Now it's time for an NPC for the last Enclave, Cow Town. And keeping with the gender pattern established, this character is male. Someone with poise feels very strange in Cow Town. It feels like a community driven to extremes. Everyone is sick. Everyone is hungry. Everyone is despairing. So what we'd be looking for is someone trying to keep the extremes in check. Maybe a spiritual leader of some kind. Which does bring up the subject of religion. Most Americans, I think, assume that "religion" and "Christianity" are the same thing, unless it is specifically called out. So I could easily call him "Father" or "Reverend" and be done with it. Assume the major religious doctrines are in the general "be a good person" mode. Post-apocalyptic settings give us an opportunity to explore other possibilities. Cultural relics could be given religious significance. The apocalypse itself could be a source of revelation. But for Cow Town, I think there's a lot of inertia. They've been a farming community for quite some time, even before the apocalypse. The only thing that really changed for them was the customer. They no longer had to provide Costco with ice cream and other dairy products. Local production for local needs became the priority. Likewise, the local churches became separated from their larger ecumenical organizations and became focused on local needs. I think the radiation infusion occurred within the last generation or so. Long enough ago that people have largely accepted that this is the way things are now, but no so long ago that the conditions have managed to kill everyone or drive them away. So our priest could possibly be old enough to remember the time before that and use that as an anchor for his faith. There are two Lutheran churches in modern-day Ferndale, so I feel comfortable drawing on my own Lutheran upbringing, along with the common trappings of Christianity that we all know from movies and TV even if we don't participate in them, to get a picture of this church. I'll also draw on my own history for a name. This is Pastor Dave. And remembering Pastor Dave helps me fill in a few pieces. But this is an imperfect mirror of the Pastor Dave of my childhood, with a few layers of tragedy on top. **Name** : Pastor Dave **Appearance** : A balding man in his late 40s. The hair that remains on the sides of his head, as well as his thick mustache, is light brown turning to grey. His once-rounded face gives way to sunken eyes and cheeks. **Quote** : "I'm scared, too." **Roleplaying** : Pastor Dave is warm and empathetic. His voice is warm and deep (Nick Offerman is probably the closest, but imagine a situation where Ron Swanson was the evil twin. Pastor Dave would be the good twin,) He listens and he understands. **Background** : Pastor Dave grew up in Cow Town and took over caring for the congregation from his father, Paster George. He had hoped one day to pass the position to his own son, Seth, but the radiation came and took Seth. Pastor Dave has since dedicated himself to making sure that no other parent should suffer as he has. This dedication has become so strong that **Key Info** : He is dedicated to peaceful resolution whenever possible He has connections to local settlers and even raiders **Stat Block** :

For this year, I'm doing character creation for RPGaDay. Since I've been trying to build an Ashes Without Number post-apocalyptic sandbox all year, I'll be taking advantage of this opportunity to build out the NPC cast. If you're just joining me, this is a post-apocalyptic version of the northern coast of California, encompassing Humboldt and Del Norte counties. Because this is a very sparsely populated area even now, there are fewer Enclaves (pockets of safety and what civilization still exists) and Ruins than a typical AWN setting covering the same size area elsewhere. The Enclaves are: Squatch-Ville: As civilization fell, humans fled into the redwood forests en masse. The local Sasquatch took pity on them and taught them the ways of the forest. There is now a sprawling city with the Sasquatch forming an inadvertent ruling class over the humans. Located in Elk Valley in the redwood forests of Del Norte County Ureka: The former site of Eureka. Abandoned during the apocalypse, the city became home to sentient mutant rats. Humans dissatisfied with the austere lifestyle of Squatch-Ville came here to live in the shadow of the Carson Mansion, believing that it represented the height of human culture. They have pushed the Ratfolk out of the northern, coastal regions of the city into the suburbs. Cow Town: The former site of Ferndale. This was a breadbasket region until the entire area was afflicted with radiation sickness. Scavengers raiding an old nuclear power plant brought back a cache of irradiated and