RPG Codex - Nomads

Introduction
      Following the breakdown of old world society and due to the sparsity of resources, people fled the metropolises and banded together in nomadic tribes.  These tribes could more efficiently use the world's remaining resources spread over vast distances.  They usually contained no more than one-hundred members with one designated man or woman at the helm.  Most of these groups forsook all modern technology and roamed the land either on foot or with simple horse-drawn carriages.  Without the formation of the nomadic tribes, humanity would have gone extinct.  This has instilled the modern keepers of the nomadic tradition with significant pride.
      The nomads swore off war and human-on-human violence of any kind, blaming it for the destruction of society.  These beliefs filtered down through the centuries until the very premise of war was reviled as a sin.  A new religion developed around these beliefs, advocating peace among mankind and a united front against those forces that would threaten their survival.  Their religion has no god and worships no idols; they observe an ideal.
      Unlike the rebuilding cities of the new world, the nomadic tribes never developed a system of champions and heroes.  Each member of a tribe is expected to fight for the protection of their families, should the need arise.  This has led, ironically, to city dwellers fearing the nomadic tribes and seeing them as warlike.  Matters are further complicated by the fact that some tribes have domesticated select species of monsters for agriculture, protection, or both.  This practice has caused strife between nomadic tribes as well.

---

Nomads of the New World

      While most of humanity eventually returned to fixed settlements, scattered tribes remain faithful to their nomadic tradition.  This faith can take many forms: some hunt monsters, others use their mobility to facilitate trade, and others still have withdrawn from the world to live their lives as they see fit.  On a whole, nomads are mistrusted by outsiders and the sentiment is reciprocal.  Some of the world's most notable heroes have come from nomadic tribes, but the cities recognize them as a separate class, rather than seeing them as nomads.  Whether nomads are welcomed at a city's gates differs from city to city.  Blackspire is well known for denying them entrance after the new settlers forced them out of the old world ruins.

The Order of Murdock - Monster Hunters

      A zealous religious order intent on the elimination of all monsters, founded over one hundred years before the College of Archaeology.  Murdock, a tribal leader, founded the organization and lent it his name; he famously hunted several species of monsters to extinction using powerful old world technology.  Current followers of the order still use this technology, affectionately known as annihilators.  Annihilators are energy based projectile weapons powered by a NOVA core.  Their actual old world name is unknown, but outsiders refer to them as rifles, since the sound they make when firing resembles that of someone rifling through papers.  The trails of amber light they leave in the air after firing are said to resemble elongated eyes, leading followers of the order to claim that they are Murdock's eyes observing righteous judgment against the monsters.
      The order excepts any and all comers, so long as they swear to hunt monsters no matter the odds and to never harm a fellow human unless they are protecting a monster.  Then, it is for their better good.  This added condition has caused numerous flare ups and confrontations among the nomadic tribes known to domesticate monsters.  The energy weapons used by the order are some of the most powerful in the world, and they guard the secrets of their creation more tightly than their own children.  Efforts at duplication by the College of Archaeological Science have yielded no results.
      The order is approached by city dwellers with extreme caution and mistrust.  Its followers seem to except this and say "one day the blind will see, and then they will thank their minders."  This has done nothing to put people at ease over their brazen operations.  Members are not afraid to display their status openly and will challenge anyone willing to doubt them.  They are proud, powerful, and effective, and their numbers grow each time they visit a town incapable of forcing them out.  Tribes dedicated to the Order of Murdock are the most concerning of the nomads.

Caravans

      A life on the road coupled with vast family support networks makes the formation of a trade caravan enormously profitable for nomadic tribes.  The caravans go where the sonic railways cannot, allowing access to the far-flung corners of the sparsely populated new world.  Merchants, eager to move their goods with a reliable middle-man and unconcerned with issues outside of profit, initiated the transition for most nomadic tribes.  Support from the wealthy merchants gave the nomadic caravans needed influence in the world and ameliorated their hostile reputation.  They are accepted into new world society and, while not always trusted due to differing beliefs, they are welcome to integrate.
      The former plains tribes and open grassland hunters became the first caravan traders.  The traders employ guards to protect the goods and themselves from bandits, but otherwise adhere to the nomadic principles of non-violence.  Apart from trading in goods, the caravans also trade in custom services and spectacle.  Nomadic caravans are popular places for runaways, and every year they are blamed for the disappearance of children.

Mountain Tribes

      New world mountain nomads have withdrawn from the world, refusing to interact with the fledgling society.  These tribes maintain the old ways and the tradition of total non-violence.  This forced them to flee when pressed by belligerent settlers.  Issues became worse when the Order of Murdock demanded that they relinquish the domesticated monsters they relied upon for survival.  When they refused, the Order declared them heretics against the ways of peace and drove them away into the mountains where they could not pursue them.  The peaks now settled by the mountain nomads can only be traversed by their specialized monster mounts.  This ensures almost total isolation, as it has for the last several centuries.
      Little is known about the mountain tribes today.  Some in the College of Archaeology speculate that they may not even speak the same language anymore, rather, they may have reverted to a twisted monster speech.  This is, of course, entirely speculation.  Even the other nomadic tribes refuse to make contact with the mountain tribes out of fear of reprisal from the Order of Murdock.  At last encounter, these groups had not yet rediscovered the use of NOVA.