DeadlandsFactionSweetrock
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Sweetrock Mining Company Salvation Through Industry |
SWEETROCK MINING COMPANYHISTORYSweetrock Mining Company is often decried as the greatest evil in Gomorra - in its early years, it had a reputation for claim jumping lucrative strikes from independent miners. Even Sweetrocks' entry into Gomorra was under the table. In a closed auction, a Sweetork representative bid on eight of the most prosperous mines in the area, winning them all and soon moving in men and executives to work and oversee the mines. Black Jack's story of claimjumping is widely held as gospel truth by independent miners, but most of the non-transient population of Gomorra speaks well of them. Sweetorck has built a school, an orphanage, constructed paved roads across Main streeet, established funds for the reation of the Sheriff's department, and 'civilized' the town far beyond the likes of most settlements in the Maze. There are now general stores, attorney's offices, and dress shops - Howard Findley, the head of Sweetrock Mining Company in Gomorra, is a can-do man with a rugged and ruthless reputation. He sits at the head of the Gomorra Business Council, and Sweetrock mines have produced fifty percent more output under his watchful eyes. Conditions in Sweetrock mines, previously bad, have become positively brutal under his administration. Sweetrock employs a number of businessmen, lawyers, and enforcers, and Howard Findley never travels anywhere without a small coterie of bodyguards. Today, Sweetrock own approximately half the mines close to Gomorra. hey also have an exclusive deal with the Greater Maze Rock Miner's Association to be allowed autonomy in the area. Any sale of fundament- not on the small scale of local businesses - either passes through Sweetrock, or the mine-owner in question must transport their fundament by water or overland to find a buyer registered with the Greate Maze Rocker Miner's Association. RANK
IMPORTANT FACTION MEMBERSPresidentHoward FindleyTyrant. Savior. Businessman. Arsehole. There is a lot of colorful language used to describe Howard Findley, but much of the loathing directed his way is from the miners of Gomorra. Most of the long established business owners remember Gomorra from only a decade past - a place where starvation and murder in the streets were everyday events. Howard Findley may be a ruthless businessman, but it was his wealth that turned Gomorra into the frontier town with the veneer of civility it has today. He built the school, the jail, the orphanage, the asylum, the bank - and anyone who tells a tale of Howard Findley is a tyrannical monster is only telling half the story. The truth of Sweetrock's arrival in Gomorra begins with the greed of the Gomorran people themselves. The real story of Gomorra's founding begins with a man named Humphrey Walters, a Virginian landowner who'd lost his family to plague. Always a morose man, the plantation owner spent a fortune consulting with psychics and philosophers, before finally packing up all his worldly goods, selling them, and travelling west in the wake of the '49 gold rush. He purchased a remote but enormous parcel of land from California, built a shanty, and seemed content to live out the remainder of his life alone in the lonely stretch of land he called his own. He was a desert hermit in a desolate land, and for ten years he remained that way. Then the Great Quake turned Humphrey Walter's life upside down, as his shack and his remote stretch of land was caught in a mesa atop some of the richest land in the Maze. Miners poured in, followed by businessman and saloon gals, and in no time the hermit's solitary existance had a burgeoning town spring up around him. Humphrey Walters, instead of the life of solitude and contemplation he had craved, was richer than Midas. It was humphrey who offered the name 'Gomorra' to the people as the name for his little stretch of Perdition, Still seeking his redemption or his enlightenment, Humphrey boat a fishing boat and enough food for a week, and paddled up the Maze. A month later, he returned. Naked, burned red from the sun, covered in bites and scratches, the sole owner of Gomorra was treated by the town's doctor. Even after his wounds faded, however, it was clear his mind was gone. The people of Gomorra acted quickly; they assembled the Business Council and elected a mine owner judge, held a trial, and declared Walters mentally incompetent. The Business Council seized all his assets, and held them in a closed auction. Every mine, every strike, every parcel of land was to be sold, whether a business was established upon it or not. Come auction time, the wealthier members of town arrived to divide the spoils among themselves. When the auction was closed, they found the rug had been swept out from under them. A gentleman in a New York business suit had purchased half the mines and an entire mesa on behalf of the Sweetrock Mining Company. Months later, Howard Findley arrived with an army of miners, lawyers, and 'hired hands' to ensure the transition went smoothly. Howard himself is a hard-nosed, ruthless businessman. Miners in Gomorra say he'd sell his own mother for a chunk of ghostrock. Howard is a consummate wheeler and dealer. If he has any vice, it is the hubris of pride; he truly believes his wishes to be in the best interest of Gomorra, and that any threat to those wishes is the product of insanity or stupidity. He is consummately self-confident, surrounded by an army of bodyguards, and well-nigh untouchable. Vice PresidentMax BaineForemanMick CaplesBig JakeJim McNeilRegularScooterWalter SinnettNew HireThe Sweetrock Mining Company MesaSweetrock’s Mesa, to the North and West of the main Gomorran mesa, is a testament to the enduring power of industry. The Sweetrock mesa is organized and cleanly laid out, boasting large warehouses, paved walkways, and the Sweetrock Great Maze offices. Most business that is to be conducted with Sweetrock can be done at the businesses in town; only Sweetrock employees are allowed upon the mesa. The bridge to the Sweetrock mesa is guarded by a pair of gatling guns. They are always manned, day or night, and several other gatling guns have been mounted around the perimeter of the mesa. At the base of the mesa is a winch, lift, and small dock – miners and ships wishing to sell water or ghostrock can do so from the base of the mesa, without ever intruding upon the security of Sweetrock’s private fortress. Thirty to forty men are on duty at all times, providing security. Anyone wishing to visit the Sweetrock mesa who is not an employee requires a written invitation in hand. SWEETROCK ATTRACTIONSLumberyard | Scooter's Lift Winch |
