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Does my world make sense? Is it interesting? Do you see any holes in the logic of the world? Do any questions stick out to you? All comments, questions, and critiques are welcomed.United Territories of ColumbiaI. ThemeMystic America at dawn of technology. Untouchable darkness at fringe of civilization. Post-apocalyptic America with soft magic. Age of discovery. Music, games, fighting, entertainment, and sex are abundant despite the precariousness of life and death.A. MagicThere is no formal magic system. Magic is rare but not unheard of. Some believe in it, some don’t. Mysticism has returned to America in the form of superstition, tall tales, “lucky” or “cursed” artifacts, and strange sightings. The Wilds are said to be home to great and dangerous magic. There are no formal spells. Magic tends to take the form of supernatural persuasion, illusions, and transformation, not offensive spells like fire and lightning. Witches exist but are extremely rare, dangerous, and ostracized by settlements who fear them. Certain items are imbued with magic or super natural characteristics. Some are highly sought after while others are cursed. Some people can talk to plants, animals, predict the weather, or gently control it. Some can manipulate luck or are strongly affected by its influence.B. The WildsInterchangeably used with The Purchase, any uncharted territory outside settlements and reservations. Impossible to chart and nearly impossible to navigate. Complete distortion of distance and time (caused by atomic ripples through reality from the nuclear holocaust). Maps and compasses are useless. Everyone knows a story about someone who got lost in the wilds and never returned or returned changed, their body or personality drastically altered. Home to cryptids, ghosts, witches, animals, ghouls, sub-human creatures, mystical creatures, and lost tribes as well as The Darkness.C. The DarknessDifficult to describe. Some claim it is a mood that falls on someone or a settlement and brings depression and longing. Some describe it as a dark seed that burrows into someone and causes them to act cruel or violent. Most agree it exists in some kind of indescribable physical form out in the wilds. Some believe it takes the form of a man or woman dressed all in black. Some learned people believe the degradation of civilization gave birth to a cosmic creature/sub-atomic phenomenon once wiped out by the light of civilization but now allowed to fester and grow once more. Anyone who has laid eyes on it has met a quick end, often by their own hand.D. The ApocalypseNo one knows for certain how long ago it was, but in the past, America was completely devastated by nuclear fallout. All major cities east of the The Divide were annihilated, and the rest of the land was contaminated by nuclear radiation. With no central government, the power grid was thrown into disrepair (outside The Republic). Civilization steadily degraded into a dark age where many died. A generation ago or maybe two, settlements started to form once more and America is being restored west of The Divide. Remnants of an advanced country scattered across the land. Sometimes called The Darkness or The Great Fire.II. GeographyThe land is collectively known as the United Territories of Columbia (UTC). Geography is ephemeral. Distances seem to change. Maps are completely useless. East is a walled off, no-go zone devastated by nuclear bombs and fallout. West is a new frontier. Shifting boundaries, large reservations. Magical forests, swamps, hinterlands, mountain ranges infused with ancient, precolonial mysticism. Sweeping plains. Small towns separated by miles of wilderness. California is surrounded by walls. Midwest is The Purchase. Texas and Oklahoma are The Republic. California is Golden State. Nevada is Silver State. Oregon, Washington, and Idaho are The Territories. Cities are in ruins, surrounded by impenetrable Wilds leaving small townships, small villages, isolated frontiers people, and large reservations. Navajo control all land between golden/silver state and The Republic. Highways and paved roads have been overgrown for decades.A. The DivideUnited States divided into east and west along the Mississippi River known as The Divide. East is a walled off, no-go zone devastated by nuclear bombs. A 100-foot reinforced, concrete wall separates the west from the east. There is virtually zero migration between east and west UTC. Small towns and settlements dot the boundary between east and west. Towns along the Divide are close enough together that travel is generally safe. Towns have no central government. North is controlled by the White Earth Reservation. All highways are overgrown and in disrepair, leaving dirt roads and footpaths as the only infrastructure.B. The PurchaseEncompasses the original Louisiana Purchase except for the reservations which are considered their own sovereign territories. Over 500,000,000 acres of mostly untamed wilderness. Dotted with the ruins of a once