The Maskless
The Maskless began as something understandable. Retrogrades across the wastes are shunned for their rotting flesh, forced behind masks by the discomfort of other Strains, and driven to the margins of settlements that tolerate them only because they can survive what others cannot. In the Arch, where irradiated fog kills anyone without a Retrograde's constitution, that dynamic is inverted. Here, it is the "smooth skins" who are fragile, who need protection, who should by all rights defer to the Strain that owns the air itself. The Maskless took that logic and made it a movement.
It started with Earl Ricker walking through the Arch without his mask. Ricker had been shunned by other Strains in every settlement he had tried, and when he arrived at the Arch, he decided he was done hiding. He gathered other Retrogrades to him and taught them that their rotting flesh was not a deformity but a mark of superiority. They threw away their masks and told the world to look at what evolution had made. For a time, it was pride. It was defiance. It was a group of people who had been told they were less, standing up and saying they were more.
Then the sideways glances continued. Other Strains in the Arch still flinched, still whispered, still looked away. And the pride curdled. The Maskless have grown belligerent. Bar fights between members and other Strains are increasing. The Crewmen Baywalker trading group has come into open conflict with them. Ricker's rhetoric has shifted from "we are proud" to "they should kneel." Whether this movement born of justified anger becomes something far darker depends entirely on whether the Enforcers can contain it before the tipping point arrives. Some believe Ricker will burn himself out. Others are not so optimistic.
It started with Earl Ricker walking through the Arch without his mask. Ricker had been shunned by other Strains in every settlement he had tried, and when he arrived at the Arch, he decided he was done hiding. He gathered other Retrogrades to him and taught them that their rotting flesh was not a deformity but a mark of superiority. They threw away their masks and told the world to look at what evolution had made. For a time, it was pride. It was defiance. It was a group of people who had been told they were less, standing up and saying they were more.
Then the sideways glances continued. Other Strains in the Arch still flinched, still whispered, still looked away. And the pride curdled. The Maskless have grown belligerent. Bar fights between members and other Strains are increasing. The Crewmen Baywalker trading group has come into open conflict with them. Ricker's rhetoric has shifted from "we are proud" to "they should kneel." Whether this movement born of justified anger becomes something far darker depends entirely on whether the Enforcers can contain it before the tipping point arrives. Some believe Ricker will burn himself out. Others are not so optimistic.
Structure
The Maskless are a Retrograde supremacist movement based in the Arch. The group coalesced around Earl Ricker, who arrived at the Arch and defiantly walked without his mask, gathering other Retrogrades to his cause. No formal hierarchy beyond Ricker's influence has been documented. Members are united by ideology rather than organizational structure: the shared belief that Retrogrades are the superior Strain and that rotting flesh is a mark of pride, not shame.
Public Agenda
Assert Retrograde supremacy within the Arch. The Maskless demand that other Strains acknowledge the superiority of Retrogrades, who alone can survive the settlement's irradiated fog without protection.
History
The Maskless movement began when Earl Ricker, shunned by other Strains in other settlements, arrived at the Arch and walked through town without his mask. In a settlement where Retrogrades can survive the irradiated fog that kills others, Ricker's defiance struck a chord. He gathered other Retrogrades and taught them that their rotting flesh was not a deformity to hide but proof of evolutionary superiority.
The movement has grown more aggressive over time. What started as prideful display has escalated to violent altercations with other Strains in the Arch's bars. The Crewmen, a Baywalker trading group, have come into direct conflict with them. Whether this escalation leads to mass violence depends on the Enforcers' ability to contain it. The Maskless see no reason to stop: in a town where only Retrogrades survive the fog, they ask why anyone else should be allowed to speak as an equal.
The movement has grown more aggressive over time. What started as prideful display has escalated to violent altercations with other Strains in the Arch's bars. The Crewmen, a Baywalker trading group, have come into direct conflict with them. Whether this escalation leads to mass violence depends on the Enforcers' ability to contain it. The Maskless see no reason to stop: in a town where only Retrogrades survive the fog, they ask why anyone else should be allowed to speak as an equal.
Retrograde supremacists in the Arch, pride turned to violence.
