Post by DD on Jun 30, 2021 2:49:29 GMT -5
“Brother. The world has gone to shit. Divine salvation has been wrought upon us all. The undead received their punishment. The doubters and the disbelievers got what was coming to them. None can avoid judgement, not even you sinner, undeath is your price so I think it is time you pay…” - Father Joseph
On the left is the symbol used by the Black Dawn cult. It is supposed to represent the all seeing eye of the divine father surrounded by the sun, representing the dawn of a new day. The symbol is black to represent darkness, to remind those who follow Joseph's teachings of the coming darkness and the end of days. On the right is a variation of the symbol that was sometimes seen on literature and other materials.
Black Dawn is a doomsday style cult that had membership in the hundreds. They believe in an end of the world judgement day scenario where the righteously saved through their diving teachings and the divine preachings of their leaders would survive the coming apocalypse. Those that did not seek the divine teachings were not worthy and deserved death.
It just so happens that the zombie apocalypse took place and solidified in stone their beliefs, some of which were rather extreme and crazed. Those in their ranks that might have once had wavering faith in the Father’s teachings are now devout followers, viewing the zombie outbreak as his word come true. They viewed themselves as the rightful heirs to this world, the undead as the punishment for those who did not seek righteous divine salvation through their teachings and view those among the living who outside of their cult who survived as sinners for whole they need deal out punishment in the form of death.
Very little if any of their teachings make sense, picked and plucked from various religious texts and supposed dreams heir righteous leader had. But then… Jim Jones didn’t make sense either, neither did Charles Manson but folk still poisoned themselves and butchered people for both of them, revering them and following their every word like it was divine gospel.
The cult is led by Father Joseph and Mother May, two crazed but very charismatic sociopaths. Scores of followers hang on to their every word,’their fanatical beliefs spurred on by the zombie apocalypse as it is just further proof that what Father Joseph said was true. They do not like outsiders, outright hostile to them. And worse yet they view it as their divine mission towards true salvation that they seek out and deliver divine punishment upon the unbelievers, those who try and avoid their fate. In layman’s terms, they look to seek out and kill fellow survivors outside of the cult and turn them into zombies since they view the undead as the punishment unbelievers received for their sins.
They do not trust anyone and for that it is best they are avoided. The members are fanatical and brainwashed, looking towards outsiders with hostility. They treat the zombie hordes better then they do those still among the living. The apocalypse culled their herd, several of them lost to the zombie apocalypse, but the group still claimed well over 70 members. A lot of them were survivors of the apocalypse that already belonged to the cult and others were found after and indoctrinated into the cult. Those who weren't a good fit were well... Let's just say they are no long around to cause problems.
The cult feels it is their duty too find, kidnap, and punish those out in the larger world who did not fall to the zombie plague early on. They view the zombie plague as divine punishment and as the children of a higher divine power guided by a divine calling it is their duty too feed those survivors they find to the zombie hordes. They cannot escape divine punishment and must walk among the dead for their sins. The cult who was once devout has only had their faith sealed in concrete by the events that transpired and led to the end of the world as everyone knew it. They happily hunt down other survivors so they may face their divine punishment. In the center of their compound is an old well. Down in the dark and dank depths of the well, standing in waist deep water, is a bloated and rotting zombie who fell into the old well some time ago and likely not long after the apocalypse took place. The zombie has been down there ever since, left too claw at the walls, desperate too escape. He is divine judgement. For them he is final judgement for those who they feel are trying to escape the righteous fury of the one, divine savior. They call him Michael, after Saint Michael, who is said too weigh souls and judge them based on their deeds during their life on earth. They lower hapless survivors they've kidnapped too their demise in the well. Most of them are bound and unable to do anything as Michael bites into their flesh. It is a death sentence but they do not die there in that well, you can't get that lucky. The way they look at it, you only turn if divine judgement deems you a sinner worthy of divine punishment and what better punishment then being left too wander around as one of the undead? Naturally, that isn't how the zombie plague works and everyone bitten turns but they don't see it that way and in their minds it makes perfect sense. In the end the survivor turns into a zombie before being thrown back out into the world too wander and suffer a sinners fate.
The cult had a large compound out in the middle of nowhere where a lot of them lived out their lives away from society, stuck in their own bubble. They were not a very trusting lot and really disliked the government and law enforcement. Both were vehicles of disbelief and sin, here to try and steal their righteous members away from righteousness. The compound at one time used too be a camping spot called Camp Buckskins, a place used annually by the Boyscouts of America and other groups. It was occasionally known to be a retreat for one corporate bonding experience or another. The compound that Father Joseph and his flock used prior to the zombie apocalypse fell and became an unsuitable location after most of the world rose up as undead. They were forced too abandon the location and seek out another one. He lost a few members of his flock of devout followers on the journey too find a new location but they eventually settled at Camp Buckskin, a place he remembered going as a youth.
The compound was a large building with several smaller buildings on a large plot of land. Even before the zombie apocalypse the compound was well protected, surrounded by a gated wall and hidden away from outsiders. It sat at the top of a small mountain crest near the eastern shores of Oregon, up a road that was mostly gravel with patches of dirt. The group had further fortified the compound to the best of their ability to keep out the dead sinners and those who have yet too meet their fate and receive divine punishment. The group numbers upwards of more then seventy or more members both men, women and children in a variety of age ranges.