Salted Earth Warband
When the three banners fly together, there is no settlement, no wall, no army that has survived what comes next.
A Salted Earth Warband is not a creature. It is a convergence: the moment when Pitstop, Warpath, and Burner Raiders set aside whatever keeps them separate and combine into a single migrating force numbering in the hundreds to thousands. Each component type retains its internal hierarchy, its specialization, and its identity. What changes is the scale. Three Apocalypse Grade threats operating in concert produce something that exceeds the classification entirely.
The operational cycle is systematic and devastating. Pitstop Raiders range ahead as shock troops, using vehicular speed to break through initial defenses and scatter resistance before it can organize. Warpath Raiders form the main body, advancing in disciplined formation to overwhelm whatever remains with sheer numbers and military coordination. Burner Raiders follow as the rearguard purification force, systematically burning everything the warband has already passed through. The sequence is not a battle plan. It is an ecosystem of destruction, each element feeding the next.
The warband moves methodically across the wasteland, consuming everything in its path. Livestock, stored food, agricultural resources, building materials, and anything else of value is absorbed or destroyed. After an area is consumed, the warband rebuilds its numbers before advancing to the next target. The path of a Salted Earth Warband is visible from the devastation it leaves behind: a swath of burned, irradiated, lifeless terrain stretching to the horizon.
There are no known cases of a settlement successfully withstanding a Salted Earth Warband at full strength. The recommended response is evacuation of the warband's projected path. The advance is methodical enough to predict; the trajectory can be calculated from the devastation trail. But the scale of disruption that evacuation requires, and the question of where evacuees go when an entire region is being consumed, has no clean answer.
The formation of a Salted Earth Warband requires three independent Raider factions to cooperate, and whatever triggers that cooperation is not well understood. The convergence is temporary, eventually the component types separate and resume independent operations, but the duration of cohesion is enough to reshape the wasteland map every time it occurs.
A Salted Earth Warband is not a creature. It is a convergence: the moment when Pitstop, Warpath, and Burner Raiders set aside whatever keeps them separate and combine into a single migrating force numbering in the hundreds to thousands. Each component type retains its internal hierarchy, its specialization, and its identity. What changes is the scale. Three Apocalypse Grade threats operating in concert produce something that exceeds the classification entirely.
The operational cycle is systematic and devastating. Pitstop Raiders range ahead as shock troops, using vehicular speed to break through initial defenses and scatter resistance before it can organize. Warpath Raiders form the main body, advancing in disciplined formation to overwhelm whatever remains with sheer numbers and military coordination. Burner Raiders follow as the rearguard purification force, systematically burning everything the warband has already passed through. The sequence is not a battle plan. It is an ecosystem of destruction, each element feeding the next.
The warband moves methodically across the wasteland, consuming everything in its path. Livestock, stored food, agricultural resources, building materials, and anything else of value is absorbed or destroyed. After an area is consumed, the warband rebuilds its numbers before advancing to the next target. The path of a Salted Earth Warband is visible from the devastation it leaves behind: a swath of burned, irradiated, lifeless terrain stretching to the horizon.
There are no known cases of a settlement successfully withstanding a Salted Earth Warband at full strength. The recommended response is evacuation of the warband's projected path. The advance is methodical enough to predict; the trajectory can be calculated from the devastation trail. But the scale of disruption that evacuation requires, and the question of where evacuees go when an entire region is being consumed, has no clean answer.
The formation of a Salted Earth Warband requires three independent Raider factions to cooperate, and whatever triggers that cooperation is not well understood. The convergence is temporary, eventually the component types separate and resume independent operations, but the duration of cohesion is enough to reshape the wasteland map every time it occurs.
Basic Information
Anatomy
A Salted Earth Warband has no anatomy of its own. It is a combined force, and its visual identity is the convergence of three distinct Natural Born Raider types marching together: the scorched metal and fire masks of the Burners, the road-warrior leather and goggles of the Pitstop riders, and the trophy-laden war armor and clan banners of the Warpath. Together they form a migrating army that stretches to the horizon.
Scale itself is the distinguishing feature. Where individual Raider types are identified by their visual signatures, a Salted Earth Warband is identified by its scope. Pitstop vehicles range ahead as a mobile vanguard. Warpath clan banners and war paint fill the center as the core army. Burner fire masks and scorched armor form the rearguard purification line. The sheer volume of movement, dust, engine noise, and marching feet is visible and audible from miles away. A Salted Earth Warband does not sneak up on anyone. It does not need to.