prosperous society. Bordered by The Divide on East, The Republic on the south, Silver State on the west, The Wall to the north, and The Territories to the northwest. A string of towns and settlements has formed along The Divide. Boundaries, roads, territories, and geographies seem to change and morph within The Purchase.C. The RepublicComposed of what was once Texas and Oklahoma, A heavily militarized frontier territory with medium-sized towns along border with Navajo nation. A territory completely controlled by guns and gun ownership with a loose, centralized military government. Basically Fallout New Vegas.D. The TerritoriesComposed of what was once Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Thick, overgrown wilderness with the Yakama, Colville, and Nex Perce reservations as the only points of civilizations. Tales of explorers entering The Territories and never returning.E. The ReservationsLittle is known about the reservations. They are secluded and hostile to foreigners. The Navajo Nation is the largest and most powerful, trading with The Republic, Silver State, and Golden State, but no flow of migrants between the two nations. Yakama, Colville, and Nez Perce reservations in the northwest, Navajo Nation in the west, White Earth in the northeast, Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw in the southeast.F. The Lost LandsAll land east of The Divide devastated by nuclear fallout and radiation. A massive reinforced wall makes travel into the lost lands virtually impossible, and tales of monsters and poisonous air make it undesirable to even try and enter. Little is truly known about these abandoned lands.G. The WallA militarized border several miles deep into dangerous, untamed wilderness separating the UTC from whatever lies north of The Wall. No one has personally seen beyond the wall, just third and fourth-hand stories of what might exist. Stories of a vast, frozen wasteland, others proclaim a golden utopia where settlers are unfit to dwell.III. PopulationsA. HumanoidsSettlersSettlers are by far the most common humanoids. A blanket term for people who live in The Purchase. They come in a wide array of colors and sizes including dwarves and giants which are more rare but not unheard of. Human ancestry and general history is lost to the ages. All data was stored electronically and therefore lost. The ability to read has been lost outside reservations. Race is not a large concern outside reservations, and neither is gender as most people are focused on survival and enjoying the short time they have left. Children and old people are said to be good omens as they imply an area is sustainable for living.ShiftersHuman by all appearance, shapeshifters can shift into a variety of different animals. For example, deerkin, wolfkin, rabbitkin, foxkin, snakekin. No one knows the origin of shapeshifters, and they are exceedingly uncommon. Said to live in The Wilds in tribes and enclaves.GangersLittle is known about the true nature of doppelgangers. What is known is they take the place of someone lost, dead, or murdered and attempt to live their life. Indistinguishable from normal humans except their toes are fused together. Feared by many, generally believed to be murderous and said to have appeared from The Wilds or The Darkness.NativesAny member of the reservations that control much of the country. Widely understood to be the first people to settle the land and deeply respected. They existed before the apocalypse and even before the civilizations of the apocalypse with a long and storied history dating back over a thousand years. Come from a large variety of different tribes each with their own language and customs. Will trade with settlers and travel The Purchase but are generally prohibited to marry or mate outside their tribe.UnfinishedA variety of reasons such as a shallow grave, a deep-seated grudge, or unrequited love can cause the deceased to rise once more and wander forever until their purpose is completed. Very uncommon but not unheard of. Unfinished are distinguished by their lack of odor and inability to sweat or cry. Unfinished with hate in their heart can become a force of nature, unkillable and evil.TransA person with two or more souls inside them who can physically transform back and forth between the different people contained within them. More a rumor than a known group of people. No one knows where they come from or how they transform.SuccubiA person who cannot digest food and must have constant sex and alcohol in order to survive. Impossibly beautiful. Not malicious, but feared by men as soul devourers and by women for leading men astray. Must hide their true nature. Cannot give birth or impregnate women.IncubiA person who must rest all day and hunt at night in search of dreams to devour. Some settlements value them as eaters of nightmares while others claim they steal children to continually feast on. Cannot digest food. Cannot dream.KinAlso known as elementals, a wide variety of humanoids with an affinity for the elements such as