Liberty

The first time I came face to face with Liberty, I tried to reason with them. It seems so foolish, looking back on it now, but at that moment I had no idea who they were. What they were capable of.

I saw a group of Materians and thought they were with the alliance. They must have been - for who else would have strayed into Dyrus territory, armed to the teeth with guns and ammunition? I warned them away. Offered them help to cross the border back into Lowerdas; the River Ives wasn’t far, just under a day’s walk away, and I thought to myself they would be better protected with a Saint by their side.

A Dyrus might think twice about attacking me, after all.

Except I had my eyes on the wrong threat. I don’t even know if they were there for the Dyrus - a hunt like that would have gotten them killed, being outnumbered and on unfamiliar soil. Perhaps I was the target all along. An affront to their goals as a symbol of peace.

Ever since, when I see their mark, I stay clear of their antics. There is no reasoning with men thirsting so desperately for the blood of war.

— Recollections of the Warden

Liberty is considered to be an extremist group of Materians. Once part of the Materian Alliance - known during that time as the Materian Liberation Front (often shortened to just Materian Liberation) - they broke away from the alliance because they were displeased with the way alliance leadership was handling the war.

Now, they have free reign to do as they please as they are no longer being held back by politics or - in their own words - cowards. They horde weapons, hold rallies under the noses of the Barons to sway more people to their cause, and attack without mercy. Not only do they pose a threat to the Dyrus, but also to any Materians who stand in their way.

Forged in the Crucible of War

Back when Liberty was still the alliance’s ‘Liberation Front’, members of the subfaction found themselves constantly at odds with the others. In their eyes, the alliance was never ruthless or never put enough pressure on the Dyrus forces. To them it felt as though, despite being in the middle of an all out war, the alliance wanted to lose.

by BBC Creative

Ire for the alliance grew quite suddenly after the Assault of Dulne Harbour - a particularly stunning loss for the alliance, seeing over a thousand civilians dead in a matter of minutes. What should have been an easily defended location became the site of a massacre, and the Liberation Front used that as a means to rally more people to their cause and finally break free of the chains binding them to the alliance.

At the vigil in Dulne Harbour, Materians gathered amongst the wreckage of their homes and wept. Silence swept through the streets as the last of the fires burned out. Candles were lit and placed at the epicentre of the massacre, as the people tried to make peace with what they had just witnessed.

After an hour or so of this, Caleb Surname{TBC}, Llywelyn Surname{TBC}, and Sadie Surname{TBC} - well known ‘troublemakers’ within the alliance and the de facto leaders of the Liberation Front subfaction - made their move. They stepped up to the vigil and placed their candles, just as the others before them had. But when the three turned around, they faced the crowds gathered in mourning and spoke of loss, of the alliance failures, and of a brighter future; one that only the Liberation Front could provide.

Many of the gathered people became enamoured with these words - civilians and members of the alliance alike. So the people of Dulne Harbour, the majority of alliance forces stationed there, and members of the Liberation Front, set off for the Skierhart Mountains. It was there, in those abandoned mines, where the Liberation Front would eventually transform into Liberty.

Agents of Brutality

Liberty has quite the expansive hierarchical structure. It often comes as a surprise to both their new recruits and outsiders who just so happen to stumble on the information, as many of them have the misconception that Liberty does not have the strength of numbers to back its lofty goals.

They have based a lot of their organisation structure off of the old Imperial Malachion Army. General ranks used (in order of faction standing) are:

1. Senator
2. Tribune and Prefect
3. Commanding Centurion
4. Centurion of the Cohort
5. Legionnaire

There are also a handful of other, specialised ranks, which typically align themselves with one of the above ranks but uphold a different skill set or set of responsibilities.

Senator

Senators are the men and women in charge. As a tribute to the original senators of Liberty - Caleb, Llywelyn, and Sadie - it was decided that there would only ever be three people in the position of senator at any one time. New senators are chosen from the pool of tribunes and prefects.

The symbol that shows someone holds the rank of senator is as shown. Six stars, to match the faction’s icon, the lighter stripe of ‘command’ at the back, with two stripes of ‘faith’ on either side of the central stripe.

by SunlanceXIII

Tribune

by SunlanceXIII

A tribune is considered to be in Tier 2 of Liberty’s structural hierarchy. They only answer to the senators, and are given command of several Outer Cohorts. Tribunes will often leave the day to day running of the outer cohorts to a commanding centurion, whilst handling the more tactical running of the cohort themselves.

The symbol that shows someone holds the rank of tribune is as shown. Six stars, to match the faction’s icon, a stripe of ‘liberty’ on the right side (when worn), and a stripe of ‘faith’ on the left side (when worn).

Prefect

A prefect is the other rank considered to be in Tier 2 of Liberty’s structural hierarchy. They hold a similar position to tribunes, only answering to the senators of Liberty, but are instead given command of several Inner Cohorts. Beyond that, prefects will also promote and leave the day to day running of their cohorts to a commanding centurion.

The symbol that shows someone holds the rank of prefect is as shown. Six stars, to match the faction’s icon, a stripe of ‘faith’ on the right side (when worn), and a stripe of ‘liberty’ on the left side (when worn).

by SunlanceXIII

Commanding Centurion

by SunlanceXIII

The commanding centurion answers to their supervising tribune or prefect, depending on whether they are in charge of an inner or outer cohort. They will also answer to the senators.

