Formation of the City and Collective Folk

When America was collapsing, the city of Louisiana ushered it's most powerful and wealthy inside a bunker- a massive underground complex designed to shelter those worthy of it's embrace and their families. High-ranking politicians, military men, and scientists alike.

The bunker was generally referred to as the 'Attrition Protocol', designed to wait out the worst of the world's fall within a self-sustaining shelter. A prototype version was created to house Louisiana's citizens within their own sewer systems before the Government pulled funding- but once the impending apocalypse proved inevitable, the government restarted the project in a new location, excavating it's own land and building the sprawling bunker system within it.

Louisiana's citizens were left with no word, no help, no nothing. One day, a bunch of prominent figures ushered themselves off to safety while the local population suffered.

The high-class lived in the bunker for forty years while the Locals lived outside of it. The Locals adapted- the Citizens simply lived.

When the Citizens came out of their bunker in 2062, they didn't expect anyone outside of it to still be alive, and for awhile, they didn't know anybody was. They spent almost half a year in the City trying to reclaim their land and homes. When the Citizens ran into the Locals and established first contact, things were violent.

A small series of battles between the Citizens and Locals occurred before they both realized that there wasn't going to be a winner. The Locals before the Citizens arrived were all parts of their own settlements and groups, but almost every Local settlement and stronghold recognized the size and strength of the Citizens. The Locals outnumbered them together, but couldn't individually stand against the Citizen's pristine gear and access to firearms. So the Locals banded together, forming the Collective Folk, because without it, they wouldn't have a way to talk diplomatically with the Citizens- one request of peace was easier to handle than a million different mailmen.

So the Collective Folk was formed, out of necessity, and the Citizens banded under their title, out of fear.

It was quickly realized between them that they, paradoxically, outmatched each other. The Citizens owned weapons and armor that were created for combat before the apocalypse- the loud firearms attracted hordes of Starvers, the armor could parade them down the street but would snag on branches and vegetation through the Swamp. The Collective Folk could easily make their way through the land they've been spending the last 40 years adapting to, but a fight in the City leaves them outgunned.

Whoever mounted a full-scale attack first would lose. So they mutually decided not to fight. The Citizens stand independently from the Collective Folk still, refusing to unite under their banner, as they deem survival on their own to be more practical. The Collective Folk are together until this day, because separating themselves would let the Citizens easily overpower the smaller settlements and win the war through a series of attacks instead of one push.

Today, the Monsoon Treaty is signed. War and fighting is generally understood as losing on both sides regardless of the outcome- resources are too scarce for both factions and the risk is too high. The Biohazard, the Great Storm Cult, and the pirate/bandit groups in the region are plenty of enemies for the both of them.

Citizens and Locals can freely travel between each others land, engaging in healthy trade, and the occasional diplomatic talk between representatives from both groups. They still won't band together- and they still may not entirely trust each other, but the fact of the matter remains the same: Whoever strikes first will lose. So the only winning move in their wargame is not to play.