Highway Patrol
The Highway Patrol began with a family of Rovers who stopped roving. The Remmers had traveled the length of Old Dominion enough times to fall in love with its people: the farmers who shared meals with strangers, the merchants who traded fair, the families who built communities on roads that the wasteland tried to swallow every season. When the Remmers learned those roads were being torn apart by raiders and zed, they started riding the same stretch of highway over and over, trying to stop whatever harm they could. That was many generations ago. The Patrol has been growing ever since.
Today, hundreds of outposts line the major roads of Old Dominion, staffed by units of paired partners who travel the highway on foot. The current leader, Allison Remmer, inherited the role through the family line and has introduced a rigorous series of recruitment tests that significantly improved both competence and survival rates among new Patrolmen. Anyone can join regardless of Strain or faith, though many positions are inherited through family. Recruits must understand that this is an entire lifestyle change, not a career; there is no turning back. The demand for new members exceeds the Patrol's capacity to train them.
Patrolmen live on the road. At any point, a member can approach any farm along the highway for aid or rest and be treated as royalty. The people of Old Dominion feed, arm, and clothe them. Rich Man's Land pays a stipend. The Patrol has been near-deified by the farming families it protects, and the reverence is earned daily. Their primary adversary, the Dominion Dogs, has built an entire organization around studying and circumventing Patrol patterns. The Dogs avoid direct confrontation, targeting unprotected travelers in the gaps between patrols. Remmer's goal is to have units hitting each checkpoint every thirty minutes, which would protect the entirety of Old Dominion. She is not there yet. In the forests along the road, Patrolmen have been disappearing with no explanation, suspected Watcher activity that no one has been able to confirm or stop.
Today, hundreds of outposts line the major roads of Old Dominion, staffed by units of paired partners who travel the highway on foot. The current leader, Allison Remmer, inherited the role through the family line and has introduced a rigorous series of recruitment tests that significantly improved both competence and survival rates among new Patrolmen. Anyone can join regardless of Strain or faith, though many positions are inherited through family. Recruits must understand that this is an entire lifestyle change, not a career; there is no turning back. The demand for new members exceeds the Patrol's capacity to train them.
Patrolmen live on the road. At any point, a member can approach any farm along the highway for aid or rest and be treated as royalty. The people of Old Dominion feed, arm, and clothe them. Rich Man's Land pays a stipend. The Patrol has been near-deified by the farming families it protects, and the reverence is earned daily. Their primary adversary, the Dominion Dogs, has built an entire organization around studying and circumventing Patrol patterns. The Dogs avoid direct confrontation, targeting unprotected travelers in the gaps between patrols. Remmer's goal is to have units hitting each checkpoint every thirty minutes, which would protect the entirety of Old Dominion. She is not there yet. In the forests along the road, Patrolmen have been disappearing with no explanation, suspected Watcher activity that no one has been able to confirm or stop.
Structure
The Highway Patrol is led by Allison Remmer, who inherited the role through the founding Remmer family line. She is supported by several trusted lieutenants authorized to make decisions in her absence. The Patrol operates through hundreds of outposts along the major roads of Old Dominion, with units consisting of two sets of partners traveling the highway on foot. Remmer's goal is to have patrols hit each checkpoint every thirty minutes, a schedule that would protect the entirety of Old Dominion. Membership is open to people of all Strains and most faiths, but recruits must pass a rigorous series of tests and understand that joining is an irreversible lifestyle change.
Public Agenda
The Highway Patrol exists to keep the roadways of Old Dominion safe for travelers, merchants, and farming families. Their mission is to remove threats from the roads, protect passing caravans, and maintain the outpost network that spans the entire region. Patrol members live on the road, receiving a stipend from Rich Man's Land and support from the farming communities they protect. Joining the Patrol means giving up everything except the road itself; there is no turning back from membership.
History
The Highway Patrol was founded generations ago by the Remmer family, Rovers who had been traveling the length of Old Dominion and fell in love with its culture. When they learned that farms and roads were being attacked by raiders and zed, they established the first Patrol and began riding the same roads repeatedly, trying to stop those who would harm the neighborly people of Old Dominion.
Under Allison Remmer's current leadership, improved recruitment tests have significantly increased the competence and survival rate of new Patrolmen. In recent years, unexplained disappearances of patrol members in the forests had been increasing, possibly linked to the Watchers, but better training has mitigated these losses. The Patrol has also adopted a more adversarial stance toward the Dominion Dogs, though the organized bandits' hidden forest bases continue to elude discovery. The Patrol remains revered and near-deified by the farming families of Old Dominion, who feed, arm, and clothe Patrolmen and treat them as royalty.
Under Allison Remmer's current leadership, improved recruitment tests have significantly increased the competence and survival rate of new Patrolmen. In recent years, unexplained disappearances of patrol members in the forests had been increasing, possibly linked to the Watchers, but better training has mitigated these losses. The Patrol has also adopted a more adversarial stance toward the Dominion Dogs, though the organized bandits' hidden forest bases continue to elude discovery. The Patrol remains revered and near-deified by the farming families of Old Dominion, who feed, arm, and clothe Patrolmen and treat them as royalty.
Rovers who stopped roving to guard every road in Old Dominion.
