Dayton, Ohio, UCAS

Like, dude, where’s the firefight?

by MURRAYMD <[M--RA--D] at [DAYTON]>

Vital Statistics

• Population: 807,720
  • Human: 62%
  • Elf: 13%
  • Dwarf: 10%
  • Ork: 12%
  • Troll: 3%
  • Other: 0%
• Population Density: 955 per square kilometer
• Per Capita Income: $105,000
• Below Poverty Level: 24%
• On Fortune’s Active Traders List: <1%
• Corporate Affiliation: 42%
• Education:
  • < 12 Years: 28%
  • High School: 33%
  • College Degree: 26%
  • Graduate Degree: 13%
• Hospitals and Clinics: 11
• LTG Access Numbers:
  • 5513 (West and South)
  • 6513 (East and North)
  • 9513 (WPAFB)

>>>>[Excuse me? 13% have a Graduate Degree? Or is that 13% of those who received a college degree?]<<<<
--Silver Cianide (2:00:31/8-9-51)

Getting There

Plane

The Dayton International Airport is a major hub serving much of the southern UCAS, with flights from all major air and suborbital lines arriving regularly from around the world. Security is extremely strict about checking incoming passengers, but strangely lax about what goes out. A more serious worry than terrorism or hijacking, though, is mid-air collisions. The sheer volume of traffic over DAY has long since overtaken the capacity of air traffic control to handle it all. At least six serious crashes occur each year, and minor ones occur nearly every other week.

Automobile or Bus

Dayton is accessible by ground vehicle from Interstates 70 and 75. Drivers planning to pass through Dayton on I-75 are advised to take the I-675 bypass, which was enlarged to encircle the entire city. The rerouting of I-75 around Albany Village and the Oregon District has made for some awkward stretches to drive on.

>>>>[Awkward is an understatement. The road goes from three lanes to two lanes to three lanes and back to two in less than two kilometers, banks in the wrong direction in at least two places, and there’s even an on ramp that comes up through the middle of the fragging road! I’m half tempted to take out a contract on the guy that designed it.]<<<<
-- Fat Cat (11:00:35/8-13-51)

Rush hours on I-675 and I-75 are light compared to other cities’, with average speeds of 60 to 70 KPH. Since I-75 and most of I-675 are raised highways with no shoulders, state police are mostly unable to pull over speeders thus, speeds upward of 90 KPH are common and easy to get away with.

>>>>[You mean the drekkin’ speed limit’s lower than 90 kph? Jay no comprendie pa!]<<<<
-- Silver Cianide (3:00:12/8-9-51)

Train

Dayton is served by the Cincinnati-Dayton-Columbus- Akron-Cleveland bullet train line. A ticket on one of these trains costs $45 for coach, $65 for first-class. Four trains pass through in each direction per day, making it possible to travel to Cleveland in the morning to conduct business and return by 10 p.m. the same day. Although Dayton is not a major rail transportation hub, most locations in the UCAS can be reached by rail from Cincinnati or Columbus.

History

In 2014, Dayton became the unfortunate location of an unexpected natural disaster—a moderate-strength earthquake. Unprepared as the city was for the event, the quake caused millions of dollars of property damage to unreinforced structures and made a section of I-75, just north of downtown, collapse into rubble. The quake was the last impetus needed to drive business out of Dayton’s depressed downtown and east into Beaver creek and the newly-incorporated Beaver Heights and Sugar creek.

Dayton, like most other cities, suffered the effects of the VITAS plague in 2010, losing slightly under one fifth of its population. It survived the first wave of the disease at some loss to its economic health, which was poor to begin with. The second wave, however, ripped through Dayton in 2022, especially the seriously impoverished west side. Poor living conditions and inadequate health care left a staggering 57,000 people dead from the epidemic in West Dayton alone. A disproportionate number of the survivors of the second wave were Metahumans, Dwarves in particular, and many of Dayton’s Metahumans moved into West Dayton to avoid rampant racism from poor, uneducated Humans, of which there were many. Since the plague, Dayton’s Human population has retained many of the ethno-racist sentiments prevalent before, while Metahumans tend to be far more tolerant of ethnic as well as racial differences.

