Vasudan Organizations
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[edit] The Empire of Lenin
Founded by the most intelligent person on Vasuda, and perhaps the known universe, the Empire of Lenin has ascended to power in record time, all without a single war. This trading empire was completely nonviolent prior to the invasion of the Scrin, and has been the center of knowledge since its beginnings.
- Common Name: The Empire
- Members' Nicknames: Citizen, Eel [Mutilation of acronym E(mpire)O(f)L(enin)]
- Goals: To promote peace, and the search for truth
- Military Doctrine: Subdue hostiles, but do not kill.
- Technological Capacity: High, though most research isn't for military application
- Battle Cry: Not Applicable
- Fun Fact: This organization was founded by a 14 year-old villager
[edit] History
The Empire was founded a mere 23 years prior to the introduction of Tiberium into the Vasudan biosphere, and in that time, has become the most influential organization. In 1360, a traveling shaman arrived at a small town. There, he told the people a child would be born, one who would need as much knowledge and facts about the outside world as the town could possibly garner. When the child was born, he would lead the village into history. The villagers, taking the prophecy to heart, gathered every book they could possibly get a hold of. By 1374, they had amassed hundreds of books on all subjects, from mathematics to philosophy to magic. Unsure what to do with these books, the villagers built a library, and allowed anyone to use it. In 1374, a 14 year-old boy by the name of Lenin Trotsky was found to be incredibly intelligent, much more capable of understanding what he had learned than any of the village elders. It was unanimously decided by the village that Lenin was the subject of prophecy. All of the towns resources were turned to his command, and they swore to do as he told them. Over the next 23 years, Lenin created an empire built on trade. He continued the village's mission to gather as many books as possible, making the Empire of Lenin the center of knowledge for the world. In an attempt to better the world, he declared that no citizen of the Empire was to ever use lethal force.
[edit] Tiberium
The Empire views Tiberium as an amazingly fascinating substance, though they recognize the harm the material is capable of causing. Thus, the Empire maintains a policy of containment, preventing the spread of Tiberium to civilized lands, while allowing the crystal to spread in select areas designated specifically for Tiberium research. Empire researchers have made significant headway in their study of Tiberium, though they still lag behind the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood's lead has been slowly diminishing, though, despite the Nod's ownership of the Tacitus.
[edit] Military Doctrine
The Empire adheres to a strict policy of non-violence, and, as such, has no military. The closest they have to an army are guards for trading caravans. These guards are given specific orders to handle all confrontations with humans without any death. Animals and monstrous beasts are fair game for lethal combat, though some factions within the Empire advance that even the slaughter of monsters is immoral.
When caravan guards must fight bandits who refuse to listen to reason, the guards often lean towards magical attacks. If bandits overcome the first part of a magical assault (usually spells like Sleep or Deep Slumber), guards often try to resolve the conflict as quickly as possible, either by incapacitating or frightening the attackers (while murder is taboo, maiming is allowed. Should a single guard fall in combat, standard Empire doctrine is to immediately surrender, in the hopes of saving the fallen comrade. As a result of this non-violent policy, bandit attacks have actually decreased. The average bandit just isn't equipped to deal with the magical onslaught from caravans, and the Empire makes certain the guards are well prepared.
[edit] Technological Capacity
While the Empire is devoted to the discovery of knowledge, very little of the knowledge is put to military, or even practical application. They learn for the sake of learning, a revolutionary idea for the time. Researchers are not penalized for doing work without an immediate application. Another revolutionary aspect of the Empire is a focus on "mundane" research, or non-magical research. The Empire is the first organization to be more curious about the world than magic. This left them with less fear of Tiberium's anti-magic capacity.
[edit] Leadership
The Empire is under the sole command of Emperor Lenin Trotsky. While individual cities and researchers are often left to their own devices (and the Emperor's edicts), Trotsky is in charge of all major policy decisions. He has no parliament, congress or voters to review his decisions, and many historians consider this the genius of the Empire. As the most intelligent human known, having people evaluate and decide whether the Emperor's commands ought to be obeyed would only stifle the Empire. Most historians agree that leaving Trotsky alone in the decision processes, and trusting he will do what is best for the people of the Empire, was the best decision for the Empire.
[edit] The Brotherhood of Nod
This organization emerged during the first Knights' Templar-Nod War, though members claim that it has existed for millenia. While its primary goal appears to be the spreading of Tiberium, it also projects itself as a bastion for the exiled. The Brotherhood's true strength lies in its ability to unify the disenfranchised of the world.