radioactive materials that quickly got incorporated into all aspects of the town. Crops tended with radioactive farming implements sickened and mutated along with the people, leading to widespread starvation. Cow Town persists, but is slowly dying. There are also 5 Ruins in the area. The Eureka Ruins: While humans have reclaimed a portion of the city, there is still a large portion controlled by the Ratfolk. They are ruled by a Rat King, which is a cluster of Ratfolk who have merged their tails and their nervous systems to create a powerful hive mind. (As I've been developing this, it feels like the Eureka Ruins is a Ruin only because of politics. If the humans weren't so chauvinistic and insisted on pushing them out, there could be cooperation and development for mutual benefit.) Crescent City: Most of the city was abandoned when a tsunami struck during the apocalypse. Among the survivors who remained arose a small number of powerful telepaths. The remainder of the citizens here have had their minds overwhelmed and live like zombies under the control of the psychic overlords. Calpoly: The former site of Arcata and Cal Poly Humboldt. Aggressive and reckless research in the days leading to the apocalypse resulted in Calpoly and the surrounding area to be overwhelmed with mutated plants and animals. Hupa: Former site of Hoopa. As part of the collapse of civilization, the United States splintered. The people of Hupa attempted to build up quickly to become a regional power. Their attempt at militarization wound up a mere footnote, but it's likely that some useful relics could be found. McKinleyville: The main thing I know is that there was an attempt at building a community in this area that ended in tragedy. So my plan will be to develop an NPC for each of these sites, then repeat for the Enclaves and also the Eureka Ruins (like I said, it could be an Enclave if the people of Ureka were willing to get along), cycling through until the end of the month. Although I listed Squatch-Ville first, I'll be starting with Ureka, since it's my hometown and where I'm planning to focus the campaign. The prompt is "Discipline." This can be a disciplined person or someone whose job is to keep discipline. Let's flesh out Sheriff Allen Ross, leader of the Ratcatchers. The Ratcatchers is an organization somewhere between a military and a police force. As the name implies, they are focused on dealing with Ratfolk, either leading raids to claim a new historical structure or responding to raids and infiltration by the Ratfolk, but they can be called on as general peacekeepers and police if needed. I'll be borrowing the format for NPCs from The Alexandrian, mostly because my brain craves structure and I might or might not need game stats for any of these. I plucked the name Allen Ross out of historical research, but a picture of him has not been forthcoming. Though trying a Google image search did turn up pictures of Colin Ferguson as the Sheriff on the SciFi TV show Eureka. I might borrow some of his image from that. But the overall concept is more in line with an 1880's version of policing. **Name** : Sheriff Allen Ross **Appearance** : A tall athletic man in his early 40's with light brown hair and blue eyes. His mustache grows down the sides of his mouth, but his chin is clear, with sideburns that extend to the jawline. **Quote** : "Do it right and you only have to do it once." **Roleplaying** : Sheriff Ross is disciplined. He avoids going off half-cocked and discourages his Ratcatchers from doing the same. He is less bloodthirsty than his predecessor, but just as dedicated to returning Ureka to Human occupation. **Background** : Allen was a boy when they arrived in Ureka. He volunteered as a scout, using his small size to hide in small spaces to observe the Ratfolk, gathering information for eventual attacks. This taught him patience and an appreciation for intelligence. As a young man, he joined the Ratcatchers at their formal founding. Rising through the ranks of the Ratcatcher Civic Patrol, he was eventually given command of the division. When the first Sheriff, Sheriff T. M. Brown, passed, Allen was promoted to Sheriff and head of all Ratcatcher operations. **Key Info** : Head of the Ratcatchers Prefers tidy, efficient solutions **Stat Block** :

