Factions

The Ghost Hunters’ Union

 

            Ghost Hunters consider themselves the 'good guys', but the bar for Miridon has been set pretty low.

            As ghosts ravaged the land, there seemed like little hope as humanity retreated to domes in the far north. As the ghosts gained in power, it seemed certain that the world was to be destroyed. To the benefit of mankind, a man named Warren invented a type of bullet that could capture a ghost by trapping its spirit in a labyrinth inside the bullet. These puzzle bullets were the only thing capable of stopping the ghosts, and Warren together with several of his most trusted allies with whom he confided the secrets of ghost bullet creation became the founding members of the Ghost Hunters’ Union.

            The Ghost Hunters’ Union was a great blessing to the people of Miridon as they began to take back the lost land from the ghosts. The ghosts were forced back to the southern hemisphere, back to where the ghosts were so strong that even ghost hunters dare not venture. The towns bordering the ghost territory became known as Outer Rim towns. These towns that would normally eat any foreigner would welcome any ghost hunter and his or her companions with open arms. The GHU law was very clear on this matter:

1. Outer rim towns will reserve a permanent room for any ghost hunter in their town.

2. Ghost hunters in resident would fight off any ghosts that attack the town.

3. Should any ghost hunter die while in residence of the town, that town is blacklisted and no ghost hunter will ever visit the town again (effectively sentencing the town to death by ghosts).

 

The Empire

 

            In the far north, several towns banded together to form an empire. The empire is led by the emperor, a man who owned many elephants when Miridon first fell into the sun and gained great strength by consuming them and using them to buy forces. The emperor is considered the strongest person in the entirety of Miridon, and eats to his full almost every day. Rumors have it that the emperor is even strong enough to lift the whole planet of Miridon above his head, should he have something to stand on and the ability to grasp the planet.

            The empire has strict laws, many of which have a punishment that the criminal will be eaten by the arresting officer (with sufficient portions given to the emperor and other government officials). Because of this fact, the strong standing military of the Empire is known as the homicide division. These individuals form the strongest military force on Miridon, due to the massive amounts of food that they eat. Because of their vigilance, crime is very rare in the empire due to fear of death.

            The empire also maintains the only non-food currency in the world. The currency is known as pounds, and each pound corresponds to one pound of meat to be exchanged at the imperial banks.

            Despite the empire covering the northern part of the globe, they still suffer from ghost attacks occasionally, thus they formed the Imperial Order of Ghost Hunters. The IOGH is a division of the Ghost Hunters’ Union focused solely on protecting the empire. All IOGH members are part of both the empire and the GHU. IOGH members must follow imperial law, however, and can be executed should the empire convince the IOGH that they committed a crime via a fair trial. Should a ghost hunter die of mysterious causes, this is generally considered a grave offense which the homicide division investigates with the utmost priority.

           

The Empire vs. The Outer Rim

 

            While the empire and the outer rim both have draconian laws, a commoner can be relatively safe in both of the locations. Here is a quick comparison of the societies:

	Empire	Outer RimTown
Gaining Citizenship	Anybody can join the empire if they are approved by the immigration offices, but immigration is difficult unless the person is a ghost hunter or in the company of one	It is almost impossible to join a town after it is created
Punishment for Minor Crimes	A strict fine of imperial pounds is placed on the citizen, failure to pay is a major crime	The townie is banished from the town, no longer considered a citizen and forced to wander the outer rim, likely to his or her death
Punishment for Major Crimes	The individual is killed and eaten	The townie is killed and eaten
Sharing of food	Taxes of food must by paid to the government	Food is shared among the townies with a greater portion going to the town’s protectors
Ghost hunter treatment	IOGH Ghost hunters are provided a stipend of pounds for killing ghosts and are considered citizens	Ghost hunters and their companions are provided with a place to stay and security
Military Force	The Homicide division can defeat pretty much any other military force in the world	Each town has several protectors that are very strong and protect the citizens for a larger share of the food
Treatment of Outsiders	If a person is not a citizen of the empire, they are killed on sight and eaten when within imperial territory (past the immigration offices)	If a person is not a townie, they are killed on sight and eaten, unless the person is a ghost hunter or in the company of one

 

The Caravans

            Small groups of traveling individuals generally try to stick together on Miridon as that significantly increases their chances of survival or significantly greater then, with only the cost of sharing food. These groups are generally known as caravans. There are generally two types of such people: those that are not traveling with a ghost hunter and those that are.

            If a caravan does not have a ghost hunter among them, it is generally because they have not been able to apply to be a town protected by the GHU or they are remnants of a blacklisted town. In either case, they are constantly fleeing from ghosts and other towns. These caravans generally seek GHU protection, but if they are blacklisted, then they generally head to the empire for a small chance of protection.

            If a caravan does have a ghost hunter among them, then they are considered bodyguards of the ghost hunter. In return, the ghost hunter will kill any ghosts that attack the caravan. These caravans are accepted into towns (as temporary guests) and can quite easily become citizens of the empire. Should the ghost hunter fall in battle, the caravan is treated just like a town that lost its ghost hunter, and all members of the caravan are treated as blacklisted members of towns, and cannot have a ghost hunter guard them. In this case, they become like the aforementioned caravans.

 

The Church of Spiritualism

 

            The Church of Spiritualism argues that if we do exactly what the ghosts tell us to, they will leave us alone... and they are actually kind of right.  The Church is one of the only large organized religions in Miridon, as most religious people are seen as crazed ghost worshipers and promptly wiped out.  The Church of Spiritualism IS made up of crazed ghost worshipers, so maybe they have good cause to.  The Church follows the god-ghosts Angela and Issur, god-ghosts of physical and mental protection.  The Church fought with the Ghost Hunters to get Angela's soul in a massive war, which ended with Warren putting the

 

The Renegades

 

            Renegades think that they are the only ones who see Ghost Hunters as the non-perfect entities which they truly are.  They consider the 'system' broken, and in need of a fix.  Because they hate the Ghost Hunters so much, they consider anything the Ghost Hunters do either pure evil or hypocritical.  So they practice slavery, ghost possession, and many other acts which the Ghost Hunters forbid (for good reasons), along with welcoming all who are turned away from other factions and forgive transgressions.  They are almost anarchistic, but they do have a meritocracy based on how many Ghost Hunter badges collected.  The long time leader, Silicia the Bounty Hunter, holds the record of 53 Ghost Hunter badges, and seldom gives orders, but keeps some order in the Renegades.

 

The Horde

 

            The horde is a band of raiders that ride from town to town, attempting to destroy the town and loot the riches of the town. The sheer size of the horde is cause for concern, as they have joined together to better face enemies. The size of the horde is impressive, but most large cities are too strong to need to worry about an onslaught of the horde.