CHOTA

Overview
The Children of the Apocalypse have been around since the Fall, but their name has only been in use since they began raiding Hoover Dam and its supporting settlements. Before the coming of Redhand, small roaming bands of CHOTA warred among themselves and destroyed or exhausted any remaining technology they came across in the wastes. Comprised of the countless throngs of survivors who couldn’t cope with the changes around them, the CHOTA outnumbered the other factions, but were broken up into fractious tribes that so rarely cooperated, they were easily defeated. With the coming of the great warlord Redhand, this changed. Redhand appealed to their desire for destruction and conquest, uniting them, despite their inherent resistance to authority.

The CHOTA’s main strengths are their large numbers, mutations, and ferocity. However, because of their fractured society, they rarely use these advantages. As a result of their extensive exposure to the Shiva Virus and radiation, there are many mutants among their ranks. Whereas the CHOTA are not well-armed (they rely on scavenged weapons and armor), they are very powerful fighters and can be frighteningly effective in combat.

There are many tribes within the CHOTA, most of which control a single settlement. Some are larger, encompassing several camps, and those tribes normally grow through integration of the conquered. Groups within the CHOTA, such as the Slaughter Kings and the Spirit Seers, hold a wide variety of beliefs and practices. Most CHOTA settlements have members of conflicting sects.

Leaders
Each CHOTA tribe has its own leader, who is usually referred to as “Warchief,” but such titles are unnecessary, as a leader’s behavior clearly identifies him or her as the dominant alpha. The only person who has some influence over all the tribes is Redhand, the leader of the CHOTA Revolt. For decades, he’s been something of a prime figure in their society. Redhand leads his own tribe, and other tribes give his words due consideration, but he has no actual authority over all of them.

Core Views
Civilization destroyed humanity, so the Children will destroy Civilization.

Enemies
The Enforcers embody everything that the CHOTA hate because they are trying to create order and rebuild the Old World, while the CHOTA only want to tear down every last vestige of former ways. For the past three decades, two groups come to blows any time they encounter each other; they even carry out regular attacks against each other’s outposts.

The Techs feel the CHOTA are a threat to restoring the Old World and its technological wonders and therefore the CHOTA are not allowed in Tech settlements. Instead of fighting directly with the Children, the Techs usually oppose them by giving guns to the Enforcers. The CHOTA consider the Techs weaklings who hide behind the Enforcers, so the CHOTA usually attack them whenever possible.

The Lightbearers see the CHOTA as being undisciplined, chaotic, and mostly useless. While the Lightbearers may value the abilities that some of the CHOTA have developed with their mutations, the Children are too destructive to ever be allies of the Lightbearers. Lightbearers feel the CHOTA are a disturbance but not worth killing unless a CHOTA’s actions prove too dangerous.

Allies
The Travelers aided the CHOTA in attacking Hoover Dam; nowadays, they trade with the tribes regularly. The Travelers are sufficiently nomadic and chaotic themselves, so the CHOTA consider them kindred spirits. This was largely made possible by early interactions with the Orphans—a group within the Travelers who grew up in the same wastes as the CHOTA and have many similar cultural norms. Because the CHOTA do not build much, they rely on the Travelers for weapons, armor, and other supplies—but these items must be of a non-technological nature. The CHOTA also sometimes provide muscle for the Travelers, in exchange for goods. The CHOTA do not trust the Travelers because Travelers are ultimately driven by greed, which is a thing of the Old World, but for now, Travelers are more useful than they are repulsive.

From their earliest days, the CHOTA have counted on the Vista as allies. After the Fall, the CHOTA might have died off completely if it had not been for the food and supplies given to them from the Vista communes. In exchange, the CHOTA have traded raw materials and offered their protection to the Vista, and the two groups have developed a strongly symbiotic relationship. The Vista and the CHOTA share a strong hatred for the Techs and often work together to attack Tech and Enforcer settlements. While the CHOTA don’t care for the communistic ways of the Vista, such organization does not seem nearly as corrupt as the dictatorship used by the Enforcers.