The faceless, an elite group of highly organized individuals bred, trained and governed with the sole purpose of maintaining nought but eternal loyalty to the second God of the church of the Twins; The God of death.
Although much is left unknown about the elusive group, It is speculated by reliable sources within the Sanctuary of Scrolls that members of the faceless are selected from among the believers of the Lord of Light (The first God of the church of the twins) presumably at very young ages.
After passing a mysterious selection process and training regime, they exit as calamitously efficient killers who see themselves rather as a part of a collective whole than just a sole individual, subservient only to the priestesses and prophetesses who are deemed as the messengers of the divine siblings and the bearers of their will.
Although there are still many who refuse to accept this theory as the truth of the matter among the nobility and even some members of the sanctuary of scrolls, there isn't much intelligence about the church of the twins and it's dreadful faceless, so the matter about the development of such an elite group still hangs up in the air and had become a major topic of debate among Udorian scholars.
The faceless though despite its elusive origins is still an infamous guild of killers acknowledged throughout the entirety of Udoris for their efficiency. Dreadfully specialized in espionage, impersonation, sabotage, infiltration and assassinations, they instilled fear in the hearts of the commonfolk and members of the aristocracies alike.
The church of the twins which oversees the development and management of the Faceless is still regarded as a highly volatile group of individuals, notorious for being uncontrollable and extremely willful. It is an organization that did things regardless of the cost, without considering the rules imposed by other powers as long as it is in line with their predetermined ambitions.
Their irrationality, unpredictability and willful nature resulted in them being considered undesirable by other powers in Udoris, some of which had tried various means to uproot the church over the many decades. But unsurprisingly such an endeavour has always instead met with failure and heavy retaliation from the faceless. This fact alone had over the years dissuaded other bodies of influence from actively seeking the church's ire unless meeting with a lack of alternatives but to directly confront them.
In fact, even if forced to directly confront the church most organizations would assume a diplomatic stance, preferring instead to avoid resorting to violence.
So while the church of the twins lacks a powerful army like any of the seven kingdoms or a large faith militant group like the Church of the Seven, they can stand on equal grounds among these giants with the backing of the faceless, because while they are relatively weak in a direct confrontation with any of these powers, none one can hope to sleep peacefully with those emotionless face changing killers eternally lurking in the dark.
...
Excerpt from Jonas Diane fourth book on Udorian powers- 'Religious Fallacies'
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At the fringes of...
Windy Fir Woodlands
Somewhere quite a distance from Maidenpool, an encampment sat hidden amongst the trees from prying eyes. Several structures laid arranged across the campsite with a few individuals busying themselves with chores or just standing at defensive positions.
Sixteen tents were strung up, fifteen smaller ones with the largest one situated in the centre of the campsite.
Asides from the tents there were several other structures erected like hitching posts for tethering horses, fire pits, and other campsite essentials. From how dug in the structures looked it was clear that they had been there for quite a while.
This camp was one of the hidden branches of the church of the twin gods spread out across the forests and mountain ranges of Udoris in all seven kingdoms away from the prying eyes of the rest of the world.
Constructed for the purpose of maintaining the church's affairs without alerting the kingdom's nobility to their presence, with over a hundred years of accumulate experiences.
Unsurprisingly the church of the twins had somewhat perfected the art of hiding in plain sight, evident from their outstanding feat of hiding a base of this size for such extended periods of time without being noticed by the residing nobility.
(Fluttering sounds)
*COO*
*COO*
The fluttering sounds of wings beating accompanied by a pigeon's coos spread across the campsite. A carrier pigeon had flown into the vicinity, perching itself on a crudely made roost.
A few of the masked men in the vicinity glanced briefly at the creature before looking away and going about their various tasks.
A short while later a young woman supposedly is in her late twenties with auburn hair and tan skin crawled out from one of the smaller tents, walking towards the grey pigeon.
Gracefully she reached, receiving the delicate animal in her palm. Reaching into her pouch she pulled out some grains to feed the creature.
After giving the messenger it's due, she reached into its pouch, pulling out a parchment scroll crafted before releasing the pigeon back to its perch.
Turning back she walked to the largest tent in the compound, calling out respectfully to its occupants.
"High Prophetess a message from the capital just arrived."
"Oh! Is that so... bring it in then." A sultry feminine voice uttered from within the tent to which the beautiful redhead complied.
The young lady lifted the tent's covers and walked in.
Sitting comfortably across from each other on soft cushions were two outstanding women. With a small stool-like table in between them upon which a map of Udoris was laid out marked with various symbols and short notes, they seemed to be discussing something pertaining to the state of the seven kingdoms.
The first lady looked in her mid thirty's with a gorgeous figure and a phoenix-like visage. A heroic aura resided between her slanted sword-like brows and her stare had an authoritative feel to it.
She had deep brown hair and a fair complexion that looked extremely seductive when contrasted with the red dress draped over her shoulder.
The other lady appeared more subdued, albeit just a little. Looking to be around the age seventeen to eighteen with her ink-black hair, peachy lips and innocent features contrasted by a willowy waist, and soft gentle curves, she had the visage of an angel but the figure of a temptress that even the red-head could help but stare at secretly.
