I am going to add my voice to the chorus regarding followers.
I would suggest you consider your NPCs as people and individuals first, and character and story elements second. The sad truth of the matter is what contributes to a good story really hasn't chanced in the last several thousand years. Consider Homer. He wrote about individual characters and the dramatic events of their lives, what was done only mattered because of those who were doing it. The Illiad is not about the fall of Troy. Noone cares about its looted wealth and razed walls. It is about the fall of Achilles and Hector, the struggles of Patroclus and Paris, the hubris and humbling of Priam and Agamemnon. Epic can not exist without the human element and is entirely a matter of significance rather than scale.
As it stands, their level should be a reflection of their experiences as well as the scope of their understanding. Additionally, they are also incredibly uninteresting in their motivations and back stories, they come across as cliché rather than sincere.
Well said.
