Name: Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel
Flag:Territory and Geography: Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, and southeastern Colorado.
History: The Midwestern branch of the Brotherhood of Steel started in the aftermath of the Master's defeat, with a dispute over the topic of sharing technology with and recruiting outsiders. The Elders ruled against the sharing of technology, and dispatched the disagreeing minority to the east to pursue the remnants of the Master's army. The Brotherhood constructed a fleet of airships and sent the dissidents eastward.
The airships were caught in a storm and scattered, and among those lost was the expedition's leader. The survivors manged to land in Chicago where they established a main base and began recruiting wastelanders and tribals in exchange for protection and technology. The Brotherhood spread out, fighting its way through raiders, Super Mutants, techno-religious cults, and eventually, an army of robots that had emerged from Vault 0, controlled by an insane intelligence called the Calculator. With an army consisting of conscripted humans, ghouls, Super Mutants, reprogrammed robots, and even intelligent Deathclaws, their finest warrior besieged Vault 0 and destroyed the Calculator to put an end to its threat to all intelligent wasteland life.
In the aftermath of the Calculator's destruction, the Brotherhood established Vault 0 as it's main base, a fortified treasure trove of pre-war technology. Without the Calculator and its data, however, they were unable to make use of its robotic army or the knowledge it held. With the Brotherhood's territory overstretched due to their aggressive efforts to push into Colorado to stop the Calculator, they began losing ground to raiders. Eventually, however, they managed to consolidate their power, and with a steady supply of wasteland recruits as well as their mutant and nonhuman allies, the Midwestern Brotherhood begun to grow in power.
In the second half of the 22nd Century, the Brotherhood faced its first real threat since the Calculator: a ruthless military force called Caesar's Legion swept through Colorado, assimilating all tribes that it came into contact with. The fighting between the Legion and Brotherhood was small-scale but brutal, with both sides resorting to the same ruthless tactics. Fortunately, with the Legion worn down from the capture of Denver and most of its forces committed elsewhere, the conflict did not escalate. When one of the Legion's agents approached the Brotherhood and proposed an armistice, the Brotherhood agreed to it. They remains wary of the Legion, however, and continue to watch carefully for signs of possible infiltrators.
With the consolidation of their territory, the Brotherhood Elders decided to finally re-establish contact with the other Brotherhood of Steel divisions. According to the gangs that traveled the length of the I-80, the Brotherhood's main west coast branch had fought, and lost, a war with the NCR. Additionally, they knew that at least one Brotherhood expedition had been sent to the ruins of Washington DC. The Brotherhood constructed a few small reconnaissance airships and sent them to the east and west, hoping to discover the fate of their long-separated brothers and sisters.
Population: 405,000
Government/Domestic Politics: The Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel rules as a feudal military order. At the top is the High Elder, the supreme commander of the Brotherhood's military and civil governor. The brotherhood's territory is divided into four regions, each led and administered by an Elder: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Vault 0. Below the Elders are the Generals, Paladin Lords and Paladin Commanders who administrate their allocated fiefdoms and command their forces. While the culture of the different regions vary greatly, the Brotherhood handles all of them in the same way- they provide technology (mostly agricultural and medicinal) and military protection in exchange for tribute in either able-bodied conscripts, taxes, or a mixture of the two.
The Brotherhood's policy on mutants is "anything that will pledge itself to our cause is a boon". The Brotherhood includes ghouls, Super Mutants, and even intelligent Deathclaws in its ranks, and forbids its subjects from mistreating them. While some in the order continue to harbor prejudices against mutants, the extended lifespans of ghouls and Super Mutants has allowed them to slowly but surely rise through the ranks and make up a not-insignificant portion of the upper echelons.
Notable People:High Elder RenaldCurrent High Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel. Originally a tribal conscript from south of Kansas City, he took the name Renald when he officially joined the Brotherhood and spent the next few decades fighting its enemies first as a full-time Brotherhood soldier, then as an elite Paladin, then as a commander of men and women, and finally as the Elder of the Vault 0 Region. In 2288 was elected High Elder.
By the standards of the original Brotherhood of Steel, Renald is not what one would picture in a High Elder. While he no longer wears war paint and his balding head can no longer sport his tribe's distinct hairstyle, the side-cape on his left shoulder and the spear on his back suggests a man from a more primitive society. By any other Brotherhood standards he'd come off as a barbarian, and even by the Midwestern Brotherhood's standards he is considered rough-hewn. He himself considers his look to be "knightly" rather than "tribal".
Many within the Brotherhood see Renald's appointment to high elder as a sign of the the rising influence of former tribal in the Brotherhood hierarchy. His appointment was not without opposition, particularly from Brotherhood leaders in Missouri and Ilinois who would have preferred a leader with a more civilized background. Their concerns were ultimately overridden by others with the justification that the Warrior also started out as a humble wasteland conscript, but some still worry that & is lacking in the skills of diplomacy and administration. This is a sentiment that he himself does not entirely disagree with, and he generally defers to other high-ranked subordinates for diplomatic matters particularly involving less martial nations.
