The Vanguard
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Contents
Who They Are
The Vanguard is an organization of a powerful, but unused legion of Anti Demon/Undead/Criminal fanatics bent on the destruction of said enemies. Most of the things they do is morally questionable, but they get the job done and make living a lot easier for the innocents. The Vanguard has one of the highest survival rates of any army in history, losing a fraction of troops a year, rarely many.
The Vanguard recruits anyone and everyone, even exiles of their enemies.
What you want is the fanatical anti-demon/undead/crime organization. They are not well known in Millennium City, as their arrival was recent. But many files can still be read due to their presence in other cities. Most are notes with horrific drawings, representations of things that the Vanguard either fights... or even stranger, that they may even recruit. Whispers in the dark can reveal that the Vanguard recruits it's own enemies if they are devoted to correcting their ways.
The Vanguard may sound like a legit organization at first glance, but further research may reveal their motives are unclear, their tactics... a bit morally flawed. Not only do they recruit demons into their service, but their raids never end well. The Vanguard do not underestimate their enemies, and they send entirely too much into battle which leads to their high victory and survival rate. The Vanguard are very dangerous, bloody, violent and dark in their ways. While Ebon Vanguard are simply a resistance to the charr insurgents, The Vanguard has resistances going against them.
The Vanguard resembled a heightened empire at it's peak. With billions of soldiers and counting every day due to powerful summoners and monster creators. Their Symbol is merged with the triangle of the Eu'Sou (Which is a research topic all their own) and Resembles an ornate "V".
However, those numbers currently count for nothing as the gate system they use to transport their troops from other realms, planets, or cities... Are currently sabotaged.
What They Do
The Vanguard have One Primary Enemy and Two secondary enemies. And in this exact order or importance and threat, they go like this:
Demons
Undead (Vampires and Ghosts mostly)
Criminals
In the past years, Demons as a threat have lessened but Vampires have become, as M puts it, "increasingly annoying". Because of this, the Vanguard have currently diverted their full attention on the undead. It didn't hurt that M came into the Vanguard stating his severe hatred for their kind. He calls them leeches of the living and thinks they should find a realm all to themselves, or die. Since they never retreat, M figures they voted for the "Kill Us Please" option. (He has an odd sense of humor).
Criminals weren't always on the list of enemies. M added it when he came into power. He figured they were the same as Vampires, but instead of being leeches for blood, criminals were the cause of degredation to the human condition and calls them "leeches of society", among other things.
How They Do It
The Vanguard have nearly unlimited resources and just about as many soldiers, armies, and allies. M himself came into the Vanguard with a pile of technology and allies. Included were his own created subrace, Eu'Sou, whom he mended with the Vanguard itself, making two armies into one.
M does not assault his enemies on one front. He has infused one of his abilities (The power to hop between different realms and planes of existance) into dark gates that are able to traverse into different realms.
They work from a Main Hub, which is, what one could call the Vanguard Source, their own personal realm. It is where Vanguard soldiers and technology are made, trained, and sent out. It is a dark, central metropolic that includes a series of cities that each have a seperate function.
The Main gate however, is used to transport between each of these realms. It's nothing more than an airport-like stream of paths that lead around to realms and even many different locations within those realms.
(( This is how I am able to roleplay the Vanguard and certain characters on different games. ))
Not only do they have human soldiers, but they also have longterm summoners who are able to bring about controlled demons and creatures, which nearly doubles the already massive amount of soldiers the Vanguard currently has.
Why They Do It
M has a different outlook on how his military should run. From the human volunteers to the summoned creatures, each have the permission to have their own personality. If they encounter something they do not like, they can quit. Or they can further serve the Vanguard.
Each member of the Vanguard are unique and are given free reign with their personality. The only condition is, in M's words, "Do not bring your drama on the battlefield." That is all he asks. M believes that personalities and emotions save lives more than end them. And the Vanguard's very low death-rate confirms that philosphy.
Every soldier has something different to offer to the Vanguard. Because of this, M has inspired loyalty within his armies instead of fear, regardless of his intimidation of appearance. They are even allowed to explore romance within the ranks. (As long as the one rule is respected, M does not care.)
Therefore, every Vanguard soldier has a different reason of being there. Some respect the survival rate more than other militaries. Some feel they were wronged in the past and want back at the demons or whatnot. Some had their family members killed by the types of enemies that the vanguard hunts.
It varies with everyone.
Divisions
Mystics
Pertains to magical powers and other magics. This division runs the Vanguard's mages and summoners. Also persues knowledge on everything magic. This is debateably the lifeforce of the Vanguard, as they include themselves in every aspect to make them extremely powerful. Magic is employed in almost everything, even the technology.
Physics
Pertains to the of the Vanguard's soldiers including bio-engineering and enhancement. This regards to the powerful Eu'Sou gene that all soldiers are given after recruitment. It branches out a little, but that's the simple version. This Division very often overlaps and cooperates with Mystics.
Architecture
Pertains to base expansion and housing for personnel. A rather simple division. This often relates to Vanguard-run towns and cities being built on various realms.