Following the patterns that we've previously established, we are now devising a male character for Squatch-Ville. While it would be interesting to have another sasquatch to build out more of what they're like, let's make this character human so we can see that society from their perspective. And let's see if we can make this character more antagonistic towards any interlopers, such as a potential PC party. Another thing to touch on would be the Reckless Complacency that is affecting Squatch-Ville. There is a threat of some kind that everyone is pointedly ignoring. What could that be? One thing that we've already established that the sasquatch are complacent about is "invisibility." Sometimes, a sasquatch experiences such extreme social anxiety that they disappear, living the invisible, solitary existence that they had before the Collapse. When they are ready to return, they are more or less welcomed back into Squatch-Ville. Any role they had before they left has likely been filled and they will have to find another if they've been gone long enough. It only makes sense that the sasquatch would be equally open to humans under their care coming and going just as easily. There would be patrols and such to respond to violent raiders, but peaceful folks would be allowed to pass without incident. So let's say that our character's secret is that he is a raider, infiltrating the community to undermine it and make it easier to raid. It's been a while, and even as he's passing on information to his old raider gang, he's developing attachments to the community of Squatch-Ville. **Name** : Ham **Appearance** : Dark skinned with black straight hair cut short. Has either a permanent 5 o'clock shadow or a light beard. Dressed in simple clothing **Quote** : "You didn't hear it from me." **Roleplaying** : Ham is cautious about everything. He's constantly trying to figure out who he can trust and what he can trust them with. **Background** : Abandoned as a child, was adopted by a raider gang. While they did well, stealing supplies from other raider gangs as well as small farmsteads, the major prize has always been Squatch-Ville. A simple frontal assault was out of the question, so Ham volunteered to infiltrate it, gathering information and exploiting weaknesses as best he could. But he has started to "go native," making friends and connections throughout Squatch-Ville that he's not sure he wants to betray once the Enclave is taken over by his gang. **Key Info** : Ham has an understanding of Squatch-Ville's underworld Ham often has plans to sabotage parts of the community **Stat Block** :

And now we loop back to Ureka. Even though we created a female character for yesterday, our last NPC for Ureka was male (back on Day 1), so it's another female character to keep up variety. Going with the notion of Privilege, let's assume that she's a member of the upper class of Ureka, closely associated with Carsonism, the specific flavor of Victorian Reconstructionism that inspired the reclamation of Ureka, and/or the previously mentioned timber barons. I have nothing against the notion of a woman being a timber baroness, but my brain is sticking on the idea of a society matron; The woman who controls the gossip mill rather than the timber mill, and wields enormous social power. Because now that I have created a potential ally back on Day 1, I am now free to create something more antagonistic. Mildred Dolbeer is the wife of reconstructed timber baron Lavinia Dolbeer (the last name is borrowed from historical Humboldt timber baron John Dolbeer). While Lavinia oversees the business operation, Mildred organizes their social calendar, planning luncheons and soirees, making sure that the right people are invited and the wrong people are kept out. She's also not above organizing whispering campaigns to steer opinions. Her primary goal is to protect the reputation of her wife Lavinia. Unfortunately, by preventing her from experiencing blowback from bad, unpopular and harmful business actions, Lavinia has developed a casual callousness that makes future damage control constantly necessary. **Name** : Mildred Dolbeer **Appearance** : An imperious, heavyset woman in her early 40's in elaborately tailored dresses. Her pale blonde hair is wrapped like a crown around her head. **Quote** : "I will not have that sort of thing happening here!" **Roleplaying** : Mildred is saccharine and obsequious among the upper crust, and disdainful of those of the lower classes. **Background** : Mildred was always an aggressive social climber. Her attachment, and later marriage, to Lavinia, was merely the latest step. **Key Info** : Mildred will protect Lavinia Dolbeer at all costs Mildred has extensive connections and can open or close any social avenue to the party that she chooses. **Stat Block** :

