Locals
"Every myth is based on a nugget of truth."
Cascadia, and Portland in particular, was home to a number of Vaults built by the eponymous Vault-Tec before the war. In addition, numerous personal and civil bunkers were constructed in and around the city by private construction efforts and government planners. As a result there was a considerable number of people who managed to survive the Great War by taking shelter underground; at least when compared to other regions on the west coast.
As a result of this, a good number of people in modern Cascadia can claim to trace their lineage back to the region's original occupants. Many consider this evidence of some inherited right to call the place home, and as such there has been conflict between them and the Scavs since the first day the two groups met. Tensions have ebbed and flowed over the century since the first bloody meetings between the Scavs and the Locals, and while they may not presently be at each others throats things are by no means friendly by and large.
Locals come from all walks of life but they all share some general attributes. A deep-rooted sense of superstition permeates their culture, with whispered belief of all manner of things that the more practical wastelander might consider outlandish. Spirits, ghosts, beasts, gods, there's a Local out there to tell you a hushed tale from their great-great-grandparents about damn near everything. And who knows, maybe they're even right about some of it.
Locals tend to stick to large communal settlements that aim to recreate the civil liberties of old-world cities, to varying degrees of success. The largest of which is presently Lloyd Center, which acts as a hub for commerce and connection within Portland for all of its groups and players. Even the Scavs, though there is a healthy amount of distrust between them and the Locals whenever they show up to do business.
Overall the Locals are not a contentious people, at least one should hope not. They are merely stuck in their ways and reluctant to venture out of their comfort zones, quite literally in a lot of cases. This behavior isn't unexpected from the descendants of Vault dwellers and people who grew up with first-hand tales of the horror of the Great War and its aftermath.
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