Rail City
From a distance, Rail City resembled a giant heap of twisted metal. The once-proud skyline looked decaying by day, its building summits broken and splintered where slave labor had stripped them for materials. At night, hundreds of tiny red glows from Iron Slaves and Reclaimers working from dusk til dawn made the buildings appear to be continually burning. This was the crown jewel of the Ironworks, the main hub and unofficial capital of a slave empire built on the ruins of pre-fall Chicago.
During the Ironworks era, Rail City served as the seat of Chancellor Christine Daily's authority, the hub of the rail network, and the home of the Stockyard, the largest slave market in the post-fall world. Union Station thrummed with activity as the central interchange for the entire train system, its Great Hall repurposed as a marketplace where auctions determined the fates of thousands daily. The Chancellor's Mansion in Center City was wrapped in stripped skyscraper steel, with snipers on every balcony, a fortress within a fortress.
The city was divided by function and class. Center City's towering high-rises still blazed with electric light, housing the wealthiest residents around the Gridiron Field and the Mansion. The North Side held dilapidated worker housing, overfilled apartments, and Railworker enclaves. The West Side was the most damaged section: burnt-out suburbs, raider clans, and shambler packs claimed the territory. The South Side belonged to the Abbey of the First Fission, a Darwinist research institution guarded by red-cowled forces where the Iron Dragoon program grafted weapons into slave flesh. Beneath them all, Lower Rail honeycombed the city with Lascarian tunnels, the Wacker Market at their center dealing in proscribed goods and unusual slaves.
Mayor Patrick Callahan, known as the Rail Baron, governed the city under the Chancellor's eye. A Merican who had risen through the Railworkers union, Callahan wielded his ties to the essential rail workforce as both weapon and shield. Gruff, bellowing, and honestly leery of the Chancellor, he interfered with enemies' projects and smoothed the way for allies. The Nineyfor highway connected Rail City to Mill City and Rust City, its overpasses doubling as sniper nests, its toll checkpoints extracting their due from every passing caravan.
During the Ironworks era, Rail City served as the seat of Chancellor Christine Daily's authority, the hub of the rail network, and the home of the Stockyard, the largest slave market in the post-fall world. Union Station thrummed with activity as the central interchange for the entire train system, its Great Hall repurposed as a marketplace where auctions determined the fates of thousands daily. The Chancellor's Mansion in Center City was wrapped in stripped skyscraper steel, with snipers on every balcony, a fortress within a fortress.
The city was divided by function and class. Center City's towering high-rises still blazed with electric light, housing the wealthiest residents around the Gridiron Field and the Mansion. The North Side held dilapidated worker housing, overfilled apartments, and Railworker enclaves. The West Side was the most damaged section: burnt-out suburbs, raider clans, and shambler packs claimed the territory. The South Side belonged to the Abbey of the First Fission, a Darwinist research institution guarded by red-cowled forces where the Iron Dragoon program grafted weapons into slave flesh. Beneath them all, Lower Rail honeycombed the city with Lascarian tunnels, the Wacker Market at their center dealing in proscribed goods and unusual slaves.
Mayor Patrick Callahan, known as the Rail Baron, governed the city under the Chancellor's eye. A Merican who had risen through the Railworkers union, Callahan wielded his ties to the essential rail workforce as both weapon and shield. Gruff, bellowing, and honestly leery of the Chancellor, he interfered with enemies' projects and smoothed the way for allies. The Nineyfor highway connected Rail City to Mill City and Rust City, its overpasses doubling as sniper nests, its toll checkpoints extracting their due from every passing caravan.
History
When the Ironworks first formed, the city was known as Windy City. As the empire coalesced around its rail infrastructure, the settlement became Rail City, the central hub from which the entire axis was administered. The local patois called the region Chacogaland. Over time, the Chancellor's seat consolidated absolute authority here, with each major city's Mayor answering to Rail City or facing replacement. The once-proud skyscrapers were systematically dismantled by slave labor, their steel repurposed for construction and fortification across the Ironworks. While the Reclaimers in Tohr maintained their Spire as a symbol of defiance, Rail City's own towers, the Seared Tower and the Halfcocked Tower, were reduced to truncated stumps, a fact the northerners noted with pointed satisfaction.
The earliest records describe Rail City's still impressive skeleton skyline poised at the south western tip of the great lake. Rail City was the hub of the Ironworks, with representatives of each Ironworks city wheeling, dealing, and cutting throats to get ahead. Unlike the Mill and Motor cities, Rail City was not one great walled-in fortress. Instead, branching out from the Union Station Stronghold were several small rail-connected enclaves built around technology centers and factories. Settlers trying to prove their worth within the Ironworks were encouraged through free-claim rights to carve their fate from the ruins around the Rail City strongholds against the constant zombie threat.
Corebook Era
The earliest records describe Rail City's still impressive skeleton skyline poised at the south western tip of the great lake. Rail City was the hub of the Ironworks, with representatives of each Ironworks city wheeling, dealing, and cutting throats to get ahead. Unlike the Mill and Motor cities, Rail City was not one great walled-in fortress. Instead, branching out from the Union Station Stronghold were several small rail-connected enclaves built around technology centers and factories. Settlers trying to prove their worth within the Ironworks were encouraged through free-claim rights to carve their fate from the ruins around the Rail City strongholds against the constant zombie threat.
Geography
Rail City occupied the ruins of pre-fall Chicago, its districts radiating outward from the river that divided safe Center City from the rougher surrounding areas. Center City held the Chancellor's Mansion and Gridiron Field, its towering skyscrapers still lit at night. The North Side housed workers in dilapidated apartments and fortified townhouses with courtyard gardens. The West Side was the most damaged quarter: burnt-out suburbs, raider territory, and shambler-infested streets. The South Side belonged to the Abbey of the First Fission, its castle-like university buildings guarded by red-cowled soldiers. Lower Rail, the Lascarian underground city, ran beneath downtown through multiple levels of tunnels and passageways, with the Wacker Market at its center. Union Station served as the rail hub connecting the entire Ironworks. The Nineyfor highway skirted the city's western edge and connected Rail City to Mill City and Rust City, its overpasses converted to sniper positions.
