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The Distillery Combine

The Combine began as a practical alliance of refinery owners, clinic operators, and freight charter holders after the Shardfall Truce left the central shards fractured by broken routes and scarce medicine. In its first decade it rebuilt rail beds, standardized antiseptic production, and opened clinics at depots. Its service contracts became a substitute for public government in places where councils could not pay staff. The watershed moment came during the White Freight Winter, when a quarantine and a week of frozen switches stranded medical cargo. The Combine rerouted fuel trains to carry patients and saved hundreds, earning a reputation for competence that still protects it. The same emergency drove it to consolidate contracts and abandon the founding rule separating clinics from rail ownership. Directors argued that one chain of command had saved lives. Critics say it taught the Combine that control over movement could be used to decide who received care. Vigil began as an experimental treatment for people weakened by shard exposure and chronic blood loss. Early results were promising, and demand quickly exceeded lawful donor supplies. A production shortfall coincided with a prison transfer contract. Records from that period were sealed, and the current blood program grew from the arrangement. Over time, the Combine expanded into clinics and freight lines throughout the central shards, becoming indispensable and increasingly difficult to challenge. Today it presents itself as the backbone of recovery while privately treating Vigil's blood supply as a production problem to manage.

Factions
Industrial consortium with medical

The Distillery Combine

Competent, necessary, and sometimes overbearing.
Type
Industrial consortium with…
Size
1,200 members
Reach
Regional power with…
Base
The central junction settlement, a crossroads community whose official name changes with whichever Accord council holds the registry. Combine staff call it the Last Pour after their headquarters.

Overview

The Combine began as a practical alliance of refinery owners, clinic operators, and freight charter holders after the Shardfall Truce left the central shards fractured by broken routes and scarce medicine. In its first decade it rebuilt rail beds, standardized antiseptic production, and opened clinics at depots. Its service contracts became a substitute for public government in places where councils could not pay staff. The watershed moment came during the White Freight Winter, when a quarantine and a week of frozen switches stranded medical cargo. The Combine rerouted fuel trains to carry patients and saved hundreds, earning a reputation for competence that still protects it. The same emergency drove it to consolidate contracts and abandon the founding rule separating clinics from rail ownership. Directors argued that one chain of command had saved lives. Critics say it taught the Combine that control over movement could be used to decide who received care. Vigil began as an experimental treatment for people weakened by shard exposure and chronic blood loss. Early results were promising, and demand quickly exceeded lawful donor supplies. A production shortfall coincided with a prison transfer contract. Records from that period were sealed, and the current blood program grew from the arrangement. Over time, the Combine expanded into clinics and freight lines throughout the central shards, becoming indispensable and increasingly difficult to challenge. Today it presents itself as the backbone of recovery while privately treating Vigil's blood supply as a production problem to manage.

How it began

The Combine says its founders met after the Shardfall Truce to prevent another generation from dying between settlements. The less polished account begins with a refinery fire at the central junction. A line of clinic wagons was trapped on the wrong side of a collapsed freight span, and the survivors bargained away their independent rail charters for fuel, medicine, and passage. The negotiators combined those charters into a single operating trust. The name The Distillery Combine came from the first refineries, which distilled salvage chemicals into fuel and antiseptic. Their first charter prohibited any one director from owning both a clinic and a rail line. That safeguard lasted eleven years.

How to know them

MottoNo route left cold.
EmblemA red retort laid over three pale rail lines, its glass neck shaped like a drop of blood. The official explanation is that the drop represents medicine. Employees sometimes call it the tally mark.
Colours

Oxide red, Clinic white, Smoke gray

Signs
  • A red retort crossed by three pale lines
  • A drop-shaped tally mark used on shipping seals
  • White clinic cloth edged in oxide red
DressLicensed Hands wear practical gray work clothes with an oxide-red shoulder tab. Clinic staff add a white apron or sleeve band; freight crews wear heavy gloves and a numbered brass seal. Contract workers receive plain garments with no insignia, a distinction that makes their lower status visible.

