Nova Scotia Confederacy

The Nova Scotian Confederacy is a post-war independent island nation off the north-eastern coast of North America and is comprised of fourteen Clan Lands, each of which are under the authority of a Clan Chief. 
It neighbours the Salty Peninsula, infamous for being the location of Port Cole a notorious Pirate Haven.
== History ==
=== Origins ===
Nova Scotia prior to the Sino-American war was a province of the sovereign nation of Canada; however the US eventually annexed the entirety of Canada in order to gain is vast resources.
The annexation severely weakened the Nova Scotian local government as resources and funding were channelled elsewhere, the citizens began to protest but the newly introduced American authorities were blind and deaf to their concerns. 
In 2073 the Jacobite Movement was founded in response to the growing American occupation and exploitation of Nova Scotia, and began to work to undermine the American authorities and control over the area. Many Jacobite's claimed to be descended from the original Jacobite's of the 18th Century, and the Jacobite Movement began a revival of Highland Culture and promote the use of Nova Scotian Gaelic. 
Initially the Jacobite's were a fringe group of political idealists, but over time they became emboldened and began to experiment with activism and become organised but their numbers remained small. 
In 2076 Chinese Insurgence released a bioweapon in the Nova Scotia capital city of Halifax. Unable to combat the biological contagion the local government imposed a citywide quarantine and appealed the US for aid and support. This support came in the form a military airstrike that firebombed the entire city killing the four hundred thousand citizens, the Americans had prevented the contagion from spreading however they had only further inflamed the fury of the Canadians. 
Following the destruction of Halifax the Jacobite Movement grew in popularity and numbers and it began to systematically attack the American authorities, staging protests, rallies but also instigating riots and violence. Their activism drew a lot of attention and the authorities attempted to clamp down on the group but it proved increasingly difficult. 
Emboldened by their success the Jacobite's attempted to assassinate the American Governor of Nova Scotia by bombing his home on October 10, 2077. The attempt ultimately failed, however in response the Governor called in the US Army to bring martial law to Nova Scotia and to hunt down and the Jacobite's and finally bring them to heel. 
The Jacobite leaders had a contingency plan, thanks to the support of a several government officials and industrialists they were aware of several bunkers that had been constructed on Nova Scotia that were designed to withstand nuclear war. They managed to successfully commander three of the bunkers and bring their families inside before the Americans could stop them sealing the exterior doors. 
Thoroughly embarrassed and facing severe political pressure from the US, the Governor enacted a strict martial law on Nova Scotia, mercilessly hunting down the suspected Jacobite's, and any person guilty of civil disobedience would be shot. 
On October 23, 2077 the Governor ordered the US Army to attempt to penetrate the Bunkers, however before the military could mobilise the Great War began and Nova Scotia was permanently changed as it was ravaged by nuclear fire. 
Within an hour of the bombs falling, the governor was dead and what remained of the strained local government all but collapsed and was unable to prevent the province disintegrating into chaos. Over a hundred thousand people died from the nuclear detonations that created the Scots Badlands, however the nuclear fallout from the Great War killed almost six times that number. 
A significant number of people managed to survive as their bodies adapted to the radiation, creating Nova Scotias native ghoul population. These ghoul survivors banded together and attempted to rebuild their lives from the ruins of the old world. They managed to not only endure but also prosper as their condition provided adequate protection from the early aftereffects of the Great War and began to learn and develop the key skills and understanding of how to survive in the new world. 
While within their bunkers the Jacobite's settled in and made a home for themselves, safely waiting for the surface radiation levels to dissipate so that they could safely emerge and reclaim their homeland. It was during their time in the Bunkers that the Jacobite's began to religiously practice the ancient customs and tradition of the Scottish Highlands and spoke only Gaelic. 
=== A New Era ===
After ten years the Nova Scotian Ghouls had established several settlements across the islands of Nova Scotia, they were unaware of the Bunkers occupants and believed they were the sole native survivors of the Great War. Their capital settlement was Lunenburg, and it was a testament to their hard work and perseverance to maintaining some semblance of their former lives while adapting to the changes of the new world. 
When the Bunkers opened the Jacobite's were ill prepared for life in the post-war world and they eventually discovered the ghouls. The two groups were wary of each other despite their common origins however the ghouls welcomed them into their settlements and began to teach them how to survive and the lessons that they had to learn.
