I played in the 3.0 live season, but I skipped most (or all) of the virtual season!
If you played for the first part of the 3.0 season, we introduced new factions, new locations, and even some new enemies to the town. We made the decision early on to purposefully avoid our town of Bravado. We wanted to reserve the stories we tell in our town for the live game!
Most of the events of the virtual season took place in the other places of note in the San Saba, so while we provided some context to our setting we didn’t touch the town you know and love.
What happened in Bravado during the virtual season?
Actually, not much.
The sleepy town was most ignored during the incidents of our virtual season on purpose. Bravado is still an important stop on the Oxline, but without a focus on delving into the tunnels under the town it makes fewer and fewer stops. There's a bit more dust in some places, some new windows and boards on the walls, and even a fresh coat of paint here and there, but Bravado is pretty much the same town you remember when you left.
Maybe those that stayed behind can tell you more in September?
What about the tunnels underneath Bravado?
The strange tunnels that were unearthed after the Hiway War are still there, but lay dormant and silent. A new group of researchers and scientists from the RRC has set up shop inside the entrance of the Maw, but they’ve kept to themselves mostly. The delves into the tunnels have mostly stopped.
However, Felicity Redfield has returned with a renewed passion, convinced after her foray to the Lost City of Barogue that some important secret still lies below, so the boomtown is on the cusp of a second founding that will attract new residents and merchants to Bravado.
What about all those crazy monsters we fought?
The crazed undead monsters known as Bloodghasts occasionally hunt the shadows of the forests around Bravado. There are rumors of more nests of the dead in the tunnels underneath the town, but they’ve been pretty quiet since the Hermits of Helios set up new solar generators for the town.
The raider tribe of Firebrands are still a threat, but they’ve been recently fighting with an emergent tribe of Grave Walker raiders. As such, they’ve mostly left the town alone. The Firebrands are still a major threat of the Dune Sea, and the psionic raiders periodically make raids into the town even still.
The frostbitten zed known as Rimebound Dead haven’t been seen since the winter two years ago. But, every old farmer knows that a respite from a bad winter season probably won’t happen twice in a row. Better pack extra blankets for the Winter Lights season, just in case. The emergence of a giant Monolith during the recent winter saw the return of these frosty zed once more.
What major things happened during the virtual season?
Each of our virtual events had some major happenings occur, and we’ve catalogued all the transmedia content we produced for the games.
Check out the Lonestar Skies Archives of our Virtual Events
However, in a nutshell:
The various factions of the area combined their resources, contracts, and wealth into a new force of law and order known as the San Saba Board. The area under their influence is now known as the San Saba Territories, and stretches from as far north as Star City, south towards New Austen and Essex, east to The Clutch, and across the sandy dunes towards Barogue. During the formation of the Board, the sole faction excluded from the council was the Junkerpunks, when the Chair exercised their veto right to keep them out.
A new morgue appeared in the center of Essex known as the Fountainhead. A calamity known as the Fountainhead Incident threatened to wreck the city as new creatures emerged from the morgue, including a terrible nigh unstoppable monster known as an Archon. The creature was eventually stopped and the morgue silenced, but was replaced by a riotous growth of new flora in a forested thicket within the center of the city. Grown over and around the morgue lies a massive tree, known as the Fountainheart.
The former Governor of Essex, Augustine Amberdraught was imprisoned for a breach of contract and cast into the depths of Killhouse. He organized a coup within the prison, and released a deadly gas in the area around Bravado and the penitentiary. Survivors fled the poison, and found themselves holed up inside the prison during the Indulgence - trapped inside with the Lifers. However, the survivors helped convince the Warden to free the common populace of the prison, leaving Tabitha St. Mercy to care solely after the most dangerous criminals of the Triple X Wing.
The small hamlet of Widows Peak hosted a Winter Lights festival and invited the region to visit their home. While the hospitality of the wealthy Lovelace Family was wonderful, there were rumors of strange creatures emerging in the night known as Longwalkers. The cryptids left as mysteriously as they arrived, and the town was saved thanks to a collective effort to turn out the lights of the town and let the creatures pass through unmolested.
Grand Admiral Sinker Swim hosted the party of the century in the port city of The Clutch, and revealed that the Junkerpunks were dead broke. Two lesser factions of the Junkerpunks emerged with a solution: the Muddy Water Accord and the chaotic Clearwaters. In a contest between the factions, the Muddy Water Accord emerged victorious and chose a new path for the Junkerpunks as a formidable rival to the RRC. The Clearwaters attempted to sabotage the East Oxline and pick a purposefully violent fight with the RRC, but were stopped by the forces of the Muddy Water Accord.
A new saloon and casino was built by mysterious benefactors in the heart of Essex called “The Brass Rose”. The casino attracted celebrities from across the waste for a fabulous card tournament known as “Dead Man’s Hand”. The mercenary faction known as the Red Ledger recruited new agents from the best killers in the wastes, and played a dangerous game against the villainous High Rollers to keep the balance of power in the region intact. At the same time, a plot by a terrorist group known as the Church of the Tiny God worked to release the same monsters that ravaged Essex before, the Archons, onto the city. The otherworldly monsters were barely stopped by the combined efforts of travelers and ‘Vados alike by driving one of the monsters into the Dead Drop to be ripped apart by zed, running one over with the Ox - TWICE, and obliterating another with a powerful Grave Council psi-tech device.
