MAP OF NEOVICTORIAN NORTH AMERICA:
Throughout the globe, wild beasts rule supreme. There are only seventeen Change Cage cities in the world - three in North America (Old Borealis, Everglade and Desolation), two in South America (El Dorado and Amazonia), two in Africa (New Petra and Scorpion), three in Europe (Asgard, Constantinopolis and Victorgrad), one in the Middle East (New Mecca) and six in Asia (Port Tokyo, Dynasty, Old Delhi, Rubbertree, Xanadu and Victory) These Change Cage cities are very similar to the ones in North America. Squalid conditions, rampant poverty, patrolled by Peelers, giant Change Cages constantly looming over everyone. Only the aesthetics are different to reflect the culture of their region (the only creative leeway the city planners were allowed) - European and South American Change Cage cities are aesthetically speaking, virtually indistinguishable from North America's while New Mecca is dotted with spires and its Cage is a gigantic minaret, the Asian cities possess pagodas and massive obelisks serve as the Change Cages of New Petra and Scorpion. Besides that, any other differences between the cities that are not purely practical are superficial.
The other continents also have their own Skyfolk, Bargefolk and Neobedouin. Each as diverse as North America's. Likewise, the beasts re-introduced by Emperor Victor are indigenous to their particular regions as of the Pliocene Era.
GM Note: Save for the three in North America, these cities are just NPC placeholders and are by no means inflexible. If you are interested in creating your own international Change Cage city to play with, simply type up your proposal along with which city you would like to flesh out (or replace entirely) and submit it to the GM. If approved, your new city will be adapted into the game.Australia and New Zealand, not reached by western colonization, retain their native populations and are untouched by the Emperor Victor's "Great Rectification" and the uber-beasts it spawned. As such, they are ideal locations for those seeking a better (if difficult) life out of the long reach and iron fist of the Emperor, and any non-indigenous settlements are few and far between, but it is paradise for those lucky enough to escape to this unspoiled land. The only permanent settlement and location of note being Fort Canaan, located where Brisbane would be. Sadly, as Australia and New Zealand were not explored they do not exist on any map. Combined with the oppression of the Empire, this new "Promised Land" for those who have somehow managed to hear the whispers of its existence remains an impossible fantasy, and those who do manage to get there dare not set foot back in the Empire.
The rest of the world has returned to nature, its great old cities overgrown and crumbling. Old dams and levees have collapsed, returning reclaimed lands to marsh and swamp. Farmland has become overgrown and returned to its original vegetation - often trackless forest. The land looks very much as it did before humanity came down from the trees, though the climate is often more extreme due to global warming in previous eras.
Through this wilderness stalk the beasts which the current world regime caused to be recreated from past epochs. Most of the creatures the Emperors have bred come from the Pliocene era, before humans had much impact on the world, but Victor I also caused a few other species to be recreated, just because he thought they were cool.
North AmericaNorth America in 2150 can be divided into eight zones, which represent different types of vegetation, wildlife and climate. These are further modified by the underlying soil and geology, and by the landforms - flat, hilly, mountainous, etc. This is obviously a great simplification, scientifically speaking, but there are very few scientists in 22nd century America, and most of those tend to focus on technology rather than the biological sciences. The people with the most knowledge of the natural world are undoubtedly the Neobedouins, and their knowledge tends to be of a practical nature - what you can eat and what can eat you!
Mountainous areas tend to be home to the majority of Skyfolk, while the prairie flatlands contain the most Neobedouin tribes, though the Free Peoples can be found thinly scattered throughout the continent.
The ArcticThis is the land above the Arctic Circle, where the sun is above the horizon for 24 hours a day in the summer, and completely absent in the depths of winter. In the far north the temperature never rises above freezing, but further south it tends to be around 3-12 degrees Celsius (37-54 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer, dropping to an average of -28 degrees Celsius (-18 degrees Fahrenheit) with lows of -70 C (-94 F) in the winter. There is little precipitation, and all of this falls as snow. There is very little in the way of vegetation, even in the summer. The only surviving humans tend to live around the coast where fish, seals and the occasional whale form the main part of the diet. The tiny remnants of the descendants of the Eskimo and Inuit native peoples tend to be independent-minded, and though they will occasionally trade with the Neobedouin, they do not really involve themselves with the other Free Peoples. Their main predators are the giant polar bears, for whom humans form the major food source, being easier to catch than seals.
Pine Forest/TundraThis zone fades from low vegetation, largely snow-covered, in the north to the dark pine forests in the south of the region. Winters are long )over six months with temperatures below freezing) and summers short but hot (sometimes rising as high as 38 degrees C (100 degrees F) Much of the ground is permanently frozen just below the surface. Though rain and snowfall is fairly low, the lack of evaporation means this area is very humid. Across the south of this zone, huge forests of fir, pine and spruce dominate, inhabited by herds of mastodons, stag-moose and woodland musk-ox, which are preyed upon by the giant lions, dire wolves, hyaenadons and short-faced bears. Only the hardiest Neobedouin choose this environment, and even they tend to move south in the winter.Pine trees are a good source of light wood, often used in construction by the Skyloft, and Neobedouin tribes such as the Sitka will often set up temporary logging camps to harvest the trees, which they will trade with merchant vessels from the Skyloft. The cold, bleak Neovictorian city of
Old Borealis is in this zone.
