“To ensure the birth of a new empire, we shalt do everything necessary, even if we must cut down the world itself.” With these words Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, James Adams, John Jay, and Elbridge Gerry signed into place a secretive cabal at the top levels of the United States’ government. The Executive Council of Mistress Columbia, or as it has been abbreviated by the council, MisCol. This cabal working secretly under or as a direct part of each presidency has been devoted the goal of American Exceptionalism becoming a reality and will stop at no means to do so.
As with most of America, MisCol has been no stranger to changing in order to fit the times, either as a result of attempted hostile takeovers or other government figures attempting to gain more power. As a result, it has become a sort of head of state for several classified organizations, which now make up the United States Occult Community.
In the modern day, the American Occult Community is a multi faceted group of organizations focused on handling the anomalies within America and making use of them. Each piece of the USOC works independently, but they make up a greater whole still seeking the same goals as their founders from years ago.
The United States Occult Community (USA)
- Authority-Aware
- Unveiled
- Seeker
- Sculptor
- Structured
- National
The United States Occult Community (USOC) is a group of separate United States government occult protection and intelligence agencies that work separately and together to conduct anomalous activities to support anomalous policy and national security of the United States.
While the majority of USOC branches were created in the mid 1900s, much of their protocols and structures are derived from that of the Mide'wiwin which were able to infiltrate MisCol during the Indian Wars of the 1800s. While the Authority is unable to know the exact limits of the Mide'wiwin's influence within the USOC, it is not uncommon for Agents in standard uniform to be standing next to traditionally-garbed Medicine Men.
Currently, the USOC uses its branches to capture and utilize as many anomalies it can to benefit the united States, but it is not against destroying them for its own reasons. While most of the USOC isn't directly hostile to the Authority, any agents are to be approached with caution, if at all.
Through smoke, true control is hidden.
The Office of Extranormal Security Affairs (OESA), 'Division 15' (DIV15)
Ambiguous
Overview: Formed due to the necessary need for anomalous law enforcement, the Secret Service's Office of Extranormal Security Affairs, codenamed Division 15 is that. Division 15 was largely seperated from the rest of the USOC for decades, and as a result has the least amount of influence from the Mide'wiwin.
Unlike its siblings, the OESA wasn't formed from the National Security Act of 1947, and whilst the details are fuzzy, it is known it was created by executive action sometime during the late 1930s-early 1940s. Placed by bureaucratic wedlock, the creation of the OESA was requested by the J. Edgar Hoover, in a move to seemingly increase his own political power, as well as that of the exceedingly powerful Federal Bureau of Investigation. It only recently ended up in the Secret Service, likely as a result of MisCol influence.
Most members of the OESA are former FBI or other law enforcement officers, and its structure is heavily reminiscent of law enforcement. Only recently have MisCol transfers started taking executive positions, but most of the administration is aware of the more unique methods the rest of the USOC uses.
Order. Erudition. Security. Authority.
Special Activities Center: Unit 9 'War Painters'
Hostile
The Central Intelligence Agency Special Activities Center: Unit 9 - Self-designated as "War Painters" - are the anomalous branch of the CIA, the result of MisCol's influence within Truman's office. While initially created to simply observe and report on the state and workings of other nations' anomalous offices, the rising tensions of the Cold War often lead them to be in direct conflict with the PCAAO and Iron Initiative.
Working independently from other divisions and existing largely outside the general command structure, Unit 9 almost never works directly under the orders of any other government office, outside of the occasional directives coming straight from MisCol. Considered 'unhinged', 'unstable', and 'insane' - most of the agents that end up in War Painters are picked based on their compatability with the "Mi'tsha-Man'ido" and believe themselves to be "akin to the great spirits of old".
Unit 9 seemingly has no goals of their own, always working to "remove" whatever is obstructing other USOC agencies. Not many agents live to tell the tale of a run-in with the War Painters.
He'-wĕ-ne-nis'-sa ma-he'-ka-nĕn'-na.
Joint Task Force Occult (JTFOc) (name pending)
Ambiguous
The remains of the Department of Abnormal Occurrences, the JTFOc is usually not called upon domestically outside of the few anomalous disasters, such as the nuclear detonation of Site-014. Made up primarily of former SEALS, Night Stalkers and Green Berets, namely ones that have been dishonorably discharged or reported MIA officially, the JTFOc is made up of several strike forces and a small amount of intelligence gathering units. It makes itself known through its assistance in US Foreign Policy, being used to handle any anomalous threats, either capturing or eliminating them depending on their usefulness.
