Upon the Tide of Years: ISOT Quest

On March 5th, 2017. An Island, roughly 60 square miles in size, located 30 miles off the coast of Massachusetts, disappeared, replaced in a dazzling display of multi-color lights with a wild and untamed version of itself. A population of 18,000 vanished in a instant. This would go almost unnoticed by the population at large due to several, massive problems that would appear globally the very moment the Island was replaced. But that is something the people of the Island would never learn of, as they found themselves adrift in time and space.

The Island is incorporated as one single county and town. It is known as

[]Write in Name.

The Island well known for it's

[]Fishing Industry: In it's hay day the island was one of the pillars of the Whaling Industry, but those days are a hundred years past. Still the Fishing industry, while undeniably on the decline on the island, is strong here. With large numbers of fishing vessels basing themselves at Island's Main Port. There's even a bit of industry on the island, most of processing the fish to ship to the mainland. The smell is...an experience. (More Industry, Larger Dock, More Vessels, Smaller Population, less arable land)

[]Tourism: Never as popular as Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket. The Island manages to do respectably well. Even now, in the off season, there's a fair number of college students here on spring break. There are a number of Museums on the island as well. Naturally, with tourism driving the economy, most of the island is relatively undeveloped, most of the buildings are either old colonials built a few hundred years ago or reproductions of the style. (Low Industry, Smaller Dock, Fewer Vessels, More educated population, more arable land, more educational resources)

The Island Government runs on a

[]Strong Mayor-Council System: The Mayor has almost total control, with the Town Council only able to really control the budget. (Mayor has a nearly free hand to enact their agenda, Greater Chance of Civic Unrest if unpopular Agenda is enacted, Greater Chance of Eventual Authoritarian Rule)

[]Weak Mayor-Council System: Mayor has little power outside of the Town Council, and is Largely ceremonial. Any power they have is largely based on influence and personalty (Dependent of Town Council To enact agenda, Lesser Chance of Civic Unrest)

[]Townhall-Board of Selectmen System: Almost all issues are resolved through a Public Town Hall, which acts as a legislature. The Town Hall Meets Semi-Annually or in crisis situations. A Board of Three Selectmen oversee the day to day affairs of government. (Hugely dependent on public opinion, difficult to assert power, Little risk of Civic Unrest from unpopular agendas)
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So freely admittedly, this is a bit of an experimental idea. And I'm still working on the Mechanics, depending on how the Creation Goes it could end up either largely narrative with light mechanics, CK2 mechanics, or maybe even something similar to PoC. I'll say voting is open until tomorrow Morning (Arizona time), sooner depending on voting.

Name: Ashurst
Population: 18,000
Goverment: Townhall-Board of Selectmen.
-De Facto Leader: Gwen Breckenridge

Reserved
2/2

You may vote now.

People on the mainland always complain people of Ashurst have a distinct smell that can never wash out. It's why many in Ashurst don't like interacting with the mainlanders. Ashurst depends on the sea, first whaling, now it's ground fish, Lobster and Crab. The deep water port on the Western edge of Ashurst is the life blood of the island, almost everyone on the island is connected to the Fishing Industry in someway, either they or their family work on one of the many trawlers or crab boats that call Ashurst homeport, or they work on one of the couple of commercial fish processing centers that have sprung up on the island.

The Town is on the decline, it has it's good years and bad years but lately it seems like there's more of the latter than the former. A few captains have had to retire, a few local businesses have had to close shop, their buildings still empty.

The town, like many in New England, has no real local government. Most issues are resolved through Townhalls. The only year around town officials are the three selectmen and they're part time and are barely paid for the work, all of them having other jobs. Without a even nominal mayor most people see this person as the De-Facto Leader

[] First Selectmen Gwen Breckenridge: At 20 years of Age, Gwen is one of the youngest Selectmen in the history of Ashurst and one of the few who actually cares about the job. An Economics Major at Boston College (Online) by day, Gwen fought hard to get her position, much to the confusion of the town. She has ambitions, big ambitions for the town. Industry restored, more boats in the harbor, a university outpost site on the island, stuff like that. She wants it restored to it's glory days. No one can deny her enthusiasm, or intelligence, but many locals question if the inexperienced young woman is biting off more than she can chew.

[] Captain Nathan Hayes: Nathan is a middle age man, 55 years old. Though his thick white beard makes him seem a good ten to twenty years older. The Hayes family is the Ashurst equivalent of Old Blood, dating back to the first settlers on the island, well first colonial settlers anyways. His name carries a lot of respect among the older generations of fishermen, and in recent years he's done a lot to help out the community, providing for families that had lost fathers and mothers to rough seas. Though at the same time it's hard to deny that he's growing greedy in his old age, buying out more and more independent fishermen, and the tales of his far wilder younger days are known to everyone.

[] Sheriff Jessica Wei: Jessica is 35 year olds, the granddaughter of Chinese Immigrants. Jessica's not the name she was born with but she's rather not fond of her born first name and calling her by it is one of the rare ways to actually make the woman upset. Generally the Sheriff is level headed and calm under pressure, even handed but firm. And probably the main reason Drunk sailors haven't burned down half the town. She does her best to keep everyone on the island feeling safe, no matter the situation

[]Write In (Subject to Approval)

Like pretty much every town of it's size, Ashurst has it's upsides...and it's Downsides

Advantages: Pick Two (More if Additional Disadvantages chosen)

[] Archaeology Team: There's an ongoing Archaeology excavation on the island, filled with over a dozen students and teachers, some of them quite knowledgable about Ancient History
[] Greater Town Library: The Town Library is old, and frankly almost oversized for the island. The place is packed full of books on all matter of subjects.
[] Fuel Reserves: The town expanded the fuel reserves a few years ago, allowing more and more ships to operate from the port without having refuel on the on the mainland.
[] Blacksmiths: There are a number of Semi-professional Blacksmiths on the Island.
[] Guns: Ashurst is quite fond of the Second Amendment, much to the occasional frustration of the police.
[] Runway: The Island has a small airstrip used by a few of the more wealthy residents.
[] Home Gardening: A number of families have made it a habit to grow vegetables and herbs in their gardens, giving the island a small reserve of seeds and food.
[] Write in: Subject to approval

Disadvantage: Pick One

[] Drug Problems: Fishing is hard work, and in recent years that hard work plus economic hardships have lead a lot of the population to drugs, first it was just prescription meds, now it's into the heavier stuff. This has subtly crippled the town even more. Though the town now has a few quite skilled chemists as a result
[] Organized Crime: No one talks about it, but everyone is pretty positive one of the fish processing centers is owned by the mob and a number of fishermen are on their payroll.
[] Recent Storms: Heavy storms hit the town last night, parts of the island are without power and some buildings and vessels are damaged.
[] Politically Divided: The last town hall was...heated, to say the least. Chairs were thrown. New Grudges have formed and old ones have been renewed. Convincing the town to agree to something at the next meeting may be harder.
[] Fire!: One of the Fish Processing plants, the one that made fish sticks, caught fire last week, the factory is damaged and many suspect it is arson though no one knows why yet.
[]Write in: Subject to Approval