Still going in no particular order, "Stature" makes me thing of Squatch-Ville, so let's go there. A person of Stature can be very tall or very important. A sasquatch living in Squatch-Ville is both. As has been previously established, sasquatch form a nobility overseeing the humans of Squatch-Ville. But there are also things going wrong in Squatch-Ville that the populace is trying to ignore or paper over. Since this is the first sasquatch NPC I'm defining, this should be a character that likely PCs will be interacting with regularly. Someone with some rank and status, but not so much that they can't leave the palace, so to speak. Someone who has some interest in affairs both within and without Squatch-Ville. Since yesterday's character was male, let's make this character female. I'll probably avoid having trans, non-binary or other gender-nonconforming characters, just because I don't have enough experience with those identities to have any confidence with writing them, not because I think they don't or shouldn't exist in a post-apocalyptic world. I only feel marginally competent to write women. Something may come up that really feels like it needs to go outside the gender binary, but for right now, my plan is to simply alternate between male and female. So our sasquatch of Stature is their main trade delegate. One suggested reason why we have little to no solid evidence for sasquatch in the real world is that they are very long lived, so let's say that she has been alive long enough to experience the entire history of Squatch-Ville. She started small, helping the early survivors trade with smaller survivor encampments and ensuring that those in her protection were treated fairly. Now she oversees most of the trade that goes through the largest and most prosperous settlements in the region. She has become spoiled by the luxuries made available due to Squatch-Ville's success. While she may not wear clothes, she definitely adorns herself. She also enjoys marijuana. It may be her influence that encouraged the general use of marijuana as a currency throughout the area. The use of marijuana may also be the reason that she has been able to maintain a consistent presence in Squatch-Ville. The traditional Sasquatch lifestyle is very solitary and maintaining a large community is very stressful for them. From time to time, sasquatch will suddenly disappear without a trace and then reappear months or years later. This is called "going invisible." Typically, their role will have been filled in their absence and they will need to find another position in the leadership hierarchy. There is no memory or record of Cleopatra going invisible None of this is to say that she is easily bought. She is still shrewd and protective of those in her charge. But she will favor those who bring luxuries either to her or into Squatch-Ville. Now to figure out her name. I'm not sure she has one in the conventional sense. She is identified by other sasquatch either by a sound too low to hear or loud enough to be deafening or by something like a name-sign for an ASL speaker. So for her dealings with humans, she has adopted a "use-name." Given her love of luxuries, I feel like "Cleopatra" would match her nicely. **Name** : "Cleopatra" (what she is called by other sasquatch cannot be easily produced by outsiders) **Appearance** : 7 foot tall sasquatch, covered in dark brown shaggy fur that is kept clean and perfumed. She wears no clothing, but does wear elaborate bracelets and necklaces. Her shaggy fur obscures most of her feminine curves. **Quote** : "Have you tried these? You simply must!" **Roleplaying** : "Cleopatra" is typically relaxed and rather casual. In her own space, she has a hookah as well as some indulgent food or drink and she offers to share either of those to make her guests feel welcome. She loves roses incorporated into her food and drink. (A current favorite is small cakes or cookies baked with acorn flour and flavored with rose essence.) She is careful to manage her consumption so that she is "buzzed" rather than inebriated. She cannot be bribed and will make no deals that endanger the community, but she can be influenced with proper gifts. While she might appreciate the opportunity to abdicate her responsibilities, she will refuse any effort to return to "invisibility," the sasquatch cultural practices that kept them undetected by humanity for all of those centuries. **Background** : She is old enough to remember life before the sasquatch revealed themselves to the humans flooding into the redwood forests. She joined the security patrols keeping their refugees safe from petty warlords and independent raiders. When a traveling trader found them, she was the one who made first approach. Ever since then, she's been the primary contact most traders have with Squatch-Ville. **Key Info** : She is the main trade envoy for the community of Squatch-Ville. She will prefer trade deals or negotiations in which luxuries and comforts are made available. She will refuse any effort to return to "invisibility." **Stat Block** :

Take to a post-apocalyptic world in Ashes Without Number; a toolkit for building and running roleplaying adventures in a setting following a cataclysmic event.

