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     Infamous highway raiders, probably the largest and most dangerous in the Big Rocks. Tough and ruthless, they take what they want, and leave few survivors. They fly a red flag, sometimes with various aggressive symbols on it (skulls, anarchy signs, lightning bolts, etc.). Bits of old military insignia, especially those of the Air Force, are worn by most Ravagers.

Origin

Pre-War

     Nobody in particular.

Post-War

     The mob which has become the Ravagers descends from several bands of military deserters, escaped convicts, sociopaths and other unpleasant folk who rampaged across America just after the Long Winter.

What Outsiders Know

     The rampaging army of raiders that follow the Ravager banner is known throughout the Forbidden Lands and the Southwest. They are led by the infinitely depraved and ruthless General Killstrike. The Ravagers are a terror throughout the land; destroying communities for their own perverse pleasure and gain, stamping out all growing civilization in the Forbidden Lands. Riding on virtual armadas of motorcycles, trucks, and battle-cars that churn enough exhaust to cloud the horizon when on campaign, and armed with shotguns and automatic weapons, the Ravagers have made their name known far and wide.

     Members of this particularly sadistic raider gang are subjected to painful initiation rituals, but nearly anyone can join if he can survive the test. A few women are kept around only as miserable slaves and playthings.

The Reality

     General Killstrike claims to be the descendant of the founder of the Ravagers, "Colonel Bellows", but it's very unlikely. While the leadership of the Ravagers is theoretically hereditary, in practice any number of assassinations, coups, regencies, adoptions, and out-and-out lies have made the actual lineage unknowable.

     Uninterested in co-existing with outsiders, the Ravagers take what they want wherever they find it, and make examples of those communities that refuse to bow to their will. Even those communities that surrender are subject to unreasonable demands by the Ravagers (in the form of increased food production, for example, or an annual tribute of young recruits, both male and female), which keep the communities in squalor and misery.

     Most of the Ravagers aren't particularly evil, but the organization is a haven for violent, amoral men, who tend to rise in rank.

Population

     Probably not more than 1400, all told, including a couple hundred slaves.

Territory and Locations

     The Ravager's Fortress lies on the eastern edge of the Big Rocks, in the Forbidden Lands. It's about 25 kilometers west of Denver, near the former town of Idledale. It contains garages and workshops, barracks for the raiders, and slave-quarters for the harems and unfortunate laborers. Artillery and even a few old armored vehicles protect the Fortress. There's an old hydroelectric plant on the grounds, with 100 kilowatts of generating capacity; a small generator is installed in the fortress basement, in case power is cut from the hydro plant.

     A small landing field nearby supports the Ravager's "Fighter Squadron".

Organization

     A series of military ranks, based on those of the US Army and Air Force, are employed. The ranks of major, colonel and general are hereditary to the oldest-surviving son; the Ravagers also provide an almost fair process for promotions. The ranks are:

• General:  one only

• Colonel:  three only. One (Jonah Death) is the "chief of staff", one (Randal Werkz) deals with logistics and construction, and one (Bren Fang) is head of Fortress defense
  

• Major:  twelve of these. They are the usual commanders of raiding groups.
  

• Captain:  100 or so of these

• Lieutenant:  200 or so of these

• Sergeant:  300 or so of these

• Private:  400 or so of these

• Recruit:  100 or so of these, essentially all recruits in training

     The Ravagers don't really make any distinction between "officer and "NCO". The military hierarchy doesn't imply much military virtue; increasing rank provides an increase in privileges. Few of the Ravagers were born into the organization, so there's no discrimination against those who were forced into membership.

     The skimpy code of laws followed within the Ravagers mostly provides opportunities for gladiatorial combat.

Equipment and Resources

    Decades of plundering have given the Ravagers a valuable, but eclectic, supply of weapons and equipment. Even their ordinary soldiers carry Cartel rifles or old military arms, and wear protective vests. One of their biggest problems comes from having weapons using dozens of different calibers of ammunition. The armories at the Ravager's Fortress have dozens of artillery pieces for which only a few rounds of ammunition are available.

Vehicles

     Every kind of highway hooligan vehicle:  battle-bikes, trikes, sidecar bikes, battle-cars, battle-trucks, and even some HMMWV and armored cars. Mot run on gasogen engines, some on alcohol. About two-thirds of the Ravagers ride various motorcycles, the rest are in battle trucks, etc.

Aircraft

     Three alcohol-powered one-man battlecopters, more for show than anything. These are autogyros with old motorcycle engines.

     Among the salvage and debris is a Cessna 172, built in 1982, pretty much complete from the firewall back -- the engine and propeller are missing. Technically it's a T41 Mescalero, since it was built for the USAF.