Standing

AlignmentPublicly pragmatic and civic-minded; internally divided between profit-first pragmatists, reformers, and hardliners who consider any cost acceptable for survival.
AgeForty-three years since the Shardfall Truce
WealthVery wealthy in infrastructure, contracts, and productive capacity; less liquid than its public image suggests, with profits heavily committed to upkeep, political concessions, and Vigil production.

What they say they want

Keep essential medicine, fuel, and freight moving across the central shards.
Rebuild infrastructure damaged by the Shardfall and prevent isolated settlements from being cut off.
Offer practical treatment to anyone able to reach a Combine clinic.
Standardize safe production and transport of scarce medical supplies.

What they are doing now

Keep Vigil production profitable and its distribution uninterrupted across the central shards.
Maintain access to major refineries, clinics, and freight lines without provoking a coordinated revolt.
Trace the source of leaks in prisoner manifests before investigators connect them to the blood supply.
Secure an emergency transit agreement with the Ash Wardens before the next seasonal freight disruption.
Quietly test whether Vigil can be produced with less blood, without letting investors interpret the research as an admission of wrongdoing.

Where it leads

A stable central-shard economy in which every settlement can reach treatment, fuel, and freight through a shared infrastructure. The Combine's public vision emphasizes access; its private version places that infrastructure under one permanent charter, with the Combine setting prices, eligibility, and movement.

How others see them

Competent, necessary, and sometimes overbearing. Patients may credit Combine clinicians with saving their lives, while freight crews complain that its contracts turn basic access into a debt. Many settlements see it as an imperfect utility rather than a political power.

People

5 ranks

Chair of Measures

Oru Sen

Measured, humane in private, and practiced at postponing moral decisions until they become operational decisions. He can sincerely care for a patient and still sign a document that endangers prisoners.

  1. The Measure Board9 members

    Nine directors control budgets, contracts, production quotas, and policy. Major decisions require six votes, but emergency production orders can be issued by the chair and ratified later.

  2. Line Stewards38 members

    Regional operators responsible for refineries, clinics, freight depots, and outposts. They can bargain locally but cannot alter Vigil standards or publish production figures.

  3. Licensed Hands260 members

    Engineers, clinicians, clerks, drivers, guards, and trained freight crews. They receive housing and clinic access, but their employment contracts restrict what records they may copy.

  4. The Chair of Measures1 member

    Presides over the board, arbitrates disputes between divisions, and signs emergency quotas. The chair cannot legally overrule a board vote, though control of meeting schedules gives the office considerable power.

  5. Contract Labor900 members

    Seasonal workers, haulers, repair crews, and local hires. Their numbers fluctuate. They have the least access to medical care and no formal vote, despite doing much of the dangerous work.

Other key members

  • Mina Senior clinician and leading internal reformer
  • Brask Chief of central freight operations and likely successor candidate
  • Thaleia Vrak Director of contracts and political liaison
  • Kllu Depot supervisor and keeper of an unauthorized manifest archive

How they are organised

How it is runA chartered consortium whose divisions operate like a combination of public utility, private industry, and regional political authority
Who comes nextThe Measure Board elects a new Chair of Measures by a two-thirds vote. If the chair dies or is removed, the senior Line Stewards jointly manage operations until a vote is held. In practice, whoever controls meeting access, emergency quotas, and the largest regional contracts has the strongest claim. Oru Sen has no declared successor, and at least three blocs are preparing for a vacancy.
How they recruitApplicants are usually brought in through a depot apprenticeship, a clinic placement, or a contract for specialized work. Skilled recruits undergo reference checks and practical tests. The Combine emphasizes steady wages, training, and access to treatment, then asks new hands to sign confidentiality terms. Advancement depends as much on a supervisor's trust as on competence.
To join
  • Accept a written confidentiality and service contract.
  • Pass a skills assessment or complete a supervised apprenticeship.
  • Declare financial obligations and outside affiliations that could disrupt assigned work.
  • For licensed medical and records staff, submit to periodic audits controlled by the Measure Board.
  • Contract laborers are not required to swear loyalty, but refusing a Combine work order can mean losing access to housing or clinic vouchers.

