I have a hard time imagining the south without the hills, the trees, the way the folks who live here actually give a crap about the other folks living here.. I have never been left wanting for help if my car broke down. Old men telling war stories, old women gossuping on porches. I live in a tiny valley, with a city of seven hundred people in it. I can tell you the railroad chase came through here. I can tell you that sherman burnt it down, and a few decades later it burnt again when someone knocked over an oil lamp. I know what building (still standing) Sherman stationed his quarter master in, and my great-great-great-great-great grandfather built the plantation house that they used as a hospitol during the civil war, the upstairs still has blood stains on the floor, and writing on the walls where the soldiers left their last notes for their loved ones.

I can't really think of this place as anything like Seattle, or LA (where I usually play) ..But I -can- envision the way it would be in seventy years. Thats probably because I live here though ^.^; I even know which -local- big businesses people are proud to say they work for, who would likely hand out the corp script, what industries live around here.. the countryside is likely to be more littered with Awakened, deckers would be found a handful to a small city, and Sammies only the major cities (in Ga Atlanta Macon and Savannah, but mostly just Atlanta) Although -riggers- that'd be popular, real popular. I can imagine folks in the south priding themselves on being able to compete with the cyber enhanced, without enhancement. Pride, really, is the biggest thing we have, I think.

believe it or not my grandamama was a beautician most of her life.


The south is a mix of new and old world ideals. Even today the south makes up a very high percentage of our military. I am sure that even in shadowrun they have a sense of honor mixed with a good sense pragmatism. The mix of redneck and executive where respecting your family means something.

Well, I was thinking of "I have served and now am one and a half citizen" (a quote from one of my American relatives, who last year joined up some radical mountain men militoia. My guys over there are such hicks ...). Okay, it might be normal for Americans, but to me that sounds a lot like Starship Troopers.


That sounds awesome. Also, 8 Generations ... so your ancestors were among the first wave of settlers? Know any local lore, by chance, any local legends that could be spun into Spirits, awakened sites or critters native to that region? Old Native sites, caves, the likes?

Hey, maybe there should be a CAS netbook. Maybe it'd even get picked up, like Synner's Europe Sourcebook project did?




Cue in the Banjo. ^_^

But yes, I can well see a sort of stubborn pride. Especially in Texas. A kind of "whatever may come, we will not yield" type of attitude.

This land is our land.

The history of Texas is written in blood on this land. Our ancestors are buried in this land; our children were born upon it. Generations of Texans have loved and laughed, have fought and bled, have lived and died on this land.

This land. This land that has been stolen. These cities that have become armed camps. These ranges of grassland that have been scorched. These farms that have been trampled under armored foot. This land, which the criminals who stole Mexico from her own people decided was theirs as well, and which a weak government elected to hand over without a fight.

But this is our land, and it is past time that we took it back. From El Paso to Brownsville, we will draw a line in the sand, and then we will drive the Mexican criminals back south across that line, and then we will make sure that they know how grievous an error it will be for them to venture north across it again.

Our forefathers were freedom fighters; so, too, are we. They fought and died at the Alamo. Now, we stand united as the Sons of the Alamo.

This land is our land.

-- Manifesto of the Sons of the Alamo policlub, drafted 12 May 2047

the south has been around before the formation of the united states. More than 200 years. A generation is about 20-25 years.

I heard you were the man with the most CAS insight Patrick...

Been waiting for you!

I don't know about insight, but I've been agitating for better treatment of the CAS in-story for, well, a long-ass time.

There have been a few political comments, deliberate or not, that have had me grinding my teeth about this thread. The main reason I dropped the SoA Manifesto in here is to show that something in-game does exist that is...peeved about the Aztlan invasion. Working on getting some of it into canon, so I'm not going to discuss a lot, but just wanted to say that it's not been forgotten.

It is severely lacking I must say. Doesn't help when you want to start planning a campaign in the CAS... I like the creative work but... There are tons of gaps in the information about the CAS.

Hell, I would dare to say that it is the North American country with the least amount of consistent information written about it.

Was calculating with 25 years, 200 years. And yes, the Southern colonies were the earliest. For some reason, I always think of the New Amsterdam area as a the first colonies on the Eastern Seaboard ...

And that is an awesome manifesto, Patrick. Mind if I use it eventually?

Feel free. Like a lot of what I'm working on at the moment, though, most of my CAS and Texas ideas are things I'm working on getting into canon, so there's not likely to be a lot of discussion of my ideas. Not that I don't trust you guys, but I do want to have a surprise or two if I get the green light.

Really looking forward to seeing that.

the colonies is not the United States. They United State wasn't formed until after the war of independence. It went through a Goverment before the Constitution was written. The constitution is over 200 years old.

Do the math before you try and flame someone.

Way back when Jon Szeto, author of the CAS chapter of SoNA, posted the border he suggested in the notes he sent in for the map for SoNA and someone made a rather nice map from it. I'll check with the creator and if he says it's cool I'll post the copy I obtained of it.

