I never did add the rest of the New England to my guide, did I? Fatherhood and grad school have taken a real bite out of my creative writing time.

In a nutshell, by Winter 2000 New England largely has transitioned to a new modus operendi. The Last Submarine serves as my starting point. I'm sure everyone's read enough about Poseidon's Rifles for now, so I won't repeat myself here other than to remark on the fact that the Coast Guard controls the coast of New Hampshire and southern Maine. Throughout the 1998-1999 timeframe, New England makes a painful transition to self-sufficiency in food. During these two years, almost two-thirds of the population dies--principally from exposure and disease brought on by poor sanitation and vulnerability as a result of malnutrition. Violence is also a leading cause of death.

Throughout 1998, law and order is fading but recognizable. Although describing the events of every locale is beyond the scope of this thumbnail sketch, in general the flight from the big cities imposes a huge burden on New England. However, winter solves a lot of the problems. Legions of urbanites die of exposure, along with countless locals who live within easy walking distance of the highways.

Come spring, communities everywhere attempt to make the transition to partial self-sufficiency at least. Some areas are far more successful than others. Where food runs short, chaos spreads. Small-scale banditry becomes more organized. Throughout New England, citizens attempt to respond by forming neighborhood watches that are the precursors of militias. Many bandits organize even further and move to secret or defensible locations.

Initially, military forces in the region are able to deal with the new bandit gangs. What the police can’t handle gets turned over the military, who are able to use numbers and firepower to overcome outlaw resistance. A classic example of this is the fighting between forces of the New Hampshire Army National Guard and megapunks in southern New Hampshire in early 1998. Unfortunately for the New Englanders, the start of the Second Mexican-American War changes everything. Army and Air Force National Guard and Reserve units are drawn out of New England to reinforce Fifth and Sixth US Armies in the Southwest and Ninth US Army in the Pacific Northwest. Law and order take a body blow.

As the power of marauders grows, surviving New Englanders move into fortified towns or neighborhoods. Tracts of nearly uninhabited land between towns and urban neighborhoods grow. Communities increasingly resemble medieval towns and cities. The dying continues, but the pace begins to slow.

By the end of the harvest in 2000, the transition is nearly complete. New England has become a patchwork of city-states with varying degrees of defensibility and self-sufficiency. With somewhat less than a third of its pre-war population surviving (around four million), New England has reached a rough equilibrium.

The new danger comes from super-gangs of marauders. Unable to tackle the defenses of the new city-states (the smallest of which have been exterminated or taken over in 2000), the marauders adapt. While some prey on each other, others join together. Under the leadership of the charismatic and messianic Archbishop Smite, a great horde has assembled in northern New England. Wintering over in towns like Berlin, NH, the horde has survived throughout the winter by eating everything—including the locals.

Smite has succeeded by addressing the needs of the marauders. They are desperate people who have done terrible things. He tells them that the archangel Gabriel has given him a message that the nuclear exchange was intended to be Armageddon; however, the job was not completed. All of the marauders have received God’s silent message to cleanse and purify the world in anticipation of Judgment Day. Therefore, they are not to be blamed for their acts. In fact, the marauders are holy warriors carrying out the will of God Almighty. Under the leadership of the Archbishop Smite, the horde has been charged with purifying the land and converting those who can be saved during a great southward crusade. The final goal? The last great cathedral—the Washington Cathedral. There, all of God’s servants will be taken up to glory for executing His will.

Smite uses very Nazi-esque tactics to control and direct his converts. Torchlight religious ceremonies, combined with stark imagery and sermons, have welded together disparate and fractious groups. Cannibalism by necessity has become cannibalism as holy sacrament. The sinful flesh of non-believers is purified by ritual and consumed, used thereby to fuel the crusade of the righteous.

It’s going to be a tough planting season in New England.


Webstral

woah!
 

Web - that is some scary imagery you conjure .

I like it a lot !

:D

The bleakness and the terrible depths inhuman nature are another part of the T2K universe that the discussions on TOE and OOB discussions cant fully convey.

