Name: Free City of Boston

Location: Boston; eastern Massachusetts (Map TBD)

History:

The legions of Old America seized control of Boston two centuries ago, bringing the city under strict martial governance as a measure to deal with the scourge that had swept across the Old Empire. This period is characterized by Institute scholars as having been brutal though perhaps necessary to the survival of Boston. What had been at first an assignment became a permanent military state that maintained its power through force and executed those believed to carry the plague. It transformed eventually into a quasi-knightly order, splitting the city and the surrounding land into quadrants ruled by its officers on behalf of the Governor-General, or Lord Protector as it was later styled. Today, these quadrants are known as First Base, Second Base, Third Base and Home Base by the Red Clads, but otherwise by their civilian names. House Ressocks, the current ruling family of Boston, once served as Enseeos – a type of underling – for the knightly lords of First Base.

The Cambridge Institute came under the service of the military government almost immediately, as did the Harvard Academy, for the purposes of finding a cure to the Great Sickness, though no real progress was ever made. Military rule over the city began to decline upon the discovery of an Old World specter still haunting the city. Institute scholars put the date of the discovery at over one-hundred years ago, when excavations and demolitions by the military order – presumably for the purpose of reinforcement or land-clearing – were halted by an invisible force thought long-dead. Though not much is known about this phenomenon today, records made by the military order in the earliest days of their rule speak of an intelligence said to have been in control of much of the city before being destroyed – presumably – for unknown reasons. The reemergence of this phantom proved problematic, and marked the decline of the order's grasp on the city.

The Ghost of Boston is long gone now, but before its disappearance it wrecked havoc. For reasons unknown, by means unknown, it swept through the city, bringing things to life and forever ruining others. The mayhem it created for the ruling class then allowed for the rise of the House of Ressocks and for the academics of the city to free themselves from what had become indentured servitude. Spurred by the Professors of the Cambridge Institute and the Harvard Academy, Preston Ressocks, then head of the minor House of Ressocks, mounted a people's rebellion that culminated with the dissolution of the military order and the establishment of a Republic. For a short time, the specter lingered and aided the recovery of the city, but vanished violently shortly after, leaving an unfollowable trail of destruction. This post-military period of Boston proved difficult at first, but the city would ultimately blossom into a relatively prosperous society encouraging scientific pursuits and trade through its innumerable guilds, becoming a hub in the northeast.

WIP

Name:
Order of Columbia | Columbian League

Leader:
Augustus Lockhart
_{Brooklynite patroon, merchant, banker, and knight.}

History:
The Order of Columbia has its origins in Brooklyn's turbulent past, when the borough's feuding families made the streets run red with blood. Founded and jointly financed by patrician families operating out of Brooklyn's ports, the order was originally concerned with the protection of patroons, land routes for trade, and the defense of patrician property and land from all manner of harm. In those days, it functioned additionally as a deterrent against the ambitions of Brooklynite lords seeking the vassalization, confiscation, or disbandment of patroons, their assets, or their organizations, and acted as a bulwark against autocratic rulers, in the defense of democratic institutions within patrician territories. It promoted democracy and the mandate to Manifest Destiny, which it viewed as the indomitable desire to prosper and excel by the individual; the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as decreed by the Fathers.

Over time, the Order of Columbia grew to become a vast enterprise with a robust financial network, becoming something of a bank near the zenith of the Brooklynite wars, when the borough's feuding families sought the Order to finance their increasingly bloody struggle for control of Brooklyn. Within the Order's own ranks a struggle for control brewed between the co-owning patroons, whose ambitions left them salivating with the thought of sole ownership of an ever-expanding and powerful enterprise; a financial giant and an iron fist with which to dominate the rest. This internal conflict, filled with intrigue, cloaks, and daggers culminated with the assumption of absolute power by one Thaddeus Lockhart, propelling the once medium-level patroon to a position of unprecedented financial and military might in the region.

Thaddeus Lockhart consolidated his power and contemplated the Order's role in the struggle for Brooklyn, briefly considering offers by the lords of Westbrooke to aid in their war for the borough. Instead, Thaddeus Lockhart bided his time and remained neutral as the Brooklynite armies whittled themselves down. Whatever personal ambitions Thaddeus Lockhart may have had were dashed by the New Empire's entrance into the War For Brooklyn. The sight of Imperial banners at Jamaica Bay spelled the end to what had been generations of bloodshed. Thaddeus Lockhart - seeking favor with the lords that would eventually come to rule all of Brooklyn - sided with the Sutherbrookes and their imperial allies, for the first time ever committing Columbian troops to the conflict.

Since the annexation of Brooklyn by the Empire State, the Order of Columbia - in time becoming known as the Columbian League - has expanded its operations throughout the imperial dominion, transforming itself into a vast multinational entity under which many guilds operate, with a renown bank, and an extensive network of trade posts and fortifications, as well as a military arm to protect the trade routes and trade towns within the League. It forms a robust commercial structure with its headquarters on Liberty Island, which itself has grown to become the center of a city administered directly by the Order. The current head of the organization is Augustus Lockhart, an ambitious businessman and knight.

Name: New England Commonwealth(WIP)

Location:

History:

New England has a long and proud history of rebelling against unjust authority and the birth of the Commonwealth was no different. As the Wars of Man ripped the world apart and cities burned, the leaders of the old world placed Boston and the surrounding countryside under martial law and began to dictate the day to day actions of the people as a method of dealing with the Great Sickness that now swept the world.

The Cambridge Institute came under the service of the military government almost immediately, as did the Harvard Academy, for the purposes of finding a cure to the Great Sickness, though no real progress was ever made. The truth of how the Old World was swept completely from the region is of much speculation but since no one remains alive from the time of the First Statesmen, people can only guess at which rumours are true.

What is certain is the history of the here and now. Following the collapse of the Old World Government, the Academics of Harvard and Cambridge rallied the survivors to their cause and brought order to the chaos. For a time the two rivals institutions could not look beyond their old rivalries and they fought over the scarce resources available in the first years of the Great Sickness. Mighty fortifications were built, turning each into its own small city-state.

As the years passed however and there were fewer and fewer mouths to feed, the two institutions reconciled. In 2275 the two joined under one banner and renamed themselves the New England Commonwealth. It was but a dream when they did so but time proved them to be more accurate than many might have imagined.

Under the guidance of the Elder Statesmen, made up of learned men from both Harvard and Cambridge, the Commonwealth began to regain its ancient glory as an institution of higher learning. Today there are numerous worldly scholars, navigators, engineers, doctors, and more, who proudly represent the Commonwealth in other cities and nations.

What began as Harvard and Cambridge has come to encompass a considerable portion of the New England region, including other illustrious educational centres such as Yale, and it is no secret that the President and Fellows of the Commonwealth seek to unite the entire region in time.

WIP

We've got Rochester, Buffalo, and everything in between, as well as Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Mississauga, Toronto, Oshawa, all of Prince Edward, Kingston, Oswego, Alexandria Bay, Prescott and Ogdensburg, Cornwall, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, and the Montreal area. Also, all the little islands in the St. Lawrence.