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Post by whyemmdee on Aug 19, 2016 23:26:45 GMT -5
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Post by whyemmdee on Aug 28, 2016 0:10:32 GMT -5
FACTION: UNIVERSITY OF CALIDOR
BACKGROUND
The University of Calidor is a three campus university system based in Downtown Calidor, comprised out of the Academy of Natural Sciences and Philosphy, the Vandervoort Institute of Technology and the Calidor Museum of Advancement. Until quite recently each of these colleges was a separate educational institution with full autonomy, but due to a combination of a lack of general financing and a series of recent corruption scandals, their governing boards of directors decided that the only way to stay afloat in the current climate in Calidor was to merge faculties, staff and funding. While each of these colleges were once respectively considered the foremost esteemed institutions of learning in Gineas due to their general pursuit of excellence, in the past year that reputation has been altogether tarnished due to the controversial decision to no longer allow student enrollment solely based on academical merit, but to also allow vocational students to straight-up purchase rights of access and attendance.
ENROLLING
Enrollment at the University of Calidor is done through either one of two options, either through academic merit by showcasing one’s eagerness to learn and showing aptitude for academical excellence or by assisting the University on an expedition or other study and demonstrating a keen and observant mind, with a willingness to learn. Studying at the University means attending classes, workshops and performing tasks at the behest of teachers, professors and the governing board of directors (also referred to as the committee of deans). Those who are interested in the mysteries of life and the why of it all might find common ground with like minded individuals amongst the Natural, Medical and Philosophy departments, while those who are more hands-on and interested in historical lore and expeditions to faraway places will find plenty to learn and do while studying History and Archaeology. Lastly, those who are technologically inclined will have the opportunity to help research, improve and, if necessary, contain all manner of rapidly developing technologies studying Engineering and Electromancy. Those who wish to join faculty staff or who wish to become researchers in service usually only become such by applying for open positions or by being approached by the governing board.
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Post by whyemmdee on Aug 31, 2016 9:25:39 GMT -5
FACTION: CHESTERFIELD DETECTIVE AGENCYBACKGROUNDThe eponymous Chesterfield Detective Agency was brought into being an odd twenty years ago by a man named Garret Chesterfield, a former police officer who had become tired of dealing with the Calidor City Police Department's office bureaucracy, their endless red tape and, above all, their new take on policing the streets by use of copious amounts of lethal force to deal with the criminal elements of the city. Garret founded the agency on a trine set of rules: first, to never turn away someone in need, second, to always ascertain the truth no matter the consequences, and third, the most important ideological principle Garrett himself prescribed and adhered to, to never falter from one's ideals. Under Old Man Gary's leadership the agency came to be seen as a beacon of justice, and over the years it grew tenfold in size, stature and importance, until finally the chesters' reputation of being the best the city had to offer entrenched itself forever when the cops decided to employ them as an auxiliary investigative force on a case-by-case basis. Until, five years ago, Garret mysteriously vanished without a trace. For several months the detectives were leaderless and altogether out of commission but when it had become clear that the old man wasn't coming back, his last will and testament was unsealed, and the agency passed to his son, Grant, and his daughter, Emelia. Under their joint oversight the Chesterfields have continued to further expand and commercialize their services to this day, which has lead to previously unthought of prosperity, though many outsiders and former associates now claim such astronomical success has come at the cost of their once-precious reputation for fair play. Regardless of what rumors may float surrounding the twins' lack of moral leadership, the (in)famous Chesterfield Detective Agency has come to serve at the front line in many criminal investigations at the behest of the city's police commissioner, though they still continue to take on private contracts for those whose needs are as great as their wallets are deep. LIFE IN GREENSigning on with the Chesterfields means risking one's life in the pursuit of truth, and money (which often go hand in hand for chesters, specifically). There are always a myriad of open investigations, and one must inquire with a chester about any that are open to recruitment. All recent recruits are expected to participate in one of these investigations to prove their merit, and if they do so, they are offered a contract of service, allowed to wear the green and call themselves a Chesterfield Detective, able to take on new investigations and formulate their own team of sleuths, if they so wish. Any and all agents in green bear the responsibility of helping other agents in need, be they in peril or if they should need help with an investigation. Police investigations are assigned to Chesterfield investigators solely through either of the two twins, and cases are considered open until they are solved and closed - it is considered bad form to give up on an investigation, no matter how dangerous or cold the trail becomes, and repeated abandonment could be grounds for termination within the Agency.
