The Order of Erebus

The Order of Erebus is a highly secretive ancient organization which has tasked itself with protecting civilization from paranatural threats, both scientific and magical.

## Origins

### Discovery of The Vaccine

Around 425 BC in the area near Athens, rumors of a village with people who could tap into the power of the gods began to circulate. A group of powerful senators and wealthy merchants from the city took notice, and believing it to be the work of the powerful god Erebos, decided to investigate. Upon arriving at the village however, they were both amazed and horrified to learn that the rumors did not even begin to describe the powers exhibited here. There were half charred buildings, craters in the ground, levitating objects and humans morphing horrifically into animals without any way to stop it. Many villagers were exiled, as their uncontrollable abilities was causing untold damage to the village. Upon further investigation, the group from Athens discovered that the entire village drank from the same water supply, a stream emerging from a cave nearby. Following the stream to it's source, they stumbled upon one of the most power substances in the history of the world. The group believed this substance to be the blood of Erebos himself, and concluded that it was mixing with the water, granting mortals the great power of gods.

### Taking Control

This group from Athens all quickly agreed that most humans simply cannot handle the powers of the gods, and the public certainly cannot handle displays of that power. They decided that they must take "protectorship" of the already changed individuals, and the source of the power, the Blood of Erebos, must be guarded closely, only given to those whom the group chooses. With this, the Cult of Erebos was formed, and they sealed their pact each with a sip from the blood itself. They were not prepared for the toll that comes with the drinking straight from the source, however. The metamorphosis proved to be extremely strenuous on the body and almost unimaginably painful, and two members of the group perished during the ordeal. Due to the potency of taking the substance directly, the members of the Cult became much more powerful than the panicked villagers, further cementing their power and ownership over the Blood.

### The Cult of Erebos

Over the next fifty years, the Cult became entangled in almost every part of Greek life, although the populace knew nothing of it. Being formed by senators and merchants, the Cult had no issue acquiring large amounts of funding, and they proceeded to build a heavily fortified temple around the cave the Blood of Erebos pooled in. Over the years, this temple became known as The Temple of The Blood, and was something of a hidden pilgrimage, with only the most devout of followers making it to the gates. The pilgrims would then be taken in and be allowed to worship in the first chamber, while the members of the cult would decide if they were worthy to receive their most secret and most sacred gift. If it was decided not to share the Blood with the pilgrim (as it often was), they would more often than not be killed, in order to keep the exact location of the temple a secret. Pilgrims who were deemed worthy, however, were taken to the inner chamber, where the pool of the Blood of Erebos resides. After they had taken the blood and if they survived the process, they were placed in a extremely difficult and grueling training program, designed by the Cult's greatest generals, in order to become what was known as Champions of Erebos. These elite, powered soldier were sent out in order to protect areas under paranatural threat. They were often described in contemporary literature as powerful demigods come down to protect the weak, and the Cult was perfectly happy with this image.

### Becoming the Order

The Cult began to take in more members over the coming century from all around the ancient world. They began to build other temples, both to worship Erebos and to serve as waystations and fortifications for cultists. Due to this, when Greece fell to Rome, the Cult was able to continue it's work with barely any hiccup. As the Cult and it's power continued to grow, a more rigid system of administration was needed. A council was formed, in order to lead and decide the Cult's goals. The obvious choice for the members of this council were Seers, those who were granted the ability to see possible futures by the Blood. This ability is extremely rare, however, and gathering all the Seers out the hundreds of members of the Cult still only amounted to a council of eight. Even with this small number however, the gathering of multiple Seers allowed the Cult to predict almost every obstacle and success. They were able to easily acquire more funding, land, and in turn, power. The council also decided on a mission for the entire Cult: Protect all of civilization from threats they can never know about.

Though the source of Blood seemed to have many years left before it ran dry, the Council did not want to take any chances, as they could not see all possible futures. Every scholar the Cult had was sent to the Temple of The Blood in order to study the source and see if there was any way to replicate it. After decades of study, a much less potent version of the blood was created. Though it still caused paranatural powers to present themselves in it's subjects, these powers paled in comparison to those who received their powers from the Blood. A small amount of the source was still needed in order to create this vaccine, but it allowed the Cult to more easily create soldiers, and, if needed, it was easier to put them down.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Council of Seers was briefly scattered to different points on the continent, causing disarray within the organization during this time. After they were able to regroup, the Council decided that the Cult needed to be an entirely separate organization from any nation. They renamed themselves to The Order of Erebus, and created a much more heavily structured hierarchy, which included choosing a Seer to function as High Elder of the Council, creating separate branches that would focus on different goals, and separating existing groups into smaller cells that had little to no contact with each other.