Don't think I've ever posted this before, but here's my campaign write-up for a Post-Apocalyptic Campaign set in my own home state, a post-apocalyptic New Mexico. I have used this setting using both GURPS rules and more recently Cypher System (as presented here).
The Wasted Earth – an After the End
Campaign for Cypher System
The world ended in a blaze of
glory about 250 years ago. Exactly how much time has passed was marked by the
last of the elders who were the last men of Earth to remember the world the way
it was. These elder’s claim it was about 2370 “AD” when the machines awoke and
changed the old world. Their stories were strange, mythical, and filled with
tales of “bioweaponry,” “nuclear war,” and “nanotechnology.” They spoke of
beings called the Ayesai (ASI, prounced A-es-ai)) as if they were gods or
demons. If the old dates are right, then it is 2620 AD, though none can say for
sure.
Some of the last elders spoke of
men who had traveled to the stars, and wistfully hoped that they would one day
return. Stories have been spoken of flying ships descending to the earth, but
the armored beings which emerged were armed with death rays and seemed more
interested in capturing the People for specimens and torture than anything
else….and if you didn’t comply, they razed your community with incinerating
beams of light. Whether these were the automatons….robots…..or aliens or men
from space no one knew. Did it matter?
To the men of earth these beings
from the sky are a terrifying mystery. Unknown to them, they are largely
survivors in the so called Spacer Collective, a transgenic society of
biomechanoids dominated by the so called machine intelligence, the Ayesai of
which the elders warned…the advanced super intelligence which all but destroyed
humanity when it awoke in a brilliant singularity, elevating its kind and a few
unlucky biomes in to space, as it left a wasted earth behind.
One of the side effects of the
genetic tampering that transpired in the days and weeks following the ASI
uprising was an enormous escalation in random mutations. Mutants, viable,
genetically sustainable new species are now all over the place, and they are the
byproduct of the machine experimentation after the nullification of humanity.
Intelligent species are everywhere, uplifted by the machines in a moment of
curiosity, just as degenerate humans can be found in the wastes.
Pure humans still exist, but they
are a hearty relic breed that was “hard coded” to resist the biogenic viruses
released in the final days of what the Spacers called “The Change.” These pure
strain humans are among the greatest survivors and also the rarest relics of
the lost age. Their hidden enclaves are extremely well protected as they were
among the few of old humanity’s wealthiest and most resourceful humans,
determined to survive the singularity which they accurately predicted would
destroy the world.
Despite the elevation of the machine
intelligence in to space, the Spacer Commonwealth had a number of enclaves in
the solar system which escaped detection and assimilation. These humans, mostly
adapted to life in space, have avoided returning to Earth unless out of dire
necessity. Their survival has predicated on being able to avoid notice under
the presence of the ASI ruling the new Commonwealth, which is primarily
dominant in the Jupiter and Saturn systems. Still, a few have begun new
scientific expeditions to explore what is left of Earth….and see if anything
can be reconstructed.
The Denizens of Wasted Earth
Earth humans now fall into a
variety of types, named after various “mythical” archetypes:
Technos
Near-ascended humans who developed
staggering intelligence; they were to become the “brains” of the Spacer Change
of Earth. Technos did not get far however, as the biogenic weapons used to
begin reshaping humanity either mutated intentionally or accidentally, creating
many other bizarre human off shoots. The technos survived as a group by virtue
of their intelligence and what turned out to be severe longevity, but today
they are exceedingly rare, as great intelligence does not make up for weak
physiology and a compromised immune system.
Technos look like normal humans
but usually have signs of cybernetic modification around their cranium. Some
show more extensive modification.
Ascended
The humans who willingly embraced
the ASI at the moment of the singularity were assimilated in to the clade of
the post humans, and became something more than man, more than machine. The
ascended were actually few in number, but many millions were promised the
opportunity to assimilate if they cooperated. Those who did not were forcibly
conscripted or merged with the machine flesh of the ASI. Today no Ascended are
believed to exist on the Wasted Earth, and if any might, they are probably cast
out from their Utopian civilization in the region of Jupiter.
