The Ashlands
I looked out on the wasteland. Nothing grew for miles; no sign of water, no sign of life. That's when I realized: this'll be a great place for a movie!Formerly part of the United States of America before its decline and eventual dissolution, the Ashlands are a vast region of barren and arid plains that span from Texas to deep inside the Rust Belt. Many of the same conditions that lead to the Dust Bowl of earlier centuries have combined with pollution and rising temperatures to devastate the land. While any pedant will be quick to note that it isn't actually ash, the difference seem rather academic when an enormous wall of soot-like dirt is storming across the horizon.
Who Lives Here, Anyway?
Much of America's population has relocated to the confines of the Megacorpolis, with enclaves still holding out here and there in the old world. These range from warlords in old army bases to the poor bastards left behind and forgotten when the evacuation was going on. In the Ashlands, most surviving communities are the descendants of paranoid survivalists who hoarded a bunch of guns and supplies before holing up in "bunkers" of various description. Not everyone's stocked up as well and Ashlanders fight each other for every can of beans or dehydrated food-dust. As time moves on and supplies run out, the survivalist bunkers are getting less smug about their predictions and ability to prepare. Cannibalism is reportedly rampant, which makes for great television.Besides Those Guys
Visitors to the Ashlands can be generously described as a bunch of scavenging vultures. Streamers, reality TV shows, scavengers and corporate prospects all make the trip into the desolate Ashlands. The grim, desperate desert is a setting for a great deal of movies and shows. If a star gets eaten, the ratings generally go through the roof. Scavengers try to pick through the cities in the storm for anything of value will there but after a century or so, very little remain. It doesn't stop them from trying. Travel in the Ashlands is dangerous. The frequent storms make flight impossible and travel by land difficult. The survivalists have lots of guns and very poor trigger discipline, and they're getting hungry.Storms!
The Ashlands are plagued by constant storms, as the wind whips down the plains and pick the dried out earth. These continent-spanning sandstorms can last for weeks, covering the world in an obscuring haze of choking black dust. It gets everywhere. Vehicles or equipment can easily gum up and cease to function, while tearing winds sometimes build up enough strength to throw vehicles around. You've been warned.Things Are Better Now We were pretty close there for a while, staring total climate collapse in the eye and daring the bastard to pull the trigger. A combination of large-scale geo-engineering, carbon sequestering and the revolution in energy production pulled humanity off the ledge. With things at a relative equilibrium, some megacorps look at the Ashlands not as a desolate wasteland full of cannibalistic survivalist bunkers but as a potential project. Debates about the rate of return on such an investment are still raging in boardrooms around Megacorpolis while the Ashland storms continue to gnaw at the bones of broken cities.
Looking For Love: Ashland Edition! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Like ***roaches, reality TV never dies
Creator of Araea, Megacorpolis, and many others.