The Vigilant League

"The League is the common man's defense against crime and despair. We strive for justice, safety, and order."
- Inquisitor Lucio Ambil

The Vigilant League is an influential organization primarily known for its actions against crime and criminals in general. The League operates throughout all of Laitheran, whether it be clandestinely or openly. The hierarchy of the League is loose and flexible, but approximately five Inquisitors govern it with equal power. These Inquisitors are usually the top-performing vigilantes in the League and are revered amongst the common folk. After an Inquisitor dies or retires, a new one is elected by the other Inquisitors so that the League never loses its leadership. The purpose of the League is to fight crime wherever it may sprout, and its methods are often extreme. Even petty criminals or henchmen are killed by the vigilantes of the League, as its a belief of the League to eliminate any evildoer permanently. It is for this reason in particular that vigilantes, as well as the organization itself, are referred to as "Radical Vigilantes." Because of their vehement feelings about crime, the League targets many criminal empires, especially their rival, the Syndicate. In spite of that, many agents from the criminal underground regularly infiltrate their ranks due to the weak hierarchy of the League. The corruption and infiltration of the League became so prevalent that it was eventually discovered that four of the five Inquisitors were criminals themselves. This event would lead up to the Vigilant Crisis, an event that resulted in a civil war in the ranks of the League. The evil that infiltrated the League was inevitably purged, but it left a permanent mark on the League's reputation and influence. Nonetheless, the Vigilant Crisis reformed the League into a much more efficient and disciplined organization, plus infiltrations rarely happened after the Crisis.

The Maras Brothers and the Triad Aggregation - 1145 AC
Not much is known about the League's formation. However, most historical texts and documents point toward five individuals, the original five Inquisitors. Two of these Inquisitors were Velimir and Sasa Maras, two adventurer brothers. They were widely known as successful and had prosperous careers in the field of adventuring. However, in 1145 AC, when the two were left for dead by elites of the Triad Aggregation, a new criminal empire in the Magus Covenant, they decided to become vigilantes and seek revenge against the Triad. To deal more damage to the Triad, as well as to be more active, they also enlisted the assistance of three adventurers, Lucio Ambil, Alpus Itavis, and Demico Iraye. Together they became known as the Inquisitors and fought against the Triad. Eventually, the five Inquisitors were recruited by the Covenant to hunt down the Triad leaders, and they were given official roles in the Covenant's military forces. With their newfound resources, the five Inquisitors formed connections throughout the Covenant's society and became revered by the citizens of the state due to their actions against the Triad. By now the Triad struggled to survive, as more and more of their assets were seized, and their agents eliminated. The Triad was on its last legs, and the Triad officially collapsed after a cooperative effort between the Inquisitors assassinated its three leaders. With the Triad destroyed formally, the Veneficus of the Magus Covenant offered the five Inquisitors a more permanent role in the military of the Covenant; however, the five instead asked the Veneficus to assist in establishing the Vigilant League, a new organization devoted to crimefighting. The Veneficus agreed, and the Vigilant League was officially formed as an autonomous, and secret police force under the Covenant.

The League Under the Magus Covenant - 1145 AC - 1195 AC
The Vigilant League was now officially under the heel of the Magus Covenant, and they worked together to bring law and order to the Covenant. The Inquisitors used their connections and influence to gain new members for the League and became quite expansive under the Covenant. The League proved fruitful to the Covenant, and overall crime went down while the League acted as a secret police force. During their time as a secret police organization, the League adopted their philosophy, which is written in the Vigilante Manifesto, a document written by Inquisitor Lucio Ambil. The Manifesto encouraged taking down criminals by any means necessary and mentioned the importance of chivalrous thought and action. The Manifesto would become officially recognized as the League's primary teaching in 1165 AC. The League remained under the command of the Covenant for about fifty years and broke away in 1195 AC after a struggle between the Inquisitors and the Association of Sorcerers.

Breaking Away From the Magus Covenant and the Eye of Cernus - 1195 AC
The League had worked under the Covenant for approximately fifty years, but during this time, the League also grew in autonomy and power. The Association, a governing body in the Covenant, feared that the League might betray the Covenant and become an independent organization. So, they issued an ultimatum to the Inquisitors, demanding that they step down and be consolidated into the military, effectively ending the League. However, the Inquisitors enjoyed their autonomy and refused to obey. So, the Covenant declared the League a terrorist organization and began to attack their bases of operation. In retaliation, the Inquisitors seized the Eye of Cernus, a Celestial Arm that has the capability to push someone past their physical limits, as well as the ability to see a person's corruption or darkness. Members of the League also fled to surrounding countries, and established bases in Rishia and the Terusian Empire, effectively making the League international. The Inquisitors also announced the Vigilant League as an independent organization, and no longer abided by the whims of the Covenant.

