EmbersoftheIrradiatedWest (Digital)

D ystopia Rising: Embers of the Irradiated West is a regional source book to be
used in conjunction with the Dystopia Rising table top gaming system. This book
is designed to provide further details in regards to the territories of Lone Star and
the Pridelands, the Merican strain, territorial threats, as well as the Tribes of the
Seasons religion. This book is not intended for use as standalone content, nor is any
of the content representative of actual places, people, or organizations.
A supplement book for the Dystopia Rising Table Top game for Lone Star and The Pridelands
Copyright Eschaton Media Inc. and Dystopia Rising LLC 2012
Kristopher Eshleman (order #7097813)

Introduction 4
Dystopia Rising Chapter 1: Flesh 7
an Eschaton Media Production
7 Mericans
Original Concept 14 The Unborn of Têixiptla
Michael Pucci 18 The Tribes of the Seasons
Chapter 2: Blood 30
Executive Producer
Ashley Zdeb 31 Threats of the Wasteland
32 Borderlands Armory
Writers Chapter 3: Bone 40
Michael Pucci
41 Lone Star
Catie Griffin 42 Factions
Nicholas John Galinski 51 Most Wanted
58 The Pridelands
68 Factions
Additional Materials 90 Los Celebritanos
Matthew Volk
Ian Powell
Zach Herschberger
R.M. Sean Benjamin Jaffe
Editing
Megan Jaffe
Clinton Rickards
Andrea Vasilescu
Shoshana Kessock
Kat Schonheyder
Design and Layout

Matthew Volk
Artists
Cryssy Cheung
Richard Sampson
Andrew Scott
Ralph Atanasia
Zach Herschberger
Matthew Volk
Joshua Brain Jaffe
Jaclyn Wellner
Anastasia Marston
Cover Artist
Cryssy Cheung
Copyright 2013 Eschaton Media Productions
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, mechanical, electronic,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of Eschaton Media Productions
All illustrations and images are property of Eschaton Media Productions or used under the allowed rights of public domain.
Dystopia Rising is a registered trademark of Dystopia Rising LLC, and may not be used without written permission of Dystopia Rising LLC.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
3
T he desert moon hung low and blue, as a long thick plume of dust pointed an accusing finger at a single
horse racing across the plain. Wretched ruins of rusting oil pumps dotted the landscape, groaning
dinosaur skeletons of past excess tilting and twisting unnaturally in the moonlight like slowly-
drowning gargantua. They cast strange shadows and provided starlit perches for the carrion-feeders to
sleep and wait for sun. Below them, the horse raced on carrying a single man, wiry and slight, across
a gulf of sand and bleached scrub. Hunched low, leaning forward in the saddle, his etched face was a
study in determination. He wouldn’t be stopped. He wouldn’t be delayed. Tonight was the night everything
changed. He was going earn his freedom, and this was the last challenge. Meet by the old trestle at
midnight, they told him. We have something for you, and if you earn it, you ride with us.
He didn’t listen to their words, never heard their dogma. Ignored their politics. Never cared.
They owned his life and that was that. They had broken him, from the first days that the boy had
come in as a cursing, spitting excuse for a slave. They raised, him, honed him, refocused his
hate and rebuilt his drive. He’d learned to walk tall, like an overseer. Obey, like a man. Follow
orders, like a soldier.
The rusty train yard where they waited was still strewn with clumps of ragged coal where a
car had tipped and spilled years, maybe decades before. The tallest of their number was a big-
shouldered scar-faced Red that the others referred to as Mig. He once asked if that was because
his name was Miguel, and Mig ground out that it was from the jet fighter that carried bombs to kill
Americans.
“You’re late.” Mig spat as he dismounted and walked up. The Rider wiped his mouth on his sleeve
in response. Shrugging, he approached the train platform.
“Y’all never seemed given t’ ritual. Don’t believe in that hoodoo.” the Rider sniffed.
“As may be. We are efficient; we respect punctuality, little man.” He poked a finger in the
Rider’s sternum. “ You would do well to learn.” His accent was Vladivostok by way of Guatemala, but
they all used it. The others were black, white, Texican, even an Irish boy, but they all snarled
their words through the same dime-store cold-war era affectation. The Rider never asked why they
felt the need to do that, but he’d always wondered.
Mig crossed to the far side of the platform. “You will never be one of us, little man, but as
overseer, you will enjoy perks.” He motioned for one of his cronies to bring something up on the
platform as the Rider approached. “You will have the best food; the best... women. The slaves we
use will be yours to enjoy. But you must think of them as we do. They are not as you are. They
are livestock. Property of the collective.”
Mig placed his hands on his gun belt, revealing the massive hand-cannon at his hip. The Rider
had once asked what the inscription meant. Mig laughed his ragged belly laugh and explained that
it was a gun from Thunder Mountain; that no puny Merican would ever be strong enough to lift it.
A woman was yanked violently up onto the platform, dressed in sweaty rags, a filthy burlap sack
covered her face. Her knees buckled, she collapsed.
“This one is old. Worn out. Show us you are obedient overseer, little man.”The Rider felt a
cracking pop against his molar, his jaw clenched so tight he’d broken one of his own teeth. He
betrayed no emotion as his mouth filled with blood. It flooded back in. Shooting lessons with his
ma, the pledge of allegiance, pulled pork sandwiches on his birthday. He knew it was her before
they even pulled off the bag.
“Fuck you, commie.” She spat as her greying hair tumbled from under the filthy cloth. “If any
of you’d had any goddamned balls y’all cocksuckers woulda’ done this years ago.” She looked over
4
at him. He nodded. “Really.” She snarled. “My own boy. None-a-you queers have the gumption to do
this yourselves.”
The Rider stepped forward. He held his hand flat, motioning for the Mountain Gun. Mig smirked,
and put a dagger in his palm.
“I’m not stupid, little man. Tonight one of you dies. Are you loyal to your own future, or to
your sad past?”
The Rider walked forward with the knife.
“Do it quick, like a man.” She hissed.
“I will, momma.”
He paused.
“Momma?”
She grinned. “Yeah?”
“I love you, Momma.”
“Don’t be such a damn girl.”
He nodded and lunged as she rolled forward, plunging the short dagger into her handler’s neck.
Second of thought, sensation of hot blood on his hands and he spun to throw the knife into Mig’s
eye...
... and Mig was gone. A sliver of cold metal, a pang of steel bounced against one of the Rider’s
ribs and it stuck deep in his belly, and a ragged tearing emptied his guts on the ground. He’d
been fast but Mig was faster. He’d been strong, but Mig was stronger.
“Uch. Such waste. All this time to train you and you still soft for Mommy like a weepy Merican
pig-dog.” Mig kicked the Rider in the nicked rib, breaking it. Blood poured. All was blackness,
the moon was fuzzy and red the Rider’s eyes. He looked up at his momma as two men held her arms
and Mig strode over to her, frustrated and frowning.
“Donchu... touch a hair... on my momma’s head.” he gurgled as the life drained from his words.
“What, little man?” Mig turned, smiling. He was clearly impressed.
“Don’chu... Don’t...”
“What? You have something so say to me?”
Mig waited for the last word but it never came. The Rider collapsed, his lungs rattled a final
wheeze. Mig shook his head.
“Too bad. So much potential, at least for something so almost human. A hat and a flag and a set
of stupid ideals do not replace real strength. Not real survival. And you...”
He turned to the older woman. To old and defiant to work as a slave, too disconnected to anyone
else to be much of an example. She’d outlived her last bit of usefulness. Her wispy grey hair
still hung in her face.
“What to do with you, old woman? We have no need of someone to weave, and you’re not fit to till
the fields...” He brushed her grey aside and grabbed her jaw. “Perhaps you can...AUGH!”
A shiny pink loop of entrails snagged his neck, pulling him back. The Rider hung on to the
choking, sputtering giant, screaming as his own innards were ripped free from his gut, fingers
slick with his own blood and viscera, but he didn’t let go. Blood and rage were his muscles and
bones, and he howled his fury with the pain and exertion of choking a man with his own entrails
for what felt like forever. Mig wheezed, sputtered, collapsed forward, and the Rider went down
with him. Shivering, he picked up the knife with bloody fingers and cut Mig’s throat. The other
men, even the Rider’s mother stared slack-jawed at him. The Rider was less a man than a pile of
bloody viscera.
“Dontchu... Don’t any of you touch...”
5
Mig’s henchmen went for their weapons and the Rider wavered, sitting up. He got to one knee.
“A goddamn hair...”
He steadied himself, hand to his ruined guts.
“On my momma’s head, cocksuckers.”
The henchmen blinked. In the Rider’s blood-slick hand, clasped like a family heirloom, was the
Mountain Gun. And that night, twelve men ran from one who was nearly dead.
As the sky went pink with dawn, his mother stitched him up as gently as she could, cradling
her wounded boy’s head in her lap.
“I did good, momma?”
“You did good, boy.”
“We can’t ever come back here, Momma.”

She smiled.
“We ain’t gonna leave, boy, not really. Lone Star is always with you. Lone Star is who you are,
you done proved that today. You leave all this behind, boy, but Lone Star will follow you to the
end of the Earth, my little Lone Star. To the ends to the god-damned Earth.”
Lone Star. The Pridelands. Texarkana.

N ames as synonymous with the plucky, scrappy Merican frontier as flags, guns, and barbeque, the
sandblasted desert is in many ways a new frontier for the survivors.
Each roiling dune and parched plain is a potential new source of danger and salvation, as the
desert both hides and preserves many, many treasures that the more temperate areas do not-
technology, shelter, even food and water can be found in the most unlikely of places.
The desert consumes it’s victims, but it doesn’t rot them like the forests and the jungles
elsewhere do. It toughens and preserves the bodies of those it kills, and the spirits and souls
of those it doesn’t. The desert has little mercy, but it shows respect to those it cannot kill,
and rewards them in kind, if not with precious water, scrap, or even gold, than with self-respect.
This is not the birthplace of ‘Merica- even the Mericans know that- but the Irradiated West is its
crucible. Oil, massive cities, dens of sin and debauchery and monolithic mega-churches now dot
the wastes, some forgotten, some alive and well. These are the oases, the stopping points along
the endless Journey to the broken west coast. The days of ease and comfort are gone. For every
pilgrim fed up with Old York, Beacon Hill or the Delphian Wastes and looking to go west and seek
fourtune, there are ten that never made it past the Mississippi. It’s a new Frontier.
However, in many other was it is exactly as it has always been- one man or woman, alone against
the elements save for a trusted weapon and a beloved horse. The more things change, the more they
stay the same, and Merica will always call her most beloved symbols home. Home of the big sky,
home of the ranches and deserts of the heartland. Home of the Heartland.
6
“Welcome to Camp Freedom, heart of the Merican culture, son. Now stop snickering in the back,
I don’t appreciate none of that wise ass Vegasian humor. ‘Less you wanna find out what it’s like
to be run right the hell over by a stampede of angry Mericans, you better keep that little-girl
giggle to yourself.
Now, where was I before I was so rood-ly interrupted by that desert lizard in the back? Right,
Merican culture. You may not know it, but not every Merican has a red, white, and blue bit of
fabric on them and a giant bull-boy hat on their head. No ma’am, Mericans is from all sorts of
walks of life, come from all over the Merican continent, and I hear rumor that they exist over the
puddle in fog-town as ‘Blokes’. Regardless of your origin, you got Mericans around, and you’re
better off for it.
See up near the frozen north, we got Northern Mericans. They wear heavier clothes and thicker
hats because of the cold, but, they are Merican through and through. Merican hospitality means
making sure to take care of anyone that’s sick, offering some good brew, and working hard
harvesting all that strong lumber.
If you travel as far south as ye can (you do know north and south, right?) you will find heavily
tanned and strong framed Mericans toiling in the deserts, jungles, and along the shore. Because
of the heat we wear light weight woven and fabric hats down there, but none the less, you can
recognize a Merican by the sweat on their brow and the hat on their head.
Now, before the Vegasian in back gets another idea about trying to lift some of that munitions
we just passed, why don’t we head to the heart of the culture of the Merican: The Bar.”
-Tallahasse Tebow
of the Tennessee Tallboys
8 8
What Makes A mental inhibiting sweetener infection creating organism
Merican? bi-products, has resulted in a that causes zombie infection
slowed expansion of the undead and rebirth has been stunted.
M ericans, as a strain of
what humanity once was,
is a fascinating case study
virus.
In short, the standard

Beyond causing a stunting
of the infection within the
of shared localized culture Merican comes from a historical Merican’s body, this history
combined with mild mental genetic stock that is so pickled of pre-fall chemical abuse
suppression due to pre-fall by preservatives and willingly has causes some minor trauma
chemical saturation. The ingested chemicals, that the to the emotional and logical
Merican, as a strain instead functions of the standard
of a culture, is a species Merican. Mericans,
bred of survivors that carried unlike most other
an abundance of pre-fall strains of humanity,
chemicals in their body. These are only actually capable
chemicals, primarily growth of processing three core
hormones emotions in depth. The
and emotional responses that are
within the range of a Merican
are euphoric happiness (often
causing the vacant look on a
Mericans face), extreme anger
(causing the furrowing of the
brow and eagle-eyed glares),
and morose sadness. When other
stimulus trigger more abstract
or complex emotions in the
mind of a Merican, often times
there is a degree of confusion
followed by one of the primary
three ‘Merican Motives’ taking
over. On rare occasions a higher
minded Merican is capable of
feeling multiple of the ‘Merican
Motive’ emotions at the same
time, causing a semblance of
other emotions. While this does
not hinder the ‘fight or flight’
base survival skills that exist
at the lizard-like core of the
Merican brain, it does cause
interesting reactions when the
Merican processes their actions
in retrospect.
The stunted emotional core,

the incapability to process
complex emotional responses,
and the limited lifespan of
the Merican has caused most
Mericans to cluster like flocks
of birds in massive unruly
9
mobs of other Mericans. Since deep down inside you can see Mericans. North Mericans tend
the Merican lacks the empathy that they are Merican through to be a little more polite than
to understand how their tone, and through. your standard Merican, having
inflection, and lack of propriety learned to say nothing at all
could be construed as insulting, Mericans began to appear in instead of running their mouths
Mericans are often times best the first generation after the off insulting others. North
suited around other Mericans, fall of humanity due to an innate Mericans are well known for
where their social insults and resistance to the zombie plague their love of high potency honey
unruly behavior are much more which spawned from these pre- infused brews, working in the
acceptable. fall chemicals. The difficulty woodlands, crafting with their
then becomes figuring out how hands, and protecting those
Merican History many generations of Merican have that can’t protect themselves.
come and gone since the fall, When enjoying the hospitality
Mericans as a culture have since the Mericans history of of the North Mericans, their
been the most resistant to the over-breeding and early violent local slang may throw you off a
influence of the creeping undead deaths suggests that between bit, but understand that as long
infection that all of the new five and fifteen generations of as you are a gracious guest they
survivor strains carry. Based Mericans have been born and will be a fantastic host. Woolen
on a background of chemical reborn between the time of caps, heavy woven clothes, and
saturation, unhealthy living, the Fall and modern day. A few layers upon layers of thick
and dumb luck, the Merican is not families, those lucky enough leathers and homemade flannel
found only in the southern tier to have a handful of literate are the telltale signs of the
of the irradiated waste that members, have been able to track North Mericans.
was once America. Mericans, as Merican family trees since the
a strain, are just as commonly fall of man.
found in the far reaches of the Central Mericans
Frozen North, as far south as Central Mericans are
the southernmost tip of the Mericans around normally found from south
Pridelands, and populate nearly the World of Old York to North of the
every square mile of territory (At least Merican Valley of the Misery Machines
between the far north and Wastelands) across the entire mid-section
the far south. Mericans have of the Merican wastelands.
lineage that tracks back to the The Central Mericans come from
pre-fall history of Vegasia, “Funny thing bout Mericans, both the remains of pre-fall
Old York, and even the coast of no matter how we dress up or cities as well as deep in the
the Merican continent, on the where we were born you can tell farmlands of the forgotten age.
floating trash islands and the a Merican from a mile away. Look Central Mericans tend to create
network of platform cities. for that huge smile when they localized slang and language
are happy, look for a face full aspects ranging from ‘Yinz’
Mericans are not defined by of murder when they are mad, and ‘Yall’ to ‘Yous’ and ‘Yah’
a single birthing location, but and look for them slumped over just to say the word ‘you’.
instead are named Mericans due a bottle when they are sad. If While the language and slang
to the fact that they are the you find a Merican doing anything of the Central Merican varies
most predominant strain found else, you probably haven’t found from settlement to settlement,
on the entire Merican continent. a true Merican.” what is more interesting is the
Mericans can, and do, exist on connection that Mericans have
other continents. Often times made between their hat and their
the same genetic makeup that North Mericans vocation. Hard working Central
creates a Merican is renamed a In the Frozen North as well Mericans wear protective gear
‘Bloke’ or ‘Thug’. However, when as territories neighboring focused on their trade while
you look at the mental functions on Thunder Bay and the Rust merchant Central Mericans pride
and social cues of these tribes, Coast you will find the North themselves on their top hats
10
and well-made bowlers. Central Islandic Mericans the sunken eyes and sharp teeth
Mericans are, without a doubt, One of the oddest form of the Lascarian or the thick
the rudest of the Merican of the Merican culture, the skin of the Yorker, what is
tribes, since they commonly Islandic Merican, claims to different about Mericans is
feel they ‘tell it how it is’. have roots that go back to somewhat surprising.
pre-fall Merican culture where
South Mericans a political government of the The differences of a Merican’s
When most people think of time (A-Merica, go figure)had physiological form are most
Mericans, they are actually control and connections with a easily noticed at child birth.
thinking of South Mericans. With series of islands that were not While most strains are born
wide brimmed ‘Bull Boy’ hats part of the mainland continent. with a five segmented skull which
for men and wide ‘Cow Girl’ hats Beyond that, some of these fuses together after childbirth,
for the ladies, the Southern people were pre-fall Mericans the Merican child is born with
Merican culture is without that were sent off coast to work a skull that is not only three
a doubt the most colorful of on giant metal platforms in the parts that fuse after childbirth,
all of the Merican cultures. water, or to harvest resources but, the third section of bone
With bright red, white, and from a big pile of garbage in overlaps the front and back bone
blue paraphernalia interwoven the water, or were set adrift plates. As the child Merican
into their heavy dusters and on massive ships from the pre- develops the front and back bone
wasteland workers clothes, the fall age. While these Mericans sections quickly fuse with the
southern Merican are a proud are all but the same when it third bone working as a sort of
and boastful people that love comes to looking and appearing patch over where the soft spot
munitions, explosions, bar like a Merican, and they share should be. Because of this skull
brawls, drinking, and loud all the benefits and detriments design Merican skulls actually
diesel engines. The mirthful of being a Merican, these water- are much thicker, harder, and
and excitable southern Mericans born Islandic Mericans have a denser than the skulls of most
are a treat to celebrate with, strange culture that is some other strains. This overlapping
until some back-handed insult sort of mix between the Church segment of bone creates a
actually sinks through their of Darwin and the pine-cone slightly sloped forehead effect,
inebriated skulls enough to whipping Natural Ones. Islandic barely noticeable in most
cause a switch from happy to Mericans are all about facial Mericans, which makes the fully
angry emotional response. tattoos, one on one combat, and formed forehead and top of the
often times cannibalism. Merican’s head almost twice as
Texicans thick and four times as dense as
Texicans are Mericans, but How Mericans any other strain.
I would never say that to a (think they) are
Texican’s face. Found primarily Better than You This heavier and denser skull
in and around the Bravo and has caused the musculature of
Lonestar regions the Texicans If you ever have the the Merican to change from the
consider themselves descendants opportunity to dissect a living neck up as well. If one were to
of the strongest, smartest, Merican (which is no small take a long look at the Merican
and most legendary people from task) you will find some of the neck muscles and tendons around
before the fall- the Texans. most interesting physiological the spine you would find that the
The Texican culture is one of differences in regards to the Merican musculature is much more
immense pride, strength, and Merican strain. Mericans are defined and pronounced than in
sense of community, however actually are uniquely genetically other strains. This musculature
the willingness of the Texican different than every other strain actually binds with the skull
to fight over slights relating that exists in the Wastelands. and head closer to the middle of
to pride or faith causes most the back of the skull instead of
Texicans to be seen as unruly While the fact that there are towards the base of the skull.
and combative. differences shouldn’t completely Offering more support to the dense
surprise you when you consider head, and providing the reason
11
why a drunken Merican head-butt How to Identify a subconsciously sensing that
hurts so badly, these muscles are Merican without their head is different than
some of the strongest bundles of Hearing a every other head, gravitates
muscle on the Merican’s anatomy. Yee-Haw towards hats as a means of hiding
this abnormal bone structure.
This heavily reinforced skull The typical way to spot Without touching a Merican’s
bone structure is not exclusive a Merican in a crowd is to skull you wouldn’t find a physical
to the cranium. You will note be patient and wait for the difference between a Merican’s
that Mericans have a tendency Merican to open their mouth. The head development and any other
towards fisticuffs, brawling, condensed skull and grassroots strains head development, yet
and oversized hand held firearms. thinking of a Merican often the Merican instinctively wears
These preferences are not simple leads to simple ideas and verbal hats to cover their head.
cultural design, but instead the crudeness falling out of a A second theory for the
Merican instinctively reaching Merican’s mouth like water down Merican love of hats is less
for the tools best suited for a waterfall. Mericans do not have psychological, and is instead
their survival. The Merican, the mental structure to pick up more physical theory. The
born with the overlapping bone on social cues, often are loud Merican, with the additional
plates, has a similar occurrence and bombastic, and very nearly bone plate that spans from the
in their hands. While most always have some sort of ‘dirty’ front to the middle back of its
standard strains have roughly accent that defines what portion head, regulates heat much less
thirty bones in each hand (damn of the wasteland they come from. efficiently than the standard
Remnants making for variables) Beyond the audio cues, body would. With this, Merican
the Merican actually has 40 bones however, the Merican is easily heads would be much more prone
in each hand! The oversized club- identified by their oversized club to getting cold in the winter or
like appendages that the Merican like hands, their thicker being baked in the summer, and
has is due to the fact that neck, and their incredibly sunburns on the skull
Mericans have floating cap like dense skull. Some and neck would
bones over each knuckle that believe that be almost
distribute impact force along the Merican, unbearable.
the entire hand.
In addition to the
oversized knuckles with
additional pauldron like bones,
the Merican has additional bone
and musculature support in the
wrist and forearm. These semi-
fused bones that are above and
below the wrist allow for an
entire series of tendons and
muscles that do not exist in any
other strain. These muscles,
much like the additional knuckle
bones distribute impact and
reinforce the wrist and hand for
surviving impact.
12
Only Explanation we can
give for Merican customs Raising a flag
Mericans raise flags as a sign that either they
We’ve tried REALLY HARD to understand why it have survived a fight, or, that they are ready
is the Mericans all have certain customs. We’ve to fight. More times than not Merican settlements
tried asking, studying them like irradiated will raise a specific flag to rally the local
primates, and even trying to put defined situationsinhabitants, to warn outside forces that they
for their somewhat nebulous actions. After years are itching for a fight, and to give neighboring
of trying, we have finally put together a list of communities the challenge of attempting to
cultural customs that we THINK is correct. take that flag down. While the raising of a flag
motivates Mericans to fight their hardest, the
Cracking of neck loss or falling of that flag often breaks their
Merican is angry, getting ready for a fight spirits.
that they anticipate being wounded in. When a
Merican thinks their opponent can fight back, Rolling up sleeves
or the fight isn’t going to be pleasant, they When a Merican rolls up their sleeves, it is
instinctively stretch and crack the tendons and an indication that they are preparing for hard
muscles in their neck so that when their large work. From the tradition of trying to keep ones
head takes a hit, it will recover without strain. sleeves clean while doing dirty menial labor,
Mericans now roll up their sleeves regardless of
Fingers hooked in belt the nature of the work they are doing.
A cocky Merican who believes that everyone
should pay attention to them at that moment. Silence
A Merican that loops their fingers into their The last thing you ever want to hear in a
belt is subtly gesturing to their reproductive Merican community. Silence is what happens when
organs. Both male and female Mericans use this a large group of Mericans are at a point where
gesture when attempting to find recreational sex their three emotion brain is shifting gears,
or when they are boasting. or, when they do not know immediately how to
respond. Silence normally gives way to the most
Putting a hat on a child common default of an angry emotional response,
A Merican placing their hat on a child is so when any Merican gathering goes silent, be
a sign of pride in that child. When a Merican ready to fight or run for your life.
allows a child to wear their hat, this is the
only way a Merican can show complex emotions Tipping the hat
of pride and happiness due to their ability Merican tip their hat as a sign of respect,
for limited emotional responses. A Merican that greeting, and a forced sign of being polite.
puts their hat on a child is acting in the way a Mericans that wear hats without a brim will
parental figure would. still reach up to their forehead to gesture that
they are tipping their hat as a sign of polite
Putting a hat on an adult respect. Often times done when meeting someone
When a Merican places their hat on an for the first time, when in passing and to hurried
adult, it is most commonly showing an interest for words, or when interacting with people of
in bedding that adult. Marking the partner as importance. If a Merican takes off their hat
‘taken,’ the sharing of a hat is a more advanced instead of tipping their hat, they are showing
form of marking ones territory with urine. It is utmost respect and reverence to those present.
not uncommon that if a partner wants to have a
form of exclusive relationship, they leave their
hat post-coitus. If the partner wears the hat,
that is acceptance of bringing the relationship
to the next level. If the partner returns the
hat, it is a means of saying ‘that was fun, but
let’s not get too serious’.
13 13
“Long before the fall of man, the two cultures of our people foretold the coming of the end of
the world. The truest natives of this land, our great ancestors prepared for when the fall would
come. Our ancestors performed unspeakable acts, seemingly barbaric to the unknowing outsiders, and
when the foreigners came to our land to kill us they found that our flesh was all that remained of
our people.
We prepared ourselves through death. Our seers prepared for the coming of the end of the world
by building great ziggurats which contained the first seeds of the contagion. The first spreading
spores of the rot that would be the godlike Grave-Mind festered within our stone tombs, and the
remains of our finest warriors waited to be awakened by the undying flesh and fungus.
The bodies of the sacrificed, the first of the infected, were thrown deep into the waters that
surrounded our plague temples. The heads and hearts of the chosen were prepared in great stone
steps and stacked carefully around the contagion. Now society has grown without us, moved without
us, and died without us. Now that the plague-born Grave-Mind is truly as our ancestors foresaw,
our flesh is reknit and reborn so that we may be the great warrior nation again.
Ours is a body of memories. Our flesh is the flesh of the plague born. Our hearts are as cold and
dark as the plague rivers. We will build the undying empire once more, and then we will civilize
this entire world.”
History the priests of the Mayan civilization took to

infecting the bloodstream of their ‘most worthy’
L ong before the fall of man to the zed, there with different types of organic infesting fungal
was a time when a different culture faced matter. While more times than not these early
its extinction. The Aztec empire and the Mayan experiments caused sickness and death, the long
civilizations practiced both blood and human term results were more than notable. Wounds
sacrifice. While pre-fall historians believed that would close themselves over time and the
that these sacrifices were primitive means to occasional return from death.
appease their feathered serpent gods, the truth
was that the older Mayan culture had already By the time the warlike Aztec culture came
seen the end of the world. into existence, the number of warriors infected
with this regenerative fungus was high enough
In the days of the Mayan civilization the more that execution of captured warriors included the
science minded Mayans witnessed unique mutations decapitation and dismemberment of the body and
and reactions between certain kinds of spores and the storage of the head away from the rest of
fungus and living materials. Seeing potential in the remains. Occasionally, in hopes of absorbing
the future changes of these adaptive plants, the powers of a great warrior, the bodies of the
14 14
fallen warriors were consumed by fungi could potentially cause flesh, but the mind and memory
the Aztecs. Later, to introduce the reanimation of the dead and would be lost forever. Instead
the regenerative properties of fallen. of being a culture reborn through
these infected bodies to the death, the Unborn of Têixiptla
populace as a whole, the heads While the Mayans and the became a culture created from
or bodies were dumped into the Aztecs believed they would be death itself.
shared waterways that were used born again as immortal gods,
for drinking and cooking. their understanding of the
The short term results of the undead infectious matter and The Unborn of Têixiptla is a
early onset of infectious the future Grave-Mind was not strain evolved only within the
material to the Aztecs was completely correct. The flesh most recent generation and is
the drastic decrease in the and bone would be reborn twisted primarily a reclusive culture,
population. This crippling and gnarled by the tendrils usually found in the Southern
illness combined with primitive of undead fungi and Pridelands as well as in small
weapons made the assaults by traveling war parties across
the Spanish conquistadors a the wastelands of the Lone
decimation of the early culture. Star. While the majority of
The slaughter of the Aztecs and modern survivors in the current
the looting of their structures age are infected mutations
caused much of the knowledge of of cultures that existed at
the first reports of infection the time of the fall, the
to be lost to pre-fall humanity, Unborn of Têixiptla are by
and almost non-existent to the all rights a completely
modern Dystopian survivor. new strain of culture
that has been birthed
Both the Mayans and the from massive undead bio-
Aztec culture had planned on masses known as ‘Grave-
a much longer time scale than Minds’. These Grave-
most of pre-fall humanity. Minds, rumored to be
Understanding the mutation beneath the shifting
cycle and the advancement sands and within the
of technology, the Mayans deepest portions of
predicted that society itself most spawning pits of
would face a complete change undead, seem to have
hundreds of years after their some sort of link to the
passing. While the Mayans did death and rebirth that
not completely understand the individual strains
nature of the mutated fungus and experience when the
infectious materials they were body knits itself
working with, they understood back together in
enough that if they invested death.
their bodies and flesh into the
long term evolution of these
materials, many of their kind
would be born again thousands
of years later. The Mayans
believed that by introducing
these regenerative fungi and
infectious materials into their
bodies that in a long enough
period of time there would be
a watershed point when the
15
Visual Identity veins have become discolored and utilize any technology they
with the fungal build up. can. While most of the Unborn
At a distance, one could Third, the eyes of the of Têixiptla carry naturally
mistake the Unborn of Têixiptla Unborn of Têixiptla are stark crafted bows, spears, melee
for Natural Ones or some sort white without pupil or iris weapons, and leather clothes,
of simple primitive tribe. coloration. These milky white some of the scouts and individual
However, upon getting closer eyes still allow the Unborn of tribesmen who have interacted
to the Unborn the observer Têixiptla to see as any other more with outside cultures
would need to be blind to not strain can, but at a glance many have begun to carry rifles and
see the difference. Due to the would assume that the Unborn of pistols. Only through seclusion
rebirth process of the Grave- Têixiptla are blind. due to natural environment and
Mind producing the Unborn from The Unborn of Têixiptla are the overall relatively ‘newness’
ancient remains prepared for generally primitive and similar of the strain have the Unborn
the fall of man the physical to Natural Ones in their initial not advanced culturally and
form of the unborn is strikingly distrust of technology, but technologically as far as the
different from how most Strains unlike the Natural Ones, the rest of the wasteland survivors.
appear. Unborn are willing to adapt
First, the Unborn of
Têixiptla are grown from a
mixture of the Grave-Mind
biomass and specially pre-
fall prepared organics. These
skeletal remains were permeated
with nutrients and wrapped
with fungal spores that would
encourage the rampant spread
of the Grave-Mind’s infectious
material in order to revive the
ancient civilization of chosen
survivors. This process has
caused the reknitted flesh to
be oddly colored, with a faint
sickly hue of green in the skin.
While this discoloration is not
evident at first, this subtle
skin pigmentation is only the
first notable physical change of
the Unborn.
Second, the veins of the
Unborn of Têixiptla are teeming
with the infectious material that
makes up the undead plague. The
veins of the Unborn of Têixiptla
around the wrists, arms, legs,
throat, and along the jaw are
most predominantly visible with
a sickly purple color visible
through the skin. While there
is blood within the body of the
Unborn of Têixiptla, the amount
of infectious material within
the blood is so potent that the
16
home. The priest caste does not tools, warriors focus their
The Unborn of Têixiptla often use their power to make efforts to ensure the shield
have begun to reproduce, with decision, however, any detail and weapons they carry are of
the first ‘naturally born’ that the Unborn of Têixiptla the highest quality.
generation reaching the mid teen accept as being a matter of ‘the
years. As the Unborn populate gods’ involves the priest caste Jewelry is considered a
and expand their awareness of taking total control. pride filled sign of wealth
the surrounding world, the within the communities of the
newer generation seems more The priests of the Unborn Unborn, with polished blue and
willing than the old generation of Têixiptla believe in blood red stones affixed to tools and
to interact with outsiders. offerings, sacrifice, and clothing to boast of material
While the initial Unborn cling communing with the wisdom of wealth. Long thin bones adorned
to their homelands, the first the ‘Great Dead God’. Using with small blue stones are
generation of the Unborn have hallucinogenic brews made from often pierced through different
begun to spread to neighboring select portions of zombie portions of the skin to offer
territories; for better or for extracts, the priests of the even more means of displaying
worse. Unborn of Têixiptla perform jeweled wealth.
rituals to commune with the
spirits of the dead. These toxic The Unborn of Têixiptla do
Culture and hallucinogenic brews, according not allow most outsiders to
Customs to the priests, allows the see the sacred lands of their
imbiber to listen to the voices mountain top homes, however,
The Unborn of Têixiptla are of all the ancestors who have a few ambassadors from foreign
a family oriented community that died before them. cultures have been allowed to
operates with a two level caste The lower caste, the working take residence. Representatives
system. The first caste, The caste, makes up the majority from the submerged city of
Wisened, are the children and of the Unborn of Têixiptla Drowned Sins, calling themselves
grand children of the leaders population. Farmers, hunters, ‘Full Dead’, have made active
of the first generation of warriors, cooks, and tradesmen efforts to embrace cultural ties
Unborn. The Unborn of Têixiptla of all sorts make up the lower with the Unborn. Other than the
that are a part of the Wisened caste level of the culture Full Dead, a bizarre culture of
caste are seen as leaders of the shared by the Unborn. Families ghoul-like people known as the
people. Decisions in regards to are known for their skill in ‘Sempre Morte’ have made every
defense, war, spirituality, and regards to their trade and craft,effort to reach out to the Unborn
even cultural ties are made by and are expected to share the of Têixiptla. The Sempre Morte
members of the Wisened caste. knowledge of their trade down claim that due to circumstance
The Wisened caste system is from generation to generation. the Unborn of Têixiptla and their
divided into warlords, priests, own technologically advanced
and appraisers. While all three While the upper caste levels culture has much to learn and
portions of the Wisened caste of society wear fine fabrics share with one another.
have equal say in all aspects that have been dyed in bright
of day to day life, it is often colors, the working lower
the warlords and the appraisers caste level of society wears
that use their influence the most much more functional clothes.
often. Regularly the warlords With clothing primarily made
and the appraisers determine out of a combination of boiled
what tribes the Unborn will go and softened leathers, bone,
to war with, which cultures will and simple metals, the lower
be allowed to share commerce, caste system utilizes hearty
and which individuals will be clothes that adapt well to their
allowed within the mountain profession. While masons wear
cities that the Unborn call leather aprons to hold their
17
where the seasons war, in a place where the
Tribes of seasons have been wounded by the machines of man,
it is our calling to mark the days and the turn
the Seasons of the dial. The time will come when the seasons
will return, that no longer will the Winter be
“When you think of the Lone Star, you think warm and the Spring, Summer, and Autumn hot.
of Mericans yelling loudly into the night. You There will come a time when the seasons return,
imagine massive Iron Horses. You imagine six and we shall mark the days until then. My tribe
shooters and boom sticks howling defiance at the of the Pridelands, the Merican tribes of the
end of the world. This is not the Lone Star, Star who honor the old ways, and the traveling
this is the way of the invading hordes. These tribes that see the Winter of the Northland and
‘apocalypse cowboys’ do not respect the land, the Summer of the Pridelands.”
they do not respect the sea, they do not respect
the air we breathe, and it was their old ways
which pitched this land into the waste it is
now. It was the machines of man that scarred the
M any believe that the Tribes of the Seasons
is a faith only found in the culture of the
Natural Ones, in the hovels of the uneducated,
sky. It was the machines of man that poisoned the and outside the handful of humanity’s clustered
soil. It was the machines of man which robbed the civilizations. The truth is that as much as
earth-mother of her blood. It was the machines the faith of the natural order is found in
of man that were their downfall. the wilds, it is just as likely to find the
Never again will we be enslaved to the

