Factions

## NATIONS

Oddegar is full of countries, kingdoms and independent states. The following is a list of several, but not all, nations in Oddegar. This list is subject to change and additions are welcome!

### The Holy Imperial Gottsreich

(Lawful Neutral)

A great Empire in continental Highdonia which has just begun imperial expansion, primarily to its western borders. The Empire expands predominantly through its superiour use of diplomacy, envoys and spies, however when those don’t work, it resorts to full-blown invasion. Its motives are just and its laws are fair. The Empire desires to conquer the known world in order to bring peace, order and prosperity to all of humanity.

Goals:

* Enforce Imperial Law

* Eliminate Slavery
* Eradicate the Undead Plague
* Eradicate the Arcane
* Eradicate Dragon Cultism
* Convert all subjects to Canonism or a regional variant of Canonism (like Way of Light or Bell Bringers)
* Outlaw Evil Magic (Necromancy, Soul and Arcane)

Allies:

* The Principality of Savoy

Enemies:

* The Sovereignty of Castiglione

Neutral:

* The Kingdom of Chauncey, The Duchy of Tolouse

DMing tips:

* When you desire this Faction to be an antagonist in your campaign, lean toward the atrocities the Order of Salt commits and the Empire’s imperialistic tendencies. It should be pretty easy to antagonize this faction.
* When you desire this Faction to be a protagonist in your campaign, lean toward their struggle against Undead, Dragon Cultists, Arcane and Slavery.
* This faction is based on the late 15th century and early 16th century Holy Roman Empire. They primarily use sallets, landsknecht garb and other typically German equipment from the 1450s to the 1550s.

### The Imperial Sovereignty of Castiglione

An extremely wealthy Kingdom on the south of the Highdonian region whose coastline dominates most of the north side of the Vendacian sea. The Kingdom's newfound immense wealth has been coming directly from the New World which has recently been discovered. Massive fleets of treasure galleons transport gold, silver, platinum, slaves and raw materials from the new continent year round, spurring a sort of greed in the Kingdom’s leadership which can only be fed with the conquering of new lands. Castiglione has mostly kept to itself within continental Highdonia, but recently its veteran armies of conquistadors have returned from the New World along with their bloodthirsty General, Hernán Delgado de Verona, who seeks to conquer Tolouse, Savoy and parts of the Kingdom of Chauncey with massive armies of veteran conquistadors and slaves. Castiglione has no mercy in war and commits horrible atrocities in order to achieve its goals.

Goals:

* Invade Savoy and Tolouse
* Gain slaves and immense material wealth

Allies:

* The Sultanate of Parsassar

Enemies:

* The Holy Imperial Gottsreich, The Principality of Savoy, The Duchy of Tolouse

Neutral:

* The Kingdom of Chauncey

DMing tips:

* When you desire this Faction to be an antagonist in your campaign, focus on their war crimes, use of slavery, greed and their imperialistic tendencies. Like the Gottsreich, it should be very easy to antagonize this faction.
* This faction was created to be an antagonist, like Valeria or the Catalysts.
* This faction is based on the late 15th century and 16th century Spanish Empire with some Italian influence mixed in. They primarily use Cabassets, Morions and other typical conquistador/Spaniard equipment from the 1450s to the 1550s.

### The Kingdom of Chauncey

A Kingdom of honour and fealty which praises chivalry, courtly manners and knightly behaviour. Chauncey is known mostly for its religious orders of Knights who made a name for themselves during the many Crusades from the early 11th century to the present day. To them, the Holy City of Antioch is the single most important location in all of Oddegar and must be defended from Sassar forces at all costs, which is the reason for their many crusades and campaigns to the deserts of Parsassar. They believe in all the gods, but their religion is focused around the Holy Grail, which was created in the Holy City of Antioch by Doxius and is rumoured to have the power of eternal life.

Goals:

* Retake the Holy City of Antioch, which has recently been taken by Sassar forces

Allies:

* The Duchy of Tolouse

Enemies:

* The Sultanate of Parsassar

Neutral:

* The Principality of Savoy, The Holy Imperial Gottsreich, The Sovereignty of Castiglione

DMing tips:

* When you desire this Faction to be the antagonist of your campaign, focus on their desire for the Holy Grail and its rumoured power of eternal life. They are also almost constantly at war with Parsassar.
* When you desire this Faction to be the protagonist of your campaign, focus on their desire to capture and defend the Holy City of Antioch, as well as the Holy Grail
* This faction is based on late 14th century to mid 15th century England and France. They primarily use Kettle helmets, Hounskull Bascinets, Great Bascinets, Greathelms and other typical English or French equipment from the 1350s to the 1450s.

