LeviathanTempest:ArchivedAntagonists
Contents
Mortal Adversaries
Marduk Society - "They know."
The Marduk Society is a conspiracy of (mostly) humans who have, either through independent research or through initiation by other members of the Society, come to know about the Tribe. The Society presents the outward front of a concerned body of researchers, philanthropists, and archaeologists - they fund expeditions to dig sites in the Middle East, donate finds to museums, and otherwise maintain their appearance as a body of individuals deeply invested in history. However, their origins lie in fragmented histories that claim that Marduk, the same Marduk that slew Tiamat and formed the world from her dismembered body, was in fact a mortal man, a sorcerer, who cast down the empires of the progenitors and sundered this world from the Deep. Enthroned as a glorious god-king in the wake of these feats, he trained disciplines, taught them the nature of the fractured Tribe, and died. Among the things his disciples knew, however, was that the consumption of Leviathan flesh could slow the aging process to a standstill, and they had little intention of dying like their mentor had.
Now legends say that the mystic rites that Marduk had practiced drew their strength from the distress and outrage of those persecuted by the more egregious horrors of Primordial birth. His followers, feeling their power waning as they solidified the victory of mankind over the Tribe, came to realize that, even if they were to create a utopia, they would not rule it. The Society therefore stepped back, secure in positions of power, and let themselves fade into the background. When necessary to preserve their stores of mystic power, they would covertly intervene, attempting to ensure that man's inhumanity to man persisted.
Nowadays, the Society seeks out and hires promising minds and, after a period of grooming them in the front operations of the group, brings them on board with their stated project - the protection of humanity from the Tribe and its ilk. Combining a legacy of sky-splitting sorcery with a deep interest in the progress of human technology, their tools are baroque but functional, trappings of a 19th century science-fantasy novel - lightning guns and weather manipulators. To achieve its ends, the Society maintains both its archaeological arm, attempting to discern the nature of their enemy and recall facts from the lost era of its founders, while also keeping on-staff teams of hunters and investigators to root out members of the Tribe. The upper echelons of thse two groups, and the inner circle of the Society, are in on the secret - they do not seek merely to kill members of the Tribe but also to devour them.
Those "in the know" in the group, then, have achieved functional immortality - the flesh of Leviathans keeping time's press at bay - while also absorbing increasing levels of the power of the Tribe. Giddy with newfound power, they now desire flesh well in excess of what is necessary to live. All the while, they keep the extent of their magic - and their scientific progress, uplifted by exposure to lost relics of fallen and wondrous civilizations - secret, witholding miracles from the world in order to ensure that despair remains prevalent and they remain strong.
The Tribe is aware of the Society, but only inasmuch as they know about the hunting and archaeological branches - they have no idea about the concealed and ancient inner circle. Marduk agents seek out stories of sightings and events that might suggest the presnce of Leviathans, and then hunt them relentlessly, using all of the tools at their disposal. And these tools are many - both sorcerous trinkets and "super-science." Members at the top of these branches might also have partaken of Leviathan flesh, rendering them immune to the Wake, and could manifest some of the Tribe's abilities, usurping their birthrights. The Society has yet to master how to project the Wake or enter the Deep, however - but many Leviathans fear what will occur when they do.
Hunters - "Ahabs"
On occasion, when a mortal that is likely to become a Beloved is exposed to a Leviathan's true nature, some cord in them snaps. Perhaps instinctual terror and revulsion overcomes their awe, or perhaps madness turns love into hate, but regardless of the reason, the destruction of the Leviathan - and the whole Tribe - becomes the only thing that matters to them. Monomaniacs in their focus, these hunters - called "Ahabs" by the new generation of the Tribe - first seek to destroy the Leviathan whose Wake first called to them, and then scour the earth, looking for sigs of others.
The singular drive that guides an Ahab resembles nothing so much as the religious fanaticism of the Beloved - they are two sides of the same coin. Their minds already warped by the Wake, the Ahabs are not easily cowed by other members of the Tribe, and instead latch onto the sensation, tracking it back to its source. While the average Ahab is an unwashed and obsessed psychopath, others pose an even greater threat - they retain their ingenuity and patience, and come at the Tribe from unexpected angles or with overwhelming force. Ahabs are defined by their drive and willpower, however - an Ahab abandons his old life when he takes up the cause. They'll never stop hunting until the Tribe is dead or they are.
