Forest Sisters

Forest Sisters

Total population
Approximately several billion persons
Regions with significant populations
All over the Colonial Republic, particularly Earth SSR (Eastern Europe), New Chicago County, New Hokkaido County.
Languages
Dornalian English, Russian, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Romanian, Polish
Religion
Orthodox Christianity, Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Buddhism
Related ethnic groups
Gatas

The Forest Sisters are the other significant group of animal-eared peoples in the Colonial Republic. Descended from genetically modified humans like their Gata cousins, the Forest Sisters, a.k.a "Bonks," amassed a significant reputation in the post-Civil War era.

Names

The Forest Sisters themselves refer to themselves, regardless of clan, by some locally translated variant of the term "Forest Sister." For example, the Russian packs call themselves "Lesnye Sestry (plural)/"Lesnaya Sestra (singular)". Scholars themselves have reached the consensus that the Forest Sisters were so named due to their resemblance to an old pre-Apocalypse guerilla force in Estonia knoen as the Forest Brothers, namely in the superficial similarity of their use of guerilla tactics amd preference for hiding in wooded environments. It is thought the nickname began, appropriately enoigh, in post-Apocalyptic Estonia.

More commonly, the Dornalians (and even many sisters themselves) refer to the Forest Sisters as "Bonks," after a mispronunciation of the Cyrillic transliteration for "Volk," the Russian for "Wolf." No one knows who made the first such malapropism, but it would not be the last. As with the Gatas, one can call the Forest Sisters "beastlings" as well. Individuals from the Consortium are known to refer to Bonks as "Fluffies."

Origins

Early Origins

Much like the gatas, the Forest Sisters (hereinafter "Bonks") were an artificial creation of The Institution. The Institution sought to create other animal-based variants of the cat-based waitress which would become the "Gatas," this time focusing on wolves and dogs. Although there had been an initial "pilot project" using coyote-eared individuals in Alberta, Canada, the Institution effectively began making Bonks in earnest. Situating the wolf/dog based variant laboratories in Eastern Europe and post-Soviet Russia, it was easy to locate suitable test subjects (many of them Eastern European, obviously) and also to evade official scrutiny by fair means or foul. The experimentation was similar to that of the Gatas, including the fact that the Apocalypse effectively ended the experiments.

Unbeknownst to the public at large and to mainstream academics, the Institution behind the Bonks was really none other than the notorious Majestic-12, a secretive and very rogue element of the US Government established in 1947 after the Roswell incident. Majestic's involvement in the creation of the Bonks was simple. Profit through cuteness. Elements of Majestic-12's Steering Committee know the "truth", but given the shenanigans established above, even the truth they know is a half-remembered, barely-documented fable.

At any rate, Bonk history took a much violent turn. In the chaos of post-Apocalyptic Russia (which included a revived czarist monarchy) and the Great Russian Invasion which lead to the rise of the Russo-German Union, fanatical pogroms were enacted against the Bonks, who were targeted for any number of reasons. These pogroms are remembered as the Dark Times, and indeed unlike the Mexican gatas, the Bonks were pushed to near-genocide.

Of course, as author Sarah Sidorova of the All-Dornalia Forest Sisters’ Pack Assembly notes, "this being New Dornalia, no one takes anything lying down."

The "Bonks" escaped to the woods, and before long, began living as bandits and survivalists in small communities that kept to themselves as they began to rebuild their numbers. In an attempt to ensure the survival of their people, the various Packs began to band together for governance, fighting for resources, hunting, waging war against the Interior Troops and generally engaging in survivalist activity in the woods. The Bonks' neverending fight for survival during this time led the Bonks down paths which guaranteed glory and danger in equal measure. One of the more famous bands of fighters were the forces of Lydia Aisenshtadt, who formed what historians know as the "Aisenshtadtschina", a fearsome bandit army which resisted Imperial onslaughts and gained a reputation for Robin Hood-like activity, and whose descendants still exist in the form of various branches of the Aisenshtadt Family both biological and adopted.