Deciduous Forest A large area of eastern North America forms a continuous deciduous forest, stretching for thousands of square miles. Formed mainly of oak, beech, maple and birch trees, the forest forms a good hiding place from the air for Neobedouin tribes in the summer, but is open to the sky during the winter. Rainfall is frequent, and the temperatures rarely reach extremes of heat and cold. These deep forests are home to bison, giant sloths, mastodons and shrub ox, but the giant of the forests is undoubtedly the massive indrikki. These creatures are preyed upon by a variety of predators, including American lions, dire wolves, hyaenadons, sabre-toothed cats, short-faced bears, and the fearsome racids. Neobedouin tribes often set up summer camps under cover of the forest canopy, harvesting wood (particularly oak, which is traded with the Skyfolk for use in making airship hulls) and meat, to be salted and stored to keep them through the winter. These camps are dispersed before autumn begins to avoid detection from the air.
Western Pine ForestWest of the Rocky Mountains and east of the Pacific Ocean is a rich forest which contains some of the largest trees in the world, including red cedars with drunks ten feet in diameter and stretching up to 300 feet tall. The ground is lush with ferns, mosses, fungi and lichens. it is very wet in the north, becoming dryer further south. A unique Skyloft,
High Cedars has been built in this forest. A series of platforms high in the tree canopy are linked together by rope bridges - the whole area covers almost a square mile. The uber-beast population is similar to that in the Decidious Forest, and giant sloths are extremely common.
PrairiesPrairies are temperate lands where grass, rather than forest, is the dominant vegetation. While there are trees dotted about the landscape, it is waves of rolling grassland that predominate, grazed by vast herds of mammoths, bison, wild horses, camelops and saiga antelopes, which, together with huge fires in the dry summer months, keep the trees from taking over. The grazing animals, and the Neobedouin tribes who roam the prairies, are preyed upon by American cheetahs, dire wolves, hyaenadons, racids, scimitar cats and short-faced bears. In more hilly areas on the edge of the praeries, giant condors ride the thermals and are capable of carrying away a grown man. The prairies are home tom ore Neobedouin tribes than any other part of North America, due to the abundance of game animals and the relative ease of travel. This is one of the only parts of North America where primative roads and trails are to be seen, as Neobedouin tribes traveling to and from Helium City are immune to attack from the Imperial Air Navy under the provisions of the Tripartite Agreement of 2102.
Semi-AridThis zone is characterized by a hot climate and low rainfall. Some areas within the semi-arid zone will support scrub grassland, with more lush vegetation around water sources and in cooler climes such as in the mountains, where pine trees and other conifers dominate. Herds of camelops roam the scrubland, together with the hardy woodland musk-ox (which can thrive in these areas despite its name). The main predators are American lions, hyaenadons, racids, scimitar cats and the giant condor, a bird of prey so large it has been known to attack airships. While traveling conditions are good, there tend to be less Neobedouin in these areas than in more temperate areas due to the lack of food animals. But the large abandoned oil refineries and gas storage depots draw some tribes, despite the hostile environment.
DesertEven dryer than the semi-arid zone, the deserts of North America are bleak, inhospitable places. While some parts can support dry scrubby grassland which blooms briefly in the spring, other areas are little but blasted rock and sand, where nothing can live but lichens. Temperatures can get as high as 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees C) during the day, only to fall to 32 degrees F (0 degrees C) at night. Only in the mountains is there relief from the heat, and the Sierra Nevada is an area of bleak beauty, its snow-capped mountains clustered with pine forests and grasslands on the lower slopes due to the increased rain and snowfall caused by the mountains. Camelops are the only major herd species in this area; they wander the desert, eating the sparse scrub and stopping at rivers and other water sources to drink, where they are preyed upon by scimitar cats, hyaenadons and racids. In the more mountainous regions, shrub oxen are more common, and sabre-tooths prowl the forested slopes while teratorns haunt the thermals. This is one of the most inhospitable environments for a nomadic Neobedouin, and the tribes of this region are some of the hardiest people on the continent. The Neovictorian Change Cage city of
Desolation is a hot, dusty place where people stay indoors as much as possible and avoid the heat of the noonday sun.
Jungle and SwampThe south-east of North America is hot, lush and humid. Subtropical rainforest covers much of the area, along with damp, mosquito-ridden swamplands. Tangled mangroves make much of the area difficult to travel in. The area is home to giant ground sloths and indrikki, preyed upon by alligators, hyaenadon and American lions which have adapted to a semi-aquatic existence in the swamps. Many Neobedouin have taken to living on rafts in the swamps, fishing for their food, doing their best to stay under cover of the mangrove trees to avoid Imperial Air Navy patrols from
Everglade, the Neovictorian city on stilts at the center of the swamps - this Change Cage city is perhaps the least pleasant of the three, as mold seems to grow on every exposed surface and malaria is endemic.
Sierra NevadaThe Sierra Nevada region is a perfect place to start any Airship Pirates storyline. In the west of the area, the Neovictorian Change Cage city of
Desolation sits in the middle of the hot Nevada desert. Canals and railways head off to the northeast and southeast, the first heading off to a mining settlement in the center of the continent, and the second leading to Helium City.
To the south of Desolation City lie the remains of a once great metropolis known as Las Vegas. A huge pyramid in the heart of the ruins leads many to suspect that the place was once home to the fabled Egyptians and many have sought their gold-filled tombs among the tumble-down, beast-haunted skyscrapers.
To the west of Desolation lie the high peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Their pine-clad slopes are less snow-covered than before the environmental degradation of the Diesel Age, but they are still tall and cold. At their heart, built around the peak of Mount Whitney, lies the great sky city of Isla Aether. Further to the northwest, moored in a difficult to reach valley, the infamous pirate skyport of High Tortuga has its home.
More ruined towns lie to the west of the mountains, overtaken by the lush pine forests of the area known as the Central Valley. Tumbledown farms can still be found between the trees, where racids nest among overgrown orange groves.
Finally on the coast, the Neobedouins maintain a secret oil refinery among the giant tanks and rustling pipelines of an ancient oil storage facility.
Thu Apr 05, 2012 9:26 pm