The Outlands

These territories and their diverse inhabitants exist beyond and outside the direct control of the [[Merikan Union]].
The Outland frontier of the Merikan Union is inhabited by numerous tribes and (based in linguistic and cultural commonalities) these tribes are divided into two independent confederacies: the Larada and the [[Mikigani]].
These territories are less fertile and thus less developed than the lands of the Merikan coastal heartlands. This owes to the fact that the Outlands were reclaimed from the wastes much later (only since circa 400 PCE). Though no longer tainted with lethal txins, many of the harsher Outland regions are still basically barren dust bowls.
The major settlements in the Outlands are Ashville and Dedro

Geography

The Outlands are the plains that lay beyond the western ridges of Appalachia. Numerous rivers and lakes criss cross these plains creating many varied territories suitable for settlement.

Fauna & Flora

The Outlands have a more diverse ecology than the Merikan heartlands. Proximity to the western Badlands increases the frequency at which mutated genetic outriders emerge in the Outlands. Hardier "dire" varieties of common wilderness animals tend to herd and flock in the Outlands as well.
The Outlands are also known for unusual primal cataclysmic plant varieties, such as hive vines, razor brush, and silver trunked "tin trees." Unseen bacteria produce other ecological formations. For example, the plastic forests of Polymer are not truly living plants but the semi-synthetic organic waste byproduct of microscopic organisms bio-engineered by some advanced human science for a an unknown purpose.
Nonphotosynthesizing mycelial strains have been known to encroach aggressively at the frontier of the Badlands. These fungi feed on the decay of radioactive particles and threaten to taint the ecology of the Outland with harmful radiation. The Toxic Shamans of Larada must periodically cull these mycelial colonies and maintain the border between Badland and Outland.

Type

Region