The Casino Families of The Sequoia Wastes
Purebloods of the Sequoia Waste live a life of privilege and luxury. Even those Purebloods that have been displaced due to the loss of their home casino in the conflict with Felvik’s Host are still welcomed with open arms* at the casinos that remain.
Purebloods have continued to dominate all areas of commerce within the wastes. In fashion, the Purebloods of the Sequoia Wastes are indistinguishable from their peers throughout the world. They love to wear bright colors and ornate jewelry to display their wealth and position.
All Purebloods within the Sequoia Wastes identify themselves by the name of their ancestral casinos. Outside of Pureblood company, names are often shortened to make things easier to understand among strains that they perceive as lacking culture.
The Red Earth Casino Coalition
The Purebloods of the Sequoia Wastes operate as a cohesive whole that was formed under the banner of the Red Earth Casino Coalition. Prior to the RECC, these Casino Purebloods were often found playing political games trying to be the most impressive and powerful family in the Sequoia Wastes. This led to several moments when the fate of the entire wastes was threatened by internal squabbles. The RECC was formed in response to the destruction of the Fortune Reserve and Casino. It was the first Casino to fall to the might of Felvik’s Host of Final Knights.
The war between the Coalition and Felvik’s Host would rage for years. Every life in the wastes was touched by the conflict in some way. You either had a family member doing mercenary work for the casinos, or someone you knew was conscripted into the ranks of the Final Knights, often against their will.
Every Pureblood that originated within the Sequoia Wastes has (or had) a casino home. These homes often shape how they behave and even how they may dress. Here are the four most significant Pureblood Casino Families within the wastes and one that no longer exists.
The RECC prioritizes the safety and continued collective success of all casino families. They do this know that occasionally they will have to make a decision for their long term success or survival instead of the short term benefit of their own personal family. To this end, anyone that is representing the RECC in an official capacity will be wearing a white mask that must obscure at least part of their face. In addition to this, RECC members will only refer to themselves by their first names when operating on behalf of the RECC as a whole. No RECC member will directly admit if they are an active member.
Windfall Casino Family
Telling Visionaries
They tend to do what they want. As the wealthiest and most influential Casino Family (or entity) within the Sequoyah Wastes, Purebloods of the Windfall Casino Family tend to show up when they want and how they want. They are skilled developers, investors and opportunists. Historically, siding with the Windfall Casino has meant continued success for those who have walked alongside them. Well, as long as they continued to be entertaining for their patron in the Windfall.
While quite a few of them focus on reinforcing the success of their Fortress Casino, many of them spend time in the wasteland as a way to familiarize themselves with the plight of those that do not have the same opportunities. Their extended families are often supportive of such explorations as their information can later be used to further enhance the success of the Windfall as a whole.
As the dominant Pureblood family in the wastes, the Windfall family dresses however they care to. They are fond of the typical garish colors and jewelry common amongst the Pureblood strain. They have no specific color they favor as they believe that those within the Windfall should not be held to such rules. This has had an unexpected side effect within the family and Sequoyah Wastes Elitariat culture as a whole. When an Elitariat is engaging with an unknown family or an unfamiliar outfit they are often polite beyond measure. Now, this may change once they find out the actual affiliation of the individual, but it does help things start civil.
Need a venture capitalized? Want a debt paid off? The Windfall are always happy to appear helpful, and as long as you stay useful you don’t have to worry about them coming to collect their debts.
The Hardrocker Casino Family
Kings and Queens Court
A love of music, good times, and expensive religious relics have made the Hardrockers one the best regarded Casino Families in the Sequoyah Wastes. They’ve got enough money to get what they want, and are usually too preoccupied with their faith endeavors to notice if they are being ripped off. While they’ve been involved in just as many unpleasant wasteland things as most of the other Casino Families, they continue to enjoy popularity as generally well liked, or at least tolerated. They aren’t the best at playing at casino politics, so they are one of the less powerful groups but they don’t let that get in their way of having a good time.
They favor attire that highlights their interests in music. This could be lyrics from songs, musical notation or even the tattered remains of a scavenged t-shirt re-embroidered into a nicer garment.
This group is known for funding expeditions into remote parts of the wasteland in hopes of recovering relics that could improve their personal rank within the Hardrocker Casino Family. They don’t tend to care as much for the other things that are found, so partnering them on excavations is often seen as a good way to make money in the wasteland.
