Mayor Fleece White is a force of nature. She is kind despite the world’s malice, and has dedicated her life in the Red Wastes to helping others thrive. For decades she was an advisor to many of the political figures of the New Republic of Texas...until she wasn’t. As political tensions grew between the various factions around her it was clear that her message of peace and cooperation had long been forgotten by her peers. She long sensed a brewing conflict and removed herself from her position within the Republic under the guise of retirement. What she did next shocked many of the major players in the Red Wastes.

She began a campaign towards creating a new community that would stand on its own feet without a seat at the New Republic’s table. She spent a truckload of caps (to which she had earned many throughout her years of political service) to pay a team of elite mercenaries to clear out a gang of infamous raiders to the Northeast of Dafwo called “The Scarred” that had been operating out of the fortress-like remains of an old hotel known as the Tower. For years these raiders had gone unchecked...but just like that Fleece White saw them eradicated. She claimed the land as her own and kept the elite mercenary team on as her security force. Over the next few months Fleece began broadcasting a message calling those that were tired of the growing corruption and elitism of the New Republic to leave its walls and find a new life in the town of Independence. Dozens of weary wastelanders answered her call. Now, five years later, she still serves as the town’s mayor, and has helped the community finally begin to come into its own.

A man in his mid to late 30's, Cal Ambrose is the man in charge of Independence's trade and economy. He is also the husband of Constance Ambrose (one of Mayor White’s Advisors). He has a knack for numbers and a deep understanding of business. Having no affinity, nor interest for the political game, Cal sticks to what he knows and let's his wife do the same. Nothing comes in or out of Independence (especially the Tower) without Cal knowing about it.

Mrs. Ambrose is the main advisor to Mayor White, inheriting many of her ideals and philosophies as her own. She is a bright woman, who deeply believes that Independence can continue to thrive under the ideals of Mayor White for years to come. Constance is well liked in the community, but she is not necessarily respected, nor has she been tested in a way worthy of earning the respect of her peers. She is proud of what Independence has become and has looked up to Fleece as a surrogate mother since her early teens. She is as good hearted as people come in the Red Wases, but is seen by some as a pushover.

Haskell was one half of the leadership for the mercenary gang that initially cleared out The Tower for Fleece White. He respects Mayor White for her ambitions, but has questioned her reasoning along the way as being “too nice”. He has leant a contrasting voice to Mayor White and has become her other major advisor. Like Constance, elements of her philosophies have become ingrained in Haskell. Unlike his fellow advisor, though, it is the Mayor’s resilience, relentlessness, and willingness to do what needs to be down that he has pushed...and not her kindness.

Dalton, much like Haskell, led the mercenaries that took the Tower on behalf of Fleece White. Unlike his ex-business partner, he has stayed out of the political game and has instead become the acting Sheriff of Independence. He’s tough but fair in his position, and does the best that he can to walk the razor’s edge between the people of the Tower and Shanty Town. By all accounts he is a tough son of a bitch and is not afraid to get bloody when circumstances deem it necessary.

Mercury is the epitome of the difference between the Tower Dwellers and the populace of Shanty Town. He owns an entire floor of the Tower and has converted it to a club that he calls “Memory”. His club has become an entertainment destination that could make some of the joints on The Strip of New Vegas jealous. He provides live music, dancing, theatre, fine alcohol, and an outlet for socialization that is unlike anywhere else in the area. Mercury clearly suffers from an addiction to Old World Culture, and often gives off a strange vibe to those that meet him for the first times. The cover charge into Memory is so high that really only Tower Dwellers can afford to attend his entertainment extravaganzas...leaving those in Shanty Town either envious or pissed off. As a private business owner he is allowed to run the place as he wishes, and despite Mayor Fleece disagreeing with the sentiment he has issued a No Ghoul policy in his club.

The name Mr. Shaw is known to everyone with Independence, yet next to nothing is actually known about the guy. It is rumored that he is like the flipside of Mr. Ambrose in the sense that, while Mr. Ambrose runs the legal trade in the community, Mr. Shaw can get you anything on the not so legal side of things. He is an incredibly charismatic ghoul that holds sway over a small gang of ne'er-do-wells in Shanty Town that has grown to be a major thorn in the side of Mayor White and her Sheriff. He openly despises the Tower, inciting anger among the more aggressive residents of Shanty Town. Often he over exaggerates or spreads lies about the goings on within the Tower that paint them in a much darker light than most would claim them to be. However, he is a master of his craft, and even his lies hold some semblance of truth. No one really knows what his intentions are in Independence, but he is obviously a key player even if his role lies somewhere in the shadows.

Mouse is Mr. Shaw’s right hand man. He’s openly the scum of the earth but is well protected by the reputation of the man he follows. He handles a lot of Shaw’s day to day business, and can often be found hitting the chems pretty damn hard.

Smoke is the head of Cal Ambrose's merchant caravan. He scours the wasteland every few weeks and can seemingly find ANYTHING if you have enough money to pay for it. He doesn’t speak much but listens well, and despite his...quirks...he seems to have a wonderful working relationship with Mr. Ambrose.

Governor Howard Goodnight is the man at the very top of the NRA. It’s pretty obvious to most that he is the most powerful man in the New Republic. He’s a charismatic leader that presents himself with a grandfatherly persona that many find endearing. He’s a ruthless politician that is steadfast in his beliefs and will go to any lengths to ensure that the Texas way is protected.

