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[Skynet]

One thing I've always liked about the Post-Apocalyptic Genre is the Factions, the motely collection of bizarre people/mutants/intelligent animals etc and their equally bizarre beliefs and customs. So I decided to start a Thread based around the Creation of such Factions for use in RP's and Stories or for whatever else. Let's see what Bay12 can come up with.

I hope these factions do actually get used. Here's one from an abandoned game idea I had:

“It is good to be a cynic—it is better to be a contented cat — and it is best not to exist at all. Universal suicide is the most logical thing in the world—we reject it only because of our primitive cowardice and childish fear of the dark. If we were sensible we would seek death—the same blissful blank which we enjoyed before we existed.”---“Nietzscheism and Realism”, by H.P. Lovecraft

The Synthetic Hive - Omnicidal Swarm
Before the apocalypse, the “Synthetics” served the police force that protected the Arcology from criminals such as the the People’s Revolutionary Army. These police officers augmented their capabilities and has subjected themselves to a unified “hivemind consciousness”...to become “better” than the “human sheep” that they reluctantly “protect and serve”. But the apocalypse had hardened the Synthetics’ nature and made them distrustful of...everything. To them, all crime, violence, hatred, and evil had a single root cause: existence. So the Synethics now relentlessly focus on exterminating all life before self-terminating, thereby bringing the permanent law and order to the chaotic wasteland.

[Gwolfski]

PTW. This is cool.

[Lidku]

#11 Cannabis People

Way back when in the old world, institutions of learning for many across the country were home to young adults. These places allowed them to prepare for the real world, while simultaneously loathing it. College. One particular one was led by a grizzled war veteran dean and a whacky college attendant base. The dean knew the military and geopolitical realm very well and knew nuclear disaster was definitely near.
In the first half hour when the bombs started dropping, the Dean ordered all students to the bunker systems he add installed. Even though it costed half the budget, it was a good gamble. Well it turned out very bad. The bunker package was very cheap and the hired engineers that worked on it were crooks. The gates and bunker tunnel systems were rusted, even though it was merely installed two years ago. The bunker doors didn't close, leaving a very mildly lethal gap open. Enough to mutate...
Being college students, 56% of them had Marijuana. To ease the pain of realizing the apocalypse was upon them, many of them add started smoking a few days in. Thats when the change..The metamorphosis happened. With only small radiation leaking in, not severe doses, FEV was not filtered out. The FEV mixed in with the THC smoke. When inhaled a reaction began.

Within six months, all the inhabitants of the bunker turned into living humanoid Marijuana people. Their skin was dark green, with hemp leaves weltering it like if it was burn marks. The Cannabis people also have perpetually red eyes, making them severely near sighted. This adapted them to rely on sound and smell when something is too far away for them. They reproduce asexually by rubbing off newly adapted hemp spores, which grow into massive weed pods.
They have the natural ability to extend the leaves on their body, to form a massive amount of of weed vines to make shelter and bolster defenses of any dwellings. Many are born with random secondary abilities. Some have highly toxic claws, which are bigger than other Cannabis People. Some can emit a high grade THC gas blast, which will almost instantaneously make prey to mellow to fight back. Some have tentacles on their back that are highly functional. Others can dissipate in smoke for 30 minutes straight and go back to base form at anytime.Their blood is very dangerous as it paralyzes the attacking if the blood splashes on the eyes or mouth. They are still sentient, but cannot communicate with humans due to their biology, radiation also does barely anything to them. Makeshift spears, armor, and tools are used. They were very primitive.

Despite being plant based, they have no hive mind. They developed a language of timed rustles and chirps after the mouth and whole digestive system was devolved into other uses. They only have two ways to eat: Absorb the corpses of their pray or absorb sunlight rays. Since these Cannabis people were locked in the Bunker, infighting erupted for years. Many years. The cause of this was because sunlight wasn't around and all the lights shut off five years in. When a prospector faction opened the series of bunker doors, the tribes upon tribes of Cannabis People poured out, killing all the humans. After this, the status quo of fighting continued for another set of years on the surface of the college and in it. It was then a Cannabis person born with all three born to an already wiped out tribe grew up to conquered all of the warring tribes. The Great Uniter then utilized all of the knowledge in the former college to educate its people from primitive level knowledge. With this he organised his people to expand into the surrounding lands, to kill all humans.

