Seekers of The Black Sun

Story: An encounter with the Seekers

An old scout was looking through his binoculars, checking the distance to the closest oasis. Besides him, his younger colleague was fiddling around with his Speargun, bored and awaiting the end of the shift.
Suddenly, the old man's body stiffened, he put his binoculars down and started to pack their gear.
"We're going back! Quick!"
"What? What happened?", the young one asked surprised.
"No time, we're going," there was a panic in the voice of his senior.
The young scout picked up his binoculars and looked in the direction the old man looked a few seconds before. There, through the vast desert of their layer, walked a human. A person dressed in black and golden robes. And right now they walked towards their location.
The old scout pulled his colleague by his shoulder.
"I said, we've got no time, pack your stuff."
"But that's only one person," he responded, but still, he listened to his senior. When they finished and started moving towards their tribe, the young scout decided to once again look in the direction of the lone wanderer. But now, he wasn't alone. Instead, there were about a hundred more people walking behind him.

There are many dangers on The Surface layers. There are the sun rays, strong enough to burn a person in a matter of seconds. There are giant insect-like Beasts from Above preying on anyone wandering through the endless sands. There are heat and dehydration. But one of the most feared hazards one can encounter on the desert by far is The Cult of the Black Sun.

Searching

While the members of the Cult of the Black Sun on the lower layers have to hide their presence to invade the settlements and slowly take over them, leaving only empty shells behind, the Seekers living on The Surface layers don't hide themself at all. In truth, they proudly march on forward, searching for something. They can be recognized from the distance, as all of them wear black and gold clothes.
If they encounter a tribe, ruins, and even a Beast, hundreds of them swarm together like ants, destroying and scavenging everything.

The familiar faces

A few scouts, to their own dismay, managed to recognize some of the faces in the crowds of Seekers. They were the people who went missing from their settlements after The Cult of the Black Sun managed to put its hands on them. All of them, no matter their previous lives, zealously followed their group. Were they brainwashed? Indoctrinated? As of yet, it is still unknown.

Stopping them

There were at least four tries to stop two different groups of Seekers traversing the upper layers. Sadly, they all failed. The amounts of resources, such as protective gear and Beast Oil needed to fight long enough to cull down the numbers of the cult or capture them, would be higher than anyone could gather. Even to joined forces of transit villages and tribes living on The Surface would mostly only bring ruin to those places with the costs of the battle. So as of now, the only thing to do is to avoid the Seekers on The Surface and prevent the spread of the cult on the lower layers.

The cult structure

Just like it is with the branch of the cult on the lower layers, it is unknown if there is one great leader or a circle ruling or controlling the Seekers. There are, however, high priests who lead each of the groups traversing the sands, singing the psalms, and picking the next target to attack. Under them, there are scouts and veterans, those who have been in the group the longest. And finally, the lowest rank is composed of everyone else, the new recruits and those who didn't prove their devotion to the search of the Black Sun yet.

We will find the sun again.

Type

Religious, Cult

Alternative Names

Seekers, Black robes, Black Parade (jokingly)

Training Level

Levy

Location

The Surface

Related Ranks & Titles

• High priest of The Black Sun

Despite the sun

For some reason, despite the deadly sun that can bleach any material it touches in a few moments, their clothes always stay black and gold. What's worse, there were scouts reporting that they've seen the groups of the Seekers going through the sun rays as if it was something normal. Their skin wasn't even more tanned than the skin of those living on the lower layers. For some reason, be it artifacts, an unknown Song, or as they say themselves "The blessings of the Black Sun", they are able to survive on The Surface layers as if they walked in a park.