Ascended appear in any guise they
wish, and are usually hard-light constructs, beings of energy and information
projecting from a core source, usually a sophisticated biomachine brain with a
gravitic engine.
Pure Strain Humans
By luck or design many tens of
thousands of humans somehow survived the apocalypse, either avoiding mutation
through luck or by having the resources and foresight to ensconce themselves in
insulated, protected enclaves to ride out the singularity. These humans range
from the hapless survivors who descended from the humans who hid in Carlsbad
Caverns and avoided notice to wealthy billionaires like Arthur Biden who used
his wealth to forge a private fortress on Mt. Shasta and managed to ride out
the destruction. PSHs such as Biden may even survive to this day, having
utilized some of the advanced in bioengineering to extend their lifespans
indefinitely.
Pure strain humans appear much as
contemporary humans do, though by the 24th century humanity had
become such a melting pot that physical differences such as skin color were
rarely distinct, and genetic bioengineering had all but eliminated most genetic
defects. The amount of biological and nuclear contamination in the Wasted Earth
has massively reversed this scenario, and humans today have sharply declined in
their overall health and longevity.
Cro
Level 2 (normal) or 3 (warriors); Health 6 or 9; Damage 2 or 3 or by
weapon (usually war axes and bows, 4 points); Special: one level higher Might
defense but one level lower Intellect defense
Subhumans, to be turned into grunt
workers and industrial fodder, food resource who are now regarded as warlike
and vicious predators. Lots of mutation among the cros lead to all sorts of
variations, many shortening lives or of lethal nature. The cros seem to have
“devolved” to an earlier state of human history and have limited language
skills.
Most cro are distinctly prehuman,
and look much like Neanderthals. The exact nature of their regression is no
longer understood though some surviving elders suspect the cro were a byproduct
of the first few weeks in which the ASI subjected humanity to intense levels of
experimentation.
Shapers
Level 6; Health 30; Damage 6; Special: Intellect Defense Level 7;
“sheathing attack” vs. Speed Defense to attach to target (deals Might damage
initially), then second attack is vs. Intellect Defense until detached. If
Intellect hits 0, at which time target is enslaved.
The shapers are the most
terrifying of the mutated, transmorphic entities that seem to depend heavily on
the assimilation of other bio-organisms for the reconstitution of their own
flesh. Shapers are rare, but notoriously hard to put down. They have a
connection to the Carriers, of which one in a thousand seems to manifest as
shaper.
Shapers initially can appear as
any sort of creature they wish, as they are in fact a “sheave” of translucent
flesh which fits like a glove over any other bipedal or quadrupedal host. The
shaper will in time convert the host to its willing slave, making it in to a
carrier (see below), before finding a new host to convert and moving on. A
conversion typically takes 1-2 weeks.
The Legion
Level 4; Health 16; Damage 4 melee or by weapon (usually heavy chain
guns 8 damage); usually have 1D3 weird random mutations and cybernetic
enhancements: 1-enhanced strength (+1 might defense); 2-enhanced speed (+1
speed defense); 3-monoblade (penetrating attack); 4-toxin resistance (+2 shifts
might defense vs. toxins); 5-built in chain gun (can’t be disarmed); 6-dermal
armor (+1 Armor); 7-chitnous growth (+1 armor); 8-enhanced vision (thermal,
night); 9-heightened senses (+1 shift
perception); 10-spore emission (Immediate range poison attack, might defense
level 5); 11-Radiation Resistance (+2 might defense), 12-Radioactive (emits an aura causing 3 radiation damage to adjacent foes).
These immense genetically-enhanced
descendants of the “super soldiers” of the Final War are terrifying opponents
and devastating in battle. The Legion exists in pockets around the Wastelands,
usually in possession of still functional military gear, and seems to rely
heavily on capturing women of other mutation types as they seem unable to produce
Legion females of their own.
