Post by Insano-Man on Sept 24, 2018 7:55:04 GMT -5
This topic is a child of the Chopping Blocks article directory.
RUBBLE ROUSERS
Population in the Chopping Blocks is sparse, but tenacious. Most live their lives in half-ruined buildings lying somewhere between mercenary camps and Space Looney scrapyards, eking out an existence through salvage and trade. Farms and livestock are scarce, difficult to maintain, and constantly beset by poor soil, toxic fumes, and roaming monsters. As a result, food and water are often sourced from larger towns, open Looney bunkers, or outside the blocks. Life is typically at the mercy of caravans and mercenary protection.
For most, extortion is a fact of life. Mercenary-run protection rackets are common. Banditry is a thriving business. Bounty hunting and assassination contracts are so common that even collateral damage and cold-blooded murder often come at a profit. Mercenaries regularly supplement their income with small contracts to clear out dens of monsters or rival marauders. All the while, a perverse take on peace exists for the common folk of the blocks. Few are ever targeted directly, most have accepted extortion as taxes, and the sheer quantity of weapons and vehicles moving through the region helps suppress monsters within and without.
Without the throughput of combatants, civilization in the blocks would be close to impossible. As with many other husklands, monsters are everywhere. They nest in ruins, emerge from tunnels, stalk the asphalt plains, and lurk in the Space Loonies' own junkyards. They arrive aboard garbage haulers, hidden on the undercarriage of merchant vehicles, or even seem to appear from nothingness. Going off major roads or away from larger settlements is nearly as suicidal as a raid on a Space Looney processing facility.
Salvage, however, is few and far between near well-travelled areas. The heavy reliance on scavenging requires each settlement to maintain a stock of seasoned salvagers with sufficient arms and ammunition to survive the wastes. Many hire on mercenaries, especially freelancers, to better equip their salvage teams. Others depend on the assistance - willing or accidental - of nearby Looney bunkers. Joint operations between smaller settlements are everyday occurrences, and many owe their survival to mutual interests.
Combing the ruins and scrap fields comes with no shortage of risk. This goes beyond the region's monsters, into the more abiguous realm of environmental hazards. As a huskland, terrorscapes abound throughout the blocks. Areas of severe fighting are often plagued by concrete dust storms and deadly gases thrown up from ruptured sewer lines or industrial plants. The constant intermingling of rubble and scrap routinely throws up clouds of toxic fumes, which regularly intermingle with tornadoes and gusts across the plains. Gas masks, oxygen tanks, and other protective equipment are vital just to go from town to town.
Technology in the Chopping Blocks is at the mercy of salvage and trade. In isolated areas with limited resources, townsfolk may have no better than spears crafted from rebar alongside prehistoric living conditions. In well-to-do blocks, a town watch might boast heavy machine guns, homemade coilguns, and disciplined radio communication. Still-functioning power plants are coveted prizes for prospective settlers. Industrial equipment is valued like no other. Working computers are the stuff of legend.
Despite the significant quantity of monsters obliging xenophobia throughout, aliens are regular sights in the blocks. They maintain a higher population percentage among the towns and mercenary bands of the Chopping Blocks than most other territories on Ventannen. This is largely thanks to the Space Looney presence throughout the area - and the significant quantity of spacers in mercenary units. For everyday townsfolk and mercenaries, they are no more than friends, neighbors, rivals, or passers-by.
For the Space Loonies, the alien population in the blocks is an awkward subject. Many are deserters from Space Looney fleets and regarded with varying levels of antipathy. Many more are spacers displaced from their homes or forced to root their ships down permanently as impromptu homes. Countless others are refugees from elsewhere, seeking safety where the Space Loonies are at their most concentrated. A mixed assortment of all types even seek out the blocks in an attempt to seek passage to orbit, either from spacer mercenaries or the Space Loonies themselves.
Evacuations and rescue operations are regular occurrences. Many aliens are persecuted by land-dwelling Loonies or xenophobic mercenaries. Some are members of threatened populations, while others simply have family above the planet. Others still were never deserters in the first place; their ships had simply failed, crashed, and left them stranded without a voice on Set. Just as the Chopping Blocks are the last resort for many mercenaries, they are the sole option for many aliens in the surrounding territories - often, for much the same reasons.
