The BEAST of GÉVAUDAN
A partir de ce jour
jusqu'à ce qu'ils viennent me chercher
ils ne me briseront pas
ni me broyer.
un début dans le sang
Thordan I's twelve knights are heralded as heroes for the creation of the Ishgardian state; for protecting the fledgling theocracy from the cruel onslaught of the dread-wyrm Nidhogg; for providing the foundation of the Holy See's ruling system. Half their number gave their lives to aid Thordan I in his battle against Nidhogg. Though the king's son Haldrath forsook his claim to the throne, he left the running of Ishgard to his remaining four brothers-in-arms. The progenitors of Ishgard's four noble houses led the city-state to thrive in relative success.Ishgardian children know well this tale of Ishgard's creation, and of the heroes it espouses. Yet only in whispers and rumors do they hear of Ser Jeanne de Gévaudan, whose role was no less integral. As Haldrath forsook the throne, Ser Gévaudan forsook the chance to form a high house. Rather, she helped her former brothers-in-arms from the shadows; she struck black marks from their records, refusing anybody the chance to question their authority.She knew her duty would endure so long as the Holy See did; when she heard of a noble highborne siring a child and having no use for the babe, she offered a place amongst her halls for the bastard. She raised these discarded castaways to follow in her footsteps; what she knew, she passed onto them. In this way, she ensured that any noble's offspring whose blood was sullied by a commoner's would have a place in Ishgard.And thus, her Beast had awoken.
un présent dans l'ombre
The Beast grew over the ages, though it never lost sight of its true duty as a weapon of Ishgard's nobility. Though the members within changed, they all were raised with the same lesson: they were dogs at the beck-and-call of their betters. Its existence is a well-kept secret amongst the highborne, though the lowborne whisper of it in secret. They tell each other it's just a myth, a boogieman meant to keep them in line. But when one of their children with dubious parentage disappears from their crib, the lowborne are left with only cold speculation as comfort.Nowadays, the Beast is a well-oiled machine. It trains its own recruits in a variety of different fields ranging from spywork and subterfuge to assassination and political machination. More than a group of petty criminals, the Beast is a tool of power. Those nobles who wield it well can expect their influence to grow exponentially, leaving their competitors (in other words, the Beast's victims) to wither away in blissful irrelevance.Though the barriers between nobility and commoners are dissolving in the wake of the Dragonsong War, there is still yet a need for the Beast; bastards will continue to be born, nobles will continue to make bids for power, and the Beast will continue to lurk in the dark.
out of character
We are a casual-medium RP FC located on Seraph. We plan to host events with arching plots for our members once we're a bit more established. Our base of operations is Empyreum Ward 7, Plot 42. We're a close-knit group that has as much fun OOC as we do IC. If you need an antagonistic group for your character's backstory or plotline, the Beast is there for you!
