| “ | Magic...is threatening our very existence. And it's up to us to stop it. Only we can save the world. | ” |
— Vivienne Laurent is informing other members of the Faction about breach at their site in Duluh.[src]
| ||
The Faction was an organization of mortals that knew that magic exists. For most of the series, their motives were unclear; they were routinely capturing magical beings in order to perform experiments on the corpses of deceased human beings, killing the magical beings, and infusing the corpses with their magic to create monsters. The Faction was led by Vivienne Laurent and Julian Shea, before his defection.
Overview[]
The Faction worked to study magic. In the beginning, they captured the most powerful magical beings they could find, using the last Darklighter as both a hunter and assassin in order to experiment on them. Their end goal was to transfer magic into humans.
Most experiments conducted by the Faction ended in failure until they acquired black amber, allowing them to use it in conjunction with Darklighter poison to resurrect corpses, imbuing them with magical powers. However, these monsters were unstable, and even the Faction struggled to control them.
Eventually, inspired by a rogue experiment, Vivienne and her nephew Julian created a device known as the Prism, a gauntlet that can contain and absorb magic. Although experimental, the Prism allowed its wielder to use the magic it contained.
Following the deaths of Julian and Vivienne, the Faction was dissolved.
In 2022, the magical community celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Faction's defeat.[1]
History[]
As a child, Julian Shea and his family suffered a car crash. Julian's parents died, and his sister, Rosemary Shea, who fell out of the vehicle, lay on the street unconscious. Then Julian, who was trapped inside the wreckage, witnessed as a Whitelighter arrive at the scene. He healed the two passengers of the other car they collided with; however, he left the others to die. From that day Julian searched after magic to study it and use its power for the benefit of humanity. Alongside his legal guardian and aunt, Vivienne Laurent, he founded the organization called the Faction, which specialized in searching magical creatures and extracting magic from them. Julian was guided by benevolence; Vivienne, however, saw magic and magical beings as a threat, and instead of using magic for good, she created monsters as agents and tried to absorb all magic of the world. By doing so, she hoped to make humanity the "apex predator" species. The Faction tried to get access to the source of magic called the Black Amber, located under the building of SafeSpace, Seattle. To achieve her goal, Vivienne killed countless magical beings, and later even Julian, who tried to stop her.
Members[]
Commanders and leaders[]
Others[]
- Unnamed shaman
- Jimmy † (assassin; unwillingly)
- Nadia (former agent/scientist)
- Bruce †
- Richard †
- Various Witch Hunters
- Various scientists
- Various black market buyers/sellers
Locations[]
- Portland, Oregon (Fort Easton Power Site)
- Idaho (Medical Research Technology of Idaho)
- Wisconsin (Warehouse)
- Duluth, Minnesota (Warehouse)
Equipment[]
- Magic Detectors: Devices created by the Faction that are able to detect magic. The Faction created two versions of these—one of which was handheld and was only able to detect magic when they were directly pointing toward a magical object or being and another version that could be installed in an area to detect any magical beings that entered.
- Memory Blocking Chips: Technological chips that were implanted in the heads of all of the Faction's captured magical beings that were able to block one's memories. The chips also blocked memory restorative magic, so the spell would backfire and join the caster if attempted to be used upon an individual with one of these chips implanted in them.
- Monster Controlling Watch: The Faction created a watch, allowing them to control the monsters created by their experiments upon corpses. Bruce utilized this watch to keep control of the second monster after unveiling it. However, the watch was damaged by Maggie Vera, which caused Bruce to lose control of the created monster.
- Darklighter Talisman: A magical talisman created by the Elders to open the bottles used to contain Darklighters. The talisman can also be used to control Darklighters. The Faction obtained a talisman from Ray Vera, who stole it from the Vera Manor after Marisol Vera's funeral. It was used by Dr. Tanaka to free the Darklighter, Jimmy, and then used by Vivienne to control him.
- Darklighter's Equipment: The Faction provided Jimmy with various equipment during his time as their assassin: Darklighter poison, a binding rope, a special watch, and many other weapons—such as blades and fire grenades.
- Cintamani Prism: A magical prism obtained by Nadia and Richard from Ray. The exact powers of this magical object are currently unknown.
- The Prism: A powerful human-made device capable of siphoning magic. Vivienne utilized this device in order to become the new Conqueror.
- Faraday Perimeter: A security system was installed at the Fort Easton Power Site after the breach of Maggie, Ray, and Mel Vera.
- Black Amber: A powerful magical substance used to supply the Prism and to reanimate the corpses.
- Various weapons and guns: Used by members of the Faction anytime they wanted to hurt somebody.
Trivia[]
- It is still unknown how the Faction gained access to black amber and green poison before the events of the second season, if it became known in "Someone's Going to Die" that none of them had been in the hidden room of the Black Amber Tree until Vivienne Laurent did it.
- It has been revealed in "Cats and Camels and Elephants, oh my…" that Ray Vera took many of the Faction's items to his collection since their defeat.
- In the original show, the government experimented on a demon that ultimately created a virus that infected all magical beings it came into direct contact with. A cure was later developed and given to the magical community.
Gallery[]
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