The Cult of the Beaverlodge

In celebration of Canada Day and the near completion of a new project, I’m presenting a new faction and a scenario that will provide entertainment for all.

Overview

There are many unusual religions and beliefs that have come to prominence in the post-post-apocalyptic world of Dark Revelations North America.   The Cult of the Beaverlodge is one such cult.

History

 Qyd - Beaver statue in Beaverlodge, Alberta, Canada - june 2007 GNU Free Documentation License

Richard Mackenzie was a Beaver Folk Trapper who when exploring up in the northwestern Alberta, discovered an enormous beaver statue.  It immediately talked to him, declared itself the Great Castor Spirit and made him his prophet of a new world: a world where his followers would take their rightful place as the supreme power of the world.  The experience changed Richard as his fur went from brown to white.  He took to wearing a simple woolen robe and a walking stick and began to travel from settlement to settlement professing the true way.

At first, he was rebuffed.  He started with Beaverfolk Compounds and most Beaverfolk are very insular by nature and don’t take kindly to strangers.  However, in spite of this, Richard managed to get many followers.  His words appealed to the young and the disenfranchised that believed that the humans had blown their chance to be the masters of the new world.  And other races, well they were unworthy for the new era.

However, in spite of this, the Great Castor Spirit has plans for the other races.  They will share in this great glory and even a few will be altered to join in the spoils of the new era by being reshaped into “the proper era.”

Religious Doctrine

The Tenets of the Great Castor Spirit are as follows:

·         A community is a living organism that must be kept productive.

·         The needs of the few must outweigh the needs of the many. 

·         Weapon Training is as much a religious experience as preaching dogma.

·         Don’t die unless it’s absolutely necessary.  Make the other guy die on your behalf

·         Engineering is the key to salvation.

·         Worship time is at dawn, where we raise our tails and slap them in unison.  This is known as the thumping of the land.

·         While all are welcomed, Beaverfolk are the chosen people.

Symbols of the Great Castor.

The Religious symbol of the cult of castor is a tail across a tree.  The tail is covered in barbed wire.  While usually symbolic, often prominent members get their tails cut off when they die and are used as relics.

Tactics

Like many mystery cults, they try to keep their practices secret, but they also understand the need for recruitment for their long term. 

A zealot is in a land that hasn’t been converted, they are sent out as scouts to evaluate the feasibility of the order.  These Lodge members are as cells.  Once they communicate back to their handler, they have designated a two-digit code that will be reevaluated as needed.

·         TC = Beaverfolk Community that’s been converted.  These are the elites.

·         AC = Already Converted

·         PC = Potential for Conversion

·         NC = Neutral Conversion

·         EC = Enemies of the cult.

If considered suitable for Conversion, they will perform good deeds and try to indoctrinate in the hopes to convert into true believers.  Pamphlets and heralds will be sent to change and convert whom they can.

However, if considered neutral or enemy, they will keep their secrecy and try to undermine the society from the shadows.  These range from raids, kidnappings, and sabotage.  However, it is usually done in such a way that appears as domestic action, rather than a holy war.

They are not above using blackmail, intimidation and even murder to achieve their goals.  If a target is designated EC and a fight worth winning, they change tactics and start a reign of terrorism, In fact, the preferred choice of maximizing terror is the use of bombs that they are often set off with a proximity sensor when it hears a slap of a tail.   They also like vehicles and automatic weapons to compensate for their relatively small size.

Key People in the organization.

Richard Mackenzie

Cult Leader

Beaverfolk Channeler/Witch

History: Richard was originally raised in what was known as Northern Ontario where his people had managed to repair and maintain a Candu reactor for their power and trade needs.  His people understood it enough to keep it drawing power and even had its own sacred symbols involving the “key” and “floppy disk” to keep things operating.  He was the son of the local leader and the only child, born of an affair and thus a black eye on his family.  He says he got a calling and went out to do the “Great Castor Spirits work.”

Description:   He is a Beaverman that is starting to grey that is slightly overweight.  He suffers from nausea due to a stomach injury while trapping.

Disposition:   Richard has used his influence to gain great affluence and loves the finer things in life.  He usually starts polite, but often gets easily aggravated when people don’t submit to his authority.  He is a bully that gained way too much power.

Other Notes: It is rumored that his history could all be a lie, and Richard is actually, Rita who was changed gender by the Great Castor Spirit.

Donna McDonald

Spymaster of Canada West

Beaverfolk Psychic/Mentalist

History:   Donna is rumored to be a childhood friend of Richard, and was born to a family in the same community that maintained the reactor.  She charmed her way out of poverty and was also the one that joined Richard on his journey.

Description: This female Beaverman has become overweight over time.  She dresses in formal attire and is known for wearing bold power suits

Disposition: Donna does a lot of work for the organization.  She has a pathological need to learn about everything, and that includes secrets.   While an optimist and studious, she is a horrible romantic when it comes to meddling in her friend's affairs.  This reflects in her spymaster duties were her first goal is keeping the finances flowing for their long term plans.  If she hears of any new technology or artifacts being unearthed that would be used, she will send minions to retrieve it, by any means necessary.

Other Notes:  It is rumored she is addicted to painkillers from a time when the Candu reactor had an “accident” and she was injured.  This was also the event when her parents were killed.   This might be a mild version of radioactive poisoning.

Preston Campbell

Traveling Enforcer

Malarkoid Combatant/Brute

History:  Preston was a traditional Marlarkoid that Richard and Donna met during their travels.  He claims that he is an alien prophet of the great castor Spirit and has dedicated his life to keeping Richard Safe.

Description:  Preston is in amazing shape and built like a brick privy.  His white tentacles are always clean.  When on duty, he wears heavy armor and carries an assault rifle.  He considers himself a “defender of the faith” and runs protection racket both to maintain his equipment and troops and to satisfy his own ego.

Disposition: Preston is an extrovert to the point of rudeness.  Despite this, he stays away from vices and is a teetotaler.

Other Notes:  He has a crush on Lisa, but has not acted on it, yet.

Lisa Steele

Legendary Terrorist

Human Adventurer /Troubleshooter.

History: Originally raised in Beckford, she was adopted by the Beaverlodge cult when her family died from the walking dead, she is one of the few that was directly contacted by the Great Castor Spirit.  This has ruffled a lot of feathers amongst her higher-ups but also makes her hard to argue with.

Description:  Lisa is odd-looking and has a slight blue tinge to her hair.  She has taken to dressing in a flowered headscarf to hide her identity.  She often poses as a domestic as it allows her to get into places not easily available.

Disposition:  Lisa has difficulty being polite to “enemies of the cult,” and things often slip out.  She considers herself a poet and often writes up pamphlets to drive membership.  She has little respect for the people that are really in charge, as they seem more obsessed with the coffers, then changing the world.

Other Notes:  One of the first things she does is make sure she has an escape plan.  This often includes explosives.

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