ENOCH: the Wandering City
Raise the dagger, Abraham,
And slit the throat ov thy only son.
History: the early history of Enoch has been, for the most part, lost in the abyss of time, and what remains is shrouded in myth and legend: the earliest tales narrate of a city founded upon the corpse of a bloody sacrifice, and of ancient malediction bestowed upon a fallen king, still haunting the halls of Enoch. The first records come from an age when the clans and tribes of old were already well estabilished, and the Giants dragging the city forward in its ceaseless motion had long started their restless toil. For endless ages, the hundreds of petty clans and warlords fought over the ruins of the already long fallen Enoch, as it wandered land after land, bringing its curse with it. From the bloodshed, eleven cabals emerged victorious, and saved the city from oblivion by creating the Council of the Eleven, thus giving Enoch a semblance of internal peace. Then, the city looked outwards to sustain itself, as many of the Giants dragging it forward had already died or were about to do so, and thus the warriors of Enoch rode out for the first time to give the city what it desperately needed: slaves, and sacrifices. Hundreds of thousands of slaves, taken from the populations of the land where Enoch was roaming, were yoked together with what remained of the Giants, and the city kept moving, as it endlessly shall; and many others were slain on the altars of the ruined temples, to feed the ancient Heart that keeps the city from being destroyed by divine wrath.
General Description: Enoch is a city kept in motion by the perpetual work of an immense population of slaves, among which are the mourning Giants of the ancient past, dragging it forward; an horrendous curse looms perpetually over Enoch, and to stave off its end the inhabitants believe that they have to perform human sacrifice in order to feed the only thing, referred to as the Heart, that does not allow Enoch to fall under the wrathful gaze of God. The nature of the Heart is unknown, as it was lost to memory a long time ago: many believe it to be an immensely powerful demon, while some think it as an ancient contraption devised in an ancient past. Yet, all agree that it must be fed blood and souls. Thus, as the city wanders around ceaselessly, cursed by divine fury, its inhabitants ride out from its gates, to enslave the local population either to add it to the Yokes, or to sacrifice one on its decrepit shrines. Enoch is immense, and much of it lies in ruin: in fact, only a small part of it is inhabited and explored, while the deeper parts of it, known as Sitra Achra, are uncharted, and none knows what horrors lurk there.
Places of Enoch: the known region of Enoch hosts some buildings of great importance to the city.
The Hall of Bones: in this large hall, the Council of the Eleven meets, to govern the city and direct its movements. It is ancient custom that dead council members are left to die alone in here, when nearing the end of their life, and once found dead, their bodies are never moved from where they fell: thus, much of the hall is covered in crumbling bones.
The Throne of the Forgotten King: a vast, ancient room, with a great stone throne at its centre. Once, a great king sat here, and it is said that as a king longs for its lost throne, so a throne longs for the lost king.
The Ashen Tower: in this ancient iron tower, those citizens who were found guilty of a crime are locked up, awaiting their sentence. Each year, the tower is set ablaze in a great ritual, and thus the souls of the guilty find redemption. Their screams echo ceaselessly in the nearby corridors.
The Black Sun Gate: the eastern gate of the city, used only during solar eclipses. Such events are foretold with great precision by the Cocytus cabal, and are believed to be a time when the acts of man are hidden from the eye of God. Thus, the warriors of Enoch ride out in huge numbers and commit acts of inhuman atrocity: they also say that in these times the beat of the Heart can be heard distinctly in silence, but the few who tried to listen to it went mad after a few moments.
The Shrine of the Evil Eye: a dark and almost forgotten room, where a bound demon, in the form of a great eye, restlessly searches for those who betrayed him. To this day, it writhes, and writhes...
The Eleven Cabals: the society of Enoch is divided between eleven cabals, each ruling over a different aspect of the city's life. They are:
Abaddon: the most numerous and powerful of cabals, and the one counting the most warriors among its ranks. Its insigna are a black banner and a red inverted pentagram. Highly martial in nature, its members are taught that death in battle is the only way to escape the curse of Enoch: their representative in the Council, ruling the clan with the title of Dark Lord, obtains his position by slaying his predecessor in duel.
Gehinnom: the second most numerous cabal, Gehinnom is composed of scouts and riders, who sally forth from the city's gates to neighboring lands, in order to find places ripe with slaves to capture. They also oversee the Yokes, and are entrusted with quelling eventual slave revolts. Their insigna is a red horned skull, and their representative, the Silent Lord, is named after the death of his predecessor: he is never allowed to touch another mount in his life, other than the one he personally created, sewing together the bodies of captured slaves in a twisted shape.
Babalon: composed mostly of females, the Babalon cabal rules over the social aspects of Enoch, and administers the inns, taverns, brothels and whorehouses of the city. Its insigna are a red crescent moon on a white banner. Their representative, the Great Whore, has been ruling over the cabal for longer than recollection, and is said to perform horrendous rites to mantain her facade of eternal beauty and youth.
