And the final serial fiction urban fantasy faction – The Observers.
Way back in the depths of time, lost to history, the first man encountered something supernatural. They probably fought as one of them was probably trying to eat the other. The entity might have won and killed the man. The man may have won and killed the entity. It may have been a draw. But man finally knew they were not alone, that other beings were out there, in the darkness. And those beings were dangerous.
This was the beginning of the Observers. This group of men and women has kept tabs on the things that go bump in the night since that fateful day all those millennia ago.
At first, they spent most of their time killing the supernatural outright. Supernatural creatures were dangerous and scary. The creatures got smarter and came up with new ways to not get killed. The Observers had to grow and change as well. Being hunters, they observed their prey, getting to know it, learning its routines and habits. These observations were passed down from generation to generation, so each new generation of hunters could keep up with their supernatural counterparts.
As language and writing developed, this information was written down and kept in secure libraries. As the mortal population started expanding and spreading out, and as their knowledge of the world grew, the supernatural was pushed back. People started believing in science. The Observers kept their knowledge to themselves. They knew the truth. Instead of outright slaying every supernatural, they kept tabs on them. They studied them, as naturalists observe animals in the wild. And the information was recorded and used by field agents.
The slayers didn’t disappear. That arm of the organization became elite troops, ready to move out at the drop of a hat. They stand ready to face off against (and take down) any supernatural threats that get out of hand. They are not called out often but when they are, they strike swiftly, precisely, and leave no trace.
Other divisions of the organization developed over time. Archivists keep track of the ever growing stacks of information. The financial unit handles all the business needs of the organization. Do you think it’s cheap keeping tabs on all the supernatural beings in the world? Hell no! It takes a steady stream of income to fund all this work. Field agents do the actual tracking of potential threats. And of course, there’s a governance board that handles all the decisions, usually with internal politics involved.
None of the supernatural entities like these self-appointed law enforcers butting into their business. But since the human populace has risen into the billions, they could easily swarm over the supernatural creatures and wipe them out. The Observers are a necessary evil, keeping a barrier in place between the ‘mundanes’ and the Fangs, Claws, etc., keeping both sides safe from the others. As long as the critters don’t get too out of line and start some major shenanigans, the Observers will overlook their ‘lifestyle choices’.
The Observers are a large organization, on par with most major corporations. In fact, they own several major corporations, all the better to support their efforts. They may be as close to the fabled Illuminati as will ever happen. They have their fingers in pies everywhere, all to keep the world safe. Nothing could possibly go wrong with a set up like that now, could it?
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