Stardrive

What kills me is the way those of you on the other side can pick and chose cute little tidbits while ignoring the larger questions... Distorting small aspects of an argument into something they aren't, or attacks with NO substance behind them may work on talk radio but they don't win a real debate or score you any real points in an HONEST discussion.

You think you defender can pull aggro off of that blaster in the scenario I mentioned? I'd like to see it.

TANK does NOT equal ONLY survivability.

A TANK is a character that can grab and hold aggro, keeping it off other players (who still have an obligation in those situations to play intelligently themselves). Anything other than that is simply a character with high defense or damage resistance, no matter what their AT is (including Tanker).


I've said it 5 times already I'll say it again (and even simpler) and hope it gets through to the thick witted. I have ZERO problems with ANY build for ANY AT, so long as you play to what you build. MY issue is with any AT walking in and thinking because they have ONE tool of a role (Survivability) that they're qualified to COMPLETELY fill that role.

You don't NEED any AT for 99% of the game IF everybody else is making maximum use of how they built their toon. Don't come to me and tell me your buffed Defender is going to pull that Minotaur off the blaster in my party that just hit it with 3 or 4 very high damage attacks though. Somebody built for a CLASSIC tank role can, YOU will not. Said Defender, like my own Kin/Rad, is probably excellent at pulling and has very good survivability but that alone does NOT make a true classic Tank.



NOW... setting aside the vacuous attacks and distortions, I'll return to the main argument.

I'll agree with the first one to comment on my post. On smaller teams, a tauntless tank is probably quite capable of doing a classically defined tank's job. On bigger team though, NO. Here's why IMO:

Let's say you're the literal one in a thousand QUALITY tauntless, true gauntlet style tank. You're smart enough to know that proper tanking in that situation means playing Whack A mole with all the baddies so you can hold as much aggro as possible. You manage your aggro cap properly too (unlike 90% of "tanks" nowadays). What do you do without taunt, when you're surrounded by baddies, having a hard time moving AND either somebody is taking too much damage and jackrabbits, aggroing more OR a random patrol comes by and adds?

The answer is you probably watch one or more of your team faceplant. With taunt, you can pull them in, away from your team (again assuming proper aggro cap management).


As I pointed out before, IF you have a team of all purpled out farmers, none of this matters. The whole team can act as stupid as they want and have minimal consequences. That's my ONLY objection to how powerful some of the sets have gotten; they've eliminated sold tactics from upper level game play and have made some of you forget that reality is 90% of the toons in the game are NOT at that level enhancement wise.

That's a whole different though VAGUELY related rant however. I'm still trying to debate ROLES (and YES, I should have used better wording in earlier posts to make that distinction), on a team as opposed to ATs. IF you want to tell me you're a main tank on my team, you'd better bring aggro management skills and tools to the table. Otherwise to me, you're just some other role with high survivability. My hard to kill Kin may be a great puller but her ideal role on the team is buffing and debuffing.



That said, I'll repeat something else I said earlier. Again let's see if it sinks in or gets any acknowledgement. The reason most of us out there have ZERO faith in tauntless tankers is we've seen FAR too many "Heavy Scrappers" passing themselves off as true classical tanks when all they really are is braindead, scrapperlocked Scrankers. They only slot for their own survivability and damage, they fixate on a single target instead of maximizing Gauntlet's effectiveness by punching as many targets as they can in the face, and they wouldn't dream of even dropping a single taunt enhancement into their taunt aura to make them more effective.

Face reality, people. For every 1 of you here that has posted an intelligent argument and SEEMS to know how to build and play some sort of non traditional "Tank" that can still be effective in the classic role, there are HUNDREDS of the idiot types who cause wipe after wipe while DEMANDING to be respected as the perfect classic tank.

THOSE are the people poisoning us against you and giving your tauntless tank a bed rep by association. THOSE are also the poeple you should be mad at, NOT us doubters.

5 years of playing this game, and the bad ones are ALL I've run into. Still waiting for one of you to show me the good ones truly exist as more than a concept on the board.


Truthfully though, with that said, I think I'm done with this "conversation". The whole reason I so rarely contribute anything here despite being in-game here for ages IS for every intelligent comment you get (and there were a few regarding my posts here), there's far more insubstantial attacks, baiting and drivel. Makes it impossible to have an honest, intellectual conversation.

Alright guys... As I said last time, I can give those on the other side that some taunt auras do better than others. I'm also one of the first to admit there's multiple ways of going about things.

After all EVERY tanker attack does a small degree of taunt.

I'm still a big believer in building for your AT's role however. Some of the things that have been said in this thread completely ignore the fact that a major part of a Tanker AT's role is grab and hold aggro, NOT simply absorb damage.

If survivability was all there was to it, there would be ZERO need for Tankers. A well built scrapper properly played is every bit as survivable as most tanks. Likewise, as was mentioned above by others, Defenders can be built up well enough to have good survivability.

I have a Kin/Rad defender with capped Resistance to Smashing and Lethal and modest resist and defense otherwise. Between that and her snipe, she does a better job of pulling Generals on the ITF than most tanks I've worked with.

BUT... When I lead them back to the group on the other side of the river and some blaster that's built solely for damage draws aggro with a huge damage attack of their own, can my defender pull that aggro'ed +3 EB Minotaur back off of that blaster? Nope, not at all. Without a tank with a strong ability to taunt, that blaster is LIKELY going to either be roadkill or backpedalling severely and pulling the mob apart and maybe aggroing other mobs in the process.

OK, granted, if the entire team is purpled out 50s, its probbly not an issue. Lets be real though, that's not always the case. It's usually the lowbie on the team that suffers for it too.

Yeah I know... Hold his fire and learn not to draw the aggro, right? That always seems to be the answer. THAT is exactly a blaster's job however. A smart blaster has some defense built in and learns to maintain distance well also. BUT, why should the blaster be handicapped in his damage output because the tank isn't built to do his job properly? That makes the whole team's performance suffer.


As I admitted in my last post, I am biased here. But it's all from first hand experience. I have yet to team with any tauntless tank that could hold aggro properly when a high DPS character on the team went to town on a baddie. All my personal experience has been is arrogant Scrankers who build solely for damage and their own survivability, and think that's ALL there is to being a Main Tank. I've had too many toons suffer WAY too much debt from it also.

I have yet to team with a Fire/Fire tank (for example) that has a Taunt Enhance or two in their taunt aura and maybe a taunt or two in one of their attacks to offset the lack of a taunt. I KNOW somebody will post after me and say taunt enhances aren't even needed either, especially with Fire Tanks.

I believe you can make an EFFECTIVE Tank without Taunt, IF you slot properly. I have yet to see one though, and based on my experiences I do not belive you can make an OUTSTANDING Tank without Taunt.

