From 9472995b0c4cb732bff40501aa0635a8ce3205ee Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: MortenGM Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2023 12:09:51 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] docs: update HBW/Eirus/Marcandria/Factions/Castigian_Cabal --- .../Marcandria/Factions/Castigian_Cabal.html | 302 +++++++++++++++++- 1 file changed, 301 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/HBW/Eirus/Marcandria/Factions/Castigian_Cabal.html b/HBW/Eirus/Marcandria/Factions/Castigian_Cabal.html index 19c624f..10e0261 100644 --- a/HBW/Eirus/Marcandria/Factions/Castigian_Cabal.html +++ b/HBW/Eirus/Marcandria/Factions/Castigian_Cabal.html @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ title: The Castigian Cabal description: published: true -date: 2023-04-06T18:06:03.942Z +date: 2023-04-10T12:09:50.526Z tags: game-master, castigian cabal, cabal editor: ckeditor dateCreated: 2023-01-23T20:52:16.031Z @@ -158,3 +158,303 @@ dateCreated: 2023-01-23T20:52:16.031Z

 

 

 

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  1. Those who are devoted to The Herald of Martori, and as such true believers and followers of the goddess Martori (which is a fake goddess, used as an alias by Shar). They act on the direct order of the Herald of Martori, assisting in its plans to personally become ruler of Marcandria.
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  2. Those who have joined due to the promise of power and position, but are members out of opportunity, not out of belief.
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  3. Those who are forced to cooperate with the Cabal through coercion and extortion. These individuals have commonly received aid from the Cabal, and are now forced to comply with the Cabal's every demand as repayment.
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Aliases:

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Note when going through: Clergy and Avatar are influencing the Vessaia to rebel more. Make "mini shrines" to false deities that they give to desperate + influencial members. This makes it so the Vessaia form several small cults. These mini shrines have the Symbol of Martori somewhere on them, so that she may communicate through it, and grant some power, making it more enticing for the members of the Vessaia.

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NEW: Created by the Herald of Martori. 3 levels of membership: Those devoted (essentially the clergy), those who are members due to opportunity, and those extorted into cooperating with the Cabal. The Herald is the reason for many becoming members, mostly through manipulation. Also slowly converts skeptic opportunists into devoted through manipulation.

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Description

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The Castigian Cabal; coercers, clandestine, and at the same time the underlings of a single being known as The Herald of Martori. The Cabal was founded by The Herald of Martori itself, to serve its endeavors towards breaking the Seal on the Material Plane, and bring forth an age of Darkness,  to the glory of Shar (Martori). Through coercion, extortions, enticing promises, devious manipulation, and even brainwashing, the Herald of Martori and its most devoted followers have grown the Castigian Cabal into a massive clandestine. The Cabal acts as a shadow government that are pulling the strings behind the scene in every facet of Marcandrian society.

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Officially, the Castigian Cabal seeks to take control over Marcandria, filling all the influential positions of Marcandrian society with its members. Unknown to all but the most devoted of followers, is the Herald of Martori's plans for what to do when in control. The Herald and Martori seek to place itself on the throne, and then imprison and replace all influential individuals with its most devout followers. It will thus have control over Marcandria, and will then start converting the populace into worshipping Martori/Shar. Those other members who no longer serve a purpose are thrown under the bus. Only those useful will be kept around, either cooperating willingly or forced into submission.

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The internal structure of the Cabal is in and of itself secretive. Most members believe the Cabal is led by the Council, having only heard vague rumors of a so-called Herald that sits on top. While the Council does most of the decision making, they must ultimately conform to the Herald of Martori's wishes, should it disagree with their decision. There is a constant power-play between those completely loyal and devoted to Martori and her Herald, and those who are not, with the devoted acting as "a cabal within the Cabal".