That's grotesque, disgusting and very believeable :D

Thanks a lot!

It's unlikely unless you're dealing with a population where Kuru is endemic, such as the aforementioned folks in New Guineau. I don't think it's been identified elsewhere (one of my cohort-mates in Grad School did a pretty involved paper and subsequent presentation on it), but I suppose that's possibly because no one has looked for it.

And, of course, in an RPG there's nothing to say it hasn't turned up unexpectedly in a way that would make surviving scientists scratch their heads in confusion.

Does sound like a great setting -- plausible, nasty, lots of potential scenarios and adventure hooks.

Boy, that'd make an interesting and gruesome civilization-ending pandemic -- maybe it started out in the food supply, then mutated into an airborne version...

I cannot speak of human marrow (and I do not wish to), but slow roasted veal bones produces some incredibly tasty marrow!

On a more benign note, the coastal population of New England eats a lot of fish and other seafood. The list of Canadian targets indicates that the Atlantic Canadians really got punished in the nuclear exchange. (Sorry, eh) A lot of the population, a lot of the fishing boats, and a lot of the Canadian Navy and Coast Guard have been destroyed. First District has led the way in exploiting the fishing opportunities that have "opened up" at George's Bank.

There have been some unhappy incidents between Canadians and Americans over fishing at George's Bank. While the USCG and the fleet under its protection seldom have instigated the problems, the American Guardians haven't set high standards for intervening unless things appear to be going against the UBF, the Gloucestermen, or other American fishermen. One might even go so far as to say that some of the First District raids against pirates along the coasts of the Atlantic Provinces have been based on flimsy definitions of piracy and even weaker evidence. This is going to be a problem later during Reconstruction, as the Canadians aren't likely to forget that ships and marines flying the Stars and Stripes made some very questionable incursions into the Canadian littoral.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I don't condone combat between Americans and Canadians in any way, shape, or form. This is simply my read on how things would evolve based on published materials, the nature of Twilight: 2000, and the natural consequences of some of my own creations. Also, the idea that the naval firepower of First District has been focused on securing fishing privileges and other actions for MilGov helps explain why the Coast Guard hasn't dealt with John Carlucci and the UBF.

In many parts of New England, wild produce of the woods plays an important part of the diet. Obviously, small game and fowl are important. Other foods, including mushrooms and tubers that grow throughout the New England forests, supplement diets of domesticated foods. People gathering these foods, as well as people salvaging useful goods from abandoned tracts of housing and industry, are at great risk to the bands of marauders that roam the areas outside the towns. Good scouts are worth their weight in gold to everyone.

Webstral

Kuru aka Mad Cow Disease aka Jacob Krutchfelds Disease is all the same.

It comes not from bone marrow, but the nerve tissue of infected creatures. Most associate it with the brain, which is the biggest nerve of course, but other nerves also are infected and their injestion causes the disease.

On a note, a person can have it but it is dormant like any other disease, and well if they end up on the platter the people who eat the infected tissues have a chance of getting it, but it developing well that is part of the question how it affects some and not others.

They also have the theory that if the meat is cooked to a specific temperature then the disease is killed, much like cooking pork or chicken.

So, if you ever find yourself in New Guinea or the South Seas and are the guest of honor....not that guest of honor ;) Make sure you ask for your WELL DONE!

ROTFLMAO.. nope not like chicken. Best I can describe it is like wild rabbit or squirrel (other rodents I've eaten) in texture at least. It was cooked/brazed over wood fire, so was smokey.. and a bit of salt added. Not really bad..

Most of what people do not want to eat or even try is all psychological.. mind over matter.. get it out of the mind it don't matter.

True. If they are hungry enough people will eat nearly anything. I remember a discussion here a while back in which North Korea's last big famine was mentioned - people there were eating things like soft inner tree bark and grass shoots. People have even boiled up boot and belt leather to eat when they are starving. But us soft westerners are often squeemish about trying something new in an Asian restaurant!

