Open Vein Excavation

A project the size of the Dominus Columbia devours materials like nowhere else in the wastes, and Open Vein Excavations is here to feed it. By far the largest local supplier of industrial resources, Open Vein Excavation is an old operation run by an old family. The Mamlan clan long ago used their chthonic knowledge to lay claim to many undercrofts of the region (legends say the clan took its name from arcane maps handed down from the time of the fall, but none can say for certain). Herein they mine precious materials with workforces that live and labor in darkness, each of their mines doubling as a subterranean company town housing their predominantly Lasacarian diggers. Some of these communities are recruited from existing Lascarian tribes, while others are assembled from outcasts, those who would be meat for the table through some transgression or perceived failing. With the former the Mamlans can achieve compliance by exploiting kinship loyalty or inter-pack rivalry, while the latter sometimes require more elaborate methods to keep the picks falling.

The Mamlans themselves are an unusual brood. To most observers they appear to be Semper Morts, though they profess to possess unusual reserves of memory, and given their lengthy pedigree they would seem to have existed from a time before the emergence of that Strain. Whatever their origins, and there are always rumors, they have leveraged their control of several valuable deposits into a mineral empire that makes them a name to know in the local waste. Those who have gotten close to them (and survived speaking out of turn) tell stories of intense Hedon ritual which began among their laborers but has increasingly spread even into the Mamlan family proper. Whether this is simply the Mamlans’ way of justifying their own excess, or sincerely searching for meaning in their bottomless hunger, they are known to be as profligate in revelry as they are austere in business. The task of maintaining this balance, both philosophically and upon their books, seems to fall primarily on a trusted core of Full Dead servants. These Renfield-like attendants act as repositories for the Mamlans’ history and institutional knowledge, and for all their outward obsequiousness it is not difficult to see that they wield more influence than they would ever dare confess to.

Some of Open Vein's operations around the Patomic include:

The Athanor – A blanket term for several mines near Ellistown Landing and the 70 Gate. The area is pocketed with small but rich concentrations of Soft and Alloy Metals, each with their own mine but overseen by a single member of the Mamlan family. Several of these mines show signs of having other occupants long before the Mamlans began using them, and there are stories that the underground structures are haunted by strange psionic phenomena.

Calverts Clast – This pile of amalgamated rubble and sediment is noteworthy for the Radioactive Metals that can be sifted from it. Beyond the dangers of radiation the site is also known to be home to unusual atavistic critters that will drag away unwary miners. Open Vein’s claim is disputed by the patrician Calvert family who maintain their own private mine nearby. After all, if it wasn’t theirs why would it have their name on it?

The Laminate – Ages of compacted old world landfill and the subterranean movements of the Mortis have created a geologic strata of Plastics called the Laminate by prospectors. Open Vein maintains a large strip mine over an exposed portion of this layer, pulling highly-concentrated deposits of the synthetic from the ground for processing into usable materials.

Bleeding Hill – A mountain in which sits a substantial concentration of Hard Metal and one of Open Vein’s largest mines. It takes its name from the red iron-rich runoff water that spills from the mountain’s many creeks and springs, though it could just as easily earn its title from the harsh working conditions in its shafts and galleries.