The Wasteland

Contents

Overview

The Wasteland is an unforgiving place, as the name implies. Many inhabitants, the survivors of the Contact War, attempt to make a livelihood here. Their reasons for doing so varies: Be it religious, familial ties, or lawbound exile. Here are a few examples of clans that live in the wasteland and how they fare with the harsh life outside of the terraformed areas, the Hegemony controlled territories, and the relative safety of the Untouched Lands.

One of the reasons most members of the Clans leave their villages is to have a steady supply of credits for their family back home - for medicine, food, and water. Those who make it out of the Wasteland are lucky to be out, but not everyone has the funds to pay for a smuggler to get them past the Izweski navy.

Life in the Wastes

Living in the wasteland is no easy feat. Many who try, fail. Others waste away, barely something one can call living. However, a precious few manage to overcome all odds, subjugating what many believed to be the end of all Sinta into something with purpose. Through iron will and steel blade, they set forth into the irradiated deserts in an attempt to reclaim what is rightfully theirs.

Life always prevails.

Quality of life differs from settlement to settlement, some thrive upon the hidden riches uncovered below the sands, while others wither and decay as trade routes get intercepted and resources run low. Communication between the settlements are often rudimentary, use of smoke signals, coloured balloons raised into the air (raised green means good, raised red means bad, and so forth), and in some lucky cases, salvaged pre-war radio equipment.

A majority of Unathi who find themselves stranded here are the remnants of the Traditionalist coalition. While they found themselves at odds with the Izweski Hegemony in the past, they realize that they have been beat, and simply cannot survive without some support from those within the Untouched Lands. Many still bear resentment and even anger towards the Hegemony and those that swear fealty to it. Still, trade is conducted to make ends meet.

A few settlements dotted around the area have received help from Hephaestus Industries to set up educational centres, capable of teaching hatchlings the way the galaxy works, in an attempt to recruit as many of them into the company when they reach adulthood. The Interstellar Aid Corps (IAC) has established hospitals and learning centres in a small number of the larger established colonies.

For the disillusioned few, those that fell out of the learning centres, or those that simply were too barbaric to live in the establish settlements, a criminal underground was established. These secret networks distribute spoofed space traffic codes, as well as transport into different star systems, in exchange for servitude for a set amount of years, a great debt, or a single, dangerous task.

Factions of the Wasteland

The Reclaimers

Clans of Unathi paid to scavenge the wastes in search of pre-war technology. They’re typically trained for combat, though there will of course be engineers and people who care for cargo, as well as scientists capable of operating and reactivating the technology. Known by the inhabitants of the wasteland as “Rustboys”.

One of the landcrawlers, slowly making its way through the wastes.

They operate as Unathi usually would, having the Moghean version of a nuclear family. Gender roles are enforced as normal. The men being the preferred sharpshooters, gunners, and pilots. Women act as cooks, medics and caretakers of the young. Both men and women share some jobs, such as cleaning, repairing the landcrawler, and delivering resources around the craft.

They operate out of landcrawlers, massive mechanical beasts of burden that use treads to move across the wasteland. These vehicles are so massive they’re capable of supporting the entire clan living in them for months at a time. Realistically they only need to refuel it, but the wasteland wears down on both the people and the vehicles they use, creating a need for them to head back home and repair.

Some wealthy clans have upgraded their landcrawlers with a massive steam catapult on top, capable of launching planes that are used to scout the wastes; spotting dangers, loot and Punished bases. These are usually crewed by two men, a pilot and a spotter/gunner. Some may carry bombs, but these are seen as barbaric and damaging to the loot.

When they find something they can salvage, or some wastelanders attempt to attack them, they deploy smaller but highly advanced sandrovers. These vehicles are fast enough to catch up to any threat, as well as chase down in-use pre-war tech, and disable it.

A Reclaimer vehicle, speeding across the dunes.

These clans aren’t particularly pious, having a more pragmatic and materialistic view on things in general. As long as you didn’t jeopardize the operation, you were free to call the landcrawler your home.

Due to the work they do, they’re well liked by the nobles, who hire them as mercenaries of war on occasion. They also serve as escorts and guides for traveling nobles, protecting them from the horrors of the wasteland.

Clan "Gawgaryn" - The Punished Clans

"There is nothing left. The Ancestors weep as they beg us to leave Moghes. No more children will grow up in our Ancestral Homelands the same as we have, ever again." - The words of 'The Lost Son' while visiting the ransacked capital of the Azarak Kingdom - the losing side in the Contact War.

