Editing Dreamkeepers (section)

== Factions ==
There are 4 of them, currently. Along with a group of delinquent teens who belong to no Faction.

'''Nightmares:'''

[[File:Screen Shot 2021-02-14 at 8.59.21 PM.png|thumb|Nabonaidus, apparent Leader of the Nightmares.]]

The nightmares are most highly feared among all creatures which stalk the Dreamworld, and rightly so: for they are utterly unnatural. They do not fill an ecological niche, do not procreate and spread life, do not have any ancestry or native origin: they simply do not belong. Intruding from abstruse planes of existence, they impose their aberrant corporeal forms to one end: Destruction.

Specifically, the destruction of the dreamkeepers. Thirsting from beyond time to undo the tapestry of creation, they level their nihilistic vendetta against sentience wherever it may be found - and desire exceptionally to wipe humanity from existence.
As long as their dreamkeeper lives... A condition which the nightmares are only too eager to alter. Capable of unlocking human vulnerability with the premature murder of a dreamkeeper, their ultimate ends are far more ambitious in scope. Absolute eradication of every last dreamkeeper would leave all of humanity exposed, victim to the whims of the nightmares' nonexistant mercy.

Successfully seeding their presence in the Dreamworld aeons ago, they continually manifest there to fulfill this purpose. They can enter the Dreamworld at only one location - the fabled desolation of Bralgu, where they incubate within the twisted nest of evil, Malangi.
Nightmares do not know childhood - they coalesce within Malangi until they attain their completed physical form.

Though supernatural, their manifestations have certain limits. As individual entities, some nightmares possess more power than others, and that power can be developed in different ways as they gestate.

There are some rare reports of some Nightmares not holding any hatred for Dreamkeepers, and even some hybrids between the species existing, but nobody knows where they are.


[[File:Shock Trooper CCA Infographic.jpg|thumb|"For your Protection, and the safety of others." -CCA Propaganda]]
'''"The Citizens are a bunch of useful idiots." -CCA Guard Capitan'''

'''CCA (Central City Authority)''': [https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Tau Totally-not-Communist] SWAT-esc soldiers who are basically the 'Civil Protection Teams' of Anduruna. You guilty or innocent? Doesn't matter. If they wanna fuck you up, they will. Secretly being controlled by the Dark Dreamkeepers, heretical traitors who have pledged their souls and service to the vile Nightmares.

HIERARCHY:

CCA Platoon:
18 members

2 Squads of 8 men each.

2 Fireteams of 4 men each form each squad.

One member of each fire team is a Fire Team Leader, and one member of each squad is also the Squad leader.

1 Platoon Commander

1 Transportation officer to handle the Gnossus & troop carrier.

If multiple platoons are deployed their sergeants are commanded in the field by a Lieutenant.
District lieutenants are commanded by a district Major who generally does not deploy.
District Majors are under the command of the office of Guard Captain of Anduruna.

District Major offices have administrative staff, some of which may carry the rank of lieutenant even though they are not combat personnel.  These include liasons with local police forces, CCA detective units (distinct from local law enforcement), internal affairs, and various necessary bureaucratic positions.

The office of the Guard captain has administrative staff, some of which carry the rank of lieutenant or even colonel- placing colonels higher in rank than the Majors who command districts.  Various roles include those within the local district offices, and additional unnecessary bureaucratic positions due to constantly increasing annual budgets.

The shock troopers do not answer to local law enforcement or local civic bodies, and take their orders directly from the Central City Authority offices of the Guard Captain.  This said, district shock troopers work closely with local law enforcement by necessity- most local branches are prohibited from deploying lethal force or possessing lethal weaponry, with rare exceptions licensed after much paperwork- so the shock troopers are a necessary but unaccountable component of law enforcement at the local level.

Local law enforcement tends to be comprised of 'officers,' and the term 'officer' is often used colloquially for anyone in uniform / CCA combat roles.

Formal Titles:

Shock trooper:  Private

Fire Team Leader: Corporal

Squad Leader: Corporal

Platoon Commander: Sergeant (Colloquially: Commander)

Transportation officer:  Officer.

Field Commander: Lieutenant

District Commander: Major

Head of the CCA troopers:  Guard Captain.

Gnossus are numbered, and naming them is prohibited- although this rule is often ignored, and not strictly enforced.


'''"I DIDNT BREAK THE LAW, THE LAW BROKE ME!!!!" - Joker-esc Neon Knives member
'''
[[File:Screen Shot 2021-02-10 at 7.32.29 PM.png|thumb|Neon Knive Hideout. Basically just a mutant Underhive Gang.]]

