| Covington | |
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| General Information | |
| Location Information | |
| Location: | the southwest of Tennessee, about 35 miles northeast of New Memphis |
| Societal Information | |
| Factions: | Trenmont Curators, Wintress Group, Gun Dividers |
| Notable Events: | War of the Two Clans, the arrival of Nicholas Trenmont |
Covington is the name of a group of settlements built in and around the Pre-War city of Covington. The most important building is Trenmont University, which was founded by one Nicholas Trenmont, who was born and raised in New Memphis. Inside Trenmont University, anyone can follow lessons in medicine, maths, science, and mechanics. Its citizens are all educated, kind people, except for a small gang of weapon-makers that live on the eastern border of Covington.
History
Pre-War
It is not recorded when white settlers started arriving in Memphis. Before that, this area was inhabited by Native Americans of various tribes. Also, since the Mississippi River is quite close to here, this area was used for much north-south trade by the American Indians.
Since Tipton County was one of the five counties of the State of Tennessee that were located along the Mississippi River, this area was first explored by white people during the noted expedition of the French Canadians Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet in 1673. This one went down the Mississippi from Wisconsin to the mouth of the Arkansas River, and then back upriver to Lake Michigan. That river mouth is along the present border between Arkansas and Mississippi. Also, the fine details of the route of the land expedition of the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto are not known, but it is likely that de Soto and his men passed near here in about 1541.
During the 18th century, because the entire area consisted of flatlands with long, hot summers, and adequate rainfall, the Covington area and the rest of West Tennessee grew to become the location of large plantations for growing huge crops of cotton (and a few food crops). Hence, African slaves were brought to Western Tennessee early in its history, and West Tennessee was the nexus of slavery in Tennessee, since most of the rest of the state had relatively few slaves.
During the War Between the States, one of the primary objectives of the Union Army and Union Navy was to split the Confederate States in two along the Mississippi River. The Confederate Army resisted this, but still, the counties of Tennessee and northeastern Arkansas, including Tipton County, were among the early ones to be overrun and held by the Union Army. Thus, the war in the Covington area ended early.
Starting in the 1870s, Covington and its surroundings began to receive the benefits of the new technologies that were being invented and then extended across the middle of the United States: the railroad, the telegraph, household electric power, a municipal pure water supply, the paving of the town's streets, and the provision of natural gas.
The Memphis and Paducah Railroad completed its tracks to Covington in July 1873. Next, the first telegraph line between Memphis and Covington was completed in 1882. In 1894, electricity came to Covington for the first time.
Starting in the 1870s, Covington and its surroundings began to receive the benefits of the new technologies that were being invented and then extended across the middle of the United States: the railroad, the telegraph, household electric power, a municipal pure water supply, the paving of the town's streets, and the provision of natural gas.
The Memphis and Paducah Railroad completed its tracks to Covington in July 1873. Next, the first telegraph line between Memphis and Covington was completed in 1882. In 1894, electric power came to Covington for the first time.
A municipal water system began providing the residents of Covington with pure drinking water beginning in 1898. In 1922, the paving of the streets began in Covington, and beginning in 1929, a natural gas company has operated to provide cooking gas and wintertime heating to homes and business in Covington. The time that telephone service in Covington originated is not known.
Following the invention of the automobile, during the 1910s and 1920s, the United States began to construct more and more intercity paved highways in various regions of the county. These developed into the U.S. Numbered Highway System, and U.S. Highway 51 was established. This highway connects Memphis and points south of it, via Covington and Cairo, Illinois, with the major metropolis of Chicago, Illinois, at Lake Michigan. Thus, Covington became a small town along a major north-south highway of commerce and travel. By 2077, Covington was a medium-sized city with around 10.000 inhabitants. Located on an important route, the Chinese programmed 3 bombs to drop on the city in order to engulf the area in radiation, making sure no living thing could ever go through Covington again.
During the War
2 of the programmed bombs fell right on the city of Covington. One struck the southern part, where most of the schools were located, and the other one hit the northern part, where most of the buildings and houses were located. The 3rd bomb, apparently, hadn't been programmed correctly and missed its target, exploding a couple of miles too far to the east and didn't cause too much extra damage to the city. Since the citizens of Covington had mostly fled to Memphis before the War, there weren't too many people killed during the bombing. But the few that had stayed and survived the explosions, where almost all ghoulified.
After the War
As gruesome as things were in Covington after the War, the ghouls managed to rescue some people (mostly ghouls as well) from behind the rubble of their collapsed houses. But, the persons that weren't ghoulified, were afraid of the monstrous looking ghouls, and they stayed away from them as far as possible. The normal people banded together and went south, but they didn't manage to get very far and all died of radiation. Now the only survivors in Covington where ghouls. Since they were ghouls, they didn't have to fear the high radiation in the city and were able to scavenge most of the buildings that were still largely intact. They set up base in the old Ruffin Theater, in the middle of Covington, where there was more than enough place for all the ghouls. Things were quiet for many years in Covington, and its ghoul population didn't try to make any contact with the rest of the world.
