Some prophecies have a way of making themselves come true. Many people saw the horrors that mankind was about to unleash upon itself in the time before the Exodus and turned to religion for comfort. Most fanatical were the followers of those Great Prophets that had preached the message of doomsday and judgment upon this wicked world. When the end of civilization came, those people who had proclaimed a spiritual connection to man’s self destruction were seen as great sages with the ability to see the future. In the aftermath of the great tribulation, various mad prophets and doomsday cultists converged on the remains of Los Angeles. The wicked and sinful city had been purged by Holy Fire and the land was now clean. After Los Angeles was cleansed with Holy Fire, the wrecked city became a Mecca for the messengers of the word. Cultists, prophets, and mad preachers converged on the ruined city as if called to it. Along the way these speakers of the word gathered up with them a flock. These people were outcasts, feral children, orphans and lost souls with nowhere else to go. A great many other people descended upon the Junkyard in order to scavenge for supplies. In the ruins, these survivors became rich in raw materials and salvageable technology.
The Children of the Apocalypse welcomed these newcomers with open arms. This large cult had survived the destruction of Los Angeles by hiding out in a series of primitive bunkers. Upon returning to the world, the Children saw the great masses that had converged on the city and knew it was their destiny to join with them and lead them. The Children of the Apocalypse were the single largest and most organized group out of all
the cultists and scavengers who converged on the ruins of Los Angeles. By virtue of their cohesion and numbers, the Children were able to successfully integrate these various prophets and factions into a united church. At the same time, the cult was able to forcibly convert or drive out anyone who came to Los Angeles with a non-religious agenda.
Organization and Leadership
The High Priest, His Holiness of the Purifying Flame, First Amongst the Children. These are the many titles bestowed upon the spiritual and military leader of the Children of the Apocalypse. He is a swaggering blowhard, an uneducated, drug addled, and irrational tyrant. His Holiness spends most of his time ensconced in a vast underground bunker enjoying the perks of his office. When roused to actually make a decision or issue a command, there is always the chance that the High Priest will have someone shot for incompetence or tortured for no reason.
Overseeing the daily operations of the cult is the cult’s second in command, known as the Arch Bishop. A host of lesser priests and laymen serve at the whim of the High Priest and his proxy, the Arch Bishop. Outside of the cult’s inner circle the organizational structure breaks down. Individual cultists are more or less left to their own devices. The commoners are not bothered as long as they pay their tithes and refrain from blasphemy.
The more militant minded cult members (and there are many) are known as warrior saints. These fanatics group together in small units with the unit leader reporting directly to the Arch Bishop or one of his underlings. To be a true Child of the Apocalypse is to be a fighter and a great number of the faithful choose to serve the church through military service. Basic training is mandatory for all cult members, however, this instruction deals more with religious dogma than useful combat skills. Those who wish to continue military training work their way up through various training programs, inevitably becoming immersed in one of the many sub-factions and splinter groups that form the cult’s martial branch.
Territory
The Children roam unchecked through most of Los Angeles County and the surrounding area. However, they are incapable of holding such a vast expanse of territory without substantial military support from NEMO and the Vegas Mafia. Both of these entities need access to the Junkyard and its many treasures. Cooperating on equal terms is good business for all involved. The Children maintain their primary strongholds in the remains of old Hollywood. Los Angeles itself is a constant battleground, as the Children and their allies patrol the area for the Chi raiders, rogue salvage teams and Slavers who roam the Junkyard for booty.
Conversion parties regularly head into densely populated areas of the Wasteland in order to preach the word and gather more recruits into the flock. These missionaries also serve as scouts and spies, secretly gauging the military strengths of the settlements that they come across. The more hardcore Children, the Infiltrators and Seekers of the Holy Fire, venture far out into the Wasteland in search of weapons of mass destruction, as well as heavy weapons,
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Martial Capabilities
The Children’s warrior saints are fanatical and deadly. While the cult is lacking in raw numbers, the training, discipline and superior firepower of the Children’s forces make them a force to be reckoned with. Supporting units from NEMO and the Vegas Mafia ensure that the Children maintain enough troops to withstand any full scale invasion of the Junkyard. The Children also maintain a strong defensive garrison to the north of the city. This fortified line was erected to keep out Chi raiders who infiltrate the Junkyard from San Francisco. The northern perimeter is the most heavily patrolled area of the city and a large number of artificial barricades
form a broken barrier to deter raiders and scavenging parties.
