The Flock
History
The Flock was first formed in the early years of the Saikar Empire's expansion. Before the The Unification Wars, the founding members of the Flock were farmers and shepherds, working the land beyond the city walls. After the wars, with the advent of Technomancy and the sudden population spikes, their land began to diminish. One in particular, an earth genasi named Baecos Granit began speaking with other farmers, claiming to have been visited in his dreams by the Giver, who opened his eyes to their sins, and convincing them to band together and right the wrongs they committed. Baecos led them northward, to Mancay Island, where the Giver had guided him to her secret grove. Awed by her majesty and kindness, they formed a pact the primordial being, and in return she gifted them druidic powers, and brought them in to her druidic Circle of the Giver.
They began as an activist group, primarily working to combat overexpansion of the rapidly growing cities on Bastion, preserve areas of natural land, and advocated for finding the natural balance in the world, and avoid overtaxing the natural resources. They were not taken seriously by the government, and a large smear campaign was run, claiming they were terrorists seeking to destroy the great civilization Emperor Vespasian I "The Bold" Saikar was trying to build.
Disheartened and desperate, they became what the Saikar made them. They began violent action, while at the same time working to slink away from the public eye, save when they wanted to make an impression. But the Empire continued to grow, and they were too small to combat them alone. Their actions became more and more disorganized and infrequent. Many believed they no longer existed at all, and that these attacks were just copycatters. In reality, they remained hidden in the shadows, gathering more like-minded people and groups to their cause. In the Era of Decay, the stepped into the light once more as one of many member groups of the new Coalition known as Saber. The combined resources and forces of this new group, along with the already unhappy populations around the galaxy, proved more than a match for an Empire grown rotten in the core, and like an old tree it would crumble before the force of their howling gale.
After the massacre at Arundel's Wrath, Saber fell apart. They lack the experience or desire to clean up the mess they made, proud instead to hand off the rebuilding of the new worlds to those who lived there. Many of the groups and organizations eventually dissolved, with nothing left to fight for. For all intents and purposes, so too did the Flock. They returned to Mother Willow. They hoped that now, things would change. And for a while, they did. But now, once again, technology and the Saikar legacy rears its ugly head, and the descendants of those who fought long ago have once again stepped into the light.
Current
The Flock is currently considered a terrorist organization by the Coalition government, as well as by most citizens who have witnessed or heard of their handiwork. They operate out of Mancay Island, where Mother Willow is hidden away in the depths of one of the last areas of untouched nature on dry land. They strike various locations using geurilla tactics, arriving quietly, and beginning a great magical feat, transfiguring inorganic material, as well as any unfortunate people caught in the process, into plant matter. The Talon Isthmus, bordering the capital city of Vespa, has been completely swallowed up, and they are beginning to make incursions deeper and deeper into the capital.
Besides the aggressive re-naturalization of the ecumenopolis world, the Flock actively seeks out old Saikar relics across the various worlds of Hyperion, attempting to beat the Royal Guild Historica's expedition teams and rob them of a potential new piece of tech, or a possible item that could unlock another forbidden secret for them. They smuggle these stolen artifacts to a series of safe houses, where they perform rituals taught to them by Mother that annihilate the artifacts beyond recovery.
Until recently, their actions appeared to be small in scale, and unfocused, as though they lacked a plan. Until 2149 AD, when a concentrated effort allowed the complete annexation of the Talon Isthmus, transmogrifying half of the Vespa's city land. It was supposed to become a fertile land, filled with game and food-producing plants. A paradise of nature, bright and sunny and beautiful. But it was a first draft, and the end result was a dark, overcrowded jungle lacking useful food game, and unable to produce plant food. It reeks of corruption, and many of the plants there have themselves been corrupted, becoming aggressive blights. Most of the Flock doesn't stay here, they just work out of the area to access the rest of Vespa. Some vagabonds, lost souls, and anti-civilization types have made their home out here, however. And now The Prividea Conglomerate has set up a work camp to try and reclaim the land, while secretly studying the magical properties of the fast growing vegetation to try and help their terraforming of Oria.