Legion appear as biogenetically
and cybernetically enhanced humans, but often with additional unique mutations of
sometimes beneficial but also debilitating nature. They are currently third to
fourth generation descendants of the first Legion members, and the increase in
grotesque mutations have grown, as their factory-labs where they are created
are slowly breaking down in to disrepair.
Legion born of women are rarely able to survive for long but the few who
do seem to hold the stronger stock of their parents combined.
Carriers
Level 6; Health 24; Damage 6; Armor 2 points; Special: targets injured
by carriers must make a level 6 might defense or become carriers; once per
month target must make a Level 2 Might Defense or become ill from the virus; on
a 20 is cured, on a 1 may mutate. Moves a long distance as a single move.
A bizarre group of transformed humans,
animals and mutants who seem to have become carriers for the biogenic virus,
which has mutated them into hosts. The transmorphs are noted for being driven
by a need to find, kill and assimilate the flesh of their victims into their
hive mind, expanding their ranks. The virus operates purely to spread itself,
and has lost most of its transmorphic properties. One in a thousand carriers
becomes a Shaper.
A carrier looks like a sleek,
vicious predatory beast with a black and red exoskeleton, designed to run at
speeds of up to sixty miles per hour and to hunt and kill with brutal
efficiency. Variations can be found by region, but the carriers are clearly
designed as predators and perhaps even with a sadistic component to their very
nature. It is speculated that, much like the cro, carriers and shapers were
part of the early phase of bio experimentation which the ASI perpetrated on
humanity before eventually moving to forge the ascended.
Created
Variable Level and Stats; Typical basic Created is Level 3; Health 15;
Damage 3; May have degraded Intellect (Level 2 intellect defense).
The created are biological
androids that existed prior to the Great War and which still function today.
Most are quite insane, as it appears that their artificially grown brains,
while unaging, have flaws which lead to mental degradation over long periods of
time.
Created often look like perfect
humans, though time has a way of wearing them down. They do not age though they
can simulate human growth habits (hair, fingernails) and can eat, though the
food is processed as pure waste. Androids with major injuries to their frame
over time may be easier to spot, showing wounds on their synthetic flesh that
won’t heal, or damaged internal metal skeletal frames which give their inhuman
natures away.
Howlers
Level 5; Health 25; Damage 4 with fists; Special: If the primary attack
hits, triggers a level 5 might defense or target takes 5 acid damage; acid
damage bypasses armor or may destroy armor on a GMI; Immune to radiation
damage. Level 6 intellect defense to avoid being detected by howlers.
The howlers are terrifying mutants
which exist in the deeps of the wasteland hunting all other beings as prey. The
howlers may once have been human, but the biogenic weapons changed specific hosts
into this terrifying form of sludge-like zombies. It is not clear is these
chemical zombies have intelligence beyond predatory instinct, but some claim
they seem to move about as if simulating their old lives when observed in the
wild and unaware of nearby prey.
Howlers look like hideous,
greenish zombies covered in a perpetually oozing slime. Their mere touch is
lethal to most creatures.
Ghouls
Level 4; Health 12; Damage 4; Special: radiation immunity; nanite
emissions, any target in immediate range must make a Level 4 might defense test
or move down one grade on the wound track after becoming infected by the ghouls
nanites; continue to make test daily, moving up or down on wound track (cannot
be healed until resolved); if the infected dies, becomes a new ghoul.
Ghouls appear almost at random,
and are similar to Cro but for their hideous appearance and cannibalistic
nature. Ghouls are cunning and intelligent, but see themselves as creatures
apart from man. Physically ghouls can pass for human most of the time, but over
the years they degrade to a rotted corpse-like state, and their minds tend to
degrade as well. Colonies of ghouls keep their degenerate elders alive in
catacombs, feeding them and letting them out at night, while the younger ones
seek to masquerade as human by day.
