Old Dominion
Old Dominion is one of the rare places in the wasteland where the people shaped the land instead of the land shaping them. Rolling hills of green and yellow stretch across the eastern seaboard, overgrown with dense thickets and tangled forests where nature swallowed the smaller cities after the Fall. But the survivors rebuilt on old foundations, carved farmsteads from irradiated wilderness, and resurrected roads from structural remnants. The result is a region with some of the longest unbroken roadways in the wasteland, policed by the Highway Patrol and dotted with hundreds of stopping points where travelers find shelter and provisions.
A fierce culture of neighborly hospitality defines the region. Farming families help each other through hard times. Every settlement has some form of protector, and that example inspires ordinary citizens to look out for one another. Travelers find warm beds, safe passage, and honest food. The people do not understand the politicking of Dee Cee or the chaos of the south. They value honest work, community, and the belief that Mayberry is not a real place; Mayberry is wherever you make it.
The forests, though, remain dark. The Watchers attack caravans with bodies painted in camouflage so perfect they become indistinguishable from the surrounding trees. They descend silently, drag away victims, and vanish. The Dominion Dogs are organized bandits who study Highway Patrol patterns and strike at unprotected merchants. And somewhere in the woods, lengths of road and forest are marked with red cloth wrapped around trees. No one has ever been injured within these Red Banner territories, and no one has ever met a member. They protect in silence, with a whisper rather than a yell. Old Dominion is dark forests and bright hospitality, side by side on every road.
A fierce culture of neighborly hospitality defines the region. Farming families help each other through hard times. Every settlement has some form of protector, and that example inspires ordinary citizens to look out for one another. Travelers find warm beds, safe passage, and honest food. The people do not understand the politicking of Dee Cee or the chaos of the south. They value honest work, community, and the belief that Mayberry is not a real place; Mayberry is wherever you make it.
The forests, though, remain dark. The Watchers attack caravans with bodies painted in camouflage so perfect they become indistinguishable from the surrounding trees. They descend silently, drag away victims, and vanish. The Dominion Dogs are organized bandits who study Highway Patrol patterns and strike at unprotected merchants. And somewhere in the woods, lengths of road and forest are marked with red cloth wrapped around trees. No one has ever been injured within these Red Banner territories, and no one has ever met a member. They protect in silence, with a whisper rather than a yell. Old Dominion is dark forests and bright hospitality, side by side on every road.
Geography
Rolling hills of green and yellow stretch across the eastern seaboard, overgrown with dense thickets and tangled forests where nature reclaimed the smaller cities after the Fall. The hills survived the explosions that crippled major population centers, but the earth claimed everything between with brambles and vines. Farm fields grow shoulder-high with irradiated grass where not actively cultivated. Cut-out patchwork farms dot the hillsides. The forests are dark, deep, and oppressive, creating an overwhelming feeling of enclosure that makes travel after nightfall extremely dangerous. Old Dominion possesses some of the longest unbroken roadways in the wasteland, resurrected from pre-Fall structural remnants and policed by the Highway Patrol. Radiation levels increase toward the southern coast at the Beach, where the environment becomes lethal to non-Retrogrades. Giant sea monsters patrol the southern coastline. The climate is subject to seasonal variation, including snow and windstorms, with enough humidity for dense forest growth across the region.
Eastern seaboard farmland region of neighborly hospitality, long roadways, and dark forests
