Organizations I - The Order

At one point the hidden weapon of 'The Holy Inquisition', The Order has been considered Heaven's one and only 'Mortal Legion' that was meant to fight what was known as 'Evil Incarnate' after Lucifer and Lilith aided in the infection of humanity with the influence of 'The Root of All Evil'. Nowadays, with the Inquisition gone and with humanity far more corrupt than ever through vices, freedoms in excess, and carelessness, The Order acts as a watchful eye that eliminates the more deranged sects of humanity and eliminates any demonic incursion (self driven and generally stupid in every sense of the word) from Hell.

As a group The Order is a large 'family'. Many of them can trace their lineage across the ages, but all of them know that they tie to Adam, the first real Human. While largely disturbing for the common person, this means The Order sometimes has very close ties to one another, a necessity to maintain the strength of the Primeval Human blood. However, these ties barely impact The Order's workings.

While closely related, The Order's organization is extremely stratified in four different groups. Much like Heaven's workings, your caste is your task, and while 'civilian life' to appear normal has no boundaries, within The Order that does not apply. Your niche shall be your place for the rest of eternity, even in Heaven, and any deviance is quickly curbed with discipline early on.

The four branches are as follows:

Pugnators - Holy Warriors and Shields of the Faith.

Operarius - Builders of the Golden Kingdom.

Artifex - Creators of Blessed Implements.

Cogitans - The Speakers of The Sacred Word.

The branch of the Pugnators includes anyone that can fight and is largely, or exclusively, specialized in that aspect; warriors, assassins and magically resistant descendants of the Primeval Humans. These bloodlines are tasked with training bodies, minds and instincts alike to create killing machines dedicated to the purging of anyone worshiping Evil itself, as well as anyone that has a covenant with demons, as wella s the demons themselves. They are rigorously trained and indoctrinated into the dislike to utter hate of anything that involves Hell to the point it is now ingrained genetically in their memory. While such disdain does not occur naturally, as shown in Ouroboros, there is an innate desire to punish and hurt the demon and heretic, so much so that many of the older bloodlines suffer from many mental instabilities that push them to violence. Far from being a hindrance, in most cases this is a boon when correctly maintained, and they make the vast majority of Exorcists angels in Heaven after their passing.

Operarius constitute the families whose task lay in the construction and maintenance of all buildings, structures and most machines The Order uses. They also encompass farmers, fishermen and any resource procuring family that works primarily for The Order. Far from being simple 'workers', this branch also includes the second best fighters among those in The Order. Generally considered in modern times as 'Combat Engineers', they are much more mentally stable than the Pugnator branch, but far less capable in battle. Instead, as their position requires of them, they not only craft great structures that range from simple houses to churches and secret defensive buildings and safe houses for The Order. In Heaven they are one of the mainstays when it comes to shaping the Holy Kingdom to better serve the souls that attain the right to live there and, unlike their main fighter branch, have a much easier time having a 'civilian life' after death.

Closely related are the Artifex, but not in what they create. This branch focuses on the creation of holy weapons and armor using either Blessed Steel from Heaven itself, or the very small quantities they can produce by themselves. While technically required to learn combat, and generally as capable as a proficient and well seasoned soldier as they reach maturity, the Artifex are smiths first, fighters a distant third, with artisans a very prized second. This branch is not only meant to supply for attack and defense, but also create almost any kind of worthwhile work of art that pays tribute to the afterlife and vilifies the unclean. From busts to statues, pictures and more modern depictions, including anything from books to even comics and cartoons, this branch of The Order not only helps supply their kin with material to stay strong and Heaven to enjoy, but also does its best to influence the mortal world at least a little bit.

Finally, the Cogitans. Almost exclusively magic users, for the longest time this was the branch whose face was almost universally male, unlike the other three. Working as pastors, preachers and men of faith above all else, the members of The Order that fit within the Cogitans have always been the ones in charge of guiding mortal souls through the right path to join Heaven and those ascended. An endeavor seen as fruitless nowadays, the Cogitans have seen their abilities put to use in different ways. While Earth has a much more limited magic field than Heaven or Hell, this branch is primarily focused on divination, healing and guiding the creation of new technologies, buildings and other working implements in ways that follows God's Will. They are the primary thinkers and almost exclusive magicians of The Order, and the members of this branch are the ones that form 'The Council' within The Order, receiving missives directly from Heaven to aid their tasks.

While The Order has a relatively low number of active members at all times, to ensure no suspicions ever arise, they maintain a close watch for those that have close enough ties or are of their bloodline and have not been introduced. Every branch of The Order is expected to do this, no matter their function.

It is also very important for all of them to have a very religious lifestyle, at least in private. Given many abilities greatly depend on their faith and how it channels magic, the belief in God and Heaven is not only spiritual, but practical. While different ideologies do indeed diverge, Faith in the Holy Kingdom only has subtle differences within The Order and, unlike in public cultural life that is Earth, does not devolve into massive fights or dissonances.

Lack of faith however, is a very different matter, and may require 'interventions' within The Order to fix, or the member may be pulled away from both public life and service to ensure no tainting comes to pass. In the worst possible case, it may require a more permanent solution if a crisis of faith leads to the divergence from a member away from God's embrace. As proven by Ouroboros, the very real threat of ending in Hell, and entering service under a powerful demon, whether hellborn or Sinner, is a danger well worth the sacrifice in the eyes of The Order and virtually all members, even those whose faith is being shaken.

Sometimes all these problems and certain circumstances require new blood to be brought in. Planned marriages and literal centuries' worth of planning goes into the induction of new members by mixing their blood with certain families chosen for that particular bloodline. A slow and methodical process, as well as highly invasive, but necessary for the constant survival of The Order, this is only initiated when The Council considers the necessity to be critical to everyone's survival. It is also not started as a 'lone' process, and instead hundreds of new bloodlines are attempted, for many will fail and many among The Order will be lost in the attempt as their life will be tied to the outside, 'normal' world, instead of The Order.

As such The Council within The Order is not a small organism. At least one member of every bloodline is always present. One that, despite the bloodline's mandatory position within The Order, was born with enough power to be part of the Cogitans branch. While unity is not any more common than with other government bodies, the need for a greater good and a clear view of the dangers truly present in the world makes The Council a much more capable, and dangerous, body than most other political organizations. It is only The Order's necessarily small size, and the oath to involve themselves as little as possible in the regular goings of Earth unless necessary, that leaves them as a largely harmless player on the board.

However, there is one thing that The Order holds above all else in the material world. The Motto that they have held sacred since its inception and what guides them.

Caelum Voluntatem

Verba Divinitatis

Gloria Deo

Which translates to.

Heaven's Will.

Words of Divinity.

Glory to God.

While the meaning behind the words has changed a little, the common consensus within The Order sees this old motto to have this meaning:

Heaven's will is absolute, for the words that descend from the Holy Kingdom are those of the divine, thus they bring glory to God.

To The Order all else is meaningless: Their teachings come from the mouths of angels and their Patriarch, Adam. Their duty is to serve the Holy Kingdom until their death to pay for their sins, and women are the ones to serve and risk the most to atone for being tempted first in the eyes of Creation.

Modern morals, beliefs and almost anything else are not important within The Order. Only the word of God and service to Him. Self sacrifice is an honor, and straying from the path is a danger not only for you, but your soul, far more so than for Sinners themselves, now in Hell. This does not mean they will willingly break society rules left and right, but if at any time this is necessary… there are few things that would stop The Order, other than death itself of course.

As such, if you ever find enmity within The Order, for you did something you shouldn't, just remember to keep calm; You will only need to run so long as you are alive. And that time will be shorter than you think.