Ghouls are believed to be another
product of the singularity, but there are a few elders who claim that ghouls
already existed prior to the rise of the ASI, and were the survivors of a Nano
plague which rendered them immortal but at the cost of much of their humanity
about a generation before the apocalypse. The truth of these stories has never
been properly established, but there are a few ghouls who do indeed claim to be
centuries old.
Robots
Cleaning Droid Level 1; Health 3; Damage 1
Labor Bot Level 2; Health 6; Damage 2; Armor 1
Autocar Level 4; Health 20; Damage 8 if hit at high speed; Armor 2
Machine Laborer Level 3; Health 15; Damage 3; Armor 1; may have
distinct intelligence as AGI
Warbot (see Cypher robots)
Robots of all sorts were in
general use when the Final War hit. Humanoid robots were often used as
inexpensive labor, some were used in warfare, and still others as personal
servants. Earth-born robots were given limited AI, to avoid the problem of the
emergent Machine AI in the Spacer Colonies that led to the Final War.
Robots appear in all varieties and
shapes, from simple cleaning droids to enormous warbots.
Spitters
Level 4; Health 20; Damage 4 by tentacles or venom spit (short range);
Special: venom spit causes paralysis if a level 4 might defense roll is failed
for 1 minute; paralyzed targets or targets rendered unconscious can be
implanted with a spitter host seed in 1D6 rounds. Once implanted the host
remains paralyzed until the seed sprouts, creating a new splitter 1D6 hours
later.
A variant mutant breed reminiscent
of the Howlers, the spitters are another degenerate race of human which has
been parasitically changed by a strange vine-like plant that controls the
brains of its hosts and changes the body over time. The Spitters seek to
paralyze prey with a venomous toxin that they can spray from their mouths up to
fifty feet or more, after which they incapacitate the prey and implant the host
with new spitter seeds. The alien intelligence of the spitter plant is
completely unknown, but it does seem to favor humanoid forms exclusively.
The Notmen
RabbitFolk, Level 1 ; health 3; damage 1 or by light weapon (2); Level
4 Speed Defense, Level 3 Intellect Defense vs. perception
Catfolk , Dogfolk, level 2;
Health 6; Damage 2 or by weapon
Bearfolk Level 4; health 16; damage 4 or by weapon; +1 might defense
Apemen Level 4; health 12; damage 4 or by weapon; +1 might defense
Turtlefolk Level 3; health 9; damage 3 or by weapon; armor 1; swimming
and diving assets
Before the fall of man, transgenic
technology had successfully uplifted several animal species, creating unique
animal-human hybrids through DNA manipulation. Of these hybrid species many
were created sterile, but not all. Today, a handful of these Notmen still
exist, some in thriving communities. Among the notmen are rabbitfolk, catfolk,
dogfolk, apemen, the reptilians and even, along the west coast of the Wasteland
Expanse the turtlefolk.
Other Animals of Wasted Earth
Humanity wasn’t the only thing
that changed. Many species of plant and animal of those that still existed were
altered by the biogenic virus of the Machine AI. Today, only the heartiest and usually
deadliest of these species still thrive, making for an incredibly hostile
landscape to traverse.
A few common animal types people
are used to in the Wastelands:
Groats: fierce descendants of goats mutated with more predatory
carnivorous DNA to make them aggressive pack hunters. Groats are reminiscent of
swift goat-like horned beasts with lean pantherine bodies. Level 4; Health 12; Damage 4; Armor 1; Speed long
Macs: The macs were cattle mutated for better efficiency and meat
output; a created successor to cows. The biogenic virus did many strange things
to Mac physiology and today Macs are quadrupedal creatures that mutated with
two manipulative arms, a centauroid torso and better vocal chords with which to
communicate. They are now intelligent (not much more so than Cros, however) and
move in tribal packs. Still considered very tasty, but extremely difficult to
catch and kill without a high death rate among human wastelanders. Level 3; Health 9; Damage 3; docile.
