Arcadia

**Arcadia**, or the **Knights of Arcadia**, is a quasi-religious terrorist organization led by Lorenzo, and is the primary antagonist of *Part II - Akasha*. Arcadia is a small, secretive group comprised of mercenaries, rogue scientists, and other strange figures that have dedicated themselves to the completion and absolution of the mysterious Arcadia Project. Not even the Prophets are fully aware of this organization's existence. Despite being limited in numbers, Arcadia has connection networks all around the world, and each and every one of their members are very powerful and influential.

## History

Although much about the founding of Arcadia is a tightly-kept secret, Arcadia was first founded in early 2016 as part of an agreement between Lorenzo and his new associate, the rising Twilight Killer. Their first targets were "Nirvana", a cadre of corrupt brokers, politicians, and warlords that secretly funded the Vincent Five's activities back when Akasha was alive. After this encounter, they first ran into an ostracized Stella, becoming quick friends with her and bonding over their shared secrecy and similar agendas. These three formed the command structure of Arcadia, and it was after this point that the Arcadia Project began to take form, with the help of interested associate Dr. Cainan's promising research on dreamscapes.

Though Tristan Vineyard and Sonya Dragunov initially started as nothing more than hired mercenaries, their work ethic and optimistic attitude convinced Lorenzo to take them on as official Arcadian members. With Dr. Cainan heading the research & development side of Arcadia's work, the other five members set off on a long series of missions around the world, their objectives often being the murder of corrupt and powerful individuals guilty of a vast array of crimes - this was loosely based off of the Twilight Killer's philosophy of killing only those that "deserved to be killed" in order to provide for the less fortunate - Robin Hood meets Kira, in essence, a compelling mixture that encouraged Lorenzo to formulate Arcadia's tactics around it.

Operations almost drew to a halt when Stella was captured by GUN in the early summer of 2018, after the assassination of Thomas Rannells, a bastard GUN officer and notorious smuggler. However, Lorenzo advised the group to not make any sudden moves, as that would potentially unveil everything they'd tried to keep secret for the last two years. Stella refused to say anything to the GUN interrogators; when the Prophets caught wind of Stella's existence and her tremendous power, Rio and Titania decided to amplify and synthesize that power for themselves, leading to Stella's encapsulation and the formation of the Code-V Research Team.

The group operated as usual, secretly making plans to free Stella in the meantime. The Twilight Killer's list of victims drew, and her name slowly but surely became a common whisper in the world. Lorenzo went quiet after Prometheus appeared, ordering the group to remain quiet during the Promethean War. Lorenzo also temporarily lost access to his hidden base in the Gaian Ruins around this time. Even if the chaos could have been used to their advantage, the Arcadia Project itself was still unfinished. After Prometheus' death at the hands of V2, Dr. Cainan's research hit a noticeable stride, and things were looking very promising for Arcadia throughout the summer of 2019. And then, after a small lull in the month of August, Lorenzo was contacted by a recently-freed Stella, who wanted to resume work immediately.

Regaining access to the underground Gaian facility, ousting the GUN forces stationed there in the process, Lorenzo re-established connection with every one of the Knights of Arcadia, informing them that it was finally time to commence the final stages of the Arcadia Project.

## Notable Members

### Affiliates

* Tina Lockhart (formerly)
* Zach II (formerly)
* Dr. Kirsten Valentine
* Roy Elliston
* Candy Clairet
* Saffron McCarthy