Sons of Ether



The Sons of Ether are a group of Scientists aligned to the Council of Nine Mystick Traditions. Originally part of the Order of Reason and the Technocratic Union, they abandoned their former compatriots after the Union aided the expulsion of the Luminiferous Aether from the Consensus. Since then, the Sons have adopted various technologies and incorporated them into their methodologies.

Aretus
The Sons of Ether attribute their origins to the teachings of the Trojan philosopher Aretus, who had ostensibly learned from refugees of lost Atlantis. According to the Sons, Atlantis was an ideal society that harnessed the Aether to its full potential, before an unknown cataclysm struck it down. Aretus recorded their knowledge of Aetheric Science in the Kitab Al-Alacir, which survived the sacking of Troy thanks to his pupil Parmenesthes, who fled to Athens and whose recordings were later translated by Aristotle, who deduced the fifth element out of the scriptures.

Golo
The text remained forgotten in a library until the Arabs translated the book and young Italian mage Lorenzo Golo found an exemplar through travel, while the Templar Simon de Laurent found a copy while he joined the First Crusade. Both met in Paris and tried to decipher the book, founding House Golo within the Order of Hermes in 1171, Europe's dominant scholarly magical institution of the Dark Ages. Due to internal strife with House Verditius, House Golo was disbanded only 17 years later and the two founded the Natural Philosopher's Guild.

During their studies, both Golo and Laurent came in conflict with the Church, and Laurent was excommunicated in 1190 for heresy. As a reaction, the guild searched for a patron who would protect them and their studies from mortal authorities. They found an ally in the nascent Order of Reason, whose Ars Praeclarus was similar to the outlinings of the Kitab Al-Alacir. Both joined forces and the Guild dissolved in the various Conventions of the new Order, spreading their knowledge of the Aether. Golo himself died at an accident when he tried to create an airship.

Departure
The Michelson-Morley experiment in 1887 was the beginning of the end for the Electrodyne Engineers in the Order of Reason. Becoming the Sons of Ether, they continued to push Etheric research, resulting in a moon landing in 1892, and the opening of Victoria Station in 1900.

The rest of the Order could not tolerate this, and in 1904 the Etherites either left or were kicked out, depending on whom you ask. They joined the Council a year later.

Vargo
In 1900, Czar Vargo, one of the most infamous Sons of Ether, attended the Paris Exhibition, intending on proving that Ether actually existed and breaking the Technocratic paradigm in one great feat of Science. Instead of his energy device, however, weapons were the main focus, which enraged the mage greatly, for he believed that the purpose of Science was peace and cooperation, not conflict. In 1914, only a short time before the outbreak of World War I, he manifested himself in Paris in an airship announcing his intent to bring world peace if all governments would step down under his benevolent rule.

Vargo was stopped by the Technocratic Union, and his deeds were erased from humanity's collective memory thanks to Paradox and the Union's coverup, but it proved the determination and loyalty of the new Tradition to their peers. In World War II, most Sons turned against Hitler when his involvement in the occult became apparent (let alone the concentration camps). Others continued to support the Axis, hoping to use the Third Reich to combat the Technocratic paradigm. It ended not well for both sides and the Tradition as a whole was damaged.

Today
Initiates of the Sons of Ether are often recruited from the halls of academia, where a prospective Etherite is surreptitiously given a copy of the Kitab al Alacir. Should the student show an ability to break through the barriers of conventional logic, he or she will then be guided into a mentorship.

Advancement among the Sons is much like academia. Etherites correspond and publish journals and papers on their theories, and those that are useful, interesting, and have shown practical application are given the most acclaim- especially those published in the Etherites' most prestigious journal, Paradigma.

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