And as a side note, I have nothing against Scrankers either... UNTIL they try to assert they're a capable main tank. Off tank, definitely. Scrapper wannabe? Hell yes, all day long. MAIN tank that can keep Ghost Widow from Soul Storming my support toon on a STF though? Nope.

Show me and I'll believe. I'm open to that much.


Let me give you all one last comparison to Everquest 2. It's a bit off due to the different nature of the game but the general idea is still valid. There are Epics in that game and many others. Baddies that make +4 AVs or GMs look like wimps. Likewise the mobs can get bigger too. I've seen expert guilds in other games that have had 2 tanks on a team and it's gawdawful scarey how effective those teams can be even against Epics with multiple mobs around them. Both tank types have properly slotted taunts though and are practiced at peeling all or some of the aggro off of each other (and the rest of the team). It lets the DPS types do their thing and the healers heal one tank while the other has peeled the aggro.

NOTHING in those games can stand up to a team that can function like that. You don't even need uber equipment. It's just everybody knowing their function and living up to it.



As for those of you on the other side of the argument... Again, I'm open to the possibility but have yet to see it. My sincere suggestion is that if you want your view to be more widely accepted, show how you do it instead of bashing us doubters as tools and not worth teaming with.

We're doubters not because we think you're stupid, it's because we've been burned by too many people in your camp that are giving the capable ones among you a bad rap.

Looking this thread over, there are some fairly credible players on the other side of this issue. I will admit that.

HOWEVER... My pesonal experience with tauntless tanks has (and I'm a 54 month veteran at this point) that they just CANNOT hold aggro the same as a tank with it.

Again, maybe it's just my bad luck to wind up with idiots who build Scrankers and think just because they're hitting they're taunting enough, OR the guys who's used to running with nothing but 50s with a dozen purple sets each. Either way, the result is the same...

Team faceplant with the tank still standing, wondering what everybody else's problem is since HE is still alive. THAT is a tool. Me personally, until I see a tauntless tank that can keep Rommie off of my high DPS blaster, I have to remain highly skeptical.



And yes, before some noob comes back with the smart *** and wrong assumption that I don't know how to play blasters, I *DO* I spent almost my first year and a half soloing with one. Made every dumb mistake in the book back when the game was alot less forgiving of them too. But I learned from them and I'm damned good now. Not the best, but I know my ****.

Heh, yeah I'll agree on this one. Being a RP'er it seems like I never have enough costume slots for the characters I really play heavily.

I need some help with a college project. I'm an I.T. Student. I've got a Disaster Recovery class this quarter. Our imaginary company that we're developing an plan for is going to be a game design company similar to Paragon Studios.

I also got the role of the head of the I.T. department for the company (development and internal support - there are only 6 of us on the project team). To get to the point, we're still in the early phases here, and I'm supposed to find out what size teams we need for development and production, as well as support.

Any information you could give me there would be great. Nothing that would compromise your company's security in any way, of course. Then again, if you want to email me Paragon Studios complete disaster recovery plan I won't complain, lol. Seriously though, I'm more looking for what size a development team needs to be to be practical, same with support staff and number of servers without going into specifications. What you feel could realistically be outsourced too. One of the guys on the team that has facilities wants to outsource the artists & storyboard people for example. That seems to present a strong risk of corporate espionage to me.

Hope you can give me a hand and shoot me a Private Message.

OK I just got a new PNY GeForce GTS 250 1 Gig XLR8 performance edition.

I got sick of black water with my old ATI Radion 4650, I wanted to be fully GR compatible, and the card is PhysX ready.


Problem is, the PhysX *IS* installed and globally turned on outside the game, BUT the option to turn on PhysX within the game is still greyed out.

Any ideas?

The rest of the Advanced Graphics settings are good. Is there another setting I need to tweak first or something from Aegia(sp?) that I need to DL to suppliment the NVidea PhysX drivers?

Redid this since ALOT has changed with our SG. The base has grown tremendously for starters


Legacy of Valor is a Heavy RP SG on the Virtue server that’s been in existence for almost a year.

We’re currently looking for new members (obviously or I wouldn’t be posting here, lol).

The SG is modern era comics themed, and currently has about 15 unique players. We had 40 at our peak, but we’ve trimmed the alt junkies who would never log on to their toons and the people that wouldn’t follow the few rules we have.

What we’re looking for:

Roleplayers. We’re NOT Nazis about RP rules, but that is our focus and we want people who will get involved with the stories we create

Active players. You don’t have to live on the SG, but we don’t want people that are going to log on for 5 minutes once every two weeks. If you can strike a happy medium somewhere between those extremes, it’s all good.

Heroic Character Concepts. You don’t have to be Captain Whitebread, but we want characters that are genuinely heroic and interested in helping others. No kill crazed vigilantes or soul eating demons that belong red side. Personal experience is there are less personality clashes that way.


What we’ve got to offer as a SG:

Great RP story plots.

Weekly RP scheduled events & frequent SG based mission teams, etc...

A more casual atmosphere rules-wise than most RPSGs. We have few rules and treat our players like adults. No godmoding your character concept, your origin or costumes like some of the old guard RPSGs. The whole point of a game is to have fun after all. The few rules we do have are firmly enforced however. They largely come down to treating each other with respect and keeping up with events at our guildportal site.

A fully developed GuildPortal site (premium membership)

A VERY nicely developed base. It has about 13 million prestige poured into it now. Rooms include:

Teleporters to all 22 zones, The Pocket D and a Raid Teleporter we RP as a long distance TP
An arborium complete with a pond (with koi RP’ed in the pond )
A moderate size magic sanctum & study
A ready room with a large kitchen and counter style seating, and a TV lounge
A training center with a firing range, heavy combat room, locker rooms/showers, sauna, dojo and meditation chambers.
A large swimming pool room with a bbq, bar, and DJ booth (with video monitors above it)
Living quarters. There are some minimal requirements, but we have 22 rooms available for characters who don’t IC’ly live in the city. Each apartment is 2 squares on the map and customized to the character’s wishes (within reason). Yes, I take care of loyal team mates.
A Library, which also has our leaders’ two offices to one end of it
The standard control and power rooms. Our control center is nicely done and the power room doubles as a hangar for our Longbow Chasers
A RP-Centered Medical Bay. It has 4 non-critical care beds, a bio-sciences lab, and a surgical center.

We have a small coalition that we’re looking to expand.

All of our remaining members are good RPers and fairly capable on teams.

We also have a fun, “family” feel to our SG. Drama has been eliminated from this SG, except for IC’ly

And if you’re a night owl like me, I frequently run late night ITFs as well.


Want to join or find out more? Check us out at LegacyOfValor.GuildPortal.com or send me an in-game tell at @Stardrive.

I appreciate the effort aggelakis, but I am capable of running a google search, lol.