Anson is the red right hand of the NRA. He is the judge and executioner of its law. They call him the “General” and he puts the game to good use. His men are well trained and even more well armed. Half of the wasteland reveres him like some kind of horseback hero issuing swift justice to the vagrants of the Red Wastes. Others see him as a warlord.

Holland West was born into a life of relative comfort to a family in San Alamo that made its living by ranching horses for the NRA and brahmin for the Big 10. Back then, everyone in the Red Wastes knew that if you wanted a reliable horse or a sturdy pack brahmin, you went to the Wests. Growing up, Holland spent his first 12 years of life when he wasn't helping out with the ranch work either listening to tall tales of his uncle's adventures as an NRA ranger, reading wild west comic books with a Big 10 trader's daughter called Jenny, who Holland had befriended during her parents' visits to the ranch, and pretending to be a gunslinger himself when neither Jenny nor his uncle were around, taming the Red Wastes six bullets at a time. But then Holland's life took a turn for the worse when his uncle crossed the wrong people.

The Romero Brothers. Six of the deadliest ghouls to ever come out of Charnel House. Known for eating their victims alive. And only slightly less well known for the brutality with which they deal with those who cross them. Cross them Holland's uncle did. And when they came for him, the unknowable hand of fate decided that they would do so when he arrived at his family's ranch the day before Holland's 13th birthday. The carnage that followed became known as the worst massacre the Romero Brothers have ever committed. They killed the Wests. They killed everyone that worked for the Wests. They killed the brahmin. They killed the horses. When it was over, the Romero Brothers left only two survivors. Holland awoke the next morning a year older. With a knife in his right eye, and everyone he had grown up with dead save for a single colt who had escaped the massacre and his family's Big 10 trader friends who arrived a day later, expecting a chewing out for missing Holland's birthday and finding something much worse.

Holland and the colt were taken in by Jenny's family, who quickly learned that the events of the massacre had drastically changed the boy they once knew. Where once he was talkative, now he hardly spoke, even to Jenny. Where he enjoyed listening to interesting stories, reading comic books, and pretending he was the hero of his own little world, now he mostly sat still and kept to himself unless he was asked to help with something. Three years later, Holland was visited by a man who would not have stood out all that much in one of the comic books Holland and Jenny used to read together. Dalton, as he soon introduced himself, claimed to be an old friend of Holland's uncle. Dalton then had Holland mount up and ride out into the desert with him. What words were exchanged out there remain between the two to this day. All that is known is that when they returned, Holland had changed again. He seemed much more focused, looked a lot more determined, and no sooner had he gotten off his horse did he vow to see the Romero Brothers dead for all they had done.

There was only one problem. The Romeros had gone to ground. They had returned to their home town of Charnel House to wait until the Red Wastes had forgotten them before appearing once more too terrorize the smooth skins. Until then, any attempt to reach the Romero Brothers would surely result in Holland's death. So instead, Holland packed his things, said his goodbyes to Jenny and her family, and rode off with Dalton to join the Texas Reds. Holland spent the next two years learning the ways of the wasteland under Dalton's guidance. Readying himself for the day he finally faced the Romero Brothers. At the age of 18, Holland and the rest of the Texas Reds laid siege to the Tower at the behest of Fleece White. Though the endeavor nearly killed him many times, Holland survived all the way to the end. Even going so far as to kill one of the Five Stars' more infamous lieutenants during the final showdown on the rooftop penthouse. After the establishment of Independence, Holland followed his mentor in leaving the Reds and spent the next 5 years working under Dalton as one of the Sheriff's deputies.

A Big 10 caravan were on their way towards Abeline, delivering some supplies to the town. Guarding the Caravan was Henry Banks, a cracks hot with a rifle and avid reader of Grognak comics when he could get his hands on them. The trip had been relatively uneventful for the group until things took a turn in the evening. A group of Super-Mutants got the jump on the group as they made their way along. Henry and his crew fought back as best as they could which turned out to be just enough, taking out the group with no casualties on their side. However, the fight had lasted quite a while and not everyone was unscathed. With a bullet in the arm, Henry propped himself up on the Caravan as the caravan made camp and tended to the wounded.

The lead guard zoned out somewhat in his watch as the dark could only provide so much stimulus to the wounded Henry, however his attention was brought back as he heard a scream from the traders and the stomach turning realization that there was now one less Super-Mutant laying dead on the ground on the impromptu battlefield. Henry hobbled his way back, expecting a massacre, only to see a Super-Mutant and Yao Guai clashing by the light of the campfire. Taking aim, Henry fired at the two fighting titans and finally getting a hit on the Yao Guai on his last shot. He quickly fumbled to get another bullet loaded but given the distance, Henry knew he was done for. To Henry’s surprise it wasn’t a blade or bullet that struck him there, rather the words yelled by the Super-Mutant. People dispute what exactly those words were but the brute got his point across, he was Grognak and he wasn’t there to hurt the Caravan goers. Obviously the group didn’t trust Grognak right away but not wanting to waste their dwindling resources on fending off the Super-Mutant, the caravan went along with Grognak’s words but kept an eye on him.

Luckily for the Super-Mutant the group came around to him, especially Henry who shared his personal stash of Grognak comics with the mutant. Though the transition stage was difficult, Grognak was eventually integrated into Henry’s group of caravan guards and acted as some extra muscle for the group on their treks. Things stayed this way for years until Henry decided to retire from the guard life and settle down. Grognak, only staying on because of his friend Henry, decided to head off on his own into the wastes and towards somewhere he might be able to find work and those that needed him. He headed for Independence to carve out his next epic.