House Devante

 

House Devante has a long tradition of serving the realm in times of strife, turmoil, and war dating back 700 years. Though its strength has waned a bit under the passage of time. Some people still recollect the centuries of sacrifice spanning back to the third era. It is a symbol that, despite being its weakest in a long time, these people still offer reverence to it. Paying respect to its ancestors and the sole living heirs to the family. The family is known for its skill at hunting monsters, as well as its unique fighting style known as stillness, passed on through the generations. The house has proved that with hard work and sacrifice, even those at the bottom can ascend the social ladder. Some hope the family will fade into the pages of history, while others wish to see its strength returned. No matter one’s thoughts, it is clear that the house has earned its reputation even if it may be a relic best left forgotten to time. Now, they exist as monster slayers and shock troopers within the Beastkin Union, opening membership to all races and genders capable of establishing their merit.

 

Eternal House.

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The Eternal House is a cartel specializing in producing and distributing vice. Playing toward the masses' immoral inclinations, peddling the pleasures of the flesh as a means to enlarge their coffers, and advertising their brothels, drugs, alcohol, and casinos as a means to cast a further shadow across the realms. Their militarization has caused some alarm. However, they merely offer protective services to those under their business empire. 

 

Outside of the peddling of sin, they've recently begun growing crystals that they sell to the Verdant Dynasty/ White Sand Empire and barter this for leverage to gain a blind eye to their more questionable affairs. These crystals are used for energy that powers their institutions and has drastically elevated their capital and political sway. They have a private mercenary group that secures their interest and occasionally will offer arms should they support the contractor, and their sum of the coin is tempting enough to warrant their involvement.

 

The leader of this morally questionable group is the mistress of sin. (Samara Del'Fluent) And she invests their profit into broadening their reach, amassing information for blackmail and secret research projects. Whatever steers her ambitions remains a mystery. However, it's safe to say she isn't content to rest on her laurels. Being a capitalist, she altered archaic customs while encouraging internal entrepreneurial endeavors with the expectations of rekindling the industry lost.

 

The Gypsies.

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The gypsies are a merry band of touring entertainers. These nomads peddle trinkets and use their profits to maintain their weapons and supply reserves. Their heavily armed caravan traverses the world to provide gaiety within a bleak time. These outsiders migrate within a mass "fleet" as they're essentially a town on wheels. Unbeknownst to most, they'll often delve into ruins for artifacts and tomes to keep or barter. Additionally, they keep their ears open and amass secrets and information that their leader will use to blackmail or sway the politics of the two kingdoms. 

 

They're led by a djinn named Surayyah of no one, who goes by the title of "The radical dreamer." However, inside their community, she is known as the "Lady of secrets and whispers." Surayyah looks after her fellow performers with a maternal glow. Despite being an eclectic array of species, they see themselves as one family of misfits and rejects. No matter one's background or appearance, they'll take them in. And if the new member should prove a detriment to the group, they'll abandon them at the nearest town with some coin before cruising off to the next performance.

 

Outside of musicians, actors, and other performative arts, their ranks swelled with guards and different essential roles to keep their mobile civilization operating. Outsiders are suspicious of them. However, such misgivings seldom last once they set up their games and entertainment. A single crusade binds this family. That being the dissemination of cheer and the advancement of their arts. As a result, they are independent and don't care much about the political affairs of the tribunal or the verdant dynasty. And in turn, they deal with their issues and never request foreign aid.

 

 

Sun and Moon.

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The sands operate under a theological  model that propagates a meritocracy. All those within the grainy motherland have come to see the moon and sun as a higher being. Many debate to what degree. It ranges from those mildly skeptical concerning the boundaries of its powers and those who are swallowed by zealotry. This creed has been founded on her ability to repel the jungle's incursion—the defilement invasion and reclaiming the sands under the new banners. Legend says it swallowed the volcano within the center of the land, her display of power further cemented itself as the desert incarnate.  Under its governance, the people have flourished without fear of those monstrosities slumbering behind the veil.

 

The inquisitorial branch of government serves as operators dispersed throughout the badlands. While autocratic, the recent events and the denizens' eagerness to barter off autonomy for security have inspired the common folk to accept such constraints. Having scarcely survived two collapses, a war campaign, and an eldritch plague.. 

 

Throughout its tenure, the looming figure has shown compliance to sacrifice for the people. The people have distinguished stability and prosperity never savored before. Its cruelty is chiefly aimed toward conspirators who endeavor to dishevel the age she has built. And if one should venture to subvert the balance of her order, it will exercise levels of destruction masterminded to leave not a single decrier alive. In its mind,, it is better to lop off an arm than to embrace total necrosis.

 

The Jinns.

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Throughout the history of the world, these mystic entities were portrayed as sources of omens. This paranoia fostered the belief that they must remain hidden given the intense bigotry of this rancours world. Djinns masquerade visually as other races as a means of camouflage. Upon molding their bodily lamp, they are unable to shift its appearance. Like any sentient life, these entities are capable of being good or evil. The totality of the moral spectrum and philosophy is available to them. The accepted dogma of their nefarious nature are myths propagated by people around campfires frightful of the unknown—that insipid need to impute the foreigner for travesties instead of looking inward.

 

Initially, they enter the physical domain as wholly vulnerable beings tethered to a physical object where they lurk and develop like a fetus, awarding wishes to mortals as a mechanism for passing the time. The breadth of their capacity is limited by what they know and what they can achieve. If the request surpasses this, the Djinn will place the individual in a coma and slowly watch as they wilt away for their avarice. The terms of the contract are entirely under their control and can fluctuate wildly depending on the person. After time passes, they will transcend to an ifrit. This metamorphosis will sanction them the ability to tether to a space (This inspired many hauntings.) or an object where they are unable to deviate far from their "roots."

 

During these two stages, if the objects are destroyed, they will dissipate into nothingness or if their bodies are ravaged like any corporeal coil. The Djinn will then reach an impasse and a fork, here they may diverge under two paths. Firstly, a charmer. They rejected their otherworldly origins and imitated earthly life—trading off their powers for a simple existence. While considerably more laborious, the opposite path will ascend them to a Grand Djinn where the body itself becomes the anchor incarnate. The fact they are living batteries has led many mages and scholars to seek after them for insidious ambitions. Condensing their very being into a jewel akin to a philosopher's stone to amplify their magical abilities.