Darth Abyss
Eldritch
Freedom, no matter the cost.
The Free Cities are not a government, not a planet or a person, they are an idea. An idea that sits dormant in every head, somewhere in the depths of every soul. They are the darkest possible vision of freedom ever seen by the galaxy, where rules do not exists and chaos thrives beyond all else, where strength and ruthlessness alone are the only law accepted. Originally born in the wastes of Malachor, the idea quickly spread through lawless space, infecting the hearts of all those feed up with the rules imposed on them by those above.
We have no allegiance, no loyalty, not even to ourselves. Every men and women in the Free Cities stands first and foremost for themselves. Unity is a myth, a short lived lie only coming alive when a common enemy rises on the horizon. We are as powerful as our strongest, but never as fragile as our weak. Power is born from within, in the heads and hearts of a few blessed, and not by the strength of the masses.
Our goals are simple: We do not have goals, at least not as a whole. As our idea spreads so does our influence, but what to do with this opportunity is a decision everyone has to make for themselves. Maybe great new cities will be given rise, maybe there will be only fire and wastelands left when our hand crushes another planets heart.
We have no allegiance, no loyalty, not even to ourselves. Every men and women in the Free Cities stands first and foremost for themselves. Unity is a myth, a short lived lie only coming alive when a common enemy rises on the horizon. We are as powerful as our strongest, but never as fragile as our weak. Power is born from within, in the heads and hearts of a few blessed, and not by the strength of the masses.
Our goals are simple: We do not have goals, at least not as a whole. As our idea spreads so does our influence, but what to do with this opportunity is a decision everyone has to make for themselves. Maybe great new cities will be given rise, maybe there will be only fire and wastelands left when our hand crushes another planets heart.
The Hand
IC:
The Hand is the name chosen by the most influential Individuals that found their way into the Free Cities. While not a formal council in any way, most people at least openly respect the authority of the Hand and their decisions, mainly because no one wants to risk the quite possible violent fallout of disrespecting any of those individuals.
The Individual that make up the Hand can come for pretty much every possible background, ranging from rich and influential bankers and businessmen with the resources to simply buy loyalty, over to ruthless warlords and pirates with enough military forces to crush anyone denying them their place.
While there are no rules that keep the various members of the Hand from infighting, most members try to keep their heads low as direct conflicts on this level of personal power often cost more than a few drops of blood. Open war between the members is rare but possible, yet schemes and intrigues are nearly part of the daily routine.
OOC:
While the IC might say "rich and influential Yada Yada Yada", this is more meant as a neat lore device to spark stories instead of an actual rank or ruling council. Anyone (to a reasonable degree (I mean if you play a dead poor slave with literally nothing that could be a problem)) can call him or herself a member of the Hand as there are still great differences in power inside the Hand anyway. The only ones not part of it are NPC goons, the general populace etc.
So some might ask the really good question "Why tho?" now. Let me tell you. As a avid fan of Game of Thrones, Mafia movies and a lot of other stuff I always felt that Chaos lacked schemes and intrigues inside of a faction. Everyone is about standing united etc. Yet this doesn't mean you should go on and kark over other players for this. For more information look here.
The Twilight Fleet
IC:
One year after the formation of the Free Cities the Twilight treaty was signed, a contract mainly enforced by goodwill, the Twilight Fleet first haunted the depths of space.
Composed out of smugglers, scavengers and pirates the Twilight Fleet is not a naval force in the more traditional sense. Instead of forcing the various individual ship crews to work together directly, the fleet mainly shares Intel over current positions, asteroids drifts and possible targets, allowing others to hunt more effectively.
The Twilight Fleet almost never acts in a combined full force strike, rather using their shared Intel and individual ships to set traps and ambushes whenever possible, for blood, swag and booty.
While some members of the fleet mainly raid and pillage, others set their focus on smuggling and trade, including the support of their pirate allies.
OOC:
So while obviously no requirement to be part of the Fleet, this was written with those writers in mind that have or want to band together as one ship crew with a personal ship, doing pirate or smuggler stuff together.
One year after the formation of the Free Cities the Twilight treaty was signed, a contract mainly enforced by goodwill, the Twilight Fleet first haunted the depths of space.
Composed out of smugglers, scavengers and pirates the Twilight Fleet is not a naval force in the more traditional sense. Instead of forcing the various individual ship crews to work together directly, the fleet mainly shares Intel over current positions, asteroids drifts and possible targets, allowing others to hunt more effectively.
The Twilight Fleet almost never acts in a combined full force strike, rather using their shared Intel and individual ships to set traps and ambushes whenever possible, for blood, swag and booty.
While some members of the fleet mainly raid and pillage, others set their focus on smuggling and trade, including the support of their pirate allies.
OOC:
So while obviously no requirement to be part of the Fleet, this was written with those writers in mind that have or want to band together as one ship crew with a personal ship, doing pirate or smuggler stuff together.
To keep this interesting we will do two things: First there will be pirate and smuggle missions posted for those crews, pretty much ideas for you to make your own story out of. Second I (and hopefully others) will keep a look out for public threads were pirates can jump in and ambush actual PC vessels.
The Scholars of the Great Beyond
IC:
The Scholars of the Great Beyond are a force cult born 4000 BBY on an unknown world in the far edges of the Unknown regions. Formerly centered around the worship of the Great Beyond, an outsider god said to be removed so far away from the galaxy that even his worshippers had no real name or image for him. Most rituals revolved about arcane spells and songs, calling upon the area of the force somewhere between the twilight and the true darkness.
Over the ages the cult dissolved, and today only small remnants of the old ways are left to the Scholars. While the current Scholars have given up the worship of their god, their arcane focus has not only stayed but extended. Besides their own ancient Rituals the Scholars have studied the power of sith, nightsister and even jedi arts to add to their skills, as well as some techniques found in even more obscure sects build around the force.
The Scholars have no church and no home, an their teachings are passed on more often in dirty bars over a drink than in prayer and study. Very few true scholars still exists, most of those associated with the cult are a merely members of other groups using the teachings of the Great Beyond.
The main right of passage granted by an master to an apprentice inside the cult is not the creation of a saber, but the creation of a spellbook, and ancient art that grants quick and direct access to various spells, only truly limited by the mind of its creator.
OOC:
Cool ranks for the Scholars, because people seem to like such stuff: (WIP)
Apprentice: The Seekers
Knight: Gifted by the Void
Master: Warlock
IC:
The Scholars of the Great Beyond are a force cult born 4000 BBY on an unknown world in the far edges of the Unknown regions. Formerly centered around the worship of the Great Beyond, an outsider god said to be removed so far away from the galaxy that even his worshippers had no real name or image for him. Most rituals revolved about arcane spells and songs, calling upon the area of the force somewhere between the twilight and the true darkness.
Over the ages the cult dissolved, and today only small remnants of the old ways are left to the Scholars. While the current Scholars have given up the worship of their god, their arcane focus has not only stayed but extended. Besides their own ancient Rituals the Scholars have studied the power of sith, nightsister and even jedi arts to add to their skills, as well as some techniques found in even more obscure sects build around the force.
The Scholars have no church and no home, an their teachings are passed on more often in dirty bars over a drink than in prayer and study. Very few true scholars still exists, most of those associated with the cult are a merely members of other groups using the teachings of the Great Beyond.
The main right of passage granted by an master to an apprentice inside the cult is not the creation of a saber, but the creation of a spellbook, and ancient art that grants quick and direct access to various spells, only truly limited by the mind of its creator.
OOC:
Cool ranks for the Scholars, because people seem to like such stuff: (WIP)
Apprentice: The Seekers
Knight: Gifted by the Void
Master: Warlock
The Runners Collective
IC
Some people are born soldiers, some people are gifted businessmen, and some selected few have some far more unique talents. The Runners are the closest thing the Free Cities have to an intelligence branch, a encrypted network where freelancers can pick up well paid high profile jobs.
The options of the Collective do not stop there. Some jobs need more than one talented person, but a handful of highly skilled individuals that all have their part to play for the mission to be success.
Not only networking, but the gathering of intelligence can be done by with the Collective, as paydata from previous runs can get posted and brought from every member, as well as from selected outsiders.
OOC
The Runners are TFC version of agents, only that we go with a strong Shadowrun vibe here. I will do my best to post a few missions for everyone interested, and will continue to do so should this faction take of. Everyone is invited to give jobs out as well.