Saguenay

Region information: Saguenay
What is now Saguenay is comprised of what used to be eastern Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico above I-40, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri. To the north, the new nation is bordered by Canada, to the east by the American Federation, to the south by the Confederacy, and in the west by the Western States or, more generically called, California.

The nation is further divided by individual tribal holdings. Each tribe has its own council, and the Elders of each council comprise the Council of the Cheyenne Mountain, the true leaders of Saguenay. While each tribe has its own territories, members of these tribes roam and mingle freely through the Nation.

• Apache: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah
  
• Comanche: Colorado, Kansas, Missouri
  
• Eruhim: Idaho, Montana, Nevada
  
• Pawnee: Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming
  
• Sioux: North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota
  

Tribal Law
When a Tribesman has been wronged by a member of the Tribal Nations he may, if he does not wish to settle the issue personally, make complaint to the village, settlement, or bands Chieftain. If he is unable to meet the offending parties in person, and disdains to make complaint, anyone may in his stead inform the chief of this conduct, and then it becomes necessary to have an investigation. Both the accused and the accuser are entitled to witnesses. These witnesses are not sworn to any oath and simply share their accounts of the event in question. It is a bad mark upon the witness to give false testimony.

The chief that holds leadership of the individuals presides during these trials, but if it is a serious offence he may have more Elders sit with him. If it becomes an even larger ordeal, then the Council of the Cheyenne Mountain may become involved. These trials are merely to find guilt or innocence in the matter. If the individual in question is found innocent the matter ends, if guilty the injured party fixes the penalty and does not need to fear consequences for his actions in the matter later. Unless his actions go beyond rectifying the offense, one does not murder another for stealing a pair of boots for instance.

Otherwise, Tribal law is quite live and let live, justice is swift, efficient and exact.

Such laws make Saguenay quite an appealing destination for those that live their lives outside more ‘civilized’ law. Criminals from the Western States, the Confederacy, and the American Federation often flee to the Tribal Lands on regular occasions to escape punishment. The Tribes treat them as if they were any other man or woman that lived there, and furthermore they ignore the bounty hunters and mercenaries that often come hunting said criminals. Its none of their concern, and as long as all parties leave the people of Saguenay out of the affair, they stay out of it. However, if someone of the Tribes does become involved as an innocent victim, justice is swift, and very often lethal.

Geographic and Metropolitan Locations

• The Cheyenne Mountain: Seat of the Council of the Cheyenne Mountain, the leaders of Saguenay live in the former NORAD facilities beneath the mountain.
  
• Denver: The city of Denver is still attempting to recover from the Caldera’s explosion, much of the city was devastated by choking ash clouds and earthquakes.
  
• Las Vegas: The standing hub for trade and commerce in the western reaches of Saguenay, formerly the staging point for the Eruhim Wars. The Western Gates to Saguenay itself.
  
• Minneapolis: The Northern Gates into the Nation, and the trading hub for the region. The city is still in stages of repopulation, and until recent years was little more than a military staging point.
  
• St Louis: The Eastern Gates into Saguenay, a hotly contested City still to this day, St Louis is desired by the American Federation for its access to the Mississippi. To this day the City is well fortified and defended by many Tribal warriors.
  
• Eagle’s Talon Fortress: Deep inside Apache lands is the Eagle’s Talon Fortress, a fortified and defended pass through the mountains of Colorado. It acts as a staging ground more so than Vegas, should invaders push the Tribes deeper into their own lands.
  
• Taos New Mexico: Long before the Sundering, Taos had a hum, an unexplained phenomena that some could hear. One of the largest rifts to tear open during the Sundering happened in Taos, and now its centre to a rather potent and powerful etherial spring. Academics believe that smaller tears open up now and then, and Denizens of the Realms can step through.
  
• Wounded Knee: Some places just  have more resonance than others across the globe. Wounded Knee is one of those places. Site to the Massacre at the end of the Plains Indian Wars, and also where the Eruhim forced the American Federation sign their surrender after the Eruhim Wars, Wounded Knee is now site to a large spring of etherial energies.
  

Prominent Factions:

• Hearth Guardians: Loremasters, often tribal elders, sometimes tribal police, almost always respected, the Hearth Guardians ensure that the history of the tribes continues with the next generation. While they take many approaches to their mission, they tend to represent legacy and authority, providing guidance to those that pay attention.
  
• Shapers of the Forge: Blacksmiths, engineers, artisans, and crafters of many sorts, the Shapers have always been one of the main reasons behind Saguenay's military might. With new materials and techniques at their disposal, after the Sundering the Shapers took their skills to new heights, marrying ancient secrets with the remnants of 21st century technology.
  

