Motorless City
City: Detroit, Michigan
Population: 100,000/600,000
Controls: Wayne County and parts of the Great Lakes
Government: Machine
Problem: Factions/Fuel Shortage
Heroic Opportunity: Trade Goods
City Aspect: Divided
The Serpentfall didn’t directly affect Detroit, but the ensuing plagues and freezing cold almost destroyed the city. The survivors made it through the worst bits from sheer stubbornness, although the endless piles of American war material certainly didn’t hurt. Detroit was the first Mayorality to convert its vehicles to ethanol wholesale, which at least gives the city access to military jeeps and trucks. Its airplane — and, particularly, tank — stockpiles are a different story.
If somebody could take full control of Detroit, secure its supply of war machines, and find the fuel to operate them, they could probably take over a large section of the Midwest. The relevant word is ‘if.’ The first part is getting control over Detroit. Most of the existing power structure died in the first plagues; there are three major groups left to contest the issue. The first is what’s left of the Detroit civic government, currently ruthlessly controlled by former Detroit cop Alexander Murphy. Then there’s the criminal underworld, which underwent its own convulsions until a man only known as ‘Doctor Cliff’ imposed order. And then there’s the African-American working class; they’ve coalesced around the Reverend Clarence Franklin, a charismatic refugee from the intrigues of Buffalo.
The only thing these three faction leaders agree on is keeping the rest of the Mayoralities out of Detroit’s stockpiles. Fortunately for the factions, there’s plenty of guns and ammunition to make that happen. Unfortunately for the factions, those guns and ammo could also be used in a bid to take over the city. The situation is, as they say, tense. Stable enough, but tense.
Needless to say, every other Mayorality out there wants to get their hands on Detroit’s tanks and airplanes. There’s a reason why nobody would sell Detroit any gasoline even if there was any gasoline to spare, which there is not. Detroit is like a fire that’s been starved of oxygen; it’s tolerable to its neighbors just as long as it doesn’t enough resources to properly exploit its capabilities. A ship that sailed into harbor with a storage tank full of gas would probably be able to get anything that it wanted. Or it could spark an all-out power struggle that would end with the city burned to the ground.
Alexander Murphy? Oh no, Robocop! Stay good!