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The Interregnum (1626 – 1659)

King Charles I was considerably less interested in paranatural affairs compared to his father and regularly ignored requests to meet with the School of Night who continued to operate out of Treowen House. For eight years, Chapman worked tirelessly to try and earn Charles’ trust but this only frustrated the King who saw him as nothing more than a stuck-up poet. In 1634, Chapman passed away and in doing so, the School of Night found itself for the first time operating independent of its founders and without the direct support of the Crown…

With limited financial and political support, the School of Night began to take steps to move the organisation into a state of dormancy. A core group, calling themselves the “Court” retained control of Treowen House while the remaining members returned to their previous work. During this time individuals were expected to operate independently and use their discretion when dealing with the paranatural with the expectation they would report back to the Court on their findings. This laid the groundwork for Equinox’s modern-day organisational structure.

The English Civil War (1642 – 1652)

In 1642, civil war broke out over the King’s rule which ultimately led to Charles’ execution in 1649. Further wars with Ireland and Scotland followed, ending with Oliver Crimwell being installed as Lord Protector in 1653. During this time, the School of Night becomes inactive, maintaining only the barest lines of communication with its slowly diminishing number of members.

The Quiet Hunt (1653 – 1659)

Oliver Cromwell operated as a military dictator, ruling the country through his major-generals. A dedicated Puritan, Cromwell believed he ruled with divine providence but by 1657 rumours had begun to grow amongst the surviving members of the School of Night that Cromwell had obtained rulership through paranatural means. 

The School of Night met in secret to investigate the situation further and discussed what steps, if any, needed to be taken. Over the course of several months the group shadowed Cromwell until, on 3 September 1658, as a great storm swept across England and Europe, Oliver Cromwell passed away. The extent of the School of Night’s investigation into Cromwell remains a source of mystery but Cromwell’s death ultimately spells the end of the period of Interregnum for the group.

The Interregnum in Play

The Interregnum is a period of history where the School of Night operated without oversight or support. It is a time where individual members and cells were vital in ensuring the group’s survival and goes some way to explain why the modern Equinox still values granting its agents and cells a degree of freedom in their operation. That being said, a group without accountability can be a dangerous thing and this period of history is filled with mystery as to just -what- the School of Night was doing during this time. 

Very little of this era is readily known to modern-day Equinox though there are a considerable number of questions which remain unanswered – who were the members of the Court? Did King Charles I know about the paranatural? What exactly happened with Oliver Cromwell? These are all deliberate questions we have left unanswered and which we allow attendees to discover in play.