Supernatural Bureau

Genre: This is a Urban Fantasy setting. Established in 1888 by Queen Victoria under the leadership of Sir Aleister Crowley (his real date of birth was very early in history, he later went mad and revealed the existence of the Occult) to prove the existence of the supernatural and to deal with it. Created after Jack The Ripper which was in fact an occultist that went insane after reading forbidden knowledge, the Supernatural Bureau is a covert organization operating in London, dedicated to maintaining the fragile balance between the mortal world and the hidden realms of gods, demons, and other supernatural beings. To the public it is known as The Royal Archives, which actually exists but the individuals working in the real Royal Archive not knowing they work side by side with the Supernatural Bureau. They occupy the west wing of the building and normal employees don't have the clearance to enter. The Bureau ensures that supernatural entities integrate into human society, covers up incidents that threaten public stability, and enforces the Laws of Coexistence to prevent divine and infernal chaos. With a network of occult experts, investigators, and enforcers, the Bureau is the last line of defense against supernatural lawbreakers.

Concepts

• Human Manner Training: All supernatural entities seeking residence in the human world must undergo rigorous training in human behavior, speech patterns, and customs to blend in unnoticed.
• Identity Falsification & Memory Alteration: The Bureau has developed sophisticated methods to erase or alter public memory when supernatural exposure occurs, ensuring the secrecy of non-human existence.
• Artifacts & Occult Technology: The Bureau has access to rare relics, arcane grimoires, and otherworldly technology capable of stabilizing supernatural influence and enforcing containment protocols.

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Departments of the Bureau

• Mundane Integration (MU) - Oversees Human Manner Training and assigns human identities to entities.
• Paranormal Investigations Division (PID) – Tracks and neutralizes rogue supernatural entities who break the Laws of Coexistence.
• Reality Stabilization Unit (RSU) – Specializes in covering up supernatural incidents, erasing evidence, and ensuring the mortal population remains ignorant of the unseen world.
• Demonic Immigration Control (DIC) – Manages visas and integration for supernatural entities seeking legal residence in human society.
• Divine Relations Task Force (DRTF) – Handles negotiations with gods, celestials, and high-ranking supernatural beings to prevent divine conflicts or cult resurgences.
• Department of Research and Occult Development (DROD) – Tasked with studying supernatural entities, artifacts, and arcane knowledge to develop new containment methods, rituals, and countermeasures. The DROD also experiments with controlled supernatural augmentation to enhance Bureau operations, though such practices remain controversial.
• The Archivers – The Bureau’s kill-task unit, deployed when an entity is deemed too dangerous to be contained, controlled, or integrated. They operate in absolute secrecy, ensuring supernatural threats are permanently erased without public awareness.
• The Watchers – Assigned to monitor and control extremely dangerous supernatural entities who have agreed to work with the Bureau. They ensure these entities remain cooperative and prevent them from becoming existential threats.

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The Supernatural Factions

• The Pantheon (The Old Gods in Hiding) – Ancient deities who have faded from public worship now live as ordinary humans. Some strive to regain influence, while others seek anonymity. Their power depends on faith, which is dwindling in the modern age. Recently, tensions have risen between the Pantheon and the Bureau due to a surge of forgotten gods attempting to start cults, violating the Laws of Coexistence. These illegal cults have led to multiple high-profile interventions.
• The Infernal Cartels (Demonic Crime Syndicates) – Demons are prohibited from openly interfering in mortal affairs, but many run illicit businesses in forbidden magic, black-market relics, and soul trafficking. Some align with the Bureau for power; others operate in the shadows, evading control.
• The Wandering Courts (Otherworldly Immigrants) – Entities from forgotten realms and dimensions who have taken refuge on Earth, including faeries, eldritch beings, and spirits. Some wish to coexist peacefully; others seek to reshape reality in their image.
• The Covens (Secretive Magic Societies) – Groups of mortals who wield supernatural power, either through inheritance or theft. They function as occult think tanks, mercenary spellcasters, and underground traders of arcane knowledge. The Bureau tries to regulate them, but their power grows unchecked.

