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Andronicus23Ahoy ahoy! I've looked at this for a little while, and I've come up with my idea!
Faction Name: The Vipers
Description: The Vipers are a tribal gang with strong shamanistic traditions, notably the adoration of snakes and their venom. Along with the Khans and the Jackals, they were one of the most legendary raider gangs to hail from Vault 15 in New California. After to their near-destruction at the hands of the NCR, the three gangs were forced into the Mojave Wasteland. The gang has been fractured and reformed several times throughout its rough history, but the Vipers have regrown to prominence since the accumulation of many escaped convicts from the 2281 NCRCF prison break.
All Vipers answer to the Great Snakekeeper and their Snakepriests, whom receive their visions with the aid of their elusive "occulant" -- itself a brew of venom and various chems. The Great Snakekeeper is distinguished by a viper skull helmet adorned with feathers and a great cape. Immediately below them are the Crimson Tongues, the elite warriors. All Viper members wear elaborate tattoos and exotic piercings, which all signify important events, achievements, and dedications to loved ones or favourite persons.
Ritual sacrifice is a essential in the Viper's customs, with sacrifices made every day at midnight to gain the favour of the Gods. Typical sacrifices are usually small animals, but can also include small gifts and totems. Particularly heinous persons who have incurred the wrath of the entire Vipers gang are sacrificed alive into a pit of snakes. Most captives taken by the Vipers are given a chance at joining the gang through brutal initiation rituals, involving the cutting of one's wrists to be bathed in a mixture of alcohol and snake venom, in addition to performing special tasks given by the Great Snakekeeper. Those who survive allow their victim to join the clan and earn the eternal respect of the gang.
Cautious after years of near-annihilation, Vipers are opportunists, taking deals where they can and only striking when they have the upper hand. The Vipers have set up a tiny little hub just north of Cottonwood Cove, where they use it as a front-face. Their slowly-growing shanty is usually the closest thing that someone can get to "diplomacy" with the Vipers outside of sabre-rattling, where the Vipers make a tidy profit off of selling liquor and chems and running a little gambling den.
With years of brutalisation and conflict between the two, the NCR are the Viper's sworn enemy, and they will take any opportunity to take a swing at them. The Legion originally dismissed the Vipers as a group of unimpressive tribals and the two have not maintained any contact since the Legion's departure. They have an alliance with their old friends from New California: The Jackals and the Great Khans, and currently maintain an uneasy truce with what remains of the Vault 19 Powder Gangers. While the two are not 'friends', the Vipers and the Followers of the Apocalypse have a 'gentleman's agreement' where the Vipers will give some protection to the Followers in exchange for medical services and supplies. The Vipers generally have no contact with either the Brotherhood of Steel or any of the Families of the Strip.
Territory: The mountains along Nevada Highway 164. They also have several hideouts dotted across the rail lines that run north to Sloan and the Strip.
Sphere of influence (What are of the Mojave is your faction active in): The roads and mountains along Highway 164, Highway 95, and I-15.
Force Composition (How many fighting members, what are they armed with etc.) With about 300 fighting members, the Vipers are equipped with whatever they can trade for or scavenge. Gluttoned off of their raids deep into the NCR, the Vipers have amassed an impressive assortment of guns and armour. Most Vipers make use of a large variety of weapons, from primitive bows and arrows laced in venom, 9 and 10mm sub-machine guns, scavenged NCR service rifles, hunting rifles, to grenade launchers and machine guns.
What they lack in professional organisation they more than make up for in ferocity. They prefer stealth to brute force, and use a variety of both regular guns and explosives alongside primitive weapons, like darts, knives, and arrows laced with snake venom. Vipers are some of the most vicious ambushers and eagle-eyed scouts in the Mojave Wasteland, and make frequent use of chems to gain an edge over their opponents. The Vipers are excellent survivalists and are excellent at making concoctions and medicines from the natural flora and fauna of the wasteland, and use this to make tribal medicines and powerful chems alike.
