[ ON DUSTBOWL. ]

[shoyu]

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[ "DUSTBOWL" CHARACTER BIOS. ]

WORLD. The story of Dustbowl takes place in a loosely-defined alternate-history version of Earth in the 1950's. Though the exact details are neither fleshed out nor very important to the main story, the world history for Dustbowl would be most characterized by several points: ◥ The Great War was extended by several decades and eventually transitioned into a long period of tension between the United States and Russia, similar to the Cold War. World War II never occurred, and the damage that the US took during the Great War was extensive enough that it never fully recovered. ◥ The cathode-ray tube was never discovered. The technology necessary to commercially produce televisions and other similar devices has never been developed. Although primitive light-projection screens and motion-picture projectors exist, these technologies are expensive and not available to non-metropolitan areas. ◥ Diesel engines have been greatly advanced, resulting in the development of vehicles like hoverbikes. Though motor vehicles are still common in metropolitan areas, and many people use horses out of cities, the development of hover vehicles allows for scattered populations to exist more easily in areas like Dustbowl. Zeppelins and other primitive aircraft are also used for long-distance trade and transportation. The entirety of the Dustbowl narrative takes place in the eponymous area of Dustbowl -- a dry, desert area located loosely in the American west. Defined by huge expanses of dry desert punctuated by oases and watering holes, it contains one notable metropolis -- an enormous, brightly-lit city by the name of Beacon. A popular trade-and-rest stop for long-distance zeppelins, it boasts a huge, diverse population and a flashy night-life. Originally created by groups of wartime survivors, fugitives, and soldiers who'd deserted the army after long years of combat, the city thrives as an independant entity, free of any influence from the greatly-weakened national government. However, as the city grew larger and grew increasingly prosperous, the black market also grew at a proportional rate. Due to its starting point as a gather of vagabonds, the entire Dustbowl area lacks in any solid government or police force, protected only by a loose coalition of sheriffs and law enforcers who provide little help. The Dustbowl region's best-known and perhaps darkest aspect is its huge slave trade. Due to the lack of any governing force and the spread-out population, as well the presence of an obscenely wealthy upper-class in the city, Beacon is the home of a thriving slave auction system. Raiders and thugs outside the city will often raid farming communities or travelers venturing out of the city to capture and sell off as slaves, either on these auctions or to individuals on a commission basis. Though some slaves are sold off on trade vehicles to other regions, most slaves live and die in the Dustbowl region, used for manual labor or entertainment by the wealthy upper class. TECHNOLOGY. Hoverbikes: The most notable facet of technology in Dustbowl is probably the presence of hovervehicles -- most commonly hoverbikes. Though diesel-engine automobiles are still the choice mode of transportation for the rich in the city, hoverbikes tend to be popular among people who have to travel for long distances out of the city. The large expanses of flat, compact earth due to the dry climate means that hovercrafts tend to move very quickly, and with few obstacles. Furthermore, the scarcity of roads or other paths one is required to stay upon means that the lack of fine control involved in driving hoverbikes is less of a con that would be in a more urban environment. Hoverbikes commonly come in two designs -- speedy and robust. Speedy models tend to have a more aerodynamic shape modeled after large-caliber bullets -- sharp points, wider back ends, designed to go as quickly as possible in straight lines. These are most commonly used by messengers and long-distance couriers who value speed and timeliness over all. Couriers who use speedy hoverbikes usually spend a great deal of time training, as the speedies are harder to control and must take extremely point-A-to-point-B direct routes at high velocities, which means more danger of collisions with any obstacles. More common are robust models. Generally cylindrical in shape, with less of a focus on speed and more on general endurance, these models of hoverbikes are favored by people who want to make decent time but have a little more control over their routes. They require much less training to learn to ride, and it's not uncommon for people in the city to rent robust hoverbikes from firm at the outskirts of the city to go take joyrides out in the desert for a day. Still, they're popular among people who have to go outside of the city often. Due to their unwieldy size, most people who own hoverbikes will rent garage spaces to store them in when they're not in use. Of course, driving a hoverbike has its own set of dangers. While they're much faster and streamlined than automobiles when out on the desert expanse, they're also dangerously easy to tip over or send crashing into the ground. Blowing even one of the high-speed impellers can completely cripple a hoverbike, and as a result, hoverbikes require a lot of maintenance and care between trips. Also, these bikes tend to have a strict limit on how much weight they can carry -- hoverbikes that can carry more than one person (and a small amount of luggage) are very rare. Still, the speed and efficiency they offer on long trips is almost always worth it to people who use them often. Soysauce himself owns a second-hand robust-model hoverbike -- though he purchased the base from a junk dealer on a whim, he spent the next five years learning to fix it up and get it working. He finished modifying it just about the time that he was growing bored of staying in the city all the time and wanted to go back outside periodically, and so he took an immense liking to it. He usually keeps it in one of the outskirt garages, taking it out when he has courier or extermination jobs lined up. The speediness of his hoverbike has also proved a great asset to his hit-and-run tactics when it comes to combating slavers -- once he gets his bike running, he can often make a pass by his targets, spray a round of gunfire, zoom off, then circle back for a second strike. After some waffling, Soysauce eventually named the bike Jonathan.

