Detroit on the eve of the 21st century

The once bustling Motor City has become all but a ghost town, with nature having reclaimed whole districts. For decades, the richer suburbs and the financial district managed to survive, while the rest of the town slowly withered. Finally, around the middle of the century, it became clear that metropolitan Detroit was dead. After that realisation, it was only a matter of months before all corporate and municipal activity were closed down. Those who could picked up and moved. Those who could not were left stranded in a dead city.

Today Detroit has become something unique, where frontier-spirit and gangland mentality has created something akin to a new Wild West. With drones and automatic weapons.

Large parts of the metropolitan area has become completely abandoned, and entire city blocks now stand as hollow, man-made cliffs surrounded by a young and vital forest. Wildlife has returned to the area, and with it hunting and trapping as a way of life.

As one might expect, life in the ruins of a metropolis isn't always easy. Despite this, the Corktown community has managed to maintain something akin to modern standards of living. Most of their economic strength comes from the sale of scavenged metals, agriculture, and trade in fur and consumer electronics. It has both a sheriff, a school and small hospital. This stability does not come without a price, and the Corktown Minutemen are often called upon to protect life and liberty.

Despite the collapse of the city, life still goes on. It is often a life outside the law, and only a few kilometres outside the relative stability of Corktown there are pockets of violent desperation and ruthless crime. Criminal gangs such as the Zerilli Family, the Harbour Town Rednecks, and other, smaller outfits control large parts of the area.