WHO’S WHO

The residents of El Dorado, called Hellions, aren’t the only Lineages making a home in the region. Here is what is broadly known about the major factions and peoples in the area.

+ THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

The Institutions are overall friendly to the town of El Dorado, although they are largely self-interested and compete with one another. Those with skill in Financial Influence would do well to keep track of their fortunes. Master Financiers may even establish their own Sister Organization, a merchant group allied with any one of the Institutions that can further influence and benefit from their success.

Western Trade Consortium

Area of Influence: Trade and Transport
Merchants: Auntie Ro’s Air Field, Big Rhonda’s Big Rigs, Sans Califia Sails

Established in the years prior to the Aurelia’s War, WTC dictated trade throughout the region, issuing or denying trade papers to various merchant groups. Their understanding of trade routes, networking, existing trade relationships, and the deep pockets of pureblood elites helped them quickly re-establish themselves after the Big One. They are led by a Senate of trade representatives. They benefit whenever products of any kind are transported from one place to another and do their best to incentivize this with bulk discounts and complicated, lengthy supply chains. The more something changes hands, the more money WTC makes. The downside is that longer supply chains are more vulnerable to disruptions. WTC’s success hinges on safe, reliable, unrestricted trade.

RAMCO – Raw Alloys and Materials Corporation

Area of Influence: Durable Commodities
Merchants: Coastal Metal Supply, Found Forage, Scrapyard Farms

The Raw Alloys and Materials Corporation’s success is tied to the rise of the Universal Industrialists. Whether the Solestros created the company first or the company created the community of the Universal Industrialists is up for debate. While businesses collapsed after the Big One, RAMCO formed and cleverly went to buy out and seize control of the raw commodities and unthought-of industries that would be in high demand soon enough but were overlooked by less humble investors. Though they control valuable goods, they rely on the WTC to sell and move their goods, and Blackridge and Underground Market to purchase them. New mines, scrap yards, and untapped ruins are extremely valuable to the continued success of the corporation. RAMCO is run by a president that is elected and supported by board members.

Blackridge Industries

Area of Influence: Lasting Products
Merchants: Gizmos Gadgets & Gewgaws, Makeshift Makers, Ultimate Armory

Beginning as a small group of artisans looking to help people rebuild after the Big One, Blackridge Industries has grown into the Southern Broken Coast’s leading producer of quality equipment. Whether it’s complex gizmos, armor or simple laboring tools, Blackridge is committed to ensuring that the good people of the Southern Broken Coast have the gear that they need – at a modest profit, of course. Overseen by a board of directors elected by company shareholders, Blackridge is reliant on outside suppliers and shipping groups to gather raw resources and deliver finished products.

Underground Market

Area of Influence: Consumable Products
Merchants: F.G.’s Gastro Publicans, Gizmos Gadgets, Skyland Church Brewery

Beneath the surface lies a warren of tunnels, both cavernous and sprawling.  Until recent times the denizens were primarily homesteaders, subsisting on their crop of Gonzian Shrooms.  In recent years their crop has been decimated by plague, leaving them to turn to other industries and trade with surface settlements.  Their street food and fermented beverages have already earned a reputation among the hip folk in The Hills, while their mass-produced, chintzy baubles flow forth in impressive quantities to be sold at lower-end market stalls and street corners.  They are organized by a congress of Districts, each representing different trades. The fact that their goods are so diverse limits their exposure to risk. They require raw materials from other organizations for their manufacturing, and the varying quality of their products requires access to diverse markets.

The Banking House of Clement and Greer

Area of Influence: Services
Merchants: Faithful Findings, Parasol Research Group, Western Wasteland Medical

This banking house has sprung up seemingly out of nowhere but has considerable capital and is not hesitant to give out loans or accounts to seemingly any person or business. The institution has proven itself extremely savvy with investments and appears to have bottomless liquid assets. Many Pureblood families trust their finances to the banking house, although there are rumors about the exact motives of the institution. Is it a benevolent backer of interfaith talks, the advancement of science, and a healthier Broken Coast? Or are they looking to hoard religious items, support unethical and dangerous experiments, and collect the private information of individuals’ health? The hierarchy of the organization is unknown as well as who or what Clement and Greer are, but representatives of the bank often reference “The Authority” as an entity in charge.

