"We Have the Will and the Courage to Become Heroes of Our Time"
It has been a long road for Arkheologorodok, and the end is not even yet in sight, yet even now new beginnings bloom. As such, it is useful to take account of the state of Arkheologorodok as of writing, so that new comers may better acquaint themselves with their surroundings.
Arkheologorodok is what one might call an unrecognized state, much like Transnistria, except unlike Transnistria, Arkheologorodok gained its independence through bureaucratic loop holes, institutional forgetfulness, and a seeming unwillingness of any of the former republics of the USSR to claim it. And so this former closed city of science sits on the Steppe, a magnet for seekers of all sorts.
In the before time, it was a surprisingly bustling city of science and industry, a by-gone glory it endlessly attempts to reclaim. The city was kept alive through the efforts of its most prominent family, the Saburovs, a strange clan that seemed to materialize out of thin air in 1993 and re-opened the old Abattoir, a bizarre construction in the Southeastern portion of town that looks more like a mountain than a human construction. One would think this would draw comment, but people often find themselves never really thinking about it. With the foundation of their company, Steppak Meats, the establishment of several smaller abattoirs, and assistance to the ailing Stepment cement factory, the Saburovs in many ways came to rule this town.
However, that didn't last. Over the decades, more outside interests came into Arkheologorodok, first standard oligarchs looking to take control of shuttered factories, then a myriad of treasure hunters, and finally the NOVOST Group, a holding group for various oligarchs from across the former Soviet Union. Their first entry was the exploitation of the untapped natural gas and oil fields south of the city with their energy company Stepneft. Slowly but surely, they began pumping money and people into Arkheologorodok, transforming a decaying section of the city's south western bank into New Downtown. The head of NOVOST's operations in Arkheologorodok is the Russian oligarch Dariy Belov, and he has been making a concerted effort to buy up as much of the city as possible.
NOVOST Tower overlooking New Downtown on Elektricheskaya Prospekt
The Powers that Be
The government of Arkheologorodok has long been dominated by the Refurbishment Party, which has a majority of seats in the Council of Deputies, controls most of the Committees, and is lead by the corpulent drunk Governor Roman Yevseyev. The city government still makes extensive use of Soviet iconography and terminology, but can best be described conservative kleptocracy with very little emphasis on its social services (the city's many pensioners are intimately familiar with this). Yevseyev has been the governor since the dissolution of the union, and owes much of his position to the efforts of the Saburovs, as the family seems to be reluctant to have their own as high level government officials. Yevseyev repaid this the best way he knew how, by gladly allowing a wealthier rival to seize portions of the city. The Saburovs have decided ahead of this year's election to establish their own party, the conservative Faith and Works Party, to challenge Yevseyev's Refurbishment Party. Viewing him as an unreliable drunkard, the NOVOST Group has done the same, establishing the Bright Future Party. This has put Yevseyev in a very awkward position, and he has been pulling out all the stops to shore up support before this year's election.
Governor Roman Ivanovich Yevseyev
Drunken Demagogue
One advantage Yevseyev has is his control of the City Militsiya, Arkheologorodok's police and self defense force run by the reptile like Mitrofan Rodionovich Nikitan. Together they have worked to tighten their grip on the city, particularly by harsher enforcement of the Anti-Sodomy laws and the like. Earlier in the year, they proposed Media Law in order to "protect public tranquility from disruptive and extremist elements." In reality, it would have given Yevseyev extensive power of censorship. The law was defeated, however, when the reclusive chess grandmaster Georgi Shuripov made his first public appearance in decades to decry the law, which made defending it politically untenable. It is rumored that CounterDogma and the Neo-Nazbols had hired a group of explorers for hire in order to manage this coup.
A few weeks ago, in a very strange moves, the pair announced a mass clemency from Dzerzhinsky Prison, releasing a few hundred inmates. The predominate theory is that these released prisoners will assuredly vote for Yevseyev in the election, but what is less understood is the large amount of members of the gang/party colloquially known as the Gay Nazis. This substantive increase in numbers of the besieged gang allowed them to seize topside territory for the first time in years with their takeover of the Little Azov neighborhood.
Commissioner Mitrofan Rodionovich Nikitan
Brutal head of the City Militsiya
However, this fact was effectively overshadowed in the media by the city Militsiya's week long crackdown on the Muslim population in Abattoir Town in what they referred to as a Counter-Terrorism and Anti-Extremism Operation. In what was essentially a siege in response to attacks on three convenience stores during Ramon Mercader Day and the apparent kidnapping of a homeopathic doctor by "Chechen Extremists." Hundreds were arrested in this show of force, and Yevseyev can be expected to use this as a feather in his cap for his re-election campaign. With the successful rescue of the doctor Boris Tarasov and an extremely effective show of force, Yevseyev is currently basking in the radiance of his law and order credentials.
