(no subject)
Okay, so PhoenixEiros pointed out that this would be a good idea, so here we go.
Toward no crime have men shown themselves so cold-bloodedly cruel as in punishing differences of belief.
~James R. Lowell (1819 - 1891)
The Natsar aren't divided into strict hierarchies, but they do have ranks within them. Like Van said, for the most part, the Natsar function as normal people. They help the ones they encounter - so it helps that they make a point of going into professions where they'll encounter a relatively high number of people they'll need to help. (As doctors, teachers, volunteers in their "spare time" or members of various churches - just because they don't share all of the same religious beliefs of the churches they join doesn't mean that they don't have the same amount of respect/reverence for the ideals. I mean, come on. Freaking descendents of Cain, here. If they don't know that god exists, who does?)
Likewise, the Natsar don't really have a specific base of operations, like you'd find with a government or something, but they do have a set area in the city that belongs to them. That area encompasses the Synod's offices, a hospice for treating injuries (Greg refers to it as a hospital, but that's mostly because he's somewhat traumatized by the whole experience), a few shops and what we might think of as company housing. (High-rise apartment complexes.) It's all in about a two to three block area. Or it is at the moment - that could become subject to change. And don't ask me how they managed to score all these buildings. Let's just say it's on the outskirts of some metropolitan downtown-type area, alright?)
The Synod are the central government. They control pretty much everything - salaries, the areas of specificity you're allowed to go into, interactions with other bloodlines, etc. That sort of thing. If you've got the title of Priore, it's implied that you're on the Synod. You have to have a specific mental strength to get there, though. How strong you are as a psychic determines where you end up a lot of the time. As the leaders of the community, the Synod have to be among the strongest of the strong.
Every season, the Synods from various areas meet. The Natsar are widespread throughout the world, so its more like a meeting between different territory representatives. Like a warped version of the Senate, or something.
The next set of 'ranks' within the Natsar are the three Assigned divisions Van talks about. They're all ranked equally, they just have different areas of specificity.
The Reza are in charge of dealing with cases that are likely to be either in the public eye, or beneficial to the Natsar later on. Say, if a politician has some trouble with a brand of demon, or a corporate guy is being disturbed by something. These are people you want to owe you favors. So you send in someone with tact, charm, and the ability to run circles around most other people verbally with the proverbial blindfold. The Reza do everything the Terryal would - to a lesser extent. They're trained in combat, but more as defense rather than through any real authorization to kill. They focus more on expelling evil - exorcism rather than extermination. (Reza, just for your information, is actually a name. It means "reaper.")
The Tihamer are your basic jack-of-all trades go-getters. You want it researched, located, tagged and gotten, they're your group to go to. They function primarily as a back-up to the Reza and the Terryal. They don't do nearly as much public or field work as the other two divisions, but for all that they're just as important. Without what the Tihamer dig up, the other two groups wouldn't be anywhere near as effective as they are.
This isn't to say that the Tihamer don't do field work, though. Think a slightly less cool of the Indiana Jones/Lara Croft brand of archaeology. This is actually what Sophia thinks Van does, so it's not implausible that he needs to know how to fight as well as he does. Tihamer field specialists get sent all over the world researching a variety of artifacts and/or organizations. Some of which don't particularly care to be investigated, so it helps to be quick on your feet and good at defending yourself. It's not wholeheartedly implausible to get shot or killed in this line of work, either, so Sophia isn't going to be asking too many questions about that. (Tihamer's a name too. It's Hungarian for "likes silence.")
And then we have the Terryal, who are the black bag men. They're weird shit specialists. They handle pretty much anything that has a low survival rate. Say, attempting to exorcise a high-ranked demon, or send a pissed off avatar somewhere else. That kind of thing. They're like the CIA of the Natsar - they take care of the Things We Don't Talk About.
Of all the Natsar, only the Terryal aren't questioned when they kill. The Natsar revere life - it's part of what they do. They're responsible for keeping and protecting humanity. That doesn't usually involve killing people. When it does, there are serious reprocussions, psychological guilt trips, etc. That sort of thing. The Synod prefers that other alternatives to taking human lives be utilized - occasionally at the expense of the lives of their own people, because that's how things work.
That's not always viable, though. Hence the Terryal. Of the three divisions, the Terryal are probably the next strongest set of psychics. Kind of have to be, to handle all that weird shit. (Terryal is a name, too. It also means "reaper.")
