Sinking City
A city sinking into the earth on ground it drained itself. Sinking City sprawls across the ruins of Mexico City, the massive urban center of the Pridelands, where pre-fall buildings have been renovated into castillos: fortresses and bases of operations for the rival gangs that carve the city into territories. Scrap walls surround the borders, maintained by material-wealthy gangs, and sinkholes open throughout the streets with a regularity that suggests the ground has not finished punishing the people who live on it.
Two generations ago, the city over-pumped its own water table into collapse. Massive subsidence followed. Water now arrives from Rising City through Fuego-built purification pumps, but the source water is poisonous and the process is controlled by the Lake Rats, who charge accordingly. The only thing that unites rival gangs is the threat of losing clean water.
No single ruler governs here. The Federales patrol the streets and attempt to maintain order. Los Ban-dee-tows Mericanos control the oil operations in the fields beyond the walls. Los Ninos del Fuego engineer and craft from the Cathedral of Flame. The Prideland Cartel operates from the Scrap Palace. La Raza cleansed the Polanco district, murdering every Pureblood who crossed their path. The Coyote Kings sabotage whatever they can reach. Between them, the castillos change hands and the dead pile up.
Polanco is now just another center of gang violence. At UNAM, the collapsed university, Joneses dig into unstable pockets of earth seeking pre-fall knowledge; more diggers die than live, but a readable textbook can keep a person fed for months. South Merica houses the Merican refugee camp on a crippled airport. And at the Pits, sinkhole walls have been turned into boundaries for gladiatorial contests: steel chariot racing, iron horse jousting, murderball, and scrap derby. Death is an accepted risk.
Infected enter through holes in the scrap wall and congregate at the Dire Shore between the two cities. When the shore gets clogged, trade between Sinking and Rising City slows until gang members and independents are recruited to clear the dead. The city sinks. The gangs fight. The water runs through someone else's pumps. And the castillos stand, for now, on ground that has no intention of holding them forever.
Two generations ago, the city over-pumped its own water table into collapse. Massive subsidence followed. Water now arrives from Rising City through Fuego-built purification pumps, but the source water is poisonous and the process is controlled by the Lake Rats, who charge accordingly. The only thing that unites rival gangs is the threat of losing clean water.
No single ruler governs here. The Federales patrol the streets and attempt to maintain order. Los Ban-dee-tows Mericanos control the oil operations in the fields beyond the walls. Los Ninos del Fuego engineer and craft from the Cathedral of Flame. The Prideland Cartel operates from the Scrap Palace. La Raza cleansed the Polanco district, murdering every Pureblood who crossed their path. The Coyote Kings sabotage whatever they can reach. Between them, the castillos change hands and the dead pile up.
Polanco is now just another center of gang violence. At UNAM, the collapsed university, Joneses dig into unstable pockets of earth seeking pre-fall knowledge; more diggers die than live, but a readable textbook can keep a person fed for months. South Merica houses the Merican refugee camp on a crippled airport. And at the Pits, sinkhole walls have been turned into boundaries for gladiatorial contests: steel chariot racing, iron horse jousting, murderball, and scrap derby. Death is an accepted risk.
Infected enter through holes in the scrap wall and congregate at the Dire Shore between the two cities. When the shore gets clogged, trade between Sinking and Rising City slows until gang members and independents are recruited to clear the dead. The city sinks. The gangs fight. The water runs through someone else's pumps. And the castillos stand, for now, on ground that has no intention of holding them forever.
History
The ruins of Mexico City became Sinking City not through any single catastrophe but through the accumulation of poor decisions made by desperate people. After the Fall, survivors fortified the largest pre-fall buildings into castillos, creating the gang-territory system that defines the city today. As the population grew, water demand outstripped supply. Pumping operations drained the water table until the ground itself began to collapse, opening sinkholes that swallowed buildings and infrastructure.
The subsidence created the water crisis that shapes modern Sinking City. When the basin to the east flooded and became Rising City's poisonous lake, the Lake Rats established control over the purification pumps. The Fuegos of the Cathedral of Flame built the infrastructure. Together, they created a dependency that gives both factions leverage over every gang in Sinking City.
The castillo system hardened as factions carved their territories. La Raza purged Polanco of its Pureblood residents. The Prideland Cartel established the Scrap Palace. The Federales organized to maintain some semblance of law. Outside the walls, the Oil Fields and Iron Graveyard Station grew to supply the city's insatiable appetite for resources. Sinking City has never stopped sinking, and the factions that control it have never stopped fighting over what remains above ground.
The subsidence created the water crisis that shapes modern Sinking City. When the basin to the east flooded and became Rising City's poisonous lake, the Lake Rats established control over the purification pumps. The Fuegos of the Cathedral of Flame built the infrastructure. Together, they created a dependency that gives both factions leverage over every gang in Sinking City.
The castillo system hardened as factions carved their territories. La Raza purged Polanco of its Pureblood residents. The Prideland Cartel established the Scrap Palace. The Federales organized to maintain some semblance of law. Outside the walls, the Oil Fields and Iron Graveyard Station grew to supply the city's insatiable appetite for resources. Sinking City has never stopped sinking, and the factions that control it have never stopped fighting over what remains above ground.
Geography
Sinking City occupies the ruins of Mexico City, a vast urban expanse where pre-fall buildings have been renovated into castillos serving as gang fortresses. Scrap walls surround the city borders, maintained by material-wealthy factions. Sinkholes open throughout the streets from catastrophic subsidence caused by over-pumping the water table generations ago. The ground itself is unstable.
Key districts include Polanco, the former Pureblood quarter cleansed by La Raza; UNAM, the collapsed university where Joneses dig for pre-fall knowledge in unstable sinkholes; South Merica, the Merican refugee camp on a crippled airport; and the Pits, where sinkhole walls serve as boundaries for gladiatorial contests. To the east, the Dire Shore forms the border with Rising City, a grey mud beach where infected congregate until cleared by organized efforts. A train line connects the city to the Oil Fields and Iron Graveyard Station beyond the walls.
Key districts include Polanco, the former Pureblood quarter cleansed by La Raza; UNAM, the collapsed university where Joneses dig for pre-fall knowledge in unstable sinkholes; South Merica, the Merican refugee camp on a crippled airport; and the Pits, where sinkhole walls serve as boundaries for gladiatorial contests. To the east, the Dire Shore forms the border with Rising City, a grey mud beach where infected congregate until cleared by organized efforts. A train line connects the city to the Oil Fields and Iron Graveyard Station beyond the walls.
