Story: Gatekeepers, Order & Containment Guide

The world of Abiotic Factor is populated by orders, ranks, rites and ruins whose fragments of lore explain who holds power, why they fight, and what tests or punishments shape them. This page collects the in-universe narrative threads tied to Gatekeepers, the Order, and several specialized warrior castes and containment protocols that appear throughout the game.

Gatekeepers, ranks, and the Chieftains

Gatekeepers are an organized, hierarchical order that guards knowledge about other universes and enforces protocols when anomalies appear. They combine esoteric knowledge with practical authority.
Chieftains are the most senior Gatekeeper commanders. They are seasoned veterans who have "observed and absorbed all that the many universes can throw at them" and are expected to secure victory under any imaginable circumstances.
Advancement to Chieftain is earned by Phyters who demonstrate capability both in the field and within the Gatekeepers' secretive conclaves. Promotion follows passing three provings called "Gateways"; Chieftains themselves select the three core components of this test.
Gate-level authority can override local Gatekeeper actions. In at least one documented incident, after the player is trapped in a forcefield, a Gatekeeper called the player an anomaly and radioed command; command ordered the Gatekeeper to withdraw and to open the way, citing a risk of temporal break.

The Order and its martial castes

The Order blends gnostic theology with hard military discipline. Its personnel are trained in both spiritual doctrine and close-quarters combat, producing troops who can confront threats physical and metaphysical.
Triarii: The Order's elite footsoldiers are called Triarii. They are battle-hardened, used for clandestine deployments, and considered the Order's "first, finest and usually final" warriors. They speak a distinct Latinate dialect that has diverged from classical forms into an almost impenetrable language used within the Order.
Purifiers (淨化者 / Purging units): Some members are re-roled as Purifiers — a role treated by some as a blessing (a direct way to remove threats) and by others as a descent toward punishment or damnation. Purifiers are associated with incendiary or combustible implements and represent both technological protection and uncompromising eradication of perceived weakness.
Exulam/Breachers (punitive assault units): Individuals who lose honor or display mental immaturity can be conscripted into hard frontline assault roles as punishment. Their marked appearance (for example, gridded helmets) publicly signals their fall from standing; their ferocity stems from the belief that failure is no longer an option.
Triarii, Purifiers and Breachers share the Order's tendency to combine ritual, stigma and practical combat doctrine when organizing forces, discipline and deployment.

Containment and hazardous entities

Certain entities require strict containment protocols. For example, an entry designated IS-0184-D must be kept in geomagnetically isolated conditions with permanent, fail-safe backup power. Full-spectrum drill-suppression measures must be enforced at all times within a 20 m radius of the entity.
IS-0184-D further must be kept away from small wooden implements and any objects that could function as handheld weapons: twigs, branches, short stakes, spears, long-handled tools, and similar instruments are explicitly prohibited near it.
These containment doctrines reflect the Gatekeepers' combination of ritualized control and pragmatic hazard management: isolation, redundant power, and strict physical exclusions around volatile or cognitively dangerous anomalies.

Small notes and flavor fragments

Some in-game flavor lines are terse or cryptic: certain names or descriptions exist purely as evocative flavor text (for example, brief lines like "Rastros de espíritu" or single-word quips such as a dismissive "Нет ничего смешного" about a nickname). These lines reinforce tone rather than add mechanical detail.
The cultural texture of the Order emphasizes ritual language, public marking of status (and disgrace), and a willingness to mix theology with technology and violence. Units are organized not only by function but by social meaning: who has earned honor, who must atone, and who is tasked with purification.

How the story elements affect play

Expect Gatekeeper structures and personnel to combine bureaucratic command with ritual restrictions: authority from higher command can supersede local actions, and containment rules are strict and specific.
Encounters with Order units will often carry both combat and ideological weight — enemies are not only physically dangerous but are framed as agents of doctrine or penance.
Dangerous anomalies encountered in-game may come with attached procedural text dictating environment, exclusion zones, and required equipment or power arrangements; follow these prescriptions as part of progressing narrative and avoiding catastrophe.