There are a good number of sites comparable on the surface to Guildportal. I was more hoping somebody here had actual insight/experience with one of them. Enough so that they'd deem it worthy of recommendation.

I'm guessing I'm not the only one mildly annoyed that Guildportal has been down for over 12 hours at this point. Seems like they're down all the time lately.

On top of that, my SG has been having issues with email delivery within the site, amd I'm tired of fighting with the bugs in the site builder and the not quite occasional glitch with posting on the SG forums.

Then there's just the fact that Guildportal has very little to specifically support City of Heroes or Villains. No game specific site banners or themes, etc... It SEEMS like they even did away with the option to display server status on your site. Maybe that's because the VG is a free site.

ANYWAY... I'm getting tired of fighting with the blasted site. Anybody know a quality site for guild hosting? Right now I need free hosting, but I'd like something that has a forums option like GP does. Email and relatively good, easy site building tools too.

It's funny reading over a few of the other posts now that I've had the time to do so...

Mainly I'm thinking the economy complaints. The LAG with WW and the BM is unholy beyond words. HOWEVER, while I agree that the economics are a bit screwed up, take a look at some of the other games with higher level ceilings and greater ease of transferring money and equipment to alts. I briefly played WoW for example. I saw the high end gear for LOWBIE characters going for 50,000 to 100,000 in some cases. My level 25 Blood Elf Rogue... No way in hell he could have ever afforded anything but the low end, standard gear. I was a very casual player and didn't have PLing and farming connections.

CoX is the model of sanity compared to at least MY experience with the economics of Everquest 2 and WoW. The reality here is almost nobody is willing to take the poison pill it would require to bring the economy totally into balance. You'd have to kill farming completely to do it. It's the farmers raking in vast amounts of influence/infamy and rare salvage/recipes that are driving up prices.

How many threads were there here screaming about AE farming getting nerfed though? People completely overlooked what AE farming was doing to prices at the auction houses at the time. All they cared about was they couldn't have a new 50 in 2 days. THAT coincidentally was HORRIBLY lowering the quality of play out in the "real" game world too.

Anyway, that's a side issue. Sticking to the point, I think the Devs have done a fair job of balancing the economy. Not great, but fair. Farming and PLing are always going to be a part of games like this it seems also, so we have to expect that there's going to be a bit of a gold rush economy. Those of us who can't afford to completely purple set out our toons have to accept that trade off for having more of a life outside the game. The horribly expensive stuff in the game is supposed to be ultra rare anyway.

The thread title pretty much speaks for itself.

There's enough of these turkeys running around, and they pack enough of a punch to merit a badge or two of their own. One for Quants/Voids & another for Nictus of any form perhaps?

OK I skipped to the end here and read the last few replies. I already knew what MY opinion (right or wrong) is on the issue.

Essentially I agree with Maniac and the Devs. *MY* reason here is that I've seen higher level content utterly ruin playability at lower levels in other games. I spent the greatest amount of time out of CoX playing Everquest 2, so I'll use it as the example.

As soon as even the level 60 content hit, it was all but impossible to get any dort of a team together at lower levels. I had a level 34 Fury that tried for months to get on a team to hit Deathfist Citidel. Never happened. Everybody was too busy working the high levels. All the old, lower level material went by the wayside. Start a new character? The established guilds just PL'ed alts up to the high levels. It only got worse as the level 70 stuff came out.

I spent enough time in World of Warcrap (2 months was all I could stand), to see the same thing to a greater extreme there. Join a guild? You've got a week to get your new toon to level 60 and start helping with raids. WTF?!? What if I'm new or an RP'er and actually want to take the time to explore the game's content? What if I just have a life and can't spent 14 hrs a day online to meet that deadline?

That's my VERY longwinded way of saying keeping the level cap at 50 keeps the character levels just close enough (in my opinion) where highbies are still willing to help lowbies instead of only PL a guildie or leave all the lowbies hanging.

The bigger thing I've seen, which I FREELY admit was added to by the greater ease of transferring money between toons in other games, was that the game economics got COMPLETELY out of whack. When you have a level 60, 70, or 80 who's making *billions* per run, he's not going to think anything of dropping 100,000 gold in the auction house for a item for his new level 5 character. How's a new player or casual player supposed to keep up with that? Especially when enough of those new lowbie alts completely decked out in purple gear start whining that the low level content is too easy?

Farmers in the game here already have the ecomony a LITTLE out of whack. There's NO way a casual player is ever going to scrape up 300,000,000+ for some of the recipes out there. THe counter arguement that they're supposed to be rare is correct too, but anybody being honest would have to admit that kind of pricing is out of balance none the less.

Now imagine if we did raise the level cap to 60 or 70 and the highest level characters were making 10 times what they are now, then trading money to their alts via friends. Anybody here REALLY want to have to start dishing out a million a pop for mid level IOs because some people have it to burn?

Maniac had the right idea I think. New content for existing levels, and hopefully eventually an overhaul of some of the dead zones. I LOVED Perez Park WAY back in issue one. Try getting a team together there now, lol.

Anyhoo, the Devs decision to freeze the level cap may not be popular with some. Heck occasionally I wonder what it'd be like to take one of my nine 50s higher. Still, I can at least see the logic behind the decision and what doing different has caused other games.

Added note here; I'll apologize in advance for the post ****ing since I already posted this in the City Life section. I missed this section when I originally posted it. Hoping I'll get some more feedback and perhaps even get it accepted as official. That said on with the repost:



I was reading over Manticore's canon fodder thread again and came upon the question about the Knives of Artemis. I've had a character that (like Indigo) is a former Knife of Artemis. She was higher up on the totem pole so to speak however. Since she's been a heavy RP character for a long time, a good while back I came up with an expanded Canon for the Knives of Artemis. I tried to avoid any conflict with existing lore (other than the group's size, which even Manti admits is up for debate) and expand upon then based upon what was made known in-game and in the real world about some of Artemis's more militant followers.

I know some players find the Knives annoying due to their constant rain of caltrops. Personally I'd like to see less of the caltrops and a bit better defense to make them more viable opponents. That said, I think the group has a TON of potential and is definitely under-represented in the game. My expaned canon at the very least makes for alot of RP potential. I'm throwing it out here for all to see and possibly use. POLITE critiques are certainly welcome as well. If I missed some official canon that conflicts strongly, let me know here. Keep in mind however, that with alot of this I'm expanding on what HASN'T been said. The worship of Artemis goes back thousands of years for example, so why not give the Knives a longer history as well?

Anyway, polite critique good, troll poop bad


THREAT REPORT: The Knives of Artemis
Filed by: Moon-Huntress


Organization Type: Religious Order Operating as Mercenary and Terrorist Force
Total Membership: Uncertain, estimated to be 50,000+

Headquarters Location: Somewhere Near Ephesus, Greece
Area of Operation: Worldwide

Background:
The Knives of Artemis have existed for several thousand years, dating back at least hundreds of years before the reign of Imperious in Cimerora. The Knives, as their name suggests, were founded as a religious order dedicated to the goddess Artemis. It’s uncertain if they started out militant and following a twisted version of her teachings, or they became that way over time.

