Nuclear Beasts is set in the ruins of earth after the Last War destroyed mankind. The great cities lie in ruins, often poisoned with lethal levels of radiation and guarded by robotic sentries that attack anyone who lacks proper identification. Freakishly mutated monsters stalk the wastes, seeking prey. Mankind is apparently extinct and has been so for generations, but the damage from their war still scars the land.
The Beasts of the setting are animals who have been granted human-level intelligence and the ability to speak. The first generation of Beasts created (wolves, bears, cougars and oxen) were large, fierce and powerful, but they didn't have hands and couldn't use most tools. The second generation (mice, squirrels, otters and bats) consisted of smaller Beasts with clever paws that could make and use tools. The third generation (hyenas, lions, elephants and cheetahs) had been recast into a humanoid form and stood upright like man.
In addition to their natural capabilities, many early Beasts manifested psychic powers, which were used to pacify the wastes and establish their civilization. Most also possessed the ability to sense the presence of dangerous radiation, an ability so widespread that it is now regarded as normal. Certainly they wouldn't have been able to survive as well in the wastes without it.
They destroyed what robots they could and drove away most of the monsters. They tended the poisoned soil and set about restoring the land to health. Now they occupy a tiny sliver of green and healthy land known as the Verde.
The Beasts were created by the All-Mother, their goddess. She is said to live in an underground cavern beneath the Sacred Hills, served by three special groups of Beasts: Oracles, Rangers, and Caretakers.
The Oracles are the priests and priestesses who organize Her worshippers and answer questions on Her behalf. They live in the Sacred Hills and never leave.
The Rangers are a relatively new group of Beasts who have been "silvered" (had body parts replaced with gleaming metal) by the All-Mother. They serve the Oracles and the Caretakers but don't possess any special authority of their own.
The Caretakers themselves are the agents of the All-Mother and perform Her will in areas outside the Sacred Hills. They are easily recognized by the metal plate in their forehead, which allows them to sense the will of the All-Mother. They often have even more metal parts than Rangers do. It's said that there were originally one hundred Caretakers and that new ones are never chosen until an old one perishes.
The Caretakers used to possess absolute and unquestioned authority over all the scattered Beast settlements, but a few generations ago one Caretaker went mad. Aldrich the Hyena raised an army to attack the Sacred Hills, claiming that the All-Mother had gone mad and had to be destroyed. The other Caretakers fought, but Aldrich had developed the power to interfere with their minds at great range, leaving them helpless. The All-Mother finally struck Aldrich down, but only after a terrible war that decimated the Caretakers and left the lands in disarray.
After that the surviving Caretakers all retreated back to the Sacred Hills and lived underground with the All-Mother for several generations, leaving their empire to fall apart. When they finally returned, they created the first of the Rangers and set about reuniting the scattered settlements.
They haven't been particularly successful; in most places they are still regarded with superstitious awe, but they can't expect the automatic obedience that they once could and must threaten, bargain and cajole. There are still holdouts in the outlying areas where the descendants of the rebels live, where the Caretakers dare not go without an army at their backs.
The technology available to most Beasts is limited. Before Aldrich's rebellion, the Caretakers basically prohibited all investigation into the lost science of Man. Since then, some settlements have put a lot of effort into rediscovering technology, especially the distant ones that supported the rebellion. To combat that, the Caretakers have supervised a limited restoration of ancient tech, generally under their close supervision. Some guns and other relatively simple devices are now being manufactured and put to widespread use and some of the larger settlements actually have electrical power.
The settlement of Manforge is built up around an ancient automated factory that the Caretakers have reactivated. Given the appropriate raw materials (mostly scavenged metal in good condition), they can produce finished products using ancient schematics. The only guns currently being mass-produced are simple six-shooter revolvers and single-shot, bolt-action rifles. The Caretakers say that they lack the necessary raw materials to produce better weapons en masse, but some Beasts believe that the Caretakers don't want more powerful weapons to be made available.
The Guild of Engineers is a society dedicated to rediscovering the lost secrets of Man. They have been banned by the Caretakers and must operate in secret in most places. They gather and share ancient books, teaching Beasts to read and write and trying to make sense of Man's writings and sort out myth from history. They oppose the Caretakers and refer to them as "cyborgs". Since they don't have access to the mechanical implants that grant the Caretakers their supernatural prowess, they concentrate on developing their psychic powers and searching the ancient ruins for useful artifacts.
Among the most valuable of ancient relics are identification cards. These weathered plastic rectangles don't look like much, but most robots won't attack a Beast who has one. Beasts typically punch a hole in one corner and wear the card like an amulet. They are far from a certain protection (not all robots obey them, and even those will still attack if provoked in some fashion) but they are better than nothing and make exploring the cities feasible.
Posted by Kiz at July 29, 2004 03:43 PMCommentsPost a comment