Kirkas
Almost the entire atoll belongs to Kirkas, although it was founded only from a small research community. However, no other major power would claim the lands, since large parts of the atoll are uninhabitable and the few parts on which one can build are regularly shrouded in large spore clouds. In addition, the community wants to remain neutral in the political affairs of the other major powers, mainly because they rely on food and supplies from elsewhere. The only reason why a settlement was established there in the first place is, that they hope to find a solution for the spore problem, because only there the spore forests are shrinking for unknown reasons. Expeditions are regularly dispatched to get to the bottom of this strange behavior of the forests. In doing so, Kirkas risks many lives and almost all of the inhabitants there contract the decay and progress on their research is slow. Kirkas is funded by the other powers because they cannot possibly survive there on their own. They get food, wood, stone, medicine and even manpower and researcher.
Structure
There are three major roles in the Kirkas organization, and everyone holding one of those positions is regarded as a leader and is highly valuable to the entire structure. There are Researchers, Expeditioneers, Weather Caster and Communicator; the four major roles that keep everything running and organized. The administrative part is obligated to the Researchers, Expeditioneer and Weather caster, while the Communicator maintains the flow of information and supplies.
The researchers were the first ones responsible for the islands, they mainly research the spore forests but also work on tools and equipment to counteract the decay. Their main goal is still to find a cure for the decay and they are free to use the resources they have to achieve this goal. Research is done exclusively in their large labs that are build just outside of town and although they still research the spore forests they are not the ones that actually go inside them. That task is reserved for the Expeditioneers and the researchers rely on the samples they bring along with them.
All researchers are experts on their fields and have dedicated their studies towards the decay for years. They are the ones that have the largest combined knowledge and can perform the most difficult analyses that are impossible to perform elsewhere. Everything that might be important is researched by them and they do it under highest safety regulations so that nothing can escape the labs and cause a disaster.
Researchers have different clearings for the labs depending on their level of expertise and the sample that is researched and each of them wears a lab coat with the colour of their clearing. There are three colours: blue, red and black. The blue clearing is for new researchers, in those labs they research non-contaminated samples as well as tools and equipment for safety. Red coats wear the ones that handle contaminated samples that are brought back from expeditions from the spore forests, they can even treat people with the decay and are the ones with a few years of experience. Only few wear black coats as they are the ones with the most experience and that cab handle the most dangerous tasks. Samples of great importance are directly brought to them and they also study life smples of plants and sometimes even creatures from the spore forests.
From those black coats, 5 of them belong to the council of researchers also known as OMEGA and consists of the five best researchers on their field; An Organologist, Mycologist, Ecologist, Geologist and an Alchemist. Together they form the top of the researchers and are the ones communicating with the other main groups while handling their own researchers.
Although each of the four main roles are equally important for Kirkas, the Researchers are the ones in charge. After all, they were the ones who created the research outpost in the first place. They still have to communicate with the others, but the final decisions are theirs to make.
The Expeditioneers are the ones that are sent into the Spore forests to explore and to take samples, as well as performing field studies on animals and plants. They are also researchers but mostly have a basic training and only limited equipment they can take along with them. They are more trained to be survivalists and fighters, as it is commonly known that the spore forests are highly dangerous. Flora and fauna are both equally hazardous, and the falling spores make the work difficult inside the forests but the Expeditioneers are well-trained to survive any encounters inside of it. Usually they go on a mission with 3 to 5 people but sometimes it is necessary to split the group either by choice or through external influence and then it is important for everyone to be able to find their way back to their meeting point or the town.
Each of them is always equipped with a compass, a frog-ratchet and a few glowstones. The compass is for navigating as well as the glowstones, those can be placed on the ground and will glow for a few hours before they lose their luminosity. They can help an Expeditioneer to trace back their way by acting as marker or they can also be used to illuminate dark areas like caves. The frog-ratchet is primarily used for communication between the team members. Using the ratchet as communication device draws less attention from the local fauna towards the expeditioneers as shouting caused a lot of incidents in the past.
