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Oengunourmouryoosa

Oengunourmouryoosa
AKA:	Oen (say: Owen)
Leader:	(None)
Races:	Skotadi, Therians, Vampires, Zanaryans, Dracovari, Dragons
HQ:	A cave network in Dardanos Three Sisters volcanoes

On a small extended volcanic study, a group of researchers returned not only with numbers and figures, but with an idea and craving for power.

The Oengunourmouryoosa (Oen) were once innocently focused on volcanoes. But over time, their seclusion has morphed their interests to power, domination, and greed. The highly secretive group is barely heard of, so much so, that they are not believed to be a true organization. Instead, they are seen as a mere an extension of The Sect of The Dragon.

Politics

Secrecy

The organization is built around secrecy, so much so that only the leaders and some Rights know the name of it.

Decisions

The leaders cast votes, each having equal weight, to decide what will be done. This means that those who hang around the headquarters have their interests best served. This, coupled with the knowledge that leaders hold, and their health, is why leaders rarely leave the Dardanos area.

There was once a tie on an important vote. The next day, the vote was recast, with a win of a single vote - due to a missing leader who was not heard from again.

Public View

The full name of the Oen has never been uttered correctly by the public, and serves as a sort of proverbial game of Telephone to the few that have heard of it. Because of their ties with the Sect of the Dragon, they are assumed to be a mere extension of them. There are only a few people in the world who are still alive and know this name; their feelings towards Oen and the Sect are the same.

The public has witnessed many small events caused by the Oen, but has no logic or reason to attribute the seemingly random events towards them. Only a handful of Oen branches and leaves have developed a curiosity about their missions, and have subsequently gone missing, never to be heard of again. Artifacts here and there have disappeared, but these things are easily dismissed by hand-wavy explanations of tomb raiders and overzealous anthropologists.

Beliefs

The details of their beliefs vary between individual leaders and Rights. The beliefs of their branches and leaves, however, are unimportant, and may even be opposing. However, within the upper tier of leadership, their belief in the Source of All Evil (TSoAE) is unified.

The Source of All Goodness

The Oen have come to decide that there is a sense of goodness in the world. They believe that a large majority of it lives in Xanth, but is not confined soley to her.

The Source of All Evil

If Xanth represents goodness, then surely there must be an evil as well, a Yin to Xanth's Yang. Just as water destroys fire, and fire destroys earth, so too must the universal powers form some sort of comprehensible cycle. TSoAE is this missing puzzle piece.

TSoAE is thought to be more of an aspect than an individual being, but this point is contentious between the leaders. However, they do universally believe that darkness will prevail and has more power, more strength, more benefits than goodness does.

A New Universe

Oen also believe that goodness and darkness are always at war, both in the physical realm and in each individual's heart and mind. If this war is ever completed, the loosing morality will be vanquished.

If goodness wins, the universe will be boring, without conflict, a world made of marshmallows with mind-numbing vanities used to pass the time. One must actively pursue killing their brain cells to co-exist with sanity in this possible universe. In this universe, the only being with power would be a more powerful and lethargic Xanth, everyone happily worshiping her, with no intelligence, no free will.

The alternate scenario is a universe where darkness reigns solely, a place with continual conflict, but perhaps with vanity and no contest, as the strongest of the darknesses would always win. In this universe, there is power, free thought, free will, a dismal place where those with power only continue to receive more.

The Oen insist this dark universe is where they, and all the rest of Elysia belongs. They believe it is the one place where Elysia can truly be happy. Of course, the Oen will be bestowed with a level of power and wealth according to their efforts of service in their mortal lifetime.

Dark Energy

Both goodness and darkness have traces of their existence. For example, an evil-minded creature. The Oen believe that this very creature's existence is a testament of darkness' presence and that every ounce of energy it expends reverberates a small amount of Dark Energy. Some acts produce more energy than others, fighting, blasphemy, and murder for example, especially against innocent light creatures. Dark Energy fuels the Source of All Evil. But if only there was some way to manufacture Dark Energy oneself…

Interests

The Oen have a large variety of interests, from recruiting to artifacts. It seems that evil works its roots into many affairs, and there you will find the Oen after multiple layers of obfuscation, working in behind the scenes.

• Readying themselves for their ultimate goal to win the war between good and evil, and to release the new, evil universe
• Studying Xanth and her weaknesses and seeking to destroy her
• Keeping an eye on the volcanoes for the purposes of evacuation and self preservation
• Retaining favor with the Sect of the Dragon for cover
• Selling illegal wares for the purposes of income
• Keeping an eye on political affairs
• Maintaining their drug ring that extends across Elysia, assisting in dark-matter production (people never do anything good when high), and mind enslavement into ignorance
• Research and development of dark-energy production
• Recruiting members and creatures, both dark and light aligned
• Pushing Iron Maidens on the market as a source of dark-energy

Relations

Territories

The Three Sisters volcanoes located in Dardanos are in close proximity of one another. An eruption of one often means the eruption of the others, but not always. Deep inside the volcanoes lies a series of tunnels and chambers hollowed out over the years both by the organization, native creatures, and volcanic activity.

Because of their close watch on the volcanic activity, they can predict when an eruption will occur, anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks in advance. When an evacuation order is given, all members scatter - xometimes to other places in Dardanos, sometimes to other planets.

There is no knowledge of Dardanos being an "evil" or nefarious place, however it is known that for some reason, many strangers are seen there. It has also been noted that illegal wares have been heavily trafficked there from time to time.

Organization

Ranks

Leaders

There are many leaders, each with their own agendas, and each with equal voting weight. All leaders are known to all the other leaders. They have a full understanding of all the workings of the cult and a broad view of each of their missions. There is no limit to the number of leaders.