RUBBLE ROUSERS
Population in the Chopping Blocks is sparse, but tenacious. Most live their lives in half-ruined buildings lying somewhere between mercenary camps and Space Looney scrapyards, eking out an existence through salvage and trade. Farms and livestock are scarce, difficult to maintain, and constantly beset by poor soil, toxic fumes, and roaming monsters. As a result, food and water are often sourced from larger towns, open Looney bunkers, or outside the blocks. Life is typically at the mercy of caravans and mercenary protection.
For most, extortion is a fact of life. Mercenary-run protection rackets are common. Banditry is a thriving business. Bounty hunting and assassination contracts are so common that even collateral damage and cold-blooded murder often come at a profit. Mercenaries regularly supplement their income with small contracts to clear out dens of monsters or rival marauders. All the while, a perverse take on peace exists for the common folk of the blocks. Few are ever targeted directly, most have accepted extortion as taxes, and the sheer quantity of weapons and vehicles moving through the region helps suppress monsters within and without.
Without the throughput of combatants, civilization in the blocks would be close to impossible. As with many other husklands, monsters are everywhere. They nest in ruins, emerge from tunnels, stalk the asphalt plains, and lurk in the Space Loonies' own junkyards. They arrive aboard garbage haulers, hidden on the undercarriage of merchant vehicles, or even seem to appear from nothingness. Going off major roads or away from larger settlements is nearly as suicidal as a raid on a Space Looney processing facility.
Salvage, however, is few and far between near well-travelled areas. The heavy reliance on scavenging requires each settlement to maintain a stock of seasoned salvagers with sufficient arms and ammunition to survive the wastes. Many hire on mercenaries, especially freelancers, to better equip their salvage teams. Others depend on the assistance - willing or accidental - of nearby Looney bunkers. Joint operations between smaller settlements are everyday occurrences, and many owe their survival to mutual interests.
Combing the ruins and scrap fields comes with no shortage of risk. This goes beyond the region's monsters, into the more abiguous realm of environmental hazards. As a huskland, terrorscapes abound throughout the blocks. Areas of severe fighting are often plagued by concrete dust storms and deadly gases thrown up from ruptured sewer lines or industrial plants. The constant intermingling of rubble and scrap routinely throws up clouds of toxic fumes, which regularly intermingle with tornadoes and gusts across the plains. Gas masks, oxygen tanks, and other protective equipment are vital just to go from town to town.
Technology in the Chopping Blocks is at the mercy of salvage and trade. In isolated areas with limited resources, townsfolk may have no better than spears crafted from rebar alongside prehistoric living conditions. In well-to-do blocks, a town watch might boast heavy machine guns, homemade coilguns, and disciplined radio communication. Still-functioning power plants are coveted prizes for prospective settlers. Industrial equipment is valued like no other. Working computers are the stuff of legend.
Despite the significant quantity of monsters obliging xenophobia throughout, aliens are regular sights in the blocks. They maintain a higher population percentage among the towns and mercenary bands of the Chopping Blocks than most other territories on Ventannen. This is largely thanks to the Space Looney presence throughout the area - and the significant quantity of spacers in mercenary units. For everyday townsfolk and mercenaries, they are no more than friends, neighbors, rivals, or passers-by.
For the Space Loonies, the alien population in the blocks is an awkward subject. Many are deserters from Space Looney fleets and regarded with varying levels of antipathy. Many more are spacers displaced from their homes or forced to root their ships down permanently as impromptu homes. Countless others are refugees from elsewhere, seeking safety where the Space Loonies are at their most concentrated. A mixed assortment of all types even seek out the blocks in an attempt to seek passage to orbit, either from spacer mercenaries or the Space Loonies themselves.
Evacuations and rescue operations are regular occurrences. Many aliens are persecuted by land-dwelling Loonies or xenophobic mercenaries. Some are members of threatened populations, while others simply have family above the planet. Others still were never deserters in the first place; their ships had simply failed, crashed, and left them stranded without a voice on Set. Just as the Chopping Blocks are the last resort for many mercenaries, they are the sole option for many aliens in the surrounding territories - often, for much the same reasons.