It was during this time that the Jacobite's began to refer to themselves as the Nova Scotian Clansman, formally establishing a cultural and national identity. Despite their common origins and beliefs, the isolation of the three bunkers had created a subtle but distinct variation in each population. 
The ghouls were keen for the Clansmen to remain in their settlements for they might be impervious to radiation but they had become sterile which meant that there would be a distinct lack of children, which meant their population could never grow. 
The Clansmen on the other hand were key to establish their own homes and groups began to roam the four corners of Nova Scotia and found their own lands to call their own and built new homes for themselves. 
Only a year later, the future of Nova Scotia was forever altered by the arrival of what remained of the US Navy European Battlefleet off the coast. The fleet had managed to limp back to North America following the Great War, surviving through luck and by raiding, salvaging and stealing whatever food and supplies they could find along the way. 
The Americans arrived in the harbour of Lunenburg destitute and half-dead and survived only through the generosity and care the Nova Scotian Ghouls. The ghouls were keen to help the sailors return to America and so helped them get ready for their journey. 
In what became known as the Last American Betrayal, the sailors of the US navy repaid the ghouls generosity by binding them into the chains of slavery and deciding that they would remain on Nova Scotia. Enslaving the ghouls the sailors obtained a sizeable workforce which they used to establish themselves in Lunenburg which they rechristened Port Cole. 
The Clansmen were wary of the sailors having seen them enslave the ghouls who helped them, and having witnessed former atrocities carried out by the United States military and Government. The sailors were a very clear threat to the way of life that the Clansmen sought to build and they repel them. 
Despite their hatred of Americans, the Clansmen paid tribute to the sailors for their efforts to end the Great War and they came to an arrangement that ensured that they kept the dominion over their new lands. 
Unlike the Clansmen and Ghouls, the American Sailors did not learn to settle down and survive in the post-war world, instead they used their new slave labour to carry out all such work but being idle made them restless. The sailors once more began to return to the sea and raid and pillage up and down the Eastern Seaboard and came to enjoy the life of old-wold pirates and lived off their spoils. 
While the Nova Scotian Clansmen remained mostly secluded in their own lands, they did often journey to Port Cole to access the stocks of ill-gotten gains garnered through pirating but also the various trades provided by the enslaved ghouls. Some of the Northern Clansmen began to purchase enslaved ghouls from Port Cole which instigated the Nova Scotian Slave Trade. 
By the year 2101 the Nova Scotian Clansmen had established themselves into fourteen distinct clans which were governed by single Chief, and claimed a defined territory which they called Clan Land. Over the years a number of petty conflicts and rivalries erupted between clans over territory or resources. 
Conflict with the Port Cole Pirates was rare but happened occasionally should a pirate crew attempt to raid Clan Lands, the continued practice of Tribute and trade ensured stable relationship between the two peoples. 
The actions of the pirates did have other consequences however, such as when Queen Eleanor the Ruthless of the Crownlands ordered her military to attack Nova Scotia in retaliation for the raids that had killed her son. The Crownland force attacked the Clansmen mistakenly believing that they were of the same people as the pirates. 
Following the Crownland attacks along the northern coast, the northern Clans banded together and launched a counter assault to repel the attacked and taught them the difference between the two factions of Nova Scotia in blood. 
Despite a bloody and hostile first contact between the Crownlands and the Nova Scotian Clansmen the two people did establish some small amount of trade, although it was hindered by the crossing between the two landmasses being treacherous and any ship a target of pirates.
The Clansmen began to venture to the north-west to the Brunswick Territories, it was a factious place and it became common for Clansmen to serve as mercenaries for the various Barons of Brunswick in their numerous campaigns. 
=== The Republic Arrives ===
In 2291 following a raid on several merchant ships off the coast of Maine by Captain Jack Randal of Port Cole, the Massachusetts Congressional Republic Navy arrived off the coast of Nova Scotia seeking retribution for the sacking of its merchant ships and the deaths of its unarmed citizens. 
First contact between the MCR and the Admiralty of Port Cole was a tense affair, especially as the Nova Scotians realised that Port Cole was no longer the dominant naval power on the eastern seaboard. 