Today gives us a look at our final Ruin through a female NPC. And since that last Ruin is Hupa, that puts me in a bit of a bind. Touching on Native American topics comes with real consequences for Doing It Wrong, which I really want to avoid. The best defense is research. The second best defense is going so hard into the land of Make-Em-Up that everyone knows that you're not talking about something real. A solid backup is to avoid narratives about exploitation and give potential marginalized groups the power to determine their own fate. As I was rolling this up, that last item was one of the things that I decided to lean into. The idea of this sort of Area 51 location seemed cool, but to place it in what is now a reservation had a lot of potential for exploitation. Some outside government used this area as a dumping ground for whatever weird weapons research or other unethical and bizarre things they were doing. Not very cool. The idea that the Indigenous people living there made the choice to build that on their own is actually kinda cool. It becomes a mad rush for poorly considered power. It may have been stupid, but they would have the self-determination to make that stupid decision. But because it is more or less lost, that also gives me a bit of of an out in terms of Native American representation. The "face" of the area doesn't have to be one of the people that lived there previously. Let's say that, while nobody really remembers what Hupa became for a brief moment during the Collapse, it did leave a legacy. Spooky happenings make people think that the area is haunted. So a raider gang has decided to exploit that by using the area as a safehouse. The leader of this gang is Raider Queen Sia. **Name** : Raider Queen Sia **Appearance** : A tall, athletic Asian woman. Her black hair is cut short on the sides, with the rest of it just long enough to jut out from her head in a chaotic spikey mess. She wears cobbled together armor made of leather and whatever metal bits she can find (scrap mail). **Quote** : "Try and stop me!" **Roleplaying** : Sia is arrogant, but tough enough that it's got some backing. She knows she is attractive and will use that to her advantage whenever possible. **Background** : Sia grew up in a raider camp deep in the redwoods. As an adult, she struck out on her own and formed a roving raider gang. They found some success raiding caravans along the route of the old Highway 299, between Squatch-Ville and Yreka. Increased patrols along that route have forced her to be more cautious. **Key Info** : She has connections to other raider groups in the area. She is losing the iron-fisted control over her gang because of strange occurrences (and even a few deaths) at their new camp. **Stat Block** :

Now to create a female NPC for Cow Town. With the prompt being Tact, there's the temptation to recycle the society matron concept that I already used for Ureka. But Cow Town has its own needs. I think someone with a lot of Tact in Cow Town would probably be a doctor who has to give their patients increasingly bad news. But we also want to use this round to create NPCs that are possibly antagonistic and would wind up in conflict with a prospective adventuring party. So let's make her a little cold, a little ruthless, maybe a little too eager to make the hard decisions. **Name** : Dr. Kristi Hale **Appearance** : Middle aged aged, thin faced white woman with her light brown hair pulled up into a messy beehive in a failing effort to keep it out of her face. She wears a clean lab coat over worn, drab clothes. **Quote** : "Would you please stop! You're not doing anyone any good!" **Roleplaying** : She uses the forms of politeness, but she is used to being obeyed. "Please" is an order. **Background** : She took over her father's practice as the Cow Town doctor when his passing from radiation poisoning forced her to take it on. She was quite young at the time and she was not prepared for the amount of death she would oversee. **Key Info** : Dr. Hale is likely to restrict care for patients that she feels are lost causes. **Stat Block** :

Developing another female NPC for Ureka and she's got some Intensity. I feel like I'm trying to find smaller and smaller niches as I go along (and I'm also doing these much closer to the wire, so maybe they're getting a touch less thought), but my feeling here is that this is a plucky girl reporter at the Times-Standard. **Name** : Hildy Russel **Appearance** : A red-haired mousey woman in her 20s in a practical business outfit. **Quote** : "Is that on the record?" **Roleplaying** : Hildy talks very fast, making it difficult to get a word in edgewise. **Background** : Hildy has always been sharp and inquisitive. When the offices of the Times-Standard newspaper were reclaimed and re-opened, she became one of the first reporters to reply. She is also a regular in the local podcast scene. **Key Info** : Hildy has information on a lot of goings-on around Ureka Hildy may need independent sources to gather information, or competent escort to dangerous locales where information may be obtained. **Stat Block** :

