North London Vs South London

A Culture Divided...

Geographically, London has not changed too much since the Reshaping. However, the boundaries and territory which was once known as London, has been split in two. The segregating point being the Divide River, cutting the North and South portions of the Wastes apart. It is probably for the best, when looking at the vastly different cultures they behold...

The North – Civilised London

The Northern Wastes are supposed to be and generally are made up of more civilised folk. They build working settlements and generally aim to work together toward a brighter future. They try uphold ideals of law, order, valuing trade and honesty.

Of course there are still and will always be those ''undesirables'' whom will not follow this agenda, but they are dealt with swiftly and justly. They will generally work toward the betterment of a new world where humanity can once again prosper and that makes way for all those whom are willing to pull their own weight.

  

The North is populated with many settlements, usually whom work together and even if they do not they are aware of their neighbours jurisdiction. Trade Town, The Tower, Buckingham City and the Piccadilly Market are just a few of the places where the North dwellers have shown of how their co-operation is bringing together humanity once more and as they call it, acting on the first steps to regain Civilisation...

The South – The Great Feral Expanse

Then we have the Southern Wastes. To the Northerners it is simply known as the Great Feral Expanse. A title given out of just as much fear as it has out of hated and awe. You see, across the Divide the culture is a little more simplistic...

The Great Feral Expanse is populated by countless raider gangs as well an array of mutants, corrupted wildlife and other more unpleasant desirable types. It is the law of the sword and gun out there, where nobody owns anything and everything is fair game.

 

Not a lot is known about their specific culture (as few survive to bring back information) other than that each gang, or clan are highly individualised. Not all of them do kill for pleasure as many horror stories lead you to believe, some are even cunning, some are skilled in unexpected fields such as computers and mechanics, some just go with what they need to do to survive.

Is is known that the Raider gangs live to fight one another, they exist to conquer the territory of their neighbours, building their estate and renown and they can not often be reasoned with.

Either way only the roughest and the toughest make it out here. If the Raiders could ever be pulled together for whatever reason, little could stop them from destroying the North and their civilised way of living...

Chapel Trail Outpost, Or unofficially the Fortune Gate

Your First Step into New London

To the far west of the Central London Wastes, at the furtherest edge of the White-Road lies a small trading settlement known as the Chapel Trail Outpost.

More recently travellers have taken to referring to the small series of building as the Fortune Gate. The name has thoroughly disappointed many, whom assume it to refer to a mighty stronghold, or some kind of bastion of security. The reality of the town is, two small trading posts and a fairly large; re-purposed Hotel.

The shabby Hotel is also famed for its converted lounge, turned tavern and is the first place an aspiring Merc should head for work. The beauty of the Fortune Gate is its work ethic. Generally it will pay shelter and warm food for work, no matter who you are, or what you do.

 

The settlement itself is usually too small to be seen as a target, but big enough to defend itself from attack. It also tends to make its own protection, being the first stop for all new travellers in the area, form merchant to ruthless bounty hunter, has its perks.

The name, Fortune Gate, is relevant however when looked at in the right way, it refers to the fact that this town, however small, is the first point to where trade Caravans enter the Central London Wastes (well at least from the West). It is also the last open settlement in the CLW before you hit the Tower, in many cases making it a must stop to re-supply.

More recently the town has been recruiting a countless supply of new Caravan guards, as their old ones just so happen to go missing on the White-Road. Trade between the Tower and the Fortune Gate must continue, if the Caravans stopped the results would be catastrophic not only for those said settlements, but potentially all of the settlements this side of the Divide River.....

The White-Road ( White-Trail )

The White-Road - Hope and Loss

Once it was a simple road just as any other. A means to an end, for people to use and not appreciate. We all know the purpose of a road and of how they aren't a particularly special thing, but in the times after the Reshaping, roads became innately valuable and strategic locations.

In this new wasteland it is said that a settlement can only survive based upon the roads that encircle it. Roads mean survival in the new world, they a means for trade, supplies and infrastructure. They are also a means for the less desirables of society to prey on, mostly for the same reasons.

All over the Central London Wastes it is said that there is no road more important than The White-Trail (also known as the White-road). You see, it was a valuable and popular Caravan trade route, even despite its recent troubles. It is the most accessible Road into the Central London Wastes and cannot afford to be abandoned.

