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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Derren" data-source="post: 6164064" data-attributes="member: 2518">As you command, soGet out the tinfoil hats(preferably with magical runes attached)As you might gather from the title, a lot of secret societies, at least the ones who really want to take over the world instead of just talk about it, have turned to magic. There are of course non magical organizations, too, but many of them resort to terrorism instead of schemes.Lets begin with a classic.Illuminates of the New DawnDespite the prestigious name the IotND are not really a secret society as they operate openly (yes, you can find them in the phone register under that name) and influence politics to further magical research and acceptance (= supremacy). Behind the scenes they think magic is the solution of all problems and have quite a low opinion of non mages. Internally they are very fond of magical duels, sometimes with lethal consequences.The Black LodgeAnother magical secret society, but this one is serious. They are a combination of freemasons, real illuminati, templars and other "popular" secret societies and of course bend on world domination by influencing the leaders. They have people in high places all over the world and their magic is quite advanced and powerful. It is speculated that they had magical knowledge even before the awakening. Recently they tried to assassinate Lofwyr through a magic ritual which failed (not by much) and are now on the hit list of all Great Dragons.Ordo MaximusA society of vampires based in Britain who pose as gentleman club. Their very long term goal is, of course, world domination for vampires but currently they are searching for ways to enhance vampires, either by using bioengineering to remove their weakness to sunlight or allow vampires to use cyberware.It is unclear if they are connected toFear the DarkA new group of Vampires which has appeared last year after the effects of vampirism and ghoulism worsened (sunlight hurts more, hunger gets worse, etc.). They announced themselves to the world through several murders and the demasking of the vampire hunter Martin De Vires as being a vampire himself. Everything else about them is still unknown, even if Fear the Dark is their real name.Order of the TempleThe militaristic arm of the Order of St. Sylvester, the only people inside the catholic church allowed to use magic. The Order of the Temple stays in the shadow to further their goals and most members of the Order of St. Sylvester do not know of their existence.Ex PacisEx Pacis was a organization devoted to the mad AI Deus who used them to bring forth his rebirth. After that failed Ex Pacis was technically destroyed, but it is believed that many membery survived and are now spreading "dissonance" through the matrix which causes glitches or in the worst cases disrupts matrix operations entirely through unknown means. Likewise, their goal is also unknown.That are the bigger secret societies (or rather the only ones I can think of). I am sure I missed a lot of them.Further above I said that the line between secret society and terrorism is thin and I covered the secret societies. Which means now comePeople who make things go boom for conviction instead of moneyThere is a lot of terrorism in Shadowrun. No matter if it is the environment, race, believe or plain, simple manic tendencies there are people who kill in the name of it.The most famous terrorist organization is one which was completely destroyed. I am talking about Winternight who managed to destroy the last iteration of the Matrix (with some help of Ex Pacis). They were mad enough to believe in the nordic religion and wanted to start Ragnarok, but still sane enough to understand that a real Ragnarok was kinda hard to do, so they settled for a digital one. Still, they had an arsenal of nukes which they used.TerraFist!Obviously a group of eco terrorists they fought alongside Sirrurg against Aztlan and were, like Sirrurg were beaten back. But by now they have recovered and are already searching for a new cause to support. Probably far away from the American continent, though.Humanis Policlub/Alamos 2000The largest and most well known "Humans only" group in North America. The Humanis Policlub is the official political front while Alamos 2000 does the dirty work. They were created when several white power groups banded together to combat the "freaks". They are responsible for many violent and spectacular attacks on Metahumans, even on a large scale and are still enjoying a lot of support from people in high places. Kenneth Brackhaven (soon to be ex) Major of Seattle has close ties to them.There are similar groups all over the world, the German one for example being called Nationale Aktion.The Jesters ArmyA rather new organization created by Harlequin to combat Ghostwalker. Harlequin left the army by now, but they are continuing without him. Their goals are unclear, but considering Harlequins state of mind when creating them it can't be good. Members include the former Ex Pacis member Puck and most likely also a powerful and rage filled free spirit created by Harlequin.Sons of SauronDrawing their name from Lord of the Rings, the Sons of Saurons primarily consist out of orks and trolls. The group was created as response of for the Night of Rage when a white power group set fire to several detention camps where orks were held and initiating pogroms against them in the whole country. Their favorite target is Humanis or Alamos, but they fight anyone they suspect of racism. According to rumors they fund themselves by piracy.GreenWarAnother eco terrorist group. Their actions range from simple protests to bombings to actually moving oil spills towards inhabited areas which created the Scottish Fringe Toxic Zone.SeraphimFormerly a very good black ops team of the now defunct Cross Applied Technologies they escaped destruction when Ares destroyed their mother corporations and have gone underground with a thirst for revenge.Well, thats are the major