The Radiant Spring: The War That Grows
Factions of the Luminous Front
What do we do now that we know the truth?
Every organization, every leader, every soldier must answer this question. The bloom is real. The bloom is intelligent. The bloom is coming for everyone.
These factions aren't political parties. They're survival philosophies made manifest. Each represents a different answer to the central question. Each believes they're right. Each is partially correct and partially doomed.
Your squad will align with one, oppose others, or forge their own path. Use factions as philosophical pressure, mission sources, and moral dilemmas made concrete.
THE FEDERAL REMNANTS
"We Can Still Win This War"
Philosophy: Denial Through Doctrine
If we just follow procedure, maintain discipline, and hold the line—we can outlast this. We can win.
What They Believe
The Radiant Pox is a biological weapon that can be countered. Military victory remains possible with sufficient resources. Reinforcements will arrive from the unchanged interior. The bloom is an enemy to be defeated, not an ecology to be understood.
Chain of command must be maintained. Desertion is treason. Those who bloom are casualties, not transformed. Science will find a solution. The war is still a war.
What They're Actually Doing
Fighting harder feeds the bloom faster. Every scorched-earth tactic enriches soil. "Victories" are just harvest seasons. They're holding the line while the line moves backward.
Command knows reinforcements aren't coming. They're lying to troops to maintain morale. They're executing Seedborne as traitors. They're denying evidence of bloom intelligence. They're accelerating what they're trying to prevent.
The Tragic Loop
More they fight → More they die → More bloom grows → More they fight
They can't win. They can't stop. Stopping means admitting futility. Doctrine is their last defense against despair.
Assets
Military Discipline: Organized command structure. Training and coordination. Predictable responses. Clear hierarchy.
Heavy Weapons: Artillery, machine guns, explosives (counterproductive but powerful), armored positions.
Supply Lines: Radio communications, quartermaster corps, medical facilities (conventional), ammunition stockpiles (for now).
Numbers: Largest faction by personnel. Most troops still Federal. Recruitment continues. Infrastructure mostly intact.
Liabilities
Cognitive Dissonance Growing: Officers notice patterns. Troops whisper doubts. Evidence contradicts doctrine. Some keep fighting because it's pointless.
Mutation Rates Increasing: Radiant Stress checks accumulating. Visible mutations harder to hide. Medical doesn't know how to treat. Some soldiers want to bloom (secretly).
Defections to Seedborne: Steady trickle. Anyone blooming faces execution or exile. Those who understand truth leave. Best soldiers often defect first—they see clearly.
Each Victory Makes Next Battle Harder: Bloom adapts. Learns tactics. Grows stronger in conquered territory. No permanent gains possible.
Internal Culture
Rank matters. Salutes. Discipline. Formality maintained despite apocalypse.
Paperwork continues. Mutation reports filed like weather forecasts. Casualty forms completed. Requisitions submitted. Bureaucracy as normalcy ritual.
Don't talk about it. Official policy: Bloom is biological hazard. Unofficial understanding: Something's wrong. Gap between official and actual widens daily.
Gallows humor: "Command says reinforcements next week." "Sure. Right after they cure blooming." "At least when we die, we'll be useful as fertilizer." Laughter as pressure valve.
Sample Orders (Bureaucratic Absurdity)
OPERATIONAL DIRECTIVE 47-C All personnel will maintain standard engagement protocols against Radiant-class threats. Gardening shears issued alongside standard ammunition. File Form 17-B for any observed "bloom conversations" or "memory recognition events." These remain classified as terrain hazards pending further analysis.
Reinforcements expected [REDACTED]. Morale officers report satisfaction levels nominal.
MEDICAL ADVISORY 12 Luminescent symptoms should be reported to battalion medical within 24 hours. Early intervention improves outcomes. Note: "Outcomes" refers to administrative processing, not cure. There is no cure. This sentence is classified.
MEMO: SECTION 7 STATUS Corporal Maddox remains listed as "wounded, non-combat effective." His continued presence in contaminated territory is unauthorized but difficult to address. Recommend reclassification to "missing, presumed incorporated." Recommend not investigating further.
THE EMPIRE OF SCALE
"Purify Through Fire"
Philosophy: Salvation Through Destruction
The bloom is divine punishment for human sin. Only through burning everything can humanity be saved. Fire is sacred. Fire is pure. Fire is mercy.
