Hope
This outpost known as 'Hope' sits in the south eastern region of the desert of Mort. This outpost is Neutral.
History
As with many of the outposts on all sides, Hope has a very muddled history that is hard to distinguish from the rest of the flow of events. It has felt the influence of all three major factions on Rubi-Ka, it may have been the first location that saw the Kyr'ozch aliens, and the first appearance of the Pumpkinheads. It is fairly easy to discern though, that Hope was originally an Omni-Tek mining camp that was later abandoned.
The construction of the main buildings is the same sandblasted metaplast platting that can be found in Meetmedere and some places in Newland City and often bears the OT logo on it.
The prison seems to be a different make, and because of the cracks it seems that it may have been made of some sort of superment or other concrete mix. The walls also appear to be made of laid stone or brick of some sort, but that construction is more reminiscent of similar walls found in West Athen.
The shack buildings that lay around the rest of the town are all very similar to the ones that can be found in the enclaves and hide outs all around the face of Rubi-Ka where people have tried to escape the war, or simply sought to get out of the watchful eyes of major city officials on both sides.
From these structural elements we can discern three phases of history for Hope.
- The first is the mining camp phase where the colony would have been founded when Omni-Tek was pushing its mining program to the edges of the Terraformed Zone. In this phase the Terraforming tower (the large white tower belching black smoke), as well as the two shop buildings would have been built in Hope.
- The second phase would take place after the First Rubi-Ka Civil War ended and during the Clan administration of the northern territories after 29227 when Tir was being built and the clans were seeking to entrench themselves. At this point the prison and walls would have been built. The reason would presumably be that the consuming deserts of the Mort area would have killed any severely weakened prisoners who attempted the escape without the use of insurance, which was not implemented until much later.
- The third stage of building would have taken place closer to the present day, likely in 29470 when the Tir Accord was signed and Newland City was put in Neutral control. The details about this are sketchy at best, but it would not be too much to guess that Hope was abandoned by the Clans because of its remoteness and the obsolescence of its prison capabilities with insurance. So from there the remaining shacks were built and the bar was put in place. This is likely because the dangerous nature of Mort makes it difficult to mine Notum without major military support, putting the private miners out of business.
ICC Deployment
Unusually for locations scheduled for occupation in the ICC Peacekeeper deployment of August 29476, no actual ICC peacekeepers are stationed at Hope. The guards found there are dressed in the manner of the ICC but carry no insignias to that affiliation. It is likely that the guard is simply drawn from the local populace.
Halloween
During October of the year 29475, several strange entities appeared around Halloween time featuring odd, distorting bodies with glowing, pumpkin-like heads, who wielded scythes. These creatures were later called Uncle Pumpkinhead by people who battled them. The entities first attacked the people living in Hope at the time, as they first rose in Mort. This tradition continues every year and it would seem that Uncle Pumpkinhead rises first in Mort and then migrates to Notum rich areas all over the Terraformed Zone. The Pumpkinheads are only a small part of the extensive added content Funcom has added for the Beltane celebration, extensively covered in the article 'Halloween'
Alien Invasion
Early in 29477 there was a strange event that occurred near the small town. Several Cyborg hunters that frequent the southern areas of Mort reported seeing a strange green colored craft crash down in the desert. During the investigation of the crash site, many of the hunters who went to investigate were slain in an unknown manner. This was quickly responded to as many Clansmen arrived to investigate. Shortly after Omni-Tek Armed Forces personnel airlifted in and strange humming noises where heard by the gathered crowd, which led to the gathered Clans to be decimated by some unknown force. When a larger group of Clan fighters arrived and wiped out the Omni-Tek forces, officals claimed they were only working to recover a reconnaissance team and ship.
Present Day
Much like the graffiti on the gate suggests, the outpost of Hope is a bit hopeless in terms of its present and future status. Hope has very little to offer the current Rubi-Ka economy, it is remote, and exists in an area that is plagued by mutant monsters, cyborgs, and deadly breeds of fauna. Despite this fact, the residents of Hope have been standing resiliently against the forces seeking to destroy it by eking out a minor subsistence living.
Services
- Despite its run down look, Hope features both a full service Basic general store and Advanced general store like are found in Newland, Borealis, and Harrys. The Basic shop can be found in the building located at (2850,1900). The Advanced is nearby at (2830,1890)
- Hope has Whompah connections on the Neutral network going to Newland Desert, Stret West Bank and Sabulum.
- All travelers in the Mort region are highly advised to take advantage of Hope's Insurance services as well as examine their mission posting terminals.
People and Sightseeing
- Corky, the intelligent van/car thing that was featured in the AO animated series that was released on the web can be found in ruins outside of Hope at (2810,1870).
- Des Morck once sold Muscular Stims in front of Mack's, south of the north gate. He and his trade have moved to ICC HQ
- Mack's Beer and Booze is a smoky little bar that is situated near the entrance to Hope. Mack's bar was featured in the AO animated series and still bears the scars from a cyborg attack shown in that show. The building itself is pretty dangerous as the suppression is rated at 5%. Mack, the bartender and proprietor is not very talkative or helpful, nor is the drunken patron stumbling around named Bonzo. If you are looking for less of a bar and more for a bar brawl, then this is the place to go.
- For some reason or another Hope has a fully functional prison that takes up around 20% of the total town. Like many of the other Neutral towns, this prison is guarded by a pair of mean looking Atroxes.
- Zoftig Blimp is a peace loving merchant that (for some reason) hangs out in Hope at (2830,1920) touting his line of superior eyewear and novelty merchandise, whose usefulness is likely hotly debatable.
Storyline & Video
- Prophet Without Honor Video aka the Uncle Pumpkinhead video, Part I.
- Prophet Without Honor page with PDF links to the story on Anarchy Online.com
Loot, Tradeskills, Raids, Events
See Main Article: Halloween