Prominent Races:

• Daegraw: Maintaining a small presence among the tribes for centuries, the skinchanging breeds came out in the open after the Sundering, becoming a bridge between old and new. They tend to integrate in tribal society.
  
• Eruhim: The bulk of Saguenay's population, the tribes saw new blood brought into their ranks when the First Nations joined them. The amalgamation of their cultures gave birth to modern Saguenay.
  
• Goblins: Living in the outskirts of human society, the hardened goblin tribes often resort to raiding and thievery in order to get by. Many among them become mercenaries, or attach themselves to larger tribes.
  
• Magnakhaz: The undisputed lords under the mountain, the dwarves of Saguenay are among the most skilled and industrious craftsmen on the planet. When the call for war comes, they rarely shy away.
  
• Wendigo: As primitive as they are ugly, and as deadly as they are feral. Scattered throughout the land, the man-eating brutes are the main cause of death in many regions of Saguenay and neighbouring countries.
  
• Wundhur: Physically superior to humans, the brown skinned nomads cross the land as they see fit, often serving as mercenaries and messengers. Some tribes are hostile to others, claiming remote locations as their turf.
  

Las Vegas: A closer look
The husk of the glitzy city stands as a beacon in the desert landscape of Nevada, though all the ritz and lights have dimmed considerably since their heyday before the Sundering, the city can still be seen on clear dark nights for miles around. Las Vegas is more than a border town, more than a barter town, Las Vegas is the sprawling expanse of contradictions that stands unrivalled on the continent. Not even the advances in Los Angeles, or the towering spires of New York compare as a spectacle to Las Vegas.

Before the Sundering Las Vegas stood as a shining example of human technology and advancement. Both subterranean and above ground aqueducts funnelled fresh water into the city, along with deep water wells bored into the ground to tap the expansive ground water reservoirs. Cutting edge power plants pumped energy into the city, redesigned roadways and building practices vaulted the city upwards as much as connected it to the west and south. It was a marvel of entertainment, hedonism, and human ingenuity.

After the Sundering, and the eruption of the Caldera beneath Yellowstone, people flocked to the nearest city they could get to, and for those that inhabited the unforgiving lands of the Mojave Desert, Las Vegas was it. In those hours just after the world crumbled and the great rifts that tore through reality and deposited the MIthbarians to Earth, Vegas saw hundreds of thousands of refugees that weren't daring enough to attempt the Sierra Nevada's and the deeper scorching depths of the deserts. Those first years saw Las Vegas nearly wiped from the earth, choked by the desert and the falling ash from the north, but there was something else that came with the Sundering, the Eruhim.

The Eruhim wasted no time regrouping from the devastation, their adaptability and drive were as remarkable then as it is now, and these humans from across the etherial darkness started to bring the scattered populous together. Two years after the Sundering, Vegas wasn't only fortified, but it was starting to rebuild as well on the inside.

The desert took its price from the outskirts of the once sprawling city, and Vegas grew. The people's that took over were more into function that front, so the buildings decayed on the outside, looking like wrecked husks, but the inside teemed with activity.  The highrises were converted into shelter or stores, an armoury was formed by the leading Eruhim and gathering Tribes, and then were put to use. Las Vegas became HQ for the Tribal conquest of what would become Saguenay. The Western War was waged for several years, ending with the Eruhim and their Tribal allies controlling from the Sierra Nevadas to the Mississippi, down into Texas and into the southern most reaches of Canada, and Las Vegas was capital to it all until the Tribal Council moved to the claimed NORAD facilities beneath the Cheyenne Mountain.

The warlike tribes and Eruhim however left Vegas in pretty good shape, the aqueducts repaired and maintained, the city fortified and outfitted, food stores left. Over the next several decades the fortifications were moved inward and used as parts to repair and build structures, the aqueducts used to take advantage of the nutrient rich volcanic ash and make farmland on the outskirts. Vegas turned from military headquarters, to the bustling barter hub that it is now.

Geography and Shops
Las Vegas is considerably smaller than it was before the Sundering, the desert having swallowed up the suburbs in most aspects. The city had grown of course before it was shattered, the highrises still remain but are in disrepair on the surface, looking like crumbling skeletons of a lost civilization.

