War. War never changes.
In the 21st century, humanity had become a virtual utopia; an advanced civilization, dismissing the atomic genocide of the past as an ugly necessity for the future ahead. The economy was healthy - the poverty rate had drastically plummeted - it seemed that the American Dream had finally been realized. A heated home, a family of four, and scientific luxuries people of the past couldn't dream of. But hidden behind the white picket fence was an ugly truth; humanity had not fully made the leap. It had not yet grown beyond it's lust for war. The years of flagrant consumption led to a lack of resources. War raged on overseas. Countless smaller nations collapsed. And humanity's Utopian chapter seemed to be coming to a close, ready to begin anew.
In the year 2077, humanity was bathed in nuclear hellfire as punishment for it's greed. The past triumphs, accomplishments, and errors had been reduced to a fine irradiated dust. The world's face permanently disfigured, the survivors of the atom bomb wandered the wastes of the post-apocalyptic nation, scavenging towns and building a foundation for another, better tomorrow. But with progress came chaos. Raiders assaulted blossoming towns, and mercenaries grew in numbers. As several centuries passed by, humanity seemed to be rising again. Settlements and cities arose from the ashes of the past, governments grew in power, and people forged a new beginning for themselves. The West was a barren, turmoil-filled wasteland, once occupied by the NCR, House, and Caesar's Legion. The East was a war-torn mire of despair, once held by the Brotherhood of Steel, the Institute, the Railroad, and the Minutemen.
But what of the South?
New Orleans. A plethora of culture, dialect, fine cuisine. The area never seemed to truly leave the 1950s era; the brazen jazz, the French culture, the mystique of voodoo. The city had been assaulted by the irradiated fire that had seared America, due to it's relevance as a major shipping port. The Bayou Wasteland had become a damp, ugly city; major suburban parts of the city had been reclaimed by the swamp, and hostile, monstrous irradiated creatures born out of the Glowing Bog began to infest the city.
In the year 2254, the quagmire of radiation and anarchy was met head on by five charismatic, intelligent and cultured foreigners, seeking to bring about the cultured and diverse past. A golden age of liberty and advancement, aiming to bring about a new age of enlightenment. They united the warring and chaotic region, and brought about a long-gone peace. Their citizens cleaned the streets of the rubble, creatures, and marauders, driving them to the edges of the area and into the Glowing Bog. They began a government in which each of each ruled a district, splitting the bayou into five districts.
In the fifty years since the rejuvenation of the region, the Bayou Wasteland had been cleared of four rulers, leaving the descendants of one sinister, greedy one. The Orleans Order had been begun after the deaths of the four other kings, creating a monarchy with control over all districts. New factions had arisen through the years; the French Revolution, an organization dedicated to reuniting the regions and removing the Monarchy in form of a government for each district. The Guild of Voodoo, a shadowy organization with highly advanced technology guised as "Voodoo." The Super Mutant Tribals, non hostile super mutants occupying the Glowing Bog, hunting food and occasionally trading with the outside. The Gulf Marauders, travelling along the Gulf Coast attacking villages and occasionally trading.
It is the year 2309. Orleans is on the verge of war, with the threat of the Glowing Bog growing, Gulf Marauders from the North and Raiders from the East, and the Orleans Order facing the call for revolution. It's the job of the people to decide the fate of the Bayou Wasteland.
ORLEANS ORDER
The beginning of the atomic war had left New Orleans an ugly, irradiated husk of itself - a rotting corpse, infested with maggots. The Bayou Wasteland, as it came to be known, was a dangerous and lawless land, where raiders ran free and irradiated abominations rose to power, wiping out any form of opposition that dare oppose them. The era of chaos and death was known as the "Reign of Terror", in which the colorful and enlightened civilization of the past had been gutted, killed, and obliterated. The raiders burnt down museums and clubs; monsters infested the homes and restaurants; and the bright, hopeful chapter of New Orleans was truly dead.