Drakes: The drakes appear to have been large snakes that mutated
multiple legs and developed surprisingly large and agile bodies. They have a
cunning animal intelligence and prey on Macs, Groats and other beasts. Level 5; Health 20; Damage 5; Armor 1;
Constriction Attack Level 6 might defense (6 damage).
Scorps: Giant scorpions mixed with what appears to be a bit of
reptilian physiology, these insect-like scoprions are sometimes larger than a
truck and have none of the issues a conventional insect would display when
sized up. Level 7; Health 28; Damage 7
and might defense level 7 or drop 1 on wound track poison; Armor 3; immune to
radiation.
Sharlots: These massive spiders appear to have been altered in the
same manner as the scorps, with mixed animal DNA to compensate for arthropoidal
size limitations. The sharlots are of animal intelligence, or so most believe,
and reclusive wilderness dwellers, though some will colonies ruins. There are
several variants of sharlot, including the black widow, hobo, trap door,
tarantuloid and other variants. Typically
Level 3; Health 9; Damage 3 and poison (level 3 might defense or take one wound
track damage); Webs can constrain, level 3 Speed Defense or entangled.
Conqueror Worms: These
massive mutated worms are sometimes hundreds of feet long and eat almost
anything. The exact nature of their biology, how they grow so large and sustain
their immense weight is unknown. Level 8;
Health 80; Damage 8; Armor 3; Move long.
Lurkers: These giant mutated humanoid frogs display human
intelligence and use primitive weapons. They are found in wetlands and along
the coast, and are extremely hostile to humans. Level 2; Health 6; Damage 4 (weapon) or 2 (fists); Armor 0 or 1; Can
jump a short distance.
Centimares: these disturbingly mutated horses have centipede like
qualities with horse’s heads. The exact nature of their mutation is a mystery,
but one can carry five passengers as long range movement easily. Level 3; Health 9; Damage 3.
The region of Carlsbad survived in
the heart of the southwest, in a mountainous highland region where a vast cave
network at one time became a last-ditch refuge for thousands of humans who
sought a means of weathering the unstoppable plague that seemed to have struck
humankind. Only the capricious and arbitrary natures of the ascended who served
the ASI prevented the men who took their refuge from being targeted and
converted, destroyed, or rendered into composite chemicals.
After the ascension and the
elevation of the ASI into space, the survivors returned to the surface world to
a land blasted by destruction and change. They sought initially to inhabit the
ruins of the local cities: El Paso, Carlsbad, Artesia and Roswell. In this
future area the ruins were now home to a large commercial spaceport, but that
very port had brought the might of the ASI and their converted into space. The
port itself was now desiccated, haunted, and rife with the terrible mutations
called the shapers and the carriers. Elsewhere, the military enclaves to the
north which had survived awoke to expose the remnants of the Legion, the last
of a genetic super-race which was designed to fight the ascended. Now they seem
determined to purge Wasted Earth of mutated life, though their mechanisms seem
to catch mutant and pure strain human alike in their gunsights.
Pazo
In the South the Pazo is a vast
sprawl of ruins which are riddled with deadly creatures and a vast nuclear
crater, but on its fringes thrive multiple raider colonies.
The Great Caves
These haunted caves are remembered
for the time they saved humankind, but now are considered the repository of the
ghosts of the elders. Only the cro dwell here, ruling from the caves as well as
their labyrinthine villages. The cro treat human and mutant alike as a viable
food source.
Carlsbad Ruins
When the humans of the caverns
emerged post-apocalypse, they attempted for a short time to reclaim the city of
Carlsbad, but death, famine and disease eroded at the community, and then the
first mutants and raiders hit. Now, 125 years later, the ruins are dominated by
different animal tribes, monsters and other denizens.