A team of Expeditioneers has to designate a specific task to each of their members, in every team there has to be a leader, a sampler and a protector. The teams are usually referred to as "gears" as each member has to work in union with the others in order to be successful. The leader has the most of the responsibility as they have to manage the entire team and make decisions, usually they are the most experienced in the team and they can take on every other tasks when there is need. The sampler collects samples, mostly from flora and occasionally fauna as well. They can perform field studies and usually carry the most equipment. They possess containers for samples and tools for extracting them efficiently. While they concentrate on their work they rely on the other team members to protect them. That's the main part of the Protectors to ensure that the work can be finished without incidents. They are the ones that have the most combat experience and know their way around weapons. Most of them are former mercenaries and some even possess magical abilities.
There are numerous teams that are being send into the spore forests and they all have to report to the Controller. That person manages the different gears and sends them on their mission, while relaying the gained knowledge to the other major roles. Only a certain amount of gears are allowed to be inside the spore forest at the same time to reduce the risk of getting spotted and still be able to have a backup crew in case something attacks the town. The Controller never goes on away missions themselves, except it is absolutely necessary and an acceptable risk.
The weather caster, or sometimes referred to as meteorologist, are people that are able to make weather forecasts and can even influence the weather itself. Their tasks are restricted to the town and they are usually stationed in and at the outskirts of town. High up in their tall towers that can be seen from everywhere in the city, they keep an eye on the weather and especially the movements of spore clouds.
Their main task is to keep the dangerous spores outside of town and they can achieve that by two ways. Option number one is that they create strong upwinds at the edges of town so that the spores get pushed upwards and fly high over the town and drop back down after they passed the inhabited area. But a there are often days when the spores come from multiple sides or the clouds are too dense so that they have a hard time keeping the air clean inside the city so they often resort to option two. Their towers are also able to hold large amounts of water, which they can use to create artificial rain that spears all over the town. With this they are able to filter out the spores with the continuous stream of water which falls to the ground and gets redirected into the trenches. The cities are build on top of stone that has the entire dirt removed so that the spores have a harder time to set down on the floor and sprout. The terrain always has a slope so that the rain made by the weather caster can flow into the canals that are carved into the ground and span through the entire city. With the prolonged rain coming from the sky, the spores are carried with the current and flooded out into the ocean. Although the water reserve in their water towers gets replenished each time it rains, they still can run out of fresh water they can use to keep up the rain. If that happens, they have to revert to option one, so it is a difficult act to use both tactics in the best possible moments to keep the town and their citizen save in the future.
However, to become a weather caster, one doesn't necessarily have to know magic. Except for actually influencing the weather, every other task doesn't require magical knowledge. Telling the weather, spotting spore clouds, fortifying the city and warning citizen are all tasks that can be done by anyone that is willing to undergo the training needed to become a weather caster. Although the ability to control the weather and more actively protecting the city is a highly valued skill but its also rare, so every other task is necessary for a functioning defense against the decay.
The weather caster are led by the monsoon twins, called storm and rain, that resign in the largest water tower in the middle of town. They coordinate all of their casters and send them where they are needed the most. They can read the wind like no one else and always are able to tell where the next spore cloud will appear, that threatens the city. Every new member of the Weather Caster is trained by one of them, as their name might suggest, Storm specialized on storm magic and knows how to redirect the wind to their advantage and Rain specialized on creating strong and long-lasting rain that sweeps everything away. Depending on the mentor, each weather caster specialized on the field that their mentor taught them as well. So students of Rain know their way around water and how to direct its flow, and students of Storm can read the wind and are the best when it comes to ventilation.
The monsoon twins are the ones that report to the Kirkas council and supply them with weather forecasts and changes of the spore cloud movements that could affect the teams inside the spore forests aswell.
Communicationist
Each part of the Kirkas council has to report to one another and keep the others updated, as information has to be relayed quickly to prevent damage and even deaths. However, not all of them always have the time or personal available for this task and can't therefore communicate with the others all the time, so this is where the Communicationists come in place. Their task is mainly focused on relaying information to one to another and act as link between the council members and even within their sections. They are highly trusted as they are able to stay professional and only deliver messages to the right person and noone else. Not only do they deliver messages or updates, they also help where they can and are able to support the other teams to the best of their abilities.
Every Communicationist has a large knowledge of languages, and each of them knows at least four which they can speak and write. They possess a large variety of communication abilities apart from normal speech as well as sign language, ratchet code or Com-sigils. All absolutely necessary for communication between the different people of Kirkas as many of them belong to different races and a language barrier is something they want to avoid at all cost.
