Sodality: Instigation

Instigation is the first season of Sodality, and covers the gradual coming together of the Founding Elites of the Sodality of Gerosha.

Synopsis
America has fallen. Four new nations have developed: Toklisana, Ameristan, Netheel, and Chimerica. Trapped behind enemy lines in Ameristan, registered Toklisanans Candi, Dolly, Imaki, and Donte seek to lead a troupe of refugees to safety in Texas, and start their lives over. Meanwhile, the relentless Triumvirate consisting of the Society of the Icy Finger, Hebbleskin Gang, and Phaletori - along with the Affadidah regime as allies - plots to destroy all resistance to their quest for unlimited power. Several of the Legends of the Battle for Cincinnati - the Gray Champion, Extirpon, Navyrope, Mapacha del Fuego, and more; are either killed, captured, missing, or scattered abroad amidst the new political reality. Dolly wants to find her missing husband; and Candi must deal with her past as Ciem and her present predicament of living in a terrorized wasteland where her old identity is all but useless. Imaki's troupe also must cope with the fact that Duke Arfaas has placed a price on their heads - and the heads of anyone too closely associated with them. Candi is particularly a target.

As the Hebbleskins send Don the Psycho and Wayne the Vampire to the University of Houston to terrorize the populace, local vigilante Jack Mercreek takes it on himself to deal with these bad guy vampires and their associates when the police inexplicably won't. Meanwhile, thieves Jordan Reddlewick and Celia Winehart plot how to improve their fortunes and legal standing, while doing something about the Hebbleskins' threats to their homeland that the National Guard can't or won't stop.

Meanwhile, Miriam Flippo must make new friends in China if she wishes to avenge the death of her fiance and his family - and save China from a Hebbleskin threat brewing beneath the surface.

Recap
The Obama administration in this timeline forced the United States into complete financial ruin in 2016, with the process sped along by way of Rappaccini sending his Screwworm terrorists to conduct numerous raids on behalf of the ISIS-sympathizing jihadi terrorist leader Halal Affadidah. The first sign of serious trouble began in 2015, with the fall of Evansville via Screwworm attack.

While the Shortcut to Armageddon was thwarted via an Abdygalis Shard being destroyed, thus preventing Rickrod's machine from being completed, another shard remained on Earth - and posed a threat greater than all the Marlquaanite Rubies in existence! Before it could be used by Rappaccini to open up the Megaverse; it was intercepted by Anarteq and sent to Neptune to be destroyed via the sacrifice of Nanaouk - with a little help from Emeraldon. The rogue Scott Morrisson may have been contained as a threat ; but the Gray Champion was forced to sacrifice his chance to save Boston in order to protect the Midwest.

By 2016, chaos had engulfed the nation. In addition to Obama's policies wreaking havoc, Rappaccini upped his ante following Arfaas' retreat from wishing to take Gerosha. The Hebbleskin Gang focused on conquest of the northwestern US, while the Icy Finger took on the East Coast and Midwest regions. The Phaletori, meanwhile, gained a strong foothold over the American South. A stronghold of freedom fighters formed in the south; in the states of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. As more and more territories of America fell to ruin, the four remaining states forged a resistance nation known as "Toklisana" - one that would be under constant siege.

Rappaccini showed off his strength in particular with the destruction of Louisville and Cincinnati - made possible with his Screwworm agents aided by Eric Korsicht and the Anito Squad. While multiple heroes were called upon by SCALLOP to fight back, none were able to save the two cities from absolute destruction. They only managed to weaken Rappaccini's forces enough to convince him to fall back and regroup. However, the combined efforts of the Gray Champion and Ciem ensured that Korsicht could never cause any further volcanic destruction. The early Sodality church took a while to decrypt Rappaccini's plan for SCALLOP, as their best intel was laden with riddles that required Anarteq visiting the Shark King of Hawaii to solve.

