Snow-Wooded Grand Rapids. [The Day After Ragnarok]

Snow-Wooded Grand Rapids

[The Day After Ragnarok]

City: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Population: 30,000/150,000

Controls: a small portion of central Michigan

Government: Democratic

Problem: Monsters

Heroic Opportunity: Trade goods / Bounty

City Aspect: Mercantile.

Things could have gone much worse for Grand Rapids.  The city of course is now nearly constantly covered in snow; but the same cold weather makes it easier to safely transport fish and other perishable foodstuffs in, and Grand Rapids has one major resource: wood.  Even before the Serpentfall the city was renowned for the quality of its woodworkers. Thanks to luck and some effort, those craftsmen survived, and (coupled with existing and still plentiful wood stocks) now fuel the prosperity of the Mayorality.  Warlords across the Poisoned Lands will pay well for authentic Grand Rapids furniture. Certainly Grand Rapids makes enough money to pay for top-line mercenaries to supplement its militia.

Many Mayoralities have contracted in size after the Serpentfall, but Grand Rapids has become an actual walled city, with large sections of the new outer areas being systematically razed for their resources.  The head of government is City Manager Phil Buchen, who took the job after the previous elected officials were eaten by wendigo. Which is why Grand Rapids is a walled city; there are wendigo out there, and they like human flesh. Fortunately, they can’t climb very well, and can be shot.

The combination of the wall and ready supply of wood makes Grand Rapids an almost bucolic spot to visit, considering the milieu.  Paradoxically, Grand Rapids is one of the few places in the northern Poisoned Lands where one can get really warm; there’s a lot of wood to burn, which means that coal can be used for other things, like smelting metal for weapons and armor.  Also, since snow seems to be largely free of Serpent-taint, Grand Rapids can use snowmelt to obtain reliably clean water. Couple that with the growing power of the local furniture-making guild, and of course the walls, it’s no wonder that Grand Rapids is becoming what passes for a mercantile center in the Poisoned Lands.  It’s said that you can get anything there… as long as it’s made out of wood.

And you can get past the wendigo.  Which have been getting worse, lately.  Which makes good money for trail rangers and mercenary escort teams, but it can be a little dangerous sometimes for smaller groups to approach the city.  The city pays a decent bounty for wendigo ears, of course. More if you take it in furniture.