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The Coal Country revolt was, for decades after the fall of the Kurian Order, a mostly forgotten affair, appearing only tangentially in accounts of the ill-fated Operation Javelin or in Buckman’s substantial War Diary of Green Mountain Boys. Only an analysis of records kept by the Kurian Order functionaries, mostly archived either by the Georgia Control or the Baltimore Kurians who supervised what was left of Washington DC, revealed its importance to the overall Liberation.
If the reduction in coal production was noted at all in the first wave of histories, it was noted only briefly: “The Kurian-allied Maynes clan’s mishandling of its zone resulted in a brief takeover by forces of the Georgia Control and Church-led Moondagger Paramilitaries. The East and Southeast suffered some electrical shortages over the next decade until other sources of coal were opened up, frequently resulting in blackouts and brownouts in the midday and overnight hours.” So reads the dryly informative (but excitingly titled) Tithe of Blood: The Complete History of the Kurian Order.
Numerous frantic reports from the Georgia Control and the seaboard between New York and Florida tell a different tale. Coal was widely used to generate electricity, of course, but it also heated apartment buildings with only irregular supplies of other fuels. More important, it was used, rather laboriously, to create gasoline. The gasoline shortages experienced by the Georgia Control make for exemplary reading for anyone anticipating having to shift blame or CYA. The Georgia Control, the manufacturing dynamo for the entire eastern half of the United States, almost ground to a halt without gasoline and diesel for its trucks, much of this gas and diesel being generated using coal.
The directors of the various energy-dependent concerns complained loudly and in triplicate of the decrease in production, perhaps fearing a visit from the Reapers. Universally, they blamed first the lack of gasoline—it had been in short supply with the loss of the Texas and Oklahoma pumps—and then the cutbacks to electricity that idled what work they could get done without fuel in their tanks.
The Georgia Control’s military remained effective—briefly. They received their gasoline first, followed by key aircraft at the airports, followed by the police and fire forces (who now and then ran short, sharply limiting their effectiveness). As the fighting ground on in Kentucky and the Transmississippi, their weapons and vehicles began to go idle from lack of spare parts and munitions rather than fuel. The Kurian Order slit its own throat with its prioritization of oil. In desperation, they restarted a couple of the offshore oil pumps in the gulf, but it was still a long, pipeline-free trip up to the Macon and Atlanta hubs from the coast.
GLOSSARY
BEARS—The toughest of the Hunter classes, Bears are famously ferocious and the shock troops of Southern Command, working themselves up into a berserker rage that allows them to take on even the Reapers at night. They are also famous for surviving dreadful wounds that would kill an ordinary man, though how completely they heal varies slightly according to the injury and the individual.
CATS—The spies and saboteurs of the Hunter group, Cats are stealthy individuals with keen eyesight and superb reflexes. Women tend to predominate in this class, though it is a matter of opinion whether this is due to their bodies adapting better to the Lifeweaver changes, or the fact that Cat activities require the ability to blend in and choose a time for acting rather than using more aggressive action.
GOLDEN ONES—A species of humanoid Grog related to the Gray Ones, Golden Ones are tall bipeds (though they will still sometimes go down on all fours in a sprint) mostly covered with short, faun-colored fur that grows longer about the head-mane. Expressive, batlike ears, a strong snout, and wide-set, calm eyes give them a somewhat ursine appearance, though the mouth is broader. They are considered by most to have a higher culture than their gray relations. Their civilization is organized along more recognizable groups, with a loose caste system rather than the strictly tribal organizations of the Gray Ones.
GRAY ONES—A species of humanoid Grog related to the Golden Ones, the Gray Ones have hair that is shorter than their relatives, save for longer tufts that grow to warm the forearms and calves/ankles. Their bodies are covered in thick gray hide, which grows into armorlike slabs on some males. They are bipeds in the fashion of gorillas, with much heavier and more powerful forearms than their formidable Golden One relations, wide where their cousins are tall. Unless organized by humans, they tend to group into tribes of extended families, though in a few places (such as St. Louis) there are multitribe paramountcies controlling other tribes in a feudal manner.
