Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/The Embry Archipelago after the War

A Smothering Wasteland
"War… War never changes…"

-An inscription carved into the sign of a wrecked Mastiff

The Embry archipelagos, once a thriving nation of islands, is now the face of an alien world. Where once stood great monuments and mighty palaces, now lie glowing fields of green fog, killing anyone who dare venture into it. The charred earth is covered with a layer of ash, remains of what was once a thriving civilization. The sky is a dark gray churning mass, blocking out every last ray of sunshine, blanketing the world below in darkness. Scattered everywhere are little black lumps, the last remains of its former inhabitants. In the distance, a mushroom cloud slowly rises as winds whip up sandstorms, which last for days on end. The air alone is lethal to anyone who breathes it, and the black rain simply adds to their torture as their skin is burnt away.

Welcome to Embry wasteland, the Last Hell on Earth.

Mutually Assured Destruction
Many have speculated that Capitalism and Communism are opposing ends of the spectrum, that neither can live while the other survives. The most extreme of such speculations is the theory of Mutually Assured Destruction, where both will completely annihilate each other in the quest for victory. The War for the Archipelagos was startling proof that M.A.D. is a real possibility. Both fought to the point where the Voshkod brought in nuclear armaments. In five months, The islands population was reduced from (insert population) to (to population), her cities were razed to the ground, her skies darkened from ash. For the few who survived, many wished that they were dead.

Yet amidst all the death and destruction, there was hope. With the Union and Commonwealth all but completely destroyed, reduced to remnants that abandoned their allegiance and now clinging to survival, with only one survivor. Led by a mysterious person known only as the general, the Minuteman, often considered a joke during the war, rose from the ashes and provided the last few survivors with food, shelter and, most importantly, hope. As the last survivors were picked up, the Minuteman set its eyes on a new goal; rebuild their islands and bring revenge for those whom have fallen.

After the War, there was almost nothing left. With what remaining vehicles and weapons they have being damaged beyond repair. Massing a military of any scale would be a near impossible feat, and yet the Minuteman did it, due to a combination of determination and ingenuity. With only a fraction of archipelagos once enormous population, thanks to the creation of the vaults, massive bunkers built by the Minuteman to protect its population from the event of a superweapon strike. Thanks to these vaults nearly half their population survived, and pledge themselves to the Minuteman in gratitude. Next came the problem of fuel; with little to no gasoline to speak of, powering war machines was a near impossibility, yet somehow, some way, the Minuteman were able to revive, and even improved, the remaining war machines with a highly unstable, and ironic, fuel source; nuclear power itself. With a renewed vengeance, the survivors seeks to punish those who have brought disaster down on their home.

The other great aim of the Minuteman Survivors was to repair and heal their home. Using untold amounts of research protected by the vaults and the data of the other superpowers, the Survivors seek these “research” vaults and wage war with the other nations in the hope to find a solution to remove the radiation and even rebuilt their broken land.

Last Sanctuaries in Hell
Despite the nuclear fire that burnt the archipelagos there are those who managed to escaped, or at least survive, the bombardment, becoming sanctuaries where survivors would brave the Waste to reach. There are many but these are the most prominent.

The Castle
Perhaps the island least effected from the nuclear rain, due to the nuke targeting it missing by large margin. The Castle is both the headquarters of the Minuteman and the safest, thriving, settlement in the Waste.

The Metro
As the war raged on in the archipelagos the Union had found a problem. While their ground forces were unparalleled their navy wasn’t, leading to the superior Commonwealth navy defeating their transport ships before they can even unload their ground forces. This constant loss of their ground forces before they can even be used was considered a huge flaw that needed to be remedied, thus the council brainstormed until the solution was found, make an underground rail system. Thus allowing their forces to cross the seas without risking themselves to the Commonwealth navy.

And soon construction started, leading to a mass of secret train tunnels beneath the archipelagos, a massive feat of engineering seeing that the tunnels had to be made underwater.

Hell Made Manifest
Of course some islands got the worst of it. Often becoming so irradiated that no sane men would venture, though the treasure they (seemingly) hold often bring in adventures who brace these ruins. And more often most don’t come back.

The Sierra Madre
"Let go…"

-A warning carved into the entrance wall of the Sierra Madre

Originally a luxury resort/bomb shelter build to entertain and protect the the rich of the archipelagos from the war. The Sierra Madre was said to be the most luxurious resort in the world, with its doors supposedly opening once the war ended. Unfortunately it ended in a way that turned the resort into a dead zone.

Unfortunately the combination of its mandatory luxury features, like solid gold floors, high end security systems, and bunker in case of nukes meant that construction took way longer then intended, leading to its investors throwing a fit and demanding its constructors to hurry it or they’ll be fired, and thrown into the war. Thus the workers were forced to cut corners by removing parts the rich deemed unnecessary, like proper ventilation, and, what likely caused the collapse in the first place, making a deal with the Big MT, letting them put some of their experiments in in return for aid. The main three being some sort of insulating liquid, which would become the cloud, “reliable” hazmat suits, leading to the ghost people, and holograms.

And with their help they were able to finish the luxury features, though the bomb shelter had only started, and soon the rich moved in, despite the workers begging them not to as it would slow the remaining construction, but the rich ignored them, assuming they could finish in time before the bombs fell. And so as the rich were partying like the war never existed the builders worked tirelessly, in fear that the bombs were coming soon. They were right.

When the first bomb fell, launching its mushroom cloud, the people inside panic and rush to the shelter. Only for the head of construction to angrily yelled at them that, due to their insistence on making the resort first, they didn’t had time to finish the shelter. Combined that with the security system locking down the gates, meant that everyone in the resort was trapped. And in desperation made the biggest mistake.

With the bombs about to fall everyone quickly ran to the lower levels, where the explosion wouldn’t effect them, and quickly don the hazmat suits, since the scientists said it would completely protect them from the ensuing fallout, but then the pipe below holding the cloud broke, since they were made of cheap materials, which combined with the radiation, causing something to happen. The latches on the suits, already hard to open, began rusting shut, causing everyone to panic as they try to remove them, then they realised it didn’t protect them from the cloud, and as the red miasma began seeping in everyone went mad, desperately calling for help and clawing at the gates, doing anything they can to escape, as they cloud began killing them. Until the last person fell dead, then rose again. Becoming what would be known as the ghost people. Creatures that now roams the island, armed with knife hunting for anyone who dares venture into the Sierra Madre, and taking them to the lower levels, never to be seen again.

As for the others. Some choked on the cloud or died from the ensuing fallout, other were killed by the holograms or security systems, it’s AI corrupted from the blast and the cloud, other took their life.

In the end the Sierra Madre, claimed to become the jewel of the archipelagos, became a tomb for the rich and hedonistic, its casinos lay empty. And roaming the streets are holograms, unkillable being in designated zones, and the ghost people, creatures entombed in black hazmat suits that acts more like animals roaming a dead land, dragging off anyone foolish enough to enter the Sierra Madre, where they are never heard from again, the cloud mutating them into nearly unlikeable creatures. And surrounding the island is the cloud, a toxic red miasma which nothing can protect, with concentrated pockets even causing a person to be liquified, becoming another body to the cloud.