First Horde
The “First Horde” was a secret organisation from the Prime Earth, active throughout the 20th century. They sought to rediscover relics of the Lost City of Atlantis, hoping to use their fabled advanced technology for world domination.
They kept themselves staffed by brainwashing ordinary people, but over time, their lack of success led to them finding that they couldn't afford to keep their huge numbers housed and fed, and they ended up letting go of many of their numbers, including Archibald Fishflipper and Irving Scarper. The latter was a brilliant, if mad, geneticist, who had created a herd of talking, genetically-modified dromedaries to maintain the Horde's databases. Due to the Horde's lack of experience with undoing brainwashings, the lay-offs resulted in the creation of many Strangely-Colored Secret Societies in their mould by the former operatives, channeling incomplete memories and lingering psychic commands. (PROSE: The Strangely-Colored Secret Societies (short story)