[center][i]cursed is the ground for thy sake[/i]
Genesis, 3:17

[h2]The Jericho Road[/h2][/center]

[img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Follower_of_Jheronimus_Bosch_010.jpg/1024px-Follower_of_Jheronimus_Bosch_010.jpg[/img]

We do not know what- besides pride- destroyed the Old World. But we know that it was terrible beyond comprehension. We know that the Old Ones deployed their nuclear arsenals against it, accomplishing nothing but the irradiation of the earth and sky. 

According to what sources we have, Ichor, our lifeblood and our curse, was not to be found on the earth until the Old World fell. Some in the Scholams of the Church claim that our world has been cursed, impregnated by demons, and that the Ichor that fuels our vehicles and powers our cities is the seed of fallen gods and ancient monsters, seeping up from some vast, accursed womb.

That, of course, is mere superstitious speculation. Whatever Ichor's origins, it is the most abundant and efficient fuel source we have, and it will power the rebuilding of the world.

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[b]Welcome to AD 4000[/b]

The world is a little different than you may remember. 

The good old US of A is [i]well[/i] over a thousand years in its grave (no one knows for sure what did it in or, for that matter, what- exactly- succeeded it before the Old World fell...), but its former territory is now a vast wasteland, covered with deserts, carnivorous fungus-jungles, caustic seas, irradiated plains, the endless ruins of supercities, and pockmarked with settlements struggling to survive. Foremost among these is Jericho, a walled metropolis located in what used to be known as the midwest. Jericho is famous for two things: trade- and kicking ass. Located along the famous and infamous Jericho Road, at the midpoint between the fertile Greenlands and the Ichor-rich territories of Terminus Est, the city benefits from the constant flow of trade across the ruined continent, and its isolated position and the incredible dangers of the Road have made it a haven of the rugged and the ruthless.

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This is the framework of the world you will design. This RP will start as an exercise in pure worldbuilding, and players are encouraged to flesh out the barebones I have provided above. Anything I've mentioned: Jericho, Ichor, the Dream Plague, the Road, are all fair game for players to work on, as is the rest of the world: from factions to wildlife to landscapes to lore, and beyond. Most of the work will be done on a PiratePad (link below), and I will assemble it here in a sort of canon encyclopedia of our collaboratively designed setting. I also encourage to folks to build the world through the creation of IC short stories or collaborative scenes, which I will also feature here. 

If we find it helpful, I will provide templates for faction and character sheets. But for now I'd like to leave it open. 


[hider=A Rough Map for people to draw on]
[img]http://www.worldofmaps.net/typo3temp/images/topographische-karte-usa.jpg[/img]
[/hider]


We can assume that the ecosystems, climate, and geography (aside from massive mountains and holes in the ground where lakes used to be/are), is significantly different than it is now. The biggest change I will make to current-day geography is this much of the pacific coast has dried up, and now leads to vast salt flats.

Inspirations: dieselpunk, Fallout, Mad Max, Lovecraft, China Mieville's fiction, Warhammer 40K and whatever you folks bring to the table!

Feel free to add ideas here as well as in the Pad below.

[url=https://titanpad.com/s5lnc3uYPR]The Pad.[/url]

[url=http://us20.chatzy.com/25587122451629]The Chat, useful if the Pad fails[/url]

[url=http://piratepad.net/5TZrMNAvGc]Backup Pad[/url]