Seattle

Seattle is the largest city in the Emerald Wasteland. Resettled after its partial destruction and abandonment in the Great War's aftermath, the city has potential to rival even the mighty NCR to the far south.

History

The Great War and aftermath

The events of 23 October 2077 struck the West Coast suddenly. The first bomb struck the Seattle area at 0634 PST with very little warning; Los Angeles was struck first at 0617 and the alarm signal took a couple minutes to get out after that. Most people were still asleep or on their way to early morning jobs when the sirens sounded. Some never even heard them before being vaporized.

Three atomic bombs hit the Seattle area in total: one SLBM in Lake City, one SLBM in West Seattle, and a large ICBM intended for the city center which instead veered off course and detonated off Calkins Point in Lake Washington, eviscerating Bellevue. Because of the geography of the city (particularly the natural firebreaks of the Lake Washington Ship Canal and the Duwamish Waterway) downtown Seattle was spared intense destruction. The population still suffered immensely: hundreds of thousands died in the firestorms, of radiation poisoning (fallout from the Bremerton groundburst blew east), of starvation, of disease, or were killed over valuable resources. The city was depopulated and the survivors dispersed into the countryside, most to an abbreviated fate.

Resettlement

At first only scavengers picked over the ruins, then settlers who came to restore the city's valuable infrastructure: the port, the drydocks, the locks, the factories. The city regrew around its deepwater harbor and the Denny Triangle Arcology. For a long time its was broadly lawless, but as trade with the NCR began the city constituted an official city commission elected at four year intervals. Most of the commissioners ended up being prominent local stakeholders -- ship owners, merchants, businesspeople, financiers -- thus, the city's governance is largely representative of the interests of the most powerful bourgeois and petit bourgeois.

Government and politics

The triumvirate

By 2286 power has coalesced around three individuals: Natalie Long, Caroline Pierrepoint, and Kakuji Yamasaki. Collectively known as 'the triumvirate,' they govern the city indirectly through their sponsorship of city commission members and have for approximately a decade. However, their diverging interests and the upcoming city election are about to shatter this stability.

Long, young scion of a prominent shipping family, inherited their empire after her parents died in a shipwreck. She represents the interests of the shipowners and traders of Seattle. Her offices are near to Colman Dock where her sibling, Nayneli, runs the Tower Coffeehouse. Natalie stands to gain from closer ties with the NCR through reduced trade duties.

Pierrepoint is owner and chief executive of Pierrepoint Industries. The city's manufacturing capabilities are her concern. The crowning jewel of her portfolio is the old Yoyodyne Renton Factory which has been restored to working order making arms and consumer goods for export both north and south. She also controls Renton Landing, a company town neighboring the factory where the workers live in good quality, though tightly controlled, housing. She is the most opposed to further NCR expansion and, with the coming election, seeks to oust her rivals in the triumvirate and turn Seattle into a full-fledged regional power in competition with the NCR. To accomplish this she needs a wild card and she sees potential in the form of the player characters.

Yamasaki is the president of the Yamasaki Bank and represents the financiers. He also has the closest ties with the New Altruists. He is broadly neutral about the NCR (more room for investment but also increased competition) and more than anything wants stability and development, but he also recognizes that power sharing between only two parties will quickly collapse. Thus, he wants to either hold the triumvirate together or be the last one standing.

Districts

The Great Moss

The infamous Great Moss comprises much of the old University of Washington and U District, now enveloped by aggressive mutated moss species that have grown over everything, originating from the abandoned Vault 48. The Montlake Cut has acted as a break on its growth but constant vigilance is required to prevent its spread. Theories vary as to its origin and how it can be tamed or stopped. Few venture deep into the Great Moss and rumors abound of strange creatures sighted by those who have.

Lake Union

Lake Union is home to a number of houseboats which are moored along the shoreline, the western side of the lake more populated than the east. At the south end is the Naval Reserve Armory, now a Pierrepoint Industries warehouse for valuable goods such as arms.

The Denny Triangle

South of the Armory is the Denny Triangle area, dominated by the Arcology.