Sulphur: made up of the city's magicians and alchemists, the Sulphur cabal's mansions are to provide the warriors of Enoch with chemical concotions such as explosives, healing potions, poisons, and the like. Its insigna is a black leviathan cross. The leader of the Sulphur cabal, the Highest Magus, is perenially awake and vigilant, his twisted, mutated body aching and bleeding at every movement: such is the price of meddling with posions and cursed potions for a lifetime.
Cocytus: the smallest of the eleven cabals, Cocytus is made up solely of priests and prophets, tending to the city's many temples and shrines, and overseeing the sacrifices. Its insigna is a red inverted cross. Its representative in the Council is the Second Hierophant, gifted with immortal life: yet, there was a first, but few know what happened to him.
Behemoth: a relatively small cabal, Behemoth is another predominantly martial clan: however, its members are rarely seen on the field of battle, and only ride out in full force when Enoch itself is directly threatened. In fact, the warriors of the Behemoth cabal manage the vast gunpowder arsenal of the city, built long ago, and often mounted on great beasts of burden, capable of shaking the Earth with pillars of fire. Its insigna is a red flame in a circle, and its representative in the council is the Lord of the Pit, forever surrounded by an aura of brimstone and flames.
Tzalmavet: the Tzalmavet cabal, the numbers of which are unknown, is made up of assassins and spies operating in the shadows when brute force isn't the only thing needed to achieve Enoch's goals. It is by far the most secretive of the cabals, and its insigna is simply a plain black banner. The Death Shadow, representative of the cabal in the Council, is a very mysterious figure: some theorize that a different Tzalmavet member takes up the mantle of the Death Shadow every time the Council meets.
Tartaros: Tartaros is the cabal which is tasked with the creation and mantainance of all things made of metal in Enoch, from simple tools to weapons, armors, and mechanic contraptions. Sometimes, the Tartaros smiths go to battle to test their own creations, often appearing as warriors clad in towering warmachines, crushing their foes beneath their metallic limbs, saws, claws, and whatever their cruel creativity manages to attach to their children of metal. Its insigna is a black hand coming from a flame, and its leader is the Forged One, who devised arcane means to replace his flesh with iron, achieving immortality.
Hekate: a medium sized cabal, Hekate is composed of the magicians and wizards of the city, often seen in battle with other soldiers. The magicians of Enoch are divided in two cabals: the priests of Cocytus, who worship the Heart and the demonic pantheon, and the wizards of Hekate, who seek to understand and dominate them. This pursuit led to many tensions between the two clans, and to the madness of many Hekate magicians, who tried to dabble with powers far beyond their understanding. The banner of Hekate is an open book, and its representative, the Abyssdweller, is a mysterious figure even to Hekate members.
Usiel: the Usiel cabal is another rather small one, but has a very important task: to patrol the outer borders between the known region of the city and Sitra Achra, the uncharted ruins, and stop whatever might attempt to cross them. Many Usiel veterans have seen things that have caused the death of many, and the madness of many more. Its insigna is a white sword, and its leader, the Solemn Vigilant, is the oldest of the Usiel warriors.
Therion: the Therion cabal, together with Abaddon and Gehinnom, forms the backbone of Enoch's armies, taking the role of heavy cavalry. In fact, it is their task to breed and tame the wild beasts (mainly Hellhounds and Titans, and occasionally Wyverns) which will be later used as mounts in battle: those who fail or show cowardice are usually employed as feed for these animanls. The insigna of the Therion is a black raised talon, and its leader is the Blood Knight: all those who tried to contest his authority were added to the collection of bones hanging from his massive Hellhound.
Sh'ol: the many who die before choosing a cabal are symbolically added to the ranks of the Sh'ol cabal, composed only of dead people. It has no insigna, and its leader is the Effigy: a statue of stone and ash sitting since ancient times at the Council Table, without uttering a word. Yet, sometimes strange scribblings and signs appear on the statue's empty face, almost as if it wanted to speak...
It should be noted that male citizens of Enoch only choose a cabal well into their adulthood, and some even do not pick one for their whole lives. Females, on the other hand, usually either remain without a cabal or join the Babalon, but there are a few exceptions. Joining a cabal is an event usually marked by some kind of initiation ritual or test: for example, new Gehinnom members have to wear the still bloody skull of their first captured prisoner, to keep it as a mask for whenever they ride into battle, while Tartaros members have to sever one finger of their choice to be replaced by a piece of red-hot iron, deeply burrowing into their flesh.
The Beasts of Enoch: in ancient times, the city's people domesticated a few species of hellish animals, apart from more common ones like horses and dogs, and the Giants of old. They are Hellhounds, huge canine beasts that easily surpass a man in height and can be used as mounts in battle, Titans, degenerate Giants, often used by the Behemoth as walking platforms for their massive cannons, and Wyverns, ancient dragons currently counting less then a dozen living specimens, ridden only by the greatest of warriors.
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