Now it's time to create a male NPC for the Eureka Ruins. This typically means that we're looking at a Ratfolk. And this Ratfolk is going to be someone who has experienced a Loss. To keep things interesting, let's think about the kinds of losses that only Ratfolk can have. Such as their tail. Now, on the common rat, the tail actually does a lot of work. It helps with balance and heat regulation, among other things. Among the Ratfolk, the tail allows them to connect their minds with other Ratfolk to form a collective consciousness known as a Rat King. The Ratfolk of the Eureka Ruins are led by such a hivemind, which has applied its intellect to the problem of the people of Ureka. But that's not the only Rat King. Similar collectives may be formed to accomplish some other goal requiring significant mental effort, which are known as Philosopher Kings. So today's NPC, who I'll call Splinter, was part of one of these Philosopher Kings, but after a raid on the school they were occupying by the Ratcatchers, his tail was severed, removing him from the collective and destroying any chance of joining another. Not only has Splinter had to adapt to being alone in his own head, the loss of the nerve clusters in his tail has affected his cognition as well. Having his tail severed in a Ratcatcher raid gives him reason to be antagonistic, but the link to a Philosopher King is intended to tie in to the other Tag that was rolled for the Eureka Ruins: Hidden Purpose. Whether that's something that the Ratfolk themselves are working on, or something that came to Eureka before the Collapse that they are trying to discover (I'm not sure yet myself), that's something that should be brought up. **Name** : Splinter **Appearance** : A dark-furred Ratfolk with scars on his body and no tail. **Quote** : **Roleplaying** : His mind is splintered. He's got more control when he's calm, but especially when agitated, he will suddenly trail off or pause, unconsciously trying to pass off the mental effort along the link that is no longer there. His memory is muddled because some pieces of it were stored in other rats when he was separated. **Background** : Splinter spent much of his life linked into a Philosopher King living in the Eureka High School library. A Ratcatcher raid some years ago stormed the place and forcibly separated the Philosopher King, leaving Splinter as the only survivor. Now missing a tail, he struggles to manage thoughts and memories that are only fragments of the hivemind. **Key Info** : Splinter likely has information from his time in a Philosopher King that could reveal a secret that the Ratfolk are trying to keep or discover. **Stat Block** :

Now to create another female NPC for Squatch-Ville. Because this is another female NPC and the prompt is very close, I want to make sure that I'm not retreading Day 2, so I'll make this character a human. She won't have Stature, but she will have Regard. I do have a couple more chances to make sasquatch NPCs and I do want to develop their society further. But one of the ways to do that is to show how humans live in their society. And the difference between Stature and Regard gives us an opportunity to look at the glass ceiling that prevents humans from rising too high in Squatch-Ville society. So our NPC clearly has some measure of authority, but that is sharply limited. She lives and works among the sasquatch, but is frequently overruled. The truth is that Squatch-Ville is not a single city, but a widely distributed community. The hunter-gatherer lifestyle means that the people must forage from large sections of the forest to feed their families and communities. There is a "trade town" that acts as a central hub where these distributed gatherers can come together to trade for what they need with other gatherer groups and also outside traders. This is what most outsiders refer to as "Squatch-Ville." Each of these smaller communities is overseen by a sasquatch. Since they are nobility in this situation, they would naturally have little feudal fiefs. But our NPC is not a sasquatch. She's actually something of a secretary or vizier to the sasquatch overseer of this particular fief. So she's very close to power, but just a hairsbreadth away from it. She's actually competent and when the last overseer went invisible, she requested that she be promoted to overseer permanently. Instead, the position was filled by another sasquatch designated by the Central Council, with the use-name "Percy." **Name** : Lillian Donovan **Appearance** : An attractive slender Black woman with tightly curled, close-cropped hair. She wears a simple dress with bangles and bracelets denoting her position in sasquatch society. **Quote** : **Roleplaying** : Lillian is very well organized and helpful. She sees Percy as useless and will avoid involving him as much as possible. **Background** : She grew up in Squatch-Ville and found herself to be a competent and capable organizer. She's taken risen through the ranks to be the top human administrator in her fief. **Key Info** : She is a capable and competent administrator She wishes that she had the authority to run the fief without having to defer to a sasquatch **Stat Block** :

