Rumours of the Sprawl

I've not had a chance to drop by and elaborate on any of the background, setting etc. since I started this, but in terms of general things that might give a little insight into the thought processes I offer this collection of "in-setting" rumours jotted down before we began.

"Them Ferals, they's catching. Don't let one bite you, else that's your fate. If it were me, I'd take a gun to me own head rather than suffer that..."

"Them ferals are stealing our women. They rape 'em, and nurse the seed. Shuddering thought, eh - but why're all the women you know tryin' to look like blokes? - think about it..."

"There are two types of ferals - sheep, and wolves. If you meet one, you'd best pray its a sheep."

"Those Amazons - fearsome bunch. Give any man a hiding. I hear they're the survivors - those what have birthed ferals."

"Those Amazon women - government stooges, at that."

"The ferals are disease ridden - but it ain't natural diseases they carry. Bloody Suits want to kill us all."

"There are crazy people out there. They say the trees matter!"

"Them Paarkas are mad... they'll blow something up some day."

"I hear a revolution is underway... Suits shafted by Corps and their robocops!"

"The suits and corps are going off-world" and "They'll blow the place when they go."

"There's a 2-headed freak out there, heads a family of freakish ferals..."

"Government are creating new crosses. Gators, I hear. Toothy bastards..."

This might make a couple of things slightly clearer. The events take place in the context of a balkanised "gangland" sandwiched between the central Sprawl that typifies cyberpunk or urban horror and the more delapidated, less inhabited areas. The typical "megacorp" omnipresent in such works is not yet established. Suits are government - still in official control, and Corps are business lackeys, gaining in political influence and audacity. The Feral Zone is made up of heathland and dead urban or faux-rural areas, unoccupied by gangs; what is left of the countryside is now home to things unwelcome in more built up regions.

The basic idea is more gene-punk than cyberpunk. Borrowing heavily in inspirational terms from many such sources - RPGs, TV shows, music and literature. Some of these idea roots may shine through, others will just be in my thoughts. Some more detailed exposition on some specific influences and tropes or favoured aspects of setting may be forthcoming but for now this is all I have time to supply.