The World of the Exiled

 World Map

            The world you live in is vast; full of unexplored territory, savage peoples and strange wonders.  The people of Europe have dominated most of what they consider important, and are continuing to send expeditions to the corners of the globe. The European nations have made huge advances over the past centuries in the various technological fields. These peoples celebrate the sciences and invention, but are primarily nations of industry.  Vast factories cover the lands of Britain, Gaul, Hispania and Deutchlande, which are the most prominent and powerful of the world’s countries. Britain is considered the most advanced of these nations and counts many territories across the planet as part of its empire.

            Though these old countries contain areas of land that produce foodstuffs and other natural materials needed to sustain life, they are looking increasingly to the more undeveloped portions of the world for their resources. Technology began to travel to Russia, Celestia and other semi-civilized areas that took advantage of Europe’s need to set up trade agreements. Though often working in consort after forming the European Federation, the countries of Europe frequently bickered amongst each other and vied for supremacy while they worked to find more resources and advance their technology. The conflicts could sometimes lead to war, with the lesser nations choosing sides where they would. With this endless appetite, the Europeans soon found themselves needing more room, and the discovery of an untouched continent was a boon.

The Colonization of North Appalachiad

Britain set up the colonies in North Appalachiad along the eastern seaboard. Many nationalists of other countries followed suit, though none challenged the British.  Much of the land was explored by land and sea, though the industrialists found the east to be of the most interest at that stage.  Hispania sent resources to claim Central Appalachiad, though did not meet with the same success in conquering the native peoples as their northern counterparts.  Attempts to settle the far north all met in failure, as the mountains were far too vast and harsh to support colonies. Most of those who traveled to the icy reaches were never heard from again.

The North Appalachiad settlers cleared the Native presence and began to strip all the materials they could from the area. Soon these territories were covered in the same factories as Europe; huge complexes of machinery, human habitation, and other buildings blotted out the landscape. As the agricultural arts were lost, raw materials came from the west and the only green space in the Appalaciahiad civilization was the rare park or small garden on a wealthy estate. Animals could not be raised in quantity, and they had run out of nearly all other resources.

At the same time, many who escaped from the miserable conditions of the factories of the colonies set up homes in the west. The British colonies allowed these people to spread and settle the land, as they could provide materials to the factories while the eastern Appalachiads could focus on their various industries. The arrangement seemed to suit both parties, and population grew in city and frontier. This was the beginning of division of attitude amongst the two peoples that would eventually lead to the creation of a boundary between east and west.

The Appalachian Revolution

After a time, the production of the North Appalachiad colonies far surpassed that of the European nations. In fact, many of their discoveries were so beyond the realm of available technology that they seemed to be powered from a whole new source.  These new inventions were sent back to Europe in trade for raw goods and other materials. But the colonists grew tired of the taxes placed on them and the rule of an absent power. In protest, they ceased to send their products back across the ocean, and threw most of the overseers and governors into industrial equipment. This effectively declared their independence, and the colonists made ready for war. The British sent an armada to Appalachia, but could not land anywhere on the coast. Determining the closest port was north rather than south, the ships landed in the frozen lands beyond the mountains.

Learning of this and knowing the exceptionally harsh conditions in the north, the Appalachians waited and allowed the British to march south. The weather and uncivilized conditions had taken their natural toll by the time the British and Appalachian troops met. The Appalachians, with their fresh troops and superior manpower, defeated the British soundly in a series of battles. Eventually Britain was forced to withdraw to tend to the other areas of its empire, and the Appalachians declared themselves the Appalachian Empire.

After the revolution, the Imperials thought of attempting to claim all the land, all the way to the western boarder of the continent. Their own military power far surpassed that of the pioneers, but they had no desire to attempt to govern the vast, troubled reaches past their own border. Furthermore, the pioneers had something they were badly in need of now that they had severed all ties with Britain – food and resources. They allowed the pioneers to claim sovereignty as the Appalachian Republic and set the border of their empire where it remains today. The Empire instead used its superior technology in the military arena to claim many of Britain’s other colonies as its own.

            As more people traveled west, their progress was halted before they reached the edge of the continent. A vast desert stretched north into the mountains and south into Serape. This land was rumored to be a place of great evil by the locals, and indeed nothing would grow there and no one who went in came out sane. This Wasteland effectively became the western border of the Appalachian Republic, and also prevented any other nations from attempting to reclaim North Appalachiad. In 1802 the Appalachian Republic was recognized, and there has been relative peace between the two nations on the continent in the 45 years since then.

            The Republic has not been in a state of peace, though. With the Natives, the beasts in the mountains, and the hostile Wasteland, they have had plenty to keep them from  simple lives of farming and ranching. If that weren’t enough, the Serape War has recently started, and the struggle continues. The Serape are a strange nation of people from Central Appalachiad whose limited technology and superstition has left them behind in the industrial race. They view some Republican territory as their own, and have fought to claim it. Thus far, they have not been successful, but Serape influence can be seen creeping north as they try to use more shadowy methods to undermine the Republic. 

            The farther west you travel, the more rough the land is. Most “civilization” is on the east coast and in the lands closest to the Empire. Though railroads do stretch to the farthest point of the Republic, they are far too few to bring sophistication, and are mostly used for trade. Rugged towns spring up wherever a strike is made, and sometimes coal and iron are as valuable as gold.

            It is 1847, and this is the world you live in.