Expanding Into Laitheran - 1195 AC - 1490 AC
Now that the League was completely free from the Covenant, it was able to properly develop. The bases in Rishia and the Terusian Empire were bustling with activity, and the continuous influx of new members and new jobs brought in more money. It wasn't long before the League expanded into other countries. It especially thrived in cities and areas with a high crime rate, as well as in Elyria due to the corruption and crime caused by overextension. During this time, the League developed a rivalry with the Syndicate, one of the biggest criminal empires on Laitheran. However, a rumor had been spreading about the League's hierarchy, as it was believed that criminals sent by criminal empires were infiltrating it. This was true, and this problem progressively got worst and worst, similar to a snowball effect.

The Vigilant Crisis - 1490 AC - 1505 AC
The problem of infiltration became more and more apparent to loyal members of the League. Some thought it was a problem, but a neglectable one, however, others thought this was serious. Corruption was prevalent amongst the League's lower hierarchy, such as in the Militants and Vigilantes, but none thought it could've reached the Inquisitors. They were wrong, as four of the five Inquisitors were agents from a criminal empire. The last Inquisitor, Inquisitor Ardin Kaen, found out about this travesty and attempted to seize control from the other Inquisitors. He failed and was forced to flee to the Vigilant Sanctuary in the Terusian Realm. The other Inquisitors would send their forces after Inquisitor Ardin. However, he managed to rally what was left of the members still loyal to the League. They defended the Sanctuary, and so began the Vigilant Crisis. The Crisis was practically a "shadow civil war," as vigilante fought against vigilante, but this wasn't known. The two groups of vigilantes fought for about fifteen years, in a conflict that dragged on and on. In the meantime, the traitor Inquisitors began to commit horrible atrocities in the name of the League, which permanently scarred the League's reputation. After sacking base after base for about fifteen years, Inquisitor Ardin and his forces inevitably surrounded the Chamber of Vigilance and destroyed it along with the traitor Inquisitors. Inquisitor Ardin harnessed the power of the Eye of Cernus and proclaimed victory, as well as a new future for the League. Any remaining infiltrators were purged from the League's ranks, and criminal influence over the organization was effectively paralyzed. Inquisitor Ardin promoted four others to become Inquisitors, and reformed the recruitment system, and engrained discipline into it as well. The Vigilant Crisis was over, but the League's influence, power, and reputation were practically wiped out.

Picking up the Pieces - 1505 AC - 1936 AC
Now that the Vigilant Crisis was over, it was time for the League to rebuild. Years upon years of progress have been made, but it was all turned to ash in a mere fifteen years. Plus the League's public image was now tarnished due to the actions of traitors and was no longer trusted upon. Still, the League tried to recover and did for the most part. Vigilantes became known as more disciplined due to the reforms of Inquisitor Ardin and were able to assist more people. In spite of that, the League struggled with money because rarely anyone trusted them anymore. Still, they managed some jobs and got by with strenuous effort. Even then, the League was forced to become a paramilitary force in numerous countries in order to earn more money. It became primarily involved in the Liberation War, in which many of its members fought for the League of Democracy. The two Leagues proved to work well together.

The Fall of the League - 1945 AC
While the League fought in the Liberation War, it seemed to have neglected its past enemies. The Magus Concordat, the successor state to the Magus Covenant, used its own organization to hunt down the Vigilant Sanctuary. This new organization officially called the Order Forty-Two, had the intention of taking the Eye of Cernus, as was its purpose. This Order managed to discover the location of the Vigilant Sanctuary within the Terusian Realm and infiltrated it. They launched a surprise attack on the Sanctuary. It was a hard fought battle, but even with the Eye of Cernus on one of the Inquisitors, the agents from the Order prevailed. The Inquisitors were killed, and the Sanctuary was left in ruins. With many more members of the League dying and fighting in the Liberation War, no one was able to rebuild the League. It was left to rot, broken down by one of its oldest enemies...