The land lay to fester for centuries; anyone psychotic enough to arrive were disemboweled by the animals, decapitated by the raiders, or succumbed to the heavy radiation leaking from the Glowing Bog - the massive, growing swamp lying directly to the East, assimilating suburban areas into it's mossy folds, and with notorious reputation for killing humans the moment they step in. The soil was extremely fertile, however, and people still tried. The Bayou Wasteland was filled with eager settlers, elated to form a farm on the rich ground, until they realized just the mess they'd gotten themselves into. It wasn't until five rich, eccentric socialites had arrived that things actually began to change for the better.
The men were of an odd origin - claiming in their odd accent that they came from a land far away, eager to visit a new side of the country. The five men saw potential in the land - the extremely fecund soil, the abundance of intact buildings, and hopeful population - and decided to begin it anew, dismissing the "Bayou Wasteland" and claiming their new region as "Orleans," deciding that the city didn't seem very.. new. The men got to work; the first order of business being the dangerous beings lurking around each corner. The charismatic men were able to rally the people together, and forming an odd, mismatched army, began a clean up project that would last almost ten years. This was known as the "War for Orleans."
After much blood was spilled and countless lives were lost, the project had been completed, leaving the beaten and battered remnants to begin the reconstruction period. Setting to work in the now safer streets, the population began to build up high walls in accordance to what the remaining three debutantes had envisioned - a large, colorful city, with beautiful painted walls and stone brick streets spanning the entire wasteland, the Glowing Bog having been beaten back into the hellscape that it had crawled from. The men created five districts, that each man would hold control over; and they set to work, designing districts that would work in conjunction with each other to form a proper nation. The districts were surrounded by white brick walls with one large gates.
The Savreaux District, the district of art, literature, and philosophy, housed the capital of New Orleans, the French Quarter, and was filled with rich nobles, artists, and soldiers, housing Henry Savreaux. The Fontaine District, the district of fine cuisine, utilizing agriculture, animal breeding, and fishing to create fine food to ship down the Mississippi River, housing Louis Fontaine. The Lambert District, the district of war, designing weapons, training soldiers, and refining battle tactics to defend districts, housing Archard Lambert. The Millot District, the district of technology, utilizing electrical power to attempt to revive old world luxuries, housing Raymond Millot. Finally, the Proulx District, the district of trade, gathering supplies to trade with merchants overseas, housing Channing Proulx.
The districts lived in harmony with each other - offering supplies, troops, out-of-nation items, and other luxuries to each other, creating a stable nation and economy. After twenty long years since their arrival, the dream of the socialites had finally been realized. The dream lasted for another five years, until, finally - one man died. Channing Proulx of a trading assault by an outsider. The man left his district in the hands of Henry Savreaux. Two years passed, and another died, of radiation sickness. Louis Fontaine entrusted his district in the hands of Raymond Millot. Raymond Millot would later be devoured in eight years by a savage beast that snuck through the district walls, entrusting both districts with - Henry Savreaux. Archard Lambert, would later be caught in a shooting incident - entrusting his district to Henry Savreaux.
In thirty years, Henry Savreaux held control of each district, effectively creating a powerful and wide monarchy. His reach was massive, but it quickly became twisted. The man kicked off the year 2240 with a series of harsh taxation laws and a requirement that soldiers be housed in each district, dispelling each district's personal police force. He cut off ties to anyone and anything outside the five districts. As time passed and King Henry expanded West, the districts were diluted and weakened. The original goal of the districts grew hazy and unfocused, until the districts had simply become cities, with the Savreaux District now taking on the role of all the original five. Henry Savreaux's legacy continued with his sons, that didn't change much.
The five district's government began to refer to itself as the Orleans Order - a powerful government that while keeping the districts under heavy protection and offering food and water, did so with heavy taxation and an ignorance of the needs of the people. The soldiers wore scarlet uniforms with gold trim, accompanied by an experimental ballistic weave protecting them from smaller arms and sharp weapons; they're often equipped with laser rifles and pulse grenades. The people often wore plaid shirts, jeans, and occasionally rags, equipped with pipe pistols and rifles. There was a sharp difference between the heavily armed, well-dressed soldiers and the working people.
