New California

New California is a loosely defined territory situated on the former American West Coast and Southwest. New California stretches from Baja in the south to Klamath in the north and is said to cover most of the pre-War American states of California, Oregon and Nevada as well as northern parts of the pre-War Mexican territory. In 2186, five independent states that previously formed in the region: Shady, Maxson, Boneyard, the Hub, and Dayglow elected to join together as a new nation called the New California Republic, going on to become one of the largest known factions in the post-War wasteland.

Ecosystem

The Great War, brief as it was, caused significant climate changes, manifesting as extensive desertification, particularly in the New California area. Where once the region was one of the richest and most important agricultural regions, the decades following the war resulted in many aquifers drying up and vast stretches of arable land turned to desert. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the Central Valley. Once the largest and most fertile valley in California, it became a barren wasteland in the wake of climate change. Beyond the Brotherhood of Steel at Lost Hills, no one inhabits the Valley. Centers of human civilization developed in isolated oases and sheltered locations in the Sierra Nevadas and ruins of pre-War cities instead. The worst element of the new climate was environmental catastrophes. For example, the catastrophic drought that began in 2241 has already had severe effects on the flora of the region and many communities throughout the wastelands.

Fauna & Flora

The changes in climate led to widespread alterations in the ecosystem. The new climate meant that many plants could no longer grow or be cultivated, ranging from common vegetables to specialized crops such as coca plants or opium poppies. Due to necessity, crop variants mutated by radiation were adopted by survivors, including mutated cabbage and maize. These cultivars thrived in the warm weather of the Southwest, forming the agricultural backbone of communities such as Shady Sands, Hub, Adytum, Modoc and others.

Over the years, oases of other types of plant life developed in the wasteland. Vault City was one of the first cities to bring back grass and living, thriving trees, thanks to their use of the Garden of Eden Creation Kit and supplies from Vault 8 they emerged from. Extensive efforts are undertaken by the New California Republic also led to the recultivation of soil in their cities, such as the capital, where gardens and parks with green vegetation are present within city limits.

However, desert plants remain the dominating form of flora throughout the wastelands. Cacti and other succulent plants thrive in the hot climate, providing sustenance for many animals and human settlements, especially in the less developed corners of the region.

The effect of the Great War on the climate also affected wildlife in the area. The radioactive fallout in the air led to widespread mutation. One mutated species to emerge from this melting pot of genotypes is the brahmin. This mutated cattle variant is extremely well suited for the harsh conditions of the wasteland, requiring little water and relatively small grazing areas, while providing plenty in return, including milk, meat, leather, bone, transportation et cetera. As such, it rapidly became the most widespread livestock animal in New California and the backbone of many a wasteland economy.

Other mutated animals that emerged include geckos, mutated lizards indigenous to the Oregon-California border regions. The mutation made them bigger, stronger, faster and definitely not sterile, leading to booming gecko populations in areas that can provide enough sustenance. Radscorpions are also a prevalent mutated creature, posing a significant danger to unwary travelers and untended livestock. The mutated mantis also pose a hazard. However, the most fearsome of those is the deathclaw, the result of a pre-War biological weapons program that continues to breed and spread throughout the wastes and remains one of the most fearsome predators of the wastelands.

Within New California, there are also animals that mutated little to none, such as dogs, rats, crows, rattlesnakes, vultures, and other animals. Domesticated canines are widespread, present wherever there is a human settlement. Rats, while commonly considered vermin have also found a niche. Their extremely high breeding rate led to their widespread adoption by impoverished Humans as a source of protein for sustenance. The same is true for mutated species, too, as geckos provide leather, meat and eggs,[46][47] while radscorpion venom sacks are a potent ingredient in antivenom concoctions. Even the mighty deathclaw is occasionally used as a source of eggs for foodstuffs.

Inhabitants

Prior to the formation of the NCR, the towns of New California were mostly isolated with the only interaction being in the way of trade. While the Hub and Junktown were welcoming to outsiders thanks to their size, smaller communities like Shady Sands and the ghouls of Necropolis were distrustful of those they do not know. Adytum was in the middle: While regular citizens were welcoming, the Regulators of the town were suspicious of newcomers. The Brotherhood of Steel was almost completely isolationist, and Lost Hills has not seen an outside recruit in decades by the time of the Unity. Even in 2161, law did exist. With Shady Sands creating a guard to defend against the Khans, Adytum trusting its safety to the Regulators and Junktown and the Hub creating police forces to fight the crime within their cities. The increasing commerce and density of population necessitated this: Some settlements were as little as 10 miles apart.