While they are still a relatively recent member of the USOC, they're no strangers to the methods and protocol of the Mide'wiwin. JTFOc squads are not often seen with the more spiritual members of the USOC, but Authority investigations of JTFOc belongings have found several documents and talismans that point to them being heavily in touch with that aspect.
JTFOc squads are constantly sent out all around the globe. While its not uncommon for them to be wearing the military uniforms of other countries in order to conceal their identity they can easily be identified by how often they give lip service to America, as well as their brash nature, both during and outside of their work. Squads are not likely to be hostile to Authority members, but if the JTFOc is targeting you, it is advised to stand down in 90% of cases. They're dangerous but not heartless, and most authority researchers have come out unscathed, if not missing a few of their files.
Semper Praesens.
Executive Council of Mistress Columbia
Hostile
Styled as the Privy Council or Executive Council for the Mistress Columbia (MisCol). A cryptic, delphic organization acting on the fringes of legality within the government, it holds an unclear relationship with official US government organs and over all levers of power. It seems to command the United States Occult Community, though whether this is from vested legal power or pure political influence is unknown.
MisCol was originally founded by a small group of occult politicians looking to improve america's standing after the War of 1812, however much of their ideology and practices were influenced by members of the Mide'wiwin, a secretive group of native american shamans. While MisCol has been very successful in hiding its goals for the most part, Recovered documents often mention restoring Americana through something called "Project Columbia."
To control a country's soul is to command its destiny
How to write the USOC
When writing about the USOC, its less important to focus on the larger group as a whole and more upon whichever individual piece best suits your story. Are you trying to write something where a bunch of feds step into an investigation? The OESA would fit that best. Maybe you need something that would require a more paramilitary aspect or just a lot of guns pointed in one place. The JTFOc will serve your needs just nicely. War Painters are simultaneously the dagger with which he USOC silences its opponents both domestically and internationally as well as being far more of a rogue agent compared to most of the USOC. MisCol, out of all the organizations, is the hardest to pin down to any one thing. Are they the head honchos behind a lot of operations? Certainly, but that doesn't mean that they won't send out their own men to handle situations if they believe its necessary. Beyond that, MisCol has absolutely inherited the position of "perform immoral experiments on our own populace for our gain."
If you're still feeling split between certain groups in the USOC, don't forget that these are all parts of one greater whole. JTFOc might be sent to combat the disaster that was Site-014 being nuked, but OESA would also be there after the fact to make sure that any eyewitnesses aren't going to say anything about it.
As for the overall tone of the organization, I think it should be very clear that these are your US federal agents. They aren't subtle about their position and are usually a bit cocky, and that is the main character trait most USOC agents are going to have in common. As for the more spiritual aspects within the agencies, that does vary from group to group but it would be very unlikely for the Authority to encounter a team of USOC agents that are completely lacking in spirituality. If you take off a JTFOc Officer's gear or a OESA Agent's suit, you're likely to find at the least a few totems for the spirits.
ABOUT SPIRITS
Before I go into details about each facet of the organization I want to make things clear about one of their central themes. Shamanism, specifically related to the ideas of Native American tribes. I will admit this is a very loose adaptation of said spiritual beliefs, but there are some hard line rules I want to make clear. SPIRITS ARE NOT GHOSTS. Some spirits take on the forms of animals, they are not literally the ghosts of dead bears and fish and hawks. Another thing, Spirits are not poltergeists. A JTFOc Officer who is working with a bear spirit is not going to send it out like a Pokemon. Spirits are more like astral beings that attach themselves to like humans and will amplify the traits that they have alike. That JTFOc officer from before may not use his bear spirit as described but he will seemingly have the strength and endurance of a mad grizzly bear. The sole exception to this is with the agents from War Painters, and I'll go over that when I get to them.
Finally, the spirit realm: The Spirit Realm is an Otherworld that has several entrances throughout the United States. The Spirit Realm is almost entirely inhabited by the spirits that USOC officers are able to make contact with, and if somebody were to enter it, it would seem like you were standing within the cloud of the milky way and it was full of humanoid and animal figures made of smoke. Many entrances were severely damaged as a result of the Indian Wars or American industrialism and as of the modern day, the USOC has every remaining entrance sealed off or hidden in a secret facility.
