New Bottsford
New Bottsford is a small but growing community located in the Southwest Reaches of Rivertown.
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New Bottsford is a seven-block by one block stretch of loosely connected shelters located approximately 15 miles southwest of Rivertown, half the distance to Prairieville.
New Bottsford was a typical working class neighborhood in the Greenvale suburb of Rivertown. It suffered greatly in the economic depression of the 2070s and 80s. The nearby community of Wolcott was the site of a major riot, the Summer of Discontent, that took place over 46 days. It was rumored that the National Guard had been called to reestablish order when the first wave of the superflu struck; several months later, a series of unexplained explosions destroyed much of Wolcott and decimated Wynnewood, which bordered New Bottsford. While it was believed to be a botched or mistargeted terrorist attack, the resultant firestorm aided by high winds and dry conditions, burned most of the surrounding area in unchecked blazes.
After the second wave of superflu, a handful of survivors began piecing together charred remains into something resembling dwellings. They picked up more survivors and fought off other bandits and scavengers, slowly building two-story hovels from the scraps they could salvage.
New Bottsford is disheveled but sturdy and ingeniously designed. From a distance, a passerby cannot discern that the mounds of debris form closed walls and that a community remains hidden behind them. Portions of the outer walls form series of paths that wind back on themselves like miniature mazes. Intruders searching for an entrance will often find themselves penned in and exposed for attack from above.
The interior of New Bottsford is extremely dirty and covered with soot. The community has no reliable water source so the ground and roofs are covered with receptacles to capture rain. Residents bathe infrequently, usually only once or twice each week.
New Bottsford has 94 residents--28 men, 38 women, and 28 children under the age of 16.
New Bottsford has a small reserve of preserved food, some of it packaged before the superflu but a good amount is dried meat and fish. The inhabitants of New Bottsford venture out in small hunting and fishing parties, shooting deer and fishing in the small lakes several miles to the south of the settlement. Between the food they scavenge and that which they produce, New Bottsford has found a tentative equilibrium that sustains them and allows them to keep an emergency cache of food. A few bad hunting seasons, or an outside attack that depleted their stores, would cast them into turmoil.
New Bottsford has an assortment of weapons and ammunition used mostly for hunting and defense, including knives, guns, shotguns, and rifles.
The Rivertown Compendium draws from the much larger Rivertown Chronicles, a wide assortment of personal narratives and catalog entries of people, places, and things.