Simply put, Team 13 lives in a World of Extreme Light and Darkness.
On one end, there is the sanctity of the supersects, the clean and beatific efficiency of the supercorporations, and the miniature paradises created by dedicated mundanes.
On the other end, there is the seeping, oozing shadow of the supernatural societies, the dangerous extremism of almost everybody with measurable power, and the hidden conglomerate of mundane conspiracy groups.
This time, we’re focusing on the darker side of America.
America is a country filled with towering cities, large wilderness preserves, and everything in between. It is a nation with a burgeoning population over a billion souls. It is a hidden battleground between two amazingly powerful sides: The long-standing supernaturals and the dedicated mundanes.
One might ask why the mundane population in this nation has been able to put up such an astonishing fight against the ancient paranormal creatures while other countries have been secretly ruled by the vampires or the mages or the werewolves for centuries.
The answer is, as always, simple: (modern) America was founded only a few centuries ago by Puritans. These pilgrims were not about to let some ungodly creatures rule them from the unholy shadows. They put up a fight with the help of the anti-supernatural organizations such as the Masons and the Illuminati (the latter being the longest-standing anti-paranormal group in existence).
Nowadays, the brain-child of these pious individuals stands as the brightest (and most powerful) nation in the world.
But this country is not without its shadows.
In between the hundred-story skyscrapers of the supercorporations and behind the glorious churches of the supersects, the creatures of the old legends exist. Vampires reap their vitae from the homeless. Werewolves battle each other on nature preserves and in subways in their eternal struggle. Mages act in secret cabals to preserve the ancient spells or in the backrooms of computer shops as technocrats. And in the shadows between widely spaced streetlamps and behind fast food joints, even darker things lurk.
But the forces that prevent these beings from gaining any control over the populace are there too. In the basement of any hospice, secret Mason meetings take place. Warriors for the Illuminati ensure that no major office is taken over by the creatures of the dark. The innumerable operatives of Majestic 12 keep the secrets from the public and protect the status quo. And the agents of Bureau 13 stalk the night fantastic, hunting down the malignant aspects of the supernatural.
This means that on any given night, one can walk down a city alleyway and find, for example, a troop of vampires. One will have an equal chance of running into, for example, a team of Bureau 13 agents. Chances are that one will find neither (depending on the night, the area of town, and one’s standing with either side). Even so, the fact of the matter is that the shadows are a dangerous place to be in America.
This long-standing battle between the forces of the conspiratorial mundane and the occult has turned the nation into extremists. Each side of the secret war has manipulated the public and has caused the alternating conservative-liberal movements and tides in American society. Of late, these sides are going even more to their respective ends because the hidden war has heated up. Now, pious religious organizations, the military, and supercorporations are being used by the mundanes against the paranormals, who in turn use the “oppressed common man” to do their bidding.
Of course, who is manipulating who may switch at any time. A good example of a control shift was the Kennedy Assassination. John F. Kennedy accidentally stumbled into some MJ 12 documents and realized that there was a war between the supernatural and the humans. Kennedy decided to side with the paranormal, so MJ 12 had him assassinated. Another prime example of the alternating control each side has was the Watergate scandal. Nixon, who was under the influence of the Majestic Twelve, was ordered by certain conspirators to steal documents from the Illuminati-controlled Democratic Party of the time. A shadow spy, working for some mages, spotted Nixon’s goons and reported them. This led to MJ 12's greatest loss of power to date.
But aside from manipulating the public, the sides of the secret war have their own factions and subgroups. These factions fight not only with the other side in the secret war, but with each other as well. An incomplete reference guide is provided on the main page of the site.
These groups must battle silently. Both sides know they must maintain the facade lest the common populace revolt and destroy both. The mortal conspiracies naturally do this with their clandestine agendas and top-secret methods. The supernaturals (at least the vampires) must maintain the Masquerade.
The Masquerade is a veil placed over the existence of the supernatural. It is because of this that vampires cannot walk out in the streets at night garbed in Victorian outfits and threaten to drink the blood of random people. The Masquerade threatens to banish or otherwise punish any vampire that does anything to attract attention to its paranormal side.
Several other types of supernatural creatures attempt to maintain this veil, especially those controlled by vampires (like kobolds and goblins). They hide for the most part or at least make themselves out to act and look like humans. The supernaturals manipulate from the shadows or battle in the dark, making the public see them as nonexistent.
While maintaining the veil of normalcy, mortal authoritarians battle the creatures of darkness.
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