The Shepherding and 10,000 Founders - DimethylSulfate/drooldick GitHub Wiki

The Shepherding and the Ten Thousand Founders are both related to the founding of Los Caídos Commune (LCC), which is now know as Taqfleck.

The Shepherding

The Shepherding is the name of the event where Zero walked through Los Caídos to lure a large number of zeitgabberim to follow her, eventually leading them out of the city and into Los Caídos Commune (later Taqfleck). This was made possible by Zero's unique pheromones, which send an "aggregate" signal that can be detected for over a quarter mile. The Shepherding occurred on September 18 in 2017, although some stragglers joined a little later. Some non-infected present as aid workers ended up getting infected themselves, such as Dr Mendoza, and others such as Tackle and Kuneho joined after a family member was shepherded.

The Shepherding disproportionately involved non-carriers, as carriers tended to have the presence of mind to not blindly follow the horde. Plenty of carriers did show up however, many out of curiosity or having nothing better to do. September 18th was a Monday in 2017 and pheromones tend not to disperse deeply through office buildings from outside, so it also brought in a disproportionate number of service workers, especially those who live or work outside.

The Ten Thousand Founders

In total, just under 10,000 people were shepherded to LCC or joined not long after. This was significantly larger than the number Zero and Los Caídos city officials had planned for. Additionally, a large number of the infected couldn't properly take care of themselves. The situation quickly devolved into a crisis, made worse by violent attacks against the nascent society.

The popular narrative in Licentia is that Zero pulled together thousands of strangers and ultimately they overcame the odds together through hard work and sacrifice. Some dissidents are more cynical and see Zero as overly ambitious, a poor planner, or a megalomaniac. However, regardless of their view on Zero, virtually everyone in Licentia respects the Ten Thousand Founders for laying the groundwork of proto-Licentia, learning more about how to thrive with the virus, and developing a culture of collective benefit.

There is a relatively clear delineation about who is and is not a member of the Ten Thousand, as the constant barrage of external attacks forced LCC to temporarily deny entry to all unknown persons. What's less clear is if all members deserve reverence, as it has among its ranks thieves (Firebrand), homophobes (Tackle), anti-welfarists (Ethan), opportunists (Erin), sociopaths (Perla), mutants (Mendoza), layabouts (Flowers), addicts (Liyebre), manipulators (Zero), murderers (Lioncaster), cowards (Colleen), and assholes (Jang-mi). However, among the Ten Thousand, there is a general sense of reconciliation given the extreme circumstances. This belief is at least understandable to most infected, but has alienated some non-infected observers.

The names of the Ten Thousand decorate an art piece made of scrap metal in Taqfleck's southern district. There remains one unidentified person among the Ten Thousand who died in an attack on the commune prior to the first full census; this person is referred to as "Only Known To God" or "Only Known To Fate."

Members of the Ten Thousand

Characters are listed by their most commonly used name(s).

  • Catrina
  • Colleen
  • Ethan
  • Erin+
  • Fernández, Esq
  • Flowers
  • Hawk
  • Hook
  • Jang-mi*
  • Jellylegs*
  • Kelly "Rambo" Connors
  • Kenneth
  • Kuneho+
  • Liam
  • Lioncaster, MD
  • Liyebre
  • Mary "Bandit" Waters
  • Mendoza, MD+
  • Only Known To God
  • Perla
  • Sogoro*
  • Stonewall*
  • Stuart "Shithead" Hartmann
  • Tackle
  • Watchdog*
  • Wendy "Firebrand" Salvo
  • Zero*

*Involved in preparing for the shepherding +Not initially shepherded, but joined within a few weeks