History: When the 2nd Battle of Hoover Dam seemed about to erupt, the Vipers were weak and fractured. They had lost so many members and had been forced on so many great retreats. To most, it seemed like the Vipers would be thrown into the dustbin of history, just another tribe of raiders lost to the Wasteland. Yet, with the battle never coming and the NCR constantly growing weaker while the Vipers gained more and more members from anti-NCR rebels, their fortunes reversed. After a few years of gaining strength, they alongside their old allies from Vault 15 finally found the opportunity for revenge. They struck deep into the NCR, exacting the same treatment they had given to the Vipers so often and with so much joy.
Their successful raids gave the Vipers, only a years ago on death's door, their old glory back. The days of the Vipers being a tiny raider gang and the shadow of its former self were gone, and here the Vipers had re-established their reputation as one of the most vicious, successful, and badass tribal gangs of the Wasteland. Using the supplies gained from their raids into the NCR, the Vipers rebuilt themselves firmly re-establishing their identity and their culture while also learning valuable skills about mechanics and literature. There, the Great Snakekeeper found their call:
In excerpts from the scriptures of The Before Times, tales told of a great Garden paradise, created in the image of the Gods and awash in verdant green and where fruits and pure waters flow readily to the people, where a serpent shall give to the humans the gift of enlightenment. Other scriptures told of great wooded lands, with towering trees and everlasting rains, where snakes roamed so common that you were always within sight of one -- before the war, and before the folly of man destroyed their own paradise.
With the rapid expansion of The Green into the Wasteland, the Great Snakekeeper and their apostles rejoiced. The wonderous plants and powerful medicines that could be made from The Green seemed to be proof that this could be nothing short of divine intervention. The Great Snakekeeper decreed it such: The Greenlung is divine punishment against the NCR for their transgressions upon the Vipers and their beliefs, and this is a final trial at the End of the Earth where paradise shall soon await the faithful of the serpents.
Faction Name: The Vipers
Description: The Vipers are a tribal gang with strong shamanistic traditions, notably the adoration of snakes and their venom. Along with the Khans and the Jackals, they were one of the most legendary raider gangs to hail from Vault 15 in New California. After to their near-destruction at the hands of the NCR, the three gangs were forced into the Mojave Wasteland. The gang has been fractured and reformed several times throughout its rough history, but the Vipers have regrown to prominence since the accumulation of many escaped convicts from the 2281 NCRCF prison break.
All Vipers answer to the Great Snakekeeper and their Snakepriests, whom receive their visions with the aid of their elusive "occulant" -- itself a brew of venom and various chems. The Great Snakekeeper is distinguished by a viper skull helmet adorned with feathers and a great cape. Immediately below them are the Crimson Tongues, the elite warriors. All Viper members wear elaborate tattoos and exotic piercings, which all signify important events, achievements, and dedications to loved ones or favourite persons.
Ritual sacrifice is a essential in the Viper's customs, with sacrifices made every day at midnight to gain the favour of the Gods. Typical sacrifices are usually small animals, but can also include small gifts and totems. Particularly heinous persons who have incurred the wrath of the entire Vipers gang are sacrificed alive into a pit of snakes. Most captives taken by the Vipers are given a chance at joining the gang through brutal initiation rituals, involving the cutting of one's wrists to be bathed in a mixture of alcohol and snake venom, in addition to performing special tasks given by the Great Snakekeeper. Those who survive allow their victim to join the clan and earn the eternal respect of the gang.
Cautious after years of near-annihilation, Vipers are opportunists, taking deals where they can and only striking when they have the upper hand. The Vipers have set up a tiny little hub just north of Cottonwood Cove, where they use it as a front-face. Their slowly-growing shanty is usually the closest thing that someone can get to "diplomacy" with the Vipers outside of sabre-rattling, where the Vipers make a tidy profit off of selling liquor and chems and running a little gambling den.
