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[sub]New Stratton, The New World.
Bastion of Humanity [/sub]
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New Stratton, the first major colony established by Ilya, this city was widely regarded as the jewel of the New World. A powerful trade hub for trading goods between the Old and New Worlds, New Stratton held incredible prestige amongst the other colonies of the New World and was by far the most influential. Its great stone brick buildings stretched high into the sky- reminiscent of Old World Ilyan architecture, and the city held considerable sway amongst the New World council. Seated in a prime location, the city had access to fresh water via a river, and its natural bay made it a safe haven for trade with most of the New World. This colony was a bustling city, even comparable in size to many major cities in the Old World itself, and its productivity and trade benefits were astounding, with positive trade relations with an influential tribe of natives nearby.

Now, a decade later, New Stratton was a mere shadow of its former self. Its clean canals now black with some brackish, muddy ichor, its stone towers aged and reduced to rubble. The city bounds, once stretching for miles, was abandoned as its inhabitants were slaughtered and retreated to the area immediately surrounding the port; an area of little more than one and a half square miles, dilapidated walls and fortifications built of rubble and timber from the surrounding ruins to seal it off from the blighted town around it. Now New Stratton was the main base of the Expedition, and the last bastion of humanity on the continent, it was the home of the damned and sentenced, the hopeless and the determined. Soldiers of the Expedition went about their business in the base, soldiers patrolled the wall, smiths worked with shoddy metal scraps to forge weapons and armor. Mages made enchantments and crafted magical ammunition, and Shaman Natives huddled in a corner of the base, doing gods know what.  Moored in the harbor were several ships, a large Ilyan battleship made a near permanent home in the port, while other ships came and left as they pleased, bringing forth yet more supplies and new men, some foolishly seeking fortune and glory in this domain of the damned, and others merely trying to survive. 
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[i]The Hallspeed[/i], one of the Expeditions transport ships had finally arrived in the port, after spending the better part of six weeks, landfall met its passengers with both relief and dread. Getting off the damned ship after so long on the rough seas- only getting rougher as they neared the New World, as though the continent themselves wished them to stay away, was a relief, as they could stretch their legs, walk on solid ground, and not worry about drowning from a freak storm, but at the same time the land seemed dead, even the light of the morning was a dark, oppressing gray. As the passengers of the ship, the newest wave of Expedition soldiers crossed the gangplank, they passed by men and women who had the opportunity to leave the New World, though any face of joy or happiness of having survived wasn't present on their face, rather very little expression was on their faces at all, and they looked like little more than walking corpses, as one Expedition soldier mentioned. 

As they walked across the docks, into the base proper, the air noticeably changed, where the air once smelled like salt and brine, now smelled like a mixture of saltwater, and the acrid stench of burning hair and flesh, likely emanating from one of the few large buildings nearby the docks themselves, smoke spewing out of a large chimney, as mule dragged corpse carts, laden with bodies- both human and monster, plodded through the muddy streets into a makeshift opening, and then leaving empty. Some soldiers milled about, while others marched with purpose, egged on by stern eyed sergeants, with sharp voice and whip. The newest soldiers off the Hallspeed were directed to one of a few large buildings that had been converted into makeshift barracks, where soldiers could store their belongings, though for the most part, it appeared that the majority of Expedition soldiers kept all of their belongings with them on hand- not that many considerable numbers of possessions anyway, typically anything not worth carrying was not worth much.

After an appropriate amount of time pantomiming the allowing of soldiers to settle into their bunks, the new Expedition members were ushered out into the main yard of the base, a large swath of mud that at one point must have been a small green park for residents.  They were assembled into some modicum of a military formation, as a gruff looking man in an expeditionary coat walked to a podium raised above them. The man was tall and gaunt, and impeccably well dressed, despite the conditions around him. His expeditionary coat was draped around his shoulders, instead of worn, and closer inspection would show that he was in fact missing his right arm from the shoulder down.

[b]"Welcome to the New Stratton."[/b] the man spat, with a voice low and graveled. [b]"I know not what methods have led to your arrival here, nor do I care. Your purpose in this blighted place is singular: To Kill. You will kill, and kill, and kill, until either you are dead, or this world is purged of monsters."[/b]

His gravely voice paused for but a moment, before gesturing to the smoking plumes from the nearby corpse burning building. [b]"Make no mistake, most will end up here, covered in the poisoned earth, awaiting the merciful embrace of oblivion. Until that day, this place will serve as your home. This place will provide you with anything you should desire during your short stay. Weapons, armor, alcohol, women- should you have the coin."

"On the matter of which, many of you wonder how one will obtain funds while on this accursed place. It is simple. Upon killing a monster, you may bring me their head, their ear, what have you. Bring them to the quartermaster, and you shall receive a sum of credit, based on the difficulty of your kill. With this credit, you may purchase all manner of things that might prolong your miserable lives for but a little longer. Bring twenty proofs of kills to the dockmaster, and you may purchase your way back home.

"If there are no questions, Lieutenant Aron will announce your squad assignments."[/b] he concluded, not mentioning the fact that he had not at any point asked if there were any questions, stepping off the podium as another, thinner, younger man climbed onto the podium, with a rather long checklist, and began reading off names and giving them their assignments.

[b]"Phrys, Ceridwen,
Tzenker, Hassan,
Lestil, Vashti,
Axis, Roland,"[/b]

Were among some dozen names assigned to a Sergeant Hoff, a portly, if still strongly built sergeant with a bald head, a bushy graying beard, and an empty socket where his left eye used to be. The sergeant beckoned his dozen new soldiers to follow him, their ranks bolstered by another quartet of men, more scarred and war weary than their fresh compatriots. The sergeant gave them an appraising look, before walking off, the corporals gesturing for the others to follow. [b]"Hopefully you lot last longer than the last."[/b]  Sergeant Hoff grunted as he led them to the gated exit of the base. This portion of the rubble-brick wall was considerably more built up, thicker and taller than the surrounding wall, with great big timbers backed by iron as a main gate, and two flat towers with snipers watching outside the base. At any one time, there were six other men on the gate wall, scanning their surroundings and watching for trouble. Two large, armored men stood on either side of the gate, their faces hidden with masks and standing by two impressively large winches, with thick iron chains connecting to the gate. 

[b]"We'll be moving through the ruins to retrieve Lieutenant Harker and some of his mages. He and his men were off on a relief mission to one of our outposts to the north, but we haven't received any word for them in several days. We'll likely be facing shamblers until we leave the ruins proper. Don't get it confused, they may look weak, but once they get their claws on you, you're not long in this mortal coil. Everyone ready?" [/b]