ARCHIVE: Griggsby Station - Chapter 2 - Applying Some Pressure, Part 2 (PDF Version) (Patreon)

ARCHIVE: Griggsby Station - Chapter 2 - Applying Some Pressure, Part 2 (PDF Version)

All Roads Pass Through Griggsby Station

Welcome to Griggsby Station, a sleepy frontier town deep in the heart of the Carthagian Badlands. Known as "The Griggs" by locals, the town serves both as a stopover on the Sovereign airship route connecting Capitol City with Restoration Point and a transfer point for travelers continuing north by rail towards the Northern Marches. On any given day, it is common to see haughty Sovereign royalty, savage barbarians, uniformed airship crewmen, exotic Achaemeni Corsairs, wily sky pirates, red fez-wearing members of the Order of The Crimson Meridian, traders, explorers, outlaws, and frontier settlers making their way through town.

The town is a Badlands crossroads of sorts and while many travelers pass through The Griggs, few stay.

Healthy commerce and a unilateral non-aggression pact negotiated by the region's Tribes and Settlements Council helps keep the peace, with some assistance from Constable Ennaya T'wayh. She and her deputy, Perceval Farraday, ensure the streets of Griggsby Station are mostly quiet and somewhat orderly. In a town like Griggsby Station, maintaining order takes constant vigilance, a healthy work ethic, a keen understanding of human nature, lightning fast reflexes, and marksman-like aim. Marshal T'wayh is a pragmatic, straightforward, no-nonsense Officer of The Peace. Charged with keeping Griggsby Station safe for its residents and the thousands of visitors who are passing through on their way to somewhere else, the Marshal and her Deputy are the sole proprietors of law and order in the area. Together, the tackle everything from the mundane fist fight to armed robbery and grisly murders, often perpetrated by the wily Zeke Dalton and his savage Dalton Gang. It's not a life someone would choose. But, like many in the Griggsby Station, the Marshal has a past she would like to forget. So, taking up the mantle and badge of an Officer of the Peace is her way of atoning for her dark past.

For Lady Olivia Trensch, Griggsby Station is a home, of sorts. A self-exiled Sovereign who disavows her royal heritage, Captain Trensch owns and operates an old airship freighter, ferrying cargo, and the occasional passenger, between Griggsby Station and the remote settlements scattered across the region. With her First Mate, Clive, she maintains a brisk business conducted far from the Sovereign-patrolled airship routes, trading supplies, weapons, and other contraband to any and all interested parties -- with no questions asked. But, making a living in the Badlands is rife with danger and like all airship pilots, Captain Trensch is always on the lookout for dust storms, bad weather, and the region's merciless airborne predators: Sky Pirates. It's a rough-and-tumble existence, but for Lady Trensch the freedom and fortune of this life is far better than the gilded cage captivity of being a Gifted Sovereign Lady in Emperor Frederick's Court.

The hardy people that eke out a living in the vast, arid wasteland that is the Carthagian Badlands have a rich cultural history awash with myths and legends. One such legend tells of a tribe of inventors and tinkerers who live below the surface in caverns connected by miles of tunnels hewn from the bedrock -- the Mekka Clan. With pale skin, luminous green eyes, and an unrelenting curiosity, Mekka only venture to the surface to trade their exquisitely fabricated devices, tools, and weapons for supplies and raw materials produced by other tribes. They are rarely seen in a town or settlement, preferring to live far away from any "Sirfs." Then there's Mekka Third Degree Fixer, Djinn. The wickedly intelligent young woman has risen to the level of Third Degree Fixer faster than most Mekka -- a rank that would take decades to reach, she achieved in only a few short years. Harboring an almost unhealthy fascination with the surface world, Djinn regularly leads the clan's trade mission with the Sirfs, so that she can experience life in the world above.

For these three Badlanders, life continues as usual until the discovery of ancient, powerful artifacts catapults them into a dangerous game of closely-guarded secrets and competing interests. As if their newly-complicated life isn't difficult enough, an accident leaves them all with a most unexpected guest whose presence could shift the balance of power in the region.

This is Griggsby Station!

DISCLAIMER: No AI was used or abused in the making of this art or the writing of this story.

Stories and art by Aaron Hanson (c) 2023