There are six major covenants within the City of London. Two of them date back to the Middle Ages or earlier, two to the Elizabethan era, and two are new to this century. Innumerable smaller covens, cabals, and covenants exist in London and the area surrounding it, but these six are the focus of Empire of Shadows and the others will mainly exist as plot devices or antagonists.
The oldest covenant claims a heritage predating the Norman Conquest, to when Joseph of Arimathea is said to have brought the Holy Grail to England. The Fellowship of Avalon also states that this holy man brought together pagans and Christians and bid them learn from each other, leading to the founding of Glastonbury Abbey next to the druidic covenant of Avalon. For centuries, the druids and the priests pursued their spiritual goals in peace and tolerance, until the gradual dominance of Christianity strained the compact and it was dissolved. The Fellowship is seeking to reforge these bindings of tolerance and mutual learning within the context of the Traditions. Originally two covenants, the Coven of the Moon and the Order of St. Joseph of Arimathea consisted of Verbena and Euthanatos pagans and Christian Choristers, respectively, who turned a centuries old conflict over St. Paul's Cathedral (built on the site of a Roman Temple of Diana) into a chance for healing when the call for the Convocation of Traditions was raised. Despite its high ideals, though, there is still much conflict between these two groups and even the members of the same Tradition often forget their dedication to unity when issues of ideology come up.
The Londinium Collegium has been a fixture of the London landscape since the Middle Ages. It is the oldest Hermetic chantry in England and also one of the most unique because of the dominance of the House which saw its founding here, Ex Miscellanea. While it still has its share of the older, more conservative Houses, it is this element of exploration into diverse magical styles which defines it. It is this element which drove it to become one of the major proponents of the formation of the Traditions, balancing out its Hermetic arrogance and pride with a deep understanding of the world of magic outside its rituals and books. It has continued to remain a major player in Tradition politics, as well as a wild card within the Order itself. The Collegium itself is a fortress of magical defenses, wards, and guardians and is one of the few real refuges for Tradition mages in London. As befits its Hermetic inhabitants, it is also a hotbed of politics, intrigue, and professional rivalry, such that many of its allies give it a wide berth except when absolutely necessary, lest they get tangled in its intricate web.
The Theosophists represent a profound evolution of several of the oldest Traditions and, though only a few decades old, has gained significant influence in both the mortal and supernatural world. Borrowing from every major Eastern and Western religion and mystical tradition, Theosophy attempts to patch together a spiritual identity for the modern world out of the teachings of the past. Influenced by several new schools of thought that posit that all mystical traditions lead, essentially, to the same higher truths, Theosophy is less about dogma and more about learning from whatever source speaks best to you. The result of this has been to change the face of several of the older shamanic Traditions, primarily the Dreamspakers and Ecstatics, by making their paradigms accessible to modern men and women in the form of Spiritualism. While it has breathed new life into a group which was facing extinction at the hands of Western culture, it has not necessarily been received well by them, particularly those who believe that the patchwork cosmology of Theosophy has watered down what made their belief systems vital in the first place. A fairly informal covenant, the Theosophists have no regular meeting place, preferring to gather in small groups in drawing rooms and clubs, where they try to contact the hidden masters and the dead.
The Cult of Ecstasy's evolution took a rather marked turn at the beginning of this century, much like the change currently gripping the Dreamspeakers as a result of the popularity of Spiritualism. With the birth of the Romantic movement, the Tradition suddenly found a means to translate their paradigm to the modern age. Many new members have shed the role of seers and prophets and instead taken up the mantle of the artist as the prophet of the new age. While the message has changed little, the change of image has been quite remarkable, despite the fact that all of the old elements are there: the breaking of taboos, the attaining of altered states of consciousness, and the use of excess and definicency as tools to break the mind free from its bonds. The Society of Romantics has grown since its inception a century ago and some say that it has fallen into decadence, corruption, even infernalism. They may be right in some respects as there is no denying that several of the more Sadean members of the Society are prone to acts of extreme cruelty in the name of freedom and enlightenment. The Society itself is small and very informal. Members meet infrequently, usually in opium dens, theatres, and drawing room literary discussions, and only the ideals of Romanticism bind them.
The Royal Society was founded by Sir Francis Bacon during the reign of Queen Elizabeth and the Order of Reason has been there since the very beginning. The covenant sought to turn the Royal Society into the perfect tool for spreading Science and Reason to every corner of the globe and it was more successful than they could have possibly imagined. In Victorian England, the Royal Society is the center of scientific research, academia, and debate. However, whereas the early founders of the covenant were Deists, like many of their fellow Daedelans, they have since shifted to adopt the principles of Utilitarianism and become wholly secular. They are at the root of the new vision of the Order and are responsible for the dissolution of the Cabal of Pure Thought and the creation of the Ivory Tower to take its place, splitting the Order in half as the Masons strive to maintain the principles and mandate of the original charter. The Society is led by the Ivory Tower and the Electrodyne Engineers but has a sizeable number of Cosian, Void Seeker, and High Guild members. The covenant has regular meetings, publishes periodicals, and tends to be in good communication. Its members tend to gather at the meeting places of their Convention or at the headquarters for the Royal Society in Westminster.
With the growing secularism of the Order of Reason, there are many within its ranks who have begun to struggle, subtly and not so subtly, to resist the inevitable tide of change which will turn it into the Technocracy. Led by the increasingly obsolete Artificers and the few remaining members of the disbanded Cabal of Pure Thought, the Masons identify strongly with the ideals of these two groups and the original founders of the Order, the Craftmasons. Meeting outside of the mundane organization with the same name, they gather at the Temple chapel and use their influence and contacts to try and take back control. While the membership is waning, those that remain tend to be very socially powerful and their Freemason contacts make them powerful enemies. The members from other Conventions tend to be religious, have some other stake in not wholly abandoning religion or mysticism, or merely do not like the current direction of the Order. Prominent among these are religious Cosians who dislike the move towards research and away from treating patients, High Guild members who wish to remain businessmen and bankers rather than become accountants and economists, and Void Seekers who sympathize with the people and cultures they've experienced and have no desire to see them wiped from the Earth. Together, they practice old Masonic and Templar rites and play a subtle game of politics with the Royal Society in an attempt to resist obsolesence.