Of course, roaming around the desert on a diesel-engine bike in formal clothes isn't exactly practical, so Soysauce (as well as anyone else who knows anything about riding outside the city) has different clothes for those occasions. The fabric is all light to keep the wearer from getting a heatstroke, but covers as much skin as possible to reduce the damage from sunburn. Some form of visored cap is pretty much mandatory, what with all the dust and diesel fumes. The canvas spats and chaps serve to block some of the heat from the diesel engine, as well as prevent huge, black stains from diesel oil or the resulting smoke. All pretty standard fare for anyone who travels long distances outside the city. Anything with a screen: ... basically does not exist. Although some very primitive forms of slide projectors that use a large number of high-powered lightbulbs are available to the rich, the concept of a digital screen is completely foreign to almost everyone in Dustbowl. Zeppelin travelers will sometimes bring rumor of faraway cities with further scientific advancements creating mysterious surfaces that can produce self-illuminating images, but most people are skeptical. Seeing a computer would sort of blow Soysauce's mind. Long-distance communication is done mostly through old-school radio. Phone lines exist within Beacon, but don't extend out very far from the city. Long-distance travel: Other than hoverbikes, there are a couple other methods for long-distance travel. Diesel locomotives are the favored mode of ground transportation, while anything that involves crossing more than a few rivers is usually done on zeppelins. Of course, traveling on these vehicles costs a considerable amount, and isn't something that most people can do on a whim. In fact, many people will only ever ride a locomotive or zeppelin only once or twice in their lives: when they move to a new region. There are also some prototype designs for more advanced aircraft out there -- cross-hybrids between zeppelins, early airplanes and hovercrafts. Most people know little about them, those unusual vapor trails can often be seen criss-crossing the skies. NOTES. It should be noted that the Dustbowl verse is one with a heavy focus on brutality and numerous violent themes including kidnapping, rape, death, slavery, torture, brainwashing, powerplay and Stockholm Syndrome among others. Though these themes are not the sole ones around which individuals have been structured around, it's worth noting that most of them are used to being in a setting where these themes are very prevalent, if not the norm. I do realize that many of themes delve into sensitive territories, and it was never my intention to trivialize these issues. These themes are used in Dustbowl purely for narrative or kink purposes, not as any sort of real-life commentary or analysis, and I apologize deeply if they are ever handled in a disrespectful way. If there is any aspect of the verse that you feel carries unfortunate connotations and is in need of reviewing, please contact me and I'll make sure to look them over. Both the verse itself and characters are shared by databomb | Miru and laboratory | Fal.