Now it's time for a male NPC from Squatch-Ville with some Directness. And because I have not been creating sasquatch NPCs the last couple of rounds, this is definitely a sasquatch. I've been looking for the opportunity to build out different aspects of Squatch-Ville society and one thing that has come to mind is crime and punishment. The virtue of Directness feels like something that a judge would appreciate. Policing as a concept is very basic in this setting. Most enclaves have some sort of basic police patrols, probably integrated with external defense. Ureka's police force is the Ratcatchers, so named because of their primary foe, the Ratfolk, though they do generally keep the peace as well. The police forces of Squatch-Ville aren't so colorful, but are similarly focused on external threats. In either case, there's one thing that they don't do: Investigation. The police detective is a role that they have not re-invented yet. If a crime cannot be immediately "solved" such as a dead body being found without some poor sod with a knife close at hand, it is up to the victim to seek restitution, fairly similar to a modern civil case, by hiring an Advocate. In the case of a murder, the Advocate would typically be hired by the victim's family or spouse, and it would fall to them to solve the murder and determine who to demand restitution from. While Advocates and Watch are typically human, judges of these cases are exclusively sasquatch. Including the character we'll be meeting today. **Name** : Judge Joseph **Appearance** : Black-furred sasquatch, 7 feet, 6 inches tall. He wears the beads and bangles of office. **Quote** : "Let's not get distracted from the matter at hand." **Background** : Joseph has been a judge for a little under a year, since he last returned from invisibility. He had previously held an administrative position that better suited his temperament, but it had been filled during his absence. **Key Info** : If the party has to resolve a legal matter in Squatch-Ville, they are likely to appear before Judge Joseph. **Stat Block** :

Now for a male NPC for Ureka and let's hope he's feeling Charitable. Or not. Because this is Ureka. Carsonism is a sort of Victorian reconstructionism, which means that certain, less-charitable views about charity are more likely to come up. So yes, this NPC is being conceived as a villain. I think this specific bit of "charity" is towards the Ratfolk. Just like many other varieties of outsiders before them, the folk of Ureka think they're doing the Ratfolk a favor by allowing a certain number to live and work among them, giving them jobs that no one else wanted to do. When I wrote up Scarlett from Day 4, I mentioned the possibility of her infiltrating various places by posing as a housemaid. So let's say that there is a "school" established to try to civilize the Ratfolk. Of course, like other schools of this type established throughout history, it is horrible and abusive. The headmaster, Silas Trevalyan, has accepted that, in spite of the best efforts of the Ratcatchers, the Ratfolk will persist. So the best alternative is to bring them to heel in service of humans. **Name** : Silas Trevalyan **Appearance** : A gaunt white man in his 50's in a dark suit. He has a crown of white hair surrounding a growing bald patch on top of his head. **Quote** : "I'll see that you pay for that!" **Roleplaying** : Silas glares at everyone as if they have wronged him and he is seeking an opportunity for revenge. **Background** : In the early campaigns to secure the city, Silas guarded Ratfolk prisoners. He passed the time teaching them tricks, then tasks, then jobs. While he avoids calling them intelligent, he admits that they are "clever," "trainable" and "useful." **Key Info** : He runs an abusive school to teach Ratfolk jobs that allow them to operate in Ureka society. **Stat Block** :

Now to come up with a male character from one of the remaining 2 Ruins. Mercy feels like something that McKinleyville sorely needs. It does mean that I'm going to have to make some decisions about what happened there. There was a community there. It might have been a continuation of the current community that occupies the location or a community attempting to re-occupy the old site. Back in February, I suggested that it might be part of the story of the migration from Squatch-Ville to Ureka, but I'm not sure that makes sense with the development that Ureka has received since. McKinleyville is home to the Eureka-Arcata Airport, which is the only significant airport in the area. Without significant air travel, it's very easy to imagine the community shrinking to insignificance. So our Failed Community tag comes from an attempted re-settlement at some point after the apocalypse. And since we're thinking about NPCs, let's think about the person who might be the "face" of this Ruin. Not an original inhabitant, but someone new. Perhaps an archeologist or anthropologist of some sort. Since we are talking about a town with the largest airport, let's say that he came from the air. Perhaps the failed community also came from the air. They came from another surviving Enclave with an airport and our new "face" isn't just cataloging them for curiosity, but for closure. They had come to resettle and rebuild the air travel networks that crisscrossed the country before the Collapse, but fell to some disease or other complication. So Delmos Jones (a name borrowed from a real Black