The megacorps saw the new ghost town of West Dayton in a different way: several hundred square kilometers of vacant, cheap land, ripe for razing and rebuilding. Gradually they bought up West Dayton, forcing the Metahuman residents further and further east, right up to the Miami River. These land grabs eventually created a thriving new business community on the west side, bringing big business back to Dayton and injecting the local economy with new life. They also led to the creation of a gigantic multi-level squatter village around the intersection of State Route 35 and I-75, currently out of service. Constructed and populated mostly by Dwarves, the new Albany Village (called the Pueblo by many Dayton residents) became a Dwarven stronghold with a smattering of Elves, Orks, and poor Humans. Nearby St. Elizabeth’s Hospital became the unofficial medical center for West Dayton’s Metahuman community. Although the residents of the gigantic brick-and-steel pueblos are mostly law-abiding, Albany Village gets very little protection from Eagle Securities, Dayton’s law-enforcement authority, because of the difficulty involved in patrolling the mazelike community.

>>>>[Eagle doesn’t need to patrol the Pueblo the community watch is quite active. If you plan to do anything illegal in the Pueblo that requires being visible, expect to be accosted by at least six concerned citizens. My advice would be to take it somewhere else.]<<<<
-- Neil the Ork Librarian (14:19:02/8/13/51)

While all this was going on, the east section of the city proper was becoming more and more exclusively poor, white, uneducated, and Human, with a pronounced tendency toward racism, violence, and general lawlessness. By 2020 the entire neighborhood of Linden Heights had descended into an uncontrollable state, with numerous instances of brutality directed against police who attempted to maintain order. When black Humans from West Dayton began crossing the river into the abandoned downtown as the corporations bought up their land, they quickly realized that they were dangerously close to Linden Heights, and formed a small militia which eventually grew into the powerful organized crime body known as the Nation. Clashes between the Nation and redneck gangs from Linden Heights were frequent and bloody at first, but finally abated after several years when the Nation began providing drugs, weapons, and BTL chips to meet the demands of the nearby market. The Nation eventually occupied the entire downtown area, taking over abandoned high-rises and the twelve existing floors of the incomplete Mead Arcology (abandoned when, having barely begun its construction, the corporation went bankrupt). One interesting aspect of the downtown/Nation area is the fact that the “public utility” buildings are left alone. When water and electricity were cut of from some Nation holdings after a raid on the main building by a band of renegade blacks, the boss decided that there are some areas best left alone.

>>>>[No drek, Mead went bankrupt… when the UCAS lost the Northwest, Mead lost its supply of trees for paper. Besides, who needs paper these days anyway?]<<<<
-- Corporate Lackey (17:11:20/8/13/51)

As the old United States split up and the UCAS was formed, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base became an increasingly vital position for the reorganized Armed Forces. Any equipment that could be relocated from Air Force bases no longer within the UCAS was moved to Wright-Patterson. The base itself expanded, doubling its size, and eventually became a manufacturing center for military parts and equipment.

>>>>[Rumor has it that there are still warehouses of transferred materiel (weapons, parts, lots of fun stuff) that the UCAS still hasn’t sorted through. All of it’s just sitting there collecting dust. Good luck even getting near it, chummer.]<<<<
-- Prism (09:23:14/8-13-51)

>>>>[Another rumor that has been around surrounds the existence of frozen alien carcasses found by the old U.S.A.F., complete with gee-whiz flying saucers. Next time your on a tour of the base, ask a uniform about Hanger 18 and see what response you get.]<<<<
-- Stalker (13:47:18/8-15-51)

Corporations specializing in high-tech industry continued to expand their holdings, purchasing land in Beaver Heights and Sugarcreek. They suffered a serious setback when they ran up against the woodlands between Xenia and Yellow Springs. Attracted to the area by unspoiled forests and the Occult Studies program at Antioch College, many shamans had migrated to the area and set up residence, and they were bound and determined not to let the corporations raze the preserves. They received near-unanimous support from the residents of Yellow Springs, which included a large contingent of mages, Metahumans, and leftist radicals completely unsympathetic to the desires of the corps. When corporate “executive teams” were sent in to scare, repel, and finally eliminate their opposition, they were humiliated by the magicians every time. Yellow Springs and the areas to the south remain almost totally free of any corporate influence.

