New Gambell and Savoonga

Saint Lawrence Island rests on two settlement-factions: the harsh fortress-city of New Gambell and the island’s largest market settlement, Savoonga. Both are peaceful urban powers, both protect their residents, and both punish blood spilled within their walls just as harshly.

New Gambell: a fortress-city on the ruins of an airport

New Gambell was hastily built in 2022 around a civilian airport. From its founding, the town was raided again and again by local gangs and roaming bands from Korka, and its hastily assembled self-defense forces gradually turned into a trained, battle-hardened city guard.

In the first years of the nuclear winter the city was choking on a shortage of resources: the guards made do with whatever could be scavenged around the airport, and only the rare successful hunting expedition brought back real sets of armor. Once the first workshops were brought online using the evacuated equipment, mass — if not the most durable — production of helmets and body armor began, enough for the guard to fend off both wild beasts and small raider parties with more confidence. A typical guard wears a visored helmet reinforced with welded-on plates and a heavy leather jacket with pauldrons and plates that can stop a round from a small-caliber weapon; quite often they are issued refurbished radios from the airport’s stockpiles for their watch.

The Nipait — hunters, the city’s backbone

After the War, New Gambell’s bled-out population formed search parties from its toughest residents. Over time these groups merged into the hunters’ society known as the Nipait, which became the backbone of the independent city. The hunters track beasts for days across the icy wastes, descend into surviving underground passages in search of rare spare parts, and sometimes hire on as guides for visiting traders, leading them along the island’s safest routes. Their light clothing, with securing straps and stitched-on animal hides, protects against the claws of small mutants (but not against bullets) and is often adorned with protective amulets made by the local Yupik.

Important for the player: in the game today the Nipait are a tactical group of NPCs, not a separate faction. They have no reputation of their own, no ranks, and no way to join them. The island’s city faction on the New Gambell side is precisely New Gambell.

Savoonga: the island’s market heart

Right after the War began, a rebellious Savoonga seized the island’s military caches and civilian bunkers, pushing its neighbors aside — and that is exactly why New Gambell was left without resources. Today Savoonga is the largest settlement on Saint Lawrence Island and an important market town that grew rich on trade gold. In the game it is a territorial city faction with an emphasis on local self-government, mutual aid, supply, and the protection of its residents.

What they do and how to work with them

Both factions are territorial; each has its own center and a leader you should approach for faction business:

• New Gambell — its leader is Aygas in the city center. Services that scale with reputation: city services (from contact), guard support (from “respected”), and an audience with the Council (from “trusted”). Ranks: Resident → Citizen → Council Member.
• Savoonga — its leader is the Savoonga Elder in the settlement. Services: settlement aid (from contact), hunter guides (from “respected”), and an audience with the Elder (from “trusted”). Ranks: Guest → Kinsman → Keeper.

Both factions accept new members with no reputation requirement — just talk to their leader. Joining grants starting reputation, while leaving costs a small reduction. You can belong to only one faction at a time.

Relations with neighbors

New Gambell and Savoonga are allies of each other and of the Traders, while the enemies of both are all three raider factions: the Battalion, the Radio Rats, and the Headhunters. There is one small difference: New Gambell also lists ED-17 among its allies, whereas Savoonga does not. In practice, allied and hostile ties carry over: for example, killing a member of a faction hostile to the city (raiders) slightly raises your reputation with the city dwellers themselves, while damaging their allies hurts your standing with the city.

The guard and the city’s law

Both factions live by the principle of city law and the protection of their residents. City guards are assigned by which faction a location belongs to: New Gambell’s and Savoonga’s posts will side with their own and open fire on anyone who threatens the residents.

The price for violence here is the harshest in the game world. Killing a member of a city faction hits your reputation by -15 — more than with any other faction (the trade-and-civilian bloc is usually lower). At the same time, killing an enemy of the city works the other way: it slightly raises your reputation with the city dwellers themselves.

If your reputation drops to -40 or lower, the city marks you as an outcast and treats you as a target for elimination. Such a status can be cleared — but it will take a separate effort at atonement, so it is definitely not worth souring your relations with the fortress-city and its market neighbor without good reason.