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Legion (WTO)

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For Stygian wraiths, the Hierarchy is society and the eight Legions are the Hierarchy. Upon death, every Wraith is inducted into one of seven Legions based on the circumstances of their deaths. Each Legion has a headquarters (its Seat) and is overseen by one Deathlord.

Legions of the Hierarchy[]

Legion Composition[]

With the exception of those wraiths who precede it, every Stygian wraith is a member of one of the legions. They are, in many cases, reaped by their legions and inducted into that culture fairly quickly. In cases where the situation is not clear (A wraith who dies of cancer at an advanced age, for example), the decision is generally made by the local Anacreon and will likely be biased toward that Anacreon's legion.

The majority of wraiths belong to one of three Legions: the Iron, Skeletal or Grim. These three Legions are also largely at loggerheads since their Deathlords are the natural choices to take over Stygia, so much so that they spend most of their efforts in double crossing each other. The next largest legions are the Emerald Legion and the Legion of Paupers; few wraiths, however, are aware of how many members the Paupers actually have. In comparison to these five legions, the remaining three (Silent, Penitent, and Fate) are tiny and are largely unable to and mostly uninterested in changing that. They are largely focused on the goals that define their membership in the first place.

Legion Rankings[]

Every legion fields a military and civilian force, using an interchangeable rank structure. The size of the military to civilian forces varies by the legion, and the civilian roles filled by that legion tend to be a function of its deathlord's personal interests. The Iron Legion, for example, fields an awful lot of Stygia's infrastructure - including Maelstrom preparedness.

Military Ranks[]

Along with maintaining and enforcing the rules in Stygia itself, the Legion is also active in most of the major Necropoli, overseeing the city on behalf of the Hierarchy and interacting with the city's population on a daily basis. While the degree of control the Hierarchy maintains in each city is subject to the overall peaceful or rebellious nature of its population, the Legion in each Necropolis generally breaks down in the following way:

  • Legionnaires are the lowest rank, serving as members of patrols and doing the general grunt work.
  • Centurions head the patrols of a Necropolis and are the first rank to have any degree of power in their Legion.
  • Marshals oversee and coordinate the patrols in a region of the Necropolis.
  • Regents oversee domains that do not directly answer to a Necropolis authority, such as the suburbs or outlying regions of a major metropolitan area.
  • Overlords serve as the assistants to Anacreons and work to control the lesser officials of the Necropolis.
  • Anacreons are the highest rank the average wraith can achieve in a Legion, short of working directly for one of the Deathlords. They are in charge of their Legion's Citadel in the city they represent, represent the wishes of their Deathlord, and sit on the council of Anacreons that make most of the city's major decisions.

Civil Ranks[]

While all Legions have at least one military branch within it, some Legions, particularly the Emerald Legion, specialize in keeping the infrastructure of the Hierarchy up and running. Serving as the civil servants of Stygia, these Hierarchy workers are responsible for the record-keeping and Legion management that keeps them functioning. While there is a great deal of bureaucracy in the Legions' civil branches, those who know the right people can actually get things accomplished. In addition, all civil servants are also trained in fighting and can be pulled into battle at a moment's notice.

  • Clerks are the lowest civil rank, doing most of the routine tasks that keep the Hierarchy functioning and acting as "gofers" to high-ranking members. Clerks in wartime are considered Legionnaires.
  • Adjusters are the Centurion-equivalent in the civil branches; these Legion members supervise the clerks and serve as personal assistants to their superiors.
  • Inspectors run the Hierarchy in a specific area, such as a Necropolis' Citadel, or a specialty branch. They not only work closely with Marshals, but hold the rank themselves in times of war.
  • Ministers are the heads of the various departments in a branch of the Legion. They ultimately decide on budgets and hold much of the vital information on the wraiths in an area. They hold the equivalent to a Regent rank.
  • Chancellors are the highest ranking members of the civil aspect of the Hierarchy. They are advisers to Anacreons and Deathlords alike, and are responsible for everything and everyone that passes in and out of their territory. They hold the equivalent rank of Overlord, but are also known to be pulled in as new Anacreons when the old ones aren't pulling their weight.

Inter-Legionnary Orders[]

Legions of the Sacred Band[]

Basing their existence on the legendary sacred bands of ancient Greece, the membership of this elite fighting group consists of pairs of soulbonded Legionnaires. Same-sex and opposite-sex pairings exist in more or less equal numbers, although in some areas of the Shadowlands one group may outnumber the other. The Sacred Banders are noted for their extreme ferocity in battle, since each member fights not only to defeat their enemy but also to protect their soul-bonded mate. Members of this Legion frequently volunteer for high-risk missions, since their internal cohesiveness usually gives them a better chance of success than groups consisting of randomly associated Legionnaires. On the other hand, the destruction of one member of a bonded pair usually results in the immediate loss of the survivor... often through self-destruction.

The Online Legion[]

This relatively recent addition to the ranks of special fighting forces consists entirely of Hierarchy wraiths skilled in the Inhabit Arcanos. They are not so much a fighting forces as an elite team of information-gatherers and Skinlands-monitors. Their duties consist of keeping tabs on the increasing flow of information by attuning themselves to vast computer networks of the Skinlands. Their forays along the electron Highway often result in the timely acquisition of cutting-edge technology as well as vital data concerning events in the world of the Quick. They are a close-knit group, with their own unique vocabulary and eccentric mannerisms.

Order of the Crow[]

Perhaps the only one of its kind, this civilian-exclusive Legion honors those who, as reserve Legionnaires, have given greatly of themselves for the care of the newly dead or the defense of Stygia. No one knows who determines which wraiths are worthy of membership or how they come by this information, though some whisper of a power greater even than the Deathlords who makes the selection. A recipient only learns of the honor that has been bestowed upon them by the arrival of a crow feather inside the Haunt. More and more frequently, those reservists who attain the honor only receive it posthumously.

Notional Legions[]

Occasionally, Legions other than the above will be mentioned by wraiths. These should not be mistaken for bona fide Hierarchy Legions; they are usually slang terms or taunts used by other wraiths and have no actual organization behind them. Popular terms include:

  • The Legion of Fools - For wraiths who died through sheer stupidity.
  • The Legion in Red - For wraiths who died very embarrassing deaths. The term was coined after the 1919 Boston Molasses Flood killed 11.
  • The Rhythmic Legion - For wraiths whose death is connected to sex. The Rhythmic legion is less a "joke" Legion than a cynical commentary on the Quick's obsession with intercourse.
  • The Legion of the Worthy - For wraiths who were executed by a legitimate government. The term is rarely used to the wraith's face. People struck by lightning are also sometimes included; victims of the divine death penalty, if you will.
  • The Shivering Legion - For wraiths who were cryonically frozen after death. It is used only in supreme derision.

References[]

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