Naonia

The Oieenao-qo Rrnya, as is their official title, is a clandestine force with a singular purpose. What may be called child takers, cullers, peacekeepers, those who bind, ambivalents, among many others; those who are most known as Naonia find rela with abnormally powerful and dangerous nya.

It is only nya which is powerful, something the disappeared are born with. If someone were to come across an ancient and terrible artifact or if they trained their whole lives to flatten a city with a turn of the head, those beings are none of the Naonia’s concern. Likewise, any oql or nel with mighty nya lie outside their domain, they leave it to the societies to, more often than not, kill these threats. It’s Rela, those who have rights and those who can be most cunning, that the worry arrieses.

This is a profession of secrets. A profession lasting for centuries, long before the establishment of the Aldcom. Or it could have been created by the aldcom in their bid for world unity. It is a profession implemented by many cultures, individually, all over the world. Or, it is a profession started by the drakes pre-war to keep their nobles and the humi to the north in check. Their reach is all of Kald, some saying they have sway in Ovald and lands unknown. The only things known about them are from their actions and a few rumored stories here and there. And even the motives extrapolated may not be the whole truth. What’s presented below is what most of the public believes is true about them.

Duties

The Naonia’s modus operandi is to assimilate or eliminate. When a rela is uncovered to have a mighty nya, they will soon vanish from the records, their place in society, their family and friends, and memories. Some memories are more persistent than others.

Their goal is to remove threats to life and society. Any potential threat is an active threat and will be taken care of. Members are sent across the land on leads or absolute knowledge of where these rela with powerful nya are located. Most of the time, they steal away a newly born babe or a child barely able to walk. Their vast resources ensure that they act swiftly. Though, of course, a few may fall through the cracks.

Assimilate or Eliminate

The phrase ‘assimilate or eliminate’ is an offer from one child to another during a game of Snatchers. The assimilated who find their prey in a bush lining the forest or behind a concrete slab in an abandoned worksite ask this question. If the discovered answer assimilate, they lose and must work with the other assimilated to discover the rest. If they choose to eliminate, they must run. Run, run, run until their legs/wings/fins give out and they are tagged by the assimilator. If they are tagged, they lose. But, if they get away and hide once more, they win. Once they’re discovered again, they pretend to be dead.

This game, as would be obvious to any adult, replicates how the Naonia have been rumored to operate. When they come across their target, they are given a choice. If they choose to assimilate, they are removed from their previous lives and made a new; made a member of the Naonia. If they refuse, they are absolutely never heard or seen again.

Because of the steep and cruel manner they rip people away, some say the Naonia are evil. But, some say they are moral good, due to their upholding of society in any manner necessary. What would happen if a being born to traverse among mirrored surfaces and affect the living world by what’s reflected became a serial killer?

Importance of Nya

The Naonia only cares about rela with nya. Those with potent nya maintain the absolute highest potential for devastation. Yes, someone could train to become strong. Yes, people have become powerful villains and heroes. However, there is often a price for power, be it time, money, sociality, mentality, physicality, or spirituality. Since someone’s nya is what they are naturally good at, it can be grown to heights others could not dream of and with too little ease.

Someone born with an affinity for boiling something by merely willing is a danger indeed. Obviously. The Naonia are aware danger comes in many shapes and forms. Someone who could create light and excrete it from their pores to glow may seem rather harmless. But what happens if they grow to consume the light of a city? If they plunge a major port into absolute darkness midday in the summer? This may not seem fair as then any nya should be worried about. And this is true. The Naonia have, by whatever means they do, a method for selecting. It appears to be effective as mass murders or catastrophes by rela will are far and few between. Naonia Raised Most, not all, of the assimilated are infants taken from their cradle in the darkness of slumber or children who vanish one day playing outside. Children are the easiest to sway, their ungrown judgment easily manipulated to come with the members.