By the time of Imperious’s reign, they were already a militant order actively working to promote their beliefs and undermine the government. In this day, magic was quite common and the group had a wide cadre of priestesses as well as warriors. These priestesses specialized in nature and necromantic magics.

Due to their violent teachings and activities, the cult has been outlawed since ancient times. The amount of active opposition the Knives have faced has varied over the ages, largely based on how openly the group operated. Imperious’s army was quite active in opposing them after a coup attempt that I myself helped prevent. The group was eventually driven into exile from Cimerora and re-oragnized in the remote wilderness areas of Greece. There, they worked quietly to promote worship of Artemis in general as well as their own militant agenda. They are said to have been responsible, at least indirectly, for the overthrow of more than one city-state.

As worship of the Greeks gods declined, the Knives went further underground and many assumed they ceased to exist until the group began operating more openly in modern times. The modern Knives are however the same organization that always existed, and NOT an offshoot or copycat organization. It’s said that several queens over the millennia have come to power by the Knives assassinating their husbands. Sometimes covertly, sometimes with the knowledge and cooperation of the Queen.

Over the centuries, they’ve maintained their militant core beliefs while making use of increasingly modern tactics, training and equipment. They’ve also managed to quietly grow their numbers over the years through psychological manipulation, indoctrination and the kidnapping of young girls. Currently they’re headquartered somewhere near the Greek city of Ephesus, where the great Temple of Artemis (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world) was built. The exact location of their headquarters remains unknown however.

Beliefs/Goals:
The Knives are not simply a mercenary force hiring themselves out to the highest bidder as is commonly believed. They are first and foremost a religious order founded on a militant feminist version of the worship of Artemis. Most are quite fanatical in their beliefs. It should be noted however that their fanaticism does nothing to decrease their effectiveness or the intelligent planning & execution of their operations.
They look upon men with disdain, but will work with individual men and male dominated groups such as Malta if it furthers their goals. As with most fanatics, anything can be justified so long as it furthers their goals.

Their ultimate goal is for world domination and for their religious views to be the new worldwide religion. They dream of a world where Artemis is the only god, and men are reduced to nothing more than servants or slaves. Women who view men as equals or fail to share the Knives’ militant views are also viewed as weak or enemies, and to be eliminated.

More short term goals are centered on promoting the worship of Artemis and growing the membership and influence of the Knives of Artemis. Needless to say, acquiring the resources to do so also figures prominently in their goals.

It should be noted that even their equipment reflects their ideals. Green and black are their colors because they symbolize nature and the night respectively. Both are Artemis’s dominions. Modern versions of archaic weapons are preferred because they are the tools of a true huntress; making a woman stronger mentally and physically through their use. Other equipment, such as the night vision optics they frequently use, is seen as useful tools so long as there’s no outright dependence upon them. Guns, on the other hand are, are seen as a weapon anyone can use requiring little skill or self-mastery. Guns can be used and are if the need is great or a special mission requires as much.


Modus Operandi:
The Knives of Artemis have learned from past near defeats and operate almost completely in a covert mode. Most of the general population is completely unaware of their existence. Those aware of the Knives’ existence are primarily familiar with them as a covert mercenary force. Given their tactics and preference for archaic weapons over firearms, they’ve often been compared to or mistaken for ninjas. Tactically, there is some truth to the comparison. It’s even said that the Knives at some point in the past had a contingent in Japan that received training as Kunoichi (female ninja) by one of the clans there.

There’s probably some truth to this, as it seems roughly 600 years ago the Knives became more open to the subtle tactics that Kunoichi are known for. Seduction of a target either for assassination or blackmail became a much more accepted tactic, and their infiltration tactics improved greatly. Whatever the exact truth, the Knives are not a part of a formal ninja clan, nor are they allied with one or follow any of their spiritual and philosophical teachings.

The Knives, as already stated, commonly hire themselves out as a mercenary force. Due to their success rate, they command top dollar for their services. They will refuse any contract that actively works against the promotion of Artemis or their order’s goals. Otherwise they will take on almost any assignment that can add to the wealth of the organization or otherwise expand their power. Their mercenary work brings them a good deal of financing, but it not their only source of income.

They gain recruits and finances through dummy organizations supporting militant feminism, as well as infiltrators in the pagan and Wiccan communities trying to twist women and girls to their dark version of Artemis’s teachings. Seduction and blackmail of wealthy or powerful men is also an accepted tactic. Likewise manipulation and subversion of wealthy women to their cause is also used when possible.

Beyond their efforts at financing, spread of their doctrine is accomplished by subverting women and girls vulnerable to their message, and eliminating men or women they see as opposing their views. Sometimes victims are chosen almost at random to make a point or as an offering to Artemis.

One added point on recruiting tactics. Most females over the age of 18 are viewed by the Knives as too old to fully absorb their rigorous field operatives training. Therefore, the Knives gain many of their new recruits by the kidnapping and indoctrination of young girls. Their parents are commonly murdered as part of the abduction and the child’s death faked as well so that people are less likely to look for the child. Indoctrination is done by psychological brainwashing. Magic was used in former times and is becoming a bit more common again as an aid with it’s return to the world. However, magic is not the preferred method, as a spell can be broken. Therefore it’s typically only used to weaken the girl’s resistance to indoctrination. A girl who’s fully given herself over to their teachings is much harder to break of their conditioning.

The ideal girl will be attractive, and show early signs of exceptional physical or mental development, or (if very young), will come from parents noted for such. Their ultimate prize is a girl gifted with what the Knives call the Aphrodite gene. Such a girl will be guaranteed to be exceptionally beautiful, and gifted with at least borderline superhuman physical attributes if not some limited degree of metahuman powers. They make ideal infiltrators and warriors.

Older girls and women, as has been noted elsewhere, are tested as a candidate for elite Special Forces teams. If they pass, they’re put through the same grueling training that the younger girls are put through.

Organization Structure:
Since ancient times, the Knives of Artemis have been lead by their High Priestess of Artemis. She has traditionally been given the title of High Mistress of the Moon and first daughter of Artemis.

Next in the hierarchy is the Council of the Moon. These are 6 of the strongest huntresses and 6 of the strongest priestesses in the organization, and they act as counselors to the High Mistress and enforcers of her will.

From there, the organization breaks down into a terrorist cell type structure with each group of cells being isolated from the others for the greater security of the Knives. There is a middle layer of command structure that is carefully isolated from the cells.