waterkin, firekin, lightkin, shadowkin, earthkin, and windkin. Not humans as the way we understand them. Can be born as adults or as children. Can live for years or only days. Some settlements believe they are manifestations of nature, of The Wilds trying to achieve consciousness. Waterkin cannot leave the water. Firekin are born of great fires. Lightkin are said to live on the peaks of the highest mountains along with windkin. Shadowkin wander aimlessly on the longest winter nights, and earthkin are said to appear from freshly tilled fields.CuckoosA group of children or adults who share one singular mind but each display their own personality. Not well understood. Some settlements believe children born under a certain moon become cuckoos. Often experience mental illness as they try to deal with their shared mind.EmpathsOften disturbed humanoids who generate negative emotions in people so they can feed on them or get high on them. Other empaths spread joy in order to feed or become inebriated.HarbingersA rare type of humanoid that can cause death or illness with a single touch or kiss. Said to be a bad omen. If someone was gravely ill, one might say, “the Harbinger is coming.” Believed to be born of the Darkness, some believe they are a necessary force of nature.ShadowsA rare humanoid who can turn invisible, sometimes at will, and sometimes not. Because of this rare ability, shadows tend to exploit their power for nefarious means and are feared and ostracized by settlements, often assumed guilty without evidence.Star ChildA rare humanoid who can leave their body behind and travel the world in astral form. Most can only do this while sleeping, while older star children have trained themselves to travel at will. All star children are desperately afraid of incubi.B. FaunaThe fauna in The Purchase is largely unchanged from before the apocalypse. Near The Divide, one may discover a creature fused or deformed from radiation. In The Purchase, tales of problematic animals, whether massive, aggressive, or supernaturally intelligent are common. There is a subtle connection between fauna and the magic of The Wilds.Most people believe in cryptids, and many have seen them. Shifters, devils, demon fauna, glowing eyes, apes, fiery horses, flying humans with wings, talking animals, glowing animals, ghosts, hounds with multiple heads, wendigos, and countless other stories. In this world, squirrels are as common as a hellhound or wendigo as settlers have never experienced a world where these supernatural species never existed.C. FloraFlora have taken on a mythos all their own. Their medicinal properties are highly valued with the lack of modern healthcare and anyone with the knowledge to find them or use them is generally well respected. Plants grow much more aggressively and are highly resistant to poison and culling with tales of The Wilds enveloping small settlements. There are also stories of foliage displaying intelligence like an animal. Flowers and herbs are highly prized as gifts because of the difficulty to acquire them. Some settlements worship the trees and treat them like ancestors. These settlements believe they can communicate with the trees and gain their knowledge.The Wilds and the flora within are inextricable in terms of myth and danger. Some say trees and plants shift and migrate when unseen by human eyes to confuse wanderers and lead them astray. Others believe The flora of the Wilds protect humans from a great and evil darkness at its heart. They must deter humans at all costs to prevent the Darkness from escaping.IV. TechnologyThe technology in The Purchase is a strange mix of frontier tools and ancient tech. Outside the Republic there are no power grids and any settlement with a water pump and generator is seen as a desirable place to live. Generators have been converted to run on plant oils or rendered fat from animals and humans. Ancient technology is as highly coveted as it is abhorred. A working radio picking up signals from a distant land would be cause for a party by some, while another settlement would believe they are the sounds of the afterlife.It is common for someone to keep a knife on them at all times for work and protection as well as a small scarf for cleaning, cinching, or sleeping. Guns are exceedingly rare outside The Republic and are taken by force by Republic traders should they be discovered.Common items are yard tools, kitchen tools, knives, rope, scarves, repair tools, anything that doesn’t require electricity or constant maintenance. Certain rare items have subtle magical properties like a knife that never dulls, a slingshot that never misses, boots that never wear out and imbue the wearer with endless vitality, and a frying pan that always makes delicious food.Musical instruments are highly coveted, and a skilled musician would enjoy celebrity status by their settlement for their ability to provide entertainment.Medieval weapons such as swords, maces, and shields do not exist, but a recurve bow, dagger, slingshot, or club would not be