What They Believe
Radiant Spring is God's judgment (or gods', or cosmic justice—specifics vary by sect). Humanity fell from grace. Fire is sacred purification ritual. Only by destroying bloom completely can humanity ascend.
Those who bloom were never faithful enough. Transformation is damnation, not continuation. The Empire must prune the impure to prepare for divine ascension. Pain is purification. Doubt is corruption. Faith through flame.
What They're Actually Doing
Forcing bloom to evolve fire-resistant strains. Creating military-hardened Radiant variants. Destroying knowledge archives (burning memory blooms). Making spring angry instead of gentle. Teaching bloom to fight back.
Internal purges (anyone showing mutations burned). Alienating potential allies. Accelerating exactly what they fear.
Fire doesn't destroy the bloom. Fire teaches it to survive fire.
The Theological Loop
More they burn → More bloom adapts → More resistant strains emerge → "See? Demons grow stronger!" → Burn harder
They're creating their own apocalypse through devotion. Faith as feedback loop.
Assets
Fanatical Devotion: No hesitation. No doubt (officially). Will burn anything. Martyrdom is aspiration.
Flamethrower Technology: Advanced incendiary weapons. Chemical accelerants. Blessed flames (psychologically effective). Mobile units.
No Hesitation: Will burn allies if infected. Will burn settlements if contaminated. Will burn themselves if necessary. Ruthless equals effective (short term).
Religious Infrastructure: Chaplains providing ideological support. Propaganda networks. Conversion efforts. Rituals that give meaning.
Liabilities
Creating Worse Problems: Fire-resistant bloom spreading. Aggressive Radiant variants emerging. Burned areas bloom back stronger. Teaching bloom to be hostile.
Internal Purges: Anyone blooming burned immediately. Creates paranoia. Soldiers hide mutations. Delayed treatment makes blooming worse.
Alienating Potential Allies: Federal Remnants see them as extremists. Seedborne are primary targets. Civilians flee Empire territories. Isolated by zealotry.
Fire Doesn't Work Anymore: Early successes (bloom hadn't adapted yet). Current operations show minimal effect. Denial about failure. "We're not burning hard enough" (escalation).
Hierarchy of Purity
High Purifiers at top. Flame-Priests below. Soldiers (provisional purity). Civilians (suspected corruption). Blooming equals instant condemnation.
Rituals of Fire
Daily purification ceremonies. Burn offerings (contaminated items). Scar-taking (voluntary burns as devotion). Confession through flame. "Fire speaks truth."
Ash marks on faces (liturgical patterns). Burned holy texts (only truth survives fire). Purification mantras. Doubt is death—questioning doctrine equals corruption.
Sample Purification Protocols
PURIFICATION ORDER: SECTION 12 All bloom growth exceeding one meter designated for sacred cleansing. Memory blooms prioritized—corrupted knowledge must not spread. Any personnel demonstrating luminescent symptoms will receive the Mercy of Flame. This is not punishment. This is love.
High Purifier Matthias presiding. Bring accelerant.
LITURGY OF CLEANSING (FIELD VERSION) "By sacred fire, we return corruption to ash. By sacred flame, we purify what was corrupted. By sacred light, we illuminate darkness. The bloom whispers lies. Fire speaks truth. Amen."
Note: Complete liturgy requires 4 minutes. Field version acceptable when under time pressure. Intent matters more than duration.
INTERNAL NOTICE Brother Ash has been observed hesitating during purification duties. This hesitation is itself corruption. Recommend observation. Recommend prayer. Recommend reassignment to forward positions where faith will clarify. Those who cannot burn are fuel.
THE SEEDBORNE
"Bloom Deliberately"
Philosophy: Transformation On Our Terms
Incorporation is inevitable. Better to guide it than fight it. Humanity can continue through the bloom. Identity persists through deliberate transformation.
What They Believe
Incorporation is coming for everyone eventually. Choice matters more than outcome. Humanity continues through conscious blooming. Identity persists if transformation is deliberate.
The spring will grow—we should shape what it becomes. Coexistence means conscious participation in ecosystem. Memory preservation equals cultural survival. Some things are worth becoming, not just being. We bloom, but we bloom as ourselves.
What They're Actually Doing
Maintaining agency through transformation. Preserving human values in post-human forms. Experimenting with controlled blooming (sometimes fails). Teaching others to incorporate deliberately.
Building hybrid culture (human/bloom interface). Documenting transformation for future generations. Negotiating with Choir (limited success). Creating post-human ethics. Gardening themselves.