On October 14, 2155, the ghouls of Covington suddenly heard loud noises from the east, so they went out to see what was going on. They found out the noises came from a band of people, about a hundred, who were practicing with their weapons. When the ghouls came closer they were welcomed by the people who called themselves the 'Forgers'. The ghouls, having a large amount of food and water, were able to trade with the Forgers and managed to buy a lot of guns and ammo, so they were able to protect themselves better against the humans that sometimes came from the southwest. The Forgers originated from the town of Mason, where people kept themselves busy with manufacturing weapons and ammo and selling it to travelers who needed something to protect themselves with. The Forgers and the ghouls formed a sort of allegiance and started to rebuild the ruined city of Covington.
While the ghouls rebuilt and took care of the growing settlement of Covington, the Forgers split up into two major clans. Some of them were arguing that the ghouls paid less for their products than they did for the other clan's products. Not only this, but a lot of the Forgers were actually bigots, and when tensions flared, they expressed their dislike publicly. This inevitably led to the War of the Two Clans.
War of the Two Clans (2240-2253)
The 2 Forger clans halted their business with Covington and started an all-out war with each other. Since both of the clans were equals in both man and firepower, the war wasn't expected to end soon. Now being cut off from their only suppliers, the ghouls had to start scavenging the buildings in Covington once more. The thriving community slowly decayed and eventually, barely any travelers came through the city anymore, since Covington now was nothing more than an irradiated war-zone, where the Forgers constantly fought one another and were ghouls lurked at you from behind every crack in the buildings. When these things continued, Covington slowly became nothing more than a distant memory in the heads of the survivors in Tennessee. But it turned out that some people were indeed desperate enough to leave the safe havens of New Memphis and walk the long road to Covington, to almost certain death.
The arriving of Nicholas Trenmont
Nicholas Trenmont had always been a smart guy. Ever since he was born, in 2226, he was a curious fellow. He was constantly trying to expand his knowledge, mostly by reading every book he found. Since he was so curious, he wasn't able to stay in the same place for very long. Born and raised in New Memphis, he was able to spend much time in the local Crenshaw Library near Ponto, where he was taught how to read and write, basic math, science, history, music and how to repair things by using scavenged materials. When he was 20, he had grown tired of constantly living in New Memphis. So, he started packing his belongings and prepared to go north, in search of lost knowledge. When his good friend, Felix Wintress, heard of this, Felix quickly persuaded Nicholas into taking a couple of guards with him, so that he had at least some protection against the many dangers outside of the city.
So Nicholas set off, embarking on a perilous journey in search of long-lost knowledge. In his travels, he encountered a bunch of settlers, whispering about a city of ghouls to the north. These rumors intrigued Nicholas since he had always dreamed about observing 'normal' ghouls living in a close community with each other. So he followed the old highway further to the north, accompanied by his ever vigilant gang of New Memphis guards.
The outer zones of the city are still swarming with ferals
In 2246, only 3 days after his departure in New Memphis, Nicholas, and his guards arrived in Covington. After a couple of days, he managed to make contact with the ghouls and established friendly relations with them. Although the ghouls were a little suspicious against the armed guards, they welcomed them as well. After the first batch of questions, Nicholas had discovered that these ghouls had a large knowledge of the Pre-War world, and some of the older ghouls had been a teacher in science, maths, and medicine. So he began interviewing all of them, one by one, and expanded his knowledge. Eventually, Nicholas saw that this knowledge could potentially save many lives and that it would be great if there was somewhere safe where travelers could visit and gain knowledge. And so, he and his guards cleaned up the old Covington High School and set up shop there. The first visitors liked the idea and decided to stay there, eventually becoming the first teachers of the newly founded Trenmont University.
Inside the University, students are expected to dress correctly and behave themselves
As the War of Two Clans came to an end, the southern part of Covington was flourishing, as many travelers visited and traded with the University. Back in New Memphis, Felix Wintress heard the good news about his friend, and he soon sent a large team of builders, architects, and guards to Covington to help them rebuild the city and help build up the economy of Covington. Also being sent to Covington was a member of the Gun Dividers, Joanna Halford, who was tasked with expanding the Dividers' network to the new city. As Joanna came into contact with the Forgers of Covington, she saw the knowledge and experience with which these people made their weapons, and she eventually managed to make them a part of the Gun Dividers in Covington.
Economy
Covington doesn't have much to offer in the way of goods, but instead the city's University trades lessons in exchange for barter or caps, and the Gun Dividers draw the attention of those in need of a gun. Most of the city relies on the donations from New Memphis, and the support of the Association and the Wintress Group. In 2275, a lot of people came in from the east, from Mason, which apparently was burned to the ground in a large accident. These people set up shop on the outskirts of the city and they keep themselves busy with hunting, farming, and even mining. These mining operations have thus far been quite unsuccessful, but they aren't about to stop in the nearby future.
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