Architects - 🕮 BACKSTORY

BACKSTORY

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THE FOUNDING

In the tumultuous aftermath of the American Civil War, a cadre of influential industrialists and prominent figures grew disillusioned by the inadequacies of the American Reconstruction. In 1871, they held their first clandestine meeting, establishing the Abrahamic Society of America. Unlike many secret societies of their time, the Abrahamic Society held a steadfast commitment to abstain from direct political intervention. They believed that their influence could be wielded most effectively through non-partisan means.

The Society became a network of like-minded individuals who shared a common vision for a united and healed America. They quietly supported educational initiatives, infrastructure development, and humanitarian causes, all while avoiding the spotlight of overt political power. Their focus was on fostering unity and prosperity among all citizens, transcending the otherwise chaotic political landscape of American politics.

National Abrahamic Conference, California, circa 2023

Atlanta, 2032

PAX AMERICANA, 2021-2046

As the United States began to grapple with internal division and shifting political ideology, the Society established "Pax Americana" to combat Russian aggression and China's meteoric rise. Drawing upon their considerable wealth and clandestine networks, they worked tirelessly to strengthen alliances with emerging nations in Africa and performing interventions in South America, creating foreign partnerships that would bolster America's position in the global arena.

This quiet influence allowed the United States to maintain its position as a formidable economic force even as China's power continued to grow. In this high-stakes game of economic brinkmanship, the Abrahamic Society of America could not directly engage in politics or openly influence policy decisions, brewing resentment among those who believed that they were being held back by long obsolete precedents.

In the mid-2040s, the Russian Federation's prolonged deterioration results in its collapse into smaller countries. With half of their goal completed, the Society's council is left to ponder the fate of the status quo. Despite Europe's new era of peace, China's growth threatens to bring about an age where American interests no longer stand uncontested.

SUPERCORPORATE, 2046-2059

Amidst the hallowed chambers and shadowed corridors of the Abrahamic Society of America, a quiet unease hung in the air like an ancient tapestry. The world outside was ablaze with geopolitical upheavals, conflicts, and shifting allegiances, and the fragile equilibrium of a "Pax Americana" appeared to be hanging by a thread. The faithful members, sworn to political abstinence since the society's inception, found themselves questioning their self-imposed limits.

Some argued that the world had changed irrevocably, and their principles, once unwavering, needed to adapt to the shifting tides of global politics. Others countered, invoking the sacred traditions of the society and its long-held commitment to avoiding the political fray. To find a middle path, the Society conceived the Ark Corporation, designed to amalgamate their interests into a flexible halfway system. Often abbreviated as ARKCORP, this sprawling conglomerate encompassed Big Tech, Big Energy, and Big Media, entire industries under the umbrella of one corporation.

Ark Tower, the corporate headquarters of the Ark Corporation, San Francisco, California, 2058

Despite its grand ambitions and the veneer of progress, the Society's colossal footprint in various sectors remained a stark violation of antitrust laws, an elephant in the room that many could not ignore. Yet, their legal prowess and strategic finesse allowed them to dance on the edge of legality. In a remarkable twist, the Society skillfully employed its pro-Western campaign, framed as a public service endeavor, to cloak its monopolistic tendencies. They positioned themselves as champions of the common people, heralding the revitalization of urban centers, job creation, and sustainable practices.

Simultaneously, the Ark Corporation acted as a bulwark against China's growing belligerence in foreign policy matters. The subsequent Chinese annexation of Taiwan in the early 2050s carried profound ramifications, the ominous expansion of their empire raised grave concerns. Launching a national initiative, the Society invested heavily in growing tech hubs such as the Bay Area, the Midwest, and the Great Lakes, leveraging their control over critical industries to impose crippling economic sanctions on China.

Amidst mounting tensions, the Society's state-of-the-art technologies proved to be a game-changer in the realms of cyber warfare and espionage, laying bare critical weaknesses within China's extensive digital infrastructure. This collaborative endeavor culminated in the gradual dismantling of China's authoritarian regime, a watershed moment that defined the close of the 2050s. However, the era of their triumph would prove to be short-lived before the turn of the decade.

