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Factions

Supplementary to WorldbuildingSynthesis. Detailed profiles of the major factions in the world of Disruption.

The Collective

A conglomerate of political leaders and prominent social figures seeking to complete the Ascension Ceremony and claim an Eidolon's throne. Analogous to a real-world Illuminati.

Public face: The Collective preaches henosis — the unification of all humanity into a singular transcendent being. This inspires loyalty and justifies sacrifice among the rank and file.

The truth: Only the Seven Elders know the Ascension can elevate only one soul. Each plans to advance the ceremony as far as they dare, then betray the others. Their alliance is a knife's-edge calculation.

The Collective possesses the knowledge and power to escape the Disruption's confines, but deliberately keeps the populace trapped. Despair and concession are necessary conditions for fulfilling the second requirement of Ascension — consensus of the bloodline.

Clothing: Victorian, black, severe.

Sub-groups

The Augmented: Humans who have taken Devices into their bodies to become biomechanical hybrids. Only the Collective possesses the technology to make this work, as most Devices were developed for Pre-Zonian Exousia. These enhanced operatives serve as elite enforcers.

The Legacy: A splinter group of reformed Collective agents who have broken away from the organization.

Collective Strike Force

The Collective maintains a military strike force modeled on elite rapid-deployment units. Organization per platoon:

  • 1 High-Officer commanding 3 Squads, each containing:
  • Squad Leader / Deputy Leader
  • Messenger (radio-adjacent comms, if functional in the Disruption)
  • 12 Regulars — adaptive armor, mid-caliber ballistic weapons (gunpowder SMGs or assault rifles)
  • 4 Ultra-Heavy Infantry — mechs, likely flamers (can carry fuel)
  • 2 Field Engineers — service mechs in the field
  • 4 Heavy Weapons Crews (2 per crew) — MG / Ampoule anti-material / explosives
  • 2 Scouts — cloaking tech, quiet weapons

Transport: Dropships (Osprey-type). Either one large transport (C-130 scale) for a full platoon, or three squad-sized (large helicopter scale). A display of overwhelming force is preferred for story purposes.

Key Figures

  • Dominus: Leader of the Collective, sealed near Cyrus closest to the center of the Disruption.
  • Leontios: A crime boss in Kuklos. Handles executions and smuggling.
  • The Master of Those Who Know: A mysterious figure who visited Kyanos and imparted sacred knowledge of the Ascension ceremony to the city's Elders.

The Union

The openly-operating, standing government of Kuklos Anankes. Maintains the facade of legitimate authority, but their power is constrained by the Collective's shadow influence and the practical challenges of governing in an unstable world.

(Needs expansion — government structure, leadership, relationship with populace)

The Vanarites

A distinct race (not Glyphein) who have settled in the Valley. Called "The Outsiders" by residents of Kuklos Anankes, whom they call "Dwellers."

Identity and Power

The Vanarites are characterized by their ability to alter their body's composition and arrangement at will — a practice called Vanarism (also called Shaping). This power existed before the Disruption as a painful, painstaking process ("Gandharvism"), but the Disruption dramatically amplified it. Vanarism is tied to the Eidolon of Temperance.

Because of their Eidolon-alignment, the Vanarites can traverse the Forest with relatively few side effects — any excess growth is mitigated by their power.

History

  • Originally hail from Gandharva, a far-northern country. Gandharvites natively developed white hair and black skin (like polar bears).
  • One millennium ago, they scouted surrounding lands and discovered the Giant's Teeth.
  • Following a tribal schism, a large group calling themselves the Giri migrated south to occupy the mountains.
  • ~200 Pre-Disruption: The Giri develop relations with the Kyanosites.
  • ~100 Pre-Disruption: The Giri proliferate, establishing settlements in the Hills near the mountains.
  • 0 Post-Disruption: The Disruption occurs. The amplification of their shaping ability leads them to rechristen themselves "Vanarites," their primary settlement "Vanar," and their power "Vanarism."
  • 23 Post-Disruption: The Collective consolidates power and begins propaganda to ostracize the Vanar, accusing them of kidnapping (actually done by the Collective).
  • 28 Post-Disruption: A band of adventurers raid the Hills, killing 30% of the population.

Society

Organized into a primitive parliament: Elders and advisors vote on matters of policy, alongside a Prime and Sub Minister.

Three internal factions: run, hide, and fight. The majority have become pacifistic — aggression is highly stigmatized. They do not distinguish between Kuklos residents and the Collective, regarding all other peoples as hostile except the monks.

When near death, Vanarites venture out into the Graveyard (Skeletal Tree Yard) to fight against the creatures there. Those who have gone are called Vetala.

The Seed: To hide from the Collective, they retrieved metal from the quarry, smelted it into picks, and mined a complex network of caves in the mountain nearest their village. This network contains their last hope — storehouses of knowledge written on vellum.

Clothing: Minimal, tribal — Indian-inspired.

Cultural Sources

  • Giri: Mountains/mountain gods in Hindu literature
  • Gandharva: Celestial musicians/singers in Hindu mythology (notable: Chitrasena in the Mahabharata)
  • Vanara: Shape-shifting monkey people in Hindu mythology
  • HxH's NGL / Chimera Ant base as tonal reference

The Elpidi / The Order of Pious Sun

The Elpidi are a distinct race whose practitioners wield Blooming magic—the proliferation of life itself. Their Eidolon is Hope; their hidden shadow is Despair. Known to the people of Kuklos Anankes as the Order of Pious Sun, they are one of many religious orders from old Kyanosian culture, scapegoated and driven from the city over two centuries ago.

History

The Order originally possessed knowledge of the Sacred Son who crafted reality. They worshipped his trait of piety, embodied in the Eidolon of Wisdom. Over time, this devotion became corrupted into worship of the Sun itself.

Two centuries ago, under persecution by the Collective after the most recent expansion of the Forest, the Order — led by Batuo — made their way through the Forest and into the Swamp, where they settled a small village. Eventually they dug out the swamp and fortified walls with rock provided (in exchange for martial and spiritual teachings) by the Vanar, migrating most of their village beneath the swamp. Only accessible by a door embedded in a nearby giant tree that leads down through the tree roots, their village remained hidden until five years before the story begins.

Somewhat unknown to the group, the only thing preventing them from succumbing to the madness of the Forest is that they travel in sufficiently large groups to mitigate its effects.

Cultural Sources

  • Tibetan Buddhism
  • Shaolin Monks