Crafts and Traditions

Doissetep still exists, archmages are there confined away from the limits of Paradox and beyond the constrains of Earthly Paradigms but unable to reach the Earth. The sixth Maelstrom occurred cutting all of it's tights to Earth leaving it confined in the Horizon due to the Avatar Storm that scorches the Earth.

Only the Technocracy's Void Engineers have found a way to mitigate the effects of the Avatar Storm that lingers even after the Big Maelstrom subsided. All Path to the Horizon have been sundered, there's no longer access to the Shard Realms that used to connect the Earth with the other planetary shadows that projects on it. Even other Paths, such as the Shadow Lands can't go beyond Stygia to the Far Shores.

Earthly Mages have been cut out from the power grid source in the Horizon, all Nodes are now depending only on local sources of power like Caerns, Pits, Nihils and Trodes, diminished in power and without the guidance of the Council of Nine the Traditions have lost their leverage on the power play in the Ascension War, causing for many Mages to leave their former Traditions and join Crafts to survive.

Crafts do not substitute Traditions per se, when the Council was leading the War, they stood in the backstage grabbing the crumbs that Tradition mages left on the table after the feast was done. Now the power balance has turned in their favor and they're ready to take control of the wheel.

The Storm has mildly affected the Technocracy as a whole, it's Horizon Chantries like Autochtonia that still orbits around the Sun in counter position to Earth's location, are still active and exchanging data with their other positions. This indicate, according to some Virtual Adepts and Sons of Ether that this Storm was a part of the Technocracy's plan to Destroy the Council's intent towards the War.

Whichever the case, The Progrom is more active and efficient than ever, looking to Silence every Willworker they can find and the Crafts Cell-like organization seems to be the answer in this new stage of the War. Internet is rapidly growing thanks to the intervention of innovative mages like the Adepts and the Ethereal (Sons of...) that are constructing Virtual Spaces inside the Digital Web to create what they call the Digital Web 2.0 right under the Technocracy's nose.

The new Digital Web promises a new type of Horizon, many standards of the Paradox are evaded or non effective at all in these realms and through it Craft have created amazing cobwebs of communications that are virtually untraceable by the Technocracy. Also this organizations are cell-based, with a common paradigm and general objectives but absolutely independent when it comes to tactics and actions.

Hence, Crafts are the new thing now, there are many in New York City but the most powerful and representative of all are:

• The Hollow Ones: they are a subculture of ragtags and antiestablishmentarianists who take what they like from every tradition and fuse it together. As a result, they have no dominant Sphere.
  
• The Ahl-i-Batin (Batini): is a group of Arabian mages that practices mainly magic with a strong focus on subtlety. Former holders of the Seat of Correspondence and a founding member of the Council of Nine, they withdrew their membership early on in the 20th century in order to focus on the maintenance of the Web of Faith and the protection of the Middle East against the Technocratic onslaught.
  
• The Knights of the Temple of Solomon: often called Knight Templars or Templars for short, formally called the Military Order of the Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon, are a magickal order of knights defined by an unrelenting faith in God. Unlike the vague and ill-defined One that the Chorus reveres, the God that the Knight Templars rever is unmistakable and uncompromisingly Christian.
  
• The Wu-Keng: are a craft of chinese mages that practice the forgotten ways of its shamans and peasants. Unfortunately, in order to save themselves, they were forced to harsh decisions that resulted in their enslavement to infernal forces.
  
• The Lions of Zion: (originally known as the Lavin Knesset Yisroel) are an ancient and venerable Craft that focuses on Kabbalah as a tool for using magic. Tightly bound to Judaism and jewish communities. Usually abstracted from society they heavily partake in NYC scene given all the interests of the Jewish in the City.
  
• Batáa: Followers of Afro-American religions such as Santeria and Mayombe have included many former members of the Verbena and Dreamspeakers. Sphere: Spirit.
  
• Children of Knowledge: ancient line of alchemists, descended from the Solificati Tradition. Joined Order of Hermes as House Solificati. Founding group in the Disparate Alliance. Sphere: Matter.
  
• Go Kamisori Gama: faux ninja clan. The Go Kamisori Gama, a clan of hypertech ninjas who have their own reasons for wanting to topple the Technocracy have joined the fight in New York City using the Kuei Jin Great Leap Forward as a way to conceal their intentions in alliance with the Shih.
  

Regardless of the presence and protagonism of the Crafts, the Traditions still hold many positions of power inside the City, bounded by the Virtual Adepts and the Sons of Ether, they still move in the shadows trying to reconnect with the Deep Horizon once more.

The most important positions among the Traditions are held by the Virtual Adepts that have outskilled the Void Engineers when it comes to the Digital World, followed by far by the Sons of Ether that have created a lot of innovative 1337 hardware for the Adepts and the rest of the Traditions to make Coincidental Magick even in the more Disparate situations thanks to the usual 'it's a new gizmo'. Avoiding unwanted attention and Paradox:

• The Adepts have several websites in the Deepweb that serve as doorways for the Awaken to enter the Digital web and have several constructs in it that serve as Consecrated havens for their magic.
  
• Sons of Ether have a wide array of high tech labs were hundreds of sleepers work under the excuse of Technical Institutes and newly founded poorly funded universities.
  
• Celestial Chorus is right behind the Templars, working as guides and priests leaving the front line to the rightful warriors. Usually working as diplomats with other cults and religions, such as the Bataa and the Lyons these will workers practice humbleness and mercy while waiting for better times.
  
• The Euthanatos and the Verbena were once dire enemies, always into each other's throats but now their opposite knowledge about Life and Death, respectively, seems to have found a point of concordance that has make them the most unusual allies.
  
• The Akashic Brother Hood dwells in the Digital web among Adepts and computer junkies, as the original discoverers of this umbral realm they use it to connect the Crafts and flow with the universe.
  

Other Tradtions have lost their north and guidance falling into the vices of modernity:

• Cult of Ecstasy: has become the most deprave group of willworkers in the City, their practices are oftenly mixed with the narcotics subculture in control of the mob and child abuse by prostitution or pedophilia. At this point the have been execrated to live among the forsaken.
  
• Hermetic Order: obsessed with the power sit they once had among the awakened the have grown in Hubris, leaving behind all Ascension ideals to reconnect with a new source of position and status, such as Vampires and Nephandi.
  
• Dreamspeakers: have disbanded to join several Crafts.