With the foundation of the NCR in 2186, the state of the law has expanded greatly. With the creation of the Army and the Rangers, the NCR has largely exterminated the raiders of New California and introduced the rule of law to the towns of the nation. However, loopholes do exist, as shown by the existence of a slave pen right outside the capital's walls, which is technically outside Republic's territory. The most common forms of food are crops and brahmin.

History

Post-War Chaos

The nuclear fire of the Great War affected large swaths of the United States on the West Coast. Much of the coastline was devastated, particularly around San Diego and Los Angeles. Massive craters were created as a result of the bombardment, the largest one situated where Orange County used to be located.

The scale of the attack was not without reason, however. Before the War, many important facilities were located in the region. One such example was a West-Tek Research Facility, established in 2055 to research the New Plague (later becoming the birthplace of the Forced Evolutionary Virus). Other vital installations include the Mariposa Military Base (newly constructed as of January 2077) and the Sierra Army Depot (in operation since 1942, refitted in 2050 as a top-secret research base, and then converted in 2077 into an automated defense base).

The casualties caused by the nuclear weapons on the human population were severe, although many people managed to find safety in the underground Vaults constructed in the region, such as Vault 15 or Vault 8. Vault 13 was sealed with a high number of dwellers, thanks to its delayed construction that reduced the cry wolf effect. Even for those left outside the Vaults, the seeds of future wasteland powers were sown that day; within Mariposa for example, members of renegade Army units joined together under Captain Roger Maxson to form the Brotherhood of Steel. Smaller towns were seeded as well, as is the case with Junktown, founded by a U.S. soldier.

By 2080, the first mutations started to occur among the survivors and wildlife, creating new species practically overnight.[Non-game 5] The radiation and mutations flooding the wasteland eventually calmed down enough for the survivors to start forming new groups. The first group to emerge and found a new town were the ghoulified inhabitants of Vault 12 beneath Bakersfield. The Necropolis was founded in Summer 2083.Less than a year later, in 2084, Set wrested control of the settlement from the original overseer. The founding of Necropolis started a decade of development. In 2091, after receiving the all-clear signal, Vault 8 opened and Vault City was founded.A year later, the demonstration Vault in the ruins of Los Angeles opened. The inhabitants founded Adytum in what became known as the Boneyard.

Two years later, in 2093, the future mercantile superpower was established around a filthy oasis in the desert. The founder and first mayor of the settlement, Angus, called it the Hub. Its central location soon attracted plenty of traders, including Harold, from Vault 29. Although he exited the vault in 2090, by 2096 Harold was a prospering caravan boss in the city. One of the landmark decisions that would shape the wastelands for decades was the Hub's adoption of bottle caps as currency. Within ten years of the city's founding in 2093, "caps" became the standard currency of the wasteland.

In the spring of 2097, Vault 15 opened. While a large portion of the vault inhabitants that left the overcrowded Vault would band into raider tribes as the winter of 2098 came (separately naming themselves the Khans, the Vipers and the Jackals), the remaining population of Vault dwellers founded the town Shady Sands in the Spring of 2098. The town was able to make a head start on living in the wasteland by using the G.E.C.K. they brought with them from the Vault. No one expected that these humble beginnings would eventually culminate in the formation of the New California Republic.

Rise of the Master

The wasteland seemed to be (relatively) peaceful for a time, with the occasional mutant attack on caravans. However, by 2102 these attacks intensified, causing significant losses in caravan trading. To find the source of the mutant threat, Harold joined forces with Richard Grey and formed one of the first adventuring parties in the wasteland in order to find the source of the mutants. The party, accompanied by several other adventurers, set out from the Hub on May 22. A month later, on June 23, they discovered the Mariposa Military Base. Although it was sealed up by the Brotherhood prior to their departure for Lost Hills, time and numerous attempted break-ins by salvagers had worn away its defenses. Exposed to the F.E.V. in the vats within the facility, a new breed of mutants had started spreading out to infest the wasteland. The expedition was routed by the mutants remaining at the base. Grey was accidentally knocked into the vats, while Harold was knocked unconscious, awakening outside the base hours later.[Non-game 19] He was rescued by traders and brought back alone to the Hub. The incomplete exposure to F.E.V. caused drastic mutations to affect Harold, who turned into a ghoul-like mutant. When he returned home, his caravan partners and employees abandoned him out of fear and prejudice, leaving the once-great caravan boss a pauper wandering the wasteland.

In the meantime, Grey suffered terrible mutations due to overdosing on F.E.V., more than anyone was ever meant to. He crawled out of the vats, suffering from the effects of mutation, fading in and out of consciousness. He did however manage to record his deteriorating state in the brief windows of conscious thought. Ultimately surviving the mutation process, Grey's condition eventually stabilized by the end of July. He began the first experiments with F.E.V. on animals in Mariposa. By November, he had formulated the cornerstone of the guiding philosophy of the Unity and the Super Mutant race. He abandoned his old name and took on the moniker of "the Master." Expanding his experiments to performing on humans that wandered into Mariposa allowed him to identify critical flaws in the mutation process and establish a more successful mutation procedure. The Master began building an army from the subjects his mutants captured, the Unity.

Further Developments

While the Master developed his plans for improving the human race from Mariposa, life continued as normal around the rest of New California. By 2120, the Hub was rapidly growing. Angus, its founder, established himself as governor and enjoyed a prosperous reign until 2125 when the Hub was attacked in a failed raid by the Vipers, which he stopped almost singlehandedly. Angus was later murdered by an unknown party that winter, which threw the city into chaos. In the following year, a band of merchants joined together to seize the water tower and began charging for water, sparking the Great Merchant Wars. The conflict continued for two years; the Water Merchants controlled the town and the well source, but were greatly outnumbered. In 2128, Roy Greene managed to negotiate a settlement that ended the wars. His reforms included the establishment of the Hub's Central Council, staffed by representatives from the trade companies. The resulting merchant quasi-republic was plagued by indecisiveness, followed by frequent and frivolous meetings, helping to preserve the delicate balance of power in the town. The peace guaranteed that the town would survive the Great Winter of 2130.

That same winter brought to the fore a critical problem in the Master's plan: test subject supply. By the next spring, he ordered his super mutants to begin gathering human stock from caravans traveling around New California. The situation peaked between 2131 and 2135 as wastelanders blamed the disappearances on deathclaws and attacks by monsters in the desert, all while the Unity's numbers kept growing. By 2137, the dipping process was perfected and mass production of super mutants was in full swing. Despite the Master's advancements, however, the success rate of mutation was less than 20%, further troubled by only half of those who survived being viable as troops in his army.

Problems weren't unique to just the mutants. The Brotherhood of Steel, while a formidable force due to their technological advantage, couldn't fight nature. Their founder, Roger Maxson, died of cancer in 2135; his son ascended to the position of high elder, while his grandson became a paladin. The Hub had its own cause for concern as Decker formed the Underground, starting his rule as the criminal lord of the sprawling city in 2140.

By 2152, the mutant problem had escalated further in New California. The Master slowly spread his influence through the wastes over the years while building up his army up until a crucial piece of the puzzle fell into place: upon discovering a group of doomsday cultists led by a man called Morpheus, the Master decided to use them as spies in the wasteland, laying the foundations for the formation of the Children of the Cathedral. Three years later, in 2155, the Master's forces captured a caravan of vault dwellers traveling from the L.A. Vault. From them, the Master learned the location of the vault and decided to move his base of operations there. Once he learned more about the existence of other vaults in the region, the Master realized the separation of the vault dwellers from the radioactive wasteland meant they were perfect subjects for dipping. At his order, the Unity mutants began to scour the region for any vaults they could find. In 2156, the Master formally established the Children of the Cathedral as a benevolent cult, using Morpheus and his followers to establish outposts and spies in the various wasteland settlements to widen his test subject supply and keep watch for information on more vaults.[Non-game 37] A year later, the Unity finally located their first vault, Vault 12 within the Necropolis. The mutants' assault led to the deaths of many of the inhabiting ghouls before Set managed to negotiate peace with the super mutants. After being told by Set that the ghouls are indeed the vault dwellers, the mutants' recovery operation failed, but they still established a stronghold in the town to ensure Set's cooperation.

Even by the 2150s, the wasteland's inhabitants still largely remained oblivious of the growing threat of Unity and the Master. The Brotherhood of Steel became an uncontested power in the region after their extermination campaign of 2155 broke the back of the Vipers. The loss of their high elder to the raiders allowed his son John Maxson to assume leadership, with Rhombus taking his place among the paladins. While the extermination of the Vipers led to full trade relations between the Brotherhood and the Hub, tensions were present. The Water Merchants of the Hub attempted to barter a large quantity of water for a weapons stockpile and although the Brotherhood turned down the offer, the merchants attempted to take the weapons regardless. The thieves were caught, but the Brotherhood elders voted down a retaliatory expedition.