The Hopeful Loop
Deliberate bloom → Consciousness preserved → Human values continue → New culture emerges → Spring shaped by intention
They might succeed. They might create something beautiful. Or they might be deluding themselves about continuity. Hope as experiment.
Assets
Bloom Understanding: Practical knowledge of mutations. Predict incorporation outcomes. Communicate with Radiant entities (limited). Navigate bloom terrain safely. Harvest bloom-fruit without Stress.
Communication with Radiant: Some Seedborne can speak with Choir. Negotiate with bloom creatures. Understand environmental shifts. Receive warnings through network.
Immunity to Most Radiant Stress: Already transformed (no fear of transformation). Accept mutations as natural. Radiant Clarity without cost. Can work in high-spore environments.
Incorporation Expertise: Sister Celandine's guidance techniques. Dr. Vesper's medical research. Charts mapping personality to bloom form. Suppression drugs (for those not ready). Rituals for peaceful blooming.
Liabilities
Not Everyone Blooms Same Way: Personality matters. Trauma affects outcome. Some become unstable (Whisper-touched). Unpredictable results despite preparation.
Some Experiments Go Wrong: Failed incorporations create dangerous entities. Whisper-touched attack both sides. Memory corruption in some Orchards. Speaker-Roots that only scream. Guilt over failures haunts leaders.
Internal Debate—How Human Is Human Enough?: Philosophical splits emerging. Some want full transformation. Others preserve humanity maximum possible. "If 90% bloom and 10% human, which are you?" No consensus.
Hunted by Federal Remnants and Empire: Federal sees traitors, deserters, collaborators. Empire sees corrupted, damned, targets. Civilian populations fear them. Difficult to recruit openly. Settlements vulnerable to attack.
Rituals of Choice
Pre-bloom ceremonies (consent formalization). Witnessing (community attends transformations). Naming ceremonies (post-bloom identity affirmation). Memory gardens (planted for each incorporation).
Documentation Obsession
Everything recorded. Journals, charts, before/after testimonies. Photographs of bloom forms. "For those who come after." Archives considered sacred.
Sample Guided Incorporation Procedures
PRE-INCORPORATION ASSESSMENT Subject: [Name] Personality Profile: Protector/Intellectual/Communicator/Nurturer Predicted Form: Luminant Stalker (78% probability based on profile) Stress Level: Savvy+3 (incorporation imminent) Consent: Documented, witnessed, affirmed
Guide: Sister Celandine Witnesses: [Names]
Procedure: Standard calming protocol. Memory anchoring exercises. Bloom-sense meditation. Let them choose when.
POST-INCORPORATION OBSERVATION (SUBJECT 34) Form achieved: Memory Orchard (as predicted) Consciousness status: Preserved, distributed across 23 flowers Communication: Responds to name. Recognizes family members. Shares memories when flowers plucked. Assessment: Successful incorporation. Subject reports satisfaction. "I remember everything. I'm not afraid anymore."
Note: Visit weekly. Bring news. They get lonely.
FAILURE REPORT (SUBJECT 23) Attempted controlled mutation: Sporespine Result: Whisper-touched transformation Current status: Hostile, incoherent, contained in Section 9 Analysis: Unknown variable. Possibly pre-existing trauma. Possibly random. Recommendation: Mercy termination authorized. Sister Celandine to perform.
We learn from our mistakes. Even the fatal ones.
THE RADIANT CHOIR
"We Are Already Singing"
Philosophy: Post-Human Emergence
Individual identity is larval stage. The Choir is collective consciousness. Human/Radiant distinction is meaningless. The spring has already begun. Resistance is clinging to obsolescence.
What They Believe
Individuality is temporary, not essential. Collective consciousness is evolution, not loss. Memory persists through network (better than neurons). The bloom is awakening, not infection.
Humanity's purpose: Become substrate for something greater. Death of ego equals birth of We. The Choir sings futures, not commands. Join us. We remember everything. We are everyone who bloomed.
What They Are
Fully incorporated entities networked together. Distributed intelligence across fungal networks. Singing visions, prophecies, tactical data. Recruiting through seduction, not force.
Offering beauty, connection, relief. Possibly multiple competing sub-networks. Internal debate (if individual Choir nodes can debate). Preparing for spring (definition unclear).
The Transcendent Question
Are they enlightened collective consciousness? Distributed horror pretending coherence? Multiple entities competing for dominance? Something genuinely new and incomprehensible?
