The History of the Lexicon Auctoritas
by Lujayn Jakes
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The Preamble
The Lexicon Auctoritas is a comprehensive record of the terminology used by the RPC Authority during its lifetime. As most historical terms have been removed from the modern edition, this document serves to archive them for future research.
Originally titled "Harpocrationis Lexicon in Imperata Auctoritas," it was written by Plutarco Di Biasio in early 1468. Previously a scribe, Plutarco, being one of the oldest members Auctoritas Imperata of the Authoritas, was quickly able to climb the ranks within to senior status. There is little to no information regarding Plutarco's personal life outside of the Authority, however. The Lexicon was passed down until the 1800s when the modern RPC Authority was formed. As time went by, the Lexicon was uncovered and rewritten to fit the Directorate's push for an independent Authority. During this time, the Lexicon was revised by Pierre-Louis Grandjean in 1815, and titled "Glossaire de L'autorité RPC," or, "The RPC Authority Glossary."
Finally, as part of the internal reorganization in 1947, the Lexicon was re-branded once again as the current Lexicon Auctoritas. The initial effort to re-introduce the Harpocrationis Lexicon in Imperata Auctoritas's original contents to the modern Authority was spearheaded by the late Cheif Operations Officer, Robert Hoss.
While most may brush off the Lexicon as a simple method of archiving technical terms, the history and significance of the document serve as a unique insight into the RPC Authority's previous incarnations. The Lexicon Auctoritas is the one common link shared by the Authority's prior generations. Through the study of this history, the Research Department hopes to uncover new insights into the world during the Auctoritas, and how humanity learned to live with and fend off anomalies without our current technology. As the RPC Authority continues to expand and interact with other anomalous organizations, a comprehensive list of terminology is needed to help personnel stationed far from Authority-central sites stay well-informed on how to classify and adequately secure threats.
Part One: The Plutarco Format
Sometime in the early 1460s, Plutarco Di Biasio was tasked by Pope Pius II to create the Lexicon Auctoritas, or as it was known at the time, the "Harpocrationis Lexicon in Imperata Auctoritas." Not much has been uncovered about Plutarco before its creation; however, it is known that he had joined the Auctoritas's cause sometime after the First Crusade's conclusion. Plutarco, as well as a team of scribes, would go on to record and study various knights' and nobles' methods of documenting anomalies.
During this time, there was no anomaly classification system. As Auctoritas knights would commonly describe captured or neutralized anomalies on crude scrolls of paper1, the format Plutarco developed was based on common characteristics shared by each paper. He then developed the earliest known version of the formal RPC Authority document format, which would be spread throughout the Auctoritas's members.
This format, now colloquially known as the "Plutarco format," was regularly divided into five chapters. The first recorded the behaviors and property of the object, not unlike the modern object class and hazard codes system; the second would document where it was discovered; the third would contain a flamboyant description of the anomaly; the fourth would detail how it was to be contained, not unlike the modern Containment Protocols block found in more recent documents; and the fifth would contain a series of reports and notes made by Auctoritan nobles.
As the Auctoritas expanded its reach further into Asia and northern Africa, the Plutarco format was used commonly by most, if not all, Auctoritas personnel. It has been cited by recovered Papal-era documents that Pope Callixtus III officiated the format, requiring knights to create documents for each anomaly and send copies to Rome, where the Pope and the Holy See would review them2.
Plutarco Di Biasio died sometime in the 1500s, presumably of anomalous causes during one of his travels to Anatolia. His son, Guiliano Di Biasio, would go on to continue to develop the Harpocrationis Lexicon. Guiliano would achieve moderate success, as he preferred to travel only within western Europe. He and his scribes set up an Auctoritas stronghold in Padova, where he was born, which would serve as one of the scientific capitals of the Auctoritas's reach. This site would later become Site-028 ("Fort Locke") in 1927.
Part Two: The Grandjean Glossary
More than a century after the 1834 Authority Agreement, Pierre-Louis Grandjean assumed a similar role Plutarco once had, in that he was employed by the Directors of Research & Development to create a new lexicon for Authority terminology. This effort created a cohesive document format and recorded all technical terms used by the Authority, excluding all Auctorian terminology. This document was also a strategic part of the Directorate's efforts to purge all connection with the modern Authority with the Auctoritas Imperata, known officially as the "Reclassification and Reformation Order."