All through the organization, the priestesses work with the warriors, sharing a similar rank structure. In ancient times, there were far more priestesses than now. The disappearance of magic reduced them to a small number of largely ceremonial roles. With the reappearance of magic, their ranks have begun to fill out again over the last 100 years. Unlike ancient times, priestesses are almost never seen in the field however. They remain behind the scenes operating as support and spiritual counselors to the warriors. This helps mask the true nature of the Knives and keeps their small cadre of priestesses better protected.

Outside of the cell structure, there are a handful of elite priestesses and warriors who take orders directly from the High Mistress herself. They usually operate independently and are given the most dangerous and difficult tasks.

The lesser ranks are known to many of those already aware of the Knives of Artemis:

New recruits who have not proven themselves and been fully ordained into the Sisterhood are simply known as Mercenaries. Priestesses at this level are known as Initiates of Artemis

A mercenary who has proven herself and been through the rituals of ordination is simply known as a Sister of the Knives of Artemis, or Sister. Priestesses at this level are known as Adepts of the Moon and are also called Sisters or Sister Adepts. Initiates wear solid dark green robes & Adepts wear dark green robes with light green trim.

A Sister who has proven herself capable and loyal may challenge for rank. Promotion is through trial by ritual combat. At this level, the duel need not be to the death however, unless one of the combatants demands it. The winner is promoted to the rank of Blade of Artemis. The badge of their rank is a camouflage pattern Green and Black uniform. Priestesses attain this level through a strenuous test of their magical ability and knowledge of doctrine. Priestesses at this level wear pale green gowns with gold trim and are given the title Priestess of Artemis. They are always referred to as Priestesses and never Sisters (as a matter of respect to their roles).

Above the Blades of Artemis are the Hands of Artemis. These are the true field leaders of the Knives of Artemis and are likely to be at the Regional command level. Their uniforms are black with green trim. As with all promotions, the matter is a challenge settled by ritual combat. In this case however, a priestess decides if the combat is to the death or not.

Priestesses at this level also earn their rank via ritual magical combat. A higher ranking priestess (either the Sorceress of the Moon, one of her own adepts, or one of the six High Council priestesses), decides the setting of the combat and if it’s to be lethal or not. The winner is declared a Sybil of Artemis. They are awarded black gowns with green trim.



Significant Members:
The most significant member is the High Mistress of the Moon. She leads the Knives of Artemis, and rules as Artemis’s chosen as well as the most powerful priestess and warrior of the organization. She carries a ceremonial blade of great power known as the “Unyielding Blade of the Eternal Moon”. It’s her primary weapon and symbol of office. The only way it can be wielded is for another woman to defeat the current High Mistress in ritual combat. Even her defeat in a normal battle will not allow another to possess it

Next would be the Council of the Moon, the group of 12 that advises the High Mistress and acts as her messengers. The Council is made up of 6 warriors and 6 priestesses chosen for a combination of their strength, cunning, loyalty and time in service to the sisterhood. Wisdom and loyalty are primary attribute for these roles, but the members must have proven their strength as well.

The elite field operatives are the most likely significant threat to be faced by authorities or heroes. One of those roles is the chief field agent of the Knives of Artemis. This is a single honorary title awarded to the Sister who proves herself strongest in ritual combat. The winner is awarded the title of Huntress of the Moon and operates under the orders of the High Mistress or the Council. She’s given the most difficult assignments, and is expected to serve as a trainer and role model to the other Sisters.

The Priestesses have a similar role bearing the title Sorceress of the Moon. Their function is similar, serving as an example to and trainer of other Priestess Sisters, and given special missions directly from the leadership. Like the Huntress if the Moon, the title can only be gained through ritual combat. However the duel is fought solely with magic and physical combat is prohibited.

Both roles have 3 apprentices each underneath them; the next level of the best and brightest. There are also rumored to be a few other special roles with the Knives. The best known of these is the Blood Huntress. Her role is to eliminate Sisters who are found to have stained the honor of the Sisterhood in some way. I have yet to knowingly encounter such a Sister however.


Allied Organizations:
The best known ally of the Knives of Artemis is the Malta Group. It’s uncertain how much the leadership of each group tells the other. Most likely they simply work together because the relationship is mutually beneficial and their goals don’t directly clash, yet. Given that most of the Malta group consists of men, it’s only a matter of time before one group turns upon the other.

It should be noted however that the Knives also have a number of disillusioned wealthy women who quietly support them with money and other resources. Though typically not capable of joining the Knives as troops, they’ve still bought into their teachings and are as loyal as any full Sister. A few are even said to be priestesses.


NOTES ON THE APHRODITE GENE:
The Aphrodite gene takes its make from it’s original label of ‘Aphrodite’s Blessing’. That name was given to it by the ancient Sybils. Through their magic they were able to detect there was something different about a handful of the most beautiful women (and occasionally men). Often these girls were chosen as Sybils themselves, as well as sought after by the Knives for recruits. It was only when modern genetics came along that it was realized this was a special extra gene these select few were gifted with.

As noted above, the common factor with the gene is that the bearer will have exceptional physical beauty. To varying degrees, they’re also gifted with above average physical strength, stamina and dexterity. It’s uncertain yet if the gene varies that much or if it only allows increased potential, depending on the actual bearer’s work to reach varying degrees of that potential. Given the occasional appearance of metahuman powers in the bearer, it’s believed the first theory is more likely. Such powers tend to be weak compared to many metas out there. This is ideal to the Knives however on the rare occasion they find such a girl. She will make a powerful soldier, but not so powerful as to be a threat to the leadership.

My opinion on the initial question...

1) It takes WAY too long to get bugs addressed and fixed. I'm sure most of us can site at least one example of a bug that's been around for ages. Even as mentally fatigued as I am after being up all night I can recall that the Kneel emote has been broken for a while.

2) The age of the game's content. Ultra Mode will certainly bring a fresh coat of paint to the city, but it's still teh same old city. The outbreak plague is STILL running loose in the noobie yard FIVE YEARS later. Likewise, nobody apparently has figured out how to patch that leaking crack in the city dam after five years either. There's other examples, but I'm sure we all get the idea. In real life, five years can bring tremendous change. Not in Paragon City however. Faultline and the Hollows got a moderate facelift. Fairly well done too in both cases.

I'd like to see more of that however, starting with Outbreak. Then revive the zones people figuratively never play in; Perez, Skyway, Dark Astoria and Independence Port primarily. Terra Volta would never see any action either if not for respec trials and the occasional street sweeping badge hunter.

In issue 1, when The Hollows was nothing but a closed blast door, Perez saw a ton of action. I have fond memories of team leveling by Hydra hunting way back then. The city needs a continued facelift. Freshen up and change some of the mission content through the game too. It's bad when us old timers don't even need to read any contact's mission briefings because we're seen it all several times.

