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"I often travel to Vad to be alone in the Carapace Badlands. I like to sit and imagine what it was like before the Blinding. I can almost see the magnificent beasts that called it home. The rolling brown hills. The field stretching to the horizon. Then I open my eyes and remember why those with power should be forbidden from using it." - from the memoirs of Lewin Von Treet, Vault: the Land of Stuff and Things
The desolation known as the Carapace Badlands was once a thriving, breathing landscape with life found nowhere else in Vault, known as the Carapace Steppe. In 1985, during the Blinding of Zayv, the Steppe was utterly destroyed and transformed by the Elder Dragon, Embergore. It is now a place where few things grow and fewer things survive.
The Carapace Badlands earned its name due to the hulking, massive animals, known as Hart Skals, that once resided there. Their enormous, armor-plated shells would dot the horizon for miles and miles, making it seem as though the land itself had a carapace to protect it. It was, in fact, the Hart Skals that allowed the draconic population of Vad to thrive in the times before the Elder Dragons. With no other natural predators, Hart Skals made the perfect prey for the intelligent and dexterous dragons. There was a balance to the endless fields of Vad. The peaceful, herbivorous, prolific Hart Skals tended the land like a garden, and the carnivorous dragons kept their population in check, while also leaving behind massive shells to be used as shelters and landmarks for the people of the Steppe.
But Embergore's fire burned hotter than any that came before, and the Elder Dragon left nothing in his wake. Now, the melted and grotesque ligaments and marrow of Hart Skal shells create a maze of twisted bone throughout the Badlands. And it is in this hellscape the people of Vad now vie for dominion.
Where once there were dozens of clans in the Carapace Badlands, there are now three. The others have been dominated or extinguished by the remaining three, though the memories of their existence are both honored and cherished. The story of these clans is the story of the Badlands themselves. After the Blinding of Zayv, the land was unusable and those who wished to survive moved north to the sea to found Hemfjallnyr. However, sects of Vadians unwilling to be pushed from their homeland stayed, and they were joined by a new people migrating north out of the dwarven home of Dagmar: the gnomes.
Drawn by the legend of Zayv, which had only grown to mythical extents, the gnomes who came to Vad wanted to celebrate the only member of their kind to have ever risen to such prominence. Additionally, many of the those gnomes fully believed the rumor that Zayv was still alive somewhere in the Carapace Badlands, and they made it their lifelong goal to find him. It did not take long for this sentiment to evolve into religious fervor, and the Zayvian Faith was born. Practiced almost exclusively in the Carapace Badlands, Zayvians hold that through technological might they may also ascend to the power of Zayv, Lost in the Stars. They are quite transparent about their lust for power, which held very well with the traditions of Vad. The gnomes were accepted into the struggle for domination, but more importantly, so were their machines.
The arrival of the gnomes in the Carapace Badlands fundamentally changed the landscape, both figuratively and literally. They brought with them the ingenuity, genius, and mechanical know-how they'd developed for centuries in Dagmar, but now had an open environment to go as big as their dreams dared. And they dreamed big.
Massive moving cities known as Euripidomes were constructed and were perfectly suited to traversing the hellish landscape of the Badlands. It became necessary to make use of the gnomish weaponry or suffer the fates of those clans who were too slow to adapt. Now, there are three massive Euripidomes, built from the scrap of the others, becoming more and more impressive with every enemy they devoured.
Skaab - lead by the dragonborn Die-Nasty, the Skaab clan cares for nothing but proving themselves the ultimate power in the badlands. Indeed, the Skaabs believe once Carapace has been dominated, they'll have the power to unite all of Vad, take it back from the elder dragons, and see the original vision of Zayv fulfilled: a world together, under their rule.
Griest - the devout clan who want nothing more than to find Zayv in the Badlands, they are lead by the gnome Oppendinguz "OZ" Zugnidneppo. The Griest have had the fewest dominations throughout the Badlands history but their Euripidome is by far the most advanced and well built. They put up a hell of a fight when necessary, but they'd rather spend their time searching every hole and corner for their lost legend.
Chunka - not the sharpest scrap on the heap, the Chunka clan has a reputation for happening upon battle rather than planning for it. Lead by storm giant Giganto, this clan has a habit of wandering out of the Badlands, a social faux pas between the clans, and attacking neighboring communities, including people living in the Castoff. However, despite their stupidity, the Chunka have magical abilities that go beyond their mediocre engineering and push their Euripidome into an absolute terror to encounter.
Those traveling the Carapace Badlands are expected to abide by the tenants of the clans:
If there's a fight, you have to fight
If you're fighting, you deserve respect
If you have respect, you are honored
If you die with honor, you will be remembered
There's no doubt some of the most battle-hardened and dangerous people in all of Vault live in the Carapace Badlands, but the place they call home is a twisted labyrinth of sinew and bone, sitting beneath a sky heavy with dust and the fumes of burning combustion, where even the crows have trouble finding a decent meal. But they call it home all the same.
The clans are content to fight among themselves and mostly leave the world to its own devices. But there are those who understand the greatest mechanical engineering in Vault is happening in that terrible place, and it's all being done in pursuit of a religious myth alongside the roughest people in Vad. Perhaps best to let it alone.
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