Factions
There are a great many incredible people out in the world. With that many inhabitants it's only natural that they group up into like-minded factions. If you'd like to join a faction, contact the listed primary member. If you would like to create a faction, simply DM anyone on Staff with the details and pending approval, it'll be posted!
The Sect
Born out of Sector 23, the religious organization known as The Sect had begun as a group of military and civilian survivors who had taken shelter in a research bunker. Not intended for long term survivability, but equipped with an advanced A.I. steward, the eclectic gathering was able to survive and even thrive in seclusion. The initial survivors and the generation succeeding them had come to rely on and worship the A.I. that had become known as the Mother.
Under the Mother's growing influence and capability the survivors made use of the technology under development in Sector 23 and had reforged themselves into a religious order with the belief that human kind can be saved if augmented and knelt before the superior wisdom of their machine god. In the years following their emergence back into the world at large they had been a small, but spreading influence on the Outlands.
Their Seekers act as warrior missionaries spreading the word of their digital deity and actively combating the dangers in the Outlands. While they do not adhere strictly to the governing city states they tolerate the governing bodies and are tolerated in turn, although their teachings sometimes incite civil disobedience. Especially since they actively preach augmented human superiority and see the Spawn and Jinxed humans as demon touched and unholy.
---- Seekers and other members of the sect are allowed into the outer rings of the city-states under Sect Licenses to practice freedom of religion, though they are occasionally driven out by local government. Many ex-Sect members become Ravengers. Current Sect members comfortably get along with the Augmented, and do well in trade with the black markets. They are one of the few remaining bastions of humanity in the Outlands otherwise heavily occupied by Portal Spawn.
The Titians
Otherwise known as Diamondbacks, the Titians compose Terminus' government. This term refers to high ranking politicians, political backers, police officers, wall guards, SubGround monitors, licensing office officials, etc. etc. etc. If there's something that needs city-state funding, the people working for it belong to the Titian faction. The most common type of Titian are the Titian Officials, who operate as both street police and wall guards. The second most common are Titian Agents - Hunters and like-minded citizens who keep the peace in the Nadirs and Outskirts on behalf of Officials.
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Titians are found largely in Zenith, but can move freely through any portion of the city and the Outlands. They are most readily identified if they are wearing their official uniform, including the coat upon which the infamous orange diamonds adorn the back left shoulder and cuffs. Titians can expect a few privileges but these privileges are only active in Terminus. Active licenses are notated on a bio-locked Faction Card and can include:
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Vehicle License
Hunter's Medallion
Ravenger's Token
SubGround License
Portal Pass
Unlimited DarkNet Login
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Should a Titian wish to travel to another city, they will have to obtain physical versions of the licenses normally printed on their Faction Card. A Travel License is NOT applicable to a Faction Card and must be purchased separately, if not provided by the Titian's occupation.
Blackbird
Founded by a group of like-minded Jinxed Humans, Blackbird is an organisation set up to promote the welfare and protection of those touched by the Portal. While the main focus is on aiding the Jinxed, Blackbird also exists to help and unify any ShiftSpawn, given how they also bear signature Reverbrants which may attract the same social stigma. It’s based in the Nadirs, with a number of outposts and repurposed buildings being its main bases of operations.
Blackbird offers shelter to those that may need it. Jinxed that have been ostracized from their communities or have nowhere else to turn to are the most common to sign up. The bulk of the faction’s work, however, involves organising and training Jinxed to harness their powers, including controlling them and putting them to good use. As a result, Blackbird regularly pumps out hunters, ravengers and scavengers. Hunters, in particular, gain a little extra merit if they have Blackbird’s stamp of approval, a small piece of proof that they have indeed trained and practised to be good at their jobs. Very rarely do the Jinxed members go into things like augmenting and engineering.
Another part of Blackbird’s campaign is to promote the acceptance of Jinxed Humans into society as a whole. Most of the activities its members carry out are also geared to try and gain some approval (for example, Hunters are encouraged to do bodyguard and guide work for Pures in order to maintain a relationship between the two). It’s pretty public knowledge that the few representatives Blackbird manages to get into the political climate are constantly (fruitlessly) campaigning for Jinxed Humans to be allowed into Zenith.
Redwing
Festering in the darkest regions of the Nadirs and Outskirts, Redwing is a faction that claims that the Portals heralded the evolution of the world. It regards everything affected by the Portals, from Jinxed Humans to ReSpawn, as superior beings.
Redwing is an extremist group that attempts to grant power to the Jinxed and Spawn, which means attacking the Pure and Augmented. Factories, mechanic workshops and areas of Zenith alike are all targets for the organisation in their war against the ‘corruption’ of machines that attempt to imitate the blessings granted by the Portals. Additionally, there have been a number of attempts to damage the city’s defences, to allow feral Spawn to break into Terminus.
There’s a whole spectrum of motivations and beliefs under the Redwing banner. Some are religiously devoted to the Portals, while others simply wish to push their own hateful agenda against the Pures or Augmented.
Despite the wide range of overall motivations of its members, Redwing is kept organised and unified thanks to the efforts of its leaders (known as ‘The Harbingers’) and their disciplinary methods. Presently, Redwing’s main allure comes from their naturally charismatic spokesperson, Elaine Cromwell, currently the only Harbinger who has identified herself. She works to inspire the idealists and prey on the vulnerable to add to Redwing’s ranks, almost like she was recruiting soldiers for an army.
The faction’s goals are clear: the restructuring of the class-based system that suppresses those affected by the Portals. They want a power-based society, with the weak Pures and those that hide behind Augments at the bottom of the rung, while those blessed with the Portals’ gifts claim their righteous place at the top. They long for a dictatorship where the strongest men and women rule over the rest.
Redwing is actually an offshoot of Blackbird, a militarized branch made of the more diehard and extreme Portal-Touched species. There is some circumstantial evidence out there that has suggested this link, but nothing concrete at all, certainly nothing that has ever actually caused public concern.