### The Principality of Savoy

Gottsreich Lite. Franco-German culture. They praise the sun and wear gothic armour and sun-painted sallets. They are known for their “savoyard smile” which is said to be so bright and heartwarming it is known as smiling the sun’s smile. Generally very happy and fun people to be around. Very humble and hospitable. Most of the country is under Gottsreich rule, but everything south of Castle Flauensleben is resisting the Empire, backed by Castiglione (who seeks to take over the country). Like Stolland in the Gottsreich, Savoy is known for its great quality ale and beer, as well as its hundreds of types of bread. Their colours are Sky Blue and Golden Yellow and their heraldic symbol is a smiling sun.

### The Duchy of Tolouse

Chauncey Lite. Only French culture, no English. They hate the English cultures like northern Chauncey and Cumberland in the Gottsreich. Like Chauncey, they greatly value the Knightly class, courtly manners, honour and chivalry. Some of the greatest chefs are from Tolouse and the country makes fine cheese and wine. Their colours are Blue and Ivory and their heraldic symbol is a fleur de lis.

### The Caliphate of Parsassar

People from here are called Sassars. There’s lots of pirates from here and slavers. I have yet to come up with a muslim-like religion still. They ride camels and wear headwraps or turbans of light cloth or silk. They have dark skin and dark hair. All the men have beards once they’re old enough to grow them. Most live in oasis cities but a lot of them are nomadic and travel in large camel caravans through the desert. Sassars have great knowledge of mathematics, science and medicine and some of the greatest doctors hail from Parassar. The caliphate is also known for its extremely fine and almost perfectly transparent glass, unlike the warped and blurry glass produced in other countries. Sassars have a dislike toward people from Chauncey due to the constant conflict between them for the Holy City of Antioch. Sassars believe alcohol and gambling is a terrible sin and both are outlawed in the nation. Their colours are aquamarine and yellow and their heraldic symbol is a scimitar and arabic text.

### The Turkoman Sultanate

Turks. They control a lot of the strait that cuts Highdonia in half, which makes them very wealthy. They have dark skin and dark hair. It is popular fashion for men to be shaved bald and sport massive black moustaches or beards. They are known for wearing Fez hats, baggy pants, curly-toed shoes and vests with no shirt underneath. Turkomans and Sassars are very closely related to each other culturally and are often confused between one another. The Turkomans are known for using War Elephants to great effect. Their colours are dark red, yellow and white and their heraldic symbol is an arm holding a scimitar which is stabbing through a sack of gold coins.

### The Chiefdom of Craigfearn

Scots and Irishmen. They live on an island north of Chauncey. They wear kilts, drink mead, throw logs and play bagpipes. They’re a bit less “civilized” than the kingdoms of continental Highdonia and worship old gods. The men are extremely strong, hairy and have big orange beards. The women are pale, freckled and have curly orange hair. They invented plaid. They are often described as tall dwarves for their similarity in culture and accent, but they lack the mind for the mastery of engineering and smithing like dwarves. Their colours are plaid (green and red) and their heraldic symbol is a boar.

### Ulborea

Ethan’s land. If I had to suggest a culture it would be norsemen and vikings since we don’t have those yet. Are you hearing me Ethan??? Up to you though we can clump the vikings in with Craigfearn or some new country if you want, but the location of Ulborea makes for perfect berserker barbarian viking lads.

### Bexterrania

Crusty-skinned Katana bois who live in a desert and mine a meteor

### Crucalith

Crusader bois who never take off their armour

### The Voivodeship of Ruthenia

Basically Poland. Large slavic culture. Also known as “Red Ruthenia.” Gets bullied by Polotsk a lot and there’s a lot of rivalry between the two countries. They are often at war with Polotsk and are known for their Winged Hussars. Their colours are red and white and their heraldic symbol is a white eagle.

### The Tsardom of Polotsk

Russia. Slavic culture, ruled by an oppressive, warmongering Tsar. They are often at war with Ruthenia and are feared for their use of BEARS as cavalry mounts. They prefer sabres over straight swords. Their colours are red and black and their heraldic symbol is a bear.

