Harbinger

Harbingers are the undercover agents of the Cult of Digend, hiding among other herds to spread the will of Digend, a pagan god of chaos.

Harbingers are a limited rank, and are subject to monthly activity checks. Harbinger spaces are competitive.

## Overview

A new breed of Cultist, the Harbingers are surreptitious personal agents of the Ascendant, spreading chaos in covert roles around Hireath. Unlike Disciples, these horses are natives of the structured societies in which they live, and at first glance are indiscernible from any other citizen.  Their goal is to create chaos by inciting the conflicts of the region they live in.

Familiarity with the societal nuances of a Harbinger's home is essential to their job, as detecting and exploiting instability in their herd is their primary goal. The native familiarity required of Cultists means that all Harbingers are native to their herd or at least hold influential positions within it.  Harbingers do not travel with the Disciples that make up the majority of the Cult, and likely have never come into contact with the main Cult, instead communicating directly with the Ascendant via his corrupted Astral Projection.

A Harbinger will spend most of their time as a regular member of the society they inhabit. Harbingers are encouraged to keep up appearances and socialize. They are discouraged from any suspicious actions that might draw attention to them, such as going against their previous religious habits, or sacrificing to Digend. They should, in other words, be model citizens and act exactly as they did before learning of Digend. Harbingers must be able to withstand scrutiny from their peers and cover their tracks. A Harbinger whose cover is blown is useless to Digend.

From the cover of their seemingly respectable lives, they subtly plant seeds of discontent among their people, or advocate radical causes that are likely to spread conflict. When possible, Harbingers will spread the teachings of Digend to those that can be either manipulated or trusted with their truth, converting them into her worship.  Sometimes, the Ascendant will call on a Harbinger to commit an extreme, divisive act to drive a rift into a community, as the Harbinger Jun famously did to the Freedom's Flight with the sacrifice of a Talori child in Torrine.

Harbingers are masters of deception, who follow their new god without question. Whatever their reasons for seeking out Digend might have been, they are regardless prepared to commit increasingly diabolical and divisive acts in her name.

Every faction in SA will have no more than two Harbingers hiding among them (one for smaller factions). Harbingers will be given directives to incite chaos through Hireath, and should be played by roleplayers comfortable plotting conflict.

## Philosophy

Harbingers are not your average Cultist. Though they must have a willingness to go to extremes, none of the Harbingers are out simply to spread bloodshed and violence. Harbingers are born from a dissatisfaction with the world they live in, or the powers that rule over them. Being a servant of Digend does not require a hatred of people or even of one's birthplace, only the the desire to inspire great change. Digend is a god of change, and a Harbinger sees infinite potential in this. Many Harbingers may even be inspired by a love of their homeland (and a desire to "fix" it), or may feel disappointed or betrayed by Hireath's traditional gods.

A Harbinger must be willing to break laws, even commit atrocities for their goals, even if they don't believe in crime for crime's sake. The law and society's ideas of taboo are obstacles, placed to maintain the status quo that Harbingers want to alter. One simply could not achieve what the Harbingers seek to achieve by remaining a lawful citizen. While Harbingers may hold any set of personal beliefs and prejudices, they must be prepared to follow orders that contradict them if asked to by their Ascendant.

Harbingers recruited before spring 1701 were introduced to Digend through a series of dreams  wherein they received visions and had conversations with the then Ascendant Medulla. New Harbingers have instead been contacted by Ascendant Dalach via his Astral Projection. Some Harbingers have been indoctrinated to their extreme beliefs, but most were already seekers of change, empowered by Digend’s influence.

Digend is presented as an avatar of change, of luck, and of the unpredictable nature of the universe; by serving her and invoking her power, the Ascendant believes the Cult can control the future.

## Becoming a Harbinger

Harbingers are herd horses, born and raised in one of Hireath's large societies. They are individuals with unusual cleverness and ambition, who for whatever reason feel discontent with the status quo. Perhaps they want to see a shift in power in their homeland, or want revenge against a society they feel has wronged them. Some Harbingers seek to right perceived wrongs, or simply open the eyes of their people to the uncaring nature of the old gods. No matter their reasons, they share a dissatisfaction with their home and their gods strong enough to pursue change.

