Springwater

The town of Springwater contains just one-hundred-and-seventy-eight permanent souls. It lies just off the old I-15 in the southern part of the territory once known as "Utah" and five miles away from the Temple Hill Excavation Site, a massive open-pit mine owned and operated by the Yanayev Mineral Corporation, based in Bay City.

A high-speed mag-lev train runs from Bay City to the Temple Hill site by way of Las Vegas along the old Interstate-15. Typically a single train arrives every Monday, and once every three weeks several passenger cars are attached which transport new technicians for the mine as well as a few brave commercial passengers headed for the desert.

Temple Hill Excavation Site
Until recently, a lumpy mound of dark rock called Pavant Butte was visible on the horizon to the north of Springwater. The remains of an ancient, extinct volcano, a local man decided to build a small church at its base in the days after the Event, which is how it came to be known as "Temple Hill".

Forty years ago Yanayev satellites detected rare mineral deposits within the core of Temple Hill's lava chamber, and the mining complex was soon initiated.

Today, the open-pit mine is over a half-mile deep and three miles across. Anywhere between fifty and eighty specialists are on-staff at a given time, overseeing the operation of over seven hundred autonomous and semi-autonomous excavation machines.

History of Springwater
Springwater was founded decades before the excavation began as a small but vital supply depot for the prospectors and pioneers setting out from Las Vegas and into the Western Territory. It still serves that function today, although since the abandonment of Las Vegas there is a lot less human traffic.

Today, most of Springwater's citizens make a living by catering to the well-paid security contractors and corporate-employed specialists who work at the mines. While the mines provide meals and on-site housing, Springwater's bars, card houses, arcades, restaurants, and brothels offer extracurricular activities that the corporations simply can't provide.

Layout
There is a small AnyFarm installation on the southern edge of the town, attached to the aging Ion Reactor that the locals have dubbed “Big Bumpy” for the bumping sound it makes when it's running at maximum capacity. The reactor provides power to most of Springwater, along with scattered wind turbines and solar panels, and it sends a portion of the semi-cooled (but still rather hot) water from the turbines through the glass chambers of the AnyFarm, which, along with sunlight, promotes the rapid growth of edible blue algae, which the AnyFarm processes into a variety of patented synthetic foodstuffs, such ProVena soup bricks and VitaChow. Healthy, affordable, and decent-tasting once you get over the fact that it's algae and drown it in hot sauce. This, along with the gen meats that the grocer ships in from the Bay, provides the bulk of residents' meals.

Businesses & Landmarks
The AnyFarm

"Big Bumpy"

Cherry's

The Garage

Jail

Mayor's Office

Old Utah Weapons & Ammunition

The Pearl

Preston's Liquor & Dry Goods

The Radio

Sakura's

Salt Flats

Sheriff's Office

The Springs

Temple Hill Excavation Site

Recent Events Springwater's Mayor, Redd "Brass" Wilson, has had a mostly amicable relationship with the Yanayev corporation's local liaison and site overseer, Sub-Administrator Alison Weaver, all things considered, but in the past year there has been an increasing number of violent incidents between Yanayev and other corporate staff and the locals, culminating in the recent murder of the town's former Sheriff, Keith Howard.

New Sheriff With nothing but a couple teenage rookie Deputies left to guard the town, Mayor Brass temporarily took on the responsibilities of Sheriff until a proper replacement could be found.