Known Factions and their Relations
Toporika Bratva: The kings of Arkheologorodok's Vorovskoy Mir (Thieves World). In many ways, it could be said they are the real powers in the city, answering to none but the Vor (The Thief), their reclusive leader. However, they hold true to the old codes of the Thieves World and truly value an existence outside of society. As such, they have very little interest in the political machinations of other powers, so long as they are paid their due in respect and coin. No one topside wishes to raise a hand to them, but it is said they have an old enemy from the days of the Gulag beneath the surface, one that seems to have recently killed their derzhatel obshchaka (chief book keeper, essentially) known at the Numinist. As such, they have been conducting punitive expeditions in the Underground. They treat the Koba Bathouse on Gleb Bokii Prospekt their HQ.
Contact: Semyon "The Ornithologist" Tarkovsky
The Saburovs: A close knit family that runs Steppak Meats and the landline telephone company Stepcom, as well as a few other businesses. The Saburovs are the old authority in this town, and there are Saburovs in almost every respectable position imaginable, from the Dean of the School of Medicine Varushka Saburova, to the first metropilitan of Arkheologorodok, Grigori I (Veniamin Saburov). The Saburovs were critical to the survival of Arkheologorodok, and were also essential to the return of religion to the city. Though they are best know for constructing the Cathedral of the Holy Transfiguration, they have also helped build a Buddhist temple, and Tengrist association, and even a few mosques. The family bears a strong resemblance to one another, all are thin and tall, with fair hair, sharp features, and piercing green or blue eyes. They have allies in the Red Ordo and an apparently cordial relationship with the Cosmos Project. There is an ongoing, and often violent, war for control of Arkheologorodok between themselves and the NOVOST Group.
Contact: Vernisa Saburova, Chief of Logistics for Steppak Meats
NOVOST: A massive holding company run for the benefit of Russian oligarchs, the NOVOST Group in Arkheologorodok is run by Dariy Belov, and owns Stepneft, the grocery store chain Vos'moy, the financial services company Chistoye Nebo Kredit, and the telecomm company Vostockcom. They are looking to buy up even more of the city, but it is also rumored that they pay good money for technological wonders recovered from the Underground. They are, for all intents and purposes, at war with the Saburovs.
Contact: Panteley Rykov, public outreach office
Mayami Import: A gang of white leisure suit wearing smugglers who specialize in cocaine and explosives. They pay fealty to the Bratva, and in turn they have been granted the status as the only Bratva smuggling operation in Arkheologorodok. They operate out of their black market in the Hangar underneath the abandoned Experimental Aeronautics Institute. Their knowledge of the Underground is peerless, and their activities sometimes run afoul of the Materialists and the Red Ordo.
Contact: Slava
The Gopniks: Perhaps the most populous of the factions, the Gopniks are essentially an amalgamation of several different gangs of n'er do wells and petty criminals. They run rampant across the length and breadth of the Silent Homes, Abattoir Town, and the Marshy Suburbs, the three main residential districts on the south side of the G'am River. They pay fealty to the Toporika Bratva, but a really in the pocket of the Mayami Import smugglers, who they think are much cooler and have way more fun. They have recently experienced a set back in their long war with the Gay Nazis.
Contact: Demyan
The Neo-Nazbols: Officially the New National Bolshevik Party of Eurasia, the Neo-Nazbols are more like a youth movement/club/aesthetic for the young, disaffected, and radical. They run the music scene in Arkheologorodok and, in concert with the Toporika Bratva, run the underground club the Shkola Granat, the most popular club in the entirety of the city as well as a safe entrance to the Underground. The Party has plenty of members, but the core membership are all practitioners of magic. They publish a weekly newspaper called Nastuplenie! (Advance!) and have an associated business near the Stepnoy University run called Gorilla Gardening, a smoothie ship/internet cafe/drug front/gambling front run by the Stalinist Ape-man Spartak
Contact: The individual chiefly responsible for offering jobs is Commissar of Communications Petra Borodina, but hanging around Shkola Granat is a good way to get a job from lower ranked members
Red Ordo: A collection of shamans and practitioners of various Steppe faiths, the Red Ordo view themselves as advocates and guardians of the various spirits that inhabit Arkheologorodok's underground. They are lead by a High Shaman of Tengri, Arman Targaev, a Kazahk foreman at Steppak Meats. Nearly all its members work in Abattoir Town, and as such they have a friendly relationship with the Saburovs, with one of their Initiates being a Saburov himself. They are based out of the Kurgan of a Scythian King beneath Abattoir Town. They know that there are many things in the Underground that must stay there, but whereas the Materialists are focused on protecting the scientific wonders of the Underground, the Red Ordo focus on the spiritual. While the two fulfill a similar function, their relationship is somewhat frosty due to their very different world views. Still, some of the lower members are friends with one another. The Red Ordo also has a bloody grudge against the Thanotologists, a sort of mercenary cabal of necromancers.
