File Name - Threats 2 - Beneath the False Face
Dark Reflections: The Crying Masks
Though most of the medicine men are peaceful, and in many cases are extreme pacifists, there are some False Face members and shamans who have grown radical in their beliefs, or have decided taht the current ledership is far too passive.
In their view, the False Face has failed in it's mission to protect and heal the people so they do not strike at the source of the problem. These disenchancted medicine men have left the False Face and found a new home among the outlawed Warrior Societies. They have founded their new society, combining elements of both warrior and medicine societeies: the Crying Masks.

<<< For those of you unfamiliar with the Iriquois history, her's the capsule summary of the warrior societies.
The Warrior Societies trace their origins back before the formation of the Iriquois Confederacy, when Warriors led the various clans that waged war upon each other. When the clans were united and the Confederacy was created, the Peace Maker declared an end to the clan warfare in the name of the Great Law and buried the weapons of war. This changed when Europeans began to colonize Iroquis land and the Iriquos were forced to fight for survival. The Great law was amended to allow warfare once again.
In the late twentieth century, the Warrior Societies revived, fighting for what little the Iriquois had left against intrusions by the Canadian and American governments. The resurgence of these societies, and the well-publicized armed standoffs that followed, was a source of debate and conflict among the Iriqouis. The Warriors claimed that resistance was necessary to defend their land, rights and sovreignty. The Iriquois who were supposed to be in charge called the warriors criminals and renegades, accusing them of spreading drugs and terror.
When SAIM declared war, the Warrior Societies were some of the first to join the struggle. When the Ghost Dance War ended and the Sovereign Tribal Council
formed the Native Amerian Nations, it also disbanded the Warrior Societies. After all, the Iriquois now had the government , military, and police of the Anglokian-Manitou Council and Sioux Nation to look after them.
In recent years the Warrior Societies have surfaced once again, espousing a variety of political and social - and in some cases criminal - causes. Each new society is unique, with different aims and goals, answering to no one but them selves. Some claim to act in defense of the Iriquois people, whom they claim suffer under the power of the ither tribes in the Sious Nations. Some act as mere vigilantes, while others pursue other radical causes. In effect, these Warrior Societies are the gangs, policlubs, activists, and terrorists of the Iriquois people. They do not always cooperate and in many cases are actualyl rivals - especially when their illegal activities come into conflict.
It looks like the Crying Masks ran with this theme, and probably even recruited some warriors from other societies to their cause.
---People Watcher>>>>>

<<<<That's a damn simplified view of the Warrior Societies, paleface.
---Lasagna>>>

The Crying Masks chose their name to reflect the designs of the distinctive masks they wear. Eash has an identical design of a sad face shedding tears of blood. From what I understand, this is unheard of in the normal medicine societies - in traditional practice each mask is unique. The Crying Masks claim that this is to show that they are united in their purpose.

<<<<The fact that the Crying masks pervert the ideals of the medicine societies si bad enough. That they treat the masks as little more than tools es even mroe despicable. The Crying Masks use them as weapons of war and pain. The great Spirit is crying for my lost brothers and sisters. I can only pray taht they will see the error of their ways and return to us.
---Parker>>>>>

<<<Are you blind to the fact that our people are facing threats dire enough that your honeyed words and medicine are not strong enough to prevent them? Do you nto see our youth becoming polluted by drugs, alcohol, chips, and cyberware? Do you not see the Spirit World writhing in pain as arrogant hermetics enslave it to their will? Their philosophy is the same as the corporate philosoph taht despoiled the land , that viewed nature as a thing - a resource to make profit from, rather than a living entity.
--Blood Drop>>>>

The Crying Masks take the beliefs of the False Face and sharpen them to an extreme, redical edge. They are not content to organize lobbying, boycotts and protests- they wage war against the cybertechnology and biotech corps. Reseatch labs, bioscupting salons and cyberware clinic are all valid targets for sabotage and destruction. Cybertechnicians have had family members abducted so that they may be forced into a different line of work, university professors teaching cybernetics courses have been threatened ro asaulted and owners of "gengineering" companies ahve been kidnapped and even assasinated. Cloning facilities have been burned to the ground and entire labs full of genecrafting samples have been tainted with mutagens. Cryings Masks deckers have even whipped up a viruses that proliferate among implant software, causing malfunctions and system crashes. And it doesn't end there.

<<<<<Sounds like good work for me. They hiring? -- Prime Runner >>>>>

<<<<<No, but the opposition is. Universal Omnitech has posted as reward of 500,000 for information leading to the arrests of the Crying Masks members who ahve sabotaged and raided facilities. -- Fett>>>>

Their goal is simple:to raise the cost of implant technology and simlar "human-warping" advances, making it unfeasible to produce. They also spread propoganda decryig the horrors of this "Frankenstein" technology, hoping to sow widespread social distrust and rejection of "implant culture".

<<<Fraggin' Luddites---Zerzan>>>

<<<Not quite. The Cyring Masks aren't anti-tech, they're jsut opposed to technology that dehumanizes people and turns us into machines. They do, however, have connections to some anti-tech groups, especially the radicals among the Manitoo tribe. ---- BC Messenger>>>>

<<<<I've heard that the Crying Masks have a few teams of "cyberware hunters" -goons that snatch random people who are sporting obvious chrome off the street. The poor slots wake up somewhere , minus their expensive implant. That's right, the Masks rip the 'ware out of their bodies, destroy it, then patch the slob up and put 'em back on the street. -- Clausen>>>>

<<<<You've been watching too many corp-produced action thrillers. I could write a better plot in my sleep. --- Orpheus>>>>

Their radicalism also extends to their views towards the Spirit World. The Crying Masks abhor "spirit slavery", and have been known to take action to set bound spirits (allies, guardians, free spirits) free. They've been known to receive help from the spirits themselves in these matters, and it is suspected that the Crying Masks have some powerful free spirit allies.

<<<<The spirits aren't just allies - they've taken over the Crying Masks. The Haudenosaunee belief about the masks being magical beigns unto themselves is true - the masks are alive! And they've taken over the Crying Mask shamans who wear them. ---Reflect >>>>>

<<<<On that enlightening note, it's time to close this discussion.--- Captain Chaos "I am everywhere!" >>>>