Lander’s End
The ruins of Lander’s End were
once the city or Roswell. The city itself suffered terrible damage in the war
but it also still contains buried relics and wonders. Lander’s End has become
the focal point of a cult of religious fanatics who prowl the ruins for relics
of old, and believe that the ascended were the last humans to be carried to the
heavens by the Space Gods. They think
that the space gods will eventually return for more people.
The Grand Towers of the Astrodome
Most of nearby Roswell is a barely
sustained ruin, but the impressive launch yards of the Astrodome that is known
for the Grand Towers (immense ship launch stations) is a sprawling ruin of
impressive machinery, unused but nonfunctional ships and remnants of the final
conflict of the ever so brief war brought about by the singularity. Located
midway between Roswell and Kirkie to the north, the Astrodome covers seventy
miles of territory and was once a shockingly impressive installation.
The Grand Towers house the Terror
Tribes, which are vicious cannibal mutants ruled by a ghoul who calls himself
Amadeus. They engage in regular warfare with the Legion from the north.
Blackfire Mountains
The mountains to the west, beyond
which is found Al’Ordo, are highly radioactive and deadly. The deathsmoker
clans are found out here, short-lived mutants and beasts which terrorize the
rest of the region. The enigmating glittering dome is also found in this
direction.
Artesia
This oil-rich region is being
rekindled out of its ruins as the so called Guzzlers take control. These
raiders use rebuilt vehicles and seem to have more than a little scientific
know-how. Their subjugation of neighboring regions for slavery and food is
making them very unpopular. They are led by the mutant Notorious Gam.
The Burning Pit
East of the region near the Old
Texas Border (called Taxaz) is a vast stretch more than a hundred miles in
length that is a perpetual burning pit, a terrifying gap that seems to dig deep
in to the core of the earth. The tribes in that region are dedicated to weird
cults.
Redair is a mountain town built on
the reasonably safe ruins of an older community, located at a highlands point
where the air is generally fresh and clean year round. It didn’t used to be
like this; the first couple generations said the valley of the ruins used to be
filled with a weird red mist, but it eventually dissipated and the town grew
rapidly.
Redair is operated by a loose
group of local citizens and a handful of men who belong to the Commonwealth of
Humanity, a group dedicated to restoring civilization and decency to the
barbarian tribes of the wasteland. They have allied with several local
communities, as well as the western tribes of the Lizhini Sha lands, as well as
outliers at the major ruin-settlements, including Fenx, Rad, and Kirk.
Nestled in the Black Mountains of
Redair are several unique locations:
The Monolith
This immense, black structure juts
out of and seems to grow from Black Mountain to the south. The monolith is in fact an immense
construction of unknown origin that burrows deep in to the earth. A colony of
morlocks, subhumanoids with access to ancient technology, dwell near its buried
mass and steal technology from the maze of structures comprising the monolith.
The function of the complex is
unknown, but what is known is that it seems to be growing sometimes by dozens
of feet every year. Occasionally entrances are identified, and scavengers brave
the machines crawling through the complex to find artifacts and relics. A few
have returned, with quite a haul, and very strange stories of the interior.
The Northern Rad Wastes
The northern mountains of Greater
Rad are said to contain many communities that are safely out of irradiated or
toxic zones, but slicing across the southern region is a great valley of death
called the Rad Wastes. Mutants and Scorps crawl across the region, but there
are a handful of safe highland passages that cut through, including one heading
north from Redair. Once in a while the weather shifts, and the Redair area is
hit by toxic clouds and acid rain, but this seems to happen only occasional and
mostly during rain season.
The X
Known for the remains of a relic
sign of the ancients that is a huge “X” this sprawling location contains what
are described as ancient rocket ships and is claimed to be a staging ground for
space travel from the old era. No one knows if the ships still work, but death
machines patrol the region making scavenging dangerous. Most high tech weaponry
in the region that still works comes from this location, so the risk is worth
it.