Contact: Professor Osip Nurseyev, Vedik Saburov, Chormakhan
Myagmarsüren
The Materialists: A cult of technicians and engineers, the Materialists are the remnants of some of the former scientists who worked in Arkheologorodok's many hidden labs. They take it upon themselves to maintain critical infrastructure of the Underground, and view themselves as the stewards and guardians of the Soviet super science buried beneath. As such, they keep its secrets to themselves and try to dissuade others from delving too deep. They also still make some wonders of their own, some of which they even offer to those the Council of Magisters deem responsible, for a price. They are allied with the Krasnaya Zvezda cult and apparently maintain a few special saunas for the Toporika Bratva's Vor. They have frosty relations with the Red Ordo and Mayami Import, and sometimes reprimand the Excavators of the Undergound Earth for their delving. There is infrequent violence between them and the Cosmos Project over competition for territory, tech, and members.
Contact: City Electric worker Koldan Egorov, Professor Tikhon Valerianovich Yablonev
CounterDogma: An outlawed gay rights activist group and art collective, they are led by a mysterious performance and multi-media artist named Filaret and are known for their flash protests and art installations lampooning the government of the city. They have a hidden gallery the authorities struggle to find, most likely because it's not actually on this planet. They also have a large collection of enchanted artworks for sale, or as a reward for services rendered. They share a few members with the Neo-Nazbols and have a shared interest in the repeal of the anti-sodomy laws, but are also closely allied to the Excavators of the Underground Earth
The Thanotologists: Though they view themselves as a circle of scholars of death, the Thanotologists are more like necromancers for hire, their studies into the nature of death having stalled out years ago. They're based inside some old catacombs under the southern part of the city. Apparently they have been receiving funding from donors unknown for a project in which they resurrect holy figures from all faiths so they can debate theology and the afterlife while they record. This project was originally met with great enthusiasm, but it has waned since every knew addition to the discussion results in the discussion having to be started over. They have a bloody grudge with the Red Ordo and poor relations with the Materialists. Unknown to all but a select few members of the party (and one of those party members close circle of friends) the Neo-Nazbols have infiltrated this necromantic circle and are working to subvert it for their own ends.
Contact: Gera, a rising star in the group and a double agent for the Neo-Nazbols
The Cosmos Project: A group of bright eyed techno-utopians, the Cosmos Project is based primarily out of the Stepnoy University's engineering and theology departments. They try to keep to themselves the best they can, but they are known to actively promote the works of Russian Cosmist thinkers, a sort of proto-communist Christian transhuman movement. They are known to be develop impressive technologies and are working to collect as many of the buried technologies and magicks as they can from the Underground. They apparently have cordial relations with the Saburovs but have had violent encounters with the Materialists and the Red Ordo. Though nominally peaceful, their co-founder Professor Sergei Krivkov had his skull crushed by an ape-man, and they looking to avenge him.
Contact: Vernisa Saburova could set up a parlay.
Krasnaya Zvezda: A somewhat mysterious group, the Krasnaya Zvezda are both militant communists, survivalists, and apparently cultists of what they call the Red Star. They are fond of flames and some of their members have been known to caste fire magics, knowledge of which they attribute to the teachings of their leader, who is known only as "The Cosmonaut." They are allied with the Materialists who apparently deem them responsible stewards of technology.
Contact: Kollina Grob, "Red Zenobia" on twitter
The Excavators of the Underground Earth: Likely the friendliest and most open group, the Excavators are a club of urban explorers founded by city maintenance worker Gennady Chupov and Geologist Tatiana Zhutova for the purpose of mapping out the vast network of tunnels and complexes that make up the Underground, as well as disseminating useful information and tips to help others stay safe on their explorations. This open-source approach has not endeared them to some of the more secretive factions, but their overall apolitical nature coupled with a very genuine goodwill to all keeps most factions from raising a hand to them in anger. How long this state of affairs can last is unclear, however.
Contact: They meet every Friday in the basement of the Central State Library on Ramon Mercader Prospekt
The Gay Nazis: Undoubtedly the most loathed faction in the Underground, the Gay Nazis are a street gang of, well, gay Nazis. Clad in leather, fascistic symbols, and lugers, the Gay Nazis have generally made a nuisance of themselves exploring the Underground in an effort to find an entrance to "Agartha" and are devoted Hollow Earthers. They were on the backfoot for years, with their only firm territory being the "Gay Reich", a purpose built complex in the southwestern Undergound they have made their fortress. However, with the mass pardons of Governor Yevseyev a few weeks back, their numbers have doubled and they've managed to take over the small neighborhood of Little Azov, where they deal their high quality meth and conduct bizarrely thorough medical examinations on the residents.
Contact: hahaha
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