The second largest town in the Klansmen Confederacy, Barnett is the center of the Hill chapters of the Klan. This does not necessarily mean the town is prosperous though, as many klansmen would would attest.
| Barnett | |
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| General Information | |
| Establishment: | 2080 |
| Location Information | |
| Location: | Mississippi |
| Societal Information | |
| Population: | 500 |
History
Barnett was founded in 2080 by (klansmen) survivors hailing from Oxford. The town was constructed on the shores of Ross Barnett Reservoir, which lent the town its name. Built by scrap and long-dead trees, Barnett was truly a post-War town.
The years following Barnett's founding were hard ones, with many crops failing and raiders attacking from their bases in the ruins of Jackson. However, by the late 2080s, things had begun to settle down and the farmers' crops finally began to grow.
Barnett and its Klan chapter were a major proponent of the anti-slavery movement in the 2080's, saying that it would invite "miscegenation". At the first Great Conclave, Barnett acheived its goal of illegalizing slavery and as a result, readily joined the Klansmen Confederacy.
During the Wars of Expansion, the klansmen of Barnett were reluctant to fight but did so for the hell of it. The town saw little benefit in those years and resentment against the "bunker bunch" built up. Also, the Grand Wizards outlawed raiding by klansmen to prevent provoking any other wars. In 2142, Stephen Monroe, a Barnett native, was elected as a Grand Wizard of the Klansmen Confederacy. Monroe knew of his town's grips with the UCK central authority and decided to correct that. The result of that was the "Monroe Deal", an agreement that stated that each Klan chapter could be self determining and not have to answer to a Grand Wizard if they did not want to.
The klansmen of Barnett were initially overjoyed by this and started raiding to the north and east, both settlements and caravans. However, this had little true benefit besides morale and some petty loot. At the same time, the Barnett klansmen's raiding antagonized wastelanders and turned caravans away from western Mississippi for the next century. This hostility to outsiders is what motivated young Nathan Royce to leave Barnett in 2195. Barnett ignored the pleas from their fellow klansmen in Cotton Bluff. In 2192, the klansmen of Barnett even burned down one of their own churches for perceived blasphemy.
The wastelanders of Forrest finally staged a reprisal attack on Barnett in 2202 and burned much of the town down. It looked as if Barnett might never recover from the attack. However, no one could account for a certain someone returning to town to fix things.
Nathan Royce returned to Barnett in 2204 from a long journey in the Gulf of Mexico, enriching himself greatly. A rich man in a town of paupers and cripples, Royce first built himself a plantation house but then felt obligated to help out his fellow men. Easily getting himself elected as Barnett's Grand Titan in 2205, Royce went about rebuilding Barnett, investing a lot of money in the town and its people. However, Royce felt the underlying problems could only be fixed by going higher up and in 2210, ran for Grand Dragon of Hinds. Royce won the election but at a great cost (his beloved Louise died while he was campaigning). From there, Grand Dragon Royce set about trying to fix the entire Hinds Chapter.
In 2212, more representatives from Cotton Bluff arrived in Barnett and plead for their assistance in taking back their hometown, overrun by super mutants. Unexpectedly, Grand Dragon Royce accepted their plea and promised to lead fifty klansmen to help his brothers in Cotton Bluff. Word of Royce's decision spread and soon an army was assembled and Cotton Bluff was retaken by Klan forces, with Barnett's help.
After helping in the Battle of Cotton Bluff, Grand Dragon Royce continued building up Barnett, turning it into a progressive, prosperous town. This led to the creation of the Nooks, a distinct culture apart fromt their fellow Hill Klansmen. A caravan was even formed in Barnett, Southern Caravans, that soon spread across the Klansmen Confederacy and benefitted Barnett greatly.
In 2231, Nathan Royce was elected Grand Wizard of the Klansmen Confederacy in a narrow election. However, he did not make Barnett his capital, moving his administration to Cotton Bluff to pacify the River chapters. Upon becoming Grand Wizard, Royce took a face-heel turn and outlawed raiding, causing unrest in Hinds. However, Barnett liked Royce enough that it was not a problem.
Barnett was loyal to Royce for the rest of his term as Grand Wizard, accepting all his laws but a few social reforms. After Royce retired in 2246, he returned to Barnett and his wayward son, Joel Royce, was elected Grand Dragon. This proved an unwise and Joel left office in 2250.
After Royce's death in 2257, Barnett's infastructure began to decline as well as its attitude towards outsiders. The situation worsened when Nathan II Royce was elected Grand Wizard in 2266 but changed significantly when he died in the Crucifix War. A battle during the Crucifix War took place outside Barnett (the Battle of Barnett) and was won by the Klan. After his cousin's death, Jack Cooper was elected Grand Dragon in 2276 and Grand Wizard in 2281. Nathan II's son, Gregor Royce, backed down and isolated himself in his family's estate, not wanting to risk assassination (or plain murder) from Grand Wizard Cooper.
Grand Wizard Cooper wants the Klan to return to its "former glory" and start raiding again. Though he is a reactionary, Cooper is practical and lets the caravans keep coming and has not committed genocide agaisnt the Nooks (yet). In 2287, Barnett sits on the edge of a knife, with tensions high and eyes on I-20, towards the Brethren of the Shroud.
Government
The town democratically elects a mayor to manage the town's finances, but a Grand Titan is also elected to run the town's Klan militia. The Grand Dragon of Hinds outranks both and can overrule them.
Economy
Barnett's economy consists of (mostly subsistence) farming, with a bit of scavenging mixed in as well. The main town has a few service jobs and merchants, but they are insignificant for the most part. Employees of Southern Caravans live in Barnett, and the Caravans are a big business in town.
Culture
Most of the people in Barnett are Hill Klansmen, ultra conservative and suspicious if not outright hostile to outsiders. However, some of Barnett's townsfolk are Nooks, a liberal, mostly middle class people descended from the protégés of Nathan Royce. The Nooks are tolerated by the Klan because of their usefulness and low threat.
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