The Uniter wishes to do this, because he believes non-Cannabis people are cursed for not transforming to survive the wastes. They trade with ghoul settlements and leave Super Mutants alone. They rely on melee weapons, since the area they expanding from were anti-gun Pre-War. Only now are they obtaining small arm weapons, but are very poor with them. Mercs have tried to kill them off in the past, but its near impossible to do it from the inside. Everytime Cannabis people expand, they mark territory by laying down vines. This caused the longer lasted vine terrain to basically become a weed rain forest. Wastelanders only dare to attack on the fringes, even then Cannabis people are very challenging to combat to a normal person. Recently they have become prized by raiders for their weed and scavengers who thought the flora for actual trees, only to be deliberatingly high to be killed. Fire is the only weakness to Cannabis people.

[Sosoku234]

#12
Nova Redfarm

Technically a town/city state. But, the government ideology is that of the midlife Soviet Union. They are a group of farmers gathered around a large church. They are paranoid of outsiders and have an interest in setting up townships following their political views in every region of their known world.

They detest and are passive aggressive and quasihostile to any and all other groups, except traders.

[Ardent Debater]

Wait, this Thread's back!?! That's Awesome! I'll post some more later.

[Maegil]

#13 - Sages from the Crystal Spires

While most pre-collapse survivalists just considered stockpiling food and weaponry at some remote location, some planned further: not only to ensure their own short-term survival, but that of civilization itself. A global network of scholars that once included, for instance, the Nobel physicist Richard Feynman, didn't just think in terms of outliving a nuclear winter or ten, but how to react to supervolcanos, magnetic pole inversions, prolonged meteor showers, etc., and how to raise mankind back from the brink even if there were only as few as 500 breeding pairs of humans scattered around the world.

Mineral maps were collected, obsolete technologies like blacksmithing or wood shipbuilding were studied and recorded along with plans for easy DIY machines, vehicles and weapons, and compact but very complete libraries and workshops were built in bunker-like complexes under the world's most respected universities where the best of mankind's youth gathered to study.
Few of these complexes resisted the end of the world as they knew it but the ones that did quickly rebuilt their campi, becoming shining beacons of knowledge and civilization.

To those other survivors who are friendly, they teach useful things like agronomy and metallurgy, heal their sick with near-miraculous drugs and techniques, and educate their children to join their brotherhood of sages. Other advantages of their friendship include access to their trade network and the precious gift of a "two way radio", usually kept in the village chiefs' houses or council halls.

To their enemies, they're powerful warlocks who can fly in fast winged machines or slow fat ships, make fire and steel rain from the sky and savage the ground with their "Artillery" spells, shoot lead pellets, explosives, or liquid fire from their weapons or kill the mightiest warriors just by touching their swords or shields with lightning wands and staffs; even a simple wheel and a few bits of wood in their hands can be enchanted into a high speed death-spraying stone caster.

Presently the sages are still few in number, and most people only ever meet their scouting or diplomatic parties (a few might accompany the trade caravans, but not often); they seem mostly interested in finding volunteers for their mining colonies. The work sounds to be very heavy and rather hazardous, but they promise that soon such colonies will become like their own cities (which, they claim, are neither actual spires or made of crystal, but just glass-windowed boxy buildings, and few of them being over five stories high - as if even that wasn't wondrous enough), with clean water coming directly to each home, plentiful food arriving from all over through their trade network, bright lights even at night, and, most importantly, no need to live in fear of slavers and marauders...

[Stirk]

#14 The Scooby Doo Gang

Based off of old legends of the most brutal, powerful, and ruthless gang pre-collapse, the Scooby Doo Gang is a force no man wishes to face. Speaking of faces, a favorite ritual of theirs is to remove the face of their victims, mockingly claiming it shows their true identity held beneath their false mask. They drive across the wasteland in a convoy of "Mystery Machines", named after the numerous "disappearances" that happen wherever they travel. These are monstrous junkers, massive scrapped vans and trucks painted garish colors over their rust, brimming with menacing spikes and weaponry. Even after the convoy leaves, there is still terror in their wake, as they leave behind a variety of vicious and brutal traps meant to capture or maim their victims, often causing them to parish slowly away from any assistance. They subsist by raiding anything they come across, often devouring the food supplies of their victims right in front of them in one or two massive bites, to intimidate them into submission. They have adopted a sort of accent among themselves, as their modus operandi leaves their culture rather isolated. Those who have heard it and lived to tell the tale state that it is almost like...a dog, trying to speak in the tongue of man, an unsettling and frightening sound to all who hear it.

