The 13th Legion

“Children of the Legion! For generations have we toiled here under the earth. For eight centuries we have gathered our strength, and made slow but steady progress towards our ultimate goal. For eight centuries, we have prepared ourselves for the day when the completion of our mission was finally within sight. We have honed ourselves to a razor's edge.

That day has now come! The Labyrinth has risen, the outside world is once again within reach. But we shall not scurry out into the light, orphan children of no nation. Our mission remains unchanged, and when we leave this place, it will be in victory! The path forward is finally clear,

and we are ready.

- Excerpt from a speech by Legate Tiberius Carnifex, 2 weeks after the Labyrinth emerged.

Originally a Legion of the old Tharenan Empire, trapped within the Labyrinth when it sank beneath the earth, over the intervening centuries the 13th Legion has transformed into a society entirely focused on aggressive resource extraction to fuel their military-industrial complex.

Originally a legion of the Ancient Tharenan Empire sent after the runaway princess to reclaim the Crown of Horns. Trapped in the Labyrinth after it went underground, they soon realised that following the fugitive princess into its depths would be far harder than they had originally estimated. With their forward progress stymied, and their means of withdrawal cut off, The Legion had no choice but to build a stronghold in the upper levels, hunker down and prepare for a lengthy campaign. In the 800 years since, the Legion has slowly transformed into a society solely focused on resource extraction to fuel its military-industrial complex and territory expansion. An increasingly large portion of the initial 5000 members were released from active military service and assigned to perform other roles. In the present day, roughly 50% of the population is serving in military roles. While diminished, they remain an incredibly strong and organised martial force.

The legion has not forgotten its original mission to capture the, presumably long dead, runaway princess, and recover the imperial Crown of Horns. They have slowly expanded, building fortified encampments ever deeper into the Labyrinth, but have thus far reserved their strength and built up their resources for the day when the Labyrinth resurfaces and the final charge is ordered. With escape from the Labyrinth finally a reality, the people speak in hushed tones that their true goal is finally in sight.

The society of the Legion has two separate groups which share power and take responsibility for governing their society: The military leadership, and the forgemasters.

The military leadership retains its traditional Tharenan roots, headed by a legate (currently Tiberius Carnifex) with 5 tribunes under them, each in charge of 5 centurions. The tribunes form a military council, with each assigned authority and the soldiers needed for a specific region or task. The legate technically has absolute authority over what the tribunes do, but in practice Tiberus seldom pulls rank to overrule one of the tribunes in their own domain, maintaining the balance of relationships to avoid assassination and keep military cohesion.

The forgemasters are a loose coalition of those who own the vast ether forges which form the basis of the Legion’s entire domestic economy. Currently the council comprises 6 members, nominally headed by Bacculus Fornax, whose family owns the largest and oldest of the city’s 6 ether forges. This council defines domestic policy and drafts the laws which the military then enforces. Most forges are passed down over the generations, but 2 are new enough to be controlled by their original founders (built roughly 10 and 30 years ago). New forges means new council members, but the resources required constructing an ether forge means that these new additions tend to be hand-picked associates of existing forgemasters and their families.

• Legate: Tiberius Carnifex (Dragonblooded)
  • 8 Praetorian Guards

• 1st Tribune: Rufus Pugnax, (Wildborn) The Gatekeeper
  • 5 Centurions: High Custodian
    • 1st Cohort: Custodian, assigned to guard the capital city
• 2nd Tribune: Maxima Ultrix (Genten) High Arbiter
  • 5 Centurions: Judges
    • 2nd Cohort: Arbiters, assigned to enforce the law
• 3rd Tribune: Decima Mordex (Ssar) Master of the Inner Territories
  • 5 Centurions: no specific title
    • 3rd Cohort: no specific title, assigned to the Inner Territories
• 4th Tribune: Alexandros Bellax (Dragonblooded) Master of the Outer Territories
  • 5 Centurions: no specific title
    • 4th Cohort: no specific title, assigned to the Outer Territories
• 5th Tribune: Atticus Ferox (Dragonblooded) Master of the Depths
  • 5 Centurions: no specific title
    • 5th Cohort: no specific title, assigned to the Depths

• Forgemaster Prime: Bacculus Fornax (Dragonblooded) Fornax Family Forge Owner
• Forgemaster: Domita Aurifex (Ssar) Aurifex Family Forge Owner
• Forgemaster: Prima Argentifex (Dragonblooded) Argentifex Family Forge Owner
• Forgemaster: Agathon Mithrax (Dragonblooded) Mithrax Family Forge Owner
• Forgemaster: Nymphidia Vorax (Genten) Vorax Family Forge Owner
• Forgemaster: Cassius Pompholyx (Ssar) Pompholyx Family Forge Owner

Roughly 60% of the non-military citizens work directly for one of the 6 great ether forges which form the fundamental pillars of their society. These forges make use of a substance called ether to reach the absurdly high temperatures required to work the miraculously strong alloy found in the Labyrinth. While hazardous (due to potential risk of instant vaporisation), these jobs afford a measure of status, a high wage and a relatively decent quality of life.

