| You and everyone who followed you are forgotten among the billions lost in the Cataclysm… |
| You and everyone who followed you are forgotten among the billions lost in the Cataclysm… |
| Your followers will not forget you. Through years of struggle, they survive the terrors of the Cataclysm. For this, the legacy of your deeds will live on in the generations your efforts gave a fighting chance… |
| The Free Merchants will not forget you. For your support in their time of need, they contribute greatly to the development of the community established by you and your followers… |
| The people of Tacoma will not forget you. As you helped them develop the facilities needed to survive the apocalypse, they too help your followers harness the means of production… |
| The soldiers of the Old Guard will not forget you. In bringing together the survivors of the Cataclysm, you have sown the seeds for a new birth of Freedom. For this, your legend will survive as long as the Old Guard does… |
| Struggling for resources, Balthazar sacrificed a lot to get into a position where they could expand. Ultimately the sacrifices were too great for them to achieve their goals and their bunker was eventually overrun… |
| Having amassed a big corporation's worth of industry, Balthazar succeeded in some of their goals and started wiping out their enemies. Sadly they couldn't keep up with the ever-changing enemies and eventually ran out of resources through attrition… |
| Controlling enough industry to jumpstart a new country, Balthazar kept working on building more industry, and more machines. Eventually they started a serious effort at wiping out all causes of zombies around their area. Even after many years you can see the robots fight an endless war… |
| Locked in an endless battle, the Old Guard was forced to consolidate their resources in a handful of fortified bases along the coast. Without the men or material to rebuild, the soldiers that remained lost all hope… |
| The steadfastness of individual survivors after the Cataclysm impressed the tattered remains of the once glorious union. Spurred on by small successes, a number of operations to re-secure facilities met with limited success. Forced to eventually consolidate to large bases, the Old Guard left these facilities in the hands of the few survivors that remained. As the years passed, little materialized from the hopes of rebuilding civilization… |
| The steadfastness of individual survivors after the Cataclysm impressed the tattered remains of the once glorious union. Spurred on by numerous strategic successes, a number of operations to re-secure facilities succeeded thanks to the support of various surviving communities. While some remained cautious of submitting themselves to the Old Guard's authority, nostalgia for the old world and the promise of security from the new rallied many more to their flag… |
| Life in the refugee shelter deteriorated as food shortages and disease destroyed any hope of maintaining a civilized enclave. The merchants and craftsmen dispersed to found new colonies but most became victims of marauding bandits. Those who survived never found a place to call home… |
| The Free Merchants struggled for years to keep themselves fed but their once profitable trade routes were plundered by bandits and thugs. In squalor and filth the first generations born after the Cataclysm are told stories of the old days when food was abundant and the children were allowed to play in the sun… |
| With the success of Tacoma and the return of the Old Guard, the Free Merchants were able to expand their reach throughout the region. In every settlement they had a partner, and in every venture they had a stake. In the safety of their gilded compounds, food was abundant, and the first children born after the Cataclysm were free to play in the sun… |
| The fledgling outpost was abandoned a few months later. The external threats combined with low crop yields caused the Free Merchants to withdraw their support. When the exhausted migrants returned to the refugee center they were turned away to face the world on their own. |
| The commune continued to grow rapidly through the years despite constant external threat. While maintaining a reputation as a haven for all law-abiding citizens, the commune's leadership remained loyal to the interests of the Free Merchants. Hard labor for little reward remained the price to be paid for those who sought the safety of the community. |
| Through the years, the commune would continue to rapidly grow despite constant external threats. In a surprising twist then, the greatest threat would turn out to be an internal one. The collapse of the Free Merchant traders plunged the Commune's leadership into a period of significant infighting, and seeing an opportunity, the survivors of the Commune quickly moved to oust them. Afterwards, the settlement was re-organized under a democratically elected council and the resources of Tacoma were distributed by need and popular vote. The Commune would soon earn a reputation as a place where the struggles of the wasteland were shared, and where the horrors of the world were faced together. |