### Tulsica

Sparta/Greece but everyone’s a bodybuilder buff ripped statue boi or super hot statue chick

### Drachenmor

Romanian Transylvanian vlad the impaler dracula edgelords. Lots of gloomy looking castles on top of tall mountains. Constantly raining. Lots of monsters, zombies and stuff. Basically every edgelord is from here or assumed to be from here.

### Valeria

Composed of remnants of the Iron Empire, this faction is highly imperialistic, and values high amounts of nationalism in its citizens. They build statues of their heroes wherever they go, and treat their own citizens well, but commit many war crimes and atrocities in order to claim new lands and intimidate other factions. Their leader is known as Emperor Alistair the Godmaker, he has a large metal contraption on his back which releases a cloud of white steam wherever he goes. Their flag consists of a tiger wearing a feathered hat.

### Catalysts

The catalysts currently control the region of Highdonia known as “the heart of humanity” as well as the Feral Island off the coast of Gillesport.

A massive faction of humans, easily identified by the set of horns they wear on their head, and typically stained black armour. The larger and bigger the horns are the higher ranking they have within the catalysts. Founded and led by the Grand Emperor Lucifarian, who is seemingly immortal. He only shows his face at massive rallies he leads, and gives speeches. The general philosophy of the catalysts is that humans are the heirs to oddegar, and its rightful rulers. The other races and creatures are imposing on the territory that rightfully belongs to humans, and should be driven off to create a united human homeland. Individual opinions on non humans vary, some may be friends with many non humans but still seek to make a human homeland, while others may see all other races as less than animals. They fly a black flag, depicting 3 white figures holding hands in a chain,this represents the unity of all humans souls in a dark world. The structure of the catalysts consists of conscripts at the bottom, which are those forced to fight for the catalysts as slaves of a sort. The catalysts take 10% of a towns men when they inhabit it, and make the conscripts. The next portion is the soldarr, a foot soldier enlisted of their own free will, or promoted from a conscript. Typically both soldarrs and conscripts are paid a mediocre wage, but more than enough to live off of. Above them are the Capptains, Grand Capptains, and High chancellorrs. Lucifarian has 3 high chancellors, the Black Oracle, the Great Chaplain, and the High Maww. The highest ranking is Lucifarian, as he is the most adept in combat and has the most charisma. Lucifarian formed the catalysts himself, after his family was killed by quillven raiders. Legends say he went on a quest and discovered the Helios bell, which granted him four wishes. No one knows what he wished for, other than immortality, or if he has any wishes left.

## RELIGIOUS ORDERS

With every different god or religion there will always be religious orders. People who spend their lives devoting themselves to their gods in order to seek some sort of reward in the afterlife. This list is subject to change and additions are welcome!

### The Holy Canonist Church

(Lawful Neutral)

Over the past 100 years, a reformative religious schism took place primarily in the Holy Imperial Gottsreich, Savoy, and other Central and Eastern Highdonian provinces. A new religion had been formed based on monotheism and the belief that there is only one Holy being who created the world and the universe, God. The old “gods” are believed to be Angels or Saints, who exist to serve God and do his bidding.

GOD is sometimes referred to as Odis in some regions and is accepted by the Holy Canonist Church, but is often frowned upon as the name derives from before the religious schism.

Archangels/Saints

* Archangel Luna: The ruler of the moon and night time.
* Archangel Sol: The ruler of the sun, light, and healing.
* Archangel of Death: A nameless archangel whose role is passed on to those who have taken many lives. Death is most often depicted as a reaper who ushers those who have died into the afterlife. It’s not often acceptable to pray to or worship this archangel, but it is done a lot by soldiers, whose profession is death.
* Holy Saint Valentia: The patron saint of love and life.
* Holy Saint Fina: The patron saint of balance and order.
* Holy Saint Chronus/Doxius: The patron saint of timekeeping.
* Ignil: A fallen archangel who is known to be the ruler of hell. He is strictly forbidden to worship or pray to, and is often seen as the ultimate evil and the creator of all that is evil in the world

The Bell Bringers are accepted within the Holy Canonist Church, and many of the clergy and papacy are made up of Bell Bringers.

