Human, and human adjacent, sentience tends towards societies which, as the nebulous quantum of, “civilisation,” increases, tend to bring with it a certain degree of bureaucracy and, with that, “a civil service”. Whether these organisations operate under the, “Divine Order of Heaven,” a mandate derived from the masses by democracy, or even the arbitrary disposition of resources by dint of birth in to some caste structure, these groups exist to maintain the status quo. It was almost inevitable, given their nature, that these organisations form a larger, looser group once they become aware of each other in the wider multiverse. After long, cutthroat debate, backstabbing and infighting, this group has mostly resigned itself through exhaustion to be known as the Tenet of Indeterminate Philosophy (TIP). Internal to realities, officers tend to claim membership to, the “Agency,” “Foundation,” “Institute,” “Ministry,” or whatever poorly defined governmental term will pass with least concern.
Organisation
The TIP operates at a trans-brane level. However, their membership is largely made up of officers seconded from local reality neighbourhoods to coordinate efforts in thwarting universe-wide threats.
Operational Cells
Relations With Other Factions
Tindalean Lords
Where the Tindalean Lords seek to stabilise existence from a very, “top-down,” approach, the TIP generally works, “bottom-up”. That said, they share very similar goals and some speculate that at a certain level within the Tenet, there’s much blurring of lines as to where one organisation ends and the other begins.
TIP Stacks
The subterranean files, storage and archives that form a maze crossing brane boundaries.
Influences
Men in Black
Definitely a more US bent on a secretive government agency ostensibly defending reality from external threats.
SCP Foundation
Operating clandestine and worldwide, the Foundation acts beyond conventional jurisdiction, with the task of containing anomalous objects, entities, and phenomena.
They maintain an extensive database of information regarding anomalies requiring Special Containment Procedures, commonly referred to as, “SCPs”; all of which undermine the natural laws that the people of the world implicitly trust in.
We operate to maintain normalcy, so that the worldwide civilian population can live and go on with their daily lives without fear, mistrust, or doubt in their personal beliefs, and to maintain human independence from extra-terrestrial, extradimensional, and other extranormal influence.
Our mission is threefold:
- Secure — secure anomalies to prevent them from falling into the hands of civilian or rival agencies through extensive observation and surveillance, acting to intercept anomalies at the earliest opportunity.
- Contain — contain anomalies to prevent spread of their influence or effects; by either relocating, concealing, or dismantling them, or by suppressing public dissemination of knowledge thereof.
- Protect — protects humanity as well as the anomalies themselves until such time that they are either fully understood or new theories of science can be devised based on their properties and behaviour.
L-Space
L-space, short for library-space, is the ultimate portrayal of Pratchett’s concept that the written word has powerful magical properties on the Discworld, and that in large quantities all books warp space and time around them. The principle of L-space revolves around a seemingly logical equation; it is an extension of the ‘Knowledge is Power’ motto:
Books = Knowledge = Power = (Force x Distance ÷ Time).
With respect to the TIP, this applies to the TIP Stacks
Sapphire and Steel
A special force of interdimensional operatives protect the universe from evil forces trying to gain a foothold by disrupting the timeline. The strange energy beings are assigned to cases, when and where needed, and materialise on Earth as humans, each with specialist abilities to ascertain and then solve the problems. The mysteries encountered by Sapphire, Steel and their colleagues include people trapped in photographs, ghosts lost in time, and an retro dinner party.
The agents protecting the, “corridors of time,” might also be Hounds of Tindalos.
Sidereal Exalted
From the Exalted RPG. Also known as the Viziers, the Sidereal Exalted are the champions of the Five Maidens and the keepers of Fate. The Chosen of the Maidens are the savants and astrologers of the Exalted, as well as matchless martial artists. During the Primordial War, they acted as advisers and spies for the Solar and Lunar generals. Near the end of the Age of Dreams, they undertook the Great Prophecy, which eventually led to the murder and usurpation of the Solar Exalted. Because of certain actions taken during the usurpation of the Chosen of the Sun, all 100 of the Fivescore Fellowship became stricken with Arcane Fate, which makes it very difficult for people to remember they exist at all. Because of this, the Sidereals have lurked in the shadows since then, manipulating the course of not only the Realm, but Creation as a whole.
The Estate
From The Strange RPG. To the world at large, the Estate is a philanthropic institute interested in funding research in several scientific fields of inquiry. While that’s partly true (the façade works because the Estate does award scientific grants to various deserving causes on a yearly basis), the Estate’s actual goal is to protect the Earth—and all of its life forms— from all threats to its existence from the Strange. As one of only a handful of organizations cognizant of the dark energy network, the Estate is uniquely positioned to deal with the threats the Strange represents. The Strange’s dark energy network could very easily be an interpretation of the Shift.
The Laundry Files
The Laundry Files are a series of science fiction spy thrillers written by British writer Charles Stross. The series main character is Bob Howard, a one-time I.T. consultant, now field agent working for British government agency The Laundry which deals with occult threats. The books are influenced by Lovecraft’s visions of the future, and set in a world where a computer and the right mathematical equations is just as useful a toolset for calling up horrors from other dimensions as a spell book and a pentagram on the floor.
The Magnus Institute
From The Magnus Archives podcast.
The Magnus Institute is an academic institution dedicated to researching the esoteric and paranormal. They are not, and they would like to make this clear, paranormal investigators. They are researchers dedicated to revealing knowledge of the unknown. Nevertheless, there are many mysteries about the Institute itself.
Warehouse 13
Warehouse 13 was a dramatic comedy that followed United States Secret Service agents Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) and Peter Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) as they retrieved new and missing supernatural objects and placed them in Warehouse 13, a secret government warehouse. They were accompanied by Claudia Donovan (Allison Scagliotti) and former ATF agent Steve Jinks (Aaron Ashmore). It had its series finale with Endless on May 19th, 2014.