The Scythe
An elite anti-undead military force recognized by their heavy black armor and white reaper's scythe emblem. The Scythe exists for a single purpose: the eradication of the undead threat.
Though not a religious order, a significant portion of their ranks follow the Fallow Hopes faith, whose emphasis on sacrifice and duty aligns with the Scythe's willingness to make brutal choices. Their defining doctrine is the "majority mandate": when undead outnumber living survivors in an area by three to one or greater, no rescue is attempted. The area is declared lost, and the Scythe destroys it with explosives and fire.
Though not a religious order, a significant portion of their ranks follow the Fallow Hopes faith, whose emphasis on sacrifice and duty aligns with the Scythe's willingness to make brutal choices. Their defining doctrine is the "majority mandate": when undead outnumber living survivors in an area by three to one or greater, no rescue is attempted. The area is declared lost, and the Scythe destroys it with explosives and fire.
Structure
The Scythe operates as a military chain of command, deploying elite soldiers in heavy black armor against undead concentrations across the fallen lands. Specific ranks and organizational tiers are not well documented to outsiders, but their discipline and coordination in the field speak to a rigid internal hierarchy.
Culture
The Majority Mandate
The Scythe's defining principle is coldly mathematical. When undead forces outnumber the living by three to one or more, the settlement is declared lost. No rescue operations are conducted. Instead, the entire area is sterilized with explosives and burning. The Scythe does not mourn the settlements they destroy; they count the settlements they saved by destroying them.
Fallow Hopes
Though not a religious order, a significant portion of the Scythe's membership follows the Fallow Hopes faith. The faith's emphasis on sacrifice and acceptance of hard truths provides spiritual grounding for soldiers who must regularly make the decision to let people die.
History
The Scythe rose as an answer to the undead plague that defines wasteland survival. Their scorched earth doctrine developed from hard experience: settlements that attempt rescue operations in overwhelmed zones lose not only the original defenders but the rescuers as well. The majority mandate is a calculus written in the blood of failed interventions.