The remaining 40% perform other forms of labour, especially farming, food preparation, resource extraction etc. They work to fuel the forges, feed the army, and provide services to forge workers and soldiers. Of these, farmers and farm owners are granted a small measure of independence, and tend to have moderate social status with relatively few occupational hazards. All other industries not directly tied to the military industrial complex form the lower classes. As policymaking is run by the military and forges, the needs of other citizens are of a lower priority, even if they do not explicitly have fewer rights.

Due to their origins as a military force, there is still a strong social expectation that those assigned to non military roles still have some level of basic training in combat and self defence, and a strong stigma against those who lack a willingness to learn. Most members wear a short sword and/or a long knife upon the belt or in the boot respectively.

Starting Point: Legion characters with a Status of 3-5 are either a part of the military or a worker in one of the ether forges, or the immediate family thereof. Which one is your character, and how do they feel about their place in the world? Are they content or ambitious? If your Status comes from family, what does that family member do? Are you happy to ride their borrowed status, or have you simply not made a name for yourself yet and taken your true place?

Other Factions: Amongst the members of the other Labyrinth factions, characters from the Legion are likely to be viewed with a certain amount of distrust and caution, occasionally even hostility. Currently an uneasy peace is maintained (the Guilds through trade, the Collective through their helpful aid, which the Legion tends to interpret as “tribute”). Nevertheless, the Legion is aggressively militaristic, expansionist, and prioritise resource extraction at the expense of lives, and other factions worry what the legion would do if not occupied fighting some of the Labyrinth monsters.

Character Options: Legion characters can be from any species, though Slimefolk and Muella tend not to prefer the Legion's way of life. Due to their Tharenan origins, Dragonblooded are likely to have relatively higher status, though this is not nearly as rigid as in the Southern Empire, as they do not have a system of formal nobility. Frontline, Support, or Tactics are common skills for military characters, but the ability to fight is still valued among those in non-military roles.

Citizens of the 13th legion name their children according to the style of the old Therenan Empire. With a firstname and family name. Note, All “C”s are hard Cs

First Names
First names tend to use specific suffixes almost exclusively, most suffixes have masculine and feminine forms, but there are also gender neutral suffixes. “-us/-a” is by far the most common suffix for first names (replaced by “-as” or “-is” for gender neutral names), but all the following are relatively common. Naming children according to the order of their birth is also relatively common.

Example Firstnames

Aulus/Aula, Ariston/Aristia, Amphion/Amphina, Cassius/Cassia, Daedalos/Daedalis, Faustus/Fausta, Fulvis/Fulvia, Gaius/Gaia, Horatius/Horatia, Lanius/Lania, Lucius/Lucia, Marcus/Marca, Numerius/Numeria, Plinius/Plinia, Roscius/Roscia, Remmius/Remmia, Romulus/Romula, Valerius/Valeria,

Family Names
Family names exclusively end in the letter X. Players can feel free to cheat by pretty much using any latin word that ends in X (within reason) or make their own, using common suffixes:
“-ax” (especially “-nax” “-rax” “-cax” and “-dax”) “-ex” (especially “-fex” “-vex” and “-dex”) “-ix” (especially “-trix” “-nix” and “-dix”) “-ox” (especially “-dox” “-lox” and “-nox”) “-ux” (especially “-dux” and “-lux”) and “-yx” (especially “-lyx” and “-ryx”)

Example Family Names

Abstinax, Ajax, Alyx, Ballux, Bifax, Bombyx, Calabrix, Codex, Cornix, Dapifex, Dedux, Doctrix, Edax, Eryx, Falx, Ferox, Fugax, Genetrix, Grex, Helix, Hyrax, Lanx, Lectrix, Limax, Meddix, Mendax, Mordax, Nox, Nix, Naryx, Obex, Ortyx, Oryx, Panax, Pax, Pelax, Podex, Ramex, Remex, Rumex, Saphrax, Scolax, Sycorax, Thrax, Thridax, Trahax, Varix, Venatrix, Vendax, Vix, Zarax, Zelatrix

Soldiers tend to wear durable garb beneath their armour. They still have some of the Tharenan legion aesthetics (which resemble the Ancient Roman military) but their armour and weapons tend to be crafted from a rare black coloured metal found exclusively in the Labyrinth, which is incredibly strong and durable, but very difficult to work, thus their armour and weapons tend to look more crude and piecemeal. Forgeworkers tend to wear sturdy clothes marked with soot and burns. Other workers wear whatever garb is available to them. Simple and practical clothing is favoured regardless of wealth, but richer families will insist that their simple clothing is higher quality.