Notable Organizations and Groups of Ea:

## Order of the Empty Eye:

A mysterious order of monks that reside in parts unknown, the Order of the Empty Eye are a Monastic Order of Monks who are characterized by the silken blindfolds they wear over their eyes, their robes ornate and elaborate yet simultaneously simple and functional. Though few know where their many members call home, their members can be found practically all over the world of Ea in both the most unlikely of dungeons, the highest of skies, and the most mundane of cities...and while each time their purpose is as inscrutable as the monks themselves, they preach a view of peace and exploration. They claim to explore the world, c    ataloguing, recording, and, by their own words, ‘Confining’ the more dangerous specimens wherever they call home, and, while many question their motives, they are often friendly and amicable, if not a bit insistent on reclaiming, protecting, and hiding more dangerous, esoteric, and exotic bits of technology and magic from the world. Though they’ve never shown themselves capable of either violence or combat, the mere fact that they continue to appear in the deepest, most dangerous depths known to the world, smiling amicably and as calm as a motionless lake, speaks volumes that, somehow...they are capable of defending themselves, whatever that may be.

## ‘The Organization’:

A titanic, nigh-omnipotent group that makes itself known only the most powerful, lucky, or notable members of the world, the mysterious group that only goes by the moniker ‘The Organization’ is a clandestine group that has gathered, supposedly, the most dangerous assassins, most capable thieves, most skilled pickpockets and countless other vigilantes, cutthroats, and any other being they deem worthy of their name. Though the veracity of their talent has gone ever unverified, the mere fact that they seem to have inroads into every King’s Court, the house of every Baron and Baroness, Every Emperor or Empress’s chambers, and have gained the ears of the most powerful beings in the world speaks volumes of their talent. Despite their longevity, skill, and power, they are a group that has remained unnoticed by the world at large for years untold, only taking the highest profile contracts, pickpocketing the deepest pockets, killing the most powerful targets, or silencing the most famous of people. Each move they make makes ripples in the world, and while not immediately visible, undoubtedly leave ripples for years and even decades to come in ways not always violent, but instead political, or economical...their reasons and ways are as varied as the stars in the sky, as are their motives. Though contact with the outside is rare, the times it does happen are overseen by eccentric, eerie beings that refer to themselves as ‘The Voice’, directing and connecting with their contractors and serving as the face of the ineffable, invincible “Organization” they claim to represent.

## The Holy Church of Draconia:

The infamous church of Draconia has been, until recent memory, the main ruling body of Draconia until Emperor Julian peeled the power of the State out from the church’s clutches and re-established the State as its own power capable of standing and ruling the nation it presides over. Though it has lost its power over ruling matters of Draconia, few have forgotten the infamous reign of terror that their rule over the country wrought in generations past. Hunters in the night that abduct, capture, and kill any who blaspheme or speak ill of the church or their god, the Platinum Dragon ‘Bahamut’. Though their religion is less a farce now than it was in times past, they nonetheless claim pure worship of the infinitely benevolent Lord of Wind and Sky...and while many lower-ranking members amongst them may indeed do so, the higher ranking members are known for their highly narrow view of the Platinum Codex, interpreting Bahamut’s Tenets as fanatics and focusing on his belief to never shy from war or violence as their way of faith while they strive to purge and eliminate all the inhumans they find, whom they see as abnormal and beneath the grace of Bahamut, deserving of only death. While many among them mean well and genuinely seek to heal and cure the sick and needy, it is commonly seen as a festering blight upon humanity’s history, their guards that patrol the streets of Draconian Cities notorious thugs who wield their power freely like criminals...their higher members sometimes known for their cruelty, their vices and sin, it is an organization that, though they no longer wield Stately power, are said to maintain a force large enough to be considered an army...hunters in leather as black as midnight, bloody eyes carved onto their faces as they cleave the heretic and the blasphemer in twain in sanguine reds and blacks. Under the church’s influence, entire towns have been known to go silent at the merest hint of an inhuman connection or sympathizer.