Leading the gang is the boss, titled "The Doo". He wears a bright orange ascot across his neck, always has a scruffy looking appearance, and can often be seen shouting orders to his subordinates (most commonly, "Lets split (them) up gang!", "Jinkies!" [Thought to be an expression of "I have encountered an enemy, engage them], and "Zoinks!" [A phase meaning "Make their deaths especially painful.")

However, as fearsome as they are, they have several weaknesses that can be exploited. Among the gang is a single pair of broken glasses, with the lenses completely missing. If this is ever removed from their possession, they will immediately state "My glasses! I can't see without my glasses!", stumbling around the dirt as if they are searching for an object after having been blinded. Do not take long to make your escape, however, if they find the it or any eye-ware, they will go to any lengths to recover it immediately. More reliably, they can be temporarily placated with an offering. It seems that The Doo has a soft spot for children and snacks. If a settlements children are sent out with cardboard boxes full of "Scooby Snacks" (a recipe that remains hidden, as those who know it are reluctant to share, fearing that if the world becomes over saturated with them the offering will no longer work.) to perform a ritual, the gang will take the offering and leave without any harm done. The ritual involves several bicycles (tricycles may be used as substitutes if the children are incredibly young.) performing a simple series of tricks, such as creating a figure eight, jumping off a small ramp, or moving through a simple obstacle course. The Gang watches the show intently in silence, surrounding their leader. After the ritual, the children are to point off into the distance with one hand, holding the offering with the other. They then state "Would you do it for a Scooby Snack?", shaking the box gently. The Doo takes the box in his hand, smelling its contents before sampling them. In all cases observed, he smiles, points toward the town, and shouts "AND I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT TOO, IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU PEDDLING KIDS!" before the convoy drives off into the distance, without so much as leaving a trap behind.

[TheBiggerFish]

Oh my.

[Ardent Debater]

Brilliant, simply Brilliant. Though, I have to wonder what would happen once the Cannabis People and the Scooby Doo Gang encountered one another...

This isn't really so much a Faction, as it is a force of nature.

#15: The Lacus Scourge

After the Cataclysm struck, dozens of genetically engineered bio-weapons were unleashed onto the Wasteland, and most of these diseases are still around. The worst of them, in terms of sheer destructive potential and psychological trauma is by far, the Lacus Scourge, or, the "Hollowing," named after the Facility it escaped from, and it's twisted effects.

The Lacus Scourge is an extremely virulent Fungal infection that affects the central nervous system, rendering the victim immune to most pain and triggering an almost constant high.  It's victims are driven to unimaginable rage, and a feeling of mad starvation as they are fed upon by the Infection, driving them to viciously attack all who don't display symptoms of the Contagion.  The spores are collected under fingernails, inside the mouth's saliva, and the blood itself. Those who are infected begin to grow nauseating, yellow-green, thick, ridge-like protrusions on the skin all over the body, these ridges are Fungal Colonies. The skin that isn't covered by ridges begins to lose all pigment, as do the victim's eyes. After a week, the Fungus begins to slowly rot the victim, and dramatically slows the victim's metabolism, allowing them to survive without food for weeks. As the Fungus progresses, it's victims which were once intelligent and capable of rational thought, become mindless, enraged cannibals who feel nothing but total hunger, what's worse, it's victims know that they're losing what makes them Human, but at this point, they don't care about anything but feeding, hence the name, The Hollowing.

The Hollowed are entirely capable of effectively wielding crude melee weapons, and some retain their past aptitude for firearm usage. They gather in massive cannibalistic roving hordes, numbering in the hundreds, and during severe epidemics, thousands of bloodthirsty monsters, that were once completely ordinary Sapient creatures. They are very different from cliched Zombies, they can feel pain, and emotions, but both are completely overwhelmed by sheer rage and hunger in all but the strongest-willed individuals. Often, less advanced Hollowed can use basic tactics, such as flanking, and taking cover, but most prefer to charge screaming at the top of their lungs. One of the Hollowed fights as if he were perpetually drunken, feral, starving, enraged, and high on speed, heroin, crystal meth, and bath salts. Adding to the horror of fighting them, simply being in a close enough proximity to the Skin ridges will spread the Plague, let alone bites, scratches, and the faintest of blood-on-blood contact. Even without these, there's still the concern that someone will accidentally ingest a Spore, and go feral days after the fighting has ended.

