Mercykillers
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| Factol | Alisohn Nilesia (Pl/♀ tiefling/wizard 8/Mercykillers/LE) | |
| Headquarters | The Prison (The Lady's Ward) | |
| Plane | Acheron | |
| Membership | 25,000 | |
| Allies | Doomguard, Fated, Fraternity of Order, Harmonium | |
| Enemies | Revolutionary League, Sign of One, Society of Sensation | |
The wardens, bounty hunters, and executioners of Sigil, the Mercykillers serve in the triumvirate of justice alongside the police force of the Harmonium and the judges of the Guvners. Over the last eight years, this faction's ranks have expanded to nearly 25,000 strong. The Mercykillers are given the duties of watching over the Prison, ensuring that all convicted criminals fulfill their sentences. As part of this job, they also have the responsibilities of tracking down those who have escaped justice, either from the investigations of the Harmonium or from the Prison itself, and of executing those judged to deserve such a fate.
Recent reforms in sentencing by Factol Nilesia promise to simplify the process immensely, and further discourage others from proceeding down the path of lawlessness. All crimes in Sigil now fall into one of three categories: felonies, which now receive the sentence of death; misdemeanors, which now receive the punishment of 10 years hard labor in the Lower Planes; and rules infractions, which now receive 10 years' incarceration in the Prison. These punishments are presently being retroactively enforced by the Mercykillers; those that have served more than 10 years for a rule infraction are now free to go, while those facing a life sentence or lesser sentence for a felony are now sentenced to death. Over 3,200 prisoners have since been sentenced to death under these new changes, and the other factions have yet to make an official statement as to these new procedures; some say they fear to, as Nilesia has a reputation of uncovering the slightest infraction committed by any person and immediately placing a warrant for that individual's arrest, regardless of social status. However, the prisoners have made their opinions known strongly - a recent riot is said to have resulted in the deaths of eight guards, resulting in the Mercykillers cracking down even more harshly on those imprisoned.
Beliefs
| I. | I will uphold Justice before all else, purging the multiverse of those who break the law. |
| II. | In all situations I shall weigh the rights and wrongs with a clear and impartial mind. |
| III. | I shall decide where Justice must fall under the law, and I will mete out that Justice with a firm and unyielding hand. |
| IV. | I believe in the righteousness of my faction; we alone answer to the higher law of Justice. |
| V. | I will not pass judgment on good or evil, only on law-abiding and law-breaking, for therein lies wrongdoing. |
| VI. | I will punish the guilty as the crime demands. |
| VII. | I will be diligent in my pursuit of the guilty, and while so engaged I will remain innocent of any wrongdoing in the eyes of others. |
| VIII. | I will never release a lawbreaker until his sentence has been carried out. |
The focus for the Mercykillers is justice, plain and simple. Justice untainted by concerns of right or wrong, however; instead decided by purely if one is following the law properly. To this end, all Mercykillers are expected to abide by the founding rules of their faction, the Eight Tenets of Justice. Though each member may have a different interpretation of justice, their pursuit of this ideal is the primary driving force for all. Those who violate the Eight Tenets and fail to have an acceptable explanation for the Factol, who oversees all such cases personally, are given a choice: death by guillotine or abandonment in the Grotto beneath the Prison. Most choose the guillotine, as its quick death is usually a much more painless fate than what those who choose the Grotto are said to have encountered.
Obviously, conflicts often occur within the faction over the interpretation of justice, especially between those on the side of good and those on the side of evil. The more righteously-inclined Mercykillers especially are upset with the path Nilesia seems to be taking the faction since her replacement of Factol Mallin after his death only a few years ago. A group of such members is said to be soon mounting an investigatory expedition to Vorkehan, the Mercykiller base on Acheron, led by a high-up (Arwyl Swan's Son, one of the highest-ranking Prison administrators, according to some) to insure rumors of "inconvenient" members of the faction being jailed there are untrue.
History
Long ago, before the Great Upheaval, the group today known as the Mercykillers was instead two separate factions: the Sons of Mercy and the Sodkillers. While the Sons of Mercy were a group of cutters working on the side of good, finding loopholes for those "criminals" wrongfully accused or faced with outlandish punishments, the Sodkillers were little more than a band of hired muscle, strictly on the side of evil and hiring themselves out to avenge any "wrongs" so long as they were given enough jink. Neither was a very popular faction within Sigil, and when the Lady's edict was brought down, both realized their chances of surviving the culling were slim. Thus, they joined together, combining their respective beliefs into the Eight Tenets of Justice, their founding charter.
Membership
Membership is limited to those with a lawful perspective, for obvious reasons, as well as those with no taint of criminal activity in their past. Those with a neutral perspective with regard to morality make up the bulk of the faction, as view of right or wrong often merely get in the way of the pursuit of justice; however, there are a good number of members leaning towards both good and evil. Arwyl Swan's Son has recently been making special recruiting efforts towards those with leanings of good, wishing to help counteract what he sees as a slowly-spreading contamination through his faction.
There is no explicit limitation by class for entry into the Mercykillers. However, thieves and other such classes obviously may have trouble finding entry into this faction. A thief may be accepted to membership within the Red Death, but only if they swear an oath forswearing all illegal thieving activities. Those who place personal concerns over justice may also have trouble within the Mercykillers, if not upon entry then after becoming members. Priests and paladins especially often fall into the habit of punishing the guilty in the name of their deity rather than in the name of justice, something which is frowned upon by the faction's high-ups; Justice is beholden to no power, after all.
Organization
The hierarchy of the Mercykillers is fairly simple for a lawful organization, with none of the expansive bureaucracy or complicated ranking system held by the Harmonium or Guvners. Factotums within the Mercykillers are known as Justices, and are those members that have undergone an extensive training period in order to learn the law to an exacting degree. Those with a special aptitude for dispensing justice are promoted to the level of factor, and given the rank of Justicar. These members are those charged with tracking down criminals throughout the multiverse and bringing them back to face their punishment. Justicars are excused from all other duties or assignments in pursuit of their quarries, and a Justicar has been known to devote years, even a lifetime, in pursuit of a their assigned lawbreaker.
Those selected to become Justicars are put through a three-step process before being given their new rank. First, they are made to take an oath to pursue their assigned target, which they must sign in blood. This ensures the Justicar understands the importance of their duty, and impresses upon them how great a task they are taking on.
Second, the Justicar is linked to their target through a magical binding ceremony, which grants the Justicar an innate sense of the distance and direction to their target. This link functions even across the planes, and no spells or magical items function to block this sense. The target usually feels a sense of impending doom at the completion of this ceremony, though they get no benefit from the link for obvious reasons. For this ceremony to be successful, some piece of evidence from the target's crime or some personal belonging of the criminal must be used as a focus. The Justicar's sense functions only so long as they keep this item on their person, and if it is removed or destroyed, the sense of location is lost.
Finally, the Justicar is granted a magical warrant of holding, to use upon finding their quarry. This warrant acts as a scroll which contains a specialized hold person spell functioning only against the criminal named within, and usable regardless of the Justicar's magical capabilities. When read, this spell takes effect on the criminal immediately, even working against those normally immune to hold spells.
