The Akibeel'im.
Starting Essence: 3 (2) points of Redemption, 6 (7) points of Sin.
Starting Traits [20]: 11 points for Physical traits, 9 points for Mental traits.
Knowledge/Career favoring: Skilled.
Knowledge/Career neglect: Scholastic.
Who are they?
Key points: Warrior priests, mercenaries, organized crime families with a global trade network of secrets and leverage/blackmail.
Before the Flood, and after.
They were guardians, tasked with the protection of places of worship and their pilgrims. But their wards betrayed them when came the days before the flood. So they abandoned them to their fate. Their patron Akibeel condemned their actions and so cursed them with the memory of what they were and the sacred task they chose to leave behind.
Ancestral lands:
The Midlands, but now they live in all of the major cities across from the east to the new world. There, they are often found in positions of religious or political power, often intertwining the two so as to assert complete control over the people of their lordships. There are Akibeel'im in the Eastland, but they serve the empire's living god faithfully, having achieved some prominence and some semblance of their former selves as his imperial court guardians and seers of the truth who ensure that all remain loyal to the emperor, the living god.
Their Golden Age and in the 6th age?
Their golden age was no doubt the first age, before the flood. But the estate saw two revivals, one the beginning of the third age in the era of conquest and discoveries, and again at the ending of the fourth age, from the lull between the wars to the boom after each conflict. It is generally perceived that the 6th age looks promising for the Akibeel'im, but ages of corruption and war often are. .
Estate motivations, ideologies, archetypes & goals?
There is honor amongst rogues. The Akibeel'im seek power as if to fill the void they constantly feel. A strong sense of duty and loyalty keeps the estate together. Service to the Family is central, breaking that bond can get you exiled, or worse, because death would be preferable than being labelled a traitor. They can be very underhanded and ruthless at times, but they can also be the staunchest of allies and most devoted of friends. If betrayed, they tend to become incredibly vindictive. Priests, organized criminals, mercenaries and corrupt political lordships are common archetypes. The estate as a whole has no goal, which more often than not, places the individual families at odds with one another, sometimes requiring aggressive mediation and violent resolutions.
Estate organization.
Akibeel'im Estate units are organized much like a religious order with prominent families inheriting the highest titles. The titles of Bishoprry, Arch Bishopry and Cardinals are hereditarily, given to the most powerful families, while a pope is chosen every three decades from the ranks of Cardinals, traditionally from a member of the Karnain family. The Bashani do not participate in what they call the hypocrisy of power their brethren hold on to, but are happy to accept contracts on their behalf.
Bloodlines?
The Bashani, a ruthless mercenary company, start with 2R/7S. They can be hired, if at a very high price. They have a code they live by, finish the task or die trying. Honor bound to complete their sworn agreements, they fulfill their sense of guardianship by swearing an oath to the order of Bashani. Once a contract is accepted, it is honor bound to be completed, and if it is retracted/cancelled, they will seek restitutions. The Bashani have long since broken ties with their main estate brethren, answering their calls only when contractually obligated to do so.
Prominent Families.
Rephaim [mob lords], Bashani [mercernaries], the Karnain [priestly order]
familial relations?
Family ties are close, they are very important and are even select mortal members are revealed the truth about their immortal kin.
Views of other Estates?
None are to be trusted, even allies.
Views of the world?
Humanity, will eventually turn on itself. The few righteous are swallowed by the waves of the greedy, apathetic and Envious. Even if we wanted to guide them, we couldn't.
Estate Tutelage.
Their tutelage begins with a two year apprenticeship in a foreign temple or city. The first eight months are spent learning everything they can on the local Estate families and how the church is run, all while learning basic martial skills. The next eight months they will learn their role within the order, while simultaneously learning to use their Goety gifts.
The last eight months of the tutelage are the most difficult where their mettle is tested in a bid for survival, alone, in a hostile world. They are sent on a holy quest, most often to retrieve some relic of little repute or to protect an abandoned temple from desecration. There may well be a chance that the pupil succumbs to enemy forces, and only the strongest will not buckle under the task at hand. Those who do, never move very far up the echelons of the inner order. Those who perform the latter part of their Tutelage with distinction are often rewarded with the gift of a ceremonial weapon and armor after their rebirth, a badge of their status and achievements.
Minor Goety:
attuned to the flow of the energies of living things. Akibeel'im receive a +1 bonus/minor virtue on rolls to determine the intentions of others (initiative rolls, detecting deception, etc.)
Favored Lesser Goety:
Eye of the Host & Unearthly Swiftness.
Greater Goety:
Once used to heal the soul and soothe the spiritual suffering of pilgrims, they changed their Goety to be used for war. Able to see the Kirlian aura of all living things, they can use it to sense the emotional state of others, read their true intentions, alter their emotional state and even perform attacks at a distance that is said to even be able to kill an immortal.
Estate Curse:
Akibeel placed a curse on them when they turned away their followers and abandoned them to the floods, so that they may remember what they were. All Akibeel'im not involved in a cause that involved guardianship of a place, person or thing, suffer an age marker penalty to all rolls.