Relations

6 factions
The Salt AssembliesCAUTIOUS NEUTRALThe Ash WardensUNEASY LOGISTICAL…The Latch CompanyPAID PROTECTORThe Ash WardensINSTITUTIONAL RIVALThe Open LedgerPUBLIC ADVERSARYThe Cinder RunnersACTIVE ENEMY
Ally · Uneasy logistical partner
The Ash Wardens

Relies on Combine freight schedules and refinery fuel to keep its scattered settlements connected. Its elders suspect the Combine is withholding medical supplies, but cannot yet prove it.

Operations

What they do

Refining fuel, antiseptics, and industrial chemicals.
Manufacturing and distributing Vigil.
Operating clinics, freight lines, depots, and repair yards.
Negotiating service contracts and securing infrastructure concessions.
Maintaining guarded cold-storage and medical-processing facilities.

How they do it

Offer clinics and freight service where local institutions cannot reliably provide them.
Bind settlements through long-term fuel, medicine, and rail contracts.
Use precise timetables, controlled access to depot stores, and selective service prioritization to reward cooperation.
Employ public auditors and visible patient-care programs to reinforce trust.
Move sensitive cargo under ordinary labels and split shipments across routes.
Use hired security and legal pressure before resorting to direct violence.

Services for hire

  • Depot Clinic CarePayment, service contract, or a reciprocal supply agreement
    Routine treatment, stabilizing care, and referral to better-equipped Combine clinics. Availability depends on local stock and a patient's contract status.
  • Freight PassageCurrency, fuel allotment, or priority freight credit
    Scheduled movement of cargo or passengers along Combine-controlled lines. Sensitive or urgent loads require authorization from a Line Steward.
  • Vigil IssueHigh payment and a signed medical waiver
    A regulated dose of Vigil where it is stocked. Its nature and effects should be determined by the campaign's rules; the Combine's claims of safety are not always reliable.
  • Linewright ServiceRepair materials, labor, and a negotiated right-of-way
    Inspection and repair of engines, switches, storage equipment, and small industrial systems.

What they can do

Can move supplies and personnel across the central shards faster than most local authorities.
Maintains medical cold storage and trained clinical staff in strategically placed depots.
Can temporarily redirect or delay freight across its network, creating significant political leverage.
Keeps unusually detailed records of patient demand, local shortages, and route reliability.

What they have

A network of major refineries producing fuel, antiseptics, and industrial solvents.
Flagship clinics and smaller depot clinics with trained staff, medicine stores, and reliable cold rooms.
Freight lines, switching yards, rolling stock, repair crews, and route schedules across the central shards.
A large archive of shipping records, patient histories, work contracts, and settlement supply needs.
A security force trained to guard cargo and facilities, with authority that varies from settlement to settlement.

Where they are weak

Its network depends on vulnerable switches, cold rooms, and a relatively small number of major junctions.
Local trust can vanish quickly if the prisoner supply is publicly proven.
The Measure Board's divisions create opportunities for leaks, defections, and contradictory orders.
Its clinics are more publicly beloved than its directors, making any crackdown on patients or staff politically costly.
Vigil production is a point of dependence: shortages invite panic, while abundant supply invites questions about its source.

Territory

Headquarters

The central junction settlement, a crossroads community whose official name changes with whichever Accord council holds the registry. Combine staff call it the Last Pour after their headquarters.
KindRefinery headquarters, central freight exchange, and flagship clinic

A fortified refinery-and-clinic complex built around a junction of old freight tracks. Its public halls are bright, orderly, and open to patients; behind them lie fenced loading yards, sealed cold rooms, and a records office with two separate ledgers. The complex is called the Last Pour, an ironic name inherited from a ceremony where founders promised their first batch would be the last emergency distillation anyone needed.

