I remember it from one of the sourcebooks, but I can't find it now. It was like a mobile city - they even had a small zeppelin they used for scouting ahead. Does anyone know what sourcebook that was in? Thanks.

Are you referring to the Nomadic Hordes in Turkestan on pages 202 & 203 in Shadows of Asia?

That piece does not mention a blimp, but I do recall something like that somewhere else. Will have to dig some more.

Edit: Nevermind, found it.


Feral Cities pgs 121-123

THE EVOLUTION OF A CITY
Back around 2060, Turkestan was a wreck, despite the “New Silk Road” railroad and highway system that fed its sprawls. Things were worse out in the country, where nomadic tribes were finding it harder to feed themselves and their herds, and the khan’s power was slipping out of his grasp.

Then came Erika Red Crystal, a corporate-sponsored humanitarian aid organization. They brought food, portable shelter, fuel, and other devices and comforts to the nomads of Central Asia in a large zeppelin, the Aman, that could haul a lot of cargo and handle the expansive and broken terrain. In time, some tribes began following the zeppelin from stop to stop, helping dispense aid and sharing their own resources.

The Crash 2.0 cut off the Aman from its parent corporation. It and its crew were written off. Fortunately, the zeppelin and its ground-based companions were largely unaffected because Erika had been using the mission to beta-test its wireless Matrix technology. The nomads following the Aman were sympathetic to the plight of its crew and began to provide for them. In return, the Aman crew began scouting independently for resources for the tribes, leading them from location to location, creating the symbiosis of today.

SILK ROAD 2.0
Karavan has no real geographical location. It moves from locale to locale, rarely spending more than a week in any one place, so it’s almost never where you last looked. It ranges across Central Asia from Transcaucasia to Mongolia and the borders of Yakut.

When moving, Karavan is a collection of two large airships and about three hundred hectares of ground vehicles of all shapes and sizes, most bristling with weaponry and armed passengers. The trucks, rigs, ATVs, and bikes throw up a dust cloud that can be seen for miles. When the city finds a place to settle, the airships land and all of the tribes pitch tents, build yurts, set up campers, or otherwise construct the temporary homes and work spaces that will shelter them until their next move. Some tribes even have entire facilities that deploy directly from trailers or large vehicles, unfolding from motor vehicle to building in under a minute.

Usually, each tribe claims space when they arrive. This means the map of the city changes with each move. Luckily, Karavan’s Matrix cloud is sophisticated, so you’ll always find your favorite hangout. If there is no potable surface water nearby, like a river or a lake, then each tribe drills its own well. Each tribe has its own facilities, including food storage and processing, power generation, security, waste reclamation and management, and the infrastructure for all of the above, and all of it can be packed up in a hour or two and moved.

Additionally, each tribe has a few (or occasionally several) specialty services, such as medical or technical facilities. While there is some overlap, many tribes are well known for their indi- vidual specialties. The Pjelykosts tribe, for example, is the premier magical tribe, while the Asma tribe is known as the place to find just about any piece of gear, and the Lhassos are expert armorers and weaponsmiths.


<snip>

Over the years Karavan has developed into a roving barter- town; home to tribes and independent traders who come and go all the time. It has developed into a travelling trading post for the isolated herders, farmers, and corporate enclaves on its route. Karavan is home to around 12,000 people which, depending on where it’s camped, can bloat to twice that many. Most permanent “residents” live in tribes of between dozens and hundreds. While most of them are human, there is a greater-than-typical diversity among metatypes. They are mostly of Turkic descent, but there are plenty of Persians, Mongolians, Arabs, Europeans, Africans, and East Asians, so no one really sticks out.

Aha! That's it! Thanks much!

But just in case anyone was interested in other kinds of giant caravans:

https://blog-cdn.rvshare.com/wp-content/upl...05/monster3.jpg

https://blog-cdn.rvshare.com/wp-content/upl...5/monster10.jpg

It's also encountered in the last Artifacts mission, New Dawn.

I think they're more like this