| When the Old Guard came for their support, the Commune's leadership was happy to accept, though not without conditions. Lucrative contracts and the exclusive rights to inter-settlement trade routes made the Free Merchants virtual merchant royalty overnight. While many survivors would grumble, none could deny that wherever the Old Guard went, the Free Merchants would bring their prosperity with them, for a price of course. |
| When the Old Guard came for their support, the citizens of the Commune were extremely resistant to surrendering their autonomy to this 'new' power. However, the Old Guard, desperate to find footholds in the region, proved more amicable to their demands than they expected. In exchange for representation in the Provisional Congress on Nantucket island, and the Old Guard's support in organizing other settlements like Tacoma in their territory, the Tacoma Commune would surprise many by voting to join the new union. When asked for a comment on the vote, the First Speaker of the Tacoma Council simply said, 'out of many, one.' |
| The artisans continued to work for a time. However a lack of trade and connection left them doomed from the beginning. At some point the properties became abandoned with no signs of the former inhabitants. |
| The artisans became a corner stone of the survivor community and economy. Cody's infectious desire for sharing helped bridge gaps with other groups and Jay's 'banking' service became crucial to maintaining security. |
| The lone bands of survivors who wandered the now alien world dwindled in number through the years. Unable to compete with the growing number of monstrosities that had adapted to live in their world, those who did survive lived in dejected poverty and hopelessness… |
| The scavengers who flourished in the opening days of the Cataclysm found an ever increasing challenge in finding and maintaining equipment from the old world. Enormous hordes made cities impossible to enter while new eldritch horrors appeared mysteriously near old research labs. But on the fringes of where civilization once ended, bands of hunter-gatherers began to adopt agrarian lifestyles in fortified enclaves… |
| The raiders grew more powerful than any other faction as attrition destroyed the Old Guard. The ruthless men and women who banded together to rob refugees and pillage settlements soon found themselves without enough victims to survive. The Hell's Raiders were eventually destroyed when infighting erupted into civil war but there were few survivors left to celebrate their destruction. |
| Fueled by drugs and rage, the Hell's Raiders fought tooth and nail to overthrow the last strongholds of the Old Guard. The costly victories brought the warlords abundant territory and slaves but little in the way of stability. Within weeks, infighting led to civil war as tribes vied for leadership of the faction. When only one warlord finally secured control, there was nothing left to fight for… just endless cities full of the dead. |
| Unable to overcome the forces of the Old Guard, the Hell's Raiders found themselves trapped in a grueling war of attrition… |
| …though in the end, they simply couldn't keep up. With the survivors of the wasteland becoming more organized by the day, the Hell's Raiders found it more and more difficult to find easy prey to loot and pillage. Before long, the once feared raiders found themselves on the defensive as the resurgent Old Guard began to assault their outposts and dismantle their hierarchy of command. Those that weren't killed were forced to flee into the untamed west, the memory of their terror slowly fading like a bad dream. |
| Despite Melchior's enlightened leadership, shortages and crises plagued Hub 01 from the first day of the Cataclysm. The researchers and administrators among the surviving staff lacked the practical skills to survive in the savage new world. As Hub 01's systems collapsed from a lack of maintenance, the few survivors fled the building to be killed by the zombies and bandits. |
| Melchior's enlightened leadership, combined with practical skills provided by mercenary survivors, allowed Hub 01 to flourish briefly. It became a mecca for advanced technology, selling off devices and equipment that could no longer be reproduced. Despite this, Hub 01 was never able to expand sufficiently to renew its own population, nor was it able to unite with any other prosperous community, nor could enough trustworthy mercenaries (or staff) be recruited to replace those who died in its defense. Hub 01 fell into disrepair and ruin. After the air processing facility was overtaken by mold, the remaining staff of Hub 01 fled the building and were killed by zombies and bandits. Melchior's drones - possibly by design - were incapable of maintaining themselves without human hands, and stopped working a few months later. Without regular maintenance, Melchior's own systems also fell to ruin, and less than a decade after the Cataclysm, humanity's first AI powered down and was forgotten. |
