SHR Main Page | Opera Propria | Pax Hermetica Introduction
In many ways the Order is still as Euro-centric as it was in the Mythic Ages, a fact often lamented by those unfortunate magi who find themselves outside Europe. While there has been expansion into other parts of the world, it has been very patchy in intensity, occurring without any semblance of planning; furthermore, there has never been a Primus of any of the Houses who originated outside Europe, although Imran of Agra is one of the main contenders for the recently-vacated Primacy of House Guernicus.
The tribunals have slowly expanded, initially starting as daughter covenants of the various European tribunals (such as Sansaron in Carthage, which was originally a covenant of the Roman tribunal), but eventually gaining first a measure of, then complete, independence. They are...
The 13th, 14th and 15th centuries were periods of severe attrition for the magi of Normandy and Provence, with many falling victim to the chaos and bloodshed of the Albigensian Crusade and the Hundred Years' War. As a result of this, the Grand Tribunal of 1459 voted to merge the two tribunals into one, in an effort to solve the problems faced by their reduced populations of magi. The reconstituted "Frankish Tribunal" has since flourished. House Jerbiton is particularly well represented here, enjoying prosperous contacts with French intellectuals and philosophers.
In the face of continued mundane expansion into magical areas, the magi of the Greater Alps retreated further and further into the remotest parts of the region, in many cases withdrawing into mountain-top fastnesses and hidden cave systems. Today they are largely isolationist in character, jealously hoarding their remaining vis sources and other magical treasures. Almost no magi have been allowed to join them in the last few centuries.
Despite its having been wracked by mundane conflicts, Ireland continues to be a land of magic and mystery with, according to the few remaining scholars of House Merinita, a particularly large population of faeries; indeed, Ireland is also the last major haven of Merinita magi. These magi are particularly devoted to the preservation of the faerie presence on the island, with the result that the Quaesitores are occasionally required to rein in their activities when they threaten to turn into open conflict with the mundanes.
After the destruction of the Iberian tribunal in 1357, Hermetic magi were largely absent from the peninsula for centuries. It was only in the 18th century that magi began gradually to return. By today there are several covenants in the tribunal, but the Order of Hermes has a long memory, so their magi are under particular pressure to avoid attracting the attention of the mundanes. All of the covenants are located in remote sites or regiones, where there is minimal chance of discovery.
In 1291 the last crusader stronghold in the Levant, Acre, was taken by the Mamluk sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil, bringing the kingdom of Outremer to its end. The magi of Hermes, having foreseen this fall, had already come to an accommodation with the Moslem magi of the area, with the result that Hermetic magi were allowed to remain present in the area, but were not allowed to attempt to exert any dominance in magical affairs. In return the Muslim magi promised to maintain the Pax Hermetica and to remain uninvolved in Hermetic affairs. The situation remained stable until the 19th Century, when increasing European involvement in the area encouraged some of the more hot-headed members of Houses Flambeau and Tytalus to attempt an expansion of Hermetic territory into the area. The Quaesitores disapproved and forced the rest of the Order to withold any aid from their sodales when the Muslim magi retaliated. The Hermetic invaders were exterminated, and peace returned. This peace has been maintained until the present day.
Scotland is, in many ways, the nearest to a frontier to exist in Modern Europe. Because of the sparseness of population, mostly packed into the lowland central belt, leaving vast tracts of land only spotted with the occasional croft or farm, Scotland has a lot of gaps into which things, and people, can fall. As it was in the Mythic Age, it is heavily populated by Ex Miscellanea magi, although one of the stronger political groups of Tytalus magi are centred in the village of Rosslyn, south of Edinburgh, making (liberal) use of the vis supplies of the area. However, further north it is suggested that there are still covens of non-Hermetic magi, and it is rumoured that in addition to the Fae who still walk the glens, there are stranger things in the Scottish night.
The Mongol invasions of the 13th century silenced the debates that raged through the Novgorod tribunal about Hermetic relations with the mundanes, forcing its magi to unite in opposition to the new enemy from the East. Having survived the invasions, the magi made a new start, strictly observing the Order's rules regarding the involvement of magi with the mundanes. Since then the tribunal has expanded to include Scandinavia and Iceland, while the eastern border has been fixed at the Urals. Like the mundane population, the magical population of the region has grown considerably since the Middle Ages.
The Rhine tribunal remains the political heartland of the Order, with Grand Tribunals continuing to take place at Durenmar. The magi who live here face considerable difficulties in concealing themselves from the mundanes, and many covenants are now located in regiones and cave systems in rural areas. Durenmar itself is located deep within a regio, something that has begun to cause concern among both its inhabitants and other Hermetic magi, for they have been encountering occasional difficulties in gaining access. Many fear that Durenmar is beginning to go the way of Val Negra, and eventually this most important Hermetic site will disappear completely into its own Final Twilight.
