Difference between revisions of "Organization: The Magic Association"

Revision as of 21:25, 30 May 2015

The Magic Association is a brotherhood of wizards and witches as old as the world. Since its creation, it has served as the center of occult knowledge and growth on Earth and the handful of magic worlds that remained tied to it.

The Magic Association's highest duty is to ensure human happiness and comfort; novice wizards are often sent out into the world near their academies to use simple magic to bring little comforts to those in need. More powerful mages are deployed directly into the hearts of darkness, using strength or kindness to combat threats while masquerading as charitable organizations and NGOs.

The Magic Association is split into hundreds of regional branches, focusing on the specific needs and attitudes of the local population. It is no surprise, then, that neighboring Associations are often at each others' throats; Wizards are a fractious, egotistical bunch, men and women with the pride and guts to pierce the veil hiding the Fantastic World from the eyes of the mundane.

That egoism leads the Association to believe itself a sort of "magical police," the only organization with the resources and wards needed to protect the sacred items and mystic artifacts enshrined throughout the worlds. The Association similarly holds itself as the keeper of the secret of magic, working to keep the world of the arcane hidden from mundane eyes for the sake of keeping order and balance.

This job has become more difficult as of late, particularly in Tokyo, which seems to be a focal point for otherworldly activity. Often, the Association finds magical girls to be more nuisance than anything else; while more progressive mages will do what they can to help, the Association will usually only assist and recognize magical girls who draw their power from an artifact in which the Association is interested.

In Japan, the Magic Association has two major branches, the Kantou Association and the Kansai Association. The Kansai Magic Association is led by Eishun Konoe, and is based in Kyouto, out of the Konoe family's sprawling compound. It favors Eastern-style magic, employing a mixture of sword techniques and Onmyo mysticism. The Kanto Magic Association is led by Eishun's father, Konoemon Konoe, and is based out of Infinity Institute. Infinity's magic classes cover every field, but its highest-ranked wizards prefer Western-style spirit invocation and elementalist magic, much to the chagrin of the chief instructor, the 107th Devil Hunter Madoka Mano, who is Eastern to the core. It is perhaps indicative of how deep wizard rivalries can run, that the dispute over favored magic schools has led to a deep rift between the two Associations, despite the familial bonds of their leaders.

Appropriate Magic Association characters include:

• A young wizard between the ages of 10 and 15, gone out into the world to provide a little light to the darkness with simple magic. They probably have a lot of pluck, but not so much combat power...until an artifact finds them, perhaps.
• An arrogant magician seeking to secure magical artifacts to secure power and prestige for his or her family. They may or may not actually have anyone's permission to be doing that.
• A neophyte magical girl recently selected as the personal guardian of an artifact the Association thought it had a pretty good grip on...until it was stolen!

Example Theme Affiliations: Cardcaptor Sakura, Devil Hunter Yohko, Pretty Cure (especially Heartcatch, also many Fairy Realms keep embassy relations), Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (Midchildan connections to Earth go through the MA), Magic Knight Rayearth (Fuu, also Clef), Mahou Sensei Negima, Shugo Chara!, Vividred Operation

• This list is not exhaustive, nor universally accurate for a given theme's protagonists, but exists to give an idea of typical themes (or characters within a theme) connected to the organization.

Sub-topics:

History - The story of the Magic Association.

Cast - Magic Association characters!

For more information, please see: Organizations, Theme