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The Cult
Associated – The Chosen
Philosophy – Patronizing
Symbol – a spiraling pictograph of ram's horns
None of the Shades care much about perfect history representation, but the cult of Gehenna has existed for ... something like thirty-three years, a knotted net of like-minded individuals who blow the stereotype of their kind out of the water for personal gain. The cult of Gehenna supports political, social, wealthy, integrated members of the Earth's scourge: the Chosen.
Contrary to common belief that the Chosen are aggressive, hateful and want nothing more than to rape, pillage and tear asunder the unwashed masses, Gehenna operates on a cleaner scale. They must want the same things – but they pump people with drugs, liquor and sex until people forget about these things, and go their merry way.
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Some OOC Notes
The cult of Gehenna is subject to change on whim of whoever leads it; lore-wise, this isn't uncommon, as the Speakers tend to be different: higher tiered, psychologically damaged, etc. Sometimes they don't stay around long. That said, general anarchy outside of the scope of the faction will be dealt with messily, including kicking people out and leaving them to the mercy of whoever wants to deal with them.
This is not a faction for people who aren't interested in participating in roleplay. This is an RP-heavy faction, the members are obsessed with their image, and are expected to participate not only in their own events, but the relevant events of others. We don't expect you to be online 24/7 and RPing constantly during the time you are, but it is expected you'll participate. (Please understand that this doesn't mean you're expected to be Professional characters – we encourage all concepts, we just encourage them to get out and RP.)
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You Won't Like Gehenna If:
–– You're not interested in participating in RP events on grid.
–– You're uncomfortable participating in Mature Themes.
–– You want to be a Good Person.
–– You want to curbstomp other players when they do minor upsetting things.
–– You're not able to separate IC action and OOC action. This faction will be very taxing on you if you can't.
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Other Information
Atmosphere
Because of the high level of demonborn that are Chosen, Gehenna trends heavy into the realm of pain, dusting the top of their hedonist confection. They host public orgies. They have indiscriminate sex with ... whoever wants it. They're loud, enthusiastic, energetic party-goers who like to make friends, for the most part. Whips, chain, leather, vinyl, feathers, crops, gags, suspension – these things simply are, the same way banal vanilla stuff simply is, and it gets included when applicable.
Recruitment
The cult doesn't just recruit demonborn already pro-demon. They also recruit naturals of no origin, particularly wild Faeborn, hypercharged hedonists of any kind, passive demonborn who aren't yet pro-demon and anyone already possessing a demonic pact. Maybe this sounds too inclusive; the Shades don't see it that way. They want reach, and these people best suit their needs.
Organization & Awards
Gehenna functions as a cult. Members are given a lot of personal autonomy and are encouraged to make names for themselves, provided they don't also embarrass the cult. Leadership stems from one single point that is in charge of everyone, and the cult is often subject to the whims of that person, which can make it a bit chaotic at times. Awards and merits are given both based on more traditional “What do you give back?” standards, as well as for promoting the cult well, providing RP and going above and beyond to get into the theme of both Gehenna and Haven.
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Ranks
Non-Cultist Property
Vassal – The entry-level rank of the organization, vassals are the first to be culled when the shades become a liability to the advancement of the organization. It isn't hard to move up from being a vassal; people who have no interest in being vassals simply need to become active in the cult and eventually fill out a file.
Asset – These are more useful vassals who are usually brought in by cultists. Assets are generally non-demonborn, and are usually naturals of some type. Individuals on the faction vassal roster are regarded as “assets” in conversation, since these are a conscious, paid-for vassal.
Cultists
Shade – Most of the cult members are shades, and all cult members above this point are referred to as shade regardless of rank unless there's some reason to give them special treatment. Most non-demonborn and non-pacted cultists are shades, and some might hold special positions given to them by the priesthood, such as PR Rep or Arcanist.
Bonded – Eventually shades become bonded members of the cult through ritual, generally a very public ritual, usually something like an orgy (because they love their orgies). Most bonded cultists are demonborn or hold demonic pacts, but there are some truly dedicated individuals who aren't either of these things who become bonded. Bonded members are expected to contribute resources regularly, are are usually Chosen-associated, but this might differ person to person based on whim and circumstance.
Guard – The guards aren't really a special rank, and are made up of shades, assets, bonded members and priesthood who focus on combat as their sphere. They're run by the Fist and overseen by the Hand, and are tasked with serving as security in various cult-owned businesses and protecting cultists while on cult property.
Inner Circle
Priest – Though this position is awarded IC for IC activity, it isn't offered unless the character is an active creator of RP for the faction, be it through schemes, events, plots, etc. Please do not be upset if your character never reaches this rank. Priests are promoted by the Speaker and overseen by them, and must be bonded before the position will be offered. It can be declined.
The Fist – Appointed by the Hand, rather than the Speaker, the Fist is the leader of the guards. Generally, the Fist is the most combat-savvy of the cult, though not necessarily the strongest individual. The Fist oversees operations and combat-related events.
Ascended – This is actually a special rank, afforded all the trusts of leadership and full autonomy within the organization, due to the nature of the individuals who achieve this position: demidemons. Tier 4 ageless demonborn who go Tier 5 won't be given this position; only real, monsterous demidemons. The ascended are treated ... differently.
Leadership
The Hand – The Speaker's second-in-command, who is tasked with overseeing the guards, appointing the Fist and delegating in the absence of the Speaker. This might sound cushy, but the Hand is subject to the whims of the Speaker, which can sometimes get taxing.
The Speaker – The cult's leader is known as the Speaker, with a capital S. The Speaker's role is to oversee the cult, promote morale, appoint necessary people, etc. It's a taxing position, and it's prone to rotating doors of individuals.
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Policies
External Conflict
External conflict includes unfactioned and factioned conflict. In both these spheres, Gehenna tries to get out clean at all costs, and will ignore doing many things that might tarnish their reputation of being fun – but it doesn't mean they don't participate. In the case of unfactioned supernaturals and naturals, they tend to care very little, as what the lesser peoples of the town do is beneath them; sometimes they'll antagonize these people for fun or profit, but only when it serves them and won't hurt the reputation of the cult.
Conflict with factions comes two-fold: initiating and retaliating. Gehenna doesn't retaliate unless the Speaker, Hand or priesthood is assaulted, and only if the victim feels it needs to be “handled”. They initiate rarely – primarily when they need something, and only if it benefits them as a group. They will sometimes pick on resistance factions for kicks, due to the low station of resistance factions in the supernatural world.
Internal Conflict
Conflict between members boils down to a few different things, from psychological altercations, to physical altercations, to theft and verbal abuse. How these things are handled depends largely on who is participating, and how amused the Speaker is by the incident. The punishments are, similarly, largely based on the whim of the Speaker, who has been known to demand trial by blood for slander and weregild for mind-meddling, etc. There are no hard and fast rules, but things that actively disrupt the cult, or acting out against higher-positioned cultists are usually handled more swiftly.
Other Supernatural Factions
Gehenna views competition ... differently. They genuinely want their competition to succeed, in fact! Why is that? (Because when they unleash demons to tear the world apart, their competition will make incredibly tasty morsels.) Do not confuse this with “allies” – they love allies, until their allies aren't useful, but this translates directly to “building someone up to later eat their heart” rather than allies.
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