- Common Names: The Brotherhood, The Nod
- Members' Nickname: Brother or Sister
- Founded: Unknown/Dawn of History
- Goals: Help the exiled of the world; Spread Tiberium so as to bring about 'Ascension'
- Military Doctrine: Hit-and-run strikes; Assassination; Sabotage
- Technological Capacity: Experimental Tiberium/CCMCD weaponry
- Battle Cries: One Vision, One Purpose; Peace through Power
- Fun Fact: 'Nod' is a reference to the Word of Saint Cuthbert, where it refers to the Desert of Nod as a place where the exiled people of the world were sent.
[edit] History
The Brotherhood claims to have been founded millenia ago, always offering shelter and brotherhood to the exiled of the world, yet always remaining in the shadows. While the Templar is quick to denounce this, the Nod appeared to have members around the entire world when it emerged from secrecy. The Nod claims to have played a major role in world events, such as the discovery of Tiberium and the establishment of Roman Seperatists.
[edit] Tiberium
The Nod sees Tiberium as a tool of 'Ascension,' a vague religous belief that all Brothers work to bring about. The Prophet Kane's scrolls urged Brothers to spread the crystal throughout the world, except in areas vital for human survival, such as the crops of Rome. The Brotherhood possesses an innate understanding of the crystal, lending to the theory that they had released it. They lead the world in knowledge about Tiberium, and often incorporate the crystal into their weaponry.
[edit] Military Doctrine
While the Nod holds a clear technological advantage over the Templar and have a much larger population, their members are rarely well-trained. Instead, the Nod makes use of its technology (the 'Technologies of Peace') to lead a series of devastating surgical strikes. This guerilla warfare allows the Nod to make use of every follower. However, the Brotherhood is capable of holding its own in a major battle, though not for long. In major battles, the Nod makes use of barely trained Brothers with more faith than weaponry or armor, paired with specialists using the most advanced technology available to the Brotherhood. An important asset of the Brotherhood has always been the Black Hand of Nod. This elite division is made of the best trained Brothers and Sisters with the best equipment, and is often trusted with the most vital operations.
[edit] Technological Capacity
The Brotherhood is the leader of experimental technology. Thanks to having a piece of the Tacitus from the outset, they had a significant technical lead over the rest of the world. However, much of the technology outlined in the Tacitus is far beyond the capacity of the Vasudans to build. Thus, the Nod used the information about Tiberium to create things like Pitals and combustion engines.
[edit] Leadership
All Brothers follow the Dead Prophet Kane of Sarajevo's teachings. The Inner Circle, an elite cadre of specialists, is in charge of all major decisions. Members include Anton Slavick, High General of the Balck Hand, Abbot Costello, the top researcher of the Nod, and Confessor Marcion, organizer of the religous aspects of the Nod.
[edit] The Church of Saint Cuthbert
This no-nonsense church does not suffer fools or abide evil in any way. The Knights' Templar is a sect of the Church of Saint Cuthbert, the dominant religion of Vasuda. The Church is lawful neutral with lawful good tendencies. It hates evil, but is more concerned with law and order, converting the uninformed and preventing backsliding among the faithful.
- Common Names: The Church, The Templar
- Members' Nickname: Knight
- Founded: 0 KTR
- Goals: Promote the Church of Saint Cuthbert; Eliminate all Tiberium
- Military Doctrine: Brute Force
- Technological Capacity: Low, Usually stolen technology
- Battle Cries: For the Saint; Order over Chaos
- Fun Fact: While the Church of Saint Cuthbert is the only organized religion, other gods are still worshipped. The church remains nuetral on the subject of Polytheism.
[edit] History
The Church states the world was discovered by Saint Cuthbert on his cosmic quests against evil and chaos. He found Vasuda to be a hopeless, chaotic mess. Saint Cuthbert sent his divine emissary to three shepherds whom he had deemed worthy. The emissary taught the shepherds (named Leon, Kyree and Hallan) the laws of the church, and commanded them to create a great church. According to legend, Leon, Kyree and Hallan founded the Order of the Rose, the Order of the Stars and the Templar of the Knights (The date of the founding of the church is 0 Knights Templar Reckoning. All events prior to 0 KTR are known as Before Cuthbert, or B.C.). Together, they wrote the Word of Saint Cuthbert, a text that conatins the commands of the emissary. The three orders then went to create the Church of Saint Cuthbert.