OK, per request here is the republished AE storyline of Moon-Huntress's origin that lets players fight the ancient counterparts of the Knives of Artemis. I had to break it into two parts. I'm not sure where I went wrong detail-wise. Originally it was a 5 mission single arc. Too much customizng this time I think

This time I had to use two AE slots for it. The first arc is 3 missions and leads up to the battle against the combined forces of the modern and ancient Knives of Artemis in ancient Cimerora. The last mission is HUGE, but you're supposed to be fighting off a potential invasion. I wanted to give players ample opportunity to battle several of the Ancient Knives as well. Anyway, here are the Arc numbers:

379409 - The Origin of the Moon-Huntress
379410 - The Origin of the Moon-Huntress: Finale

OR search @Stardrive


Ok, first I'll add that this is meant to be truly played, not barreled through. I spent a TON of time telling Moon's story via the clues and mission accept/complete dialog. Read it all, and I'm hoping you'll have an enjoyable story as well as some good fights. And on the off chance I end up RPing on Virtue server (Moon's home) with anybody here, chronologically the events in the arc take place roughly a year ago.

Now... Mission warnings:
AVs in the second, third and final missions. Turn them down to Elite Bosses if needed
Elite Bosses in the first and third mission.

Yes there's an AV and EB both in mission 3. HOWEVER, you also get to team with Moon herself in mission 3. She has the exact same Pri/Sec powers as the real Moon-Huntress.

As for the AVs... The one in the second and third mission is the same character; the woman who was Moon-Huntress's first commander, before Moon had earned her title and was simply Sister Persephone. The AV is a Dual Blades/Willpower scrapper build. Defeating her is optional in mission 2 however.

I test drove the arc at +0 x1 with EBs just for the sake of being quick. At that level, Moon easily solo'ed her. It took a while, but that's what makes a fight fun to me.

The EB in mission 3 is Moon's former apprentice (if you remember that in the briefing above). She's claws/SR.

The AV in the Last Mission is the Cimeroran version of the Huntress of the Moon. She's an Axe/Willpower brute. Probably the toughest challenge of the whole storyline. Soaks up dmg fairly well and hits like a truck even at EB level. Expect a challenge. Again, Moon didn't have any real trouble soloing her at the settings above.

If you play it at anything more than +0 x1 you should have plenty of all six types of combatants mentioned for the Knives of Artemis, priestesses and warriors alike.

A couple of other points. First there's a bug where contacts or hostages won't activate till any caltrops around them fade. The caltrops for some reason are counted by the AI as part of the original guarding group.

Second; locations. The third mission is supposed to be a Knives of Artemis base. The way I visualized it, the closest thing that fit was the Fifth Column HQ map. It fit fairly well except for all the Fifth Column logos. Please just ignore those or pretend they're Knives of Artemis insignias. Minor diversion here, I also used the crescent moon insignia on the ancient Knives because it's the closest available thing to their logo.

The last location is supposed to be the forests outside/near Cimerora. Fot that, I used Croatoa for the closest available fit reasons again.

Hopefully you all can overlook those minor issues and enjoy a good story and a tough fight.

Good a guess as any, and I've noted the similarity in names there myself in the past.

Wow, nice job mindlessly attacking one point with NO supporting argument on your part, AND ignoring the rest of my arguments SPECULATING where Cimerora MIGHT have been.

Sadly there's not hard fast answer out there in the game world about where and when it was. I *DO* have a posted question in Manti's canon thread and am hoping we'll get a real answer there soon. In the mean time, we can bat around ideas about Cimerora ourselves.

One camp in player base seems to believe that Cimerora was in Italy and set roughly the time of the real Romulus Augustus. This would make it set in the middle of the first centruy A.D. They will point to the Roman badge, that the story of Nictus Rommie is clearly based LOOSELY upon the story of the real Romulus Augustus, and the Roman looking armor worn in Cimerora.


PERSONALLY, I reject this theory. It's completely possible to use the historical story of Romulus Augustus as a framework but transplant it to a different time or location. The Roman badge can be explained as the Devs simply picking an easy name. "Spartan" could have just as easily been chosen but might have got Paragon Studios sued by Frank Miller and the producers of the 300 movie, lol. As for the armor... Well, the Immunes and a few others look far more like Spartans or Trojans. So I think the Devs borrowed from multiple classic cultures to create Cimerora. Likewise, Imperious is King of Cimerora and an Incarnate, not some minor official paying tribute to a Roman empire failing to aid him against a threat to them all. The biggest thing that makes me reject this theory though is Statesman's origin and the general canon history of the game world.

Those both say that the origins of power were locked away by Zeus and the gods at the end of the ancient age of heroes. Yet the Cimerorans are at least borderline superhuman warriors. Requiem's journal (clue given at the end of ITF mish 3) says they're the greatest warriors he's ever seen, and he's been beaten down several times in Paragon as well as creating his own genetically enhanced super soldiers, Vampiri and War Wolves. Like wise, the Immunes have magical healing abilities that rival an Empath defender with a very expensive build. If magic was locked away withthe other origins (or as part of the one general origin), where are they getting their healing abilities from?

There were a couple of hints dropped in Cimerora that the age of powers would be coming to an end in the future. The old woman on the hill and a couple of things said by the Sybils. That, the above info, and the fact that Imperious is an Incarnate and son of Zeus would say to me that the age of heroes hasn't yet ended. Going by real world historical generalities, the age of heroes (in Greece) was the time that the Illiad and the Odyssey were set in and pre-dated Helenistic Greece and Rome itself. So we're talking PROBABLY a few thousand years BC in my opinion if not potentially farther back.

Location is hard to pinpoint as well. Again, the Devs seem to have borrowed from a few ancient civilizations to create Cimerora. Because of that, I'd originally placed it between Greece and Italy. Looking at the map, it very well could be on the heel of the boot of Italy and be close enough to Greece to be influenced by it. Phoebas, the god that Sister Solaris calls upon for guidance, is clearly a reference to Apollo. Phoebus or Phoebus Apollo was how some Roman poets referrred tot he Greek god. The rest of the gods mentioned in the game are called by their Greek and not Roman names. Solaris herself is clearly modeled on Apollo's oracle at Delphi (Greece) as well.

At any rate, somewhere (almost anywhere) along the coast between Greece and Italy seems viable. I've even heard Crete suggested as a possible location that seems viable.


So what are your thoughts, people?

In Moon-Huntress's origin AE arc, she actually went back into the past and stopped the the Modern Knives from delivering explosives and modern weaponry to their ancient sisters. She fought her ancient counterpart too, and saved Imperious from being overthrown. The ancient priestesses were particualrly nasty AE characters because they were Plant Control/Necro MM combinations.

I really need to recreate that arc. I accidentally deleted it a while back.