However, other fighters existed. The legendary La Loba of gata legend was really one Aleksandra Ivanovna Briner, a mercenary general who ended up in Cuba along with her men. Additionally, historical research conducted by institutions in Breheim and the CRE indicates that through means currently being investigated, various Bonk groups made their way to the lands of Breheim, acting as mercenaries and traders and becoming known by the term "Ulflik", or "Wolf-Body" in Breheimian. A famous group immortalized in the epic poem known as The Legend of the Sich Rifles is the Sich Rifles formed by Bohdan Timoshenko, who formed the Rifles and engaged in innovative tactics that contributed to victory by Gurnvald's forces in the War of the Fifty-or-So Bastards. Likewise, evidence indicates the bonk traders exchanged items, which occasionally included modern weapons and ammunition to local customers, particularly in Breheim's medieval period.

Years of survivalist and guerilla activity soon gave the Forest Sisters a reputation, which lasted into the MacIntyre Era and beyond.

SWC Arrival

The "Bonks" largely remained unknown outside of Russia and Eastern Europe until the Civil War, although one character in the Jacinta saga has been proven to be a Bonk. However, the Civil War saw a massive war against Mahdist necromancers in Eastern Europe. This war in turn lead them to be contacted by the Starways Congress and the Loyalists also. The purpose of contacting these tribes was to battle Mahdist insurgents who fielded Necromancers amongst their ranks. In the postwar environment, the Bonks attracted everyone's attention, especially that of the SWC and it's Warsaw Pact. When the Warsaw Pact zone was formed, many programs were implemented which favored the Bonks, including preferential hiring over gatas.

Hitting it Big

The Bonks, before long, began making their way into the life of the Republic, with a large number hired by private and public agencies such as ERIS. This was caused by, among other things, the decline of the Kroot in the wake of the War and also the destruction of many traditional mercenary groups in the Republic due to the War. The Bonks have even expanded into other nations, namely the Constitutional Empire of Rohane Alista. The latter part was due to Anita Persky, a Bonk from the Polish-Russian Persky family, who became involved with Arnold Estelman and helped ensure the foundation of Rohane Alista Industries Dornalia.

Governance

Generally, the Bonks organize themselves into semi-military Bands, groups of which are called Packs. The Packs are governed by "The Rules," an unspoken code of conduct and custom partly based on common sense, Russian customs and whatever edicts ("ukases") the head of the Pack (the alpha aka "Vozhd" or "Boss") comes up with. Trials are usually short, and consist of summary punishments, often the Running of the Gauntlet. Packs cover a large geographic area--the White Tights, the largest Pack, covers most of Southern European Russia to the Caucasus, yet their total population isn't that big.

Bonks tend to keep to themselves, but have no explicit prohibition against dealing with outsiders and traveling--they're just very territorial. Bonks were also notorious for disliking unannounced visitors, although this has been changing a little. They have been seen working with Russian Cossack units in the past. The White Tights have recently adopted elements of the Don Cossack tables of organization, and have been spotted supplying spotter and sniper teams to help the Terek Cossacks in their endless blood feud with the Chechens.

Additionally, many Bonks have increasingly been seen off world. One band of the White Tights has been organized in New Hokkaido and currently aids the New Hokkaido Police Service with tracking escaped convicts,. Also, they're on the Congressionals' shortlist of people to hire for particular jobs, most recently as interpreters with Dornalian units to translate between the Congressional and Dornalian English variants and also as the basis for a regiment of clones in Dornalian service. Bonks have even been sighted in the Rohanian Meagher Knights.

Packs

The All-Dornalian Forest Sister Pack Assembly recognizes the following "Mother Packs," from which all others are derived. Note that many of these pack members have migrated beyond Dornie Earth to various places such as New Chicago County and Rohane Alista.

