Nolak
The Nolak Terrorist group is a multi-regional Terrorist group. Currently, it is employed in many Aberdeen RPs as an opponent to the region. This page is dedicated to their existance.
From Forgotten Territories
The Servants of Nolak are not so much associated with the Forgotten Territories as they are relevant to the Forgotten Territories history - in particular that of Angel Fire, with many of its members including Tristan Angel.
Overview
The Servants of Nolak are terrorists. Period. They operate in dozens of regions (most recently, they are suspected of activities in Aberdeen) and over 200 different sub-factions. They are united by the Council of Nolak which is lead by the 10 Great Groups of Nolak. The other groups get advisory positions on the council (a relatively new gift) and nearly free reign on how to act (so long as these actions match the goals and principles of Nolak).
History
Formation
Nolak, who is known by no other name, founded the group an estimate 2700 years ago. According to the testimates of Nolak, he lead the Servants of Nolak against the impure, slaying those who stood with them. Within a dozen years of beginning, his forces became the most powerful in the world. However, he feared that they would no longer be able to function under one rule and split the Servants, thereby founding the 10 Great Groups of Nolak, each named after their first leaders: Runark, Misnew, LockNall, Baghrak, Truestek, Fallmak, LockHart, Treschev, LamBinjo, and Holnark. Together, with Nolak, they formed the Nolak council. It is said that Nolak cut off each of his fingers, handing a digit to each member of the Nolak Council. He said that so long as the council remained true to the followings of Nolak those that posessed the finger would live forever.
For over 100 years, the 10 leaders served Nolak faithfully. Eventually they too broke off smaller groups from their own Servants to start another clan. These smaller groups were not nerely as successful - some were even obliterated completely. However, they allowed their most talented commanders to have their own feelings of pride and loyalty to the Nolak Council, that their servants now regarded as being filled with Gods (for only Gods lived forever).
However, the peace was not to last.
The Great Servant War
Baghrak, Truestek and Runark disented with Fallmak. Baghrak found another issue to disagree with Misnew and Holnark on. Misnew and Holnark were, themselves, in a feud about a different issue. As the feuds grew, so did the number of old frustrations from 100 years of joint rule - almost none of it directed towards the infallible Nolak. However, Nolak knew that the time of peace on the council was over. Instead of trying to prevent it, he started spreading rumors amongst the council about one another. He divulged his confidences. He made the dissent between the different council members become an infection for all issues. It wasn't long before the council ceased functioning altogether. It was disbanded and the council members declared war upon one another.
The war was brutal. One faction would nearly be destroyed before the two attacking it would find themselves being challenged - allowing that faction to rebuild. Misnew was the first to die - though his faction steadfastly refused to follow. Holnark likewise perished. However, it was on battle in particular that decided the outcome of the war. The last 8 leaders had rearranged themselves into 3 alliances that all marched onto the battlefield at Rushland Mountain. They fought in manners that would not have been tolerated while they had remained united. Baghrak, Truestek and Lockhart perished. LockNall, who had been allied only with Truestek, soon fell. The battle became a two faction contest.
As the last 4 leaders ordered their forces foreward, Nolak appeared amidst the chaos. Before the leaders could stop it, before the leaders could issue any commands, before the leaders were even able to realize he had been there, Nolak was slain. The 4 leaders, realizing their failings, ordered a full retreat and made ammends with one another - and the now leaderless factions. After reuniting the Servants of Nolak, the 4 leaders are said to have picked their successors and have died at the same time (in different locations) from natural causes.
The Council of Nolak was reconvened under the new leaders and the Servants of Nolak swelled in ranks once again. While their history included many competitions between the different Servants and the smaller groups, as well as the forces of many nations, it is rather irrelevant to Aberdeen. So, we skip to some of the more recent history.
The Kane Clan
Nolak is recovering from an internal war which drug it from its peak of nearly 300 factions to a mere 200 - with an additional 50 lost due to its continuing wars with many other nations. Kane Angel, a Servant of Fallmak, was rising through the ranks at an extraordinary speed. His natural leadership skills and his understanding of backstabbing, psychology, philosophy and brutality made him a perfect frontline commander. He stagnated in his rise only breifly after he married an impure woman whom he had captured on one of his many missions. However, he molded Tristan Angel into a weapon casting aside all doubts about him. He was granted the right to form the Kane Clan.
Of all the clans that had ever been formed, the Kane clan was rather unique. Initially, it was notable only for Kane's abilities, but that did not distinguish it from any of the other small clans. However, as his wife founded the Night Sisters and this new group lead his troops into battle, the legends of the Kane clan began appearing. The servants of Kane soon became as revered as much as the 10 Great Groups of Nolak, with only a fraction of the soldiers. Death reigned wherever they marched.
The incited fear within those that opposed them, but also their allies.
Misnew attacked Kane. The attack was swift enough that Kane didn't realize it was coming. However, the few Night Sisters on station were able to respond and immediately set up a defense. They were just starting to battle back when they realized something
Misnew had lured them into a trap.
Two missiles were headed for Kane's main complex which housed the majority of his staff and his family. They could be evacuated without issue, but the Night Sisters would die in the explosion. If, however, they tried to leave with the rest of the Kane clan, they would be killed by those raiding this base and their charges with them.