| Melchior's enlightened leadership, backed-up with the muscle of numerous mercenary survivors, allowed Hub 01 to flourish on its' own for a time. However, while the staff of Hub 01 preferred to ignore the people of the region, the looming shortages of advanced resources and personnel forced them to expand their search for resources. By prying the secrets of CBMs from the Exodii, Hub 01 was able to recruit and retain an enhanced mercenary force which proved capable of protecting them for years after the Cataclysm. |
| While still technically being employees (or property, in Melchior's case) of the federal government, the staff of Hub 01 were initially very reluctant to have anything to do with the Old Guard. However, the connections and resources of the Old Guard gave them significant leverage in negotiations between the two factions. After much debate, Hub 01 would eventually vote to rejoin the government in exchange for its' support of the Hub's research. |
| Life on the farm grew tense as new horrors sprung from the world. The Isherwoods were plagued by undead hordes and the encroachment of triffids. When an otherworldly mold took over the fields, the family was forced to move. The farm was later found abandoned, the fields black with ash… |
| The generational land of the Isherwoods came to flourish following <the_cataclysm>, helping to feed nearby settlements. Survivors flocked to learn botany, animal handling, and backwoods remedies, eventually forming a small community… |
| After they shot an Old Guard envoy to the farm, a bounty was placed on the Isherwood family. With the Isherwoods forced from their home, the farm was quickly purchased by the Free Merchants and converted into a very profitable plantation… |
| After they shot an Old Guard envoy to the farm, a bounty was placed on the Isherwood family. When the father pleaded guilty to killing the man, the remaining Isherwoods were allowed to return to their farm, albeit with planners from Tacoma… |
| Mr. Lapin continued his remote life in the wilderness, teaching whoever would visit. The survivors who came slowly dwindled, until they stopped entirely. Mr. Lapin was found dead several years later following a heart attack. His body had decomposed to skeletal remains… |
| The knowledge Mr. Lapin taught attracted a slew of individuals, who constructed makeshift housing to study with him. As more people came, they formed a small community… |
| The former prisoners may have gained their freedom during <the_cataclysm>, but remained trapped on the island, surrounded by carnivorous terrors. Infighting and near-starvation destroyed the group when one of them found a boat and attempted to steal it. Those who remained took the craft and sailed away, never to be seen again… |
| The prisoners succeeded in their escape and sailed to the mainland. They found <the_cataclysm> unforgiving and harsh, struggling to survive. When two of them died in a shootout with a Hell's Raiders caravan, they packed all their possessions and sailed back to the prison, which they transformed into a fortress away from the world… |
| Despite their extensive knowledge of the undead, the Exodii had great difficulty in their scavenging efforts. A war with the Hell's Raiders proved to be successful, but heavily taxed their machinery and supplies. Several years after their arrival, a group of mercenaries employed by them returned to the fortress, only to find it has mysteriously disappeared, with a slew of broken machinery scattered about… |
| The extensive knowledge and industrial might of the Exodii proved to be their saving grace in <the_cataclysm>. They developed extensive connections to other groups of survivors, selling advanced machinery and educating numerous individuals on electronics, welding, and engineering. Over the years, a town formed around the castle, becoming a thriving bastion among the dead… |
| The New England Community Church struggled following the Cataclysm, constantly low on food and basic supplies. The relative worthlessness of icons to outsiders and their general unfriendliness stifled commerce with remaining survivor groups. They became more fanatical as time went on, becoming estranged, destitute, and forgotten by the outside world… |
| The New England Church Community grew into a flourishing refuge in the years following the Cataclysm. A change in leadership to moderate and inclusive stances vastly improved outside relations, helping to reinforce the value of the icon and spreading Christianity across the wasteland… |
| The struggling survivors at the community college campus ran out of food and abandoned the area. Some found a place with other survivor groups but most failed to find another safe place and were lost. |
| The library continued to grow through the years despite constant survival challenges and internal battles over the direction of the campus. While maintaining a reputation as a haven for learning and adaptation to this new world, the library's leadership developed and spread some pragmatic understanding of how to stay alive. The collection grew and became famous among survivors as a resource for vital survival skills as well as a distraction from the terrors of the world. |
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