Writing about the OESA
Of the four pieces of the USOC, the Office of Extranormal Security Affairs is the most "normal." It is probably the least spiritual (as in 2/3 of the members have some level of belief in the shamanist practices) and still owes a lot of its conduct and appearance to its decades within the FBI. Now that said, a lot of the newer members to the OESA will have that MisCol training and be more spiritual, not to mention that most of the administration positions were taken over by MisCol transfers. The average OESA agent is going to act about the same as any federal agent, but that is not to say that they are even remotely veiled. A day doesn't go by where some anomalous criminal isn't being arrested or some anomaly isn't discovered to be the cause of a case.
OESA's primary role is to hand legal cases that might involve anomalous activity and to censor any evidence of its existence. Most of the time, a case is handled by a small group of agents and most of the work takes place behind a desk filing various approval forms and other paperwork. OESA only operates within the United States, and as a result takes on about 85% of the USOC's work within the country.
Writing about War Painters
The War Painters are not the most prevalent portion of the USOC by any measure. They're not really the big guns, nor are they any sort of leadership, and they definitely aren't the majority of the USOC's numbers. The War Painters are the unseen but always felt acolytes of the USOC. The espionage branch, taking on worldwide intelligence missions with double agents within several GOIs and likely within RPC. A lot of the "missions" War Painters take on aren't given out to them, they will always claim to have the task revealed to them through some sort of fortune telling or dream analysis.
These guys are conceptually the simplest group, they've completely bought in to the teachings of the Mide'wiwin but are otherwise your standard highly effective spies. I would say that in effect, its a bit more difficult to make them fit in the world without feeling too ridiculous, but honestly, if you're writing about something involving these guys, go fucking nuts. Sky's probably the limit for what they can do with their mixture of anomalies and abilities. Usually, if they are in an advantageous situation they place a sort of spiritual curse on their targets, not immediately killing them but marking them for death in some sort of coincidental accident, or if the person is particularly cautious, they might meet a more… unexplainable end.
Writing about the JTFOc
JTFOc is the best of the best, and the worst of the best. Almost every member of the group is some flavor of Special Forces and they'll be the first to let you know, the types that were too good to get rid of but too much of a danger to keep. Most of the time, JTFOc is going to be operating in foreign jurisdictions, but they also do work as a sort of anomalous national guard. I'd say these are probably the simplest group, they're soldiers who do what they're told and don't care about collateral as long as they aren't detected. A shadow army of men who are officially dead or discharged, causing whatever havoc MisCol asks of them.
A lot of JTFOc officers don't believe too much of the spiritual teachings from MisCol, but most of them accept the surface level ideas, if for no other reason than it gets results. Regardless of their personal stances, they're good enough about following orders that the higher-ups don't have problems.
Writing about MisCol
The shadowy overlords of the USOC, these are the original faction and, funny enough, likely to be the least important in most stories that involve the USOC. MisCol are always working with their own interests in mind, which is an absolute untenable goal of creating a perfect Americana version of the United States. Most members of MisCol are potential proteges of the main council, which is made up of century-old men using anomalies, magic, drugs, anything to extend their lifespan. They are the originator of all the shamanic beliefs within the USOC, after a partially successful attempt at secretly replacing the council with native medicine men eventually led to the more modern day version of the group.
MisCol are basically the ultimate expression of nostalgia, chasing versions of America that have been paved over, industrialized and thoroughly buried in the modern age. Ironically enough, it is absolutely the case that their shadow government tactics often lead to creation of agencies or other situations that go against their plans. I would advise most people to avoid writing the MisCol if they don't think they're ready, they're absolutely crazy but each member has probably lived through about 70 years of learning how to skirt around the questions of every president and other members of the Executive Office.
RPC Authority
Hostile
Operating on what can only be described as a hate-hate relationship, the United States Occult Community and the Authority have not seen eye-to-eye for more than a century. Whilst the direct hostility is dependent on the department of the USOC they are interacting with, it's generally considered not wise to directly provoke them, or just interact with them in general.
United Nations Anomalous Activities Committee
Unknown
The USOC maintains a semi-negative relationship with United Nations organs and the World Security Council, due to disagreement in methodology and violations of the IAA. However, due to the political influence of the US over the United Nations and by extension the UNAAC, this rarely matters, and the UNAAC will often side with the USOC in worldwide anomalous community relations.
People's Committee for the Acquisition of Anomalous Objects
Hostile
As a result of the cold war, the USA and CCP governments have had increasingly hostile relations, and their anomalous departments have been even more beligerent in this regard. The PCAAO and USOC have been continuously hostile towards each other, with the USOC regularly sending JTFOc detachments to interfere with PCAAO's foreign operations and Unit 9 members to infiltrate them and attack internally.
