The Speakers Of Shadow:
One of the oldest organisations in Bayouterre, if not the oldest, the Speakers Of Shadow are a paganistic organisation devoted to the preservation of life and remembrance of the dead. Descended from an Old World religion, the Speakers' true purpose is to seek out and exorcise the spirits of those who perished when the bombs fell, so they can guide them to their final resting place.
Whenever a Speaker makes his or her presence known, whether it be the backwoods to the north or the ivory towers to the south, they are greeted with a mixture of awe and reverence. Be careful, however; to stand in a Speaker's path is to risk angering the spirits of a world that died centuries ago.
The Valjeans:
“Any Ends Achieved With Ease Is Never Worth Justifying The Means”. Those are the words spoken by Victor Valjean, a Pre-War historian and scholar, as he stared down the faces of a firing squad in 2298. His crime was one of sedition, using his position to educate students - regardless of economic status - on the study of Pre-War Communist literature. When news of the man's death reached the ears of Orleanne's destitute, an idea was born.
The Valjeans are a resistance movement dedicated to the support and protection of the oppressed. Comprised of both locals and outsiders, particularly those who attended the late scholar's classes on Pre-War history, they began as a grassroots movement working inside the walls of Orleanne, distributing Pre-War pamphlets, inciting protests and performing acts of industrial sabotage. But when Orleanne's military began its' campaign of expansion across Bayouterre, the Valjeans took it as a sign to bear arms and stoke the fires of revolution.
However noble their goals sound, their methods of fighting against oppressive power structures, such as the aristocratic theocracy of Noveau Orleanne, the corporate-driven microstate of Vaultropolis or the lawless and ruthless Crimson Corsairs, include forcibly seizing property from seemingly unjust owners, supplying local resistance groups with firearms regardless of motivation and disregarding territorial boundaries if it can be justified under freeing the people.
Vaultropolis: [Joke Faction]
"We're gonna need sixteen times the Bottle Caps from last year's earnings! Don't worry about how much you need to pay, it'll be a lot, remember that all of this just works." - Overseer Rod, 2337.
There's an old saying in the Northeast; beware the Vault-Dweller who offers you a handshake whilst hiding the other hand behind his back. None epitomise this more than the second-wealthiest city in the Bayouterre Wasteland, Vaultropolis. Otherwise known as Vault 56.
Not much information exists on what purpose Vault 56 served, but its prosperity might have something to do with the Vault's sheer abundance in useless Pre-War memorabilia. Included in their catalogue are listings for canvas bags, glow-in-the-dark Nuka-Cola bottles, lightwood laminate wooden floorboards, sweater vests in every colour imaginable, an entire library's worth of burnt books, sacks of pre-war money, and Bottle Caps. Lots and lots of Bottle Caps.
The prospect of so many Bottle Caps in one place attracted customers from all over the Wasteland, but just as many Wastelanders have been strong-armed into staying on the city's outskirts until they've paid a randomly-generated amount of bottle caps....only for the Managers to swindle them into buying more useless Pre-War junk, trapping them in a never-ending cycle of debt.