machines of man. Never again will we ignore the
markings and beliefs of the Tribes anywhere
caravans travel. The tribes of the season is
not a faith dependent on abandoning modern
seasons of change. Never again will we forget civilization, nor is it some random set of
the wisdom of the old ways. We see the remains of superstitions followed by the uneducated.
the living, trapped beneath their iron horses,
dead without fuel and without water. Within just The Tribes of the Seasons are an organized
a few paces of those now undead fools, we find faith led by a council of four ‘aspects of the
the desert brush offering us sign of water filled season’. This shared authority ensures that
roots. We see the towns, wrecked by the winds as the four communities within the Tribes of the
the sky is painted green, storms of electricity Seasons receive equal voice. The seasons divide
and hellish hot air ripping apart their homes. their culture into the scholars of winter, the
We find solace and safety carved within the rocks. warriors of fall, the crafters of summer, and
We travel and see the bend of the tree, warped by the gatherers of spring. These four branches of
the winds, and know this to be a place of great life within their culture offers a community of
storms. warm hearths and common wisdom divided amongst
four very important, but often very different,
We will not ignore the seasons. We will not aspects of the greater community at large.
ignore the earth. We will make our offerings to
the great wind serpents that breathe life of Beyond the division of cultural power, each
rain. We will listen to the howling wolf, and aspect of the seasons focuses on trying to find
know the Winter of the coldest nights. We will inspiration and lessons from the season they
tend the fresh buddings, and allow our bounty to ascribe to. Often times followers of the Tribes
grow instead of giving in to empty stomachs. We of the Season travel out into the hinterlands
will slaughter any that would stand against our to find lessons from the creatures and natural
tribes, and offer their hearts to the masters phenomena of their season. This act allows the
of the dreamtime so that we may wake from our different representatives of each season to
slumber. not only be aware of the occurrences of the
world around them, but also allows them to learn
We mark the days, we mark the time, and we techniques and life lessons from creatures which
remember the lessons of each season. In a place act on instinct.
18
19
Tenets of the
Faith
The cycle of the
seasons is proof
that the world will
continue, and that
there are forces
outside the suffering
of this world that we
cannot understand.
Look to the world as it is now.
The world is full of suffering.
The world is filled with greed.
The world is full of pain. The
world is full of betrayal. The
world is filled with love. The
world is filled with hope. The
world is a constantly changing
series of feelings, emotions,
drives, and wants. The idea Each season must Mark the turning of
that something as minuscule as rule in kind; if a the seasons with the
mankind is in control of all of season is without natural rites; never
this is laughable. The idea that followers, then none turn another away from
somehow the thing that is beyond rule during that period your ceremonies.
the turning of the seasons and no decisions can be
somehow is like us at all is made. Each culture has its own
ridiculous. ceremonies to respect the change
We stand in the wisdom provided of the seasons, and many of
There is no gender to the by each of the seasons. We learn the details of these rites are
turning of the seasons. There is to fight from the culling blades not important. I hear that in
no thought to the turning of the of autumn, we learn to study and the wastelands many Dieseljock
seasons. There is no malice or enrich from winters that close us tribes drink spirits from scrap
love behind the turning of the in, we learn to grow and prosper parts that have been fashioned
seasons. The seasons turned when from the warming spring, and we into religious tools. I know
humanity stood. The seasons turn build and construct in summer that in the frozen north lands
now as we strains stand. The so that we may prepare the tools that large fires are burned to
seasons turned before humanity for the turning of the seasons. honor the fallen that have
existed, the seasons will turn We learn from each season and died the season before, and
after we are long gone. We are the tests each provides require that candles and body parts of
aware that something exists dedication to ensure the lesson their enemies adorn the trees.
outside of the seasons, and is learned. If a season comes, The steps of the rite are not
we are aware that it is well and there are none to speak for important to the turning of the
beyond what we can understand. that season, we do not allow the season, what is important is to
We follow the lessons provided other seasons to rule longer. not only have a moment that can
in its creation, as ants would If we cannot learn to balance be marked as the ‘passing of the
consume the crumbs our meals our lives, and spread our words torch’ but to also to have the
would leave behind. amongst the balance of the organization of this rite to
season then we deserve the chaos be the first action the ruling
that comes from a season without season takes.
rule.
20
The seasons rule in all Let our Springs be the Wolf find that a lumber
places that the seasons fruitful, our Summers yard has been constructed, word
exist, be it forest or productive, our Autumns is quickly sent to the main
be it city. Do not let feared, and our Winters force of the marauding Natural
the ways of the local insightful. Ones. Within nights the lumber
people sway your faith. camps are sieged, the working
“For those of the season who lumberjacks are murdered, and
If the law of the land does lose sight of the seasons, due the bodies of the fallen are
not allow your worship of the to living in places where the left pinned to trees by their
season, the law of the land weather does not change much, own lumber equipment.
has no authority. There is no this tenant of our faith remains It is the belief of the
authority above the spirit which as a reminder that our seasons ColdFather Axe-Grinder that
turns the season, and there is are not bound by the weather. without the natural state of
no one that walks that can stop We abide by the spirit of the the world, the seasons would
the season’s change. Be you seasons regardless if it is a suffer and die. Looking to
slave, be you free and rich; be warm winter or a cold summer.” the irradiated wastes that
you a traveling nomad, or be you are void of life, the scorched
the ruler of many; the season’s environments made by pre-
change will always rule above The Faces in the fall man, and the often toxic
you. In lands where the winters Wind water, the Natural One leader
do not grow cold, the winter of the Wolf Clan tribes sees
still is there. In lands where ColdFather Axe-Grinder the progression of technology
the snow never melts, there From the Frozen North comes as an attack on the seasons
is still a summer. The change one of the most iconic members themselves.
still happens, we must be aware of the Tribes of the Season.
so that we know the change of Standing nearly seven feet Mother Bear Lafayllve
the season. “ tall, with long straight black Filled with good humor and
hair, piercing gray eyes, and wisdom, Mother Bear Lafayllve
Those of the tribe may skin that is riddled with both is considered one of the wisest
call on the aid of the scars and tattoos, ColdFather Accensorites that walks the
other tribes in turn Axe-Grinder stands as a sentry wastelands. While not dominating
with their season. against northern expansion. in stature or imperious in speech
The ColdFather, the leader of in day to day life, there comes
If you be a scholar of winter, the tribes of Wolf, leads both a passion and a wisdom from
you are a sage of knowledge. If men and women of his tribe in within Mother Bear Lafayllve
you are a fishmonger of spring, war across the borders of the that even the strictest of non-
you are the master of your expansive wilds of The Reach. believers respect.
trade. If you are the craftsman As lumber harvesting caravans
that hammers shields, builds move north from Thunder Bay Mother Bear Lafayllve
guns, and sharpens plowshares and try to spread into the rich resides in a small shack next
all summer, you will be asked resources of the Frozen North, to a dried river bed, near a
to build. If you are a warrior the man-beast and his hoards of small brewer town called Hayven.
of the autumn, none should ever raiding tribal warriors take Keeping mostly to herself, the
need ask for you to dispatch their toll on outsiders. middle aged women is completely
enemies of the Tribe of the self-sufficient in regards to her
Season. ColdFather Axe-Grinder is a environment. A skilled farmer,
The seasons provide us tactical genius, exceptionally capable brewer, intelligent
wisdom, teach us to survive, and adept at guerilla tactics, and combatant, and competent
each season has a purpose. As a uses a wide network of tribal crafter, the Mother Bear has
follower of a season you too scouts to be the greatest little need of interaction with
serve a purpose that is needed scourge to the north traveling the outside world.
throughout the year. woodsmen. When the scouts of
21
Here, within her home, followers of Fall and Winter.
Mother Bear Lafayllve tracks The Children of Father Night Worshipers of the field of battle,
the turning of the season is an order within the Tribes unflinching combatants that seek
by giving offerings to the of the Seasons which originated conquest and glory, the Crow
season’s aspects. Calling upon in the great expanses of the Eaters are a traveling sect of
the wisdom of each season in subterranean territory of Old the Tribes of the Seasons which
turn, Mother Bear Lafayllve has York. A primarily Lascarian invade territories to raze
ascended as an Accensorite to culture with members in each of heretic faiths. When the Crow
become the embodiment of the the four seasons, the Children Eaters find a location of heretic
wisdom of each season. One of of Father Night are a branch of worship, the tacticians of the
the few Accensorites of her the Tribes of the Seasons who Crow Eaters begin to gather
faith to completely embody the worship the sunless turning of intelligence for the coming
full rotation of the seasons the seasons. war while the soldiers prepare
wisdom, many followers of the their equipment to adjust to the
Tribes of the Seasons search for Offering sacrifices to Father capacities of their soon enemy.
years trying to find the home of Night and Mother Luna, the
the Mother Bear to partake in Children of Father Night embrace Once the Crow Eaters strike,
her wisdom. the nocturnal aspect of nature. they do not cease until they
Adorning markings and icons of have burnt settlements and
nocturnal totems appropriate slaughtered anyone not marked
Sects of the for their season, the Children as a follower of the Tribe of
Seasons of Father Night mark the change Seasons. Heretic religious
of the seasons not by the change doctrine is destroyed, those that
Children of Father often found above grounds, but know the heretic doctrine are
Night instead by the subtle signs of killed, and structures The Crow
“Listen to the words of season change found within the Eaters are brutal tacticians,
Father Night children. Father womb of the earth. Beyond the fierce warriors, and vicious
Night speaks, but speaks so tracking of the seasons from enemies that earn their name
quietly that the surface subterranean signs, the Children by leaving the fields of battle
dwellers no longer hear his of Father Night carefully track filled with corpses for the crows
words. The surface dwellers the phase of Mother Luna. The to eat. As homage to those that
seek to deny father night with Children of Father Knight know would come in their wake, Crow
their fires and their lights. that what they do, the killing Eaters adorn themselves with
The surface dwellers are deaf and stealing from surface feathers and skulls of carrion
to Father Night, but beneath dwellers, makes Mother Luna birds, believing these markings
the pipes and beneath the waves sad. To ensure that the Children will confuse the carrion birds
we hear his words. Whisper the of Father Night do not sadden (and with that death itself).
rhyme we have been taught, keep Mother Luna, and bring her
to the faith to survive, keep to wrath, the Children of Father Travelers of the Sun
the night to live. Knight only hunt when Mother “To the North we find the
Winter sees that pipes do Luna has her back turned (the truest of Winter. To the South
freeze, new moon). we find the heart of Summer. We
But growing mold is end of travel as the seasons dictate,
cold, Crow Eaters from the Pridelands to the
The flooded hearth means warm of “Crow Eaters! Our enemy hides Frozen North. We bring the
earth, within their walls, worshiping wisdom of the season to all we
The sprouting fly eats fruit gods that would bring about the find upon the road, and trade with
outside, end of seasons.” them the tools of the season’s
The owl wakes, the sun slumbers survival.”
deep The Crow Eaters are an aspect The Travelers of the Sun
The owl wakes, and we will of the Tribes of the Season is a sect of the Tribes of the
reap.” which leans heavily towards the Season most commonly found in
22
Rover tribes, Dieseljock clans,community in the center of the Heretics of the
Salt Wise, and communities of trade route. This is where they Ageless Season
constantly traveling nomads. come to swap out equipment,
In the summer the Travelers of provide supplies, and rotate
the Sun bring their community caravan drivers. The home Time Keepers
southbound trading materials territories owned by the nomadic “The seasons change, and we
found in the north with small tribesmen are always known as mark its passing. We do not bend
survivor settlements and‘The Equinox’. It is said that knee to a god or even the season
caravans they cross ways with. here, at each of The Equinox itself, but instead we mark the
Once they have hit the peak settlements, great rituals of wisdom of the year and track the
of Summer, the Travelers of time keeping are performed with turnings of the seasons. This
the Sun gather their supplies each passing of the caravans. we have done since the fall of
and head northward loaded with Maps, lore, techniques, and man, this others will undertake
supplies from the south. Once history learned from the spoken after our strains have moved
the Travelers of the Sun arrivestories learned by the nomadic on.”
in the frozen north, the snow Travelers of the Sun are recorded
bound communities of the Frozenby the citizens of The Equinox. The Time Keepers are a
North welcome the trade of foodIt is said that the massive fringe organization within the
and supplies in exchange for trade and commerce hubs known Tribes of the Season which has
local timber and surplus to as The Equinox are protected by allied itself completely with
head south. the Sainthood of Ashes as well the interests of the Sainthood
as the Tribes of the Season. of Ashes. The Time Keepers work
As the Travelers of In the trade bazaars of The to gather artifacts of the
the Sun cut a caravan Equinox can be found just about past, researching the culture
swath from the Frozen anything, including seeds, raw of the pre-cursor people of
North to the resources, hand written books, the wastelands, and hunting
sweltering heat of medical techniques, fuel, and religious techs and technology
the south, they hand tooled vehicle parts. of the fallen people. To many of
always return to the Tribes of the Season, the Time
the same home Keepers seem more interested in
defining the when and the why
of how people died instead of
trusting to the wisdom of the
seasons. Finding the history of
man, and counting the aging of
the pre-fall cultures
materials fuels the
desire of the Time
Keepers to roll
back the seasons
and return to
pre-fall life.
The Time
Keepers, a
cult of the
tribes of Winter,
see that the recovery
of the wisdom of the
prior age outweighs
the needs of any of the
other seasons. A culture of the
23
Tribes of the Season which stand the tribe reach the thirteenth With outer stone walls three
in blatant defiance of the ‘rule knot they are trained in war, stories tall working a perimeter
by season’ traditions of the arts, music, philosophy, and around the city temple of the
tribes, the Time Keepers rule culture. As the males of the Refuge of Time, this Natural One
completely by Winter tribe, tribe reach sixteen knots, they temple crowns the tip of sheer
stating that ‘nuclear winter has are provided to the best suited mountain cliffs coated in thick
come, and until we can fix the women for breeding. jungle. Hidden by the density of
broken season, no other season the jungle, protected by natural
should rule’. With each turning of the and manmade perimeters, the
seasons the Mothers of Truth tie Refuge of time serves a purpose
The Ageless Ones another knot into the leather threefold. First, the Refuge
“Come child of the Broken strip which marks the years of of Time is a purist shrine
Arch, son of the eternal spring, a male of the tribe. Once a male of the Tribes of the Seasons.
boy of the Fallen Angels. It is of The Ageless One tribe has It is exceptionally rare for
the turning of the thirty third enough knots in their leather emissaries of neighboring
cycle of your season, so it is strip that no more knots can be Natural One families who are
time for you to abandon the tied, that male is provided the Tribes of the Season to be
ageless and spend the rest of ‘bounty promised of all Ageless allowed to plead their case to
your days serving the wheel of men’. Taken from their home in enter. Most visitors are killed
seasons. No, do not bother to a wonderful rite of passage, the by hunting ‘Jaguar Pride’ war
collect your things, you will now aged male of the Ageless one parties that hunt the jungle
not need them where you go now.” is taken from the home of the around the mountain side.
Ageless and provided to slave
Found along the Western masters. The now ‘useless’ men The temples removal from
Coast, there is a sect of the of the Ageless Ones serve their the rest of society allows the
Tribes of the Season which final years tilling the land, fledgling Unborn of Têixiptla who
serves the needs of the newest growing food, and serving the are new to the world as a whole,
generation by enslaving those needs of the Ageless Tribe- out time to grow into the world they
‘in the winter of their lives’. of sight and out of mind. now live in. Secondly, the Unborn
Found living in the upper floors of Têixiptla culture within
of ramshackle metal and wood the Refuge of Time has used a
stilt houses, the Ageless Ones Shrines of the combination of rediscovered
are a matriarchal society which Seasons mathematics and ancient stone
trains their youth to be strong, calendars carved into the
fearless warriors. The Ageless Refuge of Time mountain face to estimate the
Ones raid caravans and outlying In the heart of the Têixiptla true year of the world. This
communities in addition to territories is a community belief allows the Unborn of
their own seemingly endless buried in rubble and jungle, Têixiptla to understand concepts
farm bounty. the Refuge of Time. Erected such as celestial alignment for
on the site of an ancient pre- travel, seasonal changes, and
The wise women of the Ageless fall stone structure, the seasonal changes for planting
Ones, the Mothers of Truth, track Unborn of Têixiptla residing and harvesting. Lastly, within
the birth and growth of the male there have repaired the Refuge the walls of the Refuge of Time
figures born to the tribe. Each of Time systematically, and the Unborn of Têixiptla have
year the males of the tribe age are building a structure that begun to re-record history as
another season, a new knot is will survive the ages. Carved they perceive it. This history
added to a strip of leather that from the hillside, partially is carved in stone through
is kept by the Mothers of Truth. utilizing recovered stonework, simplified pictograms with the
As the males of the tribe reach the Church of Time presents idea that if culture is lost
the thirteenth knot, they are itself as an exceptionally again, the simplest of images
trained to be honor guards to the defendable position. can be translated by the new
Ageless Ones. As the females of inheritors of the world.
24
25
Of Varmints and
Deadbeats,
Threats of the
Irradiated West
“Well shit son. While I know you big city
folk from Vegasia think you got the whole damned
world figured out, let me explain to you the way
T he wastelands of the Lone Star territories
and around the Pridelands are dangerous
on many different levels. The heat, the real
of things around here. These territories will threat of running out of water, the locals,
kill you faster than a Lascarian at an open and the unique animals of the territory all
wound buffet. I know that you are lookin’ at this seem to be doing their damnedest to kill
simple country bumpkin and thinking to yerself you. With so many large areas of the wastes
‘There ain’t a way in hell that this here country being uninhabited, the undead infection has
idjit is gonna teach me nothin’. I can see the mutated in some unique ways to ensure that it
smirk in yer eyes, no matter how big the sunny- can spread across the wastes. From infected
glasses you put on yer face gate.” animals, reanimating long dead corpses, to
“We got threats out here that you ain’t ever latching itself to particular vegetation, the
dreamed of. Undead that done climbed out of yer territory of the Lone Star and the Pridelands
worst nightmare, beasts that have started to get offers bizarre forms of threat that is not
the zombi-fying, and more poisonous creatures found nearly anywhere else in the greater
than you can imagine. So why don’t you sit down, Merican continent.
be polite, take of yer damn sunny-glasses, and
ye might learn you something.”
“And by the by, that pretty plant you put on
your lapel is known as Hovesbane, and it is more
poisonous than one of your Vegasian whores on
holiday.”
26
27
Undead Threats
Lynch Mob & Lynch Mob Boss
Appearance Agility Brawn Endurance Knowledge Luck Wiles
1 1 1 2 1 1 1
Movement Health Fatigue Defense Resolve
2/4 6 - 1 -
Skills: Awareness 2, Melee 2
Special Traits: Mindless, Shambling Dead, Mob Up
Attacks/Weapons: Bite/Claws +2 Damage
Mob Up: If the Lynch Mob boss successfully deals damage to a Survivor, that survivor is marked
for 1d10 Rounds with Zombie Attractant, and all nearby Zombies will focus their attacks on that
target to the exclusion of others, gaining a free +1 Die to their attacks.
While not unlike most other shamblers,

the massive hoards of the Lynch Mob Shamblers
are unique in the fact that not only do they
tend to focus on single targets at a time,
but also that these giant hordes have a
tendency to absorb much larger undead into
their extremely large numbers. Normally
traveling in waves no less than a hundred
strong, Lynch Mob Shamblers are incredibly
destructive due to the fact that these undead
seem to be following a single undead that is
hidden somewhere in the horde itself. This
single undead, the Lynch Mob Boss, permeates a
particular odor that attracts undead towards
its location. These ‘rot pheromones’ allow
the Lynch Mob Boss to cause the entire horde
of undead surrounding the individual zombie
to follow the same instinct that the single
Lynch Mob Boss zombie has. If the Lynch Mob
Boss sees a target to attack, the entire horde
focuses its attention on that single target.
28
Preacher
1 1 2 3 1 1 1
2/4 10 - 1 -
Skills: Melee 1, Stealth 1
Special Traits: Mindless, Shambling Dead
Attacks/Weapons: Bite +1 Damage
Confusion of Rot: The gasses produced by the Preacher act similarly to gas grenades, effecting a
large area around them quickly. Once every 5 Rounds, the Preacher can emit a rot cloud, forcing
any living targets within 5 Yards to take a simple Resolve test. If failed, the target’s Resolve,
Defense, and Attack dice are all halved, rounding up, for 1d10 Minutes. This effect can stack.
There is a difference between a Priest and a Preacher. A Priest is a particularly focused

individual of faith who will talk your ear off
in an attempt to force you to redeem yourself or
convert to their faith. A Preacher is an undead
creature that walks the wastelands babbling
insanity and speaking in tones that cause madness
and terror.
The wordless murmuring of the Preacher zombies

vary from low toned babbles to near inaudible
pitches beyond the capacity of normal vocal
chords. The Preacher is not a subtle creature,
easily identified from a distance as it stammers
and staggers its way towards living targets.
However, when a Preacher is close enough for the
living to hear their ramblings it is nearly too
late. Preacher zombies emit an airborne toxin from
fetid flesh and adapted glands in their throats
that causes insane terror and disorganization in
living subjects. The ‘babbling’ that is heard when
the Preachers are around is the sound of these
fetid toxic gasses being released over vocal chords
no longer adhered to normal living standards.
With the steady release of these toxic fumes the
Preacher zombie’s mouth opens and closes, causing
the babbling and inhuman ‘speaking in tongues’
effect that survivors have reported.
29
Rot Mare
1 5 5 5 2 1 2
5/10 20 6 3 2
Skills: Athletics 4, Melee 4, Intimidate 4
Special Traits: Mindless, Huge (+1 to Attack), Fearful Presence
Attacks/Weapons: Kick +4 Damage, Trample x2 +4 Damage, Bite +2 Poison Damage
Fearful Presence: The Rot Mare’s ragged appearance, wild eyes

past bare bone features, and unrelenting power make them a
ghastly sight to behold and terrifying to fight. Any
survivor who does not first succeed at a simple
Resolve check cannot enter into Melee range with the
Rot Mare willingly to fight the beast.
In the wastelands of the Pridelands and the Lonestar

territory, a horse can mean the difference between being able
to travel between settlements or being stranded in the toxic
wastes. So when a stranded survivor sees the silhouette
of a horse on the horizon the potential of hope fills
that survivor. When the imagined equestrian savior turns
towards the survivor and begins to charge, that is
normally when hope becomes terror. Rot Mares are not
just a mutated form of animal, but instead are one
of the few animals that actively carry the undead
infection. Galloping at near full living speed,
with vision rivaling predatory animals, the
Rot Mares travel either as single predators
or in full teams of hooved undead threats.
Rot Mares trample their targets with a
combination of mutated claws and hooves,
as well as attempting to bite into living
subjects. When a Rot Mare bites into a
victim the extended jaws clamps into
bone, and the Rot Mare begins to run
with the victim hanging down between
its hooked front claws.
30
Beasts and Baddies
Bone Rattler
2 3 2 2 1 1 3
3/6 8 5 3 2
Skills: Athletics 1, Melee 5, Stealth 5, Escape Artist 3
Special Traits: Feral Minded, Tiny (-2 to Attack)
Attacks/Weapons: Venomous Bite +3 Poison Damage, Reach
The Bone Rattler, the oversized relative of the pre-fall rattle snake, is a threat to entire
settlements, much less small groups of survivors. Due to the incredible scale and size of the
Bone Rattler (reports of easily thirty plus feet in length and up to five feet in diameter) this
poisonous creature continues to breed larger and larger to match the environment in which it
exists. Born as small as four feet in length, Bone Rattlers primary food source is mammalian
creatures. Between bouts of eating Rumble Dogs, Bison, and Horses, the Bone Rattler spends much
of its time curled up and resting in the sun. With its size dictating its need for consumption,
larger Bone Rattlers have been known to be drawn onto ranches or civilizations to hunt horses or
people.
Bone Rattlers have a segment of bone rings around their tail that sound somewhat like a roaring
rainstorm when they are shaken. This noise is used when Bone Rattlers are not actively hungry,
as a warning to other creatures. When not hunting for food, the Bone Rattler prefers seclusion in
the sun, however, when the Bone Rattler needs food it has no qualms about consuming entire small
settlements.
31
Longhorn Mudback Bison
1 2 8 8 1 1 1
Movement Health Fatigue Defense Resolve Armor Points Reduction
2/4 32 9 4 1 10 1
Skills: Athletics 2, Intimidate 2
Special Traits: Feral Minded, Huge (+2 to Attack)
Attacks/Weapons: Horn Swipe +5 Damage
The Long Horned Mudback Bison has earned its name from the fact that these massive horned
mammals are predominantly found along rivers and the coast line, wallowed deep within the mud and
damp soil. The Mudback Longhorn, with thick skulls easily four feet in width and adorned with a
pair of massive three foot long horns, are fortunately primarily a passive creature. The Long
Horned Mudback Bison prefers to spend its days resting its massive frame and eating a diet of
tubers and vegetation.
The Long Horned Mudback Bison becomes a truly dangerous creature in the early Fall season, its
mating season. The Long Horned Mudback Bison competes with others of its ilk by charging one
another and ramming heads to prove dominance for mating. This aggressive quality causes the often
passive creatures to become incredibly dangerous to be around. It is common story to hear from
traveling Dieseljocks or caravan drivers that a Long Horned Mudback Bison has mistaken a caravan
for another Bison challenging for dominance. The damage done by these massive beasts as they
charge headlong through caravans or Dieseljock vehicles is funny to the outsider, but a nightmare
to those that are directly involved.
32
Rumble Dogs
1 3 3 3 1 1 2
3/6 12 5 2 1
Skills: Athletics 4, Awareness 2, Melee 4, Stealth 3, Intimidate 1
Special Traits: Feral Minded, +2 Stealth while Burrowing
At some point in the horrific history of the wastelands the Prairie Dog bred with larger Nutria
rodents producing the caravan driver’s bane; the Rumble Dogs. Rumble Dogs are not aggressive,
however, Rumble Hogs are creatures nearly three feet in length that dig expanding underground
communities. Connecting large underground hollows via tunnels, it is not uncommon for animals
drawing caravans to break their legs when the ground gives out beneath them into a Rumble Dog
tunnel.
Rumble Dogs are also protective of their homes, causing them to bite and attack the legs that
step through the surface of the ground into their homes. Rumble Dogs have been known to chew off
the legs of horses before caravan drivers can free their beasts of burden.
33
Siege Squirrels
2 4 1 1 1 1 4
4/8 4 5 4 2
Skills: Athletics 4, Escape Artist 4, Larceny 2, Melee 1, Scrounge 4, Stealth 2, Intimidate 1
Special Traits: Feral Minded, Tiny (-2 to Attack)
Squirrels haven’t physically changed much over the years since the fall of man. Small furry
creatures that tend to eat nuts, grains, and fruits generally pose no threat to the hearty wasteland
survivor. Where Siege Squirrels have evolved from the old world squirrel is in community and
cultural organization. Siege Squirrels travel in packs of dozens of squirrels, finding larger food
sources to raid and steal from. While Siege Squirrels in the wild are content to live in massive
communal nests and take from the environment, Siege Squirrels that come closer to communities
can become a serious threat. Chewing through wood or burrowing into buildings that contain food
stores, working in unison to drag off up to man sized sides of meat, and occasionally stealing
babies for foodstuff.
34
Coyote Uglies
1 4 3 5 1 1 3
4/8 16 8 3 2
Skills: Athletics 3, Awareness 3, Melee 4, Stealth 1, Intimidate 3
Special Traits: Feral Minded
These wretched beasts are things of nightmare for the children of Lone Star and any unfortunates
making camp out in the badlands. These carrion feeders of the old world have come into regular
contact with the z-plague, and unlike so many other carrion eaters, they weren’t immune to the
corruption of the flesh that came from the plague. The Coyotes instead have a terrible fate ahead
of them, born healthy and whole, but slowly degenerating over the years until they are little more
than meat and bone. Some of the scientists of Aggieland have claimed there is a similarity between
the coyotes and the afflictions of the Retrogrades, but that doesn’t give the beasts any comfort.
Their keening wails can be heard echoing across the clear night sky, pitiful and horrifying
screeches of torment the beasts suffer.
35
Shrapnelitos
Along the ever changing windswept wastelands, what little water has slipped through the
earth is precious and all manners of evolutionary advances have been made to preserve it. The
shrapnelito is one particularly ingenious bastard of plant. Bearing a practical resemblance to
other short fruiting cacti, the shrapnelito has developed an ingenious defensive mechanism. In
place of the meaty limbs their cousins grow or moisture rich fronds, the shrapnelito has a series
of pinecone-esque protective plates that shield its main body. When the plant feels its whiskery
tendrils disturbed by a would be predator, the meat of the plant rapidly expands with water from
its deep root stem, explosively launching the spiny plates into whatever unfortunate man or beast
is nearby before slowly allowing the water to seep back into its roots to be stored again. To
make matters worse, the spiny plates’ waxy coating is a severe irritant, leaving the victim’s
skin itching for days on end. Some enterprising souls have tried to gather and market the stuff,
though you can usually recognize them for the rashes and welts covering their arms and faces.
36
Equipment for the Borderlands

Guns, Shooters, and Slug Throwers
Double Barreled Long Rifle
The ubiquitous long rifle of the midwest is a staple, and few question the long standing
practice of training marksmanship at a young age in the barren flatlands of Lone Star and the
Pridelands. Sharp shooters prize a good double barreled long rifle, both for their stability and
how easily they can line up precision shots in short succession. Providing that both barrels are
loaded, so long as the first shot hits successfully, the shooter may immediately fire the second
barrel and apply damage a second time, with no splash over.
Crafts Level – 20 Damage Bonus – 5 Skill – Rifle Price – 185 Reload – 1 Clip – 2
Rate of Fire S/-/- Range – 200 Splash – 4 Special – Accurate, Kickback
Halberd Rifle
With the popularity of iron horses and pick-me-up trucks in the Lone Star, and horseback riding
in the Pridelands, it was only natural that long pole weapons would return to regular use. Often
found in the hands of small community patrolmen and gate keepers, these heavy iron pipes adorned
with blades and spikes feature a lever action shooter as part of its design. When wielded as a
rifle, this weapon counts as a lever action rifle (pg 132 Dystopia Rising Core Rules). When wielded
as a halberd, counts as a pole axe (pg 130 Dystopia Rising Core Rules).
Heavy Iron Revolver – Like the motto goes, go big or go home. This applies to weapons as much as
anything else in Lone Star. The heavy iron revolver answers that challenge with 8 rounds of hot
lead death in a 8 and a half pound package. The heavily reinforced pistol not only can easily take
a man off his feet, but packs a mean wallop once empty, often used in bar brawls as an improvised
cudgel. When used in melee, the Heavy Iron Revolver counts as a cleaver (Pg 130 Dystopia Rising
Core Rules). Otherwise, use the profile below.
Crafts Level – 16 Damage Bonus – 3 Skill – Pistol Price – 50 Reload – 4 Clip – 8

Rate of Fire S/-/- Range – 30 Splash – 4 Special – Reliable
Heavy Iron Revolver

Like the motto goes, go big or go home. This
applies to weapons as much as anything else in
Lone Star. The heavy iron revolver answers that
challenge with 8 rounds of hot lead death in a 8
and a half pound package. The heavily reinforced
pistol not only can easily take a man off his
feet, but packs a mean wallop once empty, often used in bar brawls as an improvised cudgel. When
used in melee, the Heavy Iron Revolver counts as a cleaver (Pg 130 Dystopia Rising Core Rules).
Otherwise, use the profile below.

Rate of Fire S/-/- Range – 30 Splash – 4 Special – Reliable
37
Powder Box Shotgun
The natural solution to needing more power with
the limited hardware that can be cobbled together
in the wasteland isn’t always a better gun, but
simply more gun! The powder box is a perfect example
of that logic, stacking three barrels together in
a heavy scrap metal frame with a simple break
action and what passes for a handle. While the gun kicks like a mule to fire, it is a weapon that
will unquestionably put the hurt on something at close range. The two stage trigger allows the
shooter to either blast both top barrels or the bottom barrel alone, or as is more commonly done,
simply unleash all three on whatever is the subject of their focused hatred.

Rate of Fire S/2/3 Range – 10 Splash – 3 Special – Reliable, Inaccurate, Kickback
Primitive Weapons
Atlatl
The Atlatl, or spear thrower,
is a traditional weapon found
among many Natural One tribes
for achieve long range attack
power and accuracy. These simple wooden instruments are often adorned with trophies of the hunt
and charms showing the pride of the crafters and wielders in their form. It is not uncommon for
hunters and warriors alike to use these deadly lances to strike down their quarry.
Crafts Level – 8 Damage Bonus – 4 Skill – Thrown Price – 25 Range – Brawn x 5 Splash – 4
Special – Reliable
Macuahuitl Sword
While its overall structure hasn’t
changed in hundreds of years, the
materials certainly have. The Macuahuitl
sword is a type of macana, or in layman’s terms, a blunt stick with sharp bits jammed into it.
The modern incarnations of this weapon often use reclaimed pieces of plate metal, rebar spars,
and sand-glass collected from the old desert highways and blasted lands. These are sandwiched
between two sturdy planks of wood and attached to a heavy handle, to better bludgeon an opponent
to death with.
Crafts Level – 8 Damage Bonus – 6 Skill – Long Price – 45

Range – Melee Splash – 5 Special – Crushing
Throwing Axe
While it isn’t hard to find objects to throw, such as broken bricks,
bottle remains, or bits of sharp scrap, how much better to make that
piece of junk fly right and be a useful tool as well. These weapons are
built from all manners of reclaimed scrap and parts joined to sturdy
wooden handles that make them well balanced and easy to throw cleanly.
Crafts Level – 5 Damage Bonus – 2 Skill – Throw Price – 10

Range – Brawn x3 Splash – 4 Special - none
38
Gizmos of War
Pistol Bayonets
It didn’t take much for someone to figure out that strapping a
jagged piece of metal to the front of a gun would make it a more
dangerous implement up close (as if up close pistols weren’t
menacing enough). The Pistol Bayonet turns any basic firearm into
a perfect tool for stabbing some poor sum’bitch that got in your
way before you blow them straight to hell! Any Pistol upgraded
in this way counts as a Scrapmetal Shiv (pg 130 Dystopia Rising
Core Rules) when used in Melee.
Price: 10
Quick Spring Holster

Gunslingers have devised all manners of clever mechanisms for holstering and securing their
pistols and rifles about their person. This little beauty is a spring mounted catch in the base of what
otherwise looks like a normal leather holster. The advantage of this pistol and holster modification
is that there is no top strap to the holster. Simply push down on the stored pistol and it’s free
to draw! No more embarrassing accidents with pistols falling out of their holster while running, or
trying to quick draw with the pistol still strapped down tight. Whenever making an attack action in
Mass Action Combat from a holstered pistol in the Quick Spring Holster, the attack counts as going
before all other actions (not including defense) in that phase.
Price: 35
Wrist Mounted Tension Holster

Some unscrupulous gentlefolk have started taking to the fashion
of wearing a gun up their sleeve. While considered generally
unsporting and dishonorable, few can contest the usefulness of
having a figurative ace up your sleeve when things get heated over
a game of aces and eights. The pistol modified for this has its
damage bonus reduced by 1 but, gains +3 dice to all concealment
checks to prevent it from being discovered. This pistol upgrade
can’t be applied to any pistol that can fire in burst or full auto.
Price: 45
39
Lone Star
I f y’all are asking about Lone Star, y’all ain’t no Merican—ain’t no Texican neither. But I
ain’t gonna hold it against you. I will tell you one thing, though: Don’t mess with Lone
Star. It’s the wildest and most dangerous part of Merica. Don’t believe me? Well, you’ll learn—
one way or another.
Lone Star’s the home of the Lawmen, the brave Texicans that lure hundreds of zed away from
settlements like Star City and New Austin. Lone Star’s the home of the Merican, the rowdy strain
that’ll pick a fight as soon as punch a zed. Lone Star’s the home of the roving gangs of Dieseljocks,
the fierce Cad Nation, the terrifying Aggieland scientists. Lone Star’s the home of the brave.
It’s not like Lone Star’s small, neither. It stretches all the way from the famed Star City,
with its showgirls and its barroom brawls, to the Dune Sea with its shifting sands and deadly
terrain. Massive packs of zed roam the flat landscape as the harsh sun beats down on the dusty
plains. Grass and warped trees dot the region, the remnants of a time long ago when the area was
lusher, greener. When the bombs fell onto Lone Star, the region was forever altered, becoming a
combination of unforgiving desert and barren plains.
Lone Star might not be the prettiest place around, but it sure has the best to offer. The
Trembling Plains belch out black gold, the life’s blood of the gangs that ride iron horses. There,
Iron Slaves toil under the gaze of Merican overseers and the Oilmen, the Purebloods that run the
whole operation.
Head over east and you’ll hit New Austin, the city of music. You’ll never hear a nicer tune
than when you’re there, but I wouldn’t stay too long. Word is that people go missing and end up as
experiments in Aggieland. Trust me, you don’t want to end up there; the scientists are no better
than butchers.
We don’t just got Mericans and Texicans, neither. We got them Lascarians in the Space Caverns,
the deadly caves that run all the way beneath the desert near New Austin and that new settlement,
Bravo. We got Natural Ones in the Grasslands, the massive sea of grass that hides the worst zed way
to the south of Star City and the east of Sand Tonio. We also got them nasty fuckers, Retrogrades,
all over. And of course we got Iron Slaves to work for the Purebloods.
What you got to understand about Lone Star is that it’s a place of open spaces. We don’t
believe in fucking walls here, unless you count Star City. That’s the only place I know where a
wall’s been built to keep out the zed. Elsewise it’s mainly just flat here. That means we can see
the zed for miles before they got to us—also means that they can see us, too. You know the saying
that everything’s bigger in Lone Star? Well it’s true. We get them Tanks and Goliaths that travel
the plains. Get huge masses of shamblers that run in packs, too. The worst are the Hunters in the
Grasslands, though—and the Diggers along the Dune Sea.
It’s not just a region of open spaces, though. We’ve got room to grow—and the settlements show
40
it. We have General Mustang’s Star City, the biggest place I ever seen. We got Seasons Seat to
the northwest of there where the famed Lawmen go to train. We even got Sky Temple near Mustang’s
seat of power, the holy site where fiery priests will tell you all about how we better fight or die.
Then of course there’s New Austin and Aggieland to the south. I don’t think I’m forgetting any...
ah! Fort Worthless. But no one cares about that shithole, anyway.
Lone Star’s the place for hardworking men, for backroom bounty deals, for the roving gangs
on their iron horses. Lone Star’s the place of the hero and the villain, where we’re not afraid
to get our hands dirty and bloody to get the job done. Lone Star’s the place of the true blooded
Merican and the proud Texican, where we stand tall in the face of danger and violence. Lone Star’s
the place where men and women can be free. Lone Star’s the best fucking place in Merica, and I’ll
give you a good punch in the jaw if you say otherwise.
Star City

