[b][i]General Lore - 2022[/i][/b]

In the twilight of World War II, the Computer Scientist Alan Turing invented an 'Occult Programming Language' that [i]made magic real[/i]. The most common form that 'magic' took was the [i]Noble Arm[/i], which was the ability to conjure up a supernatural weapon that can defy the laws of physics, a weapon bound to the user’s mind and soul; summoned by their will into reality. For reasons that are still unexplainable despite years of research, Noble Arms mostly take the form of weapons from before the First World War (things have started to change, but only because more weapons have grown obsolete since then), however, despite the antiquity of these forms, the power they bear to the battlefield is unlike anything modern technology has been able to produce. 

[list][*] The ability to manipulate the elements to the user's will.

[*] Forces that can reduce matter down to atoms in seconds.

[*] The strength to withstand the explosion of a nuclear missile.[/list]

All of these powers, and more wondrous and terrifying abilities, come with Noble Arms. Thus, the ones who bear them, the Arms Masters, are sought after by countries all around the world. Where once the strength of a country was decided by the technological strength of its Army, it is now judged by the power of its Arms Masters.

But this state of affairs has produced sadness and strife; the world was just not prepared for the possibility of superhumans, people who just by existing, challenge the notion of equality between men. And so Arms Masters and Normal Humans lived in an uneasy state of coexistence, with radicals on both sides wishing to shatter the peace and dominate one another.

Then, in the early decades of the 21st Century, from the years 2019 to 2022, the status quo shattered again, with three groups of beings, only one of them claiming to be part of Humanity as it is now, manifesting the ability to [i]give[/i] Noble Arms to those who once lacked them, albeit under conditions which appeal only to the desperate. These factions, known as “The Big Three”, are:

[hider=The Big Three]
[b]The Seven Virtues[/b] - [i]"Humanity can be more than it is now. Make it so."[/i] The Seven Virtues claim to be ascended Humans, Arms Masters who had transcended their mortal form and become something more. Now they seek to guide Humanity to a similar 'Ascension' by controlling the ‘reincarnation’ of the Noble Arms held by Arms Masters who had died in the line of duty, or very rarely, creating new ones which had not been held by an Arms Master before. However, the Seven Virtues make one demand from those they empower: Give up their existing property, their wealth, and their position in society, and dedicate themselves to Humanity as a whole.

[b]The Paragons of Science[/b] - [i]"Humanity is the only concept worth worshipping."[/i] The Paragons of Science are a cabal of scientists who have mixed together actual scientific principles with the Occult to decipher part of what makes Noble Arms 'tick', enough to manufacture Artificial Noble Arms which can compete with the best of existing ones. However, they give these Artificial Arms only to those who can 1.) pay through the nose for them, or 2.) people who are willing to renounce the “Throne and altar” to promote a future where Humanity rules over all of nature and worships only itself.

[i]Updated Restrictions:[/i] Oh, and this will be unknown to most OCs, but the Paragons of Science use 'Special Occult Programming Language' to make them able to remotely bring down any A or B-rank Noble Arms to C-Rank if they deem the Arms Master a threat to their interests. Due to the 'Special Occult Programming Language' being imperfect, however, they cannot bring a Noble Arm any lower, so NAs which are already C-Rank are safe.

[b]The Downward Descent[/b] - [i]"Freedom from Morality."[/i] The Downward Descent does not claim to be Human, but rather something more; the darkness of people's thoughts and inner desires made manifest, whispering the fulfillment of their darkest wishes. The Downward Descent wants nothing more than Humanity to descend to a level lower than animals, to pull civilization down into ruins so that people would give up on being something more than what they were, to regard their hopes and dreams and aspirations as only so many lies and self-deception. And in exchange for indulging their wishes, the entities of the Downward Descent can give Noble Arms to anyone, not just the unpowered but also [i]those who already have a Noble Arm[/i]; they are the only source of a Second Noble Arm, ever.

And all it takes is for you to renounce not just your soul, but actively endorse the very things you find most abominable in your heart and mind.
[/hider]

Their machinations have swept the old divisions out of the water, destroying the fragile order of the world as apocalyptic warfare breaks out all over it...