Karma

We bled for our freedom and now we nurture it with our minds

Karma, the city of the free. It sounds like a paradise to the outsiders, a place protected by two sets of walls, emply buildings just waiting to be filled by new arrivals, science and magic working together to create food, water, clothes. It's the place the caravans pass through, always. It's where new opportunities arise. But all of this? A lie. The Church of the Light knows this. I implore you my lambs, do not listen, do not follow the urge to go to this city. You are free here, in the arms of our Brothers and Sisters. Karma is a gaping maw, filled with the teeth of a hungry beast. It might protect you from the Shades, but only to devour you later, when you have been fattened up to satisfy its cravings. It will open your belly and drink your blood, your inner self and then leave you empty, soulless. Do not go to Karma, the city of the lost.
— Excerpt from a disregarded Church of the Light leaflet

Demographics

Karma is known for its diverse demographics, being one of the only cities to accept every one not matter their species, so long as people accept to not commit hate crimes - such as the slavery vampires are known for, or discrimination against mutated humans. Most of the population is poor, as the people of Karma rarely trade Escosium bar themselves, choosing instead to exchange whatever items they need between each other. Any Escosium bar that they do have is bought by and from the travelling merchants.

Government

The main organization keeping Karma running is an ex-gang called BS. Although this government is not an official one, as BS fought other similar organizations to get to its position, the inhabitants have mostly accepted its authority, referring their visitors to Ash and her inner circle whenever they are in need of a more or less official statement. Laws and taxations are laxes, as the city mostly governs itself with BS making as few interventions as possible and only serving as a liaison between Karma and the other settlements. People trade what they can, and only visiting merchants will ask for Escosium bars BS is also the one to secure the wards everytime it is needed, watch out for unwelcome visitors and screen whomever wants to enter to be sure they will not cause trouble.

Defences

Karma's main defenses are the two walls that protect first the outer city and then the inner city. The outer city consists of the tents, animals and stalls of the travelling caravans, as well as the few greenhouses and farms that produce the food and other much needed materials to make a city run, and finally the watchtowers. The walls are reinforced with refined Escosium and a few crystalized parts, which have all been enchanted to make powerful wards, keeping Shades and their corruption out of the city. The inner walls are much higher and stronger, as they protect the city's government, market and most of the houses of the inhabitants. These walls have been enchanted as well but the wards aren't specifically to keep Shades out; Instead, they keep out anyone unauthorized to enter the city through its doors, making them a key part of Karma's defences.

Infrastructure

Most of Karma's current infrastructure is based on the ruins of Old Karma: the buildings still standing have been repurposed and the ones that weren't, rebuilt. Nitro, Karma's head scientist and technomage has also made sure that Karma had working greenhouses, windmills and sewers and is currentlyworking on penetrating the Intranet to connect everything together again. One of Karma's most distinguished place is the main courtyard, where the Holy Church of the Scotocides stands, as well as the governmental building where Ash and her people work and the open market, with both the temporary stalls of travelling merchants and caravans as well as the more permanents stands of citizens selling their own artisanal wares. The yard is also the location of the biggest fountain of the city where most of Karma's inhabitants go to draw their own water, to wash their laundry or talk about the latest gossip.

Assets

Karma's primary asset is its position: it is right in the middle of the Enclave, meaning that people have to cross its territory whenever they go somewhere. Caravans have used it as a rest point ever since the Disaster. More importantly, Nitro managed to get the train tracks working again, although the trains aren't used to transport people, only valuables - like Escosium bars. These two points are what makes Karma an attractive city, for both merchants and potential invaders.

Guilds and Factions

Altough it has only been a few years, the gang BS has been able to work with most of the factions residing in Karma, absorbing or throwing out the few detractors that protested Ash's leadership. The few more important factions that are still part of Karma are the Church of the Night - who is both the spiritual leader of the city, and the organization behind the armed force of the Scotocides - and the merchant guild who deals with the economical and diplomatic aspects of the government. Ash and her inner circle are the one with the most power, but they tend to be more invested in the daily life of their citizens, chosing to go out themselves rather than delegating, which give both the church and the guild more power than it might seem at first glance.

History

Before the Shades, this was a megalopolis, a thriving city. Now it's ruins and dust. The Shades have ruined everything, even the smallest things. Fuck them and fuck the assholes responsible for them, whoever they are.
— A bitter old man.

Karma is built on the ruins of an old megalopolis whose name has been lost through time and thus has been nicknamed "Old Karma". Old Karma was much larger than the current city, and is thought to have housed more than a million souls before the Disaster striked. Even now, the ruins show how powerful the old city must have been, how the life of its denizens must have been comfortable. The Karma of now is a far cry from its inspiration: its leader struggles to keep her power, hundred of immigrants, starved and afraid, are forced into its walls to try and find some peace from the bandits, ferals, Shades and slavers, and although it is at peace now, gang wars have been happening ever since the old government fell. How long that peace will last, only time will tell.