The Wards

When the city of Houston was established in 1836 it's founders divided into districts called wards.  At its peak Houston had six wards.  The ward system was done away with in 1915 but some of the communities are still referred to as Wards in the Houston of today as well as in 2072.

The 5th Ward:

Northeast of Downtown, the Fifth Ward is bounded by the Buffalo Bayou, Jensen Drive, Liberty Road, and Lockwood Drive.  In the Shadowrun Universe of 2075 the Fifth Ward is much like it was in the early 20th Century.  The Fifth Ward is one of the poorest sections of Houston, is over-run by gangs, and is the place the sinless and the downtrodden go to disappear.  Once a proud African-American community, unemployment and crime drove businesses and the working class out.  After the Awakening things didn't get much better. 

The Fifth Ward became home to a large Orc community and Tusk Town was born.  Located in the north west of the Fifth Ward, Tusk Town stretches between the corner of Liberty and Altoona to the South East to old CAS Highway 59 and Collingsworth in the North West corner. The self proclaimed "King" of Tusk Town is an Orc Ganger named Tusk.  Tusk rules Tusk Town with an iron fist and his gang the Tuskers rule inside the towns limits.  That being said the Orc Community inside thrives under his protection and although the community has no illusions to what Tusk is they concede to the crime and chaos caused by his gang in exchange for the protection that it garners.  Hundreds of non-Orcs live within it's unofficial borders and as long as they do not cause any trouble they are tolerated at worst and are often friends with their Orc neighbors.  Rival criminal activity, however, is not only intolerable it is often ratted out by its inhabitants to the Tuskers.  Tusk does not allow it to go on in his community and will strike with all his assets to stamp it out.  Rival gangs travelling through Tusk Town without permission are met with extreme prejudice.  Runners with operations within Tusk Town are better off asking Tusk's permission first and after an appropriate bribe, sanctioned.  Tusk doesn't react well if an operation goes down in Tusk Town and if the Runners are found there operating without permission are treated harshly and the Tuskers will shoot first and ask questions later. 

The rest of the Fifth Ward is divided among other gangs and organized crime.  In the South East you have the Mystics, a gang made up of mostly Humans.  The Mystics are a go gang and roam the streets looking for weak prey.  In the South East the largest controlling gang is the Lyons led by Julius, a charismatic black man who dresses in purple and gold and drives his Bentley through the streets.  Julius and his gang are into drugs, BTLs, and other illegal substances.  Other smaller gangs pepper the area but these three are the largest and most dangerous. 


<<INCOMING DATA>>

<<FalseProfit>>
--Tusk Town is not so bad if you make good with the locals....Just don't cross Tusk I have seen him literally crucify people....

<<ShutYoShaft>>
--Everyone knows not to mess with Tusk, but Julius is worse....he doesn't even pretend to care about the people on his turf....




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