Current Mission Dossier

[Venatus Vinco]

Free City of Hammond
The Free City of Hammond sits on the shores of Wolf Lake straddling the former state border of Illinois and Indiana. Rising water levels have turned the picturesque Wolf Lake into a harbour inlet of Lake Michigan providing a safe haven for small watercraft, especially pirate vessels, seeking to avoid larger capital ships.

The city is protected by water to the north, the ruins of Old Chicago to the east, the Lost Marsh to the west, and the Magic Zone to the south. The safest access to the City is by watercraft via Lake Michigan, although many sorcerers and demons coming from the Magic Zone will use Hammond as a stopping point en route to Old Chicago.

Secluded from the prying eyes of the Coalition the Free City of Hammond attracts all sorts of pirates, sorcerers, supernatural creatures, and other misanthropes and is a haven for illicit activity. Here pirates can swap their ill gotten goods for badly needed items or repairs and slavers can find buyers for their prisoners. Although magic users and creatures frequent the city the use of magic and rituals within city limits is strictly forbidden. Conversely, the occasional use of high powered mega-damage weapons is not similarly restricted.

Although billed as a “free” city Hammond is actually ruled by the tyrannical Warlord Joseph Hammond; an alleged descendant of the city’s original founders. Warlord Hammond keeps the peace through brutal force. While all manner of activity is legal the Warlord demands his cut and any damage or harm done to his property or personnel usually results in a swift death for the perpetrator and expulsion to the Lost Marsh for their companions. Justice is lacking, but punishment is fast, brutal, and deadly. Most visiting pirates keep the peace as the port city is one of the few places their kind is welcome. Of course, too much swill has lead to a few altercations over the years.

To enforce his will Warlord Hammond has a large force of mercenaries who serve as city defenders and enforcement officers. These well armed thugs ensure that Warlord Hammond receives his cut of any commercial activity and most inflate the Warlord’s cut so they can skim some booty for themselves. For his part the Warlord doesn’t care how much his thugs collect as long as he gets his share. If any of his mercenaries are caught cheating him, Hammond always makes an example out of them as a deterrent to others.

When it comes to magic use the Warlord is extremely paranoid. While he is indifferent to magic users in general he has an obsessed fear that the Federation of Magic has their eyes on his fiefdom as a staging area for Old Chicago. As a result he forbids the use of magic within the city, although all manner of sorcerers and supernatural creatures can enter to conduct business of any kind. Those who violate the Warlord’s edict regarding magic are summarily executed, along with all their companions, on the spot. Enforcement of this paranoid edict is taken care of by the Wolf Lake Tribe of Wild Psi-Stalkers. In exchange for a semi-permanent settlement and high-tech weapons, all financed by Warlord Hammond, the tribe patrols the area in and around Hammond and many members serve as part of Warlord Hammond’s mercenary force.

[Venatus Vinco]

Community Outreach Team
Free City of Hammond

Pin Gecheo, Fennodi Diplomat

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Mayeena, Quick Flex Operator

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Dr. Amelia Braxton, Human Body Fixer

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Tyson Turk, Human Commando

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Security Team, 6 Human Soldiers