The Story
“All mountains smoke a little… but not every pile of rocks blows up and melts every surrounding village in sight.”
Peter “Shakey” Shackleton, MI hitman
Welcome to St. Locusta
St. Locusta is known far and wide as a sleepy little resort town at the base of a mountain. People would travel to St. Locusta for a few reasons. The most common is to spend some time away from the terrors of the wastelands, sit back, and bask in the beauty of the mountain. The hospitality at St. Locusta is as legendary as it is expensive.
The second reason is the annual Lighting of the Peaks. This is a local Sainthood ritual that has been occurring once a year for generations. Members of the Sainthood of Ashes scale the mountain to light a bonfire at the peak, allowing everyone for hundreds of miles to see that the Sainthood persists, no matter what. Other faiths have begun to tag along in the recent years to conduct their own rituals. Now, it is an all-faith festival that sees dozens of rituals happen all along the mountain.
The third, and most secret reason, is to gather at the greatest Murder Incorporated stronghold on the West coast.
Of course, all of this was before the volcano erupted. Lava and ash have smothered the entire region. Lava rivers have swept away entire villages, the ash-cloud has choked out acres of farmlands, and the Burner Raiders have destroyed anything that was lucky enough to avoid the first two. St. Locusta is the last place still standing.
This is where you find yourself now.
Themes and Content
As always, we recommend that each participant read through the site to determine if this is the sort of event that they’d like to participant in. Downfall is a horror event, and deals with the themes of:
violence, combat, drugs, death, zombies, simulated torture, Raiders, water, black market dealings, local fictional politics, fictional religions, murder, puzzles, and body horror. The event itself may include fire, loud noises (including loud bangs), smoke and fog, and simulated combat.
While we try to disclose the main themes that you may encounter, there may be other themes and scenarios that crop up during the event. We encourage each participant to know their own limits, and to feel empowered to remove themselves from any scene that they may not be up for in order to best enjoy the event.
The Magma Vents
Ancient caves dot the landscape near the mountains of St. Locusta. While it was known to the more educated people of the area that the caves were created by the flow of lava ages ago, the real purpose of these caves was to house the local clans of Lascarians. The Twilight were one of these clans. They made their home partially in the old magma vent nearest St. Locusta. The locals and the clan had a mutual agreement to respect each other's territory and to not get into too many fights if they could help it. None of that matters now as heat, lava, and poison gasses forced the Lascarians to either flee their homes, or perish. One tunnel that was seldom used was spared the worst of the volcano’s wrath. Now there is ample opportunity to dive deep into the Magma Vents and seek whatever treasures lay within. The Wells Society is quite interested in this unique opportunity to research what goes on down below first hand. The Magma Vents will be akin to a classic ‘Jones Run’ style adventure.
The Fissures
The eruption of the volcano has poured tons of ash and lava into the area. The fires that burn here act as a call to the clans of Burner Raiders in the area for hundreds of miles around. Their numbers echo into the hundreds. The Blacktide Hunters have called a Deathcon to quell their ranks before they conquer the area. The Fissures is the meeting point between the Hunters and the Raiders. If you are coming to St. Locusta to test your mettle against the natural born raiders, this is where you will end up. Lesser clans who wish to ascend into the ranks of the Burners can be found here, looking to take trophies from any strain that they find. Rumor has it that some of the leaders, war hounds, and champions in the raider ranks carry valuable trophies on their person. These trophies are as priceless as they are dangerous to collect, but will make a wonderful addition to any Blacktide Hunters trophy room.
Raiderville
The number of raiders being summoned by the fires of the volcano are a cause for concern. So much so that the engineer corps of the Blacktide Hunters in conjunction with the Wells Society were able to construct a wall between the growing camp of Burner Raiders and the city of St. Locusta. This has not stopped the raiders from occasionally breaching the wall and slaughtering those on the other side. The wall requires constant repairs and sentries. While we may have a sense of security on our side of the wall, there is a growing nightmare on the other sie of the fence. Barrels of fire that mimic the billowing mountain light the spikes that carry the corpses of any worthy opponent that the Burners have left up as a warning to others.
Death is for the lucky ones that find themselves dragged back to the warcamp. For those unlucky enough, you get to be the raiders' entertainment. They have erected an arena where they force the strains of humanity to fight against each other to the death. Don’t worry though. They usually let the winner have a head start before running them down.
Hanging in the deepest reaches of the darkest parts of the blood-soaked town hangs the clan banners of those that make up their village. Clan B-52, The Charred, and Clan Cobalt. Each of these three clans now make up a unified front under one warlord. This new clan, the Molten Tide, hangs their banner high above the others. The standards do not see battlefield use often, but when they do, it is a symbol of the heart of the clan itself. When you see it, just know that they will take whatever it is they want. These four banners are the ultimate trophy for a Blacktide Hunter, but be warned that if you somehow get your hand on one, the raider that you stole it from will do anything to get it back.