## The Vaylkrond Vampires:

A group forgotten by the outside world, the Vampires of Vaylkrond Castle sit nestled in their ancestral castle, which lies cradled between the three highest peaks of the Venau Mountains, a titanic castle shrouded in mist at all hours of all days that works to keep outsiders from venturing into its dusty, cobwebbed halls. Said to be the birthplace of the first ever vampires to have walked the earth in ages long since forgotten and the seat of the first Vampire to have been born from the primordial chaos at the dawn of life. Said to have been a legendary monster who was said to have fought the very gods themselves and, with ferocity and infinite power born of an innate connection to the very planes themselves, beat them back blow for blow, their battle carving the oceans and continents of Ea into what many know today...while the truth of such a thing may be lost, most Vampires who know of it consider it the birthplace and ancestral home of their kind.

## Four-Clover Lodge:

An utter black-spot on the history of all Elvenkind, both Desert and Forest alike, the Four-Clover Lodge is an organization that resides in many places, none of which are publicly known...said to have been formed by Forest Elves of the Elvenwood who, unlike those of their kin who sought to free themselves and formed the Timberfell Conclave, saw the races that existed outside their forest and saw nothing but insects. Utterly convinced of their own objective perfection and of the ‘lesser races’ having no use aside from cattle and slaves, the Elves of the Four-Clover lodge are slavers of the most despicable, horrible kind. For them, so long as their victim is not of the Elves, no crime is too horrid, no act of butchery too far, nor any barrier too thick nor unappealing in the pursuit of chasing their never-ending goal of reminding the ‘lesser races’ of their place. They relish in the pained screams of those not of their kind, and even the twisted likes of the mysterious ‘Organization’, a group said to comprise the most twisted of assassins, thieves, and murderers, actively refuse contact with them. Even their underworld sibling organizations like the eponymous ‘Organization’ revile them, some of which maintain active bounties on the heads, guts, and corpses of any being proven to work for them...a fact which speaks volumes of how terrifyingly effective they are in their work and their infamous night raids upon villages and cities. Quick, silent, and deadly in their work, the Elves of the Four-Clover conclave are all-but immune to fear and terror from those they consider inferior...and, it is rumored, study their anatomies in great detail so as to better slaughter them in the most painful ways possible.

## Sandlotus Lodge:

An international group of freedom fighters that got their start in the harsh, brutal desert of the Great Southern Desert, the Sandlotus lodge is a group started by the mysterious, tough Sand Elves as a bastion of freedom and bulwark against slavery, violence, and cruelty. Though most members of the core leadership are sand elves, all races and peoples who despise slavery, oppression, racism, and cruelty are welcomed into their ranks as brothers, sisters, and comrades so long as they hold a true desire to oppose the cruelties of the world. They are pretty widespread throughout the western continent, but have a very strong opponent in the hyper-violent group of elven slavers known as the Four-Clover Lodge.

## Timberfell Conclave:

Perhaps the only other bastion of Elvenkind in both the continents of Ea, east and west, aside from the mighty Elvenwood, the Timberfell Conclave is a gathering of elves who have since shorn free of the restrictive, oppressively stifling nature of those of their kind that dwell within the Elvenwood. Making their home within the lush, verdant forests that surround the mountains of the coalition and living in secret amidst the catfolk of the forest, the Elves of the Timberfell conclave believe in what their kin do not: of an Elven society, unrestrained by fear, by cowardice, and striving to rebuild everything that millenia of isolation has wrought upon them. Though still a secret to many outside nations and even some member species of the Coalition, they nonetheless live peacefully amidst the forests of the Coalition, which the Coalition Council has allowed them to rename ‘The Timberfell Forest’. Perhaps because of their memories of the Elvenwood, these Elves fear nothing and have trained their bodies and minds to a razor’s edge...to them, nothing is as terrifying as the current state of their species, who shun the outside world out of fear and sorrow...and they have learned from such failures to become mighty, aloof warriors that stride amidst the branches of the Timberfell Forest.