Factions

Factions and Organizations

There are many organizations and factions within Terra, formed by both humans and monsters. These groups are often major players in the conflict between the two races, though there are a number of smaller groups that aren’t affiliated with what many people are calling the Human/Monster “Cold War”. Some groups support interaction between humans, monsters and angels, and some seek only domination over the others. Their views and beliefs are as varied as the individuals who compose them and an entire organization’s beliefs do not completely reflect the personal beliefs of their members. These are some of the major factions and organizations in Terra.

The Order

The Order of the Omnipotent, more commonly known as the Order, is the largest anti-monster organization in Terra. Part crusading religion, part military superpower, and part world government, the Order holds sway over a sizable portion of the world’s human population; and within the Order, worship of Ilias is practiced by the majority of the people. The Order is reviled by monsters and their sympathizers as a great evil, but its doctrines are largely benign; that people should live temperate, virtuous lives of kindness and charity-just not kindness and charity to monsters.

Order doctrine preaches about the right way to live as a human being. Clean living without drowning in pleasure or other desires is regarded as a virtue. For that reason, they are fiercely hostile towards the monsters which drown in pleasure and corrupt humans. They claim that monsters are evil, seeking to drag mankind into the depths of depravity and sin, and slowly devolve humanity into a race of bipedal animals used for breeding stock. Part of this is due to Ilias’ influence, as she seeks to drive a wedge between humans and monsters to spite her counterpart Alipheese. The Order was born from their never-ending feud.

Also, that isn’t the only reason why they are hostile towards monsters. Another reason is also that many high ranking Order officials feel a sense of impending crisis. Since the children born between humans and monsters always end up being monsters, it could lead to the decline of humanity.

Angels of the Ninth Circle commonly make contact with the Order at designated areas of the world, namely in churches and temples where worship of Ilias is strongest. Numerous cases of repeated contact with humans often lead to human/angel children called Nephilim being born. These Nephilim are stronger than the average human and sport angelic powers capable of repelling most monsters, though they are still susceptible, if not more so, to the monsters’ advances. Their powerful spirit energy attracts monsters and makes them prime targets during raids.

The Order is run by a Pope, a man or woman chosen to act as the Voice of Ilias, translating her will to the masses and are often the ones who communicate with the goddess directly. There are also thousands of priests and nuns who travel the world spreading the word of the Order, acting as missionaries, as well as the eyes and ears of the Order. Though there is no age requirement to join, the Order often recruits new members at a young age, usually children. It’s not odd for many long time Order members to have been orphans.

The Order has a dedicated military arm composed of men and women who are devout follows of Ilias and expert warriors against monsters. The majority of the Order’s military is composed of Footmen, Spearmen, Bowmen and Clerics. Those who receive specialized training in the Order are less common than the regular infantry, more capable of combating enemies of the Order or are generally more experienced in combat. They are rogues, knights, lancers, archers, and marksmen.

Heroes are a special group of elite soldiers within the Order, men and women from the various classes within the Holy Forces who are blessed by Ilias and her angels as holy warriors. They possess exceptional combat prowess and strong resistance to the effects of demonic energy. These heroes are usually chosen by various angels to produce Nephilim loyal to the Order, thus it’s not rare to see these hybrid offspring composing their ranks. Furthermore, Ilias has also taken to mating with heroes to breed strong warriors in her neverending quest to eliminate the monsters.

There are also the Inquisition, a sub-organization of the Order who hunt down anyone who is suspected of the heresy of being friendly with monsters. The vanguard of the Inquisition are the Templars, knights assigned to the group, and Paladins, mages trained extensively in holy magic. They were zealous in dealing with any perceived act of heresy, even killing innocent people instead of losing one heretic. Generally skilled in torture and interrogation, the Inquisition had gained a negative reputation even among the Order, and their increasingly heinous acts against their fellow humans had driven more and more human communities and factions from the Order.

The level of direct control which the Order exerts over human affairs differs from place to place; from apparent indifference and disregard for settlements like Polom, to repressive micromanagement of civil society in Ariande. Order lands are said in general to be more prosperous and culturally developed than others, while monster-friendly states tend to attract “ruffians” and aren’t as hard-working. Countries with large Order presence and have hostile policies towards monsters are called “anti-monster states”.

The Order’s stance against monsters and their sympathizers lasted for centuries, almost as long as human civilization. It wasn’t until the dawn of the Renaissance Age that things took a different turn. A young demigod daughter of Ilias named Andraste, one of the few children Ilias had with the Pope, began a movement to change the Order after a devastating event brought the religion to its knees. She reformed the organization into a more tolerant, peaceful and accepting religion that didn’t rely on violence and intimidating to carry out its goals. Her greatest achievement was forming a treaty with the Monster Lord at the time, publically supporting human/monster coexistence, while also finding ways where the two races could coexist without creating an imbalance in population.

