Brokelands
The Brokelands are the meat grinder of Old York. Dozens of miles of rubble, gang warfare, and undead stretch east of the Heights and south of the Iron Gardens, a landscape where the apocalypse never truly stopped. People live here only long enough to profit from scrap or until they meet their end, and the law of survival rules with a consistency that no government has ever matched.
The terrain is mostly dry, unlike the flooded Iron Gardens to the north. Ruined and washed-out buildings fill the landscape with rubble, while scrappy improvised shelters and bunkers dot the burnt and scoured cityscape. The western edges are partially sunk, with shattered ruins jutting from the river, but the ground-level fighting that defines the district happens on streets and balconies rather than rooftops and cable bridges. Gangs fight over scrap-rich territory with a ferocity that makes the Iron Gardens look civilized by comparison. The promise of riches in scrap piles and derelict factories draws desperate fortune-seekers willing to risk everything.
Despite the chaos, several notable communities persist in the Brokelands. The Tien Ha Wui tong controls a walled 30-block community that operates as the most orderly territory in all of Old York, its disciplined structure a sharp contrast to the anarchy outside its walls. The 33rd Street Boys and Final Knights hold Hell's Gate, a three-story reinforced fortress surrounded by intelligent undead. Brokeland Bowl shelters a Nuclear Family gang in a restored 1950s bowling alley, while the Williamspoint Red Star commune hides behind its Zombie Facade Zone to the north. Brighton Commune operates near the southern coast under orthodox Red Star zealotry, and Red Hook stands as a cautionary tale: a former Red Star commune now enslaved by the Bechtel Pure Blood family. The Brooklyn Navy Yard serves as a defensible port with ordnance still mounted on half-sunken warships.
Two transit corridors connect the Brokelands to the rest of Old York. Crumbling twin bridges reach across to the Plunge on the central island, and the massive broken land bridge at Throg's End provides the primary route to the Iron Gardens, with a Blue Line station and shanty town clustered beneath its span.
The terrain is mostly dry, unlike the flooded Iron Gardens to the north. Ruined and washed-out buildings fill the landscape with rubble, while scrappy improvised shelters and bunkers dot the burnt and scoured cityscape. The western edges are partially sunk, with shattered ruins jutting from the river, but the ground-level fighting that defines the district happens on streets and balconies rather than rooftops and cable bridges. Gangs fight over scrap-rich territory with a ferocity that makes the Iron Gardens look civilized by comparison. The promise of riches in scrap piles and derelict factories draws desperate fortune-seekers willing to risk everything.
Despite the chaos, several notable communities persist in the Brokelands. The Tien Ha Wui tong controls a walled 30-block community that operates as the most orderly territory in all of Old York, its disciplined structure a sharp contrast to the anarchy outside its walls. The 33rd Street Boys and Final Knights hold Hell's Gate, a three-story reinforced fortress surrounded by intelligent undead. Brokeland Bowl shelters a Nuclear Family gang in a restored 1950s bowling alley, while the Williamspoint Red Star commune hides behind its Zombie Facade Zone to the north. Brighton Commune operates near the southern coast under orthodox Red Star zealotry, and Red Hook stands as a cautionary tale: a former Red Star commune now enslaved by the Bechtel Pure Blood family. The Brooklyn Navy Yard serves as a defensible port with ordnance still mounted on half-sunken warships.
Two transit corridors connect the Brokelands to the rest of Old York. Crumbling twin bridges reach across to the Plunge on the central island, and the massive broken land bridge at Throg's End provides the primary route to the Iron Gardens, with a Blue Line station and shanty town clustered beneath its span.
Geography
The Brokelands occupy dozens of miles east of Old York's central island, stretching from the bay shores to the Marine Forest where nature is slowly reclaiming the eastern reaches. The terrain is predominantly dry ground, a contrast to the flooded Iron Gardens to the north, though the western edges where the district meets the river are partially sunk with shattered ruins jutting from the water.
The cityscape is burnt and scoured. Ruined buildings, collapsed overpasses, and rubble fields dominate the landscape. Improvised shelters and bunkers mark the locations where gangs and settlers have dug in, each position chosen for defensibility rather than comfort. Ground-level warfare plays out across streets and balconies, with scrap piles and derelict factories serving as both prize and battlefield.
Two critical transit points define the district's connections to Old York's other territories. The crumbling twin bridges span the water to the Plunge on the central island, providing the primary route for trade and raids between the Brokelands and the city's southern district. To the north, the massive broken land bridge at Throg's End connects to the Iron Gardens. This corridor is hotly contested, with a Blue Line station and a shanty town clustered beneath the bridge's span. Nature slowly advances from the east, where the Marine Forest pushes against the ruins with dense growth. The JFK Airport ruin lies abandoned at the far southeastern edge, inhabited only by the Stopover Remnant tribe. The Wake, a stretch of washed-out lowlands, flanks the approaches to the west with good scrap but a heavy undead presence.
The cityscape is burnt and scoured. Ruined buildings, collapsed overpasses, and rubble fields dominate the landscape. Improvised shelters and bunkers mark the locations where gangs and settlers have dug in, each position chosen for defensibility rather than comfort. Ground-level warfare plays out across streets and balconies, with scrap piles and derelict factories serving as both prize and battlefield.
Two critical transit points define the district's connections to Old York's other territories. The crumbling twin bridges span the water to the Plunge on the central island, providing the primary route for trade and raids between the Brokelands and the city's southern district. To the north, the massive broken land bridge at Throg's End connects to the Iron Gardens. This corridor is hotly contested, with a Blue Line station and a shanty town clustered beneath the bridge's span. Nature slowly advances from the east, where the Marine Forest pushes against the ruins with dense growth. The JFK Airport ruin lies abandoned at the far southeastern edge, inhabited only by the Stopover Remnant tribe. The Wake, a stretch of washed-out lowlands, flanks the approaches to the west with good scrap but a heavy undead presence.
