Carpenter Hills

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[SIZE=14.6667px]Brief History[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.6667px]Established in the mid 1600s by Spanish colonists, Carpenter Hills was a small New Mexico town populated mostly by Hispanic Homesteaders and German Immigrants until relatively early in the 20th century. [/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.6667px]Deposits of natural oil and gas were found nearby in the 1920s, leading to an economic boom. The influx of immigrants looking to capitalise on the “black gold rush” led to it becoming a thriving city almost overnight.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.6667px]During the second world war, it was host to a considerable arms industry. It was used to produce a good deal of the arms and ammunition needed for the war effort.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.6667px]Unfortunately, by the 1970s, the decline in the need for arms coincided with the gradual drying up of the local gas and oil deposits. These deposits had been on the way out for some time, and attempts to revitalise the local economy were brief and half hearted. Carpenter Hills was too far from the major land routes of New Mexico to profit from being a trade city, and with the local industries shutting down, urban decay rapidly seeped in. The end of the casino industry in the nearby Diné Reservation due to the arrival of prescient capes only compounded this process.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.6667px]Because of the rampant unemployment, crime naturally took an upswing, attracting some of the first super villains and cape criminal organisations. This in turn, diverted Protectorate resources to the area, and now it boasts a thriving cape scene. As a direct result, a large portion of the town’s monetary gain comes from the tourist and cape industry in the city. This has however, lead to multiple political clashes to clean up or reinvigorate the surrounding areas outside of tourist hotspots.[/SIZE]

 

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[SIZE=14.6667px]Local Landmarks[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.6667px]Oil Fields[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.6667px]A vast wasteland of rusting oil derricks across the northern reaches of the city. Abandoned in the late 70s once the oil ran out, the city has pretty much left this entire area to rot. Now it’s host to the odd shantytowns constructed out of random scrap, and is a haven for drug addicts and the homeless.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.6667px]That said, these shanties are hazardous at the best of times. Decaying equipment can fall, toxic runoff and emissions can poison or even explode, and many wells are uncapped, allowing for individuals to easily fall inside the larger bores. Supposedly, the harder gangs use the open wells to dispose of bodies.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.6667px]Refinery[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.6667px]One of the last venues of large industry in the city, the refinery was shut down ten years ago. Repeated damage to the facility during numerous cape battles, the facility was deemed too expensive to maintain in the midst of diminishing returns, especially with the lack of local oil.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.6667px]Since then, it’s served as a temporary headquarters for half a dozen ambition supervillains, gotten even more damaged by the resulting fights, and is generally “maintained” enough to not be a complete eyesore for the rest of the city.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.6667px]Train Depot[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.6667px]Once used to ferry oil in and out of the city, these days the Train Depot is mostly used for low priority freight. More often than not, these good are made to go past the city, rather than to it.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.6667px]The majority of the excess equipment has been sold off. That which couldn’t be sold or stripped down has been scrapped, leaving large portions of the Depot as little more than rusting metal skeletons.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.6667px]Diné Reservation[/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.6667px]The nearby Navajo reservation was hit exceptionally hard by the loss of its casinos. However, it has recently rebounded with the arrival of the rogue parahuman, Nohoilpi. A tinker dedicated towards obfustication through unpredictability, Nohoilpi has engineered multiple devices immune to prescience, for the working of a functional casino. Opened just two years ago, the Soaring Moon Casino has greatly revitalised the reservation, and its effects are even being seen on Carpenter Hills proper.[/SIZE]



[SIZE=14.6667px]Because of this, and the unique laws regarding legal jurisdiction on reservation lands, the Reservation has its own minor cape team, the Rain Bringers.[/SIZE]