Faction: Ascent Corporation
Location: Headquartered around the Cyuahoga Falls Region in Summit County, Ohio occupy a significant position of power within the city of Akron and the surrounding suburbs. Around all territory south of the Ohio 80 Turnpike and north of the 76 highway is under Ascent Corporation control.
History: (I'm placing the date at 2081)
The Ascent Corporation has rather modest beginnings considering the circumstances. Following the incident Cleveland, while avoiding the brutal fate of Chicago, fell into utter chaos. The city was torn apart by gangs and looting. Anyone who had any brain left after the earth was fried got out of there as quickly as possible. They fled to the south into the suburbs. Factions waged wars for survival and scant resources and everyday new gangs formed in Cleveland. They became entrenched each vying for what little remained. The city that stands today 60 years later amounts to nothing more than an ashen battleground which is perpetually in conflict. Cleveland is widely regarded as a downright dangerous place which is not hospitable to newcomers. To this day no single faction has been able to maintain order in the city and violence is abundant in the dwindling population.
The Ascent Corporation was formed from by the first wave of people who fled Cleveland, and to a lesser extent Akron. Mainly composed of business executives, wealthy property owners, and intellectual leaders the Corporation was formed strategically to provide organization and support to the people of Suburban Ohio. The people of the Suburbs in which the Ascent Corporation first started were relatively calm and preferred to lock themselves in their homes rather than go looting. Nevertheless some violence and crime did occur in the early months after the incident. The Corporation had a rough beginning, tasked with organizing a scattered mass of people and faced with threats from raiding Cleveland or Akron based factions the first five years were tough and full of losses. However the heavy presence of national guardsman in the area and willingness of local authorities to work together with the citizens and the Corporation contributed to the swift establishment of order and in the year 2025 the Ascent Corporation forces captured the Ravenna Armory and the Kirwin reservoir. This added firepower and strategic position gave them a distinct advantage in the region and allowed them to hold off raiders from the city. The Corporation expanded its territory and initial agricultural and health programs were begun in these years' this was a time of significant organizational enhancement and expansion. In the year 2032 the Ascent Corporation had established influence in some Northeastern parts of Akron but met resistance from a few stronger factions within Akron.
The Medina Alliance, The Logan League, and The Revelation Church Brigade each held around a quarter of city of Akron along with the Ascent Corporation in 2046. The four factions spent five years in conflict until in 2051 the Ascent Corporation allied with the Medina Alliance drew the Logan League out and crushed them at the Battle of Rex's Erection (Yes this is a real place). Beaten and faced with the combined might of the Alliance and the Corporation the Logan League and the Revelation Church Brigade unwilling to cooperate with each other were all but forced to surrender. In 2052 the Logan League signed a ceasefire and in 2053 the Revelation Church Brigade followed suit. Later that year the collective peace agreement was signed and the region was stabilized for a time (With significant concessions made to the Ascent Corporation and Medina Alliance). Initially there was unrest in the region among former enemies but soon trade began to flow between the factions. The Ascent Corporation invested heavily in the Logan League territory during this time. The people of that district were left devastated and quickly sold themselves as cheap labor in order to survive. Ascent investment continued to pour in in the coming years and the region saw an influx of immigration; with the Ascent investment had come Ascent troops and individual enterprises.The Logan League resentful of the Ascent presence in its territory grew angry and riots broke out. Some of the former Logan League soldiers and laborers turned to crime and violence and soon a rebellion broke out. Ascent businesses in the region were hit hard and several Ascent citizens were killed with threats made against dozens more. The Corporation responded swiftly and in force, having built up significant garrisons in the region as far south as Barberton they quashed the rebellion in two months time.
Since then The Logan League has been reduced to a police-state. The Ascent Corporation instituted a puppet governor in the region and regularly patrols the streets. The next action they took was to begin marking all people who were citizens of the Logan League with an identifying tattoo on the left hand. Initially this was a system of organization and prevention of terrorism; The Logan League had continued the resistance by turned to crime and guerrilla tactics. But soon it became a system of oppression. The Logan Leaguer's became little more than second class citizens or slaves. They worked long hours in sweatshop like conditions in order to earn a subsistence living. Local Ascent Citizens began to refer to the Leaguers as "Logs" derogatorily in 2062 and outright classism was widespread and accepted by 2068. The Ascent Corporation funded it all.
Meanwhile the Revelation Church Brigade, never a strong faction, sat by and allowed the injustice to happen so long as they were afforded the freedom of religion and an ample concession of territory in the portage lakes region. They soon became dependent on the Ascent Corporation and the large fields of the Medina Alliance for food and other necessities. Their territory is considered "sacred" as per their demands in the ceasefire treaty. Their fields lay relatively untouched and the people prefer a life that is simple and in union with God.
In 2075 the Ascent Corporation, the Medina Alliance. the Logan League, and the Revelation Church Brigade signed the Summit Coalition Agreement. A multilateral trade and political agreement that united the four factions into the Summit Coalition. The leaders formed a council of appointed officials, two from each member for a total of 8. The Logan League council members are known puppets of the Ascent Corporation but each member has a single vote on affairs of the Coalition and a majority must be reached for any major decision. The year is now 2081 and the four factions are only just beginning to break in the new coalition status quo. There has been little conflict since the last Logan League Rebellion 20 years ago. The Ascent Corporation is beginning to turn its eyes outwards and on to other areas surrounding Akron. They have recently encountered the Lords of Canton to the south, some have met them with hostility and others with friendship.
I'll do characters later.
Cheers!