NIMBA CULT

HISTORY

The Nimba Cult is a sect that formed nearly 1,500 years ago in China. Eschewing the philosophical aspects of Buddhism, the members of the sect instead focused on martial arts as the means to achieve enlightenment. Study of personal combat was seen as the path to perfection, but as time passed the martial arts became an end to themselves. The sect transformed into a tiered structure of a handful of Masters ruling over Veterans and Acolytes and directing the goals of what had now become the Nimba Cult.

Within a few centuries the Cult had become devoted exclusively to combat, with a theology revolving around physical conflict. With a need to constantly test themselves, the Cult first turned to gruelling tournaments amongst the members, but by the turn of the first millenium these were deemed as no longer sufficient. To that end the Cult began to offer the services of their Veterans and Acolytes for hunting brigands and other criminals. This soon evolved into the participation of Cult members in larger skirmishes in the service of various armies across China.

When the constant involvement in open conflicts became a drain on the membership, the Masters redirected the Cult into more covert activities. The Veterans became High Assassins, and the Cult's members now used their skills as scouts, bodyguards and, as the name indicates, assassins. Even with the change, the demand for the Cult's services caused them to start charging fees to dissuade some of those who might otherwise seek them out. The fees made the Cult wealthy, and with that wealth they were able to buy secrecy and anonymity and the Cult disappeared into the shadows.

With knowledge of their existence now reduced to rumor and myth, the Cult retreated to a remote part of China and stopped interacting with the outside world. There were still those who sought out the Cult, however, but not for their services. These were those seeking to learn the arts of combat and stealth, and of them those that survived would become the next generation of Acolytes. While the majority of the new Acolytes were still from Asia, there were those from Europe, Africa, and the Americas who would occassionally seek out the Cult. None who showed potential were turned away, the Cult was more concerned with skill than race or culture.

In the 19th Century the current Masters returned to the idea of offering the services of the Cult to outsiders for a price, once again seeking a means to find adequate challenges for the skills of their members. Very quietly, and very discretely, the Cult once again entered the wider world. With the rise in popularity of martial arts across the globe in the 20th Century, the Masters faced a new challenge. On the one hand, there was now a greater number of opportunities for the Cult's members to test their skill, but on the other hand there was also a greater chance of another organization threatening the Cult's supremacy. To that end the Cult frequently seeks out the greatest martial arts masters on the planet and makes them an offer: join the Nimba Cult, cease teaching the arts, or die. This has turned into a global shadow war between the Cult and several of the most powerful martial arts organizations and individuals in the world, a war that continues to this day. Currently the Nimba Cult has turned their attention to the World Crime League, especially with the recent return of the League's leader Shiwan Xan.

While the Nimba Cult is always ready to welcome skilled martial artists into the organization as new Acolytes, they are far less accomodating to those who would try to leave. Those who show little talent are often permitted to depart, though the Cult tries to still keep tabs on these individuals. Those of greater skill, however, are greatly prized and every effort is made to discourage them from leaving. Those that still choose to leave often find themselves under a sentence of death from the Cult. Still there are several individuals who have managed to leave or flee the Cult, including the hero known as Manhunter, the mercenary Predator, and the super-villain Raptor.

ORGANIZATION

The Nimba Cult is currently led by ten Masters and remains based out of a hidden temple somewhere in Manchuria. The Cult also maintains facilties in several other countries, to handle some training of Acolytes and to maintain contact with some of the Cult's clients. The clientele is mainly criminal organizations, but there are a small number of governments and corporations that also make use of the Cult's services. Their assassins still follow the traditional martial arts and the Cult maintains a disdain for firearms, explosives, and other modern weaponry. They have taken an interest in metahumans however, and have begun recruiting metas (who must still show potential skill in the martial arts to be accepted). Metahumans also offer a new form of challenge for the Cult's members, and some of the High Assassins have been known to seek out powerful metahuman fighters in order to test their own skill against a worthy foe.