It’s thought that once the children are taken, they are then raised as members of Naonia. The children are taught how to use their nya to its fullest while being sequestered from the eyes of society. They are taught to live, breathe, die, think for the machinations of Naonia. Rumors circulate, either from theories or the members themselves, that once a snatched child is grown, they have the ability to reintegrate themselves into society. Stories of parents finding their children working as a barista in a foreign nation or a lost childhood crush passing them in the street perpetuate these ideas.

If they were to reintegrate into society, their minds are either completely altered or have been wiped away with a clean slate. Or, they are still themselves, but they act to keep what happened to them a secret. There are always eyes around these incidents, beaming from nowhere and everywhere.

When the raised member is old enough to have proper judgment, they do not always rejoin society. Their goals, for what is known, need more and more members to be carried out. As populations boom and understanding branches, it’s ever more important to be atop in all resources, including members.

No sane person, let alone organization, would attempt to reveal a member of the Naonia. Rumors be put to the side, that all assimilated were assimilated due to their danger, it is known they are a force to be feared. And that they can kill without repercussions of old and young, there must be a reason any government at all would allow them to persist.

Eyes are everywhere, even among their own ranks.

Remembrance

Not everyone is so easily forgotten. Written diaries, strong ties with a friend or family member, and the fallibility of everyone lets remain traces of who once were. And if that person were to be found, memories could be unlocked or lassoed back into place. Many rumors stem from remembrances of lost individuals. Entire childhoods found once again by the presence or interaction with an assumed stranger. They do not remember long, however. Though the rumor’s mill may be shut down, it’s products have already found their place in homes and hushed alleyways.

Conception

The Naonia arose to keep the balance between the powers between peoples of an area. This rumor is the happiest reason for their existence. Of course, they could be nefarious. But the world is improving, despite what any contrarian says. The world has become more unified, species living together in more and more peace. If they were a malevolent force, the world would surely fall to chaos.

What is known is that the force was created by someone or something to perpetuate to its own ends. As stated, there are theories abound as to the date and persons who are the genesis of the Naonia. And though the Aldcom is a primary culprit, it may only be the members, many looking to the Elder Gheforis, that have their hands in more than one pot. The Aldcom is likely a separate entity.

Culture

To further confusion, some cultures replicate the organization. Oakn nations have their own professions for controlling ghoa. They have it so any expecting parents must give birth in ritual cites, the elder of the town ‘blessing’ (checking) the newly birthed. And these cultural ideals go back thousands of years.

Some cultures aren’t so open about this type of practice. Those more secretive are more likely to have suspicion cast upon them by foreigners. Why would they keep their force secret except that they are a branch of Naonia?

Do not be afraid little one, your danger is absolved.

From cultures to the persons, no one, not even the members of the Naonia know of the hierarchy. Stories tell of members having subordinates and superiors. But they only know that much. They do not know where they are in the hierarchy, they do not know who is at the top. they do not know what happened to the beings they assimilate. They perform their actions as ordered by their higher-ups or give orders to their subordinates. They may have one or three commanding them and command none or more.

Publicity

All public knowledge of the Naonia is simply theories and rumors. Any statement one says will need a large dose of skepticism since known knowledge is truly known, outside of the organization itself.

As could be obvious, the Naonia work from the recesses of public periphery. They must exist, everyone knows, but that can’t be a sure thing. Maybe they are phantoms, child's tales meant to scare them away from the woods, reasons for political and social disasters.

All stories, no matter how much an organization may try to cover them up, will be told. And some beings elude knowledge and grow up in normal society before expressing themselves. An adult absconded with is far louder and more able to rebel than a child. Adults whose abilities manifest outside the sight of the Naonia are few and far between. But, they do exist, and they do speak.

Idle conversations may brush by them, but discussion is avoided all over the world. Everyone has their own theories, every nation and culture their own telling of the story. All speak of it hushed and hissed. And what they speak stirs the public's fear. If the organization were to exist, there would be nothing anyone could do. It is a public reminder of powerlessness, that there is always a bigger fish. One is helpless under the weight of society and society is helpless under the weight of the Naonia. Who are the Naonia afraid of?