The Orleans Order is led by King Louis Savreaux, the descendant of Henry Savreaux. A refined and sophisticated young man, he is well versed in art, philosophy, and weapons handling. He has begun to demonstrate slight aversion toward the inset laws, and has opened up the doors to trade with the outside world for the first time in decades.
FRENCH REVOLUTION
The beginning of the "Reign of Savreaux" brought with it heavy opposition. The organization began after Henry Savreaux gained control of all five districts; born out of hatred for the new king, the general titling himself as "Napoleon IV" began the French Revolution, a scattered and unorganized group dedicated to overthrowing the king in favor of a democracy. Napoleon IV was hit hard by the new taxation laws and district changes; living in the Proulx District, poverty rates skyrocketed, and his family were forcibly removed from their home and forced into the Uncharted Lands with many others. Their lack of caps prevented them from finding a new district to live in, and they were forced to begin a new life barely scraping by, living in several primitive huts along the river.
Napoleon IV was born out the ashes of Joseph Elk. His hatred drove him to begin the hidden organization under the nose of King Henry, and he began to work hard to let it grow. Napoleon infiltrated lower-class districts like Proulx and Millot, rallying up the people with his charisma and heart. He told them his story; reminding them of what life was like before Henry Savreaux became a monarch, of the personal touches each district had, about how a man could move from one district to the other with ease, about how the soldiers didn't occupy the districts for defense and each district had it's own personal police force. His organization's numbers grew as the years went by.
The man's organization gradually grew violent over the years, spiraling out of his control. It began initially as peaceful, simply intending to rally up the people - but as Napoleon IV grew older, his vision for a Democratic Orleans seemed to be slipping away and he intended to see it happen in his lifetime. The French Revolution began attacking Order troops and outposts in the West and Uncharted Lands, burning the remains and snatching the supplies that didn't combust in flames. The French Revolution became a serious threat to the Order, and so, the two began a long running civil war, creating serious unbalance in the region that would hurt everyone; the poor districts, as Order soldiers began cracking down and going harder on military force to prevent the organization from growing, and the rich districts, as Revolutionists bombarded the district with grenades and gunshots.
The two groups would fight for years to come; roughly seventy years have passed since then, and the two organizations are on the verge of total annihiliation. The French Revolution saw countless leaders after the passing of Napoleon IV that would lead the organization to become the mysterious, powerful, and dark group it had become, with it's riot gear troops; the Order would see several kings pass it by, and soldiers began to grow stronger, receiving heavier training and improving in marksmanship skill and hand-to-hand combat, even receiving new uniforms with a specially-designed ballistic weave, allowing them to display their nobility while still being a strong force.
The French Revolution gradually began to gain outfits and uniforms of their own; a set of black riot gear, common in the Uncharted Land ruins due to the heavy civil strife and general chaos before the Great War. The black riot gear was also commonly used in Los Angeles, and was utilized in the West as an elite NCR armor accompanied by a brown duster. In the French Revolution, however, the riot gear lacks the popular duster, due to the fact that long, flowing capes and jackets tend to get caught in the thick bogs, rivers, or animals lurking around. The common gear for a Revolutionist was a Stun Baton, issued out by the government as a crowd control weapon, a Plexiglas bullet-proof riot shield, or an assault rifle. Due to the fewer numbers than the Order, they're able to equip their soldiers far better.
The French Revolution is led by Napoleon V, a young woman dedicated to the cause of the Revolution and old world values. Napoleon V is an expert marksman, astounding in hand-to-hand combat, and a great battle tactician.
