Boundaries: Medford is the largest town and capital of the Rogue River valley and the Klamath Watershed basin. As a result the region is sometimes called the Klamath, or the Rogue Nation. To the West and North lie the Siskyiou mountains. Fairly rough peaks that are impassable during the winter, but allow trade north though Applegate Pass to the Umpqua basin and west to the fishing community of Gold Beach. South lies the farming town of Yureka and the Siskyiou county until you get to Mt. Shasta. There are roads into to the Sacramento Sea but they are rough and bandit infested. To the east is the Klamath Falls farm country, and then on to the great nothing between the Freemont and Steens mountains inhabited by bandits, neobarbs and horsemen. Although if you’re careful you can make your way to the cattletown of Burns, and then head on to Boise and Deseret.
Government: Elected council of Sheriffs for Medford, Klamath and Yureka.
Legal Code: Generally derived from Old World US.
Climate: Medford sits in a weather shadow between the Cascade Range and Siskiyou Mountains called the Rogue Valley. As such, most of the rain associated with the Pacific Northwest and Oregon in particular skips Medford, making it drier and sunnier than the Willamette Valley. Medford's climate is considerably warmer, both in summer and winter, than its latitude would suggest, with a Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa). Summers are akin to Eastern Oregon, and winters resemble the coast. In Medford, summer often includes as many as ninety days over 90 °F (32 °C), with temperatures over 100 °F (38 °C) common in July and August.
Population: 200,000 +
Economics: Agriculture (corn, wheat, vegetable, barley, grape). Herding (sheep and cattle). Some trade via overland routes. Textiles and light industry.
Agriculture: Cotton, rice, maize, vegetables, citrus, cattle, horses and sheep.
Trade: Gold Beach and Eugene outside of winter, sporadic with Burns and intermittent with the Sacremento Sea via Redding.
Religion: Post Rapture Order of the Redeemer 85%, Wiccan 5%, Unaffiliated 10%.
Standard of Living:
Rural: Fair, although security can be a significant problem.
Urban: Fair. The entire Siskyiou region was an afterthought before the Fall. It still remains as such.
Gender Equity: fair to good.
Armed Forces: light. Mostly ad hoc Posse and militia.
Dominant Magical Tradition: Miracles
History: The city of Medford was in for a heap of trouble when The Rapture came. The region was free of most sorts of disasters other than a few earthquakes and the loss of the grid. The main issues where this massive interstate that connected the valley with the massive population centers in Oregon and California (it turns out the ones in Oregon wouldn't be to much of an issue) and the fact that there were to many people.
First off there was a small National Guard armory in the town. The members of the National guard grabbed their still operating equipment, their families and whatever supplies they could find (months and months worth of MRE's and biovaced to Lost Creek Lake and waited. For a month? Perhaps two. After that the Colonel in charge drove the tanks and trucks back to Medford to pick up the pieces; a few hundreds of survivors. Some who had forted up to wait out the disaster, others who had resorted to cannibalism. The former were drafted, the latter were executed in a campaign that took only a week or so.
The vast majority of these people were set to clearing rubble and restarting farms as quickly as possible. The rest used their vehicles to construct fortresses in the mountain passes north of Medford and south of Ashland on I5. Even with all of this, even by keeping out the vast majority of wandering refugees it was a close run thing.
Today the town of Medford sits near what was once called Touvelle State Park. It si a town of trade and industry, acting as a hub for the entire south - central region of what was Oregon and Northern California. Aqueducts carry water from the rivers to irrigate the vast farms in the Medford valley, and the satellite region of Klamath Lake has been similarly irrigated and fortified.
Even today, the strength of Medford lies in her mountain fortifications at the north and south end of the valley. The only 'weak point' of the region would be to the east. Although, as weak points go, forcing an opponent to cross the mountains and highlands between the Cascades and the Sierra Nevada seems a fair bargain.
The boundaries of the Republic have been pushed out to the region of Grants Pass an Yreka, adding population and farmlands. These regions elect representatives knows as sheriffs who sit in legislative council in Medford. Nominally they are all equal, but they generally defer to the post known as The Colonels Seat, honoring the man who lead the survivors though The Fall.
The trump card for Medford remains there pre-fall arms. Roundshot from a warjack bounces off the armor, and a single round from those monsters with blow a hole completely though a Heavy. The only thing saving Medfords neighbors is they eat fuel like there is no tomorrow.
Noteworthy things: