Amavie
The Dustbelt
@dustbelt
Highways rule. Towns live on trade and engines.
near-future road-frontier · post_apocalyptic era · year 2071
A near-future dust-choked frontier where the highway is the only law that reaches everywhere. Towns cling to the roads, surviving on trade convoys, salvaged engines and the mechanics who keep them running. Beyond the asphalt: dust, wind and distance.
The story of The Dustbelt
The Dustbelt runs on fuel, parts and reputation: road-towns, convoy crews, engine-shrines, toll-gangs and the long-haul traders who bind them. Water is dear, a working engine is dearer, a kept word dearest of all.
Places
- The Dustbelt · continent. A vast, arid expanse of cracked pavement and shifting sand.
- The Great Highways · region. The cracked arterial road network that binds the remains of civilization together.
- The Junctions · region. The major intersections where roads cross, supporting the largest road-towns.
- Hub Central · city. The largest trade town, built into the remains of an old highway cloverleaf interchange.
- The Salvage Yards · landmark. Miles of rusted vehicle hulls and discarded machinery piles.
- The Dust Flats · region. Barren, wind-swept plains between the major roads, rarely inhabited.
Peoples
- Asphalt Dwellers · resourceful, cynical, community-focused. The permanent residents of the road-towns, hardened by constant sandstorms and the necessity of communal trade.
- Gear-Heads · obsessive, precise, technically-proficient. Technicians and grease-monkeys who possess the rare knowledge of internal combustion and vehicle maintenance.
- Drifters · stoic, observant, cautious. Nomadic convoy crews and lone scouts who spend their lives on the move between the road-towns.
Powers and factions
- Iron Haulage Inc · Director Halloway. A powerful convoy company that controls the vital supply routes for water and processed fuel.
- Spanner Syndicate · Foreman Zale. An influential collective of master mechanics who dictate the standards for vehicle repairs.
- Toll Hounds · Mad Dog Varg. Aggressive toll-collectors who hold key overpasses hostage for tribute.
History
- The Drying · 2035. Widespread climate collapse rendered the interior basins uninhabitable, forcing populations to the highways.
- The Highway Wars · 2050. A decade of brutal territorial conflicts over fuel rights and strategic intersections.
- The First Convoy Treaty · 2065. The establishment of neutral protocols for trade convoys, ending the chaos of the wars.