When brilliant fire plunged the world into what would become the second Dark Age, Salt Lake City fell just like every other concentration of humanity. Chinese warheads targeted the city, and with no anti-nuclear defenses it was hit, hard. But the stubborn entity that was humanity managed to survive the end of the world, hiding themselves away in deep underground Vaults and surviving outside with more than a pinch of luck.

Salt Lake City was no different. Despite the heavy beating, humans emerged from the ruins and Vaults and tried to start civilization over again. But the result of this effort to civilize the chaos of the ruins was not a single orderly society, but rather a mass of tribes and gangs vying for power, waging battle with each other, and stealing from those who could not properly defend themselves. 

The city, now called Salt by its twisted inhabitants, became an utter hell-hole. The various gangs of the city waged a constant war against each other, forging alliances for a year or two before betraying their partners in cold blood. The life expectancy was rather pathetic, as it was rare to find a man past his thirties, and no person, no matter how young, was untouched by the violence, drugs, mutation, or any of the other countless horrors and sins. Wicked plagues and viruses spread like wildfire through the chaos, from unclean body to unclean body.

The city forged some of the strongest, sickest, and heartless men and women in the North American continent. There was no currency, no stable government, no common law, no ceasefire, and both running water and electricity, commonly called "Lectrics" by the ignorant population, were an extreme rarity. The wide variety of skills that humanity possessed faded away among the dwellers of this cursed place, leaving only the knowledge of how to wage war and how to make the tools to wage that war. Even the ability to read faded away, taught only in rare circles and known by a few of the mutants and ghouls remain from a bygone age.

The city was divided into to two levels, the war-torn Upper City, which consisted of the pre-war city, or at least what was left of it, and the Under City, a great catacomb of underground chambers, both pre-war sewers and post-war-made tunnels, connected to the city's four open Vaults. Most of the action went on in the Upper City, like the various gang wars and territorial expansion. Most of the skyscraqers that the city possessed had either fallen or been battered to the point of near-collapse, creating a great maze of ruined, unstable metal riddled with passage ways and shells of old chambers, turning the inner Upper City into a tight space where the worst of the Upper City's scum lived and fought with the crazed "Spiders". 

The outer parts of the Upper City were more orderly. Here a handful of powerful gangs ran complex operations and plotted for longer-term success rather than just how to get by for the next day or two. Trade occurred, though rarely, and the gangs of the outer Upper City came to value professions other than how to murder someone or make the tools to do so. It was still a hell-hole, mind you, just less so than the inner Upper City. 

The Under City was another story entirely. This section of the city was a rather conflicted one, trying to be two things at once. On one side the Under City tried to be a meeting place for gang leaders, an underground highway, a market, and the only place an unaffiliated individual could feasibly live. On the other hand, though, the Under City held some of Salt's most hideous atrocities. The sickest twists and most gnarled mutants lived out their miserable lives there, trying to hide from the judging eyes that lingered above. The Under City also held tales of great treasure, most notably the stories of unopened Vaults connected to the catacombs, just waiting to be plundered. Every year more and more young adventurers traveled the unexplored sections of the Under City, hoping to find these Vaults, and every year they disappeared.

Humans, Ghouls, and Super Mutants weren't the only inhabitants of this section of the wasteland, either. Three very distinct mutants were unique to the region, born from unknown sources. The "Spiders", "Lizards", and Kuto all lived in the area as well, clashing with the human gangs and each other. All of them were still humanoid but had been radically changed from their original forms, both in body and mind. The "Spiders" are the most common of the trio, living mainly in the heart of the city within the tangle of skyscraqer corpses. Their society is a rather primitive one, yet still more advanced than the humans in Salt. The Spiders sustain themselves by hunting birds, squirrels, felines, and other animals that dwell in the overgrown ruins of the central Upper City, mainly using slings, spears, and bows to accomplish this, along with the odd pistol that has been modified into a small rifle.

