Water Bandit

Water Bandits are an emergent subfaction on the Sedo continent. A coalition of several smaller groups that came together during the war, the Water Bandits act as common raiders, but have higher goals in mind as their structures begin to form. Their members are mostly ex-Serorans, Vagabonds and even some foreign soldiers that came to Sedo during the war, the Water Bandits are a rapidly growing independent faction driven by personal gain and a desire for societal change. They oppose traditional authority figures and operate outside Seroran law and societal structures.

Their base of operations is The Oasis.

**Please note that Water Bandits are a new faction that rose during the Aodh-Serora war and was first sighted in Chapter 7 (summer 1701).**

## Overview

Water Bandits are a loose coalition of various disgruntled and disfavored groups who came together in Sedo during the Aodh-Serora war. Named “Water Bandits” by the Serorans in their initial encounter, they were quickly branded as thieves and traitors, but were generally not considered much of a threat until their takeover of the Oasis in the autumn of 1701.

Many Water Bandits were originally driven to this life by desperation, starvation, or simply out of a hedonistic need for adventure and loot. They are a ragtag bunch who don’t believe in traditional leadership, instead choosing who to follow and what to believe on their own. Although keeping to some of the original herd’s cultural beats, the Water Bandits trade the Seroran mentality of community, a certain naive openness and an unspoken expectation of altruism for a more hedonistic, rough and self-serving culture.  The Water Bandits have no respect for laws other than their own.

While they don’t usually seek carnage and open combat, Water Bandits are certainly more prone to violence than your average Seroran. Many of them use the threat of violence as a powerful tool - even among their own kind - and they don’t seem averse to spilling some blood to get their message across.

## Lifestyle

Before taking over the Oasis, the Water Bandits existed as many Serorans do - as roving nomadic bands that would track across the Sedo landscape. Only in their case, they weren’t wandering farmers or herders, but opportunistic thieves ready to exploit those weaker than them. The gangs would generally travel as smaller units to avoid identification, and each individual team would seek out their own targets. The gang would gather up again in a safe location, divvy up loot and decide on a new route to take.

After conquering the Oasis as their base of operations, Water Bandits still range across Sedo, but their routes head in and out of the Oasis on a fairly regular basis. Oasis gives them a home and a place to rest and do trade. Water Bandit gangs patrol the Oasis jealously, preventing entry to all but known allies. Some Bandits always remain in the safety of the valley, keeping up the defenses and chasing off any intruder they come across.

Although Water Bandits mostly live off of their raiding, the Oasis also provides them with resources. While the valley was somewhat depleted by the main herd’s stay, it still provides fresh water in ample amounts, as well as suitably safe grazing grounds for stolen animals. Some Water Bandits have even taken to cultivating plants in the Oasis, continuing from where the original residents left off.

### Joining

To join the Water Bandits one needs to seek out a gang, and prove themselves to the leader of that particular group. Unaligned Bandits are considered untrustworthy, and as such, not tolerated. That being said, it’s usually not terribly hard to gain membership in a gang as long as one is willing to do as they are told, and can bring some useful skills into the mix.

The other way to join is to be recruited by an Instigator, who will then personally take the candidate to their Marauder, make introductions, and get them to join the gang. The recommendation of the Instigator is often enough to get one membership in the group.

### Raids

Water Bandit raids are generally brief affairs with a longer preparation period. A team will often track their target for a good while to make sure they have something worth stealing, and that the heist goes off without a hitch. They ideally want to strike while the target is alone, and will sometimes pretend to be friendly travelers to lull them into a false sense of comfort. The Bandits might also intentionally lead travelers to isolated areas where they are easier to rob.

Once they are ready to move out, the Water Bandits will rob their victim blind, subduing them if necessary. They generally avoid proper fights, and prefer quick hit-and-run getaways of small targets, rather than attempting to regularly raid settlements or even larger caravans. Such jobs generally take weeks of planning and collaboration between gangs.

The Water Bandits preferred targets are people with a lot of movable goods, such as Windracers or traders, although they will also target basic supply caravans and foreign travelers, as well as small nomadic bands. The Water Bandits are mostly after shards, foodstuff, medicines and luxury items like agave sugar and peyote, but will also steal clothing, animals, gemstones, weapons, armor or literally anything that they can fairly reliably transport. Anything that’s too big to be worth it is generally left alone.

