Hidden Brotherhood

We are a collective of like-minded individuals seeking to find a place in this chaotic world. We are...more of work group than a proper Organization

 — Naktyius

## Influence

### Pathway(s)

ArcanaNebula
Transcendant
Masquerade
Several others (all incomplete)

## Overview

The **Hidden Brotherhood** is a secret Organization that was founded in the 6th Epoch and is a respected organization despite its shady dealings. The organization holds power over the Arcana, Nebula, Transcendant and Masquerade Pathways, along with several more incomplete Pathways.

The Hidden Brotherhood has bases all across the world and operates in practically every country. The organization deals in all manner of shady dealings: from slaves to assassinations to specific information. The Hidden Brotherhood is present across practically all the Black Markets of the world. They also hold organized Beyonder Meetings and Auctions with high security and great professionalism.

The Hidden Brotherhood was no assigned/sole authority figure, but it is run by a council of 5 (one member from each complete Pathway and 1 from an incomplete). The Council holds a vote for all major decisions and each member runs their own faction on the side. Some Councilmembers are Angels, but some are simply powerful or highly respected Saints.

## History

The Hidden Brotherhood was founded in the 6th Epoch, after Lazarus Asmodeus left Earth when The Fool and Adam awoke. As "He" left, Lazarus Asmodeus gifted several new Pathways to random people as a final "fuck you" to the Gods and Outer Deities. "He" also deposited the some of the souls held within the Crucible on Earth with these new Pathways.

These souls found bodies and, after coming to their sense, reached out to each other and formed the Hidden Brotherhood. Far from home and with no guidance, the Beyonder simply decided to become mercenaries to find a purpose or simply to get money. Realizing Beyonder are kept secret from the populace. unlike in the Void Lands, the members instead decided to carry out more *covert* specializations (read: illegal).

Realizing the dangers the Nebula and other incomplete Pathways pose, the Hidden Brotherhood made strict regulations for those Beyonders. They have made great efforts to contain the Corruption of the corresponding Authorities and have formed a monopoly on said Pathways to reduce risk of ignorant parties causing harm. Therefore, there are practically zero Beyonder of these Pathways not part of the Hidden Brotherhood.

## Council

The Hidden Brotherhood is led by a Council of 5 members, some of which are Angels and the others Saints. Each member holds equal power regardless of Sequence and leads their own faction. For any major decisions, the Council holds a vote but apart from that, the members move at their own discretion and interests. There is tension between certain Councilmembers but not to the point where the Organization will split. All Councilmembers have a codename based on their Sequence name.

* The Blind Jester-Sequence 1: Absurdity Jester
* The Consorter-Sequence 2: Consorter of Secrets
* The Glory-Sequence 3: Supernova
* The Templar-Sequence 4: Ascended Templar
* The Shade-Sequence ?: *Incomplete/Unknown Pathway*

The Sequence of the Shade is unknown to everyone in the Hidden Brotherhood, including the other Councilmembers. The same for her Pathway. According to the Blind Jester, the Shade told the Council her Sequence and Pathway but erased their memories of it after, once the Council agreed to let her join them regardless.

## Factions

The Hidden Brotherhood is divided into several Faction, defined by Pathways

* The Wandering Circus: Comprised of Masquerade Beyonders and led by the Three Jester Kings. The Wandering Circus take all kinds of requests and are the Hidden Brotherhood's main cause of collateral damage. Very few members enjoy the presence of the Wandering Circus and they are actively isolated by others

* The Archive: Comprised of Arcana Beyonders and led by the Consorter. The Archive deals primarily in information, specifically secrets of a military or religious kind. They are excellent spymasters and have an unimaginable ability to collect gossip. Nearly any piece of news can be bought from them.

* The Augurs: Comprised of Nebula Beyonders and led by the Glory. The Augers cover various jobs and tasks, such as stealing or tailing. They are also used for assassinations or bounty hunting. However, they are primarily used to counter Outer Deities and "Their" influence, since Nebula Beyonders have great resistance to Cosmos Corruption. Due to their nature of suing an "evil" Pathway, the Augurs are distanced from by other members and only reluctantly called upon.

* The Mystics: Comprised of Transcendant Beyonders and led by the Templar. The Mystics are used as bodyguards and mercenaries to hunt monsters or criminals. The general muscle of the Hidden Brotherhood, the Mystics are called to serve as security for many high-ranking people at events.

* The Veil: Comprised of various Beyonder from incomplete Pathways and led by the Shade. The Veil is a jack-of-all-trades and has many utility uses, such as creating or managing Sealed Artefacts and other miscellaneous tasks. The Veil's biggest source of income is assassinations: they are the best in the Hidden Brotherhood with a 90% succession ate, including killing Demigods and powerful figures.

## Incomplete Pathways

The Hidden Brotherhood has a dozen Pathways under its control, but 8 are incomplete, with missing Potion formulae and even whole Sequence Characteristics. This is due to the haphazard method Lazarus Asmodeus gifted these Pathways: "He" simply threw out whatever came to hand first. As 8 of the 12 Pathways are missing High Sequences, most Beyonder can only advance to Sequence 5 or 4 at best.

* The Arcana Pathway is considered the best as it is a whole Pathway, with a God and available Sequence 2 through 9 Characteristics/Potions.

* The Nebula Pathway's Uniqueness is corrupted and so are the Sequence 1 Characteristics, and the lower Sequences have their own share of Corruption. This restricts Beyonder growth and makes Godhood near impossible

* The Transcendant Pathway has a Uniqueness but is missing two of the Sequence 1 Characteristics and a large number of Mid Sequence Characteristics (mainly Sequence 6 and 7). Godhood is thus impossible for Transcendant Beyonders.

* The Masquerade Pathway has a large number of Characteristics from all Sequences, including all three Sequence 1's and all the Sequence 2's. However, there is no Masquerade Uniqueness on Earth nor a Shared Pathway so Godhood is impossible.

* The other 8 Pathways are missing significant chunks in Sequences and some don't have *any* High Sequence Characteristics.