>>>>[It is not smart to frag with the eco-nuts in Granola City. Some of the things they’ll do to you aren’t especially friendly. They may hate killing animals, but they sure don’t have any problems with killing poachers.]<<<<
-- Prism (09:27:12/8-13-51)

>>>>[You ain’t just whistlin’ Dixie, Prism. Antioch College is considered in magic circles to be one of the top five small magic schools in the WORLD. Magicians of all kinds come to this area just to say they’ve been here. Those corp strike teams never had a fraggin’ chance.]<<<<
-- Puff (02:26:10/8-14-51)

>>>>[Rumor has it that there’s actually an Indian tribe re-forming around the Yellow Springs area, made up of descendants of the old Miami. Don’t quote me on this, though.]<<<<
-- Blue Jacket (11:34:36/8-16-51)

Economy

There are two major forces behind the Dayton economy: Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) and General Motors. WPAFB has a huge impact on the economy by the amount of civilians it employs and the number of businesses that sell products to the UCAS Armed Forces Logistics Command. For over a hundred years WPAFB has also been a center for research and development. That role has expanded steadily since the creation of the UCAS. R&D and high-tech manufacturing businesses are common throughout the eastern area, having one of the highest concentrations of technology in the UCAS today. These corporations not only do their own work, but do a lot of contract work for the base. General Motors has several manufacturing plants in the southwestern Dayton area, making anything from synthetic polymer parts for the auto industry to the fearsome panzers used by the UCAS armed forces. While there is much automation in manufacturing here, many heavy manual jobs are still performed by hired workers.

Law And Crime

Dayton’s law enforcement is handled through an exclusive contract by Eagle Securities. Cooperation between the City of Dayton and Eagle is extremely high. Wright-Patterson even contains a training facility for Eagle employees. Eagle Securities provides security ranging from beat patrolmen to high threat strike teams. Eagle Securities is not the only firm in town, though. Sentinel Patrol Forces Company, Falcon Firefighters, and a branch of Knight Errant are some other firms operating.

Organized crime in Dayton rests primarily in the hands of the Nation. There is a Yakuza clan in Dayton, but it is not very powerful and operates almost solely in West Dayton. The Nation is not a Mafia in the truest sense of the word, but it has ties to the Mafia of numerous other cities, mainly because of its opposition to the Yakuza. It is similar to the Yakuza, however, in that it recruits only blacks and looks on other ethnic groups with strong distrust. It also has very few Metahuman members. In recent years the Nation has gained enough political power by making contacts outside the Oregon District to extend its influence to cover about three fifths of the city.

>>>>[Be careful with these guys. Look at one for a millisecond too long and you’re on their drek-list. They will hunt you down, corner you, and fill you up with premium leaded. And they are very, very patient.]<<<<
-- Fat Cat (11:29:03/8-13-51)

Neighborhoods

Central Dayton

Security Rating
 Oregon District: Squatter Z
 Linden Heights: Squatter Z
 Old Downtown Area: Squatter Z*
* See text.

The Oregon District and Linden Heights are controlled almost entirely by criminal elements. Police rarely, if ever, venture into the Oregon District without a half-dozen armored riot vehicles and enough ordnance to toast the whole area. The Oregon District is under the thumb of the Nation, the leaders of which reside in a twenty-story former office building called Central located in the Old Downtown Area. Every business in the District is either owned or protected by the Nation. The area’s population is almost 100% black and Human.