A mega-clan forced to attack others during the war, or risk starvation and total annihilation. They were supposed to receive the capital punishment, but fled to the wastes to escape this. Now they roam the wasteland, having become exactly what they wanted to escape in the past, bandits who loot and pillage to make a living.

A Punished raider, "Abushk Gawgaryn", mounted on his specialized sandbike.

They are rumoured to have an overseeing leader, 'The Lost Son' as he is known, refuses to go by his original name, and only has that title to identify him. He leads the Punished Clans, simply so that they can survive. His only goal is the survival of his clan, and his people, and he's even resorted to kidnapping Unathi and forcing them onto ships outbound to other systems keep them alive, even if they wish to remain by his side and defend him.

The act of being exiled and cut off from the rest of the unathi society has left them worse for wear. So much as mentioning “The Exile Event” will get one beaten to a pulp and even killed, if the crowd was enraged enough. Still, the Clan Father sends two sinta to the Hegemon territory annually, willing or not, to ask for forgiveness. These always get turned around at the city gates and cannot return home, as this will surely lead to their death.

The Punished don’t care much for gender roles, their situation is too dire to segment their workforce. A sinta is obligated to pull their weight despite gender, and in the worst of times, despite age.

There are hidden bases scattered throughout the wasteland, acting as pit stops to rest and recover from raiding, more so than bases of operation. Permanence is a last resort, as staying in one area will get them bombed out, or worse, captured and forced to face their crimes. There are rumours spreading through the Hegemony that there exists a primary base, where Clanfather Kuma’Gizz lives and coordinates the raiding missions.

The largest raid ever performed have been the thefts of Solarian trade shuttles that were landed at an Izweski wasteland camp - the Gawgaryn boarders forced the human pilots to pick up hundreds of Unathi and help them escape to the Frontier and beyond - many of these clans eventually finding homes in Tau Ceti seeking legal asylum. The five Gawgaryn warriors in charge of the raid were not given asylum by Tau Ceti, and instead were given to the Izweski. They were later executed publicly.

These five Gawgaryn warriors are forever worshiped by the Unathi that were able to escape, as heroes.

The Mi'kuetz

A band of K’lax, consisting primarily of Queenless Vaurca. They roam the Wasteland scavenging and surviving in the ruins of what once was Unathi kingdoms. They make use of a combination of Klaxan and Unathi gear. While they are Wastelanders, they practice the same tenets the Unathi of Moghes do. The Hegemony recognizes them, sometimes hiring them to do tasks that Sinta’Unathi cannot.

Due to their work in the wasteland and their population primarily being made up of Queenless, they do not have a specific coloration. However, they maintain the green tint the rest of their hive have, with some being darker and some being lighter in color.

History

These Vaurca were among the many to arrive at Uueoa-Esa. However, when the K’lax were vassalized by the Unathi, the need to have Queenless within the hive grew less and less, and more of them were resigned to live and work on Moghes, as part of an independent workforce.

As the Hegemony Unathi population viewed the K’lax in a negative light at first, a major case of discontent brewed within the ranks of the K’lax Queenless. Many banded together to their own communities, where games were played, social events were hosted, and police forces formed to self-govern the population.

A Mi'kuetz worker lounging upon a beanbag in the shade.

Eventually, they realized that life in the wastes might not be as bad as some of the Unathi have told them. When they ventured out into the wastes, they discovered that the inhospitable nature it holds towards Unathi affected them to a lesser degree. They quickly developed nomadic tendencies, and began calling themselves The Mi’kuetz.

Way of Life

In contrast to the minor oppression and difficulty these Vaurca faced in the past, their personalities are bright, cheery. They find it easy to connect to people, after the discomfort over the bug-like looks have passed. Workers have the best attitudes of the subtypes that exist. Happy-go-lucky, they work while singing tunes of custom-made songs praising the Queens and their community, derived from Unathi folk-music. Warriors are cocky, but good-natured. While they exude happiness and joy, their personalities do not interfere with their combat ability.

They are nomadic, roaming the wastes from site to site, in search of salvageable technology. They developed large bound that can be used as pack-animals, called the Vizk'tul. These bound are capable of holding many tents and supplies needed to survive on the wastes. They can also carry injured Mi’kuetz who are incapable of moving themselves. They find their use beyond what normal-sized bound can do by pulling large sleds. These sleds can contain a variety of useful things, a storage sled for transporting scavenged technology, or a mobile forge or kiln for working in the field. Some bound have large saddles upon which snipers and scouts perch to detect threats and possible scavenging sites. Their technology is catered primarily to their lifestyle. Their most well known to be a chemical substance engineered to burn in any environment, even underwater, much like Zorane Fire. This chemical is used in flamethrower-like weaponry, but can also be used to melt down scrap for recycling purposes.

