Boys of Brena
Overview
The Boys of Brena are the creators and caretakers of the Nation of New Brena. They are a diverse group of individuals who are united in their desire to give rebuilding civilization one last chance. They provide governance and protection to the Nation while channeling the chaotic energies of their personalities into a constructive project. They value solidarity, hope, and dignity, but are ruthless in their response to aggression committed against their citizens and their home. The group initially began on May 19th, 2023.
Alignment
The Boys of Brena are considered to be Neutral Good. On the one hand, they created and continue to enforce a Code of Conduct for New Brena and set clear boundaries on the use of violence by their members. On the other hand, many of their members are strange and broken individuals who, without the project of New Brena to focus them, might be forces of chaos in the world. Their alignment is sometimes jokingly referred to as ‘Chaotic Helpful’.
Appearance
The Boys of Brena can be identified by their use of the ‘elderberry blue’ color on dyed armbands and shemaghs. Beyond that, their members are as diverse as any group of strangers in Chernarus, with an emphasis on ‘strange’.
Origins
The Boys of Brena were created by founder Rick of Brena / Iron Rick during his time in the province of Livonia fighting alongside a group of survivors dedicated to protecting the town of Brena. After that group was decimated by raiders, Rick fled to Chernarus where he met Naked Jim, a former member of the Fireflies. With Rick’s ideas and Jim’s knowledge and connections, the Boys of Brena grew from a small band hosting an open camp in Mogilevka, to organized protectors of Cannery Row, to the founders of the Nation of New Brena.
Territory
The Boys of Brena lived briefly in Mogilevka on the territory of their allies, the Lost Legion, before establishing the House of Blues apartment complex in Cannery Row. In June of 2023, the Boys of Brena migrated to Komarovo and established their home at the factory now known as the Boredwalk. They began settling accepting citizens to New Brena, the borders of which stretch from west of Komarovo to the edge of the Balota Airfield, extending north to encompass some forest and agricultural land.
Goals
The Boys of Brena exist to manage and protect the Nation of New Brena, which in turn gives their broken and chaotic members a project to focus them.
The Boys of Brena have the following main objectives:
- To protect New Brena and its citizens.
- To let a new form of civilization evolve in New Brena naturally.
- To foster solidarity, hope, and dignity in themselves, their citizens, and the world.
- To create strong bonds of friendship within the group so that the members can grow, heal, and stray away from the chaos they are all capable of.
Values
The Boys of Brena are founded on solidarity, hope, and dignity.
- Solidarity: standing together, protecting each other, holding each other up.
- Hope: something to look forward to, to keep living for, to stay sane for.
- Dignity: the right to live in peace without oppression or control, and to retaliate against those who would seek to diminish this right.
History
The Boys Brena were born when Rick and his friends started defending the town of Brena in the province of Livonia while wearing blue armbands. People started calling them ‘The Boys of Brena’. The group was quickly decimated by raiders and Rick fled for his life, heading for Chernarus where he had once visited as a child.
Rick arrived on the shores of Chernarus in April of 2023. In his solo wanderings he met Ivan Vyborsk of the Collective living in Vybor. Ivan introduced Rick to the politics of Chernarus and taught him how to navigate them. Armed with new knowledge and a foothold base as Ivan’s neighbor in Vybor, Rick continued to explore the lands.
In May of 2023, Rick was low on resources and fleeing from a pack of dogs near Elektrovadrosk when he ran into two strangers. These two men, Jim and Bob, helped Rick fend off the dogs, two crowbars and a single-shot rifle between them. The trio, bonded in the adrenaline of mutual survival, became fast friends. On a whim, Rick told them about the Boys of Brena and gave them the codes to access his home in Vybor.
Rick and Jim proceeded to build their home and reputation in Vybor, interacting and trading with the 506th, the Collective, the Lost Legion, the Merry Men, and more. It was during this time that the Boys of Brena also faced Dark As Midnight for the first time. A DAMN squad led by Clyde attacked the Boys of Brena in Vybor, sending Jim back to the coast and promising to return soon due to Rick’s defiant shouting through the base wall.
Knowing their numbers were too small to survive an open conflict with DAMN, the Boys of Brena decided to cut their losses and leave Vybor. It was around this time that the Lost Legion invited Rick and Jim to set up an open community camp under their protection in Mogilevka.
At the church in Mogilevka, the Boys of Brena began to be known as the helpful community-builders they would turn out to be. Many sick travelers stopped here and received aid. The Boys of Brena were unfortunately caught up in frequent attacks against the Lost Legion by groups such as Dark As Midnight, Masquerade, and others.
Before long, Friar, then-leader of the Lost Legion, took objection to the rapid growth the Boys of Brena were experiencing. The Lost Legion took the Boys of Brena’s presence in Mogilevka to a vote and ultimately allowed them to stay, but for the BoBs, the damage was done. They decided to take up an offer from Mayor Myshac of Cannery Row to set up a headquarters there.
In June of 2023, the Boys of Brena established the House of Blues headquarters in Cannery Row. They continued their mission there by helping survivors and defending the community they were attached to. However, before long Cannery Row’s discouragement of organized retaliation against attacks coupled with the constant influx of survivors unable to care for themselves led the Boys of Brena to seek out their own territory elsewhere.
