Five Banners, part 1
Humanity spent generation upon generation aboard the Vaultships, so much time passed that petty squabbles over the concerns of Earth fell away. After just two generations the idea of borders and nationalities no longer made sense. The people on those ships knew with every part of their souls that they would never see Earth again so the idea that an imaginary boundary once separated the people of one region from another seemed trivial. That is not to say that those rivalries and rough edges went away, instead of borders to argue over the people on the Vaultships began forming the Five Banners. In the beginning there were more than five of course, the number was probably too high to even understand, each ship a hive of factions and allegiances. But after another 15-20 generations those factions had narrowed, refined, absorbed and become the Five Banners. Each Vaultship was primarily a vessel of one of the banners and each one had its own agenda, its own need and procedure, method and dogma.
The Iron Guard controlled the front Vaultship, the one leading humanity towards its new home. Old records show that it contained the highest population of Earths elite upper society as well as a huge military presence. It was the first ship, the ship that those privileged and rich or powerful enough were guaranteed space upon along with their military presence to ensure they maintained that level wherever the people of Earth ended up. By the time we arrived in the Forge the Iron Guard were the ship, the military had fully absorbed the culture of the Vaultship, every member a part of the service and towards the service of the whole. They are a collective working towards what they believe is a brighter future, to guide and lead humanity in this new home. The Iron Guard regard the other Banners as either weak or rebellious and consider themselves to be the stewards of the people in their new home. Leading through example or by force if necessary.
The Archivists came on the second ship, a population comprised of scientists, engineers, doctors, and historians. They had in the millennia of travel cultivated a society of learned folks but with eyes towards the past, learning and recovering, and most of all preserving records of what once was. The history of the Earth, how the journey changed humanity, records of the Cataclysm, all of it. Knowledge above all else. The Archivists actively research the Deep Horrors, striving to understand, perhaps predict their next moves. Interactions with the Archivists and the other Vaultships are always conducted with caution as the Archivists consider learning the truth and preserving knowledge far more important than simple things like human lives. Rumors exist in the forge that the Archivist science division has experimented with human gene splicing, memory scrubs and other unsavory and unethical practices….