Their food consists of genetically altered k’ois which does not spore when fully grown, but instead creeps along the surface of wherever it’s planted. While it cannot survive in the sands of the wasteland, the soil underneath contains enough minerals to allow farming. As farming while roaming is quite difficult, Mi’kuetz engineers developed soil beds that can be placed on top of traveling Vizk'tul.

Diplomatic Status

The Hegemony population grew to get used to the Mi’kuetz presence on their homeworld, but the Wasteland factions, with the exception of the Dorviza, tend to see them as intruders upon their lands, desecrating and salvaging ruins which are rightfully theirs. The Hegemony contracts these Mi’kuetz for jobs other Wastelander factions refuse to do, or Sinta’Unathi simply cannot do, due to environmental hazards or otherwise.

The Mi’kuetz also keep good relations with the main K’lax hive, having kept close contact with them even after venturing into the wastes. Their expertise are often sought by Klaxan chroniclers and researchers, who wish to learn more about Moghes and the technology that can be recovered to augment and advance their own.

They do not have a good relationship with the Aut’akh, as both factions have caught spies stealing technology from eachother, the Mi’kuetz being marginally more successful due to backing from the Hegemony. Some of these K’lax have been nicknamed Bunker Busters for their uncanny ability to penetrate Aut’akh dens, having remembered underground tunnel warfare doctrines from Sedantis.

Outside of Uueoa-Esa the Mi’kuetz aren’t very well known, but are recognized to be part of the K’lax hive. Nanotrasen and Hephaestus both are known to hire from this group, mainly as a way to find cheap labour to explore hazardous away sites.

The Northern Wasteland

The Northern Wasteland is the smaller region of the Wasteland, spanning from the Tza Prairie in the west to the Zazalai Mountains in the east, separating it from the much larger Eastern Wasteland. Most of this region was affiliated with the Izweski Hegemony during the Contact War, and as such there has been a greater concentration of Izweski restoration efforts in the region. While the Northern Wasteland is still a harsh environment, plagued with radioactive fallout and deadly raiders, it is considered to be the ‘safer’ of the two regions of the Wasteland, with relatively more civilised settlements to be found, and Hegemony restoration work continuing with the aid of the K’lax Hive. While progress is slow, some small environments have been reclaimed from the harsh sand and dust, whether through the labour of the oasis clans or the Hegemony’s geo-engineers.

Hegemony Outposts

Camp Integrity

The largest Hegemony outpost in the Northern Wasteland is Camp Integrity, formerly an Izweski fortress during the Contact War. Due to its advanced anti-missile and anti-aircraft defences, Integrity was able to avoid a direct nuclear strike, and protect some of the region around it from the Wasteland. When the nuclear exchange began, Camp Integrity was the main centre of evacuation for Hegemony refugees, using its shuttleport to carry those citizens who lost their homes to the Wasteland to safety.

The fort was kept manned for decades following the end of the War, but rapidly fell into difficulties, owing to its inability to resupply itself with food or water. However, during his time as Lord Regent, Not’zar Izweski kept maintaining Camp Integrity against the dangers of radiation and Gawgaryn raids, a decision which many called him foolish for.

It was in 2461 when the Hegemon truly put Camp Integrity to use - spearheading an initiative in cooperation with the K’lax to begin the reclamation of the Wasteland. Massive terraforming projects were initiated, using Camp Integrity as a base of operations. These machines took skilled labour to operate, both Vaurca and Unathi, which led to the civilian population of the camp expanding, leading to a small but thriving town growing around the fortress. However, with this expansion came greater risks. The Gawgaryn and other raider clans have made frequent attacks on the outlying regions of Camp Integrity, though so far the Izweski have managed to repel them before any serious damage is done.

Camp Integrity has even brought in more alien labour - with some human engineers from Hephaestus Industries taking jobs working on the complex terraforming equipment, and a rare few diona gestalts contributing in their own fashion to cleansing the Wasteland. While progress has been small, it has been notable - for the first time, the spreading Wasteland has been pushed back, and the inhabitable region around Camp Integrity is growing larger by the year.

With Integrity’s position as the heart of Izweski power in the Wasteland, it has also given rise to a large bounty hunting industry, as many warriors make their way there seeking a fight and fortune, whether independently or affiliated with a group such as the Fighters’ Guild or Dagamuir Freewater. Traditionalist holdouts, Gawgaryn raider lords, Izweski criminals and alien smugglers trading with the above are all frequent targets, with expeditions of hunters regularly setting out from Camp Integrity to seek their fortune in the harsh sands.

