Editing Mysterium (section)

==The Setting==
Queen Celesta is the third of her family to sit on the seat of rulership in Luedania and the first to be loved by all of her subjects. Her Knights, the Knights of the Golden Lion named for the giant lions that they are renowned for riding into battle - are very loyal to her and any one of them would die for the Queen who even helped to write their Knight's Code. 
The Great Heroes of our age were called by the Queen to end the plots of the Drow and Orcs alike, as well as the vile mechanization of the vile dragons and their queen, Tiamat. 
Even the Orc Clans of the Far North, having taken the North of Luedania after the Last War, respect the Queen and entered a treaty with her for their lands. 
It was the Queen's mother who discovered the footholds of the Ancient Sleepers in our world and those who would worship them and call on their alien power.
The Queen's Eye, also known as the Mysterium was created once these plots were discovered and Queen Celesta has carried the tradition still, especially after her mother succumbed to madness and died in the Capital City of Versales' asylum. 

Luedania has known peace for generations, the cities of this country sprawling spires and architecture that mixes the modern era of the land with the elegant woodland design of elven homes and the brick and mortar homes of the dwarven clans. Though som of the petty prejudices between the peoples of the world still persist, in the cities of Luedania especially in the Capital, it is far less than in other less civilized parts of the world. 
Still the movements and plots of the Forgotten Ones and the Cults that follow them keep the Queen awake at late hours wondering where the horrors from Beyond will show up next.

[[File:Area Map 02.jpg]]

'''Beyond Leudania'''

The other reaches of the world are not entirely civilized or as "enlightened" as Leudania. The far land of Orothan still sees wars between the elves, the dwarves, and the goblin lords. The desert kingdoms of Harat are overrun by the Dead Pharaoh, Hanothep. 
But one must wonder what goes unchecked as the humans and demihumans of the outside world fight their petty wars.

'''The Cult of Nightmares'''

The largest and most organized of the cults that worship the Forgotten Ones is the Cult of Nightmares. These cunning and vile fanatics worship and harness the power of the Forgotten Ones ignoring the very fact that when a denizen fromt he Beyond shows it kills indiscriminately enemies and allies alike for the Forgotten Ones have no behavior that makes sense to the waking minds of mortals in our world.
The cult purposefully or unwittingly continues to widen the affect of the Nightmare World on our own. To this end, they must be found out and remmoved like a malignant thorn. 

'''The Mysterium and the World at Large'''

Most of the peoples of the world, human and demihuman alike, do not know of the Mysterium. It is a well kept secret to prevent the average person from having to panick over possible invasion of alien gods from an unfathomable plane. 
The Mysterium are also given a lot of leeway in operating how it sees fit. The Chief Council of the Mysterium keeps the checks and balances, protecting the organization from corruption or from threatening to pull down the curtain that protects the Mysterium's secrecy.
Another reason for the organization's secrecy is to make it more unpredictable to the Cult of Nightmares and the other denizens that follow the Forgotten Ones.

'''Entry and Recruitment'''

Many of the members of the Mysterium have had some kind of encounter with the Forgotten Ones, the Cult of Nightmares, or other influences from the World of Nightmares and its denizens. 

Some, however, are simply recruited for their unique skills or to fill in a niche that was sorely lacking in the Queen's Eye. Some few don't even encounter the Nightmare World until well after they have trained and been as prepared as a sane mind can be for the goals and missions of the Mysterium.