### Bell Bringers

By the bell! Thank the bells! Very common phrases like these come from the Bell bringers, a clan of holy magicians, priests and clerics. The bell bringers consists of followers of many different gods, excluding ignil. They congregate and have massive rituals together, usually using bells. They believe bells are holy symbols, as the book of oddegar states that “Odis rang a bell and Oddegar was born”. Because of this, they build massive, complex towers full of many sets of bells in cities they visit. It is not uncommon for a city to be completely worn down and in poverty, with the only nice building being a giant belltower. The Bell Bringers believe that Demons and Monsters are all blemishes on a perfect realm, and to slay them they forged The Bell born blade out of one of their holy bells from a long destroyed city. Bringer Octavian wielded this blade to purge the fallen city of Nazarth of the demon possession it was suffering, however it is believed that he was cursed and trapped inside his own blade.

Sworn Enemies:

-Demons

-Ignil Worshippers

-Monsters

-Undead

### Moonmongers

Devout followers of Luna, who believe that the moon is going to destroy Oddegar. They see Lunar eclipses as proof that the Moon is more powerful than the sun, and host massive bonfires when they occur. They are very few in number, but most are powerful wizards, who have harnessed the power of lunar magic. Nearly all of them stay in hiding during the day, and come out at night to do their various activities. All Moonmongers are given a Moon Rune at the time of joining, which they carry on them at all times.

### Reeves of the Pillar

The Reeves of the pillar, or Pillars for short, is a religion based off of four tenets, or “pillars”. The first pillar is the pillar of stone, which is to say those who follow the pillars must be strong, tenacious and a support for others to lean on. The second pillar is that of flame, which shows that followers must spread their faith like fire, with a burning passion and zealotry. The third pillar is a pillar of dust, which shows that all will return to dust, and must treat others as they would themselves, as well as being humble. The final pillar is unfinished as to show that followers must continue to build their faith, and improve themselves whenever possible. The fourth pillar is only completed in death. Those who follow the pillars are known as reeves, and often wear a necklace depicting the pillars. They can be of any race or gender, and build churches of the pillar with the purpose of converting others.

### Way of Light

A massive cult which has consumed many parts of oddegar, which believes that magic has corrupted oddegar and made it impure. They refuse to use magic, and go so far as to prosecute those who do. They might make up a small percentage of a town, in which case they mostly mind their own business, but if they gain enough power and followers they will put the town under a tight grasp, squeezing out all the suspected witches and warlocks and burning them on large wooden spikes. Wearing all white, followers wear veils and blindfolds to shield themselves from the sin of the world around them.They burn special grey candles made of monster essence which dull magic, and cast prayers to the gods to protect them from the cursed magic. They refuse to see holy magic as magic, rather calling it “divinations” and many followers use it extensively. The most fearsome of this group are the lightbearers, who wear massive hats covered in monster wax candles and wield null rods to assist them in their hunt for magic users. They bear a white flag with a yellow candle on it.

### Sons of Sol

A Sect of elite priests of Sol, who spend every lit hour of the day training for war, and every dark second sleeping. They wear golden robes, and gold inlead armour over top, with tabards with a sun in the middle. They simply wish to serve Sol, and have a massive glass lens which they brand themselves with under the sun as to show their devotion. They refuse water and food until Sol grants them a “Vision” Describing something in the future, they then interpret these and decide their next plan of action. They go on long pilgrimages around the world, simply seeking Sol’s truth.

### The Great Truth

The Great Truth is the concept that we can be freed from our shackles of mortality by embracing pain and being reborn through it.  Seekers of the great truth reject the gods and instead follow the path of pain, flogging themselves with barbed whips, burning themselves with acid, or getting themselves into fights. You could consider many of those who follow the great truth to be extreme masochists, deriving a holy purpose through their pain. Often they are far more resilient than others of their race, and can be starved, beaten and bled without so much as losing consciousness. A famous story speaks of Greywalt the Conqueror being captured, flogged and bled until they believed he was dead. He was found by his men and put on a funeral pyre, however once it was burning they saw his figure stand up and start laughing, as if he was enjoying himself.

## CRIMINAL GANGS

Crime is rampant in certain areas of Oddegar due to instability, war, poverty or anything at all. There will always be criminals that exist no matter how hard people try to stop them. This list is subject to change and additions are welcome!

