The Settlement of Incline
The Incline Station, and The Settlement of Incline:
In central Pennsylvania, there was once a distressed city before the dead rose... now a valley of death itself, the deep valley seeming to hold the mist in, creating a pocket of despair.
Above the mist-filled valley of former Johnstontown, built along a mountain ridge stands the settlement simply called the Incline. The Incline was built by people who fled the undead up Johnsontown's signature landmark, a towering Incline Plain that the people rode out of the soupy mist and to safety. Built on stilts and platforms sunk into the mountain-side, Incline is protected from the undead when the mist rises above it's usual heights by sheer almost un-scalable cliffs, and thick walls of stone and timber reinforced with metal from Johnsontown's Steel Manufacturing industries.
The small settlement only supports a population of about two-hundred, with very little safe room for growth along the ridge. Certain members of the settlement live below the mist, caring for and maintaining the Incline Station at the base of the mountain, so that their scavenging teams have a place to venture into the shadows in search of materials.
Notable features of Incline-
The Incline Station: Connecting the top of the cliff with the deep valley of Johnsontown the Incline Station serves as the base of operation for the Scavenge Teams that delve into the deep mists here, and above all else, is the first place that gets access to Black and Witch Candles given it’s importance. Heavily fortified, with it’s only main access point being a concrete bridge that has since been walled and flanked with wooden guard towers manned by the Incline Musketeers, it is considered the lifeblood of the settlement.
Master Metalworkers: Being made of survivors from a city with a distinct steel-manufacturing industry, Incline has inherited the knowledge and push to work steel, their scavenge teams don't lack for sturdy tools and weapons.
Railway Mechanics: With the Incline Plain itself being their main way up and down the mountainside, the small settlement has no shortage of mechanics and engineers, and using knowledge and machines salvaged from the nearby Railway museum.
Incline Scavengers: In conjunction with the Metal Workers, the rare times that the settlement needs to make an active defense of the Incline Station from either Undead or less than Peaceful travelers, Incline's Scavengers double as their defenders, fielding armor made of steel plates and firefighter's gear, and generally blades of well tended steel, like modern knights.
Musketeers: Located in Pennsylvania, there was no shortage of hunters with a long history of Musket usage, coupled with a still sizable coal industry, and lots of scrap metal to melt down, the Incline Station and the Settlement above are also protected by men armed with carefully maintained Muskets, slow to reload compared to more modern weaponry, they are suitably more rugged, reliable when properly maintained, and in a pinch serve as very effective melee weapons.