Crenshaw Union

Area of Influence: Perishable Commodities
Merchants: Del Mar Fishery, Henhouse Ranch, Sunshine Farms

The Big One caused a large disruption in the production of the basic supplies needed to keep the coast fed. In the aftermath, farms and other food producers banded together to make sure they were all supported with what they needed to continue business. As pressure to sell their businesses to wealthy pureblood investors grew, they decided to form a union partnership to better support each other and to present a unified front when other organizations attempted to cut their rates or buy them out. The Crenshaw Union has a very centralized leadership of one Union boss with several underbosses to manage the businesses. The organization is somewhat demanding on its members but is fiercely resistant to any outside influence or threat to business. The Union relies heavily on the local environment and weather being stable or at least predictable. 

Sister Organizations

Characters with Master Financial Influence may create a Sister Organization to one of the existing Financial Institutions by submitting an Action Request.

+ THE MAGIC KINGDOM

Once upon a time, long, long ago, a city-state renowned as the Happiest Place on Earth fell beneath the waves. Eventually these ruins were explored by unbreathing Full Dead and amphibious Saltwise. While vulnerable to aquatic attacks, they found that being submerged offered general safety against typical raiders and zombies. They renewed the city-state, calling it the Magic Kingdom. Eventually the kingdom paired with a Digitarian collective, the Imagination Engineers, to build the protective Fish Bowl around the kingdom.  The Big One thrust the ground underneath the Kingdom upward, lifting it from the water and creating an island, where the kingdom now stands.

The Royal Court of Fantasia

Ruled until recently by His Royal Majesty, King Arthur Carrousel, the Happiest, and his wife, Her Royal Majesty, Queen Julie Carrousel, the Practically Perfect, Sovereigns of the Magic Kingdom, may their reign be long and happily ever after. Several royal delegations and various nobility have visited the Hellions since the Kingdom’s reemergence. A formal alliance between the Magic Kingdom and El Dorado was struck shortly after the Kingdom’s emergence. Recent unrest, aided in part by visiting Hellions, has led to a military coup. Where this leaves the relationship between El Dorado and the new military leadership of Dippy Dawg and the Goof Troop remains to be seen.

+ DEAD HORSE CLAN

More Coming soon!

+ THE EMPIRE TOWNSHIPS

Despite the name, The Empire is not ruled by central leadership but is simply a large area where many quiet folk townships reside. The villages keep to their own for most matters but will come together regularly to keep all the other villages well informed of outside dangers and rumors. Though dispersed, the Quiet Folk are not simple farmers that are easy pickings for bandits. The Quiet folk never say it outright, but anyone else in the area knows the saying “You mess with one township, you mess with The Empire”. They are primarily Sainthood followers, welcoming and helping travelers but quick to send Karma back around to any suspicious or disrespectful guests.

THE CORONAS

Smallest of the townships. Closest to the more metropolitan and trade heavy areas, Coronas go outside of the borders of their village more often than most quiet folk and let more outsiders in. They are the main source of information for the other quiet folk about Broken Coast events and make sure to inform the other families. They also make it a point to know as much about their trade partners as possible for purposes of trusting them and making sure they know where they live should a deal go sour. Rumor is that if you are perceived as a threat to the quiet folk of The Empire, the Coronas are the ones to swing the scythe.  

THE BERNADINO TOWNSHIP

Tucked quietly away against the base of the mountain range. Bernadinos are more industrious and crafty than their Rivers neighbors. They do small amounts of mining in the mountains and produce plain but sturdy goods. The Bernandinos hosted the Hellions during the Wandering, and the Hellions were able to arrange cooperation between The Empire and the Diamondback Tainted Kith to ward off swarms of mutant cicadas.

