[John Farson]

Sword of God

In 1998 and 1999 a group of Swedish army bases were occupied by unknown persons. They quickly seized control of the Kiruna Municipality and have apparently contented themselves with that, for they have not attacked in any direction. They declared school teacher and preacher Harri Virtanen as their leader.

Apparently, the Sword of God is a religious organization formed during the war. According to their propaganda, they wish for a return to an age of righteousness that existed before modern corruption set in. They also say that they are certain of God’s imminent arrival on Earth and that all true believers will be saved. To back their words they have several military bases and heavily armed believers. So far no warring party has dared contradict them, let alone laugh at them.

Gamemaster’s notes: In reality, the Sword of God is not just a group of militant religious fanatics. The organization consists of nationalistic inhabitants of Lapland, and their ultimate goal is the creation of a Lappish state encompassing the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland. The only original inhabitants of Fennoscandia, the Sami people, were already supplanted by the expansionistic Scandinavians and Finns at the beginning of the first millennium, but the concept of the Sami uniting into one state in their rightful lands has existed to this day. Even in the 20th century the matter was brought up a few times, but none of this was taken seriously. To Norwegians, Swedes and Finns this would have been more absurd than the idea of driving the Americans back to Europe from the lands of the Indians.

Sword of God does not only consist of genuine Sami; a large portion of their members are Scandinavians who have lived in the north. For an unknown reason, the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland have traditionally been the home of exceptionally conservative and fanatical Christians. Harri Virtanen has been very adept in combining the Sami nationalist ideology, traditions and the ideology of Christian true believers into a bizarre quasi-Christian cult that combines Sami beliefs and worship with a dualistic worldview. For most members the religious aspect is just a minor thing, however, and the average soldier of the Sword of God thinks he is only fighting for his rightful homeland. The community formed from the former Finnish army 6. Reserve Jaeger Brigade has good relations with the organization, and a few Swedish military units have joined them.

Harri Virtanen has purposefully cultivated an image of a bunch of nutty holy rollers, for he believes that a secessionist military organization would find itself under far more attention from the various warring armies than would be desired – which is correct, as a matter of fact.

Structure: Probably village communities, above which is a general leadership under Harri Virtanen?

Leaders: Ex-school teacher Harri Virtanen?