Humanis Policlub

Perhaps the most infamous policlub in Seattle, and possibly the world, is the Humanis movement, which has been around in one form or another since the early days of the Awakening, although it really got going following Goblinization Day and the dramatic appearance of the first orks and trolls. Right from the start, the Humanis position was simple: somebody has got to stand up for the rights of “ordinary” human beings, which is to say Homo sapiens sapiens, and bring to the public’s attention the “dangers” posed by metahumans and, to an extent, the Awakening as a whole.

Some of the Humanis roots trace back to radical religious groups who believed
the first stirrings of the Awakening and the birth of “changeling” children (the
first dwarfs and elves, not modern changelings) were signs of the End Times;
basically humanity’s last warnings to shape up before the true believers shipped
out. The greater mainstreaming of the magical arts has diminished a lot of the
religious fervor of the group and their anti-magical bias, although both are still
present to some degree.
> Axis Mundi

Seattle’s chapter of the Humanis Policlub is, unfortunately, one of the oldest and largest in North America. It got its start as a “community organization” following the Ghost Dance War, when veterans and refugees in the newly isolated Seattle area came together to “protect ordinary people” from the depredations of spooky Indian magic and those weird “changeling kids,” who were the first-born metahumans. People were scared, and their government had basically just surrendered to the enemy and sold them down the river, leaving them stranded in the middle of hostile territory. Perfect opportunity for the fearmongers to take up the banner and rally everyone to it.

Goblinization Day gave the Humanis a huge boost: if the Awakening scared people, then G-Day terrified them as one person in ten transformed into a “freak” or “monster.” It was Humanis who organized “citizen watch groups” who were little more than lynch mobs to keep the “contagion” from spreading. Even the idea that the government would protect these freaks stoked the fires of hate, until they exploded.

What became the Night of Rage was supposed to be the Humanis Policlub’s greatest achievement. Their power was so widespread in those days you didn’t even know who was a hard-core member or just a sympathizer, because nearly everybody was, or was at least willing to look the other way. Still, when the fires burned on the Seattle waterfront, a lot of people suddenly said, “What the fuck are we doing? What are we allowing to happen?” It was the wake-up call that slowed the rampant growth of the Humanis movement and showed metahumans as people who suffered and died.

The generation born and raised with the Night of Rage as part of their history has a different view of metahumans. The past thirty or so years have forced the Humanis movement to change, too, but not for the better. They’ve gone from an organized lynch mob to an entrenched political interest group. In particular, they’ve focused a lot on “community service,” in a way that would make the Yakuza proud: that is, they sponsor schools, free clinics, youth sports teams, even their own trid and net-cast channels. They’ve embedded the idea that being “for humanity” is a civil right and piss and moan about how metahumans are just whiny victims trying to steal their rights with their demands for “special treatment.” It apparently works, too, because a lot of people vote in sympathy with the Humanis agenda, whether they are official members or not. The policlub’s endorsement of Governor Brackhaven should have been a scandal, but instead it probably helped him secure the Republican nomination and the election. Why not, when the vast majority of voters are humans?

It’s noteworthy that Governor Brackhaven is not an official member of the
Humanis Policlub, although his ties to it are quite clear: his uncle Karl was the
head of the organization for most of the younger Brackhaven’s life.
> Kay St. Irregular

I’ll say it right up front: I’m no supporter of the Humanis Policlub, or apologist
for racism in any form, but I also think it’s a mistake to dismiss these people as
stupid hicks; it’s both a fundamental misunderstanding of what they’re about,
and it underestimates what they can do, which is exactly how they manage to
get into positions of authority. Although a lot of people talk about Humanis and
their spawn in terms of hate, what they are really all about is fear: not just fear
of what is new, different, and strange, but a deep-seated fear that their way of life,
their beliefs, even their species and their world, are obsolete. Everyone talks about
“the Sixth World” and “the Awakened Age.” Metahumans say “this is our time” and
ecoactivists talk about how the Awakened have the special favor of Mother Earth and
will survive the coming changes. It’s all too easy for people who are scared shitless by
everything that has happened in the past fifty years or so to turn their fear into anger
and direct it at the so-called “special” people. Say what you will about the bigots and
the haters, this isn’t a war that’s going to be won by playing into their fears. Hell,
it shouldn’t even be a “war” at all.
> Traveler Jones

Behind the scenes, of course, the Humanis Policlub serves as the public face of a network of hate groups like Alamos 20,000, Human Nation, and the infamous Hand of Five in Seattle, the group believed responsible for the Night of Rage. They funnel money, information, and resources, and serve as a recruitment center where the hard-core radical groups can find new martyrs for their cause.

In the aftermath the copycat killer being apprehended, Governor Brackhaven gave a rousing speech, condemning what Shawn Walker had done and pleading that any who wish to "see that metahuman rights are justly regulated" should "seek out legal avenues of doing so, like joining a local policlub".

After the terrorist attack upon the Ashecliffe institute, Humanis has been working hard to remind all those who would listen that the main suspect for the attack is a metahuman rights group. Their propaganda has most certainly not fallen upon deaf ears, with word on the streets being that a march will be organized by Humanis activists, as soon as the governor's office will ratify it.