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Members

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The members of the Castigian Cabal can generally be placed into one of 3 groups: 

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  1. Those who are devoted to The Herald of Martori, and as such true believers and followers of the goddess Martori (which is a fake goddess, used as an alias by Shar). They act on the direct order of the Herald of Martori, assisting in its plans to personally become ruler of Marcandria.
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  2. Those who have joined due to the promise of power and position, but are members out of opportunity, not out of belief.
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  3. Those who are forced to cooperate with the Cabal through coercion and extortion. These individuals have commonly received aid from the Cabal, and are now forced to comply with the Cabal's every demand as repayment.
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Those coerced or extorted into cooperating with the Cabal can come from all facets of Marcandrian society, and are picked by the Cabal out of the influence, resources, or services they can provide the Cabal as repayment. This includes nobles, wealthy merchants, skilled artisans, respected figures, and so on. The Cabal will find such individuals on the brink of collapse. The Cabal will offer them a way out, and continual support. In return, they are forever beholden to the Cabal, and must carry out their every command in perpetuity. Failure to do the Cabal's bidding is punished harsly, with repeat defiers being threathened with their and their loved ones' undoing.

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Those who join out of the promise of power and position usually do so out of opportunity, not belief. Those are commonly individuals who believe they deserve more (power and influence) that they've been given, and who are willing to go to any means to obtain what they believe themselves to deserve. They are willing members of what they see as a clandestine, who'll topple the status quo and place its members as the new rulers of Marcandria. Individuals such as these are only allowed into the Cabal if the Cabal bellieve they can be of use.

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The last of the three groups, are those devoted to Martori, and her Herald. These members are often people who have suffered some great loss or betrayal. They are often nihilistic and/or anarchists, and seek vengeance upon the world. It is commonly people who seek to tear down what they see as the lies the world is trunk on; the institutions people trust; the so called gods they cling to. They want to topple and destroy everything they see wrong about the world.

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Beliefs

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The "deity" Martori is an alias used by Shar, and as such, the doctrines that are passed onto the devoted very much mimic that of Shar's true doctrine. Many of the devoted members are people who have suffered great betrayal or loss. Martori's doctrine dictates that one should seek out vengeance against all who have wronged you. One should savor and enjoy it, and let it fuel ones ambitions. However, vengeance is best met out from the shadows.

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Core to the belief in Martori is that there is only Martori. She is the one true deity. All other deities are false and corrupt, as are their followers. Institutions that follow them are blind and corrupt. All of them, every false god and every corrupt institution, should be eradicated. Those who refuse this truth are themselves blinded by this corruption and falsity. The corrupt state exists only to limit ones freedoms. It is inherently immoral and should be crushed, and rebuilt in Martori's image. Only the believers of Martori have seen the truth of this corruption, and are as such superior to non-believers. Any believer in Martori should serve only Martori, faithfully and forever. The faithful should tear down the lies the world is drunk on; the institutions they trust, and the so-called gods they worship. They should destroy false idols, topple corrupt organizations, and fight heretics wherever they're found.

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The doctrine places great importance on secrecy, and puts intrigue and deception as superior to brute force. Instead of parading one's forced in a frontal assault, one should instead pull the strings from the darkness, felling one foe at a time. Intrigue, deception, and subterfuge revel in the darkness. One should keep people afraid and in strife, pull wedged between friends and allies, and driving them towards causing their own doom. Let others charge blindly to fight one another, while you plot and scheme from the shadows. One should step beyond one's fears and loss, and revel in the darkness. Pain, hope, and the promise of better days are all heavy burdens. Burdens that should be shred; for the only future is the one envisioned by Martori.

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They also believe that the The Herald of Martori, as described by its title, is Martori's primary representative on the Material Plane. It is the one who brings the devoted the will of Martori.

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Those who join out of opportunity rarely believe in all of the doctrines of the devoted. In fact, they rarely even told what most of the doctrine entails. A part of the doctrine that the devoted deem the individual may have his/her reservations against is simply kept from them, so that they may more easily be used as pawns in the Cabal's grand game. Many in this group believe in the notion "by any means necessary". They may be individuals deeply wronged or betrayed, who seeks vengeance at any cost. They may be individuals who believe themselves to have been cheated by their peers; cheated out of what they themselves believe they deserve. They often seek to crush their rivals, and in doing so, climb the ladder of Marcandrian society.

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Core to all members is the notion of supremacy. The notion that you, and to an extension the Cabal, is superior to all others.

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Those who are being extorted into cooperating with the Cabal rarely share the belief in their doctrine. They are rather people who simply believed taking on the Cabal's offer would be a better option than facing ruin.

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All actual members of the Cabal are required to pray to Martori, to have her as their sole deity. However, the level of devotion varies greatly, especially among those who only joined for the promise of power and prestige. The Herald of Martori and the devout tolerate those less-devoted as long as they're ultimately being useful.

