The founders of the Columbia City-state weathered out the coming of the Rifts and the decades that followed inside an underground research facility south of the Columbia city-limits. Apparently the influence of having the Eastern Shore of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay as a buffer lessened the impact of the tidal wave that washed across most of the East Coast of the old United States. Many of the areas in Maryland remained habitable and productive.
As time passed, scouts brought back information on the nature of the devastation on the surface and of the horrible creatures that lurked there. Using some of their ingenuity and general know-how these scientist formed the company Hell Fire Inc., the makers of the venerable plasma generator. In time, a colony was established on the surface and began to prosper. Over the years the city was built up and the influence of the city was expanded to incorporate many of the outlying towns and villages.
The influence of the city increased as it gained more territory for agriculture and took the lead in protecting the citizens from the beasts of the wilderness and bands of raiders. The alliance with the City-state of Baltimore created not only a valuable ally, but also an eager trading partner.
Terrain and Climate: Temperatures range from 0 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter and 70 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer. The landscape is filled with low rolling hills.
Land Area: Columbia City-state: Claims over 1,000 square miles of territory. It holds sway over most of the regions west and north of the city. Massive railroads link the city to its sister city of Baltimore and its satellite towns to the west and north. Columbia holds the spread of the Monster Zone, which lies to the south and east of the city, in check.
Land Area: Columbia: Columbia is a walled city that covers 300 square miles of territory. It began as a fortress above the research facility that was surrounded by a circular wall. Over the decades four more walls were built farther out from the fortress. The outermost wall is 10 miles from the original fortress. This design has earned it the nickname Target.
Bulls Eye: The old fortress that the center of the city is currently where the governing body, the Columbia Improvement Association, presides.
The Founders' Wall: The innermost wall is 10 feet high and 1,000 ft. from the fortress. It has 250 M.D.C. per ten square feet. There is one 3,000 M.D.C. gate on the western side of the wall. Six towers are spaced evenly along the wall
Perennial Park: The area immediately outside the Founder's Wall was once used as farmland by the founders of the city when they dwelled solely within the fortress. It has now been rededicated as parkland for the citizens of the city. There are trees, picnic areas, a concert pavilion and a small lake.
Baron's Folly: The second wall is 15 feet high and 1 mile from the fortress. It has 300 M.D.C. per ten square feet. There is a 4,000 M.D.C. gate at each of the four points of the compass along the wall. Eight towers are spaced evenly along the wall.
Pasture Gate: The residential area outside of Baron's Folly is the home to the wealthier portion of Columbia's population.
The Burning Wall: The third wall is 20 feet high and 3 miles from the center of the city. This wall is streaked through with slashes of crimson rock that glows faintly at night. The wall can be set ablaze with magical flame. The burning wall has 500 M.D.C. per ten square feet. When the wall is set ablaze the flames rolling off it extend one hundred feet into the air. Anything touching the flames will take 3D4 M.D. for each melee of contact. The flames emit a light that is equivalent to the Globe of Daylight spell. There are three 5,000 M.D.C. gates, one to the north, one to the southwest, and one to the southeast. Each gate is flanked on each side by a small fort built into the wall. There are six towers spaced equally around the wall.
Orangeman's Circle: Orangeman's Circle is a residential and light industrial area outside of the Burning Wall. It is home to the factory complexes of Columbia. Many of the area's residents are the low and middle class of Columbian society.
The Defenders' Wall: The fourth wall is 30 feet high and 7 miles from Bulls Eye. The wall has 800 M.D.C. per ten square feet. There are eight 10,000 M.D.C. gates spaced at each of the 8 points of the compass. Each gate is flanked by a fort on both sides.
Jolly Acres: The majority of the land outside of the Defenders' Wall is given over to farming. Most of the military's barracks and training grounds are positioned in this area. Many merchants who deal in weapons are set up in this area because visitors are not allowed to bring M.D. weapons or armed vehicles into the city proper.
