The Shard Coalition is not a nation, not a government, and not a true alliance. It is a mutual threat agreement—a pact born from the understanding that the Shatterreach cannot survive open war without inviting extinction. It exists because no single gang, clan, or warband is strong enough to dominate the district alone, and because destroying one another outright would leave them vulnerable to outside powers waiting for weakness.
The Coalition rules not through unity, but through collective paranoia. Every member knows that survival depends on restraint just as much as violence. Any group that grows too ambitious, too reckless, or too loud risks becoming a target—not just for rivals, but for the Coalition itself.
In the Shatterreach, peace is not the absence of violence. It is violence held in reserve.
The Shard Coalition is a constant negotiation in motion. Territory is divided block by block, gang by gang, with borders defined less by walls than by reputation and bloodshed. These borders shift regularly—tested through raids, sabotage, and intimidation—yet rarely escalate into full-scale war.
Membership is informal but absolute. There are no oaths, no ceremonies, no banners flown openly. Allegiance is shown through markings, colors, scars, and behavior. To operate within the Shatterreach without Coalition sanction is to invite annihilation.
The unspoken rule is simple: obey the balance, or become an example.
At the top sit the Warlords—leaders of the largest and most dangerous factions within the Shatterreach. Each controls a significant asset: a fortified market, a transit artery, a scrap stronghold, or a population center worth exploiting. Their authority is measured in fighters, weapons, vehicles, and the ability to survive prolonged pressure.
Warlords do not rule together. They tolerate one another.
Meetings are rare, tense, and heavily armed affairs held on neutral ground. No Warlord arrives without bodyguards, escape routes, and contingencies for betrayal. Agreements are sealed with threats rather than trust.
Beneath them operate dozens of crews and clans—bike gangs, slaver outfits, scrap collectives, extortion rings, and mercenary packs. Some swear loyalty to a Warlord. Others operate independently, paying tribute to avoid retaliation. All are expendable.
The Shard Coalition enforces a brutal but functional code designed to keep the district exploitable rather than destroyed.
Large-scale warfare within the Shatterreach is forbidden.
Outsiders may be robbed, enslaved, or ransomed—but not massacred.
Infected herds are driven outward, never inward.
Any attempt to invite outside armies into the district is punishable by death.
When these rules are broken, the Coalition responds with terrifying efficiency. Rivalries are set aside. Gangs unify briefly, violently, and decisively. The offender is erased—leaders killed, assets seized, survivors scattered or sold.
Once balance is restored, the Coalition fractures again.
The Shatterreach survives on extraction.
Raiding and salvage feed its forges.
Slavery and forced labor fuel its construction.
Protection rackets and extortion keep resources flowing.
Weapons, drugs, and human lives are traded freely.
Nothing is taxed universally—only what matters. Control is exerted selectively, targeting critical resources and chokepoints rather than attempting governance. The Coalition does not build infrastructure. It feeds on what remains.
Other districts despise this economy, but many rely on it more than they admit.
To outsiders, the Shard Coalition is chaos incarnate. To those who live within it, it is grimly predictable.
Greenhaven is watched with hunger.
The Exchange is prey and partner in equal measure.
Spirefall is a hunting ground, not a home.
The Ashworks are avoided unless desperation outweighs fear.
The Docklands are rivals—necessary, dangerous, and respected.
The Coalition’s greatest strength is its restraint. It survives by never presenting a single target, never escalating too far, and never allowing the Shatterreach to become worth cleansing.
Across New Hope City, people say:
“Nothing rules the Shatterreach—until it has to.”
“You don’t conquer it. You survive it.”
“Every gang is one bad night away from being erased.”
The Coalition does not promise safety.
It promises continuation—and in the Shatterreach, that is enough.