out of place.V. CivilizationA. SettlementsCivilization had been in steady decline for generations since the apocalypse and is only recently starting to rebuild. Small settlements dot the landscape, sometimes connected by dirt roads, sometimes completely isolated and in danger of decline. Each settlement will have similar yet different values. Reservations tend to be more advanced with roads and a centralized government along with trade, resources, and infrastructure. The Republic and States are more advanced than the Purchase.Not much is known about pre-apocalypse Columbia and no one is alive who saw it. Most people are only focused on thrills and survival. Drinking, fighting, sex, and games are extremely popular when there is no work to do. People are very loyal to friends and family while very suspicious of strangers. Most settlements have no government and limited utilities and infrastructure. They are simply occupied by a group of people just trying to survive.InfrastructureMost settlements are quite small ranging in population from a dozen to a few dozen settlers. Large settlements on the Purchase are unheard of. Most settlements will have a hub where people gather to socialize, usually serving refreshments or even just clean water and light. It is not unusual for people to spend hours at the hubs talking and playing and flirting and drinking, music is treasured, as are traveling storytellers.Some settlements have fight clubs which are tight knit clubs where one is taught clandestine fighting techniques ranging from striking, grappling, to submissions. Sometimes these members will travel alone or in groups to other settlements in search of challengers, or offering a prize to anyone who can beat their champion.Food supply is a touchy subject. Traders will infrequently come by to restore food supplies. Almost all food is canned. Hunting is extremely difficult in the Wilds, and farming presents its own challenges of the Wilds overtaking fertile lands. Besides the threat of the seemingly expanding Wilds, settlements will vanish or dissipate because of a lack of food or water.B. ReservationsEach reservation is unique depending on its customs and how well the tribe adapted to the apocalypse. Most tribes are better organized and governed than the loose network of settlements dotting the purchase. An individual reservation will have a unifying culture as well as basic roads and access to water. Most have an agricultural program, making their traveling merchants highly welcomes outside the reservation.No reservation yet is outwardly hostile, but travelers not born in the reservation are forbidden inside and must do business at the market stands set up for settlers. Natives tend to look down on settlers as unclean, uneducated, and incapable of governance, though traveling merchants are much more friendly towards settlers having lived and traveled among them.Despite the vast differences often separating them, reservations remain on friendly terms with one another, commiserating with how similar their customs, rites, and ancient history are compared to the settlers, states, and Republic. The leaders of reservations are all aware of the great injustices inflicted upon them in ancient history and do not wish to see it repeated. This at the least prevents all the reservations from being hostile towards one another, and is somewhat of a shared history.C. The RepublicGuns are the defining aspect of The Republic. An ammo-centric centralized government where the only rule is the people with the guns make the rules. Far advanced beyond the reservations or purchase because of their intact power grid. The Republic will deny the reality of its steady decline in order to appear intimidating. With working vehicles and electronics, they still struggle immensely to distribute resources or collect taxes as each citizen’s prerogative is to do whatever their gun allows them to do. A civilization based on absolute rugged individualism that struggles to form a coherent society because of everyone’s own self interest. The only law is whatever your gun will allow you to do.The central government has a powerful, well armed military, their only resource in exerting any kind of control over its citizens. Every republic citizen believes they live in the best, most powerful territory. While The Republic is easily the most powerful and well armed, their government and institutions are weak and corrupt.Technology is not advanced as our modern times. There is no internet, telephone lines, or cell towers. Radios exist and are quite valuable for long range communication. Common household appliances and power tools also exist.D. Silver StateAn entire society based on the harsh conditions of desert life. The name of the game is water infrastructure and how well it is managed. The civilization taps deep aquifers as well as mountain peaks, combined with an intact pre-apocalypse sewer and plumbing system to sustain life. If something is good, a person might say “it bears water” or “looks wet”. Wishing someone