The Silent Legion is one of the divisions of the Hierarchy of Stygia. They take in victims of suicide and other, similar circumstances.
Methods of the Silent Legion[]
Who can join?[]
To say that the Silent Legion only includes suicides is actually simplifying things a bit. The primary factor in deciding a potential Silent Legion member rests, like all other Legions, in a recruit's Deathmarks. Members of the Silent Legion show marks indicating great Despair in general, of a life ended in utter hopelessness. Martyrs, assisted suicides, those who fast for a cause, and others can also be inducted into the Legion.
In addition, not all suicides end up with the Silent; a significant minority go to the Penitent Legion instead.
Regular Jobs[]
Smallest of the Legions (aside from the Legion of Fate), the Silent Legion is primarily military in its operations, working to help defend Stygia and its associated Necropoli from the push of Oblivion. Like all branches of the Hierarchy, the Legion also works in intelligence, gathering information to use against fellow Legions as well as their Spectral enemies.
Possibly because of the nature of their deaths, the Silent Legion has a disproportionately large number of members who are gifted in Castigate. Because of their gifts, the Silent Legion also acts as the emotional counselors of the Hierarchy, helping other Legionnaires through their own depression.
Legion Culture[]
The Silent Legion differs from its fellow Legions for a number of reasons. First and foremost are the disproportionate number of members who commit "second suicide". Many Legion members end up turning the despair in their lives into despair in death. The most common method is by throwing themselves into the Tempest, where they will eventually drift into the Void of Oblivion or be torn apart by Spectres. The truly desperate will offer themselves for soulforging, but this is rare, and many wonder if those who take this route shouldn't have been in the Penitent Legion instead.
Along with Castigate, an uncommon number of Silent Legion members have Lifeweb. As many seek to resolve their Fetters as soon as possible to disassociate themselves from their bad memories and Transcend, this is not altogether surprising. In fact, many Silent Legion members have resolved at least one Fetter. To do so usually requires contact with the living; the Quiet Lord has turned a blind eye towards his charges so that they may stabilize themselves without fear of punishment for violating the Dictum Mortuum. Legion members also frequently intervene to prevent suicides among the living; while this helps keep the Legion's numbers low, the Quiet Lord has again not seen fit to do anything about it. No Legion may interfere with the living more than the Silent Legion, although the Iron Legion comes in as a close second.
Allies and Enemies[]
Among the Legions, the Silent Legion counts the Legion of Paupers and the Emerald Legion as their closest allies. The wraiths of these Legions are perhaps the two types most in need of the counseling services of the Quiet, who offer their services gladly.
In contrast, there has been a long running rivalry with the Penitent Legion and the Grim Legion. The Laughing Lady continuously argues that those who end their own lives are mad, and therefore should fall under her sway. Likewise, the Smiling Lord argues that ending one's life early is a form of violence against oneself, and that suicides should be in his charge. The other Legions have kept these three from gaining any ground over the other in the argument; thus, the Silent Legion continues to exist as an entity by itself rather than being incorporated into one of the larger Legions.
Divisions[]
Warriors of Lethe[]
The shock troops of the Silent Legion, the Warriors of Lethe are akin to the kamikaze pilots of World War II. They hope to find Oblivion, but not before taking a piece of it with them. While members rarely survive for a second battle, the devastation they cause is terrific, making them one of the most effective groups of fighters in the Shadowlands.
The Band of Quixote[]
Mostly composed of the civilian members of the Silent Legion, as well as a few select members of other Legions, the Quixoteans (also called Mittys) seek adventure in death that they did not have in life.
Angels of Angst[]
Composed of teenagers who ended their lives, these Quiet are less of a formal group and more of a label. Most Silent Legion members "grow" out of this group as they begin contributing more to wraithly society.
Bleak Legion[]
The Silent Legion of Russia and Eastern Europe, this division of the Quiet is one of the most powerful forces in the region. Contact with them has been sporadic as of late, however, and those who investigate have found entire Necropoli abandoned.
The Ten Thousand[]
An all-volunteer organization, the Ten Thousand are wraiths who served and died in foreign lands, bereft of any hope of ever seeing their homes again. Despite their name, they have never numbered more than a few hundred at any time. Because of their experience fighting in life, they are one of the most respected divisions of the Stygian army in death.
Other Information[]
The Silent Legion was the only division of the Hierarchy opposed to the Breaking of the Guilds, possibly because of their close relationship with the Pardoners Guild and the Monitors Guild. Some Quiet are actually members of both, though this fact is unknown to many outside of the Legion.
Background Information[]
The symbol of the Silent Legion is the collage of several various alchemical symbols for copper.
References[]
| Wraith: The Oblivion Legions |
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| Emerald Legion · Grim Legion · Iron Legion · Legion of Fate · Legion of Paupers · Penitent Legion · Silent Legion · Skeletal Legion |