THE RIVERS

A large area of Pre-Fall suburbs turned into multi-tiered farmland run by spread out Quiet Folk. They use their adjacency to a river to make sure the crops are well watered. One of the biggest producers of herb and produce in the area, many are sharecroppers for Sunshine Farms.

TWIN PLOWS TOWNSHIP

Twin Plows was in desperate need of development when the Hellions arrived during the Wandering. The Hellions invested much to help them improve their home. They built protective fencing and a sturdy aqueduct, and renewed the farmlands. Then they were betrayed, as it turned out all the residents were secretly Misery Raiders. The problem was solved (with fire), and the then-vacant town was turned over to the Lost Ones for resettlement.

+ TAINTED KITHS

The fallout from the Bad Brain outbreaks manufactured by Aurelia’s champion Pestilence was still being dealt with when the Big One hit. Many were cut off from medical care and the disease began to spread again. Unable to deal with the new outbreaks, the infected were isolated and sometimes pushed out of the struggling communities. Forced out into the wastes, these groups had to set aside all animosities to come together and not only survive but thrive. 

At first the groups were nomadic, and it was during this time that they noticed as the months kept going, the disease did not progress. Once it became known that the disease had stabilized inside its host and would no longer progress some settlements began to let these Tainted inside their walls. But for many they had found new homes out in the Wastes, and this is how the Tainted Kiths were formed.

DIAMONDBACK KITH

The Diamondback Kith derive their name from the large snakes that they hunt out in the desert wastes East of El Dorado. These desert dwellers are masters of wasteland survival, whether it be foraging for herbs, salvaging scrap from abandoned rides, or hunting the many horribly mutated beasts that inhabit the wastes.

SMOKE JUMPERS

North of El Dorado in the hills is The Station, a complex large enough to house dozens, and it is here that the Smoke Jumpers make their home. They keep a constant vigil on the wastes below, and should a fire erupt, they hop on their large rides to reach the fire and lend whatever aid they can.  Burner Raiders are their sworn enemy, and the Smoke Jumpers are nearly as crazed about destroying them as the Burners are about destroying everything else.

ORANGE LINE KITH

The Orange Line Kith roam the buried railways and tunnels of the Broken Coast. Theirs is a constant struggle against Lascarians and Yorker gangs in the dark warrens for whatever resources can be salvaged. Having recently been pushed out of their home, Terminus, they now walk the rails in search of a place to recover before retaking their home.

+ THE PACIFIC PACT

More Coming soon!

+ THRU HIKER ROVERS

When the Big One cracked the land many highways and roads were left useless. It took quite some time to get vehicles back on the road, and in that time the Rovers took advantage of their particular brand of traveling and applied it to the new landscape. They blazed trails through the mountains, both the newly-formed and the old, and kept transport alive with the use of their own two feet and the occasional pack animal. Thru Hikers do their best to live alongside the land and work with nature’s pristine beauty. They prefer to blaze trails with the land, not pave over it or blast tunnels through it.

Thru Hikers are highly nomadic but have small Centers of Visiting in the J-Tree desert, up in the mountains at Sequoia Station, and on the seashore near the area of the archipelago known as The Channels that serve as points of meeting and support for the Thru Hiker Trails. Their largest gatherings are at a place called Nowhere, a settlement that moves constantly throughout the Devil’s Oaks. It was here that they twice hosted the Hellions during the Wandering.

ORGANIZATION

Thru hikers have no true leadership, but follow a set of codes:

• Any disaster, whether it be natural or man-made, that threatens the ecosystem must be rallied against to preserve nature’s splendor.  Remember, only you can prevent forest fires.

• Treat the land as a family member, not a bounty to siphon life and profit from.  Leave every campsite better than you found it.

• Always help travelers. Educate them about the surrounding flora, fauna, and undead. Promote an appreciation for nature.

FAITH

Many Thru Hikers follow the Tribe of Seasons. They believe that the Big One happened for a reason; to humble civilization before the might of the land and to give nature a chance to regrow. They believe that the cycle of nature is inevitable but still must have a helping hand in the face of the careless industry of bigger cities.