The Spiders themselves are rather odd looking, but still relatively human-like. Their limbs are all long and spindly, covered in corded muscle, while their bodies are slender and short. Their heads have stayed roughly the same size as a human's head, which makes them look too large for their bodies, and their eyes take up most of this space, being massive and round. Their culture is an odd one, revolving around spirits and ancestors. Spiders believe that they must honor their ancestors and the spirits through sacrifice, both self-sacrifice and sacrifice of others. These near-humans are perfectly evolved to climb around in high ruins and trees and fit through tight spaces. This makes them suited for living in either the inner Upper City or the Under City, though many prefer to stay in the Upper City, away from the Lizards.

The second most common of the mutants are the radically mutated Lizards. The Lizards can barely be identified as once-men, being completely changed from their original forms and possessing almost no hint of their past selves. The average Lizard is quite large, standing at seven feet, and is completely covered in either brown, green, or rust colored scales. Their build is large as well, heavily muscled and wide, hinting at their immense strength. Their faces resemble a lizard's more than a human's, with a long, scaled snout filled with sharp, triangular teeth and a pair of eyes that possess a dull sense of intelligence. A giant, thick tail and squat, squat, sharp claws finish off the Lizards' appearance, giving them a beastly look. 

Lizards behave more like beasts than men, living their lives out alone and hunting men and animals alike for sustenance. While some are intelligent enough to wield tools and weapons or craft items, it is a rare occurrence. Lizards stick mainly to the Under City or, rarely, the outer Upper City, preferring to avoid contact with other beings unless if they're hunting them. They move rather slowly, limiting their hunting strategies mainly to ambushing or cornering their prey.

The third and rarest of the mutants are called Kuto, great ape-like beings that have come from the mountains. Not much is known about these particular mutants besides their tendency to kill on sight and proficiency in combat. All together these three mutants, along with Super Mutants and Ghouls, are commonly refered to as "Freaks" in Salt. The acceptance of Freaks varies greatly between gangs and tribes, though the general feeling is one of either hate or superiority.

But for a select few this chaos presented a great opportunity. Those willing to stand up and resourceful enough to changed the tides of Salt could effective build a great horde of wealth and power for themselves. These individuals were rare, coming once in a lifetime, but when they came around they always changed Salt forever, sometimes for the better, sometimes worse. The empires these men led were second to none in power, wealth, territory, and honor.

One of these individuals was a man called Dutch. Dutch, born in one of Salt's many hopeless orphanages, built his own kingdom from the remnants of a gang that was nearing it's death. He named the gang "The Clave" to signify the tight bond between its members and quickly rose in power. This was mostly due to expert planning, superior tactics, and a large helping of good luck. The Clave was second to none, possibly the greatest gang in Salt history, but all of this changed when an outside force came into the city, possessing more power than all of the city's factions combined.

The Legion came into the city, fighting an enemy who had fled there from nearby, Graham and his Dead Horses. The unorganized gangs of Salt were caught unprepared and suffered greatly from the ceasefire of the battle. All hell broke loose as various factions took sides until eventually the Legion and those who had allied themselves with them overpowered the opposing force. This was not what really put an end to the city, though. No, at this point the Clave stood rather intact, even profiting from the Battle of Salt. What really destroyed what they had built was the Courier and his robotic army.

Still celebrating his victory at Hover Dam, the Courier got news of the Battle of Salt and decided to use the opportunity to seriously cripple one of his newly-made enemies, the Legion. So he himself and his new Securitron army went to the city and initiated a great purge. The Securitrons were programmed to shoot any humanoid life on sight, leading to the complete destruction of the city's population. While the Courier considered the operation a success, having taken out a large amount of the Legion's forces and letting pressure off of Vegas' eastern border, he was soon faced with catastrophe.

His robotic army, just now showing their worth, simultaneously deactivated from an unknown cause, leaving Vegas in turmoil without a defending force. Meanwhile, in Salt, he had made a new enemy, the Clave. With revenge in their minds and weapons in their hands, the Clave has started a journey to kill the most powerful man in the wastes.