The Roman tribunal was a centre of conflict in the Middle Ages and continues to be one in the modern day, with covenants continuing to seek new ways to increase their own power at the expense of that of others. The Quaesitores have tried repeatedly to impose some sort of order on the region, with little success, particularly as the magi of the tribunal have become increasingly skilled at striking at one another without breaking the Code of Hermes, all the time avoiding attracting the attention of the mundanes. Recently the senior members of House Guernicus have begun discussing the possibility of taking the unprecedented step of seeking aid from a force outside the Order, the church, but such a step would have to be approved at the Grand Tribunal, something that is unlikely to happen any time soon!
Information about the Stonehenge Tribunal may be found here.
Probably the greatest threat to the magi of the Theban tribunal was the Ottoman invasion of the 15th century. In particular, the great covenant of Constantinople might have been destroyed when the Ottomans took the city in 1453, had it not been for the combined efforts of many of the magi of Thebes and Transylvania, who worked a great magical ritual that physically removed the covenant to a remote site, replacing it only after the dust of the Ottoman conquest of the city had settled. Since this incident, the magi of the Theban and Transylvanian tribunals have continued to maintain close ties, working in concert on a number of projects that have stretched the bounds of Hermetic theory.
Like the tribunal of Thebes, parts of the Transylvanian tribunal experienced invasion by the Ottomans in the 15th century. Apart from the direct involvement to preserve the covenant of Constantinople, for the most part the magi of the tribunal responded to the threat by following the standard tactic of withdrawing into remote and rural parts of the region, returning where possible to their covenants after the initial attacks had ended. Since then the magi have continued to avoid involvement in the mundane conflicts in the area.
The Agra tribunal comprises India, Bangladesh, Burma and parts of Iran. Hermetic magi arrived in the region during the establishment of British colonial rule. However, they soon found that there were many profitable discoveries to be made through collaboration with the local, non-Hermetic magi of the area, remaining when the British left. As a result, this is probably the tribunal where the "join or die" policy of the Order is least rigorously enforced. The Agra tribunal is, strictly-speaking, also the governing body of one covenant in Hong Kong, but this covenant has attempted to assert its independence as the "Hong Kong tribunal," although this has not been recognised by any of the other tribunals.
The tribunal of the Upper Americas consists of Canada and the northern U.S.A., as far south as Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The majority of the magi of this tribunal are based on the East coast of the continent, but there is a significant pocket of Ex Miscellanea spirit masters working in Vancouver, Canada.
The Middle Americas covers the remainder of the U.S.A. and Central America, as far south as Panama and including the islands of the Caribbean. There is a particular concentration of Verditius magi in California, most of whom are attempting to combine computer technology with Hermetic magic, with varying degrees of success!
The Lower American tribunal covers the South American continent and Pilot Light, a covenant founded in the South Shetland Islands. Among the various inhabitants of the tribunal are three Seekers living in Peru, who are searching for the lost magical treasures of the Incas. Pilot Light, meanwhile, is inhabited by five Flambeau magi who are working in the freezing conditions of Antarctica to test the limits of Ignem magic.
Large in geographical extent but small in Hermetic population, the Australasian tribunal includes Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Australasia. There are a large number of Criamon magi here, especially in the more deserted parts of the Australian outback, where they have found solitude in which to contemplate the Enigma or enjoyed mystical discussions with Australian Aboriginal shamans. As in the Agra tribunal, the "join or die" policy is not strictly enforced here.
The Carthaginian tribunal covers north Africa west of Egypt, including Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Its history, in many ways, mirrors that of the Levant, in that its magi were involved in fighting against the Hermetic magi aiding the Spanish Reconquista. However, since the last Muslim outpost of Granada did not fall until 1492, it was not until much later that a treaty was signed between the Order of Hermes and the Muslim magi of North Africa. Withdrawing across the Straits of Gibraltar, the Muslim magi remained aloof when European powers became involved in North Africa, and peace between the Hermetic and Muslim magi continues to be maintained. Hermetic magi are much more present in North Africa than they are in the Levant, forming about half of the wizardly population of the area.
The Rhodesian tribunal consists of, legally-speaking, all of the African continent south of the Carthaginian tribunal, although Hermetic magi are actually only found in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. Even in these countries, the small, isolated pockets of magi only really have a presence in urban centres, and they would be the first to admit that the majority of the African continent remains unexplored by Hermetic magi.
The Siberian tribunal is the largest in the Order, stretching from the Urals in the West to the Bering Strait in the East, with its southern edge being the northern borders of Iran, Afghanistan and the Peoples' Republic of China. Despite its size, its magus population is extremely small, and it potentially holds the largest amount of magical riches yet to be tapped by the Order.
The Peoples' Republic of China is the greatest failing of the Order. There are no magi within it, with the exception of those in the "Hong Kong Tribunal." Many are waiting to see what befalls that covenant in time.
Text copyright © Tom McKinnell and Niall Christie 2006.