Dead Stop

Settlement Type: Outpost

Region: Mountains

Population: 94

Description:

Dead Stop is a bandit outpost in the Aetu Mountains, on the border of Zadoul and Anasina. The outpost was originally a miner's camp, abandoned after the local mines were tapped out. Over time, a group of bandits moved in and took over, turning the camp into a bolt hole and safe haven for themselves and other criminal types.

Today, despite the presence of a fairly busy trade route nearby, the villains of Dead Stop seldom resort to banditry. Rather, they make their living hosting an underground market for ill-gotten gains, acquired in Zadoul and Anasina. The market takes place quarterly, on nights of the new moon, and attracts neer-do-wells and criminals from across the region.  Authorities in Anasina and Zadoul know of the existence of Dead Stop, and its infamous New Moon Market, but have yet to take action against it because of jurisdictional issues. The area that Dead Stop occupies is a kind of unofficial neutral zone between the two countries, and neither wants to antagonize the other by dispatching a military force into the Aetu Mountains to clean it up. The bandits of Dead Stop are aware of this and so act with a certain degree of impunity, but they are not reckless. They will allow trade in almost anything except zabium.  And even though neither nation will dispatch military forces into the mountains, they do deploy intelligence assets, to monitor the situation and, when possible, execute the criminals who attend the New Moon Market.