The Setting

"What a god forsaken shit hole..."

Formerly southern California, Sokal is not a nation or country so much as a region of territory recognized as one of the few places where Wasters can flourish. Sokal extends as far Northeast as the Mojave, with the northernmost border being the Bako Commonwealth and The Valley of the Dead. The eastern boundary is less defined but usually stretches over the Great Eastern River until it hits the domain of the Rust Horde, where few Wasters dare to tread. Tijuana marks the south before people enter the Mexican No-Man's land. The western boundary is of course the Pacific but some people now just call it the end of the world.

The presence of larger cities before the Fall means that there is still a lot of salvage and food all over Sokal. This attracts scavengers but discourages larger groups such as bandits who have difficulty finding enough food to support their numbers. Many small communities have sprung up all over Sokal as a result, from survivalist nomads, to idol cults and cannibals, to regular folks just trying to scrape by.

Bako

"I know you think it's a good idea to go there.... That's exactly what the last guy thought and I haven't seen him return either."

One of the most fabled and feared ruins in Sokal. Bako was once a thriving city, some of that beauty even remains. Now though, it is a haunted waste of leaning buildings and buried secrets. Home to some of the richest companies and most expensive homes in the world before. Bako was hit hardest when the world ended. High tech industry collapsed in on itself as the massive infrastructure needed to maintain it failed.

What's left of Bako is a haunted maze of office parks, strip malls, and coffee shops. Even with these normally lucrative scavenging sites in plain view, few go to Bako. Occasionally a brave Keeper can be found delving into the many hidden bunkers or old skyscrapers that litter the zone. They usually come out with invaluable treasures like prefall technology, or a working firearm. More often they never come out at all, and those who do often share their newly discovered secrets with no one else if they value their life. No one can explain why these dangers persist two hundred years after the fall.

The Valley of the Dead

"A lot of people go there looking for whatever the hell is there. Ain't never seen no one come back to tell me what it was."

As an actual geographic feature the Valley of the Dead is just that — a long narrow valley. More foreboding than its simple geography is the aura of the place. The radiation in the Valley alone could strip any fool who dared to brave it to the bone. Compounding this, the animals that inhabit the area are not to be believed. The radiation seems to have affected them, giving birth to several particularly dangerous and aggressive creatures. These creatures somehow even survive the radiation levels themselves, something no one has been able to explain.

VictoryVille

"They call it the den of sin and chaos. They call it the most corrupt shit hole in Sokal. They call it VictoryVille. I call it home."

VictoryVille is many things: a Bandit haven, a hive of scum and villainy, one of the best party spots in Sokal. Founded by a group of hedonists who happened to have a lot of money from their... unorthodox livelihoods it stands as a beacon of hedonistic excess in the wastes. The market is where most of VictoryVille's business takes place, and any goods or services that can be bought in Sokal can be found here. The second largest attraction in VictoryVille is the infamous FUBAR (or the F.U.B.A.R), which is the largest bar in Sokal. Drinks, gambling, debauchery and even the occasional rumble can be found there on a nightly basis. Also some pretty great live music and the occasional show.

VictoryVille sits in the skeleton of a pre-Fall music festival site in the middle of what was once a desert. While the place has no real laws, the only thing that can universally get you kicked out of town, or worse, is disturbing The Party. Every weekend VictoryVille throws the biggest rave in the known world. A pounding non stop beat for 48 hours where the only expectation is you have a good time. Anyone not abiding by the rules of the The Party will swiftly be seen to.

The Kingdom of Garlic

"I .... just wanted some food, I really don't want to be beheaded."

A strange place to be sure even with the relaxed standards of the post-Fall world. The Kingdom of Garlic is surrounded by walls patrolled by horse mounted warriors that guard it's precious farmlands in the name of their King.

Positioned over what was once Gilroy, the Kingdom of Garlic grew up around a small central village around a large stone keep. Surrounded by some of the only working farmland known the Kingdom of Garlic is forced to vigilantly defend itself from outsiders with mounted horsemen and some of the finest archers. If all of this sounds like a feudal kingdom, it's because it is. This strange anachronism somehow not only survives, but thrives.

It is far from a idyllic paradise however. Most of the Kingdoms residents live in slavery to the few Lords that own the land they farm on. These Lords are much more comfortable than their serfs, but pale in comparison to the opulence that the Garlic King lives in. The Garlic King demands nothing less than absolute obedience. Weapons of any sort are banned for use among the serfs to keep them in line as is any degree of learning.

Zalez

"Biggest little city in the Wastes."

The "Gateway to the Promised Land," as the town's extremely enthusiastic Mayor likes to call it, is the closest thing to a boomtown in Norkal. The deep lowlands that make Zalez unbearably hot most of the year are a blessing in disguise as they shield Zalez from the worst radiation storms and acid rain, making limited but profitable agriculture possible.

The town created a meager but functional ranching and farming community. Jade Cartel caravans out of Tijuana seeking passage into the Great Bay found the town a reliable stop over, and the town was more than happy to take their money.

"Sure things are nicer there. But that just means there's more assholes looking to screw you over for what you have."

North of Sokal and separated by miles of Bandit and hostile tribe infested wastes is The Great Bay. With a nicer climate, more fertile land and generally less destroyed cities it would appear at first glance to be an ideal spot for settlement in the post Fall world. But ask any Waster in Sokal and they'll all tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. The Great Bay's plentiful nature simply draws more people to it and all of sudden the "plentiful" resources are anything but. All of the Great Bay's numerous communities, nomad groups, and Bandits are in vicious competition with one another constantly.

San Chuan Xiao

"I wouldn't go there if I were you, those guys are nuts. They only fight with their hands and maybe sticks, they hate guns, but I've seen them pluck bullets out of mid air and run on water. Ain't normal."

Located on the northern portion of the Great Bay, San Chuan Xiao, or simply SCX to most Sokal natives is a far off land of mystery. Rumor indicates it is an enormous and diverse city that was remarkably intact following the Fall. However rumor also speaks of the numerous and dangerous Clans that occupy SCX and constantly battle for supremacy amongst the ruins. They utilize strange battle arts and hand to hand fighting techniques supposedly preserved from before the Fall. These Clans, while constantly at war with one another are even more unwelcoming to outsiders and will violently oppose the influence of "foreigners."

"There's a place, it's like here but it's a little beyond. Some people can see it, and they can see what lives there. It's a weird place, or so they tell me. Personally, I never want to see it."

Sometime after the Fall, a few people started to notice strange things happening. Strange creatures would flit in and out of their vision. Weird landscapes would appear in front of them and then vanish just as quickly. What was strangest, these visions were shared by many, not just a select few. More importantly perhaps, everyone who could see these visions came from all sorts of backgrounds and all sorts of belief systems and even levels of sanity. It was soon put together that there was something else out there. Another realm where strange beings existed. Some people could see into it and sometimes even interact with it. Soon afterwards it was discovered that certain supernatural abilities could interact with the Astral in interesting ways.

The existence of the Astral is both a mystery and an open secret to the people of the twenty third century. Not many today know that the Astral did not exist before the Fall, and those few who have connected the dots cannot explain why it suddenly exists. Just about everyone knows that it, and the strange creatures that reside in it, exists and most view it with a large degree of skepticism if not outright fear; neither are misplaced.