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groups and factions

this is a page about the various groups of Teres that can be found the world over. it isn't all-encompassing, and more may be added at a later date, but for the most part, these are the major ones to keep in mind.

gods' chosen

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  • the 9 avatars and 72 counsel members of the gods, chosen individually at birth to serve them as the mediators between godkind and mankind.
  • while most chosen don't think of it this way, there is admittedly a bit of a hierarchy to them. the avatars are of slightly higher rank, closer to the gods themselves, and are expected to carry the gods' wills to the counsel, who then communicate it to the people at large. however, they're generally all on good terms and understand that this isn't a sign of being favoured more or less than anyone else. it is just random chance.
  • avatars do have more magical power easily and readily available to them than the average person. counsel members do as well, but there are many fearful stories of avatars having gone rogue and causing all kinds of grand havoc in the distant past. whether these are true, none can really say.
  • many chosen experience a heavy feeling of isolation through their life, as they are chosen from birth and may not have a chance to truly connect with their birth families or communities. they are born as soon as a seat opens up for them, through the death of another chosen, unpleasant as that may be for them to confront. 

shrinekeepers

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  • volunteers who maintain upkeep of the actual shrine part of the shrine-cities. these are often people who are particularily spiritual, and want to show their gratitude to the gods in a more tangible way.
  • there's no upper limit on how many volunteers can work at a single shrine, but as far as actual shrinekeepers go, there are always multiples of seven, no more or less. this is to represent the days of the week. each keeper (or pair, triad, quartet, so fourth; depending on how many live there) is designated a day of the week to do their duties and is expected to follow through before midnight that night. the gods don't particularily care, but this is how the tradition has always been.
  • shrinekeepers do not get paid for shrine maintenance, so it's often expected for them to work another job alongside this. if anything, keeping is more of a title than a career. it is however up to them to decide what to do with offerings and donations made in the name of the gods - if it can be used for upkeep, then it is to be. if not, then it is usually kept in a special vault for the gods themselves to take care of.

adventurers' guild

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  • the adventurer's guild originated in the south-western region of Teres, serving as a way for adventurers of all kind to get information for their journeys.
  • adventurers' guild hubs tend to be very small and cozy, running completely on volunteer power. they offer services such as supplying meals, gear fitting, resource procurement, and connecting people to other services they may need too - for example, connecting a beginner mage to an appropriate teacher.
  • as stated, adventurers' guilds are run entirely on volunteer power and donations. often times, if an artisan or teacher is offering a service, they'll leave a posting in the hands of their local adventurers' guild branch and see what comes of it. for more urgent business, requests and postings are usually sent to the bounty hunters' guilds instead; likewise if a request is deemed too casual or lenient for the hunters, it gets sent to the adventurer's guild.

bounty hunters' guild

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  • an offshoot of the adventurers' guild originating from the south-eastern region of Teres. the bounty hunters' guild is now a worldwide network of oddjobs that need to be done. it may sound grand, but it really just that. 
  • the structure of the guild is as such for each branch: two guildmasters, in charge of running the guild; as many secretaries as needed, to assist the guildmasters and to sort through requests; the requesters, who are locals in need of aid; and the hunters, who accept the bounties and see them to completion. it can be anything from "help harvest radishorses" to "help find a cruel and bloodthirsty killer," though those requests don't come through often.
  • the requesters pay a fee, and the guild takes a cut to fund their own needs, then gives the rest of the fee to the hunter(s) that complete the job. if the job hasn't been taken by a certain point, the fee is returned in full to the requester, though they are free to post it again or leave it for an extended time. the hunters are paid based on this system, of course. many guilds also offer dormitories for bounty hunters to stay in, with access to a communal kitchen and communal bath. it's pretty cheap, which is great for people just starting out on their own.
  • the guildmasters work four days a week each with three days off, having a day on either end of their breaks to catch up with each other on what needs to be done. secretaries generally work three days, and hunters just work whenever they can.

medics' alliance

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  • a global alliance of doctors, nurses, and otherwise healing-focused jobs. psychiatry and the like also fall under this category.
  • there are many members of the alliance around the world, probably close to 50 thousand at this point. there tend to be multiple living and working in each settlement around Teres, but there's just as many that wander from place to place too, often times offering specialized services.
  • they help out civillians for appropriate fees, though there are quite a few that don't charge anything at all for their service. the alliance serves as a network to keep medics in touch, and to keep them responsible as well. they need to swear an oath of honesty and integrity in order to join and get the benefits (said communication network, and access to resources prepared by artisans and craftsmen for the express purpose of helping the alliance). some people choose not to swear the oath and join, but they're usually high-risk high-reward type of deals.
  • their schedules are entirely self-governed.

gold rose knights

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  • a now-defunct organization of knights in the central-north region of Teres, aligned with an also defunct church.
  • they were known to be very harsh and strict on citizens, with the church preaching about crime and sin as if it were something incurable that a person could never be redeemed from. the scars of this still ache through the region, though much work has been done to help heal. and of course, there were good gold rose knights as well, but the bad vastly outweighed them.
  • they would do daily patrols of the settlement they were stationed in, tasked with solving problems "with any force necessary," though they were also sometimes tasked with instigating conflicts undercover. they often didn't know, and didn't care, to tell people real answers to their problems.
  • they got three days off per week.

mail-knights

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  • a global organization, founded in the wake of the gold rose nights, in charge of peacekeeping and communications, both between local citizens and important figures. 
  • they're trained with de-escalation tactics, basic first aid, and given lists of all local aid services for the area they're to work in so that they can better find help for anyone who needs it. mail-knights are also given a map of their designated area so they can deliver their parcels and letters efficiently. 
  • the daily routine of a mail-knight is to report to their local office, see if they've been assigned to any pressing matters from the locals, and pick up their allotted deliveries for the day. the work day of a mail-knight is scheduled for about 6 hours, but depending on how fast their work goes or if any emergencies come up, it can take really any amount of time. 
  • they each get three days off per week and a full week off every month, though the schedules are pretty flexible.

scholars' society

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  • a global organization, one that focuses on the gathering and archiving on information of the world.
  • librarians, museum curators, historians, scholars, archivists, researchers - examples of people that would be members of the scholars' society. they can opt in or out of the society as per personal preference, but members of it are under obligation to keep their findings accessible and easily-shared for the betterment of the world.
  • the daily routines of a member of the scholars' society depends on their own job title, but they are expected to make monthly reports on their findings. they can make reports as often as they want though, in case anything big comes up.
  • their schedules are self-defined, though there is a running joke that members of the society work 24/7... due to the fact that people who get dangerously absorbed in their own work are often drawn to the benefits of studying others' work as well.