While the MCR did not at all look favourably on Port Cole, it was however interested in the Nova Scotian Clansmen and began to speak through back channels to the various Clans about the potential relations and trade with the MCR, something that was kept secret from the Admiralty. 
Things grew tenser on Nova Scotia with the arrival of a delegation from Port Steel, who having lost its war against the MCR was eager to find an alliance that would be able to provide the resources it now lacked. 
The Clans of Nova Scotia remained firmly neutral in the conflict between the MCR and Port Steel and cannily used their position to its full advantage to barter deals and favours from both sides. 
Coincidently six months after the first contact with the MCR there was a movement born among the various Clans, the people were talking about altering the balance of power and ending the yearly tributes to the Admiralty. It was proposed founding a new city that could rival Port Cole and would not be beholden to a single Clan but open to all. 
The idea gained a lot of traction and support in a short amount of time, the Clans who were so often rivals began to put aside long held differenced and provide funding and resources which would sponsor the founding of their new city. 
Eventually the Yarmouth Expedition was founded with the aim to reclaim the old city and settle it once more. The Expedition suffered a number of set backs and losses however they eventually overcame the various obstacles they faced and Yarmouth was settled and began to grow and develop into a port town. 
=== The Nova Scotian Confederacy ===
For over a century and a half almost all major trade had gone through Port Cole, however this began to change with the resettlement of Yarmouth. One of the first projects in the city was to restore its old docks, once this was done various trade ships were quick to take advantage of the new port and soon enough Yarmouth became a threat to stability of Port Cole. 
The city was under the control of council of representative from each of the Fourteen Clans, and it began to extensively trade with all of many of its foreign neighbours. 
Tensions between the Clansmen and Port Cole began to escalate, and the Admiralty tried to claim Yarmouth for themselves but they failed to enter the harbour. The Clans of Nova Scotia were united like never before, they had found a mutual interest and one they were ready to defend and the Admiralty was forced to retreat. 
The Treaty of Yarmouth was negotiated between the two factions of Nova Scotia. Port Cole became a City-State, free to continue its piracy however was prohibited from raiding anywhere on Nova Scotia, in return they would be permitted to pay for access to the Yarmouth Shipyards and the tax applied to Port Cole goods was removed. 
== Culture: ==
== Notable Locations ==
=== Yarmouth ===
The town was able to survive the initial fallout of the Great War, and remained separate from the depraved pirates of Port Cole and the Clansmen, and its ghoul population had fled and never returned. It lasted almost a decade after until the town was sacked and its food and resources stolen.
The Sacking of Yarmouth is shrouded in mystery as there were no survivors and the tale had died with its people. When people travelled to the town following the Sacking they found it deserted and the bodies of its people piled up with a flag planted in them.
It was the banner of the what would be called the Black Bart, the mysterious ghost ship that haunted the waters of Nova Scotia. A black banner baring only a red hand holding a lightning bolt.
=== Minas Basin ===
The Minas Basin is a natural harbour, it is also small oasis within the Scots Badlands. The Badlands surround the entire basin with a harsh irradiated scar, they were formed by the detonation of warheads which caused Nova Scotia to separate from mainland Canada. 
While the Badlands are uninhabitable and filled with monstrous creatures and plant life which makes the crossing of this area a perilous journey. The Basin is susceptible to powerful Rad Storms caused by the Badlands and the Basin itself has been known pull anchored ships to the bottom of its depths and never be seen again. 
=== Black Bart Bay ===
The name given to the waters between the Canadian mainland and the Nova Scotian Coast comes from almost of century of ghost stories. According to stories the bay is home to the infamous ghost ship the Black Bart, it is said to be able to appear out of no where and pillages merchants, traders and coastal settlements along the bay.
None know where the name of the ghost ship comes from, however all Scotians know to fear the Black Bart, even the mere mention of the ship causes many of the older generations to shiver in fear. Among the hundreds of stories that feature the Black Bart, the story of the sacking of Yarmouth sticks out most prominently.
The Republic did not believe in the superstition of the Black Bart and the republic often used the passage unlike the native Scotians who refused to enter the Bay out of fear of facing their doom.
Category:Post-War Countries
Category:Post-War Factions