North America

The Apoc inhabitants of North America are under constant threat and are ceaselessly struggling for mere survival. This fight is exemplified and personified in no other group more than in the NAU, or North American Union. Beset from the east by the insidiously-growing plague known only as the Undead Infection and with their backs to an impenetrable Flux Front wall in the west, the continued existence of the NAU hangs by a mere thread. To make matters even worse for this stalwart group of militaristic High-bred, the numerous and varied throwback Churl tribes have entrenched themselves to the south and are attacking their former-brothers-turned-enemies in what promises to be a never-ending war.

The NAU (Click for population data)

The NAU are the remnants of the once-mighty U.S. domestic armed forces. Rising from the rubble of former military garrisons, the NAU exist as a loose union of "base states" that provide mutual defense, cooperation, and security for one-another. Forged together by the ever-present threats around them, the High-bred who make up the NAU have little choice but to join forces or perish.

Additionally, the NAU are forced to maintain a primitive lifestyle reminiscent of the late 1800s due to both the unusual nature of the lethal Flux storms that roll off the Flux Front to their west and the unusual attraction and interaction of the eastern Undead Infection with electronics and advanced technology. While their shotguns and incendiary rounds serve them well against their enemies, they are unable to enjoy the simple luxuries brought about by electricity and every tactical use of “modern” technology has to be balanced against its potential dangers.

Undead Infection (Click for population data)

The formerly-great cities that lined the eastern seaboard of the United States are now nothing more than perverse breeding pits for the bizarre and vicious Undead scourge. Dubbed “The Infection” by early NAU patrols, the Undead are strange in the manner by which they spread their horrible condition — more like a giant, sentient virus than a collection of mindless shambling corpses. Many varieties (often dubbed "strains") are rumored to exist, but the ones the NAU are most familiar with are the ones that continually emerge from their darkened warrens in the abandoned ruins … targeting any artificial light or noise and seeking warm flesh to rend.

The Great Plains

To the west, a titanic stable front of flux seethes over what was once the Great Plains. This area is now worse than a nuclear wasteland: not only will nothing grow or thrive here, but the entire area is bathed in the reality-warping energies known only as Flux. Horrific, mind-shattering entities of tremendous power, guile, and malevolence reside here, occasionally venturing out to rain terror and sow confusion upon any in their path. Strangely, many of these insanity-spawning "things" lurk within the hidden depths of the Flux Storm, using it to veil their presence as if they are waiting for some great and cosmic signal to command them to venture forth and end the lives of everyone and everything around them.

Appalachia & South Swamps

The inbred and devolved Churl tribes to the south of the NAU spend nearly as much time killing one another as they do their hated High-bred enemies. Loosely aligned to familial clans, these Churl are the dominant force in the rugged foothills of the Appalachian mountain chains and the murky swamps beyond… yet constant feuds and frequent clan wars keep them from rising en masse against the enemies all around them. Simple-minded and superstitious, they still have the ability to kludge together cast-off technology — as well as a gift for their unique brand of primal magic. In the boggy southern swamps, only the shifty, eel-like reptilian Gree-Gree can give the Churl a run for their money in these unusual pursuits.

The Wilds

Not surprisingly, the cunning L’na have given much of the eastern US a wide berth. When found, they are seen only in small, secretive enclaves that try to stay well out of the lines of fire. Klik can be found in the pre-Event heavy industrial centers such as Pittsburgh, Detroit, New Jersey, and Cleveland — as they are able to, for the most part, ignore the Undead Infection. The unliving hordes only seem drawn to sources of electricity and warm-blooded creatures… for now.

Outside "civilized" areas, the North American flora and fauna have changed dramatically. In areas where the Undead are present, most native animals have been hunted to non-existence. In these places, only the most potent and powerful apoc creatures survive: those who can at least hold their own with the vicious packs of unliving monsters. Mutations and Flux-tainted creatures are likewise commonplace in North America, with their frequency dramatically increasing the closer to the Flux Front one travels.

Of note, no one knows what lies west of the Flux Front… for none who have been foolhardy enough to enter into the miles-high wall of orange, writhing, mutating energy have ever returned.