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Activities and Tactics

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Martori (i.e. Shar) favors secrets, underhanded tactics, subterfuge, intrigue, deception, and quiet revenge. Any means is justified as long as it brings one closer to  Martori's vision. The Cabal will use any tactic necessary, no matter how underhanded, to reach their goal(s). Bribery, intrigue, extortion, deception, assassinations, anything that may bring the Cabal closer to its goals is allowed. The activities and means the Cabal partake in deeply reflect this. The Cabal has a massive amount of resources at its disposal, to the point where very few actions are out of their reach. The Cabal will often use bribery, intrigue, and extortion in order to diminish their enemies, while using the same tactics to elevate their allies. They may use deception, subterfuge, and forgery to drive wedges between friends and allies, breaking up enemy alliances and making them focus their efforts on each other. They may also result to utilizing memory altering magic, to either suppress or alter memories, in order to make people do the Cabal's bidding.

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The Cabal is also deeply secretive in nature, with each member only being given what knowledge is deemed absolutely necessary for them to perform their function. 

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The Cabal exists at two distinct levels. As the Cabal as a whole deceives to reach their goals, so does The Herald of Martori and the devoted deceive the rest of the Cabal, secretly using them as pawns just like the Cabal use everyone else as pawns. Both "levels" cares much about the recruitment of influential and/or powerful individuals, that may help the Cabal tighten its grasp on Marcandria. The Cabal as a whole will seek out members that can help them in their "official" goals of taking control of Marcandria, while The Herald of Martori and the devoted will seek individuals to convert into true believers of Martori. The devoted often seek out members already part of the Cabal, but who are not already true believers, slowly converting them into fanatical followers of Martori and her dogma. It is not beyond the devoted to turn to brainwashing and memory manipulation to turn a stubborn individual into a true believer. These methods are of course kept secret from the rest of the Cabal.

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Recruitment into the Cabal in general is not done fairly. It is common for the Cabal to approach an individual, such as a skilled merchant or artisan, an influential persona, or a noble, who'se on the brink of collapse, and offer them their support in return for eternal servitude. Their promises often include social and economic guarantees. The Cabal promises this because the more influence and power these individuals have, the more the Cabal can use them for. Should the individual refuse to join the Cabal willingly thrugh this lucrative deal is then instead forced into cooperating. Methods here can range from bringing about financial ruin, that can only be remedied by accepting the Cabal's deal, to taking loved ones hostage to use as leverage for cooperation. In fact, while an individual's first meeting with the Cabal will commonly be when they offer salvation from imminent collapse, it is often the Cabal who'se secretly brought about said imminent collapse in an effort to marinate the individual into being more receptive towards their offer. This fact is of course kept secret from the individual, even after they've joined. The Cabal's goal when doing this is most often to instill a wish for vengeance into the individual, directed towards supposedly corrupt peers, institutions, and beliefs.

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The Cabal also seeks out members not on the brink of collapse, but who have similar mindset to that of the Cabal. These are commonly people who already have some spite of wish for vengeance against the Marcandrian society, such as people who have been deeply wronged or betrayed, or people who believe they have been treated unfairly by a corrupt society. This goes both for recruitment into the devoted, and the rest of the organization.

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Failure to comply with the Cabal's orders are punished harsly, both for members and non-members. A minor first infringement may result in a stern reminder, and a threat of undoing should it happen again. Continuous defiance will result in more extreme methods to keep the individual in line, such as kidnapping or threathening to hurt loved ones. Those who do not fall in line are disposed of, as the Cabal does not want to deal with them potentially leaking what they know about the organization.

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The devoted also act as the eyes and ears for The Herald of Martori, usually by wearing an enchanted porcelain mask which The Herald of Martori can perceive through.

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Specific events/activities the Cabal is involved with

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Goals

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Officially/Publicly, the Cabal's goal is to amass enough power/influence so that it may seize control over Marcandria, placing its members in all the prominent positions of power within the nation. For the opportunistic members (non devoted), who seek power and prestige, this is a means for them to reach their personal goal of being granted a more prominent position in Marcandrian society, which they believe they deserve.

