Drood Family

Drood Family is an ancient organisation back from when Romans occupied Britain. They are a mixture of supernatural secret service, clan and on occasion, secret rulers of the world. Armed with their mysterious torcs, they fight against any supernatural or extra-dimensional threat against the Earth and humanity.

Origins:

Droods have their roots in the ancient Britain. Their ancestors were savage shamans known as druids, who protected their tribes against many various threats.

Then, a mysterious crystalline being dubbed as "the Heart" landed on Earth in Britain. Before the druids could get there, a man later known as Methuselah and his family got to it first and made a pact for immortality with it. When the druids arrived to it, they also sealed a deal; in return for sacrifices and worship, the Heart would give the druids great power to protect their lands and families. Said sacrifice was soul of a twin. Thus the druids gained their supremely powerful abilities in the shape of golden torcs.

Time passed, and the protection the druids gave to their tribes extended to entire Britain and then, the world. The exact content of sacrifices to the Heart was left only to their leader the Matriarch and a council.

During the World War II, Droods summoned the Loathly Ones as counter against another extra-dimensional threat, which was on the side of Nazis, even though there were much better and safer potential allies. When the war ended, Droods discovered to their horror they couldn´t dispel their summoned allies and the Loathly Ones remained on Earth from then on.

Gerard Drood, one of the top secret rogue Droods, transformed himself into a physical god and declared himself Grendel Rex; the Unforgiving God. The rest of the family barely managed to imprison him in an event the rest of the world later dubbed "the Tunguzka Incident."

Recent History:

Edwin "Eddie" Drood, one of the Family´s best field agents, was for an unknown reason declared rogue and to be immediately put down. He managed to escape his family´s schemes and made an alliance with several enemies of the Family; for example Molly Metcalf, witch of the wild woods, or Mr. Stab, the worst serial killer in history of mankind. Eddie discovered the truth about the Heart and his family´s torcs, and after getting back into the Drood Hall, he destroyed the sentient diamond together with it´s torcs. This severely crippled the family and Eddie was forced to take the lead. They later managed to get new torcs.

Inner Workings:

Most Droods never leave the Drood Hall, but there are several who can. These men and women work as field agents, going against impossible odds and stomping them in the ground with their golden feet.

Equipment outside of their torcs is made by the family´s Armourer, current one being Jack Drood. They and their assisstants craft reality defying gear and constantly research new ways on how to ruin the Earth´s enemies days.

In charge of the family´s children´s discipline is Serjeant-at-Arms, last one being Cyril Drood. All of the Serjeants-at-Arms had a given ability to make weapons appear out of thin air.

The family was always led by a Matriarch and a council. Though they tried many government systems over the centuries, they always came back to the matriarchy. Eddie Drood occasionally led the family, but always puts it down. The last Matriarch was Martha Drood.

The Drood family is very controlling in regards to their members´s marriages. They carefully arrange the marriages of individual members as to avoid inbreeding and letting dangerous people into the Hall. Surprisingly, they have no problem in regards to same-sex relations, but they do take offense when it´s with half-breeds of other species.

Whenever they fought, the family always sent one highly trained individual to deal with the problem or a small group, if the situation was desperate enough. After war with the Hungry Gods, they learned how to fight as a team, like an army. This combined with their armour makes them even more dangerous than before.

Miscellanous Information:

The family has an access to the Apocalypse Door and Chameleon Codex. The Apocalypse Door contains several extinction-level items:

Juggernaut Jumpsuit: Presumably makes the wearer invulnerable. It´s cuirass was used once by Jack "Armourer" Drood in a fight against Matthew and Alexandra Drood.

Torc Cutter: Pair of black scissors, capable of doing what it´s name says; cut apart the Drood torcs. Used once by Molly Metcalf against James Drood and several others.

Oath-breaker: A staff covered in strange glyphs. Breaks down magical oaths and binds down to atomic level. Used once by Edwin "Eddie" Drood against the Heart.

Sunwrack: Device capable of putting out stars, one by one.

Time Hammer: Hammer capable of changing the past through brute force.

Dissector: Scalpel created by Baron Von Frankenstein. Described as perfect, it can cut through absolutely anything.

Dominator: Laurel wreath made out of silver. Capable of mind control against anyone. Used by Matthew Drood against Jack "Armourer" Drood.

Winter´s Sorrow: A box containing the Fimbulwinter. If it is broken, the countdown to Ragnarok is started.