Right-hands (Right)

Below the ranks of the leaders are the right-hand men (Right), counselors of sorts to the leaders. They may not vote, and each Right only knows their leader. Each leader takes careful precautions that their own Rights do not meet, and in turn, the Rights do the same, and so on and so forth. The Rights usually only have a limited knowledge of what their leader is involved with. it is important that the Rights are kept secret, as a leader with opposing vision may send an assassin after a Right who's leader interferes, to claim the leader's vote. There is no limit to the number of rights, but the more one has, the more they can perhaps accomplish.

Branch and Leaves

Like a tree, each Right has followers, members to command. A branch is a member who has other members beneath them, a leaf is a member who has no followers. Branches and leaves have no knowledge of the organization, or even that they are a part of it. They are called members despite their priveledge-less state of ignorance, and their duties are to follow orders, command their men, and continue the pyramid hierarchy. Should a branch start asking questions, show any doubt, fail to check in, or suddenly start acting odd, then an assassin is usually sent after them to close off the loose tie. The branches followers are lost. Should a leaf do these things, then they are considered to have aborted their mission and are not paid or contacted again. A leaf is only assassinated if his loose end needs to be tied off, but for a branch, assassination is almost always the answer.

Promotion

With the exception of Rights, there are no promotions. However, when a leader feels that they could use more votes, they may decide to tutor and at last promote their Right. When the Right is promoted, their sole duty is to vote, so their previous functionality is lost. Therefore, all of the new leader's branches become his Rights.

But the fatality rate for promoted Rights are high - leaders with opposing interests are constantly sniffing out Rights, seeking to cripple the opposing leader's pyramid, and thus their field-working capability. It also serves as insurance - a dead Right can never be promoted to vote.

Organization Issues

Health

Because the leaders hideout is located in not one but three volcanoes, meetings can be subject to exposure of volcanic gasses. The effects of volcanic gasses are constantly a health issue to the leaders. Before eruptions, leaders seek safety elsewhere and use the fresh air to recuperate, but some symptoms are not as curable as others.

It can be assumed that these health issues affect the decision making process and outcomes.

Pyramid Collapses

Although their hierarchy tree's frailty is highly beneficial for the purposes of sustainability and criminal investigations, it is also a fault. An individual in the hierarchy usually only knows who is directly above them, and who is below them. Because of it, should an individual go missing or deceased, the entire hierarchy below them is lost, and becomes unusable.

Pyramid Entanglement

Also, because of this frailty, it is very possible for an individual to have multiple ties to different parts of the hierarchy tree. An individual like this is likely to become more curious, if their missions are related. This individual also has room for crossing, double-crossing, and perhaps even triple-crossing.

Right Promotion & Organization Growth

As the risks for promoting a Right to a leader are fairly high, few Rights survive this transition long enough to make any decisions. This means that the leadership - and thus organization as a whole - may not always be growing. It's very possible that they are shrinking, or struggling to maintain their current size. Because no new faces enter the leadership decision making circle, the decisions and direction of the organization are extremely stable, but perhaps stagnating.

History

9,702 XA : Founding

A small research crew was sent on an underfunded, barely-heard-of extended expedition to study the volcanoes, the source of both Dardanos trouble and profits. Although they returned with the usual numbers and figures, an idea had begun to form in their head, and with it, a craving for power.

Some of the researchers continued to visit the volcanoes, while others weren't ever heard from again. Explorations and meetings continued, and with it, their idea continued to form.

9,787 XA Dimitri's War

With Dimitri's war came the realization that perhaps something more sinister was at work. Over the next few months, they would go on to give it a name, The Source of All Evil. Soon after, they chose sides, and it wasn't Xanth's. With little resources and even fewer numbers, they offered up what little help they could, a task here and there, but otherwise unnoticed.

9,791 XA Dmitri's War Ends

Undaunted, the Oen continue to work, gathering up members. But the Sect of the Dragon would not return for some time.

9,999 XA Leader Assassination

Thought to have been drunk and under the effects of the volcanic gas, one of the leaders was found in the public square ranting blasphemies against Xanth. The assassination order was placed, and the next day he was found missing. Although their very beginning were tainted as well, this rattled them to their core. Over the next few months, they devised their modern hierarchy. And within two years had an extensive network going.

10,008 XA Research into Xanth's Destruction

To bring about evil, one must destroy the sources of goodness, correct? This is their goal, and they have started up branches to research Xanth's strengths and weaknesses. This also involves collecting artifacts involving her essence, and the Oen's influence extends even into some of the temples of Xanth.

10,009 XA Actively Pursuing the End of the World

The Oen have grown tired of waiting for the New Universe and have decided that they will find more favor with The Source of All Evil if they actively aid this event. Research has begun on how they might achieve this goal. To aid their progress, and perhaps even their ultimate goal, they have begun to collect artifacts (by any means necessary), especially those with power.

Joining

In the standard sense of joining an organization, there is no such thing as joining the Oen.

Instead, they recruit you. Like a drug ring, one paid mission turns into another, working for your front-facing man. The hierarchy is deep, each member not knowing who lies above their boss, if any, nor what other members their boss may have employed. However, unlike a drug ring, you may never realize that you are a part of this cult, as your objectives are mostly unrelated, and always twisted to sound solely for monetary gain.

Candidates

There's no formal system for being recruited into the organization, but generally, some research is done into a candidate before they are asked to do their first mission.

Statuses

A member is considered active if they have followers below them and are operating on an assigned task. Inactive if they have no current assigned task, and exiled if they will not be contacted again due to delinquency.

Known Members

There are no known leaders or Rights.