New California Confederation

Boundaries: The city of New Sacramento lies on the ruins of the Old world city of Folsom on the shore of the Sacramento Sea. It is a good sized city of about 40,000 citizens, and head of a league of aligned city-states that ring the Sacramento sea; from Redding to the north, to Clovis and Porterfield in the south, around the west coast of the Sacramento sea where we find Colinga and Volta, finally to the mouth of the bay where we find the independent city state of San Francisco, and Napa City.Government: Confederation of City States (varied individual governments, from Constitutional Municipalities to Kinglets).Legal Code: Essentially derived from Old US standards, with some variations and ‘quirks’.Climate: Sacramento has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa), characterized by damp to wet, mild winters and hot, dry summers. The wet season is generally October through April, though there may be a day or two of light rainfall in June or September. The mean annual temperature is 61.3 °F (16.3 °C), with monthly means ranging from 46.4 °F (8.0 °C) in December to 75.5 °F (24.2 °C) in July. Summer heat is often moderated by a sea breeze known as the "delta breeze" which comes through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta from the San Francisco Bay.Population: 300,000Economics: New California is a maritime nation much like Cascadia to the north. As a result it has a strong merchant class involved in the movement of goods to various points both near and far. New California traders make it to Indonesia, Japan, Australia and Latin America. If it wasn’t for Aztlan most tension would be with Cascadia as a result. One can also make a good living in the mining and scavenging industries.Agriculture: Maize, palm dates, fruit orchards, rice, soy, wine, fishing, herding, on and on...Trade: Extensive maritime and overland trade with the surrounding neighbors (except for Aztlan. There is significant tension at the Grapevine Line; a series of outposts and fortifications held by the Californians stretching from San Luis Obispo to Tehachapi in the east (which started out as a survivalist commune, then evolved into a trading post and tariff checkpoint for caravans headed to and from Lost Vegas, to now a military fortification).

Religion: Post Rapture Order of the Redeemer 25%, Latter Day Saints 15%, Gaianism, 15%, Wiccan 25%, Unaffiliated 20%.

Standard of Living:

• Rural: Good, if one can avoid the bandits. Frequently ‘Patron’ family lead small holdings with tenant farmers and other hangers on.

• Urban: Very good to poor depending on the individuals economic strata.

Gender Equity: on par with old world standards (in most areas)

Armed Forces: Significant. The ‘Cold Peace’ with Aztlan and the hoards of neobarbs and bandits from from places like Barslowtown that infest the Mohave have forced New California to maintain a significant garrisoning force, as well as cavalry. There is also a decent sized fleet patrolling the waters, comprised of sailing and new clockwork/steam vessels.

Dominant Magical Tradition: Shamanism, Weird Science

History: The devastation caused by the Fall was only worse in the Boswash region of North America. Millions starved as infrastructure collapsed. Only a very few ‘survivalists’ at the fringe of the urban region survived to resettle and eventually colonize the region. As a result New Sacramento is a fairly new polity in the scheme of things, but a rising one. It has extensive maritime contacts with Cascadia to the north, Latin America to the south, Far off Asia to the West and good overland routes to Lost Vegas and Sun Valley.

The New California Confederation was founded by the hard core and the motivated: those who somehow managed to escape the urban corridors and flee to the mountains, or those 'preppers' and survivalists in the central valley and surrounding countryside. A good number also came from places like Tahoe, which were far enough away to avoid the starving teeming masses, yet close enough to move to the farmlands by the next Spring. In short, California suffered a 99% die-off in population. Not because the land couldn't support the people, but the logistical infrastructure to feed them all vanished leaving 'Walkers' in the millions. No where to go. Nothing to eat. Their mummified corpses line the old roads with a mausoleum of horror.

This has left some indelible scars on the psyche of those who live among the dead. Much like Deseret the locales hoard non-perishable foodstuffs. They are wary of outsiders, and tend toward hostility when challenged. Such paranoia is even more understandable when one considers the Plague Zombies of the former LA, or the infernal worshiping Legion out of Barstow, or the Monsters of Napa, Or the Unholy Radioactive Blight of the Edwards, or god knows what that infests the San Francisco Islands.

The California Republic is surrounded by, and one step away from Hell. The people know it and it is reflected in their grim determination to survive, come what may.

The Confederation is comprised of several quasi-independent city states, united only by their desire to not fall under the tide of death that surrounds them, or the evil that lurks. These communities are New Sacremento, Redding, Porterfield, Colinga. Oroville, Winters, Brentwood, Los Banos, and the islands of Brannan, and Mount Lonely. And these are just the major Fortress towns. There are innumerable little trade posts and villages surrounding the California Sea and up into the mountains providing rich agricultural bounty.

New Sacramento was founded 100 years ago on the banks of the American River, where the collapse of the Nimbus Dam carved a deep water port. The city thrives as a hub for trade for the entire inland sea trading in fish, agriculture, animal products from the Sierra, minerals and in general acing as a jumping off point for the Pacific.