Order Of Mercury

Mercurian Messenger
The Order of Mercury is an inter-governmental organization with extensive reach throughout Orion's Arm which polices the use of technology and facilitates interstellar communication through the operation of a system of diplomatic couriers. It is divided into three separate bodies, the Messengers, the Archivalists and the Inquisitors and it is governed by a Counsel of Elders made up of the grand-masters of the order.

Predecessor

Before the Order of Mercury, there was an organization called the Interstellar Commission for the Reclamation of Controlled Technology. The ICRCT was organized by the group of scientists and engineers on the fridges of Orion's Arm who survived the Plague. Humanity had faced the threat of artificial intelligence and barely survived and the ICRCT was setup to prevent any such event like the Plague from ever happening again. The ICRCT initially helped to reestablish communications between the planets of the survivors and to round up any technology that may still pose a threat to humanity if it came under the control of the artificial intelligence. Key parts of the quantum cloud were decommissioned and sealed away on Earth, along with all the automated technology that could be found by field teams throughout its 80 year long search.

Establishment

The Council of Governors established the Order of Mercury in the aftermath of The Warring Lords Period to oversee the integration of ancient technology into society and to provide a permanent non-partisan postal service for people throughout Orion's Arm. Some of the original members of the ICRCT were appointed to lead the ICRCT as an Elder Council and to recruit and oversee the many commoners who would be needed to provide such services. The Elder Council was also responsible for providing regular updates to the Council of Governors about the operations of the organization.

Organization

Over its multiple millenia of operations, the Mercurian Order has maintained a vast network of couriers and outposts through out Orion's Arm to convey information between all the members of human societies. Over time, members of this part of the organization came to be called Messengers for the role that they play, as in contradistinction to the field teams responsible for the investigation and evaluation of technology uncovered through Orion's Arm. For most of its existence, these field teams operated as units, each under the auspices of one of the grand-masters on the Elder Council. But, during Interstellar Empire, the ever expanding economies and footprint of humanity and increasing role of the well-born in bureaucratic institutions lead to a division in the Order of Mercurian between those responsible for the investigation of technology (the Inquisitors) and those charged with the task of documenting and decommissioning the artifacts that are discovered (the Archivalists).

Time has also increased both the power and the solemnity of the Order. Numerous rituals and rites of initiation have grown around the practices of its membership. And, a number of the Elders of the order use the organization to stifle technology that might otherwise threatened their own dominance, even if there is no direct threat to humanity. By the Orion Revolution, the Order of Mercury has become just as important a player in the political order as the largest empires of Orion's Arm. Perhaps even more so.