anthropologist to make sure that my names and characters stay interesting and diverse) comes back a generation or two later to check up and finds everyone dead. **Name** : Delmos Jones **Appearance** : An older, solidly built Black man, balding with short tightly curled grey hair circling his head and a neat grey beard. His clothing is rugged, but neat and well-maintained. **Quote** : "Let's see what we have here." **Roleplaying** : His demeanor is serious, and more than a little sad. He is very empathetic, seeing each body as a person and seeking to understand their story through the evidence left behind. While no one is a stranger to violence in the post-apocalypse, this empathy causes him to prefer peaceful resolutions and to mourn anyone he is forced to kill. **Background** : Delmos grew up in The ReDD (formerly Redding Regional Airport) and looked at the travel maps and brochures with awe. He has flown to other airports and communities throughout the state, learning everything he could. His flight to this airport should have been another renewed connection, but led to him discovering the site of a tragedy. **Key Info** : He is one of the few people from outside the area who live here. He does have access to a small airplane and can provide aerial recon, supply drops and possibly transport. **Stat Block** :

Now to go someplace that we've never been before. To create some sort of sequence for these, let's go by distance for Ureka, since that's more or less the focus of the campaign. The closest Ruin would be Calpoly, the former site of Arcata and California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt (though back when I lived in the area, it was Humboldt State University). There are a couple of interesting tags that we rolled up for this one and I haven't really addressed them. The first is "Highshine Concentration." In the default setting of Ashes Without Number, Highshine is the secret sauce that means that radiation will give you cool mutations rather than just radiation sickness and cancer. While I'm not really using an established larger setting, it does let us have those Gamma World vibes even if everyplace else is a bit more Fallout. The other tag is one that I haven't really addressed, but probably should. "Political Gulag." Someone is using the town as a prison. Since Ureka is the nearest Enclave, that suggests that they're the ones sending poor souls here, presumably to get eaten by the wild mutant plants and animals that roam the area. With our prompt being Burden and the location being a place where mutations are common, let's assume that he has a mutation that makes him a burden. It's a bit extreme, but let's say that he has no arms and no legs. He can move and get around, and we could probably have fun by setting up encounters with him turning up in unlikely places, but I think the most common form of interaction would be him requesting a lift somewhere. I do also want him to have some sort of attack power. This is partly to create a justification for how he's able to survive in such a dangerous environment with a distinct disability and partly to discourage players from being dicks and dismissing him outright or being overly ableist. It's a bit crude, but players are going to have more respect for anything that can cost them hit points, regardless of form. He should also be connected to the Political Gulag Tag. He's was not born there, but exiled for some crime against Ureka, The easy one would be sympathy for Ratfolk, but we can also explore other aspects of Ureka by supposing that he was an opponent to some aspect of the Victorian Reconstructionism embraced by the rest of the community. A fun mirror to modern times might have him be an environmental activist against reconstructed timber barons. That also suggests our name: Hillard Hurwitz. "Hillard" as a nod to Julia "Butterfly" Hill, an activist who spent a year in a tree. Hurwitz is for Charles Hurwitz, owner of Maxxam, the private equity company that bled Pacific Lumber Company dry. The idea of a descendant trying to make right has a certain appeal. **Name** : Hillard "Stumpy" Hurwitz **Appearance** : A man with no arms and no legs, clean shaven (somehow) but with long, lanky, dark hair. **Quote** : "How about a lift?" **Roleplaying** : Stumpy is a stereotypical hippy in many ways. He is very "go with the flow" and sympathetic to the balance of nature. He is casually optimistic and avoids getting overly bummed out if possible. He's spent a long time learning about the strange ecology that has developed around Calpoly and has a deep respect for it. **Background** : After staging protests over excessive logging by the Timber Barons of Ureka, Hillard was exiled to Calpoly. While there, he suffered significant injuries to his arms and legs. The mutating elements in the environment granted him a healing power that closed the wounds quickly, but did not restore the limbs. It also granted him thermokinesis which he can use to defend himself. **Key Info** : He is surprisingly capable and well adapted to his current status. He will often be found requesting a lift to a destination He understands the ecology of the monsters roaming Calpoly, but it opposed to their casual destruction or exploitation. **Stat Block** :