Greetings soldier!
North America is littered with the ruins of pre-Rifts towns and cities, most of which are dangerous, haunted, or uninhabitable for whatever reason. Ruins are ominous and disconcerting places; places that symbolize humanity's powerlessness in the face of the Great Cataclysm. Foremost among these symbols of civilization's collapse is the once famous municipality of Washington, D.C. - colloquially known by the post-apocalyptic natives of the Eastern Wilds as "TonDC."
Not many individuals know that TonDC exists or that it was, at one time, the center of government for the old American Empire. Before the Rifts, the so-called "District of Columbia" was the capital of the entire United States. It served as home for all three branches of American government, as well as host to a multitude of foreign embassies, museums, monuments, libraries, and works of historic import. It's not an exaggeration to state that Washington, D.C. was representative of the old American Empire's leadership, as well as an icon of pre-Rifts American culture and civilization.
Yet now, circa 101 P.A., TonDC is a forlorn, mostly forgotten ruin. The flood waters of an engorged Potomac River have swallowed roughly 65% of the municipality, turning the area into a large, swampy morass broken by debris and patches of dry land. Scavengers have generally avoided the region due to the likelihood that anything of value was washed away or destroyed by water during the Great Cataclysm. Furthermore, TonDC's proximity to the coast puts it in the sights of pirates and Splugorth raiding parties, which also makes the locale unattractive to visit.
Still, for those who know of TonDC's existence, there is a strong mystique surrounding the place. What isn't intriguing about an unexplored city that once was the beating heart of the old American Empire? There are a number of stories that connect TonDC to the legendary Neemans of myth, describing the city as one of the last holdouts of the American government until succumbing to the madness of the Dark Age. Later stories claim that a community of survivors - The Republicans - arose within the ruins, though they've long since vanished, once again leaving the former U.S. capital abandoned to history.
Although not relevant to Dinosaur Swamp, the following information is what the IMCN has learned about the region formerly known as the "District of Columbia."
North America is littered with the ruins of pre-Rifts towns and cities, most of which are dangerous, haunted, or uninhabitable for whatever reason. Ruins are ominous and disconcerting places; places that symbolize humanity's powerlessness in the face of the Great Cataclysm. Foremost among these symbols of civilization's collapse is the once famous municipality of Washington, D.C. - colloquially known by the post-apocalyptic natives of the Eastern Wilds as "TonDC."
Not many individuals know that TonDC exists or that it was, at one time, the center of government for the old American Empire. Before the Rifts, the so-called "District of Columbia" was the capital of the entire United States. It served as home for all three branches of American government, as well as host to a multitude of foreign embassies, museums, monuments, libraries, and works of historic import. It's not an exaggeration to state that Washington, D.C. was representative of the old American Empire's leadership, as well as an icon of pre-Rifts American culture and civilization.
Yet now, circa 101 P.A., TonDC is a forlorn, mostly forgotten ruin. The flood waters of an engorged Potomac River have swallowed roughly 65% of the municipality, turning the area into a large, swampy morass broken by debris and patches of dry land. Scavengers have generally avoided the region due to the likelihood that anything of value was washed away or destroyed by water during the Great Cataclysm. Furthermore, TonDC's proximity to the coast puts it in the sights of pirates and Splugorth raiding parties, which also makes the locale unattractive to visit.
Still, for those who know of TonDC's existence, there is a strong mystique surrounding the place. What isn't intriguing about an unexplored city that once was the beating heart of the old American Empire? There are a number of stories that connect TonDC to the legendary Neemans of myth, describing the city as one of the last holdouts of the American government until succumbing to the madness of the Dark Age. Later stories claim that a community of survivors - The Republicans - arose within the ruins, though they've long since vanished, once again leaving the former U.S. capital abandoned to history.
Although not relevant to Dinosaur Swamp, the following information is what the IMCN has learned about the region formerly known as the "District of Columbia."