### The Band of Miserable Men

A band of brigands and ne'er-do-wells who rob the roads of The Holy Imperial Gottsreich and the Principality of Savoy. Unhappy with the high taxation in the Gottsreich, especially on alcohol, the Band of Miserable men primarily rob shipments of booze from breweries and wineries within the Gottsreich and Savoy in order to sell to the people at a lower and tax-free price. They are characterized by their scarlet red liripipe hoods which they wear during raids. Their leader is “Robert Hood” though most know that’s not his real name.

### The Bully-Rooks

A gang of bandits, brigands and ne’er-do-wells who rob the roads of The Kingdom of Chauncey and The Duchy of Tolouse. Aside from normal roadside robbery, the Bully-Rooks also own criminal undergrounds within many cities in Chauncey and Tolouse. They are characterized by their aversion to robbing the ill or elderly, and they love to run underground fighting rings and gambling dens in areas where gambling is illegal. They are most famous for robbing tax collector wagons and forcing the taxman to walk home naked. Their leaders are Alfie and Ardenne, who are identical twins save for their difference in gender.

### The Dusketeers

A gang of bandits from southern Chauncey, Tolouse and Ponce who share a french culture and language. They primarily rob carriages and wagons on the roads by riding up to them on black horses and hopping on board. They hold the driver and passengers hostage, take their belongings, then ride off. They are characterized by their black cavalier hats, black cloaks and black masks they wear over their eyes (like Zorro). Their leader is Clopin Trouillefou and they were last seen robbing the roads in the Holy Imperial Gottsreich, but they’ve been all over continental Highdonia. They are called “Dusketeers” for their resemblance to Musketeers and their love for attacking at dusk, which is why they wear all black.

### United Mankind

A humanitarian organisation who helps destroyed towns out of poverty and assists citizens with medicinal aid. Unfortunately, through lack of support they have run out of funds and are corrupt, charging exorbitant prices for their services after the fact and threatening with mercenary groups. They hire clerics from around oddegar to assist them, saving random adventurers and charging them for their services

### The Bloc Gangers

A group of hooded vigilantes who wander between towns, burning impure facilities such as taverns, gambling houses and brothels, and hanging those deemed evil in the public eye. Evil is defined by most impure acts, including stealing and even lying, but murder is apparently ok as long as you kill someone deserving. They have many groups throughout oddegar, but all wear the same hoods, with dark green paint around the eyes and mouth holes, and branches sticking out of the sides with various bells and tassels.They wear a medallion with a squinting eye and three teeth hanging off of it, representative of the three founders of the organization. In order to become an official member, you must take teeth from three different “Evil beings”, which will be used in the making of your medallion.

## INDEPENDENT MILITARY ORDERS

Independent military orders are groups of people who unite under a single banner but follow no king or country. Their goals may vary from wanting to create a nation of their own to simply hiring themselves out as mercenaries.

### The Whitesteel Guard

The simple sounding faction of “The Whitesteel Guard” is small and not well known except to the elites of various other factions. For while they are small in number, they are likely the most powerful faction in oddegar due to the abilities of each of the members who consist of legends of near godlike power. Their sole goal is to ensure the survival of oddegar from catastrophic events, which they can predict using their alliance with Doxius. Their insignia is a simple white shield, but it strikes fear and respect in those who know what it means.

### Duskmen

A large faction of many races, located in lemaria. They are characterized by a green beret with an insignia on the front. Their insignia is a half moon with a sun in the middle, usually displayed on a gold coin. They provide protection for towns that are under their control, in turn the towns feed the army when they pass through, and many more villagers get recruited to the duskmen.

### Wayward Rangers

The wayward rangers is split into two factions: Old Rangers and Rangers. Rangers are an elite faction of warriors, whose goal is keep the world safe from monsters, demons and undead. They do this by tracking and hunting any threats they come across and eliminating them with specialized equipment. In order to preserve the honor of their order, they follow a set of codes which includes that they must hunt any monster they cross paths with, no matter how difficult it is. This has led to many novice rangers meeting their demise to much stronger enemies than them.  It is rare to see a ranger in a group, as the custom is that they hunt alone. A ranger will find an apprentice, train them in the art of monster hunting, and once they feel they are ready will give up their ranger badge (Which depicts a sword within a skull) and give up being a ranger themselves, often becoming what is known as an Old ranger.  The difference between and old ranger and a ranger comes in philosophy, as after many years of hunting a ranger will realize that the most dangerous monster is mankind itself. Once they give up their badge, they no longer must uphold the rangers law and may hunt anything they wish. Because of this, the old rangers are hunters of the most dangerous prey, defending what they love from the corruption and greed of mankind.