>>>>[Unless you absolutely have to go in, stay out of this neighborhood. And never, EVER be here at night. Of course, it’s awful fun, but make sure your insurance is paid up.]<<<<
-- Prism (09:30:42/8-13-51)

>>>>[If you obviously don’t belong—that is, if you’re not a black human wearing the right colors—but you’re being escorted by someone who might, they won’t shoot you on sight, but they will remember your face the next day and forever. Don’t screw up.]<<<<
-- Fat Cat (11:33:55/8-13-51)

Linden Heights is a zone of total anarchy. Populated entirely by poor white Humans, the neighborhood is a nightmare of disease, starvation, and most of all violence. Virtually every citizen is armed to the teeth with weapons provided by the Nation as an incentive to leave them alone. Redneck gangs frequently foray down into Kettering to pillage stores and terrorize Metahumans. Outsiders are loathed and easily spotted by the residents of Linden Heights, due to their uniform thick Appalachian dialect.

>>>>[Very scary. At least when you wander into Nation territory, you KNOW why they’re trying to kill you. In Linden Heights they do it for fun, or because they’re bored, or because you have something they want, or because you don’t have something they want so why the hell were you there anyway… they are not by any definition rational beings.]<<<<
-- Fat Cat (11:36:33/8-13-51)

>>>>[Naw. We just do it for fun.]<<<<
-- Spanky (22:00:17/8-15-51)

West Dayton

Security Rating
 Albany Village: Lower Class D
 Dayton View: Middle Class AA
 Five Oaks: Upper Class AAA*
 Jefferson: Middle Class A
 Madison: Middle Class A
 Trotwood: Middle Class AA

West Dayton, particularly the neighborhood of Dayton View is a jungle of high-rise, glass-and-steel office complexes and condominiums. Hardly a trace of the area’s impoverished past remains to be seen, as corporations developed the area as fast as they could in the ‘20s and ‘30s. Police presence is very heavy, and disturbances of the peace are dealt with quickly and severely.

>>>>[Note that being ork, troll, black, poor, or just plain scruffy is likely to be construed as “disturbing the peace.”]<<<<
-- Neil the Ork Librarian (14:37:16/8-13-51)

>>>>[Needless to say, there are many “dark and quiet” bars in this area where Mr. Johnsons do some heavy recruiting. Hey, I’m not gonna reveal where they are I’m not stupid. But if you’re new in town, this is where you should look.]<<<<
-- Corporate Lackey (17:22:10/8-13-51)

One relatively undeveloped area in West Dayton is the banks of the Miami River in the Five Oaks neighborhood. Formerly a prestigious area with many luxurious condominiums, residents—mostly wealthy corporate types—became frustrated with the police’s inability (or unwillingness) to deal with the influence of the Nation, just across the river, and circumvented both local government and local law to have the Riverside, Main St., Monument, First St., and Third St. bridges destroyed. The Nation, angry at community resistance to their exploitation of a ripe market for illegal goods and services, responded by firing a barrage of artillery and high-explosive missiles across the river into the residential developments. The residents quickly abandoned their properties, and the area of Five Oaks south of Grand St. and I-75 is now a decidedly lower-class area. The wrecked condos along the riverfront are inhabited only by squatters.

>>>>[An excellent place to crash when you just can’t head home for some reason.]<<<<
-- Prism (09:40:40/8-13-51)

The far-western areas of Jefferson, Madison, and Trotwood consist mostly of quiet, middle-class houses and apartments for wage slaves. A few Metahumans may be found out here, mostly elves. In a curious reversal of traditional geography, there are very few black residents anywhere in West Dayton. West Dayton also contains the only Yakuza presence in the city, centered on the Dayton View neighborhood. The few violent conflicts between the Nation and the Yakuza tend to take place not on home turfs but in contested markets such as the South Dayton corridor.

South Dayton

Security Rating
 Oakwood: Upper Class AAA
 University Village: Middle Class AA
 Patterson Village: Middle Class AA
 Moraine: Lower Class B
 West Carrollton: Lower Class B
 Kettering: Middle Class B-AA
 Woodburne: Middle Class B
 Centerville: Middle Class B
 Miamisburg: Lower Class C
 Washington: Lower Class C

Much of the economy of South Dayton revolves around AT&T and General Motors. AT&T is putting the finishing touches on an arcology extension of its regional headquarters alongside the Miami River. Currently most of its upper-level executives reside in posh Oakwood, a beautiful and insular suburb. AT&T, along with WPAFB, also channels a lot of funds into the University of Dayton and attracts many of the school’s computer science, electrical engineering, and business graduates.