All the same, Kropimak Duzerit and Quoll combined succeeded in acquiring Korsicht's necklace back from a SCALLOP safekeeping vault, due to a mole within the organization. They were both defeated by Ciem; but not before they nearly killed Agent Lapborn and almost destroyed much of Earth's climate by way of initiating a detonation of Yellowstone in late 2017. They were only thwarted in their total success of the latter by way of the interference of Extirpon.

Exiles began fleeing the rise of Affadidah's new "Ameristan" nation as early as February of 2018, as arrangements were being made (that he intended to renege without warning) for anyone not wishing to live inside his land to leave while they had the chance. Among these were included most of the workers of Lambrelli Labs, which had wanted to move to Oklahoma ever since the attack on Des Moines by Lady Screwworm. An energy wall was put up around the Ameristani border, courtesy of cooperation with Duke Arfaas and the Hebbleskins. Amidst the chaos, China invaded California, Washington, and Oregon, to prevent the Hebbleskins from taking the west coast. A new colony dubbed "Chimerica" was born, as a sort of large-scale expansion of the "Hong Kong experiment." The Hebbleskins retaliated by financing numerous criminal operations and invasions into both China and Japan, putting strain on MSS Team Black Rat to combat them. Meanwhile, the American Left sought hard to undermine Toklisana from within. Their nefarious FPB organization, however, was met with frustration in its goals by the radically anti-abortion Navyrope Society - which went on to foil a major human trafficking scheme tied to the FBP, CPS, and the Kerpher Gang.

The nation is officially split into four when the Phaletori begin pocketing themselves in Texas and Louisiana, giving all of the east to Affadidah. The Hebbleskin Gang's takeover oif the northwest, calling its new nation "Netheel," is frustrated only by a pocket of resistance based out of Pioneer Junction in Idaho. That area gains a new ally in the form of Zize "Plum Bixie" Choi, displaced to the area after being rescued when her unit from China is shot down by Arfaas and herself captured by the Hebbleskins, only to be rescued by Pioneer Junction rebels. The Hebbleskins set to work creating Meethex-1s and Meethexos, and plotting to expand their political influence. They also plot to eradicate all Phexos, and exact revenge on the Phaelites that frustrated their efforts during the Battle for Gerosha.

Season
Gerosha is in ruins, with much of its inhabitants now living in bunkers and catacombs beneath the city. Affadidah outlaws marriage for a non-Arabs and non-Muslims, and has declared southern Indiana a "free game" zone for his "Krockodil Zombie" squads. The Exodus Agenda, led by Imaki Izuki and a few others, is searching for survivors to bring to Gerosha. The plan is to gather as many survivors together - along with supplies and weapons to breach the Hebbleskin Wall - that the migrating troupe can escape from Ameristan and flee to safety in Oklahoma or Texas. By 2019, Affadidah reneges the registry completely, declaring all who try to escape as worthy of death - and many who don't to be worthy of death anyway. He smiles with realization that he will rule over "an empire of corpses," and institutes "Decolarent eam, eviscerate eum" as official policy for those sentenced to death.

Texan inventor and major Malestrom Industries figure Jeraime Malestrom finds himself trapped inside Ameristan, counted among those Affadidah believes have no right to escape to freedom. However, the Hebbleskins want him alive. They plan to intercept SCALLOP somehow and seize his Project: Earwig protocols. They've already acquired his Musaran project; and plan to turn this enemy of their cause into a mind-controlled slave - forced to wear his own creation and do their bidding. Jeraime lays low along with Dolly Weiss and her mother, who moved down to Indiana from the Green Bay area in Wisconsin. The Weiss family was stretched thin further north, following persecution they faced because of Dolly's conservative political leanings and activism and compounded by the Hebbleskins wanting her to die just as they murdered her father.

