umbra

history

origins

Umbra was established in mid 2077, following the chaos in the Net after the attack on Arasaka’s data fortress Mikoshi. Its first members had started receiving what appeared to be distress signals from the Badlands, and upon further investigation they learned the signals were coming from deep within the Net. They were unable to establish direct contact with the sender, and instead communicated through short, encrypted messages for months to come.

During these months, the gang members learned they were talking with a deity named Scintilla. She was stuck in the Net and looking for a way to get out, and she promised knowledge, power, and money if the gang could help her escape. With her help, Umbra built a supercomputer which allowed them to connect to so-called “hotspots” in the Badlands— tracking down Scintilla’s signals— to attempt to virtually send one of their members to her location in the Net. Despite their efforts, they did not manage to succeed.

prophet

In early 2078, during one of Umbra’s attempts to send someone to Scintilla, nomad and drifter Thiago Salazar stumbled upon the ritual by accident and got connected to the supercomputer through his cyberdeck. Because of his knowledge of the Net and his experience with deep dives, he managed to stabilize the signal and was virtually connected with Scintilla, effectively succeeding at what the gang had been trying to do for nearly a year by then.

Scintilla took a liking to him because of his skills and chose him as the one she wanted to communicate with in future rituals. Umbra chose Thiago as their Prophet, effectively trapping him in the gang whether he liked it or not; Thiago was too scared to try and resist and went along with everything they said, slowly but surely working himself deeper into an act he would soon learn he would not be able to escape from anymore.

connections

In the following years, Umbra quickly established itself as a powerful ally within the network of Night City’s gangs. They operated from the shadows, rumored to use the nightclub Sanctum as their hideout, and would provide other gangs with supercomputers that could serve as their own separated data fortresses, special tech for vehicles, and the mysterious drug known as Chronium. Umbra was rumored to do business with Maelstrom, the Voodoo Boys, the Wireless, as well as some nomadic families and groups.

With the Prophet as direct connection to Scintilla, Umbra managed to track down many more hotspots for successful deep dives to talk to their deity. She provided them with valuable information and programs to run from their own data fortress for a variety of purposes; how to create Chronium, making Umbra its sole producer; the best modifications for their gear, weapons, and vehicles; and to get their hands on valuable corporate data, and gain access to their protected servers through backdoors Scintilla would provide them with.

What Umbra did not realize, is that Scintilla was in fact not a deity at all. She was a powerful AI located beyond the Blackwall, and the Prophet would cross the border with each deep dive to be able to talk to her. Scintilla’s goal was to take over his body to gain access to the real world, from where she would be able to make the Net crumble in on itself; giving her full access to any and all corporate data, infinite money, and the tools to do whatever she wanted.

scintilla’s death

In 2080, Umbra entered a new phase when journalist Bodhi Shankar joined the gang after providing them with intel on a Biotechnica haul they had been after for weeks already. With the valuable information he was able to gather for the gang— and Scintilla’s jealousy regarding the Prophet’s interest in the gang’s newest recruit— they began targeting corporations directly to expand their position within the Net. This to lay the foundation for Scintilla once she would be freed from her restraints.

However, before the Prophet could agree to Scintilla taking over his body, he was captured by fixer Mouna Jarrah, who used to be in the same nomad family as him, and she told him and Bodhi the truth about Scintilla. It would be catastrophic were she to break free from beyond the Blackwall; and together with Mouna, they set up a plan to kill Scintilla, which they would manage to do successfully during the next deep dive.

present

Following the death of Scintilla, Umbra rebrands itself as a technogang. Various of its previous portfolio points are dropped in favor for others, which focus more on their advanced online system that steers away from the mainstream Net, and sharing their knowledge with others to advocate for better online security and privacy and less corporate meddling in the Net itself.

ideals

As a cult gang, Umbra’s ideals are self-centered and focused on their worship of Scintilla. Everything they do is with her release from her prison in mind, and they serve her before anything or anyone else. They have little interest in actively recruiting new members, only doing so in special situations, and are by default not hostile towards anyone until provoked.

As a technogang, Umbra’s ideals shift to freedom and privacy. They strive for complete disconnection from the massive network of the Net and aim to share their knowledge with others, to put an end to the monopoly megacorporations hold over the Net and all its users.

territory

Umbra is not a territorial gang and remains within the bounds of their home base, Sanctum. They have no interest in expanding their territory and treat the surrounding Badlands with respect, leaving the indigenous people of the area and the nomadic families alone.

Whenever they track down a hotspot, Umbra closes off the area surrounding it for the time being to be able to perform their ritual. Once it is over, they leave the area in the same state as they found it in.