Mage's Association

The Mage's Association (魔術協会, Majutsu Kyōkai^?) is an international, self-preservative and self-defense organization formed by practitioners of magecraft for the purpose of controlling, concealing, and developing Magecraft. It is said to transcend nationality and genre of magecraft, but that is in name only. After having existed for many years, it was decided around the Middle Ages by those who foresaw the decline of Magecraft that in order to preserve their power Thaumaturgy should drift apart from society and become a secret known only by a necessary minimum number of people.

It has many laboratories and research bodies that seek to advance the progress of Thaumaturgy, as well as institutions that transmit their secrets to the next generation. Although the emphasis lies on the pursuit of knowledge, the Association also seeks to increase its own military strength and reserves the use of force to protect itself from entities that threaten its existence, such as the Holy Church, other mage organizations, supernatural forces seeking to punish mankind for meddling with areas that should not be touched, and individuals who hunt that which they consider taboo.

The Association has set up research institutions and established and enforces laws that forbid the criminal use of magecraft in order to promote the development, or perhaps regression, of magecraft. The Association is mainly concerned with the preservation and concealment of Magecraft in criminal aspects. They do not care about hideous crimes committed by Magi so long as they are not a threat that might reveal the existence of Thaumaturgy to the common public.

Internal Workings

The Mage's Association is divided into three main branches: the Clock Tower, the Atlas Academy, and the Wandering Sea. Ever since Clock Tower became the official headquarters, the Three Great Branches as they are called started to drift apart from each other.

As long as he/she does not possess a Sealing Designation, a Magus may leave the Association at any time without facing any restrictions. However, this is rarely done, since the Association provides its members with great amount of resources, stored knowledge and other benefits. And so many Mages from all over the world gather and devote themselves day and night to the study of Magecraft, while at the same time, are busily tripping over and being tripped over by other factions and competing for power and budget. The organization is anything but harmonious and has a complicated bizarre structure, but the magical research there is without doubt the leading edge. Despite its academia facet, the Magi of the Association rarely share the result of their own researches between each other.

Rankings

There are two types of rankings in the Clock Tower: the ordinary ranks that serves to grade one's capabilities as a magus and the colored titles that represent the uniqueness of a magus' craft.

The top rank of Grand, also sometimes called the Crown (王冠, Ōkan^?), is rare even in the entire history of the Clock Tower, and the rank of Brand is given only to the best of the best. Mature Magi without any outstanding powers such as Lord El-Melloi II are ranked Fes, an average magus is generally ranked Cause, and complete amateurs and students that just started learning such as Ayaka Sajyou are ranked Frame.

Touko Aozaki rose to the rank of Grand when she was 20 years old, while Satsuki Kurogiri of Atlas was the youngest to achieve the same feat at 15 years old. Although Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia has the abilities of a Brand, his political deftness landed him the rank of Grand in the world of Fate/Apocrypha, which had a reduced number of magi due to the numerous false Holy Grail Wars all around the world. Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillennia, currently a Frame, is noted to definitely rise to a Cause when she grows up and likely rise even further due to her latent talent.

Rank Number	Rank Title	Magus
1	Grand: Crown (冠位(グランド), Kan'i(Gurando)?)	Touko Aozaki Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia (Apocrypha) Satsuki Kurogiri
2	Brand: Color (色位(ブランド), Shikii(Burando)?)	Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia (Actual rank) Rulfurus Nuda-Re Eulyphis
3	Pride: Law (典位(プライド), Ten'i(Puraido)?)	Zouken Matou Nigel Sayward Svin Glascheit
4	Fes: Festival (祭位(フェス), Saii(Fesu)?)	Lord El-Melloi II Lev Lainur Flauros Melvin Waynez Bazett Fraga McRemitz Geryon Ashborn
5	Cause: Open (開位(コーズ), Kaii(Kōzu)?)	Ritsuka Fujimaru
6	Count: Eldest Child (長子(カウント), Chōshi(Kaunto)?)
7	Frame: Youngest Child (末子(フレーム), Masshi(Furēmu)?)	Ayaka Sajyou Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillennia

Magi with special abilities valued by the Association receive titles according to a color system, with the three primary colors of Red, Blue and Yellow representing the magi with the most unique abilities. Those titles are followed by the colors Orange, Purple, Green and Black, with a lesser rank being represented by each color. There can be more than one magus for each color.

Colored Title	Magus
Red (赤?)	Touko Aozaki
Blue (青?)	Aoko Aozaki
Yellow (黄?)
Orange (橙?)
Purple (紫?)
Green (緑?)
Black (黒?)

