Nation Name:The New Union of States.
Culture/Beliefs:The only thing that powers The New Union is money and getting further in the world. They are probably one of the biggest trader nations in the United States with caravans going to both coasts and as far as Toronto in Canada. But their religion is based around their president Joseph L Knight who they believe to be Abraham Lincoln reborn and worship him with a religious fervor akin to fanatics. They seek to bring back the union of the United States and bring it back to their religious glory. Their worshiping idol is not a crucifix or a statue but the American flag, and citizens of the union consider "Shopping and Bartering" A form of worship and their bible is a American history text book.But There is still church every Friday and everybody within the nation observes this those who can't make it to a church still worship from a distance.
Place on map: (I used Sovereign's map i hope that's okay.)
Old World Connection:Started by the survivors of Kentucy sometime ago, a tank crew from Fort Knox passed on their knowledge of the M1A1 Abrams and each crew passes on their knowledge there is only one crew at a time which means one tank at a time. So thus they have one M1A1 Abrams tank at their disposal, a small group of Rough Riders use motorcycles as transport. They also worship old world stuff and tech simple things like a bobblehead are a sign of great wealth and power.
Populations:45,000
2250 active soldiers (500 of those are the elite Rough Rider Calvary that protect caravans.)
10,000 active duty traders and caravaneers, and guards.
150 In goverment (One of those is the president who is worshiped as being a great president reborn into this life to lead them through their troubles he has complete control the other 149 are senators who act more like priests worshiping the president more fervently than the others and they spread his word, they also lead mass, and act as ambassadors to other groups.)
Government type: Loosely based in Democracy where senators vote for things. But they usually do whatever the president says so they are a society that is driven around the president himself who is often considered one of the "Great Leaders" reborn the president is in for life until he dies, and when he dies it's the job of the Senate and the rough riders to go around finding their next president. Sometimes it's little more than a child or infant, sometimes its a fool who can be used as a puppet but mostly it's someone whose rich and influential enough to be considered relevant.
Spoken language:English
Economic System:Their economy is based around gold,scrap,the leather and meat from their grub worms, and weapons taken from the Fort Knox area of Kentucky there they produce all manner of things from their scrap or they just sell it. The Union brags about their gunsmiths and their leatherworkers to the point of extremes and values money over everything. Their currency within the nation are paper bills signed that have been printed with the faces of the four presidents. They come in different colors and values with Joseph's bill being worth a 100 bucks, there used to be a bill higher than that from the president before Joseph for "A hundred billion jillion dollars." From their youngest president who was 7 years old, later that year the seven year old president was assassinated and his laws and money taken off record. Outside the nation they use Fort Knox Bullion's as currency and use them kind of like currency for other parts of the wastes. Some great leaders of other nations will get these as a gift of respect from The New Union and they can be traded back to them for favors or to buy other goods. Those who have a Bullion are considered great partners to them or have a lot to offer.
Exports:Gold,scrap,"Grub" stuff (Meat,leather,Fertilizer), weapons, And Kentucky Hooch (A popular liqueur that is savored by men of wealth all over the states)
Imports:Water,oil,food,tools for production, metals (Steel, iron), ore (Coals and the like), fodder (For both worms and horses), and stupid consumer things that no longer have a use (Old cellphones, tvs, microwaves, and the like.)
Food/Water Sources:They live mostly off of what they can hunt,scavenge, and farm. Mostly they live off their domesticated worms for meat,hide, beasts of burden, and Fertilizer to live.
Pros:Strong Military:The New Union of States has one of the best equipped fighting force that they have ever seen (Which isn't saying much seeing as America is a desolate place now.) and their elite Rough Rider calvary are considered incredibly good shots. Plus they have a tank which might help them in the long run with the occasional conquest but if it's destroyed so is a massive tradition and object of a entire holiday is gone which can demoralize them.