And that's all I've got. And I need to shut this down and get my butt to class, so. Hope this helped.
Toward no crime have men shown themselves so cold-bloodedly cruel as in punishing differences of belief.
~James R. Lowell (1819 - 1891)
The Natsar aren't divided into strict hierarchies, but they do have ranks within them. Like Van said, for the most part, the Natsar function as normal people. They help the ones they encounter - so it helps that they make a point of going into professions where they'll encounter a relatively high number of people they'll need to help. (As doctors, teachers, volunteers in their "spare time" or members of various churches - just because they don't share all of the same religious beliefs of the churches they join doesn't mean that they don't have the same amount of respect/reverence for the ideals. I mean, come on. Freaking descendents of Cain, here. If they don't know that god exists, who does?)
Likewise, the Natsar don't really have a specific base of operations, like you'd find with a government or something, but they do have a set area in the city that belongs to them. That area encompasses the Synod's offices, a hospice for treating injuries (Greg refers to it as a hospital, but that's mostly because he's somewhat traumatized by the whole experience), a few shops and what we might think of as company housing. (High-rise apartment complexes.) It's all in about a two to three block area. Or it is at the moment - that could become subject to change. And don't ask me how they managed to score all these buildings. Let's just say it's on the outskirts of some metropolitan downtown-type area, alright?)
The Synod are the central government. They control pretty much everything - salaries, the areas of specificity you're allowed to go into, interactions with other bloodlines, etc. That sort of thing. If you've got the title of Priore, it's implied that you're on the Synod. You have to have a specific mental strength to get there, though. How strong you are as a psychic determines where you end up a lot of the time. As the leaders of the community, the Synod have to be among the strongest of the strong.
Every season, the Synods from various areas meet. The Natsar are widespread throughout the world, so its more like a meeting between different territory representatives. Like a warped version of the Senate, or something.
The next set of 'ranks' within the Natsar are the three Assigned divisions Van talks about. They're all ranked equally, they just have different areas of specificity.
The Reza are in charge of dealing with cases that are likely to be either in the public eye, or beneficial to the Natsar later on. Say, if a politician has some trouble with a brand of demon, or a corporate guy is being disturbed by something. These are people you want to owe you favors. So you send in someone with tact, charm, and the ability to run circles around most other people verbally with the proverbial blindfold. The Reza do everything the Terryal would - to a lesser extent. They're trained in combat, but more as defense rather than through any real authorization to kill. They focus more on expelling evil - exorcism rather than extermination. (Reza, just for your information, is actually a name. It means "reaper.")
The Tihamer are your basic jack-of-all trades go-getters. You want it researched, located, tagged and gotten, they're your group to go to. They function primarily as a back-up to the Reza and the Terryal. They don't do nearly as much public or field work as the other two divisions, but for all that they're just as important. Without what the Tihamer dig up, the other two groups wouldn't be anywhere near as effective as they are.
This isn't to say that the Tihamer don't do field work, though. Think a slightly less cool of the Indiana Jones/Lara Croft brand of archaeology. This is actually what Sophia thinks Van does, so it's not implausible that he needs to know how to fight as well as he does. Tihamer field specialists get sent all over the world researching a variety of artifacts and/or organizations. Some of which don't particularly care to be investigated, so it helps to be quick on your feet and good at defending yourself. It's not wholeheartedly implausible to get shot or killed in this line of work, either, so Sophia isn't going to be asking too many questions about that. (Tihamer's a name too. It's Hungarian for "likes silence.")
And then we have the Terryal, who are the black bag men. They're weird shit specialists. They handle pretty much anything that has a low survival rate. Say, attempting to exorcise a high-ranked demon, or send a pissed off avatar somewhere else. That kind of thing. They're like the CIA of the Natsar - they take care of the Things We Don't Talk About.
Of all the Natsar, only the Terryal aren't questioned when they kill. The Natsar revere life - it's part of what they do. They're responsible for keeping and protecting humanity. That doesn't usually involve killing people. When it does, there are serious reprocussions, psychological guilt trips, etc. That sort of thing. The Synod prefers that other alternatives to taking human lives be utilized - occasionally at the expense of the lives of their own people, because that's how things work.
That's not always viable, though. Hence the Terryal. Of the three divisions, the Terryal are probably the next strongest set of psychics. Kind of have to be, to handle all that weird shit. (Terryal is a name, too. It also means "reaper.")
And that's all I've got. And I need to shut this down and get my butt to class, so. Hope this helped.