Faction: The Order of the Timeless Peace

Overview

Centuries ago, a deranged wraith opened a portal from the Abyss directly into the Material Plane, loosing hundreds of thousands of hungry undead upon its unsuspecting residents. Amidst heavy casualties, a group of arcane scholars, warriors, and adventurers from across the Plane banded together and banished the Undead back to the Outlands and, eventually, to the Abyss from whence they came. The heroes decided to remain in the Outlands and take up residence in Sigil, where they would guard its many portals against inter-planar intrusions. Thus was born the Order of the Timeless Peace.

Initially established to protect the Material Plane from the Outer Planes, centuries of service have broadened the mission to one of general inter-planar security. Because the neutrality of the Outlands is vital to preserving balance in the multi-verse, war between the planes poses a threat not only to the locals, but to the ideological balance of all worlds (imagine the Material Plane, for example, if only chaotic evil deities existed). The Order finds itself ideally positioned to defend this balance, as most native Outlanders are too committed to neutrality to take the actions required for a greater peace. In the name of cosmic balance, the Order readily shoulders this burden and in return receives the goodwill -- and enmity -- of many in the Outlands.

Motto: "For the sanctity of the planes!"

Beliefs:

• The destiny of the Material Plane should not be determined by the eldritch Powers of the lands beyond.
• The separation of the planes is a deliberate and vital part of the Great Cosmology.
• The influence of the gods should be ideological rather than direct.'

Typical Quests: Typical Peacekeeper quests include hunting down a disguised demon in Sigil who is turning unsuspecting planar travelers into double agents, recovering a stolen artifact that opens a portal to the Material Plane, or slaying a power-mad aboleth that has illegally entered the Nine Hells to reclaim the lost souls of its brethren.

Organizational Structure

The Order of the Timeless Peace is led by a commander titled "The First Among Equals". The First Among Equals surrenders their name while leading the Order and answers to no other name. The First Among Equals leads the Order with absolute authority, as a general does an army, but there are significant checks on their power.

The First Among Equals serves at the discretion of the Common Council, which consists of the individual captains leading each pool of agents. The sole purpose of the Common Council is to appoint the First Among Equals, and the Council may appoint a new First Among Equals at any time. The captains, in turn, are appointed by vote from their agent pool. Similarly, agents may elect a new captain at any time.

Agents are organized into teams called pools, thought to be a reference to the color pools in the Astral Plane. Pools vary greatly in size, with the largest numbering nearly 100 agents and the smallest having two or three active agents at any time. Within a pool, all agents are officially of equal rank, although in larger pools, agents do tend to stratify their influence in terms of seniority, experience, and exploits. Agent pools need not be single teams or even cohesive units; rather, they represent the agents available to the pool's Captain for assignment to missions. In practice, smaller pools are often used to working together as a unit, while larger pools may have multiple cliques of brothers/sisters-in-arms and even their fair share of loners.

Pools and their captains are connected to the First Among Equals via an appointed liason known as a Voice. The primary purpose of a Voice is to relay messages and commands from the First Among Equals to agents in the field, wherever they may be. While magic handles most urgent communications within Sigil, agents in the Outlands may not be so readily reachable, even by spell. The Voices solve this problem by acting as daring couriers, carrying the commands of their leader wherever they must. Each captain is assigned to a Voice. Although the Voice doesn't individually have any authority over their captains, nor does the captain have any authority over them, and Voices are appointed by the First Among Equals. The position is often filled by powerful, experienced agents who preferred a life of solo adventure to one of leadership and glory.

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