hope “there will be water”.Every citizen travels with an indestructible, pre-apocalypse water bottle which can process gallons of urination before it needs to be refreshed at a pump, allowing for limited travel and expeditions.Because of the harsh environment, no other territories attempt to enter Silver State, even the Republic in desperate search of guns and technology has lost many to fruitless expeditions. This goes both ways though as Silver State is bordered off to the west by a massive wall, to the north by the dangerous Territories, to the east by the Wilds, and to the south by uncharted desert wastelands.E. Golden StateTheir is legend of a vast, futuristic city that stretched to every horizon before it was annihilated by fire. The entire west coast of the state broke off in the calamity and either sank or floated out to sea depending on who you ask.The annihilating fires vastly altered the landscape and revealed vast gold deposits deep within the earth, allowing the state to build immeasurable wealth before the Great Fire.F. The WildsThe Wilds are an impossibly vast stretch of wilderness comprised of dense forests, murky swamps, raging rivers, mountains that kiss the sky, dizzying hinterlands, and endless plains of gold. Any attempt to navigate the wilds has seen the loss of explorers or for explorers to return years later believing only a few days have passed or vice versa.Shifters and kin are said to be born in the wilds and will occasionally leave their homes to experience settler life or lure settlers into the Wilds.The Wilds teem with wildlife, both natural and supernatural. Innumerable stories of intelligent animals, possessed or rare creatures. Even with all the myths and stories, no one comes close to knowing and understanding all that the wilds consist of.There are rumors of night markets in the wilds run by talking animals that sell baubles, strange plants and mushrooms, as well as delicious prepared food. A human should never consume the food, or they will turn into an animal and belong to the wilds forever.It is said the source of The Darkness grows in the deepest darkest parts of the Wild at its unknowable core.VI. CultureA. SettlementsEach settlement has its own culture that is similar to surrounding settlements, though settlements cut off from the world can have vastly different cultures and quirks. Race only matters to the extent that someone is a native or not a native, and that only matters on a reservation. Gender is not a major issue either. Men and women are treated with equal respect and there is no collective animosity between the genders or harmful stereotypes.Instead of labeling someone simply as male or female, a common nomenclature is masc and fem. A man or woman can be masc or fem and such designation is based on their nature and personality. Someone who is masc tends to be aggressive, proud, physically strong, controlling, a leader, a doer, takes the initiative, is boisterous, but not necessarily every characteristic previously listed.Someone who is fem tends to be quiet, agreeable, passive, nurturing, physically weak, timid, sensual, thoughtful, creative. Masc and fem combine ancient gender roles with the yin and yang paradigm. A masc and a fem are generally believed to make a good couple regardless of sex.People on the settlements tend to be in their 20s and 30s and average lifespan is quite short. An elderly person is a rare sight and always taken care of by their community. Many people have lost family members or their entire families to the dangers and lack of resources in the world, and relationships form fast and hold tight on The Purchase. A child would be collectively raised and watched over by the settlement. It is not uncommon to give close friends the title of brother sister, aunt uncle, or mom and dad.Sex is quite common, though pregnancy is rare. Life is short in this world, and most people focus on sensual joys like eating, drinking, gaming, fighting, smoking, and fucking. Casual sex is common, though long-term relationships also form.Good food is rare and always cause for celebration. Most settlements are eager for an excuse to have a party. There is a sense that the settlers must ignore their harsh reality with regular celebrations or The Darkness will take hold.Gaming is a large part of settlement living with little meaningful work to be found. A deck of cards is worth someone’s life, and most decks of cards have strange additions not found in normal playing cards. A good card player is always well respected. Bad card players will always find friends. Pebbles is a simple game where rows of pebbles are lined up. Two players take turns removing as many pebbles they want from any one row. The goal is to force your opponent to take the last pebble. Other physical games like horse shoes, corn hole, targets with a slingshot, bolos, mini shuffle board, hoops, darts, bocce, and buckets exist and are popular in different geographies.Fighting is a popular activity that also causes many problems. Each settlement has