DEFPOTEC

The DEFPOTEC INSTITUTE was established in the early part of the 20th century as a mail-order magicians’ school, where correspondents could send in a few dollars and receive how-to instructional booklets on magic tricks. Once a year the students were invited to an enormous Hotel where they would attend lectures, perform tricks, unveil new illusions, etc. all according to their level of skill. Among the notable guests the students could meet was the professor himself: Bill Schloss, THE INSCRUTABLE DEFPOTEC.

Schloss started his career as a close-up magician and eventually had an act of his own with the full complement of assistants and technicians. Though his show was good, there was nothing to distinguish it. At this point Schoss and company disappeared. A year later a new show was making headlines with an act that had patrons running, screaming with terror, out of packed theaters!
Schloss had retuned as THE INSCRUTABLE DEFPOTEC! The papers said that while in the jungles of Central America, he was visited by the specter of the high priest DEFPOTEC, and by giving his body over to the spirit's will, he could conjure things no man had ever dreamed! On stage, Schloss would set the crowd agog by conjuring wondrous nightmare images awash with gallons of blood. Off stage, Schloss made it clear that his show was an illusion. Its semblance of reality was due his superlative skill as a prestidigitator and showman.

Schloss felt that the distinction was necessary. At the time when stage magic was at its peak, there was a division between magicians. On one side there were those who employed the traditional tools of misdirection, and on the other were a newer breed that employed alchemical automation, creating acts that were no illusion. What you saw was real.

Schloss was a proponent of discipline and presence of mind. He advocated skill for the performance of illusions, a practice that in turn made for a stronger mind and body. He was an ardent opponent of alchemical automation, for he believed the price that would in time be paid was too high.

Schloss stated once that, “A show that gives the impression of danger is fine. But what an audience gets when these fools go fishing in the “deep end” are things no one is supposed to see. Ever!”

The situation on the stage reflect a debate which was ongoing in the world at large.
Society for some time had become dependent on the aid of alchemical automation, for instance, the use of automaton calculating machines. These devices instantly performed the equations that for an aligned human mind to perform would have taken lifetimes of singular attention.

Alchemical automation ranged from domestic products such as windows, and floors which cleaned themselves, to meals that cooked themselves. As for industry, lighter-than-air transparent super metals and fuel-less furnaces were enormously beneficial.

In the arena of stage magic, this practice was employed to create unbelievable shows, and since it kept theaters full, any outcry from traditional magicians was ignored.

At the end of WWI the world knew the cost of their unlimited lifestyle. A vampiric storm let loose by a saturation of alchemical super weapons barely left the human race alive on this planet and few of the survivors were still in the mood to see a magic show. In spite of all this, the DEFPOTEC INSTITUTE did not close. Unable to perform his act publicly, Schloss lived quietly, sending out the magic trick pamphlets and doing private engagements.

Over time it became evident to the observant that this planet was becoming alien. For a human to deal with the new situations in this changing world, a cultivation of oneself became increasingly perceived as an appropriate course of action.

Schloss was approached by a concerned party who invited him to set up the DEFPOTEC INSTITUTE as a physical entity where techniques useful in this modern age could be made available for those of solid character.
Now it is agreed by many that the DEFPOTEC INSTITUTE’S “MAGICIAN STYLE” is very strong, and is welcome in many places. Those who would do harm fear the “MAGICIAN STYLE”.