The Mending Wall: The outermost wall is 50 feet high and 10 miles from the fortress. The wall has 1,000 M.D.C. per ten square feet. It is enchanted so that each of the stones of which it is composed will regenerate 1 M.D.C. per minute. There are five 25,000 M.D.C. gates. The north and west gates are used by the railroad. The northwest, south, and east gates are primary geared toward ground traffic. There are 20 forts spaced equally around the wall.
Columbia Population: Approximately 200,000 people. 85% of the population is literate.
Humans 180,000
D-Bees 20,000
City-state Population: As part of the Baltimore Commonwealth, approximately 100,000 people live in the outer towns with as many as 5,000 transients.
Economy: Columbia has become a major agricultural power and a minor industrial power. Its industries include farming, light manufacturing, electronics manufacturing, harvesting lumber, furniture making, textiles, and luxury goods. There is also an advanced chemical processing plant, which excels at producing explosives.
Columbia City-state Military: Columbia's standing army is 30,000 strong. An extra 50,000 reservists can be summoned up to swell the forces to 80,000 troops.
Composition:
5,000 suits of powered armor
1,000 refurbished Pre-Rifts military vehicles
2,000 modern military vehicles
350 robot vehicles
400 artillery pieces
100,000 suits of unpowered armor
Goods and Services: Columbia has a full array of modern services from Juicer conversion labs to Cyber Docs that specialize in bionic reconstruction. The market place has a full array of vehicles, weapons, and equipment. There are two prominent magical guilds within the city.
Society: The citizens of Columbia are free spirited and hardy individuals. The average natural Columbian lifespan is 60 years. Bionics and other life-extending medical procedures can expand the average lifespan to 90 years or more. Many harbor suspicious attitudes towards D-Bees, but these misgiving are not found to be publicly acceptable. Columbia is a very pristine city and its citizens seem to have an odd preoccupation with cleanliness. A visitor is more likely to be refused service due to dirty boots than for an open display of weapons.
Government: Columbia is ruled by the Columbia Improvement Association. It is a very private group that rules Columbia as a benevolent tyranny. The CIA seems to truly take the citizenry's best interests at heart and has to date insured the people's prosperity. No one has a good idea who is on the council and they don't appear overly concerned about the issue.
Beyond the Walls: No buildings are allowed to be constructed within two miles of the outer city walls. Farmland dominates the land to the West and North of the city. The land to the South and the East of the city is overgrown with wilderness. A ley line runs from north to south two miles from the eastern gate. It can be seen quite clearly from the walls.
The Monster Zone: The wilderness region south and east of the city is seen as a haven for monstrous beasts that have arrived through a rift at a nexus that is someplace south on the ley line. Many attacks against the city have originated from this area and the guards along the walls keep a weary vigil of the area.
The Kurrumpton Institute: Kurrumpton Institute was founded during the decade following the Great Cataclysm. As children and some adults began to manifest abilities that seemed nothing short of magical, scientists were organized to experiment with the phenomena that seemed to have some of the effects of psionics. The subjects didn't seem to exhibit any of the markers that would identify them as being psionicists and left the experimenters stumped as to the source of their miraculous powers.
The mystery remained until some of the subjects, who turned out to be mystics, simply began to explain to them what was going on. The educated professionals met the news, that magic was the source of their burgeoning powers, with disbelief. As the practitioners of magic began to demonstrate their ability to control their powers, the CIA decided to put one of the mystics in charge of the program. Susana Kurrumpton, a middle aged woman who exhibited an intense interest and aptitude for the arcane arts, took over the program and began to issue proper instruction to the students.
Over the decades leading up the ascension to the surface, the Institute's members made a point of helping out in the community whenever and where ever they could. Most practitioners specialized in elemental earth magic that they used to help with the expansion of the underground complexes and mineral surveys. They became an important asset to their communities and were a welcome sight anytime.