[[File:Tekra.png|thumb|The Neon Knives members have no shame and no mercy.]]

'''Neon Knives:''' Hilariously over-the-top anarchists. Secretly protected by the CCA, because David Lillie thinks Anarchists are protected by the American Government or something. Not much to them. I guess you could call them the 'Suicide Squad' of Anduruna.

The Neon Knives are a band of delinquents and troubled individuals who act out against the law and take part in illegal activities. Many of its members seem to be Dark Dreamkeepers and are affiliated with Nabonidus, the closest thing the Nightmares have to a Leader. Established within a city as massive as Anduruna, with strict laws and conditions that may not always benefit everyone, naturally a gang like the Neon Knives would develop to accommodate those who hate the system and wish to do as they please. Whether it be graffiti on old abandoned buildings and outlets, vandalism in general, drug and fermentae abuse, participating in illegal Ryuu-Neko fighting, and of course the use of Powers.

What makes this particular group more dangerous is their ties to Nabonidus as their leader, O'Naicul, is a Dark Dreamkeeper. As such most of their members can be considered Dark Dreamkeepers as well. While at first glance the Neon Knives are mostly just random punks who only hang with each other to share in their similar desire to cause trouble and rise up against the system. However as many of them are well past adolescence, most are likely to have awoken their Powers, making them even more dangerous than usual. Many have Powers that are easily lethal to any they use it on, such as a Power that can cut through steel and flesh, or a Power that can spawn large solid objects that can puncture people. In addition to having many Power-users, they appear to have a large stockpile of weapons, similar to what the CCA Shocktroopers use.












[[File:Qxqy2zhdijwxjyrvqpvz.jpg|thumb|Terrorists or Resistance members? You choose.]]
'''"No step" -Snake-like Troika General'''

'''Troika:''' The semi-terrorist Resistance movement breeding (or should I say yiffing?) right under the CCA's snouts. A secret movement training its member in unlocking their psychic abilites to battle the CCA and the Nightmares.

Their structure is currently dispersed.  Prior to the start of Prelude, they had a more cohesive structure- but they were compromised, and the organization suffered catastrophic damage.

The survivors have rebuilt it- but in a different manner.  There are very few central characters with access to relevant information about local leaders- Scinter, Igrath.  They could be designated as generals.

Directly below them are lieutenants.  Characters like Vi, Bobby, Tia...   Local leaders.    After an initial training period, the lieutenants occasionally meet up at the remote bases for training exercises.   But never all the lieutenants at the same meeting- only Scinter and Igrath could list everyone.

The lieutenants then recruit more Troika members from their respective communities, and seed independent cells of operatives, trained by the lieutenants.  In addition to these cells are a number of direct operatives and sleeper agents recruited, one way or another, by Scinter, Nainso, and Igrath, riddling the CCA power structure.

The general Troika strategy is to train in secret and gather intel on Dark Dreamkeepers that have infiltrated the CCA- so, when the time arrives, they can execute simultaneous strikes to kill their antagonists, and take the Troika public to serve as a defense force against the oncoming Nightmares.

Once public, their plan is to implement a loose hierarchy of responsibilities among the lieutenants- one of the primary ones being to train citizens, en masse in the use of their powers, to create an army capable of repelling a large-scale nightmare assault.
 

'''Dark Dreamkeepers:''' 

'''"Violence will come to those who deserve it." -A Dark Dreamkeeper'''

[[File:Screen Shot 2021-02-04 at 5.50.01 PM.png|thumb|Some Nightmares and their Dark Dreamkeepers]]

[[File:E18e0BtXoAIL8X2.jpg|thumb|Don't cut yourself on all that edgyness.]]

Traitors to Dreamkeeper kind, they made a deal with the Nightmares to gain more power, in exchange for service to them. Its the usual Chaos thing. Far worse than being aligned against one another is when a dreamkeeper chooses to do the unthinkable... And align themselves with the nightmares.

The rare, feared 'dark dreamkeeper' can make this choice for any number of twisted reasons or convoluted rationales, but the result is always the same. Nightmares are all too eager to use any tool at their disposal in their ceaseless campaign against life, and a traitor is a prized weapon. There is no way to detect which dreamkeeper may be a conspiring malefactor, no telltale signature... Until it is too late.

In contemporary Anduruna, however, conflict with the nightmares is a mere memory - and the idea of a dark dreamkeeper fiction from bygone times.

This makes it easier for the chosen few to accomplish their tasks and slowly, surely prepare the city for the nightmare's long savored return to bloodshed.