With years of brutalisation and conflict between the two, the NCR are the Viper's sworn enemy, and they will take any opportunity to take a swing at them. The Legion originally dismissed the Vipers as a group of unimpressive tribals and the two have not maintained any contact since the Legion's departure. They have an alliance with their old friends from New California: The Jackals and the Great Khans, and currently maintain an uneasy truce with what remains of the Vault 19 Powder Gangers. While the two are not 'friends', the Vipers and the Followers of the Apocalypse have a 'gentleman's agreement' where the Vipers will give some protection to the Followers in exchange for medical services and supplies. The Vipers generally have no contact with either the Brotherhood of Steel or any of the Families of the Strip.
Territory: The mountains along Nevada Highway 164. They also have several hideouts dotted across the rail lines that run north to Sloan and the Strip.
Sphere of influence (What are of the Mojave is your faction active in): The roads and mountains along Highway 164, Highway 95, and I-15.
Force Composition (How many fighting members, what are they armed with etc.) With about 300 fighting members, the Vipers are equipped with whatever they can trade for or scavenge. Gluttoned off of their raids deep into the NCR, the Vipers have amassed an impressive assortment of guns and armour. Most Vipers make use of a large variety of weapons, from primitive bows and arrows laced in venom, 9 and 10mm sub-machine guns, scavenged NCR service rifles, hunting rifles, to grenade launchers and machine guns.
What they lack in professional organisation they more than make up for in ferocity. They prefer stealth to brute force, and use a variety of both regular guns and explosives alongside primitive weapons, like darts, knives, and arrows laced with snake venom. Vipers are some of the most vicious ambushers and eagle-eyed scouts in the Mojave Wasteland, and make frequent use of chems to gain an edge over their opponents. The Vipers are excellent survivalists and are excellent at making concoctions and medicines from the natural flora and fauna of the wasteland, and use this to make tribal medicines and powerful chems alike.
History: When the 2nd Battle of Hoover Dam seemed about to erupt, the Vipers were weak and fractured. They had lost so many members and had been forced on so many great retreats. To most, it seemed like the Vipers would be thrown into the dustbin of history, just another tribe of raiders lost to the Wasteland. Yet, with the battle never coming and the NCR constantly growing weaker while the Vipers gained more and more members from anti-NCR rebels, their fortunes reversed. After a few years of gaining strength, they alongside their old allies from Vault 15 finally found the opportunity for revenge. They struck deep into the NCR, exacting the same treatment they had given to the Vipers so often and with so much joy.
Their successful raids gave the Vipers, only a years ago on death's door, their old glory back. The days of the Vipers being a tiny raider gang and the shadow of its former self were gone, and here the Vipers had re-established their reputation as one of the most vicious, successful, and badass tribal gangs of the Wasteland. Using the supplies gained from their raids into the NCR, the Vipers rebuilt themselves firmly re-establishing their identity and their culture while also learning valuable skills about mechanics and literature. There, the Great Snakekeeper found their call:
In excerpts from the scriptures of The Before Times, tales told of a great Garden paradise, created in the image of the Gods and awash in verdant green and where fruits and pure waters flow readily to the people, where a serpent shall give to the humans the gift of enlightenment. Other scriptures told of great wooded lands, with towering trees and everlasting rains, where snakes roamed so common that you were always within sight of one -- before the war, and before the folly of man destroyed their own paradise.
With the rapid expansion of The Green into the Wasteland, the Great Snakekeeper and their apostles rejoiced. The wonderous plants and powerful medicines that could be made from The Green seemed to be proof that this could be nothing short of divine intervention. The Great Snakekeeper decreed it such: The Greenlung is divine punishment against the NCR for their transgressions upon the Vipers and their beliefs, and this is a final trial at the End of the Earth where paradise shall soon await the faithful of the serpents.