Raider’s Camp

Raiders Camp Zone

The Raiders Camp Zone sits outside New Vance City, beyond the main Perimeter Watch lines. It is not one camp. It is a long stretch of broken highway, ruined motels, and scrap yards where raider groups gather between attacks. Patrols avoid the area when possible. When they must enter, they go in heavy and leave fast.

The zone formed right after the Collapse. When the city pulled back to secure its walls and power lines, many people were left outside. Some were criminals. Others were workers, refugees, or soldiers who refused to live under new rules. They survived by robbing convoys and attacking travelers. The weak died. Some joined organized groups like the Gear Rats or tried to reach the Citadel. The rest became raiders—violent, scattered, and focused on taking what they could.

For most raiders, this zone is the closest thing they have to home. They sleep here, fix vehicles, brag about raids, and fight each other. There is no shared leader and no law. Camps appear and vanish within days. To people inside the city, raiders are a distant threat. To those living here, they are neighbors one day and killers the next.

Terrain

The zone follows the old highway loop that once fed traffic into the city. After the Collapse, it became a mess of wrecked cars, collapsed overpasses, and shattered concrete. Some ramps end in open drops. Old blast craters mark where tankers exploded or strikes hit. Raiders know this ground well and use tight turns and blind spots for ambushes.

Some areas are open enough for vehicles to circle around fires and fuel drums. Raiders stack cars and cargo containers into low walls and watch from the top. Other areas are packed tight with tents, rusted RVs, and sheet-metal shacks built into motel courtyards and service alleys. Old neon signs still hang overhead. A few flicker on weak generators. Most stay dark.

Several places inside the zone are known by name.
The Toxic Digs are fuel yards and chemical dumps where leaking drums poison the ground.
The Devil’s Den is a ruined roadside mall that serves as a raider black market.
The Scorch Pit is a burned stadium used for explosive tests and public fights.
The Bone Yard is a massive scrapyard where wrecks form walls and tunnels.

These places change hands often. The names stay, even when the people do not.

The ground between camps is dangerous. Bones, scrap, and traps are everywhere. Mines and tripwires guard narrow paths. Some traps are new. Others were set right after the Collapse, and no one remembers who placed them.

Raider Life

Raiders do not share one culture, but they think alike. They hate rules, distrust leaders, and value speed and force over planning. Many lost families during the Collapse. Others were born in camps and never knew another life.

Food comes from stolen shipments, raided farms, or stripped caravans. Water is stolen from Hydro Hegemony lines, pulled from old tanks, or bought from smugglers at places like the Devil’s Den. Fuel matters more than almost anything. Vehicles are tools and status symbols. Mechanics have power because engines and guns keep people alive.

Groups form and fall apart often. Some are extended families. Others are built after a single successful raid and vanish after a bad loss. Loyalty is thin. Leaders stay alive only as long as they keep their people fed and afraid.

There are still rules, even here. Anyone who helps with a raid expects a share. Clear betrayal is punished by death, exile, or sale. Raiders also try not to prey on each other too often. Groups that attack other raiders too much tend to get wiped out.

The Shambler Virus is always a threat. Infected wander in from the edges. Some camps keep pits or cages to trap them or drive them toward enemies. Others kill infected friends the moment symptoms show. No one here has the supplies to treat it.

Warlords

Most raider leaders die fast. A few last long enough to shape parts of the zone.

Furnace Faraday controls the Toxic Digs. He survived a refinery blast during the Collapse and never went back to the city. He runs crude fuel operations and attacks convoys. He sells fuel to anyone who can pay.

Glitch controls the Devil’s Den. She turned to trade and hacking after losing her family. Her market serves raiders, smugglers, and Shadow Syndicate buyers who need things moved quietly.

Inferno Iris runs the Scorch Pit. She favors loud attacks and explosives. The Pit is used for weapon tests, executions, and contests meant to scare rivals.

Ironclad Krell leads a disciplined group near the stronger barricades. He wears heavy armor and favors direct attacks on Perimeter Watch posts and convoys.

Skullbreaker Kael controls the Bone Yard. His camp uses stacked wrecks, traps, and sniper nests. He often clashes with Gear Rats over scrap.

Outside Pressure

No major faction claims the Raiders Camp Zone. The Citadel Council treats it as a buffer where threats fight each other instead of the walls. When raids grow too bold, the Council sends strike teams to hit fuel stores or leaders, then pulls back.

The Solar Guardians see the zone as a threat to their power lines. They launch raids to destroy stolen generators or wipe out raider convoys but never stay long.

The Hydro Hegemony avoids the area when possible. When they must pass through, they hire escorts or make deals with leaders like Glitch or Krell. These deals break easily.

The Gear Rats trade with raiders but do not trust them. When raiders hit Gear Rat convoys, the response is brutal, especially near large scrap sites.

For stories set in New Vance City, the Raiders Camp Zone is unstable and dangerous. It can block travel, hide prisoners, shelter enemies, or force short-term alliances. No matter the job, the zone never stays quiet for long.