The Coalition of North American States: General Overview
- Location
- Texas
The C.N.A.S. was founded between the United States of Mexico, Canada, and the legitimate government of the United States of America, some 40 years after the Coming of the Rifts. Much has changed since the initial founding and its current state at the end of the 22nd Century. With the collapse of one of the three founder states following the Sabbat's first Crusade and the soft coup launched by the American military in the face of repeated civilian sectarianism and incompetence in the face of existential threats, there are no doubt questions about what the C.S. now looks like as a society. Make no mistake, this isn't some neo-fascist caricature of the 3rd Reich, but the successor of Old World Liberal Republics.
The current Coalition States are currently very taken by their mission to restore legitimate sovereign rule to the Americas, utilizing their mandate and position as legitimate successor to the Old World Empires to instill pride and shore up morale in its collective citizenry. In many ways, people are less connected than a century before. The marvelous innovation known as the internet lies in tatters, critical infrastructure and servers lying unmaintained or ruined where they lay in California and other critical locations. Decentralized private networks are common within the C.S. Armed Forces, but they are limited in scope and function due to the risk hacking and destruction by Sorcerers, Psychics, and other hostile forces, as they have proven capable of doing in multiple classified incidences.
Literal paperwork has made a comeback, as have private broadcasting companies. Private media functions under severe limitations and requirements, but there is no concerted media-industrial complex or Operation Mockingbird following other classified incidences regarding infiltration of foreign subversive elements in government. Indeed, by 21st Century standards, media, including federal sources, are shockingly transparent about the condition of the country and the wars, with recordings readily available from various warfronts and freedom of information requests keeping the citizenry remarkably informed. The average Coalition citizen is a highly educated specialist in an automated society that has served one or more terms of service in a total war footing against existential threats against humanity.
The culture is extremely militaristic by necessity, though a significant minority distrusts the Federal Government in all things, especially in regard to the food supply (controlled by the government in massive hydroponics districts), widespread genetic engineering (supposedly to wipe out genetic disorders and bring out maximum potential of humanity), legitimacy of government (elements of the traditional left and right have united in opposition against an authoritarian military oligarchy which has suborned their civil legislatures), and civil liberties (commonplace invasions of privacy, all citizens treated as though they are still soldiers regardless of whether they currently serve, repression of mass protests, etc). There is a great deal of societal pressure on women to bear many children in order to keep the population replacement rate above water, and this combined with a resurgence of Protestant religiosity has seen a regression from the permissive social views characteristic of late 21st Century Western societies.
Recreational drug usage is generally frowned on but not strictly enforced, private enterprise is encouraged to shore up an unhealthy war economy, socialized healthcare is readily available to all citizen, public housing of tolerable quality is common in the metropoles, households are mandated by law to provide for their own defense, and veterans are subsidized to settle out in the frontiers in order to control the land in truth rather than only in name, much as the Romans of antiquity did at times. Atheism/Agnosticism, Roman Catholicism, Greek Orthodoxy, Judaism (particularly Messianic Jews), and Norse Paganism (Asatru) are the next most influential religious groups on a national scale, varying depending on region. Regional and national identities from before the Coming of the Rifts are stronger than they've ever been, a result of the glorification of Old World identities and the decrease of cultural unifiers.
The transnational corporations that survived the Coming were struck down by the post-coup government with the enforcement of Anti-Trust laws, then bound to the war effort to produce military equipment barely above cost. The economy is a functional one, not a healthy one, with the Federal Reserve long dissolved and the country swapped over to a literal Credit system. Widespread automation of agriculture in the form of massive urban hydroponics and atomic reactors supply basic food and energy to all, with sophisticated 3D Forges producing equipment around the clock, fed by mag-rails leading directly to resource extraction sites outside the bounds of the metropoles that the majority of citizens live in.
The counterculture has grown tired of constant war, the labyrinthine military bureaucracy and their diktats, the violations of constitutionally guaranteed liberties, and the ban on Sorcery and Magic from the early days. The Chiefs of Staff, however, refuse to compromise on any of these things, viewing the wars as necessary, the bureaucracy unavoidable, and the dangers of Sorcery and supernatural infiltration justifying impositions on liberty. Separatism, sabotage, disorder, and protests are common outside of the metropoles, especially in areas that aren't well connected by railroad, radio, or other means. It is especially in these places that folk Christrians, Pagans, petty Sorcerers and others challenge the Ban for their own reasons. Those that are in the know regarding Occult secrets, hidden lore, the greater mysteries, even with information repressed and activities persecuted, resist being extinguished. How can one ban natural law, synchronicity, placebos, the very nature of reality? How does one ban life? More than anything else, the Coalition Government at large is crippled by a lack of understanding of what Sorcery and Magic entails, as detailed previously.
