Gnosis Genealogia roughly translates to “Hidden knowledge of Lineage” or “Bloodline”. Despite its implications, it was not an organization found by vampires, but of blood mages. In the ancient world, they were a secret society that various Kings and Queens utilized to keep their bloodlines pure but more practically: Accurate. It was virtually impenetrable by corruption or bribery due to the immense level of secrecy they practiced, which the underworld found valuable in their own way.

Like many organizations, it still managed to evolve. They began hoarding knowledge, not necessarily to keep it secret but to best filter out the access others had to it. This was not entirely a foreign goal with magic based societies. Even the more reputable academies did much of the same thing, but did so with the idea of criminalizing certain magics or outright denying their existence.

Still, exploring the dark and the taboo was not their original goal but considering the founders of the cult were blood mages themselves, this was an unavoidable occurrence as they sought to better understand what they wielded.

As one can surmise, this idea was of great interest to The Matriarch. She ran into their agents when operating in ancient Italy, where one of their major points of operation was located. She embedded herself into a Shipping company and came across a shipment of blooded vials that were to be spread across the unknown world. The details are unimportant, but she effectively replaced the original courier and then made contact. A very simple display of magic use gave her a small boon of trust, but she had to work her way up from there.

The Matriarch had always kept the details of her creation obscure. Her story changes often, typically claiming a birth of a country that others may not have even had proof of yet. Something that typically couldn’t be checked, or lacked a true paper trail. As such, she effectively adopted an Italian family for this goal, and claimed to Gnosis that she was an enterprising merchant that was happy to find an organization to help further discover more about her magic. In truth, she was leagues more powerful than any cult leader she had ever met, but was forced to downplay her power in order to pursue her neverending goal of learning. Even she realized that she was youthful, despite her immortality, and lacked worldly experience. Thus, she never lorded her power over others and maintained some degree of humility.

Gnosis culture swept her away in complete fascination. It was a secret society in every way that was exciting, and utilized concepts that she would go on to later adopt into its culture. Keeping to its ‘cult’ status, Gnosis demanded a few things.

First, abandoning one’s name and adopting a new one. It was in fact incredibly coincidental that she had her own ready to go, in a similar theme as they demand. She muses that this was fate that brought her to Gnosis, but in reality it was indeed purely coincidental. New cultists are often simply referred to as “Acolytes”, later earning a title of their choice, something that reflected their ideals. For example, “The Architect” may have been named such for their skill in structural engineering. Or perhaps “The Seeker”, someone who felt at home on the field, spying and gathering information. They could manage to be more abstract than this, such as “The Spring”, a woman who named herself after her favorite season.

One would not be amiss to wonder what happens when they run out of adjectives. On average, Gnosis in various timelines usually caps out at a few thousand acolytes and students. There’s also a multitude of languages to consider. In some cases, there can be more than one of a title but if they’re stationed nearby, it’s best not to have more than two or three to avoid confusion. When an acolyte becomes titled, it’s also documented to assist others in choosing a name so people don’t accidentally make themselves redundant.

The idea behind this is that one must give up their worldly life and dedicate their entire being to Gnosis. The pursuit of knowledge is never ending, and everything else was considered a distraction.

The Matriarch would eventually overturn this to a slight degree; in the age of information and instant communication, the practicality of such a rule was reversed. While she would still demand most attention be driven into Gnosis, when people are but a cellphone call away then it’s not only cruel to deny them their families… it’s also impossible to enforce.

Secondly, all Gnosis cultists would adopt a mask as well. Acolytes were given blank white masks with no features to represent their clean slate.

The mask should have equal importance as their title. In their few years of initiation, they’re tasked with crafting a design for a mask that is an extension of who they are. Not everyone is an artist of course, so they usually have plenty of assistance in this matter. For example, The Matriarch’s own mask is designed after a Carnivale mask in the Renaissance era. She was in love with Italian culture at the time and when she became a part of Gnosis and the mask related culture came up, she knew exactly what the basic design she would have. It eventually changed and evolved with her (which is not disallowed in the masking culture), but ultimately she would stick with the ornate black, gold, and red design with a mostly blank lower face.

The mask’s design does not have to be related to what an acolyte plans on doing. Whether monk, warrior, teacher or something more basic, it can be attached to a fond memory like The Matriarch’s is. The only requirement is that it must mean something. They do not accept stock designs or “just draw something for me”. Even titled members can walk around with the basic mask for a while if they feel they need to.

The masks can be unique to each cultist but there are "uniform" variants that can be seen among dozens. This is more common in striker teams (Strikers are titled operatives that act as Gnosis’ scouts, spies, agents and informants. They’re the most active out in the world, and usually at the most risk) when their identity needs to be obscured.

The masks serve a few purposes. The main one is related to identity, as it should be an extension of one’s personality. It is also to protect their identity for when they visit the waking world. After all, their previous identity is usually deceased and it wouldn't be practical for them to be recognized. The second is uniformity. Wearing a mask symbolizes that a cultist is part of a greater concept than themselves.

One other underlying complication that adds to Gnosis being more cult-like in its operations is the obvious legality of blood and death magics in various timelines. They’re both prone to corruption, they can give one power over another’s bodily autonomy. Blood magic itself is rather easy to learn but difficult to master, while necromancy is the opposite. Hard to start with but can become easier to master when supplemented with other studies, like blood magic. Many of the more infamous sorcerers have utilized one or both of these, so it stands to reason that a majority of universes would distrust, disallow, or outright make illegal for arguably justifiable reasons.

The Matriarch has a different philosophy. With time, safe practices and environments, both magics can lend well towards the forces of good. When she sets up in a timeline, she almost always has an uphill battle in order to legitimize these darker arts. She is diplomatic and cooperative with whatever magister authorities that may be present, as well as remaining incredibly patient.