Head Scribe Lucan WainwrightHead Scribe Wainright is a literally shining example of the organization's tolerance of mutants. He is not just a ghoul, but also a rare example of a non-feral Glowing One. Because of the lethal radiation he emits, he must wear a modified hazmat suit at almost all times. The suit also serves to conceal his ghoulish appearance and ease communication with those who would be unsettled by it.
Lucan was the son of traders from the more developed regions of Missouri. He joined the Brotherhood as a scribe of the Order of the Shield, where he specialized in the study of nuclear power. His duty encompassed not just maintaining power armor, but also the atomic generators that kept the Brotherhood military bunkers powered.
While repairing one such generator in 2265, he was injured in an explosion that severely damaged the generator's radiation shielding and was unable to evacuate before lockdown procedures sealed him in the room. When the Brotherhood sent in a hazmat team to repair the damage, they found Wainwright, still alive but turned into a Glowing One by the immense radiation, and sane enough to have made jury-rigged repairs to the generator.
In the decades since, Wainwright has become one of the Brotherhood's most senior scribes. While his rise to Head Scribe is largely due to his knowledge in the field of the nuclear power systems that the Brotherhood's bunkers, power armor, and vehicles rely upon, Lucan has taken a particular interest in the study of biological mutations. The position of of Head Scribe also carries with it a certain degree of diplomatic responsibilities, particularly in dealings with technologically advanced nations, although there exist some concerns that his status as a radioactive mutant may severely hinder him in this area.
Military: The Brotherhood's military is composed of several different elements- lower rank conscripts, higher rank elite troops, and its special auxiliaries. While all troops receive the same training and the higher echelons adhere to the same the same doctrine and education, they vary greatly from region to region. Troops in Missouri and Illinois tend to lack a martial background but many of them are already literate and educated. Brotherhood forces from Kansas are mostly descendants of the Reaver Movement and share many of their beliefs and customs. Lastly, their forces in the Vault 0 region are mostly drawn from tribals and retain their martial traditions, often wearing warpaint and carrying spears into battle.
Initiates are the lowest-ranked and most numerous of the Brotherhood's military. They compose conscripts and levies, given basic, brutal military training and provided with simple arms and armament. Initiates are equipped as is most convenient for the region- those from Illinois and Missouri wear leather armor mass produced from Brahmin hide, those from the radioactive dust bowl of Kansas craft and wear all-encompassing Reaver banded armor, and those from Vault 0 wear metal armor forged from scrap. Each initiate is provided with a basic firearm, but many also carry their own weapons into battle.
Squires are composed of Initiates who have proven themselves, and expressed an interest to join the Brotherhood of Steel permanently. They wear improved versions of initiates' armors, and are provided military-grade firearms such as assault rifles and combat shotguns.
Knights serve as mechanized infantry and are recruited from Squires who have not only demonstrated skill and valor, but also also a proper understanding of the Brotherhood's dogma and doctrine. Missouri and Illinois Knights wear combat armor, those from Kansas wear armored environmental suits, and Vault 0 Knights wear Tesla Metal Armor, and those of all ranks are allowed use of high-tech weapons such as laser and plasma rifles. Additionally, they are often provided with vehicles ranging from scrap metal technicals to pre-war infantry fighting vehicles.
Paladins are the most elite and most iconic of the Brotherhood's regular forces. Recruited from worthy knights, they are the only troops allowed access to the Brotherhood's unique power armor. They carry the finest weapons that the Brotherhood can obtain, including Gauss and pulse rifles.
Reprogrammed Calculator robots are used primarily as security forces in and around Vault 0 and the surrounding manufacturing facilities. Because of the effort required to reprogram them to function without their Calculator, the Brotherhood has only been able to reincorporate a small part of its original army into their forces.
Brotherhood Deathclaws are the result of a long-standing alliance with a group of intelligent Deathclaws. They are easily distinguished by their mammalian characteristics and human-like intelligence. They serve much as the original military envisioned them, as vicious close combat troops and peerless trackers. They also use their keen senses to aid the Brotherhood Inquisitors in identifying possible infiltrators and spies.
In addition to their infantry, the Brotherhood employs a number of vehicles for military application. Most commonly seen are repaired pre-war military trucks and jeeps, often bearing crude post-war modifications. The Brotherhood also possesses operational pre-war tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, and has even created their own unique model of APC. The Brotherhood is also one of the few factions with an air force, consisting of multiple small recon airships, two massive, heavily armed command airships, and a number of military helicopters. Scribes are currently working on finishing the Calculator's work on the Hellion prototype aircraft, although progress has been slow.
