Sidehook
The undisputed Capital city of the Long Dry, Sidehook is built on one of the richest veins of Vapor 42 ever discovered. A massive extractor (affectionately known as ‘The Contraption’) built atop this fissure allows the precious Vapor to be harvested and offer power to the entire city. Citizens of Sidehook enjoy all the power they can consume, and this once sleepy trading post has grown into the place to be for those wishing to earn their fortune in the Wasteland. Sidehook resides in the center of the Long Dry, as well, and is the perfect base of operations for anyone wishing to explore the massive areas surrounding the place.
Sidehook is split into 3 distinct zones, each one ruled by a very influential force in the politics of the region. The Iron Quarter is the hub of trade and commerce in the Long Dry, and is run by the even-tempered, elder Trader known only as Martine. This section of the city is named after the array of Robotic guardians that patrol the streets and keep the peace in Martine’s name. Trade is the order of the day in the Iron Quarter, and the prices here are high to reflect the quality of the goods sold. Martine has the finest reputation of any Trader in the region, and her goods are highly sought after.
Spark Park is the center of debauched celebration in the entire region, and there is little in the way of hedonistic delights that cannot be found here. Glittering brightly under crackling neon lights and lines of glittering, multi-colored bulbs that crisscross the bustling streets, this lively district is under the control of the eccentric Electric Eleanor, who is one of the most desirable females in the Wasteland. Eleanor employs an army of female agents known as the Sorority who uphold law and order in her sector of Sidehook.
Lastly, Plastic Alley is the domain of the unscrupulous Plastic Surgeon Doctor Johnny Carolina, whose ingeniously nefarious mind for narcotics and surreal medical experimentation got him exiled from Vault 42. Since opening his practice, he’s developed a potent new drug called “Huff Stuff” that is inhaled via gas mask. It is one of the most addictive (and destructive) chemicals ever devised, and he employs the use of Vapor 42 in its alchemical formulae. Plastic Alley is a haven for degenerates and junkies, and Doctor Johnny has an endless supply of drug addled servants who would gladly perform any gruesome task just to get another hit and feed their addiction.
Normal’s Garage
Just outside of Sidehook resides a small, unassuming workshop surrounded by a sprawling junkyard. This is the home and business of Norman Normal and his son, Sam. While honest and unassuming, Norman is one of the most vital people in all of Sidehook, as his technical expertise helps keep the massive Gas-Extractor that powers Sidehook functional. While one might think he is a ripe target for kidnapping or harm, the three rulers of Sidehook have declared the hard-working mechanic under their full protection, and anyone foolish enough to visit harm upon Normal’s grease-slick domain will surely find themselves wishing they hadn’t.
Tin Spears
The cozy town of Tin Spears is a haven for Trappers and one of the last Caravan stops before reaching Sidehook. Filled with hard working common folk, Tin Spears is ruled over by a council of Elders who actually have the best interest of the people in mind. This shadowy council is strange in that no one knows who this governing body consists of, but Tin Spears is peaceful and safe, and no one wants to ruin that by asking too many questions about who exactly is pulling the strings there. The town is named after an incident involving ancient warring tribes who met at this spot to form a treaty of peace, with each Tribal leader sinking their spear into the ground at the same place to symbolize an end of conflict. Those spears still reside at the center of town to this very day, and are revered as a cultural landmark.
Chattel Point
Firmly under the rule of the brutal Slaver company known as the Flesh league, Chattel Point is where the captured Men, Women and Children are brutally indentured and broken for their life of servitude. All manner of disgusting technique is used, from mental conditioning to bodily torture, all in the name of more docile, more obedient Slaves. While some Slaves are wrangled and captured by the heavily armed bands of mercenaries that the Flesh League employs, many people sell themselves into slavery to pay debts or make amends for crimes they have committed. Slavery is alive and well in the Long Dry, and explosive collars are a far too common accessory one might find. Paolo Perez is the undisputed master of the Flesh League, and has earned the title “Prince of Skin” for his unrivaled monopoly over the slave trade. Calm, calculating, and with blood colder than a Gecko’s, Perez is known for his icy temperament and level headed nature. He is one of the wealthiest and polarizing figures in all the region.