Moss-Iverspiit Casino Family
Light of Hedon
Costuming: Grey, security shirts, yellow tactical glasses, gold cables under epaulettes
A long time ago, two proto-casinos were failing at surviving in the apocalypse. They compromised, joined their forces, and a new entity was born. While they do not have the esteem of being a single surname Casino Family, they have more than made up for that by being the most effective mercenary entity within the wastes. When someone in the wastes needs hired muscle, they hire the Moss-Iverspiit Casino Family. Well, if they can afford it.
You will never see a Moss-Iverspiit injure another Moss-Iverspiit while on contract. This is because in each of their mercenary contracts, Moss-Iverspiits have a shared agreement where they are to remove themselves from any field of conflict one-by-one until only one of the warring parties has any Moss-Iverspiit mercenaries remaining on their side. This has allowed the family to grow in unprecedented ways and they are now commonly considered the second most successful Casino Family within the Sequoyah Wastes.
Moss-Iverspiit are a bit more direct than their other Elitariat peers. As devotees of the Light of Hedon, a significant portion of them focus on Wrath. However, you will find all aspects of Hedon within the Moss-Iverspiits. The grey in their outfits is a callback to their ancestral attire. What they once lacked in flare is now more than made up for by wearing the most expensive survival accessories available. They are fond of grey shades, running into deep blues that can be accented with gold.
The Moss-Iverspiit Casino Family can be found anywhere there is an opportunity for money to be made off of the application of violence.
The Shiverwind Casino
The Shiverwind Casino is known for loving all things morbid and creepy. While the Casino produces a significant amount of Days for the family, they have learned that their real gift is in exploiting the corpse of the old world. The Shiverwind family produces a higher than average number of Jones. These Jones Purebloods are then responsible for scouring the wastes for treasures and ghastly little things they find of interest. Whatever they don’t like is often sold off to the other Pureblood families at as high a price as market forces will allow.
Historically, the Shiverwind family was known for ‘rescuing’ Full Dead survivors from wherever they may have gotten themselves stuck in various necropolii. Additionally, they seem to be the only people who knew where to find the pre-fall cryo pods that had a shot at producing a Semper Mort. Semper Morts and Full Dead within the Sequoia Wastes are likely to have some sort of historical connection to the Shiverwind family. Some have stayed with the family as a matter of tradition or convenience, but most have left to live their own lives.
Costuming: Their connection to all things morbid is often obvious in their dress. The Shiverwinds are fond of black clothing with bright colors, intricate lace and ornate jewelry as an accent to the outfit.
Oldcastle Casino
The Oldcastle family once held a near monopoly on agriculture exploitation within the green space of Verdigrift Gardens. Through the actions of Grifters and others, the Oldcastle has been significantly reduced in what they are capable of accomplishing. They have recently recovered their ancestral home and are trying to figure out their place in the wastes.
Firebrand Casino
This casino is the first (and so far only) time that a casino was built, established and enrolled in to the Red Earth Casino Coalition since the RECC's founding. Even then, all of the other casinos were established and secured locations from before the rise of the undead. The Firebrand was a combined effort by a highly motivated group of marginalized strains that wished to secure for themselves the rights and privileges that had previously evaded them. While it was originally comprised primarily of Irons, Semper Morts and Full Dead, it has since accepted a few additional strains. They have seen relative success since becoming an RECC Casino and tend to avoid taking sides in intra-casino struggles.
The Fortune Reserve and Casino (Destroyed)
The Fortune was never counted among the wealthiest or largest of casinos in the Sequoia Wastes. However, the Fortunes were regarded as Purebloods that were able to stay relatively neutral during inter-casino disputes. This unique place among the Casino families meant that The Fortune was often the place that other Purebloods would go to settle their differences or buy themselves out of problems. This relatively trustworthy status among the Casino families caused the Fortune to become the home away from home for the valuables of many a paranoid Pureblood. Can’t trust your kids to not prematurely murder you for your stuff? Put their inheritance in the Fortune and your future is safe!
Owning a private vault became a mark of high standing among the elite of the Sequoia Wastes casinos. It was well known that anyone who was anyone had a private collection at the Fortune. This was likely a contributing factor in why the Final Knight forces of Felvik chose to take the Fortune before they attacked any other casino. While the public line pushed by the RECC is that the loss of the Fortune family was the motivation for everyone setting aside their differences, most of the more cynical Purebloods think the decision to team up was motivated solely by money.
The survivors of the death of the Fortune casino still carry the name with them to this day. While many of them have found new casino homes, and the names that are required of such affiliation, they will still proudly identify themselves as having an ancestral claim to the Fortune Reserve and Casino. These Purebloods include ex-Fortune at the end of their names.