Musings on the Underground

[James Palmer]

Just some random thoughts on the Occult Underground as a whole.

My view is that the occult, in UA, isn't that important in the grand
scheme of things.  This may seem paradoxical in the light of the focus of
the rulebook, but in terms of the Big Ascension Game, the occult
underground doesn't make that much difference.  90% of ascensions occur to
people who know nothing about the occult and were never aware they wanted
to ascend.  The rest of what humanity is up to - love, death, justice,
mercy, hate, war, chocolate chip brownies - will ultimately prove far more
significant that the 'occult.'  

The occult underground is largely focused upon itself.  Magicians fight
each other for power that they use to fight each other.  Like any other
group with a particular interest, it largely deals with its own internal
affairs, and it largely balances itself out.  The parts of the OU that
know about the Invisible Clergy and want to ascend are largely trying to
replace/Godwalk existing members, and spend so much time trying to do that
they don't actually make a difference to the world, nor do those who try
to stop them.  Alex Abel sends a NI team to eliminate some poor sucker who
was trying to become the Savage, while a woman in NY, who's never even
*heard* of the Clergy, disappears to become the Single Mother - or a kid
in Rwanda becomes the Faceless Victim - or a factory head in China becomes
the Tyrannical Boss.  The Invisible Clergy have very little to do with the
occult.

The OU rarely affects normal events, either - too many sides afraid of the
claws of the tiger, too focused on itself.  Out of the whole history of
the world, the occult has probably impacted about five percent of events. 
There's a secret occult history, yes, but it very rarely interacts or
affects normal history. 

Thoughts?

James

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"Ah, but remember that the city is a funny place/ 
something like a circus or a sewer." 

- Lou Reed, "Coney Island Baby."