With the coming of the Rifts, the Mid-Atlantic of the old American Empire is much changed from its Pre-Great Cataclysm days. Besides the annihilation of most of the major cities in the coastal states, there has also been a substantial change in the environment. While the change has been minor in some places, like Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, it has been substantial in the Mid-Atlantic states. Some states, like Delaware and New Jersey, have been completely flooded under 10 to 50 feet of water from a raised sea level, while others, like Maryland and Virginia, have lost their original Eastern Shores to the encroaching Atlantic Ocean.
In the midst of this watery landscape several city-states thrive and build, the Commonwealth of Baltimore in central Maryland, the duchy of Lord Smiley in the Allegheny Mountains, Golden Age Weapons to the southeast, and the ARMOR City-States that extend south of the ruins of Washington, DC. Two of these city-states have risen to supremacy and fight over which will lead this region back to some of its former glory, the Baltimore Commonwealth and the ARMOR City-States of Prometheorg.
Survivor of the Cataclysm, and the sole remaining representative of the old American Empire on the Mid-Atlantic, the Baltimore Commonwealth combines the strength of old American values with a military force to keep the Commonwealth free of outside influences. In order to understand the present day Commonwealth, you must understand its history during the 300 years leading up to the present time.
The Monster Zone is a long narrow stretch of inhospitable forest and hills that stretches from about 20 miles due south of the City Wall to the old I-495 Beltway that surrounds the irradiated hellhole that is Washington, DC. It stretches from Fort Meade, on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, to the Shenandoah River at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains, for a total of more than 3000 square miles of territory. The southern border of the Monster Zone is generally recognized as being the old I-495 Beltway around DC, with some of the more hearty enclaves extending further south into the old College Park area. This area gets its name from the many hostile D-Bees that make this area their home. While many of these hostile D-Bees moved here from the south and west, quite a few are survivors of groups that attacked Baltimore and its townships. Among these survivors are rumored to be the few surviving members of the Jones Falls Horde. While the Zone is used as the combat training area of the Knight Orders, it is not actively patrolled or claimed by the forces of Baltimore.
A domineering, militaristic society, the ARMOR City-States offer an alternative to those D-Bees persecuted by the mildly xenophobic Baltimore City-States to the north.
Besides the two major states of Baltimore and ARMOR, there are also several other smaller City-States scattered about the landscape.