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Post by whyemmdee on Aug 31, 2016 9:29:36 GMT -5
FACTION: THE BAD CROWD
BACKGROUND
All of the different mobs, gangs and other criminal organizations who infest the city of Calidor and its environs form a single, loosely organized and seemingly inexhaustible network of professional criminals collectively referred to as the Bad Crowd. This network traces its origin back to about twenty years ago, during a time when the Law started cracking down on all of the illegal activity in Calidor’s city districts. Policemen on the take were outed, corrupt officials were sacked and the coppers started rounding up all the outlaws, incarcerating those who came quietly and raining down bullets on those who resisted. The streets were awash with blood and those who had managed to stay one step ahead of the Law became desperate. It was out of this desperation that the remaining criminal elements banded together and joined forces; information, materiel and even manpower were exchanged between the different crowds and it wasn’t before too long that the Law could no longer contain or even stand up against this newly formed faction. Over time the alliance of desperation turned into an alliance of convenience and mutual benefit, giving rise to the Bad Crowd of today.
BECOMING MADE
Anyone can proclaim themselves to be an outlaw, but it takes a certain kind of criminal to become a crowder. The two biggest crowds in Calidor have always been the Del Mazzi family and the Wolves, but in the past year a new crowd called the Apple Street Gang originating out of Apple Street down by the Docks district has quickly exploded in size and influence, their trademark senseless slaughter and complete disregard for casualties during any of their operations bringing a certain kind of strain among the criminal elements of the city; a tangible tension in the air, close to snapping. Each of these three crowds have been known to be actively recruit fresh blood in an attempt to swell their ranks in preparation for when that happens, as a struggle for control of the city between the three will not only be bloody, it is inevitable.
The Del Mazzi family is known to publicly operate out of the Royale casino located Downtown, where they have managed to somehow make the prospect of becoming a crowder a viable career choice, including steady pay and pension. Meanwhile, the 'employees' of Wolve Company, a warehouse company specializing in distribution and overseas shipping, not to mention racketeering, extortion and general strong arming, have been locked in a brutal street war down by the docks with the Apple Street Gang, with the former desperately trying to hold on their territories south of the train tracks and the latter trying to aggressively expand beyond Apple Street's borders.
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Post by whyemmdee on Aug 31, 2016 9:31:53 GMT -5
FACTION: PRIVATEER CORPSMAN COALITIONBACKGROUNDOfficially formed in the late summer months of 1764 out of the dozens of mercenary companies who flocked to Calidor to take advantage of the city's rising lawlessness, the Privateer Corpsman Coalition was only recently legitimized as a legally authorized trade organization by the Calidorian government under the pressure of several corporate interests who felt that the Calidor City Police Department was not enough to look out for their best interests. Although they initially came to the city to bolster the coppers in times of unrest, they have in truth done very little in directly stopping criminal activities though that is not to say their presence has been without fruit - the very presence of a large, mercenary force with a penchant for violent solutions acts as a realistic deterrent to open warfare between the Bad Crowd and the police. Although at first the corpsmen were assigned solely to assist and work under the coppers' direction and supervision, this rapidly changed as more and more private corporations and companies began to hire them as security, and is in fact where they earned their moniker of 'Corpsman', short for "Corporate Man." ENLISTINGHeadquartered just outside the confines of Calidor's high-reaching walls, past its Eastern Gate, lies the sprawling complex of the Privateer's Compound. It is here that those who wish to become a privateer first go, seeking to curry favor with and offering their services to one of three captains who oversee the entire coalition. The majority of new recruits are men and women with an affinity towards violence who either seek steady work and pay or who are simply lusting after the protected rights and insurance accompanied with the privateer's marque. This marque is a corpsman's most prized possession, giving him or her increased security clearance to better travel unhindered throughout the city, the permission to use reasonable means to effect their active contract without fear of personal legal responsibility, access to the Privateer's Compound and its skilled surgeons and training facilities, and, most importantly, the right to legally operate within Calidor and its territories, taking on hired security work for pay. Such perks also come with a drawback however, as a privateer's marque is unique and identity-bound and is known to only ever be issued to a person once in a lifetime. While losing a marque is in itself not a criminal offense, those corpsmen who have their marques stolen and then used by criminals are liable to be prosecuted for any of the crimes committed under the guise of holding a letter. OPPORTUNITIESWhile the city's religious organizations tend to squabble amongst themselves, while both the crowders and the Chesters tend to cloak their actions by use of subterfuge, stealth and through conniving backdoor dealings, the corpsmen are instead far, far more direct in their dealings, attracting those who choose to live, die, and solve their problems by the blade. Whether this be corporate security, monster removal, or regular bounty hunting depends on the job, and the pay. With the city being in a constant state of turmoil, the status quo that is continuous chaos offers those who have the skill, and the guts, an incredible opportunity in the form of signing up with the Corps, with the potential for fame, power, riches, and, often, a painful and premature death.