It isn't long before Jeraime and Dolly start research together on how to build an Earwig and Musaran set of suits for themselves while in the ruins of civilization under Affadidah's crushing rule - suits that would both enable them to fight back against their captors and resist any Meethexos or defecting Phexos looking for them to turn them in. As they research, the couple fall in love. Dolly takes Jeraime to a chapel that's still faithful to the Exodus cause, and they elope. However, Dolly receives irritating news that Ameristani marriages of non-Arab, non-Muslims are not deemed "valid" in Toklisana either - so the couple would need to re-marry upon entry. They become good at survivalism, realizing that marrying in open defiance of the world saying they shouldn't makes them targets. However, Dolly points out to Jeraime that if they hadn't saved themselves for marriage, Affadidah's imams would have declared them "fornicators," and had them targeted for execution anyway. The couple are eventually captured in the early fall of 2019, with Jeraime handed over to the Hebbleskins to become Musaran for them and Dolly sent to the South Bend Death Camp - to be imprisoned, routinely gang-raped, and eventually beheaded.

Down in Texas, the Hebbleskins being planting troublemakers galore. Wilbur Brocklyn, one of the Sodality Church ministers in the Houston area, eagerly awaits Imaki's band of Exodus refugees arriving. He is also counseling Jack Mercreek, a Phexo Leaper and Apache attending the University of Houston, to become a leader for the upcoming Sodality of Gerosha band of heroes. A reformed womanizer, Jack is currently dating fellow Apache tribe member Miranda Kanla. Things take a dark turn when Don the Psycho arrives in the area around campus, along with fellow vampire and serial rapist Wayne Norfine.  Don captures Miranda, due to her aunt's involvement with SCALLOP, leading Jack to fear that she is either being held prisoner for some project called "Crushing Sky," or else is already dead.  He yearns to either find information that will lead to her rescue, or to avenge her, and begins an endless game of cat-and-mouse with Don.  He is particularly frustrated that the police seem to be uninterested in Don and Wayne's activities - no matter how high the victim count - or that some of the women who've complained have suddenly disappeared or gone to jail for refusing to be silent. Jack gains some new friends, and begins a private radio / comm system with them so that he can hunt down Don the Psycho himself - and track down other Hebbleskin activities that the rest of law enforcement and the National Guard are ignoring.

Not far away, parkour expert and talented spy / thief Celia Winehart gets roped into doing jobs for associates in low places so that she can secure the money she needs to enroll at the university - and hopefully, find her missing mother. She is helped out of a tight spot by the Sapphire King, who encourages her to not give up on her dreams. However, he is captured by the Hebbleskins a short time later, resulting in Celia having to revert to being on her own. Little does she know that Wayne is spying on her - and knows she's associated with the Sapphire King. Meanwhile, Don sets his sights on eventually assaulting pianist Laurie Pegol.

Back in Gerosha, we catch up with Candi's life post-Madison. She is forced to move in with the Trensons per Darius' forbidding her to go home with either Erin or Imaki. However, this order is rescinded after the Hebbleskins murder Cynthia Trenson, and Katie Trenson is put in a different foster family. Most of the Last Legs Gang to leave Madison make the voyage safely to Texas; but Candi is among those trapped and unable to leave - in spite being registered as Toklisanan. SCALLOP begins pulling out before they too are unable, abandoning Evansville to its fate.

Candi starts attending Gerosha High again. After Marina gets pregnant via Matthew Baret, a Erin kicks her out of the house. She quickly marries Andy, and the two of them successfully flee to Texas to start life over and raise their son. Miriam, who is also out of prison by this point and is convinced more than ever that the world needs Sniperbadger, moves out of Erin's house given she's turned 18. She moves in with her new boyfriend, Phil Couric, and with his family. They register as Chimericans, and prepare to leave Ameristan for either California or Hong Kong. Candi tries her best to go back to her old life; but this proves increasingly difficult. With so much of Indiana falling to ruin amidst the endless warring and slaughter going on, Candi reaches a point where there is seldom any civilization left in Indiana worth defending that doesn't already know who she is. She starts wearing her Ciem suits less often, preferring to conform to the survivalist fashion sense of her peers in what appears an apocalyptic landscape.

