A state now dominated by the Amerind Empire, a coalition of Native American tribes. Conditions here are relatively peaceful and people are often prosperous and happy. The Empire keeps outside influences to a minimum, which is usually for the better.
Pierre, SS-19
Black Hills Army Depot, Igloo, SS-19
Ellsworth AFB (Minuteman complex), 10
SS-18M2
The Amerind Army: There is no "army", just individual tribes forming their own militias and war-parties. In times of great emergency, these militias can form a combined army, but this has not been necessary since the last major Krell push a generation ago.
Click for game Stats for unique Amerind Empire Weapons.
All of the tribal militias use a standardized weapons load-out consisting of newly manufactured copies of KAR 98K rifles chambered in 30-06, .45LC revolvers and Apache Rocket Launchers, which are B40 Rockets introduced by a Mars Team a century ago. They use horses and pack mules extensively, but for military operations each tribe is equipped with 50 to 100 rough copies of the Zundapp 750 motorcycle with sidecar. The rocketeers ride in sidecars equipped with twelve rockets each for fire-on-the-fly. In addition, all Amerind warriors are trained in the use of Apache Rockets and every third warrior is equipped with a sidearm and a Apache Launcher with six rockets.
The state of the Empire: The Amerinds have a technology level similar to that of the late 1890's--modern steam power, modern bolt-action rifles, very limited heavy industry, localized electric power, etc. The heavy manufacturing facilities are all located Chamberlain, and are cottage level in a few central villages. Some local whites remained in their towns after the war and their descendants are still there. Since their farming and industry is highly valuable, they are protected by the Empire. Surprisingly, a lot of Indians have resisted the idea of "going back to the old ways" and stay in their villages on what used to be the reservations. In fact, about a third of the Empire's citizenry are engaged in agriculture full-time. There is great variety in the type of people you will encounter in Amerind lands. These include nomadic hunter/gatherers, nomadic agriculturalists, farmers, and everything in between. Not to mention the Gypsy Truckers, Bikers, Ballooners, etc. that travel through the area trading, often on the eastern spars of the Open Road.
Chamberlain: With Pierre nuked, the river town of Chamberlain down-river has become the most important settlement in the Empire. With access to the nearly unlimited electrical power from the Big Bend Hydro Electric Dam (400+MW) just 10 miles upriver, it has become the capitol of the Amerind Empire. It is the primary manufacturing location for the weapons and vehicles of the Empire and serves as the place where all the tribal councils meet and decide on policy. It is a trade and farming center as well, growing Chamberlain to a present population of nearly 37,000. Much trade is conducted within the town, and caravans carrying trade goods and raw materials arrive daily from other Amerind areas to the west.
The Imperial Inspectorate: For the last 80 years, an organization known as the Imperial Inspectorate exists in the Empire. This group of 20-plus travels almost constantly throughout the Empire inspecting the various communities. Ominous as it sounds, their job is to advise, council and train the various Tribes on assorted activities like militia training, sanitation improvement, medical updates, vaccinations, fuel compatibility, news and conflict resolution. The members of the Inspectorate are all direct descendants of the former Project MARS team and hold a special place in Amerind society. They are trained by their parents and spend their lives assisting and helping their fellow citizenry in the best of Morrow tradition. They travel in (now refitted) Project vehicles and communicate with Chamberlain weekly via shortwave radio on standard Project Frequencies.
The ruins of Pierre: Ravaged by the nuclear war, Pierre is populated only by mutants and bugs.
Satanists: A small group of Satanists, lead by a powerful Telepath, have set up home in the ruins of an old high school on the northern outskirts of Pierre. They just moved in about a week previously, and are now busy hunting down local farmers. The Head Priest is a hideously ugly man in his late forties, nearly skeletal he is so thin. He is a full Telepath, one of the most powerful of this type you will ever encounter.
Cedar Butte: A nomadic tribe of whites wanders the central part of the state, while maintaining a semi-permanent settlement at Cedar Butte, northwest of the ruins of Pierre. The Amerinds consider them harmless and allow them to live in the area.