He's quite capable of defending himself, and mostly I'm going to let him, but having read this entire exchange, he was hardly flaming you. I read it being impressed with how long your family had been in the country, but that could just be me.

hermit:

Heh, I honestly don't know, just that we were one of the first in this area. I would have to ask my granddad, hes the one whos been tracing genealogy. Not that we have much of anything now, the plantation house went to a collateral line, and most of whats left of the farm is some chicken houses that belong to my aunt.


The south really does have a heavy defense of the home and people thing going on, yeah. We even have a memorial here with the names of all the service men who came out of our city My other granddaddy, a lot my cousins, and my baby brother have their names up. I woulda served myself, if I could pass the health exam.

>.> Hey -I- didn't take offense, and it was my family under discussion.

Calm down, please. I did not intend to flame you (besides, my remark about 8th generation settlers meant Dragon Girl, so ... huh?). Sorry if I offended you, though I confess I have no idea how. Yeah, the US is older, but that doesn't mean most of it's current inhabitants' ancestors arrived only after it'd been founded (what with the founding states being notably less than the current and smaller too)?

Again, I did not mean to insult you.


Looking very much forward to that, too!

That would be awesome!

Excuse my curiosity, I'm just generally interested in genealogics. I can trace my own ancestry back to the early 1700s, everything before went up in flames in the 30 years war or now belongs to the exceedingly uncooperative Polish.


That's what I meant, upped by a sense uf urgent threat by Aztlan. I'd also think the CAS might have one of the largest standing armies among the states on former US/Canadian soil for that reason.


That'd be very useful, yes.

Just some clarification. Aztlan basically won the Yucatan; they've installed a puppet government in the Yucatan now that basically serves Aztlan. They've moved most of their troops to the north and south borders (veteran, battle-hardened troops from the Yucatan). If there's one point in the CAS' favor there, though, it's likely that Aztlan is focused more on the PCC to the north instead of the CAS.

Really, because according to the History section in Shadowrun Anniversary edition says that on March 15, 2062 a wave of natural disasters hit the Yucatan and pushed back all of the Azzie troops as a war between nature and toxic spirits erupted. It says that the Azzies have not went back in yet as of the time the book entails. Unless I missed some info in a book.

I would also think Aztlan would be a little pissed off that the CAS just took their territory in Denver.

Something else that's not been factored in just yet, the para-animals. I know it's often overlooked, but the awakened animals have a pretty big impact. Alot of the south is still rual. Once you get outside the citys, (( in SR Terms, the sprawls)) You find the wild real quick down there. Not that bad today. You don't have to worry about bandersnatches popping off your head when you take out the trash, or awakened wolverines eating your face, A Bandit stealin' your car, or heaven forbid a Juggernaut coming though your house, or one of those awakened gators flipping your boat. lol

Not a "SUPER" huge thing in the sprawls, but I have to think it'd factor in a bit. In SR... Nature fights back, and she's pissed off.

I suppose they're very happy bout their liberal weapons ownership laws. I also think nobody will doubt in the SR South their necessity. Hell, theymight even sell actual weaons of war for self defense in some states - justly so!

And hey, after seeing ine lurking under a car in a motel parking lot, I am personally rather wary of alligators in Florida, myself.


True, but think about it - the troops weren't annihilated or pushed back, they just went out of the way and watched the carnage. After that, Aztlan installed a remote controlled free government and is content to let Yucatan pretend it is a nation.

Is that is in a book? Which one?

If it is then I missed it and my bad...

YOTC, SoNA and, presumably, SoLA's Aztlan chapter which can be found here. I admit I hadn't time yet to read it.

Well I can tell you it isn't in SoNA. There is no Aztlan section in SoNA, there isn't anything in the CAS section about them retaking the area. In fact, the CAS section has a mention of the recent setbacks that the Azzies have had making them vulnerable.

I didn't see any references to the Yucatan in the Pueblo section as well but I really only glanced over it.

As for Year of the Comet. I haven't read that thoroughly yet so that adds another book to my research.

There might also be some info in one of the SOTAs. The one with the merc stuff.

Sorry, it's from SoLA. Pieces of the storyline (like the execution of the feathered serpent Dztibalchen) have found their way into other books and I imagine it'll be covered more in the Almanac.

Well I just read the part in the YOTC and it also says the same thing as Shadowrun Anniversary edition. YOTC pretty much states that the spirits of the area are at war and both the rebels and the Azzie army are broken. In military terms, that would mean both sides took heavy losses and had to retreat and regroup.

This does not sound like the Azzies are in control. In fact, no one is, it is all out spirit warfare.

The SoLA material takes place in 2064, a few years after the slash-and-burn offensive that helped lead to the toxic spirits.

I do see in this SoLA section a small mention of it in the timeline but this is all pre-Crash 2.0. It really doesn't give much detail to say that it is a puppet government. Odds are it is but what page is this info on?

That is the real question. The Crash is gonna kick the Azzies in the balls. That SoLA concentrates more on the Sons of the Alamo and they kind of hint that they may do something like what I have planned, force the CAS to have to do something. The thing is, in my timeline, the Azzies stay mysteriously quiet. For the moment.