Strong Trade Economy:The New Union of States has a powerful economy due to their all around beast of burden the grub, it's their pack beast, it's Calvary, it's food (albit chewy and a bit tasteless but it has more protein than cow meat!), it's leather hide is tough and can be turned into armor or clothing, and it's poop is considered some of the best fertilizer around. But they trade other things as well not just the products their grub makes and them seeking old world tech and a variety of other things makes trading with them worth it and both groups often walk away happy. Their caravans are also some of the furthest reaching hitting both coasts and going as far as the middle of Canada.
Cons:Poor Leadership:The Unions leadership revolves around one man who is worshiped like a god, these men have complete and utter power over their people and they will follow them blindly. So a assassination or even just driving the leader insane can cause a lot of turmoil within the nation and the people blindly following a insane leader can lead them further into their doom then assassination
Old World Greed:The spirit of the old world is still very much alive within The Union who greedily seek out old world artifacts and horde them, a sign of wealth within their nation is having a lot of prewar junk from bobble heads, to microwaves they seek it out and have a desire to return to the life of the old world.
Science is for nerds:Under Joseph L Knight the people of the Union have shunned science and medicine citing that people who do them are squares and nerds. So thus science and research have taken a hit with things like electricity and such being a long shot. There are only a few doctors within the nation and they are few and far between so things like the flu and the cold kill a lot of people every year.
Mutants/Major hazards in area:
The Grub Worm: The all around beast for The Union they are used for just about everything from leather armor, to fertilizer, to being used as pack beasts and a incredibly slow calvary beast. They are incredibly docile and normally travel within groups called coils mainly due to the fact that when they sleep they sleep in a giant knot of them with their eggs in a small pocket underneath them. They are incredibly docile unless provoked and when provoked they attack with their massive bulk. they can grow to be anywhere from 23-110 feet in length with the bigger ones being used as kind of mobile weapon platforms by the rough riders as well as transport for troops. It's not uncommon to see the bigger worms outfitted with machine guns torn from the tops of the Abrams stock piles in Fort Knox. Other than that they have a variety of uses including a incredibly chewy and almost tasteless meat which is canned and traded with others, as well as their leather hides being incredibly tough.
The Blood Drinker:Not much is know about this mutation other than it appears to be a heavily mutated human affected both by the reaper virus and radiation. This mutation is highly aggressive and intelligent with it having a great sense of smell and even a odd version of sight despite lacking eyes, it has been shown to be able to use tools like knives and hammers to draw blood or disable prey so that it can stick it's spear like tongue into a artery and drain their blood from which they get their nourishment. Oddly enough this creature is capable of surviving off of normal food as well but it craves blood like it's a drug and offers from "Withdrawals" which included heightened aggression, surges of adrenaline when confronted with living prey, and even secretion of a pheromone that draws animals and humans to it like moths to a flame this pheromone is much akin to a animal in heat. Other than these the Blood Drinker has shown the ability to blend into it's surroundings much like a chameleon but instead of it being based on emotions it's based entirely on environment and can be used at will. So this beasts mutations are drastic and dangerous.
Grey Hounds:Basic mutated dogs affectionately named "Muts" or their better known title Grey Hounds named after the bus line not the fact their skin color is a faded gray. The act just like normal dogs being used as guard dogs and pets among The Union, or feral packs prowling and attacking anyone or anything in their territory. Nothing has really changed about them.
River Dragons:A mutated catfish with a odd twist in the fact that it's body became more serpentine propelling themselves through the water much in the same way a snake would across land. They are highly intelligent pack beasts that are akin to piranhas when they feed leaving nothing in their wake but bones. They are scared of loud noises though so it's not uncommon to see someone sitting above the water of a river or lake and hitting a bell or gong to scare these things off. Their meat is good and considered a delicacy but only a few are foolish enough to try and go fishing for them seeing as they grow big enough to wrap around a dingy and capsize it.
Storm Beetles:Storm beetles also known as B.O.U.S' (Beetle(s) of Unusual Size.) are considered high on the list of threats to the Union coming in third right behind the two raider gangs that dominate the landscape. Capable of spitting out gout's of flame from behind them, and with crushing mandibles capable of cutting through steel these things are only made worse with them on average being about the size of a small car and some reaching the size of pre-war motorhomes. They travel in large groups called hives their movements capable of being felt through the grounds miles away they are the only threat the military truly mobilizes for often bringing their one tank loaded with SABOT and HE rounds to deal with these things. Lately due to efforts to destroy hives their numbers have been thinning but it's unknown if they've left the confines of Kentucky or not.