HUBRIS, 2059

In 2059, a group of Han radicals born from the collapse of the Chinese government detonated a thermonuclear device in downtown San Francisco. Skyscrapers that had once gleamed in the California sun were reduced to twisted steel and debris, and neighborhoods lay in ruins, their once-thriving streets now eerily quiet. The city's iconic landmarks bore scars of the blast, and the United States of America became irreversibly warped by foreign terror. Again.

In the wake of the incident, the Society's leaders convened under an atmosphere fraught with tension. The once-secretive organization now faced unprecedented scrutiny as their fellow countrymen sought answers to the tragic event that had claimed countless lives and left a city in ruins. Rather than gracefully ceding their vast influence, as some had initially advocated, the Society's leadership was gripped by a relentless paranoia that intensified with each passing day.

After months of espionage, infighting, and political assassinations, the Abrahamic Society embarked on a reformation that would prove to be a twisted, inadvertent descent into corruption. The once-proud Abrahamic Society of America had, in their quest for self-preservation, shattered the boundaries they had sworn to uphold, breaking their oath of political abstinence and plunging headlong into the murky depths of the system they had once sought to transcend.

San Francisco, 2059

Douglass, 2067

THE FALL, 2059-2071

In the wake of their reformation during World War 3, the Abrahamic Society of America reshaped the nation's culture and technology with their newfound principles. Their growing influence seeped into every facet of American life, promoting industrial growth at the expense of workers' rights and environmental degradation, further marginalizing communities and inciting backlash against reformists who sought to stop the unstoppable corruption of absolute power.

The Society burned taxpayer funds to transform renowned universities and institutes of technology into clandestine hubs of military research and development, churning out cutting-edge weaponry and advanced cyber warfare technologies. The brightest minds were redirected from the pursuit of peaceful progress to the pursuit of dominance on the battlefield, their talents conscripted into a war machine fueled by the Society's inexhaustible coffers.

Social media outlets, once platforms for free expression and connection, underwent a sinister metamorphosis. The society funneled its resources into these digital giants, shaping them into instruments of mass surveillance and control. What had been spaces for individual expression now became surveillance apparatuses, where every click, every like, every keystroke was meticulously monitored, cataloged, and analyzed. Privacy became a relic of the past as Corporate America's influence extended its reach into the daily lives of every citizen.

FLASHSTORM, 2071

Tensions in Africa rose a boiling point in the 2060s, starting a cascading chain of events which eventually led to the Third World War. As American boots began to land on Chinese beaches, the world knew that there was only one way this war would end.

To shield themselves from global thermonuclear war, the Society hatched a scheme to skim growing slices of resources from the budgets of various projects under their jurisdiction. These embezzled funds would be funneled into the construction of the HALO facilities across the nation, intended to keep rich and powerful ruling class Americans safe so that they may continue the United States after the end of World War 3.

However, moments before the Flash, desperation erupted pandemonium as rogue elements of the military, law enforcement agencies, and even large bands of political extremists wrestled control of these secret bunkers from their rightful owners. The outcome proved mixed against the Society; most bunkers fell into the hands of these factions, while only a select few remained under their control.

The Society's vision of a New World Order had already encountered turbulence before the plan even began, its grand ambitions intertwined with the unpredictable forces of a world hurtling toward a global cultural reset.

2071

TYRANNIS, 2071-2099

The Grand Lodge of Ohio, one of the Society's strongest communities, managed to hold out against the onslaught of would-be survivors. Thanks to the wealth of its owners, the large group of dwellers - prepared with a veritable stockpile of living essentials and military hardware - were spared the fate of many of their brothers and sisters as the world was consumed by the Flash.

Abrahamic survivors, remnants of the Society, emerged from their bunkers as the dominant force across the mainland, their supreme technological advantage propelling them to conquer barren plains that stretched to the horizon. The Flash left the land with a constant barrage of radiation storms, rendering much of their territory unusable until conditions grew optimal.

