Tannhauser Military

The Tannhauser Military is the primary military force of the nation of Tannhauser, and was one of the 5 factions that operated following descent of The Clock Tower, being made of the remnants of the old military, first appearing in the Soldiers of Silver arc. Its members consist of Aasimar, humans, and Tieflings, with the main colors of the military being red and black. Aasimar are considered the highest ranked among them. Mercedes is a general in the military, although she left to form the Reforged Legion after a disagreement with another higher up; General Gold. 
== History ==
=== Before the Fall ===
Tannhauser was a relatively peaceful place before the fall of the tower, and as such there were no wars for the military to participate in. However, training could still be fairly intense, with Mia recalling being hit in the spine during a spar once. The stairs up to the rooms of the generals were also extremely large and intimidating, referred to as Boss Stairs.
=== The Fall of the Tower ===
After The Clock Tower fell upon Tannhauser, the military retreated into the mountains, abandoning the people of the nation, deciding to help themselves. This resulted in a great dispute between General Mercedes and General Gold, resulting in Mercedes leaving to create a new faction known as the Reforged Legion to help out the people and defend from the invading Angels. This was exactly what General Gold wanted, allowing them to buy time to develop themselves in their mountain base and be shielded from the Angels, as well as potentially giving themselves allies that they could call upon to further their own efforts. The new base they set up has a mine for resources, as well as extensive quarters for the soldiers, with them building the base as they went along it based on a miniature model stored in the war room. They also brought alchemists such as Breem Velafi, Markus' father, along with them to help with one of their more secret projects being worked on in the lab behind the war room; a study of Celestial Silver in hopes its properties would expedite the creation of the base. 
Some time after they settled into the base, all of the higher ups, the Aasimar, disappeared from the base without a word. Most of the military were kept blissfully unaware of what was truly going on, and kept on living as normal, although unease began settling through the ranks. Words began being found scrawled into walls, reading, "Angels are Watching", and, if these words were failed to be removed and one spent a prolonged period of time around it, they were found dead and scattered in many pieces. Those who tried to look into the goings on in the base met the same fate. 
As Faria and later Breem Velafi would note, the military was working on a substance called Celestial Silver. Along with being used to create powerful Harpoons, perfectly aligned with the 'true world' as Gregor would discover, as well as capable of significant damage, paralyzing one of Mercedes' arms and temporarily disabling her powers as well. Breem, as an alchemist taken in by the military, had worked on research that eventually lead to the creation of these Angels, which were created by some combination of Celestial Silver and divine essence. This divine essence is harvested through magic circles, taking those with a trace of divine blood, and pulverizing them, leaving only what is functionally a form of energy and storing it, among those taken being the disappeared military generals, among them General Gold, effectively killing them. Additionally, with an Aasimar's oath effectively tying their divinity to the mortal plane, the Aasimar soul could be used to bring the Angels down to the mortal realm, giving life to the celestial silver and creating the Angels. Breem Velafi was also imprisoned, being kept to later be turned into energy.
A group of a few Aasimar remain at the base, seemingly controlling or creating some of the various Angels that attacked the group. This fact is unknown by most of the military, and the existence of these Angels is largely kept from them as well. To get their plans through, they give orders to select individuals throughout the military camp. Soldiers at times go missing from camp, and when they return, they are 'different', and those soldiers pull others in the camp aside when they have the chance and order them to do various tasks, such as to lower the gates. If one tries to defy their orders, they too disappear and return changed, or are fed to the giant mouthed Angels kept in the prison. Additionally, since the start of these occurrences, the soldiers have been regulated to the same shifts without change over and over again. 
==== The Arrival of Nine Shrines ====
Seeking help combatting the Angels at the front lines, the team of Markus, Gregor, Harlock and Mercedes would arrive at the base, with Mercedes' authority as a general allowing them in and they began investigating the mysterious goings on in the base. When the group arrived, one person gave a note to them, asking for help, however no help arrived. Afterwards, with the help of a member of the military, Mia, they went into the mines to investigate. Since this note lead to Gregor being captured, and encounters with various Angels, and a fight with a large horse-shaped one, it is likely that this was a trap. 
After their arrival in the camp, Gregor was captured by the jaws of the Angels after an ambush of the group in the mines by the military when they were following the note. An Aasimar was later seen, having created a magic circle containing the head of a Sword Wielder, and Breem Velafi, before placing Gregor in himself. When the Imp Jumbalaya Jacobs went searching for a way to get to Markus after a battle set up by the military against their Arson Horse once the group left the mines, he was discovered by an Aasimar, who referred to the severed Angel head as "Subject 0". 
After Gregor regained consciousness, using his pandimensional sight and hands, he managed to break himself and Breem out of the magic circle and they navigated the area. At the same time, by the hands of some of the controlled soldiers in camp, the gates to the courtyard were closed, with Markus, Mercedes and Mia inside, and another Angel, the Spectacular Arson Horse, was released onto them. After the ensuing battle was over, the group returned to the main part of the base, with some soldiers confessing to the little they knew of what ahd been happening in the base, before ordering the soldiers to barricade themselves in their rooms before continuing further to investigate, reuniting with Gregor and meeting Breem as well. They would go on to destroy the lab where the Angels were being created, as well as fighting with some of the remaining Angels that guarded and patrolled the place, while destroying the containers that the remnants of the sacrificed Aasimar had been trapped in, a difficult task as they had been guarded with runes that made it so, if not properly deactivated, they would summon an Angel with the essence, regardless of what type it summoned as a defensive measure.
After the defeat of these Angels and destruction of the lab, things would quiet down for the base a bit. However, eventually a member of the Reforged Legion would appear at the gates of the base, requesting reinforcements and refuge, as a massive Angel had just emerged from the tower; a Goliath. The military has since been dispatched to help evacuate people, and the military fortress has been abandoned. 
== Notable Members ==
* Mercedes
* General Gold
* Mia
== Trivia ==
Category:Factions