GROGS—A nonspecific word for any kind of life-forms imported or created by the Kurians, unknown to Earth pre-2022. Some say the term “grog” is a version of “grok” since so many of the strange, and sometimes horrific, life-forms cooperate; others maintain that the term arises from the “graaaaawg!” cry of the Gray Ones when wounded or calling for as
sistance in a fight. In most cases among the military of Southern Command, when the word “Grog” is used, it is commonly understood to refer to a Gray One, as they will use other terms for different life-forms.
HUNTERS—A common term for those humans modified by the Lifeweavers for enhanced abilities of one sort or another. Up until 2070, the Hunters worked closely under the direction of the Lifeweavers in Southern Command, but after so many of them fled or were killed during Consul Solon’s incursion, the Hunter castes were directly managed by Southern Command.
KURIANS—A faction of the Lifeweavers from the planet Kur who learned how to extend their life span through the harvesting of vital aura, the Kurians invaded Earth once before in our prehistory and formed the basis for many vampire legends. Although physically weak compared to their Reaper avatars, Kurians are masters of disguise, subterfuge, and manipulation. They tend to dwell in high, well-defended towers so as to better maintain mental links with their Reaper avatars. Face-to-face contact with one is rare except for their most trusted Quislings. Some have compared the Kurian need for vital aura with an addict’s need for a drug, especially since the consumption of vital aura sometimes leaves the Kurian in a state of reduced sensibility. Most Kurians live life on simple terms: are they safe, do they have enough sources of vital aura, and how can they gather a large supply and keep it against their hungry and rapacious relatives.
KURIAN AGENTS—The Kurian answer to the Hunter class, Kurian agents are very trusted humans, often trained from early childhood to use psychic powers similar to those of their masters. There are reports of Kurian agents able to assume the appearance of other races and genders, confuse the minds of their opponents, and even read minds to uncover traitors.
LIFEWEAVERS—A race thought to have populated some nine worlds, modifying or creating an unknown number of life-forms. They appear to be some form of octopus crossed with a bat, equally at home in the water or gliding between treetops. A faction of Lifeweaver scientists on a planet called Kur created a schism when they began to use the vital aura from other living creatures to extend their life span. Soon open warfare broke out. The Lifeweavers were successful in keeping the Kurians confined to Kur for millennia, but they managed to break out and invaded Earth and an unknown number of other Lifeweaver-populated worlds in 2022, our time.
LEGWORMS—Long centipede-like creatures introduced to Earth in 2022 that reach lengths of more than forty feet and eight feet of height or more. They are a useful but stupid creature, able to bear heavy loads, but they can only be urged to move at a pace above a walk by a skilled rider and constant prodding. The chewy flesh from around each one’s hundred clawlike legs is high in protein and edible, barely, and the skin from their eggs makes a tough, breathable form of leather that is a valuable trade good if harvested before the newly hatched legworms consume it. They lay eggs in the fall and become sluggish and torpid in the winter when they gather together en masse to shelter their eggs.
LIFESIGN—An invisible signature given off by all living organisms, in proportion to their vital aura. Reapers can detect it, especially at night, and are able to home in on humans from miles away. It is possible for a human to train herself to reduce lifesign through mental exercises or meditation, and it is possible to camouflage lifesign by hiding in densely wooded areas or among large groups of livestock. Earth and metals do tend to block it. There are some who maintain that a sufficient quantity of simple aluminum foil can conceal lifesign, especially if one keeps one’s head properly wrapped, but empirical evidence is lacking, since individuals who try to sneak past Reapers relying on layers of foil rarely return.
LOGISTICS COMMANDOS—A branch of Southern Command that concerns itself with acquiring difficult-to-obtain supplies, mostly medicines and technology. It does this by purchase, trade, and outright theft. It is common for veteran Hunters to go into the Logistics Commandos as a form of retirement from fighting.