However, the recent famine has slowed reclamation down, as Camp Integrity has not yet reclaimed enough of the Wasteland to support itself - large portions of its food and water still need to be flown in by shuttle from the Untouched Lands, which are currently enduring food shortages of their own. These shuttle flights are not without their own perils, with some raider clans having gained access to Contact War-era anti-aircraft guns, and often attempting to shoot down the Izweski supply shuttles for the precious food and water they carry. Should the famine not be resolved quickly, it is entirely possible that Camp Integrity may be unsustainable - marking a failure for the Hegemon’s dreams of reclaiming the Wasteland.

The camp’s commander, Riziak Suosru, is a seasoned warrior - a veteran of the Contact War, who has been at Camp Integrity since those days. While he definitely has the experience to be stationed elsewhere by now, he has dedicated his life to seeing Camp Integrity prosper, and shares in the Hegemon’s dream of making the Wasteland bloom again. Suosru has seen off Gawgaryn raiders, radioactive storms, and everything else the Wasteland can throw at him, and shows no signs of budging, even with the ongoing famine. Among the locals, it is a common joke that Suosru will be at Camp Integrity until the fortress crumbles to dust.

Camp Modesty

The other Hegemony outpost in the Northern Wasteland is Camp Modesty. Located closer to the edge of the Wasteland, Modesty has always been less of a priority for Hegemony restoration efforts - while some terraforming operations have been set up there, it is far less of a hub for Izweski reclamation projects than its larger cousin. Modesty’s main purpose remains primarily military - Izweski forces garrisoned there help to keep Gawgaryn raiders from attempting to strike across the mountains, as well as keeping the regional command at Camp Integrity updated as a scouting force. While Modesty’s garrison is small, they are well-trained and disciplined, acting as scouts and surveyors of the Northern Wastes, mapping the region and keeping an eye on the larger Wasteland communities.

Unlike Integrity, Camp Modesty has little alien presence. While some K’laxan warriors have been integrated into the force there, the bulk of K’lax efforts in the reclamation is concentrated at Camp Integrity. The terraforming equipment there is largely older and less reliable, though the camp’s commander has been trying to get K’laxan workers sent to set up their own advanced equipment there for years.

Other Havens

The Hegemony’s outposts are certainly the safest settlements in the Northern Wasteland - but not the only settlements. The surviving clans of the radioactive wastes, while largely nomadic, have formed some permanent settlements of their own.

Canyon City is the largest of these, built within a network of slot canyons. While the small village that once lived there was abandoned during the nuclear exchange, it was used as a home by desperate survivors, who discovered the true value of the location - a vast underground aquifer. With access to one of the largest freshwater reserves of the Northern Wasteland, the Sinta of Canyon City were able to survive - and eventually, prosper, trading with Reclaimers, Mi’kuetz, Gawgaryn, and even Izweski forces for the supplies needed to establish a thriving community in the heart of the Wasteland. Canyon City is home to a number of clans, each contributing in their own way to their settlement’s prosperity and defence. Canyon City is known as a haven for the weary traveller of the Wastes, and often a stopping point for criminals on the run from Hegemony law - with but a few inviolable laws. Any disputes are to be settled outside the canyons, and the aquifer is not to be touched by any outsiders. To break either of these laws is to be met with swift punishment - depending on the severity of the dispute, the unfortunate Sinta might face anything from a night in jail to sober up, or immediate execution. Any who attempt to steal water, or to pollute the city’s aquifer, are met with death or exile should they be caught.

The Reclaimers have two crawlers located in the Northern Wasteland - the Za’zi and the Khurt’kuhk. While they tend to keep themselves to themselves when not being hired, they do trade in Canyon City, and are occasionally hired by Izweski nobility to safeguard them on a trip through the perils of the Waste. Currently, the Za’zi is in the employ of Canyon City, serving to protect it from any opportunistic raiders seeking to claim the settlement’s water for themselves. The Khurt’kuhk largely operates independently, trading with the Oasis clans for supplies and offering their services to Hegemony expeditionary forces.

The Spirits of the Oasis

The Oasis Clans largely consist of Sinta'unathi who simply try to make a living in the wasteland. While their outposts and travellers can be found far and wide, most of these clans dwell in the rare untouched oases of the Northern Wasteland, rarely being seen to the east of the Zazalai Mountains. They live in a state of symbiosis with the Dionae, which clears the radiation from their crops. They are agricultural experts, capable of farming even in the wastes. The food produced from these are used to feed both themselves and their animal companions.