Arms
Very simple division. Pertains to all Vanguard-Tech and weapons. Includes all technology, not just offensive. Sometimes overlaps and cooperates with Mystics.
Culture Preservation
The Vanguard encounters various enemies bent on the destruction of entire civilizations. This newly implimented division (and thus, the smallest and least prioritized) is dedicated to preserving entire cultures that may have been damaged or set back by the Vanguard's enemies (or themselves)
Who's Telling Them To Do It
How He Got Leader
Even with M's extensive age, he was not the original leader of the Vanguard. The Vanguard, even though younger than M himself, has had a series of past leaders. They were often long-lived and Vampires were purposesly put under Command for it, even though the Undead are one of the Vanguard's primary enemies.
M is the most recent and possibly final leader of the Vanguard. He overruled yet another Vampiric leader, but by his own will, growing old and tired of being the Commander to the genocide of his own kind.
It was a simple event and did not involve much drama (What a concept, lack of drama...)
While M uses the Vanguard for it's true purpose, he often deviates to suit his own needs and destroy personal enemies.
Where He Came From
M was not born a god. He wasn't even born immortal. He earned abilities and power as he muddled throughout his forty-thousand years of life.
He was actually created, not even born. He was an experiment, created in a large tube, a controlled Fortification on Xantoa. (Another explanation entirely). Their mission was to create the ultimate warrior.
Their mission statement gave an explanation on how two-sided all stories are. To general society, it is either Good. Or Evil. They theorized about a third side, a third party that should not exist in those stories. One who is evil by nature but fights for Good, no matter the cost.
They Succeeded.
M has slaughtered millions with little innocent casualty but even the innocents he claims to defend, forsake him and his methods.
Yes, this summbitch is overpowered. A bit of Trivia: This character originated back when I was like, six years old. He was built as my defense against Nightmares and evolved into what you just read about. He was not built to be roleplayed, he was built to give the basis and backstory of the Vanguard.
Recruitment
The short version is this; The Vanguard is an army that is largely anti-undead/demon. That's the bare bones of it. They're known to be fanatical in their goals but brutally efficient while having a very high survival rate. (Basically, they're trained to avoid every pitfall one would see in horror movies.)
What's Acceptable? (Species-wise)
Now, it's a human-dominated Army that takes advantage of what is called the "Eu'sou" Gene, something every soldier gets once they get above "recruit" rank. It effectively triples a standard lifespan, where if they don't die on the battlefield, most Eu'Sou humans will live up to 300 years.
By the way, Fanaticism not required. In my lore, most soldiers don't even mind the existence of vampires or whatnot. For the most part, they just treat it like a job. Hell, my first day of RP, I got 2.5 people to hate my character because of this. So the level of dislike of the Vanguard's enemies is entirely up to you.
Speaking of which, Demons/Vampires/Undead are actually allowed in the Vanguard. However, they have to impress 1 of 2 of my characters, one is an easier sell than the other, but you must interact with both at some point.
How can you join?
It varies wildly. For the Vanguard's enemies to join it, they mostly need a reason beyond "I think it'll be cool". Dark past, perhaps? Betrayed by your own kind? Personal disgust with oneself? Any of these things would do, and there's plenty of reasons out there for a renegade demon.
But remember, they are treated like second class citizens in the Vanguard. They are heavily regulated and spied on through most of their employment. So if your character slips (Vampire biting a human, Succubus draining a victim, etc) then they'll be forcibly removed from the Vanguard, mostly via death. Of course nobody has a right to kill other's characters... But I do expect you to find your tailor and remove whatever uniform you chose to use.
But anyway, back to "Recruitment". You'd most likely have to speak to Kyna Vance, the top operative. She has a dislike of vampires in particular, as her job dictated that she saw things they did when they thought nobody was watching. (And that encompasses much more than sexual encounters). But she can be convinced a bit more easily than the Madgod.
If you wish to take the harder, but more solid road, there's Madgod Matthias, the Supreme Commander of the Vanguard. Why is this more solid? Well, convincing him would more easily cement your place in this Lore. He's a 70,000 year old God so very little gets past him, he'd know if your demon/undead character was being insincere.
(Hint: Don't talk back to his various insults towards a demon/undead character... That'll take off points from Vanguard Membership. Just grit your teeth and bear it)
Which is another thing; Membership not promised. I may give you an ingame invite before we actually do an introduction RP, but that does not mean you'll be kept. Normal gkicking rules apply, use common sense. (Treating members like shit, being a general dickbag, raiding the vault, Character screwing up, etc.)
Requirements?
Not many, other than an IC interview. I expect proper spelling and punctuation. I don't mind typo's (I seem to typo a lot in this game, my fingers go faster than the chat function), but I don't want to see smilies or shorthand IC.
I can only give emphasis to the costume. Please note, something somewhat realistic (See screenshot above. Despite half those people not being human, most of them look moderately normal), and something that makes sense for the "job" you are applying to. Not everyone is a superman that deflects bullets, and bullets are an occupational hazard, so dress appropriately.
There's probably other things to cover... As I said, this is an old, old concept.
If you have any questions, give me a poke.
