The Väsen

No man, who is not inflamed by vain-glory into enthusiasm, can flatter himself that his single, unsupported, desultory, unsystematic endeavours are of power to defeat the subtle designs and united Cabals of ambitious citizens. When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.

I would, that it were so easy....

The world of is locked in a struggle. In-corruption puts on corruption and fires her vacuous arrows of righteousness into a darkness she cannot pierce. Not because light cannot rend it asunder but because you cannot play in the dirt without staining your clothes, and she has long been wallowing in filth.

Once, she had many names: Sol'Väsen, guardian, light bringer, slayer of the hordes, bane of the Mör’ Väsen, but she came to the realisation that rent her soul in twain and shattered her faith. Her Väsen, no longer deserved salvation.

At first glance nothing seems amiss, but even the simple common folk can smell the rot in the air. All is not well. Hidden within all of the civilizations, cultures and nationalities of Khardan are the great cabals. No one knows how these machinations came to be, only that they exist in three great combinations called the Väsen. The cabals within each Väsen share similar symbols, iconography, principles and often form political affiliations and orders which can span both races, cultures and broad geographies.

The cabals of the Väsen are most often secret orders, their memberships are guarded jealously and identification is protected by secret knowledge known only by the initiated. Sometimes common key words are used, sometimes signs, tokens or gestures identify members to each other while other less sacred signs are used to identify members of allied cabals. Almost always, there are specific rituals for induction and advancement within these orders as well as emergency calls that identify a brother or sister in need of immediate aid.

Sol’ Väsen – These Väsen often bear the symbol of the Celestial Sun. The Sol’ Väsen are the so called righteous defenders of peace, order, freedom and truth. When Sol’ Väsen are immortal species they are often ancients, who remembering the tyranny of darker times strive for the rule of law as a provider of peace and harmony. The Sol’Väsen are not, however, all benevolent. Their long struggle against the Mör Väsen has tainted many of them. They are likely to be as oppressive, dictatorial and corrupt as they are peaceful and benevolent.

Jor’ Väsen – The Väsen of the lesser light or false light, bear symbols of the moons, stars and flame, The Jor’ Väsen are somewhat benevolent and include those who may be both sympathetic and apathetic to the highly vaunted principles of morality, but are not wholly evil. Jor’ Väsen do not thrive in the full light of the Celestial but they also shun the Darkness. Jor’Väsen fight as often for what suits them as for what they believe is right. Often that can mean allying with the Mör’Väsen as often as the Sol’Väsen.

Mör’ Väsen – The brotherhoods of eternal Night vary widely in their symbols and standards and are not always easily identifiable. The Mör’ Väsen consist of combinations that are of varying degrees of wicked from the malicious to the malignant. They are not all wholly evil, but they thrive and draw power from the darkness, from chaos and the true freedom that comes from living in shadow and anonymity.

Within both the Sol’ Väsen and Mor’ Väsen exist terrorist-like extremists. These individuals exhibit the most extreme ideological characteristics of their groups and are distinguished from the others by the name prefix Ren. i.e. a Ren Mör’ Väsen denotes an extremely evil character while a Ren Sol’ Väsen would be either an extremely righteous character or at least self-righteous.