The ruins of Rapid City: Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City was the home of an ICBM complex, blasted with nearly a hundred nukes. That area now is just a vast field of dirt and dust populated by mutated bugs and sickly weeds.
Sturgis: The large town of Sturgis is an Amerind town dominated by the Ogallala tribe. There are some 1,400 people living here now, nearly all of them from this tribe. Bikers still come here once a year in August, continuing a tradition of their forefathers. The celebrations are much more muted, however, and it has become more of a parts swapmeet than anything else.
Deadwood: Deadwood was once a gambler's paradise, dedicated to the big pockets of tourists. The war stopped that industry overnight, and the tourists slowly wandered away from the town over the years. Left were the actual residents of Deadwood, who dug in for the long winters ahead. Today, Deadwood is an Old West saloon-and-whiskey community with a solid population of 300 and plenty of food. The town thrives in the forested hills, which despite the frequent droughts, continue to have adequate rainfall. Water is present and alcohol is distilled from various grains, roots, and berries and traded throughout the region. Deadwood is a peaceful town ruled by a council of local merchants that maintains a "profits and peace" code in which crimes against property and crimes against a person are treated the same. There is a "check your gun policy" at every door and the local lawman, an albino called "White Erp", strictly enforces this law. The Amerind Empire tolerates Deadwood, and even allows it to exist, because it provides a place of "acceptable sin" for tribal leaders, much like the old Las Vegas of the twentieth century.
Belle Fourche: Tumbled-down ruins and shells of buildings are all that remains of this small town. A separatist cult of Bikers and Raiders known as the "Vipers" lay claim to these ruins. They are in constant rivalry with the Amerinds in the area. The lands north and east of the ruins of Belle Fourche have come to be called "the Red Barrens". The stretch is a sandy, rust-colored soil radiant with a dim aura visible at dusk.
Custer: This town, overgrown with forest foliage, is currently home to the "Fallen Angels", a xenophobic community. They have a strict no-entrance policy, anyone nearing the ruins is fired upon.
Hot Springs: Home of a small band of five Krell Army deserters who followed their charismatic (and insane) commander far to the north. Their leader is the aged General Fred Groton, one of the dictator Krell's original cadre of leaders and a man born in the twentieth century. During the initial uprising by Krell in the first years after the war, Groton was swayed by Krell's power and promises of glory and joined his movement. He was one of the few people who were frozen along with Krell when he went into his periodic "sleeps". Thus, General Groton has seen the entire rise of the Krell over the last 150 years. They are up here because General Groton was born and raised here before leaving for college in Kansas in 1982. A year ago, he finally snapped mentally after awaking for the eleventh time from cyrosleep. Already growing senile and unstable, it wasn't too long before he gathered up his personal staff and left the Empire. Arriving back in his hometown, he quickly killed most of the few residents off and set up his men. Teetering on the edge of insanity, the General often wanders through the streets, speaking nostalgically about childhood memories. Willy Green, the General's most trusted advisor, is fast becoming the de facto leader of the group. He is totally loyal to the General, having been his aide since birth, but is aware that the old man is fast loosing his mind. What he will do after the General dies is a mystery.
The Badlands: The Badlands have looked pretty much the same for the last 10,000 years. It is still a wasteland of dry river beds and sandstone rocks. You can easily die in the Badlands and no one would every find your body.
Wind Cave National Park: About 300 Amerinds make their home here presently, including about 60 warriors. They use the cave to perform rituals and to store perishable food in the summer months.
Mount Rushmore: This monument to white presidents, none of them noted for their honorable dealings with the Native Americans, has been defaced with graffiti and bullets over the years. It is largely ignored anymore, though a "spirit quest" is held on top every two years by a local tribe. They would be very surprised to learn that deep within their mountain is a top secret Continuity of Government facility, built during the last major repair job on the monument. Since not a peep has been heard from the facility since the war, knowledge of its existence has completely faded.
