Mensh

Faction: Menshes (Proposal)
"Every beginning is difficult."

Mensh Preacher.

Basic Description
Many have come east out of the ruins of Russia - where the bombardment was, in places, strongest - seeking shelter or recompense. Some are refugees; others, like the Red Guard, are attempting to establish a kind of order through an organised militia and a revival of the old traditions, themselves split between their varying loyalties, some cleaving to the star of Lenin, others to Josef Stalin, and even the 'traitor Gorbachev' who, some argue, was seeking to rise to power and bring down the USSR. Many are gangsters, initiating young men into their ranks with a sense of angry, wronged nationalism.

And then there are the Menshes; an odd combination of secular priest and roving lawmaker. Each of their number dresses in tatty (often scarlet) ascetic's robes beneath their longcoats, and carries with him a copy of Marx - generally The Communist Manifesto, but often another work depending on their personal inclination. Their actual similarity to the Mensheviks of old is questionable; rather, they keep up a code of preaching an often simplified version of peaceful socialism to the people of Scandanavia, arguing that in times such as these, sharing communally is the only way the individual can survive. A Mensh will always carry a weapon of some kind - as necessary for survival in the wilderness - but will only use it as a last resort; their dictat is to establish community through dialogue and persuasion. Male members are often bearded; female members crop their hair short, signifying their identification with the labouring class.

Sometimes a Mensh will appear in a small Scandanivan settlement. He'll share what little he has with those he meets, chat to the locals in their bar, and make friends. Usually, he'll chip in with the workers, doing his share of the manual labour, talking to them all of the while, helping to solve small-town disputes, generally inviegling himself into the community, and encouraging those around him to give up a share of their wealth. If there is a particularly rich or dominant citizen in town, the Mensh will target them - first trying to engage them in dialogue and 'convert' them away from their selfishness. If that technique fails, the Mensh will start to quietly turn everyone else against them, cutting off their food supplies, making them an outcast...and in one or two cases, a rogue Mensh has even been accused of inciting the society to rioting and murder, while of course keeping their own hands clean.

Menshes are, ostensibly, equal - though the administration of their organisation is controlled by Citizen Matvey Rost, a stout, tall man who is jokingly known by his comrades as Matvey Ubermensh.

Aims
A bit of a play-about with the ideas of capitalism/communism/religion - a faction of people who act decently, but in pursuit of their own agenda to convert those around them, and who can be driven themselves towards terrible behaviour for the sake of their theory.