And, of course, there are the foreign interventions. Those outsiders and traitors that want the Coalition States grappling with these societal issues, anything to keep the industrial juggernaut of North America distracted and weak. Infiltration by Vampires, secessionists and supernatural entities infests all levels of government, a constant shadow war that ends with high ranking officials dead, industry devastated, mass riots burning down the food supply of a city, and more. It is a reciprocally deterministic system of action and consequence, with no end in sight. So long as the Sabbat pursue dominion from the South, the Xiticix spread in the North, and Lord Splynncryth entrenches himself on this world, lasting peace shall remain a fool's dream. The Coalition States remain a handicapped giant, incapable of focusing its attention on any one problem to completion. The future is uncertain.
The total population of the Coalition States, according to estimates and projections from the 2195 Census, is 171,814,335 individuals, making it the second most populous state on the continent after the Sword of Caine at 206,336,867. The total population of North America, Central America and the Caribbean is estimated at around 665 million, a far cry from the 2098 number of 1.045 billion (for reference, 2020 population is about 590 million). After sharp decline following the Coming of the Rifts for decades, the numbers have been climbing rapidly due to higher fertility rates (with the exception of Mexico). The Regions of the Coalition States can be divided into Canada (geographic region including Alaska), the American Heartland (including the New Frontier), and the Lone Star of Texas.
The total regional population of Canada (2195 Census, including Alaska and estimates for wilderness) tallies at 34,463,951. Canada can be further subdivided into the cities of New Montreal (13,440,941) and New Quebec (9,649,906), the old cities having been devastated by rising sea levels with the return of Atlantis, with the majority of the population found either within the two metropoles or in neighboring Ontario (5,169,593) and Quebec (4,135,674) provinces. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island (estimated population around 350,000) have been heavily depopulated by Splugorth raids and the majority of the remaining populace evacuated to New Quebec. Newfoundland and Labrador remain isolated and neglected population unknown. Alaska (1,033,919) remains organized under Canada for convenience though culturally it shares much more in common with the Americans. The remaining Canadian provinces are either sparsely populated wilderness, overrun by Xiticix hives, or both. The previous heart of Canada, Little England/South Ontario, has been controlled by the Council of Lazlo and its Dragon-Mages for decades.
Canadian influence in the Coalition remains limited, but they are proud of their national identities and resent the soft takeover by the Americans. They are the primary voices in favor of dealing with the alien threats before it is too late, having already lost millions of citizens to slaver raids and hostile swarms. Retaking Winnipeg in Manitoba would also reestablish a land connection through the Dakotas to the rest of the Coalition States and bring them one step closer to containing the Epicenter in Calgary which connects to wherever the Xiticix came from. Heavily influenced by the Great Lakes Kingdoms, Canadians tend to take a softer, less Xenophobic stance towards anyone that isn't an actual supernatural monster or alien.
Another 35,790,045 people may be found within the American Heartland, 10,721,658 within the New Frontier, and 6,746,403 in the territories extending East of the Mississippi into Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee (Total: 53,258,106). Geographically, this is the center of the Coalition States, with waterways connecting the Mississippi Bay through to the Great Lakes and the Canadian Waterways. Sprawling metropolises are not to be found here, with isolated fortress arcologies the norm all along the Mississippi, branching out via road and rail to resource centers. As mentioned previously, many Coalition citizens from this region choose to settle out West due to the abundance of space and government incentives to hold territory. None of the Heartland states have recovered to Pre-Rifts population levels, and Illinois in particular was hardest hit, failing to meet the numbers from 2000. Arkansas (4,665,090), Illinois (11,567,999), Indiana (9,267,568), Iowa (5,644,157), Missouri (4,645,231).