“I can remember seeing the
green clouds roll toward us
across the dry plains. Thunder
and lightning crackled as the
storm pushed the zed toward us
in waves—relentless, endless.
That’s when I saw them: the
Lawmen. And behind the mounted
group, with their stars and
their spurs, were the walls of
the largest city I’d ever seen.”
–Mercurio Lanza, Rover
The first thing you’ll notice

about Star City are the walls.
They rise up from the rubble
surrounding the city, crudely
constructed from metal and
brick. On a rare, clear day,
you can see the city from miles
away across the ruined plains.
They’re an unusual sight in an
area that is so defined by its
open spaces and flat landscape—
and one that explains how the
city has stood for so long.
The only major settlement

within Lone Star, Star City acts
as General Mustang’s seat of
power. The city’s fortifications
are manned by Mustang’s personal
militia and led by his closest and
most elite forces, the Lawmen.
The city is an open, windy town
supported by the oil trade, gun
42
smiths and gear heads that keep through to bigger and better resulted in dissatisfied murmurs
Mustang and his forces in good things. The undead passed among the citizens—especially
supply as they rove the dusty through frequently, as well, and those who inhabited the area
landscape watching for anyone it didn’t help that a series of long before he arrived. Some
that doesn’t abide by Mustang’s earthquakes had devastated much believe that the resources he
laws. The thriving businesses of the infrastructure in the takes to support his troops are
of bounty hunters, cattle area, tearing down buildings far too much, and that someone
drivers and entertainment make and leaving only heaps of rubble new should be in power. So far,
Star City a power to be reckoned behind. these disgruntled citizens
with, even as far away as the haven’t resorted to outright
Rust Coast and Nor’east. That all changed with General violence. Instead, they hold
Mustang. He saw potential in the small rallies in local bars—and
Beyond the walls and the backwater town, recalling the are generally looked down upon
heavily guarded gates, you can great Texican history of the by the Texicans in the city.
find the settlement itself. Rowdy place. Whether by chance or by
Mericans hoot and holler at the design, he decided to take Star Star City Sky Temple
local bars, such as the Cock City for his base of operations
‘n Bull, as show girls strut and began to rebuild. He fortified “They say that the sky burned
along wooden stages sticky with the wall that now surrounds Star on the day the World fell. And
hooch. The Children of Ellums City, and moved his forces into when the people lifted up their
Deep put on performances that the town. eyes to the Heavens, they wept to
range from the artistic to see the Angels they thought would
the raunchy. The more serious Now, the city stands as a save them perish in the flames.
Texican bounty hunters drink thriving point of trade within This is what is left of them—the
old bottles of whiskey in back Lone Star. The metropolis has burnt out husks of our immortal
rooms while discussing their little to worry about when it brethren.”
latest targets. Workers from comes to roving gangs, since any –Lucas Kensington, Minister-
the Trembling Plains sometimes threats are quickly squashed General of the Star City Sky Temple
stop in to talk to their bosses, by Mustang’s Lawmen before
while the military-minded Lawmen they can get out of hand. The When the world fell, the
patrol the dusty streets on the undead, too, are not much of a angels battled across the skies
lookout for any disturbances. threat. During their long treks in the defense of humanity—at
outside Star City, the elite least that’s what the Fallow Hope
Star City is the city of the Lawmen track the movements of cult at Sky Temple would have you
Merican, the frontier town that the walking dead and lure them believe. Whether or not it’s true
has outgrown its roots and has away from the city if need be. is another question entirely—
become something more. Without In fact, the main threats to though it’s probably best that you
General Mustang, though, it’s the city are within the walls don’t voice your doubts in front
likely that this city would themselves. A city doesn’t get of one of the fire-and-brimstone
have remained a husk of what it to be this big without a few priests that characterize the
once was before the Fall. growing pains—and they show. cult.
Dieseljocks sometimes ride
Before the rise of the through Star City, leaving Sky Temple is located to the
General, the city merely scraped broken limbs and rotting corpses northwest of Star City, just
by. Filled with unorganized in their wake from deals gone outside the walls. Although
Mericans, Texicans and a wrong. More than one bounty hunt technically outside the city
few Retrogrades, the ruined has turned sour, as well—and the limits, the temple is often
buildings of what was once a fallout is less than pretty. referred to as “Star City Sky
great city were underutilized Yet it’s General Mustang’s rule Temple.” It could be due to its
and poorly defended. Star City that causes the most dissent. proximity to the city, but more
was more like Star Town, with His tight grip on the city, likely it’s due to the fact that
caravans and gangs passing despite all of its security, has General Mustang makes frequent
43
pilgrimages to the temple in order the Judicial Circuit, dealing out It has a healthy deal with General
to consult with the Minister- justice to any sinners in General Mustang. He provides the funds,
General and to recruit brothers Mustang’s territory. and they provide extra manpower
and sisters for his personal when something big rolls toward
army—especially for the Judicial It’s a good thing that Sky Star City.
Circuit. Temple does contribute to the
ranks of the Lawmen, since Fort Worthless
The site itself looks more they’re the only thing keeping
like a battleground than a temple. the complex safe. The flat plains “You know that one town
Warped, twisted pieces of metal of Lone Star are no place for that’s a shithole? The one that
litter the outside “gardens.” a settlement with little in the smells like piss and whores and
The metal itself is contorted way of natural defense, such as horses, the one where you can’t
into strange shapes, melted by walls or protective structures. walk into a bar without losing
intense heat and rusted by the To alter the temple would be a tooth or blacking an eye?
relentless wind and rain. The few sacrilege, according to the Think of that fucking town and
structures that are left standing Fallow Hope priests. The place is then make it twenty times worse.
are patched and faded—but are holy, a site where a great battle That’s Fort Worthless.”
put to good use by the order of was once waged for all of mankind. –Willie Davis, Merican
Fallow Hope priests. Because of this, the temple is at Travel past the firm walls
risk when it comes to the masses
Almost everyone is welcome at of shambling dead that can sweep
the temple for worship, and some across Lone Star in the hundreds.
Fallow Hopes travel from miles
around in order to visit the holy While relations with Star
site and meet with the Minister- City are good, there are other
General there. While brothers and locations that Sky Temple loathes—
sisters of the faith are welcome and Aggieland is one of them. The
to stay within the confines of the warped and twisted creatures that
ancient structures, those who are are produced in the complex’s labs
at the temple for other purposes are abominations to the Fallow
are quickly shepherded outside Hopes. For years, the temple has
before nightfall—a grim fate for preached against the demons that
anyone who’s not used to the wild Aggieland spawns, calling
and inhospitable plains. the scientists there devil
worshipers and worse. If it
Despite not having Star City’s were up to the temple, the
walls, though, the temple has done entire complex would have
pretty well for itself. To say that been wiped off of the
Sky Temple was militaristic would face of a map years
be like saying that the undead ago. As it is, Sky
were a threat. The brothers and Temple doesn’t have
sisters at the temple train to the enough manpower—or guns—
extreme. It’s not unusual to walk to wage a full out war
onto the grounds of Sky Temple against the complex. Besides, too
and find a firing squad practicing many gangs profit from Aggieland’s
outside in the deadly heat. Many business, while Sky Temple
brothers and sisters from the largely depends on the donations
temple end up joining up with the and good will of others in order
Lawmen in the wastes, protecting to support its worshippers.
Star City and destroying as many
“demons” as they can. The more That’s not to say the temple
politically minded become part of only relies on donations, though.
44
of Star city toward the west,
and you’ll eventually come to a If you stroll through the Fort Worthless is a miserable
town without a purpose. Shabby shattered remains of Fort place in many different ways,
buildings are cracked and Worthless, you’ll find mostly but the worst of it comes from
falling apart. The scorching deserted streets and crumbling a lack of standing army or any
landscape seems to leech the buildings. Walk into a bar and sort of defense. Its proximity
life out of those who call you’ll discover either sullen to Star City lends it some
the place home, leaving them drunks or a fight. It’s the type protection, but it doesn’t
listless and defeated. of town where you don’t stay keep it completely safe from
Fort Worthless is possibly one long—the type that you only the creatures that roam the
of the worst settlements in enter if you’re desperate, lost wastes. Residents have created
Lone Star. It’s a combination or both. underground bunkers, preferring
of injured workers from the to wait out the tides of shambling
Trembling Plains, down-and-out Most men and women are smart corpses rather than attempt to
bounty hunters, and disreputable enough to know that walking fight them off. Eventually, the
types from all over the area. through town without a group Lawmen come and clean up the
Shady deals are held in the back of friends is a bad idea—even mess, though Fort Worthless
rooms of bars. Fights break out during the day. If you’re lucky, isn’t their top priority by any
constantly over cheap tricks, you may find a cheap motel to stay means. People can spend days at
bad hooch and worse tempers. for the night with cockroaches a time underground, sweltering
It’s not surprising to find blood the size of your face. If you’re in hot rooms as the rank smell
spattered on the road running unlucky, you’re liable to find of sweat and piss builds.
through the town, or a rotting yourself stripped and left
body part to go with it. outside of town with nothing Seasons Seat
left of your possessions but
Fort Worthless is where your hat. “They may talk about how
dreams go to die. The town sprung While Fort Worthless may not hard it is to survive in the
up around the same time as Star have much to offer outsiders, Nor’east. But let me tell you
City. Unlike the bigger and it does provide a relatively something, boy, it’s a lot
better-protected settlement, safe haven for drug traffickers harder in Lone Star. They got
though, Fort Worthless didn’t and smugglers. The town has them trees and cricks, and we
have the benefit of a mentor like become something of a stopping got miles and miles of plains
General Mustang. While Star City off point for those with cargo and desert. Back when I was a
grew, Fort Worthless stagnated destined for the Space Caverns. young’un, I remember staring out
and then shrank. It became the Sky Temple priests appear to from Star City at the blasted
home of outcasts and criminals— denounce the settlement for its dirt and spindly trees and
the perfect place to hide out sins, and Aggieland scientists thinking to myself: If someone
from the law. sometimes wander into town can live out there, they can
to negotiate slave deals. survive anywhere.”
What little government that Criminals pay off Sheriff Burns –Grand Master Earl Woodham
Fort Worthless possesses is as to overlook their presence in It’s hard to survive in
corrupt as you can imagine in a the town. the wilds of Lonestar. Hordes
town that deals with outlaws. Most people are welcome at of shamblers miles long group
The mastermind behind the shady Fort Worthless—assuming they together and sweep across the
settlement is Sheriff Wilder actually want to be there. But plains. Tall plants in the
Burns, a Merican known for Lawmen and “big city folk” are Grasslands hide lurking threats
his backroom negotiations with looked down on. The locals stay that lie in wait for unwary
gangs and ability to smuggle out of sight the few times that travelers. Coyote Kings, Los
cargo. It’s said that for the the law rolls through town and Ban-Dee-Tows and other gangs
right price, the sheriff will many bars only grudgingly serve that venture far enough north
overlook anything—from captured the Lawmen that protect Star ransack supplies from caravans.
slaves to murder. City. Yet while all of these factors
45
are dangerous when walking onto terms of defense. Instead, the the meat. But that don’t mean
the wind-blasted plains of tribe relies on their ability women got a place here among
Lonestar, perhaps the greatest to use the landscape itself to the men.” Whether out of a sense
threat is the weather itself. their advantage. There’s not of chivalry or something else
Scorching heat sears regions just one tribe in the area, entirely, the Grand Master has
where there is little to no either. The location is often barred women from joining. That
cover. The trees that were once used by other tribes in the area doesn’t mean that he won’t teach
abundant before the Fall are to meet on neutral ground, and them, though. Many female Lawmen
mostly desiccated and twisted, Earl Woodham encourages that have learned their survival
forming small groupings of use, welcoming his brothers and skills from Seasons Seat, even
warped forests. Tall grasses sisters from the wilds. if they can’t officially become
characterize some of the a scout.
plains, while tumbleweeds and At Seasons Seat, the Perhaps the most important thing
scorched dirt are all to be worshippers don’t just embrace to know about Seasons Seat is
found in other regions. Massive the seasons—they also learn the fact that Lawmen travel to
lightning storms can appear how to survive them. While the wild, grassy area in order
without warning in the summer, many Tribes of Seasons have a to learn from the Grand Master.
the thunderheads growing dark hierarchy in accordance to the General Mustang has maintained
on the horizon before hurtling season, Seasons Seat is slightly
toward the unprepared. different. “Masters” for each
season are appointed above the
Earl Woodham saw how hard rest of the disciples, called
it was to survive and instead scouts, and are specialized in
of fearing the challenge, various areas of survival. While
embraced it. The story goes that the Master of Summer is adept at
although born in Star City, he making fires and trapping game,
was repulsed by the soft ways the Master of Autumn is better
of the settlement. When he at showing disciples how best
was only eighteen, the Merican to evade and kill threats in
ventured into the Grasslands, the wilds. Above them all sits
one of the deadliest locations Grand Master Earl Woodham,
in Lone Star. Five years later, the founder of the settlement
he returned—hard, honed and who has learned it all.
trained. Some say that he met
with the Cad Nation and learned Almost anyone can
their ways. Others say that he join the ranks of the
figured it out for himself after tribe, and even the
many, many failures. Whatever highest ranking members
the case, he decided to pass on welcome the so-called
his knowledge to any who wished tenderfoots with open
to seek it. Seasons Seat was arms. What is unusual,
officially born. though, is the fact
that there are no
In between Star City and women among the ranks
Sky Temple is Seasons Seat, of these Tribes of Seasons—
a settlement of Tribes of mostly due to the rules from
Seasons. The area is more like Grand Master Earl Woodham
a campground than an actual himself. In his words, “Women
conglomeration of buildings, ain’t bad at surviving the
though. Flimsy shelters protect wilds. Shit, I seen a girl take
the locals against the wind and down a whole horde o’shamblers
the rain, but do little else in before building a fire to roast
46
good relations with Seasons parts of the Grasslands, peace treaty among the different
Seat and sends his men and women and has remained relatively tribes by using one part diplomacy
there to train as recruits isolated for a number of years. and one part violence. She called
before becoming full Lawmen. Although not entirely hostile together a meeting at Seasons Seat,
to outsiders, they’re certainly inviting all of the tribe heads to
Grasslands of not friendly—and they view negotiate. Only one didn’t show.
the Cad Nation any pieces of technology with It’s said that she eradicated the
contempt. In order to discourage one tribe off of the face of the
“I remember this one time me outsiders from venturing too earth when they wouldn’t bend to
and your granddad were walking deep into the Grasslands, her will. Only the burnt-out husks
through the Grasslands. Looks they’ve created the Cad Nation of their tents remained after she
like a green and yellow sea out Trading Post on the edge of was through.
there with the wind bending all their territory, offering furs, Today, the Cad Nation exists
them stalks—like something out meat and agricultural products as a single unit, ruled by the
of a dream. You can hear the in exchange for useful items iron fist of Mother Chenoa. While
bugs and birds all ‘round you such as knives and hatchets. she still lives, the different
without ever seeing them. But tribes exist as one. Yet there
that’s when we learned that The Cad Nation is a remnant are murmurs among some of the
there are other things lurking from the past. During the Fall, tribe members that hint at a
in the grass—terrible things.” there were those that took to the less-than-peaceful outcome
–Jamie Adams, wilderness in order to escape should Mother Chenoa meet with
Merican Traveler the horrors of humanity. As the some kind of unfortunate and
world collapsed around them, fatal accident.
those who learned to survive
It’s said that the off of the land thrived—to an With all of this in mind,
Grasslands are where you go extent. The undead began to you’d think that there’d be no
if you have a death wish. More invade the wilderness, cutting reason for anyone to actually
wild that the large stretches down loners and small groups. venture to the Grasslands. Yet
of deserted, cracked roads that Eventually, the Natural Ones in there are draws to the area.
trail across Lonestar, more the Grasslands formed distinct The region is a veritable gold
deadly than the Dieseljocks and tribes in order to survive. Yet mine of natural resources. With
roaming gangs, the Grasslands it wasn’t until much later that deer, turkeys and quail, there’s
are an untamed region to the these tribes became the Cad plenty of game in comparison to
north of Star City. Hunters and Nation that is known today. the vast, hostile regions that
other types of stealthy undead characterize much of Lone Star.
The tribes didn’t always
hide within the tall grasses and But it’s not just game that the
sparse trees. Raiders from the exist peacefully. In fact, area possesses. The Grasslands
bloodshed and war characterized
west sometimes set up camp in the has a vast lake at its heart—a
area and stalk the surrounding much of their history. They source of water that acts as an
settlements. Creatures fought for the resources in
from oasis for travelers. The soil
Aggieland—or at least the ones the Grasslands, cutting down is also fertile, which allows
who survive the experiments— the people of rival tribes and the Cad Nation to farm and
often eventually wind up in killing anyone in their way. cultivate crops in some cleared
the Grasslands as they hunt theHeads were brutally displayed areas.
surrounding wildlife. on wooden spikes, people were Be warned, though; never venture
tortured in order to find out into the Grasslands without the
Despite all of these information about enemies and permission of the Cad Nation.
dangers, though, a group of blood soaked the fertile earth. If you do, odds are you won’t
Natural Ones has thrived in find your way out again.
the area. The Cad Nation has Eventually, one woman stood up
proudly maintained their small among the different tribes. Mother
settlement within the deepest Chenoa Adaes somehow negotiated a
47
The Burning The very first settlers in offer them, the raiders mainly
Wound the area were the outcasts of steer clear of the settlement.
society, mainly composed of
“We don’t choose to be Remnants and Mericans with a The small group of people is
here—we’re forced to be here. few Texicans thrown in. Over mostly made up of new arrivals
The humid heat, the smell of time, these people began to to the area rather than those
brimstone, the constant tremors; evolve. As they inhaled the that have been there for
It’s enough to drive a person noxious gases, their brains generations. Political exiles
mad. Just because most of us were slowly affected. Their and criminals, these people eke
were crazy before we got here children and their children’s out a miserable living as best
doesn’t change that.” children turned into little they can. Without any kind of
–Amy Lou Stevens, more than bloodthirsty raiders, natural resources, they have to
Resident of the Burning Wound uniquely suited to the steamy venture far afield in order to
area where their parents first gather—or steal—supplies. Many
You’ll smell the Burning settled. With tough skin that of them die within the first year
Wound before you ever get near can handle the burning heat of of coming to the settlement,
the place. It’s the scent of the hot springs, these raiders unable to cope with the harsh
rotten eggs and steam, fire and can withstand temperatures that conditions.
brimstone, death and decay. The would scorch normal people.
boiling lakes that dot the area Yet there are those who
are filled with noxious vapors, The raiders usually only embrace their new home. A cult
choking anyone who’s foolish venture from their home when has developed within the heart
enough to venture near the they need supplies or food. of this settlement, a sect of
location. Boiling water often Without transport of any kind, Tribes of Seasons that believes
erupts without warning, burning these people move en masse out the noxious vapors actually
and killing anyone nearby. of the Burning Wound and ransack are messages from the seasons
It’s said that the Wound was any caravans that might be themselves. Breathe in enough
once a thriving town, but that nearby. While their weapons are of them and eventually you’ll
changed as soon as the volcanic usually fragmentary at best, have hallucinations, seeing
activity in the area began to composed of blunt clubs and visions that may or may not
heat up. Tremors constantly other crude creations, the real be the result of your brain
rock the region, destroying any danger is their actual skin. shorting out. Some outsiders
structures that are built and The raiders have developed the even go so far as to travel to
shooting dangerous geysers of unique property to store the the settlement in order to ask
boiling water into the air. Now, heat from the volcanic springs the local soothsayers questions
the Wound is a place of death, in the Burning Wound and to about the future and their daily
a place where no sane person release it at will when touching lives. Whether or not these
would choose to willingly stay. an individual. Yet they often predictions are actually true,
Perhaps that’s why the insane need to “recharge” after using though, is a question that is
have taken up residence. this particular ability. perhaps best left unasked.
The Burning Wound is home It’s not just raiders that New Austin
to those that have no other inhabit the Wound, though. There
place to go—the people that are also those that hold onto City of the Violet Crown
are too criminal for Star City, some vestige of their humanity—
too violent for Fort Worthless no matter how warped it may have “You can see why they call
and too crazy for anywhere become. A small settlement of it the Violet Crown. It’s not
else. In fact, General Mustang tents and shacks can be found just ‘cause they got all them
habitually exiles people to the in the section of the Wound music lovers in there, though
Burning Wound when he’s feeling that doesn’t possess as many that’s part of it I reckon.
particularly unmerciful. hot springs. Perhaps sensing It’s the way the sky turns from
that these people have little to pink to purple in the twilight,
48
lighting up all them hills in the rough-and-tumble attitude the ruins for salvageable goods
the distance. Makes you forget that characterizes most reaches as others tried to hide from
‘bout what a shit hole we live of the region, the City of the the harsh wastes. Yet one man
in.” Violet Crown has a softer side— had a vision; with an old radio
–Bobby Jemson, Merican relatively speaking. It plays and a guitar, he began sending
home to musicians and performers, out his songs into the world
It’s said the music never academics and fishermen. It’s a with the hope that others would
dies in New Austin—and that’s place of productivity and rest, respond. He played and they
partially true. Stroll across a place that most people like came; people showed up from
the cracked roads of the city to stay—assuming you don’t mind miles around—those who were
during twilight and you’ll the lack of an army to keep the tired, those who were broken,
hear the bands begin to play. city safe. those who were defeated. They
Bluegrass mixes with country as came and listened to him play,
banjos, guitars, fiddles and lap Like most settlements in eventually settling in the area.
steels begin to mingle with one Lone Star, New Austin is airy
another. Voices sing out to one and open. It’s made up of a While that’s the story of
another in the gloom, drawling conglomeration of patched how New Austin formed, the
accents quickening and slowing buildings that have been reality is far grimmer. It’s
depending on the melody. Hot reworked and refitted to suit a true that there was a man
puffs of wind carry the sounds variety of purposes. While some with a guitar, but he was more
throughout the bars and brothels act as lodgings, other act as like the local drunkard than
and local hangouts, bringing stores and bars—and almost every a religious symbol. Instead,
people from all corners of Lone bar is outfitted with a stage for two groups composed of Pure
Star to listen. As the light the nightly performances that Bloods and Mericans battled for
fades from the sky, the music characterize the settlement. dominance in the region. Gun
only increases, growing in smoke hung in the air as blood
power until the dawn lights up The City of the Violet Crown soaked the ground. Pure Bloods
the morning sky. was always ruled by the King’s issued death threats as their
Court—if not in name, then in cronies tortured and strangled
Located far to the south of spirit. It’s said that after
Star City along the coastline, the Fall, New Austin was a
New Austin isn’t like other broken city. People scavenged
places in Lone Star. Instead of
49
citizens. Eventually, one man military complex, part mad
triumphed. Daniel Lawrence and East of New Austin, almost scientist laboratory, Aggieland
the Lawrence family took control near the ragged coastline, hosts an insane collection of
of the city and have built it to festers a town no one dares engineers, mad scientists,
their liking since then. approach without good reason: tinkers, soldiers, and officers
Aggieland. The name itself is all bent towards one thing:
New Austin may be known enough to inspire a shiver of SCIENCE! All of Lone Star is
for its music, but its profit terror in all who hear it. Part their petri dish.
is based on its connections
with Aggieland. Technological Past the cracked roads, past
inventions are sold from New the twisted trees and dry grass,
Austin on behalf of the feared you can find the faded and patched
territory, and the Pure Bloods buildings of Aggieland. The
in charge are quick to charge complex is built for defense—the
exorbitant prices for those makeshift reinforcements are
unwilling to travel across the created from metal plates, the
gang-ridden wastes. windows boarded and barricaded.
For those that aren’t interested If you have the chance to look
in music or scientific up, you may spot a sniper or
discoveries, there’s always two on the tops of the roofs
fishing. As seawater flooded Lone while patrols of heavily armed
Star, New Austin suddenly became Merican troops regularly march
a city along the coast. Those past. Hanging in metal cages
brave enough to venture into the from some of the walls are
treacherous and poisonous waters zed—experiments that bake
can usually eke out a living by beneath the harsh sun.
pulling out some of the strange
creatures that make their homes
Yet while the outside of
within the deep—assuming they this complex looks like a well-
survive the fishing trip. organized military compound,
the inside is far from it.
Despite the downsides, Push past the locked doors and
though, New Austin welcomes you’ll probably find yourself in
people from all walks of life— a laboratory. Cracked beakers,
even northerners that travel petri dishes and metal tables
all the way from Old York. As hold an array of experiments—
long as you don’t anger the from glowing fungi to live
Lawrences, you’re liable to patients.
emerge from the city unharmed.
Sane people stay clear of
Aggieland Aggieland. After all, most don’t
feel like having their insides
“Don’t worry; this is a very examined as they lie screaming
common procedure. In simple on a metal slab. However, there
terms, we’re just going to are those who will journey to the
make a slight incision in your town for trade. The Retrograde
abdomen in order to get a better and Lascarian scientists of
view of what might be making you Aggieland are happy to pay for
sick... Nurse, could you please slaves in the form of recently-
hand me the saw?” developed arms and munitions.
–Eugene Quark, Because of this, a thriving, if
Aggieland Scientist dubious, economy has sprung up
50
between the town and wandering It’s rumored that Aggieland those that cannot see within
marauders. With the protection had a hand in creating the their dim depths. Those who
of gangs that enjoy highly irradiated horses that raiders venture inside in order to
explosive arms and their own use to the south—though reports loot or pillage the underground
military, Aggieland has been haven’t been able to confirm stores that the Lascarians hide
left relatively unmolested by that. What is known, though, are never seen again.
outsiders. is that strange beasts often
emerge from the laboratories of The old cavern system lies
Aggieland doesn’t just trade Aggieland; some came be helpful, in between New Austen and Bravo,
with gangs, though. There’s also most die quickly but others are just off the main caravan route.
a thriving business between the terrifying beasts that can wreak Although there are many openings
Lawrence family that controls destruction on the surrounding to the site, most of them are
New Austin and the science areas. Genetically modified cows heavily guarded to ward against
complex. Merican guards with that are far larger and more the undead and would-be looters.
loaded caravans are often seen aggressive than their cousins If you survive actually entering
shepherding goods across the roam the plains around the the caverns, though, the caves
wastes. In return, it’s said town. Creatures with claws and themselves will kill you. Dark
that New Austin provides credits teeth hunt in the night, screams as night, the Space Caverns are
and other more dubious supplies filling the night air as they prey filled with sinkholes and flooded
for the scientists. It’s not on unsuspecting travelers. It’s areas during certain parts of
uncommon for people to suddenly not unknown for Rovers to come the season. The Lascarians set
go missing within the City of across entire caravans nearby traps for those who try to use
the Violet Crown. that are deserted—dried, flaking their passages to transport
blood smeared across the sides goods by themselves and many men
While Aggieland does produce of wagons are the only clues as and women have wound up broken
munitions and other weapons to what happened. and bloody at the bottom of a
(after all, that’s what brings covered pit.
profit), it actually specializes Avoid Aggieland; your very
in a particular brand of science life may depend on it. The cave system itself
that’s far more disturbing. The would probably be completely
town itself is built around the The Space overlooked if it weren’t for the
faith of Darwinism, and the Caverns tribe of Lascarians that make
tinkers, scientists and soldiers their homes there. Named the Dark
are all bent on improving the “What they don’t tell you Moon tribe, these Lascarians are
various strains of humanity. about the place is the silence. known for their fierce trading
In order to do this, Aggieland All you can hear is their and extreme territoriality.
scientists conduct extensive breathing—and then the screams. They are proud to boast that
biological experiments--not That’s one thing I learned about none but a Lascarian has ever
always in their labs. waiting outside those caverns: seen the inside of the caves—
Never go inside. There’s a and lived.
Clipboards in hand, Aggieland reason most sane people are
scientists will sometimes appear afraid of the dark.” While dangerous to others,
outside of smaller settlements. –Lloyd Huntington, the caves are a huge asset to
If you see them, run—run as fast Merican Looter the underground tribe. Mostly
and far as you can. It’s likely free of the undead, the Space
that they’ve set up some kind If there’s one thing you Caverns provide a natural
of neurological gas, extensive remember about the Space highway to smuggle goods beneath
technological experiment or Caverns, remember that they’re the dangerous wastelands. The
something else that’s equally no place for anyone but a Dark Moon tribe will happily
unpleasant and likely to cause Lascarian. They twist and wind cart illicit cargo through
you harm. beneath the earth, the dark their passages—for a price.
all-consuming and dangerous for Although many traders balk at
51
the extortionate fees that the When the moon disappears from vast plains, which means that
Lascarians charge, others are the sky, the time is ripe to be unprepared caravans often die
more than happy to pay. After far away from the Space Caverns. of thirst long before anything
all, it’s better to shell out It’s said that the Dark Moon else kills them. Diggers lie
a few extra cred than have your tribe becomes far more active in wait beneath the shifting
caravans attacked by roving during the New Moon and will landscape as well. It’s not
gangs, such as the Coyote Kings- raid unsuspecting caravans surprising to turn around and
-or the Lascarians themselves. and nearby settlements on the find that one of your party has
surface. Partly religious, suddenly disappeared, dragged
This underground these raids are conducted in an beneath the earth before he can
transportation service has almost ceremonial manner as the even scream. The only evidence
actually prompted quite a few Lascarians don war paint and left behind is usually a rising
would-be looters and marauders talismans—but that doesn’t make pool of blood that seems to come
to venture into the caves to them any less horrific. from the sands themselves.
snatch cargo. They’re lucky if
the Dark Moon tribe kills them Dune Sea While diggers can be deadly,
outright. If they’re unlucky, the weather can be even worse.
they become a sacrifice to Father “You can hear them before Massive sandstorms can whip
Night. you see them. It’s the sound through the desert, swirling
of the wind rippling across the dirt and debris into the air
While the Dark Moon tribe vast waves of sand; it’s the to the point that you can’t see
will transport cargo, it has sound of the trembling Earth your hand in front of your face.
a decidedly unfavorable view as it quakes beneath your feet; Those who are caught in one of
of Aggieland and its scientific it’s the sound of death. If you these storms can suffocate or
experiments. During raids on the see them, it’s too late. You’re be buried alive in a matter of
surface world, the Lascarians already dead.” minutes. Yet sometimes, they
will openly venture far afield –Declan O’Brien, Rover suffer a worse fate. The winds
in an attempt to attack the can be so strong that they blast
scientific complex. So far, To the north west of Lone sand against anything living,
none of their assaults have Star, before you reach the stripping flesh from bone. While
succeeded; yet some say it’s canyon lands of Vegasia, is the traveling through the desert,
only a matter of time before Dune Sea--a living desert that you can sometimes see entire
the tribe finds a way to destroy is a cartographer’s nightmare. caravans of skeletons. Empty
Aggieland—possibly by tunneling The sands are ever shifting eye sockets stare blankly out
beneath the ground. and changing beneath the at the dry world around them.
clear skies, forming hills and
Although the caves are canyons that weren’t there days If the shifting terrain,
used commercially, they’re or even hours before. Some say weather and the diggers weren’t
also viewed as a type of holy that this malleable landscape enough, there is also a ghostly
site for the Tribes of the is due to the fine nature of the tribe whose origins are a mystery
Seasons. It’s rumored that the sand itself; the small grains to even the most rugged veterans
bones of ancient beasts that are easily pushed by the high of the territory. This tribe
were present before the Fall winds. Yet those who travel in is made up of bizarre people
are located deep within the the area know the truth—there’s covered in all white or all
caverns. Monstrous creatures something beneath the sands that black armor that guard seemingly
with sharp teeth are preserved causes such constant and violent random spots within the Dune
within the rocky walls and many changes to the landscape. Sea. Said to travel beneath
of the Children of Father Night, The Dune Sea is its own kind of the sand and wield weapons of
a sect of the Tribes of Seasons, personal hell for the travelers bone and sinew, these people
believe that these remains are that try to make it across the are known as the “Nezrengal.”
former servants of Father Night shifting sands. There is little Their brutal hunting tactics
himself. to no water to be found on the and potent psionic abilities
52
make them the fear that stalks travel by foot. Far slower than rusted nubs and roads peeking
the living desert. other methods, those that trudge out from rolling dunes of sand
across the sands without the aid inhospitable to life.
Despite these dangers, many of machines are heralded as some
still travel across the sands of the toughest (and perhaps Actually journeying to San
since it’s the most direct stupidest) men in the region. Tonio is no easy task. The Dune
route from Lone Star to Vegasia. Sea is dangerous to all but the
Others simply want to visit the most experienced guides—and
ruins of Sand Tonio in order to Sand Tonio even they sometimes don’t make
see what they can dig up. On it back alive. Complicating
the edge of the Dune Sea is an “When you first enter the matters is the fact that the
encampment, filled with seasoned place, it’s exciting. The stale entrance of the legendary Sand
veterans that have been trained air, the rubble, the rusted Tonio is kept secret among the
partially at Seasons Seat and metal—they’re all signs that locals and Joneses that live
partially in the Dune Sea no one has entered the location off of what they can dig out of
itself. These guides make their for years. But then you start the area. The only way to find
living by leading caravans seeing the bodies, their faces out its whereabouts is either
across the sands, though twisted and warped, their bodies knowing a guy, paying your
there’s no guarantee that any contorted. That’s when you weight in cred—or both.
of the party will make it across realize you’ve entered a tomb.”
alive. Because of the risky –Flynn Sawyer, Jones But shelling out the cred may
nature of their business, the be worth it. Underneath these
Dune Sea guides will usually Far to the outside of New sands await treasure troves of
demand their payment upfront. Austen, buried in the sands on scrap and blueprints beyond the
If they don’t: watch out. It’s the edge of the Dune Sea is a wildest imaginations--or so the
likely that the person you’re Jones’ paradise. Sand Tonio rumors say. This massive store
bargaining with isn’t really is believed once to have been of valuables makes journeying
one of the seasoned veterans. the largest military complex to Sand Tonio almost worth it.
the old republic of Tay’hoss. Those that do make it to the
While there are many ways Now, it’s only a site are in for the fight
to travel across the desert, by collection of of their lives. It’s
horse isn’t one of them. Beasts said that the
of burden will sink into the
sands, laden by their heavy
cargo. Instead, the guides
employ a much faster way of
traveling across the dunes.
Patched together from pieces of
metal and other odds and ends,
the Dune Sea Guides employ
vehicles that are part ATV and
part rust bucket. These vehicles
are often hitched with trailers
that can carry cargo or merely
ferry passengers across the
shifting sands.
There are those that shun this
method of traveling across the
Dune Sea, citing it as being
too noisy and liable to draw
the attention of diggers and
the Nezrengal. Instead, they
53
Nezrengal, the mysterious find jobs in the campsite at the Tremblin’ plains, named for the
tribe that haunts the Dune Sea, edge of the Dune Sea—a place near constant shudder you can
sometimes appear at the ruins. where most Joneses hire help and feel in the ground. Oil derricks
There are also strange creatures a guide to lead them across the are constantly at work, drilling
that haunt the area—massive sands. into the land in search for black
sand worms the size of cows, gold. Lascarians and Iron Slaves
scorpions with deadly stings While most Joneses don’t journey beneath the ground
and predatory birds that are last long, there are a few men itself in other areas, blasting
said to be able to run across and women who have managed to into the rock with explosives in
the ground at high speeds. escape death time and again. search for valuable minerals.
Flynn Sawyer is one of these At the surface, dozens of iron
Yet if you manage to find men, and most people who want to horse gangs range across the
the entrance and beat the odds, get involved in the excavations open land, keeping the wells
you may just be able to see the at Sand Tonio seek him out first. and refineries running and the
remnants of technology from Known for his ability to evade precious few road houses in good
the Old World. It’s said that and disable the many traps at supply.
some enterprising Lascarians the ancient city, Sawyer has
have built tunnels connecting never once lost one of his men. While many work in Trembling
the various buried buildings The fact that he may have set Plains, they don’t stay there.
beneath the sands. This gives many of those traps in the first The very same boon that makes
would-be Joneses the pathways place usually doesn’t come up. the land so valuable also makes
they need to explore the remains it dangerous. The drilling
of the ancient city. Due to the Those that are successful at operations draw the worst kind
nature of sand, though, these unearthing the buried treasures of zeds—the foulest mutants and
paths often cave in and can can strike it rich—or lose it abominations that the desert can
leave entire parties buried. all. Not everything that comes spit out toward the pumps and
out of the ruins is valuable. processors. While most of the
It’s not just tunnels that For those that do pick out equipment is sturdy, staggering
the Joneses need to worry about, priceless artifacts, though, shambler corpses can clog the
though. Many explorers believe their futures are made. They can pumps, and if not kept patrolled
that they can “claim” an area sell off their findings to the and cleared, the precious black
once they’ve discovered it. purebloods of New Austin and can gold would cease to flow.
Due to the dog-eat-dog nature retire—or take another chance at Despite the constant influx of
of their business, Joneses will Sand Tonio. zed, the drilling continues—
often trap a building in order mainly at the command of the few
to prevent others in their Trembling Plains Pureblood families that own the
profession from accessing it. oil derricks. Known as Oilmen,
It’s said that if you listen “See this, boy? This isn’t these purebloods rarely visit
carefully on the surface, you just profit. Three generations Trembling Plains themselves.
can hear the screams of men our family’s been drillin’, Instead, they hire Merican
and women that have fallen to and I like to think that this’s overseers to watch over the
pit traps or have triggered become a family business. But Iron Slaves who carry out the
poisonous gas canisters. it’s more ‘an that, boy. This drilling operations.
here’s what makes us great. This
If you need to journey to is sweat. This is life. This is Yet actually maintaining
Sand Tonio, the best option is blood... This is oil.” their power in the area isn’t
to join up with an experienced –Theodore Jackson, just about keeping the drills
Jones. Many of these would-be Pureblood Oilman running. Dieseljock gangs would
treasure hunters hire help— happily steal the oil if they
there’s safety in numbers, after Travel past New Austin and could. That’s why the Oilmen
all. Most professional guards to the southwest of Lone Star’s have made extensive deals with
or even munitions experts can territory. There, you’ll find the the gangs that roam the area.
54
In return for keeping the popular of these, providing perch in the sun. They never seem
pumps unclogged and fighting cheap hooch that gets you drunk to leave either, and this
off the worst of the zed, the quicker than a Burster after a omnipresent swarm never harms
gangs receive a steady supply Vegasian. Owned by Bobby Fitch, welcome guests, or does anything
of oil. They don’t have to pay the bar is known as a local to the occupants.
the exorbitant prices that the hangout for Mericans that have Rey Mojo has owned the
Oilmen otherwise charge, and just gotten off their shifts. Morrison Hotel since he found
the Oilmen get a steady supply It’s said that if you want a it on a holy pilgrimage to his
of labor with little cost to bit of news and are spoiling for faith of the Kings Court years
their overall operations. a fight, Buckshots is where you ago. The bar is stocked with
should go. low-quality hooches, and home-
In recent years, the Oilmen cooked meals of exceptional
have continued to increase the The Pureblood families, when quality come from the back.
price of oil. It’s said that they do visit the area, head to The main selling point of the
the rising costs are partially a more refined establishment. Morrison Hotel is that it is
due to increasing attacks from Some of the supply stations are the last stop before Vegasia,
hostile gangs. Others say that heavily reinforced and furnished far enough into the sun and
it’s due to a particular band with everything an Oilman could heat that most travelers will
of raiders that makes its home want. It’s said that you can bear the lizards for some food,
on the edges of the Trembling always tell when an Oilman is in shade, and a place to rest
Plains. Whatever the case, residence—you can practically before the long journey. Mojo
customers aren’t happy—but they see the cred oozing from between smiles and jokes with travelers,
have little choice but to shell the cracks of the walls. and the Doors are almost always
out the cred if they want the playing on the small jukebox in
product. The Morrison the back. The bar contains an
Hotel incredibly broken pool table,
That’s not to say that This building, far to the scratched and burned felt held
all of the drills are owned west in Lone Star, is almost to together by wobbly wooden legs.
by Purebloods, though. One or the edge of Vegasia and Califia Some say the lizards of the
two gangs have managed to make territory. Red adobe walls Morrison Hotel are what keep
inroads in the area, and possess
climb two stories, between the the place undead free. It is
some drilling equipment. Without
stories small wooden logs poke said they possess a psychic
the extensive funds that the from the walls. The windows are aura, which masks the building
Oilmen possess, though, it’s rounded, simple wooden shutters from the shambling horde.
difficult to keep the oil flowing.
blocking out the harsh light. Mojo doesn’t seem to mind either
In comparison with Oilmen oil At least, that’s what you’d way, and has killed men before
derricks, the ones owned by thesee if the walls weren’t entirely for harming his lizards.
gangs are falling apart. It’s crawling with lizards. Nearly
likely that in a few years, every inch of wall is moving and The Spoiled
the operations will shut down scaled, small lizards Coast
entirely—or be bought out by of all varieties Once a vibrant region of
one of the Pureblood families. slinking about, commerce and industry, the
looking coastline of Lonestar is now a
While no one actually lives for the blackened wasteland stretching
on the Trembling Plains, there b e s t for hundreds of miles. In ages
are a few supply stations and past great rigs were raised
bars on the outskirts of the and wells were tapped off of
area where overseers, Iron the coast, drawing up
Slaves and travelers can rest the Black Gold from the
before either passing through depths of the sea. Wealth
or getting back to work. poured from the deeps,
Buckshots is the most but when the dead rose
55
the survivors had much greater shimmering through the fumes
worries than the maintenance and reflecting iridescent off Fifteen years ago a group
of these wells; leaving them the slick’s undulating surface. of slick-pirates of uncommon
to the ravages of time and the Far out into the gulf one might vision, guile and ruthlessness,
elements. Time wore on, the glimpse pillars of smoke or boarded and infiltrated the
great rigs jutting drunkenly rivers of fire, as sections of fortress. Their leader,
from the inexorable sea like the slick burn eternally. The Ulysses Tarback, killed the
the skeletons of dead metal sight of the Spoiled Coast is pale and wasted elders. In
beasts. One by one they began enough to drive many a stalwart a masterstroke, he used the
to collapse into the depths. soul to despair or reinforce the still-functioning PA system to
Black Gold gushed forth from hell-sworn beliefs of a Final convince the bewildered natives
the broken shafts and pipes, Knight. of his divine authority. Soon
bleeding into the gulf. The slick-ships and pirate craft
surface of the sea around the Tarback’s began flocking in from the length
wreckage was quickly coated in Fortress of the Spoiled Coast, clamoring
an ever spreading miasma of ebon for a place in the Zed-free
sludge. Fifty miles off the Spoiled sanctuary offered by Tarback,
Coast, a massive construct of King of the Fortress. Within a
Many decades has the slick tangled wreckage and scrap month the once spartan place was
been spreading, washed up the towers several hundred feet turned into a bawdy town. The
length of the coast by the tides. above the slick. The titanic natives were reduced to slaves,
In many places the oil stands structure was constructed by shackled in to their hereditary
several inches thick over the a band of engineers who had positions. No common law of
surface of the water, stretching survived the Fall far off shore, decency governs the cutthroats
out into the Gulf. The beaches on the huge concrete pylons of the fortress except one;
and dunes have turned sooty and platforms of an oil rig, anyone showing signs of the
black; killing most animal and separated from the plague that plague is welded into a cage
plant life. A few dangerous was turning the mainland into and dropped into the oil choked
variations of creatures have a hell. The platform has been ocean.
adapted to the new toxic nature added to over the years, now a
of the environment, all of them crenelated warren of towers and Over time Tarback began to
invariably toxic and camouflaged gangways, stretching out like a believe his own propaganda,
black. rusting mushroom atop the thick espousing the fortress as a
black tar that encrusts its seaborne purgatory, a place of
A traveler approaching the base. safety away from the hell that
coast is first greeted by the High above the slick, the ruled the land. He and his inner
fumes. The heavy petroleum descendants of the engineers circle began to practice dark
stench can be smelled miles toiled to refine the crude into traditions and bend the other
inland, and on windy days the usable fuel to power the vast inhabitants of the fortress to
stink reaches as far as New array of cranes, generators, this new line of thinking. The
Austin. In some places these pumps and vehicles that service natives, enslaved and broken,
fumes have formed invisible, and power their sanctuary. As bought into the new twist of
unbreathable and extremely time passed and generations dogma heart and soul. Any who
combustible concentrations. The grew and died, the natives of would not swear fealty to the
soil takes on a grey tinge, the the fortress became isolated newly styled “Demon King of
earth and what few plants survive and ignorant of all but their the Fortress” was dropped off
darkening in shade until the individual tasks maintaining the side of the platform to the
plants disappear and the sand is the machines. Outsiders, as few choking black ooze far below.
black as coal. Climbing over the as ever made it across the slick
last tarry dunes reveals a vast by misfortune or curiosity, were Now red-daubed slick-ships
black swath of flat sea stretching killed on sight for fear of the ply the rainbow-black waters,
to the horizon, the sunlight mythical plague. slipping up estuaries and
56
marauding inland. They take
goods and weapons and slaves,
always slaves. They kill and
burn, loudspeakers screaming
a litany of judgement of the
damned as the pirates mete out
this judgement on all that fall
within their grasp. Those that
are taken across the black, to
the flame topped spires of the
fortress rising from the fume,
are never seen again.
57
you believe. These proud and personal army.
Posses & Gangs determined men and women believe
that they’re descended from the That’s not to say that
of Lone Star best and the brightest that Old
Tay’hoss has to offer—Saint Bush,
Texicans are senselessly violent-
-though it may seem that way to
Lady Kelly Clarkson and Engineer outsiders. Texicans have a sense
Texicans George Foreman. Known to be more of pride that causes them to
serious and violent than their follow a type of code—one based
“See, we’re not your average Merican counterparts, Texicans around their own personal honor
Mericans. You can insult a often make their ways into the and their honor as a Texican.
Merican and you might get away ranks of the Lawmen or become Because they believe themselves
with it. But when you insult one Lawmen and bounty hunters. to be better than the average
of us, you insult all of us. And Merican, Texicans also feel
believe me, boy, you don’t want Texicans can be found all that it’s their duty to lead by
to mess with a Texican.” around Lone Star, though the example. They always stick to
–Sally Winchester, Texican majority of them can be found their word once a deal is struck—
in Star City under the rule of not matter what the cost. It’s
The Texicans are the proudest, General Mustang. More militarily said that once you make a deal
fiercest and best strain this side inclined and readily able to with a Texican, you’re in it for
of Lone Star—or at least that’s follow orders, Texicans make up the long haul. These Mericans
what these Mericans would have the lion’s share of the General’s are almost as bad as Rovers when
a deal is broken, and you’re
liable to find a bullet through
your eye if you don’t keep your
end of the bargain.
Although they may seem