Church of Malthus
Hostile
USOC forces have consistently attacked Malthus outposts and camps in an attempt to eradicate the Church, with the USOC regarding their biological experiments as crossing the lines even they wouldn't cross. Recently, the JTFOc has been mobilized to attack foreign Malthus outposts as a result of the fail-safe incident.
1783 to 1812: American anomalous policy is enforced by numerous organizations, from the newly-arrived Auctoritas, the Union, and anomalous departments created by states, with no federal intervention.
1812: A group of politicians, military officials, and members of state governments - most of which were part of the democratic party - all with knowledge of the anomalous, create the Executive Council for the Mistress Columbia, a cabal of American exceptionalists, hell-bent on using anomalies to increase the USA's global standing and for finding the "City Upon a Hill", the peak of Americana.
The Early 1800s: Due to influence by the newly formed MisCol, and the expansion of the United States, the government recognized the need for a federal answer to the anomalous and created the United States Military - Department of Abnormal Occurrences, a paramilitary organization with sweeping powers inside and outside of the United States. It was quickly infiltrated and became a yes man for MisCol.
1854: Then United States Senator, later Secretary of State William H. Seward joins MisCol, influencing his later expansionist policies.
1868: With a reported growth rate of acquisition and stolen historical artifacts in 1863-1865, Congress legislatively passed an act that established the ‘Office of Acquisition and Customs Security’, which was under the direct control of the Treasury Department in 1868. The agency’s first task was to enforce the illicit activities of acquisition or trade of historical artifacts that were classified as ‘illegal’ under the act that established the department.
Late 1800s: Many members of the Mide'wiwin, leaving their tribes during many of the Indian Wars, infiltrated MisCol with the intent of using the chaos of the wars to secretly influence MisCol objectives to fit Mide'wiwin beliefs. By the end of the Indian Wars, MisCol's structure and outlook fused with those of the Mide'wiwin, changing from one singular group to 4 levels of clearance and authority. In addition, MisCol started to to expand, with several "Lodges" being built under state capitals.
1897: Not waiting long after the William McKinley was elected, MisCol began a program of destroying all other potential native groups that would be a threat to their position, mostly by censoring specific legends and stories regarding the spirit realm and forcing their closest rivals, the Wabunowim, in mental asylums across the country.
1901: Upset that current president William McKinley was supporting pro industrialization and business policies that went against their traditionalist vision, MisCol agents began trying to raise potential assassins, eventually succeeding with Leon Czolgosz, who shot McKinley on September 6th. This operation lead to future plans for a MisCol controlled task force that would eventually become War Painters.
1908: MisCol members embolden President Roosevelt to accuse congress members of potential crimes as a part of his plan to increase the power of the secret service, which MisCol believed would increase their own power as well. Ironically, this lead to the creation of the Bureau of Investigation which ended up being a thorn in the side of USOC operations for decades.
1924: J Edgar Hoover becomes director of the BOI. Immediately after taking post, he created several anomaly focused task forces, that would eventually form into the Office of Extranormal Security Affairs. He also made a point of using his power within the Department of Justice to disrupt MisCol activities, arresting USOC agents several times as part of his counter-intelligence operations.
1947: The National Security Act is passed, dissolving the Department of Abnormal Occurrences and replacing them with the Joint Task Force Occult, a much smaller group of operatives. While Department of Abnormal Occurrences was quickly made into MisCol's yes men, the JTFOc didn't even pretend to be anything else since their inception. In addition, MisCol was quick to make sure they didn't make the same mistake that they had made with the BOI with the CIA, convincing Truman to make sure they had access to all CIA documentation and that they would have control of their own specific branch of the CIA, War Painters.
Q: wtf is this?
A: Guess.
Q: Can I write for it?
A: Go for it, but ideally send it to Superspambot for the overlook.
Q: Is there an AoI format?
A: Yes, but only for the OESA. http://rpcsandbox.wikidot.com/oesa-doc
Q: is this canon
A: Yes.
Q: describe the USOC in eight (13) or fewer words
A: Three Letter Agencies that are also spirit shamans
AxieTheAxolotl - Project Creator, Theme Creator (OESA Theme)
scott_hunts - Project Creator, Launch Writer (RPC-273)
SovereignAuthority - Launch Writer (RPC-918, RPC-797)
DrXOUBLE D - Launch Writer (RPC-720, RPC-450, RPC-950, Codename: King of Weapons)
televisionist - Theme Creator (Joint Task Force Occult Theme)