High Hibernal Races
The High Hibernal Races are often referred to as Factions. While the number of factions recognized by the Hibernal Council is constantly in flux and currently near 100 in number, there are only a dozen influential factions, and only seven of these factions are able to control a seat on the High Hibernal Council, otherwise known as The Council. The Apex Lords currently serving on the Council are from the following Factions (or Virtues):
Might
Integrity
Immunity
Vitality
Ferocity
Clarity
Fortitude
Other significant Hibernarii Factions include: Sensation, Remembrance, Chaos, Equality, Diversity, and Ingenuity.
What makes one Hibernarii unique from another is the Hibernaculated Core at their heart. Integrated with their heart, the core is charged with specific Designer Biomimetic Dark Matter crystals according to the central tenant(s) of the Faction. In the case of Might, the core is charged with BDM crystals that lend the host significant strength of muscle and sinew. As is the case with all Hibernaculated Cores, the host is endowed with greatly increased longevity. While it is not known how long a Hibernarii can live, the oldest known Hibernarii are believed to be over 2,000 years old.
In most Factions, the race toward perfection has meant opting for specialization in order to excel well beyond the other Factions in a specific area. Only the Diversity (and to a lesser extent, the Equality) Faction has sought a different path, one that involves a core that enables them to balance all characteristics they apply themselves to. The trade off is that they are never as great in any one area as the other Factions. This makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to obtain a seat on the Council.
Efforts to procure and maintain a seat among the seven Apex Lords on the Council has lead the High Hibernal Races to radical excess in dangerously unstable ways. Thus, groups that have gathered unilateral support among the High Races have grown simnifically in influence as the Council attempts to hold the Empires of the Hiberverse together. The most important of these unaffiliated groups are:
The Exploration and Extermination Force
The Technocratic Commonwealth
Federation of Merchants
Due to the need for stability, Diversity Faction and Sensation Faction have also grown in power over recent centuries. Although the Federation of Merchants is officially unaffiliated, many Hibernarii Factions are beginning to see it as the political and economic arm of Sensation Faction, due to their strangle hold on the vast majority of recreational drug usage and pleasure Projection throughout the Hiberverse.