I'll eat all sorts of things that my girlfriend refuses to eat. Some things I can kind of understand but she won't even indulge my love of kangaroo meat. She thinks it is like eating Skippy. But there are millions and millions of kangaroos in Australia and they make for a much more sustainable food source than cattle or sheep. Hard-hooved animals tear up the ground in Australia (which is mostly quite arid) and cause soil erosion and degradation. Kangaroos are soft-footed and can eat all kinds of flora without getting sick. A much more sensible food source IMO.

To date there has only been one food that I have refused to try, and that was Surströmming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcnfEVqNdoA

Now he just needs to find a girl to torture...I mean kiss...it would be the same thing.

I've just had a horrible thought. What are we Brits going to drink instead of tea in the aftermath?

Anyone have any ideas?

Ironside,

I imagine you could still drink tea, it just wouldn't be from India or tea plants in general. Nettle tea is an example of a herbal tea that is also supposed to have healing properties.

Tony

I'd have the same problem with a lack of Pepsi - <shiver> withdrawal symptoms...

Tea, but without caffeine, wouldn't quite be the same. About as fun as using chicory instead of coffee.

Anyone with the forethought to plant out a few greenhouses with tea would make a mint!

Or a mint tea :D ...OK, bad joke.

Paul

No, that was actually worth a chuckle!

Tony

One thing is that while cat food is not properly nutritionally balanced for a human over the long term, dog food is. I occasionally eat a handful of my dogs' dry food -- it makes a tasty light snack. I've tasted their canned food -- it's a bit bland, but nutritionally good for a human as well. Dog food could be useful for humans in T2K as well as their dogs.

or just eat the dog or cat.

Dear God! A world without Pepsi!?!? While that may make Coke happy, the inhumanity!!!!

A world without Pepsi! While Coke may be happy with that...the inhumanity!!!

Since i can't stand the taste of pepsi without a ton of added salt...I'll give you any pepsi i run across. :D

problem Solved.

I could never eat one of my dogs -- I'd rather eat a person.

mmmmm, Solent Green....
:satangrin

Ummm...remember in the 14th century, when the European populace killed all the cats they could because the cats were thought to be witches' familiars and responsible for the plague? The cats that might have kept the rodent factor of the flea-borne disease vector population down?

And often, cats bring "gifts" to their humans--birds, mice, rats, snakes, moles, voles.

I'd be trying to keep my cats and dogs in good health as a public health and safety measure! And besides, they're loyal to me--I keep them fed in tough times.

On a totally different topic: sprouting beans. Sprouting dried beans is very easy--Soak the beans for about 4 hours or so, the pour off the liquid, keep them damp in a moderately warm/stable temperature in a shaded location. Full sunlight will encourage the sprouts to go leafy, which may be fine if you want to plant them, but not as an immediate food source. Rinse and drain the beans several times a day; after about 2 days, you will see the sprout emerging from the hull. The sprouts are at their peak at about day 7--eat them raw or cook them. They have lots of certain B-vitamins (B1, B2, and B3) and vitamins A and C--important for scurvy and vision impairment prevention. Note: according to my best source, soybean- and Kidney bean sprouts are toxic. Some sprouted beans may contain natural defensive enzymes that may inhibit fat and protein absorption: these need to be cooked before eating them. http://www.growyouthful.com/recipes/sprouts.php One of the episodes of Jericho had the techno-geek girl mentioning how the bean sprouts were coming along well--important when they were going to be the main source of Vitamin C as winter continued.

Lastly, a word about lentils, the lovely little lens-shaped legume that is a great ingredient. Lentils do not have to be soaked overnight: they take about 45 minutes of cooking to be edible. They are a great protein source and have a broad range of uses, whether ground up or in their natural form. Lots of Middle Eastern and South Asian dishes include them. And you can sprout them (see above).