gruff at first, Texicans are
also unfailingly polite, always
referring to others as either
“sir” or “ma’am” or “miss.”
They’re the type to open doors
for women, remove their hats
inside and kill someone on the
battlefield honorably instead of
capturing him.
Texicans look like Mericans

in many respects. They have the
large fists of their kin and they
always wear hats. Yet there are
a few key signs that you can look
for when trying to identify a
Texican—and you’d better learn
them if you’re in Lone Star.
Calling a Texican a Merican
can be viewed as an insult and
while some Texicans will merely
upbraid a person for their
mistake, others prefer to punch
the offending party in the face.

58
Texicans will always wear Lawmen and his personal army. No one is exactly sure who
cowboy-like rodeo hats—and they started the group; instead,
take a lot of pride in them. Children of Ellums Deep it’s likely that it formed
Shaped specifically to their naturally over time. Showmen
heads, these hats play an “New Austin may have its and women began to meet after
important role in their culture. musicians, but we’ve got them their performances for drinks
A Texican removing his hat is beat in Star City. We’ve got in bars in an attempt to drown
viewed as a sign of respect. dancers, singers, actresses. their sorrows. When men and
Unlike Mericans, though, We’ve got artists and craftsmen. women meet like that, they
Texicans won’t give their hats Step right in, sir. We’ll give get to talking. The performers
away for any reason—and taking you a show that you won’t soon soon realized that if they
a Texican’s hat is a bit like forget.” banded together, they could
signing your own death wish. –Nancy Joyce, force venues to pay them—unless
While many Mericans sport Star City Entertainer the bars wanted to go without
the Merican flag with its Head to the heart of Star City entertainment entirely. These
red, white and blue, Texicans to the entertainment district performers created the Children
instead favor the flag of old and you’re liable to find the of Ellums Deep, and anyone with
Tay’hoss. Large stars feature Children of Ellums Deep. The even a spark of creativity was
prominently in their attire result of years of creativity invited to join.
and the identifying flag almost and work boiling to the surface,
assuredly signals that you’re this group of entertainers and Today, the Children of
dealing with a Texican. craftsmen have banded together Ellums Deep have a chokehold
in order to form a coalition on the entertainment industry
If the flags and hats don’t within the largest city in Lone in Star City. Any new singer,
tip you off, always look at the Star—and for a good reason. dancer, actor or artist has to
belt buckle. Texicans favor the Those that don’t become one of first apply to the coalition in
largest, brightest and shiniest the Children of Ellums Deep are order to receive a permit for
belt buckles they can get their liable to find themselves beaten the right to perform. Those
hands on. A Texican’s first belt up in some back alley, left that don’t receive their permit
buckle is a source of pride, robbed and broken. and pay a small fee to the group
and both girls and boys receive are likely to find themselves
their buckle when they come of This group wasn’t always a run out of town—or worse.
age. Over time, most Texicans facet in Star City. It formed
receive new buckles, changing only after General Mustang began The Children of Ellums Deep
them out on a daily basis depend to take control. Entertainment aren’t run by any one person in
what they’re doing on any given was beginning to ramp up in particular. Instead, a council
day. the bars and on the hastily of artists, each one representing
constructed stages. Yet the one facet of the entertainment
Motivation: Texicans are the singers, dancers and musicians industry, decides what shows
best strain in Merica, and were rarely paid. Performing was appear where and at what time.
they want everyone to know a privilege, and many artists The bars and venues that host
it. These people will fight the ended up in the streets, unable these famed showings are at the
hardest, party the loudest and to pay for lodging in a city that beck and call of this council and
aggressively take on anyone was becoming a hub of commerce. have little choice but to accede
who says anything bad about Many entertainers ended up to their sometimes irrational
the Texican people. Viewing making the dangerous journey to demands. Any who disagree with a
themselves as the heroes of old New Austin instead, hoping that “ruling” made by a council about
Tay’hoss, Texicans will defend at least there they could make how much a performer or group
their land and their honor to a life for themselves. A few should be paid usually finds his
their last breaths. This sense remained, though, determined to bar “blacklisted” for future
of honor make them uniquely “make it” in the big city. showings. These bars usually
suited for General Mustang’s become hollow shells of their
59
formers selves, steadily losing want things to get too messy, if settlement like Star City calls
business to other locations until you get what I’m saying.” for. They book criminals and
finally they have to close down. –Mason Brennan, Texican Lawman hand them over to the Judicial
Circuit where justice is
The group of performers There’s a reason that Star served—whether it be execution,
isn’t overly religious. Those City is one of the safest places banishment or incarceration.
who are, though, are part of in Lone Star—and it’s not just These men are also responsible
either the King’s Court or the because of its high walls. The for putting up bounties on the
Telling Visions. Determined to Lawmen are some of the roughest, heads of wanted criminals.
impart their message through toughest enforcers of General
their performances, some of Mustang’s rules in the region. The most famous Lawmen aren’t
the Children entertain in a Made up mostly of Texicans, located in Star City, though.
way that’s part show and part these men and women travel Instead, the greatest of this
religious ceremony. through the city and across the policing force are the ones that
While not joining the rugged plains of Lone Star in venture far afield in pursuit
Children of Ellums Deep can be order to deal out their version of justice. Roving the plains
deadly, there are benefits to of frontier justice. outside of the settlement on
being part of the group. The iron horses, these men and women
entertainers receive protection It’s relatively easy to visit outlying towns to make sure
from any bodily harm and are recognize a Lawman. They have a that the law is being followed
always guaranteed to be properly particular type of bravado and in areas that fall under General
paid for their services. The swagger that’s missing from many Mustang’s jurisdiction. When a
fact that they have to pay the of the other enforcers within crime is committed that local
coalition a fee in turn offsets Lone Star. With a belt that’s authorities can’t deal with, or
the services that the council usually fitted with guns and when a criminal is sighted far
provides—steady work being one pistols, these sharpshooters afield, there’s no question that
of them. aren’t people you want to mess a Lawman will be dispatched to fix
with. It’s said that Lawmen can the problem. It’s said that some
Motivation: The Children of shoot the middle of a credit of the most notorious criminals
Ellums Deep aim to unite talented from two hundred paces. and gang members this side of
entertainers and craftsmen Lone Star have been brought to
within Star City. Determined to If their self-confidence justice—and it’s all thanks to
be paid properly by the venues isn’t enough to tip you off, the work of the roving Lawmen.
in which they perform, this there’s always the badge.
group of entertainers plays Lawmen each have a medal that Lawmen follow some very
a ruthless game of monopoly, they usually wear buttoned to specific tenets when it comes
making sure that every artist the front of their shirt. Proud to their line of work. Although
in the city is under their of their station and job, these some say the law is open to
control—or dead. Currently, the men and women aren’t afraid of interpretation, Lawmen follow
organization aims to extend its showing exactly who they work General Mustang’s rules as if
reach into other locations, and for. Because of their openness, they were a holy scripture.
is eyeing New Austin like a zed though, criminals and gang There is nothing in the Book that
eyeing a bleeding Merican. members can usually spot a can be debated, and the Lawmen
Lawman from a mile away. This know it. Although the rules of
The Lawmen gives them plenty of opportunity the law are complicated, with
to either hide or run before the many different subsections (all
“If you go against the law enforcers actually arrive. of which the Lawmen memorize),
General, you’re breaking the there are five “commandments”
law, sir. We don’t take kindly A policing force of Lawmen that the enforcers first learn
to those who break the law in always stays within Star City by heart.
these parts. So put your hands itself. This group runs the
up and come quietly. Wouldn’t day-to-day duties that a big 1. Murder without provocation
60
is illegal.
2. Stealing from another in all
forms unless to recover property
is illegal.
3. Aiding a known criminal is
illegal.
4. Tampering with or destroying
oil derricks is illegal.
5. Treason in all forms is
illegal.
Although Lawmen can perform

good deeds within their line of
work, the fact that they must
adhere so stringently to the
law means that sometimes they
have a difficult time adapting
to situations. There have been
times where Lawmen have made a
bad situation worse by following
the law instead of common sense.
Even so, the men and women that
make up this force are still
generally heralded as a good
thing.
Motivation: Lawmen are

interested in one thing and
one thing only: the law. They
follow General Mustang’s word
obsessively, and many believe
themselves to be the heroes of
Lone Star for doing so. Groomed
for the job through a mentoring
program, these men and women
are specially chosen for their
ability to follow orders without
question.
61
Judicial Circuit itself isn’t a priority for the punishment to the wicked. Anyone
Judicial Circuit. Instead, their who is found guilty deserves
“Now you done broke the law, aim is to punish any suspected what they get—and the judges in
son. And I ain’t the type to go criminals. Those who are brought Star City are there to give it
and let you off easy just ‘cause to the Law House are usually to them.
you got your wife and kids there. already considered guilty, which
The Lawmen brought you in fair as means all that there’s left to
fair can be—now it’s my job to do is glean any details from The Night
deal out the justice.” the criminals before they’re Walkers
officially punished.
It’s not a good idea to mess “It’s not something you see—
with a Lawman, but it’s a worse It’s these punishments that it’s something you sense. It’s
idea to mess with the Judicial the Judicial Circuit is really the tingling feeling on the back
Circuit, the group of judges built for. There are varying of your neck as your hairs stand
that deal out the justice in degrees of sentences, suited to on end, the feathery caress of
Lone Star. Employed by General fit the crime. Yet almost all of an air current as it stirs by
Mustang, these men and women work them are corporal in some way, your cheek in the dark. It’s
within Star City as they punish shape or form. Stealing is often only when they speak that you
known miscreants and criminals. punished by a fine or the removal notice how close they’ve come—
of a hand. Murder is punished and that’s when you realize that
While the Lawmen are generally by whipping and banishment. they could have killed you if
heralded as heroes within Lone Mass murder usually means an they wanted.”
Star, the Judicial Circuit extensive torture session with –Alison Byrd,
is viewed with suspicion and the Judicial Circuit before a Merican Trader
unease—for a very good reason. slow and painful death.
This group is known to question Deep within the Space Caverns
suspects extensively in sessions Despite their somewhat nasty lurks the Dark Moon tribe, the
that may or may not involve reputation, the Judicial Circuit group of Lascarians that live
removing a few fingernails—or is an important part of and work within the darkness
fingers, for that matter. Star City’s government. of their underground
Without them, it’s lair. Bearing tribal
Their appearance doesn’t likely that many markings and layers
help matters, either. The gang members, of ragged clothing,
men and women of the Judicial bandits and other these Lascarians are
Circuit tend to wear faded black low lives might known both for their
robes, the better to keep blood take advantage of territoriality and
from showing on their clothing. the safety in the brutality. Yet with
Many of them also carry cases city. As it is, many the right price, the
filled with a variety of tools criminals are simply tribe will ferry
that help them during sessions afraid to take goods beneath
of “questioning” criminals. things too far in a the ground,
The Judicial Circuit is mainly city that’s all making
based in one building in Star about the law. them a
City, called the Law House. useful
There, suspects are incarcerated Motivation: means
as they await their trial—a T h e t o
period of questioning with one Judicial
of the judges. It’s said that no Circuit
one who’s been imprisoned in Law w a s
House has ever escaped. created
to deal
Unlike the Lawmen, the law o u t
62
transport goods across otherwise activity has increased in recent the scientists of Aggieland are
dangerous terrain. years. Pools of blood soak the some of the most terrifying
sands around the system of individuals in all of Lone
Within this tribe is a sect caverns. Screams are heard in Star. They don’t need muscle or
of Lascarians that are even more the night, abruptly cut off mid- brutality in order to scare the
fearsome than their kin. The shriek. Entire families in nearby denizens of New Austin. Instead,
Night Walkers are the militant towns have simply vanished in they need only their brains.
portion of the Dark Moon tribe, the dark—never to be seen again.
and those that live near the Space Aggies aren’t just Mericans.
Caverns know better than to walk These raids in particular They also consist of a few
abroad during a New Moon—a time have caused some friction among Lascarians and Retrogrades.
when the Night Walkers venture tribal members. The Night Walkers Although famed for their ability
to the surface. are viewed as dangerous, and some to create munitions, Aggies are
Many outsiders wouldn’t be able Dark Moon tribe members have bent toward a darker goal—or a
to distinguish a regular tribe openly suggested they be expelled more enlightened one, as they
member from a Night Walker, but from the tribe. Yet since this might have you believe.
there are some telltale signs. sect is the main military force Despite their mixed heritage,
These Lascarians intentionally of the tribe, tribal leaders are it’s relatively easy to recognize
scar themselves with a crescent- loathe to actually ban then from an Aggie. Walk into a room, and
shaped marking on their faces. the Space Caverns—especially you’re sure to spot the man or
They also favor wearing leather because they’re the only thing woman wearing a stained lab
as opposed to cloth and use black standing between them and the coat with a clipboard. All of
paint to mark their faces when tides of zed. them believe in Darwinism, and
they travel beyond the Space many bear the telltale signs
Caverns. They favor knives and Motivation: Father Night rules of radiation poisoning; dark
spears for their weapons, using us all, and we must appease him circles form beneath their eyes
natural materials that they glean with blood. Our tribal brethren and strips of flesh can sometimes
from their surroundings. fail to see that these surfacers hang bloodily off of their faces
pervert the natural laws that and arms. If that’s not enough
While the Dark Moon Tribe is we all must live by. Aggieland to tip you off, there’s also the
happy to trade with outsiders, heathens create monstrosities fact that these scientists wear
the Night Walkers are less than as we sit idly by and watch. We a maroon “badge” sewn onto their
enthusiastic about the prospect degrade ourselves by conducting clothing. They wear this symbol
of ferrying goods from one section business with these non-tribal proudly since in their eyes it
of Lone Star to another. They members. Instead, we should take shows that they are some of the
believe that the tribe degrades what we wish from these weaklings, most intelligent individuals to
itself by helping “surfacers.” and sacrifice the worst of them to be found in all of Lone Star.
Instead, the Night Walkers favor Father Night.
conducting more frequent raids on Actually joining this
nearby settlements. Fortunately The Aggies coalition is no small task,
for these towns, though, the though. Aggies are picky when
number of Dark Moon tribe members “Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just choosing their fellow scientists,
opposed to these methods greatly here to watch. If you do see a few and many would-be recruits have
outweighs the number of Night clouds of greenish gas pouring ended up failing the initiation
Walkers. Instead, this sect must out of the ground, though, you rites that the Aggies concoct.
content itself with raiding the shouldn’t worry too much. That’s The Aggieland scientists create
surface only during the New Moon— how the poison is supposed to tests that usually involve tasks
or when a caravan decides not to act.” like disarming bombs or finding out
use the tribe’s services. –Eugene Quark, a cure for a virus that they’ve
Aggieland Scientist infected the recruit with. While
Despite orders to the many survive these initiation
contrary, though, Night Walker Known simply as “The Aggies,” rites, others aren’t so lucky.
63
It’s said that the mournful howl Motivation: Aggies only from the settlement with their
of the wind near Aggieland is care about one thing: SCIENCE! polished, colorful clothes and
actually the wail of recruits These men and women continually refined accents. There are rumors
that have met untimely ends. push the boundaries of what is about certain handshakes and
socially acceptable in their symbols these men and women use
Despite their horrifying pursuit for knowledge. Their to recognize each other, though.
reputation, Aggies are sought- true goal isn’t just advancing And some say that the Purebloods
after in larger settlements— technology, though; they also that are fortunate enough to
mainly for their ability to want to advance the strains of become one of the Violet Princes
construct weapons. Gangs also humanity. Believing strongly in receive an amethyst ring to show
seek out Aggies, journeying to Darwinism, these scientists will their authority.
Aggieland on their iron horses do almost anything in order to
in order to trade slaves for pursue the creation of a “master In reality, the Violet
munitions. The Lawrence family race” of people. Princes are made up of the heads
from New Austin has especially of the Pureblood families in New
close ties with the Aggies, The Violet Austin. The Baskervilles, the
and it’s even rumored that one Princes Thorntons and the Crawfords are
of the lead scientists, Eugene all part of the group, though
Quark, is somehow related to the “There’s one thing that you the real authority is held by
Lawrences. should understand in New Austin: the Lawrence family—the original
You’re not in control—we are. founders of the Violet Princes.
While Aggies are adept at If you behave and if you’re
constructing guns, iron horses respectful, then we’ll get Although it would be an easy
and other mechanical devices, along just fine. But if you’re task to seize power openly, this
their true passion lies within discourteous to me and mine? group has preferred to work from
their core belief of Darwinism. Well, I’m sure you won’t do that, the shadows over the years. After
The scientists are aware that now will you?” the bloody takeover that left
over time, different strains –Rose Lawrence, Pureblood many wounded and many more dead,
have evolved. Following this the Pureblood families realized
logic, there should be a way to If you’re in the City of it was perhaps for the best if
further improve the strains and the Violet Crown, chances are people believed New Austin was a
possibly create a “master race” that you’re under the thumb of place of music and peace rather
of people. Bent toward creating a the Violet Princes—whether you than violence and bloodshed.
better world and a stronger race know it or not. Controlled by Tired of fighting openly in the
through evolution, Aggies often Daniel Lawrence, these Pureblood streets to keep a tight grip on
seek out slaves from neighboring families are the shadowy rulers New Austin, Daniel Lawrence and
settlements in order to perform of New Austin, managing all of his family formed the Violet
their experiments—but not before the trade that flows into and out Princes in order to manipulate
animal testing, of course. So of the city. the existing institutions in the
far, they’ve only been able to city. As more Purebloods moved
minimally modify the various Although New Austin is into New Austin, they were also
strains of humanity through blood spoken of as the city ruled by invited to join the group. Those
transfusions, organ implants and the King’s Court, nothing could who didn’t were politely asked
other means--but that doesn’t be further from the truth. The to leave before they met with an
mean that they’re done trying. Violet Princes are the ones with unfortunate accident.
Although they don’t set out the real power in the settlement,
to intentionally harm their and they keep a tight grip on Although the Violet Princes
“volunteers,” many of the slaves their authority. rule peacefully, there are times
that are released from Aggieland Chances are, you wouldn’t where they have to resort to
are scarred for life—whether it recognize a Violet Prince if more physical methods. It’s said
be physically or mentally. you saw one. They look and that the group has a staff of
act like any other Pureblood trained killers on hand in case
64
anything in the city goes amiss. Today, the Violet Princes Plains.
When someone suddenly disappears work with all types of traders
in the night, it’s very likely outside the city. They buy Motivation: The Violet Princes
that their rotting corpse will weapons from Aggieland, they aim to control New Austin through
later be found shambling with use the Space Caverns to smuggle subtle manipulation. While Daniel
one of the hordes outside the more illicit goods beneath the Lawrence is openly in charge of
settlement. plains and they manage many of the city, he feels that his reach
the oil derricks in the Trembling isn’t strong enough without
the aid of the other Pureblood
families. With the support of
the rich and the powerful, the
Violet Princes have so far kept
their grip on The City of the
Violet Crown—and have increased
their wealth exponentially.
The Merican
Kings and Queens
“I remember back in the old
days when the music never played,
when there was just blood and
death and pain. I remember when
stepping outside was a sure way
to get shot and when you were
never sure if you were eating
your last meal. Now sit you down
and listen to this. Ain’t it the
sweetest thing you ever heard?”
–Wally Davis, Merican
Step into New Austin and

you’ll hear music—the sounds
of dozens of men and women who
spend their days fine tuning
their craft. There’s the twang
of bluegrass and western bands,
the tones of the south and of
Lone Star. These are the Merican
Kings and Queens, the followers
of the King’s Court—and they’re
what make New Austin so great.
Despite their name, not

everyone in the group is Merican.
Instead, there’s a healthy portion
of Texicans and Retrogrades, as
well. Bent on bringing music to
as many people as possible, the
group’s name is taken from the
fact that they follow the great
southern Kings and Queens of old.
65
They often perform in the local caravans and slaughter dozens
bars in the region, spreading Motivation: The Merican Kings in mere minutes.
their teachings to any who will and Queens aim to spread the
listen. teachings of the King’s Court The reality is that this
throughout the City of the Violet tribe of people is composed
Although this group is all Crown. Some of the members have of Raiders, psionists that
about music, it didn’t start out another purpose, though; they possess the unique ability to
that way. The Merican Kings and hope to overthrow the current hide themselves in plain sight.
Queens are actually a remnant ruling Purebloods and instead Although it appears as if the
from the formation of New Austin—a replace them with an all-Merican Nezrengal pop out of the sand,
time when Pureblood families and government. the reality is that they simply
Mericans battled for control allow themselves to be seen right
over the settlement. After the The Nezrengal before their ruthless attacks.
dust settled and the bodies The accounts of actually seeing
shambled away, there was only “Don’t move. Don’t you fucking these people “pop out” of the
one victor. The Purebloods won, move. If you move, you die. They sand can usually be attributed
leaving the Mericans battered can hear you beneath the sand, to the Nezrengal appearing
and broken. The few survivors of hear your footsteps. Do you hear from the entrances of their
this bloody altercation slowly me? Don’t you fucking...” underground lair.
sunk into the dregs of society, –Last words of
forming an underground group a Merican Trader This tribe wasn’t always as
that was determined to take bloodthirsty as it is today.
back control of the city. They Walk carefully over the Once, these raiders were a tribe
acted as musicians, using their sands of the Dune Sea—step of Natural Ones that roamed
“performances” as an excuse cautiously past the pieces of the desert. They constructed
to gather other likeminded metal from Sand Tonio and the underground tunnels, carving
individuals who would support rock formations of the deep paths into the rock that exists
their cause. Unfortunately for desert. After all, you’re never in some areas of the Dune Sea. Yet
the Mericans, the Violet Princes sure which step will attract the as they made their underground
soon put a stop to their plans Nezrengal, the mysterious tribe homes, it didn’t take long for
and won another victory on that makes their home in the this tribe to discover that
behalf of the Purebloods in the midst of the shifting sands. there were pockets of radiation
city. Today, the Merican Kings beneath the dunes, leftovers
and Queens are merely a shadow of Dressed in leathers that from the intense bombing that
their former selves. are dyed in all white or black, occurred during the Fall. The
these tribal members don’t radiation twisted the minds of
Despite the fact that seem to have any motivation the tribe, giving them powers
these performers are now only behind their attacks. The that they wouldn’t normally
performers, there is a subset of veteran guides of the Dune Sea possess. Yet with power comes
this group that still hopes to speculate that there are things a price; the Nezrengal became
take back control of New Austin. potentially buried beneath the bloodthirsty and primitive,
They hand down the history of the sands that the tribal members their intelligence warping into
settlement within their songs, are protecting, but no one has animal cunning.
passing word from generation been able to confirm whether or
to generation in the hopes that not this is the case. Despite their lack of
one day, one of their sons or intelligence, Nezrengal still
daughters will rise up against The Nezrengal are perhaps possess some remnants of custom
the Violet Princes and take back best known for their hunting and tradition. Their black and
was is rightfully theirs. So far, tactics. With the ability to white leather clothing is worn
though, these hopes have remained suddenly pop out of the ground for a purpose. Those who possess
just that—as insubstantial as a like black-and-white daisies, black leather usually only
breeze. the Nezrengal can surround appear at night while those who
66
wear white only appear during
the day. Some believe that it’s
likely these Raiders were once
part of the Tribes of Seasons,
which would explain why this
custom continues.
Today, the tribe protects

these pockets of radiation
beneath the sands. Any caravans
or people that journey close
to these underground stores
are viewed as threats—and all
threats must be exterminated.
Needing far less water than
usual strains and with the
innate ability to survive the
harsh conditions of the Dune
Sea, Nezrengal only raid when
they hunger—or when they sense
nearby radiation.
Motivation: Green glow is good.

