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Description: It had all started at some point after New Year's Day 2074, where the city of Stronghold was in the grip of a harsh winter; for the inhabitants of the inner levels, there was little to be concerned about...but for the dwellers of the slums, it was just another slice of Hell. Many of the families and inhabitants of the shoddy apartment blocks huddled together around whatever source of heat they could find; be it barrel fire or huddling up with each other to maintain any scrap of warmth they could keep. Such a time was perfect for an old enemy of humankind to re-emerge; that enemy, was the Bubonic Plague. No one is quite sure who or what brought the Plague into the slums of Stronghold; some say ot was bad meat sold by the careless Jabberwockies, some say Eclipse might have unknowingly smuggled in either an infected outsider or a cargo containing infected rats and fleas. Others, more conspiritorially, believe that the Military deliberately released the Plague as part of a ploy to cull the population of the slums.

Either way, only one thing was certain; the Plague struck with much deadliness. Within days, thousands within the slums had become infected with the very disease that had devastated the world long before any dare ever conceived of Drac-2's existence. So bad was the outbreak, that it even disrupted business for the Jabberwockies; from their Infected fighters, even the Ferals, refusing to feed on those who bore the plague, to losing many sex workers and enforcers to the pestilence. Their response, naturally, was to amass their most vicious killers into masked death squads to hunt down those who had something that looked remotely like a buboe. Other, more entrepronorial gangters, put out bounties on those who bore the plague; both branches feared that, if the situation wasn't under control, their businesses would be permanently disrupted by the Military. For the newly-emerged Eclipse, their profits were rather bloated; there were plenty of denizens who were willing to be smuggled out, provided they were uninfected. Some took shelter in the Junkyard, others moved further away, taking their chances with the Infected they were more acquainted with. By Spring, entire apartments would be aflame; started by either the Jabberwockie death squads, or terrified civilians trying to curb the Plague's spread.

In the summer of that year, when the Bubonic Plague outbreak was at its peak, a strange new group would emerge. These individuals, clad in the attire of 18th Century Plague Doctors, would emerge into the slums; they came bearing strange drugs and tools, and used them to tend to the plague-bearers. Those who were in the early stages of the disease were saved, whilst those who were too far gone were given mercy. The Plague Doctors would order the inhabitants of their chosen buildings to leave the area, whilst they cleansed the area of rats and fleas. Naturally, the masses were scared to death of their savours, but naturally stayed away for fear that they would share the fate of the Vermin; this fear ultimately resulted in a few new superstitions emerging about them. By the coming the coming of Autumn, their methods seemed to work, the infection rates had fallen down greatly...so much so that, by the time the Military sent officers to see if the issue would become a threat to them, they declared the Slums plague-free. After that, the Plague Doctors seemed to disappear; no one seemed to know what became of them, but many wondered precisely these individuals were. Regardless, these terrifying individuals managed to save the Slums from utter annihilation.

Image: https://i.pinimg.com/236x/b7/58/a0/b758a...ab6235.jpg (Does indeed need altering to fit)

Extra Information: Potential Plot points: Just who exactly were the strange Plague Doctors that saved the Stronghold Slums. Some say that, based on the drugs they used and the knowledge they had, they were doctors from the Inner Stronghold who answered their consciences instead of the whips of their Military masters. Some say they were members of Eclipse...how else could they appear and vanish with so little a trace besides from occasional discarded masks and equipment? Other, more superstitious individuals, claim that the Doctors were ghosts from the distant past, trying to do in death what they could not in life. Every year, someone claims to see a single a Plague Doctor in the shadows of the slums...but that often gets dismissed as rotgut-induced insanity, whilst some see such a sighting as an omen. There might be some truth there though...one may never know the mysteries of the shadows of Stronghold after all.

The role the Jabberwockies played during that dark year is a matter of contention; some see them as heroes for doing what few others had the guts to do, whilst others may despise the gangs for their bloody attempts to maintain their profits in the face of the Plague. Whilst generally known for their brashness, even the Jabberwockies knew to mask the members of their death squads; not even the most psychotic member of the Hearts is willing to try their luck with a lynch mob. However, rumours have started circling about certain veteran gang members, and how some of them sound exactly certain members of those deathsquads. However, few are willing to look into it...they fear that they too might end up meeting the same fate as those who died to the gang's thugs and hired hands during the year of the Plague.

Whilst few traces of the Plague Doctors, occasionally some items of theirs may still be found in the abandoned places of the Stronghold Slums. Often in the form of masks or discarded medical equipment, these items are often kept or sold as curiosities. Plenty of the rich folks in the Inner Stronghold are interested in the acquisition of such items; it is rarely out of veneration for the heroism of the Plague Doctors, and more often interest in those who created quite the stir. Naturally, some Military operatives may also be interested in such items...they may have questions pertaining to the individuals that had such high quality equipment outside of their edict. Of course, should one possess a Plague Doctor's high-tech mask, they might find themselves sitting on a potential gold mine or a useful tool if they are so inclined.