I was reading over Manticore's canon fodder thread again and came upon the question about the Knives of Artemis. I've had a character that (like Indigo) is a former Knife of Artemis. She was higher up on the totem pole so to speak however. Since she's been a heavy RP character for a long time, a good while back I came up with an expanded Canon for the Knives of Artemis. I tried to avoid any conflict with existing lore (other than the group's size, which even Manti admits is up for debate) and expand upon then based upon what was made known in-game and in the real world about some of Artemis's more militant followers.

I know some players find the Knives annoying due to their constant rain of caltrops. Personally I'd like to see less of the caltrops and a bit better defense to make them more viable opponents. That said, I think the group has a TON of potential and is definitely under-represented in the game. My expaned canon at the very least makes for alot of RP potential. I'm throwing it out here for all to see and possibly use. POLITE critiques are certainly welcome as well. If I missed some official canon that conflicts strongly, let me know here. Keep in mind however, that with alot of this I'm expanding on what HASN'T been said. The worship of Artemis goes back thousands of years for example, so why not give the Knives a longer history as well?

Anyway, polite critique good, troll poop bad


THREAT REPORT: The Knives of Artemis
Filed by: Moon-Huntress


Organization Type: Religious Order Operating as Mercenary and Terrorist Force
Total Membership: Uncertain, estimated to be 50,000+

Headquarters Location: Somewhere Near Ephesus, Greece
Area of Operation: Worldwide

Background:
The Knives of Artemis have existed for several thousand years, dating back at least hundreds of years before the reign of Imperious in Cimerora. The Knives, as their name suggests, were founded as a religious order dedicated to the goddess Artemis. It’s uncertain if they started out militant and following a twisted version of her teachings, or they became that way over time.

By the time of Imperious’s reign, they were already a militant order actively working to promote their beliefs and undermine the government. In this day, magic was quite common and the group had a wide cadre of priestesses as well as warriors. These priestesses specialized in nature and necromantic magics.

Due to their violent teachings and activities, the cult has been outlawed since ancient times. The amount of active opposition the Knives have faced has varied over the ages, largely based on how openly the group operated. Imperious’s army was quite active in opposing them after a coup attempt that I myself helped prevent. The group was eventually driven into exile from Cimerora and re-oragnized in the remote wilderness areas of Greece. There, they worked quietly to promote worship of Artemis in general as well as their own militant agenda. They are said to have been responsible, at least indirectly, for the overthrow of more than one city-state.

As worship of the Greeks gods declined, the Knives went further underground and many assumed they ceased to exist until the group began operating more openly in modern times. The modern Knives are however the same organization that always existed, and NOT an offshoot or copycat organization. It’s said that several queens over the millennia have come to power by the Knives assassinating their husbands. Sometimes covertly, sometimes with the knowledge and cooperation of the Queen.

Over the centuries, they’ve maintained their militant core beliefs while making use of increasingly modern tactics, training and equipment. They’ve also managed to quietly grow their numbers over the years through psychological manipulation, indoctrination and the kidnapping of young girls. Currently they’re headquartered somewhere near the Greek city of Ephesus, where the great Temple of Artemis (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world) was built. The exact location of their headquarters remains unknown however.

Beliefs/Goals:
The Knives are not simply a mercenary force hiring themselves out to the highest bidder as is commonly believed. They are first and foremost a religious order founded on a militant feminist version of the worship of Artemis. Most are quite fanatical in their beliefs. It should be noted however that their fanaticism does nothing to decrease their effectiveness or the intelligent planning & execution of their operations.
They look upon men with disdain, but will work with individual men and male dominated groups such as Malta if it furthers their goals. As with most fanatics, anything can be justified so long as it furthers their goals.

Their ultimate goal is for world domination and for their religious views to be the new worldwide religion. They dream of a world where Artemis is the only god, and men are reduced to nothing more than servants or slaves. Women who view men as equals or fail to share the Knives’ militant views are also viewed as weak or enemies, and to be eliminated.

More short term goals are centered on promoting the worship of Artemis and growing the membership and influence of the Knives of Artemis. Needless to say, acquiring the resources to do so also figures prominently in their goals.

It should be noted that even their equipment reflects their ideals. Green and black are their colors because they symbolize nature and the night respectively. Both are Artemis’s dominions. Modern versions of archaic weapons are preferred because they are the tools of a true huntress; making a woman stronger mentally and physically through their use. Other equipment, such as the night vision optics they frequently use, is seen as useful tools so long as there’s no outright dependence upon them. Guns, on the other hand are, are seen as a weapon anyone can use requiring little skill or self-mastery. Guns can be used and are if the need is great or a special mission requires as much.


Modus Operandi:
The Knives of Artemis have learned from past near defeats and operate almost completely in a covert mode. Most of the general population is completely unaware of their existence. Those aware of the Knives’ existence are primarily familiar with them as a covert mercenary force. Given their tactics and preference for archaic weapons over firearms, they’ve often been compared to or mistaken for ninjas. Tactically, there is some truth to the comparison. It’s even said that the Knives at some point in the past had a contingent in Japan that received training as Kunoichi (female ninja) by one of the clans there.

There’s probably some truth to this, as it seems roughly 600 years ago the Knives became more open to the subtle tactics that Kunoichi are known for. Seduction of a target either for assassination or blackmail became a much more accepted tactic, and their infiltration tactics improved greatly. Whatever the exact truth, the Knives are not a part of a formal ninja clan, nor are they allied with one or follow any of their spiritual and philosophical teachings.

The Knives, as already stated, commonly hire themselves out as a mercenary force. Due to their success rate, they command top dollar for their services. They will refuse any contract that actively works against the promotion of Artemis or their order’s goals. Otherwise they will take on almost any assignment that can add to the wealth of the organization or otherwise expand their power. Their mercenary work brings them a good deal of financing, but it not their only source of income.

They gain recruits and finances through dummy organizations supporting militant feminism, as well as infiltrators in the pagan and Wiccan communities trying to twist women and girls to their dark version of Artemis’s teachings. Seduction and blackmail of wealthy or powerful men is also an accepted tactic. Likewise manipulation and subversion of wealthy women to their cause is also used when possible.

Beyond their efforts at financing, spread of their doctrine is accomplished by subverting women and girls vulnerable to their message, and eliminating men or women they see as opposing their views. Sometimes victims are chosen almost at random to make a point or as an offering to Artemis.

One added point on recruiting tactics. Most females over the age of 18 are viewed by the Knives as too old to fully absorb their rigorous field operatives training. Therefore, the Knives gain many of their new recruits by the kidnapping and indoctrination of young girls. Their parents are commonly murdered as part of the abduction and the child’s death faked as well so that people are less likely to look for the child. Indoctrination is done by psychological brainwashing. Magic was used in former times and is becoming a bit more common again as an aid with it’s return to the world. However, magic is not the preferred method, as a spell can be broken. Therefore it’s typically only used to weaken the girl’s resistance to indoctrination. A girl who’s fully given herself over to their teachings is much harder to break of their conditioning.

