Houston, the shipping capital of the Americas, a city where almost a billion shipping containers from around the world make their first contact with American soil. The new Los Angeles as it came to be called with refugees from the dried and burnt California fled on the coattails of tech elite that spread like locusts from the barren wastes of decayed silicone valley to greener pastures in Austin, those that could afford the move. Or  those so desperate to leave that they sold themselves to massive MNCs that would happily relocate a person to their designated employee cities but I’m getting ahead of myself.

While our story starts in Houston, it takes place in a very specific place. Southwest Houston there’s a parking lot, a very special parking lot, it belonged to a convention center that was flooded and abandoned because of Hurricane Whitney in 2034 before the massive ocean windfarm. This parking lot, situated beneath the S290 Skyway, fostered a new community, weeds that grew through cracked concrete away from the distracted eyes of society. It used to be part of a local city but it only borrowed its name and evolved it as the reason for the city block became its very namesake, Relief.

This tangles mishmash of stalls, vendors, illicit businesses providing whatever a person could need and Ripperdocs that formed originally as a way for Corpo slaves to remove their employee chips that now provide all manner of physical alteration and enhancement. Relief serves as its own city mostly ignored by Houston and run by local muscle that occasionally squabbles. Houston doesn’t care as long as the mess stays local and isn’t too bothersome, only occasionally sends a Blue to investigate when some Gonk bragged too loud about pirating a Corp Lootship. Relief is probably the closest thing to a grassroots collective in this hellscape of concrete and asphalt. And this is where your life begins.

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I enjoy writing stories where things are organic and it's just as likely for someone to add a lore element as myself and we collectively learn about the world together and what lore elements I have will spill out in bits and pieces as I add to the world and play NPCs. What you need to know about the world is that it's the near future and we are facing the results of climate change and technological advances. It's a cyberpunk story at it's heart as I draw from books and movies that I love while also trying to interpret a view of Houston, TX in the future. A bit difficult since I don't live there but I'll give it a try! I post slowly but will strive for a post every week/two and generally expect/encourage 2-3 paragraphs, this won't be a high speed thread and I don't know how long it will last just that I hope to have an interesting time :)