You don't need to do an app for characters, unless you want to keep track of them and have a public record of who they are. But as you stand you're good right now. I'll get to map work in a bit. Until then:

[b]Faction[/b]: Traverse Bay

[b]Location[/b]: Grand Traverse, Leelanau, and Benzie County.

[b]History[/b]: It is said that the night the lights had died over the world there was a fierce storm blowing over Traverse Bay. The clouds thick and heavy with rain and whipping across the city a harsh gusting wind. And so when the residents woke up to dead clocks and dulled light bulbs there was not a thought of panic among them. It was odd when the generators would not light, and concerning that the cars never started. But for the city there were was plenty of felled trees and damaged power-lines to attend to. But the mounting feeling something had failed grew as the county trucks did not even show to clean up the mess. Even the phones did not ring when the men and women of Traverse attempted to call in report the damages.

The steady sense of unease over the city however broke full force when bright lights burned deep into the sky, burning harsh against the clear blue like a dramatic second sun summoning the gaze of the men and women south to where they witnessed with apt horror the bright-white fire that bloomed into the sky and shrouded even the sun in a single moment of utter destruction. The burning cataclysm succeeded in melting the gnawing unease, and erupted in their hearts a sudden explosion of dread. Something wasn't just off, something was terribly wrong.

That immediate afternoon the county offices and city hall was bombarded with panicked demands to confirm what was going on. But like the citizens of the city they county and municipal authority was incapable of ascertaining the information on what was going on. The phones dead, the computes inoperable, and even the radios in a state of dysfunction there was no way of getting news out or in. For once, Traverse City realized just how isolated it was in the wide country and forests of upper Michigan.

The desperate situation boiled as the people of the tourist community on Lake Michigan. But in the chaos people found a surreal solace in a young college man by the name of Joshua Bringman. It wasn't a sense of leadership he presented in any formal sense. But the idea that if it's the end of the world, might as well not let it clip his wings. Through a surreal way of finding the irony in the situation, the young Joshua managed to find a way to build a cult around him. One which grew to be of considerable influence over Traverse City for the first year of their isolation.

Much of the new Traverse City writes its history to the tune of the stories of Joshua Bringman. Even over sixty years it has become difficult to distinguish the wine-laden stories of the young leader after he enrolled at Northwestern. It is said that the man was elected to all council positions in a magical post-crash election. It is said that the wineries he visited produced triple yields in the harvest of that year; so much so they found it difficult to pick all the grapes and that winter wine became especially abundant. It is even said that Joshua Bringman is said to have seen the face of Mohammad in a bottle of wine, and the image of Jesus in a gallon of vinegar. There are many stories of him walking through the street in a toga during the summer, and using driftwood as a sled during the winter.

What is certain though is that after five years of keeping a shaky situation stable, he died.

The death of Joshua came as a shock to an already weakened region. Many credited him to keeping growing raider populations from the city, though that was hardly the case and is one of the few stories with a valid explanation to.

When Joshua was found dead along the shores of Lake Michigan by a group of refugees from the south his corpse was returned solemnly to the city. The refugees hoped to recieve a reward, but quickly found themselves imprisoned by Joshua's casually appointed right-hand, former sheriff deputy Daren Makorvich. The news that the destitute refugees had been imprisoned for bringing back Joshua's body was kept swept under the rug as the community set to mourning the loss of their spiritual leader. Daren was quick to place himself as being the heir to Joshua's legacy as the rightful city management and county charter challenged his disposition.

As ceremonies were made to lay Joshua's body to rest the two emerging sides began their conflict, bringing to the fray the chaos that had been forestalled for as long as it had.

The week after Joshua's burial the heat between Daren and the Council had grown so hot that both sides came to violent blows as Daren ordered the city hall raided, claiming it to be the will of Joshua. That night a fire glowed in Traverse as a mob of a hundred armed men stormed the City Hall and raided it inside and out. Several aids to the city management were captured and lynched as the building was burned behind them. The city council responded with what it could by rallying the local business leaders and the wineries to muster the resources to put Daren down, opening what'd be named later as the Vine Revolt.

Ultimately, the conflict ended with Daren as victor. In roughly two months he had seized control of the city council and the local vineyards for himself. His strength coming from in part by refugees and bringing in southern raiders as mercenaries to unseat the hold power. Once in control, Daren rebuilt the Council to his own fancy and as a reward awarded the vineyards to his most able followers. The rest he had executed.

The reconstructed city council was built up by Daren and his favorites who assumed control of Traverse City. The new government was able to utilize Traverse City's natural influence to exert and enforce its influence on the general Greater Traverse Bay area, with the exception of a county that refused to bend the knee after criticism towards the new council as being oligarchic in nature; which isn't a fact Daren and his successors hid with many of the council seats occupied by the Wine Barons.

Daren Makorvich was assassinated in the year 2043, walking home at night from a council meeting. The assassin was never apprehended, but the militant leader died choking on his blood from a a lung punctured by a shiv. His seat on the council was soon replaced by the councilmen and by their rough constitution a new Leader was elected by the name of Erin Marlow.

Traverse Bay has since become a influential force across north-western Michigan, trading wine, grapes, vinegar, ink, and the associated products across the shores of Lake Michigan to Holland and even around to Lake Huron. In the sheltered Traverse Bay the fledgling merchant republic builds its merchant fleet to trade for goods from the Aventuriers and supplies with the F5 to better feed and serve a society growing from refugees attracted to Traverse City by its stories of wealth and booze. Much of the growing issues threatening the Republic arise from its growing squalor and the growing demand to spread out to better meet the demand falling on the Republican Council.

Joshua Bringman has also entered the local lore as not only a founder, but as a demi-god of sorts. Shortly after his burial his body was exhumed by followers and placed in a make-shift shrine set on a hill overlooking Lake Michigan. Serving as a source of pilgrimage, the make-shift hedge of driftwood and boat parts stands as a sanctuary to Joshua's legend and is a home to several relics of his life. Here, citizens often make small sacrifices in the hopes of achieving personal good fortune. The upkeep and practices in the shrine are overseen by a collective of priests known as The Vineyard.