Free State of Franklin
Territory
History
The Appalachians, great towering mountains, remote and teeming with life and wilderness. It was no wonder that this was a hotspot of Vault-Tec activity pre-war. Vault 9 was constructed in Sevier County, and prepared
In its facade, the Vault 9’s was rather tame. It was a vault made for couples. Cabins were made for couples, tables in the cafeteria were made for couples. One would’ve been hard-pressed to locate something that wasn’t factored for couples. Initially, tightly knit and loving couples without children were admitted to the vault. Children were had, the generations progressed, and the real experiment started. Through subliminal influence and other means, couples thereafter were paired at birth, and stimulatingly raised together, coaxed into companionship, and eventually, procreation. An experiment designed to test the effects of selective breeding on confined human populations. The experiment, at the disdain of the dynasty of overseers that ruled, yielding nothing but common physical traits and the instilling of companionship into its populace. After 112 years, the vault was opened due to a one-in-a-million double failure of the collector arrays of both the geothermal and nuclear generators.
The vault’s residents emerged to find various lucky survivors and non-feral ghouls inhabiting the area around which was formerly Sevierville and Pigeon Forge. After spouts of dealing with xenophobia and, although rare, agoraphobia, the genetically-tuned population integrated with those in the area, squandering away the selective properties of which they gained from 112 years of isolation. Though the genetic features that were associated with dwellers of Vault 9 have, for all intents and purposes, disappeared, their traditions have remained, communicated to those they integrated with, and passed on between the generations.
Settlers migrated northwards at the beckoning of the wildlife, which sought the source of the mostly-pure Nolichucky, leading them to what once was Greeneville. A settlement sprung up surrounding the still-standing Nolichucky Dam, and its hydroelectric generators were restarted, providing a reliable source of power along with a relatively clean source of water, with steady food around due to the use of the backed up waterway as a watering hole by wildlife.
With the inevitability of government taking root, an electoral system was founded, and a model government based from writings on a topic known as the ‘Tennessee State Central Government’, and an armed forces organized. The Franklin Charter was drafted, and foreign relations were established.
(Post-founding lore is WIP)
In its facade, the Vault 9’s was rather tame. It was a vault made for couples. Cabins were made for couples, tables in the cafeteria were made for couples. One would’ve been hard-pressed to locate something that wasn’t factored for couples. Initially, tightly knit and loving couples without children were admitted to the vault. Children were had, the generations progressed, and the real experiment started. Through subliminal influence and other means, couples thereafter were paired at birth, and stimulatingly raised together, coaxed into companionship, and eventually, procreation. An experiment designed to test the effects of selective breeding on confined human populations. The experiment, at the disdain of the dynasty of overseers that ruled, yielding nothing but common physical traits and the instilling of companionship into its populace. After 112 years, the vault was opened due to a one-in-a-million double failure of the collector arrays of both the geothermal and nuclear generators.
The vault’s residents emerged to find various lucky survivors and non-feral ghouls inhabiting the area around which was formerly Sevierville and Pigeon Forge. After spouts of dealing with xenophobia and, although rare, agoraphobia, the genetically-tuned population integrated with those in the area, squandering away the selective properties of which they gained from 112 years of isolation. Though the genetic features that were associated with dwellers of Vault 9 have, for all intents and purposes, disappeared, their traditions have remained, communicated to those they integrated with, and passed on between the generations.
Settlers migrated northwards at the beckoning of the wildlife, which sought the source of the mostly-pure Nolichucky, leading them to what once was Greeneville. A settlement sprung up surrounding the still-standing Nolichucky Dam, and its hydroelectric generators were restarted, providing a reliable source of power along with a relatively clean source of water, with steady food around due to the use of the backed up waterway as a watering hole by wildlife.
With the inevitability of government taking root, an electoral system was founded, and a model government based from writings on a topic known as the ‘Tennessee State Central Government’, and an armed forces organized. The Franklin Charter was drafted, and foreign relations were established.
(Post-founding lore is WIP)
Population
240,000 (roughly), with about 23,000 being mutated minorities such as non-feral ghouls, docile super mutants and nightkin, and various other non-malicious mutated beings.
Government
The Franklin Central Government is, as previously mentioned, based on the pre-war Tennessee State Government. It consists of an executive branch and a legislative branch, which cooperate to operate a central government.
