The Psychonauts or Psycho Clan are one of the 8 major member tribes of the Raider Alliance, serving as the Alliance's primary source of chems and medicine. The Psychonauts were the third tribe to join the Alliance.
Background[]
The Psychonauts began as a wandering tribe in California's Crestline Valley. The Pass is home to a unique subset of Parasitic Bloatfly, that, on contact with its fired larvae, resulting in a grotesque parasitic infection that caused the victim to swell with gestating larvae. To combat this plague, the Psychonauts began to encourage the presence of small mutated spiders, known to them as Moon Nymphs, to live and hunt around Psycho communities, as they predated on the Bloatflies. Over time, the Psychonauts discovered that the spider's silk and venom had regenerative effects similar to stimpacks and other chems. They were eventually discovered by Boss Maxson and Terror-Max, who recognized the value of the various medicinal compounds they derived from their pet mutant spiders, and incorporated them into the Alliance as the primary chem-slingers and medicine men.
Characteristics[]
The Psychos are an eccentric and feared tribe among the Raider Alliance, isolating themselves in the deeper caverns of Athens-Tec mine with their pet spiders and bloatfly larvae farms. The progenitor of their spider hordes is a gargantuan mutated spider known as Beelzebub - this monstrosity is the source of the Psychonauts' remarkable healing concoctions and psychoactive substances. The Psychonauts commonly are brought in to drive the Alliance's Berserkers and Slave Cannon-Fodder into battle frenzies with these concoctions. To feed their army of spiders, the Psychonauts breed the endemic parasitic bloatflies in vastly hatcheries - but for this, they need human hosts. The Psychos thus take a percentage of slaves captured by the Raider Alliance as hosts, allowing them to swell and expand with larvae before mending them with regenerative concoctions to start the gruesome process over again.
Elite Psychos[]
The Elite Psychos are a subset of the Psychonauts who serve as Juan Maxson-Elsdragon's personal bodyguards and shock troops. Though they share a heritage and the traditional skull facepaint with the Psychonauts, they are independent and loyal only to Elsdragon, with Johnathan Nos as their de-facto Warlord.
Known members[]
Notes[]
The Skull-and-Hubcap design that serves as the Alliance's flag was originally the symbol of the Psychonauts.