and the scientific process to debunk any superstitions they find has allowed them to preserver occult persecution and harassment. The organization is gaining members quickly and is looking to open new Chapter Houses in other cities.
The records of the founding of the Antares Institute have been lost, and in fact most of the accumulated lore and knowledge were lost. Popular rumors have stated that it was mundane fire; others claimed that the organization was infiltrated by the very monsters it studied in it more secretive experiments, and brought to its knees. Whatever the cause it is known that the founding members of the Antares Institute at San Diego came from the east and never related their histories to anyone else. Dr. Marcus Baum, Father Gregory Diakartes, and Ms. Constance Childress will take the secret of their origins to the grave, hoping, perhaps, to avoid and avert the fate that befell the Antares Institute at a different time and place.
The Antares Institute arrived in San Diego during the late months of 1989. The institute quickly earned itself a name as an enemy of the occult and superstition. It didn't take long for enemies to appear for the weak Institute. But its reliance on science and the scientific process to debunk any superstitions they find has allowed them to preserver occult persecution and harassment. The organization is gaining members quickly and is looking to open new Chapter Houses in other cities.
Purpose
The purpose of the Antares Institute is twofold. The first is to seek out those who use superstition to prey upon people and reveal them for what they truly are. Considering that the majority of members who volunteer their time to the Institute are hardcore rationalists, this translates to them finding any kind of supposed supernatural encounter something that they are antagonistic towards.
Secondly, the Institute shields mankind from the supernatural world. They have a single weapon at their disposal, an ancient lamp, but it a weapon of frightening power. Witches, ghosts, werewolves, vampires, and the other sundry monsters that haunt the world are utterly destroyed by its light. They engage in a shadow war against those monsters, using whatever means they have at their disposal to do so.
Hierarchy
The rank and file investigators who make up the majority of the Institutes members volunteer their time to the Institute. They are rationalists, skeptics without any special knowledge of the supernatural world. The next rank of members are actually on the Institutes payroll. It is their job is to determine which events were truly not supernatural in origin and which were, and after making that decision gathering as much information as possible about the situation and then tracking down those entities involved, determining whether they are a threat or not, and then after determining that, deciding whether that supernatural creature needs to be eliminated. The next level are the direct interlocutors between the Board who govern the Institute and the membership at large. These three individuals are the founding members of the Institute in Manitou Springs. They also carry the Lamp of Mary to where it is needed and release its awesome power.
The Board... nothing can really be said about them, considering no one knows who they really are, including the founders.
The Ordo Templis Orientis
The Board sit as the head of the Ordo Templis Orientis as well, the Antares Institute growing from the Orthodox monks and the Ordo from the Templars, or so they believe. The two organizations are not in full communion, and view each other antagonistically. However, the heads of the two organizations ensure that direct conflict never occurs between the two.
Faces of the institute:
Dr. Marcus Baum
Dr. Marcus Baum is by far the most academically eminent of the Antares institute. He is now in his late sixties and has long since retired from any activity besides running the organization from a bureaucratic and organizational side. The most laid-back of the three by three by far, with frequent smiles and low-key, banal humor. Constantly adjusting his tie and suit. Unknown to most, he has a serious genetic heart condition.
Patriarch Gregory Diakartes
Currently the most fervently active of three founders. Gregory Diakartes is an
ordained minister of apostolic succession in the Russian Orthodox Church. He grants to the Antares Institute a kind of religious credibility when it comes to issues of faith. During press conferences it is he and Constance who do most of the talking.
Dr. Marcus Baum is by far the most academically eminent of the Antares institute. He is now in his late sixties and has long since retired from any activity besides running the organization from a bureaucratic and organizational side. The most laid-back of the three by three by far, with frequent smiles and low-key, banal humor. Constantly adjusting his tie and suit. Unknown to most, he has a serious genetic heart condition.
Patriarch Gregory Diakartes
Currently the most fervently active of three founders. Gregory Diakartes is an
ordained minister of apostolic succession in the Russian Orthodox Church. He grants to the Antares Institute a kind of religious credibility when it comes to issues of faith. During press conferences it is he and Constance who do most of the talking.
Ms. Constance Childress
Along with Partriarch Diakartes, Constance is the public face of the Antares Institute. Of the three, her life has definitely been the hardest. She was raised among cults, not knowing her true parentage due to the restrictions of the cult. When she turned twelve the cult leader took her virginity and by the age of 14 she had had a child by him. After the years of emotional and physical abuse in the cult she summoned the courage to leave and found solace in a cult deprogrammer, Dr. Marcus Baum.
Investigator: Jiacoppo DeAngelis
DeAngelis was born in Italy, but as a child his parents immigrated to the United States. While living in New York his mother took to reading fortunes to help make ends meet. He went to school and eventually ended up entering law enforcement. It is not know what happened to his parents, something awful and its been buried under obfuscation. He began to work for Interpol, and after a relatively long and distinguished career he eventually moved to San Diego and joined the police force there as an investigator, specializing in Occult Crimes.DeAngelis dresses nicely and yet practically, and the clothes reflect that he is not afraid to get dirty on occasion. He otherwise appears as a typically Italian man. Cigarette smoke clings to him, as he have never been able to stop chain smoking. When off work, he drink, and most would consider him an alcoholic, but the things he have seen... who wouldn't be?
The Honored of the Sepharvaim
The Honored are a dying group of cults that were left bereft of leadership after the Enders of All Things were lost at the battle of the El Cortez. Sub Cults have formed centered on the worship of smaller more accessible entities than the thirty abstract black gods of the Sepharvaim. Most have lost their mystic gifts from their abyssal patrons.
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