GUILD OF VOODOO
The Guild of Voodoo was founded almost sixty years ago by Dr. John Laveau, the head of the Advanced Systems division the The Institute of the Commonwealth. Dr. John abandoned the Institute out of a mix of disgust and fear, uncovering the dark secrets building it's foundation - the betrayal, the experimentation, the kidnapping - and traveled along the Eastern coast with a group of his twenty loyal scientists that were eager to begin their own Institute, a bastion of hope and technology, filling the role that the original Institute was meant to fulfill before it became corrupted by a series of poor directors and sick scientists. Dr. John's absence was covered up and coursers were sent out to hunt him down, but they never found him.
The doctor ventured through the Capital Wasteland, sneaking past the Brotherhood of Steel patrol and hostile super mutants; through the Tarhell filled with bubbling pits of tar and glowing ones; skimmed the Everglade, a hellscape so dangerous and disgusting that he would never speak of it for years to come; to eventually land in the heart of the flowering civilization of Orleans. After losing 16 of his men in his voyage through the wastes losing an eye to a mutant, he was eager to settle down. Lucky for him, it was there that he fell in love with both the culture and people, and found a wife to call his own, a young Creole woman.
It was then that he and his group began a gradual reawakening of Institute technology, using the natural resources of Orleans to rebuild - finding key components in a variety of moss, rock, wood, and animal remnants, surprisingly. The original location for the Guild of Voodoo was located in a small wooden hut along the Mississippi River, filled with clean, white bones and intoxicating plants. The people of Orleans began whispers of Dr. John, working voodoo in his little shack along the river with his mysterious followers. Dr. Laveau fell in love with that claim, and adopted the name of the Guild of Voodoo, dressing his followers in long, flowing clothes and skulls.
As time passed, the organization grew, eventually leaving it's old base of organization in favor of a new one; a place that no one but several high ranking members of the Guild of Voodoo are fully aware of. As decades passed, and their technology grew stronger, the mysterious powers began to become more prevalent. The ability to change their face at a moment, though a highly advanced facial mask that could shift it's structure and color. The ability to hover, using technology from scrapped Eyebots in their boots. The ability to teleport, a common ability that allowed members of the Guild to travel back and forth from their compound, and resulting in followers actually knowing where the base is.
The Guild of Voodoo abandoned some of the Institute's old ways - their complete disgust by the wasteland, for example. The Guild of Voodoo made sure to remain on good relations with the common people, occasionally visiting districts and offering the people entrance or simply demonstrating the power of the Guild, in order to keep the mystique of Old Orleans alive in the new apocalyptic world. The Guild of Voodoo also regularly sends out scribes to pick through the ruins of the Outer Region outside of districts, looking for advanced technology to dissect and use for themselves.
The Guild is currently lead by Marie Laveau, the granddaughter of John Laveau. The twenty year old is just as intelligent as her grandfather, and rumors circulate through the wasteland that the Guild is pulling the strings behind the Orleans Order.
SUPER MUTANT TRIBALS
The super mutant tribe began a century ago, after several wandering super mutants from the Commonwealth traveled along the coast, eventually stumbling into the Glowing Bog of the Bayou Wasteland. The super mutants, lost and alone, found a small clearing in the Glowing Bog and decided to call it home. The super mutants began a primitive, tribal life style, akin to the tribals wandering the wasteland. The super mutants formed several huts out of wood and hardened mud, created a large fire to keep them warm and cook their food, and began crafting basic tools and weapons - finding suburban areas covered in swamp, and using the materials from stop signs, cars, and houses to develop weapons. As time passed on, the super mutants seemed to grow more intelligent, eventually matching their brethren in the West Coast.
The Glowing Bog was the perfect home for the super mutants - they were unaffected by the heavy radiation coating the bog, they were large enough to tussle with the creatures lurking around, and were intelligent enough to start a basic lifestyle. It became a popular home for super mutants from the Commonwealth to come to. The super mutants gradually formed their own society, and before long, had a basic primitive schedule going - the super mutants began the day eating the scraps of yesterday's hunt for breakfast. Several super mutants would leave the camp, heading to find suburban areas to bring back supplies, while super mutants at home would tinker. The night would end off in a mighty hunt, as twenty parties of two armed with spears, clubs, and crossbows would leave to hunt for food for the tribe.
