The shipbuilding industry that had been the lifeblood of Greenlight disappeared during the late 1940s. With the majority of the readily available workforce from New Hyperia drying up, the shipyards fell silent. The dockworkers who handled cargo were still there, but the factories went quiet. The innovations put forth by Damascus after WWII changed all of that.
Pre-World War I
Greenlight takes it’s name from the Greene Light Company, which provided the optics, lamps, and other equipment for lighthouses along the Eastern Seaboard. The deep bay and stable coast made it a natural fit for wharves, docks, and warehousing. Heavy industrialization turned some of those docks into shipyards, and Greenlight produced ships for the civil war. The next sixty years saw more investments in the shipyards, to the detriment of other concerns...
Early 20th Century
Greenlight suffered heavily from the Great Depression. The death of so many men from New Hyperia during WWI hit the industrial needs of Greenlight hard. Not being able to meet production quotas by the mid 30s, the shipbuilding industry started to falter. The lack of diversified industrial interests meant that when the shipyards went silent, everything fell apart. Only a few shipyards remained viable (specifically ones producing ships for the U.S. Navy), and there were far too few jobs for the many workers.
World War II forced Greenlight to diversify for the war effort. Factory jobs skyrocketed as the allies needed ships, tanks, planes and a host of other military equipment. After the war, The Damascus company, headed by Morton Damascus, moved in hard into the Greenlight district. Everything north of Ulton was owned by the Damascus company by the fifties. South of Ulton was gobbled up by a pair of different competing interests.
An influx of Asians (predominantly Japanese, Korean, and Viatnamese) brought with them different sensibilities. Rumors of a shadowy organization cutting across all three groups of immigrants persisted for years, and the first stirrings of a shift occurred during the 1950s with the incorporation of Dragon, Inc. Dragon Incorporated controls the southern end of Greenlight from the boundary of Callow’s End to Fallkirk blvd.
The middle ground, between Ulton and Fallkirk, is a melting pot of independent designers, startups, and other technological innovators. Dozens of small corporations and independent garage startups will make their start right there in Greenlight. Technology, while a wonderful thing, had growing pains.
Late 20th Century
Morton Damascus died on December 8th of 1991, and that created an outburst of insanity in Greenlight. His three children fought over control of the company, and that fight spilled out into the streets on more than one occasion. Inspired by the works of Heinlein and other science fiction writers, the Damascus siblings deployed combat robots, power armor, and a host of other advanced weapons.
Dragon Inc. deployed assets of their own to quell the fighting, (and rumors of every Mutant in New Hyperia mobilizing to contain the crisis to Greenlight) slowly brought the fighting to a halt. Lawyers, (and we mean a lot lawyers) eventually untangled the legal mess of the Damascus company holdings, and the three siblings fell into contentious ownership of the company.
During this time, Dragon Inc. moved to increase its market share in consumer goods, and the south end prospered under the shadows of the Dragon. Housing blocks rose and the overall quality of life improved. Friction between the Dragon and the independents north of Fallkirk always kept the unofficial border buzzing with tension.
21st Century
Dragon Inc. imploded in 2012. No one is entirely sure why, or even how it happened, but the company seemed to have lost its collective mind. Robots, drones, and powered armor hit the streets in waves and they ran red with blood. The body count would have been higher if it hadn’t been for the intervention of an outside party.
The Undying had appeared for the first time in 2007, one of their number showing up at Ma’s Noodle Shop with an advanced prototype of a sensor system that bought him a seat at the table. The independent operators saw the violence coming and reacted for the first time as a group. With a little bit of help from the Undying, the independents put the violence to an end, and slowly started to help the south end recover.
Culture
Greenlight is a melting pot of ideas and concepts. The heavy corporate culture of the Damascus Group has clashed with the often inscrutable wants and needs of Dragon Incorporated for almost sixty years. The friction between the two (and internal pressures) have created a bizarre series of social interactions and esoteric niceties. Deploying “military” equipment is a huge loss of face, but the definition of what that exactly consists of varies from day to day.
The other point of pride for every designer, builder, and wannabe technologist is proving their equipment is the best. Races, public equipment tests, and other competitive opportunities are constant, and enduring. One week’s ace performance is just the benchmark for next week’s proving ground.
Points of Interest
Damascus Co.
The headquarters of Damascus Co. sits at the northern end of the Greenlight district. For nearly thirty years, the children of Morton Damascus have been fighting over his empire. Morton was a brilliant, once in a generation talent and passed parts of that genius onto his three children. Together they expanded Damascus to be a household name in the auto market, the personal safety market, and household electronics.