Vault 42
Overseer Lester Kandrian changed the world around him when he devised a method of extracting the maroon red vapor that seeps from the earth and managed to transform it into an energy source. Seemingly overnight, floods of newcomers ventured forth to stake their claim and improve their fortunes. Overseer Kandrian is a proud man who believes himself to be the preeminent authority on all intellectual matters, and his condescending nature can often times make him insufferable to be lectured down to, but none can argue with the results of his research.
Believing himself to be the sole savior of civilization, he claims that he created Vapor 42 as his gift to the Wasteland, in hopes that the offer of a natural source of Power might tamp down the inherent violence and greed that he witnessed from the safety of his Overseer’s office. Instead, he watched as the powerful and greedy fought and struggled over land where Vapor 42 spouted naturally, and a new wave of violence and turmoil gripped the region. Sidehook became a den of sin and debauchery, and ever since his discovery, the Overseer has locked himself away from society, reveling in sorrow and the tragic miscalculation he made when he decided to believe in Humanity’s higher nature.
As he withdraws deeper and deeper into isolation, the Dwellers of Vault 42 feel the loss of his leadership each and every day. Once calm and capable, Overseer Kandrian has grown isolated and paranoid, and has not been seen in two years, choosing to use his fearsome security force to enact his whims on his subjects. By the day, more and more Dwellers of Vault 42 find themselves banished for imagined crimes by their addled Overseer, being banished to the surface and forced to find their way in the Long Dry.
Kemisina
A sad lesson in the brutality native to the region, Kemisina was once a bustling settlement with some of the only arable farmland in the Long Dry. The people were content and life was simple here, but then, on one fateful evening, the shadows gave birth to a War Party of the ravenous Ghost-Soul Tribe, who slaughtered and butchered the entire populace, razing the place to the ground before vanishing into the night. No one knows the reason why the innocent people of Kemisina were so brutally vanquished, but the ruins of this blood-drenched Ghost town stand as a grim reminder as to just what the Ghost-Soul Tribe are capable of. Some survivors or Kemisina can be found from a lucky few who managed to escape, but few envy anyone with an actual memory for the horrific events that sealed the settlement’s fate.
Firebird Canyons
Tall, impossibly shaped canyons streak upwards and impregnate the sky in a perilous patch of the Long Dry known as the Firebird Canyons. Aptly named, this frightening spot is alleged to be where the legendary Radroc keeps its nest. As if that were not danger enough, the dreaded Ghost-Soul Tribe makes their home in the lower caverns of the Canyon range, making this spot deadly by air or ground. It is widely believed that the razed settlement of Kemisina was founded too close to the Ghost-Soul Tribe’s ancestral territory, and this is what sparked the place’s utter destruction. Whatever the case, if any further evidence were needed that the Ghost-Soul Tribe is beyond sanity and fear, their choosing to live below the massive Radroc’s nesting place certainly puts that case to rest.
Normand Airforce Base
This sprawling military base has recently come under control of a roving band of Super Mutants who immediately attack any and all interlopers. Their aims and motivations are unknown, but they patrol the area frequently and eradicate any who dare to trespass upon their adopted turf. Rumors swirl about the collection of goods and plunder to be had if someone could somehow investigate the base in its entirety, but no would-be treasure hunter who has ever attempted to raid the Base has returned to tell tale of the spoils found.
The Swelterlands
Far to the South of the Long Dry, the cracked, arid stretch of land ends and a lush, verdant, wild jungle blooms. Far from a serene oasis, this hellish landscape is home to all manner of mutated fiend and terror, with every plant and vine mutated and flesh starved, these so-called Swelterlands are the most dangerous place in the region. Insanely, Chaplain Verard and his Third Family ventured willingly into the Swelterlands, where they reside to this day, their plans wreathed in mystery. No one knows what the Chaplain’s designs and ultimate goal are, but few believe that he plots and schemes for the betterment of the Wasteland. While the Swelterlands are vicious and dangerous, they do possess some of the richest natural deposits of Vapor 42 ever encountered, though no one would be crazy enough to attempt to claim one, the Chaplain and his Tribal army call the steaming jungle hell of the Swelterlands home.
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