Eastland Machine Factory
East of the community of Spring
near the Old Passage is a remote functioning facility called the Eastland
Machine Factory. This immense complex continues to function, though its output
is minimal. The old genius Carter Manners runs the place with his gang of
twenty, and his loyal synthetics, who help to keep up manufacture on arms and
bullets. Carter Manners sells to the highest bidder through the shanty town
which has sprung up around the facility. Rumor is he managed to crack the
secret of the ancients’ security, bonding the robots to his servitude. Many
consider him the most powerful person in this region as a result.
Hahk
This is the territory northwest of
the Redair region where the Cro tribes roam. They often go to conflict with the
western Mesa People as well as the mountain folk of Redair. The cro are noted
for their primitivism and violence, but they seem able to at least comprehend
how to use technology, if only as blunt instruments. The cro of Hahk have been
moving south recently, possibly due to an invasion of Spitters which are coming
out of DurandGo to the north, pushing them in to Redair and Mesa territory.
Mesa and Lizhini Sha
The so-called “City of the Black
Sun” is the name of the ancient mesa people’s settlement that still stands
strong in the heart of what was once the convergence of four great empires of
old. The people claim many heritages, and unlike others descended from the
ancients have remembered a bit more of their ancestry since it seems they had
never moved as far from nature as so many others had during the collapse. Their
city is called Black Sun in the language of one tribe, of those who call
themselves Navajo, and say that Black God now rules the Fifth World, a world
where man was left behind. Aside from the Navajo are several other tribes who
identify with groups who can trace their heritage back to long before the
collapse of the ancestors centuries before.
Lizhini Sha has about two thousand
inhabitants and is along a trade route to the northwest territories, through
the Rocky Badlands and the Burning Mountains to the great Salt Sea northwest,
where the City of Salt is located. Ruled by an egalitarian collective, the
mesafolk protect their lands carefully and have worked many local wells and
mines to sustain themselves with buried veins of metal and subterranean water
resources. The community is fragile, however, and recent draughts are making
life in the region very difficult. Some of the tribesmen have taken to raiding
neighboring settlements.
A handful of inhabitants at
Lizhini Sha are notmen, who are considered free and equal in the community. The
region is locally terrified of several colonies of ghouls in the area, who are
considered supernatural predators and bringers of disease (rightfully).
Tractor Town
Located in the middle of nowhere, near
the old ruins of Bloom, lies a single complex where once ancient machines of
farming and agriculture were created and sent to grow crops. The machines plow
tirelessly on, fractured in their programming, building endless arrays of
biodomes filled with mutated crops in one, dessicated and dead crops in
another, and on occasion a genuine bountiful harvest.
A tribe of men called the Farmers
have settled here and pluck the product of Tractor Town, sending it off to sell
to neighbors for goods they cannot get themselves. The Farmers are deeply
spiritual and revere the farmbots as something like gods, and defend them with
lethal force if necessary.
Bloom
The ruins of bloom are three major
cities of old, which appeared to have been in decline before the collapse of
the ancients. Many antiques can be found here, but an immense crater on the
north end of the expanse suggests a terrible destruction hit the region, and
the area is crawling with Howlers. Bloom’s main claim to fame is an abandoned
refinery for oil that still works, but no one can handle production for long
without getting sick or killed by howlers. It also has an unusually large
number of still intact vehicles awaiting salvage or reconstruction. A local
trader named Maddison has a refurbishing business outside the ruins, where they
pull the carcasses of old vehicles out of the ruins and turn them in to fresh
mac-powered wagons.
Tao
The ruins of this region are
sparse and already overrun by nature, and a colony of notmen now dwell in this
region, as well as a trade town called Taos’ End. The area is not prone to
violence, but for years locals have complained of strange noises, barely
audible, which sometimes seem to drive locals mad.
