Iron Gardens
The Iron Gardens earn every syllable of their name. The northern section of Old York rises from a waterlogged ground floor as a canopy of cage-like building frameworks, rope and steel cable bridges, and gang territories packed so tightly that stepping off one crew's walkway and onto another's can cost a tribute payment or a limb. From the fourth floor upward, crumbling low stone foundations give way to the exposed skeletons of offices, apartments, and shops, creating a postmodern lattice of rusted metal and opportunistic vegetation. Newcomers call it the Jungle Gym. Locals call it home, though they tend to say it with the wary affection of people who know their home is trying to kill them.
Everything in the Iron Gardens is claimed, marked with gang sigils that indicate territory ownership and tribute requirements. The gang lifestyle rules, and the Affiliates preside over it from the Blues Note Bar, a pre-fall gentlemen's club atmosphere perched atop a skyscraper where Mr. Jackson Bluenote resolves disputes and collects his cut. Below the Affiliates, the hierarchy descends through dozens of smaller gangs, each controlling stretches of walkway, docking rights, and the trade routes that connect the district's key landmarks.
Those landmarks matter. The World's End Trading Post occupies the old Bronx Zoo grounds as the primary open marketplace, run by the Grip Set under Carlos "Hookman" Malave. The Second Ark, a collection of beached barges along the Hudson, provides agricultural capacity through the Appleseeds. The Twelve Winds complex generates more electricity than anywhere else in Old York through twelve windmill scaffolds controlled by the Dons. Each of these sites is a strategic prize, and the gangs that control them wield influence proportional to the resources they command.
Below the waterline, the flooded tunnels host Lascarian tribes who maintain a tenuous trade relationship with the surface gangs. Tens of thousands of undead hands reach upward from the drowned ground floor, ready to drag boats and the unwary beneath the water. And in the dense overgrowth of the northern sections, where tree canopies envelop decaying metal frames around the remains of the old Bronx Zoo, the wild fauna has become as dangerous as the armed residents. Jungle cats, large pachyderms, scavengers, and carrion eaters descended from pre-fall zoo exhibits prowl the upper levels, having adapted to the ruins with the same resourcefulness as the people who share them.
Everything in the Iron Gardens is claimed, marked with gang sigils that indicate territory ownership and tribute requirements. The gang lifestyle rules, and the Affiliates preside over it from the Blues Note Bar, a pre-fall gentlemen's club atmosphere perched atop a skyscraper where Mr. Jackson Bluenote resolves disputes and collects his cut. Below the Affiliates, the hierarchy descends through dozens of smaller gangs, each controlling stretches of walkway, docking rights, and the trade routes that connect the district's key landmarks.
Those landmarks matter. The World's End Trading Post occupies the old Bronx Zoo grounds as the primary open marketplace, run by the Grip Set under Carlos "Hookman" Malave. The Second Ark, a collection of beached barges along the Hudson, provides agricultural capacity through the Appleseeds. The Twelve Winds complex generates more electricity than anywhere else in Old York through twelve windmill scaffolds controlled by the Dons. Each of these sites is a strategic prize, and the gangs that control them wield influence proportional to the resources they command.
Below the waterline, the flooded tunnels host Lascarian tribes who maintain a tenuous trade relationship with the surface gangs. Tens of thousands of undead hands reach upward from the drowned ground floor, ready to drag boats and the unwary beneath the water. And in the dense overgrowth of the northern sections, where tree canopies envelop decaying metal frames around the remains of the old Bronx Zoo, the wild fauna has become as dangerous as the armed residents. Jungle cats, large pachyderms, scavengers, and carrion eaters descended from pre-fall zoo exhibits prowl the upper levels, having adapted to the ruins with the same resourcefulness as the people who share them.
Geography
The Iron Gardens occupy the northern section of Old York, built upward from a waterlogged ground floor where the waterline sits at approximately the third story. Crumbling low stone buildings form the foundations. From the fourth floor upward, cage-like frameworks of offices, apartments, and shops create a postmodern scrap metal canopy connected by rope and steel cable bridges spanning the gaps between aging structures. These bridges provide the only easy transit apart from rare patches of dry land; falling means certain death in the undead-infested waters below.
The district's western edge runs along the Hudson River, where the Second Ark's beached barges line the shore. The northern sections are dense with overgrowth, tree canopies enveloping decaying metal frames around the remains of the old Bronx Zoo. Wild fauna descended from zoo exhibits prowl these upper levels: jungle cats, large pachyderms unafraid of the water, scavengers, and carrion eaters that feed on slow-moving undead. Herbivores thrive in the dense vegetation.
Below the waterline, flooded tunnels host the Water Rats Lascarian tribe, who maintain usable access points for trade with the surface. The waterfront gang-controlled docking areas line the waterline where boats risk the grasping hands of tens of thousands of submerged undead. Notable ruins include LeFrak City, a former housing project now an impenetrable undead hive, and LaGuardia Airport, a desolate stretch of empty terminals eerily devoid of all life for unknown reasons. Throg's End bridge connects the Iron Gardens to the Brokelands to the east, while the Broadway bridge provides access to the Heights on the central island to the south.
The district's western edge runs along the Hudson River, where the Second Ark's beached barges line the shore. The northern sections are dense with overgrowth, tree canopies enveloping decaying metal frames around the remains of the old Bronx Zoo. Wild fauna descended from zoo exhibits prowl these upper levels: jungle cats, large pachyderms unafraid of the water, scavengers, and carrion eaters that feed on slow-moving undead. Herbivores thrive in the dense vegetation.
Below the waterline, flooded tunnels host the Water Rats Lascarian tribe, who maintain usable access points for trade with the surface. The waterfront gang-controlled docking areas line the waterline where boats risk the grasping hands of tens of thousands of submerged undead. Notable ruins include LeFrak City, a former housing project now an impenetrable undead hive, and LaGuardia Airport, a desolate stretch of empty terminals eerily devoid of all life for unknown reasons. Throg's End bridge connects the Iron Gardens to the Brokelands to the east, while the Broadway bridge provides access to the Heights on the central island to the south.