Well, yeah, all of SoLA is pre-Crash 2.0. It takes place before System Failure. Most of the relevant information about the Yucatan is in the Yucatan draft, which I think Peter Taylor wrote. We're still working on contacting all of the writers so we can batch all of the drafts together.

Indeed. I just hunger for knowledge about the CAS and what happens in Aztlan is very important in Texas.

That's cool though. I just hope the info sets out soon!

Yeah, I get what you mean about DC, but I still think it's worth noting that Atlanta becoming the capitol at a point in time where blacks aren't literally disenfranchised would have some interesting cultural impact even if legally speaking the result wouldn't be unlike situations already in place. There's always a temptation to just play to media-made stereotypes when jotting down area outlines, and yet there's Atlanta as the capitol of the new South, a city where minorities make up the majority and where one of the nation's largest LBGT communities has quietly formed up. Of course, on the other hand, if I remember correctly it also has one of the fastest growing white populations going, but of course white doesn't necessarily mean bigoted so... *shrug.* There's just so many directions it could go, and very few of them fit the common media stereotypes I think many people would go to first when trying to conjure up an image of the South. I dunno what it'd be like in SR's crazy alternate future, and that's what makes it so interesting.

Put that way, I see your point with Atlanta. I kind of had it booked off as a provincial capital among many.

I guess we ran out of sweet tea references.

So what would people like to see come out of the almanac that is supposed to be out eventually?

I really hope they stay consistent with the info presented in the write up of New Orleans, the info in SoNA, and the tension in Texas. A CAS, coming out of isolationist policies and all of the problems that involves.

Maybe not, but around here at least, coyotes have been reintroduced. I have some vivid memories of my momma standing in front of the house with a shot gun scaring off the pack of them that was prowling in our yard after our pets. There are also bobcats. And bears. I remember when the fifteen pound raccoon mauled my cat too -.- I dislike raccoons. Rattlers, copperheads, cotten mouths.. and of course round in florida and louisana ..gaters, and more snakes, snapping turtles..

We're not exactly unused to unfriendly wildlife already, just adds some more on top of that.

Did anyone come up with a map reference for CAS that is considered canon? Thanks.

Not that I know of, supposed to be in the Almanac...

The Dismal swamp(North Carolina and Virginia) is huge and full of bears and all kinds of wildlife. Also, it can have underwater peat fires that are pretty interesting.

I can't imagine that the urban sprawl that is booming in the Triangle won't make its' way east, envelope the I-95 corridor, and turn eastern Carolina into more of the same office parks and tract housing that is coming to dominate the rest of the landscape. This is particularly true with the influx of refugees that the CAS would have seen.

You think he's joking. Whenever the Carolina Hurricanes score a goal, Ric Flair pops up on the jumbotron, and the entire arena goes Wooo!

OH I know he is not joking!

Underwater peat fires? Going to have to research this. The only two southern states I lived in were Florida and Texas and I'm told they aren't really "The South". Is that a common opinion?

Oh yeah, sweet tea

Edit- Hmm... apparently a peat fire inspired the song "Smoke on the Water" if it's true and not Wikipedia lies I wholeheartedly approve of them. They can also burn/smolder for months or years at a time.

'Round here we regard florida as mostly being full of old people from yankeeville >.> Never heard anyone say Texas wasn't southern though.

Some years ago I was running games based in Atlanta and did a little work on the Charlotte area. Being from NC myself I liked the idea of CAS based games. Looking forward to seeing how this plays out.

We had a wildfire in the swamp like 4 years ago or so, its pretty hard to put out, and worse, all the bugs in the swamp take a mad exodus into the surrounding neighborhoods. its pretty gross.

Florida is often called "the Northern-most state in the South" because so many people who move there are from other parts of the country (mostly the Northeast). And most of them are retirees anyway.

Texas is most definitely in the South, but it was also one of only two states (the other being Hawaii) that was independent nation before becoming a state, and it remains the only state whose Constitution specifically grants them the right of secession if they don't like what's going on at the Federal level. So while Southerners are a proud folk, Texans are even worse (or better, depending on your point of view).

Emphasis mine.

Sadly, at least in my view, this is a common misconception, even within our state government (our alleged governor recently spoke of this right while pandering for votes, and he was thoroughly lambasted by both sides of the aisle).

We had, and I believe we still do have, the right to split into up to five different states (and some regions of the state have considered seceding from the rest of the state in the recent past), but this was mostly to answer the notion of balance between slave and non-slave states in the time just before the Civil War. But if we ever had the right to secede, and it's questionable, it was eliminated during Reconstruction.

Whether this is a good thing or not, I leave to other people to decide. Part of me wishes we did, but I can see how it would be a real problem for us if we tried.

I think any state that suceded from the Union qualifies as a "southern state". but that being said, florida doesn't have any southerners left south of the pan handle, and the barbeque contest between Texas and Carolina has tensions high