Will the GM approve this being added to Virginia's description?
An Extended History of the Imperial Republic
Few Pre-Deluge records survive, but the journals of one John Richards, a Post-Deluge account of his travels across the former state of Virginia. It appears that he kept a large amount of Pre-Deluge books, and much of Virginia's specific knowledge of the Pre-Deluge world comes from this and other secret stores and archives found around the Imperium.
"It was on December 25th that my organized and ordered world ended. I lived in Yorktown, and depending on your point of view, that could be called lucky or unlucky. It was lucky because Virginia was in an economic rut, and almost all productivity had moved to other areas of the States. So when the Deluge came, I survived. Most of Virginia did in fact. The parts that were destroyed were those areas around Washington and the coal producing areas of the west. On the bad side, I survived to see the collapse of my civilization and all that it stood for..."
What we have managed to glean from his diary is disturbing, to say the least. Within days the Red Cross in his area was out trying to provide aid to the beleaguered areas of the state, as were the survivors of the Federal government. However, the damage was to widespread to let them do any actual good, and within weeks all aid had stopped. With it collapsed any semblance of order. The land became effectively ruled by mobs, with the surviving government officials and their families withdrawing into the bunkers below the surface. Within these they and the democratic culture of the United States would survive for hundreds of years, to rise again as the Imperial Republic. Many are skeptical that the people could have survived in the bunkers for that long, but most modern ecologist ascribe it to the smaller than expected occupancy, and the surprising reliability of the hydroponics systems. But I digress, for at this point in its history Virginia was still in the process of descending into chaos, as is evidenced by this next passage.
"Naturally, I headed for what I recognized as the last surviving center of my existence. I was not fully acclimated to the new order yet, because I was stupid enough to take my car. 10 minutes outside of Yorktown my car was hijacked, and I was thrown out into the night with my clothes. I was lucky. Eventually, I made it to Richmond, and the sight that met my eyes is one I still have nightmares about. I walked over the hill, expecting to see a bustling city going about the business of rebuilding civilization. Instead, I saw a burning one, and heard its screams. Mobs and gangs had taken over the city, and were both literally and figuratively raping the populace and the city. Most of it was burning too..."
In fact, the northern portion of Richmond, and the State Capitol, managed to survive and become the core of modern Richmond. However, the scene he describes was not uncommon throughout the state. The largest unit of Government became the mob, with even that breaking down in some areas. Total economic collapse was soon to follow.
Terror and disorder continued for about 600 years, until the time when the people emerged from their bunkers and began to form the Republic of Richmond and later the Imperial Republic itself. Many sciences were rediscovered about 100 years ago, and we are now at approximately the same level of technology as the ancient United States was at the time of the Deluge.