MISKATONIC (THE)—A fellowship of scholars devoted to studying the Kurian Order and categorizing Grogs. While the Miskatonic contains its share of academics, there are also “field” people who accompany Southern Command’s forces to act as advisers and record evidence. Researchers at the Miskatonic have developed more effective weapons for killing Reapers, mostly thanks to the discovery of Quickwood and its derivatives.
MOONDAGGERS—A religious military order that fights for the Kurians. The order was created and is closely directed by a branch of the New Universal Church that is more patriarchal and theocratic than the typical churchmen. Famous for their brutality, the Moondaggers were key to putting down the revolts in the Great Plains Gulag in 2072. They were nearly destroyed, however, when they resorted to similar tactics against the legworm ranchers in Kentucky from 2075 to 2076.
NEW UNIVERSAL CHURCH—A religious order of trusted Quislings who help manage the spiritual and intellectual needs of the human subject populations in the Kurian Zone. Much of their time is spent rationalizing the deaths of those taken by the Reapers and keeping the human breeding stock quiescent. Higher-level churchmen are often trained by the Kurians in similar psychic skills as those used by Kurian agents.
QUICKWOOD—An olive-tree-like plant that acts as a catalyst in a Reaper’s bloodstream, freezing it in place and killing it quickly. The only drawback to Quickwood is its rarity, as the small supply that Southern Command managed to acquire was virtually destroyed by Solon’s Forces, though some seeds were saved and a few plants now thrive in the wild and in controlled and defended environments. The Kurians are working on modifying their Reapers to be immune to Quickwood, but for now the Reapers deal with a Quickwood wound by a fast self-amputation, if practicable.
QUISLINGS—Humans who work for the Kurian Order. There is a great deal of dispute as to what exactly constitutes a “Quisling,” but usually someone at the bottom rung of the social ladder who follows orders is not considered to be actively supporting the Kurians, even if he happens to drive a collection van for the Reapers. Quislings are more commonly held to be those actively working for their Kurian Masters in pursuit of immunity for themselves and their families. Quislings who do great service in the name of their Kurian lord are sometimes awarded a “brass ring” granting immunity from the Reapers to themselves and their immediate family.
RATBITS—A short-lived Kurian experiment to create a rodent with a higher concentration of vital aura, possibly as a replacement for difficult-to-control human populations. They are approximately raccoon-sized and combine the features of a rat and a rabbit. They have a level of intelligence that is measurably close to that of a human child in grammar school. They were bred in a vast expanse of Texas Hill Country known as “the Ranch,” but they resented being harvested as much as humans did, and they escaped into the wild, eventually forcing the abandonment of the Ranch.
REAPERS—The avatars of the Kurian Order, Reapers are very powerful humanoids that form the basis of most of our vampire legends. With only a vestigial reproductive system and a simplified digestive process based on the consumption of blood and a small amount of flesh, Reapers are fast, strong, and deadly, particularly at night when the connection with their Kurian Master is strongest. They are strong enough to tear through metal doors and hatches, can jump to second- or sometimes third-story windows, and can run as fast as most cars can move on all but the best-maintained roads. Hunters find Reapers most vulnerable during daylight hours, when the Kurian connection is weaker, especially directly after a feeding, when the Reaper is sleepy from the blood intake and the Kurian is lost in the sensations of the transfer of energy.
TWISTED CROSS—A military faction of the Kurian Order, the Twisted Cross uses trained humans to operate fighting Reapers in a manner similar to a Kurian Lord’s. The Twisted Cross activities in North America were stillborn when the Golden Ones revolted and destroyed their base in 2067. There are reports of more successful Twisted Cross military formations operating around the Black Sea and in Southeastern Europe and Asia Minor, the Asian Subcontinent, and Japan.
WOLVES—The great guerilla fighters of the Hunter class, Wolves are famous for their endurance, sense of smell and hearing, and ability to operate without logistical support. They can cover a good deal of ground in their all-day runs, often evading even mechanized opponents.
VITAL AURA—The energy created by all living things, but enriched and refined in sentient, emotionally developed creatures. Thus, a human will have much more vital aura than, say, a much heavier cow or pig. This energy is what sustains a Kurian over his extended, and seemingly limitless, life span.
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES
