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A static settlement is simply a settlement that doesn't move around like a traction city and stays put, much to the chagrin of tractionists. Although the lands controlled by the Anti-Traction League (mostly in Asia towards Europe) is the largest landmass of anti-traction and static settlements, other bastions of static settlements exist throughout the world.

Although smaller static settlements are not considered to always be with the Anti-Traction League, larger ones such as Zagwa are not considered "friends" of the Traction Cities.

Description[]

Ancient Cities[]

Most Ancients' cities such as San Francisco and New York were static; their bugs (cars & trains) were thought as movable suburbs and neighborhoods. However, the cities of the American Empire were all destroyed in the Sixty Minute War, excepting Anchorage (which mobilized, and then became static when the Traction Era ended.)

Spitzbergen Static[]

The Spitzbergen Static was a large northern static city somewhere on the border of the ice wastes, it was known to be a rather militaristic regularly reopening attacks from predators and pirate airships. Spitzbergen unfortunately suffered after Thaddeus Valentine destroyed the Anti-Traction League‘s northern air fleet and the city was consumed by Arkangel in 1008TE.[1]

Western Archipelago[]

The Western Archipelago is a small island chain located in the place of the once southwestern peninsula of England, it is unknown how the islands were actually created but it can be assumed it was in either the destruction of the Sixty Minute War or the subsequent aftershocks. North of the archipelago was the Cymric Archipelago.

Within the archipelago there are three islands known for their size and habitation; Red Deer Island, Oak Island, and Badman Island (sometimes spelt Bodmaen). Red Deer island is known for a regularly occurring slave market as mentioned in A Darkling Plain, this market being where the air trader Napster Varley purchased his wife. Oak island on the other hand is more peaceful and is known for farming and having a demobilised city on it named Dunroamin'.

It can be speculated that given the archipelagos location, the islands Oak and Bodmaen take their names from the English towns Oakehampton and Bodmin which exist in the southwest and in a similar location in the map present in the Fever Crumb books that shows the archipelago.

Tibesti Static[]

The Tibesti static is the collective name for a small mountain chain in Northern Africa and its static forts and towns. Their survival is based off of the fact the mountain chain is so steep and rocky, ingress of the large and bulky traction settlements is all but impossible. The Tibesti static is also all that remains of the Tibesti culture, one of the once flourishing spring cultures that existed in Africa in the aftermath of the Sixty Minute War.

Andes statics[]

Like the Tibesti static, the Andes statics are a collective term for the static settlements in the vast Andes mountain chain in Nuevo Maya. Static settlements in the Andes include Chakana (Old Chile) and Inihuatana (0ld Peru).

Australian statics & New Zealand[]

Ignoring the surviving Australian people left in the aftermath of the war, anti-tractionists are credited as the first group to recolonise the continent, Settling on the northern coast creating large port towns for trade and commerce. With tractionism being enthusiastically adopted in Australia  in mid-700TE the Northern cities were quickly eaten by the new Australian cities forcing a move into the blue mountains (where Sydney had since moved out of the Burnt Coast) in Australia's south east. These Australian Anti-tractionists are closely tied to the main Anti-Traction League and often make daring raids on cities that come too close to their mountains.

With the exception of Wellington which became a raft city, much of New Zealand remained a de-motorised zone the landmass being to small to even support an traction ecosystem for long regardless.

Static settlements in New Zealand and Australia include Fort Uluru (Mid-Australia), Karaitiana (South Island) and Haungawhau (North Island).

Ireland[]

Ireland is in a similar way to New Zealand, the landmass of mainland Ireland is cut off from the rest of the main hunting ground (even while connected to the former British Isles, which angled themselves due to tectonic movements) and as such is too small on its own to support an ecosystem. Any towns that did mobilise (and were not eaten by London) became rafts like Wellington, an example of this being Dun-Laoghaire and Dalkey.

Black Island[]

The Black Island is a large rock outcrop in the Sea of Kazak in a close proximity to the Rust Water Marshes, so much that it can be reached by a day of sailing. It's main notability comes from the air caravansi in its centre which was used by aviators heading north from the Middle Sea and lands of the Anti-Traction league. 

