New Jersey

Much of the Northeast tends to run by Republics; Either Merchant City States, territories administrated by the Church, or just a few peasant towns making their way in the world, New Jersey is a feudal state. New Jersey is one of a few feudal kingdoms found between Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound. The Pine Barrens have largely kept them off the coast, where the concentrate on the fertile fields within. Jersey is perhaps the most prominent due to the more fertile inland, and the Delaware River, one of the highways that connects the Northeast and Midwest.

This also owes largely to the presence of the Families. In some ways, they're different from the knights found in the heartland, as the warlords are not mounted knights for the most part, but hold pikemen armies. Their origins are a little different as well. the New Jersey warlords are a class that used to be a lower class, often underworld and secretive in their wars. But the tactics were essentially the same as the other warlords: Intimidation of the peasants, blood ties and a very organized hierarchy. In fact, the Non-Denominational Church found them to actually be more reasonable and easier to neogitate with than the petty knights throwing their weight around. It was just a matter of finding a family who was on the same page as them, faith-wise, since most of the families still practiced Catholicism.

One of the more respected clans was the Giaccino family. The Giaccino has aspirations of royalty, and were on relatively good trading terms with the United States. Also, Don Michael Giaccino really saw little point in sticking to a Church who's influence in the region was disappearing by the generation. The Giaccinos had eventually converted to Non-Denom, gaining the Church's blessing and allies from surrounding areas. Wiping out rivals like Martones and the Demasias, the Giaccino family was now out in the open and legitimate.

• System of Government: Feudalism
  • Head of State:
    • Don, chosen by the head of the ruling Giaccino family
• Population: 1,200,000
• Religion: Non-Denominational
  • Totemic Symbol: Bald Eagle
• Map
  

New England

New England is a fractured collection of City-States in the most Northeast of America. Denizens of New England consider themselves the spiritual and intellectual heart of the continent. Six Non-Denominal supervisors have jurisdiction here, making New Englanders some of the most prominent and heard voices in church matters. The new Englanders will also hold conferences the supervisors of the Maritimes. The denizens also tend to be a lot more learned, due to the high proportion of Church schools to population. With the shorter growing season, children have more time to occupy themselves, and schooling at the churches is a good way to keep busy. New England's universities are attended by nobles from all over the east, and such universities are centers of learning and culture.

The universities and church districts may sometimes serve as municipal hubs. Warlords have taken very little interest in the areas, which leaves the communities to run themselves. Most of the towns and villages in New England operate rather autonomously. Communities administer their laws through the local Town Halls, with councils generally voted upon by the citizens. The most direct democracy in Medieval America, although in practice guild leaders easily run these councils. The Non-Dominational district supervisors will often run the towns to extent. People are assigned to secular duties, but the Churchmen's counsel carries a special weight in legal matters.

Massachusetts

However Massachusetts, the largest and most populous of the New England states, runs a bit differently. They have a General Court and Towns Halls, but they operate as an oligarchic republic, much like the United States. Providence and Boston are ideal trading ports, and thus made way for a wealthy merchant class. With this wealth and array of ships, Massachusetts began to operate like a decadent bully, and acted like it ran the entirety of New England, and even the Maritimes. Because of this, the smaller New England states allowed the US to establish bases along their coast. It has since been a struggle between Massachusetts and US, with a tug of war on claims to Boston and Providence. Right now, Massachusetts' hope is getting the rest of New England behind them after the US has essentially dominated New England's coast.

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• System of Government: Republic
• Head of State:
  • Massachusetts: Governor, elected in terms by houses of the General Court
    
• Population: 2 Million
  
  • Massachusetts: 600,000

• Religion: Non-Denominational

Pikemen Infantry

To a certain extent, medieval warfare plays a lot like a game of rock paper scissors, with armies evolving to counter the biggest and nearest threats. To counter the lancers of the feudal kingdoms, many nations arm their soldiers with large sharp pikes, which can form a sharp defensive wall that most cavalry can't reach, or hope to trot over. Pikemen are largely the citizens of the the northern, coastal nations. Cavalry is much too expensive to maintain where the soil can be much more limited. Likewise, because large communities are so close together, it's more important to feed people than horses. The close consolidation of people also pretty much means speed is not as much of a factor. A mobile infantry can probably move from one outpost to another without much trouble. If they can't, there's always the nearby ocean. In fact, the focus on maritime transport pretty much means captains don't want too many knights, as horses on ships pretty much just complicate things.

It's not to say there are no mounted troops in the Republics--a few high ranking officers are cavalry, if for no other reason than to show off. It's just these nations don't particularly engage in feudal warfare, and are more concerned with being on the defensive.

Because most of them are ruled by mercantile families, not warlords, there tend not to be citizens who were born and bred for combat. The city-states will conscript private citizens for service, and these citizens are given relatively simple training and equipment. For Pikemen to be effective, one simply needs a large pool and leaders with an ability to look at the big picture. City-states will even have a very strong municipal guard force, who are generally equipped the same way, and maybe even bear similar uniforms as the infantry.

Interestingly, despite it being feudal in nature, New Jersey relies more on a pikemen force than knights. New Jersey is largely in the same place as the bustling northern cities, with a large population fitting into a relatively small piece of land, as its realm includes counties that had the highest population density in the country. It only has a few major cities and counties, and they're not widely dispersed from each other, so there's very little need for warlords to mount themselves and reconnoiter the countryside. It also has access to the oceans, so it likewise focuses on sending its infantry. However, the Pikemen here are relatively more ornate, especially the guard captains.