Russian-Ukrainian Packs

The "vanilla" packs which are most commonly encountered, as they're the largest in numbers. The biggest Pack as mentioned before is the White Tights, whose extent ranges from the Eastern Ukraine to the Caucasus, with the second largest being the North Star Pack in Northern Russia and parts of Eastern Finland. Tend to be Russian Orthodox, although Jewish, Buddhist, and Eastern Catholic Bonks have been encountered (particularly in North America and outside Russia and Ukraine itself). Tend to use Eastern Bloc weapons almost exclusively, some articles passed down for years on end. Nothing much to write about here that hasn't been said already, except a long running feud with the Chechens.

Of note is that the Ukrainian packs tend to skew to more distinctly Ukrainian traditions as a way of distinguishing themselves from their Russian neighbors. This includes the use of Ukrainian as a second language besides Forest Sister Russian and their Cossack theming tends to reflect Zaporoizhian origins. More Ukrainianized Bonks even object to the classification of "Russian-Ukrainian Packs", urging the Ukrainians to be recognized as distinct.

Polish Packs

The Silesian Pack and the Lublin-Masovian Packs are the arguably aren't as big as the others. However, they are ironically the most open. Unlike their Russian or Romanian cousins, their forest camps tend not to be as heavily fortified. Rather, the Poles prefer to trade and make peace to ensure their long term survival, a strategy that has lead to the inevitable Polack joke as it is seen as rather stupid. Still, it has paid off--rural peasants aren't all that hostile to the Bonks, and the Rules of the Polish Bonks explicitly endorse the protection of the weak and minorities. This has lead to situations resembling that of the Magnificent Seven, and a reputation for generosity which also puts them at odds with the other Packs. Polish Packs are also known among the Bonk Community for their skills in mechanical engineering and tinkering, something which has lead to large numbers of them being hired for work among the Big Five Megacorps.

Romanian Packs

The Carpathian and Transylvanian Packs are of a very different stripe than the others. They are decidedly the "paranoid gun nuts" of the Bonk world, having been locked in an eternal struggle with supernatural elements hiding in the Romanian backcountry, both on Earth and in various parts of the Republic. They are highly superstitious, paranoid, and keep to themselves in highly fortified camps which are decidedly hostile to outsiders. This has admittedly lead to occasional clashes with Romanian Gendarmerie policemen, who wonder what those crazy Russkies are up to now as well as other Packs. This has also extended to law enforcement in other regions, as evidenced by the Julia Neumann Trial where a Romanian Bonk was convicted for voluntary manslaughter of a suspected vampire.

However, they are also the Bonks' number one source for advanced Western optics and precious metals. In particular, they use a number of Western arms intermixed with their Romanian-made arms. They also like to carry silver knives with them at all times, and the Silver Knife has become a ceremonial weapon for many Romanian-based groups.

Balkan Packs

This is a collective name for various packs living in the Former Yugoslavia as well as Albania and parts of Northern Greece, including the Novi Sad Pack, Jovovich's Jaegers and the Skanderbeg Squad. They are also known in Forest Sister Russian as the "Sokolovtsy", named after their legendary founder Mariya Sokolova. Sokolova, according to Balkan Bonk legend, was the leader of a band of fighters that sought a Promised Land to the west that promised prosperity, safety from the Tsar's retribution due to a gold heist the group did, and many a war for them to fight.

The Balkan Bonks have the most diversity of the packs, besides maybe the Russian packs. Many Balkan Bonks continue to hail from Serbia. However, Muslim Bonk forces are known to exist such as Razak's Roughnecks--a Bosniak band known to be copious consumers of mutton and sheep products--and the Albanians of "Musine's Own." However, Catholic Croat bands are also known to exist, as are packs known to be affiliated with the remnants of NATO, EU, and UN forces in the region which have since become their own tribes. All of them tend to be well assimilated into their affiliated cultures, while not forgetting about their roots. Although many of the Bonks here continue to revere Mariya Sokolova, certain subgroups exist, namely the Titoists, the YuMex, and the Tupacists. In short, the Titoists revere Marshal Josip Broz Tito as a war god and a god of unity with the hope that the Marshal's Guidance will bring unity to the Balkan Bonks (and even dress as Partisans and carry JNA weaponry), the YuMex follow the local "YuMex" subculture which causes them to affect Mexican-style/pseudo-Mexican dress and mannerisms and music, and the Tupacists (who are mostly Serbian Bonks) don a mixture of gopnik/1990s gangsta/Serbian ultranationalist culture and believe somehow that the pre-Apocalypse musician Tupac Shakur is somehow alive and well in Serbia, and inspires others--mostly Serbians--with his musical genius.