Although some of the messages they deliver are in a written form, the majority however is delivered though speech. They are trained to remember a lot of messages, which can be all sorts of different information. From weather report to top secret to rumors, all of those messages can be relayed by the Communicationist with the highest accuracy to the right people. Not only are they experts in brining information from one person to the other, they are also specialists of gathering knowledge themselves. With their trained eyes and memory, they are able to easily spot differences and are therefore able to also work as scouts. The expertise gained on their solo travels make it easy to fit in with the teams exploring the spore forests, the weather casters on updating them on additional weather changes and the Researchers with additional collected samples.
When relaying information, the Communicationists have to exactly know which message is for which person and decern between common talk and personal information. There are three different secret clearances that each of the Communicationist follows. Each message is assigned to one number; 3, 81 or 505.
Number 3, or code 3, are for all citizen and are generally information about the weather, warnings or the talk of the town. Everyone is allowed to hear it but not all want to hear it, for example the council members.
Number 81, or code 81, are information that are not meant for the public but for the different subdivisions of the Kirkas Organization. Those messages are usually internal team communications, the relay on gear movements inside the spore forests, or the communication between the council members. Those messages are mostly directed to at least one specific member of a team or section and no other team or the common people are able to hear this message as it may contain sensitive information. Code 81 messages can also be sent as personal messages that only one person is allowed to hear but is a matter of a private conversation with no sensitive information affecting Kirkas.
Number 505, or the SOS code, are top secret messages that have the highest priority of being delivered. They require a high clearance in order to be heard and are therefore exclusively meant for the council members, as only they know the frequently changing clearance code. 505 Messages affect the entire town or Kirkas as a whole, and can on rare occasions also be used for emergency messages that are delivered as quickly as possibly by the Communicationist in charge. Although Communicationist are able to deliver top secret messages, it can't be spotted visually which of them has the appropriate clearing to deliver those. Only they know who of them is able to deliver what message, and none of this knowledge is shared with others. Communicationists that deliver code 3 messages don't needclearance, as the messages they deliver can be delivered to anyone.
Code 81 messages require for the Communicationist to know which person or group are the ones that are supposed to receive this message. They have to know from the sender the name and other special features of the person that this message is for, so that the information is correctly relayed to them. SOS code messages are almost always for the council members, so it is already known which person this message should be delivered to. But to additionally improve the confidentiality of the message, a special code word needs to be used in order to be heard from the Communicationist. Those secret code words are changed regularly so that they can be sure that the person that they deliver it to is actually the right one. Additionally, it is strictly forbidden that the SOS messages are written down, so they are only relayed verbally.
Communicationsts do have an internal structure, but apart from the general clearance knowledge, their own hierarchy system is unknown. No one knows how many of the Communicationist have specific clearance knowledge, and they seem to switch them up so none of them can be traced back to a specific clearance level.
Researcher
The researchers were the first ones responsible for the islands, they mainly research the spore forests but also work on tools and equipment to counteract the decay. Their main goal is still to find a cure for the decay and they are free to use the resources they have to achieve this goal. Research is done exclusively in their large labs that are build just outside of town and although they still research the spore forests they are not the ones that actually go inside them. That task is reserved for the Expeditioneers and the researchers rely on the samples they bring along with them.
All researchers are experts on their fields and have dedicated their studies towards the decay for years. They are the ones that have the largest combined knowledge and can perform the most difficult analyses that are impossible to perform elsewhere. Everything that might be important is researched by them and they do it under highest safety regulations so that nothing can escape the labs and cause a disaster.
Researchers have different clearings for the labs depending on their level of expertise and the sample that is researched and each of them wears a lab coat with the colour of their clearing. There are three colours: blue, red and black. The blue clearing is for new researchers, in those labs they research non-contaminated samples as well as tools and equipment for safety. Red coats wear the ones that handle contaminated samples that are brought back from expeditions from the spore forests, they can even treat people with the decay and are the ones with a few years of experience. Only few wear black coats as they are the ones with the most experience and that cab handle the most dangerous tasks. Samples of great importance are directly brought to them and they also study life smples of plants and sometimes even creatures from the spore forests.
From those black coats, 5 of them belong to the council of researchers also known as OMEGA and consists of the five best researchers on their field; An Organologist, Mycologist, Ecologist, Geologist and an Alchemist. Together they form the top of the researchers and are the ones communicating with the other main groups while handling their own researchers.