Beginning sometime in the year 1697, the previous Ascendant, Medulla, sought out these minds with evocative dreams, tailored to their hopes for the world. Visions of a revolutionary god visited them in their sleep, a faceless deity who promised them change. The ones who accepted these dreams and opened themselves up to her were contacted by Medulla, who showed them whatever images required to ignite their heart’s most desperate longing. They were then taught in the ways of Digend.

Her chosen would then be in frequent contact with her via her Dreamwalking.

From early 1701 Ascendant Dalach took over all contact, and began recruiting new agents, as well communicating with the existing Harbingers. Like Medulla, he would seek out minds open to Digend’s influence, promising them greatness and teaching them of Digend.

Both Medulla and Dalach would only be reaching out to adults old enough to be taken seriously in an esteemed rank. Any new Harbingers characters must be recruited by Dalach, but may have had dreams of Digend. New Harbingers may not have been in contact with Medulla.

In 1700 Medulla made all the then active Harbingers aware of each other’s existence, and created a dream realm for them to use. This realm has since vanished, and is no longer accessible. Any new Harbingers are currently not aware of other harbingers, within their herd or otherwise, nor have the old Harbingers been made aware of the new recruits.

## Current Harbingers

*Harbinger application template is available here.*

All open spaces may be applied for via regular character application process. These spaces are not first-come, first-serve, but will be given out based on quality. There will be little or no opportunity for major edits after review. Applications should clearly indicate which herd the Harbinger is hiding in, what rank they are posing as, and how they plan to use their role to incite conflict. Applications should display ample knowledge of both the Cult's beliefs as well as the herd the Harbinger is hiding in. Applications for Harbingers will remain open until a high-quality application fills the spot. If a Harbinger spot becomes open, the group will make an announcement looking for another.

Harbingers should hold a position of some esteem/influence in order to be effective. Ranks with pre-determined number of characters (like ambassador ranks) cannot be used, but regular limited ranks can.

Existing herd characters can also apply for a rank change to Harbinger. If you wish to do this, upload a Harbinger version of the character's application to sta.sh and note it to the group.

* Aodh: *(2/3)* **Open**
* War-Forged:*(1/2)* **Open**
* Talori: *(2/2) Closed*
* Talori Rogues: (1/1) *Closed*
* Serora: **(1/2) Open**
* Breim: **(1/2) Open (Kawaru)**
* Freedom's Flight: (1/1) *Closed*

## Retiring Harbingers

In some cases the Ascendant may deem it necessary to remove a Harbinger from their position. This may be because the Harbinger’s cover has been blown, or because they have defied the will of the Ascendant and Digend, or because their status within the herd has become such that they are no longer able to effectively pursue their goals. Some Harbingers may simply wish to return to their old lives. In all such cases the Harbinger will be visited in a dream by Medulla, who will wipe their memories using her blessing Medulla's Returned Ignorance. After their memories are wiped, they can not be reinstated, even by Medulla, and they will live on without any knowledge of ever having been a part of Digend’s plan.

When possible, defiant Harbingers may also be killed, either by another Harbinger, or by Disciplines.

If a Harbinger character is lost to an activity check, or the player otherwise wishes to remove them from their rank, but continue using the character, the character must have their memories wiped. This is to avoid the creation of “pseudo-Harbingers”, who would be aware of the Ascendant’s plan and have access to information that only Harbingers have, without being subject to activity checks.

Memory-wiped characters will keep any corrupted blessings they may have, and may become Digend worshippers again at a later date upon learning of her again, but they will not be called to directly serve her again.

## Rank Levels

* **25 AP** | The sleeping army of Digend must remain unseen, until it is too late. To keep your prey unsuspecting, receive **a tier 1 talent** (first talent only) early, if you wish.
* **50 AP** | You may appear to be an average citizen, but a servant of Digend possesses many hidden dangers. Receive an **Iron Dagger** for free.
* **75 AP |**  Digend smiles upon your deceit. Gain an additional **+15 SP** to either cunning or wisdom.
* **100 AP |**  Your Ascendant is impressed by your work. If your familiar slot is empty, she sends you a **Vagabond Mythical or Rare familiar** to aid you in your endeavors.