Their choice of equipment is varied. Although many use Soviet Bloc and Former Yugoslav gear, an influx of arms plus the various pre-war weapons available to the Balkan factions and later the Balkan Bonks ensures that many know how to use everything from Blasters to HK417s. For example, Packs aligned with the Blue Helmets/Euphorians/Kayforians use Western equipment, such as M4 rifles. Meanwhile, many bands from Serbia are known to employ the M76 rifle in 8mm Mauser, passing down M76s from generation to generation, while the Croatian Bonks are known to employ a mixture of local designs like the VHS and even ancient M1 Thompson submachineguns.

The Balkan Packs are known for their mountaineering and navigation prowess, honed in the rough terrain of the Former Yugoslavia and surrounding regions. This has made them worthy hires for many PMCs as well as SWC and CRE government forces. GM Land Security hired a number of Musine's Own, an Albanian group, as part of its formation. They’ve also been stereotyped with the image of being bloodthirsty grifters, as at least several of the more infamous Balkan Bonks had ties to organized crime syndicates. They are also known for their love of turbofolk.

Hungarian Packs

The smallest known Pack, the Hungarian Pack is unique in the fact that it is mostly culturally assimilated into Hungarian society, using Hungarian as a language, eating Hungarian food and even embracing Roman Catholicism. They use Forest Sister Russian in ceremonies and also indulge in oral traditions to keep memories of the past alive, though, and still maintain a kind of isolation from their neighbors. The Hungarian Pack also prefers, besides Kalashnikovs, the use of Western made weaponry--even more so than the Romanians. They're also stereotyped, like Hungarians generally, as good with music.

The Hungarian Pack works with its Polish counterparts (an arrangement dating back from Apocalypse times), and many Hungarian Bonks speak and understand Polish; they also have since the coming of the SWC tended to learn SWC Proper and other languages such as German.

The Polish-Hungarian Alliance comes in handy, as the Hungarian Bonks have inherited the old rivalries Hungary has with their neighbors, and as such tend to get into scraps with Yugoslav Bonks and Romanian Bonks on occasion--meaning they need the help.

Rohanian Packs

The newest Pack, these Bonks are descended from members of various Packs (mostly Russo-Ukrainian and Polish) which migrated to Rohane Alista. The Pack Registry has recognized the increasingly growing Rohanian Bonk population as having a Pack unto itself, citing the fact many Bonks are slowly adapting to Rohanian life. This includes obeying the legal prohibitions against clothing in most circumstances. They tend not to be as well armed by Dornalian standards, but are known to seek out crossbows if they can help it. They are also increasingly forming a culturally distinct group. One example is the Rohanian Bonks' version of Forest Sister Russian now considered to be a distinct creole in itself. Another is the Rohanianization of Forest Sister names, with surnames such as "Wolfsdottir" and even Rohanianized direct translations of Slavic patrynomics being increasingly common.

Kaminotsy

The Kaminotsy, aka "Kaminoans" in English, is the title given to members of the 999th Regimental Combat Team. The 999th is essentially Dornalia's only unit of clone soldiers, made using Bonk clones pattered upon Ekaterina Vasilyeva Persky, a member of the Polish-Russian Persky family known as "The Hound"--a relentless, devastatingly creative Circuitrider that was known for her gunfighting skills and dogged persistence in intercepting suspects. The Kaminotsy have insisted on a policy of exogamy, and the clone origins of the Kaminotsy have attracted criticism from the other Clans. Still, the Pack Registry has recognized them as a pack, with the 999th's logo as the Pack's symbol.

