Bloodborn
The inheritors of the ancient Norse “berserker” warriors. Whether they are born with a physiological abnormality or whether this is created by post-traumatic stress is unknown, but these are warriors who go into a psychotic rage when they taste blood, whether from an enemy or, in many case, when they bite their own cheeks until they bleed. In this rage, they are unbelievably strong, brutal, and, in most cases, unable to tell friend from foe. When the rage is over, they are extremely weak for hours to days.
Copperheads
Project Copperhead was a pre-Fall experiment used to embed soldiers with microchips so they could interface with special computer aided devices. There was some success with this, although the chips had a maximum ten year life span before breakdown, with unpredictable results during disintegration. The three groups most commonly explored were: Manowars (designed to interface with guns, especially sniper rifles), Metal Hawks (interface with specially keyed jets), and Shatterminds (interface with a handset computer that interfaces with other computers for hacking purposes). It has been rumored that Maganimous has resurrected the project after the Fall.
Cymbrogi
A tribal community in Europe that are the inheritors of the Gothic communities of the pre-Fall world. Many of the people in this community are Dark Dreamers and they acknowledge a debt to Gavin Hesterdale who helped them start to unite their prophetic visions into a tapestry. After the Fall, they have collected what surviving Goths are willing to contribute to the family community and have sworn a blood debt to help Gavin in his work. The most famous leaders of the Cymbrogi are the Elders, Mamadon and Lady.
Dark Dreamers
An order of prophets and seers established by Gavin Hesterdale to first foresee the Fall, then to predict the brutal days afterwards to help people survive. The most famous members of the Dark Dreamers are Gavin Hesterdale and his two pupils Jenna Whitmore and Denver Scarlet.
Juggernauts
American and European tribal groups that are the inheritors of the Straight Edge and Hardcore subcultures. These groups use brutal training and mock battles to stay in warrior condition. They also have adopted brutal tribal scarring including flesh ripping, branding, and thick piercings. Happiest in battle, they are extremely direct thinkers and have difficulty restraining their desire for warfare to serve more subtle means.
Knights of Xeno
An American-based Anti-Tech regime that was instrumental in guiding the riots of the Fall to permanently destroy technology and communication/electric grids throughout North America and Europe.
Magnets
The slang term for Magnanimous’ personal army of protectors. All of Magnanimous’ inner circle and private army bear ornate tattoos which it’s rumored are impregnated with magnetic ink and sub-dermal transponders to make it impossibly difficult to forge them. (The Skinners claim they have perfected the technique, however.)
Multiminds
People who have undergone such psychological distress that they’re minds splinter into multiple personalities, but, unlike normal multiple personalities who either work in disarray or have re-assimilated, multiminds have become consciously aware of their other personalities and have chosen to work together to retain more specialized skills. Benjamin Judah, the most famous multimind, is reported to be capable of using 100% of his brain’s capacity, since his seven personalities permit conscious control of far more of his brain than any singular personality could control.
Neo-Palidins
A group of anti-Tech zealots that turn their belief that technology is evil into a brutal religion that flays heretics alive. Their anti-Tech crusade rips through the Eastern United states, eventually getting as far as Europe.
N.I.R.
A Spanish-oiriginated kingdom that follows the brutal Magnanimous, who is said to have a golden tongue for any country that immediately cooperates with his agenda, but a brutal answer for any who do not. Southern France learned the price of opposition, when towns that refused to bend the knee were crucified along the roads for miles. As an homage to France, the N.I.R. has also adopted the guillotine for executing people who refuse to toe the line.
Order of the Steel Rood
A European cloistered order trained for the last days to protect the innocents and travelers who would be hunted and killed. Most are soldiers who have been given the rank “Holy Knight” but a few of the most brutal, who might have otherwise been Reapers, have been trained as stealth assassins known as “Horsemen.”
Plague Bearers
Sometimes known as “Plague Healers,” these are a group of highwaymen that pose as doctors, going around the communities of Appalachia, the Southern U.S., and southern Europe, claiming to be capable of healing the plague that had started killing record numbers of people after the breakdown of the medical communities in the Fall. However, these groups are in fact plague carriers who are immune to the effects themselves. Their presence in communities behaves like a detonated biological dirty bomb, yielding the death of entire communities within 1 – 3 weeks and permitting them to loot the entire town before moving on. They are known for wearing gas and bio-hazard masks wherever they go, presumably to control who they expose, although it may be to appear my like pre-Fall hasmat teams.
Reapers
Former serial killers who are capable of adapting their killing desires to a beneficial purpose. Reapers are the ultimate in protection, since they’re merciless killers. However, not all reapers can stand to stay in someone’s employ, so they’re loyalty is somewhat questioned and has led to the derisive term: “riding the crocodile” for those who choose to hire them.
Skinners
Ultimate forgers in a world that has abandoned paper and returned to tattooing as a way to prove identity, skinners skin victims for their tats and any tech markers used by the N.I.R., so that the tats can be perfectly copied to new people in order to change someone’s identity. Because this form of forgery is the most dangerous to the N.I.R., they have standing bounties and death warrants on them. As such, they incorporate with the Travellers to stay on the move and stay safe.
Tekothik
A European pro-technology tribal group that are the inheritors of the cyberpunk and cybergoth movements. These are actively at war with both European Neo-Palidins and the N.I.R., while having good working relations with the Travellers—who get them tech—and the Cybmrogi—who’s Gothic background have many similarities. They also serve as a haven for escaped Copperheads, either from pre-Fall countries or from the Post-Fall N.I.R. studies.
Travellers
Originally used to refer to Irish gypsies, these groups are prevalent throughout the United States and Europe. Due to their nomadic nature, tendency to stay off the grid, and their strange morals, they were able to survive the Fall with minimal damage and were able to loot much of the technology that was lost in the uprising. Because the tech they retained, they became a haven for the ultimate forgers: Skinners. It’s rumored that the Travellers created the “Code of the Traveller”, but there’s no way to prove this and its phrasing is strange for Travellers. (The Code States: “Come in peace unless you intend to spill blood. And if blood is spilled, spill every drop.”)
True US Government
A group that forms in the power vacuum of Post-Fall America to attempt to restore part of the Western United states under a pre-industrial revolution mindset. Their power begins to be felt most assertively 200 days after the Fall.
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