Speedtown
Speedtown was a city that never touched the ground. Built on the ruins of pre-fall Indianapolis, the settlement's downtown survivors retreated into large interconnected buildings and found they never needed to descend to the streets. Crops grew on rooftops. Cooking and distilling happened within the structures. A fully self-contained vertical community thrived above the zed and raiders that owned the ground level.
During the Ironworks era, Speedtown maintained its separation from the empire through a regular tithe of coal from nearby massive mines. The settlement was extremely self-sufficient, positioned at the crossroads south of the Ironworks where travel routes converged. Its independence was pragmatic: coal kept the Ironworks satisfied, and the settlement's distance from the main train lines and the Lake gave it room to breathe.
Slavery existed in Speedtown but was a much laxer system than elsewhere in the Ironworks. There were frequent tales of Irons being released for good service or buying their freedom outright. Escapees sent to Indy were often hidden in the mines more to protect them than to punish them. The settlement's approach to the institution reflected its broader character: practical enough to participate, decent enough to soften the edges where it could.
Indy brewing was traded carefully along the Missory Bay, as the IBU in Mill City took a dim view of competition. The Open Wheel, a pre-fall oval racing track, had been cleared and revived by a group of Dieseljocks and Mericans. Telling Visions adherents considered it a shrine to the Sponsor and His Manifold Products. Darwinists served as audience and pit crew, fascinated by the spectacle as the Hand of Darwin in action. The races were significantly more deadly with kitbashed biodiesel vehicles, which only made them more popular.
During the Ironworks era, Speedtown maintained its separation from the empire through a regular tithe of coal from nearby massive mines. The settlement was extremely self-sufficient, positioned at the crossroads south of the Ironworks where travel routes converged. Its independence was pragmatic: coal kept the Ironworks satisfied, and the settlement's distance from the main train lines and the Lake gave it room to breathe.
Slavery existed in Speedtown but was a much laxer system than elsewhere in the Ironworks. There were frequent tales of Irons being released for good service or buying their freedom outright. Escapees sent to Indy were often hidden in the mines more to protect them than to punish them. The settlement's approach to the institution reflected its broader character: practical enough to participate, decent enough to soften the edges where it could.
Indy brewing was traded carefully along the Missory Bay, as the IBU in Mill City took a dim view of competition. The Open Wheel, a pre-fall oval racing track, had been cleared and revived by a group of Dieseljocks and Mericans. Telling Visions adherents considered it a shrine to the Sponsor and His Manifold Products. Darwinists served as audience and pit crew, fascinated by the spectacle as the Hand of Darwin in action. The races were significantly more deadly with kitbashed biodiesel vehicles, which only made them more popular.
History
Speedtown's survivors adapted to the apocalypse by retreating upward into interconnected buildings, creating a vertical community that never needed to touch the street-level dangers below. The settlement secured its independence from the Ironworks through regular coal tithes from nearby mines, establishing a transactional relationship that kept the empire satisfied without requiring submission. The Open Wheel was revived by Dieseljocks and Mericans who cleared the pre-fall racing track and began running biodiesel vehicles around the oval, creating a deadly spectacle that drew Telling Visions faithful and Darwinist observers alike. Slavery in Speedtown evolved into a notably laxer system than the main Ironworks practiced, with frequent releases and covert protections for escapees.
Geography
Speedtown occupied the ruins of pre-fall Indianapolis, positioned at the crossroads south of the Ironworks where travel routes converged. The downtown area consisted of large interconnected buildings where the population lived entirely above street level, growing crops on rooftops and never descending to the zed-infested ground. Nearby massive coal mines provided the resource that bought the settlement's independence. The Open Wheel racing track sat at the edge of the settlement. Speedtown connected to trade along the Missory Bay and was separate from the main Ironworks rail lines and the Great Lake, contributing to its geographic and political isolation.
