The inheritors of the Pre-Burnout oil industry. The Crude Nations are a collective of tribal subfactions that refine America’s fuel supply from biological waste and farming refuse. They also have the country’s lightest and fastest ships, which they unleash in devastating “swarms”.

It is a common misconception to think that their fuel production is what differentiates the Crude Nations from other Great Clans. In fact, having some kind of industrial monopoly is a requirement for being considered “Great”. The Crude Nations are distinct, and uniquely dangerous, because of their vehicular strategy. While every other Clan moves their people and materiel with mid-sized “ships” that operate in tightly coordinated convoys or “packs”, the Crude Nations deploy “swarms” of fast, small, and expendable vehicles. 

This strategy, and the Crude Nations’s implementation of it, can be traced to Cassody, Kansas where the Widow’s Passage met the Ashy-Riders, a motorcycle gang who had survived the Burnout, and gave them an Agribine. The “Captain of the Riders” Aureliano “Lane” Vance, had already succeeded in making a powerful new culture in his gang, but he was well-aware of the competition they would soon face from other, landed survivors. Him and the First-Generation Caller discussed their options for growing into a powerful nation-state. They determined that a sure-fire way to secure a large population of followers would be to “recruit” surviving indigenous communities off of reservations in Oklahoma and the surrounding area. Thus, the Ashy-Riders travelled South along the I-35, and found that they had been beaten-to-the-punch. They were greeted by a roadblock set up by the “Final Nations”— an apocalyptic alliance consisting of virtually every First-Nations community in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and North Texas. The Final Nations had been able to destroy most of the roads and infrastructure to their South, which helped insulate them against the Burnout’s tide of refugees. They were also one of the first locations to be systematically abandoned by U3C. They had defended against marauders, started farms, and began stripping-operations. However, they still needed a supply of fuel. 

 In a summit with the leaders of the Final Nations, Lane and his Caller tried to structure a merger between the Nations and his Ashy Riders. The Nations knew they needed fuel, but they did not want to become dependent on a small faction of outsiders (both geographically and ethnically) to produce it. However Lane knew he would lose all leverage if he simply gave over the Agribine technology. The compromise was that the Nations would be responsible for the initial stages of the fuel-production process. Tribes would gather raw biomass and enrich it to a point where the Ashy Riders would be able to “crack” it into usable fuel and other hydrocarbon products. This agreement laid the groundwork for the strategic plan of the Nations: after securing their own energy-requirements they would scale up to a point where they could export bulk shipments of fuel to other factions. 

The Caller had her work cut out for her. There were roughly 50 different tribes in the Final Nations and at least 20 of them were represented by less than five survivors. All of these groups already had distinct cultures, beliefs, political processes, and even languages. With this incredible wealth of heritage, The Nations had already made significant progress with rejecting Pre-Burnout culture and replacing it with their original tribal cultures. They had basically Immersed themselves without any need for a Caller. Thus, her mission was shifted from offering spiritual salvation, to preserving unity. The circumstances of the Burnout had enabled cohesion and peaceful rule under a “grand council”, But without constant pressure from marauders and incoming refugees, the Final Nations were in danger of splintering back into their component tribes or forming new blocs. 

The Caller adopted a “future-focused” strategy with her lore creation. By placing an industrial and spiritual emphasis on the fuel, she constructed a vision for the Nation’s future. If they worked together, they would usher in a new era of prosperity and glory for their people. She took special care to address the incredibly problematic history between the hydrocarbon-industry and several tribes in the Nations, stating that this time they would have full control over these resources and that the [white] outsiders would be at their mercy. Perhaps her most influential decision was to change the alliance’s name. Many leaders had already lodged complaints with her about the bleak sentiment that came with the “Final Nations” and wanted her to come up with a more positive alternative. After witnessing the first complete fuel production-cycle, several raids, and the impromptu celebrations that followed the Caller proposed that they call themselves the “Crude Nations”. The tribes would be bonded together by their “crudeness”: their participation in the Post-Burnout equivalent of the crude-oil industry, and the ancient cultures that they drew their strength from. 

The earliest perceived rival of the Nations was the Blue Column. By this point, both the Final Nations and the Ashy Riders had either had direct contact with or at least heard rumors of the enormous “Interstate-Siegers” that the marauders had constructed. Assuming that any aggression would be coming in the form of these vehicles, or copycat designs, the Nations tried to design countermeasures. The Ashy Riders had already managed to take down a Sieger by encircling it and wearing down its defenses, and they believed that it would be best to continue developing those tactics. Thus the Nations gathered an initial fleet of 384 single-person overland vehicles, composed of motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobiles, and other small contraptions. The individual weakness of the vehicles would be compensated for with extremely tight coordination and the ability to execute advanced maneuvers. 

In the late 30’s, as the Atlantics were scaling up their involvement with the designing of new fleets for CLANS, the Nations learned to exploit another flaw in their counterparts’s strategy. The Atlantics, Callers, and other designers were mostly basing their designs off of pre-existing naval concepts and histories. The overarching rules for naval engagement assumed opponents were of a similar size, speed, and armament. Even the tank-style designs espoused by Northway and Belters wouldn’t account for overwhelming numbers of small, highly maneuverable opponents. 

Military power in the Nations is divided in a way similar to other Great Clans. Each of the component Tribes has the equivalent of a fleet with many hundreds, if not thousands, of horses. 

Technically, the Crude Nations have the highest concentration of “low-level combatants” for any Great Clan. This means that the majority of their population spends their time preparing and training for war, even if they are considered expendable fodder. While this means that the Nations technically have the largest standing army of any faction in America, its use is sorely limited. The only scenarios where overwhelming numbers of troops are beneficial is for protracted sieges and boarding operations— which are almost always done on foot. Since no other Clan has even attempted to develop a sort of “motorized calvary-corps”, the Nations have no equal; they either have a massive advantage in speed and mobility against infantry, or they are hopelessly outgunned, out-armored, and generally outclassed in ship-to-ship engagements. 

Another niche occupied by the Nations is rapid transport for other vehicles. Many armadas or retreating war-parties have been taxied to and from battles by the Nations. Most of their most profitable mercenary companies exclusively offer logistical services. Despite their unorthodox situation, the Nations have no uncertainty in their future. America will always need a steady supply of fuel.