View of the City
To the Breakwater Confederacy, New Hope City is only half a city. The real lifeline is the bay. Streets collapse, towers rot, factions rise and fall—but water endures. Ships still move. Tides still turn. Cargo still flows. The Confederacy believes the city survives only because the bay allows it to breathe.
The Animaphage and the infected are land-bound problems. Dangerous, yes—but predictable. The water gives distance, warning, and escape. As long as the docks remain functional, New Hope is not truly dead.
View of @The Shard Coalition
The Confederacy sees the Shard Coalition as a necessary containment failure.
They understand the Shatterreach cannot be ruled cleanly. The Coalition keeps its violence internal, which suits the bay just fine. So long as raids don’t spill onto the docks or disrupt cargo routes, the Confederacy lets the gangs tear each other apart.
If the Coalition ever threatens dock access, however, the response is absolute. No negotiations. No warnings. The bay does not tolerate instability.
View of the @Gutter Saints
The Breakwater despises the Gutter Saints.
Slavery and human trafficking destabilize dock labor and invite retaliation from other factions. Worse, the Saints break people until they become liabilities—injured, desperate, unpredictable. Harbor Lords see Saints as rot that spreads unless cut out.
Still, the Confederacy trades with them when it must. Labor is labor. Cargo moves faster when human lives are cheap. No Harbor Lord is proud of it—and none deny it happens.
View of the @Iron Dogs
The Iron Dogs are useful—and dangerous.
The Confederacy hires Dogs as inland escorts, shock forces, and deterrents when trade routes need to be secured quickly. Their speed and brutality solve problems fast. Their unpredictability creates new ones.
Dogs are never allowed near ships or cranes. Engines stay inland. One spark in the wrong place could cripple dock infrastructure, and the Confederacy does not forgive that kind of risk.
View of the @Neon Knives
The Knives unsettle the Confederacy.
They move where rigging and cranes create blind spots. They know dock elevations, container stacks, and maintenance routes better than most crews. That makes them dangerous—not because they attack openly, but because they could.
The Confederacy trades information with the Knives selectively, always through intermediaries. No Harbor Lord wants to know how much the Knives already see.
View of @The Ledger Syndicate
The Ledger is the Confederacy’s most consistent rival—and most important partner.
The Ledger controls storage, documentation, and delayed value. The Confederacy controls movement. Neither can fully function without the other. Every deal is layered with contingencies and quiet sabotage.
Harbor Lords know the Ledger is patient enough to wait out entire generations. The Confederacy counters by keeping control physical—ships, crews, water access—things no ledger can replace.
View of @The Streetweight Collective
Streetweight is tolerated muscle.
They control inland access points, bridges, and markets the Confederacy needs to move cargo beyond the docks. Their noise keeps infected dispersed. Their volatility keeps routes dangerous.
The Confederacy never lets Streetweight grow too close to the water. Loud power doesn’t belong near ships. If Streetweight pushes dockward, crews push back—hard.
View of @The Cinder Faith
The Confederacy considers the Cinder Faith an existential threat.
Fire is the enemy of ships, cargo, fuel, and rigging. Faith-driven arson is uncontrollable and irreversible. Harbor Lords have standing orders: any sign of Cinder Faith activity near the docks is met with immediate, overwhelming force.
There is no truce with fire.
View of @The Keepers of Haven
Greenhaven is watched from the water.
The Confederacy knows wealth remains there. They also know no one leaves that area easily—and no one scouts it successfully. That combination breeds caution.
Harbor Lords assume the Keepers are either extremely well-armed or deeply entrenched. Until proven otherwise, Greenhaven remains a ghost on their maps.
View of @The Reclaimers
The Reclaimers are the Confederacy’s long-term fear.
A militarized state with intact logistics and discipline could reclaim the docks if it ever chose to expand. The Confederacy believes the Bastion watches the bay closely, calculating rather than acting.
If the Reclaimers move, the Confederacy knows they won’t bluff. Ships are kept ready to scatter. Escape routes are always maintained.
View of @The Outriders
The Confederacy respects the Outriders deeply.
Outriders reduce infected pressure on inland routes, indirectly protecting dock traffic. They don’t extort. They don’t linger. They don’t interfere with trade. When they operate near the docks, they’re given space and quiet support.
Many Harbor Lords believe the Outriders are the only group truly fighting the apocalypse rather than profiting from it.