Silent Legion

Introduction

"Congratulations, citizen. You just volunteered for hell." - Silent Legion Motto

The Silent legion is made up of those who died of despair. Primarily this means victims of suicide, but also includes other forms of self-destruction. Suicide by neglect, such as being too depressed to feed oneself, will also result in a Silent legion wraith. Martyrs and assisted suicides also qualify. Wraiths for this legion are sorted as the other legions are, by their death marks. Silent legion wraiths most typically display marks consistant with having died in a state of utter hopelessness. The Silent legion is the smallest legion, aside from the Legion of Fate. It is also the legion with the highest amount of wraiths that attempt a second death. The most common method of suicide amongst the legion is to step into a nihil and simply let oblivion take them. The reapers of the legion commonly restrain their enfants, often in Stygian chains, for the first few weeks of their existence, since this is the most common time to attempt suicide.

History

The Silent legion was formed at the beginning of Stygia. When Charon established Stygia on the Isle of Sorrows, he made his most trusted allies Deathlords and gave them the responsibility of caring for the wraiths in the legion, divided by method of death.

Leadership

The Silent legion is ruled over by the Quiet Lord, one of the Deathlords charged by Charon to watch over the wraiths of Stygia. True to his name he is known as one of the most secretive of the Deathlords. Little is known about him. The Quiet Lord rules from the Seat of Silence in Stygia. The building itself is a simple, orderly and beautiful place quite in contrast with its residents' inner turmoil. But that is just the interior. The outer corridors echo with sobs as the wraiths of the legion cope with the despair that brought them there. The courtyard outside the seat is filled with moans and sobs, and sits under a perpetual gloom.

Current goals and mission

Being the smallest legion except for Fate, the legions overwhelming mission is to keep from being absorbed by or losing members to the larger legions. Secondarily, they are most concerned with helping their members come to terms with the issues that led them to kill themselves.

Military

The legiopn is primarily military in its operations. The larger portion protects Stygia and its citizens from oblivion. They are also, like many legions, involved in intelligence gathering. The Silent legion follows typical Stygian ranking structure for its military. Almost exclusive to the legion are the Helldivers, though other legions are welcome. Helldivers are shock troops skilled on molliate. They imitate the twisted forms of specters in order to gain access to nihils. Once at the nihil, the Helldivers jump in head first and try to take as many specters with them as possible. A second Helldiving mission is extremely rare.

Civilian life

Probably because of the manner of their deaths, Silent legion wraiths have an extraordinarily high occurrence of castigate. Because of this they make up a good portion of the pardoners in Stygia. They are known to be the best emotional counselors in Stygia. Nearly as common is the occurrence of lifeweb. It is speculated this is because of the wraiths' obsession with the world they tried so hard to escape, and failed to.

Opinions

Humans

The Silent legion by far has the most contact with humans in the skinlands. It is definitely a love/hate relationship. Silent legion wraiths will often watch over and/or try to contact the ones they left behind. Or possibly try not to, out of guilt. They will often torment themselves b seeing how much they hurt their loved ones when they committed suicide. Alternatively, the Silent legion will commonly go on "recruiting" missions. They will seek out despair-wrought humans and, through the use of various arcanoi such as keening, attempt to push them to suicide. The wraith will usually stay near in order to reap the new wraith.

Other Legions

Of the other legions, the Paupers and the Emerald are the Silent's closest allies. The members of these two legions are the most likely to need and seek out the unique counseling skills of the Silent. Conversely, the Penitent and Grim legions are the most likely to antagonize the Silent. The Laughing Lady, Deathlord of the Penitent, believes suicide is a form of madness and the Silent wraiths should belong to her. The Smiling Lord, Deathlord of the Grim, believes suicide is a form of violence towards self, and that the Silent wraiths should belong to him. Both legions attempt to steal as many souls as possible from the Silent to swell their own ranks. Also the Grim legion wants the Silent because their penchant for second suicide makes them good fodder for the forges. The remaining legions support the Silent as a way of keeping them from being absorbed and unfairly swelling the ranks of the larger legions of Penitent and Grim.

Other Resources

For more detailed information on the Silent legion, consult WoD Wraith: The Book of Legions.