Commanding centurions oversee a single cohort. They are in charge of advising their tribune or prefect, enacting cohort plans, and ensuring that every day management of the cohort is up to standards.

The symbol that shows someone holds the rank of commanding centurion is as shown. Six stars, to match the faction’s icon, a single strip of ‘command’ in the forefront, and a stripe of ‘liberty’ flanking each side of the central stripe.

Centurion

Centurions answer to the commanding centurion in charge of their cohort. There can be any number of centurion within a cohort; it varies with the size of the cohort, but typically there are between 2 and 6 centurions within a single cohort. They get assigned smaller units of legionnaires to command.

The symbol that shows someone holds the rank of centurion is as shown. Six stars, to match the faction’s icon, and two stripes of ‘liberty’ positioned between those stars.

by SunlanceXIII

Legionnaire

by SunlanceXIII

Legionnaires are the rank and file members of Liberty. There are lots of different types of legionnaires depending on what their general tasks and responsibilities entail, but regardless of their variant designations, they will always be known throughout Liberty as legionnaires. They mainly answer to the centurion or commanding centurion, since those are the superiors that they work closely with on a daily basis. However, they will also follow the orders of their other superiors when necessary.

The symbol that shows someone holds the rank of legionnaire is as shown. Six stars, to match the faction’s icon, and a single stripe of ‘liberty’ bisecting the centre of those stars.

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by SunlanceXIII

Let all Materians who stand with Liberty be protected by the wings of fortune, as depicted so aptly in their chosen icon. Surrounding those wings are stars, 3 on each side, signifying each of the continents of Amalgia that they believe rightfully belong to Materians.

When questioned why they used six stars instead of five, as that is the widespread agreed upon number of continents, Liberty’s leadership upheld the opinion that both the upper and lower populaces of the fractured Diamon deserved to be equally represented by those who would free them from Dyrus oppression.

Behind the Name

In the beginning, Liberty was known as the Materian Liberation Front (or simply Materian Liberation for short). They desperately wanted to change this from the get go, what with that name being so heavily associated with the Materian Alliance which they were once a part of.

Members went through several suggestions, with a number of variations on ‘Materian X, Y, Z’, but nothing stuck. Nothing seemed to sound right.

Eventually, someone suggested that they drop the ‘Materian’ part entirely. It wasn’t needed; after all, everyone knew that they were a Materian only group, so why continue to state the obvious? That, and whenever they had ‘Materian’ as the first part of their faction’s name, it led to most people still associating them with the Materian Alliance. To avoid that, they dropped the ‘Materian’ part and decided to change Liberation Front - their original group name - to Liberty. Short, sweet, and to the point.

Headquarters

by Joshua Sortino

The location of Liberty’s headquarters is a well kept secret. Members of the faction are obviously aware of where the headquarters is, but they know better than to enclose this information to anyone. Not friends, not family, and certainly not their enemies. They will even refrain from talking about this information with other members of Liberty, just to ensure that it is impossible for anyone to overhear their conversation, and to avoid being duped by certain magical abilities that the Dyrus are capable of using.

HQ for the members of Liberty is within the expansive caverns under the Skierhart Mountains. Abandoned since long before the Coalescence, the mountains themselves are rather dangerous due to their proximity to the Rift which tends to ward off even the bravest of souls. It makes for good cover for Liberty - nobody travels to the mountains, so no one sees their members entering or exiting the caverns.

The caverns underneath the Skierhart Mountains, having been abandoned for so long, are just as dangerous as the mountains themselves. Liberty has done their best to ensure that each of the tunnels and hollowed out cavities darted around the cave network are safe and secure. Maintenance of these locations is one of the top priorities for Liberty and they have a whole team dedicated to doing just that.

At first, the tunnels look just like the stories described them; an old, decrepit series of tunnels just wide enough to fit three people side by side, just tall enough that Niamh doesn’t have to crouch to avoid the uneven ceiling. A mere stone throw away from walking through an actual ghost story.

Except there’s signs of life here, if you know where to look for them.

Dust and rock disturbed underfoot. Hidden symbols on the walls - very clever, Niamh thinks as she passes one that looks akin to a hunting bird diving for its prey - drawn long after the miners left and let this cave network fall to ruin. She eyes the legionnaire ahead of her and wonders, does he need to pay attention to the clues along the path, or has he walked these tunnels enough times to instinctively know the way home?

— First Time Down in the Mines

The Materian Utopia

Whatever caused the Coalescence, the members of Liberty believe that the Dyrus were behind it. After all, the Coalescence - and the subsequent creation of the Rift - were born from magic, something that the Materians didn’t have access to before then. Logic would then suggest that if they caused the Coalescence, they did so for a reason.

It is here where Liberty’s issue with the Dyrus lies. They think the Dyrus sought to invade Materis, but whatever spell or ritual they were casting to fulfil this dream was, it went wrong. So Liberty and its members are determined to make the Dyrus answer for these supposed crimes, because as long as the Dyrus remain in Amalgia, they pose a threat to all Materian life. Allowing that threat to fester, as the alliance has done, would be a foolish mistake.

The only way to fix the world is for this threat to be eradicated. Liberty is determined to make that happen.