Fanon:Silver Lilies

Silver Lilies is a Witch cult in the Fanon Time Paradox, playing a major role in its substory Dusk of Opposition. It is the most pro-Ecclesiarchal of the witch cults of Moonlight Falls, developing a taste for the more potent Papal potions and ingredients from Hekatonschoinos. This isn't helped by the fact that the Silver Lilies pledge an oath of celibacy, and hence was unaffected by Ezekiel's appeal to WooHoo.

Silver Lilies is considered a terrorist group, as Ezekiel is aware of the Silver Lilies' plans for an potion attack that would turn much of Moonlight Falls' population into witches, and given that potions from Hekatonschoinos tends to suppress sexuality, the Silver Lilies' potion attack is definitely something of a bother for Ezekiel. Not surprisingly, Silver Lilies are enemies of the Bronzefangs, the preeminent werewolf clan, which unfortunately has the side effect of creating the anti-witch (and anti-genie) sentiments amongst the werewolves.

History
Belinda Limpwort is a hardliner, wishing to bring magic to relevancy at the times of technological dominance. To do this, Belinda believes that the legend has the answer: if Belinda can assemble a team of 5 witches, 4 for each season and 1 to serve as a balance to them all, this resulting team can do great feats and show the world that magic is not irrelevant. While the witch population of Moonlight Falls sped up the process, Belinda has a long way to go: most of the witches are not talented enough or motivated enough for this.

Then came a magic prodigy by the name of Hikari, who was also an avid social network user. Seeing some promise in this new media called social network, Belinda immediately sought to grasp that art to recruit new users, drawing from the example of the Aigyptian freedom fighters that Hikari told her about. With the social network, Belinda was able to recruit two more witches to form the team, Aikaterine and Chu-Hee, both recruited with the help of the Ecclesiarchy having a huge influence among the Greeks, and to a lesser extent, East Asians such as the Koreans. The Ecclesiarchal culture started to spread to Belinda: while Belinda believed the world to scoff at magic, the Ecclesiarchal openness to magic changed Belinda to accept the idea that magic and science are not mutually exclusive. In addition, Belinda was also injected with some of the great Greek culture due in part to both Aikaterine and the Ecclesiarchy. Belinda chose to change her approach, turning to a more Ecclesiarchy-influenced collegiate structure with a Spartan touch. Once an organization started off as a magic maniac with a small hint of inferiority complex, the present Silver Lilies is an cosmopolitan yet unified organization promoting the study of magical arts and even mixing them with technology. The Silver Lilies became an eccentric but otherwise largely benevolent organization, until Ezekiel Gretchyn came in and enacted anti-Papal policies. As solid allies of the Ecclesiarchy, the Silver Lilies stand to fight the enemy of their friends.

Organization
Silver Lilies operate in a guild-like fashion, recruiting members by having a master or journeyman/woman taking children away from their parents to train them in the arcane arts. Although the vast majority of Silver Lilies are female, there is no clause in the cult forbidding the presence of a male member.

The training process itself is very reminiscent of the Agoge: an apprentice is expected to earn his/her keep through improvements in skill. Fair enough, those who aren't going to the field of Alchemy would have a slightly more difficult time, and those specialized in non-Alchemy fields are expected to perform community service to neighbors without being identified as witches in lieu of monetary self-sufficiency. Needless to say, the early stages of the training results in hunger, and given the focus on stealth, a Silver Lily apprentice is permitted to steal from the master or the journeyman, although the price of being detected was harsh.

The Silver Lilies are led by 4 head witches, each representing a different season. The 4 head witches are As their pro-Papal standings would indicate, they have established a chapter in the Papal Capital, unlike the fellow pro-Papal cult, the Lizardworts which has sent a member as a part of a mixed household.
 * Belinda Limpwort, the leader and the Witch of the Winter.
 * Hikari Hanabusa (Chinese Characters: 光 花房), the Witch of Spring
 * Lee Chu-Hee (Chinese Characters: 李秋姬, Korean 이추희), the Witch of Fall
 * Aikaterine Larisses, the Witch of Summer

Belinda, the leader, is also a charismatic speaker. While Belinda originally started off as a magic zealot, influenced by her retinue of the head witches have significantly changed Belinda.

Aikaterine is the artisan of the group. Aikaterine as someone who met Belinda through Ecclesiarchal services, came off with a bit of Ecclesiarchal influence such as handicrafts. While Aikaterine is an innate athlete and strategist given her Spartan lineage (while Aikaterine herself is born on Larissa), her current archetype of the artisan demonstrates the strength of the Ecclesiarchal influence on Aikaterine. It is Aikaterine who could be considered a key player in forming the current Silver Lilies, and also in forming it as a pro-technology witch cult compared to the other cults.

