Overview
NCT has a rough population of 14,000, including some borderline
areas like the Dead Zone and outlying independents.
Food: Farming is labor and land intensive. There are no huge
mono-crop farms any more. Mixed crop agriculture combined with
animal husbandry is going to be most common. Farms are spread so
those farmers need local access to non-farm resources. Farms are
smaller so an extended family can care for all aspects of the
farm.
Fishing: Again, labor intensive, and requires shipbuilding and
on-shore industry (meat processing, sail making, ship
repair). Fishermen need protection from pirates, so some sort of
naval force is also required.
Industry: Tools, ships, wagons and weapons. Someone has to make
them. Someone has to feed those people.
Military: The outside threat means everyone who can fight learns
to fight. Active militia with weekly duty patrolling the borders
of the enclave. A small group of 'regular army'.
Control: Legal system, planning, organization of resources. Once
you get over 5 people in a group someone has the power and uses
it. Most people are followers.
So we have:
- Coastal settlement devoted to fishing and ship building. Also a
port for trade and home to whatever naval military power is
available. Actually looks like Port San Luis might be a better
location than Morro Bay for this.
- Industry / Military / Control centered around San Luis Obispo
proper. Some form of power generation (I'm thinking wind) provides
energy for industry.
- Farms spread over any arable land. Given the hilly terrain, lots
of small fields, goats, and sheep, horses for motive power,
chickens, ducks and geese. A few outposts (trading posts) provide
places for farmers to trade their goods.
- Watchposts spread around the border providing local security and
early warning, and check in points for Militia patrols.
Speaking of trade... The enclave has its own form of money for
local exchange. Trade with outsiders is pure barter.
History
The enclave was formed as a direct result of the appearance of The
Order. With their superior training, resources and tactics, the
locals were able to finally organize themselves and begin to
rebuild society. The Order, however, was soon moved most of their
forces elsewhere, in their push to expand the recovery and bring
order to chaos. This left our local region under-protected and
CoreSec was built to take control of duties that The Order could
not--for lack of troops--or what The Order felt was not their
responsibility to begin with.
Organizations
The Council of Nine
There is a council of nine senior community members who guide and
direct NCT's activities. The origin of the council is lost in
history, but current tradition is:
- Councilors serve for life (or close to it). New councilors are
selected by the council from a number of candidates elected,
appointed, or approved by their constituents.
- The High Councilor is elected by the council (annually?).
- Each councilor has primary responsibility for a specific area
of governance.
- Each councilor has a support staff, the exact makeup of this
staff depending upon the councilor's area of
responsibility.
- The populace can raise issues for council consideration via
petition. The same process can be used to enact changes to the
makeup of the council (petition of impeachment).
- CoreSec is responsible for the security of the councilors and
their staff.
CoreSec
CoreSec is the remnants of the military force that helped the Core
establish this enclave, gaining control of this area and
maintaining control over the years. To this day, they have trained
handpicked soldiers to maintain order and to keep their ranks at a
minimum of veteran status.
CoreSec is the military/police force for the enclave. They
interact with all groups with a neutral stance. As long as you
don't break Core law, everything is fine. They are tasked with
keeping the peace in town, but are also assigned to outside
excursions to secure things in the Core's best interest.
CoreSec provides a veteran backbone for the Militia, which is made
up of all enclave residents of fighting age. A chosen subset of
CoreSec and the Milita provides police and safety / emergency
responder services to the rest of the enclave.
CoreSec maintains a fighting force of about 300, with an
additional 100 full-time administrative and support personnel.
This core force is supplemented by the Militia with sailors,
soldiers and support personnel.
DBE
DBE: A small group within the enclave, perhaps only a few
members. Their position is secured by their knowledge, as they
control most of the medical knowledge in the enclave. Some members
of the DBE may be interested in other areas of technology. They
are the keepers of lore.