Scale itself is the distinguishing feature. Where individual Raider types are identified by their visual signatures, a Salted Earth Warband is identified by its scope. Pitstop vehicles range ahead as a mobile vanguard. Warpath clan banners and war paint fill the center as the core army. Burner fire masks and scorched armor form the rearguard purification line. The sheer volume of movement, dust, engine noise, and marching feet is visible and audible from miles away. A Salted Earth Warband does not sneak up on anyone. It does not need to.
Biological Traits
A Salted Earth Warband has no unique stat blocks. It deploys the stat blocks of its three component Raider types en masse: Pitstop Soldiers and Drivers (100 Body, 50 Armor), Warpath Siege Lords and Executioners (100 Body, 50 Armor), and Burner Soldiers and Support (120/80 Body, 40 Armor). The threat comes from the scale of deployment, not from individual combatant power.
Combined arms coordination is the defining characteristic. Pitstop vehicular speed breaks through defenses that Warpath numbers then overwhelm, and Burner fire ensures total destruction of everything the force has already passed. Each component compensates for the others' limitations: Pitstop provides mobility the Warpath lacks, Warpath provides mass the Pitstop cannot sustain, and Burners provide the systematic destruction that ensures there is nothing left to rebuild.
All component types are Natural Born Raiders (H. insurrectus ferox), pure human with no Infection. All enter passive Raider Rage when sensing Lineages. All face permanent death, unable to access the Mortis Amaranthine. The warband replenishes its numbers between campaigns through recruitment and breeding, making it a recurring rather than one-time threat.
Network-scale events only. No local branch can address a Salted Earth Warband alone. The classification exceeds Apocalypse Grade. This is the ceiling of the Raider threat hierarchy, and the only reliable survival strategy is to not be in its path.
Combined arms coordination is the defining characteristic. Pitstop vehicular speed breaks through defenses that Warpath numbers then overwhelm, and Burner fire ensures total destruction of everything the force has already passed. Each component compensates for the others' limitations: Pitstop provides mobility the Warpath lacks, Warpath provides mass the Pitstop cannot sustain, and Burners provide the systematic destruction that ensures there is nothing left to rebuild.
All component types are Natural Born Raiders (H. insurrectus ferox), pure human with no Infection. All enter passive Raider Rage when sensing Lineages. All face permanent death, unable to access the Mortis Amaranthine. The warband replenishes its numbers between campaigns through recruitment and breeding, making it a recurring rather than one-time threat.
Network-scale events only. No local branch can address a Salted Earth Warband alone. The classification exceeds Apocalypse Grade. This is the ceiling of the Raider threat hierarchy, and the only reliable survival strategy is to not be in its path.
Behaviour
Implacable and systematic. A Salted Earth Warband is not a frenzied mob. It is a machine of destruction with three specialized components working in sequence, each optimized for its role in the operational cycle.
The Pitstop vanguard ranges ahead, identifying targets and breaking initial defenses with vehicular speed and hit-and-run tactics. Their role is disruption: scatter the defenders, destroy organized resistance, and open the path for what follows. The Warpath main body advances in formation, deploying packs of five, ten, twenty, or fifty to overwhelm whatever the vanguard has already softened. The Burner rearguard moves through last, systematically burning everything the warband has passed through. Nothing is left behind. Nothing is left to reclaim.
There is no negotiation. No tribute satisfies a Salted Earth Warband, because the warband's purpose is not acquisition. It is consumption and destruction. The warband moves, consumes, destroys, rebuilds its numbers, and moves again. The cycle continues until the component factions separate, which happens on a timeline that no observer has been able to predict reliably.
The Pitstop vanguard ranges ahead, identifying targets and breaking initial defenses with vehicular speed and hit-and-run tactics. Their role is disruption: scatter the defenders, destroy organized resistance, and open the path for what follows. The Warpath main body advances in formation, deploying packs of five, ten, twenty, or fifty to overwhelm whatever the vanguard has already softened. The Burner rearguard moves through last, systematically burning everything the warband has passed through. Nothing is left behind. Nothing is left to reclaim.
There is no negotiation. No tribute satisfies a Salted Earth Warband, because the warband's purpose is not acquisition. It is consumption and destruction. The warband moves, consumes, destroys, rebuilds its numbers, and moves again. The cycle continues until the component factions separate, which happens on a timeline that no observer has been able to predict reliably.
Scientific Name
Homo insurrectus ferox (combined force)
Lifespan
Permanent death (no Mortis passage)
Conservation Status
Beyond Apocalypse Grade; civilization-ending
Average Physique
Combined force (varies by component type)