Chu-Hee is the nurturer of the group. Chu-Hee has her ties with Yuri Kang, one of the leading environmentalists in Heptanomis. Chu-Hee has learned gardening thanks to her friendship with Yuri (who was farming life fruits sponsored by Kallisto) in her stay at Heptanomis, and was chosen to be augmented with both Witch and Fairy powers by the Ecclesiarchy. Chu-Hee is also an spectacular alchemist, as her skill in blending developed from her learning Nectar Making from Yuri combined with her already good cooking skills.

Hikari is the artist of the group. If Aikaterine was the key player in forming the structure of the Silver Lilies, Hikari could be noted as the one who started the whole thing in the first place. It is Hikari that led the Silver Lilies into actively recruiting members via social network, in addition to the eventual children adoption policy later on under Ezekiel's rule of Moonlight Falls. Hikari is also a fine artist for her fairly young age, and the culture generation that Hikari provides help draw magic-positive artsy and rebel types into the Silver Lilies.

As stated above, the Silver Lilies also have other quirks that differentiate them from other witch cults: Oath of celibacy is a key element of membership, hence sexual activities are forbidden as a member of the cult. This is the reason why the Silver Lilies put effort in making a positive impact on town, as new recruits must be obtained from volunteering parents, although indebted parents (e.g. those that suffered losses that were mitigated or relieved by a Silver Lily) may be coaxed into offering the child to the cult in payment of the debt. To that method Silver Lilies maintain a solid financial basis, which was made easier with ties to the Papal potion trade. Bronzefangs suspect that the Silver Lilies also secretly cause calamities in town to have more recruits, a notion that the Silver Lilies deny vehemently, stating that the code pushes them to act positively to the neighbors.

They also are quirky in that they abstain from having pets, in contrast to almost all the other witch cults which embrace small pets as familiars. Given that, the Silver Lilies do have a slight limitation on magic as they cannot benefit from the bonuses a familiar would provide. This is substituted partially by the Silver Lilies' large stores of magical essences that dwarf most other witch cults, as well as better wands than most given the relative wealth of the Silver Lilies provided by their specialization in community service and alchemy.

However, given the extensive Ecclesiarchal influence on the Silver Lilies, many of the more traditional witch cults believe Silver Lilies are just a minor copy of the Ecclesiarchy, and such concerns are not without its merits. Nonetheless, the Silver Lilies remain one of the most powerful witch cults, and lesser witch cults find it more beneficial to cooperate with them. However, Ezekiel's presence divides the witch cults. Will they choose WooHoo, or will they choose Ecclesiarchy's titanic elixir market?

Relationships with other organizations

 * Lizardworts: As allies, the Silver Lilies tend to be more open to Lizardwort involvement than the Lizardworts are open to their involvement. In fact, the alliance with the Lizardworts was perceived much more positively amongst the Silver Lily ranks than the Lizardwort ranks, as the Lizardworts did it for the money, while Silver Lilies saw this as new allies to the cause, namely a stronger tie with the Ecclesiarchy. Silver Lilies are far more active in proposing deals, although it is the Lizardworts that usually set the terms, and most of the deals made involve Lizardwort investments, and the lack of Lizardwort enthusiasm to the Silver Lilies' viewpoint is a point that disappoints the Silver Lilies to a great degree.
 * Bronzefangs: Enemies, the Bronzefangs and Silver Lilies are definitely eager to check each other's movements. Bronzefangs' effective leadership of the town is not well-perceived by the Silver Lilies, especially as the Bronzefang position is anti-Papal.
 * Ecclesiarchy: Another ally, Silver Lilies are enthusiastic allies of the Ecclesiarchy, and the Ecclesiarchy is also far more enthusiastic than the Lizardworts. Their common espousal of celibacy alongside mutual desires for a larger and stronger trade relationships are the key elements determining their relationship. Asexual reproduction in form of artificial vats and cloning in one form or another is also an appealing factor, as Silver Lilies' doctrinal upholding of celibacy makes finding replacements more difficult.
 * Achaia's Free Love Movement: The Silver Lilies look upon the Free Love Movement with great disapproval, and the relationship grew even colder with the Free Love Movement siding with Ezekiel. But given that the Free Love Movement tend to be inconspicuous in the fields of business or politics in general, the Silver Lilies look them with disdain rather than hatred.