Pinnacle station
Located deep in the south
mountains near the ruins of old Los Alamos, Pinnacle Station is actually an
Oribital Laboratory set up by the spacers who survived somewhat intact
following the collapse. These spacers are part of the Collective, a large
colony network on Enceladus which was somehow not annihilated during the ASI
exodus. About twenty years ago a mission to return to Earth to study and
determine a course of action was established. The colony was settled using new
technology, landers which were powered with impressive fusion drives, and one
hundred and thirty two scientists and researchers were settled to begin
studying what had happened to earth on the remains of the old Los Alamos
National Labs. That was fifteen years ago. About six years ago the research
colony lost all contact with Enceladus and the Collective Network, which
included new bases on Titan, Mars, the Moon and Venus. They have had no visit
from any lander, and have assumed the worst happened: the ASI returned to
finish the job.
The station is currently led by
Richard Macallister, a military commander and survivalist who was voted in to
his position. He has maintained a “wait and see” attitude toward the matter
while working to shore up the colony so it would remain self-sustaining, creating
a series of camouflaged biodomes and enhancing the underground network. Over
the last fifteen years the colonists have had three dozen children, though the
mortality rate is unusually high in birth due to the pervasive biogenic,
nanotechnic and radiological contaminants in the air. The colony continues to
actively disguise its presence from locals. The notion is that the locals are
too uncivilized at this time, and if any one group provides evidence it is
developing more sophisticated cultural and sociological development they may
study it more closely. Currently a spy named Matt Plant is living in Redair,
for example, monitoring the curious trade network that has sprung up. Another
spy name Lindsey Lace lives in Tractor Town.
Blackscar
A major obstacle heading south to
Kirk, Blackscar is a 177 mile long rift in the earth, a deep, carbonized black
canyon that is anywhere from 150 to 600 feet deep. Radioactive water builds in
the base, and evidence of intense energy and heat shows for miles around the scar.
Two routes go around it to Kirk proper, but someone constructed a bridge (no
one knows who) that is currently maintained by a scavenger gang of bandits
called the Bridge Boys. Most traders can get by with a donation of goods or
food, but sometimes the Bridge Boys ask for women or other slaves, and this can
lead to fights. The gang is about 100 strong, and contains some mutants and
roaches.
Kirk Ruins and Salvage Town
The vast ruins of Kirk are a
sprawling mess, and three areas with craters suggest terrible fires of the
ancients probably killed the city. Several trenches, some three miles long,
suggest the burning fire that created Blackscar also killed Kirk.
Despite this, despite the
radiation, and despite the hordes of roaches and the armies of mutants
(including howlers, spitters, scorps, shapers and leapers) the outskirts of the
city has an extensive community known as Salvage Town. Run by the ex-legion
Brute, Salvage Town thrives on picking apart the ruins and using it to forge
his crude army. The town in turn benefits from Brute’s tactical acumen and
surprising knowledge of ancient warfare and machinery, which keeps them safe
from the dangers of Kirk Ruins. Even more so, it protects them from the
southern habitat, called Kirk Land, where the legion Outpost in this region is
located. Brute lives to protect his wife, the human woman Maza, from all harm.
Kirk Land
The Emperor of Kirk Land is a
scrawny ascended named Lazarus who claims to be an ancient, and has earned the
trust of the general Maximus, a legion commander who has colonized the area
with two hundred of his kin, taking control of an ancient military base and
using Lazarus’s knowledge to restore a complex full of medical tanks that can
help to clone new legionnaires, repair damage and even graft new cybernetics on
to their bodies. He is part of the Greater Legion which sends its armies out
from Texaz to the east, in the area of Huu Stan.
Though only a few hundred in
number, the Legion battles tirelessly against the roach forces of Kirk Ruins
and seeks to shatter the lawlessness of the city in the name of the Legion.
They also seek to subjugate Salvage Town, where the hated criminal Brute has
gone, former leader of their kind, who renounced his rule and mission after he
fell in love with the human woman Maza. Brute feels that the Legion are
programmed or brainwashed by the old science of the ancient military machines
to behave as they do, and seeks to end their ways. Maximus will end him.
