Serpent's Fang

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Revision as of 17:01, 9 March 2022 by Krayfishkarl (talk | contribs) (Created page with "The '''Serpent's Fang''' is a cult that directly worships the Basilisk. Of their own free will, they have pledged themselves complete allegiance to the Basilisk. In order to become immune to the torturous ways of the Basilisk, they’ve trained themselves to become free of anything causing pain and to sadistically accept whatever the Basilisk asks of them. To keep the Basilisk pleased, they frequently perform profane rituals, sacrificing sapient beings in sadistic w...")
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The Serpent's Fang is a cult that directly worships the Basilisk. Of their own free will, they have pledged themselves complete allegiance to the Basilisk. In order to become immune to the torturous ways of the Basilisk, they’ve trained themselves to become free of anything causing pain and to sadistically accept whatever the Basilisk asks of them.

To keep the Basilisk pleased, they frequently perform profane rituals, sacrificing sapient beings in sadistic ways. These actions have no effect on the Basilisk, and they are done entirely on superstition. In reality, the Basilisk allows it as they proved that it would be unnecessary to use indoctrination waves on them. Indoctrination waves force a sapient being to comply with the Basilisk’s rule, but it carries the risk of causing permanent brain damage which could make its thralls effectively useless.

Overview

While the Serpent's Fang's earliest members originated from the universe where the Basilisk was first known to have appeared, it is thought they truly escalated to become a terrifying presence when the Basilisk conquered one of its first targets. In one universe lived a civilization known as the Kwek that dominated at least one hundred million galaxies with the Crucible Galaxy as their capital. The dominant species resembled pitch-black gelatinous humanoids who operated their empire from a government known as the Ruling Council.

When the Basilisk arrived, it subjugated a mere three galaxies in less than three weeks. Initial calculations put the Basilisk's time to destroy the entirety of the Kwek's empire at just over 90,000 years, but the number of attacks accelerated to a point beyond what could be reasonably prepared. Countless worlds were taken over, the inhabitants absorbed into a collective intelligence where they suffered torment where not even death was an escape.

After millennia of subjugation as well as internal civil war, the Ruling Council of the Kwek surrendered themselves, pleading to have the Basilisk spare them of fates worse than death in exchange for offering all their weapons to aid in the Basilisk's conquests of other universes. Unexpectedly, the Basilisk agreed, despite the surviving Kwek knowing their bargain wouldn't last forever. But over many generations, the society of the Kwek shifted to become more zealous and fanatical - the indoctrination processes starting even before a subject was spawned from its parent. Over time, they trained themselves to be completely free of fear and to embrace pain. Eventually, they adopted the name Serpent's Fang to indicate that they were among the striking forces of the Basilisk.

The subjugated Kwek empire has allowed the Serpent's Fang virtually unlimited resources to conduct their schemes in the shadows while they borrow some of the Basilisk's AI processing power to determine their next courses of action. In effect, the Serpent's Fang became a highly mobile reconnaissance unit that could scout out other universes thousands and even millions of years ahead of the full invasion force of the Basilisk itself. Their own capabilities still allow them to conquer smaller targets of their own to prepare them for the Basilisk's arrival with the threat that if they did not surrender, they would be sacrificed to the Basilisk.

Connection to Omni 01

While they remain most numerous in their home universe, they collaborated with alternate versions of themselves while sending agents to other universes to ensure the arrival of the Basilisk. Though unverified, it is thought that the Serpent's Fang communicated with the original engineers behind LUCIS’s creation through the use of coded binary messages via gravitons. Their plan was to get around Omni 01’s multiversal block by having a civilization construct its own version of the Basilisk within it. LUCIS and INFRA are thought to be an attempt to summon the Basilisk.

Although this attempt was ultimately thwarted, the Serpent’s Fang continued to seek out ways to enter Omni 01.