External Relationships

The Mage's Association and the Holy Church have a non-aggression agreement between each other for quite a while now, but armed conflict still tends to happen often in an off-the-records fashion. Atlas however, is a case in and of itself.

The Association has deemed the Magic Foundation of the Middle East and the philosophies of magecraft from the Far East incompatible with its teachings, and both schools conversely reject the Association. It has been working towards at least building a stance of neutrality between them. The mage organizations of Japan also did not join the Association.

In the world of Fate/Strange Fake,  the Mage's Association has antagonistic relations with America and the country's mages. 

In the world of Fate/Grand Order, the Mage's Association seems to work together with the United Nations to form the Chaldea Security Organization. 

Gransurg Blackmore, one of the Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors, cooperates with the Mage's Association in the Tsukihime World.

Sealing Designation

Sealing Designations (封印指定, Fūin Shitei^?) are edicts handed down by the Mage's Association to maintain and protect special thaumaturgical abilities which cannot be acquired through study. Said to be a title of the "greatest honor", those marked are deemed "precious", causing the Association to mobilize the greatest effort to secure their flesh and blood, their body's potential. Those designated are to be incarcerated, becoming samples preserved in their present conditions and levels of ability. It is an outrage to those who are designated not because of it being the equivalent of a death sentence, but rather because it is an affront to their status as prominent magi. They who have spent their lives devoted to their research will automatically reject a situation in which they will be unable to continue. Genuine sealing designations are extremely rare, and those who pursue them, Enforcers, will be lucky to pursue even one in an entire decade. Normally limited to those of greater magical pedigree, Norikata Emiya, the fourth head of the Emiya family, is noted to be a genius who rose to the rank of receiving a designation despite being of a shallow generation.

Carillon Observatory, the Secret Judgment Division (秘儀裁示局・天文台カリオン, Higi Saiji Kyoku Tenmondai Karion^?) took place in the oldest classroom of the Clock Tower. They decide on the Sealing Designation and also the procedure of revocations. At the end of the 20th century, they delivered an incredible shock to the entire Clock Tower as multiple sealing designations were revoked.

The actions of those who are designated can be divided into two paths: Hermit (隠者, Inja^?) and Philosopher (賢者, Kenja^?). Hermits become degraded magi after secluding themselves from the world, transmitting their knowledge only to their successor. Unless they have a truly extraordinary work, they are normally left alone by the Association because they are not an immediate threat, instead only kept under surveillance while keeping an interest in their research. Philosophers are those great magi striving to reach new heights, becoming menaces that abandon all codes of conduct to continue their research without being bothered. Acting without restraint unlike normal magi, they are able to obtain greater results in a shorter period of time. They may victimize a number of innocent people in their pursuit, possibly making magecraft known to the world should they be too careless.

Those with Sealing Designations include:

• Norikata Emiya
• Satsuki Kurogiri
• Touko Aozaki
• Nigel Sayward (A candidate)

Enforcer

Sealing Designation Enforcer (封印指定執行者, Fūin Shitei Shikkōsha^?) - Also called Enforcers (実行者, Jikkōsha^?), they are magi specialized in hunting down magi marked with Sealing Designations. Though there are said to be around thirty official Enforcers, Freelancers like Natalia Kaminski and Kiritsugu Emiya also hunt such people for a bounty placed by the Association, making a living stealing the prey of the Enforcers and selling the Magic Crests back to the Association for an inflated price. Due to the rarity of an actual Sealing Designation, even the genuine Enforcers would be lucky to pursue such "big game" once in a decade, most making their living off of non-designated heretical magi who have deviated from the norms of the Association. Although in a similar line of work as the Church's Executors who may share the same targets, they rarely work together due to Executors wishing to destroy all heresy, while Enforcers wish to retrieve the work of the magus. They are looked down upon by the upper ranks of the Association, and although they are supposed to suppress anything that might reveal the existence of Thaumaturgy to the general public, great events and rituals such as the Holy Grail War are outside their scope of work. Bazett's participation during the Fifth Holy Grail War as a representative of the Association is due to Kotomine's recommendation.

• Bazett Fraga McRemitz
• Cornelius Alba
• Forte

The Three Great Branches

Clock Tower

Main article: Clock Tower

Atlas Temple

Main article: Atlas

Wandering Sea

The Wandering Sea (彷徨海, Hōkō Kai^?), also known as The Moving Tomb (移動石柩, Idō Sekkyū^?) and Baldanders^WP (バルトアンデルス, Barutoanderusu^?), is an integrated association in Northern Europe. It is a conglomerate of minor organizations of magi that are spread throughout Europe that was originally the original Association that predated the Clock Tower. They have ceased communication with the Association since the Clock Tower became the headquarters. This base is itself a moving mountain range. Normally it is wandering at sea as its name suggests, but sometimes it comes up on dry land. It opens to the outside world only once a year, on December 31st.