 

The name comes from early settlers to the Central London Wastes (it also coincidentally it runs though Whitechapel). They say that this road was the first and biggest source of travellers as well as income though trade. The name was honorary, a harken back to an old legend, a time of progress and rebuilding, however as of late the White-Road has been plagued with woe.

It used to be a symbol of hope and prosperity but now most travellers assume it to be cursed or worse. Caravans have been going missed on a more frequent basis and those survivors that are found are maddened by the horrors they have endured, unable to give concise accounts of what happened.

Many have taken the contracts to figure out the mystery and most account it to increased raider activity in the Whitechapel area. Time will tell if anyone will be crack the case but either way, life must go on, Caravans are the life blood of the Wastes and must continue their dangerous journeys.

The most recent news to come out of the White-Road situation is of a man. None know who he truly is or what motivates him, but one thing is for certain, he is willing pay well for the truth of the cursed road......

The Dividing River

The State of the Thames

The Divide River or more simply known as, Divide River was formally the Thames. With the reshaping and shortly the re-emergence of the human race it has been a vital source of both power and obviously, water.

The Divide is a double edged sword however and it does not simply just provide. Those first few to emerge soon realised that to drink from the water of the River could result in illness or insanity. Some would even change completely, turning rabid and going on to attack their comrades. It was clear that there was a problem with the water, but it would not many years till the problem would be solved.

 

By 2305 it has been well established that the waters are thoroughly contaminated with Charged Radiation, hence why it alters the flesh and minds of those whom ingest it. Funnily enough, this radiation is the only pollutant present, with much of the old world pollution being vaporised or otherwise removed during the Reshaping. Getting rid of the harmful compounds in the water now has a trivial fix, it can simply be boiled and re-cooled. Certain traders have taken up to solely purifying and further monetising the water, a fairly lucrative business these days....

With the rebuilding of settlements and new civilisation, the Divide river is also used to power many of the buildings and defences that occupy its banks. It is a common place to see and hear impossible looking turbines furiously working day and night to supply settlements with the precious power. These sites tend to have heightened security, some even forming miniature trade posts of their own to try and ward of raiders and other undesirables.

In the Aftershock world water is a necessity just as it is in our world, but it also comes with Danger, you do not want to be drinking water that you do not know is purified!

The third and final role of the River is obvious, it divides the North and the South parts of the Central London Wastes. It is the only thing that stops attacks en mass from the raider clans of the South, to the built up settlements in the North.

Mutation, Radiation and the New field of Bio-Magnetics in Aftershock

The Miscalculation and the Realisation

In Aftershock, the Reshaping (or the Great Storm) did much more than just send humans to live underground. It changed the Earth's atmosphere entirely. We have discussed the where, when and why, now we discuss the consequence. 

When Hive activated the Ark's Charge Core, spiralling arcs of lightning shot toward the earth with incredible speed. Upon entering the atmosphere this lighting discharged and caused a chain reaction on the surface, creating a blanket of continual storms. Aftershock has two different types of storms, the charge (or core) storms, which compromise the unnatural power of the Ark's charge core and the natural storms, which of course, are natural but now appear much more frequently.

So why did the Atmosphere destabilise? When the charged lightning hit the Earth's magnetic field it briefly created a clean hole in the ozone layer. Even though it was mere moments, it was enough time to let huge dose of harmful cosmic radiation though into the atmosphere. When the magnetic field slammed shut it essentially meshed the energy of the core and the cosmic energy together. The three elements then acted with exceptional unpredictability and sparked the Storms. Think of it like a bag filled with volatile gas, you know what happens when a flame is introduced. 

 

Later the Ark staff would realise that this was their ''miscalculation''. They had not accounted for said elements to combine. More recently they also have been able to observe the cause and effect of the Radiation now caught up in the Earth's atmosphere. The Ark has opened a speciality branch of research and development on this very topic, known now as Bio-magnetics.

When the storms first raged it was deadly above the surface but over time this has dyed down. However it is not that simple and over time it has been discovered that the radiation can and has greatly affected biological matter on the surface. You see, it seemingly mutates or alters cells in almost every animal and changes them dramatically. The anomalies that appear as a result are as equally fascinating as they are terrifying. Not all animals are changed, it is usually those most exposed to the Storms. 