The super mutants are known to occasionally leave the Glowing Bog, heading out to trade with the outside world or even integrate themselves into society with their expanded intelligence. The Orleans Order may be unpopular with commoners, but they're far from xenophobic, and allow super mutants, ghouls, and synths to house themselves in districts as long as they have the caps. The super mutant tribe is the main source for most super mutants in the Bayou Wasteland - while they don't dip people like the Capital Wasteland do, considering it barbarie, the tribe regularly grows in size and falls as super mutants join the tribe and others scatter across Orleans, some taking the role of mercenaries, citizens in districts, gulf marauders, or merchants.
The current leader of the super mutants is the ancient behemoth Bastion, the last of the original super mutants that traveled there. Bastion is wise and peaceful, unlike the common violent behemoth. While pacifistic in nature, Bastion is highly powerful; with his rusted car metal armor and spiked club, he is protected from most gunfire and could easily kill multiple humans with a single sweep.
GULF MARAUDERS
The gulf marauders have been pillaging and looting the gulf for longer than Orleans had been civilized; most originating from the Everglade, the gulf marauders are groups of unorganized and vicious pirates, assaulting small towns, gutting them clean of valuables, and leaving few survivors in their destructive wake. The marauder's ships are often specially designed for raiding, allowing them to propel themselves quickly through the water with low-yield rocket thrusters and defend themselves from cannon fire from other marauders with their steel plating. The marauders also tend to have a rather large cache of weapons and ammunition on board for raiding and defending.
A marauder's crew is usually made up of outlaws and criminals spanning the entire country - whether it be ghoul or super mutant, the marauders don't particularly care, so long as they've got good marksmanship and lack any sense of morals. Among the more famous marauder crew include the "Last Order," ex-soldiers of the Orleans Order that wear their scarlet and gold uniforms albeit bloodied and dirtied, known for their particular distaste toward Orleans, "Nero's Legion", a group of ex-legionnaires that have fled to the sea, known for their gruesome crucifixion method, and "Master's Vengeance" a group of old super mutants, known to abduct people to dip in their FEV vat on board.
The gulf marauder's captains tend to be made up of vicious and powerful beings, charismatic enough to rally their members and violent enough to demonstrate superiority and order. The more famous captains are "Strong," a vicious and powerful super mutant from the Commonwealth that kills any crewmembers demonstrating disobedience, "Bilgewater" a ghoul that seems to snap between normal and feral enough to terrify his crew, and "B3-984", a decaying Gen-2 synth that lacks emotions, capable of slaughtering children for standing in his way. The captains often wear heavy armor and helmets, in order to protect themselves from the ample amount of mercenaries and assassins after them.
The gulf marauders are infamous for their habit of attacking seafaring trading vessels, but the trading ships have gotten to work to become better at defending themselves, incorporating heavy artillery and ammunition in order to keep the ships at bay while they trade. A popular trading outpost in Orleans is filled with trade ships, after King Louis opened his doors to them after long years of his fathers keeping them closed. Occasionally, a gulf marauder will cross across the waters holding the trade ships, but the Order soldiers quickly dispatch them with their heavy artillery cannons and precision laser rifle shots, even occasionally sinking a ship.
The Gulf Marauders have been pushing toward the districts as of recent, causing King Louis to fear the worst. He's recently been focusing on expanding the navy of the Order in order to keep out any unsavory visitors.