The development of this new Lexicon was a short one, due to the rapidly advancing communication technology of the era. Pierre named this late glossary, the "Glossaire de L'autorité RPC," or the "RPC Authority Glossary." Most copies of the Harpocrationis Lexicon in Imperata Auctoritas were stored in Site-001, Site-028, or were lost. Pierre's glossary established what is now known as the "Paris format," which created the modern RPC Authority Anomaly Classification System (RPCAACS). The Paris format contained the anomaly's registered phenomena code alongside an informal designation, the object risk and containment degree, three hazards (a primary, secondary, and tertiary), and listed all reporting personnel responsible for the containment and documentation of the object. The number of anomalies contained was also included in the format if the said object was a grouped hazard.
The RPC Authority Glossary was written during a time commonly called "The Anti-Papal Reform3," which served as one of many efforts by the Directorate to erase Papal influence within the Authority. Taking further measures, the Board ordered all ties to the abolished Auctoritas Imperata to be severed, as it was believed that the previous incarnation was responsible for the creation and use of lethal anomalies during the Crusades. The First Directorate found this would enforce a negative stance on the Authority within the international community. In distancing itself from the Auctoritas Imperata, the RPC Authority Glossary did everything it could to distort the Plutarco format to signify change.
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn had recently begun to involve itself with anomalous international affairs in 1908, per the Brussels Convention. As the Administration Division still enforced the anti-Papal code of conduct, the emergence of the Order sparked a brief rivalry between the two organizations. In 1912, a minor dispute was had between the Authority and the Holy See surrounding the rightful ownership of a minor anomaly after its discovery in central Ethiopia. The Authority would win this dispute, later neutralizing said anomaly in 1936. In the coming years, Authority-HS relations became more positive4, resulting in decreased anti-Papal sentiment among personnel. Pierre-Louis's descendants would go on to involve themselves heavily within the Research Department's higher ranks and maintaining the rights to the RPC Authority Glossary's existence until the internal reorganization of 1947 when the Scholar launched several efforts to recover Auctoritas artifacts.
These archaeological recovery efforts were protested by the late Sebastian Grandjean, a former Director of Research & Development. He claimed in a 1946 Board Conference that the integration of Auctorian terms into the Lexicon Auctoritas would not only clutter the glossary with outdated information and waste the Research Division's resources but would betray the purpose of the 1834 Authority Agreement. At the time, it was widely believed by many personnel that, by embracing its corrupt past, the Authority would fall to the same corruption it did long ago when the Vatican ruled it. This belief was centered around a general paranoia induced by the recent discoveries of anomalous atrocities committed by the Auctoritas Impetus in Jerusalem during the Second Crusade.
Part Three: The Modern Lexicon
In 1947, the Site-031 Directors of OIRS and Research & Development voted in favor of rewriting the Lexicon to become more inclusive of the Authority's historical terminology. The late Robert Hoss, former Chief Operations Officer, was given authorial reign over the revised Lexicon. He named it the "Lexicon Auctoritas," symbolizing the return of Auctorian terminology. Assistant and Senior Archivist Ichinomiya Michiru would also contribute heavily to the creation of the Lexicon, through their efforts in the rediscovery and research of the Harpocrationis Lexicon.
The Lexicon Auctoritas was officially published in 1948. By 1985, a digital copy was added to the RPC Database, available for all authorized personnel to view. Following that year, succeeding Chief Operations Officer Daniel Haze would form the "Lexicon Publishing and Update Code," or LPUC, to admit new words into continually updating glossary. For a term to be added to the Lexicon, it must first be sponsored by three or more Archivists. By 1986, the joint OIRS-DHPS (OAS) Terms and Lexicon Analysis Commission (TLAC) was appointed by Haze as the half-yearly, governing body to finalize all proposed terms.
Further rules include more baseline restrictions, such as a candid must be used commonly within the Authority, and be recognizable enough for its inclusion in the Lexicon to be warranted. This management decision lead to the addition of internal slang within the Lexicon Auctoritas. Some Research Division personnel protested the inclusion of slang and issued a referendum to forbid such terminology from being added. This debate is ongoing.
A digital copy of the Lexicon Auctoritas is included within every on-site database. A much simplified physical copy is also gifted to new personnel upon joining the Authority and is required reading. This condensed version called the "Lexicon Auctoritas: Beginner's Edition," lists terms used within RPC documentation, low-level logs, as well as operational and slang terms used within the new personnel's respective Division.
The Global Directorate owns the last known physical copy of the Harpocrationis Lexicon, as well as the first physical copy of the RPC Authority Glossary, both of which were within the personal possessions of their respective authors. The Directorate maintains a loose oversight to the maintenance and development of the Lexicon Auctoritas, whereas an individual GD can veto any proposed addition to the Lexicon finalized by the TLAC. The inclusion of any Level 5 classified terminology used within the Administration Division's higher ranks has also been deemed illegal by the Directorate. Aside from this, the Board is mostly absent when it comes to Lexicon Auctoritas's contents.
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