The School of Biologics in Honor of Our Founder, The DBE - which
isn't a school per se, but more like a guild or "order" with a
small "o". His School is made up of a few dozen individuals in far
flung enclaves who are all descend in tutelage from a mythic
founder from Pre-Fall times: The Doctor of Biomedical
Engineering. The DBE (as we call him, his actual name only known to
the head of our School) was the sole survivor of a Pre-Fall School
that had been based at "Polycal-Campus", a Camelot kind of place
where men of great learning, power and ability practiced the
manipulation of nature, delved into the very secrets of the
universe, used and constructed near-magical machines with
capabilities unheard of today, all in the service of Mankind. The
DBE, in an attempt to preserve the Pre-Fall knowledge of medicine,
biochemistry and biomedical engineering, took a few talented
individuals after the Fall and taught them what he knew. These
prot�g�s then dispersed throughout the war-blasted world and
founded their own Schools, each one passing their knowledge down to
younger generations. My character now carries on that grand
tradition, constantly seeking to recover lost knowledge,
particularly in the realms of biology, biochemistry, medicine and
electronics related to those fields.
The Militia
All physically fit enclave citizens between the ages of 16 and 40
are required to serve in the Militia. Everyone passes through a
three month boot camp process that provides basic combat and small
unit skills. After boot camp, Militia members rotate to active duty
three days a month plus three week-long refresher courses per
year.
Active duty Militia are required to wear an identifying armband at
all times. They are issued a weapon kit, generally a rifle and
ammo, and are fed and housed for the duration. Those willing to
perform additional Militia duty receive the same benefits, and a
small wage for time served.
Militia duty includes a number of different roles:
- Border Patrol and Watch Posts - The typical Militia duty
involves riding the borders and manning the watch
stations. CoreSec regulars lead all border patrols, and hold
command positions at all watch posts.
- Naval Watch - Militia, supplemented by CoreSec, man El Diablo
and the other patrol boats maintained by the NCT. Naval duty
shifts are typically longer than the usual three day Militia duty,
and skilled seamen receive bonus pay for this duty.
- First Responders - The Militia provides primary staffing for
the First Responders, a combined fire and rescue service. A
significant number of volunteers (non-duty Militia) also
serve.
- Constables - Hand-picked members of the Miltia, usually older,
more experienced members, provide basic police services within
the community.
The Order
The Order: I have no issue at all with the foundations and origins
of The Order as Scott and Kelan have defined it. Basically their
founder was a whack-job military nut that built a doctrine of
survival. Immediately after the fall (when technology / transport
was a lot more viable) they spread their discipline across the
south-west. The complete collapse of technology and decimation of
human populations brought that to an end, but fragments of The
Order can still be found spread across the region. Unfortunately
one hundred years of chaos has lead to so pretty varied
interpretations of the original dogma. The Order in your enclave
has been a positive (if sometimes oppressive) presence. Their
discipline and martial tradition has made them a valuable asset in
the defense of the enclave, but their philosophy brings them into
conflict with other elements.
Rank and File
The farmers and fishermen who rely on the groups above to secure
the enclave and support them. The other groups worry about the
guns, security, lights and power. The Rank and File worry about
food. They're closest affiliation is with The Survivors. The Order
gives them something to believe in, and the DBE cures their ills.
The Survivors
The Survivors (Art's group, my name): With no strong philosophy to
drive them, and little interest in the advanced knowledge of the
DBE, the survivors... survive. They are the the craftsmen that
build the bunkers, the workers who make your ammo. They have a
hard life, caught between the dangers from outside, the dogma of
The Order, and the need to survive. Who can blame them if they
happen to grow a patch of ganja or poppies amidst the corn?
The groups boil down to:
- The New Order: Rebuilding the world with their own dogma.
- Keepers of Lore: Bringing back the old world knowledge.
- Survivors: Stay alive, keep fighting.
- Workers: Daily toil.
Each of these groups has conflicts with the others:
- The New Order: DBE brings forbidden knowledge. Survivors have no moral compass.
- Keepers: The Order threatens the survival of knowledge.
- Survivors: Dude, you're harshin' my buzz.
- Workers: Leave us alone. We just want to tend our crops.
