Hellhound Society

The people that call themselves Hellhounds and Altaric Acolytes see a hellish landscape of scrap and hardship amidst ruination and horrors. They live in the shadows of towering ruins and shiver beneath freezing winds. 

Thus, each and every Hellhound and Acolyte is tempered with this truth -- they must be strong to endure and stronger still to prevail in this place of monstrosity and despair.

The Motorgang

Akin to a tribe or a gang, the Motorgang is the prime social group in Hellhound Society. According to Altaric records, there are up to 300 such groups in the Central Northeast region, following the Death Pigs into exile and in tumult of the Ember War. 

Owing to their independent natures, Motorgangs number from 10-150 individuals, not counting children or other noncombatants. 

Bigger Motorgangs have a Longhouse, which is a garage, communal living space, and headquarters for their people. Some Hellhounds invest instead in a Crawler, a mobile headquarters that resembles the Scavver Caravans’ multistory offroad vehicles. It is here where they do their maintenance, take care of their noncombatants, and house their trophies. From here they also do their daily patrols of their territory as assigned to them by Forgemeet or “negotiated” with the neighbors (often via Blood Pit below).  

Smaller Motorgangs have no headquarters or territory. They live in highly mobile, nomadic groups that stop along towns, allied Longhouses, or the Altar of Air for supplies. In times past, they would raid towns for supplies but such activity is outlawed now -- they instead subsist on the spoils of monster hunting, scrap scavenging, and mercenary work.  

Motorgang Social Strata

The social classes within a Motorgang are below. Generally speaking, strength and popularity rule a Motorgang.

• Motorboss: The undisputed leader of a Motorgang, stepping down or being usurped when constantly unpopular and are too weak to keep their role. They receive the lion’s share of loot and make decisions for the group. 

• Seconds: The inner counsel and advisors of the Motorboss as well as their top enforcers. These are either former Motorbosses or close associates of the Motorboss. These can be one to three people. 

• Whips: These are the enforcers and sargeants of the Motorgang, following the orders of the Boss and their Seconds. They also ensure orders are followed and may be the assigned leaders of an outgoing warband.

• Members or Mutts: Most members of a Motorgang are in this role. They get a share of any loot that the Motorgang gets and an unofficial “Say” in decisions. Motorbosses who constantly go against the wishes of their Mutts, Whips, and Seconds may find themselves usurped or forsaken

• Untempered - Pups or Dregs: These are noncombatant members of the Motorgang, including children and the infirm. Those who fail the Tempering but stay at headquarters are also in this social class and are called Dregs. They take care of the most menial and unpleasant tasks of the Motorgang. 

• Acolyte: An Acolyte can be considered part of a Motorgang, even while Untempered. Depending on the Motorgang in question, Acolytes can be Seconds or merely Hellhounds. Many Motorbosses have an Acolyte as one (or more) of their Seconds. 

Family

When a Hellhound is born, it is not celebrated openly, being a private matter between the parents and their close friends. Many Motorgangs and Acolytes practice “Unearthing”, a rite involving consecration of the child/children via a frozen or bloody baptismal. Sometimes called “Pups”, Hellhound and Altaric children are taught the rites and the crafts of their people and their faith.

Childcare among the Motorgangs is a group effort that everyone is expected to partake in. Pups carry tools to mechanics, watch warriors spar, and prepare ingredients with the cooks. Older Pups go on patrol or hunts with their elders, although they are restricted from going on “Crawls” 

Stigmata among the Hellhounds

Any Stigmata can be found within the ranks of the Hellhound Motorgangs. The exceptions to this are the Metabionic and Eidolonic Stigmata. Very few Eidolons exist among the Hellhounds because it is a recent invention. More Metabionics ride with the Motorgangs, though they are primarily of Scav-tech or Eldritch-tech construction. On the other hand, Chimera and the Risen are seen most frequently, with Psions and Seraphs being a rare occurrence.

Hellhound and Acolyte

Many Motorgangs send individuals to the Altar for augmentation, for healthcare, or for schooling. However, those who go to the Altar of Air to become an Acolyte must shed their loyalties to their Motorgang and dedicate themselves fully to the Altar of Air and the Ancient Thunders that they serve.

Acolytes often serve with Hellhounds but they are required to return to the Altar once a year. While they may learn Tinkering and Weaponing skills from elsewhere, the Altar alone allows them to learn the necessary skills to maintain Altaric Engines and the tools required to service them and similar devices.

Hellhounds and Marriage

Marriage does not exist among the Hellhounds as a formal ceremony. It is widely accepted that two (or more) individuals may form a familial unit, the traditions and rites that they undergo are relatively private and secretive. Most wear matching tokens such as rings, amulets, or even weapons. 

Altaric Social Strata

• Storm Prophet: The figurehead leadership of the Altaric Acolytes, each consecrated to one of the Ancient Thunders. Currently, two of the six are in exile and took a sizable portion of the Acolytes with them to make heretical tech. 

