The Free Council, Speakers of Truth to Power, The Keepers of Undreamt of Futures
Humanity is magical; human works have arcane secrets. Of all the orders in the Pentacle, the Free Council alone has hands clean of the Martyr's blood. It's debatable whether or not they would have upheld the same colonial supremacy as the Diamond Orders, but certainly their ethos suggests they would have viewed the destruction of a whole human culture, nevermind a unique culture of magical praxis, as the massive sin of Hubris history has proven it to be.
Their arrival in the Delaware Valley was through a door held open by the Unnamed Nation. It was the Unnamed, already given the right of Recognition within the Martyr's Tree consilium who first gave shelter to America's first Free Councilor. He joined the family of the Children of the Tree as an equal, shared in their culture and their teachings, and imparted his own. It's been a partnership of over 200 years, once in which both sides of the exchange continue to flourish.
The local Free Council is on the bleeding edge of every progressive movement in the Delaware Valley. They champion art, technology, education, and human development wherever they may. They rival the Silver Ladder in their acts of charity and their support of the human endeavor. And wherever possible, their Minutemen and their Citizen Agents unite with their Unnamed allies to destroy the followers of the Lie.
Suggested Concepts: Acanthus Blogger/News Reporter, Mastigos Community Organizer, Moros Right to Death Advocate, Obrimos Physics Teacher, Thyrsus Technoshaman
Free Council History
The story the Libertine Assemblies will tell you is that they bravely defied the hierarchies of the Diamond Orders, cast off millenia old traditions hearkening back to an Atlantean past, and focused instead on the vibrancy and creativity of the denizens of the Fallen World. That when their struggle spread across the globe, it gave hope and purpose to the Unnamed orders, acting as some sort of call to action which brought them all together in glorious purpose, a united front.
The Assembly of the Unnamed Nation knows better. Before the industrial revolution swept across Europe and the Americas, before the bourgeois revolutions of the 18th century, before the Free Council dared to tell the Exarchs to go take a walk, the Nameless Nations gathered at the roots of the Martyr's Tree. Here, at least, the Nameless did not find protection and respect under the wing of the Free Council, rather the Free Council found protection and respect among the Nameless Nation.
What came to be known as the Children of the Tree formed from the remnants of the Lenape will workers, and indeed any Awakened of whatever origin or creed, should they deny membership in the Pentacle orders. Given the Lex Magica had already affirmed by silver law concordance and Harmony that the Unnamed had a seat at the table and granted the Children of the Tree right of Recognition, the truth of the matter is that the first Libertines to set foot in Philadelphia did so with the blessing of the Unnamed Nation. As peers, not as colonizers.
This is a debt the Libertine caucus can never fully repay. To this day they work in partnership with the Children of the Tree, attempting to meld ancient wisdom with modern pragmatism and a unity of purpose with a free spirit.
Free Council Resources
Assembly Hall of the Libertine Caucus
Hallow of the Glitching Sprites
Lorehouse of the Transmodern
Office of the Emissaries
Office of the Strategos
Office of the Minutemen
Office of the Citizen Agents
Free Council Members
These are the current members of the Libertine Caucus.
Add [[Category:Free Council]] to your page to show up here.
These roles are adapted from Mage: the Awakening 1.0 and are subject to revision in play.
There is no NPC leader of the Free Council. The Free Council is a non-hierarchical Order. Don't break your toy, folx.