>>>>[Security in Oakwood is very similar to that in West Dayton, except even more discriminatory when dealing with metahumans and other nonresidents.]<<<<
-- Neil the Ork Librarian (14:48:00/8-13-51)

>>>>[Don’t speed in Oakwood. Just don’t.]<<<<
-- Logan (16:37:13/8-13-51)

>>>>[The “University of AT&T” still maintains its religious (Catholic?) heritage, grilling students with a mandatory course of study in ethics and philosophy (or religion). Therefore, AT&T gets quite a few businessmen with morals, which explains why their company is having so many problems. AT&T does not hire many runners, but when they do, you can bet it’s a good cause—and well-paying.]<<<<
-- Corporate Lackey (17:26:10/8-13-51)

>>>>[If you’ve finished your second year at UD and don’t have a corporate sponsor yet, get used to a lifetime of disappointments.]<<<<
-- Frustrated Flyer (00:09:20/8-14-51)

>>>>[UD also has a small but respectable magic department, but in line with the Catholic Church’s policies, it’s only available as a minor for Religious Studies majors.]<<<<
-- Puff (02:36:29/8-14-51)

Moraine is the home of General Motors, containing the enormous plants which manufacture and assemble car, truck, and security vehicle parts. Well over half of the residents of Moraine and nearby West Carrollton, Woodburne, and Miamisburg are employed by GM.

>>>>[Moraine is a great untapped source for muscle. Cruise the bars and you can almost always find someone willing to stand in the path of a bullet for you if you’ll pay him enough.]<<<<
-- Prism (09:44:16/8-13-51)

Kettering, long the most liberal suburb of mostly conservative Dayton, has the highest concentration of Metahumans outside the city proper. Metahumans are somewhat segregated, with most Orks and Trolls living in west central Kettering near Moraine’s heavy industry. Many Elves live in the heavily wooded areas in southwest Kettering. Most of the city’s displaced black residents who could afford to live outside the downtown area moved into Kettering, Moraine, and Woodburne thus, this area is also the most ethnically mixed within the ‘plex. Almost alone of all the suburbs, Kettering’s public school system is exceptional.

Woodburne, Centerville, and Washington are remnants of the subdivision-crazed suburban sprawl of the 1990s. Although full of comfortable (if somewhat monotonous) homes for the well-educated, middle-class wage slaves who live there, the area boasts an astonishingly high crime rate. “Crimes of passion” are exceptionally common, and those convicted of such crimes are often deemed mentally ill. The suicide rate is three times the UCAS average. In addition, the confluence of I-75 and I-675, State Routes 725 and 741, and Alexanderville-Bellbrook Pike make the area especially attractive to go-gangs. The main streets are saturated with bars, simsense houses, nightclubs, bordellos, and the occasional illegal gambling house, to cater to the wage slaves’ thirsts for entertainment. About half of these establishments are owned and operated by the Nation or the Yakuza.

>>>>[Several go-gangs are merely motorized arms of the Nation and Yakuza, which makes for some interesting entertainment on a boring Saturday night. Especially if you join in… ]<<<<
-- Prism (09:53:33/8-13-51)

>>>>[What’s even more fun is watching a Nation-backed go-gang deal with a group of redneck rowdies from Linden who looked at ‘em the wrong way. Watching from a safe distance, that is.]<<<<
-- Narcopygia (12:27:52/8-14-51)

>>>>[You’d better keep your distance. Some of us rednecks will come and whip your ass.]<<<<
-- Spanky (22:11:53/8-15-51)

North Dayton

Security Rating
 Harrison: Lower Class B
 Butler: Lower Class A
 Vandalia: Middle Class A
 Englewood: Middle Class AA
 Tipp City: Lower Class B

Much of North Dayton’s economy centers around the Dayton International Airport and the industrial parks in and around Butler. High-level corporate executives live mostly in the quiet neighborhoods of Englewood, with a few larger estates along the Stillwater River. Vandalia, full of apartment buildings and condominiums, houses most of the lower-level execs. Most working-class residents commute in from Harrison and Tipp City, with a large Metahuman enclave in northern Butler.