At first, the Infected are completely intelligent and rational, but feel as if they were starving. After roughly half a week, the Infected will begin to engorge themselves on all food available, but gain no weight, instead becoming thinner and thinner, and more and more desperate. When a week passes, they begin to crave meat, any kind of meat, but specifically sentient meat, which is the only food group with enough protein to keep them from dying of hunger. Most begin scheming to capture and eat people, but only a few of these actually do it at this point. When two weeks pass, prominent ridges begin to form, and the Skin starts to grow pale, victims become so hungry they actually start to eat people, any people, family, friends, it doesn't matter as there's meat to be had. At this stage, the Fungus has already set up in the brain stem, and curing the disease is impossible. When a month passes, they start to congregate in large groups of Infected, and begin openly killing and eating people, perhaps half manage to escape, they continue to spread it later.  The Contagion spreads throughout the entire body, once one of the Hollowed begins to lose muscle coordination and loses the ability to speak in favor of moaning, the end is near. Most of the Hollowed last only three months, before the Fungus completely consumes them and must find a new host.

When a horde of the Hollowed gather, their respective Fungal Infections begin to grow much faster, shortening the time until an Infected Person is a blindly psychopathic, chronically starving, rage-addict from two weeks to only half a week. Occasionally, one of the Hollowed will break off from it's Horde to wander on it's own, making it difficult to completely stamp-out an infestation. The Hollowed are bone thin, but they are filled with unnatural strength and endurance. Due to the Fungal Infection, their blood becomes slightly green-tinged, and it is very unwise to injure them up close, as a spraying artery spells almost certain doom. Only the most grievous wounds will faze them, but even then, eight out of ten times they'll shrug it off, get back up, and go back to beserking.

The Lacus Scourge, fortunately, simply kills almost all animals and plants it infects, people are the disease's primary target. Perhaps due to design, the Lacus Scourge is not airborne, or waterborne, although spores can hibernate, to survive in the most inhospitable environments possible for decades, until they detect that they are inside of a potential host. Because of this, the best way to deal with a Pandemic is to simply kill everything within twenty miles of the epicenter, torch the remains, and spend a month or two hunting for stragglers. Even though the Lacus Scourge is inevitably lethal to it's victims, a massive regular dosage of high-powered anti-fungal drugs will stop it in it's tracks early on, the problem is detecting the symptoms in time to make a difference. The last major Hollowed Pandemic was a few decades ago, but very rarely, sporadic outbreaks will pop in remote areas and cause twenty or so Infections. Efforts towards completely eradicating the Lacus Scourge are possibly centuries away, as long as a single speck remains, the Scourge could begin anew.

[Ardent Debater]

#16: The Black Rain Association

Shortly after the downfall of modern civilization, Fuel became a priceless commodity worth killing for. And now, centuries later, it still is. With any valuable commodity, there are those who make a living supplying it. The Black Rain Association is a tight-knit, highly organized syndicate of Oil suppliers that do their business across the wastes. Though they are few in number, they are ludicrously wealthy and hold a massive influence over the trade of Fuel, with full or partial ownership of little over half the functioning Oil rigs remaining in the Midwest. The Black Rain Association sells Fuel cheap to anyone who will purchase it, though they prefer gold and silver, they'll happily accept any other valuables in barter.

Their rigs are heavily fortified, bristling with heavy firepower and thick shielding, some of the rigs have Settlements populated by serf employees built around them. The Black Rain Association, (or BRA for short,) have legions of hired mercenaries in their employ, and occasionally, particularly wealthy competitors have been known to disappear. The Black Rain Association is constantly aiming to increase their hold on the Oil Trade, their methods are often criticized as being overly shady but naysayers are sure to complain at a whisper. In recent years, they've begun expanding their enterprises, and their hand has a firm grasp on arms smuggling, drug dealing, and the slave trade. Though they've also generously funded research into new technology and will pay very handsomely for scavenged artifact relics.