Recently discovered in the deserts of the Dune Sea to the west, the roving city of Barogue lies dormant. A map discovered during the Dead Man’s Hand tournament led Felicity Redfield and an expedition across the desert to find the lost city. Evading superheated desert winds, Pit Stop raiders and Firebrands, and numerous worm-like leviathans, the expedition blazed a path to Barogue. A massive city-vehicle construction of the Oldcestors, this ancient city was covered by sand but represents a new resource for the San Saba, despite being buried once more by a massive leviathan. Rumors of deadly crystallized raiders known as Resonant are probably exaggerated.
The Oxline continues to expand, thanks to the efforts of the RRC. The engineers of the RRC are now hard at work excavating the city of Barogue from its slumber and constructing an expansion of the Oxline they intend to stretch all the way to El Dorado and the Broken Coast. To the east, the Oxline is expanding along the Spoiled Coast with a hope of reaching Gatorland, and the Oxline is being continued north into the Sequoia Wastes. The RRC shall not be impeded on the expansion of the Oxline.
What major events happened to the factions of 3.0 during our virtual events?
The factions of the San Saba remain mostly the same, save for a few notable exceptions:
The Railroad Commission and the Conglomerate joined forces into a new mega faction known as the Railroad Conglomerate. Luckily, the initials stayed the same so they didn’t have to print new business cards or uniforms. The faction is now centered in the flying city of Waking Prime, instead of Essex, and is currently represented on the San Saba Board by Felicity Redfield and Doctor Stewart.
The Oxkillers, a lesser technology-averse faction of the Tribes Disparate led an attack on the flying city of Waking Prime. Their leader, Lord Hush, was fought back by the airships of the Tribes and the RRC. The Oxkillers have been banished from the Tribes for their betrayal, and the sun-worshipping Hermits of Helios have been welcomed in their place. The Oxkillers remain a threat however, and their leader has not been seen in months.
The Grave Council experienced a schism in their ranks during the Fountainhead Incident, with the leader of the faction, Takheeta Firstborn, being assassinated by one of her own. The stewardship of the new morgue in Essex has given the faction a new home and headquarters, but left unrest in their ranks on what to do with the technology they uncovered. The Reckoners are suspected of being involved in the assassination, but the faction keeps the exact details of the unrest secret, for now. The faction is represented on the Board by Takheeta Firstborn.
The Junkerpunks' stubborn insistence on succeeding despite being cast out of the San Saba Board has proved fruitful, and they now rank as the second-most powerful financial institution in the Lone Star thanks to the influence of the Muddy Water Accord. As long as they avoid picking a fight with the RRC and the Board, they have earned the right to pursue their own dreams and freedoms. They continue to base their Flotilla in The Clutch, under the dubious “leadership” of Grand Admiral Sinker Swim.
The Tribes Disparate have claimed a new home in the City of Light and Sound, Essex. The Antler Queen has declared the giant tree in the center of the city to be holy ground of the Tribes, and works to protect the forest that has grown up in the middle of the city. However, the Queen is known to be deathly ill and the faction is in turmoil as they wonder who the Queen will select as her successor. In the meantime, the faction is represented on the Board by the Holy Mother Queen Jasper herself.
Prudence Penitentiary has released the general Penitent populace of the prison and commuted their sentences after the events of the last Indulgence. Now, Killhouse is mostly empty save for the vicious Lifers of the Triple X Wing, and the Warden Tabitha St. Mercy has sent out her Justices of Sin, accompanied by Law Dogs and Strikers of the Red Ledger, to find the worst criminals that deserve to be imprisoned under her care. No one is sure what will happen during the next Indulgence, and several of the Lifers are still unaccounted for…
There is a new law and order to the wastes
Four years after the Hiway War ended, the emergent factions of the Lone Star region have been unified into the San Saba Territories. Central to this new organization is the San Saba Board, a council of leaders made up of representatives from the most powerful groups within the wastes of the Lone Star, led by The Chair.
The Board believes that only by working together, the people can prevent another calamity like the Hiway War and help the greater good by bringing structure, law, and order to the untamed wilds of the irradiated west. Each member of the Board has agreed to place the collective weight of their contracts, resources, and wealth towards this goal and has been rewarded for their support.
The San Saba Board claims the RRC, the Tribes Disparate, the Grave Council, the Law Dogs, and the Warden of Prudence Penitentiary among their members. The wealthy Quiet Folk family, the Lovelaces, stays neutral in the affairs of the San Saba, but the Junkerpunks of the Clutch operate in opposition to the Board.
There are new Laws that are enforced in the territories, and you can read more here
Who are some of the recurring NPCs of Bravado?