>>>>[For “enclave,” read “slum.”]<<<<
--Neil the Ork Librarian (14:53:13/8-13-51)

East Dayton

Security Rating
 Beavercreek: Upper Class AA
 Beaver Heights: Middle Class A
 Sugarcreek: Middle Class A
 Bellbrook: Middle Class B
 Spring Valley: Middle Class A
 Xenia: Middle Class B

East Dayton revolves around research and development and “clean industry”—microprocessor, optical, and cybernetic technology. Wright State University, in Beavercreek, has one of the most highly-acclaimed cybertechnology research departments in the UCAS, much of it devoted to the production of realistic and functional prosthetics.

>>>>[Needless to say, illegal body shops abound. And nine times out of ten, you get a doc who knows what he’s doing—since half of ‘em are students trying to earn a little beer money on the side.]<<<<
-- Corporate Lackey (17:30:35/8-13-51)

>>>>[Wright State has a very limited magical department, except in—you guessed it!—the healing arts.]<<<<
-- Puff (02:44:39/8-14-51)

>>>>[Tell your wand waiving friends that if they want to learn about alchemy and radicals they should check out the Kulander Center at Wright State. They expanded their already reputable Geology department to include research into newfound radicals.]<<<<
-- Lord Lucifer (01:13:43/8-13-51)

Most of these corporate executives reside in Beavercreek, whose police force patrols the western border rigorously to prevent incursions by gangs from Linden Heights. Gangs do occasionally make it through the police net, but since their raids are usually characterized by wild looting and raucous violence, security teams are very quick to track them down and put an end to them.

>>>>[Put an end to the raids or to the gangs?]<<<<
-- Fat Cat (11:42:44/8-13-51)

>>>>[Beavercreek is yet another community where minorities are rarely seen, not because of outward hatred to them, but due to economics and a bit of “tradition.” For some reason, there just aren’t that many minorities.]<<<<
-- Stalker (15:01:26/8-13-51)

Sugarcreek is a strangely deserted-looking area, dotted with research parks connected by roads, with open grassland and the occasional residential subdivision in between. Beaver Heights and Spring Valley are where more of the actual manufacturing is done. Many of the workers in these plants reside in Centerville, Sugarcreek, or Bellbrook, or commute from Xenia.

Wright-Patterson

Security Rating
 WPAFB: Government Base AAA
 Wrightville: Lower Class B
 Huber Heights: Middle Class A
 Medway: Lower Class C
 Fairborn: Lower Class B

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a monster. Since the formation of the UCAS it has engulfed the community of Riverside and the township of Mad River, bringing it right up to the borders of East Dayton and Huber Heights. Wright-Patt is the central hub for distribution of parts to all branches of the UCAS Armed Forces. Many of these parts are now manufactured in factories in Medway and Wrightville. Although the UCAS government owns all the land in these two communities, the factories themselves are owned by corporations to which the Department of Defense has contracted manufacture and supply of defense materiel.

>>>>[Wright-Patt IS the UCAS Air Force. With the loss of most of the Army stations in the South and Naval stations on the Coasts, Wright-Patt is also practically the entire UCAS military.]<<<<
-- Sgt. Slaughter (13:03:14/8-14-51)

>>>>[Wright-Patt has significant magical security. It is also a major thorn in the side of most Yellow Springs residents, due to the base’s excessive levels of air traffic, noise pollution, and exhaust.]<<<<
-- Puff (02:50:48/8-14-51)

Huber Heights is a bedroom community housing many of the officers stationed at Wright-Patt. What is left of Fairborn houses the base’s enlisted and civilian personnel and many of the defense factories’ higher-grade workers and paper-pushers. Most of the actual labor force resides in the immediate area where it is employed.