Lands they hold

Major refineries across the central shards
Clinics at freight depots and major settlements
Rail and freight corridors linking the central shards
Cold-storage sites and industrial yards near key junctions

Outposts

  • Second SwitchA rail junction on the eastern edge of the central shardsCoordinates freight transfers and emergency rerouting. The name recalls a switch crew's second attempt to divert a burning train, though outsiders often claim it refers to a secret duplicate route.
  • Mercy YardA clinic depot beside a long-haul freight cutTreats travelers and stores medical cargo. The name was adopted as a boast after the clinic opened during a ration crisis; local patients now use it ironically when supplies run short.
  • North CisternA remote industrial compound outside the public route mapsMaintains cold storage and processes restricted medical materials. Its name derives from an old surveyor's mistake: the first map placed it north of a cistern that does not exist.

Secrets

The big secret · GM only
What they really want · GM only
Hidden plans · GM only
Smaller secrets · GM only
What insiders say · GM only
Trouble inside · GM only
Crimes · GM only

Plot hooks

4 hooks
  • 1
    The Name Left Off the Chart
    Personal to localReward: A trusted medical contact, access to records, or proof that can protect a particular prisoner
    A clinic worker asks the characters to find a missing patient who was last listed as a routine transfer. The search leads to a discrepancy between clinic records and freight manifests, but exposing it could shut down the only nearby source of Vigil.
  • 2
    A Train With Two Ledgers
    LocalReward: A freed group of prisoners, a dangerous alliance, or control of a shipment with competing claims
    The Cinder Runners offer the party a stolen freight schedule and ask for help intercepting a sealed shipment. They claim it contains prisoners. The cargo also includes urgently needed clinic supplies, and the Combine dispatcher's account does not match the public manifest.
  • 3
    Terms of Passage
    RegionalReward: Transit rights, political leverage, or the chance to reshape a medical supply agreement
    The chair sends the party to negotiate with the Ash Wardens after a route is closed. During the talks, a reform-minded clinician asks them to carry evidence to the Open Ledger. The characters must decide whether to preserve a fragile medical corridor, expose the Combine, or force a third arrangement.
  • 4
    The Bitter Dose
    Regional to campaignReward: Access to Vigil research, public credibility, or influence over a crisis that could fracture the central shards
    A batch of Vigil causes a pattern of severe reactions in several settlements. The Combine blames counterfeit stock, while the Open Ledger accuses it of hiding trial results. The party must trace the shipment, identify whether the cause is sabotage or a production shortcut, and decide who gets the truth first.

Work they offer

1Escort a clinic shipment through a route where the Cinder Runners have been reported.
2Recover stolen switching equipment before a planned freight reroute fails.
3Find an ex-employee who disappeared with a shipment ledger, without alerting the board.
4Investigate counterfeit Vigil and determine whether the source is an outside saboteur or an internal production shortcut.

What gets in the way

Its most reliable blood donors are prisoners whose deaths are concealed as transport losses or epidemic casualties.
Vigil requires a fragile chain of cold storage and careful dosing. A freight interruption can turn a profitable shipment into a public health disaster.
The Combine's clinics are genuinely lifesaving, making simple exposure or destruction of its operations likely to hurt the people it claims to serve.
Several directors have invested their own fortunes in keeping Vigil available to relatives and retainers.
A labor shortage on the central freight lines has forced the Combine to choose between safer staffing and meeting its promised quotas.

Rumours

1True: Some Vigil batches use blood taken from prisoners.
2True: The Combine once seized a settlement's fuel stores during the White Freight Winter without permission.
3False: Every Combine clinic secretly marks patients for later recruitment or imprisonment.
4Unconfirmed: One of the Measure Board's directors has been receiving Vigil made from an experimental nonhuman source.
5True in part: The Combine can make a settlement's freight disappear from its schedule. Usually this means a contract dispute, but the distinction is cold comfort to people waiting for medicine.

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