Never in my life have I more desperately craved context
this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2023
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Worldbuilding
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Just a thing I'm putting together in one pass.
This is after the Second American Civil War. The country fractured into different states, the United Reformed States of America is the resulting new country that exists as a construction of a treaty between them.
This entire map is just background information for a future war in Alaska (which as you can see isn't on the map). Alaska tried sitting out the war until somebody won, but since technically nobody won, the ownership of Alaska became a Federal protectorate. Because of global warming, Alaska became a place where cities started being built as a way to deal with overpopulation in the continental states. The growing population of Alaska sparks a war with a revived Eastern European-Asian nation red communist pact.
I didn't really focus on the URSA, but it's giving me so many ideas I might have to make a booklet focusing on it when I'm done with Alaska. So far I think it has a council of 7 presidents (one from each state), a court presided over by a Prime Judge and an AI construct, and then a house of Chief Operating Officers.
To sign, each state got some special demand met.
New Jefferson: Got to build and maintain the AI judge, in exchange for not getting more COOs than everyone else despite having the largest population.
Qodesh: Citizens have immunity from numerous Federal laws and mandates such as military conscription.
Texas: Gets a bigger star on the new flag than everybody else.
Travail: Has a special veto power among COOs for economic matters.
The State Of Davis: Exempted from many Federal business and safety laws.
Columbia: The only state with control of a nuclear weapon.
Pert: Special tax zone, and has ability to impose laws inside the state, even if Federal law does not allow it.
Texas: Gets a bigger star on the new flag than everybody else.
This map elegantly forebodes a lot of interesting political and economic issues. Well done!
So, what's up with the Ohio Exclusion Zone? I mean, Ohio is a rough place, but it's not that rough...!
Honestly, I don’t exactly know. Until I come up with something good enough it’s a “here be dragons” zone.
I want whatever it is to be so bad that even during the height of the second American civil war, the three bordering states, despite being at war with each other had a truce along the border containment wall, with their guards manning the wall without fighting each other.
Hah, fair enough. I thought it was just a joke about the "Ohio is terrible" memes, but that works too.
Easiest answer: Someone deployed a bioweapon. Maybe a "rabid runner zombie"-style bioweapon, or something that induces psychopathy. They're not a critical threat, as long as the wall is watched. But with civilization kind of broken down, nobody wants to risk a real outbreak.
It totally is riffing on the Ohio is terrible meme.
A bioweapon or zombie plague is a natural idea but I want something more esoteric. Something very cryptid and even when explained, still mysterious. I like the idea of having dark rabbit holes in worlds.