Governance
While the Flock does pride themselves on a free society, endeavouring to operate as a collective, they are also smart enough to realize that certain situations call for quick, decisive action. A small council of senior members, hand picked by Kapheira, known by the honorific "Branch" serve as war-time leaders and guiding members of the community. They help direct the rest of the Flock's people when they need help, are called in to mediate conflicts, and coordinate and plan the geurrilla action taken by Flock druids.
Circle of the Giver Abilities
The Circle of the Giver is a special Druid Circle whose followers receive their power from Mother Willow. To her followers she imparts the knowledge of the need for natural balance, for not taking more than you need and providing back to the cycle something in return. In her name, her followers advocate and fight to restore that lost balance, that Mother Willow might once again be restored to a healthy state. To aid in their efforts, Mother Willow provides her followers with a few special abilities. This is a Homebrew Druid subclass.
Mission Statement
We seek to safeguard what little of the natural world remains on Bastion, and to bring life back into balance, a complete and self-perpetuating cycle that leaves behind the culture of overconsumption. We work to atone for the sins of our ancestors, those who took from the Giver until she could give no more, and left her broken, trying to satiate a perpetually hungry beast, and help her return to her former glory.
Themes/Behaviours/Ideologies
- Brotherhood, acceptance and equality
- Respect for and balanced living with nature
- Generosity, sharing
- No personal wealth or monetary system, just tools and things made or found
- Regular public displays of faith and dedication
- Guilt and the seeking of penance for their crimes in the eyes of Mother Willow. Doing harm, even when necessary, must be atoned for.
Words of Homage
- The Mother's gifts are many
- The Mother's Embrace
- Seize the means of production and put them to work to achieve balance
- We feed the many and are fed by all
- From The Flock I draw my strength
- One man's cult is another man's is another man's religion (Cat person wizard, Ex corporate sell out who joined the Flock. Simone the Prividia Conglomerate HR Head.)
- I've become completely well-adjusted to being a cult member
- You can't have culture without "cult"
Dialogue Bits
- Mother Willow is a god of giving, and our flock arose from those who worked the lands of Bastion during the Unification Wars and in the times after. We were the ones who received the gifts and gave them to the people. From our hands to theirs, bounty flowed. Those who came to Bastion with empty mouths were cared for. Their mouths were filled, then their hands, then their pockets, but when all these things were filled the true nature of man was revealed. From there our crime comes and our penance started
- What creatures are we that when gifts spill from our full hands onto the ground, we turn to the Giver and ask for more? Worse than that were our actions, we who received these bounteous gifts blindly, as though we were owed them, until we no longer accepted gifts, but stole from the Mother. We did not see the folly, for we were blind. But now, we see.”
- We altered the Mother, that is our crime we work to rectify. We seek to heal the Mother on Bastion. That has been our task for nearly a hundred years. The mother is not herself
- "The Giver will not allow a new planet, a new and naive spirit of life, to be born into such captivity, to be born then raped by those of Bastion who squandered their gift!" On the terraforming of Oria.
Litany of the Mother Willow
I, (insert your name), in the presence of Mother Willow and my fellow Flock members, bind myself upon my Honour and the sacred bark, that, to the best of my knowledge and power, I will honour and revere the Mother Willow spirit, and seek to further her teachings and her gifts, and give myself to her service and the service of the Flock. I will strive to help those in need, and will use my knowledge and power to further the causes of peace and prosperity. So I swear.
Benediction to the Giver
Our Mother Willow, we praise you and pledge ourselves to your service. We will refuse no time and grudge no thought to our works in your name. We will deny no care to the honour, use, stability and perfection of any works we may be called to set our hands to. We will feed the many and be fed by all, seeking to use the means of production to benefit the Flock. We will bring your grace and mercy to all, seeking to share the spirit of your teachings with the world. We will honour you, O Mother Willow, in our deeds and seek to grow in your love and wisdom. So we swear.
Important Figures/Places
Mother Willow
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