Office of Intelligent Design
The Office of Intelligent Design is a vast department of the Celestial Bureaucracy tasked with the maintenance and oversight of Thaumaturgy, the system of science and ritual which can gently nudge and guide the nature of Creation. The passage of the Primordials imprinted thaumaturgy upon Creation, the daily duties of the gods see it used to preserve it, and the witchcraft of mortals draws power from it. Each of these actions makes use of known rituals or procedures, or (usually in the case of mortals) finds new and innovative expression.
The bulk of the Office’s task is to catalogue each thaumaturgical ritual, practice, and procedure, compiling them in a great collection of scrolls known as the Procedures of Creation, covering an area the size of the Imperial City and growing by the day.
The Sub-Director in charge of the Office is Shenji, god of Thaumaturgy. While eager to gather up new knowledge, Shenji also takes the security of his grand archive most seriously indeed. There is perhaps good reason for this: others in Heaven, particularly the Division of Secrets, are known to covet the Procedures of Creation, and have often maneuvered to have the Office transferred to their offices, attempts resisted by Shenj and his ally Ryzala Shogun of Celestial Concerns.
Standing Committee on Sorcerous Affairs
Some whisper that as gods and mortals wield thaumaturgy, so the Primordials wielded Sorcery. Some declare that Sorcery is the ultimate expression of Exaltation’s limitless power and potential. Some whisper all manner of strange and esoteric theories as to the nature of Sorcery. What is definitively true is that unlike nearly all things in Creation, there is no god of Sorcery.
Instead, there is the Standing Committee on Sorcerous Affairs. This committee is not a body for administration but for study and coordination, having no budget or Salary of its own, its members meeting irregularly when their interests and agendas call them to do so. The opulent meeting rooms used by the Standing Committee are housed within the Office of Intelligent Design, the god of Thaumaturgy Shenji having claimed authority over Sorcery due to links with his own purview.
The other members of the Committee are those with a direct interest in sorcerous matters and their impact on Heaven and Creation. Membership is not permanent, with gods accepted by the existing membership as deemed necessary and often resigning once their interest is satisfied to avoid being saddled with additional paperwork. In addition to Shenji, three other members have held their posts consistently enough to be considered permanent members:
- Given the potential of sorcery to disrupt the course of the Loom of Fate, the Bureau of Destiny maintains a keen interest in sorcerous affairs, and though Shenji has strenuously opposed direct representation of the Bureau of Secrets on the Committee, the Bureau has been traditionally represented there by the Sidereal Exalt who serves as Chair of the Convention on Essence Wielders (currently Ayesha Ura).
- The place of the Solar Exalted as foremost users of Sorcery, and potentially its creators, ensures that Lytek, god of Exaltation, maintains an interest in its nature and effects. Some whisper that in the First Age he used his position on the Committee to deflect examination of the sorcerous experiments undertaken by the Solars, but no proof was ever found.
- Sorcery’s ability to break and bind the will of Demons is considered right and proper, invoking the oaths taken by the defeated Primordials. Its ability to do the same to Elementals, however, is far more contentious, at least amongst the Elementals themselves. The development of the Cselenine Pact tradition provided an alternative, and the censor Cselenine remains a member of the Committee to lobby for that system and to ensure the rights of Elementals are respected in Heavenly decisions regarding Sorcery.