A hatchling standing next to her wasteland home.

The larger villages plant huge swathes of dionae pods, which either get used to absorb the radiation in the surrounding area, or sent to new settlements to give them a headstart on the minute terraforming procedures. The more land that gets terraformed, the more crops get planted, the more biomass the dionae have available.

They have an attachment to their animals and the dionae, who they regard as pets up until a gestalt forms, who they then regard as fully fledged members of the clan.

Owing to their static lives and traditionalist nature, they have rigid gender roles. The women tend to the crops and animals, deal in commerce and negotiation, and prepare the food. The men, on the other hand, do hard manual labour such as mining or building, or train to become warriors skilled enough to defend their village from Punished raiders.

Chiefly, they follow the Th’akh religion, though some among them may have different opinions, or even dip into Sk’akhism. There is a firm belief among them that the ancestors wish for them to reclaim the land, and return what was once theirs to its original, beautiful form.

Oasis Clans

While players are in no way obligated to play these clans, and are more than welcome to homebrew their own, these clans are known and settled in the wasteland. Choosing to play one of these will allow you to play out their quirks, as well as meet other clanmembers on-station.

Clan Dorviza - The Dryads

"Is something the matter?"

This clan is considered to be Moghes’ leading experts in regards to all things flora. Their ability to twist a plant’s use to fit their own needs is unparalleled. Many times, the injured are brought to the Dorviza, where their unique traditional herbal treatments are used to heal the wounded.

The Punished frequently raid their settlements to get their hands on medical supplies. Often, these raids are fought off by a mixture of Dorviza forces and Reclaimer mercenaries who protect the Dorviza in exchange for discounted medical treatment.

Unathi from clan Dorviza would generally work in: Medical, Hydroponics, Xenobotany

Clan Vihnmes - The Negotiators

“We’ll see what we can do.”

The survivors of this clan is in no way physically fit, instead surviving the wild wastes by silvered tongue. They run inns and taverns as a way for those roaming the wasteland to get a safe place for rest and respite. Sooner to call upon help or talk those opposing them down, than to grasp at a weapon; the survival of this clan is speculated by many to simply be a miracle by the great Sk’akh.

A young Unathi, "Rahkr Ozeuoi", taking a break from repairs.

The Reclaimers make extensive use of the Vihnmes, either to rest at, while their Landcrawlers are in for repairs, or as a middleman to ensure that the nobles don’t mislead and underpay them for their services. Owing to the near-permanent presence of the Reclaimers, the Punished steer clear of all Vihnmes settlements.

Unathi from clan Vihnmes would generally work in: Cargo, Bartending, Counseling

Clan Ozeuoi - The Architects

“Whatcha need fixed?”

Strong and hardy, the Ozeuoi survive by pure ingenuity alone. What they lack in common sense and tact, they more than make up for in ability to cobble together scraps to create formidable creations. They live in relative seclusion from the other wasteland clans, owing to their overuse of turrets, traps and walls spanning miles of irradiated sand.

They make short work of Punished raids, by means of dispatching it before it even reaches their first set of gates. Not quick to make friends, but ultimately wanting to expand eventually, the Ozeuoi grow their numbers by recruiting retired Reclaimers, in exchange for handling the repairs of their massive Landcrawlers.

Unathi from clan Ozeuoi would generally work in: Engineering, Science

Gawgaryn of the Northern Wasteland

The Gawgaryn raider groups of the Northern Wasteland are generally smaller, but better-equipped. Due to the more modernised state of the Hegemony prior to the Contact War, the equipment they have been able to salvage, purchase or steal is generally of better quality. Far more of the Northern Wasteland Gawgaryn are equipped with trucks, motorcycles or cars, which have allowed them to traverse the Wasteland effectively. In addition, the bounty hunting industry of Camp Integrity has led many a hunter to their doom at Gawgaryn claws, which has provided them with increasingly higher quality weaponry and armour.

The most notable achievement of the Northern Gawgaryn was an attack launched on Camp Integrity in 2452. A group of five Gawgaryn warriors scaled the walls of Camp Integrity under cover of night, and launched an attack on several trade shuttles from the Sol Alliance. Seizing these shuttles, they forced the human pilots at gunpoint to pick up hundreds of Sinta from across the Wasteland and assisted them in fleeing the Wasteland of Moghes to find new homes across the Spur, with many of them seeking asylum in the newly-established Republic of Biesel. The five Gawgaryn were denied asylum, and returned to the Izweski Hegemony, where they were sentenced to death. To those Unathi who escaped the Wasteland thanks to their actions, they are remembered as heroes.