Their chief headquarters is at an extremely isolated and extremely well defended Island just off the coast of Alaska. They've been accused of espionage against many wasteland governments, though none would dare to boycott them, as they're essentially one of the largest and most dependable Oil supplying Cartels, and losing their business would shatter an economy. Their members are all extremely rich and prefer to dress as if they were Victorian era gentlemen. They do the whole of their manual labor through hired employees and slave workers. Most of the members are high ranking politicians or fabulously wealthy merchant lords, though several powerful Warlords have a nominal membership.

[Stirk]

Brilliant, simply Brilliant. Though, I have to wonder what would happen once the Cannabis People and the Scooby Doo Gang encountered one another...

Zoinks.

[Powder Miner]

#17: The Republic of Kiribati
The Apocalypse was wide-reaching and terribly destructive. Nuclear warfare devastated the planet and crumbled nations, crumbled humanity, only to be accentuated with various released bio-weapons or chemical weapons, the world almost totally scoured by its effects. Almost. Even with how far-reaching the apocalypse was, it was impossible for it to reach every single little corner of the world. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, far away from even Australia and New Zealand, sat the archipelago country of Kiribati. Geographical factors (being a set of small atolls surrounded by miles and miles and miles of ocean) and political factors (irrelevancy) ensured that Kiribati stayed largely untouched by the apocalypse, even moreso than the other Oceanian countries.

The Republic of Kiribati (known with increasing frequency as the Empire of Kiribati), is an old (by post-apocalyptic standards) and expansionary faction, a nation that spans not only its old territory but extends to the Marshall and Caroline Islands in the Micronesia region, from the Solomon Islands to Fiji in the Melanesia region, and the Polynesian region west of the Marquesas and north of New Zealand, with recebt settlement efforts of much of Hawaii, with a few oil fields and associated military bases off of what were once the countries of New Zealand and Australia.

Kiribati, being a surviving country from pre-apocalypse, has an advantage over most groups in knowledge of old technology and history -- pre-apocalypse it was most certainly not one of the most advanced nations in the world, but even its then-backwards quality of living is, after an apocalypse and a couple of centuries of improvement, relatively good by the world's standards.

Militarily, though it does have an army buttressed by old world tactics, this army is almost entirely focused on amphibious operations and island-hopping, and would fare poorly in any sort of large-area occupation. Kiribati's greatest strength is its navy, created around one and a half centuries ago by scavenging Australian and New Zealander battleships and improved on by now into a formidable force, the reason Kiribati has been able to expand into a relevant and relatively powerful nation in the post-apocalyptic world.

Though the Republic of Kiribati is far away from the former American wastelands, it has been making maritime contact with groups along the pacific coast of those wastelands.

Notable potential relations with other factions if there were a shared universe:
The International Society of Explorers: The Explorers seem to be mostly ground-based, but any sea-based explorers would quite possibly meet Kiribati, which would be happy to trade maps and such.
Red Silk: Red Silk would likely face skirmishing in the Pacific from the Kiribati Navy, as Kiribati is not keen to allow slavers anywhere near its territory.
The Lost Traders: Kiribati would be quite eager to offer peaceful maritime trade with the Lost Traders whenever they pop up near they coast -- its rising status ensures that the people of Kiribati are quite happy to secure luxuries and curosities.
Sages: As the Sages have naval capacity and Kiribati does have radio, it's likely that there would be quite a bit of contact between them, and exchange of old-world information between the surviving old-world nation and the preservers of the old world.
The Lacus Scourge: In a shared universe, the Lacus Scourge could have popped up around the areas closer to New Zealand thanks to infected travel or infected washing over -- Kiribati expansion would then have necessitated fighting off the Lacus and developing tactics to battle them. The nature of the terrain, small islands, would ensure that naval fire bombardment would allow Kiribati to triumph and settle.
Black Rain: I imagine that relations with the Black Rain Association would be tense. Kiribati is trying to establish maritime dominancy of the Pacific, and they've got their own oil fields that keep them running, making them not beholden to the BRA, and indeed a threat.

[crazyabe]

PTW.