### The Scourgeborne

A legion of soldiers doused with Plague's breath, turned into diseased creatures shunned from humanity. They have gone mad, turning to cannibalism and barbaric ways. They have learnt the ways of Plague, and can use the same spell which made them monsters to recruit new members. Their signature is the green steel they wear, some of the only of its kind, which was created from the fallen scales of Plauge.

### Black Watch

A now defunct legion which used to span all of oddegar. They were created for the purpose of killing the great dragons, and lived on many years afterwards trying to purge dragons from oddegar. They wore signature Black Steel armour, with large weapons and bolts tipped with dragonsblood. Once they helped fight off the great dragons, they slowly lost support from around oddegar, eventually many bands broke off of the black watch and turned to muraudiding, giving them a bad name. Eventually, the Dragons cult grew strong enough and assaulted the Scorched Watchtower, the HQ of the black watch, killing what was left, while taking heavy casualties. Now, most black watch you will find are marauders, madmen and bandits, with only a handful left who still seek the original goal of slaying the dragons.

### Sons of Vord

A primal faction of united tribes, they ride in a large horde of horsemen, pillaging towns and eventually settling in large cities. They believe they don’t need to follow the laws of man, as they dont have a home and only eat meat, rather they follow the laws of nature: The strong rule the weak. They are feared and scorned by nearly everyone but their own, as they are famous for absolute savagery and no mercy. Their leader is the Warvord Garl the Skull Born. This is actually the rebirth of a previous faction, the Vordvians, who fractured into many primal tribes due to infighting.

## CULTS

Cults are highly secretive (though not always) orders of religious fanatics or people highly devoted to a single goal. They often have beliefs or practices that are regarded as strange, taboo or sinister in nature.

### The Order of Salt

(Lawful Evil)

Heavily funded by the Holy Canonist Church, the Order of Salt is a band of highly organized Witch-Hunters who originated in the Gottsreich but can be found all throughout Oddegar. Their Headquarters are in Nurn, a large City-State in the Holy Imperial Gottsreich known for its University, Artillery School and Witch Hunters. The Empire employs these witch hunters in their military, but they also work independently of the empire, especially in foreign regions.

The goal of the Order of Salt is to seek, imprison and execute witches, wizards, warlocks, and other magic abusers who use Necromancy, Soul, and Arcane magic. Though they also have a disdain for all magic aside from Holy magic and Miracles, they usually don’t prosecute magic users who use other types of magic like Air, Fire and Water to name a few.

The order also deals with the eradication of the Undead Plague, seeking those afflicted with the curse and subjugating them to horrific experiments and tests in order to try and find a cure.

It is for these reasons that the Holy Imperial Gottsreich is seen as an enemy and antagonist by most foreign people, solely due to the actions of the Order of Salt, who represent the Empire abroad with the black and gold colours

A typical member of the Order of Salt can be identified by their signature bycocket hat worn sideways on the head, a knee-length coat or a bright yellow sash or belt.

To combat the undead plague, the Order of Salt creates their weapons with a special alloy called Ossein Steel, crafted by crushing bones into a fine powder and forging it into the steel of their blades. This allows the order’s weaponry to deal bone damage to undead without the inherent drawbacks of using a weapon crafted completely of bones.

Members of the Order of Salt often stop by towns annually or semi-annually to check up on the townspeople. If there are any reports of witches or undead plague, they deal with it.

Goals:

* Eradicate Undead Plague, Dragon Cultists, Monsters, Arcane and Evil Magic users

Allies:

* The Holy Canonist Church, The Holy Imperial Gottsreich, Bell Bringers, Way of Light

Enemies:

* Undead, Dragon Cultists, Monsters, Arcane, Evil Magic users

Neutral:

* ...