PC Roles
Syndic - A good Syndic is a statesperson. Eloquent and poised, able to distill difficult topics down to discrete items upon which the Assembly may vote. A poor one is little more than a political hack. A wonk with their own agenda, pursuing their own ends for selfish reasons. The Ciceros and Trotskies of their day, they fan the flames of the vox populi, harness the collective will, and direct it to higher purpose. Too often, however, Syndics revel in their own base instincts and relish the power their influence and oration brings to them. An Assembly too long in the clutches of a single Syndic's sway is, quite often, a sick one on its way to collapse. Prerequisites: Syndics rise and fall on the acclaim of the Voters. They need nothing more than that and Free Council Status 1-5. Current Syndics: Charleville
Strategos - When war seems imminent, when threats to the Assembly exceed the abilities of a simple mustering of the Minutemen, the Strategos is looked to. Some are martially competent tacticians in their own right, some merely experts in a highly rarified field, the Strategos is the closest thing to a hierarchical position the Assembly offers, and then only until the threat that required the Strategos's service comes to an end. When a Strategos is required, the Assembly surrenders to it the power of its vote. The original Roman Dictators held such power. Famously, the latter ones never surrendered it. Those Strategos who emulate this hubris are frequently deposed by either popular vote or, if it comes to it, force. Accordingly, a selfless character is often the most common trait among the Strategoi. Prerequisites: Persuasion 3 (Leadership), Academics 3 (Warfare), one additional Academics specialty relating to their field of expertise, Free Council Status 3-5. Current Strategoi: Ethos
Citizen Agent - Part special forces operative, part spy, Citizen Agents handle the order's dirty laundry. While their role within the Assembly is no secret, the missions they undertake frequently are. This seeming contradiction with their democratic ideals has much to do with the realities of Awakened life. Operational Security must come first when your enemies bend their heads to the Iron Pyramid. Particularly adroit Agents relish beating the Susceptors to a threat, and the games of counting coup played between those orders have fostered a grudging mutual respect between the similar roles. Prerequisites: Either Stealth or Subterfuge 3, Either Weaponry/Brawl/Firearms 3 or Athletics 3, Free Council Status 2-4. Current Agents:
Letter Carrier - The position arose here in Philadelphia in the 1930's, an answer to the rise of fascism and the Seer's hand in ensuring that rise. Functionally, the position is little more than an Emissary role taken from the local arena to a regional one. Letter Carriers frequently bring matters to the Magisterium of the Lesser Convocation of the Northeast, carry urgent messages to neighboring consilii and assemblies, and form a network of low-tech, high-fidelity communication between powerful mages within the Free Council. While this position has faded from popularity in most consilii, the regional appeal of positions like this one and the Minutemen ensure it will likely remain within the Lesser Convocation for quite some time. Of note, volunteers for this position must consent to having their minds altered to carry the secret missives they bear. Only once they reach their destination, do their mouths form the words their brains contain, typically without them being aware what the message was in the first place. Prerequisites: The willingness to have your brain rewritten routinely, Prime 2, Mind 2, Free Council Status 2-4. Current Carriers:
Minuteman - As the name implies, these individuals form the backbone of the order's martial arm. When threats to the Assembly arise, the Minutemen do too, mustering to the defense of the Assembly and its members with the tenacity of any Arrow and the conviction of any Guardian. As with most aspects of the order, the group has no official leader. When trouble of a certain sort arises, the Minuteman with the most expertise pertaining to the threat is often pushed forward to take the lead on that matter, and likely only until that matter is resolved. Pragmatism personified, the Minuteman. Prerequisites: Firearms, Brawl, or Weaponry 2, Athletics or Stealth 2, Free Council Status 1-3. Current Minutemen: Kieron Sinclair
Emissary - It might seem odd at first that a job as little more than a messenger can garner such prestige within the order. Emissaries are not tasked with arguing on behalf of their messages, simply delivering them. But an artful Emissary can and has in the past meant the difference between bad news being taken with grace, and bad news being taken to the brink of war. Emissaries need to be eloquent, polite, attentive to detail, and gifted with keen observational skills. The access they gain by delivering messages to constituent parts of the consilium and assembly, both to individual mages of note and to locations where such luminaries congregate, accounts for a great deal of the position's prestige. In a world where who you know is often as important as what you know, this affords Libertines access to a whole lot of people. Prerequisites: Presence 3, Persuasion 2, Socialize 2, Free Council Status 1-3. Current Emissaries:
Voter - Voters, as the name implies, are merely members of the Awakened community be they Awakened or otherwise, Recognized by the Caucus to have the maturity, loyalty, and discernment sufficient to afford them a voice in the governance of the Assembly. Sleepwalkers, Proximi, and Apprentices alike are not uncommon within the voting ranks, and while their opinion may not hold equal sway to that of an Awakened master, their vote weighs the same when it comes to the counting. New members to the caucus are typically given a probationary period of at least one month before being granted the right to vote on local matters. This serves the dual purpose of letting the individual learn the ropes before being expected to render a worthy opinion, and to give time for the Citizen Agents to ascertain if the individual is truly trustworthy. Prerequisites: Free Council Status 1. Current Voters: Alexandra McKenzie, Kieron Sinclair