Ruins of the Northern Wasteland

The Wasteland is scattered with ruined cities, towns and villages, and groups like the Reclaimers often prosper off scavenging the bones of the pre-Contact Sinta. However, there are some ruins of unique importance among the Northern Wasteland, which have achieved legendary status among the clans that survive in the blasted and radioactive desert.

Dead Guzari

"Oh, Guzari. Take my advice, friend. Better off having another drink, and putting that place out of thought. It festers in a Sinta's mind like rot, until they wind up another one of the ghosts walking its streets." -Azkohi Vihnmes, proprietor of a bar in Canyon City

The city of Guzari was once a powerful and wealthy region, sitting upon the shores of the vast Guzari Sea. While much of the region to the north of Guzari was too cold for Sinta habitation prior to the invention of electric heating systems, the city had stood for centuries, making its wealth from the fish of the Guzari Sea’s icy waters. When the Contact War came, Guzari lent its wealth and power to the Traditionalist Coalition - and according to rumours traded by scavengers, it was the heart of the Coalition’s nuclear program. While this has never been confirmed, Guzari was one of the first targets destroyed by the Izweski during the nuclear exchange, and scavengers still whisper of hidden Traditionalist missile silos beneath the freezing waters of the Guzari Sea.

Now, however, Guzari is a shattered ruin, looming on the skyline of the Northern Wasteland. Despite the undeniable wealth of the city pre-Contact, it remains largely untouched by scavengers, and few have ever walked the shattered streets of the city and returned alive. Not even the few animals that survive the Wasteland will go near the streets of Dead Guzari, and the few scavengers who have returned have all died shortly afterwards. What horrors lurk in Dead Guzari remains the matter of idle speculation, though the most popular story is that, in his final moments, the Lord of Guzari struck a bargain with dark spirits, offering the souls of his people in exchange for a terrible curse being placed upon his lands - for if he could not have the wealth of Guzari, he would ensure that no other would ever take it. Other, more practical Sinta merely suspect that the area is still highly radioactive, perhaps due to Traditionalist nuclear research being conducted there. Still others believe that Dead Guzari is nothing but a ruse, and that the people of the city survive still, using the guise of a dead and ruined city to keep away outsiders while preparing to take their revenge on the Hegemony, and bring about a second nuclear war to Moghes.

Despite its reputation, it does still draw in the brave, the foolish and the insane, who set out for the ruins of Dead Guzari in hopes of retrieving the fabled treasure of the dead city. Among scavengers of the Wasteland, the expression ‘bound for Guzari’ is often used to describe a Sinta as mad or foolhardy - the exact sort of Sinta that are drawn, almost subconsciously, to the broken skyscrapers of the cold north, and whatever secrets lurk beneath them.

Fallen Mountain

"Fort Azarak stands among fallen among death perpetuates honor of what is gone and is not here and perpetuates honor of Fort Azarak stands..." -An excerpt from the strange radio signal broadcasting from Fallen Mountain

To the south, along the edge of the Zazalai Mountains, lies the ruin known to the Wastelanders as Fallen Mountain - once known as Fort Azarak. During the Contact War, Fallen Mountain was home to a Traditionalist missile silo, which launched one of their first strikes against the Hegemony. The Izweski have offered a large reward to any who can reclaim the data from Fallen Mountain, to finally understand how the Traditionalists were able to assemble their nuclear arsenal so quickly - but so far, none have been successful. It is said that on a clear night in the Wasteland, one can hear the strange and nonsensical radio broadcasts of Fallen Mountain's distress beacon, echoing out across the radioactive sands. Whether some broken piece of pre-War technology, spirits of the dead calling for their release, or a trap set to lure treasure hunters to their doom, the radio signal has acquired a near-mythical status among wanderers of the Wasteland.

Fallen Mountain is a highly fortified military structure - one of the most imposing fortresses the Coalition ever constructed, and it is not empty. While the identity of the Sinta who hold the Mountain now is unknown, the most popular theory is that they are a group of Coalition holdouts, led by a lord who refused to surrender and vanished into the radioactive dust. Whatever the case, the answers to how the Traditionalists - who had little to no nuclear research pre-Contact - gained access to the vast number of nuclear weapons they deployed during the Contact War may be found within its depth. Aside from the bounty, scavengers tell stories of the secrets that may be hidden there - advanced Skrell or human technology, lost treasure of Coalition lords, Aut’akh cultists practising their dark rituals - or an empty bunker, and a swift death.

