Rising Free City

Population: 12 Million (Search +3)

Environment

Terrain: Desert
Appearance: Attractive
Hygiene: +2

Culture And Economy

Language: English, Spanish
Literacy: Native
TL: 9 (Early TL10 in Biotech)
Wealth: Comfortable
Status: -1 to 6

Political Environment

Government: Representaive Democracy, Free City
CR: 2 (Corruption -1)
Military Resources: $7.2 Billion
Defense Bonus: +5

History

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Rising the Free City was formed from the cities and towns of the Phoenix metropolitan area (also known as the Valley of the Sun) in 2028, three years after the Free City of Citadel announced it’s own status. The area had weathered the Collapse pretty well, all things considered – it was already used to heat and dust, and the desert formed a buffer that allowed it to avoid the early chaos of the gen-Nu Incident – but it was increasingly seeing massive cross-border immigration from Mexico as the situation deteriorated there and the individual cities that made up its belt had been in the process of integrating anyway. the federal government were no use at all and the City Fathers decided it would be better to strike out on their own, able to set their own policies.

The City Fathers were wrong about the United States level of commitment, however, and the area became embroilled in the civil war which kicked off the Militia Wars. Pheonix and much of the surrounding area were a war zone for two long years, reducing the city to rubble, before the US finally gave up to concentrate on problems its ever-slimmer resouces had a chance to prevail over, and the libertarian milita forces were victorious. The new “owners” vowed to rebuild.

Thus Rising rose from the ashes with two guiding philosophies: socially the megacity would be ordered into “urban villages”, each self contained with housing, work, retail and leisure all withing walking distance of each other; industrially the city would put its faith in the new boom in biotech and in ecologically sound living, reasoning that rapid growth would then be both possible and safe. Both policies paid off, and Rising today has a standard of living as high as anywhere in North America – although it lags the coasts in some areas, such as fusion power and cyberware, it compensates with leads in most biotech and regenerable power.

Today

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The ironic joke about Rising is that it’s mostly underground. By the mid-2030s it was obvious that increasing heat and a water shortage would kill off the city if it didn’t act – and the answer has been to move most of the urban villages underground over the years, forming clean, enclaves which can be more easily ecologically balanced to preserve moisture and recycle every possible resource. Only the City Central area remains above ground now, along with vast fields of gene-tailored cactus, juniper, sage, desert Indianwheat and sunflower irrigated by buried pipes carrying repurposed, recycled, water and fertilizer from the city’s recycling complexes. The urban villages are marked by green-rimmed holes in this patchwork, sometimes domed over, where the entryways to each village are terraced to provide growing space for other crops such as figs, canyon grape, ground cherry and dates. Beneath the villages, great algae tanks, mushroom beds and subterrainean farms take power from massive solar energy arrays in the desert, as does most of the city. Rising has become a major agricultural center, despite being in the midst of a burning desert, and even produces a surplus for export.

In the villages themselves, biotechnology is everywhere. There are labs and manufactories of every size working to produce drugs, gene-tailored creations, bio-computing and bioware augmentation. The Risings will even look askance at people with obvious cyberware. However, if you really want to annoy them then ignore their societal rules about eco-balance and recycling.

Rising has a better than usual relationship with its annual influx of over-wintering Nomads, since their Snowbird Gathering actually pre-dates the Collapse. For the three months of winter, over 4 million tribes and clades of the Midwestern Nomad Nation camp out in the desert around the city, and pay the City gladly for their solar power, water and food. Those Nomads who winter here are more likely to buy bioware that will help them survive in the Badlands too – and several Clades are just as ecologically purist as the Risings themselves.

Personalities

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None as yet.

Locations

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None as yet.