"High Prophetess." Quickly snapping out of her trance the young red-headed lady uttered in a voice filled with awe as she handed the scroll to the lady in red, before turning to the other young lady with a bow. Despite the latter being younger than herself she hurriedly performed a bow and made herself scarce lest she lost herself and annoyed the duo with her presence.
Although the red-head felt graced by having the honour of hosting people of this duo's calibre, she knew well enough to respect her bounds lest she ruined herself. The redhead was just lucky enough to become a little high priestess in charge of this secret outpost, entrusted with the task of relaying information and 'sensitive' items across the kingdom as well as managing and coordinating the other priestesses in the region.
But despite her seemingly high position in the face of believers of the church and the other priestesses in the region she was nothing compared to the two women inside that tent.
For one the lady in red was the current high prophetess and also happened the highest authority only balanced out by the 'eldest ones' in the entire church of the twins. She held immense power and could determine the redhead's fate with nought but a word.
While the other one who appears to be only eighteen was already a prophetess despite her young age, a fact which also happens to speak miles about her ability, influence or even, both!
Given the young prophetess dubious status, the red-haired lady wasn't planning on underestimating the little lass. She had long been clear on the fact that in the church of the Twins age was just a number and held no grounds in the face of true power.
Compared to the two women inside that tent she was just a negligible pawn. Even the younger one had already achieved the position of prophetess despite being so young that she couldn't even dare breathe too loudly in front of her much less display disregard.
Already lucky enough to be graced by the presence of these two great women, she wasn't stupid enough to turn this god-given luck bad. Wisely the red-head chose to make herself scarce from their presence and only to appear when they wanted her there.
.
.
.
When the little high priestess left the lady in red broke the wax seal on the scroll and unfurled it to begin reading. As she scrutinized the message her expression went from indifferent to interested then to surprise as the younger lady who was steadily observing her grew curious.
The young beauty had only come across a hand full of situations that could elicit such a myriad of expression from her superior. Unable to contain her curiosity she asked softly with a velvety voice.
" What does it say master?'
"Oh Lovell, pardon my rudeness I was just surprised by the contents of the letter for a second there." The lady in red said looking up from the scroll.
'It's nothing master, I understand."
"Here read it yourself." The lady in red said passing the scroll to Lovell.
Lovell scanned through the scroll as her expression began to shift considerably.
"Uhm... Myrh harbour, Hertalese was invaded a few days ago by Aries and Blacksails who as we speak are making their way to the capital. It seems they had gotten some intelligence in regards to Hertalese's invasive expedition to Greystones and prepared to assault Hertalese when it's fleet was away." The Lady in red said while Lovell was still reading through the scroll.
"I thought Blacksails colluded with Hertalese to invade Algrim, so why are they suddenly joining hands with Aries to invade Hertalese," Lovell asked as her brows scrunched up in confusion.
'Tsk, tsk tsk. Don't be so naive, the question should be why wouldn't they." The lady in red said.
Lovell thought for a few short seconds before shaking her head in realization.
"The pirates must have double-crossed Hertalese. leaking information about the imminent departure of the Hertalean fleet and army to Aries. They must have to be unable to invade Hertalese on their own or felt it was unnecessary to do so, so they roped in Aries and initiated this raid on Hertalese to profit from both the invasion of Algrim and Hertalese.' Lovell muttered to herself although loud enough for her master to hear.
"Uhmm. That's right and if I am not mistaken this shouldn't be an ambitious invasion like with Algrim but something more of a skirmish or more accurately raid to loot as much of Hertalean assets as possible before returning at the first signs of the Hertalean fleet's return." The lady in red said stretching languidly. Her curves became even more pronounced as she reached out for a bottle of wine and some silverware in the corner.
"This way Hertalese wouldn't be able to retaliate and might just have to bear it's losses silently. That old dullard Tukhus was a fool for trusting the Blacksails, he should even be considered lucky if the neighbouring kingdoms don't join in to benefit from his stupidity." She added scornfully.
As she was about to pour out some wine for herself when she heard the voice of the little high priestess whom she couldn't quite seem to remember her name.
"High Prophetess."
"Yes." The lady in red responded in that sultry voice of hers.
"Uhm, there is a group of people passing by the camp and I thought I should inform you about it."
The lady in red raised a brow at the odd report as different individuals pass by this place for different all ranging from the average hunters to even small bandit groups. She really couldn't be bothered to attend to everyone.
Knowing this she assumed it had to be important for her subordinate to bring it up.
"Who is it then?"
"It appears to be a fleeing trio, two women and a man wielding a Claymore who we suspect to be the disposed queen, Irina Orlando and the crown princess, Iris Orlando escorted by a knight I believe should be Aden von Greifenberg."
Hearing the last name the lady in red instantly screened out the remaining individuals. Almost leaping to her feet, she choked on the wine she was sipping.
"Cough, Cough. Did you say, Aden!!?"
"Ye-yes my lady"
"Where is he? Bring him to me." The lady said as the laziness in her eyes vanished. Her face blossomed into a suspicious-looking smile, completely unlike the calm persona she was a few moments ago.
"Now!"
"Ye-yes, right away my lady"