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Post by whyemmdee on Aug 31, 2016 9:38:02 GMT -5
FACTION: CATHEDRAL OF THE SAINTLY TRIUMVIRATEBACKGROUNDSimultaneously a name for their most holy houses of worship and the overall institution itself, the Cathedral represents the worldly organization that follows the religion of Triumvism. Calidor's House of the Triad has towered over the city's skyline for as long as anyone can remember, its grandiosity and awe-inspiring appearance having been the source of inspiration for uncountable poetic works of song and literature. But time decays everything, even stone, and although the rise of industrialization has brought immeasurable wealth and progress to the city of Calidor, one of the many unfortunate by-products has been a drastic increase in air pollution which has caused much of the rainfall within and surrounding the city to become acidic. This caustic rain has been eating away at the edifice for the past few years and is the root cause for the unending reparations being done to it, reparations which have become so innumerable in counting and expansive in scope as to have drained the Cathedral's coffers, causing the faith to go bankrupt, and which, in turn, has had a drastically enervating effect on religious attendance. Many of the faithful have given up the Search Divine too, having become either corrupted by the city or been let down too many times by the Triad above as a result of the sheer brutality so commonplace in the streets. The newly ordained Grand Abbas, Mark Reubens, has desperately been trying to bring order to a city built on and made out of chaos by reordaining and restoring the long-banished Templar Brotherhood, but so far his vision of re-establishing Calidor's original moniker of City of Dreams has been a failure, a fact many Triumvirans in the city have come to resent him for. SERVINGWith the recent revitalization of the Templars, the Cathedral has once again regained access to an official militant branch of the faith to act on its behalf and to champion its causes. Although the Templar Brotherhood is still little more than a broken order numbering but half a dozen men and women, each and every one of them still carries the knowledge and religious idealism which was passed down from generation to generation during their centuries' long exile. Now, these warriors have come to serve as mentors for aspiring templars, guiding these neophytes and molding them to become either staunch defenders of the meek and downtrodden, vengeful crusaders against those who seek to hurt and abuse others, itinerant and skillful warrior-missionaries, divine seekers in search of the true Name of God, or any combination of them all.
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Post by whyemmdee on Aug 31, 2016 9:57:18 GMT -5
FACTION: CHURCH OF HERA
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Post by whyemmdee on Aug 31, 2016 10:06:24 GMT -5
FACTION: PRIORY OF THE PEOPLE
BACKGROUND
The Priory of the People has had a presence in Calidor for centuries, but it wasn’t until the arrival of Dafyyd ap Keller, Calidor’s newest local custodian, that the Peoples have managed to attain clout and presence on the political stage of the city-state. A recent graduate from Sinclaire’s Academy of Amelioration in Sedis, Keller has been both vocal and headstrong in his attempts to try and root out the presence of religion in Calidor, with many of the recent problems that have come to plague the city being laid at his feet. Whether these allegations are true or false, none can dispute the fact that he has become one of the city’s most controversial figures, aggressively spreading the gospel of the Priory and condemning the other faiths in the city, even going so far as openly advocating the use of violence to bring more weight to his words. IDEALSThe Priory of the People is a global sect dedicated to the idea that Kin and gnomes should seek to be the own masters of their fate, free from the meddling of religion to dictate people's morals and opinions. Although each custodian has his or her own way of leading a local forum, all of them (including Calidor's custodian) are idealists to varying degrees, championing ideals such as community, brotherhood and belonging as much as they are madly clamoring for religious tergiversation. Being one of the Peoples in Calidor usually means complete abstinence of religious worship and, depending on the person, either violently opposing religious worshipers or considering them to be little more than children still believing in quaint fairytales. Any man or woman can claim to be one of the Peoples by simply swearing off the existence of any devotion to divinity, but those few who truly wish to devote themselves to bringing about a new age of apostasy must either approach or be approached by Calidor’s resident Custodian of the Masses, Dafyyd ap Keller, or one of his close companions with a technological gift as an offering.
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