Broken Hills

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Broken Hills is a mining settlement, that was created around a pre-War uranium mine.

Population:	ca. 1000, about 30% humans, 40% ghouls and 30% Super-Mutants
Popoulation density:	Low.
Terrain:	Hilly.
Governmental system:	Half anarchy/half democracy. Details below.
Who currently reigns:	Sheriff Marcus.
Military:	No standing military.
Police:	Sheriff Marcus and a hand full of Deputies.
Electrical power supply:	Pre war Poseidon Oil Nuclear reactor
Vehicle provision:	Broken Hills serves with cheap electrical power. Biodiesel is won out of brahmin feces. Wood is rarer and thus more expensive.
Livestock provision:	Due to the giant number of brahmin for the caravans, draft animals are well taken care of.
Average education:	Low to high.
What the law says about: Theft -> Murder -> Assault -> Drugs -> Gambling -> Cheating at gambling -> Prostitution -> Alcohol ->	-> 1 week of prison as well as compensation -> Usually public hanging -> 1 month of prison plus forced labor in the mine -> Legal -> Legal -> Compensation plus 1 week of prison -> Legal -> Legal
Average prices for: Iguana-on-a-stick: -> NukaCola -> A good, stomach filling lunch -> A liter of clear, filtered water -> A Jet Canister -> A good room for the night -> A bath ->	About 2 $ About 2 $ (store price) About 10 $ About 20 $ About 5 $ About 15 $ About 2000 $
This city in three words:	Peace?! Everyone together?!

History:

In 2161, the year in which the Vault-Dweller removed the danger of the Army of the Master, by defeating the Master as well as a large part of his Army, Marcus, one of the few lieutenants of the Master that survived, began his wanderings through the Wasteland. After a few weeks of aimlessly wandering, he met Jacob, a Brotherhood of Steel Paladin, that had vowed to mercilessly annihilate every mutant he encountered.
Battle began and continued on. Marcus and Jacob fought, so they would tell it later, for one or two full days, before they finally had expanded their ammunition and went into close combat. Exhausted, the two of them started laughing like madmen. What sense did all of this have?
In the end, they helped each other back on their feet and decided to build something together instead of destroying things. Little by little, other survivors began joining them. Often they were people that looked for protection and figured, that between those two great warriors, no Raider would dare threaten them. Other Super-Mutants joined as well, as did many Ghouls. Jacob and Marcus consulted each other on where they should head, and Marcus knew of old maps showing a uranium mine to the north. About half a year later, in February of 2162 they founded Broken Hills.

The settlement became a town and grew. Jacob died about twenty years after the founding. Marcus combined the offices of mayor and sheriff in his person and kept the peace – mostly. Occasionally, he intervened when frictions between the three races came up, but with a few exceptions, those frictions remained bloodless. In 2242 the Chosen One passed through Broken Hills and discovered two groups of conspirators, one made up of Super-Mutants and one of humans, that had had big plans. With the help of Marcus, both groups faced justice, before they could do further damage.
Similar to Redding, Broken Hills is in an interesting place. The town has something, that both the NCR as well as New Reno and Vault-City are in dire need of: uranium. Unlike that other, large mining town in Northern California, none of those three parties are however trying to impose their will onto Broken Hills – at least not too strenuously – since Broken Hills has something Redding lacks: 300 heavily armed Super-Mutants.

Overview of the districts:

City: The city is the first district that most visitors enter, if they come to Broken Hills from the west. Here they find the General Store, the hotel, the bar, the prison and the Sheriff's office, the uranium refinery and the reactor as well as the offices, stables and barracks of the Broken Hills Caravan Company.

Residential: The residential area, east of the city and south of the mine, is the largest accumulation of beds with roofs over them in Broken Hills. Most buildings are made of stone, which is partly the result of having access to a great many stones from the mines, and partly a result of the town being rather rich, as long as the mine isn’t dry.

Mine: The mine of Broken Hills, directly north of the residential area, is the economical heart-blood of the town. Usually only entered by the super-mutants that dig for uranium in it, the mine is worked with both pre War technology and hard, bone breaking work.

Important persons:

Sheriff Marcus: One of the two founders of the town and the by far most important and respected person in Broken Hills. Marcus is a firm believer in personal liberties and self determination. He keeps the peace in his town and is one of the most intelligent super- mutants. He usually has time for a chat with newcomers, is always interested in news about the Wasteland and only slightly suspicious. Marcus is about 7’ 10” high, very broadly built and muscular.

Steve: One of Marcus’ deputies, Steve is the official greeter of the town. He is a friendly smiling human, around 30 and usually wears a set of leather armor.

Bill „The Outfitter“: Broken Hills caravan master is a lanky, middle aged man, that goes about his job in a leisurely manner. He knows full well, that the Broken Hills Caravan Company is not even close to being as large as the Crimson Caravans or the Far Go Traders, but it doesn’t bother him much. He organizes the uranium caravans in three directions: Vault-City, Shady Sands and New Reno as well as organizing the Unity Patrols around Broken Hills with Marcus.

Liz: Strict, misanthropic and really not a fan of strangers coming into her town and causing trouble (or of strangers in general. Or of acquaintances, for that matter), Liz runs the general store. Whoever doesn’t like her prices, can take a hike to New Reno and buy there. Despite her bitter persona, she is a rather young woman.

The Professor: The Professor showed up some ten years ago in Broken Hills, rented an empty house and began to experiment. Where exactly he is a professor he keeps to himself. When he occasionally interacts with his neighbors, he likes to claim to have invented the popular, intelligence boosting drug mentats, but never giving exact details as to when and where. He also experiments on animals.

Seymour: Seymour is a former experiment of the professor, a now very intelligent spore plant, that is, like all spore plants, rooted in the earth, but has been rooted near the ‘Old Ghoul Home’ for several years now. He spends his days now playing chess against pre War ghouls and listening to their complaining about the younger generations.

Zaius: Zaius is the tough, old, foreman of the Uranium mine. Like nearly all mine workers and the town’s sheriff, he is a super-mutant. He is constantly worrying about the safety of his colleagues and loves his job. He is a friendly, cheerful person that takes great efforts in hiding that fact.

Phil: The owner and barkeeper of Broken Hills only bar. Phil is an always cheerful ghoul, that loves to chat and spread rumors, while pouring out drinks.

Doc Holliday: The doctor of Broken Hills is an older man, that learned his medical skill many years ago from Dr Fung inSan Francisco, before returning to his home town. Now he pulls teeth, splints bones and pulls bullets out of his neighbors.