Peace and Prosperity

Six years later, the Brotherhood discovered their first hint towards the existence of the super mutant threat from a corpse found in the badlands and taken back to Lost Hills for examination. The elder council, fearing a potential invasion, enacted several security decrees, including a moratorium on training new recruits until the threat passed. However, it wasn't until December 5, 2161, that a string of fortunate events began. On that day, the Vault Dweller was sent out from Vault 13 with her companions to recover a water chip for the water purification system after the Vault's old one became irreparable. In the course of her search, the Vault Dweller also became aware of the super mutant threat. Later joining forces with the Brotherhood of Steel she managed to locate and destroy the Master beneath the Cathedral on March 3, 2162. A little over a month later, she completed the destruction of the Unity by destroying the Mariposa Military Base, the source of the mutants. For his efforts, she was cast out of the Vault by the overseer when she returned there a week later, out of fear that her exploits would encourage more to leave the Vault. Despite the overseer's efforts, a group of Vault dwellers led by a woman named Lydia did leave a short time after, looking to reunite with the Vault Dweller.

Though shunned by their own people, the Vault Dweller's destruction of the Unity prevented the super mutants from destroying the fledgling human settlements, with the sole exception of the Necropolis, which was destroyed days after the Vault Dweller's departure. The mutant population dispersed, leading to a migration of the ghouls and the fleeing of super mutants to the east and the north. The Vault Dweller eventually reunited with the surface-bound group from Vault 13, who learned from her how to survive in the wasteland. Trekking to the inaccessible canyons in the northwest, they founded Arroyo on July 10, 2165 and by August 18, 2167, the settlement was complete.

In the summer of 2185, a former Unity soldier, Marcus, and a knight of the Brotherhood, Jacob, crossed paths. After a firefight and some hand-to-hand combat, they realized they could not best one another. With the stalemate obvious, they gave up and befriended each other instead. The two traveled together, soon attracting ghouls, humans and other super mutants as they figured that a Unity officer and a knight are about the safest way to travel. In fall that same year, they established the town of Broken Hills around an abandoned uranium mine, creating a place where humans and mutants could live side by side.

Apart from ending the Master's plans, the most important act of the Vault Dweller was the destruction of the Khans and the rescue of Tandi, the daughter of Shady Sands's leader, Aradesh. As a result of the heroine's efforts in destroying most of the nearby threats, the small settlement enjoyed a period of peace, as raiders gave it a wide berth. Aradesh used this opportunity to develop the community and help the village thrive, eventually turning Shady Sands into an economic power within the Core Region. As trade routes developed, so did the cultural exchange with other towns around New California. This led to the emergence of a national identity movement which gradually gained popular acceptance. In 2186, the New California Republic was founded by Aradesh and Tandi. A trial council government was formed to draft a constitution. The ideals of the NCR would spread over the region steadfast, with Junktown becoming one of the first provisional states of the New California Republic, due to its status as one of Shady Sand's oldest and most trusted trade partners. Though the alliance causes some concern in the Hub, ultimately it had little effect on the relations. In 2189, the Republic was voted into existence as a federation of five states: Shady, Boneyard, Maxson, the Hub and Dayglow.

Following Aradesh's death in 2196 while searching for Vault 13 to learn about the Vault Dweller's origins, his daughter Tandi was elected unanimously as the second president of the New California Republic. She continued to serve ten terms, winning all consecutive elections. As president, Tandi united the wasteland more than any other leader born after the Great War, including rebuilding the pre-War infrastructure to support the growing population, finding new forms of transportation and manufacturing, clearing roads and rail lines, building forts, fostering caravans and trade inside and outside of the republic, as well as dealing with threats swiftly and efficiently. By 2241, the republic is the largest economic and political power in the wasteland. Much of its power is provided by its vast brahmin herds, which provide meat, leather, beasts of burden and other goods for trade. With the situation south stabilized, President Tandi intends to expand New California and the republic's reach further north. However, the region has becoming an arena where the NCR struggles to dominate against its two rivals: Vault City and New Reno.

A New Frontier

The struggle centeres around the town of Redding, the region's primary supplier of gold ore. When the republic switched to dollars as currency, backing them with gold, the mining city became key to the trade in all of New California. Whoever controls the supply of gold, controls the currency. Redding is lucky enough to remain far away enough to make a military takeover uneconomic.

In the background, other developments have taken place, including the foundation of the town of Gecko between 2235 and 2238, which created a haven for ghouls in Northern California, right on Vault City's doorstep.

By 2241, the conflict between the NCR, New Reno, and Vault City has slowly approaching a critical phase. Vault City rejected an offer to ally with the Bishop family and the NCR in February. All this is set against the backdrop of the worst dry season in years caused a drought in North California, causing widespread food shortages in the less developed areas, such as Arroyo and Modoc.

Type

Region

Included Locations

• Klamath