Still, the remnants were determined to hold out for their future ambitions, keeping a firm grip over central Ohio, and using the wide coverage of their bunkers to enforce their claim over strategic locations. Far from the influence of any federal Buffer Zones, the Abrahamic tyrants leveraged their unmatched power to force other groups out or bully them into submission.

The tribes of the Grand Lodge became known as the brutal dictators of the region, their rule marked by a mixture of authoritarian control and promises of eventual progress. Despite their continued success, the satellite infrastructure that connected the Abrahamic bunkers began to deteriorate, the Society began to rely on more primitive means of maintaining cooperation, thinning their supply linesa and forcing many sects to become self-sufficient quasi-kingdoms.

In their frantic pursuit for order and control, the cultural rift between the Abrahamic tribes grew exponentially. Year by year, conflict continued to grow between former brothers and sisters.

Abrahamic enforcers patrol the streets of Columbus during the Radstorm Era, 2089

Abrahamic tribes fight for territory, 2125

ENTROPY, 2099-2161

In the 2100s, surface conditions began to reach habitable standards, and the first rumblings of dissent within the Society emerged. Every tribe held absolute control in their slice of their territory, and they were free to explore their own 'vision for the future', no matter how extreme or depraved, on subjects unfortunate enough to be entrapped within their borders.

This political sandbox shattered any hope of establishing a unified government, spawning an ideological snowball effect. Neighboring tribes would radicalize, then they would fuel hate between one another in a futile attempt to prove that their worldview was objectively superior. Worse yet, many growing powers in the wasteland began to influence the tribes' snowballing extremism until tensions reached a boiling point in 2112.

What followed soon after was four decades of free-for-all warfare, the Abrahamic Society of America had imploded into a flood of political violence. Abrahamic tribes discovered new ways of torturing and killing their fellows at rates never imagined. Burgeoning mutant empires and new governments took advantage of the chaos and began outmatching the weakening tribes. Total war devolved to primitive brawls for shrinking resource deposits and dwindling stockpiles.

At the tail end of schism, the final Abrahamic generation had been born knowing only war, famine, and poverty. The Abrahamic Society of America, once proud in their bottomless coffers, found themselves penniless and fighting over mere scraps. The prophecy of an Abrahamic America had failed, and a successor group grew to reimagine its raison d'être: the Abrahamic Architects of the Old World.

Unified by a constitution arranged by local figureheads, the fledgling successors longed for the power and influence the Society were supposed to hold, yet the razed plains of central Ohio were a vast graveyard, its lands too scarred by craters to sustain the group's long-term goals.

WINTERTIDE, 2161+

In November of 2161, the Architects rallied their last vestiges of manpower and materiel to spend on the last ditch effort for survival. Lured by the presence of HALO facilities, untouched by the wasteland's historical failures, the Architects marched to colonize the Sunrise Islands. Determined to uncover ancient artifacts buried deep underground, they aim to resurrect the idealistic vision of a new America back from the brink of extinction.

The pilgrimage to the Sunrise Islands spelled invisible peril for the Architects. The islands were a supernatural magnet for hazards from all walks of life: diehard cultists, eldritch mutants, merciless bandits, violent hoarders; all of whom easily bested the impoverished journeymen, many of them slain trying to escape death. At the shoreline of the isles, only a fraction of the pilgrimage that had left had made it to the finish line, a handful of destitute descendants bound to a penniless inheritance.

Where most would despair, the Architects' find opportunity to feed their desire for more. The Sunrise Islands, inhabited by groups much stronger than them, was slowly becoming central to the interests of the wasteland's largest nations. With the right people in power, this boiling pot of chaos could shape the fate of the New World in an age guided by the wisdom of their past mistakes, and so the Architects began to scheme in the shadows, their plans unfolding in silence.

And so the whispers of a new prophecy–the Pioneer Project–continue to dig into the minds of desperate inheritors, believing that they alone are the last of their kind; harboring a new way of thinking, refined from the furnace of nuclear hellfire. Fueled by the glory of American mythology and the legacy of their once great forefathers, the Architects must enact their plot to become the unseen hands that shape history once again.

Sunrise City, circa 2161

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