The subject of a million conspiracy theories ever since they first appeared, the modern Masonic movement tends to focus on one particular lodge and that lodge's traditions: the Alpha Centauri Lodge, also called the ACen or AlphaCen Lodge. The Masons were one of the few groups that actively opposed the God AIs when the God AIs emerged (although this is hardly uniform; some Lodges that switch to allowing worship of the God AIs). However, the AlphaCen Lodge wasn't one of them, and during the Ascension Crisis, managed to get millions of individuals to safety and help keep much of the Alpha Centuari system safe from the Swarms and other disastesr. Ever since, the ACen Lodge has been upfront about their goals and motives, pushing to reform governments and supporting, unequivocally, the Solar Combine. Since it is the best known and oldest of the surviving lodges, it's traditions are the ones that many modern lodges are based around, and the one that the term "Mason" is synonymous with.
Who the Masons AreAlmost everyone thinks they know who the Freemasons are, and almost everyone has heard of them. In reality, the Masons are nothing more than a collection of fraternal organizations that consist of powerful individuals from across the Verge and Bleed, and less powerful individuals from across the Verge and Bleed as well. They are often implicated in a number of conspiracies, even though as a fraternal organization, they are often little more than a place for individuals to meet and discuss and to share connections. They are still unified under lodges and traditions, and they are still considered a "public secret society" or, perhaps more accurately, a fraternal organization.
What surprises many relativistic popsicles who may have been masons before they went under is the change in the purpose. It wouldn't be the first time the Masons have changed their purpose; they began as a mason guild, before progressing to a fraternal organization, before finally achieving their present form: something akin to a merchant's guild. The AlphaCen Lodge is heavily involved in rebuilding planets and settling people, and as a private institution works side-by-side with the Solar Combine to achieve these goals. Many high-ranking officials within the Solar Combine are Masons, and the AlphaCen Lodge has a heavy but subtle influence on the Solar Combine. Various Masonic lodges are scattered throughout the Verge and Bleed, although they are banned by the usual suspects: the Imperium, Monarchy, and Nariac all ban the practice. Anarchists tend to frown on it, and the Technocracy is suspicious of it, as is the Australis Union. Despite this, one can find Masons in almost any major city throughout the Solar Combine, the Regency, the Verge Consortium, the Verge Confederation, and a number of other minor powers (the leader of VoidCorp is a member; it's speculated this is why VoidCorp never joined the Verge Consortium). All this power and wealth allows the Masons to organize extensive charity relief efforts and apply it locally, where it's needed most. It also makes them a target of conspiracy theories, and not least of all because they're believed to be tied (financially, at least) to the Archimedes Society. There are three different recognition groups within the masons: Regular Freemasonry, which insists that a volume of scripture be open in every lodge, every member profess a belief in a Superior Being, no women (or women identifying individuals) being allowed, and that discussion of politics and religion is banned; Continental Freemasonry, which removes many of the above bans but instead has a ban on uplifts, AGIs, and other "non-humans" as well as rejects members who have undergone mind uploading since it views that as a type of suicide, and Tolimanic Freemasonry, or Alpha Centauri Freemasonry, which removes the restrictions on "non-humans" and mind uplifts but re-instantiates the ban on political and religious discussions and requires that all members profess a belief in a superior being, regardless who or what that superior being happens to be. An off-shoot of Tolimanic Freemasonry, called Independent Sothic Freemasonry, removes the dictum that all who join should believe in a supreme being, but it's often just seen as a subtype of Tolimanic Freemasonry (although it is usually productive to ask which in advance - Tolimanic or Sothic - since they are different from one another in key ways). Of these, Tolimanic is the most common, thanks to the AlphaCen Lodge. |
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What Masons Want
The Masons are very big on keeping trade lanes open. The AlphaCen Lodge tends to dislike how much control over the wormhole network the Verge Consortium has; this conflict is entirely one-sided, however, since the VC is too large for one lodge to deal with alone. They tend to work closely with certain spacer groups and use them to ship goods; the AlphaCen Lodge is one of the largest private employers of spacer flotillas and fleets for the purpose of trade between various areas of the Verge and Bleed. This focus on trade is what drives the AlphaCen Lodge, at least, and it's the primary focus of the AlphaCen Lodge. On a more abstract level, the Masons tend to focus on systems and managing these systems to ensure that they stay running; the current Grand Master Mason compared the AlphaCen Lodge with a heart doctor concerned with the circulatory system, but who also has to keep an eye on the respiratory system, digestive system, and other areas of the patient as well. They are less focused on exploration although the thought of finding new colonies to possibly spread too and reconnecting them to the greater civilization to strengthen the civilization often requires very little persuasion.
What the Masons Can Provide
Above all else, the major mover and shakers in the Masonic Order (especially the AlphaCen Lodge) are rich. They are flush with cash, and they deal with large quantities of valuable goods and charity, and ensuring that those places get from location A to location B so that the free trade lifeblood may flow. As a result, Masons can provide a wide range of services to those who are members - and those who have reputation with the Masonic order (the AlphaCen Lodge especially) and beyond. They can provide:
- Accomodations.
- Immunity. Masons have connections in high places and so someone who knows a Mason may be able to get some strings pulled to help out.
- New Gear.
- Provisions.
- Replacement.
- Transportation and Vehicles, up to and including starships. Masons are deeply connected to the world of interstellar trade and so frequently are involved; if it doesn't involve a megacorp or government, it likely involves the Masons.