+ CHILDREN OF THE MOUNTAIN

While the Big One shattered many aspects of the old Broken Coast, no change was more radical than what befell the Children of the Mountain. Their necropolis, once safe within the mountain, shattered as the earth shook, erupting violently from the Lonely Mountains peak and laying waste to all in it’s path. Now some four years later, the Children have rebuilt their mountaintop home, perched on the edge of the caldera.

Over the last year, the Children of the Mountain have gradually begun to move away from their isolationist policy following the reparations made by El Dorado.

Jacinto

The voice of the Oracles to foreign powers, Jacinto serves as both emissary and point of contact.

The Oracles

A group of five Unborn who have devoted themselves entirely to watching the writhing tendrils and undulating flesh within the Chernabog, and discerning the best way in which to lead their people.

+ THE OLD ONES

As their name might imply, the Old Ones have lived in Devil’s Oaks longer than anyone can remember. Following the teachings of their thirteen spirits and the Wheel of Seasons, as well as the wisdom of generations, the Old Ones have guided the younger peoples of Devil’s Oaks. Through peace, prosperity, war and cataclysm, the tribe has walked with the understanding that they have been here, perhaps, since the bombs fell, and will remain here for many generations to come.

Scathach

An Elder of the tribe and priest of the Seasons

+ ARCHITECTS OF THE PERFECT FORm

The Spire had the potential to be a perfect creation of unlimited power and promise. Unfortunately, as it was built by mortal hands, it was inherently flawed. It is the goal of the Architects to study the bones of the “could have been god” as they grow and are shaped by natural forces, in the hope of revealing the shape and pattern the Spire was meant to take but didn’t. The Architects hope to eventually reform the Spire from the millions of crystals around the broken coast according to the principles of their sacred geometry and future understanding of the Perfect Form. Such a creation, they believe, could and would (definitely) use it’s god-like psionic power to build a utopia out of the Post-Fall wasteland.

+ MEMENTO MORI

Memento Mori is a cult that believes that all ego, or sense of self, is a mere illusion relative to the collective consciousness of the Grave Mind. Their belief is a frightening combination of solipsism and nihilism, viewing the “Deathless Being” as the only actual sentient entity in the universe, therefore rendering everything else in existence irrelevant. All perception of self is false. All thought is false. All memory is false. Forget all else but this - Remember that you will die.

+ Notable People

VICTOR VON BARON

Having survived a family coup and re-emerging from underground, The Baron has regained his rightful place as a powerful figure in the metal forging industry. Despite being a Pureblood, his power and materials were not given to him but had to be hard earned by blood, sweat, and sheer will power. Shortly after the destruction of The Spire he began gathering and experimenting with the various Spire Crystals as others have, but has chosen to see them destroyed and refined into more conventional metals in order to remove them from the face of the Wastes. His choice to destroy the crystals is fueled by his belief that they will cause another Fall, having already seen the pseudo arms race that has popped up along the various Strain groups and settlements that he has done business with. Despite his disposition, The Baron is a reasonable and polite man to all those who do business with him and can be approached for business opportunities if one were to gain his favor.

DR. SPANNER

More Coming soon!

MOJAVE JONES

The Mojave Jones Society seeks to preserve Pre-Fall and early Post-Fall artifacts for academic study and display in the Mojave Jones Mobile Museum of Majestic Mysteries. Mojave Jones himself, or Mojo as he likes to be called, is seemingly the sole member of this society, and his “Museum” fits neatly in a trunk strapped to the back of his jeep. He is bitter rivals with the Perfect Relic Preservation Society (PeRPS), a group of mercantile treasure hunters. The Hellions assisted Mojo in unlocking the hidden Project Roanoke facilities, which we can all agree had no negative repercussions whatsoever.

LEGION

“We are many.”

“We are Legion.”

“We want to go home.”

“We seek the many pieces.”