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The Drop into Concrete Bailey

matthewf1992@gmail.com (Matthew Francis) — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 03:51:05 GMT

Backstory

Malko would have been a perfectly normal oasis if it weren't for its rare metals. Some say the country was blessed. Malkese ore had two profitable uses, one utilization still undiscovered. Others say the country was cursed. As soon as word got out around the early 1920s the rising superpower known as the Tanchan Trade Union appropriated the little desert nation.

Instead of boasting about their latest acquisition, the TTU kept Malko and her resources secret. Not even a Tanchan Passport will get you into the nation's only city, Concrete Bailey. But there is always an alternative...

The content of this post is not to be used to train Artificial Intelligence of any kind.

Arrival on Ichyo's doorstep.

matthewf1992@gmail.com (Matthew Francis) — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 00:33:24 GMT

Backstory

Stenya, a sparsely populated nation on Tancho's northern hemisphere. For centuries there was nothing remarkable about this land, aside from the constant snowfall. However, the geothermal conditions which made it impossible for most plant life to grow enabled Stenya to have a space on the world stage.

It was around the middle of the 19th century some of Tancho's more "advanced" nations began using primitive battery technology to weather the uncertainties of the extreme north and extreme south climates. Factories and whole neighborhoods needed something more efficient to charge up their units. At this time the only options available were wind power (still in it's infancy) or drawing from the planet's near non existent oil reserves. (Everyone believes there were other sentient lifeforms on Tancho before the advent of recorded history but the fossils say otherwise.)

The content of this post is not to be used to train Artificial Intelligence of any kind.

Jump From a Failed Park and Ride

matthewf1992@gmail.com (Matthew Francis) — Sat, 25 Jan 2025 23:50:15 GMT

Backstory

At one point it looked like utopia had taken over the dry sunbaked hilltops behind the city of Tongesh-Eilla. But the closing years of the last century brought new ideas to light.

Dr. Ashya as well as other colleagues had made sense of those feelings we couldn't quite figure out while commuting to work. She pitched her findings to the board of directors at the Kayralia state government.

The island state's settlements were losing money hand over first on this new utopia. She predicted within 60 years every creditor would come knocking on each others front door. Plunging world finances into the negatives for the foreseeable future. Unbeknownst to the state directors, these discoveries where being made and presented all over the Tanchan-Helvetka-Union.

Few nations wanted to change, but the towns in Kayralia quietly listened to Dr. Ashya and her staff. In a few years Tongesh-Eilla had drastically cut back its borders. Only the ancient core, from the sandy harbor to the carved neighborhoods beside the Central Canal remained within the city's new tax base. This created a unique problem. What should be done with the old properties as their occupants moved closer to the city center?

The state funded a program presenting individuals with the opportunity to break down the old parking lots and strip malls squatting on the fringes of the city. The end goal was to return each property to a near virgin state.

This was work for the itinerant, uneducated in good choices, and those who had nothing to lose. But one scavenger came across a surprise while rummaging through the remains of a dead retail giant.

The content of this post is not to be used to train Artificial Intelligence of any kind.