Ordinem Septimus, Keepers of Eden [WIP]

The Ordinem Septimus, or "Seventh Order" is a rather secretive and ancient society of an unknown origin, believed to have existed since before even the Oharans planted the tree of knowledge 5000 years ago. Thoughout the ages it has been reformed seven times in total, beyond having established vague places of worship they have had almost nonexistent public relations to any race, acting as more a mysterious outside group that deals specifically with unusual and otherwise cataclysmic circumstances of a global scale.

Location(s): The Ordinem Septimus itself has no real presence in most of the world, and instead uses a widespread church known as "The Church of the Holy Cross" as its proxy, with their various agents (such as the Nocte Venatores) acting through them. The only true stronghold that the organization possesses is a place referred to as "Eden", a mysterious island located within the grand line that is surrounded by an unnatural and unending storm. How one enters Eden is considered just as much a mystery as what actually lies there to most, though rumor has it that it is "a paradise of knowledge far beyond imagination".

Structure: The current incarnation of the Ordinem Septimus, aside from its proxy organizations such as The Church of the Holy Cross, has an interesting structure according to what is known about it. There are three branches to this:

The Royal Families of Eden: The Royal families of Eden is the first of the primary ruling bodies of the Ordinem Septimus. Consising of several families, this organization is responsible for a degree of control over the laws in Eden (which is shared with the twelve lords, another governing body) and is responsible for the preservation and passing on of past knowledge. They are akin to the world nobles in function, with varying degrees of similarities (Some are extremely kind, others far from it) and how one joins is similar. It is possible but difficult to marry into the Royal families, even moreso from outsiders not born within Eden. It is also possible for families to ascend to becoming a member of this group, though it is unclear how. There is apparently also a strict limit of no more than twelve royal families existing at a time, and no more than twelve can exist unless one bloodline for a family is destroyed, banished or stripped of their status by the Five Wisemen.

The Twelve Lords: The Twelve Lords are twelve elected officials who have control and responsibility over the creation of law in Eden (a responsibility that is shared with the Royal families) and are responsible for managing the courts and maintaining proxy organizations such as the Nocte Venatores. Members of the Twelve lords are elected officials that serve terms with strict limits, and they CANNOT be a member of the Royal Families: they must be elected from the middle or common folk. Members of the Twelve Lords are highly scrutinized and corruption is weeded out from their ranks by decree of the Five Wisemen.

The Five Wisemen: The Mysterious overarching force that controls Eden, the Five Wisemen are a group of five unknown beings that manage the ruling classes of the Royal Families and the Twelve Lords. They are also the only group permitted to actively communicate and negotiate with the governing bodies of the outside world without explicit permission or controls, and when contacted are the only group that is allowed to speak for the Ordinem Septimus (again, without permission). While it is not clear exactly what these five wisemen are, it is clear that they are very old and very powerful, due to numerous events throughout history (especially around the void century, which was perhaps one of the few times the Wisemen took an active role in helping the world government) and the lack of any active hostility twoard them from both the world government and Yonkou. The only known name of the wisemen among the few who even know of their existence is "Orpheus", whom acts as a speaker of sorts on their behalf. The other members are currently unknown.

Relationships

The Ordinem Septimus, while very secretive, does maintain relations with the major powers of the world whom they privy to their existence. Despite this, while they may not be on the best relations with these powers they have earned their respect.

The Gorosei/The World Government: The Gorosei (And in turn The World Government and its various affiliations) have what could be considered a mutually beneficial relationship despite their dislike for each other. The World Government, due to a treaty that was formulated at the end of the void century with the Ordinem Septimus, officially lets the Church of the Holy Cross (the main "proxy" organization of the Ordinem Septimus) put its various branches up wherever it pleases and does not violate their sanctity without due process, which does allow criminals to use it as temporary "sanctuary" should they not cause trouble. The world government also allows the Nocte Venatores to act without interference and leaves the policing of these individuals to the Ordinem Septimus. Also, the world government has agreed to censor information regarding the existence of Eden, the Ordinem Septimus and sometimes the missions of the Nocte Venatores (if they are severe enough). They are also obligated to transfer any prisoners/persons of interest for the Ordinem Septimus to them without any form of questioning or interrogation regarding privy information (a fact that the world government sometimes skirts around).

In exchange, the world government collects a rather fine tax from any tithes, donations or any other sort of monetary gain elicited from the Church of the Holy Cross. The Ordinem Septimus also keeps a lid of the government's secrets that it is aware of, and while it will never directly involve itself it with their affairs will offer its knowledge on certain things that the government otherwise would not have knowledge in. They will also on rare occasions offer technology and/or knowledge in exchange for certain services outside the scope of Eden's control, and are obligated to return certain political prisoners back to the World Government without questioning or interrogation (a rule that the Ordinem Septimus sometimes skirts around).

The Yonkou: The Yonkou all have a very similar beneficial relationship to the World Government, although their relationship is arguably more aimed twoard profit then stability. In essence, the church of the holy cross is allowed to operate in any yonkou territories in exchange for a tax/tarrif on any tithes, donations and/or monetary gain from the church. This profit alone (which can sometimes be substantial) is usually enough to allow the Ordinem Septimus to operate via its proxy organizations. In the cases that it is not, then the Yonkou are sometimes offered incentives via discounted prices on goods such as the valuable Water of Eden or rare manufactured materials from Eden. On rare occasions Eden will even offer its engineering services provided the Yonkou in question has a good enough relationship with the Ordinem Septimus and has kept their existence as little more than a rumor or story.

What the order asks (or in the cases of Yonkou who do not have an alliance with them) is that no hostile action befalls the churches or their investments/interests. This means that pirates are meant to respect that the building and land that belongs to churches is considered neutral ground and sanctuary for any person that sets foot in them, and that they are subject to the law of the church of the holy cross (and in turn, the wrath of the Ordinem Septimus). Due to the unstable nature of yonkou and pirate territories and the numerous disputes that can erupt, however, the general rule is that you don't touch church land and property, and if it gets damaged in the crossfire, "you break it, you bought it" (along with a sizable fine). If that doesn't suit your fancy, then having the Nocte Venatores hunting you down alongside other horrific punishments is what awaits. It is for this reason that many pirates who don't even know of the Ordinem Septimus' existence fear messing with the church, lest the mysterious "Wrath of the Gods" befall them.

Public Appearance: The Ordinem Septimus, while it would like to remain in complete secret, knows that if it wants to operate at any function it needs a public existence, as a result, its public appearance could be divided up into three sections:

The Church of the Holy Cross: Basically, a widespread series of small yet respectable churches that offer services such as healing, worship of your god, etc for a fee for those who can afford it. While they do exist all over the place, they don't have much of a public presence beyond being known as a church thanks to the World Government and any Yonkou they are allied with keeping it that way. While rumors of some kind of heirarchy and a "Holy Land" that all churches answer to exist, these usually have just been kept as rumors thanks to the cleverly set up heirarchy behind the Church.

The Nocte Venatores: The Agents of the Ordinem Septimus that operate through the church. They are Bounty Hunters of a special sort, who operate on their own unless called upon. Most of them operate under the knowledge that they work for the church and have little to know way of knowing the details of the heirarchy that exists behind it, and a clever mixture of mythology via the church and secretive orders keeps the faithful in the blind for their own good.