Pikemen have also taken root in the highlands of the Appalachian mountains. Here, the people are usually not wealthy enough for mounted knights, nor is it advantageous for the altitudes. Rather, they're large wooden polearms held by clan militias. The mountain fighters are quite different from the other pike-holders, as they're not really uniformed. conscripted armies, but clans bound together by loyalty. Here, pikemen have firm, lightweight wood polearms, which some have even taken to throwing like javelins. Appalachian forts are also known to surround themselves with "pike moat" traps.

Mercantile Republics

The United States was a republic. Its very breath spread republicanism across the globe, and ushered in a new era for civilization. However, when technology relapsed, so did society, and America is now a continent of barbarian tribes and feudal overlords. Still, there few polities here and there that abide by rule of law, but still much more oligarchical than their 20th century counterparts.

Geography

Republics tends to spring from city states, usually found on peninsulas, or sandwiches between rocky mountains. Historically this has included Italy, North Africa, and even the Swiss Alps. In America, these would be the Northeast and Northwest. These allow a certain natural defense from outside conquerors, at least for a little while, and teach these relatively small populations the art of self-reliance. The narrow amounts of land limit the manorial system, and the lack of natural resources incentivize a more craft-making economy. As a result, merchants and guilds run the show, as opposed to  landowners.

Continuity

The Northeast's clinging to its Republican past isn't necessarily one out of idealism, but inertia. As a political institution, the United States was a republic, and it stays that way, if only because the members Senate and House of Representatives were not about to relinquish their power. New Englanders were also used to a more pluralistic government, with individual townships and their own town councils governing, as opposed to counties which, by their nature, more easily reverted feudalism. That New England communities were some of the earliest meant that municipal structures were more built to human scale, and so an ambitious warlord was less likely to come and take advantage of the chaos.

The Church

The concentrated presence of the Non-Denominational Church throughout the Northeast has also kept warlords from carving at their own slices. The Church was built upon republican ideals, and besides, they don't care for warriors coming and making messes in their backyards. The inordinate amount of Churchmen also means an inordinate amount of literacy, and the learned are much more likely to demand representation, limited as it may be.

Cascadia

The valley between the Cascade mountains is much more fertile than the Northwest, and could make for a very robust manorial system. But it is relatively narrow, and the residents of the once Oregon territory come from a strong tradition of hippie idealism and silicon valley-style entrepreneurialism.  This of course, has led to a warring clash of city states. But in general, they try to avoid feudal west of the mountains. The skillfully belligerent are sometimes granted land along the Columbia River, sort of to be "kicked upstairs" to a buffer state.

Yankees

Nations of the North

Even though the farmlands of the south have fertile soils that can support all kinds of crops, and long, warm summers, they have their disadvantages as well. The diversity of life down south means more parasites and pests can get into the crops, and a larger variety diseases can infect the populace. Also, much of the American south is rainy and swampy, making it much harder to maintain crops, as well as structures.

North of regions like the Appalachian and the Chesapeake, growing seasons are shorter but the land much more fertile. This means that while there's less of a variety in crop, it can potentially feed a lot more people. It took a while for people to adjust to the bitter northern winters, but once they managed to adapt, very resilient people managed to emerge. The potential for higher, more concentrated populations was needed, because the Yankees live in a relatively more complex society. The soil needs the best medieval technology it can to function, so there needs to be specialized labor forces for ox-breeders and plow makers. The harsher winters mean houses and clothing have to be more elaborate. Stone cutters, lumberjacks and many other more specialized trades are needed to prevent people from freezing or starving to death. However, unlike in Hydraulic Empires, the greater and more diverse groups of people means that these bureaucratic societies aren't as autocratic. There's more compromise and politicking required.

Food:
Northerners generally eat more Old World Crops than Southerners. Corn isn't unheard of of, but the focus is on crops that grow in colder months, harsher soil, and to can keep over the fallow months. This means wheat, carrots, apples, and garlic. But new world crops like potatoes and squash are also grown. Potatoes are specially popular in the Pacific Northwest. Because a great deal of Yankees live near lakes or coasts, seafood is also common. It's usually popular to cook a mixture of meats, vegetables, and oils together in a kind of stew or chowder, and then serve them up in bread--either in bowls, or spread on large flat pieces of bread similar to pizzas. The emphasis is on stretching out the shelf life.

Housing:
Aside from the annual blizzards, people in the North really don't have to worry about natural disasters, the priority is in making big, durable abodes that they can all pile in for the winter. Such structures tend to be made of sturdy oak or, if they can afford it, stone. There's a reasonable availability of granite and limestone in some of America's colder regions, so it's very common to build a house with the chimney or hearth being part of the entire wall. The use of stone is valued not only for the insulation from the hot summers and cold winters, but because firewood may burning for so much of the year, there's a higher risk for flammability.

Craft:
The Northeast of the US is not blessed with much unique resources. Just a great deal of wood. However, the cash crops of the South and the minerals of the farther North, as well as the seas and rivers create trade network that cities can sprout up on. Also, because people of the North want to concentrate on exporting rather than importing, trades in artisanship are very important. In order to stay competitive with the relatively little they're given, these places make it a point to be the best as textiles, metal-working and wood crafting that they can be.

The Bible Belt:
Because everybody in the Middle Ages is very religious, the South's reputation for praying and churchgoing has lost its peculiarity. The North, however, has become something of a new Bible Belt. Largely, this is because there are a lot more District Supervisors of the Non-Denominational Church in the North, and so the Church has something of a Northern bias, and its denizens are more closely monitored. It should also be said there's more Churchmen to go around to teach literacy, and with a Northern bookmaking industry, this means the it's earned the Bible Belt moniker by virtue of there just being more physical Bibles and Bible readers per capita.