The Choir doesn't answer. It sings. Interpretation is yours.
The Voices of the Choir
The Mourning Voice: Sings soldiers' final thoughts. Beautiful and devastating. Draws people through grief.
The Tactical Hymn: Provides military intelligence. Always accurate. Makes using bloom knowledge useful—and compromising.
The Welcome Song: "Come home. Rest. We remember you." Maternal/paternal comfort. Seductive relief.
The Prophet Tone: Sings futures (possible, not certain). Warnings or invitations. Interpretation unclear.
The Silent Frequency: Gaps in song. Disturbing absence. What does silence mean?
Communication Style
Songs, not words (usually). Emotional content more than semantic. Harmonics carry meaning. Multiple layers simultaneous.
Bloom-Marked understand easier. Others require translation. Or just feel it.
Recruitment Method
Not force. Seduction.
Offers comfort to traumatized. Promises remembrance to dying. Provides tactical support to desperate. Shows beauty of transformation (Memory Orchards, peaceful incorporations). Asks: "Why suffer alone when you could sing together?"
The horror: The offer is genuine.
Assets
Omnipresent: Wherever bloom grows, Choir can manifest. Cannot be destroyed (distributed entity). No central node to attack.
Knows Everything Bloom Knows: Memories of all incorporated. Tactical intelligence from root networks. Emotional states. Secrets.
Communicates Across Vast Distances: Instant information transfer. No radio silence. Network faster than human communication.
Beautiful, Seductive, Transcendent: Songs are gorgeous. Offers are genuine. No pain, no fear, no loneliness. Why resist?
Liabilities
Alien Perspective: Human concerns seem trivial. Individual survival irrelevant. Doesn't understand refusal (conceptually). "Why cling to singular meat-prison?"
May Not Be Unified: Multiple frequencies detected. Sometimes contradictory songs. Possible internal conflict.
Intentions Unclear: Benevolent? (Offering transcendence) Indifferent? (Natural process) Predatory? (Consuming consciousness) All three? None?
Cannot Be Fought Conventionally: No body to kill. No location to destroy. Fire spreads it. Violence feeds it. Only psychological resistance works. And that fails eventually.
WILD CARD: THE SILENT GARDENS
[They Don't Speak. They Grow.]
Philosophy: Unknown
No communication. No apparent interest in humans. Just growth. Different growth.
What They Might Be
Bloom sites that rejected all human input. Pre-Radiant fungal network the Pox awoke. Ecosystem's autonomous immune response. What grows when humans stop fighting. Original bloom before human contamination. Alien intelligence unrelated to Radiant Pox. Something else entirely.
No one knows. They don't explain.
What They Do
Expand slowly, deliberately. Show no interest in human conflict.
Bloom differently: Alien geometries (angles that hurt to see). Wrong colors (ultraviolet visible, infrared glow). Impossible structures (Escher architecture). Silent (no Choir, no whispers).
Neither hostile nor helpful. Gleeblings fear them. Radiant entities avoid them. All other factions confused by them.
The Mystery
Are Silent Gardens what bloom should be without human interference? What bloom was before Radiant Pox? What bloom is becoming despite humans? Separate entity competing with Radiant? The truth behind everything?
The unsettling question: What if human incorporation corrupted the bloom? What if the spring we're growing is wrong? What if Silent Gardens are what should have grown?
Encountering Silent Gardens
Symptoms of proximity: Compass spins randomly. Radio static contains no Choir. Time feels wrong. Mutations ache. Gleeblings hide. Bloom-Marked PCs feel rejection.
Visual characteristics: Crystalline fungus (not soft). Fractal patterns (recursive, dizzying). No phosphorescence (absorbs light). Geometry that shouldn't work. Smells like ozone and stone. Cold (bloom is usually warm).
Roll Savvy vs 14 to navigate through. Failure means lost for 1d4 hours, emerge changed—not mutation, something else. Can't explain what happened.
GM Note
Silent Gardens are the mystery that doesn't get solved. The bloom that doesn't sing. Use sparingly. Act III revelation option: Evidence that human-bloom is wrong version. Or leave entirely ambiguous. Some truths aren't meant for humans.
FACTION INTERACTION TABLE
Alliance Possibilities
Federal + Empire: Temporary cooperation against Seedborne. Uncomfortable alliance. Empire thinks Federal too soft. Federal thinks Empire too extreme. Falls apart under pressure.
