The Gong is a Post-War raider settlement occupying much of the Pre-War city of Wollongong, New South Wales. It's well known as a centre of drug manufacture in the Australian wasteland and traders from as far north as Sydney make the journey. Three main raider gangs operate in and around the city manufacture all manner of addictive chems and medical supplies, bringing them great wealth.
History[]
Pre-War[]
Before the War, Wollongong was the second largest town in New South Wales. Historically, it was a large manufacturing centre, producing steel for domestic and international sale. In the 2030s, the city, confronted with a mining deficit, shifted away from metal manufacture towards pharmaceuticals. Large medical companies set up shop in the region, replacing hot furnaces with bubbling vats of chemicals. Wollongong had always been a town of lower class workers, it mattered little if they were working in steel mills of chemical plants.
The food riots that rocked Australia in the 2050s and 60s struck the Wollongong hard. A lack of food, incredible summer heats and a growing wane in the chem market created the perfect cacophony for Bloody December in 2063. It was like the war ended - looting, riots, and fights all became commonplace, parts of town become entirely run by gangs and the state and the federal government proved did almost nothing to stop it. Wollongong ran wild into the next year and was only fully pacified in February of 2064.
Wollongong was kept under martial law through the 2060s, with the last full strength military units leaving in September 2069. However, even through the 2070s Australian Militia provided law and order. In April 2076, the 55/53rd Militia Battalion was stationed in the city. The 53rd, like all Militia units, were conscripts who were initially deployed to Papua. However, the unit's incredibly low morale and poor combat training meant that the unit was more of a hindrance to Australian forces in the area than a help. Deployment to Wollongong was seen as punishment for the unit.
The Great War[]
The Great War hit Wollongong hard. Having hardly recovered from the food riots, the detonation of a high yield nuke around Five Islands almost ended the city. The inhabitants of the city were experienced in what happens when law and order break down - guns were grabbed, doors were locked, and violence skyrocketed. The 53rd didn't even make an attempt to reestablish peace - in fact, the unit's commanding officer was of the first raider gang leaders. Chaos took the city like flies on rotting meat.
Post-War Hell[]
While other settlements in the wasteland grew, expanding and sprung anew, the Gong remained locked in a cycle of violence. The city and nearby militia storehouses provided enough incentive for groups to want to control the area but not enough might to actually fulfil this goal. In this way, raider gangs - sometimes expositing lofty goals, other times putting on no pretences - dominated tiny fractions of the city individually, constantly warring, allying and betraying one another.
For the common inhabitant, the Gong was a nightmare. Rotting bodies stacked atop rotting bodies in mass graves, rampant mutants all around the city, constant radiation from Five Islands and Pre-War toxins all worked in combination to make wastelanders here the sickest, most commonly mutated, saddest sack of people in New South Wales. Daily life here was a nightmare for anyone for nearly 200 years, with nothing but sickness, death and decay to attract outsiders.
This isn't to say the area was completely out of touch with the rest of Australia. Arms merchants would sometimes make the perilous trek south to trade with the various raiders on the outskirts of the city, following the old A1 south. Enough communities existed along the roads to make the journey profitable to traders without entering the dangerous, fetid city. Those that did brought back news of a dark, collapsing city, with nothing in it but raiders and great big spiders. The Capitans were one of few regular visitors to the Gong, often capturing inhabitants for sale in Sydney. The chemmed out raiders proved to be naturally resistant to the dangerous conditions present in industrial areas.
Sweet, Sweet Chems[]
In June 2281, the Gong underwent an economic revolution. One of the gangs occupying the former University of Wollongong, the Profs, began the small time production of chems. Having occupied the former chemistry labs, the crew had access to dozens of chemicals, recipes and formulas. One of the raiders, coming down from a particularly bad trip, began poking around the Pre-War rubble and stumbled upon this store. The leader of the gang, Buzz (named for his love of the Ripper), saw the application of chem production and sale and encouraged the manufacture. He began the widespread sale of the drugs across the town.
The Profs saw almost immediate growth. Chem sales in the area allowed them to grow, buying better guns, hiring new raiders and establishing a more fortified home. However, their success naturally made other raider groups jealous. Conflict with other nearby gangs began to grow in mid-August, with armed skirmishes occurring almost daily by the start of September.
Other groups did not simply attack and raid the successful chemists. The Growth Monkeys moved into the university grounds, establishing a small fortified camp around the sports fields. Here, they planted various cash crops in greenhouses, including tobacco and marijuana. Combining these with scavenged papers - newspaper, business reports, even real rolling papers - the Growth Monkeys became one of the few Post-War cigarette manufacturers. GM Durries, as they were known, became famed throughout the waste for their quality tobacco.
The Do-Gooders, as their name would suggest, became the primary medical supplier in the Gong. They migrated into the Pre-War School of Medicine, where they began the manufacture and sale of Stimpacks, Med-X and Doctor's Bags. The clean, healthy and kind merchants managed to make money, but are looked down on by the more militant raider gangs.
Products[]
The three gangs manufacture almost every drug known to the Australian wasteland. The Profs deal with all addictive chems, dealing in Jet, Buffout, and Psycho. They also sell off the university's large stocks of Mentats, primarily to external traders. Growth Monkeys grow marijuana and tobacco and have a small rolling factory where they wrap the durries and joints for sale. There is a huge demand for their smokes, both in Wollongong and along the South Coast. Finally, the Do-Gooders manufacture, scavenge and sell almost every kind of medical supplies. They have large stocks of stimpacks, super stimpacks, and doctor's bags. However, their most popular product is Med-X, which helps to feed demand in junkies around the area.
The Gong does produce specialist and unique drugs. These include:
Zipper[]
Zipper is the Australian equivalent to Jet.
Relations[]
The Capitans[]
All gangs in the Gong do some business with the Capitans, a group of Sydney-based slavers. The slavers have a high demand for the toxic resistant wastelanders and as such either buy or kidnap raiders for sale. For friends of the Capitans, it can be a very wealthy business to be in. Some raiders sole income is derived from the sale of slaves.