The Red Fez Caliphate

Natives of the Silk Road and the Levant and near east portions of the Middle East, the Red Fez Caliphate is a grassroots organization of gentlemen who look to protect the residents of the region from those who would ruthlessly and viciously exploit them. While having a certainly noble purpose, the Caliphate funds itself through international drug dealing and smuggling, supporting various terrorist factions, and otherwise playing the role of the noble villain. To the locals of the wasteland regions, the Red Fez Caliphate is the lesser evil, the friendly evil, and in many instances, the better evil. Most are pragmatic enough to know that there is always going to be a drug and black market industry, and it is better to have a group like the Caliphate that is locally sourced, and mostly friendly as opposed to letting some other cartel or group take that position.

Appearance

The Red Fez Caliphate has a formal uniform consisting of a well fit and tailored suit, suitable for a proper gentleman. This might make them a little anachronistic, but they are also consistently clean, well groomed, and well mannered. They also are required to own and maintain a proper red fez. Red turbans are permitted, but are a minority among the Caliphate.

Equipment

Most Red Fez agents will have some sort of scavenged or black market encounter suit they wear as an undergarment, concealed by their actual suit. This is lacking any sort of helmet, backpack module, or combat computer. These allow them to stay in fistfights and other low intensity combat without serious injury. Elite agents of the Caliphate are known to wear decontractee armure, or armored suits.

7 Red Fez agents

The Regular

The regular is a normal agent of the Caliphate; charming, polite, and well groomed. The Regular is a fixer, a fence, a diplomat, and a spy all in one. Rarely armed, the Regular is well versed in hand to hand combat, and many know various forms of martial arts with French savate being popular.

The Cavalier

The Cavalier is a swordsman in an age of giant robots. Still wearing the same suit and hat, the Cavalier has a falchion, scimitar, or talwar that they are well versed in using. While seemingly a primitive weapon, it requires discipline and skill to use, meaning that cavaliers are canny foes. While it might be tempting to take them down with firearms, the Cavalier is versed in gun katas, and dealing with pistol packing foes. They also tend to wear some sort of body armor in addition to the normal caliphate gear.

The Grappler

Superficially looking like any other agent, the Grappler is trained in the grappling and wrestling fighting styles of India and the east. Often frighteningly flexible, the grappler can quickly put foes in submission or sleeper holds, or restrain a person while another member of the caliphate questions them.

The Horseman

The horseman is superficially similar to the Cavalier and regular, the Horseman is highly mobile, and has a mount. While the moniker indicates a horse, there is no reason to be limited. The horseman can ride a camel, a motorcycle, pretty much any vehicle is a viable option. The horseman is equal parts taxi, cavalry, and courier service.

The Grenadier

The grenadier is a larger than average man of exceptional strength. Like the grappler he is good in a fight, but more importantly, the grenadier is a demolitions and explosives expert, allowing him to be the blast of the party, and sufficiently large explosions can level an uneven playing field. Grenadiers also are most likely to have heavy support weapons, typically useful to the situation, like a gatling gun for swarms, rocket launchers for flying craft, or a bandolier of grenades for the up close and dirty.

The Mouse

The Mouse is a spy, a saboteur, a listener. Normally low profile and not flashy, the Mouse does their best to go unnoticed, and operates as a spy and fence for the Caliphate and its allies. When a PC group deals formally with the Caliphate, it is likely to be through a Mouse.

The Imam

A holy man, the Imam carries the word of the Caliphate, and functions as a confessor, advisor, and a link between the operations side of the Red Fezes, and the people they work for and around. The imams handle the finances, and the donations to the caliphate, and the pay outs to the widows and the contracts as they are needed. They balance financial pragmatism with sincere mysticism.

Women and the Red Fez

The Red Fez Caliphate is an anchronistic organization, and women are not allowed to join, in many parts of the world where the caliphate operates women and men are generally not allowed to socialize together, men only cantinas, trades were women are not allowed, and so forth. While the Caliphate doesnt allow women to join or wear the red fez, that doesnt mean they arent involved. There are networks of production, smuggling, financial operations, fencing jobs, and most importantly, a spy network. The Mouse type might be the face, it is a network of women, talking to each other, listening, and such, that provides the backbone of the Caliphate intelligence operations.

Use

The Red Fez Caliphate is a social network that spans across the Wastelands and the Silk Road of the Cosmic Era, but there is no reason that it cannot be used in a modern or historical non-fantasy setting. Elements of the society can be seen across media, especially those set in the middle east like The Mummy franchise (the Brandon Frasier Mummy), or Bond films with the red fez and bowtie wearing Arabic enemies. The Caliphate is neutral, they are not evil, per say, but they are out for themselves, their people, and their land, well before they are for ideas or western ideals, and the rest of that bag.