The Order of the Rose: The shepherd Leon interpreted the words of the emissary as an order to bring as many people to the fold. To this end, he recruited followers to spread the word as far as possible. This Order makes up most of the missionaries and the clergy of the religion. While the Order of the Rose is not likely to appear of the battle field, it often sends battle-ready clerics to convert people by vanquishing evil.
The Order of the Star: The shepherd Kyree construed the orders of Saint Cuthbert to emphasize religious purity. She created an order dedicated to purifying the church, and making certain the followers of the religion were pure in their intentions. For this purpose, the Order of the Star often resorts to thought detection to make sure followers have pure thoughts. If a follower is found to be impure, he is forced to atone or be forever exiled from the Church. For this reason, this order is the most feared by members of the church, since few are so pure as to eschew all impure thoughts. During the KT-N Wars, though, this order proved vital to thwarting assassination efforts by the Nod.
The Templar of the Knights: The shepherd Hallan did not attempt to interpret the commands of the emissary, but instead formed the military of the church, so that the interests of the other orders may be defended. More commonly known as the Knights' Templar, this order is literally the army of god, dedicated to protecting the interests of the Church. The church declared the Knights as the keepers of the history of Cuthbert. Because of this, years are measured based on "Knights' Templar Reckoning," or KTR. While the Knights as a rule are uninterested in church politics, the High Commander of the knights is often called upon to resolve issues between the other two factions.
[edit] Tiberium
Because of Tiberium's innate ability to disrupt contact between mortals and the divine, the Church of Saint Cuthbert works tirelessly towards the elimination of the crystal. as Tiberium becomes more common, the Church still fights to revers its growth, but is willing to weaponize the crystal to fight against the Nod. Should Tiberium ever engulf all of Vasuda, the Church will begin work to adapt to the Tiberium landscape and develop ways to prove the existence of Saint Cuthbert, despite the Lack of his presence.
[edit] Military Doctrine
The Knights' Templar is focused on the elimination of the Nod, so that efforts against Tiberium can be made without hindrance. However, the standard doctrine of war, which involved the seiging of enemy castles, have proven ineffective against the small and flexible military of the Brotherhood. The Knights' new operating procedure has been to defend key areas against attacks from the Nod, until they can locate where the Nod's leadership or industrial capacity is. Then, the Templar moves with swift, brutal and overwhelming force to eliminate the target. While this style of warfare is very inefficient, the Templar has the resources to survive against the Brotherhood's surgical strikes. Sometimes, though, brute force won't do. For these cases, the Steel Talons, an elite subsection within the Knights, is called. These task forces are capable of surgical strikes as well as the Nod, and can wreak havoc behind enemy lines.
[edit] Technological Capacity
While the Church wasn't blessed to have the Tacitus from the onset, they were able to make use of a private endeavor known as Black Mesa Research Group, made up of Cambridge graduates who were willing to sell their services to the Templar. With Black Mesa and Technology scavenged from the Nod, the Knights were able to keep abreast with Nod technology.
[edit] Leadership
The Church is headed by one representative from each order, who debate about what the Church ought to do. The Templar is commanded by High Commander Caymon Halcyon, who is also the order's representative. Under him lie the Knight Commanders, with whom Halcyon plans battle strategy. These Commanders include Kriss Amucire (pronounced AHM-uh-KIRE), a zealot who often works in important field operations, Jake McNiel, the Templar's technology specialist and Nicholas Parker, a talented organizer of logistics.
[edit] The Forgotten
"The Forgotten” is, at best, a loose grouping of various mutants, generally isolated in various decrepit areas of the planet. They are linked not by uniform, race, or ideology—many at one time supported the Templar, while vast numbers once considered their best hopes to lie with the Brotherhood—but by status. Because all suffer from some level of Tiberium mutation, they find company only in those who are like them. Inherently mistrustful of the forces that be, who are sipping martinis and ordering men into battle from a bank of computers in some Blue Zone or dwelling in some ornate “Temple” in the desert, The Forgotten are unified by their desperation and their hate for those who have rendered them in such a state. In short, they are a people abandoned but not incapable, forgotten but not inept. They are a people with nothing to lose—a very dangerous people indeed.