Commonwealth Packs/Varangians

Found mainly in the Commonwealth of the Westfall Realm, the Varangians are descendants of Dornalian mercenaries of the same name--often Bonks--and "Old Kadrians" that joined with House Westfall to escape certain destruction. The result is a hybrid culture which contains significant elements of both Dornalian Slavic and Old Kadrian cultures, including mixtures of Russian and Old Kadrian names (e.g. Alisa Theodenova Westfall-Tereshkova) and equipment which blends styles from both (think "Kievan Rus in SPACE" in style), a love of axes, and even a version of Cyrillic writing known as "Commonwealth Cyrillic" influenced by local runes. Many Varangians even have Old Kadrian ancestry, which often manifests in a Bonk-Elf hybrid look. The Varangians have even begun partaking in local politics with the Newly Emerging Houses, and figure in local military service, including the Commonwealth Dragoons raised for Mystrian service.

The Volkozak Host

The Volkozak Host is a group from the territory of The Free Trader Republic of New Nassau. A sort of "free port" partly sponsored by the Dornalians, New Nassau became host to a significant number of Bonks. A significant number of these Bonks came from a loose association of armed spacers of varying degrees of legality originally from the fringes of the Republic. These spacers shared a lust for opportunity and to earn a living in an exciting new environment, as well as the common quality of possessing their own ships and an itinerant streak picked up from years of moving from one job to another. The result was that over the years, many of these Bonks banded together for protection, eventually falling under the command of self-proclaimed "Hetman" Ivan Ivanovich Yurchenko, now known as "Yvan Yurchenko". Yurchenko is a former mercenary who worked with the Don Cossacks back on Earth, and used his organizational genius and combat prowess to unite the various Volkozak forces into the Host.

At any rate, the Host found a new opportunity and moved into New Nassau. The Volkozak Host now calls New Nassau its home, although its members’ semi-migratory tendencies mean that the various members of the Host often venture far and wide to seek their fortune--even back into New Dornalia itself. The Host’s various ventures include peddling goods, acting as mercenaries, and also smuggling goods to even the most denied of areas. They also, true to their leader’s training, have taken on Cossack-inspired trappings. This includes the organization of the Host into various “sotnias” or “squadrons”, the use of ranks such as “yesaul” and “ataman” as titles of varying importance for their members, and even the wearing of Cossack-inspired clothing in some instances. The Host's sotnias are known to field armed merchant cruisers of all sizes, with a style characterized by Dornalian law enforcement with the Skyriver-derived name 'ugly' or 'uglyship.' This is a product of the Host's various constituents using components of all sorts, either salvaged, obtained, or otherwise, in their spacecraft.

The Host has gained a significant degree of power and influence in New Nassau due to their wealth and activities. They have also gained potent enemies within both New Dornalia and New Nassau as a result. In particular, the Host became enrolled as an official Pack in the All-Dornalian Pack Registry only after considerable controversy involving their members’ potential involvement in criminal activities, a bare majority of one vote, and a defamation lawsuit in the Dornalian courts with the title of Yurchenko v. New Dornalia Broadcasting Corporation that ended in the Host’s favor and upheld the constitutionality of the TRUTH Act. Some critics of the Pack admission, citing New Nassau-based sources, even accused the Host of acting as “guns for hire” on behalf of the infamous Western Biomedical Research company, which itself has a mysterious and checkered history involving any number of acts of mad science. It should be noted that Yurchenko himself denied all allegations to that end.

Physiology/Appearance

They have wolf or dog ears, wolf or dog tails and generally resemble Eastern European humans. Uniform wise, many wear simple, practical clothing; camo jackets and BDUs are often seen, as are old Tsarist tunics with BDU pants. Being that they are survivalists who are part apex predator, they're more focused on stealth, efficiency and how to get the drop on their prey. As such, they tend to favor camo and muted colors, and disdain shiny and noisy objects.

