By Anders Sandberg (27 March, 1995)
Although officially accepted by the other traditions, the Sons of Ether and Virtual Adepts are watched suspiciously by many tradition mages. After all, the two traditions are technomancers, and who knows where their real loyalties lie?
The Society of Sentinels are an informal group of mages who keep an eye on the activities of the tradition technomancers and their sympathisers. They originally came into existence shortly after the Sons of Ether broke free and joined the traditions. Several groups of mages had repeatedly pointed out that the traditions were in danger of being infiltrated by the Technocracy on a huge scale by agents and collaborators within the Etherites, not to mention forced to accept techno-magick as a valid form of magick. If they accepted the Sons of Ether, the Traditions were in danger of becoming more like the technomancers themselves. Most other mages were however delighted with the opportunity to increase their numbers and weaken the Technocracy, and regarded the sceptics as overcautious conservatives.
In the years after the defection, some of the mages who had protested met with each other, summoned by the influential Chorist bishop Klaus Wollheim of Aedes Lucis Dei . They discussed how things had gone, and while they agreed that some of their fears had been unfounded, the threat still remained. The Sons of Ether were now moving among the traditions, learning things about chantries and internal politics which could greatly harm the Traditions if ever the Technocracy got wind of it. The bishop proposed that the participants and their friends would form an informal network in order to counter the growing infiltration and root out Technocracy infiltrators. After some debate about the technical details and exact aim, they agreed and formed the Society of Sentinels (Societas Custorum). Its purpose was to secretly keep watch over the Etherites and their sympathisers, carefully monitoring their activities for signs of treachery and the elimination of Technocracy agents. The Society consisted of several independent groups, linked by a network of magickal communication and secret codes.
The Sentinels had some initial success a few years later in the Goldstein case. A Son of Ether involved in the development of radio communications was found to be a Technocracy agent leaking vital information to the enemy using his devices. The Sentinels made the treachery public and Goldstein disappeared, probably killed by mages from the chantry he had betrayed. After that event several more mages joined the ranks of the Sentinels. Over the years they built up a network of contacts and allies among the traditions. When the Virtual Adepts defected, the Sentinels did their best to convince the traditions not to admit them, but failed again mainly due to the efforts of the Sons of Ether. At a secret meeting of the most influential members, the Sentinels decided to watch over the Virtual Adepts too.
The Society of Sentinels are strongest in Europe, where some of their most influential members control several of the old and great chantries. The old core of conservative hermetic and chorus mages still have much power (Bishop Klaus Wollheim has retired as nominal leader in favor of his pupil Deacon Nicolai Krantz, also of Aedes Lucis Dei), but the Dreamspeakers, Verbena and Cultists have become a dynamic part of the Society. It is very discreet, and most members meet in informal groups with no ties to each other. The members generally behave and work as usual, but always keep an eye for Technocracy infiltration and the activities of the Sons of Ether and Virtual Adepts. If they notice something suspicious, they contact the Society which will investigate further. These investigations are very subtle, often employing mages from outside the society as investigators or dupes. The Society seldom takes action against offenders, preferring to leak the information to other mages (especially such groups as the Brotherhood of Bertrando or the Quaesitors of Order of Hermes).
The Society is not without internal schisms. The main cause of disagreement is between the conservatives of Order of Hermes and the Celestial Chorus, who just want to make sure the technomancers stay put and don't threaten the traditions, and hardliners from the Verbena and Dreamspeakers who want to find ways to expel them from the traditions altogether. The conservatives claim that it would be both hard and dangerous, and would risk exposing the Society. The radicals regard the conservatives as too cautious and afraid of taking action. Another cause of arguments is whether to allow loyal Sons of Ether or Virtual Adepts to help the society or even join. Apparently some Adepts have formed their own group of Sentinels, known as the Supervisor Mode, to watch over their own tradition and eliminate outside infiltration. To make matter even more complicated, the Supervisor Mode is rumoured to be linked to radical Virtual Adepts working against radical nature-oriented mages, which makes the Radicals very suspicious against the group.
The Society has succeeded quite well in hiding its existence. It is no secret that there are mages sceptical to the tradition technomancers, but the idea that they are organised is generally regarded as yet another conspiracy theory (this is of course encouraged by the Sentinels, who gladly add outrageous rumours to make the theory even more silly). The Supervisor Mode suspects there is some kind of resistance, judging from the results of their computer simulations, but have so far not been able to prove it.