The Lords of Ruin:The biggest threat to The Union in Kentucky made up of the children of former military personnel who deserted their posts or went "bandit" The Lords of Ruin are well armed and well trained often attacking Union caravans and anyone they see as a threat which includes the other raider group that habits the Kentucky wastes. They are led by a woman who only goes as "Lady Red" and has been notoriously hard to track and kill some say she is immortal seeing as there has been times where shes been visibly hit by rounds but yet she comes back. They are also one of the more friendly raider groups often trying to find allies that hate the Union as much as they do and if given the supplies and the numbers would attempt to take them down, they even have a code of sorts which includes no rape, and no stealing from those who have basically nothing they even give food to those who are poor leading some to not classify them as bandits. They make base within a town known as Berea but they basically range all over Eastern Kentucky and parts of western Virginia.
The Devilborn: While the Lords of Ruin have a code of ethics there isn't anything that hold back the Devilborn which is basically a satanic cult that sees the apocalypse as a sign of the emergence of hell. They produce and give out drugs to people who get addicted, they then use these people as cannon fodder having them charge headlong into machine gun fire with some wielding nothing more than a pipe or a sharpened piece of scrap metal. Make no mistake these junkies are often high when they do this so they tend to shrug off pain and keep going often leading to a morale plummet when being fought. Then the cult it's self isn't very well armed either but at least they have guns and they make up for their lack of training with sheer numbers, with the lowest rank being "Accepted" Which are little more than cultists armed with peashooter rifles and pistols and a series of either scars they've earned or self inflicted wounds, then there are the acolytes which are armed with Kalashnikovs and other assortments of assault weapons they even sometimes get bullet proof vests or padded clothing, then come the "Chosen" who are officers and they normally wield weapons that were taken as trophies some even carry grenade launchers and missile launchers, and some of the higher ranked chosen wear a mishmash of plate armor that is built either out of junk or actual steel, the other ranks are the four horsemen who are just a step below their true leader a mysterious man known as the Deacon who is considered the son of the devil, oddly the Devilborn cultists have shown to be able to walk among Blood Drinker mutations and even use them to their benefit. They are highly aggressive and make their home in Hopkinsville, but they are basically everywhere in the south ranging from Southern Kentucky to Georgia, they even own a vast majority of Tennessee.
Radiation:Seeing as Kentucky is hardly a strategic asset they were spared a majority of the nuclear hellfire that burned the United states, the only target of their destruction was the City of Louisville which has a lot of residual fallout from the missiles and has become completely uninhabitable it is referred to as the "City of Ghosts." And is a source of a lot of superstition.
Backstory: The Union has been around for about 40 years, it started out of Fort Knox under the leadership of a Senator who later suffered from a bout of dementia and claimed to be FDR reborn, under his leadership they expanded into owning a small but incredibly populated chunk of Kentucky, eventually their new president started the cult of the presidency and old-world which flourished into their main religion. Nobody questioned the fact their leader was going insane to them his nation was a bright spot in the wasteland and they clung to it.
Over the years it flourished establishing a great military and trade economy due to their taming of the grub worms, and even the taming of some horses for breeding. Eventually some of the richer senators established caravans using the grubs to carry cargo all over the United States and Canada, and when those caravans came under attack frequently the Rough Riders were formed a elite fighting force that does just about everything from intelligence, to deep raids in the name of the Union.
In the past five years to the present the union has continued to flourish it's trade routes and under the leadership of Joseph L Knight has become a bit stronger in their military and denouncing science and development.
We fought bloody hard for this victory. I'm not gonna lose it.
Ya know, I never did it for the victory. I did it for all the numbers in between. It's more fun to be playing the game, than to have the knowledge that we won it.
Banned
