Coalition - September 2024
The threat of the Broken Bones Necropolis stood like a darkening shadow across the Anvil while the refugees and survivors struggled to re-establish some semblance of civilization - and for the first time in many years, they reached an accord to form a government, casting off the laissez-faire policies they had previously embraced. Naming the new capital of the Anvil as ‘Embers Forge’ - subject to change - they hurriedly voted in an acting governor, council, and sheriff as a temporary measure, agreeing to revisit the subject in the coming months to establish a permanent government in the region. Their decision was just in time, as the Hammer Inlet Coalition representatives were due to arrive the next day.
Politics were not their only worry, however, and the survivors were swiftly tested. The undead continued to emerge from the Necropolis, and it became increasingly clear that grave cultists lurked in the dark at night, maddened by disease and devoted to spreading the necropolis. Researchers worked late into the night discovering methods of detecting the Gravis Immortum sickness. As the sun rose the next morning, a chance revealed itself for the survivors to strike back.
A member of Resurrection calling himself “Bates” arrived with a plan; they were using zombie attractant to clear a brief path for a quick raid on Booming Bay, hoping that they could find the memory device created by Elias Frank and stop it from continuing to ‘leak’ stolen memories into the Gravemind. The town rallied together for the raid, reaching the tavern and managing to destroy several of the ‘containers’ holding these stolen memories, although others remained behind when they were forced to retreat. Evidence was also found in the tavern linking the Booming Bay Incident to a certain Vivian DuMorte, former head of the ‘Graveheads’ gang. The picture of what had happened in that lost town was finally starting to take shape through the mists of tragedy.
Throughout the gathering, the survivors were rarely left idle. The Citadel sponsored a sojourn over the borders of the Necropolis to an abandoned town, evidence of a murder and plot against Resilience by Vivian’s cultists was uncovered, and a daring raid was carried out against the nesting area of the invasive rad-geese. Step by step, the people of the Anvil worked to take control of their new home.
The HIC representatives - Cliff Horton of Steelbridge, Sgt. Sledge of Cobb, and Karolina Marks of Resilience (revealed to have recently signed on with the Coalition) - arrived in the early evening. The interim government met with them publicly in the midst of the tavern, with a secretary on hand to take notes. Horton explained that due to the town of Cobb vouching for them, they were prepared to offer the Anvil to the refugees as a provisional territory of the Coalition, handing over a document outlining the rights and responsibilities of signatories. These were agreed to, although there was some worry about the final section - one that stated that the sale, possession, and use of necroinfluencers were to be regulated by Resurrection due to the trade of that material’s role in the Incident. If the people of the Anvil established themselves, they were told, they would eventually be considered for full membership in the HIC. In the meantime, supply shipments would continue to arrive, with the town requesting priority for disease supplies and research.
Agents of Resurrection and the ORCAS Foundation showed up that night with dire news. Two of the prominent citizens of Booming Bay - Andrew Quebec and Sally Woodinville - had emerged from the necropolis as undead, spreading sticky, disease-riddled ichor that served as a primary vector for the spread of the Gravis Immortum sickness and vomiting up ‘spawning pools’ that were transforming ordinary shambler zombies into far more dangerous undead. They were heading for vital farmlands and water supplies for the region, and if they reached their goals, things would get far worse. Marching against the dead, the town managed to put Sally back to rest, although Andrew escaped and one of the wells ended up contaminated. They would need to deal with the aftermath of their partial victory, and locate the still-at-large zombie of Andrew Quebec later.
Newly organized and with new, powerful allies, the worst of the undead forces driven from the Anvil, the time had come to march on Booming Bay, to find a way to stop the spread of the Broken Bones Necropolis and ensure the safety of their new home… and make amends for their part in what had come to pass.