The Kane clan was scattered. The Angel family, seperated. The Night Sisters lost. Minsew had won their gambit and removed any threat from the Kane Clan.
At least, for now.
History
Formation
Little is known about who the person Nolak was. He never indicated a last name, a history, a family, or anything else for that matter. What is known is that he was a prophet who first appeared in historical some 2700 years ago (0th Nolak Year). He preached about a new order and a new way of life, one born from blood but would award its followers with power beyond their wildest dreams. His preachings attracted many to follow him, and they became the first Servants of Nolak. The Nolak Clan had been formed. Scholars studying both historical documents and the Nolak Testimates (the primary text of the Nolak beliefs) are uncertain whether Nolak actually had a concept of a future society or not. Unfortunately, none of his speeches were ever recorded in historical logs. Some suggest that he merely wanted power. Whether he did or didn't at the time, there is evidence that he did not hold those wishes later in life.
Alas, he got power - a lot of power. Historical documents show that the Nolak Clan became the largest terrorist faction in the world within 12 years of formation. Even when you look at the various terrorist alliances that existed, he had command of the third (by some accounts, including the Nolak Testimates, it was the second) largest terrorist alliance - yet the Nolak clan was allied with no one. He fought both terrorist factions that he considered unworthy and nations. No nation was considered an ally - even the conquered ones.
However, Nolak soon feared an uprising within his ranks. He alone held all the power, and recognizing the frustration of many due to this, he divided the Nolak Clan into 10 roughly equal groups. There was no Nolak Clan, just the 10 Great Clans of Nolak. Like the Nolak Clan before, the first leaders of each clan also became the namesake of the clan they lead. They were Runark, Misnew, LockNall, Baghrak, Truestek, Fallmak, LockHart, Treschev, LamBinjo, and Holnark. The 10 leaders together with Nolak formed the Nolak Council. According to the Nolak Testimates, Nolak cut off his fingers and gave each to a different leader. By accepting, the clan leader was pledging his life and loyalty to Nolak. By giving the fingers, Nolak was "handing over" the command of the Nolak Clans to his followers.
The fingers have greater meaning to them, and brought forth a tradition that is continued even today in all Nolak clans. More information can be found below.
The Nolak Council allowed for the Nolak Clans to swell even further. Each of the Nolak Clans was soon in the top 20 most powerful terrorist factions in the world. The Nolak Clans as a whole became the largest Terrorist Alliance to have ever existed. To address possible uprisings, commanders that had proven themselves both in being able to rally troops and lead them on were given permission to form new clans, breaking off from the Great 10 Nolak Clans while still being in service of the Nolak Council. They were not given a seat on the Nolak council, but they were often given much more freedom in how they could conduct themselves. Some found themselves completely destroyed. Others became powerful terrorist factions that could rival the 10 Great Clans. By the first peak of the Nolak Clans was reached in 122NY, there were over 200 different factions.
While history is fuzzy, the Nolak Testimates seem to suggest that by 122NY, the Nolak Council still held the same cast as it had in 12NY when it was first formed. As a result, it is believed that Nolak and his 10 fellow Council members were Gods. There are many interpretations of this, but the end result was that the time period from 110 NY to 123NY, the way of Nolak moved from being just another terrorist faction to a religion in its own right. This is also the period where we see the first writings of the Nolak Testimates which the Nolak council had been generous enough to fill in the first 50 years with tales so that it was a complete story (enough people were alive at the time to give many tales from after 50NY).
The extended joint rule, however, had the more dangerous side effect of growing hostilities, which lead to the Great Servant War.
The Great Servant War
The Kane Clan
Society
Religious Ideologies
Principles
Nolak's Hand
When Nolak formed the Great 10 Clans of Nolak, it is said he cut off each of his fingers and gave them to those who would now lead his clans. The giving of the fingers represents the handing of duty to those 10. However, the Testimate of Nolak shows that the fingers represent more than just duty, but methodology. Each finger represents that Clan's task or place within the organization - specifically, how and where it would strike. The left hand is the "Rear Guard" or, more accurately, for the nations and regions where the Nolak are well organized. The Right hand is for expansion - fighting in newly conquered regions or going into territory never before tried. The fingers also have their own representation of preferred tactic: the thumb representing direct assaults (roaming around gunning people down in the streets, or openly attacking military installations or armies in normal combat), the index finger choosing Guerilla warfare tactics (bombings, attacking supply lines, going after transport methods, weakening the resolve on the enemy while minimizing losses), the middle finger represents destabilization (assassinations, fear mongering, kidnappings, and defamation of leaders), the ring finger represents corruption (bribery, politics and the occasional threat of death), and the pinky was for suicidal methods (suicide bombings, lone gun assassinations, many other operations where the person will not be able to perform another operation). Most clans that are created will devote themselves to one or two of the Great 10, but they have the freedom to switch and some don't devote themselves to any.
The Great 10 Clans are laid out on the hands as follows
Right Left
LockNall Truestek Thumb
Baghrak Fallmak Index
Runark Treschev Middle
Holnark LamBinjo Ring
Misnew Lockhart Pinky
(I'll fix it later)