The ideal girl will be attractive, and show early signs of exceptional physical or mental development, or (if very young), will come from parents noted for such. Their ultimate prize is a girl gifted with what the Knives call the Aphrodite gene. Such a girl will be guaranteed to be exceptionally beautiful, and gifted with at least borderline superhuman physical attributes if not some limited degree of metahuman powers. They make ideal infiltrators and warriors.

Older girls and women, as has been noted elsewhere, are tested as a candidate for elite Special Forces teams. If they pass, they’re put through the same grueling training that the younger girls are put through.

Organization Structure:
Since ancient times, the Knives of Artemis have been lead by their High Priestess of Artemis. She has traditionally been given the title of High Mistress of the Moon and first daughter of Artemis.

Next in the hierarchy is the Council of the Moon. These are 6 of the strongest huntresses and 6 of the strongest priestesses in the organization, and they act as counselors to the High Mistress and enforcers of her will.

From there, the organization breaks down into a terrorist cell type structure with each group of cells being isolated from the others for the greater security of the Knives. There is a middle layer of command structure that is carefully isolated from the cells.

All through the organization, the priestesses work with the warriors, sharing a similar rank structure. In ancient times, there were far more priestesses than now. The disappearance of magic reduced them to a small number of largely ceremonial roles. With the reappearance of magic, their ranks have begun to fill out again over the last 100 years. Unlike ancient times, priestesses are almost never seen in the field however. They remain behind the scenes operating as support and spiritual counselors to the warriors. This helps mask the true nature of the Knives and keeps their small cadre of priestesses better protected.

Outside of the cell structure, there are a handful of elite priestesses and warriors who take orders directly from the High Mistress herself. They usually operate independently and are given the most dangerous and difficult tasks.

The lesser ranks are known to many of those already aware of the Knives of Artemis:

New recruits who have not proven themselves and been fully ordained into the Sisterhood are simply known as Mercenaries. Priestesses at this level are known as Initiates of Artemis

A mercenary who has proven herself and been through the rituals of ordination is simply known as a Sister of the Knives of Artemis, or Sister. Priestesses at this level are known as Adepts of the Moon and are also called Sisters or Sister Adepts. Initiates wear solid dark green robes & Adepts wear dark green robes with light green trim.

A Sister who has proven herself capable and loyal may challenge for rank. Promotion is through trial by ritual combat. At this level, the duel need not be to the death however, unless one of the combatants demands it. The winner is promoted to the rank of Blade of Artemis. The badge of their rank is a camouflage pattern Green and Black uniform. Priestesses attain this level through a strenuous test of their magical ability and knowledge of doctrine. Priestesses at this level wear pale green gowns with gold trim and are given the title Priestess of Artemis. They are always referred to as Priestesses and never Sisters (as a matter of respect to their roles).

Above the Blades of Artemis are the Hands of Artemis. These are the true field leaders of the Knives of Artemis and are likely to be at the Regional command level. Their uniforms are black with green trim. As with all promotions, the matter is a challenge settled by ritual combat. In this case however, a priestess decides if the combat is to the death or not.

Priestesses at this level also earn their rank via ritual magical combat. A higher ranking priestess (either the Sorceress of the Moon, one of her own adepts, or one of the six High Council priestesses), decides the setting of the combat and if it’s to be lethal or not. The winner is declared a Sybil of Artemis. They are awarded black gowns with green trim.



Significant Members:
The most significant member is the High Mistress of the Moon. She leads the Knives of Artemis, and rules as Artemis’s chosen as well as the most powerful priestess and warrior of the organization. She carries a ceremonial blade of great power known as the “Unyielding Blade of the Eternal Moon”. It’s her primary weapon and symbol of office. The only way it can be wielded is for another woman to defeat the current High Mistress in ritual combat. Even her defeat in a normal battle will not allow another to possess it

Next would be the Council of the Moon, the group of 12 that advises the High Mistress and acts as her messengers. The Council is made up of 6 warriors and 6 priestesses chosen for a combination of their strength, cunning, loyalty and time in service to the sisterhood. Wisdom and loyalty are primary attribute for these roles, but the members must have proven their strength as well.

The elite field operatives are the most likely significant threat to be faced by authorities or heroes. One of those roles is the chief field agent of the Knives of Artemis. This is a single honorary title awarded to the Sister who proves herself strongest in ritual combat. The winner is awarded the title of Huntress of the Moon and operates under the orders of the High Mistress or the Council. She’s given the most difficult assignments, and is expected to serve as a trainer and role model to the other Sisters.

The Priestesses have a similar role bearing the title Sorceress of the Moon. Their function is similar, serving as an example to and trainer of other Priestess Sisters, and given special missions directly from the leadership. Like the Huntress if the Moon, the title can only be gained through ritual combat. However the duel is fought solely with magic and physical combat is prohibited.

Both roles have 3 apprentices each underneath them; the next level of the best and brightest. There are also rumored to be a few other special roles with the Knives. The best known of these is the Blood Huntress. Her role is to eliminate Sisters who are found to have stained the honor of the Sisterhood in some way. I have yet to knowingly encounter such a Sister however.


Allied Organizations:
The best known ally of the Knives of Artemis is the Malta Group. It’s uncertain how much the leadership of each group tells the other. Most likely they simply work together because the relationship is mutually beneficial and their goals don’t directly clash, yet. Given that most of the Malta group consists of men, it’s only a matter of time before one group turns upon the other.

It should be noted however that the Knives also have a number of disillusioned wealthy women who quietly support them with money and other resources. Though typically not capable of joining the Knives as troops, they’ve still bought into their teachings and are as loyal as any full Sister. A few are even said to be priestesses.


NOTES ON THE APHRODITE GENE:
The Aphrodite gene takes its make from it’s original label of ‘Aphrodite’s Blessing’. That name was given to it by the ancient Sybils. Through their magic they were able to detect there was something different about a handful of the most beautiful women (and occasionally men). Often these girls were chosen as Sybils themselves, as well as sought after by the Knives for recruits. It was only when modern genetics came along that it was realized this was a special extra gene these select few were gifted with.

As noted above, the common factor with the gene is that the bearer will have exceptional physical beauty. To varying degrees, they’re also gifted with above average physical strength, stamina and dexterity. It’s uncertain yet if the gene varies that much or if it only allows increased potential, depending on the actual bearer’s work to reach varying degrees of that potential. Given the occasional appearance of metahuman powers in the bearer, it’s believed the first theory is more likely. Such powers tend to be weak compared to many metas out there. This is ideal to the Knives however on the rare occasion they find such a girl. She will make a powerful soldier, but not so powerful as to be a threat to the leadership.