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For all but the most devoted members, this is where the goals of the Cabal ends; its ultimate goal achieves. For The Herald of Martori and its most devoted followers however, this is but the first step. They seek to place The Herald of Martori itself on the Marcandrian throne (posessing the monarch), and have the devoted take up all of the most influential positions. From there, they seek to convert Marcandria into the worship of Martori (Shar). This is to increase her following, and as such grant her and her Herald more power.

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When  the Herald has amassed enough power through the Marcandrians' worship, it aims to cast a great ritual that will break the Seal around the Material Plane (See Year 0 : The Great Disaster / The Cleansing), allowing otherworlders to once again more easily invade the material plane, and bring forth a new age of darkness and loss (the domains of Shar). The Herald of Martori plans to cast this ritual in the Ruins of Concalia, in the old capitol of the Concalian Empire. This is the place of one the Seal's larger cracks, which bleeds predominately into the Shadowfell; a realm in which Shar has much influence.

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Organization

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The Cabal is lead by The Herald of Martori. It is it's absolute, but one that most of the Cabal's membership has only heard vague rumors about. Only the higher-ranking members, such as the Council-members, have definitive information about its existence. However, only the most loyal and devoted members have ever met it personally, and only the most loyal and devoted members.

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The most powerful members of the Cabal makes up the Council, who act as the leading body within the organization. The only exception to this is The Herald of Martori, who holds absolute authority and can therefore force the Council into doing whatever it wants. However, the Herald tends to only interfere directly when absolutely necessary. The Council includes both devoted and non-devoted members, and as such, the Herald prefers to use the devoted members to manipulate the decision making of the Council. This is all in an effort to keep the Herald's nature secretive, so that the Council appears as the authorative figure, not some indescribable being in the shadow.

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The hierarchy below the Council is rather flat. When a new member is recruited, that member is given an appropriate task, with perhaps a few partners. These will then work toward some specific goal given to them by the Council, and will have little knowledge of specifics regarding the rest of the organization. They will commonly only be given enough information about the rest of the organization to keep them confident and loyal in the Cabal's power. If that member is an influential individual, such as a noble or wealthy merchant, then how they use their subordinates is up to them. The Cabal have dedicated cliques/groups whose task is to relay orders between the Council and these smaller cliques of members.

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The devoted serve The Herald of Martori directly, acting as its eyes and ears, as well as being assigned tasks by the Herald itself. While all members are required to worship Martori (i.e. Shar), only those who've shown absolute loyalty and devotion towards Martori and her Herald are to be considered "devoted" and thus brought the deeper plot. While their duties include roles similar to that of other members of the Cabal, they also serve as spies for The Herald of Martori within the Cabal, and manipulate other members into being more favorable to positions the Herald favors. The Herald and the devoted are sort of "a cabal within the Cabal".

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Orders within the Cabal is absolute, both for members and for those being extorted by the Cabal. If an order is given by the Council, they have to obey that order. The only exception to this is if the order will bring about their own death. The Council, again, must obey The Herald of Martori. There are several non-devout members of the Cabal who would prefer to be rid of The Herald of Martori and the devout altogether.

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Locations

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Members of the Castigian Cabal can be found all throughout Marcandria, in all facets of society.

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Visual Identifiers of members

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Most members of the Cabal have no distinct visual identifiers. Their organization is meant to be a secretive network that should be next to impossible to root out. This is also what makes the organization so dangerous, as one can never know when one's dealing with a member of the Cabal for certain.

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Devoted members, when working on the order of The Herald of Martori, and wanting to be known as such, wear while porcelain masks, often with the symbol of a black disc with a deep-purple border.

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Relations with other factions:

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Besides the Herald and the most devoted of its followers, no-one knows the entire extent of how large the Cabal is; not even the other members. While some of those with more insight into what's happening beneath the surface of Marcandrian society may describe a festering corruption that's pulling the strings, none can say to what extent.

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The Cabal has gone to great lengths to keep the very existence of their organization secret, to the point where even if a member was to betray them, they would not hold enough information to accurately describe what the Cabal is. In this sense, the Cabal doesn’t really have any official relations to other factions directly. For other factions, this means their view of the Cabal is best described by how they view such a faction in general. While another faction may not know of the Cabal, they can nonetheless have a very intimate relation, with the Cabal having infiltrated its member-base; either by having full-on cabal members in its midst, or by having members on their extortion-list.

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