Alembics

The Alembics are one of the North American fraternities of Nuclearth, active throughout the continent. They believe in the importance of keeping humanity free of mutations, as far as is possible, and want to at best keep mutants sequestered from "pure" humanity, and at worst to eradicate them entirely. Like most of the fraternities, the Alembics have no centralized leadership, with the fraternity in each community acting autonomously but with all branches sharing certain ideals and welcoming members from elsewhere as one of their own.

The symbol of the Alembic fraternity is, of course, an alembic, a piece of old chemical equipment comprising a spherical glass bulb with a long neck.

Philosophy

The focus of the Alembics is on racial purity. This is not in terms of ethnicity—at least, not in most branches of the Alembics, though in some communities the frateenrnity does mix in some old-fashioned racism and confine their membership to a single ethnicity, considering others to be inferior (though probably not quite so dangerously inferior as mutants). Rather, they believe in the importance of preserving humanity in its preapocalyptic physical state, or returning it to that state, in contrast with the mutations that plague humanity in the years since the war.

To what degree they act on this philosophy depends on the community and to some extent on the individual. Some of the more extreme Alembics hold that mutants are abhorrent perversions of nature fit only for destruction, and go out of their ways to seek out and slay as many mutants as they can. On the other hand, some relatively liberal Alembics may even have mutant friends and companions, reasoning that there's nothing wrong with having social ties with mutants as long as they don't breed with "real" humans, or even that these particular mutants are different from other mutants, that most mutants are horrible things worthy of ostracism or death, but these particular mutants that they know are exceptions. In between these limits, there are many Alembics whose opposition to mutants is real and consistent but mostly verbal, who hate mutants but don't do anything about it but talk.

Among some communities, the Alembics' beliefs fade into mysticism, incorporating odd rituals and treatments that are supposed to act against the forces causing mutations. These treatments may involve drinking or bathing in certain chemicals, inhaling particular gases, being injected with certain toxins, being subjected to intense heat or other extreme conditions (under the rather nonsensical theory that the mutations can be "sweated out"), or even, counterproductively, exposing the individual to radiation. In some Alembic groups, all members are subjected to these treatments, as well as as many nonmembers as they can convince to take part. In others, the Alembics may forcibly run mutants through their treatments—which at least is arguably better than killing them outright, although some of the more extreme treatments may end up being fatal (or permanently debilitating) anyway.

For the most part, it is only human mutants that Alembics object to. To other mutant animals, and mutant plants and other life forms, they seem to have no objection. In this, however, as in so much else, there are exceptions; there are some Alembic groups that consider all mutants to be abominations, and abhor the like of guffss and tannenbaums as much as they do human mutants.

History

The Alembics are possibly the oldest of the major fraternities, having their origin only some sixty years after the war. The organization had its genesis in a discussion in a makeshift bar among five companions, by the name of Jaron Hightop, White Walter, Kerrigan Mayhew, Denver Saul, and Young Enoch. The five of them were discussing what they felt to be the mutant problem, and resolved to form an organization dedicated to oppose it. They tried to gain some respectability and intellectual credibility by allying with one Glasseye Mary, who to a slightly lesser degree shared their antipathy with mutants but who also dabbled in alchemy, and who believed—and apparently managed to convince at least some of the others—in some link between the two subjects. It was thanks to Glasseye Mary that the incipient organization took on its name: as a chemical alembic is used for distilling and purifying liquids, the Alembics hoped to purify humanity. The original creed of the Alembics, therefore, was an odd mixture of antimutantism and alchemical mysticism. The alchemical component of the organization's philosophy didn't last long, but the name stuck regardless.

Some sixty years after the organization was formed, it fractured into two groups due to philosophical differences. One, which came to be called the Loganites after a city where it was prominent, took a proactive role in terrifying, hunting down, and destroying mutants, making it their primary goal to drive them to extinction, though not without making their lives miserable first. The other, which sometimes called itself the Flask to distinguish itself from the former fraternity as a whole, opposed "interbreeding" of mutants and "pure" humans, but were prepared to impose a peaceful (albeit still odious) separation, and condemned the Loganites' methods. The two subfraternities existed at various levels of mutual coöperation or hostility for about fifty years before, partly due to a combination of moderation on the part of the Loganites and more tolerance for extreme methods on the part of the Flask, they once again united into a single union and reclaimed the name of the Alembics.

Membership

Perhaps the most notable feature of the Alembics is that they are almost exclusively pure human—that is to say, there are almost no mutants among them. This applies not only to the myriad unique mutants that crop up throughout Nuclearth, but to the stable strains that originated as mutants as well; to most Alembics, races such as death's heads, quarterlings, and wind people are anathema as much as any unrelated mutant. Some branches of the Alembics have allowed occasional mutants to join them, so long as those mutants admit to be unnatural and profess to share the fraternity's goal of putting an end to their kind, perhaps even agreeing to the fraternity's de-mutating treatments. However, the admission of even such misautic mutants is quite rare, not only because most Alembics' despisal of mutants makes them loath to welcome one into their ranks but also for fear that the mutants may be only plotting to penetrate the fraternity to learn its plans or bring it down from the inside. Only if vouched for by a trusted fraternity member would a mutant have any chance of joining the Alembics, and even then the chance would be a small one.

The fraternity's fears of infiltration are not entirely unfounded. Some mutants, whose mutations are subtle, internal, or easily concealable, are able to pass as human, and a few of them have in fact joined the Alembics with the intent to spy on them and try to hinder their goals. Still, this has happened only rarely, and the fact that any mutant spies that have been caught have invariably been harshly dealt with has no doubt discouraged this practice. While some Alembic communities let anyone join unless there's clear reason to believe they're a mutant, others impose arduous tests to make sure prospective members are really free of the mutant taint. The tests vary widely, but most if not all of them are in fact wholly ineffective, and are about equally likely to finger the probationer as a mutant whether they really are one or not. (Of course, no Alembic will fail to notice obvious mutations such as extra eyes or oddly colored skin.)

Relations

While in general interfraternity relations vary regionally, in the case of the Alembics there is one constant: the Alembics and the Transcendents are everywhere enemies, given that their core philosophies are diametrically opposed. The Alembics believe mutants to be inferior and undesirable, whereas the Transcendents believe them to be superior and to represent a worthy future of mankind. Aside from that, there is often, though by no means always, friction between the Alembics and the Rileys, and between the Alembics and the Experiencers. The Alembics rarely form close alliances with other fraternities, since the fact that other fraternities may have mutants as members makes them distasteful for the Alembics to deal with, but they do in places have reasonably friendly relations with the local cell of the Bluebloods or the Golden Agers.

While all the fraternities occasionally form their own insulated communities made up entirely of those who share their philosophies, the Alembics are more prone to this than most. Small towns populated entirely, or almost entirely, by Alembics are not uncommon in parts of North America, particularly in the Midwest and the South Atlantic. Needless to say, mutants are unwelcome in these communities, and any mutants unwise enough to linger in them may find themselves in terrible danger.