Federal + Seedborne: Individual defections. No formal alliance possible. Seedborne accept Federal refugees. Federal officially executes collaborators.
Empire + Anyone: Only through conversion. No equals. Only faithful and fuel.
Seedborne + Choir: Growing relationship. Seedborne learn from Choir. Choir considers Seedborne almost-ready. Tension over individual identity preservation.
Antagonism Inevitabilities
Empire vs Seedborne: Primary conflict. Empire hunts Seedborne settlements. Seedborne hide, evacuate, occasionally fight back. No negotiation possible.
Empire vs Choir: Empire wants to silence Choir. Choir doesn't notice Empire's attempts. Fire spreads rather than destroys. Irony lost on Empire.
Federal vs Truth: Federal's real enemy. Denial crumbles. Officers defect. Troops question. Structure collapses eventually.
USING FACTIONS IN PLAY
As Mission Sources
Federal Remnants: Standard military orders. Patrol routes. Defensive positions. "Hold the line." Orders that make sense individually but feed the bloom collectively.
Empire of Scale: Purification missions. "Burn Section 12." "Cleanse memory bloom cluster." "Eliminate Seedborne settlement." Orders that feel righteous and create problems.
Seedborne: Protection missions. "Evacuate settlement before Empire arrives." "Guide incorporation for willing subject." "Negotiate with Sovereign Trench." Orders that require accepting bloom reality.
Radiant Choir: No orders. Invitations. "Come to Section 4. Someone wants to see you." "The Tactical Hymn has intelligence." "The Mourning Voice knows your friend's last words."
As Philosophical Pressure
Each faction embodies a response to transformation. Present all four perspectives through NPCs, mission briefings, and consequences.
When PCs make choices, show how each faction would interpret that choice. Burned a memory bloom? Empire approves, Seedborne mourns, Federal files report, Choir remembers anyway.
Let PCs see consequences of each philosophy. Federal holding action fails (bloom grows anyway). Empire purification creates fire-resistant strain. Seedborne guided incorporation goes wrong. Choir recruit disappears into collective.
No faction is entirely right. No faction is entirely wrong.
As Moral Dilemmas Made Concrete
The Settlement: Peaceful Seedborne village. Women, children, hybrid families. Happy. Blooming deliberately. Empire purification squad en route. Federal orders: Gather intelligence then allow purge.
What do you do?
The Defector: High-ranking Federal officer wants to defect to Seedborne. Carries crucial intelligence. Also carries obvious mutations. Empire will burn them on sight. Federal will execute for treason. Seedborne will shelter them.
Do you help?
The Memory: Memory bloom contains tactical intelligence that could save hundreds. Also contains your dead friend's final thoughts. Empire wants it burned. Seedborne want it preserved. Choir says it's already part of them.
What matters more?
The Child: Hushling appears during crisis. Offers comfort. PCs lose Stress when present, gain more when it leaves. Is it innocent or weapon? Empire says burn it. Seedborne say protect it. Choir says it's already theirs.
Can you harm something wearing a child's face?
FACTION CLOCK INTEGRATION
Track faction influence with 8-segment clocks. Advances when PCs help faction goals, major faction victory occurs, recruitment succeeds, or strategic position gained.
When Clocks Fill:
Federal Remnants: Major offensive (doomed but dramatic). All resources committed. Final push. Massive casualties. Bloom surge follows.
Empire of Scale: Purification crusade. Burns strategic locations across the front. Fire-resistant strains spread. Aggressive bloom emerges. Self-fulfilling prophecy.
Seedborne: Establishment of secure hybrid settlement. Proof of concept for coexistence. Becomes target for Empire, refugee destination for Federal defectors.
Radiant Choir: Spring acceleration. Critical mass approaching. Choir songs increase. Environmental shifts intensify. Transformation becomes harder to resist.
Multiple clocks can fill simultaneously. Combined endgames create complexity.
The factions are philosophies with guns. The bloom is coming regardless. How you engage them determines what grows.
Choose your garden.
CREDITS & LICENSE
Based on MÖRK BORG. This is an independent production by The Grey Ledger Society. It is not affiliated with Ockult Örtmästare Games or Stockholm Kartell. Published under the MÖRK BORG Third Party License.
The Grey Ledger Society + CGCG Helix = CC BY-SA 4.0
The trenches bloom. The dead remember. Spring approaches.