We protect green glow. Kill any
who try to take green glow. Eat
people that get close to green
glow. Use power to hide and
burn.
67
he can do them instead.”
Lone Star’s Most people get along with
Earl. Relatively low key for a While Earl welcomes all
Most Merican, the man is quiet about sorts to Seasons Seat and will
his daring feats in the wild. As happily teach women, he won’t
(and Least) Earl says, “Ain’t no good for allow them to actually become
a man to go bragging scouts. Some say it’s because
Wanted ‘bout things when of his chivalrous attitude, but
the truth is that Earl just
doesn’t know how to act around
Grand Master women. Having spent most of his
Earl Woodham life in the middle of nowhere,
Earl is uncomfortable around the
“There’s tough and then fairer sex—and it shows. When
there’s tough. I swear that if women arrive at Seasons Seat, he
anyone can survive on his own turns from relaxed to awkward in
for years at a time, it’s Earl a matter of seconds.
Woodham. He’s one Merican you
don’t want to mess with.” While he may be uncomfortable
–Elliot Thatcher, with most women, Earl knows
Seasons Seat Scout exactly how to act around Mother
Chenoa. Said to be his teacher
Earl Woodham is probably and mentor, the Cad Nation
one of the most important leader often pay visits to her
Mericans in Lone Star—aside old friend at Seasons Seat. The
from General Mustang, of two are said to spend hours
course. It’s not because together talking about the best
he has political power or way to skin a deer or different
standing, or even because he techniques to light fires—and
possesses any kind of natural how to keep members of the Cad
resources. Instead, Earl Nation in line.
is important because he
controls the knowledge of Mother Chenoa
how to survive in the wild. Adaes
Earl Woodham looks like “She doesn’t look like much
someone you don’t want to mess when you see her, brother.
with. His wiry frame is all She’s a bit on the short side
muscle and he routinely caries with dark hair and pretty eyes.
belts of hunting knives. Sun- Looks like someone you’d like to
burnt skin speaks of his time get to know better, if you know
spent in the outdoors and his what I mean. But man, brother,
bleached hair is usually tied don’t mess with her. She’ll
back in a ponytail. Despite his sooner run you through with that
rugged appearance, the twenty- spear than let you get close.”
something-year-old is one of –Hasinai Naguatex,
the kindest, most unfailingly Cad Nation Member
polite men you’ll meet. He’s
a patient teacher and spends If there’s one person you
hours instructing the scouts at shouldn’t mess with, it’s
Seasons Seat in how best to set Mother Chenoa. The Natural One
a snare or kill a zed. woman is the founder of the Cad
68
Nation—and possibly one of the Chenoa is fit for rule, though— boots are always shined to a
most dangerous people in all of and she knows it. In order to high sheen and he has some of the
Lone Star. Part political figure cut down on mutinous thoughts finest guns in Fort Worthless.
and part boogieman, she’s known and actions, she regularly
to deal mercilessly with anyone demonstrates her strength of Burns plays a dangerous
who crosses her. arms in battle. She’ll lead game, though. Fort Worthless
raids against Aggieland, or is technically under the
You wouldn’t think that by take out a few raiders and zed jurisdiction of General Mustang,
looking at her first, though. on the plains from time to time. which means that Lawmen will
Mother Chenoa is a somewhat Yet these raids are risky. If sometimes ride through the
unassuming-looking woman in she’s ever accidentally injured area. When they do, Sheriff
her early thirties. With dark, or killed, it’s likely that the Burns plays the part of a well-
braided hair, brown eyes and a Cad Nation will dissolve into meaning official who just can’t
heart-shaped face, she looks various warring tribes once seem to corral the slew of
more like someone’s sweetheart more. criminals that reside in Fort
than the ruler of one of the Worthless. Although suspicions
most powerful tribes in Lone have been raised before, Burns
Star. Yet her corded muscles Sheriff Wilder has cultivated enough favors
and clothing speak otherwise. Burns from those higher up the food
She dresses in soft leather, chain that past accusations
spattered with the blood of “If you got the cred, then have been dismissed relatively
her enemies. Her face is often you got Burns in your back quickly.
adorned by paint that denotes pocket. He’s one of the most
her status as the head of the corrupt sons o’ bitches I know. Sheriff Burns doesn’t seem
Cad Nation and she carries a Can’t say that it’s not useful, like a corrupt official when you
spear that’s impaled more than though. Can’t tell you how many first meet him, either. Instead,
one enemy. times I bought my way out of a he appears charming and friendly,
visit with a Lawman.” quick to laugh or crack a joke.
It’s said that once you enter –Rodrigo Sanchez, It’s only when you really get to
the dangerous Grasslands, Mother Coyote Kings Gang Member know him that you see how deep
Chenoa knows instantly. She he’s gone. The man has ties with
keeps scouts and spies hidden at One of the most notorious men the Coyote Kings and the Band-
the edges of her territory and in Lone Star, Wilder Burns is dee-tows in addition to other
makes sure that no one enters the bane of Lawmen everywhere. roving gangs. It’s even said he
without her permission. It’s Working as the Sheriff of Fort has relations with Aggieland,
a smart move considering that Worthless, this Merican is known the notorious scientific complex
the Grasslands are surprisingly for his underhanded deals with that conducts experiments on
fertile for Lone Star, hosting criminals and his penchant for living “volunteers.”
all kinds of game and natural taking bribes. He’ll do almost Despite his shortcomings (or
resources. anything for you as long as you perhaps because of them), Burns
Part of the reason why this set the right price. has remained in power at Fort
woman has been so effective as You might expect someone who’s Worthless. If you need the law
a leader is her ability to deal as seedy as Burns to look the to overlook something, he’s
with outside forces. Mother part. Instead, he’s a handsome your man. His only motivation
Chenoa regularly speaks with man. The Merican dresses almost is the cred in your pocket.
diplomats from Star City and as well as a Pureblood and uses
New Austin in order to negotiate the cred that he collects from Eugene Quark
trade deals, and most outsiders criminals in order to fund his
respect her. exorbitant tastes. His brown “Now Eugene isn’t a bad guy.
hair is usually perfectly styled Sure, he has his quirks, but we
Not everyone in the Cad beneath a hat that looks like it all do. The fact that his quirks
Nation believes that Mother could belong to a Texican. His involve strapping someone to
69
a table and dissecting him is the various strains of humanity. killers quietly takes out anyone
beside the point. He’s a really Driven by his own desire to who opposes his rule, including
good person once you get to know learn more about himself, Eugene former, original members of
him.” is determined to discover how the Merican Kings and Queens.
–Sarah Kepler, splicing different strains He’s also known—or perhaps not
Aggieland Scientist together might eventually create known--for the shady deals he
a Remnant “super race.” makes with outside gangs and the
If it weren’t for the white Aggies, supplying his forces
lab coat and the maroon badge Daniel Lawrence and his city with illegal goods
on his clothing, you might not and arms.
think that Eugene was an Aggie. “It’s not hard taking
He keeps his reddish hair over a city. The hard part is Lawrence’s true power,
stylish, his face clean and maintaining that control. You though, lies in oil. His family
his fingers practically dripping have to really want it and holds large portions of land
with jeweled rings. Yet this really work for it. Otherwise, on the Trembling Plains, which
man is one of the most powerful you’re liable to see all of makes Daniel Lawrence one of the
scientists in Aggieland, your efforts slip through your richest men in all of Lone Star.
performing experiment after fingers. I’m not about to let Although he forsook the “ahl
experiment as he delves into that happen.” bidness” for politics, he still
what makes machines—and people— –Daniel Lawrence, receives funding from other
tick. the Violet Prince branches of the Lawrence family
in order to finance his schemes.
It’s hard to tell exactly Daniel Lawrence is one of
what strain Eugene is when you the most notorious Purebloods The truth is that Lawrence
first meet him. He looks a lot in Lone Star. The ruler of New isn’t content with only
like a Pureblood, talks like Austin, this man is known for his holding New Austin. Although
a Bay Walker, but has marbled tight control of the settlement he puts on a friendly face
flesh on his hands that look and for the bloody war that was to his rival settlement, Star
similar to what you might find waged when it was first formed. City, Lawrence’s true goal is
on a Retrograde. Once you get to to eventually usurp General
know him a bit better, though, With salt-and-pepper hair Mustang’s rule. So far, though,
it’s clear that this man is a and spectacles, this man looks his goal looks more like a dream
Remnant—most likely the result like he could be someone’s than any kind of reality. It’s
of a Pureblood having one too grandfather—and probably is, likely that the old man will die
many drinks at a bar one night. considering how many children before his plans ever see any
Eugene has been a constant he’s produced over the years; he type of fruition.
facet in Aggieland since he was known as a bit of a womanizer
was sixteen. That’s when he in his younger days. He’s known
first ventured to the dreaded for strolling along the streets
complex, determined to become of his city, often stopping at
an Aggie. No one is sure exactly bars to have a drink with the
where Eugene came from, but some locals while regaling them with
whisper that he’s the bastard past stories. This unassuming
son of one of the Lawrences, the and charming demeanor hides the
Pureblood family that rules New truth, though—Lawrence is one
Austin. of the most ruthless Purebloods
you’ll meet.
Over the years, Eugene
eventually became the top In reality, Lawrence is
scientist at Aggieland. Today, responsible for countless
he manages a staff of researchers missing people and deaths in
as they explore how to improve New Austin. His elite group of
70
71
72
The Pridelands
La Tierra del Orgullo
T hey call it the Pridelands because if nothing else, the people here have pride. Apathy and
ambivalence do not get one far in a world that has fallen, and the only way to get anywhere
in a land that has seen many conquerors is to conquer oneself. There are dangers out in the
northern Prideland Wilds, in the central Oil Fields, south to the settlements of Sinking City,
and east in the Yucatan Wastes and its neighboring islands. In many places here, the landscape
has been forever altered by the infection, by bombs, and by nature’s wrathful response to both.
Behind the scrap walls of Sinking City and Rising City, many cultures and religions clash to
control the water, forges, rails, and oil. Fed by the civilized frontiersmen of centrally-located
settlements such as the Oil Fields, the cities thrive based on a few important strings that hold
them together, even one of which being cut would spell disaster. From the central lands to the
north, warring factions of the Tribes of Seasons dominate the dusty, cactus-filled landscape. These
wars have been fanned anew by the proclamations of an King-Priest of the Tribe in the isolated
lands of the Yucatan Wastes. Meanwhile from the north, raiders on irradiated beasts and outside
influence from Lonestar puts pressure on everything below them. In addition, protected by the rocky
fields of newly-formed igneous and dust-covered dead plains, shamblers and bigger things roam for
miles between the place the Hedonists call Cancun and the holy Smoking Mountain.
Pride is subjective. The Coyote Kings fight to restore the middling culture that existed just
after the fall, the Ban-dee-tows fight for the sake of “Manifest Destiny,” and all the Tribes of
Seasons fight because of territory and differences in religious faith. In the east, the Light of
Hedon fights to regain the holy site of Cancun. In Sinking City, La Raza fights to restore the
“perfect race” and the Federales derive their pride from whatever bits and pieces of the old laws
that they manage to discover and begin enforcing.
Gangs and Tribes define the Pridelands of today. Some of those gangs wear the mask of the
law such as the Rangers and Federales, and others wear no mask at all such as the far-reaching
Prideland Cartel. Rediscovery of ancient culture has altered the Tribe of Seasons in various
places with ideas about ancient gods, dead deities, and blessed lands.
The Pridelands are strong and yet lacking in any form of true unity. Individuals shape the
world here more so than the power-hungry factions. A unique culture has sprung up here in the
generations since the fall and the conflict that has created it shows no sign of disappearing.
73
It was only a few years before living found routes back in, and
The Sinking the policy of “no outside contact” a political power vacuum left
started to kill more locals than the locals scrambling to control
City the sparse appearances of the the powerful resources that
undead. Fear of the infection remained, even as the damaged
La Cuidad Se waned, with many hoping they groundwater system continued to
Hunde: had made it through the worst propel the city meters into the
A Palace for Every Man, of the threat, and the people ground on a yearly basis.
A Gallon for Every Tank rose up against an overly-wary
government. Several years of Every day, buildings that
“They say this place is civil unrest ensued, and the escaped the wrath of the Smoking
sinking into hell itself, but people divided themselves into Mountain tilt and fall onto the
I don’t mind that so much. If gangs with ideals both local ashes of their less-fortunate
I die out there, I’ll only get and smuggled in from outside counterparts. This has left
to see what killed me once it’s settlements. The new currency few buildings of prominence
chewin’ on me. In here I can became resources and influence, all across the cityscape, and
see my enemy ridin’ up out from with terror-minded gangs fighting each one sticks out like a sore
his castle ‘fore I get shot. I’d a war for pseudo-independence thumb amongst a skyline of
rather my worst living enemy from what remained of the old crooked fingers. These ancient
kill me any day over the most government and for a safer way to skyscrapers and former centers
friendly of zed.” contact the outside world. The of culture do more than tell
-Humphrey los Ban-dee-tow, districts determined what they the story of the Sinking City;
Merican immigrant. had to barter, from leftover they mark territory. Each one
fuel supplies to the promise of is a fortress, a well-defended
Few things were spared a new power grid. Outsiders with castle/castillo, and their
from the wrath of the hungry access to oilfields sought to find knights are gang enforcers that
undead hordes when the world a way in and utilize the still- ride on iron horses into smog-
fell, but the City of Palaces working petrol plants for their covered battlefields. Hordes of
did relatively all right. own gain. infected pound on the scrap
Relatively. walls of the city every night,
The resource-war reached only drowned out when the train
Located in a high altitude an all-time high as some gangs makes its way into town carrying
valley, the new seat of the forced an over-pumping of slaves or supplies from the
Mexican government poured all of groundwater near the capital north.
its money into quarantining and palace (The National Palace
eliminating the undead threat of Mexico), which resulted in The Pits - Los Hoyos
that crept into its highly- the creation of devastating
defensible borders. Walls were sinkholes that damaged the “Place your bets, mi amigos.
built around the entirety of military storehouses in ways Lots of opportunity to make
the city and between the various that the jury-rigged bombs of money! Solo dos muertos hoy!”
districts. When the infection the beginning of the war had -Santana Iglesias, Barker
rose in one district it was never managed to do.
systematically cleansed while The stench of waste that
uninfected tried to find any way The final straw that at last once permeated the now-defunct
to escape. The gates between opened up the city was the Mexico City water treatment
the districts were sealed as eruption of Popocatépetl to the plant has since been replaced
they fell one after another. southeast. As an unfortunate with sweat, hooch, and gasoline.
Eventually, outsiders stopped northerly wind caught the cloud, What remains of the plant would
trying to get in and insiders The Sinking City choked while never have made for a defensible
stopped trying to get out for its decaying defenses burned. castillo, which made it and the
some time. The landscape changed enough sinkholes that surround it ripe
that both the undead and the for the taking by a few Diesel
74
Jocks that were looking to make Mechanical failure is The Scrap Palace
some quick pesos. With influence common, as locals often rush El Castillo de chatarra
from the Telling Visions and the together oil-burning machines
King’s Court, unstable sinkhole from whatever scrap they can find. “The Cartel must have used
walls became boundaries for the Some take the competition more an engineer to design their
gladiatorial contests that take seriously and use the games as system of execution. They
place within. Prophecy may not a dangerous means of income, but catapult a man sky high, and
have much place in the Pit, but even the best machine jocks can just when you think he’s going
entertainment certainly does. fall to a well-placed jouster’s to make it over the junk pile
lance or an unfortunate wall he ends up impaled and hanging
Among the many offerings of collapse. from it like an ornament. The
the growing legend of the Pit bailey wall is made of scrap and
are steel chariot racing, iron people juices.”
horse jousting, murderball, and - Jose Caputo,
scrap derby. With local law Merican Scout
sanctioning death in the Pit as a
risk one accepts upon entering, One thing that has made
many local factions use the the former site of Mexico
games as a means of settling City famous is the idea of
disputes in blood. Rarely are the castillo: still-standing
these contests fair, as the very buildings from the
nature of each Pit makes the world before The
ground and walls unstable, Fall that have
often leading to bigger been renovated
sinkholes or collapsing into fortresses
of earthen walls when too and bases
much disturbance occurs. of operations
On wetter days, the Pits for the various
may have water ankle- factions that
high, but more control the city.
often their ground The most unique among
is rock-hard and these castillos is the
uneven. one that broke the rule and
was built from the ground up
For up to by the gangs of the cartel from
a mile out the most vicious-looking scrap
on game days they could find. A wall of
the smell welded trash encircles a
of burning compound of buildings so
oil fills the small and close together
air, and the that they look more like
sound of revving engines lean-tos made of garbage
made from whatever the Jocks than houses.
and contestants could piece
together rings out even The Cartel is better known
further. Barking from the for influence than for money,
charismatic King’s Courtier, and so it is obvious why they
Santana Iglesias--whom also hide the eyesore that they call
runs the day-to-day business of their headquarters from peering
the place--carries across the eyes. Visiting gang members get
crowd in distorted, tinny words put up for the night in one
during pauses in the action. of the trash teepees, while
75
leaders hole up in the only into Fuego hands anyway simply
decent building on the site: a Somewhat of a Mecca for because they are much easier to
five-story keep made of imposing crafters of the Pridelands, deal with than some of the other
blackened iron and wood. the Cathedral of Flame is a local factions with access to a
monument of function, a landmark refinery. Used up rusty rusted
The other main building on- of efficiency. Within its walls, drums are piled up around the
site is the armory. A Cartel Los Niños del Fuego work around site of the Cathedral like sand
engineer has (through some the clock with whatever supplies bags, connected by coils of
misdealings with the Fuegos) they can get their hands on. The barbed wire.
designed an artillery gun that Cathedral is still mostly intact
sits atop the armory building. despite the horrors of previous Universidad Nacional
It can fire mortar shells clean generations that have worked to Autónoma de México
over the scrap wall if need be. take it down. The Fuegos have
Although the gun has only been rebuilt much of what was missing “There’s knowledge for sale
fired once in a testing scenario, in their own design, adding down there, and the only price
if the Cartel is ever wronged ramparts and battlements around you might have to pay is your
by the locals, it is capable of the jagged spires to aid the life.”
wreaking havoc in a mile radius watchtowers in defense of the –Francisco, Jones Remnant
around the Scrap Palace. Located desirable raw materials that
within the two-story armory rest inside. One thing that gained
complex is a cache of armor immediate value in the world
and weapons that rarely see the Operating as a guildhall, after the fall was anything
light of day; Cartel gangers are the Cathedral is well known for that contained knowledge of the
supposed to acquire and carry the pillars of smoke that rise world before. UNAM collapsed
their own protection and only from the spire windows as the into the ground during the
borrow as a last resort. forges within are worked to make water shortage like much of
equipment for trade. Lake Rats the rest of Sinking City, the
The Scrap Palace is large show up here from time to time books, tapes, and hard drives
enough that it has taken over a to make deals related to water all getting swallowed up by the
space once occupied by four city usage; the Fuegos use a lot earth. The site was seen as an
blocks in the northern portion of water, but they also build unlivable and hazardous section
of the Sinking City. The wall the pumps that get the purified of the city, with sightings of
of dregs and the suspicious Rising City water to the Sinking monstrous infected higher than
enforcers that patrol it make City. Lines of people show up most parts of the city.
the site a nearly impregnable in the shadows of the ramparts
fortress to those that have whenever there are maintenance In more recent times the
not studied Cartel customs. problems in the city, in hopes value of the place that was once
Infiltrators are executed behind that an engineer or a tinker can UNAM has been revealed by brave
the wall, and only make it out be pulled away from the Cathedral troupes of Joneses that dig up
if the catapult used to impale long enough to do some fixing. the unstable ground and head
them against the inner-side of into the pockets of earth that
the conglomeration wasn’t aimed Attached to the Cathedral Sinking City has left behind.
well. itself is a petrol refinery which More diggers die than live, but
serves as a major competitor to the few that make it out with a
The Cathedral of Flame both los Ban-dee-tows Mericanos readable textbook or a playable
La Catedral de Fuego and South Merica. With a lot of audio cassette can quickly turn
local bias against the rowdy it over to the Fuegos or trade
“Fuegos don’t just build, Mericans, most locals would it outside of the city for a
they create. I swear that church rather get their fuel from the lot of credits. One good find can
they call a forge gives ‘em some Fuegos. The Cathedral doesn’t keep a man fed for months or
kinda buildin’ magic.” have access to its own oil field, years.
-Anonymous Remnant but drums seem to make their way
76
No explanation has yet been On the grounds of a crippled Merican justice, while Los
found for why the infected airport, South Merica is a refugee Ban-dee-tows Mericanos offers
seem to show up in the area in camp for displaced Mericans who familiarity and camaraderie.
greater numbers. Research by headed south without much of a Drug-addiction is an increasing
interested parties has revealed plan. There are no castillos and expensive problem that few
that a great deal of the here, only piles of rubble and in the district can afford. The
infected that plague Sinking fields of pavement--cracked and refinery could fall into the
City can be traced back to the rough--between strips of sickly hands of any of the other local
very tunnels that the Joneses crops. Fields of tents mark the gangs any day, and this fear
dig themselves. A common theory landscape of South Merica’s looms over the raucous Sunday
is that an ant-like colony of grounds, and the denizens of cook-outs as the topic that is
infected lie below the surface these makeshift homes are the taboo to bring up. Sunrise Ban-
in the tunnels formed by the working poor of the Sinking dee-tow is working hard to gain
sink holes. Others just believe City. enough influence in the area to
that there is something in UNAM acquire South Merica as part of
that attracts the undead. The most valuable asset on his claimed land, but many of
South Merica’s grounds is the the South Mericans see him as
Gang violence is low in oil refinery, which serves as an untrustworthy troublemaker
the area, but the Federales the main source of income for out for personal glory. Of
do maintain patrols for the nearly every resident. The course, to some Mericans, those
benefit of the city as a whole. founders of the district once qualities aren’t exactly bad
The remains of the Olympic planned to create a community things either.
Stadium make for a decent of hard workers that could work
guard house, while the screams during the day, barbeque in the Polanco District
of the foolhardy Joneses in afternoon, and rest safe and
the distance take the place easy in their beds at night. This “It’s a grand ball. A dance
of warning chimes. The threat plan didn’t work out well for we can’t dance in. A quinceañera
remains mostly contained, but several reasons, but chief among we didn’t show up for. It’s the
every now and then the guards them was that the local gang nicest place in town, and we
find their hands full and retreat violence and anti-Merican bias lost it.”
to the city proper is necessary. of groups such as La Raza made –Senna Morales, Pureblood
establishing anything permanent
South Merica very difficult. Compared to most The streets of Polanco were
other Mericans, South Merican blessed with relatively minimal
“This ain’t Merica. This is locals are poorly armed and damage during the fall, as if the
shit-town. Now pass that shit poorly fed. The grounds are people of the district somehow
before I shoot you in the face.” subject to harassment from were able to erect a shield of
–Ezekiel McManus, gangs and their shipments of money to protect their urban
South Merican Resident oil and water are often waylaid mansions. The plants died, the
on the trade roads and stolen. people changed, the pesos lost
South Merica is on the brink their power, but the buildings
of collapse. What started out remained. Sitting just to the
as an idea to create a highly north of Casa de Capitalismo,
specialized labor force has the value of nicety in a world
turned into Sinking City’s of shit does little to help
Merican ghetto. the district cast a shadow
and grant it any power. After
The harsh conditions in South all, an old mansion that hasn’t
Merica make the mostly unaligned been maintained isn’t nearly as
locals ripe for recruitment useful as one of Sinking City’s
into the local gangs. The castillos.
Federales offer a sense of
77
Polanco was the subject to look a little nicer than that charge for their services.
of Pureblood interest for the rest of the city. The most More than one out-of-towner
some time. Claim was made to active gangs here remain La Raza reaches into the beautiful blue
property by those linking and, more recently, Los Ban- waters of Rising City for an
themselves all the way back dee-tows Mericanos. ignorant drink, and rarely do
to the Spanish aristocrats of the Lake Rats stop them.
old. A vicious social game was The Rising City
played for dominance in the area La Cuidad Despite the bits of
for over a generation without se Eleva: civilization that dot the lake
much attention paid to what was Don’t Drink the Water city, it is also a dangerous
going on in the greater Sinking wilderness. Territorial Natural
City. The Purebloods played a “We have a lot of something Ones that have learned to live
game of tag in their own corner that the Sinking City wants, but on the lake are a danger here, as
without inviting anyone else in. it’s broken out in the wild. well as the infected that mill
Eventually, the bullies looked Only Lake Rats know how to fix it about the Dire Shore. Sinking
across the playground and saw and make it domestic.” City gangs have highly invested
the rich kids having fun, so - Bingo the Lake Rat themselves in the success of
decided to mess things up. Rising City, and so violence
Sitting east of the Sinking occasionally spills over onto
La Raza took special interest City is the former metropolitan the islands when rivals whom are
in Polanco and the Pureblood area known as Rising City, so away on business run into one
claims of heritage. They came named because--just like Sinking another.
in, claimed the Purebloods to City—there’s a bit of a water
be mottle-blooded pretenders problem. The difference in Rising Rising City is also influenced
and started to cleanse the area. City is quite the opposite, with by the Federales, who have a
Done as much to show that they the entire area being flooded. It deal with the Lake Rats; they
were a force to be reckoned with might be seen as a boon for a patrol the shore in exchange for
as a quick way to get credits massive lake to spring up beside space to hold their prisoners
and land, La Raza laid waste a city so desperate for water in a structure beneath the lake
to any Pureblood that crossed two generations after it over- called the Submerged Prison.
their path, murdering each and pumped itself into the ground. All of these factors make Rising
every one. The few that escaped Unfortunately, the water is City symbiotic with Sinking
the cleansing fled Sinking City poisonous. It causes temporary City, without which it might not
in fear. paralysis to those who drink exist as anything more than a
it, and death to those that Natural One settlement.
After the cleansing, Polanco attempt to live off of it. The
became just like every other reason for this is unknown to La Isla de Fuerza
part of Sinking City: a center all except the Lake Rats, those
of gang violence and chaos, who operate the water pumps and “Carlos, your journey of
albeit one that just happened purify it for consumption. strength has come to an end.
Put out your torch, do twenty
Not boasting anywhere close reps, place your picture on the
to the population of neighboring wall and you’re fired. Get off
Sinking City, Rising City is the island, please.”
nonetheless large enough to be –“Strongman” Guapo Eduardo
its own entity. Small islands
of land and scrap have been This island sits in the
developed into living areas, western half of Rising City and
many of which contain pumps that is relatively small, large enough
send water off to Sinking City. for only thirty or so people to
Travel is done on small oar make their home on. La Isla de
boats, often led by Lake Rats Fuerza is made of earth, which is
78
rare in the Rising City, and it may not look like much more The builders of the Submerged
makes how it came into existence than a platform and dead logs Prison are unknown, but it at
a little questionable. Its shape for benches; a place where the one point may have been the
does not appear as though it was island dwellers go to give their castillo of a xenophobic faction
a large hill, more like a mesa. public confessionals about what before the basin became flooded.
Standing atop it is a rusted and is happening in their life, a It stands tall enough that its
unused broadcast tower, as well sort of verbal journal. Locals top peaks out of the lake, which
as a decrepit building that may live on a very meager diet, (modified with an iron hatch and
have served as a public access trading what little they can find ventilation system) serves as
television station at one time. for protein that is ground up the only entrance and exit.
Here is where the tapes were into liquid form. Clean water If it were standing outside
found, of shows claiming to is pumped here by Lake Rats, of the water, the structure
base themselves off of reality and that has become the island’s would appear as a wide tower,
and a wealth of information most expensive need with costs windowless with an amalgamation
about health and abs that can continuing to rise. With the of metals welded onto the side in
be achieved in eight minutes or strength of the drug trade chaotic patterns. The Federales
less. This gave the few locals of increasing in Sinking City, acquired the building after the
the Telling Visions--who rarely some performance enhancement city began to rise, and have
had a chance to see what the drugs have made their way onto since used it as a high security
Signal is like in the Pridelands- the island for the few who are prison for those that disrupt
-a taste of how glorious the able to afford it. the goings-on in Sinking City.
might Sponsor can be. It had a
great deal of prophetic lessons Those approaching the island Although the top of the
from the past, and the community from afar might see people structure sits six feet above
known as the Fitness Club formed hustling through the various the water, it is also the only
in response. training courses that sit near spot where air gets in and out.
the shore or engaging in tests If the water level were to rise
If a person is too weak, of strength. The Fitness Club close enough to the top, the
they get “voted off” the only own a few boats, most of vents on the side would flood
island or “fired.” If they can’t them poorly-built canoes or with water, sending a stream
maintain the rigor of life on rafts that sit tied to posts on of poison down into the tube
an island that values strength, the lip of the island. While it and killing everyone inside
fitness, and good looks they may has not happened recently, the from the bottom up. Federales
find themselves on the chopping island’s shape and topography serve as guards here six
block. Nobody wants to leave a would cause an unfortunate flood months at a time, with Warden
place that is rarely attacked if the water level of Rising Bartleby Rojas being the only
by infected and mostly left City were to increase by eight permanently stationed officer.
alone by Lake Rats and Drowning inches or so. Such a mild flood The first ladder leads to both
Children. There aren’t many might not do much damage to the processing room and Rojas’s
useful resources on the island the structures, but it would office. The next floor down is the
other than those related to certainly be a danger to the kitchen and mess, and everything
Fitness Club culture and Telling residents whom are susceptible below that is filled with dark,
Vision ideology, but the people to the water’s poisonous nature. damp cells.
scrape by.
The local lifestyle is not The Submerged Prison There are no rights in the
a very expensive one. Homes are La Prisión Submergida prison, no fair treatment.
nearly non-existent, just huts Federales only send people here
that people put together by “Clang, clang, clang. The that they can’t justify killing
breaking into teams. These huts prison she bangs, bangs, bangs. by their interpretation of what
break and new ones get built. Clang, clang, clang.” they know of the old laws.
A small amphitheater exists as – Prisoner Song Prisoners only get enough food
well, though to the outside it to survive, and they are often
79
stuck with enemy gang members that sits on the western side of attack from the zed. Additionally,
as their cell mates. Fights Rising City and forms its border an unusual choking mist often
happen; they are rarely broken with Sinking City. Here the ground clouds vision of the shore from
up until there is a winner. is saturated with poison, and Rising City’s direction. During
Meals are brought directly there is a hundred foot stretch sunset, the refraction on the
to prisoners, who never leave of gray mud beach. No plants mist is a blindingly bright orange
their cells. When the septic grow here, but occasionally the color that looks like a smoking
system isn’t working in a cell, tide of the lake rolls in and fire from afar.
prisoners often end up in their leaves behind resilient kelp and
own filth until their eight foot conglomerations of algae that dot Broken Wall/Pared Rota
cells become sickening and they the shore line.
keel over, at which point the “We are the forgotten sons
Federales come in, clean up the One of the great mysteries of these two cities. What they
mess and start over with a new of the Dire Shore is that the didn’t forget is our mine.”
prisoner. infected seem drawn to it. The –Jorge, Broken Wall Miner
few undead that shamble into
The prison’s most notable town through holes in the scrap When the Rising City was a
feature is that its shape and the wall tend to congregate along the dry basin, it was not all that
composition of its walls causes shore. Some say they gather here different from the Sinking City.
any sort of volume to amplify until they reach large numbers Walls of scrap surrounded the
and echo through the entire and that any time Sinking City borders of both cities, and
structure. When there’s a fight, is attacked by infected it is the threats from outside were
the whole tube knows. There because they allowed too many to minimized. When the sinkholes
is a constant din of amplified clot up the shore. Others claims opened to the west and the water
whispers, and escape plans have to have seen shamblers and bigger seeped into the dry basin to
been known to be overheard from things walk straight into the lake the east, the new structures
three floors away. Most of the until their heads dipped below the built in the post-fall were not
guards keep a set of ear plugs water and they could no longer be all spared. The walls broke in
handy, and others such as the seen. Perhaps the scariest rumor places, and in most of these
Warden wear them all the time. is that the infected here are not places it was repaired. Much
Prisoners near the center of a collection of stragglers, but of this effort was pioneered by
the tube can be found clutching birthed from the gray mud itself. the material-wealthy gangs of
their ears and writhing on the Sinking City, happy as long as
ground when the sounds finally When the Dire Shore gets the majority of the infected were
get to them. The few that make clogged with infected, trade and banging their heads against the
it through their entire sentence travel between Sinking City and scrap instead of chewing on the
often leave the place gripped Rising City slows to a crawl until people. In one place the wall was
by madness, unable to silence the problem is dealt with. Gang never repaired, simply because a
to voices they once heard every members and independents alike end lake now separated Sinking City
minute of every day for years up recruited into cleaning up the from the east. The conglomeration
on end. place, with losses suffered each of scrap that once made up Broken
time. If one thing in Sinking City Wall now sits at the bottom of
The Dire Shore can unite people of various gangs, the poisoned lake that is Rising
La Orilla Extrema it is the threat of losing clean City, often scrounged by the
water or access to the eastern children of the Gilled Man whom
“You’re not going to get a mines. can safely swim down to retrieve
tan on that beach, but you might No one lives at the Dire Shore, it. With no interest in fixing the
get your skin flayed off.” which may be why most attempts to wall from the people to the west,
–Danica Soleil, study exactly what happens there there is not much hope that the
Fitness Club Member have been less than scientific. structure will ever exist again.
Sticking around for any extended
The Dire Shore is the shoreline period of time runs the risk of The people that make their
80
homes at Broken Wall have to Drowner’s Rest beneath the sickly trees that
contend with the same threats Resto del Ahogador have sprouted through the water.
that make most of the Pridelands There is just enough shore at
so dangerous to those outside “They come here, they drown.” the wall for a few temporary
of the scrap walls. Resembling –The Gilled Man huts to stand and be rebuilt as
a frontier town, there are no they decay. Easy to defend for
grand castillos for these people A mansion once stood in the Natural Ones that know this
to defend. Many of the residents the shallowest parts of the drenched land all-too-well, few
are people that have too many Rising City, guarded by walls outsiders make their way to
connections in Sinking City or of imported marble and shaded Drowner’s Rest, also called the
Rising City to leave but too many by an unusually thick grove Drowning Hole by Lake Rats.
enemies there to stay. Others of trees. Now most of that
hold out hope that one day a mansion makes up a portion of The Gilled Man oversees the
project will be organized to the northern scrap wall, but settlement as Chieftain of the
restore the scrap wall and that the walls of marble survived. Drowning Children. His primary
the infected will stop pounding The waters flowed in and took concern is defense, and so the
on their doors every few nights. the wrought iron gate with them, scrap wall to the north has
Mining makes for a decent creating a cove beneath the man- been modified with outcroppings
income at Broken Wall, and much of made limestone cave that once for archers to climb to, from
the mining going on rediscovers served as the pool grotto which they can fire
Mexico City’s past. A garbage of some Pureblood of the on anyone
dump once rested nearby, and past. Here the
all sorts of treasures of metal Gilled Man and
and plastic are to be found in his Drowning
the shafts, while to the south Children make
there is limestone and iron. their home,
Unfortunately, infected make floating on
their way into these tunnels as t h i n
well and an encounter with no way rafts
out is almost certainly fatal.
Without many other options,

the people of Broken Wall pay
a mercenary group that has
been dubbed “The East Guard”
to defend them from the
infected. Some stay local
while others head to
the outer settlements
to keep the miners
and displaced
frontiersmen
abreast of the
infected situation.
81
approaching the Rest from Children always seem to know than anywhere else, and it’s all
the south. Openings have been that the attacks are on their right here in this field.”
hidden in the higher portions of way, and the Gilled Man sends –Bertram Los Ban-dee-tow
the wall that only the Drowning out teams of submerged warriors Mericano
Children know of, and they are to sink the boats. Intimidation
used to reach the rest of the plays a factor as well; infected Communities exist outside of
Pridelands for purposes of trade are displayed in cages near the the safety of the Sinking City
or gathering while avoiding the entrance to the Rest, captured scrap wall out of necessity. Any
risk of the infected. Water is somehow by scouts that head out decent hunting to be had mostly
not a problem, as the denizens beyond the scrap wall. takes place in these places,
have adapted to the poisoned where the Pridelands truly are
water of Rising City, and food When not used for intimidation about pride and having guts
is usually found by hunting purposes, captured infected are of iron. One of these places
outside of the walls or by traded for ridiculous sums to are the oil fields, near which
gathering the large clumps of the people of the Pits for use many small settlements have
algae that form around the trees in murderball and other games. sprung up. These settlements
at low tide. have the freedom to trade with
both Lonestar and the bigger
The Lake Rats have on The Oil Fields settlements of the Pridelands
occasion attempted strikes Los Campos without the downsides of city
directly into Drowner’s Rest to Petroleros: life. Some might say it comes
try and stop the damage caused Freedom Ain’t down to whether you want to
by the Drowning Children on No Mirage point your shotgun at humans or
their boats and water pumps. at the infected. The sad truth
These strikes have invariably “Only one reason the is that while freedom does exist
gone horribly awry. The Drowning Pridelands is any more special out in the oil fields, it doesn’t
82
exist without a heavy price. line. The Saber Raiders strike settlement that just isn’t very
from far north every few months mobile any more. In addition to
Towns that spring up along and leave burnt corpses behind. the cycle guards that travel
the oil fields are filled with Smack dab in the middle are the between Sinking City and the
innovative men and women that workers in the fields, toiling drill site there are numerous
start their adventure full of away for the gain of people like workers whom take up residence
optimism. That optimism warps the Ban-dee-tows, miles south in non-functioning motor homes
into jaded insight or death behind the scrap wall. that were long ago raided for
quickly. One would be hard parts and bulbous iron trailers.
pressed to find a job that is not The fields are where the A lot of the work of the drills
difficult or dangerous in the Sinking City clashes with the and pumps are outsourced from
fields. Hunters contend with wild towns of Lonestar for the few the gang itself and into the
game and irradiated creatures untapped resources that remain hands of locals of settlements
that appear quite normal until in a dismal and choking world. near the Oil Fields. This does
they explode in clouds of It is where Dieseljocks, not make it easy to work for
radioactive gas, store owners Mericans, Remnants, and Natural Sunrise, whose minions all have
keep guns under their tallying Ones find a way to blend with one chips on their shoulders and
pads in case some out-of-towner another more often than bleed pay the workers in sporadic
with a mask and a knife gets one another. It is a place where amounts. But the deal is still
wise, and farmers find the most the true horrors of the world better than most out in the Oil
common infestation in the after the fall are constantly Fields, with some controlled by
dusty wilderness to be hordes present and not separated by a other groups exclusively using
of shamblers that are passing wall. slaves.
through. Oil jocks break bones The flats are a wide expanse
and work themselves to death Ban-dee-tow Flats of land, flat enough that the
while trying to tap whatever’s scrap piles of the Iron Graveyard
left of mother nature’s black “We’ve got a lil bit of an Station can be seen as cone-
blood often just so Dieseljocks empire goin’ for us boys. Ain’t shaped blotches of darkness
can rob the train and steal it that right Stone? Never seen against the light of the setting
before it reaches the paying so many creds when you were in sun. Such a peaceful sight is
refineries. Spaces between towns charge.” easily ruined by rowdy Mericans
are expansive enough that one –Sunrise Los Ban-dee-tow riding up on quads to check on
population could be murdered the pumps, which stink of mother
in their sleep by the hordes The Mericans that guard nature’s very own black blood.
and the next town over remain Ban-dee-tow flats ride around
oblivious. Such is frontier on rebuilt quads and cycles, The Flats are a constant
life in the fields. on foot, and occasionally on target of attack from the
horse. The most valuable patch Coyote Kings, who seem intent
Gangs exist in one form or of land outside of Sinking on sabotaging every aspect of
another out in the Prideland’s City—at least to those oil- the Los Ban-dee-tows Mericanos
oil fields. The Rangers take addicted of the Pridelands and operation out in the Oil Fields.
over as lawmen in the land beyond—is home to Los Ban-dee- Parts go missing and pumps go
too wild for the Federales, tows Mericanos greatest source haywire more often than the
serving as scouts, guards, and of income. Here is the largest Merican tinkers that put them
pains-in-the-asses for those oil source in all of the Oil together think they should. The
looking to make credits off Fields of the Prideland wilds, Coyote Kings are quite serious,
of the disadvantaged folk. The and the rowdiest sons of Merica with lives being lost every now
Prideland Cartel has a tentacle keep it well in their hands withand then due to their sabotage.
or three running parallel to guns, brute force, and a bit of Besides the Coyote Kings, Tribe
the Sinking City rail line, and madness. of Seasons from other parts
the Coyote Kings are quick to of the Prideland wilds often
pull off a heist of that same The Flats look like a mobile attempt to steal many of the
83
Ban-dee-tows goods. The hunters value during the confusion. Tar Bar sits. When the pump is
of the Tribe of Jaguars have been going overnight it makes loud
known to pick off a few members Not far from Ban-dee-tow screeching noises, and combined
of Sunrise’s gang or his workers Flats is a settlement of mostly with the sound of the train in
whenever they are on a hunt near residential housing, along with the distance keeps the nearby
the town, usually using it to another small expanse on the settlement awake at night. The
cover stealing something of dried-up land where Tammy’s oil that is pumped here is
often shipped at night as well,
protected like each barrel is
the last energy source in the
world. It is then sent to Sinking
City for trade or refinement if
it doesn’t manage to get heisted
in a train hold up. The Mericans
have begun to ship their own oil
more and more often with less
reliance on the train as attacks
have increased. The trend has
been in a steady climb ever
since the Coyote Kings started
making their mark on everything
Ban-dee-tow related.
Tammy’s Tar Bar