Wandering westward into lands unclaimed by any known groups, the Boys of Brena found themselves at the factory building on the pier in Komarovo. The area was beautiful, quiet, and ripe for the taking. The trip out there had been quite boring, and so the place was named: the Boredwalk. The Boredwalk was officially claimed and gated off on June 25th, 2023.
As the Boys of Brena established themselves on their new home turf, they learned that they were far from the only Cannery Row residents who were dissatisfied with the state of things there. Multiple Rowers started to find their way west, asking the BoBs if they could follow and live nearby. In this moment, the idea for something greater was born. A nation. The Nation of New Brena.
Feeling a sense of responsibility for Cannery Row, the Boys of Brena engaged in their first official military action shortly thereafter when the existence of a ‘Murder Nest’ was discovered in Novoselki. Several Cannery Row members, led by a psychopath by the name of Murob, had created a honeypot to lure and assassinate travelers. The Boys of Brena took offense to this breach of trust being perpetrated by some of the same people who purported to defend the Row, and so raided and decimated the Murder Nest. During the attack, Murob was captured, interrogated, and ultimately executed.
Over the summer of 2023, the Boys of Brena grew in number, built their home, fostered their community, and nurtured alliances. Unfortunately, during this period a war broke out with the 506th due to diplomatic breakdown over possible false-flag attacks. The war was fierce but brief, a large storm allowing a moment of calm and the resumption of neutrality and eventually, friendship.
The Boys of Brena established a clear procedure for applying to be a citizen of New Brena, and also began recruiting for the group itself from the citizen pool, choosing individuals who had stood out as community leaders to become Prospects for the BoBs.
On September 24th, 2023, the Boys of Brena officially declared the borders of New Brena as they currently stand. This declaration was celebrated in the community but also caused new problems. A claim surfaced from Regi of the Golden Peppers, a group with whom the BoBs had had good relations, for a cabin on the northern end of New Brena’s lands. Regi claimed this cabin had belonged to his grandmother. The diplomatic situation quickly became a ‘War of Notes’ as each group escalated ridiculous claims against the other. This eventually evolved into a shooting war, during which the Golden Peppers raided the citizens of New Brena’s community storage base, and New Brena as a whole responded with multiple attacks on the Golden Peppers. At the end of the conflict, the Golden Peppers relinquished their claim on the disputed cabin and hostilities came to an end.
Notable Members
Iron Rick - Rick of Brena founded the Boys of Brena in the province of Livonia and brought his dream of solidarity and hope with him to Chernarus. Quick to trust but also quick to anger, Rick makes allies as quickly as he makes enemies as his words have both swayed the doubtful and started wars. After Rick was mortally wounded by the 506th, his body was healed by the Blueberry Corporation nanobots. This process also sealed off his core personality, deeming it emotionally reckless and anathema to the growth and prosperity of New Brena. Rick became Iron Rick, a cybernetic organism dedicated to the core values of the Boys of Brena. How much of Rick’s old personality makes it through into Iron Rick’s actions is a point for debate.
Naked Jim - A former members of the Fireflies and expert diplomat, Jim received his nickname from Bobs of the Black Sheep when one day, he inexplicably stopped wearing pants. No one knows if this strange behavior is a pathology, or if Jim began doing it to disarm those with whom he would treat. He frequently compliments his pantlessness with strange attire such as witch hats, fanny packs, and more, the only consistency therein being his refusal to explain what it all means. In many ways, Jim is the heart of the Boys of Brena, providing a moral compass and a barometer for when talk is over and bullets are needed to solve a situation.
Relationships
The Lost Legion - Among the first friends the Boys of Brena had, the Lost Legion hosted the BoBs’ first open camp in Mogilevka. Although tensions were high when their then-leader Friar wanted to evict the Boys of Brena for growing too fast, relationships remained good between the group and may even have included a brief romance.
Cannery Row - The Boys of Brena were welcomed into Cannery Row by Mayor Meshac and his brother, Bedtime. They had many friends there and risked their lives defending it many times. However, after the disappearance of Meshac and Bedtime, some residents of Cannery Row established a ‘Murder Nest’ nearby, offering similar shelter to travelers but ultimately sniping them from their hidden base. The Boys of Brena went to war against the Murder Nest and had much diplomatic tension with Cannery Row during this time. This situation was never fully resolved.
The 506th - The Boys of Brena entered into a war with the 506th in the summer of 2023 due to failed diplomacy over possible false flag attacks. The war was interrupted by a settlement-destroying storm, and in the aftermath the two groups were able to call a ceasefire. Soon after, the groups became friendly despite the mistaken shooting of Rick leading to his becoming Iron Rick.
The Fireflies - The Boys of Brena and Fireflies are as close as two different groups can be. Jim was a member of their group for a time, and introduced the BoBs to Harry Churches, Pete, and Irish. The two groups have fought side-by-side many times, and maintain a strong mutual-aid relationship.
The Wolves of Selene - While the Wolves are anarchists and scoff at the BoBs’ attempt to build a civilization, the two groups complement each other well. The Wolves have provided spiritual guidance to several Boys of Brena at times when the path forward was far from clear.