Culturally, Frontiersmen share a lot in common with the Heartland states, as naturally most citizens originated from these areas. However, they can be distinguished by greater independence, indifference to authority, open-mindedness, greater numbers of atheists, pagans and Ban violators, and distaste for constant war, and it cannot be forgotten that nearly every citizen that has settled there has either done their service to the Coalition or are descended from the original inhabitants of those states. Heartlanders tend to be the most committed to the idea of a united America, Canada, and Mexico, and they have shed the most blood containing the Rifts and experiencing firsthand the threat that Tolkeen and the Federation poses. Particularly prone to cynicism considering they live surrounded by the ruins of St Louis, of Chicago, of countless Old World cities that have never been reclaimed, with more and more lost over the years, as the recent decimation of Missouri can attest to.
The densely populated core of the Coalition States may be found in the Lone Star of Texas. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metroplex outnumbers the entire population of Canada by around 5 million (40,890,303) and has been basically untouched by the Sword of Caine's Crusades and other wars and recovered swiftly due to Mexican aid in reconstruction. A further 22,530,899 citizens call Central Texas (Austin-San Antonio, Hill Country, Gulf Coast) home, the political core of the state. The Old World Cities of Houston, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, and others along the Gulf Coast have been completely destroyed by the return of Atlantis and further Splugorth raids. The Borderlands (Panhandle, Big Bend, Southern Plains, Piney Woods and what's left of Louisiana) feature waves of settlement and depopulation in response to Vampire incursions and Splugorth slave raids, 2195 Census places population at 20,671,076 (Total: 84,092,278).
Culturally, Texans are extremely diverse both ideologically and racially due to both Pre-Rifts history and the Sabbat takeover of Mexico, supporting and opposing various mainstream beliefs in equal measure. More than anything, they hate the Vampires that have cause so many of their woes, as well as the Splugorth slavers that never cease their disruptive sabotage and raiding. Particularly, Texans tend to display heightened egos and patriotism, holding Texas before the Coalition at large, similarly to the Canadians, and resent the most the infringement of Constitutional liberties and their old ways of life, partially sympathizing with the New Confederacy that has established itself in the Old South. The Metroplex exports men, material, and industry to the rest of the state, and its National Guard commits much of its strength patrolling the coast and frontiers. Its influence is heavily felt by the rest of the Coalition States, and resentment is held by all sides regarding perceived contributions and value, including the Urban/Rural divide, exemplified by Borderlanders' attitude towards the city folk, who live safe lives inside the dense urban areas inland.
AN: This'll do for a general overview, can get more into detail on technology, politics, etc later. Viewpoint character does a fine enough job handling BIG ARMY matters.
The current Coalition States are currently very taken by their mission to restore legitimate sovereign rule to the Americas, utilizing their mandate and position as legitimate successor to the Old World Empires to instill pride and shore up morale in its collective citizenry. In many ways, people are less connected than a century before. The marvelous innovation known as the internet lies in tatters, critical infrastructure and servers lying unmaintained or ruined where they lay in California and other critical locations. Decentralized private networks are common within the C.S. Armed Forces, but they are limited in scope and function due to the risk hacking and destruction by Sorcerers, Psychics, and other hostile forces, as they have proven capable of doing in multiple classified incidences.
Literal paperwork has made a comeback, as have private broadcasting companies. Private media functions under severe limitations and requirements, but there is no concerted media-industrial complex or Operation Mockingbird following other classified incidences regarding infiltration of foreign subversive elements in government. Indeed, by 21st Century standards, media, including federal sources, are shockingly transparent about the condition of the country and the wars, with recordings readily available from various warfronts and freedom of information requests keeping the citizenry remarkably informed. The average Coalition citizen is a highly educated specialist in an automated society that has served one or more terms of service in a total war footing against existential threats against humanity.
The culture is extremely militaristic by necessity, though a significant minority distrusts the Federal Government in all things, especially in regard to the food supply (controlled by the government in massive hydroponics districts), widespread genetic engineering (supposedly to wipe out genetic disorders and bring out maximum potential of humanity), legitimacy of government (elements of the traditional left and right have united in opposition against an authoritarian military oligarchy which has suborned their civil legislatures), and civil liberties (commonplace invasions of privacy, all citizens treated as though they are still soldiers regardless of whether they currently serve, repression of mass protests, etc). There is a great deal of societal pressure on women to bear many children in order to keep the population replacement rate above water, and this combined with a resurgence of Protestant religiosity has seen a regression from the permissive social views characteristic of late 21st Century Western societies.