Demon Slayers

Nippon is a land well-known for being a country were humans and monsters live peacefully, however not all people support this belief. The Demon Slayers are a group of humans who specialize in fighting monsters. Most groups simply repel attacks from some of the more aggressive monsters, like unmarried Ushi-Oni, but others are more extreme, attacking even innocent, non-aggressive monsters, married or unmarried. Their reasons vary, but the most prevalent is the fear of eventual human extinction due to the increasing number of alluring monsters that threaten the human/monster ratio in Nippon. Others are more xenophobic, reasoning that human/monster couples are a crime against nature.

Demon Slayers usually act in small groups of well-trained warriors and mages, their ranks including samurai, monks and priests. Their warriors are very skilled in both armed and unarmed combat; samurai, Nippon’s equivalent of knights, wield swords sharp enough to slice through even steel armor, and monks are powerful bare handed warriors who either use blunt weaponry such as staves or their bare hands to smash through solid rock. Such warriors are capable of fighting off Oni and Ushi-Oni with ease, utilizing their spirit energy to increase their physical capabilities.

The Demon Slayers have made contact with the Order for cooperation in their fight against monsters, but their differences in faith and beliefs cause friction among many intolerant members, making relations tenuous at best.

Dragon Knights

The Dragon Knights are an order of warriors native to the city-state of Ishgar in central Europa. Considered to be a neutral faction, they are men trained in swordplay and lances and work closely with dragons, whom they ride as mounts. Dragon Knights are usually married to their dragon mounts, and it’s not rare to see Knights in training grow up with their future dragon brides from childhood.

The Legion

The Legion is the second largest human organization in the world that directly opposes the Order. It was formed by a number of humans who became sick of the Order’s hypocrisy, negligence and willingness to attack and persecute even humans completely innocent of any crimes of heresy. Many people had lost friends, family and lovers to the Order’s often false persecutions and unprovoked attacks under the guise of “maintaining order and purity among its followers” and they wanted the Order to pay.

The Legion is commanded by various warriors, mages, even demigods who fight for the people. Some just want to reform the Order after bringing it to their knees, but a disturbingly overwhelming number of humans want to completely destroy the Order without mercy. At the top of its inner circle is the Marcus Maximillian, a former Holy Knight and husband of the demon Mirai, both of whom have a personal vendetta against the Order.

The Legion uses what would later be known as guerilla war tactics to combat the Order’s superior numbers and resources. Marcus’s intimate knowledge of their battle tactics, limitations, and his group of spies within the Order have allowed the Legion to survive and deal severe blows to the Order and the morale of their followers. However, in order to deal large scale attacks, they must seek the help of powerful allies, namely the Cabal.

Ilias Kreuz

Though Andraste’s teachings were widely accepted and preached, there were those who still clung to the old ways of the Order’s monster slaying. Within the Order were a group of disenfranchised members and high ranking nobles who still believed that monsters were a threat to humanity’s existence. Openinly going against Andraste, these people separated from the Order and formed their own organization, Ilias Kreuz.

Ilias Kreuz is a terrorist organization that continued the Order’s former policies against monsters. They interpret Ilias’s teachings very seriously, showing no mercy towards monsters and will attack them no matter the cost. They mainly operated through attacking monster settlements either directly or indirectly. They also show human sympathizers, whom they call “heretics”, no mercy either, deeming them traitors to the human race and dealing harsh punishments onto them as well. The Order denounces Ilias Kreuz and the two groups often clash, almost as much as they do with monsters.

Their membership consists of former Order priests, nuns, soldiers and even heroes who reject Andraste’s teachings, many of them originally part of the Order’s inquisition, but there are also a number of wealthy influential individuals ranging from military officials and politicians to celebrities and Nephilim. Ilias Kreuz even has alliances with other anti-monster organizations, though Ilias Kreuz has gone to lengths even other groups refuse to go to eliminate the monsters. Though they were sorely outmatched by monsters in the early days of their conception, Ilias Kreuz has made a number of scientific and magical innovations that reversed the odds against monsters. Despite its vast influence and large membership, Ilias Kreuz has very little allies on a global scale, and most of their anti-monster operations in Europa and America.

Their base of operations is on the island nation of Sentora, which rests in the Andar Sea near the archipelago of Elladas in Europa. The island is constantly monitored by neighboring nations and trade with Sentora is very limited.

Machina Imperium

A group of fanatics from Oberion, a town that provides the bulk of the Order’s technology and weaponry, the Machina Imperium believe that only by converting their flesh into technology can humanity truly evolve. Possessing exceptional technical skill, mainly in the creation of magitek prosthetics, the Imperium is supposedly in league with the Order, who tolerates them so long as they provide more powerful technology to use against the monsters. The Machina Imperium is responsible for the creation of many uncanny weapons, such as rapid-firing guns, magitek armor, melee weapons that double as guns, and the infamous Eidolons found throughout the world.

Illuminati

A secret human faction that opposes the Order, they supposedly refuse to worship Ilias. Reasons for their opposition varies, but the most prevalent cause is that they believe that Ilias and her angels are the cause for many of the world’s troubles, namely the Fall of Babylon. On the other hand, the illuminati are also against the monsters, wishing for human dominance over the entire world, free of both monsters and angels, and denouncing the two goddesses.

