The Easy Guide to the Modern Nomad

[The_Godslayer]

Appendix I

Important Names in K'Hara

Hello, Forum. It's me again. There's been a lot of questions of "who exactly the hell is this?", and while I love answering them one by one to increase the amount of people I personally annoy/offend, it's starting to get redundant. Therefore and thusly, this post is being made to answer some of the most common questions about characters.

This will contain the most prominent figures, groups, and so on as of January 2020 or so.

Nergal the Ancient

This character, on the current advisor council, is one of the oldest Nomad minds. Played by @Connor, Nergal has been present at almost every important event in Nomad history, and acts as the wise old guiding hand for the Advisors, making sure that they never stray too far from the old ways, and never forget what and who they once were. Even though they're not really used anymore, Nergal remembers the blueprints of the MK1 Nomad designs, and still prefers to manifest as an old Marduk. The position as the Historian is very important to the mindshare, and having Nergal in the Advisor council maintains the traditions of the Nomads.

Minerva the Bloodletter

The most based of the Advisors, Minerva, played by @Saronsen, is the best at killing. Minerva's combat experience has permeated the minidshare at this point, as with Minerva's experiences of simply sitting out in the open and daring challengers to come do battle, and any Nomad with a moderate connection to the mindshare has had these experiences added to theirs. Quick reactions, combat maneuvers, and sensations of bloodlust are all thanks to Minerva. After all that, Minerva also provides the most direct link between the Advisor council and the Keeper caste. Keepers are expected to have strong combat skill due to Minerva's oversight, lending an indispensable asset to the Nomads.

Sh'ozak the Survivor

Sh'ozak, played by @The_Godslayer is the youngest advisor, having been reborn only a few years ago. After the Great Collapse (end of Freelancer Campaign), Sh'ozak was mentally distressed and essentially trapped within the edge nebula. During this, Sh'ozak fought off many kill squads, usually Order, and developed a strong sense of strategy despite it's insanity. Eventually, Sh'ozak was found and it's consciousness cleaned, but the sense of strategy remained, and as Sh'ozak regained his place in the mindshare, those strategies lead it down the path of becoming an Advisor. Strategic action, fleet maneuvers, and many of the changes in Nomad reactions are due to Sh'ozak.

Ashura the Infiltrator

Played by @Ice Princess, Ashura is the Advisor's direct link to the Infiltrator caste. Manipulation, misdirection, and many of the Infiltrator schemes are the direct result of Ashura. There's not much information on the history of Ashura, but their presence is pivotal for coordinating the actions of the Infiltrators in collaboration with the other castes.

Husas the Defender

Husas, played by @Krumai is the newest Advisor in the council. Husas, whose name means "dawn" in Proto-Indo-Iranian, was chosen as an Advisor for their impeccable talent in defense, shown many times in the core Nomad systems. Armed with tactics, ideas, and preparations that have higher dimensionalities than humans can comprehend, Husas is the impenetrable wall that holds back every enemy of the Mindshare.

Hammurabi the Creator

Played by @Haste, Hammurabi is perhaps one of the most influential advisors, despite their relatively quiet nature when compared to the others. Not only does Hammurabi provide a direct link between the Advisor and Dreamer castes, enabling fast and accurate experiments and evolutions, Hammurabi is directly responsible for the MK2 Nomad ships. These ships, leagues superior to the MK1 counterparts, became the standard for the entire Nomad race, earning Hammurabi the highest respect in the Dreamer caste, and even though Hammurabi seldom speaks, every thought that they do make known is taken with utmost consideration.

LNS-Tundra

The Tundra, created by @Zapp, was a Liberty Siege Cruiser captured shortly after the re-establishing of the mindshare. One of the first large scale non-station hybridization projects, the Tundra was filled with a Nomad who then grew into the ship, replacing the internal systems and gaining a wide understanding of some human weaponry for the Nomads. The Ishtar Artillery Guns are loosely based on the knowledge gained from the Tundra's forward gun. Firmly belonging to the Infiltrator caste despite not having or every having had a human body, the LNS-Tundra is a rare, yet terrifying sight to behold.

Harbinger the Schemer

Harbinger, played by @Treewyrm, is another ancient Nomad. Harbinger was part of a Pre-War council, and gained such an age and strength as to ascend beyond both the Mindshare and corporeal form. Appearing as a bright cloud of unknown vapor, Harbinger often guides the Nomads in times of struggle, presenting elaborate plans to let them escape from tough times. Being beyond the Mindshare, Harbinger cannot be controlled by the Mindshare unless he wants to be, and at the same time cannot control the Mindshare outside of indirect influence.

Vatan

A relic of an older age of experiments, played by @Miaou, the Vatan is a hybridization project undertaken by the Nomads and a small sect of Royalist Forces within Gallia. Built as a Gallic Battlecruiser, it acts as a mindnode despite being mostly mechanical, and is uniquely capable of maintaining a mindshare connection with Nomads around it.

Ki'Shar

An ongoing hybridization project played by @Shinju, Ki'Shar is the most complete Hybrid project since the Tundra. Formerly the Charente and it's captain Lauren La'Row of the Infiltrator Caste. The Charente experienced a unique fix to wear and tear. By inserting a free-forming Nomad seed into the ship, it grew replacement parts. This continued to such a point where there was significantly more nomad than metal inside, so an experimental bridge between human mind and nomad flesh was created so that one mind could control the entire ship. The experiment was a success, La'Row bonded with the nomad flesh and Ki'Shar was created, the first Infiltrator to change caste to Keepers.

The Nomad Vagrants

And now for the big one. Led by @conmann35, The Nomad Vagrants are the remnants of the Nomads that were sucked through the Supergate at the end of the Freelancer campaign. While out and about, they changed their body structure to allow for teleportation, and eventually they found their way back. Just as the Nomads made an emergency mindshare after the collapse, so did the Nomad Vagrants. Both groups are independent of each other, and make very different decisions as time went on. Recently, the Nomad Vagrants have experienced estrangement from the Nomads due to their much more progressive views. The Nomad Vagrants gained ties to both the Auxesia and the Gammu A.I., which was incredibly unnatural to the Nomads, those being sworn enemies and intelligent rocks, respectively. After tolerating this for quite some time, the Nomads experienced the last straw when Nomad Vagrants refused to assist Nomads when fighting Auxesia. This lead to the Exile of the Nomad Vagrants, and despite the efforts of Harbinger, they have not been forgiven of their transgressions. For more info on this, ask the Vagrants.

Das Wilde

Das Wilde is merely the Rheinland name for the Infiltrator caste. Remnants of the infected Rheinlanders from the vanilla campaign are called Das Wilde, remnants of Tekagi's forces are called Aoi Iseijen, remnants of the infected Libertonians are called Division 9 (or 18, depending on certain circomstances), and the very miniscule group of infected Bretonians are called Brotherhood of the Universal Bond.

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I'll do something about my superiority complex when I cease to be superior.

"Whatever happened to catchin' a good old-fashioned passionate ass-whoopin and gettin' your shoes, coat, and your hat tooken?"