“All in. Straight to the
red lady. Didn’t they teach you
better in Vegasia? Now give me
my money.”
-Tammy
The generator sounds are the

only thing louder than the buzz
of neon lights that permeate the
air in front of Tammy’s Tar Bar.
These sounds of electricity
herald of what lies beyond the
rocking chairs of the wrap-
around porch and through the
saloon-style doors. There are
the rare sounds of happiness
and clinking glasses that take
over once one steps inside, and
a constant hum of revelry fills
the air. The bar is loaded with
electric signs, logos of beer
companies long gone, and printed
flyers that inform patrons on what
is going on in the neighboring
settlements. Here there are
wanted posters, job postings,
and goods for sale. Behind the
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bar, owner and operator Tammy shady businessmen, this location whatever useful equipment they
takes drink orders while Rangers may not be preferable. could find before they abandoned
patrol in place of bouncers. Outside of the Tar Bar the the Prideland wilds in favor of
Dieseljocks, Ban-dee-tows, their castle home in Sinking
The Tar Bar is a favorite Remnants, and other locals corral City. Nothing of note seemed
place for some rest and their homemade iron horses along to be left, until the train
relaxation amongst drill-workers the wooden fence to show off and started running again and the
of Ban-dee-tow Flats and the share tips with one another. usefulness of the Oil Fields was
rail workers of Iron Graveyard Fights over crotch-rockets are determined. People would come
Station. Travelers find it to be just as common as the fights into Iron Graveyard Station
the only decent place to get some inside the bar; if the handles and pull out a piece of garbage
hooch and protein for miles, on your bike aren’t shoulder that they thought they could do
though few non-regulars adjust high, you’re bound to get into something with and leave behind
to the rowdy atmosphere before some trouble here. The Tar Bar is other garbage that they thought
they are on their way out the practically the center for iron was useless.
door. Chairs and tables end up horse culture in all of the Oil
flipped all the time, and bar Fields. It is not uncommon for One man’s trash is another
brawls are practically a form an RV to pull in alongside the man’s treasure, and that is
of accepted entertainment, often Tar Bar while a few Dieseljocks truer nowhere else. Only when
only ending when a Ranger fires a on scrap hogs live out of it for Camacho--a former rail worker in
shot from their six-gun. several days. his slave days--came in did the
garbage trade become a business.
Tammy’s establishment is Iron Graveyard Station Camacho claimed right to all of
normally the kind that would the scrap that sat on the land
be targeted by the likes of the “Dozer’s on the fritz again. in the name of the former slaves
Coyote Kings, but a deal with one Anyone got a spark plug? I’ll of the rail line and no one
of the gang’s leaders protects trade that whole pile over really opposed him. The value of
her establishment. The Coyote yonder!” a business where treasures are
Kings run a highly profitable –Camacho Numero Uno found amongst mostly useless
gambling ring right out of the scrap was underestimated by the
bar, with hands in everything There is a place where iron people of the Oil Fields.
from card games to dune buggy contraptions go to die, and that
races. Tammy gets the credit for place is the Iron Graveyard. Today the sounds of the
the gambling in her bar, and joins Serving as the main connection train rolling into town echo
in on her own quite often. The between Sinking City and the Oil down the carved trails against
Rangers have no idea that the two Fields, via a fully operational piles of tin and copper. Bands
are related, and Tammy certainly train station, piles of garbage of motorcyclists and faction
finds this practice better than and scrap extend nearly a representatives show up to work
having to pay protection money. mile out from the central hub out deals on a daily basis.
with trails carved out by the Thieves try to rummage through
Upstairs from the bar is a operating bulldozer and forklift the piles every night, some
hallway flanked by three equal- that sit on site. Owned by an getting away with a treasure
sized rooms on each side. Tammy Iron Slave that calls himself or two before being riddled
lives in one, the Rangers Camacho Numero Uno, the buying, with assault rifle bullets.
maintain an office out of another, selling, and trading that goes Camacho has a good working
and the other four are up for on here makes the former slave relationship with the Rangers-
rent. This deal isn’t so bad for one of the most unlikely of -despite their apparent silence
weary travelers: the beds are profiteers in the Oil Fields. on the muddy slavery rules in
warm, the rooms are surprisingly the Oil Fields--and they have
clean, and the lawmen live right The land started as a garbage no problem with him defending
next door. To traveling members heap. The Federales came in the Iron Graveyard Station to
of the Prideland Cartel or other and cleaned house, scavenging the best of his ability. The
85
station provides a service to here, and the architecture has its white glow, the Tribe of the
the region at a fairly low cost, been defensible in ways that Moon asks for introspection and
which makes Camacho a popular the makeshift edifices of the wisdom. Outside of Teotihuacan,
person amongst the locals. post-apocalyptic world simply regardless of time of day, the
The station itself is home aren’t. hunters of the Tribe of Jaguars
to three tracks. Two tracks make decisions. Finally, when
carry freight while the third The Aztecs once believed the infected appear in the Avenue
carries passengers. Travel by that Gods themselves visited of the Dead, the warriors of the
trains is safer than most other Teotihuacan, marking it as a Tribe of Quetzalcoatl bring a
means, but it is not without holy site for all of eternity. spear to every man, woman, and
its dangers. Coyote Kings are In the old cycle, it was easy to child that can fight and lead
a constant source of annoyance see the markings of these grand them to defend their homes.
for Camacho, and train repairs beings, but their evidence
are costly and time consuming vanished just as shadows of The Pyramid of the Moon
if the cars are damaged. Just men claimed permanence on
to the east of the rail house, the walls when the bombs feel “Close that door! Our
Camacho has begun construction nearby. Unlike Sinking City, survival depends on it!”
of a service depot where he can Teotihuacan was not spared man’s
pull the trains in for such wrath, and even the blessings of – Metztli,
work. This has generated some the Gods could not contend with Priestess of the Moon Tribe
jobs in the region, something the recklessly utilized atom.
the people of the Oil Fields That reset button being pressed In the northern portion of
are grateful to Iron Graveyard left little behind, and the the ancient city is the Temple
Station for. temples only became resettled of the Moon. Today, the Temple
when nomadic people looking for exterior has an altar at the peak
Teotihuacan shelter found its irradiated where service is given when the
Birthplace of presence in the midst of the full moon is raised in the sky.
the Gods: Prideland wilds. This monthly ritual is attended
Gods Walked Here by all of the local members
There exists a wide path, of the tribe, no matter their
“We need no wall of scrap aptly named the Avenue of the temple affiliation. The service
and no lake to protect us. These Dead, that connects the four begins with an invitation from
grounds are blessed and we will great temples of Teotihuacan. the Moon Sage to think about
survive.” Their names is well deserved, as what has happened over the
–Priestess of the infected pile into it from the course of the past month. The
Moon Tribe wilds on the worst of nights and introspection that follows can
attack the denizens that dare last for hours, and the silence
Life in the Pridelands lends walk there. If not for the local is pierced only by the closing
itself towards a different way Tribe’s system--which quickly ceremony; a hymn to the moon
of thinking, and the influence changes focus and leadership by and a time of forgiveness where
of ancient culture contributes the hour of day--they would not tribesmen toss away the petty
to this distinction. The Tribe survive the waves of undead that problems that have plagued
of Seasons that have taken up come crashing onto the grounds their interactions with one
the ancient city and temples of of their ancient city every few another. Minor grievances are
Teotihuacan are no exception to months. forgiven, and if something goes
this rule. Some of the Tribe without forgiveness it is taken
might call their methods of Here, the Tribe follows the as a sign that the grievance
conducting religious affairs the local celestial bodies. was severe enough that it has
blasphemy, while others might When the Sun is high and bright, interfered with the tribe’s
praise their ingenuity. The the Tribe of the Sun leads with ability to survive.
temples themselves have been the strength and knowledge of the
greatest influence on the locals harvest. When the moon casts The temple itself is an Aztec
86
pyramid, the second largest in questioned by the other tribes, level, while water pumps replace
the city, and some would say but the Tribe of the Moon the coffers of the notched
the most defensible from the reminds them that honoring the hallways down below. Aztel, the
shamblers that make their way dead is a tradition that cannot underground river, flows south
into the Avenue of the Dead. be compromised just because of beneath the temple and reminds
The tiered plateaus of the the nature of the fallen world. the people of the complex that
pyramid are steep enough that if life can flow below then it can
they are difficult to climb but The Pyramid of the Sun also flourish above.
offer great views of the entire
temple complex for archers and “The warriors like to claim Dwellers of the Pyramid of
snipers. During particularly that they are most important to the Sun are strong-backed, know
large attacks, the feeble are our survival, but I wonder how their way around a forge, and
sometimes evacuated from their they’d eat if not for us.” have no problem sweating out the
own temples and taken here if a –Zuma, Prideland sun’s rays out in the
safe path can be made. When the Natural One Fieldworker crop fields to the east. Every
enemy shambles in, they have day the farmers work hard for
a hard time making it up the The outside structure of the a bounty that can feed all four
large front slope that connects Temple of the Sun is steep, and tribes of the temple complex, and
directly to the Avenue of the where plateaus once were on the they never complain—complaining
Dead. The Pyramid interior has sides are now crumbled pieces is a sign of weakness and the
five layers above ground and five of lime plaster. That lime Tribe of the Sun is nothing but
below, with the largest layer plaster once depicted grand art strong.
being at the ground floor. Here is that faded over the centuries,
where the daily business of the and now in their place are the The Pyramid of the Sun leaves
Pyramid of the Moon takes place, frozen shadows from the victims a long shadow, but twice a year
as it is not only dedicated to of bomb attacks when the world its shadow is so short that it
introspection but also houses met its end. The pyramid somehow is barely perceptible. When this
a refrigeration system, making survived the bombings, and happens, members of the tribe
the Moon tribe responsible locals would say it’s because hold high holy days, feasting at
for storing the food that the the temples were blessed by the the base
tribes of the Sun and the Jaguar Gods themselves. The Pyramid of of their
bring in. In the center of this the Sun, central in the Avenue grand
room is a symmetrical depiction of the Dead and huge compared temple
of the moon in its various to its next largest cousin, the i n
phases carved into the floor and Pyramid of the Moon, stands as such
ceiling with the full moon at a wide monolith that declares
the center. the tribe of Teotihuacan is
strong and protected.
The other levels of the
pyramid are where the tribesman The Tribe of the Sun has
live, sleeping on slabs of the most members of
stone and having few amenities; all the tribes simply
wisdom lends itself towards because they have the
living well below a man’s most space. With over
means in preparation for the twenty levels between
worst. The exception here is those above and the
that in the lowest levels of unused crypts below,
the pyramid there are crypts the farmers and laborers
where former tribesman who have that dwell within have
reached final death after the plenty of room to do
infection are stored. The safety their work. A working
of this practice is sometimes forge sits on one
87
abundance that even the Tribe of a warrior’s oasis in a desert of heaven and looks out over all of
the Moon gives in to gluttony gray and black. Teotihuacan as one of its sworn
for one day. These are known as protectors.
“Bright Days,” and they are one The underground river runs
of the few true celebrations that close to the surface here, and Another ritual is the
the people of Teotihuacan allow just to the west is a cavern painting of warriors. When the
themselves to revel in. entrance near which the waters infected are spotted outside
of the river can be heard of Teotihuacan by the Tribe of
Similar to the Temple of the flowing. The cavern is too small Jaguars, members of the Tribe
Moon, there are depictions of the for most men to crawl into, of Quetzalcoatl will allow
sun in various states engraved but it leads to a labyrinthine themselves to be led by the
on the ceilings and floors of tunnel system that stinks like Jaguar so that they can stop
ground level. Sunrise starts a sewer. To the east is the a potential threat before it
on the eastern wall and sunset edge of the temple ground, a reaches home. The warriors will
ends of the western wall. There man-made vista which gives view gather near the training arena
are bits of orange glass still to the barren land where the and stand before the eldest
set in the engravings from when infected roam in the night. The among them, who then provides
they were once whole, but as many cabins stretch between both of his blessing. The outriders are
other things of beauty have gone these landmarks, and the broken then painted for their hunt so
in the world after the fall, so Temple of Quetzalcoatl sits that they will stand out amongst
have these. central to both of them. Beside the hunters of the Tribe of
the shattered walls is the Jaguars. A fire burns from within
The Temple of training arena where the highly- the broken temple during this
Quetzalcoatl specialized warrior caste of the ritual, sending its smoke high
Tribe of Quetzalcoatl hones their into the sky above Teotihuacan.
“If you die out there, I’ll fighting skills against target
kill you myself when you wake dummies and one another. Crude, The Palace of Jaguars
back up.” ancient weapons are favored,
–Ixtli, particularly spears and swords. “The hunt is tonight. Think
Quetzalcoatl Warrior Quetzalcoatl weaponry makes on nothing else.”
The crumbling temple that their combat visceral, and the
once devoted itself to the hacking up of infected sometimes –Atl, Jaguar Huntmaster
feathered serpent is now home inspires a bloodthirsty cry.
to the warriors of the temple More grizzled veterans of the The Palace of Jaguars is
grounds. The warriors have infected invasions are less the smallest major temple on
holed up in the weakest of the expressive and wisely encourage the grounds of Teotihuacan,
structures that still stand other warriors who come of age but it is also one of the most
in Teotihuacan, and they are to not lose their focus. important to the survival of
stronger for it. Thick walls of the local tribes. Here is where
stone do not protect the necks The rituals that take the Prideland hunters live, the
of the feathered warriors. place here are exclusive to Tribe of Jaguars. They have
Wooden cabins have been built the Quetzalcoatl. When a young few rituals and only serve
throughout the years in and warrior comes of age, they earn as leaders for the tribe when
around the crumbled walls of their wings. Preserved parrot they venture outside of their
the temple, giving the tribe’s feathers are fashioned into ancient city; a rarity for any
patch of land the appearance gaudy armbands that are worn outside of the Tribe of Jaguars
of a castle that outgrew its around the curve between bicep themselves. Their knowledge
borders. Patches of green life and shoulder. The warrior then of the Prideland wilds is far
sprout through the deteriorating climbs the walls of rubble where beyond that of other locals.
stone slabs that make up the the temple once stood. Upon
base of the temple ground and reaching the top of the wall A Jaguar hunt begins early
give it a lush appearance. It is the warrior lets out a cry to in the morning, sometimes it
88
ends well after the sun has in the two small levels of the battles for land and the Emperor
fallen. There are quotas to be Palace of Jaguars. lets it happen; as long as they
met to feed the people of the are fighting one another, they
temple. If the quotas are not Calli: are not fighting him.
met then the Tribe of the Sun Ihlio, Itlatol
must work harder, the supplies The city is a coastal one-
in the Temple of the Moon go “Emperor, King on the Coast, the one speck of civilization
down, and the defenders of whatever he wants to call that sits on the Yucatan Waste.
the city will not be at full himself--he’s getting in the Attempts to expand outside of
strength. The hunt is important way of everyone else’s fun.” its contained land have always
because requires the learning –Marquez del Rio, failed, with attacks from the
of a very specific skill set, not Accensorite of Hedon infected increasing the further
the least of which is learning one gets away from the coast. The
to survive away from shelter in The Hedonists call it Cancun, infected are a massive problem
an infected world. but that name has long since here, with no walls and the fear
been outlawed by the powers that of the city’s own government
When a hunt ends, the Tribe be. This law is not written down making defense of the
of Jaguars return to their anywhere, it was proclaimed by settlement very difficult.
palace with pounds of meat to the King on the Coast from his The decaying infrastructure
be stored in the cold rooms in mouth, and whatever the King fails often, with power
the Temple of the Moon. Each on the Coast proclaims is law. outages and drinking water
hunt is marked by a tally of Calli is its new name, for it is tainted by the salty ocean
blood stains from the kills of the house of the emperor. Its creeping into the water
the hunt, making the palace motto is an Aztec saying stating table. This makes life
exterior a slab of gray and all here belongs to the king and here unpredictable,
red. Small and sitting adjacent that the people live because he with only the dangers
to the west of the Temple of wills it. Not everyone agrees. of the wastes and
the Moon, there are almost no poverty keeping people
decorations or markings beyond The King on the Coast uses from leaving, as
the tally. The structure is only old Aztec and Mayan traditions well as a
two floors, and the long years to enforce his code and maintain
have ensured that all of the art power, but others in the
has long since weathered away. Pridelands that still follow
Two groups of tribesman exist, these ancient practices would
each one to a floor, sleeping call his bastardization of it a
on cots made of animal furs. heresy born of greed for power.
There are no walls, only a set Calli is a wasteland vacation,
of steps that divide the two bits of structure still stand
levels. While one floor heads out in an irradiated mess; hotels
to hunt, the other stays back and bars that now serve as homes
to prepare food from the stores for whomever can lay claim to it
that they have gathered from first or kill the current owner.
their own previous hunt. While The system here is feudal, with
normally the Tribe of the Sun the city divided into three
does most of the crafting, the “baronies” ruled by the
Jaguars are not exactly useless King on the Coast’s
in that department; they make most trusted men.
clothing, bedding, and camping Even between
supplies as well as traps that these trusted
the Tribe of Quetzalcoatl can men there
use to defend the city from the a r e
infected. All of this is done
89
proclamation which makes moving up shop without fear of being one of the few proclamations that
illegal and punishable by death. mistaken for locals. Outsiders outsiders might find reasonable.
are assigned a site number where
The King’s warriors patrol they can pull in their trade wagon A few men and women of various
the streets, although they do or set up a tent after docking on strains have ended up stranded in
little to solve the problem of the Atlantic coast. The place is the Everywhere Else Embassy. Out
the infected. Their role is not dusty, and the only life here is of gas, lost boats, and stolen
to protect the populace, it is the stringy shrubbery that sprouts credits are all reasons outsiders
to subjugate it. The port is off of the top of man-made dunes. end up in the Embassy for much
controlled by the state in the The ocean’s waves can be heard but longer than they were expecting.
southeast barony and prevents not seen, and there is a level of These people live under the gun
the citizenry from leaving or nature-induced peacefulness that of a time limit proclamation.
conducing private trade here. No is nonexistent in other parts of Six months in the Embassy means
better than serfs, these people the chaotic city. forceful removal from it, and
live in the “low buildings” the only place to go is Calli
while the chosen of the King Representatives from the itself. If an outsider does not
on the Coast live in the still- state escort outsiders here when want to become a local, they
standing coastal hotels that they enter town, and all deals have to scramble to find a way
offer some protection from the between locals and outsiders out of Calli before their time
region’s storm activity. are made through a third party is up. Accusations of state-
state official. This practice has endorsed sabotage crop up every
Everywhere Else Embassy given the state a great power to now and then, but the power of
abuse the economy, muddy up trade these voices is no stronger than
“Cross this line and you’re deals to people that they don’t a whisper in comparison to the
ours.” like, or report false offers and heavenly shouts of the King.
–Conquistador Guardsmen skim credits off the top. The
upside to this is that rarely can Castle Neon
The practices of the King on outsiders scam the locals, but
the Coast have made travel and the downside is that the state “Natural Ones don’t mess
trade to Calli a difficult affair does it for them. The state knows with technology like that. I
in the past. With a proclamation that anyone willing to travel to don’t know who he thinks he
in place making any sort of exodus Calli across the Yucatan Wastes is kidding. Then again, most
from town illegal and punishable wants something and is unlikely of Calli is dumber than an
by death, more than a fair share to go home empty-handed. Travel avocado.”
of outsiders have been captured or to Calli is simply too expensive –Rafael, Calli Serf
killed when mistaken for locals. and dangerous for a trader to
Without any extremely useful raw show up and leave with nothing. One structure in Calli
materials other than limestone, stands taller than the rest,
and a location that was difficult Traders that do not cooperate reaching nearly twenty stories
to get to by anything except with the state are not free from into the sky. Each window of the
boat, this practice choked trade the tyranny of the old law, and structure is outlined in purple
to Calli to an unbearably low often get “mistaken” for locals neon, many of which flicker
rate. The town nearly starved, just as they once did before the in and out of their lighted
until the Noble Council urged establishment of the embassy. fluorescence. Most of these rooms
the King to create the Everywhere A mostly powerless ambassador are vacant, raided long ago for
Else Embassy. to the rest of the Pridelands anything useful, but the King
disputes these cases as fervently on the Coast and his tribemates
Nothing more than some dry as the state allows him, with fill out most of the rooms with
beach a few hundred feet west some going free and other facing items that they have acquired
of the coast, the Everywhere the heart ritual at the Courts. over the years. The top level,
Else Embassy is a campsite where The ambassador vouches for these a vast space with views of all
outsiders can check in and set people without risk to himself, of Calli, is the home to the
90
King on the Coast’s sleeping red triangles beginning at the resort. The only time the King
quarters and bathing area. The center and working their way seems to leave is to go to the
living area reaches a level of out. Each triangle represents Courts and conduct the ritual of
decadence one does not often the blood from one extracted heart extraction. Previously,
see from members of the Tribe. heart, each a bit of the sun the King was brazen enough to
torn out at the command of the conduct the ritual of the sun
Below the royal suite, rooms King on the Coast. right in the streets of Calli,
are dedicated to the housing or ride his massive horse
of the Conquistadors, nobles, The King spends his time through the streets on parade.
and important visitors from the here entertaining the movers Castle Neon is now nearly a
Cartel. The interior is kept and shakers of Calli. Mostly fortress, with the majority of
up as well as the nicest of though, the King has spent more Conquistadors stationed in the
Vegasian casinos, with various and more time in Castle Neon few city blocks that surround
slaves on a constant mission because of recent fears that the it.
of team cleaning from top to Hedon Rising rebellion has plans
bottom. The carpets and walls to assassinate him. This has led
are purple and gold, all hand the King to conduct meetings of
scrubbed to maintain their the Noble Council in the upper
beauty. Dim lights flicker if levels
too many of them are on, the of the
building drawing enough power as
a whole to sometimes black out
the few electricity-addicted
portions of the city.
Many of the windows of

Castle Neon are sealed, but
balconies exist adjacent to
many rooms on every other floor.
These make for excellent places
for Conquistadors and Cartel
enforcers to be on lookout,
and would make for excellent
sniper’s nests to defend the
place from outside attack.
Leaning against the cracked
adobe that covers the exterior,
one can see the slaves fighting
in Ghetto Lagrima, the people
farming near the coast, or
tinkers rebuilding sections of
the city that are likely to just
fall over once again.
The King’s affinity for the

wild can be seen on the first
floor of the old hotel. Stuffed
jaguars, shellacked snakes, and
the heads of tusked irradiated
monstrosities line the walls.
On the elevator door is a crude
painting of a sun with tiny
91
Ghetto Lagrima lean savages alike across the gets traded. It is preached as
stage. The bidding is a chaotic a dream to the slaves, a way
“Our group requests that you event, with fights occasionally out of the hell that they’re
vacate this structure. If you do breaking out over winner and stuck in. Few of the slaves are
not, expect utter annihilation final price. Settling arguments wise enough to see through the
of your women and children while with side bidding has become a lies, and the criminals that
you watch the events unfold. common practice in more recent know better don’t care enough
Thank you.” days. to help the lifelong denizens
–Treinte, smarten up.
Iron Slave gang member The slaves here are a
conglomeration of cultures, and
Dilapidated dual-level dives they operate much like prisoners The Courts (El Meco)
sit adjacent to one another along do in a jail yard. Like peoples
four short strips of gravelly and similar strains gather “He’s amazing.”
dirt. These buildings show signs together into pocket-gangs, and –Kayla, Calli Serf
of a once-bustling downtown. violence breaks out that spares
Cracked neon signs are hoisted not a man, woman, nor child. Justice in Calli is meted
into the sky above art deco The nobles of Blood and Chains out by the state-controlled
and cracked spackle. Before it are more than happy to let this court system, and the central
earned its name as the District occur as a method of controlling location of that court is a Mayan
of Tears or its slang name of their product. If the slaves ruin made of ten small temples.
Ghetto Lagrima the place was were to ever unite against their Their original purpose has been
simply called the Frog District. common enemy, the barbed chain- long lost with age and weather;
A gigantic frog-shaped billboard link that contains them inside however the King on the Coast has
once hung over the district’s the ghetto would likely not last made sure to appeal to the pride
center, but that sign has since for long. of locals by claiming that they
collapsed and joined the piles were the grounds for the ancient
of useless scrap and human waste Just as important as the Mayan system of punishment. This
that pile in the streets. gangs of the district are inspires great love from the
the structures themselves. people, as the proceedings that
After the state-sponsored Everything smells like mildew go on here appeal to the vanity
nobles got their greedy hands on and feces, and kidnapped of the upper class. The justice
the district, it was taken over children that end up here grow system is a circus that often
as a key part of the Prideland up not knowing what clean air is. ends in horrifying displays in
slave trade. The structures — Entire houses collapse and are the name of ancient “tradition.”
some without roofs and heavily rebuilt of less sturdy material
water damaged— are home to Iron overnight, giant rain drops Each of the temples is
Slaves, imports from Amazonia, fall in ear-shattering cymbal actually a small flat-topped
and criminal rabble-rousers. strikes onto sheets of tin, and pyramid, most of which have
The land here is cheap and each bodies appear in the streets no interior. Nine of these
building represents the slave only to be reanimated. No one are called the “Bone Temples,”
storehouses for the Brotherhood from outside ever ventures into places where the bodies of the
of Blood and Chains. Ghetto Lagrima except when they executed are splayed out until
have to, and the pages of state they rot and their bones dry.
A large dais sits at the nobles do not always make it These bodies are never cleared
edge of the district in a field back out when they head inside away, more and more just get
of tar and rubble, and here to take stock for their masters. added to the piles. The largest
is where buyers amass to bid temple is the “Justice Temple,”
on slaves. Each member of the The slaves cooperate better used to both carry out trials and
Brotherhood is allowed to sell than one might expect, with for the King on the Coast himself
one of their stock per auction, nobles setting high expectations to deliver the execution rite.
parading numbered behemoths and for when their property finally
92
When a trial takes place, the very sun, and the King on the wide, leaving San Miguel and
both nobles and serfs gather in Coast is the only one powerful the Temple of Ixel as the only
the mossy fields of The Courts to enough to kill a man in such two surviving settlements. San
watch as judges carry out the a way that their body is left Miguel is home to cooperating
will of the King on the Coast. without a soul. peoples of the King’s Court
These judges are appointed by and the Light of Hedon, both
noble councilmen, and their perhaps influenced by their
decisions are rarely based on Cozumel: vacationing ancestors, as well
reason or rational judgment. The Southwest of Disorder as the grizzled fishermen of
decision is handed down before Clean Fish Inc. and the tenders
each farce of a trial, making “Just like the Kings say, of Quiet Dock. Ixel Temple is
the proceedings short and to the ‘There’s a party at the end of home to the Tribe of Ixel and
point. The punishment is usually the world...’” their priestesses of fertility.
death or enslavement based on -Margarita Mimosa, the
the severity of the crime, but Drunken Mother Rumors of Cozumel’s fairly
the King recognizes that a few easy living have begun to spread
people need to be released to The island of Cozumel was ever since Clean Fish Inc.
give the trial some legitimacy. once a vacation spot before reopened it to the rest of the
the fall, and unlike Cancun on world. People of the Pridelands
The barons of Calli use the the shore it kept its name and have been making dangerous trips
trials to carry out their agendas the vacationers became the new east into the settlement, often
against one another. When a locals. What the islanders of bringing with them the problems
baron throws an accusation out Cozumel faced when it all came of a world that Cozumel does not
at any local of Calli they must crashing down was relatively mild know well. Violence has been
stand trial, even if that person compared to what many others had reintroduced into a place that
happens to be someone important to deal with around the world. has mostly been spared from
to another baron. The word Attacks from the infected were it. The free-living people of
treason is thrown around quite rare and mild, death was a bit Fiesta Flat have taken to the
commonly, and some nobles know rarer, and because of a lack of Light of Hedon, while the Parrot
better than others how to appeal trade for some time, the island Bar suddenly became a King’s
to the ego of their Emperor and became rather self-sustaining. Court “church.” The awareness
get the person that they want on This changed when Clean Fish of the outside is more than a
trial. Inc. came across the water and generation present, but even
started dealing in Cozumel’s still new things creep in every
When someone is found guilty unusually healthy fish, giving day that change how life on the
of a crime against the state, everyone on the island a way to island goes.
death is almost always the trade with outsiders. Suddenly
punishment. The sentence can Cozumel needed an industry, and When a storm rolls into
only be carried out by one man: the style of living that the Cozumel —and it does so often—
the King himself. The ruler of locals had taken up made it the people of the island hide
Calli knows the ritual of heart- obvious what they should make away in their homes or underneath
extraction, in which he pulls their big source of trade: brews whatever sturdy rocks that they
out the still-beating heart of of all kinds. can find. The local economy
the criminal in a grand display crumbles underneath the power
while they still live. Locals Cozumel’s biggest threats of crushing wind and lightning,
watch this ritual with wondering have been storms that assault it boats from Clean Fish Inc. go
eyes, almost viewing it as a and wipe out about ten percent missing, and ripples are felt
divine experience. The belief of the population every few all throughout the Pridelands.
spread throughout Calli culture years. These storms are also As the main hub of eastern sea
is another they take pride in; responsible for shrinking the travel and trade weathers the
the heart is the seat of a island to only about eleven storm, most of the operations
person’s identity, a fragment of miles long and eight miles of the local factions shut down
93
until everything settles back the walls. In more than one the bar patrons and the other
into place. Disorder grips the spot, the beach has risen up members of the King’s Court
region for a short time during through the floor cracks and left to get up and use the karaoke
such events, but recovery seems foot-wide patches of white sand. machine. Margarita Mimosa--the
swifter and swifter with each There’d be a beautiful simplicity Drunken Mother--is the main
passing rain cloud, as if the about the whole thing if not for instigator of these services,
last storm was just a drill for gaudy strings of lanterns that herself singing multiple times
the next. take the place of traditional throughout the night.
lighting. A dais with an ancient
The Church of the karaoke machine and a set of Ixel Temple
Parrot drums sits catty-corner to the
“...Sittin’ here a-restin’ north and west walls. The bar “I WANT IT TO BE A NATURAL
my bones, I know that something is long enough that it can fit BIRTH!!”
something leave me alone, three tenders behind it, with -Ixel Patient
watching the something roll enough room for each to serve
in, and I watch them something a gathering of customers. Two Ixel Temple appears to be a
something again...” doors sit behind the bar: one hospital built on top of a Mayan
-Ron, Karaoke Singer to the storage room and one to temple. Here the fertility
the outside where smells of the goddess Ixel greets entrants
Markings of where a wondrous barbeque come wafting in when with her arms and fat belly both
edifice once stood remain in the opened. Tie-dye curtains hang outstretched and on display.
sands of Cozumel’s northeastern from the few windows on the Up the moss-covered steps is a
beach. Wooden beams and supports interior, and a sole ceiling wooden door that seems to have
dot the landscape, with some taken fan spins slowly over the center a hard time opening and closing,
away every now and then during of the room. When it rains, the and the sounds of babies crying
the high tides of a storm. At water gets in and no apologies within. Upon entering, the
the front of where the structure are made for it; a few buckets alchemy priest sits working on
once stood is the worn sculpture might get put on the dance floor bubbling mixtures while babies
of a parrot, most of its paint but that’s about it. The weather are delivered a few feet away.
having chipped away in the long doesn’t force people to leave as
years since its construction. long as the hooch is flowing and There are no curtains
Written in ink are words to the music is still working. between each individual new
various songs, preaching about mother’s resting place, just
paradise, beaches, parties, and The music played here is not priests and priestesses dressed
alcohol. In front of the statue the kind one might expect to hear in white fertility gowns. They
stands a new building, cobbled in a world gripped with despair. wait with bated breath for new
together from whatever those of Vacation ballads, love songs life to enter into the dead
the Parrothead Band could find to accompanied by steel drums, and world. Out of the windows is
build their place of worship, guitar-plucking tunes that get the small jungle that shrouds
their music hall of scrap. This stuck in one’s head. The people all but the entrance to the
place became known as the Church that patronize the place fit the temple, giving the makeshift
of the Parrot, and is used on a church’s theme well, by wearing birthing ward a sense of healthy
nightly basis for King’s Court bright colors, dancing without a seclusion in stark contrast to
and other locals whom need a hint of embarrassment with drink the frightening loneliness of
flask of hooch filled. in hand, and talking loud enough the Yucatan Wastes.
that the din of conversation
Unpolished wooden floor reaches where the waves crash The room that the birthing
boards creak with each step one against the shore line. takes place in is not all that
takes on them, and they have the large, surrounded by unpolished
mildew smell of alcohol spills The Parrothead Band holds wooden walls and a mixture of
combined with the salty air that “service” here every Friday both barely-functioning advanced
seeps in through the cracks in night, where they encourage equipment and home remedies,
94
with most trust in the latter. Quiet Dock Clean Fish Inc. boat master, who
Some of the priestesses that are commissions its building when
actually delivering the care are “Yeah, the foghorn does enough scrap and old boat parts
pregnant themselves, and others occasionally make it a misnomer.” are acquired to put something
are perpetual wet nurses. Behind -Iron Slave Worker together. The boat master then
the birthing room is another claims an unused trade route,
door which leads to the jungle Jutting out into the water travel route, or fishing route
cabins that sit atop the stone from the western shore of Cozumel and reaps a percentage of the
floor of the temple grounds, each are a series of long docks where profits from it. This is always
of them occupied by a fairly the company of Clean Fish Inc. a risky venture, as boats
new mother and a priestess. The keeps their boats. The dock gets sometimes disappear into the
priests also live here as well, its name because it is just far oceanic wilds on their maiden
although their quarters are enough away from the parties of voyage. These lost boats are
separated from the rest. Fiesta Flat and The Church of marked in a small barren field
the Parrot to be out of earshot with scrap headstones, and the
Mothers are allowed to stay of their blasting music. Clean loss of each one is mourned.
at the Temple for as long as Fish Inc. lives up to its name
they wish, so long as there is and treats the dock like a Right beside the boat house
room. If the cabins fill up, holy site for the gathering of is an ice house where workers
the mothers and their children fish, a pocket of order amongst prepare fish for sale. Once per
are dismissed from oldest to Cozumel’s disorder. Run as week a fish market is prepared,
youngest, but mothers can efficiently as any hub of the allowing the locals of Cozumel
avoid this eviction by becoming Prideland Cartel and full of to get the first chance to get
priestesses of Ixel themselves. strong-backed men and women, it the freshest of Clean Fish
Staying is somewhat of a danger is the center for the fish trade Inc.’s product. One can smell
because of slavers from Calli, of the east coast. the cleanest of ocean waters
who see the Ixel operation as a The boats that sit here come still present on the fish meat,
great place to find new slaves. in many shapes and sizes and are and the locals take great pride
Kidnappings occur more often far from uniform in their design. in their native export. The day
than the Tribe of Ixel would Each boat is actually owned by a of the fish market is the one day
like to admit. where the Quiet Dock is not so
quiet, with the rowdy men and
The Tribe of Ixel has few women of The Parrothead Band
warriors, which makes the and No Saamal mingling with
temple grounds susceptible to the more reserved Tribe of Ixel
attack. The tribe knows this, and native workers of Clean
and do their best to maintain Fish. Everyone tends to go home
good relations with all of the happy, the smell of cook-outs
other factions on the island in littering the air of the entire
hopes that goodwill will breed island.
good favor. Occasionally the
burly workers of the Quiet Dock Quiet Dock is also the main
pay the temple grounds a visit- source of electricity for the
-some of them being fathers to island. Boat masters and workers
the children of priestesses. The on leave house themselves in
children of priestesses grow and the two lines of shore homes
play here on the stone ground just fifty feet from the work
between cabins until they reach site. In their midst is a
working age, and then usually field of generators engineered
end up leaving the island or through trade with the Fuegos
joining up with Clean Fish. of Sinking City. The generators
are important to the survival
95
of the island, as they prevent looks unified but also fragile. If the King’s Court to the east.
Clean Fish from having to buy a large enough storm were to roll
power from the King on the Coast in, the settlers of Fiesta Flat Los Tuneles de
in Calli. The power is traded would quickly lose their homes and Invierno
to the other locals for various would need to rebuild.
supplies, and relatively cheap “The other tribes make war
compared to the cost of power On a bent civic sign whose on us, but they cannot kill what
elsewhere in the Pridelands. initial message long ago rusted they cannot find.”
away is scrawled the word “HERESY!”
Quiet Dock’s locals are This bright red message was left – Rasp Plantain,
mostly made up of the workers of by antagonists to the local Lascarian Priest
Clean Fish Inc., but occasionally Hedonists; other Hedonists from
other locals purchase property outside of the island, mostly from In the northern Pridelands,
on the shore. These shore houses Calli. A more traditional hard the mines of Saltillo was once a
are the safest and most stable line of the religion believes that productive place, before it was
for anyone who wants to live the people of Fiesta Flat ignore flattened by the wrath of men. The
by the ocean. The structures the vice of wrath, an essential descendants of the miners that
are still susceptible to the part of their religion. These lived crawled out of their holes
devastating storms that pass outsiders can sometimes be seen and into a city that no longer
through Cozumel, but are not preaching on the edge of the flats, existed. Only a few buildings
nearly as rickety as their yelling their hard line views remained between bits of the
counterparts on the eastern directly into the sea of tents cathedral and the aqueduct. The
coast of the island near the that sit in the dry land below. beasts that roamed amongst the
Church of the Parrot. piles of rubble were malformed,
There is nothing resembling some sickly while others gained
Fiesta Flat order or government here. The new traits that leaped them years
primary profession is brewing, and ahead in evolution. The miners
“I make tortilla chips. the brewers lack the discipline retreated back into the holes,
They’re free. Or pay what you of their friends to the east at only sending out scouts every now
want. I don’t’ care much either the Church of the Parrot. Another and then.
way.” profession here is the growing of
-Jesse, various drug crops, some of which Just like every other part of
No Saamal Tent Dweller are opiates utilized by the Tribe of the Prideland Wastes in the north,
Ixel. The drugs serve both medical the Tribe of Seasons has called on
Fiesta Flat is a long stretch and non-medical uses, and make for the old ways of the ancient peoples
of limestone whose structures a very profitable business. All of as well as the new ways of the post-
washed away in a storm long ago. these professions are acceptable fall seasonal dogma. Even through
The flat now serves as the place to the entire community. the heat of the tunnels, the tunnel
where the local Light of Hedon dwellers have been attracted to the
followers known as “No Sáamal!” People wake up whenever they tenets of the Winters. Taking to
conduct many of their celebratory want to, work whenever they need introspection and lacking the will
affairs. Where the structures credits, and sleep in whatever to rebuild the city that once sat
once stood are now pavilions and tent they happen to be near when above them, the tunnel dwellers
semi-permanent tents. A giant they get tired. Parties happen in have clung to the darkness as well
flagpole stands at the center of pockets all over the flats at any as their faith. Scouts head into
the flat, the words “No Sáamal!” given time, but they ramp up in the old city only to locate game,
scrawled across it in stark black the early evenings. Cheap hooch forage for food, or retrieve water
on yellow. The denizens of Fiesta starts flowing and people from the from the still-flowing aqueducts.
Flat have turned it into a tent other parts of the island show up The sound of raiders from further
city, where one might not sleep in to take part. The Fiesta Flats north marching over the hidden
the same tent twice. Commune-like serve as a central party hub with tribe thunder throughout all of
in design and attitude, the place far less focus than the people of the Tuneles de Invierno, further
96
underscoring that hiding was the A solitary settlement flanked work day climb to the very top
right choice. by the sea of Lone Star’s greed of the steps to complete their
and the ocean of mindless training duty. The hour to two
The tunnels branch out in hordes, the Stone Steps of hours of practice fighting that
a spiderweb shape underneath Toltec contain one of the takes place at the apex of this
Saltillo. Much of this was added largest resources of oil in all monument to ancient culture
more recently as the tribe grows. of the Pridelands outside of the is what keeps every working
People sleep right in the tunnels central Oil Fields. This has made man and woman well-equipped
in oversized blankets that dwarf the oil-minded’s mouths water to deal with softies that tote
their tiny bodies. Coal still on the other side of the Rio, boomsticks and zombies that
hangs in the air and on the walls, greedy to get their hands on the tote unrelenting death.
but the people have adapted to it oil pumps that stood alongside
well. Passersby in Saltillo never of the massive stone pyramid. The base of Toltec is much
find the entrance, and the people But those pumps have long since more dangerous than the steps
below are all but invisible to the gone away, their disassembled themselves. Amongst the scrap
outside world. scrap making piles at the base piles that were once pumps and
of the giant steps, placed there drills are scavenging raiders,
The tunnel-dwellers here face by the Natural Ones. To the stray zombies, and beasts
one major enemy from within their oil barons of Lone Star, this moving in from the irradiated
own faith. As tensions between display is worse than putting Prideland Wastes. Dealing with
various sects of the Tribe of heads on pikes. The Natural Ones all of these has become a way
Seasons have grown throughout refusal to have any dependence of life, as leaving the steps
the Prideland Wastes, some of on nature’s black blood has left themselves are the only way to
those that converted the tunnel- Lone Star southerners confused, get the supplies that living on
dwellers in the first place did but quite happy to reciprocate a giant rock does not afford the
not forget about the people below the taunts by burning crops and locals.
Saltillo. Scouts occasionally killing Natural One scouts.
wind up captured or killed, with The Great Stone Steps of
different Tribes trying to recruit Still, with the Natural One Toltec are isolated enough from
the tunnel-dwelling Winters to population numbering over one much of the other major conflicts
their side of the fight through thousand healthy men and women in the Prideland Wastes that it
fear. The Winters below Saltillo that are almost all in fighting is easy for the Natural Ones
would argue that they are one of shape, Lone Star’s attempts to to focus on their own issues
the few tribes left in the wastes take this ancient patch of pride of protecting the land from
that have not forgotten the true away have failed. These attacks outsiders and infected. The
dogma of their faith and have not have dealt dangerous blows and poison of the Tribe Wars has
devolved into some faithless sect have increased tension, but not escalated here, with most
vying for power. the Natural Ones repel shotgun of the Natural Ones following
invasions with arrows and Aztec traditional Tribe of Seasons
Great Stone blades quite well. dogma or no dogma at all. Their
Steps of Toltec defensible stone mega castle
Each step of Toltec truly has made most other Tribes that
“You call it the black blood is great in size. The massive even consider going after them
of the world. We ripped out the structure looks as if it were quickly turn around to focus on
needle that made her bleed, and put together by ancient giants weaker enemies that may more
she has healed herself quite who then added smaller steps for easily kneel to their sect.
nicely. We refuse to let you their children. On each grand
bleed her again.” step, wooden structures serving
as houses and centers for trade Tee-Ju-Anna
–Tenoch, dot the man-made landscape.
Natural One Soldier Natural Ones bustle about from “I like to call it South
step to step, and after a hard Vegasia. Vegasians don’t like
97
that much, but they aren’t around with their masks off for sell them, using locally-made
exactly the type of people that a credit or two, and Tee-Ju-Anna compounds that aren’t powerful
will fight you over it.” starts looking like a circus enough to breach mortar but
-Gabe Price, more than a city. are powerful enough to make a
Merican Card Dealer peyote trip a sense-destroying
The very tip of the Prideland experience.
In some places far from the Cartel’s finger is in Tee-Ju-
conflict of the Prideland Wastes Anna, the last vestiges of
or the industry of Sinking City, their influence dissolving just The House of Rad
pride is just about the last outside of the city’s borders.
thing on people’s minds. Tee- Even this weak influence is “It’s more like a dusty
Ju-Anna is one of these places, enough for the Cartel to succeed jungle than a wasteland. I
and its location keeps it that above other local gangs and mean look, I see a plant over
way. Situated in the Pridelands control most of the drug trade. there. You don’t see plants in
but owing most of its cultural Where they are contested is wastelands. Pshhh.”
influence to Lost Angel, San in the gambling arena, where - Dex Arroz, Darwinist
Diego, and Vegasia, the city is gamblers and promoters of the
a poor man’s gambling den. Tee- independent variety seem to have
Ju-Anna is full of breweries, the people’s attention firmly
drug trade, gang violence, in their grasp. One can find a
and zombie incursions. Smart card game going on in pretty
survivors see little of value much every hovel and wagon in
here, but canny survivors see Tee-Ju-Anna, stakes varying
the opportunities that those between strands of copper wire
that don’t simply pass through to platinum discs.
represent. Grifting is not just
a way to make money here, it To say that the people
is an art. One of the local here are drug addled is an
laws says it best, “If you’re understatement. Everyone
too dumb to catch someone in Tee-Ju-Anna seems to
cheating you out of credits, be pining for some kind
you’re out of luck boss.” This of fix. For a few, gambling
law shapes Tee-Ju-Anna culture addiction sets in, but for
and has turned it into a den most it’s all about the
of thieves and hustlers. Rovers opiates, amphetamines,
and Dieseljocks pile into town hallucinogens, and herb-
to take advantage of this, as do infused brews that are so
Mericans. common here. A saying goes
that, “Even a slave can buy
Some of the local pastimes drugs in Tee-Ju-Anna.” This
include card games, drinking nod to just how cheap the
games, luchador matches, and drugs are here is not far from
weird and wild slideshow the truth.
attractions that would make a
Darwinist’s eyes bulge out of Another common local love
their head. Lucha Libre here is fireworks. New visitors
is less an entertainment sport panic every night thinking
steeped in tradition and more their living space is on
a masked brawl that involves the verge of destruction
jumping off of really high when they go outside to see
things. Combine these acrobatics rockets flying through the air.
with Retrogrades being paraded People make their own and others
98
The House of Rad exists to bombs, enough that very little
study the beasts and men of the scrap was left as a result. Rad
Prideland wilds. Here, an Atoll crystals have formed however,
has been built around the body and journeys out into the night
of an irradiated jaguar. The often prove fruitful. Raiders
body never decays, and glows and Natural Ones appear to fear
straight through the night. The the crystals, which means that
sand around it has the slightest few others dare to pick them up.
green sparkle, and has been
preserved by its side at the Breakthroughs are not a
urging of a Cassandra whom has common occurrence in the House
seen this isolated place as a of Rad, and there is some
central point for field study. anxiety that food will end up in
There is almost nothing around even shorter supply, or that one
the Atoll, which is just a round day the raiders won’t run from
structure made of stone and wood the pretty green lights. These
just large enough to fit the rad are fears that occasionally
lab and some places for the five send the less faithful in the
Darwinists that live here to Atoll on edge, which has them
sleep. Trade is nonexistent, running off south only to return
and these people are self- a little refreshed--or in some
sufficient. cases not return at all. The
field work can be disheartening,
They get water from a local but the Cassandra is charismatic
stream and live on a meager enough to convince the others
diet of foraged greens. They to power through when times are
defend themselves with rad- at their worst. Entire battles
based weaponry, including some have taken place between warring
trained rad spiders, which Tribes of Seasons right at
scares off most raiders and their doorstep, and if they can
Natural Ones. If they are lucky, survive that they can survive
they get to capture some of anything. Evolution is a gift,
these people alive and start and only the House of Rad can
poking around inside their learn how to give that gift to
bodies. Their favorite prize is the rest of the Pridelands.
the irradiated horses that the
wasteland raiders ride on, as
they still have not unlocked the
mystery of how to recreate the
beasts using the rad on their
own. The Cassandra promises
that the ultimate goal is the
knowledge of how to use rad to
create powerful beasts and push
evolution one more step along
the line to perfection.
The Atoll’s isolation