The Eastern Wasteland

The Eastern Wasteland of Moghes is by far the larger region, spanning from the Zazalai Mountains to the Torn Cities. Nearly all of the Eastern Wasteland was part of the Traditionalist Coalition during the Contact War, and this is reflected. While the clans of the Northern Wasteland may not like the Izweski, they are rarely outright hostile to their efforts - in the Eastern Wasteland, however, resentment of the Hegemony is near-universal, and almost all the Wastelanders of this region remember the wounds of the Contact War all too well. However, the Izweski have still worked to reclaim this region - though with considerably less success than their efforts at Camp Integrity in the north.

Hegemony Outposts

There are two Izweski outposts within the Eastern Wasteland - Camp Izweski’s Honor and Camp Sk’akh’s Glory. Both of them are mid-size military outposts, with very limited civilian support populations compared to Integrity. Neither of them yet have extensive terraforming work, with a small population of K’laxan geoengineers having been deployed to Camp Izweski’s Honor in recent years.

Camp Izweski's Honor

Izweski’s Honor’s primary purpose is defensive - it exists to give early warning and defend the western border of the Southlands against incursions from the Wastes. As the Southlands’ resources are stretched increasingly thinner, the Izweski forces garrisoned there have been worn down increasingly, fighting against Gawgaryn and other raider clans attempting to pillage what little habitable land Lord Eizde still has at his disposal.

In 2463, the Hegemon ordered a detachment of K’lax engineers from the brood of Vetju to Camp Izweski’s Honor, at the request of Overlord Miazso. The hope is that the advanced technology of the K’lax will have similar results there as it has in the north, and that the land surrounding Teht can be restored before the city’s situation becomes unsustainable. However, due to the harsh conditions, worsening famine, and vicious Gawgaryn attacks, the terraforming progress at Camp Izweski’s Honor has stalled almost entirely, only having reclaimed a few miles surrounding the camp.

Camp Sk'akh's Glory

Camp Sk’akh’s Glory, located near the western edge of the Eastern Wasteland, is a much more aggressive outpost - its primary purpose is pacification of the highly dangerous area. The warriors of Sk’akh’s Glory are tasked with eliminating Gawgaryn, raider clans, and other forces that pose a threat to Izweski reclamation efforts. Due to the hostile nature of the Eastern Wasteland, Sk’akh’s Glory is by far the most dangerous of the Hegemony’s outposts - casualties are high, and many soldiers view being sent there as a death sentence.

Currently, the Hegemon’s plan is to stabilise the region surrounding Sk’akh’s Glory first, before terraforming can begin in earnest. However, due to the animosity of the Wastelanders, this effort has not had much success - while many small raider clans have been destroyed, the Gawgaryn still threaten the region, and the warriors of Sk’akh’s Glory do not have the manpower necessary to keep it secure.

Surviving Kingdoms of the Eastern Wasteland

Despite the destruction of most of the known world from the Contact War, some desperate survivors managed to weather the storm and remain nominally free of Izweski dominance - either from the Izweski's weariness for war on Moghes, or arrogant indifference. These are the remains of the crumbling kingdoms that once fought against, or for the Izweski's dominion, and simply can fight no longer. Some of the myriad kingdoms that fought with the Coalition still persist in the East, though most of those known to the Hegemony have knelt to the Izweski following the end to the nuclear exchange.

Queendom of Szek’Hakh

"Refuse To Break" - Szek'Hakh clan motto, before the war

A matriarchal region of roughly twenty thousand set in the Wasteland, led by the elderly Queen Lazak Szek'Hakh and her daughters. In her settlement and a large portion of the region surrounding it, her clan has become the protector of her region known as the 'Queendom'. More information about the Queendom can be found here

Other Havens

The majority of the Reclaimer clans can be found within the Eastern Wasteland, with three known crawlers currently operating in the region - The Thos’kar, the Hu’maz and the Kikata. The Thos’kar is a newer crawler, having been somewhat recently constructed from salvage operations in the ruins of Thos’karum. Most of the Thos’kar’s crew come from the clans of the crawler Kesh’ka, which was destroyed by a Gawgaryn attack in late 2462. Over the past three years, they have been refitting their crawler with aid from other Reclaimers, and given it a new name in honour of the dead city from where most of their replacement parts came.

