Wischigan
Wischigan was the breadbasket of the Ironworks, a sprawling agricultural territory on the Great Lake that fed an entire empire on grain, dairy, and livestock. During the Ironworks era, the trains carried Wischigan's hard-grown grain from coast to coast, and the territory's farmers bore the weight of sustaining every factory, mine, and garrison in the axis. The people captured their sardonic pride in a motto: "With every row we hoe, the trains still go."
The territory was designed as if meant to be a production capital. Fertile farmland on the shores of the Lake, positioned in the center of what remained of North America, made it an ideal port location and agricultural hub. Plantation owners commanded legions of Iron Slaves to plant and reap, but the majority of the population consisted of amateur brewers, artisan cooks, and small farmers. The larger cities mocked them as redneck farmers, a dismissal that bred quiet resentment among a people who knew exactly how essential they were.
Wischigan cheddar was world-renowned and traded throughout the Ironworks, primarily by Pure Bloods to Pure Bloods. The process for making it was near lethal; post-fall cows could kill a handler who did not know the breed, and generations of farming families passed down the required knowledge. The Abbey Darwinists cited Wischigan cheese as proof of natural selection. Mill City hosted some of the largest breweries in the known world, producing Schlabst, a high-potency beer with essential vitamins and nutrients that kept workers strong. The International Brewers Union kept prices fair and bars stocked.
Telling Visions religion, specifically the Nuclear Family variant, dominated the territory. The need to arm farmers against Cheezhead raiders, Natural One scavengers, and Reclaimer strikes from across the Lake kept the northern territories dependent on weaponry produced by Motor City, and thus tied to the Ironworks whether they liked it or not. Along the western border, disturbing thefts and the razing of small settlements had begun. The attacks were too surgical for raiders, involved too many bullet casings for Natural Ones, and were too far out for Reclaimers. Mill City leadership suspected a new, unknown threat was emerging from the western plains.
The territory was designed as if meant to be a production capital. Fertile farmland on the shores of the Lake, positioned in the center of what remained of North America, made it an ideal port location and agricultural hub. Plantation owners commanded legions of Iron Slaves to plant and reap, but the majority of the population consisted of amateur brewers, artisan cooks, and small farmers. The larger cities mocked them as redneck farmers, a dismissal that bred quiet resentment among a people who knew exactly how essential they were.
Wischigan cheddar was world-renowned and traded throughout the Ironworks, primarily by Pure Bloods to Pure Bloods. The process for making it was near lethal; post-fall cows could kill a handler who did not know the breed, and generations of farming families passed down the required knowledge. The Abbey Darwinists cited Wischigan cheese as proof of natural selection. Mill City hosted some of the largest breweries in the known world, producing Schlabst, a high-potency beer with essential vitamins and nutrients that kept workers strong. The International Brewers Union kept prices fair and bars stocked.
Telling Visions religion, specifically the Nuclear Family variant, dominated the territory. The need to arm farmers against Cheezhead raiders, Natural One scavengers, and Reclaimer strikes from across the Lake kept the northern territories dependent on weaponry produced by Motor City, and thus tied to the Ironworks whether they liked it or not. Along the western border, disturbing thefts and the razing of small settlements had begun. The attacks were too surgical for raiders, involved too many bullet casings for Natural Ones, and were too far out for Reclaimers. Mill City leadership suspected a new, unknown threat was emerging from the western plains.
Geography
Wischigan occupied fertile farmland on the shores of the Great Lake, positioned in the center of what remained of North America. The territory served as an ideal port location and agricultural production center. Harsh enough conditions to toughen both crops and farmers defined the climate, with storm seasons carrying tornadoes inland from the Corn Wastes. Mill City anchored the urban center of the territory. Madtown, a Red Star commune, sat nearby. The Dells, an abandoned amusement park surrounded by an official exclusion zone, interrupted the otherwise productive landscape. To the west, the territory bordered Mini Soda and the increasingly desolate frozen plains. The rail network connected Wischigan's farms to Rail City and beyond, making the territory's grain output accessible to the entire Ironworks.
