Jodes
| Jodes | |
|---|---|
| Type | Nomad |
The Jodes are one of the largest nomad groups in North America, and one of the seven nomad nations. They work mostly in construction, transport and farm labour.
History
The Dust Storms
The Jodes began as farmers. Great dust storms destroyed farms across Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, and whole rural communities had to move west toward California. The media named them the Jodes, after the family in the novel The Grapes of Wrath.
On the way, the Jodes rested in Colorado before crossing the Rocky Mountains. The locals did not want them there, and one night they raided the camps. The Jodes were better prepared than the locals thought, and most of the families held their ground. A farmer named Malachi called a council of the family leaders. After a long debate, they formed a nomad nation to secure farm work, and wrote the Compact, a constitution that later served as the basis of the Nomad Code.
Los Angeles
Against Malachi's wishes, the council also voted for revenge on the town that had attacked them. They did not mean to kill, but in the chaos of the assault many townspeople died, others were kidnapped and the town was looted. Knowing that the National Guard would come after them, Malachi led the Jodes on toward California.
Soon after, a great earthquake nearly destroyed Los Angeles, the city the Jodes had been heading for. The Jodes won the contract to rebuild it, ahead of the more experienced Aldecaldos. To keep the peace, they let the Aldecaldos oversee the project and hire more workers. Afterwards, some Jodes moved north west to turn burnt forests into farmland, while others stayed in California and built projects such as the maglev network.
In the Badlands outside Night City, a clash between Jodes and Aldecaldos once came close to war before it was settled. The Jodes then set up a camp of their own, so they would not need to use the Aldecaldo Camp.
Way of Life
The Jodes live by the Compact: protect the family first, then the clan; steal nothing from others in the clan; and hoard nothing that could help the rest of the clan.
They may be the most nomadic of all the nations. They keep away from settled society, and when they make camp, they do it far from any city. Old superstitions and ghost stories have taken on an almost religious weight among them. They believe in the ghosts of workers and in the spirits of the open road.
Notes
- Nomads of every nation, the Jodes among them, swear by the Archer Quartz "Sidewinder" for its reliability in the desert.
All Nomads
Every nomad clan with a page is listed below.
| Name | Image | Region | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aldecaldos | 
|
- | - |
| Bright Family | - | - | - |
| Jodes | - | - | - |
| MetaCorp | - | - | - |
| Raffen Shiv | - | - | - |
| Red Ocher | - | - | - |