DARKVERSE
FACTIONS
Dive into the Factions of DRKVRS
Each month, a new chapter unveils, spotlighting the DRKVRS factions. As you immerse in their stories, take the 'Choose Your Faction' quiz — a gateway to finding your true alignment in this sprawling metaverse. Your journey into the heart of DRKVRS begins here.
TECHNOGNOSTICS
SEE THE PATTERN
RAZE THE REAL
BRAVE YOUR MIND
RAZE THE REAL
BRAVE YOUR MIND
Their true goal is to learn the nature of Leviathan.
Neither the asceticism of a warrior nor excessive consumption is of any interest to them.
Neither the asceticism of a warrior nor excessive consumption is of any interest to them.
Technognostics are preoccupied with exploring the place they found themselves in, building various implants, and analyzing artifacts. Knowledge is their main weapon.
The hero of this exceptional story turned out to be Seth. He was the Voice. He would listen to the Vision’s messages and interpret them. Babalon was still young then, but laxity was beginning to mark their traditions, and Seth disliked this. His heart yearned for the hard times.
The main goal of the Technognostics is to discover Leviathan’s secrets and to bring the Beast under their control.Meanwhile, the Vision was delivering her prophecies in a hedonistic spirit. She urged the construction of the Hall of Pleasure and Pain: a huge building where every delight and every perversion would be fulfilled. She was calling for the more robust extraction of Blood of God — not for the purpose of creating new inventions, but for the sheer pleasure of consuming it.
Seth presented his interpretations in contradiction to the Vision’s teachings. This sudden change in the Vision’s position the turn away from hedonism got the Officials thinking. They began to spy on Seth. One of the spies infiltrated the chamber where the Vision always stayed. Seth found him there and killed him. He hid the body. He now understood, however, that the noose around his neck was tightening. The Officials of Voice and Vision would soon see through his lies.
Seth had another problem, too. It seemed that the Vision, weakened by copious amounts of Blood of God, would soon depart this life. This would also mean death for the Voice. Until then, every Voice had cared for the Vision as well as they could for their own sake. Seth dared to do what no one else before him had even considered. He murdered the Vision, committing the worst sacrilege in Hedonist history. It bought him time. He slipped away amidst the ensuing chaos, taking with him as much knowledge as he possibly could.
He disappeared for many years, then returned in glory as the leader of a new faction — the Technognostics. His successors understood that relationship with the Hedonists could be useful. The Hedonists had money, while the Technognostics had knowledge. Thanks to this, the Hedonists could lead their pleasant and increasingly a comfortable lives while the Technognostics got resources to carry out experiments and further projects, including the greatest one of all.
The main goal of the Technognostics is to discover Leviathan’s secrets and to bring the Beast under their control.
HEDONISTS
I EVEN I WHO
CONQUERED THE FLESH
A SLAVE TO TIME
CONQUERED THE FLESH
A SLAVE TO TIME
Pleasure is essential - but the greatest delight is Power. Hedonists are proud and selfish, yes, but also genuinely brave and willing to take risks. They are also cruel social Darwinists who believe that victory belongs to the fittest, and whoever wins is objectively the best, chosen by reality.
Psychology of aristoi. The meaning of their life is pleasure.
Hedonists are having fun, but they don't lose themselves in this fun entirely – they enrich themselves, speculate, and enjoy it all.
In those days, the Hedonists were not Hedonists. Quite the contrary, they led an austere, hard life, and Fearless exceeded all of them in his asceticism. He would incessantly exercise his body, mind and will. He had never loved anyone. In his whole life, he apparently only smiled once as he slit the throat of the overthrown Ancient.
When he stumbled upon the dying Ancient in the underground, and the Ancient gave him the first Blood of God, Fearless ordered him to be kept alive. They talked. The Ancient was the only living being with whom Fearless ever developed a close relationship.
Fearless was tasked with writing down every one of their conversations. The resulting verses were lost. It is said that excerpts of them can be found. But are they all real? Or perhaps the Haematic Verses never existed?
When the Ancient died, the aged Fearless disappeared underground for a long time. There, he consumed powdered Blood of God and experienced pleasure for the first time in his long life.
Hence, the Hedonists commemorate him. He gave them their beloved city. He was also the first to be Baptized into Pleasure.
BARBARIANS
YOU KNOW ME BECAUSE YOU FOUGHT ME
MY FRIEND MY ENEMY MY PARAGON
AGAINST THE OUTSIDE DARK
MY FRIEND MY ENEMY MY PARAGON
AGAINST THE OUTSIDE DARK
Followers of the philosophy of tribal honesty. "WE," "FOR US," "BY US." Always keep your oaths – never forsake vengeance.
The only value a man can show is in combat. Your worst enemy is also your closest blood brother.
Their true destiny, only love, and sweet duty is to battle.Babalon has always been threatened by what lurks in the interior outside the city - it's the task of Barbarian clans to be ready for what comes out of the darkness. They were the ones who built the fortifications in the city, although they aren't in the best condition these days. Babalon hasn't faced external enemies for a long time, and irritation creeps into Barbarians' minds.
Despite that, they're constantly training with different weapons, both ancient and the most technologically advanced, and building alliances. All to be ready. It doesn't mean there are no tribal quarrels and disputes between their clans, quite the contrary. That's why other Factions consider them real "barbarians", and both fear and despise them a little.
Gratitude – as always – comes only when another wave of enemies arrives from outside the city and it turns out that there is only one line of defense between them and the inhabitants of Babalon. A line made of Barbarians and their weapons.
They are divided into clans, the most important of which are:
Clan Flaviat – the oldest clan, open to cooperation with Hedonists. The informal Babalon police.
Clan Druzdik – a clan that doesn't cooperate with anyone but other Barbarian clans
Clan Clean / Clan of the Clean – its members don't accept the Blood of God in any form as they keep their bodies unsullied. It's also the most technologically advanced clan among the Barbarians.
Clan Wild / Clan of the Wild – their main goal is to banish Hedonists and take control over Babalon.
NOMADS
ONE IN ALL
ALL IN ONE
A MAN IN BETWEEN
ALL IN ONE
A MAN IN BETWEEN
The extremely individualistic Nomads don’t form a typical Faction – when in need of cooperation, they form ad hoc Confederations, which are more fluid and often change.
Even just two Nomads united by a common goal are already a Confederation. However, even amongst Nomads, there are alliances of long-lasting traditions.
Nomads belong nowhere. They don't form clans, groups, or marriages. For the greatest enemy of one's freedom is someone else's freedom. Thus every Nomad's enemy is another human being, regardless of their Faction, even another Nomad.
However, freedom has a price. To make a living, Nomads take on various tasks, the most important of which is obtaining the Blood of God. They do it in three ways: extraction, robbery, and theft. In the interior outside Babalon, they also hunt beasts, which are then made to fight in the city's arenas.
That's why Nomads mostly stay outside of Babalon – in the city they prefer to occupy the outskirts, peripheries, and suburbs. Survival became not only their primary goal, but also a form of art they mastered.
