Raincouver
Rain falls on Raincouver the way debt accumulates: constantly, without mercy, and with the quiet understanding that it will never fully stop. The city sits on the coast of the Pacific Providence region, rocky shores lined with cracked and crumbling sea wall remnants, and the smell of salt water mixes with woodsmoke and something metallic that residents have long since stopped noticing. One of the largest living cities in the region, Raincouver runs on trade, corruption, and the constant negotiation between people making deals and people collecting on them.
The Council governs, nominally. A Reclaimer-dominated body with the authority to set policy and the unfortunate habit of accepting money from people who set it for them. Black Market interests have purchased enough Council seats to ensure that the laws bend where they need to bend, and the population knows it. What keeps the city from collapsing into open corruption is the Lions. An Accensorite military force based at Lions' Gate, the remains of an old arena repurposed as barracks and training ground, the Lions enforce three rules under General Calvin Wilson's command: no unjust killing, all deals honored, no unregulated trade. Visitors to Lions' Gate can watch the soldiers spar and drill in the open air, and the sharp scent of blood and sweat carries on the wind.
Wilson has not yet ascended. The city considers this fact the way a settlement considers a dam upstream: with awareness that the situation is stable, and with the understanding that stability is not permanence. When the General ascends, the Lions' discipline may hold or it may fracture. Nobody discusses the second possibility openly.
Beneath the regulated surface, the Gassy Tavern operates as a front for Black Market dealings. Owned by Jake Snyder, who keeps a gun behind the bar and is quick to use it, the tavern's hidden panel leads to underground entertainments and illicit trade. Barnaby Wells, a Pure Blood with a talent for sleaze, runs the Black Diamonds underground fighting ring, staging themed battles for crowds that pay to watch. Wells has been described as the shadiest man outside of Vegasia, and he wears the comparison comfortably.
South of the city, Stan-Lee Woods press against the ruins of old Stanley Park. The forest is home to Natural Ones known as industrious traders, but it harbors darker residents. The Bloody Bones, a sub-sect of the Tribes of Seasons led by a Full Dead cult leader named Alana Jones, worship the Grave Mind and conduct blood sacrifices among the trees. Screams echo from the woods at night, and the Natural One traders have learned to finish their business before dark.
North of Raincouver, the mountains offer a death trap of raiders, plague animals, and Accensorites hunting demons. Old ATV trails thread through the peaks, and Diesel Jocks use them to bypass Lion patrols and avoid regulated trade routes. The city does not control what happens in those mountains. The Lions' authority ends where the tree line begins, and everyone in Raincouver understands that the line between civilization and everything else is drawn in rain-soaked chalk.
The Council governs, nominally. A Reclaimer-dominated body with the authority to set policy and the unfortunate habit of accepting money from people who set it for them. Black Market interests have purchased enough Council seats to ensure that the laws bend where they need to bend, and the population knows it. What keeps the city from collapsing into open corruption is the Lions. An Accensorite military force based at Lions' Gate, the remains of an old arena repurposed as barracks and training ground, the Lions enforce three rules under General Calvin Wilson's command: no unjust killing, all deals honored, no unregulated trade. Visitors to Lions' Gate can watch the soldiers spar and drill in the open air, and the sharp scent of blood and sweat carries on the wind.
Wilson has not yet ascended. The city considers this fact the way a settlement considers a dam upstream: with awareness that the situation is stable, and with the understanding that stability is not permanence. When the General ascends, the Lions' discipline may hold or it may fracture. Nobody discusses the second possibility openly.
Beneath the regulated surface, the Gassy Tavern operates as a front for Black Market dealings. Owned by Jake Snyder, who keeps a gun behind the bar and is quick to use it, the tavern's hidden panel leads to underground entertainments and illicit trade. Barnaby Wells, a Pure Blood with a talent for sleaze, runs the Black Diamonds underground fighting ring, staging themed battles for crowds that pay to watch. Wells has been described as the shadiest man outside of Vegasia, and he wears the comparison comfortably.
South of the city, Stan-Lee Woods press against the ruins of old Stanley Park. The forest is home to Natural Ones known as industrious traders, but it harbors darker residents. The Bloody Bones, a sub-sect of the Tribes of Seasons led by a Full Dead cult leader named Alana Jones, worship the Grave Mind and conduct blood sacrifices among the trees. Screams echo from the woods at night, and the Natural One traders have learned to finish their business before dark.
North of Raincouver, the mountains offer a death trap of raiders, plague animals, and Accensorites hunting demons. Old ATV trails thread through the peaks, and Diesel Jocks use them to bypass Lion patrols and avoid regulated trade routes. The city does not control what happens in those mountains. The Lions' authority ends where the tree line begins, and everyone in Raincouver understands that the line between civilization and everything else is drawn in rain-soaked chalk.
History
Raincouver grew because it had to. The coastal position offered natural harbor access, fresh water from mountain runoff, and enough defensible terrain to keep a settlement alive through the worst of the post-Fall years. Reclaimers organized the first governing structures, forming a Council to manage trade and allocate resources. The system worked well enough to attract population, and population attracted commerce, and commerce attracted the kind of people who understood that money flows more freely when the rules have gaps.
The Black Market's infiltration of the Council happened in increments. A bought vote here, a compromised seat there, until the line between governance and organized corruption blurred past recognition. The city might have slid into lawlessness entirely if the Accensorites had not established the Lions. General Calvin Wilson built the force into something that operated alongside the Council rather than beneath it, enforcing rules that applied to everyone regardless of who paid whom. The dual-power arrangement created a city where order and corruption coexist in a state of permanent tension, each checking the other just enough to prevent collapse.
The surrounding threats have kept the internal factions from turning fully inward. The Bloody Bones arrived from New Calgary, bringing Grave Mind worship and blood sacrifice to Stan-Lee Woods. Raiders descend from the northern mountains when the weather permits. Plague animals drift through the passes. Raincouver survives not because its leaders agree on how to run it, but because the alternatives to cooperation are visible from every wall and watchtower in the city.
The Black Market's infiltration of the Council happened in increments. A bought vote here, a compromised seat there, until the line between governance and organized corruption blurred past recognition. The city might have slid into lawlessness entirely if the Accensorites had not established the Lions. General Calvin Wilson built the force into something that operated alongside the Council rather than beneath it, enforcing rules that applied to everyone regardless of who paid whom. The dual-power arrangement created a city where order and corruption coexist in a state of permanent tension, each checking the other just enough to prevent collapse.
The surrounding threats have kept the internal factions from turning fully inward. The Bloody Bones arrived from New Calgary, bringing Grave Mind worship and blood sacrifice to Stan-Lee Woods. Raiders descend from the northern mountains when the weather permits. Plague animals drift through the passes. Raincouver survives not because its leaders agree on how to run it, but because the alternatives to cooperation are visible from every wall and watchtower in the city.
