I am getting an impression that you don't like my idea of the cult of the deep infestation, but not for the reasons you listed. Hawk, is it possible that you feel a personal attachment to the welfare of the NorthWest Coop, and the real reason you hesitate to embrace my plan is that you don't like the idea of a cult infestation mucking up your creation?
Let's look at your first two bullet points.
Hawk258 wrote:First off the area in question is inland 200+/- miles from the coastal range.
Only route in would be the Columbia river and it would likely have threats of own.
200 miles inland - that is still a heck of a lot closer than the Calgary rift, the coalition states, or the vampires in Mexico.
Although you are right that the land dwelling people probably want to avoid the dangers of the river, I don't think that the denizens of the deep would be afraid of any big bad monsters roaming around in the columbia river, because they ARE the Big Bad Monsters in the columbia river. The minions of the deep could use the river like an interstate highway right to the doorstep of the NWC.
Both of these first two concerns also missed the point that I created a much closer proxy to the minions in the ocean when I created the Malestorm Maker that is living at the bottom of the river some 25 miles away from McNary your nearest township. Like you said, most of the area is unexplored, so there could be anything out there, including my sea goddess.
Hawk258 wrote:Secondly I have made the group survivor/refugees of the tolkeen/coalition wars.
And why the population is spread out among several areas including nomadic groups, not all races/cultures are going to click in a dense packed city.
This allows each to develop independent of others but also allows sharing and conflict.
You said earlier that the total population of the NWC is only around 2000 people, while also citing 19 towns that are under the Coop banner, so I can see what you mean about being spread out. But being spread out doesn't necessarily mean you can't have a cult presence. You can easily role play a secret witch living in a village of 20 people.
But I still wonder about that 2000 population count. If that really is the case, however, how is it possible that you have enough people to support a manufacturing of weapons and armor that you export to another dimension, and also build suits of power armor. Even more people would be required for your advanced R&D research on carbon nanotubes composite materials, and at the same time you are opening up significant mining ventures, and a port in Boardman. And all of this is to say nothing of the farming, electricity generation, and water treatment laborers needed to keep the towns running.
I would say that either you have more people in the area, say a few of your towns that have industry should have at least 2000 people in them, maybe with a total of 8000-10000 for the NWC as a whole instead of 2000 people total for all 19 towns. Otherwise you might need to roll back on what kind of industry you have going on here.
Man now that I think about it, that trade deal you have going on with the Bushi Federation is seeming less and less plausible. I mean if you only have 2000 people in the NWC, and they are spread roughly evenly across 19 towns, that means that the town that Adrian's pyramid is in would only have about 110 people in it. That's not enough trade to support a pawn shop, much less warrant a formal trade agreement with the CCW and Bushido.
... But honestly, this really doesn't matter how many people you have in your Coop. If those numbers are what is working in your games, than roll with them. Likewise, if you think that having the people spread across all that territory is too disperse for a cultist infestation, than we can just wait until your little nation grows up a bit more before we fully implement this plan.
Hawk258 wrote: There is room to include your cults on the coastal ranges however
Anything outside the NWC area is exploration, mining ops, and salvage ops. From "my" accounting.
The vortex is a minor leyline nexus and community not connected to the NWC.
Part of the reason why I suggested a Lord of the Deep cult was because it presented the opportunity to have an internal threat to the NWC, and truly give the setting a feeling of possible imminent doom. I didn't get that feeling from your other written material about the area.
Every other area in North America (and in Rifts earth in general) has some kind of existential threat that is looming over the area or the characters in the party. Playing in Tolkien you have the war and occupation, and lingering demon hoards and coalition kill teams. Playing in the north east you have Archee, the threat of a massive mechanoid invasion, and bands slavers from the superpower Atlantis. In the north you have the Xitixick swarms that are multiplying and will soon overrun us all. In Azrono you have the vampire threat from the south. Even playing in the Coalition States you have to worry that some dog boy is going to sniff out your magic user and then you'll be on the run.
Without that feeling of possible imminent doom, your territory has a kind of tame feeling to it that makes it less interesting.
Hawk258 wrote: Actually rose Wilder is an other players character.
She is the body fixer.
And her "rescue" run was a played event. Along with most of this. Or at least GM approved
I knew that Rose Wilder was another players character, that's why I called it "the kicker" and tried to be a little suspenseful in my introduction of the idea. It was a suggestion for a plot device for one of your upcoming games. I have found that introducing a little conflicting interests into the party can sometimes lead to good role-playing opportunities.