Factions of the Library

The Fourteen

"The Gate Must Stand"

To combat the growing threat of The Fractured, several of the library's Denizens have banded together and allied themselves with the Guardians, creating a council dubbed The Fourteen, each member representing one of the fourteen great genres. It comprises thirteen Denizens, with the Chairman being the entity known only as The Librarian. Several of these members are among what the Guardians call “Sovereigns”, but that is not the case for everyone. It has also been at the decision of the Fourteen that permission was granted for Denizens seeking to help maintain the peace to wear arms and equipment of the grade normally only permitted for the Guardians.

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The Fractured

"Break the Gate, and Shatter the Shackles!"

Founded by notorious Professor James Moriarty and the Impish trickster Puck, the Fractured are the biggest threat to the established order in the library. They comprise some of the most dangerous and evil entities found in literature, several of which had previously been sealed away because of their danger. Still, they are not a tightly united group, and several members work largely on personal projects. All they share is the end goal: to breach the gates and escape the shackles of the Library. The unfortunate defeat of Morgoth at the hands of The Librarian has shaken the group somewhat, but they are far from beaten.

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The Library Watch

"Freedom, Truth, Justice, and a Hard-Boiled Egg"

The Library Watch is a faction founded by The Fourteen to keep the peace, mainly around the Guardian HQ and Entrance Hall. They also patrol the Stacks, provide security and investigate crimes as and when they appear. They are mostly comprised of Denizens of Cast or lower, with a few exceptions to be found, such as one or two Visitors who got to join because they asked... repeatedly. They often work alongside the Guardians and have been granted special permission to wield Guardian-graded weaponry, largely due to the growing threat of The Fractured.

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Order of the Gates

"Welcome to the Library"

This is the faction that welcomes new Guardians and Visitors to the Library. It was founded only recently by Professor Minerva McGonagall, with the Fourteen's approval. Her motivation was that before this point, Guardians and Visitors were just thrown into the Library without as much as a word of hello. As such, the job of the Faction is mainly focused on three categories; the first is to greet any new arrival and welcome them to the Library, preferably in a way that won't cause them too much stress. The second is to function as teachers and guides into the nature of the Library, the different entities they might encounter, and who to keep away from. The third duty is to provide them with everything they might need, such as Guardian Equipment, and introduce them to the Eternal in charge of the Front Desk. Usually, one member from the Fourteen is present to welcome new arrivals, but that is not always the case. Most of the members found here are Eternals, but also a few select Denizens of a less threatening nature who are more likely to be calm and pleasant. For those reasons, many of these have been selected from the Children's section.

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The Roamers

"Grrrrrr"

Less of a faction, more of a group of Denizens who, for wildly different reasons, make a habit of roaming the Stacks. The most common trait is their disinterest in the goings-on of the rest of the Library; they generally do not take sides, and their mere presence tends to cause drastic changes to the Stacks as a reflection of their presence. Be it flooding, winter, etc. Usually, they are self-serving and, in many cases, treated more as a force of nature to be avoided.

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Semita Imaginaria

"Imaginantion is power; that power shall be ours!"

"An Imaginary Path" is a faction built upon a quest to understand the power of imagination and why humanity's fantasies are given physical form; what decides a Denizen's power? The pursuit of knowledge might be noble, but many leading members do it out of fear of the Sovereign and wish to wield such powers for themselves. They are more than willing to dig into the darkness to get what they want, or use underhanded methods to climb the ranks of The Great Library. 

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The Wardens

Peace in the Wilds

Some Denizens are not content with settling in one section of the library. Adventure is in their blood, and they always look to the horizon. Denizens and like-minded Guardians view the Library as a place to explore and keep safe not just from the likes of the Fractured but also from beasts and monsters who roam the aisles and sections.

The Wardens are made up of rangers, monster hunters and adventurers whose mission is to protect other Denizens from the Roamers, maintaining wild sections of the Library and aiding in folk who have lost their way. They are pathfinders, scouts, explorers, and gardeners who want to maintain a natural, harmonious balance throughout life among the shelves.

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The Browsers

"Sometimes you just have to live a little!"

As a faction, the Browsers are a collection of entities, be they Denizens, Guardians or Visistors, who mainly "Browse" and look around the Library. They might all do it for different reasons, be it fun, a desire to find treasures, or the thrill of adventure, but they all share a love of freedom, fun and an aversion to laws and rules. Generally, they rarely get mixed up into the "politics", preferring only to aid if it aligns with their desires. Who originally founded this faction is uncertain, but it is more of a network than a solid hierarchy anyway.

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I.M

"Instant Message, for all your venturing needs!"

It was founded and is now led by the charismatic, if slightly underhanded, Moist von Lipwig. Instant Message is The Great Library's faction for postal services, transportation, and information. Their members can be encountered in all areas and sections, delivering their letters. Many are Eternals, hired by Moist himself to function as postmen, all with matching uniforms and similar purposes to give excellent service; Moist just happened to find how to use that in a way that made everyone happy. Apart from the postal service, they also provide transportation and can be a great source of information, at least regarding rumours and gossip.