The Wastes

A large expanse of empty territory to the east of the Low Halls, the Wastelands are home to both Fibre Tower and Smelted Keep. While the Arkenteks and their underlings have traditionally kept to the massive tower, avoiding the desolation outside as much as possible, the Redmonds and their vassals have recently been appointed direct rulers over the villages and tribes of the Wastelands.

Most of the structures in the Wastes were leveled years ago by some unknown accident. Many metal structures are found in this area, but most have been melted and twisted as if by intense heat. It is in the greatest of these structures, Smelted Keep, that House Redmond dwells. The lands outside the melted buildings are mostly desolate and dry, with the only hospitable areas being found in the many exposed ventilation shafts throughout the area. Wastelanders make their homes in these shafts, venturing out only to hunt or scavenge.

## Locations

### Smelted Keep

Believed to be haunted, this twisted structure has been abandoned since time immemorial. The Redmonds have seen fit to reclaim it, choosing it for its winding, melted passageways and its position suspended between the Surface and the Depths. Whatever horrible accident once turned this structure to slag has allowed it to become a disorienting and defensible castle for the warlike. Mercenaries, adventurers, and rebels from across the central City have flocked here for the equitable mastery of Lord Redmond.

The Keep's infrastructure is still being developed, but it has a few sources of income outside its inhabitants' mercenary work. The enigmatic components harvested from the ruins fetch a good price from the Arkenteks and other such sorcerers, and many peasants have taken up residence in the nearby ventilation inlets, where they harvest moisture and grow some meager crops. The Redmonds also make journeys into the Depths and the Outside, where they harvest bizarre plants to feed to their sacred still, with which they refine the powerful liquors they consume during their oath-feasts.

## Noble Houses

### House Redmond

The Redmonds of the Smelted Keep have only recently settled in one place; previously, they were little more than a band of errants. Their heroism and military prowess won them a good deal of favor, and plenty of wealth from the mercenary trade. Now seated in the melted former fusion plant they chose as a home, they are seeking to place one of their own behind the Console of the Receiver for the first time in history. Their elite knights and their popularity among the hard-pressed inhabitants of the outer reaches give them surprising leverage for such a young House.

### House Angelos

The Angeloi were once a house of the Low Halls, ruling on the eastern edge of Mold Marsh until House Dosarka conquered their territory. They then spent many years as itinerants before settling in the Wastes, and have governed the town of Votshire for many years. For all that time, they have been working to secure a strong food supply for the people of the Wastes, with mixed success. Currently ruled by Lady Rebekah Angelos.

### House Thule

Until House Redmond granted them the settlement of Weleshire, the Thules were wandering warriors, known for their skill in hunting and tracking. Now they hunt mainly for trinkets to sell to outsiders. The official guardians of Thule’s Forge, the Thules claim descent from a paragon of weaponcraft who reclaimed countless ancient artifacts of the City. Rose to prominence under Voron Thule. Currently ruled by Lord Dannelin Thule.

### House Meridian

House Meridian was assembled from the most skilled techsmiths and inventors of the Wastelands. They manufacture weapons and armor for House Redmond, operating from the town of Andresteshire. House Meridian was originally a line of bourgeois commoners before Janrad Norn sent the last member of a dying Depths house to marry into the family, thus giving the house an Old Bloodline and making it eligible to vote in Receiver elections, with Lady Derosa Meridian being its first Elector of the Realm. Until recently, ruled by Lord Lane Meridian, and upon his untimely death, currently ruled by his daughter, Lady Sarin Meridian.