Although each of the four main roles are equally important for Kirkas, the Researchers are the ones in charge. After all, they were the ones who created the research outpost in the first place. They still have to communicate with the others, but the final decisions are theirs to make.
Expeditioneer
The Expeditioneers are the ones that are sent into the Spore forests to explore and to take samples, as well as performing field studies on animals and plants. They are also researchers but mostly have a basic training and only limited equipment they can take along with them. They are more trained to be survivalists and fighters, as it is commonly known that the spore forests are highly dangerous. Flora and fauna are both equally hazardous, and the falling spores make the work difficult inside the forests but the Expeditioneers are well-trained to survive any encounters inside of it. Usually they go on a mission with 3 to 5 people but sometimes it is necessary to split the group either by choice or through external influence and then it is important for everyone to be able to find their way back to their meeting point or the town.
Each of them is always equipped with a compass, a frog-ratchet and a few glowstones. The compass is for navigating as well as the glowstones, those can be placed on the ground and will glow for a few hours before they lose their luminosity. They can help an Expeditioneer to trace back their way by acting as marker or they can also be used to illuminate dark areas like caves. The frog-ratchet is primarily used for communication between the team members. Using the ratchet as communication device draws less attention from the local fauna towards the expeditioneers as shouting caused a lot of incidents in the past.
A team of Expeditioneers has to designate a specific task to each of their members, in every team there has to be a leader, a sampler and a protector. The teams are usually referred to as "gears" as each member has to work in union with the others in order to be successful. The leader has the most of the responsibility as they have to manage the entire team and make decisions, usually they are the most experienced in the team and they can take on every other tasks when there is need. The sampler collects samples, mostly from flora and occasionally fauna as well. They can perform field studies and usually carry the most equipment. They possess containers for samples and tools for extracting them efficiently. While they concentrate on their work they rely on the other team members to protect them. That's the main part of the Protectors to ensure that the work can be finished without incidents. They are the ones that have the most combat experience and know their way around weapons. Most of them are former mercenaries and some even possess magical abilities.
There are numerous teams that are being send into the spore forests and they all have to report to the Controller. That person manages the different gears and sends them on their mission, while relaying the gained knowledge to the other major roles. Only a certain amount of gears are allowed to be inside the spore forest at the same time to reduce the risk of getting spotted and still be able to have a backup crew in case something attacks the town. The Controller never goes on away missions themselves, except it is absolutely necessary and an acceptable risk.
Weather Caster
The weather caster, or sometimes referred to as meteorologist, are people that are able to make weather forecasts and can even influence the weather itself. Their tasks are restricted to the town and they are usually stationed in and at the outskirts of town. High up in their tall towers that can be seen from everywhere in the city, they keep an eye on the weather and especially the movements of spore clouds.
Their main task is to keep the dangerous spores outside of town and they can achieve that by two ways. Option number one is that they create strong upwinds at the edges of town so that the spores get pushed upwards and fly high over the town and drop back down after they passed the inhabited area. But a there are often days when the spores come from multiple sides or the clouds are too dense so that they have a hard time keeping the air clean inside the city so they often resort to option two. Their towers are also able to hold large amounts of water, which they can use to create artificial rain that spears all over the town. With this they are able to filter out the spores with the continuous stream of water which falls to the ground and gets redirected into the trenches. The cities are build on top of stone that has the entire dirt removed so that the spores have a harder time to set down on the floor and sprout. The terrain always has a slope so that the rain made by the weather caster can flow into the canals that are carved into the ground and span through the entire city. With the prolonged rain coming from the sky, the spores are carried with the current and flooded out into the ocean. Although the water reserve in their water towers gets replenished each time it rains, they still can run out of fresh water they can use to keep up the rain. If that happens, they have to revert to option one, so it is a difficult act to use both tactics in the best possible moments to keep the town and their citizen save in the future.
However, to become a weather caster, one doesn't necessarily have to know magic. Except for actually influencing the weather, every other task doesn't require magical knowledge. Telling the weather, spotting spore clouds, fortifying the city and warning citizen are all tasks that can be done by anyone that is willing to undergo the training needed to become a weather caster. Although the ability to control the weather and more actively protecting the city is a highly valued skill but its also rare, so every other task is necessary for a functioning defense against the decay.
