Dan Kim

Such feelings between sisters are taboo.

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That said, special bonds do form within units -- it's an open secret that a newly formed unit immediately organizes itself an untouchable captain, a "best sister" to that captain, and a ring of jealous onlookers. To prevent jealousy from destroying the unit, there are extremely strict guidelines on the how a captain interacts with her unit. Within The City, everything from the sitting arrangements in the mess hall to private one on one meetings are controlled. Generally speaking, the captain must maintain an egalitarian attitude towards her subordinates and met out honours and rewards only in accordance with the guardianship's strict guidelines.

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That's the life of captain in The City. Out in the field, things can become a little hairy if the captain starts to slip up and break guidelines. If preferential treatment is openly given to the known "best sister" things can get very bad indeed. Every sister knows that bad blood can form very quickly, and a stray bullet could easily find its way into the head of a sister who had the audacity to sleep under the captain's cape two nights in a row. It's a captain's duty to spread her love as equally as possible and maintain group cohesion.

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So much for affection and bonds between sisters. Now, outright indulgences of the flesh... that is simply not allowed. Joining flesh with another body or falling into a private delusion betrays a deformity of the soul that must be corrected from without. There are many tales of what goes on in "that" clinic. Some sisters disappear in the night, and then return after many weeks... changed. In the baths, they hide their bodies, in the day they are quiet and muted, in their bunks they frustrated and irritable. Every sister has her suspicions about the nature of the change, but they dare not speak a word. Some of the changed simply kill themselves. Their souls will be tortured by the white witch forever.

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There are four houses in The City dedicated to the raising of children -- North, East, West, and the Allsisters Home.

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North House is the strongest, but full of bad eggs and problem cases. Thankfully the elder sisters there are very strict and know how to turn a naughty girl into a fine servant of the cross and white witch. When another house can't handle a rowdy or mean-spirited sister, she gets sent to North House to be straightened out. Usually these new transfer students are a shade softer than "native" north housers and are bullied mercilessly until they fall in line. The elder sisters usually turn a blind eye to this bullying unless it gets out of hand. They think it builds character. North House produces excellent small teams, independent operators, and has the best track record for producing powerful Guardians.

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East House can actually be considered in two parts: the part of the house dedicated to training serious, quiet, reliable soldiers/workers and the part dedicated to cultivating inner guardianship candidates (that is, priestesses, witch-talkers, officers, and other specialized jobs). The vast majority will receive standard training. A few elites will enter apprenticeships with elder sisters where they will inherit the skills and wisdom necessary to protect The City. East house and North house are engaged in an eternal rivalry.

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"West House" is actually a misnomer. The West House isn't a house at all ... and it's not even on the west side of The City. The West House is actually the west wing of the southernmost house -- that is, the Great Hall, which contains an infinite number books on all subjects within an extra-dimensional space. As you might expect, it's nothing but bookworms, oddballs, and eccentrics here. The west house is the smallest house -- not more than a five to ten dozen sisters actually live there. At least that's what the census says -- counting heads in an extra-dimensional space can get pretty confusing.

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The Allsisters House is where sisters spend their first 6-7 years of life. It's basically a big nursery and kindergarten. Some sisters are so suited for this environment that they never leave... they become the caretakers of the next generation. This is considered a supreme honour. Even members of inner guardianship speak with deference to these elder sisters. They are considered the mothers of the city. If a sick or dying templar calls out for her mother, that's who she's calling out for.

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