Jin Jae-Hoon

Me? Oh, I... I used to be a professor. Of history. At a prestigious university in America. The Board, they, um, they let me go. I lost my tenure. They said I was mentally unstable, but I know what happened. Someone got to them. And they probably never even knew. As far as they were concerned, I was a troublemaker.
That's how the Dragon operates. Subtle Terror, arranging the pieces just so, to- *sighs* Ahem. But you know all about that. I don't need to... At first, I thought it was all just a coincidence. The documents I found, the books I came across. The information I uncovered...
But they wanted me here. So they made sure I came here. I'm a resource to them, and as long as they need me, I can't leave. I mean, I can try, but...
I. Can. Never. Leave.

I remember the first time I came across those letters. I was fascinated, and terrified. But I knew I wouldn't be able to let the opportunity pass... To learn about the existence of the secret world. A secret history of the world.
As the years passed, I became more and more obsessed. I lost my job, my wife. It... it took over my whole life, uncovering and documenting the secret world. I felt this was my life's mission. Nothing else mattered to me.
I was blind. I didn't realise I was being used. They wanted me to document the secret history of the world, but not so that I could go public with it. I'm their private historian now. I'm their tool. I belong to the Dragon.

Oh, the Dragon, they are... they're nothing less than the greatest mystery and marvel of the secret world. From the moment I learned of their existence, I was fascinated. I've studied them, chased down obscure clues, attempted to decipher their complex past.
Some days I feel the only thing I've learned is that there's so much left to learn. I've only seen scattered pieces of the puzzle. But you look long enough at those pieces, and a pattern begins to emerge. Shape and colours, whispered voices, like the buzzing of bees...
It may seem like chaos, but there is a beauty and order to it all. Events set in motion to ripple across the world. And the world bends to the Dragon's will. Order through chaos. Construction through destruction.

I could talk for hours about the Illuminati, yes. They were once a great and arrogant beast, not unlike the Templars today. But they got burned, and were forced to change and adapt. The Templars outmatched and outwitted them in Europe, and they did the only thing they could do to save themselves. They fled to the New World. They regrouped and rebuilt.
The Templars underestimated them. Left them to grow, like a cancer, until it was too late. They are even more powerful now than they were back then. And a lot more modern and adaptable than the Templars.
The Illuminati is built like a corporation. It's cold and pragmatic, and not tied to traditions or doctrine. They're all about the bottom line. Power, money, influence... Control. They're obsessed with it.
I'm not even sure they know what to do with it anymore, once they have it, other than spread their web even further. There is no grace, no beauty. No purpose. But it's efficient. I'll give them that.

The bull in the china shop... They see themselves as refined aristocrats, but they are brutes. Anyone gets in their way, they get trampled. And they completely lack the ability to change.
But why would they want to change? They are in a position of enviable power, more so than any other secret society. No vote passes on the Council of Venice unless the Templars are behind it. They have a tradition on their side, they have a weight, they have the biggest standing army of any cabal.
I'm told that there are changes happening within the organisation - the so-called New Templars - but theirs is a slow ship to turn, and, based on historical data, I don't see the more radical elements being successful. Not in the long run. Temple Hall is built on a foundation of history, tradition and blood. Without that, the roof will sooner or later come crashing down on their heads.

The Brotherhood of Phoenician Sailors is, supposedly, the black sheep of the secret world. To be honest, I don't see a great deal of difference between what they do and what the rest of them have done. What the Phoenicians lack is the support of the Council, and the power to push their agenda through a vote.
It's not like the Big Three are bastions of morality. They're all willing to sell each other out if it serves their cause. The Phoenicians are just a little more willing to turn their coats than the rest of them. They sell their services to the highest bidder, and more often than not, they're just in it for the money. That's where they differ from the others, and so they're labelled privateers.
But why should that surprise anyone? The Phoenicians have never tried to hide who they are, and they have not changed in more than two thousand years. They're the favourite punching bag of both the Illuminati and the Templars, and the Phoenicians seem to take it in their stride. Still...
I fear the Council and its members may be underestimating the Phoenicians at this point. You can only kick a dog so many times before it bites. I believe we'll soon see how hard they can bite.

The Dragon does not belong to any place. This is simply where they are now. And it's like a maelstrom, pulling everything in. Spitting out what it doesn't want.
If you land here, and stay here, you're important to them in some way or another. You might know why and how, or you might not, but just being here means that you are. This place, this neighbourhood within Seoul, is like the Dragon itself. It's a maze, an illusion. It's chaos. It's the Dragon.

The competition and infighting between the Big Three is not new. It's been going for, literally, ages. It used to be that they would meet in the open and fight to the death, but it came to a point at the battle of Armageddon. It was the clash of the titans, and the world was almost destroyed in its wake.
From that day on, the societies agreed there needed to be rules. If the world was ever to discover that it was being ruled by a small elite, and that the demons and monsters of the night are more than figments of our imaginations, there would be widespread panic, and our society would crumble.
So they formed the Council of Venice. A council governed by the cabals to keep their world secret. All the major and minor players have representatives, and they have the authority to police the other societies. To a degree.
You can only imagine how hard it is to govern those who wish to govern themselves, how difficult it is to deal with as many agendas as there are member societies. But for all the failing of the Council, there is one thing they are in full control of: the secret war.
Rather than having agents fight each other all over the place, risking death and exposure, the Council allows for organised battles in approved locations, where the secret societies can fight for the control of resources - far from the public eye, and with as little blood spilled as possible.