Hastings' Men is a group of anti-technology activists operating in Barlovia. The revolt of Hastings' Men began in 1511 in Eastlay. For hundreds of years, weaving had been a well-respected cottage industry, before the introduction of slocking frames and automated looms. Weavers saw the machines as a symbol of their new oppressors, and organized into a guerrilla movement. Members appear at factories in disguise to hand over their demands (reasonable compensation for workers, better conditions, and quality control) to the owners, claiming to be under the orders of the nonexistant "General" Nat Hastings. (The name was taken from an anecdote about a feebleminded boy who accidentally broke a couple of looms.) Mill owners who don't comply often find their expensive machines wrecked.
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