History: The Magic Association
In the years following the end of the Silver Age, the wizards of the world scrabbled for direction in a world that could no longer accept them. Most chose to retreat; many of the Earth Court's scions retreated to the faraway realm called Elysium, vanishing from Earth forever. Others chose a less final option: Following the new archwizard the Lifemaker into his hand-crafted dimension, the Magical World, Mundus Magicus. Although there were natives, mostly the Beastmen of Hellas, the mages were able to carve out their own nation and begin securing territory. That other world's stories are long and many...and matter only little, to the wizards of Earth.
When Puella Magi began appearing on the scene, the wizards who remained on Earth were dazzled. It became clear quickly, as the Puella Magi outpaced them at every turn, that the Earth mage community needed guidance. On Earth, their ability to advance their art was limited; both training and artifice was more difficult, for the scattered wizards of Earth. The Magic World presented them with the extra magical potential that would be necessary to keep pace with the powers of magical girls - and with the shocking strength of the powers of darkness. Therefore they made a pact: The Magic Association headquarters in Mundus Magicus would have governance over Earth's wizards, keeping secured artifacts safe and advancing the cause of magic development. They would provide support when things get dire, and license and support the great Earthly magic academies. In exchange, the mages of Earth would continue on their work, going about their most important work of all: Guiding the people of Earth to happiness.
For the mages, the greatest innovation in this struggle came from a mighty wizard-queen. Though her name is now lost to history, but believed to be descended from the thunderous magic royalty of the Earth Court, she developed a technique to bestow a portion of her powerful magic onto her loyal knight; but more than offering power, in the contract, that power was multiplied beyond what either could achieve alone. This system of 'power through the connection of two hearts' she passed on to all the wizards of the world: Today, it is called Pactio. Enabling a wizard to empower someone else with a surge of magical strength beyond either of their dreams, sometimes even plucking artifacts from the great Magic Association storehouses, members of the Magic Association became able to enter the battlefield not as hangers-on, but as equals to the powerful Magical Girls.
Slowly, mages drew together into local communities, mastering their arts and engaging in local rivalries. The young went out into the world to help the common man; adults, and adolescents with the guts to force the issue or the Contracts to strengthen them, went out to fight the darkness as demon-hunters and researchers, preparing the way for the future. That compact has endured into the modern day, but it has been a bumpy road. When Clow Reed's world-breaking wish tore open the doors of the worlds, darkness unlike what had been poured in from every portal. This new darkness was more powerful than what had plagued the world until now - and more numerous. The Tuner Organization formed to fight this upsurge, and the Magic Assocation had to match it with new training, new spells, new weapons. They could manage it, but only just...and when Lord Dune appeared, everything changed again. He represented a new, terrifying reality of power; darkness that dwarfed any other, a shadow that could only be dispelled by the light of miracles that the Magic Association simply did not have.
The Magic Association's masters in Mundus Magicus began to doubt that the Earth could be saved, anymore. The modern leadership has largely removed themselves from Earth's troubles; sending aid when asked, but leaving Earth's mages largely to their own devices. They have much bigger concerns than the trials of a world swarmed by an impossible doom.
This was only exacerbated by the fiasco of the Bellum Scismatica. The Great Wizard War that rocked both Mundus Magicus and Earth, a battle that nearly spilled into full view of the public and reshaped landscapes; although the treachery at the heart of that war was in time rooted out, the dozens of unbelievably powerful mages who emerged from it, and the troubling revelations that only the privileged few have heard, have rendered the Association's leadership more distant than ever, contemplating terrible deeds.
In the Schism War, the Gateport between Mundus Magicus and Infinity Institute was broken. Because of this, even in this age of isolation at the top, the Magic Association in Tokyo is somewhat traditional, directed most chiefly by Konoemon Konoe, Madoka Mano and their personal foibles to safeguard the innocent - and fight that which would bring them harm.
For more information, please see: History, Organization: The Magic Association, Theme Primer, Theme