The Death of Morton turned Damascus Co. upside down. His children, Franklin, Danni, and Kelly refused to honor their father’s will and took their battle public. The fallout from that battle almost brought the federal government down to nationalize the entire company, and only some shrewd maneuvering by Morton’s widow, Alice held them off. Nearing her 100th birthday, Alice continues to barely hold control over the board of directors while her children and grandchildren continue to fight over the company.
The Dragon’s Den
The center of Dragon Incorporated (and Dragon Consolidated) is a 120 storey tower of glass and steel. It dominates the waterfront skyline of Greenlight, and rises in stark contrast to the buildings across the river in City Center. The building is almost constantly being renovated, and the tower rises higher and higher every few years. The current board of Dragon Consolidated is working on renewing the surrounding neighborhoods and improving the quality of life for its employees.
Ma’s Noodle Shop
A local institution since 1952, Ma’s Noodle Shop is neutral ground for every inventor/designer/engineer in the city. Ma (no one’s sure if that’s a first name, last name, or even an honorific) keeps the shop open 24 hours a day, and there are people here discussing technology every hour of the day. The backlot has seen some of the most staggering technological demonstrations, though very few weapons tests occur in the middle of the city.
The Undying had appeared for the first time in 2007, one of their number showing up at Ma’s Noodle Shop with an advanced prototype of a sensor system that bought him a seat at the table. The independent operators saw the violence coming and reacted for the first time as a group. With a little bit of help from the Undying, the independents put the violence to an end, and slowly started to help the south end recover.
Culture
Greenlight is a melting pot of ideas and concepts. The heavy corporate culture of the Damascus Group has clashed with the often inscrutable wants and needs of Dragon Incorporated for almost sixty years. The friction between the two (and internal pressures) have created a bizarre series of social interactions and esoteric niceties. Deploying “military” equipment is a huge loss of face, but the definition of what that exactly consists of varies from day to day.
The other point of pride for every designer, builder, and wannabe technologist is proving their equipment is the best. Races, public equipment tests, and other competitive opportunities are constant, and enduring. One week’s ace performance is just the benchmark for next week’s proving ground.
Points of Interest
Damascus Co.
The headquarters of Damascus Co. sits at the northern end of the Greenlight district. For nearly thirty years, the children of Morton Damascus have been fighting over his empire. Morton was a brilliant, once in a generation talent and passed parts of that genius onto his three children. Together they expanded Damascus to be a household name in the auto market, the personal safety market, and household electronics.
The Death of Morton turned Damascus Co. upside down. His children, Franklin, Danni, and Kelly refused to honor their father’s will and took their battle public. The fallout from that battle almost brought the federal government down to nationalize the entire company, and only some shrewd maneuvering by Morton’s widow, Alice held them off. Nearing her 100th birthday, Alice continues to barely hold control over the board of directors while her children and grandchildren continue to fight over the company.
The Dragon’s Den
The center of Dragon Incorporated (and Dragon Consolidated) is a 120 storey tower of glass and steel. It dominates the waterfront skyline of Greenlight, and rises in stark contrast to the buildings across the river in City Center. The building is almost constantly being renovated, and the tower rises higher and higher every few years. The current board of Dragon Consolidated is working on renewing the surrounding neighborhoods and improving the quality of life for its employees.
Ma’s Noodle Shop
A local institution since 1952, Ma’s Noodle Shop is neutral ground for every inventor/designer/engineer in the city. Ma (no one’s sure if that’s a first name, last name, or even an honorific) keeps the shop open 24 hours a day, and there are people here discussing technology every hour of the day. The backlot has seen some of the most staggering technological demonstrations, though very few weapons tests occur in the middle of the city.
Everyone respects Ma’s as neutral ground, and if someone has a tech problem, there’s usually someone around who can lend expertise. Newcomers should be aware that there are near constant struggles between various groups regarding proprietary patents, ownership of ideas, and the latest technological breakthrough.
Miracle Row
Miracle Row (actually Jordian Blvd), runs east to west through the middle of the independent neighborhood between Ulton and Fallkirk. This is the beating heart of the independent technology market and has seen breakthroughs that turned science fiction into science fact. The first commercial robots rolled out of workshops on Miracle Row, as did flying cars, energy pistols, and a host of other modern marvels.
Miracle Row
Miracle Row (actually Jordian Blvd), runs east to west through the middle of the independent neighborhood between Ulton and Fallkirk. This is the beating heart of the independent technology market and has seen breakthroughs that turned science fiction into science fact. The first commercial robots rolled out of workshops on Miracle Row, as did flying cars, energy pistols, and a host of other modern marvels.
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