Each of the major factions of Bravado is represented by at least one recurring NPC. Here are several you should expect to encounter in our live game
The Railroad Conglomerate
Felicity Redfield Pure Blood, C.E.O., Foreman of Bravo, Voting Member on the Board
Doctor Stewart, aka “The Scientist” Semper Mort, C.O.O., Voting Member on the Board
Johnny Atom Merican, musician-radio shock jock of the Essex airwaves
The Chair Unknown, Leader of the San Saba Board, based in Waking Prime
Lady Primrose Blackwater Digitarian, Envoy of the RRC in Essex
Junkerpunks
Grand Admiral Sinker Swim Saltwise pirate, de facto leader of the Junkerpunks
Medusa Glory Saltwise, leader of the Diamondbacks
The Covemaster Red Star, leader of The Clutch
Carina Astora “The Saltwise Sweetheart” Saltwise, Rebel of the Clearwaters, pirate explorer
Prudence Penitentiary
Tabitha St. Mercy Retrograde, Warden of Prudence Penitentiary, Light of Hedon, Voting Member of the Board
Eyeless Jack Unstable Lifer, Nemesis and Mind Killer, currently at large
Governor Augustine Amberdraught Pure Blood, Former leader of Essex, Imprisoned
Grave Council
Takheeta Firstborn Unborn, Voting Member of the Board, High Mystagogue of the Imix Tribe
Commander Rampart Baywalker, Outcast leader of the Reckoners
Mother Mayhem Leader of the Auditors
Deadeyes Chiipi Retrograde, Accountant for the Grave Council
The Lovelace Family
Immacula Lovelace Quiet Folk, Lovelace Matriach and Spiritual leader of the Nuclear Family in Widows Peak
Josiah Lovelace Quiet Folk, Lovelace Patriarch
Grandfather Nichols Quiet Folk Outcast, Father of Eyeless Jack
The Widows (Miss Clauthia, Mx. Lackey, Mrs. Atrophy) Quiet Folk, Leaders of the Lonestar Widows & Children’s Fund
Captain Amelia Lovelace Quiet Folk, Leader of the Essex Protectorate
Tribes Disparate
Holy Mother Queen Jasper Natural One, Queen of the Tribes Disparate
Prince Shale Natural One, Son of Queen Jasper, heir apparent
Mother Rabbit Remnant, Leader of House Rabbit
Lord Hush Natural One, Leader of the House Oxkillers
The Law Dogs
Boss Alpha Wyatt Merican, Leader of the Law Dogs, Voting Member of the Board
Gustav Glasseyes Reclaimer, Leader of the Red Ledger
Here is our premise for Season 3
Found here in the Geography and Settlements page:
After the Hiway War rendered the former settlement of Bravo to black ash, a caldera of mud and radiation slowly filling with toxic sludge, a new refuge emerged north of the former oil fields as the exodus of survivors sought a new home. After the war, a new force of order emerged in the Wastes, a testament to the hard work and brutal determination of the people, newly formed into the San Saba Territories. In the middle of it all, a small settlement grew despite the ravages of raiders, zed, and strange creatures from the ruins below the town.
Our settlement is situated north of the City of Light and Sound, the metropolis known as Essex, and south of the capital of the Territories in the flying city of Waking. The tiny town, known as Bravado, is a forgotten stop on the Oxline, the iron-wrought train system of the Railroad Conglomerate. The Railroad Conglomerate (or RRC), is a sprawling faction of commerce and industry that seeks to continue their domination of the San Saba wastes by expanding their rail network. For them, Bravado is but one more dot on a map, outlining the path of glory stretching across the San Saba Territories like veins in the beating heart of the Lone Star, connecting every settlement in the area together once more whether they like it or not.
The township itself is hardly more than a few buildings, a Post Office, workhouses, and some permanent tent installations, hastily built and poorly maintained. A General Store, owned and maintained by the Railroad Conglomerate, sits ramshackle at its center, across from the Oxline Depot. The town was ignored in the recent expansion of the Oxline, but still offers a promise of food and bed for those willing to work in the ruins under the city. Those that risk the undead in the tunnels below help scavenge scrap and valuable material to send up the line to Essex and Waking. But now, with the discovery of a lost city in the Dune Sea to the west and an western expansion of the Oxline towards the Broken Coast of El Dorado, the tiny town of Bravado has become relevant again.
With the passion of someone that knows a valuable secret, Felicity Redfield, a disgraced but resourceful member of the RRC, has maneuvered their way into the title of the new Foreman of Bravado, laying exclusive claim to the exploration into the ruins under the town and the treasures within. Following the last words of the inhabitants of Barogue, Felicity believes a cryptic message to seek out the “dwelling of the last cradle, the last bastion of bravery, forgotten and ignored” can only refer to the sleepy town of Bravado. A veritable wave of prospectors, Jones, and treasure hunters has flocked to the town following a sense of adventure and a desire for fortune and glory.
Amongst the tarnished and venerated past mingles a bright and terrifying future. Here in the bustling boomtown of Bravado, Dusters step from the shrieking cars of the Oxline, and set their hopeful, dejected, or assessing eyes on this piece of territory for which so many souls have lived, fought, loved, and died. Our settlement lies on the precipice of significance, and only you can tell the story of what happens next.