The Fallen Continent: West Virginia
The Mountain State endures, with its own unique advantages and challenges not faced by other states.
Population: 140,000
Largest City: Princeton
Oh, the West Virginia hills! I must bid you now adieu.
In my home beyond the mountains I shall ever dream of you;
In the evening time of life, If my Father only wills,
I shall still behold the vision of those West Virginia hills!
Introduction
Though the war wiped out all of West Virginia’s major population centers, there were never very many to begin with, and the low population density allowed a relatively high survival rate (although a large minority of the population refugees from Virginia and Pennsylvania). There was little left in the way of organized government, but the dispersed population and relatively low refugee influx (again, when compared with other states) kept civil unrest at a minimum, allowing the survivors to rebuild and reorganize with less bloodshed than in other states. Much of the state has no government beyond the rule of small independent towns or tiny bands of raiders, bandits or survivalists. Factions large enough to appear on the map may hold intermittent sway over these regions, but their borders represent more of a broad sphere of influence rather than hard, binding frontiers.
Newsylvania
Capital: New Martinsville
Classification: Warlord (Warlord state)
West Virginia suffered comparatively few refugees, although they certainly left their mark on the Mountain State. Only one faction in West Virginia is ruled by out-of-state transplants: Newsylvania, the Pennsylvanian refugee colony straddling the Ohio River. Newsylvania is somewhat the opposite of the Ohio River Refuge downstream. The ORR was founded by isolationists who despised refugees; Newsylvania was founded by “Penny” exiles who displaced many of the local inhabitants.
The Pennies have settled into their new homes, but their association lacks something in sophistication. Their Pittsburgh-born ruler is an unashamed warlord who makes no real effort to hide his despotism, and the ruling Penny gang delights themselves in antagonizing the local Appalachians. Although their remoteness has kept the “Wee-Vee” militiamen away for years, the West Virginia Constitutional Militia has finally made up their minds and is now drafting plans for a northern expedition.
West Virginia Constitutional Militia
Capital: Weston
Classification: Right-Wing Ideological Faction (Right-wing militia regime)
The largest, most powerful faction in the state is the West Virginia Constitutional Militia. Descended from a splinter group of a prewar militia of solid right-wing persuasion, the core of the militia in Weston is the hegemonic master over a larger network of smaller militias, survivalist bands, cooperative law enforcement, and even some survivors from the 19th Special Forces Group previously based in Camp Dawson.
It’s a rough and tumble sort of faction, with a lot of leeway granted to local chapters and a haphazard sort of law and order enforced by gun-toting militiamen and the occasional public hanging. There isn’t much in the way of a codified ideological platform here; the WVCM itself used to have one before the Great War, but they don’t heavily enforce it upon their newfound subjects. The militia’s subjects are mostly devout Christians, and many of the WVCM’s constituent polities are led by militant pastors. Others still fall under the sway of energetic travelling preachers. Life is simple and austere—one might say backwards—but still preferable to that in many warlord regimes in the surrounding states.
Greenbrier Quarantine
Capital: Lewisburg
Classification: Legitimist Warlord (Rogue county regime)
The Greenbrier Quarantine is what happens when the county government is actually run by survivalists. As soon as the bombs fell, Greenbrier’s cliquey county commission seized power in a self-coup and shut themselves off from the outside world. They shot incoming refugees as a matter of course, and have likewise refused all attempts by the WVCM and State of West Virginia to open the county up for diplomatic cooperation. There is some limited black-market trade coming to and from Greenbrier, however, and they occasionally launch forays into Virginia to raid the Shenandoah Valley for supplies.
State of West Virginia
Capital: Princeton
Classification: Local Government (Eclectic re-founded state government)
Allegiance: United States of America (State College)
The State of West Virginia has no links to the actual prewar government (which was totally destroyed) but still has some legitimate authority. Mercer County survived with its two main settlements, Princeton and Bluefield, intact. The county government survived the Starving Time intact in a state of emergency government, aided by the 1st Squadron of the 150th Cavalry Regiment, which was based in Bluefield.
Beckley County, further north, also endured, albeit as the fiefdom of its powerful sheriff. Won over by the promise of keeping his autonomy, the Sheriff of Beckley agreed to join Mercer County in the construction of a new state government in Princeton.
Fayette County is the third county under Princeton’s control, although it lacks Fayetteville itself. Fayette County fell into anarchy, and its county seat frequently changed hands between rival gangs. Fayetteville is now a mostly-abandoned settlement, and the people of Oak Hill founded their own county government under the watchful protection of their local militia. They quickly joined the Princeton Government after Beckley County, fearful of potential WVCM aggression.
Compared to other re-founded state governments, West Virginia is decentralized and unwieldy. It functions more like a county alliance faction with a loose central authority, than an actual renewed state government like those participating in the Dodge City Convention. Still, the Princeton government is stable and provides the highest standard of living in West Virginia.
Beckley, Mercer, and Fayette are the state’s only counties for now, but several factions have acknowledged their claim to statehood, most notably the Virginia Military Government. Together with the VMG, they are the only two factions to recognize the US government in State College, Pennsylvania. Generally, most dialogue between West Virginia and the outside world is conducted through Princeton, rather than Weston. Although Princeton lacks the manpower and territory of the WVCM, this diplomatic edge gives them a long-term advantage over the militia regime.
Federation of West Virginia Coal Miners
Capital: Logan
Classification: Left-Wing Ideological Faction (Labor union)
In a state as heavily-dependent on coal mining as West Virginia, it should come as no surprise that miners’ unions still exert some influence. Logan County has come under the leadership of the Federation of West Virginia Coal Miners, a union illegally formed during the Great 21st Century Crisis. During that Crisis, the US government not only amalgamated all energy companies into the federally-chartered Promethean Energy, but amalgamated all unions into the AFL-CIO, which was placed under government control. The West Virginia coal miners suddenly found that they were all employees of Promethean Energy and beholden to a level of governmental control they had never experienced before.
Promethean Energy workers were all automatically enrolled in the AFL-CIO, which includes the United Mine Workers Union, but many West Virginian miners refused to comply to new federal regulations. The hastily-raised FWVCM engaged in minor conflict with West Virginia authorities and strikebreakers, eventually escalating into a low-level bush war, similar to the scuffles involving anarchists, white separatists, and religious fundamentalists elsewhere in the country. After the Great War, there was no longer any government to keep up the fight against the workers, and the Federation seized control of Logan County and its mines.
The Federation denounces the authority of the Princeton state government and has chilly, yet not openly-hostile relations with the WVCM. Surprisingly, their closest friends are in the Williamson Hunting Lodge, with whom they have a stable economic relationship.
Williamson Hunting Lodge
Capital: Williamson
Classification: Warlord (Survivalist gang)
Government authority did not endure in Mingo County, but was instead supplanted by the Williamson Hunting Lodge, a survivalist rifle club that now controls the city. The Lodge is worried about the Second American Republic’s eastward expansion, and provides safe haven for Kentuckian bandits and militiamen who come to town to sell their loot or buy supplies.
Index
Click here to read the master post of the series, with links at the bottom of the page to all other Fallen Continent entries.