Umpqua

Boundaries Umpqua and its surroundings make up a collection of prosperous farming, mining and timber communities in the boundary between the southern Cascade mountains and the northern Siskyiou sheltered within the river valleys of the Umpqua and her tributaries. The northern most boundary would be a bit beyond Sutherlin, and the port of Elkton to the North West. To the far west is the wilderness between Coos and Coquille. To the Southwest is the boundary between the Camas valley controlled by Coquille and the farming village Tenmile. South is the real trouble spot, the ill defined border with Medford. To the north is Roseburgs chief trading partner, Eugene. And to the east lies the town of Umpqua and the wild-lands of the Cascades where mountain men and other critters abound.

The Umpqua River and its tributaries have carved canyon valleys out of the northern Siskyiou's making for a rugged landscape, intersperse by unexpected broad valleys with rich farmland. Within the largest of these valleys lies the ruins of Roseburg and Sutherlin, which remain unused to this day.

The Capitol of the Umpqua nation is the Port of Elkton, which was once a farming community. The high canyons of the mountains carved by the Umpqua river make for a spectacular setting, with high outposts, monasteries and forts local strongmen exploit for tariff. 

Government: Independent quasi medieval fiefdoms ruled by a local strongman that can band together in the face of an external foe, but usually not.

Legal Code: A combination of pre-rapture tradition and Primogeniture.

Climate: Warm, dry summers with mild, rainy winters.

Population: roughly 50k. No real census has been taken recently.

Economics: Mostly agriculture, with Elkton serving as a significant trade port between Eugene and the rest of the Pacific Rim. The main roads between the Willamette and Medford are farther east which mostly removes it from the equation in any conflict between the major powers, but because of the extensive trade links Elkton has been effectively Finlandized by Eugene.

Agriculture: oats, wheat, barley, corn, rice, fruit orchards, nuts (walnut, acorn and filbert), vegetables, sheep, alpaca, goats, some cattle, horses.

Trade: Elkton is turning into the main tradeport for Eugene City. This has put the town more and more withing Eugene's influence, much to the consternation of the town's Lord. Much of the rest of Umpqua views this with alarm because the surest way to turn the Umpqua valley into a battlefield again would be for Eugene to formally take control of a part of the region. Finally, the infested ruins of Roseburg makes for a good draw for the adventurous and foolhardy.

Religion: Post Rapture Order of the Redeemer 95%, Unaffiliated 5%.

Standard of Living:

Gender Equity: Men have a higher precedence under what amounts to a Primogeniture inheritance tradition. It is generally assumed men will assume title of land unless special exemptions are registered with the High Seat authority in Elkton. 

The social hierarchy can be listed as High King then Landowners then citizenry. Some attempts to make 'Walkers' property in the early era resulted in a civil war, with the Kinr responsible disposed by the 'traditionalist' faction who argued equal rights for all, which basically translated that landowners cannot use debt bondage to tie the citizenry to the land.

Armed Forces: Minimal. What amounts to rural Jaegers and personal retainers of individual lordships.

Dominant Magical Tradition: Miracles, Shamanism.

History: The Umpqua valley was a sleepy place that civilization was slowly forgetting before the Rapture. The logging industry died out, and most of the young headed to the Urban centers in order to get away from the limited possibilities of a dying small town. The seas rose, EMP's went off and then people starved. The largest trouble with the transition was there wasn't enough population really to cultivate the region at first, but then the 'Walkers' (historical term fro starving refugees) from Eugene effectively razed Roseburg and the surrounding communities on their way to the slaughter at Medford.

This left the out of the way and the forgotten: Elkton. Tenmile. Lookingglass (on the old Coos Bay Wagon Road). Umpqua. These little towns thrived after The Dying, able to bring in larger and larger crop yields each year as the natives relearned lost arts of farming the rich Umpqua Valley.

How then did the Umpqua became a feudal nation? After The Fall, authority had disappeared. At first the county sheriff and town mayors tried to keep things stable but there were to many problems. To many issues. Then The Walkers, followed by the Starving. Only a few who had prepared for such things survived. They and those they took in.

These survivors became the new Nobility for Umpqua. With most everyone else dead, or beholden to them for survival they did the natural thing and took over. It was these survivors who became the new Nobility of Umpqua, wither they were the High KingPatterson of Elton, or Landholder Henry of the old Henry winery estate, it was around these few that a new society in south central Oregon survived.

Today there is the fortified port of Elkton ruled by High King Patterson. Henerysville, Melrose, Keep on Flouney, Restonhold, Tenmile, Round Prarie Keep, Deer Creek Valley Hold, Whistlers Bendville, Umpqua, Lookingglass, Canyonville. In other words, lots of fortified little towns, motte-and-bailey keeps, stone redoubts, and other tuckaways. Anything away from old Roseburg. Old Roseburg is still a wildland, and probably will remain so until a war to exterminate the eaters and wildings happens. And no one feels up to organizing such a thing.