Abilities

The Forest Sisters have developed unusually strong senses like their gata cousins, with enhanced hearing and smell for example, due to their wolf-based genetic modifications. These skills are used by the Sisters to become the best trackers and survivalists in the Russian steppe, if arguably not the CRE. Able to pick out enemy sign and spoor with the precision normally found in bloodhounds and bioscanners, Forest Sisters in law enforcement service, usually with Russian Cossack bands, have proven an invaluable asset in catching fugitives and prison escapees. Conversely, they're damn good at sneaking and silent tracking--skills which have parlayed themselves into service with Rohanian park rangers and Dornalian detective agencies alike. The Forest Sisters have also years of survival experience in the Russian taiga and steppes. They're particularly good at scrounging and restoring things that shouldn't work--a product of being a society that's lived "on the run" for hundreds of years.

Bonks also are legendary for playing a strong accordion. They also are known to practice the hopak dance exceptionally well, and are rather intelligent, being part wolf.

Squad cohesion is noticably higher with the Sisters, due to the fact they are trained to hunt in packs, partly by training and partly by instinct. This is true for both all-bonk and mixed teams.

Cultural Notes

The Forest Sisters, unlike the gatas, do not discriminate between males and females within their society--to them, survival of the band and pack is more important, although the women do seem more prominent.

Bonks are mostly culturally similar to other Eastern European Slavic groups, sharing similar customs and oral tradition, albeit with a slight lean towards Russian-Ukrainian culture and unique touches influenced by their history and their genetic makeup. For example, the legendary Bonk outlaw known as Lydia Aisenshtadt was known to serve salted bread to captives and guests alike who visited her band, and also was known to make pelmeni out of smoked beef and venison, and then to smoke them again for preservation. She was also known to play chess with captives, and by all accounts would have been a strong competitor on the Russian chess circuit had she not been a bandit.

This extends to their cuisine, which is mostly based on Eastern European foods, although Bonk cuisine utilizes more of a "survivalist" mindset. For example, one popular type of "Spacer's Sausage" used by ship crews is based on an old Bonk "forest kolbasa" recipe made of game meat which was salted with a spice and salt mixture, and then smoked for preservation. Forest Kolbasa is still part of the Bonk diet, and is even sold to tourists and other Dornalians in markets, although many swear by the more artisan made versions. Another example is the Bonk version of Ukrainian cured fatback known as "Salo," which features smoking and the use of rubs. Additionally, the Bonks have a tradition of producing their own variants of Russian "samogon" moonshine, often using the resulting chemicals as drink, medicine, and trade good. Some artisanal samogon makers still make variants for sale.

They speak, naturally, most Eastern European languages and have been known to comprehend both Dornie English and SWC "Proper," making them useful as translators for SWC forces working with Dornies. Older Bonks have been known to speak a form of Russian, mixed with Ukranian, Belarusian and other Eastern European languages, even a smattering of Yiddish and German known as "Forest Sister Russian," although this is becoming an endangered language. Efforts are being made by the All-Dornalian Forest Sister Pack Assembly to document this language and preserve it for future generations.

Although they do inhabited wooded areas in the past, they are NOT strict environmentalists. For example, Romanian Bonks in the countryside are known to make ruthlessly efficient use of trees to build defensive works, and there have been clashes over potentially illegal logging by the various Romanian groups in the Carpathians. Many rural Bonks are also known to keep animal companions, a holdover custom from the days where the use of guarding and hunting animals was necessary. Many of these animals tend to be more aggressive types, such as hounds or even falcons.

They also practice a form of Russian Sombo martial arts, mixed with Russian Fist Fighting and other, more decidedly "wolf-like" techniques. They also favor Russian weapons--no good Forest Sister goes without at least a Grach pistol or a Kalashnikov--but Bands have been seen with Western and Chinese weapons in the past.