The interior of the city however is very much alive. A cobbled and jury rigged architectural style, with metal plates welded into places that needed covering on buildings that were far from aesthetically pleasing. The rule of thumb in Vegas is function beyond all other things, those that lived there cared little for what the city actually looked like, and care much more for what it brought to them. The streets weather worn, the pavement cracked and broken, but still visible and used for traffic, either foot, tire, tread or hoof. The wide lanes lined with stalls of merchants selling their wares.

The most numerous shops one will find are salvage shops, next come weapon shops, then the rest are a mismatch of merchants. From food stocks to crafted items such as clothing, utensils for work, or machine parts for vehicles that still run.

Rule and Law
On the surface Vegas seems to be quite a lawless place. Gangs have carved out portions of the city for their own turf, and while it's rare that outright fights break out, it's not unheard of. On top of this pile of scum stands a man named Garcia, former second to the previous top dog in the area. His gang known simply as The Blue, took the most wealthy portions of Vegas as their turf and attempt to exact protection payment from those that reside or work there. The gangs set down law, and enforce it with those that are new, or too weak to really stand up against them.

The truth behind Vegas’ rule and law however is rather different, and quite secretive. A council presides over Vegas in actuality, five members that lay down law, mostly tribal styled, and then enforce it with a small mercenary group known as the Sabers. Each council member has vested interest in Vegas in one way or another, whether to protect it from outside influence from California or Mexico, for commerce reasons, or simply because it's ‘home’.

The Flesh Trade
While Slavery in all its facets is generally hated in Saguenay, the Flesh Trade is trying to change that perception. One can ‘rent’ a servant for an allotment of time depending on what that ‘servant’ is used for. The Trade gets around the tribal law by ‘permitting’ their ‘workers’ to opt out of any contract. Though not a single one ever has, and the façade is lip service to Tribal Law, everyone in the area knows the truth behind these workers and their employers.

Places of Interest

• The Farms: To the south lays the fields and acres of farmland that feed the population of the city, numerous stalls are set up on the northern border of this fertile land where the growers sell their harvests. The Farms, though seemingly benign, are home to a rather ruthless commerce sector. Food is required, and it doesn’t come cheap, if caught stealing food the penalty is usually a bullet.
  
• The Desert Oasis Inn: Miss Emmie’s retirement is what many call it, but something it has over every other place in Vegas is that it actually looks nice, if only on the inside. The elderly scavenger and her partner in crime, Thrask, have retired from their adventuring ways to settle down and run the Inn. It boasts comfort, actually good food, and creature comforts that are a rare find in an otherwise dive of a city. Its undisturbed by the gangs entirely, they don’t even set foot inside, perhaps due to the mammoth and imposing Thrask, or maybe it's the rumours that Emmie is one of the sitting members of Vegas’ Council.
  
• The Dredge: Coming directly from the north one will find the Dredge, a long wide boulevard lined with brothels, strip clubs, and bars. Tattoo parlours also dot the line here and there.  If one is looking for risky sex, hedonistic entertainment, and shitty ink work, the Dredge is where they’d go.
  
• The Pits: on the north western edge of the city is Las Vegas Stadium, one of the final projects to be completed by the population before the Sundering. A massive sports complex where professional teams once played, now is the centre for the cities blood sports.
  
• The Salvage Yards: not so much one shop, but several. The Salvage yards are a portion of the city on its southern side that houses numerous salvage shops. Here one might find any manner of tech, in various states of disrepair.
  

The Cast

• City Council: The shadowy members of Vegas’ true ruling group are largely a mystery. This group meet in secret, the location unknown to anyone not privileged enough (which is virtually everyone in Vegas) and what they speak of is anyone’s guess.
  
• The Hermit: To the west of Vegas in the canyons lives an old man that few even know about. A powerful attuned that prefers to keep to himself, every now and then he’s seen entering the City for one reason or another. Usually cloaked and hooded, those that do see this mysterious figure often times never even get a look at his features.
  
• Miss Emmie: A now elderly scavenger, in her youth she befriended an Orc named Thrask and the two had quite the adventures all through the western reaches of North America. At some point about 15 years ago the two returned from a scavenger trip, hung it all up, and retired. With enough to open the Desert Oasis Inn. And enough respect from not only the mover’s and shaker’s of Vegas, but also the ruling Tribal Council in Saguenay. Thus far she’s tight lipped about what it was the two found, but it vaulted them into near celebrity status.
  
• Thrask: The Wundhur Orc is Emmie’s loyal and steadfast companion, guard, and friend. A mammoth Orc who might be a bit past his prime, but still the known muscle in Vegas as far as a square fight goes. Quiet, stoic, and rather menacing at first, Thrask has watched over Emmie and the Desert Oasis for years.