By the time civilians were allowed to begin inhabiting Columbia's surface habitats, many of the older members were masters of elemental magic. Exposure to the surface world allowed many of the Kurrumpton Institute's members access to magic that was deemed dangerous by the controlling mystics who had suppressed the knowledge and usage of those aspects of magic. Many within the institute started on the path to gain as much magical power as possible. As a demonstration of their great power, the Institute created the Burning Wall.
The unrelenting lust for power has brought about the decline of the Institute's prominence. During one of the major demonstration of their might, a creature was summoned forth that consumed the high magi leading the ritual and leveled the Kurrumpton Institute. This incident caused a schism between those who wanted to go back to helping in their communities and those who wanted to increase their own power base. Eventually the elements that wanted to be more altruistic got permission from the CIA to create the Guardian Guild. In their moment of weakness, the head of the Kurrumpton Institute made demands on the CIA to give them a leadership role in Columbia's government or face dire consequences at the hands of the mages. The CIA unceremoniously purged the Kurrumpton Institute's leadership and one third of its members.
Today the Institute is a place for mages who want to learn to wield their power as a weapon. They specialize in offensive spells. Many of the Institute's remaining members are individuals with dark natures. The institute sells spells and will hire out battle mages to mercenary companies for high rates. If any of members of the Institute hold any aspirations to ruling Columbia, they've made a point of being subtler in their maneuverings.
The Guardian Guild: The Guardians separated themselves from the Kurrumpton Institute to pursue their mission of helping people. Their desire to lend a helping hand often takes them beyond the confines of Columbia's city limits. They tend to seek out small towns and communities that are in need of their services. Once they are accepted into a community they normally take up civil services jobs and work to keep everything running smoothly. They often take up some of the most dangerous task like fire fighters, constables, guards, and hunters.
The guild house located in Columbia serves primarily as the training ground for newly inducted members and as a school for those who wish to share and learn new spell knowledge. It also serves as a boarding house for any visiting members that wish to stay in the city and it is the main meeting place when all of the guild members are summoned back to the city.
In accordance with their philosophy as protectors, most of the magic practiced by the Guardian's is defensive or healing in nature. They are eager to teach others how to be helpful and sell spell knowledge at very reasonable rates. Guardians will not hire themselves out as mercenaries, but will gladly respond to a request for aid.
In an expression of thanks to the Columbia Improvement Association (and as tweak on the nose to the Kurrumpton Institute), the Guardian Guild performed a feat of great magic by enchanting the outermost wall of the city of Columbia and creating the Mending Wall. This one action alone has earned them prestige and favor among the citizens of Columbia. It also serves as a constant irritant to the Institutes remaining members.
The Guilds in General: The members of the Guardian Guild and the Kurrumpton Institute don't get along. If members of the two guilds find themselves in the same place, it is quite likely that they will spend their time together trading insults. Over the years these insults have lead to many mage duels and a ban on mages fighting within the city proper and without formal public announcement.
All the members of both guilds are considered members of the Columbia military. If the city-state is ever under threat or otherwise on a war footing, the guilds are called upon to supply troops. This provision of their charters has seldom ever been enacted.
Hell Fire Inc. is considered as the great savior to many of that people who remained in the area of the Columbia city-state. As creatures began their onslaught on the survivors, many people began to find that many of their personal weapons as well many of the man portable military weapons were all but useless. To the scene came the common mans answer the Hell Fire plasma generator. Hell Fire Inc. employees had redesigned an existing industrial welding system so that it would no longer project a controlled stream, but would deliver a flaming wave of creature engulfing death. The abundant supply of the weapons made it possible for humans to carve great swaths out of the wilderness and to take back control of the land around the Columbia city-state.
Over time Hell Fire Inc. has gone beyond perfecting their plasma generator and has moved on to create other weapons to aid mankind. It now produces a line of power armors and robots as well as various chemical weapons. One of the company's main contracts is the upkeep of the rail system that flows from Columbia to its sister city Baltimore and the out lying satellite towns.