Secret Society

Secret Societies are organizations that do allow the public to access information about their operations. Their memberships, activities, goals, and even existence in some cases, are all kept hidden from prying eyes. There are a few Societies which are sponsored by the imperial government, known as the Five Senses, though most Secret Societies operate completely in the shadows. The Societies exist in a state of unending war, engaged in constant spying and infiltration against one another.

## The Senses

The Five Senses are the main spy agencies of the Empire. They are tasked with protecting the Empire from any hidden threats, often working with one another or other law enforcement elements within the Empire. Even though they are all tasked with the same goal, how they go about it and internal power struggles between rival factions often puts the organizations at odds with one another.

### The Eyes

The Eyes are the primary Sense, operating throughout the whole Empire. The Eyes are divided into two branches, The Rods, who are in charge of internal affairs in the Empire, and The Cones specialize in foreign matters.

### The Ears

The Ears are the second largest Sense and operate mainly in the Eastern Kingdom, but are known to branch out to all reaches of the Empire and beyond. They are known for being the most brutal Sense, always in pursuit of what they perceive as threats to the Empire and quick to enact ruthless justice.

### The Tongues

The Tongues are a smaller Sense that operate mainly in the Southern Kingdom. They are seen as less of an intelligence agency and more as special forces as they are known for rapid deployment and decisive strikes.

### The Noses

The Noses are a Sense operate mainly in the Western Kingdom. They are known for being one of the most thorough reconnaissance agencies, but as a result they tend to be slower to react.

### The Hands

The Hands are a smaller Sense operate mainly in the Northern Kingdom. Their reconnaissance skills are considered to be lacking, but they do specialize in making large busts and heavy assaults, a rarity for intelligence agencies.

## Sin Societies

The Sin Societies are organizations of demon worshippers that try to summon demons into Aum or serve demons who are already present in the world. Some of the members are disguised demons themselves while others are ordinary mortals who have been tempted by sin. The Senses often work with the Inquisition to track and eliminate these societies wherever they take root.

The Damned

All Demons

The Children of Sin

Converts

### The Pride

The Pride Pride

The Skulk

Lust

The Sloths

The Murder

Envy

The Avarice

Greed

The Gourmets

Gluttony

The Herd

Wrath

### The Deep Ones

The Deep Ones is a Secret Society that has members in communication with powerful entities in the deepest, darkest trenches of the ocean's abyss and in the dark spaces between the stars. They are devout worshippers of Dweamir as well as the whole pantheon of the Other Gods, and they seek to bring the dominion of these entities onto Aum. The Deep Ones are known to have various shapeshifters among their ranks as well as

## Philosophical Secret Societies

Philosophical Secret Societies are Secret Societies devoted to a particular cause extolled by their founding philosophy. Some of these Secret Societies operate more openly than others, but all of them possess secrets kept exclusively among their own members, safe from the prying eyes of the public.

### Builders

The Builders is a group of technology-obsessed transhumanists that are constantly trying to push innovation to new frontiers with no ethical concerns, often using unwilling test subjects. Many of history's greatest golemancers could be counted among The Builders' ranks. There exists a notable subfaction of the Builders known as the Machinists, which consists mostly of Ib who have been forcibly implanted with cybernetic chips that render them slaves to an entity known as Overlord.AI.

### Glass Windows

The Glass Windows is a bit of a meta-secret society that exists mainly to expose intel about the activities of other secret societies. The belief that the free flow of information is an Ibian right is the core of their philosophy, but they have also been known to use the sale of information as a fundraising technique when the need arises. Unfortunately, due to the nature of their ideals, many Glass Windows members expose information of both themselves and their comrades on a semi-regular basis.

### Cavemen

The Cavemen are a group that began as anarchro-primitivists that gained exception traction during the age of industrialization in the Conquest Era, during which they notably organized workers to smash machines with rocks. Members tend to enjoy speaking in pseudo-primitive dialects and referring to both themselves and their comrades as "Grug".

### Grand Order

The Grand Order is a cult of corrupted bureaucrats and egotistical members of the Ministry of Justice who have come to believe that Order is something greater than Justice. They actively seek to enact laws that reduce individual freedom in order to create a "more orderly society," and have been at times known to take justice into their own hands when they believe that the legal system has failed. While their actions can be as subtle as slightly modifying and rejecting forms based on contrived nuances of the law, they have been known to go so far as to rally mobs for public lynchings of known criminals who used their powers to conceal the necessary evidence for their rightful conviction.

### Anarchy Undivided

Anarchy Undivided is a union of various anarchist factions into one movement that seeks to abolish government and promote unrestrained individual freedom.

### Midas Group

The Midas Group is perhaps the largest economic-centric Secret Society in existence and has had numerous elite imperial politicians and corporate CEOs in its ranks.

### Order of the Blade

The Order of the Blade is an elite secret society of assassins dedicated to honing the art of their craft. Performing assassinations on higher ranking members is the only way for members to advance their position in the organization, leading to constant flux in the upper echelons of power for the group.

### Good Samaritans

The Good Samaritans are a group of anonymous philanthropists who adamantly believe that in order for charitable acts to be truly altruistic and good, the donator must never receive recognition. Members are known for performing random of acts of kindness which they hope will inspire the good in others as well.

### Scorched Earth Society

The Scorched Earth Society is a radical anarchist group that zealously worships fire as "the great equalizer." While originally they were known for burning the property of the rich and poor alike so that all may be equal in the ashes, over the years their focus shifted more towards the former as the latter already did not possess enough proper fuel for the flames.

### Comedians

The Comedians are a loosely organized society of bitter Nihilists that use clown and fool iconography and live under several layers of ironic humor that mainly serve to mask their own crippling depression. They are known for "pranking" religious and governmental institutions, typically in the form of flamboyant vandalism or outright terrorism.

### Daughters of the Forest

The Daughters of the Forest is a radical conservationist society begun by Dryads and Druids seeking to protect the wilds.

## Other Secret Societies

The Young Bloods

Pan-Vampires

### The Pure Bloods

The Pure Bloods are a group of Human supremacists that believe that something unique about the Human experience makes them a truer form of being than all other forms of life. While most Ib believe at the very least all Ib are superior to beings of lesser intelligence such as animals and would prefer to spend most of their time around Ib who are similar to themselves and at times experience conflict with races of Ib who by their nature are fundamentally different from themselves, the Pure Bloods take their tendency towards racial cohesion to levels beyond such rationality and actively despise even the most amicable members of other races and believe that the existence of Humans is even greater than that of gods.

The Third Eye

Psychic Supremacistsm hate mages, awaken humans to psychic.