Tracy

Much of the Earth is now covered with devastated wastelands. Mutations of both plant and animal life are commonplace, with the worst mutations occurring where the toxic nature of the land is the worst. Humans are now mostly located in fortified city-states, some built fresh, others built in ruins and there are even a few that are built in maintained old world buildings. These city-states have a variety of government and economic systems, but most are ruled by autocrats, most commonly carrying the title of Baron. Dangerous gangs roam the lands between city-states. These gangs will generally rob, rape, murder, and/or eat anyone they come across. Owing to the losses of the war, and since then, technology is limited. Electricity is uncommon, and often costly, with many baronies and virtually all other settlements reduced to fire for lighting the darkness. Bullet cases can be refilled, but the cases are not easily replaced. Due to this, bullets are not used wastefully and melee weapons are often the style of choice outside the baronies.

100 years ago the final global war was fought. Most of the major cities were wiped out in nuclear fire. Biological and chemical agents were also widely used. Now there are zones of varying degrees of toxicity, up to and including dead zones. Plant and animal mutations are commonplace, even more extreme in high toxic zones. Human mutations as well, both those that are still recognizably human and those that have devolved into new species.