>>>>[What they don’t tell you is the fact that Fairborn used to be twice as big as it is now. The old Air Force sent troops in to “protect enlisted servicemen from riots” and never left. The Air Force can set up a fence faster than the old Soviets could build a wall.]<<<<
-- Shazzam (14:18:29/8-12-51)

>>>>[Due to the increased military presence here and the fact that blacks and metahumans tend to be less of a minority in the UCAS armed forces, racism in Huber Heights and Fairborn is minimal, especially among folks in uniform.]<<<<
-- Neil the Ork Librarian (15:07:37/8-13-51)

>>>>[Of course, if you ain’t an officer and don’t have business with one, you ain’t gonna be welcome in Huber Heights.]<<<<
-- Maj. Disaster (18:20:33/8-15-51)

Springfield And Yellow Springs

Security Rating
 Springfield: Middle Class A
 Yellow Springs: Middle Class *
 Bryan Park: Lower Class *

* Yellow Springs and Bryan Park have not contracted with any security firm for their law enforcement. The possession and transport of bladed and blunt weapons are not prohibited, but all firearms except for licensed rifles are banned. Offenses concerning Weapon Ratings E-J are heavily penalized (triple the normal UCAS punishment). Cyberware restrictions are also severe (150% the normal UCAS punishment). Consider local police enforcement to be AA level.

Springfield is a rarity in the Ohio Megalopolis: an island community, relatively free from corporate influence, working for its living and surviving. Small corporations provide most of the resources Springfield uses to keep itself afloat. Wittenberg College, located in Springfield, is still a first-rate liberal arts college, though very few of its graduates are actively recruited by megacorporations.

>>>>[Don’t worry your head about this place. I’ve never heard of a shadowrun going down in Springfield and don’t expect to in my lifetime.]<<<<
-- Fat Cat (11:48:28/8-13-51)

Yellow Springs is a back-to-basics community, home to a large number of political radicals, mages, and Metahumans. Most of these characters are drawn to Yellow Springs by Antioch College, an alternative school with interdisciplinary majors such as Nonviolent Conflict and Change, Metahuman Studies, and Dialectical Political Dynamics. The real gem in Antioch’s crown is its incredible Occult Studies department, which is in such high demand that it turns away 90% of all applicants rather than increase the student-to-teacher ratio. Although hermetic mages are welcome in the program, Antioch has the only magic school in the UCAS with a serious emphasis on shamanic magic, placing cultural and spiritual factors in the same league with magical theory and practice.

>>>>[The street fairs during the summertime are INCREDIBLE, especially if you’re looking for hand-crafted magical hardware. However, the residents tend to be very wary of any really well-dressed individuals, figuring they must be affiliated with a corporation or some other rotten organization. If you go, dress down.]<<<<
-- Flash (23:44:32/8-15-51)

>>>>[It matters not how you dress. We will know your intentions however you disguise yourself, and will deal with you accordingly.]<<<<
-- Mandrake (03:19:42/8-16-51)

>>>>[There’s always one, isn’t there?]<<<<
-- Fat Cat (11:40:12/8-16-51)

Bryan Park, formerly John Bryan State Park but now no longer affiliated with the State of Ohio, is a virtually untouched stand of forest covering roughly 30 square kilometers, one of only a handful remaining in Ohio. Over six hundred shamans have made their homes in Bryan Park, and they defend it aggressively from corporate encroachment. Popular perception also places a large number of Elves in Bryan Park, though in reality the proportion of Elvish Bryan Park residents is no higher than that of the general population.

Places Of Interest

The UCAS Air Force Museum

This dedication to the flying machine has been a tourist attraction for decades. Its four hangers are full of military aircraft dating back to that long forgotten World War I. Outdoors there are even more static displays of fighters and missiles along with picnic benches. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children with a donation barrel inside. Gift shop and cafeteria are also available.