Welcome to New York

New York City.  At one time just the whisper of its name was enough to send shivers down the spine of those countless travelers who ventured to its shining lights in hopes of making it big.  The Big Apple was known the world over as a locale full of glitz and glamour, virtue and vice.  This is not to say that the city didn’t have its share of problems, but what city doesn’t?

Regardless of its seedier side people flocked to the city in droves.  Everyone from dirt-poor farmer seeking a new start, to sickeningly rich debutantes could be found anywhere doing literally anything.  Life was cheap and for a price anything could be had.  As a center of culture the city enjoyed the very best from across the globe and catered that out to whoever could wrest it from the owner’s hands.

Even before Carnal came to the city it was a wild place.  Street gangs fought for stretches of broken down tenements and slums, while the wealthy would duke it out in extravagant boardrooms.  Money was easy, at least for those willing to kill for it, and allies one day would be bloodthirsty enemies the next.  The media would occasionally report what was going on, but often it was glossed over and pushed back to the end pages of the weekend edition.

Although there were countless reasons to avoid the city, the opportunities that New York offered were more than enough to bring in a steady flow of newcomers.  Some would go on to become the nameless faces that crammed the city streets, while the extremely lucky would actually make it big.  It was these handful of lucky strikes that always brought in more people, each thinking that they would be the next to be ‘The One’.

Death Comes A’knocking

It was an extremely hot and sticky summer day, one of the worst on record, when the madman known as Carnal lashed out at the city.  Reports of the battle for Washington DC had just started to trickle in when the first drones were spotted flying in from the sea-bound horizon.  Wave after wave of heavily armed suits of power armor, each manned by some sort of animated corpse, drove their way into the city, slaughtering everything in their path.

Nothing was safe from the invading horde of attack drones.  Tourist traps, government centers, and all manner of public works were hammered in the opening wave of the attack.  The drones sought out and destroyed any emergency workers they could find in order to prevent them from helping the citizens at large.  The drones were programmed in such a way as to specifically target those people attempting to aid others.  Police, Fire, and EMT workers died horrible deaths, often never realizing what was occurring as the attacks rolled in.

No one was safe from the attacks.  Any sort of gathering of people was targeted including churches, parks, and schools.  Any sort of transportation hub, from airports to transit tunnels was attacked in an effort to prevent people from leaving the city.  Every major roadway, tunnel, and bridge was struck as well, causing untold number of deaths among the fleeing citizenry. 

The destruction of the tunnels and bridges was so extensive that there are still no permanent or reliable ways onto the island.  The central, island portion of the city remains isolated from the rest of New York except by ferry or air after Carnal’s attacks.

Across the island many of the citizens of the city are in a state of fear due to the oppressive nature of life since the island was cut off.  Although there are still commodities coming into the city much of these goods never make it to the general public.  Gangs, super villains, and sporadic drone attacks all keep the neighborhoods here on their toes constantly and fearful of one another.