les couronnes cachées
| Eyes | The ruling body of the Beast, the Eyes are a small council of secret members. Their identities are protected, and nobody outside of their number may know how they operate. They make all of the major organizational decisions for the group, handle punishments, and keep watch for potential threats to the Beast. |
| Non-Dit | The spokesperson for the Eyes, the Non-Dit is the facilitator between the Eyes and the rest of the Beast. This position is held only by one person, also considered an Eye, whose task is both to communicate the Eyes' decisions to the rest of the Beast, and to coordinate with potential clients. |
| Fangs | An exclusive section of the beast's members, the Fangs are the notorious assassins. Their training is the most strenuous, and their services are the most expensive, usually saved for major political ploys between houses. The Eyes handpick exemplary members of the Claws to join this small number. Once chosen, the Fang-to-be undergoes a "shadowing" period underneath another Fang the Eyes choose, until both that Fang and the Eyes agree that the Claw is ready to graduate. |
| Claws | The bulk of the Beast's body, the Claws specialize in spywork and subterfuge rather than killing. Their main job is to watch (and potentially eliminate) competition and threats to the Beast. To this end, these members will travel outside of Ishgard if needed. More rarely, they also handle non-lethal jobs such as kidnapping or "scaring" whoever a client needs, as their services are far cheaper than the Fangs'. |
| Pups | New recruits to the Beast, Pups are the members still undergoing training. Generally, they are young, anywhere from children to teenagers. New members to the Beast who undergo the "trial period" are also referred to as Pups. The process is built to weed out the weak; Pups often die or are injured during it, but still they endure. They have little other choice; the Beast is their only family now. |
| Viandes | Traitors to the Beast, viandes are fit only to be hunted and consumed. This title is bestowed only to those who have left the Beast and still live to tell the tale; they are considered traitors unfit to speak with. They are threats to the Beast's secrecy; for this reason, Claws are often sent to pursue known viandes and eliminate them. They know too much to be allowed to live. |
le credo de la bête
Even beasts follow the laws of nature, and Gévaudan's is no exception. Written by Ser Gévaudan herself, these laws are absolute and immutable; to break one is to betray the Beast. Those who do will be branded as a viande and punished in accordance with the Eyes' judgment.
Pray to the Fury before every mission
Speak to nobody of the Beast
Remain loyal to the Beast
Follow the word of the Eyes
Leave no witnesses
Complete any mission successfully
out of character
We're an easygoing and tight-knit group; while the Beast IC is unforgiving, we're very much the opposite! Despite this, we do have a few rules to keep the peace, but they all boil down to one main principle: don't be a jerk.
21+ space; given the dark topics the Beast deals with, we're uncomfortable with younger folks joining
RP is NOT real life; respect that a bond between characters is not a bond between the people behind them
If you use slurs, you will be kicked without warning (we recognize both f*mboy and f*ta as slurs, too)
LGBT+ space; allies are allowed but they're on thin ice
Make sure everyone who can see your ERP has consented to seeing it (i.e. no ERP in public channels)
If you mention ERP with a Lalafell in any capacity, you will be kicked without warning
Our violence is limited to murder; trying to RP potentially triggering topics (e.g. sexual violence) will not be tolerated
les chiots de la bête
The Beast primarily finds recruits in children resulting from a noble's indiscretions with someone of lower social status. However, it has also been known to take promising young recruits from the orphanages located throughout the Holy See. In both these cases, Claws are swapped out on a regular basis to raise these children into killers. In exceedingly rare circumstances, individuals of incredible talent and skill may seek admission by undergoing a harrowing trial process. Only once they have proven their absolute loyalty to the Beast may they graduate into a Claw.Training for each member is outsourced at times; while the majority are kept in Ishgard to study under the Beast's own members, certain exceptional recruits are sent to learn disciplines offered by other city-states. In this way, the Beast has a large amount of disciplines in its ranks, ensuring both that it has no single kill-style to tip anyone off to its existence, and that it's prepared for a multitude of scenarios.Due to these two pieces of information, the Beast is a conglomeration of many different skillsets and types of people. Members can be born or adopted into it, or they can seek to join by contacting the Non-Dit. Membership is exclusive and at times punishing—but if you come here, you have very few alternatives to begin with.
out of character
We consider applications from everyone, but reserve the right to reject any application without notice. If you don't hear from us within three days, consider your application rejected. If we have accepted your application, we will reach out to you on Discord (either Catboy Appreciator or take3) to offer you a link to our Discord server, for easier planning.Given the nature of the narrative, it's possible you will want to transfer an alt or make a new character to join. You may wait until after we've invited you to the Discord server to do so; there's no rush! Moreover, we also accept characters that may only "live" through tools like Anamnesis or Glamourer, in addition to ingame alts. We get it.As we aren't a heavy RP FC, we aren't looking for the most experienced RPers; beginners are welcome. Moreover, while the Beast as an organization is very dark, we won't tolerate any violation of our rules. Three strikes, and you're out.