Airhaven used the caravansi in 1007TE after its main power plant was sabotaged alongside suffering damage to the superstructure and envelopes caused by the Stalker Shrike and London airship GE63, forcing it to land for repairs. At the same time the island was besieged by the amphibious suburb Tunbridge Wheels, which was seeking to consume Airhaven, after its mayor Chrysler Peavy having learnt of the landing. The suburb was later sunk by the Jenny Haniver along with other airships from Airhaven and the isle, them forming a ragtag defence.

Later still the island was besieged again by the Traktionstadtsgesellschaft when Green Storm forces sought to hold their advance to keep the Black Isle as an airbase, whilst serving the dual purpose of covering for the Resurrection Corps. There, they re-reanimated the body of the Stalker Shrike, whom was buried on the island after being deactivated by Tom Natsworthy after the failed besiege of Tunbridge Wheels nearly 18 years earlier.

The Hundred Islands[]

The Hundred Isles is also an archipelago like the Western Isles but is much much larger with an estimated thousand plus islands making it up. The largest settlement in the islands is Palau Pinang with hundreds of small settlements dotted around the islands. Mobile cites also used this as a safe haven, the islands blocking the approach of huge rafts like Grimsby and trading with the locals. One specific predator did exploit this however: the Fastiticalon, which led to the assassination of its Sultana. 

Given the presence of Palau Pinang, a real city in Malaysia, it can be presumed that the Hundred Isles are made up of the survivors of South East Asian countries (e.g Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines). Their formation like the Western Archipelago, bursting forth from the ocean, is likely a result of the Sixty Minute War and its aftershocks.

Indian Statics[]

India also has some static settlements. After tractionsism was accidentally introduced to India by Panjandrum, many cities on the mainland began to mobilise, pushing away from the interconnected railway system it had built earlier or even before the traction era, into only a few heavily defended fortresses in the south. These static cities, the largest being Kandy and Sigryiva, are located on a peninsula in the south of the subcontinent called Lakdiva and have endured because of the difficulty for a city to cross the land bridge of Rama's Bridge due to its presumably inconvenient cartography in conjunction with its defences.

Vineland[]

While the Dead Continent seems to be completely uninhabitable, there was in fact a patch of fertile land to the north of it. The area was called Vineland, home to a now-demobilised settlement, once associated with Alaska, U.S.A., the city of Anchorage. While the settlement was static, it was neither Anti-Tractionist nor Green Storm.[2][3]

Aleutian Islands[]

The Aleutian Islands are an island chain in the Pacific Ocean, presumably south of the state formerly named Alaska. Oenone Zero and her mother lived on the island chain, and Oenone's mother had an airbase, but was eventually eaten by amphibious suburbs.[4]

Khamchatka statics & Altai Shan[]

Khamchatka is a peninsula presumably to the east of the country of Russia, near the Aleutian island chain. It is home to static settlements, who were reported to have been attacked by Slavic traction cities around the time the Traktionstadtgesellschaft was formed. Altai Shan is presumably in the former Altai Mountains, and had also experienced attacks from the Slavic traction towns.

Alpine statics[]

Static settlements exist in the old Alps, now called the Shatterlands (there was a Slow Bomb strike there once). The Anti-Tractionists here live in hilltop hovels.

Laos and Annam[]

Laos and Annam, in South-East Asia, are said to have 'jungle strongholds'.

Sardinia harbours[]

In the 9th century T.E, the Zagwan Empire is said to have harbours in Sardinia.

Djebel Tarik (Gibraltar)[]

Djebel Tarik is the name of Gibraltar in the Traction Era, which now serves as the last foothold of the Zagwan Empire in Europe and an important stronghold for the Anti-Traction League.

Los Muros Viellos[]

A static settlement possibly located somewhere in Spain. It was the location of a battle between Traction Cities and the Anti-Traction League, with the city surviving.

References[]

  1. Predator's Gold, Chapter 2: "Hester and Tom"
  2. Predator's Gold, Chapter 35: "An Ark of Ice"
  3. Infernal Devices, Chapter 2: "At Anchorage-in-Vineland"
  4. Infernal Devices, Chapter 13: "Dr. Zero"
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