- Members' Nickname: Mutant
- Founded: 1413 KTR
- Goals: Defend the rights of mutants
- Military Doctrine: Rebellion
- Technological Capacity: Ballistics, stolen technology
- Battle Cries: We will NOT be Forgotten
[edit] History
When contact was restored with Leningrad in 1413, what remained was a people shattered by Tiberium mutation. Roughly 30% of the original population remained, and all but a handful were mutated. Having been abandoned for over a year, the mutants didn't trust outsiders from the beginning. When resources to provide aid to the survivors were cut by both the Templar and the Nod so that they may pursue more 'important' goals, the mutants bitterly resented the nonmutants. A large portion of the survivors demanded that they have sole command of Leningrad. When Emperor Lenin reluctantly refused, citing the city's importance to the Empire, the mutants united under a single leader, Saul of Leningrad, to revolt in 1414. While the revolt didn't succeed in capturing the city, it did show the world the Forgotten was a serious force.
[edit] Tiberium
The Forgotten believes that Tiberium ought to be left alone. It should be allowed to spread, since it is a part of the mutants' habitat now. To this end, mutants often raid Templar operations to slow the growth of Tiberium, in particular the operations near Rome, since mutants rarely have the money to eat nonmutated food.
[edit] Military Doctrine
The Forgotten is so loosely organized that any uniformity between two seperate attacks is often just pure coincidence. While this is an overstatement, its not far from the truth. Forgotten soldiers use any weapon they can get, and are often uncoordinated in their attacks. However, they are capable of overwhelming enemy fortifications, and often surprise their enemies, since mutants preparing for attack are hard to distinguish between people just living their lives.
[edit] Technological Capacity
While they don't have the experts of Black Mesa or Cambridge, nor do they have the Tacitus, the mutants are ingenious in terms of ballistics. They were the first to develop rockets, and the first to create automatic weapons. However, much of the technology of the mutants is scavenged from outdated Templar and Nod research, leaving them somewhat behind in the technology race. The mutants make use of every bit of technology they can get, though, and often use devices in ways the inventors never thought of. Furthermore, they make much greater use of Tiberium weapons, sometimes wielding even Tiberium shards into battle.
[edit] Leadership
Mutant leadership is loose, to say the least. Every Forgotten community has its own command structure. However, most mutants acknowledge Saul as their leader, though few ever meet him. During rebellions and other large operations, Saul often chooses a commander to lead multiple communities in the manuever.
[edit] Scrin
Throughout the history of Vasuda, few (if any) had ever imagined that the skies of the Material Plane were alive. Irrefutable proof came with the invasion of the Scrin, a technologically advanced species from the stars. Unfortunately for the inhabitants of Vasuda, the Scrin are not peaceful
- Members' Nicknames: Visitors; Invaders
- Founded: Unknown
- Goals: Unknown/Tiberium Harvesting/Conquest
- Military Doctrine: Air Superiority
- Technological Capacity: Incredibly Advanced; Capable of Space Travel
- Battle Cry: Unknown/Not Applicable
[edit] History
Very little is understood about the Scrin, and even less is known about their history. The first time they had ever been seen was during the Invasion, in 1435. However, recent study of the Tacitus has revealed vague hints towards the Invaders existence.
[edit] Tiberium
The Scrin seem dependent on the substance, regenerating while exposed to even moderate amounts of TREM, and incorporating it into many aspects of their technology. Shortly after having defeated all organized Vasudan resistance, the Scrin began to deploy devices which expanded the growth of Tiberium, and constructed the Threshold towers. The Scrin are believed to have been harvesting the Tiberium, and transporting it to their home.
[edit] Military Doctrine
The invasion of the Scrin was swift, with ships deploying in almost every Red Zone on Vasuda. The ships carried a large amount of land soldiers and aircraft, which swiftly overwhelmed any opposition. During the years of occupation, the Scrin aircraft patroled the skies over ruined cities, while land forces were mostly concentrated near harvesting operations. Beyond these observations, little is known how the Scrin operate, or how they would fight an equally powerful foe.
[edit] Technological Capacity
As the Scrin are highly dependent on Tiberium, they incorporate no magic into their technology. All of their devices are mundane, or non-magical. However, their equipment often creates effects that equal, and even surpass what can be done with magic. Anti-gravity, planetary scans, high-power disintegration; the Scrin can accomplish all of this and more, without any vulnerability to effects that dispel magic.
[edit] DM's Note
What if I used the "Psionics are Different" rule in my world?
- The Scrin ought to be highly based on mundane technology, though at the DM's option, they can also incorporate Psionics, provided you use the "Psionics are Different" rule for Tiberium.
[edit] Leadership
Since the destruction of the Scrin's Mothership disabled the Invader's land forces, many suspect that the aliens are a Hive-mind, with a central caste directing the rest of the species. However, nothing is known for certain.
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