The Wandering Sea is located in a Texture of the world between the world of man and the Reverse Side of the World. Most of this texture is composed entirely of ocean, with the exception of the island that the organization uses as a base, which is a submersible landmass capable of moving around the world.

The island of the Wandering Sea doesn't have an entrance on its surface. The actual entrance is some forty meters below the ocean surface, and leads to a docking area that's ten meters below the surface. Those inside the lobby can pull ships into the docking area using a manipulation of the ocean currents, but a normal ship wouldn't survive the process. It would need to be an airtight ship or a shiplike vehicle that's thaumaturgically or physically shielded against sudden changes in pressure.

The Wandering Sea considers only magecraft from the Age of Gods and looks down on modern magecraft. Among the founders of the Mage's Association, there had been many heretical magi who were exiled from the Wandering Sea and the Atlas Academy and had no place left to go.

Nrvnqsr Chaos was originally a magus affiliated to the Wandering Sea.

During the events of Fate/Grand Order, Sion Eltnam Sokaris foresaw the invasion of the Alien God and traveled from Atlas to the Wandering Sea. While the mages of the Wandering Sea were not concerned about the wiping of humanity's texture from the world since it had nothing to do with the Age of Gods, they allowed Sion to stay as long as she did not disturb them. Sion and her Servant Captain repurposed the entrance area of the Wandering Sea to look like Chaldea.

Known institutions among those that compose the Wandering Sea are:

• Prague Association (プラハ協会, Puraha Kyōkai^?) – An organization that researches on Alchemy, its members follow the traditional precepts of alchemists. Consequentially, they are on bad terms with Atlas.
• Sponheim Abbey (シュポンハイム修道院, Shuponhaimu Shūdōin^?) – An institution that works closely with the Clock Tower and Cornelius Alba was supposed to be its next director.
• Thule Society (トゥーレ協会, Tūre Kyōkai^?) – A group of magi that studies Rune Magecraft and has kept the original runic scripts secret with no concern for the decline of Rune Magecraft.

Related Terms

Average One (五大元素使い, Go Dai Genso Tsukai^?, lit. "User of the Five Great Elements")

The title given to those who possess all the Five Great Elements as their Elemental Affinities. Very valued by the Mage's Association. Includes Rin Tohsaka.

Second Owner (管理者, Kanrisha^?, lit. "Supervisor")

When the Association entrusts a family of magi with a spiritual land, the current head of said family receives this title and becomes in charge of administrating all supernatural activity within its territory. Once a magus fixes residence in a spiritual land of the Association, he is expected to seek the permission of the Second Owner before setting his workshop. However, just like Kiritsugu Emiya did in Fuyuki, it is possible to remain hidden from the Second Owner depending on how well he performs his job.

Spiritual Land (霊地, Reichi^?)

Mystical grounds where strong leylines^WP of Mana can be found, places that increase the power of Magecraft and, in the case of those of top class, where Magic can be activated. The Mage's Association has the ownership of most of the high quality spiritual lands around the world but, for practical purposes, actual administration of the land is left to a local lineage of magi that is related to the Association. Among the spiritual lands of Japan, the one under the care of the Aozaki family is the only location where Magic can be activated. The Fuyuki Grail Wars, however, were created as an excuse to concentrate the necessary amount of magical energy needed to enable activation of magic on the spiritual land of Fuyuki. In the Heaven's Feel route of Fate/stay night, it is successful and the Third Magic is activated. Although the Second Magic is also activated in the Heaven's Feel route, it is irrelevant to the spiritual land of Fuyuki, as it uses the Jewel Sword Zelretch.

Wizard Marshal (魔道元帥, Madō Gensui^?)

A title given by those who possess a certain degree of military authority within the Association, so far the only known Wizard Marshals are Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg and Barthomeloi Lorelei. Note that while Lorelei is the Wizard Marshal in charge of a group of 50 elite magi, she is also the assistant director of Clock Tower.

Workshop (工房, Kōbō^?)

The magical laboratory of a magus where he performs his researches and experiments. During its construction, the most important procedure is to prevent the magical energy inside of the workshop from leaking out so its presence can be concealed. Magi usually set up Bounded Fields around their workshops to protect them. Stepping into the workshop of a magus without his permission is seen as an act of open hostility. Referred to in the Aniplex of America translation as an atelier (French for workshop).