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Magic & Supernatural Laws

• The Laws of Coexistence:
  • Divine beings are forbidden from openly revealing their existence—breaking this law risks divine war.
  • Demons may not claim souls without explicit consent, but contracts can be manipulated or coerced.
  • Supernaturals who kill humans are exiled—or worse, erased from existence.
• Spellcasting & Magic Regulation:
  • Magic is strictly regulated, and unlicensed use results in immediate arrest or forced recruitment into Bureau service.
  • Mortals can access supernatural power by forming contracts with deities, demons, or eldritch patrons, binding them to servitude.
  • Overuse of magic can destabilize reality itself, leading to catastrophic consequences.
• Sentences are immediate as carrying a court of justice present a risk to reality itself and the secrecy of the Bureau, invoking clause 18 of Supernatural risk.

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Recruitment Profile:

To join the Supernatural Bureau, candidates must meet the following conditions:

• Must be at least 25 years old.
• Must meet two out of three of the following qualifications:
  • At least three years of prior service as a civil servant (military, law enforcement, intelligence, or government administration).
  • Direct exposure to a verified supernatural event and demonstrated ability to remain composed under pressure.
  • Natural curiosity, meaning they may have stumbled upon real occult evidence through hacking, researching, or investigating beyond the normal boundaries of knowledge.
• Bonus considerations for higher ranking or increased pay:
  • Belonging to a family with deep supernatural ties (e.g., bloodlines with ancestral connections to magical beings, former Bureau agents, or historical occultists).
  • Possessing occult knowledge beyond common fictional depictions, including practical understanding of forbidden rituals, lost languages, or esoteric sciences. -Exceptions: There are a few cases where recruitement can be done even if criterias are not met. The three most common occurences are "forced recruitement of a rogue mage", "being in possession of a divine relic by accident" and "finding the Bureau HQ without knowing about it".

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Bureau Ranks

Agents can be assigned to any unit, as all ranks play essential roles within the Bureau.

1. Pawn – Recruits undergoing field evaluation and training.
2. Rook – Promoted from Pawn after demonstrating exceptional strategic thinking. Rooks serve as tactical planners and strategists. They are favored for elimination missions.
3. Tower – Promoted from Pawn after showing strong communication skills. Towers manage interdepartmental communication and ensure reports and intelligence flow effectively. They are favored for negotiation missions.
4. Bishop – Promoted from Pawn after proving their ability to remain level-headed under stress. Bishops generally lead on-site operations and coordinate field missions. They are favored for cover-up missions.
5. King/Queen – After serving in a second-tier role (Rook, Tower, or Bishop), an agent may be considered for promotion to King or Queen. These individuals serve as department heads and oversee their assigned units.
6. Joker – A special designation given to agents who have demonstrated competence across all three second-tier roles (Rook, Tower, and Bishop). Jokers hold the same hierarchy level as Kings/Queens and can temporarily take on leadership roles when needed.
7. Knight – For agents who meet the requirements for King/Queen but do not wish to take on a leadership role and do not meet the Joker requirement. Knights remain high-level operatives with full autonomy in the field and can act as elite troubleshooters or independent investigators. They can refuse any order except from Ministers. They are the one in charge of culling corruption in the departments.
8. Minister – The highest rank within the Bureau, limited to only three individuals at a time. Ministers are former Kings or Queens who have served long enough and are promoted when a predecessor retires. They have direct authority to communicate with the Queen of the United Kingdom to request additional financial or political support for the Bureau.
9. The King or Queen of United Kingdom: In case of great emergency, they might seize authority of the Bureau invoking "Protocol Victoria". It happened twice in history. One case of rampant demonic influence (1889 - Armagh Rail Disaster) and another with a godly cult infiltrating the ranks (1960 - Eddie Cochran Car Accident).

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Retirement

• Agents may retire at 40 years old with full pay, as prolonged exposure to supernatural events is recognized as high-risk work. Memory alteration is not possible because there is a risk of memory slipping, meaning they might accidentaly remember and blabber about past cases.
• Agents may continue working voluntarily until 80 years old, should they choose to remain active.
• Early retirement with full benefits is granted under specific conditions:
  • Maiming – Permanent injury sustained during service.
  • Traumatizing eldritch influence – Psychological damage caused by supernatural exposure.
  • Transfer to a standard government position – Some agents transition into non-supernatural intelligence or law enforcement roles.
  • Death – Families of deceased agents receive continued financial support.
• Blabberer Clause: If a retired agent starts trying to reveal information on the supernatural, an intervention by The Archivers is immediately made. The clause was created because of Aleister Crowley to silence him, if he is ever found one day.