The Temple
This group is made of mostly non supernaturals, they believe that magic
and supernatural forces are inherently damaging and should be removed
entirely from the world. Most of their members are essentially supernatural
hunters or soldiers, religiosity is also very common. Some of their members
are extremely prejudiced, going so far as to hate all supernaturals,
believing they are evil abominations who must all be destroyed. Some
however are very compassionate, believing that being supernatural is not
that person's fault, they deserve all the respect and kindness of anyone
else, but still thinking that the world would be better served if
supernaturals and their influence could be grandfathered out.
Manifesto
The Temple works to minimize or eliminate supernatural power on Earth.
They oppose anyone becoming supernatural or growing in supernatural strength
and try to limit when and how people can use supernatural power,
particularly when using it for ill-ends. In the mainstream Temple killing
of supernaturals is reserved only for those who do great harm and can't
otherwise be stopped, but there are more radical subgroups.
Temple governments operate out of bunkers that they build under some house
or other building that they own, warehouses are popular choices. They have
a strict chain of command, with a Commanding Officer who makes the decisions
and others after that. Their laws with regards to supernaturals are
reasonable lax, only getting involved in more serious offenses, such as
serious theft, assault, murder and so on. They are however significantly
more diligent about crimes against humans by supernaturals, and almost any
use of supernatural abilities against a human in a way that's negative for
the human is likely an offense. They sit somewhere between the other two
with regards to how willing they are to give permission or help, usually
operating from a ruthlessly pragmatic perspective.
If someone is accused of breaking the law, they are subjected to a tribunal
of three Temple officers to decide their case. They usually prefer corporal
punishment, whippings, sometimes the loss of a hand or executions in serious
matters.
Roles
The Strike Force is one of the most elite military groups in the world,
and they have to be in order to contend with supernatural threats without
supernatural powers of their own.
The Strike force prefers ambushes and sniping to open conflict, they are
almost always looking to take the high ground and hold their shots for the
right opportunity to make the biggest impact, usually targeting officers
first. They most often deploy in modern military camouflage. When sniping
isn't a viable option they prefer to set ambushes with land mines or razor
wire. They are usually called 'mosquitos' by the other factions.
Intelligence are the eyes, ears and brain of the Temple, consisting largely
of ex-intelligence agents and military intelligence officers.
Temple Intelligence tend to deploy in slightly modified civilian garb and
provide support, scouting, and espionage during times of conflict. They
particularly like to sneak in to place remote detonated explosives on key
enemy assets, and detonate them right when the enemy most wanted to use
them. They have a pronounced rivalry with the Hand's Shadows. They are
usually called 'geeks' by the other factions.
Demolishers are known as the Temple's wrecking ball for when all subtly has
gone out the window. Consisting of most of the Temple's supernatural
members as well as others wielding dangerous experimental weaponry.
The Demolishers usually deploy with the heaviest weaponry and in stripped
down military gear, with men often going topless. They aren't usually that
well armored and carry such heavy weaponry as to render their mobility
limited. In a direct firefire they rarely lose, but tend to perform poorly
in confined areas. Amongst other factions they are generally known as
'freaks. '
History
The Temple first formed out of Israelite warriors in Canaan around 1400
BCE as a group dedicated to fighting against supernatural evils. While
constantly persecuted and often seemingly crushed throughout history they
always managed to spring back and reform growing in strength as they started
to join with the newly burgeoning religion of Christianity and finally
pushing the Hand back when Christianity was adopted as the state religion of
Rome.
The Temple's influence grew slowly over time, being accelerated by
technological and industrial developments but they were pulled into the
great conflict of World War Two and were shattered into countless smaller
groups in the aftermath. One year after the supposed defeat of Et-Aral
however several in the supernatural community started advocating for greater
cohesion, the need to return to larger, more powerful groups to safeguard
the world and The Temple began to regather its strength.