With a vast territory to patrol and defend, the warriors serving the Children of the Apocalypse are often spread thin, operating in small groups or individual scouts. These religious fanatics possess no fear of death and will not retreat even when cornered or outnumbered. Warrior saints fight to the death, only repositioning themselves in order to draw the enemy into an ambush or link up with reinforcements. The Children are taught that death in battle is the only honor worth attaining and that the faithful who fall this way will receive their reward in the afterlife.
The Children of the Apocalypse rarely engage in open conflict. Their strategy is a patient and meticulous one. They prefer to make alliances with other factions in order to keep the peace without expending precious resources. The cult desires to slowly build up their arsenal by raiding military bases. At the same time, conversion parties provide them with a steady supply of fresh recruits.
Economics
The Children control the Junkyard. That fact alone forms the basis of their economic system. Military control of this region keeps them stocked with whatever they need. They are expert scroungers who feed on the corpse of the ruined city like maggots. The Children allow scavenging parties to enter their domain in exchange for a set fee. Weapons and ammunition are the cult’s primary interest and they value these items above all other barter. The Children have established trading camps to the south and east of the city proper. Caravans and salvage crews come to these outposts to buy whatever they need from the Children or the scavengers who live under the “protection” of the cult. The scrap trade fuels the economy of the entire region. The Children’s monopoly over the majority of
the prime salvage sites keeps them on top.
Most of the people living in this region pay lip service to the Children, the religion of Holy Fire and the High Priest, which includes tithing. The cult’s coffers are overflowing with steel coin and barter. The Children have free reign to squeeze extra tithes from anyone that they come across. Travelers within the cult’s domain may expect random shake downs from the cult members they
come across.
The Children of the Apocalypse produce nothing on their own. Their entire existence is based upon trading scrap from the Junkyard. The Children do not engage in agriculture, nor do they possess the desire or skills for such activity. Likewise, the Children do not build anything and have a hard time keeping their technology in good repair. If it were not for the bits and pieces of old equipment that the Children recover from the Junkyard, they would soon have no technology at all. The only thing that keeps the cultists from starving to death is the constant influx of caravans and travelling merchants who barter food and medicine for building
Relationships with Outsiders
The Children are allied with both the Vegas Mafia and the bandits of NEMO, an arrangement that has more to do with economic necessity than mutual respect. The troops sent to reinforce the Junkyard are not on the best terms with their cult counterparts. However, a significant number of these bandits and mercenaries have secretly converted to the cult of Holy Fire and are now regarded as Children of the Apocalypse. Neither NEMO nor the Vegas Mafia would approve of the cult’s obsessive desire to seize control of the most dangerous weapons that they can find. Both groups are already uneasy over their close ties to this group of religious fanatics, knowing the full extent of the cult’s plans would do little to ease this concern. This desire to keep their allies happy is one reason why the Children keep their stockpiling activities a secret.
The Chi Dynasty is the Children of the Apocalypse’s sworn enemy. The lords of New China fearlessly raid the Junkyard and take away loads of priceless salvage. The two factions also compete over weapons caches at old military bases in California. The animosity towards the Chi is at such levels that many priests and warrior saints have advocated destroying the Chi outright.
The Children of the Apocalypse will kill any member of the Techno-Reaper cult on sight. These people are dangerous heretics and do not deserve to live. It was the scientists and intellectuals like these that brought the great judgment upon the world. The Children often compete with Techno Reapers over weapons caches and valuable salvage sites in the Waste. Mercenaries employed by the Reapers regularly make incursions into the Junkyard, violating the Holy Land for their disgusting masters.
Notable Personalities
His Holiness of the Purifying Flame: His Holiness is more of a figurehead than a true leader and is rarely
seen by anyone but the Arch Bishop, making his true identity unknown to the cult. While his religious rank endows him with absolute power, the High Priest rarely invokes this authority. More often than not, His Holiness uses the power at his disposal to avenge perceived insults and blasphemy. As long as his luxurious lifestyle is maintained, the High Priest sees no need to become involved in the affairs of the other cultists.
The Arch Bishop Lucian: The de facto leader of the cult is Arch Bishop Lucian. While His Holiness
enjoys the privilege of unlimited power and unquestioned obedience, the Arch Bishop holds the true reins of power. The Arch Bishop’s primary job is to oversee the conversion of infidels and to keep the Children’s allies happy. However, in the absence of any direction coming from the church’s head, it falls upon Lucian to make the majority of decisions and run the cult’s day to day affairs.