Kahawa ya Nyoka
Kahawa ya Nyoka means ‘Coffee of the Snake’ in Swahili, and it’s exactly what you’d expect: coffee grown in areas heavily contaminated by the remains of the Serpent. Most Kahawa ya Nyoka comes from Uganda and Kenya, although virtually identical strains are also cultivated in Abyssinia. It tastes like… coffee, with a distinctly more acidic flavor, and an aroma that is almost sharp.
Sea-Jeweled Providence – Google Docs
Sea-Jeweled Providence
City: Providence, Rhode Island
Population: 6,000/18,000
Controls: A remarkable hunk of Rhode Island
Government: Machine
Problem: Monsters
Heroic Opportunity: Trade Goods
City Aspect: Surviving and Secretive
Continue reading Sea-Jeweled Providence [The Day After Ragnarok]
Today, apparently, is World Wombat Day.
Wom-Bats
Vombatus vampiricus ursulae
Australia, thanks to its location in the post-Serpentfall world, still manages to remain mostly free of Serpent Taint; this includes the ongoing Tainting of seawater by the decomposing corpse of the World-Serpent still found in the north Atlantic and western Indian oceans. Prevailing currents push that venom-Tainted water deep under the sea’s surface when it passes by Australia’s southern coast; and the warm current that rises up in the north Pacific and flows through Indonesia on its way back to the Atlantic is generally clean of the most obvious venomous taint at that point. All of this suggests that a lot of Serpent venom is building up on the bottom of the ocean, which is likely going to end up being a literally monstrous problem; but in the meantime Australia mostly avoids having its already bizarre ecology drastically mutated further.
Mostly.
Vombatus vampiricus ursulae is a variant of the common wombat (vombatus ursinus): differences include the addition of thin scales between the forepaws and body that allow the Wom-Bat to glide and swoop; the addition of envenomed fangs that can knock smaller prey out, and make a human woozy; and a new, carnivorous / hematophagous diet. A single Wom-Bat is usually not overly dangerous to a human-sized animal, but the creatures hunt in packs of at least twelve. And they are not particularly docile, either. Continue reading Wom-Bats [The Day After Ragnarok]
Gourdian Knot of Peoria – Google Docs
The Gourdian Knot of Peoria
City: Peoria, Illinois
Population: 7,000/3,000
Controls: Peoria and the fields around it.
Government: Squatters
Problem: Gangs
Heroic Opportunity: Mercenary Work
City Aspect: Divided and Grim.
Continue reading The Gourdian Knot of Peoria [The Day After Ragnarok].
Lost Orleans
City: New Orleans, Louisiana
Population: 500
Controls: New Orleans
Government: Squatters
Problem: Unrest
Heroic Opportunity: Arcana
City Aspect: Dead.
Dire Skunks
They’re getting larger by the year: three years after the Serpentfall, a fully-adult Dire Skunk is at least as big as a Great Dane, and that’s just the ones born in 1946. The ones being born now are possibly going to grow up to be as big as a pony. Dire Skunks retain many of the characteristics of their pre-Serpentfall kin, including the omnivorous diet and the spray. The spray in particular is absolutely still there.
Ice-Choked Duluth – Google Docs
Ice-Choked Duluth
City: Duluth, Minnesota
Population: 11,000/60,000
Controls: Portions of Minnesota and the Great Lakes
Government: Strongman
Problem: Monsters
Heroic Opportunity: Arcana
City Aspect: Defensive
Snow-Wooded Grand Rapids
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.
Continue reading Snow-Wooded Grand Rapids. [The Day After Ragnarok]
Motorless City
City: Detroit, Michigan
Population: 100,000/600,000
Controls: Wayne County and parts of the Great Lakes
Government: Machine
Problem: Factions/Fuel Shortage
Heroic Opportunity: Trade Goods
City Aspect: Divided
The New Concord
City: Concord, NH
Population: 8,100/73,000
Controls: arguably, New Hampshire
Government: Democratic
Problem: Monsters
Heroic Opportunity: Bounty
City Aspect: Fortified.
New Hampshire actually weathered the Serprentfall remarkably well. Manchester and Nashua were wrecked by the tidal wave, but the state capital of Concord was above the floodline, and new Governor Charles Dale was in town and able to coordinate relief efforts effectively. The last few years have been incredibly hard, but Governor Dale can still truthfully claim that he is the legitimate and legal governor of New Hampshire. Dale was re-elected in an honest election in 1946, and will likely be re-elected again in 1948; interestingly, New Hampshire also plans to vote for a US President in the same election, despite the fact that the entire Poisoned Lands stretch between them and what’s left of the USA.