Economy: The Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel's economy varies across its territories. Illinois's industries are primarily low-tech manufacturing, steelmaking, farming, and fishing. Missouri is the Brotherhood's trade hub, where almost all river and rail traffic passes through. Missouri is also home to many farms and ranches, and is mined for limestone and lead. Kansas's industry is almost entirely high tech manufacturing out of the Calculator's old facilities in Canyon City and the Great Bend, worked by the technological wizardry of the Reaver tribes. Vault 0 is the base of operations for the Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel, and almost all of its resource, primarily in the form of tribal-run sustenance farms and former Calculator manufacturing plants, are dedicated to sustaining it.
Culture and Technology: While the Midwestern Brotherhood was originally nearly indistinguishable from the original Brotherhood of Steel aside from a few doctrinal disagreements, they are nearly unidentifiable as Brotherhood offshoots after almost a century of living separately. Both in doctrine and in the aesthetics of their power armor, they come off as more untamed and earthly compared to the Brotherhood, but no less chivalric. They do not look down more upon primitive cultures; in fact, they have learned a great deal of knowledge in the fields of survival and natural science from the tribals and wastelanders that they interact with. Furthermore, they pay little heed to the ways or history of the old Brotherhood, to the point that most of their members do not even know who Roger Maxson was. To most of the Midwestern Brotherhood, they were founded when they landed in Chicago, and it was Barnaky and the Warrior that made them what they are today.
Technology is allocated according to need and necessity, thus most places don't have anything more complicated than farm tractors, steam engines, wind turbines, and scrap metal automobiles. In the manufacturing plants and military bunkers, however, the Brotherhood maintains technologies much more akin to their West Coast counterparts, such as power armor, robots, and fusion reactors. Despite the fate of the Brotherhood's original airship, they have continued to utilize and develop airship technology, and have also poured resources into finishing what the Calculator started with the prototype Hellion aircraft.
Missouri and Illinois are the most "civilized" and developed of the Brotherhood's territories, and the people tend to be farmers, herders, and traders. They tend to turn their noses up at more primitive cultures, but interact well with other "civilized" folks. Illinois also includes a few 80s gangs that have accepted Brotherhood sovereignty in exchange for protection, unrestricted access to the region's I-80 stretch, and a steady supply of automobile tech. Unlike the more primitive regions, tribute is generally paid in taxes rather than conscripts. Travel is generally done by railroad or river steamer.
Much of Kansas remains a radioactive dust bowl, traversed by road or rail. The Brotherhood has only very loose control of the region outside of major settlements outside of the cities. Most of the inhabitants of Kansas are descendants of the Reavers that fought and later allied with the Brotherhood, and now use their technological expertise to run the high-tech manufacturing facilities in the Great Bend and Canyon City, to be shipped by road to Vault 0 or by rail to Missouri. Because of the radioactive dust storms, protective gear is ubiquitous, and those growing up in Kansas are experts in surviving hazardous environments.
Vault 0 is the military headquarters of the Brotherhood of Steel, with comparatively little non-military development. Within the vault itself, the Brotherhood leaders use its communication systems, once intended to oversee the Vault program, to coordinate the Brotherhood's military forces. While the technology to control the Calculator's robot army was lost, the sight of reprogrammed robots in Colorado is not an uncommon one. In addition to the military applications, Vault 0 contains detailed data on every single Vault-Tec vault which has allowed the Brotherhood to track down further pre-war technology, including two functional Garden of Eden Creation Kits.
In contrast to the high-tech interior of Vault 0, most Brotherhood-affiliated settlements in Colorado are primitive tribal villages. Most Brotherhood troops recruited from this region are former tribal warriors, and many retain their tribes' identities even as they make it into higher echelons in the Brotherhood. Knights and Paladins often wear face paint or strange hair styles under their helmets and many of them carry piston spears. They tend towards being more ruthless and merciless than their eastern counterparts, and the potential threat of Caesar's Legion to both the Brotherhood's geopolitical position and the vassal tribes' identities has only further encouraged these attitudes.
Super Mutants and ghouls live alongside humans in Brotherhood territory, and discrimination against them is banned. The Brotherhood has investigated the possibility of bringing more Super Mutants into the fold, but preliminary expeditions have been discouraging, claiming that most other FEV mutant strains are too stupid and/or violent to be recruited.
Lastly, while most wastelanders view Deathclaws as nothing more than animalistic predators, the hairy, semi-mammalian Deathclaws of the Midwest are intelligent. They live far from human settlements in matriarchal families almost akin to tribes, and subsist by hunting. Similarly to the human tribes, they pledge a few of their own to serve the Brotherhood in exchange for food (usually live), protection, and veterinary aid.
Religion: Religion differs across the Brotherhood's territory. Missouri and Illinois are largely non-religious although pre-war faiths such as Christianity survive in the region. Kansas is dominated by the Reaver Movement, and many of the tribals retain their faith even after rising into the higher ranks of the Brotherhood. Lastly, the Vault 0 region has a diverse mix of tribal faiths, which like the Reavers often continue to hold onto them even after becoming full-fledged members of the Brotherhood.
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