This was an interesting one. Oddly enough, sometimes there’s more information readily available about places and people who weren’t important statewide than there is about places and people who were. I pretty much had to plug in a bunch of Ye Standarde Conan Citie tropes here. Which, hey, actually works in this context.
Shattered Rock
City: Little Rock, Arkansas
Population: 27,000/240,000
Controls: Central Arkansas
Government: Despotism
Problem: Unrest
Heroic Opportunity: Mercenary Work
City Aspect: Tense and Corrupt
Technically, Governor Benjamin Travis Laney is still the Governor of Arkansas, and is nominally loyal to the US government: in reality, he’s the despot of central Arkansas. Unfortunately for his regime, Arkansas is also a potential buffer state. Laney is sympathetic to the Konfederacy, but it is far away; and as long as Texas refuses to pull the trigger on secession, it serves as an uncomfortable, and quite close, neighbor. Like many an indecisive king before him, the governor hopes to survive by trying to play both sides against each other, while distracting his own populace with ginned-up enemies.
Although, to be fair: there are a lot of actual enemies to Laney’s regime. The combination of terrain (lots of mountains and valleys and cave complexes) and the general weakness of the Arkansas ‘state’ government has encouraged a remarkable number of organizations to set up shop. It’s like every group from the Free Colored Army to roving Klan gangs to the Elks has a secret base or hideout in the wilderness there. The regime finds this all very useful, when it comes to dealing with internal opposition.
One particular favorite enemy of Laney’s is the ‘Jap fanatics’ that supposedly roam southern Arkansas. This stems from the chaotic time right after the Serpentfall; the Japanese-American internment camp at Rohwer was effectively abandoned during the collapse of the US government, and the survivors there (still numbering over several thousand) are now operating virtually as guerrillas inside their own country. Their effective leader is a young Nisei named Aiko Yoshinaga; ironically, she has been recently approached by the Kempeitai for recruitment. If she has made the decision to turn her coat, it’s been kept silent from her followers, as most of them simply wish to go back home to Earl Warren’s USA.
All in all, Arkansas is becoming a great place to find mercenary work, as long as you don’t mind burning women and children out of their lean-tos. Or shipping the survivors back to Little Rock, where it’s considered fashionable to have your own ‘convict’ out on permanent ‘work-release.’ Or, increasingly, amusing the nascent aristocracy that has already started to inhabit the governor’s court. In its way, the situation is impressive; most cities usually need a hundred years to become this decadent, but Little Rock seems determined to do it in three. It’s a frustrating place for a straightforward fighting man; best keep your sword and pistol handy for you, for when the city becomes your enemy.
“as most of them simply wish to go back home to Earl Warren’s USA.”
Somewhat ironic, given that Governor Warren was fully onboard with and eager to assist President Roosevelt in the latter’s plans to put the Nissei in those camps to begin with.
Yeah, nobody mentioned by name in this one should be perceived as coming out looking too well. Do I need to punch the Warren reference up a bit, accordingly?
Hard to say. I don’t know how many know that Warren was an eager participant in the internment mess. It’s not something that’s ever talked about. The only reason I know is because it was in a biography of the man that I read (written by someone who really liked Warren, I’ll add).
I would imagine that most people today only know the man as an influential US Supreme Court justice.
Tangentially, you might want to make use of all the awesome placenames in Arkansas.
I had a friend from Toadsuck. And another from Bucksnort.
.
After serpentfall, I expect such places might get a bit weird.