Recreational drug usage is generally frowned on but not strictly enforced, private enterprise is encouraged to shore up an unhealthy war economy, socialized healthcare is readily available to all citizen, public housing of tolerable quality is common in the metropoles, households are mandated by law to provide for their own defense, and veterans are subsidized to settle out in the frontiers in order to control the land in truth rather than only in name, much as the Romans of antiquity did at times. Atheism/Agnosticism, Roman Catholicism, Greek Orthodoxy, Judaism (particularly Messianic Jews), and Norse Paganism (Asatru) are the next most influential religious groups on a national scale, varying depending on region. Regional and national identities from before the Coming of the Rifts are stronger than they've ever been, a result of the glorification of Old World identities and the decrease of cultural unifiers.
The transnational corporations that survived the Coming were struck down by the post-coup government with the enforcement of Anti-Trust laws, then bound to the war effort to produce military equipment barely above cost. The economy is a functional one, not a healthy one, with the Federal Reserve long dissolved and the country swapped over to a literal Credit system. Widespread automation of agriculture in the form of massive urban hydroponics and atomic reactors supply basic food and energy to all, with sophisticated 3D Forges producing equipment around the clock, fed by mag-rails leading directly to resource extraction sites outside the bounds of the metropoles that the majority of citizens live in.
The counterculture has grown tired of constant war, the labyrinthine military bureaucracy and their diktats, the violations of constitutionally guaranteed liberties, and the ban on Sorcery and Magic from the early days. The Chiefs of Staff, however, refuse to compromise on any of these things, viewing the wars as necessary, the bureaucracy unavoidable, and the dangers of Sorcery and supernatural infiltration justifying impositions on liberty. Separatism, sabotage, disorder, and protests are common outside of the metropoles, especially in areas that aren't well connected by railroad, radio, or other means. It is especially in these places that folk Christrians, Pagans, petty Sorcerers and others challenge the Ban for their own reasons. Those that are in the know regarding Occult secrets, hidden lore, the greater mysteries, even with information repressed and activities persecuted, resist being extinguished. How can one ban natural law, synchronicity, placebos, the very nature of reality? How does one ban life? More than anything else, the Coalition Government at large is crippled by a lack of understanding of what Sorcery and Magic entails, as detailed previously.
And, of course, there are the foreign interventions. Those outsiders and traitors that want the Coalition States grappling with these societal issues, anything to keep the industrial juggernaut of North America distracted and weak. Infiltration by Vampires, secessionists and supernatural entities infests all levels of government, a constant shadow war that ends with high ranking officials dead, industry devastated, mass riots burning down the food supply of a city, and more. It is a reciprocally deterministic system of action and consequence, with no end in sight. So long as the Sabbat pursue dominion from the South, the Xiticix spread in the North, and Lord Splynncryth entrenches himself on this world, lasting peace shall remain a fool's dream. The Coalition States remain a handicapped giant, incapable of focusing its attention on any one problem to completion. The future is uncertain.
The total population of the Coalition States, according to estimates and projections from the 2195 Census, is 171,814,335 individuals, making it the second most populous state on the continent after the Sword of Caine at 206,336,867. The total population of North America, Central America and the Caribbean is estimated at around 665 million, a far cry from the 2098 number of 1.045 billion (for reference, 2020 population is about 590 million). After sharp decline following the Coming of the Rifts for decades, the numbers have been climbing rapidly due to higher fertility rates (with the exception of Mexico). The Regions of the Coalition States can be divided into Canada (geographic region including Alaska), the American Heartland (including the New Frontier), and the Lone Star of Texas.
The total regional population of Canada (2195 Census, including Alaska and estimates for wilderness) tallies at 34,463,951. Canada can be further subdivided into the cities of New Montreal (13,440,941) and New Quebec (9,649,906), the old cities having been devastated by rising sea levels with the return of Atlantis, with the majority of the population found either within the two metropoles or in neighboring Ontario (5,169,593) and Quebec (4,135,674) provinces. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island (estimated population around 350,000) have been heavily depopulated by Splugorth raids and the majority of the remaining populace evacuated to New Quebec. Newfoundland and Labrador remain isolated and neglected population unknown. Alaska (1,033,919) remains organized under Canada for convenience though culturally it shares much more in common with the Americans. The remaining Canadian provinces are either sparsely populated wilderness, overrun by Xiticix hives, or both. The previous heart of Canada, Little England/South Ontario, has been controlled by the Council of Lazlo and its Dragon-Mages for decades.