• Herald: The sub-leaders beneath the Prophets, with three per Prophet. They are the main management of the Acolytes, directing in most matters except where the Prophets deign to veto their decisions. New Heralds have been elected to replace the ones in exile, but they cannot agree on a replacement for their Storm Prophet. 

• Headmaster -- Steward: Beneath the Heralds are the Headmasters (clergy) and Stewards (layfolk). They are the main faces of leadership among the Acolytes, though the Headmasters have more sway than their secular counterparts. 

• Cleric -- Overseer: These are half a step above their peers, involved with supervising their fellows. Oftentimes they are leaders of taskmasters for small groups of Acolytes, called “Cells”. 

• Disciple -- Cohort: These are the rank and file members of the Altaric Acolytes with the Cohorts as their secular counterparts. 

• Neophyte: These are individuals, whether young or newly adopted, who have not yet passed the tests needed to achieve Disciple or Cohort status.
  

Life at the Altar

Daily life in the Altar involves prayer to the Ancient Thunders, maintenance of machinery, the building of great works, patrolling the land for monstrosities, and educating the youth. Not all Altar-born children become Thunder Priests, but those that do may serve within the Altar, among a Motorgang, or out on a mission of the Storm Prophets’ choosing. 

Those born within the faith are eventually subject to martial training, and the divine frequencies of the Ancient Thunders. When a child is old enough, they go through tiers and ranks of education beneath instructors and trainers. Piety, discipline, academic, and mechanical skills are the primary topics of their schooling, although those with other aptitudes (such as magical talent) are given different focuses. For example, those without a head for numbers or mechanics may work more physical tasks such as being custodians or protectors of the Acolytes.

Leaving the Altar: There are those born under the shadow of the Altar that find its presence, the zealotry of the faith, and the bureaucracy of the priesthood suffocating. These are free to leave, though they do so without knowledge. Through technological means, the Acolytes burn the knowledge of their higher lores and inner workings from those who wish to leave, in exchange for some material wealth enough to survive and even thrive outside the Altar. 

Marriage and Funerals

The marital and funeral rites of the Acolytes now resemble much of their Hellhound neighbors, though they tend toward somber reflection of the Ancient Thunders rather than raucous revelry. Along with birth and familial life, these are some of the main spaces of an Acolyte’s life that they are allowed personal preference and traditions -- with respect to the Ancient Thunders, of course.

Law and the Hellheim Compact

How does one rule the lawless? The Hellhounds say that such a thing could never be. They say that each Motorgang rules itself, with only the threat of the others to guard against transgressions.

There is truth to this -- the Hellheim Compact is the peace between the Motorgangs and their united defiance against that which threatens them all. Wrought by the Altaric Acolytes, it is contingent upon the Hellhounds’ respect and fear of each other and of the world around them. It was widely hated at its first inception but through the open hands of the Acolytes and the closed fists of the Iron Council, the Compact is now a fact of life rather than a hated muzzle.

The Iron Council is a ruling body among the Hellhounds but only in the loosest sense. It primarily exists to shepherd the other Motorgangs in the Forgemeets or as an emergency leadership during times of strife. When a dispute between Motorgangs is brought to the Iron Council or a Forgemeet, the Hellhounds as a whole decide after hearing testimony and evidence via a vote. This process is occasionally rife with vote buying and other means of corruption, but it is the only method that the Motorgangs will not rail against. 

When a Motorgang teams up with others to raid another without the approval of the Iron Council, they become “Sundered” -- removed from the protections of the Compact and prey for all the other Hellhounds. Their members and leadership are hunted until they surrender, leave the region, or are destroyed. Those that are captured are either executed or forced to leave the Central Northeast. Noncombatants and Untempered are allowed to join other Motorgangs or to join their fellows in exile. 

There are also the Hellhound Canon that are universally followed by the Motorgangs. These are detailed in their rites and religions page. 

Altaric Law

Altaric law was once monolithic and theocratic dogma that applies to the workings of the Acolytes as a whole, but their time adjacent to the disparate traditions and cultures of the Motorgangs have changed even the unchangeable. Still, many laws maintain their original purpose: to collect knowledge, venerate the Ancient Thunders, and protect the Altar.

Altaric Armistice

The Altar is filled with the cacophony of prayer and industry, but it is also a place of serenity. Those who enter its domain are treated peaceably, though they are forbidden from ascending the tower proper. The full technological prowess of the Acolytes await those who defy their laws and their peace, with bodies of transgressors crucified and left for scavengers. 

This strange mix of war and peace matches the Acolytes themselves. They have not forgotten the desperate battles of their forebears to secure the Altar nor the threat of horrors from the Great Lake and other wild places. Martial training is as practiced as their piety, both among layfolk and clergy. And in the same sort of vicious justice, those Acolytes who betray the Altar by attacking their brethren or breaking their laws will find themselves beside the crucified criminals outside.

Hallowed Engineering

Innovation and invention are the greatest paths to success among the Acolytes, creating a new step for humanity and the Altar as a whole. Entire cells and orders have been carved into legend for their creations -- such as Ia-Killoth and his Cell for the invention of the Altaric Engine.