Stolen goods are either used by the bandits, or sold and traded to their few Vagabond peddler allies. The Water Bandits are currently hoping to form better trading connections with the help of their new, stable base of operations.

### Dangers

Due to being outlaws, Water Bandits face the possibility of capture or even death on their raiding operations. Small gangs tend to be more vulnerable to Seroran intervention, while larger groups are often able to fight off any overly eager Seroran law enforcement.
Water Bandits are not currently being actively hunted, as many of their identities are unknown, and they don’t wear anything that would distinguish them from common Vagabonds or indeed, simply nomadic Serorans. When not actively raiding, Water Bandits will do their best to pretend to be regular Serorans and try to avoid arousing unnecessary suspicion, especially when Seroran military is around. As a result, Water Bandits are most commonly apprehended mid-heist, or when otherwise engaging in clearly suspicious activities.

## Cultural Notes

Most Water Bandits originate from Serora, but Vagabonds, Aodhians, Talori and War Forged have also been mixed in during the conflict as defectors and unpopular elements from various groups banded together. This makes the group very multicultural and mixed in influences. Just listening to the Water Bandits talk makes this obvious - a single gang may have speech patterns and accents from all over Hireath.

Water Bandits share the overall Seroran attitudes towards gender and sexuality; as in that they are extremely accepting, and while there are some additions from less tolerant herds, they either assimilate to the overall culture, or at least learn to keep their bigotry to themselves. Also akin to Serorans, most Water Bandits are illiterate and have very little or no formal education to speak of, valuing practical and survival skills above book learning.

Water Bandits are extremely individualistic; although they form gangs and follow Marauders because it benefits them to work together, each Bandit is still very independent, and ultimately the only one responsible for their own happiness and well-being. They also tend to be fairly hedonistic, partially due to their dangerous lifestyle; Water Bandits want to live life to the fullest and enjoy reveling in their loot, even at the expense of others. Resources are only shared within gangs or among close friends.

Their individuality is also shown in their attire and accessories. Bandits tend to favor vibrant and unique clothing items, and also enjoy eye-turners like tattoos, body paint and dyed hair. They show some Aodhian influence in their love for all things shiny and sparkly, and are a lot more materialistic than the average Seroran.

Despite being a gang of thugs and thieves, Water Bandits are also united (more or less) in the belief that the traditional governments of Hireath are rotten and corruptible, and need to be replaced by a new system of power. Most of them feel somehow personally slighted by their governments, which helps feed their belief that their governments are inherently broken. Many Water Bandits of Seroran origin also believe that their country has been made weak by compliance and “niceness”, values encouraged by the government at the expense of its people.

Water Bandits are generally reviled by Serorans, while Water Bandits consider members of the main herd to be blind sheep who don’t even realize how unfree they are.

### Leadership

Water Bandits lack a traditional leadership structure, instead being organized under a number of powerful individuals known as Marauders. Each Marauder leads their own gang, making their own rules and leading their gang as they best seem fit. Marauders themselves tend to be powerful and charismatic individuals who are capable of garnering enough support to form a gang under their control.

Each gang acts independently, but each Marauder is a part of the overall “governing body” of the Bandits: The Marauder Ring. The Ring will decide about things that affect all Bandits, such as larger raids, or direct big operations that wouldn’t be possible without several gangs taking part - such as taking over the Oasis. The meetings of the Ring may devolve into shouting matches or brawls, as they have little formal organization, but ultimately, things get done - and often with a frightening amount of efficiency for such a ragtag bunch of miscreants.

Yaara is the unofficial head of the Ring due to being the Marauder of the largest gang.

### Religion

As most Water Bandits are of Seroran origin, Alya is their favored patron. Water Bandits claim that Alya’s virtues, such as freedom, determination and righteous fury, not only justify their actions, but indeed demand them. They consider Alya to be a warrior-goddess who favors the strong and independent, and that she supports the Water Bandit lifestyle as a necessary evolution for her herd.