Canadian influence in the Coalition remains limited, but they are proud of their national identities and resent the soft takeover by the Americans. They are the primary voices in favor of dealing with the alien threats before it is too late, having already lost millions of citizens to slaver raids and hostile swarms. Retaking Winnipeg in Manitoba would also reestablish a land connection through the Dakotas to the rest of the Coalition States and bring them one step closer to containing the Epicenter in Calgary which connects to wherever the Xiticix came from. Heavily influenced by the Great Lakes Kingdoms, Canadians tend to take a softer, less Xenophobic stance towards anyone that isn't an actual supernatural monster or alien.
Another 35,790,045 people may be found within the American Heartland, 10,721,658 within the New Frontier, and 6,746,403 in the territories extending East of the Mississippi into Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee (Total: 53,258,106). Geographically, this is the center of the Coalition States, with waterways connecting the Mississippi Bay through to the Great Lakes and the Canadian Waterways. Sprawling metropolises are not to be found here, with isolated fortress arcologies the norm all along the Mississippi, branching out via road and rail to resource centers. As mentioned previously, many Coalition citizens from this region choose to settle out West due to the abundance of space and government incentives to hold territory. None of the Heartland states have recovered to Pre-Rifts population levels, and Illinois in particular was hardest hit, failing to meet the numbers from 2000. Arkansas (4,665,090), Illinois (11,567,999), Indiana (9,267,568), Iowa (5,644,157), Missouri (4,645,231).
Culturally, Frontiersmen share a lot in common with the Heartland states, as naturally most citizens originated from these areas. However, they can be distinguished by greater independence, indifference to authority, open-mindedness, greater numbers of atheists, pagans and Ban violators, and distaste for constant war, and it cannot be forgotten that nearly every citizen that has settled there has either done their service to the Coalition or are descended from the original inhabitants of those states. Heartlanders tend to be the most committed to the idea of a united America, Canada, and Mexico, and they have shed the most blood containing the Rifts and experiencing firsthand the threat that Tolkeen and the Federation poses. Particularly prone to cynicism considering they live surrounded by the ruins of St Louis, of Chicago, of countless Old World cities that have never been reclaimed, with more and more lost over the years, as the recent decimation of Missouri can attest to.
The densely populated core of the Coalition States may be found in the Lone Star of Texas. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metroplex outnumbers the entire population of Canada by around 5 million (40,890,303) and has been basically untouched by the Sword of Caine's Crusades and other wars and recovered swiftly due to Mexican aid in reconstruction. A further 22,530,899 citizens call Central Texas (Austin-San Antonio, Hill Country, Gulf Coast) home, the political core of the state. The Old World Cities of Houston, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, and others along the Gulf Coast have been completely destroyed by the return of Atlantis and further Splugorth raids. The Borderlands (Panhandle, Big Bend, Southern Plains, Piney Woods and what's left of Louisiana) feature waves of settlement and depopulation in response to Vampire incursions and Splugorth slave raids, 2195 Census places population at 20,671,076 (Total: 84,092,278).
Culturally, Texans are extremely diverse both ideologically and racially due to both Pre-Rifts history and the Sabbat takeover of Mexico, supporting and opposing various mainstream beliefs in equal measure. More than anything, they hate the Vampires that have cause so many of their woes, as well as the Splugorth slavers that never cease their disruptive sabotage and raiding. Particularly, Texans tend to display heightened egos and patriotism, holding Texas before the Coalition at large, similarly to the Canadians, and resent the most the infringement of Constitutional liberties and their old ways of life, partially sympathizing with the New Confederacy that has established itself in the Old South. The Metroplex exports men, material, and industry to the rest of the state, and its National Guard commits much of its strength patrolling the coast and frontiers. Its influence is heavily felt by the rest of the Coalition States, and resentment is held by all sides regarding perceived contributions and value, including the Urban/Rural divide, exemplified by Borderlanders' attitude towards the city folk, who live safe lives inside the dense urban areas inland.
AN: This'll do for a general overview, can get more into detail on technology, politics, etc later. Viewpoint character does a fine enough job handling BIG ARMY matters.
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