Cult of CrypticSea

A Dust-Kicker

## Locations

Florida Everglades (Bogmen)European Chapter

The Cult of CrypticSea **(CCS)** is a Terminus created faction founded in the European Chapter (Link This).

It's size decreased extremely after Terminus 10, and is still losing members to this day. Despite this, most within the group attempt to stick to their roots and fight to their last breath.

## Background Information

The Cult's development was almost in an instant, due to a vision that struck Crooks(Link Here) and Julius(Link here) while going out on an execution objective(Link Here). He was swallowed up by dark waters and managed to escape to rethink his faith. He used his current connections to grow his group quickly, while trying his best to quietly splinter off of his main group, The Nations Divided Militia.

Eventually in early Terminus 10, there was enough formed structure to continually do practices without much disruption. Reaching a peak of members at this time, things were looking up for the Cult. This was until Crooks decided to abandon the NDM in mid-Terminus 10, which made him a hostile target in their eyes. The Cult and it's members also became targets, and members were killed off quickly. The remnants going into hiding and keeping their status as much of a secret as possible. Eventually, Fort Arizona was attacked (Link Here). This ensured that Crooks needed to escape the European Chapter, and caught a refugee boat to the remnants of the United States, ending up in Ohio after continuous travel.

After Crook's leave, his friend, Manny "The Duke" King(Link Here) took over operations. He focused the remaining strength of the Cult on guerilla tactics. He also attempted to form trading relations with the Democratic Peace League, but they declined due to the Cult's savage nature of executions. By Terminus 11, things were again looking hopeful for the Cult. But a splinter of the group, now known as The Bogmen of CrypticSea(Link Here), decided to take a quarter of the Cult and head towards Florida in mid-Terminus 11. The Duke decided to head to Florida in late Terminus 11, and the events of Dade Aftermath(Link Here) took place.

The Cult is still on a rocky slope, barely hanging on. In the coming Terminus', they aren't expected to last very long, especially due to their lack of upgrading to modern equipment.

## Society, Equipment, and Tactical Rundown

### Society

The societal structure of the Cult runs into 3 groups, or jobs given out to members in the Cult.

**Marked**, men marked by a number and name. These people are the lowest of the Cult, but are also the workforce behind most of the Cult. Farmers, traders, and hunters. They can be involved in combat but are usually non-combatants.

**Markers**, men who mark those with a number and name. These people are the middle class of the Cult, and go out to kidnap and brainwash new people into the group. They also use the Szondi Test to mark members. They are usually non-combatants.

   **Dust-kickers**, men who wander into the desert and kick up sandy dust while walking many miles. These people are the highest ranks in the Cult, they are usually combatants and can put up a fierce fight if given a true chance. They also execute members out in the desert to "please" their god.

Anything considered treasonous like bibles or other forms of religion that is not related to the Cult will lead to execution. Interestingly, drinking any form of alcohol will also get you executed. The reasoning behind this is unknown, but the Cult goes to great lengths to keep their members sober. Some heavy drug usage is known however.

The Cult has a preference to folk music from the East, especially Macedonian and Arabian.

### Equipment and Technologies

The Cult uses a variety of older weaponry such as assault rifles, hunting rifles, hunting shotguns, and sub-machine guns. Dust-kickers are known to execute members with UZI sub-machine guns. They also use spears and scimitars, favoring scimitars as a secondary most of the time.

The Cult favors vehicle weaponry to surprise and ambush hostiles quickly and efficiently, however in the recent Terminus, this has declined due to losing members with this type of skill-set. Instead preferring booby traps, and guerilla tactics to overtake groups. Their clothing is designed to protect themselves from sandstorms and to make it harder to spot them in the sand, though it is mostly makeshift.

The Cult houses themselves in underground adobes and scrap buildings across the European Chapter. There is no real way of architecture they primarily decide to base off of. Their primary base of operations is Plant Rock(Link Here), a large farming community housing around 140 members. As well as an underground portion housing weapons and a command center. Besides this, they like to hide in abandoned buildings in cities or dark caves.

## Notes

* The Dust-Kicker is the icon of Dade Aftermath(Link Here), as he shows up in menu icons such as skills, traits, and mission icons.
* CrypticSea refers to the game developer behind Sub Rosa, much like other parts of the lore.
* The name and some of the lore is based off of this video.