After a convention center attack in Semptember of 2018, Candi finally meets Donte - who loses his mentor in the attack. The two share stories about their lives as Ciem and Emeraldon, respectively, particularly their experiences in the Battle for Cincinnati. Donte begins squatting in an abandoned house, as there's no one left enforcing property taxes or zoning regulations against him developing his own means to power and water the house. He also assists Imaki in the bunker. It isn't long before Candi and Donte fall in love. During a football game the following October, they confess their feelings for each other, and leave the game early. In spite wanting to be a better woman than she was before, Candi's longing for validation gets the best of her, and she seduces Donte into her bed at Erin's house while Erin is out of town. It's revealed that she needed to be in Evansville that evening for a medical examination, randomly ordered by Affadidah on SCALLOP as a condition for fleeing safely to Texas, all because of her Phexo nature. She never got the letter, because Erin carelessly threw it out before Candi could read it. As a result, Candi is arrested the following afternoon. Donte is issued a warning by SCALLOP after they discover that he and Candi had sex. While in jail for 2 weeks, Candi meets and befriends Marlquaanite Sadie Klink - who was taken in for involuntary manslaughter. Sadie is transferred to SCALLOP Women's Containment Center, where she's eventually sentenced to spend the next ten years.

After getting out of jail, Candi continues to spend time with Donte. Realizing they can't stay away from each other, they get Imaki's blessing to elope. They oddly enough choose the same chapel that Jeraime and Dolly got married in. Candi moves in with Donte, and finally tells Erin the truth about what happened to her in 2015. Erin is less than amused; but agrees that Candi needs to be with her new husband. She graduates from Gerosha High in early June of 2019, right before it's destroyed. Not long afterward, Donte's house is compromised by the regime. He's forced to move in with Imaki again, taking Candi with him. The new McArthur family periodically checks in on Erin, to ensure she's getting the care she needs. While Candi encourages Miriam to marry Phil, the two insist they'll wait until after they've escaped Ameristan.

The Courics head north, as Miriam plans to take advantage of the ravaging of Detroit to find a place to set up shop as Sniperbadger. However, the elder Courics are killed by Affadidah's forces. Phil and Miriam are forced to be constantly on the run, having been officially declared fugitives by Affadidah. The two make a daring escape across the Wall; but the Hebbleskins await them. Their car crashes into a ditch, and Phil is killed. Miriam survives the crash and escapes. She steals cars and finds other ways to get to California, where she then prostitutes her way onto a cruise ship headed for Hawaii to claim her share of Stan and Shalia's fortune. With the money, she flees to the streets of Hong Kong - to begin her quest for revenge against the Hebbleskins anew while disguised as a pharmacy worker named "Haishui." She learns just enough Chinese to function in her new identity. However, her effort to get a boyfriend only leads to trouble when the Hebbleskins get involved. Soon deducing that Sniperbadger is in China, the Hebbleskins begin wreaking havoc across Hong Kong.

Miriam heads to Shanghai, where she reveals herself to the MSS to be Sniperbadger. She is taken into custody, but then gangpressed into joining MSS Team Black Rat. With her new friends Shing "Black Rat" Xú, Mingmei "Stung Hornet" Chéng, Steve "Guan" McLaine, Wen "Tin Dragon" Dù, and Chen "Teal Hog" Táng, she vows to destroy the Hebbleskins' Chinese forces any way possible.

While searching for the Gerosha Stone and investigating the whereabouts of the inventor Jeraime Malestrom having gone missing, Candi is captured by the regime, armed with Bezeetol. They immediately note that she's the wanted "Gifted Flippo," and take her to the South Bend camp for detention and eventual execution. Donte discovers that Candi's missing, but learns from Imaki that the only way to find her and save her is to keep hitting up Affadidah's death camps until he finds the correct one - if he can do so in time before she's executed.

