New Fog Harbor

Excerpt from "Birth of a Nation" by Blair Owen Part I (1911-1937) An Overview of the Gracious Homeland   New Fog Harbor sits off the coast of the Mainland in a cloud of perpetual, beautiful, industrious smog. The island was claimed in 1911 by siblings Rodney and Vivian Dotson but did not open to the public until 1915. Eager to escape from the civil unrest on the mainland, new citizens flocked to New Harbor despite the struggling economy and ecological shortcomings.   In 1924, the discovery of Luceline sparked a period of rapid scientific growth on the island. The glowing pink liquid originating from the abelia octandra, otherwise known as Blush Button flowers, quickly became the main power source of the nation, powering homes, vehicles, and factories. With power plants and factories cropping up all over the countryside and turning the island into a metal metropolis, New Harbor became known as New Fog Harbor. It wasn't long after the industrial boom that roughly 35% of the citizens became infected by the chemical byproducts of burning Luceline. The compiled symptoms of reddening gums, increased temperature, coughing, nose bleeds, headaches, and tremors became known as Fog Fever.   Approximately 60% of those with the illness died within a year of contraction from failing lungs while the surviving 40% went on to live the rest of their days suffering with nothing more than the basic symptoms. By 1931, the population had decreased from 415,000 to 340,000.   1933 brought Grand Captain Rodney Dotson (now 63 years old) to issue a nationwide enforcement of all citizens to wear gas masks outside of their homes while other fossil fuels took over national power supply. Vivian Dotson (Lead Chemist), worked tirelessly for three years to create an altered formula of Luceline that would produce substantially less hazardous byproduct. In 1936, the pink power source was back to being the nation's number one supplier and caused fewer annual deaths but still the gas mask law sat in place.   All were not happy with the decision to reinstate Luceline. Protests emerged all over the nation with entire cities going on Luceline strikes. Many government funded factory foremen were torn over the decision to keep their consumers/employees happy by abandoning the pink energy source or to embrace the new, safer alternative and wait for the unrest to blow over. The unrest did not blow over; civil war broke out in 1938.