Rank
0 1 2 3 |
Title
Candidate Apprentice Fellowcraft Master Mason |
Advantages
Rank 0 Rank 1, Public Speaking IQ-1 Rank 2, Public Speaking IQ, Leadership IQ-1 Rank 3, Leadership IQ; Free Status +1 [0]. |
How to make a Conspiracy TheoryThe Freemasons are a popular target for conspiracy theories and modern history hasn't changed that. They are often charged with a wide range of different theories, some of which may contain more truth than others. One of the most popular theories is that the Freemasons were behind the God AIs. This belief is especially ironic given the Freemasons and the God AIs never got along; the God AIs never instituted any policies against Freemasonry, but they never had any love for the organization, either, since the Freemasons were constantly against allowing the God AIs to run human affairs. Other popular conspiracy theories that surround them focus on their interstellar trade connections - that VoidCorp is a front for a greater Masonic conspiracy is a popular claim, and many nationalists see the interstellar organization as a threat to their national identity, which means they're a popular target for authoritarian governments that are looking for a scapegoat. |
History of the Freemasons
The whole history of the Freemasons is beyond the scope of this document, and not least of all because the whole history remains largely unknown. However, the history as relevant to the Verge and Bleed began at the beginning of the Interplanetary Period. The era of neostructuralism encouraged a large number of individuals to become active within organizations and groups again, ranging from organized labor to the Masons, as a bid to help rebuild the communities that neoliberalism had destroyed. The Masons emerged out of this period stronger than ever and began to export their belief system and fraternal organization all over the solar system; some of the oldest lodges that are still in use are found on Mars, Titan, and Pluto (the Lodges on Earth don't count, since few people live on Earth and can use them properly). The first extrasolar Masonic lodge founded was the Chiron University Lodge on Ixion, a planet that orbited around the star Toliman. Today it's just called the AlphaCen Lodge. This lodge would grow with time, becoming the birthplace of writers like Rocheford, the economists who created neo-mutualism, and a number of other important figures in the Verge and Bleed. As interest in large organized societies and groups waned during the God AI period the Masons saw a decrease in numbers, which was probably what led the AlphaCen Lodge to accept androids, uplifts, neo-animals, AGIs, and mind emulations as members, although it reincorporated a handful of aspects from Regular Freemasonry, probably so that it could keep some kind of cohesive unity.
The Ascension Crisis saw the AlphaCen Lodge play a major role in helping people get out of the Solar System and keeping the Alpha Centauri system largely safe. During this period the AlphaCen Lodge was the government of the Alpha Centauri System, and the AlphaCen lodge remains incredibly important in the government affairs of Alpha Centauri to this day. The eras afterwards saw the rise of the meta-empires, and with them, an interest in organized society again. This benefited the AlphaCen lodge, who continued to influence not just Alpha Centauri but also Procyon and Sirius, as well. When the Verge Consortium formed, the AlphaCen Lodge did not join, citing disagreements over philosophy that have yet to be totally elucidated (it's likely the Lodge does not want to be seen as too close to any one meta-polity, so it can retain its appeal to all of them).They remained relatively small and unheard of until just recently, with the Verge Consortium "civil war" and the rise of the Archimedes Society, which may or may not be connected to them financially. The Lodge is influential in a number of different ways, and not just economic and political; there's a fair number of scientists who are associated with the Lodge as well, which is what likely drags the Lodge into the same grouping as the Archimedes Society, the ASAI, and the Cosmic Rosicrucian Order, despite the four of them being different (at least, on the surface).
The Ascension Crisis saw the AlphaCen Lodge play a major role in helping people get out of the Solar System and keeping the Alpha Centauri system largely safe. During this period the AlphaCen Lodge was the government of the Alpha Centauri System, and the AlphaCen lodge remains incredibly important in the government affairs of Alpha Centauri to this day. The eras afterwards saw the rise of the meta-empires, and with them, an interest in organized society again. This benefited the AlphaCen lodge, who continued to influence not just Alpha Centauri but also Procyon and Sirius, as well. When the Verge Consortium formed, the AlphaCen Lodge did not join, citing disagreements over philosophy that have yet to be totally elucidated (it's likely the Lodge does not want to be seen as too close to any one meta-polity, so it can retain its appeal to all of them).They remained relatively small and unheard of until just recently, with the Verge Consortium "civil war" and the rise of the Archimedes Society, which may or may not be connected to them financially. The Lodge is influential in a number of different ways, and not just economic and political; there's a fair number of scientists who are associated with the Lodge as well, which is what likely drags the Lodge into the same grouping as the Archimedes Society, the ASAI, and the Cosmic Rosicrucian Order, despite the four of them being different (at least, on the surface).
Freemason Culture
Freemasonry - at least, Tolimanic Freemasonry - tends to be tolerant of most individuals from a wide array of genetic and species backgrounds, being one of the few forms of Freemasonry that openly admits members who are mind emulations, neo-animals, androids, and cybershells (although uplifts are generally not considered members, Ishmael and sapient uplifts are usually treated as neo-animals). This is counterweighted by the Lodge's requirement to profess belief in a superior being, whether that superior being be God or some other entity from one of the myriad other religions. The Lodge maintains that this gives them some sort of cohesion and a cohesive culture, which is important when your members don't share much else. Similarly, discussions of politics and religion are also barred from Lodge meetings, because they distract from the greater purpose. Like most Masonic entities, there are a number of rites that each member must be familiar with; Tolimanic Freemasonry is serious about maintaining these rites and consistently enforcing them, so the Lodge tends to be very slow to change and adapt to new policies, which many who attend the Lodge see as a positive ∎