Sect of the Silent Strings Initial Lore

Sect of the Silent Strings

• An ancient sect that spans most of the southern islands and has a significant pull over them in the shadows. Based on a phantom island many don't believe exists named Withered Shroud.
• If the series goes past Clouded Soul, they would be the villains of Clear Soul.
• Their current leader is a Bright Initiate.
• They were founded by a group of corpse puppeteers with the intention of devising a way to keep souls from reincarnating upon death so that they can conveniently store and implement them in their creations. A puppet with its original soul would be very, very strong and have access to its original skills and not the crude imitations that the sect currently uses. Of course, this would also allow its members to return from the grave and inhabit their own bodies as puppets, leading to an immortality they believe is even stronger than the one granted to sages.
• Their Mantra is Manipulation, most often used in the form of the sect's titular silent strings technique which when combined with their death affinity allows them to control their specially made corpse puppets. The sect is split into two factions, the puppeteers and flesh artists. Puppeteers are the combatants while flesh artists create and maintain the puppets as well as prepare talismans- it's very difficult to follow both paths and anyone with the capacity for it is highly valued.
• Sect members work in pairs of one puppeteer to one artist, with the artist serving as a combat medic of sorts and swapping out modular body parts mid-engagement almost like a mechanic. Someone able to do both would have to be capable of controlling multiple puppets to such an extent that they can withdraw one and repair/mod it mid-battle while protecting themselves with the other puppets. Not impossible but something only a prodigy can do.
• Corpse puppets are based off of Jiangshi but I don't want to call them that directly and tie myself down with any baggage their lore entails.
• The sect has a shadowy presence on the southern islands and they exert this by offering their services to clans, other sects, and anyone who can afford them. So long as a job will result in the acquisition of the body of a suitable candidate for conversion into a puppet, they will undertake it. Should something happen and their payment isn't what was promised, the sect plays the long game and waits but will inevitably take something of equivalent value for 'crossing' them.
• They are behind the tragic deaths of many powerful soul refiners, are frequent graverobbers, and have no morals when it comes to expanding their power. They often take the young, orphaned children of those they kill and see if they have any potential for their arts while brainwashing and idoctrinating them into the sect. Sect members are forced to abandon their previous names and identities and are given a new name upon their acceptance. Any children that ultimately don't make the cut are turned into autonomous servants for the clan who perform simple labor and domestic tasks. Would be very creepy to just see these things scampering about their HQ and then very sad when its revealed what their deal is.
• Children who don't (mentally) make the cut or that are rebellious despite showing compatibility or promise in the sect's arts are spiritually lobotomized through some method, the severity of which can be adjusted or removed. In this state, they are programmed to serve the clan and act in its interests. Anyone under this technique is not in control of their actions and are trapped inside their own bodies, watching in horror.
• Corpse puppets are stored in spatial charms, with any decent puppeteer carrying a good selection of undead servants for whatever given situation they find themselves in. Flesh artists similarly carry their tools with them wherever they go and store alternative modular parts and ample dead matter for repairs on their person via magical means.
• The puppets themselves are typically loose adaptations of the person they used to be in life, with artificial stand-ins for their original techniques. Say you have a flame user, his corpse puppet might have a hollowed out bone coming out of his palm and a reservoir of gas stored inside his arm to create a powerful flamethrower that the puppeteer can activate with their chi. Thus, the puppeteer is able to simulate a wide range of affinities they themselves don't possess and the flame user's body will boost the technique due to whatever trace of the soul still remains.
• Granted, the goal isn't to simulate the original body but improve on them in horrific, Frankenstein-esque ways. Corpse puppets may possess many bio-mechanical augmentations that drastically alter the appearance of the corpse until it no longer resembles its original self. There's a lot of potential for different villains with dramatically different powers depending on their signature puppets.
• The biggest weakness most members of this sect share is that they are all typically glass cannons. It's absolutely necessary to have a close quarters/defense-oriented puppet near the puppeteer at all times, so no puppeteer is deemed combat-ready until they are capable of flawlessly controlling two puppets simultaneously. Some of the stronger sect members might have grotesque ways around this weakness, like they removed their skin and replaced it with artificial material or something like that, but the standard puppeteer will go down quite fast if you manage to get in their zone.
• Corpse puppets are often given talismans prepared by the flesh artist and these can be swapped out mid battle for different effects. Rather than slapping on a ton of them, they conserve their resources and focus on one that the puppeteer strengthens with their chi. At high levels perhaps some talismans can go as far as simulating a mantra, allowing the corpse to further tap into its original powers.