makes visitors on any sort of
pilgrimage rare--though it
does happen. It is near a site
hit particularly hard by the
99
a place to settle to finding a (Chapultepec Castle) is likely
El Pueblo land to conquer with good ol’ to fall quickly afterwards.
fashioned Merican ideals like
del Sol capitalism, cook outs, and An aging Stone McDouglas
country fairs. (now known as Stone los Ban-
dee-tow) has been trying to
The gang as a whole travels convince younger members of the
Los Ban-dee-tows in the “Caravan of Destiny,” gang to challenge Sunrise to
Mericanos which contains several covered a wrasslin’ match in hopes of
wagons, an armored recreational leading them off this path of
“They say we ain’t belong vehicle, a dozen “Motor Marines” self-destruction.
here, but I got somethin’ to on cycles, and a collection of
tell y’all: See there’s this jury-rigged quads for scouts. Motivation: Sunrise believes
little thing called Manifest When they found the Sinking in something called “Manifest
Destiny, and it’s ready to head City, Sunrise stopped, breathed Destiny,” which he translates
south.” in the smog, and called it to meaning that if something has
-Maddy Los Ban-dee-tow, their new home. Sunrise led the ever manifested, it is Merican
Merican immigrant. storming of one of the local destiny to take it. Since
castillos in the old park, and the Sinking City is the most
If there’s one thing that all made it the base of operations valuable thing worth taking
of the other gangs of Sinking for the gang, calling it the that his gang has found after
City can agree on, it’s that “Casa de Capitalismo.” the fall, that is their focus
the Los Ban-dee-tows Mericanos until they reach the point of
have the least right to claim Since their arrival, the total resource control.
any of the local resources. gang has been a nonstop terror Not all gang members agree
Made up of Mericans that headed for the locals. Their attacks with Sunrise’s extreme, life-
south through Lonestar and the and attempts to claim various sacrificing view, but continue
Prideland Wilds looking for a parts of the city seem chaotic to follow his lead until someone
place to settle, they were the and without a discernible plan. challenges him to a wrasslin’
first gang of true outsiders to Sunrise is as likely to spend match and wins.
form within the city. The gang as many resources trying to get
is a loud, reckless, wild bunch access to a bakery as he is a
of wrasslers, quick-shots, and petrol plant, and his men are
quad-jocks that believe anything viciously effective.
they lay eyes on belongs to them
through an ideology they call Perhaps what has added most
“Manifest Destiny.” to the gang’s rise in power has
been access to an oilfield out in
Led by the Ban-dee-tow the Prideland Wilds, that they
family, father Sunrise, mother have been able to defend for
Maggie, daughters Maddy and several years. Having access
Sara, and sons Jeb, Jed, Mitch, to both the fuel and a way to
and Merle. Sunrise took over refine it keeps the Merican mob
the gang during a rest stop mobile in a way that few of the
in Lonestar when he challenged other locals can be. The biggest
then-leader Stone McDouglas threat to Ban-dee-tow supremacy
to an old-fashioned wrasslin’ in Sinking City are the bands
match, as the laws of their gang of Dieseljocks that sniff
dictated. It was on that night out such valuable resources
that the McDouglas gang became for themselves. If the Motor
the Ban-dee-tow gang, and their Marines ever stop spinning their
mission changed from finding wheels, Casa de Capitalismo
100
101
La Raza de las apocalypse is God’s punishment that God has punished the natives
Pureza for letting this newly formed of the Pridelands because they
race intermingle with the others mixed with other races outside
“Listen, mi amigos. While and get watered down. Now, the of their own pinnacle race. As
we was praying in our churches only way to return to paradise the few “pure” Natural Ones
and sleeping in our beds, is to destroy all the races and left, they believe that the only
pretendientes was trying to woo all traces of the society that way to end the undead threat is
our ladies into their homes. they built. La Raza sees the to unmake society and remove the
Some of them was successful, and recent Merican incursion as an unclean by either destroying or
now we have this.” act of holy war, see Remnants as subjugating them. No one outside
-Cortez Cortez, abominations, and even find other of La Raza is fit to be anything
La Raza Capitan. Natural Ones that are not “pure” more than a slave, but the
descendants of the pinnacle race Remnants--the ultimate mutts-
Hundreds of years before the to be abhorrent. Those that seek -deserve only death. In fact,
fall, destiny brought the two to emulate the ancient Aztecs killing a Remnant earns special
greatest races of humanity on are just as wrong, as the Aztecs recognition, with a stripe being
each side of the globe together. alone were imperfect creatures tattooed on the killer’s arm or
The Aztecs--brutal, prophetic, until the Spaniards provided leg.
and industrious--and the them with perfect children.
Spaniards--intelligent, refined, The Federales
and diplomatic--mixed to birth La Raza butchers anyone
the forebears of the Sinking they consider an enemy, which “When the fall happened,
City. This perfect race once for their purposes is anyone someone had the guns. Someone
ruled the Pridelands, wilds and outside of their own race of had the resources. Someone had
city centers alike, with heroic Natural Ones. Their leaders the power. Some say they still
effectiveness. are rather smart, and their do. I say their castle looks
targets are well-planned. mighty tilted.”
Now civilization has been They burn oilfields, sabotage -Ochroma,
poisoned. Mericans? A disease. refineries, and disable iron Autumn Tribesman
Remnants? A virus. The undead? horses wherever they go. Cortez
Our curse for letting our women has lain claim to none of the Trying to enforce the law in
sleep with their men. At least, defensible monoliths, stating a fallen wasteland is an endeavor
that’s what the tribe known as that the only castillo that La that few would even attempt, and
La Raza de las Pureza believe. Raza needs is the land on which yet the Federales managed to do
The tribe is made up of Natural their ancestors were born. it for years. At the call of
Ones that follow an offshoot of their government, they managed
the Cult of Fallow Hopes, with La Raza’s beliefs have the borders of Sinking City, not
Dogma that has been modified existed since shortly after the letting anyone, or anything, in
by self-proclaimed religious fall, and generations later with or out. When the locals rebelled,
leader, Capitan Cortez Cortez. more separation from pre-fall it was they who used the last of
As much as they call themselves understanding of ancestry they their tear gas to contain the mob,
a tribe, they operate much like have become extremely paranoid who put themselves in harm’s way
any gang does in the Sinking about allowing any Natural One, to protect the last President...
City, trading automatics for even those claiming “pure” only to see him and his building
poison darts and baseball bats ancestry into the fold. As such, sink into hell itself on the eve
for well-forged swords. they have gained a reputation of a firestorm.
for being incestuous and putting
Their belief is simple: new “members” through rigorous And so, without a government,
Hundreds of years ago, two rites of passage that often and in chaos, someone had to keep
great races combined to form the result in death. on keeping the peace, right? Or,
pinnacle race that once ruled not so much. As buildings descended
the Pridelands. The zombie Motivation: La Raza believes into the ground, the Federales
102
cleared out the armories and with Major being considered the settled in the mostly-standing
hidden storehouses and retreated highest rank. Cathedral and claimed it as
to their own castillo, the Centro theirs over a generation ago,
de Operaciones (Federal Police Motivation: Before the fall, replacing pews and altars with
Headquarters). They became a Sinking City had laws. It was a anvils and coal pits.
gang just like any of the others, bastion of order amidst the cartel-
except that they had the majority controlled Pridelands; a shining The Los Niños del Fuego
of the functioning armaments that beacon of hope for the criminally are united by their skill at
still remained within the city. oppressed. The Federales are the craftsmanship. Serving as a sort
sons and daughters of the men of local guild of smiths and
It wasn’t until more outside and women who once made Sinking engineers, their contribution
influence started creeping into City such a place, and one day to the Sinking City economy has
Sinking City that the Federales they can make it that place once become the keystone of weapon
started having serious problems. again. Rule number one is to and vehicle trade in the area.
A generation later, all the survive, rule number two is to do The organization is filled with
equipment they had hoarded was it without compromising the most Remnants, Dieseljocks, and
getting old, with less and less basic requirement for humanity to Mericans that don’t owe much
skilled members remaining to exist: law and order. allegiance anywhere else. What
maintain it all. Being a Federale all Fuegos have in common is
meant one of two things: you were Los Niños del that they are crafters; from
born into it or had turned on Fuego the lowly road merchant all the
your old gang in hopes of leading way up to the highest echelons
a more decent life. “God forsook the forges long of upper management, all of the
ago. It’s men who keep them members know what it feels like
The Federales operate almost burning now.” to start with raw materials
exactly like any other gang in -Esteban Salazar, Engineer and make something useful out
that they fight for resources and of them. The Fuegos will deal
take a hard line against betrayal, Some of the Sinking City’s with almost anyone if they can
but where they differ is that structures still stand high make a profit off of it, and
they still maintain some of the enough that they give insight their castillo is well-defended
code that their organization into the world before the fall, enough that if things go sour
was founded on before the fall. but the Cathedral of Flame(Mexico there isn’t too much of a
They only kill their enemies in City Metropolitan Cathedral) negative impact on the overall
extreme circumstances, and focus does so for a different reason. operation.
their attention on bringing some The jagged peaks cut into the
semblance of societal rules back arid sky in such a way that it Useful is a key word: there
to Sinking City by clearly posting is intimidating to approach at are no decorative-vase sculptors
laws and enforcing them in every all, even without forewarning or canvas painters amongst the
district that they manage to take of the men who hide with Fuegos. It’d be almost sinful
control of. While these laws may bows and sniper rifles on the to waste materials on something
be open to wide interpretations, makeshift battlements. Inside, that is pretty to look at but
the fact that they exist make the Los Niños del Fuego make doesn’t do much of anything.
Federale districts some of the the cathedral their castillo, Resources are dwindling and
safest in all of Sinking City working their forges in the everything that is left needs
for those residents who remain halls where men once got on to be used to enhance the
unaligned. their hands and knees to ask survival chances of the people.
for forgiveness for their sins. Besides, pretty pictures don’t
The Federales have a strict, The only religion left in the sell all too well in a place
militaristic chain of command, cathedral is the religion of where opulence is at a minimum.
with rankings and stations hard work and sweat, with If the train is running on time
that reflect those of the pre- penance paid in iron burns and and the forges are burning hot,
fall military in the region, arc welder shocks. The Fuegos a Fuego is happy.
103
fight, so members of all ranks a sense of honor and loyalty to
Motivation: The Fuegos rotate between the outer guard the people and land of Broken
mainly wish to unite talented and town guard duties. When Wall. This may be why so few
crafters under one banner. They the more rabid members of the every go against the leadership
believe that they have enough group rotate back into town, of the organization that feeds
wisdom to properly use the Broken Wall always sits a bit them. The goal of these heroes-
resources of the Sinking City on edge, but take comfort in the for-profit are to earn a good
and surrounding areas to the fact that such fervent men are living while making good on
most effective degree. Defense willing to protect them. their promises to the people
of the Cathedral of Flame is they protect. It is greed mixed
the utmost priority because it Many tactics of the East with chivalry, but it exists
is where the majority of their Guard are derived from that nonetheless.
fabrication materials are kept. of the Rangers, although not
Additionally, whenever profit quite as effectively executed.
can be made on the road or in Horseback is the common mode The Prideland
the city itself, the results can of travel, and when a group Cartel
only benefit the organization as of infected is found in the
a whole. Prideland wilds, guardsmen “Why you gettin’ in he way?
from the nearest outpost are Nah man, y’on’t need ta do dat.
The East Guard rounded up and ride out with He’s sellin’ fruit but that don’
El Guardia del guns a-blazing , hollering like mean he ain’t packin’ some’tin
Este a band of Mericans drunk at in he jacket. Jus’ don’ fuck wit
a hootenanny. These raids on ‘em. Jus’ don’.”
“We win because we know the random infected usually go in -Anonymous Remnant
land here, it’s our specialty.” the East Guard’s favor. Most
–Ramon Otoño, deaths come when infected are The Prideland Cartel exists
Natural One Mercenary missed by scouts and outposts with a sole purpose: to dominate
Mercenaries who probably are caught before the horsemen trade in the entire Prideland
would be raiders if nobody was can be rounded up. region. The Cartel was originally
feeding and paying them, the East made up of several loosely
Guard is made up of re-civilized Some interested parties organized gangs that killed the
wild men and wash-outs from west in Sinking City have begun shit out of each other for a
the Federales or Rangers. From approaching the East Guard about couple of generations, until some
horsemen to marksman and from riding out along the outside of the leaders wised up and met
soldiers to scouts, the East of the scrap wall to clear out in Sinking City to cut a deal.
Guard is strong and effective. infected and they occasionally The plan was simple: each gang
They are all that stands between lure away someone foolhardy specialized in one form of trade
the infected and the Broken enough to do it. Infected near and enforcement duties would be
Wall, and they sacrifice their the north and western walls tend split to benefit everyone. Any gang
blood for a chance at a decent to be more dangerous than those leaders that did not participate
livelihood. the East Guard contends with on and had gangs small enough to
a weekly basis, so this usually control were executed one after
The East Guard has a simple does not turn out well for all another over the course of five
structure with three ranks. parties involved. Additionally, years.
Guardsmen are the recruits and the master guardsmen do not
unproven folk, elite guardsmen condone any operations that the The “Bloody Five” were
are those that have mounted a East Guard as a whole is not on harrowing for gang members and
few infected heads on a wall, board with. non-gang members alike as violence
and master guardsmen are the spilled out into the dusty
tacticians and decision-makers. Motivation: The East Guard streets of Sinking City, but they
No one is allowed to sit in are more than just mercenaries. also served as a whetstone for
an office back in town and not Most members of the guard have the Cartel. Poor leadership and
104
weak enforcement strategies died dispute, and prevention of those Popocatépetl became a central
in the midst of the Bloody Five disputes are sometimes resource- part of the religion, so much
and led to a fit and organized intensive undertakings. Like so that it is worshipped as a
underworld business. Trimmed lean any business, the Cartel seeks sentient deity. Only when the
and finished with internal strife, to expand and grow, and it is mountain summons the power to
the Cartel became a region-wide currently a priority to control erupt once more can the nightmare
force to be reckoned with. The the trade routes that begin in of the fallen world end, and
violence suddenly had focus and Sinking City and snake their way so prayer and sacrifice is given
the business started spreading out of the Pridelands. Their at its base by pilgrims from
its tentacles out all over the primary competition is their own Sinking City. The Priestesses of
Pridelands, emanating from its disorganization, which starts to the faith know that all it takes
unique castillo in the Sinking rear its ugly head as soon as any is one harrowing experience with
City. unwise member gets out of earshot the undead to convince someone
of their bosses back home. As a that there is a way out, and
What separates the Cartel from Cartel leader once said, “We are so new recruits to the religion
many other factions in Sinking a weapon of two heads; one as are often made up of people whom
City is that their influence is precise as a surgeon’s scalpel have had near-death experiences
far-reaching. Operating as a and the other as imprecise as with the zed.
consortium of sorts, they go as a hammer being flung by rubber-
far as to plaster their name on bands.” Mictlantecutli behave like
storefronts in some settlements, proper members of society as
simply because they have their much as one can in a gang-
hands deep enough in the pockets Mictlantecutli driven city, but the as-of-yet
of legitimate business to do unproved rumors about some of
so. Business decisions made in “A reckoning is coming. She their religious practices make
Sinking City could have an effect will blow again, and the Cloud outsiders wary. Human sacrifice,
on how the gangs run themselves Serpent will rise to free us from blood drinking, and scarification
a hundred miles away, although the underworld. We are death.” are just some of the practices
rules tend to be followed less -Priestess Invierno, Natural attributed to them. The truth of
strictly the further one gets One it is that all of these things
away from the Scrap Palace. do take place, however they are
Some say that Popocatépetl rare enough and done discreetly
The Cartel is responsible blew because of the disturbances enough that they are hard to
for most of the local Sinking caused by the bombs that fell blame on the Mictlantecutli.
City slave trade, as well as the when the old world met its end. Sacrifice is done rarely and no
group responsible for keeping the Others, like the Mictlantecutli, evidence is left when the body
Federales on their performance- believe that it blew to herald finds its way in Popocatépetl’s
enhancers so that the infected a new age and signified that the belly. Scarification is in
don’t make it beyond the scrap underworld had invaded this world inconspicuous places and not
wall. They can also be blamed and had won. Now the old mountain to the extent to which it is
for the poisoning of the working stands silent, and only it can rumored. Blood drinking takes
poor of South Merica with drugs, usher in the next world, when the place only during pilgrimages
and much of the gang violence in Cloud Serpent will rise and fly to the mountain, and the blood
Sinking City can be traced back man from the forsaken lands. is usually from animals and
to Cartel machinations. not people. Despite this, the
Seen as a dangerous cult by Mictlantecutli are perfectly
Motivation: The Cartel has outsiders, the Mictlantecutli happy fulfilling the role of
very few motivations that are not have no palace in Sinking the monsters-that-might-be
immediately obvious. Learning City. Its devotees range from because it provides a certain
from their history, the Cartel simple farmers to members of intimidation factor. Little is
knows that all of the gangs under other factions. Taking bits and done by the faction to dispel
their banner are prone to violent pieces from old Aztec texts, the rumors, however they will
105
never outright admit to them. to fix the problem, developing a Lake Rats are only unified
filtration system that managed to by their control of the water
Motivation: The ultimate separate the mysterious problem system. Without it, they’d just
goal of the Mictlantecutli is from the precious water, and made be a rag-tag group of paddle boat
to give worship to Popocatépetl, deals with the Fuegos of Sinking pirates, as likely to turn on one
in hopes that it will draw power City to supply pumps to those another as their patrons. What
from the worship. This power that needed it for a hefty price. does give them some unity is the
will result in an eruption and fact that they have a powerful
the revelation of the Cloud Known for being sinister, sly, weapon hidden in their island
Serpent, who will whisk those and all-around backstabbers, Lake dens: Tiny organisms that burn
who aided in ending the age of Rats only make deals that are with infection which have been
the Underworld on Earth away to in their own favor. The common filtered out of the water. When
another place free of the fallen belief is that you can only trust waste comes back into the Lake
world’s horrors. a Lake Rat when you are paying Rats’ possession, the infected
The religion is small and him, and even then only when your organisms are reintroduced into
local, seen as a heresy by those back isn’t turned. The Lake Rats the water so that the Lake Rats
that follow more traditional being the only ones willing to have something to keep cleaning.
pre-fall Aztec faiths, and so use their oar boats to transport More sinister uses have been
is constantly under fire that travelers for some quick creds discussed for their stores of
they must put out quickly and makes going anywhere in Rising necrotic weaponry, but most
decisively through might or City dangerous. Not only might ideas aren’t good for net profit.
intimidation. Assassination the Drowning Children attack, but Sinking City could be in for
and ruination are not below the your own boatman might stab you serious trouble if the Lake Rats
Mictlantecutli to achieve their and throw you in the lake to get are ever angered into making
ends. Conversion and recruitment away from them. stupid decisions.
are important because of the
faith’s small size. Motivation: Lake Rats are
hated by the Drowning Children.
Lake Rats The two factions are constantly
Los Lago Ratas assaulted by one another, with
the Drowning Children taking
“Help the witty, prey on the role of aggressor in most
the witless. Keep a man safe, circumstances. Only the Lake
but steal his wallet. Keep a Rats’ superior numbers and access
man rich, but throw him in the to better supplies have kept them
lake.” afloat in the skirmishes of Rising
-Lake Rat Motto City.
The survivors that call The Drowning

themselves the Lake Rats are Children
nothing more than laborers and
savvy businessmen that adapted to “They poisoned our water.
life in the Rising City first. Most They killed our children. We
people might see a lake rising adapted. We raised the survivors
out of a dry basin and figure it’s as warriors. We will drive them
not a good place to try and live, from our city!”
but the Lake Rats saw the islands -The Gilled Man,
of rubble between the expanses of Chieftain of the
unnaturally blue water and saw Drowning Children
opportunity. As men died drinking The Smoking Mountain brought
the water during the droughts, one great gift to the people of the
the Lake Rats looked for ways basin, and that was the rising of
106
the water. The ancestors drowned, before the paralysis sets in.
but the survivors rejoiced. Publicly trivialized,
Their crops grew once more and underestimating The Drowning Motivation: The Drowning
their lives were saved. Then an Children is a mistake made by Children see Rising City as a
outsider--undeserving--came and many travelers that place too blessing from nature. They are
drank the water and fell into a much trust in Lake Rat boatmen. Natural Ones, some of whom follow
death slumber. This is what the When the hazy mist rises on the the Tribe of Seasons and others
tribe of Natural Ones known as lake in the early hours of night, which believe they are following
the Drowning Children believe: one might find four strong hands yet more ancient tradition. Like
they failed to protect their gift tipping over their boat into a many other local factions, their
and it was cursed as a result. sea of poison, only catching a pride swells in what they do, and
Soon after, the Lake Rats came in brief glimpse of the stoic faces their ultimate goal is for that
and purified the water, but gave o f a pair of gilled men pride to reach to all corners
it to the outsiders instead of of the lake. The defeat of the
the descendants of the drowned Lake Rats, the destruction of the
men of the basin. ruinous water pumps, and freedom
from outside influence are all on
Generations later, the the agenda of the Gilled Man.
guts of The Drowning Children
are able to once again bear
the poisoned water unlike no
other strain of man. They The Fitness
have not forgotten, nor will Club
they stand the offense of the
pumps in their lake carrying “How much you bench?”
their precious prize away to - J.C., Bro
the undeserving of the Sinking
City. Painting their necks with Self-improvement is
gills and following the chieftain something that often
known as The Gilled Man, the goes by the wayside
tribe actively works against the after things like
Lake Rats in a dangerous game of basic survival, but
skirmishes and sabotage. there are a few men
and women who still whittle
The Lake Rats call The away at their bodies on La
Drowning Children terrorists to Isla de Fuerza. The Fitness
outsiders, kelp-huggers to those Club is not a political
more in-the-know. Small in number faction or a group that has much
compared to other local factions, of an agenda. Instead, they are
but also better adapted to life a group of Telling Visionaries
on a poisoned lake, they succeed that have pieced together parts
only because of their guerilla- of the Signal on their island,
style tactics. Attack one island and it has shown them they they
of rubble and then leave and attack must be strong, beautiful, and
another while defenses scramble that the weak should be “voted
at the first. Despite universal off.” Of course, the Spartan
mistrust for the Lake Rats, they attitude of the muscle-bound
provide an important service to has its pitfalls as well and
the civilized citizenry of the doesn’t always result in the
two cities, so little sympathy is creation of useful members of
paid to the crusade of a few wild re-civilization.
lake men.
107
Fitness Club members dwell slave trade. laws of the frontier. When the
on La Isla de Fuerza and spend Rangers ride, there is a quiet
almost all of their waking hours Motivation: As a part of the that settles over the Prideland
trying to improve their bodies. faith of the Telling Visions wilds, punctured only by the
Using rocks, logs, and whatever the Fitness Club seeks to both sounds of their iron horses.
heavy scrap they can get their receive and spread the Signal.
hands on, these people lift, Unfortunately the Signal being The Rangers get their names
sprint, and flex their way to live anywhere near Rising City because they spend most of their
peak physical condition. This is a rare--if not nonexistent- time out in the wild. They do not
creates a physically imposing -occasion. Most of what the just defend against the undead,
group of people, but La Isla de Fitness Club knows is what they they outright track them down,
Fuerza’s location in the Rising have on tapes and recordings learn their movement patterns,
City means that those bodies of the Signal, and so they and map their course through the
do not have to be utilized spread the word of what they Pridelands. This makes them more
for defense all that often. have. Fitness shows and reality than lawmen; they are scouts,
As such, fighting skill is not television make up the majority trackers, and protectors of the
stressed much, and the Fitness of what members know as the nonexistent borders of the fallen
Club has very few resources Signal, and as such the spread world. Their methods send them
or goods to trade other than of cut bodies, good tans, and out as far south as the scrap
their bodies. A poorly-armed beauty has been their modus wall of Sinking City and north
group of musclebound meatheads operandi for some time. The weak into Lonestar despite basing
makes most outsiders view the get weeded out by being fired or themselves in the settlements
Fitness Club more like models kicked off the island, leaving of the oil fields.
than warriors. Being athletic only the strongest, most fit,
always has its advantages, and most beautiful. The goal Pay comes from the grateful
but the effectiveness of the is simple: find the best of the citizens of the settlements
time spent obtaining that best so that the Signal might that dot the wilds who have
athleticism hasn’t proved to be reignite. become accustomed to paying for
the most successful strategy in their services on a local level.
the decaying world. The Rangers Having the ability to relatively
“You think about stealin’ safely range out in the wild
Recruits to the Fitness and I’ll shoot your hand off. has other benefits as well; wild
Club are usually people that But them? They’ll just tie you game, knowledge of safe zones,
aren’t well-suited to the straight up against a sticker and access to resources that
gang life of Sinking City and bush smack dab in the middle of others may not travel far enough
that do not have the skills or a shambler attack if need be. to access. Rangers also travel,
willingness to learn a trade to Don’t get rowdy.” which makes trade between
survive on their own. When an -Tammy settlements a possibility and
attractive person offers life that can net them some profit,
on a safe island where everyone The lawmen of the Prideland but ultimately their oath does
is beautiful, few down-and-out wilds have been a constantly not make them money. They range
lost souls refuse. Of course, if evolving group. When there were for a chance to become heroes,
a new recruit can’t handle the no refineries there were horses. but a better chance at becoming
physical activity that is a part When there were no bullets there dead. The dangers outweigh the
of life on La Isla de Fuerza were arrows. Now there is no benefits.
they get voted off and sent comfort, but there is survival.
packing. Members are usually Rangers keep the wilds safe Rangers have the infected
poor and unskilled, but tend to and ensure the survival of mapped out fairly well—as
be attractive and determined. the settlements in the oil well as a mindless horde can
Iron Slaves may also make their fields, as well as give would- be mapped. The real danger is
way into the Club, especially be criminals something to think encounters with other men, who
if they have somehow evaded the about before they break the some would say are more vile a
108
thing than the infected can ever nuestras minas.” is related to Coyote King
be. Saber is made up of raiders –Ignacio Montoya, involvement, more than the
eerily like those from the more Coyote King Cartel. The train is never safe,
irradiated north that will kill with Coyote Kings staging a
and pillage without blinking. The Coyote Kings are heist every few weeks somewhere
The Prideland Cartel operates homegrown in the Pridelands between Iron Graveyard Station
a dangerous business and they and locals of the Oil Fields. and the Sinking City scrap
rarely keep that danger to Their criminal intent comes from wall. Highwaymen stick to the
themselves. The Rangers often the fact that outsiders from sparse parts of the trails out
have to step in when the Cartel Lonestar, Vegasia, and even the of town, asking for a tax in
is in the process of murdering Bayous come moseying down south exchange for a traveler’s life.
the competition, and yet trade looking to brave the Prideland When Coyote Kings come across
with them for amphetamines and wilds and take a piece of it captive slaves, they always set
other drugs that will help with them. As a Coyote King would them free. This isn’t because
keep them alert on the range. say, “Esta tierra nos pertenece they are against slavery, they
Independent criminals that a nosotros.” This isn’t a hatred just know that those slaves
harass the citizenry of local based on strain or heritage like are going to fill the pockets
settlements are also a problem La Raza, it stems from something of people that they don’t like.
that the Rangers tend to deal even stronger; a culture and way Finally, another common tactic
with directly. Finally, the of life that has been eroded by is sabotage. Coyote Kings work
Rangers are also the de facto outsiders. day jobs that give them the
protectors of the one working opportunity to muck up oil pumps,
rail line of the Pridelands, The Coyote Kings are made up steal essential equipment, and
protecting the entire line of various strains of humanity, pour sugar into iron horse gas
from the gate at the scrap wall but what they share in common tanks.
into Sinking City to the Iron is that they still use Spanish
Graveyard station and beyond. as their primary language, not All of the Coyote Kings
Merican mixed with Spanish as understand that the crimes that
Motivation: The Rangers many other locals speak. They they commit are not for greed
are law in the absence of still call credits Pesos, and and personal gain. Driving out
government, protection in not just as a form of slang. foreign influence is a high
the absence of protectors, They work day jobs out in the priority. Getting the enemy
and disciples of order in the Oil Fields--sometimes even for a addicted to drugs, fearing for
absence of structure. The goal Merican boss--who they’ll later their lives, and hitting their
of the organization is simply hold up out on the trails while wallets are the surest ways of
to make life in the Pridelands wearing a mask. Their resentment destroying the society that
livable. That task means wiping is sometimes hidden, but members they’ve built on top of land
out the infected, taking up with less self-control make that doesn’t belong to them.
arms against raiders, arresting their hatred palpable in every
criminals, and scouting the word they speak. The settlements
barren reaches of the Prideland of the Oil Fields belong to them. Motivation: Coyote Kings
wastes. The Coyote Kings’ attitude formed based on the idea that
is one that has any business things that belong to the locals
Coyote Kings man or citizen of the Oil Fields have been taken from them by
Los Reyes Coyote watching their backs. They foreigners in recent years. The
are deep into the drug trade, Ban-dee-tows found the oil in
“Se trata de las Tierras de competing directly with the their field, but that field was
Orgullo. Es nuestra. Nuestro Pridelands Cartel and refusing owned by a descendant of the
orgullo, nuestra tierra, no to join their ranks despite native peoples. The Dieseljocks
importa que tan lejos al sur o al continuous offers. The Rangers and Mericans may have erected
norte, que se obtiene. Nuestro would likely say that most drug wooden settlements first, but
petróleo, nuestro ferrocarril, violence in the settlements before they did the fields were
109
cactus farms and hunting grounds Saber most irradiated parts of the
to the brothers of the Coyote Prideland wastes. Their name
Kings. The foreign influence and “Hyarrrrrrrr!” is earned because of a battle
the destruction of the ancient –Saber War Call standard that they once carried-
culture that the people of the -a white saber against a black
Pridelands invest so much into as Saber is not what they call field--but that symbol is seen
part of their means of surviving themselves. The name was given no longer. Riding on mutated
to the next day simply needs to to them by the people of the horses and in spike-covered
end, and the Coyote Kings plan Oil Field settlements. They are dune buggies, these men seem
on being the ones that drive the raiders, murderers, and thieves remorseless in their relentless
foreigners out. that ride out from the northern- assault on the people of the
Oil Fields, attacking every few
months in large waves.
The longer a wait between

