User:Paleomancer/Emerald Sun (3.5e Campaign Setting)/Organizations

Organizations

While there are potentially thousands of cults, clubs, and similar minor organizations on Tellur, there are only a handful of powerful organizations which have world-spanning influence.

R'lyehan Hegemony

The loyal or misguided servants of the Great Old Ones, whose capital is the nightmarish city of R'lyeh. Its members and citizens serve the interests of the Great Old Ones, fighting against rival powers, sacrificing their sanity to the Great Old Ones' hunger, and laboring in their workshops, fields, and armies. The default patron for most players, since R'lyeh tends to sanction the actions and activities undertaken by usual adventurers.

Rache

A resistance movement, mainly of talpa and ghouls, with some members of other races. Rache seeks to destroy the Great Old Ones, an ambitious goal that has made its members very ruthless and desperate. A secondary setting for players, who prefer the Rebel Alliance vs. Galactic Empire style of play. Since Rache members are hostile to almost all Fremd, expect to fight renegade cults as often as, if not more than, R'lyeh itself.

Forbidden Lore: Rache is itself a puppet for the interests of the Mir-Ga Remnant, who seek to break the Fremd Barrier and believe that weakening or destroying the Great Old Ones is prerequisite for this goal. Generally, Rache members and outsiders who discover Mir-Ga involvement usually end up dead.

Priesthood of Sukhet

The ruling body of the Ophidians, secret patron to arcane spellcasters, and a powerful, subtle, and problematic ally of the Great Old Ones. Play as Cold War Era China vs. the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., where rather than openly declaring hostilities, players seeks to undermine other factions behind the scenes through assassination, manipulation, and espionage. Good for players who like more social-based interactions and intrigue-heavy campaigns, and of course, Sukhet is happy to use R'leahan expansionism as a pretext for his own goals, so players get lots of combat experience as well.

Shadowstar Cults

Servants of lesser Fremd, undead, elemental, fey, and outsider spirits; an outspoken rival of the Great Old Ones. These are the non-aligned nations of Tellur (think traditional D&D cults), who barely tolerate one another and are united only in opposing their very powerful adversaries. Expect campaigns filled with backstabbing, skirmishes, and treachery.

Mir-Ga Empire

The greater menace, kept back only by the barrier. Several colonies exist on Tellur, hidden from the prying gaze of the Great Old Ones. Expect violence in any encounter; the Mir-Ga will stop at nothing to destroy the Fremd, even if it means the extinction of Tellur's mortals. Do not expect the Mir-Ga to play a friendly role in any campaign.

Insectoid Agencies

The two agencies of the Colepterans and the Lepidopterans, who engage in cold war with one another for the sake of their future. Generally hostile to most of the existing factions, but less obviously to mortal races. Some involvement with the Coleopterans is possible, but the lepidopterans are rather hostile.

Forbidden Lore: Sukhet is parlaying with emissaries of the Coleopterans, and the beetlfolk are usually neutral or even friendly to mortals who are not true devotees of the Great Old Ones. The Lepidopterans are more obviously hostile, and frequently are the origin of the disasters they "warn" others about.