The Barbarians

The Barbarians, as they are commonly referred to by the population of The Greater Kingdom of Michigan, are a 'horde' of raiders lying west of The Kingdom. They are commonly referred to as one group (and i really don't wanna write 1 gazillion pages) due to their similarities in their "culture" and common heritage. Barbarians commonly practice specific rituals, differing from standard raiders. These rituals primarily include the sacrifice of captured humans, ghouls, supermutants, etc, and bloodletting rituals. The Barbarians all stem from one raider empire that had formerly ruled over all of the Barbarians, commonly referred to as "The Church of Blood".
== History ==
The Barbarians, as mentioned priorly, are all raiders originating from one empire that had shattered many years ago, in 2231. The Church of Blood had been one of, if not the most powerful raider factions in the Great Lakes and Midwest, being a scourge to all settlements in their general vicinity. The Church had come to power through religious assimilation of fellow raider gangs and the conquest of opposing gangs, using their brutal rituals as a way to strike fear in their rivals. The Church would practice rituals primarily involving the death of their enemies and the release of the blood of their membership. Prisoners of War and dead enemy raiders would be impaled in forests of pikes, akin to the strategy employed by Vlad the Impaler. These strategies could very easily and effectively strike so much fear in the enemy raiders that their men began deserting and their leaders considering surrender.
The brutality of the Church spread far and wide, with settlements beginning to dreadfully await their demise as the Church's hordes of warriors began nearing their lands. The Church would pillage and raid every opposing settlement and raider gang they managed to encounter, building up a vast wealth, stockpile of weaponry, and reputation. Even today, the effects of the Church's fear tactics are still felt as the forests of pikes remain, with skeletons at the base of the pikes, acting as a reminder for the people of Wisconsin.
The Church had been able to seize so much land in such a quick time, not only due to their fear tactics, but also for their leader's military strategies. Raiders in the area, prior to the conquests of The Church, had used much more generic and predictable tactics. The Church, however, under their first and only leader known as "Dracula", utilized much more unconventional tactics. The Church reinvented camouflage, utilizing flora and animal carcasses to disguise their men. Traps would be set up, with Church warriors hiding underneath Radstag, Brahmin, and more carcasses and bushes, setting up a fake camp around the area. Most enemy raiders would approach the camp, hoping to loot any supplies from the camp, and Church warriors would spring out of their hiding places and quickly gun down the raiders. This, and other unconventional tactics, allowed for their rapid conquests.
As powerful as The Church had been, all empires eventually end. Dracula had died in combat while conquering a raider state in 2231, with his generals falling into an Alexander The Great-type scenario. The Church split into 2, then 4, then 8, then 16, and it went on until The Church had been divided into thousands of micro-gangs.
Despite the quick rise and fall of The Church, they left a lasting impact on both their conquered and foreign land. The land that had been conquered became permanently influenced by their rituals, with The Church's "religion" persisting after their collapse. Externally, The Church had struck fear in all civilized nations in the Great Lakes, fearing forever that they could potentially return with a possible reunification war amongst The Barbarians.
However, today, The Barbarians are more of a nuisance than anything. The Kingdom had been slowly launching operations to quell their activities, launching "peacekeeping" efforts to both kill off gangs and expand their colonial territories. The Free State of Chicago and the Greenskin Republic both began an ongoing ground war in 2284 and 2286 respectively, slowly assimilating the former Barbarian land.
Category:Michigan
Category:Faction
Category:Raiders
Category:Religions