Saber attacks, the larger the
force that rides in seems to
be. Recent battles with Saber
have resembled outright war,
with regular citizens having
to get their shotguns out from
under their beds to take up
arms alongside Rangers and gangs
alike. Chaos and confusion mark
most Saber attacks as they capture
or kill Ranger scouts to cause a
breakdown of communication in the
fields. Settlements are burned and
blotted out of existence when the
mutilated warriors come through.
Such viciousness is enough for
Cartel, Rangers, and even Coyote
Kings to put aside differences
and repel the invasion.
There is little strategy to

how Saber operates. They mass
just south of Lonestar, in places
where the ground still marks
nuclear impacts, mini-craters
filled with tented camps. Perhaps
driven mad by the radiation that
still lingers here, a common
saying is that the only thing
stranger than a Saber horse is
a Saber brain. Back at their
camps, violence is a way of
life. Fighting takes place over
the smallest of things from a
scrap of food to the right to a
bedroll. This violence only finds
focus when a raiding party is
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formed due to supplies getting grounds of Cancun. The land was Mikaeya Ortiz remaining a
low. The raid always heads south once a Hedonist’s paradise, and constant in the recent years
and targets the oil fields as the tyranny of the King on the due to her effectiveness and
their primary victim, taking Coast has all but snuffed out knowledge of all things Hedon.
with them food, women, scrap, the last mote of the Light here. Only Hedon Rising is able to
and oil shipments. survive through the dichotomy
Enter Hedon Rising. Serfs of constant dissent and solid
The raiders are a little and government subversives that unity.
outgunned. Ranger tactics isolate follow the Seven Deadly Sins,
groups of the raid and execute the Hedon Rising sect believe One of the recent pursuits
them, their superior speed and they practice the most true form of Hedon Rising is to recreate
guns doing much to help them do of their religion that there is. the heart-extraction ritual
so. Still, their dangerousness The core of the sect are the that the King on the Coast uses
should not be underestimated, Accensorites that wear their to enthrall the citizenry, who
as their numbers, ruthlessness, sins on their angelic faces. then uplift him to near-deific
and intimidating rides make them Emphasis is placed on all seven levels. The reasoning behind
formidable enemies. In the wake aspects of the religion. The this is that if someone else can
of a Saber attack, the stench Harbinger of Wrath leads the complete the ritual in front of
of death sits in the air of the sect in their rebellion against a crowd, the King’s trump card
Prideland wilds, and zed follow the King on the Coast, in their would no longer have any power
not long after. This makes every effort to depose him and restore and all of Calli would see him
attack a double-headed snake. Calli to its former glory as New as mortal. Turning the entire
Once Saber is pushed back, Cancun. However, Wrath is not the city against the King is the
preparation is always made to only way to ride one’s emotions. only way to truly end the cycle
deal with the infected that Lust finds the wives and husbands created by his reign, otherwise
sprout up in response. of nobles in Hedonist beds, and a baron would likely rise up
Gluttony finds them coming back with a gimmick of their own to
Motivation: The crater feels for more. There is leadership, impress the populace with.
good. If there are supplies? but if one is the power-hungry
Stay in crater. If no supplies? sort there is nothing stopping Hedon Rising lives in the
Go south. Kill everything, burn them from acting on Avarice and entire city, believing it too
everything, take supplies. taking power for themselves. dangerous to congregate in one
There is no time for half-assed specific area. The subversive
hedonism, if one wants to just nature of the wrathful rebellion
Hedon Rising party a finger is pointed over has led to accusations of treason
the water to the heretical No being thrown around quite often
“Seven parts. All equal.” Saamal of Cozumel. when the King on the Coast runs
– Mikaeya Ortiz, into a suspiciously indulgent
the Harbinger of Wrath These paladins of H,edonism noble or page. More often than
are warriors of the religion, not the King is wrong and Hedon
Some people in the Pridelands fervent assassins and soldiers. Rising remains strong.
do not take pride in the culture The sect is subversive enough
that existed amongst the stone that their members are not well Motivation: Hedon Rising
ruins, and instead take pride in known, with the exception of a seeks to reclaim the holy
the culture of the steel ruins few that have made a name for site of Cancun from the King
built over that very stone. To themselves. The rebellion is not on the Coast, whom has renamed
the Light of Hedon, Calli is a about ending the oppression of the city “Calli” as if it were
holy site, and it is not to be the poor or the decadence of the his personal home. The current
called Calli at all. The city King, and as such it has members thinking amongst the leadership
that the King on the Coast has amongst the nobility as well as is that learning the means of
renamed “home” in bastardized the peasants. The leadership heart-extraction that the King
Mayan is actually the legendary is ever-changing, with only uses will serve as a deathblow
111
to his hold over many of the infected run rampant here. The
people. Secondary goals involve land does not become safe again Like many Cartel operations
spreading the true Light of until the Smoking Mountain is in distant from the Scrap Palace,
Hedon through the Accensorite view in the west. This left only the motley of gangs that made
priests, most of whom risk one choice for conquering, and up the economic supergiant
the trip to Cozumel to recruit that was the neighboring island did not get along. Cartel on
members from the heretical group of Cozumel. Before a real effort cartel violence began as the
known as No Saamal. could be made to conquer, the barons each secured sections of
Conquistadors were faced with the city. This, combined with
Conquistadors threats at home. pockets of resistance against
his rule, forced the King on the
“It only takes one man to Coast to turn his elite Autumns
conquer the Yucatan Wastes. into guards and police. The
Build a fort and raise my flag.” Conquistadors became a shadow of
– The King on the Coast what they were meant to be, but
their purpose still remains the
The Pridelands has its share same, albeit delayed. One day,
of stories that are not motivated the King on the Coast will have
by pridece, but that is the case complete control over his own
for many of the Conquistadors. city, and then all it will take
Many of the Conquistadors were is some boats to join in the war
a part of the Autumn Tribe of the Tribes in the northern
during the rise of the King on Prideland wilds.
the Coast. Some fought against
him, while others believed him Motivation: Conquistadors
to be the last link to the true come in all sorts of demeanors,
faith of the Tribe of Seasons with some clearly broken by
that was left in Calli. After their recent past and others
those that opposed him found quite happy to serve the man
themselves outgunned by Cartel- that can pull out a person’s
equipped forces bolstering the heart while they still live.
loyal Autumns, many turned sides. Many just wish to be the warriors
Shortly after the skirmishes they are meant to be as Autumns,
were over, Zam Xietl claimed and despise the life of Cartel-
himself King on the Coast and influenced “police” work that
sent word out to all of the other has bastardized their religious
tribes that he was meant to be culture. Many do not see the
the ruler to unite them all. The true link between the King and
Autumns were left as the elite the Cartel and do not blame one
guard of the Emperor, renamed for the other’s grievances.
Conquistadors and were told to go
forth and conquer in Zam Xietl’s The Noble
name and faith. Council
The conquering did not go “Suarez, your page is clearly
as well as planned. The Yucatan a hedonist. How many pieces of
Wastes are a vast land of pie did he eat?”
nothingness with trails only –Baron Gomez
hastily scratched into the
ground. There are spots of New- Calli’s unruly populace
Mayan settlements, but these required special attention that
are usually vacant because the the King on the Coast alone
112
could not provide in the wake of The Noble Council exists The Brotherhood
his coup of the local Tribe of despite the tensions that occur of
Seasons. Zam Xietl hand-selected out on the streets of Calli Blood and Chains
some of his most successful between the three Baronies. “Amazonian you say? In with
supporters for their expertise This makes meetings of the Noble the rest. Don’t let that one get
and they became his barons. Two Council in Castle Neon a strange killed.”
were chosen from the Cartel that event, as one baron’s hitmen -Nik, Slaver
supplied him and one was chosen may have killed another baron’s
from a loyal member of the forge workers the night before, The noble slavers of Gomez’s
Tribe of Spring. These barons and yet they still must put on barony have made slaving their
and their closest advisors came a show of unity for the King economic mother’s milk. Once
to be known collectively as the on the Coast. Additionally, independent of one another,
Calli Noble Council. the barons find themselves in a controlling the slaves and
unique situation by being able trading them both inside and
Cartel ties in common did to call on any person of Calli outside of Calli became much
not stop Baron Gomez and Baron to stand on trial in the Courts. easier as more and more joined
Suarez from vying for power This tool is used as part of forces. In no time at all, the
against one another, and both of the never-ending skirmish that Brotherhood of Blood and Chains
them had no problem attempting is politics under the rule of was formed, brazenly wearing
to marginalize Baron Cactus an unapproachably dominant their title as slavers right
Flower right from the onset of dictator. in their company name. When one
Zam Xietl’s rule. Cactus Flower deals with the Brotherhood, one
controlled the north eastern Motivation: Each of the three knows exactly what to expect;
coastal areas where most of the members of the Noble Council and human rights are a laughable
food production takes place in their advisors has a different myth and power belongs to those
the city amongst the Tribe of agenda. Cactus Flower wishes to who take it for themselves. The
Spring. The Summer Tribe also drive away Cartel influence and business succeeds because they
felt a loyalty to their religion unite the city as one complete bring in mass quantities of
over outsiders with gifts, and Tribe of Seasons so that the stock for a low price, and know
so many of the factories near mission of uplifting King Zam how to manipulate the behavior
the border with Baron Suarez Xietl throughout the Pridelands of the stock once it gets to
have kept the fruits of their can be continued. Baron Suarez Ghetto Lagrima.
labor in local Tribe hands. is the greediest of the three,
The non-Tribe factories and seeking personal power and Day to day operations of
forges make up the majority of perhaps the deposing of the the Brotherhood are handled by
Suarez’s district, along with a King on the Coast if it means he pages--serfs that really have
few residential areas and the can buy his way into the city’s no other choice but to serve the
ports of the Everywhere Else throne. Gomez is a Cartel man at wealthy for meager pay. This
Embassy. Gomez lords over the heart and would prefer to do the creates a situation where the
Ghetto Lagrima, the drug fields, Scrap Palace proud by turning poor manage the poorest, and
the largest residential areas, Calli into a colony to be abused sympathy occasionally develops.
and the gateway to the Yucatan for its economic possibilities. When this happens, the pages
Wastes. Of the three, Suarez The advisors each have their may find themselves behind the
has the most economic gravitas, own machinations in place, and barbed chain of Ghetto Lagrima’s
but the primary source of food their loyalty is not always to borders themselves. If slaves
being in Tribe hands, as well the baron that they serve. Hedon are so great, why not try being
as the defense of Calli from infiltration is common, and all one? That is the unforgiving
the infected and irradiated three barons seek to wipe the attitude and hard-headed lack of
beasts of the Yucatan Wastes influence of the Hedon Rising reason that fuels most Blood and
being entrusted to Gomez makes sect out. Chains dealings. If it doesn’t
the King entertain advice from make them richer, there’s no
all three. reason to care about it. Slaves
113
make people richer. the slave trade, and personal head to the temple to ensure
motivations involve getting the that their child makes it into
Some members of the biggest catch or betting how the world--and that the mother
Brotherhood operate less like long certain slaves will live in survives as well.
business men and more like Ghetto Lagrima. Run more like a
game hunters. These members club than a business, profit just Members of the Tribe of Ixel
see slaving as a sport, heading falls into the laps of Blood and are not good-hearted citizens
out to different parts of the Chains no matter how much they of the world for no reason.
Pridelands and beyond and keep their eye off of the ball. Ixel is a gracious mother and a
hunting the most dangerous prey provider when her will is done-
in an effort to bring more stock The Tribe of -or so believes the members of
into Ghetto Lagrima. These men Ixel the tribe. Some go as far as
kidnap children and babies, believing that it is also their
hog-tie raiders, and erase the “Kidnappings? Three a year job to help conceive children,
identities of powerful men to at my last count. Don’t worry, and so some priestesses are
turn them into piles of worthless we get at least sixteen new sent out into the world in the
nothing. The hunt is not just births. Offsets it a bit.” guise of prostitutes or with the
about taking in nobodies, but -Ixel Nurse intention of seducing men to
turning important people into impregnate them. The priestesses
nobodies as well, and nothing The Mayan-influenced Tribe of then return to Cozumel and head
puts a smile on a game hunter’s Ixel exist to solve a problem to the Temple of Ixel to be cared
face more than seeing an old that few others seem capable of for by their tribemates. There
noble whom nobody believes was fixing in the post-apocalyptic are an abundance of children
once a noble working the field. world. When men and women make amongst the tribe because of
the decision to bring new life these practices, and in a short
The slaves of Blood and Chains into the world--a decision many time will they outgrow their
find themselves taken from their would say is selfish and idiotic temple grounds.
homes or raised right in Ghetto with the world being what it
Lagrima as the children of other is--one group not only does Ixel doctors are more
slaves that haven’t done a good not judge their decision, but civilized than the name of their
enough job selling themselves to outright embraces it. Ixel, a affiliation might suggest, and
escape the fetid district. The Mayan fertility Goddess, stands they utilize the best medical
nobles of the Brotherhood know present at the Tribe’s temple practices available at all
how to manipulate the slaves and in the form of a statue. It is times. Resources are not in great
make them believe that they will the Tribe’s duty to deliver supply in Cozumel--a place known
get out of their poor situation. blessings from the Goddess onto for its alcohol and parties--
This dangling of hope on a string those that make pilgrimages to and so this necessitates some
has turned the Brotherhood’s the temple for help. trade with Clean Fish Inc. or
District into exactly what they the Prideland Cartel. Traveling
want it to be: a place where The Tribe of Ixel is mostly outside of Cozumel can also be
people are impossible to unite made up of doctors and nurses dangerous, as the next closest
under one banner. that combine mysticism with pre- port in Calli is not friendly
fall medical practices to take to the Tribe of Ixel: the ruler
Motivation: Blood and care of pregnant women. Tribesmen there believes that Ixel Temple
Chains may appear to simply be believe that it is their duty to belongs under his banner. However
a business looking to make a usher new life into the world, they manage it, tribesmen have
profit, but a group that prides and the ward they have created stayed stocked enough in medicine
itself on trading slaves of all on the temple grounds is stocked and supplies to keep caring for
shapes and sizes has had their with enough equipment that they mothers. Much of their income
business culture infected with can do so safely. People from as is earned through donations from
all types of debased folks. far as the Sinking City and the those that pilgrim there and
Now, sport has been made of settlements of the Oil Fields from the medical services that
114
they provide for a price to the of Ixel stronger. Ixel’s favor The Parrothead
other denizens of Cozumel. is not one delivered in the Band
form of ritual magic, it is the
Motivation: The Tribe’s blessing of survival and a good “Keep playing. He may have
faith is not one that is wielded life. This is granted through passed out, but he’s just the
in the same way as those that the birthing of healthy children drummer.”
conjure forth healing from words into the fallen world, even if -Jerry,
and beliefs alone, but that is that means the priestesses have Parrothead Guitarist
perhaps what makes the Tribe to do it themselves.
The operators of the Church
of the Parrot are a group of
music-lovers that took their
love a step further when they
were introduced to the concept
of the King’s Court. Moderately
talented musicians and groupies
alike make up the majority of
the Parrothead Band, engaging
in their favorite art of
karaoke night. These are no
Sunday-morning religious folks,
these are people that fervently
support the Court and know the
words of the Kings of old. Their
chosen Kings take the form of
easy-living legends such as
Jimmy Buffet, or free love era
bands such as the Mamas and the
Papas. This should not be seen
as a weakness to any that want to
take from the Parrothead Band:
their faith is strong, and works
not only to heal their people
but also repel their enemies.
It is not all fun and games

for the Parrothead Band. They
take their hooch business
extremely seriously, as it is
the main source of income for
the entire group. The Church of
the Parrot makes decent enough
credits, but cronies getting
free drinks and the general
disorder of the parties cut down
the profits. Right across the
trail to the west of the church
is the Chupacabra Brewhouse, a
thatched roof structure where
the brewers of the Parrothead
Band check into their day jobs.
Locally grown agave allows for
115
the fermentation of Tequila locals, and only when Clean Fish Clean Fish is known for
along with pretty standard Inc. set up shop did they have fairness, quality trades, and a
hooch brews. Even the brewing of to start thinking about how they good success rate in arriving
hooch takes on a religious tone, would interact with outsiders. at their destinations. Their
with a Court priest providing a Despite the change that Clean largest boat, the Clean Fish
blessing to every batch before Fish brought by opening up the Ferry, connects the middle of
it leaves the brewery. Labeled western island, it was in many the Pridelands to the north, and
by the hardest working printer ways a blessing, as the island is large enough to carry a dune
on all of Cozumel island, the would have likely become starved buggy and a few iron horses.
Parrothead Band takes great of materials in the following This puts them in favor with the
pride in their liquors being years without trade. Dieseljocks, Rangers, and the
distributed to the rest of oil-trading Mericans.
the Pridelands. Even the trade Clean Fish is not just a
route to Amazonia does well for fishing business. The dozen boats Clean Fish is headed up by
the Parrothead Band, with the of various sizes that Clean a Remnant entrepreneur known as
stock of brews selling out every Fish owns head out into the sea “Catfish” Philly, who makes his
time Clean Fish’s ship makes to link trade routes, as well home in a beach house near Quiet
landfall there. The Band knows as allow outsiders to travel Dock. Most of his responsibility
that brewing is their lifeblood somewhat safely. Although the is to deal with the locals of
and that the bar itself is just ocean was not spared from the Cozumel and make sure there
something for fun and religion. infection, getting attacked at are no disputes over property.
sea is rarer than on land. This He is a bit of a politician,
Motivations: Not much beyond makes the business a profitable though his Remnant genes give
sun and hooch. venture, although the Pridelands him a striking symmetry to his
are not without pirates or dark-skinned body that can be
Clean Fish Inc. slavers looking to recapture off-putting. When it comes to
the Iron Slaves that make up a speaking, however, he is very
“I seen it. Tentacle was large portion of the work force. charismatic and knows how to
bigger than the whole schooner. Clean Fish defends itself well smooth over the other factions
I swear it.” enough by stocking weapons, only that inhabit Cozumel.
-Chum, Remnant Traveler losing a boat or a few workers
to the violence of the sea or Motivation: Clean Fish is
Free Iron Slaves, Remnants, the violence of men every few first and foremost a business,
and Natural Ones looking to make months. The grizzled workers and so their motivation is based
their way in the world comprise mourn these losses solemnly in the neutrality of capitalism.
the work force of Clean Fish, and quietly, and continue on Like any business they both help
a group that sprung together their duty to a sea that is both and hurt those that interact with
overnight when a few Remnants helpful and unforgiving. them. The goal is to establish
discovered the unusually trade routes, fish up the best
healthy fish in the waters north Trade routes change from catches in the world, and make
and west of shrinking Cozumel. month to month as east coast credits while doing it.
Immediately a base of operations settlements disappear and
was set up on the western coast, manifest fairly quickly. The
with ships leaving from Quiet solid lines connect Cozumel, No Sáamal!
Dock daily to pull in a big Calli, and a port east of Broken “What day is it?”
catch. The locals of Cozumel had Wall that services Sinking City -No Saamal Tent Dweller
fished in the waters before, but and Rising City. Clean Fish
never had they thought to make makes for an excellent neutral Their name means “No
an industry of it. Isolation party, as many of the Aztec- Tomorrow” and they party just
in the earlier days made influenced settlements may not like that implies. They are a
contributions to the economy of trade with those looking to sea of lighter-flames bringing
the Pridelands a rarity for the keep things modern otherwise. forth the Light of Hedon,
116
and not even the rain can of No Saamal have ever managed jobs and those of Clean Fish
extinguish them. Their city is to channel their faith into Inc. painfully hurl pounds of
made of tents and pavilions and anything beyond prayers that fish out of cargo holds. There
is easily wiped away when the just sound good. Faith certainly is occasionally resentment
storms come through Cozumel, has not been protecting the tent from other locals because of
but the survivors rebuild and city of Fiesta Flat from storms No Saamal’s lifestyle, but it
keep on partying as if nothing or the dead that rise in the is quickly written off when
happened. This life is not wake of them. one takes a look at exactly how
about survival to No Saamal, it little the Hedonists have.
is about enjoying whatever time No Saamal’s only real
they have left. adversary are other followers of Motivation: Life is to be
the Light of Hedon that adhere lived to the fullest. Survival
The attitude of enjoying life to more strict interpretations is secondary to a good life.
does not equate to stupidity. of the faith. Branded as That is the mantra of No Saamal.
No Saamal still has an economic heathens by Hedon Rising of
niche in Cozumel, and they Calli, No Saamal sees their
understand that being isolated sect from across the water as
from the worst of the infection bullies more than as prophets.
is a blessing that they are With representatives from Hedon
not willing to squander. No Rising showing up every now and
Saamal would argue that there then to peel away some people
is wisdom in not spending their from the tents, No Saamal has
time in the world as part of a shrunk not only from storm-
rat race. Farmers and brewers related deaths but also from
make just enough for themselves these apparent “conversions.”
and for trade, and the lush Leaderless and lacking any real
ground surrounding the cracked focus, No Saamal does little to
ground of Fiesta Flat makes for counteract the other Hedonists.
a good place to pursue either No Saamal’s stance remains the
profession. Fruit is the most same: live life at the end of the
common trade good grown by No world to the fullest, love thy
Saamal, and if those tending the neighbor, and don’t go chasing
crops were more diligent about after “holy sites.”
it they’d have surplus enough
to trade off-island much more Fiesta Flat is in disarray,
often as well. Diligence is not but it always has been. The
exactly one of the virtues of people here survive partially
these self-professed hedonists, because they do not obsess
possibly due to the next largest over that same survival. Other
crop: drug plants. locals confuse this attitude for
apathy, but the truth is that No
There is no leadership Saamal sees a short life lived
amongst those who live like for one’s own enjoyment as better
there is no tomorrow. Conflict than a long life lived in fear.
is minimal between members of The Parrothead Band gets along
the faction, which usually well with No Saamal, though the
just means whatever decent Band does not take the carefree
idea comes up first is the one lifestyle they have developed to
that the rest go along with. the point of excess. No Saamal
Not even priests are held in wakes up to work whenever they
higher regard simply because feel like working, while those
-strangely enough- no members of the Parrothead band have day
117
in a 21st Century drama. He’s seems wise beyond his years, and
Los Grandes got a straight-toothed, snake- as strong as any warrior out on
oil-salesman smile that’s rare the lake or in the Sinking City.
Nombres to find outside of the northern As effective on ground as he is
desert, and his eyes linger just in the sea, he paints gills on
Santana Iglesias long enough to let the object of his neck and scales on his face
his intent know he’s watching. with blood. Wielding an obsidian
“I’m a business man too. Macuahuitl sword, his victims
I’ll make you famous, muchacho. Traveling with a band of only get the slightest glimpse
Just wear that sombrero and Court through Tobacco Alley, of its prismatic reflection in
bring that guitar.” Santana played the role of front the lake’s blue waters before
–Santana Iglesias man well enough. Unfortunately, meeting their end. Many a Lake
his smooth style often clashed Rat has fallen to this blade, and
Santana is the kind of well- with hardened veterans of the outsiders that are lucky enough
dressed, hair-slicked-back, Pridelands. After reneging on to survive his righteous fury
just-tan-enough fellow that one some deals with gangs of the may see him: a barely-clothed
might imagine playing the devil Cartel one too many times, man with the sinewy body of a
Santana ended up with a severe swimmer, salt-and-pepper hair
punishment: his band members long and braided behind his
were killed in front of his eyes head, and a beard long enough
and he was left to rot in the to make Poseidon envious.
desert. Lucky for him, a group
of nomadic Dieseljocks found him Enemies that survive the
three days later and added him Gilled Man’s initial attack may
to their stud of steel horses. find they’d have rather died.
Pumice stones from the Smoking
Santana now uses his skills Mountain are not hard to find,
of persuasion and charisma to and they are used by the Gilled
play the role of barker at the man to torture his enemies. He
Dieseljock-controlled Pits. grates their skin off one layer
His smooth voice is convincing at a time with the stone then
enough to make more than one ties them out in the sun to let
local piss their money away on the raw body burn. Screams can
the games. be heard from across Rising City
when this happens, the victim
The Gilled Man dying of dehydration in a few
El Hombre con days time.
Argallas
“They have already lost. We Ochroma
can swim in the water and they
cannot. The lake has rejected “In the east a tower will
them and chosen us as its fall with infected that will
guardians.” make them crawl. I can see it
–The Gilled Man in your eyes; the summertime is
full of lies.”
Rising City is home to –Ochroma the pseudo-prophet
more than one mythical story
because of the unique and deadly A bit short with ruddy skin,
character of the settlement. The Ochroma wears a light brown gown
Gilled Man is one of these myths that trails behind her, picking
turned real. He is a man that up dirt wherever she walks. Her
118
face is bespeckled with tiny untreated for some time, and Charon
brown freckles under each eye is slowly robbing her of her “Eight brass will get you
and across the bridge of her eyesight. across the city. Cost doubles
nose, and her eyes are a green- if there’s an attack.”
tinged gray with visible red Some locals call her a –Charon the Lake Rat
marks of infection. She squints prophet, and others just a
whenever she meets someone new, dangerous young girl. As her Lake Rats tend to specialize
cocking her head to the side predictions about the way in one of two things, and that
with curiosity. Sinking City will change have is water treatment and science
come true, more and more people or boat travel and combat.
Not aligned to any of the have started to believe she has Charon is no exception, falling
more dangerous factions in the some sort of supernatural power. into the latter category.
city, the young one called A more plausible theory is that Called by outsiders “Charon The
Ochroma displays wisdom beyond her ramblings are the result of Boatman,” few people know that
her years when she discusses the something not right in her head, his name is actually just Carl.
local landscape of both man and and her predictions the work of His legendary name was earned
nature. A Tribesman of Autumn, some odd genius buried beneath because he is the most prominent
she carries with her a concealed the indecipherable layers. boatman in Rising City, and also
pair of daggers that have been considered the safest. Rumor has
bloodied more than once. it that Charon has never dumped
She has been known to wear a passenger and never lost one
brown and green facial to the Drowning Children either.
markings of various Skilled with a pistol and also
kinds, but is more quite good at navigating Rising
famous for the eyes City’s currents, he is revered
she paints over as a master of his trade. Unlike
her eye lids so most Lake Rats, outsiders seem
that from a distance to trust him. Perhaps the pair
it appears as if of Drowning Children skulls that
her eyes are never sit at each end of his boat are
closed. Ochroma enough to persuade those that
suffers from an hire him that he means business.
eye infection
which has gone Charon is an older man,
likely in his early fifties.
His bald head is covered by a
tattered black fedora, and he
wears small box-framed glasses.
His skin is weathered and burnt,
and he is fond of wearing an
open suit jacket with no shirt
underneath. His boat smells
like sweat and old spilt liquor.
There are two sets of oars and
enough room for two passengers
on his ship. Charon speaks
little, never gives his name,
and has rolled-up tobacco ever-
present on his lips. He’s quick
to brandish one of his three
pistols if he feels threatened,
and he’s an excellent shot, even
119
from a distance. In the heat of she feels threatened. When has been asked to evacuate her
combat, Charon doesn’t even so anything is at stake except bar before, but she never has,
much as grunt, spending all of herself or her bar, Tammy can be holing herself upstairs until
his time wordlessly aiming and inappropriately light-hearted whatever storm that was on its
firing. and quick to make a joke. way through passes.
Tammy is well-liked by most
of the regulars around Iron Sunrise
Tammy Graveyard Station, and most that Ban-dee-tow
might have thought to mess with
“Don’t mistake short-shorts her have learned their lesson. “Son, the sun ‘ull stop
for easy-to-come-off-shorts. She’s also something of an settin’ ‘fore it stops a-risin’,
She’ll straight up break your informant for the Rangers, which I swear a promise on that.”
nose with your own hand.” earns her some free protection - Sunrise Ban-dee-tow,
–Bar Patron whenever something serious Merican Gang Leader
is going down in the local
Tammy is the owner and settlements. T a m m y Standing five feet and eleven
operator of Tammy’s Tar Bar. She inches from the bottom of his
is pretty young as entrepreneurs spurs to the top of his hat,
go--in her early twenties-- Sunrise has a weathered face
and pretty efficient at making that perhaps
credits, whether from suggest that he’s
bar profits a bit older than
or at middle-aged. The
the card thick cinnamon-salt
table. She wears her stubble that covers his
black hair in short neck and chops seems eternally
pigtails that are a bit ratty, the same length, while his
but her high cheekbones and mustache and nose hairs
attractive face easily distract are bushy enough that
from such flaws. Buxom and thin- the his breaths audibly
waisted, she often wears half- pass through them like a
shirts and jean shorts with quietly wheezing filter.
oil-stained working boots. Her Ripped jeans and red flannels are
assets come in handy when she’s his favorite sort of clothes,
behind the bar, convincing and always at his hip is a
patrons to order another drink visible holster made of cracked
and then surprising them when brown leather.
they learn that the flirtatious
girl behind the counter is also Sunrise has a crass demeanor,
the owner. but it hides enough wisdom
and savvy that he is often
As whimsical as Tammy can underestimated by his enemies.
seem, she’s also got quite a He leads the Ban-dee-tow clan,
bit of Merican toughness in named after him because he
her. Quite handy with a shotgun beat the former leader, Stone
and also with her fists, many a McDouglas, in a wrasslin’ match.
man has gotten off the train Sunrise considers himself a bit
after a long run and had their of a conqueror after getting
hand broken after squeezing his hands on bits and pieces
the wrong curve. Her voice is of old world text; Merican
a bit throaty, but maintains Manifest Destiny states that he
a sweetness to it except when needs to take over all the land
120
he sets his eyes on. His current Wastes. Few that opposed Zam whom use the man’s rule as an
endeavor is to cause enough Xietl were not turned to his easy means of suctioning their
trouble in the Sinking City that side or killed, and so Cancun tentacles to a place that was
the other local gangs will bow became “Calli,” or “home.” once too wild to sell a firearm
down to him and his posse. or synthetic drug in.
To appeal to the other
Sunrise sees his children more locals, Zam researched ancient The King on the Coast is
like disciples than children. practices of the Aztec and tall and lean, his hair as short
The fervor his immediate family Maya, and through his faith was as the stubble on most men’s five
displays in service to him is able to reproduce some of their o’clock shadows. All revealed
undeniably cult-like, and each stranger rituals, such as heart parts of the King’s body are
and every one of them would jump extraction; a practice which covered in intimidating tattoos
buck-ass nekkid in front of a Zam has utilized to keep his depicting jaguars, snakes, and
zed to protect him. In contrast, slain victim “alive” in their other deadly creatures. His gaze
the Mericans of the South Merica body for hours after their is not so much piercing as it
district see Sunrise as a heart’s removal. Such displays is unerringly resilient in its
troublemaker and a criminal and have enthralled the gullible long stares, and it’s rare that
are sick of getting associated amongst the populace, who then one can read what the Emperor-
with him and his gang. ignore the fact that since his Priest is thinking.
rule began Zam has claimed
himself to be the ruler of all Mikaeya Ortiz,
Zam Xietl, the the Tribes of the Pridelands, the Harbinger of
King on the even offshoot sects such as Wrath
Coast the Ixel and Teotihuacan or
otherwise. This declaration of “What do you mean
“Give me one night and I will war has ensured that no members inconsequential? She calls
prove wrong all the bad things of the Tribe of Seasons with herself the damn Harbinger
you’ve heard about me.” even slight differences from of Wrath and has hung my
-The King on the Coast one another have been able to Conquistadors by their own
come to terms that do not end in intestines. I’d appreciate you
When the Pridelands Cartel bloodshed. Isolated as the King not trying to make me feel any
gets its hands on a faithful of on the Coast is, east of the better about it.”
the Tribe of Seasons, a figure Yucatan Wastes, Zam has no real - The King on the Coast
like the King on the Coast power outside of Calli unless
is born. Zam Xietl was once one is to count assassins that Hedon Rising is as hard line
the sole priest of his tribe sow mistrust amongst the other
as the Light of Hedon is capable
in Cancun, and his powers of Tribes of the Pridelands. Zam’s
of getting, right down to
faith were immense. He had an proclamations have been more
appointing a high priest of each
ego uncharacteristic of those responsible for wars far toof the Seven deadly sins. For
of his tribe, and perhaps that the northwest across the water
the vice of Wrath, the thirty-
was why it was so easy for between other Tribes of Seasons
something Accensorite Mikaeya
members of the Cartel to get than they have been responsible
Ortiz leads the Hedonists.
their hands on him. Through for putting him in any danger
She is tall, tan, and utterly
some means or another, Cartel from these same people. Of stunning, with straight black
influence convinced the priest course, if these Tribes were to
hair and large brown eyes. She
to take power from the rest of ride in on their irradiated war
exemplifies all of the seven
the ruling Tribe of Seasons, beasts, the local Autumns--now
deadly sins, but offers guidance
splintering the group into war. called Conquistadors--would find
for the vice of wrath because
Some saw going against the only themselves outmatched. she is especially good at it-
local priest as blasphemy and -three dead ex-husbands seems
joined out of fear, while others Zam gets most of his supplies like a pretty round number. Her
tried to flee into the Yucatan from the Prideland Cartel, expertise is vengeance and rage,
121
and she is sure to let everyone woman, who sings as part of
around her know. the Parrothead Band’s nightly
ritual. Her voice is amateur at
Part of the reason that the best with no sign of improving,
Hedonists even stick around in but she does sing the lyrics to
Calli is due to her leadership. her favorite songs with such
She reminds her followers to passion that it is hard to not
call the place by its holy be entertained by them. Barely
name of Cancun, and encourages five feet tall, but not lacking
those around her to bask in in presence, she speaks wisdom
the traditions of the party using the words of the kings of
city. Her single-most important old when she delivers her rock
motivation is the retaking of sermon every Friday night.
Cancun and the death of the King
on the Coast. Multiple operations As leader of the Parrothead
are organized to complete this Band, Margarita Mimosa is
goal, and not all of them seem possibly the most influential
totally altruistic. It is Hedon woman on the island of Cozumel.
Rising that brought the Light Few people on the island do not
of Hedon to the reopened port at least find some wisdom in her
of Cozumel, and she despises words, even spoken on the verge
that the people there refuse of drunkenness. Her influence
to acknowledge all of the vices has been what has made hooch
of man. Speakers for Hedon and other fine alcohols such
Rising risk leaving Cancun for an important part of Cozumel
Cozumel so that they can preach lifestyle and economy. She
at Fiesta Flat. Beyond this, points to the words of various
the Harbinger of Wrath has kings that nobody knows when a
put together a group of holy volcano is going to blow, so
warriors, hedonistic paladins we should all behave like the
that engage in local terrorism working day is done and have
against the tyrannical state. a margarita. Being carefree
is unique to Cozumel because
Margarita it faces few dangers from the
Mimosa, the infected, but Margarita Mimosa
Drunken Mother is having a tough time dealing
with outsiders that have
“Does she ever pass out? No. caught wind of the little bit
She just gets drunker.” of paradise that is her home.
-Steve, Parrothead Bandmate Most come with very different
concepts of what life should
Sporting a chin-length cut be, and violence and crime
of stringy brown curls and a pair has slowly increased in ways
of scratched up sunglasses, the that her wisdom doesn’t seem
middle-aged holy woman of the to know how to handle. To the
King’s Court maintains an ever- Drunken Mother, it is difficult
present smile. Bright-colored to understand why anyone would
tees or Hawaiian shirts make up want to hurt another person.
the majority of her wardrobe,
along with cargo shorts and worn
flower sandals. There’s always a
drink in the hand of this front-
122
123

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“What, little man?” Mig turned, smiling. He was clearly impressed.

“We can’t ever come back here, Momma.”

Lone Star. The Pridelands. Texarkana.

In short, the standard

The stunted emotional core,

History the priests of the Mayan civilization took to

Never again will we be enslaved to the

While not unlike most other shamblers,

There is a difference between a Priest and a Preacher. A Priest is a particularly focused

The wordless murmuring of the Preacher zombies

Fearful Presence: The Rot Mare’s ragged appearance, wild eyes

In the wastelands of the Pridelands and the Lonestar

Crafts Level – 16 Damage Bonus – 3 Skill – Pistol Price – 50 Reload – 4 Clip – 8

Heavy Iron Revolver

Crafts Level – 16 Damage Bonus – 3 Skill – Pistol Price – 50 Reload – 4 Clip – 8

Crafts Level – 10 Damage Bonus – 6 Skill – Pistol Price – 85 Reload – 2 Clip – 3

Crafts Level – 8 Damage Bonus – 6 Skill – Long Price – 45

Crafts Level – 5 Damage Bonus – 2 Skill – Throw Price – 10

Quick Spring Holster

Wrist Mounted Tension Holster

The first thing you’ll notice

The only major settlement

Although they may seem

Texicans look like Mericans

Although Lawmen can perform

Motivation: Lawmen are

Step into New Austin and

Despite their name, not

Today, the tribe protects

Motivation: Green glow is good.

Without many other options,

Tammy’s Tar Bar

The generator sounds are the

Many of the windows of

The King’s affinity for the

The Atoll’s isolation

The survivors that call The Drowning

The longer a wait between

There is little strategy to

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