[Ardent Debater]

#18: The Chained Brotherhood

A rather... odd religious cult to be sure. They believe that Reality is an Illusory Prison that is self-imposed upon all Sapient Beings by their false bodies and misguided minds. They believe that the only true part of a Person is their Soul, and believe that escaping the shackles of the Material World and all things within it is the only goal worth aspiring to, as all else is a collective figment of the imagination. They believe that as long as People are chained by their delusion of self, they cannot become Enlightened and see the Truth. They call themselves the Chained Brotherhood, or Sisterhood, depending on group composition, because they have realized that they are Chained by the Material, and they devoutly strive to show others the Way Of Absolution.

Members of the Chained Brotherhood are almost always dressed in threadbare rags, and are wrapped chains to identify their affiliation. They deprive themselves of all things Material, apart from the bare necessities, which they use minimally. The Shackled spend their time fasting and meditating, often for weeks on end. They do the absolute bare minimum of work needed to keep themselves alive, and don't see the point of attempting to better the World, as it doesn't exist. The Shackled believe that as the body and mind are false, and pain is the highest level of mortal suffering, pain hurts because it exposes the body and mind to the Truth, by destroying falsehood. When the Material is stripped away, the body and mind are in agony as they can't comprehend the Truth. As falsehood is repugnant to them, spreading bodily pain is righteous, as it Enlightens others.

The Shackled feel that death is an Illusion, and that upon the moment of death, the Truth is realized, causing the body and mind to cease functioning, as there is no longer a Soul within them. The Shackled constantly torture themselves to come closer to realization, and feel that if one dies from suicide or violence they'll simply reincarnate into the Illusion, so both must be avoided at all costs. The Shackled believe that as Fire is the highest source of pain, it cleanses falsehood, and believe that as Illusory bodies are reduced to ashes, the Soul becomes less bound by the Material Chains. Many of The Shackled take this belief too far, and horrifically burn themselves, and more extreme members commit suicide by incineration. Senior members of the Chained Brotherhood often maim themselves, and severe their body parts, as they believe that the less of the body there is, the more Enlightened one has become.

They are completely opposed to Technology, as they believe that by increasing the ease of one's life, the Material Illusion becomes stronger, and people are forced deeper into its lies. The Shackled destroy all Technology they don't understand, and some of what they do, to make life harder, weakening the Illusion and furthering the Enlightenment. Members often scavenge, trade, and steal irreplaceable relics for the purpose of simply destroying them. They despise Scientists and leading members of other Religions, and act as if they don't exist when they attempt to interact with The Shackled. The Shackled view poverty as righteous, as it fosters discontent for the Material, and produces fertile ground for conversion. They view pleasure and the pursuit of strong emotion to be blasphemous, and they do all in their power to limit both.

The Chained Brotherhood is obsessed with spreading Enlightenment, and go door to door spreading the Way Of Absolution almost daily, in between meditation, fasting, and torture, this is their favorite pastime. The religious ecstasy at seeing a once normal individual embracing the Truth is the closest thing to enjoyment they allow themselves to feel. Occasionally, when someone refuses to acknowledge the Truth as the Only Reality, members will kidnap them, to torture and brainwash them until the Way is apparent and they have wholeheartedly revoked the Material World. Despite the apparent madness of The Shackled, they are able to spread their ideology like wildfire across the jaded masses of the Wasteland. They preach against slavery, and submitting oneself to anything but the Truth, and regularly incite mass-refusals to obey the Government. When another Faction takes action against them, they simply go undercover and spread their religion in secret.

To them, persecution and hardship are rewards in and of themselves, trying to stamp out the Religion only increases the Faith of The Shackled, but letting it spread can cause Societal Order to collapse. The Chained Brotherhood was founded little over a century ago by an irredeemably insane extremely charismatic Nihilistic Philosopher whose named was lost to the ages, he did however, write a Book titled The Way Of Absolution detailing the Religion's tenets and goals. In areas where the People have become hopelessly lost in their Material ways, the Chained Brotherhood will attempt to purge their lies with fire. Though they don't do this unless they feel that there is no other way to Enlighten the People, and most of the time, they are very peaceful. There are tiny pockets of the Religion virtually everywhere, and the Religion most likely isn't going to die out anytime soon.

[Powder Miner]

Man, it's a shame some of the background elements in the factions contradict each other, because a shared universe would be cool. I wanna see skirmishes between islanders on battleships of the flag of the waves and sun and victorian gentlemen oil barons on boats, and chained zealots decrying the call of a society of scientists keepng the old relics, and raiding them to destroy those relics