Cabal

The Cabal are a radical faction of monsters spearheaded most prominently by demons and devils, seek to create a world ruled by monsters with humans subjugated under them. While they swear fealty to the Monster Lord, their philosophy is generally more extreme than hers.

It should be noted that all monsters have an instinctual urge to mate with humans for various reasons, either for marriage, reproduction, essence or pure dominance. Most are completely fine with having a human man as their mate and that’s that-but the Cabal are not most monsters. They cling to the dreams of the monster Black Alice, who was one of the previous Monster Lord’s who began the dream of monster dominance over humanity. Though Black Alice was killed for her heinous crimes, her dream still lived on in the demons and devils she called her daughters; the dream of monsters ruling over Terra as gods and humans being nothing but livestock to provide essence and breeding like cattle to maintain the population of monsters in the world.

They see humans as nothing but breeding tools and sex slaves, simply living flesh dolls to fill their insatiable cravings. That said, they are not above using humans to further their agenda in areas where they cannot tread, particularly where the Order is concerned. The Cabal’s best known activities include invading human settlements, kidnapping women, raping their men and engulfing them all in a monster realm. Through harsh and thorough training and rehabilitation, they turn women into their slaves, using them to infiltrate heavily defended human states and take them down on the inside. They’ve also sold hundreds of humans into slavery across the monster population, committing illegal activities long after Black Alice’s death. Their more subtle operations include smuggling items that induce incubization, like edible plants or cursed items, into the human realm.

Though they are vicious and unrelenting in their attacks on mankind, they do not invade human territory indiscriminately. They keep a close eye on a number of potential targets, and they formulate plans to best minimize casualties to their fellow monsters and reduce damage to their “merchandise”. Only after planning a thoughtful campaign do they begin invasion. They often target settlements on the verge of civil unrest, nations at war against each other, oppression of the poor, portents of mass monster executions, civil unrest, persecution of human groups-as well as the sacrifice of individual rights to the whims of society. Such states are easy to conquer, and their poor, abused humans are all too eager to give everything to escape their woes. Not only does the Cabal gain more humans for their stock, they’ve also gained loyal humans who will do anything for their new mistresses.

The Cabal is the antithesis of the Order, and their greatest enemy aside from the Legion. The two groups have clashed greatly over the course of the Cold War, and though the Order had the support of the angels and technology, the Cabal were smart, ruthless and cunning.

In modern times, the Cabal is deemed a criminal organization by many countries and organizations. They’ve never recovered their full numbers since the Middle Ages, but the Cabal still ran human trafficking operations all over the world, having Dark Elves kidnap and enslave humans for monsters to domesticate.

Sabbath

The Sabbath is a monster girl religion, its two fundamental tenets being to “impart the charm and indecency of tiny young girls” and “be devoted to pleasure like a monster”. Filled with loli supremacist monsters, the religion is non-theistic, having neither a god nor any real supernatural connection at all. Highly technophobic and research-based, the Sabbath periodically hold “Black Masses” that are half magitek expo, half pedophilic orgy.

Under the supervision of the Baphomet, the Sabbath’s chief adherents are the witches and the familiars, but loli monsters of any species are welcome. The Sabbath is very organized in its outreach work, and maintains branch offices far and wide throughout the world. Much of the daily work of its members involves proselytizing unbelievers, and also “canvassing, holding periodic assembles, developing spells and magic items, etc.”

The Sabbath is a modern day global loli religion and probably one of the organized monster associations there is. Originally beginning as the battle-magic division of the Demon Army, a branch of the military tasked with creating new spells and elixirs to use in battle, its divergence from its original goal is largely because of the actions of a high ranking Baphomet who took charge.

The Sabbath is headquartered in Hellgondo, and its head Baphomet is a resident in the Monster Lord’s castle. The bulk of the Sabbath’s rank and file are witches. Aside from witches and baphomets, many monsters that are actual children (as opposed to just looking like it) are enrolled in the Sabbath by their mothers in the hopes of giving them a head start in life by learning the tricks of the seductive trade at an early age. The Sabbath even operate their own childrens’ clothing line, distributing clothes enchanted with pleasure runes and engraved with the emblem of a dog (mainly because the ruling Baphomet is a huge dog lover).

As part of their missionary work, the Sabbath is currently pursuing cultural exchange with the Fairy Kingdom; mainly teaching the innocent, childish fairies the joy of sex and marriage. Much of the fairies “games” stem from the teaching of the baphomets and they draw much influence from the monsters in how to attract (trap) a man by using magic.

It should be noted that many members of the Sabbath actively dislike busty, curvy monsters and humans and aggressively promote their organization through all forms of entertainment and media, even children’s media. The Sabbath has reach the far corners of Terra for hundreds of years and with the advent of electricity, international flight and radio technology, it seems that their resources have only become more numerous.