Twist and Turns

White never talked about this on the site, but it's possible one of the incentives for the Nomads of the Great Plains to not have settled communities is that it located smack dab in the middle of Tornado Alley. Tornadoes are an iconic, and all but unique aspect of America. (This is believed to be why the new Twisters movie is performing rather weakly overseas.) It is also of course, a major plot point of "The Wizard of Oz", the quintessential American fairy tale. They are not completely unknown to Europe, or the Middle Ages, but some reports were possibly not even tornadoes at all. In any case, over the wider old world continent, they generally pale in comparison to any of the central U.S. states. Texas, in particular is the one of the most populous states in the U.S., and even its Medieval incarnation boasts some three million inhabitants, and a few settled agricultural communities. (It's possible these farmers are kept under a heavy yoke by their Barbarian herder overlords, and are not wholly compassionate about the risks their vassals face by living in Tornado Alley. There's something of an urban myth that they're particularly attracted to trailer parks, but that's simply that trailers are more vulnerable to strong winds, and make for more vivid disaster photos. This may be signifigant, as it's quite possible that that the decline in civillization saw a lot more people living in trailer, or shacks, or other humble abodes. The routine devasatation brought on by these twisters possibly played a major part in the denizens throwing up their hands and declaring if the greatest natural disaster would roam unpredictably, so would they. The New Israelite doctrine may even frame them as God's wrath on those foolish enough to dig in the dirt and handle pigs. The Herdsmen regard tornadoes the way other cultures may regard great beasts, something to respect, feat, and point to as evidence that they are the strongest, because only they can survive and thrive among the most fearsome display of God's power

It should be said that the tornado belt is shifting eastwards. This may not be a major concern for Medieval Dixie per se, as they are also adjascent to the Hurricane belt, and their lifestyle and architecture probably works around that a lot (much of the American South may live lifestyles similar to the the typhoon-sundered Japan) but the Midwest, the core of the Feudal Core, the hub of population and perhaps the cornerstore of Americaqn chivalry, might have trouble adapting to this drift. That said, castles are probably a little more adapt to strong winds than glass skyscrapers, and in general Yankees might already have excelled in stonework for all but the most modest buildings, being they are well suited for the extremes of hot and cold they have to face. Also, the Medieval America project sort of handwaves the scenario has happening before humans could have permanantly messed up the climate. That said, the Old Northwest would still get the occasional tornadoes, and be adjescent to the epicenter, so it would still likely play a huge part in the culture--art, heraldry, and sobriquets of the most fearsome warriors.