In a similar sense, collecting knowledge and technology from beyond the Altar is just as sanctified. Acolytes are encouraged to trade for their knowledge instead of steal it, but all lores are stored and studied regardless of their capture. 

On the other hand, theft is a capital crime among the Acolytes. Theft of materials, of craft, and even of ideas can be punishable if proven. While such laws are largely unenforceable outside the Altar’s domain, there are stories of Acolytes and allied  Motorgangs dragging in those thieves that dared to steal from the Altar and the stolen tech they tried to sell.

Sacred Signals

Hallowed are the Sacred Signals of the Ancient Thunders. To listen to them and to transmute them into mortal hymn and scripture are a few of the many prayerful tasks of the Acolytes. While these sacred signals sound nothing more than dissonant sounds to the uninitiated. they are the heart of the Altar as well as the Acolytes and Hellhounds that serve it. 

To play the Signals unfiltered by human translation is high blasphemy, for its chaotic buzzing and scratching are only for the Storm Prophets and their Heralds to decipher. Unfettered by holy ciphers, the Signal would drive the human mind mad. What most folk hear instead are the various songs or melodies that are born from the Signals. Forgemeets, festivals, and congregations are filled with such musics and chanting. This often surprises outsiders and strangers with their raucous sound despite the Acolytes’ relatively reserved demeanors compared to their Hellhound compatriots. 

Titles and Ranks

Among the Hellhounds, names are a thing of pride and accomplishment. One born among this Free Tribe starts out with their birth name, which is either short, harsh sounding, and/or akin to the names of ancient Scandinavia. Some change their name after they become adults, with their fellows doing as best as they can to adhere to it.

However, when they complete the “Tempering” and become a true member of the tribe, they are gifted a “triumph” by the leader of their warband. This is an evocative name that reflects their accomplishment or the trials they faced. As a Hellhound accrues victories and successes, they acquire more and more names—although honor and decorum dictates that their other triumphs are only brought up during ritual or formal introductions. Blowhards who overspeak of their accomplishments are mocked and ignored by the councils and priests of the Hellhounds. 

Example Names:

• Garm Razorgore came about his first triumph with a messy Tempering wherein he was one of a handful of survivors to the rite.

• Lamb-to-Slaughter goes by Lamb but appears more “slaughter” than “lamb,” festooned in crimson tattoos and shredded leather garments.

• Ragna Blackstag is a powerful Arcanist of the Animantic tradition. She was given her name when she returned to her warband riding upon a stag, covered in blisters and the ashes of her foes. 

  
  

Example Triumphs:

• Razorgore -- This Triumph was awarded to Garm after the blood-soaked blade that aided with his group’s survival.

• Shellsnapper-- This Triumph was awarded to an individual who shattered the shell of a monstrous crustacean that crawled out of the Great Lake.

• Flame Breaker -- This Triumph was awarded to Braca, who somehow strangled a Flame Geist with his bare claws.

Territories

Helheim

A place of foundries and furnaces, Helheim was built to serve as a neutral meeting ground for all Motorgangs. It has since become a place where crafters can perform and sell their industries in peace, peopled by Dregs and protected by the Iron Council. Helheim and the satellite towns around it are also a major hub for Hellhounds and outsiders alike, especially for Scavers, Templars, and Technocrats in particular. 

The Altar of Air

This forked tower enshadows the area around it with majesty and omen, physically marred with recent strife. Moreso than even Helheim, the Altar of Air and its surrounding farm communities are hallowed and well protected areas. At night, it is illuminated with magna-tech brilliance and its voxes buzz with divine vespers during hours of prayer (Dawn, Noon, Dusk, and Midnight). 

The Great Lake

Also called the Superior Sea or the Freezing Deep, this Great Lake borders the Hellhound claims and the Carmine Conclave’s territories. It is a frozen nightmare, having only grown after the Desolation. Titanic Deathbergs and other horrors sometimes emerge to kill the unwary or slaughter entire communities until the Coal Spiders Motorgang destroys them. It was here that the Vorn was defeated, though most of those first Hellhounds died in doing so. 

The Flats

Rolling fields and hills make up most of the Central Northeast, cut here and there within the corpses of highways or the cadavers of cities. Flora and para-flora have reclaimed much of Pre-Desolation settlements, with the Hellhounds and Scavers having foraged away the best junk for their use. Longhouses, crawlers, and small communities dot the Flats but they are largely unoccupied by humanity. 

The Mississippi Swell

This gigantic river almost splits the continent in half and is considered the western border of Hellhound territory. 

The Hive Mounds

The southern edges of the Western Flats are beset by a new menace, towering Hivemounds that presage the coming of insectoid invaders. Those they defeat, they drag away to some horrible end within their earth and chitin homes. 

The Shroudlands 

Far to the south, the citadel of their Grailgard neighbors has been swallowed up by a mysterious fog and the land around it has been blighted with deathly magics. This affliction extends farther south and west, the terrible work of the late Harbingers.