Cascading Earth

The world of Cascading Justice is not quite a full on dystopia... yet, but it's definitely a world heading towards chaos. A fragile international political climate currently exists in the Cascading Justice campaign setting as nations posture to hold on to their territories and natural resources from others that would steal them away. Total isolationism is almost impossible to achieve when global warfare, revolution, terrorism, and natural disasters affect the daily lives of many on the planet to one degree or another. Much like in our own world, the United States is a prosperous nation. Its citizens are privileged and shielded from the daily hardships that others in the world live with. Life goes on in the Cascading Justice America, but even that life has just a little harsher edge to it.

The information here will briefly examine the global state of affairs in the world of Cascading Justice as it is found at the beginning of the campaign in Spring 2022, including world politics and major current events. In the United States, AEGIS is the organization responsible for monitoring world events as they relate to national security. It is assumed that the player characters would generally have an awareness of this information or be able to look it up if they needed to.

AFGHANISTAN

This landlocked, mountainous country has historicallybeen a crossroads between the East and West since the days of the Silk Road linking China to the Mediterranean. Afghanistan has one of the largest and richest mineral deposits in the world today, making it an attractive resource to the major world powers. Tempted by Afghanistan’s mineral wealth, the Soviets invaded the country in the early 1980s until they were finally defeated, thanks in part to a covert American presence supporting the local tribal warlords. The United States currently maintains a low-key, clandestine presence in Afghanistan to protect its interests in the nation’s mineral resources. Russia, China, and Pakistan also have similar interests, making the region a hot spot for conflict. Because of this international involvement in Afghanistan’s affairs, Islamic militant terrorists have little to no presence within its borders. The recent discovery of oil in Afghanistan’s Northern provinces has led to an increased Chinese military buildup near the border, and there is also talk in Washington of sending a greater American military presence to the region.

AFRICA

Africa is a very large and diverse continent made up of many different climates, landscapes, and cultures. Its nations have historically been exploited by the United States and Western European powers, for both their abundant natural resources, and the slave labor of their inhabitants. It has been a long road to African independence after the shackles of nineteenth century colonialism were broken. Africa has also seen more than its fair share of violence. Warring states, corruption, ethnic cleansing, and famine still plague the continent to this day resulting in millions of refugees being displaced from their homes.

Today, the troubled nations of Africa once again face the threat of colonialism as many of the world’s most prosperous nations are scrutinizing the continent for its mineral and natural fuel deposits. The United Kingdom and the European States have mounted military campaigns to take over many of the struggling African countries. Much of northeastern Africa is suffering from famine and droughts following the fall of the countries in the Arabian Wastes which also brought an influx of radical Muslim extremists from those countries into the region to complicate the political landscape. There are reports of an East African warlord named Kibwe (which means “blessed” in Swahili) gathering power and support as calls for a unified African resistance to the Western invaders begin to echo throughout the continent.

THE MIDDLE EAST/ARABIAN WASTES

For many years, the Middle East was the world’s leading supplier of crude oil, but those in power, who benefit financially, always played a balancing game between the demands of their customers in the West and the religious leaders of the common people, who disapproved of immoral foreign influences on Islamic society. The supply of oil was not unlimited, however, and by 2016 it became apparent that the Middle Eastern oil fields were close to running dry within a decade. As maintaining a presence in the region began to lose a financial incentive, the United States began to end its occupation, and one-by-one the nations of the Arabian peninsula began to collapse, and these now impoverished lands reverted to strict Islamic fundamentalism and the old nomadic ways.

Desperate to maintain a constant supply of oil, the United States invaded Iraq in 1993 and seized the oil wells. The following year, American troops invaded Kuwait and Western Iran, as well, for the same purpose. During the 25 years of American occupation, resistance fighters and insurgents, many of whom were part of Islamic fundamentalist terrorist cells, fought with American forces in a brutal, drawn out campaign. The Americans slaughtered entire villages suspected of supporting the insurgents, and Islamic extremists responded in kind by employing radioactive dirty bombs in major urban centers occupied by American troops and around the oil fields. When the oil finally showed signs of drying up in Iraq and the surrounding lands, the Americans ended their occupation and left behind chaos.

Today, the region devastated by years of warfare, and commonly known as the Arabian Wastes, is a collection of territories in a barren and radioactively contaminated wasteland. Many refugees have fled the area into Russia and Eastern Europe, but those who have stayed behind have managed to carve out a harsh, difficult life for themselves. Uday Hussein, the son of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, is now one of the many warlords of the Arabian Wastes and has established the Muslim Council to build a power base in the region. Perhaps most frightening of all, Uday has in his employ several super powered body guards who were once part of his father’s Hafaza super soldier program.