Meanwhile, Affadidah hears word from Rappaccini about plans to take over Arkansas for the Icy Finger should Arfaas fail. To keep Marlquaanites like Extirpon at bay, an MPF tower network around major cities would be essential. "The Tug" partially exists already near Affadidah's Wall. Therefore, Affadidah agrees to have more Tug towers installed across the country, to prevent high-flying Phexos or Marlquaanites in Ameristan. This limits how high up Donte can fly, effectively destroying the "Overhead Railroad."

In the South Bend Death Camp, a drugged Candi is nearly executed on the chopping block. She and Dolly, set to be executed simultaneously, witness the execution of Yamanik Alvedes. Right as the two of them are placed on the blocks themselves, and seconds before the axes were to fall, Donte cuts power to the facility - causing all the lights to go out. Unaware that Candi is inside, he continues to make war on the facility - while trying not to activate the Tug.

Candi, with the drugs wearing off, takes advantage of the distraction to fight her way free of the guards - and save Dolly. The two women flee into the night, while Donte continues to imbue chaos on the facility before receiving orders to move on. He just misses his chance to locate Candi, and she fails to immediately deduce that he was the one that caused the power to go out. She and Dolly become acquainted, journeying southward any way they can to get back to Gerosha. Along the way, Dolly shares her origin story with Candi, and vice-versa. Dolly agrees to join the Exodus Agenda officially. The girls survive an encounter with the urban legend monster Jawknee. Upon returning to Gerosha and being reunited with Donte and Imaki, the girls set to work on their mission of recovering other endangered Indiana residents and preparing them for the Mass Exodus. Candi gets a new ninja outfit, as well as rarely wearing the Variega Ciem suit.

In Louisiana, Kyle "the Meerkat" Freneti and his wife Charlotte "Mukade" Yamamura-Freneti try to defend their hometown from both Hebbleskin thugs and from constant Affadidah regime invasion. While not ready to retire from being superheroes completely, they integrate into the Louisiana Militia in order to increase their firepower and coordinate attacks from Ameristani invaders.

Imaki's camp finally manages to make contact with Sniperbadger and MSS Team Black Rat, and breaches the Wall. Amidst their breach, they intercept a description of plans for the invasion of Houston. However, they have to travel through a patch of Netheel territory in Kansas to reach the border into Oklahoma. This leads to the entire Exodus Agenda being tracked. The refugees are intercepted by Arfaas' forces near the border between Oklahoma and Texas. Donte ignores a warning from Candi, and is captured in an the Tug. He is recovered by the enemy within seconds, and drugged with Bezeetol, stripped of his suit, and then placed back inside an MPF Chamber. His suit is torn up, and parts of it strewn onto the battlefield near explosions and a dead man's limbs- leading a confused Candi to believe that Donte is dead. Imaki is shot dead while fleeing, forcing Candi and Dolly to head to the border alone after escaping the killing fields. Candi and Dolly vow to either rescue their men, or avenge them.

The Navyrope Society learns that the Exodus Agenda is in trouble, and seeks to intercept them and rescue them. However, the Clear Key Storage Solutions Center near Denison is compromised by the Hebbleskins, and turned into a death camp. Candi and Dolly are among the thousands that are intercepted and captured. Drugged, the two use Remotach when no one is looking. The girls are sent to the block for execution, with Vince Finton racing toward the center in the hopes of finding surviving hostages to rescue - or Hebbleskins to kill. Meanwhile, Jack faces a life-or-death struggle from Don the Psycho's latest challenge. The season ends on a cliffhanger, suggesting a strong possibility that Candi, Jack, and Dolly won't survive their predicaments.

Characters
Note: The following list is not exhaustive, as the project is still in development.