In relation to this, she rarely bans any knowledge outright. However, some studies are time-gated, meaning that students are not allowed to access certain subjects without being in Gnosis itself for a certain amount of time. This gives Gnosis leaders time to figure out if the student in question can ‘handle’ the information or not. There are many regulations like this, some of which Matriarch tried to make into a legal document to help her organization become legitimate in certain universes. It has had mixed success.

The Matriarch is not a fool. She’s well aware that these types of studies may attract the power-hungry types. Most to-be acolytes are pre-screened by psychologists, psionics, mentalists and otherwise to get a full dossier of their mental state. Obviously some might slip through the cracks, but Gnosis happily reports that it typically has twenty to twenty-five percent less of a chance to spawn a mass murderer or problematic sorcerer than other academies with similar goals. They still happen, but The Matriarch and her council work very hard at minimizing the effects that studying dark magics might have on young acolytes. Unfortunately, given the bad history of such potential, it sets back her goal of legitimizing blood magic and Necromancy to local magisters. In some timelines, it remains hated and illegal and in others, she can manage to have it accepted. In all timelines, it is always distrusted.

How an acolyte makes it into Gnosis varies wildly. Some are found, some seek Gnosis out on their own, some come across it by accident and are brought into the fold. However once the process begins, it becomes very consistent.

The main life changing aspect to Gnosis is that an acolyte must give up their family names, any lands they might have any right to, as well as any titles. They’re tasked with living on-site for several years while their body and mind is tempered with martial arts and intense studies. This is actually the main “source” of Gnosis’ cult-like status, as the rest of their culture is modelled after an academy more than anything else. To some, this aspect is comparable to a student going across the country to attend a college. Indeed, in more modern times it is impractical to foster Gnosis loyalty when people are forced away from their families for an extended period of time. It’s easier to do when getting from place to place took weeks or months to sail across the seas to visit one’s family. However as travel became much quicker and convenient, she was forced to concede that… yes, acolytes are indeed able to keep their birth name to use and visit their families. Abandoning one’s life is a tall order for some. However, their title must be maintained while on Gnosis grounds.

The general dogma of Gnosis is to “always be learning”. Over time the meaning of this became very broad. All acolytes are expected to work martial art training and at least one magical affluency into their day to daily lives. Generally speaking they’re all expected to have some grimoire, book, or manual on their person at most times of the day.

Naturally, Gnosis tries to avoid burning out their acolytes, so it goes without saying that they have their days off like anyone else.

After they accept the terms of abandoning their previous lives to give themselves to the pursuit of knowledge, an acolyte’s life truly begins.

After the aforementioned period of servitude and training, an acolyte’s life becomes fairly simple. The “uniform” varies between timelines but it’s usually robe or monk-like in nature, with specific straps or backpacks to allow books to be carried around. Once initiated, acolytes get a certain amount of freedom in how they choose to live their pursuit of knowledge. They can’t leave the grounds (not without a titled Striker alongside them) for a variable amount of years, but typically the academy has plenty for them to do. Vast libraries and even internet access (when applicable), as well as a large community for them to interact with. Their main rule is to “always be learning”, and what that entails varies wildly. Whether you’re learning a new language, a musical instrument, or figuring out how to wield death magic without murdering your entire family. It’s all the same to them.

There are a few theoreticals that must be addressed.

Time Travel. Some Gnosis cultists are carried over between timelines. This would certainly cause some questions about historical knowledge. Does Gnosis interfere with world-changing events? Yes and no, but mostly leaning towards the “no”. The Matriarch over time has become privy to a lot of major historical events. However she cannot be everywhere at once and is familiar with the general butterfly effect of things, in addition to her comparatively alien nature of birth there’s an accurate theory that she just simply does not care.

They might be willing to interfere in local problems, in their own city-wide range. However they mostly focus on rogue sorcerers and risen demons, as far as major wars and such go… They do not join them. It’s just safer and more practical to not bother.

Children. Romance has never been forbidden even to the tiniest degree, so of course there would be the occasional child. They’re typically raised on-site, and given the culture and surroundings the schooling would be very precise. They’d follow a similar regiment, even learning martial arts and certain magics. Like any acolyte, they’d also have a similar freedom to pursue what would interest them.

Control. Another point of interest was the control of its members. How does a cult maintain control over its members? How do they keep the people interested and/or unable to leave?

Gnosis is a fairly decent society filled with largely pleasant people. As mentioned before, they’re not immune to the occasional lunatic but mostly… Gnosis is full of literal volunteers. Some, like Matriarch herself in her youth, consider joining them to their own personal adventure. People want to be there.

In terms of people that wish to leave, that is allowed but it does come at a certain cost to incentivise them to remain. One, they’d lose access to Gnosis’ not inconsiderable resources. Scholars hardly wish to give up the chance to have the intelligence of the universe slip through their fingers, but it happens. Secondly, they’d actually have to offer some of their blood into a phylactery (in some lore, a magic phylactery is used to store the souls and life force. A mage has to create such a phylactery in order to become a lich, a highly expensive and taxing effort). Most titled students have to do this anyway as a general control measure. It has been mentioned that blood magic can be used to minimize or control another’s body, and blood phylacteries are used to control wayward students. When one leaves (either by choice or is expelled), this method is used to effectively suck out a portion of magic from their very being.

If a student wishes to leave on their own terms, this doesn’t matter so much. Reasons may vary. Maybe after a decade of service, they find themselves missing their old life. While some protocol allows for this anyway, some feel the life of academia has become too permanent for their liking and wish to give these resources up. As mentioned before, Gnosis takes some steps to prevent burnout but it has been known to happen.

This is typically a great incentive to not incite discord in the community, or to take studies into their own hands.