its own rules on what is acceptable in a fight. Some settlements only approve grappling while others only approve striking. Sometimes striking or grappling below the groin is prohibited. Using a weapon in a recreational fight is considered extremely scummy behavior.Smoking and drinking are common activities. Drinking is the most common as settlements distill or ferment their own alcohol. Smoking is a more special occasion treat, especially if a native trader comes by to sell weed and tabac. Experimenting with the plants and mushrooms of the Wilds is seen as reckless behavior.Crime varies from settlement to settlement. Some are highly punitive while others focus on the shame of being a criminal. A criminal is commonly exiled which also leads settlements to be highly distrusting of strangers. Even small crimes like stealing are abhorred by settlements. Sex crimes are punishable by death. Cheating or consequential lying can result in a public beating by the settlement.Outside the more carnal forms of entertainment, music and storytelling ability is highly valued. Everyone loves a good musician or storyteller to alleviate the dread and boredom of settlement living. Storytellers are relied on for fresh material, and the best storytellers are famous travelers. Their stories are a mix of myth, legend, strange sightings, and their own imagination.Not much is known about the world they live in. A settler’s knowledge of the world rarely extends outside their small settlement. Communication from beyond local settlements is rare. Most know about reservations, the republic, golden state, silver state, the wilds, the darkness, and a small collection of local myths and legends. They know there is a much larger world out there but barely have any knowledge of it. The Wilds are seen as this infinite untamed land that stretches to infinity and contains the most unimaginable creatures and magics.The Darkness is this ever present weight in their life, always to blame for depression, ill luck, or disaster.Every settler will at some point describe this strange impulse they’ve had or still have to travel the lands as a wanderer. Sometimes out of boredom or ill luck, a settler will be overcome by the wanderlust and travel The Purchase forever until they find what they are looking for. Some believe a wanderer will never age or die until they find their purpose.B. ReservationsEach reservation has it’s own set of customs and languages passed down for hundreds of years and still practiced currentlyC. The RepublicThe one with the guns makes the rules.Women in and outside The Republic are generally considered weak and oppressable unless of course they have a gun. There has been a push to deny women gun ownership met with fierce opposition.D. Silver StateWater is life.E. Golden StateUnknownVII. The SupernaturalA. Magical ItemsMagical items are uncommon but not unheard of. Magic is quite soft and quite low, verging on believable coincidence or phenomenon that is unnatural but not impossible. Simple things like a knife that never dulls, boots that never wear out, unlucky or lucky bandanna, a pendant making people more attracted to you, a lucky coin that brings fortune, a gun that never misses or always misses, a cursed knife that makes the owner more aggressive, a home of ill fortune, an ocarina that summons animals, a compass that doesn’t point north but can safely guide you through the Wilds. An item won’t be obviously magical until after extended use, and its effects can be written off to luck or coincidence. There are no shields, swords, maces, flails, or other medieval weaponry in this world. A typical weapon would be a knife, metal bar, brick, frying pan, shovel, ax, scythe, chain, baseball bat, spud bar, or a solid hunk of wood.B. NatureThe world, and more specifically the Purchase, the Territories, and especially the Wilds is permeated with soft, low magic. Water sources can appear where there was none. Navigating the world is extremely difficult as the landscape seems to warp and change without one knowing. You can sleep and wake up in an unknown location, a well worn road can lead to two different places at random. It is not uncommon for someone to enter the Wilds and never return or to return much older after being gone only a few days. Staying in the Wilds too long can turn someone dark, feral, or addled. The wanderlust is this overwhelming sensation every settler has to travel, and it is generally advised to resist the feeling. Some believe it is the Darkness or the Wilds looking for new prey. Some people can hear voices on the wind or from the Wilds. There are certain areas that fill people with dread or anger or sadness as if some great calamity happened there before the Fire and left an emotional imprint on the land. Most would agree the Wilds seems to have a mind or at least a will of it’s own.C. CryptidsIn addition to rare and strange humanoids, there are many supernatural creatures which wander the land and inhabit the Wilds.
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