Those Water Bandits who come from different backgrounds have generally kept their original gods and beliefs - the faction is young, and yet to develop a clear religious identity. Different belief systems are effortlessly mixed and matched to create systems that suit the Bandits needs. Many Bandits are also completely non-religious, believing that while the gods do exist, they do not care, and should only be prayed to for the benefit of their easily given blessings. With Vagabond influence and a brewing discontent with the old gods has come a particular interest in the Ungod, Digend. The god of change is an attractive concept to many Bandits, but they have had limited access to her - so far.

### 3 Point Creed

The Marauder Ring used their first meeting to argue and put in place a simple 3 Point Creed to allow their faction to operate under shared basic guidelines  with a shared understanding of who they are and how they operate. Each Marauder is free to institute additional rules within their own group, as long as they don’t break any of the 3 Points.

1. **All are equal**

All Water Bandits are equal regardless of religion, breed, gender, origin or skill. All Bandits are treated the same and have the same rights - note that this is equality, not equity. Water Bandits choose their own leaders.

1. **That which you claim is yours**

What a Water Bandit steals, is theirs to keep. While discussions over sharing of loot are encouraged and welcome, no one can be forced to give up what is rightfully theirs - if they can hold onto it, that is.

1. **You are owed nothing**

Each Water Bandit is the master of their own destiny. They are not owed any help, resources or companionship by anyone, nor do they owe these things to anyone else. You are never obligated to help someone else - but naturally you are free to do so, if it benefits you.

## Gangs

Each Water Bandit needs to belong to a gang. Lone Water Bandits are not trusted by the others, and are generally vulnerable, as they have no one to help them survive. The gangs form the basic social units of the Bandits, replacing the more traditional family-style units of Serora (although a gang may be partially based on a family unit). Each gang is led by a single Marauder, a charismatic and powerful figure.

In the world of the Bandits, the Marauder gives their leadership capabilities and in exchange receives the obedience of their gang. Members of the gang share resources, help one another and generally share similar goals and ideologies. Gangs are generally not willing to support members who are unable to be productive for the whole, although some might be more family-oriented.

### Current Gangs

*Javelins* - led by Yaara, Javelins are the largest gang. They specialize in robbing government trade caravans, but leave private citizens alone if they can help it.

*Nighthawks* - Currently led by Jake. The Hawks are one of the smallest gangs, but their specialty of night raids allows them to keep up with the larger gangs with little trouble. All are welcome, but few are trusted"

*Kula Gang -* Currently led by Farooq. The Kulas are a close-knit gang that specialise in information gathering and cons, and tend to avoid any violent conflicts where they can.

## Ranks

*Note that individual ranks within this faction may be temporarily closed to balance out numbers.*

* Marauder
* Instigator
* Bruiser
* Bandit

Click Here for the Water Bandit Ref Sheets!

## History

Some form of bandits seem to have existed in Sedo as long as anyone can remember. The bands often consisted of Vagabonds down on their luck, perhaps reinforced by a few native Seroran outlaws who offered their services as guides and windboarders in return for a different lifestyle as a member of a bandit crew. The crews tended to be small in size and brief in their existence, never amounting to more than a mild annoyance. For centuries, things remained the same, with bandits never posing a real threat to Serora.

The war with Aodh changed things.

With trust in government at an all time low after a series of unfortunate decisions, Serora was left with a large amount of people who were discontent or displaced. There were the Vagabonds, briefly hunted in the name of the treaty, and many of them still angry. Then there were the Serorans themselves, displaced by evacuations and angry at a government that had failed to protect them and had, indeed, gotten them mixed in not one, but two wars in the span of only a few months. They no longer felt a connection with the main herd and its leaders, and many chose to leave, not wanting to die for a war they never wanted.

In the chaos of the war, many of these unhappy elements banded together, forming large bandit gangs that would raid Aodhians and Serorans alike. They were motivated by self-preservation, a fervent need for survival. As they faced opposition, their conviction grew.

Steadily, their numbers did as well. Equines from the other armies marching in Sedo - War Forged, Aodh and Talori - also joined up, tired of the machinations of their leaders. The bands became more numerous, some merging and coming under powerful figures as their leaders.

The destruction of Osulas brought more under their banners, and soon enough, the herd at large became aware of their existence.

Although to many Serorans their appearance in the summer of 1701 was a complete surprise, the process of their creation had been going on for over a year - and their numbers were only growing.

With the war over, the Bandits have used the difficulties of the main herd to take over the Oasis as their new base of operations.