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“Neither of you are going anywhere. Do any of you know anything about medicine?” After some hesitation, Wires nods. “Get the bullet out of that man and patch him up. Once that's done, I've got questions for you.”
The toothless woman goes pale. Brute is less cooperative. “You think you can take me on?” His fingers tighten around the haft of his axe and he takes a step forward. As one, the Voss stagger back. “Just try it. I'll take half of you down with me.” You don't doubt his words. Even Blayz looks like a runt in comparison and he's the strongest that the Voss have to offer.
“But you'd still die,” you point out, gradually getting a better grasp of their language. “Is this worth dying over? You can go out in a blaze of glory or you can put down the axe, do as I say and keep on breathing. Make your choice.” You don't take your sights off of Brute, not for a second. The tension is unbearable and lasts for much longer than you like but eventually, the behemoth throws down the axe with a thud.
“Shit,” is all that he grumbles.
Under your direction, some of the tribesmen gather the axe and nervously try to herd Brute into a section of the outer reaches that will serve as an impromptu prison. Meanwhile, the others see to the burning of the dead tribesman and the two slain looters. While this is happening, you oversee Wires as she tends to the injuries of Blayz. Once she has removed the bullet and dressed the wound, you escort her to the chamber where Brute is being kept so that you can interrogate them both.
Her true name is Karlee and his is Herrmann. They identify themselves as Scrappers, a term used to describe adventurers who seek out Bygone ruins for ancient technology. They sell whatever they find to the Chroniclers or the Neolibyans, rival factions who place immense value on pre-Eshaton artefacts.
Already, you're confused. You order Karlee to explain everything from the beginning and though she is exasperated, it's not like she has a choice when she's being held at gunpoint.
The year is 2595, over five hundred years after the Eshaton (what they call the apocalypse) and the end of the Bygones (what they call pre-apocalyptic society).
Over the course of half a millennium, all sorts of tribes, clans and cults have come to power in different parts of the world.
They both come from a region called Borca. More specifically, they're from the Protectorate, the closest thing to a nation state that can be found in Europe after the Eshaton. The jewel of the Protectorate is Justitian, a city with almost a million inhabitants.
However, you would need to travel for a week or so on the northern road before you could even reach the Protectorate's closest city, Bassham.
Right now, you're in Franka. Karlee describes it as a fertile land full of forests, swamps and many rival factions struggling to become the dominant power in the region. Herrmann describes it as a shithole.