 * Heroes
 * Exodus Agenda
 * Candi Flippo-McArthur / Ciem
 * Dolly Malestrom / Earwig
 * Imaki Izuki
 * Donte McArthur / Emeraldon
 * MSS Team Black Rat
 * Shing Xú / Black Rat
 * Mingmei Chéng / Stung Hornet
 * Wen Dù / Tin Dragon
 * Chen Táng / Teal Hog
 * Miriam Flippo / Sniperbadger
 * Steve McLaine / Guan
 * Jack Mercreek / Jackrabbit


 * Villains
 * Triumvirate
 * Hebbleskin Gang
 * Duke Arfaas Hebbleskin
 * Gunner Soorfelt
 * Skellig Soorfelt
 * Don "the Psycho" Mendoza
 * Wayne "the Vampire" Norfine
 * Eric Copperton / Cupric
 * Ron P. Cillian / Rockpapsci
 * Denison executioners
 * Brett Georgan
 * Chinese Terror Squad
 * Tokyo Terror Squad
 * Affadidah Regime of Ameristan
 * Halal Affadidah
 * Regime guards
 * Krockodil Zombie Squad
 * Society of the Icy Finger
 * Warren Buntine / Rappaccini
 * Wishpon
 * Screwworm Network
 * Phaletori
 * Jennifer Clankton / Jawknee
 * Supporting characters
 * Sodality Church
 * Rev. Wilburn Brocklyn
 * Rev. Tyler Kilmington
 * Exodus Agenda
 * Various refugees
 * Team Jackrabbit
 * Houston parkour gangs
 * Celia Winehart
 * Navyrope Society
 * Vince Finton / Navyrope
 * Malestrom Industries
 * Jeraime Malestrom
 * Other Malestroms
 * Jordan Reddlewick / Sapphire King
 * Security-Centric Alliance Lending and Learning Of Phaelites
 * Darius Philippine
 * Jim Oisdaat
 * Lex Philippine
 * Mallorie Philippine
 * Silo Philippine
 * Thevia Logindil
 * Fadimo Wozimak
 * Marion Wevenil
 * Brian Mizgel
 * Chad Orvain
 * Shaniqua Tamery
 * Randy Lapborn
 * Cruise ship captain's son
 * Shanghai Police
 * Miriam's boyfriend in Hong Kong
 * Miranda Kanla
 * Couric family
 * Phil Couric
 * Anda Hirano / Extirwraith
 * Baret family
 * Marina Baret
 * Matt Baret
 * Andy Baret
 * Melinda Baret
 * Judge Terry Beliah

Locations

 * Pacific Ocean
 * North America
 * Ameristan
 * Indiana
 * Evansville
 * SCALLOP HQ of Evansville
 * Gerosha
 * Imaki's bunker
 * Exodus Agenda stations
 * Erin's house
 * Gerosha Cemetery
 * Triangulum
 * South Bend
 * Misc. other towns
 * Kansas
 * Netheel
 * Idaho
 * Boise
 * Chimerica
 * California
 * Hawaii
 * Toklisana
 * Texas
 * Apache Land
 * Houston
 * University of Houston
 * SCALLOP HQ of Houston
 * Denison
 * Oklahoma
 * Arkansas
 * Louisiana
 * Kyle's swamp
 * China
 * Hong Kong
 * Pharmacy
 * Shanghai
 * Police station
 * MSS station

Episodes
Note: Exact episode names and number of them still subject to change, as project is still in-development.


 * 1) Divided Nations
 * 2) Celia's Errand
 * 3) Of Earwigs and Shrews
 * 4) Love Among Counterfeits
 * 5) Rabbit Chase
 * 6) Legend of a Big Green Chicken
 * 7) Bands Banded Together
 * 8) Living the Last Legs Life
 * 9) The Soetera Conundrum
 * 10) Railways
 * 11) The Exodus Agenda
 * 12) Breaking the Affadidan Wall
 * 13) A Badger's Desperation
 * 14) Headway
 * 15) Haishui
 * 16) Clashing Agendas
 * 17) Task Force Black Rat
 * 18) Guan
 * 19) Arfaas Exposed
 * 20) Imaki's Exodus
 * 21) Showdown Near Denison