Seattle 2097: Redmond

Redmond, once the beating heart of Seattle's tech industry, has become a chaotic, lawless district where corporations and the government have all but abandoned hope. After the first Matrix Crash of 2029 the area’s decline accelerated, leaving behind crumbling buildings, toxic wastelands, and a population left to fend for itself. Now, it’s a sprawling urban wilderness filled with gangs, shadowrunners, desperate scavengers, and the occasional brave—or foolish—entrepreneur looking to carve out a piece of the ruins. Redmond is a place where survival and opportunity are two sides of the same coin.

The Verge is the westernmost edge of Redmond, where the crumbling infrastructure of the Barrens meets the towering corporate arcologies of Bellevue. It’s a strange, liminal space where the worlds of the rich and the destitute collide. Here, you’ll find scavengers picking through the remnants of the old tech industry, squatting in long-abandoned office buildings that once housed some of Seattle’s most influential corporations. The Verge is a place where desperate people make deals with shadowrunners and fixers to get by, and where you can still see the gleaming towers of the corp-controlled world, just out of reach.

Touristville, on the surface, appears to be Redmond's "safe" destination for outsiders. It’s a strip of bars, nightclubs, and BTL parlors where people looking for an adventure—or a thrill—can dip their toes into the Barrens without diving too deep. On any given night, thrill-seekers and corporate execs alike come to this stretch, lured by the district’s gritty charm. The area is safer than most of Redmond, but it’s a veneer. Underneath, the gangs, fixers, and lowlifes who run the place are all too aware of the money flowing in from the naive visitors who think they can handle the Barrens.

The Barrens, as Redmond is commonly called, is a vast stretch of urban decay where the streets are ruled by gangs and the weak rarely survive. The Barrens is an all-encompassing term that covers the entire Redmond district, describing the post-apocalyptic wasteland it has become. Buildings are crumbling, utilities are unreliable at best, and law enforcement is virtually nonexistent. The gangs fill the power vacuum, and the few remaining residents either bow to their rule or struggle to eke out an existence on the fringes. Despite this, the Barrens remains a hotbed of opportunity for those willing to dive into its lawless chaos—shadowrunners, mercenaries, and corporate agents alike.

The Redmond Safe Zone (RSZ), a pocket of relative order in the midst of the chaos, is effectively run by an ork crime lord known as the Goblin. Despite his diminutive size (for an ork), his reputation for cruelty and cunning is infamous, and his grip over the area is ironclad. In the RSZ, the Goblin ensures that business can thrive, though violence and crime are always a heartbeat away. The district’s most notorious spot is the Black Wolf Club, a popular destination for shadowrunners looking to pick up work or make contacts. Here, Mr. Black, a fixer with a web of connections to various gangs and corporations, pulls the strings from the shadows. While the RSZ might seem like a haven compared to the rest of Redmond, those who cross the wrong people don’t last long. The Blood Pit is another sinister location, known for its illegal cyberware modifications and underground fighting matches where desperate individuals fight for nuyen—or survival.

North of the RSZ, North Redmond is anything but stable. It’s a warzone, as the Crimson Crush, one of the district’s more infamous gangs, fights for control of the area. The streets are a battlefield, with gang shootouts, drone strikes, and armored vehicles a daily sight. As the Crush tightens its grip, it’s only a matter of time before the violence spills out into other parts of Redmond. For those caught in the crossfire, the only options are to leave or pledge allegiance to the gang. Freelancers and shadowrunners with the right skills may find opportunity here, but at great risk.

Farther to the east, Glow City is a radioactive wasteland, the legacy of a catastrophic industrial reactor meltdown. The area was dangerous enough before the Awakening, but now it’s even worse, with reports of toxic spirits and strange magical creatures haunting the ruins. Few dare venture into Glow City, but for those who do, it’s a scavenger’s dream—if they survive the toxic environment and magical threats. Recently, sightings of radiation spirits have increased, adding to the growing danger.

South of Glow City lies the Cookpot, one of the most lawless and dangerous places in Redmond. It’s the heart of illegal BTL production, and the shamans who run the place use the corrupted energies of the land to keep intruders at bay. This area is a no-go for anyone without serious connections. The law has been kept out for years by powerful magic and ruthless enforcers. It’s a place where the worst of the Barrens thrives, fueled by addiction, vice, and corruption.

Lastly, there’s Hope Springs, a district that, for a time, tried to carve out a better existence in the Barrens. But recent events have seen the area plagued by strange killings and unsolved mass murders, leaving the community on edge. Rumors of strange happenings have spread, but few are willing to believe in the possibility of something ancient and powerful stirring beneath the streets. For now, the people of Hope Springs try to hold onto the hope that gave the district its name, but the future seems uncertain, especially now that the Universal Brotherhood has closed its last safe house in the district.