terrorist organizations. And while there are no anarchist groups (The Black Star, a major anarchy group, was destroyed to the last man in the Aztlan-Amazonian war) or communists on the list, you can be sure they are out there.There are many more organizations in Shadowrun so here a small list ofAll the othersAsamandoNot a organization, but a country mainly populated by ghouls. While it sounds silly to found a country for someone allergic to sunlight in the middle of Africa, you have to remember that prime real estate is hard to come by, especially when you want it for free. But they have a good tunnel network.The country itself is quite civilized sporting good infrastructure and industry, at least in their capital. Their main exports are minerals and magical material, their main import are prisoners. Yes, they buy prisoners from other countries to house them in their many prisons. Have I mentioned that ghouls can only sustain themselves by eating the flesh of sentient beings? Apart from prisoners they also import ordinary corpses. They are recognized by the Corporate Court, but not by the UN (because of the whole eating people thing). Recent events (which killed a UN fact finding team) revealed that the number of feral ghouls (ghouls who lost their mind during the transformation or through hunger) is a lot bigger (and conveniently located below the prisons) than believed. And with the ghoul infections getting worse its probably not a good country to be in.The Atlantean FoundationA huge magical society. Their main goal is finding Atlantis but they have expanded and now also conduct general magical research and provide all kinds of services to mages and other awakened. They also often fund expeditions to locate artifacts.There are of course several people (and other things) in the world which were alive during the 4th age and know exactly where Atlantis is but so far no one told them.GODNo, no divine being but instead a matrix security group with a snazzy e-mail handle. GOD stands for Grid Overwatch Division and with the latest Matrix changes they are responsible for the security of the whole matrix. Members of GOD are drafted from the 10 megacorps and they have god like powers (pun intended) in the matrix.The Council of PrincesFormer ruling body of the elven nation Tir Tairngire until deposed a few years ago. Most of the princes were elves (and from time to time a few dragons despite the animosity between them and elves) and many of them were immortal. A rare mutations of elves which do not age (existence not known to public). Many princes are currently in hiding or on the run.MET2000Germany realized that having a standing army with nothing to do is quite inefficient and costly. So they privatized part of their army and made it a public mercenary company and hold about 30% of its shares. Another advantage is that the German constitution does not really allow for aggressive military actions. A private company is not bound by it, though.The name stands for Mobile Eingreiftruppe 2000 and with 200.000 men it was the largest mercenary company on the planet with state of the art weapons in all military branches (air, land, sea) and its own intelligence service called Argus. The MET2000 took heavy losses in the Aztlan-Amazonia war when they fought on the side of Amazonia. That was mainly because of the accidental creation of a rage inducing cloud which made them and their enemies unable to stop fighting and reduced their tactical capabilities to "charge". Too bad that the other guys had bayonets.JackpointJackpoint is a invite only matrix board for high class Shadowrunner. Until recently it was headed by FastJack but he stepped down and also suggested to relax the invitation requirement on the board to get more perspectives of what happens in the world.All Shadowrun source books in 4E and likely also in 5E take the form of posts on Jackpoint.The ExchangeThe Exchange is a very curious organization, if you can even call it that. If you are lucky (or not, depending on your point of view) you might one day find a comlink on your doorstep which a interesting program on it. You are now member of the Exchange.The comlink will from time to time give you jobs. The job can range from leaving a full magazine in the abandoned building down the street, giving the squatter sitting next to the local butchery a hot soycaf or going to Egypt, dig out a still undiscovered grave and open the sarcophagus at midnight under full moon. If you do what you are told you will have good luck in the future which can come in the form of a stranger giving you something to drink while you are on a stakeout or finding afull magazine when you are on a run and out of ammo. If you fail to do the job, well, strange things will still happen to you. You just won't like them as much.The Exchange has been around a while, even before the crash 2.0 but so far nearly nothing is known about who is behind it or how they manage to predict where to leave what. An AI involvement is suspected but never proven.PerianwyrThe typical dragon in Shadowrun is typically the Machiavelli type. Arrogant, powerful, and neck deep in conspiracies. There are a few exception though, and Perianwyr is one of the better known.Ok, he once worked as an assassin alongside his human partner who rescued him when he awoke and was still a bit groggy, but that episode is in the past. Now he is in the music business, owning clubs and scouting for talent. And he is really good at it. And whats even more strange is that he treats his employees in a fair manner. The contracts he gives his talents are a lot better than the ones the megacorp owned labels do except for the pay. And while most Shadowrunners follow the "Never deal with a dragon" advice, they seem to have warmed up to him.Of course he is not all flowers and sunshine as recently he went against Ghostwalker. Whats strange is that Ghostwalker, normally a big fan of revenge, do not seem to hold a grudge against him. But knows what happened between those two...</blockquote>

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