The weather caster are led by the monsoon twins, called storm and rain, that resign in the largest water tower in the middle of town. They coordinate all of their casters and send them where they are needed the most. They can read the wind like no one else and always are able to tell where the next spore cloud will appear, that threatens the city. Every new member of the Weather Caster is trained by one of them, as their name might suggest, Storm specialized on storm magic and knows how to redirect the wind to their advantage and Rain specialized on creating strong and long-lasting rain that sweeps everything away. Depending on the mentor, each weather caster specialized on the field that their mentor taught them as well. So students of Rain know their way around water and how to direct its flow, and students of Storm can read the wind and are the best when it comes to ventilation.
The monsoon twins are the ones that report to the Kirkas council and supply them with weather forecasts and changes of the spore cloud movements that could affect the teams inside the spore forests aswell.
Communicationist
Each part of the Kirkas council has to report to one another and keep the others updated, as information has to be relayed quickly to prevent damage and even deaths. However, not all of them always have the time or personal available for this task and can't therefore communicate with the others all the time, so this is where the Communicationists come in place. Their task is mainly focused on relaying information to one to another and act as link between the council members and even within their sections. They are highly trusted as they are able to stay professional and only deliver messages to the right person and noone else. Not only do they deliver messages or updates, they also help where they can and are able to support the other teams to the best of their abilities.
Every Communicationist has a large knowledge of languages, and each of them knows at least four which they can speak and write. They possess a large variety of communication abilities apart from normal speech as well as sign language, ratchet code or Com-sigils. All absolutely necessary for communication between the different people of Kirkas as many of them belong to different races and a language barrier is something they want to avoid at all cost.
Although some of the messages they deliver are in a written form, the majority however is delivered though speech. They are trained to remember a lot of messages, which can be all sorts of different information. From weather report to top secret to rumors, all of those messages can be relayed by the Communicationist with the highest accuracy to the right people. Not only are they experts in brining information from one person to the other, they are also specialists of gathering knowledge themselves. With their trained eyes and memory, they are able to easily spot differences and are therefore able to also work as scouts. The expertise gained on their solo travels make it easy to fit in with the teams exploring the spore forests, the weather casters on updating them on additional weather changes and the Researchers with additional collected samples.
When relaying information, the Communicationists have to exactly know which message is for which person and decern between common talk and personal information. There are three different secret clearances that each of the Communicationist follows. Each message is assigned to one number; 3, 81 or 505.
Number 3, or code 3, are for all citizen and are generally information about the weather, warnings or the talk of the town. Everyone is allowed to hear it but not all want to hear it, for example the council members.
Number 81, or code 81, are information that are not meant for the public but for the different subdivisions of the Kirkas Organization. Those messages are usually internal team communications, the relay on gear movements inside the spore forests, or the communication between the council members. Those messages are mostly directed to at least one specific member of a team or section and no other team or the common people are able to hear this message as it may contain sensitive information. Code 81 messages can also be sent as personal messages that only one person is allowed to hear but is a matter of a private conversation with no sensitive information affecting Kirkas.
Number 505, or the SOS code, are top secret messages that have the highest priority of being delivered. They require a high clearance in order to be heard and are therefore exclusively meant for the council members, as only they know the frequently changing clearance code. 505 Messages affect the entire town or Kirkas as a whole, and can on rare occasions also be used for emergency messages that are delivered as quickly as possibly by the Communicationist in charge. Although Communicationist are able to deliver top secret messages, it can't be spotted visually which of them has the appropriate clearing to deliver those. Only they know who of them is able to deliver what message, and none of this knowledge is shared with others. Communicationists that deliver code 3 messages don't needclearance, as the messages they deliver can be delivered to anyone.
Code 81 messages require for the Communicationist to know which person or group are the ones that are supposed to receive this message. They have to know from the sender the name and other special features of the person that this message is for, so that the information is correctly relayed to them. SOS code messages are almost always for the council members, so it is already known which person this message should be delivered to. But to additionally improve the confidentiality of the message, a special code word needs to be used in order to be heard from the Communicationist. Those secret code words are changed regularly so that they can be sure that the person that they deliver it to is actually the right one. Additionally, it is strictly forbidden that the SOS messages are written down, so they are only relayed verbally.
Communicationsts do have an internal structure, but apart from the general clearance knowledge, their own hierarchy system is unknown. No one knows how many of the Communicationist have specific clearance knowledge, and they seem to switch them up so none of them can be traced back to a specific clearance level.
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