"Salvage means life! Together we delve into the ruins and bring forth gold and silver in the form of scrap... The Occupation, the Guardians, It doesn't matter... Everyone needs what we're selling."
- Yu Yokomori, Occupation Governor of WhitehallWhitehall was in the past an enormous airship over a mile long, it arrived in the ancient past of Highguard and came to ruin in the plains. Teeming with mysteries, monsters, and the occasional unearthed treasure, it has become a bustling scavenger city, with adventurers and salvagers of all kinds stalking the ruins for valuable components. The phrase "Whitehall" means quality technology and is highly sought after by both the Drosian Imperium, and all others who seek to outfit their ships with the very best technology.
21 Years Ago: The Veridon Crypts in the bowls of Whitehall were discovered and unsealed, loosing a massive and deadly plague upon the city, wiping out much of the Drosian contingent and local populace. Whitehall was quarantined for a period of several years until the plague had burnt itself out.
9 Years Ago: Yu Yokomori ascends to become the Govorner after working a lucrative trade deal with the Imperium. He resets relations with the Imperium and is able to negotiate a deal to self-police his own populace... as such the Drosians have only a small contingent within the heart of the city.
2 Years Ago: Trouble in the bowels of the city lead to the second big riot in modern history. Governor Yokomori exiled almost a thousand dissidents to the plains, many of whom became bandits or joined the Guardians of Pa'man.
Last Year: The city has missed several shipments to the Occupation, being plagued by Bandits along the paths. Yokomori has commissioned several powerful airships to break the blockade and deliver the promised supplies to the Drosians.
The people of Whitehall are tough and stern, quick to action and always carry on them a weapon of some kind. They live under the heel of Governor Yokomori and his thugs who patrol the city enforcing their forms of justice, many have turned to working a second job on the Black Market to make ends meet due to the heavy taxes imposed upon the citizens. Almost everyone in the City has spent time in the Underbelly, salvaging components to sell for medicine or food, returning with scars and stories of the horrors that lurk in the dark, or the depraved gangs that live below the streets and jealously guard their meager territories.
Gangs of children are often as dangerous as adults, they will often pickpocket or lay traps to catch unwary visitors. They are not above serving as bait for adult gangs, luring unsuspecting travelers to their deaths just to earn food for the day.
The only safe part of the city is the Shops and Airship Docks, which are policed by the local businesses and intolerant of crime. They tolerate the presence of the Drosian Occupation forces, who provide security the rest of the city does not have.
Officially, the City is lead by Governor Yokomori who works under the Drosian Occupation. He has three Lt. Governors under him who can often be found squabbling among themselves for power and wealth within the city. In the Trade District one can find Aliana the Red, who has organized the local businesses and has many connections to the underworld and black market, she acts as a kind of fourth Lt. Governor, and often stands against Yokomori.
Society is stratified between the Haves and the Have-Nots, the rough and tumble crime syndicates, the scavengers, the drydock workmen, and the shop owners in the Trade District. All are focused solely on the acquisition of wealth and maintaining their quality of living. When money is tight, men and women often find themselves delving into the ruins to recover resources that might pay their way for the month.
All crime is punished with either Death, or a massive fine. Fines are collected immediately, or, should the person not be able to pay their way, they are brought to the Underbelly and told to retrieve components equal to their fine. Survivors are rare, but occasionally someone stumbles into the checkpoints with a valuable bit of scrap or engine component that buys their freedom.
Whitehall is home to many races and cultures, all mixed and melted together. The place is the last great convergence of the races and is tolerated for the most part by the Drosians because of its strategic value and the resource shipments. Those who grew up in Whitehall often speak several languages, and may even have families made up of several races.