BESTIARY
Sawtooth - The famous, legendary "Beast of the Bayou." The ever renowned "Sawtooth" is a highly territorial, aggressive, and intelligent predator, known to lurk in the lurching waters of the Glowing Bog and Mississippi River. The monster is known for it's highly protective and resistant hide, capable of withstanding hails of bullets, walls of flames, and laser and plasma shots. The mysterious clawed "alpha predators" of the Northern areas have made attempts to migrate farther South into the bayou territory, but Sawteeth drive them out quickly. The creature relies on the sole crushing power of it's jaws over claws, and have a tendency to dismember and devour prey underwater after dragging it. The Sawtooth is lightning fast with quick reflexes, and it's powerful eyes are capable of clear vision in both the water and at night.
Boglurk - The Boglurk is the bayou's answer to the Mirelurk; a territorial, cow-sized turtle. The massive shell of the Boglurk is highly resistant to almost all forms of weapons, but the exposed limbs and head are spongy and weak. The Boglurk are primarily non-hostile, lazily lying on the banks of rivers or bogs, but if they've decided a certain area is their territory, then a wanderer will have to be careful. The jaws of a Boglurk are scarily powerful, but their speed on land is their downfall - easily outran by even an injured human. In the water, however, one is truly a force to be reckoned with, swimming with high enough speeds to chase down a fanboat. The Super Mutant Tribals take advantage of this and often domesticate them as mounts, riding them down rivers and streams of the bayou.
Radsnake - The heavily irradiated wasteland snake - roughly the thickness of a small tree trunk, and reaching twelve feet in length for an adult, the Radsnake's highly dangerous and venomous fangs can induce heavy peaceful and happy hallucinations to fog the mind and let the prey relax, allowing for a Radsnake to quickly take it's favorite method of execution. The Radsnake coils around it's dazed and hallucinating victim, producing countless small scrapes on human skin with their rough, barbed skin, and tighten their grip - once the prey has been sufficiently suffocated, they begin their slow digestion as they fit the entire prey into their body. The Radsnake has a tendency to coil around tree trunks and branches, their skin camouflaging them, and striking from there.
Luciole - A tranquil, large insect, the "Luciole" tends to lazily drift around the Glowing Bog, occasionally sipping from the murky water depths. The irradiated Luciole provide light sources at night in the Glowing Bog, their colored backsides glowing with shades of green, coating the surrounding area in an eerie green glow. The Luciole are often referred to as "Will-o-Wisps" by the locals, for are known to cause accidental deaths; often leading travelers to larger predators, such as Sawteeth or Snappers, due to their natural instincts to follow large bodies of heat. The corpse of a Luciole persists with the glow even after death, and are commonly used by the local super mutant tribes as light sources attached to twigs, creating a primitive form of lanterns without the need for fire.
Bleeder - A fat, poisonous black worm with sharp teeth; known to lurk deep in the depths of the Glowing Bog amongst other undocumented, mysterious and disgusting creatures, the "Bleeder" is known to latch onto errant creatures swimming through, administering a thick sedative venom from their small fangs, and quickly drawing high amounts of blood from the dazed being, leading them to become more hazy and distant, and often resulting in the death of the prey. The Bleeder is often used by doctors in districts, procured by mercenaries and Order scouts, in order to calm their patient with the sedative venom before proceeding with surgery. The super mutant tribals have skin too thick to be pierced, and often utilize them as tasty snacks before dinner.
Yao Gui
Mirelurk
Radstag
Bloodbug
CHARACTER SHEET
NAME -
AGE -
GENDER -
APPEARANCE -
PERSONALITY -
FACTION -
BIOGRAPHY -
S.P.E.C.I.A.L - [40 points - Maximum of 10]
STRENGTH -
PERCEPTION -
ENDURANCE -
CHARISMA -
INTELLIGENCE -
AGILITY -
LUCK -
PERKS - [Up to Three]
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OTHER -
CHARACTERS
Note - A lot of this stuff is very, verrryyy in progress. The things you see here are a basic mockup of what's to come. If you're worried about a lack of depth, I will be providing more info once I've fully blocked out everything. This is just to gauge interest. Things will change over time. Ideologies, appearances, concepts.