DMing tips:

* This faction is meant to be an antagonist in Oddegar

### Deep Envoys

Investigators and explorers of the Arcane Void, the goal of the deep envoys is to find intelligent life in Arcania, and harness the hidden power of the terrifying dimension. They all wear a ceremonial purple face mask, covered in carvings of tentacles and twisting forms, and a special black mantle with a scarf underneath. Most deep envoys have a strong belief that the arcane void is the true dimension, whilst oddegar is a corrupted and sinful mirror dimension. Many Deep Envoys have gone missing in the void, it is said that they finally found what they were looking for and decided to stay, rather than the far less heroic explanation. The Oldest and most hated enemy of the Deep Envoys are the Cleansers of the Void, as the Cleansers believe that all things arcane must be destroyed and the void should be sealed. There have been many wars fought between the groups, although they are all fairly small scale, and mostly wars of influence and propaganda. Envoy Iichonwald was the first Deep Envoy, as well as the first to disappear into the void. The highest branch of the deep envoys is the order of the black cross, which is a special unit which consists of only the most devoted followers, powerful fighters and wise mages. Their flag is a tentacle grabbing a black cross on a whitebackground, with higher ups wearing a purple background instead

### Cleansers of the Void

Staunch protectors of oddegar, or oppressive witch hunters, the cleansers are a very contentious faction which has spread across all known lands of oddegar in their search for the arcane. Unlike the Envoys, they seek to destroy and seal all that is arcane in nature through any means necessary. Their tireless search has caused grief for many innocent and oblivious citizens, which has made them many enemies. Nonetheless, they still keep looking and looking, burning any scraps of arcane they find in this realm. Some towns fear the void, and offer sanctuary to cleansers in return for protection, whilst others shun them as zealots who have caused more problems then they have solved. A cleanser is identified by the sigil they bear on their breast, a black pig head in a golden circle, which represents how they must sense the arcane in the same way a pig might sense a truffle, and dig it up from wherever it is rooted. The most famous cleanser is Godfrey, the blackened hand, who closed the largest arcane portal ever opened while fighting off the endless horde of monstrosities pouring from it by himself.

### Order of the six wrists

A powerful group of ignil worshippers which have infiltrated various places of power throughout oddegar, their actual power is unclear. Known for horrific human sacrifices, kidnappings and subterfuge, they are a contentious topic amongst those in the know. Their most famous incident is when they burnt down a grand cathedral along with everyone in it as an offering. They possess a potent form of necromancy, focused around blood. They slit their own wrists to improve their power, and ensure that if defeated they will bleed out, sacrificing themselves for ignil. The order contains six sects which are following: Wringed Wrist, Ruined Wrist, Wretched Wrist, Wicked Wrist, Wistful Wrist, Twisted Wrist

### Barristers of Chaos

Believers in what they call true balance, a barristers duty is to keep oddegar in perpetual chaos, as that is its natural form. Barristers believe that in the face of good, there must be evil, and vice versa. They will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that things are not black and white, often giving their lives in the pursuit of chaos. Believers in Luck, they often make most decisions by flipping coins, rolling dice and other such events. Through the constant use of luck, they have managed to become adept at it, and can control their own luck to a certain degree to get an outcome if necessary. Their most treasured artifact is the two tailed coin, a coin used by the Grand Barrister Bedoein, which is believed to represent the similarities of “Good” and “Evil” .

### Watchers

A secret organization, hiding from the eyes of most. They believe that oddegar is some sort of experiment, and refuse to show themselves, hiding in the shadows. Whenever they must leave hiding, they wear different disguises and refuse to speak to anybody unless absolutely necessary. The only identification they wear is a purple eye on an armband, headband or cloak, this is to let other watchers know who they are.

### Cult of Dragons

An ancient cult, formed before the great dragon war, which believes that dragons are restoring balance that the gods disrupted, they seek to align with the dragons. We learned magic from the dragons, so they refer to all types except for holy magic to be “The Dragons Gift” and see it as a sacred bond tying Dragons and mankind together. During the dragon war, their numbers were flourishing enough that they formed an army, and were supplied with dragonscale armour and iconic katanas with dragon heads embossed into them. They fought on the side of the dragons, and were defeated with them, their forces scattered and they were cast into the shadows. To prevent the spread of the cult, an order was passed which banned all katanas, and if one was found it was to be shattered and reforged. After the war, they collected the bones and skulls of dragons and adorned them on themselves as a sign of devotion, that they were with the dragons even in death. Now, they seek to bring the dragons back into the fold, and scorn the gods and those who support them. For the most part, nearly every faction hates the dragon cultists, with the only neutral factions known being the scourgeborne, black watch and the catalysts.