The Hu’maz largely trades with the cities of the Broken Coalition, and has maintained a semi-stable route in the region. Many of their warriors are currently serving in the Darakath City Watch or Lord Gwarlza’s personal levies, to reinforce his ambitions for the city’s future.

The Kikata largely travels up and down the coast of the Moghresian sea, trading with the Sinta of the Torn Cities, the rare group of Gawgaryn raiders, and on occasion, the warriors of Camp Izweski’s Honor. It is rumoured that Lord Eizde of Teht has also hired the Reclaimers of the Kikata to assist in recovering texts and computerised data lost during the Contact War, a task to which they are uniquely well-suited.

Gawgaryn of the Eastern Wasteland

The majority of Gawgaryn forces are concentrated in the Eastern Wasteland, with the Izweski believing that the Lost Son himself issues his orders from somewhere in this region. While the groups in the Eastern Wasteland are larger than their northern counterparts, they are generally worse-equipped, relying on scavenged Traditionalist equipment, thrown-together makeshift weapons, and whatever they are able to steal from unfortunate Hegemony patrols.

There are two main groups of Gawgaryn in the Eastern Wasteland - one that roams in the northwest, near the Torn Cities and the edge of the Tza Prairie, and one in the south near the Broken Coalition. The southern group of Gawgaryn, while spending most of their time raiding supply convoys bound for Sahltyr, have inadvertently had some of the greatest success in ecological preservation, having domesticated several of the wild herds of hegeranzi found on what was once the Vharzk Steppes. These Gawgaryn are known for their skill in mounted combat, and many overconfident supply shipments have met their end at the hands of Gawgaryn riders, fighting in the same way that their ancestors fought for millennia.

The group near the Tza Prairie largely takes advantage of the state of the Torn Cities, often attacking smaller settlements along the coast for food or supplies, and occasionally striking into the lands near Kutah. This has roused the anger of Overlord Hutay’zai, who has sent his levies in several expeditions into the Eastern Wasteland in the hopes of finally eradicating the Gawgaryn who continue to raid his lands. For now, however, he has had no luck in destroying them, and they continue to prove a menace to the Tza clans on the southern side of the mountains.

Ruins of the Eastern Wasteland

The ruins that dot the sands of the Eastern Wastes are too many to count, with hundreds of Traditionalist settlements lying abandoned and ruined following the Contact War. Reclaimers, Gawgaryn, and other Wasteland clans all work to pick these ruins clean - however, there is one site of particular note. The ruins of Thos’karum are a treasure trove for Wastelanders, which have remained largely unscavenged until recent years.

The Kingdom of Thos’karum was once a Traditionalist industrial powerhouse - it was often jokingly said that on a clear day the smoke from Thos’karum’s factories could be seen from Chantarel. As an important production centre for the military forces of the Traditionalist Coalition, it was targeted by the Izweski early in the war, before the nuclear exchange. The city was attacked by the Hegemony in force, with a Sky Behemoth deployed alongside their armies. While they were able to rout the Traditionalists with the aid of the fearsome airship, Thos’karum’s anti-aircraft weapons were able to bring the Behemoth down, causing it to crash. Without the aid of the Sky Behemoth, the Izweski could not hold the city that they had taken - and so instead Thos’karum was burned, every target of strategic value destroyed before the Traditionalist armies could retake the city.

Though the forces of the kingdom worked to rebuild, Thos’karum would never recover. Though it was not struck by nuclear weapons directly, the devastation and fallout from the nuclear exchange led to the city being abandoned. For years, it was left largely untouched by scavengers - while it had some supplies, most of the valuable salvage had already been destroyed by the Izweski during the Contact War.

In 2462, however, this changed, as a group of Gawgaryn raiders were able to bring down a Reclaimer crawler near the outskirts of Thos’karum. Sabotaging its treads with explosives, the hegeranzi-mounted raiders were able to board the crawler, and after fierce fighting, emerged victorious, taking what they could and leaving the crawler a wreck. Through this adversity, however, the Reclaimers did what they did best and adapted - the survivors setting to salvaging the ruins of Thos’karum, and finishing some of the rebuilding. Since then, they have put the factories to work where they can and scrapped them where they cannot, working on not just rebuilding their crawler, but tearing it apart and creating a newer and better one, named the Thos’kar. While the Thos’kar is not yet finished, its crew have received aid and supplies from both the other Reclaimer crawlers of the region, and other Wastelanders hoping to prosper from the restored crawler. Whether the Thos’kar will set out for revenge, or simply continue on its way, is difficult to tell - though scout reports have stated that it seems to be far more heavily armed and armoured than its predecessor.