Homestead Carmine

An outlying neighborhood of Homestead Carmine

**Homestead Carmine** is an unincorporated and off-the-grid community in the midst of the Southern Albion Outlands, in the Great Sand Bowl between Outland Gate and Inowrowiec. Mainly self-sufficient, the settlement was founded in 2610 some ways away from Route 808 by Isabella Carmine for the freedom of Mexican and Asian workers from Earth. Homestead Carmine now exists as a bubble of isolation from wider Hyperian society, often retaining outlaws and social rejects while also keeping the peace through a local militia force.

The Scarlet Suns acquired a property in Homestead Carmine, the Carmine Hideout, following the ousting of a local biker gang and after assisting Edward Duncan in his plot against Otis Byrne in Jade City. While staying in Homestead Carmine for two weeks to hide from police and criminal pursuers alike, they assisted locals in finally ridding the settlement of its threat from roving highway and nomad gangs.

The settlement has a permanent population of approximately one hundred and eighty thousand, with a further visiting population of tens of thousands that fluctuates depending on the amount of traffic along Route 808 (and local nomad activities). Many of its permanent residents descend from Mexican, Cantonese, and Marathi-descendant immigrants from Earth who fled the many metropoles of Albion following massive corporate layoffs. However, new residents are often those tired of the ultra-urban lifestyle of Albion's metrozones, retiring themselves at various ages to the community.

## Geography

Homestead Carmine sits in the middle of the massive, sun-baked portion of the Southern Albion Outlands known as the Great Sand Bowl. Despite its name, however, the Bowl is home to plenty of large rock formations, with Homestead Carmine situated between various mesas and buttes adorned with hardy vegetation.

## Demographics

The settlement maintains a permanent population of around one hundred and eighty thousand, and a further fluctuating temporary population in the tens of thousands. Those temporarily staying within the town often are there as a result of some criminal activity, whether by hiding from law enforcement or by conducting shady deals. Others simply stay in the town as a cheap alternative for lodging, as it is only a few miles away from Route 808 that runs between the eastern and western seaboards of Albion.

Originally a colony of Mexican, Marathi, and Cantonese immigrant workers from Earth, it is now a multicultural settlement boasting a multitude of ethnicities and religions. Those with eclectic political ideologies also reside in Homestead Carmine, often being anarchists or those that generally disapprove of the modern zeitgeist of humanity. However, as a result of its origins, many religious residents are either Catholic, Hindu, or Buddhist, and much of its newfound culture takes inspiration from its predecessors.

## Economy

The most common source of income for those living in Homestead Carmine is in the form of "government assistance" and welfare programs offered to those living in communities below the poverty line on Hyperion. Income is also generated from legitimate businesses such as repair workshops and scrapping; however, it is an unspoken fact that much of the cash flow through the town is of some criminal origin, whether direct or laundered.

### Food and water

Food is most often sourced from the outside world, through plucky merchants that drive or fly into town selling low-grade foodstuffs. However, a portion of the town's food is also sourced natively, with many opting to adopt subsistence farming by the means of miniature greenhouses.

Water, for both agricultural use and personal consumption, is most often sourced through moisture condensers. Most homes have one, but those that do not often use the public moisture condensers located more inward in the city. These, however, cost notes to use. Other sources of water come from merchants looking to make a quick buck by selling their cache fast to the locals, especially those that lack a condenser or are homeless.

## Government and politics

Officially, Homestead Carmine is classified as an unincorporated community under the titular polity known as the State of Albion. However, it is *de facto* independent from almost all functions of the Planetary Republic of Hyperion, only paying a municipal tax to the planet's government in exchange for legal protection from the encroachment of megacorporations. It still stands as legally unrecognized, however, with the tax only providing to delay official recognition and thus face further laws.

As a result, the settlement's government is a direct democracy, with no political parties or representatives. All residents hold a vote in local meetings, usually held in the town hall in the center of the settlement.

Homestead Carmine maintains its own militia, acting as a self-defense force and as law enforcement. Although the Hyperion Police Department technically has the ability to enforce laws in the area, no police officer has visited the settlement within the past decade - even for a routine patrol.