Hebdomads

## Overview

A Hebdomad is an arcane principle pattern with roots that date into antiquity. Every week has seven days. Earth has seven continents. There was said to be seven seas. The rainbow has seven colors. The Lotus flower on Buddha's pedestal has seven petals. There are seven deadly sins and seven heavenly virtues. There are only seven ancient sages of Saptarishi. A group built to represent this concept always consists of seven members, each member is known as an archon and has sworn to uphold the group's sacred purpose and while they are true to this cause, the Hebdomad is protected to survive, even when it should not. Though its archons may fall, the Hebdomad blessing promises that at least one archon will survive, so long as they remain true... and if they always remain true, they will be victorious.

There have been many of these seven-strong-societies. While always formed by seven sworn to the cause, the number of their ranks may vary between one to six, as archons fall in battle or lose sight of their calling. Sometimes there may be an eighth, disconnected figure which, while not part of the Hebdomad, acts as a guide or mentor known as the demiurge. As a construct tied to balance, whenever an Hebdomad is formed, whether by forces of order or forces of chaos, the universe will always cause another Hebdomad to be created in opposition to it eventually.

### List of Known or Suspected Hebdomads

* **Progenitors:** Seven beings who were summoned by the Source Entity at the behest of the Fatewriter. Each of the seven were given a task to bring about the creation of the construct which the Fatewriter had commissioned.
* **Hebdomad of Albion:** Founded in the dimension of Albion, in the nation of Camelot, this Hebdomad was originally formed around the Round Table with King Arthur and his first six knights as archons and Merlin acting as the demiurge and architect of the Hebdomad's creation. While the Knights of the Round Table may have grown in ranks exceeding seven, there always remained an inner circle of seven archons. When one archon fell in battle, another would take their place. When Camelot fell to the Sheeda invasion, Arthur Pendragon himself charged into the Sheeda onslaught to buy his Hebdomad time to take a number of sacred relics out of the Sheeda's grasp.
	+ **Victorious Hebdomad:** On Earth, the Hebdomad was recreated by surviving archons, among them Ystina.
	+ **Demon Knights:** The name of the Hebdomad in the fifteenth century. They were called this by the Spanish Inquisition because Etrigan was among them and were said to represent the Seven Deadly Sins.
	+ **Covert Action Teams:** During World War 2, Ystina trusted Greg Saunders to carry on the tradition during the reign of the Cold War as she left to pursue a life in seclusion to dedicate herself to protecting the Holy Grail, a task she nearly failed at during the war. Greg tried to mutate the formula, creating a band of seven archons, each one who also acted as a demiurge to their own Hebdomad. This was how the United Nations' International Operations Covert Action Teams 1-7 came to be. When one archon fell, Greg lost faith and disappeared to ride solo, but the organization continued to operate.
	+ **Project Victory:** A covert military unit created by Greg Saunders.
	+ **Seven Soldiers of Victory:** After termination of Project Victory, Greg recreated the group under the auspice of the DEO.
* **Creature Commandos:** One theory suggests this group was created by the American government as part of its secretive "International Operations" under the designation of "Team Six" early on and were later a secretive part of Project Victory and the DEO until ARGUS somehow got hold of them. Possibly the original roster was seven-strong, but the current iteration has more than seven members.
* **Hebdomad of Gehenna:** The inner circle of Gentlemen of Gehenna, also known as the Sentinels of Magic or the Seven.
* **Archangels:** The seven children of the Presence and Eden. After Lucifer's exile and Raguel's death, the Hebdomad is currently incomplete.
	+ **Thrones:** The children of the seven Archangels.
* **Seven Deadly Sins:** The seven children of the archdemon Trigon.
* **Endless:** The seven personifications of concepts tied to sentient life.
* **Sentinels of Zauberwald:** A group of seven dwarves and sworn comrades of the princess Snow White.
* **The Luminary:** The seven leaders of the Light.
* **The Exiled Hebdomad:** A group of exiled daimons with a shared past with Ramona Flowers.
* **Mal Duncan's Hebdomads:** One of Mal Duncan's abilities is "*The Call to Arms*". Using the Horn of Gabriel he can summon the six other members of any Hebdomad in which he belongs.
	+ **Great Frog:** Band created by the Titans.
	+ **Class of Six:** Titans' class of 2006.
* **Guardians of the Universe:** Seven commanders of the Lantern Corps.
* **Hebdomad of Death:** A group of seven deadly assassins, also known as the Seven Men of Death, led by the Magician, aka Malcolm Merlyn. They are part of the League of Assassins.
* **Eurybian College of the Occult:** Hebdomad formed from the remnants of the Order of Ancient Mysteries.
* **Witch covens:** Before the rise of witch-hunters, a coven operated most often with seven members as a hebdomad of witchcraft. Even those with more than seven members usually had an inner coven of seven which oversaw the coven as its council of leaders. Unlike many other hebdomads, the members of seven-fold covens almost always had set roles within their group. Later three-witch covens became the norm.
	+ **Grand Coven:** A congregation of witches in the service of Lucifer Morningstar. The Thessalian, at the instruction of her infernal master, would go on to seek out six other members from the farthest corners of the known world, leading to the founding of Earth's very first coven. Though many of its members would die or be replaced (with the Thessalian killing several of them herself because they trespassed against the coven).
	+ **Baba Yaga:** Though the Baba Yaga are primarily thought to consist of a coven of three Xana and their benefactor, there are actually believed to have been hundreds of previous members. Estimates are that a dozen survived the Sheeda invasion and may have come to Earth. It is probable that such survivors would themselves with the core members to form a Hebdomad-enforced coven of seven.
* **Seven Sacred Sage Sisters of the Free Folk:** A group of seven faeries sorceresses led by Vindemia Faye. Current status unknown after Sheeda invasion of the Homelands and Fable exodus to Earth.
* **Seven Wonders:** A team of Amazons who operate within "Man's World".
* **Justice League:** The original roster was seven-strong and each expansion adds another seven members.
* **Titans:** The first class were also seven members and each class by year expands seven new members.
* **Wolf Cub Pack:** The seven children of Snow White and Bigby Wolf. They are an especially tight-knit group of siblings, especially for teenagers.
* **Seven Daughters of King Nereus:** The seven mermaids born of the god Nereus in the Cold Iron Sea of the Homelands.
* **Stars of the Void:** There are seven living stars in the Void each one responsible for different forms of life in the void.
* **The Annunaki Court:** Before it was dissolved they over saw the disputes that arose between devils and demons and was made up of three true Anunnaki (Devil/Demon hybrids), one demon, one devil and the final two were usually gods of death or Stygian daimons.
* **Planetary Shaman:** They are seven Planetary Shamans on Earth at the moment.
* **Hebdomad of the Presence:** Recently the Presence gave power to several individuals. While he likes threes, he prefers to do things in sevens. The full Hebdomad is currently unknown.

## Links and References

1. ↑ Eart-27 101: Power of Seven
2. ↑ Earth-27 Throws SHADE
3. ↑ Network Files: Richard Occult
4. ↑ Earth-27 Journal: Come see the Light
5. ↑ The Exiled Hebdomad
6. ↑ NFX: Mal Duncan
7. ↑ ECO
8. ↑ Dinkley Files: Witches
9. ↑ Network Files: Thessaly
10. ↑ Network Files: Mother Gothel
11. ↑ Network Files: Vindemia Faye
12. ↑ VOX Box: Hell Hath No Fury 1
13. ↑ VOX Box: Hell of a Deal 9