Crazy Horse Monument: Following the war, the man who had been working on this sculpture nearly single-handedly decided to stay and finish. For about eighteen years he continued, even when his dynamite ran out and he spent weeks in bed with radiation fever. Two days after he died, he was found by Sioux scouts with a dozen arrows in his back.
"Cheyenne Gulch": Formerly the Cheyenne River, the Cheyenne Gulch comprises all of the drainage in the Black Hills area. Once a large river system, it now only flows seasonally from runoff in the Black Hills. The path of the ancient riverbed leads east into the swampy Lake Oahe, which was once a large body of water before the pre-war dam collapsed.
The Lake Traverse Indians: As noted, the Amerind Empire is composed of numerous individual tribes, each with its own territory and government system. In eastern South Dakota, the relatively fertile open plains and valleys are the lands of the Lake Traverse Indians, who have made their homes in this area for 250 years. This is mostly a loose organization of small settlements of Indians, forming a smaller version of the greater Amerind Empire in the region. They are firmly part of the Empire, but they depend more on the other Indians in their tribe than anyone else. The largest settlements in the Traverse territory are Aberdeen, Watertown, Huron, Redfield, and Brookings. The total population of the tribe is now probably 8,000 people total, which includes the population of the five towns and the surrounding area. The tribal council meets at a ranch outside of Aberdeen. The ranch now looks more like an old frontier post, with a fortified perimeter, lookout posts, and stake-filled moat. The current leader is Craig Eight Shots, an old man in his seventies. Taking braves from almost every settlement, they have formed a horse militia to patrol the plains and creeks in their territory. The area is pretty isolated so the militia is content with dealing with the stray marauder and drunken cowboy. This area serves as the eastern border of the Amerind Empire, and is an important buffer zone between it and the whites in Minnesota.
Sioux Falls: Once the largest prewar city in the state and an important trade and transportation hub, Sioux Falls is now a small struggling farming community of 750 Amerinds. With the Krell enclave down river at Sioux City, Iowa, barge traffic along the Big Sioux River is often subject to raids. Were it not for the disruptive and malicious influence of the Krell, this area, with its fertile valleys and good weather, would be instrumental to rebuilding the region. The town is currently protected by local militia forces occupying the former SD State Penitentiary, a large stone fortress overlooking the north side of the city. They are purely defensive in nature and have had limited success against Krell raiding parties. Most of the prewar city has been damaged by time and raids by various groups, but there are a number of reasonably intact sections north of the river which have been fortified. With hostile forces to the south, nearly all commerce is conducted with Amerind Empire to the west and occasionally east with the scattered settlements in Minnesota.
EROS data center: Located 15 miles north of Sioux Falls, this was the primary ground based station for the USGS LANDSAT satellite program. Its current condition is unknown, but certainly looted and in disrepair, if not completely destroyed. If any of it is still standing, however, it could be an important postwar C3 facility for the Morrow Project, especially if any computers or long range electronic communication equipment remains intact.
Pathfinder Nuclear Reactor: This experimental boiling water nuclear reactor was decommissioned in 1967 and was spared a nuclear weapon hit. At the time of the war the facility was in SAFSTOR long-term storage and there was no nuclear fuel stored at the site. As it is located just 5 miles north of Sioux Falls, it has been looted heavily over the last 150 years, and has served as habitation for groups as varied as refugees, bandits, Indians, to the crew of a Canadian Air Force plane that settled in the area in the dark days of the nuclear autumn. Today, a small community of Amerind farmers and grazers live here, many of them mixed race descendants of the Canadian airmen. With its distinctive and ominous cooling towers visible for miles, it is not surprising that rumors and legends have circulated around the region of the potential of reactivating the power plant one day. So far, the facility has not been visited by the Krell warriors from the south, but it is only a matter of time before they do and the locals have planned to fight rather than flee.
People who have contributed to this entry:
John Raner
Karl Zohler
Paul Zane
Chris Van Deelen