And so, all over the world can be found all manner of weird and wonderful mutants, however we will have more on those later......

Dimitri 'The Nighthawk' Bersolino (Player Character)

A Maniac, Out of Time

 Faction: Wanderer

Few have as colourful a history as the one and only Dimitri Bersolino. His earliest memories are of a natural world, in a time now long forgotten. He was born during the time of re-armament, where the world was in turmoil over the threat of Hive.

Dimitri's early life was hard, as the son of a notorious criminal, his family would constantly be moving from place to place. As he grew, the lifestyle also became more and more intense. He began to get involved in his fathers craft, learning many new, socially unacceptable ''skills''. These ''lessons'' as his father would say; would go on to twist Dimitri, he became masochistic, anti-social and some would say downright evil. By the time Dimitri was a young man he was already a seasoned combatant and had splintered from his fathers mob into the black market weapons trade.

For years he made a killing (quite literally) and became a force to reckoned with. There was no order Dimitri couldn't fill, no job too dirty, no evil that could be left uncommitted...

Of course, in the eyes of his fellow Bosses; a budding weed must be cut and so Dimitri became the number one enemy, not only of the state, but also the underworld. His property and assets were seized, but Dimitri would always slip away at the last second. Eventually he found out about how his own father had betrayed him, exposing his safe-houses and key accomplices.

He would take it upon himself to get revenge, even if was the last thing he would do. He went on to fake his own death, eliminating himself as a threat as well as creating a one way ticket back to his dear father. He knew the man would need clarification, he knew that he would need to see the body, have that closure and so... it was arranged. In a coffin black as the night he was escorted to the family property. He was taken to his father and the casket was removed. Without a second thought, or a flinch, he sprang into action, bare fisted and hungry for blood.

The boy beat his father into unconsciousness, but knew that it would not be enough. Dimitri had always been sadistic, but he utterly relished the horror of his actions. He would toy with his broken father and mentor for hours, the true extent of his damaged mind being shown for the first time. Taking up the family heirloom, the ''Nighthawk'' (an exquisitely fashioned tomahawk) He would swiftly bury it inside the old man's brain.

To this day that kill still haunts him, it was unfulfilled, it has not satisfied his vengeance like the voices in his head had promised. In his confusion he stumbled outside, collapsing on the lawn, the last thing he remembers is the gentle drops of rain on his face...

The next time Dimitri awoke it was in a different world, with no idea of how he came to be where he was. From what he could gather from the, what seemed to be doctors, he had been asleep for many, many years. The world had changed, it had become, less complex, more inhospitable. Life was now a free for all, it was a world Dimitri liked the sound of, it was a world were he could get a second chance.

In the time since he has become a Merc and has earned himself a ruthless reputation throughout the Central London Wastes. Only time will tell if he will be able to change, or if his past life will continue to haunt him...

Notes: Dimitri is not really a good guy as you can tell, this one is very heavily story focused as my player had a very particular idea. Ive changed it a little bit, but Ive also got some fun secrets that may be made evident as the story goes on! Im going to give him delusion as a hindrance, its fitting and may see him lose control in stressful combat situations, this will be a ton of fun to see how the other players will react to him and how he will react to them.

Chemicals In Aftershock

Chemicals and You

The ''Broken World'' sourcebook is awesome and has many fun looking and thematic ideas to include in a post-apocalyptic RPG. Another one of these ideas Aftershock will use will be the Super Drugs, or Chemicals.  

 

In combat characters whom are not bright ones will still have access to a select few powers. Thematically it works as they inject combat stimulants or stabilising medicine on a passed skill roll of the same name. Here are the Chem's so far:

Chem	Equiv Power
ChemEleon	Invisibility
Iron	Armour
Nightlight	Darksight
RefleX	Quickness
Scope	Farsight
SkillOut	Boost Trait
Stabiliser	Healing
Super Stabiliser	Greater Healing
Turbo	Speed

Of course, these wont be an ''every encounter'' deal and it will be fun to see how the characters decide to use them. They will be bought at traders or rarely scavenged or looted. Im looking forward to seeing what dramatic moments are brought about by the cast.