:rolleyes:goat, dates, chai...
...wait thats a long patrol in iraq...:D

but seriously
in my area it would mostly be cattails, elderberries, spearmint tea, dandilions, and any meat we can acquire. (also corn since so many people plant patches for the deer)

Do just what your forefathers did--go out and conquer an empire to grow and process it, spreading cricket to the poor benighted 'eathens as a side-effect :rolleyes:

Ahh, if there's no Pepsi, I highly doubt there will be Coke.. or <sigh> Dr Pepper.

Yep, however it's not as simple as it sounds. Tea is raised as far north as South Carolina however with some success. There is a large plantation of tea over there, much closer than Ceylon. Of course in 2000 I don't know what condition it would be in.

Barley pop!!! Malt the barley, extract the malt, add hops if you can or prefer, ferment the extraction, age for a bit.. :))

Barley pop!!! Malt the barley, extract the malt, add hops if you can or prefer, ferment the extraction, age for a bit.. :))

Barley pop!!! The same stuff they drank before the addiction to tea?

Tea and Coffee, the REAL essentials of Life!
 

Here's a listing of the edible plants that can be used to make tea

Bearbearry AKA Kinnikinnick; found in the artic and subartic regions, the young leaves can be brewed to make a refreshing tea

Blackberries, raspberries and dewbarries; found in temperate regions, the leaves are used to make tea, if suffering from diarrhea, brew a tea from the dried root bark of the blackberry bush.

Broad leaf lawn plantain: found in the north temperate regions, a tea to treat diarrhea can be made from 1 ounce of this plant boiled in one pint of water.

Chickory; native of Europe and Asia, found in Africa and North America; doesn't brew a tea, but can be used as a coffee substitute.

Dandelion; grows throughout the Northern Hemisphere; the roots can be roasted and ground as a coffee substitute.

Juniper; roast the seeds and ground and use as a coffee substitute, the young twigs can be vrewed to make a tea.

Nutsedge; grows in sandy areas throughout the world, the tubers can be roasted and ground and used for a coffee substitute.

Oaks; throughout Europe, North and Central America and parts of Europe and Asia; the acorns can be baked until dark, then ground and used as a coffee substitute.

Persimmon; throughout Africa, North America and the Far East; dry the leaves and soak them in hot water to make a tea.

Sassafras; a common tree in Eastern North America; dig the undergroun portion of the tree, peel off the bark and let it dry, thne boil it in water to make a tea.

sorry for the multiple multiple posts. dang lagging machine.

Since we're talking about tea, remember this little tidbit?

Mindful of the possibility of desperate shortages in materials critical to the war effort, in 1940 the British government moved to corner the market on what it considered its most precious strategic resouce, establishing a worldwide monopoly on tea. At the height of the war, Great Britain maintained stockpiles of about 150 million tons of the stuff, eneough to brew up about 6 trillion cups. So critical was tea to the British war effort that only ammunition had a higher priority than tea for delivery to troops in action.

Source is "Dirty Little Secrets of World War II" byJames Dunnigna and Albert Nofi

Too right, you can kill the enemy without ammunition, but without a cuppa the average Tommy isn't going anywhere!

Where's the Beef?
 

A brief and interesting article by a sci-fi/food writer (from NPR).

http://www.npr.org/2013/07/13/201181...paign=20130715

Food seems to be neglected in RPGs too. When I GM, I don't really make an issue of it. It's very rarely that my players post something about eating. In the other games I play in, food is rarely, if ever, an issue. It just seems to be taken for granted that food is available and that the PCs eat it. In a post-apoc world, this doesn't seem right. In computer/console RPGs, food is usually used only as a mode of minor healing.

I think that food should play a bigger part in RPGs, especially T2K. First off, it's necessary for basic survival. Getting it should be one of the players' primary concerns. When it's generally scarce, food also becomes currency. Why can't one barter with food in a post-apoc video game like Fallout 3 (one of my all-time fav's). And lastly, food is a social lubricant. Meal times are opportunities to get together and chat. In a social game, like an RPG, this doesn't seem to happen enough. I find this quite ironic because the one FtF I participate in is also always pot-luck and we tend to gnosh throughout.