The executive branch, as first and foremost, consists of the head of state and head of government, the Governor, and his assistant (and successor, in case of death), the Lieutenant Governor, along with a cabinet of advisors on various departments in the government. This branch serves to lead guide the nation as the figurehead of its values.
The legislative branch is the second branch of the Franklin Central Government, the primary lawmaking body, known as the Congress.. It consists of two houses, the upper house, called the Senate, and the lower house, called the House of Representatives. In the Senate, every county gives a single representative to its assembly. However, in the House, every county gives a select number of representatives based on population.
Other than that is the judicial body, which isn’t considered part of the central government, rather a collection of trial-by-jury courts based in county-districts.
In these county-districts, local governments reign in the form of elected councils, in the form of county seats, in which there are seven county seats per county-district.
Military
The Overmountain Men, sometimes known as the Mountain Men or Mountain Rangers, are the armed forces of the Free State of Franklin, consisting of an all-reserve volunteer defense force standing at 5,000 men, give or take, organized into five general regiments. Though it is a ‘defense force’, in many instances that has included excursions outside the borders to protect the interests of Franklin from tyrants abroad.
Said general regiments are consisted of anywhere from 700-1,000 men, and designated by region with muster fields that men can organize at relatively quickly. The real strength of each general regiment is the three battalions of infantry which it staffs, deployed with equipment of varying types, though a favorite is the rifle colloquially known as the ‘Cowboy Repeater’ by the masses, which is in truth the Winchester line of lever-action repeaters, with the 1892 and 1895 variants being the most common, in the favorite hunting cartridge of .30-30. Accompanying the three battalions in support is an artillery battery, of varying types of weaponry, often salvaged or makeshift howitzers. Finally is the rangering company, of which each general regiment has. These men are the only permanently mounted troops in the entire Overmountain Men, and, despite ‘Mountain Rangers’ applying to all Overmountain Men in local vernacular, these men are the true holders of the title. They are the main reconnaissance force of the Overmountain Men, also being well-experienced in asymmetrical warfare and other guerilla tactics.
The command of the Overmountain Men is in quite competent hands, with General Trey Osborne presiding over all standing forces, headquartered in Fort Watauga, in what was once known as Sycamore Shoals or Elizabethton.
Culture
Franklinians are extremely affectionate in nature, in a fierce bond with any friend, an even fiercer love with any partner, a prime result of the Vault 9 experiment. In friendship, bonds are strong, almost religious pacts that show friends treating each other as loving siblings would. As a result of their kind-hearted and affectionate nature, their hospitality is rivaled by few in any of the Wastes, being rather accepting of people with all views.
However, make no mistake, their fight is just as fierce as their affection, being strict adherents to personal liberty for all. They will not stand for their rights to be infringed, thus their own willingness to serve in the purpose of deposing tyrants and defending their own homes.
Naturally, this means slavery is abolished in their territory, as they have no need for such, what with their sheer absence of agriculture, obtaining all food from wildlife or other ‘wild’ sources. And due to their hospitality, they generally accept any non-feral ghoul and any docile mutated monstrosity into the fold.
As for fashion, popular trends are thereby nonexistent generally, with clothing generally being handmade, often of animal skin, wild cotton and flax, and linens.
Music of Franklin remains deeply rooted in bluegrass, the same as its pre-war regional predecessor. Often recorded tracks are few and far between, so live shows performed by string bands are common.
Technology
On the technology front, Franklin is well off. Due to pre-war TVA dams that are still standing being acquired by the Franklin government, there is an abundance of renewable hydroelectric power flowing to each major population center. Plumbing is rarer, though still present in various cities across Franklin.
Meanwhile, with all pre-war cars in the area disabled and the roadways all mere cracked and split guideways to where civilization once was, horseback is the main way to travel. The relatively shielded Tennessee Valley, with its healthy population of Tennessee thoroughbreds, became wild after the Great War, however were re-domesticated relatively quickly, and now are abundant in number.
Religion
While the government is secular, the protection of personal beliefs in Franklin itself makes it a haven of diversity on this front. While most still follow the old Gods, namely those of Christianity, such as Protestantism and Catholicism, people of nearly all religions call Franklin home.
