Monster Truckers - Life in Deepwater

Settlement: Deepwater, Missouri (Hamlet)
Population: 205 (A mixture of Gill-Folk, Humanoid Armadillos, Zombies, and one Anthropomorphic Crawdad)

Government: None (although Communist Anarchy would be an apt description)
Religion: Agnostic, Christian (Baptist)
Imports: Ultra-Diesel
Primary Industry: Roadside services, subsistence fishing and agriculture, salvage and recycling.
Alignment: NG, LG, LN, N, CG

     Before the world broke, Deepwater was a quiet human settlement. When the war between humans and monsters reached its terrifying climax, the human population evacuated en masse, fleeing toward the heavily fortified, militarized regional metropolises.
     Because the region lacked major military infrastructure or factories, it was spared from the devastating impact of the NT bombs. While the surrounding forests mutated and the old world decayed, Deepwater remained remarkably structurally intact. Crucially, the massive dam holding back the Truman Reservoir suffered only superficial fracturing; it remains stable, engineered well enough to hold the waters back for at least another century.
     As the smoke cleared, the area became a vacuum that drew in the war’s most vulnerable survivors.
     There are no electric lights, no humming appliances, and little motor traffic beyond the occasional traveler on Old-13. Instead, visitors hear conversations, hand tools, the creaking of windmill machinery, and the sounds of wildlife drifting in from the marsh.

     The Gill-Folk were the first to arrive. Drawn to the massive, unpolluted waters of the reservoir and the winding river channels, they realized the intact dam guaranteed a stable aquatic ecosystem. They claimed the waterways, setting up the fishing and salvage networks.
     The Humanoid Armadillos migrated from the arid, blasted plains to the south. The soft, silt-heavy clay around Deepwater Creek was perfect for digging their burrow-homes, and the abandoned human infrastructure provided a ready-made shield against Worstlands apex predators.
     The Zombies arrived not as a mindless horde, but as a tragic byproduct of the war's fallout. Lacking a predatory drive but deeply alienated from human cities, they drifted into the valley. Finding a community that didn't shoot them on sight, they stayed, offering their tireless, radiation-immune bodies to do the heavy digging, underwater salvage, and structural repair.
     Then, one day about ten years ago, a giant talking crawdad walked into town and set himself up as a salvage specialist.

     Old-13 runs north-south just east of the town while Deepwater Creek passes just north of the town and empties into a marsh and then Truemann Lake (a corruption of the pre-war name, Truman Lake) on the far side of the highway from the town. Crab-Man has a stilt-house out in the marsh with a long boardwalk leading out to it.

     Disputes are settled by an informal community consensus. Salvage belongs to whoever found it unless the original owner makes a claim, which proves interesting when a Zombie who has been dead for twenty years asks a Gill-Folk to return his trawling motor.

Natalie-Joy's Pulled Possum
Ingredients
• 1 medium opossum (skinned, gutted, and washed - an opossum that looks like it died from disease or as roadkill should not be used)
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 cups Wild Leek (Ramp) bulbs and greens (chopped; replaces onion/garlic)
• 1 large bunch Stinging Nettle tops (harvested bare-clawed; replace with celery if you don't have armored skin like an armadillo)
• 3 cups Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes) (scrubbed and sliced; replaces sweet potatoes)
• 1 to 2 cups chopped young dandelion greens
• 1 cup Sweet Pickled Ground Cherries (drained and lightly crushed; for the glaze)
• Seasoning of choice (Natalie-Joy uses Lawry's Seasoning Salt)

Place the prepared possum in the crockpot with chopped leek bulbs and stinging nettles. Add 1 cup of water. Simmer on Low for 6 to 8 hours, until the meat is tender and reaches an internal temperature of at least 165°F (74°C). Natalie-Joy just starts it at night before bed and comes back to it in the morning.

In the morning, pull the possum out of the crockpot and shred it.

Pour the liquid from the crockpot into a jar and allow it to settle. Skim off the thick grease while saving the broth.

Place the sliced sunchokes in the bottom of the crockpot with the dandelion leaves. Add the shredded meat and season heavily with Lawry's Seasoning Salt. Pour the crushed ground cherries on top. Add ½ cup of the broth.

Run the crockpot on Low for another 3 to 4 hours or until the sunchokes are tender and the ground cherries have dissolved into a glaze.

Note: The skimmed grease from the possum can be used as a rust-preventative, lubricant, lamp oil, or leather conditioner. Pinecones can be dipped in the grease and allowed to harden to make tinder packs for starting fires.