North Dakota is probably as empty and barren today as it was 14,000 years ago. After the nuclear strikes destroyed the communications and power net, local communities were thrown on their own devices. The hearty frontier folk of the state were determined to solve their own problems without outside help and turned away all outsiders. Many of the larger towns out in the open plains are now deserted, the locals having moved to more defensible towns closer to the rivers. The Amerind Nation is now the biggest influence in the state, and North Dakota is generally better for that.
Bismarck, SS-17
Minot AFB (Minuteman complex), 10
SS-18M2
Grand Forks AFB (Minuteman complex), 10
SS-18M2
Williston: Located in the extreme northwestern corner of the state, Williston has taken advantage of a few operating oil wells to become the main supplier of heating and lighting oil for much of the Amerind Empire in the state. The population is now nearly 500 Oilers and their dependents. Over the generations, the town has fortified its edges and circled the oil wells with walls and fortifications.
The lost base: About 110 years ago, some Amerind scouts from South Dakota discovered the entrance to a secret underground government base west of Dickinson in the desolate buttes. The base was a medium-sized place dug right into the side of a butte. On the surface there is stands just three fallen-down shacks, the entrance exposed beneath one by years of storms. It was filled with radio equipment and fuel and tons of documents, the two staffers just skeletons killed by unknown hands. They Amerinds stayed here for a time, but eventually the distances from their homes forced them to leave. They took some items, but left what might have been the most valuable--a map of similar bases across the mid-west. The Amerinds still know the location of the base, but haven't been there in several generations.
The ruins of Bismarck: Nuked and crushed into radioactive mush. There are scattered humans in the far suburbs, where it is just possible to have some sort of life, just a family or two so deeply inbred that they are virtually mutants themselves. The Amerinds shun these people and have even been known to hunt them down and kill them as abominations.
Fort Rice: A small settlement of 1,000 Amerinds and whites on the Missouri River, south of the ruins of Bismarck. Trade is conducted on the river, mostly heading south into Amerind lands. The militia is ill-armed, with the odd ancient hunting rifle and bows of varying sizes, but most of them bear nothing more than spears, crude swords, axes and clubs.
Minot and Minot Air Force Base: This former SAC and ICBM base was nuked severely hard during the war and the town is now little more than a seasonal hunters camp.
Willow Lake: In the first few years after the war, there was a rumor going around the border with Canada (and soon the rest of the upper plains) that the rather ordinary waters of the Willow Lake east of Bottineau could wash away the radiation sickness from affected victims. While this was totally untrue, it became a beacon of hope for many people. Trickles of sickly refugees, mostly terminal cases, came into the state to cure themselves beneath the waters. The local Indians of the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation were firmly in control of the area by this time, but being forgiving people, they set aside the northeast shore of the expanding lake as a refuge for these people. Although the growing Amerind Empire officially did not help them in any organized way, many altruistic Indians did what they could to ease their suffering. 150 years later, there is still a community of fishermen and farmers on the northern edge of the lake that carry a hereditary debt to the Indians.
Northeatern Deadlands: The ICBM silos around Grand Forks were obliterated by nearly 200 2-megaton warheads on the first day of the war. Today the area is just a lifeless, barren, completely sterilized region of insanely high radiation counts.
Valley City: A bandit clan controls the rambling ruins of Valley City. They have 25 men, but there are few weapons save some Trade Rifles and a few homemade hand grenades.
Jamestown: This town boasts a population of some 600 farmers who trade their crops to local towns and Amerind settlements. A protective militia has been formed under the guidance of a mysterious band of mercenaries. These mercenaries are just a little too healthy, a little too well-armed have nice white teeth, and use words and phrases no one has heard of in forever, to be wandering mavericks. Some have even suggested that they are from the future, or even the distant past, before the nuclear war...
Finley: Home to 100 people making a living the best they can. The population is a diverse lot--Amerinds, drifters, stragglers from Minnesota and Canada, and loners who couldn't make it on their own anymore.
The ruins of Fargo: Ruined in the war's aftermath, this small city was nearly burnt to the foundations. Now only a small number of traders and farmers live here. The Red River again provides important transportation via barges and small boats.
People who have contributed to this entry:
John Raner
Karl Zohler